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Kuenzel, who was graduated from the New Bremen high school and is now an automotive engineer in the employ of the Premier Corporation, at Indianapolis ; Myra W., who is now a student in Ohio State University ; Harriet H., a school teacher, who is now a student at Heidelberg University, at Tiffin ; Alvis L., who was graduated from the New Bremen high school in 1922 and is now attending the state normal school at Bowling Green, and David E., who is attending high school. Hunter Kuenzel is a veteran of the World war with an overseas record, having rendered service as a private in the coast artillery with the American Expeditionary Force in France.
CHARLES F. HERBST, president of the First National Bank of Wapakoneta, largely interested in other financial and industrial enterprises in that city, one of the largest landowners in this section of Ohio and for years regarded as one of the leading figures in the civic and commercial life of this community, is the third of his name to carry on successfully here since the coming of his grandfather to this region back in pioneer days, even in the days before Auelaize county had been organized as a separate civic entity, and in carrying on the family fortunes established in the prior generations is well. Mr. Herbst was born at Wapakoneta on September 8. 1876, and is the son and only child of Charles F. and Julia (Franz) }k: the latter of whom is still living at Wapakoneta, she and her 56c maintaining their home together. The senior Charles F. Herbst, a veteran of the Civil war and formerly and for years one of the most figures in the commercial life of Wapakoneta, who died home in that city twelve years and more ago, was born in Wapakoneta in 1847, the year before the county seat was erected there, Au,: county not having been erected until in 1848, and was a Charles F. Herbst (I), a native of Germany, who had comet country in the late '30s of the past century, following the unsuccessful political revolution which the freedom-loving people of his land had undertaken about that time, and who came out here western Ohio, which then was little better than a wildernessed . thus became one of the pioneers of the region now comprised within the confines of Auglaize county. He was a blacksmith by trade, and upon his arrival here opened a blacksmith shop at Wapakonate, which then was but a straggling backwoods village, and established his home here. He later became interested in farming and became a substantial landowner here, his last days being spent on the which was the nucleus of the present extensive Herbst land holdings in this county. Charles F. Herbst (II) received his schooling rather indifferent public school maintained at Wapakorieta during the days of his boyhood and was fourteen years of age when the Civil war broke out. Before that long struggle between the states was over, however, he got into it, enlisting his services in behalf of
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the cause of the Union when seventeen years of age, in September, 1864 and going to the front as a private in Company A of the 179th regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which command he served unti1 he received his discharge in June, 1865, the war then being over. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Herbst returned to Wapakoneta, but not long afterward became interested in the possibilities awaiting young men out in Iowa and went to that state on a general prospecting trip. He had learned the rudiments of the tinner’s trade and in Iowa he worked as a tinner for several years, at the end of which time he returned to Wapakoneta and set up a tin shop there, and after his marriage established his home in that city. It was in 1874 that Mr. Herbst became engaged in the tinning business at Wapakoneta, and he continued thus engaged for five years, or until about 1880, when he gave up that line and became engaged in the general loan, insurance and collections business there, a line which he ever afterward followed, and which his son has maintained since his death. Mr. Herbst was a man of much energy, and his energy found outlet along several other lines of a commercial and industrial character, including the interest he took in promoting the interests of the Wapakoneta Bending Company, one of the chief woodworking industries of that place at that time, and which afterward was merged into the woodworking plant at St. Marys, now operated by the Crane & MacMahon interests. When the First National Bank of Wapakoneta was organized, in 1884, he was elected cashier of that concern, and thus added banking to the varied interests he was assuming. Later he became interested in a manufacturing project at Chicago and moved to that city, along in the middle '90s, and there remained for five years, or until 1901, when he returned to his established home at Wapakoneta and there resumed the general loan and real estate business, which he had
maintained there during his absence, and continued thus engaged the rest of his life, his death occurring there on August 1, 1910. The junior Charles F. Herbst (III) received his early schooling in the schools of Wapakoneta, and when the family, moved to Chicago he entered the law school of Northwestern University and was graduated from that institution. Upon the family's return to Wapakoneta he became associated with his father there in the loan business, under the firm style of Herbst & Son, and this mutually agreeable able arrangement was continued until his father's death, since which time he has carried on the business alone, some years ago having errected an attractive office building on Auglaize street. His father had retained his interest in the First National Bank, and after his father's death, in 1910, he assumed this interest. When, two years later, in 1912, L. N. Blume, president of the bank, died, Mr. Herbst elected president of the bank and has since been retained in
(25)
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that executive position. The large real estate interests created by his father also have been retained and extended, until now Mr. Herbst is the owner of more than 2,000 acres of land om this county. In addition to these interests Mr. Herbst has other business concerns, these including membership in the directorate of Wapakoneta Wheel Company, of which concern he is the treasurer, and in of the directorate of the Brown Company, another woodworking concern at Wapakoneta, and in the Wapakoneta Savings Company. He also is a member of the board of trustees of beautiful Greenlawn cemetery, and all the interests represented by him are represented with a whole-hearted energy that makes his presence felt in whatever enterprise he takes a hand. Mr. Herbst is an ardent Republican and has for years been regarded as one of the leaders of that party in this section of the state. For years he served his party as chairman of the county central committee and in season and out of season has kept the interests of the party to the front, so that it is but natural that the recent successes of the party in this county, beginning with the memorable election of 1920 and emphasized in the election of 1922, have been the source of much satisfaction to him. Mr. Herbst is a Freemason, has attained to the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the northern Masonic jurisdiction, valley of Dayton, and is also a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, affiliated with the temple of that order at Dayton. He also is a member of the local lodges of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Loyal Order of Moose at Wapakoneta.
H. E. HUCKERIEDE, a well-known poultryman at New Knoxville, and who formerly and for years was engaged in the harness business and shoe repair line at that place, was born on a farm in St. Marys township, this county, April 18, 1868, and is a son of August and Catherine (Schmidt) Huckeriede, the latter of whom also was born in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families German township. August Huckeriede was born in Germany and but a babe hardly one year old when his parents came to this country with their family and settled on a woodland farm in the New Bremen neighborhood, in this county, where he grew to manhood, well trained in the details of developing a pioneer farm. After his marriage he took up farming on his own account, became the owner of a farm of ninety acres in St. Marys township, and continued actively engaged in farming the rest of his life. He and his wife were the parents of six children, four of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Lillie, and two brohers, Benjamin and William Huckeriede. Reared on the farm, H. E. Huckeriede received his schooling in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, in the lower part of St. Marys township, and remained
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with his father on the farm, aiding in the development and improvement of the same, until after his marriage, when he bought a farm pf fifty acres in Van Buren township, Shelby county, where he made his home for ten years, at the end of which time he disposed of his interests in that county and returned to Auglaize county and bought a tract of thirty-seven and one-half acres off his father's place in St. Marys township and settled down there to farm. Some time later, however, he left the farm and moved to New Knoxville, where he became engaged in the harness business and also put in a power-equipped plant for shoe repairs. Mr. Huckeriede continued engaged along this line at New Knoxville until 1922, when failing health compelled him to leave the shop and get outdoors. He sold his plant and has since been giving his attention to the raising of chickens, going into the business on a somewhat extensive scale, with many promises of success. He has a well-equipped poultry yard and is creating a wide demand for the products of his plant. H. E. Huckeriede married Flora Roettger, who was born in German township, daughter of William Roettger, and a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, and to this union two daughters have been born, Olga, who died at the age of five years, and Esther. Mr. and Mrs, Huckeriede are members of the First Reformed church of New Knoxville and are Republicans. Mr. Huckeriede has long taken an active interest in the affairs of the congregation of the Reformed Church and is nOW an elder of the congregation. His long connection with the business interests of his home town has given him a ride acquaintance throughout that part of the county. Mrs. Huckeriede's father, William Roettger, who is now making his home with the Huckeriede family, has reached the great age of eighty-nine years, and has thus witnessed the development of this community ce pioneer days.
JOHN D. FRITZ, one of the trustees of Clay township, proprietor of a farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of St. Johns, was born at Wapakoneta on December 5, 1876, and is a son of John D. and Mary (Pruser) Fritz, the latter of whom was born in Pusheta township and is still living, making her home on her farm in Moulton township. The late John D. Fritz, Sr., was a native of Germany and was but a lad when he came to this country with his parents, the family settling on a farm in Pusheta township, where he grew to manhood and was living when the Civil war broke out. He enlisted his services in behalf of the Union cause and went to the front as a soldier. Upon the completion of his military service he took up the carpenter trade and located at Wapakoneta. After his marriage established his home there and continued to reside in that city until 1881, when he bought a farm of 101 acres in Moulton township and moved onto the same. There he spent the remainder of his
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life and there his widow still makes her home. They were parents of nine children, eight of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Edith, Louise and Christina, and four brothers, Charles, Hartman, Louis and Albert Fritz. The junior John D. Fritz was but five years of age when his parents moved to their farm in Moulton township, and there he grew to manhood. He married when twenty-one years of age and located at Buckland, becoming engaged as a pumper in the local oil field, and was thus engaged for six years, at the end of which time he bought the farm on which he is now living in Clay township and has since made his home there. Mr. Fritz has a farm of seventy-two acres, and since taking possession of the place has remodeled the buildings and made numerous up-to-date improvements, including the installation of a local electric light plant. He is a Republican and has been serving for some time as one of the trustees of Clay township. On June 7, 1892, John D. Fritz, Jr., was united in marriage to Mary Kohler, daughter of Andrew and Pauline (Pfaff) Kohler, and to this union one child has been born, a son, Karl Fritz, born on March 25, 1895, a well-known young farmer of Clay township, who married Ada L. Rostorfer and has one child, a son, Dwaine. Mr. and Mrs. Fritz are members of the Lutheran church at Wapakoneta, and Mr. Fritz is a member of the local tent of the Knights of the Maccabees in that city.
WILLIAM F. DICKE, assessor of German township and a well-known farmer and landowner living a mile or more north east of New Bremen, in section 2 of German township, was born on that farm and has been a resident of this county all his life. Mr. Dicke was born on May 21, 1870, and is a son of Cord and Minnie (Hartman) Dicke, natives of Germany, who were married in that country, but whose last days were spent in this county. Cord Dicke was reared in his native land and as a young man came to American, and after a bit of prospecting in Wisconsin came to Ohio and bought a tract of land northeast of New Bremen, in this county, the place on which his son, William, is now living. He made some initial improvements on that place and then returned to Germany for the girl to whom he had plighted his troth before coming to this country. After his marriage he and his wife came here and established their home on the farm above referred to and became useful and influential members of that community. Cord Dicke was a good farmer, and as his affairs prospered he added to his holdings until he became the owner of 200 acres of land, but before his death sold forty acres of this. To him and his wife were born seven children, six os whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having three sister Sophia, Louisa and Alvina, and two brothers, August and Henry Dicke. Reared on the home farm in German township, William F, Dicke re-
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ceived his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood was well trained in the ways of practical farming. After his marriage he began farming for himself on a tract of seventy-four acres, a part of his father's original land holdings, which he had bought, and there established his home. Since then he had made substantial improvements on the place and has an admirable farm plant, He also has added to his land holdings until now he is the owner of 200 acres, including a farm in the neighboring county of Shelby, which he also farms, and on this latter place also has a substantial set of buildings. Mr. Dicke gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and feeds his grain, believing that therein lies the true profit of grain farming. Mr. Dicke has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs and is now serving as assessor of German township. He also has rendered public service as a member of the local board of education. William F. Dicke married Flora Heitkamp, daughter of Fred Heitkamp, also a member of one of he old families of this county, and to this union have been born seven children, Clara, Orelia, Ferdinand, Orla, Alma, Wilbur and Elvira, the two first named of whom are married and the others living at home. Clara Dicke married Louis Puppe and has two children Rachel and Carl. Orelia Dicke married Omar Reese and has one child, a daughter, Louise. The Dickes are members of St. Paul's Lutheran church at New Bremen, and Mr. Dicke has served as a member of the board of trustees of that congregation.
JESSE HUDSON, a well-known farmer and landowner of St. Marys township, now living practically retired at his pleasant home the south half of section 24 of that township, rural mail route No.4 out of St. Marys, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. Mr, Hudson was born on September 21, 1855, and is a son of Elijah and Margaret (Combs) Hudson, the latter of whom also was born in Ohio, a member of one of the pioneer families in this section of the state. Elijah Hudson was born in Pennsylvania and was early trained to the life of the farm, a vocation he followed through life. After his marriage he established his home on the farm above mentioned, on the Center branch of the St. Marys river, and there spent the remainder of his life, one of the useful pioneers of that neighborhood, the owner of a farm of 180 acres, and in early days widely known as a live stock man. To him and his wife were born nine children, all of whom are still living, save two daughters, Isadora and Priscilla, the others (besides the subject of this sketch) being William, John, Mollie, Mattie, Curt and Albert. Reared on the home farm in St. Marys township, Jesse Hudson received his schooling in the Miller school house (district No. 4), and from the days of his boyhood was a helpful factor in the labors of developing the farm. After his marriage he rented from his father that portion of the
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home farm on which he is now living, established his home there and has ever since made that his place of residence. Mr. Hudson is the owner of a well-improved tract of sixty-five acres and has a very comfortable home. He continued actively engaged in farming until an illness three or four years ago warned him to take thing a bit easier, and he since has been renting his fields. He is a Democrat. On November 2, 1880, Jesse Hudson was united in marriage to Mollie A. Huffman, one of his neighbor girls, and to this union two children were born, a son and a daughter, Jesse Jr. and Lillie M., both of whom are living. Jesse Hudson Jr., who is now the assistarit manager of. the telephone plant at St. Marys, married Minnie Graham and has at two children, Eudora and Vincent. Lillie M. Hudson married Arnold Yingling, who is now in charge of the great state fish hatchery in the Grand Reservoir (Lake St. Marys), and has two children. Mary and Frederick E. Mrs. Mollie A. Hudson was born on a farm in the southwest quarter of section 12 of St. Marys township and is a daughter of Samuel and Cerena (Longwith) Huffman, boh of whom were members of pioneer families in that part of the county, the Huffmans and the Longwiths having been among the early settlers in the eastern part of St. Marys township. Samuel Huffman was a well-to-do farmer and he and his wife were the parents of five children, all of whom are living save one, Ella, who died at the age of sixty-four years, the others, besides Mrs. Hudson, being Frank, Samuel and Otto Huffman. Mrs. Hudson's schooling was received a in the old Barrington school (district No. 2), on the Sidney pike about a mile east of the corporate limits of St. Marys.
EARL B. WINGET, proprietor of the extensive lightning-rod assembling plant at Wapakoneta, and doing business there under the name of the Wapakoneta Lightning Rod Company, carry on in the third generation the business that was established at that place by Luther Winget, his grandfather, nearly sixty years ago, was born at Wapakoneta and has lived there all his life, being now recognized as one of the most energetic young business men of the of that city Mr. Winget was born on June 16, 1885, and is a son of Frank M. and Ella (Elliott) Winget, both of whom were born in this same county, members of pioneer families here, and the latter of whom is still living. The late Frank M. Winget was a son of Luther Winget, who in 1865 became engaged in the lightning-rod business at Wapakoneta, and established the concern which has since been maintained as a Winget interest. Following the death of his father, Frank M. Winget, who had been associated with his father in this work, reorganized the business in 1879 and carried it along alone until in 1902, when he took his son, Earl, into partnership with him and carried on under the name of Winget & Son, continuing thus engaged until his death on January 12, 1922, since which time Earl B. Winget has been
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carrying on the business alone. To Frank M. Winget and wife were born four children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Mrs. Caroline Cook, and two brothers, Clarence E. and Luther R. Winget. Reared at Wapakoneta, Earl B. Winget received his schooling in the city schools, and when seventeen years of age (in 1902) became associated with his father in the lightning-rod business, a line which he has ever since followed, and in which he has been very successful.
Following the death of his father, in 1922, he bought the latter's half interest in the business and is now sole proprietor of a business which during the years of his connection therewith has expanded from the sales force of but two persons—himself and his father—to the present force of twelve salesmen and a crew of five erectors. Mr. Winget now has a "fleet" of fifteen automobiles and the territory covered by his operations takes in no fewer than thirteen counties hereabout, including Auglaize county. Mr. Winget takes an interested and intelligent part in local civic affairs and has served as a member of the city council. He is an active member of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. On November 1, 1905, Earl B. Winget was united in marriage to Minnie Fuelling, also of Wapakoneta, and to this union three children have been born, namely: Geraldine, born on October 19, 1906, who died on January 5, 1914; Helen C., born on October 3, 1910, and Marguerite E., February 7, 1913. Mrs. Winget was born at Wapakoneta and is a daughter of Daniel and Margaret (Stephen) Fuelling, the former of whom formerly and for years was engaged in the drug business in that city. Few men hereabout have a wider acquaintance than r. Winget. As was written of him some years ago, during the time he was serving in the city council, "upright and honest business dealings and an unusual generosity toward all public enterprises have made for him a host of friends throughout the county." And this is as much so now as it was then.
WILLIAM SUNDERMAN, a well-known and substantial bachelor farmer and landowner of Washington township, now living retired on his well-kept place on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys, a mile north of the pleasant village of New Knoxville, was born on that place and has lived there all his life, a period of nearly eighty years. Mr. Sunderman was born on February 12, 1844, and is the only son of William and Christina (Steinicker) Sunderman, natives of Germany, who were married in that country and then came to America and became pioneers of this section of Ohio. The senior William Sunderman was but a poor man, a shepherd and peat cutter in his home land, and after his marriage he decided that the thing to do was to go to America and seek the advantages and opporunities which he knew never could come to him in his own country.
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It required all the money he could raise to pay for the passage of himself and wife over and carry them out here into western Ohio which was his objective upon leaving the old country, and when he got here he began working on the canal, which then was being constructed up through this part of the state. By this means he earned a sufficient sum of money to give him a start as a landowner and a, bought a woodland "forty" in the south half of section 18 of Washington township, about a mile north of the then developing village of New Knoxville, erected a log cabin on the place and settled down to make a farm out of his woods tract. He did well in his operations and gradually increased his holdings until he became the owner of a farm of 133 acres, the place now owned by his son, William, and there he spent his last days. His widow survived him for years she and her son carrying on the operations of the farm in common until her death. There was another child in this family, a daughter, Mary (now deceased), who married William Grewe, and whose daughter, Emma, married William Schultz, who is now farming the Sunderman place, he and his wife keeping the house for Mr. Sunderman. It was in the little log cabin, the first home of the pioneer Sundermans on this place, that the junior William Sunderman was born, this house in time being supplanted by a substantial dwelling house. The boy William received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and until the death of his father was a valuable aid the latter in the labors of clearing and developing the home place, Afterward he carried on the farm in his mother's behalf, and after her death took over the place and has continued to make his home there, his niece and her husband having been in charge since his retirement some years ago from the active labors of the farm. Mr. Sunderman has a well-equipped farm plant and his operations have always been carried on systematically. He is a member of the Reformed church at New Knoxville and in his political views is independent of party affiliation. William Schultz, who is now carrying on the operation of the Sunderman farm, also was born in Washington township, December 29, 1868, and is a son of Helmuth and Mary (Thielk) Schultz,. natives of Germany, who had come to this country with their respective parents in the days of their youth and after their marriage had settled on a farm of sixty-five acres adjoining the Sunderman farm on the south. For ten years after coming to this country Helmuth Schultz made his home at Dayton, Ohio, and then came up here and settled on his farm north of New Knoxville. He and his wife had eight children, four of whom are still living, William Schultz having three brothers, Joseph, John and Louis Schultz. Reared on the home farm, William Schultz received his schooling in the New Knoxville schools and worked along with his father until after his marriage, when he rented his father's farm and continued to make
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his home there until he rented the adjoining Sunderman farm, which he is now operating, his wife, Emma, daughter of William and Mary (Sunderman) Grewe, being a niece of Mr. Sunderman, as noted above. Mr. and Mrs. Schultz have three children, Laura, Oliver and a, The family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville.
