History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 93

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 93

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of Ohio, and many times found it necessary to employ nearly fifteen shoe- makers to take care of the production and thus enable him to supply the demand for his goods. Mr. Rampe's shoe trade was handled through estab- lished shoe dealers throughout this region, and he maintained a retail busi- ness himself to supply the local inhabitants.

In the year 1850, William Rampe was married to Theresa Ellerbrock, a daughter of William Ellerbrock and wife, who were among the early set- tlers coming to the town of Glandorf, Ohio, and to them were born twelve children. The wife and mother of these children was taken away by death on March 17, 1875. At a later date is recorded the second marriage to Wilhelmina Schmidt, and that he died in Glandorf, Ohio, on November 28, 1893, after having spent a noble and most useful life with his family and the inhabitants of Putnam county.

William Rampe, Jr., went to school in the town of Glandorf, Ohio, and in his youth plied his trade, as a shoemaker, in the employ of his able father. Under his father's direction, he became a master workman in this line, and remained in the business for a number of years. At a later date, Mr. Rampe established himself in the retail shoe business, in the town of Ottawa, Putnam county, Ohio, where he was very successful, and after many years. of service to the public in the sale of shoes, retired. Being a hustler and a. man of sound business judgment and sagacity, having an excellent knowl- edge of actual real estate values throughout this and other counties and states, Mr. Rampe, could not content himself by leading the life of a retired merchant, and, consequently, decided to embark in the real estate business, making a specialty of dealing in farm property in Ohio, Indiana and Michi- gan. In this line he has been a great success, possessing himself with large holdings in the surrounding country, and being a public-spirited man, is al- ways ready to give just consideration to meritorious propositions for the advancement of the community in which he lives. His residence and chief place of business, is in the town of Ottawa, Ohio, where he is reputably known to have been associated with real estate transactions for the past twenty-five years.

William Rampe was married three times, first time to Agnes Nienberg, now deceased, and by which marriage two children were born, Charles and Carrie ; the second time to Anna Dummeldinger, now deceased, and by whom there were three children, Elnora, Lillian and Alfred; the third marriage was to Elizabeth McGeery, to whom one child, Mary E., was born. Mary E. is now attending school at the Ursuline convent, Toledo, Ohio; Charles W. is married to Emma Fisher, formerly of Toledo, who now resides in the city

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of Cleveland, Ohio. To this union there were born four children, John, Paul, William and Robert. The father is the treasurer and one of the original founders of the well-known Foster Nut & Bolt Company, of Cleveland, Ohio; Carrie took a course in the art of nursing and follows that profession in the city of Cleveland, Ohio; Elnora is the wife of J. J. Lynch, formerly city auditor of Toledo, Ohio, and now engaged as a solicitor for the Hock- ing Valley railroad, to whom one child was born, Elnora; Lillian is the wife of H. Stechschulte and they reside in Lima, Ohio, where the husband is occupied as manager of the clothing house of the B. R. Baker Company, clothiers. Two children, William and Mary, were born to this union; Al- fred, at present a bachelor, is secretary and treasurer of the W. H. Coffee Company, of Toledo, Ohio, a high-priced tailoring establishment, and in which he is interested financially.

William Rampe, personally, is a man whom it is a pleasure to know, being generous-hearted, kind, helpful, honest in all his dealings with his fel- low men and eminently worthy of the trust and respect reposed in him, and he is today regarded as one of the county's most representative men. He is a member of Sts. Peter and Paul's Catholic church, of Ottawa, and an active member of the Knights of Columbus.

JOHN M. HECK.

One of the highly respected retired farmers of Liberty township, Put- nam county, Ohio, is John M. Heck, a loyal and courageous soldier in the Civil War, a successful farmer, prominent in fraternal circles in his com- munity, and has been honored with positions of political and public respon- sibility.

John M. Heck was born in 1835, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, the son of Michael and Christina (Klotz) Heck. Michael Heck came from Wur- temberg, Germany, and lived in Tuscarawas county, until 1870, when he moved to Putnam county and settled in Liberty township at what was called Maderia, an old stage-coach stop that had hopes of becoming the county seat at one time. Here he was a farmer for about fourteen years when he moved to Indiana, and there spent the remainder of his life. Christina Klotz was also a native of Wurtemberg and came to America about 1830, at the age of seventeen, with her parents, Frederick and Catherine (Harr) Klotz. Cath- erine Harr, the maternal grandmother of John M. Heck, was born in Wur-

JOHN M. HECK AND FAMILY.

