May 07

Geisler Shot Twice and Survived

George Geisler was lucky to survive being shot twice, and he even lived a few more years after the incident.

The following are newspaper accounts of the December 1938 shooting of the Willshire Township native.

GEORGE GEISLER, NEAR SCHUMM, SAID IMPROVED
One of Two Small Caliber Bullets at Base of Skull

No new developments have been uncovered in the mysterious shooting of George Geisler, 73, wealthy Willshire Township farmer, who was shot twice in the head, from ambush, while reclining in a chair in the summer kitchen at his farm west of Schumm.

Geisler, who was shot last Thursday at about 7:30 p.m. and not found until Saturday noon, was reported in an improved condition today in Adams County Memorial Hospital at Decatur, Indiana, by the attending physician, Dr. L. M. Githens of Wren.

Dr. Githens reported that both bullets, apparently fired from a small caliber weapon, had been located, however no effort would be made to remove them at present. One of the bullets was located at the base of the skull. The other shattered as it entered his head. Neither missile caused locomotive paralysis, and at no time did the wounded man become unconscious. Geisler has been given a good chance to recover.

Geisler was found about noon Saturday by Laurel Bowen, a neighbor, who made an investigation after Elton Vining, rural letter carrier, reported that Geisler’s mail had not been removed for two days. Geisler was found on the floor of the summer kitchen and had been without food or water since Thursday night. He was weakened considerably by loss of blood.

Geisler was questioned at the hospital by Sheriff R. B. Stevens. Geisler stated that while sitting in the summer kitchen, he felt a sting just below the right ear that caused him to reel from the chair onto the floor. Shortly afterwards, he said he managed to crawl back to the chair when he was struck on the opposite side of the head. He said that at no time did he hear or see anyone.

Tracks in the snow, just outside the summer kitchen window, indicate that Geisler’s unknown assailant stood there some time before shooting. The bullets passed through a screen and window at different angles, Stevens said.

Stevens said that while there were no indications of robbery, he expressed the belief that the assailant visited the Geisler farm with that intent, and that after shooting the elderly man, he apparently “got cold feet.”

Geisler linked his assailant with a masked bandit who endeavored to rob him several months ago as he walked through the woods to his mailbox. Geisler said that the masked man, flashing a revolver, searched him for money and then ordered him to return home. He described the masked man as tall and slender. [1]

The Daily Times-Bulletin,  27 Dec 1938

In another news article the following day, the physician reported that George appeared stronger and was able to move his head without pain.

However, it took some time for George Geisler to recover and return home:

MAN SHOT SIX MONTHS AGO TAKEN HOME FROM HOSPITAL AT DECATUR
George Geisler, 69-year-old Willshire Township recluse, who has been a patient at Adams County Memorial Hospital in Decatur for the past six months suffering from two bullet wounds at the base of the brain, has been removed to his home near Willshire.

Geisler, while sitting in a chair in the summer kitchen at his home, was twice shot by an unknown assailant who fired through a window. The shooting occurred the night of December 22, and his plight was not discovered until two days later…

Geisler was shot through both the left and right sides of his head, the bullets producing partial paralysis. No effort was made to remove the bullets, which were said to have been fired from a .22 caliber weapon. Authorities have been unable to secure any clues as to the identity of his assailant. [2]

Van Wert Times Bulletin, 21 June 1939

It is amazing that George lived another 5 years after being shot in the head twice. His obituary:

GEORGE GEISLER STRICKEN AT 79
Willshire Township Resident Died in Hospital        
George Geisler, 79, bachelor of Willshire Township, died at 7:30 a.m. today at Van Wert County Hospital where he had been a patient a week. He had been ill for three weeks.

The deceased was a native and lifetime resident of Willshire Township. A brother and sister preceded him in death. His only survivors are two cousins, Mrs. T.B. DeWitt of North Walnut Street and Mrs. Lena Schumm of Willshire Township.

The funeral will be Friday at Zion Lutheran Church, Schumm, Rev. Alfred Moeller, officiating, interment in the church cemetery. [3]

I wrote a Tombstone Tuesday about George Geisler a few years ago, Tombstone Tuesday-George Geisler. George was born in Willshire Township on 6 June 1864, the son of Johann “Nicholas” and Elisabeth (Stemling) Geisler. His parents were both German immigrants. He was a farmer and lived all his life on the family farm a couple miles east of Willshire. He never married.

George Geisler, Zion Lutheran Cemetery, Van Wert County, Ohio. (2012 photo by Karen)

George Geisler died at the Van Wert County Hospital on 3 November 1943, his death caused by heart problems. There was no mention about the two bullets in his skull on his death certificate.

Of course there is a Schumm connection here. Not only was George a member of Zion Lutheran Church at Schumm, but, as mentioned in his obituary, his cousin was Magdalena “Lena” (Geisler) Schumm (1868-1946), the second wife of River Henry Schumm (1844-1922). George’s father Nicholas Geisler and Lena’s father George Geisler were brothers. 

Also interesting is that one article mentioned that George was found by Laurel Bowen (1909-2003). Laurel’s wife Edith (Dudgeon) (1911-1997) was my 5th grade teacher at Parkway, in Willshire.

Plus, Edith was a sister to Robert Dudgeon (1903-1992), who married Bernice Brewster (1907-1994). Bernice was a sister of my paternal grandmother Gertrude (Brewster) Miller (1896-1973).

Small world.

And what an amazing story.

[1] George Geisler, Near Schumm, Said Improved, The Daily Times-Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, Tuesday, 27 Dec 1938; Newspaperarchive.com.

[2] Man Shot Six Months Ago Taken Home from Hospital at Decatur, Van Wert Times Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, 21 Jun 1939; Newspaperarchive.com.