HARDY C. WHETSTONE, a member of one of the real pioneer families of Logan township and proprietor of an excellent farm on rural mail route No. 3 out of Wapakoneta, was born in that township and has lived there all his life, the present owner, in the third generation, of the place his grandfather entered from the Government back in pioneer days when the lands hereabout were being opened for settlement. Mr. Whetstone was born on September 17, 1858, and is a son of Jesse and Catherine (Richardson) Whetstone, the latter of whom was a member of the pioneer Richardson family so prominent in the early affairs of that part of the county. Jesse Whetstone was born in Ross county, Ohio, and was but a babe, not yet a year old, when his parents, Simon and Nancy (Hyer) Whetstone, came up into this part of the state and settled in the new lands here along the river in the old Ft. Amanda settlement. The date of their arrival here was April 21, 1821, long before Auglaize County was erected as a separate civic entity, these lands then lying in Allen county. Simon Whetstone, the pioneer, entered from the Government a tract of seventy-five acres west of the river in the southern part of section 27 of Logan township, about a mile and a half south of old Ft. Amanda, built a log cabin on his tract, established his home there and proceeded to clear the place and make a farm out of it. He later added to this an adjoining "forty" on the west, and still later bought another tract, until before his death he was the owner of a good farm of 160 acres. It was on this pioneer farm there along the river that Jesse Whetstone grew to manhood,
becoming a practical farmer. After his marriage he bought an “eighty" in that neighborhood and was there engaged in farming until after the death of his father, when he sold that place and bought the home farm of 160 acres, to which he gradually added until he became the owner of 240 acres and was accounted one of the most substantial farmers of that section, and there he spent his last days. Jesse Whetstone was twice married. His first wife, Elizabeth Moorman, died two years after her marriage, without issue, and he then married Catherine Richardson, daughter of Daniel Richardson. To this latter union were born seven children, all of whom are living save two (Jennie and John H.), the subject of this sketch having a sister, Almeda, and three brothers, Daniel, Walter and Frank Whetstone. Reared on the home farm in Logan township, Hardy C. Whetstone received his schooling in the local schools, and from the
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days of his boyhood has been devoted to the affairs of the farm. He married when twenty-one years of age and then began farming on his own account, taking over a part of the home farm. After his father's death he bought seventy-five acres of the home place and has since added by purchase until now he has an excellent farm of 147 acres, which he has improved in up-to-date fashion and on which he has a well-equipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Whetstone has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and has done well in his operations. In his political views Mr. Whetstone is "independent." He and his wife are members of the Christian church at Buckland, and he is a member of the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandry. He has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs and is now serving as school director in his district. It was on September 28, 1879, that Hardy C. Whetstone was united in marriage to Jennie Anderson, who was born in Harrison county, Ohio, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Walker) Anderson, and to this union three children have been born, Grace, Effie and Charles, the two latter of whom are deceased. Effie Whetstone married George Walters and died leaving seven children, Columbus, Ralph, Mary, Leah, Robert, Francis and Franklin D. Grace Whetstone is the wife of Wesley Fisher, of Logan township.
AUGUST KUEST, one of the best known farmers on the Amsterdam road in Jackson township and the proprietor of a well improved farm there, was born on that farm on August 4, 1873, and is a son of Henry and Wilhelmina (Nuessmeyer) Kuest, the latter them latter of whom also was born in this county, in German township, a member of one of the pioneer families of that section. The late Henry Kuest was a native of Germany and was but four years of age when he came to this country with his parents, John Jergen Kuest and a wife, who became well established among the pioneers of this county. John Jergen Kuest entered from the Government a tract of land German township and became a well-to-do farmer. Henry Kuest grew to manhood on that farm and as a young man worked for several years on the State boat on the canal. In 1869, following his marriage, he bought a tract of forty acres in section 21 of Jackson township, the place now owned and occupied by his son, August, and there established his home. His affairs prospered and he later added to his holdings there until he became the owner of a good farm of 100 acres, which he continued to farm until his death, in 1902. He and his wife had six children, five of whom are still living, he subject of this sketch (the eldest) having three sisters, Ida, Emma and Anna, and a brother, John Kuest. Reared on the farm, August Kuest completed his schooling in the schools at New Bremen, and from the days of his boyhood his attention has been given to the affairs
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of the farm. After the death of their father, he and his brother, John, carried on the operations of the farm in their mother's behalf for some time, and then August Kuest rented the farm and began to operate it himself. In 1914 he bought the home place of 100 acres and has continued to make his home there. Since taking possession of this place Mr. Kuest has made some important improvements to the place and now has a well equipped and up-to-date farm plant. In addition to his general farming, he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. Mr. Kuest is a Democrat and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs. For six years he served the public as superintendent of roads in his district, and he also served for two years as road supervisor, in this time having done much to advance the cause of better roads thereabout. August Kuest married Emily Kammann, daughter of William and Mary Kammann, both members of old families in this county, and to this union five children have been born, Irene, Helen, Marie, Harold and Lois. The Kuests have a very pleasant home on rural route No. 2 out of Minster. They are members of St. Paul's Lutheran church at New Bremen.
CHARLES A. SELLERS, one of the best known farmers in the Cridersville neighborhood and proprietor of a well-kept farm in the northeastern part of Duchouquet township, where he has lived all his life, is a member of one of the pioneer families of that part of the county, his grandfather, Leonard Sellers, having been one of the original settlers there, the Sellers interests thereabout coming in time to include large land holdings in that part of Duchouquet township and over in the northwestern corner of the adjacent township of Union. Charles A. Sellers was born in Duchouquet township on August 4, 1865, and is a son of Henry and Lavina (Danner) Sellers, the former of whom was a son of the pioneer Leonard Sellers, above referred to. Henry Sellers was born in Pennsylvania and was but a boy when he came to this county with his parents, the family settling on a woodland farm about a mile east of the Lima road in the upper part of Duchouquet township, where he grew to manhood and where, after his marriage, he began farming on his own account. He was a successful farmer and his land holdings gradually were increased until he became the owner of no less than 500 acres in that neighborhood, part of his land lying over in Union township, and there he spent his last days, a useful and influential citizen of that community, his death occurring in 1906. To Henry Sellers and wife were born six children, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Rosetta, Louisa and Della, and two brothers, Henry and Grover Sellers. Reared on the farm on which he was born, Charles A. Sellers received his schooling in the neighborhood school, and from the days of his boyhood his attention has been devoted to farming. As a
412 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
young man he remained on the home farm, helpful in extending his the growing interests of the place, and after his marriage established his home there and has continued to make that his place of residence, in time inheriting the eighty-acre farm which he is now operating there. Mr. Sellers has improved his place in admirable shape an: has a well-equipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming. he has given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, an: has done well. In 1898 Charles A. Sellers was united in marriage to Emma Hengstler, also a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, daughter of Joseph Hengstler, and to that union two children were born, a daughter, Lavina, and a son, Harry Men both of whom are still at home. The mother of these children die,: on February 10, 1903, and is buried in the Lutheran cemetery, north of Cridersville. The Sellers family is comfortably situated, having a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 9 out of Wapakoneta. In his political views Mr. Sellers holds himself independent of party ties.
L. G. FISCHER, a well-known merchant of Minster and a former member of the town council there, was born at Minster on January 9, 1876, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Bockrath) Fischer, the latter of whom also was born in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families here. Benjamin Fischer, who is still living at Minster, now retired, was born at Cincinnati, and w.,
a lad when his parents came up into this part of the state and 1ocated at Minster. He early became trained as a carpenter and con: in that vocation until his retirement, his operations being carried on
at Minster save for a period of six years spent at St. Louis and two years at Toledo, and is now living quietly retired at Minster him and his wife were born nine children, seven of whom are living, those besides the subject of this sketch being Anna, John, Francis, Henry, George and Rose. With the exception of two year spent in the schools of Toledo, L. G. Fischer received his schooling in the schools of Minster, and in this latter town grew to manhood. For ten years he was employed in a local factory and then he enter, into business for himself as a huckster and established a profitable route out of Minster. He carried on along this line for several year and then became engaged in the saloon business at Minster, and thus engaged for four years, at the end of which time he opened grocery store at the place now occupied by him in that town, and b.. ever since been thus engaged in business, one of the best known merchants in town. Not long after opening his grocery, Mr. Fisher add, to his stock a general line of queensware, graniteware and the and an added line covering varieties of one kind and another, and thus has a quite general stock for the accommodation of his trade. He is a Democrat and has rendered public service as a member of the
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 413
town council, a position he occupied for six years. L. G. Fischer has been twice married. His first wife, who was Emma Anthony, died leaving two children, Deloris and Irene. By his second wife, Alma Roettger, he has two sons, Ralph and Albert. Mr. and Mrs. Fischer are members of St. Augustine's Catholic church and he is a member of the St. Boniface Benevolent Society and of the local aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
WILLIAM R. BRIGGS, a well-known teacher in the schools of Kossuth and the owner of a pleasant home and a well-kept farm at the edge of that village, one of the wide-awake and progressive citizens of Salem township, where he has lived for nearly twenty years past, was born on a farm just up over the line in the neighboring county of Allen on April 29, 1870, and is a son of Charles M. and Amanda (Vest) Briggs, whose last days were spent there. The late Charles M. Briggs, an honored veteran of the Civil war, was born in Allen county and was living there when the Civil war broke out. He enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union and went to the front with the 4th regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which gallant command he served for four years, or until the close of the war, and during this long term of service participated in some of the important engagements of the war, for it will be recalled that the 4th Ohio took a pretty active part in that struggle between the states. Upon the completion of his military service, Charles M. Briggs returned to Allen county, and after his marriage established his home on a farm of sixty acres in that county, and there spent the remainder of his life engaged in farming. To him and his wife were born five children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Florence, and a brother, Harry Briggs. Reared on the home farm in Allen county, William R. Briggs reeived his early schooling in the Spencerville schools and supplemented the course in the high school there by a course in the normal schools at Ada and at Defiance, and then began to teach school, a vocation he ever since has followed, and in which he has become one of the best known teachers in Auglaize county. Mr. Briggs' first school was the Gower school, in Allen county, and his next school was taught in Duchouquet township, in Auglaize county. He then became employed as head of the Kossuth schools and has ever since been thus engaged, principal of the schools. In 1904 Mr. Briggs bought a tract of forty acres adjoining the village, erected there a comfortable dwelling house, and he and his family are quite pleasantly situated. He gives attention to the direction of affairs on the farm and thus finds ample outlet for his energies during the period of school vacations. At the age of twenty-one years, in September, 1891, William R. Briggs was united in marriage to Charlotte Frech, daughter of Henry and Sophia Frech, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., and to
414 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
this union six children have been born, Leo, Leon, Dr. Marion H. Briggs, Leroy, Lena and Dorothea, three of whom, Leo, Leroy and Marion, are married. Leo Briggs, who is a veteran of the World war, married Elizabeth Seibert, and Leroy Briggs, also a veteran of the World war, married Thelma Parent. Dr. Marion H. Briggs married Selma Speckman, of New Bremen, and is now practicing his profession at that place. The Briggs home is on rural mail route No. 5 out of Spencerville. Mr. Briggs is one of the leaders of Republican party in the northwestern part of the county, is present township committeeman of that party for Salem township, and for six years served as township assessor. He is a member the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Kossuth and both he and his wife are connected with the lodge of the Daughters of Rebekah there.
WILLIAM MEIERING, one of Jackson township's well known and progressive young farmers and the proprietor of an excellent farm in section 30 of that township, in the Egypt neighborhood where he makes his home, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. Mr. Meiering was born on September 6, 1885, and is a son of Frank and Louise (Westgerdes) Meiering, both of pioneer families of that neighborhood, and the latter of whom is still living, making her home with her son, William, and family. She was born on a neighboring farm and is a daughter of Henry Westgerdes, one of the pioneers of that part of the county. The late Frank Meiering also was born in Jackson township, on the farm now owned by his son, William, and was a son of Joseph and Gertrude (Wissman) Meiering, natives of Germany, who had into come up this part of the state following their marriage at Cincinnati and had settled on this farm land, which Joseph Meiering had entered from the Government, and there spent the remainder of their lives, as is set out elsewhere in this volume, together with other details regarding the Meiering family in this county. It was on that pioneer farm that Frank Meiering grew to manhood, and there after his marriage he established his home and continued actively engaged in farming the remainder of his life, his death occurring on May 12, 1911. After his death his widow continued to make her home on the home place, the operations of which were carried on in her behalf by her son William, until he presently bought the place, having established his home there after his marriage, and he has since carried on his operations as proprietor. 'William Meiering has been a farmer all his active life. He grew up on the home farm and received his schooling. in the Egypt school. From boyhood he has been active in the labors of the farm, and since he came into possession of the home place has made numerous substantial improvements there, now having a very well-equipped farm plant. In addition to this farm of 120
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 415
acres, he also owns a farm of 50 acres in Petterson township, in the neighboring county of Darke, and is doing well in his operations. The place on which he is now living is the tract that was entered from the Government by his grandfather, Joseph Meiering, and which thus has ever been kept in the family name. William Meiering married Rose Bergmann, daughter of Stephen and Anna (Avers) Bergmann, and to this union have been born four children, Ludwina, Romilda, Harry and Alma. The Meierings have a very pleasant home on rural route No. 2 out of Minster. They are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt, and Mr. Meiering is a member of the St. Joseph Society. In his political views he is a Democrat. In addition to his general farming he has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and his operations are carried on in accordance with modern agricultural methods.
WALLACE BRUNER, proprietor of the saw mill at Buckland and also the owner of a small farm in the vicinity of that village, one of the best known men in that neighborhood, is a native of Ohio and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Auglaize county since he was fifteen years of age. Mr. Bruner was born on a farm in Sandusky county, Ohio, April 12, 1863, and is a son of Martin and Sarah (Ludwig) Bruner, who later became residents of the Buckland neighborhood. The late Martin Bruner also was born in Sandusky county and was a son of Martin Bruner, a Pennsylvanian, who had settled on a farm in that county in pioneer days and had there spent the remainder of his life. The junior Martin Bruner grew up on that farm and after his marriage became a farmer on his own account in that county, remaining there until in 1878, when he disposed of his interests in Sandusky county and with his family came to Auglaize county and established his home on a tract of 144 acres which lie had bought in the Buckland neighborhood, in Logan township, He also erected a saw mill there and became an active factor in he industrial development of that section. He came to a tragic end by being gored to death by an enraged bull at Buckland on August 6, 1903. To him and his wife were born nine children, all of whom are living save two daughters (Pearl and Sarah), the subject of his sketch (the third in order of birth) having five sisters, Anna, Emma, Effie, Ora and Geneva, and a brother, Martin Bruner. As noted above, Wallace Bruner was fifteen years of age when he came to his county with his parents in 1878, and he grew to manhood on the home farm in the Buckland neighborhood, a helpful factor in the labors of developing and improving that farm and in the activities attendant on the operation of his father's saw mill. He married at the age of twenty-three, just about the time of the beginning of the great oil and gas "boom" in this part of the state, and then began to work in the oil fields, a vocation he followed for fourteen years, at
416 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
the end of which time he bought a tract of thirty-three acres adjacent to the village of Buckland, established his home there and settled down to farming in a small way, at the same time reviving his interest in saw milling, and has since been operating the saw mill at Buckland. It was on August 30, 1886, that Wallace Bruner was united in marriage to Ella Trotter, who was born in Logan township, daughter of Mary and James Trotter, and a member of one of the pioneer families in the Buckland neighborhood, and to this union four children have been born, Charles, Lloyd, Dove and George, the latter of whom is still at home with his parents. Charles Bruner married Helen Weller and has four children, Thomas, Joseph, Virginia and Frederick. Lloyd Bruner married Iva May, and Dove Bruner married Charles J. Neff. Mr. and Mrs. Bruner have a pleasant home at Buckland. They are members of the Christian church and are Republicans.
E. G. CONRADI, former mayor of the flourishing village of New Bremen, for more than twenty-two years editor of the local newspapers in that village, the Sun and the Stern des Westlichen Ohio, secretary of the New Bremen Telephone Company, and in ofter ways interested and active in the general civic and industrial life of that community, one of the best known men in this section of Ohio, is a native son of Auglaize county and has lived here all his life, his first mature service to the community of which he is so definite a part having been that rendered as a young man as a teacher in the schools of his home town. Mr. Conradi was born on a farm in German township on October 12, 1872, and is the eighth in order of birth of the nine children born to Carl F. and Gertrude (Bruetsch) Conradi, natives of Germany, who became residents of he New Bremen neighborhood in the early '50s of the past century, and both of whom now are deceased. Other surviving members of this the numerous family are Mrs. Joe Poppe, of St. Marys township; Louis and August Conradi, successful farmers of German township; Dr. E. Conradi, president of the Florida State College for Women at Tallahassee, and Prof. A. F. Conradi, state entomologist for South Carolina and a professor in the State Agricultural College at Clermson, S. C. Reared on the home farm in the vicinity of New Bremen, E. G. Conradi completed the course in the high school in that village and then began teaching school, a teacher in the village schools, and for eleven years followed this profession, in the meanwhile becoming an active and influential factor in the general social and cultural activities of the community and acquiring that wide and intelligent acquaintance with local conditions that presently was to stand him so well in stead as his most valuable bit of "stock in trade," for if is indisputable that the wideawake newspaper man's most indispensable asset is an all-comprehensive acquaintance with the general history
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 417
and traditions of the community he serves. In May, 1900, Mr. Conradi became connected in a proprietary way with the printing and publishing business at New Bremen, and has thus been engaged ever since, as is set out elsewhere in this work in the chapter relating to the newspapers of Auglaize county. When, in 1907, the present Home Printing Company of New Bremen was organized, publishers of the Sun and the Stern des Westlichen Ohio, Mr. Conradi was elected president of that concern and has so continued, having general editorial direction of both newspapers, an editorial service which now has covered more than twenty-two years, and during which time these newspapers have rendered an incalculable service to the community by keeping the communal interests presented in a foremost way before the world. Mr. Conradi also for years has taken an active interest in the promotion of the general civic and industrial affairs of the community and is financially interested in several of the leading local manufacturing enterprises of his home town. He was one of the active promoters of the development of the local telephone plant, is secretary and a member of the board of directors of the New Bremen Telephone Company, and to the constantly growing interests of this company devotes a large part of his time. He has ever given his intelligent and thoughtful attention to civic affairs, and for almost five years served as mayor of the village, and for one term as a member of the local board of education. On December 25, 1894, while serving as a teacher in the schools of New Bremen, E. G. Conradi was united in marriage to Ida W. Boesel, eldest daughter of the late Hon. Jacob Boesel, of New Bremen, a member of the pioneer Boesel family of that neighborhood, concerning which family further and fitting mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Conradi have a very pleasant home at New Bremen and have ever taken an interested part in the general social and cultural actvities of the community. They are active members of the Pentecostal church, and in the congregation of this church Mr. Conradi has held offices of trust for many years.
ARTHUR R. WHETSTONE, one of Salem township's well known farmers and landowners, has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Auglaize county since the days of his infancy, he having been under three years of age when his parents settled here in Mr. Whetstone was born on a farm in Ross county, Ohio, May 6, 1871, and is a son of Simon W. and Amanda (Feaster) Whetstone, both of whom were born in that same county, members of pioneer families there. The late Simon Whetstone, formerly and for years a well known resident of Logan township, grew to manhood in Ross county and after his marriage there took up farming, a vocation he followed the remainder of his life. In 1874 he disposed of his interests in Ross county and moved with his family to
(26)
418 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
Auglaize county, locating on a farm of eighty acres in Logan township, where he spent the remainder of his life. He and his wife were the parents of six children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Belle, and a brother, Jesse Whetstone. As is noted above, Arthur R. Whetstone was but a small child when he came with his parents to this county in 1874 from Ross county and he grew to manhood on the farm in Logan township, receiving his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood. He was a well grown boy when the oil and gas "boom' broke out in this section of the state and for some time thereafter he was employed in the oil fields, but after his marriage he rented a farm and entered upon the vocation he ever since has followed. Not long afterward he bought a "forty" in Logan township and on that place made his home for five years, at the end of which time he sold that farm and bought a farm of 142 acres just south of Buckland. Five years later he disposed of that place and then bought the farm of sixty-five acres on which he is now living in Salem township and has since resided on this latter place, he and his family being very comfortably situated. Since taking possession of this farm, Mr. Whetstone has made extensive improvements on the place and now has a well equipped farm plant and is doing well in his operations. It was in December, 1897, that Arthur R. Whetstone was united in marriage to Dora Kraft, who was born in the neighboring county of Allen, and to this union two children have been born, a son Clarence J., and a daughter, Addie E., the latter of whom married Miles B. Reed and has one child, a son, Robert. Clarence J. Whetstone married Florence Wagoner and also has one child, a daughter, Thelma. The Whetstones have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys. Mr. and Mrs. Whetstorie are members of the Christian church at Buckland and are Republicans,
EDWARD L. KATTERHEINRICH, a member of the county board of education and a well-known and substantial farmer and landowner of Washington township, proprietor of a well-improved farm in the Moulton neighborhood, on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys, was born in the pleasant village of New Knoxville on August 2, 1882, and is a son of Henry and Anna (Schroer) Katterheinrich, both of whom were born in Washington township, both the Katterheinrichs and the Schroers having been among the early settlers of the New Knoxville community, as is set out elsewhere. Henry Katterheinrich, who is now living on his well-kept farm in Washington township, spent the early years of his manhood as a carpenter and then took up farming, a vocation he ever since has followed, now the owner of a fine farm of 120 acres in Washington township. To him and his wife were born eleven children, nine of whom are living, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Ida, Edna and
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 419
Mahilda, and five brothers, Charles, Henry, Gus, Edwin and Rhinehardt Katterheinrich. Born at New Knoxville, where his father then was engaged in building operations, Edward L. Katterheinrich was five years of age when his parents moved from the village to the farm, and he grew to manhood on the farm, receiving his schooling in what now is known as the Chapel school. From the days of his boyhood he was well trained in the ways of the farm, and after his marriage at the age of twenty-one, he began farming on his own account, renting the place on which he now lives, and which he bought in 1907, and has ever since made his home there, he and his family being very comfortably situated. In 1920 Mr. Katterheinrich's farm plant was caught in the path of what has come to be known as the Moulton cyclone and all the buildings on the place were destroyed with the exception of the dwelling house, which was considerably damaged. This necessitated a reconstruction and remodeling process, which has given Mr. Katterheinrich a practically new and up-to-date farm plant and a house modern in its appointments, so that he now has one of the best improved places in the neighborhood. Mr. Katterheinrich has 119 acres, and in addition to his general farming gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, feeding out about 100 hogs and as many as twenty cattle a year, and is doing well in his operations. He is a Republican and has ever given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs, now serving as a member of the county board of education. It was on October 15, 1903, hat Edward L. Katterheinrich was united in marriage to Anna Thielk, who also was born in Washington township, daughter of John and Julia (Stroh) Thielk, and to this union three children have been born, Emanuel J., Emma and Alice, the first named of whom is now a student in Capital University, at Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. Katterheinrich are members of Zion's Lutheran church at
St. Marys.
