Tax records indicate that John B. Oblinger built a structure valued at $323 on Lot 5 around 1855. We know he was an early merchant in Miltonsburg (see Lot 3 ) and it is likely that this was the first store in the village or at least the first major store. Around 1860 he improved the lot again, when it was valued at $1076. It is possible that the attached dwelling was built at this time. In 1935, when Spangler owned the lot, the value dropped to $470, suggesting that this attached dwelling may have been razed at this time. Paul Young, Jr.’s earliest memories from the late 1930s do not include this attached house.

Christian Yockey

Christian Yockey owned several properties in Miltonsburg between 1835 and 1880.

Rough notes suggest that Christian Yockey may have been related (a brother?) to Lawrence Yockey, and Henry Yockey, who also owned property in Miltonsburg at about the same time. The same rough notes indicate that Lawrence Yockey was married on February 14, 1850 in Miltonsburg (possibly to Margaret A. Atkinson) and that he moved to Johnson County, Iowa in 1855.

Phillip (Lot 24) and Samuel ( Lot 8 and Lot 9) Yockey, who owned Miltonsburg property around 1900, were probably from a later generation of the same family.

David Pearson

See Lot 3.

John B. Oblinger

See Lot 3.

Spanglers

Joseph Spangler bought the store around 1910 and continued to provide essentially everything the residents of the town and the surrounding community needed, and much of what they wanted. One could buy, among many other things, tea, sugar, coffee, spices, candy, axes, nails, rifles, paint, varnish, kitchen utensils, cutlery, china, pins, needles, clocks, watches, hats, shoes, and men’s and women’s clothing, and you could also mail a letter or package and pick up your own mail. Spanglers’ went out of business in the early 1930s when this mini-department store became a victim of better roads and better shopping opportunities in Woodsfield.

When the Spanglers ran the store, locals who tied tobacco for them were paid in either cash or checks (tokens). Checks were worth more because they had to be spent in the Spangler store. Produce was dealt with the same way. For example, if someone brought in eggs and was due change after making purchases, change could be issued in the form of a Spangler check. At one time Paul Young, Sr. owned a similar check that was good for one dollar from Peters and Hannas’ store, confirming that this store existed in Miltonsburg, although not necessarily at this location.

Marguerite (Mary) Gambs, who was the daughter of Nicholas Gambs (1807-1886) (Lot 43 and Lot 44), married John Spangler(1840-1898). John and Mary Spangler had seven children: Joseph N. (1869-1929), Paullina (1871-1915), Josephine (1874-1946), Theodore (1877-1954), Otto (1880-1971), Clemens (1883-1918) and Ignatius (1886-1918). Miltonsburg oral history makes frequent reference to Otto and Clem Spangler.

Between 1910 and 1935 members of the Spangler family owned Lot 5, Lot 16, Lot 27 and Lot 32, and Outlots 8 and 9 in Miltonsburg

Oral History

• There is some indication that there was a “Stalders’ Tin Shop” behind the building when Spangler operated the store.
• Hulda (Landefeld) Young remembered buying high button shoes at Spanglers’ Store. She also remembered being sent to Spanglers’ Store by her Aunt Dorothy (Landefeld) Feiock (Lot 20) to buy a corset. She noted that she weighed only 100 pounds at the time and that it was normal for her to wear two petticoats. (This was probably about 1921.)
• Older village residents recalled that “someone came from Akron and made knives in the store.” Although it is not clear how often this service was offered, it does tell us that itinerant merchants were using established stores to offer their product or service, no doubt as long as their product or service was not in competition with the store owner.
• There was a hat/millinery shop in the store, probably when Spangler operated it.
• On the north side of the store there was a hitching rack, which can be seen in the photograph above.