DeKalb County, Indiana - Biographical sketches (2 of 2 so headed), 1914 (part 2 of 20)

lender a full page-wide heachng of "Our Leading Citizen (joiie," the St. Joe Nczvs made the following editorial comment on the life and character of Mr. Leighty, the same having special value because of the writer's long personal acquaintance with the deceased and knowledge of his life and works: "St. Joe has lost by death its foremost citizen, Hon. J. D. Leighty, and by his taking away the town suffers an almost irreparable loss. What he did for tlie place and his interest in its welfare has been recognized and appreciated, but the full measure of his worth will be better known and more fully understood as time reveals the extent of our loss. He took what may well be termed a fatherlv interest in the little town that he and his father, John Leighty, had platted, for, as he had been instrumental in bringing it into existence, he took just pride in its ad\-ancement and felt keenly any failure. Hence, vi^ith his pocketbook, his counsel and his hands, he stood ever ready to help forward all movements for the betterment of St. Joe. In every emergency he could be depended upon, and in every move for civic or moral reform, he never was classed among the doubtful ones. St. Joe feels its loss deeplv and our citizens are in ni.iurning. PaU the loss is not confined to St. Joe alone. In a relatively decreasing degree, as they are farther removed from the scenes of his activities and influence, the county and the state suffers loss by the death of Mr. Leighty. He was a well known figure in councils outside the sphere wherein he chiefly moved, always on the side of what he believed to be right.* * * An honest man has been styled 'the noblest work of God.' T- D- Leighty was an honest man - honest in his dealings with his fellow men; hone-^t in his outspoken advocacy of the right, as he saw it; honest in his abhorrence of hypocrisy and sham ; honest to himself in shaping his course through Hfe to the dictates of a conscience governed by a high sense of right and wrong. Men differed from him in opinion and in judgment, but tliey never questioned his honesty nor impugned his motives, for he stood out in the open, never resorting to cjuestionable means, and his opponents respected him. His veracity was unquestioned, for his word was known to be his bond of honor. His acts of i<indness- - and they were many - were not jjertormed in pubHc places nor accompanied by display. He was a true scion of the 'Pennsylvania Dutch' stock, which has left an impress for good upon many parts of the country.

Politically, Jacob D. Leighty w as a stanch supporter of the Republican party and took a deep interest in public aiifairs. He was called u^Don a number of times to serve his fellow citizens in a public capacity, always acquitting himself with credit and to their entire satisfaction. In 1875 he was appointed postmaster at St. Joe, holding the office until his election to the office of township trustee, when he resigned. In 1897 he received at the hands of President McKinley the appointment as state pension agent, a position he ably filled for four years. In 1894 he was elected to Congress as a Republican from the twelfth district by a plurality of about two thousand seven hundred, his election being especially notable from the fact that the district was normally Democratic by from fifteen hundred to two thousand five hundred votes - certainly a marked testimonial to his po[)ularity and ability. Two \'ears later he wa-^ ayain the inMiiinee of liis ])art\ fur (."(inL^rcss, hut was ilefeated, though he ran far ahead of the balance of the ticket. Fraternally, Mr. Leightv was an appreciative memlier of the Masonic urder. in which he liad received distinctive preferment, having received the thirty-third and last degree of the order in 1889.

In March, 1866, Jacob D. Leighty was married to Kate A. Metzger, who was born in Circleville, Ohio, the daughter of Judge Andrew and Elizabeth (Driesbach) Metzger, of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Judge Metzger was a native of Ohio, his family having come originally from Pennsylvania. He followed farming until his removal to Fort Wayne, in 1853, he being numbered among the early and prominent settlers of that locality. He was interested there for a number of years in journalism and also served for a time as deputy county clerk. To him and his wife were born six children, namely: Kate A. (Mrs. Leighty), George, Mary, Jennie, Harry and Frank, of whom George, Harry and Frank are deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Leighty were born three children, two of whom died in infancy, the only survivor being John R., of Kansas

City. Mrs. Leighty, wlio still resides in the old family home in St. Joe, is a lady of many gracious qualities, which have commended her to the love and esteem of her many friends. She was to her husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the word, much of his success in life being due to her wise counsel and the encouragement which she gave him in his affairs. She takes a kindly interest in all charitable and benevolent work in her community and her heart responds to every appeal for help in all good work.

Col. Stephen A. Bowman

Creat achie\'ements ahva^'s excite admiration. Men of deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, and the man of initiative is one who forges to the front in the industrial world. Among the distinctive captains of industry in northeastern Indiana, a place of priority must be accorded to Col. Stephen .\. Bowman, of Waterloo, Indiana, for to him is due the upbuilding of an industr\- which is not only one of the most important in liis county, but also one of the most extensive of its kind in this section of the country, while the comparatively short time within which these great results have been obtained further testify to his exceptional administrative power and executive ability. lie is, in the fullest sense of the term, a progressi\-e, virile, self-made American, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the advanced age in which he lives, conducting all his business matters carefully and systematically, and in all his acts displaying an aptitude for successful management. He has not permitted the accumulation of fortune to affect in any vva)' his actions toward those less fortunate than he, being a most sympathetic and broad-minded man, and has a host of warm and admiring friends.

Stephen A. Bowman was born in Keyser township, DeKalb county, Indiana, one-half mile west of where the county farm is now located, on November I, 1865, and is the son of Joseph and Ida (Brand) Bowman. Joseph Bowman, who was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, was the grandson of Jacob Bowman, who came from Germany in 1772, settling near Gratz, Pennsvlvania. The latter's son, Samuel, came to Stark county, Ohio, in 1817, settling in Osnaburg township, where he became the father of a large family of children, one of whom was Joseph, the father of the subject of this sketch. Joseph Bowman was born January 31, 18 14, in Pennsylvania, and came with his parents to Stark county, Ohio. In 1839 he came to DeKalb county, Indiana, entering eighty acres of government land at the place where the subject was born. He also bought other land and sold some, so that at the time of his death he was the owner of one liundred and twenty acres. He was twice married, first to Eve Bortz, to which union ten children were born, of whom only one is now lix'ing, Mrs. George, O. Denison, of Auburn, this county. Some time after the death of his first wife, Mr. Bowman married Mrs. Ida (Brand) Tongue, the widow of William Tongue. She was a native of Ohio and a daughter of English parents. When she was but an infant her mother died and she w^as reared by a German family, who talked the language of the fatherland, so that she thoroughly learned the German language. Years afterward she and her brothers were brought together, and as they talked only English she could not understand each other. She was born in 1829, and died in 1878, at the age of forty-nine years, and lies buried in the first cemetery at Auburn beside her husband. B}^ her second union she became the mother of ten children, of wliom four sons are living, namely: William, who lives on a farm five miles west of Waterloo, married Ella Chaney, and they have five children ; Lydia, deceased, was the wife of George King, and the mother of four children; Eva, deceased, was the wife of John Palmer, and left one child; Stephen A., the immediate subject of this sketch, is the next in order of birth; Frank lives on a farm two miles south of Waterloo and married Verna Kinney, to which union were born six children y George lives at Danville, Illinois, and has been twice married. The other four children died in childhood or infancy.

Stephen A. Bowman lived on the paternal farmstead until about fourteen years of age, and then for three years he resided with his brother-inlaw, George O. Denison. In the fall of 1883 he came to Waterloo and here completed his education in the high school. In 1884 he entered the employ of J. S. Slaybaugh in the handle factory, and on August i, 1885, he started handle making on his own account. At that time his cash capital amounted' to five dollars, and much hard work and rigid economy were required in order to make both ends meet in the iieginning of his business experience. At that time all the work of making handles was by hand and Mr. Bowman's first year's output was about one hundred and fifty dozen handles, the major portion of these handles being made for edged tools. Since that time thegrowth of the business has been nothing short of phenomenal, machinery having taken the place of handwork in every respect possible, and now the business has grown to a production of ten thousand dozen a year. Mr. Bowman started his business career in a room twelve by sixteen feet in size, in.

an old sawmill, but in November, 1886, he was enabled to buy a little buildingnorthwest of the Lake Shore crossing. He has added to this from time to time and now has a substantial building about forty by one hundred feet in size, wonderfully well equipped in every respect for the work to which it is de\'oted, and an inspection of the plant by those not acquainted with its workings would surprise and gratify the sightseer. Many machines are found here which are almost human in their apparent intelligent action, some of them being very intricate, and one of which took a year to plan. Many of the machines have been invented by Colonel Bowman and his son, and many others improved by them, so that practically all of the manufacturing done here is the product of machinery. It is worthy of note that so simple a thing as an ax handle is handled twenty-eight times from the time it comes into the shop w^ith the bark on until it leaves the factory, a finished handle ready for shipment. The shop is equipped with its own electric light plant, there is above every machine an electric fan for the comfort of the workmen, and the plant is steam heated in winter by exhaust steam from the engine. Colonel Bowman has made it a point to use nothing but the best stock in his plant, and therefore his product has earned in the market of the world the highest reputation for its superior quality and workmanship. The industry has been one of the principal enterprises of Waterloo, and to Colonel Bowman is due a large meed of credit for the stimulus he has given to local business life.

