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 95
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In 1896 in Vermilion Township Mr. Nuhn married Mrs. Barbara Knott. She was born in Vermilion Township November 13, 1872, and was reared and educated there, being a daughter of George and Minnie ( Hildebrand) Knoch, who were natives of Hesse, Germany. They crossed the ocean in the same vessel, being three weeks on the voyage, and were married later in Vermilion Township in the Reformed Church. They started out as farmers but Mr. Knoch also supplied much of the livelihood by work in a stone quarry. Ile finally rented and then bought 120 acres, and had converted it into a fine farm before he died in the fall of 1905. The Knoch homestead was located on the shore of Lake Erie. Mrs. Kuhn was only twelve years of age when her mother died, and her father married a second time, but there were no children of the second union.
Mr. and Mrs. Nuhn are members of the German Reformed Church, and in politics he is a democrat. They have one son, George, born No- vember 13, 1897, who is an engineer and farmer, and is a very capable young man who has completed the work of the local schools and is capably assisting his father. Mrs. Nuhn by her former marriage to John Knott, now deceased, has a daughter, Pearl Knott, born December 29, 1894, who has completed her education in the public schools.
JOSEPH FENTON. What Joseph Fenton has accomplished as a farmer in Berlin Township is a lesson in industry, thrift and good manage- ment. From early boyhood he has been schooled in the university of hard work and experience. He was doing his part in lumber eamps and in other hard work in the East when still a boy.
Iu 1902 Mr. Fenton bought his present well ordered fruit and grain farm in Berlin Township. He owns 6812 acres, beautifully sit- nated, and highly improved and productive. In the past fifteen years he has placed most of the improvements on the 'farm. Ilis principal barn for stock and grain is a substantial structure on a foundation 26 by 36 feet with 16-foot posts. The basement is solidly floored, and it is one of the best adapted structures of its kind found in Berlin Township. On his farm are fourteen acres of orchard, chiefly peaches. During the past year he produced 3,500 bushels of peaches, and his specialty in that fruit is the Lemon Free. IIe also grows large crops of corn and other staples, and his yield of eorn has not infrequently been as high as 100 bushels per acre. He grows on his land from two hundred to three hundred bushels of potatoes per acre. He keeps enough stock to consume most of his erop, and these are of high grade.
Mr. Fenton was born in Warren County, Pennsylvania, June 6, Vol. II-40
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1866, a son of Charles and Harriet (Blackmore) Fenton. His father was born in England and his mother in Warren County, Pennsylvania. On coming from England Charles Fenton located in Pennsylvania, and married his wife there. Ile owned a small farm, but was chiefly em- ployed in the lumber industry. The record which he made as a soldier in the Civil war is something which his descendants will always cherish. He went out with a New York regiment, and was in nearly all the en- gagements in which his command participated. A list of the battles in which he fought would comprise many of the greatest in the eastern theater of the war. He was at Grant's headquarters when Lee surren- dered at Appomattox. Ile was severely wounded in the face. in the battle of the Wilderness, and twice while a soldier he was captured and spent some time both in Libby and Andersonville prisons. He was exchanged, and after some months rejoined his regiment. After his honorable discharge he returned to New York State, and died there when his son Joseph was only eleven years of age. His wife had passed away two years before. Joseph Fenton is the oldest in a family of three sons and one daughter, all of whom are married and have homes of their own. After the death of his parents Joseph Fenton grew up in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox. Ile had little opportunity to gain an education. Most of his experience from early childhood was hard work. For several years he was employed in the lumber camps at Onoville. When only twelve years of age he learned to drive oxen, and when still quite a boy was proficient in the rafting of logs down the rivers in the lumber district. He went down the Allegheny River with what is said to have been the last raft of logs ever taken down that stream from Western New York and Pennsylvania.
After a variety of experience in the East Mr. Fenton came to Ohio in 1896, and bought twelve aeres now included in his fine farm in Berlin Township. To this he added other land as his ability made that possi- ble, and there is no better place in the county regarded from the point of productiveness and quality of crops.
Mr. Fenton is a democrat in polities. Ile married Marilla Baker of Florence Township. Mr. Fenton has a son, Leo B., born November 22, 1902, and now in the seventh grade of the public schools.
