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JACOB L. McKIMMY is known as one of the progressive and able business men of the younger generation in Fulton county, and his initiative and executive powers have shown forth in high relief through his building up of one of the largest brick and tile manufactories in this section. Jacob Luther McKimmy has the distinction of being a native of the beautiful Old Dominion State, having been born in Preston county, Va., on the 6th of May, 1871, and being a son of Perry and Caroline (Wotring) McKimmy, of Irish and Holland Dutch lineage, respectively. In 1874 his parents took up their residence in Lenawee county, Mich., where the father became a prosperous farmer of Ogden township, and he and his wife still maintain their home there. They have eight children, namely: John, Theodore, Nathan, Jacob Luther, Saloma (wife of David Cowel), Frederick, Alva and Addie. Jacob L. McKimmy was reared on .the home farm, in Ogden township, Lenawee county, Mich., and he was afforded the advantages of the public schools, making good use of his opportunities and amply fortifying himself for the handling of his business affairs in later years. On attaining his majority he came to Fulton county and purchased a farm, in Amboy township, operating the same two years and then exchanging the property for the brick and tile plant of which he is now proprietor. The following description of the plant was recently published in a local paper and is consistently reproduced in this connection: "The brick and tile plant is located two miles south and one-half mile east of Metamora. It is owned and operated by J. L. McKimmy, who purchased the property of A. H. Crissey, in 1895, and at once began to improve, and enlarge the plant, which now has the most modern facilities for the manufacturing of brick and tile. In 1897 Mr. McKimmy erected a shed 30x100 feet, the following year he added 10o feet to this shed, making it 30x200 feet in dimensions, and in 1899 he built another shed, 30x100 feet, while in the following year he erected still another, 30x75 feet, making m all a building 30X375 feet, built throughout of first-class material and utilized only for the drying of brick and tile. The engine room is 30x40 feet, and the machinery is run by a 25 horsepower engine, with crusher and a modern automatic cut-off- in
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the same room. The automatic cut-off is a wonderful piece of machinery, doing its own work and cutting off the tile perfectly and regularly. The machinery conducts the clay from the man who his the crusher to the man who sets it on the wheel-barrow, a perfect, green tile, without any help from human hands. The daily output of the plant is ten thousand three-inch tile, and the plant is kept in operation usually from April until October. The kilns used lure of the Stewart patent, while soft coal is used as fuel. Each of Abe two kilns has a capacity of twenty-five thousand three-inch tile, land it requires from thirty-six, to forty hours to burn each kiln. In leach of the seasons of 1904 and 1905 thirty-seven kilns Were burned, an& the average amount of tile in stock is about 500,000, ranging in -diameter from three to twelve inches. Mr. McKimmy has never yet shipped any brick or tile from his plant, the farmers in the sur-sounding country using the entire output. He employs a corps of -ten men during the season of manufacturing, and keeps one man in the yards during the winter season. In 1897 he built a reservoir, 95x300 feet, and this furnishes an adequate supply of water at all times, while in the winter it yields ice not only for the ice-house in the yard, a building 24x50 feet, but supplies many of the farmers in the locality. From the local ice-house also many families are supplied in the summer season. Mr. McKimmy was but twenty-four years of age when he started for himself in the brick and tile business, but by his energy and integrity he has built up an enterprise that is not only of great benefit to himself but also to the farmers of this section. In his political allegiance Mr. McKimmy is a stanch Republican, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Sanders Tent, No 421, Knights of the Maccabees, in Metamora. January 1, 1893, he was married to Miss Agnes Boyce, daughter of Stephen and Miry (Dumeresq) Boyce, of Delta, this county, and four children have been born of this union—Ora L., Lester I., Ellis L. and Iva M., the last-named being deceased.
HAULCEY MANN, a prominent and successful farmer of Wauseon, is the son of Francis Price and Mary Elizabeth (Lyon) Mann, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New Jersey. His grandfather, Charles Mann, who was a pioneer settler of Knox county, 0, came to that county from New York. He married Miss DeWitt, a native of Knox county. As far as the subject of this sketch knows Charles Mann had no brothers or sisters. Francis Price Mann, born near Mt. Vernon, Knox county, in 1815, came to Williams county, O., from Morrow county, same State, in 1857. In 1862 he removed to Franklin township, Fulton county, where he bought a farm and lived on it for several years. Then he removed to Morenci, Lenawee county, Mich., where he died in 1882, aged sixty-seven years. His wife was born in Essex county, N. J., January 11, 1822. Hale and hearty at the age of eighty-three years, she enjoys the best of health and makes her home with the subject of this sketch. She is the daughter of Haulcey and Harriet (Rose) Lyon, and the granddaughter of Samuel Lyon. The following are the children of Francis
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Price Mann and wife: Francis Lyon Mann, of Lenawee county,. Mich.; Charles Mann (deceased), who died in Royalton township,. Fulton county; Haulcey Mann, the subject of this sketch, and John Borough Mann of Lenawee county, Mich. Haulcey Mann, reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of his home county? chose farming as his occupation. He first farmed in Franklin township and then removed to Dover township, where he bought a farm. Selling this place he bought a farm in Clinton township, Fulton county, which for the past thirteen years he has owned and successfully operated. His farm is in a high state of cultivation ands rated as one of the best in the county. Having been reared on a farm and carefully trained for that work it is no wonder that he is now one of the most prosperous farmers in that section of the State. He married Miss Mary Ann Dennis, daughter of John and Nancy (Dodd) Dennis, both deceased, who came to Fulton county from Delaware county. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Dennis are: W11-: Liam Dennis, of Clinton township; Charles Dennis, of Franklin township; Alfred Dennis, of Dover township; Mary Ann, the wife of the subject of this sketch, and Mrs. Susan little (deceased)..
LUTHER GILBERT MARSH, a farmer and Civil war veteran of Swanton, was born in what is now Swan Creek township, Fulton county, then Lucas county, December 14, 1841. His father, Richard Marsh, was born in Rochester, N. Y., on September 1o, Om, and came in young manhood to Maumee, Lucas county, 0., where he married Miss Sarah Barnes, also a native of New York State, who came to Maumee with her parents when quite a child. Richard Marsh was a carpenter and joiner by trade and worked for, some years at the Maumee ship-yards. In an early day in the history of this locality he located on a farm and walked to and from his work at Maumee, a distance of twelve miles. This land is now within corporate limits of Swanton. He enlisted as a private in Company I of the Thirty-Eighth Ohio volunteer infantry and served for more than two years, notwithstanding he was past the age of compulsory military service. The Thirty-eighth Ohio was organized at Defiance, on September 10 1861, under the command of Colonel Barber, and was reorganized as a veteran regiment at Chattanooga; Tenn:, December 26, 1863. Mr. Marsh's company was once commanded Gen. M. R. Brailey, whose life sketch appears elsewhere in this work. On his return from the war Mr. Marsh was appointed postmaster of Swanton and served in that capacity for a number, of years. Subsequently he was elected justice of the peace. On November 20, 1880 he passed away at his home in Swanton and was survived by widow, who was born November 9, 1818, and died February 10, 1897. They had a family of the following children: Velina Louisa, was, born May 12, 1837, and died October 19, 1871; William H Harrison, born July 6, 1840, and died October 5, 1892; Luther Gilbert, subject of this sketch, who was born December 14, 1841; Jay Maria, born February 19, 1844, and died March 29, 1846, Cal Chandler, who was born February 19, 1847, and died October 20,
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1874; Frederick Alonzo, born July 14, 1853, died April 7, 1875; William Arthur, born November 20, 1855, died September 29, 1857; es Edgar, a painter of Swanton, born February 2, 1858. Luther arsh grew to manhood on the parental farm, receiving a com- school education On September 13 1861, when less than twenty years old, he enlisted in the same company to which his er belonged and experienced a very active military career until s mustered out of service on September 13, 1864. His company served in the Army of the Cumberland under Generals Rosecrans and Sherman and participated in the following engagements: tie of Wildcat, Ky., Mill Spring Campaign, Siege of Corinth, Perrysville, Ky., both battles of Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Tenn., Mission Ride, Tenn., Resaca, Ga., Kenesaw Mountain, Ga., Atlanta campaign, Jonesboro, Ga., Campaign of Georgia, Siege of Savannah, Campaign of the Carolinas, Battle of Raleigh. Mr. Marsh did not re-enlist because of his disabilities that disqualified him for their military service. On his return to Swanton he took up careening and farming, and he has since followed this occupation as far as his health would permit. He owns the old parental homestead at Swanton, having acquired it partly by inheritance and partly by purchase. Under his management the farm has been made very productive, being fully equipped with all the necessary buildings. He is an enthusiastic member of the Republican party; of Quiggle Post, Grand Army of the Republic; of Swanton Lodge, No. 528, Independent order of Odd Fellows; and with his wife and his daughters, is identified with the Methodist Episcopal, church. On January 19, 1873, he was wedded to Miss Josephine M. Hood, born in Hartland, Huron county, Ohio, and the daughter of Horace and Maria Lois (Lee) Hood. Horace Hood was born in New York State on October 13, 1815, and died October 2, 1855. His widow, who was born March 6, 1822, survived him until February 14, 1886. Of the eight children born to these parents five are still living. The names follow: Mortimer L., born May 10, 1843; Mable L., born April 6, 1845; Alice J., born August 11, 1846; Emily M, born November 24, 1847; Andrew E. born May 10, 1849; Horace E:, born November 24, 1851; Henry born September 26, 1854; and Josephine M., born August 11, 1855. To Luther G. Marsh and wife there have been born three children, as follows: Bertha Viola, born Nov. 16, 1875, the wife of George Paschen of Swanton; Vida Belle, born June 27, 1879, now Mrs. Claude Babcock of Swanton; and Beulah Lenore, born February 1, 1892. The names of the five grandchildren, all the children Of Mr. and Mrs. Paschen, are Arnold. Gilbert, Mable Viola, Georgians. Leslie, Martin and Dora May. Mrs. Marsh is an enthusiastic member and deputy president of Fern Lodge, No. 543, Daughters of Rebekah, at Swanton, Ohio.
ALEXANDER C. MOODY, one of the prominent and influential citizens of Delta, is an able solicitor in the employ of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and stands high in the esteem of the community in which he makes his
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home, being a man of high intellectuality and sterling attributes of character. Alexander Campbell Moody was born in Wapello county, Iowa, on the 15th of February, 1858, and is a son of Rev. John F. and Mary Ann (Parker) Moody, both of whom were born in Ohio, their marriage having been solemnized in Morgan county, this State. In 1852 they went to Iowa, becoming pioneers of Wapello county, where the father secured eighty acres of government land, near Ottumwa. In 1856 he exchanged this farm for a quarter section of land in Nebraska, about twenty miles west of the city of Omaha, which was then a mere frontier village. On that farm the mother died, in 1859, and her remains were the first interred in the cemetery near the homestead. Of this union four children were born, the subject of this review being the youngest. Rufus G., the eldest, is at the present time asSistant postmaster of Topeka, Kansas ; JoSiah was a teacher for twenty-one yearS, the greater portion of the time in the State of Nebraska, where he died in October, 1901, at the age of forty-eight years, leaving a wife and one son and one daughter ; Rev. Samuel Parker Moody is a clergyman of the ChriStian church- and now has a charge in the city of Clinton, Ohio. After the death of his beloved wife Rev. John F. Moody returned with his children to Morgan county, Ohio, where he still maintains his home, being venerable in years but still doing more or less active service in his noble calling, having been a clergyman of the Christian church since 1866, and having been a faithful and successful worker in the ministry. In 1862 he consummated a second marriage, his wife dying in 1874, leaving no children. In 1877 he married a third time, and this wife passed to the life eternal m 1903, leaving one daughter, Alice, who remains as the companion and housekeeper for her aged father. Alexander C. Moody secured his educational training in the public schools. of Morgan and Athens counties, Ohio, having been graduated in the high school at Nelsonville. He initiated his independent career 14 engaging as a teacher in the schools of Morgan county, and he devoted his entire attention to the pedagogic profession for the ensuing nine years, meeting with much success, and he haS since taught a number of winter terms. Since 1882 he has been employed as solicitor in various lines, and has proven exceptionally successful in this field of endeavor. For the lat seven years he has given attention exclusively to Soliciting for the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Company, being one of the valued agents of this strong and well known company. In Morgan county, Ohio, in the year 18 Mr. Moody was united in marriage to Miss Louise Price, who been his childhood friend and school-mate. She is a daughter‘ William and Henrietta (Walter) Price and was born and reared, Morgan county, being one of a family of three children. Her el brother, Isaac W., is a mechanic by vocation, and the younger brother, Robert M. remains on the old homestead farm with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Moody have been born seven children, concerning whom the following is a brief record: Mary, born May 19, 188o, 4 December 16, 1884; Martha, born August 18, 1882, died. Decem 8, 1884; the next child, a son, died in infancy ; Edna, who remains at
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the parental home, is book-keeper and stenographer for the Delta Milling Company; Eva and William are attending the public schools of Delta; and Rex is a fine youngster of three and one-half years at the time of this writing, in 1905. Mr. Moody has long been an ardent worker in the temperance cause, and his fearless opposition to the liquor traffic has caused him to gain the antipathy of the saloon element in his town, a fact in which he takes pride. Though not a political Prohibitionist, he is ever ready to lend his aid in effective temperance work, and in politics he maintains an independent attitude. He and his wife are members of the Christian church, and the family kinds high in the best social life of the community. Mr. Moody has been a resident of Fulton county since 1882, having maintained his time in Fayette until 1901, when he removed to Delta, where he owns an attractive home, opposite the Pommert House. He has twenty- two and one-half acres of land, adjoining his residence, and this is utilized for pasturage and small farming.
