B. M. REED, of Green Spring now infirmary director of Sandusky county, for many years justice of the peace, and the frequent recipient of electoral favors from his appreciative fellow citizens was born in Cumberland county, Penn., Sept. 27, 1830, son of John and Mary E. (Manley) Reed.
     John Reed was born in Berks county, Penn., Sept. 4, 1805.  His father, John Reed, Sr., was a stone mason by trade and a farmer by occupation, the son of an emigrant from Germany during the last century.  John Reed, Jr., was a plasterer by trade.  In 1832 he came to Ohio, settling at Huron, Erie county, where his wife and family joined him four years later.  In 1838 he removed to New Haven, Huron county, where he lived until his death, Dec. 31, 1882.  In Ohio his principal occupation was farming.  In politics he was an ardent Whig and Republican successively.  His wife Mary E. (Manley), was born Sept. 18, 1807, and died at New Haven May 1, 1884.  John and Mary E. Reed had three children:  B. M., subject of this sketch; Margaret E., born May 8 1841, who married William Hugh, of New Haven, and died there in 1891, leaving three children - Frank, May E. and John; and Samuel F., born May 19, 1848, a farmer at New Haven.
     The subject of this sketch in his early boyhood attended the schools at Huron, but from the age of eight to fifteen he was without educational advantages at New Haven.  He then attended one year at Plymouth and the following year, 1846, his father and several neighbors built a log schoolhouse and hired a teacher.  B. M. Reed remained at home until the age of twenty-two, in the meantime learning the plasterer's trade.  He went to Attica, Seneca county, in 1852, and followed his trade there for three years.  Farming for a season in Bloom township, near Bloomville, he followed his trade for a time in Tiffin, and in December, 1857, came to Green Spring, working at his trade at frequent intervals.  In 1860, while working in a mill, he lost his arm by a circular saw accident.  Though unfitted to himself enter the military service of his country, he was filled with the war spirit, and did great good in arousing patriotic sentiment and procuring enlistments.  He returned  to sawmilling, crippled as he was, at Green Spring, and in Branch county, Mich.; then followed painting at Green Spring until there elected justice of the peace, in 1881.  Mr. Reed is now holding his fourth commission in that judicial capacity, and his third commission as notary.  He was elected mayor of Green Spring, and served four terms—eight years—in that magisterial office.  He has served three years as township trustee, and in 1894 was reelected to that position.  In 1893 he was elected infirmary director for Sandusky county, assuming the duties of the office Jan. 1, 1894.  In politics Mr. Reed is a Republican.
     In June, 1858, he was married to Melissa M. Vail, born in Tompkins county, N. Y., Sept. 26, 1839.  To Mr. and Mrs. Reed nine children have been born, as follows: Addie M., born Nov. 3, 1859, wife of Fred Rail, of Green Spring; Mary E., born June 17, 1861, wife of P. W. Hess, of Clyde; Alice, born Mar. 13, 1863, wife of N. E. Dennis, and mother of two children—Lena and Arthur N. Edward W., born Nov. 4, 1865, now employed at the Insane Asylum, Toledo; Lela M., born Dec. 11, 1867, died Mar. 26, 1868; Steward F., born Oct. 19, 1869, employed at the Insane Asylum, Toledo; John R., born Apr. 30, 1872, cigar manufacturer. Green Spring; Nellie H., born Oct. 8, 1875; Eddie Lee, born July 6, 1878, died Nov. 9, 1879.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 760-761

ALBERT E. RICHARDS (better known as Bert), who is engaged in the publication of the Farmers' Reporter, of which he is editor and proprietor, has spent his entire life in Sandusky county, his birth having occurred in Townsend township, Nov. 2, 1862.  He is a son of Archibald and Mary (George) Richards.  His father was born near New London, Conn., in 1812, and when a young man he came to the West, taking up his residence in Sandusky county, where he carried on agricultural pursuits and succeeded in amassing a comfortable fortune.  In politics the elder Richards was a Democrat until after the division came on the slavery question, when he became a stalwart Republican.  His death occurred in 1884.  The mother of the subject of this sketch was born in Seneca county, Ohio, in 1819.  Her parents were from Vermont, and were among the first settlers in this section of the State.  Mrs. Richards is still living and is a resident of Clyde.
