Hicksville - How Things Have Changed! 1909 - 2024

(A glimpse of the village in 1909...)

 "Fifty and Six Facts About

Hicksville, Ohio

• Three large handle and lath work mills with a combined value of $90,000 employing a large force of men.
• Three large planing mills and lumber yards
• A five thousand dollar stave and heading plant
• A ten thousand dollar tile, brick and clay works
• A ten thousand dollar furniture ad fine inside finishing mill
• Three cement, brick, tile, and block manufacturing firms
• Two grain elevators with a combined value of $30,000 which handle hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain and seed annually
• A twenty-five thousand dollar milling company housed in a four story brick building, with a capacity of 100 barrels output daily

• A thirty thousand dollar city water system serving the people at a very low cost for water privilege, and water from artesian well and direct pressure
• One first class telephone system with exchange and direct connection with both Bell and Independent long distance lines
• Four up-to-date drug stores carrying heavy lines of all kins of drugs and kindred merchandise
• Four large up-to-date hardwares
• Three large department stores carrying everything needed for the home and farm with a combined stock value of $150,000

• Two National Banks with combined capital and surplus of $100,000, and deposits aggregating about one-half million dollars
• Situated on one of the largest and strongest trunk line railroads with double trac and twelve passenger trains daily.  Unexcelled shipping facilities and low freight rate
• A thirty thousand dollar public school building
• A poultry and stock manufacturing company
• A glove and mitten factory
• A $40,000 modern up-to-date opera house
• A patent photograph printing cabinet manufacturing company

• Two large job printing companies with mechanical type setting machines
• Two modern up-to-date weekly newspapers
• A twenty thousand dollar modern hotel
• Nine churches and Sunday Schools
• Two large poultry and produce packing firms handling all kinds of country produce
• The finest agricultural country to be found anywhere, producing all kinds of cereal and fruits to be found in this latitude
• Two large harness and saddlery companies

• Three large implement dealers handling all kinds of farm machinery
• Three modern up-to-date meat markets
• Two bakeries
• One modern electric power machine shop
• With a population of 3000 live, up-to-date, energetic, wide-awake people
• One and a half miles of brick pavement
• Home Building and Loan asset $35,000
• Two large garages caring for the 40 local automobiles
• Five good restaurants and one good $1 per day hotel and boarding house

•  Three grain, seed and feed stores
• Three up-to-date jewelry stores
• Three novelty and bazaar firms
• Five shoe stores
• Two clothing stores
• One foundry
• Agricultural society with 40 acres of ground with fine buildings and track used as a public park
• A pickle packing station of Lutz & Schramm of Allegheny, Pa.

• One scroll work and cistern plant
• Abundance of natural ice at a very low cost
• Two telegraph companies
• Cheap labor, fuel and power
• Richardson's famous poultry farm
• First grade to High School, diplomas from which admit owner to college and universities without examination
• Home office of the Tri-State Elevator Company
• 3600 cars of freight shipped in and out annually
• Plenty of room for hustlers and wide-awake people
• A warm welcome and hearty support for any and all legitimate enterprises
• Is a live town, for live people, bustling with life and activities
• Splendid climate fine roads and inhabited with American people; no labor troubles or strikes
• Excellent advantages for manufacturers for skilled and common labor

For further information address W. H. Blakeslee, Sec'y, Hicksville Commercial Club"

The Hicksville Tribune, 15 July 1909

Was Earl Hulbert Really Shot by a Thief...OR Did Earl Shoot Himself?

 

It seems almost unimaginable that someone would wound himself with a gun to gain pity or notoriety, but that was thought to be the scenario when Earl Hulbert reported a robbery to the police in July, 1925. Earl, born on July 30, 1904, was about 21 when the incident happened.  According to the Bryan Press of July 23, 1925, the "bad" guys were never caught, and Hulbert had some explaining to do.

