Grant County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 32 of 32)

Mr. Poe, in his political beliefs, is a member of the Prohibition party, and he and his family are members of the Friends church. Six children have been bom to Mr. and Mrs. Poe, as follows : George, who is a gradu¬ ate of the public schools and is now at home helping his father on the farm; Lemuel A., who married Ruby Sample, and resides in West Marion; Nanna, who is the wife of Lewis Sharp and lives in Franklin township, is a graduate of the public schools ; Verna, Pearl and Beraeil live at home.

A. E. Reece. One of the successful farmers of Grant county, Indiana, is A. E. Reece, of Franklin township. A quiet and unassuming man, one would never realize that he had accomplished anything in the world to hear him tell of his life, but from his neighbors and fellow citizens, one can gain an idea of the high respect in which he is held, due not only to the successful battle he has fought with life, but also to his own fine character.

A. E. Reece was born in Adams county, Ohio, on the 31st of March, 1866, the son of John Reece and Ruth (Eyler) Reece. John Reece was born in Adams county, Ohio, and his wife was a native of Brown county, in the same state. They were reared in their native state and were married in Adams county where they lived until they came to .Indiana and located in Grant county. This was in 1874 and like most men of his time he was a farmer, but he was also a man of some education, and was not only a school teacher but a musician as well. He and his wife were the parents of three children, two of whom are now living. A. E. Reece and his brother, Thomas, who lives at Sweetser, Indiana, a painter and printer, and unmarried.

A. E. Reece attended the public schools in his native county in Ohio for one term before coming to Indiana, and his education was completed in the schools of the latter state. When he first began life he owned a team of horses and he first rented land. He was a renter for some time before he was able to save the money to purchase a place of his own. He is now the owner of a fine place of 105 acres, and raises splendid crops. He is also a stock raiser, and deals in stock to some extent. In Sweetser he is connected with the business world as a stockholder and a member of the directorate of the Farmers' State Bank.

In politics he is a member of the Democratic party and he has served as precinct committeeman of his township for four years. His fraternal interests are with the Ancient Order of Gleaners.

Mr. Reece was married to Della Sharp in 1891 and they had one daughter, Fay, who is now the wife of Will H. Brown, a farmer of Rich¬ land township, Grant county. Mrs. Della Reece died in 1908 and Mr. Reece married a second time in 1912, his wife being Miss Lizzie Goff. They have no children.

James Highley. In 1847 James Highley and wife came to Richland township, Grant county, Indiana, and settled upon a tract of land ii< the wilderness, the land being located at the northwest comer of section twenty-three in Richland township. He entered this land from the government at that time, although it was not put up for sale until 1848, at which time he bought it in. That land consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, and James Highley and wife continued to live on the farm, cleared it up, ditched, drained and in other ways improved it, and there Mrs. Highley, the widow of James Highley, still lives. She owns the homestead, which is one of the few, if not the only farm in Grant county that is owned by one of the parties who originally entered the land. James Highley and wife had been married only a few months, when they moved to Grant county, and they worked hard together, prospered, reared a family of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and when James Highley died July 6, 1891, he was mourned by hundreds of his neighbors and fellow citizens.

James Highley was born in Virginia. His father was also named James, and moved from Virginia to Union county, Indiana, when the son James was seven years of age. There the latter attended the local log schools of pioneer times, underwent practically all the hardships incidental to country life in the early days, and on May 9, 1847, married Sarah Meyers, a daughter of Samuel and Susanna (Kingery) Meyers. Sarah (Meyers) Highley was bora and reared in Union county, Indiana. Her father, Samuel Meyers, was bom in Pennsylvania, in 1804, came to what is now Union county, Indiana, with his parents, as a small boy. His wife, Susanna Kingery Meyers, was bom in Virginia, also in 1804, and in 1806, when two years of age, came with her parents to what is now Union county. Samuel Meyers, the father of Mrs. James Highley, died when the latter was a small child, but her mother lived many years, always a widow and died at the advanced age of eighty-seven. In August, 1848, James Highley and wife, a bride and groom of only a few months, came to Grant county and settled on the farm where Mr. Highley remained until his death, and where Mrs. Highley still lives, hale and hearty, and with mental faculties unimpaired at the age of eighty-three years. Her son, Daniel M. Highley, a sketch of whom will be found elsewhere in this volume, manages the old homestead for his mother, James Highley and wife were hard-working, God-fearing and prosperous citizens, and accumulated over four hundred acres of some of the most valuable land in Sims and Richland townships. The land has been divided among the children and sold, except for the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres where Mrs. Highley has her home. The ownership of this place is still in her name.

