USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 21
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Mrs. Harriet H. Measel, daughter of Henry and Susanna Heistand, was born on the old homestead in 1845. She received a liberal education, and was excellently fitted for a life of usefulness. In September, 1868, she was happily united in marriage to Fernando Measel, the union being blessed with chil- dren as follows: Margaret L .; Minion B .; and Martin H. Mr. Measel was a native of Seneca county, Ohio, where he was born in 1841. The following year his parents removed to Hancock county. He was reared and educated in this county, and during his lifetime was an extensive stock raiser and ship- per. The farm on which he resided contained one hundred and seventy-five acres. He was a man well and honorably known in the county, and held the esteem of a large number of friends. At the time of the Civil war, he was found among "The Boys in Blue" who went forth to battle for the Union. He enrolled in Company G, One Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which command he served until the close of hostilities. He served in all the battles in which his regiment engaged with distinguished valor, and was honorably discharged in 1865 as corporal of his company. He was a true friend, a good neighbor, a worthy and loyal citizen, a kind husband, and an indulgent father. In 1877 he caused to be erected a magnificent home, which stands now as a monument to his memory. His decease occurred in July, 1881, by which event the public lost a worthy man, his family a dear and loved father and husband. Mrs. Measel has a brother and two sisters not heretofore mentioned in this sketch. Mary E. is the wife of John Purkey, of Bloomdale, Wood county, Ohio; Sarah A. is the widow of Noah Bish, a resident of Fostoria, Ohio, and William is a resident of Lorain, Ohio.
SQUIRE CARLIN.
Hancock county has been the home and scene of labor of many men who have not only led lives that should serve as an inspiration to those who come after them but have also been of important service to their country
MRS. DELIA B. G. CARLIN.
SQUIRE CARLIN,
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and state through various avenues of usefulness. Among them must be named the honored pioneer, Squire Carlin, who located here in 1826 and for many years was prominently identified with the growth and development of his adopted county.
Mr. Carlin was born near Auburn, New York, on the 25th of Decem- ber, 1801, and was the oldest son and second child in a family of seven chil- dren. In the winter of 1806-7, when he was but five years old, the family left the Empire state and traveled westward to Erie, Pennsylvania, where they remained a few months. Late in the spring of 1807 they boarded a sail- ing vessel and proceeded by lake to the mouth of the Huron river, settling on the south shore of Lake Erie, a short distance west of the place of landing. The Carlins were the second white family to locate in Huron county, Ohio, but remained there only one year, when they removed to the river Raisin, settling on the opposite side of the river from Frenchtown, about two and one-half mile east of the site of Monroe, Michigan, where they lived until the summer of 1809. They next located on the site of Maumee City, now in Lucas county, Ohio, where the father continued peacefully tilling the soil until after Hull's surrender in August, 1812, when the report coming of hostile Indians caused them to flee southward over Hull's trail. Our subject's mother, with her children, mounted on two horses and carrying provisions for the journey and a few household articles, accompanied a band of refugees to Urbana, while her husband remained behind with the hope of saving his stock, etc., but his efforts were futile as all his belongings fell a prey to the savages and their English allies. The refugees passed through Fort Findlay and saw the soldiers still working on the block houses which were commenced the previous June. After stopping in Urbana for a couple of months, the Carlins located on Buck creek, east of the village, where they lived until 1814, when Squire and his father returned to Maumee, built a cabin near Fort Meigs and raised a crop of corn on what is now known as War Club Island. The following year they were joined by the other members of the family and moved to the old clearing north of the river. The buildings on the place had been burned by the British and Indians and new ones had to be erected. The parents spent the remainder of their lives on the Maumee.
It was there that Squire Carlin grew to manhood with no school privi- leges whatever, except three months on the Maumee river, and all the educa- tion that he possessed was acquired after he located in Findlay. In April, 1821, he was united in marriage to Sarah Wolcott, whose parents settled on the Maumee at the close of the war of 1812. By this union were born ten children, but only three reached years of maturity, W. D., the eldest of these
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was a surgeon in the Union army during the Civil war, and died in 1862; J. E. H., now a resident of Findlay, crossed the plains with his father in 1849, and again went to the Pacific slope in 1853, spending twelve years in California and fourteen years in Nevada. He was interested in a quartz mill for some years and also did some mining. Sally W., the only surviving daughter, is the widow of Judge G. W. Myers. The mother of these children died in 1850.
