Jacob Altstaetter ^{1 2}

   FamilySearch ID: LHV9-5RG.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. He immigrated in 1832. ²

2. Residence: in 1832 in Frederick, Frederick, MD. ²

3. Residence: in 1833 in Dayton, Montgomery, OH. ²

4. Moved: 1836, , Allen, OH. ¹

5. Book: History of Allen County, Ohio, 1906. ¹
George L. Altstaetter, proprietor of the "Pleasant Fruit Farm," a fertile tract of 80 acres, situated in section 17, Monroe township, was born in this township, February 5, 1846, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Bucher) Altstaetter.

Jacob Altstaetter was born in Hessen- Darmstadt, Germany, February 21, 1811. Prior to coming to America he worked as a carpenter, and during one year spent in Maryland he continued to follow his trade. He desired a different field of work, however, and thinking that Ohio would probably afford it he walked to Cincinnati; soon after he removed to Dayton, and while working at his trade there met the estimable lady whom he soon after married. At that time he was 25 years of age and almost immediately after, in the fall of 1836, he came to Allen County, and in the following spring settled on 40 acres of land, paying out all his capital, $50, for it. He built a log house and shop on the farm and, as the seasons permitted, alternated between work at his trade and clearing up his land. He was deft at furniture making and frequently the midnight hour would find him still at work fashioning chairs, beds and tables for his neighbors, for which they paid him in labor.

A man of his industry could hardly escape accumulation capital, and he continued to invest in land until he finally owned 600 acres, which through his own efforts he almost entirely cleared. He was a hard worker all his life and expected others to be industrious also. In appearance Jacob Altstaetter was a well-set-up man, five feet in height, with a pleasant, intelligent countenance and shrewd, kindly eyes.

He lived to be almost 88 years of age, dying on the farm on which he had settled, November 10, 1898. He was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party, casting his first presidential vote in 1836. He was a worthy member of the German Evangelical Church, very active in its work, and during the greater part of his life was one of the trustees. He was one of the first and prime movers in the project of building the first church of his denomination in the locality, giving first the ground and then the timber, and subsequently presenting the church organ. He was always liberal in church contributions and his advice and counsel always supported the efforts of the ministers. He was a good man and a perfect type of the thrifty, industrious, provident, home-building German.

On October 26, 1816, the mother of our subject was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, not far from Salem; she died in Monroe township, December 28, 1903. She was married on her 19th birthday and accompanied her husband to Allen County in the following spring, living a happy, contented, peaceful and useful life for 63 years thereafter. Her parents were John and Elizabeth (Miller) Bucher, residents of Ohio, the former a native of Switzerland and the latter, of Virginia. They became residents of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Altstaetter had 13 children, 12 of whom reached maturity and seven of these still survive.

6. Book: History of Allen County, Ohio, 1906. ²
Frederic Altstaetter, one of the prominent farmers of Monroe township, whose 200 acres of well-improved land are situated in section 29, was born in this township, January 26, 1838, and is a son of Jacob and Catherine (Bucher) Altstaetter.

The father of our subject was born in Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, February 21, 1811, and came to the United States in 1832. He spent a year in Maryland, where he followed his trade of cabinet-making at Fredericktown, and then removed to Dayton, Ohio, in 1833.

In 1835 he came to Monroe township, Allen County, where a long, busy and useful life was spent. He owned a very large body of land at one time, but prior to his death he gave his children all but 200 acres. He learned to speak the English language intelligently, but the German tongue was the one usually herd in the home.

He was a stanch supporter of the Democratic party but never cared for political office. He was a man of integrity of character and was one of the leading Germans of his locality. It was through his efforts and generosity that the German Evangelical Church was founded in Monroe Township.

At Dayton, Ohio. he was married to Catherine Bucher, who was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, October 26, 1816, and died in Monroe township, in December, 1903. On the paternal side her people came from Switzerland and settled first in Pennsylvania.

Jacob married Catherine Booher, daughter of John Bucher and Elizabeth Miller, on 26 Oct 1835 in , Montgomery, OH.¹ (Catherine Booher was born on 26 Oct 1816 in , Montgomery, OH,^{1 3} died on 28 Dec 1903 in Monroe Twp., Allen, OH ^{1 3} and was buried in Monroe Twp.: Altstetter Cemetery, Allen, OH.)