BIOGRAPHIES

† Source:
A. History of Northwestern Ohio
A Narrative of Its Historical Progress and Development
from the First European Exploration of the Maumee and
Sandusky Valleys and the Adjacent Shores of
Lake Erie, down to the Present Time
by Nevin O. Winter, Litt. D.
Assisted by a Board of Advisory and Contributing Editors
Illustrated
Vol. II
Published by
The Lewis Publishing Company
Chicago and New York
1917

A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	IJ	K
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	ARTHUR J. SECOR.  Only son of the late Joseph K. and Elizabeth T. (Ketcham) Secor, whose careers sketched on other pages were so important in the formative period of Toledo's modern development, Arthur J. Secor has for the past forty years been closely identified with many of the city's important enterprises and institutions, and throughout it has been his aim and purpose to uphold the high standard set by his father as a financier and merchant and to perpetuate the gentle and beneficent influence of his mother in the philanthropic side of Toledo's life.      Born in Toledo Sept. 10, 1857, he received a public school education, graduating from high school with the class of 1875, and after a year of attendance at Swarthmore College he returned to Toledo and found employment with the wholesale grocery house of Secor, Berdan & Company.  Jan. 1, 1880, he was taken into partnership, becoming associated with the late James Secor, John Berdan and Norman Waite. In 1888 the old name Secor, Berdan & Company was abandoned and a reorganization of the business occurred, since which time the firm of Berdan & Company has continued the wholesale grocery trade which is now one of the largest wholesale grocery trade which is now one of the largest wholesale houses of Toledo.      At that time Mr. Secor retired from the business, and has since given his principal time to the management of his extensive real estate interests.  Mr. Secor was actively identified with the organization and founding of the Home Savings Bank in 1892, and is still one of the heavy stockholders in this institution, which has resources aggregating upwards of four million dollars, with capital and surplus of half a million.  It is one of the largest savings banks in the Middle West.  For many years from its beginning Mr. Secor was an active director of the bank, but a few years ago he resigned that position on account of not being able to attend the meeting of the directors regularly, since he is away from the city much of the time.  He has some admirable ideas as to the responsibilities of a bank directorship and his resignation was due to the fact that he could not conscientiously remain in such an office unless he was able to keep in close touch with the affairs of the bank by constant attendance at the directors' meetings.  He is also a stockholder in the Northern National Bank.  Mr. Secor has an office in the Nasby Building.      He is a member of the Toledo Club, the Country Club, the Toledo Commerce Club, the Toledo Automobile Club, and was one of the organizers and has been a liberal contributor to the Toledo Museum of Art.  He has also given liberally to other public movements including Young Men's Christian Association.  Though not a member he maintains a pew at Trinity Episcopal Church.      On Jan. 15, 1888, Mr. Secor married Miss N. Grace Walbridge daughter of the late Horace S. Walbridge, whose career as one of Toledo's foremost citizens in the subject of an individual article on other pages.  Mrs. Secor was born in Toledo and educated in the public schools and also was a student at Vassar College.  Mr. Secor has had a great many interests in his life and his exhibited a vigorous participation in everything he undertakes.  He finds his recreation in various forms of outdoor life, particularly camping and hunting. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 683
	JAMES SECOR.  For fully three quarters of a century the name Secor has been closely identified with Toledo's best ideals and efforts in business, finance, civic, social and philanthropic affairs.  One of the men who brought distinction to the name was the late James Secor, who for many years gave his services to the upbuilding of one of the institutions that are still effective and prominent in the wholesale district of the city, and who was also notable as a banker and general business man.      The period of his life extended from the date of his birth Dec. 11, 1834, in the Town of Goshen, Orange County, New York, until his death in Toledo Nov. 9, 1901.  His parents were Benjamin and Sarah (Ketcham) Secor. The ancestry was originally French, and some of them were Huguenots who at the time of the persecution of that sect emigrated and located near New Rochelle, New York.  The Ketcham family is of old New England stock. Benjamin Secor was a farmer by occupation and in 1844 took his family from the highlands of the Hudson River in New York State to Southern Michigan, locating in Lenawee County.      James Secor was a boy of ten years when he came West with the family to Lenawee County, Michigan, and his early life was spent in the invigorating atmosphere of a farm.  His education was limited to such advantages as could be supplied by pioneer schools.  He lived with his father until the age of twenty and then in 1854 went to Toledo to seek his fortune, and those opportunities for broad service which he so well utilized in subsequent years.      His older brother Joseph K. Secor had a number of years previously established himself in Toledo and was already successful in business as a member of the firm of Secor, Berdan & Company, wholesale grocers. The house of Secor, Berdan & Company was originally established in 1836 by the late Valentine H. Ketcham. In 1854 he retired from active business, his interests being acquired by Mr. Berdan and the new firm taking the title of Secor, Berdan & Company, George Secor, a former employe, being admitted as a partner.  In 1856 George Secor retired, and Joseph K. Secor and Mr. Berdan continued the business under the old firm name.      It was with this house in 1854 that James Secor began work as a clerk.  Coming to the city from the country with a vigorous physique and with an ambition to make something of himself, James Secor rapidly adapted himself to the new employment, showed good business instinct, and his services were soon appreciated.  In 1858 he was admitted to partnership in the firm, and became its general manager.  Two other men were also admitted as partners at the same time, Maro Wheeler and John B. Ketcham, both of whom had been former salesmen with the old firm.  It was in the responsible position as manager that James Secor attained prominence in commercial circles in Toledo and he continued to direct the growing and important interests of Secor, Berdan & Company for a period of thirty years, finally retiring in 1888.  In that time the firm had become one of the largest wholesale grocery houses in the Middle West, and it is still continued a flourishing institution of the Toledo wholesale center under the name Berdan & Company.      When he gave up the wholesale grocery business in 1888 James Secor turned his at tention to banking.  He assisted in organizing the Union Savings Bank and the Union Safe Deposit & Trust Company, accepting the presidency of both institutions.  He was also one of the incorporators of the Merchants & Clerks Savings Bank, and his name was associated with that bank for several years.  He was the first man to offer his signature to the charter of the Security Trust Company, was made chairman of its trust committee, but requested that his son Jay K. Secor be elected director in his stead.  The power which James Secor exerted in Toledo commercial and financial life can only be suggested by his varied relations with different institutions, and it is known that he was recognized as one of the ablest among his contemporaries.  