John Frederick Otstot

As printed in 1908

JOHN OTSTOT, a prominent citizen of Spring-field Township and a member of the township school board, owns three valuable farms which aggregate 290 acres. He was born on the farm which is now occupied by his son, John Frederick Otstot, in Springfield Township, Clark County, Ohio, March 28, 1847, and is a son of William and Rebecca (Knaub) Otstot.

The Otstot family came to Ohio from that old German stronghold, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Adam Otstot, the grandfather of John Otstot, came to Columbus, Ohio, in 1831, and was accompanied by his son, William Otstot, who had been born in Pennsylvania, December 25, 1811. The family remained at Columbus for two years and then came to Clark County, settling on the farm on which John Otstot was born. William Otstot was married in Clark County to Rebecca Knaub, who died in December, 1902. She was a daughter of George Knaub and was born in York County, Pennsylvania. The thirteen children of Wilham and Rebecca Otstot were reared on the farm south of Springfield, and all of them, with one exception, reached maturity. William Otstot died July 16, 1895, aged eighty-four years.

John Otstot attended school in the neighborhood of his home, but early began to assist in the farm work and has continued to be interested in agricultural pursuits up to the present time. His early training was not lost, for there is little pertaining to farm work that he does not thoroughly understand. After his marriage he went to housekeeping on the William Perrin farm, in Springfield Township, where he lived until the spring of 1883, a period of seven years, and then came to the present farm, which he bought in the spring of 1882.

Mr. Otstot married Sarah Kershner, who is a daughter of William A. and Ellen (Way) Kershner. Mrs. Kershner was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of Capt. Michael Way, who operated a shoe factory there. He was an officer in the War of 1812. After coming to Clark County Ellen Way attended and graduated from the old Springfield Seminary, and for a number of years afterward taught school both in Springfield and in the country. She married William A. Kershner, who was born in Clark County and who was a son of Jacob Kershner,' who came to this section from Hagerstown, Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Otstot have four children, namely: William A., who married Minnie

Hayman and has two children — Anna Ruth and Christel; Mabel who married August Getz and has one child — Lewis; John Frederick, who married Florence Self, and they have one child — John Edgar; and Harry, who is residing at home. Mr. Otstot has always taken a good citizen's interest in public affairs and on several occasions has consented to serve as a member of the school board.

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.