Submitted by Kevin Motter, motterkc@msn.com, April 10. 2005
Motter's of Williams County
The first Motter to settle in Williams County was Jacob Motter, born 1 Jan 1828/1835 in Germany, married 3 Nov 1856 Lovina L. Fogle, born 1836/37 in Canton Ohio, Stark County, died 12 Jan 1903. According to newspaper accounts, Jacob was a prosperous farmer in Florence Township. Jacob died tragically in Bryan Ohio on 7 Jun 1874.
Lovina gave birth to Frances Motter, born 6 Dec 1866, married Franklin Gloar 15 Sep 1887, married Albert D. Lash 1898, died 18 Mar 1912 in Detroit Mich Lovina then gave birth to Clyde Jacob Motter 4 Nov 1874 near Eden Ohio. Jacob, Lovina and Frances Motter are buried together in West Buffalo Cemetery, southeast of Blakeslee, Ohio.
Clyde Jacob Motter married Eunice L. Ennis 8 May 1907 and were the parents of Ralph Edgar Motter Sr., born 24 June 1909 in Montpelier, Ohio died 27 May 1972, Adelyn Allegra Motter, born 30 April 1910 died 14 October 1911, Darold Lavonne Motter, born 29 July 1912 died 31 July 1912, Laverne Estelle Motter, born 9 Aug 1914 died 9 October 1982, Laurice Alene Motter, born 15 Dec 1916 died 22 Nov 1961, Harriet Lucretia Motter, born 15 Dec 1918.
Clyde and Eunice Motter are buried in Eden Cemetery, Eden, Ohio with their children, Laurice, Adelyn and Ralph Sr. Laverne is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Montpelier, Ohio.
Ralph Edgar Motter Sr. married Margaret L. Woods had three children, Joan, Jerry and Ralph Jr. divorced and married Carol Matthews. Ralph and Carol had three children Kelly, Kevin and Kathleen.
The early members of the Motter family were industrious and hard working. Their lives were marred by hardship and tragedy. The later generations carry on the work ethic and close family spirit of the early generations.
_________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Excerpts from "Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio; Including the Counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton"
Including these Surnames;
Greenler, Heollrich, Troeger, and Sawer.Submitted by Diane Smith, May 24, 2005
Page 530
HENRY GREENLER
One of the most energetic and progressive citizens of Defiance county is Mr. Greenler, the subject of this sketch. He was born September 24, 1851, on the farm in Section 35, Richland township, where he still makes his home. His parents, G.C.A. and Mary (Heollrich) Greenler, were natives of New Bavaria, Germany, where they were reared and married. On crossing the Atlantic to the United States in 1837, they came to Defiance county, Ohio, locating first at Independence, later removing to the farm in Richland township, whereon our subject now resides, and there made their home until called to the world beyond, the father dying December 14, 1873, the mother on April 27, 1896. They had five children who reached years of maturity, namely: John, William, Matilda, Henry and Mary.
The subject of this sketch was reared to habit of thrift and industry upon the home farm, and is now one of the most skillful and thorough agriculturists of Richland township. During his boyhood and youth he received a good common-school education, which has been of great practical benefit to him in later years. In connection with general farming he is also interested in stock raising, making a specialty of Belgian horses and Red-polled cattle. The old homestead, which he now owns, consists of one hundred and fifty acres of fertile and productive land under excellent cultivation and improved with good buildings, and eleven miles of tile drainage. He also owns eighty acres along the river in Section 23.
In Highland township, Defiance county, Mr. Greenler was married April 8, 1880, to Miss Maria Ottillie Troeger, who was born in that township, October 28, 1860, a daughter of George and Anna (Sawer) Troeger, the former a native of Bavaria, Germany, the latter of Pleasant township, Henry county, Ohio. After the marriage of her parents they located in Highland township, Defiance county, where the father died May 6, 1877; the mother is still living. Their children were: Maria O., Catherine, William, Lewis, Michael, Lizzie and Maggie. To Mr. and Mrs. Greenler have been born eight children, as follows: Cora, Carl, Anna, Adam, William, Harmon, Lizzie and Richard.
