USA > Ohio > Hancock County > A centennial biographical history of Hancock County, Ohio > Part 54
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Morgan C. Shafer, the immediate subject of this review, was reared in the place of his nativity, securing his preliminary education in the public schools and being graduated in the high school as a member of the class of 1885. He thereafter put his scholastic acquirements to practical test by
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teaching school in his native county, and finally continued his studies for a year in Findlay College, after which, in 1887, he matriculated in the law de- partment of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, where he was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1890. He then returned to his home in Findlay, where he continued his technical reading in the law office of his father, whom he assisted in his professional work until 1893, when he secured admission to the bar of Ohio and has since been engaged in active practice here, being recognized as a thoroughly well informed and discriminating advocate and safely conservative counsel and gaining precedence through his careful and devoted attention to the work of his profession. He is a Democrat in his political proclivities and gives a stanch support to the cause. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Shafer was married in 1893, at Findlay, to Miss Florence Ham- lin, daughter of John M. Hamlin, and they take a prominent place in the social activities of the city, their home being one in which the refined ameni- ties are ever in evidence.
DANIEL L. SMITH.
There could be no more gratifying thing to the citizens of Hancock county than to see many of its farmers spend their later days in ease, freed from the cares and responsibilities of farm life, yet able to enjoy its pleasant side. Mr. Daniel L. Smith is one of the many who have been fortunate in this respect, and as such deserves honorable mention in this volume. He was born on a farm in Amanda township, in this county, in 1845, and has lived on Hancock county farms all his life, with the exception of eleven years, from 1874 to 1885, when he lived on a farm in Henry county, this state. Though he has resided in Findlay since 1890, he still retains an active interest in agricultural pursuits, keeping in touch with his former life.
Mr. Smith's grandfather, Stephen Smith, the first of his family to move to Ohio, was born in New York, came to Hancock county at an early day and died in Wood county. His son, David K. Smith, father of Daniel L., was born in Hancock county in 1825, and he has also been a farmer all his life. He was one of the many loyal sons of Ohio who fought in the war of the Rebellion, having enlisted in the fall of 1864 as a private in Com- pany G, Forty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the close of the war. He was in many important fights. David K. Smith married Elizabeth Zinn in 1844, and of their seven children six are still living: Daniel L .; Charity, wife of Jacob Thompson; America, wife of
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Asa Morris; William; Catherine, wife of Peter Domer; and Charlotte, wife of Joseph Schwab. The first Mrs. Smith died in 1887, and our subject's father is still living in Hancock county, married to his third wife. He is numbered among the members of the United Brethren church.
Daniel Smith was first married in 1864 to Eliza Ewing, who died in 1873, leaving two children: Kelley L., wife of Lincoln Sheppard; and Jesse E. Mr. Smith was again married in 1875 to Amanda Kwis, and they have six children, all living, who are: Nellie E., wife of Charles Opp; Bertha, wife of Lemuel Huston; Maud, wife of Fred Johnson; John A. Logan; Harry D .; and Vita Z. Mr. Smith has always been a Republican, and that he is counted one of the worthy members of that party is shown by the fact that he served as postmaster under President Hayes at McClure, in Henry county ; he also served as trustee of Damascus township, in the same county. Like his father, he is associated with the United Brethren church.
GEORGE GOEPPELE.
George Goeppele is a hale and hearty old citizen of Hancock county, Ohio, who has been connected with its business interests for fifty years, and in this time has fought the faithful fight which has brought honor and suc- cess to his old age. He is proud to claim the empire of Germany for his birth-place, where he came into the light of the world in the old state of Wurtemberg on the 4th day of December, 1825; his father and mother were George and Christina Goeppele, and they passed all their lives in their native land. The younger George had the fortune to spend the years before his maturity in Germany and he was there given the excellent training for which the schools of that country are famous. When deciding upon a pursuit in life he chose the trade of baker. The baker boys of Germany have been famous in song and history for centuries, and our subject became one of the jolly apprentices of that calling ; so well did he apply himself that he be- came thoroughly conversant with all its details and he left his country an adept in the important art of cookery.
