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 54

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 54


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county, and several years in other local schools. Then for fourteen years he was a teacher in the Archbold High School, winning a splendid reputation as an able and conscientious teacher.


In 1907 Mr. Schantz resigned his position with the schools and organized the Peoples State Bank, of which he became the cashier, in which position he still serves. The bank was organized with a capital stock of $25,000, and has steadily grown in public favor until now its deposits are, in round numbers, about $500,000. It is one of the solid and influential financial institutions of the county and has been an important factor in the commercial development and prosperity of this section of the county. In addition to his bank stock Mr. Schantz also owns extensive tracts of farm land, as well as real estate in Toledo and Lima, Ohio.


In 1892 Mr. Schantz was married to Fanny Eicher, the daughter of Joseph and Catherine Eicher, of Ridgeville Corners, Henry county. To their union have been born eight children, four sons and four daughters, namely : Otto R., Lloyd C., Raymond Lee, Milton M., Mary C., Orpha, Lottie and Osee.


Politically Mr. Schantz supports the democratic party, though he does not take a very active part in political affairs. However, he is deeply interested in public affairs as affecting his community, and rendered three years of effective service as assessor and one term as a member of the School Board. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability enter very largely into his makeup and have been contributing elements to the material success which has come to him, and because of these attributes he has won the con- fidence and respect of all who know him.


ELMER E. RUPP. It cannot be other than interesting to note in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work the vary- ing conditions that have compassed those whose careers are outlined, and the effort has been made in each case to throw well 'focused light onto the individual and to bring into proper perspective the scheme of each respective career. The banks of Fulton county have ever maintained a high standing, and among the able young workers in this field of endeavor is Elmer E. 'Rupp, cashier of the Farmers & Merchants State Bank of Archbold. With a natural predilection for this vocation and endowed with a ready faculty for business affairs, he has been successful in his present position and enjoys the fullest measure of confidence on the part of his business asso- ciates and the patrons of the bank.


Elmer E. Rupp was born in 1885 on his father's farm about one mile north of Archbold, Fulton county, Ohio, and is the son of Rev. Daniel and Magdalena (Gerber) Rupp, the former being a well known pastor of the Mennonite Church. The subject re- ceived his elementary education in the common schools of his home neighborhood, which he attended until fifteen years of age. He is descended from sterling old pioneer stock, his great-grandfather Rupp having been one of four brothers who settled in Fulton county in an early day, devoting their lives to agricultural pursuits. Mr. Rupp completed his studies in the high school at Archbold, where he was graduated in 1903. He then engaged in teaching school, being employed for three years in District No. 5 of German Township, and one year in his home school. Mr. Rupp then went


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to Wauseon, and during the following year and a half was employed as bookkeeper in the First National Bank. Then he went to Arch- bold and became assistant cashier of the Farmers & Merchants Bank, predecessor of the present Farmers & Merchants State Bank, and of that institution he became cashier in 1912. One year later he resigned and became connected with the Salem Orphanage at Flana- gan, Ilinois, first being in the office, but later was placed in charge of the electric plant and machinery. This is a well-known and suc- cessful Mennonite institution, and Mr. Rupp gave it good service for one year, at the end of which time he went to Chicago and at- tended the Moody Bible Institute, where he took courses in Bible Study and music. He graduated there in December, 1914, receiv- ing special honor in his music class. He returned to Archbold and again became cashier of the bank from which he had resigned about three years before, and he has remained with this bank ever since. He is closely devoted to his work, and not a little of the splendid success which has come to this bank is due to his business ability and high personal character.


In November, 1915, Mr. Rupp was married to Esther J. Slagle, the daughter of Rev. E. M. and Magdalena (Sommers) Slagle, her father being a Mennonite minister at Pioneer, Ohio. To the sub- ject and wife have been born two children, Pauline May and Ruth Anna. Religiously Mr. Rupp is a member of the Defenseless branch of the Mennonite Church, in the activities of which he is promi- nent. He is a trustee of Bluffton College and Mennonite Seminary at Bluffton, Ohio, and is a director of the Salem Orphanage at Flana- gan, Illinois. He is a good citizen in every respect, being of that type of man who cheerfully gives his support to all movements for the betterment of the people and the welfare of the community gen- erally. Personally he is genial and companionable, and has a host of warm personal friends throughout this section of the country.


