USA > Ohio > Crawford County > A centennial biographical history of Crawford County, Ohio > Part 7
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The parents of our subject both died of cholera in 1849, and he was
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thus left an orphan at the early age of seven years. Lewis H. Battefeld was educated in the country schools. He has also added largely to his knowledge through reading, observation and experience. In 1860 he came to Bucyrus and learned the trade of harness and saddle making under the direction of J. G. Birk. For fourteen years he followed that pursuit and then abandoned it to engage in the manufacture of drain tile in Bucyrus, in 1876. He com- menced operations on a small scale, using horse power, but his trade soon demanded increased facilities ; steam power was introduced, improved ma- chinery was secured and an extensive business was carried on. The enterprise is now conducted by his son, Lewis P. Battefeld, in his own name.
Our subject has frequently been called to public office and has been long a recognized leader in Democratic circles. In April, 1869, he became city marshal and filled the office for two years, and at the same time was town- ship constable. For six years, from 1886 until 1892, he was township trus- tee of Bucyrus township, and in 1895 he became county commissioner, being elected in 1894. Three years later he was re-elected to the office, so that he is the present incumbent. For two years he was president of the County Commissioners' Association of Ohio, filling the office in 1898-9, its sessions being held in Toledo and Dayton in those years. From the time he attained his majority down to the present Mr. Battefeld has never wavered in his allegiance to Democracy. He was a delegate to the national convention held in Kansas City in 1900 from the thirteenth congressional district of Ohio, and has been chairman of the county central committee of the Democracy for the past eight years, filling that position at the present time. For five years prior he was also a member of the committee and he has frequently been a delegate to congressional and state conventions, where his opinions carry weight in the councils of his party.
Mr. Battefeld was united in marriage, in Bucyrus, to Miss Phillipina Krebs, a daughter of Frederick Adair and Christina ( Weibel) Krebs, who came from Rhine, Bavaria, to the United States in 1852, and located in Liberty township. Crawford county, upon a farm, where they remained until called to the home beyond. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Battefeld is Lewis P. They lost a daughter, Cordelia S., who died in 1886. The son is a graduate of the high school of Bucyrus, of the class of 1887, and is now carrying on the business established by his father. He manufactures brick and terra cotta and employs about twenty workmen, making shipments to various towns in Ohio. He is a member of the blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity, and, like his father, is a stalwart Democrat.
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Socially Mr. Battefeld, whose name introduces this record, is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in the latter he has filled all of the offices. He also belongs to the English Lutheran church. His business affairs were ever so conducted as to gain for him a constantly increasing patronage. He was at all times strictly reliable, and his integrity, combined with his keen dis- crimination and capable management, won him a high degree of success, so that he is now enabled to rest in an honorable retirement from the active cares and duties of business life. Always courteous and genial, he possesses a social disposition that well fits him for the part he has taken in political affairs. The high esteem in which he is held speaks better than words can do as to his character as a man and a citizen.
MICHAEL SIEFERT.
Michael Siefert, who is proprietor of a warehouse and has other prop- erty interests in New Washington, is one of the oldest of the pioneer set- tlers of Cranberry township, where he now lives. Throughout the years of his residence in this county he has been known as a progressive and wide- awake citizen. He was born in Stark county, Ohio, October 8, 1830, and is a son of John and Salome ( Lantz) Siefert. The father of our subject was born in Alsace, France, now a part of Germany, in 1803, and was there reared to farm life. His father, John Siefert, emigrated to America with his wife and seven children in the year 1827, landing at New York city after a voyage of twenty-seven days. Making his way westward, he came through the canal to Stark county, where a location was secured, the father pur- chasing forty acres of land, upon which he spent his remaining days. The same year of their arrival John Siefert was married and located in Stark county, where he operated one farm of forty acres, conducting this on the shares for six years.
