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 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76
GLENN V. SOULE, owner of a substantial wholesale dairy produce business in the City of Wauseon, Ohio, and known through that
46
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
section of Ohio as an extensive buyer, is one of the leading business men of the city.
He was born in Waterloo, Indiana, January 22, 1885, the son of Darwin and Margaret (Hodge) Soule. He comes of an ancient English family, although three generations of the branch to which he belongs have had American residence, his grandfather, George Soule, being among the pioneer settlers in Michigan. Darwin Soule, father of Glenn V., was born in Michigan, and eventually went into Indiana, settling on a farm near Waterloo in that state. There the family lived, and there Glenn V. was born. The latter as a boy at- tended the local public schools, but at the age of fifteen years began to work, taking minor capacity in the office of a Waterloo, Indiana, produce dealer. He remained so employed for seven years, acting as buyer for some time. After a period as foreman of a plant he came to Wauseon. That was in 1907. For the next five years he was in the employ of Jones Brothers, local produce dealers, as assistant manager. In 1912 he entered into independent business, at 115 West Elm street, Wauseon, and in a short time developed a sub- stantial business, buying eggs, poultry and butter from producers within a radius of ten miles, and shipping to markets in New York City and elsewhere. During his years of trading in Wauseon he has steadily prospered and is today a man of assured business stabil- ity. He has several other financial interests, and is a stockholder in a well-known Detroit commission house, the L. R. Jones Company of that city. His two plants in Wauseon give indication of the extent of his trading. His storage honse on the railroad siding has capacity for 10,000 pounds, and his shipments of recent years have been exceptionally heavy.
During the war he manifested worthy qualities as a citizen, sup- porting the various war loans to the limit of his resources, and in many ways he has proved his interest in the city wherein he has centered his business. Politically he is a republican; fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Wauseon Blue Lodge and the local Chapter. He is generally recognized as one of Wauseon's responsible and representative citizens. He married into a Wauseon family, his wife, Otha, being the daughter of E. C. and Ellen (Benner) Sullin- ger. The marriage took place in Wanseon in 1914.
:
SAMUEL RUPPERT, successor to the business of Christopher Domitio, and, more recently, Domitio and Ruppert, well-known Wauseon, Ohio, firm of clothiers, haberdashers and custom tailors, comes of one of the oldest families of Fulton county, and has lived almost all his life in Wauseon and its environs.
He was born April 6, 1862, in the old Ruppert homestead near Wauseon. the son of John Adam and Elizabeth (Lilich) Ruppert, and grandson of Henry Ruppert, one of the pioneers of Fulton coun- ty. The family is of German origin, but for four generations has been resident in the United States, Samuel Ruppert's great-grandfather, who was born in Germany, having settled in Pennsylvania. His son Henry, grandfather of Samuel, was a man of superior educa- tion. and to some extent followed an academic life. He was for some years a school teacher. but for the greater part of his life was a farmer and pioneer. He came with his ox team across the country and settled upon a tract of wild land on Turkey Fort Creek, about three miles southeast of Wauscon. There he spent the rest of his life, and raised a family of five children, among them John A., father of Samuel. John A. Ruppert farmed the family land for
47
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
the greater part of his life, and raised his family of eight children thereon. Samuel was the fourth born. He attended the public school nearest to his home, helping his father in the working of the farm during the summer vacations and attending school regu- larly during the winter months. He also attended school near Bliss- field, Michigan, for one year, living with his cousin, Mrs. Daniel Palmer, at that place during the period. After closing his schooling he returned home and steadily assisted his father in the operation of the farm until he had reached the age of nineteen years, when, in 1881, he came to Wauseon, resolved to learn the tailoring trade. He entered the shop of Christopher Domitio, in whose employ he remained for fourteen years. becoming an expert tailor. For ten years he worked for Charles Yeager, a tailor of Wauseon, and then, his wife having died without issue, he went to Toledo and there for one year worked for Cornelius Vermass, a tailor of that city." Return- ing to Wauseon in July, 1907, he and William C. Domitio, nephew of Christopher Domitio, formed a business partnership and acquired the business of Christopher, who was desirous of retiring from busi- ness. The partners had substantial success in business, materially expanding it until it conducted a most satisfactory volume within a radius of fifteen miles of Wauseon. In February, 1920, Samuel Ruppert purchased the interest of his partner and he is now sole owner of the business. He today has a good place among the sub- stantial business men of Wauseon, and is widely known throughout the county.
