Katzenberger, George A *PIC*

Posted By: Wally Garchow
Date: 10 October 2004

transcribed from Frazer Wilson's History of Darke County, v. 2, 1914, pp 224-229.

GEORGE A. KATZENBERGER.

For the high rank of her bench and bar Ohio has ever been distinguished, and it is gratifying to note that in no section of the commonwealth has the standard been lowered at any epoch in its history. To the subject of this review we may refer with propriety and satisfaction as being one of the able and representative members of the legal profession in Darke county, and that he is a native son of this county lends some-what to the significance of the prestige which he has here attained.

George A. Katzenberger was born in Greenville, Darke county, Ohio, on December 11. 1867, and is the only son of Charles L. and Elizabeth (Ashman) Katzenberger. The mother, who was a daughter of the pioneer, Peter Ashman, departed this life in 1868, being followed a few years later by her only daughter, Mary. The subject's early life was spent in Greenville, where he was reared under the direction of Mrs. Rosina Rehfuss. His elementary education was received in the public schools of Greenville, completing the preparatory high school course in May, 1884. He then pursued a course of study in Nelson's Business College, at Cincinnati, upon the completion of which he accepted a position as head bookkeeper for the banking firm of Gilmore & Company, of Cincinnati. From July, 1885, to January 1, 1886, Mr. Katzenberger was the business manager for the firm, owing to the absence abroad of the principal partner, Virgil Gilmore. The continued illness of Mr. Gilmore' made the dissolution of the firm a necessity and on the date last mentioned Mr. Katzenberger entered the service of the Cincinnati News Company as bookkeeper. In the fall of 1886, desiring to resume his studies, he resigned his position and entered the Ann Arbor high school, where he was graduated in June; 1888, three weeks after his class at Greenville. Having determined to make the practice of law his life work, Mr. Katzenberger commenced reading law in the office of Hon. John Reiley Knox, but shortly afterward began a course in the law department of the University of Michigan, where he was graduated in June, 1890, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Subsequently he was admitted to the bars of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. During his collegiate term Mr. Katzenberger was honored by being admitted to the Greek-letter society, Phi Delta Phi, a leading fraternity which had been founded in the law department of the University of Michigan in 1869 by judge Thomas M. Cooley, the eminent jurist, who subsequently became the chairman of the interstate commerce commission. During his college career, Mr. Katzenberger was actively interested in various organizations, among which were the Shakespeare Club, Hobart Guild, Choral Union, Knowlton Nine, and was also an associate editor of the Michigan Argonaut and a correspondent in Michigan of the Columbia Law Times.

In July, 1890, Mr. Katzenberger, for the second time, accompanied his father to Europe, where he spent a year and a half, chiefly in the grand duchy of Baden, Germany. Arriving in Bremen in August, he enjoyed a Rhine tour and was at Bingen and Ruedesheim, enjoying their famous "Laetitia Deorum." He also visited the castles and palaces of the late King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and attended the "Passion Play" at Oberammergau. In October he entered the famed University of Heidelberg, where he spent two most enjoyable semesters, being a member of various musical, dueling and social organizations. Here, while attending the lectures on Grecian and modern philosophy by Kuno Fischer, he improved his knowledge of the German language, and, collaterally, acquainted himself with the literature of the land of his ancestors. However enjoyable those months were, Mr. Katzenberger yearned for his home land, where he desired to enter upon the active practice of his profession. He therefore, with his indulgent father, made a tour through Switzerland to Milan and the northern lakes of Italy, and then, in November, 1891, returned to the United States.

In December, 1891, Mr. Katzenberger went to Chicago and established an office opposite the court house, where he soon attained to moderate success and a standing in his profession worthy of his years. During the Columbian Exposition of 1893 he was the secretary of one of the educational committees of the World's Congress Auxiliary, and during 1903-4 he served as an assistant attorney of the bureau of justice. After the death of his uncle, G. Anthony Katzenberger, the subject returned to Greenville and for awhile assisted his father in business, but afterwards resumed the practice of law as the junior partner in the firm of Elliott, & Katzenberger. In the law, his chief work is in the line of probate practice, civil cases, and the collection of foreign estates, in which latter work he has had uniform success. Besides being a member of the Darke County Bar Association, he has for many years been a member of the Ohio Bar Association. He always has been careful and systematic in the preparation of his cases and has been connected with some of the most important litigation tried in the local courts. He always commands the strict attention of courts and juries and of his fellow practitioners, and has never been known to fail in that strict courtesy and regard for professional ethics which should ever characterize the members of the bar. His life has been one of activity and has won for him the respect and confidence of his fellows to a notable degree.

At the national convention of the Phi Delta Phi fraternity in 1893 Mr. Katzenberger was elected the secretary and treasurer of the governing council, to which position he has been elected eight times successively, in conventions in Washington, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, Columbus and-New York City. During his administration twenty-two additional chapters of the society have been placed in the leading law schools of this country and Canada, and the fraternity now has forty-four chapters in as many law schools. In his capacity as secretary, Mr. Katzenberger, in 1897-8, compiled a catalogue containing five hundred and seventy-five pages, and in 1908 he published a second directory of members, with illustrations, containing three hundred and twenty pages. The amount of work involved in the compilation of these two volumes was stupendous, requiring accurate and painstaking care and countless hours of preparation of manuscript and reading ofproof. Several thousand volumes of each edition were purchased by members located in various parts of the world.