HIRAM L MOSELEY, a retired capitalist of Wauseon, was born near Rochester, Monroe county, N. T. He is the son of Hiram and Hannah (Olcott) Moseley, the former a native of New York and the latter the daughter of Thomas Olcott, an officer of the American navy in the War of 1812. Hiram Moseley was born near Hamilton, in Madison county, N. Y., having been educated at Hamilton, N. Y. Farming was his chosen avocation. Taking a deep interest in public affairs, he served as township trustee and commissioner of the county. He died at his home in 1865, aged sixty-five years. Arannah Moseley, his brother, served throughout the Civil war in the One Hundred and Fortieth New York regiment with the rank of captain. For eleven months he was confined in Andersonvilleson, from which he was extremely fortunate to escape with his life. Hiram L. Moseley, subject of this sketch, began teaching school at the early age of seventeen years, which calling he followed with marked success for seven years. He then traveled for several years a business representative throughout the Southern States. In 1867 came from Rochester, N. Y., to Wauseon, where he engaged in the mercantile business for eight years. Prior to his election as treasurer of Fulton couy he served for twelve years as school-examiner Of that county. From 1875 to ‘79 he served as treasurer of Fulton county, elected the first time by a large majority by the Republican party and se-elected practically without opposition. He administered the duties of the office to the entire satisfaction of all parties, thereby gaining their good-will. In 1892 Governor McKinley appointed him probate judge to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Newel. Mr. Moseley married Miss Adelaide Beach, daughter of Spencer and Clementia Beach. Mrs. Beach died in Wauseon at the age of eighty- two years. She was a Christian woman and highly esteemed by her neighbors and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Moseley are actively identified with the Baptist church., The children of the subject of this sketch are: Spencer Beach Moseley, a graduate of Michigan University of the class of 1893, is a civil engineer by profession, and resides at
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Kansas City, Mo.; Zella and Nellie, both of whom are still at home. Mr. Moseley is enabled to live a retired life, having accumulated a competency by close application to business and his remarkably successful business and official careers. He has just cause to be proud of what he has accomplished, feeling certain that the world .has not been made worse by his living in it. It is to be hoped that he may live for many years to come, enjoying to the fullest extent his well-earned riches.
F. W. MOYER, a prominent and successful merchant of Wauseon, was born in Lehigh county, Pa. He is the son of William and Sarah (Rabenold) Moyer, both natives of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Daniel Moyer, was born in the same house in which William and F. W. Moyer were born, the former's father having in an early day bought a farm of one hundred and forty acres when he settled there. William and 'Sarah Moyer had the following children.: Emeline Rufena, Levy (deceased), Alfred, Isabella, F. W., the subject of this sketch;' Charles B., Louisa, Agnes, Peter, Eunie, Ambrose, Morse, Caroline (deceased), and Calvin (deceased), all the living children being residents of Lehigh county, Pa.., except F. M., and Charles B., the latter of whom resides at Saginaw, Mich. At the early age of nine years F. W. Moyer left the parental roof to fight his own battle in life. In 1877 he began his successful business career as a clerk in a store. For ten years he was engaged in the dry-goods business and after that for some years in the hardware business. Since 1893 he has successfully conducted a large grocery store. Having during his clerkship undergone a thorough training for business, he has met with marked success in every line that he has undertaken. In Masonry he has taken a very active part, as is shown by the fact that he is a' Master Mason and that he has taken the Royal Arch, the Scottish Rite and the Consistory degrees of that order. He is also identified with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Merchants! National Union. He. married Miss Mary Schamp, the daughter of Henry and Catherine (Batdorf) Schamp, of York township, Fulton county, where she was born. Henry Schamp was born in New Jersey and came to Ohio, first settling in Wayne county and afterwards in Fulton county. Grandfather Batdorf also came to this county from Wayne county. The children of Henry and Catherine Schamp here follow: James, of York township; John, of Toledo, O.; George, of York township; Lucy, of .Fulton county; Mary, the wife of the subject of this sketch. The children of F. W. Moyer and wife are as follows: Pearl, James H., of Bowling Green, O., a graduate of the Columbus Dental College; Cecil, Florence, and A. D.
CASPAR MURBACH is justly entitled to a feeling of pride and gratification in being the owner of one of the model farms of Fulton county, and he has passed his entire life in this` section, having been born in Spencer township, Lucas county, across the road from his present farm, on the 20th of March, 1859. He is recognized al one of the progressive farmers and stock-growers of, the county,
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where he has a host of friends. His parents, who are now living retired in Swanton, this county, are Jacob and Elizabeth (Rudy) Murbach, both of whom were born in Switzerland, where they were reared and educated and where their marriage was solemnized. Soon after this important event in their lives they immigrated to America, and eventually settled in Lucas county, Ohio, and they have ever since maintained their home in this section, where they have the unqualified esteem of all who know them, the father having followed the vocation of farming during the major portion of his active career. Of his seven children in the family five are living, Caspar being the eldest. Jacob R. is likewise a successful farmer of Fulton township; Lizzie, who has never married, resides with her parents in Swanton; Edward is deceased, his death having resulted from injuries received in being kicked by a horse, and he is survived by his wife and two children; Amelia became the wife of Frank Schaeffer and is now deceased, having left one child; Katie is the wife of Jonas Wicks, a Winer of Fulton township; and Richard is a plumber and electrician, residing in the city of Cincinnati. Caspar Murbach was afforded the excellent- advantages of the public schools at Swanton, and he has been identified with the basic art of agriculture from his :boyhood days to the present. In his youth he learned the carpenter trade, but his knowledge of the same has never been utilized to any extent save in connection with work on his own farm. In 1884 Mr. Murbach was married, and he forthwith located on his present homestead, in Section thirty-six, Fulton township. The place at that time competed fifty-three acres, but he has since added to its area until the firm now includes one hundred and seven acres, practically all being eligible for cultivation, and the improvements are of the best, including an attractive modern residence, with slate roof, and a large and substantial barn, which likewise has a roof of slate. Mr. Murbach devotes his attention to general farming and stock-raising and is ready at all times to adopt measures and principles which will facilitate and itnprove the operation of his fine farm. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers' and Merchants' Bank in Swanton, in which he is still a stockholder, as is he also in the Pilliod Milling company and the A. a Baker Manufacturing company, of the same place. His interests aside from his farming enterprise are extensive and important, and his marked capitalitic reinforcement stands as the direct result of his own efforts, as he had but little when he initiated his independent lcareer. His farm is a model in every respect,, and it may be noted that he has installed platform scales for the weighing of stock and produce; has a wind engine and elevated tank, so that water may be carried to any part of the farm, and in the connection is supplied a device for modifying the temperature of the water in cold weather. In his political allegiance Mr. Murbach is a stanch Republican, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian Alliance church. February 26, 1884, Mr. Murbach was married to Miss Mary Meister, of Elmira, German township, this county. Her father, John Meister, was an early settler of the county, and her mother, whose maiden 'name was Elizabeth Zimmerman, is likewise a member of one of the
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old and honored families of this part of the State. Mr. and Mrs. Murbach have one child, Carrie, who is now the wife of Simon Raber, of Graymont, Livington county, Ill.
WILLIAM R. McMANNIS is the owner of valuable land, eighty-five acres in one farm and forty acres in another, eligibly located, in Clinton township, two miles north of the city of Wauseon, the judicial center of the county. He is a member of one of the prominent pioneer families of the county, where the major portion of his life has been passed, and he was one of Fulton county's representatives in the Union ranks during the War of the Rebellion. He was born in Wayne county, Ohio, September 29th, 1837, and is a son of Charles and Nancy (Jones) McMannis, the former of whom was born in Washington county, Pa., in April, 1808, and his wife was born in, the same State, in 1805, their marriage having been solemnized in Wayne county, Ohio, where they maintained their home the greater part of their lives. In 1833 they came to Fulton county, being accompanied by three children, and five more were born after the removal to this county, there having been in the family four sons and four daughters, of whom five are yet living. The maternal-grandparents of the subject of this review were William and Elizabeth Jones, and they likewise came to Fulton county with his parents. William Jones was a great hunter, and his old-fashioned flint-lock rifle proved the means of supplying the family larder with much fine game in the early days. The first experience of this family in Fulton county was when there was not a house nearer than nine miles except the Indian huts. Trees were cut and from them puncheons were constructed and used in lieu of chairs. Charles McMannis became a successful farmer of Fulton county, developing a tract of wild land, in Clinton township, and here continuing to reside until his death, in February, 1895, his devoted wife having passed away in 1867. It may be noted, in passing, that the first house of hewed logs to be erected in Fulton county stood near the site of the present fine residence of William R. McMannis. He has made farming and stock-growing his life work, has done his share in the reclaiming and developing of the lands of this county, and also in the civic advancement of its people, and he is held in high esteem in the community which has been his home for so long a term of years. He has resided on his present attractive farm since 1864, and has improved the same and made it one of the model farms of the township. In 1861, in response to President Lincoln's frist call for volunteers, Mr. McMannis enlisted as a private in Company I, Fourteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving nearly four months and then re-enlisting, for a term of three years.. About
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three months after his second enlistment he suffered a sun-stroke, being confined in the hospital about one month thereafter and then receiving his honorable discharge, as he was considered physically incapacitated for further field service. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, is an adherent of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church. December 22, 1863, Mr. McMannis married Miss Rebecca ayes, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, March 1, 1841, and who died in July, 1874, having become the mother of three children: Cora D. is the wife of Charles Wright, a farmer of Pike township; Kittie D. is the wife of Joseph Emerling, of Wauseon; and Alfred T., bachelor, is employed in a hospital at Gallipolis, this State. In 1875 Mr. McMannis married his present wife, whose maiden name was Hattie Peters and who was born in Mercer county, Pa., in 1847. They have four children—Florence M., Ivah I., Effie and Alta M., all of whom remain members of the home circle.
JACOB R. MURBACH.—Fulton county is favored in the fine class of men who represent its agricultural community, and among the leading farmers and stock-growerS of Fulton tOWnship is numbered Jacob R. Murbach, proprietor of the attractive Clover Blossom Farm. He was born on the old homestead farm, across the road from his present place,. in Lucas county, on the 4th of August, 1859, and is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Rudy) Murbach, both of whom were born in Switzerland, whence they came to America shortly after their marriage, settling in Lucas county, Ohio, as pioneers, and having ever since maintained their home in this section. They now reside m Swanton, and the father is retired from active labor, having gained a competency through his able efforts as a farmer. Of the seven children Caspar, individually mentioned in the preceding review, is the eldest, and Jacob R. is the second in order of birth. Lizzie, who has never married, resides with her parents in Swanton; Edward is deceased, being survived by his wife and two children, his death having occurred on his farm, near Sylvania, Lucas county, in November, 1904, at the age of forty-one years; Amelia became the wife of Frank Schaffer, and her death occurred in 1899; Katie is the wife of Jonas Wicks, a farmer of Fulton township; and Richard is a plumber and electrician, residing in the city of Cincinnati. Jacob R. Murbach not only availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of this locality, but also devoted much attention to study in an individual way, having a distinctive predilection for reading and study and thus making marked advancement in securing a broad fund of information. He has been actively identified with agricultural pursuits from his boyhood to the present day, and he has so ordered his course as to retain at all times the unqualified confidence and regard of the people of the community which has represented his home from the time of his birth. "Clover blossom Farm," his homestead, comprises one hundred and three acres of most fertile land, is exceptionally well- improved and is under most effective cultivation. In the installing of drain tiles Mr. Murbach has personally drained his farm, of which
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he came into possession in 1894. He follows diversified agriculture raises good grades of live-stock and is engaged in the cultivation of sugar-beets upon an extensive scale, employing from eight to ten men in caring for the crop in the earlier period of its cultivation. In politics he gives support to the Republican party, and his family holds membership in the Mission church at Swanton. May 1, 1884, Mr. Murbach was united in marriage to Miss Barbara Ziegler, of Lucas county,.a daughter of Jacob and Mary Ziegler, both of whom are now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Murbach have four children, all of whom still remain at the parental home, namely : Maude, Christina, Herbert and Grace.
