Frederick Stembel

John Stembel

Joseph V.S. Stembel

Albert Frederick Stemble

ALBERT FREDERICK STEMBLE⁽¹⁾ (1864 - 1916)

Albert Frederick was born January 16, 1864, near West Liberty, Ohio. He was the sixth child born to Joseph and Mary Stembel. Little is known about his childhood. I assume he worked on his father's farm, attended school, and accompanied the family to Wesley Chapel on Sundays.

At the age of 18, Albert traveled to Missouri in 1882 with his cousins John and Lafe (Marcellus Lafayette) Stembel (see chapter on Oliver Stembel). John was 30 and Lafe was 26. It doesn't appear that Albert stayed long in Missouri, since a year later he was back in Ohio where he married Nettie Pine. He may have been contemplating a move to Missouri after his marriage; evidently he felt conditions were better in Ohio for that's where he lived the rest of his life.

Albert and Nettie had three children between 1884 and 1888. Sadly, Nettie died in 1892; she was only 29 years old. Albert, a widower at 28, remarried three years later. His new wife was 21 year old Olive Frey, known as "Ollie." Albert and Ollie had three more children. The last was born in 1901.

Albert demonstrated his independent spirit by legally changing his surname. Tired of having his name misspelled, Albert declared the 'Stembel' spelling to be old-fashioned and legally changed the spelling to 'Stemble.' Since then, all of Albert's descendants have spelled their last name Stemble.

In the 1910 census, Albert's occupation was recorded as 'Farm Manager.' His farm was located in Harrison Township, Champaign County, Ohio, at the time.

Albert died in 1916 at the age of 52. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana, Ohio. Ollie lived 37 more years. In 1930 she was living with her daughter's family, Marie (Pearl) and Ralph Fretz. Ollie passed away in 1953.

Albert's six children:

A. Ira (1884-?). Ira was born October 1884. At the time of the 1900 federal census he was living with his grandparents, Joseph and Mary. They were in their 70s at the time. Presumably, Ira helped his grandfather on the farm.

In 1910 Ira attended Joseph and Mary's Anniversary. He was 25 years old, presumably still single (no wife was mentioned) and was living in Columbus, Ohio. Eventually he married Sadey (surname unknown). I don't know if they had any children.

B. Charles K. (1886-1970). Charles was born in March of 1886. At the age of 31, he enlisted in the Army to fight in WWI. He was honorably discharged a year later. Charles was an electrician. At the age of 40 he married a widow, Alma Hurst. Alma was born in 1885 and married a man named Petty around 1903. They had at least two children, for two of her children were living with Charles and Alma at the time of the 1930 federal census. Alma died in 1975. It doesn't appear as though Charles and Alma had any children of their own. My records show Charles died in 1970 at the age of 83. He and Alma are buried in the Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana, OH.

C. Ethel M. (1888-?). According to the 1900 federal census, Ethel was born in August 1888. At the time of the 1910 census Ethel was living in a children's home in Urbana, Ohio, where she was one of six staff members. The census listed her occupation as dressmaker. The home had 50 tenants aged 2 to 15. Sometime after the census, she married Perry Hess. Ethel and Perry had three children: Donna, Dorothy, and Richard.

Ethel and Perry's children:

1. Donna. Donna was born about 1912. She married Howard Imel. They raised four children in Urbana, where they still reside. Their children are: Janet, Bob, Don, and Charles.
2. Dorothy. Dorothy married a man whose last name was Maggart. I know of one child, Douglas, but they may have had more.
3. Richard. Richard married Ruth Newman sometime around 1935. They had five children: Nancy, Sara, Dickie, Susan, and Vicky. Richard still lives in Urbana.

D. Marie P. (1896-1983?). Marie was Olive and Albert's first child. She was born in August of 1896, making her eight years younger than her next younger sister, Ethel. Sometime around 1919 she married Ralph W. Fretz. They had two children, Phyllis and Doris. In the 1930 census, Ralph was a telegrapher for a railroad company. He own his house valued at about $1,800. Marie's name was given as Pearl M. Her mother Ollie was living with them.

E. Dewey Fulwider (1898-1948). Dewey was born September 2, 1898, in Champaign County, Ohio. He married Glenna Mae Hupp on March 15, 1919, in Covington, Kentucky. They had two children.

Dewey died in 1948; Glenna died in 1986.

Dewey and Glenna Stemble's children:

1. Dorothy Elizabeth. Dorothy was born May 28, 1924. She married Carl Akey on December 3, 1951. They had one child, a daughter, Kay. Dorothy lived in Lakeview (Logan County), Ohio, where she was an accountant. She has also served as Clerk of Stokes Township. Dorothy died May 20, 2004 at her daughter's home in Stevensville, Montana. She is buried in Oak Dale Cemetery, Urbana, Ohio.
2. Robert Stanley. Bob was born on March 28, 1926. He married Betty Littlejohn on July 5, 1949, in Covington, Kentucky. Bob and Betty have three children: John, Debra, and Douglas. Bob owns a farm in Lewistown, Ohio. The family owns a slaughterhouse as well.

F. Harriet (1901-?). I know very little about Harriet. She was born on February 2, 1901. According to my records she married H. James, and they had at least one child.