USA > Ohio > Erie County > A standard history of Erie County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic, and social development. A chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs > Part 100
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Albert, Henry, Robert and Minnie; Philip, who died at the age of thirty years, had been twice married, and there are two children of his first wife, Archie, who is now a musician in the United States Navy, and a daughter, Mrs. Stephens, whose husband is a teller in the bank at Berlin Ileights; Barney is a railroad man in the West and has two children, George and Helen.
George G. Glime grew up on his father's farm, and after attending the public schools for the usual period started out in life to become a railroad man, which was the principal objeet of his boyhood ambition. He made good at the occupation and served altogether for twenty-five years, being in the employ of railways all the way from Ohio to San Franeiseo and in capacities from brakeman, switchman, yard foreman, yardmaster, to freight conductor. While at Salt Lake City in charge of a train he lost his right foot, and being thus disabled had to retire from active railroad life. Ile was a member of both the Brotherhood of Conductors and of Brakemen, and from the former of these orders received $5,000.00 in benefits and from the latter $1,200.00. This eapital. added to his modest savings, he brought back to Erie County, the scene of his early boyhood, and bought back the old homestead, which in the meantime had passed into other ownership and was at that time owned by Panl Saekt.
While sentimental reasons may have had something to do with Mr. Glime's purchase of the old home, there are few farms in Erie County which have better repaid intelligent management and thrifty enterprise. When he bought the land it was almost worthless as a crop farm, and had seriously deteriorated under inefficient and slothful management for a number of years. He applied himself with the energy and pro- fieieney which had beeome the habit of his character through his long railroad experience and in a few years had the land on a paying basis. Ile has eut up the farm into seventeen different lots, and has success- fully pursued the rotation system of management. All these separate lots are feneed and the land is thoroughly drained into the county diteh which erosses the farm. Mr. Glime now has an excellent orchard of two acres and by intensive methods has made his land grow a hundred bushels of corn per acre, thirty bushels of wheat and about fifty bushels of oats. A part of it he keeps in pasture and meadow and each season changes his crop from one field to the next in order. He also keeps good grades of stock of different kinds and has one of the best country homes in Florence Township, a two-story ten-room house with a clean and sanitary basement, the house being heated by pipeless furnace and lighted by acetylene gas. Mr. Glime since taking possession has made his farm worth more than ten thousand dollars and in fact has invested that much either originally or in subsequent improvements. He is a very methodical and systematie man and besides his individual prosperity his example is worth a great deal to the community.
He was married in Berlin Heights to Elizabeth (Fox) Hine, widow of Norman Hine and a sister of Peter Fox of Milan. Mrs. Hine was born, reared and educated at Milan, and by her first marriage has two children : Wilbur F. Hine, who is now twenty years of age and living at home; and Theofieia. Mr. Glime is a republican in polities.
CHARLES F. DECKER. The thriving little City of Vermilion, Erie County, claims as one of its progressive and representative business men the well known eitizen whose name appears above and who here eon- duets a substantial business as a dealer in eoal and building supplies. further interest attaching to his career by reason of his being a native of Erie County, with whose history the family name has been closely and
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worthily identified with civic and business activities in Vermilion for more than half a century.
Mr. Decker was born at Vermilion on the 9th of November, 1862, and is a son of Christopher F. and Eve (Beal) Decker, both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom were honored pioneer citizens of Vermilion at the time of their death, each having attained to the venerable age of eighty-seven years. Christopher F. Decker was one of the early settlers of Vermilion, which was a mere pioneer village at the time when he here established his home, and for more than fifty years he was here engaged in the manufacturing of wagons and carriages, known as a skilled mechanic, reliable and enterprising business man and loyal citizen of steadfast integrity and marked civic enterprise. IIe was a stalwart republican in politics and both he and his wife were zealous and influential members of the German Methodist Episcopal Church in Vermilion for many years prior to their death, their names and memories being held in lasting honor in the community that so long represented their home.