Samuel Ruppert is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically is a republican. He has been somewhat prominently identified with the functioning of the local lodge of the order of Knights of Pythias, having been vice chancellor of that organiza- tion. He has applied himself steadily to business in Wauseon for the greater part of his business life. and during the period has upon many occasions shown a generous interest in the affairs of the com- munity, and has always been a responsible citizen. He was one of the first members of the organization which became the Booster Club and more recently the Commercial Club of Wauseon.
He has been twice married, first, in 1888. to Agnes D., daughter of John B. and Christianna (Lautenslager) Segrist of Wauseon. She died in 1904. He was subsequently married to Carrie, daughter of Frank and Anna E. (Wolverton) Houseman, of Swanton, Fulton county, the second marriage taking place October 14, 1907, three vears after the demise of his first wife. Frank Houseman was born in Erie county and served in the Civil war. He located in Swanton, Fulton county, and in July, 1870, was employed by the L. S. & M. S. Railroad Company. Four years later he entered business for him- self as a grocer, and continued in that line until his demise in 1888. Mrs. Houseman was born in 1844 in Lodi, Seneca county, New York, of English parentage. They came to Sandusky, Ohio, in 1846.
ED SCOTT. vice president, director and one of the stockholders of Brigham. Guilford & Company, owners of a large department store business in Wauseon, Ohio, is a well-known man of that place. He has had good part in the business and public activities of that place, is well-regarded in the district, and was twice elected to the office of county clerk.
He was born at the family homestead in Richland county. Ohio, in 1867, the son of W. C. and Jennie (Stewart) Scott, his lineage
48
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
connecting with families of Scottish and Scotch-Irish ancestry, although the branch to which he belongs has been resident in America for many generations, and his forebears are among the pioneer settlers in Eastern Ohio, where they generally took to the customary pioneering and later agricultural pursuits. Ed Scott has spent practically the whole of his life in Wauseon, for he was not. much more than three years old when his parents moved to the city from Richland county. Ed received all his academie education in the public schools of Wauseon, and during his later years of school- ing worked on Saturdays and during vacations as grocer-boy for W. A. Wilson, his services commanding a daily pay of twenty-five cents. When he finally left school he worked for two years as delivery boy for Charles Schwartz, successor to W. A. Wilson, after- ward, for two years, associating with his father in the sale of agricul- tural implements. Then, with commendable confidence and self- reliance, he ventured into independent business in partnership with Harry Downs, of Wauseon, the partners trading as Scott and Downs. He was then scarcely twenty years old, and although the partnership was dissolved within a year, it gives an indication of the aggressive, optimistic trend of the boy's character. From 1887 until 1892 young Scott was in California, where he worked for commission houses, and for some time ranched in San Diego county, eventually managing a hay and fruit farm in that section. In July, 1892, he returned to Wauseon, and for a while effectively sold insurance. Later he entered the employ of the Lake Shore Railway Company, but eventually he became a salesman in the hardware store of C. E. Brigham. In 1904 he was elected county clerk for a three-year term, in the republican interest, and his standing in the district, as well as his efficiency in public office, may be gauged by the fact that he was re-elected in 1907. In the following year he aided in the organ- ization of the firm of Brigham, Guilford & Company, a corporate concern capitalized at $60,000, to conduct a department store busi- ness in Wauseon. Mr. Scott was one of the stockholders, was elected vice president, and when the company became established in business he had completed his term in office. so he at once devoted his whole time to the management of the shoe department of the new store, which responsibility he still holds in connection with that business. The partners, Messrs. Brigham, Guilford. Palmer, Scott, and Dal- rymple, were all men of sound business ability and extensive experi- ence, and were thus able to guide the business into an enviable condi- tion of stability.
