USA > Ohio > Seneca County > History of Seneca County, Ohio; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Vo. II > Part 14
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Samuel Metzger, father of John C. Metzger and grandfather of Samuel H. Metzger, was a man of ability. active in all public affairs, and he made a fine property which included a farm of two hundred and thirty-five acres. Rebecca Holtzel, who became his wife, was born August 19, 1812. in what is now Hardy county, West Virginia, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Holtzel, who came to Brown county. Ohio, when she was twelve years old. She married Samuel Metzger April 23. 1836. Of her eleven or twelve brothers and sisters. Jacob, John C., Susan, Charlotte, Christian and Dorothy were all born in Virginia, and all lived to
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a ripe old age. The others, born in Ohio, all died in infancy or in childhood. Iler father left Brown county and later lived in Pick- away county, Ohio, whence he moved to Noble county, Indiana, settling on a farm near Ligonier. His wife died in 1840. She was of the old German-American family of Bersgtresser. About 1860 he married Elizabeth Hull. of Albion, Indiana, who survived him. The sketch of D. L. Miller in this work will assist to a better know- ledge of this part of the family history of the Holtzels.
Samuel and Rebecca (Holtzel) Metzger had five children : Henry HI., born June 29, 1837; John C., born December 4, 1838. near the geographical center of Adams township; Sarah, born November 5, 1840, who married Christian King and died in April. 1877; Jacob, born November 21. 1842; Levina, born November 23. 1849, who is Mrs. Alford Frontz, of Adams township. John C. Metzger was brought up on his father's farm and gained a practical education in the public school near his home. He married Sarah Miller, sister of Jacob J. Miller, March 29, 1860, and they had three children : Alwilda, born December 23, 1860; Gertrude, born August 21, 1872, who married A. J. Weller, of Sandusky ounty : and Samuel H., whose name is at the head of this article and of whom more will be said further on. Mrs. Metzger died May 21.
1888. Mr. Metzger married Lydia (Lee) Berry on June 2, 1889. By his second marriage he has a daughter, Julia, Mrs. Henry C. Tanner, of Grand Rapids. Michigan. In 1862 he moved to Steuben county, Indiana, where he bought forty acres of land and for seven years farmed and operated a threshing machine. Returning to Adams township, Seneca county. Ohio, he bought the farm of sixty- seven acres, which has since been his home. During the last few years he has been a somewhat extensive traveler. especially in the United States, with special reference to the west. and his different tours have taken him to most of the western states and territories. An observer as well as a traveler, he has widened his outlook and broadened his mind by study and analysis of what he has seen. He is a man of great affability and kindness of heart. a friend to every worthy person he meets. held in the highest regard by all who know him. A Democrat, solicitous for the success of his party locally as well as nationally, he takes a deep interest in all impor- tant township and county affairs and has served his fellow citizens ably and with rare integrity and diligence as town clerk and as a member of the school board. His second wife died March 7. 1899. His declining years are cheered by several children and four grand- children. The latter are Lela Billman, of Scipio township, daugh- ter of his daughter Alwilda; and Milen B., Carno D. and Loretta C. Metzger, children of his son Samuel H. He enjoys such good health that he appears fifteen or twenty years younger than lie is and is so thoroughly alive to present day interests that his farm is one of the best kept and most up-to-date in the township. A son of pioneers. he delights in talking of the old times when the country was new and the people were simple and friendly and helpful to one another. He has an interesting old sabre that his grandfather, a captain of Ohio militia, carried in the war of 1812.
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Samuel H. Metzger, of Adams township lived with his father and helped him in his farming operations until he married and contemplated setting up a rooftree for himself. His wife was Stella M. Somers, and they were wedded on February 26, 1896. She was born December 1, 1875, a daughter of John and Catharine (Newkirk) Somers, descendants of Germans from Hesse-Darm- stadt who came early to this country. Her father. born in 1829, was a farmer in Scipio township. Educated in good distriet schools and at Republic, Mr. Metzger was well equipped to take up the battle of life as a farmer. After his marriage he began farming on his own account and he has been so successful that he now owns two hundred and one half acres. well stocked, fitted out and culti- vated. He bought his first one hundred acres in 1899, fifty-three acres in 1902 and forty-seven and one half acres in 1910. He has bought several tracts of timber land, owning now from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five thousand feet of lumber in the tree. For several years he has dealt extensively in lumber and hay. Last year his shipment of lumber was very large and he shipped one hundred and eighty car loads of hay. Taken all in all, he is one of the busiest and most progressive men in his part of the county, one whose future is roseate with promise of big things well accomplished. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat. Toward all local movements promotive of the good interests of his fellow citizen he is helpful beyond some of his abler neighbors. His sons, Milen B. and Carno D. were born April 20, 1897, and April 25, 1899, respectively. and his daughter, Loretta C., April 22, 1903.