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temberg, Germany, the daughter of Jacob Harr, who kept a hotel at Breiten- holtz called "At the Sign of the Lamb." He was a wealthy man and left a fund in perpetuity, the income of which was to furnish bread to the poor of that village. That fund is still in existence.

Michae' Heck was the son of Jacob Heck, whose father came from Holland to Switzerland and then to Wurtemberg, whence the family came to America. The name was originally spelled Hockh. Mr. Heck still has the certified copy of the parish record of the family's births, baptisms, and deaths with the seal on it. In that record the name is retained with the original spelling.

John M. Heck grew up in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and followed boat- ing on the Ohio canal. Later, he managed coal mines, furnaces and public works. He served as a soldier in Company A, One Hundred and Sixty- first Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service until just before the close of the war.

He remained in Tuscarawas county until 1873, when he came to Leipsic. He bought a farm one mile northwest of West Leipsic in 1872, and moved there in 1873. With the exception of two years, when he lived in Leipsic, he has farmed on this farm.

Mr. Heck was married in 1861 to Louisa Eckfeld, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, the daughter of Jacob and Margaret Eckfeld, who were born and married in Oldenburg, Germany. Nine children were born to Jacob and Margaret (Eckfeld) Heck, of whom two died in infancy. The other seven living children are George Frederick, Susan Amelia, Louisa Christina, Harvey Michael, Emma Catherine, Nellie May and David Nelson. George F. married Lillian Thompson and she died, leaving three children who were reared in Mr. Heck's home; Susan married George Hollabaugh, of West Leipsic, and has eight children; Louisa married Henry Bogard, who died in October, 1909, leaving six children; Harvey, who is unmarried, lives at Ottawa; Emma married Calvin Nemire, of Leipsic, and has four children living and three dead; Nellie married W. H. Reichelderfer, of near Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and has three children. They live on the Heck farm, and Nelson, who married Laura Arnold, lives in Leipsic and has one child.

William H. Reichelderfer, who married Mr. Heck's daughter, Nellie, was born near Harlan, Indiana, the son of Jacob and Sarah (Harter) Reich- elderfer. Jacob Reichelderfer was born and reared on the farm where he now lives near Harlan and has lived for eighty years. William H. Reichel- derfer helped to build the Detroit, Toledo & Ironton railroad through West

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Leipsic, in 1897 and 1899. For the first three years after he married Nellie Heck, they lived in Detroit, but came back to her old home, west of Leipsic, and helped her father conduct the farm. Their children are: Forest, Lucile and Mildred. William Reichelderfer and wife belong to the Lutheran church and Mr. Reichelderfer is a member of the Masons, while he and his wife both belong to the Patrons of Husbandry.

John M. Heck served one term as trustee of Liberty township and dis- charged his duties to the entire satisfaction of the people of that township. Mr. Heck is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, having been a member since 1871, and a charter member of Leipsic Lodge No. 548. Mr. Heck and his family belong to the Lutheran church.

Mrs. John M. Heck died on March 12, 1912. She was an earnest and devoted Christian woman, reading much in her German Bible and other good books and left to her children a noble example of Christian faith tried by affliction. She was an affectionate mother and a faithful helpmate to her husband to whom she was joined in wedlock for nearly fifty-three years.

HENRY F. LIGHT.

No more comprehensive history could be written of a city or county or even of a state and its people than that which deals with the life works of its. people, who, by their own endeavor and indomitable energy, have achieved success in their respective vocations. Henry F. Light is a man, who, in the business world, has outstripped his competitors on the highway of life, one who has never been subdued by obstacles and failures that come to every one, but he has made them stepping stones to higher things. At the time when he has been winning success in the material things of life, he has like- wise won a reputation for uprightness and square dealings, no inconsiderable factors in the career of the present-day business man.

