USA > Ohio > Putnam County > History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions > Part 92
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In a large degree, Christian Schumacher has followed in the footsteps of his worthy father. He stands high in the community where he lives and commands the respect of everybody. He enjoys the reputation of being an upright citizen and one who has done very much for the community where he lives. Mr. Schumacher is a Democrat. He is a member of the Grace
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Mennonite church, of which his son Albert is now the pastor. Formerly, Mr. Schumacher was a deacon in the Ebenezer church for ten years. Hc is a man of strong religious convictions and faithful to every religious trust and duty.
PHILIP NEUENSCHWANDER.
It is by no means an easy task to describe, within the limits of this review, the life of a man who has been eminently active and useful, and who by his own exertions, has reached the position of honor and trust in his busi- ness and in the political life of his community. But biography finds justi- fication, nevertheless, in recording such a life history, since the public claim a certain interest in the career of every individual. The time invariably arrives when it become advisable to set forth the facts in a man's career. It is with a certain degree of satisfaction that the chronicler essays the task of touching briefly upon the record of Philip Neuenschwander, a well-known citizen of Pandora and the proprietor of an automobile garage at this place.
Philip Neuenschwander was born on July 23, 1861, in Richland town- ship, Allen county, Ohio. He is the son of Isaac and Mary (Steincr) Neuenschwander. Isaac Neuenschwander was born in 1820, at Basel, Swit- zerland, and, in 1825, came to America with his parents when five years of age. They were seventy-eight days on the voyage, and, upon arriving in this country, came first to Wayne county. There were five children in the family, three sons and two daughters, all of whom were born in Switzer- land. They entered government land in Wayne county, the deed for which was written on leather. Here Isaac Neuenschwander spent his childhood on the homestead, and, when a young man, came to Richland township, Allen county, where he made his home with his brother, John, who was farming about four and one-half miles northwest of Bluffton. He remained with his brother about ten years when he was married to Mary Steiner. She was born in Richland township, one and one-half miles northwest of Bluffton, about 1827, and her parents were pioneers of Allen county. After his mar- riage, Isaac Neuenschwander located on a farm five and one-half miles west of Bluffton, which comprised one hundred and sixty acres and was heavily timbered and largely covered with water. Here he lived until his death, in 1890. He passed through all of the pioneer experiences. He built a one and one-half story log cabin, which later burned in midwinter when there was a heavy snow on the ground. It was replaced by another, which
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served for a number of years, or until Mr. Neuenschwander built a ten- roomed brick house, where Philip Neuenschwander was born and where he spent his childhood and grew to manhood. He attended the district schools in winter and helped his father and brothers clear the land during the summer. He remained on the old home place until twenty-three years of age.
Philip Neuenschwander was married in January, 1885, to Maggie Bixel, the daughter of Peter and Fannie (Suter) Bixel, the former of whom was a native of Wayne county and descended from Swiss pioneer stock, and the latter born two miles southeast of Pandora also of Swiss stock. After his marriage, Philip Neuenschwander located about two miles east of Pan- dora on the Ridge road, on the old Lenhart farm of eighty acres, and which he purchased, living here from 1885 until 1909. When Mr. Neuen- schwander purchased this farm, fifty acres were cleared. He cleared the remainder of the land with the exception of seven and one-half acres. On this farm three children were born and reared. Five years after his mar- riage, he suffered the greatest misfortune of his life when his wife, who had been faithful and devoted to her husband, died on January 11, 1890. She was a member of the Mennonite church and a young woman with a beautiful Christian character. Philip and Maggie (Bixel) Neuenschwander were the parents of three children, Willis Lee, who is a student at Oberlin College, where he is preparing for the ministry; Waldo Milton, a graduate of the Ohio State Veterinary College, who was employed by the state for one year, when he located in Bluffton, where he now enjoys a growing prac- tice in his chosen profession. He married Elma Steiner and they have one daughter, Elenora; Magdalena is still single and at home.
Philip Neuenschwander has been a very successful farmer. He retired from the farm in 1909, and moved to Pandora. Two years later, he disposed of his farm. After moving to Pandora, he was appointed township road supervisor and held this position for one year. After this, he bought an interest in the Pandora Cement Block Company and acted as manager of this firm for four years. He disposed of his interests in 1914, and pur- chased the garage of Henry Suter. In company with L. G. Steiner, he has operated this garage since 1914, which is known as the Pandora Auto Com- pany. It has up-to-date equipments, a splendid salesroom and a large patronage.