JOHN B. MAULE .- The present postmaster of Greenspring is a native son of Seneca county and is numbered among its well known and highly honored citizens. He is a scion of a family whose name has been identified with the history of the old Buckeye state for nearly three-quarters of a century and the genealogical record is one of particularly interesting order. as even the brief data incorporated in this review will indicate.
John B. Maule was born in Hopewell township. Seneca county, Ohio, on the 7th of August, 1863, and is a son of Charles L. and Mary J. (Nichols) Maule, the former of whom was also born in Hopewell township. Seneca county. Ohio, on the 19th of January, 1835, and the latter of whom was born in Kentucky. on the 27th of April. 1838. Their marriage was solemnized on the 17th of May. 1857. and of the four children the subject of this review is the youngest. Of the other children it may be noted that Victoria V., who was born on the 1st of March. 1858, is the wife of Aaron Zink, a resident of Pleasant township. Seneca county, Ohio. Laura I., who was born on the 7th of May, 1859. is the wife of Henry Zink, of Sandusky county, and Diadama A., who was born on the 28th of October. 1860. is the wife of George McNutt, of Sandusky county.
Charles L. Maule was a son of John and Elizabeth (Derr) Maule, the former of whom was born October 21. 1792. and died October 31, 1866, and the latter of whom was born September 14
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1804. and died May 23. 1885. The lineage of the Maule family is traced back to distinguished French origin and the ancient family of Maule the original of whose coat of arms is set up in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. A. D. 996. had its estate not far from the city of Paris and this estate remained in the possession of the family for four centuries. Definite record traces the genealogy back to L. A. Maule who was living near Paris in the year 996 A. D. The Lords of Maule owned a large estate eight leagues from Paris, which remained in the family as stated for four centuries. Guarin. a son of one of them. went with William the Conquerer to England. He died in 1098, leaving two sons. one of whom attached himself to David, king of Scotland. He obtained large grants of land in Mid-Lothian from the King. It was from him that the Maules of this country descended.
Thomas Maule, of Salem. Massachusetts. left England about 1655 for the island Barbadoes. When only twelve years old he went from there to Boston, then to Salem, where he was persecuted for his religious belief. he being a Quaker (as are most of his descendants of this section). Thomas had one son. John who came to Philadelphia about 1701 and who married Charity .Jones in 1704. They left one son. Thomas, who had a store on Second street. Philadelphia. He married Zillak Walker. They sold the store and moved to a large tract of land he had purchased near what is now Strafford Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. They raised a large family of children : Thomas. Daniel. Benjamin, Ebenezer. John. Jacob and others. John died about 1792 of yellow fever contracted while attending Yearly Meeting in Philadelphia.
Thomas. the oldest son, moved to Richmond. Virginia, where he engaged extensively in business. Three of his grandsons came from there to Philadelphia. After Thomas' death his widow. Zillak Walker. married Jeremiah Brown. of Lancaster county. and to them one daughter was born. Zillak who married .James Morgan.
John Maule, grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was born and reared in Maryland. as was also his wife. whose maiden name was Elizabeth Derr. and there their marriage was solemnized on the 24th of May. 1827. In 1830 they emigrated to Ohio and established their home in Seneca county. where the grandfather engaged in the work of his trade, that of blacksmith. and where both he and his wife continued to reside until their
death.