     In the Richards family there were thirteen children, of whom our subject is the youngest.  He attended the district schools until twelve years of age, when the family left the farm and moved to Clyde, thus giving him the advantage of a better grade of public schools.  In 1879 he became a student at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Mich., and remained there three years.  He left school at about the time of his father's death, and engaged in the insurance business, which he pursued with success during a period of two years.  He then disposed of his insurance interests, and devoted his whole time and attention to art, for which he had always displayed a natural taste and inclination.  In art he was fairly successful from a financial standpoint, and his work in black and white was warmly received by some of the best art critics.  Our subject, however, could not be satisfied with anything less than a thorough schooling in color work among the masters abroad, and did not feel financially able to pursue such a course of study.  In 1892 he decided to drop his art work for a time, and purchased the Farmers' Reporter, a Republican newspaper with a good circulation, published at Clyde.  Mr. Richards at once changed the paper to a Democratic sheet, being a stanch Democrat himself.  It is well edited, neat in appearance and devoted to the best interests of the city and county.  Being well conducted it receives a liberal patronage, and its business is steadily increasing.  One commendable feature about the paper, so rare now-a-days, is that it contains no medical or other advertisements of a questionable sort, regardless of the high prices offered for space by such advertisers.
     Mr. Richards is an inflexible supporter of the principles of his party.  He is well known among local politicians throughout northwestern Ohio, and his figure is a familiar one at conventions and other political gatherings.  His friends are many throughout the county, where his genial, affable nature has made him popular with everybody.
     Our subject was united in marriage on May 17,1894, to Miss Millicent Fancher, the charming and accomplished daughter of Postmaster Fancher, of Lorain, Ohio.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 475

GEORGE RICHARDS.     This well-known citizens of Gibsonburg, Sandusky county, is a veterinary surgeon, and has been practicing his profession since early in life.  He was born in the County of Kent, England, Feb. 15, 1819.
     The parents of our subject were Thomas and Mary (Court) Richards, the former of whom died in the city of Kent, England, when seventy-eight years old.  He was a farmer by occupation, and was a strong, rugged man.  He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.  The mother was also born in the County of Kent, England, and lived to be one hundred and one years old.  She was never sick until the time of her death.  Her father was Clement Court, a farmer by occupation, and her mother, who was born in Worcester, England, was the daughter of a veterinary surgeon.
     George Richards gained a fair education in the schools of East Kent, and  assisted his father upon the farm until fourteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to his uncle until he was twenty-one, learning the profession of a veterinary surgeon.  He then went to London and studied at Greenwich Hospital for a year, when he took his diploma and began practice with his uncle in Kent.  There he remained two years, and was then appointed as veterinary and bailiff under Lord Sands.  This position he filled for over five years, and then took the management of a tavern in West Kent called the "Bull Inn," which he conducted for two and a half years, when he sold out and became the proprietor of the "Drum Inn," East Kent, remaining there some three years.  This property he disposed of in 1859, and then emigrated to America.
     Mr. Richards at first located in Richfield, Ohio, and engaged in the butchering business until 1861, when, the Civil war breaking out, he enlisted in the Second Battalion, Ohio Cavalry, serving two and a half years.  He was sent from Camp Dennison to St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., and was in the expedition in search of Quantrell's band of bushwhackers.  They had an exciting chase, in which they captured six of Quantrell's men.  About this time Mr. Richards' wife was taken sick, and died, so he returned home.  He then located in Lorain county, Ohio, on Butternut Ridge, where he lived until 1864, in which year he went to Wood county and bought land.  This he traded for land beyond Summit.  He made a business of buying and selling land, in the meantime practicing his profession as a veterinary surgeon, having as much as he could do in that line.  He is now the owner of a good property, and although he has practically retired from business, he still does some work in his profession.  Mr. Richards was married in 1850, in England, to Mary Bramble, who died during the Civil war, in 1863, in Lake township, Wood Co., Ohio.  Of this union there were born the following children:   Margery; George, who married Clara Hedricks, and has three children - Esther, Harry and Daisy; Mary, the wife of David Ively, has four children - Harry, Charley, George and Fred; Margaret died when twenty-three years old; Sarah married W. Fought, and has one child - Arthur; Margaret died when one year old.  For his second wife Mr. Richards married Miss Sarah Weaver, who was born in Franklin, Penn., in 1849.  The children of this marriage are: Lottie, the wife of John Mull (they have three children - Melvin, Ira and Ethel); Fred, married to Miss Mame Foster; Clara, deceased; William, Effie, Emma, Henry, Jemima, Eddie and Bessie.
