volume III
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohbutler/memoirs/400-449.html accessed 13 May 2014
Henry J. Kumler, now deceased, was for many years one of the energetic farmers of Butler county, Ohio, but he passed his last years at Hamilton, where he lived in comfortable retirement at No. 928 Dayton street, the present residence of his widow. He was born at Millville, Butler county, Ohio, February 27, 1838. The Kumler family was founded in this country by Jacob Kumler, born in Switzerland, but a resident of the American colonies from the time he was seventeen years old. A few years after his settlement in Lancaster county, Pa., he was married to Elizabeth Young, and they had the following children: John, Jacob, Henry, Michael and Elizabeth, and of these, Henry was the grandfather of Henry J. Kumler, whose name heads this review. When he was only eight years old, he having been born January 3, 1775, Henry Kumler had the misfortune to lose his mother, so he grew to manhood without her fostering care. In 1797, he was united in marriage with Miss Susanna Wingert, who survived him many years, and lived to be ninety-six years of age. They had twelve children, as follows: one who died in childhood, Hannah, Henry, Susan, Elizabeth, Daniel, Elias, Jacob, Michael, Joseph, John and Catherine. Of these children, two became ministers of the gospel and one was a physician, and two of his sons-in-law were also ministers, but all were interested in agriculture, as was Henry Kumler. He always felt that the natural means of gaining a living was farming, and he reared his children to have a love for the soil, which attribute has been handed down to his many descendants. His liking for farming was not merely theoretical, but practical, and as long as he lived he owned farm land, and took an active part in its cultivation, but at the same time he was a powerful factor in church work, and an eloquent preacher. While he had early connected himself with the German Reformed church, he did not feel called upon to give forth to the world his religious convictions until he was about thirty-six years of age, when in 1811, he became impressed with the necessity of devoting more attention to his spiritual welfare, and first confiding in his wife, began to work among his immediate family. So convincing was he, that before long he had at least thirty persons interested and prayer meetings were held by them. Both he and his brother-in-law, Jacob Wingert, one of his first converts, began to address the meetings, and they became so popular that their services were demanded by other bodies. Henry Kumler always spoke with great simplicity, earnestness and much feeling, moving others profoundly, and bringing into
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the church large numbers. At that time much prejudice was felt because a layman addressed a religious meeting, and this so operated against the little body of followers of Henry Kumler, that he felt it necessary to withdraw from the German Reformed church in which he had held membership for fifteen years, and he had held once with that denomination more than once. Desiring to connect with some regularly organized religious society, and feeling that the creed of the United Brethren in Christ was one to which he could conscientiously subscribe, Mr. Kumler attended the annual conference at Hagerstown, Md., and was by this conference licensed to preach the gospel. The following year the annual conference was held at his residence. During the first year of his ministry, Mr. Kumler accompanied some of the itinerating preachers in their rounds, but at the beginning of his second year he was assigned to a large circuit, which included Greencastle, Pa., and the surrounding country, his labors being so heavy that it was necessary for him to have an assistant. So prominent did he become, that during that second year, he was elected a delegate to the meeting that formulated the first discipline of the church of the United Brethren in Christ. His ability and eloquence received proper appreciation from his colleagues, and in 1816 he was assigned to what was called the Virginia circuit, and he was obliged to travel on horseback 370 miles every four weeks. His associates in this traveling ministry were Reverends Schneider, Dehoff, Spayth and Joseph Hoffman, who had charge of the old Otterbein church at Baltimore, Md. Further honors came to Henry Kumler, for in 1817, he was elected presiding elder, and for thirteen successive Sundays he held protracted meetings, the over-exertion connected with them resulting in a serious illness which extended over sixteen weeks, and nearly resulted in his death, but fortunately for his work, he recovered. Up to 1918 the doctrines of his society had not been spread west of the Allegheny mountains, but in that year he brought his family to Butler county, Ohio, and located near Miltonville and Seven Mile, and began at once to teach his neighbors his principles of belief, being very successful in converting them to a better manner of living. Mr. Kumler thoroughly understood his people. He did not try any labored preaching, or the expounding of abstruse theories, but spoke as one man to another, simply and .sincerely, using homely illustrations, well within their comprehension. His manner was singularly winning, his themes full of encouragement to the pious and affection for those who had still to be convinced of the error of their ways. While he always preached in the German language, so that many of his hearers did not understand his words, his earnestness oftentimes so impressed them, that they were converted, and they followed the example of his upright, godly life. Still later he was made general superintendent of his church, and being an astute financier, he eventually put its affairs in a very prosperous condition. While he was mild of temper, and well balanced, when he deemed it necessary to rebuke the wrongdoer, he could do so in a manner that was never forgotten. True to his convictions of duty, he lived up to them, no matter at what cost. He was noted for his cheerful disposition, and
