From the History of Northeast Indiana, LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, volume II, page 16 MARTIN M. BURCH has been longer in business as a merchant at Metzthan any of his present competitors and associates. For over thirty years he has sold goods and furnished an adequate mercantile service in his paticular line, and enjoys an enviable reputation in commercial circles. Mr. Burch was born in Otsego Township of Steuben County August 11, 1860, son of Halbert C. and Mary(Rhinehart) Burch, and a grandson of Chester Burch. Chester Burch was born in Vermont March 22, 1810, a son of Oliver and Anna Burch. In 1925 his parents moved to Washington County, Ohio, where he grew up and where in 1831 he married Polly Davis. She was born in that Ohio county April 4, 1812. Chester Burch was one of the early pioneers of Steuben County, Indiana, arriving in the year 1837. Three years later he bought eighty acres in section 10 of Otsego Township, and lived there until his death on January 26, 1870. He was one of the leading members of the Christian Church in that township. He and his wife had seven children. Halbert C. Burch was born in New York State, but was reared and educated in Otsego Township. He served three years and three months in the Union army, and then returned home and took up farming. His career was terminated at the age of thirty-eight, in 1872, when he was accidentally killed by being thrown from a wagon. His widow survived him many years and passed away at the age of seventy-two. Halbert Burch was a republican and a member of the Christian Church. He and his wife had four children: Martin M., Eugene, Lorenzo and John Chester. Martin M. Burch grew up on a farm in Otsego Township, had a public school education and was busily engaged as a farmer until 1886. He came to Metz in that year and opened a harness shop and later expanded into a general store, and has been in business at the old stand now for over thirty years. Mr. Burch has taken an active interest in local affairs, is a republican, a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Christian Church and works for every worthy moment. In 1879 he married Miss Deetle Woodcox. She was born in DeKalb County, Indiana, December 26, 1862, daughter of Curtis and Mary(Morrell) Woodcox. Her parents were early settlers of DeKalb County. Her father died at Millersburg, Indiana, in 1890, at the age of fifty-two and her mother in 1873, aged thirty-two. There were five children in the Woodcox family: Martin, Deetle, George, Bell and Blanche, all of whom are still living. Curtis Woodcox married for his second wife Sarah Greenwood, and they had two children, Frank and Nelson. His first wife was Ida Spears, and she became the mother of one son, Glen. Mrs. Burch's father moved to Metz in 1872, and was sucessfully engaged in the practice of medicine in and around that village until about six years before his death. Mr. and Mrs. Burch are the parents of five children: Clara, the oldest, is the wife of William Miller and has a son, named Willis. Meda is the widow of Zach Pillsbury and has a son, Marion. Virgil married Naomi Lindow and has two sons, Virgil and Lindow. Floyd enlisted in May, 1918 in the National army and in the spring of 1919 was at Camp Grant, Illinois. He married Louise Loweren. Marie, the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. Burch, is clerk in the Stiefel store in Angola. Submitted by: James L. Davis email: Jldcoonhunter@aol.com