In political sentiment Mr. Greenler is a Populist, and in local politics he takes quite a deep interest. He has been a member of the school board, and also trustee of Richland township, discharging the duties of both positions in a most satisfactory and capable manner. With his family he holds membership in the Lutheran Church, and at the time of the erection of St. Stephen's Church in Highland township, Defiance county, he was serving as treasurer and trustee of the society. To the building of the church, which cost six thousand dollars, he contributed liberally of both time and means. He is one of the most popular and influential citizens of his community over whose life record there falls no shadow of wrong.
_______________________________________________________
"Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio;
Including the Counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton"
Published by J. H. Beers & Co.; Chicago; 1899
Page 563
Including these surnames: Garman, Frankenberger, Shirley, Cromley, Knight, Abbott, & Gray.
JACOB F. GARMAN
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable environments, we fin an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which can not only endure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The following history sets forth briefly the steps by which our subject, now one of the substantial agriculturist of Defiance county, residing in Section 10, Defiance township, overcame the disadvantages of his early life.
Mr. Garman was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1831, a son of George P. and Rebecca (Frankenberger) Garman, also natives of that State, the former born in Lebanon county, the latter in Bucks county. In 1846, with their family, they emigrated to Defiance county, Ohio, and located in Defiance township; but the father did not long enjoy his new home, dying here in November 26, 1847. The mother passed away in the same township in 1871. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Andrew Garman, was a native of Virginia and removed to Pennsylvania after the Revolutionary war. His death occurred in Lebanon county, that State.
Jacob F. Garman is eighth in the order of birth in a family of nine children -- three sons and six daughters -- and was fifteen years old when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Defiance county, Ohio, in 1846. As the schools of that early day were widely scattered his education was limited to seven months' attendance at the district school nearest his boyhood home, but he has made the most of his advantages, and is to-day a well informed man. Upon the home farm in Defiance township he grew to manhood, and throughout his active business life has successfully engaged in farming.
Mr. Garman was married in Defiance township to Miss Winnie A. Shirley, who died in less than a year after their marriage. He was again married in that township, his second union being February 23, 1868, with Mrs. Annie (Cromley) Knight, widow of George Knight, and daughter of Ionas Cromley, of Pickaway county, Ohio. She was born in that county, and died in Defiance township, Defiance county, August 19, 1890. Two children were born of the second union: David C., who is mentioned below; and Nancy A., who died at the age of six months.
Fraternally Mr. Garman is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry. For two terms he acceptably served as trustee of his township, but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of political positions, though he has ever taken an active interest in all local affairs. His support is never withheld from any object which he believes calculated to promote the religious, educational or material welfare of his adopted county, and he is therefore recognized as one of its most useful and valued citizens.
DAVID C. GARMAN, son of our subject, was born in Defiance township May 23, 1869, and there he has always made his home. His elementary education was obtained in the public schools, and subsequently he was a student in Defiance College for several terms, after which he was one of the popular and successful teachers of Defiance county for a time. In Henry county, Ohio, he was married December 24, 1892, to Miss Isora Abbott, who was born in Defiance township, Defiance county, November 13, 1871, a daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Gray) Abbott, of that township. They have two children: Winona, born November 24, 1893; and Vida, born June 6, 1896.
_____________________________________________________________________
"Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio;
Including the Counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton"
Published by J. H. Beers & Co.; Chicago; 1899
Page 52
Including these surnames: Marshall, DeBinder, Sharp, Greenler, Rule, & Hall.
JOHN MARSHALL
This the senior member of the well-known firm of John Marshall & Son, of Defiance, is one of the representative business men of that thriving town. As manufacturers of patent coil elm hoops the firm conducts a large business, their product finding a market in all parts of the United States, the bulk of it going to Buffalo, New York, to New England, and to Minneapolis, and other points in the Northwest.
