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 59
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114
E.J. Darby
859
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
war Captain Boss and his young wife established their home on a farm in Effingham County, Illinois, and there his death occurred on the 14th of June, 1872, when he was in the prime of his young manhood. Within a short time after the death of Captain Boss his widow returned to Vermilion, Erie County, in company with her two little children, and for many years thereafter she was a successful and popular teacher in the public schools of her native county, where her memory is revered by all who came within the sphere of her gracious influence. She passed to the life eternal in February, 1907. a noble woman of fine talent and one who had made her life a veritable beautitude. She became a mem- ber of the Congregational Church in 1873 and thereafter was zealous in its work until the time of her death. Of the two children the doctor is the younger, and his sister, Miss Carrie I. Boss, still resides in the old family homestead in the Village of Vermilion.
Doctor Boss is a republican in his political allegiance and is a vital and progressive citizen who takes deep interest in all that tonches the wel- fare of the community. Ile is president of the Birmingham board of education, and is president of the board of trustees of the First Meth- odist Episcopal Church of this village, of which both he and his wife are zealous members. He is a director of the Berlin Heights Banking Com- pany and is vice president and director of the Ohio Road Machinery Company, of Oberlin.
In the year 1904, at Elyria, Ohio, was solemnized the marriage of Doc- tor Boss to Miss Mabel MacClenathan, who was born at Goshen, Indiana, on the 14th of August, 1877, and who received her education in the schools of her native place and those of the City of Topeka, Kansas, where she resided for some time in the home of one of her sisters. Her father, William A. MacClenathan, who formerly followed the trade and vocation of millwright, now resides at Galion, Crawford County, Ohio. His first wife died when her daughter, Mabel (Mrs. Boss), was a child of five years. Doctor and Mrs. Boss have two children, Lucile I., who was born June 20, 1906, and John W., Jr., who was born March 6, 1910. It may be noted that Doctor Boss is manager of the Birmingham Community News, an attractive little weekly paper that was established in 1913 and that is issued "in the interest of church, school and other community activities." The beautiful home of Doctor and Mrs. Boss is known for its gracious hospitality and one of its most attractive features is the fine library that has been collected by the doctor and that is conceded to be one of the best private libraries in the eastern part of Erie County.
E. J. DARBY. In his native county, which has been his place of resi- dence from the time of his birth to the present, Mr. Darby has not only been a successful exponent of the basic industry of agriculture but in the last decade he has also given special attention to the raising of apples. Realizing the imperative necessity of bringing to bear scientific methods and serupulous care in the propagation of apples and other fruits. as well as in the achieving maximum returns along other horticultural lines, Mr. Darby has been indefatigable in his study, research and experi- menting, and has so applied his authoritative knowledge as to achieve un- qualified success and gain high prestige as one of the representative fruit-growers of this section of the state. Though he propagates other fruits, he is known as a specialist in the growing of apples, and his products have been brought up to the highest standard, so that the same invariably command the highest market prices, Cleveland being his prin- cipal place of shipment.
On his well improved farm of 160 acres, in Florence Township, Mr. Darby has a model apple orchard of thirty-five acres, and in addition to this he leases another orchard, of twelve acres, which likewise has been
860
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
brought up to a high state of productivity under his effective manage- ment. Mr. Darby is a broad-gauged, progressive and loyal citizen, is a recognized authority in fruit-culture, and he merits also special distinction by reason of the enthusiastic service he has given in connec- tion with the organization and development of the local organization of the Boy Scouts, of which he is master and in the furthering of the inter- ests and work of which he has been unsparing in his time, thought and service, animated by an earnest desire to aid in the rearing of manly boys and the eneouraging of the youngsters in the cultivation and observ- ance of high ideals. Mr. Darby's unselfish zeal in this connection is the more praiseworthy when consideration is taken of the fact that he has no children of his own.
