USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. II > Part 47
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David N. Klopfenstein .- The townsite of Grabill is located on what was the birthplace of David N. Klopfenstein-the homestead of his par- ents, Joseph and Fannie (Schlatler) Klopfenstein, who spent their ma- turer years upon it and there ended their days. After the farm came into the possession of the son David, he began to dispose of it, bit by bit, for building sites and retains only the spot on which the family residence stood. Mr. Klopfenstein was born on July 25, 1866, one of seven children born to his parents. Jacob, the eldest, lives in Archbold, Ohio. The second child, a daughter, died in infancy. David N., of this review, was the third born. Joseph is a resident of Grabill. Katherine married Frank Hauser, a minister, now located in Cleveland, Ohio. The two youngest
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were twins, John Henry and Berg, the former being a minister of the Gospel and located in Kansas in his work. David Klopfenstein had the usual farm training and country schooling that goes with rural life, and when he was old enough to begin to make his own way in the world, went to work at the carpenter's trade, in which he continued to the age of twenty-five years. He then spent a year in Kansas and two years in Oklahoma and, in 1896, returned to the family home in Grabill, making that his headquarters and finding work as a carpenter in the county. He is still engaged in that work, but specializes in fence building, and has built a large part of the modern fences to be found on Allen county farms. For a few years after he settled on the old homestead place he farmed with much success, but the eventual sale of the greater part of the highly improved land brought an end to that enterprise. In 1884 Mr. Klopfenstein built a cider mill on the homestead farm, since which time he has operated it in season every year with the exception of three seasons. On November 2, 1899, Mr. Klopfenstein married Caroline Roth Goldsmith, the widow of Amos Goldsmith. Three children have blessed their home-Elizabeth May, born August 5, 1901; Joseph John, born June 19, 1903; and Bernice Blye, born February 28, 1906. The family have membership in the Mission church and have an active part in the labors of that organization in their community. Mr. Klopfenstein is inde- pendent in his political views and takes no part in politics beyond that dictated by the demands of good citizenship.
Joseph A. Klopfenstein .- The Klopfenstein family has already been mentioned at some length in a sketch of David N., a brother of the subject, so that it will suffice to say in regard to the parentage of the subject that he is a son of Joseph and Fannie (Schlatler) Klopfenstein, people of Adams county birth, and farming people all their lives. The homestead farm, on their death, became the property of David Klopfenstein, and has since been sold in small parcels for building spots in the growing village of Grabill. Joseph Klopfenstein was born there on July 25, 1867, and lived on the home place until he reached the age of twenty-one, when he married and established a home of his own. Katherine Yaggy became his wife on November 6, 1890. She was born in Allen county and is a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Sanders) Yaggy, native Ohioans who came to Allen county in their young days and there spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of a fine family of children, briefly named as follows: Hannah, the wife of John Roth, of Berne, Indiana; Henry, of Woodburn, Indiana; Andrew, of the same place; Katherine, the wife of the subject; Menno, located in Arizona; John, of Woodburn; and Sarah, the wife of Rev. Henry Klopfenstein, of Mineola, Kansas, a brother of the subject. The mother of this family, by a previous marriage to Jacob Roth, had five children. Anna, the eldest, is deceased. Levi is a resident of Springfield township. Elizabeth lives in Grabill. Louisa is the wife of Jacob Klopfenstein, of Grabill, and Lydia married David Grabill, of Grabill. Joseph and Katherine (Yaggy) Klopfenstein have seven children. Menno, the first born, named for his maternal uncle, lives in Grabill. Jesse is in Fort Wayne, with the General Electric Works at that point. Two pairs of twins followed-Howard and Homer, and Rufus and Reuben. Rufus is in Fort Wayne in the employ of the General Electric Works, but the other three boys are at home in Grabill. Mary- Anna, the youngest child, is also at home with her parents. Mr. Klop- fenstein has long been engaged in the manufacturing of tile in Grabill
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and has a very successful and growing plant there. He is associated in the business with his brother, David N., and his sons also are of much help to him in the operation of the plant. He and his family are members of the Mission church and he has served for years as a member of the Grabill school board. He has no political affiliations, sharing with his brother David a belief that community welfare can best be served with- out allegiance to party lines.
