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OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS
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Welcome to
Fulton County,
Ohio
BIOGRAPHIES |
Transcribed by
Sharon Wick
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HON. WILLIAM GEYSER.
In our cosmopolitan population we have no more valuable
citizens than those who owe their origin to the Fatherland.
The steady, industrious habits of the Germans, combined with
their strict sense of duty and honor, tend to make them useful
citizens, loyal and patriotic to their new country, wherein
they earn their daily bread. Such a one is the Hon. William
Geyser, who was born October 3, 1841, in Wittenberg, Germany,
a son of Jacob Geyser, who died in his native land.
Our subject was educated in the common schools of that
country until at the age of eleven he accompanied his widowed
mother to America. They came to Lucas county, Ohio, and there
two years later his mother died. Left an orphan at the age of
thirteen, young William found himself thus early compelled, to
face the responsibilities of existence. He found work on a
farm, later clearing land and leveling a forest for himself.
Hardly had the echo of the guns of Fort Sumter died
away, when, in response to the startled country's call for
aid, William Geyser left his plow and enlisted in Company I,
Fourteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In January, 1863, he veteranized, and received an honorable discharge at the close
of the war in September, 1865. He served as a private during
the entire war, and participated in all of the skirmishes and
battles, including that of Wild Cat Mountain, in which his
company took part. They were with Sherman in the march through
Georgia, and were on picket duty when General Thomas
aid-de-camp was killed at Peach Orchard. When peace had been
declared Mr. Geyser went quietly home and assumed his
agricultural duties, in connection with a sawmill, until 1870,
when he came to Swanton, and for a year and a half clerked in
a store. He then went to Delta, Ohio, but after a year spent
there returned to Swanton and engaged in the grocery and
general merchandise business, which he yet conducts. His
strict attention to business and his courteous treatment to
customers have brought their own reward in a constantly
increasing trade, and he now occupies two rooms, the first of
which he built in 1872; six years later he was compelled to
add the other, so extensive had his trade become.
In his political faith Mr. Geyser is a firm supporter
of the doctrines promulgated by the Republican party. He has
always been actively interested in the welfare of his chosen
party, and in 1888 was selected a delegate to the Senatorial
Convention held at Toledo. This district was strongly
Democratic, and included the six counties of Lucas, Fulton,
Wood, Henry, Hancock, and Putnam. Mr. Geyser attended the
convention without any intention of accepting office, and was
very much astonished to find himself the unanimous choice of
the convention for State senator. His loyalty to his party
induced him to make what seemed to be a hopeless race, but his
indomitable will, his untiring energy, and, above all, his
undoubted integrity and untarnished reputation, won the fight,
and he was elected by a majority of eighteen hundred! During
his term in the Senate his duties were performed with that
same care of detail and honorable methods that had
characterized his commercial career. He was an earnest
advocate of the Owen Sunday Law and all the measures that
would in any way tend to the bettering of the moral nature of
the people. Placed unexpectedly in a position of such great
responsibility and trust, he rose to the occasion and
completed his term with honor to himself and with glory to his
constituents.
Mr. Geyser has been three times married. His first
wife, to whom he was wedded in 1863, was Miss Elizabeth
Brown,
and of this union were born two children: (1) Maude, who
married Charles Marsh, a business man of Toledo, by whom she
had one child, named Guy; and (2) Lizzie, who married
Louis Isbell, and they have one child, Emma. After the death of
Mrs.
Elizabeth Geyser, Mr. Geyser was married to
Miss Catherine Schrock, by whom, he had a daughter, named
Minnie. In 1880 he
married his present wife, formerly Miss Amy Haubiel, and they
are the parents of two children: Dorothy, and William, now a
student of Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio. Fraternally, the
Hon. William Geyser is prominent as a member of the I. O. O.
F., which he has repeatedly represented in the Grand Lodge
during the twenty-seven years of his active membership; for
eight years he has affiliated with the Elks, and was made a K.
P. in Toledo, but is now a member of the Lodge in Swanton.
The Hon. William Geyser is a fine example of the
self-made man, one who is capable of leading and directing the
affairs of the community with greater facility than most men
can direct their own. He has attained fortune, friends and
honored position by a life devoted to high ambition and lofty
purposes, and it would require no "ancient seer in star lit
tower" to cast his horoscope to find him still higher up on
the ladder of fame before his part is played.
(Source #1) |
JOHN S. HABLE.
The Hable family of which John S. Hable is a
member had lived in Williams county before locating in
Fulton county. However, he was born at Dutch Ridge,
Fulton Township, Mar. 10, 1877, a son of Jacob and
Katherine (Ottgen) Hable. When they were married
they located on Dutch Ridge, where the father died in 1902,
and the mother is now a resident of Bowling Green.
