USA > Ohio > Fulton County > A standard history of Fulton County, Ohio, an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. II > Part 24
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In 1874 Mr. Clingaman was married to Louisa Minnick, the daughter of Peter and Catherine (Downs) Minnick, of Franklin Township, this county. To this union have been born two children, namely: Peter, born in 1876, and now living in Wauseon, is mar- ried and the father of five children; Jessie Lodema is the wife of C. B. Fauver, who gives his active personal attention to the subject's farm, and they are the parents of one child.
Politically Mr. Clingaman gives his earnest support to the demno-
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cratic ticket and takes a commendable interest in everything affect- ing the general welfare of the community in which he lives. Fraternally he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and his religious membership is with the Christian Church, to which he gives liberal support. His has been a life of honor and integrity, he being a consistent man in all he has ever undertaken, and his career in all the relations of life has been utterly without pretense. He is held in the highest esteem by all who know him, and the community in which he lives can boast of no better man or more enterprising citizen.
TIMOTHY FRANKLIN ESTEP. The most elaborate history is per- force a merciless abridgment, the historian being obliged to select his facts and materials from manifold details and to marshal them in logical and concise order. This applies to specific as well as gen- eric history, and in the former category is included the interesting and important department of biography. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of interesting situations and inci- dents, and yet in summing up such a career as that of Mr. Estep the writer must needs touch only on the more salient facts, giving the keynote of his character and eliminating all that is superfluous to the continuity of the narrative. The gentleman whose name appears above has led an active and useful life, not entirely void of the exciting, but the more prominent events have been so identified with the useful and practical that it is to them almost entirely that the writer refers in the following paragraphs.
Timothy F. Estep, whose fine poultry and fruit farm near Wau- seon enjoys a widespread reputation, was born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, in 1862, during the first period of the great Civil war, which had one of its most spectacular settings in that historic valley. He is the son of William and Hannah (Biller) Estep, who were descend- ants of good old German and Dutch stock respectively, and who were highly respected and successful farming folk in the Old Dominion. The subject was reared under the parental roof and secured his edu- cation in the winter terms of school in his home neighborhood, his summers being devoted to work on the home farm. When he was fifteen years old the family moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, where they located on a farm, to which the subject gave his efforts, and he also received another winter's schooling. He remained there until 1908, when he was married, and immediately thereafter he moved to Fulton county, Ohio, where he bought eighty acres of land, to the cultivation of which he devoted himself for two years. His next home was at Oak Shade, Ohio, where he bought a farm of 102 acres, but at the end of three years he sold that place and bought sixty acres in 1914, near Wauseon, where he lived until after the death of his first wife, when he sold off everything and moved into Wauseon, where he and his children established their home. In 1915 he bought fifty-two acres of land near Wauseon, on which he lived during the summer, when he again sold out. His next purchase was eighty acres of land near Delta, which he did not occupy, however, renting it out. Soon afterwards he bought his present home of eight acres near Wauseon, which he devoted to poultry and fruit raising and in which lines he has met with very gratifying success. The place is well improved in every respect and here Mr. Estep has one of the best flocks of poultry in this locality. He makes a specialty of white leghorn fowls, of which he owns about five hundred, many of them being of the best strains obtainable, and from which he has
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derived a very comfortable income. Mr. Estep is also the owner of other landed interests in this county and is numbered among the successful and enterprising citizens of the community. He also en- gages quite extensively in the buying and shipping of poultry, which he has built up to a considerable business.
Mr. Estep has been married twice, first, in 1908, to Sylvia Steward, the daughter of Matthew and Alice (Mitchell) Steward, of Henry county, Ohio. She was a well educated and cultured woman, who had successfully taught school at Alva, Oklahoma, prior to her mar- riage to Mr. Estep. To this union were born two children, Paul Steward, born in 1909, and Matthew Carl, born in 1913. The mother of these children died in 1914, and in 1916 Mr. Estep was married to Minnie Whitmer, of Fulton county.