GEORGE W. MYFRS, who is successfully engaged in farming in Clinton township, his place being located a short distance west of the city of Wauseon, was born in Henry county, this State, on the 27th of August, 1879, and is a son of John and Magdaline (Rich) Myers, concerning whom more specific mention is made in the sketch of the career of their elder son, Lewis J., which immediately follows this review. Mr. Myers secured his educational training in the public schools and accompanied his parents on their removal to Fulton county, in 1891, thereafter living one year in the State of Michigan. He then located on the home farm which he now operates, and was here engaged in the dairy businesS for three years, at the expiration of which he disposed of this enterprise to his brother, Lewis J., and attended school for a time, in the city of Wauseon. Since leaving school he has given his attention to the cultivation of the farm, which is one of the attractive and eligibly located places of Clinton township. March 6, 1898, Mr Myers was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Hale, daughter of Mr: and Mrs. Charles Hale. When Mrs. Myers was but two years of age her mother died and, in accordance with provisions made by the latter, she was taken into the home of her foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Garman, by whom she was reared and educated. Mr. and Mrs. Myers have two children, Floyd and Wanetta. John C. Garman, foster father of Mrs. Myers, is a representative farmer of Clinton township, his farm being located northeast of Wauseon. He was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, November 25, 1843, and is a son of John P. and Elizabeth (Koos) Garman, both of whom were born in Germany, whence the former came to America when eighteen years of age, and the latter was twelve years old at the time of her parents' immigration to the United States, the family locating in Tuscarawas county, where the pafents passed the remainder of their lives, attaining advanced age. In 1876 Mr. Garman married Miss Caroline Gasman, who was born in March, 1846, being daughter of John Gasman, who was at that time a resident of Findlay, Ohio. Mr. Garman followed the trade of carpenter for thirty years, and then purchased the farm where he now lives, the same comprising one hundred and five acres of good land, and he also owns and operates a saw-mill on his farm. He is a Republican in his political proclivities and served two years as township supervisor. He and his wife have reared two children, one of whom is Mrs. Myers, as already
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noted, and the adopted son, Harry Hoff, still remains with them, being twey-five years of age, and being associated with Mr. Garman in the operation of the home farm.
LEWIS J. MYERS, one of the representative farmers. of Clinton ship, was born in Ridgeville township,. Henry county, Ohio, on 8th of April, 1869, and is a son of John and Magdaline (Rich) ors, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania,. in 1829, and the latter was born in France, in 1843, and accompanied her parents on their immigration to America, in 1855, the family locating in Wayne couy, Ohio. In 1843 John Myers removed with his parents from Pennsylvania to. Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, and in 1864. he married Magdaline Rich. They thereafter remained in Bucyrus about two and one-half years, at the expiration of which, in 1866, they removed to Henry county, locating on a farm in Ridgeville tOWnship; Where they maintained their home until 1891, when they came to Fulton county, locating on a farm in Clinton tOWnship and there remaining until the spring of 1905, when they took up their residence in Wauseon, where they now make their home, the father having retired from active labor, having accumulated a competency through his well directed endeavors in past years. Lewis J. Myers was reared on the homestead farm, in Henry county, secured his early educational training in the public schools, and he has been continuously identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present time. After his marriage he remained for a time in his native county and then removed to Defiance county, where he was engaged in farming during thee ensuing five years, at the expiration of which, on the 22d of August, 1901, he came to Fulton couy, where he has since resided; having a well-improved farm of thirteen acres and devoting special attention to the dairy business, which department of his farming, enterprise he has made a very profitable one. He is a progressive and enterprising citizen, and in politics gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees. On the 11th of October, 1888, Mr. Myers was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Oden, daughter of Thomas and Susan (Jones) Oden, the former of whom was born, October 14, 1835, and the latter on August 3, 1836, and came to Fulton county in 1881, Mr. Oden having since been engaged in farming in this county. His wife met her death in a runaway accident, August 13th, 1896. Following is a record of the names and respective dates of birth of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Myers : George A., November 6th, 1889; Stanley J., February 12, 1892; Howard J., March 6, 1894; Enod E., November loth, 1899; Harold R., March loth, 1902; and Magdaline A., February 6th, 1905. Mr. Myers deserves the credit for his dairy enterprises, as the quality of milk served to his patrons is of the finest type.
WILLIAM NEVITT is one of the venerable citizens and retired farmers of Amboy township, where he has made his home for half a century, and his is the distinction of being a veteran of each the Mexi-
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can war and the Civil war. He was born in East Providence, Bedford county, Pa., March z, 1826, and is a son of Thomas and Rebecca (Earnesh) Nevitt, natives respectively of Scotland and Germany. They were married in the city of Washington, D. C., and thereafter continued resident of Bedford county, Pa., until death, the father having been a farmer by vocation. William Nevitt was reared and educated in his native county, and was there residing at the time of the outbreak of the Mexican war. In the spring of 1847 he enlisted as- a private in Company D, Eleventh Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, and proceeded with .his command to the scene of action. He took part in the battle -of Galveston, Tex., and in the Rio Grande campaign, including the battle of Palo Alto. His command was then ordered to Vera Cruz, but met with shipwreck at Tampico. where he contracted the yellow fever. After an illness of six weeks he rejoined his regiment, near the city of Mexico, the day before the attack on the city, in which action he took part. At the time when peace was declared he was with his regiment at Taluca, Mexico, and he received his honorable discharge in MD, in the city of New York. Thereafter he remained principally in Pennsylvania until 1854, when he came to Fulton county, Ohio, and •settled in Amboy township where he purchased eighty acres of wild land which he cleared and improved, developing one of the valuable farms of the county. On this old homestead he continued to reside until not, when he disposed of the property, but he still continues to make his home in the township, where he is held in high regard by all who know him. In November, 1861, Mr. Nevitt's martial spirit led him to tender his services in defense of the. Union. He enlisted as a private in Company A, Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer infantry, taking.part in the battle of Winchester and in the engagements at Fort Wagner and Fort Sumter, but being principally on detached duty: In the spring of 1865 he re-enlisted, as a veteran, receiving his final discharge in December of that year. Mr. Nevitt, though one of the few survivors of the Mexican war, is still hale and hearty, and finds his evening of life grateful and pleasant. He is identified with the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a stanch Republican in politics, having been identified with the party from the time of its organization. He is one of the oldest citizens of Amboy township, and is well known to' its people. In 1856 Mr. Nevitt wedded Miss Mary Welch, a daughter of Nathaniel and Drucilla (Chase) Welch, of Fulton county, and their son, George, now a resit. dent of the West, was born in 1861.
JAMES H. NOBBS, a prominent and highly esteemed farmer of Fulton township, is a representative of one of the early pioneer families of Fulton county, with whose annals the name has been identified for seventy years. He was born in the log cabin homestead, one and one-half miles west of his present farm, on the 2d of June, 1836; and is a son of John and Jane (Mason) Nobbs, both of whom were born and bred in England, where their marriage was solemnized. Soon afterward they came to America, and during the 'first two years they. resided in the State of New York. In 1836 they came to Ohio and
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settled on the farm on which James H., subject of this review was born. This farm was located on the Ohio side of the Michigan line, in the "disputed strip," which was then in Lucas county, Ohio, now being in Fulton township Fulton county. The parents passed the remainder of their lives here and were held in high regard, by all who knew them, having lived lives of signal honor and usefulness. The father was killed by a runaway team, having been seventy-four years of age at the time, and his wife was seventy-nine years of age at the time of her death, which resulted from an attack of typhoid fever. Of the nine children all are living except three Thomas is a resident of Wood county; Sarah is the wife of Samuel Saeger, a retired farmer, residing in Delta, Fulton county; William died in infancy ; James H. was the next in order of birth ; John resides in the village of Ai, this county Robert was a member of the Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, in the Civil war, and died in the general hospital in Mississippi, from disease; Anna is the wife of John D. Halsey, of Bowling Green, Wood county ;-Jane, who is deceased, was the wife. of Edward Vaughan; and Daniel M. resides on a farm adjoining the old Nobbs homestead. James H. Nobbs was reared on the pioneer homestead and had such educational advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the-locality and period. He early became familiar with the details of the agricultural industry, and through his essentially lifelong identification with the same he has found ample scope for intelligent and successful effort. He was engaged in the mercantile business for a short time, soon resuming his allegiance to farming. His present farm, which he purchased in 1865, comprises one hundred and ten acres, well-improved and under excellent cultivation, and devoted to diversified farming and stock-growing In politics Mr. Nobbs has been identified with the Republican party from the time of its organization, and he has been influential in public affairs of a local nature. He has held the offices of township assessor and supervisor and has also served as school director, his fidelity and able efforts having justified the course of his fellow-citizens 1n electing him to these positions of trust. During the Civil war he was a member of an independent military company and, by reason of ill-health, supplied a man to go to the front in his place. July 4, 1861, Mr. Nobbs was united in marriage to Miss Anna Fetterman, who was born in Pennsylvania, as were also her parents, George and Maria (Bacon) Fetterman. The mother died in the old Keytone State and Mr. Fetterman later married her sister, the family coming to Fulton county when Mrs. Nobbs was a child of two years. The father and his second wife passed the remainder of their lives in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Nobbs became the parents of eleven children, of whom nine are living, the names and respective dates of birth being as follows : Hattie G., born April 21, 1862; Etta Estelle, November 2, 1863; Cora May, October 7, 1865; Robert Ozza, January 5, 1868; Anna Belle, May 29, 1870; Jennie Luella, July 30, 1873; the next died in infancy, unnamed; Ethel, October 1, 1878; Myrtle Fannie, June 9, 1881; George Lloyd, August 31, 1882; Nellie, August 8, 1885; and Alta Leona, May 18, 1888, deceased. All the children are married and established in homes of their
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own with the exception of George L. and Nellie, who still remain at the parental home.
CORWIN F. MILLS properly finds representation in this publication by reason of his standing as a citizen and as one of the Prosperous farmers and stock-raisers of Fulton township. .has passed essentially his entire life in this section of the old Buckeye 'State having been born on a farm in Lucas county, not far distant front Swanton., Fulton county, on the 22d of August, 1860, and being a son of Arthur and Jane A. (Hogle) Mills, whose marriage was solemnized at Swanton this county, and who located finally in Swan Creek township, where they continued to reside during the greater portion of their lives thereafter, the father following agricultural pursuits and being one of the well-known and highly-esteemed citizens of this section. He died February 20, 1884, at the age of fifty-eight years and his wife was of the same age at the time of her death, which occurred on the 12th of January, [894, Corwin F. having been their only child. Arthur Mills had one daughter by a previous marriage, Louisa, who is now the wife of Clarence C. Quiggle, a merchant in Delta, this. county, Corwin F. Mills passed his boyhood days on the farm, and he was afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of Fulton county. At the age of nineteen years he entered the employ of the Deering Harvesting Machine Company, of Chicago, with which concern he remained six years, operating a turning-lathe in the wood-working department of the great manufactory. He was industrious and provident during these years, and the money which he saved served as the means by which he came into possession of his present fine farm property, and his, position is one of definite independence and prosperity. Within the six, years he saved from his earnings a sufficient sum of money. to pay for forty acres of land in Swan Creek township, this county. He located on the place in 1893, and there continued to reside until March 20, 1899, when he sold the property and purchased his present farm of eighty acres, which is eligibly located two miles northwest of Swanton. The initiative and progressive tendencies of Mr. Mills have led him to engage in a line of enterprise aside from his farming operations, and from each he has reaped, good returns, through energy and good management Since leaving the employ of the Deering company he has given much attention to contracting for the erection of bridges, having built bridges in every township in Fulton county, besides many in Lucas and Henry. counties. His home farm is improved with buildings of the best modern type, his fine barn having been erected in the summer of 1905. It is thirty-four by sixty-six feet in dimensions in the main, with an L thirty-four by forty-eight feet, the self-supporting roof reaching a height. of thirty-six and one-half feet, and the cost of the structure was fifteen hundred dollars. In addition to his general agricultural operations Mr. Mills gives attention to the raising of Short-horn cattle, Poland-China swine and other live stock of good grades. In politics he is a Republican, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Swanton Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of Odd
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Fellows, and Swanton Lodge, No. 588, Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife are identified with the Rathbone Sisters, auxiliary of the latter order, and also with Berry Grange, No. nil. Mrs. Mills is, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Swanton, and both she and her husband are popular in the best social life of the community. On the 23d of November, 1893, Mr. Mills was united in marriage to Miss Addie M. Purdy, who was born in Huron county, but who was reared and educated in Fulton township, where her parents, Dwight and Fannie J. Purdy, located when she was a child,, her father being now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Mills have four children—Robert, Fannie, Harold and Arthur.
