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JOHN G. WELLS, a prominent liveryman of Wauseon and Archbold, was born in Ripley township, Holmes county,, Ohio. He is the son of James and Nancy (Lee) Wells, both natives of Ohio. His grandfather, William Wells, was a native of Maryland, and a pioneer settler of Ripley township, Holmes county. The father of William Wells served in the Revolutionary war. James WellS waS born in Ripley township, Holmes county, in 1819. In 1858 he removed to Fulton county and bought a farm in Clinton township, where he lived until 1886, the year of hiS death. His wife was the daughter of James Lee, a native of the same township, where he was one of the earliest settlers. The sketch of the Lee family is found in another part of this work. Only one child, the subject of this sketch, was born to James Wells and wife. John G. Wells was only six years old when he came with his parents to Clinton township, Fulton county. He was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools of Fulton county. So well was he pleased with farm life that he chose farming as his avocation. In 1886 he removed to Kansas, where for twelve years he resided in Coffee and Osage counties, following his chosen calling. On his return to Wauseon, in 1898, he embarked in the livery business, which he has ever since so successfully conducted. His experience on the farm and his thorough knowledge of horses are of great assistance to him in the management of his business. His popularity is largely due to his readiness at all times to accommodate his many patrons, making only the most reasonable charges. He keeps nothing but good horses and the traveling public shOWs its appreciation of that fact by patronizing him liberally. John G. Wells is actively identified with the Modern Woodmen and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He married Miss Sophronia D. Murphy, of Seneca county, Ohio. Her mother was a native of Canada and she was the daughter of Robert and Arellia (Becox) Murphy, who came to Ohio from Canada, settling first in Seneca and afterwards in Fulton county. John G. Wells and wife have five children. They are: Curtis C., deceased; Clare B., a liveryman of Lima, Ohio ; Ray M., a liveryman of Archbold; Robert G., of Wauseon; Howard, of the same city, and John L., deceased.
ADDISON BROOKS THOMPSON, a well-known business man of Delta, is a native of Fulton county and a representative of one of the earliest pioneer families, of that county, his birth occurring on the parental farm, October 1, 1860. Here and in Delta his life has been spent in various lines of successful business endeavor. His. father, Abraham B. Thompson, a native of Lincolnshire, Fngland, was born March 5, 1831, and when an infant three months old was bereft of a mother's tender care, and a little over a year old when his father came to the United States, leaving behind three helpless children, who were entirely dependent upon the charities of relatives. In 1848 his father returned to. England, and when he again
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left for America he took Abraham, then a lad of seventeen, with him and established a home in Royalton township, Fulton county, where the son lived until he attained to his majority. His chief consideration when about to start out in life for himself was the acquirement of at least a fair business education. This he accomplished by working out by the month to earn the means to enable him to attend a school at Maumee City, only suspending his studies when his means were exhausted. At this time, when he realized so strongly the need of means to prosecute his studies at school, the California "gold fever" was rampant all over the country and young Thompson decided to seek his fortune in the far West. In 1854 he made the journey by way of the Nicaraguan route, but was prevented from landing for some time because of small-pox on ship-board. Upon landing he found himself entirely out of money, but this fact did not long discourage him. Borrowing thirty dollars from a friend he made his way into the mining districts with renewed hope. After enduring all the hardships and privations incident to pioneer life and practicing the closest economy for four years he accumulated, about two thousand dollars. In the fall of 1858 he returned to Ohio and invested his money in a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Amboy township, which he at once began to improve and cultivate. Abraham Thompson was one of the most prominent and progressive farmers of Amboy township, was honored with all of the township offices and for nine years served as county commissioner. In 1869 he erected suitable buildings on his farm and commenced the manufacture of cheese, in which industry he continued during the balance of his life-time, and which is now operated by his son, the subject of this sketch, who in fact has been interested in the plant since 1880, and since 1888 has been the business head of the industry. By the establishment of this industry the farmers of the community have been greatly benefitted, the annual distribution of cash among them averaging for many years fifty thousand dollars. While a rival industry at Delta has diminished this amount, the volume of business transacted is still an important item of dairying interests. In 1875 he removed to York township, one half-mile north of Delta, and two years later erected an elegant residence on the place in which he lived until a short time before the death of his wife, when he built a handsome residence in Delta. He built an extensive cheese factory on this farm and operated it in connection with the one in Amboy township until 1883, when the latter was sold. While successful both as a farmer and manufacturer, he was notably so in the cheese industry, accumulating a comfortable fortune. The product of these factories, all of the very best quality, was marketed mostly in Toledo, 0., and Adrian, Mich., although a fair proportion was used to supply the home demand. The home farm is owned and occupied by his daughter, Mrs. J. W. Miller, and the village home is the property of the other daughter, Mrs. Grandy. Abraham Thompson was an active and zealous member of the Masonic fraternity and attained to a high rank in the counsels of that time-honored organization. Whatever he found to do. he did with all his might, and from 1863 until the day of his death he was a faithful adherent to the teachings of
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Free Masonry. In his intercourse with men he was ever fair and honorable, and the passing of this venerable pioneer was the occasion of universal mourning. On November 27, 1859, he was married to Miss Susan Ann Powlesland, a native of Devonshire,' England, who had accompanied her parents to this country in 1849. To this marriage five children were born. They are: Addison B.; Cara Dora, born May 18, 1862, now Mrs. J. W. Miller; Evaline Fancetta, the wife of Fred Grandy, and Ira J., who is married and lives at Swanton. His first wife having died in Delta, he chose as his second wife Mrs. Mary J. Huntington of Delta, who died in 1901. Addison Brooks Thompson is prominently associated with the business affairs of Delta and the surrounding country. He settled up the business of his father's large estate and distributed the property among the heirs on the most equitable conditions. His own personal interests being quite extensive, he is one of the busiest men in the county. Realizing the need of another bank in Delta, he succeeded by dint of constant agitation of the question in interesting other capitalists in the project, and in 1900 the Farmers National Bank of Delta was organized and incorporated with a capital of twenty-five thousand dollars. Since its organization it has paid regularly a semi-annual dividend of two per cent. and has a surplus capital of five thousand dollars beside, the stock being worth one hundred and thirty, and every dollar sold since the organization has realized more than par value. In addition to his banking business, Mr. Thompson is busy superintending his large farming and dairy. interests. For about five years he was actively engaged in the mer cantile business in Delta. Desiring a central location, where he might always be found by those wishing to do business with him, he accepted the agency of the Toledo and Indiana electric railway company at Delta when the road was first built, and he still holds that position. When twenty-one years old he became a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons. In 1890 he received the degrees in Octavius Waters Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and three years later became a member of the Toledo Commandery, Knights Templar. He and family are attendants at the services of the Presbyterian church, of which organization his wife is a member. In politics he is a Republican, as was his distinguished father before him, believing it to be the party of progress and sound government. Being a public-spirited and progressive citizen his efforts/ favor of the advancement of public interests have always been felt in the community. On May 9, 1883, he was married to Miss Harriet R., the daughter of W. K. and Harriet D. Gilbert, of Delta, her ancestors being of English stock. W. K. Gilbert, a very prosperous business man in his life-time, is now deceased and his widow lives with her daughter, where she finds a hearty welcome, her presence adding cheer to the happy family. They are the parents of four children, three of whom are still living. They are: Arthur B., born in April, 1884, is a graduate of Delta high-school and at present a very successful teacher in the public schools; Winnie A. who was born in May, 1886, and died in November, 1894; Fred G. born in November, 1894, and Floyd E., born in October, 1896.
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ELI THOMPSON, who maintains his home in the village of Fayette, is a veteran of the Civil war, and is a well-known and popular citizen, having been for nearly a quarter of a century employed as section-foreman on what is now the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad. He was born in Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pa., December 17, 1833, and is a son of William and Mary (Campbell) Thompson, both of whom were likewise born in that same county of the old Keystone State, the original ancestors of the Thompson family in America having come from Scotland and settled in Berks county, Pa., prior to the War of the Revolution. The Campbell family also is of pure Scottish strain, and the original American representatives settled in into Jersey, near the Pennsylvania line, later removing over into the latter State, prior to the Revolution. William Thompson was the youngest in a family of nine children, and all are now deceased. In 1835 he came with his family to Ohio and settled in Knox county, where he worked at his trade, that of carpenter and joiner, for the following eleven years. In 1846 he returned to Northumberland county, Pa., where he remained until 1850, when he came again to Ohio, and located in Morrow county, whence, in 1853, he came to Fulton county, settling on a farm two and one-half miles south of Fayette, in Gorham township, and there remaining until his death, which occurred October 20, 1887, at which time he was nearly seventy-five years of age. His wife passed away in 1872, at the age of sixty-three years. Of their eight children. Eli is the eldest; Alba died in 1855, aged twenty years; Elizabeth remains on the old homestead farm, never having married; Sarah is the wife of Charles Gorsuch, of Waldron, Hillsdale county, Mich.; Mary died in infancy; Phynanda became the wife of Frank Spencer, and she died in Fayette, Ohio, in 1901, her husband having previously died on a farm near Cleveland, O. William operates the old homestead farm; and Bartlett is a resident of Bryan, Williams county. William Thompson was a leader in the local ranks of the Democratic party for many years, and both he and his wife were worthy members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Eli Thompson secured his early educational training in the common schools of Pennsylvania and Ohio and also attended a select school for a time. As a young man he commenced work at the trade of carpenter and joiner, in Morrow county, Ohio, learning the trade under the direction of his father, with whom he was associated in this field of labor until the removal to Fulton county. Here Eli continued to work at his trade independently, and he also taught- in the district schools of the county for three winter terms. In 1861 he was employed as clerk in a general store in Fayette, after which he returned to Pennsylvania for a visit. On the 1st of November, 1862, he there enlisted as a private in Company H, One Hundred and Seventy-third Pennsylvania 'volunteer infantry, in which he was forthwith made quartermaster-sergeant, in which office he continued until the close of his term of enlistment. He was with his regiment at Norfolk, Va., and after the battle of Gettysburg the command was attached to the Second Division of the Eleventh Corps of the
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Army of the Potomac. He received his honorable discharge, August 10, 1863, and he then located in Pottsville, Pa., where he was employed three years as outside foreman of a colliery. In 1872 he came to Fayette, Fulton county, and in that year purchased his present attractive little homestead of fifteen acres, lying within the corporate limits of the town on the south side. The first three years he worked at his trade and he then entered the employ of the Canada and Chicago railroad, continuing with the line after the road became a part of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad, with which he has been section-foreman for thirty years, having served under five different track-masters and being one of the trusted employes of the system. He is an uncompromising Republican, takes a lively interest in public affairs, and he served four years as a member of the village council of Fayette. He was a member of the Independent Order of Odd FellOWs for more than twenty years. October 25, 1863, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Mary A. Aregood, of Pottsville, Pa., in which State she was born and reared, and they have eight children, namely: William I., a resident of Elkhart, Ind.; Eli B., at the parental home; Joseph F., of Detroit, Mich.; Olive M., at the parental home; Osman A., likewise a member of the home circle; John H., of Delta, this county; Alva A., of Morenci, Mich.; and Sadie S., of Detroit, Mich.
IRA J. THOMPSON, a prominent manufacturer of Swanton, is a native of Royalton township, Fulton county, born May 10, 1868. He is a son of Abraham B. and Susan (Powlesland) Thompson, and a brother of Addison Brooks Thompson, of Delta, a full sketch of whose life and family history appears elsewhere in this work. Ira 'J. Thompson when seven years old accompanied his parents to the farm near Delta, where his early manhood years were spent. He received his ,education by attending the Delta public schools and Fayette Normal, University. After attaining his majority he farmed the old homestead for six years and then purchased a farm of his own, located one half-mile north of it. Here he resided until 1900, when he leased the farm and removed to Swanton. For the next four years he was engaged in the transfer business. In the spring of 1905 he embarked in the business of manufacturing cement blocks for building purposes, a business that he has since conducted with marked success. Mr. Thompson is the inventor of a machine for mixing the sand and cement, by means of which the mixing process is more quickly as well as more thoroughly done than by hand. This machine is operated by the same gas-engine that pumps the water to wet the blocks and to make the mortar. The stock on hand and ready for use consists of about twenty-five hundred blocks, the daily capacity of the plant being three hundred blocks. In addition to his plant he also operates a steam wood-sawing outfit, and contemplates erecting a mill for grinding feed. Mr. Thompson is a Republican in politics and a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons. On December 25, 1890, he was wedded to Miss Ada E. Haynes, of Ai, the daughter of Jacob and Nancy
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Haynes, early settlers of that locality. Mrs. Thompson was born in Fulton township December 14, 1864, where she was reared and educated. To these parents there have been born two interesting children. They are: Florence and Fern, both in school. By dint of close application to business and untiring energy Mr. Thompson has won success in life, notwithstanding the fact that he is still a comparatively young man.