Mr. Scott considers Wauseon to be, to all intents and purposes, his native place, and has always keenly followed its progress. He has throughout his life taken pride in the city, and during his more responsible later years has co-operated effectively in publie work. He is among the business leaders of the place, and has held staunchly to the republican party in national politics. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of the Wauseon Blue Lodge.
He married Jessie, daughter of Mrs. Addie (Hough) Demeritt, of Wauseon, the marriage taking place in 1893. They have no children, but gave parental affection to four children. Mavina. Nelsie, Pauline and Sally Stone, whom, when orphaned, Mr. and Mrs. Scott took into their home and reared as though they were their own daughters. Bereavement came to them when Pauline died in February, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have many life-long friends in Wauseon, are generally well-liked, and esteemed as good neighbors and charitably-disposed citizens.
,
49
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
EUGENE BUTTERMORE, senior partner of the firm of Weber and Buttermore, wholesale and retail bakers of Wauseon, Ohio, is a young and enterprising business man of that city, and good business suecess has come to him and his partner, Harry Clyde Weber, a well- known Wauseon young man. Both partners were in the federal service during the war, Buttermore in the naval forees and Weber in the army.
Eugene Buttermore was born in Miller City, Putnam county, Ohio, in 1894, the son of John and Rebecea (Laffever) Buttermore. He attended the public sehool at Leipsie, Ohio, until he had passed the eighth grade, and then, being at that time about fifteen years old he was apprentieed to his brother, a baker of Leipsie, Eugene . having worked for him during prior vaeations. As a journeyman baker, Eugene spent short periods with many bakers during the next few years, and was seventeen years old when he came to Wauseon to work as baker for Gorsuch and Clark, with which firm he remained for six years. He was a young man of strong eharaeter, industrious and steady, and during the twelve years or so of service had steadily saved some of his earning, so that when in 1919 an opportunity came to enter into independent business he was financially able to grasp it. He formed a partnership with a friend, Harry C. Weber, and soon became well established in business at their present loeation as wholesale and retail bakers, trading under their joint names and developing a good city and country trade. Before reaching that degree of business stability, however, some other events of importance to himself had happened to him. He had married in 1914, but the trend of the war into which the country entered in 1917 . had its influence upon him, and he had to temporarily leave home and take service in the national fighting forces. He enlisted on June 27, 1918, in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the United States Navy. He was sent to the Great Lakes Training Station, where he served until the end of the war, being honorably discharged in December, 1918, soon after which release he returned to Wauseon and joined Harry Weber in purchasing the bakery business they now own. The energetic young partners have steadily gone forward, giving good service and manifesting commendable enterprise and industry.
Eugene Buttermore married in 1914 Ilo Yarnell, daughter of Grant and Charlotte (Hartman) Yarnell, of Wauseon. Mr. and Mrs. Buttermore enter to some extent into the social life of the com- munity, having many friends. Politieally he is a republican. He is a member with his wife of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Wauseon, and has been identified with the functioning of the local branch of the Knights of Pythias order. It may be said generally of him that he has been applying himself to his business affairs with such steadiness as to warrant the belief that he will succeed well in life.
SIMON RYCHENER is one of the largest dealers in wool, seed and live stock in the State of Ohio, and is widely known throughout his home county, Fulton county. He is a native of Pettisville, has made Pettisville the headquarters for his extensive trading for twenty- seven years, and has an enviable reputation in that place. He is identified with the Pettisville Grain Company, the elevator belong- ing to which company has a capacity for 18,000 bushels, and he is a stockholder and director of the Pettisville Savings Bank.
His family has a definite place in the history of Fulton county. The Rychener family, originally from Switzerland, is among the
50
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
pioneer families of that section of the state. Christian Rychener, the pioneer, crossed from Wayne county through the wilderness to German township, Fulton county, and was one of the first to settle and begin to clear land in that township. His marriage has historic interest, in the fact that it was the first to be solemnized in German township, that is, the first in which white people were the principals. Since that time the Rychener family, in its many descendants, has had prominent part in the industrial and publie life of many Fulton county communities.
