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 32

Author: Reighard, Frank H., 1867-
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 628


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 32


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July 4, 1861, Mr. Nobbs married Julia Ann Fetterman. She was born in Pennsylvania, daughter of George and Rachel (Bacon) Fetterman, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio. To the marriage of James H. Nobbs and wife were born the following children :


MR. AND MRS. JAMES H. NOBBS


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Hattie Gertrude, wife of Elmer Dolph, of Ai; Etta, wife of Frank Merrill, of Fulton; Jennie, wife of D. A. Snyder, of Delta; Cora, widow of W. H. Critzer, of Delaware, Ohio; Robert O., of Coleman, Michigan ; Ethel, wife of Emerson Snyder, of Delta; George Lloyd, of Fulton; Nellie, wife of John Williams, of Swan Creek; Alta, who died at the age of fourteen ; and Anna Belle, wife of Fred Miley, of Ai.


The late James H. Nobbs came to his majority soon after the republican party placed its first national ticket in the field, and he became identified with the cause and steadily supported republican tickets through many local and national elections. As a progressive farmer he was identified with the local Grange, was affiliated with Swanton Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and during his long life accepted many opportunities to be of service to his community as well as to his own family.


CHARLES W. TREMAIN. From colonial days there has been a continual improvement in American agriculture, while during the past half a century the development has been remarkable. Two main reasons for American pre-eminence in agriculture are to be found in the fine quality of the soil and the high character of the farming class. One of the men who is rightly included among the success- ful farmers of Fulton county and who is aiding in maintaining this prestige for his community and country is Charles W. Tremain, of York Township.


Charles W. Tremain was born in Henry county, Ohio, on March 2, 1880, a son of Abram and Ida (Skeels) Tremain, natives of Ful- ton county, Ohio, where Garner Tremain and Silas and Martha (Van Fleet) Skeels, the grandparents, were very early settlers. Fol- lowing their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Abram Tremain moved to Henry county and conducted their own farm there until 1883, when they sold it and returned to Fulton county, buying another farm in Swan Creek township. There Mrs. Tremain died in 1885. Mr. Tremain then married Rosa Neill, and they now live at Delta, Ohio. The children of Abram Tremain are as follows: Gertie, who is Mrs. Wesley Wieland, of Williams county, Ohio; Terry, who is a farmer of York Township; Ross, who is a farmer of Delta, Ohio; Charles W., whose name heads this review; Carl, who is a resident of Little- field, Texas, and Atlee, who died at the age of twenty-five years.


Charles W. Tremain attended the Raker district school and the Delta High School for one year, and then began farming. After his marriage in 1902 he rented a farm from his Grandfather Skeel for seven years, after which he bought 108 acres of the property, on which he has made many improvements, either replacing or re- building all of the buildings then standing except the house. Here he is carrying on general farming and dairying, his herd being of the Holstein strain. He is a republican. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias of Delta, and the Order of Owls of Liberty, Ohio.


On December 23, 1902, Mr. Tremain was united in marriage with Sadie Slagle, born in Henry county, Ohio, a daughter of Solomon and Mary (Sharp) Slagle. Mr. and Mrs. Tremain have one daugh- ter, Marie, who is at home. His career as a farmer is one of which he may well be proud, for his success is certainly due to his native abilities and his earnest, honest efforts along a line for which he was eminently fitted by inheritance and inclination.


GEORGE C. BROWN. The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but


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rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the concensus of opinion on the part of his neighbors and fellow citizens. The life of George C. Brown, one of the successful farmers of Fulton county, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best. He has spent the major portion of his life here, engaged in the pursuits for which nature and training have best suited him, and is a creditable representative of one of our much respected old families.


George C. Brown, who is the owner of a fine farm of fifty-four acres in Clinton Township, was born at Burlington, in this county in 1869, and is a son of Judge Levi W. and Nancy (Ames) Brown. His father was during his active life one of the most prominent and well-known citizens of Fulton county, having rendered effective serv- ice as judge of the Probate Court, to which office he was elected for three consecutive terms. He also held for four years the position of United States Consul at Glasgow, Scotland, under appointment from President Benjamin Harrison. He later became president of the T. & I. Railroad Company, holding that position at the time of his death, which occurred in 1907 at Greensboro, North Carolina, where he was interested in woolen mills. To him and his wife were born seven children, five sons and two daughters.