EDWARD C. HOLL, a well known resident of New Knoxville and widely known throughout this part of the state as a ditching contractor, who is also the secretary-treasurer of the New Knoxville Electric Company and clerk of the board of education of that village was born at New Knoxville on February 21, 1879, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Wierwille) Holl, concerning whom further reference, together with additional details regarding the Holl family in this county, is made elsewhere in this volume in connection with the biographical sketch relating to the Hon. George W. Holl, elder brother of the subject of this sketch and former state senator from this district. Edward C. Holl was about twelve years of age when his father, George Holl, the village shoemaker and a native of Germany, died, and he early was thrown pretty largely on his own resources to assist in his own livelihood and in helping in the care of his widowed mother and his younger sisters. He kept in school,
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however, and after completing the common school course “worked his way" through a course in pharmacy in the Ohio Norhern University at Ada. Thus equipped as a practical druggist, Mr. Holl, in 1899, became employed as a clerk in the drug store of Doctor Hunter at Wapakoneta and was thus engaged for about five years, at the end of which time he returned to New Knoxville and there became actively engaged in the real estate business. Not long afterward he became interested in the possibilities connected with practical ditching and dredging operations in this section and set up as a ditching contractor, starting out with one ditching machine, and has ever since been engaged in that line, one of the best known contractors in that line in this part of the state. As his business grew Mr. Holl continued to add to his power equipment until now he has four ditching machines and is equipped for any sort of work that may be called for in his line. He also has taken an active part in various forms of promotion in his home town and is the vice president and a member of the board of directors of the New Knoxville Electric Company. He is a Democrat and has for a number of years been the clerk of the local board of education at New Knoxville. Edward C. Holl married Elizabeth K. Fledderjohann, daughter of August and Louise (Schroer) Fledderjohann, both members of pioneer families in this county, and he and his wife have a very pleasant home at New Knoxville. They have two adopted children, Ruth and Donald Schellenberg, and are members of the First Reformed church of New Knoxville.
HERMAN HENRY SCHROER, who died in 1914 at his farm home about two miles north of New Knoxville, where his widow still living, was a substantial farmer of that neighborhood and a good citizen, who at his death left a good memory. Mr. Schroer was born on that farm on July 20, 1860, and was a son of John Henry and Sophia Schroer, both members of pioneer families of the New Knoxville neighborhood, and concerning whom further and fitting reference is made elsewhere in this volume. Reared on the home farm he received his schooling in the neighborhood school (district No. 4) and grew up attentive to the affairs of the farm, remaining at home until he had attained his majority, when he took a trip West and was gone for three or four years, prospecting around. Upon his return home he began working in a saw mill along the canal, and after his marriage a year later established a saw mill of his own in Washington township and operated the same for five or six year, end of which time he sold the mill and bought the home
“eighty” of the old Schroer home place north of New Knoxville and established his home there. On that place Mr. Schroer spent the remainder of his life, actively and successfully engaged in farming, and his widow is still living there, the family being very comfortably situ
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 421
ated . Mr. Schroer also owned a tract of fifteen acres on the south and had created an excellent farm plant. His death occurred there on February 15, 1914. In his political views he was a Democrat, and at the time of his death was a member of the local school board. He was a member of the Reformed church at New Knoxville, as is ; his widow, and had ever taken an interested part in the affairs of that congregation. Herman Henry Schroer married Amelia Luft, also a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, and to this union were born thirteen children, eleven of whom are living, Frank, Leroy, Ada, Clarence, Edward, Gustave, Elizabeth, Harry, Pauline, Esther and Carl, the three elder of whom are married. The Rev. Frank Schroer, the eldest of these children, now pastor of the Broadview Lutheran church of Chicago, married Myrtle Hanzel and has one child, a daughter, Carol Marie. Leroy Schroer married Frances Haberkamp and has one child, a daughter, Dorothy, and Ada Schroer married Lafe Beikman and has one child, a son, Howard W. The Schroer home is very pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys. Mrs. Schroer was born at New Knox-Ale and is a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Wierwille) Luft, ,00 of whom also were born in this county, the former at New %men and the latter in Washington township. The late Christian Luft, a veteran of the Civil war, grew to manhood at New Bremen, learning there the trade of harness maker. When the Civil war We out he enlisted his services in behalf of the cause of the Union and served as a soldier for about two years. After his marriage he established his home at New Knoxville, where he set up a shop as a harness maker and was thus engaged at that place until his death. He and his wife had three children, Mrs. Schroer having two sisters, Malinda and Anna.
JACOB SCHOLL, a well-known bachelor farmer and substantial landowner of Logan township, proprietor of a well-improved farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of Spencerville, is a European by birth, but has been a resident of this country since he was twelve years of age, and of Auglaize county since he was eighteen, a period of more han thirty-five years. Mr. Scholl was born in the city of Wittenberg, the ancient capital of the electorate of Upper Saxony, on the right bank of the Elbe, fifty-five miles southwest of Berlin, and historically memorable as "the cradle of the Reformation," October 10,1867, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Meinhardt) Scholl, also natives of Saxony, who in 1880 came to America with their family and, proceeding on out into Ohio, located at Marion. For six years after his arrival in this state the senior Jacob Scholl made his home at Marion, and then, in 1886, he moved over here into Auglaize county and bought a tract of fifty-nine acres of land in Logan township and on that place established his home and became engaged
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as a farmer, a vocation in which he spent the remainder of life, his death occurring in September, 1902, he in the meantime having increased his land holdings there until he was the owner of a good farm of 119 acres. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, all of whom are living save two (Charles and Frederick), the subject of this sketch having four sisters, Catherine, Minnie. Regia and Caroline, and one brother, William Scholl. As note above the junior Jacob Scholl was twelve years of age when he came to this country with his parents, in 1880, and he finished his schooling during the time of the family's residence at Marion. He was eighteen years of age when the family located on the farm in Logan township, this county, and he at once entered upon the considerable task of helping to improve and develop that farm, an able assistant to his father in these labors. He also for some time was engaged in farm labor on other farms, and thus early became a practical farmer, with a view eventually to becoming a farmer on his own account, Some time after the death of his father he bought from the other heirs respective interests in the home place and has since been farming that place as proprietor, the owner of an excellerit farm of
119 acres, which he has improved in up-to-date fashion. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Scholl has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, and is doing well in his operations. In his political views Mr. Scholl is an "independent." He is an active member of the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandry at Kossuth, and of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at that place, and is affiliated with the encampment of the Odd Fellows at Spencerville.
WALTER GLASS, a well-known and progressive young farmer of Salem township, was born in that township on May 19, 1896, and is a son of Charles and Catherine (Folker) Glass, both of whom also were born in Auglaize county, members of pioneer families here, and who are now living retired at St. Marys. Charles Glass was born on a pioneer farm in Noble township and is a son of August Glass, a native of Germany, who had established his home on an eighty-acre farm in that township in pioneer days and had become a useful and influential citizen of that part of county. Reared on a farm, Charles Glass engaged in farming on his own account after his marriage, remaining for some time thereafter on the home farm in Noble township, and then bought an "eighty" in Salem township, the place on which his son, Walter, is now and there established his home. He remained there until after the marriage of his son, Walter, in 1918, when he turned the management of the place over to the latter and retired from the farm, moving to St. Marys, where he and his wife are now living, quite comfortably and pleasantly situated. To Charles Glass and wife
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were born nine children, the subject of this sketch—the seventh in order of birth-having a sister, Elizabeth, and seven brothers, Henry, Grover, Carl, Jesse, William, Harvey and Raymond Glass. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, Walter Glass received his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood was a practical aid to his father in the labors of cultivating and developing the farm. He married when twenty-one years of age and hen became engaged in farming on his own account, renting the farm from his father, who retired at that time, and has since been living on the home place. Mr. Glass has an excellent farm plant and is carrying on his operations in accordance with modern methods and is doing well. It was on April 4, 1918, that Walter lass was united in marriage to Hilda Dohse, and to this union two cons have been born, John and Alvin C. Mr. and Mrs. Glass have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Mendon. They are members of the Lutheran church and are Democrats.
J. H. LUTTERBECK, a member of one of the pioneer families of Washington township and the proprietor of a well improved farm in that township, about two miles northeast of New Knoxville, was born in that township and has lived there all his life, a period of nearly seventy years, and has thus seen that region develop from its woodland state. Mr. Lutterbeck was born on a woodland farm just southwest of New Knoxville, in the very southwest corner of Washington township, on April 8, 1855, and is a son of William and Elizabeth Lutterbeck, natives of Germany, who had come here with their respective parents in the days of their youth and were here married. William Lutterbeck was a well-grown boy when he came here. That was during the time of the construction of the canal up through this part of the state, and he secured employment with the
construction gang and thus helped to finish the canal. After his marriage he bought a woodland tract of fifty-four acres just southwest of the village of New Knoxville and proceeded to clear and
improve the same, and later bought an adjoining "forty" there. On that place he made his home until 1872, when he bought a tract of a fraction more than 162 acres along the creek in the northwest quarter of section 22 of Washington township, a part of which place is now owned by the subject of this sketch, and on this latter place spent the remainder of his life, a progressive and successful farmer. He and his wife had three children who grew to maturity, the subject of this sketch and his brothers, Herman (deceased) and Louis Lutterbeck, of Cleveland. J. H. Lutterbeck grew up on the home farm, receiving his schooling in the schools of New Knoxville, and until his marriage continued farming in association with his father. After his marriage he rented a part of the home farm and began farming on his own account. Upon the death of his father not long
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afterward, he and his brothers divided the farm and he came into possession of the home acres, where he ever since has lived, a where he and his family are quite comfortably situated. Mr. Lutterbeck has a well-improved farm of ninety-one acres, and with the assistance of his sons is carrying on his operations there in susscessful fashion. He is a Republican and he and his family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville. J. H. Lutterbeck married Anna Katterheinrich, a member of the well-known piopion, family of that name in Washington township, and to this union h been born eight children, Lena, Emma, Dora, William, Bertha, Jacob, Ferd and Alvina, all of whom are married save Dora and the two last named. Lena Lutterbeck married Louis Hulsmeyer and has three children, Orlando, Marie and Alice. Emma Lutterbeck married Ernest Hoge and has three children, Norman, Kermit and William Lutterbeck married Lena Opperman and has three children, Vernon, Orin and Grace. Bertha Lutterbeck married Ernest Harlament, and Jacob Lutterbeck married Ella Luederke and has one child, a son, Myron. The Lutterbeck home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys. Mrs. Anna Lutterbeck was born in Washington township and is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Niemeyer) Katterheinrich, who came here from Cincinnati some time following their immigration from Germany, where they were married, and who became well-to-do farming people in Washington township. Of their ten children, four are still living, Lutterbeck having a sister, Lena, and two brothers, Henry and man Katterheinrich.
BERNARD SENGER, one of Jackson township's progressive and up-to-date farmers, who is now farming his father's place in section 25, about a mile northeast of Minster, was born on that place, as was his father, and is now carrying on operations there as a representative of the third generation of Sengers who have occupied and operated that farm. Mr. Senger was born on March 14, 1883, and is a son of Joseph and Bernedine (Bolles) Senger, both members of pioneer families in that part of the county, and the latter of whom is now deceased. Joseph Senger, former trustee of Jackson township, now living retired from the active operations of the farm, was born on that place and is a son of Frank Senger and wife, who were pioneers of that neighborhood there north and east of Minster, where their last days were spent. On that farm Joseph Senger grew to manhood and in turn came into possession of the place, a fine farm of 120 acres, where he established his home after his marriage and there continued farming until his retirement in 1912. He has ever taken an interested and helpful part in local civic affairs and has served the public as a trustee of Jackson township and also as township assessor. He is a member of St. Angus-
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tine's Catholic church, as was his wife, and their children were reared in that faith. There were six of these children, those besides the subject of this sketch (the second in order of birth) being Mary, Herman (deceased), Henry, Anna and Frank. Reared on the home farm, Bernard Senger received his schooling at Minster, and from the days of his boyhood has given his attention to the operation of the farm. As the elder son of the family, he was ever an aid to his father in the labors of developing and improving the farm, and upon his father's retirement in 1912 he assumed management of the place and has since been carrying on operations there. These operations are carried on in accordance with modern methods of agriculture and Mr. Senger has surrounded himself with an excellent farm plant. In addition to his general farming operations, he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. In his political views Bernard Senger holds himself independent of party ties. He is a member of St. Augustine's Catholic church at Minster and is also affiliated with the local council of the Knights of Columbus at that place. The Senger home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 1 out of Minster.
GEORGE CLAUSING, a former township trustee, who died in Washington township almost twenty years ago and whose widow is still living there, the operations of the farm being carried on by her son, George, was in his day one of the substantial landowners in that part of Auglaize county and at his passing left a good memory, for he had done well his part in developing the general interests of the community in which he lived. Mr. Clausing was of European birth, born in the kingdom of Hanover in 1846, and was a son of Clement Adolph Clausing, a schoolmaster. He grew up skilled in the trade of carpentry and cabinet making and as a young man came to the United States, arriving here in the latter 60's. For a time after coming to this country he was located at Cincinnati and then he came up into this part of the state and became engaged at his trade in New Knoxville, where he remained until after his marriage when he bought a tract of fifty acres along the old plank road in northeast quarter of section 6 of Washington township, about three miles east of St. Marys, and there established his home and entered upon the career of farming which was to turn out so successfully for him. On that place, upon taking possession, he put up a log cabin and started in to clear and improve his tract. As his affairs prospered he built new buildings and bought more land, becoming the owner of eighty-five acres, and on that place spent his last days, his death occurring on December 25, 1904. Mr. Clausing was a Republican and had rendered public service as a township trustee and as a school director. He was a member of the Reformed church of New Knoxville, as is his widow, and took a proper
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part in church affairs. Since the death of her husband, Mrs, Clausing has continued to make her home on the farm, where she has lived since the place was opened for cultivation. She was 4 Washington township, Elizabeth Schroer, daughter of Herman and Sophia (Wierwille) Schroer, members of pioneer families in township and concerning whom further and fitting mention is mad elsewhere in this volume, and she has lived here all her life. George and Elizabeth (Schroer) Clausing ten children were born, eight of whom grew to maturity, Herman, William, Henry, George, Anna, Sarah, Moritz and Mary, all of whom married save the late Herman Clausing married Matilda Hove and has six children. Florence, Magdalena, Walter, Edward, Lenora and Noah. William Clausing married Caroline Henschen and has five children, Ferd, Olga, Leonard, Albert and Zella. Henry Clausing married Talitha Hansen and has one child, a daughter, Agnes. George Clausing married Sophia Vohs and is now carrying on the operations of the home far- in his mother's behalf, continuing to make his home on the place, where he has an excellent farm plant and is doing well. Anna Clausing married Benjamin Katterheinrich and has one child, Florence, Sarah Clausing married William Stolte and has three children, Robert, Dorothy and Forest, and Moritz Clausing married Bertha Korspeter. The Clausing home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys. Mrs. Clausing, as will be noted above. has sixteen grandchildren.
WILLIAM E. DEERHAKE, one of the well-known farmers of Auglaize county, now living retired at his well-kept place in the northwest corner of Washington township, on the St. Marys-Wapakoneta road, about two miles east of St. Marys, is a European by birth, but has been a resident of this country and of Auglaize county ever since he was twenty-one years of age, a period of more than fifty years. Mr. Deerhake was born in the Prussian province of Westphalia, in Germany, April 9, 1849, and is a son of Adolph and Katherine (Luebke) Deerhake, also natives of that country, who in 1871 came to this country with their family and settled in the New Knoxville neighborhood in Washington township, this county where their remaining days were spent. Adolph Deerhake and wife were the parents of six children, of whom four are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Sophia and Fredericka, and a brother, Fred Deerhake. Reared in his native county; William E. Deerhake was twenty-one years of age when he came to America, arriving here on January 1, 1871. He worked as a far. hand in the New Knoxville neighborhood until his marriage, when he bought a tract of ninety-five acres along the old plank road, in the northwest quarter of section 6 of Washington township, the place on which he is now living, established his home there and has
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ever since made that his place of residence. But little of this tract was cleared when he took possession, and the task of clearing and improving thus fell upon him, but he got the job done and in good time had an excellent farm there. As his affairs prospered he bought an adjoining tract, which gave him 175 acres, and this farm he operated successfully, but in late years has reduced his holdings until now he holds but his original tract and is living practically retired from the active operations he so long carried on. Mr. Deer- hake has given proper attention to local civic affairs and has served the public in the capacity of school director in his district. He and his wife are members of St. Paul's church at St. Marys, and he has served the congregation of that church for several terms as an elder. William E. Deerhake has been twice married, and by his first wife, Christina Haberkamp, a daughter of Adolph Haberkamp, had five children, Henry, Helena, Herman (deceased) , Benjamin and William, Following the death of the mother of these children, Mr. Deerhake married Mrs. Caroline (Mueller) Schmidt. Henry Deerhake, the eldest son, and concerning whom further mention is made in this volume, married Anna Luft and has nine children, Leroy, Lydia, Raymond, Homer, Mary, Clara, Edna, Vernon and Mildred. Benjamin Deerhake married Magdalena Hove and has two children, Bernice and Ruth, and William Deerhake married Mabel Hipp and has two children, Betty and William (III). The old Deerhake home is very pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys, along the paved highway, the trolley line also passing along that way.