Aside from his business interests, Colonel Bowman has been deeply interested in the development and progress of his community, and for eleven years he served as clerk of Waterloo and is now an efficient and active memmer of the library board.

In May, 1882, Colonel Bowman entered the Indiana National Guard as a private in Company I of the Third Regiment and served in the ranks until 1887, when he was appointed second lieutenant of Company I. In 1889 he received his commission as captain, in 1892 was promoted to major and in 1896 to lieutenant-colonel, and in 1900, and in 1908 again, he was appointed colonel by Governor Marshall. In December, 1908, he was in command of the First Regiment, Indiana National Guard, and on February i, 1913, he retired from the service, having completed a continuous service of nearly thirty-two years, at the time of his retirement being the oldest in point of continuous service in the National Guard, with the exception of Adjutant- General McKee. Colonel Bowman was called out to prevent prize fighting at Roby in 1893, and in 1894, because of railroad strikes, he was located twenty-two days at Hammond, and was shot at by strikers. He served a number of times as president of courts martial and on courts of inquiry, and was president of the examining board sixteen years. At the joint maneuvers held at West Point, Kentucky, by the National Guard of several states. Colonel Bowman was highly complimented by Colonel Wagner, of the United States army, a high military authority, and in reference to the incident the following quotation is made from the Waterloo Press of that date :

"During the joint maneuvers of the United States army and the organized militias of the various states held at West Point, Kentucky, in September, 1903, Col. Arthur L. Wagner, of the United States army, chief umpire, maneuvering division, in his report of maneuvers of the Third Infantry, says : 'The Third Regiment, commanded in the absence of Colonel Studebaker by Col. S. A. Bowman, for quickness of movement, intelligence in executing orders, rapidity in comprehending wholly unexpected difificulties, good training in taking advantage of cover, the regiment was especially commended." The tribute is especially pleasing to Colonel Bowman and his friends because of the somewhat difficult position of commanding the regiment in the absence of the senior officer. Had censure been his portion, no matter how mild, it would have been felt keenly. Since praise is his share, his pleasure is all the more heightened."

On September 16, 1887, Colonel Bowman was united in marriage with Cora Fisher, daughter of Solomon and Harriett (Rhodabaugh) Fisher, the former a retired merchant of Waterloo. Mrs. Bowman was born at Waterloo on January 3, 1865. To the Colonel and his wife have been born eight children, six sons and two daughters, namely: Harry Fisher, born April 9, 1889, is an electrical engineer for the Hunt Helm Ferris Company, of Harvard, Illinois, with whom he has been employed continuously since 1907. He married Leora Thompson, of Harvard, Illinois, and they have a daughter, Lelah; Paul A., born May 23, 1891, and who is unmarried, is assisting his father in the handle business; Fred Rhodabaugh, born November 13, 1893, is a commercial traveler for the hat and cap house of G. H. Gates Company, of Detroit, Michigan, and, though not yet twenty years old, is a very successful salesman. These three sons have been especially educated in their particular lines; Joseph Solomon, born March 20, 1886, is attending high school and at the same time taking a special course in electrical engineering; Wilbur E. and Walter M., twins, born January 15, 1900, are now in their first year in high school, and are enthusiastic boy scouts; Harriet Ida, born March 19, 1906, is attending school, and the youngest in the family is Daisy May, born April 4, 1911.

astic hunter and frequently going to the woods of Maine and Wisconsin in pursuit of wild game. He has been very successful, being a splendid rifle shot, and possesses many interesting relics of his trips, and is able to recite many entertaining reminiscences. Personally he is a man of genial and kindly impulses, a splendid conversationalist and entertaining companion and enjoys a wide circle of warm and loyal friends. He and the members of his family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church at Waterloo, and Mrs. Bowman is a devoted member and active worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Colonel Bowman deserves a large measure of credit for the success which he has attained, for in early boyhood he was compelled to work hard and had \'erY little opportunity for a school education. In view of his own experiences he vowed he would give his children better chances for education and for a right start in life than he enjoyed, and he is, to the extent of his ability, fulfilling his vow. Tall, well built, and with a distinct military carriage, he is a man of pleasing address and is a welcome member of all the circles in which he moves. He has been an important factor in the commercial and industrial prosperity of Waterloo and holds an enviable position in the esteem of the community which is honored by his citizenship.

Actively connected with the profession of medicine, Dr. George Rock has won that favorable regard that comes only as the result of superior ability and personal worth. Having carefully prepared for the practice of his profession, he is now devoted to his work and his strict regard for the ethics of the profession has gained for him the confidence of his brethren of the fraternity as well as of the general public.

George Rock was born in Crawford county, Ohio, on January ii, 1854, and is a son of William and Sarah (Greiner) Rock, the former a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and the latter of New York state. The home of the subject's parents was in Crawford county, Ohio, for a number of years prior to i860, when they moved to Delaware township. Defiance county, that state, where the remainder of their lives was spent. The subject accompanied his parents on their removal to Defiance county when a lad of but six years and there received his elementary education, subsequently attending the high school at Defiance. Early in his manhood he became identified with the mercantile and subsequentlv the insurance business at Shenvood, but having resolved to make the practice of medicine his life work he abandoned these pursuits and, in 1887, entered the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, where he prosecuted his studies for two years. He then spent two terms at Rush Medical College, of Chicago, after which he matriculated in the Toledo Medical College, where he was graduated with the class of 1891, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after his graduation he located at Sherwood, Ohio, and entered upon the active practice of his profession. In some respects one might have criticised him for making the change from ordinary business pursuits, for while a resident of Defiance he had attained to a high standing in business circles, being known as an enterprising and influential citizen and his fellow townsmen had manifested their esteem for him by honoring him with various offices of trust. However, his career since entering upon a professional life has proven the wisdom of his choice, for he has continuously enjoyed a large and remunerative practice and has been successful in the line of effort to which he has devoted himself. In 1900 Dr. Rock came to Auburn, Indiana, and has been continuously engaged in the practice of medicine and has enjoyed from the beginning his full share of business in his line. He has successfully handled a number of very difficult cases and has earned not only the regard of his professional brethren, but the esteem and good will of the entire community.

Dr. Rock has been twice married, first at Sherwood, Ohio, to Amanda Taylor, who died soon after marriage. Two years later he married Margaret Sausaman, also a resident of Sherwood, and a native of Defiance county, and to them has been born a daughter, Emma. Margaret Sausamon is the daughter of Samuel and Jane (Schwab) Sausaman. Her father came from Pennsylvania to Crawford county, Ohio, moving from there to Defiance county, that state, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. Mrs. Rock's mother, jane (Schwab) Sausaman, was a native of Cerniany, who upon coming to America located first in Crawford county, thence moved to Defiance county.

Fraternally, Dr. Rock is an active memljer of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the subordinate lodge at Auburn, in which he has passed through all the chairs and is now a member of the grand lodge. He also belongs to the encampment of that order at Garrett, and holds membership in the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Auburn. The record of testimony is ample that Dr. Rock is a good citizen in the full sense of the term, worthy of honor and public trust, ever doing worthily and well the life work to which he has consecrated himself. Well qualified by natural aptitude, training and experience for the profession which he follows, he is numbered among the steady and sterling citizens of his community, and as far as possible he devotes his attention also to the upbuilding of the community with which he is identified, giving his support to every movement for the benefit of his fellow men. He is genial and companionable and enjoys the friendship of all who know him.

Jesse Joel Musser

Among the younger generation of DeKalb county citizenship who are giving promise of fruitful lives and who are now laying the foundations for their future careers is the gentleman whose name forms the caption to this sketch.

Jesse Joel Musser was born at Sherwood, Ohio, on July 22, 1891, and is a son of Jacob G. and Lovina (Rock) Musser, now residents of Auburn. Jacob G. Musser was also a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Defiance county, Ohio, on November 7, 1852, and is a son of Joel and Sarah C. (Gier) Musser. Both of these parents were of rugged old Pennsylvania Dutch stock, and both came to Wooster, Ohio, with their respective parents in an early day, their marriage occurring in that city. Immediately after that interesting event, which occurred in the early forties, they moved to Defiance county, that state, where they made their permanent home. Joel Musser was a shoemaker by vocation and for many years followed that business in Brunersburg, that being at a period when boots and shoes were made to order. Eventually he abandoned the shoemaker's bench and took up farming which he followed during the remainder of his active life. He died in 1899, and his wife in 1901. Jacob G. Musser was born and reared on the parental farmstead between Defiance and Brunersburg, and at the age of seventeen years he went to the latter place and learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for about forty-five years. When twenty-five years old, he started a shop of his own at Sherwood, Ohio, and for a period of six years operated a farm at the same time. In the fall of 1901 he moved to Auburn and established a blacksmith shop, which he is still operating. His years of e.xperience have qualified him for the most diflicult jobs of horseshoeing, in which he specializes, and as a general blacksmith he has few equals and no superiors. - Though only medium in physical build, he is a man of extraordinary endurance and on more than one occasion has shown unusual presence of mind and courage when shoeing nervous or vicious horses. At the age of twenty-six years, while residing in Sherwood. Ohio, Air. Musser was married to Lovina Rock, a sister to Dr. George Rock, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Musser have been born eight children, seven of whom are living: Charles, the first born, died at Auburn in 1910, at the age of thirty-two years ; he had been a teacher in a business college in Wisconsin, and had been married less than a year at the time of his death; Maude is the wife of Arthur Thomas, who with his father and brother runs an artificial ice plant and saw mill in Auburn. She is the mother of two children, Arnold Clay and Charles Burgess; Albert, who is employed at Jackson. Michigan, is an automobile top builder, married Mary Schomberg, and has two children, Howard and Ralph ; Edgar Guy, Sarah Ella, Jesse Joel, George and Ruth, all of whom are still under the parental roof. Edgar is employed at the Auburn automobile factory.

