A Standard History of Erie County, Ohio. pp. 835-837 [p. 835] LEWIS KUHL. On the fine farm which is his present place of residence, in Huron Township, Lewis Kuhl was born and reared, and his is a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this county, where his father settled fully seventy years ago and became a factor in the civic and industrial development of this now favored and opulent section of the old Buckeye State. He whose name introduces this sketch has fully maintained the prestige of the name which he bears and is one of the progressive and representative agriculturists and stock-growers of his native county., where he stands exemplar of productive industry, of utmost civic loyalty and of that sterling integrity that ever begets objective confidence and good will. He is one of the honored and influential farmers of Huron Township and is a man who is specially entitled to specific recognition in this history. On his present farm, which has always been his home and the stage of his well ordered activities, Lewis Kuhl was born on the 31st of March, 1860, and he is a son of Peter and Philipina (Meyer) Kuhl. Peter Kuhl was born in the Kingdom of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, in the year 1817, and his parents passed their entire lives in that section of the great Empire of Germany. In his native place Mr. Kuhl was reared to adult age and in the early ‘40s, as a young man, he came with his elder brother Henry to America, the two having embarked on a sailing vessel at Bremen, and having landed in the port of New York City after a voyage of five weeks duration. From the national metropolis they took passage up the Hudson River and finally proceeded by Erie Canal to Buffalo, from which port they crossed Lake Erie and landed at Cleveland, Ohio, which city was then a mere village, where they were importuned to take a farm in what is now the center of the city, but they decided that the land was too rough and too heavily timbered to meet their approval and so missed an opportunity of which only supernatural prescience could have had recognition. From Cleveland the sturdy young Germans proceeded up Lake Erie to Erie County, and here Henry Kuhl purchased a tract of wild land in Vermilion Township, Erie County at that time having been still an integral part of Huron County. On this original homestead, which he reclaimed and placed under effective cultivation Henry Kuhl and his wife reared their children and there they continued to reside until their death, both having attained to measurably advanced age. Peter Kuhl, father of the subject of this review, purchased a tract of timbered land in the southern part of Huron Township, and on the present Huron and Milan road, though when he obtained the property public highways were noticeable chiefly for their absence or primitive condition. The zeal and energy which he brought to bear in the reclaiming and improving of his farm soon brought a definite transformation in [p. 836] the same, and success awarded his herculean labors and indefatigable perseverance. In the midst of a virtual forest wilderness Peter Kuhl felled the trees and made the clearing on which he erected his pioneer log cabin, which was the original domicile of the family,--a home of crude facilities but one of peace and happiness, its hospitality having fully justified the statement that its latchstring was always out. In 1867 Mr. Kuhl gave evidence of his prosperity by erecting on his farm the substantial frame house of seven rooms that is now occupied by his son Lewis and that is in an excellent site of preservation, as it was builded with the scrupulous care that was more in evidence in the pioneer days than at the present time, when pretentiousness often supplants solidity. One of the steadfast and upright citizens and industrious farmers of Erie County, Mr. Kuhl continued to reside in this pleasant home until he was summoned to the life eternal, on the 17th of July, 1876, shortly before attaining to the age of sixty years. In the year 1845 was here solemnized the marriage of Peter Kuhl to Miss Philipina Meyer, and they began their wedded life in the primitive log house of which mention has been made. Mrs. Kuhl survived her honored husband by a score of years and remained at the old home until she was summoned to eternal rest, on the 1st of May, 1907, at the venerable age of eighty-two years and eleven months. She was born and reared in Baden, Germany, and as a young woman of twenty-one years she came alone to the United States, her arrival in the port of New York City having occurred on her twenty-first birthday anniversary and the sailing vessel on which she had taken passage having consumed forty-nine days in crossing the Atlantic. Coming to Cleveland, Ohio, she was there employed in a domestic capacity for eight months, and she then came to Erie County, where her marriage was solemnized within a comparatively short period after she had formed the acquaintance of Peter Kuhl, to whom she proved a devoted wife and helpmeet,--a woman of gentle and kindly nature and one who was loved by all who came within the sphere of her influence. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhl were earnest members of the Reformed Church, always did their part in supporting those things that conserved the social and material welfare of the community, and in politics Mr. Kuhl was always found aligned as a loyal advocate of the principles of the republican party. These honored pioneer citizens became the parents of three sons and five daughters, all of whom are living except one son and one daughter. Three of the daughters still reside in Erie County and the other daughter is the wife of George Kuhl, their home being at Covington, Kentucky. All of the sons and daughters are married and well established in life. On his present farm, of which he has been the owner for a number of years, Lewis Kuhl passed the period of his childhood and youth under benignant influences, and he early began to contribute his aid in the work of the place. He has here continued his active association with the great fundamental industries of agriculture and stockgrowing without interruption, and he has proved a specially progressive and successful exponent of these important lines of enterprise. His farm comprises 110 acres of most fertile and productive land and the same is devoted to diversified agriculture, the growing of potatoes and other vegetables and to the raising of excellent grades of livestock, scrupulous care being given in the upkeep of all the farm buildings and thrift and prosperity being in evidence on every side. Mr. Kuhl has not hedged himself in with mere individual interests but has taken his share in the supporting of all things tending to foster the general welfare of the community. His political allegiance is given without reservation to the republican party and while he has had no ambition [p. 837] for public office his civic loyalty has caused him to give effective service as school director of his district, a position of which he has been the incumbent since 1899, the while his service as a member of the school board of Huron Township has covered a period of fully half this duration. He and his wife are zealous members of the Presbyterian Church and both are actively identified with Milan Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, in the affairs of which they are specially influential, Mr. Kuhl being steward of this grange in 1915 and his wife holding in the same the office of Pomona. In Milan Township, this county, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kuhl to Miss Helen L. Wikel, who was born in that township on the 3rd of January, 1863, and who is a daughter of Charles and Helen (Root) Wikel. Mr. Wikel was born and reared in Baden, Germany, and was a young man when he came to America and established his home in Erie County. He became one of the successful farmers of Milan Township, where he passed the remainder of his life. His wife was born in Massachusetts and was reared in the State of New York. Both were consistent communicants of the Lutheran Church. In the concluding paragraph of this article is entered brief record concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kuhl. Lewis P., Jr., graduated from the Huron High School, class of 1904, and is now his father’s valued assistant in the operation of the home farm. He married Winifred Kellar, and they have one child, Paul Edward. Carl W., who is a carpenter by trade and vocation, married Miss Clara Maroney, and they reside in the Village of Huron. They have one child, Jean Ruth. Frederick A., who is employed as a steam-crane operator in the Village of Huron, married Miss Mary Thorne. Albert F., who like the other children, received the advantages of the public schools of Erie County, was graduated in the Ohio State University, in the City of Columbus, in 1912, and he is now a member of the class of 1917 in the medical department of Western Reserve University, in the City of Cleveland. Elmer, who was graduated in the Huron High School, class of 1912, is now employed in Youngstown, Ohio, as weighmaster and recorder for the Republic Iron and Steel Company’s works. Ida R., the youngest of the children, was graduated in the Huron High School as a member of the class of 1915 and remains at the parental home, a popular factor in the social activities of the community.