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 27
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He began life with the equipment of a common school education, a good mind and a willingness to work, and altogether his career has been one of advancement and rise from a lower to higher positions. His home people in Swanton have repeatedly shown the degree of confidence they place in his judgment and ability.
ROBERT H. VAUGHAN. There is a good deal of common history in the Vaughan and Nobbs families, of which Robert H. Vaughan of Fulton is a representative. He was born November 9, 1862, and is in the third generation of the Vaughans in this part of the world. He is a son of Edward and Jane (Nobbs) Vaughan, and a grandson of Alexander Vaughan, who came from Ireland. The grandparents on the other side, John and Jane (Mason) Nobbs, were from England. The family ancestry on both sides was among the early settlers of Fulton county. Mrs. Jane Vaughan died in 1870, while Edward Vaughan lived more than forty years afterward.
There were four children in the family of Edward and Jane Vaughan : Robert H .; Clara, wife of Howard Wilson, of Delta; Ellis, of Fulton : and Edna, widow of Ralph Herrick, of Delta. On March 12, 1883, R. H. Vaughan married Jennie Canfield, of Delta. She is a daughter of Charles and Catharine (Scouten) Canfield, the mother a New York woman. For eight years Mr. Vaughan lived on different rented farms, then bought one in Fulton, which he improved and where he lived ten years. When he sold it he bought the farm that is his home today. There were seventy-six acres, and since then he has added ten acres to it. He has cleared, tiled and fenced the land, and has an excellent farmstead in Fulton. Upon the death of his father, Mr. Vaughan bought part of the old homestead and lived there three years, finally returning to the old home, and with a son both farms are worked together.
The children are Charles Edward. of Fulton ; Lawrence Orvel, of Fulton ; Dorothy May, wife of Jesse Penny, of Metamora; Bryce, of Pike; Arby Alton, Georgiana, Ray Israel, Hazel Thelma and Elvin Cecil.
This brief record of the career of one of the best known citizens
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of Fulton Township shows that when opportunities have been pre- sented Mr. Vaughan has accepted them and labored with a right good will to justify his place in the world, and though for several years he was a farm renter he has latterly been an independent farmer and farm owner, and has rendered a good account of his stewardship, whether as a farmer, homemaker or good citizen.
IRVIN LOUIS RICHARDS. There is New England blood in the fam- ily relationship of Irvin Louis Richards of Fulton Township. While he was born at Ai, January 6, 1870, and his father before him was born there, the grandparents were from New England. He is a son of Henry Oliver and Sarah Jane (Doren) Richards, the mother a na- tive of Starke county. The grandfather, Ammi Richards, was born in Massachusetts, and the grandmother, Percia (Pease) Richards, was a native of Connecticut.
It was in 1835 that the original Richards family located in the domains of what later became Fulton county, and from that early date "Rock Lawn Farm" has been owned by the Richards family, and is now the home of I. L. Richards. There were 200 acres in the orig- inal entry, and it was heavily timbered country. He cleared part and sold part, and the family endured all the hardships of the pioneers. Ammi O. Richards was the first treasurer of Fulton Township, and he served the community in this capacity many years.
Thomas and Mary (Gill) Doran, the maternal ancestry of I. L. Richards, lived at Whitehouse, Lucas county. While he was a native of Ireland and she was a Pennsylvania woman. They were married in Pennsylvania and located in Ohio. When H. O. Richards married he settled at Ai, on a small farm he bought, and a brother, Benjamin F. Richards, who was a bachelor, lived with the mother. The father died June 29, 1907, the brother in April, 1917, and the mother June 14, 1918, and since I. L. Richards was the last of the family he in- herited the property.
On October 24, 1900, Irvin Louis Richards married Alice Maude Pickles, of Fairfield, Michigan. She is a daughter of Edward and . Ida (Tunison) Pickles. He was a New York man while she was born at Richfield, Lucas county, Ohio. While a young man Mr. Richards worked with his father and uncle as a farmer, but after the death of the parents he became owner of "Rock Lawn Farm," and lives there. There is one child, Lucille. Vivian died at three years of age.
Mr. Richards had a common school education at Ai, and from 1895 to 1913 he filled the office of clerk in Fulton township. He votes the republican ticket. He is a member of the Grange at Ai.
The substantial elements in Fulton county are nowhere better represented than by the members of the Richards family thus briefly mentioned. Eighty-five years is a long time for any family to have been identified with Fulton county, since this covers the history of the region from the days of the first openings in the wilderness. It is an encouraging record that Mr. Richards still regards it his duty and pleasure to be with the old farm where both his father and grand- father put in so many productive years.