From his splendidly thrifty orchards Mr. Darby has received an average annual yield of 3,000 barrels. He specialized in the raising of the Baldwin type of apples, which he finds best suited to the soil and climate, and of this ever popular variety he produces the finest grades. From his orchard of thirty-five acres on his homestead place he received gross returns to the amount of $10,000 in the season of 1913, and the yield for the season of 1915 gives ever promise of rendering far better returns. Mr. Darby sprays the trees four or five times each season, as circumstances and judgment dictate, and he has devised a system of wiring his trees by a method that affords support to the heavily laden branches in much more effective way than by the old method of placing props under the branches. After careful experimentation in the three systems of cultivating the ground about the trees, the insertion of mulch- ing, and the retention of the sod, he has found most successful the first two mentioned, and utilizing the same, he gives as careful supervision to his orchards as the average farmer does to the details of agricultural industry under modern conditions. Mr. Darby has, as previously noted, been a close student of fruit culture during the past ten years, but he has devoted his attention to apple-growing as a special business only since 1912. His well improved farm, including his orchard of thirty- five acres, is most eligibly situated in the forks of the two branches of the Vermilion River, and his leased orehard of twelve acres is in the same vicinity. On the opposite side of the Vermilion River Mr. Darby has twelve acres, on which is situated his attractive residenee, in the midst of a veritable park of fine native trees, and this place is directly aeross the river from the Village of Birmingham, which is his postoffice address.
Mr. Darby is liberal and public-spirited in his eivic attitude, he is a staunch republican in his political allegiance, and both he and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal Church at Birmingham. For a number of years he was an active and influential member of the local grange of the Patrons of Husbandy, and he served most effectively as master of the same. He was one of the most zealous and influential factors in bringing about the organization of the local troop of Boy Scouts, which now has a membership roll of thirty-two loyal young lads, with a well trained band of twenty-two pieces. As master of the Boy Scouts Mr. Darby gives much time and thought to the instruction and entertaining of the boys, in the instilling of manly principles, cleanness of mind and high ideals, and in his various maneuvering excursions with his sturdy young scouts he does all in his power to promote in the boys a love of nature and a desire to study and have "communion with her visible forms," so that proper thoughts and motives may be acquired by the youngsters and the critical and formative period of their character- building.
Mr. Darby was born in Berlin Township, this county, on the 29th of April, 1862, and was there reared to adult age, his early educational advantages having been those of the local schools and his first instructor
Fred. J. Rhinemilles
861
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
having been Mrs. James Anderson, a well known and greatly loved educator of that period in the county's history. From his youth on- ward until he turned his attention to fruit-growing, Mr. Darby was actively identified with agricultural pursuits in his native county, and his success has been the result of his own ability and well ordered en- deavors. He is a son of Sylvester and Elzina (Beach) Darby, the former of whom was born in the State of New York and the latter in Ohio, their marriage having been solemnized in Erie County, this state. Sylvester Darby was long identified with the operation of the Bailey stone quar- ries, at Berlin Heights, and he continued his labors in this connection until the time of his death, which occurred when he was fifty-seven years of age. Ilis wife likewise died at Berlin Heights, and she was forty years of age at the time of her demise : both were consistent mem- bers of the Baptist Church and he was a republican in his politieal pro- clivities. They became the parents of two sons and three daughters, all of whom are living except one daughter, the subject of this review hav- ing been the third in order of birth.
In Florence Township, this county, was solemnized the marriage of E. J. Darby to Mrs. Belle ( Rowland) Carter, who was born in the State of Iowa and who was seven years of age at the time of the family removal to Erie County, where her father engaged in farming. She is a daughter of James and Jane ( Andress | Rowland, both of whom continued their residence in this eounty until their death, the father having passed away at the age of eighty-three and the mother at seventy-nine years of age and both having been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Darby have no children, but by her first marriage Mrs. Darby has one daughter, Miss Jennie M. Carter, who remains at the parental home. She was afforded excellent educational advantages, including a thorough course in the business department of Oberlin College, and for nine years she was engaged in teaching in the public schools, as a suc- cessful and popular representative of the pedagogic profession. She takes deep interest in the fruit-growing enterprise of Mr. Darby and ably assists him in his research as well as in the practical details of the business, both she and her mother being popular factors in the social activities of their home community.
