USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 61
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To Mr. and Mrs. Decker have been born three children. Ruby is the wife of Samuel A. Beal. Edward C., who is foreman for John Hal- pin, a contractor, married Mabel Gibson. Harley, who lives on the farm with his father, married Myrna Hughes; their first child, a son, died at the age of five months, and the two living children are Nina Belle and Wanda Veda. Mrs. Decker is an active member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church. Mrs. Decker's father was a very liberal supporter and constant attendant of the same church. Mr. and Mrs. David Decker are both members of the local Grange in the Patrons of Husbandry, and Mr. Decker at one time filled the office of township assessor. He was elected to that position on the democratic ticket and that has been his brand of politics.
HUGH L. HALL, M. D. One of the busiest physicians of Lorain County is Dr. Hugh L. Hall of Amherst, where he has been serving his clientage faithfully for a period of more than thirty years. He is a con- scientious, high minded and skillful physician, and his professional work and civic prominence have brought him an enviable position in this county.
He was born in Jefferson, Ashtabula County, May 17, 1860, a son of Ozias L. and Laura (Hyde) Hall. Both the Hyde and the Hall families were Connecticut people who came to Northern Ohio in the early days. His paternal grandparents, Daniel and Sallie (Van Wormer) Hall, emi- grated from their native State of Connecticut to Ashtabula County, Ohio, and had their first home in a log cabin. They spent the remainder of their useful years in that county. The maternal grandfather, Gates Hyde, was also an early farmer in Ashtabula County. Doctor Hall's father was born in 1831 and died in 1885. He was a child when brought to Ashtabula County and at the age of sixteen he suffered a serious impairment of health and being unable to continue on the farm took up teaching, and followed that profession for a number of years. Always under the handicap of ill health, he prospered and became a man of considerable material influence. He died suddenly at Macon, Georgia, and was buried there, though his old friends and neighbors held a funeral service at his home in Ashtabula County. He was a republican in politics, and both he and his wife were active members of the Congregational Church at Rock Creek. He was married at Lenox, Ohio, to Miss Laura
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Hyde, who was born in 1839 and died in 1895. Their three children were: Dr. Hugh L .; Floyd M., who is a farmer at Cherry Valley; and Laverie, wife of Frank Beck, a successful laundryman at Atlanta, Georgia, and at one time the owner of several laundries in different cities.
Doctor Hall had the advantages of a good home and received a good education as a boy, and when old enough to take up life on his own responsibilities he followed out his ambition to become a professional man. He completed his literary training in Grand River Institute at Austin- burg, Ohio, and in 1884 graduated M. D. from the Western Reserve Medical College. He also had two years of training in a hospital in Cleveland, and in 1885 he located permanently at Amherst, buying the practice of Doctor Maynard, a physician whom many recall in that section of Lorain County. Almost from the start Doctor Hall had a large following and his ability has kept him secure in the confidence of a large and profitable practice. He is a member of the Lorain County and Ohio State Medical Societies.
In June, 1885, Doctor Hall married Harriet Tinker. She was born at Rome in Ashtabula County, a daughter of Daniel and Alathea ( Ackley) Tinker, who were an early family in Ashtabula County. Doctor and Mrs. Hall have one son, Howard L., who was born December 26, 1898. Throughout his four years in high school he maintained the highest aver- age in his studies and graduated with the -class of 1916 as valedictorian. His education will be continued in Oberlin College. Doctor and Mrs. Hall and son are members of the Congregational church, and Mrs. Hall served as president of the Ladies Aid Society during 1915, and under her administration the society raised $1,100 for carrying out its pur- poses. In politics Doctor Hall is independent. He has served on the village council and is now a member of the school board. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, has filled all the chairs in the subordinate lodges, and in Masonry is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter, the Council and the Knights Templar degrees.