George C. Brown was reared under the parental roof and at- tended the public schools of Wauseon, including one year in the high school, after which he was a student at the Normal College at Ada, Ohio. He then accepted a position as superintendent of con- struction for the Sinecod Heating and Ventilating Company of To- ledo, Ohio, during which time he installed many heating systems at various points in the country. After spending two years at this em- ployment Mr. Brown engaged in farming on his father's farm, em- braeing 175 acres, which engaged his attention for a short time, when he bought his present farm, comprising fifty-four acres in Clinton Township, near Wauseon, where he has devoted himself to general farming operations, in connection with which he also gives consider- able attention to the breeding and raising of Duroc hogs, which he has found a profitable souree of income. He has exercised good judgment in all his business affairs and is today numbered among the progressive and enterprising agriculturists of his seetion of the county.


In 1899 Mr. Brown was married to Lilly Gorsuch, the daughter of Thomas and Mary (Kahoe) Gorsuch, of Wauseon. To them has been born a son, Howard Levi, whose birth occurred in 1914. In politics Mr. Brown is independent of party ties, while fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. What he has he has gained entirely by his own exertions, and has demonstrated him- self to be a man of industry, discrimination and integrity.


GEORGE WILLIAM BRINKMAN. Intelligent thinkers recognize the definite relationship of the farmer as a factor of modern civiliza- tion, and the fact that the up-to-date agriculturist is at the point of focus of live forces in whom are concentrated the great currents of modern life. This has always been true, but not until within modern years has it been generally admitted. The modern farmer brings to his work not only a love for it. but also careful training; and he can take advantage of the experiments of others in carrying on his operations. For these and many other equally cogent reasons the farmer of today is a man of importanee ; and thus many of the best


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men of any locality devote themselves to agricultural work. One of the men who has achieved an enviable success along this line of profit and dignity is George William Brinkman, owner of eighty acres of valuable land in Clinton Township.


George William Brinkman was born in York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, in 1874, a son of Frederick Christopher and Mary Ann (Orth) Brinkman. Frederick Christopher Brinkman came to the United States from Germany and became one of the reliable and responsible citizens of Fulton county.


During his boyhood William Brinkman attended school during the winter months, and in the summer time made himself useful on his father's farm, and he remained with his father until he was twenty-five years old. At that time, in 1900, he was united in mar- riage with Clara Nettie MeKibben, a daughter of Thomas and Eliza- beth (Wires) Mckibben. of Clinton Township. Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman have children as follows: Thomas, Frederick, Ray Claire, Mary Elizabeth, Katie Lavinie, Charles Herman, Harry Francis, George William and Emma V. Mrs. Brinkman was born in Fulton county of which her parents were pioneers, coming here from Holmes county, Ohio.


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Having acquired a capable helpmate, Mr. Brinkman decided to engage in farming on his own land, and in 1901 bought his present farm, on which he has always carried on general farming. Here he has worked to make improvements and put his land under a fine state of cultivation, and has succeeded, his place being one of the nice ones in Fulton county. Both Mr. and Mrs. Brinkman are re- ligious people and find expression for their faith in the creed of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Wauseon, of which they are members, and where they worship. They are products of Fulton county, and proud of their birthplace and home. Improvements of this region if properly entered upon and carried out meet with their approval, and they are in favor of the good roads movement, realizing the necessity for them in order to bring the great automobile traffic through their neighborhood, as well as to afford comfortable and safe highways for their own use, thus putting them into close connections with the centers of industry and interest. They are pleasant people to meet, and they, with their children, have many warm, personal friends in their neighborhood.


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CHRISTOPHER K. MILLER. For thirty years Christopher K. Mil- ler, of Gorham, has served his community as a school director. He is president of the Gorham Township School Board and a member of the Fulton County Board of Education. For two years he was its president. Mr. Miller was born January 14, 1858. in Brady Town- ship, Williams county. He is a son of Adam and Melvina (Green) Miller, the father a native of Richland and the mother of Medina county.


