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 56
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The Shaffer children are: Claud, who died at the age of four and one half years; Harry, aged twenty-seven, who met an acci- dental death December 25, 1918; Hollis E., who is the active farmer at "Popple Grove Farm." He spent twelve months as a sergeant in a truck company in France and Germany.
Mr. Shaffer votes the republican ticket and frequently serves on the election board. He has been a member of the Board of Edu- cation for twelve years. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the community.
FRANK OTTGEN. Although born in Amboy, December 2, 1872, Frank Ottgen is a son of German immigrants. His father, Christian Ottgen, was born in Germany. When a young man he came to the United States. His mother was Lana Hable. They now live in Amboy. When Frank Ottgen was twenty-one he worked the home place for two years and then he worked for others.
Mr. Ottgen married in September, 1902, Anna Ottgen, a daughter of John and Fannie (Sween) Ottgen. They were also German immigrants. After his marriage Frank Ottgen bought a farm of fifty-three acres in Amboy and improved it. He has put up barns and remodeled the house and made many improvements. He is a general farmer, combining livestock with agriculture.
Mr. Ottgen has one daughter, Lela, born July 27, 1905. He was educated in the district school and votes with the republican party.
SAMUEL L. RICE. There is a Michigan side to the life story of Samuel L. Rice of Metamora. He was born September 7, 1877, at Ogden, Michigan. He is a son of George W. and Lillie (Gest- wite) Rice. The father was born at Ogden while the mother was born at Metamora. The paternal grandparents, Samuel L. and Margaret (Sebring) Rice, of New York, were very early settlers in Lenawee county, and Samuel and Harriet Gestwite were early resi- dents of Fulton county. The Michigan-Ohio line does not inter- fere with social relations between Lenawee and Fulton county citizens.
When George Rice was married he settled in Ogden Township on a farm, and it is still his place of residence. Samuel L. Rice, of Metamora, is the oldest son. His sister Harriet is the wife of E. J. Bryant, of Sand Creek, Dover Township, Lenawee county. Mr. Bryant is senator from Lenawee county to the Michigan Legis- lature. Another sister, Elise, is the wife of Eugene Wootring of Ogden, and Hazel is the wife of Lloyd Lathrop of Burkey, Ohio.
S. L. Rice was educated in high school at Blissfield, Michigan. He taught school two years in Ogden Township. He worked two years in a grain elevator at Blissfield, and in 1903 he came to Meta- mora. He helped organize and became business manager of the Metamora Elevator Company. The company deals in all kinds of grains, seeds, salt, feed and flour. It has been a profitable business enterprise, receiving excellent patronage from the community.
On Christmas day, 1907, Mr. Rice married Laura Champion, of
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Amboy. She is a daughter of LaClair and Julia (Conklin) Cham- pion, and she had always lived in Amboy Township. Mr. Rice has one daughter, Virgiwin, born September 13, 1913. The family belong to the Methodist Church and he is a steward and superin- tendent of the Sunday School. His early educational advantages fitted him for such work in the community.
Mr. Rice is a republican and has served as village treasurer in Metamora for four years, and since 1915 he has been president of the School Board. In a fraternal way Mr. Rice is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 875, of Meta- mora, and a Mason in Lyons Chapter and Council of Wauseon. He is a member of the Grange at Ogden, Michigan. He is serving his second term as a chairman of the Arbitration Committee of the National Grain Dealers' Association ..
HARTWIN H. TREDWAY, cashier of the Home Savings Bank of Metamora, was a member of the banking firm when it was organ- ized in 1901. He had only reached his majority. He was born November 8, 1880, in Richfield Township, Lucas county. He is a son of Horace and Anna (Collins) Tredway. Horace Tredway was born in Riga Township, Lenawee county, Michigan, and Anna Collins was born in New York. Mr. Tredway supplemented his common school education by attending the Fayette Normal and the Northern Ohio University at Ada. He became cashier in a banking house of which E. S. Davoll was president, and his father, Horace Tredway was vice president. Charles J. Malone is the assis- tant cashier.
On September 3, 1903, Mr. Tredway married Elsie Garnsey, of Metamora. She is a daughter of James H. and Catharine (Mar- shall) Garnsey, the parents having come from New York to Ohio. The children are: Marion, Beryl and Lucile. Mr. Tredway is a steward in the Metamora Methodist Episcopal Church and a teacher in the Sunday School.
