A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio, Part 54

Author:
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 864

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Benjamin F. Knepper was but nine years of age at the time of his. father's death, and from that time forward he depended on his own resources for a livelihood, so that his educational advantages were neces- sarily limited in scope. Through reading and active association with the practical affairs of life he has, however, effectively supplemented the meager education gained in his boyhood. He began his independent career by living with various farmers in the vicinity of his old home, working for his board until he had sufficiently advanced in years and strength to make his services of greater value. At the age of nineteen he came to Seneca county, Ohio, arriving here in the fall of 1856. He worked as a farm hand during the summer months and at chopping wood in the winter, being industrious and frugal and saving his earn- ings. By this means he accumulated a sufficient sum of money to justify him, in 1861, in the purchase of eighty acres of land in Hopewell town- ship, and the following year he assumed the additional responsibilities . of a man of family, his marriage being then solemnized. With his bride he took up his residence on his farm, which was covered with heavy timber, having erected a primitive log house as a domicile. He cleared twenty acres of the land within the succeeding two years and then disposed of the place, in 1864, and purchased an eighty-acre tract in: Liberty township, the same being cleared of timber at the time, and this continued to be his home and field of operations for six years, at the expiration of which, in 1870, he sold the property and purchased one hundred and forty-three acres of his present fine homestead, in Hope- well township, four and one-half miles northwest of Tiffin, which is his postoffice address. By the purchase of adjoining lands he has increased.

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the area of the homestead, which now comprises two hundred and forty acres of fertile land, the place being well improved with good farm build- ings and maintained under a high state of cultivation, while Mr. Knepper also owns forty acres three miles east of the home farm, in Clinton town- ship. His political support is given to the Democratic party, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Bethel Methodist Protestant church.

On the 6th of February, 1862, Mr. Knepper was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Reeme, the daughter of William Reeme, a native, as is she, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Seneca county, Ohio, in the spring of 1857. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Knepper we enter the following brief record: Minnie V. is the wife of John Loose, of Hopewell township; Cyrus D. is a farmer of Clinton township; Eva G. is the wife of Frank Beck, of Liberty township ;. Arletta B. is the wife of Curtis Ash, of Hancock county; Emma C. is the wife of Curtis Edwards, of Liberty township; Benjamin D. is engaged in farming in Hopewell township; William I. has charge of the parental homestead; Russell M. is a notary public at Tiffin; and Clara C. is at the parental home.

LOUIS WILLIAMS BOLLINGER.

Of stanch old German lineage is the subject of this sketch, who is a native son of Seneca county and now numbered among its success- ful and influential farmers. Mr. Bollinger was born on the parental farm, in Venice township, on the 16th of June, 1856, being a son of Louis and Margaret Bollinger, the former of whom was born in the Rhine district of Germany and the latter in Wurtemberg. They became the parents of twelve children, of whom eight are living at the present time, namely : Margaret, the wife of George Duerr, of Gratiot county, Michigan; Catherine, the wife of Samuel Kimmel, of Venice township, Seneca county ; Louisa, the wife of David Sellers, of Attica, this county ;

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Louis W., the subject of this sketch; and Philip, Daniel, Alexander and John F., all of whom reside in Venice township. The parents emigrated from the German fatherland to America about the year 1840 and located in Venice township, their marriage having occurred after their arrival in the United States. The father of our subject was for some time employed as a locomotive fireman on the railroad from Sandusky to Carey, thereafter was employed in a warehouse in the town of Republic, and finally settled on his little farm of thirty acres, to which he subse- quently added until he became the owner of a fine landed estate in this township, having in his possession two hundred and fifty acres at the time of his death, at the age of fifty-six years, June 25, 1880. He was a man of influence in the community, one whose integrity of character was beyond question, and he was held in high esteem in this section. He gave his support to the Democratic party, being one of the promi- nent workers in its cause in this township, of which he served as trustee at one time. He was a member of the Reformed church, as was also his wife, who survived him about sixteen years.

