History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 92

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658

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GEORGE . VOGELEY, SR., was a native of Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, born August 5. 1793. He immigrated to the United States in 1536, first set- tling in Pittsburg, where he followed the shoemaker's trade three years. He then removed to Butler county and settled at Saxonburg, where he opened a general store, which he carried on in connection with his trade. He subsequently engaged in the hotel business in that village, which he conducted about twenty-five years. In 1866 he retired from active business and removed to Butler, where he died, February 22, 1871. Mr. Vogeley was married in Germany, to Anna E. Mardorf, who became the mother of eleven children, as follows: Conrad, who died in Pittsburg. in 19 3: Christopher, who died in Allegheny county, in 1971; John, who died in California, in ISTI: William, who died in Butler, in 1873: George. of Butler : Edward, who died in California, in 1850; Anna, widow of Frederick Holeman ; Annie G., who died in infancy : Mary E., who also died in youth ; Charles C., a resident of San Francisco, and Hannah, wife of Frederick Weigand. Mr. Vogeley was for many years a leading citizen of Saxonburg. In early life he was connected with the Evangelical church, but after locating in Butler county he united with the Reformed church, of which he was an active member for many years. In politics, he was first a Whig and afterwards a Republican.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

WILLIAM VOGELEY, fourth son of George and Anna E. Vogeley, was born in Germany, December 10, 1822, and received a limited education in his native town. He worked for his father at Saxonburg, until 1842, when he came to Butler and soon after purchased what was then known as the Rising Sun tavern, a log structure, which stood upon the site of the Vogeley House. now the Arlington. He subsequently erected the latter and conducted it up to 1867, when he retired from active life. Mr. Vogeley was interested largely in real estate, was also extensively engaged in farming, and operated an early coal mine on his farm He was a public-spirited citizen, and took an active interest in local affairs. He was one of the original members of the Reformed church of Butler, and contributed liberally towards the erection of the old church building, on Mifflin street, now occupied by the Baptist congregation. He was one of the first directors of the Butler Savings Bank, and was identified with that institu- tion for many years. Mr. Vogeley married Mary E., daughter of John Oester- ling, of Summit township, a native of Germany. Their family consists of eleven children, six of whom died in youth, and five grew to maturity, as follows : David E., who was teller of the Butler Savings Bank, and died in 1875; Annie, wife of W. HI. Ensminger ; Mary, wife of W. F. Metzgar; Amelia, wife of W. A. Stein, and Theodore. Mr. Vogeley died, October 5, 1873; his widow is a resident of Butler.

GEORGE VOGELEY, JR., fifth son of George and Anna E. Vogeley, was born in Germany, November 9, 1824. and came to Allegheny county with his parents. After his father removed to Butler county, he remained in Pitts- burg and learned the tobacco business. and on the completion of his trade he engaged in business for himself at Kittanning and Bridgewater, Pennsylvania. In March, 1852, he located in Butler, where he has since carried on a wholesale and retail tobacco trade. Mr. Vogeley was married in 1850, to Mary N. Gass, of Pittsburg, who died in 1878. Seven children were born to this union : Edward ; Jacob; Henry ; Aaron E, deceased ; Sarah ; Emma, and Clara. The family are connected with the Presbyterian church, and in politics, he is a Republican. He was one of the original trustees of St. Paul's Orphan Home, and is to-day one of the oldest merchants in active business in Butler.

THEODORE VOGELEY, youngest son of William and Mary E. Vogeley, was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 1867. He attended the public schools of the borough in youth, and subsequently Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, and Duff's Commercial College, of Pittsburg. He then entered the employ of the Fisher Oil Company, as book-keeper, and later filled the position of superin- tendent for the same company. He afterward engaged in oil producing, and in 1891 established his present real estate and insurance business, which he carries on in connection with his oil operations. He represents many of the leading insurance companies of Europe and America. Mr. Vogeley is a member of the Lutheran church, and in politics, an ardent Republican.