He helped incorporate and was connected with the Woolson Spice Company, one of the largest manufacturing concerns of its kind in the entire country, and was president of that company at the time of his death.  He was an incorporator and a director of the Maumee Rolling Mills Company, which subsequently was purchased by the Republic Iron and Steel Company.  To many other Toledo industries and organizations he supplied the resources of his long experience, judgment and material capital. Besides being president of the Union Savings Bank, the Union Safe Deposit & Trust Company and the Woolson Spice Company, he was vice president and a director of the Northern National Bank.      It was as a business man that he rendered his best service to the public, and never as the holder of a public office.  Several times he was offered nominations that were tantamount to election, but declined being more than a silent worker in the ranks of the republican party.  His friends and associates felt for him a peculiar esteem not only for his abilities but for his many congenial and wholesome qualities of mind and character.  He was a member of the Toledo Club, the Country Club and the Middle Bass Club, and in the First Congregational Church he was an active worker and for a number of years a member of the advisory board.  While it is known that he gave his title to the cause of charity, both organized and individual, there is no specific record of his giving, since actuated by the true Christian spirit he kept his deeds of kindness and comfort from public observation and comment.      January, 1867, James Secor married Miss Charlotte A. Steele. Her father was the Hon. Dennison Steele of Toledo.  Mrs. Secor survives her husband and resides at the Secor residence 2035 Collingwood Avenue.  She be came the mother of four children, but the only one now living is Jay K. Secor, reference to whom is made in other paragraphs. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 684
	JAY K. SECOR.  At the corner of Jefferson avenue and Superior Street in Toledo stands one of the visible monuments to the enterprise of the Secor family of Toledo.  This is the handsome and modern hostelry, the Secor Hotel one of the finest hotels in Northwest Ohio and the best in the City of Toledo.  Then stories high, absolutely fireproof, and with every feature of the most up-to-date hotel, it is built of brick and stone and is one of Toledo's most attractive buildings in the business section.  The hotel is conducted and managed by the Wallick brothers.  This hotel was named in honor of Jay K. Secor, who was very prominent in promoting the enterprise, and who is president of the company that built and owns the structure.  The hotel was opened to the public Aug. 1, 1908.      A son and the only surviving child of the late James Secor, whose prominence as a toledo business man and citizen has been described in other paragraphs, Jay K. Secor was born in Toledo, Apr. 28, 1872.  He and his family reside at the Secor residence, 2035 Collingwood Ave., which is also the home of his mother, Mrs. Charlotte A. (Steele) Secor.      Jay K. Secor attended the public schools of Toledo and spent two years in Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts, one of the leading preparatory schools of the East.  He began his individual business career with the Northern National Bank, with which he was connected in various capacities for seven years.  For about eighteen months he was in the oil business, but for the greater part of the past fifteen years has been associated with James Brown Bell under the firm name of Secor & Bell.  This firm, whose offices are on the ground floor of the Gardner Building, are members of the New York Stock Exchange and have influential connections both East and West as dealers in municipal, corporation and railroad bonds, in stock and grain, and handle many important securities and financial transactions both in Toledo and elsewhere.      Mr. Secor's business interests have been rapidly growing for the past twenty years.  Among the connections he is president of the Citizens Ice and Cold Storage Company, vice president and director of the Northern National Bank, is a director of the W. L. Milner Company, Toledo's largest department store.  In politics he is a republican, but not a politician.  He is a member of the Toledo Club, Toledo Country Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Castalia Fishing Club of Ohio, Erie Shooting Club, National Golf Club of Ohio, Dartmouth Salmon Fishing Club of Quebec and Ohio Society of New York.      On his twenty-sixth birthday, Apr. 28, 1898, Mr. Secor married Miss Mary Young Barnes, daughter of C. W. Barnes of Colorado, in which state Mrs. Secor was born.  They are the parents of four children: James Jay, George Barnes, Virginia and Jay K., Jr. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1070
(See Portrait in Memoirs of Lucas County & City of Toledo, Publ. 1910)	JOSEPH K. SECOR.  Comparatively few citizens of Toledo know that the First National Bank, with its splendid resources, its facilities for service, and its successful record for more than half a century, rests securely upon a foundation laid in the years before the National Banking Act was passed, a foundation of personal integrity, financial ability and experience supplied by the well known firm of private bankers, Ketcham & Secor.  Thus while the First National Bank stands as a monument to the business power of Toledo, it is also a monument to its founder, one of whom was the late Joseph K. Secor, who became one of the organizers of the First National Bank and remained closely in touch with its affairs for nearly thirty years.      The late Joseph K. Secor, who died at his Toledo home Apr. 16, 1892, when about seventy years of age, was one of the leaders for fully half a century in financial and business circles in Northwestern Ohio.  His was a gifted personality, rich with the resources of life as in those of material wealth.  Much that was good and uplifting in the social and civic activities of Toledo was enriched by the presence of Mr. Secor.  He was one of Toledo's finest citizens in that period which he vitalized and adorned.      One of a family of twelve children he was born in the  Town of Goshen, Orange County, New York, Sept. 16, 1822, a son of Benjamin and Sarah (Ketcham) Secor.  When still quite young before reaching his majority he came to Toledo in 1840, and entered the employ of the late Valentine H. Ketcham in the grocery business.  Being young and active, willing to work and quick to learn, conscientious in the discharge of his duties and always strictly honest and reliable, he made progress consistent with those fundamental qualities.  In a few years he was a partner, and thus was established the firm name of Ketcham & Secor an association which continued until 1850.  In that year Peter F. Berdan succeeded Mr. Ketcham at which time the name Secor, Berdan & Company was adopted with the individual members Joseph K. Secor, Peter F. Berdan and George Secor.      While the original firm was a mercantile house of standing not only in Toledo but throughout the Maumee Valley, it also became known as a private banking house and as such came into close touch with the financial affairs of Northwestern Ohio.  In a time when loose methods of banking were only too common, this institution stood upon the firm rock of credit and conservative management.  With the passage of the National Banking Act in 1863 the private bank was the nucleus of the First National Bank, in which Mr. Secor, after the organization was complete, became vice-president and director.  He continued one of the active officials of the institution until Jan. 1, 1890, when he retired, having spent fully half a century in the business life of Toledo.  