AUGUSTUS NOBLE is accorded due recognition in this compilation by reason of his position as a representative citizen and prominent fanner of Royalton township, his well-improved homestead being located immediately to the west of the thriving village of Lyons. He was born in Warsaw, Wyoming county, N. Y., July 12, 1841, being a son of Dwight and Eunice (Watrous) Noble, natives respectively of the States of Connecticut and New York, from which latter they came to Ohio, settling in Royalton township, Fulton county, on the 3d of October, 1844, on the farm now occupied by the subject of this review. The Original homestead comprised one hundred and sixty acres, and, the father reclaimed the greater portion of the land from the virgin wilds, developing one of the excellent farms of this section in the pioneer era and both he and his wife died on the old place, of sixty acres of which he had previously disposed. They became the parents of five children, namely : Eleeta, wife of Warren Morey, Emily, wife of Philip Roos; Eliza, deceased wife of George Carrel; Catherine, deceased; and Augustus, subject of this sketch. Augustus, the only son, early began to contribute Ms quota to the work of the old homestead, which has been his .place of abode from the time he was three years of age, and he was given such educational advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality. His farm is improved with excellent buildings and is under a fine state of cultivation, being one of the attractive rural farms of this section of the county, comprising one hundred acres, and he gives his attention to diversified agriculture and stock-growing, is enterprise and good management making his success of cumulative character. May 22, 1864; when twenty-three years of age, Mr. Noble went forth to do yeoman service in the cause of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he took part in numerous skirmishes and in the battle of Deep Bottom, Va., and he was honorably discharged, at Toledo, Ohio.
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September 22, 1864, at the expiration of his term of enlistment. In politics he is numbered in the ranks of the stanch Democrats of this county, and he has served in various offices of local trust, having been trustee of Royalton township several terms, assessor one term and a member of the village council of Lyons one term. He is a of Baxter Post, No. 238, G. A. R., and Royalton Union Lodge No. 434, F. & A. M. Mr. Noble has been twice married, his first wifem Delia, having been a daughter of Edward and Betsy (Beebe) Patterson, of Royalton township. Two sons were born to this union Albert and Edwin. Mr. Noble chose for his second wife Miss Almira Westfall, daughter of George and Lucy (Burnett) Westfall, of Gorham township, and they have four children—Opha, Frederick, Electra and Bernice. Opha is the wife-of Floyd Barden, of Royalton township.
JOHN ODELL, M. D.—At the venerable age of four-score years, and after an average lifetime devoted to the arduous and self abnegating duties of one of the most exacting of professions, Dr. Odell is now, living practically retired in a pleasant home in the, attractive village of Delta, and-his extended circle of friends in the county gives evidence of the popular appreciation of his labors character and his Dr: Odell is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Windham township, Portage county, Ohio, do the 10th of March 1825, and being a son of Roswell and Miry (Pedicord) Odell, the former of whom was born in Vermont and the latter in South Carolina, and both families' were founded in America in the Colonial era. The father died in Lorain county, Ohio, aged fifty-five, and his wife attained the very venerable age of ninety-three years, passing her latter days in Barry county, Mich. They became the parents of four sons and three daughters—Elizabeth, Nathan, John, William, Roswell, Mary Ann, and Caroline. Aside from Dr. Odell, subject of this sketch, only one is living, Nathan, who maintains his home near Hastings, Barry county, Mich. When Dr. Odell was about fourteen years of age his parents removed from Portage to Lorain county, and in the latter he was reared to manhood, being able to gain more than the average youth from the somewhat meager advantages afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. A receptive mind and a rare power of assimilation aided him even in his rudimentary study. From the age of twenty-one years to the age of twenty-three he farmed in Lorain county. In 1848 in pursuance of his ambition to enter the medical profession, he entered the Cleveland Botanical Medical College, where he secured his technical training, having previously studied in a private way, under the effective preceptorship of Dr. Marshall Chamberlain, his brother-in-law, and he had practiced for two years in Lorain county. In 1850 he located in Delta, Fulton county, the place being at the time a small hamlet in a section which was to a large extent yet unreclaimed from the forest Wilds, and his was the lot of the average pioneer physician, in that he was compelled to make his way over almost impassable roads, in summer's rains and winter's snows, pursuing his humane mission with
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marked unselfishness and oftimes at great personal discomfort. He continued in active practice for more than half a century, and he now as the distinction of being the oldest physician in the county, even as lie is one of its most honored pioneer practitioners. The Doctor recalls with appreciation his early and herculean struggles with the all pervading ague, or "chills and fever," and in the early days his practice extended for a radius of from twenty-five to thirty miles from Delta, and he did his best to overcome the ravages of the ague. and other human ills, the first mentioned being largely due to the swampy condition of much of the land in this section—land which is today as fertile and productive as can be found in the State. For many years he made his visitations almost exclusively on horseback, as the roads, if existing at all, were impassable for vehicles much of the time, in many cases being mere bridle-paths or blazed trails through the virgin forest. The Doctor was successful in his profession and also in the accumulation of property. In the early days Dr. Odell stood at the head of his profession in this section in the matter of treating certain prevalent types of disease, following the Eclectic system largely in his practice. Dr. Odell has always been known as a public-spirited citizen, and from the pioneer days to the present his aid and influence have been given in the promotion of those enterprises and undertakings which have conserved the general welfare of the community. Through industry, economy and good judgment in the making of investments, Dr. Odell has accumulated a competency, though he has never been concerned in any speculative enterprises. He has contributed to the upbuilding and civic advancement of his home town and county, and in the summer of 1905 he gave the latest exhibition of his progressive spirit by erecting a handsome business block on the principal business street of Delta, the same being-an ornament to the town, a .monument to his memory and a source of definite and merited income to him during his declining years. The Doctor has been identified with the Republican. party, as a stanch supporter of its principles, from the time of its organization to the present, and while he has never sought office, he served several years as coroner of the county, and for twelve years was a valued member of the municipal council of Delta. Of him an appreciative acquaintance has written as follows.: "Dr. Odell is independent and liberal in his religious views and has never allied himself with any religious organization. He has the deepest reverence for the spiritual and ethical verities and his belief emphasizes only the cardinal principles of right and justice, without the formalities of creeds, dogmas or public professions. He believes that the Golden Rule embraces within its scope all religious essentials, both for personal guidance and salvation and for judgment of the motives and actions of others." It is needless to say, in view of the foregoing, that be is broad, tolerant and charitable in his views, and his life-record stands as the best evidence of his kindly helpfulness. His cherished wife, through a period of more than half a century, has proven a devoted companion and helpmeet, and mutual love and sympathy have brightened their pathway as they passed along through the uncertain journey of life. Mrs. Odell has long been a
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faithful and zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and her gentle and gracious personality has endeared her to all who have come within the sphere of her influence. Dr. and Mrs. Odell have an attractive home in Delta, and the golden evening of their days is being passed` under most grateful surroundings. In Fulton county, in 1852, Dr. Odell was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Ellen Zimmerman, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1833, being a daughter of John and Hannah (McQuilling) Zimmerman, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania. Her parents came from Holmes county, Ohio, to Fulton county in 1839 and here passed the remainder of their lives, having been honored pioneers of Pike township. They became the parents of twelve children, all of whom attained maturity and five of whom are still living. Dr. and Mrs. Odell became the parents of three -children: Dencie is the wife of Wesley J. Clizbe, of Chicago, and they have three sons: Roscoe J., Floyd Odell, and Harry John; Ida May, the second child, died at the age of twenty-one years, unmarried; John L. married Miss Bell Boughton and they reside in Chicago, having no children, but by a former marriage he has one daughter, Marguerite, who now resides in Wauseon, Ohio.
SAMUEL ODELL, M. D.—No other physician in Fulton county is more highly rated as a successful practitioner than ,Dr. Samuel Odell, of Swanton. He is a native of Olena, Huron county, 0, born September , 853. His parents, Samuel and Margaret (Wickham) Odell, natives of New York State, of English ancestry, were married, in Huron county, where their parents had located in pioneer days-. Samuel Odell died in his native county at the age of seventy-six years and is survived by his widow, now eighty years old. He was thrice married. By his first marriage there was one child, three by the second, and seven by the third marriage. The child of the first marriage is William, of Milan, Huron county, who served for nearly four years as a soldier in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry. Those by the second marriage are Joseph, a resident of Norwalk, O., and a farmer by occupation; Mrs. Anson Kellogg, a widow, of Norwalk ; and Mrs. D. K. Gauff, a widow of Milan. The two sobs above mentioned are widowers. The seven children of the third mar-- riage are Mrs. C. H. Brainard, of Fairchild; Allen, unmarried, who lives with his Mother ; Samuel, the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Jacob Truxell, a resident of Swanton township, Lucas county; Olive and Ida, unmarried, dressmakers of Norwalk, and Mrs. Marion Dowell, whose husband is a prominent farmer of Fulton township Dr. Samuel Odell was educated in the public schools of North Fairchild, where. the parental family lived for some time. lie was professionally educated at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, from which institution he received a certificate, and the Toledo Medical College, graduating in 1885. His first professional work was done at Metz, Ind, from which place he soon after removed to the village of Ai, Fulton county, where he practiced about three years. Then he located at Swanton, where he has been in continuous practice ever since. The large and lucrative practice that he now enjoys is the best evidence of
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his knowledge and skill. He is actively identified with the Fulton county, the Northwestern Ohio and the Ohio State Medical societies. While his practice is general, he holds a special diploma as an oculist and aurist. Dr. Odell has also for years been largely interested in buying timber-land, establishing saw-mills, cutting the timber, and disposing of the products and lands. His success in business has been as marked as that of his professional career. He owns a fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres, well improved with substantial buildings, and a half-interest in a farm of two hundred and forty acres in Fulton county. To his married son and daughter each he has given a valuable farm. In his fine home place in Swanton there are five acres of land, making it one of the most desirable properties in the town. Dr. Odell is prominent in the councils of the Republican party, having served one term as coroner of the county, as member of the Swanton council four years, and for the past two years as a member of the county central committee, and in November of 1905 he was elected mayor of Swanton. His marriage to Miss Louie A. Travis was solemnized on August 28, 1876. She is a native of Indiana, but was a resident of Huron county, O., at the time of her marriage. To this union there have been born three children. They are: Bertha, still at home; Fred, a farmer of Swan Creek township, and Jennie, the wife of Frederick Neis a farmer of Swan Creek township.
REV. WILLIAM S. OGLE, the able and honored pastor of St. Mary's church, at St. Mary's Corners. Amboy township, is one of the prominent members of the priesthood of the Catholic church in this section and is eminently entitled to representation in this volume. William Samuel Ogle was born in Cascade, Sheboygan county, Wis, and is of English and Irish extraction. He was reared in the faith of Holy Mother the Church and after attending the public schools entered St. Joseph's College, Dubuque, Iowa, where he completed his Classical education, and his theological course was taken in Mount St. Mary's Seminary, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was ordained to the priesthood on the 25th of May, 1902, at the apotolic hands of Bishop Horstmann. Father Ogle was at once assigned to his present parish, taking charge of the church and parish on the 14th of June, 1902. He entered upon the work of his high calling with great zeal, and he has infused marked vitality into all portions of the parish work, advancing the spiritual and temporal welfare of the church and having the earnest and appreciative co-operation of his people. Many improvements have been made during his short pastorate which have greatly increased the beauty and Material value of the church property. The .congregation now numbers about one hundred and fifty families and the parish is in a flourishing condition. Father Ogle is not only a power in his pastoral relations but is a forceful and interesting speaker and a man of most gracious presence. He has the high regard of the community in general and is doing a worthy work in his field of endeavor.
