USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 48
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FRANK B. MILLER, member of the board of education of Hopewell special school district, of which he has been clerk for the last ten years, is one of Cynthian township's most respected citizens. He is a retired farmer and lives on one of his three farms, which aggregate 250 acres, his home being in section 22, four miles southeast of Fort Loramie, O. Mr. Miller was born January 12, 1861, in Lancaster county, Pa., a son of Cyrus and Jane (Gingrich) Miller.
Cyrus Miller was born in Dauphin county, Pa., and his wife in Lebanon
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county, in that state. When they came to Ohio they located on a farm west of Pleasant Hill, in Miami county, and from there in 1876 moved to a farm in Cynthian township, Shelby county, near Oran, O. They now reside with their daughter, Mrs. William Snow, who lives in Cynthian township. Of their family of six sons and two daughters, two sons are deceased.
Frank B. Miller was eight years old when he accompanied his parents to Miami county and was fifteen when they came to Shelby county. He had school advantages in both sections, attending the Oran special school district schools until he was seventeen years old. After putting aside his books, but not forgetting their contents, Mr. Miller went to work by the month with the determination of accumulating the capital that would enable him to buy a farm of his own and in the course of time his energy was rewarded. When he was twenty years of age he went to the west and prospered there, return- ing a year later with money that he had earned through his own industry. He invested first in the old Roan farm, later bought the farm on which he lives and still later bought the Brenner farm. For nine years he lived east of Piqua, O., on his father-in-law's farm and then moved to a farm in McLean township belonging to his mother-in-law, three years afterward coming to the farm he now occupies. All these farms are finely improved, Mr. Miller taking pride in his property and hence all of it is very valuable. In addition to general farming, which he continued until he retired, in 1907, he raised many horses, especially draft horses, cattle and stock. All the farm industries were intelligently carried on, new methods were adopted when they were found superior to old ways, and Mr. Miller became known as one of the best all- round agriculturists of Cynthian township. He still continues to be interested in raising stock to some extent, but has shifted his farming responsibilities to younger shoulders.
Mr. Miller married Miss Katie Grosvenor, who was born in Illinois, a daughter of Hiram and Araminta Grosvenor, once residents of McLean town- ship, Shelby county. The father of Mrs. Miller died when she was six weeks old. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller six children have been born, Alva, Harry, Ray- mond and Blanche, in Miami county, and Olive and Glenn, in Shelby county. All survive except Alva and Raymond, who died in Miami county.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller attend the Christian church at Oran, of which she is a member. He is a republican in his political views. Every year Mr. Miller takes a few weeks for recreation in travel and in this way has seen much of the country and doubtless in some measure owes his excellent health to this wise change of environment and pleasurable interest in other than everyday duties and surroundings.
HON. EMERSON V. MOORE, former mayor of Sidney, O., and a fore- most member of the Shelby county bar, belongs to an old Ohio family and was born on his father's farm in Green township, Shelby county, February 14,, 1868, a son of Thomas B. and Deborah (Griffis.) Moore. The father's death occurred in 1898, on his farm in Green township.
Emerson V. Moore was reared in his native township and secured his
HUGH THOMPSON MATHERS
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early schooling there, afterward attending the Sidney high school for two years and then entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, O., and while there began the study of law. For one year afterward Mr. Moore taught school in Brown township, Miami county, and during the following year was superintendent of the schools of Green township, Shelby county, having had much to do with establishing the grade system. He had already been admitted to the bar and then came to Sidney and has since been engaged in the practice of law in this city. When the Spanish-American war became a fact, Mr. Moore was one of that band of patriotic young men who put aside their most pressing personal interests and ambitions and with a patriotism that was commendable, was ready to accept service, dangerous or otherwise, in his country's defense. At that time he was second lieutenant of Co. L, Third O. N. G., which became a part of the Third O. Vol. Inf., which was hastened to Tampa, Fla.
Lieutenant Moore was detailed in June, 1898, as recruiting officer and recruited the first battalion of the regiment to war strength. He was later detailed as aide-de-camp on the staff of Brig. Gen. Rush T. Lincoln and served as such until the regiment returned to Ohio for mustering out. The war closed before this regiment was called into active service and they returned to their homes ready for future calls. Mr. Moore is a member of the Spanish-American War Veterans and in 1911 served as judge-advocate of the state of Ohio in this body.
