USA > Ohio > Hardin County > A twentieth century history of Hardin County, Ohio : a narrative account of its historical progress its people and principal interests, Vol. II > Part 20
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JOEL L. RUSSELL .- Among the sterling citizens of Hardin county whose memories form an indissoluble link between the pioneer past and the present days of opulent prosperity and advanced civilization is Joel L. Russell, who is a native son of the county and who has here maintained his home during his entire life thus far. He was for many years identified with agricultural interests in the county and contri- buted his quota to the development and upbuilding of the county which represented little more than an untrammeled wilderness at the time of his birth. He is now living retired in the city of Kenton, where he has an attractive home and is surrounded by the gracious influences and comforts which are a just reward for former years of earnest toil and endeavor. His reminiscences of the pioneer days are most graphic and interesting, and he finds much pleasure in recalling the days long past, the while he has full appreciation of the conditions that now stand in evidence of the sturdy labors of those who laid the foundations for one of the finest counties in the old Buckeye state.
Joel L. Russell was born on the pioneer farm of his parents, in Pleasant township, Hardin county, Ohio, on the 13th of December, 1838, and is a son of Solomon and Elizabeth (Brown) Russell, the former of whom was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1803, and the latter of whom was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, on the 12th of November, 1804. The marriage of the parents was solemnized on
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the 1st of October, 1824, and upon coming to Ohio they first settled in Fairfield county, where they remained a few years. In the spring of 1833 they removed to Hardin county, where the father secured from the government one hundred and sixty acres of heavily timbered land in Pleasant township, the family living and sleeping in the wagon, while the father proceeded to chop away the timber and clear a place to build his eabin. Only those who know by experience the herculean work demanded in the uprearing of the simple log buildings of the pioneer days ean appreciate the necessity of each settler's seenring the co- operation of his neighbors, and it is pleasing to revert to the good will and sympathy that marked the early days, when all were friends and when the society of the widely separated neighbors was highly valued. In the years 1834-35 the county commenced to settle up very fast and were all anxious to get a field cleared for corn, and father attended twenty-eight log rollings in one spring. He lived up to the full tension of the pioneer days and worked without ceasing in the reclamation of his land, that he might provide for his family and eventually gain the goal of definite independence and prosperity. He continued to reside on his pioneer homestead until death, which occurred when he was only thirty-seven years of age, but his wife survived him by a number of years, she having been about eighty-five years of age at the time when she was summoned to the life eternal. They were folk of sterling integrity of character, earnest, sincere and unassuming, and they ever commanded the unqualified esteem of the community in which they established their home and girded themselves to endure the privations and other hardships that are ever the lot of the pioneer. Of the seven children only two are now living, Joel L., who is the immediate subject of this review, and Richard S., who is a successful farmer near the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.
In a reminiscent way Joel L. Russell related to the representative of this publication a most interesting and somewhat humorons account of an incident that occurred when he was an infant, the same being largely a conversation between his honored parents, who described the matter to him after he had attained to years of comprehension. The "narrative is reproduced substantially in his own words, and it will be noted that his father referred to the mother under the home name of Betty, an affectionate abbreviation of her name Elizabeth. The following is Mr. Russell's account.
