JACOB EDWARD BOWSHER

JACOB EDWARD BOWSHER, one of the representative
citizens and intelligent farmers of Amanda township, was born April 2,
1873, in Shawnee township, Allen County, Ohio, and is a son of Israel
and Elizabeth (Killian) Bowsher.
   Mr. Bowsher comes of pioneer ancestry in Ohio, and of a family which
is numerous all over the United States.  His grandparents, Benjamin and
Elizabeth (De Long) Bowsher, came to Shawnee township, Allen County, in
1836, settling in what was then a wilderness.  The family lived in an
Indian wigwam until the round-log house of the period was constructed,
it being necessary to clear a site on which it could be erected.  The
father of our subject, Israel Bowsher, was not born here, being six
years of age when the family came, but he was reared in Shawnee
township, married here and reared a very large family.  The survivors
are: Elias, a farmer of Shawnee township; Franklin, of Shawnee township;
Mary E. (Mrs. Ridenour), of Paulding County; Charles A., of Shawnee
township; and Jacob Edward, of Amanda township.
    Jacob Edward Bowsher was reared on the farm in Shawnee township,
where like other youths of the neighborhood, he attended school through
the fall and winter months, giving his assistance on the farm during the
spring and summer.  He also attended Lima College and the Ohio Normal
University at Ada, and thus had an advantage over many of his
companions.  He taught school for some 12 months in Shawnee township
prior to settling down to farming, and is one of the best read and most
thoughtful, intelligent men of his community.  Mr. Bowsher came to his
present fine farm of 106 acres, situated in section 27, Amanda township,
in December, 1896, this being a farm once owned by his father.  It was
mostly new land and Mr. Bowsher has cleared 22 acres and placed the
cleared portion of the property under a fine state of tillage, has
remodeled and erected buildings and has demonstrated his industry and
ability as an agriculturist.
   In 1895 Mr. Bowsher was married to Amanda E. Hocker, who is a
daughter of Louis and Catherine (Herring) Hocker, and they have an
interesting family of five children, viz: Brandon De Witt, Waldo Gern,
Ethelind Joy, Lovell Constance and Audrey Rudolph.
   Mr. Bowsher is one of the most zealous supporters of the public
schools and for three years has been a member of the School Board.  In
April, 1904, he was appointed trustee of Amanda township and in April
following he was elected to the office, in which he is still giving
intelligent and effective service.  He is one of the leading members of
the Lutheran Church in Shawnee township near Cridersville.   

WALTER  P.  BLOOM

WALTER  P.  BLOOM, proprietor of the largest lumber
and coal yards in Lima, is also an agriculturist and stock-raiser of
considerable prominence, and is widely known as one of the best posted
men in the lumber business.   He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, was
born august 23, 1867, and is a son of O. C. Bloom, who is a highly
esteemed citizen of Allen County, residing on the farm of our subject.
The elder Bloom was for 36 years engaged in the mail service in Detroit;
he retired to spend the evening of life in the quiet of the country.  He
is a veteran of the Civil War, having served in the Fifth Michigan
Regiment.
   Walter P. Bloom was educated in Detroit, and began his business
career as bell-boy in the Michigan Exchange Hotel.  A short time later
he embarked in the lumber industry, entering the employ of W. A. C.
Meller, with whom he remained for more that three years, becoming
familiar with every feature of the business and gaining a thorough
knowledge of the work required of an inspector.  From there he went to
Northern Michigan, visiting Bay City, Saginaw and all the principal
lumber centers along conducting a small individual trade in lumber.
Following this experience, he was inspector  and buyer for C. W.
Restrick for a few years, purchasing all the material handled by that
gentleman.  His knowledge of the business throughout the lumber district
and he was offered a lucrative position as salesman with Bennett
Brothers, of Muskegon, Michigan.  He remained with them about six years,
of until 1894, and was their able representative in Ohio and Indiana and
in Pennsylvania and other Eastern States.  For some time having
contemplated engaging in business for himself, in 1894 he came to Lima
and established the largest lumber-yards in the city, placing therein a
complete stock of both hard and soft lumber and also a supply of coal.
He does a large wholesale and retail trade, and keeps a number of
traveling salesmen continually employed, occasionally taking a portion
of the territory himself.  In order to fill all his orders
satisfactorily he purchases his stock in the various markets of the
North and South and in California.
   Mr. Bloom is also largely interested in farming and stock-raising,
and carries on this work with a success equal to that which he has
achieved in the lumber and coal business.  He owns two fine farms in
Allen County, and is a breeder of draft horses which have more than a
local reputation and find a ready market.
    Mr. Bloom was married, in 1891, to Florence Langley, daughter of
Charles Langley, deceased, a native of London, England, who came to
America and for a number of years was a shipbuilder of Detroit.  Three
sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Bloom: Milton D., Powell H., and
Walter L.  The second son died in 1901, aged eight years.  Mr. Bloom is
a member of the First Congregational Church, of which he is treasurer
and trustee.  He fraternizes with the Royal Arcanum.  His portrait
accompanies this sketch.

