Here are the stories about August that have been passed down to me through my father and my grandmother.

August and his brother were sent to the U.S. as teenagers by their parents in order to keep them out of the Prussian Army. Ironically, August joined the U.S. Army 2 years later and fought in the Indian Wars.

My grandmother Martha, his granddaughter-in-law, liked August quite a lot. She said that he was a happy go lucky fellow with a good sense of humor. This surprised me, since my dad said that his grandfather and father (August's son and grandson) were both grumps. August was quite a character, too. In his old age, he would disappear with his car for a couple of weeks. When he got back, they wonuld find matchbooks from distant states like Oregon in his car. My research shows that over the years, he worked as a teamster and had his own saloon for awhile. The family home in Columbus, Ohio was torn down to make way for I-71.

The last name was originally spelled Dümel. At one point, August got fed up with people mispronouncing his last name as "dumb-el". He had the spelling legally changed to Dimel. Then he got irritated because people kept calling him Mr. Dime-el, and changed it back. The family currently spells it Duemmel, but pronounces it like Dimmel.

August W Dummel