Huntington County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 15 of 15)

Franois M. Leavent. Numbered among the residents of Huntington county is Francis M. Leavell, prominent among the substantial citizens of Rock Creek township and one of the well-to-do farming men of the township and county. He has been identified with farming activities in this county since 1874, when he came here from his native county of Randolph in Indiana, and Rock Creek township has had the good fortune to claim him as a citizen from the time when he reached his majority to the present day. He has been a potent influence in the matter of furthering the development of the farming centers of the community, and progressive ideas have not been strangers to him in the administration of his affairs.

Francis M. Leavell was born in Randolph county, Indiana, December 26, 1849, coming as a belated Christmas gift to his parents and being the seventh in order of birth in a family of eight. Four of the number are now living: William H. is a resident of Missouri; Richard A. is living in Seattle, Washington; Nancy A. is the wife of Jacob A. Hoover, of Bluffton, Indiana; and Francis M. is the subject of this brief family review. He is the son of James M. and Ruth (Corwine) Leavell, the father a native of Kentucky, but reared in Henry county, Indiana, where he met and married Ruth Corwine. After their marriage they moved to Randolph county, where they identified themselves worthily and successfully with the substantial farming activities of their community. They were industrious and sober-minded people, possessing many worthy characteristics that made them valuable in their citizenship, and as members of the Christian church they were known for thorough-going Christian people, active in the work of the church and in the practice of Christian virtues and principles seven days in every week. Both died in Randolph county, the father in 1863 and the mother in 1852.

It was on the Randolph county farm that Francis M. Leavell was reared to the age of thirteen. He obtained his education in the common schools of that community, assisting in the work of the farm from his earliest boyhood until the time when he became dependent on his own responsibility. He was nineteen when he made his advent into Huntington county, and he located immediately in Rock Creek township. He worked as a farm hand by the year until he married Mary Sheets, the daughter of John Sheets, his employer. His marriage took place in 1874, and since that time he has been the operator of a farm of his own in this community. His place contains one hundred acres, and is one of the creditable farms of the township.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Leavell have had no children of their own they have reared two: Emma Crandall became the wife of Ulysses Coolman, of this county, and a nephew of Mr. Leavell, Martin E. Leavell, was reared in this home from the age of eight years. He is now one of the useful and prosperous citizens of Rock Creek township.

The family are members of the Christian church at Buckeye, Indiana. Mr. Leavell is a stockhoider in the Farmers and Traders Bank at Markle, Indiana, and is in other ways identified with the best interests of the community of his trading point. Mrs. Leavell died on March 1, 1913, leaving a host of friends who mourn her loss. She was a good wife, and in the community where she was best known she was loved by many who knew her for her many noble attributes of character and personality.

ARTHUR S. THomas. One of the valuable and splendidly improved landed estates of Wayne township is that owned by the well known and representative citizen whose name initiates this paragraph. Mr. Thomas is proprietor of Glenville and Caledonia farms, which comprise 240 acres of most productive land, and his homestead place, the first mentioned, has 160 acres, leaving eighty acres in the Caledonia farm. He is liberal and loyal as a citizen and in his chosen field of endeavor exemplifies the progressive spirit that has made Huntington county one of the most attractive and opulent sections of his native state.

Mr. Thomas was born in Wabash county, Indiana, on the 26th of May, 1877, and is a son of Daniel and Mary E. (Michael) Thomas, who still maintain their home in Wabash county, where they are known and honored for their sterling attributes of character and for what they have accomplished in the world. Arthur S. Thomas. of this review, is the youngest of the three children and passed the days of his childhood and early youth on the home farm of his parents, in Liberty township, Wabash county. He supplemented the education received in the public schools by attending the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute for two years and Purdue University, at Lafayette for one year. His admirable educational training has been of great aid to him in directing his business and the general operations of his farms, and his success has been of unequivocal order, giving him prestige as one of the essentially representative farmers and stock-growers of Huntington county, where his circle of friends is limited only by that of his acquaintances. Mr. Thomas has been a supporter of the cause of the republican party until the campaign of 1912, when he joined its progressive wing, under the leadership of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, whom he supported for the presidency, as candidate of the newly formed progressive party. He has made the best of improvements on his farms, his Glenville farm being the southeast quarter of Section 15, Wayne township, and his Caledonia farm being the east half of the southwest quarter of Section 10. Both places receive his careful and effective supervision and he gives special attention to raising cattle, horses and hogs and to the feeding of beef cattle.

On the 1st of April, 1906, Mr. Thomas wedded Miss Bertha A. Sparks, who was born and reared in Huntington county and who was graduated in the high school at Banquo. She is a daughter of the late John J. Sparks, whose death occurred October 27, 1912, and the maiden name of her mother, who still resides in this county, was Emma E. Hale. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have three children, whose names and respective ages (1914) are here noted: Helen E., eight years; John S., six years; and Hildah L., three years. Mr. Thomas holds membership in the United Brethren church and his wife is a member of the Christian church.

Francis M. Smita. <A representative farmer and citizen of Rock Creek township, Francis M. Smith has spent all his life in that community, was for a number of years identified with teaching and is a man of university training and culture who has found agriculture a profitable field of enterprise. His home is in Section 16 of Rock Creek township, eight miles southeast of Huntington, the same distance north of Warren, and five miles southwest of Markle. Many improvements have been inaugurated on the place since it came into the possession of Mr. Smith, and he has proved himself a worthy pupil of his father, who was one of the successful early farmers of the township. Mr. Smith has made more than a local reputation as a breeder of the thoroughbred Big Type Poland- China hogs, and that is both an interesting and very profitable department of his farm activities.