Charles F. Decker was reared to maturity in Vermilion and to its public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline, which has been most effectively supplemented by the lessons that the man of wisdom is ever able to acquire in the benignant school of practical experi- ence. He has been actively identified with his present line of business enterprise since 1885, and thus is to be considered as one of the veteran business men of his native city, the while his well directed activities have brought to him substantial and well merited success, besides which he has so lived and wrought as to receive the high regard of all who know him, his circle of friends in his native county being limited only by that of his acquaintances.
Mr. Decker has always shown deep and loyal interest in all that tonches the social and material welfare of his native city and county, has been unflagging in his advocacy of the cause of the republican party, has served one term as a member of the city council of Vermilion, and one term, of two years, as a member of the municipal board of public affairs. Though he is a stalwart republican in state and national affairs, he transcends partisan lines in the local field, where no generic issues are involved, and gives support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. lle is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, with the Knights of the Maccabees, and with the Knights and Ladies of Security, with the Vermilion organizations of which he is prominently identified. lle is a director of the Erie County Banking Company, which conducts the representative banking institution in Vermilion, and as a substantial business man his success has been the direct result of the application of his own energy and ability.
As a young man Mr. Decker wedded Miss Lena Leimbach, who like- wise was born and reared in Vermilion and who was a daughter of the late. Charles Leimbach, a well known citizen of Erie County. Mrs. Decker passed to the life eternal December 18, 1911, secure in the affec- tionate regard of all who had come within the compass of her gracious influence. Of the five children of this union four are living, Ruth, Catherine, Pauline and Mary, the only son, Charles C., having died at the age of four years.
EDMUND HI. ZURHORST. On the business history of the City of San- dusky there appears the name of Edmund II. Zurhorst written in bold and legible characters. From the time of his return to this city, after the close of the Civil war, he has been continuously interested in the growth and interests of this his home city and always retained his voting residence here. After a number of years' service in the New York
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Custom House and one year with the New York house of Jay Cooke & Company, he returned to his home city to engage in business. He has been an active and influential factor in the city interests and of the State of Ohio. Large as have been his business interests and heavy as have been his responsibilities, he has not allowed them to interfere with the performance of his duties as a citizen, and his contributions in the latter direction have been as numerous and as helpful as those of any one individual during the period of Sandusky's growth from an incon- sequential town to a lake city whose importance is recognized universally.
Mr. Zurhorst was born in June, 1845, in the City of Montreal, Can- ada, and is a son of William II. and Letitia (McKenna) Zurhorst. His father, born in London, England, emigrated to the Dominion of Canada in middle life and took up his residence at Montreal, and in 1849, with his family, removed to Sandusky, Ohio, where he engaged in the manu- facture of upholstering goods and passed his last years. Edmund H. Zurhorst had entered the high school course at Sandusky when, at the age of fourteen years, the low state of the family's financial circum- stances made it necessary to discontinue his studies and secure a posi- tion in which he could contribute to the family support. HIe accordingly secured employment on lake vessels and was a sailor on fresh water for about one year, and in his sixteenth year he shipped before the mast and sailed on the ocean. When he was nineteen years of age, or in 1864, he returned home and joined the United States Navy, with which he served during the rest of the Civil war, acting both as seaman and as surgeon's steward. His service finished, he came to Sandusky and for several years sailed on the lakes in various positions, then going to the New York Custom House under General Arthur, and resigning his position after seven years' service. He then returned to Sandusky and directed his attention to general business and shipping, eventually build- ing and operating two steamers on the Great Lakes. As managing owner Mr. Zurhorst also became interested in the Marblehead Lime Company of Sandusky, and was its president in 1887, when the company disposed of its interests, its business was exceeded in bulk by few concerns of the kind in the United States. Ile was the original secretary and chief promoter of the Sandusky & Columbus Short Line Railroad (now the Pennsylvania Railroad), and was one of the most active directors of the construction company which built the line, and its secretary. For many years he served as general agent of the Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking Railroad, with headquarters at Sandusky. Among other indus- tries of note which Mr. Zurhorst has been connected may be mentioned the C. C. Keech Company, dealers in hides and pelts and tannery; the Second National Bank, of which he was a stockholder and director; the Emma Coal Company, Jackson, Ohio, as president; the Crown Pipe and Foundry Company, Jackson, Ohio, as vice president; the Sandusky Con- struction Company, of which he was the secretary ; the Sandusky Im- provement and Investment Company ; and the Mansfield Short Line Railway Company, of which he was a director and secretary ; the Trom- mey Malt Company, Fremont, Ohio, being its president ; and the Fremont Lumber and Supply Company, of which he was president. Mr. Zurhorst. as chairman of the harbor committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Sandusky, was largely instrumental in securing the assistance of Congress which resulted in the improvement of the Sandusky Harbor and securing all the lights now in harbor use. During President Arthur's administra- tion he held the office of assistant United States weigher in the New York Customs House, and he has also acted as deputy collector of internal revenue for the Northern District of Ohio and as collector of customs for the Sandusky, Ohio, District.
