Williams County

E. E. Vernier. — The recent controversy which has become widespread throughout the country in regard to the emoluments granted the educational profession is one that has established the fact that the interest taken in our educators is national and that regardless of the compensation which they receive their value to society is recognized and their worth in the development of future citizenship cannot be surpassed. In many intelligent communities the citizens have evidenced their appreciation of the value of educators by elevating them to positions of public trust and responsibility, notably at Stryker, Ohio, where E. E. Vernier, a …

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Guy Mignin.— The life of Guy Mignin, of Stryker, has been such as to elicit just praise from those who know him best, owing to the fact that he has always been true to every trust reposed in him and has been upright in his dealings with his fellow men, at the same time lending his support to the advancement of any cause looking to the welfare of the community at large. Guy Mignin was born in Stryker, Ohio, on March 30, 1881, and is the son of Frederick and Anna (Bostetter) Mignin, both of whom were natives of Springfield …

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Roy E. Oberlin. — A prominent and influential citizen of Brady Township, Roy E. Oberlin has been profitably engaged in general agriculture on section 30 for upwards of twenty years, owning and occupying one of the best improved and most desirable farms in this part of Williams County, it being advantageously located three miles northwest of Stryker. He was born, March 14, 1873, in Jefferson Township, Williams County, a son of Orlando Oberlin, and a grandson of Jacob Oberlin, who settled in Jefferson Township in 1854, and on the farm which he reclaimed from its primeval wildness spent his remaining …

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J. E. Alspaugh. — The record of the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch contains no exciting chapter of tragic events, but is replete with well defined purposes which, carried to successful issue, have won for him an influential place in business circles and high personal standing among his fellow citizens. His life work has been characterized by unceasing industry and perseverance and the systematic and honorable methods which he has ever followed have resulted not only in gaining the confidence of those with whom he has had dealings, but also in the building up of a good business and …

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Eli R. Sheline.— Possessing shrewd business sense and being able to put into his enterprises the full force of well-directed efforts Eli R. Sheline, now living retired at Edon, has been one of the men who has raised the standards of production in manufacturing in this region, and still maintains a prestige in his community because of the interest he always manifests in civic affairs. Born in Carroll County, Ohio. December 4, 1848, Eli R Sheline was but six years old when he was brought to Williams County by his parents, Andrew and Ann Sheline. so that he has spent …

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Benjamin Franklin Neff, senior member of the firm of B. F Neff & Son, manufacturers of drain-tile and brick, at Bryan has been the dominating figure in developing one of the most important industrial enterprises of Williams County, and the high-grade products manufactured at the Neff plant find constant and cumulative demand m connection with material improvements in both town and farm properties in this section of the Buckeye State. Mr. Neff was born in West Moreland County, Pennsylvania November 10, 1855, and is a son of John G. and Mary (Garver) Neff, who were born and reared in the …

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Levi B. Kunkle. — Among the native born citizens of Williams County who have spent their lives within its precincts, and have aided in every possible way its growth and development, is Levi B. Kunkle, whose birth occurred, April 26, 1858, on the farm where he now lives, it being located one mile south and one-fourth of a mile west of West Unity, in Brady Township, where his father, John H. Kunkle, located in pioneer days. He comes of distinguished patriotic stock, his grandfather, Henry H. Kunkle, having fought bravely in the War of 1812, while his great-grandfather, Jacob Kunkle, …

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Joseph P. Arnold, president of the State Bank of Kunkle, living at Bryan, is one of the prominent and influential representatives of banking enterprise in Williams County, and takes due satisfaction in claiming the judicial center of the county as the place of his nativity. He was born at Bryan, December 20, 1863, and is a son of Charles and Violet A. (Fulton) Arnold. The father was born in the Province of Alsace-Lorraine, France, and was nine years of age when he accompanied his parents on their immigration to America, he having been reared and educated in Ohio, and having …

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Ernest E. Culbertson, who holds the position of cashier in the First National Bank of Bryan, was born in this village, the judicial center of Williams County, October 3, 1883, and is a son of William F. and Jennie (McGraw) Culbertson. William F. Culbertson passed his entire life in this county, where his parents settled in the pioneer days, and he was long numbered among the representative business men and honored and influential citizens of his native county. He served five years as treasurer of the county and thereafter was engaged in the lumber business at Bryan until the time …

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Wilbur M. Fyke. — The extent and importance of the enterprises with which the late Wilbur M. Fyke was identified during the active period of his career caused him to be accounted justly as one of the prominent men of Williams County, and more particularly of Brady Township, where for many years he carried on operations as a farmer and breeder of stock. While late in life he lived in semi-retirement at West Unity, he maintained his interests in a number of enterprises in the county in which his business ability and good citizenship were factors in developing the natural …

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