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HORACE
EUGENE VALENTINE. In the affairs of state, as taken
aside from the extraordinary conditions of warfare, there are
demanded men whose mental ken is as wide and whose generalship
is as effective as those which ensure successful maneuvering of
armed forces by the skilled commanders on the field of battle.
The nation's welfare and prosperity may be said to hang as
heavily upon individual discrimination and executive ability in
the one case as the other. It requires maser minds to
marshal and organize the forces for political purposes and
produce the best results by concerted effort. One of the
honored Democratic political leaders of Crawford county is
Hon. Horace Eugene Valentine, who served for
two terms as state senator from the thirty-first senatorial
district, and his public record reflects credit upon his
constituents and district which he represented. He is also
an active man-of-affairs in business circles, being the cashier
of the First National Bank of Bucyrus, which position he has
occupied since 1898.
Mr.
Valentine is one of the native sons of Crawford county,
his birth having occurred in the village of Benton in Texas
township, April 8, 1859. He represents an old New York
family, his ancestors having come from the Empire state.
His father, James Valentine, removed to
Crawford county from the city of Syracuse, New York, about 1830,
his wife and his parents coming with him. He secured a
tract of land in Texas township and there devoted his energies
to agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in the
year 1861. His wife bore the maiden name of
Angeline Clark. She was born near Syracuse, New
York, and was a daughter of Edward Clark, who
served in the New York Militia in the war of 1812. Mrs.
Valentine was called to her final rest in 1866.
They had four sons, the eldest being Edward,
who enlisted for service in the Civil war and died in Libby
prison; Jabez Clark, deceased; George
B., deceased, and Horace Eugene.
There was one daughter, Emily, now deceased.
Throughout his entire life Horace Eugene Valentine
has been a resident of Crawford county. His
preliminary education, acquired in the common schools, was
supplemented by study in the Ohio Normal University, at Ada,
Ohio, where he was graduated in the class of 1888. The
following year he was elected county surveyor of Crawford county
and was re-elected in 1892, serving continuously until 1895,
covering a period of nearly seven consecutive years.
Before his retirement from that office he was elected, as a
Democrat, to the position of state senator to represent
Crawford, Seneca and Wyandot counties, or the thirty-first
district. He served for four years and filled the position
so creditably that in 1897 he was re-elected. He was one
of the active working members of the senate and gave to each
question which came up for consideration earnest thought and
study and left the impress of his individuality upon the
legislation of the two terms served by him. He was the
author of the anti-trust law of Ohio, known as the Valentine
Anti-Trust Law. It was declared constitutional by the
state supreme court and if enforced would effectually do away
with injurious and unlawful trusts. His labors were
untiring in behalf of the people and his record is creditable to
the district which honored him.
In
1889 Mr. Valentine was united in marriage to
Miss Josephine Nedry, of Texas township, a
daughter of Joseph Nedry, one of the pioneer
settlers and native sons of Crawford county, who is now
seventy-five years of age. His father came to Ohio from
Pennsylvania at a very early period in the development of the
state. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Valentine have
been born two children, Allen Gladstone, and
Florence Emily.
Mr. Valentine is a member of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and on the political stage such is his
popularity and such his personal magnetism that his appearance
to address the people is the signal of due enthusiasm. He
is a sturdy American character and a stalwart patriot, and has
ever had the strongest admiration for our free institutions,
being ever ready to make any personal sacrifice for their
preservation.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 26 |
Auburn Twp. -
B. S. VAN TILBURG, merchant, Tiro.
One of the most prominent business firms of Tiro is I. & B. S.,
was born in Richland Co., Ohio, Nov. 1, 1851. His parents,
Vincent and C. E. (Musser) Van Tilburg, were married in
Richland Co., Ohio, in 1849, and to them were born the following
family: B. S., F. O., M. L., J. M., Eva M., Emma E., Charlie
G., Ettie and Adda, and one who died in infancy.
Our subject was reared on his father's farm. He received a
good common-school education, and on the 19th of February, 1878,
he was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth
Bender, daughter of Jacob Bender, of Vernon
Township, and by her has one daughter - Edith M., born
Sept. 24, 1878. Mr. Van Tilburg is a Republican,
and member of the Lutheran Church. He owns a half interest
in one of the best stores in Tiro, Crawford Co., Ohio.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Ohio, Publ. Chicago: Baskin & Battey, Historical Publishers, 186
Dearborn Street. - 1881 - Page 876 |
Auburn Twp. -
IRA VAN TILBURG, merchant, Tiro; was born
in Richland Co., Ohio, Apr. 15, 1839. He is a son of
Peter and Hannah (Kennedy) Van Tilburg, who were parents of
twelve children - William, Margaret, Eliza, Nancy, Vincent,
Frank, Kate, Mary, Maria, Ira, Martha and Lovina.
