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 80
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familiar with his career or aware of his status as one of the most pro- gressive and substantial business men of the Village of Birmingham and as one of the honored and influential citizens of Florence Township. As a general merchant he controls a specially large and representative trade, and his establishment in the Village of Birmingham would be a credit to a place of much greater population. That he has secure vantage- ground in popular confidence and good will is shown not only in the broad scope of his business enterprise but also in his having been called upon to serve in various positions of publie trust, including that of postmaster of Birmingham.
The general merchandise store of Mr. Schisler occupies a main build- ing 24 by 56 feet in dimensions and two stories in height, and the de- mands placed upon the establishment finally made it virtually necessary to erect the addition or annex, which is 24 by 40 feet in dimensions, and which is used for the display of kitchen furniture as well as for the storage of surplus stock in other lines. All departments show well selected and ample stocks of staple and special goods, and in the store provisions are made for supplying all demands of a large and appre- eiative patronage, few similar establishments in rural communities hav- ing as excellent appointments and facilities. The second floor of the building is used for the display of linoleums and other floor coverings and for rubber footwear, besides which it affords accommodations also for the local exchange of the telephone company of which Mr. Sehisler is treasurer.
Mr. Sehisler has been locally influential and zealous as a representa- tive of the republican party and he served twelve years as postmaster at Birmingham, under the administrations of Presidents MeKinley, Roosevelt and Taft, and two years after the election of President Wil- son, his retirement having naturally come with the change in the gen- oral politieal administration of the national affairs. Mr. Sehisler served four terms as treasurer of Florence Township and has given effective service also in the office of treasurer of the board of education of his district. He is at the present time treasurer and a director of the River- side Telephone Company, which was organized in 1906, with Charles A. Heald as president, and the company now gives service to 300 sub- seribers, its facilities being of the best in its local lines and also through its direct connection with the lines of the Bell and Independent Tele- phone Companies.
Mr. Schisler is a representative of a sterling family whose name has been identified with the civie and material affairs of Erie County for half a century. He was born on the old James Douglass farm on the shore of Lake Erie, in Berlin Township, the date of his nativity having been March 20, 1862. Under the sturdy discipline of the home farm he early learned the lessons of practical industry and in the meanwhile he made good use of the advantages afforded in the public schools of the locality and period. In 1881 Mr. Sehisler severed his allegiance to the great basie industry of agriculture and assumed a position as clerk in a mereantile establishment at Vermilion, Ten months later he became associated with Phillip A. Baker in the general merchandise business at Birmingham, and this alliance continued until 1889, when Mr. Sehisler formed a partnership with John Geary and engaged in the dry-goods and hardware business in this village. On the night of May 20, 1891. the entire business section of the village was destroyed by fire, and after having thus suffered the loss of their entire stock of goods Mr. Schisler and his partner were given the temporary use of the town hall, without charge, as a place to continue their business until they could effect the erection of a proper building for the purpose. In the following October the firm's new building was ready for occupancy, and in the same the business was developed into one of general order, though much of its
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amplification has been accomplished during the time that Mr. Schisler has been sole proprietor, Mr. Geary having retired in 1901 and his death having occurred in the following year. The finely equipped store now shows excellent lines of dry-goods, groceries, hardware, boots and shoes, kitchen furniture, floor coverings and manifold special lines, and the high reputation of the establishment and its owner constitutes its best commercial asset.
Mr. Schisler is a son of Paul and Fredericka (Sprenger) Sehisler, both born near Hesse Cassel, Germany, where the former was born August 3, 1834, and the latter on the 1st of January, 1835. The par- ents were reared and educated in their native province and there they remained until after the birth of their three eldest children, two of whom died in infancy. In 1860, in company with their one surviving child, Martin, they immigrated to America, the voyage from Bremen to New York having been made on a sailing vessel and six weeks having been passed on the Atlantic before they reached the port of New York City. Shortly after landing in the United States they came to Erie County, Ohio, and here the father found employment on the Douglass farm, in Berlin Township, where the family home was maintained several years and where the three younger children were born-Conrad, who is the im- mediate subject of this review, is the eldest of the three; Anna is the wife of Andrew Iluttenloch and they reside at Berlin Heights, this county ; Andrew, who still remains on the old homestead farm, in Flor- enee Township, married Miss Mary Stephens, and they have two chil- dren : Andrew, Jr., and Catherine.
