BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio
including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton.
Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899.

* KARR, Thomas L. * KEHNAST, William August * KERR, Joseph Dowell * KERR, Robert Fillmore * KETTERING, Peter * KINKEAD, Michael P., Rev. * KINMONT, Thomas C., M.D. * KLEIN, Ludwig * KOPP, William G. * KYLE, Cornelius W., M.D. THOMAS L. KARR.   This well-known resident of Defiance, has been for many yeas identified prominently with agricultural interests in this section, and although he has now retired from active work he owns four hundred and twenty-eight acres of land upon which he has made valuable improvements.      Mr. Karr is a native of the Buckeye State, having been born in Coshocton county, Apr. 26, 1833.  On the paternal side he is of Irish descent, his grandfather, John Karr, who died in Guernsey County, Ohio, having come from Ireland.  John W. Karr, the father of our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, in November, 1803, and died in Coshocton county, Ohio, at the comparatively early age of thirty-eight years.  His wife, whose maiden name was Maria Gillespie, was born in Pennsylvania in November, 1808, and passed from life in Coshocton county, at the advanced age of eighty-five.  Our subject was one of a family of seven children - three sons and four daughters - and was the third and eldest son.      In his youth Mr. Karr had the advantage of a country life, seventeen years being spent upon a farm in his native county.  He then left home to make his own way in the world, and going to Guernsey county he served an apprenticeship to the carriage-makers' trade.  This business he followed for about six years, but afterward engaged in farming in Coshocton county, where he remained until 1880, with the exception of a period of military service.  In 1862 he enlisted in Coshocton county in the State militia, and in 1864 he enlisted in the regular army for one hundred days, serving four months.  In 1880 he came to Defiance county, and located in Defiance township, where he continued his agricultural operations with marked success, and was also engaged profitably in stock raising.  In April, 1895, he removed to the city of Defiance, where he has since resided.  A man of much intelligence and public spirit, he takes an interest in all matters that relate to the general welfare, and he has held a number of township offices.  He takes an active part in religious work, as he and his wife are leading members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Defiance.  Socially he is affiliated with Bishop Post, No. 22, G. A. R.      On Mar. 18, 1856, Mr. Karr was married in Coshocton county, to Miss Zipporah Elliott, who was born in that county July 18, 1834, a daughter of Thomas C. and Margaret (Moorhead) Elliott.  Her father was born in Pennsylvania, her mother in Virginia, and both died some years ago in Coshocton county.  They had three children- one son and two daughters.  Mr. and Mrs. Karr have a pleasant family of six children, their names being as follows:  John H., Guy E., Tommy E., Melissa J. (wife of W. L. Johnson), Ray G., and Dora B. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 198 Wm. A. Kehnast WILLIAM AUGUST KEHNAST.  Germany is the Fatherland of countless thousands of brave and sturdy men who left their native country to establish homes in foreign lands, and wherever located brought with them the national characteristics of honest dealing, industry and thrift, and that energy and bravery which has caused many of them to be valiant soldiers in defense of liberty in every adopted country wherein they lived; while in politics, finance, arts, sciences and literature many reflect honor and glory upon the land that gave them birth.  No country in the world has been benefited more by the emigration to it of this indomitable and brave race than the United States, in every portion of which the labor and genius of that people have been a prominent factor in its growth, improvement and development.  Of that race is descended the subject of this biographical notice, and from them he inherited characteristics that made him in time of war a volunteer soldier in the patriotic army of his adopted country, and in civil life an honored and trusted citizen, and for thirty years a substantial and prosperous merchant of his home city of Defiance.      Mr. Kehnast was born Mar. 17, 1847, in the village of Mohrenbach, Thuriengen, near the city of Erfurt, Germany.  Christian Kehnast, his father, was a prosperous business man, and a manufacturer of cloths, while his mother, Henrietta (Haueisen) Kehnast, was a member of a wealthy and prominent family of that place.  They were highly respected in the community, were members of the Lutheran Church, and carefully reared their children, that they might grow up honest and useful citizens.  They both died in Germany, the parents of five children.  Amid such surroundings our subject was reared until the age of thirteen, from the age of six attending school.  The lad, however, was of an ambitious, aspiring nature, and when very young had conceived a strong desire to travel and visit far-away lands so much so that when a brother, August Kehnast, who had been a resident of near Tonawana, Erie county, New York, for some six years, wrote to his home in Germany, requesting that young William A. should come to him in America, the latter gladly availed himself of the chance.  His mother was then a widow, her husband having died two years previously; so our subject, with his mother's consent, and blessing, embarked at Bremen on a steamship bound for New York, where, then a lad of thirteen summers, he arrived in June, 1860, and at once proceeded to the home of his brother in erie county, New York, at which time he could speak no English.  Determined to learn, however, the following winter he attended an English school.  In the spring of 1861, he, with his brother and brother's family, migrated west to Henry county, Ohio, arriving at Florida in that county, Mar. 17, 1861, his brother locating on a farm near that town.   But in May of the same year, our subject, still being desirous of learning and laying the foundation for possible success, went to Florida, Ohio, and accepted employment in a grocery store, for six months working for little or nothing, learning rapidly, however, not only the English language, but the business methods of the country, which at that time was worth more to him than high wages.  He was subsequently employed a short time in a grocery store at Napoleon, Ohio, and in the summer of 1862, he came to Defiance, Ohio, becoming a clerk in the grocery store of J. B. Weisenberger, during the following winter attending school.      This was the second year of the war of the great Rebellion, and the German lad had become so strongly inbued with the patriotic spirit of the times that he was anxious to become a soldier in the union cause.  Consequently, on an occasion in 1862, without notifying his employer, he boarded the railroad train with them.  On arriving at Camp Dennison, near Cincinnati, he wanted to be sworn in as a soldier, but, on account of his size and youth, the officers refused to accept him.  He was then "in a fix" - with no money to take him back home.  He had been there about a week, when one morning he was pleased to receive a letter from Mr. Weisenberger, requesting him to return to Defiance, also promising him increased wages.  