USA > Ohio > Darke County > A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 58
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Henry Limbert, the father of Mrs. Mote, was a little lad of six summers when lie came with his parents to Ohio. He was reared in Clay township, Montgomery county, mar- ried Betsey Spitler, and in 1844 removed to Monroe township, Darke county. He was called to his final rest September 15, 1873, and his wife departed this life September 7, 1878. In their family were the following named : Mrs. Mote; Barbara Ann, the wife . of Henry Snyder ; John, who died at the age of twenty-one years : Amanda C., who died in infancy; Simon Peter, of Monroe town- ship; Mary Ann, who became the wife of Andrew Linder and died in 1885; Susan, who died in infancy; Harvey, who died in Oklahoma, in 1899; Ira. of Portland, In- chana : and twins who died in infancy.
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U'nto Mr. and Mrs. Mote have been born five children : Elmer, who was born March 8, 1870. married Clara Chase, and has one child, Harold: Charles, born May 28, 1872, wedded Nettie Niswonger, and their chil- dren are: Susie, Gertrude, Paul and Lillian: Emma, born November 16, 1875. is the wife of Charles Sower and has one child, Mar- guerite : Forrest, born June 13, 1881, is at home: and Noah, born November 14. 1883. died on the zd of March, 1884.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mote took up their residence upon his farm. and for many years he devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits, meeting with good suc- cess in his undertakings. Until his retire- ment he resided in Monroe township, with the exception of a period of two years passed in Franklin township. He still owns a good farm of thirty-three acres. and has a com- fortable competence saved from his earnings in former years. This enables him to live retired, enjoying a well-earned rest. In 1893 he removed to Pittsburg, where he now resides. He is a member of the Union Vet- eran Legion, and in politics is a stanch Re- publican. . As a citizen he is today as true and loyal as when he followed the starry banner upon the battlefields of the south and aided in the preservation of the Union.
EPHRAIM C. RICHARDSON.
Ephraim C. Richardson, a farmer and undertaker of New Weston. was born in. Monroe township, Darke county, on the 15th of March. 1851, and is a representative of one of the old families of Tennessee. His grandfather. William Richardson, was a na- tive of Claiborne county, Tennessee, and be- came one of the pioneers of Monroe town- ship. Darke county, Ohio. When he first lo-
cated here the howling of the wolves at night was a familiar sound, for the region was wild and the work of improvement and prog- ress scarcely begun. He married Sarah Markham, and they became the parents of a large number of children, of whom our sub- ject remembers only six sons and one daugh- ter. Only three are now living : Weaver, a resident of Patterson township; John M. and Thomas M., both of Wabash township; and Mrs. Lovina Warner, a widow now liv- ing in Miami county. The mother of these children survived her husband for several years and was an octogenarian at the time of her demise. She now sleeps in Holsapple cemetery.
Josiah M. Richardson, the father of our subject, was born in Monroe township about 1830, and after arriving at years of maturity he wedded Mary Thompson. She was born in Monroe township, October 22, 1831, and is a daughter of Israel and Nancy Thomp- son. The marriage occurred about 1850, and their union has been blessed with one son and two daughters, the first being Ephraim C., of this review. The daugh- ters are Lovina and Drusilla. The former is the wife of Michael Wick, of Patterson township, and they have nine children. Drusilla is the wife of Sylvinas Jones, of Miami county, and they have one son. The father was a carpenter by occupation. At the time of the civil war, however, he put aside all personal considerations and en- listed in Brown township on the 22d of Oc- tober, 1861, as a private in Company D, Sixty-ninth Ohio Infantry. He died in Nashville on the 24th of August, 1864, his death resulting from a wound received at Atlanta, Georgia. He had faithfully served his country for three years, and had veteran- ized on the 21st of February, 1864. at Chat-
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tanooga. He now sleeps in a soldier's grave in the Nashville cemetery. His widow af- terward became Mrs. Jones, and is now liv- ing in Laura, Miami county.
