USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > Wapakoneta > History of Auglaize County, Ohio : with the Indian history of Wapakoneta, and the first settlement of the county > Part 13
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John Lowry and family came to this township in 1835. The family consisted of four children. He first settled on the farm now owned by his son Samuel. Mr. L. died in 1847, since which his widow has resided with her son at the old home- stead.
Andrew Fisher was born in Baden, Germany, in 1817, and came to the United States with his father in 1832. In 1834 he came to Pusheta township, where he lived until 1852, when he came to Duchouquet township and settled in the woods. He married Miss Armbruster in 1847. They reared a family of twelve children, of whom eleven survive. Mr. F. remembers when his mother ground their corn on a coffee mill.
M. N. Shaw, son of Neal Shaw, came with his father to this township in 1832. This being previous to the removal of tlie Indians, he refers to that event as the most beautiful scene he ever witnessed. He distinctly remembers the chief, Joseph Parks, who had charge of the tribe. The money on this oc- casion was conveyed in a wagon drawn by four fine horses, richly caparisoned. A white man named Thomas Elliott was the driver. He accompanied the Indians to Kansas, where he married the chief's daughter. About 28 years later their son visited his father's people at Wapakoneta, but could not be induced to associate with the young people of the town. He was perhaps the last descendant of the tribe who visited the
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old home. The parting scene when the Indians took leave of the few whites was solemn and affecting. When he came to Wapakoneta it contained but three white families, among whom was Peter Hammel, who had been a trader among the Indians for twenty years prior to this time. He has been told by the Indians that the grave of the chief Wapakoneta is on the site now occupied by the residence of D. Kritzer or Mr. Happ.
Wm. Craft was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1819, and came to Butler County, Ohio, in 1826. From there he came to this county in 1835, and lived in Pusheta township the ensuing four years. He then went to Piqua to learn a trade, and returned to Wapakoneta in 1840 and opened a wagon shop. He continued in this business until 1852, when he commenced working at the carpenter trade, which he fol- lowed the ensuing eleven years. In 1863 he moved to his farm, where he still resides. In 1842 he married Theresa Hammel,
who died in 1852 £ In 1856 he married Elizabeth Huttis. He has reared ten children, eight of whom are still living. His land borders on Wapakoneta, his residence being within the corporation. His wagon shop was the first one in the town, and he knows of one wagon now in use, built by him in 1842. When he came to Wapakoneta it had a population of about twenty-five. He was appointed county commissioner in the spring of 1876 to fill vacancy arising by the death of C. Heisler, and in autumn of same year was elected to fill the unexpired term of one year. In 1877 was elected for the full term, in which capacity he still serves.
John Tam was born in Virginia, and came to Wapakoneta from Fairfield County in 1832. He purchased forty acres of land on the present site of Wapakoneta, but selling this he located on Blackhoof Creek in section 24. He reared a family of seven children, of whom but two, Milton and his sister Mary Klingerman, are still living. The latter is now in Iowa. Milton, the only one left in this county, was born in 1836. His father died in 1845, and was buried upon his own land.
John M. Freyman was born in Bavaria in 1771, and came with his father to the United States in 1828, and to this town- ship in 1833. He here entered land in section 33. Mr. F. died in 1863 and Mrs. F. in 1869. George F., the youngest of the family, was born in Pennsylvania in 1828, married Elizabeth Hiebner in 1855, and purchased the farm on which he now lives in 1867. This land, on the Auglaize River in section 21, was once the home of a noted Indian chief who was buried on the place. There is still an apple orchard which was planted by the Indians. Mr. F. remembers eating apples from this
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orchard in 1834. He also remembers being lost in the timber, and after wandering nearly a whole day he found an Indian cabin, and the Indian conducted him to near his own home.
Philip Pfaff was born in Prussia in 1804, and came to the United States in 1832. After living at Baltimore, Maryland, and Columbiana County, Ohio, about a year each, he came to this township January, 1835, and entered the land now owned by his daughter, Paulina Kohler. Mr. and Mrs. P. are now residing in the old homestead where they have lived during a period of forty-five years. They have reared a family of three children, being Lewis Pfaff, Mary Naumberg, and Pau- lina Kohler. Mr. P. became a citizen of the United States as soon as the laws would permit, and has ever taken pride in his adopted country, and cherishes the convictions that a re- public like our own is far preferable to monarchy. He was engaged on the canal during its construction at the rate of $12.00 per month, payable in State script, the cash value of which was one-half its face value. Those were days which perhaps more fully justified complaint because of hard times and low wages, than the present period. After a life of severe toil and privation, these old folks deserve that their remaining years be one day of sunshine whose lustre shall dissipate the clouds of a whole past life.