     Mr. Richards is a Republican in politics.  In religion he is a member of the United Brethren Church, and has been very active in all good works, helping to build three or four churches.  He is a man of intelligence and a good conversationalist.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 252

WILLIAM L. RICHARDS, who for many years has ranked as one of the most energetic and respected citizens of York township, Sandusky county, was born Aug. 17, 1828, on the farm he now occupies.  He is the son of Lester and Mary (Baker) Richards, both natives of Connecticut, who in the fall of 1826 migrated from that State, and in York Township purchased land, which had been entered in 1822 by Edmund Fuller, the original patent for the land being signed by Pres. James Monroe.  The parents remained on the farm through life.  Lester Richards died in 1845, aged forty-five years.  His wife survived until 1872, when she passed away at the age of seventy-two years.  In politics Lester Richards was a Whig.  His grandfather was an emigrant from England.
     William L. Richards is one of eight children, six of whom grew to maturity, as follows:  William L.; Elizabeth, who died unmarried at the age of seventeen years; Celinda, who was born in 1832, married John B. Colvin, and died in 1894; Edward, born in 1835, now a resident of Ottawa county; Melissa, who died when a young woman; and Almarema, afterward Mrs. McClanahan, who died in Ohio.  William L., the eldest child, grew to manhood on his father's farm and attended the neighboring schools.  He was married Jan. 1, 1861, to Miss Sarah Rife.  She was born on an adjoining farm Sept. 7, 1843, daughter of Michael and Mary (Longwell) Rife, the former of whom was born in Frederick county, Md., Feb. 14, 1814, and in 1832 migrated to York township with his parents, Daniel and Elizabeth (Zumbrin) Rife.  Here, Jan. 1, 1839, he married Mary Longwell, only daughter of Robert and Lucinda (Butler) Longwell, who were among the earliest settlers of the township, and who died here soon after.  Mrs. Rife is still living at the old homestead. 
     To Mr. and Mrs. Richards have been born six children, as follows: Emily, born Oct. 30, 1862, married Apr. 7, 1886, to George Bemis, and is the mother of one child - Edna; Carrie, born Oct. 25, 1865, died Oct. 10, 1891; Bertha, born Jan. 30, 1867, married Sept. 19, 1894, to James A. Lewis; Charles R., born Dec. 13, 1868, married Helen Gile, and has one child - Karl; Mary L., born Dec. 14, 1870, is at home; William H., born Sept. 18, 1872, was married Sept. 24, 1895, to Miss Dora Guinall.  Emily and Mary are graduates of the Clyde High School, and Bertha attended school at Clyde and Green Spring; Carrie attended school at Clyde and Green Spring, and also at Ada Normal School; Charles and William were students at Ada Normal School.  There are few families in Sandusky county so thoroughly educated as that of Mr. Richards.
