Murder, Manslaughter, Accident? Frank Sabo and Steve Oswald

 

T

Both Frank Sabo and Steve Oswald were born in Hungary and immigrated to the United States, Sabo in 1907 and Oswald in 1912. Both lived in Ohio and Michigan at various times and had met each other, but around 1942, they reestablished their acquaintance in Defiance County, Ohio.

Frank Sabo, 67 and divorced, was born in 1875 in Hungary. He was enumerated in the Defiance County census in 1940 where he was renting a house and farming, as well as doing some cattle buying. Living with him was Joseph Molnar, 52, also born in Hungary; Sabo had hired him as a farm hand. The census stated that Sabo was at the same home in 1935.

Newspaper articles revealed that Steve Oswald, 66, was born in a small community near Budapest. His father died when he was three and his mother when he was twenty-one. His father had owned a small vineyard - one acre - and he supplied wine to the local village tavern. His mother kept the small farm going until her death. Oswald served in the Hungarian Army for five years, "breaking horses for officers." In 1912, at the age of 36, he came to Illinois in the United States where he joined a small Hungarian community.

Later, the two men met in Detroit, Michigan, where they worked together. Oswald went to South Bend to work at Studebaker and then became a seasonal farm laborer and other times collected ashes and rubbish. In September 1941, he came to the William Forder home near Hicksville where he was hired as a farm hand. In that winter, he renewed his acquaintance with Sabo, as they met at a stock sale in Hicksville.

It was reported that Oswald, at least, could not read and barely could write his name. He spoke broken English, even though in the United States for thirty years.

Now, for the story...in the Defiance Crescent-News on November 21, 1942:

"GUN OWNER SOUGHT AFTER MAN

FOUND SLAIN"

That was the headline that faced the citizens of Defiance County on Saturday, November 21, 1942. The victim was a local man, Frank Sabo, 67, local farmer and cattle buyer, found lying on the Washington-Delaware County Road near his home. A shotgun was found in a ditch near the body. Who would do this? The hunt had begun before the readers had even had their breakfasts.

"FRANK SABO KILLED ON TOWNSHIP ROAD NORTH OF SHERWOOD

Acquaintance Who Discovers Body Quizzed, Distance from Weapon Rules Out Suicide.

"...Steve Oswald, 66 year old farm laborer of route 3, Hicksville, was held after questioning while officers checked his story. Oswald discovered the body about 12:10 p.m. Friday when he went to the home of 'my friend' Sabo to invite him to go hunting, he told authorities.

Oswald was taken into custody after Deputy Sheriff Alner D. Ryan found a shotgun and a box of shells, with five cartridges missing, in the car in which Oswald had driven from his beet wagon home, one mile southwest of Hicksville, on the Williams-Forder farm, to the Sabo place three miles north and one half mile west of Sherwood."

When he was questioned, Oswald said that he had taken five shells from the box last week to shoot at woodchuck. Officers were going to his home to check out the story that Oswald had swabbed out the gun he had borrowed from a friend, Lewis Tote, Hicksville - the 12-gauge shotgun found in Oswald's car. That story was true, but there was a second shotgun also, which was found 3 hours after finding the body, and that gun had been fired recently - also a 12-gauge. A hunting party found it tossed behind some bushes at the bottom of the ditch.

"Hollis Breininger, 35, route 1, Ney and Donald Fix, 26, Ney, who were driving west along the township line road to go hunting, discovered Sabo's body just a few minutes after Oswald had made his discover. They informed officers...

Officer Crawford took Oswald back to the scene...(where) he denied ownership of the shells found near the body. Officers said he claimed he did not notice the cartridges in the pool of blood until the second trip back to the body."

"We are certain," Sheriff Bridenbaugh declared early today, "that because of the nature of Sabo's wound he must have fallen almost on the spot where he was killed...There is no doubt that someone shot Sabo at close range and from behind." Suicide was ruled out early on.

A full investigation ensued, first with ballistics experts who recovered pellets from Sabo and took fingerprints from the gun. Acquaintances informed police that Sabo often carried large sums of money; could that be a motive? No, only $5 was found in his pockets. Friends said he hardly ever hunted and had no hunting license.