Francis M. Smith was born in Rock Creek township, February 9, 1860, a son of Nathan and Susan (MeConner) Smith. Nathan Smith was born in the state of New York, January 7, 1818, and reared to manhood there. A short time after his marriage he lost his wife, and in his efforts to divert his mind from his loss migrated to the West, coming to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1846. He bought a small piece of land and settled down to farm life, but on account of ill health became discontented, and in a short time sold his land for an Indian pony and ten dollars in cash. The pony he rode back over the lonely trail to his native state, and lived there two years. Once again seeking a home in the western state of Indiana, he came to Huntington county, settled in Rock Creek township, and was identified with that community the rest of his life. His savings of one hundred and thirty dollars were invested in a tract of land now occupied by J. W. McClurg. On April 15, 1851, he married Susan McConner, and they established a home onehalf mile north of the present village of Plum Tree. They lived in this . home for five and a half years, then moved to a farm one-half mile north of Rock Creek Center, which was their home about six years, and after selling they bought the farm adjoining on the north, which he kept as long as he lived.

Susan MecConner was a daughter of Samuel and Clarissa (Wright) McConner, and was a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, her parents being of New Jersey birth and ancestry. To Nathan and Susan Smith were born the following children: Mary F., wife of Isaiah Dill of Michigan; Laura O., who married Charles E. Hunt, F. D. of Rock Creek township ; Francis M. Cassius E., a farmer of Wexford county, Michigan. Nathan Smith was a man of many sterling qualities, and his wife, an old school teacher, was a woman of more than ordinary intellect and of pronounced moral and religious convictions. In early life Mr. Smith was a whig, later adopting the principles of republicanism, but later helped to organize the prohibition party in Indiana and was afterwards an ardent supporter of the same. A quiet man, he yet accomplished a great deal of good work in his own way in the community, and always active in public affairs and occupying a prominent position in Rock Creek, never sought public office. He died at the age of eighty-one in 1899, while his wife preceded him in death by eight years.

Francis M. Smith was reared on the home farm and had his early training in the district schools. At the age of eighteen he attended the normal school at Huntington, and after finishing his term there began to teach in Rock Creek Center. The following ten years were spent alternatively in teaching and attending school, and for some time he was a student in the University of Valparaiso. In 1888 Mr. Smith withdrew from the pursuits of the schoolroom turning his attention to farming in Rock Creek township, and has since been identified with the industry for which his early training so admirably fitted him.

Mr. Smith and his family are members of the Church of Christ, and he is an elder and one of the trustees in the church. In his earlier life he served as superintendent of the Sunday school for some years, and has since been a leader in the social meetings of the church, his activities having embraced practically every branch of church work. His first political affiliations were with the republican party, and he cast his first

On December 25, 1885, Mr. Smith married Ella A. Wedeman, who was born in Kato, Wisconsin, October 17, 1859. She was educated in the schools of Green Bay, Wisconsin, spent two years in the State Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and subsequently taught in the schools of Wisconsin, North Dakota and Indiana. It was while attending school as a student at Valparaiso in 1882 that she met Mr. Smith. After attending this school for a year she returned to Wisconsin, taught a term there, and then taught in North Dakota and Wisconsin for three years before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have three living children: Owen K. was the first and only graduate from the Rock Creek high school for the year 1907, he is now located in the Province of Alberta, Canada. Flora L. was graduated from the Rock Creek high school with the class of 1913, receiving the highest honors of the class, and has since spent a term at Angola and one'at the Muncie Normal school, and is now taking a course in the Indiana University, where she hopes to graduate. During the winters she teaches in the schools of Rock Creek township. Esther M. is a student in the local high school and is a bright and promising girl.

Frep H. BLoomer. Within the pages of this work will be found specific mention of many of the representative agriculturists and stockgrowers of Huntington county, and to such recognition Mr. Bloomer is fully entitled, as he is one of the prosperous and progressive farmers of Wayne township and has a host of friends in this part of the state, which has been his home all his life.

In the adjacent county of Wabash Fred H. Bloomer was born August 12, 1883. The old family homestead was in Liberty township. His parents were Ellis and Julia (Stewart) Bloomer, and it is interesting to record that father and son were both born on the same farm, and that Robert Stewart, the maternal grandfather, was among the honored pioneers of Liberty township of Wabash county. Ellis Bloomer served as assessor of Liberty township and is now the efficient and honored incumbent of the office of county clerk of Wabash county, his election to this position having necessitated his removal from his farm to the city of Wabash, where he and his wife have an attractive home in which they delight to extend welcome and hospitality to their many friends. Of the children five are living: Dr. Joseph R., a representative physician at Rockville in Parke county, Indiana; John W., a farmer in Wabash county; Miss Bessie, who is her father's assistant in the office of the county clerk of Wabash county; Ellen, a student in the Wabash high school; and Fred H.

The public schools of his native county afforded Fred H. Bloomer his early educational advantages, and after his graduation from the high school in the village of La Fontaine he completed a course in a correspondence school. Soon afterward came an appointment to the position of railway mail clerk, after passing the required civil service examina- Vol. II - 27 tion, and he was assigned to duty on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, best known as the Big Four route. After a short service in this capacity, on the run between, Benton Harbor, Michigan, and Louisville, Kentucky, he married and settled down to the regular business of his career.