Mr. Moore married Miss Blanche Stafford, a daughter of Joseph Stafford, of Sidney, O. Aside from his law practice, Mr. Moore has been active in political and fraternal life. He is a democrat in politics and on the demo- cratic ticket was city solicitor and twice elected mayor of Sidney, his adminis- trations proving beneficial to the city in every way. He belongs to the Order of Ben Hur and to the Knights of Pythias but is particularly prominent in the Order of the Knights of the Golden Eagle and for six years was state secre- tary of the organization, state president and for one year was national presi- dent of the order and probably is one of the best-known members of this flourishing society in Ohio.
HON. HUGH THOMPSON MATHERS, judge of the Third'Com- mon Pleas Judicial District of Ohio, is numbered with the eminent men of a state which has long been productive of distinguished citizens. He was born May 20, 1866, at Sidney, in Shelby county, O., and is a son of Hon. John H. and Elizabeth (Thompson) Mathers.
For several generations the Mathers family has been prominent in Ohio and still farther back was also honorably connected with public affairs, in Pennsylvania. James Mathers, the paternal grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania and there became a leading member of the bar and served in the state senate, his death occurring on the old family estate in Juniata county. He married Jane Hutchinson, a daughter of John Hutchinson, who was a well-known Presbyterian minister.
Hon. John Mathers was born in 1830 in Juniata county, Pa., and 27
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he, as his father before him, became prominent in the law, and came to Sidney when this place was' the head of navigation on the canal. He served as district attorney of Juniata county, Pa., and as prosecuting attorney of Shelby county. He was a man of brilliant talents but died in middle life, in 1875, when aged but forty-five years. He married Elizabeth Thompson, a daughter of Hugh Thompson, and she survives, having been born in 1845 and married in 1864. Her father was born at Upper Middletown, six miles from Uniontown, Pa., and came early to Sidney and established himself as a merchant. He was shortly after- ward elected associate judge of the court of common pleas and served two terms and then turned his attention to the study of law and for many years was a successful practitioner. He became prominent also in public life and served two terms as a member of the state legislature and was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1851. His death occurred in 1889, when he was aged eighty-one years. He married Lucretia Bailey, who was born near Baltimore, Md., and died in her seventy-third year. To the parents of Judge Mathers three children were born: Hugh, Jane, who is the wife of E. S. Laughlin, a merchant and traveling salesman; and Lucretia, who is the wife of Dr. Henry Baldwin, who is superintendent of the Tuberculosis Hospital at Spring- field, O.
Hugh Thompson Mathers attended the public schools of Sidney and after graduating from the high school, became a student at Princeton University, and in the class graduated from the Albany Law School in 1888, was one of its four honor men, who delivered the class addresses. He came immediately to Sidney and in the same summer was admitted to the bar at Columbus, O., opening his law office at Sidney and shortly afterward was elected city solicitor. He served two terms in that office, at the close of his second term accepting the position of general attorney for the Ohio Southern Railroad, with office at Springfield. When the Ohio Southern became a part of the C. A. & C. Railroad, Judge Mathers removed to Cleveland for one year, and when the above road became a part of the .L. E. & W. system Judge Mathers returned to Sidney. Here he was engaged in active practice until 1901, becoming the leader of the Sidney bar, when he was elected to fill a vacancy on the common pleas bench and served for three years, at the expiration of which period he was elected to the full term of five years and it was extended one year to meet the requirements of a constitutional provision. At the expiration of his six years of service in 1910 he was elected for six years more and continues honorably and faithfully to perform the judicial duties for which he seems so well qualified by nature. He possesses the well balanced and discerning mind so important to the jurist and the records of the court show the ability and patient and conscientious thoroughness with which he has administered the office.