Not Oswald

Oswald's story, at that time, was "that he arrived at the Sabo place about 11 a.m. He said he found the door open and called for Sabo and got no answer. He said he then went back outside and called for him, thinking he might be in a field husking corn. When he got no answer, he said he walked over to a small orchard of Sabo's place east of the house and it was then he first saw the body in the road.

He said he walked up to it, leaned over and shook the body by the shoulder and called to Sabo to arouse him. He said he then saw blood and realized he was dead.

 Oswald said he was very excited as he ran back to the Sabo place for his car and on arrival at the Crawford farm had considerable difficulty getting people there to understand what he wanted them to do."

He entered a "NOT GUILTY" plea to manslaughter.

The Defiance Crescent published this on December 14, 1942, on the front page:

"OSWALD ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEA

Steve Oswald, 66 -year old Hicksville farm hand pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter when arraigned today before Common Pleas Judge C. W. Palmer. He was bound over to the grand jury under $5,000 bond and returned to the county jail. The jury will convene Jan. 4.

The charge was brought by Prosecutor Erwin L. Clemens in connection with the shotgun slaying Nov. 2 of Frank Sabo, 67, Washington Twp stock buyer. Oswald had contended he shot Sabo accidentally when he stumbled in a ditch and his gun discharged as they were walking along the road near Sabo's home."

It took a second lie detector test in Toledo to verify the story that Oswald told on his first test. This time a Hungarian priest also talked to Oswald to be sure he understood the proceedings. 

The jury absolved Oswald of blame in the shooting, believing that it happened accidentally. He said he slipped and fell in the ditch, his finger on the trigger, and his gun accidentally discharged. A day and a half was spent examining evidence at the trial, and Oswald did not take the stand in his own defense.

The jurors: Ruby Hall, Dorothy Lavan, Beatrice Haller, Clifford English, Julie Ann Ryan, Helen Seither, Adam Riger, J. Ray Schlib, Clayton Dunmire, Maria Monroe, Mary Ames, Estella Singer, Ralph Richardson, Henry Blunk

The Verdict: NOT GUILTY

Chickasaw School - Pupils Home Record-1927

 

Chickasaw School

 Sept. 6, 1927

Waiva Brunner, Teacher

Her Records for Pupil Information

Carmie Beattie -Born Sept. 6, 1914, age 13, 8th grade, parent - Samuel Beattie, Ney, Ohio

 Robert Grine - Born Feb. 29, 1912, age 15, 8th grade, parent Nick Grine, Ney, Ohio

Gusta Lambert -Born Oct. 4, 1912, age 15, 7th grade, parent - Charles Lambert, Ney, Ohio

Deloris Crawford - Born Feb. 14, 1915, age 12, 7th grade, parent- Iven Crawford

Wilbur Hale - Born Aug. 23, 1912, age 15, 7th grade, parent - Daskey Hale, Ney, Ohio

Velma Brown - Born May 9, 1917, age 10, 5th grade, parent- Fred Brown, Ney, Ohio

Gardelia Lambert - Born Oct. 10, 1916, age 11, 5th grade, parent - Charles Lambert, Ney, Ohio

Dalton Goller -Born Apr. 13, 191Tee7, age 10, parent Clarence Goller, Ney, Ohio

Ted Haase - Born May 21, 1917, age 10, 5th grade parent - Fred Haase, Ney, Ohio

Marrien Lambert -Born June 7, 1915, age 12, 5th grade, parent - Charles Lambert, Ney, Ohio

Oscar Lambert -Born April 8, 1914, age 13, 5th grade, parent -Charles Lambert, Ney, Ohio

Charles Kozumplik -Born Oct. 22, 1915, age 12, 5th grade, parent - Tony Kozumplik, Bryan, Ohio 

Emily Crampton -Born Feb. 22, 1914, age 10, 4th grade, parent - Bert Crampton, Ney, Ohio

Grace Lambert, Born July 17, 1917, age 12, parent- Charles Lambert, Ney, Ohio

John Kozumplik -Born Mar. 21, 1917, age 10, parent- Tony Kozumplik, Bryan, Ohio

Bonnie Hale - Born Sept. 26, 1920, age 7, parent -Daskey Hale, Ney, Ohio

Roba Stotler - Born July 4, 1919, age 8, parent - Walter Stotler, Ney, Ohio

Doris Crawford - Born Mar. 2, 1919, age 8, parent - Iven Crawford Ney, Ohio

Helen Kozumplik - Born Aug. 11, 1919, age 8, parent - Tony Kozumplik, Bryan, Ohio

