Benjamin F. Weigel

As printed in 1908

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN WEIGEL, justice of the peace and prominent citizen of Moorefield Township, residing on his valuable farm of fifty acres, and engaged in general agriculture, is a veteran of the Civil War. He was born in Urbana Township, Champaign County, Ohio, Sptember 23, 1842, and is a son of Peter and Louisa Jane (Nitchman) Weigel.

On both sides of the family the grandfathers of Mr. Weigel were born in Germany, Grandfather Weigel near the stories Rhine. Many of the name live in York County, Pennsylvania, where they gave the name of Weigeltown to a village of some importance. The parents of ]Mr. Weigel were both born in Pennsylvania and came to Ohio prior to their marriage.

Benjamin F. Weigel has practically taken care of himself since he was nine years old. For two years he worked for a Mr. Pierce, near Taylortown, and for two more years for the widow of Captain Lindell, who resided on the corner of Limestone and Rice Streets, which then marked the corporation limits of Springfield. Mrs. Lindell owned thirty acres of land, which she used as a garden farm. After Mr. Weigel left that place he engaged with J. S. Kitchen, in Green Township, and he continued to work for the Kitchen family until September, 1861. He then enlisted for service in the Civil War, becoming a member of Company F, Fortyfourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He engaged for three years, but was discharged in August, 1862, on account of trouble with his throat, which caused him to lose his voice. During his term of service he was with the army under General Rosecrans, in Virginia. Mr. Weigel did not recover the use of his vocal chords until April, 1863, and in the following June he reentered the army, enlisting in Company C, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, to serve six months. He was honorably discharged March 4, 1864.

While still in the army, Mr. Weigel rented a farm of 240 acres from J. S. Kitchen, but after his return Mr. Kitchen was called out on the 100-day service as a member of the National Guard, and Mr. Weigel volunteered to take his place, while Mr. Kitchen started operations on the farm. Thus, for the third time, Mr. Weigel's name was enrolled on the roster of his country's defenders, this time in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-sixth

Regiment, Ohio National Guards, and he was again honorably discharged, in September, 1864. When he enlisted the second time, the regiment started out with Captain Howard D. John in command of his company, who was later made colonel of the regiment, and Richard Montjoy, later treasurer of Clark County, was promoted to be captain. During this enlistment, Mr. Weigel marched with his regiment through Kentucky, then on to Cumberland Gap, where, in September, 1863, the Confederate commander, General Frazier, surrendered the Gap to the Union forces under General Burnsides, with 2,250 prisoners. As a treasurer trophy of the occasion, Mr. Weigel displays the sword that General Frazier carried on that day. Mr. Weigel participated in several battles, more or less severe, and encountered all the hazards of war, on all occasions doing his full duty, but he escaped all injury except the trouble with his throat above mentioned.

Mr. Weigel then began farming operations on the Kitchen farm. In February, 1872, he moved to Springfield and went to work in the old Champion shop, which stood on the present site of the Arcade, where he remained until the fii'st Monday in April, 1881, after which he served for two years as constable of Springfield Township. In 1884 he began work at the East Street shop, which was conducted by Mr. Whiteley, and he remained there as an employe until the business went into the hands of a receiver, some years later. For several years afterward, Mr. Weigel was variously employed — at laying street car tracks, at driving a car on the old Green line, and afterward, for five years and two months, he worked as a motoiinan.

During the last year of service lie had the relief run, working every day on a different line, his duties being to take note that the regular motorman kept his car appliances in first-class shape. In March, 1898, he came to his present farm, which he had purchased from his father-in-law in the previous month. He does general farming and also raises horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Seemingly, Mr. Weigel possesses the capacity to bring success out of almost everything to which he turns his attention. In March, 1906, he was appointed a justice of the peace, and in the fall of the year he was elected to the office for a term of four years, on the Republican ticket.

On November 10, 1864, Mr. Weigel was first married to Ann Jane Elder, who died April 30, 1871. She was a daughter of John and Phoebe Elder. They had three children, namely: Samuel E., John C. and Finley E., the last mentioned of whom died in infancy, two months before the death of his mother. Samuel E. Weigel, the eldest son, developed a liking for the sea, and left home when fourteen years of age and shipped on a vessel on which he sailed to many parts of the world. He lost his life in the shipwreck of the "Neva," in East Indian waters, when he was almost twenty-one years old. The second son, John Charles, grew to manhood and married, but developed consumption and went to Prescott, Arizona, in hope that the climate would restore him to health. He died there and is survived by a daughter, Effie Mabel, who resides in Springfield.

On September 8, 1872, Mr. Weigel was married, secondly, to Elizabeth Wolfe, who is a daughter of John R. and Anna

(Riegel) Wolfe. Both parents were born and reared in Pennsylvania, came as children to Clark County, Ohio, and later settled near Springfield. The old Wolfe homestead farm is now Calvary Cemetery. In March, 1881, John R. Wolfe purchased and settled on the farm on which Mr. and Mrs. Weigel reside. The latter have had four children, namely: Annie J., Matilda F., Mary Josephine, and Nicholas R. K. Annie J. resides at home, Matilda Frances Weigel was married November 27, 1907, to Ira M. Mumper. She is a lady of superior education, and from the age of seventeen years has enthusiastically devoted herself to teaching, frequently taking schools eight miles from home and driving back and forth each day, her final day of school work being the very one on which she was married. Mary Josephine, the third daughter, died aged twenty-two months. Nicholas R. K. Weigel, in 1901, married Ida May Isabelle Hazlett, and they have three children— Ruth Esther, Ida Frances and Katherine Margaret. Mr. Weigel 's family belong to the Moorefield Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is a trustee. He belongs to the Moorefield Township Soldiers ' Burial, and also to the Soldiers' Relief Associations. Until within the past three years, the township had no Memorial Day services, although Mr. Weigel and many others belong to Mitchell Post, Grand Army of the Republic; but since then he, in association with Captain McConkey, have provided for this sacred day ceremonial and each occasion has been more enjoyed than the previous one. These veterans receive the honor to which they are entitled from their fellow-eiti-

As printed in 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.