BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio
prepared under the Editorial Supervision of Hon. Charles A. Bowersox.
Volume II - Illustrated
Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - Chicago and New York
1920

	DAVID SHAFFER - One of the careful agriculturists and respected citizens of Pulaski Township, Williams County, is David Shaffer, a man whose history furnishes a splendid example of what may be accomplished through determined purpose, laudable ambition and well directed efforts.  Starting in life at the bottom of the ladder, he has steadily worked his way upward, winning success in his chosen field of endeavor and gaining the public confidence, which he has retained through careful "hewing to the line" in all the relations which he has sustained with his fellow men.      David Shaffer was born on Oct. 30, 1861, on the farm which he now owns and operates, and he is the son of David, Sr., and Mary A. (Smith) Shaffer.  These parents were born in Maryland, and were reared and married in that state, living there for a time after their union.  They came to Crawford County, Ohio, and, sometime later, located in Williams County, where they spent the remainder of their lives, engaged in farming pursuits.  They became the parents of eight children, of which number six are now living, namely: Michael P., of West Unity, this county; Silas, of Pulaski Township; Mary, the wife of Henry Updyke, of West Unity; David, the subject of this review; Charles, of Bryan, and Cora, the wife of Henry Fifer, of Toledo, Ohio.  David Shaffer, Sr., was a democrat in his political views and was a member of the Reformed Church.      David Shaffer, Jr., remained during his youth on the home farm and attended the district school.  When about twenty-five years of age, he started out on his own account and has been successful in his efforts.  With no one to materially assist him, he has gradually forged ahead during the years and is now the owner of 284 acres of splendid farming land, all of which he has acquired through his persevering labors, and this land he is cultivating with good judgment and excellent discrimination, so that he is enabled to realize good returns for his labor.   In addition to general farming, he also gives some attention to the raising of live stock, in which also prosperity has attended his efforts.  Besides his farming interests, Mr. Shaffer also owns an interest in the Farmers Grain Elevator at Pulaski.  He is public spirited and gives his support to every measure which promises to advance the material, civic or moral interests of his community.      Mr. Shaffer was married to Dana Rosendaul, a native of Pulaski Township, and they are the parents of two sons, Dale V., a traveling salesman, who married Ethel Faulk and lives at Akron, Ohio, and Fay, who is farming in Pulaski Township.      Mr. Shaffer is a stanch supporter of the republican party.  Genial and unassuming in his manner, nevertheless he possesses to a marked degree those qualities of mind and character which have gained for him the confidence and good will of all who know him. Source:  A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio - Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago - New York - 1920 - Page 34
	SILAS SHAFFER - Conspicuous among the representative agriculturists and stock men of Williams County is Silas Shaffer, of Pulaski Township.  He has made his influence felt for good in his community, his life having been closely interwoven with its history for a number of years.  His efforts have been for the material advancement of the same, and the well regulated life he has led, thereby gaining the respect and good will of all with whom he has come into contact, entitles him to representation in a work of the character of the one in hand.      Silas Shaffer was born on his father's farm on section 12, Pulaski Township, Williams County, Ohio, on May 3, 1857, and he is the son of David and Mary E. (Smith) Shaffer.  Both of these parents were natives of Maryland, where they were reared, educated and married.  Sometime after their marriage they came to Ohio, buying a farm in Crawford County, where they lived for a time, but, selling that place, they made permanent settlement on section 12, Pulaski County, where they spent the remainder of their days.  They were members of the Reformed Church and Mr. Shaffer was a supporter of the democratic party.  Of the eight children born to them, six are living at this time, namely: Michael, of West Unity, Ohio; Silas, the subject of this sketch; Mary, the wife of Henry Updyke, of West Unity, Ohio; David, of Pulaski Township; Charles, of Bryan, Ohio; Cora, the wife of Oscar Pifer, of Toledo, Ohio.      Silas Shaffer remained under the parental roof until he had attained mature years and his educational training was received in the common schools of Pulaski Township.  After his marriage, which occurred in 1879, he began business on his own account and through the subsequent years he has gradually forged ahead until today he is in very comfortable circumstances and numbered among the substantial and representative agriculturists of his section of the county.  He owns 100 acres of excellent land, the greater part of which is devoted to general farming, though he also gives some attention to the raising of live stock.  Thorough practical in everything he does, he has so ordered his actions as to gain liberal returns for the effort which he puts into his operations.      On Dec. 25, 1879, Mr. Shaffer was married to Maggie Fehliman, who was born in Springfield Township, Ohio, on Feb. 11, 1859, the daughter of Lewis and Catherine (Caesar) Fehliman.  