Dorothy Crawford - Born Aug. 17, 1919, age 8, parent- Bert Crawford, Ney, Ohio

Gladus Hellemn -  Born Dec. 20, 1919, age 8, parent - Wm. Hellemn, Ney, Ohio

Kathryn  -Hadsell Born Dec. 13, 1920, age 7, parent - Van Hadsell, Ney,, O

Ned Haase - Born Apr. 30, 1920, age 7, parent - Fred Haase, Ney, Ohio

Dana Van Hadsell - Born Dec 18, 1918, age 8, parent - Van Hadsell, Ney, Ohio

Betty Rose Goller - Born Feb. 2, 1921, age 6, parent - Clarence Goller, Ney, Ohio

Random class phoyo

Teacher, Waiva Brunner, the daughter of Fred and Ada (Barrack) Brunner, completed two years of at Defiance College to earn a license to teach.

Born in Washington Twp, Defiance County on October 10, 1903, she was 23 when she taught the above class at Chickasaw. 

The very next year, she married Kenneth Bavin Yoah in June 1928 when she was 24. Her teaching career probably ended after her marriage.

Her husband died in 1974. They had one daughter, Patty Yoha Schell, who died in August 1997.

Waiva had passed in January of 1997 in a nursing home in Edgerton. Waiva was buried with Kenneth in the West Franklin Cemetery in Fayette, Fulton County.

WORD WAR I - PFC Foster M. Linton

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS FOSTER MARK LINTON

Forest Home Cemetery, Hicksville, Ohio  - Lot 28

The oldest son of John Walker Linton and Bertha Mae (Teegarden) Linton, Foster, was born in Hicksville, Ohio, on November 1, 1901. It was the second marriage for his father, one that had lasted ten years, and a first marriage for his mother, Bertha. 

In the 1910 census, John, 40, was working on his own as a lumberman, while Bertha, 30, stayed home with the five children: Foster and Sarah, 8; Unward, 5; John, 3; and Pearl, 1 year and 4 months. The couple had lost one child.

When only 17, Foster decided he would enlist in the world war army.  In August 1918, he was promoted to Private First Class and by September, he was on a ship headed for Brest, France.  As an infantryman, he was involved with the Allies fight to liberate France and Belgium from the Germans.

"Four American divisions fought alongside their Allied counterparts in the Ypres-Lys offensive, providing critical reinforcements to war-weary armies that had been fighting for four long years. The offensive featured recurrent major assaults as the Allies brought forward supplies and reinforcements to renew the attack. Shortly after the offensive began, the Germans sought to withdraw from exposed forward positions back to the formidable defenses of the so-called Hindenburg Line.

The Germans delayed or stalled Allied positions using intense machine gun fire, gas attacks, booby traps, snipers and artillery. The Germans were forced back to the Lys River, and then to the Schedlt River, in less than three months."  (Wikipedia)

This was the situation PFC Linton was in the midst of on November 1, 1918, when he was killed by shrapnel.  An Armistice was declared soon after on November 11, 1918. Ten days too late for PFC Foster Linton.

"THIRD HICKSVILLE LAD GIVES LIFE FOR LIBERTY

(Special to the News)

HICKSVILLE,O. Nov. 26

Another blue star on the service flag of Defiance County has turned to gold since the news Sunday morning that Foster Linton, a former Hicksville boy, had been killed in action in France.,

Young Linton was the son of Mr. and Mrs. John Linton, who resided here until about two years ago. At the time of his death, he was about 18 years of age and had enlisted in the service in the early part of this year and was soon sent overseas.

The flag on the municipal flagstaff was floated at half-mast Sunday in honor of his memory as another to give up his life on the field of battle, this being the third Hicksville son to have made the supreme sacrifice."

(Fort Wayne News & Sentinel, Nov. 16, 1918, p. 3)

His body was returned home for burial, and on May 5th, 1919, in the Huber Opera House in Hicksville, a memorial service was held for a group of solders from Hicksville and vicinity who sacrificed their lives, among them Pfc Foster Linton.

