MAJOR FRANK VIETS - No more worthy representative of an old and honored Ohio family is to be found than the subject of this sketch, to whose services in defense of his country is added a long life of usefulness and activity in peaceful affairs, calculated to upbuild and beautify that land which he helped to save to liberty and right.
     The founder of the family in America was the great grandfather of the subject of this sketch, who came from Germany and settled in Vermont in an early day, and it is very probable that he spelled his name "Vietz," instead of the manner employed by his descendants.  His son, Jesse Viets, was born in Green Mountain State in 1785, and was a farmer and pioneer Methodist minister.  When about thirty-two years of age, he concluded to try his fortunes west of the Allegany mountains, and accordingly turned his steps toward Ohio, then a new and slightly settled country.  He made his way overland by the slow and tedious means of an ox team, consuming as many weeks in the undertaking as it now takes day to cover the same distance.  Finally arriving in Ohio, he settled in Amboy, where he passed the remainder of his days, when not traveling on his ministerial missions.  These latter usually took him along the shore of Lake Erie, from Buffalo probably as far as Cleveland, and the greater number of Methodist congregations in that part of the country were organized by him.  He was exceedingly enthusiastic in his work and more widely known than any other man in the same district.  Highly intellectual, probably, possessed of an splendid education, a fluent speaker, of unexampled energy and perseverance, combined with great personal magnetism, he was well calculated to wage war against the powers of darkness, and used his talents to great effect.  The great and good man died in Amboy about 1848, his loss carrying widespread sorrow to many hearts and homes, where he was universally beloved and revered.  His six children were as follows:  Rodney, born in 1807; Dolly Ann, married Horatio Lovejoy, and they both died in Conneaut; Roland died; Mary Ann, became the wife of Henry Benson, and both died in Conneaut; Lucinda married John Watson, and both died in Iowa.
     Rodney Viets, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Vermont, and accompanied by his parents to Ashtabula county, Ohio, in 1817, and it was ever afterward his home.  He received a good education under the able guidance of his illustrious father, and when a young man was engaged for a time in teaching.  This he continued at the age of twenty-four to enter the ministry of the Disciple Church, preaching his first sermon in Ashtabula county, probably at Amboy.  He inherited his father's genius and indomitable spirit for good, and would often ride long distances and encounter the fiercest weather to comfort those needing spiritual aid.  He never held a regular appointment, but worked wherever he could do the most good.  He was married, in Ashtabula county, to Lucinda Wood, a woman of rare force of intellect and sweetness of character, the youngest in a large family of children of a prominent pioneer of this county.  Her father is now buried in Amboy, of which city he was an early settler.  They had ten children:  Rodney, who died when young; one died in infancy; Amandona, deceased, was the wife of H. A. Walton, of Saybrook; Byron is a farmer of Geauga county; Melissa A., is the wife of D. H. Gaylord, of Geneva; Frank is the subject of this sketch; Mary, married, is now deceased; Henry Warren; Celestia, wife of C. E. Cooper, resides in North Dakota; and Durell, whereabouts unknown.  The family were called upon the mourn the loss of the father in 1887, who died at a ripe old age, greatly lamented by all who knew him.  No one in this vicinity, unless it was his father, ever did more to strengthen and advance the moral welfare of the community than he, and he richly deserves the high regard in which he is universally held.