Since 1907 Mr. Tredway has been the Amboy Township treas- urer, and he has served as mayor of Metamora. While he was mayor there were street improvements made that have added to the pleasure of living in the community. Mr. Tredway is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 875 of Metamora and of the Free and Accepted Masons No. 434 of Lyons.
Twenty years a banker, Mr. Tredway has kept in close touch with the financial and industrial affairs of his community and has made his personal service and the service of his institution of far- reaching value and good to the interests it serves. The people of Metamora and the surrounding district have a high regard for his qualifications as a business man, and they also appreciate the good work he has done as an officer of the town and township.
FRANK LAWRENCE SIMON, of Metamora, born September 6, 1888, son of Jacob and Catharine (Gillen) Simon. The father and mother came from St. Wendell, Germany, locating in Am- boy in 1880; and he died there September 29, 1909. Their children are: Elizabeth, widow of Jacob Welter, of Lucas county; Kate, who is a trained nurse; Lena, wife of Adelbert Knight, of Blissfield, Michigan; Frank; Mary, wife of John Van Ama, La- Grange, Indiana; Nicholas, of Amboy; Rosa, a Sister of Charity,
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Mercy Hospital, Toledo; Veronica, a public school teacher, La- Grange, Indiana; Lucy, wife of Arthur Zink, Lucas county ; Pau- line, of Burkey; Barbara, public school teacher of Adrian, Michi- gan; and Frank Lawrence.
From the time he was twenty-one years old F. L. Simon rented from others until 1916, when he moved to the Simon homestead and has since then farmed for his mother. On January 8, 1919, he married Catharine Conolly, of Toledo. She is a daughter of John and Catharine (Roach) Conolly. They live at the family homestead in Amboy.
Mr. Simon was educated in public school in Metamora, and the family are communicants in the Catholic Church, St. Mary's of the Assumption at Caraglian. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus No. 386, of Toledo, and he is a trustee in the lodge of the Catholic Knights of Ohio at Caraghan. Mr. Simon votes the republican ticket. He was born in a presidential election year.
NORVAL D. FOUTY, an esteemed and worthy farmer in York Township, Fulton county, Ohio,, from early manhood until his death, which occurred on March 23, 1914, lived a life of useful industrious purpose, and both in private and public affairs he was esteemed for his manly, upright steady life, during which he gained an enviable reputation for material and moral integrity. His family record deserves good place in this history of Fulton county, for his grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers in Clinton Township.
Norval D. Fouty was the son of Stephen F. and Charlotta (Haines) Fouty, and grandson of William Fouty, the pioneer, who came into Fulton county in about 1851. He acquired a tract of virgin timber land, eighty acres in extent, in Clinton Township, and resolutely applied himself to the task of clearing it and con- verting it from wild forest land into a tillable acreage. His son Stephen F., father of Norval D., was born in Mahoning county, Ohio, and after he had married moved from his parents' farm in Clinton Township to one of his own in York Township. The farm was only of twenty acres, situated in section 6 of York Township, but he had a further fourteen acres beyond the border line, in Clin- ton Township, and upon this York Township farm his son Nor- val D. was born. There the family lived until 1872, when Stephen F. Fouty traded it for a forty acre farm in timber in the same town- ship, deeding this to his sons, Norval and Theodore. Stephen F. Fouty takes honorable place among the patriots of the Civil war, and it is singular to note that he served in the same regiment as did the father of Dora O. Raker, who eventually married his son Norval, neither of whom, however, were born until some years after the soldierly comradeship of their respective fathers. Charlotta Haines, wife of Stephen F. Fouty, was born in Medina county, Ohio, and died on December 28, 1868, only a few years after she had mar- ried. To her and to her husband were born two children, sons, Norval D., of whom further is written, and Theodore, who now lives in Wauseon, Ohio. Altogether the actions of Stephen F. Fouty during a long life indicated that he was a man of worthy character and loyal heart. He passed away January 20, 1917.