Mr. Carlin visited Findlay several times before and after the settle- ment of Wilson Vance in 1821, and in November, 1826, purchased a lot on the southwest corner of South Main and West Front streets from Joseph Vance and Elnathan Cory, the original town proprietors. This property is still in possession of his widow, it being the oldest continuous title in Hancock county. In a cabin built upon this lot he opened the first store in Findlay, his trade being to a great extent with the Indians. In 1828 he was joined by his brother Parlee and together they carried on business under the firm name of S. & P. Carlin for many years. Our subject spent much of his time traveling through the forest buying furs from the Indians, white hunters and small traders. These he would take to Detroit, where they were shipped to London, England. One winter Mr. Carlin purchased four thou- sand and six hundred deer skins and seven thousand coon skins. While en- gaged in the fur trade he suffered many hardships and privations. While on one of his trips in the winter of 1828 and very hungry, he came upon an Indian camp in the forest where several dressed animals were roasting before a log fire. Jumping from his horse he cut off a large slice of the roasting meat. One of the Indians present, seeing the avidity with which he ate, said: "You like um fox?" "Yes," said Mr. Carlin, "don't you?" The Indian shook his head. "Then why do you roast them?" was asked. "For my dogs," re- plied the Indian, who seemed much amused over the incident. The meat, however, tasted good to the hungry trader, who first supposed the animals to be coons, a much prized dish among the pioneers. Squire and Parlee Carlin carried on mercantile business for many years and also conducted the grist and saw mills on the north side of the Blanchard, on the present site of the Union block and the traction company's plant. These mills they owned for more than forty years.
In 1849 Mr. Carlin crossed the plains to California, being one of a com- pany of fifty-five men, who started from Independence, Missouri, with mule teams which they had bought at that place and then broke in preparation for the journey. Our subject remained in the Golden state for two years, at the end of which time he returned home by water, traveling by way of the isth-
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mus of Panama and New Orleans, where he had the twenty thousand dollars' worth of gold dust brought with him converted in to money. He then pro- ceeded up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, where he purchased four watches, paying one hundred dollars eaclı. One of these Mrs. Carlin still owns and it is a good time-keeper yet.
On his return to Findlay Mr. Carlin sold his store, which he had still retained while in the west and was then principally engaged in the loaning of money and in speculation, though he was also in- terested in general farming and the milling business as previously stated. He accumulated much property and became the second wealthiest man in the county. He was largely instrumental in building the Fremont & Indiana Railroad in 1853, now a part of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, extend- ing from Fremont to Union City, Indiana, but in this venture he lost heavily, and afterward retired from active business. He was one of the largest landholders in this part of the state, at one time owning several thousand acres of land in Hancock and Wood counties. For many years he was in the banking business in this city.
In June, 1853, Mr. Carlin was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Delia B. G. Gardner, who was born in Jefferson county, New York, March 8, 1822, a daughter of James and Esther ( Parker) Briggs, natives of Vermont and of English descent. Her paternal grandfather, Peter Briggs, was born in Massachusetts and became a very prominent politician of the Green Mountain state, where he represented his district in the legislature. Mrs. Carlin spent the first fifteen years of her life in her native county, and then accompanied her parents on their removal to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where she was first married in 1842 to Charles H. Gardner. For about a year they made their home in Wayne county, New York, and then they re- moved to Vermont, where they spent two years. The following two years were passed in Nantucket, Massachusetts, and from there they went to Sheffield and later to Worcester, that state, but finally located in Cleve- land, Ohio. Mr. Gardner died at St. Augustine, Florida, in 1848, and a. year later his widow returned to Cleveland. Subsequently she took up her residence in Columbus, Ohio, where she engaged in teaching school for some time, and it was there that she met Mr. Carlin, to whom she gave her hand in marriage in June, 1853. By her first union she had one daughter, Frances R. G., who first married C. Yonker and for her second husband wedded Edmond Dodd. By his second marriage Mr. Carlin had three chil- dren : Frederick P., who is now engaged in the hotel business in Findlay ; Alice May, who died at the age of twelve years ; and one who died in infancy.