After his retirement he looked after his private affairs and his usefulness did not close until death called him.      Besides his mercantile and banking interests he was at one time connected with the Second National Bank.  In 1873 he was a member of the city council and was also one of the advisory board of the Toledo Industrial School and in many ways turned the resources of his character and his business to the benefit of his community.  While he will perhaps be longest remembered as one of the early bulwarks of Toledo finance, he exemplified many of the finest qualities of personal character, and his judgment and opinion were often sought and never in vain.      In the lobby of the Hotel Secor at Toledo hangs a fine oil painting of Joseph K. Secor and also of his brother the late James Secor, to whom extended reference is made on other pages.  These paintings are the work of the noted artist William Funke, and they were hung by Henry Reinhart, the art expert, who came from New York to personally superintend the work.  These fine pictures are frequently pointed out as portraits of two of Toledo's representative and best known pioneer business men.  The painting of Joseph K. Secor was presented by Mrs. Secor and her son Arthur Secor, while the painting of James Secor was given by his widow and her son Jay K. Secor.      While much was accomplished and much remains significant of the work and influence of the late Joseph K. Secor in Toledo, his life would have fallen short of its highest fruition had it not been nobly supplemented and enriched by the companionship and character of his devoted wife, Mrs. Elizabeth T. Secor, who survived him nearly twenty years. Elizabeth T. Ketcham was born near Newberg in Orange County, New York, Sept. 7, 1819, and died at her home in Toledo May 28, 1911, in her ninety-second year.      She first visited Toledo in 1844, and again in 1846, and in 1850 she and Mr. Secor; who had come from the same section of New York, were married.  After their marriage in New York City they came West to Toledo and then followed years of happy home making, of quiet, unselfish devotion on her part, and to their union were born two children.  Their daughter died in early youth.  The son Arthur J. Secor is still living.  Mrs. Secor was a birthright member of the Society of Friends.      Her long and useful life cannot be described by incident but only as to its results and the steady influence that radiated from her character.  Perhaps the best characterization is found in the words of the funeral address by Rev. George Connell.  There follows a portion of that address:      "The Wise Man has said in the Book of Proverbs: 'A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.'  Such a woman was the late Mrs. Joseph K. Secor, a God-fearing, home-loving, large-hearted, sympathetic wife, sister, mother, friend; whose whole life was one continual round of blessed helpfulness; whose presence, even on entering a room, as the members of her family and those who knew her best can testify, was like a benediction.      "There was no organization of Friends in Toledo when she came to the city as a bride, but from the beginning of their married life Mr. and Mrs. Secor were accustomed to gather their family and those members of the society who lived here in the parlor of their old home on lower Summit Street, on each First Day, as it is called by the Friends, for an hour of that quiet worship which is characteristic of the sect. * * * Sometimes for the sake of the children present, a chapter of the Bible or perhaps the printed sermon of some noted Friends preacher would be read.      "But being a Friend was more than a religious profession of faith to Mrs. Secor.  It was the inner essence of her life.  While she did not wear the plain dress among us, in her thoughts, words and actions she exemplified the true spirit of the Friends.  Nothing pleased her so much as to hear anyone justly praised.  She had a perfect genius for finding out the best in people and bringing it out into the light.  Nothing gave her more pain than harsh, unjust, cruel criticism; and indeed, in many an instance, in her gentle, firm way, she insisted that kindly justice and charity should prevail; and thus prevented many a misunderstanding, which might have separated life long friends.  'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God '—surely this promise belongs to her.      ''Again, Mrs. Secor found outward expression for her inward life in works of mercy and love.  She was among the pioneer charity workers of this city.  A true lover of her kind, the orphan and the friendless were always dear to her heart.  For years she stood easily at the head and front of all kinds of philanthropic work, and was from its earliest inception a charter member of the board of the Orphans' Home.  There is no question but that she had much to do with its present substantial prosperity.      ''Sweet, quiet, modest, retiring, unassuming, she passed through life, shedding rays of sunshine and blessing into every heart she touched.  The inspiration of her memory will always be with her loved ones and life will always be richer to the many who have known and loved her for the fragrance of her memory.  It is not we, it is her own works which praise her.  It is her thoughtfulness for others, her self-forgetful, self-sacrificing actions and deeds, which stand and praise her at that gate which separates this earthly day from the abode of the spirits of just men made perfect." Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 681
James Shoemaker	JAMES SHOEMAKER.  A useful and honorable life in Lucas County came to a close with the death of James Shoemaker at Waterville on Apr. 3, 1896.  He represented that old and substantial family that located in that section of Lucas County when it was a wilderness and in his own generation he contributed worthy associations to the family name.  He was a valiant soldier during the war between the states and as a business man he ocupied himself chiefly with farming.      He was born in Waterville, Dec. 22, 1836, a son of Thomas and Catherine (Van Fleet) Shoemaker.  Thomas Shoemaker came to Waterville during the decade of the '20s, and became a factor in pioneer affairs.      With an education acquired in the Waterville schools and the Maumee Seminary, James Shoemaker started his native life as a farmer, and was still a young man when in April, 1861, he answered the first call for troops to put down the rebellion.  He enlisted in the three months' service in Company I of the Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  That service was spent in West Virginia, and on returning to Toledo he was mustered out Aug. 3, 1861.  Going back to the farm he remained only a short time until he re-enlisted on Oct. 5, 1861, in Company K of the Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry.  He became sergeant, first sergeant, and on May 22, 1864, was promoted to second lieutenant of Company K.  However, owing to the fact that his term of enlistment would soon expire and because of his partial disability from wounds and hardships, he never mustered in with that rank.  He participated in all the early engagements of his regiment, and after nearly four years of service was honorably discharged at Columbus on Jan. 17, 1865.      Thereafter he worked hard and industriously as a farmer and in establishing a home, but spent many years in later life retired at Waterville.  On Oct. 29, 1865, a few months after he came home from the war, he married Jane E. Gillette.  Mrs. Shoemaker is still living at Waterville, and it is more than fifty years since she and her husband began life together.  For twenty years of that time she has lived a widow.  Her parents were Orrin and Louisa (Smith) Gillette.  They came from New York State and settled in 1834 on a farm two miles west of Waterville.  All that country was then in the woods and there were no roads but blazed trails through the trees.  In their particular neighborhood there were only one or two houses to mark the settlements of white men.  Her father carried his corn or wheat for flour to the mill at Monroe, Michigan.  In 1856 the Gillette family retired to Waterville, and Mrs. Shoemaker's parents spent the rest of their days there.  Her mother died in December, 1887, and her father on Oct. 1, 1896.  Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker had two children.  Cora A., who was born June 29, 1867, is the wife of Clifford Ballow and their two girls are Gladys, aged twenty-three and now attending a nurses' training school, and Lucile, aged ten.  Clarence R., the only son, was born Jan. 30, 1873, and by his marriage to Miss Bess Ostrander has three children, named Roland, aged fifteen; Carolyn Jane, aged eleven; and James William, aged eight.  The late James Shoemaker was an honored member of J. Fisher Pray Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of Waterville. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1235
