USA > Ohio > Lorain County > A Standard History of Lorain County, Ohio: An Authentic Narrative of the. > Part 67
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Mr. Brandt was born in North Amherst Township, this county, on the 12th of September, 1873, and is a son of William and Mary (Hassel- man) Brandt, both natives of Germany, where the former was born in 1847 and the latter in 1845, their marriage having been solemnized in North Amherst Township, Lorain County. Mr. Brandt passed to the life eternal in 1895 and his widow now resides in Pittsfield Township. William Brandt was reared and educated in his native land, whence he immigrated to the United States in 1870, after having served his allotted time in the German army. After establishing his home in Lorain County he was employed for eight years in a stone quarry at North Amherst, and he then purchased a farm in Russia Township and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. Later he sold this property and bought another farm, in Pittsfield Township, where he continued to re- side until his death,-an industrious, substantial and upright citizen who ever commanded unqualified popular esteem and good will. He won success entirely through his own efforts and his life was guided and guarded by the principles of integrity and honor. He was a son of Lewis Brandt and his parents passed their entire lives in Germany. William and Mary (Hasselman) Brandt became the parents of four chil-
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FRED C. BRANDT AND FAMILY
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dren, of whom the subject of this sketch is the eldest; Minnie C. is the wife of Isaac Bricker, a prosperous farmer in Camden Township; Carl G. is a progressive farmer of Pittsfield Township; and Henry L. resides at Shelby, Richland County, in which city he is engaged in the milling business. The father was a zealous communicant of the German Luth- eran Church, as is also his widow, and his political allegiance was given to the republican party. Mrs. Brandt is a daughter of the late John Hasselman, who came with his family to the United States when she was a girl, both he and his wife passing the closing years of their lives in Lorain County, where he became a successful farmer.
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Fred C. Brandt duly profited by the advantages of the public schools and also a German school at North Amherst, and from his youth to the present time he has not wavered in his allegiance to the agricultural and live stock industries, of which he has become one of the progressive and representative exponents in his native county. He was formerly the owner of a farm of 130 acres in the western part of Pittsfield Town- ship, and in 1913 he sold this property, after which he purchased his present well improved place of 108 acres in Pittsfield Township. He has made many improvements on the farm, has erected a number of buildings and made repairs and alterations on others, has installed an effective system of tile drainage and has brought his homestead up to the best modern standard. He raises thoroughbred Holstein-Friesian cattle, of which he maintains an average herd of about twenty head, and he has made dairying one of the most important and successful de- partments of his farm enterprise. He began his independent career with very limited financial resources and his independence and prosperity thus represent the results of his own efforts and excellent business ability. He is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the re- publican party and both he and his wife hold membership in the Con- gregational Church.
In 1899 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Brandt to Miss Margaret Williams, daughter of Florus and Abbie (Whitney) Williams, a sub- stantial farmer near Wellington, this county, and they have four chil- dren : Harold F., Silas W., Evlyn W. and Frances, the elder son being a member of the class of 1918 in the high school at Wellington.
C. G. ASCHENBACH has been one of the capable figures in Lorain County business circles for a number of years. His present position is the more noteworthy because of the fact that he has been entirely the architect of his own destiny. He started without money or influential friends and when there were no opportunities he made them, and as he is still only forty years of age the promise for his future is very bright.
He was born at Amherst, February 12, 1876, a son of George and Martha (Huessner) Aschenbach. Both parents were natives of Ger- many. His father was born in 1833 and died in the fall of 1915. His mother, who was born January 21, 1840, is still living. She was brought to Lorain County when a child of six years. George Aschenbach was seventeen years old when he came to Lorain County with his mother, Elizabeth (Gerlach) Aschenbach. After coming to Lorain County George Aschenbach spent a time in the shipyards at Lorain, and after- wards was a contractor and builder in Amherst for a number of years. He was a democrat, and his wife is an active member of the German Evangelical Church. They had nine children, and the four living are : Bertha Brown, wife of a machinist at Amherst; George, of Amherst; Lizzie, who has charge of her brother C. G. Aschenbach's dry goods store at Amherst; and C. G.
When C. G. Aschenbach was a boy in school his father failed in busi-
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ness, and that threw upon him unusual responsibilities for his years. He went to work and afterwards completed his education in the school of experience. His first employment was on a farm, and later he became clerk in a grocery store. He conducted a store at the quarries, and then was in the employ of the Lewis & Company store of Elyria. When he began his independent business career at Amherst it was in a small store 18x20 feet, handling a stock of dry goods, and he now has an entire two- story building 25x65 feet, and completely stocked with all the wares required of a store in a city like Amherst. He is also a director of the Amherst Park Bank Company, and a member of its finance committee.