WILLIAM BENSMANN, one on the best known of the older residents of the Minster neighborhood, for many years one of the leading farmers of that part of the county and the owner of a well- improved farm there just northeast of Minster, where he is now living retired, was born in that township and has lived there all his life, a period of more than seventy years, during which he has seen this region develop from its pioneer state to one of the best agricultural districts in Ohio. Mr. Bensmann was born on August 28, 1852, and is a son of William and Catherine (Denzig) Bensmann, both of whom were born in Germany, but were married in this country and became useful pioneers of the Minster neighborhood. The senior William Bensmann was. a young man when he came to this country and located at Minster, where for some time he was engaged working on the construction of the canal. He then married and bought a "forty" in the woods just northeast of Minster, built a log cabin on the place and settled down to clear his place and make a farm out of it. When he cleared that tract he bought an adjoining "forty" and as he prospered in his operations continued
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to add to his holdings until he became the owner of 200 acres of excellent land there and was accounted one of the substantial citizens of the community. On that place he and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of six children, the subject of this sketch having five brothers, Henry, Herman, Anthony, Charles and John Bensmann, so that the Bensmann connection hereabout in the present generation is a no inconsiderable one. William Bensmann, Jr., was reared on that pioneer farm northeast of Minster and his schooling was received in the Minster schools. After his marriage he rented from his father that part of the farm on which he is now living, and afterward bought the tract of ninety-seven acres. When he came into possession of that place he entered upon a campaign of improvement which soon gave him one of the best improved farms in the neighborhood, and as his affairs prospered he added to his holdings until he became the owner of 202 acres. Mr. Bensmann continued actively engaged in farming until his retirement, when he sold his land and is now giving his attention to other forms of investment, though continuing to make his home on the old home place, where all his life has been spent and where he is very comfortably situated. His home is on rural mail route No. 1 out of Minster. In his political views Mr. Bensmann is a Democrat with independent leanings. He is a member of St. Augustine's Caholic church at Minster and is a member of the St. Augustine Society of that parish. William Bensmann married Johanna Wuebker, daughter of Fred and Mary (Ronabaum) Wuebker, pioneers of that same neighborhood, and concerning whom further mention is made else. where in this volume, and to this union have been born six children, Bernardine, Fred, Henry, Cecelia, Louis and Robert, all of whom are married and who in the aggregate have given to their parents no fewer than twenty-one grandchildren, in whom they take much pride and delight. Bernardine Bensmann married Frank Thieman and has six children, Della, Clara, Marie, Raymond, Margaret and Anneta. Fred Bensmann married Bernardine Schroeder and has six children, Clara, Leo, Hilda, Norbert, Louetta and Fred. Henry Bensmann married Bernardine Busse and has one child, a son, Wilbur. Cecelia Bensmann married Anton Beckman and has four children, Lucile, Wilbur, Leroy and Virginia. Louis Bensmann married Carrie Lampbert and has two children, Dorothy and Richard, and Robert Bensmann married Josephine Whynk and has one child, a daughter, Alfreda. Robert Bensmann, who has that part of the home acres surrounding the old home place and who is living here, his parents making their home with him and his family, is one of the progressive farmers of that part of this county and for some time was the president of the Jackson township farm bureau.
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JOSEPH MEIERING, proprietor of the old convent farm in Egypt, where he makes his home, in Jackson township, besides a good farm in German township, where he formerly lived, an active member of the Jackson township farm bureau and long recognized as one of the progressive and up-to-date farmers of that part of the county, is a native son of Auglaize county and has lived here all his life. Mr. Meiering was born on a farm in Egypt neighborhood in Jackson township on March 7, 1880, and is a son of Frank and Louise (Westgerdes) Meiering, both of whom were born in that same township, the latter a daughter of Henry Westgerdes, who lived on he county line in section 30. The late Frank Meiering was born on a farm in that same section and was a son of Joseph and Gertrude (Wissman) Meiering, both natives of Germany, but who were married in Cincinnati, in which city their respective parents had located upon coming to this country. Not long after his marriage Joseph Meiering came with his wife up into this part of the state and entered from the Government a small tract of land in section 30 of what then was German township, but which, when the separation came, became a part of Jackson township, and on that place made a clearing, built a log cabin and established his home, he and his wife spending the remainder of their lives there, useful and influential pioneers of that neighborhood. Joseph Meiering also was for some time employed in the labors attending the construction of the canal and was widely known among the settlers of that part of the county. His son, Frank Meiering, grew up on the farm and thus became thoroughly familiar with the details of pioneer farming. When the first railroad came through this county—the old Dayton & Michigan, later the C. H. & D., now the B. & 0.—he became engaged in construction work on that road and later established himself as a farmer, becoming the owner of an excellent farm in the Egypt neighborhood besides land in German township, his home farm in Jackson township comprising ninety acres, and there he remained engaged in farming until his death in 1911. He and his wife were the parents of six children, three of whom are living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Bernarding, and a brother, William Meiering. Reared on the home farm, Joseph Meiering received his schooling in the Egypt school and from the days of his boyhood has given his attention to farming. When he was married his father gave him a farm of 140 acres in German township, which he still owns, and there he made his home until in 1916 the old convent farm at Egypt was put on the market, when he bought this latter tract of eighty acres from the Sisters of the Precious Blood and has since made his home there, farming this place as well as his German township farm, 220 acres in all. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Meiering gives considerable attention to the raising of live
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stock, feeding out about 200 head of hogs a year, and is doing well. He is an interested member of the Jackson township farm bureau and his operations are carried on in accordance with modern methods of agriculture. Joseph Meiering married Anna Kramer, daughter of Frank Kramer, and to this union six children have been born, Alma, Charlotte, Louetta, Arthur, Marquis and Rupert. Mr. and Mrs. Meiering are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt and politically are Democrats. They have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster.
JOHN A. BENSMANN, who resides on the old Bensmann farm northeast of Minster, one of the best known farmers of that n, borhood, was born on that farm and has lived there all his 1: period of more than sixty years. Mr. Bensmann was born on March 11, 1860, and is the last born of the six sons of William and Catherine (Danzig) Bensmann, who were among the useful and influential pioneers of that section of the county. Both William Bensmann and his wife were born in Germany, but were married in this county and here spent their last days. William Bensmann located at Minster in pioneer days and for some time worked on the construction of the canal, which then was in progress, but presently bought a tract of land northeast of Minster, in Jackson township, when established his home, and where he and his wife reared their family and spent the remainder of their days, as is set out elsewhere in this work, together with much other detail relating to these pioneers to the Bensmann family in this county. Reared on that farm, John A. Bensmann received his schooling in the Minster schools, and from the days of his boyhood has given his attention to the operations of the home farm, having established his home there after his marriage. Upon the death of his father he took over the home 123 acres and has since been farming there. Since coming into possession of this place Mr. Bensmann has made numerous imp ments of an up-to-date character on the farm, including the en of a modern brick dwelling house, and has a well-equipped farm He bought an adjoining tract of 100 acres and thus for some carried on operations on a farm of 223 acres, but later sold he acre tract and now owns but the home farm of 123 acres, which is well and profitably cultivated. In addition to his general far' operations, Mr. Bensmann has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. John A. Bensmann married Catherine Michael, daughter of Mrs. Catherine Michael, and to this union nine children were born, William, Joseph, Frank, Edwin, Albert, August, Lawrence, Rose and Catherine, all of whom are living, and six of whom are married. The mother of these children died on February 4, 1917. William Bensmann married Elizabeth Sager and has had five children, Clarence, Elsie, Rosella,
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Alvina and Ralph (deceased). Joseph Bensmann married Emma Haying and has four children, Mary, Herbert, Elizabeth and Lorena. Frank Bensmann married Apalonia Secrist and has four children, Jerome, Arthur, Mary Ann and Verner. Albert Bensmann married Elenora Stueve and has one child, a daughter, Bernadetta. Rose Bensmann married Joseph Bornhorst, and Catherine Bensmann married Henry Stueve and has two children, Norbert and Norman. The Bensmanns have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Minster. They are members of St. Augustine's Catholic church at Minster, and Mr. Bensmann is a member of the St. Augustine Society. In his political views he is a Democrat.
CHARLES KUCK, one of Washington township's well-known farmers, a farmers trustee of that township and the proprietor of a well-improved place on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys, was born at New Knoxville, in this same township, June 29, 1864, and is a son of Ernest and Elizabeth (Fenneman) Kuck, the latter of whom was born in Germany and was but a child when she came to this country with her parents, the family settling in the New Knoxville neighborhood, as is set out elsewhere in this volume, the Fennemans having been among the influential pioneers of that neighborhood, Ernest Kuck was a son of William Kuck, one of the pioneers of hat same neighborhood, and was born on the old Kuck place, just southwest of the village. He early took up the trade of carpenter, and after his marriage established his home at New Knoxville, where he continued working as a carpenter and builder, and where his last days were spent, his death occurring on April 7, 1875, and his widow long survived him. They were the parents of five children, of whom but two now survive, the subject of this sketch and his brother, Edward Kuck. Charles Kuck was but ten years of age when his father died, and he thus early began to assume mature responsibilities in the matter of a livelihood. He received his schooling in the New Knoxville schools, and when little more than a lad began to work as a carpenter, a vocation he followed until his marriage, when he rented a farm down over the line in Shelby county and started in as a farmer. For eleven years Mr. Kuck and his wife lived in Shelby county, and then they came back into Auglaize county and located on the farm in Washington township where they are now living and where they are very comfortably situated. Mr. Kuck has a well cultivated farm of 115 acres, and since taking possession of the same has made numerous substantial improvements, now having a well-equipped farm plant, as well as a nice dwelling house. In addition to his general farming he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. Mr. Kuck is a Republican, and for nine years served the people of Washirigton township as a township trustee. He also has rendered
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service as director of schools in his district. He and his wife are members of the First Reformed church at New Knoxville, and he has served the congregation of that church as a deacon. Mrs. Kuck before her marriage was Mary Wierwille. She was born in Shelby county and is a daughter of Adolph and Elizabeth (Kattman) Wierwille, natives of Germany, who had come to this section of Ohio with their respective parents in the days of their youth and were here married, as is set out elsewhere in this volume, together with additional details regarding the pioneer Wierwille and Kattman families here. Mrs. Kuck has a sister, Sophia, and three brothern, Henry W., William and Ernest Wierwille. Charles and Mary (Wierwille) Kuck have two children, Anna and William C. Kuck, the latter of whom married Anna Schmeat and has four children, Frederick, Alice, Orville and Lela. Anna Kuck married Gustav Elshoff and has three children, Marion, Calvin and Orlando.
ERNST HOELSCHER, a former trustee of Washington township and one of the best known and most substantial farmers and landowners of that township, proprietor of a fine farm east of New Knoxville, where he is now living practically retired from the active labors of the farm, was born on that place and has lived there all his life, a period of nearly seventy-five years, and has thus been a witness to the development of this region from its pioneer start. Mr. Hoelscher was born on September 12, 1849, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Niemeyer) Hoelscher, natives of Gemany, who were married in that country and shortly after their marriage came to America and proceeded on out into Ohio and settled here. When they came here the work of canal construction was then under a way, and after his arrival here Henry Hoelscher became engaged as a workman on that project, working with the canal crew until the big job was finished. When he arrived here he had but $1 left of the money he had provided for the journey from Germany and the work on the canal came to him as a godsend, the money thus earned providing a fund for the purchase of a small tract of land east of New Knoxville, in Washington township, where he established his home and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, industrious and helpful members of that community. The first bit of land Henry Hoelscher bought there was a tract of forty acres. As he got this cleared and developed he added to his holdings and gradually increased the same until he became the owner of a fine farm of 225 acres and was accounted one of the substantial farmers of that neighborhood. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom but two are now living, the subject of this sketch and his brother, William Hoelscher. Reared on the pioneer farm on which he was born, Ernst Hoelscher grew up familiar with
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE; COUNTY - 433
all the details connected with the strenuous job of clearing a woodland farm and getting it ready for cultivation. He received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and from the days of his boyhood has applied himself to the affairs of the farm. He continued farming with his father until the latter's death, and then took over 120 acres of the home place and has continued to make his home there. Since taking possession of that place he has made extensive improvements and has long had one of the best equipped farm plants in that neighborhood. He also bought a tract of eighty acres adjoining his original tract on the north, and thus has a farm of 200 acres, which is profitably cultivated and kept up in spick and span order. He also owns a quarter of a section of land in Kansas. Mr. Hoelscher is a Republican, for years looked upon as one of the leaders of that party in his home township, and has rendered public service in various capacities, for six years a trustee of the township, for six years supervisor of roads in his district, and for several years a member of the local board of education. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville, of the congregation of which he has been an elder for the past twenty years, and he also has served as a deacon of that congregation. Ernst Hoelscher married Adaline Wellman, daughter of Henry Wellman, and a member of he well-known pioneer family of that name in Washington township, and to this union eight children were born, all of whom are living save two (Emma and Lena), the others being Matilda, Louis, William, George, Caroline and Emil, all of whom are married. The mother of these children died', on March 25, 1912. Matilda Hoelscher married George Cook and has five children, Alvin, Elmer, Raymond, Howard and Wilfred. Alvin Cook married Anna Caroline Zeigler and has three children. Elmer Cook married Lovenia Marie Cammerer and has a son, Wallace. Raymond Cook married Zeta Enid Boxley and has a son, Eugene, and Howard Cook married Genevia Britten. Louis Hoelscher married Sophia Lutterbeck and has eight children, Adaline, Elizabeth, Mary, Enoch, Helena, Julius, Max and Waldo. Adaline Hoelscher married Jacob Meckstroth and has two daughters, Gretchen and Rachel. William Hoelscher married Matilda Bierbaum and has four children, Irene, Lenora, Myron and Elody. George Hoelscher married Anna Lammers and has five children, Martha, Noah, Esther, Ruby and Elmer. Caroline Hoelscher married George Bierbaum and has four children, Olga, Robert, Ruth and Reuben, and Emil Hoelscher married Magdalena Meckstroth and has one child, a daughter, Lucile, it thus being noted that Mr. Hoelscher has twenty-seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, in all of whom he takes much pride and delight. The Hoelscher home is very pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St, Marys.
(27)
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DORSEY PLACE, former assessor of Logan township and one of the well-known and substantial farmers of that towriship, proprietor of a well-improved farm on rural mail route No. 1 out of Hume, was born on that farm and has lived there the greater part of his life. Mr. Place was born on September 14, 1857, and is a son of Leonard and Cythena (Love) Place, who were well known among the pioneers of that part of the county. Leonard Place was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and was but a lad when he came to Ohio with his parents, Isaac and Clarinda Place, in 1836 the family settling in Delaware county, where he grew to manhood. In 1851 he entered from the Government an "eighty" on the west bank of the Auglaize river, in the northwest quarter of section 27 of Logan township, this county, and for a time made his home there, but presently returned to Delaware county in this state, where he remained two years, at the end of which time he moved to Allen county, and not long afterward resumed his residence on his place in Logan township, this county, established his home there and started in to clear the place and make a farm out of it. To that place he added by purchase until he was the owner of a farm of 140 acres, where he spent the remainder of his life. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, all of whom are still living save two (Smith and Mary), the subject of this sketch having a sister, Martha Ellen, and three brothers, Loveman, Leonard and John Place. Reared on the farm on which he was born and where he is now living, Dorsey Place received his schooling in the little old school house of district No. 2, adjacent to the Place farm, and from the das of his boyhood gave his attention to the affairs of the farm, remaining with his father until after his marriage, when he began farming on his own account on a farm in the immediate vicinity of Kossuth. There he remained four years, at the end of which time he returned to the home place, bought 100 acres of it, the place he now owls, and has since resided there. Mr. Place has ever carried on his farming operations in accordance with up-to-date methods and has done well. His farm is well improved and he has a well-equipped farm plant. He and his wife are members of the Christian Union church, and he is a member of the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandry. He is a Democrat, has long given his active attention to local political affairs, and has served for two terms as assessor of Logan township, It was on August 25, 1885, that Dorsey Place was united in mar riage to Mary Bice, who was born in the neighboring county of Allen, daughter of William and Tabitha Bice, and to this union four children have been born, Blanche, Virgil A., Fernando L. and Stan. ley B., all of whom are married. Blanche Place married Oliver Miller, of Allen county, Ohio, and has one child, a son, Dorsey. Virgil A. Place, who is now living in Lake county, Indiana, married Helen
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Scott, of Columbus, Ohio, and has four children, Mary A., Andrew, Robert and Jeannette. Fernando L. Place married Pearl Oberdeen, of Kossuth, this county, and is now living in the village of Buckland. Stanley B. Place, who is living in Logan township, married Lillian Graessle, also a member of one of the old families of Logan township, and has four children, Mary C., Ned, Betty L. and Susan.
FRED E. SETTLAGE, a former trustee of Washington township and a well-known octogenarian
farmer and landowner of that township, proprietor of a well-improved farm on rural mail route No 1 out of St. Marys, where he is now living retired from the active labors of the farm, was born on a pioneer farm in the neighboring township of German, in the days when that township was still comprised within the confines of Mercer county, before Auglaize county was organized, and has lived hereabout all his life, he thus having been a witness to and a participant in the development of this county from the days of its beginning. Mr. Settlage was born on November 9, 1842, and is a son of Henry Arnold and Mary Elizabeth (Kuck) Settlage, natives of Germany, who were married in Cincinnati and who later came up into this part of Ohio and became pioneers of the region afterward erected into Auglaize county. enry Arnold Settlage was a young man when he came to this country and located at Cincinnati, where he became employed at his trade as a blacksmith. About three years later he married there and then came up into this section of the state and settled on a farm west of New Bremen, where he became the owner of about 100 acres of land, and there he remained for about fifteen years, at the end of which time he sold that place and bought a tract of 156 acres in Washington township with the expectation of moving onto this latter place, but before his plans could be matured his death occurred, October 1, 1855. He and his wife were the parents of five children, of whom three grew to maturity, the subject of this sketch and his brothers, William and Henry C. Settlage. Reared on the home farm in German township, Fred E. Settlage received his early schooling in the primitive schools of that neighborhood, and was just under thirteen years of age when his father died. He remained with his mother for some years, aiding his brothers in the labors of maintaining the place, and then became employed as a carpenter, a vocation he followed for seven years, at the end of which time, in association with his mother, he bought a tract of fifty-three acres north of the creek, in the southwest quarter of section 7 of Washington township, the place on which he is now living, three miles north and west of New Knoxville, and there has resided ever since, coming into full possession after the death of his mother. Mr. Settlage is a good farmer and during the days of his activity on the farm added to his holdings until now he is the owner of an excellent farm of
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126 acres, a part of which lies over the line in St. Marys township and which is now being operated by his son, Louis H. Settlage. Mr. Settlage always has given a good citizen's attention to local civic affairs and formerly was active in local politics, for eleven years having served as a trustee of Washington township, and also for some time as a school director and as road supervisor in his district. In his present political leanings he holds himself independent of party ties. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville, and he has served the congregation of that church as a deacon in years past. He also for about twenty-five years was superintendent of the Sunday school. Fred E. Settlage married Mary Wierwille, a daughter of William Wierwille, and also a member of one of the old families of Washington township, and to this union have been born five children, William A., Sophia E., Magdalena, Louis H. and Theodore, all of whom are married. William A, Settlage married Magdalena Fledderjohann and has had three children, Victor (deceased), Arnold and Phoebe. Sophia E. Settlag is the wife of Henry Buckloh. Magdalena Settlage married F. H. Hilgemann and has four children, Theophilus, Alvin, Lois and Grace. Louis H. Settlage, who is now operating the old home place, renting the same from his father, married Rosa Hiel and has had four children, Herman, Lydia, Noah and Rhinehart (deceased). Theodore Settlage married Selma Wiethoff and has three children, Emil, Richard and Benjamin. Mr. Settlage has seen this region develop from its pioneer condition and has many an interesting story to tell of the days long gone when conditions of living here were far more difficult than now. Though past eighty years of age, he continues to take a lively interest in affairs and is a genial host in his pleasant home.
HERMAN ROETTGERMANN, a former trustee of Jackson township and one of that township's well known and substantial farmers and landowners, proprietor of a well-improved farm just northeast of Minster, besides farm lands in the neighboring county of Shelby, is a native son of Auglaize county, born on the farm on which he is now living in Jackson tOWnship, and has lived here all his life, a period of seventy years, during which he has been a witness to some amazing changes in the manner of living contrasted with that of the days of his boyhood. Mr. Roettgermann was born on June 2, 1852, and is a son of Bernard and Catherine (Reithmann) Roettgermann, who were natives of Germany, where they were married, and who not long afterward, in 1849 (following the revolution of 1848), came to this country and made their way out here to the Minster settlement in Auglaize county. In his home land Bernard Roettgermann had been a weaver and a farm hand, working on the land during the summers and at his loom during the winters, and
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upon coming here started in as a tenant farmer in the Minster neighborhood. For two years he was thus engaged and then he bought an "eighty" in the southwest quarter of section 24 of what then was German township, but which a few years later, upon the division of that township, became a part of Jackson township, less than a mile norheast of the Minster corporation line, and there established his home. He was a good farmer and as his affairs prospered he added to his holdings until he became the owner of 116 acres, and there he spent the remainder of his life. To him and his wife were born four children, three of whom, Henry, Elizabeth and Herman, grew to maturity, and of whom the latter now alone survives. Bernard Roettgermann and wife were members of the Catholic church, and their children were reared in that faith. Herman Roettgermann grew to manhood on the home farm northeast of Minster, and his schooling was received in the Minster schools. He remained with his father on the farm, and after his marriage made his home there, taking over the management of the place in his father's behalf, and after the latter's death came into possession and has ever since lived there. Since coming into possession, Mr. Roettgermann has caused to be erected an entire new set of buildings on this farm, and has in other ways brought its improvements up to modern standards. He has increased his land holdings there until now he owns 144 acres in that piece and has besides a farm of 108 acres in Shelby county, which is well improved. In 1914 he rented the home farm to his eldest son, Joseph Roettgermann, who is married and lives on the place, and since then has been taking things somewhat easier than during the many years of his more active operations. Mr. Roettgermann is a Democrat with "independent" leanings and has for years given his close attention to local civic affairs. For six years he served the public as a member of the board of trustees of Jackson township, and he also has rendered service as pike superintendent and as road supervisor. He and his family are members of St. Augustine's Catholic church at Minster, and he has rendered service to the parish as a member of the board of church trustees. Herman Roettgermann married Anna Senger, also a member of one of the pioneer families of this county, daughter of Frank and Catherine (Ofielhaber) Senger, and to this union seven children have been born, Anna, Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Bernardine, Frank and Bernard, the four elder of whom are married. Anna Roettgermann married John Fortman and has one child, a daughter, Gertrude. Mary Roettgermann married Henry Albers and has eight children, Alfred, Edward, Ida, Marcella, Bertha, John, Henry and Hannah. Joseph Roettgermann, who, as noted above, is now farming the home place, married Minnie Sexstrow and has two children, Mary and Jeannette, and Elizabeth Roettgermann married Henry Otte and has four chil-
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dren, Vernon, Frederick, William and Marion. The Roettgermans have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Minster and have ever taken an interested part in the commuriity's general social activities. Mrs. Roettgermann was born on the farm adjoining the Roettgermann place on the south, her father, Frank Senger, having been one of the substantial farmers and landowners of that neighborhood there northeast of Minster. Both Frank Senger and his wife were natives of Germany, but were married in this cur; He came to this country in the days of his young manhood and some years thereafter was engaged working in Cincinnati. In late '40s of the past century he came up into this part of Ohio and began farming, becoming the owner of an excellent farm of 120 acres just north and east of Minster, where he and his wife spent their last days. Of the children born to them, four grew to maturity, Joseph, Bernard and Frank Senger and Mrs. Roettgermann, the latter of whom now alone survives.