OLIVER RICHARD GEORGE. Since 1873 the George family repre- sented by Oliver Richard George of York Township has been in Fulton county. He was ten years old when his parents came from Seneca county. He was born February 26, 1863, in Seneca county. He is a son of Oliver R. and Salinda (Trexler) George, the parents having been born in Pennsylvania. When the family came to Ful- ton county they bought land in York Township, where the father died in 1880, and the mother died fifteen years later. The oldest daughter, Cora, deceased, was the wife of Joseph Dickerson. Oliver R. George, who enrolls the family, has a younger sister, Ida, the wife of Charles Snyder, of Napoleon.


After the death of O. R. George, Sr., the son Oliver R. con- tinued his residence with the mother at the family homestead. He remained there two years after her death, when he bought eighty acres and moved to it. He has added many new buildings, and is engaged in diversified farming and raising livestock. He is engaged in milk production and always has a good herd of dairy cows.


In 1887 Mr. George married Jessie Aumend, a daughter of Sam- uel and Martha Aumend, of York Township. Their children are: Russell, who married Lena Atherton and has three sons, Clarence, Richard and Marvin; Clair, who is a state dairy inspector; Enid at home; Leon, of Fulton, who married Georgia Foster and has two children, Marion and Margerita; Emerson, of the United States


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HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY


Army, who had his military training at Camp Taylor. Clair was also a soldier, having his training at Camp Sherman, and he spent twenty months in the service. Russell and Leon are both up-to-date farmers. They have good farming properties and doing well. Rus- sell is working an eighty acre farm in York Township and Leon, forty acres in Fulton Township. Enid was a school teacher and was also a bookkeeper at Delta. The family vote is republican. Mr. George has served as trustee in the Grange for many years. He has passed all of the chairs in the Knights of Pythias Lodge in Delta.


ELMER H. STRUBLE, a well-known resident of York Township, Fulton county, and a Civil war veteran of honorable record, comes of a family which was among the early settlers in Trumbull county, Ohio, and among the pioneer settlers of York Township, Fulton county. Elmer H. Struble has lived in the township since 1844, for seventy-six years excepting those of the Civil war, when he gave worthy national service in the Army of the Cumberland, taking part in Sherman's famous march to the sea through Georgia. His manli- ness, demonstrated during his war service, has been continued with stalwart purpose during later life, which he has spent in York Town- ship, mostly in pioneering occupations, and the resultant material independence has been strengthened by the good will borne toward him by his neighbors in the township, who esteem him for his moral qualities as well as for his consistent and persistent industry. He has been a factor in the township for very many years.


Elmer H. Struble was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, on July 1, 1843, the son of William and Elizabeth (Dixon) Struble. Wil- liam Struble was born in Mifflin county, Ohio, and his wife, Eliza- beth Dixon, in Washington county, Ohio. Both are of record in the early annals of Trumbull county, Ohio, where they settled after marriage. But subsequently they removed to what is now York Township, Fulton county, having purchased a tract of timber land in section 10 of that township from an attorney named Raw-


son. The tract was eighty acres in extent, and William Struble settled his family thereon, the family at the outset living in a primi- tive dwelling which, through the industry and parental purpose of William Struble, eventually gave way to a homestead, commodious and comfortable, just as the timber land eventually was won from the wild state to a satisfactory condition of tillage. William Struble prospered and gradually added to his acreage, ultimately becoming the owner of a rich farming property, 160 acres in extent. He and his wife lived in the township until his children were full-grown and independently established, and then he and his wife moved into the City of Wauseon, Ohio, and there passed their declining years. His wife died in December, 1886, and he three years later, in De- cember, 1889. William and Elizabeth (Dixon) Struble were the parents of ten children: George W., Angeline, Ann, Elmer H., Clara who is now the widow of William Skeels, and lives in Wau- seon, Ohio, Walter D., James C., Charles W., and two who died in infancy.