With hopes and fears, but with a manly and independent spirit which augured well for this young Teuton, Mr. Goeppele crossed the ocean and arrived in America in the month of September, 1851. For a short time he was located in Philadelphia, but after moving about for a year or two he finally came to Hancock county in 1853. Having decided upon Findlay as a suitable place to engage in his trade, he applied himself to it diligently and was soon able to satisfy the taste of the most fastidious epicure and con-
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vince him that the art of fancy baking had found a new master. He worked for various firms in the town and for fifty years the products of his ovens were articles of necessity in every household, no one ever being able to find fault with his methods or with the man. He is one of those genial, whole- souled, courteous old gentlemen whom people would patronize for his own personality, if he were not the best baker the town could boast of.
But Mr. Goeppele has not merely been a master of his trade, but he has shown himself possessed of excellent business sagacity as well, and has de- voted his earnings to good investments in real estate. He purchased his first property in Findlay in 1858 and he erected a house on his lot; he also built and owned other houses in the city, which bring him good returns for his money. In 1869 he bought a farm of eighteen acres; in 1896 he bought a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres, consisting of two separate farms, located in Union township, and he also owns a place of one hundred and twenty-six acres in Cass township. This latter farm proved to be pro- ductive in oil, and he developed the wells and received such incomes from them that he was able to buy other properties. With the wise foresight of a man of the world he has divided all his property among his children, so that litigation and the breaking of wills can play no part in his posthumous affairs.
Mr. Goeppele was married a few years after coming to this country, in 1854, the lady of his choice being Miss Minnie Gotdman, who became the mother of four children, the three following still living: Charles, born in 1857; Henry, born in 1859; and Ida, born in 1861. The mother of these chil- dren died in October, 1861, and in the following year Mr. Goeppele mar- ried Elizabeth Broggee; there were born: Emma, in 1865; Katherine, in 1868; Joseph, in 1875; and Omar, in 1880. Mrs. Elizabeth Goeppele died October 29, 1885. These children are now in various walks in life and are among the representative citizens of the county. While Mr. Goeppele never forgets the land of his birth and loves it with the ardor of all true sons of the fatherland, he has become thoroughly imbued with the American spirit, and his adopted country can surely point to no one born within her borders who is a more worthy and public spirited citizen than is George Goeppele.
LOUIS A. WOLFF.
Louis A. Wolff, though not a native born American, is one of the representative business men of Findlay, and a loyal citizen of the state of Ohio, having emigrated to this country and settled within her borders be-
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fore attaining his majority. He is a native of Germany, and was born in Bavaria in the year 1852. He left the fatherland in 1870, for America, com- ing direct to London, Ohio, and has ever since made his home within the state of Ohio. From 1870 to 1882 he was clerking in London, Ohio, and then, having been frugal and industrious, he had saved sufficient money to start in business for himself, and opened a clothing house there, which he success- fully conducted until the year 1891. In 1891 he closed out his business in London, and came to Findlay, and a year later opened a grocery store which he still continues to manage, and in which business he has been highly succesful.
Mr. Wolff was married at Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1881, to Leonora Morgenroth, and they have one daughter, Sarah Wolff.
Mr. Wolff is a stanch Republican in politics, and belongs to the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows.
BAKER DAILEY.
A stranger driving through the beautiful county of Hancock cannot help being impressed with the healthfulness of the section, for he will meet with more gray heads to the square mile than in any other section of the state. They are hale and hearty people, some of whom have passed from seven to nine decades in agricultural pursuits in the county. We here present for the consideration of our readers one of this class of citizens, who is a well known farmer of Cass township, and a man of fine repute in the neighborhood. He is a direct descendant of D. J. and Mary Elizabeth (Hale) Dailey. The former of whom was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1811, and came with his parents and other members of the family to Hancock county, and located near the center of Washington township in 1825. The latter was a native of Vir- ginia was born in 1815, near Wheeling; she came to this county with her brother Baker, and located in the center of Washington township, where Baker Hale entered one hundred and sixty acres of uncultivated land from the gov- ernment about 1830. Later in life D. J. Dailey and Mary E. Hale were united in marriage, and made a purchase of their own of eighty acres, which was in time brought under subjection. Mr. Dailey was a hard working man, as in- deed all pioneers were in that age, and he labored hard to clear his farm, and to rear his family of ten children, four of whom survive, Baker, Samuel, Alonzo and Margaret. The father and mother were members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and the former affiliated with the Whigs, politically, and in his time was a man of influence in his community, some of the offices
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of which he administered. He died February 23, 1890, and his wife June 8, 1883.
