USA > Ohio > Darke County > A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography > Part 73
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Frances Isabelle, the next member of the family, is mentioned on another page of this volume.
Charles Leopold, born April 21, 1865, died July 17, 1871, and Elizabeth Anna was Lorn August 30, 1867.
Emily, born June 9, 1869, was married August 17, 1887, by the Rev. C. W. Hoeffer, to Henry Louis Lott, who was born April 24, 1861 a son of Louis B. and Matilda E. (Wintermote) Lott, the former born Sep- tember 1, 1825, the latter May 23, 1838. The father died March 7, 1889.
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Frank Mathias Katzenberger, Jr., born October 12, 1872, was married March 9, 1893, by the Rev. Henry Louis Lott, to Cora Mills, who was born October 17, 1873, a daughter of George and Fryannah (Bar- tow) Mills, the former born March 18, 1847, the latter March 27, 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Katzenberger, Jr., have one little child, Nellie Iona, born April 8, 1894.
The personal characteristics and qualities of F. M. Katzenberger, whose name heads this sketch, are such as have endeared him to his family and gained him many friends. He had the advantages of an excellent edu- cation in his youth, and has always been of a studious nature. He is what might be termed an omnivorous reader, his field of reading embracing various subjects, history, science, fiction-everything from a light na- ture to the most solid. His aim is to gain information, and he has a mind well stored with knowledge gained from varied sources. He never leaves home, but is of a most hos- pitable nature, and is never happier than when entertaining company at his own fire- side. Of strong domestic tastes, he regards no effort or sacrifice too great on his part if it will enhance the happiness or promote the welfare of his wife and children. He is a nian of peaceable nature, and probably has not a single enemy. His wife is of a very practical nature and has thus been an excel- lent supplement to her husband's life and character. In the care of her children she was most wise. She endeavored to instill into their minds lessons of right and then allowed them largely to plan their own ca- reer, trusting that her precepts and example would duly influence them, and the family is one of which she has every reason to be proud. Her self-sacrifice in raising her family amounted to the heroic and in the
management of her children and less prac- tical husband her skill could not well be sur- passed. In appearance she was as youth- ful as when in her maidenhood until a few years ago, when she was thrown from her carriage, which accident impaired her health. She still possesses her old-time en- ergy, however, although she is sixty-two years of age. Mr. Katzenberger has reached the age of seventy-five, and has never known illness. Surrounded by every comfort of life, they are enjoying a well- : earned rest, and their daughter, Elizabeth, devotes her time to the care of the old home and of her parents. The name of Katzen- berger is an honored one in Darke county, ! and this volume would be incomplete with- out the family record.
FRANCES I. KATZENBERGER.
Miss Frances Isabelle Katzenberger, the fifth child and fourth daughter of F. M. and Mary Magdelene Katzenberger, was born near Pikeville, Darke county, Ohio, July 6, 1861. Her paternal ancestors · resided for several centuries in western Germany, amid the pine-clad Black Forest mountains famed for legend and beauty. Her maternal an- cestors came from the region of the Rhine further northwest. For further information of hier ancestral history the reader is referred to the biographies of her father and Uncle Charles, which appear elsewhere in this vol- umne. Amid pastoral scenes the girlhood of Miss Katzenberger was passed, and from the influence of a rural environment bent was given to the characteristics of mind that have, in a marked degree, dominated her so- cial and literary career. By the time she had reached her "teens" her mental develop- menit had clearly presaged the course in life
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she would take ; and as the river flows in the | course marked by its confining lines of em- bankment so has her life sped its course along a groove channeled by unseen forces, which, while directing, enkindled as well an enthusiasm whose constantly glowing flame has unbrokenly fed the fires that have ener- gized her to the performance of tasks that inight well appall a heart less stout.
