USA > Ohio > Allen County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 36
USA > Ohio > Van Wert County > A portrait and biographical record of Allen and Van Wert counties, Ohio, v. 2 > Part 36
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Miss Eliza Tumbleson, the wife of Samuel Miller, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. April 24. 1836. Her father, John Tumbleson, was born in 1801, was reared on the farin and was a farmer all his life. He died in 1868. He married Miss Susan Bowers, of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, by whom he had the following children: James, Joseph, Jonathan, Daniel, Flora, Eliza, Franklin, George, Thomas, and one who died in infancy. Daniel also is dead. and Thomas enlisted in the army of the Union during the late Civil war, and died from ex- posure. The rest are living. are married and are heads of families of their own. Mrs. Tum- bleson, the mother of these children, died in 1885, at the home of her daughter, Eliza. in Van Wert.
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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.
Jolin Tumbleson was in his early life a whig, but after the organization of the repub- lican party, became a republican. He was a member of the United Brethren church, and assisted largely to erect the church of that de- nomination in Pleasant township, Van Wert county. He was a liberal contributor to all public enterprisers of merit, which were in his opinion calculated to promote the good of the community in which he lived. His daughter, Eliza, who married Mr. Miller, resided with her parents until she was eighteen years of age, when she was married. She and her hus- band are now living in Van Wert, and are among the most prominent people of the place.
Samuel Miller was one of the county coni- missioners two terms and was in office when the court house was in course of erection, and Mr. Tumbleson served as a judge.
0 R. MILLER, an old resident and prominent farmer of Pleasant town- ship, Van Wert county, was born in Champaign county, Ohio, November 27, 1832, a son of John and Sarah (Graham) Miller, the former of whom was a native of Ross county, Ohio, born about 1802, was of Irish descent on the maternal side, and in 1842 became a resident of Van Wert county, where he followed farming until his death, which oc- curred about the year 1878. He had married, about 1828, Sarah Grahamn, daughter of James and Hannah Graham, both natives of Ohio. James Graham was a teamster of the war of 1812, in which war David Miller, an elder brother of John Miller, also served as a soldier. The younger brothers of John Miller were named Robert, William and Samuel. Sarah (Graham) Miller was born about 1815 and died about 1860, the mother of eight children, viz: Mrs. Charlotte Miller. deceased; James, a farin- er of Paulding county, Ohio; Ellen, the wife . and kind-hearted neighbor.
of James Miller, of Van Wert county; D. R., the subject of this sketch; Mrs. Emma Rock- hold, of Union township; Elijah, of Van Wert; Mrs. Mary A. Hoak, of Allen county, Ohio, and Robert, who died in infancy.
D. R. Miller, our subject, was brought by his parents to Van Wert county in 1842 and was here educated in the common schools of Pleasant township. After quitting his father's farm he worked out by the month until his marriage, in 1859, to Miss Mary S. Hight, daughter of Stephen and Katie (Kennedy) Hight, who in early life came from Pennsyl- vania to Ohio, and first located in Wayne county, afterward moving to Mercer county, where Stephen Hight, died in 1861, a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church and in politics a democrat. Miss Mary S. Hight was born in Mercer county, April 10, 1838, and has borne her husband eight children, as follows; Stephen, millman of Van Wert, Ohio; Frank, a resident of Saint Louis, Mo .; Grant, employed by a telephone company in Van Wert, Ohio; two infants, deceased; Fred, a school-teacher in Pleasant township; Jacob, a farmer at home, and Katie, also at home. In 1862, our sub- ject bought a farm in Pleasant township. cleared it from the woods, and made his home thereon for nineteen years, and then bought his present place, just west of the city of Van Wert, re- modeled the dwelling and placed the lands under the best possible condition of cultivation. Mr. Miller served four months in the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Ohio volunter in- fantry during the late war, and is a stanch adherent of the republican party, having served as constable-which office he resigned after his return from the army. Mr. Miller at one time gave some attention to the raising of live stock, but now devotes himself entirely to gen- eral farmning. He is a pleasant, genial gentle- man, a public-spirited citizen, and an excellent
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
ETER H. MILLER, deceased, whose ancestry were of German extraction, . was born in Wooster. Wayne county, Ohio, March 11. 1837. He was a son of John and Susan Miller, who were the parents of two sons and three daughters, Peter H. being the eldest of the five children.