C. HENRY CHERRY. A resident of Milan Township, with postoffice at Avery, Mr. Cherry is numbered among the prosperous agriculturists of this vicinity. Ilis life has been one of industry and the substantial position he has attained in the community is the result of his well-di- rected efforts and a thorough integrity and usefulness in all his rela- tions.
Ifis family were among the very early settlers of Erie County. Mr. Cherry was born in Milan Township September 18, 1849, a son of Charles Cherry, who was born in the first frame house built at Milan. and a grandson of William Cherry, who was probably born in Connecti- eut. William Cherry was married in the East and not long afterwards came to Ohio, settling at Milan, where he bought a small home. At that time and for several years afterwards land could be bought in this vicinity as low as 25 to 50 cents an acre. Unfortunately, he could not convince himself that an investment in land so cheap would ever prove profitable, and consequently never acquired any landed estate. For many years he did work at wages as low as 25 cents per day, and as a laboring man he spent most of his active career. IIe died when about eighty years of age and prior to the Civil war. Ile and his wife, who died before him, lie side by side in the Milan cemetery. They were members of the Methodist Church, and in politics he was a very decided whig. Ilis children were: George, who for a number of years followed
A
O. HENRY CHERRY AND WIFE, AVERY, OILIO
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the mason's trade, was also a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting in Michigan, returned safe and sound after the war, married and has a family of children, and is now a resident of the Soldiers' Home at San- dusky, aged about seventy-five and the only survivor of his father's children. Hannah and Abbie, both now deceased, died when quite old in Norwalk and left children.
Charles Cherry, father of C. Henry Cherry, while growing up. learned the trade of carpenter and subsequently with his brother, George, gained a knowledge of the mason's trade. He liked neither of these mechanical occupations, though he was very proficient in them, and finally turned his entire attention to farming in East Milan, and in this way spent his life. He died when quite an old man, and from early youth had been first a whig and later a republican in politics. IIe was married in Milan to Alvira Witt. She was born in New Jersey, came to Milan when a young girl, was educated in that township, and was a most faithful and capable wife and mother. She died a few weeks after her husband, as a result of paralysis. For many years both were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Charles Cherry and his son, Byron, both served as soldiers in the Civil war during the last eleven months as members of the Twenty-fifth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. The son Byron was the oldest child in the family and at his death left two daughters. The second in the family is C. Henry. Gusta, the next in order of birth, is now Mrs. Halstead, living at Swan- ton, Ohio, and she has been married four times, and has children by her first husband. John Sanders, and also one by the second husband. Libby is the wife of Ralph Sayles, of Milan, who is now a retired farmer and is serving as township roadmaster, and they have a family of three sons living and one daughter, now deceased. William is a mason by trade, living at Norwalk and is married and has a large family of sons and daughters. Buford E. is now in the West, but his wife and family reside in Milan. George, who died about two years ago, is survived by his widow and one child at their old home in Collinwood, Ohio. Burton lives at Lorain, Ohio, is a machinist and now department foreman in the large steel plant at that city, and has two sons and four daughters.
In the township which is now his home C. Henry Cherry grew up and gained his early education. With the exception of ten years as livery man at Lorain he has made his career that of farmer, and since 1873 has lived on his beautiful place of fifty-three acres not far from Avery. With the exception of the ground covered by his buildings practically every foot is under cultivation. He is an intensive farmer, practical, methodical, industrious, and has made good in every sense of the word. He has a most attractive group of building improvements, inelnding a seven-room residence, a substantial basement barn, and his specialty as a farmer is the feeding and dealing in life stock. He handles several ear loads of cattle, sheep and horses every year, and also conducts a plant for the manufacturing of pork products. He kills a large number of hogs every winter, and sells several thousand dollars worth of their products.
On the farm that he now owns Mr. Cherry married Miss Euphrasia (. Gerrard. She was born in Perkins Township of Erie County, June 11, 1842, and after many years of happy married life she died at the home in Avery December 19. 1911. She grew up in Erie County. graduated from Oberlin College, and was a woman of great refinement and culture and impressed her influence on many people in her com- munity. Her parents were Garret B. and Mary A. (Maekey) Gerrard. IIer mother was a sister of Judge Mackey of Sandusky. Her father was for some years sheriff in Erie County, subsequently became a well-
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to-do farmer, owning three farms, and he spent his last years at Avery. The Gerrard family were among the best known in Erie County, and both Mrs. Cherry's parents were born in New Jersey. Mr. Gerrard took a prominent part in republican party affairs. Mr. Cherry is an attend- ant of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Milan, of which his wife was an active worker until her death.