EMIL SEEWER, one of Salem township's well-known farmers and proprietor of a well-improved farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of St. Marys, where he has become established as a progressive and successful agriculturist, is a European by birth, but has bee: resident of this country for the past forty years, and thus regards himself as thoroughly an American. Mr. Seewer was born in the town of Gasteg, in the republic of Switzerland, September 24, l859, and is a son of John and Catherine (Gainder) Seewer, both also natives of Switzerland, who spent all their lives in that country. John Seewer was a tailor by vocation and also was postmaster in hds home town, a man of importance and influence. He and his wife were the parents of five children, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Caroline, Catherine and Emma, and a brother, Godfrey Seewer. Reared at Gasteg, Emil Seewer received his schooling it the schools of that town and grew to manhood there. He served his term in the army of the republic, where compulsory military training has been for many years a feature of the countryls civic life, a-' when twenty-three years of age married Sophia Marret, who was born in Switzerland, and with his bride came to America, pro. ceeding on out into Ohio, and in 1883 locating at St. Marys, in this county, where he became employed in the brick yard. A year late he began working on a farm in that vicinity, and thus acquired a knowledge of and taste for farming that was to influence his whole after life. Two years later he rented a farm in Salem township a began farming on his own account, and was thus engaged in that township for thirteen years, at the end of which time he moved on:‘ a farm in Noble township, where he was engaged in farming for five years, or until he returned to Salem township and bought the farm of eighty-two acres on which he is now living in that township
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and where he ever since has resided. Since taking possession of this farm Mr. Seewer has made numerous improvements of a substantial character and has a comfortable home and a well-equipped farm plant. He carries on his operations in accordance with modern methods and is doing well. To Mr. and Mrs. Seewer have been born twelve children, all of whom are living save one son, Louis, the others being John, Henry, Walter, Lawrence, Albert, Fred, Carl, Caroline, Clara, Emma and Lulu. Mr. and Mrs. Seewer are members of St. Paul's church at St. Marys and are independent in their political views. Mr. Seewer is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Kossuth, and of the encampment of that order at Spencerville, and takes a warm interest in lodge affairs.
JACOB BACHMANN, one of the well-known farmers and landowners of Duchouquet township, proprietor of a well-kept place on rural mail route No. 6 out of Wapakoneta, where he and his family are very comfortably situated, is of European birth, but has been a resident of this country since he was twenty years of age, a period of more than forty years. Mr. Bachmann was born on a farm in the vicinity of Eising Castle, Germany, May 9, 1862, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Bachmann, both of whom also were born in that vicinity and who spent all their lives there. Jacob Bachmann grew to manhood in his native land, and when twenty years of age, in 1882, came to America, locating at New York city, where for fourteen months he was engaged as a baker. He then came to Ohio and began working on the farm of his uncle, Jacob Grebe, in Washington township, this county, and after three years rented a farm in this county and started in as a farmer on his own account, being thus engaged for four years, at the end of which time he gave up that farm and began working "by the month," continuing thus engaged until three years after his marriage, when he bought a "forty" in Duchouquet township, a part of the place on which he is now living, and has since made his home there. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Bachmann has made numerous substantial improvements on the place and now has a well-equipped farm plant. He also has added to his holdings by the purchase of an adjoining tract of twenty acres, and thus has a well-improved farm of sixty acres, in the operation of which he is doing well. In his political views, Mr. Bachmann is a Democrat. It was in 1889, five or six years after he came to this county, that Jacob Bachmann was united in marriage to Ottilie Schneider, and to this union three children have been born, but one of whom (Rudolph) is now living, the others having been one who died in infancy and Louisa. Rudolph Bachmann married Agnes Duvall and has six children, James, John, Doris, William, Elizabeth and Irma.
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ALBERT HUDSON, one of the well-knOWn farmers of Washington township and proprietor of a well-improved farm about three miles northwest of New Knoxville, was born on a farm along Center branch, in section 24 of St. Marys township, on September 1, 1870, and is a son of Elijah and Margaret (Combs) Hudson, both of whom also were born in this state, the latter at Wooster, in Wayne county, The late Elijah Hudson was born in Franklin county and was eight years of age when he came over into this part of the state with his parents, Jesse Hudson and wife, the family settling on a tract of something more than 100 acres of land which Jesse Hudson had entered from the Government along Center creek, in the norhwest quarter of section 18 of Washington township, in 1834, two years after the Indians had left this region, and two years before he town site of New Knoxville had been platted, this land at that time lying in Allen county, that having been fourteen years before the erection of Auglaize county. Jesse Hudson, the pioneer, made a clearing there, and with the aid of his sons got a farm under cultivation and there spent the remainder of his life, and it was on that pioneer farm that Elijah Hudson grew to manhood, thoroughly familiar the difficult details of creating a farm in a woodland wilderness. the meantime he was realizing the growing value of lands in this region and bought a tract of 160 acres over the line along Center branch, in section 24 of St. Marys township, where he established hia home after his marriage. There he resided for years, or until in the final disposition of his father's estate he bought the old home place in Washington township, the place where his son, Albert, is now living, and moved back there. And on that place, where he had spent his youth, he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on December 18, 1903. He was the owner of 240 acres of land and had long been accounted one of the substantial and influential men of that neighborhood. To Elijah Hudson and wife were born r: children, seven of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch (the last born) having two sisters, Mollie and Martha, and four brothers, William C., Jesse, John G. and James C. Hudson. Reared on the farm, Albert Hudson received his schooling in the neighborhood schools in St. Marys township (district No. 4), and from the days of his boyhood has been attentive to farming. He continued farming with his father until the latter's death about twenty years ago, when he took over the home farm in Washington township and has continued to reside there. Mr. Hudson is the owner of an excellent farm of 116 acres, which he has improved in admirable fashion, and he and his family are very comfortably situated, He is an independent Democrat and attends the United Brethren church, of which his wife is a member. Albert Hudson married Louise M. Hoewischer, daughter of W. M. and Louise (Storch) Hoewischer,
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and to this union have been born six children, Elijah, Sylvanus, Gertrude, Paul, Virgil and Betty Jean. The Hudsons have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 4 out of St. Marys.
FRED WUEBKER, one of Auglaize countyls most substantial landowners and a well-known farmer of Jackson township, proprietor of a well-improved farm in the northeastern corner of that township, about a mile and a half northeast of Minster, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. Mr. Wuebker was born un September 15, 1866, and is a son of Fred and Mary (Ronabaum) Wuebker, both of whom were born in Germany, but were married in this country, to which they had come in the days of their youth. The senior Fred Wuebker was not yet twenty years of age when he came to America, a poor boy, hoping here to establish himself in a better position in life than any that then gave promise in his home land. He came over in a sailing vessel that was eighteen weeks in making the passage, and when he landed was well nigh "strapped" so far as cash was concerned. By the time he reached Cincinnati, which was his objective point on coming here, but he had but 95 cents until, but he had a stout heart and willing hands, and it was not long until he had a job and was beginning to see his way clear. For two years Fred Wuebker carried brick at Cincinnati, and later worked in the pork house, and then he married and came up into this part of the state to start in on the realization of his hopes to become a farmer and landowner. For five years after his arrival in this county he was engaged in farming on rented lands, and then he bought a "forty" in the northeast corner of Jackson township, a part of the place now owned there by his son, Fred, and on that place established his home. He "made good" on his venture and later bought an adjoining "eighty," and then as his affairs prospered added further to his holdings until he became the owner of 147 acres there northeast of Minster, and on that place spent his last days, his death occurring in 1912, he then being eighty-seven years of age. To the senior Fred Wuebker and wife were born seven children, five of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mary and Johanna, and two brothers, Henry and Bernard Wuebker. The junior Fred Wuebker was reared on that farm, and from boyhood his attention has been given to the improvement and development of the place. He received his schooling in the schools at Minster and for six years after his marriage continued to work in association with his father on the home place. He then bought the farm of 147 acres and has continued to make his home there, meanwhile doing much in the way of development and improvement. Mr. Wuebker has, besides this place, another farm of 124 acres in Jackson township, a farm of 120 acres in VanBuren township, in the
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neighboring county of Shelby, and a farm of eighty acres in Turtle Creek township, in the latter county, besides another quarter section 647 acres in all, and thus is accounted one of the well-to-do landowners of this county. He has five sets of buildings on his land and in all his operations is doing well. In his political views Mr. Wuebker holds himself independent of party ties. He and his family are members of St. Augustine's Catholic church at Minster, and he is a member of St. Augustine's Orphan Society. Fred Wuebker married Mary Bernhold, a daughter of Charles Bernhold, whose farm adjoined the Wuebker place on the north, and to this union have been born ten children, Emma, Cecelia, Henry, Bernard, Johanna,. Frances, Lauretta, Rose, Robert and Clarence, four of whom are married. Emma Wuebker married Robert Pleiman and has two children. Cecelia Wuebker married Joseph Sager and has four children. Henry Wuebker married Dorothy Winner and has one child, and Johanna Wuebker married Julius Hoying and has one The Wuebkers have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster.
FRED HABERKAMP, a former trustee of Washington township and a well-known farmer of the New Knoxville neighborhood, proprietor of a well-kept farm lying just north of that village, was born on that place and has lived there all his life. Mr. Haberkamp was born on January 15, 1866, and is a son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Schroer) Haberkamp, both natives of Germany, who had come to this country with their respective parents in the days of their youth, the Haberkamps and the Schroers becoming early settlers of the New Knoxville neighborhood, in what is now Auglaize county, but which at the time of the coining of these families was a part Allen county. Adolph Haberkamp was about seventeen years of age when he came here with his parents, the family locating in Washington township. Work on the canal then was in progress, and his father took the contract to excavate one mile of that project, a work with which he successfully carried out, and young Adolph went to work his father on that job and helped him carry it through to completion, thereafter helping him in the equally strenuous job of clearing and developing the home farm in the woods there north of New Knoxville. On July 19, 1848, Adolph Haberkamp married Elizabeth Schroer, and thereafter devoted his own time to farming on his own account, and became the owner of an excellent farm of ninety-nine acres, a part of the place now owned and occupied by his son, Fred. On that place Adolph Haberkamp died on January 9, 1885, he then being in his sixty-fourth year, for he was born on December 27, 1821,and his widow survived him for some years. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom but two are now living, the subject of this sketch and his brother, George Haberkamp, further reference
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to whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Reared on the home farm there in the vicinity of New Knoxville, Fred Haberkamp received his schooling in the village schools, and from the days of his boyhood has been devoted to the affairs of the home farm. After his father's death he took charge of the place in his mother's behalf, and after her death he took over sixty-five acres of the farm, a holding which he since has increased to seventy-two acres, and has continued to live there, he and his family being very comfortably situated. Mr. Haberkamp is a Republican and has rendered public service as a trustee of Washington township and as a member of the local school board. He and his wife are members of the First Reformed church at New Knoxville, and he has served as a deacon of the congregation. Fred Haberkamp married Louise Mary Wiethoff, then a resident of St. Marys township, and to this union have been born five children, Hilda (who died at the age of twenty-three years), Leona, Gustave, Bertha and Arnold, but one of whom (Leona) is married, she being the wife of Harry Meckstroth and has one child, Margaret Mary. Mrs. Haberkamp was born in St. Marys township and is a daughter of Henry and Sophia (Kuck) Wiethoff, members of pioneer families in this county, who were married here. Henry Wiethoff was born in Germany and was about seventeen years of age when he came to this country with his parents, the family proceeding on out into Ohio and settling in this county. After his marriage he established his home on a farm in St. Marys township, the owner of sixty acres there, and on that place spent the remainder of his life. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, four of whom are still living, Mrs. Haberkamp having two sisters, Mary and Anna, and a brother, Fred Wiethoff. The Haberkamp home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 4 out of St. Marys.
WILLIAM E. MILLER, a well-known farmer and landowner of Salem township, until recently a resident of Union township, is a member of one of the real pioneer families of Auglaize county and has lived in this county all his life. Mr. Miller was born on a farm in Union township on August 27, 1878, and is a son of Joseph and Martha (Hardin) Miller, both of whom were born in that same township, the Millers and the Hardins having been among the first families of that part of the county. Joseph Miller, who is now living retired from the farm, making his home at Uniopolis, is a son of Simon and Catherine Miller, who had come to Ohio from Pennsylvania and had settled in the northwest quarter of section 17 of Union township, that township then having been a part of Allen county, and had there established their home, just north of the present village of Uniopolis. Reared on the farm, Joseph Miller became a farmer on his own account, and after his marriage established his home on a farm in Union township, and as his affairs prospered
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added to his holdings until he became the owner of 258 acres of land He continued actively engaged in farming until his retirement an removal to Uniopolis, where he is now living. To him and his wife were born three children, two of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Blanche. Reared on the home far. in Union township, William E. Miller received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained with his father on the far until after his marriage, when he rented a farm in that same tow ship and began farming on his own account. For sixteen years Mr. Miller continued as a tenant farmer, and then he bought a farm of 120 acres in Union township, where he remained until in 1917, when he sold that place to advantage and resumed farming as a rent, In 1922 he bought the farm of 150 acres on which he is now
in Salem township, and has established his home there, carrying out some important projects in the way of improvements, wih the design eventually to having one of the best farm plants in that neighborhood. In his political views Mr. Miller is "independent." For some time during his residence in Union township he served as road supervisor in his district. He is a member of the local lodge of the Knights of Pythias at Uniopolis. William E. Miller married Lavina Lhamon, daughter of Enos and Nancy (Plumer) Lhamori, and to this union have been born five children, Everett E., Rosetta B.. Carrie, Ethel and J. Irvin, all of whom are at home. Everett E. Miller, the elder son, married Leone Carter and is farming on the home place. The Millers have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of St. Marys.
EMANUEL F. WISWASSER, one of the trustees of Salem township and a well-known farmer and landowner of that township was born in that township and has lived there all his life. Mr. Wiswasser was born on July 3, 1872, and is a son of George arid Elizabeth (Kuhl) Wiswasser, both members of pioneer families in the county. George Wiswasser, who is now living retired at St. Mary was born in Germany and was seven years of age when he came this country with his parents, the family coming on out into Ohio and locating in Marion county. Not long afterward they came over into Auglaize county and settled on a pioneer farm in Salem township, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. On that pioneer farm George Wiswasser grew to manhood. He early became engaged in the lumber business, and until the big timber was got out of the way operated a saw mill, an industry which he maintained for twenty years, finding an outlet for his lumber in the canal traffic,' Meantime he had bought a farm of sixty acres south of the river, in section 34 of Salem township, and upon his retirement from the mill became engaged in farming that place, remaining there until his retirement, in 1913, and removal to St. Marys, where he and his
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 445
wife are now living. They are the parents of seven children, all of whom are living, the subject of this sketch having five sisters, Matilda, Josephine, Alice, Clara and Lilia, and one brother, Albert Wiswasser. Reared on the home farm in Salem township, Emanuel F. Wiswasser received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and was early trained to the ways of the farm. As a young man he was for some time engaged as a contractor in road construction, but after his marriage established his home on a farm in Salem township and was for ten years engaged as a tenant farmer. He then bought the farm of eighty acres on which he is living in that township, and has ever since resided there, he and his family being very comfortably situated. Mr. Wiswasser has done well in his farm operations and has bought a "forty" adjoining his home farm. He is a Democrat, one of the recognized leaders of that party in his home township, and is now serving as a township trustee, his term of service on the board of trustees having begun on January 1, 1922. He is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Kossuth, and of the encampment of that order at Spencerville, and takes a proper interest in the affairs of the order. It was in 1898 that Emanuel F. Wiswasser was united in marriage to Martha Bowersox, daughter of Frank Bowersox, and a member of one of the old families of Logan township, and to this union have been born seven children, Ernest, Lester, Mildred, Laurel, Jacob, Gerald and Helen, all of whom are at home. The Wiswassers have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of St. Marys.
AUGUST ZIEGENBUSCH, one of Jackson township's well- known farmers, proprietor of a well-improved farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster, was born in that township on August 11, 1865, and is a son of J. H. H. and Henrietta (Ortman) Ziegenbusch, both of whom were born in Germany, but had become residents of this country in the days of their youth, later becoming useful pioneers of the Minster neighborhood, in this county. The late J. H. H. Ziegenbusch was seventeen years of age when he came to this country with his parents, the family locating at New Bremen, which then as in Mercer county, that having been before the erection of Auglaize county. He secured employment on the canal construction project and for some time after the completion of the canal was further employed in the operations attendant upon canal traffic. After his marriage he devoted his attention to farming and bought a tract of 132 acres just east of the canal, a mile north of Minster, in the northwest quarter of section 23 of township 7, which on the division of German township became the north line of Jackson township, and on that place spent the remainder of his life, increasing his holdings until he became the owner of a farm of 150 acres. To him and his wife were born eight children, two of whom died in
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infancy, the others (besides the subject of this sketch) being Julianna, Henry, Charles, William and Sophia. Reared on the home farm, a mile north of the Minster corporation line, August Ziegenbusch completed his schooling in the New Bremen schools, and from the days of his boyhood was a helpful factor in the labors of improving and developing the home farm. After his marriage he bought the place on which he is now living, established his family there, and has ever since resided on that place, he and his fa: being very comfortably situated. Mr. Ziegenbusch has a well: farm of eighty acres, and a well-equipped farm plant, and is well in his operations. He is a Republican, and he and his are members of St. Peter's Evangelical church at New Bremen, of which congregation he is one of the deacons and formerly member of the board of trustees. August Ziegenbusch married Clementine Boesel, daughter of Chris Boesel, and a member of one of the pioneer families of the community, and to this union three children have been born, Elmer, Julia and Pauline, the latter of whom died in infancy. Julia Ziegenbusch married Lafe Egbert and has one child, a daughter, Verna.
H. A. BRUEGGEMAN, one of German township's well-known farmers and landowners, now living retired at New Bremen, where he has made his home for the past seven years, was born on a pioneer farm about a mile northwest of New Bremen, in German township August 3, 1849, and is a son of Eberhardt and Hannah (Sager) Brueggeman, both natives of Germany, who were arum, pioneers of the New Bremen neighborhood. Eberhardt Brueggeman came to this country in the days of his young manhood and presently became engaged working on the canal which then was being structed up through this part of the state. He decided to set: the New Bremen neighborhood and bought a tract of forty about a mile northwest of that town, where he established his and began to clear and develop his farm. He later bought ahi joining tract of forty acres, and thus had a farm of eighty acres, on which place he and his wife spent their last days. They were the parents of seven children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary. Reared on the old home farm in German township, H. A. Brueggeman received his schooling in the little old log school house which then served its purpose as a school in his home district, and from the days of his boyhood gave his attention to the labors of the farm, farming with his father until, upon the latter's retirement, he bought the place of eighty acres and began to farm on his own account. He prospered in these operations, and after awhile bought an adjoinirig tract of twenty acres, this giving him a farm of 100 acres, which he still owns, and upon which he continued to make his home until his re-
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 447
tirement from the active labors of the farm in 1915 and removal New Bremen, where he since has made his home and where he and his family are quite comfortably situated. He owns a tract of line acres surrounding his town house, and thus has ample ground on which to carry out his gardening inclinations and keep him pleasanty occupied in his retirement. For thirty-five years he operated a threshing rig in his neighborhood, starting with a horse-power machine, which he operated for eight years. For six years he was appraiser for the German Fire Insurance Company, and was for six years president of that company. Mr. Brueggeman has been twice married. His first wife, Anna Jordon, daughter of Christopher Jordon, died, leaving one child, a daughter, Anna. Mr. Brueggeman then married Mary Jordon, his deceased wife's sister, and to this union five children have been born, of whom two are now living, Clara and Leona, the latter of whom is unmarried. Anna Brueggeman married George Thompson and has two children, Clinton and Alton, Clara Brueggeman married Herman Fork and has six children. Lester, Elmer, Herbert, Gladys, Helen and Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Brueggeman are members of St. Paul's Lutheran church, and he has served the congregation of that church as a deacon and as the president of the board of trustees. In his political views he reserves himself the right to vote independently of party ties.