Peter H. Miller spent his boyhood days upon the farm, and after securing such an edu- cation as was possible for him in the common schools of his early youth, was apprenticed to the trade of shoemaker, worked thereat for some time, but shoemaking was not at all according to his tastes, so he abandoned it for the carpenter trade, which came to him natur- ally, he having an inherited aptitude therefor. Previous to attaining his majority. in company with his half-brother, S. R. Moneysmith, and a neighbor's son, Mr. Miller came to Van Wert county. The three boys were all car- penters, and after arriving in Van Wert county young Miller found time to attend school for some time, and to complete the education he had begun, as before stated, not under tlie most auspicious circumstances. His natural ability, however, as a carpenter, was soon recognized, and it was not long before he becanie a very popular mechanic. For several years he successfully followed the carpenter's and builder's trade, and thereby laid the foundation for his fortune in Van Wert county.
September 13, 1860, he was married to Miss Sarah J. Lybarger, daughter of William and Abigail (Lake) Lybarger, who was mar- ried in 1839, and who were among the early pioneers of Van Wert county, settling on their present farm in 1848. This farm is located in Ridge township, and to it they removed from Knox county, Ohio. Mrs. Abigail Lybarger, after living a happy married life of fifty-five years, went to her long home August 28, 1894. Mr. Lybarger still survives, and is enjoying the evening of his days, conscious of a life well
spent and in remembrance of many deeds of kindness done.
Soon after their marriage Mr. Miller and his wife began their married life in true pioneer style, in the woods. His first purchase was of forty acres of land six miles southeast of the site of Van Wert, and very near Mrs. Miller's childhood home. Here they lived in the woods for some time, engaged in clearing up the land. planting and gathering in their crops, hunting game, and defending themselves from bears and such other wild beasts as roamed the woods at will in those early days. Mr. Miller, how- ever, found it to his interest to work more or less at his trade in the growing town of Van Wert, going to his work in the morning, re- turning to his home in the evening, thus leav- ing Mrs. Miller alone in the woods through the day. For her this kind of life became very monotonous and lonely, and to relieve her from the unpleasant consequences thereof. Mr. Miller moved to Van Wert, locating on a lot at the southwest corner of Water and Cherry streets. This was in Angust, 1866. Upon this lot he erected a frame house, which for inany years made his family a comfortable home. Mr. Miller soon began working in the fonndry as pattern maker, and remained thus engaged for fifteen years. Afterward he took up the carpenter and builder's trade, on his own account, at which he worked the rest of his life, and for some years during the latter part of his life ran a turning lathe in Spangler's planing mill. For several years Mr. Miller was recognized by every one as the finest wood-worker in Van Wert. He was also a careful and honest business man, quickly gained public confidence, and prospered from the very start.
The first property purchased by him in Van Wert is now the home of his most estimable widow. Later he purchased other property in that town, and also eighty acres of land six
ley Manship 545-546
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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.
miles southest of the city. Still later he be- came a stockholder in the Van Wert County bank, by the failure of which he lost a consid- erable sum of money. He was also a stock- holder in the Van Wert Woolen mill. He was always a very. enterprising man, progress- ive and industrious. He was the soul of honor and his word was as readily taken as his note. Ever ready to assist any laudable enter- prise, he always took an active interest in the growth and prosperity of the town in which he lived. While not a member of any church, yet he leaned toward the doctrines of the Lutheran, and always favored the educa- tion of the young.
Fraternally Mr. Miller was an Odd Fellow, and was a member of the Royal Arcanum lodge, No. 196, of Van Wert. In everything he undertook or favored he was a great en- thusiast, and was a man of great strength and endurance. He likewise was found of relaxa- tion, and spent many autumns hunting in the woods of northern Michigan. His health was always exceptionally good until within about fifteen months of his death, which was caused by cancer of the throat, from which he suffered greatly, dying February 6, 1885. Politically he was a stanch republican and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for president in 1860. In politics he occasionally took an active part, serving as a member of the town council and as a member of the board of edu- cation. By his marriage to Miss Lybarger he became the father of two children, viz : Olive L., born June 24, 1862, and now the wife of C. H. Noell; and Clara, who was born Oc- tober 3, 1864, and died June 23, 1873.