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Religiously Mr. Carlin was a prominent member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and died in that faith on the 29th of November, 1892. In politics he was a life-long Democrat and during his early years took a very active and influential part in public affairs. He was the third postmaster of Findlay, in which office he served from 1831 to March, 1849, a period of nearly eighteen years. He was also treasurer of the county from June, 1831, to June, 1839. In his business dealings he was ever prompt, reliable and entirely trustworthy, and although he gained a far greater degree of success than comes to most men, it was because of his very energetic, persevering and capable management of his affairs. He was widely and favorably known and in his death the community lost one of its best citizens. Mrs. Carlin is one of the leading and most highly respected women of Findlay.
DR. W. C. ROLLER.
In the medical fraternity, although a comparatively young man, Dr. W. C. Roller has attained a position of relative distinction and occupies a lead- ing place as a representative of his profession. His close application to busi- ness and the pre-eminently successful conduct of the important cases which have come under his supervision have made for him a place in the hearts of the community which he serves. During the short period of his practice he has won a large and constantly growing patronage, which is well merited, for he has qualified himself by a comprehensive and thorough mastery of the principles of medical science, and the best methods of applying these to the needs of suffering humanity.
Dr. W. C. Roller claims nativity in Van Wert county, Ohio, he having been born in that county on the 5th of September, 1870. His paternal sire was A. J. Roller, his mother's maiden name having been Mary J. Guthrie. Mr. Roller, the father of our subject, is a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, the mother a native of Steuben county, Indiana. Mr. A. J. Roller, the father, is at the present time a very prominent and successful farmer of Van Wert county. Here he is held in great repute, and is prominently identified with the public life of the county, his Democratic friends having chosen him fre- quently to the different offices in his home township, and he served for six years as county commissioner. He is an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which organization he is an earnest supporter.
Returning to the consideration of the chief points in the rather brief career of Dr. Roller, the writer notes that he was given an excellent educa- tion, laying the foundation of it in the district school of his home district.
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He later attended the Middleport Normal School. With this preparation he repaired to Columbus, Ohio, where he matriculated at the Columbus Medical College, took a thorough course, and in due time was graduated from that institution. He, however, was not satisfied with his preparation, for he looks upon his chosen profession as being one attended with the greatest responsi- bilities-even the solving of the problem of life. He therefore went to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he graduated from the College of Medicine and Sur- gery in 1898. His first location was in the community of Spencerville, Allen county, Ohio, but concluding there was a wider field for effort at West Inde- pendence, he went to that community in 1901, and was engaged in active practice there until October, 1902, when he removed to Arcadia. The mar- riage of Dr. W. C. Roller and Miss Ida Van Swearingen was celebrated in 1894, in Van Wert county. Mrs. Roller was the daughter of William and Margaret Van Swearingen. The union has been blessed with one son, B. Fay Roller, who was born in 1895. Dr. Roller is prominently identified with a number of the fraternal organizations of his community. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the Tribe of Ben Hur, and at the present time medical examiner of the latter. He keeps in close touch with all affairs affecting his own profession, taking an active interest in the sessions of the Northwest Medical Association of Ohio, and of the Hancock County Medical Society. The Doctor and his wife are active workers in the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically the Doctor is an earnest supporter of the principles laid down by Thomas Jefferson. Among his friends he is a genial gentleman of cordial disposition, and has a very large circle of acquaintances in the community to which he is devoting the best years of his life, and who esteem him highly for his genuine worth.
JESSE I. BRINKER.
