USA > Ohio > Mercer County > History of Mercer County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 40
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The parents of Mr. Schwietermann were both born in Germany, were married there and had one son, Gerhard, when they came to America and landed at the port of New York, in June, 1836. They came on to Ohio and the father settled on the farm which remained the old family homestead, on the New Bremen turnpike, east of Carthagena. On this farm these children were born : John Henry, Harman Henry, J. Bernard, Mary, Elizabeth, John and William (twins) and Joseph and Anna (twins). Both parents were about 58 years of age at death.
Joseph Schwietermann worked on the home farm until he was married in 1876 to Elizabeth Ronnebaum, who was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a daughter of Henry Ronnebaum, who came from Germany to America at the age of 17 years and settled in Cincinnati, where he did house and sign
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painting. He married Clara Frilling and they had nine children, four of whom were born at Cincinnati, and the others in Mercer County. They were : Henry, who married Elizabeth Albers and resides in Franklin township; John, who married Philomena Niekamp and resides in Franklin township; Elizabeth, wife of our subject; Clara, wife of Augustus Lennartz; Anna, who married John Puthoff and lives at Minster, Ohio; Frederick, who married Anna Homan, and lived on the home place until his death, in 1903; Katie, who married Frank Puthoff and lives in Shelby County; and two children who died in infancy. The father of Mrs. Schwietermann died on New Year's Day, 1894.
After marriage, our subject and wife went to housekeeping on his pres- ent farm, which he purchased in 1876, from his brother William. He built a two-room, brick house on his property and in this snug, comfortable little home seven children were born, but later he made additions and now has a fine brick residence of 12 rooms. His farm is one of the most valuable in his locality and he devotes his attention to the growing of grain and the raising of horses, cattle and hogs. He is known as a first class farmer, as well as an honorable and upright citizen.
Mr. and Mrs. Schwietermann have had these children: Mary, who mar- ried Frank L. Dabbelt, has three children-Hubert, Alfred and Ferdinand- and lives in Franklin township; Agnes, who married Aloys Dabbelt, has one child, Edwin Joseph, and lives in Franklin township; Minnie and Fred, who died in infancy; and Ferdinand, Clara, Pauline, Joseph and Urban, all of whom are at home.
Mr. Schwietermann is one of the leading members of the Catholic Church. He takes the interest of a good citizen in public matters pertaining to his township, but has accepted official position only on the School Board.
BARNEY JOHN DABBELT
BARNEY JOHN DABBELT, a representative farmer of Franklin township, owning and operating 105 acres of, excellent land situated in section 31, was born February 18, 1869, in Franklin township, Mercer County, Ohio, and is a son of Hubert and Rosina (Lindhaus) Dabbelt.
The Dabbelt family was established in Franklin township, Mercer Coun- ty, by Barney Dabbelt, the grandfather of our subject, who was born in Ger- many and came to Ohio with his family many years ago, in the early history of this section. He lived only into middle life, hard work breaking down his constitution. The three children born to his first marriage were: Gerhardt,
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Anna (wife of John Beauchamp) and Hubert, all of whom are deceased. To his second were born Mollie (wife of Henry Dorston), Ignatz and August.
The father of our subject was 15 years old when he accompanied his parents to America. He worked for his father until his marriage and con- tinued to live on the home farm until the death of his parents. These children were born to him and his wife, who was Rosina Lindhaus, before marriage : Barney John, of this sketch; Henry, who married Christina Heyne, and lives at Dayton; Catherine, who married Casper Clune and is now deceased; Frank Ludwig, who married Mary Schwietermann and lives on the home place in Franklin township; John, deceased at the age of 17 years; Aloys, who mar- ried Agnes Schwietermann; and Caroline, who died aged two years. Our subject's father died January 5, 1906.
The mother of our subject still survives and resides with her son, Frank Ludwig Dabbelt, on the old home place. She was born in Marion township when the country was entirely unsettled and her reminiscences of the early days are very interesting, as she possesses a remarkable memory. She recalls being sent, as a child, to chase the deer out of her father's wheat field. Mrs. Dabbelt remembers a tame deer that the family had for a pet. It was necessary to travel many miles over hill and through hollow to reach the near- est mill, at Piqua, and a home contrivance for grinding the grain was fitted up which sometimes had to answer the purpose. Her father burned out a log and in the center put his wheat, and by pounding it with a maul reduced it to a coarse powder. He thus prepared the grain for his own and the neighbor- ing families. His farming was done with steers and home made machines, as he had neither plow nor harrow. He assisted in the building of the banks of the canal, using a wheelbarrow, and during this time he camped on its banks.
