Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page  845

Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 793

Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 143

Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 119\

A. HORNUNG.  a striking illustration of that time worn proverb familiar to every school boy, "tall oaks from little acorns grow," is seen in the business career of the gentleman whose name opens this sketch, and who is a member of the well-known firm of Zorn, Hornung & Co., leading citizens and pioneer merchants of the town of Gibsonburg, Sandusky county.  The simple story of his life shows that there is always a chance for the boy or man who takes hold of fortune with strong hands and steady will, and compels here to bestow those gifts which the timid supplicant can never win.
     Mr. Hornung was born March 7, 1842, in Washington township, Sandusky county, son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Sickendahler) Hornung.  This worthy couple were natives of Germany, where they were married, and whence, in 1833, they emigrated to America, settling in Pennsylvania near Allentown, where they lived for about six years.  They then came to Ohio, settling in Washington township, Sandusky county, on a farm, where they remained during the rest of their lives.  The father, whose birth took place in 1796, died in 1871, the mother, who was born in 1807, surviving him until 1892.  Mr. Hornung was a Democrat, and both he and his wife were consistent members of the Lutheran Church.  Their family consisted of six children:  Charlotte, who married Aaron Krotzer, of Gibsonburg; Caroline, who married Adam Ansted, and lives in Washington township; Mary; Tilman, residing in Washington Township; our subject comes next; and Jacob, who lives in Gibsonburg; two children died when infants.
     The subject of this sketch spent his early day upon his father's farm, performing the many tasks which fall to the lot of a farmer's boy, with scanty sources of amusement or pleasure, and but small opportunity to acquire an education.  At the age of fifteen, tiring of the monotonous life in the country, determined to strike out for himself, he commenced and served an apprenticeship in the shoemaking trade under Mr. Zorn, his present partner, who was then located at Hessville, Sandusky county.  Here he remained some six years, making his home with Mr. Zorn, with whom he boarded nine years.  At the end of six years he bought the shoe business from Mr. Zorn, carried it on for three years, and then formed a partnership with his old employer.
     The new firm continued in business at Hessville until 1871, when seeing that the present location of Gibsonburg bade fair to become a leading point in the county, then decided to open a branch of their business there, Mr. Hornung taking charge of the same.  The first building put up in the present town was his store.  It was erected on the corner now occupied by the large and commodious structure in which their present extensive mercantile business is now carried on, and it is around this pioneer establishment that the present flourishing village of Gibsonburg has crystallized.  The entire business of the firm was soon centered at this point, and it has been steadily growing in size and importance.  Not content with this, these energetic men have constantly had in view the progress and enlargement of their chosen community, and have been prominent factors in its growth and prosperity.  At the present time they are carrying on, in addition to their flourishing mercantile business, the manufacture of lime; have erected an elevator, and stave heading factory; established a creamery, and, besides, are pioneers in the gas and oil producing business, now owning and operating a gas plant and extensive oil fields with many oil wells.  It is generally an unwise thing to have so many "irons in the fire," but the undoubted ability and well-known energy, perseverance and excellent judgment always evinced by Mr. Hornung and his partner in the management of their large ventures, are a guarantee of their success in whatever direction they turn their attention. they turn their attention.  They are valuable citizens of Gibsonburg, and as such command the respect and esteem of all who know them.
     On April 8, 1867, Mr. Hornung was married in Washington township, to Miss Catherine Stotz, who was born in Germany May 28, 1842.  Four children have been born to them: Elizabeth, George, Charles and Julia; of these, George is a member of the firm, Charles being in its employ as bookkeeper; the daughters are at home.  In politics Mr. Hornung is a Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church. 
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 326

