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 23
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Julius Honse was born in Perkins Township, Erie County, Ohio, July 22, 1847, and is a son of Lindsey and Mary A. (Yonng) Honse. Ilis grandfather, Jnlins House, for whom he is named, was born in Connecticut and beeame one of the earliest settlers of Erie County, Ohio, migrating here with his family and loeating on a farm in Perkins Township at a time when this region was still in its primitive state. During the years that followed he experienced the usual hardships incident to the life of the pioneer in this state, but he was made of stern stuff and through hard and energetie labor sueeeeded in developing a farm from the wilderness and accumulating a competency. In the vieinity of what is now Perkins Church, he became one of his com- munity's most influential citizens, served for a number of years in the capacity of justice of the peace, and was widely known in this region as "Squire" Honse. Both he and his wife died well advanced in years, and with the esteem of the people among whom they passed so long a period.
Lindsey House was born in Glastonbury, Connectient, and was about three years of age when brought to Erie County, Ohio, by his father, Jnlins House. His education was limited to sneh advantages as were offered by the country schools of his day, and when he reached manhood he entered upon a career of his own in agriculture. The re- maining years of his active life were passed in agricultural pursuits, and he was so successful in his operations that he was able to retire a number of years before his death, which ocenrred in his eighty-sixth year. Ile was not a seeker for political preferment, preferring the peaceful voeations of his farm to the activities of public life, but was. nevertheless a man of influence in his community and a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Julins House has followed directly in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He was given his early odneation in the district schools of Perkins Township, this being subsequently supplemented by a short course in the high school at Berlin Heights, and to this has been added the practical training that comes through experience and contact with men. When ready to enter upon a career of his own he ehose farming, a vocation in which he has been engaged successfully all his life, and at this time is the owner of fifty acres, located near Perkins Church. Ile has improvements of a modern and substantial character, good and commodious buildings and np-to-date machinery, and his property evidences eloquently the presence of thrift, enterprise and good management. Mr. Honse is a publie-spirited citizen who has
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always been ready to do his full share in supporting beneficial move- ments, particularly of au educational character, and his stand on publie questions as well as his straightforward manner of doing business, have gained him respect and confidence in his locality.
On November 28, 1872, Mr. House was united in marriage with Miss Mary Gannon, who was born in Ireland, to which union there have been born three children: Lindsey J., a resident of Columbus, Ohio; and Elon W. and Willard A., who are residents of Cleveland, Ohio.
LEWIS W. HOUSE. A very enterprising and prosperous farmer and breeder of livestock, living on the old House homestead in Perkins Town- ship, Lewis W. Hlouse is widely known not only as a representative of the best agricultural element of Erie County, but of one of the oldest and most highly respected pioneer families of this part of the state. The history of the House family is the history of farming in Erie County, for the founder of the name here came when this loeality was covered with woods, and members of the family have kept paee with the advancement and development which has followed and still continue to hold prosperous positions in the agricultural world.
Lewis W. House was born on the farm on which he now lives, March 23, 1858, and is a son of Lindsey and Mary A. (Young) House, and a grandson of Julius IIouse. The latter was born in Connecticut and several years after the birth of his son Lindsey emigrated to Erie County and settled in the woods in the vicinity of what is now Perkins Church, in Perkins Township. There he erected a small house, started the work of elearing and development, and after a number of years crowded with the experiences and hardships of the pioneer finally be- came the owner of a handsome and valuable property, a monument to his energy and faith. He was one of the influential men of his locality, serving in the capacity of justice of the peace for many years and was known throughout the vicinity as "Squire" House. A typieal pioneer, honest, rugged and straightforward in character, in his death the loeality lost one who had done mueh to insure its future pros- perity.
Lindsey House was born in Connecticut, and was about three years of age when brought by his parents to Erie County, Ohio. His educa- tion was naturally somewhat limited, being confined to those advan- tages afforded by the primitive schools of early Ohio, but he became a well educated man and one who wielded a distinct influence in his eom- munity. He devoted his active years to the pursuits of the farm, and died well advanced in years, as did also Mrs. House, who was a native of Ohio. Their children were as follows: Altha, who is deceased : Laura, who is a widow of the late John DeWitt, of Perkins Township, and now lives at Sandusky, Ohio: Julius, who is one of the leading farmers of Perkins Township; Ada, who is the wife of Willard Curtiss, of Pasadena, California; Mina, who is the wife of A. A. Storrs, of Perkins Township; Marian, who is the widow of the late George B. Parker, of Perkins Township, and is living there; Lewis W., of this notice : and Rose V., who is the wife of Leonard Hill, of Perkins Town- ship. Both Mr. and Mrs. House took an active interest in the work of the Perkins Methodist Episcopal Church, in which faith the children were reared.
