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 47
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inspector in the rural free mail-delivery service, later being promoted special agent and finally to his present position, as rural agent. His field of labor thus far has covered nearly every State east of the Mis- sissippi river. When he entered the service there were but two hun- dred rural mail-routes in the Union, and at the present time the num- ber is fully thirty-five thousand. He has proved an able and discrim- inating executive and has found his work agreeable and profitable. In politics he is a stanch adherent of the Republican party, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Fulton Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M .; Waters Chapter, No. 154, R. A. M .; Delta Lodge, No. 460, I. O. O. F .; Fulton Encampment of the last mentioned order; and with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees. In 1881 Mr. Hoyt was united in marriage to Miss Addie Allman, who was born in Lucas county, in 1860, being a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Allman, well-known residents of Swanton. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt have an adopted son, Rollo D., a promising and popular youth of sixteen years.
JOHN M. HULL, manager of the Fulton County Co-operative company, of Fayette, is one of the representative business men and popular citizens of this place, and it is largely due to his executive ability and unflagging energy that the enterprise over which he is placed in charge has forged to the front rank in prestige and success. He was born in the township of Venice, Seneca county, Ohio, on the 9th of November, 1849, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Resh) Hull, the former of whom was born in New Jersey, January 21, 1802, and the latter was born in Pennsylvania. The father was a child at the time of his parents' removal from New Jersey to Franklin coun- ty, Pa., where he was reared to manhood and where his marriage was solemnized. In 1846 he removed to Seneca county. Ohio, purchasing a farm in Venice township, where he made his home until 1863, when he disposed of the place and removed to the city of Van Wert, Ohio, where both he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. John M. Hull has the invigorating discipline which is ever involved in the life of the farm, having been reared until ten years of age on the homestead in Seneca county, and his educational advantages were those of the public schools, though his attendance was somewhat ir- regular. When ten years of age he went to work in a general store at Benton, Crawford county, where he remained one year, passing the ensuing three years in Chatfield, that county, having been with his brother, Michael R., in both places. His father then sold the farm and engaged in the grocery and provision business in Van Wert, and John M. was employed in the store for the ensuing four years, at the expiration of which his father disposed of the business. John M. thereupon joined his brothers, George W. and Henry S., who had established themselves in the dry-goods business in Wauseon, Fulton county, and he was associated with this enterprise, in the ca- pacity of salesman, until 1870, when he entered into partnership with Jacob M. Longnecker, under the firm name of J. M. Hull & Com- pany, and engaged in the general merchandise business in Delta. He continued thus engaged until 1879, when he disposed of his interest
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in the business and removed to Angola, Ind., where he conducted a dry-goods store until 1882, when he sold out and removed to South Dakota, taking up a half-section of land, in Hand county, perfecting his title to the two claims and being still the owner of a quarter sec- tion, which has greatly appreciated in value, with the rapid develop- ment of the country. After proving up on his farm he engaged in buying grain for the firm of G. W. VanDusen & Company, having charge of their elevator at New Ulm, Minn., for three years. The following decade he maintained his home and business headquarters in Canby, Minn., where he had charge of the flour-mills of the same company, for whom he continued to buy grain. He thereafter was engaged in the grain and coal business for himself, in the same town, where he remained until 1898, when he purchased a stock of dry- goods and engaged in business at Delta, disposing of the business in 1901, and taking up his residence in Fayette, where he engaged in the general merchandise trade. In 1903 he effected the organization of the Fulton County Co-operative company, to which he turned over his stock, becoming manager of the concern. This represented the first co-operative store in the county, and the success of the enterprise has been most gratifying, a dividend of five per cent and eight per cent interest on capital invested having been declared the first year. The company is incorporated with a capital stock of twenty-five thousand dollars, with shares at one hundred dollars each, no stockholder being entitled to more than one share and to only one vote. The com- pany store is large and well-equipped, being conducted on the depart- ment plan and having a select line of general merchandise, and the business is conducted on a strictly cash basis. Mr. Hull is a member of the common council of Fayette and is one of the town's most lib- eral and public-spirited citizens. He is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated-with the lodge and chapter of the Masonic order and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. April 13, 1871, Mr. Hull was united in marriage to Miss Telitha C. Jones, of Wauseon, daugh- ter of the late John Jones, an honored citizen of Fulton county. Mr. and Mrs. Hull became the parents of four children: Edwin C., born March 1, 1872, is agent for the Toledo and Western Railroad at Blissfield, Lenawee county, Mich .; Dora died at the age of two years, and Ora at the age of five; and Blanche W. was born March 6; 1896.
