USA > Ohio > Darke County > History of Darke County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Volume II > Part 18
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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
On May 16, 1900, Mr. Hoffman was married to Inez Hawes, a daughter of Lycurgus and Hester Hawes, and they have one son, Robert. Mrs. Hoffman was born near Castine, Darke county, Ohio. Mr. Hoffman belongs to Ithaca Lodge, No. 295, F. & A. M., Antioch Shrine and Scottish Rite, Dayton, Ohio; Commandery, Troy, Ohio. A Republican, he is at present serv- ing capably as town treasurer. Since the organization of the
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Chatauqua Association, he has been president of the local branch. Professionally he belongs to the State board of pharmacy.
FREDERICK LAMPE.
The industrial and commercial life of any community is of necessity in the hands of its competent business men to whose knowledge and foresight it owes its progress and stand among its sister municipalities. Arcanum, Ohio, is fortunate, indeed, to have a man of the calibre of Frederick Lampe, senior mem- ber of the hardware firm of Lampe & Brawley, located in its midst; one who makes the interests of the place his own; one who strives to conduct the affairs of public office en- trusted to him, upon the same general lines that he would follow in his private business; in fact a real American to the backbone, hearty and earnest, successful and willing to help others to succeed. He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, so he is a product of the Buckeye State, his birth occurring January 28, 1866. He is a son of Conrad and Louisa (Myers) Lampe.
Conrad Lampe and his wife were born in Germany, where they were reared and married. Feeling the need of wider fields, they immigrated to America, settling at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he found employment at his trade as a miller. Later on he moved to Moore's Hill, Ind., to engage in farm- ing a property of seventy acres, and died upon it in 1908, at the age of eighty-three years, his wife having passed away about 1871. Both were Lutherans in religious belief. They had two children, namely : Minnie, who married Walter Davis of Xenia, Ohio, and Frederick, whose name heads this review.
Frederick Lampe had the misfortune to lose his mother when he was five or six years old, and he was reared by his sister, being sent to the public schools of Cincinnati. When about sixteen years old he began learning the coopering trade, but after a short period, he went to Dayton, Ohio, ar- riving there in 1881, and began clerking in a grocery store. After two years devoted to this kind of work, Mr. Lampe became connected with the Standard Oil Company, and this association continued for twelve years, during which period he was sent to Greenville, Ohio, and continued at that point as their agent for a decade. Leaving this company, Mr. Lampe engaged in a grocery business with Frank Maher and so con-
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tinued for eight years. He moved to Arcanum in 1907, forming a partnership with Thomas G. Brawley, and embarked in his present business which has developed large porportions, the firm controlling an extensive trade.
On May 25, 1887, Mr. Lampe was married to Miss Cora Paullus, a daughter of Peter and Julia Frances (Potter) Paul- lus, and they have two children, namely: Howard, who is in the employ of his father, married Lucile Weaver, and Helen who is attending Wilt College at Dayton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lampe are members of the Lutheran church and active in promoting its good works. Fraternally he belongs to Green- ville Lodge No. 143, F. & A. M .; Greenville Chapter No. 77, R. A. M .; Matchett Council, R. S. M .; Dayton Valley Consis- tory, and he is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason. Mr. Lampe is also a Knight of Pythias, belonging to Greenville Lodge of that order. He is a Democrat, and was a member of the Greenville school Board. Since coming to Arcanum he has been a member of the city council, and is also a member of the board of public affairs.
Mrs. Lampe was born at Huntington, Ind., but her parents were natives of West Alexandria, Ohio, and now reside at Chi- cago, Ill. They have had three children : Bert, Cora and Lona. Both the paternal and maternal grandparents of Mrs. Lampe came to western States from Pennsylvania.
LEONARD MARKER.
While never neglecting his business, Leonard Marker has found time and opportunity to follow his inclination toward collecting relics of his family, and historical facts relative to it and the town of Versailles, Ohio, where he is conducting a furniture and undertaking establishment. He is without a doubt one of the greatest and most enthusiastic collectors of relics and curios in the State. His store contains many val- uable curios and is a museum that will well pay any one to visit. The guns, some of which are relics of the Revolutionary war (over forty in the collection) and the revolvers, about seventy-five in the collection, are certainly worth studying along the line of development.
