Crawford Family

Thomas Crawford was born near Castlefin, Ireland, in 1785. At the age Tf five years, he came to America with tis parents and five brothers. By 1820, re had settled southwest of West Car-isle, Coshocton County, Ohio, and 'tarried Mary Hartley of Athens :ounty, Ohio. They lived on one ofthe best timber farms in the county. With brick manufactured on the farm, the Crawfords built their ten room home, a barn, and a milkhouse. Their ten children were: Hettie, Mary, George, Keziah, Rheubecca, John, James, Anna, Robert, and Elizabeth.

The son Robert, born August 11, 1836, was married on Christmas Day, 1862, to Melissa Zollars, a daughter of John Zollars (1815-1902) and Sarah (1820-1882) of Henry County. They settled on the present Sand Ridge Road in Harrison Township, Henry County, in 1863. The Crawfords cleared the land, now the site of the Donald Crawford home and reared six children: Cora, Emma, Delsie, Otis, Jennie, and Earl.

On a later Christmas Day, 1898, Earl Tilden Crawford (1876-1950) and Elma B. Reiter (1877-1950) were married. Their only child is C. Bernadine (1902). She attended Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware.

Earl Tilden Crawford (1876-1950)

Michael Reiter, a great grandfather of Elma, and husband of Sarah, nee Richner, made his home in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he was in the business of building wagons. They had eleven children: Caroline, Henrietta, Mary Elizabeth, Ann, Sarah, Malinda, William, Louis, Solomon, Charles, and Reuben. The parents migrated into Seneca County, Ohio, and subsequently joined two of their sons in Henry County.

Reuben Reiter (1818-1882) married Jane Neal, who was born on the Isle of Man and brought to America at five years of age. They established and farmed on County Road 15 (P3). To this union were born five children: Charles W., Albert, Maynard, Delia, and Anna. Reuben Reiter served as county commissioner when the Henry County Court House was built. Anna Reiter married William V. McHenry and their children were Ray and Alta.

Charles W. Reiter (1850-1902) married Melinda Donnelly (1851-1910), and they established a home on McClure Road (P) where they reared five children: Ada, twins who died in infancy, Elma, Orva, Lettie, and Jennie.

The Earl Crawfords lived in Harrison Township, where Mr. Crawford engaged in farming and teaching in the one-room schools: Spangler, near Malinta, Glass, Lemert, Randall Hill, and Sheats, all in Harrison Township, until 1916. He was Henry County Auditor (1923-31); real estate examiner and investigator for The Ohio State Tax Commission (1931-32); investigator and rural economist for The Ohio State University (1934); and secretary-treasurer of the Henry County National Farm Loan Association (193548). He was a director of The Community Bank from 1935, and also served as vice president. Both died in 1950, Elma in October and Earl in December.

Conrad Ferdinand Roessing (18541929) was born in Hersfeld, province of Hessen, Germany, the son of Hermann H. and Elizabeth, nee Schaeffer. In 1871, aged seventeen, he came to America with little more than coffee cups and twelve silver spoons, which are now possessions prized by the family.

Conrad Ferdinand Roessing (1854-1929)

Having a good public school education and having been trained in the trade of brewing, he came at once to Napoleon, but worked for a year in a Defiance Brewery. Then he worked in the Napoleon Brewery which he purchased from John Herbolsheimer in 1880. Under his management, it was enlarged from time to time and otherwise improved until the annual production was twenty-four hundred barrels. In 1891 the brewery, located on the west corner of Perry at Front Streets, was sold to J. W. Teitjens.

On November 3, 1875, he married Dorothy Herbolsheimer (1856-1926), the daughter of John and Christine, nee Kauferstein, who was born in Findlay, Ohio. They resided at 211 W. Washington Street most of the fifty years they enjoyed together. Their children were Philipina Johanna (18771878) and Ferdinand H. (1896-1934).

After retiring from the brewery business, he continued his interest in civic activities. He was treasurer of Henry County, Ohio, for two terms (18941898), a member of the Napoleon City Council for four years and a member of the School Board of Napoleon Village School District for three years. He was instrumental in organizing the Citizens' Bank of Napoleon, a private institution, and was also interested in the merging of the same into the Citizens' State Bank, being the vice president and a director.

On September 26, 1923, Ferdinand H. Roessing and C. Bernadine Crawford married. Ferdinand received his business schooling in South Bend, Indiana, and at The Ohio State University. He was a partner in the Suhr and Roessing Shoe Store from 1919 to 1924. He then became the cashier at The Napoleon State Bank, a position he held until his death.

The first of their three children was Earl F. (1924- ) B.E.E. from The Ohio State University (1949). Eta Kappa Nu. He is currently employed by the City of Napoleon in the electric department. He served overseas with the U.S. Army Signal Corps (1943-46).

Invitation to a social gathering at the home of R. Crawford

Mary Irene (1926- ) received the Merchandising Degree from Harcum Junior College, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She married H. James Funkhouser (1922-) March 17, 1958. He is the son of Harry A. Funkhouser (1890-1957), and Verdia Spangler Williamson (1894-1963). James graduated with an A.B. summa cum laude (1946) and J.D. cum laude (1949) from The Ohio State University; Phi Beta Kappa, Coif. He is a partner in the law firm of Hoeffel, Funkhouser and Short. He served in the U.S. Army Intelligence (1943-46).

[Photo C, p. 156] The Napoleon High School Graduating Class of 1896. Members of the graduating class are: Earl T. Crawford, Nellie Love Cowdrick, Mary Cullinen Finnegan, Helen Luella Hartman, Margaret Susanna Hudson, Annetta Louise Koch, Francis J. Shaff, Marie Elwine Urban.

Mary Irene has one daughter, Andrea Louise Knetz (1951- ), also the daughter of Wallace J. Knetz (19261969) of Allentown, Pennsylvania. She received a B.S. in Education, Miami

University, Oxford, Ohio (1973). She has a position with the Hutchinson, Kansas, school system.

Norman C. (1934- ) received the B.F.A. from The Ohio State University (1962). He is an interior designer with The Marathon Oil Company in Findlay, Ohio. He served in the U.S. Army (1956-58). On June 29, 1963, he married Carol Jean Germann (1936- ) B.S. in Education, The Bowling Green State University (1958). She is the daughter of Ervin and Laurina (nee Baden) Germann. She does tutoring in the Findlay Public School System. They have two daughters: Jennifer Lynn (1964- ) and Julie Ann (1970- ).

Submitted by The Family