Ephraim C. Richardson, whose name in- troduces this record, obtained his education in the district schools and resided with his mother until his marriage, which occurred October 8, 1874, Miss Almeda C. Jones, of Newton township, Miami county, becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Alvin and Mary Ann ( Walker) Jones, whose family embraces six children, namely : Mrs. Rich- ardson: Sylvinas, a resident of Laura, Ohio; Elvira, the wife of William Yount; Sum- ner, who died at the age of sixteen years ; Loren, who died in infancy; and Warren, who makes his home in Newton township. Miami county. Mr. and Mrs. Richardson are also the parents of six children: Ar- mina Viola, who died at the age of twenty- two months; Melville Montro, Pearlie Iona, Osco Arlington, Forest Valeria, and the twin brother of Forest, who died in infancy.
After his marriage Mr. Richardson en- gaged in the operation of a saw-mill for one year, but in 1876 located on his farm, com- prising eighty-seven acres of rich land. There he carried on agricultural pursuits with excellent success until July, 1899, and during that time he also engaged in the man- ufacture of tile. At the present time he is renting his farm, having since July, 1899, been a resident of New Weston, where he is engaged in the undertaking business, as a member of the firm of Richardson & Med- ford. They are the only undertakers in the town, and are doing a good business.
Mr. Richardson is a man of marked energy and carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and it is this quality that has made him successful.
In his political views Mr. Richardson is a Republican and on that ticket he has been elected to several local offices. He served for six years in Wabash township as a township trustee, and for seven years was a member of the board of education. He and his wife are members of the New Light church, and in the community where they are known they are regarded as most highly re- spected people, well worthy of the esteem and confidence of all with whom they are associated.
JAMES FROST.
This well-known and popular citizen of Greenville, Ohio, is today the leading florist of Darke county. In his special line of busi- ness he has met with well-deserved success, as he started out in life for himself with no capital, and by the energy and zeal which he has manifested he has won the confidence and esteem of the public.
Mr. Frost was born in England, in 1853, a son of Joseph and Rose Hannah ( Leach ) Frost, life-long residents of that country. where the father was employed as a shep- herd. Our subject received a good common school education in his native land, where he spent the first sixteen years of his life, and in 1868 emigrated to the United States, landing in New York city. From there he went to Auburn, New York, where he se- cured work of a Mr. Ellitson, a successful florist, with whom he remained ten years, during which time he thoroughly mastered the business in every detail. The following years were spent with W. W. Green & Son, and in 1890 he came to Greenville, Ohio, and purchased the greenhouses belonging to Na- than Rasor. These he has rebuilt, added to and improved, putting in a hot-water sys-
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tem for heating purposes. All of his build- ings are in good repair, and everything about the premises indicates thrift and a careful attention to business. He has many choice and rare plants ; has established a large local trade, and also ships large quantities of flow- ers and plants outside the state, sending tl:em both east and west, doing a large wholesale business throughout the United States. His life has been one of industry and perseverance, and his success is due en- tirely to his own well-directed efforts.
In February, 1886, Mr. Frost married Miss Mary E. Lent, of Auburn, New York. They have no children. Fraternally he is a member of Greenville Lodge, No. 143. F. & A. M .; Greenville Chapter, No. 77, R. A. M .; Champion Lodge, No. 742, I. O. O. F. ; Greenville Encampment, No. 90; and both he and his wife have been members of the Daughters of Rebekah for several years. He is also a member of Little Turtle. Tribe, No. 119, Improved Order of Red Men.
PETER ALBRIGHT.
Peter Albright, one of the leading citi- zens of Van Buren township, Darke county, Ohio, owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred and eleven acres, which he has placed in a high state of cultivation and im- proved with good buildings. His posses- sions have all been acquired through his own efforts, and as the result of his long sustained endeavor he has won a place among the well- to-do citizens of his community.
The first of the Albright family to come to America was our subject's great-grand- father, George Albright, a native of Ger- many, who settled in Berks county, Penn- sylvania. The grandfather, Jacob Albright, spent his entire life in that county. as a
farmer, and died about 1842, when over eighty years of age. The father, Peter Al- bright, was born on the old homestead in Berks county, and on reaching manhood inarried Catherine Heffner, a native of the same county. Later they moved to Cum- berland county, Pennsylvania, locating eighteen miles west of Harrisburg, where the father bought a farm of eighty acres, which he operated until his death in 1885. He was twice married, his first wife being Catherine Heffner, by whom he had several children. There were two children by the second marriage: Peter, our subject; and Lucy. The mother died in 1841. She, too, was twice married, her first husband being Mr. Cline, and she had children by that union.
