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 4
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In politics Mr. Locke has ever given stanch allegiance to the Republican party. He has been active in local affairs of a publie order and his papers have ever stood the exponent of pro- gressive policies and high civic ideals. Ile is identified with the Masonie fraternity, the Royal Arcanum and the Junior Order of the United American Mechanics. He has held the office of post- master of Tiffin since 1880.
At Findlay, Ohio, in the year 1866, Mr. Locke was united in marriage to Miss Maria C. Porch. a daughter of Henry and Sallie (Clark) Porch, and they became the parents of three sons and two daughters, of whom Harry David and Burton Parker died in infancy. Miss Carrie M. remains at the parental home; Sallie
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P. is the wife of Andrew J. Hazlett, a resident of Buffalo, New York; and John P., is associated with his father as junior member of the firm of O. T. Locke & Son, as already noted.
EDMUND J. ULLRICH, successor to his father, Lewis Ullrich, in the greenhouse business at Tiffin, Ohio, was born in this city September 13, 1877. He received his education in the parochial schools and the Tiffin high school, and at Toledo, Ohio, he took a course in electricity. From his early boyhood he had helped his father in the greenhouse, and after his return from Toledo he went to work for his father and later became a partner in the business. On the death of his father in 1906 he purchased the rest of the business and leased the grounds and is now manager and proprietor of the establishment. which includes the greenhouses at 197 to 201 Sycamore street and the seed store at 177 South Washington street. This greenhouse business was started by Lewis Ullrich nearly forty years ago. Today it is the largest plant of the kind in the state of Ohio, and is known far and near for the excellence of its pro- duets, a specialty being made of fine cut flowers and funeral de- signs. Seventy-five thousand square feet of glass are required as covering for the greenhouses. Having grown up in the business, Edmund J. Ullrich is familiar with every detail from the seed to the marketing of the products, and with progressive and up-to- date methods he is carrying forward the work begun by his successful father and maintaining the high standard long ago established for the Ullrich greenhouses.
Edmund J. Ullrich married Miss Tena Schaal. of Toledo, Ohio. and to them have been given two children, Lewis and Erwin. Mr. Ullrich's mother before marriage was Miss Minnie Deimer. The Ullrich family are identified with the St. Joseph Catholic church, and Mr. Ullrich has membership with the Knights of Columbus also in the Elks Lodge. He belongs to the Commercial Club and is an associate member of the G. A. R.
LOUIS. W. YINGLING is one of Pleasant township's successful agriculturists, and he has achieved his success through his own unaided efforts, his seventy-five acre farm purchased in 1895 being a highly cultivated and improved piece of property. He is a Marylander, having been born in Frederick county, that state. on the second day of February, 1862. His parents, John T. and Anna (Wright) Yingling, were of German extraction.
Mr. Yingling spent his boyhood and early youth under the parental roof, attended the common schools, and was engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was the second in order of birth of a family of twelve children, the others being Maggie (deceased). John Thomas, Fannie, Mary. Julia. Joseph, Anna, Vincent. Augustus, Rose and Charles. He did not set forth to make his fortunes as an independent factor in the world of affairs until he had reached the age of twenty-four years. About that time he came to Watson Station and for about eight months worked for John Holtz, subsequently transferring the scene of his activities to southern Ohio, over which territory he canvassed for a company
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in Lancaster. After a year and a half he went to his native state. Maryland, and having remained there for a short time he came to Greenspring, where his services were engaged by Alfred Birdsall, a farmer, for a period of about eighteen months.
On Christmas eve. in the year 1889. Mr. Yingling established a household of his own by his marriage to Ella Brenneman, born August 3, 1866. in Reed township, Seneca county, her parents being Jacob and Susan Brenneman, natives of Pennsylvania. Their identification with the Buckeye state dates from about the year 1850, Ashland county having been that part of the state in which they first located. Shortly after becoming a married man Mr. Yingling took up the occupation of farming on rented land near Watson Station, but subsequently moved to his present ex- cellent farm of seventy-five acres, which is well developed and adorned with a fine home. He is distinctly a self made man. for he started out without anything and has achieved prosperity by the exercise of good judgment, industry and thrift.
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Yingling have been born three children. Hallie C .. was born September 20. 1890, and was educated in Heidelberg College in Tiffin, being graduated from that institution of learning with the class of 1910. He is now located in Akron, where he has a position with the B. F. Goodrich Rubber Company. Lawrence H. was born January 10. 1899, and is now receiving his education, as is Robert Wright, born September 9, 1900.
