History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 98

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

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John George Mader was born in Wertem- berg, Germany, in 1839, and died at his home at Bucyrus, O., in December, 1907. He was a son of John George Mader, who was born and reared in Germany and there married Miss Hoch. In the late forties the father of John George Mader, Jr., accompanied by his two older children, took passage on a sailing ves- sel for America and after a voyage of forty- seven days, reached New York and came on to Bucyrus, O., where he established himself in the hotel business. In 1852 he sent for his wife and the other children and they also crossed the Atlantic ocean in a sailing vessel and came on to Bucyrus, where he was doing a good business, the railroad being then in course of construction and the country opening up in every direction, there being much travel. Some years prior to his death in 1878, he gave up the hotel business and retired to a farm near the city, a large portion of which still belongs to the family. Almost his whole fam- ily of ten children grew to maturity and sev- eral survive and reside at Bucyrus.

John George Mader, Jr., was the third eldest child of those who survived infancy and was

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thirteen years of age when he accompanied his mother and the younger children to America to join the father at Bucyrus. He grew up very helpful to his father in the hotel business and later went into the wine and liquor busi- ness on North Sandusky avenue and became a man of ample fortune. He was a Democrat in politics and was frequently sent as a dele- gate to state and county conventions and served in the city council. He was a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft society.

At Bucyrus he was married to Christina Dinkel, who was born in this city in 1841 and died here in 1885. She was a daughter of Ludwig and Christina Dinkel, who were early German settlers in this section and faithful members of the German Lutheran church. They had two children, Mrs. Mader and Louis, the latter of whom lives retired in Bucyrus. Five children were born to the above marriage, the eldest of these being William F., of this record. Antonia, the eldest daughter, was the wife of William A. Blicke, cashier of the Bucyrus City Bank and was survived by one son, Frederick. C. Edward, the second son, is a resident of Brooklyn, N. Y., and is vice president of the firm of Schall & Co., of New York. He married Miss Wilhelmina Schall and they have seven daughters and one son. J. G., the third son is associated with his eld- est brother in business. He married Miss Minnie Schurr. Elsie, the youngest, who was the wife of George G. Koch, of Cleveland, is survived by one daughter.

William F. Mader was reared and educated at Bucyrus and afterward assisted his father and subsequently became his partner in busi- ness and still later with his brother, John G. Mader, the brothers being the sole proprietors of the business their father founded. In poli- tics he is a Democrat but has never been what is termed a politician. He has been connected with the fire department for many years and was at the head of the old volunteer company when the apparatus consisted of the old hand engine known locally as the Water Cloud and other primitive accouterments. Since 1888 he has been chief of the present well organized department and its equipments are modern and entirely adequate and Chief Mader is proud of his force of well trained men.

Mr. Mader was married in New York city

to Miss Cecelia Schall, a daughter of Michael Schall, who established the wholesale confec- tionery supply house of Schall & Co., in that city. Both he and wife were natives of Wer- temberg, Germany. After his death his widow and her brother continued the business until her death, since which time it has been oper- ated as a stock company. Mr. and Mrs. Mader have two children : Lucile Dora, who was born in 1892 and Vera Elsie, who was born in 1895. The family belong to the German Lutheran church. Mr. Mader is a member of the Order of Eagles and belongs, like his late father, to the Deutsche Gesellschaft society.

SIMEON F. SHERER, who is a well known citizen of Whetstone township, Craw- ford county, O., and a representative of an old and substantial county family, was born on the farm on which he still lives, March 5, 1865; and is a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Haller) Sherer.

Samuel Sherer was born in Lycoming county, Pa., and was five years old when he was- brought to Ohio and he ever afterward lived on the same farm in Whetstone town- ship, Crawford county. He was a man of lo- cal importance, a hearty supporter of the Methodist Episcopal church and active in pub- lic matters, serving for a number of years as township clerk, township trustee and in other capacities, elected to office on the Democratic ticket. At the time of his death he owned about 308 acres of land in Whetstone town- ship. He was twice married, his first wife be- ing a Miss Hagenleibly, who was born in this township and at death was survived by two daughters-Catherine, now deceased, who was the wife of Simeon Beal, and Mary, who is the wife of Emanuel Lust. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Haller, who died when her son, Simeon F., was four and one-half years old. He was the eldest born and had one sister, Matilda, who is the wife of John J. Kurtz.

