Elkhart County, Indiana - Tue Churches, 1905 (part 1 of 15)

Tue Churches

Tlie pioneers of Elkhart county did not leave their religion behind when they settled here but brought it with them. In the first settlements which were formed there were not a sufificient number of any one sect to form a church by themselves, and so they worshiped together. The points of doctrine or practice which divided them were held in abe}ance, persons of each sect yielded a little for the good of the whole, and in a spirit of union and Christian toleration they came together and each one tried to derive all the good he could from the meetings, exercises and discourses. For a time there were no church buildings, but schoolhouses were soon erected, rude log structures, and there in the winter, or in the open air in summer, the people asseinbled. ^^'e have elsewhere mentioned how some of the people at the mouth of the Elkhart came together in the home of Mrs. Beebe and there held prayer meetings. As yet there were no churches organized and no settled pastors, but ministers passing through were asked to preach and did so. An appointment was made at some dwelling house or schoolhouse, and at the time appointed a true pioneer community gathered. Some came on foot, some on horseback, and some with ox teams. If in the summer time, not only the children but some of the men came barefooted, bringing their dogs with them; and all, even some of the dogs, gave earnest attention to the services. There were no organ and no choir, but some one would lead in the singing, ^nd as hymn books were scarce the reader would give out two lines of a stinza and the people would sing them, then another two, and so on. This was called "' lining ofif " the hymn, and a variety of would inui in the singing. There was not as much harmony and beautiful melo "-- as now. but there may have been as much devotion. Some amono- tb^ pioneers were accomplished singers, and when these met there ws ri^'i music. The court house was the place selected for manv early reI'"i^'-<; meetings, as such a notice as follows, extracted from the old Goshen Express of March 26, 1837, will show: "Rev. G. R. Brown will preach at the court house in this place on next Sabbath at 10 o'clock A. M., and at the schoolhouse in Benton, same day. 3 r. m.," and two weeks later it was announced that Rev. Adam Miller, " of the Baptist persuasion." would preach at the Cdurt hnuse.

As we have made clear in an earlier chapter, the first Christian influences to penetrate the wilderness of northern Indiana was that emanating from the devoted jjriests who of their own initiative or close in the train of those who conipiered the land for the King of France sought to win to their religion the souls of the heathen red men. Of course the names of the early fathers who may have passed over this country are not accessible, and the zeal with which they undertook their cause is the best monument of fame which they have left. Rev. James Marest is one who is known to have been in this county after \' incennes was established. Then there was Rev. I'rancis Cointet. who may be termed the first pastor of the Catholics of Elkhart county. This I'"rencb priest no doubt nnnistered to the ])toi)le of his own race, who had a small settlement in the county at the time the English settlers began ])ouring in. The successor of Re\-. Cointet was Rev. Dr. E. B. Kilroy, wdio took charge of tlie mission of b:ikhart county in 1855. At that time there were four Catholic families in F.lkhart and about ten in Goshen. In speaking of his missionary labors he says. " during my travels I was often forced to sleep in nature's bedroom, the beautiful forests of northern Indiana. The roads were horrible then ; but for the two years which I gave to constant travel over them the fatigues of those journeys were fully compensated by the genial welcome of my co-religionists, and people and ministers of other forms of Christianity. Indeed, many men who did not thoroughly acquiesce in the teachings of the church attended mv Sunday mass, and the court houses of Goshen, riymoutb and Valparaiso were always crowded when I preached."

The first great Protestant denomination to take up active work in Elkhart county was no doubt the Methodists. Of course it is difficult to determine when and wdiere and of what religious sect, if any. were the first religious services in the county, but the Methodists seem to have been the first to spread their organization over this part of the state. The Carev Mission, at Niles, was conducted under Baptist auspices, and perhaps some of their ministers held services in this count}- during the pioneer days.

Methodist Episcopal Church Building

The first missionary of the Methodist church, who came here at the instance of the Ohio conference, was named Felkner, who is probably the circuit rider mentioned as having held a meeting in a cabin on Elkhart prairie m 183 1, Aza Sparklin being the class leader and local preacher of that little denomination. In 183 1 this county was included in the Indiana conference, and Rev. Nehemiah Griffith became the circuit rider who attended to the spiritual needs of all the people in this part of the state. The old-time circuit rider is celebrated among the men who participated in the fi)unding of civilization in the Mississippi, and manv men and women yet living within the limits of this county can remember the cumings of the itinerant preacher to their neighborhood, and especially would they not be likely to forget such an important occasion as a visit of his reverance to their own home, when the best that the thrifty housewife could procure from her larder, always including some " yellow legs," was set before the man of cloth.

In 1832 Rev. R. S. Robinson was assigned to the post at Elkhart, and from that time the ministerial force was augmented to keep pace with the rapidlv increasing ])opulation of the county. Some valuable information concerning earl)- Methodism contained in an address delivered by Hon. J. H. Defrees on the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of the First M. E. church in Goshen, should be given here. According to Mr. Defrees, the first sermon preached in Goshen was in a building which had been erected by Dr. J. Latta on a lot between the residence of Dr. M. M. Latta and Dr. Jackson's office. Their first prayer meeting was held in the bar room of a hotel, and the prayers rendered by Sparklin and \\'augh. William \\^augh, Thomas and (icorge McCullom, with their wives, lived then on the town plat and in the immediate vicinity, so that they formed the first little society. A Sabbath school was formed early in 1832, and in 1833 the entire class comprised only five or six men witli a few women and children. But there were other Methodists in this part of the county, among them James Beck, R. W. Randall, James Frier and J. Myers, and toward the close of 1832 a meeting was held which decided upon erecting a church wherein they might worship in peace. This building was, in its architectural outline, very uninteresting: it formed a peculiar qua<:lrant, forty feet square and only about twelve feet high, and cost $445. In 1840 no less than one hundred and fifty members were added to the congregational roster, as the result of a camp meeting held in Violette Grove, south of Goshen. In 1845 George Runisey, Ebenezer Brown,

John Durlan, Asa A. Morton, James Anderson Samuel Murray and Joseph H. Defrees, the trustees of the old church, which had heeii named the " Still house," resolved to desert this monument of James Beck's architectural genius, and with the co-operation of their brethren succeeded in raising the money sufficient to construct the building in whicii they continued till the dedication of the more imposing structure in 1S74.

Coincident with, and often working alongside of. the Methodists in this county, were the Baptists. It will be remembered that Isaac Mc- Coy, the founder of the Baptist mission at Niles, known as the Carey Mission, was one of the earliest visitors to Elkhart county, anil named Christiana creek in honor of his wife. Gradually, as members of that faith increased, meetings were held. In November, 1836, a congregation of eleven persons was found at Goshen, under the leadership of Elder Adam Miller or Deacon William Stancliff. Another congregation was organized ni January, 1839, at Benton, and within the course of a few years there were quite prosperous Baptist liodies in different parts of the county.

The Presbyterian church was not far behind- the other pioneer denominations. A congregation was organized in (ioshen with fifteen members, in 1838, and tw'o years later one at Elkhart with ten members. Millersburg and Bristol some time later had churches. Tlie name that is always mentioned with reverance in connection with the Presbyterian church of Elkhart county is that of H. L. VanXu_\s, who has been identified with both the pioneer and modern epochs of his church ; who took charge of the church in Goshen in 1853. guided it through all its struggles and times of prosperity, and is still honored as the jiastor emeritus.

In the memorial book published on the occasion of the jubilee anniversary of the First Presbyterian church of Goshen and nf the jiastorate of Rev. VanNuys, the history of the church is set forth with such interesting relation to other matters of historical importance that we quote liberally from its pages. " Very soon after the county of Elkhart was organized and its county seat platted, a Presbyterian minister jjreached the first Presbyterian sermon at the home of a Mr. Irwin in llenton in July of 1832. This maji. Rev. Mr. Cory, a few weeks later, jjreached the first Presbyterian sermon in Goshen. In 1838 a Rev. Mr. Cook, of the New School, formed a church organization of fifteen members, and held it together for about two years. He was succeeded by the

Presbyterian Church, 1902

Rev. Enoch Boutoii, a miiiistei- and home missionary of the I'resb}- terian church, who found liere practically no church organization; after holding service for a time in the old court house, he organized a small church, mainlv of the families of Frederick and Leonard LLirris. and Charles L. .Murray, the latter from the state of New York. In 1842 thev erected ,-l neat frame house <>i worship on North Fifth street on the north end of the old ^lessick property now occupied by the (ioshen House. The old sui)scripti<in paper for the building is still extant, dated November 22. 1841, and is a somewhat remarkable d(jcumenl. There were fift\--thrce suliscribers gi\'ing a total value of $578, a large portion (.)f which was in work, hniiber and other materials, one man, Ceorge Rowell, giving a plow, perhaps to prepare the field for the Great Sower. In 1892 but thirteen of these contributors were living and without donlit all have now received their reward.

" The second vear of Mr. rmuton's ministry be was a commissioner to the ;,;eneral assembly of the cb.urcli, meeting at I'hiladelijhia. He returned from that meeting with a fever, liy which be was taken away in the course of a few weeks. After bis death the church w;is unsu])- plied for a ];eri(_)d of two or three vears, when the Rew A. S. Kedsie, a minister of the Congregational faith, came here to reside, supplying the pulpit for a period of nearly tiu'ee years. During his ministry the Presbyterian organization was abandoned and the Congregational form was adopted, and. mainl\- tln"ough the instrumentality of an itinerant evangelist - Avery by name - the menibershi]5 was increased to perhaps forty. Immediately following that period, that pastor accepted a call to Kalamazoo and left the church vacant, and it remained so for three years and more.

In the spring of 1851 Rev, James Johnson came to (iosben from Peru, where he had been pastor of the Presbyterian church. He supplied the pulpit so far as he was able, with the great burden of constant sickness at bis home, luitil the death of bis wife in the autumn of that \-ear, after which he remo\ed to Iowa. During the winter succeeding the church building was unoccu]iied. The following summer, that of 1852, it was given up to a private school.

" Tliis completes the ston- of the precarious beginning of Presbyterianism in Goshen. Since the death of Rev. Bouton no stable Presbyterian organization existed, and even the Congregationalist orgam'zation fell away after the departure of Rev. Kedsie. Other church organizations in Goshen in 1852 were the Baptist, which had a small mem- l;ership and a minister but no house of worship. The Methodist church had the largest memlacrship, about one hundred and fifty, and what was then considered the finest church building between Ft. Wayne and Chicago. It was located at 211 North Alain street. And such was tlie situation at the time of the organization of the present church.

