Elkhart County, Indiana - Tue Churches, 1905 (part 3 of 15)

William H. Weybright is the owner of an excellent and well improved farm in Jackson township and is a representative agriculturi.st, manifesting in his life many sterling traits of the German ancestry and at tlie same time displaying unquestioned loyalty to America and her institutions. Lie also belongs to one of the pioneer families of Elkhart county, and his birth here occurred December 26, 1848. He is the eldest son of a fan-iily of ten children, whose parents were John and Joanna (Lindeman) W'eybright. The father was Ixnii in the citv of Dayton, in Montgximery county, Ohio, July 6. i8iy. and liis life record co\'ered more than eighty-one years, his death occurring May 20. 1901. He spent the first eleven years of his life in his native county and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Elkhart county. Indiana. tra\'eling in pioneer style in cmered wag'ons. They settled on Elkhart prairie and in that section of the state there were few hx)mes. much of the land being still in possession of the government. His father entered a claim and the family began their life in the state in a log caliin. which stood near the Elkhart river. The door of the buililing was of sjilit legs or puncheons and the house was heated by the oldtin'e fireplace. The Indians roamed through the forests and often stopped at this pioneer home, but they manifested a friendly sjiirit toward its inmates. There were many deer and wild turkeys to be had so there was no lack of meat on the pioneer board. Mr. W'eybright of this review assisted his father in tbreslu'ng grain, which was stamped out by the horses on the barn floor. He has seen the reaping done with the old-fashioned hand sickle and other primitive farm machinery used. The father was a miller by trade but spent most of bis life as an agriculturist, and although he performed manual labor that is not required at the present time because of the improved machinery be ultimately acquired a gratifying meacure of success. .\s his financial resources increased he made jufUcious investment in property until be had large landed interests in both Kosciusko and Elkhart counties. He was well known for his strict honesty and upright purpose, and he took great pride in rearing his children to habits of integrity and industry - habits which in later years have borne rich fruit in upright life. In his political views be was a Whig and in bis early life cast his presidential vote for \\''illiam Henry Harrison wdien the rallying cry of the Whigs was " Tippecanoe and Tyler too." Following the dissolution of the party he never took any active interest ui politics. He was reared in the faith of the German Baptist church and was one of the prime mo\ers in organizing what is known as the " Big Church "' in Jackson town.sbip. giving liberally of his means toward its erection and support. He was one of the deacons of the church for many years. Much of the timber for the building came irom the forests on bis land and some of the huge timbers were eighty feet in lengtli. Mr. Weybright also gave liberalhfor the building of other churches in his locality and be was a (iod-fearing man, who taught his children lessons of love, charity and bene\-olence. His wife was bom in Germany, July 9. 1816. and was a little maiden when brought to America by her parents. She is yet living at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, residing with her son Da\-ifl on the old homestead, and her mental faculties are unimpaired. She is one of the worthy pioneer mothers of Elkhart county and her memorv forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present.

Mr. W'eyljright of this review was reared in Elkhart county and the first school which he ever attended was held in a little log building sixteen hy twenty-four feet. The desk was formed of a board resting upon wooden pins driven into the wall and the old-fashioned goosequdl ])en was largely used. He attended school during the winter m(<nths :'.nd in the summer months he worked upon the farm, giving his father ihe benefit of his ser\-ices until he had attained his majority.

Mr. Weybright wedded Miss Susanna Cieyer in 1873. She was horn an;l reared in Elkhart county and has been a devoted and faithful hel]imatc to her husband. Both her jjarents are now deceased. Mr. ruul Airs. W'eyliright began their domestic life on a farm of eighty acres, on which the)- are yet living. He first rented this property Iwt Soon after his father ga\e him the land, to which he has since added until be now has a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Jackson township, supplied with modern equipments and conveniences and all tlie necessary buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. He liah in his jjossession two of the old ]3arcbment deeds which were executed by President Martin \'an Biu'en and bear the date of August 10. 1837.

To Mr. and Mrs. Weybright have lieen born four children, two sons ;uid tw( daughters, and the family circle yet remains unbroken 1)\- the hand of death. Dora A., the eldest, is the w'ife of John Stout, a farmer and minister of the German Baptist church, li\'ing in Jackson townshi]!. They have a little daughter, Ruth. John Orba is an agriculturist of Jackson townsbi]i and was recently elected to the office of deacon in his church. He lias been married twice, first wedding Miss Maud IJerry, by whom he had a son, James William. His present wife bore the maiden name of l',ertha Culler. Charlie V. is em- ])loyed in the bouse of .VUbaugh Brothers, Dover & Company, on Franklin street, Chicago. Nina Edith is the youngest and attends the home school. Mr. and Mrs. Weybright are botli meml>ers of the German Baptist church, taking an active interest in the church and Sunday school and be is now serving as one of the trustees of the church at Syracuse, Indiana. Both are representatives of old pioneer families here and thev have spent their entire lives in the county, where they are wideh' and fa\dra!)l\- known. Iiax'ing a \-er)- extensive circle of frien<ls.

Entering vijxjn his career of business activity less than ten years <«go, jMr. Harry M. Sanders has in the meantime displayed such executive ability and thorough C(jmprebensi()n of modern business affairs that he stands in the front rank of Elkhart county's men of success and enterprise. In the history of Elkhart count}- industries is found some detailed mention of the extensive manufacturing plant known as the Sanders & Eg1>ert Company, wholesale manufacturers of hardwood lumber at (joshen. Mr. Sanders is a director and stockhokler in this concern, having been identiiied with its management since it was organized nnder the present name, and is also connected with several other com]xmies at Goshen which would at once be named as representative of their class of business activity.

.\ son of Daniel A. and Frances M. ( Miltenberger ) Sanders, the father being president of the .Sanders & Egl>ert Company, ^Ir. Harry M. Sanders was born in tiie city of Goshen, January 17, 1875. When he had completed his education in the Goshen schools and at Eastman's Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York, the door of business opportunity being open to him he at once entered and has sought success in the field of industrial enterprise. He has confined most of his attention to the lumber trade and manufacturing. He became a member of the firm of Lesh, Sanders, Egbert and Company, and since 1898 has Ijeen connected with the Sanders and Egbert Company. He is also secretary and a director in the Sanders, Hay and Neidig Company, is a director of the State Bank of Goshen, and assistant secretary of the Elkhart County Loan and Trust Company. These interests connect him with the foremost financial and manufacturing enterprises of the county, making him. at the close of his third decade of life, a factor of ])ower and influence in directing the business current of the count}-. Mr. Sanders also owns and operates a valuable farm in this county.

June 16, 1897, Mr. Sanders married Miss Annie Louise Heckert, of York, Pennsylvania, a daughter of D. Phillip and Annie Heckert. Mr. and Mrs. Sanders have a happy little family of three children, whose names are Annie Virginia, Daniel Heckert and Mary Christine. One of the prominent Masons of the state, ]\Ir. Sanders has active aftiliation with Goshen Commandery No. 50, K. T., and as a thirty-second degree Mason is a member of the Ir.dianapolis Consistory and belongs to Murat Temple of the ^lystic Shrine at the same ])lace. Like so many yimng men of the twentieth centuiy, Mr. Sanders directs his ])olitical action along the lines of independent judgment rather than by jjartisanship. althcnigh in national politics he has alwavs \-oted the Republican ticket. Socially prominent, Mr. Sanders and wife are among the best known .-incl most highly esteemed young people of Goshen.

A. r>. ^'o(ler. iunior member of the well known and prosperous hardware and fiu'nilure firm oi Yoder Brothers at W'akarusa, is possessed of like enterprise and business alaility with that which has made the name of Yoder conspicuous in business and civic affairs in this county. Geniality and courtesy form a \'er)- \-aluable stock-in-trade for one who enters a mercantile career, and it is to these qualities that Mr. \'o(ler ascribes miicli of his success, although they rdone would

Mr. Voder, wlio was Ijorii in Olive township, this county. ^Nlarch 2. 1870. and who lias been identified with the county by practically a lifelong residence, was the seventh child in the family of Henry and Elizabeth ( Bixler ) Yoder. Educated in the common schools and the W'akarusa high school, he spent all of the first twenty-one years of his life in this count}, and in 1891 went to Whiteside county. Illinois, where he s]jent two years in. farniing and one year as a postoffice employe. In the fall of iSgj; he returncfl to Wakarusa. and since then has l;een identified, in increasing prominence, with the laisiness affairs of this ihri\ing town. Accepting a place in the general store of Adam Domer at wages of twelve dollars a month, by integrity and diligence he was not long in advancing to a position of independent effort. Mr. Yoder is one of the men of present-day prosperous circumstances who at the lieginning of their careers found it worth their while to accept any work which would aft'ord an honest livelihood, relying upon individual ability and hard work and experience to raise them from lower tn higher places of responsibility. After remaining with Mr. Domer until 1895 he purchased an interest in the store of the Yoder Brothers, going in debt for the major part of his stock, but in the subsecjuent ten years he has not only lifted e\'ery incum1>rance of financial nature but has extended and broadened the scope of the business until the firm of Yoder Brothers is one of the foremost of its kind in Elkhart county.

Mr. Yoder married Miss Clara 'Ehret. September 18, 1895, and iMie daughter and one infant son lia\e beeen born to them, the daughter being Joy Oma, who is in the first grade of school. Mrs. Yoder was Iwrn in Olive township, this comity, January 7, 1871. a daughter of Jacob l". and Mary (Morris) Ehret, who are still living, being pioneer settlers in this county. The Morris family is noted elsewhere in this work as having been identified prominently with early Elkhartian history, the first election following the organization of Olive township being held at the Morris home and the ballot box lieing the sugar bowl in daily use at that home. Mrs. Yoder was educated in the public schools of this count\-. Mr. anrl ]Mrs. Yoder have a pretty cottage home on Hano\-er street, and their hospitality and social worth make them prominent factors in the social life and acti\'ities of the town. They are members of the Mennonite church, he being a trustee and steward in the Wakarusa society. He is alsri one of the strongest supporters of the Prohibition party in this part of the county, and his position on matters aft'ecting the cixic and moral welfare of bis community is well Ivuown to all.