In the early '70s Paul Schisler purchased his farm in Florence Town- ship, and he reclamed the same into one of the valuable places of that part of the county, this homestead being the residence of himself and his devoted wife until the close of their long and useful lives, each having been about eighty years of age at the time of death. Both were zealous and consistent communicants of the German Evangelical Church and they assisted in the organization of the church of this denomination in Florence Township, as well as in the erection of the church edifice. Mr. Schisler was for many years an influential and valued official of this congregation and thus continued until his death.
In Florence Township was solemnized the marriage of Conrad Schis- ler to Miss Catherine Rosenstock, who was born near Hesse Cassel, Germany, on the 24th of February, 1860, and whose parents there passed their entire lives. Her father, a man of superior intellectual attain- ments, was a successful teacher in the schools of the fatherland for fully half a century and in recognition of his devoted services he was granted a pension at the time of his retirement. Ife was about eighty years of age at the time of his death, his wife, who had been for several years an invalid, having preceded him to eternal rest and their daughter, Cath- erine, Mrs. Schisler, having had charge of the domestie affairs of the home until the time of her mother's death, after which she came to the United States to join her sister, Mrs. Eliza Baker, in Florence Town- ship, Erie County, where her marriage to Mr. Schisler was solemnized a few years later. Mr. and Mrs. Schisler became the parents of one child, Conrad, Jr., who died at the age of two days. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Birmingham, and Mr. Schisler has served as trustee and steward of the same. They are popular in the social activities of the community and their pleasant home is known for its generous and unostentatious hospitality.
GEORGE R. CURTIS. For many years the name George R. Curtis has been familiarly associated with business affairs and with the public life of Milan Village. His family is one of the oldest in this section of North-
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ern Ohio, and nearly a century ago his grandfather was a prominent factor in the shipping trade which largely eentered at Milan.
This pioneer, Rufus Curtis, was born in the State of New Jersey, and married Rachael Hughes, of the same state. Soon after the close of the War of 1812 they came to North Milan Village. Rufus Curtis was a ship master along the Milan Canal, and owned and operated a fleet of lighters which carried the grain from Milan down to the lake port at Huron. Those familiar with the history of old Milan will reeall that in the early years of the last century it was the principal market for all the grain raised in a wide radius of country, and on being delivered at Milan it had to be lightered in small vessels down the canal to the larger lake boats at IInron. This was the regular business of Rufus Curtis for some years, but he later sold out and bought a farm not far from the Village of Milan, improved it and died there in the early part of the present century at the advanced age of eighty-four. A part of that farm, seventy-five acres, is still owned by his descendants. Rufus Curtis survived his wife about four years, who was eighty-two years of age when she died. These worthy old pioneers had witnessed nearly all the important phases of development in Erie County. They were here when the country was completely new, when log cabins were the typical and almost exelusive residences, and they used their influence and their work to aid in the upbuilding. In politics Rufus Curtis was a democrat, and he and his wife were both members of the Universalist Church. They had three sons and three daughters, of whom Samuel Minor was the oldest. The only two still living are: Mrs. Mary Harris, of Berlin Township, a widow now making her home with her son ; and Louise, wife of Joseph Lotshar of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Samuel Minor Curtis, father of George R., was born at Milan De- cember 20, 1835, and grew up on the old homestead already mentioned which his father had bought after retiring from the vessel trade. He received his education in the old academy and normal and after his marriage lived on a farm in Vermilion Township, in 1862 moved to Huron Township, and three years later returned to Milan, where he began operating a threshing outfit. Subsequently he became agent for the manufacturers of a special line of threshing machinery, and sold threshers, engines, and other supplies, as general state agent all over Ohio. This was his regular business for many years, and he was still at it at the time of his death on October 6, 1906. He was a man of great activity, hard working, and made a successful record in business affairs. HIe was a vigorous exponent of the demoeratie principles in politics, affiliated with Milan Lodge No. 329, F. & A. M., and always identified himself helpfully with any movement for the benefit of the community.
