OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 275 died in 1887; Jane E., wife of John Frederick, of Pennsylvania; Clara M., who died in childhood, and Hugh Brady Kelly. William W. Kelly was reared on the old home farm in Pennsylvania, attended such schools as the country afforded, and acquired a knowledge of the higher branches at an academy in the town of New Berlin. In 1861 he came to Ohio, joining his brother-in-law, Dr. L. B. Myers, at the town of Elmore, Ottawa county, where the latter was conducting the drug business and practicing his profession. Mr. Kelly entered the employ of Dr. Myers as clerk, in which capacity he continued about five years; acquiring a thorough knowledge of the drug business during this time. He then effected a co-partnership in the drug business at Ottawa, Putnam county, Ohio, with Mr. Hauck, and has since been prominently identified with the business interests of the city. The firm of Kelly & Hauck lasted twenty-one years, at the end of which time Mr. Kelly purchased his partner's interest, and has since conducted the business alone. He carries a full line of goods, such as are found in first-class establishments of the kind, and in 1890 opened a branch store, where he keeps for sale books,. stationery, wall-paper, etc., one room being insufficient for the business which he does. Mr. Kelly was one of the organizers of a gate and fence manufacturing company of Ottawa, and has been identified with a number of other enterprises of a business nature. He was the first president of the Home & Savings association of Ottawa and is one of the stockholders of the same. He belongs to Ottawa lodge, No. 325, F. & A. M., Ottawa chapter, No. 115, and Putnam council, No. 65. He has served the city as a member of the common council, and has been active in promoting the educational interests of Ottawa, by serving on the school board. Politically, he is a democrat, and the Presbyterian church represents his religious creed. He is one of the oldest business men of Ottawa, and one of Putnam county's representative citizens. Mr. Kelly was married October 20, 1864, to Sarah E. Hauck, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Beaver) Hauck. Mrs. Kelly was born near Lewisburg, Pa., March 1, 1841, and is the mother of four children: Emma I., wife of C. P. Godfrey; William A. ; Annie, deceased, and Mary Z. CHRISTIAN A. KING, one of the most prosperous farmers of Jennings township, Putnam county, Ohio, is a son of John Arnold King, a native of Oldenburg, Germany, who married Agnes Von Lehmden, and by her became the father of six children, viz: Agnes, Ferdinand J., Mary A., Christian A., Benedena and Lyzetta--all born in Germany. The family came to America in September, 1837, and settled in Fort Jennings, Ohio, where the father died a year later at the age of sixty-nine years. Christian A. King, our subject, was born at Oldenburg, Sternfeldt, Germany, September 1, 8831, was about eight years of age when his father died, and was reared in the woods of Jennings township among the pioneers and aborigines. His mother was married to her second husband, Francis Werris, when our subject was still a mere lad, and with them the latter continued to reside until 1852, when he went to California, with his brother Ferdinand, and in company of twenty-four adventurers from Ohio, and other states, to the west thereof. The trip was made with mule team across the plains, and eighty-five days were occupied in traveling from St. Joseph, Mo., to Hang-town (Now Placerville), 176 miles from Sacramento, Cal. The two brothers remained at Placerville about six weeks, and further on met an old friend, Charles Newman, and were 276 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY employed by him on his ranch, thirty-five miles above Sacramento, for three months, then went up the river, worked a ranch of their own for two years or longer, and then returned home, via the isthmus and the city of New York, having been absent four years and twenty-one days, and having secured sufficient means for a good start in life. His mother, now quite aged, was the owner of 146 acres of land, and this farm our subject conducted for the next four years. The marriage of Mr. King took place at Delphos, Ohio, January 14, 1860, to Miss Gertrude Herminghuysen, daughter of Ernest and Mary (Roberstien) Herminghuysen. The parents were natives of Holland and settled in Delphos in 1843; they had a family of eight children, named Ernest, Frank, Gertrude, Andy, Adrian, Mary, Henrietta, and Theodosia —all born in Holland with the exception of Theodosia, who is a native of Putnam county, Ohio. The father had been a druggist in the old country, was well to do, and on coming to Putnam county bought a farm of eighty acres' one-half mile southwest of Fort Jennings, on which he died in 1859, at the age of about forty-one years, a member of the German Reform church. After his marriage, Mr. King settled on his portion of the homestead, which comprised twenty-eight acres only, but this he has now increased to 129 acres—all nicely cleared and partly located in the village of Fort Jennings. The children born to Mr. King by this, his first marriage, are three in number and are named Antone, Arnold B. and Ferdinand H. The death of Mrs. King took place January 14, 1865, aged twenty-five years and ten days—a sincere Catholic in her religious belief. The second marriage of Mr. King was solemnized September 3, 1867, with Miss Mary Herminghuysen, sister of his deceased wife, and this union has been blessed with six children, named Ernest, Louie, Frank, John, Eddie and Gertrude. Mr. King is himself a Catholic and is rearing his children in the same faith, while Mrs. King adheres to the faith of her parents, the Lutheran or German Reform. In politics Mr. King is a stanch democrat and has held the office of supervisor, and is justly esteemed as one of the most respectable residents of Jennings township, and his well reared family enjoy an equally large share of their neighbors' regard. HENRY KISSEL, one of the oldest and most experienced farmers of Van Buren township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., April . 30, 1827. At the age of three years, or in 1830, he came to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Crawford county, where, a short time afterward, the father died, leaving a widow and three children, with no means on which to live. She was, however, a brave woman and a loving mother, and would frequently work at spinning all night in order to earn a trifle with which to help in supporting her family. Henry being the only son was early set to work at anything he could find to do, to increase the family's income. He was quite a stout lad, and willingly worked at farming, and later in a factory at making screens for fanning mills, such articles being then made by hand. As he worked by the piece, and was ambitious and anxious to earn money, he wore his fingers almost bare at the ends, and was really what is known at the present day as a " hustler." Some time later his employer decided to change his location and to take our subject as an apprentice, the terms being' that the latter was to serve three years for his board and lodging, and at the end of his apprenticeship was to have a new suit of clothes and a set of planes, and in the meantime receive nine months' schooling. The OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 277 terms were faithfully carried out by our subject, but the employer was remiss on his part, as he gave his apprentice but six months' schooling. On his return home he found his mother alone and sick and dependent on her neighbors, his two sisters having married during the interval. As our subject had no money, he found a job at cutting corn, and earned enough to pay for the supplies needed by his mother during the coming winter, and the next spring he was employed in a wheat-fan factory, in which he worked all the season. The following two years he worked by the month at carpentering, and by this .time he had earned enough to build a small house for his mother and himself. About this time a sister came from Fort Wayne, Ind., and assisted for a short time in caring for the aged parent, and then returned to her own home. Mr. Kissel then engaged in the manufacture of bedsteads, prospered, and in 1856 married, took his bride home and for a year lived with his mother. He also continued to work at carpenterihg, and at the end of the year all three went to live with the father-in-law for a year, Mr. Kissel, in the interval, selling his house and buying a six-acre tract, on which was a cheap house, and to this, subject, mother and wife moved. He had gone partly in debt for this place, but he was industrious and continued at work as a carpenter and soon had the place clear of debt. He then built onother house, in which they all lived until 1869, when he sold and came to Putnam county, where he bought his present place of eighty acres in Van Buren township. Of this farm ten acres had been cleared, and there was upon it a' small house. Mr. Kissel has now sixty acres cleared, ditched, tiled and well cultivated; has a good house and barn, and an orchard, the trees of which he brought on his back from Leipsic. Mr. Kissel married Miss Barbara Wert, a daughter of David Wert, a farmer of Crawford county, and this union has been blessed by the birth of six children—all boys, viz: David H., a farmer; George, who farms the home place; Martin L., who died at seven years of age; John, on the home farm; Joseph F., a railroad employee in Colorado, and Charles R., at home. The mother of Mr. Kissel, for a few years after he settled in Putnam county, lived with a daughter in Crawford