On September 23, 1874, Mr. Zurhorst was united in marriage with Miss Harriet West Keech, daughter of the late C. C. Keech, of Sandusky, Ohio. She died January 29, 1890, leaving three children: Christopher
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C., William K. and Mary L. William K. Zurhorst died October 28, 1902, as a result of disabilities received while serving as a soldier during the Spanish-American war in Cuba.
Mr. Zurhorst is a thirty-second degree Mason, Scottish Rite, and a member of all the bodies of the York Rite, including the Commandery. Ile is a noble of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is widely and favorably known in fraternal eireles. Politically he is a stalwart supporter of the principles of the republican party. Ile has taken active and responsible interest in county and state polities, enjoying the personal friendship of the party leaders which included Presidents Arthur and MeKinley, also especially the late Senator Hanna, whose personal friendship he enjoyed. As a party leader locally Mr. Zurhorst enjoyed the confidence and assistance of his politieal associates and citizens. Mr. Zurhorst holds the confidence and esteem of all classes of citizens and is justly accounted one of the solid and substantial business men of the City of Sandusky.
RAYMOND W. ROCKWELL. Since the year 1860 Raymond W. Rock- well has been a resident of East Oxford, having come there when a youth, and since attaining manhood has been prosperously identified with the agricultural enterprise of that community with the exception of five years spent in Lenawee County, Michigan. ITis long residence, his well known integrity of character. and his official position at different times in town- ship affairs have brought him an influential place in the life of Erie County.
Mr. Rockwell is in fact a native of Erie County, and his family were among the early settlers. He was born in Milan Township, August 7. 1851, a son of John and Sarah (Wilcox) Rockwell, his father a native of Delaware County, New York, and his mother of Connecticut. John Rockwell came from New York State to Ohio about 1835, the family first settling in Lorain County, but after a short residence there he came to Erie County, locating in Milan Township. IIe was there early enough to become identified with the pioneer settlement and development, and lived there until his death.
In 1860, when Raymond W. Rockwell was nine years old, his parents moved into Oxford Township, and he grew up in that locality, acquiring his education in the publie schools, supplemented by much observation and experience of men and affairs in after life. In November, 1878, he married Miss Lonisa C. Koch. Mrs. Rockwell was born in Germany and was brought to this country when quite young by her father, John P. Koch, who for many years has been a resident of Oxford Township and is now a venerable octogenarian. Mr. and Mrs. Rockwell are the parents of four children : Minnie E., wife of Irvin Fox, living near Lancaster, Ohio ; William F., of North Monroeville ; Sarah P., wife of Frank Keinzly, of Oxford Township, and John P., now deceased.
In a public way Mr. Rockwell served two terms as a trustee of Ox- ford Township and has liberally supported every movement that would make this community a more progressive place as an agricultural dis- triet and the locality of homes and institutions. IIe is a republican, and is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees at Bloomingville.
