The John Schwab Family

John Schwab was born in Bavaria, Germany, on Nov. 27, 1859, son of Conrad and Gertrude (Fackelman) Schwab. In 1870, he ventured to America with his parents and brothers: Jacob (1857-1940), Peter (1861-1907), Casper (1864-1939), and Frank (18671900).

The Schwabs first settled in rural Wood County. In 1872, they moved to Dunlap, Iowa. Conrad died there in 1900, his wife preceding him in 1896.

When John reached adulthood, he returned to Ohio and married Margaret Konrad, who was born in Germany in 1871, daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Bohnlein) Konrad.

John and Margaret returned to Iowa and farmed near Dunlap until 1902. Five children were born there: Francis (Frank) in 1889, Anna in 1891, Joseph in 1893, Michael in 1895 and Rose in 1899.

In 1902, John Schwab and his family moved back to northwest Ohio by train and purchased 160 acres from Roger Dunnigan in Richfield Twp. along what is now Ohio Highway 281, on May 3, 1902.

Another son, John E., was born in 1906. The children attended the country school and were members of St. Louis Catholic Church at Custar. When Frank was old enough to go on his own, the father bought a tract of land in Wood Co. near Deshler. In 1913, Frank married Mary M. Hentges, then of Henry County. They lived on this farm and had seven children: Helen, Dolores, Howard, Annabelle, William, Mary Jane, and James.

After the birth of James in March, 1928, Mary, the mother, died of uremic poisoning and the baby died two days later. With the help of grandparents, relatives and neighbors, the father raised the family.

In 1935, Frank and family moved to the Schwab homestead in Richfield Twp. John, the father, had retired from active farming in 1922 and moved to a 40-acre farm near Custar where he lived until his death in Nov., 1942. His wife Margaret died in Feb., 1942.

Frank, now 85, resides at Oak Grove Manor in Deshler.

His first child, Helen, married Charles Maas. They live on and farm the Maas homestead in Richfield Twp. on the Wood-Henry Co. line in Henry Co. They have four sons: Gene, Ronald, David, and Marvin. Gene married Mary Lou Wagner of Deshler and they have three children, Chris, Deanna, and Michael. They live in Maumee and Gene works in data processing at Presto-Lite in Toledo. He served four years in the U.S. Air Force, teaching a survivors' course.

Ronald married Judy Powell of Deshler and they have three children, Dean, Jackie, and Steven. He is manager of the Deshler-Custar Elevator in Custar.

David married Ruth Peterson of Deshler and they are the parents of two children, Marc and Tricia. David is a quality control operator at Metal Forge Co., Deshler.

Marvin married Carol Van Scoyoc of Deshler and they have three children, Rodney, Kimberly, and Jeffery. He is finishing eight years with the U.S. Air Force, having spent one year in Saudi Arabia. A staff sergeant, he is now at Rickenbacker Base in Columbus until the summer of 1975 when he and his family will move to their farm home in Richfield Twp.

Dolores, second child of Frank and Mary Schwab, married John Hayes of Hamler. They live on a farm in Marion Twp. and have two children, Jerry and Kathleen. Jerry married Cynthia Schroeder of Leipsic. He has a B.S. and Master's degree in business from the University of Dayton and is a loan officer at the National Bank of Defiance, where they live. Kathleen married Randall Punches of Hamler. She attended the University of Dayton and Sawyer College of Business in Toledo and is presently women's editor of The Crescent-News in Defiance. They live in Hamler.

Howard, third child of Frank and Mary, married Lena Smith of Deshler. He farms and works at Metal Forge in Deshler where they have their home. They are the parents of four sons: James, Michael, Edward, and Richard. James married Lorena Challen of Deshler and they have three children: Debbie, Cindy, and David. James attended Davis Business College in Toledo and works at Cooper Tire of Findlay as a computer supervisor. He and his family reside in North Baltimore.

Michael married Mary Jane Mansfield of Defiance. He is employed in the office of Ottawa-Daybrook Corp. at Bowling Green and they live near Custar.

Edward is a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force now stationed at Castle Air Force Base near San Francisco. He served three years in Thailand as a weapons mechanic.

Richard married Dale Beaverson of Bowling Green and they live in Deshler. He works for Ball Corp., Findlay, and is a member of the Ohio Air Guard at Swanton.

Annabelle, fourth child of Frank and Mary Schwab, was killed May 1, 1938, in a car-train accident at the age of 18.

William Schwab, fifth child of Frank and Mary, married Lois Rossow of Custar on June 15, 1946. He served three years with the U.S. Navy during World War II aboard a destroyer escort with the Seventh Fleet. They have six children: Steven, Robert, Dennis, Paul, Barbara, and Ellen. They live in Richfield Twp. on Ohio 281 and he is self-employed as an electrician.

Steven married Kathi Robertson and they live on the Schwab homestead. He served three years with the U.S. Navy and is now employed at Bowling Green State University.

Robert married Marcia Todd of McComb and they live near Cygnet. He also served three years with the Navy and is now an electrician for Marathon Oil Co. in Findlay.

Dennis married Mary Niedermier of St. Stephen's, Ohio, and they live near Westhope in Richfield Twp. He has a B.S. degree in math from Defiance College and is employed at the Custar State Bank.

