Military History in Paulding County
By: Mark Holtsberry
William Loveman Place was born February 4, 1891, in Broughton, Ohio, the son of Frank Amos Place, born November 29, 1866, in Allen County, Ohio, and Minnie Belle (Workman) Place, born March 1874 in Brown Township, Paulding County, Ohio. The couple was married June 15, 1889, in Paulding, Ohio. By 1890, Frank and Minnie were living in Broughton.
Frank was working various odd jobs. They were the parents of four children, all born in Broughton: William Loveman, born in 1891; Phoebe Ellen, born June 15, 1893; Nellie Mae, born December 23, 1895; Frank Dewey, born August 24, 1898
By 1900, the Place family was living in Paw Paw, Wabash County, Indiana, where Frank was employed at a stave mill as a jointer. By 1910, the family had moved to Tiffin, Ohio, residing on Grace Street. Frank continued working as a jointer in a stave mill factory. A fifth child, Lucille L., was born March 17, 1905.
William, still living at home, was employed as a laborer in a hoop factory. On May 3, 1915, he married Minnie Harris in Seneca County, Ohio. Minnie was born September 18, 1884. At that time, William was working for the Ohio Light and Power Company.
On October 5, 1917, William joined the National Army out of Tiffin, Ohio. His enlistment record described him as of medium height and build, with brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was working as a chain assembler for Webster Manufacturing Company in Tiffin, Ohio. William served with Company C, 347th Infantry, and was honorably discharged on January 12, 1918, with the note “dependents in need.”
William’s brother, Frank Dewey, registered for the draft on September 12, 1918, in Tiffin, Ohio, but was not selected.
By 1920, William and Minnie were living in Tiffin’s 2nd Ward on Hall Street. By 1922, they had moved to 19 South Sandusky Street, Tiffin, Ohio. After 1922, William’s health began to fail. He developed tuberculosis and passed away on November 3, 1924. He is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery, Tiffin, Ohio, in Section 63, Row 14, Grave 14.
His wife, Minnie, passed away in 1965 and is buried beside him in Greenlawn Cemetery.
William’s brother Frank died in 1943, followed by his father Frank Amos in 1946, Phoebe in 1947, and Nellie and her husband, who were both killed in an accident on April 6, 1947. William’s mother Minnie Belle and sister Lucille both passed away in 1960. All are buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.