 In the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, May 6, 1919:

"HICKSVILLE HONORS HER SOLDIER SONS

...Foster Mark Linton, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.W. Linton, was born Nov. 29, 1902 at Hicksville. He enlisted July 26, 1917. He trained at Camp Sheridan with Co. B of Paulding and sailed for France in June 1918.

On his arrival overseas, he was assigned to Co. K 146th infantry and was sent to Belgium. He was killed by shrapnel while delivering a message to his commanding officer in one of the last drives that marked the ending of the conflict."

The Memorial Service featured speakers, one of which was Amelia Bingham, the Hicksville actress from New York City. Veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I marched there in uniform led by Hart's Girl Band. Other choral music was included along with the reading of the military biographies of deceased or missing soldiers: Earl Myers, Edward Smart, Tracy Clark, Stephen McKinley, Ralph Mabry, Donald Cottrell, George Tustison, Charles Headley, Lewis Newman and Ellis Dull. 

"Hicksville and vicinity furnished over 300 of her sons for the military and naval service of our country, twelve of whom sleep on foreign soil and one having died while enroute home and brought here for burial.

The Huber opera house proved too small to accommodate those who desired to attend the memorial services, notwithstanding the very inclement weather of Sunday." 

(Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, May 6, 1919, p. 18)

The Only Defiance County Officer Fallen on Foreign Lands During WW I - Lieutenant Herbert E. Anderson

 

The Herbert E. Anderson Post No. 117 of the American Legion in Defiance, Ohio is named after this brave World War I soldier.

LIEUTENANT HERBERT OSWALD EDWARD ANDERSON

Born to Albert and Mary (Olson) Anderson on Jan. 28, 1894, in Defiance, Herbert lost his mother, perhaps in childbirth. He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger brother, Wilbert, called Dewey, and a sister, Esther.

Albert, the father of four remarried on September 19, 1894, to Sarah H. Shelhart. Herbert gained eventually two half siblings, Marie and Dorothy. The family were members of Zion Lutheran Church.

On June 24,1916, Herbert enlisted at the Defiance Armory into Company G, 6th O.V.I. as a Private under Captain DeKay. He was sent to the Mexican border where he patrolled until March 1917. A move followed to Fort Riley, Kansas to muster out, but "contrary orders sent his outfit to Cleveland for guard duty. While serving there, he was advanced to a sergeancy.

From Cleveland, he went into training for foreign service at Camp Sheridan, Ala. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in September 1917 and received his first lieutenancy commission in February 1918, before going to Camp Lee, Va., preparatory to sailing to France, June 22, 1918."

(The Crescent-News, October 17, 1921, p.1)

He arrived in Brest, France on July 5, 1918. Captain DeKay was promoted, so 1st Lt. Anderson took command of Co. 6, 147th Infantry, 37th Division.

"

It was between 9 and 9:30 on September 27, 1918, in the Avacourt section of the Meuse-Argonne offensive (circled above). Lt. Anderson was leading his company over Montaucon when he received mortal wounds.

 

"Red Cross stretcher bearers, carrying a private back to the lines, stopped to unload the private in order to take the wounded officer first. This Lieut. Anderson refused to allow, saying, 'I once was a private, take him to a place of safety and then come back for me.' In the turmoil of conflict, they never returned. Lt. Anderson died at 24 years, 8 months and two days." (The Crescent-News, October 22, 1938, page 1)

The body arrived home by train on the day before the planned funeral at 6:45 p.m, October 16, 1921, and it was immediately taken to the home of his father, Albert Anderson, for services the next day at the home on 517 East Second Street; rites were said at 1:30.

Then a funeral procession started for the Armory, led by mounted Marshalls, Clarence Nestleroad and Walter Cox, followed by the Elks Band. Four Color Guards followed, along with the Defiance Howitzer Company, veterans and representatives from the American Legion Post named after Anderson. Businesses and citizens were requested to fly their flags until after the funeral was over.

Men from Lt. Anderson's company were pallbearers:

A.B. Dekay, Raymond Slough, Harry E. Moore, Marvin Gallup, Clyde Morris, and John M. Conroy.