ALEXANDER THOMSON, who is now living essentially retired in the village of Payette, has been one of the prominent and successful farmers of Fulton county, and is known as a citizen of sterling character, possessing those dominating traits which ever distinguish the true Scotsman, though he has been a resident of the nited States from his boyhood and is loyally appreciative of the institutions and privileges of our great republic. He was born in Cabrach Braes, Forbes parish, Tullynessel, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the 1st of October, 1842, being a son of Alexander and Ann (Dow) Thomson, who were born and reared in that same parish, where the respective families had been established for many generations. In 1854, when Alexander, Jr., subject of this sketch, was twelve years of age, the parents immigrated to America, making Ashland county, Ohio, their destination. They arrived in New London, Huron county, on the 23d of October of that year, and there the father died the next day, as the result of an attack of cholera, which he contracted in Quebec, Canada, while en .route, and he was sixty-three years of age at the time of his death. His devoted wife survived him by many years, passing to the "land o' the leal" in 1871, aged sixty- eight years. They became the parents of three sons, of whom Alexander alone survives. James, who was a soldier in Company A, Sixty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, in the Civil war, died at Pittsburg Landing, while in service, and is buried at Cairo, Ill.; William died in 1862, and his remains were laid to rest in Savannah, Ashland county, Ohio, beside those of his loved mother. Alexander Thomson, to whom this review is dedicated, passed his youth in Ashland and Richland counties, and such were the exigencies of time and conditions that his educational advantages were somewhat limited, though he had received excellent preliminary training in his native land. He has made good the handicap of his youth, however, and through well-directed reading and studious application, as well as through association with men and affairs, he has become a man of broad information, possessing an alert mentality and having all the canny originality of the stanch race from which he is sprung. He traveled for years in various Western States and territories, and in 1872 he located near Boydton, Mecklenburg county, Va., where he secured seven hundred and seventeen acres of land and engaged in farming. He thus continued until 1877, when he traded his Southern plantation for one hundred and sixty acres in Chesterfield township, Fulton county, Ohio, paying an additional consideration of two thousand dollars. He took up his residence on his new farm, which he greatly improved, making it one of the model places of the county
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and being successful in his agricultural and stock-growing operations. He continued his residence on the homestead, which he still owns, until 1902, when he located in Fayette, where he has since lived retired. March 26, 1872, Mr. Thomson was united in marriage to Miss Mary McCombie Johnston, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Tytler) Johnston, who were born in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland, and who came to America on the same ship as did the Thomson family. They also located in Richland county, Ohio, near Savannah, and there Mr. Johnston died May 9, 1881, aged seventy years, and his wife died May 22, 1901, at the venerable age of ninety years. Of their four children all are living. Following is a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Thomson : They are the parents of three children: Anna is the wife of David Carey, of Decatur, Mich.; Margaret died at the age of two years; Lulu is the wife of Arthur Miller, of Fayette. Mr. Thomson is independent in his political views, supporting the measures and candidates meeting the approval of his judgment and taking an intelligent interest in the issues of the hour. Though never ambitious for office he has rendered effective service as trustee and assessor in Chesterfield township.
LYMAN A. TOMPKINS, M. D., after laboring long and faithfully in his chosen profession, in which he gained precedence as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Fulton county, is now living practically retired in the village of Metamora. The Doctor was born in Reed township, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 5th of February, 1841, a son of John and Julia (Jordan) Tompkins, both natives of Steuben county N. Y., where their marriage was solemnized and whence they removed to Seneca county, Ohio, about 1835, the father becoming one of the pioneer farmers. of Reed township, where he reclaimed 120 acres of wild land, becoming one of the substantial and Influential citizens of the county, where both he and his wife died. His father, William Tompkins. also a native of Steuben county, N. Y., removed to Seneca county. Ohio, about the same time, likewise reclaiming a farm, upon which he passed the residue of his life. Thus four generations of the family have been represented in the Buckeye State. Michael Jordan, maternal grandfather of the Doctor, was a farmer by vocation and passed his life in Steuben county, N. Y. The children of John and Julia (Jordan) Tompkins were as follows: Michael, Sally, Emeline, Betsey, Delos, Lois, William, Myron, Lyman A., Alfred, Margaret, and Ardella. Dr. Tompkins was reared to manhood in Seneca county, where he was accorded excellent educational advantages, having entered the Seneca County Academy, at Republic, after leaving the common schools, and. having later continued his higher literary studies in Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, that county. While a student in this institution he also took up the study of medicine, under the direction of General Franklin, M.D., of Tiffin, an able representative of the Eclectic school of practice, and after leaving Heidelberg College Dr. Tampkins took a course of lectures in Miami Medical College, in Cincinnati, this being in the year 1866. In 1867 and 1869 he was a stu-
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dent in the Physio-Medical College, in the same city, this institution representing a new and beneficent system of practice. In the last mentioned year he was exposed to small-pox and compelled to leave the city, but the college gave him an unlimited certificate to practice medicine, this being in every respect equal to a diploma. In 1871 he began the practice of his profession in Ai, Fulton county, where he was located for' sixteen years, building up an extensive practice, ramifying through Fulton, Lucas, Wood, Seneca, Williams and Henry counties, Ohio, and extending into Lenawee county, Mich. At one time he was compelled to keep ten horses in order to meet the exigencies of his widely-extended practice, his stable thus having as large a complement of horses as did the average livery of Fulton county at that period. He gained the distinction of having the largest practice of all country physicians in the State, and his efforts were signally self-abnegating and faithful, no matter what personal discomfort and hardship he was called upon to endure when ministering to those in affliction and distress. In 1887 Dr. Tompkins located in Metamora, where he continued in active practice until 1892, when he felt justified in retiring, his labors having been protracted and arduous, and he has since given his attention principally to the supervision of his farming interests, owning one hundred and forty-seven acres of land, in Amboy township, Fulton county, and Richfield township, Lucas county. During the years, of his active professional work the Doctor was a valued factor in the county, State and national conventions of the school of medicine of which he was so prominent and able an exponent, and he has done a large amount of work as examining physician for pensions and insurance. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican, but he has never manifested aught of ambition for public office. In 1869 he married Miss Rhoda A. Abbott, native of Vermont, who died in 1873, leaving one son, Abbott D. In 1874, the Doctor wedded Miss Lucy J. Merrill, whose death Occurred in 1893. Arthur Lyman, the only child of this union, was graduated in the Fayette Normal University when but fifteen years of age, prior to which time he had accumulated $560 through his personal efforts. The faculty of Fayette University pronounced him the brightest student who had ever attended the institution, and his name is still mentioned there with' the same mark of approbation. After leaving school he was cashier of a bank in Fayette for two years, when death cut short his promising life, his age at the time being seventeen years. In 1884 Dr. Tompkins married his present wife, whose maiden name was Mrs. Elizabeth B. Baker, daughter of Azariah and Harriett (Kennedy) Baker, and who was at the time a resident of Seneca county, Ohio. Mrs. Baker is a member of the Methodist church at Metamora, Ohio.
EDWARD VAUGHAN is one of the prosperous farmers and stock-growers of Fulton township and a member of one of the honored pioneer families of Fulton county, where nearly his entire life has been passed. The family history is entered in adequate detail in the sketch dedicated to his brother, James C. Vaughan, appearing
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immediately following this review, and as ready reference may be made to the same a reincorporation of the data is not required at this juncture. Edward Vaughan was born at Ai, Fulton township, on the 4th of January, 1838, and is the son of Alexander and Rebecca (Jones) Vaughan, whose names are recalled with unqualified honor by all who knew them, for they were numbered among the sterling pioneers of this part of the county. Edward Vaughan was reared and educated in Fulton county, his scholastic advantages having been those of the pioneer schools, and he has been to a large extent actively identified with agricultural pursuits from his youth to the present, and has resided constantly in his native county except for a period of about six years, during which he resided in Tuscarawas county, being a boy at the time. November 5, 1861, Mr. Vaughan was united in marriage to Miss Jane Nobbs, a sister of John H. Nobbs, in whose personal sketch, on other pages of this volume, is given a family record. After his marriage Mr. Vaughan lived one year on a rented farm, after which he engaged in the general merchandise business in the village of Ai, continuing this enterprise for eight years and meeting with fair success. He then disposed of the store and business and purchased a farm, which now consists of one hundred acres, in the central part of Fulton township, giving his attention to the operation of the same for about thirty years, and he still owns the homestead, which is one of the finely-improved farms of the county. Since the death of his wife, which occurred in 1872, Mr. Vaughan has made his home during the greater portion of the intervening years with his son Ellis. a portion of the time residing on the homestead and for the past few years on his son's own farm, one mile west. The following is a brief record concerning the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan: Harvey, who married Miss Jennie Canfield, is a farmer in Fulton township: Clara is the wife of Howard E. Wilson, son of Matthew Wilson, of this township; Ellis H., who married Basha Anna Shufelt, and has a nice family of six children, is the owner of a good farm in Fulton township and is one of the progressive agriculturists and stock-growers of the county, and as before stated, his father now resides in his home; Edna is the widow of Ralph Herrick and now resides in Delta, this county, where she is educating her son and daughter: she owns a nice home in that village and also a good farm in Fulton township. In politics Mr. Vaughan has always been an active and uncompromising Republican, and he has been called upon to serve in various offices of public trust, including those of treasurer, trustee and assessor of Fulton township. He was made a Mason in early manhood, but has not been in active affiliation for many years past. He has never been identified with any religious body, though havmg a deep reverence for spiritual and ethical verities and ever striving to order his life according to the Golden Rule.
JAMFS C. VAUGHAN. a retired farmer nOW residing at Swanton, was born in what is now Fulton township on August 30, 1835. He enjoys the distinction of being the first white child born in the
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"disputed strip," then under the jurisdiction of the State of Michigan. The dispute over this strip of land, about ten miles wide, was peaceably settled and the territory became a part of Ohio in 1836. In history the threatened trouble is known as the "Ohio and Michigan War: The parents of James C. Vaughan were Alexander, and Rebecca (Jones) Vaughan, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. James Vaughan, the father of Alexander Vaughan, was a native of Ireland and emigrated to Pennsylvania in an early day. Alexander Vaughan was born in Westmoreland county, of his native State, in 1800, and came to Ohio in 1818, first locating in Tuscarawas county, where he was married in 1827. In April, 1835, with his wife and two children, he removed to Fulton county and there entered government land, which he at once proceeded to clear and cultivate. At that time the territory now comprising Fulton county was a veritable wilderness, the only trading town being Maumee. He died at the age of forty-seven, and was survived by his widow, born in Stark county in 1812, who died at the age of sixty years. They were the parents of ten children, four of whom are now living. Those living are: Mary, now Mrs. Springer of Wauseon: James C.; Edward, a farmer of Fulton township, and Isabel, the wife of E. Bailey, a resident of Bronson, Mich. Two of the sons, James C. and Caleb J., deceased, were soldiers in the Union army. James C. Vaughan grew to manhood on the home farm and was educated in the common schools of the county and at Maumee, where he was a student for two years. He opened up a farm four miles north of Swanton. In 1864 he enlisted for a term of one hundred days in the One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry and served in West Virginia one hundred and forty days before he was mustered out. Upon his election as a member of the board of county commissioners, in 1884, he sold his farm and retired from active farming. A part of the homestead is now the property of his eldest son. In politics he has always taken an active part, being recognized as a local leader of the Republican party. In addition to serving six years as commissioner, he has filled various offices in Swanton and Fulton township. He has been a Mason for forty years and has passed the principal chairs of Swanton Lodge, No. 555. While he has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for a number of years, he is not at present affiliated with that order. For twenty-two years he has been actively identified with the Regular Baptist church. In March, 1860, he was united in the bonds of matrimony to Miss Harriet A. Taylor, who died in 1878, leaving six children five of whom are yet living. They are: Jason W.. a live stock dealer of Buffalo, N. Y.; Burton, who was killed by the cars in March, 1904; Cora, the wife of W. A. Scott. of Thomasville, Ala.; Carey, a meat-dealer of Swanton; Brent, and Harry. In 188o he married his present wife, who was Miss Julia Tumey, a native of Ohio. To this union there have been born the following children: Bessie, the wife of John Lenehan, assistant cashier in the Bank of Swanton; Florence and Neva, both still at home.