He at once returned and resumed work in the grocery.  With Mr. Weisenberger he continued until the summer of 1863; but the war fever being still strong in his heart, he one day notified Mr. Weisenberger that he was going to enlist, and with a fellow clerk and comrade, Maurice Welsh, proceeded to Toledo, Ohio, and there enlisted Aug. 5, 1863, in Company E, Ninth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, which company was soon set to Camp Dennison.  Here the regiment was organized and mustered in, and soon was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, whence it marched through Tennessee to Athens, Alabama.  At that place Mr. Kehnast was detailed as orderly on the staff of General Dodge, then commander of the left wing of the Sixteenth Army Corps, in which position he served until disabled, when he was sent to the hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, thence to Cleveland, Ohio.  Having recovered sufficiently, he made a visit to Defiance on a short furlough, and was then ordered to report at Louisville, Kentucky.  He was anxious to rejoin his old company and regiment, but on reaching Louisville he was ordered on detached duty, to act as train guard don the railroad train running back and forth on the Louisville & Nashville railroad,  between those two cities.  In this position he was kept until the close of the war, during which time all his wages were sent to Mr. Wisenberger.  On July 26, 1865, he was honorably discharged and mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, when he immediately left for Defiance, arriving there during the night, and the very niext morning resumed his work for Mr. Weisenberger.      In that occupation he remained until the spring of 1867, by which time he had accumulated sufficient apital to buy a half-interest in a grocery store at Defiance, the firm becoming Wolfrum & Kehnast.  This was a successful venture, and was continued until 1870, when he sold his part of the business, and purchased for cash a half interest in the hardware business of J. H. Vevington, Mr. Kehnast associating himself with C. F. Switzer, under the firm name of Switzer & Kehnast.  This enterprise developed into a very extensive and successful business, becoming the leading store in its line and carrying a larger stock than any other store of its kind in Defiance.      In 1875, having acquired a prosperous and large business, and earned a vacation, Mr. Kehnast made a visit to his native place, and again met the aged mother and renewed old and loved associations.  This proved to be the last time parent and son met, as the mother was laid to rest four years afterward.  During this trip to the Fatherland Mr. Kehnast visited many places of historic interest, including Wartburg, where Luther was so long imprisoned and where he finished the translation of the Bible; the city of Berlin, at which place he visited his brother Richard, then a soldier in the German army; thence went to Magdeburg and Cassel; and saw the place, Wilhelmhohe, where Nepoleon III was imprisoned after his capture at Sedan in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870; to the historic cities of Darmstadt, Heidelberg and Frankfort, thence to Basel, in Switzerland; from there to the famous city of Strassburg, on to Carlsruhe; and later to the old and famous city of Worms, where he crossed the Rhine and returned to his native place.  He afterward tarried a while at the city of Hanover, from there proceeding to Bremen, at which port he embarked on a steamer for Southampton, England, where he spent a short time in viewing that city.  He then continued on his journey homeward, by the way of New York, and arrived at Defiance after a most enjoyable three months' trip, invigorated and possessed of renewed energy to again take up the cares of business.  The hardware store was continued under the firm name until the death of C. F. Switzer Jan. 21, 1888, when Mr. Kehnast bought the interest of his deceased partner, and he has since carried on the business alone.      Mr. Kehnast may be correctly styled a self-made man.  With no means except his hands and brain, he landed on the shores of America a lad of thirteen, a stranger unfamiliar with the language of the country; at sixteen was a volunteer soldier in the army of his adopted country in a great war; at eighteen he had accumulated sufficient capital to conduct a profitable business on his own account; and at the age of twenty-three he was half owner of his present large and extensive hardware business.  To his native and natural ability he constantly added by study and application, and thus became a disciplined man, having "the control of himself."  This, combined with strict integrity and a most genial and  social nature, naturally made for him friends, inspired confidence and secured trade.      Socially, Mr. Kehnast is an active and interested working member of the Masonic fraternity, and is past eminent commander; a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the Scottish Rite; is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is a past commander of Bishop Post, No. 22, Department of Ohio, at Defiance.  In religious faith he is a Lutheran.  He has always taken an active interest in the politics of the country, affiliating with the Democratic party, and using his influence and means liberally in different campaigns, and on several occasions has been elected to and served in local offices of honor and trust, such as treasurer of Defiance city; member and president of the city school board; member of the city council, etc., in all of which he acquitted himself with honor and fidelity to the public interests.  He has been an extensive and observant traveler through Canada and the United States, from the upper lakes to New Orleans, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico, and from the prominent cities of the Atlantic coast to the far West.  He is one of the most thoroughly informed of the business men of Defiance, as well as one of its most substantial and highly respected citizens.      In 1870, Mr. Kehnast was married to Miss Jennie Kniss, who died in in June, 1879, leaving two children:  Nellie, born in 1871, was marred Mar. 1, 1893, to Godfried M. Watkins, and resides at Defiance; and Minnie, born in 1872, resides with her father.  In 1887 Mr. Kehnast was married to Miss Lizzie Sauer, his present wife.  The family reside at No. 646 Jefferson street, in a handsome and cozy home built by Mr. Kehnast in 1871.  A portrait of Mr. Kehnast will be found accompanying this sketch. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 392 JOSEPH DOWELL KERR.   Mr. Kerr is a well-known attorney, and the firm of Coulter & Kerr, of which he is a member, enjoys a large and lucrative practice.  Mr. Kerr had gained a high reputation as a business man before he studied law, and the experience thus acquired has been of great benefit in the practical work of his profession.      The Kerr family (who pronounce their name as if spelled Carr) originated in Ireland, whence Joseph Kerr (our subject's grandfather) accompanied by his brother, Robert, came to the United States in 1812, settling on a farm in Chester county, Pennsylvania, where their remaining days were passed.  Joseph Kerr, our subject's father, was born Sept. 10, 1820, at Honeybrook, Chester county, Pennsylvania, and a sketch of his life will be found in that of Robert F. Kerr elsewhere.      