Paul married Lyn Worley of Toledo. He has an associate degree in architectural engineering from the University of Toledo and is a draftsman for Midrex Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.

Barbara is employed in the office of Uhlman's Dept. Store in Bowling Green and Ellen is a junior at Patrick Henry High School.

Mary Jane, sixth child of Frank and Mary Schwab, married Harold Wilhelm of Custar and they live in Leipsic. He owns and farms in Wood Co. They have six children: Anne, George, Mary Sue, John, Mark and Joan.

Anne is married to Karl Verhoff. She has a Bachelor's degree in elementary education from the University of Dayton and is a teacher in the Bath School system, near Lima. They live in Columbus Grove and have a daughter, Marcia Ellen.

George is married to Margaret Korte of Leipsic, and they live in Mount Prospect, Ill. He attended the University of Dayton and graduated from the Lincoln Technical School at Indianapolis. He is now a diesel mechanic at Carson Motors, near their home.

Mary Sue, secretary at Marathon Oil Co. in Findlay, is married to Robert Buckland of Leipsic. They live in Ottawa and have a daughter, Angela Sue.

John is a junior at Bowling Green State University majoring in special education. Mark is a junior at Leipsic High School and Joan is in the seventh grade at St. Mary's School, Leipsic.

Anna Schwab, daughter of John and Margaret, married John Simon of Perrysburg and they had six children: Bernard (deceased); Paul of Toledo; Edwin at home; Rosemary (Koons) of Bowling Green; Rita (Della Flora) of Bowling Green; and Eleanor (Kozsey) of Phoenix, Ariz. John and Anna farmed in Wood Co. near Custar. Anna died in 1971 and her husband preceded her in 1964.

Joseph Schwab, son of John and Margaret, married Elizabeth Poss of Custar. She died in 1919 during the influenza epidemic, leaving an infant daughter, Marcella, now Mrs. Edward Wilhelm of Custar. Joseph later married Theresa Hentges and they had four daughters: Mildred (Duncan) of Bowling Green; Frances (Helle) of Martin; Beatrice (Stringham) of Oregon; and Jean (Kramer) of Sylvania, who died in 1971. Joseph was killed in an auto accident in 1935. They lived on the Schwab homestead. After his death the family moved to Custar, then to Bowling Green, where Theresa Schwab still resides.

Michael Schwab, son of John and Margaret, served with the Infantry in France during World War I. He married Helen Johann of Custar and they lived in Richfield Twp. on Ohio 281 across the road from the homestead. This farm was also owned by the father, John. They had two sons, Harold and Clarence. Michael died in 1968 and his wife in 1973. Both sons served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Harold married Mary Alice Long of Weston and they farm near Custar in Wood County. They have two sons, Gregory and Mark. Clarence married Regina Rothman of New Bavaria. They live on the home farm and have four children: Douglas, Pamela, Timothy, and Daniel.

Rose Schwab, daughter of John and Margaret, married James David of Toledo. They had two children: Mary Lou (Espen) of Chicago and Franklin of Toledo.

John E. Schwab, son of John and Margaret, married Nola Puls and she died in 1936. John later married Gertrude Miller of Ottoville and they live on the farm in Wood County near Deshler and have three children: Thomas, Margaret, and John. Thomas married Vivien Meehleib of the Philippines and they have two children, Kara and David. He is a mechanical engineer at General Motors, Defiance. They live near Custar in Wood Co. Margaret married Daniel Okuly of New Bavaria. She has a degree in medical biology from Mary Manse College in Toledo, where they live with three children, John, James and Susan. John (Jack) married Barbara Bukowski of Chicago and they live in Fostoria. He has a M.A. degree from St. Paul University of Chicago and is director of Fostoria Bureau of Concern. They have a daughter, Erica.

Many happy and nostalgic memories linger on of days spent on the farm with grandparents. Surely their work was hard, but it was not burdensome. They seemed to be more lighthearted. Often the men could be heard whistling as they went about their chores or shocking the grain in the field.

Grandchildren would take turns during vacation time staying at Grandma's house. Waking in the morning to the sounds of mourning doves in the grove, then down to breakfast of potatoes, eggs, fresh berries or fruit from the orchard and fresh milk. No one sat down to eat before Grandfather led the morning prayers.

A typical day might be helping Grandma gather in the beans, pickles or whatever was ready in the garden, perhaps picking gooseberries, currants - she grew every vegetable and fruit one could think of. Maybe before dinner, a crock of cream would be churned into butter.

At noon the dinner bell would ring, calling the men in from the fields.

In the afternoon a trip through the orchard gathering aprons full of "sheepnose" apples or crabapples for jelly. Later the big blue plums on the tree by the well pump would ripen and be canned and made into plum butter.

Evening chores of bringing in the cows from across the creek, feeding the calves, milk carried up the path, around the grape arbor to the house where all took turns turning the handle on the cream separator.

Then at dark, a round made to close up the little metal coops of the mother hens and their little families of fuzzy baby chicks. Quiet evenings spent sitting on the porch or in the yard visiting, with sometimes a game of hide- and-seek going on among the younger people.

Our gratitude to these emigrant ancestors who probably would not enjoy living in a modern world - but who made it possible for their children and all who came after them to enjoy a better life if we but will.

Submitted by Dolores Schwab Hayes