"In the spring of 1839, I was the boy of the family the sixth on the list. Mother was very discouraged at the gloomy prospects, thinking at times that all of us were destined to die of starvation in the wilder- ness about us. Father, however, never yielded to discouragement and his faith never faltered. At that time no roads or bridges had been constructed in this section, and the nearest mill available to the settlers of IIardin county was nine miles distant, at Marseilles, Wyandot county, whither they had to make their way over the straggling trails blazed through the forest. A mill had been erected on the Scioto river, but the same was out of commission at the time mentioned. Flour was to be had in the little village of Kenton, but money among the settlers
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was practicallly an unknown quantity, so that my father was in no worse situation than the average settler. On a certain Saturday he was busy working in his maple-sugar camp, and he said to his wife, 'Betty, we will have sugar and molasses and honey and venison, so that we can feast like royal Turks. Yes, there are turkeys also,-the woods are full of them. If I don't sleep well tonight I'll have one for Sunday dinner.' When my mother awoke in the morning my good father, Solomon, was gone, as was also his rifle, which hung on hooks over the door when not in use. Just then my mother heard a shot, and she forthwith came to the conclusion that father had killed a turkey, so she put the kettle over the fire of the great fireplace and prepared to have hot water ready for the scalding of the savory fowl. But her religious scruples were somewhat roused and she said to herself, 'Solo- mon will hear from me when he comes with that turkey. Why did he go to the woods on Sunday ? lle never did that before.' My father, like many other of the sturdy men on the frontier, was a good shot and found much satisfaction in his hunting trips. When he arrived at the house my mother chided him for his desecration of the Sabbath, but she gazed with no little amazement at the trophy he had brought in place of the promised turkey. The woods were infested with innumer- able wolves, whose ravages made it almost impossible for the settlers to keep sheep, which had to be placed in a correl every night for pro- tection. So great was the loss caused by the wolves that the authorities provided for the payment of five dollars for each wolf scalp brought to them. When father came to the house he said, 'Look, Betty,' where- upon he dropped a great, gray timber-wolf pelt and scalp on the floor. 'Providence gave them to me, and we won't starve.' Father was an adept in dressing skins and he transformed the wolf pelt into a nice rug, while he took the scalp to Kenton and received the five dollars in bounty, thus enabling him to provide the flour whose lack had caused my mother so much distress and worry. My father admonished my mother to always trust in Providence, and her reply was: 'But, Solomon, don't go again to the woods on Sunday.' And he never did."
In politics Solomon Russell was aligned as a stanch supporter of the cause of the old Whig party and he took a loyal interest in public affairs in the pioneer community. Both he and his wife were earnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and their lives were lived in harmony with the faith they professed. Their names merit an enduring place on the roll of the worthy pioneers who aided in the initial stages of development and progress in this now favored section of the old Buckeye state.
Joel L. Russell, whose name initiates this sketch, was reared to the sturdy discipline of the pioneer farm, and, as may be supposed, his early educational advantages were most meager. When but ten years of age he found it incumbent upon him to begin to provide for himself and assist in the support of the family. At that early age he found employment on neighboring farms, and for some time he received in recompense for his services the princely sum of four dollars a month. Later he secured a position as engine-rubber for the Mad River & Lake
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Erie Railroad Company, which line is now a part of the great New York Central System, and after a short period he was given employment as a helper on an engine making regular runs over the line, his duties being to pass wood to the fireman on one of the old-style engines, He was thus engaged about six months, at the expiration of which his guardian, appointed after the death of his father, caused him to resign, considering the work too dangerous. He then resumed farm work at the former recompense of four dollars a month and board, and he continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits as an employe for a period of thirteen years, securing increase in wages from time to time as his services became more valuable. He gained experience in all details of farm work and was thus well fortified for successful enter- prise when he initiated his independent career as a farmer and stock- grower.
Mr. Russell was about twenty-five years of age at the time of his marriage, and he forthwith settled on a farm which he had inherited from the estate of his father. This property comprised fifty-three and a third acres and was located in Pleasant township. He improved the property and developed the same into one of the valuable farms of Hardin county. With the passing of years his success was cumulative and he finally gained independence and substantial competeney. He added to the area of his original farm until he owned a valuable landed estate of eighty aeres, improved with good buildings and maintained under a high state of cultivation. For fully forty years Mr. Russell continued to reside on his farm and to give his attention to its super- vision, and he then felt that he was entitled to retire from the heavy labors that had thus marked his active career. Accordingly, in Novem- ber, 1904, he sold his farm and removed to Kenton, where he purchased his present attractive and modern residence property, on West Colum- bus avenue, where he and his wife find much of pleasure in extending gracious hospitality to their wide circle of old and valued friends.
In polities Mr. Russell has ever accorded an unswerving allegiance to the Republican party, and he cast his first vote in support of Abra- ham Lincoln for the presidency. In local affairs of a publie order he has ever shown a loyal and helpful interest, and while he has never been a seeker of office, he served as school director in his home township for the long period of twenty-four years, during which he did all in his power to advance the standard of the schools of the locality. In a retrospective way it may be stated that his maternal grandfather, Richard Brown, was likewise a sterling pioneer of Maryland, and that he was a valiant soldier in the war of 1812. Mr. Russell is well known in his native county, and here he has ever command unequivocal con- fidence and esteem. He and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church in Kenton.