John Riddle

1-or the ])ast ten vears numljered among the substantial and successful agriculturists and imblic-siiirited citizens of Elkhart count\-. Mr.

John Riddle, of Olive township, has been a valuable addition to the civic life and material activities of this county and belongs to that class which will be most prominently mentioned in connection with the history of the county during these first years of the twentieth century.

Born in Knox county, Ohio, (.ni Christmas day, i<S56, he was the seventh of his parents' ten children, four sons and six daughters. Those yet li\'ing are : Lydia, formerly a teacher, now the wife of John \^'. Miller, a retired resident of Chicago Junction, Ohio ; Archibald, married and a farmer of Huron county, Ohio; Sj^bil, wife of Fremont Miller, a farmer of Seneca county, Ohio: Philander, who is a farmer and lives with his family in Huron county, Ohio: John, next in order; Lunetta. wife of George Hatch, a farmer of Ohio: William, wIki is inarried and is a farmer in Huron county.

The parents were John and Amanda (Thorr.ton) Riddle. \'he father, a native of Penn.sj-lvania, came to Ohio at an early enough date to be classed as a pioneer, and, being a well educated man. taught school for a numter of years in Richland and Knox counties. Successful in business affairs, he was the owner of two- hundred acres of Ohio land at the time of his death, which occurred in Ohio when he -was about sixty-four years old. His political affiliations were first with the Whigparty and later with the Republican, and he and his wife were close communion Baptists. The mother, who was born in New York state, became a resident of Ohio at the age of twelve and spent the rest of her life there, both she and her husband being interred in Huron county.

The first eight years of Mr. Riddle's life w-ere spent at his birthplace in Kno.x county, and from that time until he took up his residence in Indiana he lived in Huron county. A common school education, with one term in the schools of .\ttica, (Dhio, sufficed for literary preparation, and his practical efficiency and common sense have supplied all the remaining requisites for a successful career. \\^ithout cash capital he began at the age of twenty-one as a renter on his father's estate, and continuing in that relation until he was twenty-six years old, he progressed steadily b}' industry and strict attention to business and put himself in line for continual advancement.

October 7, 1883. Mr. Riddle married Miss Sarah .\. Innk, a daughter of Peter and Maiy (Clouse) Fink, she being one of their nine children, all of whom are living. Mrs. Riddle was born in Elkhart county, December 18, 1856, ancl after completing the work of the common schools received her teacher's certificate wdien sixteen years old. She also took instructi(.n in the Valparaiso Normal and l>egan teaching in Locke township. Her successful record as teacher covers thirteen terms in Indiana and two terms in Seneca county and one in Huron county. Ohio. Her pleasing personality and genial manner, combined with her ability, have made her successful both in educational work and as a homemaker.

homestead in section 2. Olixx tdwiislii]), which pri:)perty. after renting tour years, they purchased. They ha\e remodeled the old liome into one of tlie comfortable and pretty aiuntry residences of the township, and all the snnxiundings betoken the enterprising' management and efficiency of the owners. The farm has one hundred and ten acres, and commodious barns and other buildings afford all the conveniences and shelter for stocks and crops. Mr. Riddle likes good stock and keeps -S'ome excellent grades on his place, favoring the Poland China hog and the heavy draft horses.

Mr. Riddle is one of the brm supporters of Republicanism in his ])art I if the county, having stood for those principles since casting his lii"st \iite for (iarfield. In religion he adiieres to the faith which his good parents practiced, and in social relations and all the varied ways in which individuals mingle with each other he and his wife have enio\ed the constant esteem and regard of all friends and acciuaintances.

.Mbert Christian ^'ocler, M.D.. i)liysician and surgeon, with a good general ]3racticc at Goshen wliich he has l)uilt u]) \\itbin the three or four vears of his residence in this cit\'. was born on a fai'ui o\er in LaGrange county. Xnvember ii, 1867. He comes of a substantial family that iias Ijeen established in northern Indiana since the pioneer epoch. His grandfather. Christian C. Yoder. who married a Miss Hcrschbnrger. was a native j'f I'enns\-l\ania and of German parentage, as was also his wife. In the early daws they traveled across the country 1)\- \\ai,'on and made settlement in LaGrange county. Indiana, whence thev later moved to McPherson county. Kansas, where both died.

Xoab C. Voder, the father of Dr. Voder, was also born in La- (irangc countv. He died at the age of fifty-three, on February 26. iS(j7, having been born January 14. 1S44. Fie married Anna Mary Margaret Lambright. who was born in ( iermany. September 10. 1845. but who was brought to .\merica bv her father. Peter Lambright. when slie was three or four weeks old. Her father settled at first in Holmes county. Ohio, later came to LaGrange county. Indiana, where he died. Vlv. Voder's parents were married in La(jrange county. March 22. 186^1. His mother still resides on the old homestead, lieing sixty years old. Thev had four children, of wlioin All)ert (_'. is the oldest.

.\n''i<l the rural surroundings of La(irange county as it was thirty vears ago Dr. ^'oder grew to manhood, alternating his \outhfu] acti\ity between the farm and the country school. One would naturally infer that the Doctor was a bright student, since at the age of sixteen he was awarded a teacher's certificate, aiirl thereafter for several years he instructed the \-outh of a countr\- school, following that occupation altogether for fi\'e vea''s. One inter\;ening year he attended the La- Grange high school. In tlie spring of 1890 he entered the Indiana

State Xonnal Sclioul at Terre Haute, where he completed the four years' course and was graduated in 1893. During the six succeechng years lie was principal of the high school at Vincennes, Indiana. During this time, however, he was on leave of ahsence for the purpose of atteniling the University of Indiana, where he was graduated in 1899 with the degree of A. B. In the same year he entered Rush Medical College in Chicago and took the sophomore year's work, after which he taught liis last year in the high schoul of \'incennes. closing in the spring of 1901. In the t\illo\\ii;g Julv he re-entered Rush Medical, and Octoher 2. 190J. graduated with the degree of M. D. .Septemlier 26, 1902, he located at Goslien, and in the lirief period since then has gained a \ery satisfactory practice in this city and adjacent countr}-. He stands high among his fellow practitioners, being Secretary of tlie Elkhart County Medical Society, and has membership in the Indiana State ^Medical and the American !\Iedical associations.

Dr. Yoder affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen of the World and the INIodern ^^'oo^lmen of America, and in religion is a member of the Methodist church. He was married on Christmas day of 1894 tci Miss Elora IMarie Brookie. and the two children horn to them are Dvvight Brookie and Albertine Marie.

Albert Mutschler

Albert Mutsciiler. treasurer of the Coppes. Zook & 'Mutschler Company at Nappanee. is an able representative of the enterprise and business progressiveness which have been at the foundation of that city's substantial and rapid growth within the last decade. His comparati\ely brief career in connection with business life has been characterized by the alertness and executixe force which are essential to present-day success, and have brought him into a prominent jiosition among the men of affairs in this county.

Mr. Mutschler. who is the third child in the family of George and Sarah I'Froelich) Mutschler. whose biography appears on other ]>ages of this work, was born in the town of Millersburg. tliis county. Septeml>er 30. 1871. and was reared to manhood in his natixe town. Receiving Jiis elementar)" education in the common schools nf Millersburg he later attended the State Normal at Terre Haute and l>egan his business career with his father at Millersburg. He later was a clerk in Stutz and Donaldson's general store, and then was a clerk in the office of his father's manufacturing plant in Goshen. He came to Napjjanee as manager of the Nappanee I-'urniture Companv in 1894. and held that position until the Coppes. Zook & Mutschler Company was organized in 1902. at which time he was chosen to his present office of treasurer of this latter company. His further business interests are in the flour mills, and sawmill and the furniture plant, all of Nappanee. enterprises which furnish, altogether, employment to about three hundred iiK-n. As tnld in a more specil^c article on other pages, the ("oppes. Zuok & ^iutschlcr (J)Mipan_v is (inc of the leading industrial establishments in the county, increasing the resources of the county and affording employment to many men, and Mr. Mutschler's connection with thi*; concern, as with his i;tlier afTairs. has given him a large held 111]- the exploitation nf his energies and luisiness acumen.

Mr. Afutschler is a Democrat in politics, is athliated with the Knights of Pythias fraternit}-, and is a memher and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal church and a leading worker in the Sunday school. Having resided in the county all his life, he is naturally deep!}- interested in its welfare, and his public-spirited citizenship has been manifested on many occasions.

He married, June to. 1897, ]\[iss lUizalieth Ulery. who is the daughter of John D. and Mary (Whitehead) Ulery. Three chiklren have been l)orn of their marriage. Mary, LaMar and Carlyle.

Few men are more widely or more favorably known in the enterprising city of Goshen than George W. Hay, the buyer for the Sanders & Egbert Company. For a number of years he has been an important factor in bushiess circles, and his popularity is well deserved, as in him are embraced many characteristics which go to constitute valuable citizenship. As a member of this long established and well known finn he has done much to build up one of the leading industries of the city, and contributes in large measure to the progress and success of every movement which has for its object the general good.

George W. Hay is a native son of Elkhart county, Indiana, his l)irth occurring on the qth of January, t86o, a son of Joseph and Hattie (Erbaugh) Hay, both natives of Montgomery county, Ohio. In 1859 they took up their abode on a farm in Elkhart county, and there the father spent his remaining days, passing aw^ay January 4, 1890. He was of Penn.sylvania German descent. His widow is still living. Their son, George W., the second in their family of four children, two sons rmd two daughters, w'as early inured to the duties of farm life, and during his b(.!vhood days attended the c.)unty schools and also the city schools of'Cioshen. ' .\fter attaining mature years be engaged in the occupation to which he had been reared, and followed agricultural pursuits until 189.2, when he engaged in buying timber, and at the -organi- .vation oi' the Sanders & Egbert Connpany he became a memher of the hrm, and is now their well known and efficient buyer. Tbrougiiout his entire business career he has been interested in farming, and he still owns the old homestead, a valuable tract of eighty acres located two miles west of Goshen.

sons, CloA'er and George W'., Jr. Mr. Hay is a life-long Republican. and for a number of years has taken an active part in political matters. His life has been one of industry and perseverance, and the systematic and honorable methods which he has followed have won him the support and confidence of many.