One of the enterprising business men of Hancock county is Jesse I. Brinker, a tile manufacturer, residing and doing business in Big Lick town- ship. He was born in Meigs county, Ohio, in 1873, and is the son of C. and Ettie Brinker, both natives of that locality. Mr. Brinker came to Hancock county in 1896, and since that time has been actively connected with the busi- ness of this section. His whole life has been devoted to the vocation which he adopted in early manhood and of whose details he is a thorough master. His first venture was in his home county in 1889 and he has been continuously engaged in the business with the exception of one year since that time. He learned his trade with the Pittsburg Sewer Pipe Manufacturing Company,
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was subsequently employed by the Roller Brothers in their tile yard for a period of three years, bought them out in 1892, and is now operating that plant on his own account. He has a capacity here of seventeen kiln per year and manufactures all sizes of drain tile. His close application to business and the sagacity displayed in the moving of his product have resulted in such a good trade that his future looks exceedingly bright. Mr. Brinker was united in marriage at Findlay, Ohio, January 1, 1900, to Inez Hall, an acomplished young lady of that city. She is a native of Hancock county, having been born in Big Lick township in 1878. She has presented her husband with one daughter, Alice F., born September 26, 1901. Mr. Brinker is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of West Independence, and is also a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Big Lick.
PRESTON B. CATHERS.
The oil business in Hancock county has been the means of assembling here many men of great mechanical skill, and one of these is Preston B. Cathers, who was born in 1860, on a farm, near Franklin, Pennsylvania, and is a son of Burrows and Rasanna (McMullen) Cathers, both natives of Pennsylvania, where he died in 1863, at the age of forty-five, and she shortly afterward. Her father, John McMullen, came to this country from the north of Ireland about the beginning of the nineteenth century. Her mother came from the north of Ireland as a young girl and lived about seventy-five years. Burrows Cathers was of Scotch-Irish descent and his father, John, was an old- time school teacher of Pennsylvania, living on a farm in summer and teaching in the winter.
Until he was seventeen years of age our subject attended school in the country during the winters, and worked in summer, and then attracted by the opportunities offered in the oil region, went to the fields in Mckean county, where he soon began his business career. For some years he built oil well machinery and then engaged in bridge building. In 1887 he came first to Findlay, Ohio, and began the building of oil well rigs and continues so occu- pied. For some years Mr. Cathers was an oil producer, but he now occupies his spare time with farming.
In Toledo, Ohio, in 1890, Mr. Cathers was married to Miss Eva Bate- man, and the son born to this union is named Merl, now eight years old. The parents of Mrs. Cathers were Johnson H. and Harriet (Keller) Bateman, the former a successful farmer who enlisted in the war of the Rebellion and served to its close. His father, also named John, came from England and first
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settled in Virginia, from there coming to Ohio and settling on the Maumee river, where he farmed until the end of his days. In political attachment our subject is a Democrat. He is fraternally connected with the order of Odd Fellows, the Elks and the Tribe of Ben Hur. Since locating in this city, Mr. Cathers has made many friends by his upright business methods and his pleas- ant personal characteristics.
SALATHIEL V. ALSPACH.
The gentleman above named, now connected with the furniture business at Findlay, is a native of Hancock county and a son of pioneer parents. His ancestors, originally German, have been identified with the United States for over a century and the name has always been a synonym for good citizenship in whatever community its representatives might be settled. They have been connected with the growth of Hancock county for over seventy years, in various ways as suited different tastes, and have contributed their full share toward the steady development which has made the county prosperous. Henry Alspach, founder of the American branch of the family, came over during the latter part of the eighteenth century and secured a location in Pennsylvania. His son, Adam Alspach, was born in that state in 1788, re- moved to Ohio in 1800, remained some years in Fairfield county and in 1830 came to Hancock county, where he died in 1856. He served as a soldier dur- ing the war of 1812, and afterward followed agricultural pursuits with such success as to secure a comfortable competence. Among his children was Daniel Alspach, whose birth occurred in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1811, and who was consequently nineteen years old when he came with his parents to Hancock county. As this arrival took place in April, 1830, he is justly en- titled to rank as one of the pioneer settlers, the county at that time being sparsely populated and almost wholly undeveloped. When he grew up Dan- iel became a farmer and devoted his entire time and energy to this occupation until the termination of his life in 1891.
