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Albert R. Beardsley
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Alfred Lawry
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David Sanders
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Elkhart County, Indiana
Biographies
HON. ALBERT R. BEARDSLEY
Hon. Albert R. Beardsley, prominent
as a man of affairs, influential and active in political circles, and a
leading factor in the commercial and financial activities of Elkhart.
is a conspicuous character in the history of Elkhart county, both by
reason of his personal achievements along the lines just mentioned and
because of his connection with a family name which is one of the first
to be mentioned in recording the founding of Elkhart.
Born in Dayton, Montgomery county.
Ohio, November 7, 1847, Mr. Beardsley is a representative in the eighth
generation of the Beardsley family that was founded in America by
William Beardsley, who was born in England in 1605 and who landed among
the Massachusetts colonists in June, 1635. From Massachusetts he
transferred his home to the Connecticut colony, settling at Stratford,
which town he assisted to establish and was named, probably, in honor
of Stratford-on-Avon, where, according to tradition, was the original
family seat of the Beardsleys. A. man of ability and influence such as
to mark him from his fellow citizens. William Beardsley became clerk of
the general court at Hartford, serving as such thirteen years, was one
of the founders of the First Congregational church at Stratford, and in
many material ways contributed to the growth and development of the new
country. He was a pious Puritan, making his Christianity an integral
part of his daily life, and in many of the old historical documents he
is referred to as " the good man Beardsley." He died in 1661. His son
Samuel was the first member of the family born on American soil. The
intervening generations from this first American ancestor have each
contained men prominent in industrial, professional and political
affairs, a large number of the family having reached distinction in the
professions of medicine, law and the ministry.
Captain Phineas Beardsley, who was
the great-grandfather of Albert R. Beardsley. was a captain in the
Revolutionary war. having enlisted, January 1, 1777, in the Seventh
Connecticut Regiment and serving three years. Under him, in the same
regiment, was his son, Elijah Beardsley. who not only served throughout
the Revolutionary war, but was, according to family tradition, a member
of the famous Boston Tea Party. The diary of this intrepid patriot,
still preserved in the family archives, shows that he was with
Washington during the memorable winter at Valley Forge and that his
military experience took him to many other places that have become
famous in the history of our country. "
In the westward expansion which began
soon after the close of the Revolution, and in accordance with the
Beardsley characteristic to be pioneers, various members of the family
took up their residence in Delhi. New York, and Elijah Beardsley, in
1814. went still further west and settled in Delaware county, Ohio,
whence he afterward moved to Springfield, in the same state, where his
death occurred October 2, 1826.
Elijah Hubbel Beardsley. a son of the
Ohio pioneer just mentioned and father of the Elkhart business man, and
younger brother of Havilah Beardsley, was born at Delhi, New York.
September 10. 1807, being the youngest of fourteen children, ^"hen a
boy he accompanied his parents to New Carlisle, Ohio, in 1837 went with
them to Dayton, and in 1853 settled on Beardsley Prairie in the
northern part of St. Joseph county. Indiana. Elijah H. Beardsley, who
was a wagon-maker by trade and followed that pursuit during much of his
active business life, died at Buchanan. Michigan. September 8. 1885,
when seventy- eight years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of
Matilda Lemon, died in 1860.
It has been in keeping with such an
honorable ancestral record that Hon. Albert R. Beardsley's career has
been wrought out. There are other names pertinent to the record which
might have been mentioned, but for the history of Dr. Havilah
Beardsley, the founder of Elkhart, the reader is referred to other
pages of this work, where the Beardsley name appears often and
conspicuously.
The business career of Mr. Beardsley
has been one of substantial success and progress from youth up.
Equipped with a common school education, in 1864, at the age of
seventeen, he became a clerk in an Elkhart store. In six years he had
saved enough from his earnings, and with capital from his father, to
establish himself in a merchandising business of his own, and he
conducted a very successful business for six years. From then until
1890 he had an active interest in the Muzzy starch factory. In 1890
becoming n stockholder in the Dr. Miles Medical Company, lie has since
held the office of treasurer and has been active in the management of
the business. He is a director in the First National Bank of Elkhart.
and for a number of years he has been a factor in the business and
financial enterprises of the city.
While almost constantly busied with
the practical affairs of life, Mr. Beardsley has at the same time
revealed a high degree of public spirit and loyalty to city, state and
nation. One of the prominent and well known Republicans of Elkhart
county and of Indiana, he has for over thirty years taken a leading
part in public and official life. In 187.2 he was elected city clerk of
Elkhart. was elected city treasurer in 1876. and from 1892 to 1896 was
a member of the city council. In the wider sphere of state politics he
was elected a member of the house for the sixty-first and of the senate
for the sixty-fourth general assembly, and took a very prominent part
in the election of A. J. Beveridge to the United States senate. In 1896
and again in 1898 he was sent as a delegate to the state Republican
convention. In 1897 Governor Mount appointed him to the position of
colonel on the governor's staff, which rank he also held during the
official term of Governor Durbin. Mr. Beardsley is a member of the
Century Club and the Kenwood Golf Club of Elkhart, and has identified
himself very closely with the business and social life of his city.
HON. GEORGE T. BARNEY.
Hon. George T. Barney, the
octogenarian lawyer of Elkhart, the oldest active representative of the
Elkhart county bar, has enjoyed a career which for wide range of
activity and usefulness to society has few precedents. Born at
Willsboro. Essex county. New York, April 10, 1822. he is now several
years past the age of fourscore, having, during the nine decades in
which he has lived, witnessed the most important events since the
founding of the nation and as one of the units which make up the nation
he has himself borne no inconspicuous part of civic responsibility.
Mr. Barney, himself a man of
distinction in the affairs of life, is also a member of a family whose
individual members have performed useful parts in their respective
communities. The ancestral history in the paternal line goes back to
Ireland, where was born his grandfather Samuel Barney, who at an early
age, however, came to this country and married his wife at Salisbury.
Vermont, at which place he lived till death. Samuel Barney, the father
of George T.. was born at Whitehall, New York, lived in Vermont to the
age of sixteen, then went to Willsboro, where he learned the trade of
iron worker, and in 1833 moved to Birmingham, Ohio, where he was
employed in the iron works a number of years, and where he died in
March, 1862. He married Abigail Adsit, who was born in Willsboro Point,
New York, a daughter of Jacob Adsit, who was an officer in the
Revolutionary war and for his services received a bounty of eight
hundred acres in New York. Mrs. Abigail Barney died in Elkhart in
August, 1867, she and her husband having been the parents of nine
children. all of whom they reared to adult life. These children are as
follows: Richard, who died in 1853: George T.; William M., of Elkhart;
Andrew J., of Milan, Ohio; Samuel, who died in Elkhart in 1902:
Cordelia and Phoebe, both deceased, about 1882, who were teachers;
Julia, who died about 1859; and Rhoda, who died at Florence, Ohio, in
November. 1896.
Mr. George T. Barney, the second
child and second son of the family, was about twelve years old when the
family moved to Birmingham, Ohio, where he lived until old enough to do
for himself. His first independent occupation was to carry the mail
between Elyria and Oberlin, making the trip once a week on horseback,
but after the first year he made the trip daily. Two years at this
occupation, and then he began learning the carpenter's trade at Elyria
and for the following four years did carpenter work in Ohio and
Michigan. Then in 1847 came his experience as a soldier of his country.
He enlisted in the American army and served under its victorious banner
throughout the campaign from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico, his
service in the Mexican war covering eighteen months. In 1848 he moved
to Kalamazoo. Michigan, where be had his home a number of years, and
where, on January 15, 1852, he married Miss Mary A. Gerona Musell, who
was born in Springville. New York, July 21. 1834. and at the age of
fifteen came to Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her parents, Austin C. and
Lucy (Bugbee) Musell.
From Kalamazoo Mr. Barney went to
Marquette on Lake Superior, where he followed his trade and became one
of the prominent citizens of that place. In the spring of 1855 he was
elected constable, in the following fall was elected sheriff of the
county, and by re-election served two terms. Through the influence of
General Cass he was appointed government timber agent for the upper
district of Michigan, and while in that office was also appointed to
make an enumeration of the Chippewa Indians in that section of the
state. He also held the office of justice of the peace. In 1861. on the
outbreak of the war of the rebellion, he enlisted in Company A,
Michigan Volunteer Infantry, for three months' service, and was elected
captain of the company, but was rejected for service on account of
disability.
In 1863 Mr. Barney located at
Ligonier, Indiana, whence he came to Elkhart and made permanent
location in this city in August, 1866 At Ligonier he was engaged in the
mercantile business with his brother, and was also in business the
first two years of bis residence in Elk- hart. Having studied law and
been admitted to the Michigan bar in 1861, soon after locating in
Elkhart he took up the active practice of his profession, so that he
has at this writing been a successful member of the bar in this county
for over forty years, being the dean of the profession. In connection
with the law he also writes fire and life insurance.
Mr. Barney has the distinction of
being one of the very oldest Masons in the county or state. He took his
initiatory degrees in November, 1850, so that he has enjoyed the
fraternal brotherhood for fifty-five years. His other fraternal
associations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights
of Pythias and the Elks, of which order he is the oldest living member,
and he is an esteemed member of the Century Club of Elkhart. He belongs
to the Presbyterian church, while his wife is a communicant of the
Episcopal church. One of the very few Mexican war veterans still living
in this county, about 1867 he took part in the formation of the
association known as the Indiana Mexican War Veterans and has taken a
prominent part in the organization ever since, being elected to the
office of president and being several times called upon to address the
society at its reunions. In 1874, on the Democratic ticket, Mr. Barney
was elected to the Indiana general assembly. In 1878 he was elected
clerk of the Elkhart city court, serving four years. In 1900 he was
elected a member of the Elkhart school board, serving three years.
Mr. George E. Barney, of Elkhart. who
is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Barney, was born in Kalamazoo in
November, 1852. They have traveled life's road together for over fifty
years, having celebrated their golden wedding several years ago, and
with their souls enriched with the associations of the past they linger
happily in the last scenes of lives that have been useful and noble.
NORMAN SAGE
Norman Sage, president of the First
State Bank of Elkhart, is one of the oldest men in the city still
actively connected with business affairs. Beginning the journey of life
over eighty-six years ago. long before the first permanent settler had
penetrated the forests which covered Elkhart county, he has in his
lifetime been the witness of a most remarkable development and progress
in his country and of such a series of great national events as few men
have had transpire during the period of their own lives. Monroe was
still president of the United States when Mr. Sage was born, he was a
man of nearly thirty when the war with Mexico occurred, was a man of
middle age during the Civil war, and altogether lived through eight
decades of the last century. He has been intimately concerned with the
business and civic life of Elkhart since 1868, and is one of the most
honored men of the county.
Born in Chautauqua county, New York,
March 6. 1819, he was a son of Moses Sage. The latter, who was a native
of and was reared and educated at Bennington, Vermont, was by
occupation a merchant and miller and is also to be remembered as a
Michigan pioneer, having settled at Adamsville, Cass county, in 1834.
He erected there one of the first grist mills in all that part of the
country. His death occurred in Cass county when he was seventy-two
years old. Mr. Sage's mother was Nancy Goldsmith, a native of
Connecticut, who lived to be about forty years of age.
There were just two sons in the
family, the brother of Norman being Martin G.. who was the older, and
who died some years ago in Elkhart. A boy of fourteen years when he
moved to Cass county, Mr. Sage's schooling was obtained principally in
his home town of Fredonia. New York, and he had very little schooling
after moving to the new Michigan country. When he and his brother had
attained majority they went into partnership with their father, under
the name of Moses Sage and Sons, conducting a large mercantile and
milling business at Adamsville, Michigan. On the father's death the
name of the firm was changed to M. G. and N. Sage, and was thus
continued in Adamsville until 1868, when the brothers came to Elkhart,
where they built and conducted for nearly thirty years the Harvest
Queen Mill, finally leasing the property to other parties. They were
also interested in several lines of manufacturing, holding a half
interest in the starch factory, in a paper mill, and a wagon
manufacturing plant. The Sage brothers made a noteworthy record for
harmonious and effective co-operation in their various enterprises,
they never seriously disagreed, their interests were always held in
common until shortly before the death of the brother, when a division
of property interests became necessary, and withal they demonstrated in
a remarkable way the strength that comes from unity of action among
brothers. Upon the organization of the St. Joseph Valley Bank Mr.
Norman Sage was elected its president, and later, when he sold his
stock in that institution, he organized the First State Bank, of which
he is still the active executive head. He has considerable real estate
in this city, and his business operations, past and present, have
covered a very wide field. He was formerly interested in the Elkhart
Hydraulic Company, was the treasurer of the Elkhart Gas, Light and Coke
Company, treasurer of the Elkhart Straw Board Company, of the Globe
Tissue Paper Company, the Baldwin Sage Wagon Company, Jones and Hill
Chewing Gum Company, the Mussey and Sage Starch Company.
Essentially a man of affairs, and
especially business affairs. Mr. Sage has never aspired to political
activity, being content merely to vote for the man he thinks best
qualified for office, regardless of politics. Fraternally he is a
member of the Royal Arcanum, and formerly was connected with the Chosen
Friends Society.