Amos C. Lehman

A representative of those im])(M-tant mercantile interests which form an integral part of the material prosperity and resources of the town (if W'akarusa. ^Ir. A. C. Lehman is a young business man wIkt, a native of another state, has in recent years transferred liis energy and ability to the excellent field of commercial enterprise presented by Wakarusa, and here has built up one of the foremost mercantile establishments to be found in western Elkhart countv. The "Busy Store" is a first-class emporium which attracts the best class of customers from the town and surrounding country, and in its genial proprietor, up-to-date methods of conducting such a store, and the uniform excellence of the goods offered for sale the public has expressed its satisfaction and appreciation b}- affording a large share of its trade.

]\[r. Lehman was born in Livingston county. Illinois. March 26, 1873. being the sixth in the large family of seventeen children, nine sons and eight daughters, born to Peter Y. and Lydia A. (Good) Lehman. Thirteen of the children are li\-ing. as follows: David G., who is married and is a well known auctioneer residing at Goshen: Sarah, wife of Samuel L. Blough. a farmer of Marshall county; Isaac G.. who is married and is engaged in the manufacture of medicine at Elkhart: Noah .\.. married, and in tlie fmMiiture and undertaking Inisiness at Nappanee : Lizzie, wife of Harrison Miller, a farmer of Concord township: .\mos C. ; Susie, a resident of Goshen: Peter G., for the past six years a resident of San Francisco, \\here he is a barber : Reuben, a salesman at Nappanee: Rhoda. of Goshen: .\lpheus. in his brother's store in Wakarusa ; Luella. and Harrison, at home.

The father wh<i was born in Ohio, is a minister and bishop of the Mennonite church, and one of the prominent citizens of this countv. where he has resided since 1873. He is a man of broad mind, of noble and unselfish ideals, interested from a practical standpoint in the humanizing influences which make mankind better, and has given much of his time and effort toward promoting the cause of temperance. His wife, a native of tiiis state, is still living.

Being but a child when the family crime to Elkhart count}-. Mr. Amos C. Lehman was reared to manhood in this county, receiving his education in the common schools, and at the age of nineteen became a clerk in a store at Wakarusa. He possessed seven dollars and a half at the beginning, and In's salary was six dollars a month and laoard. His employer was \Villiam IMaurer. the general merchant, to whose

\\iM.- (lirecliiiii'~ ami kindh' ccinsideraticin Mr. Lehman attributes much nt his sul)se(inent success. I le remained with this merchant fi\-e years, his salar\- having lieen advanced several times in the meanwhile, and in iS()7 ht engaged in merchandising on his own account at South I Send. .Vfter seven months' successful experience there he returned to Wakarusa and went into the buggy and bicycle business, which he continued two \ears. At the conclusion of that period he purchased the interests of William Yarian, of the firm of Freed and Yarian, general merchants, and in January, 1904, liought the entire control of the business. Since then he has conducted one of the best stores in town, carrying a full line of dry goods, clothing, shoes, men's furnishings, notions, groceries, and, having long since acquired the full confidence of the trading public, has extended his business so that the annual sales will now foot up to forty thousand dollars a year. Such an extensive trade makes it possible for him to change his stock entirely in the course of a sliort time, and thus his customers are certain of getting fresh and modern lines of goods at his establishment, which is well named "The Busy Store." Another business apliorism which he thoroughly believes in and practices is " Goods well bought are half sold." and to the application of this principle of judicious wholesale buying he attributes much of his large trade. He now employs six persons in the store, whicli of itself speaks much for the extent of his concern. Although a man of native modesty, as to matters concerning his personal success, it must afford him as well as his friends much gratification to contrast his present situation with his lot in 1892, when he Ijegan as a clerk at six dollars a month, and such steady and substa'ntial progress could only result from the integrity of character and persistent industry and strict attention to business.

Ttine 4. 1896. Mr. Lehman married Miss Bertha Ehret, and two sons have been born to them, Joyce, aged three, and Theodore. Mrs. Lehman was born in Elkhart county, September 16, 1874, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Morris) Ehret, and received a common school education. She and her husband are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Wakarusa. They have a comfortable and pretty cottage home on Elkhart street, and its interior and exterior show the taste and refinement of both Mr. and Mrs. Lehman. A Republican in politics, casting his first vote for McKinley, he lias taken considerable interest in ])arty affairs and has been selected as a delegate to county conventions.

J. O. Kantz, attorney, of the Elkhart county 1>ar and a well known resident of Nappanee, was born in Snyder county, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1857. His paternal grandfather was Philip Kantz, who was likewise l^orn in the old Keystone state and who was of German lineage. |acob Kantz. the father, was a native of Penns}l\ania and was a cal>inet-niaker liy trade. He came to Indiana in iSdf), locatinti near Bristul in Klkhart cimnt)'. and his remaining days were liere passed, his death occurring in Bristol in 1904 when he had reached the \enerahle age of se\enty-nine }-ears. His wife hore the maiden name of Ehzabeth _\nmil!er and was also a nati\e of Pennsyhania. She was of English. Swedish and German lineage, and her death occurred in Elkhart county in 1903. Mr. and I\Irs. Jacob Kantz were the jiarents of ten children - seven sons and three daughters, of whnm twn died in childhond.

j. O. Kantz, the sixth in order of liirth in this family, was lirought to Elkhart coimty by his parents in 1866 when a lad of eight years, and in 1867 he went t("> Michigan, where he remained until 1872. He jiursued his early education in the graded schools of Bristol and afterward continued his stiulies at Goshen and at Hillsdale. Michig-an. Having completed his education lie engaged in teaching school for ten years in Elkhart county, spending about five years of that time in Nappanee. His leisure hours were devoted to the study of law and when he had largely mastered the principles of the science of jurisprudence he successfully passed the examination which secured his admission tri the bar. Since 1887 he has engaged in i)ractice, and a liberal clientage has been accorded him. for the ])ublic recognize his ability ti handle successfully in\ol\-ed and important btigatcil interests. He has made a close and earnest study of law. anrl his knowledge is broad and comprehensive, while his careful preparation of each case well prepares him for practice before the comets, but at all times urges compromise methods rather than litigation.

In 188 1 Mr. Kantz was united in marriage to Miss b'lora F,. Truex, a daughter of Jesse and Susannah (Cotner) Truex. They have become the parents of three children - Thomas E., Grace M. and Ransv B. Mr. Kantz belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and in his political views is independent. He, however, adheres strongly to temjjerance princi]jles ancl he is well known in the county as a man nf honorable moti\-es. sincere and trustworthy, and he well merits the high esteem in which he is uniformly held.

Attorney Kantz is an antiquarian of nn^re than jiassing ntJtice. -\s a conchologist. he has a rare and beautiful collection of shells from different countries. As a numismatist he has one of the most valuable collections of ancient coins, of tb.e foreign lands, as well as the rare coinage of the American mints, to be found in northern Indiana. He has two excellent sjjecimens of Roman coins, during the reign of lulius Caesar, one taken from the ruins of Pomjjeii and Herculaneum. and has a dollar of the United States coinage bearing the date of 1798, which coin he was offered .*35 for. He has a few excellent specimens of tlie olrl Continental script, which is very rare in the twentieth centur}-. In pottery he has a few unique pieces of Mexican potter\-. In his office will be seen a collection of "ye olden time" relics, which would make glad the heart of a connoisseur of such rarities, among them an old flintlock musket, which saw service in the war of i8i2-"i4 and the Revolutionary war - he has a sworn affidavit to the fact stated. One especial specimen which caught the notice of the writer was a Chinese scimeter, which is enclosed in a carved ivory scabbard, which shows such skill in car\-ing that one is led to think it was of the ancient Japanese or Hindoo skill in difficult carving. .\s to the stone age, some rare and perfect specimens Avere seen of battle axes, cleavers. darts, pestles, etc. This rare collection represents over twenty years' research by Mr. Kantz.

Josej'H A. Freed

Joseph A. Freed, whose business c(.)nnections in the tuwn of Wakarusa have gi\'en him a prominent position in affairs, is one of the native sons of Elkhart county who, on growing to manhood, have assumed the robe of responsibility and have relieved the older generation from the weight of care and labor connected with the directiim nf the Inisiness and industrial interests of the county.

Mr. Freed was born October i6, 1864, and was the fifth of se\'en children, four sons and three daughters, in the family of Andrew and Elizabeth (Moyer) Freed. .Ml the children are living, and residents of Elkhart county. The father was born in Ohio in 1827 and died in 1889, having followed the occupation of a farmer, but the mother is still living. Avith her home in Wakarusa.