WILLIAM F. FICHTEL. A wonderful transformation has taken place in the material prosperity and standing of William F. Fichtel in the few years since he came from Germany, a young lad unacquainted with American ways and customs, and with little to depend upon ex- cept his own energies and ambition to give a good aceount of himself in the world.
Mr. Fichtel is now a well to do and suceessful farmer in Vermilion Township, and manages a fine place of 118 acres just west of Joppa Corners. This farm measures up to the best standards set in Erie County agriculture. Seventy-five acres of it is under the plow and each season grows fine erops of all the staples, with an average of thirty bushels of wheat to the acre, thirty-five bushels of barley, forty bushels of oats and eighty bushels of corn. Mr. Fichtel feeds most of his crops to his own live stock, and keeps five good milch cows, six head of horses and some hogs. Ile recently completed a substantial barn standing on a foundation 36 by 50 feet with 14-foot post, and his home is a comfortable and commodious house of eight rooms. He also has a good orchard. Mr. Fichtel has been proprietor of this farm since 1912, but for the previous ten years had managed it and he bought it from his father-in-law, Christian Hauff.
Like many of the most progressive farmer citizens found in Erie County, Mr. Fichtel is a native of Germany, was born in Wurtemberg October 28, 1876. His people were hard working, thrifty and honest Germans and his parents were Christian and Catherine (Frank) Fichtel, both natives of Sparweisen, Wurtemberg. His father was a farmer, and the parents spent all their lives in their native country. The father died when nearly sixty-four years of age, and his wife passed away when about fifty. though her father had lived to be eighty and her mother died at the age of ninety-six. Both branches of the family were com- municants of the German Lutheran Church. William F. Fichtel was the third in a family of four children. His sister Barbara, who was the first to come to this country, having come over in 1888, is the wife of Gottlieb Werner of Huron, and they have two sons. The son Gottlieb, the older brother of William F., lives in Germany and has a family of sons and daughters. The youngest child is Carl, also a resi- dent of Germany, and he has a daughter.
In his native province William F. Fichtel grew to early manhood, acquired an education after the German customs, and had attained to man's estate several years before he made the venture which brought him to the New World. Ilis sister Barbara in 1900 had gone back to visit her German parents, and in 1901 when she returned to America her brother William accompanied her. After arriving in Huron he soon found employment as a farmer in Vermilion Township, and within a vear he married Miss Bertha Hanff.
Mrs. Fichtel was born in Vermilion Township April 21, 1878, and was reared and educated here. She is a daughter of Christian Hauff, and a sketch of the worthy Hauff family will be found on other pages of this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Fichtel are the parents of six children : Ernest (., born February 7, 1904, now in the seventh grade of the public schools; Catherine M. was born September 25, 1905, and is in the fifth grade: Earl A. was born July 7, 1907, and is in the third
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grade ; Frederick William, born July 5, 1908, has only recently started to school. The two younger children are Henry Ackerman, born Sep- tember 6, 1911, and Lydia F., born March 12, 1915. Mr. Fichtel and wife and the older children are members of the German Reformed Church, and in politics he is a democrat.
ANDREW A. SCHOEWE. Many of the leading and influential agri- culturists of Erie County have passed their entire lives in the vicinities in which they are now making their homes, and it is but natural that these men should have an advantage over newcomers to the county, for their knowledge of soil and climatice conditions has been lifelong and they are thus able to direct their labors more intelligently. Prominent in this class is Andrew A. Schoewe, of Margaretta Township, a pros- perous farmer and dairyman and influential citizen of his community, where he was born January 1, 1872, a son of Angust F. and Johanna Schoewe. The parents were both natives of Germany, and Mrs. Schoewe died a number of years ago.