John A. Smith	JOHN A. SMITH is a citizen of Maumee whose civic efforts there deserve long to be remembered.  He has been closely identified with municipal affairs for the past thirty years and much that is progressive and permanent in Maumee's improvement can be credited to his leadership and influence.      He was first elected a member of the city council in 1887, being re-elected and serving until 1891, when he became city marshal and was twice re-elected to that office, serving six years altogether.  In 1899 he was elected mayor, and was twice given the honor of reelection, serving altogether six years and nine months.  In 1909 Mr. Smith was again chosen mayor and filled that office with credit and ability four more years.  In the meantime he had spent many years also in the offices of justice of the peace and constable.  It was the peculiar efficiency and vigor of his public service that called him again and again to such positions of public trust.  When he was first elected mayor of Maumee they did not have a foot of stone walks or sewers, and he brought about the inauguration of that class of public improvements.  It was during his term as mayor that the first electric lighting was secured. When the plant was first constructed the city's contract called for fifteen street lights, and at the present time there are eighty such lights.      Mr. Smith is a native of Maumee, where he was born July 26, 1855, a son of John and Christina (Burtscher) Smith.  His mother was born and reared in the Kingdom of Bavaria.  John Smith was born Oct. 28, 1816, in Prussia, where the family name was originally spelled Schmidt.  John Schmidt was six months old when his father died, and he was sixteen when his mother passed away.  Thus left an orphan, he soon after came to America, and in 1841 was living at Tiffin, Ohio, where he was married Aug. 15, 1841.  His home was in Tiffin until 1848, after which he lived in Maumee until his death on Apr. 5, 1903, at the age of eighty-eight.  He was a carpenter by trade, and followed that as his regular occupation throughout his active career in Maumee.  His wife passed away Mar. 2, 1880, at the age of fifty-nine, the mother of nine children, three of whom are still living, namely: Catherine, wife of Nicholas Rippinger of Maumee; John A.; and Phillip, who is unmarried.      In the forty years since he attained man's estate, John A. Smith has occupied himself with activity in various lines of business, and a number of years ago he erected a sawmill at Maumee and carried on the lumber and sawmill business for several years.  He is now living retired both from business and official activities.  He is a republican, and a member of the Catholic church.  In 1877 at Maumee he married Lydia Ann Coder, a daughter of Levi Coder.  Mrs. Smith died Oct. 30, 1910.  To their marriage were born five children: William Levi, who died in 1879 at the age of five months; Rosabelle Frances, wife of Frank Binder, an employe of the Lake Shore Railway Company at Toledo, and they have a daughter named Ruth; Lillian Veronica, wife of Lee Pressgrave, a resident of Maumee; George J., who lives at home with his father and is manager of the drug department of Milner's department store at Toledo; and Lawrence, who died in 1898, at the age of six years. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1274
S. S. Smith & Hattie Smith	SYLVESTER SIDNEY SMITH.  A native son of Lucas County, from the time he reached young manhood until recently, Sylvester Sidney Smith was an active and useful factor in farming and in civic and community life in Northwest Ohio.  Mr. Smith is the type of man who is almost instinctively trusted by his fellows, has proved his ability to carry his own burdens in life and also help others, and now at the age of three score and ten has a large and broad outlook on life and can well be satisfied with the accomplishments of the past.      He was born at Waterville in Lucas County Jan. 26, 1846.  He is now living retired on his fine farm on the Keeler or Central Avenue road at the west side of Sylvania Township.  His parents were Oren and Hannah (Seeley) Smith.  As his father was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of Connecticut, Mr. Smith might well be called a representative of true Yankee stock.  His parents were married in New York State, and about 1833 his father made his first trip to Lucas County, remaining for a short time at Maumee and Waterville.  A few years later he again brought his family west, this time going to DeKalb County, Indiana, but in a short while returned to Ohio and established permanent home at Waterville.  There the father passed away in 1884.  He was a carpenter by trade and followed that occupation a few years after moving to Waterville, and then became a farmer. He and his wife had a large number of children, but the only ones now living in Lucas County are William, eighty-two years of age, and Sylvester S., who was next to the youngest in the family.      Starting life with the equivalent of a common school education, Sylvester S. Smith has found in farming a congenial and profitable occupation.  He lived at the old home farm until 1873, having operated it on his own account for three years, and then moved to Wood County, Ohio, where he rented land. and farmed for eleven years.  In 1885 Mr. Smith bought the place he now owns on Central Avenue Road near the Richfield Township line.  There he has 160 acres, and in improvements and cultivation it stands as one of the best farms in the community.  It should be stated that when Mr. Smith took possession, only three acres were cleared, and thus his labor and management have added something of lasting value to this section of Lucas County.  For the past twelve years Mr. Smith has been retired from the active responsibilities of farming, and for several years his son Charles operated the farm, until moving to a place of his own, and at the present time Mr. Smith's grandson, Roy Becker, is active manager.      In 1871 at Sylvania Mr. Smith married Hattie Mason, who was reared in Lucas County, a daughter of Gardner Mason.  Her grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers of Monroe County, Michigan, going there when Gardner Mason was a child.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith have the following children:  Mina, who is the wife of Elmer Deline and lives at Adrian, Michigan; Charles, who married Lena Miller, and is now an independent farmer in Richfield Township; Blanche, who is now deceased and who married George Becker, and her son Roy Becker is now in active charge of Mr. Smith's farm; Maud E., who married George Becker and is living at Prairie Depot in Wood County, Ohio.  Mr. Smith has one great-granddaughter, this being Ariel Blanche Becker, a daughter of Roy and Lucy (Utz) Becker.      During his active years Mr. Smith has taken a part of considerable prominence in local republican politics.  While living in Wood County he served as township trustee and a member of the school board, and in Sylvania he has served on the school board, as township trustee, on the board of elections and is now presiding judge of his precinct.  Liberal and helpful in any matter of the public welfare, he has spent a great deal of time in forwarding some movements of local benefit, and there should be remembered his part in securing the construction of the stone paved highway along Central Avenue.  He circulated the petition and did much of the preliminary work in getting the paving started.  That was twenty-eight years ago.  Mr. Smith is affiliated with Sylvania Lodge No. 287, Free and Accepted Masons, and was a charter member and is a past master of Wakeman Lodge at Waterville. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1252