Mr. b'reed was reared and educated in this county, and since he has made his own way in life he is justly tei'raed a self-made man. In 1884, at the age of twent\-, lie went to Illinois, and hired out to a farmer at the wages of twenty dollars a month, so that his subsequent prosperitx' has lieen- built up through his industry and good management. On returning tii Wakarusa he began work as a carpenter and continued that four years, was then engaged in threshing and in any line of occupation by which he could gain an honest living. In 1894 lie entered the employ of Adam Domer as clerk in his store, and after the store was sold to C. .Stutz and Son a month later, he ciMitinued with the new firm for nine months, and then for a year was with William Maurer. the next owner of the business, so that Mr. Freed was identified with the same business under three successi\e owners. In the soring of 1896 Mr. Freed, in partnership with Willis O. ^'arian. opened up a general store. Eighteen months later A. C. Lehman ]nncbased the Yarian interests, and it was Freed and Lehman for four vears and a half, at the end of which time ,\. C. Lehman liecame sole proprietor. Mr. Freed then liought the shoe house of Jacob Fletcher, and after remaining in the old building on the west side of Elkhart street eight months the conditions of bis business warranted a remo\'al to better quarters. His present location shows one of the neatest and most aUracti^e shoe stores in the county, and he has built up a fine trade, which in the gross will amount to eight or ten thousand dollars annuall}-. He is accounted among the successful and progressive business men of the tOAvn, and his public-spirited influence is always felt in mo\-ements for the upliuilding of this community. His residence is on Elkhart street, where he has a pleasant cottage home.

October i8, 1888. Mr. Freed married Miss Mattie Freed. Of their four children three are living: Hazel will soon enter high school and has also taken instrumental music; Edgar, who is an all-around student, is in the sixth grade; and Mar\% the youngest, is in the fourth grade. ]Mrs. Freed was born in Elkhart county, May 13. 1872, a daughter of Daniel and .\nna (Nusbaum) Freed, and received her education in the county scl-:ools. She is a member of the Mennonite church. Although as a rule he casts the weight of his influence and his ballot for Republican candidates. Mr. Freed maintains an independent attitude in political matters. He has been sent as a substitute delegate to state conventions. He affiliates with Tent No. 84, K. O. T. M.. at Wakarusa, and is sentinel in the local order.

W. F. Stanton is vice-president and manager of the Warren Hill Company at Elkhart. This company controls the largest dry-goods emporium bet\\een Chicago and Toledo, and since 1900 its business has trebled in amount and value. Mr. Stanton has had almost a lifelong career in mercantile business, and the success with which he has directed all his enterprises gave him prestige even among such merchant princes at Charles A. Stephens of Chicago.

Born in LaSalle, LaSalle county, Illinois, April 16, 1857, Mr. Stanton inherits much of his executive ability and energy and enterprise from most worthy Irish parents. John and Bridget (Ratigan) Stanton, who came from their native land and were married in New York state, and in 1850 became early settlers of LaSalle county, Illinois. The father was a \-ery successful jobbing salesman and general business man. He was an officer during the war of the rebellion, and was appointed l)y the governor of Illinois to look after the bounty-jumpei-s. He was well known in his community and state.

The fourth of his parents" se\-en children. Air. Stanton was reared in LaSalle county and was educated in St. Patrick's College, at LaSalle, an institution under the control of the Christian brothers. Graduating in 1875. he then engaged with the firm of Fellner Brothers, and within two years' time became manager and had full charge of the business until the firm closed out in 1879. He then moved to Galesburg, Illinois, and went into partnership with R. Baskerville in the dry-goods business. Starting with a capital stock of forty-four hundred dollars, thev did fortv-six thnusand dollars" worth of luisiness in one year. Mr.

Stanton was one of the prosperous Imsiness men of Galesburg until 1897, fci' seventeen years, and then sold out his mercantile interests and became associated with the life insurance Ixisiness in Cliicago. with headquarters in the Ashland block. The Warren Hill Company is a credit to the business activity of Elkhart, carries a stock of one hundred and sixty thousand dollars value, does an immense trade with all the surrounding country, and half a million dollars represents the annual trade of the firm. One hundred and eight persons are employed in the business, and the goods displayed and sold are of metropolitan variety and quantity. Mr. Stanton is essentially a biisiness man, and lias gained his success along substantial lines. He has a wide acquaintance among the dry-goods men of the country.

Mr. Stanton is a Democrat in politics, and while a resident nf Galesburg ser\-ed six years on the county lx)ard and the same length of time in the city council. He has always been interested in public affairs, and his support has never been refused to anv enterprise undertaken for the true public welfare.

Mr. Stanton married, in 1883, Miss Mai-y E. Sullivan, daughter of Mortimer and Ellen Sullivan, of Kewanee, Illinois. They have six children : W. F., Jr., who graduated froin the Elkhart high school and is manager of the cloak and suit department in the Warren Hill Company ; Ada May, who' is a graduate of St. Mary's school, Monroe, Michigan: Helen, in high school: and Harold, Frances and Warren G.

Franklin Miles. M. D., Ll. B.

Dr. iM-anklin Miles, president of the Dr. Miles Medical Company and proprietor of the Dr. Milts Grand Dispensary, both of which are among the representative institutions of Elkhart, has for many years l)een prominent before the American public, and his name is not unknown in many foreign countries. He has devoted his entire career to medicine : he began his preparation when a toy, spent many years in training and study before he took up actual practice, and throughout bis subsec|uent busy years has been an ardent student of the great science of healing. To few men has ."^uccess come in such abundant measure as t( > Dr. Miles, and from the restrictions which bound the work of a purely local practitioner he has extended his professional services to thousands all over this country and even to foreign lands.

Born at Olmsted Falls, near Cleveland, Ohio, Dr. Miles is descended from ancestors who were not only among the very first settlers of northern Ohio, but belong among the early colonists of the United States. The progenitor of his family in America was Richard Miles, whose connection with New England history dates from 1637. He came from Hertfordshire, England, and in this country took a prominent part in the affairs of Boston and Milford and New Haven, which were the successi\e place>' (if bis residence. His wife was Katherine Constaljle. The son of this pioneer was Ca|itaiii Jolni Miles, whose lite liistory centers ahout New Haven, Connecticut, and whose wife, Elizaheth Harrinian, Lore him a son who was also called Cajitain John Miles, who was the father of John Miles who lived in W'allingford. Connecticut. The John Miles of \\'allingford married Sarah Ball, and had a son Daniel, who married Ann Daily. Charles Miles, the son of Daniel and Ann Miles, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and thus forms another prominent link in the ancestral chain. He married Ruth Thompson, and the line of descent from them is through their son Erastus, who married Laura Carter and was the father of Charles J. Miles, who married Electa A. Lawrence and had three children, Franklin, the suhject of this biography, and Katherine and Charles.

In the maternal line Dr. Miles' ancestry is of ec|ual length. His mother, Electa A. Lawrence, was a daughter of Ralph Lawrence, son of Jonathan, son of Thomas, son of Joseph, son of Peleg, son of John, son of Robert, son of Robert, who lived in Lancastershire about 1150 A.' D. John Law rence was the jirogenitor of the family in America, having come from Wisset, Suffolk, England, and settled at Watertown, iVlassachusetts. The Lawrence lineage goes teck to the dukes of Normand}-.

Coming down to more recent times, we find several very prominent characters in Dr. Miles' ancestry. Major Lorenzo Carter, a great-grandfather, arri\e<l at Cleveland, Ohio, as early as 1796, established a trading post there, and built and owned the first hotel, a frame house, in the place. He was also part owner of the first lake vessel owned at that port, and this vessel formed a ]Dart of Commodore Perry^'s fleet which gained the famous naval battle on Lake Erie. Major Carter was a historical figure in the early vears of Cleveland, where for a long time his voice had the prestige and authoritv of written law . He wielded great influence among the Indians, and he captured and held prisoner in his own house the first man, an Indian, to be hanged in the state of Ohio. He was the owner of several burcdred acres of land on which has since risen the city of Cleveland.

Judge Erastus Miles, the doctor's paternal grandfather, moved to Newburg, now a part of Cleveland, about 1814. A successful merchant, then postmaster and later associate jud.ge. he was another figure that loomed large in the afifairs of Cleveland during the early half of the last century.

Charles Julius INIiles. the father oi Dr. Miles, at the age of twentythree was appointed clerk of the Ohio legislature, later entered merchandising, and after pursuing this vocation some years was apjx)inted supervisor or chief customs officer for the port of Honolulu, Sandwich Islands, a position which he honored for many years.

Dr. Miles is deservedly proud of such distinguished ancestry, esyyecially since his owm career has been in keeping with the records of those who have gone liefore him, and the facts of his own very successful life mav well be set down at this i)oint.

-\t the age of seventeen a student in ihe well knnwn \\'illiston Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, later w ithin the walls of the equally famed Phillips Academy at Andover, his higher education was nbtained in Yale University, from which he graduated in the scientific course, and in Columbia College. New York, where he graduated with the degree of LL. B. Though his iM-qDaration up to this point had been for a career in the law. predilection led him to the study of medicine, his studies along that line Ijeing begun in the University of .Michigan. He later matriculated in Rush Medical College at Chicago, from which, after his graduation, he entered the Chicago Medical College. Determined to go to the limit of thoroughness in preparation for the greatest vocation to which man can turn his energies, he was next pursuing his investigations in the Illinois State Eye and Ear Infirmary of Chicago.

After having spent the first twenty-seven \-ears of bis life in preparation for his life work Dr. Miles began the practice of medicine in Chicago, where he soon gained a large and lucrative practice and rose to fir.st rank among the physicians of that city. Since entering upon active wnrk- in his profession his constant devotion to all phases of his calling has never ceased, he has always been an ardent student and equally enthusiastic investigator along original lines. Soon after commencing the practice of medicine he was led to believe that derangements of the brain and nervous system exerted a much more important ])art in the production of disease, toth acute and chronic, than was usually supposed. Impressed with this idea, he tegan a series of original in\-estigations which resulted in many important discoveries and brought him an immense practice in chronic diseases. Day and night, year in and year out, alike regardless of the allurements of pleasure or the laws of health, be applied himself to his ever increasing practice and the prosecution of research into the mysteries of the nervous system. In 1873 he began a special study of the relations existing between, the eve and the brain, and the brain and the heart, stomach and r)ther organs, and his investigations enabled him to effect many remarkable cures. Meanwhile, having developed the wonderful discoveries in medicine which have made his name famous, he decided to establish a medical laboraton,- for the preparation of his remedies.