[3] George Geisler Stricken at 79, Van Wert Times Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, 3 Nov 1943; Newspaperarchive.com.

You can contact Karen at karen@karenmillerbennett.com

Apr 23

The Kables, Kesslers, Linns, & Muellers Come to Liberty Township, 1846-1874

Over seven million Germans immigrated to America during the past three centuries, the largest non-English-speaking group that came to America. German immigration to the United States occurred in three main waves: from 1820-1850, driven by economic hardship and political unrest; from 1850-1870, influenced by the failed revolutions of 1848; and from 1880-1900, because of industrialization and agricultural changes in Germany.

Today, a look at the immigration of four families from Germany to the Chattanooga, Ohio, area, spanning nearly 30 years. These families lived near each other in the Old Country, were close friends, with marriages between the families.  

The members of these families did not emigrate at the same time. It was costly for families to sail to America, which may have been a factor. Perhaps the first to settle in America tested the waters and additional family members decided to come later. This study shows that people really did travel to where family and friends had already settled. Basically, they recreated their German community here in America.

Three of these four families are part of my family, Mueller, Kessler, and Linn. The fourth family, the Kable family, is connected by a Kessler/Kable marriage in Germany.

The Familienbuchs of Zion Lutheran Chatt and St. Paul Lutheran Liberty provide little biographies of the early church members and includes dates of their immigration. Some church members arrived in the early 1830s, but this group of four families began arriving over a decade later.  

They came from the Saarland/Bavaria area of Germany: Mueller and Linn from Bierbach, Kessler from Walzheim, and Kable from Fechingen.

The information below is from the ship passenger lists. Sometimes married women or widows were listed on the passenger list by their maiden name. The age of each person was included on the passenger list and I include that below. Additional information added by me is in [ ].

The first family of this group to come to America was Christian Kable Jr (1814-1885), his wife Dorothea (Maurer) (1815-1904), and their four children. They departed from Antwerp on the ship Edwina and arrived in New York on 3 December 1846:

Christian Kable, 32 [(1814-1885) listed as C Kable; son of Christian Kable Sr]
Dorothea (Maurer) Kable, 31 [(1815-1904) listed as Da Maurer; wife of Christian Kable]
Jacob Kable, 6 [(1840-1868) son of Christian & Dorothea]
Christian Kable, 4 [(1841-1866) son of Christian & Dorothea]
Louise Kable, 4 [(1841-1892) daughter of Christian & Dorothea]
Johann Kable, 3 [(1843-1881) son of Christian & Dorothea]  [1]

Ship Edwina, 1846

The rest of the Kable family immigrated three years later, with the Kesslers. They sailed to America on the ship Henrietta and arrived in New York on 8 May 1849. On the list, Kessler was spelled Kesler and Holderbaum was spelled Holderbach:

Christian Kable Sr, 68 [(1781-bef 1850) father of the 4 Kable children also on the ship]
Catharine [Mueller] Kable, 57 [(c1790-1864) wife of Christian Kable Sr; possibly daughter of John Daniel Mueller]
Frederick Kable, 30 [(1817-1886) son of Christian Sr & Catharine]
Ferdinand Kable, 23 [(1827-1912) son of Christian Sr & Catharine]
Daniel Kable, 27 [(1821-1896) son of Christian Sr & Catharine; married to Louisa Holderbaum]
Louisa (Holderbaum) Kable, 28 [(1821-1849?) wife of Daniel Kable; listed as Holderbach]
Louisa Kable, 3 [(1846-1933) daughter of Daniel Kable & Louisa (Holderbaum)]  
Christian Kessler Sr, 32 [(1814-1892) brother of Maria (Kessler) Mueller, who would immigrate in 1871]
Margaretha (Kable) Kessler, 32 [(1816-1862) wife of Christian Kessler Sr; daughter of Christian Kable Sr; listed as Margaretha Kable]
Margaretha Kessler, 4 [(1842-1868) daughter of Christian Kessler Sr & Margaretha]
Christian Kessler Jr, 3 [(1845-1904) son of Christian Kesler Sr & Margaretha]
Christian Holderbaum, 18 [possibly brother of Louisa (Holderbaum) Kable; listed as Christian Holderbach] [2]

Ship Henrietta, 1849

The Kessler and Kable families were intertwined and had intermarried in Germany. Christian Kessler’s wife Katharine “Margaretha” (Kable) was the daughter of Christian Kable Sr and was a sister to Christian Kable Jr, who married Dorothea Maurer.  

German records indicate that Daniel Kable, son of Christian Kable Sr & Catharine Elizabeth Mueller, married Louisa Catharina Holderbaum on 24 December 1845 in Saarbrucken, Saarland. [3] Their daughter Louisa (Kable) Slofman’s death certificate names Louisa Holderbaum as her mother. [4] The Christian Holderbaum traveling with them may have been Louisa’s  brother. He was born about 1830 and may have resided in Cincinnati and died there in 1888, although this is a theory at this point. [5]

Christian Kable Sr, born in 1781, likely died here before the 1850 census.

Christian Kessler Sr (1814-1892) was the brother of my great-great-grandmother Maria (Kessler) Mueller (1811-1886). Maria and her husband Johann Mueller (1816-1870) were the parents of Jacob Mueller/Miller (1843-1918), my great-grandfather, who immigrated in 1872.

The other Mueller in the Kable family, Catharine Elizabeth (Mueller) Kable, was probably not connected to my Mueller family.