FRED J. RHINEMILLER. A native son of Erie County and a scion of the third generation of the family in this favored section of the Buckeye State, Mr. Rhinemiller is known, with all consistency, as one of the most progressive and successful farmers of Huron Township, and his ad- mirably improved and productive homestead farm is most eligibly situ- ated, on the river road between the villages of Huron and Milan and adjoining the corporate limits of the former progressive little eity, this estate, which comprises fifty acres of the finest sandy-loam land, being a part of the old Rhinemiller and Stapleton homesteads and being unexcelled in productiveness by any farm land in Northern Ohio. The enterprise of Mr. Rhinemiller has been significantly shown in the fine and essentially modern improvements he has made upon his farm, as well as in the thrift and prosperity that mark the fertile acres and denote him one of the energetie, progressive agriculturists and stock growers of his native county, where his eirele of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances. In 1907 Mr. Rhinemiller completed the erection of his fine residence of ten rooms, the same being of attract- ive architectural design and equipped with the most approved of modern facilities and appointments. In the same year he erected his substantial bank barn, which is 40 by 60 feet in dimensions, all other buildings on the place being of excellent order and kept in the best of condition. Mr. Rhinemiller also owns a farm of forty acres situated on Vermilion
862
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
Township, near the Joppa Meeting House, and about one mile from the Lake Shore Electric Railroad.
On the old homestead of his parents, a part of which is included in his present farm, Mr. Rhinemiller was born on the 12th of August, 1877. and the founder of the family of which he is a representative of the third generation in Erie County was his grandfather, John Rhine- miller, who was one of the sterling pioneers of the county and of Huron Township, where he obtained a tract of wild land, in the '30s, reclaiming one of the fine farms of the pioneer days and one that is now owned and occupied by his grandson, Arthur Rhinemiller, a brother of him whose name introduces this review. John Rhinemiller initiated his arduous labors by making on his land the clearing on which he built his rude log cabin, no improvements having been made on the place by the former owner, who had obtained the tract from the Government. Mr. Rhinemiller endured the full tension of the pioneer days and was one of the strong and noble men who contributed in generous measure to the development and upbuilding of this section of the state. Ile re- mained on his farm many years and the closing period of his long and useful life was passed in the Village of Huron, where he died in the autumn of 1878, seenre in the high regard of all who knew him.
John Rhinemiller was born in Germany, about the opening of the nineteenth century, and in his fatherland he was reared to maturity, as was also his wife, Elizabeth. In their native land were born their first two children-William, who is now a resident of Norwalk, Huron County, and Christina, the third child, Elizabeth, having been born on shipboard while the family were en route to America, the voyage having been made on a sailing vessel of the type common to that period, and having consumed several weeks. From New York City Mr. Rhinemiller came with his family to Ohio, and upon his arrival in Erie County his cash capital was represented in the sum of only fifty cents. Industry and self-reliance enabled him to achieve success in his labors as a pioneer farmer, and in his achieving of prosperity he was effectively aided by his wife, who proved a devoted companion and helpmeet. These worthy pioneers were charter members of the Lutheran Church at Huron, and with his own money Mr. Rhinemiller provided for the erection of the first church edifice, which naturally was one of ernde order. Ile was a local preacher in the Lutheran faith and continued his zealous service in this capacity until the infirmities of advanced years made this impos- sible. Ilis life was guided and governed by the highest principles and ideals, and the tolerance and kindliness ever shown by him and his wife gave them secure place in the affectionate esteem of all who knew them. Six children were born after the family immigration to the United States: John, Jr., father of the subject of this sketch, will be individu- ally recognized in a succeeding paragraph; Joseph, who married and is survived by children, was a resident of the State of New York at the time of his death : Henry, the ellest of those born in Ohio, continued his residence in the State of Michigan until his death and was survived by a number of children. Martha and Christiana died when young women. and one child died in infancy.