Mrs. Sarah J. Miller, widow of the subject of this sketch, was born near Mount Vernon, Ohio, August 16, 1842. She was one of a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, she being the second child and the eldest daughter. When she was about six named May.
years of age her parents removed from Knox county to Van Wert county, locating in the woods, as has been stated, six miles southeast of Van Wert. Here she grew to womanhood, and attended the first school in Ridge town- ship. Early in life she was taught all the in- dustries then thought peculiarly fitted for women to pursue, mostly, of course, house- hold duties, such as spinning and weaving cloth for clothing for the family. Soon after locating in Van Wert Mrs. Miller joined the Presbyterian church, of which she is still a most worthy member.
HARLES F. MANSHIP, the efficient city clerk of Van Wert, Ohio, was born in Caroline county, Md., May 21, 1856, a son of Elijah A. and Pris- cilla (Wright) Manship. The grandfather of our subject, Thomas Manship, was a slave holder and was largely engaged in planting all his life; he was the father of two children, Mary E. and Elijah A., and was quite promi- nent among the planters of the Potomac valley. Elijah A. Manship, also a native of Caroline county, MId., was there reared to manhood, and was there married in 1853, and was en- gaged in farming and handling groceries until IS58, when he came to Van Wert county, Ohio, and located in Ridge township, where he was prosperously engaged in farming until 1864, when he was killed in a railroad accident. To himself and wife had been born five children, viz: William T., Charles F., Frank W., Sarah E. and Alban A. The father of this family was a republican in politics and was an ener- getic man and respected citizen, and a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow, in 1870, was married to Daniel Norman, a groceryman of Middlepoint. Van Wert county, and has borne him one child --
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
Charles F. Manship, as will be seen, was but two years of age when he was brought to Van Wert county and but eight years old when his father met with his sad fate; he continued to reside with his mother, however, until he reached his twelfth year, when he began clerk- ing in Middlepoint for D. F. Cook, with whom he continued thirteen years, becoming a thorough business man ; he then engaged in grain dealing in Middlepoint until 1886, when he was elected county clerk, which position he acceptably filled for three years, and soon after- ward (1890) was elected city clerk of Van Wert and clerk of Pleasant township, Mr. Manship being in politics a stanch republican, and this combined office he still most efficiently fills. Mr. Manship was first married in Middlepoint, October 17, 1877, to Miss Celia Morehead, and to this union were born four children, viz: Archie W., Daisy A., Frank and Carrie F. The mother died March 3, 1890, and the second marriage of Mr. Manship took place in Van Wert, June 21, 1893, the bride being Miss Etta A. Webster, of this city, who has borne one child, Harold W. Mr. Manship deserves much credit for the energy he has exhibited through- out his business life, the more particularly so, when it is borne in mind that at the early age of eight he was crippled by rheumatism in the hip. He has acquired considerable valuable property in Van Wert by his industry, and is an honored member of the I. O. O. F. and the I. O. R. M., and is respected by the entire community.
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J OHN ANDREW MOEBUS was born April 24. 1823. and died June 30, 1883. His father, John A. Moebus, was born and reared on a farm in Ger- many, and in his native country successfully followed farming until, with his family, he emigrated to the United States. He married
Miss Margaret Strauss, also a native of Ger- many, by whom he had the following children: John Andrew, the subject proper of this sketch; Ceorge, Frederick, Christian, William, Leon- ard, Margaret, Rosanna, Caroline and Fred- erika.
John Andrew Moebus, our subject, was the first born of the children above named. Four of these still survive. He, having received a good education, continued to live at home as- sisting. his father on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, when he enlisted in the German army. After serving six years as corporal, he was promoted to a sergeancy, and his time having expired, he came, with the en- tire family, father, mother and ten children, to the United States and settled in Pennsyl- vania. Two of these ten are now living in Altoona and two in Huntingdon, that state, and are prominently engaged in business. As stated above, his mother's maiden name was Strauss, and several of her brothers are to- day among the prominent and wealthy busi- ness men of Baltimore, Md. John A. Moebus, the father of this family, was killed in a coal mine in Pennsylvania. His youngest son, Leonard, was a soldier in the army of the Union during the Rebellion, was in the battle of Gettysburg, and died at Harper's Ferry, Va.