"STILL NO TRACE OF HULBERT ASSAILANTS

LACK OF TRACKS IN EVIDENCE CAUSES OFFICERS TO DOUBT HOLDUP STORY

Earl Hulbert is at his father's home between Farmer and Hicksville, recovering from a couple of bullet wounds he received early last Thursday morning while driving somewhere south of the Dunkard church on the Williams Center road.

He was found by the sheriff and his deputies under a tree on the lawn at the D. A. Erlsten farm, bleeding from a wound in  his arm and also one in his leg. Both were bullet wounds, but neither of a serious nature. He had crawled to the Erlston house and called for help, but the family telephoned to the sheriff and he drove to the spot and took charge of young Hulbert.

His story was that he was driving his Ford touring car toward home after midnight, and when at a point near the church, another car went around him and stopped, blocking the road and that two men alighted and presented revolvers and held him up.

He said they took about $3 he had in his pocket and about $40 he had concealed in the cushion in the rear seat. His story was that he reached for a cigarette and, at that instant, one of the men shot him, probably in the notion that he was reaching for a pistol, that he shot him in the arm first and then fired again, hitting him in the leg.

Jefferson Hotel, Bryan, Ohio

Hulbert was brought to the Jefferson hotel where his injuries were attended to by physicians, and his family notified of his experience. His father (Clyde Hulbert) came to Bryan, and as the officers went into the incident, and put the young man through a series of questions, they were led to the belief that his story was untrue, and that he had shot himself to gain sympathy and avoid paying some claims against him.

He claimed that while in the west some time ago, he loaned $400 to some man, and that Wednesday of last week, a representative of his debtor met him on the street in Wauseon and returned the money. He said he did not know the man and had never seen him before, and that the transaction occurred on the street with no witnesses. Hulbert said he had been working on the road north of Wauseon and was laid off on Wednesday when he met the messenger from Dakota with the money.

He had spent Wednesday evening with a young lady here and told her that he had the money, but she said that she did not see it when questioned by the officers. He owed money to his father and told him he was about to pay it.

His stories were so varied and hazy that the sheriff's office concluded they were fabrications, and that he had shot himself, taking care to send the bullets through the flesh and making slight wounds in both cases.

Powder marks where the bullets hit indicated that the weapon was close to its mark when discharged, and the officers said that the cuts in the cushion of the rear seat were fresh, and that there was no bullet hole in his trousers where the shot went in, but that the goods were cut.

It is a strange case, and if Hulbert did actually shoot the bullets through his arm and leg, it must have taken a good deal of nerve.

Some time was spent on the case by Mr. Burkhart and Mr. Calvin, but nothing conclusive was found. They said they could find no tracks or evidence of any struggle in the road where Hulbert said the holdup occurred, not any traces of blood in the road, although he claimed he was outside the car when the shooting occurred."

But time can erase the missteps of youth, and Warren grew to marry Alice and have a family of five sons and eight daughters. He was a Defiance County native who moved to Pioneer to raise his family. He died in August, 1964, and was buried in Lost Creek Cemetery, Farmer.

DCGS Announcements

Our next meeting is Monday, November 25th at 7:00 p.m. at the United Church of Christ, Webster St., Defiance.  The speaker will be Tanya Bruner who will tell us about the buildings in Evansport.   It is also the evening that attendance prizes are awarded!  See you there!

* We do have our website name back, so be sure to visit us at  wwwdefiancecountygenealogy.org or by clicking on this link:

DCGS

*

On the website, we have added some Richland Township cemetery tombstone inscriptions. Click on Cemeteries on the left side.  If a cemetery name is highlighted in blue, the cemetery readings are there.  

Be aware that these tombstones were last read in August 2001, so only those buried before that date will be included.

*It's also time to renew membership or to become a new member!  The application form for renewals or new memberships may be found HERE to join for 2025.

$15 single, $18 family and an additional $5 if a newsletter is to be mailed.   Emailed newsletters are part of the membership. Door prizes at almost every meeting.

**We do take a winter break from meeting. No meetings will occur in December, 2024 and January or August, 2025.  

Otherwise, we meet on the last Monday of each month, same place and time as above.

