BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899.

* LASH, William * LATCHAW, John R. H., D.D., Rev. * LEACH, John W. * LEADERS, Harman C. * LILLY, John Wesly., Rev. * LINDERSMITH, Henry C., M.D. * LIPP, Henry Jr.   WILLIAM LASH.    This well known farmer, residing in Section 11, Hicksville township, Defiance county, has for almost half a century been identified with this section of Ohio, and has contributed greatly to its materials progress and prosperity.  He has championed every movements designed to promote the general welfare, has contributed greatly to is material progress and prosperity.  He has championed every movement designed to promote the general welfare, has supported every enterprise for the public good, and has materially aided in the advancement of all social, industrial, educational and moral interests.      Mr. Lash was born in Wayne County, Ohio, Nov. 19, 1825, a son of Henry and Nancy (Craven) Lash, who were born and reared in Pennsylvania, and died in Wayne county, this State.  On his father's farm our subject remained until he attained his majority, acquiring his education in the public schools, and assisting in the labors of the fields.  In the county of his nativity he was married Oct. 14, 1847, to Miss Elizabeth Maxwell, also a native of Wayne county, born Sep. 26, 1830.  Her parents, William and Isabella (Johnson) Maxwell, were natives of Adams county, Pennsylvania, and the father died in Wayne county, Ohio, while the mother passed away in Hicksville township, Defiance county, at the home of her son, W. R. Maxwell, a sketch of whom is given elsewhere, in connection with that of the son, Frank Maxwell.      Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lash,  three died in infancy.  Those living are Henry; Elizabeth, now the wife of George Strain; Isabella, wife of H. H. Huber; Eliza, wife of Andrew Huber; Louisa, wife of R. Greer; Laura, wife of C. F. Denious; and Ida, wife of Wilbur Miller.      For four years after his marriage, Mr. Lash continued to reside in Wayne county, and then removed to Williams county, Ohio, of which Defiance county then formed a part.  In Florence township he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, and to the cultivation and improvement of that place he devoted his energies until 1871, when he bought his present farm in Section 11, Hicksville township, Defiance county.  Here he has erected a good brick residence, and made many other valuable improvements, so that the farm, comprising one hundred acres of fertile and productive land, is now one of the most desirable places of the community.    Farming has been his chief occupation throughout life, and in his undertakings he has met with a well-deserved success.  For several years he was a most efficient member of the school board of his district, and for two terms he capably filled the office of township trustee. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 553   JOHN R. H. LATCHAW, D. D. REV.   This reverend gentleman, who is president of Defiance College and pastor of the Assembly of God of Defiance, Ohio, is a man of high intellectual attainments combined with rare force of character, and the following brief account of his career will endear him to all who honor conscientious devotion to principle, as he has shown that he has the courage to stand by the truth as he sees it, even though his action may entail material loss.      He has occupied his position as president of Defiance College but a short time, but his record as one of the best educators, organizers, and administrators of educational institutions in Ohio is a sufficient guarantee that the institution now under his charge will maintain an enviable position among the colleges of the country.  He may be said to have always been a student, as from his youth to the present time he has constantly been storing his mind with knowledge of many kinds, and his investigations of great social, political and religious problems in his mature years have placed him in the front rank of the intellectual men of his day.  His scholastic attainments are acknowledged by his compeers to be of the broadest, while as a divine he is forceful and eloquent.      The Latchaw family is of German origin, but there have been frequent intermarriages with French stock.  On the maternal side he is of Scotch-Irish descent, and thus the blood in his veins is tinged with the studious mien of the German, the vivacity of the French, the argumentativeness of the Scotch, and the wit of the Celt - a happy combination of race and of traits which is calculated to produce under the free air of America the highest type of Republican citizenship.  John Latchaw, our subject’s grandfather, came from Germany with his wife, Nancy, and located near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a time, but in 1830 he removed with his family to the neighborhood of Harmony, Butler county, Pennsylvania.  He was a man of substance, following farming as an occupation, and he was a devout member of the Church of God.  He had a family of children, among whom was a son, Samuel.      Samuel Latchaw, the father of our subject, was married in Venango county, Pennsylvania, in 1850, to Ann Ross, a daughter of John and Jane (Ayers) Ross, and three years later he removed with his family to cedar county, Iowa, where he subsequently owned four hundred acres of land.  He operated that farm until 1879, when he removed to Riley Centre, Riley county, Kansas, where he purchased six hundred forty acres of land, which he cultivated unti 1893.  