Mr. Sage married, first, in 1842,
Miss Juno A. Adams, by whom there is one son living. Charles S. By his
second marriage, in 1859. with Eliza J. Adams, he had a son and a
daughter, Frank A., who is assistant cashier in the First State Bank,
and Jennie G., who is the wife of D. H. Hotchkin, in the real estate
and loan business in Elkhart.
LEVI E. PIPPENGER
Levi E. Pippenger, who is engaged in
general farming in Locke township, where he owns and operates eighty
acres of land, was born in Union township, Elkhart county, February 3,
1865. His paternal grandfather, John Pippenger, was a native of
Pennsylvania and was married in Montgomery county. Ohio, June 17, 1821.
to Mary Gripe, also a native of the Keystone state. They came to
Elkhart county in 1829 and settled on what was then called Elkhart
prairie, now a part of Elkhart township, their home being two miles
south of the present site of Goshen. There the grandfather took up land
from the government and improved a farm upon which he remained until
1838, when he removed to the farm upon which Joseph L. Pippenger now
resides, trading the land on Elkhart prairie for three hundred and
twenty acres all in one body. There John Pippenger continued to reside
until his death, which occurred in his seventy-eighth year, and through
a long period he was numbered with the progressive farmers of the
county, doing not a little to promote its agricultural development. His
assistance also proved beneficial along other lines, as he assisted in
the pioneer upbuilding of this part of the state. His wife died in
Union township, when about seventy years of age. Their sons and
daughters were: Daniel. Emamiel. Elizabeth, John. Magdalene, Susan,
Christian. Mary. Catharina, Rebecca and Joseph. Of these only three are
now living: Emanuel, Catharina and Joseph, although nine of the number
reached adult age.
Joseph L. Pippenger. the youngest of
the family, was born December 12, 1839, on the farm on section 21,
Union township, where he now lives. When a toy he pursued his studies
in one of the pioneer log schoolhouses common at that day and also
assisted in the arduous task of clearing and improving a newfarm. He
remained with his parents until their death and then continued in
charge of the old homestead.
He was married April 13. 1862, to
Miss Polly Ann Skinner, who was born in Noble county, Indiana, December
2. 1833, a daughter of Ephraim and Mary (Black) Skinner, in whose
family of nine children she was the second. She was reared in Noble
county. Indiana —where she was born—and since her marriage has resided
upon but one farm. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pippenger:
Levi; Emanuel, deceased; William, who was born September 13, 1867, and
is at home; Edward, born February 8, 1870; Mary, wife of John
Hartsaugh, of Union township; DeLoom, of Iowa, born November 17, 1874;
Milo, who was born. August 2, 1877, and is a mail clerk on the Lake
Shore railroad, living at Goshen, Indiana; Amos, born March 21, 1881;
Lizzie, who was born December 18, 1883, and is the wife of David
Stouder, of Union township; and Clayton, who was born March u, 1889.
All were born in Union township.
Joseph Pippenger is now the owner of
seventy-eight and a half acres of good land and at one time owned much
more. He has been retired, however, for the past eight years, leaving
the active work of the farm to others. He has resided upon this place
for sixty-five years and everything about the farm is endeared to him
through the associations of his boyhood and his manhood. He belongs to
the German Baptist or Dunkard church, has taken an active part in its
work and contributes generously to its support. In politics a Democrat,
he has served as trustee of Union township for about six years.
Lev! Pippenger was a public school
student in his youth and when not occupied with the duties of the
schoolroom gave his attention to the farm work, assisting his father
until twenty-one years of age. He has always carried on agricultural
pursuits and has spent his entire life in Union and Locke townships. He
now owns eighty acres of land in the latter and the well tilled fields
are the visible evidence of his careful supervision and practical
methods.
In 1883 Mr. Pippenger was married to
Miss Mary Alice Neff, a daughter of Samuel C. and Lydia (Stouder) Neff,
who were early settlers of this county. They lived for a year in Union
township and then removed to the farm in Locke township which they now
occupy. Four children have been born to them: Jesse, Eva, Morris and
Chloe.
Mr. Pippenger, since attaining his
majority, has taken an active interest in political questions and is
regarded as an active worker in the local ranks of the Democratic
party. He was elected trustee of Locke township in 1904 and is now
serving in that capacity. He is a member of the German Baptist church
and his interest in the material, social, intellectual and moral
progress in the community finds tangible proof in his efforts for
advancement along those lines.
MRS. ELIZABETH TROUP
It has been well said that the
destiny of a nation lies in the keeping of the mothers, and the part
they play in the best life and highest welfare of any community is, if
not the most conspicuous, certainly the most important. As a woman
whose character has left a permanent record in her worthy children and
whose life work is not less deserving of mention than the
representatives of the sterner sex, a biography of Mrs. Elizabeth Troup
has a most fitting place in this history.
A native daughter of Elkhart county,
where she was born November i, 1843. she was the oldest child in the
family of John and Joanna (Lindenman) Weybright, whose lives have been
sketched in the personal history of William Weybright, elsewhere in
this work.
Mrs. Troup was born on the famous
Elkhart prairie, at a time when all the surroundings were in their
primitive state, and she was reared during the days when the country
was just emerging from its pioneer state into the later epoch of
blossoming prosperity and fruitage. It has accordingly been her
privilege to witness nearly all the phenomena of development and
progress by which the county has been entirely transformed during the
past half century, with its railroads, telegraph and telephone lines,
its cities and all other marks of twentieth century civilization. Her
girlhood was passed during the period when log-cabin schools were still
found in the county, and she attended the old school which stood on the
site of the " Big Church." and her first school teacher was Israel
Wyland. Primitive indeed were the schoolhouses of that day as compared
with the beautiful structures where the youth of this day learn the
first lessons of life. Among other pioneer experiences she has spun
wool into yam, and she has in her possession three of the old-time
coverlets which were woven in the year 1860. These souvenirs grow more
valuable and precious with each succeeding year, and should always be
preserved in the family as relics of a past time wonderfully different
from this present age.
August 23. 1862, Miss Weybright was
united in marriage with Peter Troup. and of the four sons and three
daughters born of this happy union four are still living: Mary E. is
the wife of Samuel Hisey, a farmer of Kosciusko county, and has two
children, Roy and Wilma. Charley H.. a carpenter and joiner living in
Goshen, married Miss Ella Cripe and has five children: Merrill. Fannie.
Ray. Mabel, and Elsie. Myrtle is the wife of Alpheus Neff, a farmer of
Jackson township. Milo, who was born May 12, 1879, was reared as a
practical farmer and is now successfully engaged in the conduct of his
mother's place. He married Miss Emma Fuller and they have one daughter.
Ardis Bernice. He is a Democrat and he and his wife are members of the
German Baptist church.
Peter Troup. in whose death the
county lost one of its most useful citizens, was born in Canada near
Buffalo, New York. May 14, 1842, and at the age of eleven years came to
Elkhart county, where he was reared to manhood. Industrious and
honorable in all his transactions, he gained a large degree of success
in material affairs and at the same time won the high esteem of all who
knew him. He and his wife wore literal contributors in the building of
the German Baptist " Big Church." and they could always be counted on
for help in any cause which meant the advancement of religion and
morality.
Mr. Troup in politics advocated the
principles of the Democratic party, without desiring to hold any
office, although he was an effective worker in the cause of good roads.
His remains rest in the Baintertown cemetery, and his loving family
have erected there a beautiful stone in his memory. Following is the
obituary published at the time of his death:
" In the Solomon's Creek
congregation, Elkhart county. Indiana. November 25, 1900, Brother Peter
Troup. aged 48 years, 6 months and 11 days. The subject of this was
born in Wetland county, Canada, and moved to Elkhart county. Indiana,
in his youth. He grew up among us to manhood, married a daughter of
Brother John Weybright, united with the church in 1863, and remained an
honorable member to his death. Brother Peter suffered long, but tore
all with Christian patience. He called for the elders some time before
he died, and was anointed in the name of the Lord. He leaves a wife (a
sister) and six children, two brothers, one sister and other relatives
to mourn the loss of a loved one. His family will miss him. Funeral
services conducted by Elders D. Shively and D. Younce. Deceased was a
brother to Brother Henry Troup, of Iowa, a minister."
Mrs. Troup, at home among her friends
and children, can well rejoice in the happiness that life has brought
her. Having performed her part well, she deserves all the blessings
which have been bestowed upon her. It has been said that the happiest
women, like the happiest nations, have no history, but in this brief
genealogical record, preserved in permanent form in the history of the
county, her children will find ever renewed pleasure in reading the
events of her peaceful and quiet life, filled with good deeds and rich
in the influences which come from character and true womanhood.
HENRY F. FRAZIER
Henry F. Frazier, an architect of
Nappanee, was born in Stark county. Ohio. January 8. 1849. His father
died when he was but two years of age so that he learned nothing
concerning the ancestral history in the paternal line. His mother, Mrs.
Hannah Frazier, was born in Burlington county. New Jersey, and there
spent her girlhood days in the home of her father. Samuel Frazier, of
that state.
Henry F. Frazier is the only child of
his mother's first marriage. He was about three years of age when he
came with his grandfather. Samuel Frazier, to Elkhart county. Indiana,
and with him lie remained until twenty-one years of age. His
preliminary education was acquired in the common schools and he
afterward studied in the State Normal School at Terre Haute. Indiana,
gaining a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of various branches of
learning, so that he was enabled to gain a teacher's certificate and
enter upon educational work as an instructor when nineteen years of
age. He taught altogether for twenty years, of which five years were
spent in the public schools of Nappanee—from 1882 until 1887. Mr.
Frazier also worked at the carpenter's trade in early life, serving a
regular apprenticeship and following that calling during the periods of
vacation. In the meantime he took up the study of architecture and has
devoted his time and energies to that profession for about fourteen
years. He has planned most of the good homes of capitalists of Nappanee
and also many fine structures in the towns of Bremen, Goshen and other
places. Churches, schoolhouses and residences stand as monuments to his
skill in this direction, and for fourteen years his attention has been
successfully given to architectural designing.
August 8. 1882, occurred the marriage
of Mr. Frazier and Miss Elizabeth Mast, a daughter of Benjamin and
Elizabeth (Gingerich) Mast. They now have five children—three sons and
two daughters: Clarence E.. who studied under his father, now occupies
a good position as chief draughtsman in an architect's office in
Chicago: Dinah has successfully followed teaching for three years: Lois
and Ralph are attending school: and Horace completes the family.
Mr. Frazier votes with the Democracy,
but while keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day
has no time nor inclination for public office. He has been a resident
of Elkhart county since three years of age and is interested in its
welfare, rejoices in its progress and co-operates in many measures for
its advancement and improvement. He has a wide acquaintance in the
locality where he has so long resided and he is today classed with the
leading citizens of Nappanee.
JOHN H. BAKER
John H. Baker, ex-United States
district judge of Indiana, prominent at the bench and bar of Indiana
for nearly half a century, and now living retired in his pleasant home
in Goshen. was born in Monroe county, New York, February 28,. 1832. In
his long life of more than three score and ten years he has again and
again proved his right to the distinguished honors which have been
bestowed upon him, and in his age his character has the breadth and
richness which are the fruit of varied and eventful experience in
affairs of the world.
When still an infant his parents
removed to the present county of Fulton, Ohio, which was then on the
frontier, and as he grew up he assisted his father on the farm amid
pioneer scenes. Educated in the primitive schools of the time and
during only a few winter terms, he himself later became a school
teacher and thus saved the money which enabled him, at the age of
twenty-one, to take a course of two years study in the Ohio Wesleyan
University, at Delaware, Ohio. When this literary preparation was
completed he began the study of law at Adrian, Michigan, and. passing a
satisfactory examination before the supreme court of Michigan, was
admitted to the bar in 1857.
In the same year he located in Goshen
and took up the practice of his chosen profession, and. soon gaining a
good clientage, has never lacked both the emoluments and honors of the
dignified and accomplished jurist. During the troublous times of
slavery he unhesitatingly cast his lot with the new born Republican
party, and in 1862 was nominated and elected a member of the state
senate. As was and is the case with nearly every attorney, he held a
notary public's commission, and, by the skillful and overdrawn
construction of the Democratic majority in the senate, a notary public
was declared the incumbent of a lucrative office, therefore
constitutionally ineligible to a seat in the senate, whereupon he was
expelled from the body. After this brief legislative experience he
returned to Goshen and resumed his practice with such ability that he
soon became recognized as one of the ablest lawyers of northern Indiana.
In 1872 he was the aspirant for
nomination to Congress from the thirteenth congressional district, but
after a long contest in the nominating convention was defeated by a
combination of the other three candidates. At the succeeding campaign,
however, he was nominated by his party and after an exciting campaign
was elected and saved the district by a very narrow margin from the
Democratic tidal wave that swept the state in 1874. In 1876 he was
renominated by acclamation and elected by a handsome majority of over
two thousand, and again in 1878, nominated by acclamation, was elected
by an increased majority. His record in Congress was an honor to
himself and constituency, and his abilities and earnest efforts placed
him on a plane with the most eminent statesmen in the house. When he
retired he was the ranking Republican member on the appropriations
committee, and had also performed important service on other
committees. His high sense of integrity and right and his positive
personality and strength made their impress not only upon his
colleagues' but upon the legislation of the period. He had earned the
respect and esteem of the people of Indiana, and might have continued
in his place in the house indefinitely, but at the close of his third
term he declined another nomination and returned to Goshen to devote
his energies to the needs of his large legal clientage.