In the autumn of 1897 Mr. Katzenberger was nominated on the Republican ticket for representative to the General Assembly, and made a fair race in a county overwhelmingly Democratic. Subsequently he refused several nominations for public offices, preferring to participate only in conventions and on the stump. For a period of ten years or more, he has served as treasurer of the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal church of Greenville; is one of the directors and since 1900 secretary of the Greenville Building Company; for about ten successive years a councilor of the American Institute of Civics; a life member of the Harvard Germanic Museum and of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society. Since its organization, he has been a member of the Greenville Historical Society, and for several years was its president, during which time a boulder, with bronze tablet inscription, commemorating the treaty of Greenville, was placed in a suitable site, and also a large granite shaft, with bronze tablet, commemorating the erection of a fort by Gen. Arthur St. Clair at Fort Jefferson.

Mr. Katzenberger has spent considerable time and money enlarging a varied collection of relics and curios acquired during a period of thirty years by his father and uncle Anthony and which was for many years kept in rooms above the old Katzenberger grocery. This collection was removed to the basement- of the Carnegie Library and placed in the custody of the school board, who appointed Charles L. Katzenberger honorary curator, and Frazer Wilson, A. C. Robeson and the subject of this sketch curators. The museum now contains about forty cases of objects of general and historical interest, carefully arranged and catalogued by Charles L. Katzenberger.

Fraternally, Mr. Katzenberger, soon after attaining his majority, became a member of the Masonic order, and was for many years an officer of the blue lodge. He also served as treasurer and now is secretary of the chapter of Royal Arch Masons and also recorder of the council of Royal and Select Masters, while in the Scottish Rite of the order he has attained to the thirty-second degree, belonging to the consistory at Cincinnati. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men and United Commercial Travelers.

At the age of ten years, while on a visit to Germany, Mr. Katzenberger was an interested observer of the fall maneuvers of the army, witnessing a grand parade which passed in re-view before Emperor William I, and from that time he has taken a deep interest in military affairs. In 1907, on his return from a ten weeks' business trip to Europe, he entered the National Guard of Ohio, to which he was impelled by a sense of duty after reflecting on the military superiority of the countries of Europe. He was first appointed a staff officer, with the rank of second lieutenant, but was afterwards promoted to adjutant of the First battalion, Third regiment infantry, in which capacity he participated in the war maneuvers at Fort Benjamin Harrison, near Indianapolis, in 1908, and at the national shoot at Camp Perry, Ohio, in 1909. In 1910 he was made first lieutenant of Company M, of the Third regiment and assumed command on the resignation of its captain, being subsequently elected and commissioned to that position. While in command, his company was ordered to Columbus during the strike riots there, being on duty in various parts of the city and patrolling extensive lines of suburban railways whose tracks had been damaged by explosives and by the removal of rails. His company also participated in the maneuvers at Fort Benjamin Harrison in 1910 and at other events, such as the Preble county centennial, Wright brothers' celebration at Dayton, and the like. At the Camp Perry rifle range he has won two bronze medals for marksmanship with rifle and one for excellency in revolver shooting. He has contributed a number of articles of a military nature to local newspapers, and under his command the company's strength was increased from thirty-nine men to sixty-two. Eventually, however, finding that his military duties were interfering too much with other and more remunerative occupations, he reluctantly resigned in 1911. He is now a member of the Military Service Institution of the United States, the American Red Cross, the United States Infantry Association and the Society of American Officers.

In 1894 Mr. Katzenberger wrote a review of the life and works of David Dudley Field for the Chicago Law Journal. At odd times he has written much for the local press, but his most interesting biographical work is a fifty-page account of Major David Ziegler, the first mayor of Cincinnati. His collection of Wayniana and his variety of engravings of Joan of Arc are not equalled in this country. In his youth Mr. Katzenberger was interested in collecting coins and postage stamps,but in later years he has, as diversions, turned his attention toward history, the writing of articles for the local press, criticisms and reviews of concerts and lectures, collections of engravings, rare books, etc.

In June, 1899, Mr. Katzenberger married Grace Miesse, a young lady of solid merit and varied accomplishments, and who is a popular member of the circles in which she moves. She is a talented musician, an ideal matron, and possesses to a notable degree those graces of head and heart which have won for her the love of all who know her. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, to which she is eligible through her descent from Daniel Miesse, who served in a Pennsylvania regiment in the war for independence. In 1901 Mrs. Katzenberger made a trip to Germany, remaining there for several months. To Mr. and Mrs. Katzenberger have been born four children, two sons, Charles and George, and two daughters, Catherine and Martha.

Personally, Mr. Katzenberger is a genial and unassuming gentleman, whose social disposition and clean character have commended him to the good opinion of all who know him. In every avenue of activity in which he has engaged he has faithfully performed every duty incumbent upon him and is deserving of the high standing which he enjoys in the community where practically his entire life has been spent.

Mrs. Katzenberger is a charter member of the Altrurian club, Is also an active member of St. Paul's Episcopal church. Is a granddaughter of Dr. Gabriel Miesse, pioneer physician and surgeon of Greenville.

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