[Last updated: 6 July 2014]

Johan Friederich Stembel (Great-great-grandfather)

Frederick Stembel (Great-grandfather)

John Stembel (Grandfather)

Joseph V.S. Stembel (Father)

Albert Frederick Stemble

ALBERT FREDERICK STEMBLE⁽¹⁾ (1864 - 1916)

Albert Frederick was born January 16, 1864, near West Liberty, Ohio. He was the sixth child born to Joseph and Mary Stembel. Little is known about his childhood. I assume he worked on his father's farm, attended school, and accompanied the family to Wesley Chapel on Sundays.

At the age of 18, Albert traveled to Missouri in 1882 with his cousins John and Lafe (Marcellus Lafayette) Stembel (see chapter on Oliver Stembel). John was 30 and Lafe was 26. It doesn't appear that Albert stayed long in Missouri, since a year later he was back in Ohio where he married Nettie Pine. He may have been contemplating a move to Missouri after his marriage; evidently he felt conditions were better in Ohio for that's where he lived the rest of his life.

Albert and Nettie had three children between 1884 and 1888. Sadly, Nettie died in 1892; she was only 29 years old. Albert, a widower at 28, remarried three years later. His new wife was 21-year-old Olive Frey, known as "Ollie." Albert and Ollie had three more children. The last was born in 1901.

Albert demonstrated his independent spirit by legally changing his surname. Tired of having his name misspelled, Albert declared the 'Stembel' spelling to be old-fashioned and legally changed the spelling to 'Stemble.' Since then, all of Albert's descendants have spelled their last name Stemble.

In the 1910 census, Albert's occupation was recorded as 'Farm Manager.' His farm was located in Harrison Township, Champaign County, Ohio.

Albert died in 1916 at the age of 52. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana, Ohio. Ollie lived 37 more years. In 1930 she was living with her daughter's family, Marie (Pearl) and Ralph Fretz. Ollie passed away in 1953.

Albert Stemble's six children (with two wives):

A. Ira Leroy (1884-1942). Ira was born October 11, 1884. At the time of the 1900 federal census he was living with his grandparents, Joseph and Mary Stembel outside West Liberty, Ohio. They were in their 70s at the time. Presumably, Ira helped his grandfather on the farm.

In 1910 Ira attended Joseph and Mary's 59th Wedding Anniversary party. Soon after, he married Sadie (surname unknown). They may have had a son, but one has never appeared in the federal census. They lived in Columbus most of their life where Ira was a bookkeeper. He died in 1942. Ira may have spelled his last name 'Stembel' (unlike the rest of his family) because he lived part of his childhood with his grandparents, who spelled the name -bel.

B. Charles K. (1886-1970). Charles was born in November 2, 1886, according to his Army enlistment papers. He attended school through the eighth grade. He enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was honorably discharged as a corporal a year later. In 1920 Charles was working as a farm laborer on the farm of Frank and Alma Petty, outside Urbana, Ohio. Ten years later the 1930 census shows that Charles has married Alma, and the two Petty children are living with them. I don't know if Frank died, or there was a divorce. The 1930 census shows Charles and Alma have moved to Springfield, Ohio. Both are working at a radio manufacturing company, Charles as an electrician and Alma as an assembler. Sometime after 1935 they moved back to Urbana. In the 1940 census Charles was a packer at the Buckeye Incubator Company.

My records show Charles died in 1970 at the age of 83. Alma died in 1975. Both are buried in the Oakdale Cemetery in Urbana, OH.

C. Ethel M. (1888-1961). Ethel was born in August of 1888. At the time of the 1910 census Ethel was a dressmaker, one of six staff members living in a children's home in Urbana, Ohio. The home had 50 tenants aged 2 to 15. Soon after the census, she married Perry Hess. Ethel and Perry had three children. Perry was a farmer in Champaign County. They lived there their entire life. Ethel died in 1961, Perry died in 1965. Both are buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery.