On October 21, 1891, our subject was married to Mary Hanfelder, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Wabler) Hanfelder, and they have had these children : Julius, Lawrence, Romie, Hilda, William and John (deceased).
The parents of Mrs. Dabbelt came to America from Germany and settled at Cincinnati but later moved to Chickasaw, Mercer County, and soon there- after established a home in Franklin township where one of the sons resides. Their children were: Elizabeth, who married Fred Tangeman and resides at Celina ; Mary, born December 18, 1870, at Cincinnati, who is the wife of our subject ; Barney, who lives at Chickasaw; and Joseph, who married Frances Stammen. Mary and Barney are twins.
Mr. Dabbelt purchased his present farm from Samuel Blakeley on March II, 1891. It is a well-situated body of land, watered by a creek running through it and here Mr. Dabbelt carries on general farming and stock-raising. He is considered an excellent farmer and is known to his neighbors and those
MRS. SUSAN B. MURLIN GILES P. MURLIN
MRS. JOSEPHINE M. MILLER
ALPHA MILLER WARREN BARBER DWIGHT MILLER MRS. SALLIE H. BARBER ( FOUR GENERATIONS )
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with whom he has business dealings as a man of honest worth and good in- tentions. He is a member of the Catholic Church.
WARREN BARBER
WARREN BARBER, a prosperous and successful farmer of Union town- ship, was born October 24, 1835, and is a son of Samuel C. and Hannah (Murlin) Barber.
Upon leaving his native State, New York, Samuel Barber moved first to Kentucky and then to Mercer County, Ohio, locating in Union township in 1828 and purchasing 120 acres of timberland one and a fourth miles southeast of Mendon. He cleared this land and placed it under cultivation. He was one of the very earliest settlers of the township and county. He was the father of five children : Relief, who married Isaiah Johns, a resident of Men- don, and died some years ago; Lucretia, deceased, who was the wife of John Bolton; Austin, deceased; Warren; and Abram, who was captain of Company C, 3Ist Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf. Samuel Barber died in 1851 at the age of 45 years and his wife died in 1844.
Warren Barber was reared on his father's farm and received his educa- tion in the district schools. At that time all this section was a wilderness and there was only one house between the Barber home and Neptune on the road to St. Marys, which was the market for a large part of Mercer County. His father drove twice a year to Piqua to get his wheat ground. The canal was then being constructed. There was only one small store at Mendon, and the other leading industries of the place consisted of a grist-mill for grinding corn, a tannery and a blacksmith shop. In 1847, when a boy of 12 years, our subject accompanied his father on a trip to Wisconsin, while moving a family through in a wagon, the cattle being driven. They passed through Fort Wayne, Chicago and Milwaukee. Chicago, a very small place at that time, was scarcely considered a rival of Fort Wayne. It required seven weeks to make the trip there and back. Mr. Barber remembers two Indians who often came to his father's house when he was a boy, to practice shooting.
' After reaching manhood, Mr. Barber began farming as a renter, al- though he owned a small farm of 40 acres. He continued to rent until 1860, when he sold the 40-acre tract and purchased another farm, to which he has added until he now has an estate of 145 acres. He has cleared the greater part of his farm and has assisted in clearing several other farms.
In 1863 he enlisted in Company K, 88th Reg., Ohio Vol. Inf., and served under Colonel Neff, Capt. Waldo F. Davis, Ist lieutenant Quick and 2nd lieutenant J. H. Patterson, the last named now a resident of Ada, Ohio. He
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was mustered out at Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, and was honorably dis- charged July 3, 1865.
