USA > Ohio > Wayne County > History of Wayne County, Ohio, Volume II > Part 47
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Daniel Hoff was married on April 21, 1859, to Margaret Fetzer, whose people were pioneers of Wayne county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hoff the following children have been born: Perry, Edmond, Elmer, Calvin, Ella, Cora and Oran (twins), Minnie, Ida.
Most of the Hoff family have been members of the Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Hoff is a Republican, and he very ably served as constable for a period of seven years.
JOHN SCHORGER.
The family of which John Schorger is an honored representative has been known in the Buckeye and Hoosier states since the early pioneer period. and the record they have made has been one of which he can justly be proud, for his ancestors left a priceless heritage to their posterity, the memory of names and deeds which time can neither obliterate nor dim. Mr. Schorger was born in Allen county, Indiana, April 5, 1860, the son of Valentine and Barbara (Fetigue) Schorger, both natives of Seneca county, Ohio. The maternal grandfather of John Schorger was George Schorger, a sterling pioneer who spent his life in the development of farms from the wild realm of nature. Both he and his son, Valentine, were known as hard workers and honest men, interested in the affairs of the community where they lived.
John Schorger was educated in the common schools of Seneca county, Ohio. He then learned the carpenter's trade, but after following this for a time he learned the trade of millwright, which he followed until 1906, be-
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coming known throughout this locality as one of the most skillful workmen in this line that Wayne county could claim. On the last date mentioned he completed installing the machinery for the paper box factory at Rittman, and since that time he has followed general contracting, handling some big jobs and always keeping a large number of men in his employ. He is thor- oughly modern in his ideas of all work in his line, and owning to the high grade of material he uses and the honest manner in which he deals with his fellow men, he has been very successful in his work, always giving satisfaction and evincing a desire to please, which has won the confidence of all with whom he has dealings.
Mr. Schorger was married on June 30, 1881, to Cora E. Myers, the daughter of a fine old family of this county, of which locality she is a native and where she received her educational training. To this union three children were born, Mattie, Arlie and Maude. On September 7, 1907. Mr. Schorger was united in marriage with Mrs. Katherine (Fisher) Kroute, a woman of excellent personal traits.
Mr. Schorger's children received good educations and are well situated in reference to this world's affairs. Mattie married E. R. Pennington. Arlie was educated at the University of Wooster, graduating from the chemistry department in 1906, having made a splendid record in the same. He then at- tended the Ohio State University one year, and later took the position of chemist for the government in the bureau of chemistry. The third child is Maud.
Politically Mr. Schorger is a Democrat. He is a man of unusual energy and determination and he knows how to handle men so as to get the best results from his work, and being a man of pleasing manners he is liked by all classes.
ANDREW SERFASS.
It should be a source of gratification to us if we can point to our ancestors and say that their reputations were always above the reproach of their fellow men, their careers being free from the shadow of wrong or the suspicion of evil. This Andrew Serfass can do, although he modestly refrains from any undue laudation of his family history, but those who are conversant with the facts regarding the several members of this well known family of Chippewa township will not hesitate to speak of their good qualities and their honorable lives.
.
ANDREW SERFASS
MRS. ANDREW SERFASS
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Andrew Serfass was born in Summit county, Ohio, July 14, 1851, the son of Cornelius and Elizabeth ( Henich) Serfass. His parents were born in Pennsylvania and in a very early day removed to Ohio and settled in Chip- pewa township, where Cornelius Ser fass died in 1866. His widow re-married and moved to Missouri, and after a residence of twenty-four years in that state, she returned to Wayne county, Ohio, where her death occurred in 1905. She lived a quiet and retired life, as did her husband, who took little part in public affairs, attending to his individual affairs. To Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius Serfass seven children were born, six of whom are living in 1909. The pa- ternal grandparents of Andrew Serfass were Peter and Eva Serfass, who came to Ohio, where Peter Serfass died. The subject's maternal grandparents lived in Pennsylvania.