The headlines of The Crescent-News on October 17, 1921, stretched across three columns on page 1:

"THOUSANDS THRONG STREETS

PACK ARMORY FOR FUNERAL OF

LIEUT. HERBERT E. ANDERSON

Concourse is Declared By Older Residents To Be The

Largest Ever Assembled in Defiance For Similar Services

...Soldiers of America's three wars, relative and friends packed the auditorium while thousands remained outside waiting to accompany the body to the cemetery.

The service was conducted by Rev. Benjamin F. Hoeffer of the Zion's English Lutheran Church...

At the grave the Herbert E. Anderson Post No. 117, American Legion lowered their comrade with Legion ritual service. General William V. McMaken of Toledo, Major Harry Lowry of Napoleon, and a number of captains, lieutenants, and other officers of the 147th Infantry were present to pay respects to their fellow leader.

Members of Family Present

Members of the immediate family present were: Mr and Mrs. Albert Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Anderson and other brother, Dewey Anderson and three sisters, Miss Esther, Miss Dorothy and Miss Marie...

Vice Post Commander Roger H. Blue read the ritual and Chaplain McLain offered prayer for the rest of the weary soul as the body was lowered into the grave.

Salute and Taps

A three-volley salute announced that a comrade had at last found his rest after three years after the fatal day duty had called him to make the full measure of sacrifice while leading his company.

As the multitude stood with uncovered heads bowed in reverence and comrades of many conflicts held respectful salute, James Conroy blew taps over the body at peace with friends in his homeland.

The march to the cemetery was led by Clarence Nestleroad and Walter Cox mounted fellow soldiers with Lt. Anderson. Then came the Elks Band playing the funeral dirge.

The National Emblem was carried aloft by John Hale, while Brainard Malley bore the Herbert E. Anderson American Legion Post colors. Color guards were August Haselswart and F. O.Rotsel...

then the pall bearers...

Next came the flower bearers who were James Gilbert. Joseph Relyea, Elsworth Florence, Edward Weisenburger, Orville McCullough, Harvey Bennett, Clarence Ressler, and Harvey Flentje.

The firing squad in charge of Sgt. L.W. Pollock were Elmer Fessel, Ralph Karr, Howard Blue, Jesse Hellard, Elmer Miller, Ellsworth Florence, Paul Bauer and Russel Title.

Three hundred soldiers in uniform, many of whom were of the 37th Division were in the line of march. Hundreds of cars filled with Defiance friends and many from surrounding towns brought up the rear. 

Thousands of others walked to the cemetery..."

Riverside Cemetery

A few months later, the Crescent-News reported from Zion Lutheran Church on December 5, 1921:

"In a special congregational meeting yesterday, the Ladies Aid of his church received permission to contract for a pipe organ which will be installed in the church. The organ is not only a tribute to the Ladies Aid but is a memorial to Herbert E. Anderson who died fighting for his country on foreign fields. A substantial donation by Albert Anderson and family made the instrument possible."

(Thanks to the eagle-eyed folks from the Veterans Office who spotted a couple of omissions in our World War I monument lineup...You know who you are!)

Two Spanish-American War Soldiers - David Phillips and Joseph Gardner

 

Defiance County men mustered up in 1898 to help in the Spanish-American War. A panoramic photo was taken of Company M, 6th regiment soldiers, probably before they left for Cuba. From this photo, a few soldiers at a time will be featured on this blog throughout 2026.

Numbered and identified on the panoramic photo which is in the hands of Auglaize Village, the first soldiers researched were #10, David Phillips, and #36, Joseph Gardener.

#10

THIRD SERGEANT DAVID PHILLIPS

Very little could be found on Sgt. Phillips, although his residence was listed on military records as Defiance. He mustered into the company at age 27 and mustered out with the company. No vital records could be found for him in Defiance County. He may have joined the group from another county, yet he was a member of the Red Men Society in Defiance and 

was well thought of there. His burial place is unknown.

"BRILLIANT RECEPTION

IN HONOR OF SERGEANT DAVID PHILLIPS OF CO. M

The Red Men and ladies of Pocahontas Council gave a grand reception Tuesday evening in honor of Sergeant David Phillips of Company M, who recently returned from Cuba.