Elmer H. Struble was less than a year old when his parents moved from Trumbull county to York Township of Fulton county, and most of his youth was spent under conditions such as the aver- age pioneer experienced. As a boy he attended the district school,


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and in all probability spent a good portion of his boyhood years in minor occupations upon his father's farm. He grew into sturdy manhood, and was of good heart, loyal and patriotic. That was evi- dent during the troublous times of his young manhood. Indeed, he was not yet eighteen years old when the Civil war came into being, and he could not be held long from enlisting in the mili- tary forces of the Union. On May 27, 1862, he enlisted in Com- pany G, Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and after the ex- piration of the local emergency, September 23, 1862, he was dis- charged. He returned to his home, and for a few months worked as hired hand on farins of that district. However, on February 8, 1863, he again enlisted, joining Company B, of the Thirty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which became part of the Army of the Cumberland, and as such took part in the famous campaigning of General Sherman throughout the southern states during the years 1863-64-65. The campaigning of General Sherman in Mississippi and Tennessee during 1863 was but preliminary to his famous and devastating "March to the Sea," through Georgia in 1864, in which the Thirty-eighth Ohio Regiment had honorable part. Elmer H. Struble with his regiment took part in most of the preliminary fight- ing that led to the siege of Atlanta and in the major battle of Jones- boro on August 31, 1864, upon the outcome of which battle de- pended the fate of Atlanta, and, ending as it did in a victory for the Union forces under General Sherman, it brought about the evacua- tion of Atlanta on the following day, September 1, 1864. Young Struble with his regiment subsequently took part in the Grand Re- view at Washington, District of Columbia, and was ultimately, on. July 12, 1865, given an honorable discharge, soon after receiving which he returned to his home in York Township, Fulton county. There he followed agriculture industriously during the next decade, toward the end of which, in 1874, he married, and soon afterward settled upon an undeveloped tract in section 5 of York Township, which tract he had sometime previously acquired. The acreage was wholly in timber, and his early married life was therefore somewhat similar to what had been the experience of his father. He had to build for himself and to gradually clear the acreage. This he did to good purpose, subsequently acquiring an additional acreage and thus increasing his holding to seventy acres, fifty acres of which he brought into good cultivation. He farmed wisely, and was gen- erally successful in dairying and cattle raising, and thus for many decades has been among the reliable and responsible agriculturists of that section of Fulton county.


Throughout his long residence in York Township, which might almost be considered his native place, seeing that he has lived in it since his first year, he has taken close interest in the public affairs of the township. Politcally he has given allegiance to the republican party, but has not concerned himself actively in national politics, excepting those that had bearing upon local conditions, but he has given support to most of the consequential public happenings in his community. Religiously he is a Methodist, and for very many years lias been a member of the local church of that denomination. And he has given personal service to the church also, having been trustee and steward. Generally, he has lived a long and worthy life of useful activity. In 1917, however, being then seventy-four years old, he rented the greater portion of his farm, and has since taken life less strenuously.


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He was married on December 17, 1874, to Alice, daughter of Charles and Thankful (Stone) Shreves, the former a native of New York state and the latter of Connecticut. Their daughter, however, was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, where they lived at that time. The Shreves family later moved into Huron county, Ohio, and in the district schools of that county Alice (Shreves) Struble was edu- cated. Mr. and Mrs. Struble are the parents of two children, daughters: Stella, who married Clyde Demaline, of York Town- ship, and Nora, who lives with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Struble are within a few years of their Golden Wedding Anniversary, and have very many friends throughout Fulton county.


WILLIAM SEGRIST, who has been a responsible resident of York Township, Fulton county, Ohio, for more than forty years, and is one of the successful farmers of that section of the county, comes of a family well-known in York Township. His brother, John Barn- hart Segrist, lived for ninety-five years, more than sixty of which were spent in York Township, and some of his and his brother's children are now among the substantial farmers of the township.