Philip Neuenschwander is a Democrat, has been a member of the Riley township school board for five years, during which time the Pandora high school was built. He is a member of the Grace Mennonite church and a
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trustee of that denomination. There are no better men in Riley township than Philip Neuenschwander and few citizens who are more progressive and up-to-date than he. As a man, he enjoys the respect of all who know him, for he has a clean character and his integrity is unquestioned.
EDMUND L. LAIBE.
It cannot be other than interesting to note, in the series of personal sketches appearing in this work, the varying conditions that have com- passed those whose careers are outlined, and the effort has been made in each case to throw well-focused light upon the individuality and to bring into proper perspective the scheme of each respective career. Each man who strives to fulfill his part in connection with human life and human activi- ties is deserving of recognition, whatever may be his field of endeavor, and it is the function of works of this nature to perpetuate, for future genera- tions, an authentic record concerning those represented in its pages, and the value of such publications is certain to be cumulative for all time to come, showing forth the individual and specific accomplishments of which generic history is ever engendered.
Edmund L. Laibe was born in Buffalo, New York, on November 7, 1854, and is the son of Marcus and Catherine (Basinger ) Laibe, both natives of the old country from the Province of Alsace-Lorraine, and where the paternal and maternal grandparents lived and died. The maternal grand- father was a soldier under the great Napoleon, accompanying him on the. march to Russia, and was present at the siege of Moscow. He was one of the few who returned to France after the great campaign of that year. Of the paternal grandparents' children, there was a son, John, besides the father of the subject of this review, who came to this country, and later died in the state of Michigan.
Marcus Laibe came to this country when he was twenty-one years of age, and, having learned the blacksmithing trade, entered into that business in New York and carried it on until about the time he met his future wife. Catherine Basinger left the province of Alsace-Lorraine when a very young girl, and was forty-eight days on board ship crossing the Atlantic ocean before her arrival in New York. After her marriage to Marcus Laibe, they continued to reside in New York, where he engaged in the baking business, having learned the baker trade in the old country, which business he con-
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tinued for several years. Having decided to remove to the city of Buffalo, New York, where he located and established a blacksmith shop on Walnut street, he remained there for three or four years, then removed to the town of Pandora, Putnam county, Ohio, where he also engaged in black- smithing, erected a shop for that purpose, and continued for a period of fourteen years. After these years, Edward Laibe's father acquired a farm consisting of eighty acres in Riley township, this county, which he cleared for general farm purposes, besides conducting a blacksmith shop in con- nection therewith, when he, subsequently, purchased one hundred twenty- five acres additional land. Having successfully farmed and served the com- munity by blacksmithing for a period of twenty years, he decided to take up his residence near the town of Ottawa, Ohio, where he purchased five acres of land and built a substantial home, in which he and his wife resided until their deaths. To them were born the following children: Amelia, Ed- mund, Ely, Edward, William, George, Frank Mark, and an infant, which died without name. The deceased parents were highly esteemed citizens of sterling worth, and, together with the family, are members of St. John's Catholic church of Ottawa.
At the time Edmund L. Laibe's father and mother removed from the city of Buffalo, New York, and settled in Putnam county, Edmund L. was. about one year old. In his youth he attended the school in Pandora, this county, and lived under the parental roof until the time of his marriage to Magdelene Croft on November 11, 1876, who was the daughter of Joseph and Mary Croft, natives of the Province of Alsace-Lorraine, and who set- tled in Ottawa township, Putnam county, in a very early day. Besides the wife of our subject, there was born to that union, Joseph, Mary, Katherine, Mary Magdelene, John, Jacob, Matthew, George and Frank.