Norval D. Fouty was born in York Township, Fulton county, on January 18, 1866, and was not three years old at the time of his mother's death. Still he had a fond father, who took good
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care of him, and of his younger brother, Theodore. They both attended the district school during their boyhood years, and as they grew took increasing part in the work of the parental farm. In 1891 he married, and soon afterward bought his brother's right to his portion of the farm, sixteen acres of which at that time had been cleared. He cleared the whole of the land of timber, and eventually brought it all into good cultivation. He built all the - buildings that are now upon the farm, and raised the fertility of the acreage to a satisfactory degree, gaining substantial return in general farming, in dairying and in hog raising. He acquired an additional twenty acres in 1902, and subsequently a further eleven acres in Clinton Township, proving himself to be an efficient, in- dustrious and enterprising agriculturist. He died on March 23, 1914, since which time his widow and their son have managed to keep the property in satisfactory cultivation. Norval D. Fouty was well respected in his own district, especially by those who knew him well. He was a man of strong characteristics and a factor of in- fluence in the township. He showed commendable interest in pub- lic movements that concerned the community, and was honored by his fellow farmers, who elected him master of the Grange at West- boro, Ohio. He also took office under the local administration, being for some time road supervisor. Politically he gave allegiance to the republican party, although he did not enter actively into national political campaigns. Fraternally he belonged to the Knights of Pythias Order, a member of the Wauseon, Ohio, Lodge.
The marriage of Norval D. Fouty and Dora O. Raker was solem- nized on August 19, 1891. She was the daughter of Oliver and Martha (Dumaresq) Raker, and was born in York Township, Ful- ton county, on December 24, 1868. Her father was a veteran of the Civil war, an honored man of York Township. She attended the Toughmatch district school, and for one term attended Fayette public school. Eventually she entered the teaching profession, and for ten terms taught in the district schools of York and Swan Creek Townships of Fulton county. She is a woman of high attainments and much refinement, and has very many friends in Fulton county. Since the death of her husband she has resided on her husband's property in York Township, but expects soon to move into the City of Wauseon, Ohio, where she owns a residential property. Norval D. and Dora O. (Raker) Fouty were the parents of two children, only one of whom, however, is now living. Their elder child, a daughter, Anna Louise, died in infancy, her birth occurring in 1894, and her death in 1896. Their second and surviving child is their son Grant, born in February, 1896. He has grown into reliable, responsible manhood, has married, and has taken over the direction of his father's farming properties. He married Frances Bresler, daughter of Henry W. and Eva (Elder) Bresler. She was born in Wood county, Ohio, September 20, 1893, and is now herself a mother, having borne to her husband a daughter, Catherine Louise, on August 12, 1918.
Another member of the household of Norval D. and Dora O. (Raker) Fouty was Martha Hester Raker, niece of Mrs. Fouty. She was born April 1, 1908, and has lived with her aunt since Septem- ber, 1911, having been given a home soon after her parents' death.
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JOHN W. SCHAMP, a well-to-do and respected farmer of York Township, where the family is of record since 1854, comes of a pio- ncer family of southern Ohio.
He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, August 20, 1851, the son of Henry G. and Catherine (Batdorff) Schamp, and grandson of George Schamp, who was the first of the family to take up resi- dence in Ohio, although the Schamps were of much earlier record in New Jersey. The grandfather was born in New Jersey. They were living in New Jersey, when Henry G., father of John W., was born, but they were early residents in Ohio. Henry G. Schamp married Catherine Batdorff, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and soon afterward they settled in Holmes county, on the border line of Wayne county, Ohio, but on April 10, 1854, they took up un- developed land in York Township, Fulton county. The eighty acres Henry G. Schamp purchased was all virgin timber land, and he cleared it all with the exception of six acres. Later he purchased an additional thirty acres, which he improved. Both he and his wife died in York Township, and most of his children were born in the township. And the family has had good part in the develop- ment of the township, and vicinity. Henry G. and Catherine (Bat- dorff) Schamp were the parents of seven children: James, a well- known farmer of York Township; John W., of whom more is written hereafter; Ellen, who died in infancy; David, who died at the age of twenty-five years; George, now of York Township; Mary, who lives in Wauseon, the wife of Frank Moyer, of that city; and Lucy Ella, who married William Kline, of York Township.