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THE OVAL WOOD DISH COMPANY, with principal offnces at Delta, and works at Traverse City, Mich. is one of the leading business enterprises of Fulton county. It was incorporated in 1884 by J. M. Longnecker, of Delta; Henry S. Hull, of Wauseon; and A. S. Flack, of Tiffnn, with a capital stock of $50,000. The primary purpose of the company was the manufacture of the oval) wood dish, but since it firt commenced business its scope has been widened to it luck among its products wire end dishes, clothes-pins, wooden wash-boards, and certain grades of lumber. As the hard or sugar-maple is the only; wood used in the manufacture of the wooden butter-dish the works were established at -Traverse City, soon after incorporation, in order to more easily obtain suitable timber. The plant is under the personal supervision of the president, Henry S. Hull, and the offices at, Delta, where the general business of the company is transacted, are in charge of Mr. Longnecker and a corps of capable assistants. Over three hundred people find remunerative employment in the various departments of this concern; the original incorporators still control the affairs of the company, and the output has grown to mammoth proportions. The wooden butter-dish came as an innovation and a boon to grocers and dealers in meats. If has been generally introduced to the trade throughout the United States and Canada, and is fast coming into popular favor in European Countries. The wooden dish was invented by S. H. Smith, formerly a resident of Delta, but now of Hillsdale, Mich., but it remained for J. M. Longnecker to apply the basic principle underlying its production. It is largely due to his business sagacity that the Oval Wood Dish Company owes its existence, and the great degree of success it has attained is largely due to his unceasing efforts, his business acumen and the high order of his executive ability and of those who he has associated with him. But the establishment of this industry—of itself a great triumph in the industrial world—is not the only line in which Mr. Longnecker has shown himself to be a useful, public-spirited and consequently a highly appreciated citizen of the community in which he lives. He was largely instrumental in securing the passage through Delta and Fulton county of the Toledo and Indiana electric railway, one of the best-equipped electric lines in the State of Ohio. As president of this corporation he has always been a potent factor in shaping its affairs, and with that same quick perception and tenacity of purpose that have distinguished his course in other undertakings, he has. placed the road among the popular and successful lines of the country. In 1900 he erected a finer three-story brick hotel, furnished it throughout and made it ready for guests. The result is that Delta has one of the best-appointed and most popular hotels in Northwestern Ohio, "The Lincoln," comparing favorably with the leading hostelries of some cities twice as large. Mr. Longnecker is a native of the "Keystone State," having been born in Cumberland county, Pa., and there reared and educated. While still' in his 'teens he, like many- another gallant youth of that great commonwealth, heard the call of his country, and in the dark days of the Civil war enrolled as a musician in Company B, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania volunteer militia. After three months in this service he en-
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listed in Company K, One Hundred and Ninety-second Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, where he served until the close of the war. In both organizations his lot was cast with the Army of the Potomac, there he was an active participant in some of the most stirring and decisive engagements of the war. When war against Spain was declared in the spring of 1898 he again offered his services to his country and was made a United States paymaster. In this capacity he was stationed most of the time at Washington, D. C., where he was engaged in paying mileage and allowances to officers and men. His titles in this line of work were discharged with the same thoroughness and fidelity that have marked the conduct of his private under- ;takings. Mr. Longnecker located at Delta in 1870, and soon became identified with the progress and development of that beautiful little city. Throughout his entire residence, of more than a third of a century there, his career has been distinguished by patriotism, progressiveness and persistence. Always true to his local, state and national institutions, yet filled with a desire to see them keep pace with the world's 'progress, he never swerves a line from what he conceives to be the highest duties of a citizen. Politically he is a stanch supporter of Republican principles, but has never been a seeker for public office, finding his highest satisfaction in assisting worthy men to positions of trust and responsibility, that his political principles may be properly sustained and his party's creed vindicated. In the councils of Free 'Masonry Mr. Longnecker occupies a high place and takes special interest in the deliberations of that ancient and honorable fraternity. In his domestic relations he is to be emulated, if not envied. For a life companion he selected Miss Almeda, daughter of Simon Zimmerman, one of the pioneers of Fulton county. To this happy union have been torn four sons, each an honor to his parents. Charles S. is the owner of the Delta electric light plant, in which he is doing a prosperous business, and has displayed many of those sterling qualities that have characterized his worthy father; Fred M. is associated with his father in business ; Benjamin F. is a graduate of the New York School of Law and is rapidly working his way to eminence in the legal profession, and Edgar B. is attending college at Cleveland, Ohio.
JOHN CALVIN PALMER, a builder and contractor of Wauseon, was born in that city in 1869. He is the son of Myron T. and Eugenia (Jacobs) Palmer, both natives of Ohio, the former having been born near Norwalk, Ridgefield township, Huron county, and the latter in the same county. His paternal grandfather, John Palmer, came from New York in an early day and located in Huron county, settling on the farm on which M. T. Palmer lived. The Palmers originally came from near Stonington, Conn. Myron Palmer before attaining to his majority enlisted in the Sixth United States cavalry and served four years. His regiment was a part of the Army of the Potomac and served under both Generals McClellan and Sheridan. He took part in no less than thirty-five battles and skirmishes, and was twice slightly wounded. In 1868 he came to Wauseon, where for three years he engaged in the mercantile business. Then he took up the work of con-
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tracting and building, which occupation he followed as long as he lived. For several terms he was a member of the city council, for he always took an active part as a Democrat in local politics. Having served his country so faithfully, he naturally took a deep interest in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife was the daughter of Whitney and Clyth (Mix) Jacobs, .the former the son of E. W. Jacobs and the grandson of Asa and Elizabeth (Whiting) Jacobs, both natives of Brattleboro, Vt. The members of this family were among the pioneer settlers of Huron county. The father of 'the subject of this sketch died on the home farm on February 15, 1902. The children of Myron T. and Eugenia Palmer are: Harlow, a resident of Wauseon; Luella, now Mrs. Charles McHenry, of Chicago.; Centilla, the wife of Harry Berry, of Toledo; Lina, wife of Ed. Newcomer, a druggist of Wauseon, and John Calvin, the subject of this, sketch. J. C. Palmer received a liberal education in the public schools of his native city, and was carefully trained for a business career. After completing his education he became a member of the firm of Palmer & Palmer, contractors and builders, of which firm he is the surviving member. For eighteen years he has been actively engaged in this work. The greater part of the fine private dwellings of Wauseon are the handiwork of Palmer & Palmer. This firm has met with phenomenal success because it has uniformly dealt honestly with its patrons by charging only moderate prices and using the very best of material. The many beautiful residences of the city are monuments to the skill and workmanship of the firm. For one term he served as mayor, of his native city, having been elected to that office as a Democrat. The fact that he is the second Democratic mayor the city has ever had certainly proves that he stands high with his fellow-citizens, and that his real worth is fully appreciated by them. Honest and straightforward in all of his dealings, Mr. Palmer richly deserves the good will and respect of the people of Wauseon. He is' also actively identified with the Masons and Woodmen. He married Miss Christine Martin, formerly of Chicago, whose father, a contractor and builder, lost his fortune in the great fire of that city. Only one child, Letha by name, has blessed this union.
WILLIAM PERCIVAL, one of the well-known and highly esteemed farmers and stock-growers of Swan Creek township, was born in the county of Cumberland, England, on the 12th of March, 1845, and in August, 1849, his parents came td America and located in Elyria, Lorain county, Ohio, and in this State they passed the remainder of their lives. Mr. Percival is a son of William and Hannah (Hutchison) Percival, both of whom were horn and reared in Cumber- -land county, England. They became the parents of six children, of whom the subject of this review was the only son. The mother died in Lorain county, in 186o, and the father passed away in 1871. William Percival, Jr., was reared to maturity. in Lorain county, receiving a common-school education of somewhat circumscribed character and early becoming dekndent upon his own resources. His life has been filled with earnest and consecutive endeavor and he has the utmot appreciation for the dignity of honest toil and the worthiness of him who
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performs it, so that he is essentially a judge of the true values of human existence and is charitable and kindly in his relations with his fellowmen. At the age of seventeen years, Mr. Percival Manifested his intrinsic loyalty to the Republic by enlisting in Company K, Tenth Ohio volunteer cavalry, in the year 1862. His command was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland, and he served under General Kilpatrick, taking part in the battle of Chickamauga, and the siege of Tullahoma, and being under fire for thirty-one days in the Elk river campaign. He was a participant in seventeen general engagements, besides numerous minor conflicts, and while he escaped wounds he was seriously disabled in a train wreck, was also taken prisoner, and he lost the sight of his right eye by paralysis, while in the service, While he was on picket duty near Huntsville, Ala., all the pickets except himself were captured. He reached the regimental headquarters and gave the alarm, thus saving the entire command from practically certain capture. For this valiant service he was tendered promotion, and at his own requet was advanced simply to the position of guard at General John B. Turchin's headquarters. Mr. Percival received his honorable discharge on the 17th of February, 1864, and then came to Fulton county, where he remained until the following February, when he re-enlisted, in Swan Peek township, becoming a member of Company C, One Hundred arid Eighty-second Ohio volunteer infantry, and he received his final discharge in July following, the war having then closed. He returned to Fulton county, and that he had a definite attraction to draw him to this section is evident when we revert to the circumstance that, on the 3d September, 1865, he was here united in marriage to Miss Ellen 'Coder, who was born in Ashland county, and who proved a devoted companion and helpmeet during the years of his struggle to gain a firm footing on the plane of independence and prosperity. She died February 6th, 1886, and is survived by four children : Agnes is the wife of Jacob. Kriger, of Amboy township; George is a successful carpenter and builder in Swanton; Jennie is the wife of Charles Sisson, of Swan Creek township; and. Oril is employed in the State Hospital for the Insane in the of Toledo. In 1888 Mr. Percival married his present wife, whose maiden name was Arabella Spaulding, and who was born and reared in Swan Creek township. They became the parents of two children one of whom is living, Eva, who remains at the parental home. Floyd died in 1893, at the age of four years. In politics Mr. Percival is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and he is affilated with Swanton Lodge No 528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with Fulton Encampment, No 289, of the same order, at Delta, having passed the principal official chairs in each body. Mrs. Percival is a member of the Rebekah Lodge of the I. O. O. F. Mr. Percival has cleared and reclaimed fully one hundred acres of land. in Fulton county, mostly in Fulton township, having been an indefatigable worker throughout life, though frequently handicapped by physicam infirmities, having had to use crutches at intervals, and as before stated, he has the use of but one eye. He now has a well-improved farm of twenty acres, in Swan Creek township, and is in independent circumstances,
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HARRISON PATTERSON is a native son of the Buckeye State, which he loyally represented as a Union soldier during the Civil war, and he is numbered among the prominent farmers of Royalton township, where he is the OWner of a well-improved farm of eighty acres in Section 16, and he maintains his residence in the village of Lyons, from which his farm is a short distance. He was born in Trumbull township, Ashtabula county, Ohio, April 16, 841, a son of Abel and Amy (Comstock) Patterson, the former born in Connecticut and the latter in the State of New York. The paternal grandfather, likewise a native of Connecticut and a representative of old Colonial stock, was numbered among the pioneers of Ashtabula county, Ohio, having located in Trumbull township, where he remained until the close of his life. The maternal grandfather, David Comstock, was likewise an early settler in Ashtabula county, whither he came from New York State, and later he located in Fairfield township, Lenawee county, Mich., where he passed the remainder of his days. Abel and Amy (Comstock) Patterson came to Fulton county in 1844, at which time the subject of this review was about three years of age, and the father purchased twenty-six acres of land in Section 12, Royalton township, and an adjoining fifty-four acres in Fairfield township, Lenawee county, Mich. He cleared and improved his farm and became one of the influential men of his section, continuing to reside on the old homestead until his death, in 1892, at the age of seventy-six years, and his devoted wife was called to the life eternal on the 2d of January, 1904, aged eighty-five years. They became the parents of eleven children, namely : Sylvester, Harrison, John, Emily, Adeline, Adelbert, Alonzo, Jason, Thomas, Davis, and Elnora. Sylvester died while serving as a member of an Ohio regiment in the Civil war ; Emily is the wife of Lewis Hackett; Adeline is the wife of James. Royce ; and Elnora is the wife of James Smith. Harrison Patterson passed his boyhood and youth on the old homestead farm, availing himself of such advantages as Were offered in the local schools, and contributing his quota to the strenuous work, of the farm. Finally he responded to the call of higher duty, tendering his services in defense of his country, whose integrity was jeopardized by armed rebellion. October 2, 1862, when twenty-one years of age, he enlisted as a private in Company F, Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he proceeded to the front, taking part in the battles of Fort Wagner, City Point, Malvern Hill, Deep Bottom, the Wilderness, and many minor conflicts, and being with his regiment at the .capture of Fort Gregg, in front of Petersburg, and thence taking part in the campaign through to Appomattox, being present at the surrender of General Lee, and having received his honorable discharge at Charlottesville, Va., in September, 1865. On his return home he engaged in work it the carpen-
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ter trade, which he followed until 1867, when he purchased forty acres of land, in Section 14, Royalton township, developing the property there continuing his residence until 1880, when he purchased his present fine farm of eighty acres in Section 16, making the place his home until 1899 and effecting many improvements on the same. He then removed to the village of Lyons, where he has since resided, owning a good residence property here, and still giving his supervision to his farm. He is held in high regard in the township which has been his home throughout life, has served nine terms as township trustee, and his unqualified allegiance is given to the Republican party. He is a valued and appreciative member of Baxter Post, No. 238, Grand Army of the Republic, at Lyons, of which he is a past commander. Mrs. Patterson is a member of the Church of Disciples. September 3, 1867, Mr. Patterson married Miss Mahala Myers, daughter of Johnson and Caroline (Runnells) Myers, of Amboy township, and of their children two are living—Alphonso, who married Miss Ann E. Rose; and Dellie Grant, who married Miss Laura Falor. Alphonso resides in Royalton township, three miles west of Lyons, engaged in farming a farm purchased by him. He and wife have one daughter, Doris E., five years of age. Dellie Grant Patterson resides in Royalton township, on the homestead farm. He and wife have one son, Mark L. Patterson, eight years of age.