John Maule had two brothers and one sister.
brothers finally established their homes at Richmond, Virginia, and the sister. Lydia. came to Ohio. whence she later went to Cincin- nati. Ohio, where she died in 1866. Thomas Manle, father of John, died in Baltimore, Maryland, as the result of an attack of yellow fever. The family name was utilized by Hawthorne in his famous work. the House of Seven Gables, and the data therein incorporated by the distinguished author was authentic in so far as it related to this family. John and Elizabeth (Derr) Maule he- came the parents of children concerning whom the following brief record is given : Llenellah Thomas, who was named in honor of the founder of the family in America, was born on the 14th of Feb- ruary, 1829; Ann E., was born on the 23rd of March, 1830, and on
The
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the 27th of December. 1853, she became the wife of Adam Repp; William W., who was born December 11, 1831. was united in mar- riage to Elizabeth Zell on the 26th of May, 1857; Lydia M .. who was born March 18. 1833. became the wife of William Dick on the 19th of October. 1854: Charles L., father of him whose name in- troduces this sketch. was the next in order of birth; John E .. was born May 18. 1839. and died on the 5th of the following August : Charles, who was a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war. in which he served under General Sherman. in Georgia. died while in service, on the 23rd of May, 1865; and William W., the youngest of the children. died in Hopewell township. on the 28th of January. 1908. John Maule. the founder of the Ohio branch of the family. died on the 31st of October. 1866. and his devoted wife was sun- moned to the life eternal in 1870.
Charles L. Maule devoted the major portion of his active career to the vocation of farming and he continued to maintain his home in Hopewell township until his death. which occurred on the 23rd of May, 1865. IIe was a man of sterling integrity of character and of strong intellectual powers so that he wielded no little in- fluence in connection with local affairs of a public order and held a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the community. In November, 1864. he tendered his services in defense of the Union by enlisting in the Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he participated in a number of important engagements, in- eluding the battle of Atlanta. and he continued in service until his death. His widow was a daughter of Cornelius and Isabel (Wi- ley) Nichols, who were natives of Kentucky, whence they removed to Ohio. in 1840. establishing their home in Sandusky. Mrs. Mary J. (Nichols) Maule was two years of age at the time of the family removal from Kentucky to Ohio. and in the latter state she has since maintained her home. After the death of her first husband she contracted a second marriage. On the 4th of June. 1872. she became the wife of Josiah Jackman, now deceased, and they had two children. Verne, who was born October 21, 1876, and Meda E .. who was born May 29. 1880.
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John B. Manle, to whom this review is dedicated. passed his boyhood and youth on the homestead farm in Seneca county, and he continued to be identified with its work until the time of his marriage. After duly availing himself of the advantages of the public schools he entered the Northwestern Ohio University at Ada. in which he prosecuted his studies for eight years. Mr. . Maule devoted his attention to the work of the pedagogic profes- sion for a period of fifteen years and in this vocation his success was of most pronounced order. The most of his work as a teacher was done in Pleasant township. Seneca county. and finally he he- came superintendent of the public schools of Greenspring. a posi- tion of which he remained incumbent three years, within which he did much to elevate the standard and systematize the work of the schools of this attractive village. On the 15th of April. 1898. he was appointed postmaster of Greenspring. at the time of the first administration of President McKinley. He has continuously served in this position since that time and he received re-appoint-
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ment under Presidents Roosevelt and Taft. From 1898 until 1903 he was a member of the board of education of his home vil- lage and served as treasurer thereof. He served as village clerk of Greenspring for two years, was for four years a member of the village council and in 1905 he was elected mayor of Greenspring, of which office he remained in tenure two years. during which he gave a most satisfactory and progressive administration of the municipal affairs of the village. He also served two years as justice of the peace. Mr. Maule is affiliated with Greenspring Lodge. No. 427. Free and Accepted Masons. of which he is past master, and he is also identified with the local organizations of the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. in both of which he has filled the various official chairs and both of which he has represented in the grand lodges of the state. As may be naturally inferred he is a stanch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party and he attends and gives his sup- port to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his wife is a zealous member. besides which she holds membership in the Order of the Eastern Star.
On the 13th of February, 1890. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Manle to Miss Viana Mull, who was born in Sandusky on the 6th of May. 1865. and who is a daughter of Amos and Anna (Voorhees) Mull. Mr. and Mrs. Maule have four children. con- cerning whom the following brief data are incorporated in con- clusion of this brief article : Charles B .. who was born on the 25th of November, 1891. is now his father's assistant in the post office ; John C. Howard Manle, who was born October 19. 1893, is now a student in the Greenspring High School as a member of the class of 1912; Zella, who was born July 30. 1895. is likewise a student in the high school ; and Harry R .. who was born May 2, 1904. attends the public school.