When James A. Garfield became
president he urged upon Mr. Baker the acceptance of the position of
second assistant postmaster general, an office for which the latter was
peculiarly well fitted because of his experience while in Congress in
investigating the " Star Route " contracts. But in this case, as in
subsequent proffers of high and honorable positions, he resolutely
refused to resign his practice except for some office in direct line
with his profession. In 1892 Judge Wood was promoted to the United
States circuit bench from the United States district court, and to
succeed Judge Wood in the district judgeship President Harrison
appointed Mr. Baker, who was thus honored absolutely without
solicitation on his part or that of his friends. When he assumed the
duties of the office on March 29. 1892, there came to this federal
court an ideal jurist, thoroughly versed in the law and precedent, a
man of broadest reading- and culture, and possessed of a lofty
conception of the duties of the court. He served with distinction as
district judge until 1902, when he retired under the age privilege of
the law, and has since been enjoying the wide esteem and fellowship of
his friends and associates in Goshen.
Judge Baker was married in early
manhood to Miss Harriet E. DeFrees. a daughter of J. H. DeFrees, of
Goshen. Their one son, Judge Francis F. Baker, is now United States
circuit judge. Mr. Baker and his wife are members of the Methodist
church in Goshen.
DANIEL H. FISHER
Emerson has said that the history of
a country is best told in the lives of its people and this statement
holds equally true of a town or community. Public progress is due to
the citizens who recognize possibilities and utilize opportunities and
to this class belongs Daniel H. Fisher, well known as an enterprising
young man of Jackson township and the village of New Paris. The
attractiveness of this locality as a place of residence is well
indicated by the fact that many of the native sons remain here after
attaining majority and when seeking their positions in the business
world. Mr. Fisher was born in Jackson township. May 15, 1870, his
parents being Harry and Matilda (Rye-straw) Fisher. The father was born
in the province of Friesland, Holland, in the year 1811, and passed
away in 1887. He acquired a good common school education and was a
fisherman in his native land. He was married while in Holland and about
1853 he set sail from Amsterdam for England, and there he re-embarked
at Liverpool, upon a sailing vessel bound for the United States. The
anchor was at last dropped in the harbor of New York and he came at
once to Elkhart county to make a home for his family. He had little
capital and his early life here was fraught with some hardships and
difficulties. Just as the party were leaving the train the mother fell
and broke her arm. which added to their troubles. Mr. Fisher began as a
laborer, scorning no employment that would yield him an honest living,
but as time went on he prospered and when his capital had become
sufficient he purchased a small tract of land which was unimproved. The
only building upon the place was a log cabin, but with characteristic
energy he began making a home for his family and placing his fields
under cultivation. He added to the farm until he became the owner of
eighty acres of very productive land in Jackson township. He was a
supporter of Democratic principles and he and his wife were advocates
of the Mennonite faith, holding membership in the church in Union
township. They aided in the erection of the house of worship and
contributed generously of their means in support of the church. Mrs.
Fisher was a native of Friesland, born in 1833, and she is yet living
on the old homestead where she has now resided for many long years,
while the county has emerged from pioneer conditions and taken its
place with the leading counties of this great commonwealth. In their
family were eleven children, ten sons and a daughter, of whom Daniel H.
is the tenth in order of birth. With the exception of one son they are
all living and are residents of Elkhart county.
Daniel H. Fisher was reared in the
county of his nativity, remaining with his parents until he had
attained his majority. His education was acquired in the public schools
and in the summer normal schools and he began the profession of
teaching in New Mexico when twenty-one years of age. He had no capital
at that time, but nature had endowed him with a good mind and he also
possessed a resolute will and laudable ambition. As he had brothers in
the southwest he concluded that he would also try his fortune in that
part of the country and borrowed money to pay the expense of the
railroad trip to that point. In the winter of 1891 he started for Eddy
county, New Mexico, and after filing a claim to some land he entered
upon the work of teaching, which he followed in the same place for
seven years, proving a capable instructor, who imparted clearly and
concisely to others the knowledge that he had acquired. He won
popularity as a teacher and citizen of the southwest, but in 1898 he
returned to his home, making the journey by way of Galveston around Key
West to New York, and then after spending several days in the eastern
metropolis proceeded to Washington, where he also remained for a few
days, visiting many points of interest in the capital. While he was in
the southwest he made a trip to Old Mexico, and saw many points of
historic and modern interest there.
In the spring of 1898 Mr. Fisher
again reached Elkhart county and soon afterward established a farm
implement business in New Paris. A short time later his brother Martin
joined him in the enterprise and they extended the value of their
operations by adding a stock of hardware, lumber, lime, cement, coal
and building materials. The firm under the style of Fisher Brothers is
now doing a large business, which will amount annually to about thirty
thousand dollars. They have prospered by reason of their commercial
integrity and earnest desire to please their patrons, combined with an
enterprise that brooks no obstacles which can be overcome by
perseverance. They have the entire confidence of the community and
justly merit the success which is attending them.
Daniel H. Fisher was married August
20, 1902, to Miss Winifred Whitten, and they have an interesting little
son, Harry W. Mrs. Fisher is a native of Elkhart county, born October
29, 1874. and is a daughter of William Whitten. She spent her girlhood
days here and after attending the common schools continued her studies
in the Milford high school, from which she was graduated. She was also
a student in the Tri-State Normal and became one of the school teachers
of this section of the state, following the profession in Kosciusko and
Elkhart counties. She has also been a student of instrumental music and
she is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Fisher belongs
to the Mennonite church, but is a teacher in the Methodist Sunday
school, and has also been similarly connected with Mennonite Sunday
school. He is a Prohibitionist in his political sentiments, and takes a
strong stand in favor of temperance, doing everything in his power to
promote the cause. He and his wife are most estimable people and the
circle of their friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of their
acquaintance.
D. M. WEYBRIGHT
D. M. Weybright, one of the test
known citizens of Elkhart county, represents some of the most
substantial factors which have entered into the growth and permanent
progress of this county. In fact, a complete history of Elkhart county
could not be written without prominent reference to the part which has
been played by the Weybright family, from the earliest pioneer years up
to the present. Material upbuilding, industrial activity, civic and
social welfare, and the cause of religion and morality, have each in
due proportion received from this family those impulses of power and
influence which have resulted in advancement along the right lines and
upward toward the highest ideals of civilization.
Mr. Weybright belongs to one of the
most prominent German American families of the county. To this element
of her population Elkhart county owes more of her permanent prosperity
than to any other class. Their phenomenal industry, their integrity of
character, their loyalty to constituted authority and to the God-given
principles of fundamental religion are known to all who have ever had
dealings with them or witnessed the results of their life work. Mr.
Weybright is proud to call Elkhart county his birthplace, and the scene
of most of his subsequent activities. He was born September 4, 1854,
the sixth in a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters,
whose parents were John and Joanna (Lindeman) Weybright. Six of the
children are living: Elizabeth, widow of Peter Troup, of Jackson
township; William H., a prosperous farmer and citizen of the same
township; Jacob F., also an agriculturist of Jackson township: D. M..
next in order: John A., who is married and is engaged in farming in Van
Buren township. Kociusko county: Daniel W.. married and a farmer in
Jackson township.
John Weybright. the father, who at
his death on May 20, 1901. was one of the oldest and most honored of
the pioneer citizens of the county, was born near Dayton, Ohio, July 6.
1819, and when eleven years old. in 1830, accompanied his parents to
Elkhart county. In that the year in which Elkhart county was organized,
primeval nature everywhere held sway over this beautiful region; the
forests were untouched, the wild game had not been disturbed in their
haunts, the red men were more numerous than the whites, and all
conditions and surroundings were different beyond realization from the
present. John Weybright attended log-cabin school, and at an early age
was initiated into the methods of pioneer agriculture, using the
old-time cradle and sickle to cut the grain, threshing it out with nail
or treading, and fanning it out in the wind. That his youth was passed
in an epoch which is only a historical memory to the present generation
may be inferred from the following incident, preserved among the family
reminiscences. Upon one occasion an Indian, in passing the Weybright
farm, picked up a hoe and was making off with it when John's elder
brother Martin, observing him, seized the wagon whip and overtaking the
thief proceeded to administer a summary thrashing. After enduring
stoically this condign punishment for a time, the red man turned upon
his assailant and no doubt would have killed the youth if he had had a
weapon. But the boy Martin, being very active and strong, managed to
double himself up and, planting his feet on the Indian's breast and
stomach, shoved him off, then jumped up and, recovering the hoe, made
good his retreat.
The grandfather had entered a large
amount of land from the government in this county, and John Weybright,
emulating the industry and successful management of his father,
accumulated considerable land in the county and was one of the most
enterprising of the pioneer farmers. In the latter years of his life he
had been a steadfast adherent of the Republican party, but he cast his
first vote for the great exponent of Whig principles, Harrison, the
hero of Tippecanoe. Upon the death of grandfather Weybright, and on the
day of the funeral and just after the interment, John Weybright, his
wife, his brother Martin (whose wife was already a member), his brother
Michael and wife, and his sister Lizzie and her husband Jacob Smeltzer,
were all received into the communion and fellowship of the German
Baptist church by Christian baptism. John Weybright was one of the
foremost in the erection of the church in the southeastern part of
Jackson township which is known everywhere as " The Big Church." Some
of the timbers of this edifice are sixty feet in length and most of
them came from the Weybright farm.
The mother of Mr. D. M. Weybright was
born in Baden, Germany. July 9, 1817, and. at the great age of over
eighty-eight years, is one of the oldest and most venerable women of
the county, her length of years being equalled by her deeds of kindness
to children and friends and by the elemental beauty and strength of her
character. She was nine years old when she came across the waters to
America and after several years' residence in Baltimore, Maryland, her
parents came to Indiana. She resides with her son David.
Mr. D. M. Weybright was reared on the
homestead which is still his home, received his education in the common
schools, and, trained to the life of farmer, has followed that
occupation with almost unvarying success from early manhood to the
present. He began at the age of twenty-one in the employ of his father
at wages of sixteen dollars a month during the summer and seventy-five
cents a day during the winter, and in this way accumulated about two
hundred dollars capital the first year. It has been by a constant
succession of such years of industry, thrift and capable management
that Mr. Weybright has arrived at his present degree of prosperity, and
no one begrudges him the comfortable circumstances which he has gained
by his own diligent efforts. Not selfishly, not in the spirit or
practice of self-gain at the cost of others' loss, has he sought to
reach success. That beautiful ideal of social service, of counting
one's own advancement as unworthy of effort unless at the same time
mankind in general, and especially the immediate circle of family and
friends, receives benefit— this has been the cardinal principle of his
life work. He has practiced this manner of life because he has
l>elieved it in harmony with the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood
of Man. as exemplified in the Saviour who denied himself the pleasures
and glory of divine life that he might come to earth and prove a means
of salvation to men.
June 10, 1878, Mr. Weybright was
united in marriage with Miss Emily C. Hinebaugh. Their wedded life has
been blessed with four children. .Arthur B., the eldest, was educated
in the common schools and is now a practical and successful farmer; he
married Miss Ida Peters, and they have one son, Clio Leslie. Harley F.,
who attended the common schools and who. in company with his brother
Arthur, spent one summer in Utah, is now farming his grandmother's
place. John Walter, who, after finishing the common schools, attended
the Elkhart Business College, where he took his diploma in the
bookkeeping course, is now with his brother Arthur. Ada J. lives at
home, having completed the public school course and received her
diploma. Mrs. Weybright. who was born in Ohio, September 19, 1852. is a
daughter of Benjamin F. and Minerva (Bernworth) Hinebaugh. Her father
died in March. 1902. but her mother is living in Jackson township.
There were seven children in the Hinebaugh family and five are living.
Mrs. Weybright is likewise a member of the German Baptist church in
Jackson township, and a woman of such devotion to the Christian life
that her example and works have proved the strongest influence for good
in the rearing of her children.
On his thirty-second birthday.
September 4. 1886, Mr. Weybright was elected deacon of the " Big
Church." and from that day to this he has continued to fill this
position and has been one of the most prominent workers in the church
and Sunday school. He is a Republican in politics, and as a
public-spirited citizen has always done his share toward promoting
civic progress. In December. 1900, he was appointed a rural mail
carrier from the central office at New Paris, and through weather fair
and foul he has performed his duties up to the present time.
