USA > Ohio > Fulton County > The County of Fulton: A History of Fulton County, Ohio, from the Earliest Days, with Special Chapters on Various Subjects, Including Each of the Different Townships; Also a Biographical Department. > Part 40
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GEORGE A. EVERETT, attorney and counselor-at-law, Delta, was born in Amboy township of Fulton county, November 21, 1868. His genealogy is traceable to English and German ancestors, English on the paternal side. The Everetts were among the pioneers of Massachu- setts, removing from there to Pennsylvania in an early day. He is the son of George and Elizabeth (Sipe) Everett, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Holmes county, O., and in 1848 removed to Amboy township, Fulton county, being among the early pioneers, where the father died and where his widow still resides. They were the parents of ten children, six of whom are now living. They are: Mrs. C. E. Haynes of Toledo; Mrs. J. M. Curtis of Swanton; Mrs. Edward Luke of Lytton, O .; Samuel, a merchant of Lytton; George A .; Isaac, who is engaged in raising poultry; and bees at Lytton; William, who died in childhood; Isaiah, who died in infancy; John and Mary, who both died in ma- ture life. George A. Everett grew to manhood on a farm and was educated at the Fayette (O.) Normal University, completing the teach- ers' course in 1890. He then took the scientific course, graduating in 1892 as the salutatorian of the class, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. While at college he did the preliminary work in the study of law. and graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 1895. with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, having acted as assistant law librarian during the entire collegiate course. In 1896
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the law firm of Everett & Paxson opened up an office at Delta. After some time Mr. Paxson sold his interest to Mr. Everett, who since that time has been alone. He has a finely appointed suite of rooms above the post office and is doing an extensive and very lucrative practice. Since the beginning of his work he has been admitted to practice at the bar of the supreme courts of Ohio and Michigan and to the Federal courts. In politics he is a stanch Republican, always taking an active part during the campaigns. On April 1, 1903, he was elected mayor of the city of Delta for a term of two and one-half years. Although a young man he is deeply interested in public school affairs and has served on the board of education for four years. He is a member of Delta lodge, 194, Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor com- mander. He is also a member of Fulton lodge No. 248, Free and Accepted Masons, high priest of Octavius Waters Chapter, No. 154, Royal Arch Masons, and past patron of Aurora Chapter, No. 75, Order of Eastern Star. On May 8, 1901, he was married to Miss Marion V. Corbin of Delta, a daughter of D. E. Corbin, who for the past twenty years has been employed by the Oval Wood Dish com- pany. Mrs. Everett is a graduate of the Delta high school, and has developed a remarkable aptitude for elocution, having spent some time in the study of that art and in perfecting herself in music. They have one child, Doris Elizabeth, born February 2, 1905.
SAMUEL EVERETT .- To speak of the village of Lytton is equivalent to calling attention to its leading business man, and that man is Samuel Everett, whose initiative power and broad pragmatic discrimination have enabled him to build up in this distinctive rural community a business enterprise which would do credit to a metro- politan center, and which, in fact, encroaches heavily on the trade territory of larger and more pretentious towns in the county, the village of Lytton being located on the line between Fulton and Amboy townships and being in the center of as fine an agricultural section as is to be found in the State. Mr. Everett is a native of Fulton county and is a young man of distinctive ability and sterling attributes of character. He was born in Amboy township, on the 20th of Decem- ber, `1872, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Sipe) Everett, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the latter in Ohio. The Everett family of America traces its genealogy back to sterling English origin, and there have been many distinguished representatives of the name both in England and America, in which latter country the family was founded in the colonial era, the original progenitors in the new world having settled in Massachusetts, and later on representa- tives were numbered among the pioneers of Pennsylvania. From this branch the subject of this review is descended. In Holmes county, O., was solemnized the marriage of George Everett to Miss Eliza- beth Sipe, whose lineage is of German extraction, and in 1848 they came to Fulton county, settling in Amboy township and being num- bered among the early pioneers of this part of the county, where the father developed and improved one of the valuable farms of the county, passing the remainder of his life on this homestead and being one of