Joseph D. Kerr, our subject, was born Aug. 2, 1846, in Middletown, Holmes county, Ohio, and in 1857 he accompanied his parents to Hicksville, where he attended teh public schools for a time.  On completing the course of study offered there, he attended the normal schools at Williams Center for two terms, and then taught school at Hicksville and vicinity for three or four terms.  During the Civil war he wished to enlist in the Union army, but his parents objected on account of his youth.  In 1867 he went to Lagrange, Indiana, where he conducted a flourmill for six years; in 1873, however, he returned to Hicksville and engaged in manufacturing agricultural implement handles, being the leading spirit in the organization of the firm of Kerr Brothers & Co., which became one of the largest business concerns in that locality, employing about fifty hands during the busy season.  Mr. Kerr remained at the head of the firm for ten years, but in 1883 he sold his interest and began preparation for his profession, entering the Union College of Law at Chicago, Illinois.  He took the full course of two years in that institution, and on graduating on June 12, 1884, he returned to Hicksville, where he was soon afterward elected to the office of justice of the peace.  For a year his time was occupied with the duties of that position and the care of his farm near the village, but in 1885 he established himself in practice at Hicksville, where he has ever since continued successfully, making collecting a specialty.  In 1889 he formed his present partnership with James E. Coulter.  He is regarded as one of the substantial men of the town, and at different times has been chosen to office, having served as superintendent of the water works, member of the village council, and in other positions of responsibility.  In politics he is a Republican, and in religious faith he is a Methodist, having been connected with that church for thirty years.  During this period he has been a leader in the work of the society, and he served as recording steward for eight years, and trustee for a number of terms.      Mr. Kerr was married at Hicksville to Miss Flora A. Culler, a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and a daughter of William T. and Mary C. (Cook) Culler, formerly of Columbiana county, but now residents of Hicksville.  Mr. and Mrs. Kerr have two children, Paul Bentley, and DeWitt Culler. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 198 ROBERT FILLMORE KERR.   For nearly forty years the name of Kerr has been most closely and prominently associated with the growth and development of Defiance county.  The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is one of the conspicuous characters of Hicksville, where his life thus farm, with little exception, has been passed, and where he has risen to prominence in business and social circles.     Joseph Kerr, his grandfather, a native of Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland, was a stanch Presbyterian stock, and when a young man (in the year 1812) emigrated with a brother, Robert, to the United States, Joseph Kerr was a weaver by trade and located at Honeybrook, Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he followed the occupation of a farmer.  He was married in that vicinity to Elizabeth Lemon, also of pure Irish stock, and had a family of ten children.  The parents died at Honeybrook, Joseph Kerr at the age of ninety-six years and his wife at ninety years.      Among the children was a son, Joseph Kerr (2), the father of our subject, who was born Sept. 10, 1820, at Honeybrook, Pennsylvania.  When a youth he learned the tailor's trade, and in 1842 migrated west, settling at Middletown, Holmes county, Ohio, where he conducted a tailoring business.  He was married there Oct. 9, 1845, to Miss Jane Dowell, who was born Sept. 18, 1827, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Harold) Dowell.  Her parents were married near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and were respectively Welsh and German extraction.  Jacob Dowell was a Methodist minister, and after settling in the woods, in a log cabin, at Middletown, Holmes county, in 1820, he served more or less as a local preacher.  He was a farmer at that place, and also a Thompsonian physician, and was a man of much strength of character.  His death occurred at the homestead there in 1839, aged sixty-three years.  His widow died there Oct. 18, 1881, aged eighty-six years six months and eighteen days.      Joseph and Jane (Dowell) Kerr removed from Middletown, Holmes county, in 1857 to Hicksville, Defiance county, where he purchased a part interest in a sawmill, the first winter also doing some tailoring, which was the last work at his trade, however, as he subsequently gave his whole attention to farming, milling, and other interests.  To his sawmill he soon afterward added a gristmill, which was operated until 1862, when he sold out this property and purchased a gristmill at Lagrange, Indiana, conducting it some years, when it was destroyed by fire.  He figure extensively in the business affairs of Hicksville, and is closely identified with its progress.  He was an original stockholder in establishing the electric light plant there, and was also a charter stockholder in, and assisted in establishing, the Merchants and Farmers Bank in 1884, which was merged into, and is now, the First National Bank of Hicksville, holding the office of director or vice-president of the bank since 1884.  He is the largest owner in the Eureka Milling Company, and owns one-half of the elevator adjoining.  Very soon after going to live at Hicksville he purchased land, has nearly ever since been identified with the farming interests of Defiance county, and is now the owner of about five hundred acres near the village.      When a young man Mr. Kerr united with the Methodist Church; his life has always been a temperate one, and he has always been prominent by means and influence in advocating temperance principles.  In politics he was first a Whig, and later became a Republican, though never a politician in an active sense.  He has served the corporation as a member of its school board, and as one of the village council for two terms.  In all the different walks of life Mr. Kerr has earned a reputation for honesty and honorable citizenship, second to none, and in his declining years enjoys the respect and confidence of the entire community, where he has been a resident for forty years.  Five children were born to Mr. Kerr and his wife, namely: (I) Joseph D., born Aug. 2, 1846; (2) Thomas William, born Nov. 22, 1847, was twice married, first time to Martha Shipley, by whom he had one child - Reed Kerr.  For his second wife he wedded Emma Hilbern, Dec. 3, 1890, and they have one son - Jo.  Thomas William now resides at Carmi, Illinois, and is engaged in the lumber business; (3) Robert Fillmore, born Feb. 19, 1851; (4) Alice May, born Nov. 5, 1853, married E. W. Crook; (5) Laura E., born Nov. 6, 1856, died June 29, 1864.  The parents of this family reside in Hicksville.  Mrs. Jane (Dowell) Kerr united with the Methodist Church when thirteen years of age, retaining her membership to the present time.      Robert Fillmore Kerr, the subject proper of this sketch, is the senior partner of the most important manufacturing industry in his home-village.  The nucleus from which the present extensive manufacturing and milling interests of the Kerr Brothers at Hicksville sprang was formed in 1874 by Joseph D., Thomas W. and Robert Fillmore Kerr, where they began the manufacture of handles.  