USA > Ohio > Williams County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 13
USA > Ohio > Fulton County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 13
USA > Ohio > Henry County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 13
USA > Ohio > Defiance County > Commemorative biographical record of northwestern Ohio : including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams and Fulton, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families > Part 13
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In his political faith Mr. Geyser is a firm supporter of the doctrines pro- mulgated by the Republican party. He has always been actively interested in the welfare of his chosen party, and in 1888 was selected a delegate to the Senatorial Convention held at Toledo. This district was strongly Dem- ocratic, and included the six counties of Lucas, Fulton, Wood, Henry, Hancock, and Putnam. Mr. Geyser attended the convention without any intention of accepting office, and was very much astonished to find himself the unanimous choice of the convention for State senator. His loyalty to his party induced him to make what seemed to be a hopeless race, but his indomitable will, his untiring energy, and, above all, his undoubted integrity and untarnished reputation, won the fight, and he was elected by a majority of eighteen hundred! During his term in the Senate his duties were performed with that same care of detail and honorable methods that had characterized his commercial career. He was an earnest advocate of the Owen Sunday Law and all the measures that would in any way tend to the bettering of the moral nature of the people. Placed unexpect- edly in a position of such great responsibility and trust, he rose to the occa- sion and completed his term with honor to himself and with glory to his constituents.
Mr. Geyser has been three times married. His first wife, to whom he was wedded in 1863, was Miss Elizabeth Brown, and of this union were born two children: (1) Maude, who married Charles Marsh, a business man of Toledo, by whom she had one child, named Guy; and (2) Lizzie, who
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married Louis Isbell, and they have one child, Emma. After the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Geyser, Mr. Geyser was married to Miss Catherine Schrock, by whom he had a daughter, named Minnie. In 1880 he married his present wife, formerly Miss Amy Haubiel, and they are the parents of two children: Dorothy, and William, now a student of Kenyon Col- lege, Gambier, Ohio. Fraternally, the Hon. William Geyser is prominent as a member of the I. O. O. F., which he has repeatedly represented in the Grand Lodge during the twenty-seven years of his active membership; for eight years he has affiliated with the Elks, and was made a K. P. in Toledo, but is now a member of the Lodge in Swanton.
The Hon. William Geyser is a fine example of the self-made man, one who is capable of leading and directing the affairs of the community with greater facility than most men can direct their own. He has attained for- tune, friends and honored position by a life devoted to high ambition and lofty purposes, and it would require no "ancient seer in star-lit tower" to cast his horoscope to find him still higher up on the ladder of fame before his part is played.
HON. JOHN F. DEATRICK.
This gentleman for ten years (1880-86 and 1894-98) was mayor of Defiance, has been for forty-three years past prominently identified with the social, business and official life of that thriving town. He is a native of Pennsylvania, having been born at Chambersburg November 26, 1829, and is of German descent.
Mr. Deatrick's grandparents came from the Fatherland in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and located in Pennsylvania, where they purchased farming lands. They reared a large family of children, among whom was a son, John Jacob Nicholas Deatrick, our subject's father, who was born in Adams county, Pennsylvania, and there married Miss Elizabeth Boyer, also of German ancestry. He owned and operated a woolen-mill in his native county for some years, but it was destroyed by fire, and about two years later he removed with his family to Fredericksburg, Wayne county, Ohio, arriving there in 1833. He operated a woolen-mill at that place for many years, and was one of the substantial citizens of that locality. For a long time he held the office of postmaster. On his retirement from active business he and his wife removed to Defiance, where they both passed to the unseen world. This worthy couple were devout and consistent mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church, and their children, of whom there were thirteen, were carefully reared in that faith.
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The subject of this sketch, the third child in this numerous family, was educated mainly in the schools of Fredericksburg, so far as his educa- tion has been due to school instruction at all. At an early age he began to learn the practical details of work in the woolen-mill under his father's super- vision, thus forming habits of industry which have contributed in no slight measure to the success attained in later years. At nineteen he left the parental roof and went to St. Paul, Minnesota, then a mere village of six hundred inhabitants, and, finding employment at the carpenter's trade, remained there a year and a half. He then returned to Fredericksburg and entered into partnership with his father in the woolen business, in which he con- tinued until 1853, when he went to Defiance to establish a woolen-mill there. Certain parties had previously offered to furnish a suitable building if he would supply the machinery, but as their promises failed of fulfill- ment the project was abandoned. Mr. Deatrick did, however, put in a carding machine at a shop in Perry street, where the Defiance Woolen Mills now stand, his venture being a nucleus for the latter enterprise.