In 1834 he came to Crawford county and entered a farm of eighty acres, one mile northwest of New Washington. Upon this tract of land he built a log cabin sixteen by eighteen feet, and soon his family were installed in their new home. The farm was all covered with a dense growth of timber and the Indians in the neighborhood were far more numerous than the white settlers, but that year several white families took up their abode in the vicinity of the Siefert farm. The father of our subject cleared his land and pur- chased thirty acres adjoining, developing a valuable property, upon which he
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resided until the time of his death, which occurred in 1859. His wife, who was born in Alsace, France, in 1804, came to this country with her parents on the same vessel on which her future husband made the voyage, and the Lantz family also located in Stark county. Mrs. Siefert survived until 1863, when she, too, was called to her final rest. Six children were born of their union, but only two of the number are now living, namely: Michael and Anna, the latter the wife of John Schemley, of New Washington.
Michael Siefert spent the days of his childhood in his parents' home, and to the common-school system of the neighborhood he is indebted for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. On the 19th of October, 1854. he started out upon an independent business career, going to Eaton Rapids, Michigan, where he worked in a hotel until the 23d of December following, then returning to his home. On the 29th of January, 1856. he married Miss Christine Hofsisz, a native of Baden, Germany, who was born August 12, 1834, and came to America in 1854 with her mother and step-father, who settled in Crawford county.
After their marriage our subject and his wife took up their abode upon the old family homestead, which he cultivated on the shares until the death of his mother. He then purchased the interests of the other heirs and sub- sequently added a tract of twenty-five acres. Later he purchased seven other farms, making judicious investments in real estate as his financial resources were increased. However, he has since sold all of this with the exception of a tract of thirty acres, one mile east of New Washington, and the home farm. In 1879 he purchased the warehouse at New Washington, which he still owns, and he also has his present town residence and three other dwellings here, the rental from which materially increases his income. He took up his abode in New Washington in 1882 and his attention has since been largely given to the management of his invested interests.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Siefert has been blessed with fourteen children, of whom nine are yet living, namely: Jacob, a resident farmer of Wyandot county, Ohio; Caroline. the wife of John Knodel, of New Wash- ington, Ohio: George, of New Washington : William, who operates the home farm: Anna, wife of Frederick Michelfelder, a shoe dealer of New Wash- ington : John, also of New Washington : Clara, wife of George Sheets ; Emma, who married Art Donnenwirth, a telegraph operator of Waldo, Ohio; and Frederick, with his parents in New Washington.
Mr. Siefert gives his political support to the Republican party and keeps well informed on the issues of the day, but has never sought or desired office,
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preferring to give his attention to his business affairs, in which he has met with very creditable success, his labors bringing to him a handsome com- petence, so that now he is enabled to enjoy an honorable retirement. For more than sixty years he has been a witness of the growth of the county. having watched its development from early pioneer days.
JACOB SHEETZ.
The history of a state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly the chronicles of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon society. The world judges the character of a community by those of its representative citizens, and yields its tribute of admiration and respect for the genius or learning or virtues of those whose works and actions constitute the record of a state's prosperity and pride, and it is this record that offers for our consideration the history of men, who in their characters for probity and benevolence and the kindly virtues, as well as for integrity in the affairs of life, arc ever affording to the young worthy examples for their regard and emulation. Therefore it is proper that a just celebrity be given to those men who are distinguished in their day and generation, that the living may enjoy the approbation of their contemporaries, as well as that of a grateful posterity.