He presented each of the ladies with a small sea shell with a gold ring attached and a bow of National colors.

To the men he gave each a sea bean and all the Cuban cigars they could smoke. These relics he brought from Cuba.

He also displayed all the photographs of different views in Cuba, which he had brought home with him.

The evening was spent in dancing, Prof. Gessner's orchestra furnishing the music. The ladies served a fine supper during the evening. It was a brilliant affair."

Stories of Our Spanish American Soldiers - Company M, 6th Regiment O.V.I.

 Now and then through 2026, our blog will feature stories about the men from Defiance and surrounding areas who volunteered for service in the Spanish-American War from 1898 - 1899.

When President McKinley called for volunteers, our local men were eager to participate. On June 23, 1898, a train pulled out of Defiance with a whole company of men. The cry was, "We are going to free Cuba!"

They were headed first to Camp Bushnell in Columbus, Ohio, and then by July 6 to Chickamauga Park, Camp George H. Thomas, where they would meet up with the rest of the 6th Regiment. It was part of the old Civil War battlefield.

By the summer of 1898, Camp Thomas was in horrible shape - overcrowded with a lack of clean water and poor sanitation. The War Department decided to move the regiment up to Knoxville, Tennessee.

They ended up in Camp Poland, near Knoxville, by both marching and by train.

Finally on August 27, 1898, they boarded a train for Charleston, SC and then boarded a C.S. Transport boat called the Mennewaska in the evening to depart for Cuba.

(While the group were still at Camp Thomas, the armistice had been signed, but we were still officially at war until The Treaty of Paris would be signed on December 10, 1898. Troops, however, were needed to occupy the new lands attained by our troops.)

Company M arrived in Cuba in the harbor of Cieninegas, Cuba on January 3 and marched through that city to a camp about four miles out of town.

*Misspelled in newspaper - it should be Cienfuegos Bay

Under the leadership of Captain James A. Crandall, they soon moved to the Provost Guard Camp in the city itself. There they served to keep the peace until April 21, 1899, when they boarded a ship for a 4 day cruise to Savannah, GA.

Once there, they went through disinfecting stations and fumigation and stayed in quarantine on Danfuki Island.

They headed back to into Savannah on May 9 and hopped a train to Augusta where they were mustered out and paid. They could then head for home where they would arrive as a group on May 26, 1899.

Auglaize Village holds a panoramic photo of Company M which will be used in our storytelling. Someone had the historical foresight to number each soldier and write the corresponding name along the sides.

Pioneers of Northwest Ohio - GEORGE & NARCISSUS CHAPMAN, HULDAH E. WINN

From the obituary of Hulda E. Winn, 1908, we can discover more about her line of the family who were very early settlers in Milford Township, Defiance County, arriving in 1838.

Hulda Chapman Winn, shown above with her sisters, was also known as "Grandma Winn" in her later years.

Her obituary -

"OBITUARY - WINN

Hulda E. Winn, known among her multitude of friends, as Grandma Winn, was born at Whitby, Canada, May 25, 1831. Hence at the time of her dissolution, which occurred January 20, 1908. She was of the age of 76 years 8 months and 5 days.

Her parents, the late George W. and Narcissus Chapman, early settlers of Milford Township, this county, were of New England stock, but a short time previous to the birth of this daughter, they migrated to Canada.

Their stay in Canada, however, was of short duration; and while Huldah E. was still a small child, she came with her parents to this country.

About 58 years ago, at the home of her parents, she was united in marriage to Elisha Winn, who departed this life, May 31, 1900. There are left, surviving this father and mother, four sons, viz. George E, John W. , Lyman E. and Will D. Grandma Winn also left surviving her two sisters, eighteen grandchildren, and a great number of more distant relatives.

Mother Winn was reared in the faith of the United Brethren in Christ and all through her long life, clung firmly to its teachings. Throughout her span of life, covering more than three score years and ten, her belief and faith in Christ grew greater and stronger until it became a conviction and when the angel of death hovered above her couch, it was met with outstretched hands, for Grandma Winn saw in the approaching dissolution nought but the beginning of another, a happier and an everlasting life.

Her funeral service was conducted from the U.B. church by her pastor, Rev. J. F. Miller, Tuesday afternoon at 2 o'clock." (Pioneers of Northwest Ohio)

Her burial took place in Forest Home Cemetery. Hicksville.