Andrew Serfass was educated in the Norton public schools, working on the farm during the summer months. When he reached maturity he worked on the farm by the day, then purchased an interest in a threshing outfit and followed this line of work for a period of twenty-four years, becoming known throughout this locality as one of the leading threshers and he had an excellent patronage. Desiring to devote his attention exclusively to farming, he pur- chased a farm of fifty acres in 1905 within the corporation of Doylestown and has since lived retired, merely overseeing his place. He remodeled the house and barn, and now has a very attractive and comfortable home in which to spend his declining years. His place is well managed and general farming is made to pay.
Mr. Serfass was married on October 23, 1870, to Harriet Myers, a native of Summit county, Ohio, but she was reared in Wayne county. She is the daughter of John and Katherine Myers, old settlers in this county and a highly respected family, having come here from Pennsylvania early in 1837. making the journey in a wagon overland. Mr. Myers died February 27, 1882, and Mrs. Myers survived him until December 8, 1895. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Serfass, namely : Orpha, wife of Jacob Reagle: Harry died in infancy : George, who married Stella Calpetzer.
The father and two uncles of Mrs. Serfass assisted in clearing one hun- dred and sixty acres of land in Chippewa township, and they were all quite active in the local affairs of the township in those early days.
In politics Mr. Serfass is a Democrat and he has taken considerable inter- est in local affairs. He served on the school board for a period of three years Both he and Mrs. Serfass belong to the Lutheran church; fraternally Mr. Serfass belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs. Mrs. Serfass also belonging to the last named order.
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DAVID W. McCONNELL.
One of the well known and influential residents of Milton township, Wayne county, whose life has been so lived that it has not only resulted in good to himself and family, but also to the community in general, is D. W. McConnell, who was born in this township, in February, 1850, the son of Robert and Mary J. (Eshbaugh) McConnell, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter a native of Milton township, Wayne county, Ohio. The paternal grandparents of D. W. McConnell were William and Mary (Rus- sell) McConnell, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter either of that state or Ohio. They left Pennsylvania in 1828 and came to Wayne county, Ohio, locating in Milton township, north of Rittman. William McConnell became the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land there, which was then in the wilderness, but this was improved and a good home established here. He also had forty acres "cornering" it. Some of this land now forms a part of Rittman. With the assistance of his eight sons, this land was soon cleared. There were also two daughters in their family. Their father was a strict Presbyterian and reared them in that faith. The maternal grandparents of D. W. McConnell were David and Katherine (Johnson) Eshbaugh, the former a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter a native of Maryland. About 1825 they settled one mile southeast of Rittman, purchasing one hundred and twenty acres from a Mr. Doyle, an extensive land dealer here in an early day, having bought much of the land in this part of Ohio from the government. Before his death, David Eshbaugh had accumulated three hundred and sixty acres of land in the northeastern part of Milton township. He cleared most of his later purchases, but always resided on the place he bought first. He reared two sons and four daughters, several children dying when young. He was a Republican in politics and took an active part in the affairs of his party. He was for many years a deacon in the Baptist church.
Robert McConnell, father of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, was educated in a log school house in Milton township. When a young man he learned the carpenter trade, which he followed, together with farming, during his subsequent life. He was the owner of eighty acres of good land, the second farm west of where his son, David W., of this review, now resides. He became a skilled workman, and while working at his trade at the Rittman sawmill he was killed by the explosion of the boiler. Six others were also killed at that time, one of them being his son, who was also working there at the carpenter trade. Robert McConnell was forty-five years
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of age at the time of his death. His children, now living, are, David W., of this review ; Mrs. Mary Katherine Dieter; A. A., now sergeant on the police force of Akron, Ohio; John C., telegraph operator at Akron, Ohio.
David W. McConnell was educated in the district schools of Milton township and the Seville graded schools, and attended four terms of the Smithville Normal, after which he taught one term of school, after which he returned to Seville and took one more term's work. In the spring of the last year he was in school, his father was killed and he then returned to the farm, purchasing twenty-two acres, his uncle's share in the Eshbaugh home- stead. He still lives on this place, which is located about one mile west of Rittman. Had Mr. McConnell followed teaching he would have doubtless become one of the noted educators of the county, but he has made a success at farming and led a freer and less trammeled life. His mother and sisters have shares in the home place, and David W. farms their land in connection with his own, carrying on general farming and stock raising.