HENRY FOLTZ, one of Logan township's farmers and Landowners, the proprietor of a farm on rural mail route No. 1 out of hume, is a native of Illinois, but has been a resident of Auglaize
county since he was ten years of age, he having come here with his parents just after the close of the Civil war. Mr. Foltz was born in Jasper county, Illinois, in 1856, and is a son of Simon Foltz, who later became a resident of Auglaize county, and on his farm in Logan township spent his last days. Simon Foltz was a Virginian by birth, who grew up as a carpenter and cooper, and who after his marriage located in Jasper county, Illinois, where he remained until 1865, when he came with his family to Ohio and located in this county, buying a tract of eighty acres of land in Logan township, where he established his home. He and his wife were the parents of two children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Sarah. As noted above, Henry Foltz was ten years of age when he came to this county with his parents in 1865, and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Logan township, completing his schooling in the neighborhood district school. Upon the death of his father he inherited a "forty" of the home place, and to this he later added by purchase an adjoining tract of forty-one acres. Henry Foltz married Anna Bruner, who was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, and to this union one child was born, a son, Zelin Foltz, who married Sarah Thomas and died leaving one child, a son, Leo. Mr. and Mrs. Foltz are members of the Christian Union
church.
448 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
HERMAN LAMMERS, one of Washington township's veteran farmers, now living practically retired on his well-kept of old Lammers homestead, along the county line a mile sou-New Knoxville, was born on that place and has lived then life, a period of more than seventy years, and has thus region develop from pioneer days. Mr. Lammers was born on February 28, 1850, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Wierwille) Lammers, both of whom (natives of Germany) had come to this section of with their respective parents in the days of their youth, mers and the Wierwille families becoming pioneers of this section of Ohio, back in the days when the lands now occupied by their scendants in Washington township were included within the fines of Allen county, long before Auglaize county was Henry Lammers was a well-grown lad when he came here parents, and his first labors here were performed as a workng on the construction of the canal, these labors procuring for him a sum of money which he invested in a tract of land in the v the southwest quarter of section 28, just southeast of New Knoxville, in Washington township, and after his marriage he established his home there. He was a good farmer, and as he cleared and improved his place he added to his holdings until he became the owner of no less than 240 acres, including a fine farm of 200 acres in Washington township and an adjoining forty over the lirie in Shelby county, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives, useful and influential members of that community. They were the parents of nine children, all but two of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having four sisters, Sophia, Fredericka, Magdalena and Anna, and two brothers, Ernst and Louis Lammers Reared on the home farm there southeast of New Knoxville, Herman Lammers received his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood was a helpful factor in the lab, developing the home farm. After his marriage he rented a p, of his father's place and has continued to live there, buying b terests of the other heirs in the place after his father's deah. coming into possession of this place Mr. Lammers has mad tensive improvements, including the erection of a new set of buildings, and has an excellent farm plant. He owns 198 acresnce it of which lies over the line in Shelby county, and his farm is profitable cultivated. Though of late years he has been living practically retired from the active direction of the farm, he and his wife continue to make their home there, and he keeps an interested eye on affairs generally. In his political views Mr. Lammers is an “independent." He and his wife have for years been active in the affairs of the Reformed church at New Knoxville, in the faith of which church their children were reared, and he has served as a deacon of
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZEI COUNTY - 449
the congregation. Herman Lammers married Mary Ferleman, also member of one of the pioneer families of Washington township, to this union have been born eight children, Anna, Fred, Wesley, Matilda, Hilda, Benjamin, Otto and Salome, all of whom are married save the two last named. Anna Lammers married George Hoelscher and has five children, Martha, Noah, Esther, Ruby and Elmer. Fred Lammers married Matilda Fledderjohn and has four children, Paul, Tabitha, Silas and Victor. Wesley Lammers married Elizabeth Fledderjohn and has two children, John and Loren. Matilda Lammers married August Fledderjohn and has two children, Vernon and Almeda. Hilda Lammers married Henry Henschen and has two children, Robert and Curtis, and Benjamin Lammers married Louetta Kolthoff. Mrs. Mary Lammers was born in Washington Township and is a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Knappe) Ferleman, who came to this country shortly after their marriage in their native Germany and proceeded on out into this section of Ohio, settling on a farm in the New Knoxville neighborhood. Some years latter they moved down over the line into Shelby county, where Henry Ferleman bought a farm and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of five children, three of whom are still living, Mrs. Lammers having two sisters, Fredericka and Louise. The Lammers home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 2 out of Botkins.
ALBERT HALE NEFF, former trustee of Duchouquet township and one of the best known retired farmers and landowners of Aulaize county, now living at Wapakoneta, where until lately he has been employed as a county bridge nspector, is a member of what without fear of contradiction may be said to be the real "first" family of Auglaize county, for he is a great-grandson of Francis Duchouquet, the French trader and interpreter of whom so much has been said in the historical section of this work, who established his trading post at Wapakoneta back in the Indian days, long before there was any thought of permanent white settlement here, and whose valued services to the Government as an interpreter and scout were requited when there was set off to him by formal treaty one full section of land (section 30 of Duchouquet township) , known as the Duchouquet reserve, when the Government was carrying out its final dealings the with Indians here, all of which is set out in detail elsewhere. It be will be recalled that Francis Duchouquet died in the East while on a on mission to Washington in behalf of the Indians following the cession of their lands here in 1831, and was buried at Cumberland. It is said that Francis Duchouquet was born at Presque Isle, a son of a French trader, and that he followed in his father's footsteps and in time became one of the best known Indian traders in what then was
(28)
450 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
known as the Territory Northwest of the Ohio, the range of his operations extending from the Ohio river to Lake Erie, with his headquarters and trading post at the Indian village of Wapakoneta, the head of pirouge navigation on the Auglaize from this section of Ohio through the Maumee to the Lake, and so situated that with a narrow portage his traffic also could be carried on down to the 0hio from the headwaters of the Miami not far south of his trading post.
It also will be recalled that Francis Duchouquet upon establishing his post here took to wife a Shawnee girl, daughter of one of the chiefs, a custom almost invariably followed by these venturesome and hardy French traders, trappers, voyageures and couriers dubois, for of white women of course there were none to give them companionship in the wilds, and with this Shawnee wife he established his home at the point along. the riverside just west of the present city limits of Wapakoneta, north of the lower bridge, at what for many years has been known as the Neff place, and where when Albert H. Neff made his home until his retirement from he farm and removal to town. It thus is through this Shawnee wife of Francis Duchouquet, the man about whose memory so many interesting local traditions cluster, that Albert H. Neff has his strain of Indian blood, a strain which not only is quite apparent in his physique, but in which he has no small measure of pride, for the Shawnees were among the very best of the aboriginal breeds on this continent. One of the daughters of Francis Duchouquet and his Shawnee wife married Peter (Pierre) Hammel, also of French stock, and a daughter of this union married Joseph Neff, father of Albert H. Neff. Pierre Hammel is said to have come down here from Canada about the time of the close of the War of 1812 and to have established a trading post at the Wapakoneta Indian village, concerning which circumstance full details are set out in the historical section of this work. In 1816 he married Francis Duchouquet's daughter and established his home with Duchouquet on the latter's reserve at what is now the west edge of town, on the north bank of the river and he and Duchouquet operated together until the latterngs death, in 1831, after which Hammel (through his wife) came into possession of half of the Duchouquet mile square. Pierre Hammel and his wife had four children, two of whom, Pamelia and Theresa, grew to maturity and were married. Pamelia married Joseph Neff and Theresa Hammel married William Craft and the Hammel estate in time became divided between the Neffs and the Crafts, the eastern half of section 30 having been divided about equally between the two, Joseph Neff was a Pennsylvanian, born on Russell Creek in 1818 and was but ten or eleven years of age when he came out into this section of Ohio about 1829 and began working in the St. Marys neighborhood, doing such work as a boy could do in carrying on
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 451
clearing operations. Not long afterward he made his way to Toledo and there served an apprenticeship to a millwright. In 1834, two years following the departure of the Indians from the Wapakoneta reserve, he returned here and became engaged in the employ of Doctor Holbrook, "the father of Auglaize county," driving oxen and looking after some of the Doctor's extensive land clearing operations hereabout, and was thus engaged until his marriage in 1839, he then being twenty-one years of age, to Pamelia Hammel. After his marriage Joseph Neff settled on the Hammel farm, which by this time was beginning to be developed along agricultural lines, in came into possession of the same through inheritance, and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1891, he then being seventy-three years of age. His wife had long preceded him to the grave, her death having occurred in 1856. They were the parents of three children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the last born and of whom two survive, Mr. Neff having a sister, Mrs. Emma Davis, now a resident of Chicago. Albert Hale Neff was born on the old Neff farm on the Duchouquet reserve on October 27, 1856, and was but an infant when his mother died. He was reared on the farm, his aunt and his older sister having charge of his childhood, and he received his schooling in the local schools. He early was trained as a practical farmer and continued working on the farm in association with his father until the latter's death in 1891, after which he took charge of the farm—a well-improved place 128 acres—and continued operating the same for some years thereafter, or until his retirement from the farm, when he became employed in the Wapakoneta wheel works as a turner and for thirteen years thereafter was thus employed, during this long period of employment losing an eye through accident. Upon giving up his place at the wheel works he took up gardening on the home farm and was thus engaged until in 1920, when an attack of illness prostrated him and he decided to give up farming. With that end in view he bought his present home at 303 Defiance street and has since resided there, he and his family being very pleasantly situated. Upon moving to town Mr. Neff became employed as a county bridge inspector and was so engaged until in the fall of 1921, when he suffered an injury which determined him to retire from further active service. Mr. Neff is an earnest Republican and has ever sought to promote the interests of that party. In 1916 he was elected to represent his district as a member of the board of trustees for Duchouquet township and served a term in that capacity. In his fraternal relations he is affiliated with the local aerie of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. His sons also are members of this order and are likewise members of the local lodge of the Benevolent and Protective order of Elks, and one of his sons, Russell Neff, is a veteran
452 - HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY
of the World war. It was in 1884 that Albert Hale Neff was united in marriage to Maud Wentz, daughter of Charles and Edith Wentz, of this county, and to this union have been born six children, three daughters, Mrs. Ada Smith, Mrs. Margaret Rumbaugh and Mrs, Virginia Kuntz, and the three sons, Joseph, Russell and Milton Net
WILLIAM STOLTE, one of the best known residents of Washington township, a substantial farmer and landowner, living on his well-kept place on rural route No. 1 out of St. Marys, is a European by birth, but has been a resident of this country and of Auglaize county since he was sixteen years of age, a period of more than fifty years. Mr. Stolte was born in the Prussian province of West. phalia, Germany, April 25, 1855, and was thus sixteen years of age when, in 1871, his parents, William and Elizabeth (Fornhorst) Stolte, came to this country with their family of three children, Henry, William and Sophia, and settled on a farm in Washington township, this county, where they spent the remainder of their lives. Upon coming here the junior William Stolte entered the night school which then was being conducted at New Knoxville, and which was designed to give newcomers from a foreign land an opportunity to acquire a working knowledge of the language spoken in their new. country, and about the same time he entered himself as an apprentice to a local carpenter and builder, with a view to learning the car• penter trade. He served a three years' apprenticeship, for which he received for his service the sum of $135, and then began to work as a carpenter throughout the neighborhood, a vocation which he followed for seven years, or until his marriage, when he settled on the farm on which he is now living, renting there a tract of 120 acres, and thus entered upon the career of farming which ever since has engaged him. For some years he rented this place and then bought it and began to make the improvements which in the year; since have given him a very well-equipped farm plant there, Stolte has done well in his operations and now has 180 acres, renting out the second tract of sixty acres, which he bought some years ago. He is a Republican and has rendered public service as road super. visor and for some years as director of schools in his district. Mr. Stolte married Sophia Fennemann, of the New Knoxville neighbor. hood, and to this union eight children have been born, five of whom are living, Louis, William (III), Harry, Matilda and Emma, all of whom are married save Harry, who is still on the farm with his father. The Rev. Louis Stolte married Mary Lutterbeck and has one child, a daughter, Naomi. William Stolte, Jr., married Sarah Clausing and has three children, Robert, Dorothy and Forest, Matilda Stolte is the wife of Benjamin Schultz, and Emma Stolte married Hugo Kattman and has had three children, Paul, Louis and Irene Ruth (deceased). The Stoltes are members of the Reformed church
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 453
at New Knoxville, and Mr. Stolte is now serving in his fifteenth year as an elder of that congregation. He also served for two years as a deacon of the church. Mrs. Stolte was born in Cincinnati and was out a child when she came up into this part of the state with her parents, William and Esther Fennemann, natives of Germany, the family settling at New Knoxville, where William Fennemann became engaged in the milling business, operating a flour mill and a saw mill, and was thus engaged until these mills were destroyed by fire. He rebuilt the saw mill, and in this latter business continued active until his death, miller at New Knoxville for nearly fifty years. He also was widely known hereabout as an auctioneer, and for years cried public sales throughout this part of the state. William Fennemann and wife were the parents of eight children, four of whom are still living, Mrs. Stolte having three sisters, Minnie, Dora and Emma.
FREDERICK W. SCHROER, SR., one of Washington township's veteran farmers and proprietor in association with his son Fred, of a well improved place east of New Knoxville, rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys, was born on that place and has lived there all his life, a period of nearly seventy-five years, during which time he has witnessed the development of that region from its pioneer state. Mr. Schroer was born on October 13, 1848, a few months after the formal organization of Auglaize county, and is a son of II. H. and Christine (Feggenbaum) Schroer, natives of Germany, who came to this country following their marriage and for a tine thereafter made their home in Cincinnati, presently coming up into this section of Ohio, where they spent the remainder of their lives. H. H. Schroer was a tailor by trade and upon locating at Cincinnati following his arrival in this country set up as a tailor and was for a few years thus engaged in that city. He then became attracted to the possibilities awaiting land settlement up in this part of Ohio and came up here and bought a small farm in Shelby county and started in clearing the place and getting a start as a farmer. Some years later he disposed of his holdings there and moved up into Auglaize county and bought a farm of eighty acres in the New Knoxville neighborhood, where he established his home and spent the rest of his life. His widow survived him for some years increasing her holdings to 120 acres. They were the parents of eight children, of whom the subject of this sketch, the seventh in order of birth, now is the only survivor, the others having been Herman, William, Henry, Ernst, Adolph, Elizabeth and Christina. Reared on the home farm in Washington township, Frederick W. Schroer received his schooling in the local schools. He continued farming with his father until the latter's death and thereafter for some time managed the place in his mother's behalf. He then bought the home tract of 120 acres and began to farm on his own account
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and has ever since made his home there. Since taking possession of that place, Mr. Schroer has made extensive improvements and has a well equipped farm plant. He also has increased his land holdings until he now owns 160 acres there, besides a farm of 140 acres in Mercer county, and is very comfortably situated. He is a Republican and has rendered public service as a director of schools in his district. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville and he has served as a deacon of that congregation. Mr. Schroer married Mary Fledderjohann, daughter of Henry Fledderjohann and a member of the well known pioneer family of that name in Washington township, and to that union six children were born, Wilhelmina, Henry (deceased), Sophia, Louise, Fred, Jr., and Mary, all of whom married save Sophia, who is at home. The mother of these children died on September 29, 1912, Wilhelmina Schroer married William Warner and has one child, a daughter, Luella. The late Henry Schroer married Emma Fenneman and died leaving one child, a son, Harry. Louise Schroer married William Soerhoff and has two children, Ada and Mary, The junior Fred Schroer, who is now farming in partnership with In, father, married Sophia Hoge and has two children, Marcella and Enoch, and Mary Schroer married Henry Vohs and has three children, Rinehart, Leonard and Olga.
JOSEPH J. MEYER, one of the trustees of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt and a well known farmer and landowner of Jackson township, proprietor of a well kept farm in the upper par of the "neck" of that township, in section 6 of tOWnship 8, was be on that farm and has lived there all his life, now the third in direct line of Meyers who have owned the place, the original "fort: which was entered from the government by his grandfather. settled there in pioneer days. Mr. Meyer was born on February 1872, and is a son of Bernard H. and Caroline (Rolfes) Meyer, members of pioneer families in that neighborhood. Bernard 11 Meyer, who is now living retired in the home of his son, Jo was born on that farm and is a son of Bernard Meyer and wife, had come to this country following their marriage in their native Germany and had located in Cincinnati, later coming up into th part of the state and settling on the place here referred to, pioneer, Bernard Meyer, entering there from the Government a tract of forty acres, on which he established his home and which has sine, remained in the family possession. The pioneer increased his holdings there to ninety acres and on that place spent the remainder c: his life, the farm coming into possession of his son, Bernard 11, Meyer, who is still living there, making his home with his son. Joseph, who bought the place from his father upon the latter's retirement, and his children constitute the fourth generation of
HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY - 455,
family continuously resident on the place. Bernard H. Meyer grew up on that farm and after his marriage to Caroline Rolfes, who also had grown up in the Egypt neighborhood, established his home there and presently came into possession of the place, which upon his retirement he sold to his son, Joseph, the only son of the family. To Bernard H. Meyer and wife were born four children, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Catherine, Anna and Mary. Reared on the home farm there in the "neck" of Jackson township, Joseph J. Meyer received his schooling in the school at Egypt and from the days of his boyhood was a valuable aid to his father in the labors of developing and improving the farm. After his marriage he rented the place and thus operated it as a tenant farmer for about ten years, at the end of which time he bought the farm of ninety acres and has since been farming on his own account and is doing well in his operations. Mr. Meyer is a Republican. He and his family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt, and he is a member of the board of trustees having in control the valuable property held by that parish. He also is a member of the St. Joseph Society, and has long given his earnest attention to parish affairs. Joseph J. Meyer married Catherine Hohne, daughter of Henry and Mary (Ankenbauer) Hohne, and to this union have been born seven children, Rose, Laurence, Justine, Edward, Alvina, Emma and Matilda. The Meyers have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Ft. Loramie.
ALBERT L. CROW, one of Duchouquet township's well-known farmers and proprietor of a well-improved farm in the valley of Two Mile creek, on rural mail route No. 4 out of Wapakoneta, was born on a farm in Moulton township on November 7, 1876, and is a son of William A. and Lydia (Clawson) Crow, in their generation well-known residents of that township. The late William A. Crow was born in that same township and was a son of Samuel Crow, one of the pioneers of that part of the county, who had settled there on a farm of 110 acres, and whose last days were spent there. On that pioneer farm William A. Crow grew to manhood, becoming a practical farmer. After his marriage he established his home on a seventy-acre farm he had bought in the Glynwood neighborhood and there resided for several years, at the end of which time he moved to an "eighty" he had bought in the northern part of the township and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on November 5, 1915. He had been successful in his farming operations and at the time of his death was the owner of 150 acres in Moulton township, eighty acres in Logan township, and 105 acres in Stokes township, over in Hardin county. He and his wife were the parents of nine children, all of whom are living save one (Marcus), the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Minnie, Mattie
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and Nettie, and four brothers, Everett, Warren, Robert and Verne Crow. Reared on the home farm in the northern part of Moulton township, Albert L. Crow received his schooling in old district No. 7 school, and from the days of his boyhood has given his chief attention to farming. When twenty-three years of age he began farming on his own account, renting a farm of eighty acres in Logan township. When twenty-five he married and established his home there remaining there for six years thereafter, at the end of which he bought the farm of seventy-seven and one-half acres on which he is now living, in the northwestern part of Duchouquet township and has since resided there, he and his wife being very comfortably situated. Since taking possession of this place Mr. Crow has made numerous substantial improvements on the place and has a well-equipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming, he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well in his operations. It was on April 20, 1902, that Albert L, Crow was united in marriage to Loa Spees, who also was born in this county, a member of one of the pioneer families here. Mr. and Mrs Crow have a pleasant home and take an interested part in the community's general social activities. In their political views they are Democrats.
