In the books' own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. The later printing (1895) is folded below the first. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
Born 1826
From The history of Hardin county, Ohio (1883), Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio (1895)
RICHARD SIEGEL, farmer, P. O. Kenton, was born in Prussia, November 4, 1826. His parents, Richard and Mary E. (Haller) Siegel, came to America in 1843, and settled in Holmes County, Ohio, removing thence, in 1864, to Lynn Township, Hardin County, They located seventy-eight acres of land, on which the father died September 2, 1868, aged seventy-two years; his wife died in Germany, He was drafted in the German Army in 1815, soon after the banishment of Napoleon. He left six children, four by his first wife and two by his second — three now living. The subject of this sketch is the oldest child. He was educated at the common schools, and spent his youth on a farm. In April of 1858, he came and located on his present farm, which then consisted of fifty-three acres of land, and to which he has since added, until he now owns 113 acres. He aided in building Lynn Valley IMethodist Episcopal Church, and in all the improvements of the township. On May 3, 1853, he was married to Sarah, daughter of William and Margaret (Maxwell) Reimsburg. This union has resulted in six children, viz.: William R., Mary C., wife of H. G. Walgamot; Martha E. (deceased), Mahala, wife of R. W..Bulsford; Miller C., and an infant son deceased. Mr. Siegel is serving in his second term as Justice of the Peace, and was Township Trustee for three years. Assessor for one year, and four years a member of the Board, of Education. His wife died January 26, 1881. His son, William R., served as Township Clerk for four years, and is the owner of eighty acres of land.
As printed in The history of Hardin county, Ohio (1883). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
RICHARD SIEGEL. Many of the most patriotic citizens of our country have emigrated either from foreign lands, and among them there are many of the stalwart sons of the Fatherland. With keen intuition they have foreseen future prosperity in America such as never could be attained in their own land, and, coming across the ocean, have almost invariably been successful in their undertakings. Mr. Siegel furnishes a good example of this class, being prominent in Lynn Township as a skillful farmer and stock-raiser.
Our subject was born in Hesse Homburg, Germany, November 4, 1826, and in 1843 made the journey across the Atlantic, accompanied by his father, Richard Siegel, Sr., also a native of the Fatherland. The emigrants continued their westward way until they reached Holmes County, Ohio, where they secured a home. The wife and mother, who died prior to the removal of the family to their new home, bore the name of Mary Huller. Mr. Siegel was later married, in Holmes County, to Barbara Kleinsrott, and about the close of the Civil War they removed to Lynn Township, near the home of our subject, where the father died about 1868. His wife had. passed away while a resident of the above county, leaving two daughters, who kepthouse for their father until his death.
Richard Siegel continued to reside with his father for four years after coming to America, during which time he worked out to assist in paying for the home place. He worked as a farm hand for others until 1853, when, March 3, he married Miss Sarah S. Rainsburg. He rented property and lived in that locality until 1858, when we find him a resident of Hardin County. Having laid by a snug little sum of money from the successful management of his other estate, Mr. Siegel paid $500 for fifty-three acres of land, on which there were no improvements, not even a cabin. His first work was to hew some logs, and with these he constructed a dwelling, in which his wife and three children were made as comfortable as it was possible for them to be made in an uninhabited region. His means being limited, he worked out to obtain ready money, in the mean time using every spare moment in clearing his farm. This state of affairs continued for three or four years, during which time he was not even enabled to sell timber from his place, as the settlers were few and those who lived near were, like himself, trying to dispose of the surplus wood. As the years passed by and he at last redeemed his land from the brush and woods, he found it to be rich soil, excellent for farming purposes. He has since added sixty acres to his original purchase and is now the proprietor of a tract of one hundred and thirteen acres, the greater part of which is well cultivated. His house is substantially built, as are all the other buildings on the place. On his estate are about one hundred rods of tiling, and to the improvement of the place he has given his entire attention until of late years. He has also assisted his son William R. in purchasing a farm in this locality. When he first came to this locality Mr. Siegel had only three neighbors, William Bradley, J. M. Piper andy. C. Rainsburg.
To Mr. and Mrs. Siegel there were born five
As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Marion and Hardin counties, Ohio (1895). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Named in this biography: William Bradley (b. 1804)
The printed record stops around 1883. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.