In 1889 Judge Mathers was married to Miss Louise Beeson, a daugh- ter of Charles and Amanda (Baily) Beeson, and they have two children :
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Hugh Beeson and Jeanette. Judge Mathers and family are members of the Presbyterian church. In politics he is a democrat and was nominated. in 1906, as candidate for judge of the supreme court of Ohio, and again in 1908. Fraternallly he is a Mason, in which organization he has attained the thirty-second degree. No man in public life in Shelby county stands higher in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
WILLIAM H. PRINCEHOUSE, funeral director, who has been estab- lished in business at Sidney, O., since March, 1898, was born near Palestine, in Green township, Shelby county, O., May 19, 1866, and is a son of Jacob and Mary (Bratigan) Princehouse. Henry Princehouse, the grandfather, who was born in Germany, was the founder of the family in Shelby county, and Jacob Princehouse, his son, was born in Green township, south of Pales- tine, O., spent his life as a farmer and died there. His widow survives and lives at Palestine, Shelby county.
William H. Princehouse attended the country schools in Green township and afterward engaged in farming, residing on his own property until 1898, when he came to Sidney, for four years afterward being in the livery busi- ness. For the past ten years he has been in the funeral directing business, being a practical embalmer, a graduate of Clarke's School of Embalming of Cincinnati. He has well-equipped quarters in the Bingham furniture store, and owns a funeral car, an ambulance and an automobile for the proper and dignified transaction of his business. He is identified with all the leading fraternal organizations, including the Masons, Odd Fellows, Elks, Red Men, Uniformed Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Khorassan. He belongs also to the Commercial Club at Sidney and is interested to some degree in political matters. Personally Mr. Princehouse has a wide circle of friends on account of his friendly and kindly spirit and as a business man he is held in respect.
HENRY E. BEEBE, M. D., a leading physician of Shelby county, and for the past five years president of the Citizens National Bank, at Sidney, O., was born on his father's farm, near Carey, Wyandot county, O., July 24, 1849, and is a son of Buell S. and Lucinda (Keir) Beebe.
The father of Dr. Beebe was born in Franklin county, N. Y., and in 1846 came to Ohio and lived until he was sixty-two years old in Wyandot county, when he came to Sidney on a visit and here his death occurred in 1883. His family consisted of one son and two daughters: Henry E. and Mrs. Anna Hoff and Mrs. Sarah Millholland, both of Carey, O., the latter of whom died in 1911.
Henry E. Beebe was educated in the public schools and Wittenberg Col- lege and pursued his medical studies in the Cleveland Homeopathic Medical College, at Cleveland, O., from which institution he was graduated in 1873 and in the same year located at Sidney. For forty years Dr. Beebe has been in active practice and few members of his profession in this section of Ohio are better known or more highly valued. He is a member of the American
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Institute of Homeopathy and was its vice president in 1904-05 at its convention held at Niagara Falls. In 1886 he was president of the Ohio State Homeo- pathic Society, and from 1903 to 1904 was president of the state examining board, of which he was vice president for seven years and one of its organ- izers and belongs also to the Union Clinical Society. He is a thirty-second degree Mason.
Dr. Beebe was married in 1874 to Miss Ophelia McDowell, of Carey, O., a daughter of Hugh and Rebecca McDowell, and they have four children : Robert Wallace, Laura, Elise, Hugh McDowell and Henry Edwin. Robert Wallace Beebe is secretary and treasurer of the United Rim Co., of Akron, O. He married Miss May Hardesty of Cleveland. Laura Elise Beebe mar- ried W. C. Horr, who is secretary and treasurer of the Eclipse Folder Com- pany, of Sidney, and they have one daughter, Rebecca. Hugh McDowell Beebe is a physician. He married Miss Ruth Peirson, of Troy. Henry Edwin Beebe, who is a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, of the class of 1910, is connected with the law firm of Roettinger & Roettinger, at Cincinnati. As a business man aside from his profession, Doctor Beebe has been an important factor in this section and was interested in the founding of the Citizens National Bank here, of which he is president and formerly for many years was vice president. He has been closely identified with the general development of Sidney and has not only fostered its business and professional enterprises but has, in every way possible, furthered all move- ments which have contributed to the educational and social uplift.
A. P. RATERMAN, whose valuable farm of 150 acres is situated in sec- tion 3, McLean township, Shelby county, O., three miles east of Fort Loramie, was born on this farm, and is a son of Ferdinand A. and Berdine ( Pille) Raterman.