WILLIAM H. SPIEGELBERG. Undoubtedly one of the finest farms to be found in all Lorain County is that of William H. Spiegelberg in Elyria Township. As an agriculturist he is a man of progressive ideals and while his efforts have always brought him an abundant degree of mate- rial prosperity he is constantly going ahead and looking ahead for fur- ther improvements and better methods of utilizing his opportunities. The Spiegelberg home is a place of great attractiveness. In 1908 he erected a residence of thirteen rooms with all the modern conveniences, including a complete lighting and heating system. Following this came another substantial improvement, an immense barn erected in 1909, and one of the more recent additions to his farm enterprise has been the erection of a large silo. While classified as a general farmer, Mr. Spiegelberg gives much attention to special crops and to live stock, and operates a large dairy.
Born in Amherst Township January 23, 1863, William H. Spiegel- berg is of sterling German ancestry, and his family has been identified with Lorain County more than eighty years. His grandparents were John and Barbara (Heiser) Spiegelberg, who were married in Germany. In 1833 as young people they came to the United States, and during the first winter, spent at Norwich, Connecticut, twin children were born to them, George W. and Olive, the latter being later Mrs. Adam Stang of Elyria Township. In 1834 the family started West, intending to locate at Fort Wayne, Indiana. The vessel on which they were com- ing up the lake encountered a severe storm and was taken into Lorain Vol. 11-26
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harbor, where all the passengers were landed. John Spiegelberg hunted up an old friend from Germany at Lorain, secured his assistance in get- ting employment, and thus became a permanent resident. He was a man of industry, a money maker, and for many years lived on a good farm in Amherst Township.
The late George W. Spiegelberg, whose birth has already been recorded and who died April 14, 1902, spent practically all his life in Lorain County. After his marriage he succeeded to the ownership of the old homestead in Amherst Township, and continued its operation successfully until the close of his career. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Kolbe, was born in Germany in 1840, a daughter of N. W. and Elizabeth (Heisner) Kolbe, who settled in Ohio in 1856, and for many years lived on a farm near Lorain Village. George W. Spiegel- berg and wife had ten children : Barbara Elizabeth, who married Jacob Eschtruth; George, a twin brother of Elizabeth, lived only about a year; William H .; Mary, who married Moses Eppley; Olive, who became the wife of John Bechtell; Louisa, wife of William Beal; Carrie; Elizabeth, who married J. F. Fowle; Amelia, wife of Frank Rahl; and Louis, who married Odelia Smith.
William H. Spiegelberg spent his early years on the old homestead, gained an education in the local schools, and was with his parents until his marriage on March 28, 1889. The maiden name of his wife was Lydia A. Eppley. She was born in Morgan County, Ohio, a daughter of Michael and Rosa (Harch) Eppley, both natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Spiegelberg have six children: Elmer William, who died at the age of ten weeks; Edna Catherine; Earl William; Lydia Alberta Elizabeth; Ruth Marian and Marian Elizabeth.
During the ten years following his marriage Mr. Spiegelberg, with the co-operation of his thrifty wife, followed farming as a renter in Amherst Township, and proved his energy and successful ability by making enough out of his operations as a renter to finally buy a home for himself. He finally located on the old John M. Vincent farm of 1281/2 acres, and after renting that estate for ten years bought it. Under his own proprietorship improvements have gone forward at a rapid pace, until there is now nothing lacking to make it an ideal country home. Mrs. Spiegelberg attends the Zion Evangelical Church. In politics he is an independent voter.
GEORGE H. ANDRESS. Among the energetic young business men of Elyria, one who has won prominence although a comparative newcomer to commercial circles is George H. Andress, "The Studebaker Man," representative here for the famous Studebaker automobile. He was born in this city, September 28, 1892, and is a son of Henry M. and Medora G. (Boynton) Andress. His father, a business man of Elyria for forty years, for half of this time conducted an establishment within twenty rods of the location of the. son's store and garage, which is situated on the property on which the old home stood for a long period. A review of the career of Henry M. Andress will be found elsewhere in this work.
George H. Andress received a public school education and when ready to enter upon his commercial career associated himself with his father, under whom he received his business training. From 1910 until 1913 he remained with the elder man in the handling of automobiles, and in the latter year, with this experience, took over the agency of the Studebaker automobile and has built up a large and important business. Mr. Andress is a member of the Elyria Chamber of Commerce, the Elyria Automobile Club and Lodge No. 465, Benevolent and Protective
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Order of Elks. He is popular in business and social circles and is justly accounted one of Elyria's leading young business citizens.