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oftentimes he was able to point a moral by one of his apt stories. After serving as bishop of his church for twenty years, he finally retired, when about seventy years old, but never lost his interest in the church. All his life he was generous in his benefactions and although he died a wealthy man, he probably would have been worth double that amount, had he not given so freely. One of his sons Jacob Kumler, also born in Pennsylvania, was married to Fannie Burtner, of the same state, and they came with Henry Kumler to Butler county, Ohio, and bought land near Miltonville. This land was covered with heavy timber, but he cleared it off and developed a fine farm. Both he and his wife were consistent members of the United Brethren in Christ society, of which Henry Kumler was so long bishop and general superintendent. They died on their home farm, having had the following children: George, who served during the Civil war in the Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was killed at the battle of Chickamauga; Abram, who was also a soldier during the Civil war, died February, 1919, at Oxford, Ohio; Margaret, who is the wife of Daniel D. Beal, lives in Wapakoneta, Ohio; Henry J., whose name heads this review; John, who also served his country as a Civil war soldier, was killed at the battle of Stone River; Simon, who was in the Union army during the Civil war, was killed at the battle of Missionary Ridge; Benjamin, who lives at Austin, Texas; Orrin, who lives at Greenville, Ohio; Rev. Frank, who lives at DeGraff, Ohio, is a preacher of the Presbyterian church; and Louis A., who lives at DeGraff, Ohio. Henry J. Kumler was reared on the home farm, his father agreeing with the grandfather in his desire to make of his sons farmers first, no matter along what channels their abilities might later take them. He was sent to the local schools, and had he desired to enter a profession, funds would have been forthcoming for his training. The precipitation of the country into the horrors of a civil war, changed many plans, and perhaps those of Henry J. Kumler, but at any rate he measured up to the highest standards of American manhood, and enlisted in the defense of the Union, in August, 1862, in Company F, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Venice, Ohio, whence he was sent to Nashville, Tenn. Before he reached the front, he was stricken down with a wasting illness which confined him to the hospital for three months and he was then honorably discharged for disability, and sent home. In the meanwhile, during December, 1860, Henry J. Kumler had been married to Mary Minton, a daughter of Peter and Hannah (Conklin) Minton. Peter Minton was born in County Cork, Ireland, but left his native land in 1811, when eighteen years old, and came to the United States, settling in Butler county, Ohio. For two years he was in the employ of Jacob Kumler, and then conducted a store near Riley, and later bought a farm, cleared off the heavy timber, and made it a valuable property. This farm was located in Hanover township, near Oxford, Butler county. Although he began with nothing, he became a man of means and one very highly-respected. His death occurred when he was seventy-eight years old, but his wife died when only forty-nine years old. For many years he was a member of the church of the United Brethren
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in Christ. He and his wife had the following children: Mrs. Kumler; Joseph, who was accidentally shot in young manhood; William, who is a veteran of the Civil war, is a farmer of Millville, Oho; Hannah and Elizabeth, both of whom are deceased; Harvey, who is a farmer of Hanover township; Martha, who is the widow of William Rosecrans lives at Eaton, Ohio; Ida, who is deceased, was Mrs. William Hanaford; and Rebecca, who married Elmore Wiley, lives east of Hamilton, Ohio. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Kumler located on a farm in Wayne township, Butler county, south of Jacksonboro, and here they resided for a quarter of a century, with the exception of the time Mr. Kumler was in the army. In 1888, Mr. Kumler retired, and moving to Hamilton, Ohio, there died, December 12 1916. He and his excellent wife were consistent members of the Presbyterian church. His political convictions made him a staunch Republican. He inherited many of the sterling characteristics of his grandfather, Bishop Kumler, and like the elder man possessed the faculty of making friends and attaching them to him for life. Although he never aspired to public preferment, had he so desired, doubtless he could have had almost any of the local offices, his personal popularity being' so strong, and the appreciation of his qualities so pronounced.