Charles S. Knight did a man's work in a manly way and his entire life was one marked by rectitude and honor, so that he measured up to the highest standard demanded for the commanding of popular respect and approbation. He became closely identified with the civic and busi- ness affairs of Fort Wayne, where his widow still maintains her home, but in the closing period of his life he was giving his attention prin- cipally to the zinc-mining industry, in the vicinity of Marion, Crittenden county, Kentucky. He was well known and highly honored in Fort Wayne and it is but consistent that in this history of Allen county be entered tribute to him as a man of fine character and as a citizen of the utmost loyalty. Charles S. Knight was born in Columbus, Ohio, on November 24, 1846, a son of Willard and Elizabeth (Matier) Knight, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father was long identified with rail- way affairs and was connected with the Hocking Valley Railroad for many years prior to his death, both he and his wife having been resi- dents of Ohio at the time of their death. He to whom this memoir is dedicated acquired his early education in the common schools of Penn- sylvania and Ohio and in the latter state gained his preliminary business experience. In 1882 he established his residence in Fort Wayne, and here he was in the employ of the Fort Wayne Gas Company until he accepted the position as a salesman for the Fort Wayne Electric Com- pany with which he continued to be identified many years, his alliance with this important industrial enterprise having continued for some time after the local plant and business had been absorbed and made a part of the organization of the General Electric Company. It was after a reorganization of the business in Fort Wayne that he became interested in zinc mining in Kentucky, but he continued to maintain his home in Fort Wayne until his death, which occurred August 14, 1899. Mr. Knight was a well fortified advocate of the principles for which the Democratic party stands sponsor in a basic way, he received the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Masonry, was affiliated also with the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and he attended and gave liberal support to the Presbyterian church, of which his widow has been an active member for many years. On August 2, 1870, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Knight to Miss Alice Cheney, who was born at Defiance, Ohio, and who is a daughter of James and Nancy (Evans) Che- ney, natives, respectively, of Vermont and Ohio. Mr. Cheney was a young man when he made his way from New England to Toledo, Ohio, and he soon located at Defiance, that state, where he presently became one of the leading contractors in connection with the construction of the old Wabash and Erie canal. He maintained his residence at Defiance about ten years and in 1854 removed to Fort Wayne, where he engaged in the banking business. In 1856 he removed with his family to Logansport, Indiana, where he engaged in the banking business. He was one of twenty men who supervised the starting of national banks in Indiana. Later he became interested financially in the Fort Wayne gas works, and in 1882
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he came to Fort Wayne to assume the supervision of the business of the gas company, of which he was the president. He continued as one of the substantial capitalists and honored and influential citizens of Fort Wayne until his death, December 13, 1903, at the venerable age of eighty- six years, his wife having passed to the life eternal on June 27, 1895, at the age of seventy-one years, and the memories of both are revered by all who came within the sphere of their benign influence. Of their four children the eldest is Helen, who is the wife of John A. Kimberley, their home being in Neenah, Wisconsin; Willard is now a resident of Redlands, California ; Mary C. is the wife of John C. Nelson, of Logansport, Indiana ; and Mrs. Knight is the youngest of the number. Mr. and Mrs. Knight became the parents of six children, of whom the first born, Willard C., died at the age of forty-four years; James C. is prominently identified with business interests at Jackson, Tennessee; Elizabeth is the wife of Frederick C. Peters, of Fort Wayne; Helen C. is the wife of Dr. Allan Hamilton, a representative physician of Fort Wayne; Mary is the wife of Frederick E. Hoffman, of this city; and Alice Stuart remains with her widowed mother in their pleasant home in Fort Wayne.
