USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 45
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JOHN E. SIEFERT:
John E. Siefert is a telegraph operator and station agent at New Wash- ington and is a popular and obliging representative of the railroad and tele- graph corporations. He has made many friends through his unfailing cour- tesy, as well as through his prompt and faithful execution of his business duties.
Mr. Siefert was born in Whetstone township, Crawford county, De- cember 26, 1862, his parents being Jacob and Catherine ( Whitcum ) Siefert. The father was born in Stark county, Ohio, about 1835, and was a son of John and Solemena ( Lantz) Siefert. He remained at home until about eight- een years of age, when he went to Ashland, Ohio, to learn the blacksmith's trade. After completing his apprenticeship he worked for several years as a journeyman, and during his residence in Ashland he was married. Soon after- ward he located in Whetstone township. Crawford county, settling on the original site of the old town of Olentangy, where he conducted a blacksmith shop. In 1862 he removed to New Washington, where he opened and op- erated the blacksmith shop now owned and carried on by Fred Carle. He also built and conducted a carriage factory, employing five workmen in the black- smithing department and four in the other departments of the business. He became one of the leading merchants and representatives of the industrial in- terests in the town. Many of the buggies and spring wagons built by him are still in use in and around New Washington. He was an expert work- man, energetic and reliable, and his business integrity was above question. He died in 1871, at the comparatively early age of thirty-six years. . An active member of the Lutheran church, he had held church offices for a number of years and was ever faithful to the teachings of that denomination. In pol- itics he voted with the Democracy, but his business interests claimed too much of his attention to allow him to become an active factor in political affairs. He was a lover of fine horses and could handle any horse, always owning some fine specimens of the noble steed. The mother of our subject was a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, born in 1835, and was a. daughter of John and Mary Whitcum, both of whom were natives of that
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state. They went to Ashland county, Ohio, at an early date and in later ยท years removed to Crawford county, settling in Cranberry township, where they remained until called to the home beyond. Mrs. Siefert survived her husband until March, 1899. She was the mother of six children, but only two are now living, the sister, who is older than our subject, being Mrs. Clara R. Stevens, the wife of S. H. Stevens, of Cranberry township.
From an early age John E. Siefert has depended upon his own resources, and whatever success he has achieved in life is due to his earnest efforts. At the age of thirteen he began earning his own livelihood as a farm hand. He spent the summer of 1881 as an employe in a brick yard in New Wash- ington and the following year he entered the telegraph office of the Pennsyl- vania Company at this place, taking up the study of telegraphy. In the spring of 1883, having mastered the business, he was placed in charge of the office at Vernon Junction, where he continued for eight years, and in 1891 he was promoted to the office at New Washington, where he has since remained as telegraph operator and railroad and express agent. His genial disposition and obliging manner have made him very popular with the patrons of the road, and he is highly esteemed in the town and throughout the surrounding country.
On the 25th of November, 1888, Mr. Siefert was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J. Bair. a native of Whetstone township and a daughter of John and Rebecca ( Shearer) Bair, who came to Crawford county from Stark county among its early settlers, taking up their abode in Whetstone township. Three children graced the union of our subject and his wife: Florene M., Hazel R. and Chauncey J. The mother died October 31, 1893, mourned by a large circle of friends. Mr. Siefert was married, on October 23, 1901, to Miss Amanda L. High, of New Washington, Ohio. She is a daughter of Adam and Matilda L. (Hesse) High, who were of German birth. Both were born in Germany and emigrated to this country with their parents in early childhood, settling in New Washington, and always resided in and around this village. Mrs. Siefert was born in New Washington, Ohio. February 2. 1866. Her early girlhood days were spent in attending school. and she is a graduate of the New Washington high school, being a member of the class of 1886. In September, the same year, she entered the New Washington public schools as a primary teacher, which position she successfully filled for four years, when the board of education promoted her to the intermediate depart- ment for one year, thence to the grammar department, which position she ably filled for two years. During these years at vacation time she attended school at
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Ada, Ohio, two terms and at Valparaiso, Indiana, one term. Her health failing, she abandoned the work for some time. After again taking up the work she taught twelve successful terms in the district schools of Cranberry and Chatfield townships. She is a member of the New Washington Methodist Episcopal church and has always been an active member in all church work.