Simon Rychener was born in Pettisville, Ohio, in 1873, the son of John and Anna Rychener. He was unfortunate in losing his father early in his life, Simon being only four years old when his father died, which misfortune much altered the boy's prospects. He was only able to obtain a country school education, and that amounted to practically only the winters spent in school, for dur- ing the growing season he helped his uncle, who had adopted him, in the operation of the latter's farm. Thus he passed his life until lie had reached his sixteenth year, when his schooling ended alto- gether, and for the next two or three years he stayed on the farm, giving his labor in exchange of board and clothing. When he was eighteen years old he returned to his native place, Pettisville, where he made his home with his mother and found good work as section man on the New York Central Railroad. He remained so employed for two years, being very provident, and accumulating as much of his earnings as he possibly could. And at the end of the two years of railroad work he found himself possessed of sufficient capital to venture into independent business as a butcher. His beginning was inauspicious, but he was a man of good poise, and went to the extent of trading his limited capital would permit him to undertake, but during the next ten years his little butchering business in Pettisville grew to such dimensions that he had to close his connection with retail butchering and devote his time to the larger affairs of his whole- sale trade in live stock. He had been in partnership with Fred Ben- nett, a well-known local man, and their trading in cattle and hogs had been extensive, but in 1903 the firm of Rychener and Bennett ceased to operate the retail butchering business in Pettisville, the partners selling that business and dissolving partnership. From that time Mr. Rychener has been alone in business, which with the years has assumed very substantial proportions and wide scope. He trades in wool, seed and live stock, buying extensively and shipping all over the country under his own name. Needless to say, the trad- ing has been materially to his advantage, the volume of business bringing him substantial return, so that as the years have passed and his capital has increased he has seen fit to enter into other enter- prises of industrial and financial character. He is closely identified with the Pettisville Grain Company, which does an extensive ele- vator business, and he was one of the organizers of the Pettisville Savings Bank, of which he is a stockholder and director. And among his other interests is a good farming property. Altogether he has had notable success in business.
Personally he is respected in his home district. He has lived a steady, honorable life; and has shown a readiness to support any project that has for its object the welfare of the community. Politi- cally he is an independent republican, but has not manifested any desire for political office.
In 1894 he married Mary, daughter of Samuel and Anna (Roth) Krieger. of near Pettisville. They have three children: Herma, who
51
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
married George Sherer, of Waterville, Ohio, and has one child, a daughter, Thelma; Orville Samuel, who was born in 1903; and Thelma Henrietta.
WILLIAM JOHN WEBER, cashier of the Pettisville Savings Bank, Pettisville Ohio, is one of the consequential men of affairs of that community. His life record stamps him as a man of wide knowl- edge, of unblemished character, of commendable public spirit, and of definite and pronounced executive, organizing and administrative ability. He has been an educator, an agricultural and industrial company organizer and manager, and a financier and banker of enviable repute. He is part owner of the Pettisville Grain Company, was one of the founders of the Pettisville Savings Bank, has mem- bership in two Ohio State Bankers' Associations, was the organizer and is sole owner of the Pettisville Electric Light Company, and among his other interests has a good farming property. So that he is a man of consequential business and financial affairs. And his pub- lic record has been equally notable, especially in educational activ- ities. He is president of the Fulton county Board of Education, and holds similar office in the deliberations of the Pettisville School Board.
