Husband Hermann Julius Klingler 1 2 3
Born: 9 Jan 1830 - Marbach, Wurtemberg, Germany 4
Christened:
Died: Aft 1895
Buried:
Father: John Jacob Klingler (1791-1857) 1
Mother: Fredericka Magdalena Koch ( -1860) 1
Marriage: 24 Oct 1848 2 3 5
Wife Anna Barbara Reiber 2 3 5 6 7
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Martin J. Reiber, Sr. (1778-1865) 6 8 9
Mother: Catherine Fetzer (1787-1860) 6 7 8 9
Children
1 M Harry Samuel Klingler 2 3 5 10
Born: 3 Jul 1856 - Butler, Butler Co, PA 5
Christened:
Died: 14 Nov 1912 2
Buried:
Spouse: Louisa Catherine Keck ( -Aft 1927) 2 10 11
Marr: 5 Feb 1878 11
2 M Frederick Julius Klingler 2 3 11
Born: 22 Jan 1859 - Butler, Butler Co, PA 11
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Margaret Ewing Rogers ( - ) 11
3 M Charles Washington Klingler 2 3 11
Born: 12 Apr 1861 - Butler, Butler Co, PA 11
Christened:
Died: Bef 1926
Buried:
Spouse: Alice Ann Baxter ( - ) 11
Marr: 16 Apr 1885 11
4 M Rev. Paul Gerhardt Klingler 2 3 11
Born: 19 Aug 1867 - Butler, Butler Co, PA 11
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Alberta Lehmann ( - ) 12
General Notes: Husband - Hermann Julius Klingler
He was four-teen years old when the family arrived in America. He obtained his education at a "Real Schule," in Nürtingen, near his native place. After taking to himself a wife, he left the farm in Manor township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, at the age of eighteen, and accepted a situation as clerk in a store at Kittanning. Remaining there about one year, he, in 1849, settled in Butler, and purchased the old United States Hotel property, corner of Main and Jefferson streets, later the site of the Lowry House, which he conducted for three years. In 1852 he built the Lowry House, and for eight consecutive years continued to be its landlord. During this time he was also engaged in other enterprises. Forming a copartnership with James Campbell, under the style of Campbell & Klingler, the firm carried on a dry goods store for five years on the northwest corner of Main and Mifflin streets. Later he was associated with Martin Reiber, as Reiber & Klingler, in the foundry business. In 1860 he sold the hotel and built a residence on the southwest corner of Jefferson and McKean streets. Two years later he severed his other business connections, and with John Berg, Sr., for several years operated in the oil fields above Oil City. It was in 1863 when he and John Berg, Jr., took a cargo of crude oil to Liverpool, England. He was among the first to introduce petroleum in the old world, visiting, at the same time, his native land and other points of interest in Germany. The oil was put in barrels at Oil City, transported down the Allegheny river to Pittsburg, and from there shipped by rail to the seaboard at Philadelphia. Upon his return, in 1865, he led in the organization of the Butler County Oil Company, and during its existence of two years, served as its superintendent. In this capacity he leased 12,000 acres of lands in Butler, Armstrong and Beaver counties, the greater part of which were located between Martinsburg, along Bear creek on the north, and Coylesville on the south. He drilled four test wells, one at Buhl's mill, Connoquenessing township; one near Martinsburg, on Bear creek, in Parker township; one at Croll's mill, on Slippery Rock, in Brady township, and one on Buffalo creek, in Armstrong county. As none of these wells were drilled to the second sand no oil was obtained, and the richest oil territory known in this section, extending from Parker to below Millerstown, although leased for ninety-nine years, was abandoned and left for later enterprise to develop and produce therefrom millions of barrels of oil.
Following in the footsteps of his forefathers, Mr. Klingler at last embarked in the milling business, and in 1867 erected the grist mill located on Mifflin street, known as Klingler's Mills. The main office, 189 East Jefferson street, he built during the Centennial year. After operating the mill for ten years, he remodeled the same with the new process, a method which reground the purified middlings on a small millstone. Several years later he introduced rolls into his mill, being among the first in the state to use them. In 1883-84 he reconstructed the mill to the entire roller system, naming it the Oriental Roller Mills, acknowledged as one of the most advanced roller plants in the United States. In 1885 he erected a shipping house, fifty by one hundred and ten feet, opposite the West Penn railroad station. On March 1, 1886, he associated with him his two sons, Harry S. and Fred J., under the style of H. J. Klingler & Company, to carry on the business more extensively. In 1889 the firm built the Specialty Roller Mills and West Penn Elevator, on the site of the shipping house, utilizing part of the latter. The Oriental Roller Mills was enlarged and again remodeled, externally and internally, in 1891. A fortune equal to four times the original cost of the mill was expended in experiments and improvements on that plant in the space of fourteen years.
Mr. Klingler was also prominently identified with many of the leading enterprises of his community. He was one of the originators and directors of the First National Bank, of Butler, and four years afterward withdrew to become one of the prime movers in the organization of the Butler Savings Bank, of which institution he was a director for a number of years. Dissolving his connection there, he took part in the organization of the German National Bank, of Millerstown, and served as a director as long as he was a stockholder in that institution. He was president of the Home Natural Gas Company from its organization until the company sold out. For years he served the town as a school director and councilman, and was chairman of both bodies. In 1887 he was elected the first president of the Butler Improve-ment Association. It was at this time and in this capacity that he secured the location at Butler of the Standard Plate Glass Factory, in which project he figured as one of the principals. For the first two years he was president of the company, and during part of this time was general manager of the works. Upon his retirement as head of the concern, he simultaneously severed his con-nection with the company. He left the impress of his discretion on the town by platting, in 1890, twelve acres of land into thirty-nine lots, between Mifflin and Penn streets, and donated to the city the land occupied by the streets and alleys, at the same time creating the new thoroughfare known as Broad street. The entire length of Broad street, on each side, he planted with shade trees, and by deed required each lot purchaser to build twenty feet from the street line. Quite a number of private residences were erected by him in different parts of Butler.
In his religious belief, Mr. Klingler was a Lutheran, of which church he was a life-long member. His name was conspicuous in the history of the denomi-nation in that area, as an energetic worker in various capacities. In the general body he held numerous positions of trust. For many years he was a director of Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, the largest educational institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and adjacent States, and for over ten years he was also treasurer of that body. He was a delegate from the Pittsburg Synod to the General Council Lutheran Assembly, which convened at Fort Wayne in the autumn of 1893. Politically, Mr. Klingler affiliated with the Democratic party until late in life when he became a strong Prohibitionist. While he always took an active interest in public matters, and though he was often urged to accept public office, the cares of a business life compelled him to deny the importunities of his fellow citizens. [HBC 1895, 739]
He and his wife were the parents of eight children, of whom two survived their parents.