" From that time to the present a history of the church is almost a biography of its pastor, for whatever it is now is his building, whatever of good it has accomplished he deserves the credit. The last Sundav of October. 185J, the Rev. H. L. Vannuys. a graduate of that vear's class of the Theological Seminary of Princeton, came to Goshen from Elkhart by stage. He had made an appointment with the Hon. Thomas G. Harris to preach the next day in the Presbyterian church. The latter was a citizen of prominence, and a politician of note, who; being so engrossed in the heat of the troublous campaign then coming to a close, when Gen. \\'infield S. Scott was defeated by Franklin Pierce. cntirelv forgot that he was Iieing depended upon to arrange a service in the little neglected church on Fifth street. In the morning he met the young minister at the church, where the latter was awaiting a congregation, and after expressing his deep regret fcir the situation said tliev \\()ul<l arrange a service later in the da}\ The church was unfit for occupancy, the door having been left open, and a flock of sheep that had the freedom of the streets had used the room as a sleeping place, and the walls and benches had been chalk-marked by sacrilegious boys.

" At the hour of three that afternoon an audience assembled, cjuite filling the court room. It was a room a square of perhaps fi)rty-fi\-e or fifty feet, the floor of brick and on a level with the ground. The preacher occupied the judge's stand. The choir, self-gathered after the audience assembled, was in the stall of the jury men at the judge's left. The windows were raised as it was a warm Indian summer afternoon, and a good mimber of people \\ere at and anmnd the windows listening. Such was the humlile start of the church.

" The following week a meeting was held by a number of people inclined U> the Presbyterian faith, the conclusion of which was a projxjsition that if Mr. Vannuys would remain and preach as their minister tliey would set about at once to putting of the church building in order for occupancy. And before the week was ended they began the work. They put a new roof upon the church, put a second coat of plaster upon the walls - they had had l)ut one - took out two doors of the front and put in a central one covered by an outside vestibule and built the first.

stay of a tuwer. They reniuved the rough benches and put in pews - nicely grained - and tinisheel it up a neat and handsome room. The same pulpit remained; it had been built by Re\-. Johnson's own hands. By the Christmas of that year the work was completed and the building consecrated to worship.

" All that winter services were held in the little church. When spring came there came with it talk of an organization. On Saturday afternoon, the 12th day of March, 1853, a meeting was held in the church pursuant to a call issued the preceding Sunday, to consider the interests of religion. There were fourteen present, all but three of whom belonged to the old congregation. The following persons, all of whom had been previously in connection with the church here or elsewhere, entered into covenant; Charles L. ilurray and Ann .M., his wife; James R. ^IcCord, and Eliza, his wife; S. F. Abbott and Lois, his wife; Joseph D. Devor and JMartha, his wife; Robert Lowry, Sr., Lee Sanderson, Orrin Curtis, ]\latilda Barnes, ]\[arcia ]NL Harris and Margaret j\L Miller.

"The following officers were chosen; Ruling elders; Robert Lowry, Sr.. James R. McCord and Orrin Curtis; deacons: Joseph D. Dover and Lee Sanderson; trustees; Charles L. Murray, Orrin Curtis and Thomas G. Harris. Rev. Hervey L. Vannuys was chosen pastor. The organization was christened as ' The First Presbyterian Church of Goshen."

" David G. Lowry, a son of Ekler Robert Lowry. Sr., was the first member taken into the church; this was ]\Lirch 2(1, 1853. About the same time Miss Sophia McClure and j\lrs. Lucy Cark were taken in as members. A little later Mr.s. Mary Stevens and Dr. C. S. Ramsev and wife came from Indianapolis and presented their letters. Then ^Irs. Jane McCabe. Mrs. Eliza Lowry, Miss Elizabeth Lowry and ;\Irs. Amanda Shepherd joined. ^Trs. Orrin Curtis and Anthea Abljott united with the church about this time, but the date is uncertain. All these accessions occurred before the month of March elapsed, so that this new-born church early became a youth of goodly proportions and twenty-seven members.

"About i860 the membership had outgrown the small building erected almost twenty }'ears before and to get larger and modern quarters the trustees sold the old church to Fred Jackson for ^j^o. and later purchased the lot on Market street, now Lincoln avenue, where the present cinu-ch stands. Fred Jackson sold the old church to Adam

Yeakcl. wlm nmved il in its present location on South Fifth street, where it is now (1902) in use as their jjlace dt worship by the cont^regatiim of tlie German Lutheran church. Turned about, a steeple added, stained glass windows replacmg iilain glass, it is yet the same ;is \\hen put in order back in the fall nf 1852.

The ])resent structure was built in 1861 at a cost of alxwt ,$12,- 000. Jiihn Werner, at present a member of the church, laid the foundation an<l su])erintended the brick wurk. What difticulties must have been encountered and overcouie diuing this time of building can scarcely be miagined bv members of this day. though fully realized then. It was the beginning of the Civil war and it is marvelous to think of such a great work going on amid the alarms and ch.aos of that nation-rending contest. It is related that while the masons were placing stone the ])a>loi- ])rocured copies of a newspaper and read them dispatches about the battle of Bull Run then in progress."

These denominations may he called the religious pioneers in h'lkliart countv. Other creeds were certainly represented here about the same time, but rather in individual members than in organizations. During the fifties and sixties many churches weve founded, the old bodies erected more substantial houses of worshiii in ])lace of their primitive sanctuaries, and the A-arious denominations such as we know them today became established. Among these early religious bodies should no doubt be included also the IMennonites. representatives of wdiich sect are said to liave come to the county in 1843. In the years subsequent to that time a \-ery strong c<immuuity of these ]3eople, adhering to sim- ])hcn\- of faith and practice, had been established in the county, and the Mennouites exert a considerable influence not onl}- in religion but in business and general affairs.

So closely identified with the general settlement and u])buildiug of the couut\' in its church histor\- that elsewdiere in the w<Trk, especially in those chaiiters dealing \\ith the early settlement and the histor}' of the smaller centers, it has been relate<l bow the churches often formed the nucleus around which was built uj) a larger community: also in the histor\- of tlie smaller centers we ha\-e named the \-arious church denoiuinritions rej^resented in each town and given such other facts as ha\e lieen fru'nished concerning their jjresent condition. In the reluanider of this chapter S(ime iiarticular mention is made of some ve\)- resentati\e churches in the coiuUw nished some \aluable facts concerning the history of his church in this connty. it was possibly two years after the Araish Mennonites had made their tirst settlement in Elkhart county (1841) about four miles east of Goshen, that John Smith, a Alennonite of Medina county, Ohio, purchased a farm near what is now known as Harrison Center, southwest of Goshen, but it was not until the spring of 1845 that the Alennonites began to make settlements. At that time, says Mr. Hartzler, Bishop Martin Hoover, then ei.ghty-five years old, with his son John, moved on a farm near Southwest. Few others of the faith came until the spring of 1848, when Pre. Jacob Christophel and Pre. Jacob \\'isler, with their families accompanied by several other families, joined the colony. Ascension day of the same year being chosen as the da}- on which the first services should lie held, si.xteen persons, including the three ministers, were present, and the principal sermon was preached by Jacob W isler. Bishoj) Hoo\'er made a few remarks wliile seated. No one being present who was accustomed to lead in singing and others fearing tliat the\- would Isreak down, their first service had no song.

From this time forward regular services were held every two weeks, sometimes in the schoolhouse, and sometimes in barns, jirivate dwellings, etc. The Mennonite colony was increased in the sun.imer of 1848 by the arri\al, from Wayne, Medina and Columbiana counties, Ohio, of twenty-four families, among which were the Hartmans, Holdemans, iMoyers. Smeltzers and others. By the summer of 1849 the congregation had increased so that a meeting house of their own was justified. Accordingly a log meeting house, tw'enty-six feet square, was built on the same ground now' occupied bv the A'ellow Creek meeting house. This building once took fire from the stove iiijae. four of the ceiling boards lieing burned and the girder for half the length of the building being charred, but the fire went out of its own accord and did no further damage. An addition of twenty-four feet in length was later made to this house, and in 1861 the old place of worship was moved away and the new frame edifice, still standing, forty b\- sixty feet, W'as put up in its stead.

Among the early leaders of this faith in Elkhart county was Daniel Moyer, who was chosen to the ministry and served in that capacitv a number of years. He was an earnest preacher, but his earthl}- lalx)rs were brought to a sudden close by a collision on the railroad, through which he lost his life while ou the way with two other ministers to visit the churches in Canada, in December, 1864. In 1833 R. J. Schmidt and N. J. Sijniensma, two ministers, and their families and a number of their brethren and their famihes, on account of their faithful adherence to the doctrine of non-resistance, were compelled to emigrate from Holland, and settled in this county, where Bro. Sijmensma died a few years afterward, leaving the care of his charge to Bro. Schmidt, who still held services at stated periods, in the Holland language. After his death the remaining members united with the other ^lennonite congregations. Trouble arose among the Mennonites of this county on account of the various ideas and practices brought from the different places represented by the new settlers, and from this schismatic difficulties have resulted the three factions known as Mennonites, United Mennonite Brethren in Christ, and the Old Order ( Wisler) Alennonites. In the Mennonite faction there are at present the following organized congregations in Elkhart county : Nappanee, under the care of Bishop David Burkholder and Noah Metzler. Holdeman, under the ministers Henry Weldy, John Hygema and Jacob Bixler. Olive, under Jacob Shenk. Yellow Creek, ministers Jacob Christophel and Jonas Loucks. Elkhart, ministers John E. Funk, Samuel Yoder, CJeorge Lambert, D. H. Bender. Goshen, ministers J. S. Hartzler and I. W. Royer. Salem, minister Jacob Christophel. Clinton, under John Garber, bishop, and Samuel Honderich, minister.

Unfortunately there do iKit seem to be any records of the early history of th.e Brethren church in the county, but the_\- Avere among the first settlers in the county ; and among them was Daniel Cripe, the first minister of the Brethren church in Elkhart cnunty, who located on Elkhart prairie about 1828 or "29. The first church \\as organized about 1830 or '31, and Jacob Studebaker and Martin W'eybright, Sr., were elected to the ministry, lieing the first ministers chosen in Elkhart county. And it is pretty clear that Daniel Cripe was the first minister of any denomination in the county.