WILLIAM HASLETT was born in Antrim county, Ireland, in 1816, and was the youngest son of William Haslett a manufacturer of linen, who emigrated to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, about 1817, where he engaged in the mercantile busi- ness, and died in 1836. William Haslett, Sr., was a son of Joseph and Rebecca 47

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( Me Masters) Haslett, who were born in the vicinity of Dublin, Ireland, and spent their lives in their native land. He was the father of two sons and one daughter : Joseph ; Eliza, who married Joseph Rhodes, and William. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of Pittsburg, and at the Western University in the same city. About 1832 he came to Butler, soon after commenced reading law with Judge John Bredin, and was admitted to the bar December 11, 1837. He followed his prefession for a brief period and then embarked in the newspaper business. His connection with the newspapers of Butler, as editor and publisher, is fully spoken of in the Press chapter. His early political affiliations were with the Whig party, and upon the organization of the Republican party he united with it. In I>44 he was elected a member of the legislature, and in 1849 he was elected to the State senate. He always took a very active part in local polities, and gave an unswerving support to the Whig and Republican parties. In 1870 he was appointed United States store keeper, which position he filled until his death. Mr. Haslett was married to Harriet T., daughter of John N. Purviance, and eleven children blessed this union, seven of whom grew to maturity, as follows : Samuel P., who died in the army : Will- iam: Charles, deceased; John of Butler ; Mary ; Louisa, and Eleanor. Mr. Hlaslett died December 10, 1872 ; his widow survived until May 3, 1881.

CHARLES HASLETT, third son of William and Harriet T. ( Purviance ) Haslett, was born in the borough of Butler, August 4, 1853, and was educated in the pub- lic schools and at Witherspoon Institute. He learned the printer's trade with his father and Jacob Ziegler, and followed his trade for a short period. In 1875 he purchased some oil wells upon the Dougherty farm, near Petrolia. and later operated five wells in Centre township. In ISTS he went to the Bradford field, where he operated for some years, then went south, and was engaged in mining for five years in the James and Shenandoah valleys, Virginia. Returning to Butler in 1887, he again embarked in oil producing, and developed many wells in different parts of the county. In politics he was a Republican, and served in the borough council. Mr. Haslett married Alice, daughter of Moses Walton, a deceased attorney of Woodstock, Virginia, who has two children : Virginia and Walton.

KLINGLER FAMILY-The grandfather of Hermann Julius Klingler, of But- ler, lived in Buttenhousen, Wurtemberg, Germany, and died in the early infancy of his grandson. It is known that the grandfather had one sister, and that he was twice married. The first union resulted in two daughters and one son ; the latter, John Jacob, born June 6, 1791. was the father of Hermann Julius. John Jacob spent his early days in Buttenhousen, and later took up his abode in Mar- bach, Wurtemberg, Germany, the poet Schiller's birthplace, where he was mar- ried July 11. Is16, to Fredericka Magdalena Koch, who was born there Decem- ber 24, 1800. She had one sister, and two brothers, Christian and Gottlieb. Her father was engaged in the milling business, and his mill, situated at Marbach on the Neckar, consisted of twelve run of stone. and derived its water power from three immense dams. In 1817 the tide of emigration was directed towards the unsettled lands of Russia, to which the government gave possession and title after occupation for a number of years, and after making the improvements re-

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quired by law. At this time Father Koch and family joined the emigrants to Russia, but died near Odessa during the voyage. His son-in-law, John Jacob Klingler, thus came into possession of the mill at Marbach, and operated the same for nineteen years, until 1836, and it is worthy of notice here that the old family mill property was sold in 1891, to the government, for 276,000 marks, about $70,000, and that the vast water power is now being utilized for the electric light plants of Stuttgart and Cannstadt. The children of John Jacob Klingler, born in Marbach, who survived, were : John Gottlob Frederick, January 12, 1818; Barbara Augusta Fredericka, May 29, 1820; Matilda Henrietta, January Il, 1828, and Hermann Julius, January 9, 1830. Another son, Gottlob William. was born July 1. 1842, in Hohen Neuffen, near by, to which place the family had removed in 1836, where they conducted one of the largest hotels in the town. and had in addition considerable suburban property. Here the family lived until May 23, 1844, when they embarked for America ; the trip occupied thirty-six days. Frederick had preceded the family to the new world five years, and had settled in Philadelphia. He returned at this time to his native country for the purpose of conducting the family to their new home. On his way out he met his sister, Fredericka, by accident, at Havre-De-Grace, France, and assisted her in procuring a berth on a ship, as she was on her way to New York to join her husband. The family's first settlement was in Philadelphia. where they remained less than a year, afterwards removing to Armstrong county, and purchasing a large tract of land situated in Manor township, now occupied by the works of the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company, of Ford City. Here they lived six years following agriculture, and then removed to Butler, Pennsylvania. The father, John Jacob Klingler, died November 1, 1857, while on a visit to his native coun- try. His wife's death occurred at Butler, May 10, 1860. Frederick died in Phil- adelphia, September 27, 1848. Fredericka, who married Henry Becker, died in St. Louis, Missouri, in July, 1851, and William died in Worthington, Pennsyl- vania, October, 30, 1858.