James Highley Mrs. James Highley

James Highley and wife were the parents of seven children, as fol¬ lows: David F. ; Samuel M.; Daniel M. ; Lydia, deceased; Claybum; Mtfrtha, wife of William Eller; and Jacob M. The family are members of the Christian church.

James C. Lewis. Grant county is a wide-awake and progressive agri¬ cultural community, and the modem ideas and facilities have been intro¬ duced by many of the most successful farmers in this vicinity. One of these is James C. Lewis, proprietor of the Electric View Farm, on section nineteen in Franklin township, seven miles southwest of the county seat of Marion. This is a rural home betokening the thrift and independent enterprise of its owner. The farm is well situated as to market, and the King and Martin gravel road runs past the place affording easy access to town and market.

James C. Lewis was bom in Rogersville, Hancock county, Illinois, February 25, 1855, a son of Dr. James C. and Elizabeth (Sena) Lewis. After the death of the father, the mother was married a second time, becoming the wife of George McKinstry, and they live near Mattoon, Illinois. That was the home of James C. Lewis, until he was sixteen years of age. He had only limited advantages in school and in home training when a boy, and paid out of his own wages most of the tuition above the lowest grade of school. He attended the Valparaiso school of Indiana for two years, and thus was enabled to compete with young men on practically even terms. He began farming as a worker at monthly wages, later rented a farm and was steadily prosperous almost from the beginning. Later he purchased a part of the farm where he now lives, and his subsequent accumulations and thrift have enabled him to add to this until he is now owner of eighty acres of fertile and well improved and a very valuable estate.

On October 18, 1887, Mr. Lewis married Emma C. Parks. She was born in Preble county, Ohio, December 31, 1865, was reared on a farm in Preble county, and educated in district schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lewis located on the farm where they now live, and by combined thrift and energy have produced the things which are so much in evidence there at this time. Much clearing and ditching and fencing and other improvements have been added to the place, and in 1908 was erected the present modern residence, a house with a large number of rooms, furnished with hot and cold water, and with many of the other modern conveniences.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are the parents of three children, namely : Owen E., born in Grant county, Indiana, September 8, 1888, is a graduate of the common schools and formerly a student in the Marion Normal school, and is a farmer in Franklin township. He married Mamie Hoke, bora December 13, 1887, and has one daughter, Frances G. Lewis, bom December 14, 1910; Virgil S., born in Grant county, Indiana, May 18, 1893, is a graduate of the common schools and of the Marion high school ; Imogene E., born in Grant county January 30, 1899, is a pupil in the eighth grade at the Swayzee school.

Politically Mr. Lewis is a Democrat, but has not taken much part in politics. On his farm he keeps high grade stock, and puts into prac¬ tice the modem theories of mixed farming. Both he and his wife have been very active in township institute work, and in all other local movements for the improvement of country life in Franklin township. Mr. Lewis is a stockholder in the Sweetser Telephone Company.

in that township, and has been steadily prosperous as a farmer and business man. Besides his excellent country home devoted to general farming, he is a stockholder in some local business concern. His neigh¬ bors have much respect for his judgment in both agriculture and civic matters, and while he has always been a hard and thrifty worker, his ways have led to quiet and prosperous years, fruitful both to himself and his community.