He then sold his property in Kansas and removed to Findlay, Ohio, where he bought a home, and he now resides in the city, although he also owns a farm near by.  He is an earnest Christian, a member of the Church of God, and is highly respected as a citizen.      Doctor Latchaw was born in Barkeyville, Venango county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 7, 1851, and when three years of age accompanied the family to Iowa, where he passed his youth upon his father's farm.  At an early age he manifested a great liking for study, and he took full advantage of the course offered in the district schools. When nineteen he attended for one term the Iowa Collegiate Institute at Wilton, Iowa, and during the following winter (1871-72) he taught school. In the spring of 1873 he attended another term at the Collegiate Institute, but in the fall of that year he went to Rochester, Minnesota, on a business venture and soon afterward was offered charge of a school near that place, where he taught during the winter of 1873-74.  He succeeded so well that he was employed for the spring term, and in the fall of 1874 he returned to Iowa and became a student at the Collegiate Institute at Wilton for another term. The winter of 1874-75 he was occupied in teaching the school near his father's house; but in the spring of 1875 visited Minnesota and was there married in Kalmar township, Olmsted county, to Zella, Amanda Kimball, the ceremony being performed Apr. 27, 1875, at the home of the bride’s parents.  The lady of his choice was also an accomplished teacher, and their tastes were in every way congenial.  After his marriage our subject returned to Iowa with his bride, but in August, 1875, he disposed of his  effects there and removed to Hillsdale, Michigan, to become a student in the preparatory school attached to Hillsdale College.  Two years in that school were followed by an attendance at Hillsdale College for four years, and in June, 1881, he was graduated with the degree of A. B., receiving his master’s degree A. M., in 1884.  During his college course he had given much of his time to the study of theology; which he zealously continued, and subsequently, in 1891, the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater.   In 1881 he removed with his wife and two children to the place of his birth - Barkeyville, Pennsylvania - and by solicitation of his friends became pastor of the congregation of the Church of God at that place.  At the same time he established the Barkeyville Academy, which under his charge became a flourishing school with seventy-five students.  Later, he was offered the presidency of Findlay College at Findlay, Ohio, and in the spring of 1885 he removed with his family to that city and assumed charge of that institution, also the pastorate of the Church of God, connected with the college.  He administered the affairs of the college with great success, making it one of the most prosperous institutions of learning in the State, and the manner in which he built up the institution marked him as a most able organizer and a man of superior administrative ability.  The college was conducted under the auspices of the Church of God, and in 1893, through some minor differences with the board of elders as to church polity, Doctor Latchaw resigned the presidency of the institution, as well as the pastorate of the church.  This was done much to the regret of a majority of his congregation and of the citizens of Findlay, who had learned to love and honor him, and had witnessed with pride the growth and prosperity of the college under his able management.  The Doctor was asked to take the chair of Biblical Theology in the college, but declined until the board of elders could listen to two of his sermons; but after these were delivered the elders “declared the Chair of Biblical Theology vacant for one year."  They also failed to renew his yearly license as a minister (according to the usages of the Church of God) without preferring charges of any kind, although he was entitled to a hearing under the church rules.      In 1893 Doctor Latchaw attended the World’s Fair at Chicago, and while there met the Rev. George Northrup and also Rev. Hulbert, connected with the University of Chicago, with whom he held lengthy conversations, exchanging views on theological subjects.  He found that they did not differ materially, and soon afterward he received a call from the First Baptist Church at Zanesville, Ohio.  This invitation he would not accept until a church council was called at Zanesville,, before which he appeared and was examined, and as he differed but slightly with the council on some minor points they voted to unanimously ordain him as a minister of the Baptist denomination.  He took charge of the church at Zanesville on the first Sunday in November, 1893, and continued as their pastor until October, 1895, when he resigned to devote some time to post-graduate studies at Chicago in the Semitic languages, Christology and German theology.  While there he acted as pastor of the Bethel Baptist Church in that city, but he resigned that position in June, 1896, to take charge of his present work at Defiance.      After moving to Defiance, Ohio, Doctor Latchaw accepted a unanimous call of the First Baptist Church of that city to become its pastor, devoting such time as he could spare from his college work.  He served in this capacity a year and a half.  