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JAMES H. WADDELL, M. D., is one of the representative physicians and surgeons of Fulton county, is established in the practice of his profession in Wauseon, and his ability and personal popularity are best attested by the success and prestige which he enjoys in one of the most exacting and responsible vocations to which a person may turn his attention. He has been the artificer of his own fortunes, gaining his education through individual effort and thus being the more deeply appreciative of the advantages which he gained. His early education was secured in the public schools, and was supplemented by careful, systematic study and general reading during the years of his minority, and finally he bent all his energies and efforts to the work of preparing himself for the medical profession. In 1869 he was graduated in the Charity Hospital Medical College, Cleveland, Ohio, after a thorough course, marked by the closest application, and from this institution he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. He engaged in practice at Lickton, Wabash county, Ind., immediately after his graduation, remaining there established in successful professional work until 1875, and in 1877 he decided to investigate more thoroughly the Homoeopathic system of medicine, with whose beneficent results he had become deeply impressed. He thus took a course in the Huron Hospital Homoeopathic Medical School, at Cleveland, Ohio, and since that time has been an able and successful exponent of this school of practice. In 1875 Dr. Waddell was united in marriage to Miss Florence A. Van Dorn, who was born in Belleville, Richland county. Ohio, and early in her married life she became deeply interested in her husband's professional work, and rendered most efficient aid in the capacity of nurse and general assistant. Finally she entered the Woman's Medical College, in St. Louis, Mo., in which well-ordered institution she was graduated on the 28th of March, 1880, since which time she has been actively associated with her husband in practice, being one of the leading woman practitioners of her native State. They took up their residence in Wauseon in 1878, and here their professional clientage is widely extended and of representative order. In 1885-6 Drs. James H. and Florence A. Waddell were matriculated in Hahnemann Medical College, in the city of Chicago, from which celebrated institution each received the ad eundum degree. James H. Waddell was born in Jelloway, Knox county, Ohio, Oct. 14, 1842, and is a son of Robert F. and Elizabeth (Critchfield) Waddell, the former of whom died at the age of forty-six years, at which time Dr. Waddell was a child of four years. The family early settled in Marietta, Ohio, coming from Pennsylvania and being numbered among the first pioneers of Washington county, Ohio. Dr. Charles F. Waddell, an uncle of the subject of this sketch, had the distinction of being the first white child born in the State of Ohio. He became one of the most eminent clergymen of the Methodist Episcopal church, being widely known throughout this and adjoining States, and also being an able physician, so that his labors among the pioneers were doubly valuable, since he ministered alike to their spiritual and physical necessities. The Critchfield family has been for several generations prom-
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inent in the annals of the Buckeye State, representatives having been specially notable in the learned professions and in military affairs. The greater number of the present generation are residents of Knox county. The Van Dorn family, of which Dr. Florence A. Waddell is a representative, was early founded in Pennsylvania, whence the Ohio progenitors came to Richland county and became early settlers of Belleville. Her parents were Nathan and Mary Van Dorn. Dr. James H. Waddell is a stalwart and uncompromising Republican, and his father was a strong abolitionist during the climacteric era culminating in the Civil war, and the family home was a prominent station on the historic "underground railway." October 14, 1861, Dr. Waddell enlisted in Company E, Twentieth Ohio volunteer infantry, in which he served three years, taking part in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pittsburg Landing; Iuka, Holly Springs, and Raymond, Miss., in which last named he was wounded, May 12, 1863, and on the 24th of the same month he was taken prisoner, remaining captive under the Confederate authorities until July 8, 1864, when he was paroled and sent to the North, remaining in parole camp, at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, until his exchange was effected, in November, 1864. By reason of his wounds he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, in which he served until the expiration of his term of enlistment, at Indianapolis, Ind., receiving his discharge October 17, 1864. Dr. Waddell has been a member of the board of pension examiners of Fulton county since March, 1897, and has continuously served as secretary of the board. He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity. Drs. James H. and Florence A. Waddell have no children. They are not only prominent in the professional circles of the county and State but also in the social life of the community, and their friends are in number equal to their acquaintances.
SYLVANUS WALTER, a retired farmer of Archbold, was born in Marion, Marion county, Ohio, March 23, 1843. He is the son of John and Tama (Stevens) Walter, the former a native of Catawissa, Pa., and the latter of Schenectady, N. Y. John Walter, the grandfather of Sylvanus Walter, spent his life in Marion. John Walter, in 1848, removed with his family to Huron county, 0., and, locating on a farm eight miles south of Norwalk, followed general farming. In 1858 he removed to Clinton township, Fulton county, where he died in 1885, aged eighty-three years. His widow, now eighty-five years old, resides in Michigan. To John Walter and wife seven children were born, as follows: 'Abigail (deceased), the wife of Benjamin F. Milly, who died in Indiana in 1884; Sylvanus, the subject of this sketch; Alexander, of Midland county, Mich.; George, who died in 1899; Mary, the wife of L. A. Baker, of Alma, Mich.; Elva, who died in 1866, and Adaline, who died in infancy in Huron county. Sylvanus Walter received his education in the public schools of his youth and remained with his father until eighteen years old, when he enlisted at Wauseon, in Company H of the One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry. His regiment was assigned to the Army of the
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Tennessee, under the command of General Burnside, taking an active part in the battle and siege of Knoxville. After having been surrounded for twenty-one days by General Longstreet, his regiment was engaged in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain, where on June 17, 1864, he received a gunshot wound in the side and was sent to the hospitals of Chattanooga and Nashville. Returning to his command on November 30, he was present at the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Then the regiment joined the army of General Sherman at Wilmington, N. C., and took part in the battle of Greensboro, where Johnston surrendered. On June 22, 1865, Mr. Walter was mustered out of the service at Greensboro and arrived at his home on July 4th. He followed farming in Clinton township until 1874, when he bought a farm of one hundred and ten acres one-half mile south of Archbold and remained there until April 29, 1904, when he retired from active work. In politics he has always been an active Democrat, having held the offices of justice of the peace and assessor of German township, each for two terms, that of census enumerator in 1880 and at present that of assessor of Archbold. He is a member of the Wauseon Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On February 12, 1875, he was unitel in marriage to Miss Emma Yager, a native of Fulton county and the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Mountz) Yager, both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Ohio and settled first in Columbiana county and, in 1860, in Napoleon, where the former died, October 1, 1871 aged seventy-one years, and the latter, May 5, 1891, aged fifty-nine years. To Sylvanus Walter and his wife there have been born four children. They are: Alice, the wife of Nevin Hoffman, of Stryker, O.; Henry, a resident of Norwalk, O.; Owen, of Kokomo, Ind.; and Russell, who is still at home attending the public schools..
ORLANDO O. WALTERS, one of the leading farmers and stock- growers of Fulton township and one of the influential and honored citizens of the county, is specially deserving of consideration in a publication of the province assigned to the one at hand. He was born in Pike township, this county, on the 17th of June, 1849, and is the sixth child and son of Joseph and Susan (Dull) Walters. Joseph Walters was born in Harrison county, Ohio, where his parents located on their removal from Pennsylvania, and he was there reared and educated. About 1837 he came to Fulton county, first locating in Pike township, where he secured land and engaged in farming. He finally sold this property and removed to York township, where he remained until 1864, when he removed to Dover township. Here both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. She died when about sixty-five years of age and he was eighty-two years old when he was called to his eternal rest. They were folk of sterling attributes and never lacked the esteem and confidence of those with whom they came in contact, and their names merit a place of honor on the roll of the worthy pioneers of Fulton county. They became the parents of nine children, only four of whom are living. Melinda,
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the eldest, is the wife of Milo Eldridge, of Spring Hill, this county; Orlando is the immediate subject of this sketch; Henry D. is a farmer of Chesterfield township; George W. is a dealer in hardware and agricultural implements at Spring Hill; Samuel and Jacob died while serving their country as Union soldiers in the Civil war, the latter dying as a result of wounds received in the battle of Nashville. Orlando Walters secured his educational discipline in the common schools of York township, and he initiated his independent career as a farmer in Dover township, whither his parents had removed. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years of age, when, in 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Huffmire, who was born in Dover township: being a daughter of Abraham and Sarah E. Huff- mire, who were numbered among the honored pioneers of this section of Ohio. Of the four children of Mr. and Mrs. Walters the eldest, a son, died in infancy. Lulu Viola is the wife of Albert Griesinger, son of George Griesinger, of whom personal mention is made on another page. William Harley, who is a progressive young farmer of Fulton township, married Miss Herma Merrill, daughter of Frank C. Merrill, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Etta Melinda remains at the parental home, being one of the popular young ladies of the township and having considerable musical talent. After his marriage Mr. Walters located on a small farm near Spring Hill; where he remained seven years, after which he passed two years on the old homestead farm of his parents. In 1882 he purchased one hundred and six acres in Section 7, Fulton township, and this tract comprises his present finely improved homestead, which is one of the best farms in the township, and which represents the tangible results of his own well directed efforts, since he has been the artificer of his own fortunes. He cleared thirty-five acres of timber land and afterward provided a thorough system of ditch and tile drainage on his entire farm, whose fertility is now of the highest order. In 1895 Mr. Walters erected his handsome brick residence, at a cost of three thousand dollars, and in 1903, the farm was still farther enhanced in value through the building of a large double barn, thirty- six by sixty-two feet in dimensions in the main, with a wing thirty- six by forty-eight feet, and the roof is self-supporting. The barn represents an expenditure of about twenty-five hundred dollars and is one of the best in this section. Mr. Walters raises horses, cattle and hogs, devoting special attention to the last mentioned stock, and in addition to the diversified crops customarily raised in this locality he raises large crops of potatoes each year, having machinery for both planting and digging. He is a man of broad views and progressive ideas, and has made his farming industry transcend the functions of old grooves, so that he realized from each department the maximum returns, and he is ever ready to adopt new devices or methods for facilitating the work. He and his wife are valued members of Berry Grange, No. 111, and in politics he is a stalwart Republican, has served two terms as township trustee, and has held other local offices. In 1902 he was elected infirmary director of Fulton county, having also charge of the poor in Swan Creek, Amboy and Royalton
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townships, and he was re-elected to this office in 1905, his services in the connection having been earnest and effective. He is an influential factor in the ranks of his party contingent in the county, is one of the stanch advocates of Republican principles and policies, and he has the esteem and good-will of all who know him.
CHESTER R. P. WALTZ, postmaster and general manager of the Atlas Printing Company, of Delta, was born in .Knox county, Ohio, March 6, 1867. He is the son of E. L. and Lucinda (Pinkley) Waltz, both natives of Ohio. E. L. Waltz is a native of Tuscarawas county, and spent his early life in the mercantile business in Jelloway, Knox county, and Weston, O. At the former place he served as secretary of the Farmers' Home Insurance Company for about ten years, and as postmaster under the administration of President Lincoln. In 1876 he removed to Delta, where he started the first newspaper in the town, called the Delta Avalanche, the first issue making its appearance February 22, 1876. Since that date he has spent five years in Jelloway, attending to the insurance business, with which he was there connected. Returning to Delta in June, 1885, he purchased the Avalanche, which he had previously sold, and established the Delta Atlas, one of the oldest and decidedly the strongest paper published in Fulton county. The policy of the paper has always been conservative. It has the unique record of never having solicited a subscription or of having offered a premium, preferring that the financial standing of the paper should depend wholly on its merits. E. L. Waltz is the editor, and his son, Chester, is the general manager. Chester R. P. Waltz grew to manhood in Delta, receiving a liberal education in its public schools. For four years he was connected with a dry-goods establishment in Jelloway. When the Delta Atlas was founded he took an interest in that company, and now holds the responsible position of general manager, for which he is eminently fitted, being a skilled mechanic and a thorough job-printer. In 1897 he was appointed postmaster by President McKinley and reappointed by President Roosevelt, and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. Waltz is at present the principal officer of serving Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, and holds membership in Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, Royal Arch Masons, in the Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, and in Delta Lodge, No. 199, Knights of Pythias. In religious affairs he and his wife are actively identified with the Presbyterian church, of which organization he is a trustee and Sunday School superintendent. In politics he takes a deep interest, being a stanch Republican. In 1891 he was wedded to Miss Grace Richardson, a daughter of Robert Richardson, of Wauseon. They are the parents of two interesting children, Kathryn Florence and Richard Rinard, aged respectively eleven and three years.