ELLIS HERBERT VAUGHAN, of Ai, along with his parents and grandparents have been residents of Fulton county. He was born at Ai, January 2, 1868, and his father and mother were born there. He is a son of Edward and Jane (Nobbs) Vaughan. The grand-
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father. Alexander Vauglian, was a native of New York. His wife was Rebecca Jones. The maternal grandparents, John and Jane (Mason) Nobbs, canic from England. The family ancestry were all early residents of Fulton Township, Fulton county.
Edward and Jane Vaughan both died at Ai, she in 1872, while he died in 1911, they having lived more than three score and ten years in one community. The children are: Harvey, of Fulton; Clara, wife of Howard Wilson, of Delta; Ellis Herbert, who commem- orates the family; and Edna, widow of Ralph Herrick, of Delta.
Ellis II. Vaughan married Basheba Shufelt in December, 1889, a daughter of Warren and Vira (Hamo) Shufelt, and she is a na- tive of the community. Their children are: Grace, wife of Earl Hable, of Toledo; Vivian, of Toledo; Herman dicd at the age of seventeen; Frances, at home; Kenneth, who enlisted in the U. S. Cavalry; Gladys, Wilma and Anna.
Mr. Vaughan remained with his father on the home farm until 1903, when he bought an eighty and improved it. He has tiled and fenced the land and it is now all under cultivation. Mr. Vaughan is a republican in politics, and has served as a member of the local school board for six years. The family belongs to the Grange and to the Ancient Order of Gleaners.
A resident of Fulton county over fifty years, Mr. Vaughan has proved his character as a hard working and industrious farmer, and capable and public spirited citizen. He learned farming under the old school, and his most productive experiences have been in the present century, in an era of rising prices and of rising costs, and he believes that hard labor and good management are as essential to success today as at any time.
GRANT SHERMAN LAVER. When he was a young man of twenty Grant Sherman Laver of Pike began working out by the month, and he continued such activities for thirteen years, when he invested his savings in a farm of fifty acres with ordinary improvements on it. In that time. he went to Leadville, Colorado, where he worked for several months in a smelter. Mr. Laver is a son of John S. and Pauline (Alwood) Laver, and he has always called Pike Township his home.
After investing his savings in land Mr. Laver has added some buildings and remodeled others. He has done a great deal of tiling, and at present he and his wife together own ninety acres, with all but ten acres under cultivation. He does general farming and has a fine Holstein dairy. Everywhere dairy farming means increased land fertility.
On November 22, 1896, Mr. Laver married Charlotte Herrick. She is a daughter of Elijah and Abigail ( Allen) Herrick. and is a native of Fulton Township. They raised a boy, William Quigley. He has been with them since he was nine years old, and he was a soldier in the war of the nations. Mr. Laver votes the republican ticket. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons Lodge No. 228 of Delta.
Mr. Laver was born in Pike Township January 12, 1865, and the brief record of his life as given above indicates that while he has had some experience away from his native community he has made best use of his opportunities in the old home county, and the esteem in which he is held is largely due to his success as a farmer, his undeviating devotion to good citizenship, and the wholesome in- fluence he has always exercised in his neighborhood.
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WILLIAM MOHR. When the Mohr family of which William Mohr of Fulton Township is a representative first came from Germany to America they located near Milan, Michigan. However, they were later residents of Amboy, and William Mohr was born there June 5, 1874, a son of Daniel and Ollie (Ottgen) Mohr. They were from Germany. The grandparents, Jacob and Elizabeth Mohr, and Simon and Louise Ottgen, all came from Germany. They all came to the same community in the United States. When Daniel Mohr mar- ried he located in Amboy, where he died in 1915, and the widow still lives at the family homestead there.
The children born to Daniel and Ollie Mohr are: John, who died in childhood; William; Catherine, wife of Eli Krciger, of Amboy; Andrew, of Amboy; Louise, who died at the age of ten; Fannie, wife of Robert Cook, of Amboy ; Matilda, wife of Earl Dings, of Sylvania, Ohio; Hattie, wife of Eugene Lchmon, of Fulton; and there is a half sister, Mary, wife of Clarence Keller, of Stark county. She is a daughter of Mr. Mohr by a previous marriage. Mrs. Mohr later married William Cook.