The career thus briefly sketched has
been replete with honorable effort and praiseworthy results, and it
deserves a place of dignity in this work, where children and
grandchildren will long refer to it and gain therefrom lessons of
encouragement to work for like high ideals. In conclusion we reprint
the obituary notice of the late John Weybright which was published in
the Goshen New-Times on the occasion of his death :
"John Weybright was born in
Montgomery county, Ohio. July 6, i8ig, and died May 20, 1901. aged
eighty-one years, ten months. He emigrated with his parents to Elkhart
county, Indiana, in 1830, when about eleven years old, when the wild
beasts and the Indians held almost undisturbed possession of this
country. He saw the changes which have resulted in bringing this
country up to what it is at the present day; he saw our cities and
villages spring up from their infancy to what they now are; he saw the
building of our first railroads, telegraph and electric lines, the
introduction of the electric light and telephone.
" He was united in marriage to Joanna
Lindeman, November 24, 1842. To this union ten children were born, nine
of which he saw grow up to manhood and womanhood; one died in infancy.
His aged companion, six children, twenty-six grandchildren, twenty
great-grandchildren, one brother and one sister remain to mourn his
loss. With his wife he moved to the place of his late residence in the
autumn of 1845 and by hard work and economy they accomplished what they
did. He was a man of peace and lived at peace with his fellow men. He
never sued nor was sued by anyone, but was ever ready to yield rather
than have difficulty. May we profit by his example.
" He united with the German Baptist
or Brethren church in March, 1845, and remained a faithful member over
fifty-six years. He was called to serve the church in the capacity of
deacon in the autumn of 1851, in which capacity he served faithfully,
for almost fifty years."
WEYBRIGHT FAMILY REUNION
It is a pleasing matter of record to
find a family so long established in this portion of the middle west
that their associations individually and collectively have become
occasions of celebration out of the ordinary. In the east a family
gathering under a roof which has sheltered five or six generations of
kin is a common occurrence, while in this newer middle country such an
event is impossible for historical reasons. Of interest as completing
the family history of the Weybrights and also as forming an additional
topic to the full history of Elkhart county, will be found the account
of a Weybright reunion as it appeared in the issue of the old New Paris
Record of July 15, 1899. The article follows:
The annual reunion of the family of
John Weybright occurred on Thursday, July 6. at the old homestead in
the southern part of Jackson tcnviiship, Elkhart county. It has always
heen the aim of the members of the Weybright family to hold these
reunions on the natal day of Grandfather Weybright. On this occasion
Mr. Weybright was eighty years old, and the members of the family once
more gathered under the family roof and proceeded to enjoy themselves.
Mr. and Mrs. Weybright have resided in the township for over fifty
years, and have seen nine of their children reach the age of manhood
and womanhood, seven of them are still living and were present, except
one daughter who was unable to attend on account of her ill health—her
absence being the only feature to mar the happiness of the occasion.
Eighty-two guests were present. Among
those present from abroad were T. L. Hammond, wife and daughter, Ira
Weybright and family of Milford: David Lamb and family and William
Sheffield and family of Syracuse; C. H. Troup and family and Wayne
Binkley of Goshen; Mrs. Kilmer and daughter of Wakarusa: Mrs. Girl of
Cleveland. Ohio: M. Weybright of Warsaw, who recently returned from a
two years' sojourn in California, the only surviving brother of John
Weybright; Rev. Bussard, with wife, the minister of the neighborhood,
was also present. The evening was spent in social intercourse, with
music and song. A heavy-laden table, loaded with refreshments to
satisfy the cravings of the inner man, was soon relieved of its burden,
after which song services were held, the blessings of the Almighty
Father were asked by Rev. Bussard, assisted by the members of the
family. After having enjoyed the occasion one could not but wish that
grandfather and grandmother Weybright might be spared that many more
annual reunions of the family might be enjoyed with them as the guests
of honor; but it must be remembered that one by one we are passing
away, and ere long, if we so order our lives and live faithful, we will
join in one unbroken family reunion in the blissful lieyond, never to
part again.
N. B. YODER.
N. B. Yoder, senior member of the
firm of Yoder Brothers, whose commercial enterprise and ability have
been one of the prime factors in bringing Wakarusa. within the last
decade, to rank among the leading business centers of northern Indiana,
was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, March 12. 1864. He is the fifth
child in the family of Henry B. and Elizabeth (Bixler) Yoder. detailed
mention of whoso lives will be found in the sketch of their son. Rev.
A. B. Yoder. presiding elder of the Mennonite church of northern
Indiana and southern Michigan. The Yoders are of German stock,
inheriting from the fatherland and transmitting through all the
descendants that virility, industry and upright character which have
made them men and women of influence and worth in every sphere of life.
A child when his parents moved to
Indiana, Mr. Yoder has spent practically his entire life in Elkhart
county. His education was begun in the common schools and was continued
almost through the literary and scientific departments of the
Valparaiso Normal. It was as a teacher that he began his independent
career, and for sixteen years he followed what has well been called the
most elevating of the professions. These sixteen years of pedagogic
labor were spent in six different schools, and in that time it was his
lot to fashion and mold for future usefulness the minds and characters
of many score of toys and girls. One of the successful and prosperous
men of the county at the present time, yet when he began life at his
majority he was possessed only of a well trained mind and muscles and
the ability to work hard and perseveringly, and that he has utilized
this potential capital to the best ad van rage his position in business
and social circles would amply prove. While teaching he spent the
parts of four years in farming on rented land. He began his
business career in 1893, when he engaged in the hardware business at
Wakarusa in partnership with P. C. Messick and I. J. Leatherman. A year
later Rev. A. B. Yoder. 'his brother, purchased the interests of
Alessrs. Messick and Leatherman. The brothers conducted the business
one year, and in 1895. B. Yoder purchased a one-third interest in the
establishment. In 1901 Rev. A. B. Yoder sold out his share to the other
two members, who have since conducted the business on such a scale as
to rank it among the foremost hardware houses in the county. The store,
which is excellently situated for the conveniences of the trade and in
a good building" of brick, is filled up with a full line of standard
shelf and heavy hardware, steel ranges and stoves of all kinds; another
department is devoted to furniture and undertaking, Mr. A. B. Yoder
having taken a full course in the Barnes Embalming School, receiving
his diploma in 1900, and he attends to this department of the business.
Mr. N. B. Yoder owns one of the
beautiful homes for which the town of Wakarusa is noted among all who
have ever visited there. His residence, located on Wabash avenue, is
modern to every detail, finished in hard pine and poplar, and
delightful and comfortable in all its furnishings and appointments. The
lady who presides so well over this home and who has in countless ways
been a co-partner and helpmate for her husband both in his business and
social life. was. before her marriage. Miss Clara A. Longenecker. They
were married in Peabody. Kansas, May 25. 1892. and five children have
been born to them, namely: Wave, deceased: Merl A., in the third grade
of school: Worth N.. Hattie, and Fern. Mrs. Yoder was born in St.
Joseph county, this state, February 13. 1869. a daughter of Joseph and
Esther C Leatherman Longenecker. She was reared in her native county,
in the stale of Ohio and at Peabody, Kansas, receiving her education in
the common schools. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are progressive people,
awake to the manifold interests which claim the attention of mankind in
this age, and have endeavored to broaden their minds and characters
with each year of their lives. Mr. Yoder has traveled extensively and
is n well informed man. He takes high ground on the subject of
temperance, endeavoring by his franchise and personal influence to blot
out the liquor curse, and in all other movements for the civic welfare
his efforts are prompted by the same high degree of public spirit. He
and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has
been teacher of the business men's class for the past five years.
JOHN McNAUGHTON
Now retired from active participation
in business, after having been identified prominently with the
development and upbuilding of Elkhart county, especially of the city of
Elkhart, for more than sixty years. Mr. John McNaughton is one of the
few real " old-timers " whom time has left to this present day. He has
been and is yet one of the leading men of Elkhart—strong in character,
of which honesty and integrity have been foundation stones from youth
up, and eminent in both private and civic life. Public-spirited by
nature, from him has come for many years a definite influence in the
direction of upbuilding and progress in every phase of Elkhart's
history. It is doubtful if any other man has been so long and so
intimately identified with the enterprises and activities which have
been both the foundation and framework of Elkhart's substantial and
permanent growth toward civic and industrial ideals. His name will
always receive prominent mention in the history of Elkhart, since his
vocation placed him in position to render on many occasions great
service to that city.
Born in Cambletown, Argyleshire.
Scotland, November 25, 1825, Mr. McNaughton. by both family and racial
connections, inherited mental, moral and physical strength. His sister,
who is living with him in the Elkhart home and who is several years his
elder, is the widow of the late Hon. Joseph H. Defrees. one of the
distinguished pioneers whose life work has so much to do with the early
development of the county, and who was eminent as a business man.
journalist and in public life, at one time being in Congress. Mrs.
Defrees. whose maiden name was Margaret McNaughton. was born in
Scotland, married for her first husband a Mr. Pearce and in 1865
married Mr. Defrees, whom she survives. being one of the oldest and
most esteemed women of Elkhart county.
Mr. McNaughton was not reared in
opulence, had almost none of the advantages and easy circumstances
which are the lot of the average boy of the present day, and what he
has accomplished both in material wealth and individual character is
the result of his own labors and application. At the age of eight years
he accompanied his father and the other children to America, the mother
having died at Cambletown, and two years after their home was located
in Canada the father also died, since which time Mr. McNaughton has
practically shifted for himself and been dependent upon his own
resources. The family soon moved to Detroit. Michigan. From there he
went to Niles, Michigan, later to South Bend, Indiana, and in 1843
arrived at Goshen. He located in Elkhart in 1851. Embarking in the
grocery business, which he later enlarged to a general mercantile
store, he had a very prosperous commercial career until 1865, since
which time, up to his retirement, he has been in the real estate
business. Many buildings in this city were originally erected by him
and hardly a public enterprise of any importance has been undertaken
without his co-operation and support. He was one of the nine men who
built the dam in the river and thus gave one of the principal sources
of industrial wealth to the city. He has helped by time and money
nearly every factory that has been established in Elkhart during the
last forty years. When the Lake Shore Railroad moved its shops to
Elkhart it was partly upon his land and also with the help of a cash
bonus from him that the extensive shops were erected. His public spirit
has been manifested in numerous other ways, and during the many years
of his residence he has been gratified to witness the almost complete
transformation of his city, so far as buildings and improvements, are
concerned. While claiming no distinction as a philanthropist, and while
he would be the last one to make mention of his generosity, he ha.s for
many years been a steady and large contributor to the needs of the
worthy poor in the city of Elkhart.
In politics Mr. McNaughton, while a
Democrat in principle and generally voting that way, has also shown his
independence of views by voting for Republican candidates. He has the
honor of having been the last president of the village of Elkhart
before its incorporation as a city in 1875. He is one of the veteran
Masons of the county, having joined the order fifty years ago, and at
one time was also an Odd Fellow.
Mr. McNaughton married for his first
wife, in 1853. Miss Jane A. Hiller. who died August 31. 1854. His
second marriage, in 1858, was with Laura E. Davenport, a native of this
county. She died in 1861. Such is a brief review of the active life of
John McNaughton, and to omit the same from the history of the city of
Elkhart would leave the city's history incomplete forever.
JOHN A. PENCE
Stability of character and honesty of
purpose are the salient features in the life record of John A. Pence.
He needs no introduction to the readers of this volume localise he is
well known as an enterprising agriculturist of Jackson township and one
who " stands four square to the world." He was born in Preble county.
Ohio. September 8, 1847, his parents being Joseph and Susan (Weist)
Pence. The father, a native of Rockingham county, Virginia, was born in
1812 and died in October, 1851. By trade he was a mechanic, but through
much of his life he carried on agricultural pursuits. His parents were
natives of Scotland and with them he removed from the Old Dominion to
Preble county, Ohio, during his early boyhood clays, his father
purchasing land in the latter place. He was there reared to farm life,
and although he learned a trade he devoted much of his attention to the
tilling of the soil in later years. He married Susan Weist, who was
born in Preble county, Ohio, in 1818, and died January 2. 1881. Her
grandfather came from Germany to the new world and served his adopted
country in the war of 1812, while her father, Henry Weist, was a
soldier of the Mexican war. Mr. and Mrs. Pence were the parents of
three sons and a daughter and of this number three are yet living.
Nancy, the eldest, is the widow of J. H. Middaugh and a resident of
Dayton. Ohio. Her husband was a sawyer. Mrs. Middaugh now has three
daughters. Oliver, the youngest living member of the family, is a
resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is engaged in mining.
John A. Pence, the second of the
family, was reared in his native county as a tiller of the soil and he
supplemented his early education, acquired in the common schools, by
study in Earlham College at Richmond, Indiana. He afterward engaged in
teaching for one term in the county of his nativity. Tn early life he
chose a companion and helpmate and was married to Miss Mary A. Yates,
who belonged to a prominent family of Ohio. Her birth occurred in Miami
county, that state. August 24, 1850, and she is the youngest of twelve
children, six sons and six daughters, of whom five are now living,
namely: Thomas Yates, who is a resident of Goshen, Indiana; Frances,
the wife of Jacob Long, who was a soldier of the Civil war and is now a
retired farmer living in Lena. Ohio; Sarah, the wife of Robert
Weatherhead, a farmer living near Bristol, Indiana; Priscilla, the
widow of Dallas Miller and now a resident of Clinton township, Elkhart
county; and Mrs. Pence. The last named spent her girlhood days in the
county of her nativity and acquired a common school education. Her
father. Nezer S. Yates, was a native of Cape May county, New Jersey,
born in 1801 and his death occurred in 1874. The name of Yates is of
English origin and there were four brothers who came from England to
America prior to the Revolutionary war. while two of the number acted
as body guard to General Washington at Valley Forge. «o that the
children of Mr. and Mrs. Pence are entitled to membership with the Sons
and Daughters of the American Revolution. The name of Yates figures
conspicuously in the history of the state of Illinois. Ex-Governor
Yates is a distant relative of this family and Lieutenant Governor
Sherman of Illinois is also a relative of the family, his grandfather
having been a brother of the father of Mrs. Pence.
