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 67
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Politically Mr. Knapp is a republican. Fraternally he is affili- ated with the Masonic and Knights of Pythias orders, belonging to the Octavius Chapter and the local Blue Lodge of the former, as well as to the Eastern Star organization, of which his wife also is a member. Religiously he is a Presbyterian, and for many years has been elder of the local church.
On January 1, 1884, he married Agnes Goodwin, daughter of Thomas and Marguerita (Keene) Goodwin, of Milan, Erie county, Ohio. She comes of English ancestry, her father having been born in Newchurch, England, although her mother was a native of Erie county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Knapp are the parents of four children : Lowell F., who is now responsible for the home farm, and is proving himself a man of commendable steadiness; Ethel May, who married R. R. Reighard, of Delta, Ohio; Thomas Her- man, who is at home with his parents; and Evelyn, who died in May, 1911, at the age of sixteen years.
FRED E. BRODBECK. The name Brodbeck harks back to Wur- temberg, Germany, the birthplace of John Brodbeck, the father of Fred E. Brodbeck of Amboy. He was born February 8, 1858, and is a son of John and Mary (Myers) Brodbeck. She was born in Sandusky county. John Brodbeck came as a young man to Toledo. and worked as a day laborer, but he saved his money and in time he owned and operated a brick yard in Toledo. In 1860 he located in Amboy, buying eighty acres in the timber and clearing it. He built a plank house when most of the settlers were living in log cabins in the new country.
As he improved the farm Mr. Brodbeck bought forty acres ad- joining, and later he bought an eighty and still another eighty and he owned a fine farm when he left it to end his days in Meta- mora. He was born in Germany December 10, 1830, and died Jan- uary 5, 1914, in Metamora. Mrs. Brodbeck was born April 13, 1836, in Sandusky county, and she died August 25, 1919, in To- ledo. Their children are: Fred E. Brodbeck, Charles, deceased at the
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age of four years; Augustus, of Metamora; Josephine, wife of John W. Shaw, of Toledo; and Frank E., of Amboy.
On February 3, 1881, F. E. Brodbeck married Altha Dennis. She is a daughter of Alpheus and Sarah (Stahl) Dennis. She was born in Huron county, but her father was from Massachusettss and her mother from Ashland county. They settled in Amboy on an eighty Mr. Brodbeck had purchased from his father. There were log buildings and about twenty-five acres of cleared land and the rest in timber. He finished clearing the land and added to it until he now has 156 acres with up-to-date farm buildings on it. In 1895 Mr. Brodbeck built a brick house of nine rooms, and it has running water, furnace heat and electric lights. There is one daugh- ter, Iva Dell, born June 4, 1886. She is the wife of Clarence Cash, of Amboy.
Since 1907, Mr. Brodbeck has been the republican member of the School Board in Amboy. For fourteen years he served as town- ship trustee, and he helped organize the Farmers & Merchants Bank of Metamora. He is vice president and a member of the board of directors. He has been through all of the chairs in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 875 of Metamora.
For sixty years therefore Mr. Brodbeck has been a resident of Fulton county. He grew up in the home of a well-to-do farmer, but his own efforts, directed independently for thirty years, have achieved results that make him easily one of the prominent men of Fulton county today. The large and productive farm, started with a nucleus of a clearing in the woods, his beautiful and elabor- ate rural home, his position as a banker, his disinterested 'public service in behalf of education and other public causes, constitute a record honorable to any man.
STEPHEN EPHRAIM MANN. Some of the ancestry of Stephen Ephraim Mann of Royalton were very early settlers in Fulton county. He was born March 28, 1870, and has always lived in Royalton. He is a son of Charles and Mary (Hinkle) Mann, the Hinkle family having been local pioneers. Ephraim Hinkle founded the Hinkle family in Royalton. Charles and Mary Mann lived on two differ- ent farms in Royalton, their son now living on one of them. The father died there in 1896, while the mother died in 1918. The chil- dren are: Stephen E., who was the oldest; Mariam, wife of Albert Edger, of Delta; Eugene of Royalton; and Orpha, deceased, who was the wife of Roy Disbrow.