Mr. McConnell was married in 1875 to Katherine Petit, whose father was born in France, and came to Medina county, Ohio, and later to Wayne county. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. David W. McConnell : Ernest, who was married to Belle Mougey, daughter of Peter Mougey, men- tioned in the sketch of Forest Mougey on another page of this work; Ernest McConnell and wife are the parents of one son, Mougey Dare; Beatrice B. married E. C. Hoover, of Medina county, and their children are, Doris, Iva and Glen David; Arthur married a Miss Blair, of Columbus, Ohio, and he is now a meat inspector at Peoria, Illinois ; William R., who is taking an agricul- tural course at Columbus, Ohio.
David W. McConnell is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. In politics he is a Democrat and he has very faithfully performed the duties of the following offices: Township trustee (two terms), township and precinct assessor many times, and he has been a member of the school board or a di- rector nearly all his mature life. The last time he ran for assessor of his precinct he received every vote cast; this shows his high standing in his com- munity the interests of which he has long had at heart and labored to promote.
CHARLES R. MOINE.
One of the best known native sons of Milton township, of the younger generation, is Charles R. Moine, who, although a young man, has succeeded in the accomplishment of a definite purpose and illustrated the fact that per- severance and the exercise of proper tact will always win. He was born
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December 1, 1877, the son of Julius Moine, one of Wayne county's highly respected citizens. Charles R. Moine was educated in the district schools and the Sterling high school, receiving a good education, and taught one term very acceptably. He then married and devoted his time to farming for a period of three years, which gave him a good start in life, but, observing a good opening for a meat market in Sterling, he turned his attention to that line of business for the next four years. Since that time he has engaged in various clerical work, at present being secretary of the Rittman Tile & Clay Product Company, which is enjoying a liberal patronage, largely due to his capable management. He also operates a grocery store in Sterling, which he established in 1909 and which is being conducted in such a manner as to gain him an additional income of no insignificant proportions.
Mr. Moine was married on June 11, 1899, to Alice Hoover, daughter of Christian Hoover, a pioneer of this part of Wayne county. He died in 1894 at an advanced age. To Mr. and Mrs. Moine the following children have been born : Wanda Margueretta and Julius Perry.
In his political relations Mr. Moine is a Democrat and he has taken con- siderable interest in local political affairs. and has held several local offices in a manner that brought praise from his constituents and showed that he has a capacity for such service. He was township clerk for four years, and at the same time he was clerk of the township school board. He is now filling his third year as justice of the peace. Religiously he is a Catholic, being reared in that faith. He is regarded by all who know him as a young man of excellent traits of character and business, always fair in his dealings with his fellow men and by reason of his excellent qualities as a mixer he is popular with all classes.
JACOB J. HAMMER.
No more loyal and progressive citizens are to be found within the pre- scribed limits of Wayne county than those born in Germany, for they are, as a rule, hard workers and public spirited and honorable in their social and pub- lic lives. Of this number the name of Jacob J. Hammer must be included. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, March 15, 1829, but most of his long and useful life has been spent in America. He was the son of John A. and Christena (Gardhefner) Hammer, who immigrated from the Fatherland to America in 1840 and settled in Lawrence township, Stark county, Ohio, where they followed farming and spent the remainder of their lives, having become very comfortably situated after coming to this country. They reared a family
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of eight children, namely : Mary M., who married Allen Shunk; Dominick ; Jacob J .; Catherine, who married John Weaver; Simon, Andrew; Elizabeth. . who married John Warner ; and John A.
Jacob J. Hammer was educated in Germany for the most part, though he studied in Ohio after coming here. He began life as a wagonmaker, hav- ing served an apprenticeship of three years in Stark county, Ohio. In 1851 he came to Doylestown, Wayne county, where he worked as a journeyman for one year, and in 1852 he started a shop at Easton, Chippewa township, which he successfully conducted until 1857, when he removed to Milton township, this county, where he followed farming for a period of ten years. In January, 1867, he located on the farm which he owned until his death in Chippewa township. A vein of coal underlay about fifty acres of the same, which was very valuable. It was first developed by the Silver Creek Mining & Railroad Company and later by H. E. Loomis.