Geo. Delong was born in Ross County, O., and settled in this township as early as 1833. At that time the cry of the panther and wolf was heard almost every night. Mr. D. has done much to improve the county, and still lives on his farm, surrounded by the comforts of life.
Geo. W. Burke was born in Virginia in 1815, and came to this township in 1832, which was before the Indians left the reser- vation. At this date there were no laid-out roads in the town- ship. The land where he now lives, in section 9, was so wet and swampy that he would not have given a dollar for the whole section. At this period he could only find twelve fami- lies in the township. He married Margaret, daughter of John Morris, Esq., in 1841, and has reared a family of twelve chil- dren, of whom eight are still living.
Win. Richardson was born in Montgomery County, Va., in 1765. At the age of about seventeen he shouldered his musket to fight the Indians, and was on the skirmish line during a year or two of the Revolutionary War. He was a cousin of Anthony Wayne, their mothers having been Mattie and Nancy Hiddens. In 1812 he entered the army, with which he served during the war with the exception of two or three months. In 1784 he married Mary Adney, who died in 1811. In 1815 he married Catharine Millhouse, a sister of Barbary Dillbone, 12
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
who, with her husband, had been shot by three Indians. Mr. Richardson avenged the death of Mr. and Mrs. Dillbone, by shooting the three Indian murderers.
Daniel Bitler was born in Pennsylvania in 1783. He mar- ricd Elizabeth Clevenstine in 1806. Their family consisted of ten children. In 1832 they came to Franklin County, Ohio, from there to St. Johns in 1834. Mr. Bitler died Feb. 7, 1840; and Mrs. Bitler, July, 1851.
Samuel Bitler, the youngest member of the above-mentioned family, was born October, 1829, and was five years old when his father came to this county. His education was received in a cabin school. In 1848 he married Susanna Colman, who died in April, 1855. The following year he married Vastia Bailey, who died in 1871, leaving three children who still sur- vive. He married Augusta Mayer, his present wife, in 1871. In 1855 he opened a store in St. Johns. This business, in connection with stock dealing, was conducted until 1862, when he entered the army, where he continued until the close of the war. In 1865 he moved to Wapakoneta and engaged in the milling and grain business during the four following years. On Jan. 1, 1870, he entered the banking business, in which he is still engaged. He is also a stockholder in the Wapakoneta Spoke and Wheel Manufacturing Company.
Andrew W. Overholser was born in Virginia in 1811; married Angeline Northcott in 1834, and moved to the farm where they now live in the fall of 1837. On their first arrival they prepared a temporary shelter until they could build a cabin. During all these early days they suffered all the priva- tions and hardships which attend a life in a new country, undertaken without a dollar in hand. Under these circum- stances Mr. Overholser worked from home as much as possible, earning fifty cents per day; while corn, on which they de- pended for bread, sold at seventy-five cents per bushel. Mrs. Overholser contributed her full share of labor upon the home farm by assisting her husband in all kinds of labor. The fruits of this toil and hardship, supplemented by economy, may be seen in the pleasant home with which they are provided, the two palatial residences they possess in Lima, and the gen- eral prosperity by which they are surrounded.
Alexander Henry Trimble was born in Westmoreland Co., Pa., Oct. 22, 1817. His father died when he was but six weeks old. He remained with his mother until his fifteenth year, when he was engaged as a clerk in a drygoods store by his cousin at Wooster, Ohio. In the spring of 1841 he married Miss Charlotte E. Granger, of Rochester, New York; by this union six children were born, three sons and three daughters.
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The first four years after his marriage they lived in Wooster, after which they moved to St. Marys, Mercer County, Ohio, where Mr. Trimble engaged in mercantile business. In 1849 he was elected Mayor of the village, and two years later was elected Auditor of Auglaize County, which office he held six years, and was elected Probate Judge of the county in 1858, and was re-elected in '61 by an increased majority, as he was favorably known to almost every man in the county. He had occupied positions of honor and trust, and was always found worthy.