In 1911 at Amherst he married Miss Louise Plato whose father, H. A. Plato, an old time dry goods merchant of Amherst, is living in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Aschenbach. They have one child, Conrad Girard, born April 12, 1916.
Mr. Aschenbach is a member of the German Evangelical Church while his wife is a Catholic. He is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias and is also affiliated with the Royal Arcanum and the Woodmen of the World. For a number of years he served as village clerk and has always shown a public spirited attitude toward his com- munity, though the requirements of his own business success have demanded so much of his time and energies that he has found little oppor- tunity for public service or fraternal participation. In November, 1915, Mr. Aschenbach, leaving his store at Amherst in charge of his sister, became assistant general manager of the well known dry goods establish- ment of the Lewis Company at Elyria, a place in which he formerly worked as a clerk.
A. K. JENNE has been closely identified with the business enterprise at and around Amherst for twenty-five or thirty years. Much of his time is now given to the Amherst Cold Storage Company, of which he is treasurer, with W. H. Schibley president and Joseph Wesbecher vice president. He is general manager of this company, which is capitalized with a stock of $25,000 and since its establishment in 1914 has been highly prosperous. The company has in operation a very complete and modern plant and at this writing they are building an ice plant in con- nection with the main building.
His is one of the old families of Lorain County. Mr. Jenne himself was born in Amherst Township on a farm, August 18, 1867. That old farm is still owned by the family. His parents were Ansel and Phoebe (Wing) Jenne. His grandfather was also named Ansel Jenne and brought his family to Amherst Township in 1840, when there were only eight or ten families in the entire township. He cleared up a farm and was one of the industrious and honored citizens. Ansel Jenne, Jr., was born in Orange, New Jersey, August 27, 1825, and was fifteen years of age when he came to Lorain County. He soon had an opportunity to test his strength and endurance in competition with the tasks of clearing up and developing a tract of land, and he lived and prospered on his farm for fifty years. He died February 7, 1907. He was a democrat in politics and for many years was a loyal member of the Grange. In 1860, in Amherst, he married Miss Phoebe Wing, who was born in New York State September 1, 1837, and died December 14, 1914. She was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of her five children four are now living: Sarah E., wife of Bird Richmond, a gardener in Amherst Township; William H., a farmer in Amherst; George B., who is custodian of a large business block at Elyria ; and A. K. Jenne.
After attending the district schools, A. K. Jenne followed farm work for several years, and after his marriage he bought a truck farm, and by
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J. M. Schibly
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hard work and close attention to business made a success of that industry, which he followed for twenty-three years. He still owns this farm. In 1913 he removed to Amherst, and after a brief retirement was for two years real estate and personal property appraiser. He then became sec- retary and general manager of The Amherst Cold Storage Company.
Mr. Jenne is also secretary and treasurer of the Amherst Supply Company and is a director in the U. S. Automatic Company; a corpora- tion capitalized at $100,000 and doing a large and prosperous business in the manufacture of automobile parts. He is also a stockholder in the Amherst German Bank Company.
His part in public affairs is also worthy of special record. For a number of years he was township treasurer and is now president of the local school board. Politically he is a democrat, and he and his wife are very prominent in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Amherst, he being superintendent of the Sunday School, while Mrs. Jenne is chorister and a worker in all the church movements.
On September 10, 1889, he married Mary E. Giltner, who was born in Wayne County, Ohio. Her father gave the better part of his active career to the ministry of the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Jenne have three children : Bert, who is a carpenter at Amherst, married Gertrude Heathcote, and they have one child, Foster; Lucile, wife of Ray Hearn, in the grocery business at Amherst; and Merle, still attending school.
JACOB H. SCHIBLEY. Among the various successful business enter- prises located at Amherst, one that is deserving of special mention is the Grain, Elevator and General Supply establishment conducted by Jacob H. Schibley, one of that town's most progressive and energetic citizens. Mr. Schibley is the type of man who makes his own oppor- tunities in life. He has never been discouraged by obstacles or diffi- culties, and has made a steady progress from a young man of no capital or influential friends to a place among the highly respected citizens of one of the best towns in Lorain County.