Though he never had any friction in his affiliations with the Baptists, and was in harmony with the more progressive thinkers of that denomination, yet he was always somewhat restive under the restraints and constraints of ecclesiasticism. He never indorsed the denominational or sectarian idea, but always believed and taught and practiced the essential unity of all believers, recognizing all Christians of whatever name or sect, provided only they were Christians, as his brethren in Christ; and refusing to know any divisions among them.  He preached that the Gospel should not only evangelize the world, but that it must also fraternize the race.  That all who are born of God belong to the family of God, the All-Father.  That the Word of God is the all-sufficient rule of faith and practice, and that every child of God, as he attains his spiritual majority, is entitled to the right of private judgment and interpretation of his own duty and privileges under the Gospel of Christ, who prohibited his followers from judging one another. That human creeds and ecclesiastical dictation are at variance with the spirit of the Gospel, oppressive to the reason and conscience of man, a positive hindrance to the progress of truth and human freedom, and the direct cause of much of the strife and confusion so prevalent among men and nations.  These views he boldly declared. And as a natural result they collided with sectionalism, exclusiveness, and bigotry.  And though he would have been sustained by the majority of the church, he did not care to oppose a factional minority even upon denominational grounds.  But preferring to stand upon a thoroughly cosmopolitan basis, he resigned his pastorate in Defiance to preach simply to any and all who are willing to affiliate as Christian worshipers in the liberty wherewith Christ makes all free, irrespective of creed or sect.  Such constitute the Assembly of God, and to- such Doctor Latchaw feels himself called to preach.      Doctor Latchaw has a pleasant home at Defiance, where he has received a warm welcome as a citizen.  He is identified with the I. O. O. F. and the Knights of Pythias, and he and his accomplished wife are highly esteemed in the best social circles of the city.  They have seven children: Elsie Grace, Charles Samuel, Henry Arthur, Fred Angelo Emerson, May Pauline, Maud Anna, and John Rolin Harper. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 115   JOHN W. LEACH.  Among the pleasantest rural homes of Richland township, Defiance county, is that of Mr. Leach in Section 2, North Richland precinct, and its gracious hospitality adds a charm to its material comforts.  Our subject is a veteran of the Civil War, and bears an honorable record for brave service in the cause of freedom and union, and in the paths of peace has also won an enviable reputation through the sterling qualities which go to the making of a good citizen.      Mr. Leach was born April 2, 1834, on a farm in Marshall county, West Virginia, a son of Joshua and Hannah (Spoon) Leach, both natives of Pennsylvania.  From the county of his nativity he accompanied his parents on their removal to Coshocton county, Ohio, in the spring of 1840, and ten years later went with them to Henry county, this State.  After a residence there of seven years they removed to Grundy county, Illinois, where they made their home until called to their final rest.  In their family were four sons and seven daughters, our subject being the eldest son and second child.      John W. Leach was reared in much the usual manner of farmer boys in a frontier settlement, and he remained with his parents upon the farm in Henry county, Ohio, until the fall of 1855, when he located upon his present farm in Section 2, Richland township, Defiance county.  Here he has lived uninterruptedly, with the exception of the four years spent in the service of his country during the war of the Rebellion.  The place comprises five hundred acres of rich and arable land, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation, and he has erected thereon a fine set of farm buildings.      In October, 1861, Mr. Leach enlisted in Company F, Sixty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was made sergeant of his company.  For almost four years he was in the service, and was always found at his post of duty, never losing a day during the entire time.  He participated in fifty-six engagements, including some of the most important battles of the war, such as Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Corinth, Metamora, Jackson (Miss.), and Baker's Creek.  He was also in the siege of Vicksburg and the siege of Atlanta, and was with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea.  The war being over and his services no longer needed, he was honorably discharged July 19, 1865, and mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky.  He is now an honored member of Bishop Post, No. 22, G. A. R., of Defiance.     On the 2d of October, 1866, Mr. Leach was married to Miss Mary E. Brubaker, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, August 19, 1838, a daughter of the later David Brubaker, of Henry county, this State.  To them were born six children, as follows:  Charles D.; John J.; William; Russell A.; Emma D.; and Alma.  Of these Charles D. married Annie Baker, of Richland township, where they now live, and they have two sons - Wesley D. and Julian.  John J. married Emma Minsel, also of Richland township, and they now live in Mark township; Emma J. married George E. Gackel.      