Politically Mr. Estep is a stanch supporter of the republican party, and has taken an active part in local public affairs, having served on the township committec in 1904. In religion he sub- scribes to the creed of the Baptist Church, of which he is a member and liberal supporter. Such in brief is the record of Mr. Estep, than whom a more whole-souled or popular man it would be difficult to find in his community, where he has labored not only for his indi- vidual advancement, but also for the improvement of the entire com- munity whose interests he has ever had at heart.
FRANK R. WHITESELL. Years of operation as an agriculturist have made Frank W. Whitesell one of the expert farmers of Clinton Town- ship, and the properties he has owned and conducted in Fulton county were all improved by his appliance to their operation the modern methods he is still using. He is a practical farmer and under- ' stands his work thoroughly, and so successful has he been that his advice is sought and taken by many of his neighbors.
Frank R. Whitesell was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1862, a son of Samuel and Mary (Willgus) Whitesell, of English stock. The founder of the family in the American colonies was the paternal great-great-grandfather of Frank R. Whitesell, who came to this country from England. In 1865 Samuel Whitesell brought his family to Williams county, Ohio, and after a year to Fulton county, where he secured a farm in Clinton Township, now the prop- erty of his son, Frank R. Whitesell.
Being but a little child when brought to Fulton county, Frank R. Whitesell has practically spent his life here, and his educational training was secured in its rural schools. Under his father's careful supervision he was taught the fundamentals of farming, and when he was twenty-one years old his father permitted him to assume management of the homestead, and he continued to do so until 1884, when he bought sixty acres of land in York Township, and remained on it, making all necessary improvements and developing it into a fine farm, which he sold at a fair profit in 1917, and he then bought the old homestead of fifty acres in Clinton Township, which is his present farm and place of residence, and here he is engaged in raising a general diversified line of crops.
In 1884 Mr. Whitesell was united in marriage with Elizabeth Eck, a daughter of Leon Eck of Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. Whitesell have one child, Mabel, who is now Mrs. F. K. Gilson, of Wauseon. In his fraternal connection Mr. Whitesell maintains membership with the Knights of Pythias. Having earned all that he now owns, Mr. Whitesell has every reason to be satisfied with the results of his years of hard work, and all the more so inasmuch as he has also been
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able to win and hold the respect of his associates. Having spent so many years in Fulton county, he is naturally interested in its progress and may be depended upon to render an efficient and generous sup- port to those measures tending to advance it.
WESLEY A. BLAKE. The farming interests of Fulton county are of such importance as to form a very considerable portion of the wealth of that part of the state. These properties, with their modern buildings, fine stock, well-kept fences and improved machinery, are considerably different from the farms in the early days of the county, and yet this magnificent state has been brought about through the energy, industry and efficiency of the men who have taken pride in putting their land under cultivation and placing upon it all the work of which they were capable. Wesley A. Blake of Clinton Town- ship owns eighty acres of splendid farming land, and is satisfied with the results of the years he has put in on it.
Wesley A. Blake was born in Chatham, Medina county, Ohio, on December 28, 1840, and comes of New England stock, his family having lived at Litchfield, Connecticut, for generations. He is a son of Orrin and Caroline Blake. After attending the public schools and a select school at Chatham Mr. Blake at the age of seventeen years came to Fulton county and for a time was occupied learning the harness trade, at which he worked in Wauseon for six years, and then in 1863 bought 100 acres of land in Clinton Township and since then has devoted himself to farming.
In 1863 Mr. Blake was married to Anna Newcomer, the first white child born in the Village of Wauseon, and they became the parents of the following children: George W., who resides in Anderson, Indiana; Charles A., who is at home; Mary C., who is the wife of Rev. D. H. Helms of Lima, Ohio; and Bertha, who is the wife of J. C. Hodges, and lives at Anderson, Indiana.
Mr. Blake is independent in his political views. He is the only living charter member of Wauseon Lodge No. 349, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was worshipful master for six years, and he was also high priest of Wauseon Chapter No. 111, Royal Arch Masons, for ten years. In every respect Mr. Blake has lived up to the highest conceptions of good citizenship and upright man- hood. He had the misfortune to lose his wife by death on April 28, 1913. She was a lady of beautiful character and many Christian virtues, and she is deeply mourned not only by her family but the entire neighborhood, in which she shared with her husband the re- spect and esteem of all their acquaintances. Mr. Blake has never been a man to ask favors of anyone, preferring to carve out his own fortune, and he has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable prop- erty.