Her father was a soldier for the Union during the Civil War and gave up his life on the altar of his country, being killed in battle on Nov. 25, 1862.  To Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer have been born five children, namely: Gertrude, who is the wife of Rev. W. E. Harmon, a minister of the Christian Church; Oscar, who married Daisy Reader, of Redlands, California; Elgie, who is a graduate in medicine and who served two years in the recent World War, was married to Gertrude Roback, of Columbus, Ohio; Floyd, who was married to Cecil Coil, of Bryan, enlisted, on Dec. 13, 1917, in the United States aviation service.  He was first sent to Camp Grant, at Rockford, Illinois, but was later transferred to Camp Dorfield, in Florida, thence to Charleston, and still later to Newport News, Virginia.  From there he was sent to Langley Field, in Virginia, and from there to Garden City, New York.  He was finally mustered out on Jan. 26, 1919, at Camp Sherman, Ohio, reaching home the following day.  The fifth child, Paul, is at home with his parents.      Politically, Silas Shaffer gives his support to the democratic party and takes a keen interest in the advancement of the best interests of the community in which he lives.  He is a stockholder in the Pulaski Grain Elevator and in other ways gives his support to material enterprises of the county.  Mrs. Shaffer is a member of the Christian Church at Bryan.  Mr. Shaffer has been successful in business and respected in his social life, and as a neighbor he has discharged his duties in a manner becoming a liberal-minded, intelligent citizen of the state where the essential qualities of manhood have ever been duly recognized and prized at their true value. Source:  A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio - Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago - New York - 1920 - Page 53
W. H. Shinn	WILLIAM HENRY SHINN - In the largest and best sense of the term, William H. Shinn is distinctively one of the representative men of his day in Williams County, and as such his life record is entitled to a distinctive place in the annals of his county.  As a citizen he is public-spirited and enterprising to an unwonted degree; as a friend and neighbor, he combines the qualities of head and heart that win confidence and command respect; as a legislator, he exhibited elements of statesmanship which won for him not only the esteem of his colleagues, but also the commendation of his constituents, while as an attorney, possessing a comprehensive grasp of the philosophy of jurisprudence, he occupies an enviable position at the bar of his county.  He realized early that there is a purpose in life and that there is no honor not founded on worth and no respect not founded on accomplishment. Because of this he has won for himself a place of prominence and honor as one of the world's honored army of workers, his life and labors being worthy because they have contributed to a proper understanding of life and its problems.      William Henry Shinn was born in Northwest Township, Williams County, Ohio, on Mar. 19, 1867, son of Aaron and Henrietta C. (Speaker) Shinn.  He is descended from sterling old Colonial stock, the Shinn family dating its beginning in America back to a time prior to the coming of William Penn, when John Shinn, a Quaker and a native of England, left his native land in order that he might enjoy freedom of religious belief and practice.  It is an essential truth that the final causes which shape the fortunes of individual men and the destinies of states are often the same, and when they inspire men to the exercise of courage, self-denial, enterprise, and call into play the higher moral elements; lead men to risk all upon conviction, faith — such causes lead to the planting of great nations and great peoples.  Thus it was with those hardy people who, for the sake of their consciences, courageously came to a new and practically unknown world, braving all for the sake of posterity, and we today are enjoying the fruits of their sacrifices and courage.  John Shinn settled in Burlington County, New Jersey, where he established a home and reared a family, and there the family has been continuously represented to the present day.  All of the name in America are said to be direct descendants of the brave pioneer, John Shinn.  In Burlington County, Aaron Shinn, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1803.  In early manhood he came to Ohio, eventually locating in Williams County, where he followed his trade, that of blacksmith, establishing the first shop of that kind in Northwest Township.  Here he met and married Henrietta C. Speaker, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, and here his death occurred on Jan. 16, 1867, at the age of sixty-four years, about two months before the birth of his son, the subject of this review.      William H. Shinn received his early educational training in the district schools, where his attendance was necessarily more or less irregular.  During the summer months he hired out for work on neighboring farms, while during the winter he did chores for his board in the neighborhood of the school which he attended.  In January, 1883, when not quite sixteen years old, he went to Montpelier and became an apprentice at the printing trade in the office of the Montpelier Enterprise.  He was ambitious and while working at his trade he applied himself assiduously to his books, so that at the end of two years he was able to pass an examination and secured a certificate to teach school.  