PORTRAIT???	WILLIAM W. SMITH.  Though he is a nephew of the founder of the extensive and important business establishment of which he is now the executive head, it is recognized that advancement has come to Mr. Smith through ability and sterling character, and that he well merits his secure status as one of the representative business men of the City of Toledo, where he is president of the J. W. Greene Company, one of the largest and most important concerns engaged in the wholesale and retail handling of pianos and other musical instruments and merchandise to be found in the State of Ohio.  On other pages of this publication is entered a memorial to his uncle, the late John W. Greene, who was the founder of this great music house and whom he succeeded as president of the company.  To the article in question ready reference may be made for more complete data concerning the development and upbuilding of the important enterprise that has contributed much to the commercial prestige of Toledo.      Mr. Smith was born in Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio, on the 6th of April, 1872, and is a son of William J. and Laura (Greene) Smith, the latter a sister of the late John W. Greene, founder of the company that perpetuates his name.  During the greater part of his active career William J. Smith was actively and successfully identified with the great fundamental industries of agriculture and stock growing, but during the last seventeen years of his life he lived in gracious retirement, near Fremont, where he was permitted to enjoy the just rewards of former he commanded unqualified esteem-indicative of the high popular estimate placed upon him in a community that represented his home during the greater part of his life.  He passed away in 1904, his cherished and devoted wife having been summoned to the life eternal in 1886. Of their seven children, all of whom were born in Fremont, Sandusky County, two sons and two daughters are living - Mrs. Charles E. Jackson and Mrs. Marshall Keenan, of Millersville, Sandusky County; Charles E., who is a resident of Ovid, Clinton County, Michigan; and William W., who is the immediate subject of this review.      William W. Smith is indebted to the excellent schools of his native county for his early educational advantages, and that he profited duly from the same is evidenced by the fact for several years he was a successful and popular teacher, principally in the district schools of Sandusky County.  For about a year after withdrawing from the pedagogic profession he was identified with the oil business, and he then, on the 19th of June, 1896, established his residence in the City of Toledo, where he assumed a position as salesman in the J. W. Greene music house.  For several years, both at headquarters and as traveling representative of the house, he continued his effective services as a salesman, and he then took a position in the office of the concern.  When the J. W. Greene Company was organized and incorporated as a stock company, in 1899, Mr. Smith became secretary and treasurer of the company, of which dual office he continued the incumbent until shortly after the death of his honored uncle, on the 12th of August, 1908, when he was elected his uncle's successor as president of the company, of which chief executive office he has since continued in tenure, as has he also of that of treasurer.  His thorough knowledge of all departments and details of the business has enabled him to give a most admirable administration of the extensive business and fully to uphold the high standard which was established and maintained by his uncle.  There is much of significance in a man of still comparatively youthful years being at the head of so large and metropolitan an establishment as that of the J. W. Greene Company, and this very prestige gives to him assured prestige as one of the representative business men of the City of Toledo.  The unsullied and high reputation of the great music house of the J. W. Greene Company has been built up on honor, and its very name is a synonym for the best of service in all departments and of fair and honorable dealings a reputation that constitutes its best commercial asset.      As a citizen Mr. Smith is essentially loyal and public spirited, and in politics he is aligned with the republican party in national affairs, but in connection with city and state governmental matters he gives his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, without being restricted by partisan lines.  He has had no predilection for practical politics or desire for public office, but gives his influence and tangible support in the furtherance of undertakings advanced for the general good of the community at large and for the industrial, commercial and civic advancement of his home city.  Toledo claims his unbounded loyalty and admiration and he has deep faith in the city's still greater future.  Mr. Smith is one of the progressive and successful business men and popular citizens of Toledo, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances.  He is affiliated with Charles Sumner Lodge, No. 137, Knights of Pythias, holds membership in the Toledo Commerce Club, and both he and his wife are members of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church.      On the 12th of November, 1896, Mr. Smith wedded Miss Hattie Havens, who was born and reared in Fremont, Sandusky County, and who is a daughter of Burchard and Catherine (Overmeyer) Havens.  Mr. and Mrs. Smith are prominent and popular factors in the representative social and musical circles of their home city.  They have no children. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 994
A. L. Spitzer <See Pictures of the Spitzer Building Here>	ADELBERT LORENZO SPITZER a senior member of the well known firm of Spitzer, Rorick & Company, the oldest municipal bond house west of Boston and a firm with a national reputation in the municipal bond and investment business.  Mr. Spitzer has had a notable career in finance.  His success has been due not only to special talent in that line but to a continued concentration through practically all the years of his mature life.      Born on a farm in Medina County, Ohio, August 15, 1852, he grew up in the invigorating and wholesome atmosphere of the country until twenty years of age. He was educated in the local schools and Lodi Academy.  In December, 1872, leaving school, he entered the Exchange Bank at Seville, Ohio.  That was his first business experience. September 1, 1873, a few weeks after reaching his majority, he became associated with his brother, Amherst T. Spitzer, in establishing the banking house of Spitzer Brothers at Amherst, Ohio.  In 1878 he bought his brother's interest and continued the bank until 1882, when he retired from the Amherst institution and moved to Toledo.      Here he associated himself with his cousin, Gen. Celian M. Spitzer, under the firm name of Spitzer & Company.  For thirty-five years or more this business has maintained its chief offices at Toledo, with branches in various cities.  