Mr. Trimble became a member of the Presbyterian Church of Wapakoneta in 1851, and continued to be a faithful mem- ber during the remainder of his life. He was one of the fore- most in contributing money and time for the erection of the Presbyterian Church of this place, as with all other good works. He was a man of excellent judgment, and his opinion was widely sought. But death called him early to rest on the 19th day of September, 1864, in the forty-sixth year of his age, in the prime of life ; but such a life never ends as long as chil- dren and grandchildren live to walk in its echoes. Such men can walk fearlessly and confidingly down into the great future to meet whatever awaits them there.
Among the early and most respected citizens of Wapakoneta was Robert J. Skinner, who established the first Democratic paper published in Dayton, Ohio, the first number of which was issued in December, 1816. This paper was continued by him until 1830, in which year he removed to Piqua, and estab- lished in that town the first Democratic press. In 1832, hav- ing received the appointment from President Jackson of Re- ceiver of the United States Land Office, at Wapakoneta, he moved his family to that town, and continued a resident of the place until June, 1849; when, being on a visit with part of his family at the house of a married daughter in Dayton, him- self, wife, daughter, and son, composing all the visitors, were attacked with the cholera which prevailed in the city at the time, and, during one week, the four died of the disease. Mr. Skinner was a man of positive character, of great enterprise, and a most useful citizen. He represented Montgomery Co., of which Allen County formed a part, in the General Assembly, at the sessions of 1828-29.
Some of the residents of Wapakoneta, about the time Mr. S. became a citizen of the place, were Col. T. B. Van Horn, Register of Land Office, Peter Hammel (a French Indian trader), Captain John Elliott, who was an officer at Hull's sur- render, and had been a number of years Government black-
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
smith at Wapakoneta, Jeremiah Ayres, Cummings & Mathers, Samuel Case, James Elliott, and H. B. Thorn.
James H. Skinner, son of Robert J. Skinner, was born in 1822, in Dayton, Ohio. He moved with his parents to Piqna in 1830, and to Wapakoneta in 1832. At the age of seventeen he helped to lay out the Miami Canal in the vacinity of St. Marys. He was postmaster of Wapakoneta while he was yet quite young, and afterwards kept a grocery until the spring of 1852, when he sold out and went to California, where he stayed during 1852 and 1853. Mr. Skinner returned in 1854, and was ticket agent at Delphos in 1855. In 1856 he was a cattle dealer, and in 1857 he worked in the office of the Auditor of Auglaize County. He was elected Recorder in 1860, and re-elected in 1863. After his second term had expired in 1866 he went into the banking business, and he continued in that business until his death, which occurred on the 6th of Novem- ber, 1878.
Hon. C. C. Marshall, one of the early pioneers of this county, but now of Delphos, Allen County, Ohio, says: "The first mail route was established in the year 1827 from Piqua to Defiance, the service to commence Jan. 1, 1828. Hon. Samuel Marshall, late of Shelby County, Ohio, who was the third settler in that county, was the contractor at the commencement of the service. An elder brother, and father of R. D. Marshall of Dayton, Ohio, carried the mail from Jan. 1, 1828, to September, 1829, when I commenced and continued until Dec. 31, 1831. That was before Allen County was organized, and the mail route was by way of Fort Amanda, and from there on the west side of the Anglaize River to Defiance, with only three offices, viz., Hardin, Shelby County, Waupaughkonnetta, then Allen County, and Sugar Grove, Putnam County ; to the latter two, the only offices in those counties, the mail went one week and returned the next. Robert Broderick was the first postmaster at Wapa- koneta. He resigned in 1829, and Capt. John Elliott, the old government blacksmith, was appointed his successor.
In 1829, Geo. C. Johnston, a resident of Piqua, opened a store or trading post about where the spoke and wheel estab- lishment of Bitler & Co. now stands; and the same year Joseph Parks, then the United States Interpreter, also had a stock of goods ; his store was near the old council house on Anglaize Street. At that time the venerable French gentleman, Francis Duchouquet, former interpreter of the Shawnees, resided there and on the ground on which the former residence of Hon. Geo. W. Andrews stands.
There was a Quaker mission four miles south on the Piqua road, Thomas Harvey and wife in charge; they were from
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Warren County, Ohio. There were generally about twenty or thirty Shawnee children in attendance.
