USA > Ohio > Shelby County > History of Shelby County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 49
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The father of Mr. Barhorst spent his life in McLean township, follow- ing farming as his occupation, and died here when aged seventy-seven years. The mother, who was born in Germany, died when aged seventy- two years, in Mercer county, O., and there were six sons and two daughters in the family. The parents were members of St. Michael's Catholic church.
The Barhorst- children were not neglected, their parents sending them to the Sherman district school until all were well instructed. Bernard remained on the home farm until his marriage, when he moved to his
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present property, all of which he has under cultivation except thirty-six acres which is still in woodland. He has put in many improvements here, erecting and remodeling buildings, enriching and draining the land, and, with the help of his sturdy sons, does a large agricultural business.
Mr. Barhorst married Miss Magdalena Ernst, who was born in McLean township, a daughter of Joseph Ernst, and nine children have been born to them, namely: Catherina, Joseph, August, Edward, Leo, Charles, Ursula, Urban and Paul. Mr. Barhorst and family are members of St. Michael's Roman Catholic church. In politics he has been a democrat since reaching man's estate, but has never sought political office, although his party might find in such men as Mr. Barhorst the honest and careful officials that a community needs for the practical carrying out of the laws.
HENRY V. VAN DEMARK, a successful general farmer and well- known citizen of Clinton township, Shelby county, O., who is operating a farm of 200 acres, which belongs to his father, was born in the house in which he resides, April 21, 1885, and is a son of Jacob Newton and Cath- erine (Hicks) Van Demark.
After his boyhood school days were over he attended the Sidney high school for two years. He comes of an agricultural family and naturally turned his attention to farming and stock raising, in which his father and grandfather were so eminently successful, but, before settling down decided to visit certain portions of the West and spent several months traveling through that part of the country, with the result that he returned satisfied to Ohio, realizing that this state offers everything contributive to the finan- cial advancement and living comfort that can be consistently expected. Here, on one of the large farms belonging to his father, Mr. Van Demark is engaged in farming and he also gives attention to producing high-grade horses and stock.
Mr. Van Demark was married September 18, 1907, to Miss Caroline Coon, who was born on a farm in Shelby county and is a daughter of Mar- shall K. and Anna ( Rinehart) Coon. Mrs. Van Demark has a brother, Alfred, and a sister, Florence. Two daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Van Demark, Catherine and Anna. They attend the Presbyterian church. Mr. Van Demark, like his father, is identified with the republican party but takes no very active part in politics.
WILLIAM KLIPSTINE, a representative business man of Sidney, O., a dealer in lumber, coal and building materials, with office and yards on South Walnut street, has been a resident of this city for more than ten years, but his birth took place in Darke county, O., March 13, 1867, and he is a son of William and Louisa Klipstine, both of whom were born in Germany.
The Klipstine family was founded in America by William Klipstine, the grandfather, who came to Ohio and purchased a farm in Darke county when his son William was a child. The maternal grandfather, William Haack, also came from Germany and purchased land in Darke county, and
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on the above farms the parents of William Klipstine, of Sidney, were reared, together attended the district schools and subsequently married. They reared a family of three sons and one daughter and both are now deceased, the father passing away in 1894, when aged sixty-seven years. The mother survived until the fall of 1909, her age being seventy-eight years. Their children were: Louis, who is connected with the Peoples Bank at Ver- sailles, O .; Caroline, who is the wife of George H. Worch, of Versailles; William; and Amos, who is a farmer residing on the old homestead near Versailles.
William Klipstine attended the public schools in the vicinity of his father's farm and later the Versailles high school, and remained engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1889, when he went to Quincy, Logan county, O., where he engaged in the lumber business until 1901, when he came to Sidney as manager of the lumber business of his brother-in-law, George H. Worch, which business he subsequently purchased. Mr. Klipstine operates a planing mill and deals in all kinds and grades of merchantable lumber and builders' supplies, including hardware, paints and wire fencing, and has a commodious and expensive plant, in 1909 erecting his mill, office and storage room. Constant employment is afforded for from ten to twelve men and the business may be included with the very prosperous ones of the city.