GEORGE W. WATKINS is another of those worthy citizen's who were born and reared in Fulton county and have here upborne the high reputation of a name honored in the county from the early pio-
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neer days, and his also has been the wisdom to hold tenaciously and effectively to the great basic industry of agriculture, through connection with which he has met with a measure of success which stands to his credit and which can not be other than a source of gratification to him. He is one of the representative farmers of Fulton township and not far-distant from his present fine homestead, in the same township, was the parental home in which he made his debut in the drama of life, on the 25th of November, 1846. He is a son of Wesley and Catherine (Fesler) Watkins, the former of whom was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 23, 186, and the latter was born in Pennsylvania, January 3, 1825. Their marriage was, solemnized in Fulton county, in January, 1846, and they became the parents of six children, of whom George W. was the first born. Julius Alonzo, born February 13, 1848, died September 20, 1878; Thomas, born August 8, 1851, is a successful farmer of Pike township; Lewis C., born May 21, 1856, is identified with railroading operations in the South; William W., born January 24, 1861, is, a resident of Nebraska and is a railroad man; Libbie Jane, born September 19, 1863, is the wife of Thomas H. Fraker, a farmer near Delta, Fulton county. The honored father died on the farm now owned by his eldest son, on the 24th of September, 1869, and his wife died September 6, 1889. They were well-known pioneers of the county, where they lived lives of signal honor and usefulness and where they held the unqualified esteem of all who knew them. George W. Watkins was educated in the district schools of his native township, where he has maintained his home from the time of his birth, and he has been continuously associated with the work of the old homestead farm, of which he became the owner in 188o, having purchased the interests of the other heirs. In politics Mr. Watkins was originally a Democrat, but in 1884 he transferred his allegiance to the Prohibition party, whose cause he supported for a number of years by ballot and influence, and in the election of 1904 he exercised his franchise in support of the Republican candidates, National and- State. As touching the genealogy of Mr. Watkins it may be said that his grandfather, Christopher Watkins, was one of four brothers, and his brother Robert came to Fulton county in the early '30s, securing, m association with his son, Christopher, one thousand acres of land in Fulton and Pike townships. March 20, 188o, was solemnized the marriage of George W. Watkins and Miss Mary E. Biddle, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, May 23, 1854, being the youngest of the children of George and Nancy (Lawrence) Biddle, the former of whom was born in Wayne couy, and the latter in Pennsylvania, the respective dates of nativity having been March 11, 1808, and January 25, 1813. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle were married in Wayne county whence they came to Fulton county in 1860, locating on a farm near Delta, and they passed the closing years of their lives in York township, the father passing away in August, 1878, and the mother was summoned to the life eternal, August 21, 1902. Concerning the children the following brief data are entered: Henry, born January 4, 1833, died December 5, 1888; Nancy, born September 9, 1835, is the wife of
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Adam Geitgey, a farmer of Wayne county; Rachel, born December 18, 1837, is the wife of Simon Snyder, of Delta: Benjamin, born April 28, 184o, is a resident of Toledo; Jacob, born February 5, 1843, died in Delta, February 7, 1885; John L., born March 21, 1846, resides in Delta; Samuel, born November I 1, 1848, died in infancy; George W., born November 23, 1851, is a resident of Clinton township; and Mary E., the youngest, is the wife of Mr. Watkins. Floyd B., the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Watkins, was born September 3o, 1881, and is associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm. October 4, 1904, he married Miss Pearl McQuillin, who was born and reared in this county, and the daughter of John B. and Clara (Simson) McQuillin.
MICHAEL F. WEBER, a prosperous farmer and highly-respected citizen of Swan Creek township, is a native of Switzerland, born in Merishausen, Canton of Schaffhansen, March 24, 1833. In 1846 he emigrated to the United States with his parents, George and Elizabeth (Meyer) Weber, and two sisters, landing at New York City. The voyage, begun at Havre, France, was made in a sailing vessel and consumed fifty days, the passengers suffering greatly because of the scarcity of food occasioned by the protracted trip. After a stay of twelve days in the metropolis the family proceeded by boat to Buffalo by way of Albany, from Buffalo by way of Lake Erie to Toledo, O., and from there by canal to Maumee. The parental home was finally established in German township, Fulton (then Lucas) county. Here Mr. Weber's parents ended their days, the father dying at the age of sixty-eight and the mother at eighty-two. To these parents there were born four children, one son and three daughters, as follows: Anna, who died in Switzerland; Mary, who married Jacob Zeigler, of Maumee, and died at the age of twenty-eight years; Elizabeth, who died at the age of fifteen years; and the subject of this sketch. Michael F. Weber spent his young manhood days helping to clear and improve the parental farm, working each day from four o'clock in the morning until dark. The land was mostly covered with heavy timber, of little or no value at that time. He received his education in Switzerland. His attendance at school in this country was limited to three weeks at one time when a felon on one of his hands disabled him from cutting timber. Mr. Weber has always given all of his time and attention to agricultural pursuits and has met with unusual success. In 1890 he purchased a farm in Spencer township, Lucas county, and there resided until May 17, 1904, when his residence and contents were destroyed by fire. With the exception of these four years he has spent all of his life since coming to America in Fulton county. After the loss of his home he bought a handsome residence and a small farm near Swanton, where he now resides. Prior to the Civil war he was a Democrat, but since that time he has given his support to the Republican party. Although he did not enlist in the army, he contributed liberally by his means to the suppression of the Rebellion. In religious belief Mr. Weber, together with his family, is affiliated with the Get--
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man Baptist church. Generous and liberal-hearted, he has always shown a readiness to come promptly to the rescue of those in distress. At the age of twenty-one years he was joined in wedlock with Miss Mary Zeigler, a sister of his brother-in-law. To this union six children were born, all living. They are: Mary, George, John, Lydia, Arnold and Sarah. His first wife dying in 1883, he later married Miss Maggie Shudel, a native of Switzerland, who came to Amerca with her parents in childhood. She is the daughter of Ulrich and Anna (Weber) Shudel, the parents of eight children, seven of whom are yet living. Their names follow: Barbara; George, who died in 1871, aged twenty years; Anna, William, Mary, Maggie, Jacob and John. Of the eight children born to the second marriage of Mr. Weber six are now living. The names of the children are: Anna, Dina, Rhoda, Emil, Freda, Paul, Gideon and Benjamin, the last two deceased.
VIRGIL W. WEEKS is not only one of the leading farmers of Pike township, but he is one of the brave "boys in blue" who represented Fulton county in the Union ranks during the greatest civil war known in the annals of history. Mr. Weeks was born in Seneca county, Ohio, on the 2d of December, 1841, and is a son of David and Rebecca (McCarty) Weeks, the former of whom was born in New Jersey and the latter in Ohio. The father was a cooper by trade, and followed the same as a vocation for many years, having also become the owner of a good farm in Fulton county, whither he came from Seneca county in 1848. He passed the closing years of his life in Wauseon, as did also his wife, and both are interred in the cemetery at that place, a llarge portion of the tract having been cleared by him in the early days, and he selected the lot in which rest the mortal remains of both himself and his loved wife. David Weeks was a strong abolitionist in the crucial days leading up to the Civil war, and he was a conductor on the famous "underground railway," through whose beneficent operation many poor slaves were assisted to freedom. The subject of this sketch aided his father in this work, having transported a number of fugitive slaves from the station in Pike township to the one in the River Raisin or Quaker settlement. Two of his brothers also served in the Union ranks, as members of Ohio regiments, Rhinaldo L., who is now a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Bruno L., who died in Andersonville prison. Virgil W. Weeks was reared to manhood in Fulton county, and duly availed himself of the advantages of the graded schools of Wauseon, where were numbered among his classmates many who later attained prominence in this and other States of the Union. Mr. Weeks responded to President Lincoln's first call for volunteers to aid in suppressing the Rebellion. On the 17th of April, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company H, Fourteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he proceeded to West Virginia, where his first experience in active warfare was in the engagement at Philippi, on the 3d of June, 1861. He later took part in the conflicts at Laurel Hill and Cheat River, remaining at the front until the expiration of his three months' terns.
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of enlistment. He then re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company K, Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, in which he served three years, having been made corporal of his company. He received his honorable discharge, by reason of the expiration of term of service, on the 31st of January, 1863, but forthwith veteranized, becoming a member of the same company and regiment, with which he continued in service until the close of the war, receiving his final discharge as second duty sergeant, on the 12th of July, 1865, after having made a record as a faithful and gallant soldier, and having been an active participant in many of the important battles of the great conflict. While he was never confined to the hospital during his term of service, he was wounded at Hoover's Gap, a cannon ball passing under him so close to his right hip that it has ever since been partially paralyzed. He never recovered from the effects of this injury, in recognition of which he receives a liberal government pension. After victory had crowned the Union arms Mr. Weeks returned home, and soon afterward, on the 31st of October, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Ruth A. Fewlass, who was born in Fulton county, on the list of February, 184o, being a daughter of William and Caroline (Trowbridge) Fewlass, who were numbered among the sterling pioneers of the county. Mr. Fewlass was a native of England and came to America when a young man, and he first came to Fulton county in 1836, taking up his permanent residence here two years later. He became one of the extensive farmers and wealthy and influential citizens of the county, where he owned two hundred and seven acres of land, much of which he reclaimed from the virgin forest. He passed the closing years of his life in the village of Delta, where he died on the 1st of September, 1884; the mother of Mrs. Weeks died in 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Weeks have six children, namely: David, George, Ada, William, Emma and Caddie C. Emma is the wife of Justin Bartlett, a successful farmer of this county. Caddie C., who is the wife of Charles Prentiss, is one of the successful and popular teachers of Fulton county, having taught twenty-six terms in the public schools and having been a student in the normal school at Fayette, this county. Mr. Weeks is a stalwart Republican and he has served as constable: was for twelve years incumbent of the office of jutice of the peace, and for two terms was township assessor. He is one of the appreciative and valued members of McQuillin Post, No. 171, Grand Army of the Republic, at Delta, of which he is the present senior vice-commander. Mr. Weeks at the present time is entering upon his second term as justice of the peace, having been elected on November 7, 1905, by a large majority.
CAPTAIN JOHN A. WEIR, local manager of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Exchange, of Swanton, was born at Waterloo, De- Kalb county, Ind., February 3, 1868. He is the son of William and Elizabeth A. (Detrich) Weir, the former a native of Blantyre, Scotland, and the latter of Pennsylvania. His grandparents were Alexander and Mary (Orr) Weir, both born in Blantyre. William Weir emigrated to the United States in 1854, when a young man, and lo-
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cated in Waterloo, Ind., where he was married. Since the year 1855, with the exception of three and one-half years spent in the army, he has operated a cooperage establishment in Wauseon, where he and his wife are now living. Of a family of ten children that have been born to them nine are alive. Those living are: Capt. John A.; Jennie, married; Mary Alice, married; Catherine, single; Bessie, married; Libbie Pet, married; Frank R., Charles and Howard, single. Capt. John A. Weir was educated in the Wauseon schools. He learned the cooperage business and followed this occupation until September, 1897. In 1893 he became prominently connected with the Ohio State militia, assisting in organizing Company G, of the Sixteenth Ohio State Militia. Until 1896 he held the position of first lieutenant and then was promoted to the captaincy. On April 25, 1898, the regiment was mustered into the United States service as the Sixth Ohio volunteer infantry and Captain Weir still remained at the head of his company. After serving for thirteen months in the Spanish-American war, at Chickamauga Park and in Cuba, he was mustered out on August 28, 1899, the company disbanding. Since then he has not given any further attention to military affairs. Returning to Wauseon he engaged in telephone construction work, spending two years in West Virginia. In 1901 he came to Swanton in the capacity of local manager of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Exchange at that place. He is prominently identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, including the military rank of the former organization and the Encampment of the latter. In politics he is a Republican. Capt. John A. Weir was married in Wauseon on May 25, 1888, to Miss Mary A. Fankhauser, of Fulton county. To this union two children have been born. They are: William and Clyde. Mrs. Weir is descended from German ancestors, her father and mother being natives of Germany.