In 1853 he was married at Defiance to his first wife, Miss Nancy Taylor, daughter of Judge John Taylor, then a member of the Ohio Senate. For some time Mr. Deatrick taught school, but, determining to enter the legal profession, he read law with a brother-in-law, David Taylor, of Defiance, and in 1856 was admitted to the Bar. Two years later at Cleveland, Ohio, he was admitted to practice in the United States courts for this district. Like most "briefless barristers," he sought at first, while waiting for strictly legal business, to take up some similar lines of work, and in 1856 he accepted an agency for the Washington Union Insurance Co., of Cleveland, Ohio, and this laid the foundation for the most extensive and profitable insurance business in this section, now conducted under the firm name of John F. Deatrick & Son. It is safe to say that they do three-fourths of the business in that line in their locality. For years past this firm has also carried on a large real-estate and loan business, and they own many valuable tracts of land, improved and unimproved. For ten years after opening his office at Defiance, Mr. Deatrick also acted as special agent for the Phoenix Insur- ance Co., of Hartford, Connecticut, traveling over a large territory and establishing agencies at different points. In 1861 he was appointed United States deputy marshal, and in 1872 he was made chief of the Defiance fire department; but on his election in 1880 to the office of mayor of his city he resigned both these positions. That his administration was able and efficient is proven by his re-election in 1882 and 1884; then after an interval, just long enough to teach the people the value of his services, he was
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recalled to the post in 1894, and was again chosen in 1896. From the close of the war until 1890 he acted as war claim and pension agent at Defiance, in addition to his other lines of business.
Mr. Deatrick is a man of versatile talents and sound common sense, and these qualities, combined with an enterprising spirit, have naturally led him to lend a hand in many important business ventures. As one instance among many we will mention the Defiance Opera House, a handsome struc- ture, of which he was a leading promoter. Few men in the State have as high a reputation as a judge of land values. A man of strict integrity, Mr. Deatrick enjoys the esteem and confidence of all classes, and his influence as a progressive citizen ever ready to support a worthy cause is a power for good.
By his first marriage Mr. Deatrick had eight children, five of whom- Francis M., Claude T., Fred L., Charles L., and Ralph M .- are living. Three others-Edith May, Jeannette and Nannie K .- died in infancy. The mother of this family passed to the life beyond February 4, 1887, and on April II, 1895, Mr. Deatrick was united in marriage with Miss Marion Strong.
During the war and for some time afterward Mr. Deatrick affiliated with the Republican party, but in the Hayes-Tilden campaign he voted the Democratic ticket, and has since acted with that party. He is a promi- nent member of the Presbyterian Church, and also belongs to the Order of Elks and to the K. T.
REV. FATHER MICHAEL P. KINKEAD.
Father Kinkead, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, at Defiance, has for twenty-two years ministered faithfully to the spiritual needs of his people, and given powerful and effective aid to all influences which work for the advancement of the community. Revered and beloved by his own flock, he has also won the honor and esteem of all others who have seen his devotion to his noble calling.
Father Kinkead's family is of English origin, but his ancestors left their native land for Scotland, later, about 1648, removing to Ireland, dur- ing the "Cromwellian settlement." They located in the parish of Knock- long, County Limerick, where they have ever since been represented, their descendants occupying useful and honorable positions. There our sub- ject was born September 28, 1851, a son of James Kinkead, a farmer, and his wife, Sarah Cunningham. His elementary education was secured at
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the parish national school, about two miles and a half from his father's home, these schools being similar to our common schools, except that they were generally under the supervision of the parish priest. At the age of sixteen he entered a classical school at Kelteely, County Limerick, and after three years there he went to the college at Mt. Milleray, in County Waterford, and was graduated from that institution in his twentieth year. One year was then spent at All Hallows' College, in Dublin, in the study of philosophy. In August, 1871, he came to the United States, and on September I, of that year, he entered St. Mary's Seminary at Cleveland, Ohio, as a student of theology. On the completion of his course he was ordained, the ceremony taking place October 8, 1875, and after a short vacation he was appointed November 1, 1875, to the post of assistant pas- tor of St. Malachi's Church, in Cleveland, on the corner of Detroit and Washington streets. There he remained until January 1, 1877, when he was given his present charge.