The next person to immigrate was my great-grandfather Jacob Mueller, age 28, a widower, who immigrated in 1871. His wife, child, and father had recently died and starting over in a new country probably sounded like a good idea. He had family in America by that time, his uncle Christian Kessler Sr and some cousins. In fact, traveling to America with Jacob Mueller was one Christian Kessler, age 25, likely Jacob Mueller’s first cousin Christian Kessler Jr (1845-1904), who had immigrated with his family in 1849. Did Christian Kessler Jr travel back to Germany to accompany his cousin Jacob Mueller to America? It looks like he may have.

Jacob Mueller and Christian Kesser Jr arrived in New York on 15 June 1871 on the ship Bremen. [6]

Ship Bremen, 1871

But Jacob Mueller still had family back in Germany, his mother and his two married sisters. His sister Catharine was married to Jacob Linn and his sister Margaret was married to his brother, Philip Linn.

A year later, the fourth group immigrated. This group included Jacob Muellers’s widowed mother Maria (Kessler) Mueller, her two daughters and their families, and some other Linn family members. Maria Mueller and the Linns arrived in New York on 28 May 1872 on the ship Hannover:

Maria (Kessler) Mueller, 64 [(1811-1886) Johann Mueller’s widow; mother of Jacob Mueller, Margaret & Catharine (Mueller) Linn; listed as Maria Kesler]
Philip Linn Sr, 31 [(1841-1920) married to Margaret Mueller; son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]
Margaret (Mueller) Linn, 24 [(1847-1924) wife of Philip Linn Sr; daughter of Marie (Kessler) Mueller]
Philip Linn Jr, 9 months [(1870-1877) son of Philip Linn Sr & Margaret Mueller]
Jacob Linn Sr, 34 [(1838-1919) married to Catharine Mueller; son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]
Catharine (Mueller) Linn, 32 [(1839-1913) wife of Jacob Linn Sr; daughter of Marie (Kessler) Mueller]
Jacob Linn Jr, 7 [(1866-1927) son of Jacob Linn Sr & Catharine Mueller]
Philip Linn, 4 [(1868-1935) son of Jacob Linn Sr & Catharine Mueller]
Heinrich Linn, 9 months [(1871-1934) son of Jacob Linn Sr & Catharine Mueller]
Christian Linn, 14 [(1856-1936); aka Godfrey Linn, christened as Christian Linn; son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]
Johann/John Jacob Linn, 19, [(1853-1935) son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs; occupation shoemaker] [7]

Ship Hannover, 1872

Widow Maria (Kessler) Mueller had several relatives living in the Chatt-area when she arrived: her son Jacob Mueller, her brother Christian Kessler, and several nieces and nephews. 

The final group of Linns from that same family came to America in 1874. The father Philip “Daniel” Linn, widowed in 1871, came to America with three of his younger children. They sailed together on the ship Westphalia and arrived in New York in June 1874:

Daniel Linn, 62 [(1812-1886) the father, Philip “Daniel” Linn; returned to Germany]
Michael Linn, 24 [(1849-1926) son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]
Peter Linn, 15 [(1859-1925) son of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]
Maria/Mary Linn,15, [(1859-1892) daughter of Philip “Daniel” Linn & Gertrude Fuchs]  [8]

Ship Westphalia, 1874

The father Philip “Daniel” Linn (b. 1812) did not stay in America. He went back to Germany and lived out the rest of his life there. One wonders if he did not like it in America or if he even intended to stay here in the first place, because some of his children had remained in Germany.

The final result was a community in the New World that mirrored their community in the Old Word. They probably felt right at home.

[1] Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897, New York, Record Group 36, Microfilm M237, Christian & Dorothea (Maurer) Kable, Ship Edwina, 2 Dec 1846; Ancestry.com.

[2] Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897, microfilm M237, Records of the U.S. Customs Service, RG 36, Christian Kable & Christian Kesler families, Ship Henrietta, 8 May 1849; Ancestry.com.

[3] Landesarchiv des Saarlandes, Saarbrucken-Scheidt, Deutschland, Personenstandsregister, Signatur DezTab 67, Saarland, Germany, Births, Marriages, Deaths, 1776-1875, Johann Daniel Kahle [sic] & Luise Catharina Holderbaum, 24 Dec 1845; Ancestry.com.

[4] Louise Laura (Kable) Slofman, Death Certificate, 3 Jan 1933, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio; Find a Grave.com.

[5] Christ Holderbaum (1828-1888), Potters Field, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, Find a Grave memorial no.155728186; Find a Grave.com. [This record indicates he was 60 years old, born in Germany.

[6] Ship Bremen manifest, 15 June 1871, roll M237_344, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

[7] Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York 1820-1897, Microfilm M237, Records of the US Customs Service, RG 36, Linn & Kessler, Ship Hannover, 28 May 1872; Ancestry.com.

[8] Staatsarchiv Hamburg, Hamburg, Deutschland, Hamburger Passagierlisten, Vol. 373-7 I, VIII A 1 Band 030 C, p367,  Microfilm No. K_1720, Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934 [database on-line].  p.374, Daniel Linn & children, Ship Westphalia, Jun 1874; Ancestry.com.

You can contact Karen at karen@karenmillerbennett.com

Mar 26

Early Liberty Township Earmark Descriptions, part 2

A couple weeks ago I listed the farmers (A-K surnames) who registered earmarks in Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, in the mid-1800s and below is the remainder of those earmark registrations. Their registered earmarks are written in the Liberty Township Estray Book, which also recorded stray livestock in the township.

The Liberty Township Estray Book is a very old book and Jacob Deutch registered the first earmark in the township on 15 June 1842.

Liberty Twp Book of Marks/Estray

Most of the livestock was free-range at that time and sometimes they wandered off the farm. Fences were scarce at first, but distinctive patterns and marks on an animal’s ear would identify a farmer’s livestock. Each farmer registered his earmark for his hogs, sheep, and cattle with the township clerk. And of course there was a fee to record an earmark. In 1860 it cost 25 cents to record an earmark in Liberty Township.