In addition to their own labor they then employed only one man, but under careful and skillful management the business steadily and gradually increased, until it now consists of three distinct plants - one for the manufacture of agricultural implement handles, broom handles, bicycle rims, pike and tent poles, cant-hook handles, and many other specialties, occupying two large buildings and five warehouses, the work of which gives employment to from thirty-five to fifty men.  Another plant is styled the "Buckeye Furniture Company," which occupies two large buildings in which are employed from twenty-five to thirty-five men.  while the third plant consists of a planing and saw mill, which gives employment to twenty men.  The firm has undergone several changes in ownership since its establishment, but for the past ten years or more Robert Fillmore Kerr and his brother-in-law, E. W. Crook, have been the sole owners, though it still retains the firm name of "Kerr Brothers," under whom the business has assumed its present large proportions, and is now the pride of the village and surrounding country, and the support of many families.      The senior partner, Robert Fillmore Kerr, was born at Middletown, Holmes county, Feb. 19, 1851, and was six years of age when brought by his parents to Hicksville; here he passed his young days in attending the village schools and in assisting on his father's farm adjoining the corporation.  He inherited the studious traits of the German strain in his blood, and employed much of his time in study even when going to and from work, studying over problems and orally repeating texts, with the sole object of disciplining his mind.  By close application and individual effort out of school, he acquired a valuable part of his education and became one of the best read and posted men on current topics in this section of the country.  Later, in the way of mental drill and of acquiring additional knowledge, he taught school near Hicksville for three winters.  He also further prepared himself for usefulness in the world by becoming a member of a religious society, uniting with the Methodist Church when about sixteen years of age.  Thus thoroughly equipped morally and mentally, young  Kerr was prepared, when only twenty-five years of age, with his brothers to establish and direct what developed into a vast business in after years, and of which the senior member of the firm has been the controlling and directing spirit for many yeas.  Although occupied continually with the many affairs of his large business, Mr. Kerr has found time to give attention to the interests of his Church, and during his thirty years' membership he has served nearly all of that period, either as trustee or class leader, and for the past fifteen years he has been the popular superintendent of its Sunday school.  In politics he was a Republican until the organization of the Prohibition party, is now an uncompromising temperance advocate and has been identified with every movement for the suppression of the liquor traffic, devoting time, labor and money to that end.  On Dec. 1, 1881, he was married to Amanda J. Otis, who died Apr. 21, 1885, without issue, and on Jan. 4, 1894, he was married to Elizabeth J. Banks.  By this union there are two children:  Robert Wendell, born Dec. 15, 1894, and Modonna Elizabeth, born July 31, 1896.      In 1879-80 Mr. Kerr lived in Chicago, where he established an agency for the handling of the products of the firm's factory; with this exception he has for a period of forty years been a constant resident of Hicksville.  The firm, in addition to the other large interests, owns three brick business blocks in the city and other property.  Their great success may be attributed to good business judgment, industry, integrity, and energy, a happy combination possessed by the firm. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 138 PETER KETTENRING.    Mr. Kettenring, who is president of the Defiance Machine Works, Defiance, is one of the leading business men of this section, and the extensive foundry and machine works which his energy and foresight have built up are among the chief industries of Defiance, bringing to the city large amounts of money annually, and giving employment to many workmen.  The plant is fitted up with a special view to the manufacture of woodworking machinery, and is the only one of its kind in the world, as the patents are all owned by the firm, giving a practical monopoly in the business.      As Mr. Kennenring has made his way in life through his own efforts, beginning his business career without capital, the following history will be read with unusual interest.  He was born Jan. 6, 1836, in Thaleschweiler, Germany, in the Rhine district, where his father, Adam Kettenring, was then engaged in farming.  In the spring of 1836 Adam Kettenring came to America with his wife and son Peter, and located in Pleasant township,  Henry county, purchasing three hundred sixty acres of government land in an unimproved state.  This he brought under cultivation, making a fine homestead; but in the spring of 1844 he moved temporarily to Defiance, where he followed plastering and similar occupations for a few years.  He was a devout Methodist, and was one of the pioneer workers in that church in this section, his home being a regular stopping place for the itinerant preachers of the early days.  His first wife, whose maiden name was Charlotte Alspaugh, died in 1854, leaving three children: Kate, Mary and Peter.  The father married again, in 1864, but there were no children by the second union.      Mr. Kettenring, our subject, attended the common schools of Defiance until he reached the age of fourteen, but his education was mainly obtained in the practical school of business life, as he began at the age to earn his own livelihood.  For two years he served an apprenticeship to the moulder's trade, with Kimball & Frank, of Defiance, who owned a small plant, employing about half a dozen hands, and then he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was employed in the same line of work.  In 1856 he returned to Defiance, and established himself in business on his own account in the same shop where he had formerly been employed.  He made a specialty of the manufacture of plows, and also did much general repair work at first; but as time passed he built up a large foundry and machine manufacturing plant.  In  1864 the establishment was destroyed by fire, causing a total loss, but Mr. Kettenring bravely began work again, and the enterprise has since been carried on with increasing success.  Occasionally he would have a partner for a time, but the business was mainly conducted with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars.  Since that time he has held the position of president of the company, and his experience and skill are still leading factors in the success of the business.  In 1894 and 1896 he made extended trips through Europe, and increased the trade of his firm materially, placing twenty-five machines in a plant at Zurich, Switzerland, and a number in an establishment at Christiania, Norway, besides many isolated machines in other cities.  The variety and number of the machines constructed by the firm may be inferred from the fact that in 1895 they issued five thousand catalogues of two hundred eight pages each, containing artistic cuts and descriptions of machines varying in price from seventy-five dollars to one thousand five hundred dollars.  