In Pleasant township his birth occurred February 26, 1862. His parents were Joseph $nd Elizabeth (Showalter) Winger. His father was bora near Salen*, Roanoke county, Virginia, April 23, 1825. The mother was bora February 7, 1837, was a member of the Brethren church, and her death occurred May 3, 1913. The father passed away April 6, 1895. They were married in Wabash county, and soon after¬ wards moved to Grant county, settling on section nineteen in Pleasant township. The father had come to Wabash county from Virginia, a poor, man, having only about forty dollars in capital. He leased wood land, cleared up, and thus earned enough to buy outright one hundred and twenty acres of timber lands. In the midst of the trees he built a log cabin, and thus the family was one of the many old households in this section who spent some years of their residence in a log house. Joseph Winger was twice married, having brought a wife with him from' Virginia. By his second marriage there were eight children, five of whom are still living: Daniel 0., who is married, and a farmer in Richland township ; Orlando C. ; Joseph P., who is married and a farmer in Pleasant township ; Ida, wife of Henry Landis of Pleasant township ; Mahlon D., who is married and lives in Pleasant township. Three of the children are deceased, Samuel having died at the age of two years, one in infancy, and Abigail A., having died after her marriage to Wil¬ liam A. Winner.

Orlando C. Winger was reared on a farm, and during the winter months of several successive years had the privilege of attending school By the time he was twenty-one he had gained a fairly liberal equip¬ ment in the ordinary branches of learning. He then lived on the farm, and after the death of his father rented the old homestead. In that way he gradually got ahead in the world, and has long since enjoyed a comfortable portion of this world's goods. He is the owner of eighty acres where he now lives in Pleasant township, is a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank of Sweetser, is a stockholder in the Sweetser Tele¬ phone Company, and is in every way a substantial man of affairs. In politics he is a Democrat, but has never taken any active part in pub¬ lic affairs.

Calman Baum. As president of one of the most important indus¬ trial plants in Grant county, as well as a very successful farmer, Cai¬ man Baum of Grant county, Indiana, is one of the leading men of this section. He has fine executive ability, and honesty and integrity of character, as well as the industry and thrift which a long line of Ger¬ man forebears bequeathed to him. His personal characteristics have won for him many Mends and his business acumen has given him a high place in the regard of business men of this district.

The father of Calpaan Baum, Henry Baum, was born in Bavaria, and as a boy of eighteen, he came to the United States, and located in Clinton county, Ohio. He had a good education, and from the very first he was successful. He married Elizabeth Terrell, a native of Clin¬ ton county and in 1884 they came to Grant county, Indiana. Here he went into the mercantile business in Herbst, being thus engaged until 1889. He was proud of the fact that he was always his own master in a business way and this fact speaks highly for the courage and industry of the young German. He prospered in business and became a well known and influential citizen, loved by everyone for his generosity and kindliness. He was not a member of any church but gave liberally to all of them. His wife was a member of the Christian church. He was keenly interested in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in the Masonic Order. In the former he was a member of the Encampment and a Past Grand. Mr. and Mrs. Baum became the parents of six chil¬ dren, two of whom are living, Gilbert A. and Caiman Baum, the former a retired business man and banker.

Caiman Baum was bora in Clinton county, Ohio, on the 10th of July, 1852. He grew up in his native state and received his education in the public schools of Clinton county. He later attended a business college for a time and then became a grain merchant. In 1883 he re¬ moved to Indiana, locating in Grant county. Here he continued in business and bought a farm in Franklin township. He built a plant for the manufacture of drain tile, building blocks and silo blocks and this industry has proved very profitable. It is incorporated, Caiman Baum being president and his son, Fred Baum, being secretary and treasurer. The plant manufactures from one thousand to twelve hundred car loads of tile yearly, and the company also owns a gas well that supplies the town.

In politics Mr. Baum has always been a member of the Republican party, but in the campaign of 1913, he voted the Progressive ticket, believing that the platform of that party provided some very neces¬ sary reforms. In the fraternal world he is a member of the Masonic order, affiliating with the lodge in Swayzee. He is not a member of any church, but his wife belongs to the Presbyterian church at Cin¬ cinnati, Ohio.

It was on the 28th of November, 1877, that Mr. Baum was married to Miss Mary E. Van Winkle, of Hillsboro, Ohio. She was educated in a boarding school in that state, and is a woman of fine mental attain¬ ments. One son has been born to them, Fred Baum. He is a graduate of the Woodward high school, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and is now the active manager of the manufacturing plant.