ELIZER B. WELCH.—On the fine homestead farm on which he now resides, in Chesterfield township, Mr. Welch was born, on the 18th of February, 1845, but at that time the appearance of the place was far different than at present, since this section was then scarcely more than a sylvan wilderness, and the dwelling in which he made his debut in the drama of life was a primitive log-cabin of the kind common to the pioneer days. He is a son of James and Amy (Clark) Welch, and his father came from one of the Eastern States to Ohio in an early day, being one of the first settlers in what is now Chesterfield township, Fulton county, where he secured a tract of government land, heavily timbered, and the Indians of the vicinity assisted him in erecting his log-cabin. The father reclaimed much of his land to cultivation, being the owner of two hundred and forty acres of the best land in Chesterfield township at the time of his death, in 1855. Amy (Clark) Welch was born in the State of New York, and accompanied her parents on their immigration to the wilds of Fulton county, Ohio, where she was married. Her father, George P. Clark, was one of the pioneer farmers of Chesterfield township, where his
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wife died, and he passed the closing years of his life in Morenci, Mich. James and Amy (Clark) Welch became the parents of four children: Mary J. is the widow of Joel Briggs, who died about 1885, and she resides on her homestead farm, in Chesterfield township; Elizabeth, the wife of Sidney S. Beatty, of Morenci, Mich., died in Ann Arbor, that State, May 3, 1905; Elizer B. is the subject of this sketch; and Chester is a resident of Morenci, Mich. The present residence of the mother is Morenci, Mich. Elizer B. Welch was reared on the old pioneer homestead, and had such educational privileges as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period, and he has made farming his life vocation, and has made a distinctive success in his chosen field of endeavor. He now owns and operates eighty acres of the old homestead on which he was born, and is also the owner of another excellent farm, of one hundred and twenty acres, in section 10, Chesterfield township, about one and one-fourth miles northwest of his residence place. He improved the second farm with good buildings and has reclaimed a considerable portion of it from a wild state. The political support of Mr. Welch is accorded, without reservation, to the Democratic party; he is essentially progressive and public-spirited, and he has served in minor offices of local order. In a fraternal way he is identified with the Grange. December 3o, 1868, Mr. Welch was married to Miss Harriet M. Rogers, the nuptial ceremony being performed in Morenci, Mich., by Rev. John T. Hankinson. Mrs. Welch was born in Fulton county, December I, 1847, and is a daughter of Leonard and Harriet Gillmore Rogers, both of whom were born in the State of New York, and their marriage was solemnized in Fulton county. Mrs. Rogers died, near. Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1853, and her husband long survived her, dying in the State of Washington, March 3o, 1902, at a venerable age. He was a blacksmith by trade, but devoted the greater part of his active career to farming. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers became the parents of six children: Otis C. resides in the State of Washington; William P. is a resident of Missouri; George W. resides in Adrian, Mich.; Harriet M. is the wife of the subject of this review; Mary J. resides in Hillsdale county, Mich.; and Mary is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Welch have four children: James L., who was born February 27, 1870, was married, March 25, 1891, to Miss Minnie E. Baxter, and he is now engaged in the banking business in Lawrene, Mich., Van Buren county; Lillie A. was born January 29, 1872, and is now the wife of Charles VanVorce. of Seneca township, Lenawee county, Mich.; Charles C., born October 30, 1883, is in Canada as a railroad employe; and Jennie E., born May 4, 1887, remains at the parental home.
WILLIAM W. WHFTSTONE, who is engaged in the general merchandise business at Zone, Franklin township, has built up an excellent trade and is one of the .popular citizens of this section of Fulton county. He was born in Pioneer, Williams county, on the 9th of May, 1864, and is a son of William and Louisa (Heynes) Whetstone, the former of whom was born in Mercer county, Ohio, and the latter
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in Akron, Summit county. The parents of William Whetstone were numbered among the pioneers of Mercer county, having come to Ohio from the State of Pennsylvania. William Whetstone was engaged in farming in Mercer county until about 1862, when he removed to Williams county, where he was engaged in farming for a number of years, later removing to Defiance county. He and his wife are now residents of Beaverton, Galdwin county, Mich. Of their six children William W. is the eldest; Ida is the wife of James Hutchinson, of Gladwin, Mich.; Daniel is, a resident of Defiance couy, Ohio; Charles is deceased; George resides in Defiance county; Ernest resides in Montana; and Mary remains at the parental home. William W. Whetstone was four years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Defiance county, in whose public schools he secured excellent educational advantages. He initiated his independent career by identifying himself with the construction work on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, remaining thus employed for a period of five years. He then came to Fulton county, being employed on a farm near Wauseon for one year, and for the following three years he was employed by the month as a farm hand in Franklin township. In 1893 he purchased a farm in this tOWnship, and in 1902 he bought another, in the same tOWnship. He has sold a portion of his land but still retains one hundred acres. He has also done considerable contracting and building in this county. In the spring of 1905 he purchased the general store of William Gunsaullus, at Zone, and he carries a good stock of dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, clothing, etc., so that he is enabled to meet the demands of his large and constantly increasing patronage. On the 28th of February, 1890, Mr. Whetstone was united in marriage to Miss Alice Ely, who was born and reared in Franklin township, being a daughter of the late Campbell Ely, who was an honored pioneer of Fulton county. Mr. and Mrs. Whetstone have one child, Guy. M'r. Whetstone is held in high esteem in his home community, and this fact is evidenced by his being in tenure of the office of trustee of Franklin township. He is a Democrat in his political adherency and is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
ENOS WELLS, one of the honored citizens and venerable pioneers of Clinton township, where he is the owner of a valuable farm, was born in Holmes couy, Ohio, on the 11th of November, 1829. He is a son of Moses Wells, who was born in the State of Maryland, in 1788, and who came to Ohio in 1809, first locating in Wayne county and later removing to Holmes county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits. In that county was solemnized his marriage to Miss Kernhappoch Gorsuch, and in 185o he came with his family to Fulton county, where he purchased a quarter-section of land, in Clinton township, securing the tract from the government, and he eventually added to the area of his landed estate until he had three hundred and twenty acres, the major portion of which he reclaimed from the virgin forest, developing one of the best farms in the locality. He and his wife continued residents of Fulton county until death, and their names
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merit a place on the roll of the sterling pioneers of this favored section of the old Buckeye state. Of their family of fourteen children only four are now living, the subject of this sketch being the eldest of the number. Leonard W. is a resident of the State of Colorado; Charles N. maintains his home in Kansas City, Missouri ; and Lucy Ann is the wife of James Hodgsboon, of Wauseon, Fulton county, Ohio. Enos Wells was reared and educated in Holmes county, where he grew up to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and his educational advantages were those afforded in the somewhat primitive schools of the locality and period. He was about twenty-one years of age at the time of the family removal to Fulton county, and here he rendered yeoman service in connection with the reclaiming of the homestead farm and in the erection of the necessary buildings, and he also aided in the construction of the early roads throughout this section of the county, said highways being mostly of the primitive cdrduroy type. His present homestead, which is well-improved and under effective cultivation, comprises eighty-five acres, and its practical operation is carried on by his eldest son. Mr. Wells is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, with which he has been identified from practically the time of its organization, and he has ever shown a loyal interest in the welfare of the township and county to whose development and progress he has contributed in no small degree. He and his wife are members of the Christian church, in which he has held the office of elder for more than a score of years. On the 6th of April, 1856, Mr. Wells was united in marriage to Miss Jane Tedrow, daughter of Isaac Tedrow, one of the sterling pioneers of Fulton county. Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Wells the following brief record is entered: David N., who was born on the 4th of July, 1857, has charge of his father's farm and is also the owner of a well- improved farm of eighty acres in Putnam county. He married Miss Della A. Miley, daughter of Matthias Miley, member of one of the old and honored families of Fulton county. David N. Wells is a Republican in his political proclivities and in a fraternal way is identified with the lodge of the Knights of Pythias in Wauseon. Delilah Elzina, who was born April 22, 1860, is the wife of Jerome Loveland, at one time a prominent business man of Toledo, Ohio, but now a contractor and builder at Tedrow, Ohio. Mary E., born in 1863, is the wife of George Carl, of Shreve, Wayne county. Lucy Annetta, born September 11, 1866, is deceased. Lily Alice, born in 1869, is the wife of Edward Bayes, a successful farmer of Fulton county. Verna C., born July 7, 1872, is deceased. William W., born March 12, 1875, married Miss Cora Conway, and they reside in Kibbie, Michigan, where he is a representative merchant.
GEORGE R. WHITEHORNE, who was a prominent dealer in clothing and gents' furnishmgs at Delta, was born at Archbold, Fulton county, July 5, 1865. He is the son of Myron and Mary (Williams) Whitehdrne, both natives of New York State, whose ancestors lived in England, Scotland and Ireland. His maternal grandfather, Henry F. Williams, was one of the first settlers of the territory now embraced
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in Northwestern Ohio. He was the builder of the first passenger boat operated on the Maumee river. In hunting and trapping he was not excelled by any other party in that country, and his wife was equally expert in marksmanship. He was quite noted in his day as a man of education and ability and assisted in surveying the lines between Ohio and Michigan and between Ohio and Indiana. Myron Whitehorne served for three and one-half years in the Union army during the Civil war and was a prisoner at Andersonville for more than a year. While General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta was in progress the Confederate authorities thought it best to remove some of the prisoners from Andersonville to Macon for safe-keeping, and while in transit Mr. Whitehorne with one companion escaped from the boxcar in which they were confined and for fourteen days subsisted on such things as they could find in the fields and woods before they reached the Union lines. Of twenty-one soldiers captured at the time he was taken he saw nineteen carried out of camp dead. After the war he engaged in the hardware business, which business is now operated by his sons. He and wife were the parents of four sons and one daughter. They are: Olney J., the owner of a feed and livery establishment at Toledo, O.; George R., subject of this sketch; Frank, living at home ; Bertha, still at home, and Wellington B., who lost his life in the Spanish-American war. Myron Whitehorne died at Archbold in September, 1g01, having outlived his wife two years. George R. Whitehorne grew to manhood at Archbold, where he graduated from the high school. After taking a course in the commercial department of the Fayette, O., Normal he taught school two years. At the age of nineteen he was chosen bookkeeper in the store of which his father was a partner. August 5, 1893, he came to Delta and formed a partnership with J. M. Longnecker in the clothing business. He is a Past Master of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, a member of Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, Royal Arch Masons, of the Toledo, O., Commandery, and of No. 320 Scottish. Rite Consistory at Cleveland. In politics he is a stanch Republican, but in no sense an aspirant to political office. His service on the Archbold board of education proves that he is interested in school affairs. While working in his father's store he was married to Miss Ida P. Zimmerman, a daughter of Simon Zimmerman of Delta, one of the oldest and most highly respected families of Fulton county. One child has blessed this union, Hugh Carr, a lad eight years old. Close application to business, sound business sense and untiring energy have enabled Mr. Whitehorne to win success in business.
JULIUS C. WHITEHORNE, who stands at the head of the well- known hardware firm of Whitehorne Brothers, of Archbold, has long been identified with the business life of Fulton county and was associated intimately with his older brother, Myron, until the latter's death, and the original firm name is still retained. In the memoir of his brother, appearing immediately following this one, due data in regard to the family genealogy are given, and also details regarding the busi-
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ness career of the two brothers, so that reference may well be made to the article mentioned, as supplementing this brief review of the career of Julius C. He was born in Pittsfield township, Hillsdale county, Michigan, September 12, 1842, and is a son of Robinson and Mary M. (Treadwell) Whitehorne, who were numbered among the very early settlers of that locality, where they continued to reside until summoned to the life eternal. Mr. Whitehorne passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and after duly attending the district schools availed himself of the advantages of the high school at Hudson, Mich. In 1863 he came to Ohio and began teaching in the public schools of Archbold, and when his brother Myron returned from his service as a soldier in the Civil war they here engaged in the milling business. After two years Julius C. rented his interest in the mill to his brother and for the ensuing three years gave his attention to teaching. Thereafter he was again identified with the milling enterprise until 1882, when he and his brother engaged in the hardware business, which has since been successfully contmued, the concern being one of the most important of the sort in this part of the county and controlling a large and representative patronage. Julius C. Whitehorne is an enterprising business man and a liberal and loyal citizen, taking a deep interest in local affairs of a public nature, and doing all in his power to further the general welfare of the community. April 12, 1864, Mr. Whitehorne was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Maria Terpening, a daughter of Peter and Lavina Terpening, who were well known citizens of Hudson, Mich.
