Capt. John Ulrich Kreidler
Capt. John Ulrich Kreidler, Superintendent of Street Railroad, Dayton, was born October 31, 1832, in Greenmettstetten, O.A. Horb Wurtmbuerg, Germany. His father, Joseph, was born in 1800, in the above place, where he plied his trade of blacksmithing until he came to America. His mother, Mary Ann Dettling, was also born there in 1799. They had three children, John U., James S. and Mary, born in the order named. The father, with his family, emigrated to America in 1847, and landed in New York on the 7th of June of that year. He went to the village of Charlton, Saratoga County, N.Y., where he remained until April, 1848, when he came to Dayton, where he died in June of the following year, with the cholera. His wife survived him until 1866, and his son James until 1867, all dying in Dayton. His daughter Mary is the wife of ex-Street Commissioner Julius Wehner, of Dayton. Our subject attended the public schools of his native country until thirteen years of age, when he commenced working at blacksmithing with his father, and so continued until he came to America. Arriving in Dayton, he quarried stone, drove a canal boat from Toledo to Cincinnati, and sawed wood for one year, and then learned shoemaking, under McCutheon & Vogt, at which he worked as journeyman until 1857, when he became solicitor for the Fireman's Insurance Company, and continued until 1858. In 1858-9, he was on the police force and afterward solicitor for the Central Insurance Company, until the breaking-out of the war. At this time, he was a Lieutenant of the National Guards, but, finding that his company was not going to war he resigned his commision and enlisted as private in Company C, First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, April 16, 1861, and served four months. He then returned to Datyon and resumed his business, but in August, 1862, re-enlisted as Captain in Company E, One Hundred and Eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until December 7, 1862, when his company was captured at Hartsville, Tenn. When he re-enlisted, his company presented him with a handsome sword, which he promised them should never be taken; when taken prisoner he broke this sword in the face of the enemy, and for this offense he, of all his company, was the only man not paroled. He endured all the horrors of the rebel prisons at Atlanta and Libby for four months, and then, April 17, 1863, was exchanged at Annapolis, Md. He continued in the service until February 10, 1864, when he resigned his command, because the Colonel of his regiment, who had ben tried, convicted and dismissed from the service as a horse-thief, was re-instated. The Captain had called him and believed him to be a horse-thief, and couldn't endure the idea of fighting beside such a man. On his return to Dayton, he studied book-keeping, and was elected City Clerk in April, 1864. He was re-elected three times, but resigned during his fourth term and engaged in the grocery business. In May, 1868, he was elected First Lieutenant of Police, but was legislated out of office in the winter following. In the spring of 1869 his successor was elected but never qualified, and he was ordered to remain on duty, notwithstanding a number of lawsuits against him and a conviction for usurpation of office. He continued to draw his pay under the orders of the Superior Court until 1870, when he was fully vindicated by a decision of the Supreme Court of the State. In the spring of 1870, he was appointed Superintendent of the Dayton Street Railroad, Route No. 1, and has since continued a valuable and efficient officer of that service. He was married, November 28, 1854, to Miss Rosa Bobe, daughter of John Bobe, a well-known stone-mason of Dayton, and Anna (Hengstler) Bobe, who are still living. By this marriage he was blest with three boys and two girls, viz.: Edward (who died in 1857), John E., William A., Rosa C. and Caroline C. Mr. Kreidler was a Captain for two years, and Secretary five years, of the old Deluge Volunteer Fire Company, No. 4. He was also Captain of the Knight of St. George, the first company of uniformed Catholics in the United States. His checkered career has given him a knowledge of men that well fits him for the office he now occupies, where he has a great many men under him. In the above, we have neglected to say that from 1857-1860, he studied law with D.W. Iddings, and became an active Notary, but never applied for admission to the bar.
From History of Montgomery County, Ohio, W. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, 1882