Fred Hornickel
Fred Hornickel, general superintendent of the W. & L. E. Coal Mining Company, at Dillonvale, O., is a prominent citizen of this place and is serving in his fifth year as a member of the town council. He was born at Youngstown, O., January 16, 1860, and is a son of John and Catherine (Ludt) Hornickel.
Both parents of Mr. Hornickel were born in Hessen-Castle, Germany. The father, John Hornickel, came to Vermillion, O., when twenty years of age, where he followed the blacksmithing trade and later owned and operated a canal boat named the "Time and Tide," plying between Youngstown and Cleveland. He continued in boating until the building of the railroad, about 1858, took away his profits. He then became associated with the Andrews & Hitchcock Company which was engaged in mining coal—the first operators in the Mahoning Valley. Later he purchased a fine farm eight miles north of Youngstown, and there he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring in 1896, at the age of seventy-two years, at Vienna. His widow then removed to Hubbard, O., where she still resides, being now in her eighty-fifth year. Her parents, Peter and Catherine Ludt, brought her very early to Youngstown, where she married.
To John and Catherine Hornickel ten children were born, namely: Sophia, who is the wife of Frank L. Stein, of Neosho, Mo.; Charlotta, who is the wife of L. A. Donnison, of Coalburg, O.; Vine, who is the wife of A. W. McKelvey, of Hubbard, O.; Lute, retired coal operator residing at Cleveland, who married Maggie Davis, of Church Hill; Fred, of Dillonvale; Frank, who died at the age of twenty-four years; John, who was killed in a mine explosion near Monongahela City, while in the employ of the Hazel Kirk Gas and Coal Company, as superintendent, had married Maggie Gillespie; Mary, who died at the age of two years; Nettie, who lives with her mother; and George, at present a prospector in British Columbia, who for seven years was general superintendent of the Massilon Coal Mining Company. He married Miss Carrie Kerr, of Brookfield, O.
Fred Hornickel attended the public schools at Youngstown and at Vienna but left his books when thirteen years of age to become a trapper boy in the local mines. This was the beginning of a career which has been constantly upward. He has learned every detail of his work thoroughly and thus qualified himself for the responsible positions he has been called on to fill. From Mahoning County, in 1894, he went to Borland, Pa., as a master mechanic and two years later he served one year in the same capacity at Port Royal and later at Manown, Pa., thence returning to Borland for three more years. Early in 1899 he became identified with the Jeffries Manufacturing Company of Columbus, O., and in 1900 he became superintendent of Lock No. 4. in the Rostraver mine, in Pennsylvania, where he remained until 1903 when he came to Dillonvale and entered the employ of the W. & L. E. Coal Company. There is no doubt about his having been a busy man during all these years and it is somewhat remarkable that he has never asked for a single place of all he has filled, since he timidly offered himself for the first one in his boyhood.
Mr. Hornickel was married November 23, 1887, to Miss Elmina Leish, of Poland, Mahoning County, Ohio, a daughter of Anthony and Margaret Leish, and they have four children: Mildred, who is an accomplished musician, residing at home; Edna, who is a student at Scio College; Raymond, residing at home, who is a member of the Dillonvale Citizens' Band; and Margaret, who is now two years old. Mr. Hornickel has been an active and useful citizen and despite his private business interests has found time to accept the duties of citizenship. He is a Republican in politics. He is identified with Lodge No. 181 F. & A. M. and the Chapter, at Smithfield, and to the Commandery, Lodge of Perfection and Scottish Rite branches at Steubenville. He is ideutified also with the Elks and is a charter member of that organizatiou at Monessen, Pa.
From 20th Century History of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio, by Joseph B. Doyle. Richmond-Arnold Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910