Baker Dailey was born in Washington township, November 24, 1839. Here he was reared amidst pioneer scenes, and under the sturdy and severe discipline of the farm developed that strong manhood which has been so characteristic of him during his life. He received excellent educational ad- vantages, securing his scholastic discipline in the common schools, and com- pleting his literary education in the schools of Fostoria and Findlay, where he fitted himself for the profession of teacher, entering the field in his nineteenth year. For a period of fifteen years thereafter he was a successful and pop- ular teacher of the district schools in Hancock county. He kept his connec- tion, however, with the agricultural interests by working on a farm in the summer, and he finally abandoned the schoolroom and gave his entire atten- tion to the farm. His first purchase of real estate was made in 1868, when he made a modest beginning with eight acres. He now owns a farm which is valuable not only as farming land, but because of its situation in the oil belt of Hancock county. This farm was purchased in 1878.
Mr. Dailey, while not a politician in any sense of the world, has always manifested a disposition to do his share of the work necessary to carry on a rural community, and has been trusted with some of the offices of the town- ship. He was married on the 6th of November, 1862, to Mahala Fisher, the daughter of Samuel and Margaret Fisher, members of the Presbyterian church. Her birth occurred in Carroll county, Ohio, January 9, 1840, and she has borne her husband the following children : E. T., born October 10, 1863; E. A., August 16, 1865; Wilbert B., July 16, 1867; S. C., May 12, 1869; J. H., June 24, 1871; Maggie F., March 13, 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Baker Dailey are both members of the Methodist church and are held in high esteem in their immediate community, and their good offices and acts of friendship are returned in kind by the host of friends who love to do them honor.
JACOB E. POWELL, M. D.
Dr. J. E. Powell was born in Eagle township, Hancock county, Ohio, April 15, 1861. Being a farmer's son and one of the eldest of a family of thirteen children and with no other means of assistance at command than the earnings of his own labor, he enjoys the distinction of rising from the humble position of a farm laborer to be a member of the prominent profession of physicians and surgeons, enjoying the confidence and patronage of the. com-
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munity to the fullest extent. His early and primary education was received in the common district school, and this was sufficient to prepare him to en- gage in teaching, thirteen successive terms having been taught in surrounding districts, while his leisure hours and vacations were spent in preparing for the contemplated course in medicine. Dr. Powell is a charter member of Find- lay College, and continued in the first class that was ever instructed in that in- stitution until his final preparation for medical instruction, when he went to Baltimore, Maryland, and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating therein in March, 1890. In June of the same year he located in Findlay, where he has continued the practice of his profession until the pre- sent time. In political and social affairs, on account of the duties incident to a busy man in his profession, Dr. Powell has been compelled to remain in- different, yet he was elected coroner of Hancock county in 1892, and held that office for two years. He was a mamber of the Ohio State Medical So- ciety, the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association and the Hancock Medical Society, but in the year 1900 he severed his connection with these honorable bodies for the purpose of commercial privileges which were barred by medical ethics. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is active in the work of this body. Dr. Powell was married November 6, 1887, to Eva J., daughter of Jacob Oman, of Bluffton, Indiana, and their home has been blessed with one daughter, Hazel Marie Powell, born January 30, 1892, and who has added greatly to their cheerful and happy home.