John Rhinemiller, JJr., was born on the pioneer homestead of which mention has been made, and he was reared to manhood in Erie County. where his carly educational advantages were those afforded in the primi- tive pioneer schools. His entire active career was one of elose identifica- tion with agricultural pursuits, and he eventually became the owner of his father's old homestead, where he continued his successful endeav- ors as a farmer until his tragic death, on the 10th of January, 1912, when he was killed while driving over a railroad crossing between his home and the Village of Huron. He was a man of upright character,
863
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
commanded unqualified popular esteem in his native county, was a republican in his political allegiance and was loyal and public-spirited in his civic attitude. The maiden name of his first wife was Garret, and she passed her entire life in Ohio, her death having occurred when she was in the prime of life, and a son and daughter surviving her-Court- land, who is a machinist by trade and vocation and who is in the employ of the Gale Manufacturing Company at Albion, Michigan, and Cora, who is the wife of Charles Heyman. the latter being individually men- tioned on other pages of this review. For his second wife John Rhine- miller, Jr., wedded Miss Margaret Paule, who was born and reared in Fremont, Ohio, and who did not long survive the shock and bereave- ment entailed by the death of her honored husband, she having passed away exactly one year after his accidental death. Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Rhinemiller, a stalwart advocate of the cause of the republican party, was known as a most pro- gressive and public-spirited citizen. He was born August 5, 1844, and thus was nearly sixty-eight years of age at the time of his demise. Of the children of John and Margaret (Paule) Rhinemiller, the eldest is Fred J., of this review. Arthur Joseph resides on the old homestead farm of his grandfather, as already noted in this context; George E. is the subject of an individual sketch on other pages of this volume.
Fred J. Rhinemiller acquired his early education in the publie schools. and his discipline included that of the high school at Huron. He has never found it his wish to abate his allegiance to the great basic industries under the benignant influences of which he was reared, and he justly takes pride in being one of the successful farmers and stock raisers of his native county, the while he is ever ready to lend his vigorous support to enterprises and measures advaneed for the social and material wellbeing of the community. his political standard being that of the republican party, with which he has been aligned from the time of attaining to his legal majority. He was reared in the faith of the Episcopal Church and his wife is a communieant of the Catholic Church.
The Village of Inron figured as the stage on which was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Rhinemiller to Miss Catherine Banville, who was born in Liverpool, England. in the year 1879. and who was a child at the time of her parents' immigration to the United States, she being a daughter of John and Margaret Banville. both natives of Ireland, whenee they went to England after their marriage, their immigration to America having occurred about the year 1880 and their home having soon afterward been established in the Village of Huron, this county. Mr. Banville was identified with the work of the doeks at this port at the time of his death, in September, 1910, when he was instantly killed by being struck by an empty coal ear which was moving on a switch track and of the approach of which he was not aware. He was fifty- seven years old at the time of his death and his widow still maintains her home in lluron, and four sons and the one daughter survive the honored father. It is a singular coincidence that the father of Mr. Rhinemiller and the father of Mrs. Rhinemiller both met tragic death in railway accidents. Mrs. Rhinemiller continued her studies in the public schools until she had completed the curriculum of the Huron High School, in which she was graduated as a member of the class of 1898, and she is a popular factor in the social activities of the com- munity in which she has resided from her infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Rhinemiller have three chidren-Florence M., who was born August 30, 1900, and who is now a student in the Huron High School; Donald William, who was born February 20, 1903, and who is in the graded schools; and Charles F., who was born October 30, 1914.
864
HISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
JOIIN DICKEL. To take a traet of brush covered and undrained land and convert it by years of patient labor into a fertile and productive farm is one of the most important contributions that an individual citi- zen can make to such an agricultural county as Erie. Such has been the performance of John Diekel, one of the progressive young farmers and capable citizens of Florence Township.