On June 10, 1900, Mr. Mann married Katie Flint, of Lyons. She was born . February 16, 1881, and is a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Vaughn) Flint. The father is a native of Massachusetts, while the mother was born in Missouri. After the death of his father, Charles Mann, S. E. Mann bought out the other heirs and thus came into possession of the home farm in Royalton. He has added many improvements. He has one son, Thomas. Mr. Mann votes the republican ticket. The family holds membership in the
Disciples Church.
WARREN SIMEON EVERS. The Evers family ancestry to which Warren S. Evers of Royalton belongs were very early settlers in Williams county. He was born there September 20, 1880, being a son of Joseph Danford and Louisa (Ritchey) Evers. The father was a native of Williams county, while the 'mother, an orphan
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child, went there when she was two or three years old. Her parents died in Williams county. J. D. Evers and wife removed from Wil- liams to Fulton county, where they bought a farm in Royalton. He died in 1894, and his wife married Oliver McLain and she lives in Wauseon.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Evers are: George F., of Lyons; Ella, wife of Jacob Hartman of Pike Township; William, of Pike Township; Charles Edward, of Morenci, Michigan; Warren S .; Rose, wife of Vitus Eberly, of Pike; and Estella, who died in infancy.
On February 5, 1902, W. S. Evers married Pearl, a daughter of Charles and Ida (Saeger) Hayes, of Pike Township. They lived four years on a farm in Pike Township, when they sold it and bought another improved farm, on which they lived four years, then spent one year in the town of Lyons. They then bought their present farm which was in the brush and he cleared and improved it. Mr. Evers lives on "The Big Bear Creek Farm," and he has it well improved and in a high state of cultivation.
Mr. Evers was educated in the district school, and has served his community as a member of the School Board. In politics he is republican. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Modern Woodmen of America of Lyons. The chil- dren born to Mr. and Mrs. Evers are: June, Catharine, Ruth, Hazel, twins, Warren and Wilma, who died at the age of nine months, and Pauline.
CHARLES H. KEISER, who since 1908 has been a resident in and successful farmer of York Township, Fulton county, after having traveled extensively for seventeen years has reached a place of good regard among the people of that township. He has manifested a good public spirit since he has lived in the township, and an energy and enterprise that are commendable.
He was born in Whitley county, Indiana, February 16, 1881, the son of John and Agnes (Grubb) Keiser. His father was born in Columbia City, Whitley county, Indiana, and his mother in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. They were married in Indiana, and lived in Whitley county of that state until 1888, when they removed to a property near Warsaw, Kosciusko county, Indiana, where they have since lived. Their son Charles H. was educated in the public schools of Whitley and Kosciusko counties, Indiana, and when nineteen years of age he found employment with an ex- cavating contractor. For fourteen years thereafter he worked on various contracts throughout the country, with the steam shovel and dredge, traveling through seventeen states during that period of profitable work. In 1908 he acquired a property of ninety acres of improved land in York Township, Fulton county, and from that time until he finally was able to live in the township, in 1915, he rented out the farm. From 1915 until March 1, 1919, he operated it himself, and those four years were successful ones, the property vielding him good returns in general farming, stockraising and dairying. He sold his farm in March, 1919, and purchased another of larger acreage. His new property, which is 160 acres in extent, is situated in section 35 of York Township, and is known as the Jonas Seymour farm. The whole acreage is well improved and in a high state of fertility; in fact, it is a worth-while agricultural prop- erty and equipped with adequate modern improvements. Mr. Keiser
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will take possession in March, 1920. He has proved himself to be a citizen of whole-hearted loyalty, and a man of strong reliable principle.
In February, 1906, he married Mabel Frankforther, who was born in Henry county, Ohio, daughter of Martin and Jennie Frank- forther, who were both also born in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Keiser have three children, sons, Robert, Raymond and Dale.
By political allegiance Mr. Keiser is a republican, although he has never actively interested himself in national political campaigns, at least, not with any office-seeking view.
ELZA DEAN FUNK. Individual enterprise, which is the just boast of the people of Ohio, is forcefully exhibited in the career of Elza D. Funk, one of the substantial farmers of Clinton Township, Fulton county. He is a worthy representative of one of the old and highly honored families in this locality, and his life record has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best.
Elza Dean Funk is the son of Festus and Frances Elizabeth (Dean) Funk, and was born on the old homestead farm where he now lives in Clinton Township in 1871. Originally the family came from Germany, the subject's paternal great-grandfather Funk having come from that country to the United States in an early day settling in Wayne county, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life. His son Jacob Funk, grandfather of the subject, moved to Fulton county and established his home about a half mile from the present homestead, and he devoted himself to agricultural pur- suits, as did his son Festns.