Mrs. Yingling received her early education in the schools near Watson Station and subsequently attended Heidelberg College. She can look back upon a good record of three years as an instruc- tor in the schools of Pleasant Center and Bunker Hill of Pleasant township. Mr. and Mrs. Yingling are members of the Evangelical church at Old Fort.
FRANK FISHER .- Engaged in agricultural pursuits on the old homestead farm on which he was born and retired to maturity, Frank Fisher is a scion of a fine old German family early founded in Seneca county, his paternal grandparents having emigrated to America from Germany. He was born on the 15th of April, 1864, and is a son of Jacob and Leah (Gamber) Fisher, the former of whom is a native of Germany and the latter of whom was born in Seneca county. Jacob Fisher was one of the county's earliest pioneers, having come to this section from Germany with his mother when he was but three years of age. His father had, preceded the family to America and had settled upon a tract of wild land in Seneca county. As the child Jacob grew in years and strength, he engaged in chopping wood, making staves and clearing away the forest for agricultural purposes. He had no educational advantages but being a naturally intelligent lad he became a man of broad general information and he has ever been a liberal and
public spirited citizen. He married Leah Gamber, and they be- came the parents of the following named children : Frank. Mary, William, Sarah. Levi (deceased), Christian and Henry. Leah (Gamber) Fisher was a representative of the fine old Pennsyl- 5
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ARust
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vania family of that name, her parents having been natives of the old Keystone state of the Union. She was summoned to the life eternal on the 3d of September. 1890. at the age of sixty-three vears. Since the death of his cherished and devoted wife, Jacob Fisher has maintained his home with his son Frank, the immediate subject of this review. Though he has now attained to venerable age his physical and mental faculties remain unmarred and he labors continually. He is proud of the fact that he shocked twenty acres of oats this season. alone. He insists that he cannot give up to the luxuries of life. as the lesson of hard work learned when a boy stays with him and never a day passes but that he does his share of the chores and other work of the farm.
Frank Fisher early became associated with his father in the work and management of the home farm and his early educational advantages were those afforded in the district schools of his native county of Seneca, which he attended during the winter sea- sons until seventeen years of age. devoting his energies to seeding, planting and harvesting during the summers. After his mar- riage. in 1885. he resided in Tiffin for two years and thereafter he was engaged in railroad work for eighteen years at Siam, Ohio. In 1905. however. he severed his connections with city life and re- turned to the old homestead. where he has since been most success- fully engaged in agricultural pursuits. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with various social organizations of representative character.
On the 15th of April. 1885. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fisher to Miss Alice Nicholas, the ceremony being performed at Tiffin. Concerning her family history full data is given in the sketch dedicated to Helen V. Marcha, on other pages of this work. so that further information is not deemed necessary in this connection. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher have no children of their own but they adopted and raised an orphan boy. Frank G .. having taken him into their home when he was but five years old. He was afforded a liberal education and is now in the United States Navy. on the battleship Minnesota. Mrs. Fisher is a valued and appre- ciative member of Rebekah Lodge. No. 11. at Attica. Ohio. She has passed through all the chairs of the lodge and is now presi- dent of the Twenty-first district convention of the same. She is also affiliated with the Daughters of the American Revolution and is a member of the Relief Corps. Both Mr. and Mrs. Fisher are popular factors in connection with the best social activities of their home county and their attractive residence. located at what is known as "Fisher's Corner." in Reed township, is recognized as a center of refined and gracious hospitality.
REV. HERMAN RUST, D. D .- Pure, constant and noble was the spiritual flame that burned in and illumined the mortal tenement of the honored subject of this memoir. who was a distinguished . figure in connection with the religious and educational work in Seneca county for many years and whose deep appreciation of his stewardship was on a parity with the distinctive ability that was his. Our later generations may well pause to contemplate his
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exalted and useful life and to pay anew a tribute to his memory, for he wrote his name large upon the history of the day. True biography is a more noble publication than mere fulsome eulogy. The historic spirit, faithful to the record; the discerning judg- ment, unmoved by prejudice and uncolored by enthusiasm, are as essential in giving the life of the individual person as in writing the history of a people. The world today is what the leading men of the last generation have made it. From the past has come the legacy of the present. Art. science, statesmanship and government are accumulations. They constitute an inheritance upon which the present generations have entered. and the advan- tages secured from so vast a bequeathment depends entirely upon the fidelity with which is conducted the study of the lives of those who so transmitted the legacy. To such a careful study are the life services of Dr. Rust eminently entitled. and in a publication such as the one at hand it is gratifying to be able to present even a memoir of the abridged type which the province of the work necessarily prescribes.