The ancestry farther back-Peter and Rebecca Miller, had come from Pennsylvania to Richland county. On the maternal side, Fred- erick and Weltha Ann Green came to Medina county. Later they lived in Milwaukee. When Adam and Melvina Miller were married thev settled in Williams county, where he enlisted as a Civil war soldier. He was in Company C, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under command of Captain Sherwood. He re- ceived a gun-shot wound and was home on a furlough for several months. However, he rejoined his regiment and was discharged at the close of the war. He returned to Williams county. In 1881


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he moved to Frontier, Michigan. He died there in 1916, aged eighty-eight years. His wife died two years earlier in Michigan, the scene of their last days on earth.


The children born to Adam Miller are: Rebecca Jane, wife of George Finch, of Owosso, Michigan ; Ellen, wife of Samuel Wasnich, of Frontier, Michigan; Christopher K .; Weltha Ann, who died in childhood; Etta, wife of Byron Miller, of Pioncer; Martha, deceased wife of William Suter; Emma, who died in childhood; William, of Frontier, Michigan; Della, who died in childhood, and Orpha, wife of Edward Hukill, of Frontier, Michigan.


In August, 1880, C. K. Miller married Alice Ritter. While she was born in Gorham, her parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Bear) Rit- ter, had come from the vicinity of Lake Cuyahoga, New York. They settled in Gorham Township in 1848, and they bought eighty acres from the government, on which they lived until their death, Mr. Ritter passing away December 27, 1891, and Mrs. Ritter on July 13, 1902. They were the parents of five children. The old Ritter farm is now the home of Mr. and Mrs. Miller, on which they have a mod- ern home. Mr. Miller tiled and thoroughly improved his farm, mak- ing it one of the best farms of Gorham. While he does general farming, he raises registered Holstein cattle. He now owns a farm of 190 acres.


The children born to C. K. Miller are: Elta, wife of Martin Kanauer, of Toledo, and she has two children, Gwendolin and Atha. Carl K. died December 7, 1918, leaving a wife, Goldie (Blaker) Mil- ler, and two children, Violet and Carmon.


Mr. Miller is active in local republican politics, and he represents Fulton county in the Ohio State Legislature. He is a stockholder and a director of the Farmers' State Bank of Fayette, a member of the Independent Order Odd Fellows Lodge No. 431, and the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Fayette. Hc is a member of the official board. Mr. Miller has long been an active man in Fulton county's political and business affairs.


ARTHUR SCOTT BLAKE. If true to his profession and earnest in his efforts to enlarge his sphere of usefulness, the man who spends his life in an effort to alleviate human sufferings in any way is a benefactor of his kind, and to such men as Dr. Arthur S. Blake, the well-known dentist of Wauseon, are entrusted the comfort and safety and in some cases the lives of those who place themselves under his care. Dactor Blake is a scion of one of the old and influential fam- ilies of this section of the state, and is regarded as standing in the front rank of professional men, having gained a wide reputation in his chosen calling while yet comparatively young in years, and at the same time establishing a good name because of his exemplary character in all the relations of life.


Arthur S. Blake was born at Tedrow, Ohio, on March 18, 1884. and is the son of Eugene and Sarah (Scott) Blake, who were of sterling English stock. He received his elementary education in the public schools, graduating from the high school, after which he was a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University for one year. Then, hav- ing determined to devote his life to the dental profession, he ma- triculated in the Ohio College of Dental Surgery at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in 1905. with the degree of Doctor of Dental Sur- gery. Immediately thereafter he came to Wauseon and opencd an office in partnership with J. F. Outcalt. the association continuing one year. Then for five years he was alone in the practice, at the


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end of which time he formed a partnership with Dr. Guy B. Tut- hill, a relationship which existed for four years, since which time he has been alone in the practice. Doctor Blake's office is thoroughly equipped with the most up-to-date apparatus possible to obtain, and his success in his profession stamps him as thoroughly qualified in technique and practice. He enjoys a large and representative pa- tronage over a wide radius of surrounding country and personally is well liked by all who have had dealings with him. He is a member of the Ohio State Dental Association, the Maumee Valley Dental Association and the National Dentists' Association.