Mr. Siefert belongs to Hyperion Lodge, No. 651, K. P .. and to the Uniform Rank, and in the former he has filled all of the offices. In politics he is a stanch Democrat. Although his life has been quietly passed it is worthy of emulation in many respects, showing the power of a strong force of character, energy and determination in the practical affairs of life.
JACOB H. STEVENS.
A deep interest in the pioneer days through which many of the older resi- dents of our enlightened country have passed, with honor to themselves and benefit to the younger generation, is but a natural feeling; and those who still remain to show the honest, sturdy and manly stock of which pioneers were made, receive but their just tribute of gratitude. Among the old settlers of Auburn township, Crawford county, Ohio, no one is more highly esteemed than Jacob H. Stevens, who is the subject of this biography.
Jacob H. Stevens was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, on October 31, 1817, and he was a son of Amos and Hannah ( Cunning Stevens, who reared a family of eleven children, five daughters and six sons, but of these only two survive, these being Jacob H., of this sketch, and his brother Amos, of Arkansas.
Amos H. Stevens was born near Allicott's Mills, Maryland, on October 16, 1778, and he was a son of Augustus and Sophia ( Young) Stevens, these parents being of English and Welsh extraction. Later Grandfather Au- gustus Stevens moved to Washington county, Pennsylvania, and there made his home on a farm, but finally came to Columbiana county, Ohio, and spent his last days with his son Amos. Amos Stevens was given as good school opportunities as were then possible, but books were scarce and even the rich could secure for their children what we would now regard as only the outlines of an education. Some brothers of the father of our subject resided in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and it is probable that Amos Stevens also resided there a time, but after his marriage he and his young wife came to Geauga county, Ohio, prior to 1802, when it was admitted as a state. At that time the country was a vast wilderness, with no highways and
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no means of communication with civilization except by long and toilsome journeys through the forest, and with the wild beasts of the woods still in their accustomed haunts and the equally savage Indian a frequent visitor. Within three miles of another intrepid pioneer, Amos Stevens erected his log cabin and became a resident of the "Buckeye state." although at that time the name had not yet been bestowed upon it.
The causes which induced Mr. Stevens to leave this section are not known to the family, but he later removed to Columbiana county and there entered a one-quarter section of land, and again built a pioneer cabin of logs, and once more began the clearing and then cultivating a farm. Here he soon made many improvements, erected a more modern residence, added sixty more acres of land and made this a pleasant home, where the family lived until 1834, when he sold this property and came to Crawford county. Here Mr. Stevens located in Cranberry township, where he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land from Isaac Mathews, this property having been entered some ten years previously. But a small tract of this land had been cleared and upon it stood a small log cabin, which served through one winter as a shelter to the family of Mr. Stevens, in the following spring a more com- modious one being erected. Here Amos Stevens lived and labored and here he died. In his later years he accumulated much more property, buying and entering different tracts, until he owned at one time fully six hundred acres of Ohio soil. Physically he was a typical pioneer, strong, energetic and coura- geous, a man who dared every danger and feared no hardship. In his re- ligious life he was a strict Methodist and was, in fact, a local preacher of that faith, going many miles to perform the sacred duties of that calling. In his political belief he was a Whig and from principle became a great aboli- tionist.
The mother of our subject was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1784, and she was a daughter of Robert and Nancy ( Young ) Cun- ning, the former of whom was born in Ireland. The latter was a native of England, and the maiden name of her mother was the same as that of G. M. Stevens, also born in England, but of no kindred. G. F. Cunning came to America prior to or about the time of the Revolutionary war, and was a member of the patriot army. Mrs. Stevens lived until in her ninety-second year, dying on June 8, 1876.