I was present in the old council house at the signing of the treaty by Blackhoof, Wayweleapy, Henry Clay, and others of the Waupanghkonnetta and Hog Creek Reservations, ceding all their rights to lands in Ohio, and James B. Gardner, Com- missioner for the United States ; and the next year I saw them bid adieu to their old homes in Ohio and leave for their far western homes."
Mr. L. N. Blume was born at St. Johns, Anglaize Co .; Ohio, June 21, 1845, removing from thence for the purpose of at- tending school to the town of Wapakoneta, the county seat of said county, where he has ever since resided. It may with truth be said that Mr. B. is to the manner born. At the early age of seventeen Mr. B. embarked in mercantile affairs, which he has pursued with energy and diligence up to the present, meeting with the measures of success which is a sure reward to those who with industry and economy adhere to a calling.
During leisure moments, and whilst engaged in business af- fairs, and having a laudable desire for self-improvement, Mr. B. commenced the study of the law, to which profession he be- came a member in the course of two years, being the only one admitted out of a class of three, his preceptor being the Hon. W. V. M. Layton, deceased. At a time when business enter- prise was at a low ebb, Mr. Blume's efforts largely contributed to the organization of the Wapakoneta Spoke and Wheel Co., of which he became a charter member; this corporation being one of the most important manufacturing interests in said city, whose wares are sold throughout the entire country.
Mr. Blume at the age of twenty-two was elected City Clerk, to which position he was re-elected four successive terms. He is now serving his second term as a member of the Board of Education, serving as Clerk of said Board.
Mr. Blume was married to Miss H. C. Sallada in the year 1866.
J. H. Timmermeister, the son of Wilhelm and Clara Timmer- meister, was born in Hanover Province (near Osnabrück), Germany, April 13, 1831.
He started to learn the tinning trade in the spring of 1845, and served an apprenticeship of four years from that date. After the four years had expired, he worked at his trade until July 9, 1851, when he started for the United States.
lle arrived at New York in September, and remained in that city for about four years. During that time he was occupied a part of the time at his trade and a part of the time in selling goods.
12*
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Mr. Timmermeister came to Wapakoneta July 15, 1855, and was soon engaged as a clerk in the store of O. T. Dieker, where he remained until the spring of 1859, when he commenced business for himself under the name of J. H. Timmermeister & Co. He was married to Miss Caroline Machetanz on the 22d of August of the same year (1859).
In 1862 the firm of J. H. Timmermeister & Co. was changed to J. H. Timmermeister, and he has been doing a prosperous business up to the present time, his store being the leading business house in this place.
"Capt." John Elliott was one of the earliest settlers at Wapakoneta. He was for many years Government blacksmith under Col. John Johnston, the then Indian agent at that place. Johnston's successor, James B. Gardner, removed Mr. Elliott from his position, refused to settle with him, and ordered him off the reservation, and "confiscated" his cabin, garden, and tools, etc., and sent him away poor with a large family. Elliott applied to the Government through Gen. Cass, who refused relief, saying that there was no "precedent" for it.
Mr. Elliott concluded to go and see President Jackson. He went, found no difficulty in getting an interview with the President, and told him who he was, that he was the second man who set foot on the British shore at Malden, Canada, in the war of 1812, and President Jackson became interested in him, and inquired what brought him to Washington. Mr. Elliott told him of the treatment he had experienced from Gardner. Gen. Jackson lent a willing ear He rose, took his hat and cane, and, merely saying, "Go with me, Mr. Elliott,". walked down to the War Office "Gen. Cass, this is Mr Elliott, of Ohio," said Gen. Jackson; "audit his claim, and pay it. Good morning, sir." Nothing more was said. "Sit down Mr. Elliott," said the Secretary. In about twenty minutes the account was hunted out, Mr. Elliott had a warrant upon the treasury for his money, and was soon on his way home re- joicing.
Mr. Elliott had a family of eleven children, one of whom, Thomas, went west with the Shawnees in 1832, acting as in- terpreter, and died at shawnee, Kansas, in 1849.
A number of Mr. Elliott's descendants still reside in this- vicinity, and are much respected. He died at St. Marys, May 3, 1859, at an advanced age.