September 16, 1903, Mr. Bloomer married Miss Frennie A. Hedrick, who was born March 21, 1885, on the farm where Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer now reside. She was educated in the public schools. Mr. Bloomer and wife are popular members of the Christian church at Banquo. She is a daughter of George W. and Mary (Harrell) Hedrick. Her father is a native of Wabash county and represents one of the sterling pioneer families of that county. He honored his native state by gallant service as a soldier in the Civil war as a member of Company C, Twelfth Indiana Infantry. On the 22d of July, 1864, at the battle of Atlanta, Georgia, he was shot in the left arm, and that injury disqualified him for further active service in the field. As a man who offered his life as a sacrifice to the cause of the Union, he is well entitled to the pension he now receives from the general government, and is also a well known member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Hedrick were residents of Wayne township in Huntington county until thirteen years ago, when they built a most attractive home on their farm in Wabash county, and have since lived there. Mrs. Bloomer has one half-sister, Mrs. Ella (Hedrick) Garrison, of North Manchester. Mr. and Mrs. Bloomer have three children: Marie, born October 18, 1904; Delores, born August 21, 1907; and Georgia, born April 2, 1910. Their well improved farm of one hundred acres is most attractively situated one mile west of the village of Banquo, Huntington county, and not far from La Fontaine in Wabash county, La Fontaine being their postoffice. Mr. Bloomer gives his attention to diversified agriculture, his progressive policies and good management having been shown in all details of his farm enterprise and giving him place as one of its permanent representatives of the younger generation in Huntington county. In polities he is a stanch supporter of the republican party, but has had no desire for the honors or emoluments of public office.

FRANK S. Cook. The train dispatcher of the Erie Railroad Company at Huntington is by no means an old man, but is a veteran in the railway service, and has been in the employ of the Erie Railroad for twentyfour years, being one of the oldest men in the service of that company.

Frank S. Cook was born at Kenton, Hardin county, Ohio, April 29, 1870, the oldest son of Isaac and Louisa (Mentzer) Cook, both natives of Ohio. Both the Cook and Mentzer families came from Pennsylvania and were among the early settlers at Kenton. Isaac Cook was a carriage trimmer and wagon maker, and also a harness maker, and followed those lines of trade during the best years of his life. He was noted for his: superior workmanship, and every article produced by his hands or that. went out of his shop was as good as careful construction and good material could produce. His death occurred in 1892, and his wife is stilt living.

In the grade and high schools of Kenton Mr. Cook received his early education. When he left school in 1888, at the age of eighteen, he entered the service of the Erie Railroad Company, and learned telegraphy. Mr. Cook is a practical railroad man, having grown up in the business, and at an early age was entrusted with major responsibilities. From Kenton he was sent to Huntington as dispatcher and from there to Chicago for ten years and returned to Huntington in 1901 and continuing there since. During this service he has always been a careful and efficient and vigiliant worker, and his record is practically without a blemish.

Mr. Cook in 1896 married Miss Ethel Lauterbach of Chicago, a daughter of John Lauterbach, who was a manufacturer of carpets and rugs. Mrs. Cook was educated in the schools of Fairbury, Nebraska, which city was her home until seventeen years of age when the family moved to Chicago. They are the parents of four children: Frank A., a student in the Huntington high school; Arthur J., Warner R., and Gordon E., the youngest children 'being all in school. Mr. Cook has membership in the Train Dispatchers' Association of America, he and his wife are members of the Central Christian church, in which Mr. Cook is a deacon, and also secretary of the Sunday school. At 1531 Grant street Mr. Cook owns a substantial residence, situated on a large lot comprising one and a half acres.

Huntineton County Bank. As a financial institution the Huntington County Bank has a record which deserves incorporation in a history of the county. Its progress has been typical of the development of the community, and for twenty-five years its policy has been built up on the idea of efficient personal service and the highest standards of banking. This bank offers splendid facilities to business, and many of the best known citizens of Huntington county have at different times been among its stockholders and directors. i

The Huntington County Bank was organized in October, 1887, with J. W. Ford, president; W. K. Windle, vice president; H. E. Emley, cashier. The first stockholders were W. K. Windle, John Gibler, Jacob Boos, J. W. Ford, Henry Arnold, I. N. Arnold, W. W. Hawley, David Hawley, W. T. Whitelock, T. G. Smith, C. E. Briant and E. B. Ayres. At the present time the capital stock of this institution is one hundred thousand dollars, and it has eighty thousand dollars of undivided surplus. The present officers are: E. B. Ayres, president; H. L. Emley, vice president and cashier, and E. P. Ayres, assistant cashier.

Epwin Buck Ayres, now president of the Huntington County Bank, and who was one of the original stockholders, was made vice president in January, 1892, and since 1909 has held the chief executive position. Mr. Ayres, both through his record as a business man and through his family, has many intimate relations with Huntington County history. He was born in the city of Huntington, then a small village, August 28, 1845, the oldest son of Porter and Catherine (Kenower) Ayres. His father, who died at Huntington, November 11, 1889, after a long and successful career, was born at Ganges, Richmond County, Ohio, November 4, 1816, a son of Daniel and Parmelia (Buck) Ayres, the former a native of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. Porter Ayres grew up on a farm, and while getting his education and performing the chores about the place, also mastered the trade of carpenter. From Ohio he moved west and became one of the pioneers in Northern Indiana, and during the greater part of his active life was identified with Huntington County. His work as carpenter was the basis for his prosperity. In the fall of 1838, following his'marriage on March 4, in that year, to Mary Neweomer, he moved out to Missouri, but after the death of his wife in January, 1848, he again came east and in Noyember of that year located in Huntington County. Here he continued his residence until March, 1850, when he joined in the great moving tide of fortune seekers who were going west, and spent eight years on the Pacific ' coast engaged in mining. After that he was a permanent resident in Huntington County. Aside from his business activities, he was .often called to performance of civic responsibilities, and in 1878 was elected recorder of Huntington County and re-elected in 1882. He was a strong democrat in politics. Porter Ayres by his marriage to Mary Newcomer had two children. Of these, Elizabeth became the wife of Milton Taylor and lived in Huntington. In October, 1844, occurred the marriage of Porter Ayres and Catherine Kenower, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Wise) Kenower, an old and prominent family in this section of Indiana. The only living child of this second marriage is the Huntington banker.