MYRON WHITEHORNE, who died at his home in Archbold, on the 20th of September, 1901, at the age of sixty-seven years and twelve days, was one of the most honored citizens and prominent business men of this place, was a veteran of the Civil war and was a member of the well-known firm of Whitehorne Brothers, general hardware merchants, the business still being conducted under the title mentioned. He was born at Adrian, Lenawee county, Mich., on the 8th of September, 1834 and was a son of Robinson H. and Mary Martha (Treadwell) Whitehorne, the former of whom was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., July 12, 1806, and he came to Michigan about 1834, some three years prior to the admission of the State to the Union, becoming one of the honored pioneers of the southern part of that commonwealth, where his principal vocation was farming. In earlier years he was engaged in teaching at intervals and he also studied medicine, though he never engaged in active practice. Both he and his wife died in Michigan, the latter also having been born in the State of New York. Both attained venerable age and left the heritage of worthy lives and worthy deeds. Robinson H. Whitehorne early settled in Hillsdale county, Mich., and was the first justice of the peace in Pittsfield township, having taken up one hundred and twenty acres of government land, which he reclaimed from the wilderness, and he remained resident of Hillsdale county until his death, which occurred March 15, 1889, his devoted wife having passed away July 25, 187o. Of their son, Julius C., so long associated with his brother Myron in
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business, an individual sketch appears immediately preceding this one. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war Myron Whitehorne was a resident of Fulton county, having come here from Michigan and identified himself with business enterprises. At Wauseon, on the 18th of July, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he proceeded to the front and did well his part as a valiant and loyal soldier. September 27, 1863, at Mud Run, near Chickamauga, he was captured by the enemy, and thereafter he languished in the prisons at Rome and Atlanta, Ga., and later in Libby, Pemberton, Danville and Andersonville prisons, finally making his escape by jumping from a moving train, between Macon and Andersonville. He rejoined his regiment, September 27, 1864. and received his honorable discharge, at Nashville. Tenn., on the 13th of the following September. After the close of his military career he returned to Fulton county, where he engaged in the milling business, in company with his brother Julius C, at Archbold He was identified with this enterprise until 1882, and the brothers also operated stave and heading mills at Archbold and at Portland, Ind. In 1882 they engaged in the general hardware and implement business, closing out their other interests, and they built up the fine business which has ever since been conducted under the firm name of Whitehorne Brothers, the hardware establishment being well-equipped and conducted according to the highest business principles Myron Whitehorne was a man of the most unbending integrity and stood as a type of loyal and public spirited citizenship, commanding the high regard of all who knew him. In a fraternal way he was identified with the Grand Army of the Republic. January 1, 1859, Mr. Whitehorne was united in marriage to Miss Mary M. Williams, who was born in Lockport, N. Y., May 1, 1841, a daughter of Henry F. and Mary (Robinson) Williams, who were likewise natives of that State, whence they came to Fulton county, Ohio, in 1848, Mr. Williams becoming one of the prosperous farmers of German township. He passed the closing years of his life in Archbold, where he died, March 25, 1884. his wife surviving him by a few years. They became the parents of four children, namely: Mary M., wife of the subject of this memoir; George W., who met his death in the Civil war ; Jemima, the wife of Daniel Monteith, of Toledo; and Elizabeth J., who married Allen McWayne and died in California. Mrs. Whitehorne preceded her husband into eternal rest, her death occurring April 4, 1899. Six children were born of their union. Olney J., born December 13. 1860, is engaged in the livery business in Toledo. George R., born July 5, 1865, is engaged in mercantile business at Delta, Fulton county : he married Miss Ida 0. Zimmerman, and they have one son, Hugh C. Byron J., born October 5, 1866, died April 29, 1871. Frank H.. born April 26, 1869, is practically his father's successor in the firm of Whitehorne Brothers, in Archbold. Bertha A., born January 21, 1874, remains at the old home in this village. Wellington B., born June 9, 1880, died in the division hospital at Knoxville, Tenn., September 7, 1898. At Delta, Fulton county, January 2o, 1897, he enlisted in Company G, Sixteenth Regiment, Ohio National Guards, and May 12, 1898,
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with his regiment, he was mustered into the volunteer ranks for service in the Spanish-American war. He had the attributes of the ideal soldier, but he was attacked by fever which brought to him the end of the mortal life, in the very flush and power of his noble young manhood. All his comrades mourned his loss, and those to whom he was linked by family ties felt the most poignant grief, though realizing that he had died at the post of duty and patriotism, as truly as though he had fallen in battle.
ISAAC WILEY is the owner of one of the fine farmsteads of Fulton township, and when it is stated that he has resided on the place from the time he was about four years of age until the present— representing more than half a century—and that within these years has never been absent from the farm more than three consecutive weeks at any one time, it will be understood that the homestead is doubly endeared to him through the memories and associations of the past. Mr. Wiley was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., on the 24th of October, 1850, and is a son of Robert and Maria (Walters) Wiley, both of whom were natives of that same county where they maintained their home until 1851, when, with their three children, they came to Fulton county, and in 1854 they located upon the farm now owned and occupied by their son Isaac, who was about a year old at the time of the removal from the old Keystone State. The original purchase was a tract of eighty acres of wild land, and this the honored father reclaimed and improved, and on the homestead both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. He was born March 4, 1809. His death occurred January 6, 1887, and his devoted wife passed away November 24, 1881, at the age of sixty-two years. Three children were born to them after the removal to Fulton county, and of the total of six only two are now living: Rebecca, the eldet, died at the age of sixteen years ; Henry was two years old at time of death, and died on the homestead now owned by Mr. Wiley ; Isaac was the next in order of birth; John died at the age of fourteen years ; two died m infancy; Susan, wife of Harrison Hamp, died near Swanton, this county, January 7, 1904, leaving no children; and Sarah was the wife of Fli Winchell, who died on October 30, 1905, at North Adams, Hillsdale county, Mich. Isaac Wiley, as already intimated, was reared on the home farm, in whose operations he began to assist when a boy, and in the early days he attended the pioneer log school-house, making the best use of the advantages afforded him. January 7, 1871, Mr. Wiley was married to Miss Ivey Hamp, a sister of Harrison Hamp, previously mentioned in this article. She was born within a mile of her present home, on the 27th of April, 1852, and is a daughter of John and Rebecca (Norris) Hamp. John Hamp was born in Ohio, whither his parents came from Germany, where two of their children were born. They located in Fulton township, Fulton county, in the early '30's, being numbered among the sterling pioneers of this locality, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Ivey Hamp, mother of John, attained the extremely venerable age of one hundred and seven years. John and
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Rebecca Hamp became the parents of three sons and six daughters: Catherine is the wife of George Sheffer, and they reside near Ai, Fulton township; Ivey, wife of Mr. Wiley, was the second child; John, born July 15, 1853, died October 6, 1865; Mary Jane is the wife of Wanton Eddy, of Harvey, Ill.; Harrison is a prosperous farmer of Fulton township; William is a resident of Swanton; Elizabeth is the wife of Thomas Lace, of Hudson, Mich.; Emeline died in infancy, in. 1862; and Margaret Ellen, born in 1864, died December 6, 1879. John Hamp, father of these children, was born May 26, 1827, and is now residing on a farm in Williams county. His wife, who was born June 4, 1831, died April 23, 1887. Jacob Hamp, father of John, served with fidelity as a Continental soldier during the War of the Revolution, having been a member of a New York regiment. Reverting also to the Wiley genealogy, it may be stated that Robert Wiley, father of the subject of this review, was twice married, his first wife dying a number of years prior to his removal to Ohio. Of the children of the first marriage two sons and one daughter attained maturity. William died in Los Angeles, Cal. Lemuel, the other son, served five years in the regular army of the United States, having been identified with the frontier warfare against the Indians and having still been in the army at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. After his discharge from the regular army he enlisted as a volunteer, and thus included in his service the entire period of the Rebellion, having been twice wounded and once taken prisoner. He is now living in the. State of Oregon. Mrs. Jemima Russell, daughter of Robert Wiley by his first marriage, died in Lucas county, Ohio. Isaac and Ivey. (Hamp) Wiley have two children. The elder, Lyman Eugene, a successful farmer of Fulton township, married Miss Mabel Fraker, and to their only son has been given the name of Fraker. Minnie, the younger child of Mr. Wiley, is the wife of George Percival, son of William Percival, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. They have one son, Homer. Mr. and Mrs. Wiley's marriage was solemnized in their present residence, and he has always lived on the old homestead farm, having come into possession of the same partly through inheritance and partly through purchase. The well improved plate comprises eighty acres purchased by his father in 1854; it is under a high state of cultivation, and he also gives considerable attention to the raising of an excellent grade of live stock, being recognized as a man of discriminating business judgment, reliability and marked enterprise.. Mr. Wiley has been a supporter of the Republican party from the time of attaining his majority, and in earlier years was somewhat active in the local party work, though never seeking office. He still takes a definite interest in the cause of the party, and is public-spirited in his attitude. He served eleven years as school director, and within this period did much to further local educational interests. In July, 1874, Mr. Wiley became a member of Swanton Lodge, No. 528, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the same he has passed the principal official stations. Both he and his wife are also identified with the allied organization, Fern Lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, and she is also affiliated with the Rathbone Sisters, an adjunct of the Knights
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of Pythias, of which her son is a member, and she is also a member of the Woman’s Relief Corps of Swanton. She is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
EDWARD EVERETT WILLIAMS, of Wauseon, probate judge of Fulton county, a descendant of one of the pioneers of that county, was born in Clinton township in 1864. He is the son of Jeremiah M. and Matilda (Biddle) Williams, both natives of Ohio. Jeremiah M. Williams was born near Tiffin, Seneca county, O., in 1822, and when twelve years old came with his father, Elisha Williams, and his two brothers, John H. and Burt, and his sister, Mrs. Thomas Lingle, to. Clinton township in 1834. Here he grew to manhood and took an active part in local affairs, serving as township trustee for some years. His wife, Matilda Williams. was the daughter of Samuel Biddle who came to York township, Fulton county, from Wayne county. He was deeply interested in township affairs and served as justice of the peace for a number of years. Edward Everett Williams, the subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of Fulton county, being a graduate of the Wauseon high school. He remained on the farm until he embarked in the grocery business at Archbold. Fulton county, which business he conducted successfully for two and one-half years, when he sold it. For seven years he served as deputy probate judge of Fulton county. So well did he perform the duties of his office that in 1899 the people elected him to the office of probate judge, a just recognition of the ability that he displayed while serving as deputy. Three years later he was re-elected and he is now serving in that capacity. In him the people realize that they have an impartial judge and a man who has the moral courage to do what is right, regardless of the cost. To fill this important office successfully executive ability of no mean order and a ripened judgment are required, both of which qualities Judge Williams possesses. He is Worshipful Master of Wauseon Lodge. No. 349, Free and Accepted Masons, and a Knight Templar. He married Miss Alice B. Meeks. the daughter of William J. Meeks, Jr., and Mary J. (Cornell) Meeks. William J. Meeks, Jr.. was born in Wayne county, April 4, 1832. and married Mary Jane Cornell. They had the following children: Flora B.: Albert M.; James, deceased ; Franklin and Alice B.. who is the wife of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Meeks was one of the leaders of the Demccratic party of Fulton county. President Cleveland recognizing his worth, appointed him postmaster of Wauseon, in which he was serving at the time of his death, in 1885. His father, William J. Meeks, Sr., was born in Fairfield county, O., in 1800, and died in Fulton county in 1875. Mary Jane (Cornell) Meeks was the daughter of James Cornell, Jr., and Margaret (Baggs) Cornell. James Cornell, Jr., was born in Trenton, N. J., January 26, 1805, and come to Fulton county in 1837, being one of the pioneer settlers of Clinton township. His prominence in public affairs is shown by the fact that he served as county commissioner for three terms. He died at his home aged seventy-nine years. His father, James Cornell, Sr., together with four brothers settled in Man-
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hattan Island, N. Y. Ezra Cornell, the founder of Cornell university, was the son of one of these brothers and a first cousin of James Cornell, Jr., of Fulton county. Margaret (Baggs) Cornell was the daughter of John and Nancy Jane (Wright) Baggs, of Somerset county, Pa., who located in Holmes county, 0., where John Baggs died in 1846. Thomas Baggs, the brother of John, settled in Clinton township in 1836. They were the sons of Jewell A. and Nancy (McWilliams) Baggs. Jewell A. Baggs, a civil engineer and a Methodist minister, came with his brother, Hugh, from Scotland and settled in Somerset county, Pa., in 1755.