county, and then joined her son, with whom she lived five or six years, when she returned to Crawford bounty, where she died a year or two later, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Of her three children, Delilah married Joseph Bolinger, and resides in Brazil, Ind. ; the second in order of birth is our subject, and the third, Maria, married George Noblet, of Crawford county. Mr. and Mrs. Noblet are both now deceased, and have left a family of eight children, all residing in Crawford county. Mr. Kissel, besides being a good and faithful son, has been an equally good and faithful citizen. He and wife are devout members of the Lutheran church, and he has filled some of the school offices. He has witnessed the many stupendous changes that have taken place in Putnam county since 1869, and has been instrumental in bringing about many of them, and can indeed look back on a well spent life, the fruits of which he is now enjoying—honored by a respected family and a large circle of devoted friends. ABRAHAM KITCHEN, ex-soldier, ex-mayor of Dupont, and a leading citizen of that thriving city, is a son of Samuel and Katherine (Willard) Kitchen, and was born in New Portage, Summit county, Ohio, January 16, 1841. The father, Samuel Kitchen, was born in Pennsylvania June 5, 1816, and when a small child was brought to Ohio by his parents, who set- 278 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY tled near Massillon, where he received a common-school education and was reared to farming. He was first married, about 1839, to Katharine Willard, a daughter of Henry Willard, the union resulting in the birth of two children—Abraham, whose name opens this sketch, and William H., who" died in 1862, while serving in defense of his country. Mrs. Katharine Kitchen was born in Summit county January 18, 1818, and was they third daughter in the following family born to her parents: Elizabeth, deceased wife of George Frease, of Henry county, Ohio; Polly, deceased wife of James Robinson, of Summit county; John, of Bolivar, Tuscarawas county; Abraham, deceased, of Henry county; Philip, of Toledo; Katharine (Mrs. Kitchen); Sarah, wife of Julius Van Hining, of Napoleon, Ohio; Isaac, of Akron; Lewis, near Akron; Margaret, now Mrs. Stover, and Lydia, also married. Mrs. Katharine Kitchen died about the year 1845, and the bereaved husband took for his second helpmate Adra Van Hining, a native also of Summit county, born in 1826. Her death took place in 1891, a member of the Methodist church and the mother of the following children born to Mr. Kitchen: Cyrus, deceased; Henry G., of Ottawa; Emma, wife of Hiram Perky, of Kansas; Sylvester V., who, with his family of five, was burned to death at Fort Madison, Iowa; George, of Ottawa township, Putnam county, Ohio; Samuel M., of Perry township, same county; Thomas, of Bluffton, Ohio; Clara, wife of Vincent Badman, of Ottawa township, Putnam county, and William F., of Perry township. After his first marriage Mr. Kitchen resided on a farm near New Portage until 1846, when he brought his family, with an ox-team, to Putnam county and settled on a tract of wild land, on which he built a log house and cleared up a farm from the forest, on which he lived until called from earth in 1892, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he had been for many years a member and liberal supporter financially. He was a very able farmer, a pioneer of Putnam county, a public-spirited citizen, in politics a democrat, and a gentleman who won and held the respect of all with whom he came in contact. Abraham Kitchen, whose name stands at the opehing of this biography, was educated in the 'little pioneer school-house of his district in Putnam county, and reared on the home farm. On August 21, 1862, he enlisted in company H. under Capt. Sydney F. Moore, One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years, and served through the trying campaigns of Kentucky, east Tenn., Georgia and Alabama, taking an active part in the battles of Mossy Creek, east Tennessee, Dalton, Ga., Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, New Hope church; Atlanta, Franklin, Tenn., second day at Nashville, Tenn.; Fort Anderson and Wilmington, N. C., and numerous engagements of less note, as well as many skirmishes, and was honorably discharged at Salisbury, N. C.. June 24, 1865. On his return home he taught school a term, and then engaged in the mercantile business at Cuba, Ohio, for eleven years, doing a very profitable trade, and during this interval was census enumerator for five townships. In 1878 he traded his store for land in Greensburg township, Putnam county, but was compelled, by ill health, to relinquish hard labor for awhile, and in 1880 engaged in jobbing lumber, moving to Dupont in 1881, and continued in the lumber trade until 1893. The marriage of Mr. Kitchen took place May 29, 1872, to Miss Sylvia Lemaster, daughter William S. and Martha A. (Cornell) Lemaster. Thislady was born in Greensburg township in January, 1846, and has made her home thrice happy by giving birth to three children, viz: William Wallace, Flora (de- OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 279 ceased) and Eugene C. The father of Mrs. Kitchen was a native of West Virginia and her mother of Seneca county, Ohio; both are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mrs. Kitchen also takes much interest, being an active member. Mr. Kitchen, though not a church member, contributes freely to the support of all religious bodies and to educational and good causes; he is a member of Kalida lodge, No. 280, F. & A. M., and of Weiser post, No. 93, G. A. R., of Dupont; in politics, he is a stanch republican, and by that party was elected justice of the peace of Greensburg township, holding the position six years, and later served for three years in the same office at Dupont; for two years he served as mayor of Dupont, and in 1895 was commissioned notary public, an office he still holds. Mr. Kitchen has always been a public-spirited, active citizen, and an energetic business man; he is highly respected in the community and exceedingly popular with his party and the public at large, and although quite domestic in his habits, being deeply attached to his family, he can always be relied upon to take an active part in any movement designed for the public good, be it in time of war or in time of peace. JACOB KITCHEN, one of the oldest citizens of Greensburg township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Columbia county, Pa., May 20, 1814, a son Wheeler and Agnes (Shoemaker) Kitchen. The father, Wheeler Kitchen, was born in New Jersey in 1790, and was a son of Samuel Kitchen, also a native of New Jersey. Samuel was a wagon-maker, married a Miss Green, and moved to Pennsylvania, where he bought land and silent the remainder of his life in farming. He and wife were the parents of eight children, named as follows: Beulah, Elizabeth, Samuel, Joseph, Wheeler (mentioned above), Mary, Polly and another. Wheeler Kitchen learned the wagon-maker's trade under his father, and with him went to Pennsylvania, where he married Miss Shoemaker, the result 0f the union being six children, viz: Jacob, whose name opens this sketch; Samuel and William, deceased; Joseph and Wheeler G., of Illinois, and Sarah, wife of George Miller, a farmer of Liberty township, Putnam county, Ohio. Wheeler Kitchen, after his marriage, farmed in Pennsylvania until 1817, when he brought his family, an a wagon, to Ohio, and entered a tract of eighty acres of wild land in Stark county, which he cleared and resided upon, farming and working at his trade until 1845, when he traded his farm for land in Ottawa township, Putnam county, and here he spent the remainder of his life, dying about the year 1855. Mrs. Agnes (Shoemaker) Kitchen was born in Pennsylvania about 1794, was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and died about 1857. Jacob Kitchen, our subject, received his education at the hands of his mother, and was reared to farming on the homestead in Stark county. He was united in marriage, in 1838, to Miss Eliza Lucas, daughter of Jacob Lucas, a native of Bedford county, Pa., but at the time of his daughter's marriage a resident of Stark county, Ohio. To the union of Jacob and Eliza Kitchen were born thirteen children, of whom five died ih childhood; those that reached mature age were named as follows: John, of Kieferville, Putnam county; Samuel, deceased; Jacob, farmer of Greensburg township; Agnes, widow of Nelson Ellis; Wheeler, of whom further mention will be made below; James, married and residing in Henry county, Ohio, TyarA Jordon -arfu 'Margaret, both 'deceased. In 1845 Jacob Kitchen, our subject, brought his young family to Putnam county, and here 280 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY he has cleared more than one farm from the woods, and has passed many long years with the pioneers, as well as many with the advanced and progressive farmers of the present day; in 1870 he settled on his present farm, which he has fully developed, and here, in 1872, his faithful wife, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1818, was laid to rest in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Kitchen is himself a member of the United Brethren church and contributes liberally toward its support. He is now over four-score years, and his work tells the story of an industrious and well-spent life. In politics he was formerly a democrat, but is now a stanch prohibitionist. His declining years are being passed in the peace and comfort that he so justly deserves, and he is honored and respected by all. Wheeler Kitchen, son of above, was born March 24, 1850, in Putnam