Mr. Barber was married March II, 1857, to Sallie Hamilton, a daughter of William Hamilton, of Union township. Mrs. Barber was one of a family of children, as follows: Polly Ann, who married James Shepherd, and resides in Union township; Lois Hamilton, who married Cynis Hussey, and resides in Salem township, Auglaize County; Hugh, deceased, whose widow lives in Union township; Sallie, wife of our subject; Isabelle, who married John A. Murlin, and resides in Mendon; and William, deceased, whose family resides in Union township. Mr. and Mrs. Barber have had six children, namely : Martha L., who married J. H. Wright, and at her death left three children-Arthur, Zue and Maude; A. Harry, a merchant at Mendon, who married Clara Murlin and has four children-Mae, Meryl, Robert and Warren; Susan, who married Giles P. Murlin, resides in Union township and has one child, Josephine, who married Alpa Miller, and has one child- Dwight, the great-grandson of our subject; Lulu May, who married Horatio Hooper, and at her death left two children-Ralph and Ruth; Sophronia, deceased; and Walter, who married Celia Brewer, a daughter of Alpheus Brewer, and has four children-Vaughn, Kenneth, Janice and Keeth. Wal- ter Barber owns a farm in Union township, and also runs his father's farm. In March, 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Barber will celebrate their golden wedding, having lived happily together since March II, 1857. Mr. Barber is a Repub- lican in politics, but reserves the right to vote for the best man for office. He is now serving his third term as township trustee. A picture of a portion of the Barber family, showing four generations, accompanies this sketch.
RUDOLF KLOSTERMANN
RUDOLF KLOSTERMANN, one of the representative men and substantial farmers of Franklin township, owning and operating a valuable farm of 120 acres in section 28, was born September 28, 1848, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Hullman) Klostermann.
Henry Klostermann came to America from Germany in young manhood, but subsequently returned to Germany and there married Mary Hullman, and with her came back across the Atlantic. They located at Cincinnati, Ohio, and there eight children were born, namely: Mary, who died in childhood; John, who died at the age of 19; Joseph, who married Mary Ann Cramer and is now deceased; Rudolf, of this sketch; Henry, who married (first) Mary Mestemaker and (second) Catherine Backs, and lives in Franklin township;
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Frances, who died in childhood; George, who married Mary A. Schwieter- mann and lives in Franklin township; a babe that died in infancy.
Rudolf Klostermann was reared to the age of 17 years at Cincinnati, and then, in 1865, accompanied his parents to Mercer County. He had re- ceived a good, common-school education and after his father and mother set- tled here he took up farming and has continued this calling ever since. His mother bought 175 acres of land in Mercer County and later 160 acres and at the death of his parents he received 80 acres of the 160-acre tract, and his brother Henry the other 80 acres. The remainder of the 120 acres he owns he purchased from various parties. He carries on general farming and raises considerable live-stock, paying particular attention to his swine. He is con- sidered a first-class agriculturist. His home is fitted up in a more modern way than are many rural residences, being lighted by gas piped from a gas well in the neighborhood, of which he is a one-fifth owner.
Mr. Klostermann was married to Mary Niekamp, a daughter of Fred- erick Niekamp, who was born in Germany and came to America in young manhood. At Dayton, Ohio, he married Catherine Newhouse, who left four children at death, viz .: John, Joseph, Clemmens and Mary, the wife of Mr. Klostermann. Later Mr. Niekamp married Catherine Stammen, and to that union were born 10 children, of whom five are now living, namely: Henry, Gerhard, Peter, Frank and Philomena. Frederick Niekamp and his second wife both died in 1894.
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Klostermann were: Samuel and Catherine, both of whom died young; Anna, who married John Kroeger and at her death left one daughter Minnie, who has since lived with her grand- father, our subject; Henry, living in Franklin township, who married Anna Welker, and has two children- Lawrence and Leonard; Edward, who went West, married and lives in Colorado; and William, Lewis, Mary and Allen, who live at home.
Mr. Klostermann is superintendent of the Bennett turnpike, which passes by his farm, and he has also served as township supervisor.
JOSEPH BEACH NEWCOMB
JOSEPH BEACH NEWCOMB, who has been a resident of Center township for over 66 years, is a prosperous farmer of this locality. He was born in Essex County, New York, January 29, 1829, and is a son of Miletus and Rhoda (Hayes) Newcomb.
Miletus Newcomb was born in Vermont and was a son of Luther and Anna (Salisbury) Newcomb. He moved to New York at an early age and
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there located in Essex County, subsequently removing to Licking County, Ohio, where he bought a farm in St. Albans township. He was married to Rhoda Hayes and they had the following children : Luther, who died in 1843; Alanson, who died in youth; Miletus Madison, who died July 9, 1903, at Celina; Samantha, who died in childhood; Joseph B .; Mila Ann, who died at the age of 14 years; and Rosetta, deceased in infancy. Mr. Newcomb was captain of a local militia company. His death occurred September 14, 1837, in St. Albans township, Licking County, Ohio. His widow lived until Sep- tember 30, 1848.