Jesse Joel Musser came to Auburn with his parents on their removal from Defiance, Ohio, and has finished, his education in the high school. Mr. Musser is an industrious young man of good character and splendid habits, self reliant and possessing those qualities that betoken his future success. He is genial in disposition and is deservedly popular in the social circle in which he moves.

Egbert Bensox Mott

The Mott family of which the subject of this sketch is a descendant is of English descent in both paternal and maternal lines, representatives of which came to America in early colonial days. The family was an ancient and honorable one in England. The emigrant ancestor was Capt. James Mott, youngest son of John Mott, Esq., of Shalford, in the county of Essex, who came to America in 1665-6, locating in Mamaronek, Westchester county, New York. He was for several years a captain in the army of the Province, and in later life one of the magistrates of Westchester county, appointed by successive royal governors. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits, as did all of his descendants down to Egbert B. Mott. During the Revolutionary war another James Mott, the fourth of the name, participated in the Saratoga campaign, resulting in the surrender of Burgoyne, and was given a commission June 23, 1778, as ensign in Colonel Hopkins' regiment of Dutchess county. New York. He married Mary, daughter of James Denton, of Newburg, New York, a Revolutionary soldier, who was captain of a company of the Eourth Ulster County Regiment. His first commission was as second lieutenant, October 11, 1775. He was fifth in descent from Rev. Richard

Denton, a Puritan divine of Halifax, Yorkshire, England, who came to America in 1630 in the ship "Arabella," with Governor Winthrop and a company who founded Boston.

When Egbert B. Mott was about tweh e 3ears old his lather died, leaxing a family of five sons and three daughters to the care of the mother. After a few years' residence in Saratoga county, New York, the family remo\ed to Lehman, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1824. Mr. Mott was married December 30, 1830, in Abingdon, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, to Mary, the daughter of John VVinterbotham, of Moseley, Lancashire, England, where she was born on February 4, 1806. Her mother's maiden name was Anne Wrigley. In 1836 Mr. Mott removed with his wife and two children from Pennsylvania to Frederickstown. Knox county, Ohio, where Airs. Mott's family then resided. After living several years in Knox and Richland counties, Ohio, Mr. Mott removed, in May, 1843, to Kalida, Putnam county, where he made the acquaintance of Judge Morris, a young law\er, between whom and himself there formed a friendship as strong and enduring as life. Subsequently Mr. Mott and Mr. Alorris came to Indiana in search of a better location for the practice of their profession, and Mr. Mott located in Auburn on October 16, 1843, being the lirsl lawyer who settled in this locality. In 1856 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the district comprising the counties of DeKalb and Steuben. In politics the Judge was first a Federalist, then a Whig and finally a Republican. He had a remarkable memory, excellent judgment and the utmost firmness of ])rinciple. Throughout his whole life he was a faithful Christian, exemplifying his faith by a life of practical righteousness. He died on September 30, 1865, after an acute illness of three weeks. Two sons died before him. Reginald Heber, an infant, and Sheridan Edward, who was wounded at Chickamauga on September 20, 1863, and died in the hospital in Nashville, May 15, 1864. Mrs. Mary W. Mott died on October 4, 1S93. at the age of eighty-seven years and eight months. During her earlier years Airs. Mott had many advantages from a literary and social point of view, for her father was in ])artnership with Col. Dax'id Humphreys and Judge John Humphreys in the manufacturing business, they having engaged in the manufacture of fine woolen goods, broadcloth, etc., at Seymour, Connecticut, then called Humphreysville, this being the first successful attempt to manufacture that class of goods in the L^nited States. Colonel Plumphreys had ]:;een one of Washington's aides-de-camp in the Revolutionary war and subsequently Lhiited States minister to Portugal and Spain, from which latter country he brought the first Merino sheep to .\merica. .\t an early age Mrs. Alott was placed in school at Derby, near Humphreysville, where her associations and training were of the very best. Owing to the condition of her health, she made a protracted \isit with an uncle, Abram Wrigley, of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where she rapidly improved, and not long afterwards began teaching school, and at Providence, a few miles from her uncle's residence, she first became accpiainted with her future husband, to whom she was married on December 30, 1838.

Edwin L. Fosdick

Fealty to facts in the analysis of the character of a citizen of the type of Edwin L. Fosdick is all that is required to make a liiograpliical sketch interesting to those who ha\-e at heart the good name of the community, because it is the honorable reputation of the man of standing and affairs, more than any other consideration, that gives character and stability to the body politic and makes the true glory of a city or state revered at home and respected al.iroad. In the broad light which things of good repute ever invite, the name and character of Fosdick stand revealed and secure, and though of modest demeanor, with no ambition to distinguish himself in public position or as a leader of men, his career has been signally honorable and it ma_\- be studied with jiroht by tlie youth entering upon his life A\ork.

Edwin L. Fosdick, who for a number of years has occupied a responsible position with the Eckhart Carriage Compan\- of Auburn, is a nati\-e of this city, where he was born on Way i, 1856. He is the son of Edward W. and Helen G. ( Totten ) Fosdick. Edwin W. Fosdick was born on July 12, 1822, in Knox county, Ohio, and was the son of Thomas Updike and Rachel ("Armstrong) Fosdick. The history of the Fosdick family has been traced back to ^^'elsh ancestry, members of the family having emigrated to America near the middle of the seventeenth century. They intermarried here with the Ha\ens family, some of whom provided one of the first churches on Long Island. The first of the family to come to DeKalb county, Indiana, was Orville Fosdick, oldest brother of Edward W.. who entered government land in \\'ilmington township in an early day. Shortly afterwards, in 1844, the other members of the family came here and located two miles south of Butler, and that remained the permanent family home as long as the old folks li\ed. Edward W. Fosdick was a young man when he came to this locality and !i\-ed on the home place in Wilmington township until after his marriage, which occurred about 1850, when he was united to Helen G. Totten, daughter of Joseph P. and Betsy (Barnes) Totten. She and her parents had hved on a farm adjoining the Fosdick farm. She died on May 21, 1S56, and Mr. Fosdick afterwards married Ruanna Brandon, a daughter of Peter Brandon. She hved only about a year after her marriage, dying in April, i860, and in 1878 Mr. Fosdick married Elizabeth H. Fetterhoff, who now reesides on the old farm in Butler township. Edward W. Fosdick studied law at the University of Michigan, and practiced his profession at Butler. In 1854 he was elected treasurer of DeKalb county and in 18:3 moved tu .Auburn in order to be close to his office and during his term of two years the country was flooded with wild-cat currency. After the completion of his term as treasurer Mr. Fosdick returned to Butler and during the rest of his active years he devoted himself to the practice of law. In 1869 he was elected state senator and served one term. He died on March 9, 1859, at the age of se\-enty-se\'en years.

The subject of this sketch, whose birth occurred but three weeks before the death ni liis nK^ther, was reared in the home at Butler and after completing his public school education, he became a student in the Ohio Wesleyan Universit}' at Delaware, Ohio, after which he matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1879. He then located in Kewanna, Fulton county, Indiana, where for tAvii vears he engaged in the drug business under the firm name of Fosdick &- Ralston. He then returned to Butler and from 1882 to 1895 was engaged in the drug business there, in wiiich he met with ver\- good success. For a time thereafter he was on the road as a traxeling salesman and also for a period had charge of the United States and Pacific Express Companies' oiifices at Butler. He also gave some attention to the practice of law, or rather to the business left by his father, but eventually he sold the law library and came to Auburn, with which city he has since been identified. He is now head bookkeeper in the office of the Eckhart Carriage Company and is performing his duties to the entire satisfaction of his employers, whose interests he makes his own.

In 1881 ]Mr. Fosdick was married to Josephine ^IcCarter, then a resident of Kewanna. Indiana, and the daughter of .Alexander and Mary L. (Richey) McCarter. Fraternally, Mr. Fosdick is a memiter of the iM-ee and -Accepted Alasons. in which he has attained to the degree of the Royal .Arch. He and his wife are both members of the Aletliodist Episcopal church, in the prosperity of which they are deeply interested. Mr. Fos- dick enjoys an extensive acquaintance in his locality and none can boast of more devoted friends than he, for in him are combined those characteristics which gain and foster friendships that endure through all times and all vicissitudes of fortune.