In 1889 Mr. Klipstine was married to Miss Mary Grove, a daughter of Hiram Grove, of Perry county, O., and they have a happy family of six children, evenly divided, as follows: Roy, Charles, Ruth, Caroline, William and Mary. The eldest daughter possesses great artistic talent and it is being cultivated at Roanoke College, Roanoke, Va. Mr. Klipstine and family belong to St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, at Sidney. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. In poli- tics he is a democrat and has served two terms as a member of the city council, during which period his sound business judgment frequently assisted in the solving of civic problems of importance.
OLIVER J. TAYLOR, a representative business man of Sidney, O., where he is a leading hardware merchant, founded his present establishment on June 1, 1854, and is now in his fifty-ninth business year in his native city, where he was born September 26, 1830, and is a son of Jason and Sarah C. (Skillen) Taylor.
The Taylors were pioneers in Shelby county. Samuel Taylor, the grandfather, was born in England, coming to near Harper's Ferry, Va., and from there moved to Ohio and settled first near West Liberty, O., subsequently removing to Shelby county, where he entered land in what is now Salem township. He built a log cabin on a hill on a suitable part of his 160-acre purchase and there remained through a long and industrious life and is still recalled as one of the county's well-known pioneers.
Jason Taylor, father of Oliver J., was a boy when his parents moved to Shelby county and settled in Salem township. He married early, before he was twenty-one years of age, and with wife and a capital of $28.50,
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came to Sidney, where he began business life as a shoemaker. He pros- pered at his trade and started a,small general store and when he could spare the sum of $37.00 invested it in land, and the time came when that same lot of land was sold for $10,000. For many years he continued as a mer- chant at Sidney and then went into the jobbing business in New York City, where he remained for about eighteen years. Failing health induced him to close out his interests there and to return to Sidney, where his death occurred two years later. He married Sarah C. Skillen, who was of Irish parentage but was born in Pennsylvania and came to Ohio in girlhood.
Oliver J. Taylor had very limited educational opportunities in his boy- hood and remained with his parents until his eighteenth year, when he began the study of civil engineering and spent several years on the Big Four and Pan Handle railroads. Finding that his heart was not in that line of industry, Mr. Taylor turned his attention to the hardware business, and, as noted above, established his store at Sidney at so early a date that he can justly claim to be one of the oldest men in the hardware line, not only in this city, but in Ohio. He had a capital of $800 to start with, the same having been earned and providently saved while on the railroad, and he bought his first stock up to this amount, of the firm of Norton, Jewett & Busby of New York City, and the goods were shipped to him by way of Buffalo and Toledo, and then transferred to a warehouse. Learning that this warehouse was destroyed by fire on that night, Mr. Taylor presumed his goods had been destroyed and duplicated his order, with the rather disturbing result of receiving both orders and having only money enough to pay for one. His business shrewdness extricated him and soon he found he needed not only both orders. of goods but that it became desirable for him to make annual trips to eastern markets and make his own selections. Still later he found his best market to be Pittsburg, later Cincinnati, and despite slow and exasperating delivery, he did a fine business. The first commercial traveler to visit him was John Williams, representing the Wheeler, Madden & Clenson Works, saw manufacturers, of Middletown, N. Y., this mark of growing importance being shown him in 1859. It is interesting to learn of Mr. Taylor's business methods as they proved so successful. It was his early habit to open his store at about 6 A. M. and probably close about 10 P. M. He has made it a point to boy for cash and to owe no one a dollar, althrough his purchasers very often did not follow the same honest line, buying largely on credit and having no definite time for settlement. Mr. Taylor remembers the advent of the wire nail, the family washing machines, the glass lantern that has succeeded the old tin cone pierced with holes. In his first stock of goods the cleaver was the only meat cutter and his padlocks that he then had to sell for perhaps fifty cents he can improve on for ten cents. He recalls his first door locks which were made to open with a lever instead of a knob; the old Spear & Jackson English saws were used and Mr. Taylor remembers that he had some trouble in convincing his customers that the Henry Disston saws were superior. His first American pocket cutlery he bought at Northfield, Conn., and for forty years he has handled the same
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goods. In every other line he notes progress and improvement and has always been open to conviction himself and anxious to provide the very best goods on the market. In 1874 Mr. 'Taylor moved into the building he now occupies and there are few business men of Sidney who are more prompt in their daily activities or more active in attending to customers than is Mr. Taylor, at the age of eighty-two years.