After his marriage, Edmund L. Laibe removed to a farm in Riley town- ship, containing one hundred and twenty acres, which he purchased and cleared, erecting a number of farm buildings and, in general, putting the place in first-class condition. After residing on this place for twenty-one years, he decided to move to Ottawa, where he built a residence near that of his father's and engaged in the meat business. Later on he discontinued this for the purpose of devoting his entire time and attention to the buying of live stock, in which line he has been very successful, and is at this time ... engaged. The residence erected in Ottawa remained his home for nineteen years. He is now pleasantly domiciled in a substantial home just north of the town. To Edmund L. and Magdelene (Croft) Laibe have been born the following children : Mary, who is married to Benjamin Herringhaus,
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resides in Ottawa, and have three children, Francis, Cornelius and Robert ; Frank, the husband of Cordelia Kahle, an enterprising druggist of Ottawa; Blanche, the wife of Cornelius Ellis, who lives in Bloomington, Illinois, and where he makes his headquarters as a traveling salesman. They have two children; George married Laura Kahle and they have two children, and reside in Ottawa, where he is occupied as a traveling salesman. Of Edmund L. Laibe's children, Frank, Blanche and George received their education in the schools in Ottawa, to which George added a course in a business college in Lima, Ohio; William attended college in Rensselaer, Indiana, and Mary was a student at the Ursuline convent in Toledo, Ohio.
Edmund L. Laibe, wife and family, are members of St. John's Catholic church at Ottawa, and Mr. Laibe is regarded by all as being one of the fore- most citizens of this community, having established a firm reputation for honesty of purpose in all his dealings with his fellow men, and by being the advocate of clean and wholesome principles in the home, society and politics. Because of his splendid character and good business ability, he has earned and enjoys the sincere respect of all who know him.
CHARLES W. DRAPER.
A representative of the younger modern business man, is Charles W. Draper, of West Leipsic, Ohio, who displays, to a marked degree, those qualities which accentuate the men who are at the head of affairs today .. Mr. Draper is thoroughly aware of the opportunities which confront him and in his business he welcomes any innovation which is practical and suits. his needs.
Charles W. Draper was born on September 23, 1879, in Hancock county, Ohio, and is the son of Warren C. and Almira (Hosler) Draper, who were the parents of four children, Charles Warren, Belle, Harry H. and Ber -- nice.
The father of Mr. Draper, Warren C. Draper, was born in Summit county, Ohio, on January 2, 1853, the son of Warren Luke and Louisa. (Loracole) Draper, who were the parents of the following children; Sarah Ann, Warren C., Salina Elizabeth, James Edward, Maretia J., Charles. War- ren C. Draper was reared in Hancock county and lived at home until he- was twenty-three years of age, when, on December 23, 1876, he married Almira Jane Hosler, the daughter of John and Isabella Hosler, who were
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pioneers of Hancock county. Warren Draper, after marriage, lived four years near Arcadia, Hancock county, and then moved to within three miles (northeast) of Gilboa, Putnam county. He bought eighty acres, which were but partly cleared, although the land is practically all cleared now. Mr. Draper is a general farmer and stock raiser.
The education of Charles Draper was obtained in the common and high schools, also in Crawfis College, from which he graduated, and after which he took a business course of shorthand and accounting in the Lima Business College, Lima, Ohio. Later, Mr. Draper taught school in Putnam county for four years. After this he spent four years in the lumber business in Arkansas. He returned to the North and was employed by Hixon & Company, a lumber firm, in Toledo, Ohio, as superintendent of their yards at Glandorf, in Putnam county and at Winchester, Indiana, where he worked three years. He came to Leipsic about 1909, where he was employed as manager of the Lucas Produce Company, of West Leipsic, which position he now holds. The Lucas Produce Company is a New York concern, which buys poultry and ships it dressed.
. On June 20, 1910, Mr. Draper married Edith Terflinger, whose father, J. P. Terflinger, was a native of Virginia and his wife was a native of Allen county, Ohio. Charles W. and Edith (Terflinger) Draper are the parents of three children, James Edward, John Warren and Richard Charles.
The Leipsic chapter of the Knights of Pythias consider Mr. Draper as a valuable member. In his politics, he is a Republican, while he and his family are members of the Lutheran Evangelical church. Mr. Draper is friendly and congenial, and endowed with a happy disposition, which has gained for him a wide circle of friends. At the same time his recognized ability and trustworthiness enables him to maintain a high standing in his sphere.
HERMAN B. SCHMENK.
Herman B. Schmenk, son of Louis and Dorothy (Lammers) Schmenk, was born on May 8, 1872, in the southeastern part of Liberty township, Put- nam county, Ohio. His father was born in Liverpool, Ohio, August 8, 1849, whose parents, Herman and Lydia Schmenk, were natives of Germany, where they were engaged in farming, but, later immigrated to this country and settled in Putnam county, Ohio. Four children were born to this union : Henry, Jennie, Catherine and Louis. The parents are now deceased.