Otto Knoblauch has been a resident of Allen county since 1881 and here his ability and business sagacity have enabled him to achieve large and merited success. He is one of the venerable and honored citizens of the village of Woodburn, Maumee township, where he formerly oper- ated a saw mill and conducted a general store, and where he now gives his attention to the real estate business. He is one of the arge landholders of the county, owning eight hundred acres of valuable farm property, and through his varied activities he has contributed his quota to the civic and material progress and prosperity of the county. Though he has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten he retains splen- did mental and physical vigor-the reward for right living and right thinking. As one of the substantial and valued citizens of Allen county he is eminently entitled to representation in this history. Mr. Knoblauch was born in Osterburg, Kingdom of Saxony, Germany, in the year 1846, a son of William and Charlotte (Schroeder) Knoblauch, who came with their children to America in 1868 and settled in Lenawee county, Michi- gan, where they passed the remainder of their lives, the father having been a farmer by vocation during his entire active career. William Knoblauch was twice married and his first wife was comparatively a young woman at the time of her death. They became the parents of four children-William, Frederick, Charlotte and Elizabeth, all of whom are deceased. Of the second marriage were born four children-Herman, Otto, Ludwig, and August. Of these children Herman is deceased. Otto Knoblauch gained his youthful education in the excellent schools of his native land and was twenty-two years of age when he accompanied his parents on their immirgation to the United States. He continued to be associated with agricultural industry in Lenawee county, Michigan, until 1881, when he came to Allen county, Indiana, and established his residence at Woodburn. There he became the owner and operator of a saw mill and also conducted a general merchandise store, his active connection with these enterprises having continued until 1898, when he retired. He has since devoted his attention principally to the buying, selling and improving of farm and village property in this section of the county, and he has been one of the honored and influential citizens of Woodburn, where he held for six years the office of postmaster. He is independent
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in politics and he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Lutheran church. On June 2, 1879, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Knoblauch to Miss Margaret Flack, daughter of Charles and Margaret (Messerer) Flack, at that time residents of Detroit, Michigan. The parents of Mrs. Knoblauch were born in Germany and were young folk when they came to America, in 1852. Mr. Flack was a cabinetmaker by trade and for many years was actively engaged in the work of his trade in the city of Detroit, Michigan. Mrs. Knoblauch was the first born in a family of five children, the others being Elise, Ernest, Mary and Charles, all of whom are living except the last mentioned. The loved mother is deceased and the venerable father now resides in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Knob- lauch, who accord to him true filial solicitude. Mr. and Mrs. Knoblauch became the parents of ten children, whose names are here entered in the respective order of birth: Ernest, Carl, Anna, Elise, Albert, Carl (second of the name), Emma, one who died in infancy, Clara and Walter. Carl, first of that name, died in infancy, and Albert is also deceased, so that the surviving children are seven in number.
George Koehlinger was four years old when he accompanied his parents on their journey from the German Fatherland to America, in 1849. He was born in Germany, July 26, 1845, son of Henry and Christine (Weber) Koehlinger, both reared in Germany and there married. They came to Allen county very soon after their arrival on American shores and made their home there the rest of their lives, settling in Adams town- ship after a long and tedious as well as perilous journey by ox team over- land. They bought a farm of eighty acres, for which they paid the small sum of two dollars per acre, and there settled down to the quiet of farm life. They prospered and came to be leaders in their community. The father, who was a Republican and a member of the German Lutheran church, died at the age of sixty-five, leaving a family of nine children, of whom only four are living. Named in the order of their birth they are Jacob, Philip, Mary, Peter, Henry, Catherine, Elizabeth, George and Frederick. The five first named are deceased, and it is worthy of mention that Henry, the fifth son, was a soldier in the Civil war. Catherine is the wife of Frederick Collinger. Elizabeth lives in New Haven. George is the subject of this sketch, and Frederick is living retired. Mr. Koehlinger attended the German Lutheran schools of his community as a boy, but his education was meagre, and his young life was for the most part spent on the home farm where he ably assisted his father in the management of the place. In time he bought the farm home, and since that time has bought and sold a good many parcels of farm land in Adams township. He is profitably engaged in stock farming and has made an unqualified success of his farming career. He is a Democrat in politics and was for seven years a member of the advisory board of his township. Mr. Koehlinger has all the ear-marks of a good citizen and his identification with his home community has been a commendable and satisfactory one, viewed from all standpoints. He was married on June 6, 1867, to Miss Mary Lepper, daughter of George and Julia Lepper. Mrs. Koehlinger died on October 26, 1907, the mother of three children- Elizabeth, May and Henry. The first named is the wife of Christ Dennges, of Fort Wayne, and the mother of four children, named Arthur, Otto, Christ and Walter. May married Henry Gerhard of Fort Wayne and has Henry, Hulda, Elmer and Clarence. Henry is also married and his three children are Velma, Paul and Berenice. Henry, it should be
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said, is engaged in the operation of the old home farm, owned and oper- ated by his father, the subject, for many years. He is a successful farmer and reflects much of the careful training received while he was his father's assistant.