Isaac Myers Zent

The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are instructive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life; apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate renown. The gentleman whose life history is herewith outlined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a splendid success. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a respectable position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his county and earning a reputation as an enterprising, progressive man of affairs which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.

Isaac Myers Zent was born near Massillon, Stark county, Ohio, on November 19, 1859, and is the son of Jeremiah and Mary C. (Armstrong) Zent. Jeremiah Zent was a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Hage) Zent. Samuel Zent vyas born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, December 7, 1790, and died March 2, 1855; the latter's wife, Elizabeth Hage, was born July 25, 1792, in the same county, and died August 31, 1874. Samuel Zent was the son of Jacob and Susanna Zent, the former having been born January 30, 1763, and died October 25, 1845, his wife's birth occurring April 30, 1765, and her death on March 13, 1841.

Jeremiah Zent, who was a farmer, moved, in 1850, to Vandalia, Illinois, where he bought a large tract of land and there carried on agricultural operations during the rest of his active life. He was public spirited and took an influential and unselfish interest in the upbuilding and welfare of his community. He was a man of definite convictions on the great questions of the day and, though living in a hotbed of secession, he openly espoused the cause of the Union and during the Civil war he proved such a friend to soldiers and soldiers' families that the Grand Army of the Republic afterwards made liini an lionorarv member of that society, though he had seen no military service. He died in 1901 and his widow still resides in ^^andalia.

Isaac M. Zent lived at Vandalia until he was seventeen years old and received a good practical education in the public schools. He then left home and started out in life on his own account, his first effort being to learn the trade of a telegrapher. Entering the employ of the AVabash railroad, he was assigned to different stations on that system and in June, 1882, was appointed agent at the Auburn station. His services were here so faithfully performed that he was retained in the position for twenty-eight years, through several changes of administration and after tiie Wabash company sold the road to the Vandalia Railroad Company - in fact, up to the time he was appointed postmaster of Auburn, his commission to the office being April 15, 1910. In the latter position he exhibited the same careful attention to the performance of his duties as characterized him when in the employ of a corporation, and his relations with his superiors and the patrons of the office have been mutually satisfactory and pleasant.

In the business and commercial life of the community Mr. Zent has long been an active and prominent figure. He was one of the organizers of the Citizens National Bank, of Auburn, and is now the largest individual stockholder of this institution, of which he has been a director ever since its organization. He also assisted in the organization of the Savings Loan and Trust Company and was one of its first directors, but he later sold his holdings in that company to Monte L. Green. He is the only local stockholder, and is a member of the board of directors of the Indiana Fuel and Light Company, the company that furnishes gas to Auburn. Of the Auburn Commercial Club Mr. Zent has been a member since its organization and a director for many years, while in many other ways he has exerted a wholesome and appreciated interest in the advancement of the business interests of Auburn and DeKalb county. Physically, built on the Abe Lincoln or Joe Cannon style, Mr. Zent is, like them, a man of strong convictions and earnest purpose, optimistic in his views of life, and affable and agreeable in his relations with his fellow men. These qualities have combined to gain for him a marked degree of popularity in the community in which so many of his active years have been spent.

Politically, Mr. Zent has, for many years, been an active and influential member of the Republican party and in local political circles he is a prominent figure, having for a number of years served as treasurer of the county committee. Fraternally, Mr. Zent is a Mason, having attained to the thirtysecond degree of the Scottish Rite, and is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, and the Auburn lodge. Knights of Pythias, having been a charter member (24)

On July 25, 1885, Mr. Zent married Laura E. Ensley, who was born and spent her entire life at Auburn. Her parents, George and Lydia (Noel) Ensley, were among the pioneer residents of Auburn, the family being for many years prominent and influential in the afifairs of the community. Mrs. Zent was called to the higher life on October 5, 1910. All in all, Mr. Zent is a worthy representative of the sturdy, intelligent and progressive class that gives stability to the body politic and character to the community, being broadminded, with wide views of men and afifairs, and a true type of the enterprising American of todav.

Andrew Jackson Ralston

The family of which the subject of this re\'iew is a creditable representative has been known in DeKalb county since the pioneer epoch and, without invidious comparison, it can with propriety be said that no other name is better known or more highly esteemed in this locality. Honored and respected by all, there is today no man in the county who occupies a more enviable position in the regard of his fellows than Andrew J. Ralston, not alone because of the splendid material success which he has achieved, but also by reason of the splendid life which he has lived in this community. He was bom at Plymouth, Richland county, Ohio, on September 9, 1841, and is the son of Samuel W. and Eliza J. (Brink) Ralston. The subject's paternal grandparents were Robert and Jane (Woodburn) Ralston, of whom and their ten children the remarkable fact is recorded that their average age was eighty-four years, the youngest having been over seventy-two years old at the time of his death. These children were named Robert, Jr., James, Mrs. Jane Hall, Mrs. Margaret Hall, Mrs. Mary Gribben, Alexander, Samuel W., Mrs. Maria Dixon, David and Mrs. Julia Bodley. In 1814 Robert and Jane Ralston moved, with their family, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, to Richland county, Ohio (now Ashland county). There Samuel W. Ralston, who had been born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on December 12, 1807, began to learn the trade of a carpenter, which he followed with considerable success for a quarter of a century. In December, 1842, he brought his family to Auburn, Indiana, arriving here on the 12th of December and being the eighth family to locate in this city. He here followed his trade of carpenter, in which he became quite prominent. In 1843 he took the contract for the completion of tlie first courthouse, a two-story frame building, thirty-live by fifty feet in size, and the frame work of which had been put up by the first contractor, Joseph Heit, who then relinquished his contract. Mr. Ralston completed the contract in 1843. In 1846 he was elected sherifif of DeKalb county, serving two years, and was then elected county treasurer for a like period. In 1856 he was again elected to the office of sheriff and was re-elected in 1S58. In iSfii he engaged in the mercantile business, in which he was successful and which commanded his attention until about five years prior to his death, when he retired from business and spent the remainder of his days quietly at his home, a large and substantial brick building, which he had erected at the corner of Tenth and Main streets and which is still standing in good condition. There his death occurred on March 6, 1891, and his widow died there in August, 1893. Mrs. Ralston, whose maiden name was Eliza J. Brink, and whom he married in 1834, was a native of Plymouth, Ohio. She was a faithful member of the Presbyterian church, of which her husband \\as a regular attendant. Thev were the parents of four children, namely : Helen M. died in November, 1855, at the age of about twenty years; Emily A., who died on January 20, 1903, was the wife of W. H. Dills, of Auburn; Andrew J.; George C. is engaged in the hotel business at Sulphur Springs, Arkansas.

Andrew J. Ralston was reared in Auburn, securing a fair education in the public schools, and in young manhood was variously employed, usually in drygoods stores and other mercantile houses. Pie served as deputy sheriff under his father and in a like capacity under Sheriff J. N. Miller. From 1869 to 1873 he served as deputy county treasurer under Treasurer F. D. Ryan, and then for about seven years he was successfully engaged in buying and shipping grain. In 1882 Mr. Ralston went into the grocery business, to which he devoted his attention until 1896, when he disposed of that business and has since mainlv occupied himself in looking after his farming interests. He owns one farm of one hundred and seven acres east of Auburn and an undivided half interest in one hundred and sixty acres nine miles south of Auburn.

For many years Mr. Ralston took an active part in public affairs and was a prominent and influential figure in the councils and conventions of the Democratic party, but of late years he has somewhat retired from active participation in these things, though his interest in current affairs has not in the least abated. For six years Mr. Ralston has rendered appreciated service as historian for the Old Settlers' Association, in the proceedings of which he has long been deepl\' interested. .\s a storehouse of facts and traditions regarding the early history of DeKalb county he is an authority, and his utterances on these things are entitled to credence, for to him belongs the distinction of being the oldest citizen of Auburn in point of years of continuous residence, and he has taken considerable pride in collating much interesting and valuable local history which otherwise might have been lost to future generations.

On February 25, 1864, Mr. Ralston was married to Hadessa J. George, who was born in what is now Ashland county, Ohio, the daughter of James Currie George and Priscilla (Reynolds) George. Mr. George was born in Ashland county, and his parents, who were natives of Pennsylvania, were of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Priscilla Reynolds was born in Delaware and in her childhood she was brought to Ohio by her parents, James and Mary (Mc- Clelland Reynolds. Mrs. Ralston was but a babe in arms when, in November, 1842, the family came to Auburn, her father having bought a half section of land a mile east of that city some time previously. When they moved here he brought the price of the land in silver in his wagon. He had a brother here, with whom he stayed a short time, and the money was put and safely kept under a puncheon floor, there being no banks here at that time. On the tract of land refen-ed to the George family made their permanent home, Mr. George carrying on farming operations there during the rest of his active life. He became prominent in the early life of that locality and served in several township offices, always to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens. His death occurred in 1849, at the early age of thirty-six years, leaving a wife and two daughters, Mary Ann and Hadessa. The widow lived to be eighty-seven years old, her death occurring in August, 1903.