county, Ohio, and has been a life-long farmer. August 8, 1881, he was united in marriage with Malissa Andrews, daughter of Henry and Martha (Bell) Andrews. This lady was born in Ottawa June 27, 1864, and when a child was brought to Greensburg township by her parents, and was here 'reared and educated. (See sketch of Henry Andrews). To the congenial union of Mr. and Mrs. Kitchen have been born two children, Ora and Ray A. Since his marriage Mr. Kitchen has had the management of the old homestead, and he is recognized as a skillful agriculturalist as well as a useful citizen. Politically he is a republican. GEORGE H. KNUPP, attorney and counselor at law, is a native of Tiffin, Seneca county, Ohio. He was born on the 12th day of May, 1852, and is a son of George and Frances M. (Ritchie) Knupp. He was reared in his native county and state until thirteen years of age, when the family moved to Fremont, Ohio, in which place he grew to manhood. Mr. Knupp's early educational advantages were greatly circumscribed, having been deprived of school privileges from his eleventh year, but, being of an inquiring mind, and actuated by a desire for knowledge, he applied himself assiduously to study as occasions would permit, and in time became what the world would consider a deeply-read and well-educated man. When a young man Mr. Knupp learned the jeweler's trade and followed the same at various places, among which may be noted, Fremont, where he did his first work; Plymouth, Ind. ; Fostoria, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich. In 1869 he located in Ottawa, where he conducted a fairly remunerative business until 1872, when he removed to Henderson, Ky., where he remained for a limited period. Returning to Ottawa, Mr. Knupp resumed the jewelry business, which he continued until the summer of 1876 when he went to Springfield, Ohio, in which city he remained less than one year. In the Meantime, determining to prepare himself for the legal profession, for which he had for sometime evinced great preference, Mr. Knupp, in the fall of 1876, began the study of the law in the office of Brown & Watts, of Ottawa, continuing under the instruction of those gentlemen until his admission to the Putnam county bar, in 1878. He at once opened an office and began practice, and a short time thereafter effected a co-partnership with his preceptor, David I. Brown, Sr., which firm lasted three years. Subsequently he became associated in the practice with W. H. Liet, now of Lima, with whom he remained two years, since which time he has not been a member of any law firm. Mr. Knupp has a large business and is regarded by the legal fraternity of Ottawa as a lawyer of marked ability, and he is one who has won his way to a prominent position OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 283   among the successful attorneys of Putnam county. Mr. Knupp served as mayor of Ottawa from May, 1878, to May, 1882; was justice of the peace from October, 1878, to June, 1886; acted as city solicitor two terms, and for a period of six years was a member of the school board of Ottawa. Since his twenty-first year Mr. Knupp has affiliated with the democratic party; fraternally he is an active member of the F. & A. M., belonging to Ottawa lodge, No. 325, and chapter, No. 115. Mr. Knupp was married, October 2, 1871, to Miss Helen J. Brown, daughter of David I. and Elizabeth Brown—a union blessed with the birth of six children, viz. 'Lillie F. ; Emma E., a teacher in the public schools of Lima; Blanch B.; Ella A.; George R.; and Helen. Mr. Knupp traces his ancestry to Virginia and Maryland, the father having been a native of the former and the mother a native of the latter state. George and Frances Knupp had a family of seven children, viz: Frances M., deceased; Robert, deceased; Mary, wife of Edward Lemon, of San Diego, Cal.; Martin, attorney at law, Napoleon, Ohio; Anna, wife of D. W. Holbrook, of Cleveland; Emma, wife of W. L. Lemon, of San Diego, Cal.; George H., subject of this biography, and an infant that died unnamed. HUBERT HUBER, M. D., a prominent physician, and leading druggist of Ottowa, was born in Villingen, Baden, Germany, in February, 1830. He received a liberal classical education, and was also thoroughly trained, in later years, in the science of medicine. 'Inspired with the sentiments that should ever be the inherent characteristics of free-born men, he volunteered, while still a student of medicine, in the revolutionary forces of his native land, under Gen. Franz Sigel, in 1848, for the purpose (if throwing off the tyranical yoke of the then despotic rule of Germany, but, in consequence of the disastrous failure of the patriots, our subject was compelled to seek a refuge on the free soil of the republic of Switzerland, whence, in 1852, he found his way to the United States, landing in New York. After five months of wandering through the country, with no employment, the doctor met, by accident, an old friend, by whom he was induced to come to Ohio and locate in Glandorf, where he arrived June 19, 1853, and followed his profession until 1882, when he moved to Ottawa. Here, the same year, he erected a fine three-story brick building., known as the Huber block, in which, the year following, he engaged in the drug business. The doctor has since continued this line of trade, in connection with the practice of his profession, and at this time has the largest stock of drugs in Putnam county. His building is one of the best blocks in the city, containing two fine business rooms on the ground floor, a number of rooms, designed for offices, in the second story, while the third floor is occupied by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also owns a beautiful brick residence on Main street, and has been very successful financially, in his business and profession. The doctor was married, November, 1853, to Theresa Bockhold, has a family of seven children and takes great interest in educational matters. He spent about nine months as surgeon in the late war, is a self-made man, and is honored and esteemed by the community, whose confidence he fully enjoys. The doctor, having received his medical diploma in the old country, was possessed of a thorough knowledge of his profession, which knowledge has been greatly augmented by actual practice in his new home in Ottowa, Putnam county. 284 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY PETER KLINGMAN, one of the old settlers of Jennings township, Putnam county, Ohio, descends from an ante-Revolutionary Pennsylvania family of German origin, his great-grandfather having been the first of the family to come to America. Peter Klingman, son of this immigrant and grandfather of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, was there married, and .reared nine children. George Klingman, the sixth of the above-mentioned nine, and father of our subject, was born in Union county, Pa., September 20, 1890, and served in the war of 1812, was a farmer, and married Rebecca Clark, daughter of Joseph Clark, who had served in the Revolutionary war, and to this union were born five children, as follows: Peter, Elizabeth, Mary, Rebecca J., and one .that died in infancy, all born in the state of Ohio. George Klingman came to Ohio in 1817 and cleared up a farm of forty acres in Stark county, and in 1839 moved to Crawford county; where he bought 160 acres, cleared it partly up, and in March, 1846, came to Putnam county and purchased, near Columbus Grove, 16o acres, a small part of which had been cleared, but died in Columbus Grove the following August without settling, as he intended. Mr. and Mrs. Kling-man were members of the Lutheran church, church, and in politics Mr. Klingman was a democrat. He was a man of energy and industry, was a typical pioneer farmer, assisted in clearing up three counties in Ohio—Stark, Crawford and Putnam—and died without a blemish on his good name. Peter Klingman, our subject, was born in Stark county, Ohio, March 22, 1817, was educated in an old-fashioned log school-house of the frontier days, and was early inured to. the hardships of pioneer farm life. He also worked, when a young man, in a fulling-mill, and at the age of twenty-two years went to Crawford county and worked for his father in a carding-mill. He then married, November 2, 1848, Miss Elizabeth Pruden, who was born February 9, 1818, in Seneca county, N. Y., a daughter of Ezra B. and Rachael (McFarland) Pruden. To this union were born seven children, viz: Rebecca J., Alberta, William, Elizabeth (died at the age of forty years), Mary L., Peter (died at thirteen) and Ann. In April, 1850, he came to Columbus Grove, and, his father being dead, he assumed the management of the farm, cleared it up and improved it and made it his home for fifteen years, then sold out, and in 1865 bought 120 acres, of which he still retains eighty for his own use. In 186o he lost his wife, who died at Columbus Grove, and in 1862 he married, in Marion township, Allen county, Mrs. Annie Ferguson, a widow, who was born September 12, 1822, in Carroll county, Ohio, a daughter of Michael and Mary (Beemer) Yant. Her father, Michael Yant, was a native of Pennsylvania of German descent, and was a son of John Yant, who served seven years in the Revolution, and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, Brandywine, and others, and passed the terrible winter at Valley Forge with Washington, made so famous for the sufferings of the patriots. He with his wife, Eve, became an early settler of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and died at the advanced age of ninety years. Michael Yant, father of Mrs.. Klingman, was born in Washington county, Pa., about 1790, and came when a boy to Tuscarawas county, Ohio. Mary (Beemer) Yant, mother of Mrs. Kling-man, was a daughter of Isaac Beemer, of Tuscarawas county, where she was born of Holland descent. Mr. and Mrs. Yant settled in Allen county, Ohio, in 1845, and were the parents of ten children. Michael Yant died in September, 1871, aged eighty-two years, and his wife died in May, 1873, aged seventy-seven, both members of the Lutheran church. OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 285 After his marriage Mr. and Mrs. Klingman continued to reside on the farm ner Columbus Grove until 1865, when they came to Jennings township. They had born to them one child, Mary E. To her first husband, James Ferguson, Mrs. Klingman bore four children, Henry, Margaret, Simon and Catherine. Mr. Furguson came from Richland county, Ohio, and died on his farm in Allen county, a highly respected farmer. Mrs. Klingman had four brothers in the late Civil war, viz: Michael, of company A, One. Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, fought, at Resaca, Franklin, Nashville, Buzzard's Roost and elsewhere ; Abraham and William were in company A, One Hundred and Eighteenth, and were at Kingston, Ga., etc.—William dying in New Berne, N. C., and Samuel was in company C, One Hundred and Ninety-second Ohio regiment of infantry. Mr. Klingman is in politics a republican, but has never been afflicted with a desire for public office, although he has been remarkably public spirited and has served as member of the school board and as supervisor, and has been postmaster at Rushmore for twelve years. His integrity has been proverbial and his moral character has never for a moment been impugned by any individual, whoever knew him. He has always had in view the comfort and welfare of his fellow-citizens, and in February, 1893, laid out the Peter Klingman addition to Rushmore in order to afford better residence accommodations to the inhabitants of that thriving little borough, of which. the public has fully availed, itself. On August 24, 1867, while driving a team with a load of stone, the horses took fright and ran away, crushing Mr. Klingman's leg so it had to be amputated, thus making him a marked man for life, although he may be thankful that the mishap was not of a more serious character. HERMAN KOHL.--One of the most prosperous and influential farmers in Putnam county, Ohio, is Herman Kohl, whose father, Henry Kohl, was born in the little hamlet of Oldenburg, in the grand duchy of the same name in Germany, in 1791, spent his boyhood days on a farm and gained what education he could. About 1824 he married Sophia Cottonbrook, who was born in the same village in 1795. Eight years after their marriage (in 1832) they left the fatherland and came to America and first settled in Pittsburg, Pa., where they remained one year, and then moved down the beautiful Ohio river to 'Cincinnati, but remained there only one year, and in the fall of 1835 came to Glandorf, Putnam county, and bought a tract of uncleared land, and hopefully set to work and cleared a farm and made a home. They were blessed with the following children: Catherine, the wife of Bernard Wubken, a retired farmer of Leipsic, Putnam county; Elizabeth, married to Henry Closterman, a furniture manufacture of Cincinnati; John, a farmer near Ottawa; Henry, deceased; William, now living on a farm near Ottawa; Anthony, deceased, and Herman, the subject of this sketch, who was born in Ottawa, Putnam county, January 6, 1843. The father prospered and accumulated considerable property; he had begun with nothing, but at the time of his death, in 1876, he left much to his children. His good wife survived him six years. Both were members of the Glandorf Catholic church. Herman Kohl, the subject of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm, was given a good education, and learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed for five years. On June 3, 1873, he married Anna, the daughter of Anthony and Caroline Von Lehmden (see sketch), born in this county in October, 1847. Both her parents were natives of Germany and had come to America in 1832, and one year 286 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY later had located in Fort Jennings. The mother has two brothers in this country—Anthony, living in the state of Washington, and Barney J., of Jennings township, Putnam county, Ohio. After marriage the young couple located near New Cleveland, Putnam county; there they lived eight years, and there f0ur children were born to them: Elizabeth, who died when eighteen months old; Lewis, who was born December 30, 1875, and is now a farmer living at home; Sylvester, born October 20,1877; Emma, born December 25, 1879; with this small family they moved to Jackson township, 'where five more children have been born: Eleanor, who died at the age of six weeks; Flora, who was born September 16, 1885; Ida Eleanora, born November 19, 1887; Arthur, born June 25, 1889, and Irvin, who died in infancy. In 1890 Mr. Kohl bought the old Von Lehmden homestead across the river and moved his family there. Here he has prospered and still lives, and is giving his children a good education. He owns 196 acres of very rich land,, which he keeps under a high state of cultivation. He is industrious and progressive, being successful with everything he undertakes. He is popular with his neighbors and prominent in public life. He is a democrat in politics and has served as township trustee. He and family are faithful members of the Fort Jennings Catholic church. L. F. KONST, a successful farmer and merchant, postmaster of Elm Center, and trustee of Liberty township, Putnam county, Ohio, is a native of Holland, and was born August 8, 1837. His parents were Frank and Phena (Tenhaven) Konst, also natives of the same country, where they were married and where their four children were born. The father was a shoemaker by trade, and in 1846 brought his family to this country, locating in Medina county, Ohio, where he bought a farm and united agriculture with shoemaking until 1852, when he came to Putnam county and bought a tract of wild lands in Ottawa township, on which, however, was a small cabin. This land he and his children soon cleared up and converted into a comfortable home, and here his wife's death took place some years previous to his own, which occurred about 1887. The four children alluded to above were named John, who is a farmer near New Cleveland, Putnam county, Ohio; L. F., the subject of this sketch ; Peter, who served through the Civil war, and died in 1891 of disease contracted in the service, leaving a widow and three children, and Catherine, wife of Matthias Otto, a farmer residing near the old Konst homestead. This family was reared in the faith of their parents, that of the Catholic church. L. F. Konst, on arriving at New York from Europe with his father, passed seven months in that city, and then lived five years in Medina county, Ohio, then came to Ottawa township, Putnam county, where he grew to manhood. He was fairly educated in German and English in the common schools, and in 1856 left the home farm and went to Cincinnati, found employment at carpentering, and remained there until January, 1861, when he returned home, and in the fall of the same year, October 8, married Miss Caroline Burkhardt, who was born in Ottawa township, Putnam county, in 1843, a daughter of Adam Burkhardt, a German by birth and a stonemason, who came to this locality in an early day and did much work for the county, and was also a prominent farmer. For six years he has been living in retirement, being now eighty-seven years of age. Mrs. Burkhardt died about 1885, a member of the Catholic church and the mother of seven children. viz: OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 287 Louis, a saw-mill man; Theresa, widow of Charles Stine; Caroline, wife of subject; Joseph, a saw-mill man; Elizabeth, was first married H. Radebaugh, then William McCrary, and then a Mr. Inman ; Henry, a carpenter and a farmer, and Martha, wife of John Farley, a farmer. The happy union of Mr. and Mrs. Konst has been blessed with ten children, nine boys and one girl, viz: Frank, proprietor of a brick and tile factory, Continental; Charles, employed by his brother Funk; John, a barber of Geneva, Ohio; Joseph, Louis and Thomas, farmers; and Martha, Rudolph, William and Matthias, at home. All of this family are devout Catholics. After his marriage Mr. Konst continued carpentering for six years, then rented lands and farmed until 1882, when he bought a half-interest in a saw-mill at Elm Center, and the same year purchased a tract of land, of which a small piece was cleared, but on which there was no house. Being a carpenter he soon had a fine two-story dwelling erected and moved into it. He conducted his saw-mill several years and had his farm of fifty acres cleared up and improved and placed in a good state of cultivation. His dwelling, barn and out-buildings are model structures and are ornaments to the neighborhood and show evidence of being erected by a master mechanic, while his farm is a model of neatness and thrift. Mr. Konst was first to suggest the establishment of a post-office at Elm Center, and in 1887 he succeeded in his design. He was made the first postmaster and still holds the position, having been appointed during the first administration of President Cleveland by Postmaster-General William F. Vilas. Mr. Konst kept the office the first year in his own house, and in 1888 he erected a building to which he transferred the office and also placed therein some articles of merchandise on sale. In 1894 he erected a more pretentious building, in which he now conducts the post-office and also