USA > Ohio > Erie County > A standard history of Erie County, Ohio: an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, civic, and social development. A chronicle of the people, with family lineage and memoirs > Part 47
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To Mr. and Mrs. Diggins there was born one daughter, Ruby Beatrice, born November 6, 1885, who was educated in the graded schools of Iluron Township and brought up under excellent training. She was married to Louis Schnell, who was born and reared in Oxford Township, Eric County, the son of German parents. Mr. Schnell is one of the industrious agriculturists of this part of the county and is engaged in operating Mrs. Diggins' homestead. Throughout her life Mrs. Diggins has been a hard- working and industrious woman, and has displayed in a remarkable degree business qualities not usually found in her sex. Her long resi- dence in Erie County has made her widely known here, and m her acquaintance she numbers numerous warm and appreciative friends.
WILLIAM STARR. Lying on South Main Street, one and one-half miles south of the Village of Huron, is located Overlook Farm, a property of eighty-five acres which is in every way illustrative of the results which may be obtained by intelligent and practical treatment of the soil. While not so large as some farms in this vicinity, it is accounted one of the most valuable, for its owner, William Starr, has devoted the best years of his life to its cultivation and improvement and the result of his labors justi- fies the toil, thought and care he has bestowed upon it. Mr. Starr, who is one of the representative agriculturists and public-spirited citizens of Huron Township, has made his home on this property for forty-two years, having been brought here by his father when less than one year old from Norwalk, Ohio, where he was born September 10, 1872. His father, Joseph Starr, was born in the State of New York, about the year 1815. and was thirteen or fourteen years of age when brought to Norwalk, Ohio, where he was educated, reared and married. llis wife's first name was Elizabeth, but she died when her son, William, was but a few months old, and he remembers nothing of her, her name having even been for- gotten. Not long after the death of his wife, Joseph Starr came to Erie County and purchased the farm on which his son now lives. It was at that time practically a wilderness, there having been little clearing made on it, but he worked faithfully and energetically, gradually cleared the land of its brush and timber, plowed and planted the land, and lived to see it develop into a productive farm whose golden crops repaid him well for his labor. lle continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits throughout his life, and died in 1893. Mr. Starr did not aspire to public office, but was content to pass his life on his Farm, winning the regard and respeet of his neighbors which are always the reward for an industrious and well-spent life. Many of his old erude tools and implements are still in the possession of his son, who cherishes them as reminders of the fact that the early farmer's lot was a different one from that which confronts
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the agriculturist of today and as remembrances of one of the sturdy pioneers who made the development of Erie County possible.
William Starr grew up amid what might be called pioneer surround- ings and was early taught the value of hard work and thrift. While he was gaining his literary education in the public school in the winter months, his father taught him well the lessons of the farm, and in both cases the lad showed himself an apt and retentive scholar. From his father he inherited a practicality that has stood him in good stead in later years, but he has been constantly alive also to the possibilities brought forth by modern scientific measures, and there is perhaps no more pro- gressive farmer in Huron Township. He rotates his erops and grows large crops of all products that are raised in this locality, including pota- toes, and is constantly seeking to elevate agricultural standards. Mr. Starr's property boasts excellent buildings, including a handsome resi- dence and large red barns, and his machinery is of the latest and most highly improved manufacture. He keeps fully abreast of the constantly changing developments of agriculture, holding membership in Ifuron Grange No. 1385, in which he has been steward for about twelve years, while Mrs. Starr is treasurer of the order. Ile is also one of the charter members and was an organizer of the Farmers Institute at Iluron. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias, in which he has passed all the chairs and was an active worker for some years. His political belief is that of the democratic party, and while he has not cared for pub- lic office, his sympathies are keen and broad, leading him to co-operate in every scheme calculated to advance the general good or to ameliorate the condition of his fellow-men.
