History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 29

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1744

USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 29

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in one of the most useful and exacting professions, he has proved an honor- able member of the body politic, and in every relation of life has never fallen below the dignity of true manhood or in any way resorted to the methods which might invite censure.

Peter D. Bixel, M. D., was born on April 21, 1865, in Allen county, Ohio. He is the son of Abraham and Magdalene (Schumacher) Bixel. Abraham Bixel was born on May 14, 1843, in Holmes county, Ohio, and was the son of Peter and Fannie (Diller) Bixel. Peter Bixel and wife were both natives of Berne, Switzerland. Peter Bixel was born on January I, 1795, and came to America, April 29, 1824, arriving July 21, 1824. He came, first, to Wayne county, and on August 2, 1824, went to Holmes county, where he married Fannie Diller. They had sixteen children, of whom Fannie was the second eldest and the eldest living child. The family came from Holmes to Allen county, near Bluffton, when the eldest child was eighteen or nineteen years of age.

In Holmes county, Peter Bixel entered land from the government, and here he remained for about fifteen years, selling out, in 1846, and coming to Allen county, settling one mile north of Bluffton. He was a very pro- gressive farmer and a hard worker. He owned, at one time, nearly one thousand acres of land. He was a fine type of the American citizen and very liberal. He had a fine Christian character and was one of the first members of the Mennonite church, in his community. He lived all his life on the old homestead, in Allen county. Fannie Diller, his wife, was a native of Switzerland and married Peter Bixel, in Wayne county, Ohio.

'Abraham Bixel moved, with his parents, to Allen county when but three years of age. It was there that he received his early education in the typical log-cabin school house. Although his educational advantages were limited, he became a self-made man, and being a careful reader, greatly ad- vanced himself by home study. When he was twenty-one years of age, May 5, 1864, he was married to Magdalene Schumacher, the daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Suter) Schumacher. After his marriage, he remained on the old homestead, until 1878, when he sold out and moved to the old Peter Schumacher farm, in Richland township, Allen county. This he sold, in 1903, and then retired, moving to Pandora, where he now lives. Abra- ham Bixel was one of sixteen children. His wife, Magdalene, was also one of sixteen children, a remarkable coincidence. Abraham Bixel was a very successful farmer and owned more than two hundred acres. He and his wife were the parents of twelve children, Dr. Peter D .; David C .; Sarah, who died at the age of three; Noah, Elizabeth, John, who is dean of the

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Conservatory of Music, at Ottawa, Kansas; Samuel, Mary, Lydia, Adam, Menno and Susan.

Doctor Bixel spent his boyhood days on the old home place, in Allen county. Here he received his early education, completing his course in the common school at the age of twenty-one. He then went to work in a store, at Bluffton, and remained here for six years. When twenty-seven years of age he and Benjamin Schumacher bought the firm of C. S. Day & Company, dealers in groceries, queensware, where they also became the proprietors of a bakery. They stayed in this business for two years, when the firm be- came Bixel & Welty. This firm continued for two years longer and then the store was sold.

Peter D. Bixel then took a preparatory course in medicine at the Uni- versity of Cincinnati. The next year he entered the Eclectic Medical College, at Cincinnati, graduating in 1901, where he stood next to the head of his class in surgery. After graduating, he located at Bluffton, Ohio, and went into partnership with Doctor Sutter.

This partnership continued for nine months, when Doctor Bixel moved to Pandora, where he now resides and where he has established a large and growing practice. In addition to his university preparatory course, he has pursued his studies and kept up to the demands of the profession by at- tending lectures at Chicago and Cincinnati. Doctor Bixel is a member of the National Eclectic Medical Association and the Ohio State Eclectic Medi- cal Association, the Northwestern Eclectic Medical Association and the American Medical Association, the Ohio State Alopathic Medical Associa- tion and the Northwestern Ohio Alopathic Medical Association, as well as the Putnam County Medical Association.

He is ex-president of the Northwestern Ohio Eclectic Medical Associa- tion and twice secretary of that association. Likewise he is ex-secretary of the Putnam County Medical Association.

Peter D. Bixel, M. D., was married on December 19, 1889, to Elizabeth Steiner, daughter of Christian and Magdalene Lugibihl Steiner, the family history of whom is to be found in the sketch of Peter Steiner, contained elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Bixel's parents were pioneers in Putnam county. Mrs. Bixel was born on November 1, 1867, and reared one mile east of Pandora. She received her education in the common schools of Riley township.