On the 26th of November, 1863, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Russell to Miss Rebecca A. Allen, who was born in Hardin county. on the 9th of March, 1838, and who is a daughter of Abel II. and Rebecca (Mackey) Allen, the former of whom was born in Hardy county, West Virginia, November 7, 1803, and the latter of whom was born in Frank-
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lin county, Ohio, on the 12th of July, 1810. Mr. and Mrs. Allen took up their residence in Hardin county in the spring of 1833, and he assisted in raising the first house in Kenton, the same having been lo- cated on what is now West Franklin street. In the early days he carried mail on horseback between Bellefontaine and Sandusky, his horse having to swim all the rivers between those places. He became one of the substantial farmers of Hardin county, where both he and his wife con- tinned to reside until death. In conclusion is entered a brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Russell; Jessie, who was born on the 30th of December, 1865, is the wife of William H. Young, of Tiffin, Ohio; Eva Estella, who was born April 5, 1871, is the wife of William S. Cessna, of Kenton, Ohio, and they have one child, Mary Rebecca, the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Russell; and M. Allen Russell, who was born on the 8th of December, 1873, is a locomotive engineer and maintains his home in Kenton with his parents ; he is not married.
CARL PRICE .- The name of Carl Price occupies a high place in the business life of Kenton, and he has attained his prestige by personal effort. He was born in this city, a son of Henry Price, and the training which he received in the Kenton public schools was supplemented by a business course in the Ohio Northern University at Ada. In 1893 he purchased a half interest of Dorr White in the old White Marble Works in this city, an industry that had been established by Mr. White's father in about the year of 1853, and in 1903 Mr. Price bought his partner's interest in the business and in 1904 incorporated it for twenty-five thousand dollars, becoming at that time and ever since remaining its president. He moved the plant from South Main street, where it had been located up to this time, to Leighton street, where a splendid two-story brick building has been erected and equipped with a complete set of the latest improved machinery for manufacturing marble and granite in all its forms. This is one of only about ten plants of its kind in the entire state of Ohio, and as the others are lo- cated in the state's largest cities, Kenton has the distinction of having the largest and best equipped manufacturing plant of its kind in any town of its size in Ohio, and this has been brought about almost solely through the splendid efforts of Carl Price, one of Kenton's native sons.
Mr. Price is a Knight Templar Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and he is one of the leading members of Kenton's Disciple church. He is also the superintendent of the Sunday-school connected with his church, which has a membership of over four hundred, and he takes a deep interest in the work and is one of the Sunday-school's valued promoters. IIe has never been active in the political life of his commun- ity, but is a public-spirited citizen and actively interested in the up- building and improvement of his home city.
JOHN NEFF of Washington township, Hardin county, Ohio, is recog- nized as one of the prosperous farmers and highly respected citizens of his community. Mr. Neff is a native of Ohio. He was born in
J. K. Dickelman
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Van Buren township, Hancock county, in 1854, son of Peter and Bar- bara (Peifer) Neff, natives of Germany, who emigrated to this country in 1884 and settled in Hancock county. Peter Neff's first purchase of land was forty aeres. Afterward he bought an eighty-acre farm, to which he subsequently added thirty acres, making a tract of one hundred and ten acres. Here he and his wife reared their family, and lived for many years. She died in 1875; he, in 1893. Ten children were born to them, all of whom grew to maturity; Adam, Peter (deceased), Elizabeth (deceased), Phillip (deceased), Kate, John, Mary (deceased), Lucinda, Barbara and Minnie.
John Neff's boyhood days were not unlike those of other farmer boys in Ohio. He grew up in his native county, receiving his education there, and on reaching man's estate engaged in the lumber business with his father and brother at Dunkirk. There for about twelve years they operated a planing mill, under the name of Neff & Company. In 1881, John Neff sold his interest in the business to J. A. Orth, the present owner and operator of the mill; and on severing his connection with the mill, he took up farming, which he has since successfully followed. He now owns two farms in Washington township, one of which, an eighty acre tract, he purchased in 1889; the other, seventy acres, in 1900.