J. FRED FELDWISCH, a former trustee of Washington township and a well-known farmer of that township, proprietor of a well-kept farm along the county line about two miles southeast New Knoxville, was born on that place and has lived there all his life, a period of more than sixty years. Mr. Feldwisch was born on October 4, 1859, and is a son of William and Christina (Logermann) Feldwisch, natives of Germany, who were among the influential pioneers of that section of the county. William Feldwisch came to America in the days of his young manhood and made his way out into this section of Ohio. The work of constructing the canal then was in progress and he became employed on the canal crew, working on that big job of engineering until it was completed, and after his marriage settled down on a farm, buying an "eighty" in the woods in the southeast quarter of section 28 of Washington township, the place on which his son, Fred, now lives. On that place he built a cabin and established his home, eventually getting the tract cleared and cultivated, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of six children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Reared on that woodland farm, J. Fred Feldwisch received his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood has given his attention to the affairs of the farm. After his father's death he bought the interests of the other heirs in the place and has continued to make his home there, now the
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owner of a fine farm of 110 acres, which he has improved in up-to-date fashion, and on which he has a well-equipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Feldwisch has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, and has done well in his operations. He is a Republican, and for eleven years served as a trustee of Washington township. He also has rendered public service as a member of the school board. He and his family are members of the Reformed church .at New Knoxville, and he has served as a member of the board of trustees of that congregation, and as a deacon of the church. J. Fred Feldwisch married Caroline Schroer, also a member of one of the old families of this section of Ohio, and to this union have been born eight children, seven of whom are living, Matilda, George, Henry, Benjamin, Lydia, Lawrence and Cornelia, three of whom are married. Matilda Feldwisch married Benjamin Henschen and has four children, Adelma, Raymond, Ruth and Lillian. The Rev. George Feldwisch, now pastor of the Reformed church at Bluffton, Ind., married Ruth Wagoner and has, two children, Arlisle and Alois. Lydia Feldwisch married Ferd Henschen and has one child, Howard. Dr. Henry Feldwisch, a graduate of Ohio State University, where he qualified in veterinary surgery, is now state veterinarian for the state of Ohio, with headquarters at Columbus. Benjamin, Lawrence and Cornelia Feldwisch are unmarried and at home with their parents. The Feldwisch home
very pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys. Mrs. Feldwisch also was born in Washington township and is a daughter of William and Mary (Steinecker) Schroer, natives of Germany, who had come to this country with their respective parents in the days of their youth, and who grew up here and were married. The late William Schroer was about fourteen years of age when he came to this section of Ohio with his parents back in pioneer days, and he grew to manhood on a woodland farm which his father bought in Washington township. As a young man he spent three summers in Cincinnati, making the trips on foot, and there worked in a brick yard to get some ready cash with which to buy a bit of land here at home. With this money he bought a "forty" in the New Knoxville neighborhood, and after his marriage established his home there, later increasing his holdings by the purchase of an adjoining forty. Some years later he disposed of that farm and bought a farm down in Shelby county, but after a few years of residence there returned to Auglaize county and bought the place on which his son, William H, Schroer, is now living in Washington township, a farm of 107 acres, and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in March, 1910. His widow survived him for more than three years, her death occurring in August, 1913. They were the parents of six children, three of whom are living, Mrs. Feldwisch having a sister, Sophia, and a brother, William H. Schroer.
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MATHIAS J. GERSTNER, a former member of the Wapakoneta city council, formerly and for years engaged in blacksmithing in that city, and now living on his well-kept farm in Duchouquet township, on rural mail route No. 1 out of Wapakoneta, is a native son of Auglaize county, and has lived here nearly all his life, the exception being a period during the days of his young manhood when he was engaged in blacksmithing at Piqua. Mr. Gerstner was born on a farm in Pusheta township, just east of Freyburg, January 4, 1871, and is a son of John and Mary (Eisert) Gerstner, the latter of whom died on September 26, 1896. John Gerstner, who is now living retired at Botkins, down over the line in Shelby county, was born in Germany, and in his youth came to America with his par. ents, John Gerstner and wife, the family proceeding on out into Ohio, in 1850, and landing at St. Marys, on a canal boat. They presently moved onto a farm east of Freyburg, in Pusheta township, this county, which the elder John Gertsner bought, and on which the family home was established. On that place the junior John Gerstner grew to manhood, becoming a practical farmer. After his marriage he rented a farm in that neighborhood and started in farm. ing for himself, about ten years later buying a farm of eighty acres there, which he later increased to 1821/2 acres, and there continued farming until his retirement in 1913 and removal to Botkins, where he is now living. To him and his wife were born nine children, all of whom are living save two (Mary and Henry), the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Catherine, Elizabeth and Anna, and three brothers, George, Joseph and John Gerstner. Reared on the home farm in Pusheta township, Mathias J. Gerstner completed schooling in the Catholic parochial school at Freyburg, and at age of seventeen entered upon an apprenticeship in a blacksmith shop at Freyburg, where he learned his trade. Upon attaining his majority he went to Piqua, Ohio, where he opened a blacksmith shop and became there engaged in business on his own account. A couple of years later he married and established his home at Piqua, where he continued to reside until in 1896, when he disposed of his interests there and moved to Wapakoneta, where he opened a blacksmith shop and was there engaged in business for twenty years, or until 191c when he closed out his business and bought the eighty-acre fan Duchouquet township, where he is now living, and where he since has been engaged in farming. Since taking possession of that place Mr. Gerstner has made numerous improvements on the place and has a well equipped farm plant. He is a Democrat, and for some time during his residence in Wapakoneta served as a member of the city council. It was on September 26, 1893, that Mathias J, Gerstner was united in marriage to Mary Wehrle, who was born in Clay township, this county, and who also is a member of one of the pioneer
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families here, a daughter of Jacob Wehrle, and to this union four children have been born, one of whom (Harold) is deceased, the others being Joseph, Catherine and Leo. The elder son, Joseph Gerstner, married Marie Gehrlich, and is farming in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Gerstner are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Wapakoneta, and he is a member of the local council of the Knights of Columbus and of the St. Martin's Society.
CLEM WINNER, assessor of Jackson township, and one of that township's best known and most progressive farmers, proprietor of a well-kept farm in the extreme southwestern corner of the township, was born in the neighboring county of Shelby and has been a resident of this part of the state all his life, with the exception of a brief period not long after his marriage, when he was a resident of Covington, Ky. Mr. Winner was born on April 3, 1872, and is a son of Anton and Caroline (Hoying) Winner, the latter of whom also was born in Shelby county, a member of one of the pioneer families in the upper part of that county. The late Anton Winner was born in Germany and was but two years old when he came with his parents, Frank Winner and wife, to this country. Upon his arrival here, Frank Winner for some time made his home in Cincinnati, and then moved with his family up into this part of the state and settled in Shelby county, where Anton Winner grew to manhood and became engaged in farming, a vocation he followed the remainder of his life. After his marriage he established his home in a log cabin built in the woods on a tract of 120 acres he had bought, and in good time made a good farm out of that place and increased his holdings to 140 acres. To Anton Winner and wife were born nine children, all of whom are living save one, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Catherine and Mary, and five brothers, Charles, Frederick, Henry, Joseph and Anton Winner. Reared on the home farm in Shelby county, Clem Winner received his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood, and from his boyhood was well trained to the ways of the farm. After his marriage he rented the home farm and there continued to make his home for about three years, at the end of which time he moved to Covington, Ky., where he made his residence for one year. The lure of the farm then brought him back to the old neighborhood and he returned here and bought 100 acres of what was known as the Anton Wisman place, in the extreme southwest corner of Jackson township, this county, covering more than half of the west side of the "neck" of that township, in sections 6 and 7 of township 8, bounded on the west by Mercer county, and on the south by Darke county, and including the headwaters of Mile creek, and there established his home. Since then Mr. Winner has bought the remainder of the Wisman place and now has a fine farm of 172 acres. Since taking possession of this place he has made
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numerous substantial and up-to-date improvements on the place, has two sets of buildings, all lighted by electricity, and is well established. In addition to his general farming, he feeds out about seventy-five head of hogs a year and is doing well in his operations. Mr. Winner is a Democrat and has been serving the public as assessor of Jackson township since 1918. He and his family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt, and he formerly was one of the trustees of the church. Clem Winner has been twice married. On November 25, 1896, he was united in marriage to Josephine Ratermann, a daughter of Bernard and Louise (liege) Ratermann, and to this union were born six children, Dorothy, Edward (deceased), Leo, Lauretta, Ernest and Laurence, the eldest of whom, Dorothy, married Henry Wuebker and has one child, a son, Richard. Mrs. Josephine Winner died, and then Mr. Winner married her sister, Catherine Ratermann. The Winners have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Ft. Loramie and are quite comfortably situated.
WILLIAM SMART, a well-known farmer of Washington township, now living practically retired on his well-improved place along the county line about three miles east and south of New Knoxville, is a native of Scotland, but has been a resident of this country since the days of his early infancy, and of this section of Ohio since he was five years of age, a period of nearly seventy years, he thus having been a witness to the development of this region since pioneer days. Mr. Smart was born on March 25, 1849, and was but a babe in arms when his parents, Walter and Jane (Graham) Smart, also natives of Scotland, left their home land in that same year and came to America. Walter Smart proceeded west with his family upon his arrival in this country and located at Cincinnati, where he remained for about five years, or until in 1854, in which year he came with his family up into this section of Ohio and settled on a woodland farm in Van Buren township, Shelby county, just over the line from Auglaize county. He bought a tract of forty acres there, made a clearing, built a cabin and started in to make a farm out of his place, As he got this tract developed he bought other land and then further increased his holdings until he became the owner of no less than 300 acres, a part of which lay up over the line in Auglaize county, and there he and his wife spent their last days, ever helpful and influential residents of that community. Of the children born to them, five lived to maturity, and of these, four are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Isabel and Janet, and a brother, Robert Smart. As will be noted by a comparison of dates above, William Smart was five years of age when his parents settled on the farm down over the line in Shelby county, and he grew to manhood there, receiving his schooling in the neighborhood schools. After his
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marriage his father gave him a piece of land in Van Buren township, where he continued engaged in farming until about twenty years ago, when he moved to his present place across the road in Washington township and has since made his home here. Mr. Smart has a well-improved farm of 220 acres, including his holdings in the two counties, and he and his family are very comfortably situated. In 1907 he retired from the active labors of the farm, but has never lost his interest in the general operations of the same and continues to keep a pretty close supervisory eye on things. In his political views Mr. Smart is a Republican. He is a member of the United Brethren church. William Smart married Lavina J. Roberts (now deceased), daughter of Jesse Roberts, and to that union five children were born, all of whom are living save one daughter, Jennie, the others being Charles, Catherine, Janet and Elizabeth, all of whom are married save Janet, who continues to make her home with her father. Charles Smart married Ida Opperman and has two children. Catherine Smart married William Heineman, and Elizabeth Smart married Fred Opperman and has seven children. The Smart home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys.
JOSEPH J. PRENGER, president of the Jackson township board of education and one of the progressive young farmers of that township, proprietor of a well-improved farm down in the "neck" of Jackson township, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life. Mr. Prenger was born on March 22, 1887, and is a son of Herman and Catherine (Dalinghaus) Prenger, the latter of whom was born in the neighboring county of Mercer, a member of one of the pioneer families there. The late Herman Prenger was born in the adjacent county of Shelby and was there reared, from youth trained to the ways of the farm. After his marriage he bought a tract of 107 acres on Mile creek, just north of the Darke county line, in the "neck" of Jackson township, this county, in section 7, and on that place established his home and spent the remainder of his life. He was a good farmer and as his affairs prospered added to his holdings until he became the owner of 287 acres. He and his wife were the parents of five children, four of whom are living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Anna, and two brothers, Henry and Frank Prenger. Reared on the farm on which he was born, Joseph J. Prenger received his schooling in the Egypt school, and from boyhood was a helpful factor in the labors of developing and improving the home farm. After his father's death he continued farming there, in his mother's behalf, until after his marriage, when he took over the operations of the farm surrounding the home place and presently came into ownership of that tract of 100 acres, which he still owns and which he has improved in admirable shape. Mr. Prenger has a well-equipped farm plant and his
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operations are carried on in accordance with modern methods of agriculture. He gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock and is doing well. He has long taken an active and influential interest in local civic affairs and is now serving the public as the president of the township board of education, of which board he has been a member since 1916. In his political views his leaning is toward independence of party ties. He and his family are members of St. Joseph's Catholic church at Egypt, and for one term he was a member of the board of trustees holding the valuable property of that parish. It was in 1909 that Joseph J. Prenger was united in marriage to Cecelia Wehrman, daughter of Bernard and Elizabeth (Heitbrink) Wehrman, members of old families in the Egypt neighborhood, and to this union have been born seven children, Bernadine, Lauretta, Stella, Victor, Irene, Marcus and Velma. The Prengers have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Ft. Loramie,
CALEB F. GAYER, a former member of the board of trustees of Salem township and present president of the board of education in that township, and in other ways active in the general affairs of the community, a substantial farmer and landowner and one of the best known men in that part of the county, is a European by birth, a Wurtemberger, but has been a resident of Ohio and of Auglaize county since the days of his boyhood. Mr. Gayer was born in the kingdom of Wurtemberg on February 13, 1853, and was eight years of age when his parents, John G. and Magdalena Gayer, came with their family to America and located in Marion county, this state. John G. Gayer had been a shepherd and farmer in his native country, and upon settling in Marion county in 1861 bought a farm in that county and established his home there. Two years later, however, he became attracted to the situation that then was developing over here in Auglaize county, and he sold his Marion county farm, and in 1863 bought an "eighty" in the northeast quarter of section 4 of Salem township, this county, and moved here, and it was here that he spent the remainder of his life. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, two of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having a brother, John J. Gayer. As will be noted by a comparison of the dates set out above, Caleb F. Gayer was ten years of age when his parents came to Auglaize county, and he grew to manhood on the home farm in Salem township, completing his schooling in the schools of that neighborhood. After his marriage he bought forty-five acres off the north end of the home place and established his home there. Mr. Gayer has been a good farmer, and as his affairs prospered he added to his holdings there, until now he is the OWner of a fine farm of 185 acres on rural mail route No.1 out of St. Marys. Of late years he has been "taking things easy," renting his land to his two sons, who are carrying on operations
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there in up-to-date fashion, and is thus able to devote more time to other interests which he has developed during his many years of active labor. Mr. Gayer is a Republican and has long been looked upon as one of the leaders of that party in Salem township. He served one term as a township trustee and is now the president of the township board of education. He was one of the organizers of the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandry and was first master of that grange. He also is a past noble grand of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Kossuth, and is a member of the encampment of that order at Spencerville. For many years Gayer has been one of the leaders of the congregation of the man Methodist Episcopal church at Spencerville, an office bearer in the church for years, and is a present member of the board of trustees of that church. His wife, who died on October 26, 1917, also was an active worker in the church and in the general social affairs of the community. She was Esther Kurtz, a daughter of Andrew Kurtz, and she and Mr. Gayer were the parents of five children, three of whom are still living, Andrew Wesley, Daniel and Mary, the latter of whom is the wife of Benjamin Bauman and has one child, Benjamin F. Andrew Wesley Gayer married Margaret Stewart and has five children, Inez, Ada, Raymond, Leverne and Esther. Daniel Gayer married Elsie Kessler and also has five children, Bernard, Edwin, John, Kenneth and Mary Ruth. As noted above, the Gayer brothers are now operating their father's farm and are doing well.
BERNARD J. HEITKAMP, proprietor of a well-kept farm in the northwestern part of Jackson township, is a member of the pioneer Heitkamp family, which has been actively connected with the development of that part of Auglaize county since pioneer days, and concerning which further and fitting mention is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Heitkamp was born on a farm in the northwestern part of Jackson township on September 2, 1871, and 13 a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Goeke) Heitkamp, both members of pioneer families hereabout, as is set out elsewhere, Joseph Heitkamp having been a son of Henry Heitkamp, who came up here from Cincinnati following his marriage there not long after his arrival in this country from his native Germany, and who became prominent among the pioneers of the then newly settled lands in the western part of this county. He was a carpenter by trade and also took a hand in the construction of the canal. Joseph Heitkamp, his son, became a well-to-do farmer in the "Egypt" neighborhood, the owner of a farm of 200 acres, on which his family of eight children were reared. Of these children, the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being Mary, Catherine, J. H., Anthony, John, Joseph and Elizabeth. Reared on the home farm, Bernard
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Heitkamp received his schooling in the school house at Egypt, and from the days of his youth his attention has been devoted to farming. For two years after his marriage he made his home on a rented farm over in Mercer county, and then he bought a farm of eighty acres in Granville township, that county. On that place he made his home until 1913, when he disposed of his interests there and bought the farm of 130 acres on which he is now living, in Jackson township, this county, in the neighborhood of his boyhood home, and has ever since resided there, he and his family being very comfortably situated. Mr. Heitkamp has a well-equipped farm plant, and in addition to his general farming gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, feeding out about sixty head of hogs a year. Bernard J. Heitkamp married Catherine Gehle, daughter of John Gehle, and to this union have been born twelve children, nine of whom are living, Mary, Raymond, Bernard, Elizabeth, Rose, Alphons, Bernadetta, Cecelia and Rita. The Heitkamps have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster. They are members of St. John's Catholic church at Maria Stein, and Mr, Heitkamp is a member of the St. Joseph Society. In his political leanings he holds himself independent of party ties.
BYRON SHAPPELL, a well-known and progressive young farmer of Duchouquet township, who, in association with his brothers, Eldon and Howard Shappell, is operating the old Shappell farm along Two Mile creek, in the northwestern part of Duchouquet township, was born on that place on March 3, 1887, and is a son of D. U. and Nora (Coon) Shappell, both of whom were members of pioneer families in that section. The latter's father was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, and her mother was born in Orange county, New York. The late D. U. Shappell was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and was but two years of age when he came to this county with his parents, George and Mary (Reigel) Shappell, both of whom were born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, the former a son of Yarmes Shappell, a native of Switzerland. The family settled in the woods along the creek in the northwest corner of Duchouquet' township, where the family home was established and has ever since been maintained. The original tract there was an "eighty," on which the pioneer grandfather of the subject of this sketch erected a log cabin and settled down to make a farm out of the place, later enlarging his holdings until he came to be regarded as one of the substantial farmers of that section. Four of his sons, George, Nelson, Sol and Dan, served as soldiers of the Union during the Civil war. It was on that pioneer farm in Duchouquet township that D. U. Shappell grew to manhood, well trained in the ways of the farm. After his marriage he established his home there, later acquired possession of the place, built up and improved it by the erection of new
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buildings and the general extension of the farm plant, and gradually added to his holdings until he became the owner of an excellent farm of 300 acres there, part of this farm extending over the line into Shawnee township, in the neighboring county of Allen. And it was on this farm that he spent his last days, his death occurring on October 30, 1921, and his sons are now carrying on the operations of the farm in accordance with the program that he had so carefully worked out. Besides these sons, Eldon, Byron and Howard, there is a sister, Zelma. On March 30, 1907, Byron Shappell was united in marriage to Almeda Edna Neff, who also was born in this county, and to this union two children have been born, Harold Eugene and Ada Vandetta. Mr. Shappell and his wife are members of St. Mathew's Lutheran church and are Democrats. They have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 1 out of Hume and have ever given their interested attention to the general social activities of the community in which they live. Mr. Shappell has taken a proper interest in local civic affairs and for one term served as a trustee of Shawnee township, over the line in Allen county.