To Doctor and Mrs. Bixel have been born three children, Stella has been a student at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and graduated in the class of 1915. She is a graduate of the Pandora high school. Munson Rus-

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sell graduated from Pandora high school and is now a student at Bluffton College. Madeline is a student in high school.

Peter D. Bixel, M. D., has been a life-long Republican. For six years he was health officer of Riley township. He was also a member of the board of education for eight years, and president of the board for four years. Doctor Bixel and family are members of the Great Mennonite church, of which he is an ardent supporter.

The subject of this sketch is one of Putnam county's most progressive professional men and stands high in the community in a professional and personal way. He is a most careful and conscientious physician and like- wise a public-spirited citizen, taking an active part in everything that might result in the betterment of the community. Altogether. Doctor Bixel is a very valuable citizen to the county where he has spent practically all his life.

PETER P. STEINER.

Specific mention is made in the following paragraphs of one of the worthy citizens of Putnam county, Ohio, and one who has figured in the growth and development of the financial and commercial interests of this favored section, whose interests have been identified with its progress, con- tributing, in a definite measure, in his particular spheres of action to the well-being of the community in which he resides and to the advancement of its normal and legitimate growth. Earnest purpose of tireless energy, combined with mature judgment and every-day common sense, have been among his most prominent characteristics. He has merited the respect and esteem which are accorded him by all with whom he has had social or busi- ness relations.

Peter P. Steiner was born on December 28, 1845, in Richland town- ship, Allen county, Ohio, the son of Peter and Barbara (Schumacher) Steiner, the former born in Switzerland, on a farm, October 7, 1811, died in Richland township, Allen county, three miles west of Bluffton, August 22, 1870, at the age of fifty-nine years. Peter Steiner, Sr., was the son of Christian Steiner and wife, the latter's maiden name being Luginbihl. Christian Steiner was born in 1770, in Switzerland, and died on his farm in Richland township, Allen county, in January, 1846. In addition to being a farmer in Switzerland, he was a preacher, and followed this calling after settling in America in 1836. He and his wife had six children when they

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came to America, as follow: Christian, John, Ulrich, Peter, Barbara and Elizabeth. Christian, the eldest son, had preceded the rest of the family by two years. He settled in Wayne county and, like his father, was a minister. Another brother, Ulrich, also took up the ministry, and all were faithful members of the Mennonite church. Christian Steiner, Sr., died ten years after coming to America.

Peter Steiner was the fourth child of his parents. He was married at the age of twenty-five, just before coming to America, to Barbara Schuh- macher, who was the daughter of Christian and Barbara Schuhmacher. Both she and her father were natives of Basel, Switzerland. Her parents and four children came to America at the same time the Steiner family came. The children of this family were Peter, who was a minister; John, Christian and Barbara, the mother of Peter P., the subject of this sketch. Peter Steiner, and the remainder of the family, settled in what is now Rich- land township, Allen county, which was then a part of Putnam county. They entered land from the government, for which they paid one dollar an acre. The Steiners had been considered well-to-do in Switzerland, were prosperous farmers and had lived on the same farm, "The Buchwald," for seven suc- cessive generations. This was a large farm, probably consisting of two or three hundred acres.

Christian Schuhmacher, the father of Peter P. Steiner's mother, was a miller in Switzerland and also a wine merchant. After entering his land from the government, built a log cabin and proceeded to clear his land It is related that he used to haul grain to mill at Sandusky, Tiffin and Maumee, forty or fifty miles away, with an ox team. He could only haul about fifteen or twenty bushels at. a time, on account of the bad condition of the roads, and it usually took a week. At all times he would have to carry an ax, with which to cut his way through fallen trees. It was on the farm that he established, by dint of energy and push, that his eleven children were reared, all of whom grew to man and womanhood. The children were as follow: Catherine, deceased, wife of Christian Gratz; Christian; Barbara. deceased, wife of Peter D. Diller; Mary Ann, deceased, wife of Chris Hilty; Elizabeth; David, who died at the age of twenty-one; Peter P .; Mattie, who died at the age of twenty; Benjamin died at the age of fifty-five, in 1895; Fannie, who died single, and Susan, deceased, wife of Benjamin Hilty. They are now all deceased with the exception of Christian, Elizabeth and Peter P. The mother of these children died about 1885. His father, at the time of his death, owned four hundred and twenty-six acres of land and was known as a good farmer. He was a Democrat and a very earnest supporter of the Mennonite church.