Samuel M. Curtis was married in IInron Township to Ann J. Har- ris. She was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1838, but when eleven years of age came with her parents to Huron Township in Erie County. Her parents were George P. and Esther (MeSpadden) IIarris. Her father was born in Hertfordshire, England, while her mother was a native of County Down, Ireland, and came to America in the early '20s with her mother, locating at Pittsburg, where some years later she married Mr. Harris. Both had come to America in the old fashioned sailing vessels which required from twelve to fifteen weeks to cross the ocean. Mr. Harris had thoroughly learned the trade of ma- chinist in England, and had much natural ability in mechanical lines. Ile came with his brother William, and the latter subsequently moved to Erie County and for many years lived on a farm in Huron Township. George P. Harris married Miss MeSpadden in Pittsburg. It was his distinction to have constructed the first locomotive engine over the Pittsburg and Johnstown Railway, now part of the Pennsylvania Rail- way system. That first engine was known as the Washington. Ile re-
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mained an engineer in the employ of that road for nine years. He was not only an engineman but had a thorough knowledge of all features of construction, and it is said that he could have built an engine com- plete, and was always able to make every repair necessary. As one of the pioneer railway men of this country he deserves mention and mem- ory. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Harris were all born in Pittsburg. Subsequently the family lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and from there in 1849 came to Huron Township in Erie County, buying land on which Mr. Harris conducted farming operations until his death on June 12, 1872, at the age of sixty-two. His widow passed away in 1877 aged seventy-six. They were members of the Lutheran Evangelical Church and in politics he was a rabid demoerat. There were five children in the Harris family. One of the sons, William J., served as a color bearer in the Union army and was killed while before . Atlanta and was buried in the National Cemetery at Marietta. The only two now living are: Thomas J., a farmer in Huron Township, and head of a family ; and Mrs. Ann J. Curtis, who now lives in Cleveland and is still hale and hearty at the age of seventy-seven.
George R. Curtis, who was the only child of his parents, was born while they were living on a farm in Vermilion Township, April 25, 1858. Sinee he was seven years of age he has lived in Milan Village and Township, and was given an excellent and liberal education preparatory to his business career. He attended the Milan publie sehools, Oberlin College and the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and while in the University was a member of the Greek Letter fraternity Sigma Chi and is a stockholder in the chapter house at Delaware. During his resi- dence at Milan he has taken a prominent part in local affairs. and for fourteen years served as mayor of the city. He has also had many rela- tions with local business undertakings, was associated with his father for a number of years, and owns valuable property both in the country and in the village. His home is one of the most attractive residences of the city, a twelve-room house, with all the modern convenienees and comforts.
At Milan Mr. Curtis married Miss Sarah R. Lockwood, a member of one of the most prominent pioneer families of Northern Ohio. She was born in Milan Village, August 26, 1860, and was educated both here and at Buffalo. She is a danghter of Stephen A. Lockwood, who was prominent as a merehant and farmer.