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The conditions under which her early mental training was acquired were not such as would generally be conceded advantageous to a literary career. The country schools afforded the only privilege she enjoyed dur- ing girlhood days for obtaining an educa- tion. Books were her delight. During the formation period of her characteristic mental t: aits she read with avidity whatever came into her hands, and so great was her passion for reading she did not hesitate to shirk doing tasks imposed by her mother, that thereby might be gratified the ruling passion of her life. Her favorite hiding place at such times was among the dense branches of a willow tree which over- hung the spring house, or in the hay mow, where she would lie with her book. While yet quite young bits of writing, both of prose and poetry. fell from her pen. These were of a miscellaneous character and often quite good, indicating well the trend of her mind to literary pursuits. The originality in thought of those early emanations from her pen, and their varied styles of construction may be regarded as resulting from the per- fect freedom she enjoyed in the exercise of her mental faculties. She was never ham- pered by an enforced cultivation of style for artistic effect. She thought and wrote as one who had something to say, and who re- quired no rule either to conceive or express
it. The beauty of utterance is in simplicity, not in stilted rhetorical phrases, and therein lies not one of the least charms of all her writings. As her mental horizon expanded she became cognizant of the disadvantages resulting from a limited education, and to improve her educational equipment she en- tered the National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio, in January, 1893, taking the literary course. By vigorous work she quickly acquired a comprehensive knowledge of those branches of learning indispensably necessary to one engaged in literary work. It was while at college she conceived the idea of writing her first work, "He Would Have Me Be Brave," a half of which was written during her brief collegiate career. The manuscript was completed early in 1895, and in July of that year it was issued. The story sprang into immediate favor, not only among her friends and acquaintances, but also with the reading public generally. Flattering no- tices in local papers were excelled by press reviews in larger cities.
It is a well-conceived tale, pleasingly written. Her character delineations are por- trayed in a manner true to life, and in no single instance does she introduce exagger- ated or even improbable conditions. It is achievement of the possible by man that fur- nishes the incentive to fire other men's hearts with similar a'ms and purposes ; and to re- count in books that which will not admit of pract cal accomplislunent serves no purpose other than to pervert the minds of those who ·read them. The wholesomeness of a book consists in the moral and spiritual influence it imparts to its readers. The mind that is fed by the impracticable is soon diverted into eddying channels on whose surface swirls the wrecked plans of minds whose concepts were
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too often formed by reading the exaggerated dreams of absurd fiction.
Her second work, "The Three Verdicts," is also charmingly written-a well-told tale depicting first the verdict of the world, sec- ond of the jury and, last, the verdict which awaits us all in the world to come. Through- out both these works the author's concep- tions are not only healthfully moral, but they breathe a spirit of practical Christianity.
Encouraged by her friends, Miss Katzen- berger dramatized "He Would Have Me Be Brave," and it was successfully played in Greenville by local talent upon two occa- sions to appreciative audiences. Miss Kat- zenberger's poem, "Westward, Ho," deals with the stirring scenes of pioneer life, and was read by the author at Greenville upon the occasion of celebrating the one hun- dredth anniversary of Wayne's treaty with the Indians. While it is not written in the conventional style of poems of its class, there is in it a charm of thought and expression most pleasing to the reader, and some of her friends maintain it displays more merit and strength than her first work.
In closing this sketch it may be noted that Miss Katzenberger's life has been one of incessant toil, and for the attainable she has striven with pluck and zeal, allowing no adverse circumstances or conditions to thwart her purpose. While she has encountered de- feats such as would engulf in despair the average person, her courage at such times arose to the heroic, subduing adversity. Her severest loss occurred through the failure of a large eastern publishing house with which she had contracted to bring out an edition of "The Three Verdicts," turning over to them at the time the plates of the work, and an advance payment of several hundred dol-
lars, all of which she lost. This necessitated a temporary discontinuance of her literary work, as she had need of an avocation im- mediately remunerative.
MRS. CATHARINE MILLS.