Robert Koerber .- Switzerland has through so many generations been famed for her watches that the mention of the one name invariably sug- gests the other. And so it is quite in keeping that the father of Robert Koerber should have been a watch-maker, for he was born in Switzer- land, was there reared and there served his apprenticeship under an expert watch-maker. Frederick Koerber came, with his wife, Elizabeth (Koerber) Koerber, in the year 1887, to America, settling first in Lima, Ohio, where they remained a year and then moved to Fort Wayne. There they spent the remainder of their lives, the father passing out in 1902 and the mother in 1914. They were the parents of five children-Fred- erick, Robert, Jacob, Bertha and Walter-all residents of Fort Wayne, with the single exception of Frederick, who makes his home in Colorado. Robert was born in Switzerland on March 7, 1880, and was seven years old when he accompanied his parents to America. He attended the public schools of Lima, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, up to the age of fourteen, when he undertook to learn the trade of a cigar-maker. He was not sufficiently enthusiastic about the work to wish to continue in it indefinitely, and when he was seventeen he entered upon a jewelry apprenticeship under his father, who was at that time in the employ of H. C. Graffe & Company, then a prominent firm in the city but no longer in business. When Mr. Koerber was twenty-one years old he engaged in business with Eugene George Trenkley, now deceased, and the eoncern has grown with the passing years so that today the Trenkley & Koerber, Inc., jewelry store is one of the prominent places in the heart of the retail distriet of Fort Wayne. Mr. Koerber was married on August 20, 1902, to Miss Mary M. Volmer, daughter of Mrs. Mary Volmer, of Fort Wayne. Their children are Robert Frederick, Harold and Marcella Elizabeth, aged thirteen, ten and seven years, respectively. The family have membership in Plymouth Congregational church and Mr. Koerber is a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He is also prominent as a member of the Quest Club, the Rotary Club, the Country Club, the Commercial Club and the Merchants' Asso- ciation. Mr. and Mrs. Koerber claim a wide circle of friends in their home city and are warmly received in whatever circle they appear.
Christian Koester claims Fort Wayne as his birthplace, and has passed his life thus far within the confines of Allen county. He was born in the city named above on December 30, 1857, son of Christian and Minnie (Stillhorn) Koester, both born and reared in Germany. They came to Allen county in young life, settled in Fort Wayne and there had their home until 1880, when they came to St. Joseph township and are there resident at this writing. Mr. Koester was successfully engaged for many years in the lime and stone business in Fort Wayne, but in St. Joseph township turned his attention to agriculture, in which he enjoyed a very commendable success. The only child of these people is Christian Koester, the subject. He had his early education in the schools of Fort Wayne, and in 1875 came to St. Joseph township and settled on the farm, which is his home today. He has been successful in farm life, owns one hundred and fifty-one acres of highly cultivated land in one piece and eighty acres in another, both places being well developed and highly productive. The home place is one of the finest in the township,
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with a modern brick dwelling house and all other buildings accordingly. The house is most pleasantly situated in the midst of a pine grove, and its appointments are wholly modern and indicative of the good judgment of its owner. Mr. Koester is engaged in general farming and stock- raising and his place is second to none in the township in point of produc- tiveness and appearance. Mr. Koester was married, in 1880, to Miss Mary Gerke, daughter of John and Mary (Meyer) Gerke, both of German birth and early settlers in St. Joseph township, Allen county. To Mr. and Mrs. Koester nine children were born, all living at this writing. They are Minnie, Emma, Fred, Harry, Carl, George, Elmer, Marie and Paul. Mr. Koester has not identified himself with public life in his community to any extent, having been satisfied with the duties of good citizenship without permitting himself to participate in the political life of his town- ship. He has allied himself with no lodges, but has been a lifelong mem- ber of the German Lutheran church, as is also his wife, and their chil- dren were reared in the same faith. The family is among the most de- pendable element in the town and they have played a conspicuous part in the upbuilding and development of their community in its most credit- able aspects.