Many times, a farmer’s specific earmark was transferred to another farmer for one reason or another, say if he moved. Some marks were transferred several times.

Below is the list of registered Liberty Township earmarks, L-Z surnames, from the Liberty Township Estray book.

Lee, Amos 4 Apr 1853: a square crop off the right ear with and under bit from the same ear (trans to John Meyer 1 May 1869)
Leibrick, Andrew 23 May 1865: 2 slits in the right ear & 1 slit in the left ear
Leininger, Samuel 1 Apr 1867: an under half crop in the right ear & an upper bit in the same (trans to N Lenhard 2 Jan 1872)
Lenhart, Nicholas 2 Jan 1872: an under half crop off the right ear & a notch out of the upper side of the same
Lewis, Reuben Martin 2 Feb 1863: a square crop off the left ear & 2 slits in the same & under bit in the right ear
Lininger, Jacob 28 May 1859, under half crop from the right ear,
Lininger, John 8 Apr 1859: a square crop off the left ear & a swallow fork in the right ear (trans to Adam Dickes 11 Oct 1869)
Linn, Jacob 18 Jul 1876: a square crop of the left ear & a slit in the lower side of the right ear
Linn, Philip 17 Jul 1876: a square upper half crop of the left ear
Long, Jonathan 1 Feb 1851: a crop of the right ear & a slit in the same & an under bit in the left ear (trans to George Bollenbacher [no date])
Marts, Anthony 15 Nov 1860: a hole in each ear
Maurer, Nicholas 1 Jul 1866: a swallow fork in the right ear
May, Alexander W 4 April 1853: a square crop off the left ear & an under bit from the same (trans to Philip Wendel 17 Mar 1871)
May, Elias 9 Dec 1864: an upper half cross out of each ear
Mertz, J D 26 Apr 1866: a square notch out of the under side of the left ear  (trans to Frank Fissel 26 Feb 1881)
Miller, Andres 15 Dec 1846: a square crop of the left ear & a slit in the right ear
Miller, Andrew 12 May 1843: a hole in the left ear & a slit in the right (trans to John A Fisher 18 Nov 1850; trans to Chris Fisher 3 Apr 1871)
Mizner, Georg W 6 Nov 1852: an under slope from each ear
Mizner, William L 19 May 1868: an under slope of each ear & a slit in the right ear
Mahony, Daniel 17 Jun 1867: 2 slits in each ear
Myer, John (Skeels X-Rd) 7 Apr 1873  (trans from Henry Dixon): an under bit from each ear
Oliver, J R 7 Apr 1873  (trans from W A VanHorn): an under notch out of the left ear
Plants, Tobias 13 Apr 1852: under slope out of each ear, the whole length of the ear; crop off the left ear & upper and under bit on right ear (trans to S Wilson 13 September 1870)
Price, Isaac M 11 Oct 1842: a crop off the right ear  (trans to Henry ? 8 Oct 1867; trans to Frederik Randers [no date])
Proutz, Simon 10 Mary 1866: a swallow fork in the left ear (transferred to Peter Strable 1 May 1865)
Rice, Edward 8 Nov 1855: an upper bit out of each ear
Rider, Sylvester 16 Jan 1842: a crop off the left ear with a slit in the same & a swallow fork in the right ear (vacated by his removal from township Jan 1843)
Schaadt, Adam 31 May 1884: an upper half crop of the right ear
Schadt, Jacob 6 Dec 1872: an under bit from the left ear
Shultz, Adam 1 Apr 1867: a hole in the right ear & an upper half crop in the left ear
Siez, Jacob 14 Apr 1868: a square crop off the left ear (trans to Jacob Hinton 3 Dec 1869)
Skeels, Ansel 5 Apr 1852: one notch out of the upper part of the left ear (trans to Peter Bockoven [no date])
Skeels, Hiram 5 Apr 1852: one notch out of upper part of right ear (trans to Jacob Wendel  [no date])
Skeels, Sylvester 7 Apr 1842: a square crop and slit in the left ear & an under bit in the right ear  (trans to John Myers grocer 29 May 1871)
Smith, Andy 18 Sep 1857: a square crop from the right ear & a slit in each ear (trans to Philip Smith 4 Apr 1870)
Smith, John 18 Sep 1857: a square crop off the right ear & slit in the same & upper half crop in left ear.
Smith, Philip (trans from Andy Smith 4 Apr 1870): a square crop from the right ear & a slit in each ear
Smythe, George 1 Feb 1856: a square crop off the left ear with an upper notch and slit in the right ear
Stein, Joseph 27 Oct 1865: 2 slits in the right ear
Strable, Peter (trans from Simon Proutz 1 May 1865): a swallow fork in the left ear **P1010464
Thomas, Joseph (trans from Jesse Weaver>W.H. Leudserf 19 May 1870): a square crop off the right ear & a slit in the stump
Thorp, Job 8 May 1871 (trans from Samuel Dixon): a square crop from the right ear & swallow fork under bit in the left
Tresel, Henry 25 Feb 1871: a square crop off the left ear with a slit in the same & an under bit in the right ear
VanHorn, William 20 Mar 1858: an under notch out of the left ear (trans to J R Oliver 7 April 1873)
Waters, Arnold 13 Apr 1867: a square crop off the right ear & a slit in the under side of the left ear (trans to Christian Kessler Jr 4 April 1870)
Watkins, Wm F 24 Dec 1841: a crop off each ear and a slit in each  (trans to John Harold 25 November 1850)
Weaver, Jesse 12 Dec 1856: a square crop off the right ear & a slit in the stump (trans to W.H. Leudserf 20 May 1865; trans  to Joseph Thomas 19 May 1870)
Wendel, Jacob 28 Jan 1876: a notch out of the upper part of the right ear
Wendel, Philip 17 Mar 1876: a square crop of the left ear & an under bit in the same
Willrath, Yokim 29 Mar 1869: a square crop off the left ear with an under notch out of the same and a slit in the right ear (trans to Ferdinand Kesler 4 Apr 1870)
Wilson, H K 13 Sep 1870 (trans from Tobias Plants): under slope out of each ear, the whole length of the ear; a square crop off the left ear & upper and under bit on right ear
Wilson, Theophilus 6 Jan 1843: a crop off the left ear & a slit in the right ear (Trans to Jesse Young 10 Feb 1846)
Wineman, J G 6 Jun 1874: a square crop off the right ear with a hole in the same
Wisenborn, John F 26 Jun 1883: 2 slits in each ear
Wishon, Philip N 19 Mar 1857: a hole and under bit in the left ear & a swallow fork in the right ear  P1010464
Wright, David B 13 Nov 1860: an under bit from the left ear (trans to John B. Duer 27 Oct 1865)
Wright, Owen 26 March 1849: a square crop of the right ear & a swallow fork in the left (trans to Philip Hooper 28 Apr 1848; trans to Jacob Tawnig 30 Nov 1853)