When in full headway the plant employs about one hundred fifty hands, and in prosperous years the value of the output amounts to thousands of dollars annually.  Their specialty is hub, spoke, wheel and bending machinery, plow-handle machinery, broom, rake, fork and hoe-handle machinery, lathes for turning gun stocks, neck yokes, singletrees, ten-pins, ball bats, Indian clubs, dumb bells, table legs, axe handles, hammer handles, sledge handles, pick handles, hatchet handles, wagon axletrees and ox yokes.  They make lathes to turn round, oval, hexagon and octagon and square at will.  They make a line of over three hundred different machines.  While Mr. Kettenring's attention has been chiefly devoted to pushing the interests of this firm, he is also identified with other important enterprises, and for ten years, past has been a director in the First National Bank of Defiance.      In 1856 our subject was married to Miss Frances Kahlo, and the union has been blessed with eight children, three of whom died young.  The five living are William A.; Ransom P.; Charles H.; Alice M.; and Nellie.  William A. and Alice M. are both married.  The three sons are actively engaged in the business, all holding responsible positions, and all being thorough mechanics.  Having been brought up in the business, they are thoroughly competent to continue the business for years to come; and there are two grandsons, who can follow after the sons.  The company is now doing business in England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Russia, China, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and New South Wales.  In fact, they have the world for a market.      Mr. Kettenring was reared in the Methodist Church, and has always adhered to that faith, being a leading member of the society at Defiance, in which he has served as trustee for twenty-five years, and a treasurer for seven years.  Mr. Kettenring was reared in the Methodist Church, and has always adhered to that faith, being a leading member of the society at Defiance, in which he has served as trustee for twenty-five years, and as treasurer for seven years.  He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having taken all the degrees up to and including the Scottish Rite, to which his three sons have also attained.  Politically he is a stanch Republican, having supported that party from the first election of Lincoln in 1860 to the fight for hones money in 1896, and his three sons are in full accord are in full accord with his principles. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 69 REV. FATHER MICHAEL P. KINKEAD.  Father Kinkead, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, at Defiance, has for twenty-two years ministered faithfully to the spiritual needs of his people, and given powerful and effective aid to all influences which work for the advancement of the community.  Revered and beloved by his own flock, he has also won the honor and esteem of all others who have seen his devotion to his noble calling.      Father Kinkead's family is of English origin, but his ancestors left their native land for Scotland, later, about 1648, removing to Ireland, during the "Cromwellian settlement."  They located in the parish of Knocklog, County Limerick, where they have ever since been represented, their descendants occupying useful and honorable positions.  There our subject was born September 28, 1851, a son of James Kinkead, a farmer, an his wife, Sarah Cunningham.  His elementary education was secured at the parish national school, about two miles and a half from his father's home, these schools being similar to our common schools, except that they were generally under the supervision of the parish priest. At the age of sixteen he entered a classical school at Kelteely, County Limerick, and after three years there he went to the college at Mt. Milleray, in County Waterford, and was graduated from that institution in his twentieth year. One year was then spent at All Hallows' College, in Dublin, in the study of philosophy. In August, 1871, he came to the United States, and on September 1, of that year, he entered St. Mary's Seminary at Cleveland, Ohio, as a student of theology. On the completion of his course he was ordained, the ceremony taking place October 8, 1875, and after a short vacation he was appointed November 1, 1875, to the post of assistant pastor of St. Malachi's Church, in Cleveland, on the corner of Detroit and Washington streets. There he remained until January 1, 1877, when he was given his present charge.      The church building, which is Gothic, was erected in 1874 and 1875, dedicated in January, 1876, and cost over thirty thousand dollars. It is one hundred and thirty feet long, by fifty-five wide, built of brick with Berea sandstone trimmings and contains about one thousand seats. At the time of  Father Kinkead's appointment there was a heavy debt, but he applied his energy and ability to the task before him with such zeal that this was soon cleared, and in 1886, under his inspiration and supervision, a commodious brick school building of modern style was completed at a cost of seven thousand dollars, and opened for the accommodation of the children of the parish, of which there are now about two hundred in attendance. In 1892 the church spire was completed, and a new pipe organ procured at an expense of five thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. In 1897 the interior of the church was redecorated in oil colors. The ceiling is finished in purple with very rich gold damask work, and around the sanctuary and side walls is a series of excellent and most artistic paintings representing scriptural and sacred subjects. The stations of the Cross are also very beautiful works of art, and harmonize thoroughly with the other decorations. The painting of the interior and the stations cost over three thousand five hundred dollars. Three new altars and two shrines of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help—the patron of the church—were also procured in 1897, and a new heating apparatus, with other improvements, were added.  The altars and shrines were donated by the ladies of the parish. They are white and gold, and exceedingly beautiful, and cost three thousand dollars. These improvements make the interior of the church one of the most beautiful in northwestern Ohio, and pastor and congregation are justly proud of their place of worship.      The church property is located on the southeast corner of Jefferson and Arabella streets, occupying the entire block except one small lot. Under Father Kinkead's ministry the congregation has been increased from eighty-four families to more than two hundred families, but these figures, or indeed any estimate of material progress, give no indication of the great work which he has done in molding and shaping to higher issues the lives of those to whom he gives his best thought.      The cause of temperance has found in him an earnest and eloquent advocate, and he has spoken effectively on that theme on various occasions and in different places. Broad in his views and sympathies, a friend of the poor and oppressed, ever ready with helpful counsel for the perplexed or sorrowful, Father Kinkead has a wide field for labor, and well does he discharge its arduous and sacred duties. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 149 Thomas C. Kinmont, M. D. THOMAS CATO KINMONT, M. D. THE FIRST MAYOR of HICKSVILLE.      