HERMANN JULIUS KLINGLER is the only surviving male member of the old family, and with his sister, Matilda, wife of George Munsch, constitute the rem- nants of the first Klingler emigrants to this country. Hermann Julius was four- teen years old when the family arrived in America. He obtained his education at a " Re-al Schule," in Nürtingen, near his native place. After taking to himself a wife, he left the farm in Manor township, Armstrong county, at the age of eighteen, and accepted a situation as clerk in a store at Kittanning. Remaining there about one year, he, in 1849, settled in Butler, and purchased the old United States Hotel property, corner of Main and Jefferson streets, the present site of the Lowry House, which he conducted for three years. In 1852 he built the present Lowry House, and for eight consecutive years continued to be its landlord. During this time he was also engaged in other enterprises. Forming a copartnership with James Campbell, under the style of Campbell & Klingler, the firm carried on a dry goods store for five years on the northwest corner of Main and Mifflin streets. Later he was associated with Martin Reiber, as Reiber & Klingler, in the foundry business. In 1860 he sold the hotel and built his present residence on the southwest corner of Jefferson and Mckean

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streets. Two years later he severed his other business connections, and with John Berg, Sr., for several years operated in the oil fields above Oil City. It was in 1863 when Mr. Klingler and John Berg, Jr., took a cargo of crude oil to Liverpool, England. He was among the first to introduce petroleum in the old world, visiting, at the same time, his native land and other points of interest in Germany. The oil was put in barrels at Oil City, transported down the Alle- gheny river to Pittsburg, and from there shipped by rail to the seaboard at Phil- adelphia. Upon his return. in 1865, he led in the organization of the Butler County Oil Company, and during its existence of two years, served as its super- intendent. In this capacity he leased 12,000 acres of lands in Butler, Armstrong and Beaver counties, the greater part of which were located between Martins- burg, along Bear creek on the north, and Coylesville on the south. He drilled four test wells, one at Buhl's mill. Connoquenessing township: one near Mar- tinsburg, on Bear creek, in Parker township; one at Croll's mill, on Slippery Rock, in Brady township, and one on Buffalo creek, in Aimstrong county. As none of these wells were drilled to the second sand no oil was obtained, and the richest oil territory known in this section, extending from Parker to below Mil- lerstown, although leased for ninety nine years, was abandoned and left for later enterprise to develop and produce therefrom millions of barrels of oil.

Following in the footsteps of his forefathers, Mr. Klingler at last embarked in the milling business, and in 1867 erected the grist mill located on Mifflin street. known as Klingler's Mills. The present main office. 139 East Jefferson street, he built during the Centennial year. After operating the mill for ten years, he remodeled the same with the new process, a method which reground the purified middlings on a small millstone. Several years later he introduced rolls into his mill, being among the first in the State to use them. In 1883-84 he reconstructed the mill to the entire roller system, naming it the Oriental Roller Mills, acknowledged as one of the most advanced roller plants in the United States. In IS85 he erected a shipping house, fifty by one hundred and ten feet, opposite the West Penn railroad station. On March 1, 1886, be associated with him his two sons. Harry S. and Fred J., under the style of H. J. Klingler & Com- pany, to carry on the business more extensively. In 1859 the firm built the Specialty Roller Mills and West Penn Elevator, on the site of the shipping house, utilizing part of the latter. The Oriental Roller Mills was enlarged and again remodeled, externally and internally, in 1891. A fortune equal to four times the original cost of the mill has been expended in experiments and improve- ments on this plant in the last fourteen years. Mr. Klingler has been engaged in milling twenty-seven successive years, and one hundred years of milling history has been completed by the Klingler family.