I showed examples of earmarks in the previous blog post, Early Liberty Township Earmark Descriptions.

Yet another piece of Mercer County history.

You can contact Karen at karen@karenmillerbennett.com

 

Mar 12

Early Liberty Township Earmark Descriptions

I have written about Mercer County’s old Liberty Township Estray Book three other times. [1]  The book dates back to the mid-1800s and pertains to livestock in the township.

1842 Liberty Township Estray Book

The Liberty Estray Book has two purposes. The first part of the book describes the township estrays, i.e. found or missing livestock. The first entry is that of Jacob Deutsch, 1 January 1842, who found three strays–a black mare with a bay colt and a bay mare.

The rest of the book is the registration of livestock earmarks for the Liberty Township farmers. Unfortunately, some pages have been torn out of the back of the book.  

During that time period, most livestock roamed free-range and they sometimes wandered off the farm, an easy thing to do if there were not many fences. The age-old solution was to mark their ears. Animal’s ears were easy to see and cutting marks in distinctive patterns on one or both ears was a good way to identify a farmer’s livestock. Each farmer registered his own earmark for his hogs, sheep, and cattle with the township clerk. One earmark was used for all three animals. That way there was no question to whom the livestock belonged. They specifically mention earmarks for hogs, sheep, and cattle, but not horses. I guess they did not disfigure horses’ ears. 

Many times, a farmer’s specific earmark was transferred to another farmer for one reason or another, for example when he moved out of the area. Some marks were transferred several times as time went on.

And of course there was a fee to record an earmark. In 1860 it cost 25 cents to record an earmark in Liberty Township.

Earmarks are usually described with the left ear pattern first, then the right ear pattern, but the Liberty Township clerk did not always follow this method. The position of the cut on the ear (upper edge, lower edge, tip) and the type of cut (notch, split, crop) combine to create the full description.

Some common earmark terms used in Liberty’s Estray Book:
Crop: Removal of the entire tip of the ear
Split: A cut from the edge toward the center of the ear
Bit: A small V-shaped notch
Under Bit: A small V-shaped notch on the lower edge
Over Bit: A small V-shaped notch on the upper edge
Slope/Under Slope: An angled cut removing part of the ear edge
Swallow Fork: A V-shaped cut from the tip creating a forked appearance

When looking at the examples below, the left ear is shown on the left side of the image and the right ear on the right-as if you’re looking at the animal from behind:

Earmark examples I

Earmark Examples II

Earmark Examples III

Earmark Example IV

Earmark Examples V

Earmark Examples VI

Later, in the estray portion of the book, found livestock was identified by their earmark. So the earmark system worked.

It is a challenge to go through the book. The pages are not numbered and there is no index. The first 30 pages are the estrays, then the earmark registrations begin with the year 1883. After nine pages of earmarks going back in time to 1871 there is a page entitled Book of Marks, which begins with Philip Deutch in 1842. The next entry is Philip Bolton, 1841. Registrations continue in order by year for another 20 pages, through 1870, to the end of the book, where some pages have been torn out.

Apparently when the clerk began recording in the book in 1841 he left nine pages blank between the estrays and the earmarks. When he got to the end of the book in 1871, recording earmarks, he went back to the beginning of the earmarks section and recorded earmarks, backwards, working his way toward the front of the book, using the nine blank pages, until he got back to the end of the estray section in 1883, when the book was full. It is a little different recording system but I managed to figure it out.

Some townships and counties made diagrams of their earmarks:

Earmark diagrams in old book

But there are no diagrams in this book, which makes me wonder how the clerk kept track of all the earmarks. How did he know which marks were already registered?

I would imagine there was another earmark registration book, maybe at the county level, that is arranged differently with illustrations.

In the early years earmarks were often recorded in the county court minutes or in specific volumes and were later recorded in books such as Record of Marks books. I don’t know how many of these books survived and it is fortunate that this book is still intact. It is a great piece of Mercer County history.  

Book of Earmarks, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, 1841

If your ancestor lived in Liberty Township in the mid-1800s, he may be listed below and you can see what his registered earmark was and the date it was registered. Note, look for alternate name spellings. Some of the names in the book are difficult to read and I transcribed them the best I could, as they were written and spelled.

