Background
He was the eldest of four children.
Carl followed his locksmithing trade for a time, then became associated with the firm of C. Baumann and Company (also spelled Bahmann), a builder of safes, where he served as foreman.
He began by buying into the Baumann firm in 1859, which later became known as Diebold, Baumann and Company, the earliest records of which site the firm at the southwest corner of Elm and Front streets.
By 1870, for instance, Diebold produced very strong, round-cornered doors and frames, believed less susceptible than squared corners to the yeggmen (safecrackers) of the time.