Joseph B. Newcomb was less than two years old when he accompanied his parents to Licking County, Ohio, where they first located in an unoccupied log cabin on a farm owned by a cousin of Mr. Newcomb's mother, who had located there some time before. Although less than two years old, Mr. New- comb remembers some of the incidents of that trip, which were indelibly im- printed on his mind. His father died when Joseph B. Newcomb was young. When he was II years old, he accompanied his mother to Mercer County, where she located on a farm in section 20, Center township. There were no roads at that time and things had to be packed on horseback. The land was not cleared, and it was necessary to erect a cabin. After his marriage he moved into a cabin on the site of his present home. Some years later he built a hewed-log addition, which he lathed and plastered. About five years later it burned down and in 1870 he built his present comfortable home. He has followed farming and stock-raising all his life. The farm consists of one hundred acres.
Mr. Newcomb was married April 17, 1849, to Jane E. Piper, a daughter of Daniel and Sarah A. Piper. She was born in Miami County, Ohio, June 5, 1832, and died September 21, 1883. Nine children were born to this union, namely : James Madison, living on a part of the home place, who married Anna Brookhart and has two children-Leota and Belle; Mary America, who married Samuel Brookhart, and at her death left three children-Leroy, Lloyd and Bonnie ; Joseph Luther, now deceased, who married Bessie Ridenour and had three children-Rollo E., Beulah and Floy; John Franklin, a Methodist minister residing at York, Ohio, who married Mamie Cater and has two chil- dren-Cecil and Ruth; Sarah Jane, who died in infancy. Cynthia Ann, who lives at home ; Nancy Ellen, deceased at the age of six years; Alice, who lives at home and teaches school; and Rhoda Marvilla, also at home.
Mr. Newcomb is a Republican in politics and has served in many town- ship offices. He belongs to the Celina lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Methodist Church and for many years was class leader and superintendent of the Sunday School.
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HENRY KLOSTERMANN
One of the prominent and substantial families of Franklin township, is that of Klostermann, a number of residents of this name and of the same ancestry being settled not far apart. A well-known member of this honorable old family is Henry Klostermann, who owns 100 acres of fine land situated in sections 28 and 33. Mr. Klostermann was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 22, 1852, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Hullman) Klostermann.
Henry Klostermann, Sr., was born in Oldenburg, Germany, and has three brothers and one sister, namely: John, Joseph, Rudolph and Mary, the latter of whom married a Mr. Wegman, all of whom came to America-all are now deceased. In young manhood Henry Klostermann came to America and worked as a day laborer in Cincinnati. As soon as he found himself well enough established, he. returned to Germany, where he married Mary Hull- man, also a native of Oldenburg, and then returned with her to America, set- tling at Cincinnati. For a time he drove an express wagon and later con- ducted a grocery business. He had induced his brothers and sister and his wife's brothers, Henry and Theodore Hullman, to come with him to America and they all lived for a time in Cincinnati.
The older members of both families remained in Oldenburg. Both grandfathers of our subject were men of note there, having been soldiers under Napoleon and were participants in the battle of Waterloo. In this con- nection the aged warriors would often tell of the military glory of the once great leader and repeat an ominous saying of his that preceded his downfall. On one occasion, elated by a famous victory, Napoleon uttered the boastful words: "God is ruler of Heaven, and I am ruler on earth." The old soldiers declared that from that time his power declined. They also told of suspicions entertained in their day, that on various occasions the great Napoleon traveled over the country concealed in a load of hay, acting as a spy.
The children born to Henry and Mary (Hullman) Klostermann were : Mary, who died in childhood; John, who died aged 19 years; Joseph, who married Mary Ann Cramer, and is now deceased; Rudolf, who married Mary Niekamp, and lives in Franklin township; Henry; Frances, who died young; George, born on a farm 17 miles from Cincinnati, who married Mary A. Schwietermann and lives in Franklin township; and a babe that died in infancy.