Louis W. Bollinger, to whom this sketch is dedicated, was reared on the old homestead farm and received a common-school education. After the death of his father he took charge of the home farm for his mother, so continuing until his marriage, in 1882, when he rented and located upon a farm of sixty-four acres owned by his mother. He ·operated this farm on shares for a period of seven years, and then, in 1891, purchased a tract of forty acres, upon which he took up his abode. Later on he purchased his present home farm, which comprises eighty acres, and he has further added to his landed estate until he is now the owner of two hundred and forty acres of valuable land in four tracts, the greater portion being in Venice township. He has been the architect of his own fortunes, having received from his father's estate only about nine hundred dollars, and he is now known as one of the most success- ful. energetic and progressive farmers of this section of the county, having made the best of improvements on his property and directing his efforts with marked discrimination and ability. He gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but has never desired the honors of political

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office. He and his wife are members of the Pike Reformed church, and are people who command the highest regard in the community.

On the 16th of October, 1881, Mr. Bollinger was united in mar- riage to Miss Rebecca Deisler, who was born in this township, the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth (Dish) Deisler, pioneers of the county, and of the three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Bollinger two survive,-Matilda and Rosa, both of whom remain at the parental home.

JOHN B. WILHELM.

The pursuits of life are as varied as are the tastes and capacities of men, and it is an interesting and useful study to observe the degree of their assimilation. Among the progressive and influential farmers and apiarists of Seneca county is Mr. Wilhelm, whose attractive and valuable farmstead is located in Venice township. He has maintained his home here for more than two score years, being reared to maturity in this county, and here so directing his independent business career as to attain a high degree of prosperity and to command the unqualified confidence and regard of his fellow men.

Mr. Wilhelm is a native of the province of Alsace, Germany, though the same was an integral portion of France at the time of his birth, which occurred on the 6th of October, 1844. His parents were John and Catherine (Swalier) Wilhelm, both of whom were born in Alsace, the father of the former having been a soldier in Napoleon's army. John Wilhelm was born in the year 1808, and in 1857 he emigrated with his family to America, locating in the state of New York, where he remained until the fall of the following year, when he came to Seneca county, Ohio, and leased a tract of land in Bloom township, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits for several years. He then pur- chased forty acres of the farm now owned by his son Aloysius, one mile west of the village of St. Stephen, and there he passed the residue of his life, which was one of rectitude and signal usefulness, his death occurring

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in 1886, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a Democrat in his: political proclivities, and his religious faith was that of the Catholic church, of which his widow is also a devoted communicant, being now in her eighty-sixth year and making her home with her son Aloysius J., of Bloom township. Of her six children four yet survive, namely: John B., the immediate subject of this review ; Aloysius J., a successful farmer of Bloom township; Therese, who is Sister St. Clara in the Ursuline convent in the city of Tiffin; and Joseph C., a resident of Henry county,. this state.

The subject of this sketch was afforded excellent educational advant- ages in his youth, having secured his rudimentary discipline in the com- mon schools in the vicinity of his home, and having effectively supple- mented this by a course of study in the academy at Republic and later by one in Baldwin University, at Berea, Ohio. From the age of four- teen years he lived in the homes of various farmers, working on the farm during the summer months and attending school during the win- ters, defraying the expenses of his education wholly through his own efforts. At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Wilhelm began teaching school, and he thereafter continued to follow the pedagogic profession for about a decade in Seneca and Stark counties, being very successful in his work and gaining marked prestige in that line.

In the year 1871 Mr. Wilhelm was united in marriage to Miss Marcella Delaney, who was born in Venice township, this county, a. daughter of Matthew Delaney, one of the pioneer farmers of this locality. In 1873 our subject took up his residence on his present homestead, which was a part of the estate of his father-in-law, the land having been entered as a government claim by Mr. Delaney in 1833. Mr. Wilhelm now owns one hundred and ten acres of very fertile and prolific land, has made the best of improvements on the place and is known as one of the substantial and progressive farmers of this section. He also has forty acres in a separate farm. For a number of years he has devoted special attention to the raising of bees, and he is known as one of the leading apiarists of the state, having made a careful study of the habits and needs of the busy little toilers and having been highly successful in