William E. Segrist was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in May, 1829, the son of John and Agnes (Lautenschlager) Segrist, and he was but an infant when his parents brought the family to America, an adventurous voyage, for conditons of sea travel in those days were perilous for passengers, the importance of hygiene and sanita- tion not being at that time properly understood, with the conse- quence that in the congested quarters available on the passenger vessels of those days mortality among the voyagers was high. It affected the prospects of the Segrist family very materially, for within ten days of landing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John Segrist, the father, died of yellow fever, presumably contracted dur- ing the voyage. The children were left almost unprovided for, but the widow, Agnes (Lautenschlager) Segrist, appears to have been a woman of strong, self-reliant purpose, and for the next twenty years of her widowhood she owned a farm in Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, which presumably she managed. With the aid of her hus- band's brother, who was a butcher in Philadelphia and assumed the care of one of her sons after the death of their father, she man- aged to rear into sturdy manhood and womanhood her children. After living in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, for about twenty years, the widow moved to Coshocton county, Ohio, where she died in about 1871. William Segrist had taken resolutely to farming and re- mained near his mother until her death, after which he moved to York Township, Fulton county, where his brother had a good farm. William Segrist had owned a farm in Coshocton county since 1860, when he married, but that farm he sold in 1882, and in the same year purchased one of 120 acres in York Township, which today is a good property, practically all cleared land. William Segrist, like his brother John B., was a very active man and a good farmer. He held steadily at farming occupations until 1904, he being then seventy-five years old. In that year he rented his farm in York Township, and has lived in comparative retirement since, although he still resides on the farm. In national and local politics William Segrist has been a democrat for the greater part of liis voting years, and had held local office. For two years he served as supervisor of roads in his district. Religiously he is a Lutheran.


In 1857 he married Nancy Baad, daughter of Adam and Bar-


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bara Baad, early settlers in Coshocton county, Ohio. She was born in Germany, but was brought to America, by her parents when young, and lived in Coshocton county, Ohio, until about middle age, when with her husband and children she took up residence in York Township, where she lived for thirty-four years, death coming to her in June, 1916. William and Nancy (Baad) Segrist were the parents of four children, John, Louis, Amanda and Sophia. Their two sons are enterprising farmers in York Township, and Sophia, their daughter, devotes herself to caring for her father in his old age.


ALBERT J. KLINE. One of the best known and most successful veterinarians of northwestern Ohio is Albert J. Kline of Wauseon, Fulton county. He has won success in life in a definite manner because he has persevered in pursuit of a worthy purpose, and is gaining thereby a most satisfactory reward. He is thoroughly quali- fied by training and experience for the important vocation which he follows, and has been successful to such a degree that he is favor- ably known over a wide radius of surrounding country.


Albert J. Kline was born in Henry county, Ohio, on December 30, 1872, and is the son of Abraham and Alice Jane (Gibbs) Kline. The Kline family is of German origin, the subject's great-great- grandfather, Joseph Kline, having come from the fatherland to America many decades ago, settling in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, where he followed agricultural pursuits. His son, the subject's great- grandfather, also spent his life in the Keystone state, and followed the same vocation. He was the father of twenty-four children, hav- ing been married twice. His son, Joseph Kline, lived at Home- stead, Pennsylvania, until 1849, when he came to Ohio, locating in Freedom Township, Henry county, making the trip in a wagon with his wife and children, among the latter being the subject's father, who at that time was but two years of age. The year follow- ing his arrival in Henry county his wife died, and was the first per- son buried in Kline Cemetery, Freedom Township, Henry county. He was the father of four children, two sons and two daughters. Abraham Kline was only twelve years of age when the Civil war came on, and he tried several times to enlist, but was refused on account of his youth. He spent his entire life in Henry county, where he owned a fine farm of 130 acres, his death occurring on January 8, 1917. His wife had passed away in April, 1894. Of their five children the subject of this sketch is the eldest.