Though for many years Mr. Ayres has been regarded as one of the most successful men in Huntington County, he began his career humbly enough, and he passed a great many competitors on the road to success. As a boy he attended the common schools of Huntington, until he was sixteen years old, and was then apprenticed to learn the cabinet-maker's trade with John Kenower. The Civil war was then in progress, and after two years, having reached the age of eighteen, he left his bench and went to the front in Company F of the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry. The most important engagement in which he participated was the siege of Mobile, and he was mustered out of service at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in October, 1865. The first four or five months following his return were spent in work as a journeyman at his trade, and in the spring of 1866 he entered the employ of Mr. John Kenower, and continued as bookkeeper and lumber inspector with that business man until January, 1876. He then became identified with the firm of Thorne, Slack and Company, in the lumber trade, and in the operation of a planing mill. This firm underwent several changes, S. T. Bagley retiring, and five years later C. L. Thorne leaving, and after that the enterprise was carried on under the name of Slack & Ayres, until January, 1888, when Mr. Ayres retired and devoted his attention to other lines. For twenty-five years he has been closely identified with the success of the Huntington County Bank.

Indiana, January 16, 1850. To their marriage were born five children: Eva Belle, Luella, Kate, Horace Leonard and Edwin Porter. The son, Horace L., died when three and a half years of age. The three children now living are: Eva Belle, the wife of W. B. Piatt, a postoffice inspector ; Kate, the wife of Theodore J. Finley, of Huntington, and Edwin P., assistant cashier of the Huntington County Bank.

Mr. Ayres, among his other interests, owns a fine farm of one hundred and sixty-eight acres in Huntington county. He has always been a stanch republican in politics and has membership in the James R. Slack Post No. 37, G. A. R., of which he was one of the organizers, and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a trustee. His home is a modern substantial brick residence at 336 Matilda street.

CuHartes W. McCuure. Included among the progressive and enterprising business men of Huntington county is found Charles W. Mc- Clurg, proprietor of the Plumtree Breeding Barn, the owner of a handsome farming property in Salamonie township. Starting out on his career with a capital that was composed principally of ambition and willingness to work, he has steadily forced his way upward and forward, until now he is at the head of a prosperous business and holds a place in the esteem and confidence of the people of his community. Mr. Mc- Clurg is a native of Huntington county, having been born on a farm in Rock Creek township, February 22, 1868, a son of John and Elinore (Randol) McClurg. His father was a Pennsylvanian and his mother was born in Ohio, and they were early settlers of Rock Creek township, where they assisted in paving the way for those who came later. Mr. Mc- Clurg devoted his activities to agricultural pursuits, was known as a reliable and industrious citizen, and contributed his full share to the development of the community. He and his wife were the parents of the following children: Eliza J., who is the wife of Nelson Sharp ; James W., who is a resident of Rock Creek township; Mary A., the wife of Isaac L. Dungan; George W., engaged in farming in Salamonie township, and Charles W.

Charles W. McClurg was reared on the home farm and received his educational training in the district schools, which he attended during the winter months. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and at that time embarked upon a career of his own as a farmer in Rock Creek township. On October 11, 1910, he came to Salamonie township, and settled on a farm of 140 acres in section 3, lying three and one-half miles north and one mile east of Warren, Indiana, which he still cultivates. He carries on general farming, and has been successful therein because of his industry, well-applied effort and good management, and his property is known as one of the valuable ones of the township. Mr. McClurg has always been interested in stock breeding, and not long after coming to this township he established the Plumtree Breeding Barn, where he makes a specialty of Belgian and Percheron horses, of the imported breed. This venture has also proved a successful one, and he is in the enjoyment of a trade attracted from a wide radius. Most of Mr. McClurg's life has been spent in handling horses, and no man in the community is a better judge of horseflesh than he. In his transactions he has never been known to take a mean advantage, so that his business standing is high. Mr. McClurg is a member of Barbers Mills Lodge of the Improved Order of Red Men, in which he is past sachem. A democrat in politics, he has never cared for public office, being content to busy himself with his numerous private interests. With his family, he attends the Christian church at Plum Tree.

On February 7, 1892, Mr. McClurg was married to Miss Jennie Rittenhouse, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana, September 18, 1869, and came with her parents in 1881 to Huntington county, where she completed her education in the public schools. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McClurg, namely: Irene J., born July 19, 1902; and Donald J., born October 30, 1905.

EMANUEL WiLDERMUTH. One of the primary objects of this historical compilation is to leave perpetual record concerning those citizens who are worthily representing the best industrial, business and civic interests of Huntington county, and it is especially gratifying to be able to give definite consideration to those who are prominent and progressive exponents of the great basic industries of agriculture and stock raising. One well worthy of such recognition is Mr. Wildermuth, who is the owner of ''Golddust Farm,'' which comprises two hundred and forty acres and is considered to be one of the model places of this section of the state. This admirably improved and well managed landed estate is situated ten miles north of Marion, the judicial center of Grant county, and fifteen miles southwest of Huntington, the county seat of Huntington county. It is in section 24 of Wayne township, and finer land is not to be found in the state of Indiana, so that the owner may well be satisfied with the conditions and environments that compass him and lend to his prestige as one of the influential and honored citizens of Huntington county.