He was born on the family homestead in Clinton township, Ful- ton county, in 1873, the son of John and Margaret (Fink) Weber. The family has long had residence in Ohio, and for many decades has been in Fulton county. William J. was educated in the Pettis- ville public school, after passing through which he went to the Fay- ette Normal School in order to qualify for entry into the teaching profession. For five years he taught in schools of Clinton and Ger- man townships, teaching during the school period and farming for himself during the long summer vacations. The latter occupation was not a strange one to him, as having been born and raised on a farm he had necessarily became conversant with most operations of agricultural life. He was also a man of good business instinct, as was shown by his enterprise in joining with G. D. Wyse and J. S. Rychener, two well-known Pettisville young men, in the organiza- tion of the Pettisville Grain Company. Of that prosperous concern Mr. Weber acted for twelve years as manager, and still holds a one- third interest in the company, the property of which includes a grain elevator with capacity of 15,000 bushels. As an organizer, however, Mr. Weber perhaps came most prominently before the people of the county when he, with nine other substantial business people of Pet- tisville and Wauseon, founded the Pettisville Savings Bank, of which he has been vice-president or cashier since its establishment. The bank is one of the strong finacial institutions of the county, and of course much of its stability must be attributed to Mr. Weber's skill as a banker, and to his comprehensive understanding of finance. The bank owns a fine building, has deposits of $230,000, and re- sources of $200,000. By reason of this banking connection Mr. Weber is a member of the Ohio Bankers' Association, and also be- longs to the Ohio Private Bankers' Association.
In 1917 he ventured into the automobile business, establishing a service station, garage and a general business in anto supplies and accessories in Pettisville, and later he sold that business to some ad- vantage. Then another of his business enterprises was the organ- ization in 1915 of the Pettisville Electric Light Company. That company, of which Mr. Weber is sole owner, furnishes light and power to Pettisville and vicinity.
52
HISTORY OF FULTON COUNTY
Mr. Weber has taken proper and creditable part in the adminis- trative responsibilities of the community. As a former educator it was but proper that he should lean more closely in his publie en- deavor to matters connected with the educational welfare of the com- munity than to other pliases of the publie administration. He is especially honored among the educational administrators in Fulton county, being president of the County Board of Education. He is also president of the Pettisville School Board. Personally, he is a man of strong personality and praiseworthy private life, and in his home community is generally well regarded.
In 1898 Mr. Weber married Mary, daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Freyenberger) Rupp, of Clinton township, Fulton county. They have two children, sons, Aurelius Christian, who was born in 1900, graduated from the Wauseon High School, and en- tered the Ohio State University Training Camp. He took the engineering course at the university, and is now taking the same course at Defiance College, Defiance, Ohio. Maurice Eugene was born in 1912.
HARVEY HENRY RYCHENER, owner of a substantial business in automobile supplies and repairing at Pettisville, Ohio, is a native of Fulton county, and comes of a family well known in that part of Ohio. He does a consequential business in tires and other automo- bile accessories, as well as in auto repairs.
Ile was born in German township, Fulton county, on June 1,. 1881. the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Stutzman) Ryehener. His carly life was spent on the home farm, and in due course he went to school, attending the publie school of Distriet No. 1 of Fulton county. He continued attendanee at school until he was nineteen years old, and coneurrently, or rather during the long summer va- cations, did much work upon his father's farm. After leaving sehool he settled down industriously to the affairs of the home farm, and did not leave home until 1916, being then thirty-five years old. For the greater part of his young manhood he had taken upon himself the greater part of the burdensome work of the family property, and eventually bought the farm from his father, thus permitting the latter to pass his declining years in comfort. Harvey H. prospered well by his farming, and in 1916 formed business association with William Weber, the partners building and organizing an auto sales room and garage on Main street, Pettisville, and entering energet- ically into the automobile business. They secured some good agencies, and being good salesmen, energetic, enterprising and of good repute, they were not long in establishing a satisfactory busi- ness. The partnership continued to mutual advantage for three years, when, on January 1, 1919, Mr. Weber sold his interest to Mr. Ervin Lantz, the firm name ehanging from that of Weber & Rychener to that of Rychener & Lantz. Some months later Mr. Rychener purchased the interest of his partner and has sinee con- ducted the business as the sole proprietor. With the agencies for the Nash and Dort cars, with a good repair service station, and with a comprehensive line of automobile supplies he is equipped to do a substantial business.
Personally Mr. Rychener is a man of strong, steady character- istics, of fine moral and material integrity, of commendable industry and of praiseworthy private life. He has the characteristics of so many other men of that section of Fulton county, sons of pioneers, and with much of the strength of purpose of the pioneers. He is a
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.