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 17
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CHARLES D. HOLTZ .- We have now to consider the career of one of the most successful and popular men in Seneca county, one who, though a strong Republican. has been since 1872 elected and re-elected to important public offices at almost every election in a community overwhelmingly Democratic whenever a straight vote is cast. Mr. Holtz was born January 31. 1846. a son of Jacob and Susanna (Huss) Holtz. natives of Fredericktown. Maryland. His mother came to Seneca county in 1827. his father, in 1834. They were brought by their parents by wagon over the old Cumber- land road. Jacob Holtz and David IInss. Mr. Holtz's grand- fathers. bought land here and were among the early pioneers in Seneca county. The Holtz genealogy is a most interesting one : Jacob Holtz. great-grandfather of Charles D .. was born November 30, 1753, his wife. January 8. 1756. They had children, born at the dates here given : Jacob. June 19. 1786: John. March 11. 1788; Catharine. June 22, 1790: Anna Marv. October 29. 1793 : Elizabeth April 30. 1796. Jacob Holtz. horn June 19. 1786. married Susanna Feaga October 20. 1812. Her father. a Hessian, came to the
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colonies in Revolutionary days as a hired soldier of King George and deserted to fight for liberty side by side with his former for- men. As a means to preventing possible future trouble he changed his name from Fieye to Feaga. Jacob and Susanna (Feaga) Holtz had children as follows: William Holtz, born January 24, 1814; Jacob P .. born June 14. 1815; Mary E., born February 9, 1817; George, born February 20, 1819: Lewis E .. born June 4. 1821; Charlotte, born May 24, 1823; Susanna. born April 29. 1825: Dennis, born March 21. 1827. Jacob P. and Susanna Huss mar- ried about 1840 and had three children: Jacob S .. born August 8. 1842 : Charles D., born January 31. 1846: John. born February 14. 1850. Charles D. married, October 9. 1872. Mary L. Smith. born June 20. 1854. a daughter of Samuel H. and Charlotte (Van Svekel) Smith. She bore him three children: Grace. born March 15. 1874; Nellie. September 11. 1877; Jessie, Angust 24. 1883. Grace is the wife of H. W. Robinson. of Greenspring. Jessie married F. H. Cronniger of Seneca county. but now resides at Blufton. Indiana. and is principal of a school there. Nellie is a member of her parents' household.
The parents of Mrs. Charles D. Holtz came from New Jersey. The father. Samuel II. Smith, was born at Asbury. New Jersey. February 3. 1825. and in November. 1846. was married to Char- lotte Van Syckel at Bethlehem. New Jersey. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Greenspring. Ohio. and the journey is described as follows: They traveled by stage to Philadelphia. going from that city to Baltimore by railroad and crossing the Alleghany Mountains by stage. They traveled in the same man- ner to Greenspring. Mr. Smith was a very enterprising citizen and was engaged in the grain business for years. He assisted mater- ially in building the first Methodist Episcopal church in Green- spring also the original sanitarinms at Oak Ridge and the public school buildings. He was one of those who secured for Green- spring the old academy. and with ex-President Hayes served on its board of trustees. TTe was instrumental more than any other man in securing the Nickel Plate Railroad.
Mr. Holtz has held several township offices in the gift of the voters of his township and has been a member of the county com- missioners. He is prominent as a Mason. having taken sixteen degrees. ITe was a leader in the Grange movement till 1874. and he is influentially identified with the Juniors. After his marriage he located. in 1872. on a farm of one hundred and seventy-five acres in Adams township. TTe early acquired a practical knowledge of surveying and has from time to time been employed in important work in that line in his vicinity. For nine years he has been a stockholder in the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of this countv. For six years he was its president and he has filled the office of treasurer during two terms. Jacob S. Holtz. Mr. Holtz's brother. was in the Civil war. a member of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Regiment. Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the company commanded by Captain Huntsberger of Akron. and died in Fort Strong Hospital July 1. 1864. Charles Holtz, together with his brother. returned to the old home place, where they continued to work and reside.