The ladies of the good old Buckeye state have ever played a most conspicuous part in her history, from the annals which tell of the pioneer struggles and vicissitudes down to the records which bespeak the unexam- pled prosperity of the end-of-the-century pe- riod. In connection with the history of Darke county the good lady whose genealog- ical record here appears is one who is held in high regard and respect by all the citizens of Richland township, which is essentially the pioneer township of the county. She was born in Lebanon, Lebanon county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 7th of November, 1835, being the fourth in order of birth of the four sons and three daughters of John and Catharine (Bowman) Fettery, and she is now the only survivor of the family. IIer father was a native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where he was born July 19, 1803, and his death occurred February 7, 1872. In the agnatic line he was of Scotch ancestry, and in the maternal of English extraction. John Fettery, who was educated in both the Eng- lish and German tongues, was a blacksmith by trade, and was employed for some time in the great shops at Cornwall. The parents of Mrs. Mills emigrated to Ohio, from their Pennsylvania home, in 1837, being mem- bers of a colony which comprised seven fami- lies, the journey being made by means of horses and wagons, and the objective point being old Fort Greenville. At this time the wily red men of the forest were far more
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numerous than the white settlers in this sec- tion of the Union. Mr. Fettery worked at his trade to some extent in Preble county, and after a time removed to Darke county, where he established himself as a pioneer farmer. He was active and energetic, and was possessed of the most sterling attributes of character. His father was a soldier in the war of 1812, in which connection he had personally traversed some of the historic ground of Darke county. In his political adherency John Fettery was a zealous Demo- crat in his support of the cause and was act- ive for many years, but in the later years of his life he espoused the cause of Prohibi- tion, taking high grounds on the subject of temperance. He was a great friend of the public schools, and, in fact, of all those worthy enterprises which tend to elevate the moral or intellectual standing of the com- munity. He was a good man, and had the utmost respect of all who knew him. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran church at Wakefield, Ohio.
Catharine (Bowman) Fettery the mother of Mrs. Mills, was born in Schuylkill coun- ty, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1808, and her death occurred July 18, 1862. She was of German lineage, and her life was one of signal kindness and devotion to all that is good. Her prayers and her admonitions to her children will ever live as the years roll on, such influences being cumulative in char- acter.
Mrs. Mills was but a child of eighteen months when her parents removed to Ohio, and thus she has been reared and educated in this section of the state and has dignified Darke county by her life and example and as a worthy representative of a pioneer family. She was educated in the primitive schools of the early days. and the first school she
attended was in the little log school house. with puncheon floor, slab benches, etc., which is so frequently mentioned in this compila- tion, such institutions being typical of the time and place. Mrs. Mills gives most inter- esting reminiscences of the early days and graphically describes the amusements which were in vogue among the pioneers, who as- sembled together for the apple-parings, the quilting bees and the corn huskings, while at night innocent games attracted the atten- tion of the young folks. Under the influence of these good old pioneer days she passed her girlhood, and when she was about eight- een years of age she consented to preside over a home of her own. On the 11th of August, 1853, she wedded Marion Mills, their union being solemnized in Greenville, and they be- came the parents of two sons and three daughters, of whom four are living at the present time, namely : Sophia C. is the wife of Jasper N. Riggle, the well-known insur- ance agent in Greenville, this countv. Mrs. Riggle was educated in the high school at Greenville and the normal college at Leb- anon, Warren county, and she was for sev- eral years successfully engaged as a teacher in: Darke county. She and her husband are members of the Methodist church. Lucy B. Mills became the wife of Daniel Oliver, a successful farmer of Mount Heron, Ohio, and they have three children-Everett, Nola Belle and Chester. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver are members of the Christian church. George H. M. C. Mills, a resident of Beamsville, Ohio, is a paperhanger and painter by trade. He wedded Miss Callie Warvel, and they are the parents of two children-Otto and Ethel. They are members of the Christian church. Lewis Alphonso, the youngest of the four living children of Mrs. Mills, resides with his mother on the old homestead. He married
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Miss Leona Stahl, and they have three sons and one daughter,-Orville, Melvin M., Blanche L. and Raymond V. Alphonso will conduct the farm for his mother, being well fitted for this charge as he is an able and in- dustrious young man, being a practical and advanced agriculturist, and also taking marked interest in mechanics. He was edu- cated in the public schools of the county. In politics he is a Democrat, having cast his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. Fra- ternally he is identified with Ansonia Lodge. Knights of Pythias.
