The Kabel Family of Randolph County, Indiana

PHILIP KABEL, farmer, P. 0. Unionsport, was born in Germany January 12, 1810. He came to America in 1832 when a young man. When he landed in Portland, Me., he had about f 10 in money. He soon went to Leister, Worcester Co., Mass., where he worked at carding wool for some time. He came to Wayne County, Ind., in 1834, where he married Miss Mary Goetz, and returned to Cincinnati, Ohio, but in nine months returned to Richmond, Ind. In 1838, he rented a carding machine near Hagerstown, and ran it until 1840, when he came to this county and purchased the Unionsport Carding Machine and Saw-Mill. He followed the business there, and at other points until ISHS. He erected a carding mill on his own land in 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Kabel have had ten children, of whom six are living— Peter, Adam, Frederick, Nicholas, John and Mary (now Mrs. Jasper Hurst). When Mr. and Mrs. Kabel began life he had nothing; but by harl work they have been prospered.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Our attention has frequently been called of late to the alarming decrease of farm products in the United States while its population is steadily increasing. We are told that our most priceless treasure, the fertility of our soil, has been so dissipated by slipshod methods in tilling it that we are now face to face with the necessity of increasing its' power to produce or else go hungry in the near future. We who would eat must get in fitch with the things of earth once more as consumers if not as producers. One of the energetic farmers who seems to clearly understand present day conditions is Frederic Kabel, of West River township, Randolph county, a man who has devoted his life to a study of general farming in all its phases and who is therefore an authority on the same.

Mr. Kabel was born in White River township, this county, July 15, 1853. He is a son of Philip and Mary (Getz) Kabel, and was one of ten children, namely: Peter and Philip are both deceased; Mary Adam and John are all living; Lizzie and Barbara are both deceased; Frederic, of this review; Nicholas is living; Charley died in youth. The parents of these children were both born in Germany, but they came to the United States when young and were married in Cincinnati, Ohio. The father was a wool carter by profession. He moved with his family to Richmond, Indiana, then to Hagerstown, finally to White River township, Randolph comity, where his death occurred in March, 1898, at the advanced age of eighty-four years; his wife died on the homestead on February 10, 1902.

Frederic Kabel was reared on the home farm and educated in the district schools. He was married December 21, 1879, to Florence Mercer, a daughter of John Mercer, a cooper by trade, who lived in West River township, and whose family consisted of ten children, eight daughters and two sons.

Seven children have been born to our subject and wife, namely: Herbert, who lives in Winchester, taught school for a period of fourteen years, married Alma Gwin and they have two children; Florence, who is living near Fountain City, has been twice married, first to Bruce Keever, by whom she had one child, Dallas K.; her second marriage was to Clyde Miller, and to this union one child was born, Olive. Iva married Percy Stump,- a farmer of White River township, and they have two sons, Corwin and Virgil; Ray died at the age of sixteen years; Clara is the widow of Henry Johnson, who was a farmer near Lynn; Ella, who was for four years primary teacher at Huntsville, was born February 17, 1892; Elfie, the youngest, was born February 12, 1899. These children were given excellent educational advantages. Ella was educated at the State University, at Bloomington, Herbert in the Normal, at Danville, and Clara in Marion.

Mr. Kabel has devoted his life to general farming and stock raising and has lived on his present finely improved and valuable farm for thirty-three years. His place consists of one hundred and forty acres and on it stand a good group of buildings, everything denoting excellent taste.

Politically, Mr. Kabel is a Democrat, and he is a member of the Lutheran church.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

NICHOLAS KABEL, teacher, Winchester. This prominent teacher is a native of Randolph County, and was born May 1, 1867. He is a son of Philip and Mary Kabel, of White River Township. He spent his boyhood always on his father's farm, after which he attended the high school of Winchester, this county, and Coshocton, Ohio. He began teaching in 1876, and by energy and close application has won the confidence of the people. He adopts the late.'t and most approved normal method.s as far as can bo done in an ungraded school. His school is orderly, and his work systematic.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HERBERT M. KABEL.

Herbert M. Kabel, of Winchester, was born in Randolph county, September 2, 1880, and is the son of Frederick and Mary Florence (Mercer) Kabel. He was educated at Normal School at Muncie and at the Central Normal College. He thereupon adopted the profession of teacher, for which he had patiently and thoroughly equipped himself. This profession he followed for thirteen years and made a reputation in educational circles to be envied by even the most successful. To large natural capacity he added the most careful and efficient training, and thus became in the highest sense of the word a scientific instructor. It is to the ability and labor of such teachers as Mr. Kabel that the schools of Indiana owe their enviable reputation. He mastered the principles and details of his profession, and his achievements in the mental training of his pupils is evidence of his mastery.

The present occupation of Mr. Kabel is that of cabinet maker, which he pursues quite as ardently and successfully as he did that of instructor. In this line he is an extensive manufacturer and is one of the most reliable and enterprising in the state. Mr. Kabel has five sisters and had one brother, who died in his youth. Mary Florence, of Wayne county is the wife of Clyde Miller, a farmer. They have one child. A former husband was Bruce Keever, also a farmer, and one child was the result of this union. Iva B., of Randolph county, married Percy G. Stump, a farmer, and has two children. Philip Ray, the only brother, died at the age of sixteen. Clara married Henry Johnson, now dead, and of this marriage there was no issue. Ella and Elfie are single.

Mr. Kabel's ancestry is historic, and reaches back to association with the great Napoleon. That is something worth remembering, for surely no other man ever so revolutionized the world and created consternation in the hearts of kings as did Napoleon. The father of Mr. Kabel was a Randolph county farmer. His grandfather was from Frankfort, Germany. He was a tailor for a number of years, then joined the French army and came to the United States from France. His great grandfather furnished foodstuffs for the army of Napoleon. That was something of a regular occupation for the men who engaged in it, for Napoleon was always recruiting his ranks. Mr. Kabel had the distinction of seeing the Corsican in his amicable and also his frowning goods, and his reminiscences of the world's greatest strategist had the lively interest of recitals by an eyewitness. The mother of Herbert M. Kabel was born in Randolph county and survives at the age of fifty-four. His father is living at the age of sixty. His grandmother came to Indiana from Ohio and was ninety-six at the time of her death.

September 4, 1901, Mr. Kabel married Alma Gwin of Randolph county. She is one of three children and her mother still survives. Roger Flarold, born July 10, 1902, and [name withheld], born September 7, 1908, are the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kabel, and two sprightlier, healthier and happier young Hoosiers would be difficult to find. Each is a reigning sensation in the home, and neither father nor mother plays a favorite. They look upon the children as the sunbeams of the household and cultivate their association as an inspiration to love and cheerfulness. Ronald, the youngest child, died in infancy.

In the matter of church affiliation, Mr. Kabel is a Methodist and in politics a Republican. He takes a broad and profound view of politics and indorses the policy of his party for what he esteem its achievements for half a century in the promotion of popular government. He has the distinction of being the first man in Indiana to receive a certificate for manual training. And now when manual instruction has become so popular and familiar, this is quite a remarkable distinction.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.