Mr. Starr was married in 1901 in Huron Township, to Miss Fannie May Young, who was born at Boone, Iowa, in 1873, and reared and edu- vated at that place, a daughter of Lewis and Maggie ( Robbins) Young. Mr. Young fought as a soldier in the commissary department of the Con- federate army during the ('ivil war, and subsequently moved to Boone, Iowa, where he died several years ago at the age of seventy-two years. Mrs. Young, who survives her husband, makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Starr and is still hale and hearty in spite of her advanced years. Mr. and Mrs. Starr have no children.
WILLIAM HEIMBURGER. Erie County has had much to gain and noth- ing to lose through acquiring of a very appreciable contingent of sterling citizens of German birth or lineage, and representatives of this honored class in the community have been especially prominent and influential as thrifty and progressive exponents of the great basie industry of agricul- ture. Such an one is the venerable and highly esteemed citizen whose name introduces this article. Mr. Heimburger has been a resident of Erie County for sixty years and has resided upon his present homestead farmi since 1865, the same being eligibly situated in Huron Township and having been by him developed into one of the fine landed estates of the county.
Mr. Heimburger was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. on the 29th of February, 1836, and is a son of Diebold and Christina ( Herrenknecht) Heimburger, both of whom were born and reared in Baden, where their marriage was solemnized and where the devoted wife and mother died in 1839, in young womanhood. She left two young chil- dren, William, of this review, having been about three years of age, and his sister. Barbara, having been still younger. Barbara continued to reside in Baden until her death, and was survived by a number of her children. Several years after the death of his first wife Diebold Ileim- burger contracted a second marriage, and, singularly enough, the maiden name of his wife was the same as his first,-Christina Herren-
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kircht,-though the two families claimed no kinship. Mrs. Heimburger ared with all of kindliness and solicitude for the motherless children who thus came under her charge, and she herself became the mother of one son, Diebold, Jr.
In his native place William Heimburger was reared to adult age on his Father's farm, and in the meanwhile he duly availed himself of the advantages of the excellent schools of the locality. In 1854, at the age of eighteen years, he severed the ties that bound him to home and father- land and set forth to seek his fortunes in the United States, where he felt assured of better opportunities for achieving independence and success through individual effort. At Ilavre-de-Grace, France, he embarked on a sailing vessel, and after a voyage of twenty-eight days duration he landed in the port of New York City on the 28th of May of that year. Soon afterward he made his way to the City of Philadelphia, and after work- ing about six months on a farm in that vicinity he came to Erie County, Ohio, where he readily found similar employment on a farm near Bloom- ingville. In 1856, largely through his financial aid, his father, step- mother and half-brother joined him, they likewise having made the voy- age to America on an old-time sailing vessel. Ile then rented land in Perkins Township and instituted his independent career as a farmer. Three years later he purchased a tract of thirty-six aeres in the same township, and on this place he and his parents remained eight years, within which period he made numerous improvements on the farm. In 1865 Mr. Ileimburger disposed of this property and purchased seventy acres of his present homestead place, in Huron Township. The land was exceptionally fertile and with characteristie energy and diserimination he set himself to the cultivation and improvement of his property. The original family domicile was a pioneer log cabin, but in 1873 he ereeted his present fine residence, which comprises eleven rooms, which has been kept in excellent repair, has been improved from time to time, and which remains one of the model farm homes of this part of the county. The other buildings on the homestead are of substantial order and admirably adapted to the uses for which they were provided, the buiklings including a large barn 36 by 90 feet in dimensions. Everything pertaining to the well improved landed estate of Mr. Heimburger gives evidence of thrift and prosperity and of the careful attention that has constantly been given to all details of the farm work and management. The farm gives gener- ous yields of the various erops best suited to this seetion of the state, and Mr. Heimburger has been specially successful in the growing of potatoes, large quantities of which he places on the market each year. The place also has a fine apple and peach orehard, the same having been developed entirely through the enterprising efforts of Mr. Heimburger, who also has long been known as a breeder and grower of excellent grades of live stoek. In the homestead place he has at the present time 123 acres, and he is the owner also of another well improved farm, of sixty-two acres, which likewise is situated in Huron Township. At his home his father died at the venerable age of seventy-six years, and his stepmother at the age of seventy-two, the memories of both being revered by him and by all others who came within the compass of their kindly influence. They were earnest members of the Evangelical Church and the father espoused the cause of the republican party after becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States. Mr. Heimburger's half-brother, Diebold Heimburger. Jr., served three years as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war and participated in numerous important engagements. At the battle of Chattanooga he received a severe gunshot wound in the left leg, and after being discharged from the military hospital he returned home, having been honorably discharged from the army with the rank of sergeant. He became one of the prosperous farmers of Huron Township, where his
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death occurred in 1905, his widow still remaining on the old homestead, which comprises eighty-six aeres, and one son and two daughters also surviving him.