John C. Bothe, to whom reference is already made as one of the earliest business men of Wapakoneta, was born in Prussia Dec. 23, 1807, and came to the United States in 1823, stopping first at Baltimore, from which place he soon proceeded to Day- ton, O., where he was employed as a clerk until 1833, when he
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
came to Wapakoneta. Here he purchased two town lots, after which he went back as far as Sidney, where he located about a year in the interest of his Dayton employers. He was next sent by the same firm.to Wapakoneta to conduct a branch house, with which he was identified until 1835, when he visited Europe, and on his return the following year he established himself in the dry goods business at this place. In 1860 he built a warehouse and became an extensive grain dealer, in which business he continued until 1875, when he retired from active business. In 1878 he again visited Europe, returning the same year. After a long and active business career, in which he was associated with the public enterprises of the town and county, he has thrown aside business responsibilities and leads a retired life in Wapakoneta.
A. M. Kuhn was born Nov. 30, 1842, at Galion, Crawford County, Ohio. His father, the Rev. Andrew Kuhn, was a pio- neer preacher in the early history of Ohio. On account of fail- ing health, he removed to Wapakoneta in January, 1858, to engage in business, in which his boys might secure a practical experience. Early in the year 1859, at the age of seventeen, the subject of this sketch began the study of telegraphy, and in July of the same year was appointed telegraph operator at Wapakoneta station, assisting his father in the express and railroad office. In March, 1862, at the death of his father, he received the appointment of express and railroad agent, which position he resigned in October, 1879, after a continuous and acceptable service of over twenty years.
In addition to the station business, Mr. Kuhn, with his bro- ther Rufus, in the years 1865-7, engaged in the purchase and shipment of grain at Wapakoneta. In 1868, through the un- fortunate speculations of his brother, then residing in New York, for whom he had endorsed largely, his entire property was swallowed up. By close attention to business and the exercise of economy these losses have been regained.
In the year 1873 Mr. Kuhn became one of the original stock- holders in the Wapakoneta Spoke and Wheel Company. In 1875 the business of this company had increased to such an extent that it became necessary that one of the stockholders should assume personal control of its books and correspond- ence, together with the general management of its business ; and being one of the executive committee of three into whose hands the affairs of the company had been entrusted by the stockholders, Mr. Kuhn received the appointment of General Manager, and since his resignation of railway duties, gives his entire attention to the business of the Wheel Company, the largest and most important manufactory in the county.
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Mr. Kuhn has been a member of and an officer in the English Lutheran Church of Wapakoneta, and worker in the Sabbath- school since 1864.
In the year 1874 he was married to Cora, eldest daughter of Dr. John H. Nichols.
As a business man and citizen, no one has a higher standing in our community than Mr. Kuhn.
ST. MARYS-ST. MARYS.
This township is the seat of the oldest permanent settle- ment within the present county limits. The surface is gen- erally flat, broken only by the St. Marys River and Mercer reservoir. The canal crosses from south to north, through the town of St. Marys. This village is the only one within the township, and is the site of an old trading point, but sub- sequently became an important storehouse of supplies during the years 1812-13. During this period, it was the point, of important military operations, as troops were concentrated and organized in preparation for the northern campaign.
Rich. M. Johnson was here elected Colonel by a reorganized regiment, and in 1813, the regiment of Colonel Barbee built the fort which was named for the Colonel. As the southern limit of Harrison's base of supplies, it was from here that pro- visions and munitions were forwarded to Forts Defiance and Wayne. Three companies of Colonel Johnson's regiment were here discharged, at the expiration of their terms of enlistment. As this matter comes within the scope of our general history, we turn to a period subsequent to the war of 1812, and find something of a settlement at this point, visited largely by traders and hunters. No material growth of population or enterprise was manifested by the isolated settlement prior to 1824, and even then the outlook was not promising, as will be seen by the exhibits of population and wealth which here fol- low.
Exhibit of taxpayers of St. Marys township, as listed by Isaac Applegate in 1824 :-
John Armstrong, Isaac Applegate,
Nimrod Hathaway,
William Majors,
Hamilton Majors,
James Bodkins, Richard R. Barrington,
Charles Murray,
Joseph Blew,
John Murdock,
John Carter,
John Manning,
John Catterlin,
Charles MeCumsey,
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HISTORY OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OHIO.
Joseph Catterlin,
Peter Opdyke,
Martin Cleland,
John Pickeral,
George Conner,
Thomas Scott,
Isaiah Dungan,
Henry Smith,
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