The Kinmont family organized in Scotland, the ancestral home being near Montrose, and its members for several generations have been noted as scientists and educators.      William Kinmont, the grandfather of the well-kown physician whose name opens this sketch, was a man of quiet tastes, and passed his life in agricultural pursuits near Montrose, Scotland, where he died in 1808.  His wife was a descendant of the royal line of Stuarts, which so long occupied the throne of Scotland, and later furnished rulers to the United Kingdom.  This worthy couple had four children - Jock, Jane, William and Alexander.  Until the death of the father the three sons attended school at Montrose, their instructor being a clergyman of the Church of England, and while there they secured the equivalent of a common-school education.      Alexander met with an accident during boyhood, his arm being torn off in a threshing machine, and as he was thus incapitated for any ordinary labor he was given a thorough education, notwithstanding the early death of his father.  He pursued a course of study at Christ Church, London, and later and thinker.  In 1823 he came to America and located in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he established the Kinmont Academy, one of the first schools in that city.  This enterprise proved successful from the start, the school becoming deservedly popular, and while winning a high reputation as an educator he also gained fame as a writer on scientific and religious subjects, being the author of "The History of Man," and a contributor to various magazines.  For many years he was a minister of the Swedenborgian Church at Cincinnati, and he was called upon to act as interpreter in the famous debate between Alexander Campbell (founder of the Christian Church), and other eminent men on doctrinal points.      William Kinmont, Sr., our subject's father, was born near Montrose, Scotland, Feb. 2, 1796, and at an early age began to show remarkable ability and force of character.  Soon after the death of his father he became private secretary to a wealthy farmer, and although he was at the time only twelve years old he was entrusted with all the accounts and banking business of his employer.  He retained the position until he reached the age of fifteen, in the meantime acquiring a thorough knowledge of the French language, and then he went to London in search of wider opportunities  He carried a letter of introduction and recommendation to a banker of that city, who introduced him to General Kenega, by whom he was immediately engaged as a traveling companion and interpreter for an extended tour on the continent.  On his return to London at the close of this engagement he called upon the banker, who employed him as a traveling companion for his two sisters, as they were desirous of finding a competent interpreter and business manager for a journey through Europe and other lands, where the customs and regulations, especially as to pasports, might otherwise prove annoying to them; and this engagement Mr. Kinmont also filled with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers.  As may be supposed these trips were in themselves a liberal education, as he gained an intimate knowledge of the language, manners and habits of the people in the countries visited, and after his return from the journey with the ladies mentioned, his was employed as "esquire" to young Lord Manvers, to again make the tour of the continent, and to visit all the points of interest in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, there being no city of town of any importance that he had not a knowledge of.  It should be noted that it required not only a thorough education and trustworthy character to enable one to secure such a situation, but the applicant must have social standing and be related to the nobility, Mr. Kenmont's descent from the Stuart family being doubtless taken into account by Lord Manvers.      At the termination of the trip  Mr. Kinmont had some difficulty in effecting a settlement with the old Lord Manvers and having become anxious to secure for himself and his children the benefits of a life under a free republican government, he determined to make his home in America.   For some time after his arrival he resided upon a farm in Richland county, Ohio, but finding agricultural pursuits unsatisfactory he removed to Pittsburg, and later to Cincinnati, where he was connected with his brother's academy for five years as professor of languages.  He afterward resided for a time in Champaignand Crawford counties, Ohio, where he combined farming with teaching, and in 1848 he located in Hicksville township, Defiance county, and cleared a tract of land for a permanent home.  His wife, Nancy (Pope), to whom he was married in Richland county about 1826, died Dec. 13, 1881, and he survived her only a few years, his death occurring July 2, 1889.  He was a member of the Swedenborgian Church, but his wife was a Baptist in faith.  Their children were Alexander, Amanda, Thomas Cato, Lucy, Charles, William, Elizabeth, Nancy, and Anna A.      Doctor Thomas C. Kinmont, who has been for a number of years a leading physician and surgeon at Hicksville, was born Oct. 8, 1832, at Cincinnati, Ohio.  During boyhood he not only attended the common schools near his home, but he received valuable instruction in various branches from his father.  On attaining his majority he secured employment at farming, and while thus engaged he studied for two terms in the academy at Newville, Indiana, in 1856-57. In November, 1857, he went to Kansas, visiting Lawrence and Leavenworth, and later pre-empting one hundred and sixty acres of land in Anderson county.  In that State he remained about two years, being engaged during much of this time as foreman on a farm one mile from Lawrence, and in carpentering. In 1860 he returned to Defiance county, and built his father a residence upon the old homestead.      At the outbreak of the Civil war he was among the first to offer his services to the government, enlisting in April, 1861, in Company K, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, for three months.  At the end of his term he came back home and spent some time in building a barn for his father, but on September 20th of the same year he re-enlisted, this time in Company F, Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for three years.  At the election of officers by his company he was chosen second lieutenant, and his knowledge of military affairs and movements enabled him to work effectively in drilling the men for service.  On Mar. 26, 1862, he was mustered in as captain, and was paid as such to date of discharge, Feb. 25, 1863.  At the battle of Fort Donelson he took command of the company in the afternoon, and continued the fight until night, which was spent under arms in the cold and snow.  The morning found them ready to go on with the struggle, but at 9 a. m. the Rebels displayed the white flag in token of willingness to surrender. The Doctor’s company was the first to enter the fort, and several of its men were detailed by him to remove the dead bodies of men and horses out of the way of the Union troops.  Inside the fort were two thousand seven hundred armed men drawn up in line as prisoners, and the task of disarming them fell to the Doctor’s men, who accomplished it by taking the arms from one company at a time, the disarmed men then marching out, when they were placed aboard a steamer to be transported to prison.      