JOSEPH J. SCHMIDT, general farmer and dealer in hard wood lumber, resides on a small farm in Bethel Township, near Brandt, but owns a second farm which contains 144 acres. He was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, June 12, 1856, and is a son of Henry and Christina (Miller) Schmidt.

Henry Schmidt was born in Germany, where his father, George Schmidt, owned considerable of an estate and operated a large flour mill. The great-grandfather was a merchant and ship owner and, with a brother, helped to supply the vessels that brought the Hessian soldiers to America during the Revolutionary War. George Schmidt never came to the United States; six of his children found homes here: Adam, Justice, John, Lewis, George and Henry. The latter was twenty-three years of age when he reached Baltimore, Maryland, where he first secured work by the day. He married and later bought a grocery store at Dayton, which he conducted for a few years, coming to Brandt in 1859. He operated a hotel and grocery at Brandt until 1880, and then sold out to William Serell. He died at Dayton and was buried there. He was a worthy member of the German Lutheran Church. While he always voted with the Democratic party, he never sought office nor took any active part in public movements. He married Christina Miller, who survives and resides at Dayton, but still owns a farm in Bethel Township. They had four children, namely: Joseph J.; Elizabeth, who married Charles Bond, of Dayton; Minnie, who married Charles A. Snyder, of Brown Station; and George M., who married Lillian Kaufman.

Joseph J. Schmidt attended his first school at Brandt, second and later at Dayton, where he was a student for one and a half years. He then began to take a settled interest in farming. After his marriage he moved to Brandt for a year and then returned to the homestead, on which he has made all the improvements. In addition to tilling his land he deals in lumber, timber and land, being one of the, township's most active business men.

Mr. Schmidt was married to Miss Annie Black, a daughter of Adam and Julia (MeEfee) Black, and they have four children-George Harold, who married Dora Mumford; Raymond, who married Lena Gautz; Carrie M., and Joseph G., living at home. Mr. Schmidt and family are leading members of the Lutheran Church at Brandt, with which he united when he was sixteen years of age. He is an elder and has always taken a deep interest in the Sunday school, teaching a class, and for eighteen years served as superintendent. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at New Carlisle. In politics a stanch Democrat, he has frequently been elected to public office, has served as treasurer of Bethel Township and for eight years was a member of the Board of Education.