Sine the organization of the Republican party, Mr. Leach has been one of its stanch supporters, and has done all in his power to insure its success.  He has served his fellow-citizens as township trustee, and in the fall of 1896 was appointed by Governor Bushnell as representative to the Farmers' United States Conference, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.  His loyalty to his country has ever been above question, and his labors in the interests of his adopted State have been most effective and beneficial. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 370 Harman C. Leaders Family HARMAN C. LEADERS.     No foreign element has become a more important part of American citizenship than that furnished by Germany.  The immigrants from that land have brought with them to the New World the stability, enterprise and persevering characteristics of their people, and have fused these qualities with the progressiveness and indomitable spirit of the West.  Mr. Leaders, the present superintendent of the Defiance County Infirmary, is a representative of this class.      Julius Leaders, father of our subject, was born in Germany Feb. 29, 1820, was married there to Henrietta Myers, and they had three children:  Harman C., Mrs. Augusta Stengel, and Mary M. Leaders, the last named being deceased.  In 1856 they came to America, but the mother died two years after their arrival.  In 1859 the father for his second wife wedded Sophia Walters, of Germany, and they had five children - four sons and one daughter: Dora (Mrs. Decker), William, Charles, George and Elmore, all yet living except Elmore.  The father passed from earth at Brunersburg, Defiance county, May 1, 1898, aged seventy-eight years, two months, three days.  During the war of the Rebellion he was drafted into the army, and served ten months.  By trade he was a lifelong tanner.      From May, 1856, until the following August the family lived in Buffalo, New York, and then came to Defiance county, Ohio, locating in Noble township, where Harman C. Leaders grew to manhood.  During his youth he learned the carpenter’s trade, at which he has been principally employed throughout life, and for five years he engaged in bridge building.  He has met with excellent success in his undertakings, is now the owner of a good farm in Mark township.  Defiance county, and to some extent has engaged in agricultural pursuits.      In Brunersburg, Noble township, Defiance county, Mr. Leaders was married Oct. 27, 1872, to Miss Helen Mary Dowe, who was born at that place, May 5, 1848, and they have become the parents of seven children, two of whom are now deceased: Harman and an infant unnamed; those living are Cornelius F., Ada I., Glen L., Alice A. and Ettie H.  Of these - Cornelius F. and Glen L. are carpenters, by trade, good industrious men.      Mrs. Leaders is a daughter of John Frederick (Sr.) and Barbara (Speaker) Dowe, natives of Germany, the father born in Hanover in 1830, the mother born in Baden in 1816.  They were married in Defiance county, Dec. 16, 1846.  In their family were six children, viz.: Helen Mary (Mrs. Leaders), Charles F. (deceased), two who died in infancy, Clara (also deceased), and J. F. (living). The mother, who came to Defiance county in 1834, died Mar. 15, 1895; the father passed from earth in April, 1880.  They were members of the M. E. Church.  By occupation he was a blacksmith, and was widely known throughout the community in which he lived.  He served in the army during the war of the Rebellion, being drafted in 1862.  After the expiration of his term he served as a substitute until his final discharge on account of injury received in the service.  For many years he was a justice of the peace; also for sometime was infirmary director, both of which incumbencies he was filling at the time of his death.  Mr. Leaders’ maternal grandfather, Lucas Speaker, was born in Germany, whence he came at an early day to Defiance county, where he died.      Mr. Leaders is one of the most popular and influential citizens of his community, and he has often been honored with official positions, being township assessor, constable, clerk, and for eight years treasurer of Noble township.  On Feb. 2, 1897, he was chosen superintendent of the Defiance County Infirmary to succeed William Phillips, and is now filling that office in a manner creditable to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents.  A public-spirited, enterprising citizen, he gives a cheerful support to objects which are calculated to advance the moral, educational or material welfare of his township and county. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 332   JOHN WESLY LILLY, REV.     Rev. J. W. Lilly, a presiding' elder of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, and former pastor of that church in Hicksville, is numbered among' the highly esteemed and valued citizens of that place.      He is descended from English ancestry, both of his parents having been natives of England.  His early paternal ancestry were farmers and land owners near Lincoln, Lincolnshire.  The last of this line to pass his days in those ancestral homes, and to be laid with his fathers in their final resting-place, was Lincoln Lilly, the father of John Lilly and a grandfather of the subject of this sketch.  Lincoln Lilly married _________ Copeland, who likewise lived and died in England.      