The church building, which is Gothic, was erected in 1874 and 1875, dedicated in January, 1876, and cost over thirty thousand dollars. It is one hundred and thirty feet long, by fifty-five wide, built of brick with Berea sandstone trimmings and contains about one thousand seats. At the time of Father Kinkead's appointment there was a heavy debt, but he applied his energy and ability to the task before him with such zeal that this was soon cleared, and in 1886, under his inspiration and supervision, a com- modious brick school building of modern style was completed at a cost of seven thousand dollars, and opened for the accommodation of the child- ren of the parish, of which there are now about two hundred in attendance. In 1892 the church spire was completed, and a new pipe organ procured at an expense of five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. In 1897 the interior of the church was redecorated in oil colors. The ceiling is finished in purple with very rich gold damask work, and around the sanctuary and side walls is a series of excellent and most artistic paintings representing scriptural and sacred subjects. The stations of the Cross are also very beautiful works of art, and harmonize thoroughly with the other decorations. The paint- ing of the interior and the stations cost over three thousand five hundred dollars. Three new altars and two shrines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help-the patron of the church-were also procured in 1897, and a new heating apparatus, with other improvements, were added. The altars and shrines were donated by the ladies of the par- ish. They are white and gold, and exceedingly beautiful, and cost three thousand dollars. These improvements make the interior of the church
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one of the most beautiful in northwestern Ohio, and pastor and congre- gation are justly proud of their place of worship.
The church property is located on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Arabella streets, occupying the entire block except one small lot. Un- der Father Kinkead's ministry the congregation has been increased from eighty-four families to more than two hundred families, but these figures, or indeed any estimate of material progress, give no indication of the great work which he has done in molding and shaping to higher issues the lives of those to whom he gives his best thought.
The cause of temperance has found in him an earnest and eloquent ad- vocate, and he has spoken effectively on that theme on various occasions and in different places. Broad in his views and sympathies, a friend of the poor and oppressed, ever ready with helpful counsel for the perplexed or sorrowful, Father Kinkead has a wide field for labor, and well does he discharge its arduous and sacred duties.
LUTHER L. ORWIG.
Mr. Orwig is well-known as the editor of "The Democratic Northwest," of Napoleon, Henry county, his able and judicious management having made it one of the most popular papers in this section. Established in 1852, it was purchased by Mr. Orwig in the fall of 1872, and since that date he has been its proprietor as well as editor.
Although he is a native of Indiana, having been born at Fort Wayne, February 12, 1844, Mr. Orwig was less than a year old when he came to Ohio, and he has ever since resided in this State. His father, John Orwig, a native of Pennsylvania, was engaged for some years in early manhood in mercantile business at Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, but later removed to Fort Wayne, where he conducted a hotel until his death, in 1844, from small- pox. Our subject's mother, whose maiden name was Hannah Poorman, is still living at an advanced age. She was born in Perry county, Ohio, and soon after the death of her husband she returned to this State and located at Tiffin with her three children: J. B., Rebecca (now the wife of G. K. Brown, of Toledo, Ohio), and Luther L.
Our subject was educated in the schools of Tiffin and when about fifteen years old began to learn the printer's trade in the office of "The Seneca Advertiser," which was then owned by Hon. W. W. Armstrong, formerly Secretary of State for Ohio. With the exception of a few months spent in Cincinnati and Toledo, Mr. Orwig remained in that office until his removal, in the fall of 1872, to Napoleon, where he has since resided. He is thoroughly
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loyal to the interests of his locality, his paper being ready to champion any progressive movement, and as a citizen he is held in high esteem. Socially, he and his family are prominent, and he is actively interested in the work of Napoleon Lodge, No. 262, Royal Arcanum, of which he is a charter member.
On December 18, 1872, he was married in Kellogg, Jasper county, Iowa, to Mrs. Mary E. Davis, née Harriott, a native of Marysville, Ohio, and a daughter of James E. and Sarah A. Harriott, both of whom died at Lima, Ohio. Four children have blessed this union: Gale B., a promising young man, who was admitted to partnership with his father on January 1, 1895, as one of the proprietors of the "Northwest;" Corrinne H .; Don C .; and Ralph L. By her first marriage, to Isaac Davis, Mrs. Orwig had one daugh- ter, Ella, who died in her sixteenth year from consumption.