The firm is now one of the strongest and best concerns of its kind in the United States.  On February 1, 1911, the name was changed to Spitzer, Rorick & Company.  In February, 1913, Gen. C. M. Spitzer retired on account of ill health.      Mr. Spitzer is interested in a number of banks in Toledo and elsewhere.  For almost a half of a century his energies have been exclusively directed along the general line of finance.  In 1895 he and his cousin, Gen. C. M. Spitzer, erected and owned the Spitzer Building, which was the first large steel construction building in Toledo, and, in fact, one of the first in the state.  In 1900 they built the annex, which gave the building a capacity of over 700 offices.  In 1905 they erected the Nicholas Building, a sixteen-story steel office building, naming it for their grandfather, Nicholas Spitzer. A. L. Spitzer and General Spitzer operated and owned these buildings jointly for a number of years, but in February, 1911, the ownership of the property was divided, General Spitzer taking the Nicholas Building and A. L. Spitzer the Spitzer Building.      Mr. Spitzer is a member of the Toledo Club, Toledo Country Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Ohio Yacht Club, Ohio Society of New York, and an active supporter of the First Congregational Church of Toledo and is a member of its society.  He was one of the organizers of the Toledo Country Club, was its first president, and has served continuously as a director since its organization.      Toledo has no more loyal and public spirited citizen than A. L. Spitzer.  A marked illustration of his judgment and ability in organizing and handling new projects was his very successful management of the King Wamba Carnival, which was held in Toledo for a week in August, 1909.  The Chamber of Commerce gave to Mr. Spitzer complete charge of the entire program, which proved to be one of the most successful civic entertainments ever given in Northwestern Ohio.  Nothing like it had ever been seen outside of New Orleans, and indeed it was patterned largely from the great Mardi Gras festival of the South.      Adelbert Lorenzo Spitzer was the youngest son of Garrett and Mary (Branch) Spitzer and a great-great-grandson of Dr. Ernestus De Spitzer.  Dr. Ernestus De Spitzer came to America on the ship Two Brothers from Rotterdam, Holland, and landed in Philadelphia October 13, 1747.  He later moved to Schenectady, New York, where he followed his profession for many years.  He served with distinction in the French and Indian wars as a surgeon and received an appointment as surgeon general of the provincial forces.  Two of his sons, Garrett Spitzer and Aaron Spitzer, served in the Revolutionary war.  Their descendants married into the Schermerhorn and Astor families.      On his mother's side Mr. Spitzer is descended from James Thompson, who came from England as a member of the large colony headed by Governor Winthrop and which landed to the shores of Massachusetts Bay in June, 1630.  James Thompson was one of the pioneer settlers of Charlestown, Massachusetts, and died in 1682 at the age of eighty- nine.  In England the Thompson family has long been eminent in intellectual, social and religious affairs and a number of them received the honors of knighthood.  Two of the descendants of the James Thompson above named, John and Joseph, served in the French and Indian wars.  Four brothers of that generation, James, Jonathan, John and Joseph, and eight of the next generation, were patriots in the Revolution.  Another ancestor in the maternal line was John Thompson, one of the framers of the National Banking Act.  He established the First National Bank of New York, the first institution given a charter under the Act of 1863.  He later established the Chase National Bank of New York City, and by that name honored Salmon P. Chase, whose statesmanship was at the foundation of the national banking system and who was one of Mr. Thompson's warm personal friends.  Mr. Spitzer, through his mother, is also a cousin of the former governor of Ohio, George K. Nash.      On October 20, 1875, Mr. A. L. Spitzer married Sarah Elizabeth Strong.  Mrs. Spitzer, who died in the Lakeside Hospital at Cleveland after an operation on July 7, 1914, will be remembered not only for her devotion to her home and family, but for many happy qualities of mind and heart and for her social leadership in Toledo.  She was a prominent member in the First Congregational Church and interested in all its activities, was a charter member of Ursula Wolcott Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and was otherwise associated with the city's social and philanthropic interests.  Mrs. Spitzer was born at Seville, Ohio, August 13, 1854, a daughter of Lyman W. Strong, a descendant of John Stoughton Strong, one of the early pioneers of Strongville, Ohio, a community named after him.  Lyman W. Strong was one of the leading merchants of Seville.      Mr. Spitzer had four children, all of whom were married, and there are now fourteen grandchildren.  The three sons and one daughter are: Carl Bovee, Lyman Strong, Roland Adelbert and Luette Ruth Spitzer, who is the wife of Thomas P. Goodbody of New York.  Roland A. Spitzer died on May 20, 1916.  The sons have taken a prominent part both in the business and social world, and became well known in Toledo.  Carl is associated with his father in the bond and investment business, as was also Roland Adelbert at the time of his death.  Lyman looks after the large real estate interests of the family.  Carl B. Spitzer is president of the Toledo Commerce Club, while Lyman was formerly a member of the city council and the city park board. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page  690
	CARL B. SPITZER has found ample opportunity to exercise his talents as a financier and business man in Toledo, and besides the large interests with which he is identified and which have been associated with the family name of Spitzer for a great many years, he is also a leader in other progressive movements, and in September, 1915, was given a high compliment by his business associates when he was elected president of the Toledo Commerce Club, an organization with nearly four thousand members, and representing practically all the commercial power and influence of the City of Toledo.      A son of Adelbert L. Spitzer, to whom reference is made on other pages, Carl B. Spitzer was born at Amherst, Ohio, February 7, 1877.  He was given the best of training and advantages for a career of usefulness, and after graduating from Toledo High School in 1894 a/id from Phillips-Andover in 1895, he entered Yale University, where he was graduated A. B. in 1899.   While at Yale he was especially active in athletic circles.  Since leaving college Mr. Spitzer has been identified with the financial enterprises and organizations bearing the Spitzer name, and is an expert in the handling of high grade investment securities.  He is a member of the firm of Spitzer, Rorick & Company, handling government, municipal and corporation bonds, and one of the oldest and best known firms of the kind in the United States.  He is also vice president of the Spitzer-Rorick Trust & Savings Bank, which though only five years old has resources of more than two million dollars.      Besides his position as president of the Toledo Commerce Club, he is a member of the Toledo Club and the Country Club, is vice president of the Federation of Charities is a trustee of the Toledo Museum of Art, and has interested himself directly in many important civic and social movements, including playgrounds, civic centers and others.  Under the auspices of the Art Museum he has had charge of the garden campaign for the last three years.  He is a member of the National Institute of Social Science.  His church is the First Congregational.      He was married to Edna Josephine Brown, on September 14, 1904.  Her father Mr. Calvin Brown is a Civil war veteran, and is now president of the Library Board of the Toledo Public Library.  Mr. and Mrs. Spitzer have four daughters: Jane, Nancy, Suzanne and Sarah.  Besides their Toledo residence they have a summer home with seven acres of ground just across the river from the Toledo Country Club. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1257