On June 7, 1855, Mr. Taylor was married to Miss Sarah Harrison, who died suddenly July 30, 1887, the mother of seven children, four of whom survive : Harry J., who is the owner of the Sidney Hardware Company, of Sidney; Jennie A., who is the wife of J. C. Cummings, cashier of the First National Exchange Bank of Sidney; Willis B., who is buyer for O. J. Taylor; and Charles J., who is a traveling salesman, representing the Chicago Hard- ware Company, with his home at Kansas City, Mo. Mrs. May Belle Lyon died leaving three children. Oliver Earl, the fifth born is deceased, and Edwin, the sixth child in order of birth, died at the age of eight months. Mr. Tay- lor's second marriage was to Miss Helen C. Search, who is a sister of Prof. P. W. Search, the well-known lecturer. Mr. Taylor has been creditably inter- ested in many of the industries of Sidney and has been called the father of the Sidney fire department, and, in association with the late George Burnell, organized the present paid fire department. For almost his lifetime he has been a member of the Presbyterian church and until recently, when he retired voluntarily from the office, for many years has been an elder in the church. His long life of persevering industry has brought him financial independence and his probity and business integrity have earned him the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens.
L. L. KNOOP, whose well improved farm of seventy-one acres, which he purchased and improved himself, is situated six miles southeast of Sidney, O., has spent the larger part of his life in this part of Shelby county. He was born in Orange township, three-fourths of a mile north of his own farm in Green township, in August, 1871, and is a son of John and Margaret ( Martin) Knoop.
John Knoop is a highly respected retired citizen of Shelby county. He was born in Miami county, O., and at the age of seventeen years enlisted in the Civil war, and saw much hard service during the following two years as a member of the Iroth O. Vol. Inf., including imprisonment in Libby prison. After his release he continued in the service as a teamster. When his term of enlistment was over he returned to Miami county and there engaged in farming until his marriage to Margaret Martin, when he came to Shelby county and located on the old Martin farm of forty acres. He also engaged in carpenter work and became well known all through this section. In 1909 he removed from the house he had occupied for so many years, to another house on the same farm and now lives in comfortable retirement and is the owner of 203 I-3 acres of land, which his sons operate. Mrs. Knoop passed away March 30, 1889, survived by five children, namely: Samuel, who lives one mile above Port Jefferson; L. L., who lives on his farm six miles southeast
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of Sidney, O .; John W., who lives east of Sidney; William, who is located on the homestead; and Mrs. Dora Leckey, who resides north of Plattsville.
L. L. Knoop attended school in Orange township and afterward worked on the home farm until his marriage, when he came to his present property, where general farming and stock raising have been carried on ever since. He has improved the property with modern and substantial buildings and has all his surroundings comfortable and attractive.
Mr. Knoop was married January 11, 1894, to Miss Viola Hunt, daughter of P. R. Hunt, of Green township, near Plattsville, and they have two child- ren : Bertha May and Harley Thomas. Mr. Knoop has served two terms as a trustee of Green township, elected on the Republican ticket, and is recog- nized as one of the solid and reliable citizens of this community. He is serving as a member of the county fair board and takes a hearty interest in every public movement to advance the interests of this section. Fraternally. Mr. Knoop is a Mason, a Knight of the Golden Eagles and an Odd Fellow, in the last named organization belonging to both the Encampment and the subordinate branch.
JOHN HEISER, senior member of the firm of John Heiser & Son, dealers in coal, lime, cement, plastering hair, sewer pipe and fire clay, at Sid- ney, O., is one of the stable and representative business men of this city. He was born December 1, 1840, on a farm that now lies in Mercer county, O., but was then in Darke county, and is a son of Lawrence and Rosena (Link) Heiser.
Lawrence Heiser was born in Alsace-Loraine and for seven years of early manhood served in the French army, then married in his own province and with his wife emigrated to America. After reaching the United States they settled at Canton, O., and lived there for eight years, Mr. Heiser finding employment on the Ohio canal. In 1833 he entered eighty acres of land from the government and settled on the same and both he and his wife died there.