Ethel and Perry Hess's children:

1. Richard. Richard was born April 14, 1912. In 1934 he married Ruth Newman. He was 22, she was 19. They had five children: Nancy, Sara, Richard (Dickie), Suzanne, and Vicky. In 1977 Richard married again, to Mary Soum. Richard died in 2003 and is buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery.
2. Donna. Donna was born August 23, 1916. In 1937 she married Howard Imel. They raised four children in Urbana, where they lived all their life. Their children are: Janet, Bob, Don, and Charles. Howard died in 1993 at the age of 80. Donna died in their home in 2006. She was 90. This writer had the privilege of meeting Donna on a couple of occasions. She was a sprightly, active woman who enjoyed life and had a wonderful sense of humor. Howard and Donna are buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery.
3. Dorothy. Dorothy was born September 19, 1918. In 1941 she married Jack Maggart. They had at least on child, a son, Douglas (who married Donna Akey). They may have had more children. Dorothy died in 1999, Jack in 2006. Both are buried in Oakdale Cemetery.

D. Marie Pearl (1896-1983?). Marie was Albert's first child with his second wife, Olive. She was born in August of 1896, making her eight years younger than her next younger sister, Ethel. She usually went by the name Pearl. Sometime around 1920, after the census, she married Ralph W. Fretz. Pearl and Ralph had two children, Phyllis and Doris. In the 1930 census, they were living in Tremont City (Clark County, Ohio). Ralph was a telegrapher for a railroad company. They owned their house valued at about $1,800. Pearl's mother, Ollie, was living with them. Sometime before 1940, Pearl and Ralph divorced and Pearl married Paul Ray Jenkins. In the 1940 census, Pearl and Paul were living in St. Paris (Champaign County), Ohio. Paul was the proprietor of a recreation parlor. Pearl's two daughters from her first marriage were living with them. Pearl died in 1983 and is buried in Oakdale Cemetery.

E. Dewey Fullwider (1898-1948). Dewey was born September 2, 1898, in Champaign County, Ohio. He married Glenna Mae Hupp on March 15, 1919, in Covington, Kentucky. In the 1920 census Dewey was a farmer in Champign County, Ohio. Glenna and Dewey had two children, Dorothy (b. 1924), and Robert (b. 1926). By 1930 they had moved to Springfield, Ohio, where Dewey was a salesman for a stock fund.

Dewey died November 26, 1948, in Bellefontaine (Logan County), Ohio, in 1948. Glenna (affectionately called MeMe by her family) died September 30, 1986, in Logan County. Both are buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery.

Dewey and Glenna Stemble's children:

1. Dorothy Elizabeth. Dorothy was born May 28, 1924. She married Carl Akey on December 3, 1951. They had one child, a daughter, Kay. Dorothy lived in Lakeview (Logan County), Ohio, where she was an accountant. She has also served as Clerk of Stokes Township. Dorothy died May 20, 2004, at her daughter's home in Stevensville, Montana. She is buried in Urbana's Oakdale Cemetery. This writer had the pleasure of meeting Dorothy on a couple of occasions. She opened her home to me and shared information about her family. She also organized a Stembel/Stemble family reunion in 2003, shortly before her death. She was a generous, ebullient person.
2. Robert Stanley. Robert was born on March 28, 1926, in Champaign County. He married Betty Littlejohn on July 5, 1949, in Covington, Kentucky. Bob, as he is known, and Betty have three children: John, Debra, and Douglas. Bob owns a farm in Lewistown, Ohio. The family owns a slaughterhouse as well.

F. Harriet N. (1901-1973). Harriet was born on February 2, 1901. In 1920, after the census, she married Horace James, and they had at least one child, Horace, Jr. In 1930 it appears that Harriet and Horace either owned or worked at a filling station in Moorefield Township in Clark County, Ohio. The 1940 census confirms that they run the filling station in northern Clark County. Horace died in 1970, Harriet died in 1973. Both are buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in North Lewisburg (Champaign County), Ohio.