Jacob H. Stevens, who is the subject of this sketch, remained at home until his twenty-sixth year, attending school in his early youth in the old school house. in the clearing, where he well recalls the puncheon floor, the
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slab benches and the greased paper for windows. He was the strongest of his father's sons, and probably was the most willing, and he assumed much of the most laborious part of the clearing and cultivation ; as must be re- membered, this was done with no machinery and very little apparatus. AAbout his twenty-sixth year he and his father came to an agreement as to his future. Three of his brothers and several of his sisters had been given assistance by the father, when they left home, and our subject felt that some like provision should be made for as faithful a son as he had been. The father intended, doubtless to be just, but he imposed hard conditions. A tract of heavily timbered forest land, covered with underbrush, one hundred and fifty acres of the home farm, should be his for the sum of eight hundred dollars, which was to be paid to his father, in installments. He had no money to start a career in any other place, and he accepted his father's proposition and began with energy to clear his land.
In 1849 our subject was married to Miss Sarah J. Wallace, who was a native of Pennsylvania and was the daughter of Jefferson Wallace, who came to Richland county, Ohio, at an early day, later removing to Cranberry town- ship, in Crawford county. Ten children were born to our subject and wife, the five survivors being among the best and most reliable citizens of this county, and they are as follows: Amos W., of Auburn township: Almira, the wife of Frank Albright, of Whetstone township: Sherman H., of Cranberry town- ship: Julia M., the wife of Freeman Brown, of Shelby, Ohio; and Nora. the wife of Willis A. Brown, of Tiro, Ohio.
After subject had succeeded in paying for his farm and in placing it in a prosperous condition, he began the purchase of other land, the first tract being one of eighty acres adjoining his own land, which belonged to his brother. Late in the '5os he bought one hundred and twenty acres in San- dusky township, another of one hundred acres in the same township, this be- ing followed by a purchase of one hundred and twenty acres in Liberty town- ship, and his last purchase being in 1882, when he became the owner of one hundred and forty-seven acres in Auburn township. This land Mr. Stevens acquired for his children, and after he had become satisfied that he could do well for all of them he bought a small tract of sixty-four acres, a part of which is within the corporate limits of Tiro, and removed to it. There he and his most estimable wife resided until her death, on December 26, 1893, when he deeded this land to his daughter. Mrs. Brown, and went to live with her.
In his political life Mr. Stevens has been a Republican for many years, although his strong temperance principles induced him to vote with the Pro-
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hibition party for a time. He is distinguished as being the oldest living resi- dent of Auburn township. His years have reached eighty-four, but his mind is clear and his memory of past events is vivid. Many of his years have been spent in the most laborious toil, but he has always possessed both energy and ambition, and stands to-day as a worthy representative of the perseverance, courage and zeal, which has made the extraordinary progress possible, which has given Crawford county its prominence in this state, which latter has be- come known as the "New Mother of Presidents," well deserving the title.
REV. ISRAEL LUST.
Probably there is no better known or more highly esteemed citizen in Crawford county, Ohio. than Rev. Israel Lust, the subject of this biography, who has traveled at least twelve thousand miles, back and forth through the country, laboring in the interests of Christianity. Not only is he a preacher of power and convincing argument, but he is an author of considerable note, especially in the religious world, and has also successfully carried on large agricultural operations.
The birth of Mr. Lust was in Chatfield township, in this county, on De- cemiber 11, 1839, and he was a son of Conrad and Magdalena ( Myers ) Lust. They reared nine children to maturity, and our subject is the eldest of the fam- ily, the others being: Susan, the wife of Christian Klink, of Chatfield town- ship; John, of Cranberry township: David, of Dallas township; Catherine, the wife of William Hunsicker, of Lykens township; Sophia, the wife of Emanuel Weiter, of Liberty township; Solomon, of Chatfield township; Daniel, of Chatfield township: and Elizabeth, the wife of John Biel, of Chatfield town- ship.
The father of this family of prominent and highly respected children was born in Wurtemberg. Germany, in 1812, and in 1819 accompanied his parents, who were John David and Elizabeth Lust, to America. Grandfa- ther Lust brought with him his wife and eight children, all of whom were in great danger, during the long voyage of ninety days, of never landing in the new country, upon which their hopes were set. The captain of the slow sail- ing vessel lost his bearings, and even touched the shore of Greenland before he made the harbor of Philadelphia !