Mrs. Orwig, since her residence in Napoleon, has taken an active part in church and benevolent work, and she is now serving her second term upon the Board of Education, of which she is treasurer, the first lady ever serving in that capacity in Napoleon.
ALBRO WIRICK.
Sheriff Wirick, of Williams county, one of the popular and influential citizens of that locality, has for a number of years been recognized as one of the leaders in the Republican organization of his county.
Mr. Wirick comes of good old Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, and his grand- father, Peter Wirick, who was a native of Pennsylvania, became one of the earliest settlers of Richland county, Ohio, his homestead being located in the southwestern part of the county, near Hagerstown. This worthy pioneer was a substantial farmer, and was widely known as a hunter in his day. He and his wife, Deborah Wirick, had sixteen children, among whom was a son Jacob, our subject's father. Jacob Wirick learned the tailor's trade in his youth, and for some time followed that business at Hagerstown, having established his home there soon after his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Garver. In 1858, having been touched with "the gold fever" as a result of the stories in circulation concerning the extensive discoveries in California and other parts of the West, he went overland with a party to Pike's Peak in search of the precious metal. The venture proved unsuccessful and he soon started back, stopping in Missouri, where he was joined by his wife, who had been staying with her parents.
During their brief residence at Oregon, Holt county, Missouri, our subject was born on December 15. 1860, and shortly afterward the family returned to
كبير
yours Truly Altro Varick
-
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Richland county, Ohio. About two years later they removed to West Jeffer- son, Williams county, where the father engaged in mercantile business, and in 1864 he settled in Pioneer, Ohio, where he carried on a merchant-tailoring establishment until his death. On September 17, 1867, he passed to the unseen life, and his remains now rest in the cemetery at Pioneer. He was a Republi- can in politics, and in religious faith was a Universalist. His widow married a second husband, Benjamin Dee, of Fulton county (now deceased), and she resides at Alvordton, Ohio. By her first marriage she had five children : Sherman, Emerson, Albro, Sonora, and Florous.
Mr. Wirick's boyhood was chiefly spent upon a farm, where he became familiar with the details of agricultural work by practical experience. At the age of sixteen he removed with his mother to Fayette, Fulton county, where he attended school for some time. In 1885 he went to Watertown, South Dakota, but after remaining one season he returned to Ohio, and in the winter of 1885-86 he removed with his mother to Alvordton. His ability and his strong interest in political affairs soon led to an active participation in party work, and he held from the first an enviable place in the esteem of his fellow-workers. In September, 1895, he was nominated by the county con- vention on the first ballot for the office of sheriff against four other candidates, and later he was triumphantly elected by a majority of over six hundred. In 1897 he was re-elected by a handsome majority. He also served-1892-1896 -as deputy sheriff, under John C. Bailey, sheriff. Socially he is prominent and he is an active member of various orders, including the Knights of Pythias.
CHRISTIAN HARLEY.
For centuries the men of letters and learning of all countries have drawn inspiration and wisdom from the writings of the famous scholars of Germany-a country that has been so prolific in men of learning-that "studious" has become a necessary and accepted adjective in describing the national characteristics of that people. There a Luther was born, there he lived and died, and won immortality in history by his learning, piety and teachings, and there, also, was born and lived a Bismarck-one of the greatest statesmen of this or any other age; a Von Moltke-one of the greatest war generals of modern times; a Schiller and a Goethe-bright diadems in the crown of the world's poetry and literature; and countless others of matchless learning-all born in that Fatherland.
Of less fame, but of the same race, are countless thousands who emi-
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grated from their native shores and sought homes in the United States, where they have taken a goodly part in the settlement of the country from the earliest times in its history, and been prominent factors in all the dif- ferent avenues of progress and of national life. Of that lineage and race is descended the gentleman whose name opens this sketch. The family was in the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, until the time of the father of our subject, John Harley, who was a soldier in the German army in the wars against Napoleon, was at one time taken prisoner, but escaped soon afterward. He lived in the small town of Weingarten, near Carlsruhe, in the grand duchy of Baden, and followed farming as an occupation. In 1835 he, with his wife Margaret (Bertsch) Harley, and their four children, emigrated to the United States, first locating at Buffalo, New York, later removing to Petersburg, Columbiana county, Ohio, where the father of the family died in 1850, and his widow in 1860; both are buried at that place. The children of this couple were as follows: John, who died in Crawford county, Ohio; Alexander D., now a resident of Cleveland, Ohio; Jacob F., who died in Elyria, Ohio; and Christian, the subject of this sketch. The parents of this family were reared under the auspices of the Lutheran Church, but in later years became members of the Methodist Church, in which faith they died.