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Mr. Holtz never worked as a hand, all his time and labor being spent in developing the interests of the home. At the age of thirty-five he removed to Adams township where he resided for eighteen years. He then constructed one of the finest homes in Pleasant township where he has eighty acres and an ideal home. Situated in a very beautiful grove surrounded by a continually flowing creek, the place is known as " Sugar Creek."
JUDD D. ASIRE .- At this point is directed attention to one of the native sons of the city of Fostoria, who has here gained a secure place as one of its representative business men and who is held in high esteem in the community that has ever been his home, his father having here taken up his abode more than half a century ago. Mr. Asire was born in Fostoria on the 30th of August, 1881. and is a son of David and Emma (Laver) Asire. The father came and established his home in Fostoria in 1858. Here he engaged in the undertaking business, with which he has been identified dur- ing the long intervening years and he is one of the oldest represen- tatives of this line of enterprise in the entire state, besides which he is one of the honored and influential citizens of Fostoria, to whose development and upbuilding he has contributed his attitude and influence as a loyal and public spirited citizen. He is a Re- publican in politics and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church.
Judd D. Asire is indebted to the public schools of his native town for his early educational discipline, which included a course in the high school. in which he was graduated in the class of 1901. after which he continued his studies in the Ohio State University in 1902-3. In 1904 he was graduated in the Biltimore Forest School, at Biltimore. North Carolina, from which excellent institution he re- ceived the degrees of B. F. and F. E. In 1902 he went to the Philippine Islands, where he was engaged in the United States army transport service. In the spring of 1905 Mr. Asire returned to Fostoria, where he has since been engaged in the undertaking business, in connection with which he has a fine establishment with equipment and facilities of the best modern type. The same is located at No. 120 West Tiffin street. He is also a stockholder in the Union National Bank. the Lincoln Life Insurance Company. and The Great Northern Life Insurance Company.
In politics Mr. Asire is a stanch adherent of the Republican party and he is at the present time a member of the board of edu- ation of his native city and he takes a zealous interest in all that touches the welfare of the community. He holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, has attained to the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity. besides which he is identified with the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. the Independent Order of Odd Fellows the Knights of the Maccabees. and the Phi Kappa Psi college fra- ternity, besides which he is an associate member of the Grand Army of the Republic. to which he is eligible by reason of his father's service in the Civil war.
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On the 3rd of October, 1906 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Asire to Miss Glenn Crouse, of Westerville, Franklin county, this state. She was summoned to the life eternal on the 20th of February, 1910, and is survived by two children, Ruth Jose- phine, who was born August 20, 1907, and Margaret, who was born June, 22, 1909.
DANIEL D. KAUP .- He whose name initiates this review was a native son of Seneca county and is now incumbent of the respon- sible office of chief inspector of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad . for the Fostoria district, with residence and official headquarters in the city of Fostoria. He has been identified with railroad interests during the greater portion of his active career and the past evidence of the effiency and fidelity of his service is that afforded by his incumbency of his present office.
Daniel D. Kaup was born at Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 19th of July, 1859, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Lydia (Godshawl) Kaup, both of whom were born in Pennsylvania, whence they came to Seneca county, Ohio, about the year 1849, establishing their home in Tiffin, where they passed the residue of their lives and where the father devoted the major portion of his time and attention to his trade, that of a millwright. The sub- ject was reared to maturity in Tiffin and after availing himself of the advantages of the public schools he there continued his studies in Heidelberg College. After leaving school he learned the trade of millwright under the direction of his honored father, and he followed the same from 1876 to 1881, in which latter year he be- came yard master for the Burlington & Ohio Railroad Company at Tiffin, where he remained until 1886, when he was promoted to the office of chief clerk and cashier in the offices of the company at Tiffin. In 1887 he became ticket agent for the company in the city of Sandusky and a year later he resigned this office and took up his residence in Fostoria, where, on Christmas day of the year 1888, he assumed the position of night ticket agent for the same company. This incumbency he retained until the 20th of August of the following year, when he was promoted to the position of chief inspector for the joint rate and inspection bureau of the Fostoria district. He gave most effective service in this position and retained the same until March 16. 1908. when he assumed his present office of chief clerk of the inspection bureau for the Fostoria district.
