| Notes |
- AUGUST HERMAN2 FRANK (OSCAR1) was born September 3, 1856 in Wayne Twp, Monroe County, OH, and died October 7, 1916 in Wayne Twp, Monroe County, OH. He met (1) LOUISA YOUNG in Never married., daughter of FREDERICK YOUNG and EPHRAIM PFEIFFER. She was born December 22, 1863 in Ohio, and died June 17, 1913 in Center Twp., Monroe County, Ohio -- Buried in Hope Cemetery located about 2 miles north of Woodsfield on S. Rt. 800.. He married (2) MATILDA A. KEESER April 6, 1884 in Monroe County, OH, daughter of SIMON KEESOR and MARY JOHNSON. She was born October 7, 1863, and died January 9, 1931 in Washington Twp., Monroe County, Ohio.
It is not clear where, exactly, August Herman Frank was born on September 3, 1856. His parents, Oscar and Caroline Brubach Frank, were married on August 23, 1851and bought their first 80 acre on November 20, 1852. Whether they lived on this property is not known. Over the next two decades Oscar bought and sold several properties and it was not until March 26, 1874 that he bought the property that August's wife, Matilda Keesor Frank would inherit at Oscar's death. So it seems likely that August Herman Frank was nearly 18 years old when he moved to his father's farm where he would spend the rest of his life.
A little over a mile away and along the route connecting the Frank farm with Lewisville was the Fred and Eva Young farm. Fred Young was 5 years younger than Oscar Frank and their respective children of similar ages. They both attended the same church and probably went to the same school when they went to school, but schooling was not so important in those days. Clearly, the families knew each other. We can never know the relationship between the Frank and Young familys, but we do know at least one of the results. August Herman Frank (September 3, 1856 - October 7, 1916) and Louisa Young (December 22, 1863 - June 17, 1913) conceived a child about August 1880 who was born Willie Young on May 20, 1881. August was 26 years old and Louisa was 17 years old at the time of the conception. August and Louisa never married and the child was given the surname of his mother, Louisa Young. Three more years passed before either August or Louisa married. Then both married their respective mates in 1884. August Herman Frank married Matilda A. Keeser (1863 - 1931) on April 6, 1884 in Monroe County, Ohio and the couple had 11 children.
We can only speculate about the effect of the birth of Willie Young on the relationship between the Frank and Young families. Willie Young who in later years formalized his name to William Edward Young, was reared by his grandparents, Fred and Eva Young. While little can be concluded by the delay of three years between Willie Young's birth and the marriage of his parents to their respective spouses, it is probably noteworthy that in the will executed by August's father, Oscar Frank (1825 - 1890) in May of 1890, the inheritance of August, which was the ownership of Oscar's farm, was placed in the name of his wife, Matilda A. Keeser Frank. This could have been an action that was taken in an attempt to limit Willie Young's claim to August Frank's inheritance. Subsequent land transactions by August Frank were all made in the name of Matilda A. Keeser Frank.
Many years later when I interviewed my aunts, the children of William E. Young, I was told that they could recall visits to and from the children and families of William Young's mother's (Louisa Young Keylor) side of the family. However, if there was contact with William Young's father's (August Frank) side of the family they were unaware of it. Taken together these facts and events might suggest that the outcome of the liaison between August and Louisa resulted in hard feelings between the Young and Frank families. Clearly, this is only speculation and probably goes beyond responsible conclusions considering the paucity of data.
In the last decade or so of William Young's life he became good ‘fishing buddies' with Osal D. Frank, his half brother. This might argue against the above conjecture. Another argument against the conjecture takes the form of a reason why the marriage of August Frank and Louisa Young never married. August's mother was Carolina Brubach Frank. Louisa's grandmother was Catharina Barbara Brubach. Carolina and Barbara were half second cousins. It is possible that there was concern within the Frank and Young families about this relationship. I tend to discount such a concern, however, because while the families were almost certainly aware of the relationship, this was not such a close relationship that they likely would have worried much about it. Besides, the first child of the union was healthy in all respects.
The first child of August and Matilda Keeser Frank lived only 34 days. He was named Clemence or Clarence Frank (January 17, 1885 - Februry 20, 1885). His name is found spelled both ways in the records and spelled Clemens on his tomb stone at Barbers Ridge Cemetery. Del Devore recalls his mother saying that August was not good at speaking English which could well account for the difference in the spelling of the child's name. Also, when August signed his will, he signed with an ‘X' which could suggest that he could not write.
August and Matilda Keeser Frank had at least 11 children. Eight of the 11 survived to adulthood. In addition to Clemence or Clarence their oldest son who died after one month and three days, they had a daughter, Ada Frank, who lived only five and a half months. It also appears that John Wesley Frank had a twin who was named Dewey. Dewey's birth was recorded as occurring on December 11, 1899 to August and Matilda Frank. John Wesley Frank's birth was recorded as occurring on November 11, 1899. No death record has been found for Dewey, however. Three possibilities suggest themselves. 1.) Dewey may have been stillborn. 2.) An error could have been made in recording the date of birth of either Dewey or John Wesley. 3.) There may not have been a Dewey. Instead, Dewey was erroneously written instead of John Wesley. I tend to favor the theory that Dewey was stillborn.
[Talk about land transactions by August Frank, here.]
Del Devore in an e-mail dated Feb. 27, 2002 wrote, "Grandpa August had a track, raised horses and won several races at the Monroe County Fair. The track was a quarter mile circular and I can remember Price and others riding bicycles around it but it wasn't in too good a shape then." [Try to develop this with Del or perhaps with Ethel Frank. While Ethel would not know about August's involvement with horses, she might know about activities by the successor to his farm.]
I heard from several sources that about October 4, 1916 August H. Frank was working in the field and got a pain in his side. He had been sowing wheat. Rosa Frank Devore who was 23 years at the time of August's death told Del that August had not been feeling well for the preceeding few days. August kept working in the field and fell violently ill with what was subsequently diagnosed as a ruptured appendix. He died 3 days later from acute peritonitis. According to these same reports, August turned a shade of gray or black before he died.
August Herman Frank is buried at Barber Ridge Cemetery. Others buried at Barber Ridge, are Matilda Frank, Clemens Frank, Ada Frank and possibly, August B. Frank, son of August Frank who died very young.
The August H. Frank and Matilda Keeser graves at Barber Ridge are toward the back of the cemetery and near the fence. Also buried there is Amos Keeser who was Matilda's brother.
Obituary of August Frank:
Once more the death angel has visited this vicinity and claimed for its victim a beloved husband and father, August Frank. Although he had been failing in health for the past year or more, nothing seemed more serious until on Wednesday evening when he was stricken ill while at work in the field. Death come the following Saturday morning. All that loving hands and medical skill could was done but death had gained its way. Deceased was born September 3, 1854, and departed this life October 7, 1916, being at the time of his death 62 years, one month and four days old. He was united in marriage to Matilda Keeyser April 6, 1884. To this union ten children were born, three of them dying in infancy. He leaves to mourn his departure a wife, six sons and one daughter and three grandchildren, besides a host of relatives and friends. He will not only be missed by his family but by everyone that knew him. He was a kind and loving father and neighbor, none knew him but to love him. In early manhood he united with the Lutheran church at Lewisville. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Penell; interment in Barber ridge cemetery. A SON.
Cards of Thanks.
We wish to thank our friends and neighbors for their kindness shown us during the sickness and death of our beloved husband and father. We also thank our many friends for the beautiful flowers. Mrs. A. H. Frank and children.
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1854 - 1916 (62 years)
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