Christian Harley was born February 22, 1822, at Weingarten, Ger- many, and therefore was thirteen years of age when he came with his fath- er's family to the United States. He had attended school in his native land from the age of six years, thus obtaining early in life a fair education. At the age of fourteen he left his parents' home and began life for him- self; at the age of sixteen he apprenticed himself to learn the shoemaker's trade at Fallston, Beaver county, Pennsylvania. At the end of four years (having completed his trade), on December 18, 1842, he was married to Miss Regina Stelzer, born May 14, 1825, in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, Germany, who came to the United States with her parents when but six years of age. After his marriage our subject carried on the boot and shoe business at Florence, Erie county, Ohio, until 1849, when he embarked in the dry-goods business at the same place, and was very successful, steadily acquiring property, among which was a fine farm. In 1861 learning of a good opening for the dry-goods business at Defiance, Ohio, he moved to that place, where he rented a store and purchased a stock of goods, wholly on credit, and the following spring sold his real-estate at Florence, and with the proceeds greatly increased his business. This venture at Defiance proved a success, it becoming one of the largest stores of its kind in the
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city. Mr. Harley conducted the store, until April, 1877, when he sold out to his sons, having then an ample fortune, and has since lived a quiet and retired life. As an honorable merchant his record is without blemish -- beginning as a youth with no financial assistance, with stout heart and strong arms, combined with good habits taught him by a Christian mother, he began the battle of life and earned his way step by step to affluence, by his own labor and a constant trust in the God of the Universe.
In 1841 Mr. Harley became a member of the M. E. Church at Wells- ville, Ohio, and has remained constant to the cause of religion through all his years of active business life; of the means that has been given to him he has been liberal in its use to sustain the good cause, contributing at one time twenty-five hundred dollars toward the erection of St. Paul's M. E. Church edifice at Defiance, and five hundred dollars toward building the St. Paul's M. E. Church at Toledo. In various other ways he shows his earnest, self-sacrificing and practical Christianity, while he ascribes his whole success in life to the comfort and help that Christianity has been to him, and has never regretted that day in 1841, when he united with the Methodist Church. After a service in the cause of religion of over fifty- five years, he constantly renders thanks for the benefit it has been to him. In politics he was formerly a Whig, and in later years an ardent Republi- can. His wife, Regina (Stelzer) Harley, died at Defiance, September 30, 1880, the mother of thirteen children, as follows: Ann Helena, born March 18, 1844, married Louis Tiedeman, of Defiance; Caroline Louisa, born De- cember 20, 1845, married John Bertsch, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Charles Andrew, born October 25, 1847, married Emma Pearson, and lives in To- ledo; Alonzo Franklin, born August 8, 1849, married Elizabeth Bertsch, and lives in Defiance; Henry Albert, born August 23, 1851, married Phoebe Stover, and lives in Pioneer, Williams county, Ohio; Clark Clinton, born July 31, 1853, married Jenet Strong, and died in Pueblo, Colorado, May 9, 1897; C. Perry, a sketch of whom follows; Mary Matilda, born June 6, 1858, married Robert T. Whitaker, of Defiance; Edward Melton, born December 12, 1860, married Lizzie Wilson, and lives in Toledo (all born at Florence) ; the following were born at Defiance: Willie Melvin, born Feb- ruary 21, 1863, married Dana Durbin, and lives in Pioneer, Ohio; John Abraham Lincoln, born July 10, 1865, married Addie Bellinger (his death, caused by an accident, occurred September 23, 1868); Nellie Lillian, born September 23, 1868, is unmarried; and Jay De Forest, born July 1, 1871, is married to Gertrude Rout, and lives at Defiance. The father of this family was married to his present wife, Mary Stoody, April 25, 1882, and by the union there is one child, Edith May, born March 31, 1883.
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