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 34
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.Thus the descendants of those plueky and upright pioneers, Elijah and Catherine Brown. perpetuate their memory in more than one quarter of Ohio, and beyond its borders, and the good
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- qualities, the high ideals of citizenship, which appear in these later generations, may be a heritage from then. Ohio never grows tired of the pioneer pages of her history.
CHARLES S. BARON .- A splendid representative of the ener- getic and progressive young business men of Seneca county, Charles S. Baron is prominently identified with the advancement of the industrial interests of Tiffin, being general manager of the Ohio Lantern Company, which located its factory in this city in 1889. It belongs to the estate of the late A. L. Baron. the present company including Mrs. Agnes Baron, Mrs. Howard Nicolai. Mrs. John H. Wells and Charles S. Baron. The plant, which is large and well equipped. is advantageously located on the lines of three prominent railways, the Pennsylvania. the Baltimore and Ohio and the Big Four.
Charles S. Baron was born in Bellaire. Belinont county, Ohio. where he acquired the rudiments of his education. After coming with the family to Tiffin he completed his early stuides in the public schools, and at the age of eighteen years began learning the trade of making lanterns and lamps in his father's factory, for about two years being employed in various capacities and becoming familiar with the work of each department. On the death of his father, in 1904. Mr. Baron .was mode general manager of the plant, and has continued the business successfully. The factory runs the year around, employing about seventy-five people in the making of lanterns, lamps and specialties. its productions finding a ready market in all of the larger and more important cities of the state and of the country.
Mr. Baron is highly esteemed in business and social circles, and is a valued member of the Episcopal church. Fraternally he belongs to Tiffin Lodge, No. 94. B. P. O. E .; to Tiffin Lodge No. 77. F. & A. M. ; to Seneca Chapter. R. A. M., to the Council, No. 47. R. & S. M .; and to DeMolay Commandery, No. 9. K. T.
G. F. HARPSTER .- Possessing the energy, ability and judgment that ever command success in the industrial world, G. F. Harpster. of Tiffin, has attained a noteworthy position in business circles, being financially interested in the petroleum and oil industry and an extensive dealer in real estate. He was born February 12. 1855, in Thompson township, Seneca county. coming on the paternal side of German and English ancestry. He comes of distinguished patriotic stock. his paternal great-great-grandfather having served as a minute man at the battle of Lexington. the first engagement of the Revolution, from that time until the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, being a soldier in the Revolutionary army. During the entire seven years this brave patriot had no furlough, at the close of the great struggle for independence resuming his farm labors just where he left off at the Lexington Alarm.
. Frederick Harpster. Mr. Harpster's grandfather. married Cynthia Barbin, who was born in London, England, and at the age of seventeen years emigrated to America, where she soon after became a bride. Their son, Lewis Harpster, married Elizabeth
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Beck, whose parents, Daniel and Julia Beck, were natives of Penn- sylvania and of Irish descent. Of their union two sons were born and reared, namely: Ervin, of Fostoria, Ohio, and G. F., the special subject of this brief review.
In May, 1888. Mr. Harpster married Jennie M. Mowery, of Kansas. Liberty township, Seneca county, and soon after that im- portant event in his life's history became a resident of the thriving village of Kansas. An enthusiastic worker, he soon became influ- ential in public affairs. and during the administration of President Cleveland was appointed postmaster of Kansas, winning the dis- tinction of being one of the two Democrats that ever had the honor of holding that position in that village or community, which has always been a Republican stronghold. When William McKinley succeeded to the president's chair, Mr. Harpster, as a matter of course, resigned his position and was succeeded by a Republican
Since 1900 Mr. Harpster has been numbered among the active and valued citizens of Tiffin, where he is carrying on a substantial and lucrative business as a dealer in petroleum, oil and real estate. IIe is active in politics, his influence being felt in both primaries and in conventions. Fraternally he belongs to Fremont Lodge, No. 336, F. & A. M .; and to Fremont Chapter, No. 64, R. A. M.