Erom this organization the church spread over the county, and in the year 1856 a church was organized in the south part of the county, embracing tlie most of Jackson and Benton townships and a part of Kosciusko county. This organizati(jn was. named "Solomon's Creek congregatiun." It was organized with Frederick L'. Loehr and Aiarlin Wej-brighr, Jr.. as ministers, and Jacol> Arnold, Juhn \\'eyljright. Joel Rusli and Levi W'yland, deacons. In the year 1858 Daniel Shixely was clio;-en to the ministry, and in the year 1862 F. P. Loehr was ordained elder.

After the church was organized the meetings were held in ]>arns. schoolhouses and private dwellings until the year 1864, when the Brethren Ijuilt one of the largest meeting houses in northern Lidiana. This was at a tiriie when \-olunteers for the Civil war were exhausted and drafts l)ecame necessary, consequently, comnuitatiun money in connection with the expense of building" a house of worship, taxed the brethren very hea\'ily and was a source of some annoyance, but the}- met and paid off the debt and no^\ the churcli has no oliligations which she iunable to fill.

Just about the time the house was completed, that is in the year 1864, Martin Weybright, Jr., was called to reap the reward of his labors upon earth, having been permitted to worship but once in the new meeting house, and early in the year 1865 Elder Loehr moved to ]\Iichigan. and in the latter part of the saine year, Daniel B. Gibson, a deacon. mo\ed in the congregation and after remaining aljout three years, mo\"ed away.

By the rernowd of F.lder Loehr. Daniel Shixely was left alone in the ministr_\- until the month (if June, 1866, when George W. Cripe was chosen minister. In the latter part of the same yeav. Peter Hammoa, minister, mo\ed into the church and remained about a ^ear. Avhen he moved awa\. In 1S67 Joseph Hardnian and George Domer, ministers, moved in, and in 1868, Lewis JMuntz was chosen to the ministry. The same year G. \V. Cripe moved into another congregation. In 1869 Jesse Calvert, minister, was received by letter of recommendation, and in 1871 Joseph Hardman mo\ed away and Joseph Hartsough, also a minister, was received by letter of recommendation.

In 1872 Abraham L. Neff was elected to the ministrv, and in 187^ George Domer moved away, and Davis Younce, minister. mo\ed into the church. In 1875, Jesse Calvert, and in 1876 Joseph Hartsough mo\-ed away, so that in 1S77 the ministers were D. Shively. Lewis Muntz, A. L. Neff and Davis Younce. To the deacons alreath- named there were added by choice in 1856, Daniel Shively, and soon after David Coy. In 1858, as before stated, D. Shively was chosen to the ministry and in i860 Josiah Rensberger and Ashlev Furgeson were chosen tleacuns. In i8()i Levi W'vland ninved away and Eli Myers was chosei!. and in 18G3 he departed this hfe. and in 1863 Jiisiah Rensberger antl .\shle}' Furgeson m(i\ed away, and the same year G. W. Cripe. F'lias C'ine and (icdrge Smith were cl.nsen. In 1865 George Smith mi)\ed awa}' and Christian Harsliman wa^ recei\-ed l)y letter. In i86(). as ah'ead\- stated, ('.. W . Cri]>e was chosen minister, and Daniel lM)rnev niovcil in, and m 18(17 jnhn Arnold and Cyrus Lentz were elected. In 1869 Jacob Arnold departed this life, and the same year Joseph Lautzenheiser and John Robins(jn moved into the district, and in 1870 EH Hartei also moved in. In 187J Christian Harshman was disabled bv a strcjke of paralysis, and the same year Cyrus Lentz moved away.

In 1873 Joel Rush tlied. and Josejih Lautzenheiser and Eli Harter moved away, and in 1874 Michael Treesh and J. Henry W'arstler were chosen. In the \'ear 1871') Cyrus Lentz was receixed liack by letter, making, in 1877, ten deacons, as follows: John \\'e}l:iright, Daniel b'ornev. Christian Harshman (disabled), David C(.)y, Elias Cline, John .\rnold, Cvrus Lentz, John Robinson, Michael Treesh and J. H. AYarstler.

Since 1877. Lewis Muntz and Da\'is ^'ounce have died, Davis Vounce January 14, 181)7. -i''"' Lewis Muntz a short time previous. Of the deacons mentioned the following ba\"e also died: Christian Harshman in 1887, Elias Cline in 1893, John \\'eybright in 1901, Daniel bdrnev also in 1901, Da\id Coy in 190J. Cyrus Lentz and John Robinson moved away, and J. LI. Warstler was elected to the ministry. Of the number only John .\rnold and ^I. Treesh are still holding the otfice of deacon.

The first election since the abo\e record was in 1878, when J. H. W'arstlcr was called to the ministry. The next was in 1883 when Hiram Forne_\' was elected deacon.

In [881 AA^illiam R. F)eeter. elder, nioxed in and a few ^-ears after the congregation w:is dixided. placing \\'. R. Deeter in the new congregation. In 1883 Andrew Cri])e, a deacon. moAed in: he mo\-ed in rmd out several times and final!}- in 1902 he mo\x'(l in again, where he is at i^resent. The same vear Aaron B. Glider, a deacon, also nnu'ed in and in i88C) he left the church. Se])tember 4. 1886, Liiraiu b'ornev was elected to the ministry, and David M. \\'eybright to the office of deacon, a.ncl at the same time Da\is "S'ouncc was ordained to the eldership. In 1887 Jacol: .Sheline. deacon. mo\-ed in and in 1888 Solomon

Rowdabaugh and Henr_\- Bariager were chosen deacons. In 1889 Daniel F. Hartsungh. minister, was receix'ed Ijy letter and about the same time A. L. Xeff moved away and James Xeff was cht)sen minister, and George Lingofelter, d.eacon. In 1893 Flder Daniel C. Riggle moved in cUid the next year mo\-ed awa}-. This )'ear Wdliam Bussard, a minister, also moved in. In 1895 M. Treesli moved back. In 1896 Jacob Sheline moved away. In 1897 Daniel Shively moved away, also (i. W. Lingofelter, and John \\'. Kitson was elected to the ministry and Abraham Morehonse, deacon. .\ few month.s later J. W. Kitson moved away. In [898 Amsey E. Clem and John S. Neff were elected deacons, and .\. S. Yoder. deacon, moved in, and Hiram Forney moved away. In 1899 A. E. Clem was elected to the ministrv and Calvin Cripe and Elmer D. Umlienhower were elected deacons. In 1900 A. S. Yoder moved away. In 1901 Charles M. Arnold was chosen minister and Samuel Whitehead and Hem-y Clanger were chosen deacons. This year Daniel Shively moved back, and John C. Stout, a minister, came in. This year is also memorable in tiie history of the clnn'ch by the loss, by death, of three deacons, viz.: John Weybright, Daniel b'orney and E. D. Umbenhower. In 190-' Aaron Treesh, deacon, moved in, also A. L. Neff and J. W. Kitson returned. Henrv (langer nioxed away and [)a\id C(j}- died. In 1904 Cabin Cripe moved away. In 1905 Jesse Metz and J. Orliy Weybright were cliosen deacons.

B\- recapitulation we tind that in all twent}-three ministers and fortv-one deacons served in the church since its organization a half centnrv ago, a total of sixty-four officers. Of these it will be seen that when the clnuTh was organized tlierc were two ministers, ten were elected, and eleven received by letter of recommendation, or such as had moved into the congregation. Of the deacons, four when organized, twenty-seven elected, and ten received liy letter of recommendation.

.\gam, of the whole number of officers n ministers ha\'e departed this life. lea\-ing 1 _' still li\ing. Of the deacons, ifi ha\e died and 2^ are }et li\'ing, making a total of 27 dead and 37 li\ing. Nine of the ministers who are yet li\ing are at present ( 1903 ) serx'ing the church. Thev are the following: Daniel Shively, A. L. Neff, J. H. Warstler, James Xeff". \\'illiam Bussard, J. W. Kitson, A. M. Clem, J. C. Stout and C. M. -\rnold. Tlie tln-ee others of the u are in other congregations.

Arnold. Andrew Cripe, AI. Treesh, D. AT. Weybright, Sol Rowdabaugh. Henry Baringer, Alie Morehouse. J- S. Neff, Sam Whitehead. Aaron Treesh. Jesse Aietz and J. O. \\'e}'ljright. John .-Vrnold and Andrew Criiie. hecause of age, are excused from active ser\-ice.

In 1S77 a churchhouse was bought from the I'resbyterian society in \Vaterf(ird b}- the lirethren and others, and moved to the BaintertoAvn Cemetery, where it is still used and principally controlled by the brethren.

In the 1H79 the brethren built a new house of worship in the south end of the district, in Kosciusko county, and about 1S84 the district was divided with the new house in the new district. In 1885 an old Methodist chnrcli house was purchased in New I'aris. In 1S88 another new liouse was liuilt in Syracuse in the southeast part of the district.

In 1899 the old [Methodist house in Xew I'aris was sold, and a lieautiful and substantial one was purchased from the E\-angelical Association in Benton township, thus making four houses of worshii) in the congregational territory, two services each alternate Sunday at about the same hour, beside some kind of Christian work each Sunda\' evening and Sunday school at each place.

To the above nia\' be added the fact how our good fathers and mothers used to care for and jirovide for the meetings, and for the comforts of those who attended the services. They not onlv took the meetings into their residences, but after the services were o\er. the good mothers would prepare a meal and all were invited to remain for dinner, the horses were fed and everybody made comfortable, and a most pleasant social intercourse was enjoyed. This had a remarkably good influence and added much to the success of the early Christian fathers, and the growth of the church.

In those early days, although the roads were nothing compared to what they now are, being rough, muddy, full of stumps, corduroy bridges across the marshes and low places, in many instances mere pathways through the forests ; yet people in those days would go farther to church on foot, horseback, or in their lumber wagons, sometimes drawn by oxen, than they do to-day in their buggies and frne carriages, over good roads. It was not an unusual thing for them to walk from six to ten miles, often carrying their children, and frequently in summer time thev went barefoot, carrying their shoes until near tlie place tif meeting, when they would stuii and put them on. Children, e\en of large size, would go to the place of meeting barefoot, and even the men would sometimes go barefoot, the writer having witnessed this.

The good work of spreading the glad tidings of salvation was continued'until the church had grown to a membership of about two hundred and fifiv. when the territory was divided, and about one hundred members were allotted to the new organization; the church again increased Uj a membership of two hundred or oyev. The new organization also was successful and prosperous, having increased in meml)ership, and to-da)- thev have three substantial houses of worship within its territory; the last one nearing completion.