He was born in Amherst Township of Lorain County November 23, 1869. His people on both sides were from the German fatherland, and both his grandfathers fought with the army of Napoleon and par- ticipated in that ill-fated campaign into Russia. His paternal grand- father died in 1839 and his maternal grandfather in 1840. Michael Schibley, father of Jacob H., was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, in 1826 and died in 1907. He came alone to Pennsylvania when a young man in 1853 and from there went to Huron, Ohio, where he met and married Miss Catherine Brandau, who was born in Hesse, Germany, in 1836 and died in 1914. For several years Michael Schibley paid his way by day labor, and was employed in the construction forces building some of the New York Central lines through Northern Ohio. After- wards he took up farming and lived on his farm until a few years before his death, which occurred in Amherst. His wife also died there. They were members of the Evangelical Association and he was a democrat in politics. There were five children: George is a farmer in Amherst Township; Christian is also a farmer there; Anna Goll lives at Lorain, Ohio; W. H., a banker in Amherst; and Jacob H.
The educational equipment of Jacob H. Schibley before he started his active career comprised the advantages furnished by the district schools and one course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. Go- ing to Cleveland, he found employment as a fireman and then as a stationary engineer, and was in that city for six years. Returning to Amherst, in July, 1898, he and his brother, W. H. Schibley, built a large grain elevator and they soon had built up one of the most suc-
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cessful concerns of the kind in the county. Some years ago the busi- ness was incorporated, and Jacob H. Schibley has been its active man- ager. Besides the general grain business the firm handles farm imple- ments, builders supplies, fertilizers, and it is now conducted under the name Amherst Supply Company, Incorporated, and with a capital stock of $20,000.
In 1891 Mr. Schibley married Catherine Schott. Their seven children are: Hazel, wife of James Grapes, a cabinet maker at Cleveland; Ethel, at home; John, who has been well educated and is already self support- ing; Ruth, living in Cleveland; Emery, at home with his father; Dorothy and Blanche. In the fall of 1912 Mr. Schibley married Elizabeth K. Stine. who was born in Amherst Township and prior to her marriage was a very successful teacher of music, having studied both at home and abroad in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Schibley attend the Congrega- tional Church at Elyria. Politically he is a democrat, and for four years served as a member of the city council.
H. A. CAMPBELL, whose home is near New London, is one of the industrious and reliable farmers of Lorain County, classed with the modern agriculturists who are acknowledged to be as broad and scientific in their methods and as fruitful in valuable results to the community as the workers in any other branch of modern industry. Through his well directed efforts he has accumulated a farm of 100 acres, the possession of which stamps him as one of the substantial men of this county.
Representing some of the older stock of Lorain County, he was born in Camden Township November 18, 1862, a son of Frank and Hannah (Lewis) Campbell. His father was born in New York State in 1835 and died in Lorain County in 1910, and his mother was born in New York in 1838, a daughter of Harry Lewis, who came to Camden Township in the early days and spent his last years in Rochester Township. She died in 1910. They were married in Michigan. For a number of years Frank Campbell followed his trade as a wagon maker at Camden Center, and spent his last years as a farmer. He started with little, but by indus- try and thrift accumulated a good estate of 100 acres which is now owned by his son, H. A. Campbell. During the Civil war he served a short time in the 196th Ohio Regiment of Infantry and was afterwards a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Campbells are of Scotch-Irish stock. Frank Campbell and wife had seven children, and the three now living are H. A. Campbell; Inez, who married Lenn Brumby and she lives in Wellington; and Frances, wife of Dr. R. A. Garrison of Sulli- van, Ohio.
H. A. Campbell started life with a district school education, grew up and had the experiences and discipline of the home farm, but started his career in other lines of employment. For two years he was a loco- motive fireman, then spent two years with a bridge construction gang, and another two years as a stationary engineer. Since then he has given all his time and attention to farming, and in 1909 he bought out the interests of the other heirs in the homestead and is doing a very successful work as a general farmer. He has his land well tiled, and is constantly making improvements.
In 1888 he married Alta Williams, who was born in Huntington Township of Lorain County, a daughter of Edwin Williams. Of their three children Effie is now deceased. Albert married Jennie Grime and has one child, Lenora, and he is a farmer in Rochester Township. Roy. who lives at New London, married Zelma Rhoerback. The mother of these children died in 1898. She was a member of the Universalist
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MRS. ALFRED B. EVANS
ALFRED B. EVANS
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Church. Mr. Campbell affiliates with the Tribe of Ben Hur and in polities is independent.