ARBY JOHNSON is a representative of one of the well-known families of Fulton county, where he has lived from the time of his birth, and he is numbered among the prosperous farmers and popu- lar and loyal citizens of Dover township. He was born in Amboy township, this county, on the 3d of March, 1851, and is a son of Sullivan and Adelia (Worden) Johnson. His father was born in the State of Vermont, where the family was early founded, the date of his birth having been July 1, 1814. He came to Ohio as a young man, having received a good common-school education, and his mar- riage was solemnized in Toledo, which was then represented by only three buildings. He came with his wife to Fulton county in 1838, and became the owner of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres,
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in Amboy township, having reclaimed the greater portion of the tract from the virgin forest .. He impressed himself deeply upon the civic and public life of the community, ever holding the unqualified confidence and regard of his fellow-citizens, and being called upon to serve in various offices of public trust. He held, at different inter- vals, practically all of the township offices, including that of justice of the peace, of which he was incumbent about thirty-six years, and he served as sheriff of the county four years, giving an admirable ad- ministration and one that called forth unqualified popular approval and commendation. For a number of years prior to his death he lived retired, in the village of Metamora, where he died on the 17th of May, 1897, at the venerable age of eighty-three years. His wife was born in the State of New York, on the 21st of April, 1818, and died, August 7, 1905. Following is a brief record concerning the eight children in the family: Falena is the wife of Thomas Whit- ney, of Lorain county, Ohio; Roba is the wife of Myron Richard- son, a farmer of Fulton county; Ann is the wife of Joseph Warren, of Tedrow; Alice is the wife of Levi Chamberlain, of Ypsilanti, Mich .; Jennie became the wife of Alphonso Covill and died in Colo- rado; Hattie is the wife of David S. Brown, of Lyons, Fulton coun- ty; George is a successful farmer of Amboy township; and Arby is the immediate subject of this review.' Arby Johnson grew to man- hood on the home farm and was accorded the advantages of the common schools, and his vocation throughout his independent career has been that of agriculture and stock-growing. In 1895 he took up his residence on his present well-improved farm, which comprises eighty acres. He gives a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, and though he has never been ambitious for office, he served four years as deputy-sheriff under the regime of his father and two years under that of Sheriff Alfred F. Shaffer. He is affiliated with the Tedrow lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Masonic lodge in the village of Lyons. In 1878 Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Effie A. Sellers, who was born and reared on the farm where she and her husband now reside, the date of her birth being August 16, 1859. She is a daughter of Elias and Emer- etta Sellers, the former of whom was born July 15, 1834, the latter in Summit county, Ohio, October 4, 1836, and she was about twenty years old at the time of coming to Fulton county, where she met and married Elias Sellers, who was one of the honored pioneers of Dover township and who was one of the representative farmers of the county, his death here occurring on the 17th of May, 1904. His wife now resides in Tedrow. They became the parents of two daughters, of whom Mrs. Johnson is the elder. May, born April 27, 1866, is the wife of Frank A. Potts, and they reside in Chattanooga, Tenn. Mr. Sellers served three years as a soldier in the Civil war, having enlisted as a member of Company H, One Hundredth Ohio volunteer infantry, of which he was corporal at the time of receiving his hon- orable discharge. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have seven children, whose names, with respective dates of birth, are as follows: Davis B., De- cember 30, 1881 ; Floy, December 13, 1883; Marvin E., February I,
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1885; Otis, November 15, 1887; Sullivan, November 12, 1891 ; Ruth, April 19, 1893; and Beulah, February 19, 1904.