Mr. Andress was married January 21, 1913, to Miss Lora J. Waite, who was born at Lorain, Ohio, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter W. Waite, who are living at Lorain. One daughter has come to this union : Maude Augusta, born at Elyria. Mr. Andress owns his own home and place of business, the latter being located in a desirable part of the business section of the city, at No. 635 Broad Street.
LESTER C. COOK, whose death on April 12, 1909, was a cause for gen- eral regret in, Lorain County, was one of the factors in agricultural and civic progress in Eaton Township for many years. Mrs. Cook, his widow, is still living on the old homestead at North Eaton, and his work as a farmer is continued through his son. This is one of the best known and most prominent families of Eaton Township.
Born on a farm in Medina County, Ohio, December 6, 1841, a son of Erastus and Lemira (Ayer) Cook, Lester C. Cook grew to manhood on the Medina County farm, received a good education, and for several years was a school teacher. He also took a business course in Oberlin, and for a couple of years was interested in a furniture store at Hillsdale, Michigan.
On January 19, 1875, he married Miss Minnie Streeter of Eaton Township in Lorain County, where she was born October 21, 1848. Mrs. Cook is a daughter of Sheldon and Mary (Cutts) Streeter. Her father was born on a farm in Shalersville Township of Portage County, Ohio, August 7, 1824, while her mother was born on a farm in Paris Township of Portage County February 25, 1828. They were married January 19, 1848, and in the following March they moved to Lorain County, where Sheldon Streeter bought fifty acres in Eaton Township. Only a part of this had been cleared, and its chief improvements were a log house and a small barn. It was in that one community that he con- centrated his efforts and made his home the rest of his days. From time to time he invested his surplus in other lands and finally had 238 acres under his individual ownership. In 1867 Mr. Streeter built the large commodious residence which is now occupied by Mrs. Cook and her family. Besides this residence Sheldon Streeter put up good barns and other buildings and his was a career of useful effort and of substantial citizenship. Mrs. Cook was the only child of her parents, and she was eight years old when her mother died, and though her father married again there were no children by the second marriage. Sheldon Streeter was a republican in early life and later a prohibitionist. He became an ardent admirer of William J. Bryan. Though interested in politics he was never a seeker for official honor. He was a member and served as an elder forty-three years in the Christian Church at Eaton Center and was also a Sunday School worker. His death occurred September 11, 1902, as a result of being struck by the railway cars at North Eaton.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Cook were born seven children. All of them were born on the old home farm in Eaton township, and four of them died in early childhood. The oldest is Grace B., born November 21, 1876, a graduate of the Academy at Oberlin, following which she took a course in a nurses' training school and is now a nurse in the Brownell & Eagle Schools in Cleveland. The second daughter, Harriet, born Sep- tember 29, 1884, attended high school at Oberlin, took courses in music and elocution at a college in Berea, is a Chiropodist and now lives at Cleveland with her sister. Don Sheldon Cook, the only living son, was born January 16, 1888, attended the Elyria High School until within three months of graduating, and is now the active manager of the old
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home farm for his mother. He is conducting a successful business as a dairyman and a breeder of high grade Holstein cattle and Duroc Jersey hogs. In 1912 he built his second silo with a capacity of 135 tons. He is a republican in politics, as was his father, but has no aspirations for official honors. He and the other members of the family are communi- cants of the Disciples Church. His father served as a deacon in that church. On January 19, 1909, Don Sheldon Cook married Miss Freda Davis, daughter of L. T. and Mida (Roberts) Davis. They have three children : Russell Kenneth born March 12, 1910; Lester D., born Novem- ber 26, 1912; and Jean Elizabeth, born March 11, 1914.
ELMER A. RICHMOND. One of the old and prominent families of Lorain County is represented by Elmer A. Richmond, whose farm enter- prise and good citizenship have made him well known in that section of the county around Wellington. The Richmonds have lived in this county for three successive generations, and a great deal of development and improvement can be traced to their energy and effective citizenship.