Elza Dean received a good practical education in the public schools at Clinton Center, where he attended until sixteen years of age. He remained on the home farm, assisting his father, until he had attained his majority, after which time he was employed as a farm hand by neighboring farmers. After his marriage in 1896 he rented a farm of 150 acres in Washington Township, Henry county, where he remained two years, moving then to a farm of 140 acres in Dover Township. In 1906 Mr. Funk bought his father's farm of 160 acres in Clinton Township, and has lived there ever since. Hc is a thoroughly practical farmer, up-to-date in his methods, and has been eminently successful in his vocation. He raises gen- eral crops and also gives considerable attention to the dairy busi- ness, having a herd of high-grade Holstein cattle.
In 1896 Mr. Funk was married to Alice Gertrude Stevens, the daughter of Charles L. and Hannah (Masters) Stevens, of Wauseon, and to them have been born the following children: Mary Ellen, the wife of Lawrence Keough, of Cleveland, and the mother of three children, Virginia May, Thelma Marie and Geraldine; Leda Lorine, of Akron, Ohio; Charles Harold, who died in 1914, at the age of two years.
Mr. Funk is an ardent supporter of the republican party and a member of the Grange. His religious affiliation is with the Chris- tian Church. His life has been a busy and successful one, and be- cause of his excellent business ability, his industry and his com- mendable personal qualities he enjoys an enviable standing in the community.
JOHN GRIESINGER. Among the farmers of Fulton county who are engaged in upholding the prestige of this region in agricultural
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matters is John Griesinger of Pike Township, who is successfully carrying on a general farming and dairy business. He was born in Fulton Township, this county, on April 3, 1868, a son of George W. and Mary Magdalinc (McQuillin) Griesinger, natives of Pennsyl- vania and York Township, Fulton county, respectively. The pa- ternal grandparents, Gotlieb Henry and Esther (Schultz) Griesinger, natives of Germany and Pennsylvania, respectively, were the earliest settlers of Fulton Township, Fulton county. They traded a barrel of fish, one of flour and a horse for forty acres of land, which the grandfather cleared and developed into a fine farm, to which he added so that at his death he owned over 300 acres of land, being for that time a wealthy man. The maternal grandparents were John M. and Mary Magdaline (Schlappi) McQuillin, of whom the grandmother was a native of Switzerland.
After their marriage George W. and Mary Griesinger settled in Fulton Township, where Mrs. Griesinger died at the birth of her twins Mary and John. Later George W. Griesinger was married to Lydia Seigle, and lived to be sixty-eight years old, dying in 1911. His children were as follows: Ada, who is Mrs. Eli Hamp, of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan; and John and Mary, twins, of whom the latter died at the age of seventeen years; and eleven children by the second marriage.
John Gricsinger grew up on his father's farm and attended the local schools. On April 4, 1889, he was married to Addie West- brook, a daughter of George and Phebe (Williams) Westbrook, of whom the latter was a native of Swan Creek Township in this county. For the first two years after his marriage John Griesinger rented land in York Township, following which he moved to a 120-acre farm in Pike Township, where he lived for twenty years, and then bought it and forty acres additional, of which all but twenty-three acres of pasturage is under cultivation. He has rebuilt the barn that was on the property, crected a new one and other necessary buildings, and put in other improvements. When he took charge of the land about thirty acres were covered with stumps, which he took up, and owing to his efforts he now has one of the best farms in this part of the county. Here he carries on general farming and dairying, his herd averaging about twenty head of a good grade of milch cows. His new barn is one of the largest in Fulton county, and he also raises cattle, hogs, sheep and horses in addition to his other industries.
Mr. and Mrs. Griesinger became the parents of the following children : Lavern, who is Mrs. Arthur Shambarger, of Royalton Township; Marvin, who is a farmer of York Township; and Orra and Gladys, who are at home. Mr. Griesinger is a republican. He belongs to Delta Lodge No. 460. Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Encampment, and has passed all of the chairs in the local order. He is entirely a self-made man, and has every reason to be proud of the result of his efforts, for not only has he achieved a somewhat remarkable success, but at the same time he has won and holds the confidence and respect of his neighbors, and is recognized as one of the representative men of his community.
