My Genealogy Hound

ABDAEL G. KILER. It is said of the subject of this notice that he has been one of the most useful men in his community. He has certainly been very active and industrious, and maintained a uniform interest in the welfare and advancement of his township, being concerned in the building of most of its churches, and having a hand in the erection of some of its finest residences. He is a skilled architect, and in the early days made a business of furnishing plans and specifications for the erection of buildings, also superintending the work, and giving employment frequently to a score of men. He forms one of the old landmarks of Miami Township, Greene County, and his name will be held in kindly remembrance long after he has departed hence.

The native State of Mr. Kiler was Maryland, and the date of his birth, February 18, 1810. Living at a day and age when the advantages enjoyed by the young were far inferior to those of the present, his early education was necessarily limited, and at the age of fifteen years he began his apprenticeship to the trade of a carpenter, entering the employ of Robert Mitchell, in Washington, D. C. Later he worked at his trade for a short time in Hagerstown, Md., then went successively to Pittsburg, Pa., Cincinnati, Dayton, and finally Greene County, Ohio. There was, however, but very little demand at that time for his services at that trade, and so his father rented Patterson’s sawmill and Abdael G. had the oversight of this for six months.

At the expiration of this time our subject repaired to Dayton, where he was occupied at his trade for two years. We next find him in Xenia, where he sojourned eighteen months, and in the meantime assisted in the erection of the structure well known as Galloways Building. Thence he removed to Clifton, where he put up fourteen houses the first season. Later he frequently visited the West and speculated considerably in lands. Nearly all the chapels in Miami Township and vicinity were erected under his supervision and much of the work was done by his own hands.

On the 5th of March, 1835, Mr. Kiler took unto himself a wife and helpmate, Miss Maria, daughter of Jacob and Polly Ann (Furnace) Paulin. The parents of Mrs. Kiler were natives of Kentucky, whence they emigrated to Ohio with their respective parents prior to their marriage, which took place in Greene County. They were among the earliest pioneers of Southern Ohio. Of the seven children born to them only two are living. Mrs. Kiler was born February 14, 1815, and departed this life at her home in Miami Township, February 17, 1861, at the age of forty-six years and three days.

To Mr. and Mrs. Kiler there was born a family of eight children, six of whom are living. Henry was born July 8, 1838, and is a resident of this township; Mary Matilda was born March 7, 1841; Jacob P., July 12, 1843: William H., May 12, 1846; George W., August 27, 1848; Charles M., September 10, 1852. For the past twenty-five years Mr. Kiler has been a consistent member of the Christian Church.

Mr. Kiler contracted a second marriage July 23, 1885, with Mrs. Leah (Littleton) Booth. This lady was born in Warren, Ohio, March 29, 1832, to Joel and Hannah (Woolard) Littleton who were natives of Virginia. She remained with her parents until her first marriage, with Thomas Smith. After his death she married Mr. Booth. Mr. Kiler cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay, being a member of the old Whig party. Later he identified himself with the Republicans, and during his younger years was quite active in politics. For twenty-two years he has served as a member of the School Board, and has served as Road Supervisor several terms. For a period of six years he was a Lieutenant in the State Militia. He is a member, in good standing, of the Christian Church, in which he has officiated as a Trustee, and contributed thereto a liberal support.

The father of our subject was George Kiler, a native of Pennsylvania, and who for a number of years was engaged in the mercantile business at Woodsbury, Md. Later he returned to Pennsylvania, where he owned a farm and also opened a lumber yard and conducted a hotel, on the banks of the Susquehanna River. In 1825, he removed to Washington, D. C., where he engaged in the hotel business for four years, on the corner of G and Fifteenth Streets. He then removed to Seventh Street and operated a grocery and billiard room, remaining there, one year. Thence he removed to Hagerstown, Md., where he sojourned three years, and in 1828 came to Ohio. In this latter journey he traveled alone, having left his family in Maryland. Eighteen months later he returned after them, and they all took up their abode in a cabin on the new farm in Madison County, where the father spent the remainder of his days. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, and was a Captain under Gen. Washington, later was concerned in the whiskey insurrection, and also participated in the War of 1812. Elsewhere in this volume appears a lithographic portrait* of Mr. Kiler.

*A portrait was included in the original printed volume.