He taught in Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan, and at the age of twenty years he became the editor of the Montpelier Democrat, occupying that position about eighteen months. From 1890 until November, 1893. he was the publisher of the Democrat at Newaygo, Michigan, and during his brief residence there he quickly gained public appreciation, rilling several local offices, among them being school inspector, deputy county clerk, village clerk, justice of the peace and township clerk. In June. 1894, Mr. Shinn removed to La Grange, Indiana, and purchased the La Grange Democrat, which he published until February, 1896. In the spring of the following year he entered the employ of a publishing house as a writer, maintaining this relation until 1912, during which period he resided in Indiana. While residing there, in 1900, he became the democratic nominee for state senator, but was defeated at the ensuing election.      In August, 1912, Mr. Shinn returned to Williams County and purchased the Montpelier Enterprise, the office in which he had originally learned the printing trade, and he conducted this paper with marked success until September, 1916.  In November, 1913, he was elected mayor of Montpelier, and two years later was re-elected to succeed himself, holding the office until Jan. 1, 1917, when he resigned that office in order to take his seat in the Legislature, to which he had been chosen.  At the primary election of 1914 the democrats of Williams County chose him as their candidate for representative from this county, but he was defeated at the November election.  In 1916 he was again nominated, without opposition, and at the election he was successful, receiving a plurality of 102 votes over his opponent, the Hon. Frank M. Money, who had been the successful candidate two years before.      As a member of the Legislature, Mr. Shinn took a prominent and leading part in securing the passage of a number of important bills.  Upon the organization of the House, he was made chairman of the committee on Constitutional Amendments and the Initiative and Referendum, and was given membership on the following committees: Cities, Fees and Salaries, Liquor Traffic and Temperance, Privileges and Elections and Taxation and Revenues.  He introduced the Anti-Spotters railroad bill and the Injunction and Abatement (anti-vice) bills, both of which were enacted into laws.  He was also the author and secured the adoption of the resolution submitting to the people an amendment to the State Constitution whereby the double taxation of real estate may be prevented.  This amendment was subsequently ratified by the voters by a majority of more than 108,000 and is now a part of the organic law of the state.  Upon his retirement from the Legislature, Mr. Shinn opened a law office in Montpelier and has since been engaged in the practice of that profession, in which he is meeting with splendid success.      On Christmas Day, 1891, Mr. Shinn was married to Zoe Thomas, at Montpelier, and they have a son, William Thomas, who was graduated from the Montpelier High School with the class of 1919, and is now a student in the Ohio State University at Columbus, preparing for the practice of law.  The beginning of Mr. Shinn's career was characterized by hard work and conscientious endeavor, and he owes his rise to no train of fortunate incidents or fortuitous circumstances.  It has been the reward of the application of mental qualifications of a high order to the affairs of business, combined with keen perceptions and mental activity that enabled him to grasp the opportunities that have presented themselves.  This he has done with success and, what is more important, with honor.  Because of his success and his sterling qualities of character, he enjoys to a marked degree the confidence and good will of all who know him. Source:  A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio - Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago - New York - 1920 - Page 24
	C. F. SHOOK - An Extensive and well-to-do agriculturist of Williams County, C. F. Shook is actively engaged in his independent vocation in Springfield Township, his estate, known as Clover Leaf Farm, situated on sections 22 and 27, being one of the most desirable pieces of property in the vicinity.  A native of this township, he was born July 6, 1871, a son of the late William R. Shook.      Born in Crawford County, Ohio, William R. Shook came with his parents to Williams County, Ohio, as a child, and was brought up and educated in Pulaski Township, where he also obtained his first knowledge of agriculture, having assisted his father in the pioneer task of redeeming a farm from its original wildness.  Coming to Springfield Township after his marriage, he bought land, and having improved a farm continued its management until his death.  He married one of his early schoolmates, Elizabeth Gurwell, whose parents settled in Pulaski Township when she was very small, and of the eleven children that were born of their marriage eight were living in 1919, as follows:  Lucinda, widow of John Bowman; Ellen, wife of Orlando Woodward; W. W., of Bryan, Ohio; E. C., of Jefferson Township; George Henry, of Pulaski Township; Sheridan, living near Flushing, Michigan; C. F., the subject of this sketch; and Earl B., of Bryan.  Marion, following E. C. in birth, is deceased.  The father was a republican in politics, and the mother was a faithful member of the Oak Grove Methodist Episcopal Church.      Brought up and educated in Springfield Township, C. F. Shook remained with his parents until attaining his majority.  Marrying a few years later, he rented the home farm, and having previously acquired a practical knowledge of agriculture managed it successfully.  Mr. Shook subsequently bought Clover Leaf Farm, and in its improvement has spared neither labor, time nor expense.  He has recently installed in his well appointed home a complete Delco Lighting system, one of the most useful and enjoyable of all modern conveniences.       