Simeon F. Sherer attended the public schools. He remained with his father and suc- ceeded to the homestead and has lived here ever since, carrying on general farming and raising enough stock for home use. On June 5, 1901, Mr. Sherer was married to Miss Mary Kurtz, a daughter of George and Cath-

JOHN HOPLEY, SR., AND JOHN (III) HOPLEY, JR.

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erine (Geibler) Kurtz, who were natives of Germany. The parents of Mrs. Sherer set- tled first in Pennsylvania and then came to Ohio, where the father subsequently died, the mother now making her home with Mr. and Mrs. Sherer. The latter has the following brothers and sisters : John J. and Isaac; Eliza- beth, who is the wife of Dr. C. H. Senn, of Williamsport, Pa .; Laura, who is the wife of C. A. Coppe; and Benjamin.

To Mr. and Mrs. Sherer three children have been born: Robert K., Katherine and Lowell Samuel. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically a Democrat, Mr. Sherer takes great pleasure in the success his party frequently achieves. He has served at times in public office and has been school di- rector and also township trustee.

JOHN L. TOBIAS, engineer for the Bucy- rus Electric Light and Power company at Bucyrus, O., a practical and experienced man in his profession, was born at Greencastle, Franklin county, Pa., April 19, 1853, and is a son of William B. Tobias.

John L. Tobias was eleven years of age when he accompanied the family to Sulphur Springs, Crawford county, O., and he was reared here, attending the district schools dur- ing the winter time until old enough to work in a saw mill, and passing his summers use- fully on the home farm. It was while he was assisting his brother, William F. Tobias, in the lumber industry that he gained his first knowl- edge of steam engineering, which he has fol- lowed alternately for twenty years while also carrying on agricultural pursuits in Marion county. In 1899 he came to Bucyrus and con- tinued work along engineering lines and for the past eighteen months has filled his present responsible position with one of the city's most important utilities.

John L. Tobias was married at Bucyrus, to Miss Elizabeth Meyer, who was born here in 1859 and is a daughter of John and Margaret (Bauer) Meyer, natives of Wurtemberg and Bavaria, Germany. Mr. Meyer was twenty years of age when he came to America and lo- cated at Bucyrus where he was married, in 1858, to Margaret Bauer. She was nine years old when her parents brought her from Ger- many to Bucyrus, and was a daughter of Jacob

and Eva (Stickler) Bauer. Jacob Bauer died at the age of forty years but his widow sur- vived to the age of seventy years. In their re- ligious connection they were German Luther- ans. John Meyer was a well known citizen and a very active Democrat, serving in many public capacities, and at one time was city treasurer. He died August 5, 1908, when aged 75 years. The mother of Mrs. Tobias sur- vived until August 2, 1911, when aged 72 years. They were among the most highly re- spected residents of Bucyrus and were worthy members and liberal supporters of the German Lutheran church. Of their seven children, Amelia died young. The other members of the family are: Mrs. Tobias; John; Jacob B., who is a resident of Lincoln, Neb .; Catherine, who resides in the old Meyer homestead at No. 136 Hill street; Charles, a resident of Bucyrus, who is one of the directors of the Crawford County Infirmary; and Frank.

Mr. and Mrs. Tobias have one daughter, Lillian M., who was born September 15, 1889. She has been carefully educated and is filling a clerical position with the Carroll Foundry and Machine Co. of this city. Mr. Tobias and family belong to the German Lutheran church. In politics he is a Democrat.

JOHN HOPLEY. One of the citizens of Crawford county who has left a strong im- press not only on the local surroundings but upon the affairs of the state of Ohio, is John Hopley, for 40 years owner and editor of the Bucyrus Journal and also head of the com- pany which owned and published the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph. Mr. Hopley was a na- tive of England, having been born at Whit- stable, a naval station on the east coast of England, May 21, 1821. His father, Edward Hopley, F. R. C. S., was for 43 years a sur- geon in the Royal Navy of England, and after his retirement practiced his profession of medicine and surgery at Whitstable, in Kent, and later at Lewes, in Sussex, one of the oldest towns in England. His mother was Miss Catherine Cooper Prat, who descended from a long line of ancestry distinguished in the Church of England, her great-grandfather, Samuel Prat, having been Dean of Rochester Cathedral in 1697, preceptor of the Royal heir apparent, Canon of Windsor, and head

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chaplain to Queen Anne, and is buried in St. George's chapel, Windsor; others, Rev. Dan- iel Prat and George Prat, are buried in Roch- ester Cathedral; her father, Rev. John Prat, being buried in St. Dunstans, Canterbury. In the seven generations since Daniel Prat (in 1574) all of his ancestors in the direct line, except, of course, his mother, have been min- isters in the Church of England.