FRANK A. GEESEY. A prominent and well known citizen of Archbold, Fulton county. is Frank A. Geesey, vice president of the Peoples State Bank and conducting a prosperous real estate and insurance business, a man who has led an eminently honorable and
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useful life and achieved a marked degree of success. At the same time he has benefited the community of which he is a native, and in the business affairs of which he has for a number of years been a prominent factor.
Frank A. Geesey was born in German Township, Fulton county, on November 29, 1869, and is the son of William H. and Eliza (Wolverton) Geesey. He has inherited through his progenitors a mixture of Scotch, English and German blood. His paternal grandfather, Charles Geesey, came to German Township, Fulton county, during the formative period of this locality and cleared his own farm from the forests which then covered that locality. He was the father of nine children, of which number the subject's father was the third in order of birth. The latter was a farmer all his life and owned the same farm for fifty-five years. He was one of that historic band of California gold seekers who in 1849 made the long, tiresome and dangerous trip to that western Eldorado, in which he met with a fair degree of success. IIe now lives in West Unity, Ohio.
Frank A. Geesey secured his elementary education in the public schools at Edinburgh, later attending the high school at West Unity. Subsequently he attended the Wauseon Normal School, where he took a business course, and then finished his studies at the Fayette Normal School. Mr. Geesey then determined to try his luck in the mining regions of the west and went to Denver, Canyon City and Cripple Creek, Colorado, being the fifth man to pitch his tent in Cripple Creek. He continued to prospect there for three years, finding some gold, which he carefully saved, and would have re- mained there had not the death of his brother necessitated his return home. During the following year he operated the homestead farm of 100 acres, but at the end of that period he came to Archbold and opened a barber shop, which he ran for ten years. He was then appointed postmaster of Archbold by President Mckinley, and so satisfactory was his administration of the office that he was reap- pointed by Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, serving fourteen years consecutively. His official record was one of which he has just reason to be proud, for he administered the office with the idea that he was there to serve the people to the best of his ability. He re- signed the postmastership in order to engage in the real estate and insurance business, which has engaged his attention continuously since. He has handled a great deal of real estate and has gained a reputation of being an unusually good judge of land values. He is the agent for a number of the best fire insurance companies in the United States and the Home Life Insurance Company of New York, one of the biggest companies in the world. He is the owner of some fine farm land in this county and is also a stockholder in the Archbold Telephone Company. All that he possesses today has been gained entirely through his own unremitting efforts, and he enjoys a splendid reputation as a progressive and enterprising busi- ness man.
Mr. Geesey was married to Almeda Vernier, the daughter of Jacob and Katherine (Bourquin) Vernier, of Archbold. They are the parents of a daughter, Katherine L.
Politically Mr. Geesey is a stanch supporter of the republican party, and was a great admirer and supporter of Theodore Roose- velt. He rendered appreciated service as a member of the Archbold School Board for fourteen years and was clerk for ten years. Fra-
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ternally he is a member of Lodge No. 349, Free and Accepted Masons, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Napoleon, Ohio. His religious affiliation is with the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a man of ability, integrity and usefulness, and as citizen representative of the utmost loyalty, his life record is deserving of a place in this publication, which touches those who have given to and sustained the civic and material prosperity of the community embraced within the scope of this work.
WILLIAM H. MADDOX, M. D. Considering how helpless and de- spairing the average individual is in case of serious illness or acci- dent and how dependent he is on the scientific help of physician or surgeon, it would seem that the profession to which they belong could not be held in higher esteem than that very generally ac- corded. But recent history has placed the medical men of the United States upon a yet higher pinnacle, for no previous record has shown greater personal sacrifices or more invaluable services than tells of many of those who hastened to the call of need when grim war in- volved the country. The stupendous work of organizing sufficient army medical corps for the great conflict with a remorseless enemy was only made possible by the hearty response of physicians and surgeons who hurried to lay their scientific knowledge on the altar of patriotism. Wauseon proudly cherishes the names of all her soldiers, and one who honored the medical profession in faithful service is Dr. William H. Maddox, who has been a valued resident of Wauseon for fifteen years and a leading general practitioner.
