My Genealogy Hound

WALLACE PLESSINGER, farmer and butcher; P. O. Greenville. Among the old settlers of Darke Co., this gentleman is entitled to more than a passing notice; he was born in Richland Township, this county, Aug. 6, 1847; his grandfather, Philip Plessinger, was among the very early pioneers of Darke Co.; emigrating from Pennsylvania, and locating in Richland Township, about the year 1815, and his was the second or third white family that settled in the township; here he lived until his death, which occurred July 4, 1860, at about 90 years of age, and upon the place where he located nearly half a century previous; Solomon Plessinger (our subject’s father) was the youngest of the above family; he was born either in Lancaster Co., Penn., or in Richland Township. Soon after the arrival of the family here, he married Rebecca Jackson, a native of Maryland, near Baltimore; she is now living in Richland Township; they were the parents of six children, three of whom now survive; Mr. Plessinger died Dec. 27, 1861; our subject then being only 14 years of age, and being the only surviving son, the responsibility, management and improvement of the farm fell upon him, and nobly did he perform this duty until 1869 when, upon the 27th of October, he was united in marriage with Carrie Jackson; she was born in Shelby Co. in 1846; they are the parents of four sons and four daughters, all of whom are now living, the family circle having never been broken by death. Their children are Estella, Ida May, Frank N., Flora, Fred, Melvin, Edith and Charles W. Upon the marriage of Plessinger, he continued farming in Richland Township until the spring of 1874, when he purchased 80 acres of land in Adams Township, where he located; in December, 1879, he purchased his present place of business in Greenville, and engaged in the butcher trade, designing to move his family to town in February, 1880, that he might have better facilities for churches and the education of his children. A card of his business is to be found in the business directory in another part of this work. It may be truly said of the above gentleman, that he is one of the self-made men of Darke Co.; left fatherless at 14 years of age, he has battled against the hardships of the cold world, and by his own hard labor secured a good property.