John W. Schamp was not yet three years old when his parents came to York Township, and he has spent the greater part of his life in the township. He attended the Batdorff district school, and while still at school gave much of his time to farm work on the home estate. During the long summer vacations he steadily ap- plied himself to such of the farming tasks as he had the strength to undertake, and was in many ways very useful to his father. After leaving school he remained at home, giving all his time to his father until he was twenty-one years old, when he went to work for his brother, who was independently established as a farmer in York Township. Three years later he himself took the responsibility of independent farming, renting a moderately good farm in York Township. He was twenty-eight years old when he married, and for some time thereafter he continued to live on the farm he had rented. And there by industry, ability as a farmer, and general steadiness of purpose he accumulated sufficient capital to acquire a good property in section 21 of York Township. The farm consisted of eighty acres of improved land, although the buildings were not in very good condition or adequate. However, in course of time John W. Schamp remodeled the house, and barns, erected a new granary, and in many other ways considerably improved the prop- erty, which is known as the Maple Leaf Farm. He farmed the acreage steadily and with good success until 1894, early in which year he rented the farm and moved to Toledo, Ohio, where for the next six years he was in the employ of the Wilson Spice Com- pany of that city. In 1900 he again took over the direction of his farm in York Township. He continued to live in the city, how- ever, and to concurrently keep his farm in good cultivation until 1910, when he again returned to York Township to reside. There
MR. AND MRS. JAMES DICKSON
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he has since lived on his farm, steadily farming, although not as strenuously as was once his habit. He has no need to, having reached a satisfactory condition of material possessions. Still, he is characteristically an energetic man, and would not be content with an idle life. His farm is a good property, and he maintains a moderate sized dairy.
On February 29, 1879, he married Sarah J. Berkebile, who was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, daughter of Aaron and Louisa (Horner) Berkebile, both of whom were natives of Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Schamp's mother died when she was only five years old, and four years later the family came to York Township, Ohio, where her father bought a farm. He was a resident in York Township for almost fifty years, as he lived until October, 1912, and during his long association with people of York Township gained for himself many sincere friends. His daughter Sarah, who married John W. Schamp, Sr., began her education in the primary school of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but the greater part of her schooling was obtained in the Koos District School of York Town- ship. Mr. and Mrs. Schamp are the parents of three children : Kathryn E., who has remained with her parents; George W., now in successful business in Toledo, Ohio; Harold Glenn, who is now at home, and gives his time to the affairs of the home farm. Dur- ing the recent war he enlisted in the United States Army, and gained a commission as lieutenant, serving as such in Camp Lee, Virginia, preparatory to crossing the sea.
JAMES DICKSON was born on his present farm, section 4, Pike Township, May 15, 1843, a son of James and Eliza (Dixon) Dick- son, natives of Maryland and New Jersey, respectively.
James Dickson was a printer by trade, and worked at it in New York City, New York, Baltimore, Maryland, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the meanwhile he had married. In 1839 his health failed him and he was advised to engage in a calling less dangerous than typesetting, and one which would take him into the open. Naturally' he turned toward farming, and in order to secure land at a reasonable figure he and his wife came to Fulton county, Ohio, and bought 120 acres of wild land in Pike Township, which he succeeded in placing under a measure of cultivation prior to his death, which occurred in 1866. His widow survived him until about 1888. Their children were as follows: Phebe, who died in 1905; Wickliffe, who is deceased; Eliza, who is also deceased; and James, who is the only survivor.
James Dickson, the younger, was reared on his father's home- stead, and while he was learning how to be a good farmer he was acquiring the fundamentals of a common school education in his district. In the course of time he bought the interests of the other heirs to the homestead, and acquired possession of it. Since then he has rebuilt the house and barns and put up numerous other build- ings, and made many improvements. Here he continued to be en- gaged in farming until 1905, when he bought a residence at Wau- seon, Ohio, renting his farm to his son-in-law, Charles Dunbar, and for twelve years and eight months lived at Wauseon. Mr. Dickson then felt that he would be happier on his farm, so returned to it, and his house at Wauseon is now occupied by a tenant. His return to Pike Township was welcomed by his old associates, and he is now enjoying the pleasures. of rural life once more.