Our subject and his wife were married
December 9, 1869, and they began their domestic life in Miami county,
Ohio, where they lived for some years. In 1877, however, they purchased
what is known as the Pence homestead, residing thereon until 1884, when
they removed to Jackson township, Elkhart county, and bought
ninety-four acres of land, constituting their present farm. This was at
one time the Ira Jackson homestead. Mr. Pence has made improvements in
the house and has carried on his farm work along progressive lines. He
keeps good grades of stock and everything about his place is neat and
thrifty in appearance. The home has been blessed with a son and a
daughter, both yet living. The latter, Pearl, is the wife of Omar Darr
of Syracuse, Indiana, who is a carpenter and joiner by trade and they
have a little daughter, Vera. Mrs. Darr was educated in the common
schools to the age of fourteen years and then entered the Nappa- nee
high school. She afterward became a student in the high school of
Goshen, Indiana, from which she was graduated with the class of 1895.
She afterward successfully engaged in teaching in this county for
several years and she is now an active member of the church and an
ardent worker in the cause of temperance. Ollie was educated in the
public schools of Benton and is now a practical farmer and stockman.
Ollie wedded Miss Feme Judy, of the old pioneer family, and they make
their home in Jackson township.
Mr. Pence votes with the Democracy
and is a staunch advocate of Jeffersonian principles. He belongs to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he has been identified
since 1872, joining the organization in New Paris. He has passed all of
the chairs in the local lodge and is now affiliated with Goshen Lodge
No. 34, I. O. O. F. He is likewise a member of Goshen Tent. K. O. T.
M., and his son Ollie is a member of the Modern Woodmen Camp No. 7930,
at Benton. Mrs. Pence belongs to the United Brethren church. Both our
subject and his wife stand high in the esteem of all who know them and
are well worthy of representation in this volume.
SOLOMON ROWDABAUGH
Solomon Rowdabaugh. whose integrity
and strength of character have been strong elements in the successful
career that makes him one of the prosperous farmers of Jackson
township, and whose public spirit has been the motive element that has
caused him to co-operate in many measures for the general good, was
torn in Cumberland county. Pennsylvania, January 7, 1843. He 's the
third in a family of four children—two sons and two daughters, born to
John and Sabina (Shaw) Rowdabaugh, but only two of the children are now
living, the elder being Elizabeth A., the wife of Noah Rasor, a
prosperous agriculturist of Jackson township.
The father was born in Cumberland
county, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1814, and died January 26, 1894. He
came of an old Pennsylvania German family that was founded in the
Keystone state at an early day. He was a cooper by trade and followed
that pursuit in earlier life, but afterward gave his attention to
agricultural interests. He remained a resident of Pennsylvania until
after his marriage and in fact until 1851, when he left his native
state for Ohio, settling in Montgomery county, about ten miles
northwest of Dayton. The trip was made through the mountains in a
wagon, and Mrs. Rowdabaugh, grandmother of our subject, says she will
never forget the incidents that occurred in the journey. There were few
railroads at the time and most of the travel was done by water or
private conveyance. The family began life in Ohio by renting land and
for ten years remained residents of Montgomery county. On the 1st of
October. 1860, they came to Elkhart county, Indiana, and Mr. Rowdabaugh
purchased eighty acres of unimproved land. Here he began life somewhat
after the primitive manner of the times and he continued to carry on
general farming up to the time of his death. His home was a log cabin
which has been remodeled and still stands on the premises, one of the
few remaining landmarks of pioneer days. He assisted in the building of
the German Baptist church, known as the " Big Church " and he also
aided in measures for the benefit of his township and county, being a
gentleman of progressive spirit and helpful disposition. In politics he
was a Republican and his religious faith was that of the German Baptist
church. Into the minds of his children he instilled lessons of
morality, truth and uprightness that have borne fruit in the honorable
lives in later years. His wife was born in Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, August 10, 1819, and is yet living, having now passed the
eighty-sixth milestone on life's journey. She yet enjoys good health
and her mental faculties remain unimpaired. She can relate many
interesting incidents of early days in Ohio and Indiana, having for
long years been a witness of the growth and progress of these states.
She was a daughter of William and Susanna (Landis) Shaw, the former a
native of England, whence he was brought to America when only two years
old. He became a brick and stone mason and was always identified with
building operations in that way. Mrs. Rowdabaugh spent her girlhood
days in her father's home, there remaining until her marriage. To her
husband she proved a faithful helpmate on life's journey and now that
he has been called from this life she makes her home with her son
Solomon. Although well advanced in years she is still able to attend
church occasionally.
Solomon Rowdabaugh was a youth of
about seventeen years when he became a citizen of Elkhart county, and
here he has since remained. He began his education in one of the
old-time log school- houses of Pennsylvania, conning his lessons upon
an old wood bench and writing his exercises upon a desk that was made
of a broad board resting on wooden pins, driven into the wall. There
was an immense fireplace in one end of the room. The methods of
teaching were almost as primitive as the building, and the school was
supported through private subscription. He has often written with the
old-fashioned goosequill pen, which was made by the master. The schools
which his mother attended were even more primitive in character. Both
the mother and the son became familiar with all of the evidences of
pioneer life and Mr. Rowdabaugh and his wife now have in their
possession one of the old-fashioned coverlets which were used upon the
beds at an early day, while his mother has a pair of fire tongs made in
1839 and a pair of snuffers used in connection with the candles which
furnished the only means of illumination at that time. In his youth
Solomon. Rowdabaugh assisted in the active work of the farm from the
time of early spring planting until after crops were harvested in
autumn, giving his lather the benefit of his services no to the tune of
his marriage.
Mr. Rowdabaugh has been twice
married. He first wedded Miss Christina Weybright. and they had four
children—a son and three daughters, of whom two are living: John
Wesley, a practical agriculturist and a man of good business ability,
is now secretary of the German Baptist ward and also secretary of the
New Paris Mutual Telephone Union. He married Miss Grace Rensberger and
they have four children. Minnie is the wife of James D. Neff, a leading
farmer of Kosciusko county, Indiana. After losing his first wife Mr.
Rowdabaugh married Miss Mahala Longenecker. on the 10th of November,
1878, and they had twin children. The daughter, Lydia Florence, has
attended the public schools to the present time and has also been a
student in instrumental music. The son is deceased. Mrs. Rowdabaugh was
born in Kosciusko county, October 5, 1862, and is a daughter of Isaac
and Sarah (Brunbaugh) Longenecker, the former a native of Pennsylvania,
and the latter of Ohio. In their family were seven children, of whom
four are living: Catherine, the widow of Samuel Denlinger, and a
resident of Montgomery county: Conrad, who is married and follows
farming in Kosciusko county; Mahlon. who is married and is a resident
farmer of Noble county. Indiana; and Mrs. Rowdabaugh. The last named
was reared in Kosciusko county to the age of six years, when the
parents removed with their family to Lawrence county, Illinois, but
subsequently returned to the former county. Her maternal grandfather,
Conrad Brunbaugh, was one of the first settlers of Elkhart county,
making his home on Elkhart prairie. Both Mr. and Mrs. Rowdabaugh have
the warm esteem of many friends. He is a Republican in his political
views, but is content to do his public duty as a private citizen
without seeking office as a reward for party fealty. A devoted member
of the German Baptist church, he takes a very active and helpful part
in its work, contributing generously to its support and doing
everything in his power to extend its influence. He is one of the
trustees and also a deacon of the church, filling the latter position
since 1887. His farm is a valuable property of one hundred and thirty
acres, which is splendidly developed and many of the modern
improvements upon the place are the evidences of his handiwork. What he
has accomplished makes him one of the prosperous citizens of his
community and his life record, honorable in all its relations,
constitutes him well worthy of representation in this volume.
JOHN WESLEY ROWDABAUGH
It is a noticeable fact that at the
present age and in this period of progressive development and
advancement it is the young men who are bearing the burdens of life,
who are establishing new business methods and promoting the various
activities wherein rests the commercial, industrial and agricultural
prosperity of state and nation. Mr. Rowdabaugh, one of the enterprising
young men of Elkhart county, was born in Jackson township. July 19,
1869. and was the second in the family torn to Solomon and Christina
(Weybright) Rowdabaugh, who are mentioned on another page of this work.
At the usual age he entered the public schools and his close
application to his studies gave him a thorough knowledge of branches of
learning whereby he was well fitted for life's practical and
responsible duties. He has a good command of language and as a writer
is well known in connection with correspondence for various journals,
including the Milford Mail, the Farmers' Guide and different newspapers
of Goshen. He also reported the conference meetings of the German
Baptist church in the years 1895, 96 and 1902 as news matter, and his
report of the last conference was given over the telephone to the
Goshen papers, being taken down in shorthand at the other end of the
line. His attention, however, has been chiefly given to agricultural
pursuits and in all his farm work he is practical, methodical and
systematic, carrying forward to successful completion whatever he
undertakes. Into another field of activity he has extended his labors,
being now the secretary of the New Paris Mutual Telephone Union. His
farm comprises seventy acres of productive land situated on sections 26
and 27, Jackson township, and a glance at the place indicates to the
passerby the careful supervision of the owner.
Mr. Rowdabaugh was united in marriage
to Miss Grace Parolee Rensterger. on the 30th of October, 1892. She was
born in Elkhart township not far from the city of Goshen, March 22,
1874. and is a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Hess) Rensberger. in
whose family were ten children—six sons and four daughters. Of this
number eight are yet living: Josephine, who is a graduate of the Fort
Wayne Medical College, is now the wife of Dr. John M. Hoover, an
agriculturist of Elkhart township, and they both engage in the practice
of medicine; Albert is a practical farmer of Clinton township, who
married Miss Marv M. Smith: William, who wedded Miss Anna Worthington.
is a barber, residing in Las Animas, Colorado: Hiram, who wedded Miss
Ella Miller, is living on the old homestead in Elkhart township: Melvin
A., a resident of Union City. Indiana, is an agriculturist and also a
minister of the German Baptist church and was one of the trustees of
the North Manchester College; Chloe is the wife of Edwin Berkey, an
agriculturist, living in Jackson township: Cephas, living in Los
Angeles, California, is a member of the Heavy Artillery and served in
the Spanish-American war, being sent to aid in the capture of Manila,
then in the Philippine movements; Mrs. Rowdabaugh of this review
completes the family. By her marriage she has become the mother of
three sons a daughter, all of whom are yet living: Seth Earl, William
Floyd, Bertha Marie and Solomon Carl, and the three eldest are now
students in the public school.
Mr. Rowdabaugh exercises his right of
franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican party.
He belongs to the German Baptist church, in which he has served as
clerk of the official board for eight years. He is also vice president
of the Farmers' Institute of Elkhart county for Jackson township. In
all his work for public progress and improvement he has the endorsement
and encouragement of his wife, and they are both deeply interested in
church work, he having served as superintendent of the Sunday school.
Mr. Rowdabaugh now has in his possession a copy of the Carlisle Herald
and Examiner, which was issued January 1. 1840. and contains an
announcement of the candidacy of William Henry Harrison for president
of the United States. It also gives an account of the first session of
the twenty-sixth Congress. Mrs. Rowdabaugh is the possessor of a fine
ivory snuff box which was brought from Germany many years ago and is
more than two centuries old. She also has a flat-iron which has been in
existence for ninety-six years and is in weekly use. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Rowdabaugh are well known in the locality where they reside and belong
to that class of typical citizens who stand for improvement, progress,
truth, justice and right.
REV. JOHN HENRY WARSTLER
Devoting his life to the high and
holy calling of proclaiming the gospel to his fellowmen and aiding them
to follow principles which develop a noble character and high and
honorable manhood and womanhood, Rev. John Henry Warstler as pastor of
the German Baptist church, of New Paris, is now doing an effective
work, his influence being of no restricted order. He is a native of
Frederick county, Maryland, born June 24. 1840. his parents being John
and Alary Ann (Gladhill) Warstler, in whose family were seven sons and
three daughters. The father, also a native of Maryland, was born
November To. 1818, and died in 1898. He was reared and educated in the
place of his nativity and became a cooper by trade. About 1864 he
removed from Maryland to Preble county, Ohio, where he remained for a
few years, after which he took up his abode in Union City, Randolph
county, Indiana. There he was married a second time and in that city
his death occurred when he had reached the venerable age of eighty
years. His early political support was given to the Democracy, but in
1860 he supported Abraham Lincoln for the presidency. Both he and his
wife were members of the Lutheran church and Rev. Warstler now has in
his possession as a cherished heirloom the catechism which his mother
used. The Warstler family is of German lineage and in his life John
Warstler displayed many of the sterling characteristics of the ancestry
which come from the fatherland. His wife, also a native of Maryland,
was born October 11. 1822, and died in 1860. She was an affectionate
wife and mother, a kind neighbor and a devoted Christian woman. Of
their ten children six are yet living; Rev. Warstler being the eldest.