For a number of years the church had no Sunda}- schools. ])erhaps priricipall}' from the scattering condition of the residents of the countr}'. the widely separated places of meeting. ;ind the incon\enience of getting to the appointments. Ihit on the 6th of August, 1S71, a Sunday school was organized, and conducted with success, until to-day there is a Sundav school in operation at the se\'eral places of worshi]). and together with the Christian Workers' meetings, which were introdnced in later years, they are considered an important auxiliar_\- to the church.

On New Year's day, 1905. was dedicated in Wakarusa the beautiful house of worship of the Christian church, one of the modern edifices of the kind ni this county, and in the successful completion thereof not only the members of the church but all the citizens of ^\'akarus;l took a lively interest and now feel great pride in the institution. In fact the church was liuilt as the result of general co-operation among the jjeople interested, and represents the zeal and liberality of the people of \\'akarusa. The cost of the edifice was nearlv eight thousand dollars. Tiie exterior structure was made from the duralile and ornate cement Idocks. and the interior furnishings, and the trimmings and decorati\e work are in keeping with the liest ideas of modern church adornment. The building is heated Ijy furnace and lighted bv gas. The beautiful stained glass windows are dedicated to the Christian Endeavor, Band of \\'il!ing \\'orkers, John Wire. Mrs. Jacol> Walters. Mrs. Kate \\'agner. Dr. Knepple. Thomas Price. Christian Wagner family. .\. C. CTiIp and wife. B. F. ^Nlehdn and wife. Anthony Smeltzer and wife. Senior S. S.. Junior S. S.. Fred Trisinger and wife, and foseph Eshelnian. .Sr. The Christian church of \\'akarusa was organized December

Gcsiiex Churches

First Al. 1'".. Church. - 'Idle present edifice was erected in 1874 at a cost of twenty tliou.sand dollars, replacing the old brick church on AJain street that had been huilt in J 846. Rev. M. J. Magor is minister.

Fifth Avenue AI. \\. Church. - This congregation dedicated its beautiful Iniilding on May \2. i88(). The increasing needs of the North .Side Alethodists, which could not be satisfied at the First church, led to the erection of this church. The pastor is Rev. J. A. Sumwalt.

b'irst Baptist Church. - An impo-sing brick and stone structure, Washington and Si.xth streets, erected in 187(1. The church was organized in 1858, by eight ladies. Rev. J. V. bT-adenburg is pastor.

b'irst Presbvteriau Church. - Tliis church whose present pastor is Rev. \\. .\. Vannuys, nephew of Rev. 11. L. Yannuys, lias 464 members in communion, and on the church rolls are the names of 1,151 pers<-ins. The historv of the churcli is gi\'en abo\'e.

St. Tames Episcopal Church. - This jaarish was organized Afarch 26, 1859, and the present church building was comideted in 1861. Rev. Frederick \\ elbani is rector.

(ierman M. F. Church. - This denoniination was instituted in 18309, by Re\-. Mr. 1-iufl'. The first ser\ices were in private homes, then in rented ([uarters. and in 1864 a building was erected at Fifth and Purl streets, which, since remodeled, still serves as their house of worship. Rev. W. 1 '. Rucckheim is pastor.

St. John's Catholic Church. - The members of this church still Wdrship in the building erected in 1860. The priest is Re\-. James Fitz- ]3atrick. The first jiarochial school was built in 1867, ruid a brick schoolhouse was ])ut up in 1881.

b'irst Reformed ChiuTh. - Was organized in September. 1873. by F]. R. Willard. witli twelve charter members. The house of worship was on North Main street until 1892, when their present handsome church wa-; erected on Fifth street. Their ]iresent minister is I\e\-. N. B. Mathes.

St. John S Catholic

organized January i"] . 1876, and first worshiped in the German M. E. building, finally purchased and remodeled that property, and in 1894 came into ])ossession of their larger building on South Fifth and East Madison streets. Rev. Luther Hogshead is pastor.

Sharith Israel. - This congregation was organized September 3, 1878. prior to which time the Jewish residents worshiped in private homes. The old Baptist church building was purchased and converted into their synagogue, anci the first services held in 1878. A Sabbath school was organized in 1886, and in 1887 the congregation purchased the ground which is now the Sharith Israel Cemetery. A new church w-as erected in i8()(j. Ralihi II. W'einstein has ser\-ed his people in Goshen continuDUsl}- si)ice 1881.

Trinity Lutheran Church. - The First Evangelical Lutheran church was organized Octoljer 27, i8()i. the congregations in Harrison and Benton to\\nshi]js hei]:)ing in support of the pastor. The old Presln-- terian church, was purchased and made the house of worship. From this congregation, in 1875, a portion formed the English church. The services are conducted in (iernian and English, C. E. Clessler. minister.

h'irst Christian Churcli. - This congregation was organized in 1886 in the building known as the Coliseum, and, until the completion of their building in the fall of that year, services were held in the Coliseum and in Mennonite Hall.

\Vells Memorial Lutheran Church. - Organization was effected, with twenty-six charter members. January 2(\ 18(^2, and after worshiping in a store room on the nfirth side, their present home Avas erected on Third and Oak Ridge streets. Rev. S. V. l'"rvherger is pastor.

(jerman Baptist Brethren Church. - The work of this denomination began in (ioshen in a mission tent meeting in 1895, and for several year;> the adherents of the faith worshiped in rented quarters. Growth of their memliership justified the erection of a church, and on November 2ft. 189U. their present edifice, at l^ifth and Clinton streets, built at a cost of fi\e thousand dollars, was dedicated.

St. John's Episcopal Church. - The first Episcopal ser\ice was held at Elkhart about 1843, Imt the jiarisb was not organized until Alav, i8ft8. and the first church linilding erected in 1873. The jiresent beauti-

Trinity Al. E. Church. - 'Jliis congregation has a consecutive histor}' extencling over seventy vears. The present Ijeautiful chtnxh, on Second street, was dedicated Feliruary 10, 1890. Somerville Light is pastor.

Congregational Church. - This church was organized in 1869; for se\eral years the members worshiped in the Baptist church, and the present church was completed in 1872. .\, W. Ogilvie is pastor.

First Presbyterian Church.. - W. J. Frazier, minister. Organized in 1840: this congregation for many years worshiped with the Congregationalists. l;a\-ing been separate since 1869.

hirst Christian Church. - Organization was effected October 23, 1878: their first home was dedicated in January, 1879; another buildingwas erected in 1889, and tliis has since been moved, received two extensi\'e additions and been entirely remodeled, the final dedicatory ser\-- ices l^emg held in December, 1897. The pastor is W. W. Denham.

Castle U. B. Church. - The L'nited Brethren have been identified with the religious progress of Elkhart since pioneer times, claim lieing made that one of their preachers delivered the first sermon ever heard in l^lkliart. Rev. John Denham, of this faith, preached in this jiart of tlie coimtry as early as 1830. J. E. Grimes presides over the church at present.

First Baptist Church. - O. V. W'heeler. minister. \\'as organized in i85Ci. a building was erected in i860, and the present edifice, corner of Third and Pigeon streets, was completed in 1888.

St. A'incents Catholic Church. - The l>uildings of St. Vincent's parish, located on South Main street, consist of the large church, the ne-\\ rectorw the -listers" home and paroclfial school. H. .\.. Boeckleman is t1ie s])iritual bead.

hirst I^utlieran Church. - Organized in 1873, services were first held in rented (|uarters. and in December, 1874. the present edifice. Clarion :md Xinth streets, was dedicated.

Watch Tower E^-angelical Church. - The first meeting of this English society of the Evangelical cbtu'cb was held Se]5tember 26, 1872, and in C)ctober, 1873, their church building was dedicated.

.Meihodist Protestant Cluucb. - This chiu'ch was organized in 1893, and a lieautiful little house of worship was erected during the ])astorate of Rev. Memminger.

("lernian E\an^elical Lutheran Llnirch. - \\ as organized in 1874. , and the tirst home erected in the same year, and on August 2^. 1S89, their present church edifice was dedicated.

Otlier churches with their ministers are as follows: Free Methodist, J, ^\. Jolly. Riverside Christian, J. A. Wood. W'illowdale Al. E.. P. E. Greenwalt. Swedish Lutheran, Rtv. Bowandes. (ierman Baptist Brethren, J. V Felthouse and E. L. Heestand. Eirst Church of Cliristian Scientists. St. John's German Lutheran, h'red Ewald. JNlennonite lirethren in Clu'ist, C. 1. Scott.

On Easter da_\', 1905. was dedicated at Elkhart the beautiful Evangelical cliurch, one of the latest rmd most pretentious additions to the church arcliitecture of the count}-. The magnificent new edifice was erected at a cost of $23,000. The ])ropertv on which it was erected is valued at So. 300. The t\-i)e is S])anish Gothic, the material is red pressed l)rick with Bedford stone trnnmings. The church has a frontage of 84 feet on the south and the depth is 76 feet. The auditoruim has a seating capacit}- of 900, and 500 may he accommodated in the Sunday-school room in the basement. Re\-. L. S. Fisher, the present pastor, is a son of Rew Joseph Fisher, the first Tivangelical ])astor in Elkhart. The church was organi.'/ed in i8f)0, worshiping at iirst in a small frame chaiicl. rmd in 1868 erected a brick church, which \\as in use until the ])resent edifice was completed.

On Xovember 29, 1885, the new AI. E. church of New Paris, Indiana, was dedicated by the Rev. I. C. T'ershing, L). D., of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, Female College. The churcli enterprise was commenced last spring. The subscription paper was wTitten April 4, and the pastor his arduous work of soliciting subscriptions for the erection of the building, ^^'hile there were many who very much desired a new church there were few who had any hope of success and some thought it an im])ossibility to put up such a building as some of the starters of the enterprise desired. And even the pastor was reminded in a kind way liy a ])rofessor of religion that the outsiders said the last spark of MetlKidism in Xew Paris had gone out. 1 suppose that is one reason why the outside friends were so liberal in donations.