W. B. LINDSLEY. Of W. B. Lindsley it can be said as an expression of the general esteem in which he is held by his neighbors and fellow citizens that he is an industrious and successful farmer, a citizen who looks well after the interests of his own home and family, and not without regard for the benefit and welfare of the community in which he lives.
On the farm that he now owns and occupies, with many improvements representing his own labor and management, W. B. Lindsley was born in Penfield Township of Lorain County, March 6, 1859, a son of A. D. and Abigail (Baird) Lindsley. His parents were both natives of Dela- ware County, New York, where they were married. The father was born in 1818 and died in 1886, while his mother was born March 2, 1821, and died in 1873. Her father was Daniel Baird. On June 1, 1847, the family came to Penfield Township, where A. D. Lindsley took up a farm, and at the time of his death he owned over two hundred acres. He cleared up the land and his first home was a small house, but five years later he built a commodious residence and that with some changes is still on the place. He was a republican in politics and held various town- ship offices and was a man of high character. During the war he belonged to an organization known as the Squirrel Hunters, and trained many soldiers for the army. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were four children, three sons and one daugh- ter : Alphonso, a farmer in Penfield Township; Allie, wife of Charles Cragin, a retired resident at Seattle, Washington; W. B .; and Clifton.
W. B. Lindsley had a very good education in preparation for the serious responsibilities of life, having attended the district schools, an academy at Oberlin and the Ohio Northern University at Ada. After some years of hard work and careful saving he made his first purchase of ninety acres, and afterwards traded with his brother for a portion of the old homestead. His farm now comprises 1091/2 acres, and he has remodeled all the buildings and has constructed some very substantial barns. He does general farming and dairying, and keeps some regis- tered Holstein cattle.
In 1882 Mr. Lindsley married Carrie Hart, a daughter of Willard Hart, a native of Penfield Township, and a granddaughter of Hawley Hart, who was one of the first settlers of Penfield Township. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsley have two children : Marion, who married Clarence Dixon in the hardware business at Wellington, is the mother of three children, Robert, Russell and Ralph Eugene; Dorothy is the wife of Mack Smith, a farmer in Penfield Township, and they have one child, Leonard W. Mr. and Mrs. Lindsley are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a republican in politics. He has served as a member of the school board.
ALFRED B. EVANS. In that fine and fertile agricultural district around Oberlin, one of the most substantial farmers is Alfred B. Evans, who is a native son of Lorain County and whose family has been identified with this section of Ohio for more than fifty years.
Born at Oberlin October 22, 1859, Alfred B. Evans comes of some of the substantial Welsh stock which has permeated the life of Lorain County. His parents, William and Mary (Griffith) Evans were both born in Wales, the father in 1825 and the mother in 1826. All the grandparents died in Wales, William Evans and wife were both long lived, sturdy and industrious people, and they lived to a good old age, the father dying in 1904 and the mother in 1906. They were married
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in their native country and coming to the United States they located at Oberlin in 1854. William Evans was a stonemason by trade and for thirty years was employed in that capacity by the Big Four Railway Company. They were members of the First Congregational Church at Oberlin, and he had become affiliated with the Manchester Unity Order of Odd Fellows before leaving his native land. . In politics he was a republican. William Evans, though poor when coming to America, made an enviable success and in his later years he bought a farm and at the time of his death owned fifty acres.
The only survivor of four children, Alfred B. Evans, grew up in and around Oberlin and gained his education both in country schools and in the town schools. He learned his father's trade and for four or five years was associated with the older Evans in that work for the Big Four Railroad Company. He then took the management of his father's farm, and has lived on it ever since. He now owns ninety- eight acres of well improved and valuable land, and has prospered as a general farmer and stock raiser. In 1880 Mr. Evans erected a fine brick home, one of the best in the rural districts surrounding him, and in 1913 he remodeled and effected many other improvements on his barn and other outbuildings.
In 1886 he married Miss Mary Z. Cole, daughter of George W. Cole, an early settler of. Medina County, Ohio. They have three children, Marjorie, Mildred and William. The daughter, Marjorie, married Cecil Grills, a Lorain County farmer, and they have one child, Raymond Eugene. Mildred is now attending Dean Academy at Franklin, Massa- chusetts. William is a student in the schools at Oberlin. Mr. Evans is a member both of the subordinate and the encampment degrees of Odd Fellowship, and has filled all the chairs in the local branch of the order. In politics he is independent.