When the evacuation of the fort was completed, the victorious forces were ordered to camp, and at midnight they started in a heavy rain on a march to Fort Henry, where they remained in camp until one week before the battle of Shiloh, in which they took a notable part.  At 9 a. m. Apr. 6, 1862, our subject, who was still in command of Company F, formed his men in line, and they were immediately engaged in a desperate conflict with some Texan troops, on that part of the field being known in history as “the hornet’s nest.”  At that location they remained until 12 M., when they were ordered to take a position eighty rods to the left, where they were attacked by a heavy artillery fire.  At 4 p. m. the line was ordered to advance, but the men wavered, and the Doctor, rushing to the front, called out, “Come on, boys!” and led them forward.  He had gone but one hundred and fifty feet when a Minie ball struck him in the upper part of the thigh, inflicting a terrible wound.  He did not fall, as two of his men caught him and carried him, under a fierce fire, to an ambulance half a mile away.  By that time the Union line was falling back, and the ambulance was driven at a gallop over logs and other obstructions, for about two miles, two men holding the Doctor down that he might not be thrown out.  After a surgeon had dressed his wound he was placed for a time in a log house at the landing, and later he was taken on board a boat which lay at the wharf, where he remained until the Sunday following.      On Thursday of that eventful week he had been visited by his brother, Alexander, who was also wounded, and both were sent to a hospital at Evansville, Indiana, where the Doctor stayed until the latter part of May.  He then secured a room in a private house with a stretcher for a bed, and called in a physician of the city to attend him.  On July 1 he started for his home, and on his arrival at Antwerp, on July 2, he was met by citizens who carried him on a stretcher from the river to Hicksville, a distance of six miles.  A spring wagon then conveyed him to his father s house at State Line, where he lay under the care of Doctor B. M. Rakestraw until Feb. 1, 1863.  The bullet had splintered the bone, fifteen pieces being taken from the wound, and causing three and three-fourths inches shortening of the limb and a stiff knee as a reminder of his experience.  During his convalescence he received notice of his promotion to the rank of captain, his commission dating from the battle of Fort Donelson.  As he grew stronger he began reading medicine under the direction of Doctor Rakestraw at home, and later entered his office as a student.  On Oct. 1, 1864, he was enrolled in the Medical Department of Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, where he remained six months, and in June, 1865, he went by way of Niagara Falls to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to take a three-months’ course in the medical school there.  In October of that year he returned to Ann Arbor, and in March, 1866, he was graduated from that institution.  He began his professional work at Hicksville in partnership with Doctor Rakestraw; but after one year he engaged in practice alone.  With the exception of three months spent at Mansfield, Ohio, in 1876, he has been continuously in practice at Hicksville, where he has met with marked success.  His practice has been general in its nature, but of late years he has devoted especial attention to surgery, and in this branch he stands second to none in this section.      In 1865 Doctor Kinmont was married to Miss Ruth C. Albertson; they have had no children.  Socially they are prominent, and the Doctor is an active member of the F. & A. M., the G. A. R., and the I. O. O. F., which latter organization he joined in 1874, and in which he has held all the elective offices belonging to the local lodge, serving twelve years as its secretary.  He is also active in religious work, being a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Hicksville.  In politics he is a Republican.  He was the first mayor of Hicksville, and president of the Hicksville Waterworks Co., and at the present time is president of the Board of Pension Examiners.  He is surgeon for the B. & O. R. R., a member of the County Medical Society and of the Northwestern Ohio Medical Association.      Mrs. Kinmont, wife of our subject, is a daughter of Edward and Abigail (Aten) Albertson, natives of New Jersey, the former of whom was of Dutch descent, his grandfather having been born in Holland.  Mr. and Mrs. Albertson moved at an early day from New Jersey to Wayne county, Ohio, where he followed agricultural pursuits, and he also in later life conducted a mercantile business in Hicksville, dying there Oct. 6, 1856. His wife passed away July 7, 1877. Their family numbered eight children—one son and seven daughters.      Mrs. Kinmont was born in Fredericksburg, Ohio, in 1838, where she received her earlier education, afterward attending Newville (Indiana) Academy.  On leaving school, she taught for one term in Paulding county, Ohio, and was then appointed to the charge of the post office at Hicksville, she enjoying the distinction of being the first lady postmaster at that place.  In social and charitable work she has always been active, and for four years she was county superintendent of Mercy Department of the W. C. T. U. of Defiance county.  Having made somewhat of a study of entomology, Mrs. Kinmont has written and has published numerous articles on that and other subjects.  Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 202   LUDWIG KLEIN     The industry, enterprise and thrift which characterize the German race are well illustrated in the career of his gentleman, who is a prominent resident of Mark township, Defiance county.  Coming to this county when a lad of eighteen, he has made his way to an enviable position in life, and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens is shown by the numerous positions of trust and responsibility that he has filled.      Mr. Klein was born Oct. 21, 1851, in Bavaria, Germany, a son of Joseph and Mary (Desloch) Klein, both of whom were natives of the same province, passing their lives there, the father being engaged in agricultural pursuits.  Our subject, who was the tenth in a family of eleven children, was reared to farm work under his father's direction.  At an early age his thoughts began to turn to America, and in June, 1869, he crossed the Atlantic, landing in New York City.  He already had some knowledge of the blacksmith's trade, and coming to Ohio, he located at Bryan, where he quickly found employment.  For about five years his time was mainly spent in that town, and during that period he met and married Miss Mary Huber, a native of Hamilton, Butler county, Ohio, the ceremony being performed in Bryan on Dec. 31, 1874.  In February, 1876, he removed to Mark Center, Defiance county, where he followed his trade successfully for about seventeen years.  In 1893 he settled upon a farm of eighty acres, which he had purchased some time before, and this he has improved as a homestead, building substantial and commodious buildings, and enlarging the farm from time to time until he now owns one hundred and sixty acres.      As a citizen, Mr. Klein has shown much public spirit, taking an active part in various progressive movements in his locality.  