We will pick up on February 24, 2025.

We have an outstanding group of speakers for 2025 and a July field trip to the Fulton County Historical Society Museum which has had great recognition lately.

If you are interested in local history or genealogy, DCGS is the place to come!

William T. Griner and Elizabeth Roe Griner, Citizens of Hicksville

 

The Story of Catherine Elizabeth (Roe) and William Theopolis Griner

Scotch Ridge, Wood County

Six Corners, Hicksville Township, Defiance County

Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan

William T. Griner was born in Wood County, Ohio, to John Clarence Griner and his wife, Eve Elizabeth Wolf, on December 6, 1856. He grew up with a passel of siblings, at least twelve, in Webster Township. Their post office was Scotch Ridge, named because of the influx of Scottish settlers there in the early days of the county.

William married Elizabeth Roe on March 3, 1879, in that county. Her parents, Edward D. Roe, born in Ireland, and Catherine Lingle, were also early settlers in Wood County.  When they married, George Muir made application for them because although William was 21, Elizabeth required the permission of her parents, as she was 17.  She was born in Williams County on March 13, 1862. The couple lived in Wood County for about fifteen years before moving to Six Corners in Hicksville Township, Defiance County.

On June 11, 1900, they were enumerated in the Hicksville Township Census when they had been married twenty-one years. William, 42, farmed his own farm, while Elizabeth had eight children to care for daily; she would eventually have ten.

The couple had six sons: William Edward, Worthy Leroy, Elmer Ray, Clarence Otto, Earl DeLoyd and Merl, and four daughters: Pearl Elizabeth (Cummings), Martha Eugelia (Blythe), May Ioma (Jackson) and Jennie Naomi (Treadwell). 

On the 1910 census, William gave his occupation as carpenter, and they were renting a house on the Antwerp Pike, which in that township, would have been on Ohio Route 2. Eight children were still at home, with several of the sons working on the farm.  On September 1, 1913, Elizabeth died of stomach cancer at the age of 51. Her two youngest daughters were 12 and 8.  Her obituary from the Hicksville newspaper:

"GRINER

Elizabeth Roe was born in Williams county, Ohio, March 1, 1862. She was united in marriage to William T. Griner March 3, 1879. They lived in Wood county nearly 15 years, moving to Six Corners, Defiance county, in 1894, where they have resided ever since. To this union were born six boys and four girls, all of whom are still living and can rise up and call her memory blessed.

Eight years ago, Mrs. Griner was converted and joined the United Brethren church at Six Corners. When the class was disbanded at this place, she, with the family transferred their membership to the church in Hicksville, where she continued a member until her death.

She was a good wife and a devoted mother. Her life was entirely within the home. Her strength and energy were expended for the welfare and well-being of the family. Her life was fraught with duty, but the burdens were lightened by the love she bestowed upon her family. Like a fond mother, her care was for them and her life was lived for those she loved.

She was a good neighbor and will be greatly missed in the community. Her ambition knew no bounds and held her to the performance of her duties when suffering intensely. Disease was preying upon her for some time, but she gave not up until the last. Hence the last illness seemed the more brief. Although suffering greatly, she bore it with fortitude. The end came and she yielded to the ravages of the disease September 1, 1913, aged 51 years, 5 months and 18 days.

She leaves to mourn her husband, six sons - William Edward, Worthy Leroy, Elmer Ray, Clarence Otto, Earl DeLoyd and Merl; four daughters  Pearl Elizabeth, Mrs. Bertha Eugalia Blythe, May Ioma, and Jennie Naomi, seven grandchildren; one brother, Thomas Roe, Luckey, Ohio; one half-brother, Charles Roe and one half-sister, Ida Roe.

The funeral was held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Six Corners U.B. Church, Rev. P. O. Rhodes, officiating.  Interment was made at Six Corners."

After his wife's death, William moved to Sherwood, Branch County, Michigan and bought a farm. In the 1920 census, William was 62 and farming with the help of Worthy, Elmer, and Merl. After the girls married and he became older, he moved in with Elmer and Merle, who had a house in Battle Creek. By that time, all the girls were married and moved out.