In 1907 Doctor Blake was married to Winifred H. Dimke, the daughter of John F. and Mary (Probeck ) Dimke, of Wauseon, and they are the parents of two children, Mary Elizabeth and Eugene Scott.


Politically Doctor Blake is an earnest supporter of the republican party, while fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Ma- sons and the Knights of Pythias. In his chosen field of endeavor he has achieved a splendid success, and his standing among the pro- fessional ranks of his community is widely recognized throughout the community honored by his citizenship.


CHARLES E. BENNETT, M. D. The marvelous advances made in medical science in the last decade give great encouragement as to future conquests over disease and disability, and it is to the older men of medicine that a large measure of credit is due. Many of these, with sadly inadequate help from available resources of research, nevertheless blazed the way, and through their experience and their experimentation theories were evolved that later hardened into scien- tific facts that in the course of time led to the adoption of the reme- dial methods that now mark modern medicine and surgery. One of the prominent older physicians of Wauseon, who is widely known over Fulton county, is Dr. Charles E. Bennett, who has been in practice here for forty-four years.


Charles E. Bennett was born at Evansport in Defiance county, Ohio, March 1, 1856. His parents were Dr. J. H. and Tryphena (Denman) Bennett, the remote ancestry being Scotch and English. The Bennett family has belonged to America since before the Revo- lutionary war, in which its members took part and won distinction. In civil life a number of Doctor Bennett's forefathers belonged to the medical profession. He obtained his early schooling at Wauseon, Ohio, and later came under the instruction of tutors in English and Latin. In 1874 he entered the Detroit Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1876. In 1901 he took a post graduate course in the New York Polyclinic. While Doctor Bennett has a large and lucrative practice both in city and country, he has special duties as a member, since 1876, of the surgical staff of the New York Central Railroad, and for twenty years as surgeon for the Detroit & Ironton Railroad.


In 1878 Doctor Bennett was united in marriage to Miss Celia Brigham, who is a daughter of Joel and Betsy (Lyon) Brigham, early settlers in this section of Ohio. The father of Mrs. Bennett was the oldest merchant at Wauseon. Doctor and Mrs. Bennett have had three children, one daughter and two sons, the daughter, Flor- ence H., alone surviving. She is a highly educated and accom- plished lady and is a member of the high school faculty at Wauseon, an instructor in French, geometry and biology. Fred H., the elder son, died in 1895, when a schoolboy of thirteen years. The youngest


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of the family, J. Walter, was twenty-six years old when his death occurred in 1911. Doctor Bennett and family are members of the Con- gregational Church. He has always voted the republican ticket, and while political activity has never been a moving force, but like other men of intelligence and real public spirit, anxious for the general welfare, has accepted certain responsibilities as a part of good citizen- ship. In 1878 he was elected coroner of Fulton county, and con- tinued in that office until 1882. Both personally and professionally Doctor Bennett is held in esteem at Wauseon, an able physician and worthy man.


CHARLES FREDERICK STOTZER, who has been in business in Wau- seon, Ohio, practically continuously for thirty-seven years, for the greater part of that period in independent business of lucrative char- acter, has gained an enviable reputation during his long association with the business people and residents of the city. And he is widely- known in all the surrounding country. He is sole owner of the C. F. Stotzer carriage and harness business in Wauseon, and as a saddler prospered so that of late years he has been financially inter- ested in many other concerns. He is vice president of a Toledo company ; is director of the Northwestern Ohio Telephone Company ; has part interest in a Montana ranch; and is a large stockholder of the Superior Malleable Iron Works Company. He has shown commendable public spirit; has been a city councilman ; has served on the local library board, and also that of the city hospital; and during the war was especially active as a member and secretary of the Wauseon Draft Board. Altogether he has proved himself to be a worthy citizen, a man of initiative, financial reliability and moral integrity.