JOSIAH C. PAXSON, of Wauseon, is a representative member of the bar of Fulton county, and a scion of one of the old and prominent families of the county. He was born in Chesterfield township, this county, May 27, 1866, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools he entered the Fayette Normal University, this county, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892. He had previously been a successful teacher in the public schools, and he also taught a number of terms after his graduation, having devoted about a decade to the pedagogic profession. His endeavors in this line, however, he considered merely as a means to an end; as he early determined to prepare himself for the legal profession, initiating his study of the law while still engaged in teaching. This was supplemented by a course of preparatory reading under the preceptorship of M. B. Cottrell, a representative lawyer at Delta, this county, and he finally was matriculated in the law department of the Ohio Normal University at Ma, where he was graduated in 1897, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He forthwith entered into a professional partnership with George A. Everett, the present mayor of Delta, and they were there associated in active practice until February, 1902, when Mr. Paxson came to Wauseon, where he has since been associated in practice with John Q. Files, under the firm name of Files & Paxson, the firm being recognized as a particularly strong one and controlling a representative professional business. The -ancestral history of Mr. Paxson, in both the paternal and maternal lines, traces back to the State of New Jersey, where the respective families, identified with the Society of Friends and contemporaneous with William Penn, were founded in the Colonial days.. Branches of the respective families have adhered to the
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simple and noble faith of the Friends or Quakers throughout several generations. The parents of Josiah C. Paxson were John and Rebecca (Mason) Paxson. The former was born in 1822 and came to Northwestern Ohio and settled near West Unity, Williams county, in 1847. In 1862 he removed with his family to Chesterfield township, Fulton couy, where he passed the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring in September, 1894. He was left an orphan in early childhood and was reared by his paternal grandparents. He was a man of strong character and unbending integrity, and was held in high esteem in the community where he lived and labored so many years. His wife was a daughter of John and Charity (Borton) Mason, who located in Fulton couy in 1837, passing the first four years in German township and then removing to a farm in Franklin township, where the father died in 1878, at the age of seventy-seven years. They were born in the vicinity of Camden, N. J., and both the Masons and Bortons were devoted adherents of the Society of Friends. The Paxson family also was prominent in the ranks of this same society, but Elizabeth (Case) Paxson, paternal grandmother of the subject of this review, was a Baptist in her religious faith, and to this church the majority of her posterity seems to adhere: In 1890 Josiah C. Paxson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hallett, whose father, Ephraim Hallett, of Meramora, this county, lost his life in the Civil war, having been a member of the Sixty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry. Mr. and Mrs. Paxson have two children, Florence and Edwin. In politics Mr. Paxson is an uncomprising Republican, taking an active interest in the furtherance of the party cause, and in a fraternal way he is identified with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias.
WILLIAM B. PETERSEN, one of the representative farmers of Fulton township, is a native son of Fulton county, having been born on the old homestead farm, three miles east of the village of Delta, in Swan Creek township, on the 22d of October, 1866. He is a son of John and Sophia C. (Winklesett) Petersen, both of whom were born in Germany, the former on the 22d of September, 1814, and the latter on the 1st of September, 824, and both came to America in 1845, their marriage being solemnized in a Methodist Episcopal church in New York City in 1852. Thereafter they resided on Staten Island until 1861, the father having there followed his trade, that of cooper. In the year mentioned they came to Ohio and located on a farm in Swan Creek township, Fulton county, where they made their home for the long period of twenty-one years, and the father then purchased a farm in Fulton county, there continuing to reside until hiS death, in 1892. His wife is now a resident of Fulton township. They became the parents of three sons and two daughters : John N. resides in Delta and is individually mentioned on another page of this publication ; Annie is the wife of Wallace Smith, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Henry resides in Wauseon, Fulton county, Ohio; Teresa is the wife of Eugene Wales, of Swanton, this county; and William B., of this review, is the youngest. William B. Petersen secured his educational training in the public schools of Swan Creek township, where he was reared to man-
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hood under the sturdy discipline of the farm, and he has been consecutively identified with agricultural pursuits save, for a period of three years during which he was engaged in teaming in Swanton. In 1885 he was united in marriage to Miss Laura Schrock, who was born in Fulton township, being a daughter of Levi and Delilah (Hostetter) Schrock, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, of stanch German lineage. Mr. and Mrs. Schrock became the parents of nine daughters and two sons : Josiah met his death while serving aS a Union soldier in the Civil war; Catherine is the wife of Jacob Everett, of Fulton township; Susan resides in this township, unmarried; Lucinda is the of wife of Saul Frybarger, mentioned elsewhere in this work; Mary is the wife of Joseph Baldwin, of Lytton, this county; Lavina is the wife of Elias Sigsby, of Pike township ; Delilah, wife of John Harger, is deceased; Eli resides at Whitehouse, Lucas county, where he is engaged in the general mercandise business ; Ella is the wife of Martin Collins, of Richfield township; Sarah is the wife of Charles Gates, of Lyons, this county; and Laura, wife of Mr. Petersen, is the youngest of the children. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen have four children, namely : Ora, born February 27, 1886; Fredie, Born November 6, 1891; Ollie, torn February 10, 1901; and Ella, born August 12, 1904. Mr. Petersen is a Republican in his political adherency and takes a loyal interest in public affairs of a local nature. He has charge of the old homestead, which he cultivates, and he resides on a neighboring farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which he rents, the same being owned by residents of Toledo. He devotes his attention to mixed farming and stock-raising, is being prospered in his labors, and he is regarded as one of the foremost and most enterprising young men of the community.
HENRY W. PIKE has been identified with the agricultural interests of Fulton county for more than two-score years, and is now numbered among the prominent farmers and influential citizens, of Clinton township. Mr, Pike claims the old Empire State of the Union as the place of his nativity, having been born in Monroe county, N. Y., on the 8th of September, 1838, and being a son of Joseph and Lydia (Simons) Pike, both of whom were born in the State of Vermont, of stanch old Puritan stock. The father served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and died in the State of New York, in 1857. His widow came to Fulton county, Ohio, with her son, Henry W., subject of this sketch, and she died at Tedrow, this county, in 1862. Henry W. Pike Was reared to, manhood in the State of New York, having secured his early educational training in the common schools of Alleghany county, and his vocation throughout his entire active career has been that of farming. He came to Fulton county in 1860, first locating in Dover township, and later passing five years in German township, after which he located on his present fine farm, of sixty-two acres, in Clinton township, where he has since maintained his home, and he has made excellent improvements on the place, which is one of the attractive rural demesnes of this part of the county, thrift and prosperity being indistinctive evidence. In his political proclivities Mr. Pike is a stanch Re-
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publican, taking much interest in the supremacy of the party, has served two terms as township trustee, and has also rendered effective service in the offices of road supervisor and member of the school board. The church relations of himself and wife are Methodist. On the 8th of September, 1861, Was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pike to Miss Maria Long, who was born in Ashland county, Pa., April 4, 841, being a daughter of John and Margaret (Carr) Long, who were likewise natives of Pennsylvania, whence they came to Fulton county, Ohio, in 848. To Mr. and Mrs. Pike have been born six children, concerning whom the following brief data are entered : Frederick V. married Miss Eliza Wells and is engaged in farming in Dover township; Ida M. is the wife of Herman Glade, of Chicago, Ill. ; Addie died in infancy; Charles H. married Miss Rosa Stuttsman, and is a prosperous farmer of Dover township; Minnie is the wife of William Stubbins and they reside in Wood county ; and Pearl L. remains at the parental home.
JOHANNES ERNST PLETTNER, a retired farmer and an influential citizen of Swanton, was born in Berlin, Germany, on April 16, 1832. He is the son of Ferdinand and Wilhelmina (Lifting) Plettner, both natives of Prussia, where their lives were spent, the former dying at the age of seventy-two years and the latter at fifty-six. They were the parents of the following children, two of whom died in infancy: Theodore A., for two years a soldier in the Prussian army, died in German township, Fulton county, leaving a large family; Bertha, Mahlow and Ida Fitting died in Berlin ; Johannes Ernst Arnold, a bachelor residing in Berlin, who also served in the Prussian army, in the same company in which the subject of this sketch served, and Amanda Aurora, unmarried, who is a resident of Berlin. Johannes E. Plettner remained in his native country until twenty-five years of age and served for three years as company clerk in the regular army of Prussia. Although a soldier at the time of the Crimean war, he was not called into active service in that conflict. He emigrated to America by himself in 1857 and located at the village of Ai, Fulton county. In the spring of 859 he went to Colorado and remained there engaged in mining until October, 1861, making the trip and returning to Ohio in a wagon. On this trip Mr. Plettner acted as hunter for a party of twenty-seven, en route to the gold fields. On 'May 1, when about eighty miles west of Fort Riley, a cyclone struck the train, seriously injuring several of the party, one fatally, and demolishing the wagons. Breaking loose from the wagons the cattle sought safety in flight. The baggage that was left was later transferred to Denver by another train. On the return trip the party had some miraculous escapes from drowning in the Platte river, losing most of the baggage at Floating Island. On May, 2, 1864, Mr. Plettner enlisted for the period of one hundred days in Company H of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving until September 22, when he was discharged. His command was with the Army of the Potomac and took part in the battle at Deep Bottom. For six weeks the regiment was under continuous artillery fire. After his marriage he located on a farm and for eight
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years was actively and successfully engaged in general farming. Then he went to Macon county, Mo., where he farmed until 1872, when he 'returned to Fulton county. After retiring from the farm he resided for several years in Ai, and in 1900 located in Swanton, where he built the substantial residence he now occupies. Mr. Plettner is the inventor and patentee of the Fulton Washing machine and the Twin washer, the former of which is in general use in the State of Ohio. In .politics he is a stanch Republican, having served as assessor of Fulton township. He was a charter member of the Robert O. Nobbs Post of the Grand Army of the Republic at Ai, and now holds membership in Quiggle Post, No. 289. In 1861, on April 14th, he was wedded to Miss Eva Fashbaugh, a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Fashbaugh, each now deceased, who were early settlers of Fulton county. To Mr. and Mrs. Plettner there have been Born seven children, four of whom are living. Those living are : Otto, a machinist of Continental, 0., who married Miss Minnie Holmes and has two daughters : Mildred and Ruth. Augusta, the wife of Alfred Smith ; Elizabeth Eva, now Mrs. Edward J. Hoodless, who have one child, Otto ; and Amanda, the wife of Frank Harger, who have three children living: Hope, Harold and Garland. The three deceased died in childhood. Mr. Hoodless and family now make their home with her father, who together with his wife is a devout member of the United Brethren church.