keeps for sale a well assorted stock of groceries, tinware and miscellaneous merchandise, and is doing a thriving trade. As will be surmised, Mr. Konst is a democrat, is greatly interested in public affairs generally, is now serving his second term as township trustee, and is president of the board, and has also filled several of the minor township offices. In fact, he is the most active public man of his locality. By persistent effort he has succeeded in securing a telephone at his place of business, and seldom fails in accomplishing anything he undertakes, especially if it is to result in a benefit to the public. Although he started in business with no outside assistance, and with but slender means, he has reared his ten children in respectability and acquired a handsome competence. Mr. Konst remembers when Ottawa was a hamlet of four families, and when quite a large lad his father was in the habit of sending him to mill at Glandorf on foot with a bushel of corn on his shoulder, with which he had to wade through mud and water a distance of three and a half miles, and it is such early lessons of endurance, intrepidity and persistency that have placed him in the front rank of the business men of Liberty township and Putnam county, where he is well known and highly respected. AART KORTIER, a well-known citizen of Jennings township, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in the village of Sprang, Holland, April 13, 1841, and was brought to America by his father in 1848. His parents were Cornelius and Arnolda (Haverhaultz) Kortier, the former a shoemaker, who, on coming to America, made his way directly to what is now known as Delphos, Ohio, bringing a stock of shoes, with the intention of engaging in business, but died six weeks 288 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY after his arrival, a member of the Dutch Reform church. He had been twice married, his wives having been sisters; to his first union were born two children, Maria and Wantrina, and to his second marriage four children were born: Arnolda, Aart (our subject), Arnoldos and Maria, who were left in comfortable circumstances. His widow, Arnolda, a few years after her husband's death, married Frederick J. Smit, bore one child, Johanna F. Smit, and is still living in Fort Jennings, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. Aart Kortier attended school at Delphos until about fourteen years of age, studying the English language and the usual primary lessons, although he yet retains his knowledge of Dutch. From the time of his quitting school until reaching his majority he assisted his stepfather on the farm, one-half mile east of Fort Jennings. He then ran a threshing machine. April 5, 1866, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Elizabeth Raabe, who was born February 6, 1844, a daughter of Henry and Anne Catherine (Peters) Raabe. Henry Raabe was born in Germany, November 16, 1815, and came to Jennings township when a young man, married here, and had born to him nine children, and is still living at the age of eighty years. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kortier settled on a farm of eighty acres, and subsequently purchased the one on which they still live. They have had born to them five children, named as follows: Frederick, Cornelius, Arnold, Charles. and Henry. Mr. and Mrs. Kortier are members of the Lutheran church, of which he is one of the trustees, and in politics he is a democrat. When a young man he served as constable, and has since held the office of assessor, township treasurer three terms, and township trustee. Aart Kortier made manifest his patriotism in 1862, when he enlisted, October 8, under Capt. John Hamm, in company A, Thirty-seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, at Fort Jennings, to serve nine months. He took part in the siege and battle of Vicksburg, Miss., and was in the battle and at the capture of Jackson, Miss., and in many skirmishes beside. He served ten months, and was honorably discharged at Camp Sherman, Miss., August 7, 1863. Mr. Kortier has proven himself to be a good and worthy citizen in all respects, and he and family are justly entitled to the high esteem in which they are held by the entire population of the village and township. CHRISTOPHER KORTOKRAX, deceased, was one of the pioneers of Monterey township, Putnam county, Ohio, and one of its most respected citizens. He was born in Prussia in September, 1830, but the names of his parents can not be recalled; it is known, however, that he had a brother Henry, and two sisters, Maggie and Annie, who all remained in Germany. Christopher received a good education in the common schools of his native land and was reared on his father's farm. In 1851, he came to America, located at Delphos, Ohio, where he worked in the Clark House, the first hotel of that city, until 1854, when he moved to Ottoville and was employed in a saw-mill. November 19, 1856, he married, at Ottoville, to Miss Anna Mary Schroder, who was born July 25, 1839, a daughter of Matthias and Elizabeth Schroder, natives of Germany and the parents of five children; Henry, Catherine, Anna M., August and Clara. Mr. Schroder was a farmer and came to America about the year 1842, making settlement one mile northwest of Delphos, Ohio, deep in the woods. About 1848 he moved to Ottoville and settled one mile west of the present village, on 100 acres of woodland, from which he created a fine farm and a most comfortable home. He OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 289 was one of the earliest pioneers and one of the organizers of the township of Monterey, helped to found the Catholic church at Ottoville, assisted in building the first church edifice and was a member of the first church council. He was well known for his integrity, as well as his public spirit, reared a family of respected children in the Catholic faith, and died, about 1854, at the age of fifty-five years, honored and beloved by all who know him. Christopher Kortokrax and wife, at their marriage, settled on the Schroder homestead, where all their children were born. These were thirteen in number, and those who grew to years of maturity were named Elizabeth, Agnes, Otto, Caroline, August (died at the age . of thirty), Joseph (died aged twenty years), Maximillian, Bernadina and Catherine—the remaining four dying in their infancy. Mr. Kortorax was a very hard-working pioneer citizen, cleared up the greater part of the Schroder homestead, and through his untiring industry increased its dimensions to 115 acres; he also acquired an additional farm of eighty acres in the southern edge of Paulding county. He was a pious Catholic, aided in building the first church of that denomination in Ottoville, and also contributed freely to the erection of Saint Mary's. In politics he was a democrat. He lived to reach the age of fifty-eight years, and died February 4, 1887. He was an affectionate husband and an indulgent father, and an honest administrator of the estate of his father-in-law, and was highly honored for his sterling worth. Mrs. Kortokrax has been appointed administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, and well has she fulfilled the duty imposed upon her. She is now one of the oldest of the pioneers living at or near Ottoville, and although she has endured the many hardships of a frontier life, she is still well preserved and is honored by all her neighbors. Of her children, Agnes married Henry Hunningford, a cooper of Ottoville, and has six children; Elizabeth, who is married to Henry Friemoth, a farmer of Van Wert county, and has four children; Otto married Caroline Wank, and is the father of five children; August married Mary Kramer, but died without issue, and Max, a butcher of Ottoville, married Effie Carpenter, and to this union one child has been born; Bernadina is married to Alexander Hind, and has one daughter; Caroline married John R. Friemoth, and has five children, and lives in Van Wert county, Ohio. MATTHIAS KRAMER, a popular citizen and employee of the tile factory at Ottoville, Putnam county, Ohio, was born in Glandorf, in this county, March 14, 1862. His grandfather, Theodore Kramer, was born near the river Rhine, in Prussia, and worked in an extensive iron furnace when the iron was smithed or forged by hand. He was the father of seven children, named Laurence, Christian, Antony, Maggie, Eva, Annie and Clara. These children all finally settled in America, coming at the same time, with the exception of Laurence, the eldest, who came last. Christian Kramer, the second born of the above family and father of Matthias, our subject, received a good common German education, worked at the trade followed by his father and also at mining, and was still a young man when he came to America, arriving at New York city; thence he went to Buffalo, in the same state, where he arrived at noon, and at one o'clock, the same day, was at work as attendant on a brickmason. He next moved to Youngstown, Ohio, and there married Catherine Klee, a native of Germany and a daughter of Charles Klee, a miller and farmer, who died in his native land. Mr. Klee had been twice 290 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY married, and to his second union were born four children—Barbara, Frank, Charles and Catherine, who all came to America, as did their half-brothers and sisters. From Youngstown Mr. Kramer moved to Beaver county, Pa., where he was overseer in a cannel coal mine at Cannelton for three years. In 1861 he came to Glandorf, Ohio, and bought forty acres of cleared land, on which he lived until March, 1875 or 1876, when he sold his farm and came to Ottoville. Here he bought a cleared farm of