The life of Lewis W. House has been a strictly agricultural one, and his entire career has been passed in the environment of the farm. He was edueated in the publie schools of Perkins Township, and as a youth engaged in the pursuits of the soil, which have continued to engage his attention to the present time. He is now the owner of sixty-two aeres of good land, which he devotes to general farming, and his ventures
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have proven successful because of the labor and intelligence he has expended on them. A devotee of modern methods, he is always ready to experiment with new ideas, but his practicality tends to make him loath to give up a tried method until he finds that the new one is better. He is a friend of education, is serving as a member of the school board of Perkins Township, and is a stalwart republican in his views and a trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As business man, agricul- turist and citizen he has qualified for a high place in the esteem and confidence of his fellowmen.
Mr. House married for his first wife Miss Jennie Parker, a sister of the late George B. Parker, of Perkins Township, and they had one daughter, Ada, who is now the wife of Byron Woolson, of Cleveland, Ohio. Mr. House married a second time, his wife being Dollie Veader, who was born in Perkins Township, and they have eight children, namely : Guy W., Ethel, Byron, Annabelle, Rachel, Alta, Lois and Faye.
FRANK LILES. The first conerete bridges constructed in Erie County were built by the well known contractor Frank Liles in Groton Town- ship. In addition to his distinetion as the pioneer bridge builder of concrete material in the county Mr. Liles has developed a large and extensive business as a contractor and builder in concrete work, and has a record of fifteen years in which he has nsed his facilities, equip- ment and service in the constructing of many bridges, eulverts, side- walks and also in road contracting, which is later years has become his primary specialty. Mr. Liles resides at Sand Hill in Groton Town- ship, where he owns a commodious and attractive residence, and enjoys the honor and respect of the people among whom he has spent practi- cally all the years of his life.
Born in Groton Township August 5, 1872, he is a son of the late John W. and Celia (Mitchell) Liles. His mother is now living near Sand Hill in Groton Township. The late John W. Liles was born in England, eame to America in early life and after residing at several different localities in Erie County finally settled permanently in Groton Township, where he followed farming until his death in the early '70s. He was a well known eitizen there, but died before accomplishing all the work of which he was capable.
Frank Liles was only a child when his father died and he grew up under the direction of his widowed mother, living both in Oxford and Groton townships, and gaining his education from the public schools of those localities. He has been a hard worker all his life, and after some varied experience in other lines finally took up the business of contracting in conerete work in 1900. Thus he has for fifteen years operated as a builder in that now familiar material, but when he began he was among the first in Northern Ohio to apply conerete successfully to such constructions as bridges. There are three bridges along the Smith Road in Groton Township which represent his pioneer effort and are said to be the first of that material constructed in Erie Conuty.
On March 2, 1897. Mr. Liles married Miss Jessie Waldoek of Per- kins Township. They have two children: Anna G. and Francis. Mr. Liles and family enjoy the social regard of the community in Groton Township, and as a business man he is exceptionally enterprising and successful.
LOUIS EBERT, JR. One of the citizens of Oxford Township well fitted for the role of agriculturist is Lonis Ebert, Jr, who has spent all his life in this county, and after a period of hard work and self denial has gained an independent position and now operates an excellent farm and earries ou business as a wholesale butcher.
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Born in Sandusky December 17, 1869, he is a son of Louis and Catherine (Herbel) Ebert, both of whom were natives of Germany. Ilis parents now reside in Oxford Township, his father sixty-eight and his mother sixty-four years of age. The father eame from Germany to Ameriea with his parents when he was a small boy, and the family located at Sandusky fully sixty years ago, and after he reached his maturity he engaged in farming in Oxford Township and also carried on a butcher business. He is in polities a democrat.