John Hopley pursued his education in the Royal Navy Academy at Camberwell, Surrey, a suburb of London. This school was ex- clusively for sons of naval officers and its course was most extensive and thorough. Here the Bell, or monitor system was in vogue, and this afforded opportunity for the development of character through responsibil- ity. Mr. Hopley excelled in both athletics and study, and won many class honors. A. the close of his college course he was ma de a teacher of the institution, where he remained for some years.

In 1842, soon after attaining his majority, he came to the United States with his mater- nal uncle, John R. Prat, of Zanesville, whose store he entered in the capacity of clerk. He there continued until 1844, when he began teaching, with a view to entering upon the study of law, and making its practice his life work. In 1845 he went to Logan, Hocking county, to teach. He induced the trustees to establish graded schools there, which were among the first of the kind established in Ohio. They proved a great success and his educational ideas did much to build those schools into prominence and effected an up- lifting of the schools of Ohio in general.

On April 19, 1848, Mr. Hopley was united in marriage to Miss Georgianna Rochester, the fourth daughter of Mr. John Rochester, of Logan, Ohio. Her father was born near London, England, Jan. 9, 1796, and in 1816 he married Miss Marian Gladdle, a daughter of a French gentleman who left his native land owing to the French Revolution, and entered the English army as an officer, and was killed in Spain while fighting against Napoleon. Mr. Rochester came to America in 1820. settling at Englishtown, Athens county, Ohio, but soon removed to Logan, where for nearly half a century he was en- gaged in merchandising, being recognized as

one of the most prominent and influential citizens of the place. For more than 44 years he was a member of the Presbyterian church and served for 34 years as an elder. He aided greatly in promoting the moral advancement of the people among whom he lived, and the memory of his upright career remains as an inspiration and a benediction to all who knew him. He died Oct. 29, 1876, at the age of 81 years. His daughter, Mrs. Hopley, was born Feb. 22, 1826.

Desiring to study slavery and its influence upon the social life of the South, Mr. Hopley soon after his marriage, removed to Tennes- see, becoming a teacher in a school at Mellow Creek, and New Providence, and then went to Elkton, Todd county, Ken- tucky, where he had charge of the schools. In 1862 he returned to Logan as supervisor of the public schools, where he remained in educational work for three years. In 1855 he was chosen instructor in mathematics at Granger's Commercial School at Columbus, but the institution, not being in strong finan- cial condition, he only remained a portion of a year and then went to Wellston, Columbiana county, to fill out an incompleted year there. On the 12th of April, 1856, he arrived with his family at Bucyrus, having been elected superintendent of schools at this place, and during the years of his work at the head of the Bucyrus schools he was an important fac- tor in placing them on a firm basis. He en- tered on his duties here with his usual earnest- ness and zeal and the system he established soon awakened the admiration of the people of the vicinity and other portions of the state.

In 1858, Mr. Hopley was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with A. M. Jackson, but the following year he decided to open an office of his own, and he continued the practice successfully until 1862 when he went to England with Thomas Alsop, a client, to settle some Alsop family affairs, and when he returned he found his practice practically destroyed; some of his clients were in the army and in many cases important witnesses had enlisted, so that it was impossible to bring cases to trial. Mr. Hopley was then appointed by Mr. Salmon P. Chase to a clerk- ship in the office of the second auditor of the treasury at Washington, ar4 soon, by special

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order of Mr. Chase himself, was transferred to the office of the latter, having a desk in the office of the library of the treasury. As he found opportunity he studied the financial problems and employed his pen effectively in advancing the financial policy of the secretary of the treasury, and the establishment of na- tional banks. After the national banking law was passed he was transferred to the banking and currency bureau. Hugh Mccullough, who was then comptroller of the currency, placed Mr. Hopley in charge of the statistical department of the bureau. His duties there included examination of regular reports and reports of bank examiners. Mr. Hopley, during that period of life, occasionally fur- nished data for speeches made by members of Congress, whereby the statesmen became dis- tinguished.