     After his marriage our subject settled on the farm, and in addition to the farming operations he did business at Clyde as partner in a grocery store.  He was a member of Company B, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth O. V. I., which was called out during the summer of 1864 to do military duty at Washington and Fort Ethan Allen.  In 1865 Mr. Richards began the manufacture of brick and tile, and he has ever since been extensively engaged in that important industry.  Last year he burned about 8,000 tile; but in former years it was not unusual for him to turn out from 60,000 to 75,000 tile, besides large quantities of brick.  There was an active market for all he could make.  During this time he has also tilled his excellent farm of 110 acres.  In politics Mr. Richards usually votes the Republican ticket, but he is non-partisan, especially in local matters.  Socially he is a Mason, and also a member of the Grange.  His son, William H., is a member of the Sons of Veterans.  Mr. Richards is one of the peace-loving, industrious and capable farmers of York township, and his friends are as numerous as his acquaintances.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 299

LAUREL ELMER ROBINSON, M.D., a successful and thoroughly trained medical practitioner of Clyde, Sandusky county, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, Aug. 14, 1845, so of Basil W. and Elizabeth (Blair) Robinson.  The father was born at Danville, Knox county, in 1818, and now lives at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, a successful retired farmer and stock dealer.  He bought horses and sheep extensively, selling them at Chicago and in other markets.  The paternal grandfather of B. W. Robinson emigrated from Scotland about the middle of the last century, and settled near Harrisburg, where he was engaged in general merchandising.  He died possessed of considerable property, and his will is now in the possession of B. W. Robinson.  William Robinson, one of the sons of this Scotch emigrant, was a member of one of the early legislatures of Ohio.  Solomon Robinson, another son, father of B. W., migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1799 or 1800.  He had eleven children, the eldest of whom was born in Ohio in 1801.  Solomon Robinson died of apoplexy in his eighty-sixth year on the farm he had cleared near Mt. Vernon.  Only three of his children survive: Daniel, of Lima; Mrs. Brooks, of Newark and B. W.  The latter is a Republican in politics; and a member of the Baptist Church.  His wife, Elizabeth Blair, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, in 1821, and died in 1889.  Her father was a Scotch emigrant; her maternal grand-mother was stolen from Ireland by a brother, and Elizabeth Blair is said to have been the first white child born west of the Ohio river.  When a child, during the early Indian troubles, she witnessed, through a crack in the stockade, the massacre of her brother - twenty-one years old - and of her sister - two years younger - both victims of the tomahawks and scalping knives of the savages.  B. W. and Elizabeth Robinson had five children, four of whom lived to maturity, as follows:  Rovilla who married John Godfrey Jones, a Methodist minister, and a graduate of Kenyon College, and now resides near Portsmouth; Laurel Elmer, subject of this sketch; Winfield Scott, a physician, who was educated at Mt. Vernon, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Penn., and who died in 1893; R. J., also a physician, now deceased; and one child that died in infancy.
     Laurel Elmer Robinson was educated at Mt. Vernon.  In 1868 he entered the U. S. regular army as hospital steward for a term of five years, passing a strict technical examination before his appointment could be made effective.  From this service Dr. Robinson received great professional benefit.  He was stationed in Arizona during the Indian troubles of 1870, and in his professional capacity was often under fire from the savages.  His hat brim was once shot off, and bullets several times pierced his clothing.  He was under Gen. Crook's command, and not infrequently prescribed medicine for this unassuming commander, but brilliant Indian fighter.  Retiring from the army service, Dr. Robinson completed a course of study at Rush Medical College, graduating with class of 1874.  He practiced two years at Mt. Vernon with his brother, R. J., then three years at Republic, Seneca county, and in 1879 settled permanently at Clyde, where he has since built up a large practice.  Dr. Robinson was married at Mt. Vernon, in 1876, to Miss Cora B. McElroy, and four children have been born to them - Howard, Lester, Carl and Russell; the latter died in June, 1894, aged two years and six months.  Dr. Robinson is a member of the Sandusky County Medical Society, and in politics he is a Republican.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 80

Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 146

DAVID R. RUSSELL, who in his lifetime was an honored citizen of Riley township, Sandusky county, was born Nov. 23, 1855, in Castalia, Erie Co., Ohio, and is a son of Alonzo and Sarah (Baker) Russell, both also natives of Ohio, the father born in Erie county, Apr. 8, 1823, the mother in Castalia, Erie Co., Ohio, Mar. 28, 1829.  They were married Aug. 28, 1848, and were the parents of eight children as follows:  Sophronia, born in 1849, and now living in Erie county, Ohio, was married to James Lemon, who died in 1881; Lafayette born in 1851, married Nettie Lemon, and they have two children (they live in Erie county); Mary, born in 1853, married George Riggel, and they have had four children (they live in Huron county, Ohio); David R., is the subject of this sketch; Emma, born in 1857, married Eugene Zabst, and they have one child (they live in Bay City, Mich.); Frank, born in 1859, died at the age of eighteen years; George, born in 1861, married Maud Upton, by whom he has four children (they live in Missouri); and Sarah, born in 1863, married Hiram Harris, and has two children (they live in Michigan).
     Alonzo Russell when a young man was employed by the day.  After his marriage he moved to Michigan, bought a farm there, lived on it for two years, and then selling it removed to Erie county, Ohio, where he worked four years for a man by the name of David Richmond.  He saved his money and bought fifty acres of land, later purchasing sixty-five more.  He died Feb. 7, 1874, since when his widow has managed two farms.
