| Notes |
- Michael Arbogast, the youngest child of Peter and Sophia Arbogast,
was only two years of age when brought by his parents to Seneca County,
where he spent all the years of his childhood and manhood. He aided in
the difficult task of clearing the farm and preparing the fields for
cultivation, and when the land became arable he bore his part in the work
of plowing, planting and harvesting. As his father died when he was only
nine years of age, he and his mother carried on the work of the farm,
with the aid of an ox team. It was in 1855 that he took up his abode
upon the place where he would live out his life. On the 11th of March in
1852, Michael was united in marriage to Miss Jane R. Stoner, a daughter
of Henry and Sara (Reagan) Stoner. They were blessed with nine children
before her death on June 23, 1882. They are: Alice, who married Jacob
Staib, is now deceased; John F. was a resident of Seneca township;
Nettie became the wife of Robert E. Lutz, of Oklahoma; Lewis was a
mechanic and resided in Tiffin; Charles resided near Bushnell, Illinois;
Rush operated the homestead farm; and three sons passed away in
childhood.
Mr. Arbogast put forth every effort to make a comfortable home for
his family and to give his children the opportunity to prepare themselves
for the practical and responsible duties of life. In 1854 he purchased
one hundred and twenty-three acres of land, the improvements on which
consisted of a log house and a log barn. He went in debt for the entire
amount, $3690, and this was all paid in three years time. Fifty acres
had been cleared and in the course of time his fields were green with the
crops that promised golden harvests. As his financial resources
increased he added to his landed possessions until the home farm
comprised of two hundred acres. He also owned another farm, of one
hundred acres, in Seneca township and had made excellent improvements on
both. In 1875 he erected one of the most pretentious brick residences in
the vicinity. He used the latest machinery for facilitating farm work
and erected good barns and outbuildings for the shelter of grain and
stock. His residence in the county covered more than three-quarters of a
century and the present generation cannot realize the changes which had
occurred during this period.
Michael Arbogast remembered seeing many Indians in the locality and
had driven through tiffin with an ox team many a time when the mud came
up to the hubs of the wagon wheels. The flourishing city then contained
only a few pioneer cabins and the county gave little promise of its
present developments. However, the pioneers had laid broad and deep the
foundations for its present progress, with Mr. Arbogast performing his
full share in the work of citizenship. He favored reform and
improvement, and his labors were effective in promoting the general
welfare. Owing to his father's death he early had to take up the
responsibilities of a business career, and industry, economy, and honesty
were salient features in his history, enabling him to advance steadily
until he occupied a prominent place on the plane of affluence.
Taken from the Centennial Biographical History pgs. 344,345,346
|
1824 - 1902 (78 years)