H. G. HOUSE, farmer, Green Creek township, Sandusky County, was born in Switzerland, Mar. 16, 1833, a son of Jacob and Mary (Hooser) House, also natives of Switzerland, who emigrated to America in1847, landing at New York City.  From there they at once proceeded to Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, where the father worked at his trade as a stone mason, and soon after bought a farm of forty acres in Riley township, which they made their home.
     Jacob House was born June 3, 1800, and died in Sept., 1874.  He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Roman Catholic Church.  Mary Hooser, mother of our subject, was born in 1798, and died in April, 1874.  Five of their children grew to maturity, of whom H. G. House is the oldest; John is a marble cutter in California; Casper died at the age of forty-nine years; Matthew is a stone mason in Fremont, Ohio; Mary married Joseph Huttinger, and is living east of Fremont.  After coming to America H. G. House learned the trade of a stonemason, at which he worked at intervals for about twenty years, at the same time operating his far in Riley township, Sandusky county.  In 1857 he took a trip to California, by the Panama route, and spent several years on the Pacific coast.  He worked on a farm and in the mines; spent six months in British Columbia, assisted in building a packhorse road for the Hudson Bay Company, and in 1851 he returned to Fremont, Ohio.
     On Nov. 5, 1861, our subject married Miss Catharine Bisang, born at Buffalo, N. Y., in Mar., 1841, and they have thirteen children, all of whom are living: Mary M., born May 21, 1863, married Philip Wamus, who lives in Sandusky county (they have three children - Rosa, Clarence, William); Amelia, married to Barney Halbeisen, a farmer of Ballville township (they have six children - Laura, Louisa, Louis, Clarence, Leona, Urban), Charles married Katie Young, and they have two children - Louisa, Carl; Joseph  is a carpenter of Portland, Ore.; Laura married John Weiss, an employe at the Carbon Works, Fremont, Ohio (they have one child - Leona); and William H., Francis, Helen and Antonio.  Mrs. House is a daughter of Joseph and Margaret ('Geiger) Bisang.  Her father was born in Alsace, France, married thereto his first wife, and came with her to America; she died in Buffalo, N. Y.   They had children as follows:  Theresa, Mary, Joseph, and Peter.  For his second wife Mr. Bisang married Margaret Geiger, and by her had six children: (1) Margaret, who married Samuel Babione, and died in Ballville township, Sandusky county; (2) Elizabeth, born Oct. 14, 1844, who married John P. Baker, a merchant tailor, of French descent, who worked at his trade in Fremont, and died in 1877; (30 Magdalena, who married George Fend, and is now living at Port Angeles, Wash.; (4) Mary, who married John Schaff, now of Helena, Mont., and (5) Caroline, who married George Dunning, an undertaker at Portland, Ore.  Mrs. House lived in Buffalo, N.Y., until twelve years of age, and then came to Sandusky county.  Her father was born in 1793, and died in Fremont, Ohio, in 1874; her mother was born in Baden, Germany, Nov. 24, 1804, and died Mar. 14, 1894, at the home of her daughter, near Fremont.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 332