GEORGE BIMER .- Among the venerable and honored citizens of Greenspring, Seneca county, Ohio, George Bimer holds a secure place in popular confidence and esteem. He was born at Kala- mazoo, Michigan, on the 10th of September, 1858. He is a son of George Bimer, who was a native of Germany, the place of his birth being Byron and the date 1823. George Bimer, Sr., received his preliminary education in the district schools in Germany and when fourteen years of age he began to assist his father in the work and management of the home farm. When twenty-one years of age he entered the army, serving for a period of three years, at the expiration of which his father died. He then left the army and, deciding to seek his fortune in America, he bade farewell to native land and the scenes of his youth and embarked for the United States. With a small sum of money which had been his share at the time of his father's death. he landed in New York City, whence he journeyed to Buffalo, New York, where he re- sided for three years and where he learned the cooper's trade. There he joined his brother. Clemence Bimer, who owned a farm of eighty acres. George Bimer immediately purchased an adjoin- ing eighty acres, but being unacquainted with real estate transac- tions he did not know until after he had completed the deal that a third party held a heavy mortgage on his land. Being unable to pay the mortgage, he was forced to surrender the farm to the mort- gagee. He then departed for northern Illinois, where he secured employment on a railroad in process of construction. A short time later he went to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he found work in the iron ore mines. It was during his sojourn in this place that he met Miss Mary Rash. to whom he was united in marriage in 1854. In 1860 he removed with his family to Greenspring. Ohio, where he entered the employ of Drury Gale in the brick yard
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operated by him. Thereafter he was engaged to drive a team of oxen for Robert Smith, who ran a saw mill. and he continued to be identified with this line of enterprise for a period of twelve years. He next turned his attention to farming on the old homestead just north of the sanitarium and he continued to reside here until 1890, when he purchased a home in Greenspring. where he passed the residue of his life and where he died in 1896. his cherished and devoted wife having passed away in 1892. Mrs. Bimer was like- wise born in Germany. and she imigrated to America as a young girl. Mr. and Mrs. Bimer became the parents of seven children. concerning whom the following brief data are here incorporated : Lizzie, married Charles Murray and resides at Fort Wayne, Ind .; George. Jr., is the subject of this review; Clemence D. married Fannie Earhart. who is now deceased, and he resides at Green- springs; Charlie lives at Fort Wayne, Ind .; John. wedded Mattie Ridley and they maintain their home at Fremont, Ohio; Mary died in infancy ; and William resides at Fort Wayne. Indiana.
George Bimer, to whom this sketch is dedicated, received but meager educational advantages in his youth, working in the sum- mers and attending school during the winter terms, but being natur- ally bright he gathered a vast fund of information and kept well in- formed on the topics of the day. After his marriage, in 1880. he found employment in a packing house and later he rented a farm in Adams township, Seneca county, and engaged in agricultural pursuits for thirteen years. In 1901 he entered the employ of the Home Telephone Company at Greenspring, in the capacity of lineman, and he has continued in this line of enterprise to the pre- sent time. 1910. In politics Mr. Bimer is a staunch adherent of the cause of the Democratic party and though not an active politi- cian he has ever manifested a keen and intelligent interest in all movements projected for the good of the community. Fraternally he is affiliated with various social organizations of representative order and he attends and gives his support to the Methodist Episcopal church. of which his wife is a devout member.
On the 25th of February, 1880, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Bimer to Miss Eliza A. Peck, who was born and reared in Tiffin, Ohio, the date of her birth being October 8, 1858. She is a daughter of David G. and Ann Catherine (Van Natta) Peck. the former of whom was born in the state of Pennsylvania, whence he came to Ohio about the year 1855, and the latter of whom claimed the state of Ohio as the place of her nativity. Mr. Peck was a shoemaker by trade and lre sacrificed his life in defense of the union in the Civil war. Mrs. Peck was summoned to the life eternal in the year 1892, at the age of fifty-nine years. Mrs. Bimer has one brother, who resides near Greenspring. Mr. and Mrs. Bimer became the parents of five children. Zula. married Arthur Loose and they live in Fostoria, Ohio; Blanche. died at the age of fifteen months; Irene. is the wife of Herman Rathbon and they reside in the vicinity of Greenspring; and Frances and Mildred remain at the parental home.