William T. Griner died on February 15, 1928, in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan, but he was brought back to Six Corners to be buried with Elizabeth.

The Battle Creek Moon-Journal carried his obituary on Wednesday, February 15, 1928, on page 7:

"WILLIAM GRINER DIES

William T. Griner, age 76, passed away about one o'clock this morning at the home of his sons, Elmer and Merle Griner, 84 Burchard Street, where he had lived since last October, coming here from Sherwood.

Besides the two sons at whose home he died, he leaves four others, Edward of Trinidad, Colorado; Worthy of Sherwood (Mich.), Clarence and Earl of Battle Creek; three daughters, Mrs. Pearl Cummings and Mrs. Jennie Treadwell, both of Jackson, and Mrs. Bertha Blythe of Edgerton, Ohio; one brother, Clarence Griner of Bowling Green, Ohio; four sisters, Mrs. Lucretia Mure, Toledo; Mrs. Alice Thompson, of Bowling Green, Mrs. Adeline Bushnell of Weston, Ohio, and Mrs. Della Albright of Farmersville, also 22 grandchildren. 

Announcement of funeral services will be made later."

             Six Corners Cemetery, Hicksville Township, Defiance County, Ohio

Thank you to Lynn Monroe of Lansing, Michigan, who sent in much of the above information on his great-great grandparents, William and Elizabeth Griner.

Fred Grossenbacher - G.A.R., Bishop Post

Frederick Grossenbacher was born in Switzerland, but came to America when a very small child. His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Grossenbacher,settled in as farmers in several different Ohio locations.

Frederick recalled for the Defiance Crescent-News interview when he was 88 years old:

"Born in Canton Bern, Switzerland, on July 23, 1846, Fred Grossenbacher was about a year old when the Swiss family crossed the Atlantic and came to Upper Sandusky where the failure to close a deal on a farm caused the family to settle temporarily in Defiance before going to the Auglaize County site.

The crude cabin had neither doors or windows and at night, the howling of the wolves caused the family great uneasiness. The farm lay on the Defiance-Paulding County line with 20 acres in Defiance and 40 acres in Paulding County. The old barn on the Sam Stork farm is all that is left of this pioneer farmstead."

When Frederick, whose birth date was July 20, 1846,was barely sixteen, he enlisted in the Union Army. On August 19, 1862, he became a part of Company K of the 107th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. What an adventure it must have been for this teenager to head out first to Covington, Kentucky, to train with his fellow soldiers! But it soon became very serious as the regiment marched east to Chancellorsville, Virginia, where they participated in a devastating battle, losing over 200 of their men.

But even worse was to come, as this company joined the second day of fighting at Gettysburg. According to this same article, 

"Grossenbacher's company started in this battle in an oats field, whirled their flank to Cemetery Hill near Culp's Hill and Spangler Springs, and in a finish to their part in the entire battle swung back into Virginia after General Robert E. Lee, following his stand at Heckersford, Md.

It was during the Battle of Gettysburg that Christ Behnfeldt of the North Ridge fell mortally wounded against Mr. Grossenbacher on the field of action. After the great battle, the company went to Folly's Island where they could hear a four pound shell fired at Fort Sumter every thirty minutes. So accurately were these shells timed that, at every fourth shot, the pickets were relieved.

After leaving Folly's Island, the company was constantly being moved to and fro across the Carolinas, fighting many sanguinary battles and skirmishes, the worst being in the vicinity of DeVoe's Neck where the volunteers were under steady gunfire for six weeks. It was at this place that one of the camp cooks, while carrying coffee to the men in line of battle, was struck by a solid shot which Mr. Grossenbacher says took off the cook's head, leaving but a wisp of his chin whiskers.