FRANK T. BIDDLE. Fulton county farm land repays well those who spend their days cultivating it, for it is fertile, well watered and conveniently located with reference to transportation facilities. Therefore some of the most level-headed men of this region are agri- culturists, and one of them who has demonstrated the profit there is in this line of industry is Frank T. Biddle, owner of seventy acres of valuable land in Clinton Township.
Frank T. Biddle was born in York Township, this county, on March 3, 1872, a son of Calvin and Margaret (Todd) Biddle. The Biddle family originated in Scotland, but was transferred to Amer- ican soil some generations ago, and many bearing the name have
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devoted themselves to agricultural pursuits, including Calvin Biddle.
Until he was seventeen years old Frank T. Biddle attended the local rural schools, but at that age left school and devoted all of his attention to farm work, to which he had only given it during the summer months hitlerto, and became a practical inan in his cliosen calling.
In 1893 Mr. Biddle was united in marriage with Mary Tedrow, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Hoffmeyer) Tedrow, of Clinton Township. The Tedrow family is one of the old and honored ones of this region, the Town of Tedrow being named for the founder of it in Fulton county, Isaac Tedrow, who, coniing to the county at an early day, bought 320 acres of land and spent the rest of his life upon it. He was a sound, reliable man and became, so important a factor in his neighborhood that when the Town of Tedrow was founded his name was given to it. Mr. and Mrs. Biddle have two children, Elizabeth and Florence, both of whom are at homc.
Until 1900 Mr. Biddle continued to farm for his father, but then bought forty acres of land from his father and conducted it for five years, at which time he bought his present property, and on it he is carrying on gencral farming, in which line he is very successful, for he understands his business, knows the requirements of his soil and the demands of his market.
In his politics he is a democrat, and was elected on his party ticket a member of the school board of his district, in which capacity he is rendering a service to his community, for he is a firm believer in providing good schools and competent teachers for the children, the future men and women of the county. According to his views if they are not properly educated much of the work of development of the county will go for naught, so that good schools are the best kind of investment, in addition to being the obligation of this genera- tion to the next. His prosperity has not come to him through the gift of anyone, but because of his intelligently applied industry and carefully considered thrift. In all of his work and saving he has been ably assisted by his wife, and both of them are held in the highest regard by their neighbors, who know and appreciate their many excellent traits of character.
CHARLES ROSS BATES. The fundamental industry of farming is becoming recognized as being so important as to loom up large among other callings of the world. Not only are all of the leading colleges and universities including agricultural departments in their courses of study, but there are also a number of educational institutions devoted exclusively to agriculture. The governments, both national and state, are urging the young men to remain on the farm, and those not satisfied with city life to return to the farm, as well as offering every encouragement to the men already engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. With the great scarcity of food all over the world, and the seeming necessity for this country to bear a large part of the burden of providing for the unfortunates in the war-devastated regions of the old world, the responsibilities resting unon the farmer have given to him added dignity and importance. One of the men of Fulton county who has worked all this out for himself and trained himself for an agricultural career is Charles Ross Bates, owner of a well-improved farm in Clinton township.
Charles Ross Bates was born in Fulton county on January 16, 1888, a son of F. A. and Esther (Marks) Bates, farming people. The Bates family is of English origin, but has long been established on
WILLIAM GAMBLE
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American soil. Growing up in his native county, Mr. Bates attended its schools, following which he had the advantage of a two-years' course at a normal school and then became a student of the Ohio State University, where he took the agricultural course. Returning home, he operated the old homestead until the spring of 1919, when he bought forty-one acres of land in Clinton Township and is now devoting it to general farming and himself to the improvement of this property.
In 1916 Mr. Bates was united in marriage with Tressa Metcliff, a daughter of William and Carrie (Russ) Metcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Bates have no children. A Mason, Mr. Bates belongs to Lyons Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. A republican, he has always given an intelligent support to the principles and candidates of his party and sees no reason for changing his politics, for he believes that under republican administrations this country has made its best progress and been the most prosperous.