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JOHN M. NAYLOR-A publication of this nature exercises its most important function when it takes cognizance. through proper memorial tribute, of the life and labors of so honored a citizen as the late John M. Naylor. of Tiffin, who died in his home in that city on the 3rd of September, 1910. He was most prominently identified with the civic and business activities of the community for fully half a century and at the time of his demise was one of the most venerable and honorable citizens of Seneca county. HIe ever stood exponent of the most leal and loyal citizenship, his life course was ordered on the highest plane of integrity and honor and his gracious. noble personality gained and retained to him the unequivocal confidence and esteem of his fellow men. He was president of the Tiffin National Bank at the time of his death and his other material interests in the city and county were of wide and varied order.
John M. Naylor was a native of the old Buckeye state and a scion of one of its sterling pioneer families. In his career he made of snecess not an accident but a logical result and he attained to a position of prominence as one of the representative citizens and influential business men of Seneca county. He was known as a man of impregnable integrity, much intellectual strength and in- trinsie kindliness of spirit. He lived a sane, normal life, one duly prolific in worthy accomplishment and one that found in each successive stage a full measure of subjective compensation. No shadow rests upon any portion of his record and in contemplat- ing his career both lesson and incentive are to be gained.
John M. Naylor was born at Wooster, Wayne county, Ohio, on the 9th of December, 1822, and was a son of James and Eleanor (Musgrave) Naylor, both of whom claimed the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of their uativity; the father was born in Beaver county. Pennsylvania, and the mother in Dauphin county. James Naylor was reared to maturity in his native state, where his educational advantages were limited to the common schools of the middle pioneer epoch and where he learned the trade of carpentry. He finally removed to Ohio and for a number of years was one of the successful carpenters and builders at Wooster, this state, where both he and his wife continued to reside until their death. Both were members of the Presbyterian church and were folk of strong and sterling character.
The native town of John M. Naylor afforded him his early educational advantages and that he made good use of the same is shown by the fact that when he was about seventeen years of age he began teaching in the public schools. Through his application to the pedagogie profession he earned the money which enabled him to continue his studies at Granville College, where he remained a student for some time. His ambition was to secure adequate academic training and then prepare himself for the legal pro- fession, but at the age of twenty years he was induced to assume a clerkship in the hardware store conducted by Jacobs and Kanke, in Wooster. He continued to be thus employed for four years and though his salary was meager his experience gained in this con- nection proved to be the foundation for the large fortune he ac-
N
Jill Naylor
Cornelia. J. Taylor
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cumulated later in life. At the expiration of the period noted . he formed a partnership with Harvey Howard and in 1847 they established a hardware store in Tiffin, Seneca county, where the enterprise was conducted under the firm name of Howard & Naylor for four years. at the expiration of which Mr. Naylor purchased his partner's interest. He continued the business in an individual way for some time and then admitted to partnership his brother. William Naylor, whereupon the firm name of J. M. Naylor & Bro. was adopted. After the death of his brother. in March. 1866. he continued the business alone until 1892. when his brother. Edward T., and Burton W. Crobaugh were admitted to partnership. under the firm name of J. M. Naylor & Company. which continued until the year 1899, when he disposed of his interest in the enterprise. Under his able management the hardware establishment was de- veloped into one of the best of its kind in Tiffin, and in scope and importance it was excelled by few in the northern part of the state. Mr. Naylor's honorable and enterprising methods brought him a continual and increasing patronage and after his business had expanded to the extent of giving him an excellent income he made gradual and judicious investments, in which his holdings eventually became very extensive. Ile contributed in large measure to the material development of the city of Tiffin and also of the county and, in a quiet way, wielded much influence in connection with civic and public affairs. He was one of the founders of the National Exchange Bank, in which he became a director and large stockholder. and when the same was reorganized as the Tiffin National Bank he continued to retain large interests in the latter, of which he finally became president and to the administration of whose affairs he gave close attention. As chief executive of this bank he was a potent factor in making it one of the most substantial and popular financial institutions of this section of the state and he continued president of the same until his death. He was also president of the Tiffin Electric Illuminating Company. which was merged with the Tiffin Electric Company in 1910. He also served for several years as president of the Tiffin Electric Railway & Power Company and for a number of years was a stockholder and director in the old Tiffin Woolen Mill Company. with which he was thus identified during the period of its greatest prosperity.