In the year 1887 he founded the Dr. Miles Medical Company at Elkhart. Prior to this date his great remedies blessed only the people whose physician he was. Since then his remedies have become known throughiiut the United States. Canada, and manv foreign countries. Tens of thousands of suffering humanity ba\'e been benefited liv bis marvelous discoveries in medical science. The medical laboratory of the Dr. Miles Medical Company, at Elkhart, is xme of the finest and largest in the countr}-. The success and broad usefulness of this instilution led to another. In order to extend economical treatment nf patierts at their homes. Dr. ]\liles established, also at Elkhart, the Dr.

Miles Grand Dispensary. Mere skilled specialists sift evidence of disease and prescribe treatment by mail according to the science of Neuropathy - the latest and most successful development of the healing art. Dr. Miles is the originator of the neuropathic method. His Grand Di.spensary has won a world-wide rejjutation for curing difficult and obscure classes of disease.

Dr. Miles has also enriched the medical literature of his time, among" his valuable contributions being the following: "Nervous and Chronic Diseases;" "Diseases of the Heart, Stomach, Liver and Kidneys;'" "Cure of Dropsy, Epilepsy, Hysteria, Insanity, etc.;'" "Neuropathy, or Curing Diseases Through the Nerve Centers ; '" " Headache and other Nervous Diseases ; "" "The Cure of Headache ^Vithout Change of Occupation;"' "The Llse of Spectacles in the Treatment of Brain. Nerves. Head, Lungs and Stomach," and many other articles.

Pre-eminently a specialist, and as such a notable figure in medical circles, at the same time Dr. Miles has that breadth of character and catholicit}' of sympathies which draw men to him from e^-ery Avalk of life and enable him to wield great influence in diverse spheres of activity. ^Vith all his great success and ample learning he is kindly and simple in tastes, without a touch of aloofness, and has his friends by the thousands. He is the ideal physician, and his life work has spread its beneficent power to all classes and degrees of mankind.

Of some points in the life history of Dr. Miles apart from his professional career, it will be of interest in this work to state that he iias been identified, more or less closely, with Elkhart since 1861. His father was a merchant in Elkhart in the early days, and died here in 1864. Dr. ]\liles is a Master Mason, and is an e.x-president of the Century Club of Elkhart. He has been twice married, and has one son and two daughters.

I. O.Wood

I. O. \\'()cd, who lias been closely identified with the business and civic activities of Goshen for the past fifteen years, who twice in that time has held the oflice of county treasurer, who has been president of the Carnegie Goshen Library since its founding, and whose public-spirited citizenship is acknowledged throughout his cit)- and county, was born on his father's farm in Wabash county, this state, April 17, 1855. His parents were John J. and Elizabeth (Penrod) Wood, both natives of Ohio, and who were married in Indiana and .spent many \-ears as farmers of Kosciusko ciiunty, where the father died ; the mother is now living in Saginaw, Michigan. Of the family ancestr_\-. 'Sir. Wood's great-grandfather, William ^^VM)d, was born in England, emigrated to this country and settled in Kentucky and later in' Ohio, where was born his son W'illiam, the grandfather.

'Sis. \\'(>(i<\. who was one of se\'en children, was reared on the home farm near \\'arsaw, attending the district schools and those at Leesburg.

He attended tlie normal scliiuil at Warsaw and at tlie a.t;e of nineteen tan.f^lit scIkmi], wliicli he cdntinued \\\<i years. He was then in a drug" store in Leeshur,^-. after wliicli he went nn the road as a commercial salesman for a wlinlesale sncery tirni in Toledo, and for nine years sold o-ncds over Indiana and Ohio. hi iSgo lie came to Goshen and purchased an interest in the li'mher firm of l.esh, Penrod and Company, which was a reori^-anizatioii of the John H. Lesli and Company. A sliort time afterward he sold his interest and formed a jiartnership with John I 'ennui under the firm name of Penrod and Wood, who soon built u]i an extensi\e trade in hardwood hiin1)cr. selling and shipping to all ))arts of the world.

In 1898 Mr. Wood was elected to tlie office of county treasurer, entering upon his duties January 1, i8qc;. and in 1900 he was re-elected to this office, each time being :\ candidate on the Republican ticket. .A.s ha- been told in other parts of this history. Mr. Wood was a ]>rime :uo\er in the efforts which l-rought alraut the founding of the Go.shen liublic lil}rary. was one of the couimittee which went to New York and induced Mr. Carnegie to donate twenty-five thousand dollars for the enterprise, and since then, as president of the library board for five years, ha? been \er\- acti\e in making the institution one of wide-reaching influence to his city. He is president of the Home Telephone Company. and is \ice president of the Elkhart County Trust and Loan Company. Tfe has recei\'ed thirty-two degrees in the Masonic order, being a member of the Mystic Shrine and, Knights Tem]:>lar, and his local affiliation is with Goshen Lodge No. 12, Tv & A. M.

W.Xlter S. Hazeltox

Walter .S. Hazelton. ktvown throughout the count}- for his prominence in connection witii l)usiness and financial affairs, was born in Strafford. X'ermont, December 1. 1840. fie is a member of one of the old American families. John Hazelton. tlie jjrogenitor of the family in .America, came from Bradford. England, and was one of the founders of the town of the same name in Massachusetts. The farm on which Mr. Hazelton was reared had for fi\-e generations lieen occupied by his direct ancestors. His father. Thomas Hazelton, was born on the old homestead and followed farmmg as his vocation. He married Silva Kibbling, who was born on iiv adjoining farm, and li\- her he became the father of thirteen children.

Walter S. Hazelton, who was the vourigest (if the-e childi-en. jjegan liis e(hication in the countr_\- schools of Vermont, and at the age of eighteen entered Norwich L^iiversity. spending the fall and spring terms there for two years, teaching during the winters and doing farm \\ork in the summer, which was the ])rocess liy which be gained his ad\-anced education. He soon laid aside his books to enter the service of his country, enlisting in May. 1862, in the Rhode Island Squadron of Cavalry. He was in the army about a vear. and saw smne eventful experiences. At Martinsburg", Virginia, he was ])art of a detachment which intercepted Long-street's ammunition train and also captured one hundred and twenty-five men besides large quantities of arms. He participated at the battle of Antietam. and skirmishes and scenting exiieditinns were .almost daily routine duties.

Returning home, he remained with his father and mother until the death of the latter in the spring of 1864, at which time he went to California, where he spent a number of years. At Cashville he clerked in a general store three years, was then in like business for himself five years, and on selling out moved to Sacramento and engaged in the same line of business there for five years. Mr. Hazelton established himself in business at Elkhart in December. 1875. ''^ '^''^t '" '^'^^ gnicerv line, then in dry-goods, boots and shoes, and lastly, ccjntinuing up to 1892, confined himself exclusively to dry-goods. On retiring from merchandising he became \'ice liresident of the St. Joseph Vallev Rank, rmd is now its cashier.

As one of the Civil war \eterans nf the county, Mr. Hazeltmi is a member of Shiloh Post, G. \. R., at ]<"Jkhart. He is a charter member of the Masonic lodge at Elkhart, and has attained the Knight Templar degree in that order. He also belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is a member of the Century Club, the Ijest known organization of business men in Elkhart. Politically Mr. Hazelton always has been an ardent Republican and has served six years as a memlier of the Elkhart city board of education, one term as a member of the board of county commissioners of Elkhart county, and is now serving his fourth year as a member of the Elkhart city council.

October 20, 1872, Mr. tlazelton married Miss Livonia L. White, who was born in the town of Middlebury, this county, being- a niece of Dave White of that town and a daughter of John White. They were married in California. Their only child is Eva M., the wife of Dr. H. B. Kurtz, -\\h(i is a rising vnung i;)ln'sicia;i and surgeon of Cleveland. Ohio.

Adam K. Hartmax

Adam R. Hartnian. a prominent farnier and old settler of Locke township, li\-ing on section 12. was born in .Vshland county. Ohio. March 25, 1847, and is the fifth child and fourth son in the family of Adam and Elizabeth Hartman, the former a native of (iermany, who came to this county at an earh- day, settling in Harrison township, where he remained for about two years. He then moved to Union township. where he improved a farm, but his last days were spent in Harrison township, where he died at an advanced age. As a pioneer settler he nx)i only witnessed the de\-elopment of the county, but assisted materiallv in the changes that were w run gin and which brought about its present improved condition and prosperity. E\cry matter of progressive citizenship received his endorsement and in as far as possible he gave to it his materia! assistance. His wife, who in lier maidenhood was Ehzabeth Ramer ^vas laorn in Pennsyb.-ania arid passed away in Elkhart county. They were the parents of seven sons and three daughters, and with one exception all reached manhood or womanhood, namely : Samuel, who is engaged in dealing in produce south of Elkhart : Tobias, who was born in Ohio and is a member of the firm of Hartman Brothers ; Peter, of Louisiana; Adam R., of this review: Jacob, a merchant of Nappanee; John, who is also a member of the firm of Hartman Brothers : Emanuel, fleceased; Catherine, the deceased wife of David W. Bechtel: Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Netrone. of Xevvton, Kansas: and one that died in infancy.

Adam R. Hartman but a bal;e when brought by his parents to Elkhart county, where he was reared and educated in Union township, pursuing his studies in a log schoolhouse such as was common in frontier settlements. His training at farm work was not meagre, for he early assisted in the work of field and meadow and continued tO' give his father (he benefit of his services until he started out in life on his own account. He began working by the month as a farm hand, and was thus employed up to the time of his marriage, which occurred December i, 1870, the lady of his choice being Miss Nancy Brenneman, a daughter of the Rev. George and Annie (Burkholder) Brenneman. She was born in Fairfield county. Ohio. March 6. 1847. <i"f' it was in the Buckeye state that the marriage was celebrated, after which Mr. Hartman brought his bride to Union township. Elkhart county. There they resided for a short time and then removed to Olive township, . where they lived for four \e;irs, after which they again resided in Union township and later in N;ippaiiee. where Mr. Hartman engaged in the livery business for two years. On the expiration of that period he removed to the farm on which he now resides and has here carried on agricultural pursuits for twenty-four years, having a good tract of land which he has placed under a high state of cultivation. Fie was also engaged in the milk business for seven years and at one time raised cattle quite extensively and his various business interests have been well conducted, bringing him a good financial return.

