W. B. VAN NOTE, M. D.

W. B. VAN NOTE, M. D., president of the Allen County
 Medical Society, a member of the Ohio State Medical Society, the
 American Medical Association and the American Academy of Ophthalmology
 and Oto Laryngology, is one of the eminent men of his profession in
 Northwestern Ohio, and the leading specialist at Lima, in diseases of
 the eye, ear and throat.  He was born at Lebanon, Warren County, Ohio,
 in 1867, and is a son of the late W. H. Van Note.  He comes of
 Revolutionary ancestry.  His great-grandfather, Jacob Van Note, served
 in the American Army and died in Monmouth County, New Jersey, from
 wounds received in the service. 
    W. B Van Note secured his early education in the Lebanon schools and
 spent one year in the Lima High School.  He then passed a few months as
 clerk in a jewelry store, prior to entering the Chicago Ophthalmic
 College, from which he graduated in 1888.   For a short time he engaged
 in practice, in connection with the jewelry business, but in 1891 began
 the reading of medicine under Dr. Brooks, in 1892 entering the medical
 department of the University of Southern California, at Los Angeles.  He
 opened an optician's office at San Diego, but in 1893 returned to Lima,
 and shortly afterward entered the Medical College of Ohio, Cincinnati,
 where he was graduated with his full medical degree in April, 1895.
    Dr. Van Note then went to Europe to pursue advanced studies along the
 special lines in which he was most interested, and in May, 1895, became
 a student in the medical department of the Frederick Wilhelm University,
 at Berlin.   During his stay there he became a member of the Berlin
 Anglo-American Medical Society.  Going thence to London, during 1896 he
 was junior assistant in the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital,
 subsequently becoming one of the fortunate students accepted by
 Professor Hayek, at Vienna, who is probably the most skilled instructor
 in diseases of the nose and throat in the world.  During his years of
 residence on the Continent he visited the various clinics in the great
 cities and also studied various phases of disease in Italy, France and
 Switzerland.  His devotion to his profession has resulted in making him
 one of its leaders and his reputation is not confined to his native
 State.  Although skilled in every branch of medicine and surgery,
 following the professional methods of the day, he devotes himself
 exclusively to diseases of the eye, ear and nose.  Dr. Van Note is
 consulting oculist to the Lima hospital and the U. S. pension Bureau,
 and lecturer on the eye in the Lima Training School for Nurses.
    Dr. Van Note was married April 11, 1899, to Margaret B. Ellis, who
 was born at Randolph, New York, and is a daughter of Col. L. F. Ellis,
 an officer in the Civil War and a man prominent in military life.  They
 have a beautiful home on Lakewood Avenue.
    Dr. Van Note is one of the city's public- spirited citizens, a member
 of the Lima Progressive Association and one of the capitalists who
 donated Faurot Park to the city.  He is a member of the Shawnee Country
 Club, and is identified with the Masons and Knights of Pythias.    
 
 
JACOB  HEFNER

JACOB  HEFNER, who is one of the most extensive
 agriculturists of this county, owning 365 acres of land in sections 19,
 20, 21 and 22, Jackson township, was born in Ross County, this State,
 April 22, 1832.  His parents were Isaac and Mary (May) Hefner, both
 natives of Pennsylvania, where the former was born in 1809, and the
 latter in 1807.  They were of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry.
    When a young man, Isaac Hefner accompanied his parents to Ross
 County, Ohio, making the journey overland by wagon.  There he married
 and lived until 1840, when with his wife and family, he came to Allen
 County.  Here he entered 80 acres of land from the government, and began
 to buy and feed cattle, which were disposed of at a good price, the
 proceeds going to buy more cheap land.  Thus, in time, he became one of
 the largest land-owners of this county, owning eventually about 1,800
 acres.  Large tracts of this land were cleared by him and his sons.  He
 was a Democrat in politics, and in religion a member of the Reformed
 Church, donating timber and land for the first log church built here and
 lending substantial aid toward the erection of the present brick
 edifice.  The land used by the church as a cemetery was also given by
 him. He passed away in 1884, at the age of 75 years.  His wife died in
 1901, at the advanced age of 94.  The children were: Jacob; Harrison,
 whose sketch may be found in this book; Amos, of Auglaize Township;
 Clarissa, who married Jacob Mowery; David; John; and Albert.
    Jacob Hefner was reared to farm life and lived at home until his
 marriage, when he moved into the log cabin which stood on his present
 farm, at that time the property of his father.  Here he applied himself
 to farming and stock raising, and soon had his property cleared and in a
 high state of cultivation.  His residence is of brick and one of the
 most attractive in the vicinity, while the large barns and other
 outbuildings bespeak the prosperous farmer.
     Mr. Hefner was married December 2, 1855, to Christina Holman, who was
 born near Delaware, Ohio, September 18, 1838, and died September 10,
 1898.  She was a daughter of William and Sarah (Frederick) Holman.  The
 children of Mr. and Mrs. Hefner are as follows: Isaac, born March 25,
 1858, a resident of Lima; Mary, born April 7, 1860, the wife of Marion
 Watt; William, born February 23, 1862, living in Lima; Jennie, born
 September 12, 1864, wife of John E. Eversole; Amos, born February 16,
 1867; Walter, born July 6, 1869; Olive, born August 14, 1872, and
 deceased December 8, 1874; Clara, born October 19, 1875, wife of C. C.
 Arnold; Daisy, born June 17, 1878, who married E. N. Hall, and lives in
 the Indian Territory; and Marion, born July 5, 1881, who married Bessie
 Kidd and resides on the farm with his father.  Mr. Hefner has always
 affiliated with the Democratic Party, and at one time served as township
 trustee.  He is a member of the Reformed Church.  Portraits of Mr. and
 Mrs. Hefner accompany this sketch.