In Wi\y the aihertisement was made for bids to erect the structure, and in June the contract was let. S. S. ^^'hitehea(l, Dr. James Mathews and the |)astor, Rew \\'. 1\. W'ones, were selected as the buildin.g com- mittee. The wurk was coninienced at oik-c, and nn July 3 the fnundatinn was tinished, tlie corner stune beint;" laid the next day by the Rev. A. E. Mahin of Warsaw. The wurk was so ably and successfully ])usbed fn'.-warcl that in less than eit;hl months the building was cinnpleted at a cost of $4,400. There was a subscription of $3,400, the old clnu'ch Imilding sold for $300, and $650 was a.sked for on the day of dedication, Avhich amount was raised, and enough more to ])ay for building a fence arcjund the lot, and to spout the building. It was estimated that o\er seven hundred ]}eople were in attendance on the day of dedication. Dr. Pershing pronounced it the neatest structure he ever saw for the money e-\pende<l on it, while those who .are mostly interested in the enterprise are more than jjleased. Well ma)- Xew l^aris feel prcjud of her three church biiildings. The new church is brick veneering. The main building is 3- x 58 feet, the .audience room 34x46 feet, with two ba\' windows K x 18 feet, and will seat _'30 persons. The class room. 10 x 28 feet, will seat 50 ijer.-ons, and the gallery, i 2 .\ 34 feet, j^ persoirs. making T,J^. and when well seated, according to plan, 400. The \-estibule or entrance is at the southeast corner, and is 10 x 10 feet, surmounted b\' a belfrv and tower, the whole So feet in height."

Hon. Albert R. Beardsley. prominent as a man of affairs, influential and active in political circles, and a leading factor in the commercial and financial activities of Elkhart, is a conspicuous character in the historv of Elkhart countv, both by reason of his personal achievements rdong the lines just mentioned and because of his connection with a famih' name which is one of the first to be mentioned in recording the founding of Elkliart.

Born in Dayton, ]\lontgo:nery county, Ohio, X'ovember 7, 1847, Mr. Beardslcv is a representative in the eighth generation of the Beardslev family that was founded in .\merica 1)}- William Beardsley, who was born in England in 1603 and who landed among the Mas.sachusetts colonists in June, 1635. Tm-oui Massachusetts he transferred his home to the Connecticut colony, settling at Stratford, which town he assisted to establish and was named, probably, in honor of Stratford-on-Avon, where, according to tradition, was the original family seat of the Beardsleys. .\ man of ability rmd. influence such as to mark him from his fellow citizens, AMlliam Beardsley became clerk of the general court at Elartford, -serving as such thirteen years, was one of the founders of the first (. onoregational church at Stratford, .and in m;ui\' material wavs contributed to the growth and development of the new country. He was a pious Puritan, making- his Christianit}- an integral part of his daily lite, and in many of the old historical documents he is referred tc) as " the gcjod man Beardsley." He died in 1661. His son Samuel was the first member of the family born on American soil. The interveninggenerations from this iirst American ancestor have each contained n-ien pmminent in industrial, ])rofessional and political affairs, a large number of the faniily having reached distinction in the professions of medicine, law and the ministry.

Captain Ph.ineas Bear(lsle\-. who was the great-grandfather of .\1- liert R. Beardsley, was a captain in the Revolutionary war, having enlisted, January i, 1777, in the Seventh Connecticut Regiment and serving- three years. L'nder him. in the same regiment, was Kis son, Elijah Beardsley, who not only serxed throughout the Revolutionary war, lint was, according- to family trculition, a member of the famous Boston Tea Party. The diary of this intrejjid patriot, still preseived- in the family archi\-es. shows that he was -with Washington during the memorable winter at \ alley I-'orge and that his militar)- experience took him to many other ])laces that Iia\e beconie famous in the history of our country.

In the westward expansion which liegan soon after the close of the Revolution, and in accordance with the Beardslev characteristic to be pioneers, various members of the family took up their residence in Delhi, Xew York, and Elijah Beardsley, in 1814, went still further west and settled in Delaw-are C('unty, Ohio, w-hence he afterw-ard moved to Spring-field, in the same state, where his death occurred October 2, T826.

Elijah Hubbel Beardsle)', a son of the Ohio pioneer iust mentionerl and father of the Elkhart business man, and younger brother of Havilah Beardsley, was born at Delhi, New York, Septemlier 10, 1807, being- the youngest of fourteen chilrlren. When a bov he accompanied his parents to New Carlisle, Ohio, in 1837 went with them to Dayton, and in 1853 settled on Beardsley Prairie in the northern part of St. Joseph county. Indiana. Elijah H. Beardsley. who w-as a wagon-maker bv trade and followed that ]3ursuit during much of his active Inisiness life, died at Buchanan.. Michigan, Septeniber 8. 1885, w-hen seventyeight \ears of age. His wife, who bore the niaiden name of Matilda Eemon, died in i860.

Tt has been in keeping with such an honorable ancestral rec<ird that Hon. .\lbert R. Beardsley s career has been wrought out. There are other names ])ertinent to the record which might lia\e been nientioned, but for the history of Dr. Ha\-ilah Beardsley. the founder of Elkhart, the reader is referred to other pages of ibis work, where the Beardsley name appears ofteti and conspicuouslv.

education, in 1864, at the age of se\enteen. he became a clerk in an Elkhart store. In six years he had saved enough from his earnings, and with capital from his father, to establish himself in a merchandising business of his own. and he conducted a very successful business for six years. From then until i8go he liad an active interest in the Muzzy, starch factor}-. In 1890 I>ecoming a stockholder in the Dr. Miles Medical C'omjiany, he has since held the office of treasurer and has been acti\'e in the management of the Inisiness. Me is a director in the First National Bank of Elkhart, .-md l"or ;i number of years he has been a factor in tlie business and financial entcrjjrises of the city.

While almost constantly busied witli the practical affairs of life, ]\Ir. Beardsley has at the same time revealed a high degree of public S]iiru and lovalty to city, state and nation. One of the prominent and well known Republicans of Elkhart county and of Indiana, he has for 'iver thirty years taken a leading ])art in public and official life. In 1872 he was elected city clerk of Elkhart, was elected city treasurer in 1876. and fnjm 1892 to 1896 was a member of the city council. In the wider sphere of state politics he was elected a member of the house for the sixtv-first and of the senate for the sixty-fourth general assembly, and took a very prominent part in the election of j\. J. Beveridge to the United States senate. In 1896 and again in 1898 he was sent as a delegate to the state Republican conxention. In 1897 Oiovernor Mount ap]3ointed him to the iiosition of colnuel on the governor's stafT, which rank he also held during the ofiicial term of Governor Durbin. Mr. Beardsley is a member of the Century Club and the Kenwuod Golf Club of Elkhart, and has identified himself \cry closely with the business and social life of his city.

Hon. George T. Barnev. the octogenarian knvyer of Elkhart, the oldest active representative of the Elkhart county bar, has enjoyed a career which for wide range of activity and usefulness to society has few precedents. Born at Willsboro. Essex county, X^'ew York. April 10, 1S22, he is now several ^-ears past the ace of fourscore, having, during tlic nine decades in which lie has lixed, witnessed the most imjjortant exents since the founding of the nation and as one of the lurits which make up the nation he has himself borne no incon.si)icuous jiart of civic responsiliilit}'.

Mr, llarnev, liimself a man of distinction in the affairs of life, is also a member of a family whose indivi<lual members have performed useful parts in their respective communities. The ancestral historv in the paternal line goes back to Ireland, wliere was born his grandfather .Samuel Barnev, who at an earl}' age, h(iwe\-er, came to this countr\- and married his wife at Salisbur}-, X'ermont. at wdiich place he lived till death. Samuel Barney, the father of George T., was

1)oni ;u W'liilfhall, Xew York. li\ei! in X'erniniit to the age nf sixteen, then went to Willslinni, where he learned the trade of iron worker, and in 1S33 nioxed to Ijirniinghani, Ohio, where he was employed. in the iron works a numher of }ears, and where he died in March. 1862. He married Aliigail Adsit. who was liorn in W'illsboro I'cjint. Xew York, a dani^iiter of jacoh Adsit. who was an officer in the Ivevohilionary war and for his ser\-ices received a bounty of eight hundred acres in Xew York. Airs. Aliigail Barney died in Elkhart in August. 1867. she and her husband having Iieen the parents of nine chikh'en. all of whom the_\' reared to adult life. These chiklren are as follows: l\ichard. who died in 1853: George T. ; William JNl.. of Elkhart: Andrew J., of Milan, Ohio; Samuel, who died in Elkhart in 1902: Cordelia and Phoebe, both deceased, about 1882. w-lm were teachers: Julia, who died about 1859: and Rlioda, who (bed at Florence. Ohio, in X'ovember. 1896.

Air. (ieorge T. I'>arne_\. the second child and sec<ind son of the famil}-. was aliout tweh-e years old when the famil\- luoxed to Birmingham. Ohio, where he li\-ed until old enough to do for himself. His lirst independent occupation was to carry the mail between l'^]\-ria and Oberlin. making the tri]) once a week on horseback, but after the first year he made the trip daily. Two years at this occui)ation. and then he began learning the carpenter's trade at Elyria and for the followingfour ye:irs did carpenter work in Ohio and Michigan. Then in 1847 came his experience as a soldier n{ jiis country. He enlisted in the .Vmerican army and served under its victorious banner throughout the campagin from Vera Cruz to the Cit}- of Mexico, his serxice in the Mexican war covering eighteen months. In J848 he ruiwed to Kalamazoo. Michigan, where he had his home a number of vears. and where, on January 15. 1852. he married Miss Mary A. Cerona Musell. who was born in Sjjringville. Xew- York. July 21. 1834. and at the age of fifteen came to Kalamazf>o. Michigan, with her parents. Austin C. and Lucy (Bugbee) Ylusel!.

From Kalamazoo Mr. Barney went to Marquette on Lake Superior, where he followed liis trade and became one of the prominent citizens of that place. In the spring of 1S55 he was elected constable. in the following fall was elected sherifif of the countv, and l>v re-election served two terms. Through the influence of General Cass he was appointed government timber agent for the upper district of Michigan, and while in that office was also appointed to make an enumeration of the Chippewa Indians in that section of the state. He also held the office of justice of the peace. In 1861. on the outbreak of the war of the rebellion, he enlisted in Company A. Michigan Volunteer Infantry, for three months' service, and was elected captain of the com])rmy, hut was rejected for service on account of di.sabilit}-.

At Litiiiiiier he was engaged in tbe mercantile Ijusiness with his lirother, and \\a^ alsn in luisiness the lirst twn years of his residence in Elkhart. Having studied law and l)een admitted to the Michigan bar in I SO I. soon after locating in Elkhart he took up the active practice of his ])rofession. so that he has at this writing been a successful member of the bar in this county for o\er forty }ears, being the clean of the jirofession. In connectiim with the law he also writes fire and life insurance.

j\iv. Barnev has the distinction of lieing one of the \-ery oldest Masons in the county or state. He took his initiatory degrees in No- \'ember. 1S50. so that he has enjoyed the fraternal brotherhood for fifty-fi\e years. His other fraternal associations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Elks, of which order he is the oldest li\-ing member, and he is an esteemed member of the Century Club of Elkhart. He belongs to the Presbyterian chnrch. while his wife is a communicant of the Episcopal church. One of the few Mexican war veterans still living in this county, about 1867 he tO(ik part in the formation of the association known as the Indiana Mexican War Veterans and has taken a prominent part in the organization ever since, lieing elected to the office of president and being several time? called upon to address the society at its reunions. In 1874, on the Democratic ticket, Mr. Barney was elected to the Indiana general assembly. In 1878 he was elected clerk of the Elkhart city court, serving four years. In 1900 he was elected a member of the Elkhart school board, ser\ing three years.