The home of I\[r. and Mrs. Hartman has !)een lilessed \\ith six chiL dren : Annie, deceased: Amanda, the wife oi Amos W'eldy. a farmer of Locke township : George. w ho is engaged in the milk business in Chicago : Cora, the wife of W. H. Shaum, manager of Crystal Springs Creamery Company : Frank, a minister of the Evangelical church, located in Lancaster. Illinois: and Irvin. who is assisting in the operation of the home farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Hartman are meml)ers of the ^Nlenncmite church and .Sunday schciol. and bis political support is given to the Republican ])arty, the principle? of which he has advocated since attaining his majority. Ahhough liis Hfe lias been quietly passed, largely in agricultural pursuits, there are yet elements in his character that are worthy of emulation, for in his relations with his fellow men he has ever been straightforward and reliable.

Elias l-'isher is numbered among those who have long lixed in Elkhart countv. and as an early settler has been a witness of much of the de\elopment and progress of this section of the state. He lives on section 14, I.oclce township, where he has a good farm. He was born in Morrow county. Ohio, March 3, 1842. His father, Absalom Fisher, was a native of Virginia and when a young lad he was left an orphan, after which lie removed to Monroe county, Ohio, with a sister. Later he became a resident of Morrow county, that state, and in 185 1 came to Elkhart county. He was married twice in Morrow county, his second marriage being with Miss Charity Rush, a native of that county. On coming to Indiana they established their home in Locke township in 185 1, and the father carried on agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred August S, 1866. There were four children, two sons and two daughters, by the second marriage, all of whom grew to adult ap;e, and there were three children of the first marriage.

Elias Fisher is the eldest child of the second marriage and was nine vears of age when he came with his parents to Elkhart county. The (lavs of his boyhood and youth were spent upon the old homestead farm in Locke township and through the winter months he attended the pul)lic schools, while during the remainder of the year he assisted in the work of plowing, planting and harvesting. He was married September 30, 1865, to Miss Matilda Ann Ferguson, a daughter of George and IMary (Salsbury) Ferguson. She was born in Lake county. Indiana, her people having been early settlers of that part of the state, ^[r. Fisher purchased the old homestead in Locke towmship and for a long period engaged in general farming there. In 1871 he turned his attention to the lumber business, buying timber which was sawed, and for four years his energies were directed to that line. He then added to his farm and he now has two hundred and twenty acres of land in Locke township, all in section 14. He still carries on general farming and dairVing and he likewise raises stock. Short ?Iorn registered cattle and Poland China registered hogs. He is tlioroughhfamiliar with all departments of farm work and his efforts have brought him very creditable success.

In iqo4 Mr. Fisher was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, v.ho died on the 2nd of July of that year. Thev were the parents of nine children but three of the number died in infanc\-. Those still living are: Edward E.. a farmer of Locke township, wlui married .\l\-a Etta Lockwood. the granddaughter of the first settler of Locke tovvnship^ - Samuel Locke - in whose hoiK.ir the township was named; John L., who married Cora Sn\-dcr, and resides in South Bend; Joseph I)., wdio is living on the old homestead farm; Mar\- X'inla. the wife of William E. Overholser, a farmer and teacher of Lucke tdwnshi]); (leorge -Misalom, at home; and Harle\' Roscoe. also at home.

Air. h'isher gives his political supjjort to the Democracy and has held a number of townshi]) offices, including those of assessor and justice of the peace. He has ever taken an actix'e iiiterest in jjuhlic affairs, and during the fifty-three years oi his residence in this county has rejoiced in what has heen accomplished and has given his stipport tO' many measures for the general good. He is a man wdiose personal worth has endeared him to many friends and as an early settler he deserves representation in this volume, for during more than a half century he has lived within the hordeizs of the county.

Joseph B. Fisher, the third son of the family, was l>orn December 19, iS^g, and pursued his education in Elkhart College and the high school at Nappanee. He engaged in teaching school for one term in Locke township and he is deeply interested in educational and chm-ch work and in all movements for the betterment of the community. His jjolitical vicAvs and lahors endorse Democratic principles, and he is a recognized leader in the local ranks of his party, serving at the present time as chairman of tlie township central committee. He is also an interested anrl zealous worker in the Union church, teaching in the Sunday-school and doing all in his power to promote the cause of Christianity. He spent one year on the Pacific coast, visiting California, Washington and Oregon, and he also went to New Atexico. Wyoming, and other western states. Travel has greatly hroadened his knowledge and he is to-day a voung man of hroad general information and marked capabilities, widely recognized in the community as an enterprising citizen and one whose worth has made him a valued factor in the political, business and moral de\'elopment of his conimimit}-.

Charles \\'eslev Miller, attorne)' general of the state of Indiana, was born on a farm near the village of Galena, Floyd county, Indiana, February 4, 1863 and comes of one of the oldest families in the state. On the maternal side his ancestors, of English descent, settled at Cape May, New Jersey, about 1800. In 1817 his great-grandfather, Jacob Garrison, moved to Floyd county, Indiana, where he was a pioneer and ]irominent citizen. Accompanying him on this early migration was his daughter. Experience Smith, Mr. Miller's grandmother, wdio was then seventeen years of age. Of great natural vigor and strength of character, she was a remarkable w^oman in many ways, and was ninety-seven vears old wd:en her death occurred in Floyd county in January, i8q8. On the paternal side the family is of German lineage. Grandfather

Jacob Miller moved from Pennsylvania to Floyd county, Indiana, in 1807, and from the wilderness wrested a homestead on which was born, in 18 19, Jacob B. Miller, the father of Charles W. Miller. Both the father and mother are still living, having celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 189 1.

Reared on the homestead farm in I'loyd county, at an earl)- age Mr. Miller began his training in the school of useful endeavor. The country schools supplied his first educational equipment and by spending the summers at farm labor until he was sixteen years old he was enabled at that time to begin his college career. This he also carried to successful completion by teaching during the wnnter and selling books and fruit trees in the summer vacations. His higher education was obtained in the private school of Prof. VV. ^V. Pinkham at Paoli, Indiana, and in the Ladoga Normal School, and wdien he was ready to begin active preparation for the law he entered the University of Michigan and graduated from the law department in 18S4. Immefliately taking up active practice, he formed a, partnership with John H. Binford at Greenfield, Indiana, and this continued until he cauic to (ioshen in January, 1885. In 1892 he formed a law partnership with Francis E. Baker, and the firm of Baker and Aliller continued until the senior partner was elevated to the supreme bench of Indiana, on January i, 1899. At that date J. S. Drake became ]\Ir. Miller's partner, and later S. C. Hubbell was admitted, the firm thenceforth being Miller, Drake and Hubbell. As a member of these successive law firms Mr. Miller was interested in almost e\'ery lawsuit of miportance in Elkhart count}-, and also had an extensixe practice in other counties of northern Indiana.

Politicallv an ardent Republican, and a quiet though eft'ective worker for his party, Mr. Miller has given of his time and energies to political afifairs for many years. He has served as chairman of the Elkhart county central committee and for many years a member of the executive committee. In 1888 he was elected mayor of Goshen. ha\-ing- the distinction of being the youngest mayor in the state of Indiana at the time, and he served two 3'ears w-ith credit. Tie has been a delegate to all the Republican state conventions since iSXj, ;\ui] was a delegate to the Republican national convention which nominated Harrison in 1892. His ability as a lawyer and prominence in state Republican circles brought him forward in 1902 as the logical candidate for attorney general, and election followed his nomination, and in 1904 he was re-elected. ^Ir. ]\Iiller has als(-) made his influence felt in business affairs. He is president of the State Bank of Goshen, and is interested in several other business and industrial enterprises. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and Knight Tenijilar. and a member of the Knights of Pythias.

at an early age face to face with the leaHties and difficulties on the road to success, largely self-educated and gaining his entrance upon a professional career as a result of steady industry and unceasing application, Mr. Miller seems to have deserxed every advancement and reward which have come to him in professional and public life, since they have been won through force of character and eminent ability and are the fitting prizes for those who make obstacles of chance and circumstance but stei)]:)ing stones t^i the attainment of their laudable ambitions.

Charles Francis Lalmiter

Cliarles Francis Palmiter. who carries on general farming tm section 14, Locke township, is a natixe of Wisconsin, his birth ha\ing occurred in Rock county. September 15, 1S40. His father, Silas Palmiter, was a-nati\e of New York and emigrating westward established his home in Wisconsin when it was still a territory, arriving there about [S38. He cast in his lot with the earl_\- settlers and experienced the usual hardships and trials of frontier life. His death occurred in 1844 when his son Charles was but four years of age. He left children, of whom the subject of this review is the youngest.

When only twelve years of age Charles F. Palmiter started out in life on his own account, and whatever success he has achieved and whatever privileges he has enjoyed are attributable to his own efforts. He first worked by the month as a farm hand, and removing from \\'isconsin to Iowa he settled in Chickasaw county, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when his patriotic spirit was aroused and he enlisted in i86t as a member of Comjiany B, Seventh Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was a private in that command and he served faithfully and loyally until July. 1865, wlicn the war having ended he received an honorable discharge. Fle participated in many important engagements, including the battles of Fort Donelson, Pitisburg Landing, Corinth, the siege of Atlanta, Savannah and the celebrated march under General Sherman to the sea. He afterward went with the Carolina campaign and on to Washington, where he jjarticipated in the grand review, the most notable military pageant e\'er seen on the western hemisphere. Following the close of the war he returned to Iowa and once more took up the pursuits of ci\'i1 life as a farmer. There he resided continuously until 1894.