Before entering upon the details of Mr. Marshall's successful career, it will be interesting to note the ancestry on both sides. In the paternal line his great-grandfather was John Marshall, who came from Germany with a colony early in the eighteenth century. The bank of emigrants set sail from a port in Holland, and after a voyage much more tedious than a modern tourist need experience, John Marshall, with his parents, located between 1736 and 1740, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, on the banks of The Tulpehocken. He had made an agreement in Germany to pay for his passage after his arrival in America. During the Revolutionary war he served as a soldier under Washington, and his son Conrad, our subject's grandfather, who was born in 1767, was a soldier in the war of 1812. Conrad Marshall (2), the father of our subject, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in 1798, and followed farming in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and Logan county, Ohio. He married Anna Sophia Debinder, a native of Canada, and in 1848 removed with his family to Jefferson township, Logan county, Ohio, where he spent his later years in agricultural pursuits, his death occurring in 1866. His widow died at New Rutland, La Salle county, Illinois, in 1868.
The DeBinder family was of French origin, and our subject's grandfather, Doctor George DeBinder, and his wife, Theresa, came to America with General La Fayette. Doctor George DeBinder served with distinction in the war of the Revolution as a surgeon in the Colonial forces, and at the close of the struggle settled in Canada, where he practiced medicine during the remainder of his life.
The subject of this sketch was born in Port Clinton, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, June 25, 1830, and was educated there in the subscription schools of that time. Coming to Ohio with his parents as a young man, he saw the opportunities open to a mechanic, and in 1840 began to learn the carpenter's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. At twenty-five he was united in marriage with Miss Hilda Sharp, and the same year established a sawmill in Bokes Creek township, Logan county, remaining there from 1855 to 1865. He then went to Milton, Indiana, and build a distillery, which he sold after conducting it one year. Returning to Ohio in 1866, he bought a sawmill in Hale township, Hardin county, but in 1869 he was obliged to go back to Milton, as the part taking the distillery had failed to make the payments agreed upon, and it came again into Mr. Marshall's hands. After operating it a year it was destroyed by fire, with a loss of twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Marshall's next venture was the purchase, in 1870, of a sawmill and grocery at Bellefontaine, Ohio, and these he conducted successfully until April, 1874, when he sold the grocery and moved his mill to Paulding Center, Paulding county, Ohio. In August, 1874, he again moved the plant, locating this time in Defiance, where he has ever since remained. He engaged in the sawing of lumber in the manufacture of felloes and gearing, and other materials for wagon-making.
In 1882 the firm of Marshall & Greenler was formed, consisting of John Marshall, Louis A. Marshall, his son, and John S. Greenler. On the death of Louis A. Marshall in 1892, his interest was purchased by his father, and the firm continued as John Marshall & Greenler until 1894, when Mr. Marshall sold his share to Mr. Greenler and entered into the present partnership with his son. Charles E. Marshall, in the hoop business. They operate a plant requiring about thirty-seven hands, and use a stem engine of eighty-horse power, turning out, approximately forty-nine thousand dollars' worth of goods annually. The firm is also interested in cider making, conducting a large mill with a capacity of seventy-five barrels a day.
Mr. Marshall has had three children: (I) Louis (deceased), married Miss Johanna Rule, by whom he had one son, John Chauncey Marshall. (2) Charles E., the junior member of the firm, was born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1863, married Miss Kate Hall, and they have four children -- Walter, Garwood, Jennie and Ralph. (3) Miss Carried D. Marshall, the youngest, is bookkeeper for the firm.
Mrs. Marshall's father, John Sharp, was a native of Virginia, and came to Ohio with his parents at a very early day in one of the colonies. They located at Chillicothe in 1797. The Sharp family settled in Logan county, on the head waters of the Big Darby creek, in 1802, where Mrs. Marshall was born.
+
_______________________________________________________________
"Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio;
Including the Counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton"
Published by J. H. Beers & Co.; Chicago; 1899
Page 405
Including these surnames: Bohm, Greenler, Hoelbrich, Brachbill, & Povenmire.
NICHOLAS BOHM
One of the most public-spirited and enterprising citizens of Richland township, Defiance county, is the subject of this sketch, who is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in Section 35, South Richland Precinct, where he has made a home for over a quarter of a century. The place which comprises eighty acres of rich and fertile land, has been improved by him with good buildings, and all the conveniences and accessories of a model farm are there found. Within the last few years poultry has received much attention, and the result has been several flocks of improved strains of chickens and ducks.