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It was on the old homestead farm in Richland township, Allen county, that Peter P. Steiner spent his boyhood days. Here he attended the district. schools and, of course, helped his father on the farm, until twenty-two. years of age.

Peter P. Steiner was married on March 7, 1867, and remained on the home place until the following fall, when he moved to Riley township, Putnam county, on a place owned by his father. This farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres, he later purchased from his father. It was in a. virgin state and Mr. Steiner, like his father, cleared the land and built his cabin. He felled the first tree on the site of his new home on October 28, 1867. He cleared two acres and on December 13, with his bride, moved to his new home. He had previously dug a well. His wife was Elizabeth Luginbihll, the daughter of Christian Luginbihll and wife. Mrs. Steiner was a native of Riley township, Putnam county, and her parents were natives of Switzerland. She died on September 20, 1905. She was a splendid Chris- tian woman, a devoted wife and loving mother. She was the mother of four children, Helen, the wife of P. D. Amstutz, the postmaster of Pandora, who have three children, R. Mendelssohn, Melvina and Hilda W .; Martha, the twin sister of Helen, who died in infancy; Noah, who married Eliza- beth Luginbihll, and has five children, Melvin, Eulalia, William, Waldo and Earl D., and Mary, who died at the age of twenty-seven. She attended Findlay College and was a teacher of music. She was a fine Christian young woman, very popular and highly esteemed in the community.

After clearing up his farm, Peter P. Steiner continued to farm until 1898, when he moved to Pandora. The following spring he entered the milling business, the firm name being Steiner, Hilty & Schuhmacher. The firm name now is Steiner, Hilty & Kempf, Mr. Kempf being the bookkeeper. Mr. Steiner has continued in the milling business up to the present time. He was elected president of the firm and has since continued to hold this office. In addition to his other holdings, Mr. Steiner has accumulated considerable town property. He is a stockholder in the Farmers' Banking Company.

Mr. Steiner is a Democrat. He is one of the main supports of the Mennonite church and has been a deacon in that church for the past forty years. He is one of the most substantial citizens of Riley township and Pandora. He is influential and highly respected and is a fine type of the present-day Christian gentleman. Mr. Steiner deserves great credit for his many accomplishments. He has toiled early and late, but he has the satisfaction of knowing now that he has always toiled to good purpose.

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FRED H. ELLERBROCK.

The Ellerbrock family have been residents of Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, since 1836. In that year the grandfather of Fred H. Ellerbrock. came from Germany and located in this county, when practically the entire county was covered with a dense forest. In fact, it was only a few years- after the county was organized that the Ellerbrock family became permanent residents. They have taken an active part in the life of this community, from earliest pioneer times, and the various members of this family are- highly respected in the community where they live.

Fred H. Ellerbrock, the son of Fred and Lizette (Wischmeyer) Eller- brock, was born September 25, 1882, at Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio His father was born, in Ottawa township, in this county, near Glandorf, and was a son of Herman Ellerbrock, who was born in Hanover, Germany, and came to America, about 1836, where at once located on the farm near Glandorf, in Putnam county. There he spent the remainder of his life.

Fred Ellerbrock, Sr., was reared on his father's farm, at Glandorf, and, upon reaching his maturity, married Lizette Wischmeyer. She was born at Hunteberg, Oznabruck, Germany, and was a daughter of Henry Wisch- meyer and wife. She came here in her girlhood days with her sister, while her father later came from the Fatherland and spent his declining years in Glandorf. Fred Ellerbrock, Sr., was a life-long farmer, first locating in Pleasant township and later, near Glandorf. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary Borgelt, who died, leaving two children, William and Mary. To his second marriage were born six children, three sons and three daughters, Henry; Lucy, the wife of Henry Karkhoff ; Fred, of Glan- dorf; Bernard; Lena Frances, living, and Louis, who died in early childhood. The father of these children died in July, 1913. His widow is now living near Glandorf.

Fred H. Ellerbrock was reared on his father's farm near Glandorf, and educated in the public schools of his home neighborhood. He, in partnership with Charles B. Ellerbrook, in 1910, bought the saloon at Glandorf, which they have since operated in partnership, conducting the business in a clean and orderly manner.