GEORGE DANIS JOHNSON, who is one of the representative farmers and stock-dealers of Amboy township and also the owner of a finely-equipped carriage and wagon emporium in the village of Met- amora, was born on the old homestead farm where he now re- sides, in Section 15, Amboy township, on the 16th of April, 1853, the date bearing its measure of significance in that it indicates that his parents must have been early settlers in this section. He is a son of Sullivan and Fidelia (Worden) Johnson, natives of Vermont and New York, respectively, and both represented families long iden- tified with the annals of America. Sullivan Johnson settled in Am- boy township in 1844, this section at that time being a portion of Lucas county, and his original homestead was the one now owned and occupied by the subject of this review. The original farm com- prised eighty acres, the most of which was covered with a heavy growth of native timber, and the father cleared and improved the property, to which he later added an adjoining forty acres, develop- ing one of the best farms in this part of the county. He continued his residence on the homestead until 1896, when he removed to Meta- mora, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred on May 18th of the following year, at which time he was in his eighty-third year. His devoted wife passed away August 7, 1905. They became the parents of eight children, namely: Philena, wife of Thomas Whit- ney; Roby, wife of Marvin D. Richardson; Ann, wife of Joseph B. Warren; Jennie, deceased wife of Alfonso A. Covell; Alice, wife of Levi Chamberlin; Hattie, wife of Davis Brown; Arby, a resident of Fulton county; and George D., subject of this sketch. For more than half a century Sullivan Johnson was prominently identified with the civic and industrial history of Amboy township, and no man in the township was held in higher confidence and regard. He held practically every office of importance in the gift of the people of the township, including that of justice of the peace, of which he was in- cumbent many years, making the office justify the name and wisely adjudicating difficulties for his friends and neighbors, who had con- fidence in his integrity, fairness and discrimination. He served two terms of two years each as sheriff of Fulton county, and his record in the office is recalled as one of the best made in the annals of the county's history. He was at first a Whig and later a Republican. George Danis Johnson was reared to manhood on the home farm, was afforded a good public-school education, and he was signally favored also in having the guidance of a loving and intelligent father and mother. He early began to assume personal responsibilities in con- nection with the work of the home farm, and ever since he was four- teen years of age he has been engaged in the buying and selling of live-stock, being one of the best judges of stock in the county and being still one of the extensive buyers and shippers ot this section. For several years also he was identified with the wholesale butchering business in Metamora and Toledo. In 1904 he engaged in the retail
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carriage and wagon business in Metamora, as a member of the firm of Johnson & Scheuer, and in March, 1905, he became the sole owner of the business. He purchased the old homestead of his father in the year 1896, and has made the place his home from the time of his birth. In politics Mr. Johnson is a loyal and uncompromising advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and he served two terms as trustee of Amboy township. He is affiliated with Royalton Union Lodge, No. 434, Free and Accepted Masons ; Lyons Chapter, No. 75, Royal Arch Masons; and Toledo Commandery, No. 7, Knights Templar, taking deep interest in and showing marked appre- ciation of the time-honored Masonic fraternity. Mr. Johnson has been twice married. November 2, 1879, he wedded Miss Margaret Biehl, daughter of Conrad and Catherine Biehl, of Amboy township, the parents having been born in Germany and having come to Fulton county in an early day. Mrs. Johnson was summoned into eternal rest on the 31st of July, 1901, having borne six children, of whom one sur- vives, Carma, who still remains at her paternal home. February 12, 1903, Mr. Johnson was united in marriage to Miss Cora Jones, daugh- ter of John and Arabella Jones, of Hillsdale county, Mich., where she was born and reared.
JOHN HOWARD JOHNSON, a prominent and highly-successful physician and surgeon of Wauseon, was born in Springfield, O. He is the son of W. S. Johnson, who makes his home with him. . The sub- ject of this sketch received his literary education in the Cleveland, O., schools where he made an enviable record as a brilliant student. He was one of a class of ninety-one to graduate from the medical depart- ment of the University of Cleveland in 1897. For one year he prac- ticed .his profession in the city of Cleveland, when he removed to Wauseon, where he has built up a large and lucrative business, his practice calling him to all parts of Fulton county. Doctor Johnson has always taken an active interest in public affairs. At present he is serving as president of the board of education, having been elected first to the board in 1900. The same year he was appointed to the office of coroner of Fulton county, to which office he was elected in 1901 and re-elected in 1904. In politics he is identified with the Re- publican party and is now serving as a member of the county executive committee. In 1901 he was appointed surgeon for the Montpelier di- vision of the Wabash railway, a position which he still holds. In fra- ternal matters he is identified with the Masonic fraternity. His re- peated election to office and his appointment to such an important office as that of division surgeon of a great railway system speaks volumes for the push and energy of the subject of this sketch. He holds these important positions because he merits them, and not be- cause of the influence of prominent and influential friends. By his rapid advancement he has shown clearly what a young man can ac- complish if he will but apply himself and strive with all his might to succeed in anything he may undertake. He married Miss Christine Bollmeyer, the daughter of John C. Bollmeyer, deceased, who at the time of his death was editor of the Democratic Expositor. During the
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second administration of Grover Cleveland, Mr. Bollmeyer was post- master of Wauseon. He was prominent for many years, not only in Wauseon but also in Fulton county. The subject of this sketch and wife have two children, John Gordon Johnson and Howard B. John- son by name. Surely Dr. Johnson deserves to be proud of the record he has made, and it is to be hoped that his rise in the profession will continue until his death.