Grandfather Lust settled on a small farm in Lebanon county. Pennsyl- vania, for the welfare of his children. One of his sons, quite a young boy, died crossing the ocean and was buried in the grave of the Atlantic sea, which
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was the most heartfelt trial of his and the grandmother's life. He lived six years in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, quite poor, working hard to support a family of small children. He and another man by the name of Jacob Buck thrashed in one winter with a flail, forty-five hundred bushels of wheat, at three cents per bushel !
After living six years in Pennsylvania he came to Richland township, Marion county, Ohio, among the Delaware Indians, and bought ninety-three acres of wild woodland, at the government price. Grandfather Lust there, with his sons, soon succeeded in clearing away quite a tract of land, by living mostly on hominy and boiled wheat, as then, in 1826, there were no grist- mills nearer than from thirty to sixty miles distant. The wild woods were everywhere inhabited by Indians, wolves and bears. Bears made raids upon his hogs right beside his log cabin ! In order to get wheat flour and corn meal he dressed a common boulder to the thickness of one-sixteenth of an inch, and three feet in diameter, through which he drilled a hole four inches in di- ameter, and through this he put a stout pole, one end of which he ran into a stump, into which there was made an auger hole, a large flat stone lying beside the stump, over which the dressed stone was rolled to and fro to crack the corn or wheat. The broken grain was then sifted through a sieve made of home- tanned groundhog leather. Most truly. "Necessity is the mother of inven- tion." This historic stone is still remaining on the farm.
Now, in the years 1828 to 1830 Grandfather Lust had more wheat raised than was needed by his family. He sent the father of our subject. Conrad Lust, to Sandusky City over the old state road, from Marion to Little San- dusky, thence to Upper Sandusky and to Fort Ball or Tiffin, then to Fremont and then to Sandusky City, with a yoke of young oxen and about twenty-two bushels of wheat, the price of which ran from fifty cents to a dollar. This he exchanged mostly for clothing goods. It required eleven days and nights to return again, over a distance of about sixty miles of wild-woods road.
On or about the year of 1832 a road was constructed by a company from Columbus to Sandusky City, called the Columbus & Sandusky Pike, which was running directly through the farm of Grandfather Lust, of which pike his three sons-Gottlieb. Conrad and Frederig Lust-constructed a mile and a quarter, all along their home in Marion county, for which services they secured a section of real wild land of the pike company in Chatfield township, Craw- ford county, and on this they settled in the year 1837. Over the above pike were sometimes from thirty to forty-five teams in one train hauling wheat to San- dusky City from Marion and Delaware counties. Grandmother Lust died in
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the year 1839, in September, and Grandfather Lust died in the year 1840, in February, at the age of sixty-six years.
Conrad Lust, who was the father of the subject of this sketch, was mar- ried to Magdelena Myers, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in May, 1820. He had eight hundred acres of land, in different places of the county and state. In politics he had been in sympathy with the Demo- cratic party, but was never a politician, and through all his life he was a mem- ber of the Evangelical Pietist church. He died in February, 1876, at the age of sixty-four years, and his wife Magdalena died in September, 1893, aged seventy-three years. Frederig Lust, the uncle of our subject, was a most powerful preacher, with but a rare equal, in spite of all his very limited edu- cation. He also was the founder of the so called Lust church in Chatfield. He departed this life in December. 1882, at the age of sixty-nine years.
Who would not look down with a flood of tears, as tears trickle down from the children's eyes, upon the graves of their grandparents, so beloved :- fathers and mothers who are now mingled with the dust of the earth, in the silent shade of death, after so many struggles, with hardship, penury and so many thousands of evils full of trials? Grandfather John David Lust, Gott- leib, Conrad, and Rev. Frederig Lust, and Elizabeth (Jacoby) Lust, are all at rest in the Lust cemetery in Chatfield township.