Albright, John G 14 Feb 1843: square crop off each ear (trans to John Lininger 11 Oct 1859)
Alt, Adam 5 Nov 1877: hole in the left ear & upper bit in same ear
Alt, Frederick 10 Jan 1877: a square crop of each ear & a slit in each ear
Alt, John 1 Dec 1877: a square crop of the left ear & upper bit in right ear
Alt, John 13 Nov 1865: one square notch out of the upper side of the right ear; 1 Dec 1877: his earmark changed & trans to John Alt: a square crop of the left ear & upper bit in right ear
Anders, Frederick 7 Mar 1865: a square crop off the right ear (trans to Henry V Hinton 14 Apr 1865)
Anselment, John 3 Apr 1874: a square crop off each ear with an under notch out of each
Anselment, Lewis 24 Jul 1863: a slit in each ear
Arbaugh, Horace B 17 Mar 1851: a slit in each ear & an under bit in the right (trans to John C Brehm 1 Feb 1866)
Bacher, John 16 Oct 1851: upper half crop of each ear (trans to John J Schaadt 3 Nov 1868)
Bacher, Philip 16 May 1851: upper half crop /left ear; under half crop/right ear
Baker, Jacob 27 Jul 1865: a hole in the right ear and an under half crop from the left ear
Baker, John 6 Aug 1855: a square crop in the right & under slope in the left (trans to Nicholas Hider 9 Sep 1865)
Bance, John 18 Aug 1866: a swallow fork in the left ear and an upper bit in the same ear
Baurer, Michael 6 Apr 1863   (trans to Nicholas Hider 9 September 1865)
Beach, Hiram 26 Nov 1854: a square crop from the left ear & a notch from the upper side of the right (trans to Mary Wernet 13 September 1870)
Betzel, Frederick 4 Apr 1853: a square crop off each ear with 2 slits in each ear & and under bit for each ear
Beverstine, Abraham 15 Nov 1876: a swallow crop in the right ear
Bock, Leonard 24 Jul 1867: two holes in each ear
Bolenbacher, Adam 14 Feb 1843: square crop off the right ear, a slit in the left
Bollenbacher, Jacob 5 May 1881, square crop of the right ear, two slits in the left ear
Bollenbacher, John Jacob 17 Nov 1876: a square crop of the left ear and slit in same & under bit in right ear
Bollenbaucher, George Jr 6 Mar 1860, square crop off each ear & a slit in the right
Bollenbaucher, Jacob 10 May 1866: a square crop off the right ear & an under bit in the left 
Bollenbaugh, Adam Jr 6 May 1865: an under half crop of the left ear
Bollenbaugh, George Sr 4 Apr 1853: a crop off the right ear & a slit in the same, under bit in the left ear
Bolton, Philip 15 Jun 1841: a crop of the left ear & a slit in the right ear (trans to Theophilus Wilson 6 Jan 1843)
Bolton, Philip 1843: a crop off the left ear with a slit in the same & a swallow fork in the right ear (trans to Fredrick Kable 24 Nov 1860)
Brahm, John 20 Jun 1873: a slit in each ear with a hole in the right ear
Brechheiser, Martin 10 May 1865: a slit in the left ear and a hole in the right ear
Brehm, John C 9 May 1878: one slit in each ear & an under bit in the right ear
Brehm, Peter 15 Mar 1884: a hole in the ear and upper half crop in the left ear
Burger, Michael 20 Apr 1865: a square crop off the left ear & a slit in the lower side of the right ear (trans to Joseph Felver 1 Apr 1867; trans to Jacob Linn 18 Jul 1876)
Carmony, Henry 11 Oct 1842: a square crop off the left ear (trans to Peter Fisher 10 Feb 1846)
Chapman, John H 20 Apr 1852: sloping crop off the under part of the right ear
Coon, Henry 29 May 1852 (trans from Elisha Horton?): a [square] crop off the left ear & a slit in the stump
Cox, Benjamin 3 Apr 1843: upper half crop of the left ear (trans to Philip Linn 17 Jul 1876)
Daily, Thomas G 15 Jan 1866: a square crop off the right ear and two slits in the left ear
Deaner, Frederic 3 Mar 1865: an under half crop out of each ear
Deitsch, Jacob Sr 1 May 1846  (trans to John Deitsch 28 Jan 1876): 2 slits in the left year
Deitsch, Jacob 21 Dec (trans to John G. Brumen? 20 Oct 1864): a crop of each ear and two slits in each ear
Deitsch, John 28 Jan 1876  (transferred to Anton Feissel 21 Nov 1884): 2 slits in the left ear
Deutch, Jacob 25 Aug 1841: a crop off the right ear with a hole in the left
Deutch, Philip 15 Jun 1842: a square crop off the left ear with a hole in the right ear
Diekes, Mary M 23 Jul 1860: square crop off the right ear & under bit in the left ear (trans to M. Kutsch [no date])
Diekes, Rinehart 23 Jul 1860: a square crop off the right ear & upper half crop off the left ear (trans to John B Drier Oct 1860)
Ditsch [Deitsch] Wm, 1 May 1846: a square crop of the right ear & a half crop of the left