In 1864 he resigned his position in order to accept an offer of a position in a large bank in New York. In 1866 he was appointed national bank examiner by the Government for all the southern states excepting Delaware, Maryland and Virginia; Kansas was after- ward added to the list. After completing this work in 1867 he returned to Bucyrus and in September purchased of James Robinson a half interest in the Bucyrus Journal. The fol- lowing spring he purchased of Ralph Robin- son the other half interest, and after the spring of 1868 he was sole owner of that paper until his death. From August, 1870, to January, 1879, he was postmaster at Bucyrus, having been appointed by President Grant. He was also postmaster at Bucyrus from 1890 to 1894, having been appointed by President Harrison. In 1887 the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph was established as an independent paper but on Jan. 4, 1895 The Hopley Printing Co. was incorporated and since that time the daily and weekly papers have been under one manage- ment, Mr. Hopley having been president and general supervisor until his death, which oc- curred June 3, 1904. His wife, Mrs. Georgi- anna Rochester Hopley died Oct. 21, 1904, living but a few months after her husband, with whom she had borne the burdens and obligations of life for 56 years.

They were the parents of ten children, their third child having died in infancy, but all the others having grown to maturity. Their old-

est child, Charles Rochester Hopley, died Jan. 19, 1909. The surviving children are John Edward Hopley, now of Bucyrus; Thomas P. Hopley, of Enid, Oklahoma; Mary Catherine Cooper Hopley, of Chicago; Georgianna Eliza Hopley, of Bucyrus; Harriet Evelyn Frances Hopley, of Chicago; James Richard Hopley, Frank Lewes Hopley, and Joseph William Hopley of Bucyrus. There are four grand- children, Miss Pearl Hopley, the daughter of Charles R. Hopley, now of Newburg, New York; Laura Rochester Hopley, John Curtis Hopley and Rose Hopley, children of Thomas P. Hopley of Enid, Oklahoma.

In his association with the newspaper and Editorial work and his efforts in the interests of the Republican party, John Hopley filled an important place in Crawford county and his influence reached pretty generally through- out Ohio. His peculiarly effective schooling fitted him for the work of political writing, and he aimed to give to his editorial utter- ances a high quality of intelligence and in- tegrity. His pen was often responsible for planks in the Republican state platforms, and his ideas helped in guiding the enactment of tariff legislation, his friends being those re- sponsible for important laws enacted at Wash- ington. While he wrote vigorously on sub- jects of local interests and while he never hesitated to speak plainly about matters of local discussion, he retained the friendship and admiration of those with whom he had been associated here and his death caused gen- eral regret here at Bucyrus. He was in the sixties, secretary of the Crawford County Fair Association, later he was instrumental in or- ganizing the Republican Editorial Association of Ohio and was its first president. He had many friends in public affairs, both at Colum- bus and in Washington and found much pleas- ure in his advancement of the big affairs of state and nation.

Charles R. Hopley was a veteran of the Civil War, having served in a Pennsylvania regiment. He later traveled a great deal and spent much time in mining developments, in- cluding the Black Hills excitement and the Yukon rush to Alaska. He died in California, Jan. 19, 1909, where he had gone for the winter to escape the rigors of the Alaskan winter.

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John E. Hopley was United States consul for seven years, from 1898 to 1905, five years being located at Southampton, England, and two years at Montevideo, Uruguay. He was associated with New York newspapers for years and in 1887 established the Bucyrus Evening Telegraph. He has been very active in politics.

Thomas P. Hopley was educated in Bu- cyrus schools and established the Temperance Ballot, a newspaper which he afterward changed to the Crawford County News. This he sold in 1893 and went to Oklahoma where he participated in the opening of the "strip" and was one of the founders of Enid, still being one of the "boosters" of the city.

Mary C. C. Hopley is associated with the Open Door Work of Willard Hall in Chicago, and devotes much time to newpaper work.

Georgia E. Hopley, is a well known news- paper worker and has done much important work in reporting women's activities for news- papers. She retired from newspaper work to care of her parents during their last illness and later became the head of the family home at Bucyrus.

Harriet E. Hopley is an expert proof- reader, having been employed in some of the most particular printing offices in Chicago, where she resides.

James R. Hopley was managing editor of the Family newspapers up to the time he was appointed postmaster at Bucyrus.

Frank L. Hopley is advertising manager of the American Clay Machinery Co., and is sec- retary and manager of the American Clay Products Exposition at Chicago. Though his home is at Bucyrus his work is at Chicago much of the time.