Angust F. Sehoewe came to the United States in 1859 and with his wife came to Erie County, Ohio, settling permanently in Margaretta Township, where he carried on milling operations in the brick mill in Margaretta, which has since been burned down. He also worked in the old mill at Venice, and later turned his attention to farming and ear- ried on general operations in this line for many years. He was a man of industry and intelligence, his work being directed along well-defined lines, and his success was such that he was able to pass the declining years of his life in comfortable retirement. Mr. Schoewe was the father of five children who survive, namely : Mary, who is the wife of Edward Linder, of Sandusky; Amelia, who is a resident of Margaretta Town- ship; Adeline, who is the wife of Albert Schoewe, of this township; Anna, who is the wife of George Arndt, of Sandusky; and Andrew 1. The father has been a lifelong Methodist, in the faith of which church he carefully reared his children. In political matters he has always been a republican, and while he has not been a seeker for personal pre- ferment on his own account, he has been active as a worker in the ranks of his party and in eneouraging progressive and public-spirited move- ments. He is still the owner of a handsome property in Margaretta Township, although he has turned its operation over to younger hands.
Andrew A. Schoewe received his early education in the public schools of Margaretta Township, and this has since been supplemented by train- ing, experience and observation, so that today he is a well-informed man as to all the really important subjects of the times. More than twenty years ago he first engaged in the dairy business, an enterprise which he has built up from modest beginnings to large proportions, and in addition to this of recent years has been extending his opera- tions into the field of cattle growing and dealing, in which he has also won well-merited suceess. He is considered an excellent judge of cattle and horses, and as a business man his name is an honored one in com- mercial and financial circles.
On December 1, 1896, Mr. Schoewe was married to Miss Marguerite Coskanet, who was born in New York State, a member of a family which originated in France. Mr. and Mrs. Schoewe are the parents of three children : Victor R., Clyde L. and Victoria M. Mr. Schoewe is a mem- ber of the lodge of the Knights of Pythias, at Sandusky, and is politi- cally a republican. He is publie-spirited and a friend of education. and during his long residence here has unquestionably won the con- fidence of his neighbors, acquaintances and many friends in Margaretta Township.
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NICHOLAS REIFERT. The value of such a life as was lived by the late Nicholas Reifert cannot be overestimated, since its influence may be observed in a community long after the individual has passed away. If a stretch of highway has been made possible, a tract of land cleared of the dense forest with which it was eneumbered, a new business or industry started in his locality through his energetie efforts-a man has not lived in vain.
A large circle of old friends and acquaintances felt a deep sense of personal loss in the death of Nicholas Reifert which occurred December 29, 1914. He died at the Reifert homestead on the Risden Road in Vermilion Township, on the farm where his own productive . efforts had been accompanied by many seasons of growth and fruitage, and where he himself was born on March 22, 1851. He was a good farmer, a good neighbor, and left an honored name to his descendants.
Both his grandfather, Nicholas Reifert, and his father, John Reifert, were born in Germany. John Reifert married in Germany Ann E. Ilart. Their first ehild Margaret was born in Germany. In 1850 John Reifert and wife and daughter, accompanied by his parents, Nicholas and wife, came to the United States and from New York proceeded west as far as Vermilion Township in Erie County, where they settled on a farm which Nicholas Reifert developed from the wild conditions. Nicholas Reifert was past sixty years of age when he died, and his widow lived to be ninety-two. They were people of great vitality and both physical and mental strength. John Reifert, who was the only son of his parents, had a sister, Anna C., who became the wife of Nicholas Will, of the well known Will family of Vermilion Township. John Reifert finally rame to own the old homestead, and lived there until his death in 1893 when past sixty-five years of age. He was accidentally killed while walking home on the tracks of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad. Ilis first wife died at the age of forty-five. Hle married for his second wife Eva E. Krapp, who was born in Germany, and who died in 1903 when seventy-eight years of age. Both were members of the German Reformed Church.