In lune. 1894. Air. Palmiter was married to Mrs. Nancy Lockwood- Rush-b'isher, a daughter of Daniel Lockwood. Fler father was Ixirn in Vermont and \\as a son of Samuel Lockwood, who was the first settler of Locke township in Elkhart county, and it was in his honor that the township was named. Ali's. Palmiter was burn in that township, lanuarv jy, 1851. and lias alwavs li\ed upon the home farm there. She was first married to Jackson Rush and there was one child by that union wlio died in earl\- life. Following the death of her first husband she became tlie wife of John Fisher and they had five children, four of whom are yet Hxing; Charles. Elmer E., Junetta and Aragona Ophelia. Mr. Palmiter was also previously married, having in Iowa wedded Miss Lydia tiurle}'. by whom he had three children yet living. namel\- ; Mary. William and Charles.

The home farm of Mr. and Mrs. Palmiter comprises one hundred and twenty acres of well unproved land on which is a fine nKxlern brick residence, good bams and other substantial buildings. These in turn are surrounded by the well kept fences, and everything about the place is indicati\e of the careful su])ervision and progressive spirit of the invner, who, following farming throughout his entire life, has the exjjerience and business capacity that make him one of the successful agriculturists of bis community. Mr. Palmiter belongs to Wakarusa Post, (i. A. R.. and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades, in politics he is a Republican, having supported the party since age gave him the right of franchise, his first \'ote being cast for Lincoln. iTe has e\'er performed his public duties as a private citizen without hope of official reward m recognition of his party fealty. He has lived for many j'ears in this county and is one of its self-made men whose prosperity is the direct result of labor and enterprise, guided by sound business judgment.

Jo.Seph X. Freed

Jose])h X. Freed, who is a practical and progressi\e farmer <if Locke township, li\ing on section 12, was born in Kosciusko ci unity, Indiana, January 24, 1853, his parents being Daniel and .Vnna ( Xusbaum) Freed, both of whom w'ere natixes of Ohio' and became early settlers of Elkhart county, casting in their lot with the pioneer residents wild were reclaiming this district for the ])urposes nt ci\ilization and were planting the seeds of its present prosperit\- and progress.

Joseph X. I'reed was only about two years old \\lien be was brought to this count}- by his ]5arents and here he was reared on the home farm in 01i\e townslii]i, attending the district schools tlnvjugb the winter months, wliile in the summer seasons he worked with his father. His attention was gi\-en to the cultivation and improvement of the old homestead until be was twenty-seven years of age. when he was married in Decemlx-r. 1880. to Miss Sevilla Yoder. They became the parents of three children - a son and two daughters: Maud M. : Dora M.. now tlie wife of Lloyd Knowdton; and Francis E., at home. i'iie wife and mother passed awa}- and Mr. Freed has since wedded Sarah Davidhiser. wh.o is also deceased. There were three cliilflren by that marriage, but Manford A. is the onl\- rmc now li\-ing.

At tlie time of his first marriage Mr. Freed located on a rented fa.rni in Locke township, after which he ]nu"chased the farm ujion which he now resides, com])rising eighty acres, and it has now been his home for t\vent\'-four vears. He has engaged in general aoricult- iiral pursuits and stock-raising and his fields are well tilled, while in the jiasfures are seen good grades of cattle and horses. His interest in political questions is manifest by the active support which is given to the ReiDublican party. He is a meml^er of the Mennonite church and advocates all measures for intellectual and moral as well as material development in this ]5art of the state. For fifty years he has lived in the county and is numbered among its early settlers, having been a witness of the great changes that have occurred and have made this one of the leading counties in the cnmmnnwealth.

John Stauft^^er, who is now li\ing a retired life in Xappanee after many years' connection with agricultural interests, and who is well known as an early settler of the county, was born in Columbiana county. Ohio, Deccrnber 15. 1S28, and has therefore reached the seventy-sixth milestone o'l life's journey at this writing in the summer of 1905. His father, Jacob Stauft'er, was a native of Pennsylvania, and when a child was taken to Columbiana county, Ohio, by his parents, ^Ir. and Mrs. Henry Stauffer. There he was reared and married, and while living in the Buckeye state he followed farming. He came to Elkhart county in 1852, settling about three miles from Nappanee, and his remaining days were passed here, his death occurring when he had reached the age of eighty-one. His early political views accorded with Whig principles, and later he joined the ranks of the new Reptiblican party. Fie held local offices, the duties of which he discharged with promptness and fidelity, and his labors in behalf of pulilic progress were effective and beneficial. While in Ohio he married Elizabeth Floffman, a native of that state, who lived to be seventy-seven years of age. They were the ]jarents (if two sons. Henry Stauffer living to be a1x)ut seventy-six years of age. his death occurring in Nappanee.

John Stauft'er. the younger son, was reared in the state of his nativity and lived at dift'erent times in Columbiana, Portage and Stark counties, and from the last named came to Elkhart county in 1852. He had no capital when he arrived here, but he po.s^sessed what is far better - a determined spirit, laudable ambition and willingness to work. He and his brother farmed together, improving a farm one mile east and two miles north of Nappanee. The brother was married when he came to Elkhart county, but Mr. Stauffer did not marry until 1854. when he wedded .\bigail a native of Portage county, Ohio, and a sister of his brother's wife. They lived in common with his brother and family until sixteen years had passed without keeping a book account, and then thev di\-ided the property which they had accumulated and improved without an unpleasant word, John Stauffer retaining possession of the old farm while his brother took another farm. He continued to engage actively in' agricultural pursuits until 1884, when he took up his abode in tlie residence tliat he imw occupies in Xappanee. He jjurcliased eiglitx' acres of land now within tiie corpoi-ation hmits of tlie town, and lie has since divided a part of this into town lots, all of the eastern and northern part of Nappanee having- heen built upon his land. He has now laid out two additions, and his labors have proved an efifective force in the material impro\'ement and substantial upbuilding of the place.

Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer have become the parents of five children : Florence E.. who is the wife of Charles Whitman, agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company at Nappanee; Horace R., who- is married and lives in Indianapolis. Indiana, was a graduate of Rush Medical College and engaged in life insurance business: Wallace W.. who is conducting a grain elexator in Nappanee; Cora A., the wife of Charles Kinney; and Nellie I., the wife of Claud Stoops, ow'tier of the Nappanee Telephone Company. Tlie wife and mother died in 1893. ^i^i' death deeply regretted by many friends as well as her immediate family.

Mr. Stauffer has been a lifelong Republican and is active in the work of the party, believing it tlie duty of every true American citizen to uphold and promote, to the best of his ability, the political principles in which he Ijelieves. Vov over a half century he has been a resident of Elkhart count}' and few are more widely known. He is numbered with the honored pioneers, and in the evening of life he receives the veneration and respect which should ever be accorded those who have advanced far on life's journey. In spirit and interests, however, he is not old. hut seems yet in his prime, and is a companionable gentleman, a prc>- gressive citizen and a delightful friend.

Tobi.Xs Hartman

The name Hartman has become aliiK'St synonyniDUs with the history of commercial progress and industrial development in Nappanee for the firm of Hartman Brothers has lieen a moving spirit along many lines of business and the upbuilding of progress. Tobias Hartman as a member of this firm needs no special introduction to the readers o* Elkhart county's history. He was born in Ashland county. Ohio, Sei> teml>er 7. 1842, and is the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, whose parents were Adam and Elizabeth Hartman and wh'^ are mentioned on another page of this work in connection with the history of Jacob Hartman. \\'heii about five and a half years of age Tobias Hartman was brought by his parents to Elkhart county and spent his boyhood days in Harrison and Union townships in a manner siniiln'- to that of most farmer lads of the period. He acquired his education in one of the old-time log schoolhouses such as were a familiar feature oi the landscape in every frontier settlement. He worked with his father in the fields during the periods of vacation, gaining practical knowledge of agricultural pursuits, and \vh.en he started out in life on his own ac-

It was on the 14th of February. 1864. that ALr. Hartman was united in wedlock to jNIiss EHzabetli Brundage. who was l3orn in Canada April 10, 1842. and is a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Gayman) Brundage. She was reared in the country of her uativitv and came to Elkhart county in 1862, when a young lady of twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have become the parents of fou,r children : Daniel, w ho carries on agricultural pursuits in Union township : Mary .-\nn. the wife of H. L. Snyder, of Weiser, Idaho: Sarah, the wife of F'"rank Walters, of Nappanee; and Henry, who is conducting a grain ele\'ator at Nappanee.

Mr. Hartman, entertaining strong views on the temperance question, is giving his political allegiance to the Prohibition party. Local improvement and national progress are causes both dear to him, and in matters (jf citizenship he manifests a jjulilic-spirited interest. He is preeminently a business man, alert and enteiprising, and has wielded a wide influence in commercial and industrial circles. He is also a factor in agricultural life, for he is the owuier of two farms, one in Wabash countv. Indiana, and another in Union township. \\ ith his brothers, Jacob and John, he was also interested in a furniture manufacturing Ijusiness conducted rtnder the name of the Nappanee Furniture Factory, ha^-ing lieen one of the directors and trustees of the company for several years. Whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful com- ]>letion, knowing that a desired result in business can be obtained through persistency of purpose and guided bv commnn sense and supplemented by unabating energv'.

J. A. Cook

J. A. Cook, of Elkhart, is the only representative of a family which iias been conspicuously associated with the history of Elkhart county fn)m the earliest pioneer times to the present. Elsewhere in this work are narrated many facts about the \-arious individuals of the Cook family, and without some reference to them no history of the county could be written.

It is with Mr. Cook's grandfather, James Cook, that the annals tif this county have first to deal. Of English descent and a native of Maryland, he came to Elkhart county in 1830, little more than a year after the tide of immigration had touched the county, and from that time until his death at the age of sixty-three years he was prominently identified with the development of the county. He was a pioneer merchant and dealer in lands and real estate, his influence and actions being felt in many quarters of the count}'.