The others are: Josiah, who is married and follows farming in Jackson
township; George W., who is married and is an agriculturist of Randolph
county. Indiana; Jacob D., who is married and also lives on a farm in
Randolph county: Martha E., the wife of Charles O. Ebel, a publisher of
Terre Haute, Indiana: and Charles F., who follows agricultural pursuits
in Marshall county, Indiana.
Rev. John H. Warstler in early life
began working with his father at the cooper's trade and continued as
his assistant up to the time of his marriage. He is what is termed a
self-educated man, having acquired his knowledge largely through
self-exertion and the devotion of his leisure hours to reading, study
and investigation. From early life he entertained a strong desire to
enter the ministry and was always a close and earnest student of the
Bible. The years brought him the fulfillment of his hope and in the
German Baptist church he has labored most faithfully, preaching the
gospel as he understands it to the people who come under his teaching
and exerting a wide and beneficial influence for the moral development
of the communities in which he has lived.
Rev.' Warstler has been twice
married. On the 1st of November, 1860, he wedded Miss Mary E. Harshman,
and they became the parents of ten children, of whom three sons and
three daughters are yet living, namely: Flora E., the wife of D. T.
Gripe, in charge of the city electric light plant of Goshen. Indiana;
Charles E., who married Miss Nancy Holtzinger, and is section foreman
on the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad; Otha H.. who wedded
Miss Susan Renfrew, and is section foreman on the Lake Shore &
Michigan Southern Railroad, making his home at Elkhart; Eliza C, the
wife of U. S. Hoover, an agriculturist of Jackson township; Albert W..
a farmer of Jackson township, who married Miss Ella Moorehouse; and
Mary C., the wife of J. J. Kiefer. a farmer, residing at Middlebury,
Indiana, The mother of these children, a native of Maryland, was born
October I. 1839, and is now deceased. She was a member of the German
Baptist church. On the I5th of February, 1905, Rev. Warstler was
married to Miss Ella Cline, who was born in Elkhart county, Indiana,
June 17, 1851, and is a daughter of Elias and Martha Jane (Drake)
Cline, in whose family were four daughters and a son, and only two are
living: Margaret, the wife of Henry Judy, a farmer of Benton township;
and Mrs. Warstler. The father was born in Rockingham county, Virginia,
in 1817, and died in 1893. He possessed much mechanical ingenuity which
he exercised at the same time that he followed farming. He had little
opportunity but made the most of his advantages throughout life. He
remained in Virginia until he attained his majority and then came with
his parents to Elkhart county, making the journey by wagon in true
pioneer style, the family settling in Jackson township in 1837. It was
a pioneer district into which they came, Indians being still found in
the neighborhood, while various kinds of wild game roamed through the
forests. The first home of Mr. Cline was a log cabin of pioneer style,
and as the years passed he became a successful agriculturist. He gave
his political support to the Democratic party and both he and his wife
were members of the German Baptist church. She was horn in Ohio, in
1820, and died March 23, 1905, at the age of eighty-five years,
retaining her mental faculties unimpaired until the last. She was a
kind and good pioneer mother, devoted to her family. She came to
Elkhart county in 1830 and often related how she and her brother
visited the Indian battlefield just south of Goshen, in Elkhart
township, where the ground was strewn with the bones of the dead red
men and where they also found many silver ornaments made by the
Indians. These they brought home and showed their mother and she made
them return them to the graves on which they had found them. Her life
was characterized by good deeds to the poor and needy and to the sick
and afflicted, and her memory is yet cherished by those who knew her.
Mrs. Warstler always remained at home with her aged mother and
performed willingly every service which she could do for her. Mr. and
Mrs. Cline contributed generously toward the erection of the house of
worship of the German Baptist church. In 1873 they located in the
village of New Paris where they occupied a beautiful and attractive
home, in which Mrs. Warstler now resides. Called to their final rest,
interment was made in the Baintertown cemetery, where a beautiful
monument has been erected to their memory.
In 1878 Mr. Warstler began his work
as pastor of the German Baptist church and for a quarter of a century
he has. ministered in this way to the people of Jackson and Benton
townships. He has also delivered many public addresses and sermons
throughout the state and his life is devoted to the cause of the church
of which he is now a most able representative. In politics he is a
Republican on national affairs and at local elections votes
independently. His time is given in almost undivided manner to his
church work and his efforts have been far-reaching and beneficial. ably
supported by his good wife.
ALFRED LOWRY
As present mayor of Goshen and for
many years prominently identified with the manufacturing, business and
public affairs of this city, Alfred Lowry's broad and self-attained
individual success has likewise identified him in many useful ways with
his city and community.
Born in New York city and having been
left an orphan, he was brought to Elkhart county and reared to manhood
in the home of William D. Platter at Waterford. Mr. Lowry has been a
resident of Goshen since 1872. The Waterford and Goshen schools
furnished him a fair amount of education, but as a matter of fact he
has been earning his own way since boyhood, being a practical,
self-made man, whose achievements in life have been due more to his own
energy and persevering ambition than to any circumstances of fortune or
heritage. He was introduced to the every-day world of labor by becoming
an employee, while a boy, first on the farm, working by the month, and
then in the Goshen Pump Company's factory, where in time he rose to the
position of foreman. Having thus become thoroughly familiar with
pump-making in all its branches, he became one of the organizers of the
I L Pump Company, and later of the I X L and Goshen Pump Company,
the well known manufacturing corporation of Goshen, and held the
offices of president and treasurer of the company. He withdrew from
this business, however, in 1897, and became assistant cashier in the
State Bank of Goshen, which institution he helped organize, and has
been a director of the same since 1891. Mr. Lowry was one of the
founders and, since its organization, has been a member of the board of
directors of the Elkhart County Loan and Trust Company. While
continuing to discharge his duties as cashier he is also interested in
real estate transactions, and is the owner of valuable farm property,
the management of which he directs. Mr. Lowry is a fine type of the
successful business man who has gained each successive step through his
own well directed effort and industry.
Mr. Lowry in politics is a stanch
Republican, and, long noted for the public-spirited part he has taken
in municipal and civic affairs, has a record of public service marked
with the utmost fidelity to duty in the administration of public
matters entrusted to his care. He served as a member of the Goshen
common council, 1896-98 and 1900-02. and in 1904 was elected chief
executive of the city, a choice which has proved most felicitous for
the welfare of Goshen. Fraternally Mr. Lowry affiliates with the
Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
From this brief review of his life
his interests are seen to he varied and so important that his own
welfare and success involve the well being of others. The strength to
carry these responsibilities has been given him, and he has made
excellent use of the opportunities which have been vouchsafed to him.
LEWIS K. McCLURE
Lewis K. McClure, who, applying his
natural energy and business ability to the development of the resources
of the county, has thereby won success, becoming a substantial farmer
of Jackson township, was born in Elkhart county, March 7, 1853. His
parents were John and Rachel (Lloyd) McClure, in whose family were six
children, two sons and four daughters, Lewis K. being the fourth in
order of birth. Only four of the number are now living and further
mention is made of the family in the sketch of John F. McClure of New
Paris, given on another page of this work.
Lewis K. McClure was reared in
Elkhart county and at the usual age entered the common schools. The
school system at that time was very imperfect, for pioneer conditions
existed. He began his studies in a little log building standing on
section twenty-two. It contained but one room and was furnished with
slab benches. There were no desks before any of the seats, but a board
was placed around the sides of the room, resting upon wooden pins
driven into the wall. Upon this the older children wrote their
exercises. The Elementary spelling took was used and an old-fashioned
goosequill pen made by the master was found in the hands of the older
pupils. The branches of learning taught were somewhat limited, being
confined largely to reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and
geography. It is probable that Mr. McClure enjoyed the pleasures of the
play-ground as thoroughly as he did the duties of the schoolroom. When
not occupied with his text books during the summer seasons he aided in
the work on the home farm and continued to assist his father until he
had attained his majority, when his father gave him a horse and with
this as his sole stock in trade he started out in life on his own
account.
Mr. McClure. as a companion and
helpmate for life's journey, chose Miss Delilah Immel, to whom he was
married on the 15th of September. 1880. She was torn in Jackson
township, November 13. 1856. and is the fourth in a family of ten
children, whose parents were Israel and Eva (Coughman) Immel. Her
father was a native of Ross county, Ohio, and further mention of him is
made elsewhere in this work. Mrs. McGure spent her girlhood days in the
place of her nativity and acquired n common school education, after
which she became a student in the Goshen normal school. Later she was a
successful teacher of this county for seven terms, the scholars making
good progress under her direction, but she gave up her work in this
connection in order to assume household duties at the time of her
marriage to Mr. McClure.
The young couple began their domestic
life upon a farm and Mr. McClure has continued to engage in
agricultural pursuits since that time. It was in 1883 that he located
on his present farm of one hundred and forty acres of productive and
valuable land in Jackson township and he has since given his attention
in undivided manner to the further development and improvement of this
property. In 1904 he erected a pretty and modern country home, which
forms one of the attractive features of the landscape. It was
constructed in tasteful style and architecture, is well furnished and
moreover is noted for its generous hospitality, which is greatly
enjoyed by many friends of the family. In his farming operations Mr.
McClure has been quite successful and he has striven to improve the
grade of cattle raising, his specialty being Short-horns. He also
raises Poland China hogs and his stock presents a splendid appearance,
being well kept and of good breeds.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. McClure has
been blessed with a daughter and a son. Maude, who was graduated from
the public schools of New Paris in the class of 1897, entered the
Milford high school in the year 1898 and was a student there for three
years. She afterward successfully passed a teacher's examination in
Elkhart county and later pursued a year's course in the New Paris high
school. She next secured a position as teacher in the intermediate
department of the schools of New Paris, where she remained for two
years, when she continued her own education, matriculating in Danville
normal, where she is now a student. She will have charge the coming
year of the intermediate department of the New Paris high schools. She
belongs to the New Century Club of New Paris. The only son, Lloyd,
completed the course in the public schools near his home with the class
of 1898 and then spent two years in the Milford high school and four
months in the high school at New Paris. He then took the teacher's
examination and after receiving his diploma he continued his studies in
New Paris. His first school was in the home township, teaching there in
the winter of 1902 and '03, and he has now followed the profession for
three years. In the fall of 1905 he expects to enter the Danville
normal to pursue the full scientific course. He is a thorough and
zealous student, and Mr. and Mrs. McClure have every reason to be proud
of their children, whom they have carefully educated and thus qualified
for the important duties in life.
Mr. McClure votes with the Republican
party, of which he has been a stalwart advocate since casting his first
presidential ballot for R. B. Hayes. He has frequently been a delegate
to county conventions and yet he is not a typical politician in the
sense of office seeking. preferring to leave that to others. He stands
for all that is progressive in citizenship, honorable in business
affairs and for faithfulness to the ties of friendship and of the home.
REV. ABRAHAM B. YODER
Rev. Abraham B. Yoder, presiding
elder for the Mennonite Brethren in Christ of southern Michigan and
northern Indiana, one of the best known and most able of the ministers
of that denomination, has been a highly esteemed citizen of Wakarusa
for a number of years. Not only as an evangel of religion, culture and
morality, has he directed his endeavors in performing the work of life,
but, being possessed of good business sagacity and executive power, he
has been known as a successful merchant in Wakarusa, and in various
ways has identified himself with the life and activities of the
communities where he has made his home.
Elkhart county also claims Rev. Yoder
as one of its native sons, and he has been an honored member of the
great family, both native and adopted, which has brought advancement
and prosperity to the county during the past decades. Born in Olive
township, December 24, 1867, he is the seventh in a family of nine
children, seven sons and two daughters, born to Pennsylvania German
parents. Henry B. Yoder, the father, was born June 3, 1829, in Mahoning
county, Ohio, and died March 18, 1899. at his home near Wakarusa,
Indiana. Elizabeth (Bixler) Yoder was born in Mercer county,
Pennsylvania, August 30, 1833. and died at her home near Wakarusa,
December 24, 1889.
Reared on the home farm and educated
in the common schools and then the high school at Wakarusa, at the age
of eighteen Rev. Yoder received a certificate to teach school and at
once entered upon his profession in Locke township, where thirteen
years of successful work as a practical educator shows how well he
performed his duties. He also taught a year in the Elkhart Seminary, in
which institution he taught language and church history and topical
Bible study. At the age of twenty-eight he entered the ministry of the
Mennonite Brethren in Christ Society, and of his nine years in the
ministry he spent two at New Market. Iowa, where he had charge of
several congregations. In 1901 he was elected by the annual conference
as presiding elder of the Indiana and Ohio Conference, his field of
later being in southern Michigan and northern Indiana. He has ten
circuits and sixteen churches to look after, so that he leads a very
busy life and his devotion to the cause of upbuilding his church and
religious culture in general has brought about some notable results in
the last few years. Some years ago Rev. Yoder, with his two brothers.