Born in Lorain County, September 20, 1867, Elmer A. Richmond is a son of Lester .J. and Mary (Dalgliesh ) Richmond. Lester J. Rich- mond, who was born November 22, 1842, at Akron, Ohio, is still living retired. His parents were Charles B. and Matilda ( Welton) Richmond. Charles B. Richmond was born in New England and came to Lorain County in a very early day, clearing up a farm from the wilderness. Lester J. Richmond received most of his education before he was sixteen years of age, and found employment at work on his father's place and for other farmers. In 1862 he enlisted at Penfield in Company B of the First Ohio Light Artillery, and his command first went to the front at Louisville, Kentucky. He took part in the battles and campaigns be- ginning in the fall of 1862, participating at Perrysville, at Wild Cat, at Murfreesboro, at Chickamauga, and was subjected to the hardest kind of campaigning. He was never wounded nor captured, though for three months he lay sick in the hospital at Nashville. After the war and his honorable discharge he lived with his parents a time, then went to Ashtabula County, where he worked on a farm, and on November 13, 1866, married Mary A. Dalglish. She was born December 10, 1843, a daughter of Robert Dalglish, who came from Scotland and was a mill- wright by trade, although after locating in Lorain County he followed farming. After their marriage Lester J. Richmond and wife rented a farm in LaGrange Township, but a year later moved to Penfield, where he worked in a sawmill eight years and then superintended the Edwin Hinsdale farm. From there he moved to Huron County and by contract furnished wood for the locomotives on the Lake Shore Railroad. His next purchase was sixty acres of land in Ross Township of Wood County, and after clearing this and improving it for seven years he rented a place and moved to Penfield Township, and from there to Wellington. Later he returned to Penfield Township and located on a farm of 198 acres which he occupied until about ten years ago when he retired and moved to Wellington. Elmer A. Richmond was one of six children, five of whom are living. The others are: Frank, in the hay business at Wellington ; Nora, wife of Walter Hull, a motorman at Elyria; Mamie, who died when about four years old; Victoria, wife of V. L. Banning of Wellington : and Robert, in a grocery store at Elyria.
Elmer A. Richmond spent his early life chiefly in Penfield Township, and attended the Wellington public schools. He has followed farming ever since reaching his majority and has made a success of the business.
In 1893 he married Ada Fetterman, who was born in Medina County, Ohio, daughter of Joseph Fetterman. When a child she was brought to
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Penfield Township, and received her education in the local schools. Mr. and Mrs. Richmond have three children: Mary, aged twenty-one and still at home; Glen, aged eighteen; and Arthur, aged nine. Mr. Richmond is a member of the Congregational Church and his wife be- longs to the Methodist denomination. The family are all members of the Grange, and he affiliates with the Maccabees.
Mr. Richmond has taken considerable part in local affairs, and is a republican in politics. He has served as trustee of Penfield Township, having been elected to that office in November, 1915, and was a member of the school board for seven years. As a farmer he looks after the operation of 161 acres of land, which he devotes to the general crops and to dairying purposes. He has a herd of eight thoroughbred Hol- steins besides a herd of grade Holsteins and he is making that a very profitable feature of his general business. His farm is without doubt one of the very best in Penfield Township. It is also a fact worth recording that it was one of the very first to be cleared from the wilderness. Its first owner was a Mr. Penfield, whose family were honored by having the township named for them. Mr. Richmond and his family reside in one of the most attractive rural residences in that section of the county.
C. J. BEHNKE. Among Penfield Township farms that are deserving of mention as places of value in the material sense and as homes of thrifty and energetic citizens, there is the Behnke place, known as the Elm Grove Farm, which for nearly twenty years has been modified and increased in value by the energy of C. J. Behnke, one of the ablest farmers in that locality.
A native of Lorain County, Mr. Behnke was born in Russia Town- ship, September 21, 1863, a son of Ernest and Wilhelmina (Mohrman) Behnke. Both his parents were natives of Germany. His father was born in 1829 and died in 1884 and his mother in 1831 and died in 1891. They were married in Cleveland, Ohio. Ernest Behnke came to Lorain County about 1861. He was a blacksmith and carriage maker by trade, and started to work at his trade in America at $7 a month, eventually set up a shop of his own, and by rendering a service that brought him increased patronage he laid the foundation for his substantial success. Out of his earnings at his trade he paid for 192 acres of land, and was very well off when he died, though he had started almost penniless. He was a democrat in politics and he and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church. Of their seven children the four now living are: C. J. Behnke; Minnie, wife of William Fowles of LaGrange Township; William, a farmer in Elyria Township; and Lewis, a farmer in Amherst Township.