Mr. Wildermuth traces his ancestry to sterling German origin, and the family was early founded in America. He was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on the 25th of June, 1859, a son of John and Sarah (Bouer) Wildermuth, the former of whom was likewise born in Fairfield county, and a member of one of its pioneer families, and the latter of whom was born in Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania. John Wildermuth continued to be engaged in farming in his native state until 1880, in April of which year he came with his family to Huntington county, Indiana, and located on a farm in section 25, Wayne township. He became one of the representative agriculturists of the county, commanded the unqualified esteem of all who knew him, and both he and hig wife remained on their homestead until death, he having passed away in 1909, and his devoted wife having been summoned to eternal rest in 1911. Of their six children Emanuel was the last born, and three others of the number are now living. Emma J., the wife of William H. Smith, of Wayne township ; Isaiah, who wedded Miss Samantha Daugherty, and they like-

Emanuel Wildermuth was reared to maturity in his native county, and his entire active career has been one of close and effective identification with farming. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Fairfield county, Ohio, and there, immediately after he had attained to his legal majority, in June, 1881, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Isabelle Groff, who was likewise born and reared in that county, a daughter of George W. and Mary (Young) Groff. Her mother contracted a second marriage after the death of Mr. Groff and is now the wife of John Ruggles.

In the year of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wildermuth came to Indiana and settled on their present fine farm. In 1893 Mr. Wildermuth erected his present modern residence, his large and well arranged barn having been built by him in 1886. Other excellent improvements have been made by him, and he is to be credited with the development of one of the splendid farm properties of Huntington county, his youthful ambition and energy having failed to wane with the passing years, so that he is to-day one of the most progressive and substantial farmers of the county.

In politics Mr. Wildermuth is found aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the republican party, but he has been essentially a busy man and has had no inclination to enter the arena of so-called practical politics. He is, however, most liberal and public-spirited and ever ready to lend his aid in the promotion of enterprises advanced for the general good of the community. It should be specially noted that on his farm he has for the past eighteen years made a successful enterprise of raising the Golddust wheat, which gives title to his place, and his product. in this line yields from twenty-one to forty bushels to the acre. He also raises live stock of the best grades, and he maintains a-close supervision of all details of his farm enterprise, a fact that implies that much of his success has come from this source. He and his wife are zealous members of the United Brethren church at Mount Gilead, and he is affiliated with the lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Marion. He and his wife have taken great satisfaction in extending in their attractive home hospitable and cordial welcome to their many friends, and it is a center of much of the social activity m the community. Mr. and Mrs. Wildermuth have but one child, Ina S., who was born November 10, 1883, was graduated from the high school of Marion and is now the wife of Clay L. Evison, a popular and progressive young agriculturist of Wayne township. Mr. and Mrs. Evison have the following children: Adonis, Louise, Mary, Elsie and Isabelle.

Henry Meyer. Few citizens of Huntington county have done more to promote the growth, welfare and progress of their community than has Henry Meyer, one of the representative farmers of Lancaster township. A man of enterprise and original ideas, he was one of the promoters of the project to drain Loon Creek, this being followed by similar enterprises which have resulted in the reclamation of a vast tract of good, tillable soil which had previously béen of little use. Mr. Meyer was born in Tipton county, Indiana, February 9, 1859, and is a son of Charles F. and Margaret (Wygant) Meyer, natives of Germany.

Charles F. Meyer left the Fatherland as a youth of nineteen years, when he had decided that in the world across the seas he could better his condition, and first settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to Wayne county, Indiana, and thence to Tipton county. He was first a farmer's hand and later became the owner of a property of his own. continuing to be engaged in agriculture throughout the entire period of his active career. He was married in Indiana to Miss Margaret Wygant, who was born in Germany and came to the United States at the age of twelve years, and they became the parents of six children, as follows: Henry; John, a resident of Tipton, Indiana; Matilda, who is the wife of Joseph Glass, of Elwood, Indiana; Charles W., the owner of a good farm in this county; Emma, the wife of William Wymer; and William, of Tipton county.

Henry Meyer received his education in the public schools of his native locality, and early decided upon farming as his life work. He thoroughly applied himself to his every task, learning every detail pertaining to the successful management of a farming property, and by the time he had attained his majority was well versed in those things which make for prosperity in the field of agriculture. Mr. Meyer remained under the parental roof, assisting his father, until he was twenty-seven years of age, at which time, June 28, 1886, he was united in marriage with Miss Amanda Stillwagen, who was born and reared in Tipton county, Indiana. To this union there have been born four children, as follows: Emma, the wife of Fred Went, of Huntington county; Phillabina, the wife of John Hoenstine, of Huntington township; Margaret, single, at home, and one child who died in infancy, Thomas Wilmer the youngest.