Mr. (jcorge E. Barney, of Elkhart, who is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Barney, was born in Kalani.azoo in Xoxember. 1852. Thev have traveled life's road together for o\er tifty \-ears, having celelirated their golden wedding several years ago, and with their souls enriched with the associations of the past they linger ha])])ih- in the last scenes of lives that have been useful and noble.

Xorman Sage, pre-idenl of tin- b'lrst State Bank of Elkhart, is one of the oldest men in the cit\- still acti\ely connected wnth business affairs. Beginning the journey of life o\-er eighty-six years ago, long before the first permanent settler had ])enetrated the forests w^hich covered Elkhart count}', he has in his lifetime Iseen the witness of a most remarkable development and progress in his country and of such a series of great national e\"ents as few men ha\e had transpire during the iieriod of their (.)wn li\'es. Mi'ume was still president of the United States when Air. Sage was born, he was ;i man of nearly thirtv when the war with Mexico occurred, was a man of middle age during the Civil war, and altogether lived through eight decades of the last centur\. lie has l)een intimateh- concerned with the liusiness and civic

P.orn m C'haiittuuiua county, Xew March fi. 1819. he was a son of Aloses Sage, llie latter, who was a native of and was reared and educated at lienninoton, X'erniont, was hv occupation a merchant and miller and is also to he rcmemhered as a Michigan pioneer. ha\'- ing .settled at Adamsville, Cass count}', in 1834. He erected there one of the first grist mills in all that part of the countr}-. His death occurred in Cass county when he was severity-two years old. Mr. Sag'e's mother was \ancy (ioldsmith, a nati\e of Connecticut, who lived to lie ahdui forty years of age.

'Jdiere were just two sons in the familw the brother of Xorman lieing Martin (i.. who was the older, and who died some years ago in Elkhart. .V hoy of fourteen _\ears when he mo\ed to Cass count}'. Mr. Sages schooling was obtained principally in his home town of, Fredonia. New York, and he had very little schooling after moving to the new Michigan country, ^^^^en he and his brother had attained majority they went into partnersliip with their father, under the name of Moses Sage and Sons, conducting a large mercantile and milling business at Adamsville, Michigan. On the father's death the name of the firm was changed to M. (i. and N. Sage, and w-as thus continued in .\damsville until 1868, when the brothers came to Elkhart, where the}- built and conducted for nearly thirty }'ears the Harx'est Queen Mill, finally leasing" the property to other parties. They were also interested in sexeral lines of manufacturing, holding a half interest in the starch factor}-, ii-i a paper mill, and a wagon manufacturingplant. The Sage brotliers made a noteworthy record for harmc-)nious and effective co-operation in their \arious enterprises, they never seriously disagreed, their interests were always held in common until shortly before the death of the brother, when a division of property interests became necessary, and withal they demonstrated in a remarkable wav the strength that comes from unity of action among brothers. Upon the organization of the St. Joseph Valley Bank Mr. Norman Sage was elected its president, and later, when he sold his stock in that institution, he organized the First State Rank, of which he is still the active executi\-e head. He has considerable real estate in this cit}-. and his Imsine.ss fiperations, past and jiresent. have covered a ver\- wide field. He was fornierly interested in the Elkhart Hydraulic Company, was the treasurer of the Elkhart Cas. Light and Coke Company, treasurer of the Eikhart Straw Board Company, of the Globe Tissue Paper Company, the Baldwin Sage \\'agon Compan}-. J(jnes and Hill Chewing Cium Company, the Mussev and Sage Starch Company.

Essentially a nian of affairs, and especially business affairs. Mr. Sage has never aspired to political activity, being- content merely to vote for the man he thinks liest (|ualified for office, regardless of poli-

Ivlr. Sage married, first, in 1842. ]\liss Juno A. Adams, by whom there is one son living, Charles S. By his second marriage, in 1859, with Eliza J. .Vdams, he has a son and a daughter, Frank A., who is assistant cashier in the L'irst State Bank, and Jennie G., who is the wife of D. I""L llotchkin, in the real estate and loan business in Elkhart.

Levi Ji. I'ippenger, who is engaged in general farming in Locke township, where he owns and operates eighty acres of land, was torn in Union township, Elkhart county, February 3, 1865. His ])aternal grandfather, John Pippenger, was a native of Pennsylvania and was married in Akintgomery county, Ohio, June J/, 182 1. to Mary Cripe, also a native of the Keystone state. The^- came to Elkhart county in 1829 and settled on what was then called Elkhart prairie, now a part of Elkhart township, their home being two miles south of the present site of Goshen. There the grandfather took up land from the government and improxed a farm upon whicli he remained until 1838, when he renici\ed to the farm upon which Joseph L. Pippenger now resides, trading the land on Elkhart prairie for three hundred and twenty acres all in one liody. There John Pippenger continued to reside until Ins death, which occurred in his seventv-eighth year, and through a long period he was numliered with the progressive farmers of the county. doin>..', not a little to promote its agricultin'al development. His assistance also i3ro\-ed lieneficial along other lines, as he assisted in the pioneer upbuilding of this part of the state. His wife died in Union towns]:i[), when about seventy years of age. Their sons and daughters were: Daniel, Emanuel, Elizabeth, John, I\[agdalene, Susan, Christian, Mar}-, Catharina, Rel)ecca and Jose])!!. Of these only three are now living: Emanuel, Catharina and Tosei>h, aithotigh nine of the number reached adult ;ige.

Jose])ii L. Pi])i)enger, the xrmngest of the Kaniilv. was born December ',2, 1839, on the farm on section 21. Union township, where he now Vwes. When a boy he pursued his studies in one of the ]")ioneer log schoolhouses common .at that day and .also assisted in the arduous task of clearing and imjiroving .-i new farm. He remained with his parents until tbeir deatli and then continued in charge of the old homestead.

Fie was married .\])ril 13, 1862, to Miss Pollv .\nn Skinner, who was born in Noble county, Indiana, December 2, 1833, a daughter of Ephraim and Mary (Black) Skinner, in whose familv of nme children she was the second. Slie was reared in Nol>le county, Indiana - where she was born - and since her marriage has resided' upon but one farm. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pippenger: Levi:

Eniamifl. deceased: William, who was horn Septemher 13, 1867, ^^'^'^^ is at home: Edward, horn February 8. 1870; Mary, wife of John Hartsangh, of Union township ; DeLoom, of Iowa, born November 17, 1874; Milo, who was born August 2, 1877. and is a mail clerk on the Lake Shore railroad, living at Goshen, Indiana ; Amos, born March 21, i88t : Lizzie, who was bom December 18, 1883, and is the wife of Da\-i(l Stouder, nf Union township; and Cla}'t(jn, w h(.> was burn ]\Iarch II, 1889. All were horn in L'nion township.

Joseph Pippenger is now the owner of seventy-eight and a half acres of good land and at one time owned much more. He has been retired, liowever, for the past eight years, leaving the actixe \\ork of the fann to others. Fie has resided upon this place for sixty-five j^ears and everything about the farm is endeared to him through the associations of his boyhood and his manhood. He belongs toi the German Baptist or Dunkard church, lias taken an active part in its work and contributes generoush- to its support. In jiolitics a Democrat, he has served as trustee of Lhiion township for about six years.

Levi Pippenger was a public school student in his _\nuth and when not occupied with the duties of the schoolroom gave his attention to the farm work, assisting his father until twenty-one years of age. He has always carried on agricultural pursuits and has spent his entire life in Union and Locke townships. He now owns eighty acres of land in the latter and the well tilled fields are the visible evidence of his careful supervision and practical methods.

In 1883 Mr. Pippenger was married to Miss Mary .Mice Xeff, a daughter of Samuel C. and Lydia (Stouder) Neff, who were early settlers of this county. The\- lived for a year in Union township and then removed to the farm in Locke township which they now occupy. Four children have been born to them: Jesse, Eva, Morris and Chloe.

Mr. Pippenger, since attaining his majority, has taken an active interest in political questions and is regarded as an active worker in the local ranks of the Democratic party. He was elected trustee of Lock'e ti^wnshi]T in 19O-I. and is now serving in that capacitv. He is a member nf tlie (jerman P)aptist chin-ch and his interest in ilic material, social, intellectual ;md nuiral iimgress in the cumnumitv finds tangible jiroof in his efforts fr,r advancement along those lines.

It has been well said tliat the destin_\- of a nation lies in the kee]iing of tlie mother>, and the ])art they play in the best life and highest welfare of any community is, if not the most conspicuous, certainlv the most important. As a wiman wIkjsc character has left a permanent record in her wortln children and whose life work is not less deserving of mention than the representati\'es of the sterner se.x. a

Mrs. was Imin on the faimms I'dkhart prairie, at a time wlu-n all liie .^nrroniidin,L;s were in their ])rimilive state, .and sjie was reared dnrint; the d.i\s when tlie conntry was just emer.^ini;- from its ]jioneer state into the Liter ejioeli of hlossominf^- ])ros])erily .and frnitage. It has acc(jrdini.;]\- heeii her jjrivile^^e to witness ne.arly all the l)henoinena of develo])ment .and progress hy whieh the eonnt\ li.as heen entireh' transformed during the jiast h.alf century, with its r.ailroads, telegraph and telephone lines, its cities and .all other m.arks of twentieth century ci\-ilization, ller girlhood w.a^ ]i,asseil dnring tlu' ])erio(l when log-cahin schools were still found in tlic conntN. am] she .attended the old school whicli stood on the sitt' of ilu' " lli^ and lier first school teacher was Israel Wyland. I'limitixc indeed were the schoolhouses of that day as coni]>ared with the lie.intifid sirurlnres where IIk' \onlli of this da\ k'.'irn the lirst lessons i>\ \\\v. Among othei ]iioni'ei' exjierienees she h.as s])un woo] into y;irn, ,ind she li.as in her possession three of the old time cowrlels which were \\o\en in the year 1860. 'I'hese -ou\enirs -^row more \.aln,al>le .and ]irecions with each succeeding year, .and should .always he preserved in the family .as relics of a past time wonderfully difTerent from this present age.