The Loekwood ancestry in America runs baek to Robert Lockwood, who came from England in 1635, and was an early settler at Watertown near Boston, Massachusetts. He was married in Massachusetts and died there. A generation or so later members of the family moved to Con- nectieut, and about 1815 later descendants eame West and established their home in Milan Township of Erie County. Successive generations from the pioneer ancestor, Robert Loekwood, to the present were: Eph- raim Lockwood; Joseph Lockwood; Joseph Lockwood II; Stephen Loek- wood; Ralph Lockwood: Stephen A. Loekwood, Sr., who became the father of Mrs. Curtis, who consequently is in the eighth generation of this family in America. It was Ralph Lockwood, her grandfather, who with his brothers George and Henry, and sisters Esther, Sarah, Eliza- beth and Mary, became identified nearly a century ago with that part of Northern Ohio around Milan and Norwalk. The family came to this country about 1817, and Ralph and George preceded the others already mentioned. They acquired the ownership of large traets of land, in what was then known as IInron County, prior to the ereetion of Erie County. A part of the land owned by the Lockwoods has since been incorporated in the village sites of Norwalk and Milan. Ralph and George Loekwood were well educated young men, and as surveyors they laid out mueh of the lands in and around Milan and Norwalk. The Vol. 11-34
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surveying instruments which these pioneers used are still in possession of their descendants. Part of the large land traet owned by the Lock- woods was awarded to them as their share of the firelands. As a family they were sufferers from the devastations committed by the British troops in the Revolution and in the War of 1812. Stephen A. Lockwood, father of Mrs. Curtis, was born at the old homestead in Milan, June 10, 1820, grew up there as a farmer boy, and some years later with his brother, William, established a business on the west side of Milan Square, handling a general stock of goods. They were thrifty and intelligent young men, and prospered in proportion to the growth of the village community, erected some of the substantial business blocks of their time, but subsequently on account of lack of organized fire protection they suffered heavily when the entire west side of the square was burned. William subsequently became associated with other members of the Lockwood family, while Stephen A. left merchandising to engage in farming. In this vocation he also prospered, and left a large property to his family and descendants. He died at Milan in April, 1889. Like the other male members of the Lockwood family he was first a whig and later a republican, and during the Civil war served for three years in the United States Navy. In after life he could never be got to speak much of his naval experience, and this was due to his natural modesty and his conviction that his service was only a mere matter of duty and should not be boasted of. Stephen A. Lockwood was married in Milan to his cousin, Sarah A. Loekwood, the daughter of his unele, George. She was born at Milan, in November, 1826, and died in April, 1914. She was a fine type of the pioneer wife and mother, had many noble traits of character, and for many years was one of the most active members of the Presbyterian Church. In the Lockwood family were five sons and five daughters, several of them now deceased, and Mrs. Curtis was one of the youngest of the children.
Mr. and Mrs. Curtis have two daughters. Mabel A., born Angust 15, 1882, is a graduate of Oberlin College and is now the wife of Walter T. Dunmore, who graduated in 1900 from Oberlin College and later from the law school of the Western Reserve University, was admitted to the bar in 1904, and is present dean of the Western Reserve Law School. Mr. and Mrs. Dunmore have two children: Marjorie C., born December 29, 1905: and Helen E., born July 8, 1915. The second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis is Maude S., born October 5, 1885. She graduated from Oberlin College and from the Woman's College at Cleveland, and is now the wife of Harry H. Doering. Mr. Doering graduated from Oberlin with the class of 1906 and now lives in Phila- delphia. Mr. Curtis and family are members of the Presbyterian Church and he is affiliated with Marks Lodge No. 239, F. & A. M., at Milan. In politics he is an independent democrat.
J. CHARLES RUSSELL. Probably every resident of Milan Township has had oceasion to admire the capable management and well kept appearance of the Russell farm near Avery. Its proprietor is a man who has effeeted a great deal in the course of a career of some forty years. Ile started life with very little capital except what he earned himself, and from youth to middle age has been one of the thrifty, industrious workers in this section of Ohio.