Mr. Neff first came to Hardin county in 1877. Here, in 1879, he married Miss Lydia Naef. She was born in Washington township in 1858, daughter of George and Elizabeth Naef, who came here from San- dusky, Ohio, in 1855. On his arrival in Washington township, Mr. Naef purchased the farm upon which the Neff family now (1909) reside, Here Mr. and Mrs. Naef reared their family and passed the rest of their lives. Her death occurred in 1875, and his in 1899. Of their six children, the first three, George, Mary and Emma, are deceased. Those living are Lydia, Amanda and Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Neff have had ten children, of whom seven are living: Cora M., Emma, Henry O., Frederick, Olive E., Ina I., Edith P. Carl E. and Alfred L., the two youngest and the third child died in infancy. Two of the daughters, Cora M. and Emma, are married, the former being Mrs. S. C. Daniels, the latter, Mrs. H. McClane. Mr. Neff and his family attend worship at the Presbyterian church at Dola.
J. L. DICKELMAN .- The plant owned by the Dickelman Manufae- turing Company was organized in 1879, by O. E. Rhodes and Lafayette A. Strauble, February 14, 1888, it was taken over by a new firm, known as Rhodes, Diekelman & Company, with J. L. Diekelman as manager. This partnership continued up to 1892, at which time F. M. Bowers was taken into partnership; in January, 1896, Mrs. L. A. Strauble sold her interest to Miss Lizzie HI. Diekelman. In January, 1898, J. L. Diekel- man, F. M. Bowers and Lizzie II. Dickelman purchased the interest of O. E. Rhodes, and the firm was known as Diekelman-Bowers Manufac- turing Company, which continued until December, 1892, at which time F. M. Bowers sold his interests to his two partners. The firm then took the present name, under which it has since carried on business. In
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1908 J. L. Dickelman sold his interests to Lizzie H. Diekelman, and formed a stock company and became manager of the concern.
The plant manufactures metal roofing, shingles, gutters, eave spouts and eave troughs, of various kinds. Under the management of J. L. Dickelman, who largely built up the business, the annual volume of business increased from $15,000 to $546,000 in 1907, and it promises to continue to increase under the efficient management of his danghter, now at the head of the concern. The business was at first carried on in a shed some twenty-two by fifty feet, and its present factory is a fine two- story building one hundred thirteen feet by two hundred forty-three feet, besides two ware-rooms, one eighty-eight by eighty and the other forty by eighty feet, with two stories. The offices are contained in a three-story brick building, twenty-eight feet by forty-nine feet, with steam heat and other modern conveniences. Diekelman Manufacturing Company employ in their plant some fifty workmen, and keep fourteen salesmen busy on the road; they employ three stenographers, one book- keeper, three assistants and other clerks.
J. L. Diekelman, to whom a large share of the success of this enter- prise is attributable, was born in Germany, in 1839, and emigrated to this conntry with his parents in 1842. The family came first to Cleveland, Ohio, but later removed to New York City, thence to Albany, and finally to Syracuse, New York, where the father died in 1849. The mother
died in 1850, at Cleveland, where she had returned after her husband's death, leaving J. L. Diekelman a lad of eleven years, dependant upon his own resources. He soon began working at farming, which he continued some three and a half years, and next worked a short time at the black- smith's trade. He worked ten years in a grist mill and then for three years had charge of a stone quarry. During all this time he had spent most of the winters at wood cutting, clearing land, and other various jobs, which might serve him to get ahead in the world, which he was bound, with his enterprise and ambition, to do.
April 15, 1861, Mr. Diekelman enlisted in Company D, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was discharged the same year and reenlisted for three years in the same command. Ile was promoted from time to time in recognition of his meritorious service, and finally became second lieutenant. He was honorably discharged in 1864, and returned to
Cleveland. However, he still heard the call of his adopted country, and in 1864 he joined with Captain C. B. Gibson in recruiting a com- pany ; at his final discharge he held the rank of first lieutenant. Mr. Diekelman participated in many battles, among them: Rich Mountain, Grenocks Ford, Petersburg, Romney, Blues Gap, Bloomer Gap, Winches- ter, Strasburg, Front Royal, Seven Days' Fight, Bull Run Second, Fredricksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, Morton's Ford, Spottsylvania Court House, North Anna, Cold Harbor and many minor engagements.