In 1854 Jacob J. Hammer was married to Mary Elizabeth Kindig, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Mary Elizabeth (Whitman) Kindig, of Chippewa town- ship, and to this union twelve children were born, namely: John M .; Charles B., deceased; Mary L .; Christiana J., who married Peter Schwalbach; An- drew B .; Clement L. V .; Rebecca E .; Catherine L., who married J. M. Hall; Emma M., who married C. W. Kirk; Augusta C., who married James Hoye; Josephine M., who married W. G. Neichter ; and Grace.
Jacob J. Hammer was called upon by the messenger from the unseen world to close his earthly accounts on December 5, 1892, after a most ex- emplary, useful and active life during which he laid by an ample competency for his family and succeeded in endearing his memory to a host of friends and acquaintances. After his death twenty acres more of his farm were found to be underlaid with coal and it was operated by the Jones Coal Com- pany, and it yielded abundantly until 1908.
Mr. Hammer was elected trustee of Chippewa township, serving two terms, and he was elected a third term, but died before it expired. He was a Democrat in his political views, and he was a faithful member of the Catholic church, to which his family also belong. He left behind him a good name and his loss was felt keenly by all who knew him.
DR. JOHN F. REINHARDT.
Wayne county can boast of few more progressive and successful citizens than the well-known gentleman whose name furnishes the caption of this review. He is considered one of the leading agriculturists of East Union
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township and has won a reputation as a veterinary surgeon second to none in northern Ohio. As a citizen he is not only intelligent and enterprising but combined within himself are those sterling qualities of manhood that make not only a useful member of society, but a leader of whatever he undertakes.
Dr. J. F. Reinhardt was born in Paint township, Wayne county, Ohio, May 20, 1859, the son of J. F. and Verna (Fetter) Reinhardt. J. F. Rein- hardt was born in Germany, but when young in years he made the tedious voyage across the great Atlantic and the still more arduous journey to the Middle States in the year 1843, locating at Mt. Eaton, Ohio. He had no capital when he came here and he worked as a farm hand for a period of fifteen years, at the end of which time he was still a poor man. He later made his home with his son and there lived comfortably. He was married in 1854, and this union resulted in the birth of one son, Dr. J. F., of this review.
Doctor Reinhardt worked on the home farm during the summer seasons in his boyhood and attended the district schools in winter until he was seven- teen years of age. He became a student at the Toronto Veterinary College from 1889 to 1890, af ter he was thirty years of age, having lived on a rented farm up till he attended college. He made a very commendable record there, after which he returned to Wayne county, and, for a period of twenty years, practiced his profession at Apple Creek in a most successful manner, winning a wide reputation in this line and building up a very lucrative and extensive patronage.
Doctor Reinhardt rented a farm when he first started out in life for him- self on which he remained for four years. Starting with an indebtedness of three hundred dollars, but being backed with sound common sense, the rare ability to accurately foresee the outcome of present business transactions and the courage to push forward in the face of all obstacles, he has been unusually successful in whatever he has directed his attention to. He first bought twenty-seven acres in Holmes county, this state, which he sold two years later with a profit of nine hundred dollars. He then bought forty acres in Paint township, Wayne county. His parents moved thereto and resided on the same the rest of their lives. He retained this farm until 1900, when he disposed of it and bought ninety-five acres; this was in 1901 and two years later he secured eighteen acres additional, making in all an excellent farm of one hundred and fourteen acres. This farm lies in the edge of Apple Creek and is among the most valuable tracts in the township, being very productive and highly improved in every respect. On this farm is to be seen a modern, at- tractive and beautifully located dwelling, also substantial outbuildings. In 1904 the Doctor erected a fine horse barn in Apple Creek, and, in connection
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with his farming, he deals in horses extensively. He is the owner of three valuable properties in Apple Creek, and he is conservatively worth sixteen thousand dollars, all of which he has made unaided, having started in life empty handed and under the ban of discouraging environment, but to such as he obstacles do not mean what they do to most, for men of proper mettle delight in overcoming whatever lies in their road to success, and while he has been advancing his own interests he has not been neglectful of his duty to others, always considerate of the rights of his fellow citizens and honest in all his relations with them.