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the most honored citizens of the community. He passed away in 1882, at which time his landed estate comprised two hundred acres. This has been distributed among the heirs, the mother retaining her dower interest and still residing on the old place. Of the ten children six are living. Samuel Everett was reared to the sturdy discipline of the home farm, contributing a due quota to its work from his boyhood days and being afforded the advantages of the excellent public schools of the county. He initiated his independent career as a farmer, having been but ten years of age at the time of his father's death, and having in due time come into possession of his share of the estate. He con- tinued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until 1894, when he founded the business at whose head he now stands and which is almost phenomenal in scope and importance, even as it is unique in location. His possessions comprise about all that is represented in the business affairs of the village of Lytton, and it is due almost entirely to his progressive ideas and well-ordered enterprise that he has centralized here so magnificent a trade. He designates, with characteristic vim, his headquarters as being located "twenty-four miles west of Toledo," which city he thus takes into consideration as representing his only formidable trade rival. Mr. Everett carries a large stock of farm implements and machinery, vehicles, dairy supplies, heavy and shelf hardware, tinware, paints and oils, pumps, stock remedies and patent medicines, groceries and provisions, and such other lines as he believes will supply the legitimate demands of his large and widely extended trade. His stock is selected with discrimination in each department; he buys in large quantities ; his relative expenses are light, and he is thus enabled to offer prices which have created indubitable consterna- tion among his rivals in the larger towns, from which he has deflected and solidly retained a large and appreciative patronage. His main building is two stories in height and fifty-four by sixty-two feet in dimensions, and it has two additions or wings, each twenty-five by fifty feet. All this space is fully demanded for the accommodation of his stock, and while its valuation is constantly fluctuating in a slight way, by the exigencies of sale and purchase of new stock, its average valuation may conservatively be placed at eighteen thousand dollars, implying annual operations which would be noteworthy in a center of commercial industry. Inflexible integrity and fair-dealing characterize the course of this ambitious and successful young business man, and he may well view with pride the success which has attended his efforts. He is essentially and primarily a business man, but this fact does not narrow his interest in public affairs, and he is thoroughly loyal and helpful as a citizen and a stanch supporter of the cause of the Demo- cratic party, though never an aspirant for office. He is affiliated with Swanton lodge, No. 555, Free and Accepted Masons, and is popular in both business and social circles in the county. On the 26th of April, 1898. Mr. Everett was united in marriage to Miss Ida Schug, who was born and reared in Fulton county, being a daughter of Peter and Catherine Schug, and they have two fine little sons, Harold and Howard. Mrs. Everett is a member of the Zion Reformed church at Lytton.
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ROBERT W. FAUBLE is numbered among the progressive farm- ers and stock-growers of Fulton township, where he has passed his entire life. a scion of stanch pioneer stock. He was born in the same neighborhood in which he now resides, on the 9th of October, 1849, and is a son of Isaac and Rachel A. (Watkins) Fauble, both of whom were born in Wayne county, Ohio, the former in 1815 and the latter in 1818. Isaac Fauble was a son of Michael Fauble, who was born in Germany and who was the founder of the family in America, hav- ing been one of the pioneers of Wayne county, Ohio, where both he and his wife died. Isaac Fauble came with his wife to Fulton county in an early day, securing wild land in Fulton township and developing a good farm, upon which he died when fifty-eight years of age, his wife attaining the age of sixty-eight years. He was an ener- getic, aggressive and industrious man, inflexible in his integrity and straightforward in all his dealings. Though he died in middle life he had so well directed his efforts that he left his family in com- fortable circumstances. He and his wife continued resident of Fulton county until death, save for an interim of about two years, passed in Indiana. They became the parents of six children, of whom the eldest died in infancy. Jane is the wife of Jacob Garman, a farmer of Clin- ton township; Robert W. was the next in order of birth; James E. is a farmer of Swan Creek township; Sarah L., widow of George W. Fraker, is individually mentioned elsewhere in this work; and Rachel A. is the wife of Andrew J. Fraker, of whom specific mention is made on another page. Robert W. Fauble was reared to the sturdy work of the home farm and his educational advantages in youth were those afforded by the local schools. His entire life . has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and upon the death of his parents he inherited a portion of the old homestead. He and his wife are now joint owners of a well-improved farm of fifty-eight acres, and the same is maintained under effective and profitable cultivation, and the land being specially productive, and he also devotes no little attention to the raising of live-stock of good grades. He met with some financial reverses dur- ing the period of general business depression in the early 'go's, but the favorable conditions following the natural reaction in industrial affairs enabled Mr. Fauble to recoup his losses, thus restoring him to independent circumstances. In politics Mr. Fauble is a stanch advo- cate of the principles of the Republican party, and he has served in minor local offices of public trust, and fraternally he is identified with the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Delta. March 30, 1876, Mr. Fauble was married to Miss Clara J. Manley, who was born in Fulton township, this county, being a daughter of Whitfield Manley, an honored pioneer. Mr. and Mrs. Fauble have seven children, all of whom are living. Nellie and Ella (twins) were born January 11, 1877, the former being now the wife of William J. Fleming, and the latter being the wife of Archibald B. Putnam, both of this county; Roy, who was born June 23, 1879, is employed in the city of Toledo; Edward,
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born February 2, 1881 ; Clarence, born July 13, 1887; Ralph, born March 30, 1889; and Florence, born January 13, 1892, all remain at the parental home.