William Zirkle. Highly respected as a citizen and well beloved as a friend is William Zirkle, of Sims township, Grant county, Indiana. He has been a farmer and a successful one in this section of Indiana for many years, now living on the farm where he was bora. Being a native son of this township he has naturally taken a keen interest in the welfare and prosperity of its people and although he has never cared to take part in the political game, he has been interested in public affairs and in the business life of the community.

William Zirkle was bora on his father's farm on section 14, in Sims township, Grant county, Indiana, on the 10th of March, 1862, the son of Willis and Amanda (Zirkle) Zirkle. Willis Zirkle was bora in Clark county, Ohio, and his wife was a native of Champaign county, in the same state. They grew to manhood and womanhood in their native state and were there married. It was in 1858 that they came to Grant county, Indiana and located in Sims township. Here Willis Zirkle died in the spring of 1881 but Mrs. Willis Zirkle, our subject's mother, is still living and makes her home in Sims township. Eight children were bom to Mr. and Mrs. Zirkle and of these two died in infancy and another at the age of twenty-eight years. Those living are Perry Zirkle ; Jane, the wife of Joseph West, of Richland township ; William ; Sarah, who married William Seming of Sims township and Noah, of Howard county, Indiana.

When yonng William Zirkle was old enough he was sent to the district school in Sims township, and like the other farmers* lads of his age, he attended school in winter and during the summer time was a valuable aid to his father on the farm. In this way the years passed until he was twenty years old. It was at this time that his father died and the work and responsibility of the farm fell on his shoulders. He has oper¬ ated this farm with increasing success ever since this time. It is located on section 14 of Sims township, two miles north of Swayzee and on the Wabash Pike. He owns 130 acres of land, part of which is in section 14 and part in section 15. He also owns another hundred acres of land, part of which lies in Richland township. He is well known in the business world of Swayzee and is one of the stockholders in the Swayzee Telephone Company.

For some time a member of the Democratic party, his strong beliefs and principles led Mr. Zirkle to become a member of the Prohibition party, to which he is now a loyal adherent. In the religious world he and his family are members of the Methodist Protestant church of Swayzee. He is very prominent in church work and for some time served as superintendent of the Sunday school.

On the 12th of November, 1881, Mr. Zirkle married Miss Sarah J. Snyder, a daughter of Henry and Jane (Ring) Snyder. The mother died November 15, 1900, but the father is still living, at the age of 83. He resides in Richland township, one mile east of Converse. Mrs. Zirkle was bom in Preble county, Ohio, where she lived until she was six yean old. Her family then moved to Darke county, Ohio, when she was eleven years old they moved again, this time to Grant county, Indiana. Here she attended school and made friends with William Zirkle. The two children grew up together, and their marriage occurred when both were young. They have had four children, namely : Ova E. is the wife of R. J. Pence. They have one child, Garnett Jennette. Oma I. died at the age of twenty-one on November 22, 1905. She was organist of the Methodist Protestant church the time of her death. She was a very lovable and religious girl. Oda V. married Orville Darby, of Sims Township, and Rollo V. married Lena Miller of Sims township. All of the children were graduated from the grammar schools of Sims town¬ ship and Mrs. Darby is a graduate of the Swayzee high school.

Henry N. Parks. One of the oldest and most esteemed citizens of Franklin township is Henry N. Parks, who has lived in Grant county from the times of early development, and has witnessed nearly all the different phases of life and progress in this county. He has a comfortable and profitable rural home on section twenty-two in Frank¬ lin, located six miles southwest of Marion, on the Harris gravel road.

H6nry N. Parks was bora in Preble county, Ohio, April 28, 1836, a son of George and Mary E. (Price) Parks. The Parks family has been in the front line of pioneer American life for many years. The grandparents were Samuel and Charity (Runyan) Parte. Samuel Parks was bora in Kentucky, and his wife in North Carolina, and they were married in Kentucky. The Parte family was established in Ken¬ tucky soon after the war of the Revolution, and Samuel moved to Preble county, Ohio, in 1803, only three years after Ohio had been admitted to the union, and when Preble county was an almost unbroken wilder¬ ness. The grandparents spent the remainder of their lives in Preble county, and their children were : William, George. Silas, Nathan, Sam¬ uel, Curtis, Mary, Nancy, Salina, Katherine and Sarah.