JOHN HENRY BRINKMAN, a farmer of Adams township. Seneca county, Ohio, was born in Westphalen. Prussia. April 2. 1833, and was there reared and educated. He came to the United States in 1869 and located on his farm of seventy-one acres in Adams county on which he has since lived. making a record as a farmer of which any man might well be proud and winning esteem as a citizen from his fellow townsmen of all classes.
Mr. Brinkman was married in his native land on April 7. 1867. to Miss Menia Talgamaear. who died June 19. 1909. They had five children. Of these. Sophie, born April 10. 1868. married J. Oswald, of Clyde: Settia. born October 10. 1869. is a member of her father's household: Harmon born December 15. 1870. is a popular citizen of his native township. They were educated in the good schools of Adams township. and each is fully equipped to take his or her place in line for the battle of life, able to make his or her way honestly and valiantly to the success that crowns the efforts of the worthy and industrious. Mr. Brinkman is a man of fine character, respected by all who know him and influential in
. all affairs in which his most advanced townsmen are interested. He likes to speak of the fatherland. and he has taught his children to revere it while giving their allegiance to the land of his adoption.
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Ilis voyage across the Atlantic when he came here, with his young wife. is ever fresh in his memory, and he recalls the fact that in their passage they were beset by fierce storms which at times menaced the destruction of their sturdy vessel. It was a long journey from their old home in Prussia across the ocean to their new home in the interior of the great United States, but with all its perils, all its discomforts, it brought them to its rewards.
W. O. DILDINE has for more than three decades been in public service at Tiffin. Ohio, and is well known throughout Seneca coun- ty. The Dildine family, of which he is a representative. originally came to this country from Holland. They were among the early settlers of Pennsylvania. and it was in the "Keystone State" that Mr. Dildine's grandparents. Daniel and Margaret (McEwen) Dil- dine, were born. They came to Ohio in the early history of the Western Reserve, stopping first in Fairfield county and in 1822 removing to Seneca county. where he entered land on the present site of Green Lawn Cemetery. He later sold this and bought a farm about three miles east of there. Daniel Dildine here spent the rest of his life, and died in 1872. While they were in Fairfield county, near Lancaster. on August 9. 1815. their son William M .. was born. Ife was brought by his parents to Seneca county. where he grew to manhood and married Christenia A. Berger, who had come to this county in 1830 with her uncle. and who passed the rest of her life and died in this county. Their son, W. O. Dildine. was born May 12. 1849. at Republic. in Scipio township. and spent a portion of his early boyhood with them on the farm. Iu 1858 the family home was established in Tiffin. and here he has ever since lived. At the age of sixteen he entered the county clerk's office as deputy under his father, who had been elected clerk of the court of Seneca county in 1863, and who filled that office for six years. From Angust, 1865. until 1882. young Dildine served as deputy, having been re-appointed by his father's suc- ressors. Again. in 1886. he took up the work of deputy in the clerk's office. and continued there without interruption until 1897. all told a period of twenty-eight years. And for six years after- ward. until February. 1909. he was deputy in the probate court.
Mr. Dildine has a wife and five children. a daughter and four sons. namely : May, wife of L. J. Beecher. of Dayton, Ohio; Charles G. of Tiffin. Ohio: William O. Jr .. manager of the telephone ex- change at MeAlister, Oklahoma : Phares W .. a traveling salesman. representing the Sterling Emery Wheel Works of Tiffin, Ohio; and Franklin II .. at home. Mrs. Dildine, formerly Miss Anna M. Glick, is a native of Clinton township. Seneca county.
Politically Mr. Dildine is a Republican. he having allied him- self with this party in 1896 and east his first Republican vote for President Mckinley.
BURTON METZGER is one of Adams township's agriculturists. a man who has given valuable service in public office and one of the well known educators of the county. having served as the first school superintendent of the township in which he resides. He
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was born September 25, 1868, in Adams township, and he is thus not only a native son, but one who has so well appreciated the advantages of this favored portion of the country that he has spent the greater part of his life here. Mr. Metzger's parents are H. V. and Elizabeth (Petticord) Metzger, both likewise natives of Seneca county. Ilis grandfather, Daniel Metzger, one of the Buckeye state's plucky pioneers, who came to what was then the "west" early in the ninteenth century, entered a tract of land from the government. He was prominent and a man who was very active in his township in the welfare of the new country. He resided upon his homestead until his death in 1893. his son. H. V. Metzger, taking up the reins of management when he was called to lay them down. Mr. H. V. Metzger is still in charge of the old place. He and his wife were the parents of six children, namely : Homer. an attorney living in Clyde; Burton, on the farm in this township; Charles, deceased; Eva. wife of Arthur Jennings, and living at Liberty Center. Henry county, Ohio; Jacob. a farmer of this township; and Leroy, whose home is in Fremont, Sandusky county.