John Andrew Moebus, our subject, the eldest son, after coming to America, was em- ployed for several years as foreman over a gang of men engaged in bridge building. Then he became proprietor of a hotel. Then, going to Fort Wayne, Ind., he embarked in business as a merchant, remaining for some years and marrying Anna Margaret Preis. From Fort Wayne he removed to Van Wert, Ohio, where he was engaged in various kinds of business enterprises until his death. Among other enter- prises, he established the first ice cream parlor in Van Wert. At first he met with unusual and most gratifying success; but later, through
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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.
speculation and too great liberality, he lost the greater portion of his property, and when he died he left his family in moderate circum- stances only. Throughout his entire life he was honest and upright in his business trans- actions. He was in business in Van Wert twenty-five years, and at the time of his death, notwithstanding his misfortunes, he did not owe any man a debt, large or small. He was a man of great public spirit, and always con- tributed liberally toward enterprises calculated to promote the prosperity of the city of Van Wert. He was also a friend of the poor, and many a poor man thanks him for assistance in making his start in life and in business. In 1881 he subscribed very liberally to the stock of the Narrow Gauge railroad, now the C., J. & M., and so far neither he nor his family has realized anything from the subscription.
Politically he was a democrat and was true to his convictions of right. In religious views he was a Lutheran, and with other German friends he was instrumental in founding Saint Peter's Evangelical Lutheran church in Van Wert. He was a member of this church throughout the rest of his life, and contributed liberally toward its support. Soon after com- ing to Van Wert he joined the Masonic lodge, and remained a member until his death. . When he died he was buried with Masonic ceremonials and honors, and laid to rest in Woodland cemetery.
Anna Margaret Preis, wife of John An- drew Moebus, was born in Bavaria, Germany, July 8, 1832. Her father, George Simon Preis, was a native of Germany, was a carpen- ter by trade and successfully followed that call- ing. He married Eva Maria Bealer, a native of Germany, by whom he became the father of seven children, viz: Anna Margaret, Min- nie, Caroline, Christine, George, William and Fritz. Anna Margaret, the eldest of the seven, has but one sister living in America, although
six of the seven are still living. That sister is Minnie, married to Samuel Lotter, a business man of Willshire, Van Wert county, where she is now residing. Her youngest brother, Will- iam, is the editor of a paper in Germany. He served as a soldier during the war of 1866 against Prussia, as a corporal, and in the war of 1869-71 against France, as sergeant, achiev- ing great distinction and honors in his military career. William had the advantage of having a grandfather who occupied a high position in the court of Germany, in which he remained until his death, at the age of seventy. The eldest son of this grandfather was a learned and distinguished astronomer, but died young.
In her youth Anna Margaret Preis was an unusually fine singer. At the age of nine she joined a singing choir called the "Sangverein," with which he was connected for years, and of which she was the leader when she was fifteen years old. When she was twenty years old she came alone to the United States in a sail- ing vessel, steamships not having come much into use at that time. The voyage lasted six weeks, and during that time she experienced a terribly severe storm at sea, which was so dreadful that no pen could adequately describe it. Arriving in New York she was employed there as trimmer in a millinery store for some time, and going thence to Fort Wayne. Ind .. she there became acquainted with and married John Andrew Moebus, the subject of this sketch. To this marriage there were born six children, viz: George A., Minnie M., Emma C., Andrew W., Charles A. and Louis F., three of whom are still living-Emma C., An- drew W. and Louis F. These children. be- ing gifted with a natural talent for music, have spent many happy hours together, playing and singing the choicest and best instrumental pieces and songs, making their own lives pleas- ant and conferring a like pleasure on friends who at any time call to hear them.
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BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
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Minnie M. Moebus died in Van Wert May 3, 1867, at the age of three. George A. Moebus was born in Van Wert December 25, 1860; married May 30, 1883, and died April 16, 1890. He was a well educated young man, having taken a thorough business course in a commercial college, and being an expert penman. He was a democrat and quite prom- inent in political affairs, but in the latter years of his life he devoted more of his attention to business. He was highly esteemed by every one, and was unusually popular. At his death he left three children-Charles, George and Thomas. Andrew W. Moebus was born April 15, 1867, and is an industrious and honest young man. At present he is clerking in Web- ster & Young's grocery store, is prominent in social circles as well as in musical societies, and is a inember of the Maccabees. Louis F. Moebus was born June 11, 1874, has been a successful agent for several years and is a young man of excellent character. Both Andrew W. and Louis F. Moebus have natural musical tal- ent, which they have developed without the aid of instruction, and they are among the leading musicians of Van Wert. Both are
members of Heistand's band. Louis an "euphonium " soloist and both have been the leaders in orchestra music in Van Wert for several years past. Charles A. Moebus was born August 2, 1869, and was nineteen years old at the time of his death. He was very quiet in disposition, was much beloved by all, and his future appeared bright and promising. He was a natural mechanic and acquired the art of wood carving without the aid of a teacher. To do this work well and with correct taste was his main ambition in life, and it is alto- gether probable that if he had lived he would have acquired distinction in his line. He was also an accomplished musician, having ac- quired this art, too, without instruction. Be- ing very small and of a delicate constitution,
the boys nick-named him "Babe," and by this name he was generally known. One of his physical peculiarities was that of having six fingers on each hand, of which he was very proud. He died November 7, 1890, greatly mourned by all for his genial and generous dis- position. Emma C. Moebus was born Novem- ber 13, 1864, and is an excellent and highly accomplished young lady.