sixty acres one mile east of the town, and on this he lived until his retirement from active life, in 1892, when he went to live with his son Antony, in Stark county, Ohio. In politics Mr. Kramer is a democrat. In religion he and his wife are Catholic, and liberally contributed toward the erection of Saint Mary's Catholic church at Ottoville, which is a monument to the zeal and munificence of the Catholic population of the county. To Mr. and Mrs. Kramer have been born eleven children, viz: Margaret, Antony, Mary (who died at the age of eight years), Clara, Lawrence, Frank, Matthias, Marv, Lena, Annie and Theodore. Matthias Kramer came to Ottoville with his parents when about fourteen years of age, and worked on the home farm until he was twenty-three, when he went to Beaver county, Pa., and worked in the same mine his father had worked in years before, and also worked as a farm hand, making a stay there for two years; he then returned to Ohio and mined coal in Stark county; in 1894 he returned to Ottoville, and May 1, 1895, married Miss Elizabeth Zahner, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, May 9, 1873, a daughter of Thomas and Margaret ( Gruber ) Zahner. Thomas Zahner was born in Germany, was there married and is a farmer. There have been born to him and wife nine children, in the following order: Mary, John, Lena, Andrew, Albert, Katie, Elizabeth, Francis and Ann—the first three in Germany and the remaining six in America. From Crawford county, Ohio, the Zahner family moved to Van Wert county, with the exception of Mary, who is married and resides in Huron county, Ohio, and all are devout Catholics in religion. Mr. Zahner and his family live on a productive farm of eighty acres and are highly respected by their neighbors. May 8, 1895, Matthias Kramer accepted his present situation as foreman of the tile works at Ottoville. He is a first-class business man and well fitted for the position; he has won the esteem of his em-, ployers, and stands high with many of the old German pioneers of the township am I with the community in general. With his wife he is a member of Saint Mary's Catholic church, and both live well up to its teachings. WILLIAM KRAUSS, a prominent member of the Putnam county bar and senior member of the law firm of Krauss & Eastman, of Ottawa, is a native of Ohio, born June 7, 1838, in the county of Fairfield. His parents, William and Catherine (Claimer) Krauss, were natives of Germany. Mr. Krauss was mostly reared and educated in Putnam county, to which his parents moved in 1847, and supplemented his common-school training with a partial course at Wittenberg- college. He entered that institution for the purpose of completing the full course, but the prosecution of his studies was hindered by the breaking out of the late war, at which time he laid aside his books and tendered his services to the defense of the national Union. He enlisted August 17, 1862, in company E, Eighty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, with which he served until July, 1864, at which time he was mustered out for the purpose of becoming hospital OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 293 steward in the regular army. During his military experience at the front Mr. Krauss participated in Sherman's attack on Walnut Hills, Port Hudson, Port Gibson, Champion Hill and Vicksburg, in the last-named of which he was severely wounded, necessitating his removal to the hospital. While here confined he took up the study of medicine and pharmacy, passed the required examination and was made hospital steward in the year previously referred to at Memphis,Tenn. Subsequently he was transferred to Atlanta, Ga., where he served until June 6, 1866, when, by special order of the war department, he was finally discharged. Returning to Putnam county in the fall of 1866, he entered the law office of Swan & More, Ottawa, and under the instruction of those gentlemen pursued his legal studies until May, 1868. In the year last named Mr. Krauss went to Europe with his father, and upon his return he was duly admitted to the bar, February 28, 1869. His well-known abilities soon won for him a large and lucrative business, and in due time he won his way to'. the very front rank among his professional brethren of the Putnam county bar. He has served one term as prosecuting attorney, and in that position discharged his official functions with credit to himself and satisfaction to the public, and has given since his whole attention to his profession, making real estate and commercial law a specialty. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Krauss practiced alone until 1887, in October of which year he became associated with E. R. Eastman, under the firm name of Krauss & Eastman, a partnership which still exists. Politically Mr. Krauss has been a stanch democrat ever since attaining his majority, and he is active in the work of his party and contributes much to its success. His profession has proved very remunerative, and his naturally fine business abilities have won success where many other men would fail. He has been fortunate in the accumulation of wealth, owning three good farms in the county and also valuable city property, including a fine residence and an interest in the Star block, one of the best business blocks in Ottawa. Mr. Krauss was largely instrumental in organizing the Ottawa Home & Savings association, of which he has since been attorney, and he was the originator of the Putnam County Abstract company, formed in 1894, and is now president of the same. Mr. Krauss began a set of abstract books a number of years ago, and now has a complete set—the only ones in the county. The officers of this company at the present time are William C. G. Krauss, president, J. C. Jones, secretary, Joseph Justice, treasurer, E. R. Eastman, Ella Eastman, W. C. G. Krauss, J. C. Jones and Joseph Justice, directors. Reverting to the Ottawa Home & Savings association, which was organized in 1888, the records show that the following persons were the first officers of the same: W. W. Kelly, president, J. C. Light, vice-president, E. R. • Eastman, secretary, N. E. Mathews, treasurer, W. C. G. Krauss, atttorney. The present officers are, George D. Kinder, president, F. H. Brochman, vice-president, John F. Cover, treasurer, E. R. Eastman, secretary, and W. C. G. Krauss, attorney. Mr. Krauss has ever been active in founding and carrying forward many of the leading enterprises of the city of Ottawa. He is a self-made man, beginning life at the very foot of the ladder, and without any financial assistance, worthy of note, has succeeded in winning a prominent place in professional, business and social circles, and is indeed one of the representative men of the county of Putnam. He is a member of the I. 0. 0. F., both subordinate lodge arm encampment, and belongs to the F. &. A. M. and the Royal Arcanum. He was married in Ottawa, December 23, 1869, 294 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY to Rebecca J., daughter of Judge John H. Gordon, and is the father of two children—Bertha K., graduate of the Ohio State university and principal of the Ottawa high school, and Edward C. Mr. Krauss and family are members of the Presbyterian church. William Krauss, father of our subject, was born iu Wilferdingen, in Baden, Germany, and left that country at the age of seventeen because of the tyranny of the government. His mother, also a native of the same country, was born at the town of Oberhausen, in Wurtemberg. They came to America prior to their marriage, became man and wife in Fairfield county, Ohio, and reared a family of six children: Gustavus A., died near Vicksburg in 1863, a member of the Eighty-third Ohio volunteer infantry;. Edward M. served in the same regiment, and died in 1863, at Post hospital, St. Louis, Mo. ; Herman J., a farmer of Liberty township, Putnam county, Ohio; Philip M., also a resident of the township of Liberty; Theodore A., who lives in the same part of the country; and the subject of this sketch, who is the eldest of the family. 'William Krauss was one of the pioneers of Putnam county, and cleared up a farm in what was known as the Black swamp, in Liberty township, now one of the best parts of northwestern Ohio; was a public-spirited man, served as president of the school board for many years, and as justice of the peace for thirty-three years, during which he almost invariably settled cases brought before him; and was one of the county commissioners of his county for a period of six years. He was a man of. keen intellect, a deep thinker, and possessed much more than ordinary ability. He died October 18, 1893, at the age of eighty-one years. His wife was fifty-seven years of age at the time of her death in 1870, and the loss of both was deeply deplored by their surviving relatives and a large circle of attached friends. P. M. KRAUSS, a successful farmer of Liberty township, Putnam county, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, October 23, 1844, and in May, 1847, was brought by his parents to Putnam county, where he has since grown to manhood. His parents, William and Catherine (Glauner) Krauss, were both natives of Germany, but were married in Ohio, having come to America at different periods. The father was a baker in the old country, and was about eighteen years old when he landed in New York, whence he came to Ohio, and at Lancaster apprenticed himself to a wagon-maker, served about three years, then went to Columbus, but in a short time returned to Lancaster and married. He then went to Basil, followed his trade for a time, and then moved to a farm and continued wagon-making in connection with agriculture a few years, and in the