I'etei' Tron]), in whose death the counts' lost one of its most useful citizens, w.as hoin in Canada near I'.ulTalo, .\'ew ^'ork. M.a\' 14. 1S42, and at the ,a,L;e of ele\en years came to I'.lkh.arl conut\. where he was reared to m.inh(jod. Industrious and honor.ible in all his transactions, he gained a large degree of success in material affairs and at the same time won the high esteem of ;dl who knew him. lie and his wife were liberal contrihntoi-s in the building of the ('.erm.'in Baptist " liig Church," .and they could .alwavs lie counted on for help in .any cause which meant i1k' .advancement of i-eligion .and iiii i|-,ilif \-.

Henry \\ I'razier. .an architect of Na])panee, was horn in St.ark County. ( )liio, Jann.ary S. Hi., f.ather died when he w.as hut twn years ol age so that he learned nothin.^' concerning;- Ihe .incestr.il history in the paternal line. His mother. Mrs, ll.nin.ih fr.i/iei-, w.as horn in Burlington county. New Jersew and there spent her i;irlliood d.ays in the home of her f.ather, Samuel kra/ier, of that st.ate.

panee - from 1882 until 1887. \\v. l-razier also worked at the carpenter's trade in early life, S(.-r\ ing a regular apprenticeship and following" that calling during the periods of \acation. In the meantime he took u)) the studx- nl architecture and- has devoted his time and energies lu that profession f<ir ahout fourteen }-ears. He has jjlanned most c)f the good homes of ca]jitalists of Nappanee and also many fine , structures in the towns of Brenien. (ioshen and other places. Churches, schoolhouses and residences stand as monuments to his skill in this direction, and for fourteen ^-ears his attention has heen successfully given to architectural designing.

August 8, 1882, occurred the marriage of Mr. I'razier and ]\Iiss Elizaheth Alast, a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth ((jingerich) Mast. They now have five children - three sons and two daughters: Clarence li.. who studied under his father, now occupies a good position as chief draugh.tsman in an architect's office in Chicago ; Dinah has successfully followed teaching for three years: Lois and I-ialph are attending school: and Horace completes the family.

Mr. Frazier votes with the Democrac}'. Init while keejjing well informed on the questions and issues of the da}- has no time nor inclination for ])uhlic office. He has heen a resident of h'lkhart countv since three vears of age and is interested in its welfare, rejoices in its ]H"ogress and C(j-operates in many measures for its advancement and improvement. He h.as a wide acquaintance in the locality where he has so long resided ;ind he is to-day classed with the leading citizens of Nap]3rmee.

John 11. r.aker. ex-Cnited States di.strict judge of Indiana, i)rominent at the liencli and har of Indiana for ne;ir!y half ;i centur}-, and now living retired in his pleasant home in Cioshen, was Imrn in Monroe county. New York. February 28. 1832. In his long life of more than three score and ten years he has again and again pro\ed his right to the distinguished honors \\hich ha\-e l)een l)estowe<l u])on liim. and in bis age liis character has the bre:iilt]i and richness which are the fruit of varied and eventful e-\]ierienee in affairs of the world.

When still an infant his parents remo\-etl to the present county of Fulton. Ohio, wbicli \\-as then on the frontier, and as he grew up he as-listed his father on the farm amid iiionecr scenes. Educated in the ])rimiti\-e sch.ools of the time and during only a few winter terms, he himself later became a school teacher and tluis sax'ed the mone\' which enal)led him, at the age of twenty-one. to take a course of two years study in the Ohio AVesleyan Cniversity. at Delaware. Ohio. When this literary ])reparation was completed he began the stud}' of law at Adrian. ^Michigan, and. jiassing a satislactory examination before the supreme coiu't of was admitted to the Ijar in 1837.

of liis cliiisen professidii, anc!. snon gaining a godd clientage, has ne\er lacked Imili tlie emnUiments and honors rif the dignilied and accomplished inrist. Dnring the tronldous times of sla\er\- he niihesitatingly cast his lot with the new-horn Repulilican party, and in i86j was nominated and elected a member of the state senate. As was and is the case with nearh' everv attorney, he held a notary public's commission, and. h\ the skillful and oxerdrawn cunstructinu nf the Democratic mainrit}- in the senate, a notar_\- public was declared the incumbent (d" a lucrati\e oFrice. therefore constitutional]}- ineligilile to a seat in the senate, whereupon he was expelled from the Imdw .\fter this brief legislative experience he returned to Goshen and resumed his practice with such abilit\- that he soon liecame recogm"zed as one of the ab'lest lawyers of northern Indiana.

In 1872 he was the aspirant fnr nomination to Congress fmni the thirteenth congressional district, but after a lung cuntest in the nominating convention was defeated b\' a combination of the other three candidates. .At the succeeding campaign, howe\er. he w;is nominated bv hi.- ])arty and after an exciting campaign was elected and saved the district by a \'ery narrow margin from the Democratic tidal wave that swept the state in 1S74. In iS-o he was rennminateil by acclamatinn and elected 1\\' a handsome majnrit}" of oxer Xwn thousand, and again in 1878, nominated b)' acclamation, w;is elected bv an incre;ised mainritx'. His record in Congress was an honor to himself and constituencw and !hs abilities and earnest efforts i>]ace(l him on a plane with the most eminent statesmen m the house. When he retired he was the ranking Republican men.iber on the ajipropriations committee, and had also ]ierformed imjiortant ser\ice on other committees. His high sense of integrity and right and bis ])ositive ]>ersonality and strength matle their imijress not onl}- upon his colleagues but upon the legislation of the period. He bail earned the respect and esteem of the ]3eople of Indiana, and might ha\e continued in his ])lace in the house indefinitely, but at the close of liis third term he declined another nomination and returned to (iosben to de\i)te liis energies to the needs of his large legal clientage.

When James .\. Carfield l)ecame president he urged n])on Mr. I'.aker the acce])tance of the ]iosition of second assistant ])ostinaster general, an office for which the latter was peculiarly well fitted because of his ex]icrience while in Congress in investigating- the " Star Route" contracts. But in this case, as in subserpieiit ])roffers of high and honorable ]iositions. be resolutely refused to resign his jiracticc except for some office in direct line with liis jirofession. In i8()2 Judge Wood was |)ronioted to the I'nited .States circuit bench from the United .States (hstrict court, and to succeed Judge Wood in tb.e district judgeshi]) President Harrison appointed Mr. Baker, who was thus honored absolutely xvithout solicitation on his ])art or that of his friends. When he assumed the duties of the oflice on March jq. i8<;2.

there came to tliis federal enurt an ideal jurist, thoroug-hly versed in the law and precedent, a man iif hrnadest reading and culture, and possessed of a lofty conception of the duties of the co-urt. He served with distinction as district judge until 1902, when he retired under the age pri\-ilege of the law, and has since been enjoying the wide esteem and fellowship of his friends and associates in Goshen.

Judge leaker was married in early manhood to Miss Harriet E. DeFrees. a daughter of J. H. Del'rees. of Goshen. Their one son, judge Francis F. Baker, is now I'nited States circuit judge. Mr. Baker and his wife are members of the Alethodist church in Goshen.

Daniel H. Fisher

Emerson has said that the history of a country is best told in the lives of its people and thi- statement holds equally true of a town or community. Public prcjgress is due to the citizens who recognize possibilities and utilize opportunities and to this class belongs Daniel H. Fisher, well known as an enterprising young man of Jackson township and the village oi New Paris. The attractiveness of this locality as a place of residence is w'ell indicated by the fact that many of the native sotis remain here after attaining majority and when seeking" their positions in the business world. Mr. Fisher was born in Jackson township. May 15, 1870, his jiarents being Harr}- and [Matilda (Ryestraw-) Fisher. The father was born in the province of Friesland, Holland, in the year 181 1, and passed avv'ay in 1887. He acquired a good common school education and w^as a fisherman in his native land. He was married while in Holland and about 1853 he set sail from Amsterdam for England, and there he re-embarked at Liverpool, upon a sailing vessel bound for the United States. The anchor was at last dropped in tlie harbor of New York and he came at once to Elkhart county to make a home for his family. He had little capital and his early life here w'as fraught with some hardships and difficulties. Just as the party were leaving the train the mother fell and broke her arm, wdiich added to their troubles. Mr. Fisher began as a laborer, scorning no employment that would yield him an honest living, but as time went on he prospered and when his capital had become sufficient he purchased a small tract of land which was unimproved. The only building upon the place was a log cabin, but with characteristic energy^ he began making a home for his family and placing his fields under cultivation. He added to the farm until he became the owner of eighty acres of very productive land in Jackson township. He was a supporter of Democratic principles and he and his wife were advocates of the Mennonite faith, holding membership in the church in LInion township. They aided in the erection of the house of worship and contributed generously of their means in support of the church. Mrs. Fisher w^as a native of Friesland, born in 1833, ^"cl she is yet living on the "1(1 lidinestead where she has now resided for many long years, while the conntv has emerged from pioneer conditions and taken its place with tlie leading counties of this great commonwealth. In their famiU- were eleven children, ten <ons and a daughter, of whom Daniel H. is" the tenth in order of hirth. With the exception of one son they are all living and are residents of Elkhart county.

Daniel H. Fisher was reared in the county of his nativity, remaining with his parents until he had attained his majority. His education was acquired in the pulilic schools and in the summer normal schools and he began the profession of teaching in New Mexico when twent}-one }'ears of age. He had no capital at that time, but nature hail endow'-ed him with a good mind and he also possessed a resolute will and laudable am1>ition. .\s he had brothers in the southwest he concluded that he would also tiy his fortune in that part of the country and borrowed money to pay the expense of the railroad tri]) to that point. In the winter of 1891 he started for Eddy county. New Mexico, and after filing a claim to some land he entered upon the work of teach.ing. which he followed in the same place for seven years, pro\- ing a capable instructor, who imparted clearly and concisely to others the knowledge that he had -icc|uired. He won popularity as a teacher and citizen of the southwest, but in i89<S he returned to his home, making the journey by wav of Galveston around Kev W^est to New York, and then after spending several days in the eastern metropolis proceeded to Washington, where he also remained for a few days, visiting man\- points of interest in the capital. While he was in the southwest he made a trip to Old Mexico, and saw many points of historic and modern interest there.