JOHN WILLIAMS (deceased), one of the pioneer settlers of Fulton county, was born July 20, 1814, and died at the homestead on January 23, 1890, aged seventy-five and one-half years. When twenty years old he came with his parents to what is now Fulton county and spent his early life in the avocations of a pioneer, for which he was well fitted, being strong and robust. The first farm that he opened was located two and one-half miles northeast of Delta, where he lived for many years. In 1849 he made the overland trip to California, and, after meeting with marked success in his search for gold, returned to Ohio and opened up another farm three miles east of Delta, where he spent the remainder of his life. John Williams was very prominent in the organization of Fulton county and was a useful citizen throughout his long residence there. His life was spent in agricultural pursuits, m which he was unusually successful. He could truthfully boast of having cleared more land than any other man in the county. On September 14, 1840, he was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Norton, daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Gamble) Norton, and their union was blessed with ten children. They are: Emily, now Mrs. Fashbaugh, a resident of Colorado; David, a farmer of Delta ; Elsie (deceased), who was the wife of John Westbrook; Phoebe, now Mrs. George Westbrook, residing on the homestead ; Sarah, the wife of John N. Petersen of Delta; John, a farmer of Swan Creek township ; George, a farmer near Delta; Anson, a railroad man, a resident of Toledo, Ohio; Ida, who died at the age of seven years, and Lovina, who died in her second year. His widow is still living and makes her home with Mrs. Petersen, her daughter. John N. Petersen, the son-in-law of the subject of this sketch, was born in New York City July 3o, 1852. He is the son of John Jacob and Sophia (Winkleseth) Petersen, both natives of Germany, the former having been born in Houston, near Denmark, and the latter in Bremen. They were married in New York City, whence they removed to Ohio during the early part of the Civil war, locating on a farm east of Delta. Afterwards they removed to a farm in Fulton township, where the father died, October 22, 1892, aged seventy- eight years. His widow is still living on the homestead at the age of eighty-two years. They were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, all living and married. They are: John N. the eldest; Anna, now Mrs. Wallace Smith, a resident of Paulding county, O.; Theresa, now Mrs. Eugene Wales of Swanton; Henry H.,
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section foreman on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway at Wauseon; and William B., living with his mother on the homestead. John N. Petersen grew to manhood on a farm, receiving a fair common school education. In public affairs he has always taken a deep interest. So well does he stand in his community that he was elected township assessor on the Democratic ticket, notwithstanding the township is strongly Republican. He is a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, of Lodge No. 199, Knights of Pythias, and has also been an Odd Fellow ; having passed the official chairs of Swanton Lodge in that organization, as well as that of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. and Mrs. Petersen are both members of the adjunct order of the Knights of Pythias, known as the Rathbone Sisters, the name of the lodge being Thirza Temple No. 189, Delta, Ohio. Mr. Petersen is also a member of the Uniformed Rank, Knights of Pythias, No. 122, at Delta. In 1880 he was wedded to Miss Sarah R. Williams, daughter of John and Elizabeth A. (Norton) Williams, and their union was blessed with two children: Ocie E., the wife of Jacob F. Perkins, a farmer and contractor, of this county, and they have one daughter, Grace Elizabeth ; Opal L., the younger daughter, is now attending the Delta schools.
ANSON WILLSON is another of the enterprising and progressive citizens who are exemplifying the attractive possibilities offered in connection with the agricultural industry in Fulton county, being the owner of a well-improved landed estate in Amboy township, and he is a scion of one of the well-known pioneer families of Fulton township. He was born on the 3d of February, 1845, and is a son of Martin and Jane (Fullerton) Willson, the former born in Clark county, Ohio, and the latter in York county, Pa. The paternal grandfather, Nathan Willson, was a native of New York State, and became one of the earliest settlers of Pike township, Fulton county, Ohio, where he took up his residence in 1834. He secured a tract of government !and and reclaimed a goodly portion of the same from the native wilds, becoming one of the influential pioneers of that section and there continuing to reside until his death, his wife also dying on the old homestead. They became the parents of three children—Martin, Emira and Catharine. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was Robert Fullerton, who came from Pennsylvania and settled in Swanton township, Lucas county, Ohio, about 1840, being there engaged in farming until his death. Martin Willson, who is eighty-eight years of age (1905), has been a resident of Fulton county since 1834, and he has continuously resided on the old homestead. in Fulton township, which he secured from the government more than an half-century ago, having cleared and improved the farm and being one of the most venerable and honored pioneer citizens of that section. His devoted wife is dead, having passed away in 1901. They became the parents of seven children, namely : Anson. Eliza, Frank, Mary, Lucius, Howard and Nettie. Eliza became the wife of Wallace Ford and is now deceased; Frank also is deceased ; Mary. became the wife of Dr. Elmer Tompkins and is deceased ; and Nettie is the deceased wife of
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Oliver Manley. Anson Willson was reared on the old home farm, in Fulton township, and contributing his quota to its work, he was accorded good educational advantages, having first attended the local schools and having thereafter continued his studies in Adrian College, in Adrian, Mich. He was successfully engaged in teaching in the public schools for twelve winter terms, and he continued his residence in Fulton township until 1882, when he removed to Amboy township and took up his residence on eighty acres of unimproved land, having purchased the property in 1876. He has here developed one of the valuable farms of the township, having erected good buildings and having brought the greater portion of the place under effective cultivation. He exercises his franchise in support of the principles of the Republican party, has served two terms as trustee of Amboy township and is now serving his second term as jutice of the peace, and he is also a member of the school-board of what is known as the Amboy-Fulton special district. Prior to his removal to Amboy township he was incumbent of the office of clerk of Fulton township for two terms. May 12, 187o, Mr. Willson wedded Miss Susannah Stout, daughter of Samuel and Amanda (Johnson) Stout, of Fulton township, and the two children of this union are Burton, who is engaged in teaching school and farming on the homestead; and Gertrude, who is the wife of Samuel Shug, of Amboy township.
VALENTINE WINSLOW is a type of those progressive and energetic farmers who have brought about the magnificent development of the agricultural resources of Fulton county, and he is numbered among the representative farmers and stock-growers of Pike township, where his entire life has been passed. He was born on the farm which is now his home, the date of his nativity having been March 20, 1843, and he is a son of Valentine and Lydia Ann (Welch) Winslow. His father was born in Lewis county, New York, in 1804, and at the age of fifteen years, in company with his brother Martin, who was thirteen years of age at the time, he came to Ohio, making the trip in a one-horse wagon and in due time arriving at their destination, the home of Willard Gunn, at Waterville, Lucas county. This journey was accomplished in the year 1818, so that the youthful brothers became pioneers of the Buckeye State. In the winter of 1832; Mr. Winslow took up his residence on the farm now owned by his son and namesake, the subject of this sketch. The place was in the midst of the virgin forest and no improvements had been made on the same, the nearest house having been at Swanton, nine miles distant. He developed his farm and became one of the honored citizens of the county, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death occurring on the homestead, in 1857, and his wife passed away in 186o. Valentine Winslow, Sr., endured the hardships and deprivations incident to the pioneer epoch in this section, which is now marked by opulent prosperity, and he labored faithfully in making a home in the wilderness. At the time of the great meteoric shower, in 1832, he and Garry Miller were sleeping at night under their wagon, in Pike township, and he awoke to witness the beautiful phenomenon, forthwith rousing his
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companion and assuring him that the stars were "playing tag." In 1834 he utilized his ox-team and wagon in bearing the corpse of an Indian to the grave, having maintained friendly relations with the red men who still remained in this locality. The subject of this sketch was afforded the advantages of the somewhat primitive schools of his native township, and was reared on the homestead farm. assisting in its reclamation and improvement, and his vocation throughout life has been that of farming, in connection with which he has met With a due measure of success. In 1861 he purchased the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead, to whose operation he has since given his undivided attention. He has a finely improved and very productive farm of one hundred and forty acres and is one of the substantial farmers and popular citizens of the township whose development he has witnessed and aided. He is a Republican in his political proclivities. In 1864 Mr. Winslow was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Koder, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on May 27th, 1838, and who came with her parents, George and Mary ( Stout) Koder, to Fulton county in 1846, her father dying in 1885 and her mother in 189o. Mr. and Mrs. Winslow have three children—Lizzy, who is the wife of Daniel Casey ; Minnie, who is the wife of Willard Winslow; and George, who lis associated with his father in the operation of the home farm.
OSCAR J. WISMAN, D.D.S.. a prominent and highly-successful dentist of Delta, is a descendant of a family that on his fathersis side has long been established on the American continent and whose maternal ancestors originally came to Pennsylvania from Germany. He is the son of Eli and Mary (Lesnet) Wisman, both natives of Ohio. Eli T. Wisman was born in Knox county. O., in 1844, and for a number of years was actively engaged in farming. He served through the Civil war as a member of Company K of the One hundred and fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry. At present he is engaged in the United States mail service in the capacity of carrier. He and wife, who was born in Williams county, in 1846 are the parents of five children. They are : Eva ; Jennie, the wife of Jay Wilkins of Montpelier. O.; Myra, now Mrs. Lawrence Bollinger_ of Montpelier ; Lula, still at home, and Oscar J. Dr. Oscar J. Wisman was born in Kiddville, Sullivan county, Mo., January 19, 1871. He received his elementary education in the country schools of Williams county and of Montpelier, and he is a graduate of the teacherssi course at the Commercial college of Fayette, O., Normal University. After graduating he taught for one year and then was engaged for four years in the hardware business. In 1898 he entered the Northwestern Dental college of Chicago. from which he graduated in 1901. He began the practice of his profession at Delta on May 7, of the same year. Until quite recently he was the only dentist in Delta. The result of his push and enterprise is a large and lucrative practice which extends to all parts of the county. Dr. Wisman is a member of Fulton Lodge, No. 248. Free and Accepted Masons and of the Modern Woodmen of America, and with his wife a member of the Presbyterian church. In politics the Doctor is a
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stanch Republican, in which matter he follows his ancestral line. While Dr. Wisman commands- a very extensive practice he and his most estimable wife enjoy high social relations in the beautiful little city that they have chosen as their home.