LEAMON S. PLUMMER, a successful merchant-tailor of Swanton, is a native of Lapeer county, Mich., where he was born on November 24, 86o. He is the son of Charles and Margaret (Siver) Plummer, the former a native of England, and the latter of German ancestors, born in the United States. Charles Plummer was a farmer by occupation and in 1869 removed from Michigan to Troy, Ontario, Canada, where he was drowned the following year while on a hunting expedition. His widow survives him and is now residing with her husband's parental family in Canada. Two sons were bolt to these parents. They are : Leamon S., and Eugene, a merchant-tailor of Delta. Leamon S. Plummer was reared and educated in Michigan and Canada. Having learned the tailor's trade in Blenheim, Ontario, he followed that occupation in Canada until 1891, when he removed to Toledo, 0., and there plied his trade for the next two years. In 1893 he changed his residence to Swanton, which has been his home ever since. In 1904, having .up to that time lived in rented property, he purchased a property that answered the double purpose of residence and store room. As he has no competition in his line, he has with little difficulty established a highly profitable business. Being an expert workman himself, he sees to it that only first-class work is put upon the market. Mr. Plummer is a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons (having joined that fraternity in Blenheim), of the Odd Fellows and of the Modern Woodmen of America. While independent in politics, he leans strongly towards the principles advocated by the Republican party. His choice of a helpmeet on life's journey was Miss Margaret E. Hilts, a native of Chatham, Ontario, where she was reared and educated. She is the daughter of William
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and Nancy (Davidson) Hilts, the former of German and the latter of French descent. Of the six children that have been born to Leamon S. Plummer and wife four are now living. They are named, Eugene Irwin, Charles, Miles Ashton, Percey Guy, Louis S., and Robert. Charles and Louis are deceased. The first four named were born in Canada and the others in Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Plummer are actively identified with the Order of Eastern Star. They are not connected with any religious organization.
LOUIS N. PILLIOD, president of the Farmers' and Merchants' Deposit Company and the Pilliod Lumber Company, of Swanton, was born in Napoleon, Henry county, Ohio, on May 24, 1859. He is the son of Augustin and Amelia (Harris) Pilliod, both deceased, the former a native of France and the latter of Genesee, N. Y. Augustin Pilliod was a miller and merchant by occupation, which business he conducted with unusual succeSs, amassing quite a fair competency. They were the parents of seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest. Louis N. Pilliod was educated in the public and parochial schools of Toledo, O., and at the University of Notre Dame, Ind. He began his business career in the milling business, following that occupation successfully for fifteen years, and then took up his present line of work. The Pilliod Lumber Company, with a capitalization of $25,000, was incorporated in 1901. This establishment does wholesale lumber business and manufactures all kinds of Luilding material, giving regular employment to twenty-five skilled workmen. Mr. Pilliod was the principal organizer of the Merchants' and Farmers' bank at Swanton, an institution capitalized at $25,000, and of which he is the head. He is the owner of considerable property and the director of extensive business interests. Ail recognize him as an active and progressive businesS man and one of the leading citizens of Fulton county. While he has always led a strenuous business life, he has, nevertheleSs, found time to look after public matters, having served on the village council. In politics he is identified with the Democratic party and in secret society affairs with the Knights of Pythias. Louis N. Pilliod was first married to Miss Emma Hill, of Swanton, who died in August, 1890, leaving her husband one son, Thomas J., to mourn over her demise. His second wife was Miss Lillian Mabry, of Swanton. This union has been blessed with three children. Their names are: Lawrence L., Esther Lucile and Agnes Lorine. ThomaS J. Pilliod is at present engaged as manager of the Pilliod Milling Company.
SAMUEL J. POMMERT, who was formerly the genial proprietor of the Pommert House of Delta, was torn in Caledonia, Ohio, October 4, 1852. He is a son of Adam and Sarah (Burkhardt) Pommert, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Pennsylvania, being also of German extraction. Adam Pommert was a tailor by occupation and frequently changed his residence to better promote his business interests. He married in Galion, Crawford county, Ohio, and he and his wife died in LaGrange county, Ind., neither having attained
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to old age. They had a family of seven children, four of whom are now living, one having died in infancy, one in childhood and Rosa in young womanhood. The living are: Charles, a barber of Auburn, Ind.; Joseph, in business with his brother Charles; Nettie, a resident Goshen, Ind., and Samuel J., the eldest of the family. Samuel J. Pommert was reared and educated principally at Edgerton, Ohio, where be became an apprentice to the barbers trade and completed his apprenticeship at Sandusky, Ohio. For two years he followed his trade at various places and then located at Auburn, where he resided for eighteen years. In 1874 he was wedded to Miss Eliza Swander, who was born on a farm near Auburn, February 7, 1858. Her family are among the pioneers of that section of the Hoosier state. Her father, Jonathan Swander, who lived to a ripe old age, was a prominent and active citizen of that locality. He married Christina Row of Summit county, Ohio, where his mother's people were early settlers. They had a 'family of nine children, seven of whom lived to years of maturity. Their names follow : Susanna, John, Elizabeth, David (deceased), Minerva (deceased), George, Sarah, Eliza and Emanuel. They, lived together for fifty-six years, his wife dying at the age of seventy-three years and he at eighty-eight. Samuel J. Pommert and wife removed from Auburn to Orland, Ind., where they resided for six years. Then they moved to LaGrange, Ind., and finally, in 1896, to Delta. Prior to coming to Delta he had purchased the hotel property now known as the Pommert House. To the work of successfully considing a hotel he and his excellent wife are especially adapted. The keeping of the house is up-to-date in every particular, the table being supplied with the very tet of everything in the market and the charges extremely moderate. Mr. Pommert is a genial, accommodating landlord, whose chief concern is the comfort and convenience of his guests. lie is devoted to his work and takes pleasure in collecting curios and in training his pets during leisure hours. Having no children of their own be and wife have made a home for several children, for whom they provided educational privileges. In politics he is independent, although he was reared in the faith of the Democracy. lie has never sought office and thus is enabled to exercise the right of suffrage without the restraint of the party lash. Mr. Pommert is a member of the National Union and of the Auburn, Indiana, Lodge of the Knights Of Pythias, which organization he joined in 1871. His wife is a member of the Rathbone Sisters, and the Woman's Relief Corps of Delta, in which she takes the deepest interest. In religious matters she is identified with the Methodist-Episcopal Church.
WILLIAM W. PRATT.—We of this twentieth century, representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, are too prone not to give due heed to those elemental valuations which touch upon the deeper essence of human life. and human achievement. We can not afford, to hold in light esteem those who have wrought nobly in any field of endeavor, no matter how humble and obscure, nor should we withhold respect and honor from those who have given or are giving an heritage of worthy thoughts and
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worthy deeds. Duty to posterity implies that records of the lives of honest and loyal citizens should be perpetuated in publications of this nature, and those who would withhold such records have neither appreciation of the labors of their ancestors, immediate or remote, nor can they deserve more of appreviation on the part of their own children and later generations. William W. Pratt, who has been for many years engaged in the blacksmithing and wagon making business in Delta, and who still contmues actively identified with the enterprise which he established so many years ago, though he has attained the age of four-score years, is a citizen whose life has been marked by industry, earnestness of purpoSe, inflexible integrity and loyal citizenship, so that none is more clearly entitled to representation in this work than he. Mr. Pratt Was born in Erie county, N. Y., on the 1st of April, 1825, and is a son of Robert and Abigail (Wiles) Pratt. The father was likewise a native of the old Empire State and was a blacksmith by trade, as had also been his honored sire. William W. Pratt received limited educational dvantages, being bound out at the age of fifteen years and serving an apprenticeship at the trades of blacksmithing and wagon-making. He was released by his employer at the expiration of eighteen months and then went to Perry, Wyoming county, N. Y., where he finished learning his trades, and in the autumn of 1847 he came to Ohio. For a short time he worked as a wagon-maker in Maumee, Lucas county, and in the spring of 1849, he located in Delta, where, he has ever since made his home. For many years he devoted his attention to wood-working, manufacturing and repairing wagons, and since about 1865 he has worked in both wood and iron, also done wagon and carriage painting, and he is still actively employed in this way, having a well equipped shop in which he may be found each working-day, and bearing the weight of his many years most lightly. Few men of his age can be found thus actively engaged in such mechanical work and many of half his age can not turn out better or more work in a given length of time than can thiS sturdy and honored octogenarian. He has worked indefatigably from childhood to the present day, and the most serious illnesS which he has ever experienced was that of the prevalent "fever and ague" of the early days. He erected his present shop m 186o, and in all the intervening years he has here been found actively and cheerfully engaged in the work of his trades. The first wagon which he manufactured in Delta was utilized as the conveyance which bore to their destination the commissioners who selected the site for the county-seat of Fulton county. This vehicle waS made and finished after the New York Style and was unique in this section at the time. Its utilization as noted not illy served as an advertisement of Mr. Pratt's business but also bro ght his mechanical ability to the attention of the public. In 185o Mr. Pratt was united in marriage to Miss Susan Tom, who was born in olmes county, Ohio, in 1830. They became the parents of six ch ldren: Edward E. is engaged in the drug business in Delta; Jennie is the widow of William H. Dillman, of Bryan, Williams county, and now resides with her father; Jacob is superintendent
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and manager of the telephone system in Delta; William is a black-smith by trade; Della is the wife of George W. Shaffer, a merchant of Delta; and Eugene is a painter and decorator by vocation, residing in Delta. Mrs. Pratt was summoned to the life eternal on the 7th of March, 1905, after having been her husband's loved and devoted companion and helpmeet for fifty-five years. Her death was the great loss and bereavement of his life, and he reveres her memory and in his evening of life is sustained by the thoughts of the gracious associations of the years that have gone. He attributes his success in the earlier years to a large extent to his wife, who aided and encouraged him and bore her full share of the burdens and responsibilities of the home. She was a zealous member of the Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Pratt also has been a member for many years, and in politics he has always been aligned with the Democratic party, Though never an aggressive partisan. He served for some time as fat member of the school board, but has never sought office of any description. He reared and educated a large family of children and assisted his sons in establishing themselves in business. He is one of Delta's best-known and most honored pioneers, and during a residence here of nearly sixty years he has witnessed manifold changes in the town and county. The little hamlet of Delta when he came here was a mere backwoods settlements of a few aggressive pioneers, and no railroads had yet penetrated this wild forest country, in which even the ordinary roads were few and primitive. Times were hard, Money scarce and of uncertain value, and about the only thing the pioneers had in unstinted quality was the ague, engendered by the miasmatic swamps, which everywhere abounded. Mr. Pratt and his estimable wife endured their full quota of deprivations and discomforts, but they worked hard and lived frugally in the early days, thus paving the way for a competency for their declining years. Their Children, carefully reared and afforded the best possible educational advantages, left the parental roof, one-by-one, until the parents were left entirely alone. Then, after years of constant and loving companionship, came the separation which brought irreparable loss to the honored pioneer to whom this sketch is dedicated. It is said that misfortunes never, come singly, yet it seems almost that the misfortune which came to Mr. Pratt's daughter, Mrs. Diliman, in the death of her husband, about the same time as the demise of her mother, proved a benefice to Mr. Pratt, in that it gave him the society and companionship of his daughter, thus rendering the home less desolate, and the daughter's grief was rendered less poignant by her return to the roof which had sheltered her in her childhood. Mr. Pratt believes it better to "wear out than to rust out," and he finds satisfaction in keeping at work in his shop, where he has manufactured two complete wagons, including painting, entirely by himself, within the past few months.
ISRAEL R. PUTMAN, one of the successful farmers and stock- growers of Fulton township, is another of those worthy citizens of the county who claim the old Keystone state as his place of nativity.