Doctor Reinhardt was married on December 28, 1880, to Sarah J. Maurer, daughter of Abraham Maurer, a resident of Mt. Eaton, Ohio. This union has resulted in the birth of three children, one son and two daughters, namely : Dr. Alvin A., a practicing veterinary surgeon at Berea, Ohio; Nora M. was educated at Oberlin, Ohio, and she is very ably serving as assistant cashier in the Apple Creek bank; Ada B. has been carefully trained in music, and has reached high attainment in voice culture.
Members of this family belong to the Reformed church at Apple Creek, Ohio, being liberal supporters of the same. Politically, Doctor Reinhardt is a Republican, but he was reared a Democrat. He takes an abiding interest in whatever tends to develop his community, and personally he is a pleasant man to meet, friendly, generous and hospitable.
WILLIAM BIXLER.
The Bixler family have figured prominently in the affairs of Wayne county since the early days, having established reputations for loyalty to public enterprises and honorable dealing in all the avenues of life. A well known name here is that of William Bixler, a native of Sugar Creek town- ship, this county, where he was born on March 10, 1868, the son of David and Magdalena (Hofstetter) Bixler, the former born in Sugar Creek township in 1846 and the latter in the same vicinity in 1848; they grew up and married there and have made their home in the same locality. Jacob Bixler, the grandfather, was a native of canton Bern, Switzerland, having grown to maturity there, coming to America in a very early day, shortly after his mar- riage to Elizabeth Cammerman, and, making their way to the interior, set- tled in Sugar Creek township where they lived until their deaths, having developed a farm in the wilderness. They were the parents of a large family, about fifteen children.
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William Bixler, of this review, is the second member of a family of ten children. He worked on the home farm during the crop season and attended the neighboring schools in the wintertime, later studied at the Dalton high school and the Smithville Academy. Having applied himself very assiduously to his text-books, he made a very commendable record and fitted himself for a career as teacher, becoming in due course of time one of the best known local educators, his services having been in great demand. He taught nine terms very successfully, pleasing both pupil and patron. He grew tired of the schoolroom, however, and longed for the more untrammeled life of the hus- bandman, consequently went back to the farm, closer to the heart of nature, from whence many, especially those of the temperament of Mr. Bixler, derive lessons of the higher sensibilities, reverence, courage, purity and hope. He is the owner of a well tilled and well kept farm of seventy-three acres in section 7, Sugar Creek township, where he carries on general farming with wise discretion and foresight. He is a lover of good horses, and feeds them for the market. He has a cozy and nicely furnished home and all the out- buildings and farming machinery that his needs require.
Mr. Bixler was married in 1893 to Caroline Amstutz, a lady of many praiseworthy personal traits, a native of this county, where her birth occurred in 1863. Three children have been born to this union, namely: Calvin, born March 14, 1894; Dale, born December 3, 1898; Elma, born December 18, 1903.
In politics Mr. Bixler is a substantial Democrat and he is at this writing the land appraiser of Sugar Creek township. Religiously he and his family belong to the Mennonite church. He takes a great deal of interest in the welfare of his township and owing to his genuine worth, his integrity and friendly manner, he has the friendship of all who know him.
JOHN E. ETLING.
The men who have pushed forward the wheels of progress have been those to whom satisfaction lies ever in the future, who have labored continu- ously, always finding in each transaction and transition state an incentive to further effort. J. E. Etling, of this review, is one whose well directed efforts have gained for him a position of desirable prominence in his neighborhood in Chippewa township, Wayne county, where he was born on the same place that he now owns, January 12, 1859, the son of William and Abigail ( Myers) Etling, a complete history of the parents being found in the sketch of A. Etling, appearing on another page of this work. Suffice it here to say that
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