Burton Metzger was reared upon his father's farm, receiving a practical education in agriculture. He resided under the home roof until his marriage to Miss Delora Albright. which was solem- nized November 2. 1890. Mrs. Metzger was born October 12. 1872, and is the daughter of Jacob and Jane (Kissler) Albright. who were among the early settlers in this part of Ohio. Three children have been born to this union, the eldest having died in infancy. Darl A. was born December 20, 1897. and Delton B., January 24. 1902. For ten years following his marriage Mr. Metzger taught school winters and in summer conducted operations on his farm. He is a public spirited man. the friend of good education and the supporter of all those good causes likely to re- sult in the attainment of the greatest good for the greatest num- ber. He is a Democrat and has been active in party ranks. He has held several township offies, having been trustee for nine years and he is president of the Good Roads Commission of Seneca conn- ty. He was Adams' Township's first school superintendent and was appointed by Judge Hoke of Tiffin, as one of the Blind Relief Commission. One of his most meritorious works was his promotion of the graveling of the roads in the locality. An additional busi- ness interest is his presidency of the West Lodi Creamery Com- pany. Mr. and Mrs. Metzger are members of the Christian church and are active in its good works.
ELLSWORTH G. STALEY .- Endowed with that peculiar vein of grit and determination that is essentially American, Ellsworth G. Staley has steadily and surely climbed the ladder of attainments. and although he has not yet reached manhood's prime has gained a noteworthy position among his fellow men. being numbered among the successful attorneys of Tiffin and its city solicitor. A son of Clayton J. and Alice E. (Loose) Staley. he was born, August 3. 1883. in Clinton township. Seneca county, Ohio.
Coming with his parents to Tiffin when a lad of eight years. Vol. II-8
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he entered the public schools of this city, and being an ambitious and diligent scholar completed each grade, being graduated front the Tiffin High School with the class of 1903. Thrown practi- cally upon his own resources, he resolved to further advance his education if possible. and proving himself industrious and trust- worthy found plenty of employment, devoting a part of his time for several years in handling laundry and selling papers. In the meantime he read law with Platt & Black, acquiring legal know- ledge of value. after which he entered the law department of the Ohio Northern University at Ada. and was there graduated in June. 1907. with the degree of B. L. Returning to Tiffin. Mr. Staley was associated with the firm of Platt & Black until Feb- ruary 1, 1909. when he opened his present office. He is meeting with satisfactory success in the practice of the profession of his choice. and is now giving satisfactory service as city solicitor. a position to which. he was elected in November. 1909.
Mr. Staley married. July 22. 1907. Rose A. O'Brien, and they have two children: Alice R., born February 10. 1909; and Martha Jane. Mr. Staley is a Methodist in religion, and an active member of the Democratic party. Fraternally he belongs to Tiffin Lodge, No. 94. B. P. O. E .; to Tiffin Lodge. No. 402, F. O. E .; to the Junior Order of United American Mechanics; and to the Improved Order of Red Men.
ALBERTI'S B. SMITH .- It has often been said the farmer is king of the earth, and one of the younger representatives of this independent and honorable calling is Albertus B. Smith. in whose hands has lain the management of the old Abbott homestead for the past six or seven years. Progressive in his methods and in- clined to investigate the latest discoveries in his line he is one whose short record has been very satisfactory in result. He was born April 25. 1881. and is the son of D. A. and Eliza Tompkins Smith. natives of Ohio. whose early home was near Republic, Seneca county. The paternal grandparents were David and Susan (Niekirk) Smith. natives of Pennsylvania. D. A. Smith was born in 1845 and his wife's birthdate was September 12, 1853. Previous to his marriage D. A. Smith bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he moved just after the above men- tioned event and improved it in a thorough manner. Here he has made his permanent home. for it is nearly forty years since it came into his possession and here his family of five children have been born and reared. They are Albertus B .. Bertha A., R. T .. Mattie and Eva. The elder Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Lutheran church. and the former is a stanch Democrat and has held office, as a member of the school board and is active in other township affairs.
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