JOHN K. SPITLER. Prominent among the men who have been residents of
Seneca County for nearly three-quarters of a century, and who are still
engaged in the pursuits of agriculture, to which they have devoted their
lives to their own prosperity and the betterment of the locality, is John
K. Spitler, the owner of a valuable property in Bloom Township. Through a
long life of industry and upright living, Mr. Spitler has accumulated a
handsome competency, not only in worldly good but in the esteem and respect
of the people among whom he has resided for so many years.
Mr. Spitler was born on a farm within two miles of his present residence
in Bloom Township, Seneca County, Ohio, August 17, 1850, and is a son of
Daniel and Hannah (Kagy) Spitler. Daniel Spitler was born in Fairfield
County, Ohio, in 1819, and February 6, 1845, married Hannah Kagy, who was
born in Seneca County, December 4, 1824. After their marriage, they settled
on a farm five miles west of Bloomville, a tract of 120 acres, on which
Mr. Spitler made his home during the rest of his life. Mr. Spitler was an
honest, upright man, a good farmer, and a generous supporter of the Baptist
Church of the old school of which he was a lifelong member. He and his
worthy wife, who is also deceased, were the parents of eleven children, of
whom the following survive: Agnes, who became the wife of Ralph Tittle;
Sabina, who became the wife of Edward Bretz, of Garrett, Indiana; John K.,
of this review; Eliza, who is the widow of Bert Hall, of Tiffin,Ohio; and
Ida M., who is the wife of Charles King,. of Wood County, Ohio.
John K, Spitler received his education in the Heidelberg and Republic
schools and while growing to maturity on the home farm engaged in teaching
school for six winters. On February 13, 1873, he was united in marriage
with Miss Martha Patterson, who was born in Adams Township, Seneca County,
February 25, 1849, and was educated in the district school of her native
community. They became the parents of five children of whom the following
survive: Calvin D., born December 7, 1875, who attended school at Ada,
Ohio, studied law and was admitted to the bar, was prosecuting attorney of
Seneca County for two terms, and is now engaged in a successful law
practice at Tiffin, Ohio; Cora B., born May 17, 1877, a graduate in vocal
and instrumental music, and now the wife of Percy Lantz, of Tiffin, owner
of the Lantz Hatchery; Worden M., born March 27, 1881, who attended
Heidelberg University, and now resides at home, where he assists his father
in the management of the farm and is overseer of the Percheron Breeding
establishment which they conduct; Ralph T., born April 21, 1892, a graduate
of high school, who took a course in agriculture at Columbus and is now
helping to cultivate the home acres. The family belongs to the Primitive
Baptist Church, and in politics Mr. Spitler is a democrat.
In addition to the regular farm operations, Mr. Spitler with his sons,
began breeding registered Percheron horses in 1910 and have since attained
a national reputation in this industry. Their animals are exhibited at the
leading live stock shows of the country, and they have also sold foundation
stock to some of the wealthiest men of the East.
Mr. Spitler owns 210 acres in Bloom Township and 132 acres in Adams
Township, and is a stockholder in the Union Trust Company Bank, the
Guardian Bank and the Cleveland Trust Company, of Cleveland; and the City
National Bank of Tiffin, Ohio.
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Gina Reasoner
GReasoner@prodigy.net
December 20, 1999
HISTORY OF OHIO,
The American Historical Society, Inc.
Volume V, Page 55