Introduction to the 1923 Biographical Sketches
This biographical sketch was published along with many others in the 1923 History of Auglaize County, Volume II, edited by William J. McMurray and published by the Historical Publishing Company of Indianapolis. In most cases the subject of the biography was of the first generation born in this country to German immigrants. In some cases the subject may have been born in Germany and came to this country at a young age. In most cases the story tells of the immigrant parents of the subject and also the children and grandchildren of the subject named at the beginning of the story. In some cases comments have been added after the biography to explain the locations of the farms where the immigrants settled. New Knoxville did not have rural addresses until 1955, and therefore the settlers had rural route addresses of St. Marys, Botkins, etc.
J. FRED FELDWISCH, a former trustee of Washington township and a well-known farmer of that township, proprietor of a well-kept farm along the county line about two miles southeast New Knoxville, was born on that place and has lived there all his life, a period of more than sixty years. Mr. Feldwisch was born on October 4, 1859, and is a son of William and Christina (Logermann) Feldwisch, natives of Germany, who were among the influential pioneers of that section of the county. William Feldwisch came to America in the days of his young manhood and made his way out into this section of Ohio. The work of constructing the canal then was in progress and he became employed on the canal crew, working on that big job of engineering until it was completed, and after his marriage settled down on a farm, buying an "eighty" in the woods in the southeast quarter of section 28 of Washington township, the place on which his son, Fred, now lives. On that place he built a cabin and established his home, eventually getting the tract cleared and cultivated, and there he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of six children, three of whom are still living, the subject of this sketch having two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. Reared on that woodland farm, J. Fred Feldwisch received his schooling in the neighborhood schools, and from the days of his boyhood has given his attention to the affairs of the farm. After his father's death he bought the interests of the other heirs in the place and has continued to make his home there, now the owner of a fine farm of 110 acres, which he has improved in up-to-date fashion, and on which he has a well-equipped farm plant. In addition to his general farming, Mr. Feldwisch has long given considerable attention to the raising of livestock, and has done well in his operations. He is a Republican, and for eleven years served as a trustee of Washington township. He also has rendered public service as a member of the school board. He and his family are members of the Reformed church .at New Knoxville, and he has served as a member of the board of trustees of that congregation, and as a deacon of the church. J. Fred Feldwisch married Caroline Schroer, also a member of one of the old families of this section of Ohio, and to this union have been born eight children, seven of whom are living, Matilda, George, Henry, Benjamin, Lydia, Lawrence and Cornelia, three of whom are married. Matilda Feldwisch married Benjamin Henschen and has four children, Adelma, Raymond, Ruth and Lillian. The Rev. George Feldwisch, now pastor of the Reformed church at Bluffton, Ind., married Ruth Wagoner and has, two children, Arlisle and Alois. Lydia Feldwisch married Ferd Henschen and has one child, Howard. Dr. Henry Feldwisch, a graduate of Ohio State University, where he qualified in veterinary surgery, is now state veterinarian for the state of Ohio, with headquarters at Columbus. Benjamin, Lawrence and Cornelia Feldwisch are unmarried and at home with their parents. The Feldwisch home very pleasantly situated on rural mail route No. 3 out of St. Marys. Mrs. Feldwisch also was born in Washington township and is a daughter of William and Mary (Steinecker) Schroer, natives of Germany, who had come to this country with their respective parents in the days of their youth, and who grew up here and were married. The late William Schroer was about fourteen years of age when he came to this section of Ohio with his parents back in pioneer days, and he grew to manhood on a woodland farm which his father bought in Washington township. As a young man he spent three summers in Cincinnati, making the trips on foot, and there worked in a brick yard to get some ready cash with which to buy a bit of land here at home. With this money he bought a "forty" in the New Knoxville neighborhood, and after his marriage established his home there, later increasing his holdings by the purchase of an adjoining forty. Some years later he disposed of that farm and bought a farm down in Shelby County, but after a few years of residence there returned to Auglaize county and bought the place on which his son, William H, Schroer, is now living in Washington township, a farm of 107 acres, and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in March, 1910. His widow survived him for more than three years, her death occurring in August, 1913. They were the parents of six children, three of whom are living, Mrs. Feldwisch having a sister, Sophia, and a brother, William H. Schroer.