N. B. and A. B.. established a hardware business in Wakarusa, and for
seven years was one of the merchants of the town. The fire of October.
1808. resulted in the destruction of thirteen buildings comprising the
main business portion of the town, their place of business being burned
and their resulting loss being five thousand dollars. He sold out to
his brothers in February, 1901.
August 31, 1889, Rev. Yoder married
Miss Mary M. Myers. They have one child, Ray O., born November 20,
1893, who is now in the seventh grade of the Wakarusa schools and is a
bright all-around student, with perhaps special fondness for history
and geography. Mrs. Yoder. who as a woman of culture and innate
refinement, has been both an inspiring influence and helpful co-worker
with her husband, was born in this county. February 12, 1869, being the
tenth of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, born to Jonas
and Mary (Barkey) Myers. The five children yet living are all residents
of this county. Jonas Myers, who was born in Columbiana county. Ohio,
is now aged seventy years and lives on a farm in Locke township. He and
his wife are members of the Mennonite church, and his political belief
is Republican. Mrs. Myers, who was born in Holmes county, Ohio, over
seventy years ago. is also still living. Mrs. Yoder received her
education in the schools of Locke township. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder have a
pretty and cosy cottage on Wabash avenue in Wakarusa and are held in
high esteem among their many friends.
A strong Prohibitionist, Rev. Yoder
has done all in his power for temperance and morality in his town. He
is an able exponent, by practical life and conviction, of the creed of
simplicity, righteous living and spirituality which forms the basis of
Mennonite faith. The world is much, the gainer for the past and present
lives of this high-minded and wholesome-acting sect, and wherever
Mennonite communities are found there abide integrity, respect for law,
and high standards of moral conduct.
JOHN F. McCLURE
John F. McClure, a farmer, who was
connected with pioneer interests in Elkhart county, was born in Jackson
township, November 20. 1850, his parents lacing John and Rachel E.
(Loyd) McClure. The father was born in Muskingum county. Ohio, October
30, 1808. and died September 6. 1893. He was reared to farm life,
spending his childhood and youth in the county of his nativity.
Following his marriage he removed to Indiana, in 1850, accompanied by
Louis Noble, making the journey in a covered wagon in true pioneer
style. He settled in Jackson township, purchasing about one hundred and
sixty acres of partially improved land, on which he built a log cabin.
Deer were to lie seen in the forests at that time and the village of
New Paris was but a hamlet. Mr. McClure was a very enterprising and
energetic man and through his well directed labors acquired three
hundred and eighty-six acres of land in Jackson township, together with
a nice property in New Paris. He adhered to the principles of the
Presbyterian faith and advocated all measures for the growth and
development of the churches and for the betterment of mankind. He was a
man of strong convictions and he daily instilled into the minds of his
children lessons of industry and integrity, while his own life record
was proof of the value and sure rewards of character. Mrs. McClure was
also a native of Muskingum county, Ohio, and to her family was an
affectionate and loving wife and mother. They became the parents of six
children—two sons and four daughters, and those yet living are: Ellen,
the wife of John Scrannage, an agriculturist of Clinton township; John
F., who was the third of the six children; Lewis K., who is married and
follows farming in Jackson township: and Rachel E., who resides in New
Paris, Indiana.
John F. McClure was reared upon the
old home farm and at the usual age entered the public schools, the
little "temple of learning" being a log schoolhouse in Jackson
township. The building is still standing and is now used as a house.
There was one long desk and the room was heated by a box stove. The
seats were made of slabs, resting on wooden legs, and the methods of
teaching were also somewhat primitive, Mr. McClure having witnessed
great changes in the school system of the county. He can remember many
events of pioneer life here, including the building of the first
railroad which crossed Jackson township. He was early trained to farm
labor, becoming familiar with the work of field and meadow at an early
age, and he remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age,
when he began renting land of his father so that his labors might more
directly benefit himself. He continued to make his home, however, with
his parents up to the time of his marriage, which occurred on the 31st
of January, 1884, Miss Mary E. Vail becoming his wife. She was born in
Ohio, May 9, 1857. along with her parents came to Indiana when a little
girl, so that her education was acquired in this county. She is a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church and belongs to the Ladies' Aid
Society, and has been a faithful and devoted wife and mother,
encouraging and assisting her husband in every possible way. To this
marriage has been born a daughter, Carrie E., who is now attending
school and is in the seventh grade.
Mr. McClure is a stalwart Republican
and proudly cast his first presidential vote for General U. S. Grant,
since which time he has given his ballot for each nominee at the head
of the ticket. He has frequently been chosen to represent his township
in the county convention, hut he has never sought or desired office for
himself, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business
affairs. For many years he continued to carry on agricultural pursuits,
he and his sister Rachel owning one hundred and eighty-five acres of
fine land in Jackson township. In March, 1904, however, he left the
active work of the farm to others and removed to New Paris, locating in
a modest home here in order to educate his daughter. While on the farm
he always raised the best grades of stock and carried on his work along
progressive lines. The family are well known in Ne\v Paris and
throughout Elkhart county and the hospitality of many of the best homes
is freely accorded them.
REV. HENRY NEFF.
Rev. Henry Neff, active in the
ministry of the German Baptist church and making his home in Jackson
township, is of Swiss lineage, his ancestors having lived in
Switzerland, the land of the Alps. He was born in White county.
Indiana, January 23, 1837, his parents being Henry and Anna (Frantz)
Neff, who had eleven children, but only two are now living, the sister
of Rev. Neff being Mrs. Susan Arnold, the widow of Levi Arnold and a
resident of Jackson township. Henry Neff was a native of Botetourt
county, Virginia, born in 1798, a year before the death of George
Washington. He became a tiller of the soil and remained in the Old
Dominion until after his marriage. He wedded Miss Anna Frantz and four
children were born to them ere their removal to the west. His
educational privileges were meager, but he managed to broaden his
knowledge greatly through private study and investigation. He was an
earnest student of the Bible and was also noted for his piety and his
high standard of conduct. He was firm in his religious faith and each
day led the worship around the family altar. It was in 1833. the year
of the great meteoric display, that he and his family emigrated to the
west with southern Indiana as their destination. The trip was made in
true pioneer style, traveling in covered wagons across the swamps and
through the wilderness. They took up their abode in White county,
Indiana, where they were living at the time of the birth of Rev. Neff.
For a few years only, however, they remained in that locality and
thence came to Elkhart county, settling in Washington township. In 1840
they located in Jackson township, where Mr. Neff purchased eighty acres
of partially improved land. The surrounding district was covered with a
dense growth of timber and no roads had been laid out. The first home
of the family was a little log cabin with a mud and stick chimney,
while before the immense fire-place was a stone hearth. Henry Neff
carried on agricultural pursuits year after year and became a
successful man, accumulating six hundred and forty acres of land, so
that he was enabled to give to each of his five sons an eighty acre
tract. He thus assisted them materially as they started out in life and
he also instilled into their minds in youth lessons of industry,
integrity and honor, which made them upright and valuable citizens in
later years. At that early day many of the residents of Elkhart county
were worshipers in the German Baptist church and as the county became
more thickly populated the original church was divided and subdivided,
various congregations being established until the last offshoot of the
church is that known as the Union Center church. Henry Neff, Sr., was
then chosen by the congregation as its pastor and for about thirty
years he ministered to this growing flock. By his good words of
admonition and his untiring labors the church prospered and grew
throughout this long period. In early days the services of the German
Baptists were held in the homes of the different members but in 1858
the East or Whitehead house of worship was erected in Jackson township
and it is now the oldest church of the denomination in Elkhart county.
Mr. Neffs money aided very materially in the erection of this church
and he always contributed generously toward promoting the cause of
religion. His life was indeed honorable and upright and his memory is
yet enshrined in the hearts of those who knew him. He passed away in
November. 1868, amid the deep and widespread regret of a very extensive
circle of friends. His wife, who was also a native of Virginia, was
born near Roanoke City in 1804 and died in 1887. She was a kind and
affectionate wife and mother, economical in her management of household
affairs, and thus she proved of great assistance to her husband in the
early days when their possessions were few. Great responsibility
devolved upon her. for her husband's time was taken up almost wholly by
his ministerial duties.
Rev. Henry Neff, whose name
introduces this record, was a little lad of only about three years when
he was brought to Elkhart county, and for sixty-five years he has
resided here, witnessing its development as from the virgin forests
there has emerged an advanced civilization. For more than a half
century he. has lived in Jackson township and during this period has
witnessed many remarkable changes, including the introduction of the
telegraph and telephone and the building of the extensive railroad
systems that now cross and recross the state, while the beautiful
cities of Elkhart and Goshen. have developed from small towns and
villages and other centers of learning and culture, of business
activity and commercial enterprise, have sprung up. As has been said,
great changes have occurred within the memory of Rev. Neff. He was at
one time a pupil in the early pioneer, school when the house was built
of logs—a little structure eighteen by twenty-two feet. It was covered
with a clapboard roof, through which a stove pipe extended from the
stove to the open air. The desk on which the larger boys and girls
wrote their exercises was formed by placing a board upon wooden pins
driven into the wall, while the seats were made of split puncheons, in
which large holes had been bored that wooden legs might lie inserted,
thus raising the bench from the ground. He wrote with the old-time
goose quill pen fashioned by the master, and some of his early
text-books were Webster's Elementary Speller, McGuffey's Readers and
Davies' and Ray's arithmetics. Now the log school- house has passed
away, replaced by substantial frame and brick structures, and great
improvements have been introduced in the methods' of teaching as well
as in the curriculum.
Rev. Neff was reared to the
occupation of farming and after arriving at years of maturity he was
married to Miss Elizabeth Brown, the wedding ceremony being performed
on the 6th of February, 1862. Mrs. Neff was born in Elkhart county,
July g, 1840, and is a daughter of Jacob and Lydia (Smith) Brown. By
her marriage she became the mother of four sons and a daughter, all of
whom are yet living, namely: Melvin D., a farmer residing in Kosciusko
county, Indiana, who married Miss Etta Ruckstool: William Franklin and
Charles A., who are upon the home farm; Josiah E.. a farmer of Jackson
township, who married Etta Conrad and has a son and a daughter; and
Anna, the wife of William Clayton, a farmer of Jackson township, by
whom she has three daughters and one son.
In 1892 Rev. Neff was elected
minister of the gospel of the German Baptist church and labors with the
Union Center congregation. He is loved by his people for his devotion
to the cause and his consecration to the work and he enjoys the full
respect and confidence of people of other denominations as well. He
aims at all times to present the truth as he understands it and to
assist his fellow men in drawing near to the path of life marked out by
the holy scriptures. He makes his home in Jackson township, where he
owns a valuable farm of over four hundred acres of land and he also has
eighty acres outside of the county limits. His is a beautiful country
residence, situated in the midst of attractive surroundings and he and
his family are prominent socially, exercising a beneficent influence
for the welfare and upbuilding of the community.
DANIEL A. SANDERS
The expression " the dignity of labor
" is exemplified in the life record of Daniel A. Sanders, who
attributes his success to earnest work and close application. He is a
man of strong force of character, purposeful and energetic, and his
keen discrimination and sound judgment are shown in his capable
management of one of the most important industries of Goshen, being
president of the Sanders & Egbert Company. He was born in York
county, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1841. His father, Herman R. Sanders,
was a native of Germany, being there reared, and after coming to
America was married and took up his abode in York county, Pennsylvania,
his death there occurring when he had reached his eightieth year. He
was a shoemaker by occupation. His wife died at the age of sixty-six
years. She bore the maiden name of Rebecca Gross, and by her marriage
became the mother of three children, two sons and a daughter.
Daniel A. Sanders, the second child
in order of birth in his parents' family, spent his boyhood days in the
county of his nativity, during which time he attended its public
schools. On reaching the age of twenty-one he left the parental home
and started out on the active duties of life for himself, first serving
a two years' apprenticeship at the stone-mason's trade, and for eleven
years he followed that occupation. On the expiration of that period he
engaged in the buying and selling of timber. The year 1865 witnessed
his arrival in Goshen. and in 1892, at the organization of the Lesli.
Sanders & Egbert Company, he was made its vice-president and
treasurer. In July. 1898, the firm name was changed to that of Sanders
& Egbert Company, and of this Mr. Sanders was made president and
general manager. Much of the success of this well known institution is
due to his untiring efforts. This extensive corporation furnishes
employment to from one hundred and fifty to two hundred men, and is one
of the leading institutions of this section of the state. Mr. Sanders
is also a director in the City National Bank and a director in the
Elkhart County Loan & Trust Company of Goshen.
He married Frances Mary Miltenberger,
and they have had two sons— Harry M.. and Boyd W.. who died at the age
of fifteen years; Mr. Sanders gives his political support to the
Democracy, and fraternally is a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows.
WILBER L. STONEX.