Rev. Israel Lust, who is the highly esteemed subject of this review, was reared amid pioneer surroundings His educational advantages were limited, having only about three hundred and fifty days of schooling, scattered over ten years, introducing him only to primary studies and fostering a love for books, which he has never outgrown. In May, 1865, he was married to Miss Magdalena Crum, who was a native of Chatfield township. After this event Mr. and Mrs. Lust located on the farm now owned in Todd township which was given him by his father, and cleared about one hundred acres of dense tim- ber, and this is cultivated by our subject. The estate now comprises one hundred and forty-six acres, as Mr. Lust has added other land by later pur- chases. He also became the owner of five hundred acres of land in Allen county, Kansas, which he mostly deeded to his children,-Jessias, Magdalena, Frank and Wesly. To the first marriage of our subject one child was born. Jessias, now a resident of Allen county, Kansas. Mrs. Lust departed this life in January, 1867.
In the following year our subject was united in marriage to Mrs. Mary Linn, who was the widow of William Linn, formerly a Miss Seibert, who died on September 8, 1881. Seven children were born to this union, these being :
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Magdalena, deceased; Benjamin Franklin, of Allen county, Kansas; Samuel Wesley, of Allen county, Kansas; Catherine E., at home; Sarah, the wife of George Cooper, of Shelby, Ohio; Clements, at home; and Mary, the wife of Roassle Winger, of Marion county.
Mr. Lust has been one of the successful and prosperous farmers of the county. He was reared in the Democratic party, but in late years has taken no active interest in politics. For nineteen years he has been a preacher in the Evangelical Pietist church and also nine years in the Crawford County In- firmary, and during this time he has covered fully twelve thousand miles. driv- ing to and fro over the country, answering the calls of duty, ministering to the sick in body and mind and working faithfully in the Master's vineyard. His faithful horse Cole, which has carried him so far, often through storm and cold, still stands in his stable, cared for with the affection its long service has oc- casioned. AIr. Lust is known to the religious-reading public, especially in his own church, through three published volumes of his writings, under the title of "Exhortations and Edifications of Israel Lust," and the fourth volume is ready for the press. Mr. Lust has bound over two thousand volumes of these books himself, the latter work reflecting great credit upon his artistic skill, as he never served any apprenticeship in it. They are filled with good advice, moral teachings, and no reader could doubt that they came from the pen of a deeply and truly religious man. In arranging all the writings of Rev. Israel Lust up to this date, 1901, in a line it would make a continuous line of not less than ten miles.
DAVID LUST.
The career of no man in Crawford county, Ohio, more forcibly illustrates the value of industry and integrity than that of David Lust, of Lykens town- ship. Mr. Lust is a native of Ohio, and was born in Marion county, October 26, 1828, a son of Jacob and Mary ( Stoneman) Lust. Jacob Lust and his wife both died in 1829, and their son Jacob, their only other child except the subject of this sketch, is also dead. David was reared by his grandfather Lust and began active life by working on farms in Chatfield township, Craw- ford county. After working by the month for four years he located on his present farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He now owns another farm of one hundred and forty-two acres and another of eighty acres, his land aggre- gating three hundred and eighty-two acres. He has acquired this fine prop- erty by industry and good business management, and those who know him best
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rejoice with him most in his worldly success. Politically he is a Democrat. A friend of public education, he has devoted himself to the development of good schools in the township, and has filled the office of school director for thirty years. Ohio's present admirable school system had not been developed when he was in his youth, and, remembering that he was obliged to be satis- fied with a scanty education obtained in subscription schools taught in a log school house, he has done everything in his power to give improved educational facilities to each successive generation of children in his township. He is a member of the German Methodist church, in which he has for many years held the office of trustee and in which he was treasurer when its house of wor- ship was erected in Liberty township.
April 6, 1854, Mr. Lust married Catherine Veiter, who has borne him ten children, all of whom are living, and they have twenty-two grandchildren. Their son Jacob lives in Holmes township, Crawford county. Their daughter Elizabeth married William Heaver, of Liberty township, Crawford county. Their son Simon lives in Liberty township. Ther daughter Marian married Philip Cook and lives in Whetstone township, Crawford county. Their son Noah lives in the township last mentioned. Sarah is the wife of William Hay- den, of Morrow county, Ohio. Wesley lives in Holmes township, Crawford county. Lydia married Isaac Stump and is a member of her father's house- hold. Their son Abraham is a farmer in Holmes township, Crawford county. Their son Amos lives in Lykens township.
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