Jacob Sheetz certainly deserves mention among the representative men of Crawford county. He stands at the head of the firm of Jacob Sheetz & Brother, bankers and merchants, and the influence of his business activity is widely and beneficially felt. He was born in New Washington September 23. 1843, being one of the six children of John A. and Margaret (Donnen- wirth ) Sheetz. As the name indicates the family is of German lineage. The father of our subject was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, December 3, 1809. and in 1824, when only twenty-one years of age, crossed the Atlantic to the new world in company with an older sister. After landing in New York city they made their way to Ohio, locating in Columbiana county, where they took up their abode. For some years the father of our subject was employed as a farm hand and at various occupations which would yield him an honest living, receiving but six dollars per month in the first capacity. His sister having married and removed to Crawford county, he determined to go to Dayton, where he secured employment in a livery stable. He was very fond of horses and prospered in this new line of business. About 1830 he came to Crawford county to visit his sister, and, being pleased with the
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locality, determined to remain. Therefore he purchased ninety acres of land in Auburn township, which tract includes the present site of the village of Waynesburg. He erected a log cabin, planted an orchard and began the task of clearing his land and cultivating crops. He was three times married. His first wife was Miss Margaret Weisenbacher, whom he wedded in Day- ton, in May. 1836; but after a short married life she died, in July of the same year. Subsequently ( October, 1837) he was joined in wedlock to Miss Mar- garet Weaver, of Auburn township, Crawford county, and this union was blesed with one child, Catherine Agetta, now the wife of William H. Don- nenwirth, a resident farmer of Stark county, Ohio. The second wife lived but a little more than a year, and about 1842 John A. Sheetz wedded Mrs. Margaret Hesse, the widow of Ehregott Hesse and a daughter of George Donnenwirth. She was a native of Alsace, Germany. Her father emigrated to America about 1829, locating in Stark county, Ohio, whence he came to Crawford county, taking up his abode in Cranberry township, three miles northwest of New Washington, where he resided until his death. In early womanhood his daughter Margaret became the wife of Ehregott Hesse, a merchant of New Washington, and after the death of her first husband she carried on the business until her marriage to Mr. Sheetz, when he took up his abode in the town and assumed the management of the business, conduct- ing the same until his death, which occurred December 7, 1889. The Democracy received his political support, but he never sought office as a reward for public service. He was, however, the first postmaster of New Washington, and for several years prior to the establishment of the post- office at this place he walked once each week to a point four miles west of the town in order to meet the stage and get the mail for the people residing in this locality. As an accommodation for his business patrons and his fellow townsmen residing in this locality he continued to act as postmaster for many years. By his third marriage Mr. Sheetz had six children, four of whom are yet living, namely : John H., a banker and merchant, who is in partnership with his brother: Lonisa P., wife of John M. Guiss, of New Washington ; Jacob, of this review; and Caroline, now the wife of John L. Assenheimer, a lumber dealer and contractor of Bucyrus.
Jacob Sheetz had the refining influences of a good home and the advan- tages of educational privileges in his youth. Having pursued his education in the common schools, he supplemented his preliminary course by study in the Bucyrus high school, in DeKalb College and in a private institution of learning in Cleveland. From his sixteenth year he worked upon his father's
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farm during the summer months, becoming familiar with all of the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. Later, however, his father insisted upon his entering the store, and when he was nineteen years of age he took his place behind the counters, there serving as a clerk. He soon manifested superior aptitude for business, and six months later he had complete charge of the enterprise. In less than a year the bills were made out in the name of John .\. Sheetz & Son, although this was unauthorized by a business part- nership. In 1866, however, our subject purchased a half interest in the store, and in 1874 his brother, John H., purchased the father's interest, and the firm of Jacob Sheetz & Brother has since carried on operations. Not long afterward our subject established the Farmers Exchange Bank, under the name of the John A. Sheetz Company. Both branches of his business have contributed in a considerable measure to the general prosperity of the community, and at the same time have returned an excellent revenue to the partners.