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handling this department of his enterprise. He places on the market each year from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds of the finest honey, the product always being sent out in the most inviting form and invariably commanding the highest market price. In politics Mr. Wilhelm gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, of whose cause he has been a. stanch supporter, and he served two terms in the office of township trustee, taking a deep interest in all that concerns the welfare of the community and being essentially public spirited. His religious faith is that under whose benign influence he was reared, and he is a com- municant of the Catholic church, as are also his wife and children. Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm became the parents of five children, of whom three survive, namely: Frank X., Anna C. and Clara, all of whom re- main at the parental home, being popular in the best social life of the community.

JOHN FRUTH.

The subject to whose life history we now direct attention has passed practically his entire life in Seneca county, though he is a native of Germany, and has been conspicuously identified with the industrial and civic activities of this section of the state, being one of the success- ful farmers and highly honored citizens of Loudon township, where his parents took up their abode in the pioneer epoch of the county's history.

Mr. Fruth was born in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, on the 17th of June, 1851, being a son of Jacob and Sevilla (Sherdon) Fruth, of whose seven children four survive at the present time, namely : Sevilla, the wife of Conrad Herbert, of Big Spring township; Susannah, wife of David Peters, of Alvada, this county: John, the subject of this sketch ; and Gustave, who makes his home with our subject. The par- ents were both native of Bavaria, and there they maintained their home until 1854, when they bade adieu to the fatherland and emigrated to America, the subject of this review being but three years of age at the time. They landed in New York city after a voyage of thirty days'

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duration, and thence came directly through to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and settled on a farm near the city of Cleveland, the place having been purchased by Jacob Fruth prior to his emigration, through the medium of his sister, who had preceded him to America and had located with her husband in Cuyahoga county. Mr. Fruth remained in that county two years and then disposed of his farm and came to Seneca county, locating in Loudon township, where he purchased a tract of one hundred and twenty-four acres, the same being now owned by his son-in-law, David Peters, previously mentioned. The father of our subject cleared and improved this farm and there made his home until his death, at the age of sixty years, his widow surviving him many years and passing away at the age of seventy-five. They were folk of sterling character --- earnest, industrious and God-fearing,-and were devoted members of the United Evangelical church. Mr. Fruth gave his support to the Democratic party after becoming a naturalized citizen, and he ever commanded the esteem of the people of the community where he lived and labored to such goodly ends.

John Fruth, to whom this sketch is dedicated, was reared on the old homestead and received a common-school education. He remained at home until his marriage, in 1874, and soon afterward purchased seventy acres of his present farm, where he began his independent ca- reer. In 1885 he purchased an adjoining sixty acres, and as he has made the best improvements and brought the place under a high state of cultivation, he now has one of the valuable and attractive farmi es- tates in this section of the county. He has ever taken an active interest in the enterprises and undertakings which have been projected for the general good of the community and his attitude has been that of a. public-spirited and progressive citizen. In politics his allegiance is given to the Democratic party, and he has served as a member of the town- ship central committee of his party, while he has also been incumbent of other positions of trust and responsibility. He was assessor of his township for two terms. was road supervisor for an equal period and was the candidate of his party for township trustee in 1895, but was defeated, owing to political exigencies. He is incumbent of the office-

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of school director at the present time, and has, at intervals, held this office for several years. He is an elder in St. John's United Evan- gelical church and is a zealous worker in the same, his wife also being a devoted member of the church. Fraternally he is identified with Loudon Grange, No. 723, Patrons of Husbandry, of which he is chaplain at the time of this writing.

On the Ioth of February, 1874, Mr. Fruth was united in marriage to Miss Magdalena Mergenthaler, who was born in Loudon township, the daughter of Gottfried Mergenthaler, who was one of the early settlers of this township, having emigrated thither from Wurtemberg, Germany. Of the thirteen children born to Mr. and Mrs. Fruth twelve survive. namely : Jacob F., a farmer of this township; William C., of Big Spring township; David, of Loudon township; Ida C., wife of Henry Zuern, of Seneca township; Christina E., wife of George Heilman, of Hancock county : and Daniel L., Clara F., Abraham J., Sarah A., John C., Clarence H. and Lena M., who remain at the paternal home.