In politics Mr. Kaup is found arraved as a stanch supporter of the Republican party and for two years he represented the Fourth ward of Fostoria in the city council. At the present time he is director of the board of public safety of his home city. He owns an attractive residence at No. 129 West Crocker street. Both he and his wife are zealous members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and he is a member of the official board of the church of this denomination in Fostoria. He is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. president of the local railroad clerks' union and is a member of the Fostoria Trade Council.
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On the 26th of May, 1881, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kaup to Miss Jennie Stone, of Tiffin, and they have one daugh- ter, Eugenia, who is the wife of C. P. Bartch, who is chief rate inspector for the Joint Rate Inspection Bureau for the Fostoria district.
HENRY DRYFUSE .- Contracting and building is one of the es- sentially representative business enterprises whose scope of en- deavor contributes materially to the development and beautifying of a place, and the concern conducted by Henry Dryfuse. in Bloomville, this county, is one of prominent order. Under the firm name of Dryfuse & Martin this business was established in 1903, and besides contracting and building the firm are also dealers in lumber and builders" supplies. From a modest nucleus the company has extended its operations throughout a wide terri- tory and is rapidly gaining prestige as one of the important busi- ness enterprises of the county.
Henry Dryfuse was born in Bloom township, Seneca county. Ohio, on the 25th of July, 1866. and he is a son of Joseph and Mary (Stinel) Dryfuse, both of whom were natives of Germany. whence they emigrated to the United States about the year 1848. They first located in Pennsylvania and in 1866 they moved to the fine old Buckeye state. where they purchased a small farm in Seneca county. Joseph Dryfuse was often called on to preach in the absence of a regular, ordained minister, and he followed this calling for a number of years, being a stanch devotee of the United Brethren church. His preliminary educational advantages were those afforded in the common schools of his fatherland. However, he effectively supplemented his early discipline by extensive read- ing and association with the practical affairs of life. He never severed his connection with his church calling but continued to devote a portion of his time to this work even after locating on his farm in Bloom township. He was summoned to the life eterna' in the year 1887. and his cherished and devoted wife long survived him. her death having occurred in 1903. They became the parents of seven children, of which number the subject of this sketch is the youngest. The names of the other children are here entered in order of birth: Joseph. Sarah. Susan, Solomon. Abraham and Samuel. all of whom are living except Solomon. whose death occurred in the year 1893.
The subject of this review was reared to maturity on the old homestead farm and he availed himself of the advantages afforded in the common schools of the county. When thirty years of age he learned the painter's trade, following the same with success for a number of years and in 1903. as already noted, he founded his present flourishing business, to whose interests he has since devoted the major portion of his time and attention. Associated with him in this line of enterprise is Mr. W. H. Kilcauley, who suc- . ceeded Mr. G. M. Martin in 1909. and the alliance has proved mutually agreeable and profitable to all concerned.
In polities Mr. Dryfuse accords an uncompromising alle- giance to the principles and policies of the Democratic party,
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and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics. He has served his town as land appraiser for one term and in this connec- tion his services have been of the most satisfactory order. Both he and his wife are earnest members of the United Brethren church in their home city and they are popular factors in the social activi- ties of the community.
On the 11th of November, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Dryfuse to Miss Essie L. Enders, who was reared and educated in Bloomville, this county, and who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Enders. Mr. Enders was an influential and public spirited citizen of Seneca county and he was summoned to eternal rest in 1907, his wife having passed away in 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Dryfuse have one daughter, Ruth L., who is now attending school in Bloomville.
AMOS M. BECK, who was born February 7. 1858, at Lancaster, Ohio, is the son of John M. and Maria B. (Kraft ) Beck. Both of his parents were natives of Germany, the father born in Goettingen, February 3, 1808, and the mother in Anstoben. June 3, 1821. John M. Beck came to the United States with his parents when a lad six years of age, arriving on American shores, September 9, 1814. They were six months on the voyage. having been lost owing to storms and contrary winds. They came near to the starvation point, being so weak from hunger when the ship finally arrived in port that they had to be carried to land. The mother arrived June 6, 1845, after a three month's voyage. The paternal grandparents were John G. and Sabina B. (Bender) Beck, and soon after coming to the land of the stars and strips. they located in Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. The maternal grandparents, Jacob and Anna (Blaser) Kraft. of Anstoben and Overberbach, Germany, remained in their native land throughout their whole lives.