EPHRAIM J. ITASTINGS. During an active career of nearly twenty years Mr. Hastings has been known for his capable work as a grain thresherman, as a road contractor, and more recently as the popular and genial merchant at Parkerstown in Groton Township.
Most of his life has been spent in Groton Township, where he was born September 20, 1876, a son of James II. and Martha (Kershner) Hastings, his father now deceased and his mother a resident of Groton Township in her sixty-eighth year.
Mr. Ilastings grew up in his native township, attended the publie schools, and soon embarked on a life of practical accomplishments.
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For about twenty years he was engaged in the operation of a threshing outfit among the grain raisers of this county, and in that way acquired a large acquaintance and at the same time furnished an excellent service. For a number of years he also combined this with his business as a contractor for road construction and has built many miles of im- proved highways in this section of Ohio. In November, 1914, he bought the old established mercantile house at Parkertown formerly owned by M. L. Starr, and has shown a great deal of enterprise in extending and building up the trade which has long been concentrated at this point. He carries a large stock of general merchandise and has made his store a popular trading point in the community.
On May 1, 1900, Mr. Hastings married Miss Theresa Swabley. She was born in Erie County, a daughter of Fabian Swabley, who now lives in Milan, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hastings have two children: Catherine G. and Helen R. In a public way Mr. Hastings has served as constable of Groton Township for a number of years, and his attitude has always been that of a public spirited and liberal citizen.
WILBERT H. ARNOLD. Specialty farming is the vocation of Wilbert II. Arnold, one of the most progressive of Erie County's agriculturists. While he has paid attention to the general farm erops, he is a farmer on the diversified and intensity plan, growing erops on the fields, raising stock to consume farm products, and also keeping a fine herd of Holstein dairy cattle which contributes no small amount of the revenue derived from the Arnold farm.
Mr. Arnold has two farms, one of them at Avery, known as the homestead farm, and the other Corn King farm of eighty acres near Milan. One of his specialties is the raising of fine seed corn, and that has given the name to the Corn King farm near Milan. The product of this farm has served to seed many thousands of acres of corn land, not only in Ohio, but in other states. The homestead farm contains eighty-two acres. Both are excellently improved with buildings and are in the best of condition as to feneing, drainage and general fertility. The Avery farm has a barn 36 by 80 feet and other building improve- ments, while the Corn King farm has a barn 26 by 56 feet with a large amount of space devoted to the care and storage of the seed corn. His crops include practically all the staples of Northern Ohio, and for a number of years he has grown potatoes on a somewhat extensive scale. Among his stock he feeds a large number of hogs.
Representing some of the best family stock in Erie County, Wilbert H. Arnold was born at Avery in Milan Township, April 8, 1864. He grew up in that locality, obtained his education at the country schools and in the Milan Normal, and early in life chose farming as his general vocation. Ile has known all the people in that section of Erie County since he was a boy, and his own work and achievements have been such as to gain him the thorough respect of a wide circle of acquaint- ances and friends. For the past twenty-two years he has lived in Milan, and now occupies a handsome twelve-room house in that village. Mr. Arnold was the fourth son of Levi and Rachel M. (Everett) Arnold, and for more detailed account of the Everett family the reader is referred to the life of Levi Arnold, found on other pages.
In Milan, Wilbert H. Arnold married Miss Louise C. Lockwood, who was born in Milan Village, May 9, 1868, received her education here and at Buffalo, New York, and has practically spent her life in this one locality. Iler parents are Stephen A. and Sarah (Lockwood) Lock- wood, one of the best known families of Erie County. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have two children. Harold L. was born December 21, 1897, has been a student in the Milan High School and is still at home. Dorothy
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Louise, born September 4, 1899, is now in the freshman class of the Milan High School. Mrs. Arnold and her daughter are members of the Presbyterian Church. Mr. Arnold is second reader in the Christian Science Church at Norwalk. Politically he is a republican, and has given some eapable service to the community as a member of the school board.