CHARLES H. HOUTS.  This gentleman, who is of the oldest pioneers of Ottawa county, and a prosperous agriculturist and fruit grower of Clay township, has also a record as a soldier in the late Civil war of which he  might well be proud.  The participants in that struggle for the preservation of the Union are growing perceptibly fewer as the years roll on, and it will not be long ere none are left to tell the story.  We who hear it from the lips of those who took an active part in its victories and defeats are fortunate indeed.
     Mr. Houtz was born in Scott township, Sandusky Co., Aug. 11, 1842, son of John and Rhoda (Schorggly Houts, the former of whom was born in 1813 in Pennsylvania, and the latter in Columbiana county, Ohio.  When seven months old he was brought to Ottawa county, and in his boyhood he attended the public school at Port Clinton, afterward assisting his father in the work upon the farm.  When the call for men for three-years' service in the Civil war was made, the patriotic youth responded by enlisting Jan. 4, 1864, in Company G, One Hundredth Ohio Infantry, under the command of Col. Patrick Sleaven  He was in many bloody battles, and where he saw thousands of men dying on the field, and learned from experience the horrors of war.  Among the notable engagements in which he took part were:  The battle of Rocky Face Ridge, Ga., May 5 to 9; Resaca, Ga., May 13 to 16; Dallas, Ga., May 27 to June 4; Kennesaw Mountain, Ga., June 9 to 30; Utay Creek, where they lost one hundred men, August 6; Atlanta, Ga., July 29 to Sept. 2; Columbia, Tenn., Nov. 24 to 28; Franklin, Tenn., Nov. 30, and Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15 to 16, all in 1864.  In all these engagements Mr. Houts was so fortunate as not to receive even a scratch, although his comrades fell all around him, and indeed throughout the whole campaign he enjoyed the best of health, with the exception of an attack of measles which kept him in the hospital for a week or two.  He received his discharge after brilliant victories at Salisbury, N. C., on July 17, 1865.
     After his return from the army Mr. Houts sailed on Lake Erie and Lake Huron for six years.  He then took up the trade of a carpenter and joiner, at which he worked six years, during three of which he was in partnership with Samuel Wisner, under the firm name of Houts & Wisner, carrying on the business of contractors and builders at Port Clinton.  Subsequently he engaged in farming, working six years on a farm near Port Clinton, after which he came to Clay township, rented a farm and worked thereon for five more years.  By hard work and frugality during all this time he managed to save enough money to buy a farm of his own, and in 1888 purchased eighty acres of land near Clay Center, which was partly under cultivation.  Here he went to work with a will, spending every spare moment in beautifying the place.  He rebuilt the dwelling house and all the barns, and made other needed improvements, and today is enjoying the fruit of his labors in a pleasant, comfortable home.
     Mr. Houts was married, Dec. 31, 1868, at Port Clinton, to Caroline P.,  the daughter of J. R. Heim, a merchant of that place, and they have one child, John Richard, born Oct. 17, 1870.  He was educated in the public schools of Clay township, and worked on the homestead farm for several years.  He was married Dec. 20, 1893, to Lillie M., daughter of Frederick Sutton, Esq., of Martin, where the couple now reside.
     JOHN HOUTS, the father of our subject was born near Strasburg, Penn., and came to Ottawa county when quite young, locating near Port Clinton.  Here he was married in 1836 to Rhoda Schroggy, and to them five children were born, as follows:  Henry, born in 1841, died when quite young; Charles H., our subject, born in 1842; Mary A., born in 1844, is the widow of William Britten, who was killed in a stone quarry at Marble Head (she has three children); James, born in 1846, at Port Clinton, is married and lives in Michigan (he has two children); one died in infancy.  The mother of our subject was one of the first school teachers in Port Clinton.  She died there in 1848.  In 1853 the father married again, taking for his second wife Amanda Mommemey, of Port Clinton, and five more children were added to the family, viz.: John, who is an engineer on a vessel on Lake Erie; Rosie, deceased; William, who lives in one of the Western States; Clara, living in Kansas; and Ida, married and living in Cleveland.  Mr. Houts passed peacefully away at the home of his son Charles in Clay township, Mar. 11, 1894, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years and two months, beloved and respected by all who knew him.
     J. R. Heim, the father of Mrs. Charles Houts, was born at Baden, Germany, Mar. 4, 1821, and came to this country when a young man, living for some years at Plastered, this State.  He then removed to Port Clinton, where he was engaged in the hotel business for number of years, subsequently buying a farm near Port Clinton, on which he lived until 1886; his wife preceded him to the better land, dying Mar. 7, 1869.  Mr. Heim was married in 1847 to Pauline Moos, and they became the parents of twelve children, their names and dates of birth being as follows:  Caroline, Nov. 7, 1848, now the wife of our subject; John R., born Jan. 26, 1850; Adam, Mar. 30, 1852, died Mar. 30, 1892; Christine, Feb. 17, 1854; Maria B., Sept. 26, 1857; Catherine P., July 11, 1859; August, Aug. 9, 1861; William C.,  Mar. 11, 1863; Edward C., Feb. 22, 1865; Clara E. J., Mar. 14, 1867; and Christoph L., May 7, 1869, died Sept. 1, same year.
     Our subject in politics is a stanch Democrat, and an admirer of President Cleveland.  He was a trustee of Clay township for several years, and a school director and member of the board of education at Genoa.  He was clerk of the board for two years, and held the office of trustee three years in Portage township. Socially, he is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and also of Clay Lodge, F. & A. M., at Genoa.  He is a man of influence, well liked, both in public and private life.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 410

JOHN HOUTZ, a prominent and well-to-do agriculturist of Washington township, Sandusky county, whose farm is situated within one move of the town of Helena, is a native of the county, born Oct. 7, 1855, in the town of Rollersville, third in the order of birth of five children born to John and Elizabeth (Boyer) Houtz.
     John Houtz, Sr., father of our subject, was one of the oldest settlers of Sandusky county; was a Pennsylvanian by birth, born in 1801 and in 1808 moved to Ohio, settling in Sandusky county, the Indians at the time being friendly neighbors.  He was twice married, the first time to Katharina Houtz, who died leaving one child, Mary Ellen Phiester, at present living in Wood county, Ohio.  His second wife, Elizabeth (Boyer), became the mother of five children, namely: Cornelius, a farmer, living near Rollersville, Sandusky Co.; Zacharias, farmer, near his brother Cornelius, both owning a goodly number of acres of prime land; John, subject of this sketch; Elizabeth who died in 1893 (she was the wife of Mr. George Tyson, who is now living in Wood county, Ohio; and Sarah, wife of Levi Tyson, a farmer near Rollersville, Ohio (they have two children).  The father of this family died in February, 1880, at the age of seventy-nine years; the mother passed away when the subject of this sketch was but a young lad, and he does not remember much regarding her.
     John Houtz, of whom this sketch more particularly relates, received a liberal education at the winter schools of his native place, from early boyhood assisting his father on the farm, until the time of his marriage.  In 1880 he purchased the ninety-two acres of land whereon he now lives, and has by industry, thrift and sound judgment made a success, living and toiling on with the bright prospect before him of adding to his possessions.
     Mr. Houtz was married Feb. 11, 1875 to Miss Mary Ann Baird, daughter of John S. Baird, a farmer of Sandusky county, Ohio, and five children have blessed this union, their names and dates of birth being as follows:  Elsie, March 27, 1877; Gary, July 4, 1882; Stella, Sept. 22, 1884; Mabel, Aug. 10, 1887, and Grace, July 13, 1889.  In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Houtz are members of the United Brethren Church.  He has one his farm twelve good oil wells, and the property being one of the best oil stands in Sandusky county, he hopes before the close of the year to discover as many more wells.  Wide-awake, progressive and genial, Mr. Houtz has insured for himself a personal popularity that in itself is a fair capital for any man traveling the earlier portion of life's highway.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 361

