Dr. G. W. Holbrook
Dr. G. W. Holbrook is justly considered one of the pioneers and builders of Auglaize County and Wapakoneta, having settled here early in the spring of 1834. He was born in Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, Sept. 12, 1808, in that portion of said county bordering on Lake Ontario which subsequently constituted Wayne County. At the age of eighteen he abandoned home and commenced the study of medicine and surgery in the office of Dr. Wm. Robinson, of Palmyra, one of the most distinguished physicians and surgeons in western New York. After pursuing the usual four years' course of study, attending the lectures at the medical department of the University, he graduated in 1831, receiving the medical degree from the Regents of the University of New York. In the autumn of 1832 he came to Ohio and commenced the practice of his profession at Lockbourne, Franklin County, where he remained a short time, but after travelling over most of the Western States he finally located at Wapakoneta, where he still resides. At that period there were but about 150 inhabitants in the town. The day after his arrival he entered his professional career, having been called to visit the family of John Tam, who owned and lived on the half section of land of which a part now constitutes the land of Milton Tam. Here he continued the practice of his profession about twenty years, when he retired, and turned over his office, library, instruments, and medicines to Dr. J. H. Nichols, whom he had adopted when a boy of fourteen, and gave him his education, and finally his practice. Dr. Holbrook has ever been public spirited, and identified himself with all improvements for the benefit of town or county. He first suggested the erection of Auglaize County, having originated and mapped it out in 1846, when he submitted the map to Col. Van Home, Robert J. Skinner, and others. Col. Van Home pronounced the project "visionary," but added, "there is no telling what this Yankee Doctor may accomplish!" The Doctor did accomplish much, and the erection of the county may, perhaps, be considered the most important achievement of his life. This work is a monument to his energy and enterprise, as is shown by the effort he put forth in this project. He attended the sessions of the Ohio Legislature while the bill for the erection of the county was under consideration. In the session of 1846 the bill passed the House, but failed in the Senate; the next year it failed, but Feb 13, 1848, the bill passed and Auglaize County took a place on the State map. The Doctor sacrificed his personal and family interests by this expenditure of time and money, for the journals of the Ohio Legislature show he was in Columbus devoting his whole energy to this undertaking during the sessions of 1846, 7, and 8. The journals also show that at one time he was arrested on a charge of bribing a member of the House, but at the trial by the House he was honorably acquitted and fully vindicated. The same Legislature gave him a hearty endorsement by electing him to the office of Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which position he retained until the office was superseded by that of the Probate Court under the new Constitution. He has been an active worker in behalf of all improvements, and especially has he labored for railroads through the county. The Ohio and Penna. R. R. bill was even engrossed, to pass through Kenton, Wapakoneta, and St. Marys, and thence toward Chicago; but the citizens of St. Marys opposed the road; it was defeated, and running north of the county, passed through Lima. In this enterprise our subject was deeply interested. At that time the Charter Act of the Dayton and Michigan R. R. was before the Legislature. The charter only called for a road terminating at Sidney, and the Doctor wrote to Senator Myers and others of Toledo, to have it taken up and chartered through to Toledo. Myers in his letter of thanks said the reason he had not inserted in the charter the clause "passing through to Toledo" was "that he thought the country too new to undertake an enterprise of such magnitude." The Doctor labored and contributed largely of his means to make this enterprise a success, and acting with Col. Andrews as agents, they raised about $75,000 toward the construction of the road. The Company took property on stock subscription, and he deeded several improved lots, for one of which he received $800 in stock, while in a short time the same property sold for $2000. The other property advanced in the same ratio. The Doctor became one of the directors of the road, and at one time held about $10,000 in stock, which he was afterward compelled to sell at from fifteen to twenty cents on the dollar. The success of this railroad project has been the cause of the growth of the town. This untiring zeal in the advancement of the county has caused our subject to be considered one of the most enterprising and public-spirited of our citizens.
From History of Auglaize County, Ohio, with the Indian History of Wapakoneta, and the First Settlement of the County, Robert Sutton, Publishers, Wapakoneta, 1880