EMIRA WILLSON. a venerable resident of the village of Swanton, where he is now living retired, was long engaged in agricultural pursuits in Fulton township, and is a man to whom has been ever accorded the uniform confidence and respect of his fellow men. He was born in Springfield, Clark county, Ohio, on the nth of June, 1819, and is a son of Nathan and Margaret (Potter) Willson, both of whom were born and reared in the State of New York, their marriage having been solemnized in Genesee county, whence they came to Ohio about the year 185, having two children at the time. They settled first in Clark county and later removed to Geauga county, where they remained about ten years, at the expiration of which, in 1833, they came to Fulton county, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father having been a skilled mechanic but having devoted the greater portion of his active career to farming. He died in 1840, and his wife passed away in 1844. Of their seven children only three attained years of maturity, namely: Katherine, who died of consumption, in 1835, hers having been the first grave made on Etna Ridge, where her parents had settled two years previously; Martin, who is about eighty-eight years of age at the present time, 1905, resides on the farm where he settled when first coming to Fulton county, two miles west of the village of Ai; and Emira, subject of this sketch, is about two years younger, both brothers being hale and hearty. Emira Willson received a common-school education, and was about fourteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Fulton county, where he has ever since maintained his home. He has cleared and otherwise improved three good farms in Fulton township, and there he still owns one hundred and thirty acres, near the old family homestead. In 1892 Mr. Willson removed to Swanton, where he had previously purchased a nice little place of about seventeen acres, improved with a good residence and other buildings, and here he has since lived essentially retired, enjoying the just rewards of his many former years of toil and earnest application. Mr. Willson has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for forty years, having been initiated as an entered apprentice in the lodge at Delta, this county, and having been a charter member of the lodge at Swanton, to which he was admitted. He is also a member of the Masonic Relief association of Ohio. He cast his first presidential vote in 1840. his ballot was given in support of William Henry Harrison, and later it was his privilege to vote for the grandson, General Benjamin Harrison, for the same office. He has followed the fortunes of the Republican party from the time of its organization to the present, having previously been an adherent of the Whig party. He has never sought office, but has been called upon by his fellow-citizens to serve it; various local preferments, having been elected without solicitation or effort on his own part. The Willson family was here during the
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so-called Ohio and Michigan war, resulting from the dispute as to the boundary line, and Mr. Willson heard the only firing that was indulged in by the contending parties during that trouble. Indians were in evidence in this section for several years after he came to the county, and they were peaceable and hospitable as a rule. When the Willson family located in what is now Fulton county, in 1833, there were only three other families here resident, those of Valentine Winslow, Euretus Knight and David Hobart, but to-day the township is one of the most populous and- opulent in the county. January 13, 1842, Mr. Willson was united in marriage to Miss Almira Browning, who was born in Herkimer county, N. Y., in 1821, and whose death occurred on the 8th of December, 1902. Three children were born of this union. William, the eldest, enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and Thirtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, at the time of the Civil war, and died while in the service, as a result of disease, having been twenty years of age. George, the second son, resides on the homestead farm of his father, in Fulton township. He married Miss Lucetta Munger, of Delta, and they have two children—Byron. who is married and is associated in the operation of the home farm, and Minnie, who is the wife of Eugene Penney. a successful farmer of the same township. Emma Jane, the youngest of the three children, became the wife of Ambrose Sidney Eldred, who was born in Kalamazoo county, Mich., and who was a soldier in the One Hundred and Twenty- eighth Ohio Volunteer infantry during the War of the Rebellion. He died in 1892, no children surviving him. Mr. Eldred was a farmer of Fulton county during his residence here. In 1882 he sold his farm, in Pike township, after which he resided in Ashland county for three years. In 1885 he went to Western Kansas, where he was engaged in the general merchandise trade for five years. at the expiration of which he returned to Fulton county, passing the closing days of his life on the Willson homestead, west of the village of Ai. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Eldred has remained at the paternal home, and is the loving and devoted companion of her venerable father.
JONATHAN R. WISE has improved and owns one of the valuable farm properties of Gorham township. and is one of the most progressive agriculturists and stock-growers of this section. He was born near Shelby, Richland county. Ohio. on the 28th of April, 1845, and is a son of Jacob and Lydia (Hibbard) Wise, both of whom were representatives of stanch old Pennsylvania stock, and the former was born in Schuylkill county and the latter in Crawford county of the old Keystone State. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this review was Leonard Wise, a pioneer farmer of Pennsylvania and one who was an active participant in several of the early conflicts with the Indians. In 184o Jacob Wise removed with his family to Richland county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farming until 1847. when he came to Fulton county, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of heavily-timbered land in Gorham township. about three and one-half miles northwest of the present attractive little city of Fayette. He reclaimed a good farm from the virgin wilds, and there remained until
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he was summoned to that "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns," his death occurring in July, 1873, at which time he was seventy-three years of age. He was twice married. By the first marriage there were six children, and by the second there were four. His widow of the second marriage survived him by more than a decade, passing away October 17, 1885, and the remains of both rest in the cemetery at Fayette. Of the ten children of the two marriages six are now living. Jonathan R. Wise was about two years of age at the time of his parents' removal to the pioneer farmstead in Gorham township, where he was reared to manhood, early beginning to assist in the reclaiming and cultivation of the place, and his educational advantages were confined to the somewhat primitive common schools of the locality and period. In 1871 he began farming on his own responsibility, finally removing to Michigan, where he remained five years. In 1880 he purchased his present homestead farm, which comprises the northeast quarter of Section 34, Gorham township, and he also owns eighty acres in Section 4, same township, having cleared much of his land from the wild state and having developed one of the best places to be found in this section of the county, and he has erected substantial buildings, including an attractive residence, and made other admirable improvements of a permanent nature. For a period of about six years he rented his farm here, having removed to Clay county, South Dakota, in 1887, and having there been engaged in farming, in Norway township, until 1893, when he sold his property there and returned to his farm in Fulton county, where he has since resided. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party and he shows a loyal interest in all that contributes to the civic and material advancement of his home township and county. July 3, 1870, Mr. Wise was married to Miss Rachel Cottner, who was born in Richland county, Ohio, June 28, 1850, a daughter of John and Mary (Sheriff) Cottner, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter in Cumberland county, Pa., her parents having come to Ohio about 1826, settling in Richland county, and Mr. Cottner took up his residence in that county about 1840. having been a soldier in the Mexican war. He died in 1883, at the age of seventy-six years, and his widow, who was born May 16, 1816. died May 8, 1899. She was twice married, her first husband having been Thomas Piper. to whom she bore a son and daughter, and of the second marriage there were also born two children. The children of the two marriages were Elizabeth, who is the wife of Joseph Richie, of Michigan; Boyd. who is engaged in farming in Fulton county Rachel, who is the wife of the subject of this sketch ' and Allen, who is a farmer of Gorham town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Wise have but one child, Harrie, who is associated with his father in the management of the homestead farm. He married Miss Etta Good, of Carroll county. Ill., and they have four children: Raymond J., Kennard B., Emanuel L. and Allen B.
MRS. CLARISSA A. WITT, widow of the late Horatio Witt, one of the honored citizens and prominent farmers of Fulton township, till resides on the homestead farm, which is most eligibly located,
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two and one-half miles north of the village of Swanton. She was born in Monclova township, Lucas county, Ohio, February 23, 1834, and is a daughter of William C. and Clarissa M. (Gunn) Griffin. William C. Griffin was born in Genesee county, N. Y., October 30, 1803, and at the age of twelve years he accompanied his parents on their removal to the site of the present city of Toledo, Ohio. Four or five years later he went out with a fur-trading expedition, and later he was with the Smith & Macy exploring and surveying expedition in the West. After an adventurous career of about a decade he returned to Toledo, in the vicinity of which place he maintained his home for a number of years. In Waterville, Lucas county, in 1829, he was united in marriage to Miss Clarissa M. Gunn. and in 1835 they came to what is now Fulton county, locating on a tract of wild land in Pike township, where Mr. Griffin reclaimed a good farm, also continuing to follow mechanical pursuits, to which he had been thoroughly trained, being an expert mechamc. He attained the patriarchal age of ninety- four years, five months and ten days, having passed the closing years of his life in the village of Delta, this county, and his wife died at the age of seventy-three years, both having been held in unqualified esteem as true and worthy pioneers of Fulton county, where their lives counted for good in all relations. The Griffin family is of English and German lineage, and the Gunn family of English descent, both having been founded in America in the Colonial days. The mother of Mrs. Witt was born in Vermont and was a collateral descendant of Captain Carver, whose name was prominent in the Colonial annals of New England. William C. and Clarissa M. Griffin Became the parents of twelve children, of whom four died young, all the others attaining maturity, being married and leaving families. Five are living at the present time. The names of the eight who reached maturity are: Hortensia, Clarissa A., William O., Henry G.. Elizabeth P.. Louisa M., Augustus M., and Carver S. Aside from Mrs. Witt the four living are Elizabeth P., who is the wife of David Myers, of Delta Louisa M..who is the wife of Hector Miles. of Delta : Augustus M.. who owns and operates the old homestead farm : and Carver S.. who is engaged in farming near Delta. The last named was a soldier in the Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil war. and William O.. who was a member of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was in active service during practically the eutire war, being killed in the last battle in the vicinity of Petersburg. Va. Mrs. Witt was reared on the home» stead farm and was afforded excellent educational advantages for the day, having attended the schools in Maumee and Perrysburg, - and having been a successful and popular teacher for eleven years prior to her marriage. She is a woman of gracious presence and much business acumen, and has the affectionate regard of all who have come within the sphere of her influence. On February 11. 1858. was solemnized her marriage to Horatio Witt, a representative of one of the old and prominent families of Fulton county. He was born at Wooster, Ohio, on November 6. 1822. In 1851 he went to California, where he remained until 1854. mining, in which he was successful. He then returned to Ohio. and in 1859 they located upon the home-
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stead where Mrs. Witt has ever since resided. The present residence was erected prior to their removal here, and at the time was looked upon as a veritable mansion. It was substantially built and stands practically intact, after a half-century, comparing favorably with the houses of modern type and being one of the stately old homes of the county. The original farm comprised forty acres, and Mr. Witt increased the same to one hundred and forty, and the homestead as at present constituted comprises one hundred acres. Mr. Witt, who was one of the most honored and influential men of the locality, was summoned to the life eternal on the 21st of January, 1905, and his widow has since given her attention to the management of her property and business affairs, employing a man by the year to operate the farm and directing its work and improvement to a large extent in a personal way. The property is a valuable one and is one of the model farms of Fulton township. Mrs. Witt is a valued member of the county horticultural society, in which she has been an officer at various times. Mr. and Mrs. Witt became the parents of one child, Mabel A., who was born June 18, 1859. She became the wife of Samuel Winpenny, of Philadelphia, a sailor by vocation, and she died at the parental home, in 1893, leaving one child, Miss Dessie, who has since remained with her grandmother, Mrs. Witt, being one of the popular young ladies of the community and the cherished and devoted companion of her grandmother.
FAYETTE S. WOLCOTT, one of the prosperous farmers and stock-growers of York township. is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Oxford township, Erie county, Ohio, on the 25th of November. 1844, and being a son of Newell and Elizabeth Wolcott, the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter- near Harrisburg, Pa., and Both were resident of Hillsdale county, Mich., at the time of death, the father passing away at the age of eighty-one years and the mother at the age of eighty-four. They became the parents of two children, of whom the subject of this sketch is the younger. His sister, Susan E., is the wife of Charles P. McEnally. of Richmond, Va. Fayette S. Wolcott secured his early education in the public schools and has effectually rounded this out through individual application m later years and through active association with men and affairs. When the integrity of the Republic was placed in jeopardy through armed rebellion he was among the first to tender his aid in defense of the Union. April 12, 1861, he enlisted in an Ohio regiment, but was rejected at muster, by reason of his youth. His second enlistment was more successful, but was accomplished through a somewhat equivocal statement regarding his age, his patriotism and ardor seeming to justify his action. On the 4th of June, 1861, he became a member of Company E, Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, forthwith proceeding with his command to Camp Dennison, for drill and equipment. The regiment was assigned to duty in General Kelley's command, in West Virginia, and took part in the battle of Romney, one of the first battles of the war. The regiment remained in that locality -until March, 1862, then going to Martinsburg and soon afterward
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assisting in the capture of Winchester, under General Shields. The regiment then passed on through the Shenandoah valley, and in the last days of June, 1862, embarked at Alexandria, Va., and set forth to reinforce McClellan’s forces at Harrison's Landing, after the General had been driven from the peninsula. At that point the Eighth Ohio participated in a spirited engagement on the 4th of July, then returning to the defenses of the national capital and taking part in the manouvres leading up to the battle of Manassas. or Second Bull Run, though not actively engaged in said battle. The command then returned to Georgetown and proceeded up the east side of the Potomac and took part in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. in the last named of which Mr. Wolcott was wounded. His injury led to his receiving his honorable discharge, on the 5th of March, 1863, but on the 29th of the following February, he re-enlisted, becoming a member of Company G, One Hundred and First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, in Sherman's army, taking part in the Atlanta campaign. After the capitulation of Atlanta his command fell back to Pulaski. Tenn., and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Thereafter Mr. Wolcott did not take part in further battles, though he remained in service until October 3, 1865, receiving his honorable discharge at Victoria, Tex. He then returned to his home in Erie county, Ohio, where, on January 25, 187o, he was united in marriage to Miss Amanda M. Roberts, who was born and reared in that county, being a daughter of Peter and Adeltha Roberts. In 1874 he came to Fulton county and purchased eighty acres of his present farm, in York township, the tract having but few improvements at the time and being largely unreclaimed. He has brought the farm to a high state of cultivation, has erected good modern buildings, fenced the property and installed an effective system of tile drainage, and he has added fifty acres to its area. In addition to diversified agriculture he gives special attention to sheep-raising and dairying, having high-grade Shropshire sheep and being exceptionally successful m breeding the same. Mr. Wolcott was reared in the faith of the Republican party, whose principles he supported until 1896, when he espoused the cause of free-silver and gave his support to William J. Bryan for the presidency. The policies since represented by the Democratic party have maintained his loyal support. He served one term as township trustee, and for ten years he was a member of