ZACHARIAS HOUTZ.        ..................................................
     Among enterprising agriculturists of Sandusky county who are rapidly pushing their way to the front, to a place among the substantial and leading citizens, is this gentleman.
     He was born March 14, 1850, in Mahoning county, Ohio, where his father was a pioneer, and when a mere lad came with his parents to Scott township, Sandusky county.  His father, John Houtz who was born in Pennsylvania Sept. 13, 1801, and located in this locality when it was an unbroken wilderness.  He purchased the east half of Section 4, Scott township, a Mr. Roller purchasing the west half about the same time.  He also bought one hundred acres on the Greensburg pipe, which he afterward sold, becoming the owner of a like amount near Helena, a portion of which has been divided into village lots and sold.  He continued to conduct his business affairs with marked ability, and at his death was in very comfortable circumstances, owning much valuable real estate, and a large amount of money in notes.  Before his demise he divided the property among his heirs.  He passed away Jan. 20, 1881, and the community mourned the death of one of its respected and valued citizens.  His wife, who in her maidenhood was Elizabeth Boyer, was born May 9, 1819, and died July 27, 1871.  They were the parents of six children - Mary, Cornelius, Zacharias, Elizabeth, John and Sarah.
     Aiding in the work of the farm, Zacharias Houtz developed a strong and vigorous constitution.  His mental training was meager, as the schools of the neighborhood were poor; but through business experience and observation he has become a well-informed man, and has provided his children with good educational advantages.  With his axe upon his shoulder he would start out early in the morning with his father to assist in the work of clearing the farm, seventy-three acres of which he received of the homestead, which was almost unbroken forest.  As the years passed, the forest was replaced by waving fields of grain and grassy meadows, and in 1874 Mr. Houtz erected his first frame house of the family, and in 1892 he built a substantial frame residence, which stands as a monument to his thrift and enterprise.  He now gives his entire attention to farming, and to the oil business, in which he is extensively engaged.  On Sept. 1, 1882, Mr. Houtz purchased thirty acres.  In 1889 he leased the 103 acre farm on which he resides for a consideration of one dollar per acre and one-eighth of the oil produced.  He has since purchased eighty acres, which he has leased for one-sixth of the oil.  The royalty from his wells constitutes a handsome income, and would enable him to retire at once from business were he so disposed; but indolence and idleness are utterly foreign to his nature, and he continues his work, increasing the value of his property by keeping his farm in good condition.
     On Oct. 22, 1874, Mr. Houtz wedded Mary Jane Plantz, who was born Oct. 26, 1858, and is a daughter of an honored pioneer of Scott township, Sandusky county, Benjamin Plantz, who was born in Lancaster county, Penn., Mar. 18, 1810.  His wife, Amelia (Romler), was born Feb. 6, 1818, in Columbiana county, Ohio, and died June 16, 1892.  His death occurred in January, 1895, and of their thirteen children seven are now living.  Grandfather Jacob Plantz was born in 1790, his wife in 1792, and they passed away in 1876 and 1880 respectively.  They had eight children, six of whom are living.  The maternal grandfather, Mr. Romler, died about 1863.  Mr. and Mrs. Houtz are the parents of seven children: Mary Lodema, born June 7, 1875, was married Mar. 3, 1895, to Burt Whiteman, who is engaged with the Manhattan Oil Company, in Scott township, Sandusky county; Verna Ellen, born Sept. 6, 1877; John William born Oct. 16, 1879; Belvin C., born Sept. 4, 1882; Edward Floyd, born June 3, 1885; Charles E., born May 18, 1887; and Minnie May, born May 1, 1892.  The family circle yet remains unbroken, and the friends of parents and children are many.
     Mr. Houtz is a supporter of the Peoples party, but has never sought or desired political preferment, giving his time and energies to his business interests, in which he has met with a high degree of prosperity, thanks to his capable management, his enterprise and honorable dealing.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 270