Traveling the Back Roads

by Percy & Mary Lilly


The Kueblers - an Early Tiffin Family

The first Joseph Kuebler (1792 - 1855), a native of the Freiberg section of Germany, came to America in 1832 and settled in Tiffin. He brought his wife, Anna Maria (Schwaebler), and their two sons, Anthony and Blasius.  They made and sold shoes from their home on Jefferson Street near Coe Street.  The family later moved to 58 Main Street.  In 1855 they erected a three-story brick building at 122 S. Washington St.  The first floor business was called the A  & B Boots and Shoes.  The store was turned over to Anthony’s son, Joseph, in 1877 and the name was changed to J. H. Kuebler Boots and Shoes.

Blasius (1823 – 1890) with his third wife Rose Boehler lived in Chicago.  One of their three daughters, Mary, married F. L. Emich of Tiffin and they had a son Albion.

Anthony Kuebler (1822 - 1892) married Frances Schabacher and they had seven sons and three daughters: Jacob, Joseph, Louis, Herman, Charles, Alphonse, Will, Frances, Rose and Emma.

Joseph H. Kuebler (1852 - 1935) first married Catherine Mueller in 1877.  They had seven sons and two daughters: Frank, Albert, Karl, Louis, and Edmund.  Four children died in infancy.

Joseph’s second marriage was to Mary Elizabeth Ehrbar (1876 - 1962) in Cleveland in 1907.  They had three children: James F., Joan H., and Mary Frances.

James (1913 - 1980) married Beth Weckesser in Toledo in 1942. They owned and operated the Tiffin Scenic Studio from 1946 until the time of their deaths in 1980 and 81.  Joan was a secretary for the plant manager of GE from the time it opened in 1946 until it closed in 1975.  She died in 2000. Joan and Mary Frances lived in the family home at 194 Riverside Drive where Mary Frances still resides.

Mary Frances’ father was 70 when she was born and her mother, 43. She has furnished most of the information for this article.  She went to primary school at St. Joseph and graduated from Calvert in 1939.  She graduated from Mary Manse College in 1943.  She taught at Calvert High School and was a secretary at Heidelberg College for President Terry Wickham before moving on to Commercial National Bank when Sam Sneath was president.  She continued there until her retirement in 1988.

Joseph Kuebler and his first wife, Catherine, lived above the store (A & B Boots and Shoes at 122 S. Washington Street) until 1886. The store continued in business until 1899 when it relocated to 106 E. Market Street. In 1914, Joseph’s son Albert, together with his brother-in-law, Roman J. Burger, bought the business and relocated the store to 114 S. Washington.

Albert’s son John bought his father’s interest in the store. Upon the retirement of Roman Burger in 1958, John became the sole owner.  The store, now known as the Kuebler Shoe Store, moved to the corner of S. Washington and East Market Street in 1979. John Kuebler retired in 1985 and sold the business to Joseph Obringer, his long term employee.  At present the Kuebler Shoe Store is located at 440 W. Market Street.

The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants noted in 1979 that the Kuebler Shoe Store, founded in 1832, was the oldest family owned shoe store in Ohio.

Joseph Kuebler and his wife Catherine moved into their new house at the corner of River and Hunter in 1886.  The house was so constructed that the family could see the Sandusky River from every room.  Six acres of land were purchased from Corinne Hunter, Josiah Hedges’ daughter.  Part of this land was planted in peach trees, cherries, and apples which provided some income for the family. At that time Joseph sold insurance with Mutual Life of New York.

The materials for the house came from many local sources. Cherry, red oak and sycamore lumber came from Tiffin Manufactoring Company located near St. Joseph Church. Hardware came from Phil Grummel’s General Hardware and Coach Saddlery and Undertaker Hardware at 84 Washington Street, opposite the Court House.  Plumbing was obtained from Kreader and Zint Plummers, Steam and Gas Fitters on Madison  Street near the Methodist Episcopal Church. Shingles and lathing were provided by John B. Mathias’Lumber, Shingles, Lath on West Market Street near C.S. and C. R. R crossing.  J. M. Hershberger on Miami Street, C. B. Evans Mantel and Grate Company at the northwest corner of Elm and Pearl Street also provided materials for the house.  The chiseled stone for the basement came from a quarry located across the river from Bacon’s Mill.

Then in 1889, the house on the opposite corner of Hunter Street was built.  Beyond that when Mary Frances was a child, there was a wheat field. Three other houses, the Ward house and Judge Wagner’s and the Bacon’s house and the mill  were the only other buildings north for many years.

The area east of the Kuebler property became a recreational area for Tiffin, a kind of fairground.  Circuses came by rail and political rallies were held.

Mary Frances (1921) recalls that Tiffin was a major railroad stopping place between Chicago and New York.  Performers stayed at the Shawhan Hotel and played to enthusiastic audiences at the  Opera House and the Grand Theatre.  Tiffin was known for its breweries and its bars.  It was a lively place until Prohibition.  Mary Frances remembers going to the Ritz Theater to see Norma Shearer in Romeo and Juliet.  Her father owned a horse and buggy, but she only remembers riding in a Model T Ford.  Her father died when she was only thirteen.  For some time the family struggled to make ends meet.

We thank you, Mary Frances, for sharing this information with us.  You are a storehouse of information about Tiffin and Riverside Drive in the 20th century.  We will be calling on you again.

– Percy & Mary