He was born in Toledo, Ohio, June 23, 1856, the son of Frederick and Elizabeth (Snyder) Stotzer. In the paternal line he is of Swiss ancestry, his father, Frederick Stotzer, having been born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, where he, the father, lived until he was sixteen years old and had learned the trade of harness making. He then came to the United States and settled in Toledo, where he had no difficulty in finding work at his trade. It was in Toledo that he in 1853 married, and in that city his son Charles Frederick was born in 1856. In 1857 Frederick Stotzer removed to Archbold, Fulton county, and there established himself in independent business as a harness maker and dealer in carriages. He did a very satisfactory business in that place for the remainder of his life, which ended in 1912.


Charles Frederick Stotzer was the eldest of the four sons and four daughters born to Frederick and Elizabeth (Snyder) Stotzer. He spent practically the whole of his young days in Archbold, at- tended the public schools of that place, and worked with his father there until he was twenty-one years old. As a matter of fact, he began assiduously to learn the trade of harness making when he was only eleven years old, attending school in winter and working with his father through the long summer vacation. In 1872 he came to Wauseon to learn carriage trimming in the establishment of E. Ross, with whom he remained for three years, paying for his own board. As journeyman carriage trimmer, he was with the Schofield Carriage Company, and also as top-man trimmer for two years. Re- turning to Wauseon in March, 1883, he acquired a one-half inter- est in the business of J. L. Parks, harness and carriage maker, and


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the partners for eleven years traded as Parks and Stotzer. In 1894 Mr. Stotzer purchased his partner's interest, and from that date has been sole owner, the business bringing Mr. Stotzer a very satis- factory competence. He has many other interests, and with his public work his days have been well occupied. He has always been well-regarded in the city, and has always been ready to assist in any worthy city project. A democrat in politics, he has held loyally to the party and taken much interest in national politics, although he has never sought political office. He served one term as city council- man, and gave efficient service as such; and he has been a valuable member of the library and hospital boards. During the war he proved by his indefatigable national service, in connection with the work of the local draft board, that he was whole-heartedly an American.


Fraternally he is a Mason of the thirty-second degree, member of the Wauseon Blue Lodge, the Commandery, and also of a Toledo Mystic Shrine body.


On May 14, 1889, he married Pauline Kinbloe, of Wauseon. Two children were born to them: Clarice, who married C. A. Guil- ford, of Detroit, and is the mother of two children, Pauline and Charles Franklin ; and Jeannette, who became Mrs. MacDonald, of Wauseon, but died early in her married life, in October, 1918. She had many sincere friends in Wauseon, who mourned her early death.


WALTER A. SPENGLER. The desirability of cement for build- ing purposes has been fully proven and a number of new uses for this material are being found with each year. The demand has grown so great that the handling of it in various forms affords oppor- tunity for a number of progessive business men to develop growing concerns, the operation of which give employment to workmen and a liberal profit to the employers. One of these enterprising young men of Elmira is Walter A. Spengler, junior member of the firm operating under the name of the Cement, Tile and Builders Company of Elmira.


Walter A. Spengler was born in German Township, Fulton county, in 1888, a son of Daniel and Minnie (Ruffer) Spengler, and grandson of Herman Spengler, all of whom came from Germany to the United States and located in German Township, Fulton county, where they became interested in agricultural matters.


Growing up in his native township, Walter A. Spengler attended the country schools until he was fifteen years old, and after that until he was twenty-one he assisted his father in conducting the family farm. After he attained his majority his father turned con- siderable of the farm management over to him, and he remained on the farm for four years more, but being an ambitious young man concluded to seek his fortune in a more congested district, so came to Elmira, and in partnership with John A. Rupp established the Cement, Tile and Block Company at Elmira, and has been engaged in conducting it ever since, and his success has been exceed- ingly gratifying.


In 1916 Mr. Spengler was united in marriage with Miss Florence Thrulby, a daughter of John and Clara (Belcey) Thrulby, and they have one daughter, Arline, who was born on May 27, 1918. Preferring to cast his vote independently, Mr. Spengler has not defin- itely connected himself with any party, being more inclined to vote


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for the man rather than for his affiliations. Hard-working and dependable, Mr. Spengler is a young man deeply immersed in prac- tical affairs, but he is never too much occupied to give intelligent at- tention to public matters, and renders his community efficient ser- vice by supporting those measures which in his judgment will work out for the good of the majority.




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