EUGENE FELTZ, one of the venerable pioneer citizens and retired farmers of Amboy township, has contributed his quota to the material and civic development and progress of Fulton county, and has ever stood as a man of loyalty and integrity in all the relations of life, so that in his declining years he is surrounded by those who accord him unqualified respect and esteem. He was born in the department of Muerthe et Moselle, France, on the German border, April 3, 1817, and is a son of Nicholas E. and Mary (Payaer) Feltz. His father was for many years in the employ of the French government, as warder over timber preserves, and he passed his entire life in France, as did also his wife. Eugene Feltz was reared and educated in his native land, where he served an apprenticeship of eighteen months at the carpenter trade, following the trade as his vocation in France until 1852, when he came to the United States. On May 15th of that year he located in Sandusky, Ohio, which was then a mere village, and he was there employed at his trade for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of which, in 1856, he came to Fulton county and located in the little town of Metamora, where he continued in the work of his trade five years, as a contractor and builder as well as general work- man. He then purchased thirty acres of land in Section 17, Amboy township, reclaiming and improving the same, to which he later added by the purchase of a contiguous tract of twenty acres, and still later he purchased twenty acres in Section 8. The fifty acres in Section 17 constitute the farm now owned and operated by his son Joseph, one of the leading farmers of this township. In 1890 Eugene Feltz located on a farm of eighty-seven and one-half acres, in Section 16, having purchased this property a number of years previously, and a consider- able portion of the same was cleared by him, with the assistance of his sons, and he erected the present substantial and attractive build- ings. He is now living retired from active labor, enjoying the rewards of his former endeavors and surrounded by his family and a host of loyal friends. May 15, 1854, Mr. Feltz was united in marriage to Miss Mary Valter, daughter of Walter and Catherine (Minlott) Val- ter, of Sandusky county, Ohio, whither they came from France, and the following is a brief record concerning the children of this union: Mary is the wife of Nicholas Dowling; Edward is deceased ; Eugene, Jr., operates the home farm of his father ; and Joseph owns and oper- ates the old homestead previously mentioned. Mr. Feltz and his family are communicants of St. Mary's Catholic church, at St. Mary's Corners, Amboy township, and he has aided materially in the support of the parish work and in the upbuilding of the flourishing organiza- tion. He contributed liberally to the erection of the attractive church edifice, now utilized, as did he also for the original church, which was of primitive type. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and he has always shown a helpful concern in local affairs, and he served one term as supervisor of his township.