John Lilly was the second son in their family, and in the apportionment of his father’s estate received his share accordingly.  He learned the trade of a shoemaker in his native land, and at the age of twenty-one emigrated to the New World, locating temporarily in Canada, where he found employment.  He subsequently came to Richland county, Ohio, and settled near Plymouth, engaging there in husbandry, and combining with this occupation the labors of a local minister of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ.  He there formed the acquaintance of Miss Bertha Cutler, a native of London, who with two brothers, named Robert and James, had emigrated to America and made Ohio their adopted home about the time her new acquaintance, John Lilly, settled there. The friendship then formed ripened to an affection that was consummated in a matrimonial union; and we find that after a residence near Plymouth till about 1849, John Lilly and his wife removed to Gorham township, near Layette, Fulton county, this State, and located on a farm of one hundred acres. They became the parents of six children, as follows: Mary Ann, born Jan. 16, 1842, married Andrew Bear, and died in the winter of 1896-97 (Mr. Bear died in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion); Mathew, born Oct. 11, 1843, died in infancy; Sarah E., born Aug. 27, 1845, also died in infancy; John Wesly, born Feb. 8, 1847, is our subject; Eliza C., born Nov. 4, 1849, married B. B. Jones in 1867, and resides in Hillsdale county, Michigan; and Aaron B., born Dec. 4, 1852, married (first) Amanda McQuillan, and (second) wedded Emma McMillan, and makes his home in Huntington, Indiana.  John Lilly resided on the farm near Layette to an advanced age.  Retiring later in life to Pioneer, Williams county, he there passed most of his declining years.  His wife died Apr. 17, 1890; his death occurred near Ransom Center, Michigan, July 8, 1893, and both are buried in the cemetery near that place.  Mrs. Lilly was of the same religious faith as her husband, both being members of the U. B. Church.      John Wesly Lilly was born in the home near Plymouth, and in the local schools of the new home near Fayette received his early educational training, attending them until he was eighteen or nineteen years of age.  At the latter age he took one term of tuition in a graded school.  During the following winter (1866-67) he engaged in teaching, after which he entered Hillsdale College (Michigan), and by his labors as an educator during the winter seasons secured the means requisite for his continuance in college two years.  During the two years that followed his college life he continued his work as an educator six terms, spending two of them in graded schools.  Having purchased a piece of land, he then turned to practical account the knowledge acquired on the home farm in his boyhood days, alternating agricultural labors in the summer with teaching in the winter for two years, and, his tastes inclining to the legal profession, applying himself in connection with his educational work to reading and study in preparation for this profession.  He also arranged with a lawyer of Adrian, Michigan, to read law in his office; but before the time came for entering upon his study there he attended a Methodist revival meeting held in a place where he had attended a graded school, and presided over by Rev. John R. Colgan.  He was led to attend the meeting through curiosity, but his curiosity gave place to serious interest, which resulted in his conversion and relinquishment of the study of law for that of theology, and in the following spring - that of 1872 - he united with the Church of the United Brethren in Christ at Hamer, Williams county, Ohio.      He then began his theological studies in preparation for his sacred work, and in August of that year received from the Quarterly Conference a license to preach.  In September, 1873, he was licensed by the Annual Conference, held at Swan Creek, Ohio, the presiding bishop of which was Rev. Jonathan Weaver, D. D., a noted minister and orator of that Church; and by that Conference - the North Ohio - he received the appointment to the Ransom Center circuit.  He served in that charge three years, being twice reappointed, and during the third year one hundrded and ten new members were received into Church fellowship.  In 1876 he was appointed to the Morenci Circuit, in Michigan, where he likewise received two reappointments, thus making his service in that field of labor three years.  The following extract from a sketch of Rev. Mr. Lilly, published in 1892, in the “Hicksville News," shows the high character and corresponding estimate of his labors from the inception of his ministerial work, in 1873:      "Since that time his life has been one of incessant toil and devotion to the cause he had espoused.  At the end of his second pastorate, when he had been in the ministry six years, he received the well-merited summons to come up higher, and was elected to the presiding- eldership of his Church, and served in that capacity with eminent satisfaction for eight years, having different districts under his supervision.  In 1880 he was elected to the position of trustee of Otterbein University, a position he still holds.  His council, wisdom and acknowledged leadership has always been in demand, and on three successive occasions he has been called upon to represent his Conference, the North Ohio, as a delegate to the General Conference, one of the highest positions in the gift of the Church, and also the highest body or tribunal that governs the Church, and is in fact the court of last resort.  