M. L. DISBROW, SR., has been closely identified with the farming enter- prise and good citizenship of Penfield Township many years. He has a record of distinctive accomplishment, and his name is one of the most honored in that section of Lorain County.
He was born in LaGrange Township of Lorain County April 13, 1852, a son of Perry and Clarissa (Langdon) Disbrow. Both parents were natives of Jefferson County, New York. The paternal grandfather, James Disbrow, came to LaGrange Township in 1825 and located on what was then almost the frontier of civilization. Perry Disbrow was born July 13, 1814, came to Lorain County at the age of eleven, and he contributed his youthful strength to the clearing up of his father's farm until he was twenty-two years of age. On September 4, 1836, he mar- ried Clarissa Langdon, who was born in Jefferson County, New York, in 1814 and who died in 1893, being a member of an old French Huguenot family. After their marriage Perry Disbrow and wife bought land in Lorain County, and lived there until 1857. Then as his father before him had pioneered from east to west, he also set out for what was then the Far West, beyond the Mississippi River, and with wagon and team crossed the intervening country to the new state of Iowa, where he acquired 160 acres of land near where Atlantic City now stands. In 1881 he sold that farm and he lived in Lewis, Iowa, until the death of his wife, when he lived among his children. He and his wife were active members of the Baptist Church and at different times were con- nected with the churches at LaGrange, Ohio, and at Atlantic and Lewis, Iowa. He was a sterling and upright citizen, and wherever he lived he enjoyed the complete confidence of his community. He filled only one office, that of township trustee of Turkey Grove Township in Towa.
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Politically he was a republican. Perry Disbrow and wife had eleven children, and the four now living are: Edgar, a retired farmer at Arapa- hoe, Nebraska; Hannah, widow of Benton Morrow and living at Atlantic, Iowa; M. L. Disbrow, Sr .; and Elnora, wife of Ben Howell, who lives at LaPorte, Texas.
M. L. Disbrow, Sr., spent his early youth in Iowa, gained his educa- tion in the district schools there, and in 1882 returned to Lorain County and bought thirty-four acres in Penfield Township. He purchased twen- ty-three acres more in 1888 and has since made a good farm home and has all the improvements and comforts of a good home. He does general farming together with some dairying. He is a republican, and for about eighteen years filled the offices of school treasurer and township treasurer.
On December 29, 1874, Mr. Disbrow married Floretta Langdon, a daughter of William and Margaret (Denham) Langdon, Mrs. Disbrow being of the same ancestry as Mr. Disbrow's mother. William F. Lang- don, father of Mrs. Disbrow, was born November 16, 1819, in Schoharie County, New York, a son of Forester, who was Mr. Disbrow's maternal grandfather, and a grandson of Lewis Langdon. Forester Langdon was married in New York State to Hannah, daughter of Moses Frederick Delos LaDernier, who came from Nova Scotia. Her ancestors were French Huguenots who settled in Nova Scotia, where they acquired a patent to government land, but on account of the subsequent activities of the family in behalf of the American Revolutionists they came to the colonies, and several members of the Langdon family served in the Revo- lutionary war and one of Mr. Disbrow's paternal ancestors was also in the revolution and another was in the War of 1812. The first child of Forester Langdon and wife was Clarissa, who married Perry Disbrow, and became the father of M. L. Disbrow, Sr. The second daughter, Matilda, married Samuel White and died in Michigan, February 7, 1890. The third child was William F. Langdon, father of Mrs. Disbrow. The other children were Hiram A., who became a physician ; Maria, who mar- ried Lyman Webber; Orilla, who married Samuel Disbrow; Lucinda, who married Horace Cragin; Washington L .; and Lionel. Forester Langdon brought his family to Ohio in 1834, driving the entire distance and arriving in LaGrange Township after twenty-one days. His wife died in this county April 21, 1835. William F. Langdon grew up in Lorain County, and learned the carpenter and wagon maker's trade. In 1846 he went to Louisiana and was employed in the lumber regions for a time. On January 22, 1850, he married Margaret Denham, who was born November 9, 1825, in Scotland, a daughter of Peter and Mar- garet (Lyle) Denham. The Denhams were also early settlers in Penfield Township of Lorain County. After his marriage William F. Langdon bought on credit fifty-seven acres of land in Penfield Township, and for twenty-five years worked at his trade and acquired a comfortable com- petence. He and his wife had only one child, Margaret F., who became the wife of M. L. Disbrow, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. M. L. Disbrow are members of the Methodist Church and both are affiliated with the Grange.
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