Mr. Bates belongs to the class of specially trained farmers, and his work is carried on according to proven scientific methods worked out from actual facts. He does not go ahead "hit or miss," but studies his soil, the climate and region before putting in a crop. If his land lacks certain elements he can find out what they are and supply them in the proper amount. If his trees blight, it is not difficult for him to determine the cause, and he is equally fitted to learn how to avoid such conditions. Naturally, being progressive and intelligent, he favors the good roads movement, for he knows that those com- munities on the great national highways are the ones which will forge ahead, and then, too, he wants to have easy access to the larger cities so that he can keep in close touch with current events. The influence of such men as Mr. Bates on his neighborhood cannot help but be inspiring, and Clinton Township is fortunate in securing him as one of its property holders.
WILLIAM GAMBLE. The period in which the late William Gam- ble of Gorham lived in the world was from September 1, 1845, when he was born in Richland county, to May 1, 1912, when he died in Fulton county. He was a son of Edward and Sarah (Dickinson) Gamble. They came from England in 1840 and located in Richland county. Their children were: Edward, John and Richard, all de- ceased, and William, who was the youngest of the family. They are all gone the way of the world. William was the only child born after they came to the United States.
It was about the time of the organization of Fulton county in 1850 that the Gamble family removed from Richland to the new county in Western Ohio. They came overland direct to Gorham Township, where they entered, cleared and improved a farm-and both died where they located so long ago.
The Gamble family story is related by Mrs. Frances A. Pontius Gamble, widow of William Gamble. She was born October 31, 1847, near Waterloo, New York. She is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Deal) Pontius. The father was a native of New York and the mother of Pennsylvania. It was in April, 1870, that Frances A. Pontius became the wife of William Gamble. As early as 1852 her family had come to Gorham-just two years after the coming of the Gamble family. The word pioneer is properly applied to both families.
When William Gamble and his wife were married they lived for a
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time on the Gamble farm in Gorham, then bought a fifty-acre tract partly cleared, and they improved it. They cleared and added more land until there is now a farmstead of 150 acres, all under cultivation but ten acres in timber and pasture land. Mr. Ganible was a hard working man, and very prosperous farmer-a good man in the com- munity. The children were: Curtis and Edward, deceased; Nelson, of Lenawee county, Michigan; William, of Gorham; Burt Van Buren, of Fayette; Artemus LeRoy; of Wauseon ; and Oplic, wife of Herbert Tillotson, of Fayette.
When their children were in school Mr. and Mrs. Gamble rented the farm and lived in Fayette, where he conducted a grocery business for fourteen years. They had been educated in common schools themselves and wanted to give their children the best educational advantages. The family belong to the Disciples Church in Fayette.
In the same family circle is Richard Lagar Gamble, of Gorham, his ancestry also coming from England. He is a son of Richard and Mary Ellen (Stahl) Gamble, and was born August 23, 1885, at Primrose, Williams county. His mother was a New York woman. The paternal grandparents, Edward and Saralı (Dickinson) Gamble, were from England, while the maternal grandparents, Michael and Eliza (Lutz) Stahl, were from New York, but since 1852 they had lived in Fulton county.
When Richard Gamble, Sr., was married he was a merchant in Fayette for two years, when he removed to Alberton, Ohio. Later he was a merchant in Primrose, Williams county. He died there in 1901, and the widow died in 1917. Their children are: Bertha, wife of H. O. Esterline, of Hudson, Michigan ; Elsie, wife of Harvey Nicolen, of Wyoming; Norman, of Fort Morgan, Colorado; and Richard Lagar, of Gorham.
In September, 1906, Richard Lagar Gamble married Rosamond Gleason. She lived in Fulton, although a daughter of Alson and Alice (Kosier) Gleason, of Williams county. For five years they rented a farm in Gorham. The wife died October 11, 1911, and Mr. Gamble removed to Bryan, Williams county. In 1912 he re- turned to Gorham, remaining one year on a rented farm, when he bought a store in Zone. He operated the store for a time and bought a threshing machine and ran it for three years. When he sold the threshing machine he farmed and bought and sold livestock for a year, and in March, 1918, he bought the farm on which he first lived and farms it today. He has one daughter, Alice Genevieve.