Our subject was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, August 1, 1836, and was quite small when the family moved to Cumberland county, where he made his home until six- teen years of age, liis education being ob- tained in the country schools. At the age of fourteen he commenced learning the cabinet maker's trade, and was to receive thirty-five dollars for three years' work, three weeks of rest and three months of schooling in winter ; but he was not given the educational ad- vantages. At the age of sixteen he came to Ohio, having just enough money to bring him to Greenville, where he found work at his trade. After his marriage he rented a farm near that place, but did not remain thereon a year. The following year was spent upon a farm west of Greenville, in Van Buren township, and for seven years he rented-Dr. Gard's farm. At the end of that time he purchased fifty acres of land in Van Buren township, erected a house and other buildings, and continued the improvement and cultivation of that farm for twenty years.
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Since then his home has been on his present farm, and he has built thereon a good barn and made many other improvements, which add to the value and attractive appearance of the place.
While a resident of Greenville, Mr. Al- bright married Miss Maria Pearson, who was born in Van Buren township, September 15, 1837, a daughter of Allen and Mary (Arnold ) Pearson. Of the five children born of this union, Monta L. and Mary Es- telle died young; Allan married Annie Weaver, and has two children, Opal and a son not named; William, at home, married Mary Rainbarger, and has one child, Ruby ; and Pearl is also at home. The family are members of the Caylor Chapel, United Brethren church, and in his political views Mr. Albright is a stanch Democrat. He is strictly a self-made man, whose success in life is due to industry, enterprise and per- severance, and he has the respect and confi- dence of all who know him.
HENRY STRAKER.
The subject of this sketch, whose home is on section 13, Patterson township, is the possessor of a handsome property which now enables him to spend his days in the pleasur- able enjoyment of his accumulations. The record of his early life is that of an active, enterprising, methodical and sagacious busi- ness man, who bent his energies to the hon- orable acquirement of a comfortable compe- tence for himself and family.
Mr. Straker was born in Hanover, Ger- many, November 13, 1827, and is a- son of John Straker. The father, who was a labor- ing man, died in 1831, at about the age of fifty years, leaving a widow and three sons : Harmon, who died in Hamilton, Ohio, at
the age of twenty-one; Henry, our subject : and John Henry, who died at the age of four years. The mother, who was in lim- ited circumstances, brought her children to the new world in 1834, with the hope of im- proving their financial condition. Later she married Henry Copperman, who died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1861, and she died on a farm a mile and a half west of our sub- ject's place, in 1860, at about the age of sixty years.
Mr. Straker relates a few reminiscences of early life in Darke county which ought to be preserved in print. When his father and family first arrived here, and the subject of this sketch was about ten years of age. the neighbors were Isaac Finkbone, Henry Stotsenbergh, L. Hutcher and Fred Ludacre. the distances to whose residences were re- spectively six miles south, two miles east, two miles west and ten miles north. The nearest grist-mill was eight miles distant. but it was only a "wet-weather" mill and ran but a small portion of the year. At this mill the grain had to be elevated up to the second story on an incline similar to that which is used at some saw-mills, while the meal as it was ground was delivered by the machinery in a bin below on the first floor. On one occasion the meal ceased to flow down, and an investigation disclosed the fact that a woodpecker was at the hopper pick- ing up the grains from the shoe as fast as they ran down. This was one of those faith- ful old mills, as a pioneer once said. that as soon as they had completed the grinding of one grain of corn promptly "tackled" the next grain.
The most reliable grist-mill in those days was the one at the falls of Greenville creek. twenty miles distant ; and it required practi- cally two days to make the round trip to it.
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on horseback at first and by wagon after- ward. On horseback young Henry would take two bushels of grain to be ground, be- sides a sack of feed for the horse and some provisions for himself. By wagon, after- ward, they had always to take along an ax, with which to cut new roads around mud- holes and other obstacles, and for other emergencie ..