Mr. Shook married, Oct. 11, 1900, Cora B. Doughten, who was born in Jefferson Township, this county, and here received her elementary education.  She subsequently attended the Tri-State College, at Angola, Indiana, and after completing her studies at the Ohio Northern University, in Ada, she taught school successfully until her marriage.  Mr. and Mrs. Shook have two children, namely: Harold D., a graduate of the Stryker High School; and Donald B., attending that school.  Mr. Shook has been in truth the architect of his own fortune.  Having but a thousand dollars to his name when he married, he has gradually increased his capital, having accumulated a competency has gradually increased his capital, having accumulated a competency by wise management and thrift.  He is a sound republican in politics, and a member, and a trustee, of the Oak Grove Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mr. Shook also belongs.  Wideawake and progressive, he is an active member of Springfield Grange No. 499, and a past master and deputy master of the Williams County granges. †Source:  A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio - Volume II - Illustrated - Publ. by The Lewis Publishing Company - Chicago and New York - 1920  - Page 148
G. Grant Stahl	G. GRANT STAHL - Specific mention is made of many of the worthy citizens of Williams County within the pages of this work, citizens who have figured in the business interests of this favored locality, and who have been and still are identified with its various phases of progress, each contributing in his sphere of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth.  Among this number is G. Grant Stahl, proprietor of the Montpelier Creamery and a man who has made an excellent impression upon all with whom he has come in contact.  Mr. Stahl was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, on June 16, 1880, and is the son of David and Adora (Bastress) Stahl.  Both of these parents were also natives of the Keystone state, the father having been born in Perry County and the mother in Juniata County.  After their marriage they located on a farm in Perry County, where the mother still lives, her husband having met his death by accident in 1910.  They became the parents of nine children, of which number five are still living, as follows: Leona, the wife of Charles Bailer; B. M., of Mount Wolfe, Pennsylvania; Eva, the wife of J. W. Worstall, of New Hope, Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Bertha, the wife of John Bailer, of Newport, Perry County, Pennsylvania, and G. Grant.      G. Grant Stahl was reared under the parental roof until he was sixteen years of age, and attended school some, though in the main his education was seriously neglected.  However, he was ambitious to make up for this deficiency and applied himself closely to study at night, in addition to which he took a course of study with the International Correspondence School of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  His labors had been mostly at farm work until the age of sixteen years, at which time he went to Cranberry, New Jersey, and became identified with the creamery business, being employed with the Middlesex Dairy Company for six years.  During the following year he was similarly employed at Allentown, New Jersey, and then he spent three years at Buckmanville, Pennsylvania, where he was manager of the Bucks County Creamery Company.  He was next manager of a creamery at Stockton, New Jersey, but at the end of a year he became head clerk in a department store at Millerstown, Pennsylvania, holding that position also one year.  His next engagement was as manager of a creamery at Elverston, Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1905, when he came to Montpelier, Williams County, as manager of the local creamery.  In 1910 Mr. Stahl bought the creamery and has conducted it continuously since.  Because of the excellence of the products, prompt service and courteous treatment, Mr. Stahl has built the business up to gratifying proportions and it is now numbered among the best creameries in this section of the state.  Mr. Stahl manufactures the Rose brand of butter and supplies the major portion of Montpelier with milk.      Mr. Stahl has been successful in all his business affairs and has accumulated some valuable property, being the owner of the creamery building, his own residence and eighty acres of excellent farm land in Superior Township, about two miles west of Montpelier.  He is also a stockholder in the Montpelier National Bank.      Mr. Stahl was married in March, 1908, to Florence Rickey, of Montpelier, and they are the parents of seven children, Estel, Kenneth, Blanche, Alva, May, Georgia and Lloyd.  Mr. Stahl and his family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, while, politically, he gives his support to the republican party.  Fraternally, he is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, belonging to Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council at Montpelier and to Defiance Commandery, No. 30, Knights Templar, at Defiance, Ohio.  He is public spirited and takes a keen interest in affairs affecting the community, rendering effective service as a member of the board of public service of the Village of Montpelier.  In relation to life's activities he has performed his full part and today he occupies an enviable position in the confidence and esteem of the people. Source:  A Standard History of Williams County, Ohio - Vol. II - Illustrated - Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago - New York - 1920 - Page 126

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