In the spring of 1898 Mr. Fisher again reached Elkhart county and soon afterward established a fann implement business in New' Paris. A short time later his brother Martin joined him in the enterprise and they extended the value of their operations by adding a stock of hardware, lumber, lime, cement, coal and building materials. The firm under the style of Fisher Brothers is now doing a large business, which will amount annually to about thirty thousand dollars. They have prospered by reason of their commercial integrity and earnest desire to please their patrons, combined with an enterprise that brooks no obstacles which can be overcome by perseverance. They have the entire confidence of the community and justly merit the success which is attending them.

Daniel H. Fisher was married August 20, 1902. to Miss Winifred Whitten, and they have an interesting little son, Harry "W. Mrs. Fisher is a native of Elkhart countv, born October 29, 1874, and is a daughter of William Whitten. She spent her girlhood days here and after attending the common schools continued her studies in the Milford high school, from which she was graduated. She was also a student in the Tri-State Normal and became ore of the school teach- ers of ibis section of the state, foUowiiit;- tlie professi<in in Kosciusko and Elkhart counties. Slie h;is also heen a student of instrumental music and she is a memher of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mv. Fisher l)ck)ngs tn the ^lennonite church, hut is a teacher in the Methodist Sutiday sclioul, and has also been similarly connected with Mennonite Sunday schoul. He i*- a Prohibitionist in his ]iohtical sentiments, and takes a strong stand in fa\i)r of temijerance, doing everN-- thing' in his power to promote tlie cause. He and his wife are most estimable peo])k- and the circle of their friends is aliuost co-e.\tensive with the circle of their acquaintance.

13. Ai. W'eybrigbt. one of the best known citizens of Elkhart county, represents some of the most sub.stantial factors which have entered into the growth and jiermanent ]5rogress of this countv. In fact, a complete history of l-dkh.art county could not he written without prominent reference to the part whicli has been ]ila_\ed 1i\ tlie W'evbright family, from the earliest ])ioneer years up to the ])resent. Material upbuilding, industrial activity, civic and social welfare, and the cause of religion and morality. ba\-e each in due proportion received from this family those impulses of jiower .-md influence which have resulted in adx'ancement along the right hues and upward toward the highest ideals of civilization.

Mr. W'evbright belongs td one of the most prominent (ierman- Anierican families of the countw To this element (^f her ])- ']>ulatii)n Elkhart ciiunty owes more of her iiermaneut ])ros]ierit>' than to anv other class. Their ])henomenal industry, their integrity of character, their loyalty to constituted authfirity and to the (i(rd-gi\en ])rinci])les of fundamen.ta] religion are known to all ^vbo ha\e e\-er had dealings with them or witnessed the results of their life wi)rk. Mr. Weybright is proud to call Elkhart county his birthplace, and the scene of most of his subsequent activities. He was born September 4, 1854, the sixth in a family of ten children, five sons and five daughters, whose parents were John and Joanna (Lindeman) Weybright. Six of the children are living: Elizabeth, widow of Peter Troup, of Jack.son township; William il., a prosperous farmer and citizen of the same townshi]); |acol> 1'".. also an agriculturist of Jackson townshi]); D. A[.. next in order; John A., who is married and is engaged in farming in \'an P>uren township, Ko-^ciusko county; Daniel \\'.. married and a farmer in Jackson townshi]).

Jolm Weybright. the father, who at his death en May 20, tc;o], was one of the oldest and most honored of the pioneer citizens of the county, was born near Dayton, Ohio, July (>. iHig. and when eleven years (lid, in 1830, accomjianied his ])arents to Elkhart county. In that the \car in which Elkliart county was organized, primeval nature ever_\\\ii(jix' held sway over this lieautilul regiuii : the furests were untiiiR-he(!, Uie wild game had not been cHsturbed in their haunts, tlie red men were more numen.ius tlian the whites, and all conditions and surroundings were different beyond realization from the present. John W'eybright attended log-cabin school, and at an early age was initiated inl(. llu- metliods of jjioneer agriculture, using the nld-time cradle and sickle til cut the gram, threshing it nut with tlail or treading, and fanning it .lul in the wind. That his ynuth was passed in an eyioch wdiich is oiiK a histnrical niemury tn the present generation ma\- be inferred from the following mcident, preserved among the family reminiscences. Upon one occasion an Indian, in passing the ^Veybright farm, picked up a hoe and was making oft' with it when John's elder brother Martin, observing him, seized' the wagon whip and overtaking the thief proceeded to administer a sunimarv thrashing, .\fter enduring stoically this condign punishment fur a time, the red man turned upon his assailant and no doubt would have killed the ytnith if he had had a weapon. But the bo}- Martin, being \-er_\- acti\-e and strong, managed to double himself up and, jilanting his feet nn the Indian's breast and stomach, shoved him oft', then junijied u]) and, recm-ering the hoe, made good his retreat.

The grandfather had entei'ed a large amount of land from the go\'- ernment in this count}', and Jnbn W'eybright, emulating the industry and successful management of his father, accumulated considerable land in the ci unity and was one of the most enterprising of the ]>ioneer farmers. In the latter years of his life he had been a steadfast adherent of the Re]Miblican party, but he cast his first vote for the great exponent of Whig ])rinciples, Harrison, the hero of Tip]>ecanoe. Upon the death of grandfather \Veyl)right, and on the day of the funeral and just after the interment, John W'eybright, his wife, his brother Martin (whose w'ife was already a member), his brother Michael and wife, and his sister Lizzie and her husband Jacob Smeltzer, w^ere all received into the communion and fellowship of the German Baptist church liy Christian bajitism. John W'eybright was one of the foremost in the erectinn of the cbm'ch in the southeastern ])art of Jackson townshij) which is known ever^'where as " The Big Church." Some of the timbers of this edifice are sixty feet in length ;md most of them came from the W'eybright farm.

The mother of Mr. D. M. W'eybright was Imrn in Haden, (lerm.anv. Inly 0. I'Sij. and, at the great age of iner eighty-eight years, is one nf the nldfst and must \enerable women nf the count}-, her length nf \-ears being C(|ualle<l b}- her deeds of kindness to children and friends and by the elemental beauty and strength of her character. She was nine ^"ears old when she came across the waters to .\merica and after several vears' residence in Baltimore. i\Iar}-land, lier ]iarents came to Indiana. She resides with her son Ha\id.

his liniiie. rec(.'i\-e(l his educatmn in the Cdiiiniou schocjls. and, trained to the life nt farmer, has fullowed tliat occnpaliun witli almost unvarying success from early manhood tn the ])resent. He began at the age ijf twenty-nue in the emplo}- cjf his father at wages of sixteen dollars a month iluring the summer and seventy-h\e cents a day during the winter, and in this way accumulated about two hundred dollars capital the first year. It has been by a constant succession of such years of industry, thrift and capalile management that Mr. ^Veybright has arrived at his present degree nf i)r(is])erity, .-md no one begrudges him the comfortable circum.stances which he has gained by his own diligent efforts. Not selfishly, not in the spirit or practice of self-gain at the cost of others' loss, has he sought to reach success. That beautiful idea! of social serxice. < f counting one's own ad\-ancement as unworthv of effort unless at the same time mankind in general, and especiallv the immediate circle of famih- and friends, receives benefit - this has Ijeen the cardinal principle <if liis life work. He has practiced this manner of life because he lias believed it in harmony with the Fatherhrjud of ( iod and Brotherhood of Alan, as exemplified in the Saviour who denied himself the pleasures and glory of di\-ine life that he might come to earth and prove a means of salvation to men.

June lo. 1878. Mr. Weyliright was united in marriage with jVIiss Emily C. Hinebaugh. Their wedded life has been blessed with four children. Arthur B.. the eldest, was educated in the common .schools and is now a ]iractical and successful farmer: he married Miss Ida Peters, and they ha\e one son, Clio Leslie. Harley F.. who attended the commcjn schools and w In 1. in company with his brother Arthur, spent one summer in Utah, is now farming his grandmother's place. John Walter, who, after finishing the common schools, attended the Elkhart Business College, where be took his diploma in the bookkee])- ing course, is now with bis lirotber Arthur. .\da J. li\-es nt home, having completed the public school course and recei\-ed her diploma. Mrs. Weybright. who was l>orn in Ohio, Septeml:ier 19, J 852, is a daughter of Benjamin F. and Alinerva ( Bern worth) Hinebaugh. Her father died in March, 1902, but lier mother is living in Jackson township. There were seven children in the Hinebaugh family and five are living. Mrs. Wevliright is likewise a member of the German Baptist church in Jackson township, and a woman of such devotion to the Christian life that her example and works have proved the strongest influence for good in the rearing of her children.

On his thirty-second birthday. .September 4. t886. Mr. Weybright was elected deacon of the " Big Church." ;uid from that day to this he has continued to fill this position and has been one of the most prominent workers in the church and Sunday school. He is a Republican in politics, and as a ]Hiblic-spirited citizen has always done his share toward promoting civic progress. In December. 1900, he was appointed a rural mail carrier from the central office at New Paris, and

Tlie career thu.-; briefly sketched has ijecn replete with honorable effort and pra'sevvorthy results, and it deserves a place of dignity in this work, where children and grandchildren \\U] long refer to it an<i gain therefrom lessons of encouragement to work for like high ideals. Tn conclusion we reprint the obituary notice of the late John \Ve\- bright which, was ])ulilislicd in the (ioshen .\c7^v-7^iiin's on the occasion of liis death :

"John W'eyhright was l;orn in Montgomer\- count\-, ()hiii. [ul\' 6, i8iQ, and died 'Slv.y _'0, 1901. aged eighty-one years, ten months. He emigrated with his i)arents tn l^lkhart count}-, Indiana, in 1830, when about eleven years old, when the wild beasts and the Indians held almost undisturbed possession of this countr_\-. He saw the changes whicii have resulted in liringing this country up to what it is at the present day; he .saw our cities and villages spring up from their infancy to what they now are; he saw the building of our first railroads, telegraph and electric lines, the introduction of the electric light and telephone.

" He was united in marriage to Joanna Lindeman, Novemljer 24, 1842. To this union ten children were born, nine of wdiich he sawgrow up to manhoofl and womanhood ; one died in infancy. His aged companion, six children, twenty-six grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, one brother and one sister remain to mourn his loss. With his wife he moved to the place of his late residence in the autumn of 1845 and by hard work and economy they accomplished what they did. He was a man of peace and lived at peace with his fellow men. He never sued nor was sued liy anyone, but was ever ready to yield rather than have difficulty. May we profit by his exan-iple.