Albert J. Kline received his educational training in the country schools of Henry county, the summer months being spent in work on his father's farm. He was fired with an ambition to devote his attention to professional work, and spent 11/2 years as a student in the Wauseon Normal Academy. In 1892 he entered the Ontario Veterinary College, where he was graduated in 1894, with the de- gree of Doctor of Veterinary Surgery. Soon afterward he located in Hicksville, Ohio, and engaged in the practice of his profession until July 26, 1896, when he came to Wauseon, where he has been established in practice ever since. Later Doctor Kline took a post- graduate course in the veterinary department of the University of Pennsylvania, and also took an advanced course in veterinary medi- cine. On February 7, 1893, he had received a diploma at the To- ronto Veterinary Dental School, and in 1894 was made an honorary


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member of the Ontario Veterinary Medical Society. He was ad- mitted to practice by the Ohio State Board of Veterinary Examiners in July, 1897, and was admitted to practice in the State of Michi- gan in 1900. In 1899 he joined the American Veterinary Medical Association, and in 1908 joined the Ohio State Veterinary Associa- tion. He has practiced extensively in both Ohio and Michigan and, as before stated, has gained a wide acquaintance and an extensive practice throughout the surrounding country.


Doctor Kline is, aside from his professional interests, also en- gaged in the breeding and raising of live stock, his favorite breed being Holstein cattle, in which he has met with pronounced success. He is an active member of the Holstein-Friesan Association. He is also, and has been for twelve years, a director of the Fulton County Agricultural Association, and has been an important factor in the success of these annual exhibitions.


On June 8, 1898, Doctor Kline was married to Lizzie E. Swingle, the daughter of Franklin Swingle, of Hicksville, Ohio. Politically he is an ardent republican, while fraternally he is a member of Wauseon Lodge No. 349, Free and Accepted Masons, at Wauseon, and in the Scottish Rite branch of Freemasonry he has attained to the thirty-second degree. He is also a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, being affiliated with Zenobia Temple at Toledo, and is a member of the Lodge of Knights of Pythias at Wauseon. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. While devoted to his profession and engaged in the prosecution of his chosen work, the doctor has not been neg- lectful of his duties to the community and is numbered among the public-spirited and progressive citizens of Wauseon, giving his sup- port to every movement for the advancement of the community along material, civic or moral lines.


C. A. COLE. It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and trust in the lines of work with which his interests are allied. But biography finds justification, nevertheless, in tracing the record of such a life, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is, then, with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of Doctor Cole, one of the men of high standing and influence in Fulton county, who pro- fessionally long ranked with the leading dentists of this locality and who in other lines has also gained a reputation as an enterprising and progressive citizen.


C. A. Cole was born in Crystal Valley Township, Oceana county, Michigan, on September 5, 1868, and bears the unique distinction of having been the first white child born in that township, of which section his parents were among the early settlers. His parents were Griffin and Ida (Hager) Cole, the former of whom was of English descent, though the family has been established in America for many generations. Griffin Cole was born and reared in Pennsyl- vania, the family home being close to the New York state line, where he followed agricultural pursuits. Sometime after his mar- riage he and his wife went to Michigan and established a home in


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the woods of Oceana county, but a few miles from Lake Michigan. When the subject of this sketch was about two years old the family came to Fulton county, Ohio, locating in Dover Township, where he was reared to manhood. He was early inured to the labors of the farm, to which he gave his attention during the summer sea- sons and attended the district schools during the winter months. After completing his common school education he attended the Wau- seon Normal School for ten weeks, and also spent one winter as a student in the Fayette Normal School. During all this time his vacation periods were invariably spent on the home farm, but when twenty-one years of age he went to work for his uncle, W. D. Hager, being employed to drive trotting horses at the county fairs in Ohio. After two years with his uncle he decided to take up the dental pro- fession, and to this end he matriculated in the Ohio College of Den- tistry, where he was graduated in 1892, with the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. Immediately thereafter he went to Angola, In- diana, and there engaged in the practice of his profession, remain- ing there ten years. In 1901 Doctor Cole eame to Wauseon and opened a dental office, but a few years afterward was compelled to relinquish the active practice on account of continued ill health. He then turned his attention to agriculture and stockraising, buying two farms, comprising 272 acres all together, on which he engaged in general farming. He gave considerable attention to the breeding and raising of registered eattle and blooded Duroc hogs, in which he met with gratifying sueeess. He is now retired from active farm- ing, having rented his farms.




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