FRED GLUSS

Fred Gluss was a member of the firm Gluss Brothers, cement roof and block works at Hamler. The business was conducted under the corporate title of Cement Construction Co. succeeding the old American Cement Roofing Company's plant at Hamler. After 1911, they carried on the business themselves, manufacturing cement roofing tile, cement building blocks and furnishing all kinds of cement material and also engaging in an extensive business as cement contractors.

The Gluss Brothers extended the business rapidly after taking active control and went beyond the manufacturing end into the contracting work. As contractors, they build county and state roads, public bridges, and had the facilities and the organization enabling them to handle almost any size or kind of contract in this line. They constructed a bridge over the Auglaize River at Auglaize in Allen County, 214 feet long. Their plant at Hamler included a main building and much warehouse space.

The Gluss Brothers were engaged in the cement trade beginning in 1893.

Fred Gluss was secretary, treasurer, and manager from 1907 to 1911 of the American Cement Roofing Co. and was one of its organizers and directors. He and his brother constructed many private houses in Henry County using their cement block and roofing material, and they also built themselves homes in Hamler.

The Gluss brothers were born in Neuenkirchen in Hanover, Germany. Their people were Hanoverians and Lutherans. The father, Fred Gluss Sr., was a brick mason by trade. It was in 1891 that Fred Gluss came to Hamler and was shortly followed by his uncle, William Gluss Sr., and also by his brother, August W. Gluss, who was a member of the firm of Gluss Brothers. The uncle was a patentee of the special cement process and brought his patent to America, and with the aid of his nephews turned the patented process to good account. The brothers then acquired the American interests of their uncle, who, being unable to persuade his family to come to America, and having left considerable business interest in Germany, finally returned to that country.

The parents of the Gluss brothers, Fred and Sophia (Koster) Gluss, spent their lives in Hanover where the father died in 1894, at the age of fifty. Besides the two brothers in the firm of Gluss Brothers, there was a cousin, William, and a friend, Ernest Timme, who also came to America and worked for them.

Fred Gluss was married in Freedom Township to Catherine Koepke whose parents were German people, coming respectively from Prussia and Bavaria. Catherine was born March 8, 1882. They were members of the Lutheran church and Democrats in politics.

Fred's wife died in 1921 after a long illness. In Feb., 1923, he married Anna Schwiebert Heinrichs. At that time, they purchased the property next to the Hamler School, living there the rest of their lives. Fred died Sept. 9, 1957, and Anna died June 8, 1968. Anna had one son, George, who Fred adopted. George Heinrichs married Marjorie Ritz on May 25, 1937. They also live in Hamler. George is an auto mechanic at the Bill Jones' Garage in Leipsic and his wife is postmaster at the Hamler Post Office. They have no children. George served as Hamler mayor for 20 years.

August Gluss married Emma Holtermann, who also came from Germany at the age of three. They were married Jan. 5, 1905, and lived in Hamler until 1919 when they bought a small farm south of Hamler. They lived there four years and during that time, August continued to build bridges and roads. Then they moved back to Hamler in the home they had built for his brother, Fred.

August was very active in church work and was Sunday School superintendent for many years. He and his family belonged to St. Stephen's Lutheran Church which he helped build. He also was on the town council for many years, and was a member of the Hamler firemen's band, playing the clarinet.

August and his brother, Fred, started the Hamler Sweet Feed Mill and worked there until 1955. Then he worked as an individual mason contractor until 1956 when he sold his home to Dr. H. C. Brown and he and his wife moved to Toledo to be near three of their children. He died Feb. 10, 1958, and his wife, Emma, died Sept. 5, 1961.

They had five children: Edna, born Oct. 20, 1905; Rudolph, born Feb. 4, 1908; Mildred, born Nov. 2, 1912; Norah born July 14, 1919; and Grace, born July 21, 1924.

Their families are:

Edna, who married Walter H. Hofmann (now deceased). She was a clerk-typist and is the mother of Elaine Pierce. There are two grandchildren, Michael and Jeffrey (deceased) and a great-granddaughter, Corrin Pearce;

Rudy, now retired, married Eunice Thompson and they are the parents of a daughter, Nancy Gluss Atkins. They have two grandchildren, Timothy and Jill Atkins. They live in Toledo;

Mildred married Edmund H. Brandt and they reside in Toledo;

Norah married Fred S. Edwards and they live in Kettering. They are the parents of Thomas, Steven, and Amy. Their grandchildren include Janet and Gregory Edwards and Steven and Scott Edwards;

Grace, a nurse, married Robert C. Agness and they reside in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have one daughter, Julie.

All the Gluss children attended Hamler School. Edna became a clerk-typist in Toledo and had also workedat the Hamler Central telephone office. Rudy worked for a public accounting firm, State Banking Department, Federal Home Loan Bank Board and was a vice-president of Toledo Trust Co. retiring from that position in 1973. Mildred was a dental assistant and worked in the Hamler State Bank and United Savings and Loan in Toledo. Norah was a schoolteacher in Leipsic and Hamler. Grace was a registered nurse in Scottsdale.

Submitted by Marjorie Heinrichs