Reared at the old home in Oxford Township Louis Ebert, Jr., acquired his edneation in the local schools, and at an early age started out in life on his own responsibilities. 1Ie married Miss Minnie Smith, who was born at Sandusky, a daughter of Joseph Smith, a late resident of Perkins Township. To their marriage were born seven ehildren, two of whom died in childhood and the five now living are: Irene E., Merri- bell, Myrtle R., Louis J. and Norman W.
For three years Mr. Ebert served as a member of the board of educa- tion of Oxford Township. He is a demoerat in polities. His agricul- tural operations are conducted on an excellent farm of fifty-eight aeres, and he supplements that industry by his wholesale butcher business. ITe is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees at Bloomingville, and is one of the men of his township who favors everything that will give better schools, better roads, and improved conditions generally.
FREDERICK P. GASTIER. Foremost among the well known and highly regarded men of Groton Township may be mentioned Frederiek P. Gastier, prominent farming man and a member of the local board of education. Mr. Gastier has lived in Erie County all his life. He was born in Oxford Township on December 4, 1864, and is a son of John F. and Catherine M. (Schaffer) Gastier, both natives of Nassau, Germany. John F. Gastier came to American shores in 1863, settling in Oxford Township, Erie County, and he is living there at the present writing (1915). His faithful wife died in October, 1912, and he is now in his seventy-seventh year. Of their ten children eight are living today. Frederick P. of this review is the eldest. Sophie, the wife of William Seiple, lives in Richfield Township, Huron County, Ohio. Catherine married Albert Scheid and they have a home in Oxford Township. William also lives in Oxford. Charles is in Bellevue, Ohio. Emma is the wife of E. Spade, of Bellevue. Henry lives in Groton Township. Louise is the wife of John Lindsley, and they live in Perkins Township.
Frederick P. Gastier was reared in Oxford Township, and from his boyhood on he was trained to agricultural activities. He had snch education as the schools of the township afforded, and he has added much to that training as he has gone through life. On February 24, 1890, he married Catherine Schamp, who was born in Oxford Town- ship and is a daughter of Peter Schamp, late of Oxford, and one of the earliest settlers in that community. Three children have been born to the Gastiers. Laura, the eldest, is the wife of Kent Rockwell, of Milan Township, this county. Carl L., who married Margaret Neill, lives in Groton Township, and Frederiek W. is at home.
Mr. Gastier owns a good farm of eighty aeres, well stocked, highly cultivated and abundantly fruitful. He is known to be one of the most successful farmers in the county. For some years past he has given valuable service as a member of the board of education in Groton Township. He and his family have long had membership in the Evangelical Association, and have lived exemplary lives in their home community. Always a publie-spirited man, Mr. Gastier has been a leading spirit in any forward movement that has been inang- urated in the community, and especially has the cause of education been fostered in the township through his activities.
DANIEL N. HINE
Jerome P. Hive
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Mr. Gastier is a member of the K. O. T. M. at Bloomingville, Ohio, and he is independent in polities. His relations with his townspeople have always been of the most amieable order, and with his family he enjoys the genuine regard of the community at large. The family name is honored where it is known, and it stands for social integrity and good citizenship throughout the township.
JEROME P. HINE. As a breeder and raiser of the Aberdeen Angus cattle, Jerome P. Iline has long had a reputation far beyond the limits of Erie County. Many years ago his father introduced into Ohio the first registered cattle of this breed direct from Scotland, and the sub- sequent enterprise which has grown up from this beginning is only one of the many important contributions made by members of the Hine family to the wealth and progress of Erie County. Mr. Iline's stock farm in Berlin Township near Shinrock postoffice is a model place of its kind and its improvements and adaptation to the uses of modern stock raising are the results of an exceptional degree of skill and study on the part of Mr. ITine.