JOSEPH M. MARTIN.

It cannot be other than gratifying to note that within the pages of this compilation will be found mention of many prominent and success- ful citizens of the county who have here passed their entire lives and who stand representative of the sturdy pioneer element which instituted the herculean task of reclaiming this section of the state from the wilder- ness, carrying the work valiantly forward and leaving it to their sons and daughters to rear the superstructure upon the foundations thus firmly laid. Those who have been the founders and builders of Seneca county are the ones who find place in this edition, and in the connection we are pleased in being permitted to briefly review the gencalogy and personal career of the gentleman whose name initiates this sketch and who is one of the influential farmers and stock dealers of the county in which he has lived his entire life.

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Mr. Martin was born in Liberty township, on the 29th of October, 1848, being the son of Jacob and Sarah (Hostler) Martin, of whose nine children six now survive, namely: Jacob B., a resident of Fos- toria, Ohio; Hiram F., of Eaton county, Michigan; Joseph M., sub- ject of this review; Sarah C., wife of Leander Zeis, of Seneca town- ship, this county ; Savannah, the wife of Edward Hepshire, of the same township; and Rufus, a successful farmer of Seneca township. Jacob Martin, father of these children, was born in Pennsylvania, on the 28tl of October, 1816, being the son of Jocob and Margaret Martin, whoni he accompanied on their removal to Seneca county, Ohio, in 1833. Jacob Martin, Sr., took up a quarter section of government land, in Liberty township, the tract now owned by Andrew Sherger, and there he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Jacob, Jr., father of our subject, assisted in clearing and improving the homestead, and after his marriage he rented land for a number of years and also cultivated another quarter section which his father had acquired, clearing the greater portion of the same. Later he purchased a tract of forty acres and there lived for some time, finally disposing of the property and purchasing the old home place, where he continued to reside until the time of his death, on the 3d of March, 1873. He was a Democrat in his political proclivities, but never sought official preferment, and he was a prominent and influential member of the United Brethren church, of which he was an officer for many years, being a man of unblemished character. His wife, who was born in Pennsylvania, in 1818, died in 1896, at the age of seventy-eight years, her family having come to Seneca county about the same time as did the Martin family.

Joseph M. Martin, the immediate subject of this review, was reared on the old homestead and was indebted to the public schools of the lo- cality for his early educational advantages. In 1872 his marriage oc- curred and thereafter he resided about seven months on a farm owned by one of his brothers. He then removed to the farm of his mother- in-law, renting the place and there continuing in agricultural pursuits for six years. In the meanwhile he effected the purchase of a tract of forty acres on the opposite side of the road, and at the expiration of

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the time noted he also bought the homestead of which he had thus re- rained in charge, the same comprising one hundred and four acres. Later he purchased an adjoining fifty-four acres and still later a con- tiguous tract of fifty-three acres, thus increasing the area of this fine farm to an aggregate of two hundred and eleven acres. As time has passed he has increased his landed estate in the county, and his prop- erties are considered to be among the most valuable in this section of the state. He is also the owner of the Grassman farm, of eighty acres, in Liberty township; the Crall farm, in the same township and of equal area, and upon all of his properties the best of improvements have been made. For the past decade Mr. Martin has figured as one of the lead- ing stock buyers and shippers in the county, while in addition to general agriculture he gives special attention to the raising of high-grade stock. His extensive operations as a buyer have given him a wide acquaintance- ship throughout this section of the state, and he is known as a man of marked business and executive capacity and as one whose integrity of purpose is beyond cavil, thus retaining uniform confidence and esteem. His political support has been given to the Democratic party from the time when he first exercised his right of franchise, but he has had no desire for public office, and this was so signally manifested on one oc- casion, when he was his party's nominee for trustee of his township, that he was defeated, having made no personal effort to forward his own interests in the connection and having given frequent assurance that he preferred not to accept the position. Notwithstanding these conditions he was defeated by only twenty votes. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Protestant church, and he is one of the trustees of the Shiloh church.

