Oscar Wiehle
Among Ironton 's flourishing business houses, one which contributes materially to the importance of this city in manufacturing lines is Wiehle Brothers Soap Works, an enterprise which has been developed under the capable management of Oscar Wiehle. Mr. Wiehle has been identified with this line of business throughout his career, and is thoroughly experienced in every detail of soap-making, while his superior executive ability is evidenced by the high reputation in which the firm is held. He was born at Ripley, Brown County, Ohio, September 22, 1867, and is a son of Robert and Frances (Liebert) Wiehle.
Robert Wichle was born in Germany in 1836, and was a lad of eleven years when he accompanied his parents to the United States, the family settling first at Detroit, Michigan, where he secured his education and grew to manhood. In 1860 he removed to Ripley, Ohio, and engaged in the manufacture of soap, and subsequently came to Ironton, where he continued in business until his retirement in 1903. His death occurred November 18, 1913, when Ironton lost one of its energetic and able business men and public-spirited citizens. Mrs. Wiehle was born at Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio, in 1855, and died at Ironton in 1903. She had been the mother of seven children, as follows: Oscar, William, Edward, Elmer, Hildegarde, Mary and Frances, of whom the last two are deceased.
Oscar Wichle was educated in the public and high schools, which he attended until reaching the age of sixteen years, and at that time entered his father's business as a factory hand, thus working his way up through the various departments of the industry and thoroughly familiarizing himself with every detail. In 1892 the father and sons organized an independent company known as the Wiehle Soap Company, with a capital stock of $25,000. This business continued to carry on operations successfully until 1903, when, the father desiring to retire, the factory was sold and the affairs of the company settled up. After a short period the sons organized the present venture, Wiehle Brothers Soap Works, which has continued in successful operation, the plant and stock at this time being conservatively valued at $10,000. While Mr. Wichle devotes the greater part of his interest to the soap business, he is also connected with other enterprises, being a stockholder in the Ironton Engine Company. Among his associates he is known as an exceptionally capable business man, progressive in his ideas and enterprising in his actions.
Mr. Wiehle is single. He is independent in his political views and has not sought public office, although any movement that affects his community at once enlists his interest. He belongs to the Chamber of Commerce and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his religious connection is with the German Reformed Church. He has always been fond of travel, and generally passes the winter months in this form of pleasure, either in Cuba or Florida.
From "A Standing History of the Hanging Rock Iron Region of Ohio" by Eugene B. Willard, Daniel W. Williams, George O. Newman and Charles B. Taylor. Published by Lewis Publishing Company, 1916