On December 21, 1904, William Mohr married Ida May Myers. She is a daughter of William and Mary Jane (Everett) Myers, of Amboy. When Mr. Mohr married her she was the widow of Wil- liam Kreiger. They live on a farm that was hers when they were married. The house has been remodeled, a barn has been built and he has tiled and inclosed the farm with wire fence. The house is surrounded by ornamental shrubbery and shade trees and stands on a beautiful building site-a most attractive homestead. It is their pride to have it in good condition.
Just one child was born to Mr. and Mrs. Mohr-a son named Howard Emerson, who died in infancy. For three years before his marriage Mr. Mohr clerked in a general store owned by Samuel Everett. He votes the democratic ticket. He is a member of Zion Reformed Church, while Mrs. Mohr belongs to the Evangelical Church in the community.
CLARENCE EMANUEL WENTZ. There is Swiss ancestry in the history of Clarence Emanuel Wentz of Fulton Township. He was born September 8, 1868, in Seneca county, Ohio. His mother was born in Switzerland and his father in Pennsylvania. He is a son of Emanuel and Louisa (Graff) Wentz. The mother's mother died when she was but nine years old, and she was adopted into the family of Adam Andre, of German Township.
Emanuel Wentz settled in Seneca county, but in 1875 he re- moved with his family to Henry county. In 1885 they moved again, this time to Fulton county. He died in 1910, and Mrs. Wentz now lives in Delta. Their children are: Emma, wife of Al Curtice, of Toledo; Flora Ella, deceased; Clarence Emanuel; Frank Alvin, of Swanton, who married Nora Myers; and Wenonah, who married Edward Dow, and they live with her mother in Delta.
On December 10, 1893, C. E. Wentz married Gertrude Smith. She is a daughter of Henry and Priscilla (Morrison) Smith of Michigan. For one year they lived in Ai, and Mr. Wentz worked by the day for others. He then rented a farm, and two years later he bought a five-acre tract without improvements, going into debt for the property. Mr. Wentz borrowed $100 when he was ready to build the house. He went into the woods, bought trees and cut them into logs, hauled them to the mill alone, and after they were
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sawed into lumber he hired a carpenter for fourteen days to help build the house. With that exception he did all the work himself. He hewed out the frame and sills alone.
Mr. Wentz has added to the land until he now has fifty-six acres of well improved tilled land under cultivation. He still has four acres in timber for shade and pasture. He is in the farm and live- stock business, and he specializes in White Leghorn poultry.
The Wentz children are: Lawrence, of Shepherd, Michigan, married Jessie Cornell, and they have two children: Robert and Lavier; Sylvia is the wife of Albert Curry, of Marlinton, West Vir- ginia, and they have one son, Albert, Jr .; those at home are: Cora, Flossie, Archie, Pollena, Maggie, Arabelle, Philip and Dale Frank- lin. The Wentz family belongs to the Ancient Order of Gleaners at Ai.
EUGENE D. WATKINS is a native of Fulton Township, where he was born September 30, 1861, a son of Christopher M. and Catharine (Drumm) Watkins. The father came from Wayne county, Ohio, while the mother was born near Hamburg, Germany. She was seven years old when she came with her father, Adam Drumm, to America. They first lived in Pennsylvania before coming to Fulton county. John Watkins, the other grandfather, was also a resident of Fulton county.
Christopher M. Watkins and Catharine Drumm were married in Swan Creek, but later they located in Fulton. He died in 1906 and she died three years later. Their children are: Eugene D., Addie, deceased. who was the wife of Isaiah T. Fashbaugh; and Lela, who died at two years of age.
Christopher M. Watkins conducted a hotel business in Delta from 1868 until 1892, when he traded one-half interest in the prop- erty for a farm of sixty acres in Fulton Township. When the par- ents died there Eugene Watkins came into possession of the farm and has since lived there. In 1884 he married Ella M. Shufelt, daughter of A. Shufelt. There is one son, Charles C. Watkins. Mr. Watkins is married a second time, to Lizzie M. Freed.
AMOS BOWER. The Bower family of which Amos Bower of Fulton is a representative, has had a migratory history. He is a son of John C. and Dora Barbara (Heminger) Bower, and was born February 24, 1864, at Burgoon, Sandusky county. The parents were born in Germany. When they were young they came to Tiffin, Ohio, where they were married, and they settled at Fostoria. For five years John C. Bower worked for the Foster family-the father of Governor Foster.