In the year 1866 was solemnized the marriage of William Heimburger to Miss Sophia Baum, who was born in Perkins Township, this county, ou the 8th of April, 1842, and who was summoned to the life eternal August 9, 1900. She was a woman of gentle and unassuming worth of character, a devoted wife and mother and a consistent communicant of the Evan- gelical Church. Mr. Heimburger has always accorded stalwart allegiance to the democratic party but never having manifested any desire for public office. Mrs. Heimburger was a daughter of George and Mary ( Ernst) Baum, who, in company with their three children, immigrated to Amer- ica in 1833 and who established their home in the forest wilds of Erie County, where the father reclaimed a farm in Perkins Township, the original place of abode having been a log cabin, for the erection of which he had to make a clearing in the forest. He and his wife passed the residue of their lives on the fine farm which he developed from the wilds. she having been fifty-eight years old at the time of her death and he having attained to the venerable age of eighty-three years. Both were zealous members of the Evangelical Church. All of their children are now deceased and all are survived by children. Mr. and Mrs. Heim- burger became the parents of nine children, of whom Elizabeth, George and Edward died in childhood. Emma, who resides on her farm in Huron Township, is the widow of Frederick Washburn, and she has four children : Walter, George, Edith and Dorothy. Wilhelmina Rose became the wife of Christopher Koehler and her death occurred at her home in Sandusky, Ohio, on the 28th of July, 1914; she is survived by her hus- band and by one son, Carl. Lena R., who continued her studies in the public schools until she had completed the curriculum of the high school at Iluron, is one of the popular young women of Iluron Township and since the death of her loved mother has presided over the domestic affairs of the paternal home. Sophia is the wife of Glenn O'Dell, a prosperous farmer and fruitgrower of Huron Township, and they have no children. William C., who is a representative young farmer of his native town- ship, resides upon his fine homestead on the Bogart Road. He wedded Miss Mary Haecker, of Sandusky, and they have four children: Arthur. Walter, Raymond, and Marion. Carl E., the youngest of the surviving children, remains at the paternal home, and is his father's able eoadjuntor in the work and management of the farm.
AUGUST HI. SCHNELL. No small share of the activities which have contributed to the definite progress of Erie County during the past fifty years has been accomplished by members of the Schnell family. August II. Schnell is a practical and prospering farmer in Huron Township, his well managed farm being located on South Main Street on rural route No. 3 out of Huron.