fall of 1846 came to Putnam county, where he entered eighty acres of wild land, to which he moved his family in 1847. He here continued to work at his trade, at the same time clearing up his land and adding to it until he owned 160 acres, making one of the best farms in the county. He became very prominent as a democrat, was a magistrate for over thirty years, was also township trustee several years, was president of the school board, and was a county commissioner. Although. he and family escaped the ague in the early days to a certain extent, he of late years was seized with rheumatism, which incapacitated him for a year or two. During the Civil war he was a recruiting officer for his locality. After the war he visited Germany (in 1868) and returned with one sister, the only one of the family beside himself that came to America. He was a man of strong convictions and was very resolute, but had a kindly feeling for all, and did much to aid the needy. He died September 18., 1893. He and all his family were members of the Lutheran church. OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 295 Mrs. Catherine Krauss, the mother of our subject, was eleven years of age when brought to America by her parents, who settled in Fairfield county, Ohio, where the father passed the remainder of his years. His widow then visited Putnam county, where she passed two years, and then went to Hancock county, where her death occurred, April 10, 1870. To William and Catherine Krauss was born a family of six sons, viz: William C. G., now a leading attorney of Ottawa; Gustave A., who entered the army in 1862, and died near Vicksburg, Miss., in 1863; Edward M., who also enlisted in 1862, and died at Saint Louis in 1863; Herman J., a farmer of Liberty township; P. M., the subject. of this sketch, and Theodore, who is farming on a part of the old homestead. P. M. Krauss, the subject proper of this biographical notice; was educated to agricultural pursuits and assisted on the home farm until attaining his majority. In 1868 he purchased a tract of forty acres of woodland, and in 1878 bought the eighty acres on which he now lives —all in timber. Here he at once built himself a cabin and cleared off the timber, and has made a model farm of the place. He has continued to add to the land until he now owns 30o acres, of which 230 acres are cleared, ditched, tiled and under cultivation. He has improved this place with a handsome two-story frame dwelling, a substantial barn and out-buildings, wind-engine, orchard and every necessary convenience. He has devoted his entire attention to his farm, doing no other business, and has always raised good crops, ample to supply all his home demand and a surplus for market. In 1875 Mr. Krauss was united in marriage with Miss Alemeth A. Bagley, who was a native of Putnam county, born November 20, 1873, a daughter of Joseph and Mary Bagley, who were natives of Vermont and Pennsylvania, respectively, and were married in Ohio. Mr. Bagley was a blacksmith by trade and for mahy years followed his calling at Pandora, Ohio, where his death occurred about 1858. His children were four in number and were named as follows: Emeline, married to William Morehead, farmer; Alemeth A., wife of Mr. Krauss, our subject; Susan, wife of E. F. Wick, a machinist, and William R., a farmer of Liberty township. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Krauss has been blessed by the birth of nine children, of whom one died young, the survivors being named Eva E., Albert L., William R., Luther P., Mary E., Earnest S., Verney R. and Leland H., all still at home. In politics Mr. Krauss was formerly a democrat, but since the advent of the people's party, which he assisted in organizing at Cincinnati in 1891, he has affiliated with that body. He has filled several of the township offices, including that of clerk for two terms, and in every position gave the utmost satisfaction. He and family are members of the Lutheran church and their daily walk through life gives evidence of the sincerity of their religious profession. Mr. Krauss is one of the most skillful agriculturists of Liberty township, and consequently one of the most prosperous. He has made a handsome competency entirely through his good management and financial ability, supplemented by untiring industry. His integrity has never been called in question and he deservedly stands among the most respected of Liberty township's solid citizens. PETER KRAMER, one of the old settlers of Fort Jennings, Putnam county, Ohio, and a most successful business man, is a native of Gerolstein, Trier, Prussia, one of ten children born to Lawrence Kramer—four of whom had their nativity in the Buckeye state. Magdalene (Hahn) Kra- 296 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY mer, wife of Lawrence, was born December 26, 1825. Lawrence Kramer, who was born May 17, 1818, brought his family to Ohio in April, 1857, and bought forty acres of land near Glandorf, Putnam county, but in 1868 sold and moved to Jennings township, where he bought r07 acres and farmed until 1881, when he retired from the active duties of life and died June 19, 1883, at the age of about sixty-six years, a member of the Catholic church. Peter Kramer, our subject, was born October 6, 1851, and was consequently a mere child when brought to Ohio by his parents, and seventeen years old when they settled in Jennings township. He was well educated in the common schools and worked on the home farm until 1879, when he was appointed station agent at Fort Jennings for the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad, and where, also, he was connected in the restaurant business with his father. The agency he still holds, but discontinued the restaurant business in 1883, and engaged in the musical instrument business, carrying a large assortment of organs and pianos. In 1880 he was appointed assistant postmaster under President Hayes, and in October, 1885, he was appointed postmaster under President Cleveland—still holding the position. May 30, 1881, Mr. Kramer was united in marriage with Miss Julia Rekart, who was born at Fort Jennings, February 2, 1849, a daughter of Sigmund and Mary (Discher) Rekart, a full sketch of which family will be found on another page of this volume. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Kramer has been blessed with three children, named Carl S., Nellie and Julius. In politics Mr. Kramer is a democrat and an active worker for his party, with whom he is very popular. He has served his fellow-citizens as township treasurer, and fully took care of their interests while thus employed. As postmaster he has given entire satisfaction to the public, and' has won great credit for himself. He is prosperous as a business man, and as a member of society he stands, with his amiable wife, in the center of a large and constantly widening circle of admiring and truly sincere friends. MRS. ANDREW KROMER, of Monterey township, Putnam county, Ohio, is one of those practical women who have the strength of mind to manage their affairs after the loss of their main support—that is, their husbands. Andrew Kromer, to whom this lady had the happiness to be married, was born in Baden, Germany, October 13, 1842. His father, Andrew Warner Kromer, came to America in 1844, landing in New York city, whence he went to Buffalo, N. Y., by canal, and then, via Lake Erie, to Sandusky, Ohio, where he arrived July 4, of same year. His family at that lime consisted of himself, wife and six children, the latter being named Ferdinand, Kate, Rose, Charles Joseph, Victoria and Andrew. The family settled on and cleared up a farm in Erie county, and there the father died at the age of seventy years. Andrew Kromer, the deceased husband of the subject of this sketch, was but two years of age when brought to the United States, received a good common-school education in Sandusky city, Erie county, Ohio, was reared to manhood on his father's farm, and in 1868, bought a farm in section No. 11, Rice township, Sandusky county, on which he lived until he came to Putnam county, October 6, 1882, and bought 160 acres, and here passed the remainder of his days, dying, at the age of fifty-two years, April 15, 1895, one of the most honored citizens of the township. His marriage took place at New Riegel, Seneca county, OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 297 Ohio, April 21, 1868, to Miss Amelia Walker, who was born in that town October 28, 1844, a daughter of Charles and Lugartes (Fleik) Walker, the former of whom was a native of Baden, Germany, and the father of eight children, viz: August, Pauline, Mary, Emma, Amelia, John, Sophia and Joseph; of these, the elder three were born in Germany and the remainder in this country.. Mr. Walker came to the United States in August, 1844, bought forty acres of land in Seneca county, Ohio, cleared up a farm and added by industry twenty more acres, and on his farm he died at the age of sixty years, honored as a just and pure man and as a consistent member of the Catholic church, in which faith his widow also passed away. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Kromer were born six children, as follows: Margaret, February 3, 1869; Mary A., September 9, 1872; Charles William, May 21, 1875; Frank, September 2, 1879; Kate, November 25, 1882, and Leo H., August 20, 1888. Mrs. Kromer has given her children the best possible educatfon her circumstances afforded, and they have grown up to their present years an honor to her motherly care, the elders proving this fact by the prominent positions they have reached in life, while the younger children are also being trained to lead moral and useful lives. Although she deeply felt the loss of her husband and still remains a widow, she never has lost that strength of character which has enabled her to bear up against her bereavment and to rear her family in respectability and to usefulness. Her eldest son, William, now has charge of the home farm, in the management of which he has proven himself to be fully competent, and he, also, with his mother, enjoys the respect of all who know him. Mrs. Kromer is an exceptionally bright lady, with no lack of business talent, and is also an ornament to the social circle in which she moves; but few of her sex equal her in ability to overcome adverse circumstances, and certainly none deserves more credit than. she for the successful manner in which she has accomplished this purpose. Amiable in every trait of her character, she has won the respect of all who know her, and is now one of the most respected residents of Monterey township. HENRY KROUSE, a deceased but once prominent farmer of Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, was a son of Henry and Elizabeth Krouse, and was born April 1, 1831, in Ashland county, Ohio, his parents being natives of Germany. Our subject came to Putnam county while still a youth, and received his education chiefly in the public schools of this county, grew to manhood on a farm, and November 1, 1855, married Miss Catherine Clevenger, (laughter of Jacob and Eliza (Rimer) Clevenger, and a member of one of the oldest and most highly respected families of the township. This happy marriage was blessed by the birth of nine children, all of whom, save two, were spared to reach the years of maturity and to gladden the declining years of their worthy and respected sire. The nine were born in the following order: William, a farmer of Sugar Creek township; Louisa, wife of James Burman, of Union township; Cynthia Ann, at home on the old homestead; John, also a farmer in Union township; James, who died at five years of age; an infant daughter, who died unnamed; Alonzo, farmer; Samuel, carpenter, and Reuben, farmer—all three on the homestead. Mrs. Catherine Krouse was born in Union township, Putnam county, Ohio, March 29, 1832, here grew to womanhood, and here married, after which event she and her husband lived for a year on a farm situated on the oppo- 298 - BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY site side of the Auglaize river from the present homestead; then they purchased the farm now occupied by Mrs. Krouse and the children. At the time of settling here the farm was in the woods, and the first habitation was a log cabin, which afforded them a home until about i 884, when the present Modern dwelling was erected. In the meantime, Mr. Krouse had cleared up his farm and brought it to.a fine condition of productiveness, its cultivation continuing to occupy his attention until his death, which took place October 6, 1891. In politics. he was a democrat, and for a number of years was a sillool director, having always taken a great interest in matters. educational. He was a prominent, progressive and useful citizen and highly respected by all who knew him. His widow is also greatly admired by the residents of the township, and is passing in peace and comfort the declining years of her life in the occupancy of one of the finest mansions in the county. THEODONE KUNNEKE, one of the pkmeer citizens and business men of Columbus Grove, Ohio, is a native of Germany, and was born in the city of Hanover, kingdom of Hanover, on the 18th day of March, 1824. His parents were Christian and Ernestine (Ebling) Ktinneke, both natives of Hanover. When our subject was eight years of age his parents removed to Obenkerschen, district of Shothberg, in Hesse-Cassel, where he finished his schooling and was confirmed. When he was fourteen years of age he apprenticed himself to learn the carpenter's trade, completing his time on the loth day of April, 1841. "Theodore Kunneke, in August, 1841, came to the United States, landing at Baltimore, Md., after a voyage of seven weeks. After a few days in Baltimore he went by canal to Pittsburg, where he remained until the spring of 1842, working at his trade for a dollar a week and his board. He next went to Parkersburg, W. Va., and there went to work in a hotel, acting as dining-room boy and running to the steamboat landings. He remained in Parkersburg for about six months and then to Cincinnati, hoping to get work at his trade, but in this he was disappointed, and for several weeks he was compelled to work at anything he could find to do, such as working on the streets and sweeping and cleaning gutters. One day, however, while on the street, he fell in with a millwright by the name of James Flannerty (one of the three brothers who were in partnership in mill-wrighting in Saint Louis; Mo.), who was in Cincinnati buying Machinery. To this man our suhject bound himself out for three years as an apprentice, to learn the millwright trade. As soon' as Mr. Flannerty had purchased his machinery, which was for a flour and saw-mill for a point in the Ozark mountains on James river, in Taney county, Mo., twenty miles south of Springfield, he chartered a canal-boat and loaded the machinery and supplies aboard, and they all started down the Ohio river. They went from the Ohio into the Mississippi river and down that to Montgomery's point, Ark. , and then went up White river in tow of a small steamer, as far as navigable for the steamboat, and then continued by canalboat as far up as the water Would 'permit. They then loaded the machinery on wagons, and with ox-teams hauled it across the country, a distance of forty miles, to the desired point. Mr. Kunneke helped to build the flour and saw-mill, and then for nearly a year had charge of the flour-mill as miller, as he had a very good knowledge of milling, his father having been a miller in the old country. While at this mill the owner had a government contract to.stipplv flour to the Cherokee Indians, which tribe was located only about OF PUTNAM COUNTY - 299 twenty miles from the will. After remaining at the above mill for about a year, young Kunneke and the son of Flannerty concluded they would go west and make their fortunes in the gold fields of Oregon. Accordingly they went to Council Bluffs, the then out-fitting point, and there purchased a regular emigrant out-fit, consisting of ponies and pack-mules, and then started on their long journey across the plains. They thought it unnecessary to have a guide across that sandy expanse, and by themselves the two young men struck out. They soon found out their mistake, and after ten days' experience, when their animals were worn out, their provisions almost exhausted the Indians all around them, they were forced to turn back to Council Bluffs, where they arrived worn out and financially wrecked. They then worked their way, as best they could, on boats down the Missouri river to Saint Louis, and there Mr. Kunneke went to work at the millwright trade and finished up his apprenticeship with the Flannertys. From Saint Louis he came to Dayton, Ohio, and from Dayton he worked his way up the canal to Delphos, helping to build or repair almost every mill on that canal between these two points. At Dayton, in 1847, Mr. Kunneke was married to Margaret Duebner, who died in 1849, leaving one son, Louis, also deceased. In March, 1851, Mr. Kunneke came to Columbus Grove and built a saw-mill for Jonathan K. Brice, uncle of Senator C. S. Brice. He then turned to Dayton, but came back here in the following spring. On April 14, 1853, he married Mary E. Featheringill, who was born in Franklin county, Ohio, on October 9, 1833. The parents of Mrs. Kunneke came to Putnam county in 1833, when she was about six weeks old, the first shelter they had after they reached here being and Indian tent. They lived on a farm near Columbus Grove the rest of their lives. To the second marriage of Mr. Kunneke a son and a daughter were born: Martha Elenor, born January 21, 1854, be-. came the wife of W. A. Kittinger, of Anderson, Ind., and died September 16, 1894, leaving three children: John Harmon Kunneke was born January 13, 1858, married Bell McComb, and is now one of the leading young business men of Columbus Grove. After marrying and settling permanently in Columbus Grove Mr. Kunneke engaged in merchandizing for about four years, and then sold out that business and went to contracting and building, which he has followed up to the present time. All the largest brick buildings and blocks, with one or two exceptions, and all the best residences in Columbus Grove, were built by Mr. Kunneke. He built and now owns what is called Kunneke block, on the corner of high and Sycamore streets, which is a two-story brick with basement, containing three store-rooms, with the up-stairs occupied by newspaper and other offices. He also owns the two-story brick business house on High street occupied by the Maples Banking company, and a large two-story frame business house on the corner of Sycamore and School streets. In 1865 Mr. Kunneke built his present large and substantial brick residence which, with its handsome grounds, is on the corner of Sycamore street and Broadway. He also owns three other good residences in Columbus Grove, and two good farms near that city, situated on the Allen county line, and also owns the old home farm where his wife was reared, near town. Mr. Kunneke is a member of the Lutheran church and his wife of the Presbyterian. The father of Mr. Kunneke died while the latter was a school-boy. His mother married again, and in 1846 she, the step-father, three brothers, and a half-sister came to the United States and located six miles north of Dayton, Ohio, on a farm, where the mother died. Harmon,