MICHAEL STAHL

MICHAEL STAHL, SON OF JOHN AND ELIZABETH STAHL, WAS BORN SEPTEMBER 17, 1831, IN PERRY COUNTY OHIO. HE DIED MARCH 18, 1921, AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS OF THIRTY-SIX HOURS, AT THE HOME OF HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. RANDOLPH S. BEALL IN MOUNT AYR, IA, AGED 89 YEARS, SIX MONTHS AND ONE DAY.

WHEN HE REACHED MANHOOD HE MOVED TO HAMILTON COUNTY, IN, WHERE HE WAS MARRIED NOVEMBER 10, 1853, TO MARY TALLEY, DAUGHTER OF ADAM AND SARAH TALLEY.

IN 1856 THEY JOINED THE GREAT MIGRATION TO TERRITORY BEYOND  THE MISSISSIPPI AND CAME TO IOWA, LOCATING ON A FARM ONE AND ONE-HALF MILES WEST OF DIAGONAL, ENTERING FROM THE GOVERNMENT A TRACT OF LAND WHICH IS STILL THE FAMILY HOMESTEAD.

MR. STAHL CAME TO RINGGOLD COUNTY BEFORE THE ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY HAD BEEN COMPLETED AND BORE HIS PART IN THE ORGANIZATION AND INSTALLATION OF THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE FIRST GRAND JURY OF THE COUNTY AND WAS THE FIRST POSTMASTER OF GOSHEN POSTOFFICE, NOW DIAGONAL POSTOFFICE, THE OFFICE BEING LOCATED IN HIS HOME FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND UNTIL THE K & K RAILROAD WAS BUILT.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR HE TRIED TO ENLIST BUT WAS REJECTED BECAUSE OF PHYSICAL DEFECT. ON LEARN THIS, HE DETERMINED TO DO HIS PART BY HELPING THE FAMILIES OF THOSE WHO HAD GONE TO WAR, AND WAS EVER READY TO HELP WITH THEIR FARM WORK AND TO ASSIST IN GETTING FUEL.  HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE WHICH MAINTAINED LAW AND ORDER IN THE COUNTY IN SPITE OF FREQUET RAIDS OF BANDITS FROM ACROSS THE STATE BORDER.