     Major Frank Viets, whose name heads this brief biography, was born in Saybrook, Ashtabula county, Ohio, Mar. 12, 1839, and received his education in the common schools of that city.  He resided at home until his majority, being employed on the farm in the lumber camp.  At the end of this time, the Civil war broke out and he hastened with all the ardor of youthful patriotism to tender his services to his country.  He enlisted for four months in Company F, of the State militia, which was a part of the Ohio Volunteer Artillery.  This company was at once ordered to the front and fired the first gun at the battle of Philippi, in West Virginia.  The battles of Laurel Hill and Carrick's Ford were fought before the expiration of the first term of enlistment.  The company was afterward ordered to Camp Chase, and there underwent two musters in and out of the Federal service in one day.  Major Viets then returned home and assisted in raising and organizing Battery C, in which he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, by Governor Tod.  This company was then ordered in Camp Dennison near Cincinnati, Ohio, and on Sept. 9, 1861, they were mustered into the three years' service.  Kentucky was the scene of immediate action and the battle of Wild Cat was the first battle, which was followed by that at Mill Springs, where Major Viets was within reach of the rebel general, Zollicoffer, when that officer was killed.  Thence the command of Major Viets went to Fort Donelson, whence they proceeded to Nashville and Pittsburg Landing, and subsequently participated in the siege of Corinth.  Here the Confederate forces, under General Bragg, got behind the Federal troops and drove the latter back across Kentucky, engaging them in battle at Perryville, in October, 1862.  The confederates, however, were repulsed, and were forced to retire into the Confederacy, whither Major Viets' command followed them to near Nashville, Tennessee.  The Major's command then swung off after General Morgan, whom they met at Hartwell's Ferry, and again at Rolling Fork river, at which latter point the Union forces defeated the Confederate troops, whom the Federals followed out of the State to Nashville and La Verge.  At the latter point, owing to an injury received by Major Viets some time previously, he resigned his commission of First Lieutenant and returned home, having been in the service just two years. 
     He then secured a sub-contract in the construction of the Jamestown & Franklin Railroad, which, from the standpoint of finances, was disastrous to every contractor on the work.  This adverse turn in the Major's fortunes caused him to look to the West, as the place best calculated to enable him to retrieve his finances, and he accordingly established himself, in 1868 in Kansas City, Missouri, where he entered the commission business, dealing with the commissary of the Kansas Pacific Railroad, then being built.  As the road extended from point to point beyond Kansas City, the Major removed his business to each succeeding headquarters as far as Denver.  At this time, the Major's attention was attracted to the Red River country in Dakota, by the building of the Northern Pacific railroad, which he decided was a country of wonderful resources, with a brilliant future before it.  He was so favorably impressed with its prospects that, in the fall of 1870, he removed his family to the Red River valley, 200 miles in advance of any railroad, and established himself in Grand Forks.  Here he engaged in the real estate business, in merchandising and milling and various other profitable ventures, as time and the development of the city warranted.  He was half-owner of the town site, and was exceedingly active in all financial enterprises.  Mrs. Viets was the first white woman in the village, and it was not until the following fall that another white woman put in an appearance.  After thirteen years of frontier life, becoming weary of incessant activity, the Major determined to return to Ohio and provide himself with a good home, in which to pass his declining days, still, however, retaining his extensive interests in Grand Forks, which city he visits annually.  Here, in Ohio, the Major owns a large and well improved farm near Ashtabula, where he means accumulated by the toil of former years.  Besides his other enterprises, he is largely interested in the Ashtabula Driving Park Association, and is a stockholder in the London Company, of Ashtabula, in which he is also president.  In fact, having been a man of activity for so many years, the Major finds it difficult to keep his determination of eschewing all business pursuits.
       On Nov. 30, 1865, Major Viets was married to Miss Nancy L. Dow, a lady of sterling qualities of mind and heart, who is a daughter of John Dow, a well-known pioneer of this county, who married, a Miss Butterfield, also a representative of an old and respected family.  Major and Mrs. Viets have but one child, Gertrude, born Mar. 5, 1866, who was educated in Faribault, Minnesota, and married M. S. Titus, now a banker at Minto, North Dakota.  Their marriage occurred in July, 1887, and they have two children:  Annie, aged four years; and Frances, aged eighteen months.
     Politically, Major Viets adheres to the principles of the Republican party, but has not served officially except as Commissioner of his county in Dakota and as Councilman of Grand Forks, although his financial Training and upright character, combined with rare executive ability, amply fit him for the creditable discharge of any important public duties.
(Transcribed from Biographical History of Northeastern Ohio embracing Ashtabula, Lake and Geauga Counties; published in Chicago: Lewis Publ. Co., 1893 - Page 970 with notes added by Sharon Wick)