After his marriage Mr. Meyer commenced operations on his own account, and has continued to accumulate property until he now has a valuable farm of 171 acres, located three miles south of Huntington, on the Salamonie gravel road. He is engaged in general farming, in addition to which he has been quite successful in stockraising, making a specialty of Berkshire hogs. He is known as an expert judge of cattle. Mr. Meyer has ever been foremost in movements making for progress, and when it was proposed that the Loon Creek district be drained he at once recognized the practicability of the idea. Accordingly, he became one of the promoters of this venture, and although it met with a great deal of opposition at first from those who were a little backward in accepting anything new, it has proven one of the best things that could have been done to aid the townships of Lancaster, Rock Creek and Huntington. This has opened the way for numerous other drains in Huntington county, and in this way many acres of valuable land have been added to the county's resources. Mr. Meyer is a democrat in his political views, but has cared little for public affairs, outside of the manner in which they affect his community. He is a member of the Hunt-

Wurum H. Eckman. One of the fine farms of Rock Creek township is known as Cedar Glade Farm, and its owner, William H. Eckman, is one of the most capable farming men of the township, as well as one of its representative citizens. He has made a name for himself as a farmer, and his position in the community is secure by reason of the many excellent qualities that dominate in his life. He is a native son of the county, born in Lancaster township on May 27, 1862, and is a son of Jonathan and Anna (Barr) Eckman, concerning whom some mention should be made in this connection.

Jonathan Eckman was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, and his wife was a native daughter of the same region. There they grew up in the Same community and were married when they reached years of maturity, after which they came to Huntington county and located in Lancaster township. The year 1859 marked their advent into this section of the country, and they spent their remaining years where they had located in their honeymoon days.

Here the young husband built a log house and barn and applied himself with creditable diligence to the Herculean task of clearing away the wilderness, and here he reared his family and achieved a fair measure of business success. In 1871 fine frame buildings took the place of the early log house and barns and many other improvements were brought into place as time passed. Mr. Eckman was a progressive man, and he owned the first sawmill in the township. He also applied progressive ideas to his farming activities, and the success that he experienced was his by right of the thought and energy he expended on whatever enterprise he launched. A public spirited man, Mr. Eckman had a prominent place in his community. The family were leading members in the German Baptist church and bore their full share of the financial and other burdens of the organization. The father died in 1878, while the mother lived until 1906.

They were the parents of six children, five of whom are living in 1913. Jacob was killed by a horse in 1911, and the others are William H., of this review, Marion W. of Huntington, Indiana; Elmina, Laura and Emma, the wife of Samuel Funderburg.

William H. Eckman was reared on his father's farm in Lancaster township, and was educated in the public schools of that township. He continued at home until he was twenty-two at which time he married and established a home of his own. He married Lina M. King on September 24, 1884, she being the daughter of Samuel and Sarah King, and she was reared on the farm where they now live in Rock Creek township. Mrs. Eckman had her early education in the public schools.

Mr. and Mrs. Eckman are leading members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Plum Tree and Mr. Eckman is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and politically is a progressive.

Warren high school, the State Normal, and now a teacher in the public schools; Glade K., a graduate of the Huntington high school and a student in Purdue University; and Ruth A., a graduate of the Huntington high school and a junior in the state university at Bloomington.

Marrus Kierer. Huntington county maintains an advanced position in the domain of modern and scientific agriculturism, and among the able and popular representatives of this great basic industry in Huntington township is the sterling citizen whose name introduces this paragraph and who is eminently entitled to recognition in this history. He came from Germany to America when a young man, without more than nominal financial resources and dependent upon his own exertions in winning for himself a position of independence and prosperity. That he has succeeded admirably in his worthy ambition is shown by his present status as one of the substantial farmers of Huntington county, where he owns a well improved farm of fifty-five acres, devoted to diversified agriculture and to the raising of excellent grades of live stock.

Mr. Kiefer was born in Germany, on the 4th of February, 1859, and his parents, Matthias and Angeline (Petts) Kiefer, passed their entire lives in their fatherland, - folk of sterling character and unassuming ways. Of their seven children four are now living, - Jennie, John, George, and Matthias, and all of the number still reside in Germany with the exception of the subject of this review, who is the only representative of the family in America.

Matthias Kiefer, Jr., gained his early educational discipline in the excellent schools of his native land, where he also served the prescribed three years in the German army. In 1883, when about twenty-four years of age, he severed the ties that bound him to home and fatherland and set forth to seek his fortune in America, his ambition having thus shown itself to be one of courage and determination and the same having never wavered in the face of the various trials and obstacles which he has encountered since coming to the United States. Mr. Kiefer landed in the port of New York city and thence set forth for the west, his available funds being practically exhausted at the time when he arrived in the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was employed for a time. He came to Huntington county, where he secured employment at farm work. From his monthly wages he saved carefully and with much abstemiousness, as he was determined to bend every effort toward the gaining of a position of independence. In 1886 he assumed greater responsibilities, as he then took unto himself a wife, in the person of one of the gracious and popular young women of Huntington township, and for the ensuing eight years Mr. Kiefer was associated in the work and management of the homestead farm of his wife's parents, who had settled in Huntington county in an early day, both having been born in Germany. At the expiration of the period noted Mr. Kiefer purchased his present farm of fifty-five acres, eligibly located in Huntington township, and he has not only brought the place up to a high standard of productiveness but has also made many excellent improvements of a permanent order. Upright and honorable in all the relations of life, kindly and considerate in his relations with others, Mr. Kiefer has a secure place in popular confidence and esteem, as also has his wife, who has been a resident of Huntington county from the time of her nativity. He is a democrat in his political allegiance and both he and his wife are zealous communicants of the Catholic church of Sts. Peter and Paul, in the city of Huntington.