Rev. Herman Rust, D. D., the son of Frederick and Elizabeth (Borekhart) Rust, was born on the 8th of December, 1816. in Bremen, Germany. Deeply religious by nature. he united with the Reformed church in Bremen early in his youth. As a lad of about ten years he received his call to the gospel ministry while listening to a sermon by the great German pulpit orator, Dr. Frederick W. Krummacher, on Isaiah lx. 1: "Arise. shine; for thy light is come." Intending to enter the foreign missionary field, with a companion he walked from Bremen to Hamburg to take the necessary examination, but he was compelled to abandon his purpose because there were more applicants than the Wichern Institute could supply with fields.
In June, 1841, he came to America, locating in New York city, where he attended the Reformed church of which Rev. J. C. Guldin was pastor. Through the influence of Mr. Guldin he was induced in 1846 to go to Mercersburg. Pennsylvania. to complete his preparation for the Christian ministry. Dr. John William- son Nevin and Dr. Philip Schaff. both men of powerful intellect and vast erudition, were the leading professors in Mercersburg College in those years. Dr. Nevin gave the young student a home in his own house and it was there that he met the Hon James A. Buchanan, afterward president of the United States and at that time a member of the board of trustees of Mercersburg College. Dr. Nevin and Mr. Buchanan were intimate friends. and thus the young student cast his first ballot as an American citizen for James Buchanan. At the next presidential election he voted for Abraham Lincoln.
He was ordained a minister of the gospel in 1850. by Lebanon classis, at Jonestown, near the city of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He became pastor of the Millersburg charge. near Lancaster, that state. One year later, in response to a call from the board of missions, he became pastor of the First Reformed church in Cin- cinnati, Ohio, succeeding the Rev. Dr. E. V. Gerhart. who had been elected the first president of Heidelberg College. in Tiffin. Dr
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Rust was soon engaged in the erection of a new church edifice, and sought aid for his mission by personal canvass among members of the Reformed church in six different states. While pastor in Cincinnati he also organized an English Reformed congregation, known as the Church of the Cross, and also the German Salem Reformed congregation on Sycamore street. near the corner of Liberty. In 1862, under his direction. the Reformed congregation (German) of Covington. Kentucky, was organized and the late Rev. Jean Grob, who was followed by Rev. Dr. F. R. Schwedes, be- came the first pastors. Dr. Rust labored for twelve years in Cin- cinnati, and during that time received calls to churches in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania. Baltimore, Maryland, and San Francisco, Cali- fornia. all of which he declined. He further manifested his zeal for the extension of Christ's kingdom by directly aiding not less than nine young men to enter the gospel ministry.
During the Civil war Dr. Rust drilled recruits in Cincinnati for the Union Army. and took part in municipal affairs wherever opportunity and duty called him. In that city he also witnessed a number of epidemies of cholera and smallpox. Ile remained bravely at his post of duty. visiting the sick. comforting the dying, burying the dead, and vet. despite all his exposure, he never once suffered an attack of either one of those dreadful diseases. £ always firmly believed that his protection came directly from God.
In the year 1861 Dr. Rust was chairman of a committee ap- pointed by the Ohio synod to secure Rev. Dr. J. H. A. Ebrard for the German professorship in Heidelberg College and Theological Seminary. Dr. Ebrard declined the call and then the Ohio synod in Dayton, on.May 21. 1862. elected Rev. Herman Rust to the chair of German in Heidelberg College. The call was accepted, and Professor Rust moved to Tiffin with his family in November. 1862. In January. 1868. Dr. Kieffer resigned as president of the theolo- gical seminary, and by appointment of the board of trustees Pro- fessor Herman Rust served in the same capacity from February 1st of that year until the next annual meeting of the Ohio synod. Dr. Rust came to Heidelberg College as the professor of history and German language. Subsequently he was made professor of exegetic and historical theology in Heidelberg Theological Semi- nary, and ceased altogether from language work in the college. In 1901, in consequence of advancing years. he was appointed pro- fessor emeritus of hermeneutics and instructor in the Heidelberg Catechism. In 1872 Franklin & Marshall College. Lancaster, Pennsylvania, conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
In addition to his duties as professor Dr. Rust was the efficient pastor of the Second Reformed congregation in Tiffin for over twenty-one years. During his administration the present beauti- ful church building was erected at the corner of Madison and Jefferson streets.