John Heiser remained on the old home farm until 1858, in the spring of which year he came to Sidney, where he learned the blacksmith trade in a building which occupied the site of the one which stands at No. 201 North Ohio avenue, in which he has his coal office. The old building burned down in 1855 or 1856. He learned his trade with Mr. Kingseed, with whom he formed a partnership after the Civil war, about 1866, for the manufacture of plows, and they continued together for eight years, when Mr. Heiser bought his partner's interest and continued plow manufacturing until 1893.
On September 21, 1861, Mr. Heiser enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering Company M. First Ohio Light Artillery, and remained in the same company and regiment for three years, seeing service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, taking part in such great battles as Shiloh. Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Jonesboro, the Flint River siege and many, many others. In spite of the almost constant danger of death, Mr. Heiser was never either injured or captured by the enemy and was finally honorably discharged and mustered out at Camp Dennison. He
WILLIAM RANDOLPH
MRS. WILLIAM RANDOLPH
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returned then to Ohio and from January to May 1, 1865, worked at his trade at Urbana, and from June 1, to September I, at St. Paris, then came back to Sidney, where he went into business as above related. In connection with his manufacturing business, Mr. Heiser had opened another line, becoming a coal merchant in 1879, and this interest he has continued, always in the same building, the site being one of the old business landmarks of the city.
In 1865 Mr. Heiser was married to Miss Mary Danil, who died in 1889, an estimable woman who was beloved by all who knew her. She was a daugli- ter of Gabriel Danil, a farmer in Shelby county. Six children survived her : William L., who is in partnership with his father; Franklin; George; Rosa, who is the wife of August Myer; Raymond; and Amelia, who is the wife of William Ross. Mr. Heiser was married (second) to Frances Mons, who died September 19, 1908.
WILLIAM RANDOLPH, who owns one of the best improved farms of Green township, consisting of 160 acres, situated seven miles southeast of Sidney, for many years carried on extensive farming here but now lives retired. He was born in Clark county, O., near Springfield, July 13, 1826, and is a son of James Butler and Rachel (Stanley) Randolph.
James Butler Randolph was born in New Jersey and was eight years old when his parents took him to Clark county, O., and from there he moved to Miami county in 1839, and in 1852 came to Shelby county where he lived into advanced age, dying on his farm in Turtle Creek township. In earlier years he had followed his trade, being a cooper. He married Rachel Stanley, who was born in Virginia and who also sur- vived into advanced age, her death occurring on the farm of her only surviving child, William Randolph, the family originally being of eight members, five sons and three daughters.
When William Randolph tells of his early school days he describes a log structure with slabs for benches and paper in place of glass in the windows, as the place in which he gained his knowledge of reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic, the primary elements of an education. It was a subscription school and each householder paid according to the number of children he sent to be instructed. Mr. Randolph started out for himself by working by the month on farms and helping the neighbors during haying and harvesting, until his marriage when he bought his present farm, in 1851, and settled on it in 1852. He cleared this land and erected the buildings and continued to make improvements until his property became exceedingly valuable, and continued to cul- tivate it until he no longer cared for such heavy responsibilities and for some years has rented it to good tenants. His handsome brick residence is one of the finest farm homes in Green township.
Mr. Randolph married Miss Sarah Elizabeth Bull, who is deceased. The following children were born to them: Elias, John, Clinton, William, Edward, Samuel L., Bert and Grant, Elias and William being deceased. Mr. Randolph's second marriage was to Miss Harriet B. Denise, who
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was born and educated in Montgomery county, O., a daughter of Hiram Vail and Rachel (Barklow) Denise. 'The father of Mrs. Randolph was a lumber merchant at Cincinnati. _ Mr. Randolph is a republican in his political attachment. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. During a long and busy life he has witnessed many wonderful changes come about, and in looking around him misses the faces whichi long association in family and neighborhood had made familiar, but he still has a close circle of warm friends, and, with the blessing of good health and surrounded with material comforts of all kinds, can enjoy the evening of life untroubled with the cares of earlier years.