The totems, tribal emblems, and other interesting articles from Alaska were secured through a teacher who now lives in
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Leonard Marker,
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THE NOW !. OK PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR. LENOX
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Versailles. He was sent to Alaska by the United States gov- ernment during President Harrison's administration.
Here one can also see Indian peace pipes, opium pipes, bones from the northern mammoth, ivory implements, drills, bows and arrows from Alaska, game drags, harpoons and articles representing different kinds of stones from tribes of the Stone Age, old surgical instruments showing old spring lances which were in use over one hundred years ago for bleeding people.
There are old German swords with ivory handles, some of the blades inlaid with gold, finely engraved wine glass once owned by maternal ancestors, which have been in the family since 1760, old German Bible bound in leather published in 1711, which has been in the Marker family for at least four generations, over five thousand fraternal and other badges, a large collection of old wild cat currency and other ancient specimens of money now very valuable. The building in which his store is situated is of brick, new, large and commodious, two stories with basement, elevator and electric lights, modern and up to date in every respect, filled with the finest furniture, rugs, carpets, pictures and paintings of all kinds that one would expect to find in a first-class furniture store in a large city.
All is a credit, not only to Mr. Marker, but to Versailles and to all of Darke county. He is a man whose studies have not only proven of interest to him, but will benefit posterity when the results are given to the world. He was born June 9, 1846, at the old Six Mile House west of Dayton, Ohio, but was brought to Darke county when four years old, in 1850, by his parents Raymon J. and Eliza (Bachman) Marker. The former was born in 1824, and died in 1855. The father of the Marker family came to Ohio as early as 1823, and Raymon J. Marker was born in the same house as his son. He was given a com- mon school education, and devoted himself to farming all his life. At one time he was township clerk, and when he died was a justice of the peace, while in religious faith he was a Luth- eran. His wife was born south of Dayton, Ohio, near Miamis- burg, in 1827. Her parents were Christian and Catherine (Hil- ler) Bachman, who were both born in Pennsylvania, where her father learned cabinet making, later becoming a painter and paper hanger. When he moved to Versailles, he built the sec- ond brick house at this point. The mother of Leonard Marker died in the spring of 1855, firm in the faith of the Lutheran church. She and her husband were married in 1845, at Getter's (13)
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Crossroads, near Miamisburg, by the Rev. Rosen Miller, a Lutheran minister, and they had a family as follows : Leonard, who was the eldest; Allen, who lives at Versailles; Hiram, who died in 1867, aged eighteen years, and Margaret, who married George Burns, now resides at Cleveland, Ohio, having been a widow for a quarter of a century.
With the death of his father in 1855, Leonard Marker left the Marker homestead in the vicinity of Versailles, then called Jacksonville, near the old Bowers saw and grist mill, being taken to Liberty, Ohio, near Dayton, by his uncle Perry Marker, who died in 1869. When he was fifteen years old, Leonard Marker left school. Returning to Versailles, Ohio, in 1864, he learned the cabinet making trade from Bartholdt Engelken, a native of Germany, being apprenticed to him un- der articles, and during the years he remained with this skilled workman he learned everything pertaining to the making of high-grade furniture. When he was twenty-one years old, he began business for himself, making furniture to order, and very recently was called upon to refinish some furniture he had made for Elias Bashore forty years ago. During that period this furniture had required no repairing, so solid was it. His present business dates from 1867, when he established himself one-half a block from his present location, but in 1880 moved to three blocks east until 1884. When this was de- stroyed by fire he went to the old J. C. Reed block on Main Cross street, but in 1907 built his present building on Main and West streets, a frame structure, which replaced the old D. R. Barley building he had been occupying, and to which he had made additions. In that year he added the handling of carpets to his business. Mr. Marker has a record of the funer- als he has conducted, as he went into the undertaking business when he founded his furniture house. In earlier times he made the coffins himself, they being what was known as sharp tops, the lumber was sawed on a sash saw mill, each coffin being built to order. His first funeral was that of the daughter of Richard Brown, and took place November 24, 1867, the entire outfit costing the father eight dollars. Mr. Marker also has in his possession the book in which his father kept his records as township clerk in 1853 and 1854. As a collector of curios Mr. Marker has gained considerable reputation. Some of them he has bought, but those which he prizes most highly are the ones which have been presented to him by friends and rela- tives, the history of which is known to him. He is also col-
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lecting data relative to his family, and among other things has discovered that the eighty-six Marker voters in Darke county are all Democrats, as are all he can trace in Maryland, and he lives up to family traditions by adhering to the prin- ciples of the same party. About twelve years ago he inaugu- rated a 'Marker family reunion which has taken place annually ever since.