He was elected by his Conference as a member of the court of appeals in 1889, a position he is eminently qualified to fill, and which he still holds.  As a pastor he has been very successful, and during ten years of his labor he has taken into the Church over six hundred members.  Their present beautiful edifice in Hicksville is the fifth church that has been built under his immediate supervision, and on fields where he was laboring in his Master's vineyard, and speaks in the strongest language of his great ability as an organizer and successful minister.      "He is now serving his second pastorate here, and is rapidly strengthening the Church, and growing in favor among all our people.  He is at present a member of our school board and town council, and is one of the leading lights agitating the location of a normal school at this place, an institution he looks upon as a great benefit to our town and community.  Perhaps no minister in Hicksville has ever been called upon to preach asmany funeral sermons as Mr. Lilly, which is only another testimony of the high esteem in which he is held by all our people, whether members of his Church or of some other body.  Mr. Lilly is popular as a public speaker no less than a minister and is ever in demand on public occasions.  He is one of those happy souls we are always glad to meet.  While preserving the dignity of his calling, he is always prepared to relate a good joke to fit an occasion.  Aside from his sterling worth as a man and a Christian worker, he is gifted with an enviable attribute that has something to do with making him friends, and that is his never-lagging interest in his fellows.  In him the truth of the proverb that ‘He who would have friends must show himself friendly’ is amply verified."      The presiding eldership referred to in this extract was that of the East District and the Center District of the North Ohio Conference, the former having been under his supervision two years, and the latter six—a period of four years intervening, ‘during the first three of which he served in the pastorate of the Hicksville Circuit, and the last year in the Waterloo Circuit, Indiana.      On Jan. 28, 1872, Mr. Lilly was united in marriage with Miss Arissie Amsbaugh.  Locating near Fayette after their marriage, they made that place their home until Mr. Lilly entered into the pastorate of the Hicksville Circuit, in the fall of 1881, when they removed to this place, and, later changing their residence to Waterloo, resided there three years.  In 1890 he was re-elected to the presiding eldership, but resigned, the failing health of his wife demanding his presence at home, and, receiving a second appointment to the pastorate of the U. B. Church at Hicksville, served there two years.      During the first year of his former pastorate here the church membership, numbering about one hundred and seventy-five on his arrival, was increased by sixty-six new members, and during the same pastorate the brick parsonage was built.  During his second pastorate here, administered with characteristic energy and ability, the present handsome church edifice was erected.  It is the finest house of worship in this section.  The auditorium has a seating capacity of four hundred and fifty, and this can be increased to over six hundred by opening three smaller rooms that communicate by folding doors.  The entire cost of the structure was eleven thousand dollars, of which amount subscriptions for seven thousand dollars were received by the soliciting committee, Mr. Lilly and Henry Bricker, before the work of building was begun.      A mark of Mr. Lilly's popularity during the years of his pastoral charge of this circuit was manifest in the many calls he received to officiate on wedding and funeral occasions.  In the fall of 1893 he was appointed to the Wauseon Circuit, and after serving there one year was again elected presiding elder, his appointment being of the North District of the North Ohio Conference; and since that time he has been continuously re-elected presiding elder.  He is now serving on the South District.      Mrs. Lilly died Mar. 10, 1893, leaving four children: George W., born July 13, 1873; Jennie May, born Mar. 27, 1875; Estelle A., born Jan. 16, 1879; and Stella R., born Apr. 14, 1892.  A daughter, Berthe L., born Sept. 29, 1884, died when not quite three weeks old.  Mr. Lilly was married again May 22, 1895, making Mrs. Adelia Otis, née Forlow, his wife, to which union there are no children.  He has made Hicksville his home since his removal here in 1891.  The family now reside at No. 80 Smith street, their pleasant modern home being furnished with convenient appointments.  Mr. Lilly’s present wife is a native of this place, a daughter of Amos and Eliza (Myer) Forlow, the former an agriculturist and a prominent and leading citizen of the county.  He is the president of the Farmers' Institute, and serves in many other positions.  He is a member of the U. B. Church and trustee of the Otterbein University, at Westerville, this State.      In politics Mr. Lilly is a Republican, and in principle a Prohibitionist.  He is at all times actively interested in whatever pertains to the benefit of the village, the State and the country, and as the years pass by his official positions increasing in number bear testimony to his continued usefulness, as also to the continued appreciation of his ability and worth.  