Marion , Mills, whose death occurred March 6, 1900, was born in Greene county, near Clifton, Ohio, July 28, 1831, continuing to reside in his native county until he was eleven years old, when he accompanied his parents to Union county, this state, where he learned the trade of wagon-maker, as an arti- san in which line he came eventually to Greenville, Darke county. He was a man who was liberally educated, having carefully disciplined his mind through well directed study. When he and his young wife started out in life together they had but little of this world's goods, but they were determined to live goodly lives and to lay a permanent foul- cation for the future. In both these objects success attended them in full measure. Mrs. Mills recalls the fact that the first taxes which . they were called upon to pay amounted to thirty-five cents. The first realty which they purchased comprised twenty-five acres of the present estate and to secure even this much they had to assume an indebtedness. As the years passed on, by dint of economy and thrift, this worthy couple accumulated eighty-five acres of fine land, and all the nice improvements of the estate-the cosy and comfortable farm residence, the barns and outbuildings and the well kept fences-all
indicate the care and thrift of Mr. and Mrs. Mills. They had resided in Beamsville for twenty-three years, and there Mr. Mills was engaged at his trade. He served for nearly twenty years as township clerk. Twenty- two years ago. in 1878, he located on the present beautiful farm now occupied by his widow.
Mr. Mills was unostentatious in his man- ners, kindly and genial, and one who aimed to live a model life. He found in his home his greatest satisfaction and enjoyment, and there his hopes and affections centered. He commanded the confidence and respect of all who knew him, and in h's example and wor- thy life has given the most valuable of heri- tages to his children. Politically he was a Democrat, but for the last twenty years he advocated prohibition and labored zealously for the cause of temperance ; and he and his wife always manifested their stanch friend- ship for the cause of popular education and for all other worthy instruments concerning the advancement of their fellowmen. Mr. Mills. was reared in the faith of the Methodist church, and he and Mrs. Mills have aided financially in the erection of the churches in this vicinity and have otherwise contributed liberally to all good works in the community and the poor and needy have never gone hungry from their door.
Mr. Mills was suddenly called from the scene of mortal activities on March 6, 1900, entering into eternal rest with the as- surance of the rewards prepared for those who have lived according to the precepts of the Divine Master. To his cherished and devoted wife the bereavement was severe in the extreme, but the soft dew of consolation and compensation comes in the memory of having touched so worthy a life and through the hallowed associations of the days that are
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gone. They had traveled the journey of life side by side, sharing in the joys and the sor- rows which touch the lives of us all, and after a half-century of such close and loving com- panionship the husband and father was sum- moned to the better land, leaving his devoted companion to complete the journey without him, but sustained by the filial solicitude of her children. She has nobly acted her part, and can recall with satisfaction the days that have passed and the blessed reunion in the hour when the mortal veil shall be lifted. She is surrounded by many kind friends, who are ever ready to comfort and console her in her bereavement, and as the years come and go her life will bear its benediction to all who have come within its sphere of action. The record of such true and worthy lives is what gives the utmost justification to works of this nature, and this tribute is gladly accorded in this great genealogical history of Darke .county.
HIRAM CLARK.
Among the early settlers of German township, Darke county, Ohio, was the Clark family. of whom the subject of this sketch, 'Hiram Clark, is a representative.
Hiram Clark was born on the farm join- ing on the south of where he now lives, on section 36. German township. Darke county. Ohio, March 23, 1840. His father. James Clark, was a native of Pennsylvania, who came when a boy to Darke county with a brother-in-law and first made his home in Neave township, where he subsequently mar- ried Miss Nancy Reed, and where he re- sided a short time after his marriage. He then bought the farm in German township. where his son Hiram lives, and here he spent the rest of his life, with the exception of his
last three years, which were passed in New Madison, Ohio, where he died in his sev- enty-eighth year. He was an only son and his father had died when he was a small boy. Mrs. Nancy Clark was a native of German township-and a daughter of Donivan Reed, one of Darke county's early settlers. She died at about the age of forty-six years. They were the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, and six of the family are still living, namely : Rufus ; Rea- son : Nancy, the wife of John Noggle ; Hi- ram: Elizabeth, the wife of Peter Roberts; and Sophronia, the wife of Frank Matchett. All are residents of Darke county except Elizabeth, who lives in Texas.