ALFRED J. YOUNG

ALFRED J. YOUNG, formerly an extensive farmer in Bath
township, but for the last two years a business man of Lima, who deals
extensively in hay, was born in 1863 in Richland township, Allen County,
Ohio, and is a son of Freeman and Charity (Roberts) Young.
   The father of Mr. Young is now a resident of Beaver Dam, Ohio.  In
1850 he came to Allen County.  Charity Roberts, who became his wife, was
a daughter of Washington Roberts, one of the pioneers of Allen County.
The children of Freeman Young are:  Wilson, a farmer of Richland
township; G. Washington, a farmer and hay dealer, of Beaver Dam; Emma,
the wife of Cyruss Marshall, of Richland township; Eugene, of Richland
township; and Alfred J., of Lima.
    Alfred J. Young was reared in Richland township, and secured a good,
common-school education there.  He remained on the home farm until about
25 years of age, and then bought a farm of 100 acres in Bath township,
which he operated very successfully until he retired from farming, in
1904.  He then moved to Lima and engaged in a feed business for one
year, after which he went into the hay business.  He is a heavy dealer
in this commodity, baling and shipping large quantities every year.
   Mr. Young was married December 2, 1884, to Phoebe Baker, who is a
daughter of William and Deborah (Kollar) Baker.  The late William Baker
came to Allen County in 1863.  his wife Deborah was a daughter of Joseph
Kollar, formerly a leading farmer of Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and a
soldier of the Civil War.  Mr. and Mrs. Baker had nine children, as
follows:   Joseph, living on the home farm in Bath township; Ella, wife
of G. Stockton, of Van Buren, Indiana; Margaret, wife of G. W. Young, of
Beaver Dam, Ohio; Pleaza, wife of William Roeder, of Bath township;
Molly, wife of John Norman, of Lima; and Hays, also of Lima.  Mr. Baker
died in June, 1904, but Mrs. Baker still survives and resides in Bath
township.  The members of the family are well and favorably known.
    Mr. and Mrs. Young have two children, Mertie O. and Grace, the
latter still in school. The family belong to the United Brethren Church.
Mr. Young is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.  The family
residence is at No. 843 West Spring street.

GEORGE KLEIN

GEORGE KLEIN, one of Lima's well-known citizens, who
has been connected with the machine shops of the C., H. & D. Railway for
over a quarter of a century, and is treasurer of the Citizens' Loan &
Building Company, of Lima, was born in Baden Germany, in 1855, and is a
son of Martin Klein, a native of Germany, who came directly to Lima in
1876.
   George Klein was educated in his native land and was 17 years old
when he came to Lima, Ohio.  Here he entered the employ of the machine
department of the C., H. & D. Railway, and there he has remained for 34
years, with the exception of one year when he worked in the Pennsylvania
shops.  He has an established reputation for reliability and efficiency.
   In 1876 Mr. Klein was married to Lizzie Schnabel, who is a daughter
of John Schnabel, a mechanic, who came from Germany and settled at Lima
in 1853.  Mr. and Mrs. Klein have five children, namely: Anna, who
graduated at the Lima High School in 1896, and has been teaching in the
public schools since 1897; Flora, who also graduated at the Lima High
School, in 1902, and is a stenographer for the Chown Commercial Company,
having also taken a business course; Bertha, who was graduated in 1903
for the Lima High School and is the wife of Herman Rable, a boiler-maker
in the railroad shops at Lima; Charles, who is a machinist now serving
his apprenticeship with the C., H. & D. Railway; and Lillian, who is a
student in the Lima High School.
   Mr. Klein and family belong to the German Reformed Church in which he
has been an elder for a number of years.  Fraternally he is an Odd
Fellow.  He is a man of quiet tastes, an independent thinker, and while
not active in political life, he is always interested in all matters
that promote the general welfare.

WILLIAM ROUSH, M. D.

WILLIAM ROUSH, M. D., one of Spencerville's well
established physicians and surgeons, belongs to an old pioneer family of
Allen County.  He was born on the old home- stead in Amanda township,
December 6, 1864, and is a son of Jacob M. and Elizabeth (Holtzapple)
Roush.
   The family is of Pennsylvania-Dutch extraction.  The father of Dr.
Roush was born in Pennsylvania in 1816 and came to Ohio in 1848.  He
lived to be over 77 years of age.  He married Elizabeth Holtzapple, who
died in 1903, aged over 76 years.  They had 12 children, of whom two
sons and two daughters still survive.
   Dr. Roush received his primary education in the district schools and
spent two years at Elida, also two terms at the Ohio Normal University
at Ada, following which he taught school for four years in Marion and
Amanda townships.  He read medicine for 18 months with Dr. S. A.
Hitchcock, at Elida, before entering the Cincinnati College of Medicine
and Surgery.  He was graduated in the class of 1891, receiving a gold
medal for his high standing on general examination.  He settled first at
Elida, but removed in 1893 to Spencerville, where he now controls a very
satisfactory practice.  At various times he has taken post-graduate
courses at Baltimore and Cincinnati.  He belongs to all the leading
medical organizations of county and State.  In 1893, he was appointed
pension examiner, and served during President Cleveland's second
administration.  He has always taken a more or less active part in
politics as becomes an intelligent citizen, and he has also shown his
interest in public matters by serving on the Board of Public Service,
the Board of Education and other civic bodies; he was one of the
original trustees of the city electric plant.
    In June, 1894, Dr. Roush was married to Vade Wright, a native of
Highland County, Ohio, a sister of County Commissioner Samuel W. Wright
and a daughter of W. G. Wright, now a resident of Michigan.  They have
three children, viz:  Gerald, Richard and Lucile.
    Dr. Roush belongs to Lima Lodge, No. 162, B. P. O. E., and is a past
grand of Deep Cut Lodge, No. 311, I. O. O. F., and past chief patriarch
of Spencerville Encampment, No. 279.