The mother of him whose name initiates this sketch was born in Anstoben, Germany, June 3, 1821, and is now in her ninetieth year. She was reared in her native land obtained a good educa- tion there and had begun upon employment as a wage earner. When she decided to emigrate it was necessary under local laws for her to secure from the mayor of the town where she had been living a document called a "permit of recommendation." to be deposited with whomever she might find employment. This record, inscribed in a Ittle book, set forth her age, height. weight. complexion, color of hair and eyes. and further personal descrip- tion, as a means of identification. She has retained it through all the years since, and it is not the least interesting of the mementoes of another land in another time. £ She was a spinner by vocation.
The father, John M. Beck, lived with his parents, working on a farm and attending school until he married, that happy event or- curring September 21, 1838. Then he and his bride went to housekeeping in Lancaster, Ohio. The father was a rope maker by trade and was employed there as such. Mrs. Beck bore her husband seven children, all of whom were living when this work
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was in preparation, namely: Mary A., born in 1845; Jacob F., 1849; Eliza J., 1851; Melanethon, 1854; Amos M., in 1858; H. Franklin, 1860; and Daniel, 1862. The father died March 2, 1868, but his widow still survives and makes her home in Lancaster, Ohio.
Amos M. Beck remained as a member of his father's house- hold until he was nineteen years old. He took to shoemaking, but soon went to Findlay. Ohio, where his cousin, George W. Myers, was agent for the Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad Company and owner of a large elevator, and the subject himself entered the ser- vice of his cousin. He remained there four years, then went to Delphos. Ohio, and worked four months on the Toledo, Delphos and Burlington Railroad. From Delphos he went to Holgate, Ohio, where he was taken down with fever. When he recovered he was sent to Warren. Indiana, where he was a station agent and telegrapher for a year. Then he was offered and accepted a better position with the Lake Erie & Western road at Fostoria. Ohio. After residing at Fostoria about four months, he went to Lima. Ohio, in the employ of the Pittsburg. Fort Wayne & Chicago Rail- road company. Returning to Fostoria he resumed his old position. which he retained until the year 1883. In the year last mentioned he entered the employ of the Nickel Plate line in the same town.'
On May 21. 1885. Mr. Beck married Miss Della Flavin. born at Upper Sandusky, Ohio. December 11, 1867. a daughter of Dr. William and Martha (Conaghan) Flavin. Her father was born in 1842 and died September 16, 1896. The scene of the mother's birth was Upper Sandusky. Ohio, and the date September 16. 1846. Dr. Flavin, a native of Nova Scotia, was in medical prac- tice and in the drug trade at Bettsville, Ohio, and about 1885 re- moved to Paulding. Ohio, where he was active in the same lines. Some time previous to that date. Dr. and Mrs. Flavin separated. admittedly because of religious differences, he being Protestant. she Catholic. The mother retained their only child, then about seven years old, and never married again. dying of typhoid fever. September 16. 1887. at Greenspring. Ohio. Dr. Flavin married Miss Bowers, of Tyro, Ohio, south of Tiffin, and they have a son. Charles Flavin. who is employed in the electric works at Columbus. Ohio. The second Mrs. Flavin died. and Dr. Flavin married her cousin. Emma Bowers, and three children have been born to them. namely: Edward B .: Grace, who is Mrs. Harvey Hirn. of Ottawa. Ohio ; and Mrs. Mand Miller of Texas. Mr. Hirn is a hotel keeper and Mr. Miller is in the machine business.