He has served four terms as township trustee and three terms as township treasurer, filling both offices most acceptably, and he is now serving his second term as county commissioner, having been elected first in 1893 and re-elected in 1895.  His sympathies are with the Democratic party, and he is an ardent and influential worker for the success of that organization. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 591   WILLIAM G. KOPP.  The endeavor to excel in a chosen line or lines of effort is characteristic of the men who win success in these days of close competition, and the subject of this sketch, a well-known resident of Highland township, Defiance county, has evidently made practical application of the fact in his various business enterprises.      Mr. Kopp is a native of Ohio, having been born in Crawford county, July 21, 1859, but his ancestry on both sides is of  German blood.  His father, the late Charles Kopp, and mother, Mrs. Louise (Stahl) Kopp, were born at Wurtemberg, Germany, and came to America early in their married life,  in 1854.  In 1862 they settled in Highland township, Defiance county, where the father died January 3, 1897.  The mother now resides with our subject.      Our subject was the fourth in a family of eight children, and as the son of a busy farmer was trained from boyhood to habits of industry.  When he was about eighteen years old he left home to learn the blacksmith's trade at New Washington, Crawford county, where he spent about two years.  He then went to Lansing, Michigan, but after nine months returned to Defiance county, securing employment with the Turnbull Wagon works at Defiance.  He remained with this company fourteen months, and then engaged in business on his own account in Section 11, Highland township, where he has since resided.  While conducting his blacksmith shop he became interested in a sawmill in the same locality as a partner of his brother Frederick, who was accidentally killed in the mill March 23, 1889.      Soon after this event Mr. Kopp gave up his blacksmithing business and took charge of the mill, and also engaged in farming at his present homestead of forty acres, upon which he has made many improvements.  His farm buildings are comfortable and attractive, and his management of the place is scientific, his inclination for securing the best possible results being shown in many ways, and notably in the keeping up of a herd of thoroughbred Poland-China hogs.  In connection with his other work he now operates a tile factory on his farm.  With all these cares he might be supposed to be too busy to take an active part in local politics, but his fellow-citizens have too high an opinion of his abilities and judgment to permit him to remain entirely out of politics.  For many years he has been one of the leading advisers of the Democratic party in his locality, and in the spring of 1896 he was chosen as a member of the Central Committee of Defiance county.  On May 7, 1898, he was appointed jury commissioner of Defiance county, and served one year from May 23,  He is interested in all movements that promise benefit to the community, and is prominent in religious work as an active member of the Lutheran Church.      On October 16, 1881, Mr. Kopp was married near Lansing, Michigan, to Miss Louisa Oppanlander, who was born September 12, 1861, in Wurtemberg, Germany.  Nine children blessed this union, their names and dates of birth, etc., being as follows: Frederick W., Oct. 16, 1882; Elizabeth P., May 24, 1884; Sophia M., Nov. 25, 1885; J. W. Webster, Mar. 30, 1887, Edith A., Oct. 7, 1890; Bertha M. P., Feb. 22, 1892; Amelia A., Sept. 22, 1894; Charles W. J., May 16, 1896, and John H., May 10, 1897, died Aug. 13, 1898. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page 348   CORNELIUS W. KYLE, M. D.  The world has little use for the misanthrope.  The universal truth of brotherhood is widely recognized, also that he serves God best who serves his fellowmen.  There is no profession or line of business that calls for greater self-sacrifice or more devoted attention than the medical profession, and the successful physician is he who, through love of his fellowmen, gives his time and attention to the relief of human suffering.  Doctor Kyle, who is an able representative of this noble calling, has for several years successfully engaged in practice in Sherwood, Defiance county.      A native of Ohio, our subject was born in Stark county, Dec. 1, 1838, a son of Peter Kyle, a farmer and blacksmith by occupation.  He was reared on his father's farm, acquiring his early education in the common schools of the neighborhood.  For several years during early life he lived at Massillon, with his uncle, Doctor A. Metz, who was for ten years a professor in the Cleveland Medical College, and with him our subject began the study of medicine.  He continued his researches along that line under direction of Doctor Coombs, the present auditor of Defiance county, and has made his home in Defiance county.      During the Civil war Doctor Kyle manifested his patriotism by enlisting in September, 1861, in Company E, Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, but after serving for seven months he was discharged on account of physical disability.  However, he afterward re-enlisted, this time in Company I, First Ohio Heavy Artillery, and was later detailed as hospital steward at Washington, D. C., serving in that capacity some sixteen months.  He then returned to Ohio, and in June, 1871, commenced the practice of medicine in Defiance county, locating in Sherwood about 1880.  He is one of the leading physicians of the community, and in the village and vicinity has built up a large and lucrative practice.  He is a representative of the "old school."      In Seneca county, Ohio, Doctor Kyle married Miss Marietta Smith, a native of that county, born Dec. 6, 1842, by whom he has two children: Alma, now the wife of Johnson Miller (they have one daughter, Ethel); and Homer, telegraph operator and train dispatcher at Van Wert, Ohio.  He married Beatrice Miller of Sherwood, and they have one daughter, Fern.      Mr. Kyle, wife of Doctor Kyle, is a daughter of William T. and Catherine Ann (Boucher) Smith, the father a native of Pennsylvania, the mother of Ohio, in which latter State they were married.  Eight children were born to them - five sons and three daughters - of whom are deceased four sons, the survivor being John B. Smith of Alvada, Ohio.  The daughters are:  Elizabeth (Mrs. Amos Mohler of Fostoria, Ohio), Marietta (Mrs. Kyle), and Sevilla A. (Mrs. J. A. Boley), of Upper Sandusky).  Mrs. Kyle opened the first millinery store in Sherwood, and has been in the business since 1884.  She is a member of The Temple Church, and of the Woman's Relief Corps, No. 282.      Doctor and Mrs. Kyle have a nice home in Sherwood, where hospitality reigns supreme.  Socially he is an honored member of Hancock Post, No. 579, G. A. R., of which he is past commander, and also belongs to the Knights of Pythias and other societies.  He takes a deep interest in the welfare of his adopted county, giving his support to all enterprises which he believes will advance its educational or moral interests.  Wherever he goes he wins friends and has the happy faculty of being able to retain them. Source:  Commemorative Biographical Records of Northwestern Ohio including the counties of Defiance, Henry, Williams & Fulton. - Published at Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1899 - Page  506

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