Richard C. Franz
Richard C. Franz was born June 17, 1870, at Stout, in Adams County, Ohio. His father was Conrad Franz. His mother's maiden name was Dora Fink. They were natives of Wurtemburg, in Germany. They emigrated to this country in 1850, shortly after Conrad Franz became of age. Our subject spent his summers on his father's farm at diligent and hard work. He attended the District schools a few months each Winter, but his studies were desultory and very much according to his own inclination. He did not take up the study of English grammar until he was seventeen years of age. He was very fond of books, and while a great reader, never had anyone, properly qualified, to direct his reading. Until the age of twenty, he had attended but three Summer Normal schools. At that age, he became a teacher of common schools, and continued in that profession, from the Winters of 1890 to 1893, inclusive.
In the Spring of 1893, he attended the National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated in the Scientifiec course in 1894. He studied during the Summer of 1894, and was Superintendent of the Public Schools at Rome, Ohio, and Stout Postoffice, in the Winters of 1894, 1895, and 1896. In the Summer of 1895, he taught a Normal school at Peebles, and in the Summer of 1896, at Stout. In the Fall of 1896, he entered the Classical Course at Lebanon, Ohio, and left, after eight months' study, in April, 1897, to teach a Normal school at Stout. He spent the winter of 1897 at his home in Stout and studied. In the Spring and Summer of 1898, he taught a Normal school at West Union.
He was elected in the Spring of 1898 for the Winter term at Rome, but resigned to accept the Hannibal school in Monroe County, Ohio, where he taught in the Winter of 1898 and 1899. He was re-elected unanimously to the same position, but declined, and accepted the superintendency of the West Union schools, succeeding Prof. J. E. Collins, now of Batavia. He holds a life certificate from the State Board of School Examiners of Ohio. In his religious views, he is a Presbyterian. In his political views he is a Republican, but has never taken any prominent part in politics.
What Prof. Franz is to-day, is the result of his own ambition and efforts. He undertook to make a teacher of himself, and by his untiring industry, energy and application, he succeeded. He was conscientious and earnest—two prominent features of his character. He believed in thoroughness from the very commencement of his preparation for teaching. He has been devoted to his profession with that constant enthusiasm which is characteristic of every successful teacher. He is strong in all of the moralities. His sense of justice is the most refined and his judgment is always the result of deliberate reflection and of a course of reasoning. He has made his profession a success because he loved it, and because he is enthusiastic in following it. His success as a teacher and superintendent is unquestioned, but above all that, he is respected, admired and loved by all those who know him for his ideal and perfect character as a man.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900