John S. Hable has one brother, Orson.
Mr. Hable married Louella Batdorff, daughter
of Quimby Batdorff. They have one son,
Ronald R., born Mar. 16, 1903. The father and son
attended the same school - Dutch Ridge. He votes with
the democratic party. The family are members of the
Evangelical Church. When Mr. Hable married he
worked for awhile with his father and then they bought land
together. He now owns sixty acres of excellent land.
When Mr. Hable acquired the farm it had a good
brick house on it, and he added some porches and many farm
buildings. He has pride in his farm surroundings.
Along with general farming he is engaged in the livestock
business, and he operates a dairy. Dairy farming is
very general in Fulton county.
Source: Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio - by The
Lewis Publishing Company - Chicago & New York - 1920 - Page
315 |
WILLIAM HENRY HANDY, the
fourth child of Hon. Michael and Mary A. Handy, was
born in Pike township, Fulton County, on the 29th day of
January, in the year 1847. At the age of sixteen
William enlisted in Company H, of the Eighty-sixth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, and served with that regiment until
February 10, 1853, when he was discharged. On the 15th
of April following he re-enlisted in Company H, of the
Sixty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry and served through the
remainder of the war, and was mustered out of service and
discharged on the 1st of September, 1865.
On returning home he entered the office of his father
as a student at law, where he remained some time, and
afterward further prosecuted his studies in the office of
Judge Lemmon, of Toledo. At this city, in the year
1868, he was admitted to the bar. He immediately
commenced practice at Ottokee, then the county seat of
Fulton county, being associated with his father. This
relation was maintained until Jan. 1, 1875, was our subject
retired from the firm to assume control, as editor and
publisher, of the Democratic Expositor.
This paper was the only exponent of Democratic principles in
the county at the time, nor had there been one for eleven
years prior thereto. To Mr. Handy's management
is credited the paper's early success, and to his leaders in
its editorial columns, was also due the credit of having
brought about a more perfect party organization in the
county. After two and one-half years in the editor's
sanctum Mr. Handy sold the paper and resumed the
practice of his profession, which he continued up to the
time of his advancement to the common pleas bench in
February, 1885.
The position that Mr. Handy was occupied in the
political history of the county is too well known to need
any extended comment in this place; yet, in some respects
his position has been somewhat singular. While he is,
and for a number of years past has been looked upon and
acknowledged as one of the Democratic leaders of the county,
and in the councils of the party therein he stands perhaps
at the head, yet the turmoil of politics has no special
charm for him. Thrice has been the candidate of his
party for the office of prosecuting attorney, but upon a
single occasion only can it be said that he was an active,
aggressive aspirant for this preferment. Being, as he
has been for some years, the only Democratic member of the
legal fraternity in his county, and being, moreover, a man
of much professional and personal popularity, he could not
well avoid entering the arena of politics in answer to the
demands of his party, when it was hoped that his strength
might turn the scale of doubtful contest; but the county has
generally proven too strongly Republican to admit of such a
possibility; yet Mr. Handy has the satisfaction of
knowing that to his support as rallied the full strength of
his own party, and that he has also drawn largely from the
opposition.
At the meeting of the delegates to the Democratic
judicial convention of the third sub-division of the third
judicial district, on the 27th day of January 1885,
William H. Handy was made the nominee of that body for
the office of common pleas judge. Two days later he
was appointed by his excellency, Gov. Hoadley, to the
office for which he had just been nominated, and entered
upon the discharge of his duties on the 7th day of February.
In October following he was elected for the unexpired term,
there being no candidate nominated to oppose him.
As a layman of the legal profession Mr. Handy
enjoys the reputation of being a good counselor, and a good
trial lawyer, and while he never laid claim to possessing
especial brilliancy as an advocate, yet he had a way of
presenting a case to the jury that brought him at once into
favor with that body, and, in close cases, gave him a fair
advantage. As a judge Mr. Handy presides with
becoming dignity; he thoroughly understands the law and
interprets and presents it to the jury clearly and with
conciseness; and in reviewing the facts is wholly free from
any bias or prejudice. While the public and
professional life friends and within the sacred precincts of
home, have been none the less agreeable. Mr. Handy
was married on the 16th day of Oct., 1869, to Isabella
J., daughter of John Van Arsdale, of Ottokee, but
formerly a resident of Wyandot county. Of this
marriage three children have been born: Harry L.,
Clive C., and May B., all of whom are living.
