Auglaize County, Ohio, Family Sketches

Baughman - The son of Revolutionary Patriot George Baughman, Henry Baughman and wife Mary Agler came from Franklin County to Clay Township in 1836 to raise their family of thirteen children. In 1852 daughter Margaret Baughman married Arthur Bitler, while son William Baughman married Mary Bitler in 1863.

Bitler - The Bitler family of Berks and Schuylkill counties in Pennsylvania were established by Johannes Bitler, who likely arrived in 1736 on the Ship Harle. The Auglaize generation began with grandson Daniel Bitler, Sr., and his family who founded St. Johns, Clay Township in Auglaize County, Ohio, in 1834. Descendants William Bitler and Arthur Bitler were prominent members of that community; Daniel Bitler, Jr., went on to establish a Bitler settlement in Lyon County, Kansas.

Brunn - John Brunn was born in Bavaria around 1798 and married Catherine Klipfel, daughter of Joseph Klipfel, in the village of Hausen near Schonungen, Bavaria. This family came to Ohio in 1844 and joined the Klipfel family already established in Pusheta Township, Auglaize County, Ohio. In 1846 triplets were born to this couple in Auglaize County; Francis Brunn survived to adulthood.

Focht - Adam Focht was a Pennsylvanian who came from Schuylkill County to Union Township, Auglaize County, Ohio with the Bitler family. Adam Focht had ten children; this research focuses on Samuel Focht, who held several local elective offices including Justice of the Peace. Samuel married first Mary Brethers and second Louisa Justice. Matilda Focht married James Bitler and remained in Pennsylvania. Son Adam Focht and wife Ursula Jane Bailey had two children, each of whom married members of the Taylor family of Uniopolis, Union Township, Auglaize County, Ohio: Josephine Focht married Howard Taylor; Oliver Perry Focht married Almeda Taylor.

Klipfel -

In 1834, at age 56, Joseph Klipfel, along with his wife Margaret Schlembach and their adult children, left the village of Hausen near Schonungen, Bavaria to begin a new life. Going directly to Pusheta Township, Auglaize County, Ohio, this strong family established themselves as part of the fabric of community life for generations to come. Daughter Margaret Klipfel married Joseph Wehner. Sons Augustin Klipfel and Francis Klipfel married sisters Franziska Miller and Elizabeth Miller. In 1844 daughter Catherine Klipfel and husband John Brunn sailed the Atlantic to join the family in Pusheta Township. Francis served in an artillery regiment during the Civil War, at the age of 45. Grandson Augustus William Klipfel owned Klipfel's Grocery for many years. Yet another August Klipfel moved his family to Beulah, Pueblo County, Colorado and thus established the Rocky Mountain branch of the Klipfel family.

McMurray - Robert McMurray and wife Sophia Heywood emigrated from Scotland in the early 1800s, going from New York City, Philadelphia, Kentucky, and settling in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio, by 1832. In 1848 the family moved to Auglaize County and remained part of the Wapakoneta community until their deaths in the mid 1870s. Oldest daughter Margaret McMurray married the distinguished scholar Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, who later became president of Columbia University, New York City. Grandson Robert McMurray distinguished himself with service in the Ohio 67th. Granddaughter Sophia McMurray married Andrew Jackson Morey. Grandson William James McMurray served for many years as editor of the Auglaize County Republican.

Miller - Anton Miller and wife Anna Maria emigrated from Germany around 1835 with four children. Elizabeth Miller and Franziska Miller married the Klipfel brothers. Michael Miller served as Sheriff of Auglaize County in the 1850s; Anthony Miller was a farmer in Duchouquet Township in 1850.

Morey - About 1837 William P. Morey purchased land Auglaize County, bringing his family in the mid-1840s. Elected Justice of the Peace for Logan Township for 1851-1852, William died in accidently while building stable in 1852, leaving Rebecca Patterson Morey as a widow with eight children, including Andrew Jackson Morey, Martin Van Buren Morey, Stillman Morey, and Cyrus Morey. Coming with William P. Morey to Auglaize were John P. Sillin and wife Hannah Patterson. Rebecca Patterson Morey and Hannah Patterson Sillin were sisters, born in Licking County to Adam Patterson and Rebecca Moore.

Musser - John F. Musser brought his family to Auglaize around 1890. Son John Henry Musser served as Auglaize County Prosecuting Attorney from 1914 until 1919. He married Lillian Taylor in 1903 and died tragically in a train accident in 1924 at age 44.

Rammelmeyer - John Rammelmeyer married Franziska Miller Klipfel in 1853 in Auglaize County, Ohio after the death of her first husband Augustin Klipfel in 1851. Franziska and John Rammelmeyer were enumerated in the 1860 census in the sixth ward of Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio with seven children: four by Franziska's first marriage and three from John and Franziska's marriage. Franziska is thought to have died not long after 1860, leaving John Rammelmeyer the task of raising the family. In 1862, John married for a second time, to Christena Geisert, who brought with her children from a previous marriage. John and Christena had two sons, William H. and Franklin. John Rammelmeyer died in February 1899 in Piqua, Ohio.

Sillin - John P. Sillin and Hannah Patterson relocated to Auglaize County, Ohio before 1840, along with William P. Morey and wife Rebecca Patterson, a sister of Hannah. In 1852, John P. Sillin wrote a letter to the family in Licking County describing the accidental death of William P. Morey. John P. Sillin died in Moulton Township, Auglaize County in 1874.

Taylor -

The Taylor brothers, Joseph and Abraham, settled their families in Union Township, Auglaize County around 1850. Joseph Taylor and Adaline Meyer remained in Uniopolis, while Abraham Taylor and wife Lydia Stamm spent their last years in Monroe Township, Allen County, Ohio. Descendants Joseph Henry Taylor and wife Eliza Ellen Taylor owned a general store in Uniopolis for many years.

Wehner - Franz Wehner and his children Joseph, Margaret, and Barbara were part of the wave of immigration from Bavaria to Auglaize County, Ohio in the early 1830s. Son Joseph Wehner married Margaret Klipfel in 1835; Margaret Wehner married Michael Franz while her sister Barbara Wehner married John Franz. This large family played a prominent role in the farming and merchant community of Auglaize County for years thereafter.