The ancestors and name of the Powell family originated in Scotland, but the present generation is descended from the mingling of Scotch and Ger- man people, who formed the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and it was there that Daniel L. Powell, the father of Dr. Powell, was born in 1829. With his parents and three brothers he came to Hancock county in 1836 and entered government land in Eagle township, where he still resides, and he is doubtless the only citizen in the township or perhaps in the county who resides on the same farm which he received from the government, and upon which he has lived for more than half a century and watched the formation of a beautiful country from a wilderness. The perseverance and constant diligence in one who rears himself from the hardships of pioneer life to professional standing equal to that of Dr. Powell is worthy of the reward of a happy home with a bright and cheerful wife and daughter, as he enjoys, and this home, with its companions, is his greatest pride and delight. But next in life is a principle which he maintains, that he must add to the profession to which he belongs something which is new and of value to the coming generation or his life will have been wasted or of no value to the world.
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PHILIP B. OLIVER.
Philip B. Oliver, who now fills the office of city bill-poster in Findlay, Ohio, is a well known citizen and an honored survivor of the Civil war. He was born in South Whitley, Indiana, in 1847, and is a son of James B. Oliver. James B. Oliver was born in Dayton, Ohio, where his father, Philip Oliver, was an old citizen, and was reared in a frugal home. During his youth he was ambitious to obtain an education, and at one time chopped cord wood in order to obtain money with which to enter Wittenberg College, although he received but twenty-five cents a cord. Until he entered the army in 1862, for service in the Civil war, he engaged in farming. Mr. Oliver became a member of Company F, One Hundred and Twenty-third Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was detailed as wagon boss, serving thus for two years and four months. At the same time his son Charles E. enlisted in the same company, as a private. At Hatcher's Run he lost his right leg. He recovered from the injury, however, and at the time of his death, in May, 1901, was auditor of Potter county, South Dakota. During the army service of James B. Oliver, he was taken sick, in 1863, and was sent to the hospital at Frederick, Maryland. His wife left her home duties, at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and hastened to him, where, on account of the scarcity of nurses, she was impressed and kept for six months. Although the government failed to recompense her, there is no doubt that many a poor sick soldier blessed her for her womanly ministrations.
While our subject was still quite small, his parents moved to Liberty, Indiana, and eight years later to Dayton, Ohio, and the year following to Upper Sandusky. There he was given school advantages and there, on May 2, 1864, he enlisted in the army, in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in as a musician. His entrance into the regiment, however, was on account of a feeling of patriotism, and two weeks later he threw his fife into the Monoc- acy river. The adjutant of his regiment soon demanded an explanation, and he told him that he had enlisted to fight, and wanted a gun. From that time until his capture by the enemy he did his share of fighting. On August 13, 1864, he was made a prisoner, at Barryville, Virginia, by General Mosby, and was marched to Culpeper Court House and thence sent by train to Lynchburg and two weeks later to Belle Isle. Six weeks later he was sent to Salisbury, North Carolina, and on April 10, 1865, was sent to a point near Wilmington and given his liberty. Finally our subject made his way to Annapolis, Maryland, and thence to Columbus, Ohio, where he was
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discharged on April 20, 1865. During his captivity his weight had changed from about one hundred and thirty-two pounds to sixty-three pounds, which is commentary enough upon the treatment he received.
Our subject returned to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and began the car- penter trade two years later, at Dayton, and four years later went back to Upper Sandusky. There he followed farming until 1883 and then moved to Findlay where he engaged for a time in the sale of bicycles. Two years after he became the manager of the Davis opera house, in conjunction with Dr. J. H. Boyer, but two years after embarked in his present line. He is a man of energy and good business ability, is well known and popular and has made a success of his present enterprise.
In 1876 our subject was married at Tiffin, Ohio, to Miss Dora A. Stim- mel, and the one daughter born to this union bears the name of Nellie. In politics Mr. Oliver has been a life-long supporter of the Republican party. He is a valued comrade of Stoker Post, No. 54, Grand Army of the Re- public, and also belongs to the local lodge of Elks.
GEORGE W. WHITMAN.
A well known and much respected business citizen of Findlay, Ohio, is George W. Whitman, whose great-grandfather was of English birth, but emigrated to America in colonial days and settled in Vermont. There his grandfather, Daniel Whitman, was born and took part as a soldier in the war of 1812.