Ferdinand A. Raterman was born in Germany and was young when the family came to the United States. His parents settled south of what is now Fort Loramie, and there spent the rest of their lives. They had five sons : Henry, Philip, Joseph, Barney and Ferdinand A., and all attended school in what is now the Berlin special school district. In that neighborhood Ferdi- nand A. Raterman grew to manhood and after his marriage settled on a wild tract of land containing 130 acres, to which he subsequently added twenty acres. At that time this place seemed remote from civilization, it being in the depth of the forest with no roads leading to it and not a single attempt at improvement having yet been made. Mr. Raterman put up the first build- ings and cleared all the land with the exception of fifteen acres. This land has remained in the family intact and Anthony P. Raterman has the sheep- skin deed attesting ownership, the document bearing the signature of Zachary Taylor, president of the United States. Mr. Raterman labored hard to make a comfortable home, and productive farm for his family but did not live long enough to find much reward, his death taking place in his forty-ninth year. He was survived by his wife, who died on the farm in her sixty-second year. They were faithful members of St. Michael's Catholic church at Fort
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Loramie. They had the following children : Joseph, who is deceased; Mary, who is the wife of Clemens Wolke; Henry, who is deceased; John, who lives at Loramie, married Katie Lauterbur; Sophia, who is the wife of Edward Wehner, resides at Dayton, O .; Anthony P .; Frank and August, both of whom are deceased; and Kate, who is the wife af George Groves, lives at Sidney.
Anthony P. Raterman took charge of the farm when his father died and immediately set on foot improvements which included the erection of all the buildings now standing with the exception of the residence. He was then but a young man, his birth having taken place September 24, 1870, but he had farm experience from boyhood and soon demonstrated his capability as an agriculturist. He drained the land and put down much tiling, set out trees where he found it advisable, and through mixed farming has kept the soil in fine condition and has made this one of the best farms in the township.
Mr. Raterman married Miss Anna Kloeker, a daughter of Herman Kloeker, of McLean township, and all their children were born on this farm, namely : Amelia, Martin, Raymond, Helen, Eugene, Arnold, Evelyn and Cletus, all of whom survive except Raymond, who died at the age of three months. Mr. Raterman and family belong to St. Michael's Catholic church. In politics he belongs to a family that is almost entirely democratic and one that is a leading one in this section of Shelby county.
SAMPSON G. GOODE, M. D., a physician and surgeon in active practice at Sidney, O., with office and residence at No. 310 North Ohio avenue, has been a resident of Shelby county for thirty-one years and established in his profes- sion at Sidney since 1894.
Dr. Goode was reared in Champaign county, O., and from the country schools entered the academy at Urbana, where he made such unusual progress in his studies that he was awarded a teacher's certificate when he was but fourteen years of age. Afterward he continued to divide the sea- sons, working on the farm during the summers and teaching school, mainly in Champaign county, during the winters, for about fourteen years. He never had the leisure to wander far from this strict discipline as he was ambitious and dependent on his own efforts in order to prepare for the medi- cal career which was his goal from early youth. He prepared for college while teaching, under the direction of Drs. B. F. Baker, D. R. Barley and Dr. Musson, all of St. Paris, O., and after seven years of study was gradu- ated from the Eclectic Medical College at Cincinnati, O., in 1880. In the following year he came to Shelby county, locating at Pemberton, two years later removing to Port Jefferson and from there came to Sidney. Here he has been very successful in his professional life and has been active in public matters and on one occasion was the candidate of the democratic party for the state senate.
On January 2, 1867, Dr. Goode was married to Miss Mary Jane Ammon, of Champaign county, O., and two children were born to them: Dora, who is the wife of Charles W. Ogden, a merchant at Port Jefferson; and A. C., a graduated physician now in Alaska. Dr. Goode is physician and
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surgeon for the Shelby County Infirmary and Asylum. He belongs to the State and National Eclectic Medical societies and is identified fraternally with the Elks.
CARL A. SEXAUER, proprietor of Sexauer's Grocery and Bakery, one of the old and stable business houses of Sidney, O., is a native of Germany and was born August 28, 1865, at Freiburg, Baden, a son of John Sexauer, who still resides in Germany, being now in his eightieth year. His wife, to whom he was married in 1861, also survives and is nearing her seventy-sixth birthday.