On April 1, 1869, Leonard Marker was married at Versailles, Ohio, by the Rev. Charles Farnsworth, pastor of the Methodist church, to Miss E. Gertie Reed, daughter of the late Jas. C. and Rhoda Reed, who were among the first settlers of Versailles, then Jacksonville. Jas. C. Reed was a general merchant and grain merchant at this point, and held some township offices, such as that of township treasurer, while he was a councilman of Versailles. Mrs. Reed was a member of the Christian church. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed were as fol- lows: Rachel, who is a widow, lives at Union City, Ohio; William C .; Jerusha, who is a widow, lives at Cleveland, Ohio; Allen L., who lives at Anderson, Ohio; James F., who is de- ceased; Jesse lives at Chicago, Ill .; Isabel, who is deceased; Gertie, and two who died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Marker have had four children : E. Grace; James R., who lives at Co- lumbus, Ohio, is state highway commissioner, superintendent of the State board of public works, county surveyor for five years, is a graduated civil engineer from the Ohio State Uni- versity, and was appointed chief engineer on the board of pub- lic works by Governor Judson Harmon, and he has been a member of the good roads movement of the State and Nation, and is one of the organizers of the National Good Roads As- sociation ; Maude F. is at home, and Raymon J., who is a stud- ent at State University, is taking an agricultural and arts course. The entire Marker family belongs to the Christian church, as does Mary J. Herbert, who has been reared by Mr. and Mrs. Marker as a daughter, she being an orphan niece. For about fifteen years Mr. Marker served his church as a trustee, and is now one of the five trustees of the Miami con- ference, which covers a wide territory. He has held a number of offices, such as those of township clerk, councilman, and others of similar importance, and can always be depended upon to do all in his power to aid in civic advancement and moral uplift. Although he is now in comfortable circumstances, he has had to work hard for his success, and in the early days often worked all night to complete an order.
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JOHN E. HUNTER, M. D.
The medical profession of Darke county is represented by some of the most skilled and learned men of this calling to be found in Ohio, and among them one who has won a well- merited standing is Dr. John E. Hunter, eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, who is located at 201 Ohio block, Greenville, while his residence is at 206 Central avenue. He has devoted himself, his time, energy and life to the preservation of pub- lic health and the alleviation of human ills. His is no easy task nor have his services received proper remuneration, no phy- sician is ever adequately recompensed, but he cheerfully ac- cepts his disadvantages, makes countless sacrifices, being con- tent in well doing. He was born in Kent county, Michigan, near Lowell and Grand Rapids, August 14, 1861, a son of Matthew and Mary (Farmer) Hunter, and grandson of Robert and Mary (Greene) Hunter, and Peter and Polly (DuBois) Farmer.
Robert Hunter and his wife were born in Yorkshire, Eng land, but immigrated to the United States, locating in Kent county, Michigan, where they died, he lacking but two months of being ninety-nine years old, and she when about eighty- five years old. They had a large family, among whom were: Elizabeth, who is still living at the age of nearly one hundred years, making her home at Kalamazoo, Mich .; Charlotte, Mary, Matthew, James, John, Grant and Robert. The ma- ternal grandparents of Doctor Hunter moved at an early day to Coburg, Ontario, Canada, where the grandfather died in 1841, his widow surviving him. She married (second) John Tanner. By her first marriage she had the following children: Mary, Sarah, Peter and David. There were two children by her second marriage, namely : Arthalinda and Julietta.