(Source #2) |
WILLIAM AUSTIN HOGUE,
one of the progressive farmers of Swan Creek Township, has
to his credit the development and improvement of his
valuable farm in this region. He was born at Delta,
Ohio, on Mar. 15, 1872, a son of Austin and Martha
(Mattingly) Hogue, of English descent. They had
three children, namely: William Austin, who was
the eldest; Hattie, who is Mrs. Oscar J. Wismen,
of Delta, Ohio, where her husband is a dental surgeon; and
Frank, who lives in Idaho. The mother secured a
divorce from the father, and was later married to Samuel
Casson and now lives in Delta, Ohio.
William Austin Hogue lived with his mother until
he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he rented her
farm in the vicinity of Delta and conducted it for a few
years. He then worked for his step-father in a sawmill
for about two years, and leaving him went to Chicago,
Illinois, where he was engaged in teaming for a few months.
He then returned to Delta, resuming work for his stepfather
in the mill, but in the spring went to Toledo, Ohio, where
he was a street car conductor during the subsequent summer.
Once more Mr. Hogue returned home to resume work i
the sawmill.
In May, 1899, he was married to Mattie Adams,
of San Creek Township. The year following his marriage
Mr. Hogue located on the 120-acre homestead of the
Adams family, and after the death of his father-in-law
in 1901 he bought the property of his mother-in-law, who
survived her husband until in June, 1918, when she, too,
passed away. Since becoming the owner of the property
Mr. Hogue has rebuilt the house and barns, making
them thoroughly modern, and he has otherwise greatly
improved the place. Mr. Hogue is carrying on
general farming, stockraising and dairying, his herd a mixed
breed of hogs and good quality, and is making a success of
his several undertakings.
Mr. and Mrs. Hogue have one daughter, Helen
Adams, who has been graduated from the Delta High
School, and is a charming young lady. In politics
Mr. Hogue is a republican. The Presbyterian Church
of his neighborhood has him as an attendant, although he is
not a member of any religious body. Always a hard
worker, Mr. Hogue has won his own way in the world
and deserves the confidence he inspires among his neighbors.
Source: Standard History of Fulton County, Ohio - by The
Lewis Publishing Company - Chicago & New York - 1920 - Page
318 |
De WITT HOLLISTER, M. D.
The residence of this well-known citizen in Wauseon, Fulton
County, dates back to about the year 1851. He was born
in the town of Fulton, Oswego county, N. Y., on the 8th day
of December, 1825. His father, Philarmon Hollister,
was a carpenter and joiner by trade, but one subject, at the
early age of eighteen years, determined to enter
professional life. With this end in view he commenced
a course of medical study with Dr. Stephen Pardee, a
physician of Oswego county, and continued his reading for a
period of about four years; during this time, however, young
Hollister attended the Geneva Medical College, where
he perfected himself in the higher branches of the
profession, and in surgery, and from which institution he
was graduated after two terms' attendance.
Dr. Hollister first commenced the practice of
his profession at Pierrepont Manor, Jefferson county, N. Y.,
and remained there about one and one-half years, after which
he joined the tide of emigration to this then western
country, and took up his abode at Wauseon, in the newly
created county of Fulton. At that time Dr.
Hollister was the only resident physician in the place,
and soon acquired a large practice; and, being a young man
of good education and address, and possessing a thorough
understanding of his profession, this practice became so
extended as not to be confined to the limits of the county.
After a residence here of about two years Dr. De
Witt Hollister was united in marriage with Permelia
Lamb, daughter of Avery and Sarah Lamb, of York
township. Of this marriage three children were born,
all of whom are now living.
In connection with his professional life and duties in
Fulton county Dr. Hollister has been a very busy man;
too much so, perhaps, to give much attention to public
affairs other than as interests every well-disposed and
enterprising citizen; he has never held nor sought public
office, yet in the welfare of the county he is much
interested, and gives his full share of generous support of
every measure for its advantage. Of late years he has
given some diversion. When he had been a resident of the
county for some years, in which he conducted about ten years
without a partner, but later he became associated with
Dr. William Hyde, under the style of Hollister &
Hyde; but, several years, when John A. Reed came
into the firm, but he in tern was succeeded by Jacob S.
Newcomer, the present partner, under the firm name of
Hollister & Newcomer.
In his business and professional life Dr.
Hollister has been rewarded with a good degree of
success, and there stands no man to say that he has not
deserved it. As a physician and surgeon he stands
second to none in the county and as a friend and adviser his
acquaintance and counsel are frequently sought. Now
having reached the sixty-second year of his life our subject
is content to lay aside the more arduous duties of his
profession and devote a part, at least, of his time to the
care of his lands; but notwithstanding this, demands for his
professional skill and advice are constant, and cannot well
be refused.
(Source #2) |
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