	GENERAL CEILAN MILO SPITZER.  Until his retirement from active business in February, 1913, General Spitzer had for forty years exercised a dominant influence over the financial life of Northwestern Ohio and his name will always be associated as one of the most notable financiers of Toledo.  General Spitzer now spends most of his time in his winter home in Los Angeles, California, and is one of the most conspicuous members of the Ohio colony in that city.      He has been one of the fortunate men of his time and generation.  He was fortunate in inheriting an old and respected family name and also some of the ability and fitness for business and finance which proved the foundation upon which he built so extensively his own career and success.      Ceilan Milo Spitzer was born in Batavia, New York, November 2, 1849, the oldest son of Aaron Bovee and Laura Maria (Perkins) Spitzer.  Several of his ancestors were distinguished in the early colonies of New York  and the New England states.  His great-great grandfather was Dr. Ernestus De Spitzer.  His mother was descended from James Draper of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Quartermaster John Perkins of Ipswich, Massachusetts, who were the first of their respective families in America.  General Spitzer's great grandfather, Nathaniel Perkins, served, be fore he reached his majority, as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the Revolutionary war.  In another line General Spitzer is a great-great-great-greatgrandson of Hendricks Cornelius Van Buren, who as a soldier in the Indian war of 1663 was stationed at Fort Cralo in Papshire, and was an ancestor of President Martin Van Buren.  In the maternal line General Spitzer is also a descendant as great-great-greatgrandson of Jacob Janse Schermerhorn, who founded the family bearing his name in America, emigrating from Waterland, Holland, 1636, and locating at Beverswick in the New Netherlands, where he was noted as a man of wealth and prominence.  He died in Schenectady, New York, in 1688.      It has been said that blood will tell.  In heritance is indeed a factor and an important factor in every individual destiny.  But it is only capital, and is not valuable except through use.  The career of General Spitzer illustrates this truth. Since, he was a mere youth a certain vigor and enterprise characterized and controlled his destiny and he was in business on an independent footing before he reached his majority.  In 1851, two years after his birth, his parents removed to Medina, Ohio, where he attended the public schools and he also was a student at Oberlin College.  In 1869, at the age of twenty, he began his active business career by buying a half interest in a drug store at Seville, Ohio.  This he sold out two years later and with his father opened the Seville Exchange Bank under the style C. M. Spitzer & Company.  This banking house obtained an immediate standing and reputation in that part of Ohio and under the direction of the rapidly maturing ability of General Spitzer the business flourished and expanded.  In 1877 a branch bank was opened at Medina and in 1878 he organized the German-American Bank of Cleveland, which grew into such immediate favor that Mr. Spitzer soon bought the interest of Ludwig Wideman, who had become a partner in 1873.  During the next two years General Spitzer with his father conducted a general banking and investment business at Cleveland. Ohio.      Then came what is doubtless the most important event in his financial career.  In January, 1880, owing to a financial depression the Cleveland bank failed, and it was necessary to settle with the creditors on a forty per cent basis.  To some men this would have been a permanent blow to all aspirations for financial success.  It was not so with Ceilan M. Spitzer.  After he had recovered lost ground and was able to do so, about ten years later, he voluntarily and without either legal or moral necessity paid all the bank debts dollar for dollar.  The act of restitution naturally gave him a splendid reputation in the business world.      In 1880, associated with Ludwig and Jerome P. Wideman, General Spitzer opened the Bank of Fremont at Fremont. Ohio, but sold it the following year and formed the firm of Spitzer, Wideman & Company, bankers, at Toledo.  The following year General Spitzer bought the interests of the Widemans and formed a partnership with his cousin, Adelbert L. Spitzer (to whose career reference is made on other pages), under the firm name of Spitzer & Company.  In 1887 they established a branch office in Boston, Massachusetts, but in May, 1899, the Boston office was moved to 20 Nassau Street, New York City.  On February 1, 1911, the name of the firm was changed to Spitzer, Rorick & Company and General Spitzer was active in its affairs until his retirement about two years later.      General Spitzer has been a stockholder and director in many banks in Ohio, was a director of the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad, and was first president of The Spitzer Building Company, which in 1893 erected the first modern steel fireproof office building in Toledo, and which with the annex constructed in 1900, has a capacity of over 700 offices.  General Spitzer is also president of The Nicholas Building Company, which in 1905 erected the Nicholas Building, named after his grandfather.  This is a sixteen-story fireproof steel structure and contains over 800 offices.  General Spitzer and Mr. A. L. Spitzer conducted and owned these buildings jointly for a number of years, but in February, 1911, the ownership of these properties was divided. General Spitzer taking the Nicholas Building and A. L. Spitzer the Spitzer Building.      In January. 1900, Governor George K. Nash appointed Mr. Spitzer quartermaster-general of Ohio with the rank of brigadier-general.  While for years he has exercised an important influence in city and state affairs, he has steadfastly refused to permit his name to be used for any elective office.  His leadership and example has been the potent factor in the success of many movements for the real benefit of his home city and he has never failed to contribute generously to any worthy artistic, business or benevolent enterprises.  He is a member of the Toledo and Country clubs of Toledo, Bankers' Club of America, New York, and the Ohio Society of New York.      General Spitzer has traveled widely both in this country and abroad, and his fine Colonial home, "Innisfail," on Collingwood Avenue, in Toledo, was filled with numerous choice specimens of the artistic and curious from all parts of the world, including a fine art gallery.  About a year after his retirement from active business General Spitzer erected a winter home in Los Angeles, California, on Andrews Boulevard, in the Wileshire District.  It is considered by many good judges to be the most artistic and homelike residence and grounds in Southern California.  Here General Spitzer, the retired Ohio banker, has placed many of the rare paintings, fine Persian rugs and other art treasures which he has collected during his extensive travels abroad.      General Spitzer has always been a picturesque figure in the financial world.  He was the friend of President McKinley, Sen ator Hanna and other famous men.  He visited California with President McKinley and Governor Nash and assisted in christening the Battleship Ohio at San Francisco.  His chief diversion has been automobiling abroad in which sport he was a pioneer.  He is a member of the Royal Automobile Club of England and has for many years kept a touring car there for continental tours.      In 1884 General Spitzer was married to Miss Lilian Cortes McDowell, daughter of Alexander McDowell, a lineal descendant of Elizabeth, sister of William Penn.  Mrs. Spitzer is a cousin of Gen. Irvine McDowell, who for many years, or until his death was stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco, and in command of the entire Pacific Coast Division of the United States Army.  They have no children. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1247