All of these are living except Frank, who died in
California. Peter Van Tilburg was a native of New
Jersey, and was born in 1802. Mrs. Van Tilburg was
also a native of New Jersey, and was born in 1801. They
were married in Jefferson Co., Ohio. Mr. Van Tilburg
died during the fall of 1876, but his widow still survives him
and is living in Mansfield, Ohio. The subject of this
biography passed his youth and early manhood on a farm, and
going to school. When 19 years of age, he went to
California, where he engaged in the mining business, which he
followed in California and Nevada for ten years. On the
5th of October, 1868, he was united in marriage with Miss A.
E. Ewing, daughter of J. D. Ewing, Esq., of
California. To this union was born one son - Frank,
born Dec. 22, 1869. The mother was born in March, 1851.
In 1871, Mr. and Mrs. Van Tilburg came to Richland Co.,
Ohio, Mr. Van Tilburg engaging in the mercantile business
at Olivesburg. In 1873, he formed a copartnership with his
nephew, B. S. Van Tilburg, at Tiro, Crawford Co., Ohio,
under the firm name of I. & B. S. Van Tilburg. This
was the first business house in Tiro. They started on a
small capital, and to-day are one of the heaviest firms of any
town in the county. Besides a general dry goods and grocery
store, they run a butter and egg house separately, and are also
the only grain-buyers at De Kalb Station. They keep a force of
from four to five men constantly engaged. Mr. Van
Tilburg is a radical Republican in politics, and is a hard
and earnest worker in that cause.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Ohio, Publ. Chicago: Baskin & Battey, Historical Publishers, 186
Dearborn Street. - 1881 - Page 876 |
|
F. M. VIRTUE |
FRANK M. VIRTUE
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 516 |
CHARLES
VOLLRATH - The subject of this sketch is a native of
Saxony, Germany, born May 16, 1835, a son of Gottlieb and
Fredericke (Meissner) Vollrath. He attended the
schools of his native land seven years, and came to this country
with his father's family, which lived the first year in
Rochester, New York, and in May of 1849 came to Bucyrus.
Here Charles Vollrath learned the carpenter's trade and
followed it till 1855, when he became interested in a planing-mill,
a business in which he prospered for years.
March 23, 1858, he married Elizabeth Hocker, a
native of Baden, Germany, born in June of 1831.
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 84 |
COLONEL
EDWARD VOLLRATH. Prominent among the lawyers of
Crawford county, and well known in public affairs is Colonel
Edward Vollrath, of Bucyrus, in which city his birth
occurred forty-three years ago. His parents, Charles
and Elizabeth Vollrath, were natives of Germany. HE
attended the Bucyrus public schools, graduating at the high
school in 1878. After attending Wittenberg College,
Springfield, Ohio, he graduated in 1883. In youth he
worked at the carpenter's bench, but predilection led him to the
study of law. In 1885 he was admitted to practice as an
attorney at law by the supreme court of Ohio, and has since
practiced with success as a member of the Crawford county bar.
In 1884 Colonel Vollrath entered the Ohio
National Guard as a private. He rose to the rank of major,
in which capacity he volunteered with his regiment- the Eighth
Ohio Volunteer Infantry - in the Spanish-American war, and
participated with Shafter's corps in the siege of
Santiago, Cuba. He was mustered out of the United States
service as major of volunteers, and was chosen colonel of his
regiment - the Eighth Ohio - upon its reorganization into the
Ohio National Guard. Colonel Vollrath has a large
and lucrative practice, and is also largely interested in
manufacturing and real estate.
In 1888 he married Miss Millie C. Wise, and his
home is celebrated for its generous hospitality.
Fraternally Colonel Vollrath is a member of the Knights
of Pythias fraternity. He is a member of the St. Paul's
English Lutheran church at Bucyrus; has been a deacon in the
church for more than fifteen years, and for several years he has
superintended the Sunday-school.
Unassuming and genial in manner, and always fair and
jsut in all dealings, Colonel Vollrath is highly esteemed
by his fellow citizens, and enjoys the confidence of a wide
circle of friends."
Source: A Centennial Biographical History of Crawford County,
Ohio - Chicago: 1902 - Page 61 |
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