S. M. JONES, local representative of the general produce firm of The Smith & Jones Company of Cleveland, O., at Wauseon, was born in Cleveland. He was educated in the public schools of that city and afterwards thoroughly trained for the business he is now engaged in. The firm which Mr. Jones represents established a branch office at Wauseon on July 21, 1904, locating opposite to the depot of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railway, a very desirable place for that line of business. In the brief period of six months the Wauseon branch did a business of fifty thousand dollars. The subject of this sketch, a brother of one of the members of the firm, has removed to Wauseon with his wife and intends to make it his permanent home. His ability as a business man is recognized by the members of the firm for which he operates, and so thoroughly does he enjoy their con- fidence that he is given full control of the Wauseon branch. His judgment is accurate and he makes no mistakes in his dealings with his customers, all of whom respect him both as a man and a business man. To stand so high in the estimation both of his employers and his customers means much to him and he has just cause to be proud of the enviable record he has made. Certainly no mistake has been made in the matter of entrusting the business of this branch entirely to him. The main office of the firm of The Smith & Jones Company is at No. 100 Broadway, Cleveland, O. The commercial rating of this firm is highly satisfactory, showing that it has met with success in its operations. It deals in everything that the farmer has to sell, paying the highest market prices. Mr. Smith, the senior member of the firm, is recognized as one of the oldest and best known produce merchants in Cleveland, where he has been engaged in that business for the past fifty years. Mr. Jones, the subject of this sketch, has had a large ex- perience in the business of buying and selling produce, and prior to coming to Wauseon was for many years connected with the main office. During the coming year he hopes to do a business of two hun- dred and twenty-five thousand dollars for his firm, and nothing short of that amount will satisfy him. All produce is shipped directly to New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Newark and Cleveland. The farmers of Fulton county now have an opportunity to dispose of their produce at the highest market price in cash, and they, no doubt, cor- dially welcome the establishment of a branch of the firm at Wauseon.
MILES A. KAHLE, one of the substantial farmers of Amboy town- ship, and vice-president of the Farmers' and Merchants' Banking com- pany, of Metamora, claims the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity, since he was born in Butler county, Pa., on
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the 4th of February, 1851, being a son of James and Mary (Gates) Kahle. The former was born in Alsace-Lorraine, France, now a por- tion of the German empire, and his wife was born in Clarion county, Pa. The father was a stone-mason and plasterer by trade and immi- grated to America in 1828, taking up his residence in Pennsylvania and being married in Clarion county, that State, where he resided for a term of years. In 1849 he removed to Butler county, Pa., where he continued to follow his trade until 1864, when he came to Fulton county, settling in Dover township, where he purchased a farm of 135 acres and also a saw-mill. He resided on his farm four years and then removed to Lucas county, where he purchased a farm of 150 acres. Six years later he purchased a farm of eighty acres, one mile east of Metamora, and about the same time purchased the farm of ninety acres on which Miles A. now resides, on which he resided about seven years. Some years later he broke up house-keeping and re- sided then among his children until his death, which occurred in Ful- ton county, March 28, 1889, at the venerable age of eighty years. He became the owner of several farms in this locality, and all but one of the same are still held by his children. His devoted wife passed away in 1888, at the age of sixty-eight years, both having been con- sistent members of the Lutheran church. They became the parents of nine children, namely: Henry, deceased, Catherine A., deceased, Daniel A., deceased, William, George, Rose, deceased, James, de- ceased, David M., Miles A., John and Samuel. Catherine is the wife of Archibald D. Robinson, of this county, and Rose was the wife of Lewis Blair. Miles A. Kahle was about thirteen years of age at the time of his parents' removal to Fulton county, having thus received his rudimentary education in the schools of his native State of Pennsyl- vania. He was reared to manhood in Fulton and Lucas counties, and in