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Soon after the marriage of Louis Schmenk and Dorothy Lammers, who was the daughter of Bernard and Lydia Lammers, of New Cleveland, they moved to Liberty township, Putnam county, where he engaged in the manufacture of brick and drain tile. The tile factory was located near the town of Leipsic and was operated for about ten years. Concluding to discontinue the manufacturing business, Mr. Schmenk then purchased a sixty-acre tract of land in Liberty township, to which twenty acres were added at a later date. To Louis and Dorothy Schmenk were born three children: Herman, Bernard and Mary; and, by a second marriage, to Elizabeth Winkler (deceased), ten children were born: Casper; Henry; Addie, deceased; Adolph; John; Gertrude; Walter; Amelia; Romana and Louis.
Herman Schmenk's mother died when he was in the fifth year of his age, and his early life was spent about his father's farms. Upon attaining the age of nineteen, he concluded to leave the farm and found occupation with a railroad company, working in the capacity of a section hand. After eighteen months' experience in this class of labor, performing the hardest kinds of manual work and receiving but little compensation, he was taken severely ill and was obliged to give up. As a result of this arduous em- ployment, he acquired habits of industry and extreme frugality, which proved a valuable asset to him in his later undertakings.
Herman B. Schmenk was married in 1899, to Catherine Wischmeyer, of Ballman, Ottawa township, Putnam county, daughter of Ferdinand and Catherine Wischmeyer, who were natives of Germany. Immediately after his marriage, he removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he opened up and conducted a restaurant business for a short time. Not being entirely satis- fied with this occupation, he discontinued it, and then secured a place in a saw-mill. This change resulted in such a severe accident that he was dis- abled for four years, occurring but six months for the time of his marriage. Misfortune seemed to follow him, and at the time of his recovery from the accident in the saw-mill, he contracted typhoid fever, which kept him down for some time.
While these happenings greatly affected him physically, and depleted him financially, he was not daunted from striving for success. Through all his misfortunes he was constantly encouraged by his ever-faithful, loyal and loving wife, whose close attention to him gave him inspiration to forge ahead. After the last illness, he went to Ottawa, where he secured employ- ment in a restaurant, and, on regaining his strength, he went to work in a tile factory, where he earned fair wages and began to accumulate funds which would give him a new start in life.
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It was in the year 1910 that he secured a position on the road with a dealer in produce as a salesman. Having given this business his close and undivided attention, acquiring a keen knowledge of the details, he decided, after two years in the service of his employer, to embark in a similar line for himself. Establishing as a dealer in poultry, butter and eggs, a buyer and shipper of cream and other products, Mr. Schmenk has placed himself in an enviable position, has proved himself highly successful as a business man. His business has grown to such proportions that it is necessary for him to employ numerous purchasing agents, who cover the surrounding ter- ritory in wagons. All this has been accomplished within the time of a very few years, despite continued reverses, gaining for himself and family a most substantial business, a comfortable home situated on four and one-half acres. of the choicest land, valued at about three thousand five hundred dollars.
To Herman B. and Catherine ( Wischmeyer) Schmenk were born four children : Hugo, Harold, Ilva and Alveda. All are members of Sts. Peter and Paul's Roman Catholic church at Ottawa. The ever good, loving, faith- ful and true wife and mother, unfortunately, was called from this world on January 2, 1915.
JOHN HENRY HARTMAN.
Nothing is so essential to a lasting business success as absolute integrity, and this is undoubtedly the cause of the prosperity attending the business of John Henry Hartman, of Columbus Grove. His honesty is unquestioned and he has the confidence and esteem of his fellow men.
It was in Monroe township, Allen county, on September 8, 1857, that John Henry Hartman came into this world. He is the son of John S. and Elizabeth (Morris) Hartman, who were the parents of the children briefly mentioned as follow: Mrs. Levina Jennings lives in Lima, Ohio; John H. is the subject of this sketch; William lives in Allen county, Ohio; Joseph is on an Allen county farm; Mrs. Maggie Huffubuat lives in Allen county, as does George Hulbert; Mrs. Ella Blosser resides in Cloverdale, Ohio, and Mrs. Cora Snyder lives on the homestead.