He was prominently identified with Tiffin's industrial affairs, and was one of the city's most highly respected citizens. For a number of years he served as a member of the board of education. and was honored with the presidency of that board. He retained his strong mentality to the end of his earthly life, and always mani-
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fested as much interest in current events as do much younger men.
In October, 1855. was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Rust to Miss Elizabeth Giesy, the youngest daughter of John Ulrich and Magdalene Giesy, of Lancaster. Ohio, and in every sense of the word she proved to be a faithful companion in his arduous ministry. She was devoted to her home and to the proper rear- ing of her children. The students also in college and seminary who learned to know her. always found in her a sympathetic. helpful and motherly counselor. Four children are the fruit of this marriage: Rev. John B. Rust. Ph. D .. Miss Mary C. Rust. Herman S. Rust and Rev. Eugene C. Rust. Mrs. Rust was sum- moned to the life eternal on April 22, 1902. at the age of about eighty years.
As the sun sank in the west on Tuesday, August 8th, 1905, Dr. Herman Rust. at the age of eighty-eight years and eight months. entered into eternal rest. The funeral took place on Friday afternoon, August 11. 1905, and the services were held in the Second Reformed church. The following ministers were present at the funeral : Rev. B. S. Stern. D. D .; Rev. D. A. Winter ; Rev. F. W. Horstmeier. D. D .; Rev. D. R. Raiser, pastor of the Second church ; Rev. Dr. A. S. Zerbe; Rev. L. B. C. Lahr, D. D .; Rev. C. M.Schaaff. D. D .; Rev. Dr. C. E. Miller; Rev. L. C. Martin ; Rev. J. P. Stahl. D. D .; Rev. J. I. Swander. D. D .; Rev. C. W. Good; Rev. F. W. Hoffman ; Rev. B. H. Roth : Rev. J. D. Buhrer; Rev. A. E. Baichley, D. D. ; Rev. F. E. Zechiel ; Rev. F. W. Kennedy and
Rev. Jacob Ihle. In his sermon at the funeral Dr. David Van Horne, president of Heidelberg Theological Seminary, said: "His death was a peaceful and fitting climax to a long and useful career. It is difficult to estimate aright the influence of such a long and eventful life as that of Dr. Herman Rust. In it we see the sterl- ing qualities of the Germanic character. He could not be swerved from the line of duty as he understood it. He was a successful man in the proper sense of the term, a plain practical man, a sound thinker. leaving behind him a wholesome influence in the church. the school and the community. £ His grasp upon church history. that great record of past ages. was comprehensive and sure, and the hundreds of students who have passed under his instruction will bear witness to the thoroughness of his knowledge on this subject. He was ever genial and companionable. a friend and brother in- deed, and has left behind him gifts to benevolence that testify to his hearty interest in the cause and kingdom of the Redeemer. He excelled most, perhaps. as an evangelical preacher of the gospel in the German language. He was always scriptural. devout and energetic. fluent, impressive and free in the pulpit. All his
powers were subsidized in his preaching. His countenance was animated, his voice clear, strong and sonorous. and often. with tears in his own eyes, he awakened responsive emotions in his hearers. He loved to preach, and when the period of retirement drew near he regretted most of all that he could no longer speak to the people on the momentous theme of 'Sin and Grace.' and salvation through a divine Redeemer. With him the gospel trum- pet never gave an uncertain sound, and it is a great satisfaction
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now. since he has finished his earthly course. that he ever fought the good fight and kept the faith, and that henceforth there is laid up for him, and for all the faithful in Christ, a crown of eternal life."
REV. JOHN BENJAMIN RUST, PH. D., the oldest son of Herman Rust, was born on the 5th of September. 1856. in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was named after his maternal grandfather. John Ulrich Giesy and Rev. Dr. Benjamin Bausman, oriental traveler and for many vears pastor of Reformed churches in Reading. Pennsylvania. Dr. Herman Rust and Dr. Bansman were roommates at Mereers- burg College and were lifelong friends.