Rev. Herman B. Kohlmeier, pastor of the Lutheran Evangelical church at New Haven, was born in Houston county, Minnesota, December 19, 1871. His parents were Henry F. and Katherine (Burmester) Kohl- meier. He received his primary education in schools near his home and then attended Concordia College at Milwaukee four years, then two years in the school of the same name at Fort Wayne. Succeeding this he con- tinued his studies at Concordia Seminary at St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated in 1894. Having thus prepared himself he accepted the pastorate of a church at Pipestone, Minnesota. After six years he came to Indiana and took charge of the churches at Garrett and Auburn. In December, 1907, he came to New Haven, where he has met with marked success. Since coming here he has improved the property very much, having built a new brick parsonage and a fine new school house where, with an assistant, he conducts a school with upwards of sixty pupils, taking them through the seventh grade. Besides this he has a church at Monroeville. Rev. Kohlmeier was married November 18, 1896, to Alvina Lange, at Weyauwega, Wisconsin. They had no children, but adopted a girl now named Irene. Mrs. Kohlmeier died March 1, 1904. His second marriage occurred August 24, 1905, when Lydia Boettcher, of Jericho Springs, Mo., became his wife. She has borne him nine children, named Theodore, Paul Gerhard, Natalie, Ruth, Esther, Johanna, Lydia, and twin girls Beata and Tabea.
Elias Kohr is a representative of a family that was long established in Maryland and which first settled in Allen county in 1850. He is a son of Samuel Kohr, born May 20, 1808, and for many years prominent in the development process that converted this section of the county from a wilderness state into a blooming garden. The elder Kohr was a staunch Republican in later life and was a member of the United Brethren church to the end of his days. His children numbered eight, and of that family only three are living. Named in order of their birth they were George, Catherine, Sarah, William, Nancy, Jacob, Elias and Jole. Sarah lives in Wells county, as does also Nancy, and Elias, the immediate subject of this sketch, is the other surviving child. He was born in Ohio, February 28, 1847, and was reared to farm life, gaining such meager education as
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was available to the country boy of his day. He volunteered for service in the Civil war in the spring of 1864, and served to the end of hostilities as a member of Company D. One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Infantry of Indiana. The war over, he settled on land in Lafayette township, buying eighty acres of virgin land, on which he gradually made the necessary improvements to bring it into a state of productiveness. He has today one of the attractive places in the township and is counted among the prosperous farming men of the district. He was married on February 16, 1871, to Miss Nancy Hamilton, daughter of Benjamin Hamil- ton, and eight children have been born to them. Harry S. is dead. Alwildia is the wife of J. E. Plummer. Francis H. was the third child and Wire M. the fourth. Jonathan is deceased and the remaining chil- dren are John C., Monteville D. and Julia E., she being the wife of B. H. Pierson of Janesville. Alwildia is the mother of three children-Arnold F., Doyle and Wilma, while Francis has Cecil Dayton and Herman Oliver. Julia (Kohr) Pierson has one child-Vilas M.
Edward H. Kruse, M. D .- The old-time popular prejudice against the young physician and surgeon has been largely obliterated in recent years, and this result has been accomplished by the effective service and earnest enthusiasm of the younger representatives of the most exacting and responsible of all professions. Long experience brings its rewards in efficiency, but modern medical and surgical science demands of even the tyro a most thorough and comprehensive preliminary preparation and clinical experience. Dr. Kruse is one of the able physicians of Fort Wayne, in which city he was born on June 15, 1883. He is a son of William and Dorothea (Busching) Kruse, both of whom were born in Germany, and at the time of his death the father was one of the successful business men and honored and influential citizens of Fort Wayne, where he had long been engaged in the contracting business and where his widow still maintains her home. Of their six children three are living- Frederick, Dr. Edward H. and Waller, all of whom reside in their native city of Fort Wayne. Dr. Kruse gained his preliminary education in the Lutheran parochial schools of Fort Wayne, and in preparation for his chosen profession entered the Indiana Medical College, in the city of Indianapolis. In this institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1906, and after having thus gained his degree of Doctor of Medi- cine he further fortified himself by effective post-graduate work, for two years in leading medical and surgical institutions in the cities of Berlin and Vienna, Germany. This was the final preparation. He established himself in practice upon his return from Germany, in 1909. During the four years, from 1912 to 1915, the Doctor held the office of coroner of Allen county, and since his retirement his co-operation has been re- tained, as he is now serving as deputy coroner. He is actively identified with the Allen County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. In politics he pays his allegiance to the Democratic party, his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, and he is a loyal member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club. The Doctor maintains his offices in a building at the corner of Berry and Clinton streets. In December, 1912, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Kruse to Miss Geneva Maxfield, who was born at Angola, Steuben county, Indiana, a daughter of Samuel Maxfield, and the two children of this union are Dorothy Lou, and Geneva.
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