George Parks, the father of the Franklin township citizen, was born in 1801, and was two years old when the family settled in Preble county,

Ohio, where he grew up to manhood and where he spent most of his life. He was a farmer, and a very successful man in that line. Though he began with nothing, by his industry and thrift and superior business management acquired a large amount of property, being owner of two hundred and forty acres at the time of his death. Few men have done more for their children, and he provided for them and assisted them to get a start in life. He was the father of a family of nine, and in Grant county, Indiana, he entered seven hundred and twenty acres of land, so that each child might have eighty acres. The parents were both members of the Christian church, and were liberal supporters of that denomination. George Parks died in May, 1869, and his wife had preceded him in February of the same year. Of their nine children, four are living in 1913, namely: Henry N.; Mary J. ; Charity, wife of Clinton Wilkerson; and Leander, who married Vica Lewis. The five deceased children were named Silas, Isaac, Elizabeth, Harriet, Catherine.

Henry N. Parks spent his boyhood on a farm in Preble county, Ohio, and his schooling was somewhat neglected, most of his time being taken up with the practical duties of the farm and household. He remained at home until he was about thirty years of age, and on December 26, 1866, married Isabelle Shockey. She was bom in Virginia, April 13, 1845, came to Indiana in 1850, and was reared and educated in this state. Mr. and Mrs. Parks have one daughter, Clara, wife of Benjamin W. Shields, whose home is in Franklin township. Mrs. Shields grad¬ uated in the common schools and is the mother of five children, three of whom are now living, namely: Dayton, Gladys, and Carl, these being grandchildren of Henry N. Parks and wife.

S. G. Kem. For a period of six decades Simeon G. Kem has been a resident of Grant county. Farming has offered him the field of opportunity and labor, and for many years he has held a distinctive place among the county's agriculturists, as a raiser of fine Poland China hogs. He is proprietor in Pleasant township of the Fair Lawn Stock Farm, a beautiful country homestead, and one that is managed as profitably and on as systematic a scale as any business house in the county seat. Mr. Kem both by experience and by observation and study has mastered his business, and is one of the most substantial and highly esteemed residents of Grant county.

Simeon G. Kem was born in Wayne county, Indiana, November 19, 1852, a son of John and Ann (Russell) Kem. His father, a native of Virginia, went to Ohio, and from there to Wayne county, Indiana, where he met and married his wife who was bora in Ohio. On October 2, 1853, they arrived with their family in Grant county, locating in Pleasant township. In later years they moved to the city of Marion, where the father died at the venerable old age of ninety-two years. The mother likewise lived to great age being eighty-six years of age at the time of her death. Of their seven children five are still living : Augustine, of Marion; Jane, wife of Samuel Druley, of Kansas; Luther A., of Marion; Nancy S. Kem, who resides in Marion, and Simeon G.

Simeon G. Kem was eleven months old when the family moved to Grant county, and he has thus spent practically all of his life in this vicinity. He grew up on a farm and as soon as old enough began walking back and forth to the district schools in his community. By attendance at school and work on the home farm he gained a fair educa¬ tion and developed a good constitution and also acquired a practical

On January 11, 1883, he married Mary Horton, who was born in Grant county, and who received her education in the country schools of Washington township, also attended school in Marion.

Mrs. Kem was bom April 21, 1858, a daughter of David P. and Adelia (Rogers) Horton. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother of Ohio, and they were married in Highland county of the latter state. Coming to Grant county, they located in the northeast quarter of Marion, where .her father was long a successful nurseryman, conducting the Horton Nursery. There were seven children in the Horton family, three of whom are now living, the brother and sister of Mrs. Kem being: Laura Jane, wife of Warren Stout, who lives at First and Hill streets in Marion, and Prank Horton, who is unmarried and a resident of California. Mrs. Kern's father, besides his occupa¬ tion as a nurseryman was also a cabinet maker, and conducted a shop in which he made furniture of all kinds. He was also prominent in public affairs, served in local offices, and* was twice elected to the office of county commissioner, resigning during his second term. In politics he was a Republican. Mr. Horton was in his life time a great traveler and made two trips to Europe. On one of these he visited the World's Pair at Vienna.