The late Nicholas Reifert was married in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County to Miss Mary Catherine Leimbach. She was born in that township February 12, 1862, and attended the local schools there through the eighth grade. Mrs. Reifert has been a devoted mother and wife, and she deserves mueh credit for having made and maintained the fine homestead in Vermilion Township where she now resides. Her parents were Henry and Anna C. (Kort ) Leimbach, both of whom were born in Kurhessen, Germany. Her father came to the United States at the age of sixteen and her mother at fourteen. They had known each other back in Germany and as their respective families located in Brownhelm Township of Lorain County, they renewed their acquaintance and subsequently married. Later they moved to Woods County, Ohio, where Mr. Leimbach seenred land direct from the gov- ernment near New Rochester. Ile improved this land and finally sold out to considerable advantage and returned to Brownhelm Township. Ile is still living on the old homestead there, in comfort and plenty, and on December 15, 1914, was eighty-three years of age. Ilis wife passed away December 23. 1910, at the age of seventy-two.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Reifert were born five children : Henry, who is a farmer in Vermilion Township along the lake shore, married Cora Thompson of Cleveland, and their children are Ethel. Frederick and Franklin. John, the second son, died at the age of seven years as a result of being kicked by a horse. Anna is the wife of August A. Zilch of Cleveland, and they now make their home in the ('ity of Toledo and have two children, Dorothy M. and Lueile V. L. Franklin is now his mother's capable manager of the home farm, and
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works its fields on the shares. The youngest child Margaret has been well educated, as were her brothers and sisters, and is still at home. The late Mr. Reifert was confirmed when a child in the Reformed Church and Mrs. Reifert and the children are members of the same faith.
WILLARD BURROWS. For more than half a century a resident of Erie County, Willard Burrows has spent his active career as a progres- sive farmer in Florence Township. Ile has enjoyed the best elements of success, having acquired a good home, having given his family the comforts of living and education, and having steered an honorable and straightforward course throughout his own career.
His birth occurred in New York State April 23, 1850. His father, Andrew Burrows, was born in the same state April 29, 1809, and when he grew up took up the trade of cabinet making and combined it with farming. He was married in New York to Mary Etta Brunson, who was born April 4, 1813. While they lived in New York three children were born to them. The son Doane was born in 1845, the daughter died in infancy, and the other was Willard. For a short time during the infaney of Willard Burrows the family lived in Pennsylvania. In 1865 they came to Erie County, and bought land in Florence Township. On the old farm there Andrew Burrows passed away in 1891, having survived his wife by a number of years. Andrew Burrows was three times married, the mother of Willard was his second wife and the only one who bore him children. Doane Burrows, who is now deceased, mar- ried Kate, daughter of Rev. Nathan Shelmadine, who is also deceased. They left three sons, all of whom live in Pennsylvania, named Arthur, David and Earl and all three are connected with the oil industry.
Willard Burrows was about fifteen years of age when he came to Florence Township. He grew to manhood here, and finished his edu- cation in the local schools. His career has been that of a successful farmer, and his present homestead comprises seventy-four acres. His house, built under his own direction, is an eight-room residence, and it is surrounded by a number of substantial farm buildings. He has made his farm both the scene of productive enterprise and an attractive and comfortable place to live. While he is classified as a general farmer he raises a great deal of high grade fruit.
In the Hills Corners community on Hill Street in Florence Town- ship Mr. Burrows married Miss R. Isabel Hill. She was born on the old Hill homestead, and seventeen acres of that old farm is now in- cluded in the Burrows farm of seventy-four aeres. She was born July 8, 1852, and has spent all her life on this farm. Mrs. Burrows belongs to one of the oldest and best known families of Erie County. Her grandparents were David E. and Phoebe ( Brundage) Hill, both natives of New York State, where they married, and where their son. John Wesley Hill, father of Mrs. Burrows, was born November 16, 1822. The latter was still a small boy when the family came to Erie County. They made the journey overland, with wagons and ox teams, progressing tediously over rough roads and crossing swollen streams. The family located in the forest district around the Village of Florence, and after making some improvements there moved to what is now known as the Hills Corners community on the Hill Road. There David Hill ac- quired three or four hundred acres of land, improved it, and by his energy and enterprise gave his name to a community and also to one of the important thoroughfares of Erie County. He and his wife spent the rest of their years on the old farm, and were highly esteemed mem- bers of the community. David Hill was largely self educated, but all his life was a great reader, and it is said that he could repeat entire chapters of the Bible from memory. He and his wife were very active members and supporters of the Methodist Church. David Hill was
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