Henry Straker never attended school more than six months during his life, making his way each morning through the woods a distance of two miles to a rude school-house built of round logs. Among his school- mates was his present wife. It was in 1837 that he came with his mother and stepfather to Darke county and located in what was then a part of Patterson township, but now Wabash township. For half a century he has resided upon his present farm on section 13. Patterson township, first purchasing eighty acres of woodland, for which he paid two hundred and twenty-seven dollars and a half, by working for fifty cents per day. At one time he owned five hundred and fifty-six acres, and though he has given away some six pieces of this property, he still has two hundred and eighty acres, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with good and substantial build- ings. On the Ist of January, 1889, he mar- ried his present wife and soon afterward erected his fine brick residence, while his large barns were built, one in 1890, the other in 1899.
On the ist of July, 1852. Mr. Straker married Miss Nancy Swallow, and to them were born ten children, eight sons and two daughters, of whom one son died in infancy. Of them we make the following observa- tions : Matilda is now a widow, a resident cf Patterson township: John operates a part
of his father's farm; Ellen is the wife of Harrison Brining : Aaron A. is a resident of Dayton, Ohio; Harrison makes his home in Versailles: Isaiah is engaged in the grain business in Osgood; Grant, born in Feb- ruary, 1865, is at home: William died in 1891 ; and Iven and Irvin were twins, and the former is now a grocer of Yorkshire, while the latter died at the age of four months. The mother of these children died in1 1871, when the twins were only fourteen days old. For his second wife Mr. Straker married Mrs. Kate Greer, nec Swallow, who died in 1880. leaving one son by her former marriage.
On the Ist of January, 1889. Mr. Straker married Mrs. Elizabeth ( Mendenhall) Woods, who was born November 23, 1836, and has been three times married. Her first husband was Jacob Brining, by whom she had six children, and her second a man named Woods, by whom she had five. She has four sons and three daughters still liv- ing. Mr. Brining died after serving seven- teen months as a soldier of the civil war, and was buried at Ashland, Kentucky. Her second and third husbands were also among the defenders of the Union during that ter- rible struggle. Richard Mendenhall, the father of Mrs. Straker, was born in North Carolina, in 1793, and brought his family to Darke county, Ohio, in January, 1837, locat- ing in Patterson township, where the year previously he had entered four hundred and ten acres of government land, and soon af- terward bought two eighty-acre tracts for- four hundred dollars. Of his ten children, three sons and four daughters reached years of maturity, and all reared large families, Joseph having ten children, Robert and Aaron both twelve. Delia eleven, Rachel six and Mrs. Straker eleven.
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On the 2d of May, 1864, Mr. Straker en- listed in an independent company and was in the service four months. He is now a member of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic and a Republican in politics. He was the township treasurer seventeen years, and has also filled the offices of trustee and su- pervisor, in a most commendable and satis- factory manner. His estimable wife is a member of the Christian church. Both are still well preserved, and Mrs. Straker does all her own work, still finding time for a favor- ite recreation, that of fishing in the mill- pond on their farm. She can relate many interesting incidents of pioneer life in this region, and well remembers, when only four years old, of seeing her husband, then a flaxen-haired boy, who had been sent to her home for some onions. Her mother lifted her into a tree gum to pick up the onions, and as she looked up at the white-haired boy it made an impression upon her mind that has always been fresh. The question that comes to the inind of the writer is, Has Cu- pid's arrow been rankling these many years, while the romance of life and love is still preserved in them? They are widely and favorably known, and it is safe to say that no couple in their community has a larger circle of friends.
CHARLES L. KATZENBERGER.
The sturdy German element in our na- tional commonwealth has been one of the most important in furthering the substantial and moral advancement of the country, for this is an element signally appreciative of practical values and also of the higher in- tellectuality which transcends all provincial confines. Well may any person take pride in tracing his lineage to such a source. Of .
the Teutonic race Charles L. Katzenberger is descended and in his life displays many of the sterling qualities characteristic of that people. While taking no part in public af- fairs as to officeholding, he has vet exerted a wide influence on public opinion, having ever been active in the support of all meas- ures which he believes will contribute to the general good. He has long been a potent element in the mercantile circles of the city, and is a man whose sterling qualities of character have gained for him the admira- tion and respect of all with whom he has associated.