William H. Maddox was born at Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1872, and is a son of A. H. and Elizabeth (Hedrick) Maddox. The old family records show that four brothers of the name came to the American colonies in 1755, all being natives of England. One of these was Nathan, the great-great-grandfather of Doctor Maddox, and he settled in Loudon county, Virginia. From Virginia the great-grandfather, Michael Maddox, born in 1774, came to southern Ohio but later settled in Blackford county, Indiana, where he reared a family, marrying twice and having thirteen children. One of these, Daniel Maddox, grandfather of Doctor Maddox, spent the greater part of his life in Highland county, Ohio, a saddler by trade and a merchant. It was there that the father of Doctor Maddox was born. He developed important business connections at Cincinnati, and in the interests of large commercial houses visited all parts of the United States. His death occurred in February, 1918.
William H. Maddox completed the public school course at Hills- boro, Ohio, in 1889, and in 1890 entered the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity, from which he was graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in the same year becoming a student in the medi- cal department of the Ohio State University at Columbus, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1898. After a year as interne in the Miami Valley Hospital at Dayton he began medi- cal practice at Tecumseh, Michigan, where he continued until 1905. when he located at Wauscon. Here he built up a large and lucrative practice as the result of medical knowledge. In answer to the call for trained medical men Doctor Maddox responded in June, 1917. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the medical corps and in August was ordered to Fort Benjamin Harrison, three months later being sent to Camp Grant, Illinois, and in August, 1918, to France with the medical corps of the Eighty-sixth Division, where
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he was assigned to the Three Hundred and Forty-first Infantry, and after the Armistiee, to Camp Hospital No. 41 at Is-sur-Tille. He was honorably discharged in July, 1919, having been promoted captain on November 16, 1917.
Doctor Maddox was married in 1899 to Miss Florence, a daugh- ter of Cornelius M. and Sarah (Eldridge) Spring, of Tedrow, Ohio, and they have one son, William Rolland, who was born in 1901, and is a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University. Doctor Maddox and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His politieal opinions early led to his affiliation with the republiean party, and he has known personally some of its most distinguished leaders in his native state. He has never aceepted any politieal offiee other than on the Sehool Board on which he served six years, but the city has many times profited because of his distinterested serv- iees for her welfare. He belongs to professional bodies in eounty and state, and is a thirty-second degree Mason.
MRS. ROSETTA HITE is one of the progressive business women of Fulton county who is achieving an enviable reputation as a mer- chant at Zone in Franklin Township. She was born at Great Bend, Barton county, Kansas, a daughter of Charles and Lydia (Olm- stead) Bennett. The Bennett family is of Irish extraetion, although it was founded in the United States many generations ago. The men of the family have been chiefly interested in agricultural pur- suits, and have been ever ready to their country's eall. Charles Bennett served four years in the Civil war.
Mrs. Hite attended the country schools of Fulton county and the Wauseon High School, and after completing the courses in the latter, taught sehool in different townships of Fulton county, be- coming one of the best known educators in the country distriets. In 1904 she was united in marriage with George H. Hite, a son of Samuel and Delia (Fink) Hite, and they beeame the parents of one son, Henry A., who is now fourteen years old. Mr. Hite died in July, 1918, aged forty-two years. In polities he was a republican, and fraternally, an Odd Fellow. Until January, 1918, he had been engaged in farming, but then sold his farm on aeeount of failing health and moved to Delta, where he died.
With the death of her husband Mrs. Hite found it necessary to support herself and her son, and so eame to Zone, opened a general store and from the start has been successful. Her experienee as a teaeher had given her insight into human nature, and she found her former experienee, although of an entirely different character, of value to her in her new undertaking. She has been able to find out the tastes of her customers and supply what is wanted, and her stoek is elean, timely and as low prieed as is consistent with the pre- vailing market. Her pleasant, aeeommodating manner and efficient methods have made her many warm friends, and she has a trade that comes from a wide rural territory. She is not a member of ehureh, but is in sympathy with any undertaking whose aim is the uplifting of humanity. Mrs. Hite is but one of many women who, when necessity demands it, have proven their worth to their eommu- nity and developed real business ability which enables them to meet and overeome obstacles that to some might prove unconquerable. At the same time that she has been proving her right to be num- bered among the worth-while eitizens of the county, Mrs. Hite has won personal appreciation and stands very high among her neigh-
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