Only a few names in Erie County date back further than the Hline family, and while they have lived here for nearly a century their home on American soil dates baek nearly three hundred years. Record is found of Thomas Iline and his wife Elizabeth at Milford, Connecticut, as early as 1640. Thomas probably came from Ireland but of Scoteh ancestry. One of his children was Stephen Hine, who was born Octo- ber 26, 1663. Alexander, son of Stephen, was born February 10, 1698, and died at the age of sixty-eight. He married Mary Lines of New Haven, Connecticut, and they both died at Milford. Among their ehil- dren was Daniel, born May 7, 1734, and died June 4, 1798. He married Ruth Alling at New Haven, who was born October 8, 1738, and died June 13, 1777, of the smallpox. The next in this lineage was Daniel, Jr., who was born March 17, 1763, and died in Connecticut in 1805. He lived for many years at New Bethlehem. His wife, Abigail Cowles, was born August 20, 1765, and died at Berlin Heights in Erie County in 1836. Of the children of Daniel and Abigail, two of the sons, Jared, born in 1788, and Amos, born in 1790, came as early as 1816 by way of river, canal and lake, to Vermilion Township in Erie County. They acquired traets of the fire lands in Berlin Township, all of which at that time was a primeval wilderness. In 1818 the mother of these pioneers and other children came out to Erie County. Of those who came in 1818 there were Sheldon, who was born April 5, 1792; Permelia, who was born in 1795 and in 1812 had married Amos Bishop; Nathaniel, who was born in 1797; and Charles, born in 1800. All of these children acquired landed possessions and developed new farms in Erie County, Nathaniel having located in Vermilion Township, while the others were early set- tlers in Berlin. In that generation farming was the regular vocation of the family, and it is doubtful if any other single family furnished more substantial and useful citizens to this wilderness community than the Hines. All the children above mentioned were married and had families and spent their lives in Erie County.
Of these, Sheldon ITine, grandfather of Jerome P .. located on a wild farm at the foot of the hill near the Village of Berlin Heights on Ok Woman's Creek. He died there in 1846. One of the results of his enter- prise is still standing as solid as a rock, the old homestead which he constructed in addition to clearing the forest and improving the fields comprised within his farm. He was a man of more than ordinary im- portance in the community. Near his home he erected a sawmill, and from the timber on his own land sawed the lumber which went into the home already mentioned and which was built about 1840. He performed
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a similar service for two of his sons on other farms in that community, and in 1848 his sons supplied the lumber for the construction of the home of the son, Daniel N., now owned by Jerome P. Hine. Sheldon Hine was married May 5, 1815, at Bethlehem, Connecticut, to Sallie Osborn. She was born in Connecticut April 7, 1798, and died at the home of a son in Indiana in 1882, and now lies beside the body of her husband in the old Union Cemetery in Berlin Heights. A brief record of the children of Sheldon and wife is as follows: Lucius A., born Febru- ary 22, 1819, became well known as a journalist and novelist, and died at Loveland, Ohio; he married Helen Chapin, who was born at Ithaca, New York, in 1828, and is still living at Loveland. Horatio, the second in the family, was born August 10, 1821, and died in De Kalb County, Indiana, December 15, 1896; his first wife was Cynthia B. Brooks, who was born in 1825 and died in 1853, and in 1857 he married Jane L. Brooks, a sister of his former wife, who was born in 1831 and is now living near Auburn, Indiana, where Horatio Hine was for many years a successful land and timber operator. The third child in the family was the late Daniel N. Hine, whose career is sketched more fully in fol- lowing paragraphs. Julia, born May 10, 1827, was married in 1847 to a member of the Burnham family mentioned elsewhere. Theodore B., born July 25, 1829, lived for many years on the old homestead, became a vinegar manufacturer and subsequently prosecuted the same industry at Toledo, where he died in February, 1904; he married Lovina C. Rey- nolds, who was born in 1851 and is now deceased. Lemon G., who was born April 14, 1832, and recently died at Washington, D. C., was a prominent lawyer and was especially well known in the business world as the organizer and the president of the Merganthaler Linotype Machine Company in America. Laura F., born October 28, 1836, and died at Denver, Colorado, in 1881, was twice married, her second husband being Col. Edward Powers, who was an officer in the Civil war.
Daniel N. Hine, who was born in Erie County January 1, 1825, and died in Florida December 4, 1903, was in his time one of the foremost leaders in agricultural enterprise in Northern Ohio. As a farmer he acquired the ownership of 148 acres of land in Berlin Township, seventy acres of which is now ineluded in the home of his son Jerome. There in 1848 was built the substantial house already mentioned and which has served as the home of two generations. In 1887 Daniel Hine removed to Nashua, Florida, where for many years he was engaged in the grow- ing of citrus fruits. In 1881 he had made a trip to Scotland, where he bought seven head of registered Aberdeen Angus cattle, and these were the first specimens of that breed, noted for their value as meat cattle, to be brought to Ohio. He subsequently was one of the promoters of the Aberdeen Angus Breeders' Association in America, and in 1887, when he removed to Florida, transferred his membership to his son Jerome, who is still a member of that organization and for nine years served as a director. Daniel Hine was a republican in politics, and a man whose activities and character made for himself a highly respected position in the community.