Born in Vermilion Township November 29, 1876, John Diekel is a son of George and Catherine (Cook) Dickel, who were both natives of Germany and were of old German stock. George Dickel was born Feb- ruary 25, 1837. and recently passed his seventy-eighth birthday. His wife was born four years later, and died October 20, 1905, at her home at Harpers Corners in Berlin Township. They grew up and were mar- ried in Germany, and while living in that country four children were born to them: Mary, Eliza, Anna and Charles, all of whom are still living and are married. They came as a family to America soon after the birth of the son Charles, and spent twenty-one days in a sailing ves- sel which conveyed them from Germany to New York City. From there they came on to Vermilion Township, where George Dickel bought seventy-six acres of land and erected upon it a good house and barn. He lived there a number of years. and then removed to Ceylon in Berlin Township, but after the death of his wife went to live with a daughter in Vermilion Township. Three years later he married Catherine Hinze, a widow, and a neighbor of long standing, and they are now living in Vermilion Township, and are bright, active people. After coming to this country George Diekel and wife had the following children : Martha, wife of Ed Kishman, a farmer in Vermilion Township; Elizabeth is the wife of Charles Walper, and they now occupy the old Dickel home- stead in Vermilion Township and have several children; the next is John Dickel ; Gertrude is the wife of Elva Heiman, and they live on a farm at Castalia in this eounty and have four children; George is a farmer in Vermilion Township and by his marriage to Florence Neiding has four children.
John Dickel grew up in Erie County and made the best use of his advantages in the local schools. At the age of thirteen, however, he started out to earn his own living, and has been a hard and industrious worker ever since. His capital consisted of ambition, his determination to succeed and considerable ability in adapting himself to circumstances. Ile earefully saved his earnings and finally invested them in 115 aeres, included in his present farm on the Central Ridge Road in Florence Township. That land was largely covered with brush and he cleared that off and has laid 35,000 feet of tile for drainage. This land now pro- duces under his management abundant crops of wheat, corn, oats and potatoes and as a potato grower he has produced between 150 to 200 bushels per acre for a number of years. One crop of potatoes which attracted considerable attention was the growing of 110 bushels from six bushels of seed potatoes. Mr. Diekel manages his farm on the rota- tion principle and raises about fifteen acres of wheat, ten acres of oats. twenty-five aeres of corn, and gets the maximum yield per aere. He has put in numerous building improvements, including a modern and commodious barn with basement on a foundation 36x70 feet, and his family also live in a small but comfortable home. Another improve- ment which attracts attention and commends him as a progressive agri- culturist is a sixty-five ton silo. The water supply for both stock and domestic purposes is seenred from a running spring.
A capable factor in gaining this prosperity has been his excellent companion and wife, whose maiden name was Ada Hill. She was born near her present home in Florence Township October 19, 1879, and was educated in the Mason Corners schoolhouse not far from where her par-
865
ITISTORY OF ERIE COUNTY
ents, Newman and Sarah (Hoyt) Hill, lived. Her parents are now liv- ing on a twelve acre farm in Florence Township, but for a number of years after their marriage they occupied the old homestead of his father, John Hill, who was among the pioneer citizens of Erie County. John Hill and wife lived to a great age and died within a few weeks of each other, being stricken by pneumonia when nearly ninety years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Diekel have two children, Roy C., who was born Septem- ber 20, 1908, and is now attending the same school where his mother received her education, and Ethel May, born June 26, 1915. Mr. and Mrs. Dickel are active members of Florence Grange No. 1844, Patrons of Husbandry, and they attend the Reformed Church in Florence. In polities he is a democrat.
CLAUDE II. COLLINGWOOD. Among the young people who are vigor- ously performing their part as substantial agriculturists in Florence Township should be mentioned Mr. and Mrs. Claude HI. Collingwood, both of whom are identified with the old settled stock in this eounty and have proved themselves most capable and useful members of the commu- nity in which they now reside. It is becoming a truism that a small farm well managed is a more valuable asset not only to its owners but to the community than a large tract of land under the slack and loose management of early days, and Mr. and Mrs. Collingwood are giving further substantial proof to that experience.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.