USA > Ohio > Putnam County > A Portrait and biographical record of Allen and Putnam counties, Ohio, containing biographical sketches of many prominent and representative citizens, together with biographies and portraits of all the presidents of the United States, and biographies of the governors of Ohio, pt 2 > Part 27
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BRAHAM KITCHEN, ex-soldier, ex- mayor of Dupont, and a leading citi- zen of that thriving city, is a sou of Samuel and Katherine (Willard) Kitchen, and was born in New Portage, Sum- mit county, Ohio, January 16, 1841. The father, Samnel Kitchen, was born in Pennsyl- vania June 5, 1816, and when a small child was brought to Ohio by his parents, who set-
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tled near Massillon, where he received a com- mon-school education and was reared to farm- ing. He was first married, about 1839, to Katharine Willard, a daughter of Henry Wil- lard, 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 Jannary 18, 1818, and was the 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, de- ceased, of Henry county; Philip, of Toledo; Katharine (Mrs. Kitchen); Sarah, wife of Julius Van Hining, of Napoleon, Ohio; Isaac, of Ak- ron; Lewis, near Akron; Margaret, now Mrs. Stover, and Lydia, also married. Mrs. Kath- arine Kitchen died about the year 1845, and the bereaved husband took for his second help- mate Adra Van Hining, a native also of Sum- mit county, born in 1826. Her death took place in 1891, a member of the Methodist church and the mother of the following chil- dren 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 Ot- tawa township, Putnam connty, and William F., of Perry township. After his first marriage Mr. Kitchen resided on a farm near New Port- age until 1846, when he brought his family, with an ox-team, to Putnam county and set- tled 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 gentle- man who won and held the respect of all with whom he came in contact.
Abraham Kitchen, whose name stands at the opening of this biography, was educated in the little pioneer school-house of his dis- trict 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, t .. ist Tenn., Georgia and Alabama, taking an active part in the battles of Mossy Creek, east Ten- nessee, Dalton, Ga., Resaca, Burut Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, New Hope church, At- lanta, Franklin, Teun., second day at Nash- ville, Tenn. ; Fort Anderson and Wihnington, 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 Greens- burg township, Putnam county, but was com- pelled, by ill health, to relinquish hard labor for awhile, and in 1880 engaged in jobbing lumber, moving to Dupont in 1881, and con- tinued 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. This lady 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-
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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 inter- est, 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 mem- ber of Kalida lodge, No. 280, F. & A. M., and of Weiser post, No. 93, G. A. R., of Dupont; in politics, he is a stauch 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 com- missioned 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.
J ACOB KITCHEN, one of the oldest citizens of Greensburg township, Put- nam county, Ohio, was born in Column- bia 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. Sanmel was a wagon-maker, married a Miss Green. ind moves to Pennsylvania, where he bought land and spent the remainder of his life in tuming. He and wife were the parents of eight children, named as follows: Beulah,
Elizabeth, Samuel, Joseph, Wheeler (men- tioned 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 Shoe- maker, the result of the union being six chil- dren, 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 town- ship, Putnam county, Ohio. Wheeler Kitchen, after his marriage, farmed in Pennsylvania un- til 1817, when he brought his family, in 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 farin 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 Pennsyl- vania 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 danghter's marriage a resident of Stark county, Ohio. To the union of Jacob and Eliza Kitchen were born thirteen children, of whom five died in childhood those that reached mature age were named as follows: Jolin, of Kieferville, Putnam county; Samuel, deceased; Jacob, farmer of Greensburg town- ship; Agnes, widow of Nelson Ellis; Wheeler, of whom further mention will be made below; James, married and residing in Henry county, Ohio; Jordon and Margaret, both deceased. In 1845 Jacob Kitchen, our subject, brought his young family to Putnam county, and here
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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 ad- vanced 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 Penn- sylvania 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 to- ward its support. He is now over four-score years, and his work tells the story of an in- dustrious 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 re- spected 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 An- drews, daughter of Henry and Martha (Bell) Andrews. This lady was born in Ottawa June 27, 1864, and when a child was bronght 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 skill- ful agriculturalist as well as a useful citizen. Politically he is a republican.