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On August 28, 1862, Mr. Diekson was united in marriage with Sarah Baxter, born in Green Creek Township, Sandusky county, Ohio, on October 31, 1843, a daughter of Erand and Polly (Rose) Baxter, natives of Connecticut and Niagara county, New York. Mr. Baxter died in Sandusky county, Ohio, when Mrs. Diekson was a small child, but Mrs. Baxter did not pass away until April, 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Dickson became the parents of the following children : William H., who married Mary Shoemaker and died within a few months, at the age of twenty-one; Polly Rose, who died at the age of nine years; and Frances E., who was born March 29, 1869, mar- ried Charles B. Dunbar, and they have six children, namely: Clar- ence J., who served during the World war as a soldier and was sent overseas; Kate Belle, who married Benjamin F. Ramseyer, of Ches- terfield Township, Fulton county; Bessie June, who is at home; Lena May, who is Mrs. Verne Sindel, of Toledo, Ohio; Saralı, who is Mrs. Albert Frey of Pike Township; and William J., who resides at Toledo, Ohio.
Although now a Christian Scientist, Mr. James Dickson was for twenty-five years Sunday School superintendent for the United Brethren Church of his community, of which he was a member dur- ing that time. He is a republican and has served as a justice of the peace, assessor for three terms, and has been a school director for many years. While living at Wauseon he was secretary of the Blind Relief Board for five years. He is a man who has faithfully and cheerfully discharged every obligation of both private and public life which has been laid upon him, and carried out in his life the principles of his religious belief. Success has come to him, but he has worked for it, and deserves in no slight measure the prosperity which is now his. Surrounded by his family, living at the home he is so deeply attached, Mr. Diekson is enjoying an honorable old age, and is entitled to the respect he receives from those who have known him all his life, in the neighborhood where his parents be- fore him stood equally high in public confidence.
SETH JAQUA. While the name Jaqua is French, it has been in America since the days of the Colonists, soldiers by that name having come over in the French and Indian wars. Seth Jaqua, of Walnut Grove Farm in Chesterfield, is a native of Liberty Town- ship, Henry county. He was born there March 8, 1851, and only since 1905 has he lived in Fulton county.
Seth Jaqua is a son of John C. and Emily (Margueratt) Jaqua. The father was born in the State of New York, but in 1821, when he was five years old, his parents came to Seneca county. In turn, his father was Richard Jaqua, the Ohio line being Richard, John C. and Seth. The mother's family name was Wilsey, and she was Canadian by birth. Her name was Emily. The name Margueratt is Swiss, and the father of Mrs. Emily Jaqua was John Rudolph Margueratt. He came from Switzerland and had no relatives in America.
While John C. Jaqua and Emily Margueratt were married in Seneca county, and one child was born there, in the fall of 1849 they removed to Henry county. At that time there were only three houses between Napoleon and the farmstead that has since been the family homestead. They had one son, Frank, when they came, and Seth was the first child born in Henry county. The others are:
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Richard, Randolph, Janette, Elizabeth, Hettie, Alta, and John C. Three of them, Frank, Richard and Elizabeth, have joined the silent majority. Seth is the only resident of Fulton county.
John C. Jaqua died in 1871, but the wife and mother of the family still lives at the old homestead in Henry county. The day she was eighty-nine years old, June 29, 1919, she was the honor guest at a family dinner party at Walnut Grove. Her living chil- dren were all present, guests of Seth Jaqua. She came by auto- mobile from her home in Henry county.
On April 11, 1878, Seth Jaqua married Pluma Williams. She was a young woman of the same community in Henry county, al- though many of her relatives lived in Fulton county. She is a daughter of Lemuel Burton and Margaret Susan (Dayton) Wil- liams. Their children were: Harvey, Pluma, Rosa, Mary, Isa, George, Leonard, Hettie and Lemuel Burton Williams, Jr. Mary, George and Hettie are numbered with the dead, and only Mrs. Jaqua and Lemuel Burton Williams, Jr., live in Fulton county.
Three children were born to Seth and Pluma (Williams) Jaqua. They are: Harry Walton, March 24, 1879, who married Ella Wiles, August 20, 1905, and their children are: Roy Walton, Ray Curtis and Vern Dale. Their oldest son, Charles Seth, died December 26, 1911, as the result of a playground accident at school at Oak Shade.
Susie Emily, born June 21, 1880, became the wife of Wilson Wiles, December 24, 1900, and their children are: Lena, Clarence, Harley, Leon, Glen and Irene. Another child, Arthur Jaqua, was born March 28, 1884, and died the same day. The son and daughter, Harry Walton and Susie Emily, married into the same family, a daughter and son of Thomas and Lena (Hoover) Wiles of Henry county. The father is English and the mother German, although they met and married in Henry county.
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