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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Welcome to
PUTNAM COUNTY,
OHIO
History & Genealogy
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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
History of Putnam County, Ohio,
by George D. Kinder,
Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Inc.,
Indianapolis, Indiana
1915
< CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO
BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX PAGE >
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WILLIAM
WILSON FRANTZ
Source: History of Putnam County, Ohio, by
George D. Kinder, Publ. 1915 by B. F. Bowen & Co.,
Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana - Page 864 |
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WILLIAM M. FRENCH
- The whole career of more than sixty years of
William M. French has been spent within the
limits of Putnam county, Ohio. He was reared
and educated in the county, and after his marriage
located on a farm in Van Buren township, where he
has since resided. He has engaged in general
farming and stock raising and his farm bears ample
witness to the thrift and enterprise of its owner.
William M. French, the son of James and
Catherine (Stout) French, was born at Gilboa,
Putnam county, Ohio, on Nov. 23, 1854. His
father was born in Virginia and came to Putnam
county, Ohio, when a small boy and made his home
with Robert Steward. His parents had
died when he was very young and Mr. Steward
and his wife took him into their family and gave him
a good home until he was grown. He attended
the public schools at Gilboa and when a young man
started in for himself by buying a grist-mill at
Gilboa. He also assisted his future
father-in-law on the farm, who was one of the
largest landowners in the township. In
addition to operating the grist-mill, he learned the
carpenter trade and worked at various times at this
business. James French married
Catherine Stout, a daughter of Elisha and
Abigail Stout, natives of Licking county, Ohio,
and to this union six children were born,
Margaret, Elisha, Elizabeth, William M., Mary
and James C. Margaret and Elisha
died in infancy, and Elizabeth died
unmarried. Mary became the wife of
H. Higgenbottom, of Phoenix, Arizona, and has
two children, Leo and Bertha, both of
whom are married. James C. married
Elizabeth Carr.
Source: History of
Putnam County, Ohio, by George D. Kinder, Publ. 1915
by B. F. Bowen & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana -
Page 1440 |
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MATHIAS J. FUERST.
The Fuerst family was one of the first
to locate in Putnam county, Ohio, the father of
Mathias Joseph Fuerst locating in
this county several years before the Civil War.
Mathias J. Fuerst started out to make his own
way in the world when he was fifteen years of age,
working for a time for fifty cents a day and paying
three dollars and a half for board. He worked
at the carriagemaker's trade, and for three years
worked in the Brown dry goods store in Ottawa.
For the past four years he has been engaged in the
agricultural implement business, in partnership with
Charles J. Kerner. The firm sells all
kinds of agricultural implements, cream separators,
gas engines, harness, buggies and various implements
and tools used on the farm.
Mathias Joseph Fuerst, the son of Anthony and
Otilia (Yerger) Fuerst, was born in Ottawa,
Putnam county, Ohio, January 23, 1864. Anthony
Fuerst was born in Monheim, Germany, February 4,
1829, coming to America when a young man, about
1854. He lived for a short time in Pottsville,
Pennsylvania, and, after marrying in that state,
moved to Columbus, Ohio, where, a few years later he
located in Putnam county, on a farm, between Ottawa
and Glandorf.
Anthony Fuerst, who is still living in
this county, in his eighty-seventh year, has had a
very interesting history. In Germany, he
learned the mason's trade, and, after coming to
America, he continued to follow it. He started
in a very humble way, after coming to America, and
for a time worked for fifty cents a day, and
actually saved money. When he came to Putnam
county, Ohio, with his wife, he bought a small farm,
between Ottawa and Glandorf, where he erected a
brick house, which is still standing in a good state
of preservation. Afterward, he bought another
farm, about three miles north of Ottawa, as well as
a small tract, just west of the county seat.
All of these farms were covered with timber, when he
bought them. He continued to follow the trade
of a mason, in connection with his farming and other
work, and has built most of the large brick
buildings in Ottawa, as well as in other towns
throughout the county. He built the Catholic
church, the old jail, and a large number of the
buildings, in the business part of Ottawa.