To Mr. and Mrs. Ralston have been born three children, as follows: George M., born in October. 1865, is connected with the Commercial Bank at Ft. Wayne and is secretary for the well known real estate and banking firm of Strauss Brothers, which does an annual business of more than two million dollars. At Ft. Wayne, he married Nettie Ernest, a resident of Auburn, and they have two children, Roger Jackson and Hubert Russell; Alzein Aileen, whose death occurred on March 30, 1903, was the wife of Harr)^ K. Scott, of Angola, Indiana: Helen S. is the wife of Monte L. Green, a banker at Garrett, this county, and the>' ha\-e a daughter, .Mzien Louise. Mrs. Ralston is a member of the Presbyterian church and is also well known in club and literary circles of Auburn. She is one of the three active members of the Ladies' Literary Club of this city who were charter members when the club was organized in April, 1882, it being the oldest woman's club in northern

Indiana and next to the oldest in the state. She is a woman of kindly manner and is deservedly popular in the circles in which she moves. Mr. Ralston has through the years performed his full duty as a citizen, standing as a man among men, and today he enjoys to an eminent degree the confidence and good will of all who know him.

Henry E. Altenburg

The life history of him whose name heads this biographical memoir is closely identified with the history of DeKalb county, Indiana, which was long his home. He began his career in this locality in the pioneer epoch and throughout the years which later came and went he was closely allied with its interests and upbuilding. He was of a high type of progressive citizen and his life was one of untiring activity. The cause of humanity never had a truer friend than Mr. Altenburg, who long since passed to the higher life. In all the relations of life - family, church, society and business - he displayed that consistent Christian spirit, that natural worth, that endeared him alike to all classes. His integrity and fidelity were manifested in every relation of life, and the example of such a life is always an inspiration to others. In dealing with mankind, his word was his bond; deceit never entered into any transactions he had with his fellow men. His plain, rugged honesty, his open-hearted manner, undisguised and unaffected, is to his descendants a sweet and lasting memory.

Henry E. Altenburg, who was an honored early pioneer of DeKalb county, was born near Sandusky, Ohio, on April 23, 1838, and died at his home in Auburn in February, 1889. He was a son of Daniel and Sarah (Latson) Altenburg. Daniel Altenburg was a native of the Mohawk valley, near Buffalo, New York, and eventually moved from that locality to Sandusky, Ohio, where they lived two years. When Henry E. was a baby of about two months, the family came to DeKalb county. Indiana, following blazed trails through the interminable forests which then covered the country, no roads or bridges having been built as yet. The first bridge over Cedar Creek, between Waterloo and Uniontown, was then being erected, and they were compelled to ford that stream, which was so deep that the cows, which were tied beside the wagon, were compelled to swim. Before reaching Auburn they became lost in the deep snow one night and called loudly for help.

They were heard by Isaac B. Smith, a farmer, who came to their rescue with a lantern and guided them to his home. They were then between Waterloo and Uniontown and it took them all the following day to get to Auburn. Upon reaching this locality, Daniel Altenburg entered a Cjuarter section of government land two and a half miles east of Auburn, tlie tract being located in the midst of a dense forest, from which the only road to the little settlement at Auburn was a narrow and winding trail. Here they established their pei'manent home and, amid the pioneer conditions of that day, they started to clear the land, build a home and plant the soil. Here Daniel and Sarah Altenburg reared their family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, namely: Daniel L., Mary Jane, Henry E., Harriet E., David Cosper, Isaac L., Sylvia A.. William J. and Frank F. Politically, Daniel Altenburg was a stanch Republican and was a strong supporter of the Union cause during the war of the Rebellion, and, though too old himself to enlist, he sent four sons to the front to fight for the preservation of the nation. He was an honored and respected citizen of his community and for many years served as justice of the peace. In young manhood he lost an arm from the effects of a tree falling on it and from this wound he suffered during all the remainder of his life, the pain frecjuently being intense, but he bore his sufferings with patience and Christian fortitude. He was public spirited to a notable degree and it is related of him that, having bought the old court house, which had been moved from its original site to make way for the new brick building, he gave the old Iniilding tn he burned in celebration of a Union victory during the war. Daniel Altenburg"s first wife, the mother of the children before mentioned, died in 1863, and he afterwards married Susanna Seibert. whose first husband had been killed in the war. She now resides northwest of Auburn, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. About 1870 Mr. Altenburg moved into Auburn, where he spent his remaining days, dying in January, 1887'.

Henry E. Altenburg was reared on the paternal farmstead, east of Auburn, living there until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Company G, Nineteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was in constant and active service for eighteen months, taking part in the first battle of Bull Run and the other great battles in which the Army of the Potomac participated up to the time he received his honoraljle discharge. In the fall of 1864 Mr. Altenburg again enlisted, this time in the First Indiana Battery of Heavy Artillery, with which he saw service along the Mississippi river and at the battle of Mobile Bay. He received his final discharge from the

On January 27, 1864, while at home between his two enlistments. Mr. Altenburg was married to Sarah C. Eodine. She was born near Plymouth, Ohio, and came to DeKalb county in 1861 with her mother, Elizabeth E. (Chamberlain) Bodine, her father, John Bodine, having died in August, i860. Elizabeth Chamberlain was born in Cayuga county, New York, and was there married, her husband also being a native of that county. They moved to Plymouth, Ohio, where he engaged in farming, and later ran a shoe store. After his death, his widow and her six children came to Auburn, where she resided until all of her children were married.

After the war Henry E. Altenburg made his home in Auburn, w here he took up the vocation of a caipenter, becoming a contractor and erecting a number of houses, some of which are still standing. In 1876 Mr. Altenburg became a railway postal clerk, which employment he followed for nearly twelve years, when he resigned and mo\ed to Kendall, Hamilton county, Kansas, where he engaged in the feed business. He remained there a little over two years, when the extreme and long-continued drought caused a widespread failure of crops, entailing upon him a loss of all his capital. He then brought his family back to Auburn, and during the following winter he was taken sick, his death occurring in February, 1889.

To Pleni-y E. and Sarah C. Altenburg were born four children, as follows: Harry O., who lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is connected with the Burroughs Adding Machine Company ; Clara E. is the wife of John Zimmerman, of Auburn, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Eugene C. is advertising manager for the Zimmerman IManufacturing Company: John D. is a successful dentist at Findlay, Ohio.

Religiously, Mr. Altenburg was an earnest, faithful antl consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the prosperity of which he was deeply interested. Fraternally, he was for many years an appreciative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his domestic relations, Henry Altenburg was a faithful husband and a kind father, affectionate in his home relations, while in the community he was a conscientious man and a good citizen in the broadest sense of the term.. Quiet and unostentatious and seeking the sequestered ways of life rather than its tumult and strife, he ever attended strictly to his own affairs and made better all who came within range of his influence.

Alpheus Vv. Madden

Practical industry, wisely and vigorously applied, never fails of success. It carries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are often attained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The every-day life, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and self improvement.

Alpheus W. Madden, the present eiTicient and popular auditor ui De- Kalb county, and successful business man at .Aulnirn, is a native of the old Hoosier state, having been born in Eel River township, Allen county, on February 19, 1856, and is a son of AA'illiam and Rachel (Taylor) Madden. The father, who was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, came to Indiana in the early forties, and settled in Allen county, where he formed the acquaintance of and married Rachel Taylor, the daughter of Abraham and Roxey Taylor. They spent all their lives and died in that township, where he had followed the vocation of farming during all his active years.

Alpheus W. Madden remained on the home farm in Allen county until twenty-two years of age and received a fair practical education in the common schools. .At the age mentioned lie starter! in life for himself, working as a farm hand for fifteen dollars per month, and during this period while employed in splitting rails, he was disabled by an accident. Thus finding himself disqualified for heavy manual labor, he felt the necessity for further education, and to this end went to Fort Wayne and took a course in the commercial college at that place. lie then engaged in the insurance business for about a year and a half and then became a salesman of marble and granite work, which he followed for about three years. In 1882 Mr. Madden moved to Auburn and engaged in the marble and granite business in partnership with Walton R. Smith. His business was prosperous from the start and in 1886 he bought the place at the corner of Jackson and Seventh streets now occupied by the Jenkins grocery store, but which at that time was occupied by a frame building which he used for their work. In 1892 Mr. Smith died and he was succeeded in the partnership by Mr. Madden's two brothers, Joseph R. and Charles E., who continued together about fourteen years when the subject of this sketch bought his brothers' interests and took in as a partner his son, Frank. They have continued the business together and have been eminently successful in their work. In 1888 Mr. Madden and Mr. Smith, his former partner, built the present block in which the Jenkins grocery store is located and continued their business there until about 1893. Soon after the erection of this building, Mr. Madden bought a farm of eighty acres adjoining the city of Auburn on the northeast and about three years later he erected here a handsome residence fronting on East Seventh street, where he now resides, combining with the advantages of city life the profit and pleasure of a country home. In 1903 Mr. Madden bought ground and built another business block on East Seventh street between his home and the postofiFlce, and here the monument business is carried on today. In 1906 he bought land at the corner of Ninth and East streets, where he erected a large barn, now occupied by Green's livery business. On one corner of Mr. Madden's home farm is located the Auburn base ball park. While in partnership with Mr. Smith, they also bought the old farm in Allen county, vi'here Mr. Madden was reared, but he has since disposed of it. Pie has also built other residence properties in Auburn, one north of liis monument works which is occupied by his son, Frank, and a house across Seventh street from his home, which is now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Nelson. Possessing marked business ability, energetic and hustling, Mr. Madden has long enjoyed the major part of the business in his line in this countv and communit}-, and because of his success and his personal worth he is numbered among the leading men of the county.