Sidney Spitzer	SIDNEY SPITZER, head of the firm of Sidney Spitzer & Company, bankers, was born near Medina in the Western Reserve of Ohio, February 15, 1875.  He is the third son of Aaron B. and Anna (Collins) Spitzer.      Mr. Spitzer 's father and mother were both natives of New York State coming to Ohio and settling near Medina when they were children.  Mr. Spitzer 's father, Aaron Bovee Spitzer, who was long prominent in Northern Ohio as a banker and business man, was born near Schenectady, New York, October 8, 1823.  and was the second son of Nicholas and Nancy (Bovee) Spitzer.  For a number of years he was associated in the banking business with his eldest son, Celian Milo Spitzer, and Ludwig Wydman.  He was considered an authoritative expert in matters of credit and value and the successful handling of financial affairs is evidently a family characteristic.  He was an admirer of good horses and bred some fine specimens on his stock farm near Medina.  He was a life-long republican.  He retired from active affairs in 1886 and died in Medina,  May 13, 1892.  His first wife was Laura M. Perkins, daughter of Joseph and Harriet (Draper Perkins, and by that union had one son, Celian Milo Spitzer.  He was later married to Anna Maria Collins and by that union three sons were born to them, Frank P., Garrett E. and Sidney Spitzer.      Sidney Spitzer spent his boyhood days in Medina, where he graduated from the Medina High School in 1895, after which he went to Pemberville, Ohio, where, with his brother, Frank Spitzer, he organized the Citizens Savings Bank and served as its cashier; he is still one of the directors and largest stock holder; he is also a director in the Guardian Trust and Savings Bank of Toledo.  After resigning his position as cashier at Pemberville Mr. Spitzer removed to Toledo and associated himself with the firm of Spitzer & Company, investment bankers and bond dealers, where he remained for fourteen years as head of the buying department.  In 1911 he retired from that firm and spent a year and a half in travel with Mrs. Spitzer, visiting all of the leading countries of the world.  In July, 1912, Mr. Spitzer returned to Toledo and organized the present firm of Sidney Spitzer & Company, with home offices in the Spitzer Building and branch offices in New York, Chicago, Cincinnati and Los Angeles.      Since engaging in the investment business Mr. Spitzer 's firm has bought and sold county, city and school bonds, in various sections of the country, amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.  Sidney Spitzer & Company are members of the Investment Bankers' Association of America and operate extensively all over the United States and Canada.      In April, 1903, Mr. Spitzer married Alice Louise Horton of Adrian, Michigan, daughter of George B. and Amanda (Bradish) Horton.  Mr. Horton has long been prominent in Michigan public affairs and has been frequently spoken of by the public press as a logical candidate for governor, having served as state senator.  Mrs. Spitzer was born near Adrian.  She graduated from the Adrian High School and later attended the University of Michigan.  She is active in Toledo's social life.  They have one son, Sidney Horton Spitzer, born at Toledo, January 11, 1904.      Mr. Spitzer finds his chief recreation in travel.  His country home, "Horton Hall," in Perrysburg, is considered one of the most beautiful as well as historic spots in Northwestern Ohio.      Mr. Spitzer is a member of the Toledo Museum of Art, the Toledo Club, Toledo Country Club, Toledo Commerce Club, Toledo Automobile Club, the Bankers' Club of New York and the Ohio Society of New York.  In politics he is a republican. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1160
	LYMAN E. STRONG.  It is difficult to realize that only forty or fifty years have passed since a large part of Lucas County was unreclaimed wilderness.  It is still more difficult to believe that such a splendid homestead, with its fertile fields, its improvements, as that owned by Lyman E. Strong on the old Indian road at the east edge of Richfield Township, was at one time, little more than forty years ago, an almost impassable swamp.      In making his farm productive, in clearing and draining it.  Lyman E. Strong thus  achieved something which will be of lasting value not only to his own family but to the county for all future time.  With an understanding of what he has accomplished any one would say that Mr. Strong well deserves the comfortable retirement he now enjoys.      He is the architect of his own destiny, and started out a very poor man indeed.  He was born in Lorain County, Ohio, a son of Waitsell and Achsah Strong.  When he was a small child his father died, and his mother subsequently married again and moved into Huron County, where Lyman E. Strong spent his youth. He had a few advantages in the way of schools and only hard work as an opportunity at home.  When he left his mother's home it was without any capital, and he had no influence with friends or relatives.  The necessity confronted him of getting some money not only to support himself but also to provide the necessary capital for a permanent vocation.  He was both industrious and capable and was thus bound to succeed in the long run.  Three yeas and eleven months he remained faithfully serving one employer, saved all his wages, and with that modest capital came to Lucas County in 1873 and purchased eighty acres 2 1/2 miles east of Berkey.  This is the land that he still owns,  At that time it was covered with woods, and was located in what was called Big Cottonwood Swamp.  Water covered the ground most of the year and the only way to get across was by jumping from one log to another.  A heavier task could hardly be imagined than that which confronted Mr. Strong when he started to clear this.  He not only felled the timber but also gradually ditched and drained the land, and it is now recognized as one of the finest farms in that community.  Not only is the land capable of thorough cultivation, but the improvements are of the best quality.  There is a fine modern house, and up-to-date and commodious barns, silos, and every other facility for first class farming.  Mr. Strong has been for many years a stock feeder.      When he retired from the active management of this farm he turned it over to his son, who is one of the progressive and capable young farmers of Lucas County.  In 1873 Mr. Strong married Ella Wilson.  Her father William Wilson settled many years ago in Richfield Township, Lucas County, Ohio.  On the day that Mr. and Mrs. Strong were married their humble house was raised and they soon afterward occupied it and together shared in the inconveniences and hardships until their farm and made productive and profitable.  Mr. and Mrs. Strong have one son, Frederick Nelson, who married in 1901, but his wife, who was Nancy Warner, died a year later.  He married for his second wife, August 29, 1819, Estella Morehead.  He still lives at home with his parents.  Both Mr. Strong and his son Frederick are active republicans, but have never sought office.  The family are members of the Christian Church. Source: History of Northwestern Ohio - Vol. II - 1917 - Page 1331

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