Mr. Klingler was also prominently identified with many of the leading enterprises of this community. He was one of the originators and directors of the First National Bank, of Butler, and four years afterward withdrew to become one of the prime movers in the organization of the Butler Savings Bank, of which institution he was a director for a number of years. Dissolving his con- nection here, he took part in the organization of the German National Bank, of Millerstown, and served as a director as long as he was a stockholder in that

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institution. He was president of the Home Natural Gas Company from its organization until the company sold out to its present owners. For years he served the town as a school director and councilman, and was chairman of both bodies. In 1887 he was elected the first president of the Butler Improve- ment Association. It was at this time and in this capacity that he secured the location at Butler of the Standard Plate Glass Factory, in which project he fig- ured as one of the principals. For the first two years he was president of the company, and during part of this time was general manager of the works. Upon his retirement as head of the concern, he simultaneously severed his con- nection with the company. He left the impress of his discretion upon the town by platting. in 1890, twelve acres of land into thirty-nine lots, between Mifflin and Penn streets, and donated to the city the land occupied by the streets and alleys, at the same time creating the new thoroughfare now known as Broad street. The entire length of Broad street, on each side, he planted with shade trees, and by deed required each lot purchaser to build twenty feet from the street line. Quite a number of private residences were erected by him in dif- ferent parts of Butler.

In his religious belief, Mr. Klingler is a Lutheran, of which church he has been a life-long member. His name is conspicuous in the history of the denomi- nation in this section, as an energetic worker in various capacities. In the gen- eral body he has held numerous positions of trust. For many years he was a director of Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, the largest educational institu- tion of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and adjacent States, and for over ten years he was also treasurer of that body. He was a delegate from the Pittsburg Synod to the General Council Lutheran Assembly, which convened at Fort Wayne in the autumn of 1893. Politically, Mr. Klingler affiliated with the Democratic party until a recent date, but is now a strong Prohibitionist. While he always took an active interest in public matters, and though he was often urged to accept public office, the cares of a business life compelled him to deny the importunities of his fellow citizens. Mr. Klingler married, October 24, 1848, Anna Barbara, daughter of Martin Reiber, Sr .. one of the settlers of 1839, of Summit township, Butler county, and by this marriage they are the parents of eight children, four sons surviving : Harry Samuel; Frederick Julius ; Charles Washington, and Paul Gerhardt.

HARRY SAMUEL KLINGLER, eldest son of Hermann Julius Klingler, was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 3, 1856. His education was obtained in the public schools of Butler and at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. Direct from college in 1875, he entered his father's mill with a view of mastering the details of the business, and in 1878 he took charge as general manager, the duties of which position are still discharged by bim, as a member of the firm of II. J. Klingler & Company. In the mill from boyhood, and since then without inter- ruption for eighteen years manager of the two mills and elevator of his firm, he is recognized as a successful, practical and progressive miller. Mr. Klingler is well known among the millers of the United States as an author of many articles on milling, and in his connection with, and lectures before, the Pennsylvania Millers' State Association. In July, 1883, he was awarded the prize by the American

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Miller for the best essay on " The Handling of Middlings and the Use of Puri- fiers," and in 1884-85 he was a monthly contributor to that paper ; at the same time and for four years, he informally supported by his pen the Milling Engi- neer, writing occasionally for other trade papers. As " Random Reflector" he won notoriety from a column he edited, headed " Random Reflections." When the Pennsylvania Millers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company was organized in Decem- ber, 1886. he was one of the prime movers and has ever since been a director. He was in the past interested in a number of Butler enterprises, but never to such an extent as to neglect his life's work, milling. A life-long Lutheran. he has served his church energetically as superintendent of the Sunday school for nearly a decade. At the fifty-first convention of the Pittsburg Synod of the General Council, held at Greensburg, Pennsylvania, September 13-20, 1893. he was elected trustee of Thiel College, Greenville, Pennsylvania. Mr. Klingler married, February 5, 1878, Louisa Catherine, daughter of Jacob Keck, of Butler, Penn- sylvania, and they are the parents of five children : Charlotta Fredericka ; Will- iam Julius ; Alberta Barbara ; Clara Louisa, and Harry Samuel.

FREDERICK JULIUS KLINGLER, second son of Hermann Julius Klingler, was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1859. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, and then attended Duff's Commercial College of Pittsburg, where he was graduated January 15, 1875. Upon securing his diploma he was appointed book-keeper of the German National Bank of Millerstown, and served in that capacity for three years. Impaired health caused him to seek a more congenial climate at Cullman, Alabama, where he sojourned for a season. Returning, he entered the office of his father as book-keeper, which position he filled until the firm of H. J. Klingler & Company was organized, when he became a member, and took charge of the main office and the finances of the company. He married, September 4. 1888, Margaret Ewing, a daughter of Harold Rogers, of Baltimore, Maryland, and by this union they have two children : Emily Bryant, and James Hermann. Mr. Klingler was one of the organizers and original trustees of the Mutual Water Association of the South Side. In politics, he is a Prohibitionist, and, like all of his family, he is an adherent of the Lutheran faith.