When J. C. Bower left the employ of the Foster family he moved to a farm in Sandusky county, where he remained four years, and then he moved to Seneca county. After seven years on the Seneca county farm he returned to Sandusky county. He bought a farm in Sandusky, but eight years later he sold it and moved to Wood county. In Wood county he bought another place of seventy-eight acres, and he lived on it eighteen years. When he sold it he bought a smaller place. where he died in 1911, his wife having died June 20, 1876. The children are: John C., Jr., of Rising Sun, Ohio: Sophia, deceased, was the wife of George Roush ; Frederick G., of Eden, Ok- lahoma; Lucy, wife of O. D. Wirt. of Wood county; William, of Ottawa, Kansas; Amos; and Mary Ellen, of Rising Sun, Ohio.
For three years Amos Bower worked on farms by the month, and
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he worked one year at the cooper's trade. On December 7, 1893, he married Flora Girton, of Perry Township, Wood county. She is a daughter of David K. and Rebekah (Fast) Girton, the father from Pennsylvania and the mother from Ashland county. For a while he resided on and farmed land owned by his father in Wood county, but he soon rented an adjoining farm and moved onto it. For a while he lived in Perry Township, Wood county, then eighteen months later he returned to his father's place. Three years later he removed to Paulding county, where he bought a small farm of sixty acres. He lived there seven years, and in 1907 he bought the seventy-eight acre farm where he now lives in Fulton Township. There are sixty acres cleared and Mr. Bower has added many im- provements to it. He is engaged in general farming and the livestock business. He operates a farm dairy.
There are three children: Carl, Alta and Twila Loretta. While living in Paulding county Mr. Bower served four years as member of the school board. He is a republican in politics. The family are members of the Ancient Order of Gleaners of Ai. They belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and at one time and another he has served as treasurer, trustee and steward. Not many families live in as many different localities as have Amos Bower and his father, John C. Bower.
ADAM HABEL, of the Maples in Fulton Township, was born in Amboy January 1, 1857, and all of his life has been spent in Ful- ton county. His parents, Jacob and Mary Elizabeth ( Mohr) Habel, were born in Germany. They came to Fulton county in an early day and settled in Amboy, where the father died in February, 1867. The mother became the wife of Jacob Leiber, who died in 1907. and she died in November, 1916.
The Habel children are: William, who died at six, and Mary, who died at thirteen, and were older than Adam. Another sister, Amelia, died at the age of eight years. The Leiber children are: Peter, of Fulton Township; Carrie deceased; Amedia, wife of George Rechner, and John, who died at the age of six.
In February, 1886, Adam Habel married Minnie Fisher, a daughter of Jacob Fisher, of Massillon, Starke county. From the time he was twenty-one years old Mr. Habel worked by the month on a farm and at the carpenter trade, but after his marriage he bought a place in Amboy, and lived there until 1913, when he bought an eighty acre tract in Fulton, with about one-fourth of it yet in wood land. Aside from farming he owns and operates a threshing machine in the community.
The children are Clarence, of Amboy; Philip, of Seattle, Wash- ington; Isabelle, wife of Frank Kreeger, of Amboy; Pearl, wife of William Smith, of Fulton; Lillie, wife of Walter Gifford, of Akron, Ohio; Rosetta, of Akron, and Otto, Ruth, Anna and Carl.
Mr. Habel is a member of the German Reformed Church, and has been one of its trustees many years. He has been a member of the school board for thirty years, and for two years he was its presi- dent.
A farm hand, master of a mechanical trade, giving good service to others and keenly pursuing his own advantages, Adam Habel has a record that places him among the valued citizens of Fulton Town- ship. He regards his life as still in the prime, and there are none to begrudge him the prosperity represented in the ownership of the
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Maples Farm, and the satisfaction derived from his part as a work- ing citizen in behalf of church and schools and other community projects.
ROBERT D. MILLER. There is a great satisfaction in knowing that one's life efforts have resulted in something, and that the future is assured because of wise foresight and thrifty investments. Ex- perience is teaching this country that no other form of investment of time and money makes any more satisfactory returns than that made in farming. Every penny invested in land and its improve- ments and each hour of toil are productive not only of a living but of property interests that grow more valuable each year. One of the substantial men of Fulton county who has proven all this to his own satisfaction and to that of his neighbors is Robert D. Miller, of Pike Township.
Robert D. Miller was born in Richland county, Ohio, December 25, 1867, a son of Anthony Wayne and Electa J. (Wilson) Miller, natives of Ashland and Richland counties, Ohio, respectively. The parental grandparents were Jacob and Fannic (White) Miller, he being a native of Pennsylvania, and the maternal grandparents were Robert and Humility (Lockhart) Wilson, both being of Scotch- Irish descent. These grandparents all moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio at a very early day.