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CHARLES H. FENTON, one of the well known and representa- tive young farmers of Clinton township, was born in Ridgeville town- ship, Henry county, Ohio, on the 11th of September, 1881, and is a son of Henry K. and Emma C. (Worden) Fenton, the former of whom was born in Henry county, Ohio, and the latter in Coshocton county. The father died in 1889, having been one of the prominent and honored farmers of Henry county. His widow now resides in the city of Wauseon, Fulton county. Of their two children Charles H. is the elder. Howard N. is now a student in the Ohio Weslyan University and has his home with his widowed mother, who removed from Henry county to Fulton county in 1902, purchasing the old Hodges farm, one mile south of Wauseon, where Charles H. now resides. The place comprises one hundred and forty acres of excellent land, the major portion of the same is under effective cultivation, and the im- provements include good buildings and other needed provisions. Charles H. Fenton passed his boyhood and youth on the old home- stead in Henry county, in whose public schools he secured his pre- liminary educational discipline, while in 1891-2 he was a student in the Ohio Northern University, a well equipped normal institution, at Ada, being there graduated as a member of the class of 1892. His vocation throughout life has been that of farming, his knowledge of the details of the industry being of the most intimate sort, so that he has been able to secure good returns from his efforts in this con- nection. Since the removal of the family to Fulton county he has had charge of the home farm. In politics Mr. Fenton is a stanch advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On the 23rd of September, 1904, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Fenton to Miss Matilda Winzeler, who was born in Wauseon, this county, in 1881, the same year of her husband's birth. She is a daughter of Frank W: and Mary (Seiler) Winzeler. Her father was born in Switzerland, December 24, 1849, and came with his parents to America in 1854, in which year the family located in Franklin township, Fulton county, Ohio. Her grandfather, Jacob Winzeler, was born in Switz- erland, in 1821, was a shoemaker by trade and vocation, and he served as a member of the country guards during the progress of the French revolution. After coming to America he followed his trade two years and then purchased a tract of wild land, in Franklin town- ship, where he was killed by a falling tree, in 1862. Sarah (Kutzley) Winzeler, mother of Frank W., was likewise born in Switzerland, and she died, May 17, 1900, at a venerable age. In 1872 Frank W. Win- zeler was united in marriage to Miss Mary Seiler, who was born in Switzerland, and who came with her parents, Jacob and Mary (Meis- ter) Seiler, to America in 1855. Jacob Seiler was a successful school teacher in his native land, and also taught seven years after coming to the United States, being a man of fine intellectuality. He now re- sides on his homestead, his devoted wife having passed away in March, 1904, at the age of eighty-one years. Frank W. Winzeler secured his educational training in the common schools and remained associated with his father until he had attained his legal majority, after which
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he followed the carpenter trade for seven years. After his marriage he located on a farm in Lenawee county, Mich., where he remained three years, at the expiration of which he returned to Fulton county and purchased a farm of forty acres, which he later sold, forthwith purchasing the fine farm upon which he now resides. He is a stanch Democrat in his political allegiance, and he served two terms as trustee of Franklin township. Both he and his wife are members of the religious organization known as the German Evangelical Association. They have nine children: Minnie, who is the wife of Adolph Steckle, of Wauseon; Edward, of Idaho, married Miss Grace Lee of that place; Matilda, who is the wife of Charles H. Fenton, subject of this review ; and Lillian, Alfred, Frances, Jacob, Sylva and Raymond. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton have no children.
WILLIAM H. FIELDS, a builder and house-mover of Wauseon, was born in Enniskillen, Ontario, Canada. He is the son of William and Mary Ann Sophrona (Shoaff) Fields, both natives of Canada. William Fields came to Wauseon in 1865, where he engaged in building and house-moving, in which business he was quite suc- cessful. For some years he was actively engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. During the thirty-eight years. that he conducted his business so successfully in Wauseon, he found some time to devote to society and social affairs. In Odd Fellowship he took a very active part, having passed all the chairs of that organiza- tion, and was quite prominent all over the State. He was equally active in the temperance cause, being identified with all the temper- ance societies. It is therefore not to be wondered at that he enjoyed the respect of all classes. He died in 1902 at the age of seventy- five years and is survived by his widow, who is still in remarkably good health, notwithstanding she is seventy-six years old. There were born to this marriage the following children: Almira (de- ceased), who was the wife of Miles Root of Clinton township; Sarah E., wife of Jason Dowell of Toledo, O .; Sophrona (deceased), who was the wife of James Murphy of Wauseon; William H., the subject of this sketch; Madison, of Michigan; Cyrus, of Chicago; Anna M. (deceased), who was the wife of David M. Mikesell of Toledo; Cora B., wife of John Maxwell of Michigan; and Charles, of Wauseon. William H. Fields, the subject of this sketch was nine years old when he came to Wauseon with his parents. He was educated in the public schools of his home city. After leaving school he formed a partnership with his father in the contracting and house-moving business, in which he is still actively engaged. His success is largely due to the fact that he is thoroughly equipped for his work, under- standing it in every detail. So carefully are buildings moved under his direction that comparatively little damage is done to them. As a matter of course he enjoys a very liberal patronage. He married Miss Adaline A. Dunbar, daughter of James Dunbar, born in New London, Conn., in 1817, who located in Erie county, in 1831, and two years later in Clinton township, Fulton county, where he en- tered wild land. The maiden name of Mrs. Fields' mother was
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Gleason. The children of Mr. and Mrs. James Dunbar are: William Wallace (deceased), who served in the Civil war; Gurden R. B., who was killed in the battle of Jonesboro, Georgia; Martha E., now the wife of Henry B. Scott, of Seattle, Washington; Mary (dc- ceased) ; Adaline A., wife of William H. Fields; Orin R. ( deceased) ; Anna M., wife of Madison Fields, and William Sherman of Wauseon. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Fields has been blessed with one child, Arthur J.