Dr. John B. Rust attended the public schools in Cincinnati and Tiffin. Ohio. and entered Heidelberg College before completing the course in the Tiffin high school. He was graduated with the class of 1877. in the classical course, and three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In the year 1879 he was graduated in the Heidelberg Theological Semi- nary, located in Tiffin for more than fifty years. Rev. J. J. Gruber was the only member of the class. The graduating exer- eises were the first of the kind in the history of the seminary, and were held in the First Reformed church. The subject of this sketch became pastor of the Waynesburg charge, in Stark county. Ohio, in the winter of 1879-80. making his home in the village of Waynesburg, twelve miles southeast of Canton. on the Steubenville road. In May. 1880. at the annual meeting of St. John's Classis. in Apple Creek, Wayne county. Ohio. he was licensed to preach the gospel. and a few weeks later he was ordained by a committee of that Classis in Salem's Reformed church, near Mapleton. Stark county, Ohio. The Waynesburg charge consisted of three churches -Salem's church, situated in the country, about six miles from Waynesburg; St. Paul's church. in Waynesburg ; and the Reformed church at Mineral Point. Tuscarawas county. Ohio. In the spring of 1886, he received and accepted a call from Jerusalem's German Reformed congregation in Canton. Ohio, numbering eight hun- dred communicants. In the autumn of 1890 he became pastor of the Reformed church in New Philadelphia. Ohio, numbering nearly four hundred communicants. During his pastorate there a new edifice was built, at a total cost of twenty thousand dollars, and a fresh impetus for further growth was given the congregation. After a pastorate of nearly seven years in New Philadelphia. in response to a call from the Robertsville charge in Stark county, he moved to Malvern. Ohio, into the territory in which he had begun his ministry. Here he completed the post-graduate course in philosophy. which he had pursued for six years in connection with his pastoral labors in New Philadelphia. and in June. 1897. he received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Wooster Univer- sity. The Robertsville pastorate continued for only one year and a half. The increasing age of his parents made it necessary for him to return to Tiffin that he might aid his sister. Miss Mary C. Rust. in caring for and waiting upon them in their declining years. Soon after locating in Tiffin he became pastor of the Bascom charge. Vol. IT-3
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which he served for nearly nine years. During this time the charge was strengthened by the addition of a third congregation. which was organized with over one hundred charter members, and built a beautiful brick church, at a cost of ten thousand dollars. in the village of Mccutcheonville. He was the first pastor of this congregation and served in that capacity for three years-until the close of his pastoral relations with the Bascom charge, to which Trinity Reformed church of MeCutcheonville is attached. For a year or more, at this writing, he has had the pastoral care of the Reformed church in Findlay. Ohio, under the auspices of Heidel- berg Classis. Throughout his ministry, save in the Bascom charge. he has served German-English charges and churches.
Dr. John B. Rust, like his father before him. has been and still is a frequent contributor to church periodicals and papers. He has been almost a lifelong student of music. and not only in bygone years played the pipe organ in church but has also written upon musical subjects, in the manner of review and criticism, in addition to essays and papers upon theological, philosophical and ethical subjects. Though burdened to some extent with the re- sponsibility of business interests, and devoted to books and music. especially to the playing of the piano and violin. he nevertheless. in his own thought and purposes. subordinates every other pursuit and enjoyment to that supreme calling and mission of his life. namely, the preaching of the gospel and the extension, in company with others, of the kingdom of Christ.
OSCAR H. SHRIVER .- Seneca county enjoys high prestige among the counties of the Buckeye state. and nothing contributes more materially to this than the agricultural element. Among the most progressive of the county's farmers and stock raisers is Oscar H. Shriver, who resides on what is known as the old Myers homestead. his residence being situated on the line between Seneca county and Sandusky county. Born November 3. 1866. in Pleasant township. he is the son of James and Mary (Cramer) Shriver, natives of Pennsylvania and Fredericktown. Maryland, respectively. The father came to the state in youth and located with his parents on the above mentioned homestead. this being in the early '30s. The father's birth date was March 7. 1832. and his parents were Christ and Elizabeth Shriver. The mother of the subject whose maiden name was Mary Cramer. was born in July. 1830, and came here with her parents, Christ and Catherine (Criger) Cramer, of Maryland. when still in infancy. They took up their residence here on the farm now owned by John Holtz, on the Portland road. and it was there that the birth of Mr. Shriver occurred. Mr. Shriver was one of six children. he being the fourth in order of birth. and the other members of the family being: Catherine, Luther, Asa, Annie and Mary.
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