Joseph Wiengartner
Joseph Wiengartner was born in Baden, July 9, 1827, and came to America in 1850, landing at New York on the 27th of September. Going to New Jersey, he found work in a factory for a few weeks, and afterward came to Auglaize County, O., by way of Toledo. He then worked on a farm for a time, but changed about as necessities demanded until February, 1853, when he came to Sidney and worked at the butchering business for Matt. Wagner. He next engaged in the saloon business until 1855, when he went to St. Paul, Minn., and worked at different occupations for a time and moved to Chicago. Returning to Sidney he worked at butchering again and also in a grocery which belonged to a Mr. Young. In 1856 he went to St. Marys and started a meat market on a small scale, but seven months later he came back to Sidney. He then bought the old "Wagner House," changed the name to "Farmers' Hotel," and conducted a hotel business nearly seven years, when failing health compelled him to abandon the business. After embarking in different enterprises in Missouri and Illinois, he returned to Ohio and went into the hotel business at Wapakoneta. About a week afterward the house burned to the ground, and he came back once more to Sidney and the butchering business, which he followed until 1867, whenhe sold to his brother. In 1874 he bought the reede farm near Sidney and lived on it until October, 1882, when he bought the property he now occupies on Ohio Street, Sidney, fitted it up and opened a saloon. He was married in October, 1858, to Miss Gertrude, daughter of Michael Fares, and has reared six children, named Louie H., Mary, Mena, Louise, Callie, and Mica.
From History of Shelby County, Ohio; R. Sutton & Co, Philadelphia PA, 1883