Dixon, Amos 31 Mar 1857: a crop from the right ear & a slit and under bit from the left ear (trans to Henry Grote 9 Apr 1869)
Dixon, Henry 7 Apr 1866: an under bit in each ear; later in book, same date, recorded as a square crop off the right ear & a square notch out of the under side of the right ear
Dixon, Henry 8 Apr 1861: and under bit from each ear (trans to John Myer 7 Apr 1873)
Dixon, Samuel 8 Jun 1855: a square crop from the right ear & swallow fork and under bit in the left (trans to Job Thorp 8 May 1871)
Emerick, Philip 6 Apr 1874: a square crop off the right ear & under notch in the same & an upper notch in the left ear
Feipel, Anton 21 Nov 1884: two slits in the left ear
Fidlir, John 6 Apr 1854: a square crop off the left ear & a swallow fork in the right ear (trans to John Cox 16 Nov 1854)
Fieldheizer, George 22 Oct 1847: a swallow fork in each ear (trans to Jacob Hoffman 19 Nov 1850)
Fieper [Feipel], Nick 16 Feb 1879: one hole in the left ear & upper half crop of right ear
Fipiel [Feipel], Frank 26 Feb 1881, a square notch out of the underside of the left ear
Fisher, John 5 Apr 1842: a slit in the right ear (trans to Henry Doner 8 Apr 1859)
Fisher, Peter 7 Jan 1843: a slit in the left ear (trans to Mathas Kutch 2 Feb 1871)
Freeman, Danl 15 Jun 1841: a crop of the left ear and an under bit in the right ear (Trans to Henry Trisel 25 Feb 1871; Trans to James Steward 9 Dec 1883)
Freeman, William 21 Jan 1843: a crop off the right ear with a slit in the same (trans to Mathas Katch? 2 Feb 1871)
Gillespie, Charles 18 Jan 1851: a square crop of the right ear & an under half crop in the left ear
Glass, Martin 22 Feb 1851: a square crop of the left ear & under slope in right ear the whole length (trans to Christian Kessler 18 Apr 1862)
Grote, Henry 9 Apr 1869: a crop off the right ear & a slit and under bit out of the left ear
Harb, Joseph 31 Jan 1874: a square crop of the right ear with a notch out of the underside of the same & a slit in the left ear
Hardsock, John 11 Feb 1862: a square crop off each ear & a slit in the left ear
Harold, John 1 May 1846: a slit and upper bit in the right ear
Harold, John 25 Nov 1850, (trans from Wm A Watkins): a square crop off each ear & a slit in each ear (trans to John Grabner 9 Nov 1865)
Hengel, Andrew 31 Oct 1868: 2 slits in the right ear & 1 in the left
Hines, Georg 29 May 1871: an upper half crop off the right ear & an under half crop off the left ear
Hinton, Henry V 14 Apr 1868: a square crop off the right ear
Hinton, Thomas E 7 Apr 1865: 2 slits in either ear
Hoofman, Ferdinand [no date]: a square crop off the right ear & under half crop from the left ear
Horton?, Elisha [no date]: a crop off the left ear & a slit in the stump (trans to Henry Coon)
Hough, William 4 Feb 1844: a crop from both ears & a hole in the left ear (trans to William Koch 11 Oct 1859)
Kable, Christian 28 Sep 1866: an upper bit from each ear and a hole in the right ear
Kable, Ferdinand 25 Nov 1850: a square crop of the left ear & a slit in the same & a swallow fork in the right ear (trans 10 Apr 1884 to ?)
Kable, Frederick 21 May 1858: a square crop each ear & under bit out of each ear
Kable, John 5 Nov 1877: a hole in the right ear & an upper bit in the same
Kable, Philip 6 Nov 1877: a hole in the right ear, square crop of same & upper bit of left ear
Kelly, David 30 Apr 1851: a slit in the left ear & a half under crop in the right ear (trans to Wm Gahm 14 May 1874)
Kessler, Christian 16 May 1851: a square crop in the right ear & under slope in left ear the whole length (trans to Jacob Kable 28 Sep 1866)
Kimmel, Henry 4 May 1868: a square crop of the right ear with a hole in the same (trans to J Wineman 6 Jun 1874)
Kimmel, John 15 Mar 1842: a crop off the left ear with a hole in the same (trans to William Kimmel 4 Apr 1853)
Knaar [Kanorr], Aaron 18 Aug 1874: a square crop off the right ear with a slit in the stump with a hole in the left and slit out
Koch, John 6 May 1865: a hole in each ear
Krumer, George 20 Oct 1864: a crop off each ear & two slits in each ear
Kugle, Michael 3 Apri1874: a square crop off each ear with an upper notch out of each ear
Kuhn, Henry 19 Jun 1848: a square crop of the left ear & a slit in the stump (trans to Henry Kuhn 3 Apr 1871)
Kutsch, Jacob 20 Mar 1858: square crop & slit in right ear and a swallow fork in the left ear
Kutsch, Mathas 1 Oct 1857: a swallow fork in the right ear & upper half crop in the left ear (trans to Nicholas Peter 14 Feb 1866)