CHARLES WASHINGTON KLINGLER, third son of Hermann Julius Klingler, was born in Butler April 12, 1861, where he was reared and educated. He attended for a time elsewhere a higher school than his native place afforded, but soon developed a preference for the handling of machinery, in which direction he early displayed considerable skill. He filled acceptably the position of engi- neer in the Oriental Roller Mills for several years, and upon the erection of the Standard Plate Glass Works of Butler, immediately entered the employ of that company as booker. Being one of the oldest employes of the factory, serv- ing the company for six successive years, he is familiar with every detail of the business, and now occupies the position of time-keeper and foreman. Mr. Kling- ter married, April 16, 1885, Alice Ann, daughter of Alexander Baxter, of Butler, and their family consists of two daughters and one son : Mabel Irene, Carl Julius and Laura Marguerite.

REV. PAUL GERHARDT KLINGLER, youngest son of Hermann Julius Kling- der. was born August 19, 1867, in Butler, where he was reared and received his

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early education. At the age of fifteen he entered Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, and graduated in 1887. Thereupon he entered Mount Airy Seminary, of Philadelphia, and was graduated May 27, and ordained June 30. 1890. During his theological course he established missions at Manayunk, Pennsylvania, and Lansingburg, New York, and in April, 1890, was called to the pastorate of St. Michael's Lutheran church, one of the oldest of the denomination in Philadel- phia. Here he labored until October, 1891, when he removed to Sherodsville. Ohio, pursuant to a call from the Bowerston charge, comprising three congrega- tions and four churches. After two years of service in this field he was called, in October, 1893, to Trinity Lutheran church, of Catasauqua, Pennsylvania, where he now resides. He was married, June 25, 1890, to Alberta, daughter of the late Prof. William F. Lehmann, president of Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, and by this marriage they have three sons : Paul Lehmann, Hermann Julius and Jerome.

JOHN BERG, SR., was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, June 9, 1812. and was a son of John and Marian Berg. He was educated in his native land, and there learned the baker's trade. In 1832 he immigrated to the United States, in company with his uncle, Casper Ritzert, and first settled at Chambersburg. Pennsylvania, where he found employment in a rolling mill. Ile afterwards removed to Pittsburg, and worked at his trade until 1835. In that year he came to Butler and opened a small bakery and grocer store upon the site of the hard- ware house now occupied by George A. Cypher & Company, which building he afterwards erected. He carried on business bere until about 1848, when he and his brother Herman leased the property on the corner of Main and Cunningham streets, erected a warehouse and engaged in a general store, produce and wool business, under the firm name of John Berg & Company. This partnership lasted until 1856, when Herman Berg retired and John Berg continued the busi- ness alone until 1870. In that year Mr. Berg founded the banking house of John Berg & Company, which has been in successful operation for the past twenty- four years. In 1874 he erected the brick building, 121 South Main street, and taking into partnership his son in-law, George A. Cypher, engaged in a hard- ware business, under the name of Berg & Cypher, until his death. In 1880, in partnership with his son John, he embarked in a general grocery and wool busi- ness, which they carried on until 1882. Mr. Berg was one of the pioneer oil operators on the Allegheny river. Venango county, in 1859, in connection with H. J. Klingler, and was extensively engaged with other operators during the early oil days of Venango and Butler counties. In partnership with Mr. Klingler he shipped, in 1863, 1,000 barrels of crude oil to Liverpool, which was one of the first shipments of petroleum made to England. It was consigned to Boult, Eng- lish & Brandon, and was sold by the ton. He was also associated with Mr. Klingler in the lease, of 12,000 acres of oil lands, which they finally abandoned, and which afterwards proved to be the richest oil field in Butler county. He was one of the largest, if not the largest, real estate owners in the borough and county. Mr. Berg was a Whig in politics until the organization of the American or Know Nothing party, when, because of the sympathy existing in the Whig party with Know Nothingism, he became a Democrat. In religious faith he was

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History of Butler County, Pennsylvania, Part 92

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp Publication date: 1895 Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown Number of Pages: 1658

Author: Brown, Robert C., ed; Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.); Meagher, John, jt. comp; Meginness, John Franklin, 1827-1899, jt. comp
Publication date: 1895
Publisher: Chicago : R. C. Brown
Number of Pages: 1658