He is at present serving as president of the board of education, of which board he has been a member ten years, and, ever warmly interested in educational matters, takes pleasure in giving personal attention to work on the fine brick high school building in process of erection here.  He is frequently called upon to deliver class and commencement addresses, and is a popular Decoration Day orator.  He is a member of the board of trustees of the General Church of the United Brethren in Christ; is a member of the local church erection board of the North Ohio Annual Conference; has been missionary treasurer of the Conference for the past twenty-one years; has been one of the directors of the Union Biblical Seminary at Dayton, Ohio, for the past four years; and since the foregoing extract was published he has again received the distinguished honor of being one of the delegates chosen to represent his Conference in the General Conference. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 88   HENRY C. LINDERSMITH, M.D.  Dr. Lindersmith, though one of the younger representatives of the medical profession in Defiance county, has already attained eminent success in his chosen calling, and is a popular physician of Sherwood.  Born in Montpelier, Williams County, Ohio, October 12, 1867, he is a son of George W. and Frances (Umbenhour) Lindersmith, the former of whom is now a farmer of Fulton county, Ohio.      Our subject, who is the elder of two children born to this worthy couple, was reared in Williams and Fulton counties, and completed his literary education at the Fayette Normal University of Fayette, Ohio.  In preparing for his professional career, he attended the Detroit College of Medicine for two years, and was afterward a student in the Barnes Medical College of St. Louis, Missouri, for one year, graduating from that institution in March, 1894.  Coming to Sherwood, Defiance county, he at once opened an office, and has since successfully engaged in practice, his skill and ability soon winning him recognition.      Doctor Lindersmith was married in Sherwood, Apr. 14, 1897, to Miss Mary E. Clark, a daughter of the late William Clark, of Mark township, Defiance Co.,  The Doctor is a member of the Defiance County Medical Society, and also of Sherwood Lodge, No. 149, I. O. G. T., as he is a strong temperance man. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 523 Henry Lipp Jr. HENRY LIPP, JR.  The substantial and progressive agriculturist of Delaware township, Defiance county, traces his ancestry to that distant land, the grand and awe-inspiring home of the brave and hardy Swiss.      Henry and Ana (Sutter) Lipp, parents of our subject, were natives of Switzerland, the father born Dec. 21, 1815, the mother on Sept. 4, 1822.  They came to America in early life, and located in Putnam county, Ohio, several years prior to their removal, in the spring of 1861, to Delaware township, Defiance county, where they are still living, carrying on farming operations.  They are the parents of nine children - four sons and five daughters.  Mrs. Henry Lipp's mother, Mrs. Barbara Schneider, died in Putnam county, Ohio.      Henry Lipp, Jr., was born in Putnam county, Ohio, Mar. 29, 1851, and is the eldest in the family.  In the county of his birth he remained until he was ten years old, and then accompanied his parents to Delaware township, Defiance county, where he continued to reside until he was twenty-six years of age.  Returning then to Putnam county, he found employment on a farm, and there remained four years, at the end of which time he again removed to Delaware township, where he has since continuously resided.      On Jan. 16, 1883, Mr. Lipp was married at Defiance to Miss Catherine Gecowitz, who was born in Defiance township, Defiance county, Ohio, Jan. 15, 1864, a daughter of Andrew (a farmer of Defiance county), and Christina (Bauer) Gecowitz, the former a native of Poland, born Jan. 24, 1813, the latter born in Germany, May 13, 1829, and both of whom are yet living.  After coming to this country, they first settled in Paulding county, Ohio, but removed to Defiance county, where they have since made their home with the exception of about a year, during which time they lived in Virginia.  They have had six children - four sons and two daughters - Mrs. Lipp being the fifth child.      Immediately after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lipp settled on the farm in Delaware township, which is their present home.  It is located in Section 14, and contains one hundred and eighty acres of land, on which Mr. Lipp has erected good buildings and made other improvements, thus enhancing both the appearance and value of his property.  He is actively interested in bee culture, having at the present time some seventy swarms, from which he derives a considerable income.  The pleasing home of Mr. and Mrs. Lipp is brightened by five children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows:  Anna C., Oct. 29, 1883; John H., Jul. 11, 1885; Emma M. May 21, 1887; Clara C., Mar. 23, 1890; and Laurina Estella, Nov. 7, 1898.  Politically Mr. Lipp acts with the Democratic party, and he formerly took an active part in all matters of local interest.  HE and his wife are members of the Reformed Church. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.  Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899. ~ Page 540

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