Sedgwick-Finney-Garfield County KS Archives Biographies.....Diehl, John E. 1864 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 21, 2007, 11:50 pm

Author: O. H. Bentley (1910)

   John E. Diehl, of Waco, Sedgwick county, Kansas, is not only its leading
merchant but has taken a prominent part in the affairs of the town. Mr. Diehl
was born in Oakland county, Michigan, on July 21, 1864. His parents were Adam
and Charlotte (Openo) Diehl. His father was born in Germany, August 5, 1827,
while his mother was born under the British flag, on the ocean, while her
parents were coming to this country, in 1829. The elder Diehl came to America
when seventeen years old and settled in Ohio. The Openo family went to Illinois
and settled at Fort Dearborn, where Chicago is now located. They remained at
Fort Dearborn but a short time, going from there to Detroit, Mich., and from
there to Sandusky, O. The family remained at Sandusky until 1849, when they
moved to Oakland county, Michigan, where Joseph E. Openo, the head of the
family, was the first bona fide settler to negotiate for the purchase of his
land from the Indians. Settlers were few and far between in those days, and it
was necessary for the family to pack all its supplies from Detroit, thirty-six
miles away. Mr. Openo lived there the remainder of his life, as did his wife. In
Sandusky, O., in 1849, Adam Diehl married Charlotte Openo, moving with her
parents to Oakland county. While living in Sandusky Mrs. Diehl taught school for
two years, and after going to Oakland county taught for a number of years. Mr.
Diehl bought 240 acres of land in Oakland county, where his family of eight
children were born and raised. These children are Mrs. Frank Chase; Mrs. J. G.
Hurlbutt, wife of a Methodist Episcopal minister; Mrs. William Lott, of Eaton
Rapids, Mich.; Charles P., of Milford, Mich.; John E., of Salem township,
Kansas; Rev. W. W. Diehl, a Methodist Episcopal minister, now located at
Sterling, Ill.; Mrs. S. L. Holmes, of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Miss C. M. Diehl,
of Chicago, Ill. The mother of this family died May 7, 1891, the father April
26, 1907. John E. Diehl remained at home until twenty-one years old, when he
moved to Finney county, Kansas, and preempted 160 acres of land, and where he
lived three years. During this time he served one year as county surveyor, and
in that capacity surveyed Garfield county and took the vote which established
the county seat. In 1888 he sold his claim and came to Waco, Salem township,
Kansas. After moving to Waco, Mr. Diehl worked on the farm one summer and then
was employed in the flouring mill in the town for a year. He was then engaged by
the Union Cooperative Association to manage the general store at Waco, which he
did for four years, after which he bought the business, and still conducts it.
He was postmaster at Waco for sixteen years and has been justice of the peace
for six years. Mr. Diehl has been twice married, the first time in 1892, to Miss
Cora E. Kriebel, of Waterloo, Ia., a daughter of George D. and Susan Kriebel,
who came to Sedgwick county when their daughter was about two years old. Three
children were born of this union: Paul A., Oscar J. and Clifford K. Mrs. Diehl
died May 7, 1899, and August 26, 1901, Mr. Diehl married Miss Emma Kriebel, a
sister of his first wife. Mr. Diehl is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and
the only fraternal order to which he belongs is that of the Modern Woodmen. In
politics he has always been a Republican.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

History of Wichita and Sedgwick County: past and present, including an account
of the cities, towns and villages of the county

Editor in chief: O. H. Bentley
Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co. (1910)


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