PHILIP BROREIN, a well-known bachelor farmer of Logan township, is a native "Buckeye" and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Auglaize county and the farm on which he is now living since he was five years of age. Mr. Brorein was born on a farm in Marion county, Ohio, May 12, 1859, and is a son of Gebhard and Sophia (Gracely) Brorein, the latter of whom also was born in that county, daughter of Jacob Gracely, and a member of the Gracely family which later became established in Logan township, this county, and which is still prominently represented in this county. The late Gebhard Brorein, who for years was one of the best known residents of Logan township, was born in the grand duchy of Baden, and lived there until after he had attained his majority, when he came to the United States and became a resident of Ohio, locating in Marion county, where he married Sophia Gracely, and where he continued to live, the owner of a sixty-acre farm, until 1865, when he disposed of his interests in that county and moved over here into Auglaize county. Upon coming to this county Gebhard Brorein bought a tract of land consisting of 140 acres lying in the southwest quarter of section 28 and the southeast quarter of section 29 of Logan township, two miles west of the river, and there established his home. When he settled there that was woodland and he faced the difficult task of clearing and draining the place and making a farm out of it. Not long afterward he bought an adjoining tract of ten acres, this giving him a farm of 150 acres, which he gradually got improved, and on which he spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring on April 23, 1909. His widow long survived him. After his death she continued to make her home on the farm, and
(29)
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her death occurred there in August, 1922. They were the parents of ten children, all of whom are living, the subject of this sketch having three sisters, Christena, Emma and Wilhelmina, and six brothers, William G., Jacob, David, John, Wesley and Samuel Brorein. As noted above, Philip Brorein was but a child when he came to Auglaize county with his parents, in 1865, and he was reared on the home farm in Logan township. He received his schooling in the school in old district No. 3 and continued to farm with his father until the latter's death, in the spring of 1909, after which he continued to look after the place in his mother's behalf, and since the death of his mother has continued the management of the farm, which is wellproved and profitably cultivated. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Brorein has long given considerable attention to the raising of live stock, and has done well. He is a Republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The Brorein home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of Wapakoneta.
WILLIAM EARL REMPFER, one of Logan township's progressive young farmers, who is operating his father's farm in that township, has been a resident of the place on which he is now living since he was eighteen months old. Mr. Rempfer was born on a farm in the neighboring county of Allen on July 24, 1886, and is a son of John and Emma (Croft) Rempfer, who are now living retired at Wapakoneta. John Rempfer grew up to farming, and after his marriage established his home on a farm of eighty acres he owned in Allen county, where he made his home until 1887, in which year he disposed of his interests in that county and came down into Auglaize county and bought an "eighty" in Logan township, on this latter place making his home until his retirement from the farm in 1913 and removal to Wapakoneta, where he is now living. He was a good farmer and he increased his original holdings in Logan township until he became the owner of 160 acres, the place his son, Earl, is now farming. To John Rempfer and wife were born three children, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Myrtle, and a brother, Harvey Rempfer. As noted above, William Earl Rempfer was but an infant when his parents came to this county, and he grew to man. hood on the home farm in Logan township. He received his school. ing in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood has devoted himself to farming there, continuing to work the place after his father's retirement, and after his marriage established his home there. He is farming the 160-acre farm in accordance with modern methods of agricultural operation and is doing well. Mr, Rempfer, on September 2, 1922, married Hazel Logan, of the neighboring county of Van Wert, and he and his wife have a very pleasant home on rural mail route No. 3 out of Wapakoneta. Mr. Rempfer is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd
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Fellows at Kossuth, of the lodge of the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Wapakoneta, and of the Salem grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, and in his political views is an "independent."
CHARLES A. MECKSTROTH, a well-known farmer and dairyman of the New Knoxville neighborhood and proprietor of a well- improved farm just south of the village, along the county line in the southeast quarter of section 30 of Washington township, was born on that farm and has lived there all his life, a period of considerably more than fifty years. Mr. Meckstroth was born on January 27, 1865, and is a son of H. W. and Christina (Quiller) Meckstroth, both of whom were born in Germany and had come here with their respective parents in the days of their youth. H. W. Meckstroth was fourteen years of age when he came here with his parents, the family settling in the New Knoxville neighborhood, in section 30 of Washington township, which then was included in Allen county, that having been some time before Auglaize county was organized. Work on the canal then was in progress and young Meckstroth began working on that construction, and was thus engaged until the completion of this big job of engineering, he also having had a hand in the erection of the west bank of the Grand Reservoir. This work, of course, was only carried on to advantage during the summer time, and during the winters he worked on his father's woodland farm, helping to clear the same and get it in shape for cultivation. After his marriage he continued to devote his attention to farming and became the owner of a farm of a fraction more than ninety-eight acres just south of New Knoxville, the place where his son, Charles, is now living. H. W. Meckstroth not only was a good farmer, but he took an interested part in the general affairs of the community and for some time served as a school director. He and his wife were the parents of ten children, of whom four are still living, the subject of this sketch having a sister, Sophia, and two brothers, George H. and E. H. Meckstroth. Reared on the home farm there along the creek south of New Knoxville, Charles A. Meckstroth received his schooling in the nearby village schools. After his marriage he continued farming with his father, the two then forming a partnership, and this mutually agreeable arrangement continued for ten years or more, or until his father's death, after which he took over the home place and has since been operating it on his own account. Since taking possession of this place Mr. Meckstroth has erected a new set of buildings and now has an admirable farm plant there on rural mail route No. 2 out of Botkins. In 1910 he branched out into the dairy business and has since given the better part of his attention to this line, though continuing his general farming, his operations now being carried on in partnership with one of his sons-in- law, Ferd Wellman. Mr. Meckstroth has a fine herd of purebred
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Holstein dairy cattle and the products of his dairy are chiefly disposed of in the retail market at New Knoxville. Mr. Meckstroth is a Democrat, with independent leanings, and on several occasions has served the public as a school director in his district. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at New Knoxville, and he has served the congregation of that church as a deacon and as a member of the board of trustees. Charles A. Meckstroth married Anna Lammers, daughter of Henry Lammers, in his day a prominent farmer southeast of New Knoxville, and to this union eight children have been born, Jacob A., G. A., R. B., Caroline, Matilda, Ella, Emil and Meta, five of whom are married. Jacob A. Meckstroth married Adaline Hoelscher and has two children, Gretchen and Rachel, R. B. Meckstroth married Huldah Oelrich and has one child, a son, Donald. Caroline Meckstroth married Emil Holtkamp, who died in 1918, and has one child, a son, Dorsey. Matilda Meckstroth married A. R. Fledderjohann, and Ella Meckstroth married Ferd Wellman, who, as noted above, is now operating the Meckstroth farm in partnership with his father-in-law and making his home on the place,
JOSEPH H. HEITKAMP, proprietor of a well-kept farm on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster, in the northwestern part of Jackson township, and one of the best known farmers in that section, was born in Jackson township, a member of the pioneer Heitkamp family of that part of the county, and has lived there all his life, Heitkamp was born on January 18, 1876, and is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Goeke) Heitkamp, concerning whom further and fitting mention is made elsewhere in this volume, together with additional details regarding the history of the Heitkamp family, Joseph Heitkamp having been a son of Henry Heitkamp, a native of Germany, who came here from Cincinnati in pioneer days and established his home in Jackson township, where the family today is so strongly and influentially represented in the third and fourth generations. Reared on the home farm in Jackson township, Joseph H. Heitkamp received his schooling in the Egypt school house south of his home and remained at home, farming with his father, who was the owner of a 200-acre farm, until after his marriage, when he bought a tract of seventy-one acres in that neighborhood, the place on which he is now living, and has ever since resided there. By subsequent purchase Mr. Heitkamp now has eighty-six acres, which he is farming in accordance with modern methods of agricultural activity, and is doing well. In addition to his general farming, he gives considerable attention to the raising of live stock, and feeds out about sixty hogs a year. It was on November 23, 1904, that Joseph H. Heitkamp was united in marriage to Frances Bruns, a daughter of Bernard and Mary (Hagemann) Bruns, neighbors to the Heitkamps, and concerning whom and the Bruns family in general further mention is
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made elsewhere in this volume, and to this union four children have been born, Clara, Albina, Alfred and Alma. The Heitkamps have a pleasant home on rural mail route No. 2 out of Minster. In his political views Mr. Heitkamp is "independent." He and his family are members of St. John's Catholic church at Maria Stein, of which the Heitkamp and Bruns families have long been earnest supporters, and he also is a member of the St. Joseph Society.
GEORGE HABERKAMP, one of the trustees of Washington township and superintendent of pikes in and for that township, one of the best known farmers and landowners in the New Knoxville neighborhood, was born in that township, a member of one of the real pioneer families there, and has lived there all his life. Mr. Haberkamp was born on a farm just north of New Knoxville, on January 2, 1870, and is a son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Schroer) Haberkamp, who had come to this country from Germany with their respective parents in the days of their youth and had grown up in the New Knoxville neighborhood, where the Haberkamps and the Schroers had settled upon coming out here in pioneer days. As is narrated elsewhere in this volume, Adolph Haberkamp, born in 1821, was a well-grown boy when he came here. His father took the contract to excavate one mile of the canal, which was then under way of construction, and the boy, Adolph, helped out on that job, working for several years on the canal. He later helped his father develop the woodland farm the latter had taken in the vicinity of New Knoxville, and after his marriage in the summer of 1848 established his home on a farm of his own there just north of the village, and there spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1885. His widow survived him for some years, and her last days also were spent on the farm. Adolph Haberkamp and his wife were the parents of eleven children, of whom but two are now living, the subject of this sketch and his elder brother, Fred Haberkamp, a former trustee of Washington township, and further mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Reared on the home farm in Washington township, George Haberkamp received his schooling in the nearby New Knoxville schools and remained at home on the farm, a helpful factor in the labors of developing the same, he having been but fifteen years of age when his father died, until after his marriage, when he moved onto the place on which he is now living and has since made his home there. Mr. Haberkamp has a well-improved farm of ninety-four acres and a well-equipped farm plant. He is a Republican and has long given his active attention to local civic affairs. In 1915 he was appointed superintendent of pikes in and for Washington township and has since been serving in that important capacity, having done much in that time to advance the cause of good roads thereabout. In 1919 Mr. Haberkamp was elected a
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trustee of Washington township and is now (1923) serving his second year in that capacity, the general affairs of the township receiving his close attention. He and his wife are members of the First Reformed church of New Knoxville, and he has served the congregation of that church as a deacon. It was on August 21, 1890, that George Haberkamp was united in marriage to Lena Kuck, daughter of Henry Kuck, and also a member of one of the old families of this county, and to this union two children have been born, Ferdinand and Viola, the latter of whom is still in school. Ferdinand. Haberkamp married Selma Elshoff and is engaged in farming, taking over the active operation of the farm in his father's behalf, the latter having practically retired from the more arduous duties of the farm. The Haberkamp home is pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 4 out of St. Marys, and the latchstring is always out to their friends.
CHARLES BOESEL, who for many years was one of the foremost figures in this community during the days of the pioneers, a particularly prominent factor in the development of the commercial life of New Bremen during early canal days, and an equally influential factor in the political life of this county, died nearly forty years ago, but his memory has ever been kept green in this community. It therefore is but fitting that in this definite history of the county in whose affairs he took so deep an interest there should be paid some modest tribute to that memory, together with a bit of proper connecting reference to the Boesel family continuing in this county. Elsewhere in this work reference has been made to the general activities of the pioneer Charles Boesel upon his arrival here shortly after the establishment of the Bremen colony here, in 1833, and of his final acceptance of the possibilities awaiting the intelligent and industrious settler in this then wilderness section of Ohio, and of the beginnings of his industrial and commercial activities in then formative period of the community, which activities were greatly expanded upon the coming of the canal ten years after his settlement here, and it makes a good story. Charles Boesel was born in Rhenish Bavaria, Germany, on February 1, 1814, and when eighteen years of age, in 1832, about the time of the unsuccessful political revolution in his home country, which led to such an extensive immigration to America in that year and in the few years following, he came to this country, accompanying his widowed mother and after three other children of this family. In the next year this family joined the Bremen settlement up here in the wilds along the old Wayne trail, but there was little here then to engage the activities of the young and energetic Charles, and he pushed on presently to Ft. Wayne, and then back down to Dayton and other such place as could afford him occupation, and was thus engaged until in 1836, when he returned to New Bremen and there opened a small general
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store. This was the beginning of the Boesel commercial connection hereabout, a connection which has continually expanded in all the years since, and which now finds its widest expression in the Boesel banking interests at New Bremen. When the canal came, Charles Boesel was on the ground and ready to meet the new opportunities, and he met them open handed and whole hearted. Not long after he had opened his store at New Bremen he had been appointed postmaster of the settlement, and this official position gave him a local political ascendance which was maintained in that community until his death, many years afterward. In 1852 he was made one of the superintendents of the Miami and Erie canal by appointment of the state board of works. A later state appointment was that of member of the state board of charities, a position he held for many years and until his death. In 1862 he was elected representative from this district to the General Assembly of the state of Ohio, and for two terms served in that capacity, afterward being elected state senator from this district, and in this latter legislative capacity also served for two terms. He also had held various local offices of trust and responsibility, these having included a period of service as a member of the board of commissioners for Mercer county, elected in 1840, that having been eight years before the formal organization of Auglaize county. In 1866 Charles Boesel established his bank at New Bremen, an interest which still is maintained by the family, and he was thus engaged until his death, on April 17, 1885. He was the father of twelve children, of whom six survive, namely : Mrs. Dorothy Frey, of Toledo ; Mrs. H. G. Schmidt, of Chicago ; Mrs. W. C. Schmidt, of San Antonio, Tex.; Julius Boesel, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio ; Hon. F. T. Boesel, of Milwaukee, and Mrs. J. H. Koenig, of St. Marys, this county. The late Hon. Jacob Boesel, eldest of the sons of this pioneer, who died at his home in New Bremen on August 17, 1896, was born at New Bremen on February 6, 1841. He was graduated from a commercial college at Cincinnati and early took an active part in his father's enterprises, later becoming engaged in business there on his own account, with particular reference to the pork packing industry, which during canal days was an extensive one, and upon his father's death and the reorganization of the latter's banking interests became president of the bank. Jacob Boesel inherited his father's astute political sense and rendered public service in several different capacities at one time and another, including two terms in the lower house of the state General Assembly (1889-91). He also had served as village clerk, mayor and president of the local school board. His son, Adolph Boesel, president of the First City Bank of New Bremen, an able successor to his father, has for years also served as village treasurer. In point of service he is said to be the oldest banker in these parts, of his fifty-six years he hav-
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ing spent forty-two years in the banking business. Among other representatives of this family now living in this county may be mentioned Charles J. Boesel, eldest son of Charles Boesel, Jr., the second son of the pioneer, and also formerly and for years connected with the commercial interests of New Bremen, who followed in his father's footsteps a commercial career, and who has but lately retired from business. Among the grandsons of the pioneer Charles Boesel are Otto J. Boesel, well-known lawyer, and Clifton Boesel and Probate Judge R. E. Boesel, all of Wapakoneta.
BERNARD BRUNS, a veteran farmer of Jackson township, was born in the neighboring county of Mercer on October 21, 1850, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Freling) Bruns, both of whom were born in Germany. John Bruns grew up in his native land, trained to the trade of shoemaking. When twenty-two years of age he came to this country and located at Cincinnati, where he became engaged at his trade, and where he presently married. Not long after their marriage he and his wife came up into this part of the state and he entered from the Government a tract of eighty acres of timber land in Mercer county, and on that place established his home. Though trained as a shoemaker, he found himself to be a good farmer. and before his death was the owner of 500 acres of land. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the fifth in order of birth, the others being Henry, John. August, Charles, Herman and Marie. Reared on the home farm in Mercer county, Bernard Bruns received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained on the farm, working for his father, until his marriage, when he moved to the place on which he is now living in Jackson township, this county, and has since lived here. He started there with eighty acres and now has a well-improved farm of 200 acres, a part of which lies in the adjoining township of German. Mr. Bruns is a Democrat and has served as school director in his district. He and his family are members of St. John's Catholic church at Maria Stein, and he has served as a member of the board of trustees of that church. Bernard Bruns married Mary Hagemann, and to this union have been born nine children, all of whom are living save two (Bernard and Henry) , the others being Elizabeth, Rosa, Frances, Josephine, Regina, Charles and Louis, all of whom are married. Elizabeth Bruns married John Knapke and has seven children, Lawrence, Helen, Eleanor, Jerome, Norbert, Leo and Albert. Rosa Bruns married John Heitkamp, of whom further mention is made elsewhere in this volume, and has nine children, and Frances Bruns married Joseph Heitkamp, of whom further mention also is made, and has four children. Josephine Bruns married Frank Albers and has two children, Clarence and Lorena. Regina Bruns married Andrew Osterloh and has one child, a son, Victor. Charles
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Bruns married Anna Meier and has two children, Richard and Hilda, and Louis Bruns married Josephine Albers.
HENRY H. WIERWILLE, one of Washington township's best known veteran farmers and a substantial landowner living on rural snail route No. 3 out of St. Marys, is a "Buckeye" by birth and has lived in this state all his life, a resident of Auglaize county for nearly fifty years. Mr. Wierwille was born on a pioneer farm down in Van- Buren township, in the neighboring county of Shelby, December 16, 1851, and is a son of Adolph and Elizabeth (Kattman) Wierwille, both of whom were born in Germany, and who had come to this country with their respective parents in the days of their youth, the Wierwilles and the Kattmans becoming pioneer residents of this section of Ohio. Adolph Wierwille was about twenty years of age when he came here, and he helped his father clear and develop a woodland farm in Shelby county. After his marriage he began farming on his own account and became the owner of an excellent farm of 140 acres in VanBuren township (Shelby county), where he spent his last days. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, five of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Sophia and Mary, and two brothers, William and Ernest Wierwille. Reared on the home farm in VanBuren township, Shelby county, Henry H. Wierwille received his schooling in the neighborhood schools and remained with his father on the farm until after his marriage, when he began farming "on his own," renting a place from his father. A year later, in 1875, he came up here into Auglaize county and bought the place on which he is now living, in Washington township, and has ever since resided there. Mr. Wierwille's first purchase there was of a tract of 120 acres, but he later bought an adjoining tract and now has 160 acres, which he has improved in admirable fashion, and on which he has a well-equipped farm plant. Though now living practically retired from the active operations of the farm, Mr. Wierwille continues to keep a pretty close supervisory eye on things and has lost none of his old-time interest in affairs. In his political views Mr. Wierwille is an "independent" Democrat, and he and his wife are members of the First Reformed church of New Knoxville, in which faith their children were reared. Mr. Wierwille has ever taken a warm interest in church affairs and has served as a deacon of the congregation. It was in 1874 that Henry Wierwille was united in marriage to Sophia Katter, a resident of the New Knoxville neighborhood, and to this union nine children have been born, of whom seven are living—Henry G., Benjamin, Edward, Louis, Anna, Bertha and Frances, all of whom are married. Henry G. Wierwille married Matilda Kuck and has six children, Adiel, Ezra, Aurora, Orville, Woodrow and Leora. Benjamin Wierwille married Minnie Fledderjohann and has three children, Velma,
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Luella and Nathan. Edward Wierwille married Lydia Holtkamp and has two children, Eunice and Audrey. Louis Wierwille married Dora Gruebmeyer and has two children, Agnes and Curtis. Anna Wierwille married John Kuck and has one child, a son, Oliver. Bertha Wierville married Benjamin Haverkamp, and Frances Wierwille married Herbert Katterheinrich. Mrs. Sophia Wierwille born in Germany and was but nine years of age when she cam, this country with her parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Peterjohann) Katter, the family proceeding on out into Ohio and settling on woodland farm one mile west of New Knoxville, in Washington township, this county, where the family home was established, and whel., Mrs. Wierwille grew to womanhood and was married. When Henry Katter and his wife came to this country from Germany they ha, five children. Seven other children were born to them here, Of these twelve children eight are still living, Mrs. Wierwille eldest) having three sisters, Dina, Marie and Matilda, and four. brothers, Henry, William, August and Frederick Katter, the d, scendants of these in the present generation forming a considerable connection, Mr. and Mrs. Wierwille alone having fourteen grandchildren, "and plenty of time for more."
ANTON LOUIS HERKENHOFF, general manager of the Minster Machine Company, president of the Strenie Tool and Manufaturing Company of New Bremen, a director and general manager the St. Marys Foundry Company at St. Marys, and who also h, served as a member of the town council and of the board of pub, affairs at Minster, is a member of one of the real pioneer families, Minster. Mr. Herkenhoff was born at Minster on April 26, 1872, and is a son of Frank and Mary (Gausepohl) Herkenhoff, both whom also were born at Minster, and the latter of whom is still living there. The late Frank Herkenhoff, who for many years one of the leading business men of Minster, was the elder of the ft sons of the pioneer baker Herkenhoff, one of the original settlers Minster, who also was engaged in the cooperage business. The other of these sons was Herman Herkenhoff. Frank Herkenhoff grew up to the cooperage business and in turn became engaged in that line on his own account, the operator of a cooper shop which for years was one of the largest employers of labor in this county. For forty years he carried on that business, his product being sold to the Armour meat packing concern at Chicago. He also was actively interested in the Star Brewing Company and in the Minster Machine Company, and continued active in business until his death, in 1918, all of which is set out elsewhere in this volume in connection with a biographical sketch relating to Charles F. Herkenhoff, elder brother of Anton L. Herkenhoff and president of the Minster Machine Com-