Mr. Ellerbrock was married in May, 1908, to Dora Kaufman, who was born, at New Cleveland, Ohio, and is the daughter of William and Catherine (Schmenk) Kaufman. Her father was a life-long farmer, at New Cleveland. Mr. Ellerbrock and his wife are the parents of three children: Marie, Norbert and Alma.

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Mr. Ellerbrock and his family are members of the Catholic church, at Glandorf, and he belongs to the St. John's and Ss. Peter and Paul's Aid societies.

WARREN F. REED, M. D.

The late Warren F. Reed, M. D., was a resident of Putnam county, Ohio, from the spring of 1867 until the spring of 1913. For many years he was one of the leading practitioners of the county, and was also inter- ested in the political life of the county as well. During the twenty years preceding his death, he was president of the Bank of Ottawa, although he continued to practice his profession until the time of his decease. When a young man he enlisted for service in the Civil War, and made a notable record in that terrible conflict. Doctor Reed was a well-known man, of broad character, and most kindly disposition. He was unassuming in man- ner, devoted to his profession and faithful in the discharge of every duty which came before him.

The late Warren F Reed was born near Lima, Ohio, November 22, 1839, and died at his home, in Ottawa, Marchi 28, 1913. He was a son of Manuel and Elizabeth (O'Harr) Reed. His father was a native of Trum- bull county, Ohio, and became a resident of Allen county, Ohio, as early as 1834, purchasing a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of government land in that year, near Lima. He married Elizabeth O'Harr, a daughter of Arthur O'Harr, one of the pioncers of Franklin county, Ohio. Manuel Reed was a farmer and carpenter, was a man of quiet and unostentatious manner and exerted a beneficial influence in the community where he resided. His ancestors were pioneers of Pennsylvania. The O'Harrs were descended from an old Scottish family, a number of representatives of which settled in Pennsylvania early in the history of that state.

Doctor Reed was educated in the district schools of Allen county and later graduated from the Lima high school. When a young man, he began the study of medicine, under Doctor Harper, of Lima, and after returning from the war, he completed his medical education in the University of Mich- igan, from which institution he graduated in 1866. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of New York City, and, in the spring of 1867, began the practice of his profession in the town of Kalida, Putnam county, Ohio, where he lived until 1890. In that year he moved to Ottawa, having been elected to the office of county auditor on the Republican ticket.

Eno by E - Williams . Jr

W7. Reed

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His election was a striking tribute to his worth, as a citizen, in view of the fact that the county was very strongly Democratic. Doctor Reed was ap- pointed assignee of the Ottawa Exchange Bank in 1894, and in July of that year, in partnership with I. H. Kahle, of Glandorf, and W. H. Harper, Jr., of Lima, he reorganized the Bank of Ottawa, and was president of that financial institution until his death, in the spring of 1913.

In addition to his business and official duties, Doctor Reed continued the practice of medicine during all these years. He was a member of the Northwestern Medical Society, the Putnam County Medical Society and Ohio State Medical Society. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons and had attained to the chapter, council and commandery degrees.

Doctor Reed was married in 1873, to Clyde Gordon, the daughter of Judge John H. and Mrs. Jane C. (Perry) Gordon. To this union four children were born, Mary, Nellie, Gordon, who died at the age of seventeen, and one child, who died in infancy.

John H. Gordon, the father of Mrs. Reed, was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and was reared to manhood in that state. He was largely a self- educated man, and came to Ohio early in his manhood and settled in Butler county, where he married Mrs. Jane C. Perry. To this union five daughters were born, Ruth, deceased, who was the wife of Edward Dunn, of Indian- apolis, Indiana; Rebecca J., the wife of W. C. G. Krauss, of Ottawa, Ohio; Zella, the wife of George D. Kinder, of Ottawa; Clyde, the wife. of Doctor Reed, and Mrs. Minerva Hornaday, now the matron of the Soldiers' Home. at Xenia, Ohio. Mrs. Gordon, by a previous marriage, had one daughter, Mary P., who became the wife of James Johnson, of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Mr. Gordon taught school, in Ohio, for several years, after coming to this state, and made an excellent record as an instructor. He was especially proficient in mathematics and made this branch of study a specialty. He served three terms as recorder of Butler county, Ohio, and also engaged in farming and in the livery business at Hamilton, Ohio. In 1856 Mr. Gordon moved his family to Putnam county, and for some years thereafter was engaged in the manufacture of lumber, but later, turned his attention to con- tracting, building and the making of stone roads. He was elected to the office of probate judge for two terms, served two terms as mayor of Ottawa, and was a justice of the peace for several years. In this latter office, Mr. Gordon always used a reasonable effort to effect an amicable adjustment of difficulties without bringing the cause in dispute to trial. He had a deep dislike for litigation, on account of the bad feelings which were usually