Henry F. Light was born on August 19, 1858, at Columbus Grove, Ohio, the daughter of John and Mary (Walters) Light. John Light was a native of Richland county, Ohio, born on February 15, 1834. He is still living on his farm five miles west of Lima, Ohio, in Allen county. He is now retired at the age of eighty-one years. He has been a farmer most of his life, and during that time has conducted a grocery and meat market, having come to Putnam county at the age of twenty-one years. Here he engaged in farming until 1902, when he moved to Lima, Ohio. John and

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Mary Light celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary on December 14, 1914. John Light was a township trustee of Putnam county, and has held other minor township offices, has been an active Democrat throughout his life, and is a member of the Methodist church at Helsel Chapel, Ohio. Dur- ing his active career John Light was much interested in the work of his church and was a liberal donor to its enterprises. Very few obstacles could prevent his attendance at church. He has been a well-known man in his community. His wife, who before her marriage was Mary Walters, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, August 11, 1836, and came to Richland county, Ohio, with her parents at an early age. She is still living in Allen county at the age of seventy-nine years. Her father owned eighty acres of land, which he purchased when he came to Defiance county in 1855. Mrs. Light has been a kind and loving mother, and she and her husband have been the parents of four children: George W., who died in 1890; Henry F., whose history is here presented; Alfred H., who lives on the homestead farm in Allen county with his parents, and Frances B., who married Ed- ward Norris, the owner of a livery barn in Ohio City, Ohio. She owns a millinery store in that city.

Henry F. Light spent his boyhood days in the vicinity of Columbus Grove, Ohio. Until his marriage he lived with his parents on the home- stead farm in Putnam county. About one year before his marriage he learned the drug trade with J. M. Crawford, who became his father-in-law. He worked here as a clerk for about five years, and for the next five years worked in different business places in that capacity. Subsequently he took the examination for railway mail clerk and was appointed as clerk on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton and later on the Pennsylvania railroad, serv- ing in this capacity, altogether, two years. He resigned to enter the drug business at Columbus Grove with his brother-in-law, W. L. Crawford. They continued in business for three years, when Mr. Light sold out to Mr. Craw- ford and engaged in the hardware business at Columbus Grove with his father-in-law, John M. Crawford. This partnership continued for about four years, when they both sold out, and together they entered the lumber business. Mr. Light is still active in this business and has been for the past seventeen years.

Henry F. Light was married on May 5, 1881, to Minnie E. Crawford, the daughter of John M. and Sarah A. (Martin) Crawford. They have had two children, Archie L. and Cathaline, both of whom are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Light adopted a daughter from the Orphans' Home at Cincinnati,

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Ohio. This daughter, Helene, married W. S. Bell, of California, who is now employed by Mr. Light in the lumber business.

Henry F. Light, who was associated with John M. Crawford so long in business, is himself a member of the Methodist church, as well as his fam- ily. Mr. Light is now a trustee of the church and teacher of the men's Bible class in the Sunday school. He is an active Democrat and can always be depended upon when support is needed. Mr. Light is a member of Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 376, of Columbus Grove. He has served as mayor of Columbus Grove for one term, a member of the board of public affairs for several terms, town clerk for two terms and member of the school board for two terms. Henry F. Light is a congenial man and has a host of friends in and around Columbus Grove, where he is widely known.

SAMUEL H. KEIRNS.

Whether the elements of success in this life are an attribute of the in- dividual, or whether they are quickened by a process of circumstantial de- velopment, it is impossible to determine clearly. Yet the study of a successful life, whatever the field of endeavor, is none the less interesting and profitable by reason of the existence of this uncertainty. In the life career of Samuel H. Keirns, who for many years has been identified with the various interests of Putnam county, Ohio, we find many qualities in his makeup that always win definite success. The splendid success which has crowned his efforts has been directly traceable to the fundamental elements of his character. He started in life at the bottom of the ladder and has mounted it unaided. He comes of a splendid American family, one that has always been devoted to right living and industrious habits, to education and morality, to loyalty for the national government and for all that contributes to the welfare of a com- munity. Samuel H. Keirns is a man who saw gallant service during the Civil War and who is honored today for the part he had in preserving the union of the states.

Samuel H. Keirns was born on February 1, 1845, in Monroe township, Allen county, Ohio. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Strawsnider) Keirns. John Keirns was born in 1791 in Pennsylvania and was the son of Jonathan and Catherine (Kenter) Keirns. John Keirns died in October, 1870, at the age of seventy-nine. His father, Jonathan Keirns, was born in Ireland and came to America with the British army as a British soldier. He

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served in the Revolutionary War on the side of the British. Jonathan Keirns was born on January 17, 1761, and was married in 1781, at Bloody Run, Pennsylvania, to Catherine Kenter. He settled in Pennsylvania and was engaged in the promotion of public works, especially in the iron and ore in- dustry. After living in Pennsylvania for a time, he left for West Virginia to seek a new location. Finding a location in West Virginia, he sent for his wife and their four children, who came to him overland on horseback. The wife carried the children in sewed pockets of bed ticks, two children on each side. She walked a part of the way. Here Jonathan Keirns and his wife lived and died, on Big Sandy creek, West Virginia. He died on January 26, 1853, at the ripe age of ninety-two. They had four children: William, John, George and Sarah, all deceased.