ROBERT J. FINN is one of the energetic and enterprising young farmers of Chesterfield township, his well-improved homestead being located about two miles west of the village of Lyons, which is his postoffice address, though he enjoys the advantages of the rural free mail-delivery service. Mr. Finn was born in Fulton township, this county, on the 26th of March, 1879, and is a son of James and Rachel J. (Watkins) Finn. James Finn was born in Michigan in 1852, and he took up his residence in Fulton county, Ohio, about 1870, being employed in a saw-mill the first two years, and then securing employment on the farm of Robert Watkins, whose daughter, Rachel J., became his wife. He continued on the farm of his father-in-law about four years thereafter, and Mr. Watkins then presented to his daughter, Mrs. Finn, a portion of the homestead farm, where they lived until 1891, with the exception of two years passed in Delta, this county. In the year mentioned James Finn purchased the farm where his son, Robert J., now resides, the same comprising one hun- dred and eight acres, of which he gave to the subject of this sketch forty acres at the time of the latter's marriage, and the son now has charge of the operation of the entire farm, his parents maintaining their residence in the village of Morenci, Mich., about six miles distant, and the father having retired from active labor. Robert J. Finn secured his rudimentary education in the school known as the Basswood school, in Fulton township, the district having gained its name from the fact that the first school-house there erected was constructed of basswood logs. He later attended school at Maple Grove, after which he continued his studies two years in the high school at Morenci, Mich., supplementing this training by at- tending the Fayette Normal University for one year. Thereafter he was employed in a clerical capacity for three years, in the village of Morenci, Mich., and after his marriage, in 1900, he located on the home farm, which he has since operated with much success. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and he has held several local of- fices of public trust, being at the present time constable of his town- ship. He is a charter member of the Morenci lodge of the Knights of Pythias, and is also identified with the Grange of Fulton county. On the 7th of March, 1900, Mr. Finn was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Geyser, who was born in Swanton, this county, March 14, 1879, being a daughter of William and Catherine (Schrock) Geyser, who are now residents of Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Finn have a fine little son, William Geyser Finn, born February 2, 1902.
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JACOB H. FIRST, one of the successful farmers and well-known citizens of Clinton township, where he has maintained his home for more than thirty years, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the 22nd of April, 1840, and is a son of Samuel and Eliza (Keister) First, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania and the lat- ter in Wayne county, Ohio, in which latter county both remained residents until death, the father having been a farmer by vocation. Jacob H. First was reared and educated in his native county, where he continued identified with agricultural pursuits until August 22, 1862, when he went forth to do yeoman service in defense of the Union, enlisting as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served two years, then becoming a member of Company E, One Hundred and Four- teenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and one year later by re-enlist- ment he became a member of the Forty-eighth Ohio Regiment, Com- pany E, with which he remained in active service until after the close of the war, having received his honorable discharge on the 15th of October, 1865. He thereafter continued engaged in farming in Wayne county until 1872, when he came to Fulton county, where he purchased his present well-improved farm, comprising fifty-three acres, all under cultivation. He is a man of distinctive energy and business ability and has made a success of the vocation which has represented his life-work, and he has ever commanded the esteem and confidence of his fellow-men. He is one of the loyal supporters of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he served as constable for two years and as road supervisor for three years. He is a member of the Christian church. In 1868 Mr. First was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth J. Lawrence, daughter of Henry and Barbara (Durr) Lawrence, the former of whom passed his entire life in Wayne county, Ohio, engaged in farming. The latter was born in Columbiana county, and her death occurred on the home farm, in Wayne county. Mrs. First was summoned into eternal rest on the 15th of January, 1894, being survived by four children, namely : Margaret E., who is the wife of John Miller, of Chicago; Ethan, who married Miss Addie Eck and who resides in Wauseon; and Jessie A. and Cleon L., who remain with their father on the home farm.
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