On the 19th of May, 1872, Mr. Martin was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Ellen Zeis, who was born in Liberty township, this coun- ty, on the farm now owned by her husband, being the daughter of God- frey and Margaret (Sager) Zeis, sterling pioneer settlers of this county Of the six children of Mr. and Mrs. Martin all are living except an infant daughter, those surviving being Eva M., the wife of William Rosen- berger of Liberty township; Homer A., a successful young farmer of

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the same township; Celesta E., the wife of Harry Beck, of Pleasant township; Wilbert W., who is now a student in Heidelberg College, at Tiffin; and Rufus M., who remains at the parental home.

HENRY SEEWALD.

Among the many honored sons of Seneca county who still continue to make their home within its borders there are few whose careers have been more varied and interesting than that of the gentleman whose name initiates this paragraph and who is now one of the influential and highly esteemed members of the agricultural community of this section of the Buckeye state. He was left an orphan at an early age but was thereafter not deprived of the advantages of a cultured and refined home; he became a sailor on the Great Lakes, later identifying himself with the wider maritime realm, as a sailor on boats plying the ocean ; it was his to render most valiant and meritorious service as a soldier in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion, while in the gaining of the no less honorable victories which peace ever hath in store he has shown himself equally loyal to himself, to truth and to the duties of citizenship. It is thus signally appropriate that a review of his life history be incorporated in this publication, which has to do with those who have contributed to the development and upbuilding of the county of which he is a native and a representative of a sterling pioneer family.

Mr. Seewald was born in the city of Tiffin, which was then a inere village, on the 8th of March, 1836, being the son of Valentine and Philipena (Lang) Seewald, of whose three children he is now the only survivor. The children were Lewis, who left home when eleven years old and was never heard of thereafter; and Charles, who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war, having been a member of Com- pany A, Eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he was an active participant in the battle of Gettysburg, where he received a wound which finally necessitated the amputation of one of his legs, and he died Au-

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gust 16, 1863, from the result of the injury, aged twenty-one years. The father of our subject was a native of the kingdom of Bavaria, Ger- many, where he was reared to maturity and where he learned the trade of locksmith and gunsmith. As a young man he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and emigrated to the United States, settling in Tiffin, Ohio, where he continued to follow his trade until his death, on the 22d of December, 1846, at the age of forty-four years. His wife was likewise a native of Germany, whence she came to America in company with her parents, Henry and Catherine Lang, and family, first locating in Baltimore, where they remained for a time and then came to Tiffin, making the entire journey on foot. They were thus pioneers of this county and their descendants have been prominent in the annals of the state, as were other representatives of their family in the same generation. Her brother, William Lang, is the author of Lang's History of Seneca County. Philipena (Lang) Seewald was born in the year 1839, and she died in Tiffin, at the age of thirty-three years.

Henry Seewald was but six years of age when he was deprived of his mother's care, and four years later he was doubly orphaned by the death of his father. He then went to Fremont, this state, where he found a home with his uncle, Rev. Henry Lang, his early educational advantages having been such as were to be had in the somewhat primi- tive public schools of the day. At the age of fifteen years he became a sailor on the Great Lakes and was thus engaged for a period of six years, after which he was employed as a sailor before the mast, on the Atlantic ocean, for four years, within which time he had a varied and, in retrospective view, an interesting experience. In the meanwhile the ominous cloud of civil war had obscured the national horizon, and when the conflict was finally precipitated Mr. Seewald was not slow to give distinctive evidence of his intrinsic patriotism. On the 7th of September, 1861, he enlisted, at Philadelphia, on his return from a voyage to Cuba, as a private in Company D. Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Potomac and with which he took an active part in many of the most notable

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A centennial biographical history of Seneca County, Ohio, Part 54

Author: Publication date: 1902 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 864

Author:
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 864