Further investigation found her parents, Rev. George Washington Chapman, born in Massachusetts on September 29, 1803. He married Narcissus Hopkins, known as "Nan," born in 1802. They began their farming adventure in Milford Twp. before Defiance County was officially formed.

This obituary leads to the Defiance County History of 1883 where George W. Chapman's story is told, beginning on page 332:

"George W. Chapman, the subject of this sketch, was born in Gill, Mass., on the 29th day of September, 1803, at which place he resided till the year 1921, when he removed to St. Lawrence County, N.Y.  On the 31st day of December, 1822, he married Miss Narcissus Hopkins of the above-named county. Here Mr. and  Mrs. Chapman began a life which proved to be one of toil and hardship, yet withal a most interesting and useful one.

Mr. Chapman was a skilled carpenter, found no lack for work, but in the hope of finding a more desirable location, he moved with his family to Canada in the year 1828 or 1829. There he resided till the fall of 1837, when yielding to the ambition of their young nature, they resolved to emigrate to the West and choose them a home from the forest lands of Western Ohio. 

... Such household furniture as could be conveniently carried was loaded on a wagon, and Mr. Chapman with his wife and several small children* with a single team of horses and heavy loaded wagon set upon a trip that at this day would seem impossible to accomplish."

*The three children born in Canada were Lyman, Huldah and George W. Jr.

Whitby is north of Toronto, making it about a 350 mile trip or more on our good roads.

"They proceeded directly to Geauga County in this State where they stopped for a short time to rest up their horses and decide upon a place to locate. Leaving his family, Mr. Chapman proceeded upon horseback to Milford Township, where he entered 240 acres of land, a part of which was the farm upon which he now resides.  

He immediately returned to Geauga, and having purchased a yoke of oxen and another wagon, he again set out with his family for the chosen home where he arrived the 1st of February 1838.

The trip from Canada to Milford Township was one of hardship and fatigue, having been made during the fall and winter months through a new and unimproved country, a great part of the road being through dense wood, with nothing but blazed trees to indicate where the road was...

The Chapman land in Milford Twp on the 1860 plat map.
 E. L. Chapman may be George's son, Ervin.

"Upon arriving on his land, Mr. Chapman proceeded at once to erect a log cabin and prepare for the comfort of his family.  Chaney P. Lowery, Dinnis Foyles and Eli Coy were about the only neighbors, and each man had to depend upon himself alone to do his work...

Mr. Chapman went upon the line of road passing through the center of Milford Township and, unassisted, felled the trees, felled the logs and cleared a wagon track from his farm west to the St. Joe River, a distance of four miles.

He also worked at masonry and brick work, and, as well, that of cabinet making.

The first schoolhouse in the district was built upon Mr. Chapman's land, and the first school taught by Harriet, his eldest daughter This schoolhouse was burned down in a short time and until another one could be built, Mr. Chapman's carpenter shop was converted into a schoolhouse...

Mr. Chapman has been an active member of the United Brethren Church since 1840, having helped to organize the first society of that denomination ever organized in Milford, and for which society, he labored as local preacher for many years.

Mr.  Chapman's children consisted of four boys and five girls, viz: 

Royal, Lyman, George, Harriet, Jemme, Huldah, Roby and Mary Jane., two of whom are now dead, the others married.

Mrs. Narcissus Chapman departed this life August 27, 1870, aged sixty nine years.  Mr. Chapman then married Miss Dolly Crary, of Potsdam, St. Lawrence County N.Y. on the 5th day of February 1877, with whom he is now living on his old farm in Milford Township.

Thus it will be seen  that Mr. Chapman can truthfully be called one of the most interesting characters of pioneer life in Defiance County, having come here when our county was one vast wilderness he has lived to see it developed into a rich county; has seen nearly the whole of the first generation of its people pass away and that second grow to old age; and although he is now upward of eighty years old, yet with the exception of a crippled limb caused by an injury received while moving to this county, he is enjoying comparatively good health, and still works at the carpenter bench." (Defiance County History,1883)

Mr. Chapman is buried beside his first wife, Narcissus, in the Farmer Cemetery.