Mr. and Mrs. Kem are the parents of three children: Emma is a graduate of the local district school and also a business college, and is now a stenographer in the office of the Marion Shoe Company. J. Rupert is a graduate of the Marion Normal College in the business course and is a farmer. He married Grace Blackman and they have one child, Gerald Rupert. Gladys is a graduate of the grade and high schools of Marion and lives at home.

When Mr. Kem started out .on his own responsibility he was a comparatively poor man, and only by the thriftiest of management and close attention to duty has he climbed the ladder of success step by step. The Fair Lawn Stock Farm comprises one hundred and forty acres, and the place represents almost entirely his own effective labors. For the past thirty years he has been known all over the county as a breeder of high class registered Poland China hogs. He also keeps good horses, and runs everything about his place with an efficiency that explains his prosperity. Mrs. Kem is a stock-holder in the Farmers Trust & Savings Company at Marion.

Mr. Kem and wife are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church at Marion, and fraternally he is affiliated with the Sweetser Lodge No. 433 I. 0. 0. F., of which he is past grand and a member of the State Grand Lodge. He also belongs to Marion Court of the Tribe of Ben Hur. He carries insurance in the latter order.

John M. Winger. The Winger home in Pleasant township is a farm of one hundred and forty acres, showing in its cultivation and improvements, the enterprise of its owner, who is regarded as one of the best farmers and citizens of the township. His prosperity is nearly altogether the result of his own efforts, for he began his career w'ith no more than the average of financial assistance and influence to help him. For two years he was one of the efficient school masters of Grant county, and many of his best friends are his former pupils.

In Richland township of Grant county, Mr. Winger was born June 16, 1850. His parents were Joseph and Mary (Dermond) Winger. Both parents were born in Roanoke county, Virginia, where they were born, reared1 and married, and their settlement in Grant county occurred about 1849. After about one year's residence in Richland township, they moved to Wabash county, in Liberty township, where their home continued until 1856. In that year the father lost his first wife, and after about a year married Elizabeth Showalter, who became the mother of a family of three, some of whom are prominent residents of Grant county. After his second marriage the father returned to Grant county, locating in Pleasant township, three miles north of Sweetser, which remained his home until his death in April, 1895. To his first marriage were bom three children, namely: John M., Sarah E., the deceased wife of Aaron Moss ; and Madison D., who died at the age of fourteen. The father was long one of the respected and honored citizens of Grant county, was prosperous as a farmer and business man¬ ager, and eventually owned four hundred acres of land, all of that representing his thrifty enterprise.

When John M. Winger was six years of age, the family returned to Grant county, and here all his subsequent years have been past. By attendance at the country schools during three months each winter, he got a fair education, and afterwards obtained a certificate and taught school for six terms. On June, 1887, he married Mary A. Smith, a young woman of capable industry and noble character, to whom he gives much credit for their subsequent prosperity. She was born in Grant county. They are the parents of seven living children: Otho, who graduated from the North Manchester College, and the State University of Indiana, and is now president of North Manchester Col¬ lege, having begun his career as a teacher at the age of seventeen and having taught for some time at Indian Village, where some of his pupils were Indians; Elizabeth, the wife of Benjamin Piper; Ethel, a grad¬ uate in music, and wife of Edward Piper ; Oscar, a graduate of the com¬ mon schools and a commercial college, a former teacher, and who mar¬ ried Lottie Ikenberry; Cora, a graduate of the common schools and now a student in music and oratory at North Manchester College; John L., a graduate of the common schools and a student in the high schools ; Mabel, a graduate of the common schools and not married. Mr. Winger is a member of the German Baptist Church, and in politics has always been a Democrat, though in later years he has frequently voted inde¬ pendently.