After selling his store in Cincinnati, Mr. Klostermann cleared up a farm of 80 acres some 17 miles west of Cincinnati and it was while living on this farm that the father and sons made charcoal and sold it for 20 cents a bushel and also sold cord wood and even became expert in making staves. In the fall of 1863 Mr. Klostermann decided to make a new home for the family and
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to provide, so far as was possible, for his growing sons. He bought a farm of 172 acres in Franklin township, Mercer County, from Christopher John- son, this being the Klostermann home farm, which is now occupied by his son George. In the fall of the year, after they had garnered the crops from the farm near Cincinnati, a start was made by the family for the new home, which was in an unsettled part of Mercer County. No railroads had been constructed through this locality and after the family had come as far as New Bremen, Auglaize County, by canal, they took wagons and thus made the rest of the journey. When Henry Klostermann, Sr., died April 3, 1875, it was found that he had willed all he owned to his wife, who died in February, 1889. The farm was bought by the son George.
Henry Klostermann, our subject was 12 years old when he came to Mer- cer County, and a part of his education was secured in the schools of Franklin township. He remained at home until his marriage, when 21 years of age, to Mary Mestemaker, who at death left these children: Elizabeth, who mar- ried Frank Niekamp, of Marion township, and has four children; Joseph, who resides with his father on the home farm; Frances, who married Frank Watercutter, of Shelby County, Ohio, and has five children ; Emma, who mar- ried Charles Dorston, of Mercer County; and Rudolph, who works at Dayton for the "Big Four" Railroad Company.
Mr. Klostermann was married (second) to Catherine Backs, a daughter of Bennett and Mary Backs, a native of Germany. The children of this sec- ond marriage are : Harman, Augustus, Gregor, Rose, Richard, Albert and Al- vina. All the children were born on this farm which Mr. Klostermann pur- chased when it was but indifferently improved, the residence, however, having been built. He has carried on general farming all these years and for 28 years he ran a threshing machine, a business now conducted by his sons. Mr. Klostermann has a fortune in the gas-wells on his farm, two being in opera- tion and from these wells Celina received its first gas.
Mr. Klostermann is a worthy member of the Catholic Church. He is one of the board of directors of the Marion Mutual Insurance Company. In local politics he takes a good citizen's interest and he has served on the School Board and was assessor for three years.
JOHN W. MYERS
JOHN W. MYERS, a well-to-do agriculturist of Gibson township, whose 80-acre farm is located in section 23, was born November 21, 1847, and is a son of Jacob and Rachel (Brown) Myers, and a grandson of John Myers, who was a native of Pennsylvania.
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MR. AND MRS. JOHN E. HAMBURGER AND FAMILY
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Jacob Myers was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, where he was reared, educated and married. His father, who had seven sons, had entered seven quarter sections of land in the State of Ohio, one quarter being for each son. There were three of these quarters in Darke County and four in Mercer County. In 1845 Jacob Myers and his wife moved to Mercer County and located on the section just across the road from the farm now owned by. our subject. Jacob Myers had a family of nine children, of whom five are living, namely : Mrs. May Miller, of Darke County; John W .; Mrs. Dorcas Conk- lin; Robert; and Adam, lives on the home place. The deceased are: Almar- etta, Anna and two infants that died unnamed. Jacob Myers died December 17, 1904. His wife died in 1881.
John W. Myers was reared and educated in Gibson township. He bought his present farm in 1876 and has made all the improvements on the place,. having erected a fine large frame house and barn, and other necessary build- ings. When 25 years of age, he married Rachel Ainsworth, who lived only six weeks after marriage. He was married in 1880 to Christina B. Rantz, a daughter of Abraham Rantz. They have had four children: James Earl, deceased at the age of 17 years and 5 months, who would have graduated from High School the spring following his death had he lived; Mary Eleanor, who is a graduate of the Fort Recovery High School; Berle A., a graduate of the Fort Recovery High School, who has taught school for three years, one year at Chattanooga, and two years at the College Corner school in Gibson town- ship-it is his intention to attend college this coming year, and Jacob Oral, also a graduate of the Fort Recovery High School, who is now teaching school. Mr. Myers has served as a school director in Gibson township for a number of years.
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JOHN E. HAMBURGER
JOHN E. HAMBURGER, who is engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Celina, is one of the prominent men of Mercer County, and served as county recorder for quite an extended period. Mr. Hamburger was born at Engen, Baden, Germany, September 5, 1854, and is a son of Conrad and Margaret Hamburger.
The mother of Mr. Hamburger came to America in 1864, accompanied by her sons. She soon purchased town property in Marion township, Mercer County, Ohio, where she resided until her death, which took place February 1, 1896. She was a woman of great business capacity and a faithful, devoted mother.
Prior to coming to America, our subject had attended school in his native land and as soon as practicable resumed study in the schools of Marion town-
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