For many successive generations the Schnell family lived in Germany. The grandfather of Mr. Schnell was Philip Schnell, who was a farmer in Nassau and died there. His widow subsequently came to the United States and died in Erie County among her children when past eighty years of age. Philip A. Schnell, Jr., was born in the Province of Hesse- Nassau, Germany, March 31, 1835, and died May 14, 1908. He grew up and received his education in his native town, and was still young when he came to the United States in 1851. Ile came on a sailing vessel, and the family reached Sandusky County. Ohio. There he married Maria Schneider, who was born in Bavaria, Germany, August 7, 1842, and was a child when her parents came to America and established their home at Ilessville, a German settlement in Sandusky County. After his marriage
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Philip AA. Schnell located on a farm of forty aeres near Gibsonburg in Sandusky County, but in 1865 moved to Erie County. After coming to this county he worked as a farm laborer, and finally acquired a traet of wild land and lived in a log cabin home until he could provide better accommodations. Ile spent the closing years of his life on a farm of hfty acres in Oxford Township. fle had previously lived in Perkins Town- ship of Bogarts Corners. His Oxford Township farm was situated a mile and a half east of Kimball, and after his death his widow lived with her daughter Mrs. Henry Behrens until her death on January 8, 1913. Both parents were earnest and lifelong members of the Lutheran Church. They helped organize and were charter members of St. John's Lutheran Church at Union Corners and continued their affiliation with that church until their death. Philip Schnell was an active democrat, and for twenty- five years served as assessor of Oxford Township. In that capacity he came to know every man and woman in the township, and had a thor- ough knowledge and just estimate of property values and estates. IFis excellent judgment gave him no little prominence and he was entrusted with many duties other than those connected with his private life. Ile was treasurer, deacon and steward for many years in his church. His wife always acted in sympathy with him in church and other affairs, and they were people of the highest class in that community. During the Civil war he was drafted for service, and paid for a substitute in the army. In their family were fourteen children, two of whom died young, seven sons and five daughters reached adult age, ten of them married. and all have families but one.
August H. Schnell was born in Oxford Township on the farm above mentioned June 23, 1877. He pursued his education in the public schools and on reaching his majority started out to engage in his chosen calling as a farmer. For the past seven years he has operated the William Scheid farm on South Main Street in Huron Township. His position as a farmer is now one of assured success. Ile grows fine crops of all varieties, corn, wheat and oats and potatoes and keeps some excellent grades of live stock.
In Oxford Township he married Miss Mary Weilnau. She was born in that township, August 24, 1880, and received her education there. Her parents were Carl and Ann ( Speck) Weilnau. Her father was born in Nassau, Germany, September 23, 1840, and his wife was born in Alsace April 19, 1845. She came to the United States and to Erie County, Ohio. in 1860, having made the passage on a sailing vessel from Havre, France, along with about fifty other passengers, and after a rough voyage they landed in New York City, August 10, 1860. She came on with her brother George Speck to Huron County, and George afterwards married and lived in Michigan. After the marriage of Carl and Ann Weilnau in 1862, they lived in Huron County for a few years, and then moved to Oxford Township in Erie County. They continued as active farmers there until quite recently, and are now living retired with their daughter Mrs. Schnell. They are members of the Evangelieal Church, and Mr. Weilnau is a democrat.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Schnell were born three children : Mabel died in infancy ; Elizabeth, born November 28, 1903, is now in the fourth grade of the public schools; (leota was born January 11, 1905. Mr. and Mrs. Schnell are both members of the Lutheran Church, he is a democrat in politics, and is now giving some capable public service as superintendent of roads in Huron Township.
HENRY BEHRENS. Sinee 1896 Mr. Behrens has owned and resided upon his present fine homestead farm of 113 acres, the same being eligibly situated in Huron Township, with service on rural free mail route No. 3.
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from the Village of Huron. The land is of distinctive fertility, nearly all of the traet being available for effective eultivation, and the progres- sive policies and scientific methods brought to bear by the owner have resulted making the soil "bring forth its increase" each successive season, with attending profit, the while the entire place breathes forth thrift and prosperity. In addition to obtaining excellent yields of the various crops best adapted to the soil and climate, Mr. Behrens has achieved marked suceess also in the raising of high-grade live stock, and even as he is one of the representative farmers of Erie County, so also is he a loyal and upright citizen who merits and receives the full measure of popular confidence and good will. The buildings on the farm are of substantial order, including a brick house of seven rooms and a barn 40 by 60 feet in dimensions. Mr. Behrens is a man of unassuming ehar- acter and as an industrious and far-sighted farmer he well exemplifies the traits for which the German class of agriculturists have been conspicuous in America, he being of staunch German lineage and a member of a well known family of Erie County, within whose borders he has maintained his home from the time of his birth.