On the 14th of October, 1886, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kiefer to Miss Elizabeth Kanff, who was born in Huntington township, on the 23d of March, 1866, and who, as before intimated, is a representative of one of the sterling German pioneer families of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Kiefer became the parents of ten children, all of whom are living except John, who was born August 7, 1889, and who died at the age of five years. The names of the surviving children are here entered, together with the respective dates of birth: Andrew C., August 18, 1887; Frank, September 30; 1891; Josephine, June 8, 1894; Mary F., April 14, 1896; Herman J., September 30, 1898; Celia, December 21, 1900; Elizabeth, August 8, 1903; Henry, June 23, 1906; Teresa, September 23, 1908. The eldest son conducts a well equipped dairy, from which he supplies milk and cream to an appreciative patronage in the city of Huntington.

Wituiam L. Fouk. For a period of more than thirty years William L. Folk has acted in the capacity of agent for the Standard Oil Company, and during seventeen years of this time has been the representative of this great industry at' Huntington, Indiana. One of his company's most trusted employes, he has given of his best abilities in its service, yet has never failed to find time to give to the interests of the community in which he has made his home for so long. Mr. Folk was born March 20, 1865, in Pennsylvania, and is a son of John H. and Elizabeth Folk, also natives of the Keystone state, where the father was for many years engaged in contracting and building.

Mr. Folk obtained his education in the publie schools of his native place, and secured his introduction to business life as an employe in the works of the Union File Company, of Philadelphia. He was still a lad when he went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to accept a position with the Standard Oil Company, in 1882, and after several years in that city was sent to the oil shops of the same concern at Cleveland, Ohio. There he remained, still in a minor capacity, until removing to Fostoria, Ohio, and from the latter place came in July, 1896, to Huntington, Indiana, having been appointed agent for this city. Practically all of Mr. Folk's career has been passed in the employ of his present firm, and his business life has been one of constant and continued advancement. He was content to start in a humble position and learn thoroughly every branch of the business, so that today he is possessed of a broad knowledge of the line with which he is identified. His specified duties consist of taking charge of the storing of the oil which is contained in the immense tanks here, and this oil is distributed in Huntington and the surrounding towns by three wagons. The capacity of the storing plant is thirty thousand gallons, supported by brick walls with aisles between, so that the wagons may be driven directly underneath and thus affording easy facilities for filling. Mr. Folk is widely and favorably known among the business men of Huntington, and his judgment is frequently sought as to matters of importance both in his own line and in others. He has no outside connections, however, except his poultry business, to which he devotes his leisure hours. Starting this as a hobby, he has gradually developed it into a paying venture, and his Buff Orpingtons are in great demand all over this part of the county.

Mr. Folk was married to Miss Ella Schofield, of Toledo, Ohio, a daughter of William Schofield, a citizen of that place. To this union there have been born three children, all daughters: Bernice E., Martha D. and Jenies M. The pleasant family home, amid beautiful surroundings, is located on First street. Mr. Folk is a member of Amity Lodge No. 483, F. & A. M., Hutitington Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., and Huntington Commandery No. 35, K. T., of the Masonic fraternity, and also holds membership in the local lodge of Elks. He has never aspired to public office, but is known as a public-spirited citizen who has the welfare of his community at heart.

ROBERT L. IRWIN. Farming, with all its branches, has been considered a good line of business since the beginning of the world, and such have been the changes and modifications within the past quarter of a century that to be a farmer is now probably the most dignified as well as most independent vocation in the entire range of human activities. Agriculture in such a county as Huntington offers a splendid field for the man of energy, perseverance and ability. In this class stands Robert L. Irwin, of Salamonie township, a man who has been in a remarkable degree the architect of his own fortunes, and who owes his present success in life entirely to his own efforts.

Mr. Irwin is a native of North Carolina, born in Guilford county, October 15, 1856, a son of James and Elizabeth (Kirkman) Irwin. Both were natives of the same state, the father being now deceased, and the mother lives in the old north state. They were parents of nine children, seven of whom are still living, but all are residents of North Carolina except Robert L. and James L., the latter a farmer of Blackford county.

While growing up in North Carolina Robert L. Irwin had limited opportunities, attended school irregularly, gave up his books and studies at the age of eighteen, and when twenty-one started out for himself. Two years later he journeyed to a state where he might find better opportunities, and located in Salamonie township of Huntington county. At that time he was a poor man, and had to establish his right to a share in the world's goods by diligence, faithfulness to duty, and a forehandedness in grasping and accepting the opportunities presented. On December 27, 1885, Mr. Irwin was united in marriage with Emma A. Foust. She belongs to one of the pioneer families of Huntington county, and was born on the farm now occupied by herself and husband December 22,

1863, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Colbert) Foust. The Foust family came to Huntington county from Highland county, Ohio, and Mrs. Irwin received her education in the District school at Salem in Salamonie township. Mr. Irwin and wife are the parents of seven children, whom they have reared carefully and upon whom they have bestowed the best opportunities for education and for making themselves useful in the world. The older ones are now married and settled in life, and several of the younger ones are still in school. These children are: Lelia, who is a graduate of the common schools and is the wife of Irwin Neber, a resident of Jackson township in Wells county, and field foreman for the Ohio Oil Company, and there are two children of Mr. and Mrs. Neber ; Forrest, who after finishing a course in the common schools, became a student in DePauw University, later graduated from the Northwestern University, and has done much teaching; George and Bertha, twins, both finished the common school course, and the former is a graduate of the Warren high school and a teacher, being principal of the Ward school at Momence, Illinois, while Bertha is the wife of Verl Preble of Salamonie township; J. Leroy is a graduate of the common schools and the Bluffton high school and now a student in the Muncie normal school; Jesse L. and Glen F. are both students of the common schools. Mr. Irwin and wife have three grandchildren.