In politics, though never an aspirant for public office, Mr. Naylor accorded a staunch allegiance to the Republican party, with which he identified himself at the time of its organization. and during the critical period of the Civil war he was an earnest supporter of the cause of the Union. IJe did much to further the progress and upbuilding of his home city and was specially zealous in promoting the development of Greenlawn Cemetery, having been the founder of the Greenlawn Cemetery Association and having contributed in large a measure to the development of the beautiful "God's acre" provided by this association. Mr. Naylor was one of the most zealous and valued members of St. Paul's church, Methodist Episcopal. in Tiffin and contributed with all of liberality to the various departments of its work. as well as to the furthering of the interests of the generic church organization. He served as
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trustee of St. Paul's church for five years before he formally identified himself with the same as a member, in 1865. He was a member of the official board of the church for a great many years and held this position at the time of his death, besides which he was for a long number of years superintendent of the Sunday School. Concerning his consecrated zeal in the cause of religion the following statements were made in the Tiffin paper at the time of his death: "His interest in his beloved church was world- wide. He was deeply concerned in mission work. especially in Mexico, where he spent the greater part of one year with Bishop Butler, one of his dearest friends, where they made a careful study of mission work. The educational department of his church was also the object of his munificence to a large extent. He was deep- ly interested in the Methodist Theological Institute, in Denver. and in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, of which latter institution he was a member of the board of trustees at the time he was summoned to the life eternal. Needless to say he contributed generously of his means to all of these institutions. Locally he was always ready with his funds to assist not only his own church but also those of other denominations. Due largely to his generosity is the splendid church edifice of St. Paul's, on Madison street, where he was so long a regular attendant."
From the same appreciative obituary notice are taken the following extracts, which are altogether worthy of perpetuation in this volume, as indicating the estimate placed upon him in his home community : "Socially Mr. Naylor was affable and easily ap- proached. He was most considerate for others and was never too busy to stop and exchange a pleasant word of greeting with his friends. Up to the time of his last illness he was nnusually robust and active for a man of his years and his figure was a familiar one on the street. Hle was unfortunately afflicted with a defect of vision which made it almost impossible for him to recognize even his closest friends except by the voice. This often created a mis- taken impression that he was cold and distant. a circumstance which Mr. Naylor so deeply deplored that he often spoke of it. Few men in Tiffin have been privileged to enjoy a longer or a more honorable and prominent and a more successful career. covering a wider scope of business, religious and public affairs than did Mr. Naylor." Mr. Naylor was an appreciative member of the time- honored Masonic fraternity. in which he had attained to the thirty- second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which his affiliation was with the consistory in the city of Cincinnati. His maximum York Rite affiliation was with DeMolay Commandery, Knights Templars. in Tiffin. and his funeral services were held under Masonic auspices.