Matthew Hunter was born at Cottonworth, ten miles east of York, England, March 8, 1821; while his wife was born at Coburg, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 1829. When he was seven years old, Matthew Hunter was brought to the United States, he celebrating his seventh birthday on the Atlantic ocean during the five weeks' voyage on a sailing vessel, which plied from Hull to Quebec. The first settlement of the family was made near Geneva, N. Y., but three years later, they moved to Wayne county. There they remained until Matthew was nineteen years old, and in that year they went to On- tario, and were on the lake, Matthew remaining at home until
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he was twenty-four years old, devoting his time and earnings to his parents. He then embarked in a sawmill business and conducted it for seven years. Saving his money, he was able at the expiration of the seven years, to buy a farm in Ontario, and one year later sold it at a profit, and moved to Kent county, Michigan, locating on an agricultural property that was in a wild condition. This he cleared and improved, ridding it of the original heavy timber and lived upon it for forty- three years. This farm comprised 104 acres, and for some years he devoted it to general farming, but later on specialized in fruit growing to his entire satisfaction, having forty acres in peaches, three acres in plums, and good pear and quince orchards, supplying the State Horticultural Society and South Haven, Mich., with peaches for which he received $4 per bu. As was but natural, he became a recognized authority upon fruit culture and gave much valuable advice to others in the same line, or purposing entering the field. During the latter part of his life, he served as a justice of the peace in his town- ship. In 1885, Mr. Hunter erected a fine, two-story brick resi- dence upon his property, one of the finest in the county. He was united in marriage at Whitby, Ontario, Canada, October 6, 1849, to Miss Mary Farmer, and they lived to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary with his wife's mother, when the latter was eighty-five years old. Five generations were present at the celebration, namely : Mrs. Farmer, Mrs. Hunter, their daughter, granddaughter and great-grandson. Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Hunter had the following children: Robert C. who is a farmer and fruit grower of Colton, Ore .; William G., deceased, who was an agriculturalist of Lowell township, Kent county, Michigan; Sarah Alice, who is the wife of Charles Gibson of Racine, Wis .; James Peter, who died at the age of two years; Ida Caroline, who died December 26, 1890, at Cin- cinnati, Ohio, the wife of Eugene Sprague; John Emerson Hunter, whose name heads this review, and a twin brother, who died in infancy; Willard M., who is operating the home- stead; Walter A., who is the twin brother of Willard M., died at the age of nineteen years, February 23, 1884, and Ulysses, who is a farmer of Browne township, Kent county, Michigan.
Doctor Hunter was reared in Kent county, Michigan, where he attended the district schools and Lowell high school, being graduated from the latter institution. Following that event he clerked in a drug store for a period covered by five years, and then, entering the Cincinnati, Ohio, College of Medicine
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and Surgery, was graduated therefrom March 6, 1891. For the next four years Doctor Hunter was engaged in a general prac- tice at Alto, Kent county, Michigan, when he moved to Lake City, Mich., and remained in that community until 1901, when he went to Chicago to take a post graduate course in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and spent a year following this on the Pacific coast. Returning to Michigan he practiced at Traverse City until 1907, when, in July of that year, he moved to Greenville to take advantage of an opening in this city, and since then has made his skill and training count, for he has built up a large parctice and is recognized as an au- thority upon those diseases to which he has devoted so much time and study.
The marriage of Doctor Hunter occurred in 1888 when he was united with Miss Carolina Wedekind, a daughter of Charles Frederick and Caroline (Worthheimer) Wedekind. Doctor and Mrs. Hunter became the parents of two children : Matthew Charles, who is a student of the Starling, Ohio, State Medical College, and John Edward, who died in August, 1909, aged seventeen years. The Methodist church holds the mem- bership of Doctor and Mrs. Hunter and they are active in pro- mulgating its good work. He is a Mason and belongs to Greenville Chapter No. 77, R. A. M., Matchett Council, R. & S. M., and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. The city of Greenville benefits from his professional skill, as he is now president of the board of health. For the past three years Doctor Hunter has been secretary of the Darke County Medi- cal Society, to which he belongs, and to the Ohio State Medi- cal Society and of the American Medical Association.
Mrs. Hunter was born at London, England, in 1866. Her parents, however, were natives of Germany, her father being engaged in the Queen's service as private interpreter of lan- guages. After his death, his widow came to the United States.
Daniel Werthheimer and family (maternal grandparent) of Mrs. J. E. Hunter, were born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Ger- many. They were highly cultured and religious. For many generations were rabbis, musicians, and artists. This branch of the family trace their ancestry back to the House of David.
Before the Revolution they were considered one of the wealthiest families throughout Germany. He was a wine and grain merchant and agriculturist. A man who loved and lived his religion and respected all mankind. Grandmother Ger-
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trude Werthheimer lived to be ninety-eight years three months and twelve days.