John Keirns came to West Virginia, with his mother, as an infant, and grew up there. Subsequently, he came to Marietta, Ohio, and there was mar- ried to a Miss Ellenwood, who bore him nine children, Mary, Lampsin, George and Elizabeth, all deceased, and five others whose names are not known. John Keirns first wife died, after which he married Elizabeth Strawsnider, who bore him ten children, William R., Carlista, John W., and Benjamin F. are deceased; Samuel H., who is the subject of this sketch, and five whose names are not known. John Keirn's second wife died in 1852, when Samuel H. was only five years old. She was born on May 10, 1828. Later, John Keirns married his third wife, Mary L. Hicks, a native of Kalida, Ohio, who bore him five children, James Alfred, George, two who died in infancy, and Charles Abraham Lincoln are all now deceased. John Keirns was the father of twenty- four children by his three marriages, ten of whom died in infancy. He left Marietta, Ohio, for Allen county, and here purchased a farm and operated it for a time. He also ran a corn-mill with a horse tread-mill. After living here for a number of years he came to Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio, in May, 1846, and purchased a grist and saw-mill operated by water- power, and about fifteen acres of land. He came from Allen to Putnam county by wagon on a trail path. He remained in Putnam county, farming and operating the mill until 1860, when he suffered a stroke of paralysis and was compelled to retire from active work. He died ten years later.

Samuel H. Keirns grew up in Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio. He was but a year old when his father left Allen county and as time passed was educated in the township schools. He left home on August 16, 1862, to enlist in Company D, One Hundred and Eighteenth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Vaughnsville, Ohio. His enlistment was for three years' service. He served partly in the Army of the Ohio and partly in the

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Army of the Tennessee. He was under Burnside a while and, later, under Sherman. He participated in the battles of the Twenty-third Army Corps and with Sherman's army marched to Atlanta, which corps was sent back north to offset Hood's army. The balance of the army marched with Sher- man to the sea. Mr. Keirns was engaged in the battles of Mosey creek in east Tennessee, the first battle of Resaca, Georgia, and in a number of serious fights of the Atlanta campaign, including the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. After the fall of Atlanta, Mr. Keirns was engaged with the Union army which fought Hood at Columbia, Tennessee, and at Duck river, Franklin and Nashville. After the defeat of Hood's army, he was transferred to Wash- ington and from there placed on a vessel at Alexandria, Virginia, which ran to the southern coast of North Carolina. He was five days on the water, landing at Smithville, North Carolina. His party made a one-day march and met the rebels at Fort Anderson. They took the fort, after a two days' severe fight, and also took Wilmington, North Carolina, after shelling the town one- half day, then came on to Raleigh, North Carolina. In the meantime, Lee had surrendered to Grant. Mr. Keirns was then transferred to Salisbury, North Carolina, where he remained for several weeks. He was mustered out on June 24, 1865, paid off and discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, July 9, 1865. At the close of the war, Mr. Keirns returned home and, on July 10, 1865, arrived at the old home place.

Samuel H. Keirns was married on June 28, 1866, to Emily J. Deffen- baugh, the daughter of John and Anna ( Parshall) Deffenbaugh. Mrs. Keirns was born on June 10, 1847, in Sugar Creek township, Putnam county, Ohio. Her parents came to Putnam county in 1835, from Pennsylvania.

To Samuel H. and Emily J. (Deffenbaugh) Keirns six children have been born, the first died in infancy; Anna M., on April 3, 1869, died on April 28, 1869; John M., April 29, 1870, now lives in the West and is engaged in the railroad service; Edgar L., December 15, 1872, is a rural mail carrier out of Columbus Grove; Cora B., February 16, 1876, married T. M. Teegardin; the sixth child died in infancy.