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aroused by a trial. A man of strictest morality and integrity, he enjoyed the confidence of the community to the fullest extent, and would often suffer a wrong rather than commit one. While serving as probate judge, he fre- quently refused to collect fees, feeling that the people were too poor to be taxed for his services. Liberal to a fault, his charities were widely dispensed, and in consequence he never succeeded in accumulating great wealth. Mr. Gordon was a stanch Democrat, but during the Civil War, he was an ardent Union man and did much to induce the young men of his county to volun- teer. By reason of an accident, in which he lost an arm when a young man, he was rendered ineligible for military duty. His life was one of high aims and in his death Putnam county lost one of its most prominent and valued citizens.

Doctor Reed was a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and although he had many narrow escapes, he returned home after the close of the war without injury or without im- pairment of his health. He was a keen business man and an executive of marked ability. He was president of the building commission, who had charge of the erection of the present Putnam county court house, and rendered valuable and efficient service while the seat of justice was being erected. It may be assumed that Doctor Reed was a man of unusual attain- ments, by reason of the fact that he took such an active part in the life of his community. His career, extending over nearly half a century, was fraught with great good to his county, and at his death he was sincerely mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.

THOMAS HARVEY ROWER.

The Rower family came to Putnam county, Ohio, in 1849, at which time Frederick Rower, the great-grandfather of Thomas Harvey Rower, came to this country from Saxony and located in Franklin county, at which place he died. For more than sixty years this family has been identified with the history of the county, and has seen it emerge from its primitive state to the prosperous county which it is today. Thomas H. Rower was. a school teacher in his younger days, then was cashier of the First National Bank of Leipsic for a time, but since 1907 has been a partner of W. F. Stevenson in general insurance, bonds, loans and real estate.

Thomas Harvey Rower, the son of Lewis A. and Mary E. (Begg).

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Rower, was born January 9, 1878, in Jackson township, three and one-half miles west of Kalida, along the Big Auglaize river. His father, who was the son of John and Nancy Rower, was born in 1851, on the same farm. John Rower was the son of Frederick Rower, who was born in Dresden, Saxony, in 1779, and came to America in 1799, and located in Pennsylvania, later crossing the mountains and locating on a farm in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1812, where he died in 1826. His wife, Elizabeth (Long) Rower, died in 1846. He was one of the first pioneer settlers to make his home- coming in 1849 and literally carved and drained a home out of the swampy forests. The pioneer experiences of this sterling German-American citizen would make interesting reading.

Lewis A. Rower was only a child when his father died at the age of thirty-two. His mother later married John Rager, and moved to Franklin county, and there Lewis A. grew to manhood and married Mary E. Begg, February II, 1875. She was born in Franklin county, a daughter of John and Mary Begg, who came from Cumbernauld, Scotland, in 1844, and lo- cated in Franklin county. The Begg family lived in Franklin county most of their lives, but about the time of the war lived for two years in Putnam county, after which they returned to Franklin county, and later to Allen and Putnam counties, where they spent the remainder of their days. After Lewis A. Rower was married he moved back to the old Rower home in Putnam county, west of Kalida, and farmed there until his death in 1886. He died at the age of thirty-five, the same age as his father at the time of the latter's death. Lewis A. Rower left his widow with five children, John, who died in infancy; Thomas H., of Leipsic; Mary Janet, of Kalida, Ohio; Lewis Edson, of Kalida, Ohio; Philip A., of Kalida, Ohio; Mabel A., the wife of Rudolph Raabe, of Ft. Jennings, Ohio. The widow remained on the farm until 1913, when she moved into Kalida, where she now makes her home.

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History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 29

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836- Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1744

Author: Kinder, George D., 1836-
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Indianapolis, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1744