On his father's farm Hiram passed his boyhood days, assisting with the farm work in summer and during the winter months at- tending school in the log school house near his home. July 12, 1863, he married Aman- da Kettring, who was born and reared on a farm near his father's, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Kettring, early settlers of the county. In the Kettring family were eight children-five sons and three daughters. After his marriage Mr. Clark took his bride to his father's farm and they began house- keeping in a log cabin he had erected, and here they ever since lived, the log house having long since been replaced by a com- fortable frame one. He has built a good barn and made other valuable improvements, and his farm, comprising one hundred acres, is ranked with the representative ones of his locality. He now rents it to his youngest son, who has charge of the farming opera- tions, while he devotes his time and attention to dealing in stock, buying and selling.
Hiram Clark and wife are the parents of four children, two sons and two daughters, as follows: James L., who married Emma
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GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Garling and has five children,-Edward, Blanch, Arie, Hiram and Bertha; Ida, the wife of Ira Garling, has one daughter, Opel ; John W., who married Edna Coble, lias three children,-Ruba A., Bessie M. and Charlie C .; and Nancy, the wife of Harry Henning, has one son, Joseph.
Mr. Clark is a stanch Republican and a member of the Knights of Pythias, affiliat- ing with Fort Black Lodge, No. 546, at New Madison.
DAVID WEAVER.
In the respect that is accorded to men who have fought their way to success through unfavorable environments we find an unconscious recognition of the intrinsic worth of a character which cannot only en- dure so rough a test, but gain new strength through the discipline. The following his- tory sets forth briefly the steps by which our subject, now a successful merchant of Baker, Ohio, overcame the disadvantages of his early life.
Mr. Weaver is a native of Darke county, born in German township November 4, 1853, and is a son of Henry and Eve ( Beachler) Weaver, who were born and reared in Mont- gomery county. this state, and came to Darke county about 1852. The father, who was born February 8, 1815, is of German descent and a carpenter by trade. His fam- ily came to Ohio from Pennsylvania. He is still living at the age of eighty-five years, and now makes his home in Neave township. The mother of our subject died February 7, 1858, aged forty years, one month and two days. They had six children, three of whom reached adult age.
David Weaver, the fourth child and only son of this family who grew to manhood,
began life for himself at the tender age of seven years, working at first for his board and clothes. At the age of eleven he be- came a clerk in a grocery store at Clayton, Montgomery county, and later worked as a farm hand for one man for fifteen years, after which he engaged in farming on his own account for about five years. In 1894 he embarked in his present business at Baker and now carries a well selected stock of gen- eral merchandise. He has built up a large trade by fair and honorable dealing and has gained the confidence of all with whom he has come in contact, either in business or social life. Being industrious, energetic and ambitious, he has met with well deserved success, and is now quite well-to-do. With the exception of three years spent in Mont- gomery county, he has always made his home in Darke county, and is quite widely and favorably known. He is serving as post- master of Baker and is an active member of the Reformed church.
GEORGE J. MARTZ, M. D.
Among those who are devoting their en- ergies to the healing art in Greenville is Dr. George J. Martz, who was born in the city which is still his home on the 21st of Au- gust. 1867. his parents being George If. and Angie E. (Jamison) Martz. His paternal grandfather, John Martz, was a native of Pennsylvania, born in Somerset county June I, 1798, and in 1829 came to Ohio, taking up liis abode in Darke county. George H. Martz, the father of the Doctor, was born upon a farm in Greenville township, Darke county, April 19, 1831. For a number of years he engaged in teaching in Greenville and Darke county. His wife was one of Ohio's native daughters, her birth having
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occurred in Delaware county in February, 1837.
Dr. Martz, of this review, acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Greenville and continued his studies in the high school, in which he was graduated in the class of 1887. Subsequently he en- gaged in teaching in Darke county for a time, and then took up the study of medi- cine under the direction of Dr. W. H. Matchett, of Greenville. He entered the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati and on completing the prescribed course in that in- stitution was graduated in March, 1891. In the village of Palestine, Darke county, he began practicing, remaining there for eight years, when, wishing to seek a broader field of labor, he took up his abode in Green- ville, where he has since remained. He has gained a prestige which many an older prac- titioner might envy and excellent results have attended his care of the sick, making him a most successful young medical practitioner with a bright future before him. He has been a close and earnest student of his pro- fession, and in 1899 took a post-graduate course in the Ohio Medical College at Cin- cinnati, Ohio. He is a charter member of the Darke County Medical Society and also of the Ohio State Pediatric Society.
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