Mr. Madden has for many years been an active supporter of the Democratic party, and in 1893 was elected trustee of his township, holding the office four years. In November, 1910, he was elected auditor of DeKalb county, and is the present incumbent of that office. Plis nomination was secured after an unusually hard fight, but his course in office has proved the wisdom of the choice. He is distinctly a selfmade man in the fullest sense of the term and is entitled to the fullest meed of credit for his accomplishments. He is always to be found in the auditor's office at six-thirty o'clock in the morning and keeps hard at his official duties until closing time in the evening. His courteous treatment of all who ]ia\e dealings with him have won for him a deserving popularity with the people.

On December 25, 1884, Mr. Madden was married to Katie Fox, daughter of Charles and Margaret (Ouillen) Fox. She was born in Marshall, Texas, came to DeKalb county with her parents in 1866. Her father was a native of TTermany and her mother of Georgia, and after locating in Auburn her father was engaged in the luitcher Inisiness up to the time of his

To Mr. and Mrs. .Matlden ha\e heen horn seven children: Frank, who is engaged with his father in the niarhle and granite husiness, was married to Myrtle McClellan, and they have one son, Richard; Leona is the wife of Stanley P- Nelson, deputy county auditor; Effie is also assisting her father in the auditor's office; Inez, Mabel, Grace and Homer are all at home. Fraternally, Mr. Madden is a member of the Knights of Pvthias and takes a lively interest in the workings of the order. Genial and approachable in manner, he is deserxedly popular throughout DeKalb countv.

Eugkxe C. Altexhurg

Among the citizens of Auburn, DeKalli coiuit\", Indiana, who occupy, prominent positions as representative men of the comniunity is the gentleman whose name appears at the head of tliis sketch. A man of sterling integrity, marked business ability and genial disposition, he lias not only earned the confidence and respect of his business associates, but has gained for himself the good will of all who ha\-e come into contact with him.

Eugene C .Vltenburg, wiio has charge of the advertising department for the Zin.imerman Manufacturing Comj^any at .\ulnirn, was liorn in the city which is now honored li\- his citizenship on January 10. 187J. He is the son of Henry E. and Sarah C. (Bodine) Altenburg, who are mentioned specifically elsewhere in this work, therefore it will not be necessary to de\-ote further space to them at this point. Eugene C. .Vltenburg was reared in the parental home at Auburn and secured his education in the excellent public schools of this city. At the age of eighteen years he took up life's duties on his own account, ol^taining employment in the office of the Zimmerman Manufacturing Company, with whom he remained about fi\e years. In 1899 Mr. Altenburg went south, lieing located in three different jjlaces and engaging in the drug business at his last location. In April, iQog, he returned to Auburn and again became a member of the (office force of the Zimmerman Company, being given charge of the achertising for that company, in which position he is still acting. Possessing originalitx- and artistic sense. Mr. Altenburg has demonstrated his value to the business and has been one of the important factors in the splendid success which has characterized this well-known concern.

Mr. Altenburg was married, on October 24, 1894. to Hattie E. Caseljeer, the daughter of Dr. Jacob B. and Sarah E. ( Nycuni ) Casebeer, who also are mentioned on other pages in this work. To ]\Ir. and Airs. A'tenburg have been lx)rn two sons, Harry, liorn at Indianapohs, Indiana, on December 23, 1896, and Robert E., born at Tullahoma, Tennessee, on October 8, 1900. Of marked domestic tastes, Mr. Ahenburg is a home lover and finds his greatest and truest enjoyment in the pleasant and attractive home in which he lives.

Fraternally, Mr. Altenburg is an appreciative member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while, religiously, he and his wife are earnest and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Quiet in disposition, yet genial in his intercourse wdth his fellows, Mr. Altenburg has won a host of warm personal friends in this communit}-, where practicalh- his entire life has been passed. He is keenly alive to his responsibilities as a citizen and gives his support to ever} moxement which promises tn benefit the community, materially, educationally, morally or socially. He is fully deserving of the large measure of public confidence and esteem which is accorded to him.

Orin Brandon

Among the citizens of DeKalb count) who are widely and favorably knuwn is Orin Brandon, one of .-Vuburn's useful and highly esteemed men. His life has become a part of the history of the community in which he has made his home for many years, and his long and homiralile business career has brought him before the public in such a wa)- as to gain tiie esteem and confidence of his fellow-men and a well deserved reputation among his contemporaries. Keen perception, tireless energy and honesty of purpose, combined with mature judgment and e very-day common sense, have ever been among his most prominent characteristics, and while laboring for indi\i(!ual success and for the material interests of the community, he has also jjeen instrumental in promoting the moral welfare of tliose with whom he has mingled.

Orin Brandon was born about two miles west of .\uliurn, Indiana, on Tanuary 11, 1866, and is the son of Isaac and Barbara (Kutzuer) Brandon. Both parents were natives of Stark county, Ohio, having been born a short distance west of Canton. Isaac Brandon, who was bom on May 12, 1836, was reared on a farm and in the city of Canton. His parents were John and Mary

(Beard) Brandon, the father having been a successful farmer of that community and also having served efficiently as sheriff of Stark county. He was a native of Pennsylvania. In June, 1849, John Brandon brought his family to DeKalb count}', Indiana, and settled on what is now known as the Brandon farm, adjoining Auburn on the west. With the exception of about six months, during which Isaac Brandon was clerking in Auburn, the latter lived with his parents until 1862, assisting his father with the farm work. After his marriage in the year mentioned, he mo\'ed to a farm which he had purchased in Richland township and lived there until 1873, when he moved back to the old homestead. In the fall of 1874 he and his brotlier, Silas J., went to Nebraska with the intention of buying land and locating there, but in their absence their father was taken seriously sick and U])on Isaac's return home, he settled permanently at the old farm. Mr. Brandon showed himself a good manager, a practical farmer and a successful business man. .\lthough he never aspired to official honors, he always took a deep and active interest in public affairs, giving his supjinrt to the right men for the office sought. \Miile a resident of Richland township he was elected justice of the peace, but did not qualifv for the office. On March 20. 1852, he was married to Barbara A. Kutzner, the daughter of Isaac Kutzner, a nati\'e of Canton, Ohio. To this union \\ ere born the following children : .Alva, Ira, Orin, .\sa, Ulla, Myron and Artie. Isaac Brandon was the owner of one hundred and thirt}' acres of land, to which he gave his attention, and though advanced in years, he was numbered among the enterprising and progressive men of his locality. His death occurred on Alonday, May 25, 1913, at his old home near Auburn. Orin Brandon was reared to maturity on the home farm, and at the age of seventeen years he started out in life for himself, going to Texas and Indian Territory, where he found employment on a railroad. A year later he went to Jackson, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad, but cpiit that employment because he did not find it sufficiently remunerative. Returning then to .Auburn he took up the carpenter's trade, at which he worked until 1893, when he and Perry J. Long began taking building contracts. They were engaged together in tliis line of work about eight years and built some of the best buildings in Auburn, including some of the larger store buildings in the business section of the city. In March, 1903, Mr. Brandon gave up the contracting business, when he and O. G. Huff, of South Bend, Indiana, bought the lumber yard formerly owned by the A. Lewis Lumber Company. Mr. Huff continued his residence in South Bend, and traveled a great deal, leaving the actual management of the business to Mr. Brandon, who gave to it his personal attention, and to whose effective efforts was due the large trade which they enjoyed in this line. In March, 191 3, the Huff interests were purchased by Frank W. dinger, of Auburn, who continues to he the business associate of Mr. Brandon. The latter gives practically his entire time to the lumber business, although he is also connected with the Auburn Building and Loan Association. He carries a large and complete line of both building and dimension stock, and side lines required in the building trade, so that he is able to accommodate any calls upon him in his line.

In the local life of the community Mr. Brandon has taken a deep and abiding interest and for about eight years was an efficient member of the city council. While he was in office the contract was let for the first paved streets in Auburn, and the sewer system was contracted for just before he entered office. Fraternally Mr. Brandon is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he takes a deep interest, and he and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, he being a trustee of the local organization.

On April 9, 1891, Mr. Brandon married Winnie Raut, daughter of Frederick and Mary ( Ashelman) Raut. She was born and reared in Auburn, and in her veins runs stanch old German blood, her father having been a native of the Fatherland, and her mother, though of Swiss parentage, was born about a half-mile east of Auburn. Frederick Raut came here when a young man and married Mary Ashelman. He followed the vocations of harness making and shoe making in the early days, and was also a successful and popular preacher in the German Methodist church. Mary Ashelman was the daughter of John J. Ashelman, an old settler, who followed farming east of Auburn, where Mrs. Brandon's mother was reared. Her father died here about 1880, and the mother still lives in Auburn.