C. J. Behnke acquired his early education in the district schools, grew up and learned the business of farming, and after his father's death inherited a share of the homestead. Later he sold his land in Amherst Township and in 1897 bought his present place of a little more than 100 acres in Penfield Township. This at the time was uncleared land and he has since improved it into a wonderful farm, erecting a good home and a large barn, and making other improvements in keeping with the best standards of agriculture in this vicinity. Mr. Behnke has succeeded by general farming and dairying, and in the way of livestock keeps Jersey and Holstein cattle and Percheron horses.
On March 17, 1889, he married Lizzie Stickroth. She was born in Germany, but was brought to America when a child. They are the parents of three children : Wallace has become a successful railway official and for the past five years has been division superintendent on the Frisco lines at Fort Worth, Texas; Nellie is a trained nurse, located
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at Chicago; Julia is the wife of Lesley Preston, a farmer in Wellington Township. Mrs. Behnke, the mother of these children, died in 1903. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On December 2, 1906, Mr. Behnke married Allie (Newton) Bernt, a widow. Mrs. Behnke is a member of the Adventist Church. Fraternally Mr. Behnke belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Maccabees, and is also a member of the Grange, holds the certificate for sixth degree and has filled various chairs of these orders. Politically he is a republican, and was trustee of his home township for eight years.
WILLIAM TYLER WILLIAMS. To find farm improvement and efficiency at its best it is only necessary to visit the Riverside Farm owned by William Tyler Williams in Carlisle Township, two miles from the public square of Elyria. This was formerly known as the W. E. Miller Farm, and comprises 703/4 acres and is remarkable not so much for its size and for the intensive cultivation of the land and for the many splendid improvements which make it not only a farm in the ordinary sense but a splendid home. Every building is of most thorough construction and the barns have cement floors, cement feed troughs, and the stock have running water without leaving their stalls. The specialty of the farm is graded and registered Holstein and Jersey cattle. A great deal of credit has been given to the equipment of this farm, and one of the prominent features are two large silos built of hollow tile. Water is piped not only throughout the barn but to other buildings and there is both hot and cold water throughout the house. A gas well on the farm supplies ample fuel and light.
Mr. Williams came to this place September 1, 1912, from Cuyahoga County, in Mayfield Township, where he had spent the greater part of his life and where he was born February 15, 1841. His parents were Daniel and Alice (Blish) Williams, both of whom were born and reared on farms near Colchester, Connecticut. His father was a carpenter and joiner by occupation in early days, used his trade to become a contractor, and was a quite successful man. He was not married until forty-one years of age, and soon after that event he moved out to Northern Ohio and located in Mayfield Township of Cuyahoga County. He came there in order to make a sale of some Western Reserve land, and he was engaged very extensively in the selling of such land for several years. He bought on his own account 257 acres, and that was the old homestead where William T. Williams spent his early boyhood. There were four sons in the family, William T. being the youngest. The oldest, Daniel B., moved out to California on account of his health and died there at the age of seventy- seven leaving three children. Abram F., the second son, lived on the old home farm in Mayfield Township until his death at the age of sixty-seven and was survived by two children. The other living son, Henry C., is a farmer in Van Wert County, Ohio, and has three children.
When William T. Williams was about a year and a half old his father died, and he was reared by his mother on the old Mayfield township farm. During his childhood and early youth he attended the common schools, and every morning and night walked a distance of three miles between the home and school. He managed to secure the equivalent of a high school education, and when he was about twenty years of age the old farm was divided and he and a brother became owners of ninety acres. About that time he also took up work as a teamster for the government in the Civil war, having enlisted for that service. Exposure and hard- ship brought in train a serious illness on account of which he was honor- ably discharged, but after recuperating he again enlisted and this time
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