F. J. LONES

F. J. LONES, the leading wall-paper man of Lima, and
 one of its representative citizens, was born in Perry Township, Allen
 County, Ohio, in 1861, a son of the late A. J. Lones.
    The father of our subject was one of the early settlers of this
 county, where he died after a long life entirely devoted to agricultural
 pursuits. During the Civil War he was a zealous supporter of the Union
 cause and two of his sons, who still survive, serve in the Federal Army-
 Theodore being a resident of Kansas, and Commodore, of Oklahoma.  The
 mother of these children, whose name before marriage was Mary A. Smith,
 is a native of Pennsylvania, and is a venerable resident of Lima, having
 attained the ripe old age of 85 years.
     F. J. Lones remained at home assisting on the farm, until the age of
 21, in the meantime securing his education in the common schools.  He
 then took up his residence in Lima; for the following five years worked
 at the carpenter's trade; and for the next seven years was in the employ
 of J. M. Heininger, working at Lima, Fostoria, Columbus and Newark.
 After this he worked for one year with F. E. Harman, but in the spring
 of 1902 engaged in business for himself, embarking in the wall-paper and
 paper- hanging line.  He has built up a large business and controls much
 of the best trade, carrying a complete and artistic line of goods and
 employing only skilled workmen.  The business is now located at No. 124
 East Market street.  Fraternally Mr. Lones is a member of the order of
 Foresters.
    In 1893 Mr. Lones was married to Stella Connutte, of Portsmouth,
 Ohio, and they have three children living, namely: Henen, Ida and
 Gertrude; one child, Frank, Jr., was accidentally drowned October 6,
 1905, at two years of age.  Mr. Lones and family enjoy the comforts of a
 pleasant home located at No. 430 North Shawnee street.

 GEORGE W. GRIFFITHS

GEORGE W. GRIFFITHS, postmaster at Gomer, has lived in
 this, his native place, during his whole life, having been absent only
 during his college course at the Ohio Normal University at Ada. He was
 born November 3, 1868, and is a son of Robert W. and Martha (Evans)
 Griffiths, and a grandson of Robert Griffiths.
     The Griffiths family belonged to North Wales, where the father of
 our subject was born in 1829.  He was 12 years old when he accompanied
 his parents to America.  They settled in Butler County and Robert W.
 Griffiths remained at home until about 1853, when, with wife and two
 children, he came to Allen County. In 1859 he bought a farm north of
 Gomer and in 1864 he moved to Gomer and founded the mercantile business
 which his son now conducts.  He was a consistent, Christian man, one of
 the pillars of the Welsh Congregational Church.  His influence in the
 community was a very beneficial one.  It was known through the village
 that the neighbors would find a welcome in his place of business, as
 gatherings of a social and public character were usual in the local
 stores in his day, but that Mr. Griffiths would tolerate only orderly
 gatherings and great temperance in speech.  He was a man who was
 consistent and his fellow-citizens held him in the highest esteem.  He
 sold his business to his son and retired to private life some time
 before his decease, which occurred January 7, 1904, at the age of 74
 years.
      The mother of our subject, Martha (Evans) Griffiths, was born at
 Paddy's Run, Butler County, Ohio, and died in 1884, aged 51 years. She
 was a daughter of John Evans, who was a farmer and weaver and a native
 of Wales.  John Evans had 13 children, 12 of whom lived to maturity.
 The parents of our subject had a family of 10 children, as follows: Ella
 J., wife of W. H. Clevenger, of Gomer; Anna Bell, who died aged seven
 years; Ida May, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Sarah, deceased; Russell J.,
 secretary of the Dayton, Ohio; Euphemia C., wife of Thomas Peats, of
 Lima; Nora E., who died in Philadelphia in 1886; Margaret A., connected
 with the State Hospital for the Insane at Toledo; George W., and
 Katherine B., wife of A. E. Seefert, of Los Angeles, California.
     Since 1892 George W. Griffiths has been postmaster at Gomer during
 each Republican administration.  In the same year, in partnership with
 his brother- in- law, Thomas Peats, he purchased his father's mercantile
 business and for two years it was conducted under the firm name of
 Griffiths & Peats, and then Mr. Griffiths became sole owner.  He has
 always been a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and has served
 four years as township clerk and is serving his second term as township
 treasurer.  He is a member of the Gomer Presbyterian Church, of which he
 is treasurer. 
     In 1889 Mr. Griffiths was married to Susan Davis, a native of Wales,
 who came here when six years old with her parents, John R. and Ann
 Davis.  Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths have these children: Ray, Martha, Ruth,
 Nora, Gladys, Clayton, Gertrude and Mildred.
     Mr. Griffiths is one of the enterprising and successful men of the
 community, one whose public spirit is shown in his hearty interest in
 movements designed for the general public welfare.  His public as well
 as private life marks him as a man of honor, ability and fidelity to the
 interests placed in his charge.