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He was born in Somerset county, Pa., January 29, 1851, and is a son of William and Julianna (Barnes) Putman, the former of whom was born in Somerset and the latter in Bedford county, Pa. William Putman was a farmer by vocation and passed his entire life in his native county. He went forth to do yeoman service as a Union soldier in the Civil war, and he died while at home on a veteran furlough, at the age of forty-three years. His widow is still living in Pennsylvania. They became the parents of two sons and two daughters, Israel R. being the eldest. William Michael is a farmer in Somerset county, Pa.; Mary A. is the wife of Smith B. King, of that county; and Lucretia is the wife of Simon Nicholson, of the same county. Israel Putman was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, where he remained until he had attained the age of twenty years, when he started westward, passing a few months in Noble county, Ind., and then coming to Delta, Fulton county, Ohio. Here he worked by the month about one year, after which he engaged in farming on his own responsibility. In February, 1881, he purchased his present farm, of eighty acres, of which forty acres have been reclaimed by him, and he has erected good buildings on the place and has made other excellent improvements. When he purchased the farm the residence on the same was a log-house. In 1897 he erected - his present attractive farm residence, and his large and well-equipped barn was built in Igoe. The place is divided into ten-acre lots, all being well fenced. Mr. Putman devotes his farm to diversified agriculture and also gives considerable attention to the dairy business, selling milk to the condensing plant in Delta. He is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and is a public-spirited, enterprising citizen. He has held school offices in his township, but has never been a seeker of official preferment. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. July 4, 1871, is recorded as the date of Mr. Putman's marriage to Miss Mary C. Bratton, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Bratton, of Fulton town, ship, both of whom are now deceased. MrS. Putman was born in this township, on the 29th of November, 1857. Mr. and Mrs. Putman have two children: Archibald B. married Miss Ella Fauble and resides on a farm adjoining that of his father; and Chloe D. is the wife of Clarence Smith, principal of the public schools of Lyons, Ohio.
JOHN F. RAKER is a veteran of the Civil war, was long a successful and popular teacher in the schools of Fulton county, and is the owner of the fine old homestead farm on which his parents took up their residence in the early pioneer days, in Swan Creek township. Though he has lived practically retired for nearly a score of years, he still resides on his farm, and is one of the best-known and most popular citizens of his township. Mr. Raker was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on the loth of October, 1843, and is a son of Martin and Elizabeth (Dindore) Raker, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, on the 2d of January, 1812, and the latter in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1814. Their marriage waS solemnized, in Fairfield
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county, on thee 22d of January, 1837. The father was a son of Martin Raker, Sr., who came to what is now Fulton county in 1835 and 1836, settling in Swan Creek township, which was then a part of Lucas county. Here he passed the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy-five years, and having, with the aid of his sons, reclaimed a farm in the midst of the dense forest. On his removal to this county he was accompanied by nine of his children—John, William, Jacob, George, Abram, Solomon, Catherine, Sarah and Christena. Two children remained in Fairfield county—Martin, Jr., and Mary. In 1846 Martin Raker, Jr., father of the subject of this review, also came to Fulton county, being accompanied by his wife and their three children—Mary J., Abraham J., and John F. The youngest child, Martin L., was born in Fulton county. All of the above-mentioned members of the Raker family, with the exception of William, remained residents of Fulton county, and the representatives of the name are now very numerous in this favored section of the old Buckeye State. William located in Kosciusko county, Indiana, where his descendants still live. Martin Raker, Jr., died in his seventy-fifth year, and his loved wife was laid to rest in the Raker cemetery in Swan Creek township on the seventy-sixth anniversary of her birthday. John F. Raker was reared amid the environments and associations of the pioneer era in this section, assisting in clearing up a farm it the wilderness. The farm which he now owns was the parental homestead, and it comprises one hundred and sixteen acres of most fruitful land, the place being well improved. At the time when the family located here the virgin forest marked the site, and the father and sons literally hewed out a farm from the dense woods. In the *inter of 1846-7 the logs were hewed for the erection of the family domicile, and it is interesting to record that this substantial old dwelling still constitutes the residence cif Mr. Raker. Improvements have been made on the building, in the way of siding the same with matched boards, repairing and modernizing windows, floors, etc., but the structure still remains essentially the "old log-house" of the pioneer days, and it is one of the landmarks of this part of the county. Mr. Raker inherited one-third of the homestead farm and eventually purchased the interests of the other heirs, and it is needless to say that the place is endeared and hallowed to him through the memories and gracious associations of many years. In the early days, while working on the farm during the almost perpetual "vacations," he contrived to attend the primitive district-school from three to four Months during the successive winters, and thus gained a comparatively good English education. In July, 1862, shortly before his nineteenth birthday, Mr. Raker enlisted in Company H, One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry, for a term of three years. His military experience was thrilling and interesting, and his sufferings as a prisoner of war baffle description. At the battle of Limestone Station, Tennessee, while on detached service, a detail from each company of the One Hundredth Ohio, was captured, Mr. Raker being one of the number thus falling into the hands of the enemy, the total number captured being about two hundred and fifty. Mr. Raker was
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held a captive for eight months, during which time he was incarcerated in turn at Pemberton, Belle Isle, Libby prison and Scott, enduring his full share of the wretched hardships and horrors of these famous Southern prison pens. After his release from prison, by exchange, he rejoined his regiment at Washington, D. C., the command being then en route to Fort Fisher, North Carolina. He participated in the various engagements in which his command was thereafter involved, continuing in service until the close of the war. He received his honorable discharge in North Carolina, and was finally mustered out, in Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1865. Shortly afterward he entered Oberlin College, where he effectively supplemented his somewhat limited common-school education, and he there prepared himself for teaching, having followed the pedagogic profession, with exceptional success, for the succeeding seventeen years. He has ever continued an appreciative student of bookS and affairs, and is a man of broad intellectual ken and well fortified opinions. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party, but he has never sought or held public office. In religious matters he is liberal and tolerant, having a due respect for the spiritual verities and ethical formulas, without regard to dogmatism or secular views. He has leased his farm to capable tenants for the past score of years, but resides in the old home, living practically retired. He has remained a bachelor.
WILLIAM RAMSEY, M.D., a pioneer and retired physician of Delta, was born in Omagh, North Ireland, September 1, 1827. His ancestors were of Scotch antecedents and removed to Ireland two generations before his birth. With his mother, three brothers and one sister he came to America, his father having died when William was a child. As his father was a farmer William spent his first fourteen years on a farm in Ireland. The journey across the ocean was made from Londonderry to New York City in a sailing vessel and required seven weeks. After landing at New York they went to Philadelphia, where they spent their first Fourth of July. From Philadelphia they proceeded to Pittsburg by rail and canal and from Pittsburg to Bolivar, Tuscarawas county, O., where the family located in 1842. Mrs. Ramsey, the mother of the subject of this sketch, was a woman universally esteemed for her excellent traits of character and maternal instincts. A heavy task fell upon her in the rearing and education of the family. The sequel shows that she performed her duty well. She was never known to be out of humor and she never punished a child with a rod. She was the mother of the following children: James who died a bachelor at the age of seventy-nine years; Christopher who is still living at the age of eighty- five years; John who died in 1903; Margaret who died unmarried, and William. All except the last named remained in the vicinity of Bolivar, where they spent their lives in agricultural pursuits, and became wealthy. Prior to coming to America Dr. Ramsey had received a fair education, which he supplemented in this country by additional studies in the district school and in an academy at Hagers-
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town, O. At the age of seventeen he began teaching and the foilowing year read medicine. Teaching during the winter months, he spent his summers reading medicine .in the office of Doctors Bennett & Hodge, of Bolivar. While engaged in this and other work of various kinds he assisted his mother to pay for the home farm. In 1849 he was graduated from the Reserve Medical college of Cleveland. After graduating he spent over one year in the drug business and in practice at Loudonville, O., coming to Delta in the spring of 1852, where after a long struggle he established a large and lucrative business. The struggle of his boyhood days to acquire unaided an education affords a valuable lesson to the struggling youth of to-day who were born without the proverbial "silver spoon." When he entered Hagerstown college he had just thirteen dollars in his possession. A kind gentleman of that town, who had himself been befriended in his youth by a stranger, generously offered to pay his way through college, but this the self-reliant young Ramsey felt obliged to decline. Leaving school in debt, he declined any aid in the way of a loan, and going into the harvest field he earned the money with which to discharge his obligation. The struggle for a professional education was equally arduous. When he reached Delta he found himself possessed of a horse hitched to a two-wheeled "gig" and seven dollars in money, his saddle-bags and medicine having been lost on the way while crossing a stream at Napoleon, Ohio. With this meager capital he began his practice in competition with three experienced physicians who had preceded him. The story of his labors here is one of unrelenting toil, hardship and privations. Traveling long distances in rain and snow, cold and heat, through forest-roads well nigh impassable at all seasons and particularly so during the period when the ground was not frozen, for the mud seemed never to dry up. Continuing this work for a period equal to an average life-time, he was at last enabled to retire from active practice. He now recalls the fact that he was so busy at times in his practice that he did not remove his clothing for weeks. At that time Fulton county was almost wholly undeveloped, and when Dr. Ramsey first began to practice he traveled largely on horseback over roads blazed through almost impenetrable forests. He used a two- wheeled "gig" and a saddle-horse in traveling over the country. As a result of all this effort he has acquired a competency, which he has distributed with a liberal hand, educating his children and starting them on life's journey in profitable business enterprises. Dr. Ramsey has witnessed and has been an active participant in the growth and prosperity of Fulton county. He has been successful even beyond his most sanguine hopes. But his success was only the key-note to the success of others. Possessed of a liberal disposition and a generous nature, he has on several occasions voluntarily furnished the means to ambitious boys to acquire better educational advantages. Once he assisted a poor girl, and the proceeds of his generosity enabled the young lady to be introduced into business society which eventually resulted in her becoming the head
immer in a wholesale millinery establishment. Others of his wards
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held high positions in the councils of the nation, and the scriptural text, "Cast thy bread upon the waters," etc., was verified in that each one whom he aided returned to him every cent he had expended in their behalf. For more than fifty years Dr. Ramsey has been a prominent character in Fulton county, during which time he has ministered to suffering humanity with remarkable skill and for titude. During the Civil war he was called into the service as an examining surgeon, and after the maimed and disabled soldiers began to seek pensions for their disabilities, he served for twenty- three years on the pension board of examiners, retiring voluntarily. During the progress of the war he attended the wives and children of the absent soldiers without making any charge for his services, where they were in moderate circumstances. He has always been a zealous worker in everything calculated to enhance the interests of the people. In religious matters he has been a valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and with hiS wife has been active in all lines of church work. Since the organization of the Republican party the Doctor has been a zealous advocate of its principles, being well acquainted with all of the party leaders, but has never held a public office. After retiring from active practice he engaged for a time in the banking business, which he afterwards turned over to his son, William. Since 855 he has been actively identified with the Masonic fraternity. On June 1, 1854, he was wedded to Miss Catherine Trowbridge, born June 27, 1832, a representative of one of the first settlers of the county. Her father, Flisha TrOWbridge, came here from Connecticut in 1834 and was a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church in pioneer days. The Trowbridge family is traceable to English origin, long established in New England, whence they scattered throughout the rest of the country, assisting materially in its development. Dr. Ramsey and wife are' the parents of four children, two of whom are living. Those living are: William E., born June 29, 1860, who has succeeded his father in the private banking business in Delta and who is also engaged in the real- estate and insurance business. He is married and has two children. Dr. Frank P., a talented and successful physician of Central Lake, Mich., was born December 6, 1872, is married but has. no children. Those deceased are: Lovey L., who was born April 7, 1856, and died August 5, 186o, and John H., born September 22, 1862, and died August 5, 1864. Dr. Ramsey and his estimable wife are now living in retirement in Delta, where they are enjoying the fruits of earlier labor and sacrifices, as well as the highest esteem of all who know them.
WILLIAM F. RAMSEY is one of the representative business men of the younger generation in Fulton county, being the cashier, of the Bank of Delta, and he is a member of one of the honored pioneer families of the county, which has been his home from the time of his birth. Mr. Ramsey was born in the village of Delta, on the 29th of June, 1860, and is a son of Dr. William Ramsey, one of the honored pioneer physicians and surgeons of Delta, concerning
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whom individual mention is made in the review that immediately precedes this one, so that further data are not demanded in the present connection. William E. Ramsey was reared in his native town, in whose public schools he secured his preliminary education, supplementing this discipline by a course of study in the Ohio State University, in Columbus. As a young man he served in the office of the assistant auditor of the Toledo, Delphos and St. Louis railroad, now known as the Clover Leaf railroad. The Bank of Delta was founded in 1868, by Dr. William Ramsey and David C. Teeple, the former eventually becoming