John U. Ashelman, paternal grandfather of Mrs. Brandon, was born at Basle. Switzerland, in 1792, was reared in that city and there engaged in the milk business. He married Mary Everhart in Basle, and within a year afterward he came to America, arriving here in 1832 and locating in Wayne county. Ohio, where they lived for about ten years. He bought a farm of eighty acres there and gave his attention to its cultivation. In 1836 he came to Auburn, DeKalb county, Indiana, there being then but three houses in Auburn. He entered land upon his arrival here, and while building his first home, he lodged with some friendly Indians. His entire possessions of real estate here amounted to about six hundred and forty acres of land located at ihe east edge of Auburn, part of which being now comprised within the city limits. He also entered a tract of land near the city of Fort Wayne, this state. He contracted to have some of the land cleared, and returned to his home in Ohio, where he lived until 1842, then came here and spent the balance of his life on his own place. His death occurred in 1856. His widow survived him several years, dying in 1864. At the time of his death, Mr. Ashelman owned nine hundred and twenty acres of land and was considered quite well-to-do for that day. They were the parents of three sons and six daughters, namely: Mrs. Elizabetli Carmer, Moses, Mrs. Barbara Eckhart and William are deceased. Those living are Mrs. Mary Raut, Mrs. Regina Weaver, Mrs. Annie Walker, Christopher, and Mrs. Rosa Saxton. John U. Ashelman was in many respects one of the remarkable men of his day and generation. He was not only a pioneer, but took a prominent leading part in the development and upbuilding of the early community, and none of the men who made the early history of this locality is entitled to greater credit for its development than he. Energ}', iiospitalit}' and absolute integrity were his leading characteristics and his long life was a blessing to the community. To Mr. and Mrs. Brandon have been born four children, three of whom me lix'ing : Russell, who died at the age of eleven years ; Charles A., Annie L. and Mary Elizalieth. By a straightforward and commendable course, Mr. Brandon has made iiis way to a respectable position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his city and earning a reputation as a very careful and progressive man of affairs, and a broad-minded, upright and charitable citizen, whom the pulilic has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.

Dr. John E. Graham

The true western spirit of progress and enterprise is strikingly exemplified in the lives of such men as Dr. Graham, men whose energetic nature and laudable ambition have enabled them to conquer many adverse circumstances and advance steadily to leading positions in professional and business life. The Doctor is a worthy representative of this class and is now a prominent figure in the professional circles of DeKalb county, having been successfully engaged in the practice of his ])rofession in the town of Auburn since 1899.

John E. Graham, a successful dentist and popular citizen of Auburn, DeKalb county, Indiana, was born at Trenton, Ontario, Canada, on October

2, 1875, and is the son of Major John E. Graham and Jennie E. (Meyers) Graham. Major Graham was a graduate of Fort William Military Academy, at Kingston, Ontario, an institution similar to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was commissioned a major in the English army, but subsequently resigned and became engaged in business at Trenton. His wife was a granddaughter of old Captain John Meyers, who, during the French and Indian war north of Lake Erie, was a courier between Quebec and Detroit. A brother of Major Meyers is now mayor of Kingston, an office that receives much more honor in Canada than in this country. Major Graham died shortly before the birth of his son, the subject of this sketch. When the latter was about twelve years old, his mother brought him to the United States, and subsequently she became the wife of Samuel Moody, of Waterloo, DeKalb county, Indiana, her present residence being at Auburn. John E. Graham, who is of the third generation of the family to bear that name, attended the common and high schools at Waterloo and graduated in 1893. Then, because of ill health, he spent a year in the highlands of Ontario. In the fall of 1894 he entered the dental department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, completing the course and receiving his degree in 1897. He immediately entered upon the active practice of his profession at Waterloo, but two years later moved to Auburn, where he has remained and where he has built up a large and representative patronage. He possesses a thorough knowledge of his profession and keeps closely in touch with the latest advances made in the science of dentistry, being now numbered among the ablest and most successful in his line in this section of the state.

On December 31, 1900, Dr. Graham married Bertha Kiplinger, of Waterloo, daughter of Michael Kiplinger and wife, who are represented elsewhere in this volume. To this union have been horn three children, namely: Gladwyn, DuVern and Erthenia.

In the civic life of the community in which he lives. Dr. Graham has long taken an active and prominent part and from 1906 to 1910 he served as president of the city board of health. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has attained to the fourteenth degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, Uniform Rank, and has served as chancellor commander of the lodge at Waterloo. He also belongs to the Modern W^oodmen of America and the Brotherhood of American Yeomen. Religiously. Dr. Graham and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, of which the Doctor is an elder, and in 19 10 he was honored by being made a commissioner to the general assembly of tlie church which met at Atlantic City. He is a straightforward, conscientious man, in whom his fellow citizens have marked confidence because of his public spirit and splendid personal qualities. Personally he is genial and companionable, and is popular in the social circles in which he moves.

The life of the scholarly or professional man or woman seldom exhibits any of those striking incidents that seize upon public feeling and attract attention. Their characters are generally made- up of the aggregate qualities and qualifications they may possess, as these may be elicited by the exercise of the duties of their vocations or the particular professions to which they belong. But when such persons have so impressed their individualities upon their fellows as to gain their confidence and through that confidence rise to important public trust, they become conspicuous figures in the body politic of the community. The subject of this sketch is one of the scholarly women of her county, who, not content to hide her talents amid life's sequestered ways, has, by the force of will and a laudable ambition, forged to the front in an exacting and responsible calling and earned an honorable reputation as the head of one of the most important branches of public service. She is a welleducated, symmetrically developed woman and, her work as an educator having brought her prominently to the notice of the public, the result has been a demand for her services where a high standard of professional excellence is required. She is fully abreast the times in advanced educational methods and her general knowledge is broad and comprehensive. Because of her earnest life, high attainments, well rounded character and large influence, she is eminently entitled to representation in a work of the character of the one in hand.

Dr. Lida Leasure is a daughter of the old Hoosier state, having been born at Spring Hill, near Greensburg, Indiana, and is a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Hood) Powers. She was rearetl on a farm and her elementary education was received in the common schools of her neighborhood, which was supplemented by attendance at a local academy. At the age of aliout twenty years she became a student in the Terre Haute Normal School, where she was graduated, after which she engaged in teaching school. Her first pedagogical work was as a teacher in the high school at Marshall, Illinois, after which she taught in the Model School at Terre Haute and in the Indianapolis high school. In 1878 she came to Auburn, where for several years she taught in the high school, and served as superintendent of the city schools, where she earned a splendid reputation for both educational and executive ability. In 1880 she taught in the high school at Princeton, Indiana, and on December 30th, that year, she was married to John H. Leasure, of Auburn, after which she resigned her position at Princeton and returned to Auburn to reside. However, her love for educational work again attracted her to the school room and in 1882 and for two or three years thereafter she was a teacher in the Auburn high school. About this time she determined to take up the practice of medicine and to this end she matriculated in the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann iVrbur, where she was graduated in 1888, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For a while Dr. Leasure practiced her profession at Auburn, but in 1892 she moved to Angola and, with the exception of a year at Logansport. Indiana, she was engaged in the active practice at Angola until 1003, when, having found her professional duties too exacting and her husliand's business re(|uiring his constant presence at Auburn, they returned to the latter place, wiiere they have since resided. Here, having relincjuished her medical practice, Dr. Leasure again entered the educational work and for two years was principal of the Riley school, and taught a year in the higli school, resigning the latter position. In June, 1911, without solicitation on her part, she was elected to the position of county superintendent of schools, she having given her consent to the electi<'n in response to the reipiest of a number of the county's influential trustees. She was elected for a four-}-ear term, but by legislative enactment her term has been extended to 1017. To Dr. Leasure l)elongs the distinction of being the first woman to be elected to a public office in Indiana and also of being the only woman superintendent in the state. Though a very busy woman, and the duties of her office responsible and exacting, she loves the work and is discharging her official duties in a manner that has won the approval and commendation of all classes. Personally, Dr. Leasure is a woman of many gracious qualities of head and heart which have endeared her to all who know her. Aside from her professional work, she takes an intelligent interest in the social, moral and civic life of the commmiity, every movement for tiie ach'ancement of the welfare of the C(immunit\-. Slie is an honorary member of the Ladies' Liter.'iry Club and is a member of the Woman's Christian Temperance L^nion, while her religious memliersiiip is with the Presbyterian church, of which she is an earnest meml:)er.

where in this work, Mrs. L.easure has become the mother of the following children: Flossie, the wife of Harry M. Richwine, of Auburn, and the mother of a daughter, Helen Marguerite; and J- Kent, who is a student in the medical department of the State University at Bloomington, Indiana.