.\ year or so subsequent to the arrival of this pioneer there also came to this county, from Ross county. Ohio, where he was bom in 1826, a boy of seven years. John Cook by name, a son of the pioneer, and himself also a pioneer. Spending the remaining years of his boy- liodd in tin's cciiinty, ciliicated at While l'itie<in, Michigan, be l>ecame ideiititied witli the ci niimercial affairs nf huth (lushen and i-'lkhart as a general merchant, later entered the hirst National Hank nf h'lkhart as cashier and some time later heeame \^ice-presi(lent. was also interested in paper manufacturing, and altooether was one of the foremost business men of the county up to the time of his death at the gooil old age of se\-enty-five years. Ha\ ing lixed in the county nearly seventy^ years and having been identified with nearly e\ery ])hase of its business growth and de\'eloi)nient. his death was naturally felt as a loss to the entire county.

Mr. Cook's mother, who died in the tifty-fourth year of her life. likewise belong'ed to a famil\- which deserves prominent mention in the records of this county. Her maiden name was Martha Winder, a native of Ross county, Ohio, and her father, John W'inder. was one of the early settlers of Goshen and was one of the first men to conduct a store in that town.

Mr. J. A. Cook, who was tlie ebler of two sons of his parents ancl the only one hving, was born at (ioslien. July 23. 1849, and has spent practically all his life within the limits of Klkhart county. He received his educational advantages in (ioshen. at Yonkers. New York, and in Hillsdale College. Miclu'gan. Entering the employ of the hirst National Bank of Elkhart in the capacity of errand boy, he was successively promoted to clerk, to bookkee]3er, was cashier for a time, and since 1901 has held the office of vice-president, the First National beingone of the oldest and most substantial financial institutions of the county. His entire attention is given to the duties of this office and to the management of his father's estate.

Mr. Cook married, in 1884. Etta Barger. who was horn in this county, a daughter of William Barger. P>y their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cook have become the parents of two children. Martha and b'hu. but the daughter was taken from them by de.ath on .\])ril 1. 1904. when nineteen years old. just at the entrance upon a bright and beautiful womanhood.

Having spent all his life in this county. Mr. Cook is \ery nuicli interested in all that concerns the general welfare and lends bis influence to e\ery movement for the betterment of cit}' and county. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Pi-otective Order of Elks, and in ])olitics is a stanch Keiuiblican.

Samuel D. Copi^es. ])resident of the Farmers and Traders ISanlc and prominently connected with many other financial, commercial and industrial interests of Nappanee, at the beginning of his career had no other capital than the inherent powers of his own character. His history is inspiring and exemplary of what the poor young American may

Born in ^ledina county. Ohio. Alarch 22, 1842, Mr. Coppes belongs to a fannh" of German descent which has resided some generations in this country and which has always been noted for the solid worth and integrity of its members, though nd. until this generation, distinguished for acquisition in material affairs. The grandfather. Rev. Samuel Coppes. who was also a physician l)y profession and followed the occupation of farming, was born in Philadelpliia and came to Elkhart county in I.S48. As a missionary of the JMennonite church he made many trips from Indiana to Ohio, and was one of tlie founders of the Mennonite church \vest of Goshen, and an elder and deacon in the same. He died in Medina county, Ohio, when about se\enty years old.

Jacob Coppes w"as the father of Samuel D. Coppes. He. a native of Pennsylvania, moved to Medina count}'. Ohio, where he married Sarali Fravel, also a natixe of Pennsylvania. Berks county, and they came in 1848 to Elkhart count) and located on a farm in Harrison township west of Goshen. He had lost his farm in Ohio and during the first years in this county was a renter, finally buying the farm in Locke township where he lived until his death, at the age of sixty-four. He and his wafe had ten children, three of whom died in childhood, and those that grew up were named as follows : 'J'he oldest son, Daniel, was killed in the war of the rebellion while serving in Company K, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, as lieutenant, having been promoted to that rank from a private ; Samuel D. is the next in the family ; Eliza and Saloma are both deceased: Lucinda is the wife of John C. Mellinger, of Chicago; John D."s biography will be found on another page: Frank is president of the Coppes, Zook and Mutschler Company of Nappanee.

Mr. Samuel D. Coppes. who was the third child and second son. was five years old when he came to Elkhart county. Reared on his father's farm, with limited school advantages procured in the district schools, at an early age he began to contribute his part toward the support of the famil}'. Along in. the fifties the neighbors quite often saw him hauling a load of wood to Goshen, for one of his first occupations was chopping and selling stove wood in the Goshen market, and when not Ixisied at this he performed farm duties and any other labors that afforded a means of honest support to himself and the family. He lived at home until he was tw-enty-two years old, and lent material assistance toward giving his younger brother and sister a start in life.

He continued to farm in this county until 1869, in which year he went to ^Missouri and reniainefl four year*:. Returning tn this county in 187^. he bought a farm in Locke tdwnship for four thousand dollars,- note at six i^er cent interest in iiayment. Industry and good management enabled him to clear of=f all incumbrances on this place within eight years, and from that time forward his material interests have increased at a siibstantial rate. Selling the farm and moving to

Nappanee, he entered the lirni kiiuwn as Mellinger and Coppes Brothers, lumber and box manui'acturers. On tlie withdrawal of J. C. Mellinger the firm became simply Coppes Jirothers, and about 1890 Mr. S. D. Coppes withdrew and in the following year bought the bank of Bechtel and Son. which was then, as it has since been, known as the Farmers and Traders Bank, one of the solid ruid conservative financial institutions of this count}-. Mr. Coppes is the owaier of four excellent farms, one of them being conducted by his son Frank. He built, in 1891, the well known Coppes Hotel in Nappanee. which holds a front rank among the jHiblic houses of this county. Its first cost was twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Coppes was also the ])rime mover in the building of the fine opera house in Xappanee. was interested in the flouring mills, and was one of the principal promoters of the water works and electric light plant which are among the improvements that ha\e placed Xappanee, in civic enterprise and development, alongside the best cities of northern Indiana. Public-spirited as he is, and deeply interested in ever)' matter that concerns the welfare of his city and county. Mr. Coppes has never seen fit to aspire for public office and has accomplished most for the community in the capacity of a private citizen. He has been a lifelong Republican. March 12. 1864, Mr. Coppes married Miss Elizabeth Berlin, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of John D. Berlin. Nine children have been born of their marriage : Minnie is deceased, as is also Jesse, the fourth child, who died at the age of two years ; Harvey is mentioned at length on other pages: Frank, as already mentionefl, is a farmer: Clara is the wife of J. W. Rosbrugh, in the teot and shoe and men's furnishing goods lousiness at Nappanee : Delia is the wife of Charles Mutschler. of the Coi3pes. Zook & ilutschler Company: Lillian is the wife of Dr. Charles Inks, a practicing physician of N'appanee : Myrtle is the wife of Harley Rickert. of Nappanee: Fred is assistant cashier of the Farmers and Traders Bank.

H.Xrvey E. Coppes

Harvey E. Coppes. wIk* was born in Elkhart county. Novemljer 20, 1869, is the second child of Samuel D. and Elizabeth (Berlin) Coppes, the history of whose interesting lives has been narrated elsewhere. Coming of a family whose members through all the generations have lieen stanch and true to the highest principles of moral conduct and business integritv. and the son of a father whose influence and activitv have for many years been felt in business and civic affairs of southwestern Elkhart county, it is but natural to expect in Mr. H. E. Coppes the same pre-eminent ability and executive force, and a brief re\iew of his career shows this confidence to I^e well founded.

Educated in the common schools of this count\-. where he has lived all his life, he entered upon his business career as a bookkeeper with the firm of Coppes Brothers, manufacturers, later was head bookkeeper for Copjies Brothers and Zook, and, having advanced in busi- iiess exjjerieiice and alreadx' prn\cil his mettle as a man of atTairs. in 1891 he and liis father liought nf Mr. [Ieni"y Bechtel the Farmers and Traders Bank. Two years later he was made cashier of this institution, and har- held th.is position to the present time. This is a pri\-ate hank, with splendid resoin'ces of ahoiit two hundred and tifty thousand di.illars, and its reputation for soundness and stahilit\- has never heen assailed. .\lthough intiniatelv connected with the conduct of this institution anfl devoting most of his time thereto, ATr. Coppes has also identified himself verv prominently with man\- other enterprises in Nappanee. He was one of the organizers and ]5romoters in the erection of the splendid opera house in Nappanee and is a director in the company which controls the same. He is a director in the Home Loan Association, is city treasm'er of Nappanee. anil served as town clerk two years. A stanch Repuhlican in politics, he has interested himself in party affairs as well as in those things that concern the entire public life of his community. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and his life has heen well balanced, each interest, whether of business, civic or social nature, receiving its proper share of altentio'n.

Mr. Coppes married, in Septemlier, i8c}4. Miss Nellie L. Rosbrugh, who is a daughter of Fnos and Nancy ( Parker) Rosbrugh. Mr. Coppes and wife have one son. ^^^^rd R.

Dr. |. L. I'deming, plnsician and surgeon of Flkhart, in which cit_\- he was born December _>. 1873, has made the liest of the opjjortunities which ha\e crowded into his life and at an early age has reached a prominent pl;ice in liis professional career. Dr. Iteming is a modern practitioner, thoroughly trained in the systems which comprise the present-day sciences of medicine and surgery, and equipped with all the skill and ahility which spell success in the profession. Having enjoyed the highest advantages in preparation, he has in actual practice demonstrated his talent for real accomplishment in his high vocation.

Dr. Fleming is a son oi M. F. Fleming, a native of Rome, Michigan, who- now resides in Flkhart and is an engineer on the Lake Shore Railroad, being one of the oldest and most trusted employes of that road. The mother, who is also living, was i:iefore her marriage Rosetta .Smallwood, born in this county and of one of the pioneer families.