On the 17th of October, 1867, Mr. Sheetz was married to Miss Eliza- beth A. Guiss, a native of Cranberry township and a daughter of Abraham Guiss, one of the prominent farmers of the community, now deceased. He was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio. This marriage has been blessed with three children :. Ada M., the eldest, is the wife of John Seifert, pro- prietor of an elevator at New Washington; George W., who is a graduate of the New Washington high school and of the Spencerian Business College, of Cleveland, Ohio, is now attending the Ohio State University, preparing himself for the practice of law ; and Emma L., the youngest, is also a grad- uate of the high school of New Washington and is now the wife of Martin L. Belser, D. D., of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
In his political affiliations our subject is a Democrat, and for ten or more years has served as a member of the town council, exercising his official prerogatives in support of all measures for the public good. For fifteen years he has served on the school board and was one of its members when the present school building was erected. He holds membership in the Lutheran church, and was one of its trustees, serving on the finance committee when the present church edifice was built. He is one of the most public-spirited and progressive citizens of the county, and has contributed in a large measure to the upbuilding and improvement of this part of the state. When he became a member of the mercantile firm of which he is now at the head he assumed an indebtedness of three thousand, seven hundred and fifty dollars. The year following he erected a residence and thus increased his indebtedness, but
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in a short time, owing to his capable business methods and management, he was enabled to pay off all obligations and has continually added to his wealth. He is a man of whom the most envious can scarcely grudge success, so well has he earned it, so admirably does he use it, so entirely does he lack pride of purse. He is kind, unaffected and approachable, and every comer has a claim upon his courteous attention. There has been nothing sensational in his career, every step has been thoughtfully and deliberately made and every advance has been at the cost of hard and self-denying labor. Born to lead, his great experience makes him a safe counselor and guide. He stands to-day in his mature years a strong man, strong in the consciousness of well-spent years, strong to plan and perform, strong in his credit and good name and a worthy example for young men to pattern after.
THOMAS H. B. CLUTTER, M. D.
A prominent physician and the oldest practitioner of Crestline in years of continuous connection with the medical profession in this place is Dr. T. H. B. Clutter, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1841, and is a son of J. P. Clutter, who was also a native of the same county. He was a farmer by occupation, and died in Washington county, Pennsylvania, at the ripe old age of eighty years. His father, John Clutter, was a native of New Jersey and served as teamster in the Revolutionary war, enlisting for service at the age of seventeen years. The paternal great- grandfather, who was also named John Clutter, was also a defender of the nation, serving in the army for seven years and was paid for his services in continental money, and some of this money yet remains in the family.
A native of Germany, he came to America when a young man and took up his abode in Washington county, Pennsylvania, his being the first family to settle west of the Alleghany mountains. Their home was in the midst of the deep forest. The settlements were afterward made and these early pioneers were frequently called upon to fight with the Indians, and a num- ber of the white settlers were massacred by the red men. John Clutter, the great-grandfather, was a well known Indian fighter and a great hunter, and lived to be ninety years of age, his being a family noted for longevity. The maternal ancestors of our subject were of German and French blood. The grandfather, James Andrews, was a native of New Jersey, but was of Ger- man lineage, and his people had located in Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, among its pioneer settlers. He married a Miss Van Vorhees, who
Thos H BHbutter.
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was of French lineage. She was born in New Jersey and was educated in the English schools, being able to speak both English and French fluently. The maternal great-grandmother of Mr. Clutter belonged to the Blackburn family, and she, too, was a native of New Jersey. The Clutter and Andrews families were united by the marriage of J. P. Clutter and Margaret Andrews. a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania. They became the parents of seven children,-five sons and two daughters. All of the sons reached manhood and with but one exception are yet living ; but the daughters died in infancy. The mother passed away at the age of seventy years. Her son Samuel is now living in Akron, Ohio. John P. resides in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and Robert M. is a resident of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.
The Doctor, who was the second son and third in order of birth in his parents' family, spent his youth in Washington county, Pennsylvania, where he pursued his education in the district schools. In 1861, when twenty years of age, he came to Crestline and began the study of medicine with Drs. A. and A. E. Jenner, under whose direction he continued his reading for five years. In the meantime he attended lectures at Starling Medical College, and was thus well equipped by broad learning for his professional duties. He began practice in Leesville, Crawford county, in 1867, and there remained until 1888, when he located in Crestline, where he has since successfully fol- lowed his chosen calling. He was graduated in the Columbus Medical Col- lege, with the class of 1879, and has always continued his close study of his profession, his reading and investigation keeping him abreast with the most advanced thought of the times. In addition to his practice he is interested in the First National Bank of Crestline, of which he is a director.
