PORTRAIT AND
BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM
pg 705
ANDREW DEFFENBACH, dealer in feed, also keeping a livery stable, has been a resident of Springfield forty-one years. He is of German ancestry, coming from good old stock who made a home in Pennsylvania for many years. In that State his grandfather, Jacob DEFFENBACH, is believed to have spent his entire life. There David DEFFENBACH, JR., was born and reared to agricultural pursuits. After reaching manhood the latter married Barbara ROHRER, like himself a native of Lancaster County, whence they removed to York County. There the wife died in 1841, when her son, our subject, was eleven years old. The widowed father removed to Dauphin County, whence in 1866 he came to Springfield to spend his last years with his son. For some years he kept a hotel in the Keystone State and he had served as Sheriff of Lancaster County.
The natal day of Andrews DEFFENBACH was January 5, 1830, and his birthplace the county of which his parents were natives. When his mother died the home was broken up and from that time he earned his own living. He first found employment with a farmer in Dauphin County, receiving $3 per month and his board for the labor which he performed, and remaining with the same man until he was fifteen years old. He then came to Springfield, Ohio, with his brother-in-law, his first employment here being on the railroad. Later he became a farm laborer on property three miles east of town, and being industrious and economical he was soon enabled to engage in the livery business. In 1865, he built a stable which is centrally located and the seat of a flourishing business. It occupies a site on the west side of Limestone Street between Main and Columbia Streets, and has a frontage of seventy-three feet and a depth of two hundred. Its full capacity is taxed to accommodate the steeds and vehicles, together with the various other appointments of a well-equipped livery stable, and furnish accommodations for the patrons of the Institution.
The estimable Christian woman who in 1858 linked her life and fortune with that of Mr. DEFFENBACH, was known in her girlhood as Julia A. SEIBERD. The union has been blessed by the birth of four children—Effie, Pritchard, Essie and Burchard. Effie married William BRINSLEY and has one son, named Chester; Essie married Mort BEARD and has one daughter, Helen B. Our subject and his entire family belong to the German Lutheran Church. They are known as earnest believers who conscientiously endeavor to show their faith by their works.
transcribed by Deborah Brownfield Stanley