MARSHAL K. COON, one of the representative men of Turtle Creek township, Shelby county, O., who is now serving in the office of township assessor and resides on his farm of ninety acres, was born in this township, April 22, 1859, and is a son of Alfred and Elizabeth (Frankeberger) Coon.
Alfred Coon and wife were both born in Shelby county and the former in Turtle Creek township. He learned the tailor's trade in early manhood but later became a farmer and when he retired removed to Sidney. Alfred Coon and wife were parents of the following children: Margaret, who is the wife of Jacob Jenkens; David; John; Mary, who is the wife of Webster Barbour; Caroline, who is the wife of John S. Bush; Edward; Marshal K .; Frank and Lou, who is the wife of James Turner.
Marshal K. Coon commenced early to assist his father and remained on the home place until he was twenty-five years of age and after his father's death bought his present property which was formerly known as the Richard Cannon farm. A general linė of farming is here carried on, Mr. Coon aiming to raise only enough stock for home use.
In August, 1882, Mr. Coon was married to Miss Anna Rinehart, who was born at Sidney, O., and is a daughter of Rev. D. B. and Catherine ( Ethering- ton) Rinehart. The father of Mrs. Coon was born in Fairfield county, O., November 21, 1825, and died February 27, 1900, aged seventy-four years, three months and six days. Mrs. Coon has one brother, William, who for- merly lived at New Bremen, O., but died at Arcanum, and one sister, Clara Jane, who is the wife of Samuel L. McCoy, living at Hastings, Neb. In the Rinehart family is preserved an old family Bible which has descended from father to son for generations and authenticates the genealogy of this family from the time when its progenitors came from Germany to the American colonies, prior to the Revolutionary war.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Coon, namely : Alfred R., who married Grace McCormack; Lou Caroline, who married Henry V. Van Demark, and they have two children-Catherine and Anna Wilma; and Flor- ence Catherine. Mr. Coon and family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is one of the trustees. Politically a republican, for many years he has been active in party movements and prior to being elected to his present office, served two terms as township treasurer. He is identified with
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the Grange at Hardin, O., and with one exception, he and his wife are the only seventh degree members of the Grange in Shelby county.
GEORGE W. HANSELLMAN, a leading citizen of Cynthian township, Shelby county, O., township assessor and a substantial farmer, lives in section 30, where he owns ninety-nine acres of valuable land. He was born in this township June 3, 1862, and is a son of George and Catherine (Yoder) Han- sellman.
George Hansellman, the father, was born in Holland and was seven years old when his parents brought him to the United States and settled in Darke county, O., and he was reared and went to school in Patterson township. He became a farmer in Shelby county and remained there until he married when he moved to Cynthian township, where he acquired a farm of 160 acres, situated on the county line, and here all his children were born and reared. He married Catherine Yoder, who was born in Germany, and eight children were born to them, namely: Eli, who lives at Piqua, O .; John, who lives at Salina, O .; Barbara, who is deceased, was the wife of Hiram Pitsenburger; George W .; · William, who is deceased; and Margaret, Lydia and Isabella. The father of the above family died when aged sixty-eight years. The mother still lives on the homestead and considering that she is now in her eighty-first year, enjoys exceptional good health. She is a member of the German Baptist church but her husband was a Lutheran.
George W. Hansellman, with his brothers and sisters, attended school in the Turner special district and afterward learned the carpenter trade at Ver- sailles, O. For a number of years he worked at his trade in Darke, Miami and Shelby counties and during this period, on March 13, 1886, was married to Miss Mattie B. Hemelright. She was born in Cynthian township, a daugh- ter of George and Elizabeth Hemelright, the latter of whom died when Mrs. Hansellman was only eight years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Hansellman six children have been born: Harvey, Erma, May, Mabel, George and Cloyde.
After marriage Mr. Hansellman settled first on a farm of forty acres situ- ated four miles west of Newport, O., and remained there until March, 1909, when he came to his present farm. He found this place in great need of improvement and his skill as a carpenter was immediately called into play in the building of a new residence and in making repairs on all the other farm buildings. He is a republican in politics as was his late father and has fre- quently been called on to serve in public positions, for three years being a trustee of the township, four years road supervisor and at present township assessor. Mr. Hansellman and family attend the Christian church at Oran, O.
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