Anthony Fuerst married in Pennsylvania,
shortly after coming to this county, Otilia
Yerger, who died in 1876, at the age of
forty-four, leaving nine children, all of whom are
still living, John, born on April 20, 1856;
Mary, born on December 28, 1858: Lizzie,
born on January 9, 1860; Louise, born on
April 4, 1862; Matthew J., born on January
23, 1864; Henry, born on March 13, 1866;
Anna, born on January 25, 1868; Regina,
born on February 17, 1870, and Frank, born on
March 8, 1872. After the death, of his first
wife, in 1876, Anthony Fuerst married
Mrs. Mary Kapel, the widow of
Joseph Kapel, and to this second union
three children were born, Toney, Theodore
and Emma. Toney was killed by a
bursting emery wheel; at Lima, Ohio, in 1911.
The mother of these three children died about 1909,
and after the death of his second wife, Mr.
Fuerst lived with his daughter, Elizabeth,
until 1913. He is now making his home at Lima,
Ohio, with another daughter Mrs. Louise
Day.
Mathias J. Fuerst has spent his whole life in
Putnam county. He lived at home until he was fifteen
years of age, and then started out to work for
himself. With four dollars and a half in his pocket,
he went to Van Wert, Ohio, to secure work. He
did not know a single person in the town of Van
Wert, and, after much trouble, finally secured a job
in a spoke factory, at fifty cents a day. In
view of the fact that his board cost him three
dollars and a half a week, he did not hold this
position long, and found employment in a hotel,
where he worked as a porter for a short time.
He was not satisfied with this, and one day started
out to walk through the
country in order to look for work on a farm.
He finally secured a job as a helper to a brick
mason, and shortly afterward found a job in the
country on a farm, where he worked for two months.
He then came to Ottawa, learned the carriage-maker's
trade and followed this for eight and a half years.
He entered the dry goods store of the Brown
Dry Goods Company in Ottawa, as a clerk, in 1891,
and for twenty consecutive years was an efficient
salesman in this store. He started in at one
dollar a day and saved his money. After
becoming an employee of the store, he resigned his
position and spent one year in college. Mr.
Fuerst and H. C. Humming opened an
implement store in Ottawa in 1911. A year
later, Mr. Hummins disposed of his
interests in the firm to Charles J. Kerner,
and the firm is now known as Fuerst &
Kerner. Although they have been in
business but a comparatively short time, they are
already building up a large trade throughout the
county and bid fair to become well established.
Mr. Fuerst was married in 1896 to Ella
McGrevy, the daughter of John and
Lizzie McGrevy. Mrs.
Fuerst was an employe at Brown's dry
goods store until her marriage. Two years
after their marriage and five days after the birth
of a son, Charles Joseph, Mrs.
Fuerst died. This son is now attending school
in Ottawa. Fifteen years after the death of
his first wife, Mr. Fuerst married
Cora Ringenbach, a native of Starke
county, Ohio, and a resident of Canton, at the time
of her marriage. Mr. Fuerst and
his wife and son are members of the Catholic church.
Mr. Fuerst has always been identified with the
Democratic party, and has served as clerk of Ottawa
for four years. Mr. Fuerst is
essentially a self-made man and is well deserving of
the success which has come to him. He is a
quiet and unassuming man and has a host of friends
and acquaintances in Ottawa and throughout the
county.Source: History of
Putnam County, Ohio, by George D. Kinder, Publ. 1915
by B. F. Bowen & Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana -
Page 396 |
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ABRAM FUNK
Source: History of Nemaha County, Kansas by
Ralph Tennal - Illustrated - Publ. Standard
Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kansas - 1916 - Page
478 |
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DAVID FUNK
Source: History of Nemaha County, Kansas by
Ralph Tennal - Illustrated - Publ. Standard
Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kansas - 1916 - Page
580 |
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JOHN N. FUNK
Source: History of Nemaha County, Kansas by
Ralph Tennal - Illustrated - Publ. Standard
Publishing Company, Lawrence, Kansas - 1916 - Page
440 |
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