On another occasion, Mr. Grossenbacher relates that he and a partner were celebrating the advent of a much-needed supply of coffee by cooking it under fire. They held the pail on a long stick until the coffee was cooked. Just as Grossenbacher reached out for the container, along came a solid shot and the coffee was no more! Mr. Grossenbacher came very near to being court martialed as the company went back to Virginia by train and some happy chaps shot down one of the military telegraph wires. His captain saved the day for him by stating that he was in his company in a box car all night.

Many more months of campaigning through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, and down on the St. John's River in Florida were in store for the young soldier before, at the age of 19, he could lay down his arms as an orderly made his way on horseback to another 'Lost' Battalion that had been without news of the outside world for sixty days. The war was over.

Finally on July 29, 1865, the youthful veteran was mustered out and came to his folks in northwestern Ohio where his first act was to purchase for his mother two pounds of green coffee.  He helped about the farm in the forest that seemed strangely silent after his years of battle and purchased the 80-acre homestead in Section 22 one year before he was married to Rose Ann Fridley of Defiance. This farm has been Mr. Grossenbacher's home for 58 years. It saw the birth of nine children, all of whom are deceased except for son Edward, with whom the pioneer resides."  Defiance Crescent-News, November 15, 1932

Fred Grossenbacher, Section 22, 80 acres

When Fred was discharged from the army, after two years, one month and twenty-one days of service, he was probably a very changed person when his parents next saw him. War had shown him many unpleasant things. He had voted for the first time as a Union soldier for Abraham Lincoln. After his marriage with Rose and the births of nine children, hardship came again when they lost five of their children in the space of five years. Rose, herself, died in 1903 at the age of 45, with two daughters, Emma and Estella, passing before her in 1902 and 1903. 

"Mrs. RoseAnn Grosenbacher was born August 30, 1857, departed this life January 25, 1903, aged 45 years 4 months and 25 days.  She leaves a husband and seven children living, two having preceded her to the spirit world.

Funeral services were held Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. at Oakland M.E. church of which she was a consistent member, conducted by Rev. Culp. The remains were laid to rest in the Taylor Cemetery."

CARD OF THANKS - We also desire to thank the friends and neighbors who so kindly assisted us during the sickness and death of our dear wife and mother and the beautiful singing rendered by the choir and also the kind words spoken by the minister. F. GROSSENBACHER and children"

Left alone to raise seven children, Fred lost William in 1908 and Matilda in 1909. In the 1910 census, Fred, age 63, had at home Florence 20, Myrtle, 18 and Laura, 14. Myrtle and Laura died in 1912. Florence died in 1927, and by the time Fred, himself, died in 1938 at the age of 92, he only had son, Edward, left.

"FREDERICK GROSSENBACHER, GETTYSBURG VETERAN DIES

Fredrick Grossenbacher, who fought in the Battle of Gettysburg and was next to the last surviving member of Bishop Post, G.A.R. died today at 6:30 a.m. at the home of a son, Edward Grossenbacher, Auglaize township, Paulding County. He was 92 years old.

Mr. Grossenbacher, well known here because of his Civil War record and participation in many patriotic celebrations, had been bedfast since suffering a stroke of paralysis five weeks ago.

His death leaves John Myers, Davidson Street, as the last survivor of Bishop Post.

ATTENDED REUNION    

Mr. Grossenbacher attended the reunion last summer on the historic battlefield at Gettysburg.  He served in the war with the Army of the Potomac. His unit was Co. K, 107th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted when he was 16 years old.

The body will be taken from the Morris Brothers funeral home here to the son's home Thursday afternoon. Services will be conducted there Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and in the Bethel Christian Church, Arthur, at 2 p.m. Rev. Fremont McCague will officiate. The Taylor Cemetery south of here along state route 66 in Defiance County will be the place of burial.

BORN IN SWITZERLAND        

Mr. Grossenbacher was born in Canterbury, Switzerland, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth House-Grossenbacher.  He came to America when just a youth and settled in this section of the country. During his active years, he was a farmer.

Besides the son, Edward, he leaves a sister, Mrs. Mary Knoop, Arthur; eight grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. Six daughters and a son preceded him in death."

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)