Like many of the best citizens of the county, Mr. Bohm is of foreign birth, born in Germany, December 15, 1842, the eldest in the family of three children born to John W. and Margareta Bohm, who spent their entire lives in the Fatherland. In that country he was reared upon a farm, obtaining a good common-school education, which has well fitted him for the practical and responsible duties of life. In October, 1867, he crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York, whence he came direct to Defiance county, Ohio, and for two years and a half he worked as a farm hand by the month. He then married, and located upon his present farm, which he has converted into one of the most highly cultivated tracts in the locality.
On February 24, 1870, in Defiance county, Mr. Bohm wedded Miss Matilda Greenler, who was born in Richland township, January 1, 1845, a daughter of George C.A. and Mary (Hoelbrich) Greenler, natives of Germany, who on their emigration to America at an early day took up their residence in Richland township, Defiance county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. In their family were five children -- three sons and two daughters -- of whom Mrs. Bohm is the third in order of birth.
To Nicholas Bohm and his wife have been born seven children, namely: Henry Otto, a graduated of the Ohio Normal University of Ada; Beta E., now the wife of Edward Brachbill; Laura M., wife of Benjamin Povenmire; George P. Edwin; Elma; John Louis, and Eleanora.
Mr. and Mrs. Bohm are consistent members of the Lutheran Church, and give a liberal support to all measures which they believe calculated to advance the moral, educational or material welfare of their community. His fellow citizens recognizing his worth and ability have called upon him to serve in a number of official positions in his township.
______________________________________________________________________
"Commemorative Biographical Record of Northwestern Ohio;
Including the Counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton"
Published by J. H. Beers & Co.; Chicago; 1899
Page 470
Including these surnames: Spangler, Greenler, Swartz, Tuttle, & Taylor.
JOHN SPANGLER
Prominent among the successful farmers and extensive stock raisers of Defiance county, may be named the subject of this historical notice, whose homestead is in the North precinct, Richland township, and who, by his enterprise and energy in the direction of his chosen industry, has given to his work a significance and beauty of which few deemed it capable.
Mr. Spangler comes from the beautiful land of the Alps, born near the River Rhine, in Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland, May 4, 1836, a son of John and Elizabeth Spangler, also natives of that country, whence they emigrated to America in 1845. With their three children -- our subject and two daughters -- they embarked on a sailing vessel, which after a long and tedious voyage of forty-two days landed them safely at New York. Coming direct to Ohio, they spent nine years in Franklin township, Fulton county, and then removed to Defiance county, locating north of the city of Defiance, where they lived for several years. On leaving the farm, they took up their residence in the city, where both died.
The subject of this sketch came with his parents to Defiance county, and made his home with them until twenty-nine years of age, although he spent a portion of that time in the West. In 1864 he took a drove of horses across the Plains to California by way of Fort Laramie and Salt Lake City, and remained on the Pacific slope for two years engaged in teaming. Returning to Defiance county in 1866, he was employed in buying and shipping stock for about a year, and then engaged in the flour and feed business, and also conducted a meat market in Defiance, in company with John Greenler and Alexander Swartz. At the end of nine months, however, he disposed of his interest in the business, and went to Florida, Ohio, where he purchased a grist-mill, which he successfully operated for nine years. Selling out, he returned to Defiance county, and in 1877 bought his present farm in North Richland, on which he has since lived, devoting his energies to general farming and stock dealing. Prosperity has crowned his efforts, and he is now the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and twenty acres, on which he has erected an elegant residence, built good barns and other outbuildings, and made many other valuable improvements, so that it is now classed among the most desirable farms of the township.
On the 25th of July, 1869, in Defiance, Mr. Spangler was united in marriage with Miss Isabella Tuttle, who was born in that city December 11, 1847, and died on the farm in North Richland township, October 6, 1888. Her father was the late John Tuttle, one of the early settlers of Defiance county, where for many years he was engaged in the grain and mercantile business. To Mr. and Mrs. Spangler were born seven children, namely: John D., Fred W., Herman A., Mary (wife of Horace Taylor), Grace E., Carrie I. and Florence M.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Spangler had been identified with the Democratic party, and has done all within his power for its success in the community in which he resides. He has ably served as treasurer and trustee of his township and filled other minor offices. He was also elected infirmary director, but resigned that position at the end of a year. He is one of the most valued and highly respected citizens of his community, and wherever known is held in high regard.