Mrs. C. Jessop; maiden name Zerlina Werthheimer (changed to Caroline), born in Stockheim "Hesse Darm Stadt" March 3, 1839. Married in London England February 25, 1862, at the age of twenty-two years, to Charles F. Henry Wede- kind. To this union two children were born: Emma Sophia and Caroline F. Hermena. (The latter being born three months after her father's death).
After the settlement of the estate of Mr. Wedekind his widow sailed for America. After several years she was mar- ried to John Walter Jessop of Boston, Mass., at Jersey City, N. J. They came to Cincinnati, Ohio, where three sons were born. Daniel Jessop, deceased; Joseph J. Jessop and Charles W. Jessop, now of Connersville, Ind.
Mrs. C. Jessop (now retired) lives in Connersville, Ind., and is known throughout the State as the lady confectioner. John W. Jessop died in Cincinnati, Ohio, May 29, 1888.
Mrs. Hunter's father, Charles Frederick Henry Wedekind, was born in Niemburg "on der Wieser" in the state of Han- over, Germany, December 3, 1829. Married Zerlina Werth- heimer February 25, 1862. He was a highly educated man, a linguist, and conversed in twelve languages. Was a composer of music and a fine musician. At the time of his death he was private secretary in Queen Victoria's service. Previous to his coming to England he was teacher and instructor of music and languages in a royal family of Russia. Mr. Wede- kind was the first person to receive the sad news of Lincoln's assassination by cable at Queenstown, England. He died in London, England, December 3, 1865, at the age of thirty-six years. William Wedekind, a brother of Charles F. H. Wede- kind, was private secretary and counsel to the old blind King of Hanover. Grandfather Wedekind was a teacher and preacher of the Protestant religion. Emma Sophia Wedekind, oldest daughter of Charles F. H. Wedekind, was born in Lon- don, England, Middle street, Hoxton. Date of birth December 23, 1862. Under the signature, George Pearce. Registered un- der Vaccination Law. Copy Register No. 20. Entry 473. Re- ceived her education in Cincinnati, Ohio. Was married in 1888 to Norman D. Conniers of Covington, Ky., and is now living with her mother, Mrs. C. Jessop, at Connersville, Ind. Caroline Frederica Hermina Wedekind was born in London, England, March 11, 1866, at Middlesex, near Victoria park. Under sig-
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nature Thomas F. Bethnal Green. Registered under Vaccina- tion Law. Entry 134 (Book not mentioned). Came to America in 1867. Received her education in Cincinnati, Ohio, schools. Married to J. E. Hunter February 20, 1888. Mrs. Hunter is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, and is interested in all movements for the upbuilding of mankind. Caroline Jessop Hunter, legally adopted daughter of Doctor and Mrs. J. E. Hunter, was born in Ashley, Mich., December 5, 1904. Her mother (Mrs. Charles W. Jessop), died January 14, 1904.
Charles W. Jessop and Mrs. Zona McCormack were married March 11, 1902, at Charleston, S. C.
ORTON OSBORNE SMITH.
Real merit has received proper recognition in the case of Orton Osborne Smith, cashier of the Farmers' National Bank of Arcanum, for he has been promoted to his present respon- ยท sible position because of his natural ability and conscientious training for the duties pertaining to such work. A man of careful habits and one who has always given close attention to detail, he manifestly is the right man in the right place. The cashier of a financial institution of the size of the Farmers' National Bank must be a good judge of men; be able to esti- mate fairly and justly the value of securities and to handle wisely and sagaciously the interests placed in his hands. That he measures up to the high standards necessarily set for work of this class, his standing in the community and with the busi- ness men of Darke county, prove conclusively. He was born at West Baltimore, Ohio, April 1, 1878, a son of Nathan and Anna (Thomas) Smith, and grandson of Reason Smith, and John and Ruth (Dinwiddie) Thomas.
Reason Smith and his wife were born in Maryland, east of Frederic, but came to Ohio in the latter part of the forties, settling in Preble county that State, where he carried on farming. Both died in Preble county, when a little over middle age. Their children were as follows: Nathan, William, Mon- roe, Elijah, Joel, Emma and Jane. John Thomas and his wife were also natives of Maryland, and coming to Ohio at an early day, located on a farm that lay between Sonora and Lewis- burg and was in Preble county. Later they moved, during the late sixties, to a farm in the vicinity of West Baltimore, but
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