Mr. Katzenberger was born at Rastadt, | in the grand duchy of Baden, March 14, 1834. His native city is an old historic place which had its foundation in the middle ages. It is surrounded by high walls with outer moats, and as a fort is considered of great strategic value, being near the Rhine. Ras- tadt is memorable for an important treaty of peace completed there in 1714, when the war of the Spanish succession was ended. For many years it was the residence of the mark-grafs, or marquises, of Baden Baden, during which time Mr. Katzenberger's an- cestors, as butchers, were purveyors to the court. Josephi C. Katzenberger, the father ci our subject, was born at Rastadt, August 27. 1788, and died December 12, 1852: while his wife, Margaretha Becker, was born at Sulzbach, in the Black Forest mountains, in 1798, and reached the age of seventy- three years. Mr. Katzenberger of this re- view highly prizes a diploma received by his father from the guild of butchers, printed by pen in colors on parchment, announcing that the elder Katzenberger had finished his apprenticeship in 1806. The certificate of mastership granted in 1776, to his grand- father, Franz Jakob Katzenberger, who was
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born in 1752 and died in 1830. is even more ornate.
At the time of Charles L. Katzenberger's birth, his father had acquired a hotel prop- erty known as "Zum Goldenen Schwan;" and as he was the youngest son among eleven children he early had to begin work to pro- vide for his own maintenance. After spend- ing a few years in the public schools, he was apprenticed to a tanner at Offenburg and later continued learning his trade at Gerns- bach and Lorrach, being thus engaged until called home by the death of his father. His brother Frank had emigrated to America in 1847, and his brothers, Joseph and' Anthony. had crossed the Atlantic, after having joined the forces of Sigel, Schurz and Hecker in the tinsticcessful attempt to establish a republic il: Baden, in 1848. Wishing to obtain a foothold in the new land of hope, Mr. Kat- zenberger secured passes through French territory and sailed from Havre, in May, 1854, crossing the Atlantic in sixty-three days on the vessel Carolus Magnus.
Arriving in Greenville he was employed as a salesman by his brother Anthony, who had, in connection with a Mr. Pretzinger, established a grocery in the Potter corner of the public square, July 27, 1853. After clerking until 1861, he entered into partner- ship with his brother Joseph in the brewing business, on Water street, where he toiled seven years, during which time he also traversed Darke and surrounding counties. After being engaged in the grocery business with Anthony Weitbrecht for three years, he entered into a partnership with his brother Anthony in 1871, and at the death of the lat- ter, in 1894, he acquired the other half of the grocery by purchase, and has since con- ducted the business so long established.
In March, 1863, he married Elizabeth
Ashman, a daughter of the pioneer, Peter Ashman, born in 1801, two children being the result of this union : Mary, who died in 1873, four years after her mother's death; and George A., whose biography is included in this work. After the death of his wife and daughter, Mr. Katzenberger lived in rooms adjoining the grocery with his brother and son for about thirty years.
Bound to his native land by the ties of mother tongue and the memories of child- hood, he holds that a man who does not honor his native land will not be a worthy citizen of an adopted country. He returned to his native land for a visit in December, 1857, on the sailing clipper Dorothea, re- turning in the spring of 1859 on the steamer Vanderbilt. In June, 1868, accompanied by his sister, who had been here three years, he started for Paris and his native city, and re- turned, accompanied by his nephew, who had spent three years in Rastadt, during November, 1868. Accompanied by his son George, he started across the ocean for the sixth time April 19, 1877, on the steamer Suevia, bound for Hamburg via Cherbourg, and after a tour through Germany as far south as Lake Constance they started on the return trip on the Frisia, October 24, 1877. Again in July, 1890, they left for Bremen on the Werra, visited parts of Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Alsace, and returned on the Columbia in October and November, 1891. Mr. Katzenberger is particular fond of tours afoot, and has roamed in the beauti- ful Black Forest mountains and in the Vos- ges. He has traveled extensively in this country also, more particularly in the forests of the northwestern states while on hunting tours with friends.
In politics he has been a consistent Re- publican, although whenever any policy was
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proposed by his party which he did not deem to be the best for the present or future inter- ests of this country, he never hesitated to express his opinion definitely. He joined the order of Odd Fellows in 1857, was a charter member of Champion Lodge, No. 742, Encampment No. 90, and was raised to the degree of Master Mason in 1868.
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