Joseph W. Hopley was a war correspond- ent with the Eighth Ohio regiment in Cuba. He has charge of the newspaper end of the business of The Hopley Printing Company, of which organization he is a vice president.

FRANK I. RUHL, a successful and enter- prising business man of Bucyrus, O., who has been manager of the large mercantile interests of Elias Blair since the latter's retirement from active participation in business, has been iden- tified with his present concern ever since 1893. He was born at Bucyrus, December 16, 1859,

the youngest child of Alexander A. and Amelia M. (Shawke) Ruhl.

The Ruhl family is of German ancestry. It is probable that the grandfather, Jacob Ruhl, was born in Pennsylvania and came to Galion, O., quite early and at one time had large inter- ests north of that place. Jacob Ruhl and wife were old people at time of death and of their large family there is one survivor : Mrs. S. G. Cummings, who is the wife of an attorney liv- ing at Mansfield, O.

Alexander A. Ruhl was born at Galion, O., April 4, 1828, where he grew to manhood and then came to Bucyrus. Here he became prominent in town and county affairs, was postmaster during the fifties and was county auditor, county treasurer and county clerk. Politically he was a Democrat. His death oc- curred in 1891. He was married at Bucyrus to Aurelia M. Shawke, who was born here in 1833 and died in 1906. Her parents were Thomas and Esther ( Allbright) Shawke, the former of whom, a blacksmith by trade, came here in 1828, when it was nothing but a mere hamlet. Stories are still told of his remark- able strength and of his fondness for athletics and all manly diversions and also of his affec- tion for children, all of whom returned the sentiment. The Ruhls and the Shawkes have always been Methodists. One daughter and two sons were born to Alexander A. Ruhl and wife, namely : Ida B., who is the wife of Louis Brower, of Bucyrus; George S., who conducts a carriage making shop at Bucyrus, who mar- ried Nettie Curran and has one son, Frank M .; and Frank I.

Frank I. Ruhl was reared and educated at Bucyrus and was graduated in 1878. In 1893 he became a clerk for Elias Blair in his hard- ware store and later became chief clerk and manager. Mr. Blair has placed implicit reli- ance in him for the past twenty years and has found him faithful to every interest and capable of handling every business problem. Mr. Ruhl was married to Anna, a daughter of Mr. Blair in May, 1891, and they have one son, E. Blair Ruhl, who was born April 5, 1892. He was graduated from the Bucyrus High school in June, 1911, and at the present writ- ing is a student in the Wittenberg college at Springfield, O. Mr and Mrs. Ruhl attend the Lutheran church.

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JOHN D. PFOUTS, a leading citizen and township trustee of Holmes township, Craw- ford county, O., resides on his farm of thirty- seven and one-half acres, which he largely de- votes to the raising of fine poultry. He was born in Lycoming county, Pa., but has been a resident of Crawford county since 1856. His parents were Robert and Jane (Pursell) Pfouts.

Robert Pfouts was born in Pennsylvania, of German parentage. He was a canal boatman and his death occurred in middle life, in the infancy of his son, John D. The mother came to Crawford county in 1856, when John D. was five years old, and she survived into her sixty-fifth year, dying on her son's farm.

John D. Pfouts attended the country schools until old enough to secure employment at the old Eagle Works, now the American Clay Ma- chinery plant, at Bucyrus, and three years la- ter became interested in farm work and has continued in that line. His first farm of forty acres was in Liberty township but he has lived on his present place for many years. He car- ries on general farming but makes a specialty of raising S. C. white leghorn chickens for market, and growing India Runner ducks. He has accommodations on his place for some 800 chickens and safely carries the birds over win- ter. Giving close attention to this industry, Mr. Pfouts has made it a very profitable one, the demand for his birds always exceeding the supply. He has made all the improvements on his property and has erected all the present substantial buildings.

Mr. Pfouts married Miss Alice Fralick and they have two sons: Earl, who has great mu- sical talent and lives in the city of Philadel- phia; and P. R., who is a rural mail carrier out of Bucyrus. He married a daughter of Jo- seph B. Quaintance. In politics, Mr. Pfouts is a Democrat and he is a member of the Na- tional Union. He is a representative man in Holmes township and as one of its trustees looks carefully after the interests of all resi- dents, and probably no man is better known or more highly respected.

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 98

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302