The Doctor was twice married. In 1867 he married Miss Joanna Day, a native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, born June 15, 1842. After her death he was again married, on the 15th of November, 1896, his second union being with Miss Ida Mapes, of Bucyrus, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania.
The Doctor is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and at all times takes a very active part in political affairs, attending conventions and doing all in his power to promote the growth and success of his party. He has also served in the city council and on the school board, and takes a deep and abiding interest in everything pertaining to the welfare, progress and sub- stantial upbuilding of his community. Of the Masonic fraternity he is a very prominent member, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also connected with the Ancient Arabic Order of the
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Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. The success which attends his efforts is but in natural sequence, for his position soon became assured as an able physician, a man of sterling integrity and one devoted to his profession and to the inter- ests and welfare of those to whom he ministered. He possesses marked judgment and discernment in the diagnosing of disease, and is peculiarly successful in anticipating the prognosis of complications, seldom making a mistake and never exaggerating or minifying the disease in rendering his decisions in regard thereto. He is a physician of great fraternal delicacy, and no man ever observed more closely the ethics of the unwritten profes- sional code or showed more careful courtesy to his fellow practitioners than does Dr. Clutter.
REV. NATHANIEL J. HADLEY.
Rev. Nathaniel J. Hadley, pastor of the Christ English Lutheran church, was born in Mahoning county, just south of the Western Reserve line, No- vember 17, 1866. the son of prosperous parents whose home was on a farm. After attending the district schools the son took a course in Poland Union Seminary, which in its day was one of Ohio's most famous preparatory in- stitutions. Among others who have there fitted themselves for more ad- vanced educational work is President William McKinley. Mr. Hadley's course was an intermittent one, and in the intervals between the periods of study he engaged in teaching. He later entered the Northeastern Ohio Normal College, also a well patronized institution in the Western Reserve, its location being Canfield, Mahoning county. Subsequently he matriculated in Witten- berg College and was graduated at that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1891. In the fall of the same year he entered Wittenberg Theological Seminary and on the completion of the three-years course the degree of Bachelor of Divinity was conferred upon him. The same year his alma mater bestowed upon him the degree of Master of Arts.
Immediately afterward, in the fall of 1894. he was ordained as a minister of the gospel by the Wittenberg synod at Bellefontaine, having been licensed to preach the gospel by the same religious authority the previous year. In fact, while in his senior year he had been called upon and had supplied several pulpits in the absence of the regular pastors, one of which he supplied for five months. In May, 1894, Rev. Mr. Hadley took charge of his first congregation at West Liberty, Logan county, a town of about fifteen hundred population. There he remained in successful and harmonious relations with
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his flock until called to the broader field over which he now watches in Galion. This was on March 15, 1898.
Rev. Mr. Hadley's work in Galion has been of a nature that well illus- trates the force of character of the man, convincing the greatly increased con- gregation that they were fortunate in choosing him as their spiritual adviser and pastor. Young and energetic, he went to work with a will, wiped out an indebtedness and established the church organization on a basis which lias added to its power and influence. In numbers the congregation has greatly increased, and its progress and development has been so marked as to attract the attention of churches in larger cities. When in Logan county he was president of the County Christian Endeavor Union and during his incumbency in the office the county had the distinction of winning the banner offered by the State Association for the best organization and for the progress and work of the year. Since accepting his pastorate in Galion Rev. Hadley has served for one term at the head of the Crawford County Christian Endeavor Union. Rev. Hadley has been president of the Ministers' Union of Galion and at present is the secretary of the Wittenberg Synod. He is also editing an eight-page parish paper entitled the "Lutheran Visitor."
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