After his marriage, Mr. Keirns moved to Kansas, where he remained for six years. Subsequently, he returned to Ohio and on December 8, 1874, settled at Gomer, Allen county, Ohio, where he lived for two years. He then returned to Putnam county and settled on a farm of eighty acres on Novem- ber 28, 1876, which tract of land he farmed for more than twenty-two years. During a part of this period, however, he operated a threshing machine throughout the county. He was also engaged in the same business, while a resident of Kansas.

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Subsequently, Mr. Keirns sold his farm in Putnam county and removed to Columbus Grove on April 25, 1899, where he has lived since that date. For about three years he was in the implement and buggy business in Colum- bus Grove, from 1905 to 1908. Continuing alone he handled this business until the spring of 1913. when he retired and became actively engaged in the real estate business. Mr. Keirns has also been a notary public for years. He holds a commission from several Ohio governors. Likewise, Mr. Keirns is a pension attorney and is actively engaged in this profession. For many years he was the only pension attorney in Columbus Grove.

Samuel H. Keirns is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Oglevie Post, No. 64: also of the Knights of Pythias No. 376, at Columbus Grove. He was a justice of the peace of Sugar Creek township and has served as assessor for a number of terms. At one time he served on the town council of Columbus Grove. He held this office two terms. Mr. Keirns is a stanch and active Republican. He was at one time a candidate for county commissioner and was defeated by a small margin. He is a member of the Christian church, a deacon and a financial secretary of that church and takes a great interest in church work and is one of the Sunday school teachers. Like- wise, he is assistant chorister. All the members of the family, except the eldest son, are members of the same church.

Samuel H. Keirns is president of the Mutual Farmers Telephone Com- pany and one of the directors of this concern. He is a man of sterling char- acter and stands high in his community. He has been a hard worker and a good booster for all that seems good and just. He is widely acquainted, although a quiet and unassuming man, kind and generous and true to his convictions,-as to honesty in as well as outside of business.

FRANCIS X. ANNESSER.

Francis X. Annesser is one of those strong, self-reliant and determined characters who are occasionally met with and who are of such a distinct type as to appear leaders of their fellow men. Not that Mr. Annesser courts this distinction, for he is entirely unassuming, but his great force of character and his zeal and energy in whatever he undertakes, naturally place him at the head of the class. He has been a potent factor in the development of Putnam county, where he has long maintained his home and where he is known to all classes for his honorable and industrious rise in both private and public life.

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Mr. Annesser has been especially successful in business and now has one of the best mills in Putnam county.

Francis X. Annesser was born on October 3, 1863, in Auglaize county, Ohio. He is the son of William and Mary M. (Fisher) Annesser. William Annesser was born in 1834, in Seneca county, Ohio, and came to Auglaize county, when a young man, with his parents. He was a farmer and followed that vocation with his parents, until his marriage. He traded a one-hundred- and-sixty-acre farm for a mill at Wapakoneta, Ohio, which he operated for about three years. He sold out on January 18, 1879, and removed to Ottawa, Ohio, when he bought the Ottawa mill from William Agner. It was known as the Ottawa Flouring Mill. His family was moved to Ottawa and here William Annesser followed the milling business for twenty-eight years. He retired in 1906. He was a Republican and was rather active in the councils of his party. He was a member of the Free and Accepted Masons at Ottawa, first vice-president and director of the First National Bank when it was organ- ized at Ottawa, and is still a director. His wife, who, before her marriage, was Mary Fisher, was a native of Baden, Germany, who came to the United States with her parents. They purchased property in Auglaize county and probably entered land from the government. Mrs. William Annesser, whose parents were B. S. and Mary (Bush ) Fisher, was born on April 11, 1833. She is still living at the age of eighty-two.

William and Mary (Fisher) Annesser have been the parents of nine chil- dren, William B., born on November 23, 1856; Andrew, February 13, 1858; George, July 26, 1859; Charles, November, 1861 ; Francis X., the subject of this sketch, October 3, 1863 ; John M., March 3, 1886; Joseph, April 11, 1868; Mrs. Rosa Sherloh, wife of George Sherloh, May 25, 1873; Louis F., Febru- ary 26, 1877. William B. lives in Canada, John in Michigan, Charles in Mis- souri, Joseph, Mrs. Sherloh, and Louis in Ottawa. George and Andrew are deceased. The former died in Texas in 1888.

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History of Putnam County, Ohio : its peoples, industries, and institutions, Part 93

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