John Henry Hartman's paternal grandfather, Godfrey Hartman, was a native of Germania, Pennsylvania, who entered government land, eight miles north of Lima, Ohio, when his son, John S., was two years of age, to which land he came from Pennsylvania in a wagon drawn by oxen. He was a successful, hard-working man and a power in his community. He died on the homestead in 1873, when John H. was sixteen years of age.
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John S. Hartman worked on the home farm until he was married, when he bought forty acres of wild land for four hundred dollars, the land be- ing located three miles southwest of Columbus Grove, in Allen county. He spent his life on this farm, which he greatly improved, and where he died in March, 1906. He was a member of no lodge of a fraternal order, and never sought political honors, although he was township trustee for a time and held several other offices elected on the Democratic ticket. He was a devout member of the Christian church at West Cairo, Ohio. His wife is a native of Allen county, Ohio, and was born in October, 1835, the daughter of Henry and Margaret (Weaver) Morris, and she still lives on the home farm, at the age of seventy-nine years.
As it was necessary that he work on the home farm, John Henry Hart- man was poorly educated, attending the township schools as opportunity of- fered. He lived at home until his marriage and then bought a farm three miles west of Columbus Grove, Ohio, which he cultivated for six years, when he moved to Columbus Grove, where he successfully maintained a livery stable for three years, after which he sold out and moved back to Allen county, where he rented a farm for a short time and then bought it. Later, he bought his father-in-law's place, which he farmed for about four years and then sold out, moving back to Columbus Grove, where he established a furniture store, which he still operates in partnership with his son, Jay L., under the firm name of John H. Hartman & Son.
On November 18, 1879, John Henry Hartman married Martha Pettitt, the daughter of John and Jane (Severus) Pettitt, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and who settled in Coshocton, Ohio, at an early date, farming there until his marriage, when he moved to Putnam county, where he settled in the swamps near Ottawa, where he successfully de- veloped a farm. He died in December, 1909. His wife was a native of Coshocton county, Ohio; she died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. J. H. Hartman, August 12, 1906, at the age of eighty-three.
To the union of John Henry and Martha (Pettitt) Hartman were born the following children : Lula, who married Orlo Michael, lives at Van Wert, Ohio, where he is employed in a furniture store, to whom were born two chil- dren, John and Martha Maxiam; Alta married Charles Jones, a Pleasant town- ship farmer, and they have two children, Morris and Charles; Jay L. married Clara Clevenger, a native of Kalida, Ohio, and they live in Columbus Grove, Ohio, where he has a half interest in a furniture store with his father, and they have two children, Louise and Richard; Ray married Elsie Bogert and lives in Columbus Grove, where he maintains a thriving grocery
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store; Lay married Russell Henderson and resides in Columbus Grove; Zula still lives at home.
John Henry Hartman is a member of the Modern Woodmen of the World, is a Democrat and has been on the town council for four years. He and his family belong to the Christian church, of which he has been trustee for twenty years. He was formerly Sunday school superintendent and has always taken a deep interest in church work. He is a good business- man and his well-known integrity assures him of universal friendship and respect.
WILLIAM RAMPE.
There could be no more comprehensive history written of a city, or county, or even of a state and its people, than that which deals with the life- work of those who, by their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have placed themselves where they well deserve the title of "progressive," and in this review will be found the record of one who has outstripped the less active and less able plodders on the highway of life, one who has not been subdued by the many obstacles and failures that come to everyone, but who has made them stepping stones to higher things, and, at the same time that he was win- ning his way in the material affairs of life, gained a reputation for upright- ness and honor.
William Rampe was born in Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, on Jan- uary II, 1853, and is the son of William and Theresa (Ellerbrock) Rampe, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio. The father was born on December 11, 1827, in the Province of Han- over, Germany, where he attended school and learned the shoemaker trade. When he was twenty years old, he decided to immigrate to America, and was joined in the trip by his two brothers. This was in the year 1847, and upon arrival in this country he decided to make his home in the city of Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he followed his trade for the ensuing two years. He made a trip to the town of Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, in 1849, which was known to be largely settled by natives of Germany, and remained there until the following year, when he went to Dayton, Ohio, for the purpose of establishing himself in business. Six months later, however, he decided to return to Glandorf, Putnam county, Ohio, where he went into the business of manufacturing and retailing shoes. In this business, he attained a widespread reputation throughout the northwestern portion of the state
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