In his residence in West Defiance, on Friday afternoon, Philipp Schmidt, one of the German pioneers of this territory and without a doubt the oldest inhabitant of Defiance County, died. He was born on the 17th of November 1801 in Rimbach in the Grand Duchy of Hesse and as such has brought his life to almost 103 years. In the year 1832 he immigrated to this country and settled in Bedford, Pa., where he worked for eight years at the craft of shoemaker. There in 1835 he married Elisabeth Wesker, who presented him with 14 children, of whom only 3 are still alive. With his wife and one child, in the year 1840, Philipp Schmidt made the uncommonly difficult trip from Bedford to the at that time unimposing village of Defiance by wagon, and since then he has continually been resident here and acted as a farmer until a very great age. He was one of the founders of the St. John's Lutheran congregation, to which he remained faithful until his death. Up until a few years ago he was still so physically hale that in reasonably inclement weather he would make the long way from his residence to the city on foot; but in the last year he had become very feeble. Surviving him are the three children Louis Schmidt of here, Mrs. Karoline Bounts in Chicago and Mrs. Henriette Albright in Bellevue, Ohio, 27 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. His wife preceded him in death on the 18th of February 1878. His remains were buried Monday afternoon under the direction of Pastor F. A. Kiess from the St. John's Lutheran Church to the Riverside Cemetery. Mr's Adam Minsel, Wm. A. Kehnast, Heinrich Foss, F. W. Smith, Wilhelm Franzdorf and F. B. Reineke served as pallbearers.
Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Biede
In Mr. C. F. W. Biede, who Sunday morning in his farmhouse on the south bank of the Maumee succumbed after a long fight to the all-conquering Death, has died another of the German pioneers of our city. He was born in December of the year 1821 in the province of Hannover and enjoyed in his youth a thorough going upbringing, which stood him in good stead in his later business life.
After he had acted for quite a few years as the manager of an estate, Mr. Biede immigrated to America at the end of the fourties. In 1848 in Baltimore Md., he married Miss Dorette Bohner, who survives him. From Baltimore the Biede couple moved to Massillon, Ohio, and there Mr. Biede became interested in the hardware business, which from his arrival in Defiance about the year 1852 until the end of his business career he practiced. As far as we know, Mr. Biede founded the first hardware buslness here, and that in the lower ?quarter (?section) of Clinton Street, from whence he later moved to his own building, occupied at this time by the business of the brothers Diehl.
A little over thirty years ago Mr. Biede left active business life for his comfortable estate on the high-lying south bank of the Maumee. But, while he no longer held the reins in his hands, he maintained his contact with the business world, and even a few months ago he was a frequent visitor in the city, where he was generally known and on account of his steadfast honesty, esteemed and respected.
Besides his aged widow remain behind the daughter Mrs. Louise Heerdegen residing on Washington Street, nine grandchildren -- among them City Auditor Karl Heerdegen -- and three great-grandchildren. His five sons have all preceded Mr. Biede into Eternity.
The mortal remains were brought Monday about mid-day to the residence of Mrs. Heerdegen and yesterday afternoon from there laid temporarily in the Riverside Chapel cryp t. At the funeral service, Pastor W. H. Bunge officiated from the St. Paul's Lutheran congregation, to whose founders the deceased had belonged. Numerous relatives and friends followed the coffin to the Cemetery. Distant-living relatives attending the funeral included Julius Heerdegen with wife and child from Toledo, Arthur Heerdegen from Bucyrus, O., the widow Louise Biede and her son Hermann from Hammond, Ind., and Karl Biede from Toledo. Pallbearers were Karl May and the deceased's five grandsons Karl, Julius and Arthur Heerdegen, Karl and Herm. Biede.