In giving the life record of the late Dr. David J. Swarts. of Auburn, Indiana, it is belie\-ed that it will be an incentive to the young who may peruse it to lead nobler lives, have higher ambitions and accomplish more for their fellow-men, for his life was ever led along a plane of high endeavor, alwa} s consistent with truth in its highest forms and ever in keeping with honorable principles. He had an altruistic spirit - and for a half century he put forth every effort in his power to alleviate suffering, so that his name deserves to go down in the history of his locality as one of its worthiest and most faithful and efficient physicians. Thus, for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he was one of the patriotic sons of the North who, when the terrible tocsin of war sounded in the early sixties,, unhesitatingly gave up the pleasures of home and the pursuit of a profitable profession to do what he could in behalf of the National Union, the biographer is glad to set forth tlie salient facts concerning his long, useful and honorable career.

David J. Swarts was born near Jeromeville, Ashland county. Ohio, on June 30, 1832, and was a son of David and Catherine (Smith) Swarts. He remained on the farm with his parents until nineteen years of age, in the meantime securing the rudiments of his education in the common schools. He then became a student in Vermillion Academy, at Hayesville, Ohio, where he remained two and a half years. In 1856. having determined to make the practice of medicine his life work, he entered vipon its study under the direction of Doctors Robinson and Firestone, of Wooster, Ohio, with whom he remained until the fall of 1838. He tlien entered the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he was graduated in March, i860, and later took a post-graduate course in the I'ellevue Hospital Medical College, in New- York Citv. He first located at Reedsburg, Ohio, but in November, i860, renio\ed to .A.uburn, Indiana, where his abilities were quickly recognized and he was soon in command of a large and remunerative patronage. His private professional career was interrui)ted. lidwexer. by tlie outbreak of the war of the

Rebellion, which aroused his patriotic spirit and, in June, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A, One Hundredth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. At the organization of the company he was elected and commissioned first lieutenant, in which capacity he served until the following October, when he resigned his commission in order to accept the commission assistant surgeon of his regiment, and rendered most faithful and efficient service until the close of the war, being mustered out in June. 1865. He participated in most of the battles in which the Fifteenth Army Corps, under Gen. John A. Logan, engaged, including Pigeon Roost, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, the siege of Atlanta, siege of Vicksburg, Mission Ridge, Black River, siege of Jackson, Lovejoy Station, Bentonville and many others of scarcely less importance.

In his professional practice Doctor Swarts was ninnbered among the successful in his section of the state, and was held in the highest regard among his professional colleagues. In 1862, prior to his enlistment, he had been employed as one of the county physicians, and in 1880 he was again appointed to that position, while he also rendered effectix-e service as secretary of the cour.ty lioard of health. He was not only an able physician, but Jie was characterized 1)\- a profound human sym]xithy. wiiich o\-erlea])ed mere sentiment to become his actuating moti\e. Those who knew him well were unstinted in their jiraise of his kindly disposition and his sujicrior aiiility. He was a memlier of the DeKalb County Medical Society, tlie Indiana State Medical Society, the Tri-State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. In the summer of 1900 Doctor Swarts took a trip to Europe, his itinerary embracing England, German}'. Switzerland and France, \isiting the Paris Exposition, while, professionally, he visited a number of the leading hospitals of Europe.

Dr. David J. Swarts died on March 3, 1903, in Beaver county, Oklalioma. where he had entered a government claim on which he was staying to prove it up, liut chiefly for the benefit of his failing health. His remains were brought liack to Auburn for interment. His loss was deeply felt in this community, where so many of his active years had been passed, his death coming to manv as a personal bereavement, for he had endeared himself to all who were numbered among his friends.

On August 28. 1862, Dr. David Swarts was married to \'esta M. Ward, the daughter of Rev. Stephen Brown and Laura Ward, of Auburn, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. She was born in Lorain county, Ohio, on April 26, 1841, and came to DeKalb county, Indiana, with her par- ents in 184J. Slie received her early education in the Auburn pubhc schools, completing her studies at the Northeastern Indiana Academy, at Orland, Steuben county, in 1858. She then began teaching and from that time up to her marriage to Doctor S warts she was identified with the educational interests of DeKalb county, eventually becoming superintendent of the Auburn schools. For a year during the early part of the Civil war she taught school in Hicksville, Ohio, and in the great issue between the North and the South her loyalty inspired her to active efforts in behalf of the Union. She gave frec|uent talks and readings at meetings called for the enlistment of volunteers, and later while teaching at Auburn she had a class of thirty students who sang war campaign songs on such occasions. She still has in her possession several copies of these songs.

In July, 1864, Mrs. Swarts, possessed with a deep consciousness of a call to duty, resigned her position in the Auburn schools and started for tlie Southland, her intention being to join her husband and assist him in his care for the sick and wounded soldiers. He was then located at Altoona Pass, Georgia. She called on Goxernor Morton and asked for a pass, which he readily gave her, but told her that communication w as cut off by Hood's army, which was in Kentucky, and that she probably would not be able to get through for some time. However, he gave her an order to report for service to Mrs. Annie VVittenmyer, of the Christian Commission, at Louisville, and there, on July 15th, she began her work as nurse in the Brown U. S. General Hospital. In October of the same year she was transferred to the Crittenden U. SGeneral Hospital, at Louisville, where she remained until March 27, 1865, when, being unfit for further duty on account of poor health, she was honorably discharged and returned to her home. Her experiences in this work were necessarily far from pleasant, but she devoted herself, heart and soul, to the work for which she had oft'ered herself and her record during that trying period was one of faithful and self-forgetting service for others. Only those who have had actual experience on the battlefield or in hospitals can fully realize how cheap human life is ofttimes held in time of war or of the awful carnage of battle. In the Crimean war Florence Nightingale led her devoted band of nurses along a new route in the mitigation of the horrors of war, and her American sisters followed along the same merciful and loving way. The nurses of the Civil war were recruited from every-day life and Mrs. Swarts was justly proud of the commission which she held from the government, for such commissions were not to be had for the mere asking. Referring to her experiences in those days, Mrs. Swarts, in one of her letters.

wrote as follows: "A circular sent out by the superintendent of nurses of the Sanitary Commission stated emphatically that all nurses are required to be very plain looking women, their dresses must be brown or black, with no bows, no curls or jewelry, and no hoop skirts. I could have filled that bill of particulars perfectly, but was spared the inquisition, for Mrs. Wittenmyer, of the Christian Commission, to whom I reported for duty, was less exacting and my papers were duly signed by order of Secretary Stanton and the surgeon-general of the army." Again she wrote : "The army nurses know no North, no South, in their care for the sick and suffering."

In 1878 Mrs. S warts decided to devote herself to the practice of medicine and, after studying for awhile with her husband, she took special courses in medicine and surgery, and was admitted to the junior class of tlie dejiartment of medicine of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. .\nd un March i, 1882, she graduated at the Ft. Wayne College of Medicine and received her degree. She immediately entered upon the active practice of her profession at Auburn and later took a post-graduate course at New Orleans, Louisiana.

Dr. Vesta M. Swarts is a woman of high intellectual attainments, thoroughly demonstrated professional ability, and exalted personal character, so that she has at all times enjoyed the fullest measure of confidence and regard throughout the community where practically her entire life has been spent.

To David J. and Vesta Swarts were born two children, namely : Harris J., on August 24, 1866, and Willard Ward, on July 14, 1872. Harris J. secured his educational training in the Auburn public schools and then completed a thorough course in practical telegraphy, in which he became an expert. From 1884 he was employed in active railroad service as an operator and in 1893 he became a train dispatcher for the Illinois Central Railroad Company, being now located as a chief dispatcher at Freeport, Illinois. He has been a prudent manager of his private affairs and is the owner of valuable real estate at Auburn. He was one of the original incorporators of the Auburn Hardware Company, in which company he was a stockholder. On November i, 1888, he married Chloe S. Shoemaker, the daughter of A. Shoemaker, of Decatur, Illinois. To them were born two children, Mabei X^esta. born June 27, 1890, and Harold Ward, born May 4, 1894, the latter dying on October 28, 1896, and the former less than a week later, on November 2d, both deaths being caused by malignant diphtheria. Dr. Willard Ward Swarts received his elementary education in the Auburn public schools, and during both his junior and senior years in high school was president of his class. He began the study of medicine under the direction of his parents.

and then took the full course in the Ft. Wayne College of Medicine, after which he attended the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, where he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. Soon afterwards he took two terms at the Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital at Chicago, after which he located at Poe, Allen county, Indiana, where he devoted himself to the general practice of medicine and surgery. Five and a half years later he removed to Auburn, where he has continued in the practice, with excellent results. He is an honorary member of the Ft. Wayne College of Medicine Alumni Association, and while in Allen county he was a member of the Allen County Medical Society and was a charter member of the Ft. Wayne Academy of Medicine. He is now a member of the DeKalb County Medical Society, the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. He was appointed in January, 1914, as secretary of the Auburn city board of "health, for a term of four \ears. On February 3, 1897, Dr. Willard Swarts married Nell Garside, the daughter of James W. Garside, of Edon, Williams county, Ohio, assistant cashier of the Edon Banking Company. To Dr. Swarts and wife have been bom two children, Irene, born March 7, 1898,. and Ward Garside, born September 28, 1906.