initiating his independent career he engaged in the stove and lumber :business in Blissfield, Mich., and three years later he purchased the farm where he now resides, its area at the time being eighty-eight and one-half acres, but by subsequent purchase he has brought the es- tate up to one hundred and sixty-eight and one-half acres, all in one body, and well improved, making it one of the valuable farms of the township and one whose appearance indicates the thrift and prosperity .which well-directed effort has brought: He was one of the founders of the Farmers' and Merchants' Banking company, of Metamora, of which he has been vice-president from the time of organization, in 1899. In politics he supports the principles and policies of the Demo- cratic party, he served two terms as trustee of Amboy township, and he has been incumbent of minor offices in his township. He is affil- iated with the tent of the Knights of the Maccabees at Metamora. Ap- ril 8, 1880, witnessed the marriage of Mr. Kahle to Miss Lanah Clarke, daughter of Sanford and Adelia J. (Champion) Clarke, of Metamora, and they have five children: Lulu, Zellah, Clarke, William H. and Nelson A. Lulu is the wife of Asbury Loar, of Amboy township, and Nelson A. was graduated in the Boxwell examination in the spring of 1905, when but twelve years of age, being the youngest graduate in the county.
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ADAM KANAUER is fortunate in being the owner of one of the fine farm properties of Gorham township, and he is known as an up- right and liberal citizen and is an honored veteran of the Civil war. He was born near Shelby, Richland county, Ohio, June 15, 1840, and is a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Fenicale) Kanauer, both of whom were born in Berks county, Pa., whence they came to Richland county, Ohio, as pioneers of 1837. In 1849 they removed to Williams county, where they passed the remainder of their lives. The father was a tailor by trade, but after coming to Ohio gave his attention to farm- ing as a vocation. His children were seven in number, namely: Franklin, a resident of Pioneer, Williams county; Barbara, the wife of Samuel Glime, deceased; John, deceased; Adam, subject of this sketch; Andrew, who died at Nashville, Tenn., during the Civil war, having been a member of Company C, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry; Harriet, wife of John Smith, deceased, of Hillsdale county, Mich .; and Willard, a resident of Pioneer, Williams county. Adam Kanauer was nine years of age at the time of his par- ents' removal to Williams county, in whose common schools he com- pleted his early educational training, being there reared to manhood. His entire active career has been one of successful identification with agricultural pursuits, and he has resided on his present fine landed estate, in Gorham township, since 1862. In 1864 he enlisted as a private in Company F, One Hundred and Eighty-second Ohio volun- teer infantry, with which he served in the Army of the West, having assisted in the building of a fort at Nashville, Tenn., where he was stationed at the close of the war and where he received his honorable discharge, on the 10th of June, 1865. He and his wife own four hun- dred acres of fine land, the greater portion being under effective cul- tivation, and the improvements are of the best order, including a com- modious and substantial residence, large barn and other farm build- ings. Mr. Kanauer gives his attention to diversified farming and to the raising of high-grade live-stock, and is one of the prominent and aggressive farmers of the township, standing high in the esteem and good will of the community in which he has so long maintained his home. He is a stockholder in the Fulton County Co-operative com- pany, and has other capitalistic interests aside from his farm. He is a stanch Republican, has held various local offices, and for several years he was a member of the board of directors of the Fulton County Agricultural Society. Mr. Kanauer is a member of the Methodist and Mrs. Kanauer of the Presbyterian church. He is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Knights of Pythias. July 10, 1862, Mr. Kanauer was married to Miss Leoline Beilhartz, daughter of Martin and Mary Beilhartz, both of whom were born in Germany. They resided in Seneca county, N. Y., until 1846 and then came to Fulton county, Ohio. Mrs. Kanauer having been a child of two years at the time, her birth having occurred in Seneca county, N. Y., in 1844. The father was a shoemaker by trade and had followed the same until his removal to Ohio, and here also he found ample demand for his ser- vices in the work of his handicraft. He bought a tract of wild land
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