In 1860 Mr. Diekelman had located in Patterson, Hardin county, and at the close of the war he returned to Patterson and engaged in the sale of books, chiefly the "History of the Civil War," in which he took an immense interest himself. Subsequently he engaged in the manu-
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facture of brick, and in the fall of 1866 went to Sandusky, Ohio, where he began working for James Woolworth in the manufacture of tool handles. He spent twenty-one years in this business. the first ten years as timberman, and the other eleven years had charge of the nine factories of the firm, located in Kentucky and Tennessee.
In 1868 Mr. Diekelman married Miss Mary H. Worley, of Patterson, Ohio, and to this union were born nine children, eight of whom grew to maturity, namely: Lizzie H., Mrs. Maud Swimley, Mrs. Nettie Purdy, Mrs. Zeola Test, J. W. (deceased), Cora O., Mrs. Clara Breese and Lawrence.
Besides owning town property Mr. Diekelman has four valuable farms, two in Jackson township, consisting of one hundred seventy and one hundred ninety-two acres respectively, one in Wood county, of one hundred sixty acres, and a forty-acre farm in Missouri, underlaid with zine. His farms in Ohio are well equipped with buildings, all erected by Mr. Diekelman. He is a public-spirited citizen, actively interested in public affairs. Hle is a Royal Arch Mason.
AUBREY HAMPTON WOOD .- Especially worthy of note among the practical and prosperous agriculturists of Hardin county is Aubrey H. Wood, one of the leading farmers of Dudley township. A son of Dr. James Madison Wood, one of the foremost physicians of Dudley township, he was born. September 11, 1882. in Larne, Marion county, Ohio. A sketch of Dr. Wood appears elsewhere in this work.
Completing the course of study in the public schools at the age of sixteen years, Aubrey H. Wood entered the Ohio Northern Univer- sity, which he attended two years. Becoming a farmer from choice, he afterwards remained at home five years, but since that time has had entire charge of his father's farm of two hundred and eighty acres, lying near Hepburn. In addition to raising the erops common to this section of the country, Mr. Wood keeps abont thirty head of cattle, being one of the most extensive and successful dairymen of the county. and carries on a substantial business in raising and shipping hogs and stock. In the management of his agricultural interests he shows marked ability using excellent judgment in his operations. Ilis farm being well enltivated and productive.
On August 1, 1906, Mr. Wood was united in marriage with Bertha Drews, who was born in Horst Pomerania, Germany, a daughter of Frederich and Christina (Lindenberg) Drews, of Larne, Ohio. IIer father, a retired farmer, served in the Austrian war in 1860 and Franco- Prussian war in 1870-71, and is now seventy-seven years of age, while her mother is sixty-eight years old. They were both born and bred in Germany, coming from there to the United States in 1887 when Mrs. Wood was a child of three years, and locating in Larue, Marion county. Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Drews have three children, namely: Bertha. now Mrs. Wood; William, of Lima, Ohio; and Gus, an electrician in Monaca. Pennsylvania. The pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Wood has been brightened by the birth of two children, namely: Madison Florian, born in 1907; and Esther Annabelle, born in 1909. A stanch Republi-
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can in polities, Mr. Wood takes great interest in public matters, and in 1907 was elected justice of the peace. Fraternally he belongs to the blue lodge, A. F. & A. M., at Larue, and to Hepburn Tent No. 23, K. O. T. M. Religionsly he is a valued and trustworthy member of the United Brethren church.
ENOS WHEELER .- A well known and highly respected resident of Hardin county, Enos Wheeler, a veteran of the Civil war, has for many years been successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits, having a well improved farm in Lynn township. A son of Elihu Wheeler, he was born, Angust 28, 1842, in Noble township, Noble county, Ohio, coming from substantial New England stock.
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