     David R. Russell, the subject proper of these lines, was raised by his parents, received a common-school education, and worked at home until his marriage.  On May 2, 1882, he was wedded to Miss Harriet Livingstine, who was born Apr. 8, 1863, in Sandusky county, and five children have blessed their union, as follows: Sadie May, born Mar. 7, 1883; Charles David, born Feb. 9, 1885; Rosa Harriet Gertrude, born Feb. 2, 1887; Clara Catherine, born Nov. 12, 1888; and John Robert, born Sept. 5, 1891.  Of these children, Sadie May died Jan. 17, 1895, aged eleven years, ten months and ten days.  The father, David R. Russell, departed this life Sept. 26, 1895, at the age of thirty-nine years, ten months and three days.  He died, of enlargement of the spleen, at the home of his sister in West Bay City, Mich., whither he had gone for the benefit of his health, and his remains were brought back to his home by his father-in-law, Charles Livingstine, and were laid to rest in the Scotch cemetery in Riley Riley township, Sandusky county.  The services at the funerals of both father and daughter were conducted by Rev. E. Peiffer, in Grace Lutheran Church, at Fremont.
     After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. David R. Russell settled in Riley township, Sandusky county, her father having given her thirty-three acres of land there.  In 1884 Mr. Russell bought thirty-five acres adjoining, paying for it at the rate of seventy-five dollars per acre.  As did his father before him in political matters, he voted the Republican ticket, and he donoted liberally toward the support of the Lutheran Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 108

EDWARD H. RUSSELL, a real-estate and insurance agent, and manager of the Opera House, Fremont, Sandusky county, was born at Fremont Jun. 14, 1855, son of Henry S. and Margaret (Hawkins) Russell.
     HENRY SHUBEL RUSSELL was born in Morgan county, Ohio, in 1817, and same to Lower Sandusky, now Fremont, with his father, in pioneer days.  He was master builder and contractor.  He served as sheriff of Sandusky county from 1865 to 1869; he married in Lower Sandusky, in 1843, a daughter of Thomas L. Hawkins, a local preacher of the M. E. Church, from Franklin county, Ohio.  Mr. Hawkins and his wife were natives of Kentucky, and came in 1817 to Lower Sandusky, of which town he was one of the incorporators, and he was a man of remarkable pluck and energy.  He was a cabinet maker, and to get water power built the mill-race which is still in existence at Fremont, and erected thereon a sawmill.  In politics he was an Old-line Whit.  In Mar., 1856, he moved to Vinton, Iowa, where he and his wife died at the advanced age.  To Henry a Margaret (Hawkins) Russell were born four children:  Frank W., who enlisted Aug. 7, 1862, at Fremont, Ohio, in Company K, One Hundredth Regiment, O. V. I., went into active service, was captured at Limestone Station, Tenn., Sept. 8, 1863, and died in a Rebel prison at Richmond, Va., July 24, 1864; Henry, who died at the age of fifteen years; Ella, wife of C. A. Freeman, a grocer of Fremont, Ohio; and Edward H., whose name introduces this sketch.  The father's death occurred May 18, 1876.  In politics, he was a Democrat.
     Edward H. Russell was reared in the city of Fremont, and educated in the public schools.  On leaving school he traveled as business manager of a theatrical company for a period of eight years, and then returned to Fremont to engage in the insurance business.  In 1890 he took stock in the Fremont Opera House Company, and became its business manager.  Socially, Mr. Russell is one of the charter members of Fremont Lodge No. 204, Knights of Pythias; a charter member and Past Exalted Ruler of Fremont Lodge No. 169, B. P. O. E.; a charter member of first financial secretary of Sherman Lodge No. 111, A. O. U. W.; a member of Edna Council No. 64, National Union; and a charter member and first presiding officer of Onoko Tribe No. 140, Improved Order of Red Men.  On Jan. 9, 1883, Mr. Russell married Miss Laura L. Snyder, daughter of Maj. S. A. J. Snyder, of the Seventy-second Regiment, O. V. I., ex-postmaster of Fremont, who died in 1889, and whose widow, Clementine (Creager), resides in Fremont, Ohio.  The children of E. H. and Laura L. Russell are:  Arthur McKnight, Major Henry, Harry Allen and Paul Edward Russell.  Mrs. Russell is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of SANDUSKY & OTTAWA, OHIO - Publ. J. B. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 165