The birth of George W. Whitman occurred on a farm, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, in 1852, and he is a son of Selden and Lavina (Sterling) Whitman, the former of whom was born in 1821, in Vermont, and was taken by his parents to Pennsylvania when he was a boy. He has followed farming all his life, and now resides in Forest county, Pennsylvania, a respected member of his community. His venerable wife also survives. They were the parents of fourteen children, six sons and three daughters still surviving.
When George Whitman had completed his education in the country schools in his vicinity and had attained the age of seventeen years, he left home and went to seek work in the Pennsylvania oil fields, commencing as a tool dresser, then working as a driller. He remained there until 1881, having commenced producing in 1878. In 1881 Mr. Whitman went to the oil fields of Allegany county, New York. He had gained a wide prac- tical experience and was immediately engaged as a producer, and later was made superintendent of the I. E. Ackerly Oil Company. In 1888 he came
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to Findlay, and has been a producer ever since. In 1894 he enlarged his interests by becoming a wholesale coal dealer, and in 1901 he added a re- tail branch. Mr. Whitman is a man of business acumen and activity. He possesses the safe judgment which insures success.
In 1878, in Bradford, Pennsylvania, Mr. Whitman was united in mar- riage with Miss Lena Martin, who was born in Corning, New York, and the following interesting family has been born to this union: Fred D., Eva L., Lily M., Harry F., Frances L., and Goldie I. In the political arena our subject is a stanch supporter of Republican principles. He is active in several of the leading fraternal organizations, belonging to the Knights Templar, the Masons, the Odd Fellows and the Woodmen of the World. For some years he has been one of the leading members of the Methodist church, and in every way is an estimable citizen. The family is highly re- garded and prominent in the city's social life.
AUGUSTUS M. SMITH.
Among the marble and granite workers and dealers in Findlay, Ohio, Augustus M. Smith takes a leading position, on account of the taste he dis- plays in designing and the perfection of the work he executes.
The birth of Mr. Smith took place in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1854, and he is the son of John and Sarah J. (Hopkins) Smith, the former of whom was born in 1832, in Pennsylvania, and died in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1855. By trade he was a tailor. He left two children, our subject, and his sister Fannie, who married Frank R. Price, and died in 1895, leaving three children, namely : Marian, Charles and Arthur, in their home in Cleve- land. Mrs. Smith married Alfred H. Slack and they have one son, Fred H .. and reside in Findlay.
Augustus M. Smith was but a babe when his parents moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he remained until he was about seven years old. Then with his widowed mother he went to Indianapolis, Indiana, and lived there until 1869, when they removed to Cleveland, Ohio. In the former city he had com- menced to learn the stone cutter's trade and completed his apprenticeship in Cleveland, becoming so competent a workman that when he came to Findlay in 1875, he was placed in charge of the large marble shop of Louthan & Son, remaining with that firm from July 1, 1875, until January 1, 1881. At this date he began business on his own account and has prospered exceeding.
In 1873, in Monroe, Michigan, our subject was married to Miss Letty M. Davis, and two children were born to this union, the one survivor being
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Frank E. Mr. Smith was married a second time in 1890, in Wapakoneta, Ohio, to Miss Julia A. Myer, and the two children born to this union are Harry A. and Chester P. In fraternal life, Mr. Smith belongs to the Odd Fellows, the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He is a very highly esteemed citizen of Findlay.
ALBERT C. MATTHIAS, M. D.
One of the best known citizens of Hancock county is Dr. Albert C. Matthias, of McComb, who has attained distinction in professional circles, and is a prominent representative of several fraternal organizations. Force- ful individuality and keen insight, combined with practical common sense, are the strong traits in his character which have served to win for him a high place in various circles.
He was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1844, on a farm that was entered from the government by his grandfather, Daniel Matthias, in 1806. The latter, born in Pennsylvania about 1762, was a son of Daniel Matthias, Sr., a native of Alsace-Lorraine. He became the founder of the family in Ohio and was closely identified with the pioneer development of this part of the state, his death occurring about 1853.
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