Though Mr. Naylor attained to the patriarchal age of eighty- eight years he retained his intellectual and physical powers to a wonderful degree and the years rested lightly upon him until his final illness. Instead of retiring altogether from business life he continued to give his attention to banking and to the control of his investments and he was a valued factor in financial circles in Tiffin until he was called to his reward. Of a studious nature. he de-
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voted much attention to the study of standard works and thus he gained valuable and comprehensive information, such as is seldom possessed except by a college graduate. Tiffin found in him a warm and helpful friend. ever ready to promote her welfare along the lines of substantial progress and improvement. For more than half a century he was identified with her business and social in- terests and during this long period he proved to be a man of ex- cellent executive ability and one of marked perceptive and reason- ing faculties. His judgment and prompt decisions were seldom at fault and throughout his entire career his course was charac- terized by a conscientious desire to be just and fair in his treat- ment of all. He was a man of even temperament, calm and self- poised and of refined character. one in whom nature and culture vied in making an honorable and interesting gentleman. In his venerable years his erect form and clear-cut features gave little suggestion that he had almost completed nine decades since start- ing upon life's journey. Nature deals kindly with the man who abuses not her laws, and though Mr. Naylor's business cares were extensive, age rested lightly upon him.
It is not the desire of the biographist to lift the gracious veil which guarded the sacred precinets of a home whose associations were of the most ideal character and in conclusion of this memoir are entered only brief data concerning the domestic relations of Mr. Naylor. On the 11th of December, 1849, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Cornelia T. Pittinger, who was born and reared in Tiffin. Seneca county, and who is a daughter of the late Benja- min Pittinger. a representative legist and jurist of this state. The great loss and bereavement of Mr. Naylor's life came when his cherished and devoted companion was summoned to the life eternal her death having occurred on the 11th of May, 1896. She was a
woman of most gracious personality and her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gentle influence. Mr. and Mrs. Naylor became the parents of two children, both of whom are now deceased. Cora, who was born in 1851. entered into eternal rest at the age of twenty-two years. Frank, who was born in 1854. died in 1883, while visiting in Florida, and was twenty-nine years of age at the time of his demise. The only surviving near relations of Mr. Naylor are two brothers, Edward T. Naylor. of Tiffin, and Samuel Y. Naylor. of West Allis, Wisconsin. Earl B. Naylor. a nephew of the subject of this memoir, resided in the homestead in Tiffin for some time prior to the death of his uncle.
WILLIAM MATZ pursues the double vocation of veterinary sur- geon and farmer, cultivating a tract of seventy-five acres and at the same time engaging in that useful profession of which he is one of the most enlightened exponents. He is a man of versatile abilities and has also to his credit several terms as a teacher. He has an interesting ancestry. his immediate forbears having been Pennsylvanians, a stock from which Seneca county is settled to a considerable degree, and on the maternal side he is justly proud to trace his lineage to certain Royers who came over in the Mayflower.
The Matz family seems to be Swiss in origin and the great-
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grandfather of the subject, whose name was Lawrence Matz, was the first of the line in America. He and his brother were both small boys at the time their parents concluded to cast their fortunes with the new country across the Atlantic. To their great sorrow and dismay both of their parents died en voyage and were buried in the sea. The desolate little lad who was to become Mr. Matz's ancestor was bound over to a man in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He grew to be a useful and well-to-do-citizen, married and reared a family. the names of his children being: John. George. Daniel. Samnel. Jacob. David and Christian, and there were two daughters who died young. His wife's maiden name was Richards.
The son William . was the grandfather of him whose name initiates this review. £ Hle was born April 2. 1789, in Berks county. Pennsylvania. and died August 16, 1844. Ilis wife, also a native of Berks county, was born July 5. 1788. and died September 2. 1844, the period of her life being almost coincident with that of her husband. Both of these good citizens are buried at Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania. The grandmother's name was Mary Cath- erine Heberling. and she had four sisters and two brothers.
Mr. Matz's parents were John and Lydia (Rover) Matz, the father a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and the mother of Ohio. The former was born January 8, 1828, and the latter. April 7. 1836. When John Matz first came to Ohio he made several changes of residence before he found the location he considered ideal, going first to Fairfield county, thence to Van Wert and thence to Toledo, and from the latter city coming on to the township in which he now resides. He was a contractor and continued at this trade for five or six years before buying a farm of three hundred and twenty acres, in whose cultivation he engaged until his demise, which occurred November 7. 1886. He was a Democrat and served at one time upon the school board. His marriage was solemnized June 3. 1855.
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