Born at Sandusky, November 24. 1853, J. Charles Russell is a son of Philip and Elizabeth ( Utha) Russell, both of whom were born in Hesse Nassau, Germany, and grew up and married there. Their first child, Nettie, was born in Germany. In the spring of 1853 the little family embarked on a sailing vessel and came to the United States from Bremen to New York, making the voyage in forty days. From New York they came on to Sandusky, where the father arrived practically at the end of
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his resources. Without money or influential friends, he supported his family for a time by sawing wood with an old fashioned buek saw. In the spring of 1854 he went to Hunts Corners in Iluron Connty and was engaged in farming in that locality until his death in 1858, when only twenty-eight years of age. He had been confirmed in the Lutheran Church in his native country. Four children survived him: Nettie, now deceased; J. Charles: Christopher, who died as a child only two days after his father : and Philip, who is a farmer at Parkertown and promi- ment in demoeratie polities and is married and has five sons and one daughter. The widowed mother was married in Huron County to Christ Gillamaster. They then located in Groton Township on a farm and spent the rest of their lives there. She died at the age of seventy-six and her husband at seventy-five. To her second marriage were also born four children, two of whom died young. Her sons, Lonis and William, are still living, the former a farmer in Groton Township and the father of two sous and four daughters, and the latter a farmer in Sandusky County and he has four sons and three danghters.
It was in Huron County that J. Charles Russell spent his early youth and manhood. He lived at home with his mother and step-father until reaching his majority, and profited by attendance at such schools as existed in that community. His first independent work as a farmer was done in Groton Township, where he lived six years, and the following three years in Lyman Township of Huron County. Returning to Groton Township, he spent another four years there, and then moved to the Captain Coulter farm in Milan Township near Avery. That was the seene of his productive efforts for nineteen years, and he carried on his extensive operations with profit to all concerned. During a year follow- ing his removal from the Coulter farm he rented another place, but in 1908 bought the Avery farm, known as the Hawley place. This is a farm of first class improvements, with splendid soil, with tiling drainage, and capable of producing all the standard cereal crops. Mr. Russell finds potatoes one of the best crops for his land, plants usually from ten to twenty acres, and his yield is as high as 275 bushels per acre. The build- ing improvements about the farm represent a large investment. He has a big gray barn, built in the most modern manner for the housing of stock and grain, and standing on a foundation 36x62 feet. His home is a large white eight-room house, surrounded with a large lawn and with beautiful shade trees. Besides this farm Mr. Russell also owns 7812 acres in Groton Township, which is likewise well improved and has a good set of building improvements.
In Oxford Township Mr. Russell married Miss Nettie Schamp. She was born in that township November 11, 1853, and died November 20. 1911. She grew up and received her education there and became a splendid mother to her children and a most capable home maker. Her parents were German people, l'eter and Emma (Schafer) Schamp, who were born in Nassau, Germany, and when young people came to America and settled in Oxford Township of Erie County, where they married and subsequently lived as farmers. Her father died there twenty years ago and her mother about sixteen years ago, both being at the time about three seore years of age. They were members of the Lutheran Church and her father was a democrat.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Russell are briefly mentioned as fol- lows: Jennie died five years after her marriage to Henry Gastier, who is now living on Mr. Russell's farm in Groton Township. William, the second child, died when two years of age. Frank married Mabel Taylor, and they live at the Russell home in Milan Township. Fred is a gradu- ate of high school and business college, is now twenty-seven years of age, and while living at home is one of the capable workmen in the employ of Isaac W. Hoover, the prominent Avery manufacturer : Fred is affili-
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ated with Milan Lodge of the Masonic Order. Mr. Russell and family are all members of the Evangelical Church, and he and his sons are democrats in national polities.
JOHN W. WEILNAU. Many of the most enterprising young men of the present generation find in farm management an outlet for their highest degree of skill and effieieney. Among the younger agriculturists of Erie County special mention should be given to John W. Weilnau, who fully measured up to the tests and requirements of modern indus- trial life in the point of effieieney, skill, industry and general ability.
For the past eight years Mr. Weilnau has had ample scope for his career as a farmer as manager of the large Hoover homestead at Avery. This is one of the best farms in Erie County, and the manner in which Mr. Weilnau has conducted it reflects credit upon his personal skill. His crops are grown at the rotation and intensive method. During the past vear he had 16 acres of eorn, 24 in wheat, 8 acres in oats and 12 acres in potatoes. His wheat yields about 29 bushels to the acre, oats 40 bushels, corn 80 bushels, and he gets a particularly abundant yield of potatoes.
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