AUGUST RUIHLEY, whose services as an advisory editor of this History of Fulton County it is the pleasure of the publishers to give special credit for, has for thirty years been one of the men of active influence in the affairs of German Township and the Town of Arch- bold.
Mr. Ruihley was born in German Township east of Archbold August 3, 1869, son of Clemens and Mary (Schultz) Ruihlcy. His people were prominent in the early Swiss colony in this section of Fulton county. His father came from Canton Schaffhausen, Switzer- land, at the age of twenty-four, and at once located in German Town- ship. A mile and a half east of Archbold he bought fifty acres from his uncle, Conrad Kutzli, and after his marriage worked steadily clearing and improving his farm until his death in 1889. His wife died in 1874.
August Ruihlev was the youngest of three children. He attended the Schantz country school to the age of fifteen, then spent two years
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in the Fayette Normal, and the following four years was busily en- gaged as, teacher in the country school district of German Town- ship. In 1891 he was elected assessor of the township on the demo- cratic ticket, serving one year. About that time he had a breakdown in health which compelled him to remain practically inactive for four years. Since 1895 Mr. Ruihley has done a large business at Archbold in fire insurance, and represents some of the standard companies. He has also been continuously active in public affairs. He was elected township clerk in 1894, and held that office consecu- tively for fifteen years. In 1895 he was chosen justice of the peace, and the duties of that office he still performs. In the fall of 1915 he was elected mayor of Archbold, and was re-elected in 1917 and again in 1919, on a nonpartisan ticket. He is also a member of the Archbold Library Board. Mr. Ruihley in state and national politics has always been a loyal democrat. During the war he was a mem- ber of the local War Board, and gave his influence and leadership during the various campaigns for Liberty loans and other patriotic causes.
In the spring of 1891 he married Anna Frey, daughter of Conrad and Verona (Schlatter) Frey, of German Township. They have three children: Pearl A. is a teacher in the high school at Harvey, Illinois, having charge of the Latin course; Alonzo C. is an attorney located at Toledo, Ohio; Elliott F. is a graduate architectural engi- neer of Michigan University.
THOMAS C. MURRAY. A prosperous stockman and farmer illus- trates by his experience the ups and downs of his line of business, its fascinating promises of fortune, as well as its equally abundant opportunities for failure. He has his full measure of both, but if he possesses the qualities which make for success he comes out at last on top and achieves a lasting place among the leading men of his neighborhood. One of the men of Fulton county who has met with much more than his share of ill fortune, but who because of his sheer pluck and determination to overcome obstacles is now enjoying a well-earned prosperity, is Thomas C. Murray of York Township.
Thomas C. Murray was born in York Township on August 7, 1857, a son of John and Mary (O'Brien) Murray, he born in County Down, Ireland, November 1, 1804, and she in County Wicklow, Ire- land, on August 1, 1813. John Murray came to the United States and for a time was employed as a servant at Albany, New York. There he was married and some time later came to Ohio and settled on a farm on the present site of Berea, Cuyahoga county, but sold his tract of land about six years later and came to Fulton county, buying 160 acres of land in what is now York Township, which was then all covered with timber. His first action after coming to this tract was to clear a space for the little log cabin he erected in the midst of the forest, and in it the family lived for some years while he went on with the work of changing the timberland into a well cultivated farm. His death occurred on this farm on January 16, 1872, when he was sixty-seven years old, his widow surviving him until March 20, 1888, when she passed away. Their children were as follows: John, Ellen and Mary, who are deceased; Elizabeth, who died in childhood; James W., who is deceased; Samuel, who is a resi- dent of Delta, Ohio; Sarah, who is deceased; Robert W., who is a farmer of Swan Creek Township; Hugh, who is a farmer of York Township; Mathew, who is deceased; and Thomas C. and Catherine E., twins. The latter is now the wife of N. C. Wright of Wauseon, Ohio.
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