Wilber L. Stonex, for many years
prominent in legal and business affairs at Goshen. ex-president of the
Elkhart County Historical Society, and who, out of pure love for the
preservation of local annals and old-time records of his county, has
devoted much time and labor to placing in literary form several
important phases of the history of his county, was born at Sturgis,
Michigan. March 5, 1852.
Mr. Stonex has a. long and
interesting ancestry, and is connected on the maternal side with one of
the earliest as also most prominent pioneers of Elkhart county. His
great-grandfather was Thomas Stonex, who was torn, lived and died in
Morton, Norfolk county, England; who had three brothers, Rowland.
Benjamin and James, and one sister, Deborah; and who married for his
second wife a widow Wright, who bore him one son, William.
William Stonex, the grandfather, who
was born in England in 1791, married Elizabeth Tipple, and in 1830
emigrated to the United States, making a permanent settlement in
Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He died in 1848, and was buried in Franklin
county. Indiana.
One child was born to William and
Elizabeth Stonex. William Garrett, whose birth occurred at 18 Chambers
street, London. England. November 17. 1818. and who was twelve years
old when the family came to America. Studying law at Lawrenceburg. this
state, he was admitted to the bar in 1842. but soon afterward entered
the ministry of the Methodist church, and at one time was pastor of
that congregation at Goshen. In 1867 he transferred his religious
allegiance to the Episcopal church. He died in Dexter, Michigan, August
12, 1897, and was buried in Goshen, where he was well known and much
beloved. His wife was Mary Agnes Thomas, the youngest daughter of
Thomas Thomas, whose name figures prominently in connection with the
early history of this count and who was the first count clerk.
She was but a child when she came to
this county, and she married Rev. Mr. Stonex March 30. 1846. Her death
occurred April 10. 1889, at the age of sixty-three years. The following
children who grew to maturity were born of their marriage: Rev. Henry
A. Stonex: Mary and Emma, unmarried daughters, who live at Dexter,
Michigan; and Wilber L.
Owing to the itinerant character of
his father's profession Mr. Wilber I.. Stonex passed his youth in
various localities and under varying influences. He received an
excellent education, however, attending and graduating from Albion
(Michigan) College in 1870 with the degree of A. B. (A. M., in 1880).
He then taught one year in Immanuel Hall Military School, near Chicago,
and in January, 1872. came to Goshen and entered the law office of the
well known law firm of Baker and Mitchell. Pursuing his studies with
characteristic energy, he was admitted to the bar in 1873, and has
since been numbered among the able representatives of the Elkhart
county bar.
Mr. Stonex married, December 20.
1883. Miss Eunice Bivins, who was born in Mishawaka. Indiana, a
daughter of William L. Bivins, who twice served as postmaster at
Goshen. His father, Chauncey Bivins. was a pioneer settler at Goshen.
Mr. and Mrs. Stonex have one son, Arthur Bivins. and one daughter.
Mildred. Mr. Stonex is a Republican in politics, affiliates with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a member of the Episcopal
church. He was a prime mover in the organization of the Elkhart County
Historical Society, served several years as its president, has read
before its sessions several valuable papers stored with historical data
concerning this county, and has done much for the cause of preserving
local history.
DAVID F. MILLER.
David F. Miller, a leading
representative of industrialism in Nappanee, who is engaged in the
manufacture of buggies, was born in Concord township, Elkhart county,
September 22, 1862. His father, Joseph Miller, was a native of
Pennsylvania and became one of the pioneer residents of Elkhart county,
but was killed in 1865 when his son David was only about three years of
age. The latter was reared upon a farm in Kosciusko county. Indiana, by
J. H. Miller, with whom he remained until eighteen years of age, and
during that time he mastered the branches of learning taught in the
public schools and also gained an intimate and practical knowledge of
farm work in its various departments. On starting out upon an active
business career he worked as a farm hand, being thus employed for five
years, but thinking that he might enter a business that would prove
more congenial and more profitable he came to Nappanee in 1884 and
began dealing in harness and buggies. He continued in that line until
1892, when he commenced the manufacture of carriages as a member of a
company, but in 1900 he purchased his partner's interests and is now
conducting the business alone, employing about thirty men. He
manufactures carriages, buggies and cutters, and the output of the
factory is no\v quite large, as is indicated by the fact that so many
workmen are retained in his services. Thoroughness and substantial
workmanship are two of the qualities which characterize the output and
have been a strong element in his success. His trade is growing and Mr.
Miller has made for himself a creditable position among the leading
manufacturers of Elkhart county.
A stanch Republican in his political
views, Mr. Miller has acceptably served on the school board, and
whether in office or out of it he labors consecutively and effectively
for the welfare of the community. Fraternally he is connected with the
Knights of Pythias. He was named October 23, 1885, to Miss Alice Artz.
a daughter of Ahab Artz. and a native of Elkhart county. They now have
two interesting children—Vera and Walter, and in social circles they
are well known, the hospitality of the best homes of this locality
being freely accorded them.
EZRA G. LEEDY
As the history of a nation is best
told in the lives of its people, according to the words of Emerson, it
is imperative that we make mention of Ezra G. Leedy. who is one of the
representative agriculturists of Jackson township. He was born in this
county May 4, 1861. His father. Christian S. Leedy. was a native of
Ohio, born about 1821, and in the state of his nativity he was reared
to manhood. Determining to seek a home elsewhere, he walked across the
country to Elkhart county, taking up his abode in Jefferson township,
where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of partially improved
land. He became one of the pioneer settlers of that locality. assisting
in its early development and improvement and there he made his home
until his death, which occurred in 1869. In his political views he was
a Democrat and both he and his wife were members of the German Baptist
church. Mrs. Leedy bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Garver and was
born in Ohio, being a few years her husband's junior. She too lived for
many years in this county, her death occurring in Elkhart township. By
her marriage she had become the mother of nine children, seven sons and
two daughters, of whom Ezra G. was the sixth in order of birth. Of this
family seven are yet living, while four are residents of Elkhart
county. Those residing elsewhere are Lewis G.. an agriculturist, who is
married and resides in Van Buren county. Michigan: Ira G.. who is a
horticulturist and is married and makes his home in Colona. Michigan;
and Rufus, who is married and is a prosperous citizen of Moline.
Illinois.
Ezra G. Leedy was reared in Jefferson
township to the life of a farmer, early becoming familiar with all the
duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. His
preliminary education, acquired in the common schools, was supplemented
by a term's study in the college at Ashland, Ohio. He remained upon the
home farm until twenty years of age and was then married to Miss Emma
Ulery on the 26th of February. 1880. She was torn in Elkhart county.
July 23, 1863, and is a daughter of Levi and Mary (Sickefoos) Ulery.
She acquired her education in the public schools and by her marriage
has become (he mother of a son and three daughters. Dwight L., who
after attending the common school pursued a four years' course in the
Goshen high school, is now a painter following his trade in Goshen. He
married Miss Regina Zetler. Pearl M.. who attended the public schools
near her home, has spent three and a half years as a high school
student and is named one of the successful teachers of the county. She
also studied music to some extent at the Tri-State Normal School at
Angola. Indiana. Mary E. was graduated as member of the class of 1902
from the New Paris high school under Professor Swart. Ida L'. was
graduated from the New Paris high school in the class of 1904 and to
some extent has studied music.
It was in 1883 that Mr. Leedy located
in Jackson township, where he owns one hundred six and two-thirds acres
of land, on which he has erected a comfortable country residence. His
farm is well improved and yields to him good crops, so that his
business is now proving profitable. In politics he is a Democrat where
national questions are involved, but at local elections he votes
independently, regarding only the capability of the candidates. Both he
and his wife are members of the Brethren church at New Paris and Mr.
Leedy has served as one of its trustees, while he and his daughters are
teachers in the Sunday school in the Evangelical church at New Paris.
The Leedy family in four states hold
an annual reunion, and the Leedys of Indiana held their reunion the
fourth Wednesday in August at Winona Park. Indiana, and there were
about one hundred in attendance at this memorable occasion, which
occurred August 23. 1905.
CHARLES H. MOORE
Charles H. Moore. well known as one
of the progressive and practical farmers of Olive township, is a scion
of one of the old settlers of this county, and in his own industrious
and successful career has continued the good work begun by his father
during the pioneer period. Mr. Moore was born in Elkhart county, March
5. 1866. A sou of John and Julia (Compton) Moore, he was the seventh in
their family of twelve children, three sons and nine daughters, eight
of whom are living and all residents of this county. Two of the sisters
were teachers in this county, and Josephine. now the wife of Tabor
Mitchell, taught for twenty years.
John Moore, the father, was born in
New York state in 1820 and died in 1901. after attaining the advanced
age of eighty-one years. At the age of fifteen he left his native state
and accompanied his parents on their arduous and pioneer journey
through the woods to Indiana, where they arrived in time to experience
all the primitive conditions which surrounded the earliest settlers.
His active career was passed as farmer and stockman, and though he
began life without cash capital, long before the close of his career he
was rated as a prosperous man and one who wielded influence in his
community. Many years ago he bought eighty acres of untouched timber
land in Olive township, going in debt for it and erecting for his first
habitation a log cabin. He improved his land into one of the model
farms of the township, and by further purchase owned one hundred and
forty-four acres in the township. He was a Democrat in politics and was
a member of the Evangelical church. His father came from England, but
the family stock is Scotch. The mother. Julia (Compton) Moore, was born
in Indiana and died when her son Charles was nine years old.
Reared to manhood in this county and
receiving a common school education. Mr. Moore began his independent
career by purchasing part of the old homestead, and it is here that he
has wrought out his successful career. He tends his land in an
up-to-date manner, raises good stock, and is known as a thoroughly
practical and efficient farmer.
August 15. 1884. Mr. Moore married
Miss Harriet Zimmerman, and three children have been born to them.
Clyde C.. who has finished the common schools and taken two years of
high school work, is his father's efficient helper and gratifies his
taste for mechanics by doing all the work of that nature around the
place. Madge E., the elder daughter, has taken the eighth grade of
school work and also studied music. Mildred I., the youngest, is in the
second grade. Mrs. Moore is a native of the far west, having been born
in California, but since the age of six years has lived in Indiana,
where she received a common and high school education. Mr. Moore is a
Democrat in politics, and he and his wife stand high in the esteem and
favorable regard of their community. ,
RUFUS C. EHRET
Rufus C. Ehret is the enterprising
gentleman who is manager and editor of the Wakarusa Citizen, the
history- of which bright little paper is given elsewhere in this
volume. Of German lineage, and deriving from that source many of the
determined qualities of character which have served him so -.veil in
his career, Mr. Ehret was born in Elkhart county. January 1. 1868, the
eldest of four children, two sons and two daughters. born to Michael
and Lydia (Seitz) Ehret. Three children survive. Sarah is the wife of
George Austin, a farmer at Nashville, Michigan; and Homer E. is a
farmer of the same locality, and married Miss Hattie Scott. The father,
who was born in Ohio and now resides in Nashville. Michigan, was of
German parents, and during his active career has followed farming with
marked success. He is an ardent Republican, and lie and his wife adhere
to the religious faith of the United Brethren Radical. The mother, who
is also living, was born in Pennsylvania.
Mr. Ehret spent only the first two
years of his childhood in this county, and thereafter until he was
thirty-two years old was a resident at Nashville. Michigan. A common
school education was supplemented by a course at the well known
business school. Ferris Institute, at Big Rapids, Michigan. He was
granted a teacher's certificate at the age of eighteen, and for fifteen
years following taught school in the counties of Barry and Eaton,
Michigan. He then went into the far southwest, to Socorro county. New
Mexico, and for six months was employed as a bookkeeper in the mining
camps of the territory. In the fall of 1901 he returned to Elkhart
county and for a year was employed with Mr. Frank Brown, the attorney,
and in the fall of 1902 took charge of the Wakarusa Citizen, a
seven-column, quarto print which is a credit to the editor and the town
of Wakarusa, and leads the van in many enterprises of concern to the
progress of the town. The office has a Washington press, a
Chandler-Price-Gordon job press, and on each Friday morning the issue
of seven hundred copies is distributed to the many readers in the town
and throughout the a unity.
Mr. Ehret married Miss Florence
Wells, who was born in the province of Ontario, Canada, and was
educated in the public schools and took a business course in a convent.
Her parents are both living in Ontario. They have one little daughter,
Florence Mildred.
A stanch Republican, Mr. Ehret cast
his first vote for Harrison, and on all the public questions of the day
he keeps himself intelligently informed, so that he is a pleasant
gentleman to talk with. He was secretary of the Wakarusa Improvement
Association, an organization designed to encourage the location of
factories and other industries in Wakarusa. During his residence at
Nashville, Michigan, he was treasurer of his town and township two
different terms. Since locating in Wakarusa he has gained the highest
esteem of the citizens through his public-spirited citizenship, his
upright conduct, and genial disposition. He edits his ]>aper with
clearness and force, yet with utmost regard for propriety and taste,
and neatness and thoroughness seem to characterize everything he
undertakes.
Source: A Twentieth Century History
and Biographical Record of Elkhart County, Indiana By Anthony Deahl
Published by Lewis Publ. Co., 1905