After their marriage Anthony W. Miller and his wife located in Richland county, Ohio, where they spent two years. They then moved to Ashland county, Ohio, leaving that section in 1881 for Pike Township. Fulton county, where Anthony W. Miller bought eighty acres of land, then in an unimproved state, and he went to work to develop it, remaining on it until 1904, when he bought a fine property in Dover township, where he is now living, being eighty years old. His wife also survives and is seventy-five years old. Their children are two who are living, the second child, Min- nie, being deceased. Robert D., is the eldest of the family, and William is also a farmer of Pike Township.
Robert D. Miller was reared in Pike Township and attended its district schools. On May 31, 1903, he was united in marriage with Ella Guilford, born in Dover Township, a daughter of Lucian and Hattie (Graves) Guilford, natives of the State of New York and Lieking county, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Miller worked as a carpenter and lived in Wauseon, Ohio, for a year, and then moved on his father's old farm in Pike Township, of which he had owned forty acres for several years. He also owns forty acres of land in another part of Pike Township, which touch each other on the cor- ners, and all but six acres of the eighty acres are under cultivation. Mr. Miller has made a number of improvements on his land, and is proud of the fact that he still retains the six acres of woodland, which is heavily timbered, realizing its worth not only to him, but to the community at large in these days when so much of the natural growth has been removed. Here he is profitably engaged in general farming, stock raising and dairying.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller became the parents of two children, namely : Wayne G., who was born in September, 1905, and Dorr R., who was born in February, 1918. In 1916 Mr. Miller was appointed a trus- tee of Pike Township, and has held that office ever since. He is a strong republican, and since 1914 has been a member of the Fulton County Fair Board, his present term expiring in 1922. In his fra- ternal affiliations he belongs to the Gleaners, and has passed almost all of the ehairs in that order. A man of dependable character, Mr.
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Miller stands well in his community, and his constituents are glad to have him represent them in the several capacities to which they elected him, knowing that their interests will be safeguarded as long as he has them in charge. Mr. Miller now resides in Wauseon.
JOHN J. LEITNER. It is a somewhat remarkable fact that the majority of the men, especially those of the older generation, who are engaged in farming have spent their lives in this line of work. In other walks of life men are prone to change their occupations sev- eral times before they find out the calling best fitted for them, but once he becomes interested in farming a man is not liable to go into anything else, for if he is sensible he realizes that there is no other business in which he can be so independent and from which he can not only gain a living but at the same time increase the value of his holdings. One of the men who became occupied along this im- portant line in Fulton county is John J. Leitner, of York Township.
John J. Leitner was born at Liberty Center, Henry county, Ohio, on September 21, 1862, a son of Jacob and Marie (McCracken) Leitner, natives of Pennsylvania. The parental grandparents, John and Sarah (Edwards) Leitner, were born in Pennsylvania, but came to Seneca county, Ohio, about 1841 or 1842, and there he died. Da- vid McCracken, the maternal grandfather, was a native of the north of Ireland, and he became one of the very early settlers of Seneca county, Ohio.
After their marriage Jacob Leitner and his wife located at Lib- erty Center, Henry county, Ohio, where he worked at his trade of coopcring, but later he bought a tract of land and lived on it for ten years, when he returned to Liberty Center. In the fall of 1882 he came to Fulton county, Ohio, and bought land in Swan Creek Town- ship. His wife died in December, 1867, and he was married then to her half sister, Mary McCracken, who lived at Liberty Center. His second wife died in May, 1887, and he married for his third wife Mrs. Matilda Clark. Jacob Leitner died on February 3, 1909. By his first marriage he had the following children : David, who lives at Liberty Center; Julius, who lives at Beavertown, Michigan; Abitha, who is Mrs. Evans, of Toledo, Ohio; and John, who was the young- est. The children of his second marriage were: Jane, who is Mrs. John Gordon, of Minnesota: Charles, who is a resident of Detroit, Michigan ; May, who was Mrs. Emory Nutt, of Detroit, Michigan, died in 1916; Harriet, who became Mrs. Edward Schlagel, of Wash- ington. District of Columbia, is deceased; Grace, who was Mrs. Sher- man Whitmore, of Delta, Ohio, and Howard, who died in October, 1916. There were no children by the third marriage. The third Mrs. Leitner survived her husband until September 21, 1911.
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