OL. J. M. C. MARBLE, of Van Wert city, was intimately connected with the history and development of this section of Ohio, during a residence of about forty years. His father, Ebenezer, and his grandfather, Eleazar Marble, were de- scendants of Eleazar Marrable, who became a resident of Boston early in the seventeenth century. His mother, Hannah, was the daughter of John Carey and the grand-daugli- ter John Carey, Sr., whose father, Eleazar Carey, emigrated with the Connecticut settlers from Orange county, New York, to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania in 1770. John Carey. Sr., was a soldier of the Revolution, and owner of a considerable landed estate, known as Careytown, now included in the city of Wilkesbarre, in the Wyoming valley. The families of his grandfather, Carey, and grand- mother, Marble, were Methodists.
John Miner Carey Marble was born July 27. 1833, in the village of Windom, then in Luzerne county. His father dying the follow- lowing year, his mother, thereafter, made her home with her grandfather. John Carey. Sr .. until his death in 1844, at the age of eighty- nine years. In November, 1846, Mrs. Marble with her son emigrated to Ohio, whither her widowed mother, long since married to Jacob Rimer, had preceded her. At the age of thir- teen John was employed in the store ot
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OF VAN WERT COUNTY.
Thomas Coulter, of Kalida, Putnam county, Ohio. In 1848 he entered the service of Bope & Lye, general merchants of Delphos, Ohio, then known as Section 10. The firm dissolved later, and in the division of the force John was to go with Mr. Bope, but at the desire of his mother he returned to Pennsylvania to col- lect the remnant of her little fortune. On re- turning, Mr. Coulter, his former employer, offered him a partnership, which he accepted, but Kalida did not offer much of a field for enterprise. Mr. Lye also sought his service, offering him a partnership when he should come of age. Accepting this offer, he re- turned to the store in Section 10, and at twenty-one years of age was made a member of the firm of Lye & Marble. At first, as was natural, he was the boy of the establishment, but when the firm found itself in deep water he came to the front and assumed the respon- sibility for the merchandise part of the busi- ness, which was thereafter conducted under the firm name of Lye, Marble & Co. Having the entire confidence of his partners and of prominent eastern houses, the business grew in credit and profit.
Upon the passage of the national bank act, Mr. Marble disposed of his mercantile interests and organized the First National bank of Del- phos-the first bank organized under said act in this part of northwestern Ohio. He be- came its cashier, succeeding later to the presi- dency. He was for years prominently identi- fied with the business interests of Delphos, having been actively instrumental, with others, in securing to the town the Dolphos Union Stave company and the Ohio Wheel company. In 1874 he removed to Van Wert, Ohio, taking the presidency of the First National bank. He paid $3,000 for the lots upon which the First Methodist Episcopal church now stands, and had them decded to the church. In IS78 he re- vived the project of building a railroad through 24
the western tier of counties in Ohio, on the line of the old Cincinnati & Mackinaw, and to his energy and persistence is due the existence of the Cincinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw rail- road of to-day. In 1878, also, Col. Marble disposed of his interests in the First National bank, and after an interval of a few months, established the private banking house of Em- erson, Marble & Co., which in 1883 was changed to the Van Wert National bank, Col. Marble becoming its president. Owing to fail- ing health of a member of his family this banking interest was sold, and henceforth his residence was divided between Ohio and Cali- fornia. Under his management, between 1885 and ISSS, the mileage of the C., J. & M. rail- road, was increased from ninety-eight to 346 miles, and the road had the unique reputation of being the one new road to have paid inter- est on its bonds without default.
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