EORGE 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 sou of George and Frances M. (Ritchie) Knupp. Ile 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 educa- tional 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 oc- casions 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 remuner- ative 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 re- mained 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, continu- ing 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. Kupp has a large business and is regarded by the legal fraternity of Ottawa as a lawyer of marked abihty, and he is one who has won his way to a prominent position
HUBERT HUBER, M. D.
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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. Knapp 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., sub- ject of this biography, and an infant that died unnamed.
UBERT, HUBER, M. D., a promi- nent 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 vohi- teered, while still a student of medicine, in the revolutionary forces of his native land, under
Gen. Franz Sigel, in 1848, for the purpose of throwing off the tyranical yoke of the then despotic rule of Germany, but, in consequence of the disastrous failure of the patriots, our sub- ject 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 Ottowa. Here, the same year, he erected a fine three-story brick building, known as the Huber block, in which, the year follow- ing, he engaged in the drug business. The doctor has since continued this line of trade, in connection with the practice of his profes- sion, 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 finan- cially, in his business and profession. The doctor was married, November, 1853, to There- sa Bockhold, has a family of seven children and takes great interest in educational mat- ters. 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 angmented by actual practice in his new home in Ottowa, Putnam county.
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ETER 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 Amer- ica, 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 Revo- lutionary 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, 160 acres, a small part of which had been cleared, but died in Column- bus Grove the following August without set- tling, 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 in- dustry, 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 edu- cated in an old-fashioned log school-house of the frontier days, and was early innred to the hard-Inps of pioneer farm hfe. 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 Febru- , ary 9, 1818, in Seneca county, N. Y., a daugh- ter of Ezra B. and Rachael (McFarland) Pru- den, 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 ont, and in 1865 bought 120 acres, of which he still retains eighty for his own use. In 1860 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 de- scent, and was a son of Jolm 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 Val- ley Forge with Washington, made so famons for the sufferings of the patriots. He with his wife, Eve, became an early settler of Tus- carawas county, Ohio, and died at the ad- vanced age of ninety years. Michael Yant, father of Mrs. Klingman, was born in Wash- ington 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 Tus- carawas county, where she was born of Hol- land 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 cielity-two years, and his wife died in May, 1873, aged seventy-seven, both members of the Lutheran church.
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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 Fergu- son, Mrs. Klingman bore four children, Henry, Margaret, Simon and Catherine. Mr. Furgu- son came from Richland county, Ohio, and died on his farm in Allen county, a highly re- spected 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 else- where; Abraham and William were in com- pany 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 regi- ment of infantry.
Mr. Klingman is in politics a republican, but has never been afflicted with a desire for public office, although he has been remark- ably 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 Kling- man addition to Rushmore in order to afford better residence accommodations to the inhab- itants 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 serions character.
ERMAN 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 set- tled 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 re- tired farmer of Leipsic, Putnam county; Eliza- beth, married to Henry Closterman, a furni- ture manufacture of Cincinnati; John, a farmer near Ottawa; Henry, deceased; William, now living on a farm near Ottawa; Anthony, de- ceased, 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 tine of his death, in 1876, he left much to his children. His good wife survived him six years. Both were mem- bers 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 Lehnden 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
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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 four 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 Oc- tober 20, 1877; Emina, 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 Sep- tember 16, 1885; Ida Eleanora, born Novem- ber 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.
F. KONST, a successful farmer and merchant, postmaster of Elm Center, and trustee of Liberty township, Put- nam county, Ohio, is a native of Hol- land, and was born August 8, 1837. His par- ents 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 comfort- able 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 fariner 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, leav- ing 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.
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