Carl A. Sexauer has an interesting history. He learned the baking busi- ness with his father but left home at the age of fifteen years and went to Basil, Switzerland, and despite his youth, there capably managed a bakery for eighteen months, during which period he saved enough money- with which to make the long journey to America, the goal of his desires. During the voyage the ship was wrecked and three of the passengers died from shock and injury, but the others were finally landed after nineteen days of danger on the stormy Atlantic ocean. Mr. Sexauer had an uncle, George Sexauer, who lived on a farm near Piqua, O., and the youth decided to make an effort to reach this relative and finally, on December 24, 1881, arrived at Piqua. He paid fifty cents, his last money, to a cab- man to drive him two miles into the country to his uncle's farm, where he was kindly received and rested for a couple of days. He then sought work at Piqua and secured a job in the Piqua Bakery, and for four weeks worked there on trial, for $1.75 a week, when, rather than lose the skilled German baker that he was found to be, the proprietor made him his boss baker with a salary of $13 a week with board and laundry, this being at that time the very highest wages paid in any baking establishment in that city.
Mr. Sexauer remained in that place for a full year. During that time Jacob Piper, who was operating a bakery at Sidney, paid a visit to Piqua and saw and sampled some of Mr. Sexauer's baked goods with the result that he offered the young baker the position of boss baker of his establish- ment, and as conditions were more favorable he accepted and worked for Mr. Piper from March 1, 1883, until August, 1889, when he bought the Piper bakery department, which proved a business mistake. He was thor- oughly experienced in his trade but he knew little of practical business methods and in less than three years had lost the large sum of $2,600, and owed $800 to his wholesalers. It may be mentioned right here that since then he has paid every dollar of this indebtedness but it was a very 'dis- couraging experience. He then secured a basement workroom and for two years conducted a small bakery, and in this way retained many of his old customers and interested others, and by that time felt sure enough of further prosperity to buy the corner lot on which now stands the fine three-story brick building which he started to erect on March 1, 1905, into which he moved on September first following. In 1903 he had paid
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a visit to his parents and remained with them for three months and on his return began his plans for his present substantial building. It stands on west Poplar street and corners on the canal, and its dimensions are 165x22 feet. He utilizes the first floor, which opens on the canal, for his bakery; the second floor which opens on West Poplar street, for his ware- room and stockroom, while the third floor he has fitted up as a public hall, and many entertainments are held in it, Sexauer's hall having conven- iences that make it an ideal place for dances, parties and other gatherings.
Mr. Sexauer started into his second business adventure at Sidney with a capital of $92, and a debt, as before mentioned, of $800, but it speaks well for the impression he had already made on those with whom he had done business, that they continued to have confidence in him. After pay- ing all indebtedness with the strictest honesty, he found no difficulty in borrowing the necessary capital to erect his new structure, which cost him, exclusive of fixtures and machinery, more than $10,000, and that indebt- edness has also long since been wiped out. He has expended several thou- sand dollars in putting in modern machinery and sanitary equipments and now operates the largest baking plant in this part of Shelby county, turning out from 3,000 to 4,000 loaves of bread daily, exclusive of biscuits, buns, pies and cakes, all of delicious combination and made from the best pro- curable supplies. He is ably assisted by his eldest son, John Sexauer, who is superintendent of that department and who designed much of the valu- able baking machinery which his father has now installed. In addition to his extensive baking business, Mr. Sexauer conducts one of the most complete grocery stores in the city.
In 1886 Mr. Sexauer was married to Miss Mollie Althoff, of Locking- ton, O., and they have two sons: John and Raymond. Mr. Sexauer is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Knights of Pythias, the Commercial Club, the National Bakers' Association of America and the Grocers' State Association. He is recognized as one of Sidney's most useful, honorable and representative citizens.
BERNARD BARHORST, who is one of the substantial men of McLean township, Shelby county, O., resides in section 4, two and one- half miles east of Fort Loramie, where he owns 245 acres of fine land. He was born in this township, one-half mile south of his present farm in the Sherman special school district, September 24, 1866, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Grieshop) Barhorst.
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