John Kable Liberty Township earmark, 1877

The term stump was used and I could not determine what that term means.

Farmers don’t use cut earmarks as much today. Most livestock today have ear tags instead of the cut earmarks.

The remainder of Liberty Township’s earmark registrations coming soon.

You can contact Karen at karen@karenmillerbennett.com.  

[1] Estray Book of Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio ,   Index of Liberty Township Estray Book ,   Index of Liberty Township Estray Book, Earmarks I-Z

Another source: Ranch Brand Search

 

Feb 12

Pleasant Hill Chapel, Dublin Township

Pleasant Hill. Pleasant Grove. Pleasant Valley. Pleasant Chapel. Mount Pleasant. Pleasant Green. Pleasant Mills.

Pleasant was certainly a popular, and pleasant, name. Especially for a church.

When East Bethel church was organized in Black Creek Township in 1855, they planned to name it Pleasant Bethel but decided not to because there were seven other churches in the area with the name Pleasant.

Pleasant Hill was a popular church name in Dublin Township at one time. The township had two churches named Pleasant Hill during two different time periods. Pleasant Hill Chapel was a United Brethren (UB) church organized northeast of Rockford before 1853. Pleasant Hill Friends Church (1888-1906) was located south of Rockford on Now Road.

I wrote a blog post about Pleasant Hill Friends church some time ago, still available to read at Pleasant Hill Friends Church, Dublin Township.

But what about the earlier Pleasant Hill Chapel? There is even less information about that church, a church that probably never went beyond being a log cabin and was inactive by 1876.

History of the Auglaize Annual Conference of the United Brethren Church, Luttrell, 1892.

Rev. J.L. Luttrell mentions Pleasant Hill Chapel in his 1892 book about the Annual Auglaize Conferences of the United Brethren Church: …The first session of this young Conference was held in Pleasant Hill Chapel, Mercer County, Ohio, convening on the 9th of September, AD, 1853…The following-named preachers composed the Conference at that time: A. Shindledecker…The accompanying engraving shows the Old Pleasant Hill Chapel, where the first session of the Conference was held. The house was built of hewn logs, and had a cabin roof, covered with clapboard. It stood on a rise of ground, not a hill, but sufficiently elevated to suggest its name. It was in the woods, with little or no clearing around it. It was located in the neighborhood of A. Shindledecker, who was one of the first settlers in that place, and among the first to plant the church in this wilderness of Northwestern Ohio… [1]

Pleasant Hill Chapel, Dublin Twp, Mercer County, Ohio, 1853

Even though Luttrell gives a pretty good description and even a sketch of Pleasant Hill Chapel, finding additional information about the church is challenging. He did not say where the church was located in Mercer County. The church is not mentioned in the Mercer County histories and was apparently inactive before 1876 since it is not on the 1876 map. 

Luttrell tells us the church was in a woods, on a slight hill, near the home of Abraham Shindeldecker. Shindeldecker lived northeast of Rockford and owned 240 acres in Section 2 and 40 acres in the Fractured Section 11, according to the 1853 plat map of Dublin Township, where he is listed as Abraham S. Decker.

Luttrell mentioned the church once again when writing about the Seventh Annual Conference, held at Stringtown UB, Dublin Township, in 1859: …This time we are assembled at Stringtown, Mercer County, Ohio, about four miles from where the first session of this Conference was held. The time is August 25, 1859… [1]

This provides a good clue. Pleasant Hill Chapel was 4 miles from Stringtown UB Church, which was organized in 1841. That church was located on what is now SR 707, east of 118, and was later know as Otterbein UB.

Mercer County’s 1853 plat map confirms the location of the United Brethren Meeting House in Dublin Township, which was very likely Pleasant Hill Chapel: United Brethren Meeting House, ½ acre, SE corner of W [half] of NW fractured Section 11; Hughed [sic] log house, shingle roof, partial finished… It was located just north of Godfroy Reserve and close to where Abraham Shindeldecker lived.

UB Meeting House, Dublin Township, Mercer County, 1853

UB Meeting House, Dublin Township, Mercer County, 1853 map

UB Meeting House, Dublin Township, Mercer County, 1853 map

It all fits together. Four miles north of Stringtown UB, in fractured Section 11, on a slight hill, near the Abe Shindeldecker residence. There is even a Shindeldecker Road in the area today.

Location of Pleasant Hill Chapel, Dublin Twp, 2005 map

Mt. Olive Cemetery is in that area. The cemetery is on both sides of State Route 117 and there is a slight rise there. Mt. Olive church was located on the south side of 117, in Godfroy Reserve, and I suspect Pleasant Hill Chapel was located on the north side of 117,  just north of the Reserve, in the Fractured Section 11. Mt. Olive Church (1868-1938) was a different church, a different denomination, Christian Union. It was organized after Pleasant Hill Chapel.

1876 Dublin Twp map, location of Pleasant Hill Chapel; CC Church across the road.

Some additional information about Rev. Abraham Shindeldecker (1787-1871): He reportedly was in the War of 1812. The Abraham Shindeldecker family settled in Dublin Township about 1836 and Abraham was enumerated in Mercer County’s 1843 Quadrennial Census, in Dublin Township, as Abraham S. Decker. In the 1840 census he was enumerated in Dublin Township as Abram S. Decker. Abraham Shindeldecker was probably a teacher and minister. He was Stringtown UB Church’s first pastor. And…Lovinski Circassia Ninham, an Indian who was educated by Abraham Shindeldecker Sr, for the ministry, taught a school northeast of Shane’s Crossing… [2]  Abraham Shindeldecker is buried in the old section of Mt. Olive Cemetery. The old section is on the north side of 117, in the Fractured Section 11 of Dublin Township. The new section of the cemetery is in Godfroy Reserve, near where Mt. Olive Church was.

Luttrell mentions another Mercer County UB church in his book, Centenary Church (1874-1891), on Manley Road in the center of Black Creek Township. Their 29th Annual UB Conference was held there in 1881 and Luttrell writes about that conference: …this twenty-ninth meeting was held at Centenary Church, in Mercer County, Ohio, between the 7th and 10th September 1881. This was in the land of flowing fountains of living water, one of which was in the churchyard…

I found this interesting because there was reportedly a natural spring at Fountain Chapel Methodist church (1875-1916), on Purdy Road, also in Black Creek Township. Black Creek Township evidently had several natural springs at one time. My dad used to talk about a natural spring that was on their farm on Sipe Road when he was growing up. I would like to have seen that.

I am interested to hear from anyone with information about Pleasant Hill Chapel in Dublin Township.

You can contact Karen at karen@karenmillerbennett.com.  

[1] History of the Auglaize Annual Conference of the United Brethren Church, From 1853-1891, Rev. JL Luttrell, United Brethren Publishing House, Dayton, Ohio, 1892. [pp. 19-21; 44; 227-228]

[2] History of Van Wert and Mercer Counties, Ohio, Sutton, 1882 p.407, 409, 416.