Salathiel V. Alspach was born on his father's farm in Amanda township. Hancock county, Ohio, November 23, 1858, and remained at home until he had reached years of maturity. His life at that period was similar to that of other country boys, a division of time between school attendance and farm work, interspersed with those occasional diversions which go so far to relieve the monotony of rural existence. When nineteen years old Mr. Alspach aban- doned the school room as a pupil soon to re-enter it as an instructor and for a number of years taught winter terms in schools of Hancock and Wyandot
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counties, while working on the farm in summer. In 1890 he came to Findlay to accept a position as assistant in the county recorder's office, and after filling this place a year, put in the same length of time as a deputy in the office of sheriff. In 1892 Mr. Alspach formed a partnership with P. W. Ewing for the sale of furniture, and since its formation the firm has been doing a growing business at Findlay, enjoying recognition at present as one of the leaders in their line.
In 1889 Mr. Alspach was married at Huntsville, Ohio, to Miss Edna, daughter of the late Horace S. Brooks. His political predilections are decid- edly Democratic, but while he yields his party zealous support he asks noth- ing in return by way of office. Mr. Alspach has a partiality for the fraterni- ties and gratifies this inclination by membership in various orders. He is a member of the various Masonic bodies at Findlay, including Findlay lodge No. 227; Findlay Chapter No. 58, R. A. M., Findlay Commandery No. 49, K. T., and Lake Erie Consistory, Cleveland Ohio. He is also a member of Zenobia Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Toledo, Ohio, and the B. P. O. E., No. 75, and the I. O. O. F.
JACOB ANTHONY KIMMELL, M. D.
Dr. Kimmell's claim to the consideration and esteem of his fellow citi- zens rests upon the basis of an honorable military record and an equally creditable career in civic life, during which he has served faithfully in vari- ous positions of trust, including membership in the legislature and incumb- ency of city offices. In these and other places of responsibility he has so demeaned himself and discharged his duties as to receive and deserve the title of a good citizen in the best sense of that term. Though not a native of Findlay, Dr. Kimmell has been a resident of that city for more than fifty years, and is a familiar figure to every inhabitant of the place. These in- troductory remarks will be amply substantiated by the following brief out- line of the Doctor's career, whose presentation as fully as deserved is pre- vented by the limitations as to space imposed by the scope of this publication.
Jacob A. Kimmell was born in Carroll county, Ohio, in 1844, but came with his parents to Findlay when seven years old. He was attending school when the Civil war broke out, and in common with all other Ohio boys of that period was fired with an ambition to become a soldier in the cause of the Union. His ambition in this direction was at length gratified by his enlist- inent, in February, 1863, in Company A, Twenty-first Regiment, Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, with which he served with commendable gallantry as long
Rose E. Kimmell
J. C. Kimmel III.Z.
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as health and strength permitted. He participated with his regiment in numerous engagements, among the more important of which may be men- tioned Chickamauga, Tunnel Hill, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, New Hope Church, and Atlanta. At length rheumatism, more dreadful than the enemy in front, so afflicted young Kimmell that he was sent north to Jeffersonville, where he was detailed when convalescent as hospital steward and served in that capacity until the close of hostilities. He was mustered out of service in June, 1865, immediately thereafter returned to his home at Findlay, and took up the study of medicine. After a brief preliminary prep- aration he entered the Western Reserve College at Cleveland and was grad- uated by that institution in the class of 1869. After leaving college Dr. Kim- mell first located at Cannonsburg, Hancock county, where he practiced his profession for five years and returned in 1872 to his old home at Findlay. The young doctor took well from the start, soon secured a living patronage and this has been retained and steadily increased from year to year during the three decades of his professional career at Findlay. Aside from this, however, Dr. Kimmell has figured conspicuously and creditably in many other lines. He served a term in the city council and for a number of years discharged the duties of gas trustee. In the fall of 1895 he was elected a representative from Hancock county to the Ohio state legislature, during which time he introduced and secured the passage of a bill giving the physi- cians of Ohio the first law for the regulation and examination of doctors. He served for two years to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. His tastes, however, are rather for his chosen profession than for politics, and it is in that line that he has achieved his most marked success and made the record by which he will best be remembered. During his long career he has often been honored by his professional brethren by promotion to responsible positions in their various organizations. For many years he held the presi- dency of the Hancock Medical Society, and in 1900 was elected president of the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association. In addition to this Dr. Kim- inell is also a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, the American Med- ical Association, the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, the Internation- al Association of Railway Surgeons and the International Medical Congress.
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