ELIJAH KISTLER, one of Bloom Township's best known and most highly respected citizens, was born April 18, 1839, on the farm in Bloom Township, Fairfield County, Ohio, on which he lives. His parents were Samuel and Elizabeth (King) Kistler. Elijah attended the subscription schools in his boyhood and made the most of his opportunities and later became a school teacher and taught for eight years in Ohio and Illinois. Afterward he returned to the homestead, where he owns 142 acres of valuable land which he devotes to general farming and stock raising. He has watched with interest the wonderful development of this section of Fairfield County, his memory going back to the days when forests covered many of the productive farms of Bloom Township, when neighbors lived far apart and when no rural mail carrier brought the letters and papers from all over the world to the door. He can tell also when farming methods changed and when much of the present useful farm machinery was introduced. Mr. Kistler was married first to Miss Loraina Chaney, of Bloom Township, who, at death, left one son, William E., who is now deceased. Mr. Kistler's second marriage was to Miss Jane Ogden, of Vermillion, Ill., and eleven children of their family survive, three babies dying in infancy and Samuel Paul also being deceased. Those remaining are: Van T., of Bloom Township; Minnie D., wife of Edward Benson, of Bloom Township; Alpheus E., of Bloom Township; Alice, wife of Frank George, of Lancaster; Olive A., wife of William Bookman, of Carroll; Florence L., wife of Elmer Wildermuth, of Greenfield Township; Myrtle, wife of Rufus Chapius, of Lancaster; Cora P., wife of Ferdinand Getz, of Lancaster; Elizabeth L., wife of Frank Hunter, of Toledo, Ohio; Effie M., wife of Ray King, of Violet Township ; and Charles D., residing in Bloom Township. Mr. Kistler and sons are Democrats. He is a member of the Reformed church.
[Source: History of Fairfield County, Ohio and Representative Citizens. Miller, Charles C. Published by Richmond-Arnold [1912], Chicago, 1912.]