My Genealogy Hound

B. H. Sellmeyer & Bro., merchants of Knobel, Ark. This firm is composed of Bernard H. and Joseph Sellmeyer, who were born in Franklin County, Ind., in 1850 and 1862, respectively, and were the sons of John H. and Elizabeth (Bruggensmith) Sellmeyer, who were native Germans, and came to the United States, where they met and afterward married. The father is a tanner by trade, and is the owner of a tannery at Oldenburg, Ind., which is managed by his eldest son, John. Our subjects attended school in Oldenburg until a somewhat advanced age, then following clerking in their father’s store. Bernard continued until about 1870, when he went to St. Louis and clerked in a store in that city for five years, later engaging in the grocery business for himself, which he continued until 1880, since which time he has resided in Knobel, Ark. He first engaged as a contractor in furnishing ties for the Knobel & Helena Branch of the Iron Mountain Railroad, in partnership with Crawford & Lintz, and in about eight months furnished 350,000, and during this time also did some grading on the White River Branch of that railroad. In the fall of 1881 he started the first store in Knobel, and it was practically the only store in the place for about four years. In 1884 he was joined by his brother Joseph, and they formed their present partnership, and in connection with their store they are extensively interested in the timber business, making a specialty of piling, staves and ties, which industry gives employment to forty or fifty men. They are now about to erect a cotton-gin and saw-mill, and owing to the erection of the former, the farmers have been encouraged to increase their cotton crop at least 400 percent, which will prove of great benefit to the county. In 1882 Bernard Sellmeyer was appointed third postmaster of Knobel, and held the position several years, and in 1888 Joseph became postmaster, and is holding the office at the present time. Since 1884 Bernard H. has held the office of justice of the peace. In 1886 Joseph Sellmeyer returned to Oldenburg, Ind., and accepted the position of secretary of the St. Joseph Western Mill, of Oldenburg, in which his father is an extensive stockholder. In September, 1888, he was married to Miss Dinah Damhus, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of Bernard and Philema Damhus, who reside in that State. The Sellmeyer brothers own over 2,000 acres of land, more than half of which is excellent farming land and susceptible of a high state of cultivation. They have about 100 acres under cultivation, and are constantly opening up new land, and their enterprise and energy form a commendable example to the citizens of the county.