Mr. and Mrs. Beck have two sons. Charles A., born Feb- ruary 27, 1887. was educated in the railroad business by his father while at Greenspring Junction ; Earl M .. born March 8, 1889. was educated at Greenspring and at Heidelberg College at Tiffin, and is his father's assistant in the latter's railroad station work at Greenspring Junction. Mr. Beck is a Lutheran and the other members of his family are Methodists, but they have had no dif- ferences because of their slight variance as to church government. They were all interested in Sunday school work at times. Mr. Beck is independent in politics. He is a Mason and a member of
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the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. He has passed all the chairs in all three of these orders. He is faithful in attending lodge, never missing a meeting. His sons are Masons and Knights of Pythias also, Charles A. being chancel- lor commander of the Knights of Pythias. He resides in Chicago now, being assistant ticket agent of the Nickel Plate railroad. This young man married Miss Ida L. Wolfe, July 21, 1910, she having been born October 1, 1890, the daughter of E. B. Wolfe, who is represented in this work by a biographical sketch.
All of the married life of the subject has been spent at Green- spring. His wife, whose male relatives and ancestors have most of them been farmers and stock raisers, comes of a family which has a place in the pioneer history of this part of Ohio. It was represented in the state when the Indians were still here and at Upper Sandusky, where she passed her childhood. she often saw Indians who had a liking for the place because they had planted many trees there. She remembers that Indians often came to the house of her grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Beek and their son Earl have traveled considerably. On one occasion they went by way of Chicago to Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo. Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego, returning via El Paso. San Antonio, New Orleans and Cincinnati. They visited many other interesting places including old Mexico, where they witnessed the Spanish national sport, a bull fight. Mr. and Mrs. Beck were absent from home about two months and the letters and post cards they sent back were gladly received by their numerous friends. They also visited many of the old missions in California, Texas and Mexico, including those of the Alamo. Espada, and San Jose. It will be remembered that at the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. Colonel Travis. Lieutenant Colonel Bowie, Davey Crockett and others. lost their lives in battle with Mexicans, Indians and Spaniards. Some of the missions visited by Mr. and Mrs. Beck were over four hundred years old.
NATHAN R. FRANCE .- Earnest toil and concentrated endeavor find their just reward in an unvarnished success, which is the more worthy of the name in that it is due not to accident but is the direct result of individual effort. He whose name introduces this para- graph has been the architect of his own fortunes and he is a man of keen business ability and unquestioned honesty and integrity. Nathan R. France is well known in his native state of Ohio and none has been more zealous in an unobtrusive way in furthering the material and civic welfare of his home community and of the state at large. He was born in Richland county. Ohio, on the 16th of April, 1862, and is a son of Enoch and Rachel (Ross) France, the former of whom was a native of England and the latter of whom was born in Richland county. this state. The father devoted the major portion of his life to the stone business, and he was sum- moned to eternal rest in 1906. His wife still lives at Mansfield, Ohio.
Nathan R. France received his preliminary educational train- ing in the common schools of his native county and later supple- mented the same by a course of study in Perrysville Academy.
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which he attended for a period of years and finished his education . with a business course at Pittsburg. In 1885, when twenty-three years of age, he moved to Bloomville, Seneca county, and here he has continuously maintained his home during the long intervening years. He is the youngest of the five children of Enoch and Rachel France. Concerning the other children, the two daugh- ters, Mary and Myra, are deceased; Ira, who was long associated with his brothers in the stone business, died in 1910, at the age of fifty-three years; and William J., is actively identified with his brother, Nathan R., in the operation of their vast quarries located in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. This enterprise was begun on a modest scale in 1885, and during the past twenty-five years has grown to most remarkable proportions. The France Company own a tract of six hundred acres of fine quarry land in Bloom township, on which one of their quarries is located, and in various sections of Ohio, Michigan and Indiana they are the owners and operators of twenty-four other quarries, besides which they run a number of slag plants. The crushed stone manufactured by this enterprising concern is used for turnpiking and also for ballast in the construction of railroads, in which connection the company control a large business. The offices of the France Company were originally located in Bloomville, but with increased scope of business the headquarters were removed to Toledo, Ohio, where finely equipped offices are maintained and where a large number of employes are constantly engaged. The sterling integrity and highly reliable character of the brothers constitute one of the most valuable assets of the company, which is constantly extending its trade territory and which is rapidly becoming known throughout the union. Nathan R. France still maintains his home in Bloomville.
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