MARTIN J. TRINTER. A resident of Vermilion Township since his boyhood days, Mr. Trinter holds precedence as one of the substantial and representative agriculturists and stock-growers of this township, where his well improved farm stands as a model in its admirable im- provements and its general air of thrift and prosperity, and his ability as a man of affairs and his integrity in all of the relations of life have given to him special prominence and influence in the community which has so long represented his home. His inviolable hold upon popular confidence and esteem is indicated by the prolonged service he has given in public offices of local trust and responsibility, and he is at the present time a member of the board of trustees of Vermilion Township.
Mr. Trinter claims Hessen-Cassel, Germany, as the place of his nativity and was there born on the 1st of May, 1853, his parents, George and Catherine (Minch) Trinter, likewise having been born in that same section of the great Empire of Germany, where they remained until 1863, when they immigrated with their children to America and established their home in Erie County, Ohio. Here the father pur- chased land and improved an excellent farm, the same having become the family homestead in 1864 and having been made by him one of the productive farms of Vermilion Township. On this homestead George Trinter continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1887, and his widow passed to the life eternal in 1893, both having been devout members of the German Reformed Church and having com- manded in the land of their adoption the respect and good will of all who knew them. They were sturdy, industrious and God-fearing folk and their lives were guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor.
Martin J. Trinter was a lad of ten years at the time of accompany- ing his parents on their immigration to America, and his rudimentary education had been received in his German Fatherland. After the home had been established in Erie County he attended the schools of Vermilion Township when oportunity presented, and in the mean- while he did arduous and effective service in connection with the de- velopment and cultivation of the home farm. He has continued his residence in Vermilion Township during the long intervening years, has never severed his allegiance to the great industry of agriculture and through his association therewith has worked his way forward to independence and substantial prosperity, his excellent homestead farm comprising 154 aeres and being improved with good buildings, includ- in the commodious and modern house, which is known for its generous hospitality and its pervading atmosphere of optimism and good cheer.
Mr. Trinter has always exemplified in his active career the true spirit of American loyalty and progressiveness, as well as the sturdy perseverance and mature judgment typical of the race of which he is a scion. Ile has made his advancement along normal and legitimate lines of enterprise, has shown vital interest in community affairs and has stood forward as sponsor for the best civic ideals. His service in publie office had its inception when he was elected constable of Ver- milion Township, and of this position he continued the ineumbent two years. For fifteen consecutive years, or five terms, he was retained in
Martin J. Junter.
Edna M. Trinter.
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the office of justice of the peace, and his able administration made the position justify its title. Twice after his retirement he was re-elected to this magisterial office, but on each of these occasions he refused to qualify and continue his service, as other interests demanded his atten- tion and he believed also that other citizens should be chosen for the position to which he had given so many years of service. Save for an interim of two years he has served consecutively in the office of township trustee for a prolonged period, and his continuous incum- beney of this position covers a period of fifteen years-a statement that gives the most effective voucher for the estimate placed upon him by the citizens of his home township. For several years Mr. Trinter has had the further distinction of being chairman of the Erie County Trustees Association, and his mature judgment and inviolable integrity have resulted in his being called upon to serve as administrator and trustee of various important estates in Erie County. He has held the office of township assessor and also has served with characteristic loy- alty and ability as a member of the board of education of his township. Mr. Trinter is a director of the Erie County Banking Company, at Vermilion, and is one of the substantial and highly honored citizens of the county in which he has found the means to achieve large and worthy success and to exemplify the best ideals of loyal citizenship.
Mr. Trinter's political allegiance is given to the democratic party and he is well fortified in his convictions concerning economic and governmental policies. He is affiliated with Vermilion Tent, No. 19, Knights of the Maccabees, and both he and his wife are earnest com- municants of the First German Reformed Church of Vermilion Town- ship, of which he is a trustee.
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