Mr. Behrens was born in Oxford Township, this county, on the 31st of January, 1866, and from his youth to the present time he has been closely identified with agricultural pursuits, through the medium of which he has achieved suecess worthy of the name. His education was acquired in the public schools and under the effective direction of that wisest of instructors, experience. He initiated his independent career as a young man and was engaged in farming on rented land until his purchase of his present farm.
Mr. Behrens is a son of John and Sophia (Schaeffer) Behrens, both of whom were born in Germany, though in different sections of that great empire, Mrs. Behrens having been a native of the Duchy of Nassau, which is now an integral part of the Province of Hesse-Nassau. John Behrens was born in October, 1829, and his wife in 1839. He died on his old homestead farm in Oxford Township, this county, in June, 1901, and his widow, though nearing the eightieth milestone on the journey of life, retains her mental and physical powers to a wonderful degree, she being still a resident of Oxford Township, where she lives with her sons, Wil- liam and Charles. Both she and her husband were young folk when they came to America and their marriage was solemnized in Oxford Town- ship, where Mr. Behrens developed an excellent farm of ninety-four aeres, to which he added by the purchasing of other tracts from time to time, until he aeeumulated a valuable landed estate of 287 acres, twenty acres in Milan Township, and the remainder in Oxford Township. Ile was a man of indefatigable industry and of mature judgment, his enterprise was shown by his erecting good buildings on his homestead, and he gave during the long years of his application to agricultural pursuits an exam- ple well worthy of emulation. Mr. Behrens took an active and loyal interest in community affairs, was a stalwart supporter of the cause of the democratic party, but he never sought or held public office. He was a consistent communicant of the Lutheran Church. as is also his widow. They became the parents of eight children, all of whom attained to years of maturity and all but one of whom, Charles, married. John continued his residenee in this county until his death and is survived by three sons. Frederick resides in Huron County, is married and has a family of ehil- dren. Dora is the wife of William Schiek, of Norwalk, Huron County, and they have one daughter. Louis is a prosperous farmer in Milan Township and he and his wife have four children. Nettie is the wife of Louis Rau. of Milan Township, and they have two sons and two daugh- ters. William remains on the old homestead in Oxford Township, as does also Charles, who is a bachelor, William having wedded Miss Lena Hilde- brand and their only child being a son.
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Henry Behrens, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to manhood on the old homestead farm in Oxford Township, and after sever- ing his association with the work and management of the home farm he was engaged in farming on rented land until he purchased his present homestead, as noted in a preceding paragraph, and his advancement has been the direct result of his own well ordered endeavors as an agricul- turist and stockgrower.
As a young man Mr. Behrens married Miss Rose M. Schnell, who was born in Perkins Township, this county, in 1868, but who was reared and educated in Oxford Township. She has been to her husband an effective coadjutor and devoted helpmeet, and he aseribes much of his success to her earnest co-operation, as they have pressed forward side by side to the goal of independence and definite prosperity. Mrs. Behrens is a daugh- ter of Philip and Maria ( Snyder, Schnell, the former of whom was born in the Province of Hesse-Nassau, Germany, on the 29th of March, 1839, and the latter of whom was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria on the 11th of August, 1842, she having been a child at the time of the family immi- gration to America and her parents having established their home at Hessville, a German settlement in Sandusky County, Ohio. There she was reared and educated and there was solemnized her marriage to Philip Schnell, who was a scion of a sterling old family of Hesse-Nassau and having come with his parents to the United States in 1851, the voyage having been made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period. After his marriage Philip Schnell located on a farm of forty acres near Gibsonburg, Sandusky County, Ohio, where the home was maintained until the close of the ('ivil war, removal having been made to Erie County in 1865 and the father of Mrs. Behrens having passed the closing years of his life on his homestead farm of fifty aeres in Oxford Township. where his death occurred on the 14th of May, 1908, his widow having passed the closing years of her life at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Behrens, and having been summoned to the land of the leal on the 8th of January, 1913, her death having occurred a few months prior to her seventy-first birthday anniversary. Both she and her husband were earnest and lifelong communicants of the Lutheran Church. Of their family of fourteen children eleven. attained to maturity and are still living, and all save one of the number are married.
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