At Florence in Erie County November 11, 1848, Daniel N. Hine mar- ried Marinda Brooks, who was born June 25, 1828, in Florence Town- ship, and died at her home in Berlin Township November 13, 1894. Her parents were John and Adaline (Squires) Brooks, who came from New York State, and their marriage on March 15, 1818, was the first event of that character to be celebrated in Florence Township of Erie County. John Brooks was a pioneer farmer, but was perhaps best known for his skill as a hunter, and in the early days hunted all through the woods of Erie and surrounding counties. He and his wife lived to advanced age and died in Erie County. Early in her life and before her marriage
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Mrs. Hline was a successful teacher in both Erie and Huron counties. That was in the day of the subscription school, and she was paid for her services a dollar a week and received board in the homes of the children who were her scholars. Her mother possessed the first two silver spoons that were made in Erie County, having been pounded out of silver dol- lars. Another interesting relie which belonged to Mrs. Hine and which is now a cherished possession of Jerome Hine is the necklace of a peculiar old-fashioned style, with gold bound ebony, which was made in England, and was originally an article of adornment for Mrs. Hine's grandmother. A concise record of the children of Daniel Hine and wife is as follows: Viola J., born October 10, 1849, is the wife of Charles E. Thorn, now director of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station at Wooster, Ohio. Arthur B., born October 19, 1852, is married and living at Los Angeles, California. Nora A., born April 26, 1860, was for a number of years a teacher and died unmarried at Pasadena, California, February 21, 1904. Lucius A., born August 17, 1862, is now president of the Hine-Watt Manufacturing Company at Chicago, manufacturers and jobbers of auto- mobiles, motorcycles, bicycles and accessories and supplies, lives at High- land Park, near Chicago, and by his marriage to Winifred Otis has two sons. Bessie Douglas, born July 7, 1865, was married May 25, 1887, to Jobn II. Galbraith, who is a graduate of the Ohio State University and is well known as a journalist, being assistant editor of the Columbus Dispatch and a correspondent for many newspapers; they are the parents of three sons.
Jerome P. Iline was born September 12, 1867, at the old Hine home- stead, which was also the birthplace of the other children. From early boyhood his inclinations were toward agriculture and stock raising, and after finishing his education in the Milan Normal School and the State University at Columbus he entered actively upon his chosen career. Ile is the owner of seventy aeres in the old farm, and as already noted his specialty has been the breeding of Aberdeen Angus cattle. The Iline farm has sent out some of the finest specimens of this breed, and among stock raisers generally the farm has long had a standard reputation. For a number of years Mr. Hine exhibited his Aberdeen cattle all over the United States. In 1891 he took the grand prize for his herd in com- petition with exhibitors from all over the country, and both before and since his cattle have won many blue ribbons in local and state exhibi- tions. The farm has all the equipment necessary for high grade stock farming and its handsome improvements constitute it one of the show places of Berlin Township. Mr. Hine still continues his work as a farmer and stock breeder, and his enterprise in that direction has long been considered an important asset to the county. For two years he served as a lecturer before farmers' institutes.
Mr. Hine was first married to Emma Irene Tillinghast, who was born in Berlin Heights January 2, 1875, and died at her home Deeem- ber 26, 1902. There are no children by that marriage. On January 5, 1905, Mr. Iline was married at Green Spring, Ohio, to Miss Elva Light, who prior to her marriage had been principal of the Berlin Heights High School. She was educated in the academy at Green Spring and in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. Mr. and Mrs. IFine have a fine family of growing children whose names and dates of births are as fol- lows: Florence Elizabeth, born March 22, 1906, and now in the fourth grade of the public schools: Daniel Light, born September 21, 1907, and in the third grade; Elva Irene, November 26, 1909 ; Thomas S., July 23, 1911 ; and Jerome Brooks, November 23. 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Hine are members of the Congregational Church at Berlin Heights. He is an independent republican, is a member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Berlin Heights and of the Woodmen of the World at Shinrock.
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