The families are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Salem, and Mr. Irwin is one of the trustees of that denomination. In politics he supports the prohibition cause. Mr. Irwin as a farmer occupies the southeast quarter of Section 35 in Salamonie township. This is a farm which for years has been one of the best known in southern Huntington county, and is known in the neighborhood as Jonathan Foust farm, having been entered from the government by Jonathan Foust in the pioneer days. The old parchment deed for the land was signed by Martin Van Buren, who, it will be remembered, was president of the United States from 1837 to 1841.

James M. Craig. Another of the sons of Levi and Lenora (Smith) Craig, and one who has made a place for himself among the successful farming men of Lancaster township, is James M. Craig, a brother of Mack Craig, who is mentioned in other pages of this work at some length. Mr. Craig was born in Henry county, Indiana, on June 24, 1866, and came to Huntington county with his parents in the year 1870. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania and Washington county, Maryland, who came to Indiana in young life and in Henry county met and married. The father was a veteran of the Civil war, and he is now a resident of Huntington, Indiana, as is also his wife, the mother of the subject.

James M. Craig was the second born in his parent's little family, and he was three years old when they came to this county. He had his schooling in the Majenica district schools, where he attended during the severe winter months, the summer and spring seasons being devoted to farm work up to the time he was about nineteen years of age. When he was twenty-one he began to work for his father for wages, a custom of the family, and after a time he rented a farm and set up an establishment of his own. He married Clara Eichhorn on November 26, 1887, and she died on August 6, 1888, without issue. He later married Myrtle Glass, a daughter of George W. and Lida (Ryan) Glass, who was born in Jefferson township, Wells county, Indiana, and was there reared to farm life. She was given exceptional educational advantages for a country bred girl, and became a teacher, as well as being well advanced in musical knowledge. One child was born of their union, Gladys M. Craig, born August 29, 1907, now a student in the local schools.,

Mr. Craig is the owner of a nice place of one hundred acres of fertile land, his farm lying eight miles distant from Huntington on the southeast, on the Huntington and Warren Pike, and he is regarded as one of the successful agricultural men of the township, as well he may be.

The family are members of the Christian church at Majenica, and Mr. Craig is a republican in his politics. They are people of excellent standing in the community, both of them coming of highly respected families of the state. The father of Mrs. Craig, George W. Glass, now resident in Jefferson township, is an honored veteran of the Civil war, in which he served from the beginning of the conflict until the last gun was fired, and he has passed his life as a resident of Wells county.

SAMUEL T. EBERHART, a teacher and respected citizen of this community and now manager of the Fertile Valley Stock Farm, was born in Warren township, two and a half miles east of Bippus, on October 29, 1876. He is a son of Linns and Elizabeth (Ada) Eberhart, and he is the youngest of their nine children.

Reared on the farm on which his birth took place, Samuel T. Eberhart had his early education in the district schools of Warren township. He was graduated from the common school in the year 1895, after which he entered the Bippus high school, and was graduated therefrom, taking highest honors. The young student then entered Danville College in the spring of 1898, but he did not find the school to his liking and after spending the spring and summer there, he entered the State Normal school at Terre Haute. He did about two years work in that institution and later attended Winona College, but did not quite finish and so did not receive his A. B. degree, for which he was almost ready.

Mr. Eberhart then began teaching and the next thirteen years he spent in that profession. During the last ten years of his pedagogic work he was principal of the Bippus high school, and when he withdrew from the profession he held a three years' common school license, a three years' high school license, and a life state license. After giving up school work Mr. Eberhart began to devote himself to the business of overseeing his farm in Sections 2 and 27 of Warren township, and he has since been occupied in that manner, experiencing a very pleasing success as the proprietor of Fertile Valley Stock Farm, as his place is widely known.

Wabash county, this state, with her parents when she was eight years old. They later moved to Warren township, Huntington county, and the family home is yet here. She had her education in the schools of Ohio and Indiana, her higher training coming in the Bippus high school, Columbia City Normal, and Danville College. After that very thorough training she engaged in teaching and she was for eight years active in the teaching profession, the last four years being spent in the primary department of the Bippus schools, where she experienced a most pleasing success. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Eberhart, Edna Mae, born April 9, 1912.

Mr. and Mrs. Eberhart are members of the Bethesda United Brethren church in Warren township. Mr. Eberhart is a republican in his politics. He is the ardent advocate of clean politics and the open enemy of the saloon and the liquor traffic. He was one of the organizers and a charter member of the Huntington County Civic League, which was organized for the purpose of enforcing the laws after the county local option law was passed under the administration of Governor Hanley, and he has. |e 1 otherwise active in township and county politics.

Mr. Eberhart was an organizer of the Bippus State Bank, and is one of its stockholders, and he is connected with other institutions of varied. - nature. He is recognized as one of the progressive citizens of Warren township, and it is remembered that he was one of those who brought. about the present excellent system of stone roads in the county. The 'inst petition, calling for sixteen and three-quarters miles, was no sooner carried out than a second petition followed, with still others at intervals, until the system in Warren township is practically complete today, connecting with improved roads to Huntington, North Manchester and South Wheatly.

In these and other ways has Mr. Eberhart shown the quality of his: citizenship, and he properly takes his place today among the leaders in thought and action in Warren township, where he and his wife have a. wide circle of old time friends.

Frank F. Houzrncer. In Huntington county large quantities of that: most useful commodity, brick, are manufactured by Frank F. Holzinger,,. who some years ago started this business in a small way, and now is a factor in the production of more brick than any other one concern in the county. Mr. Holzinger represents an old and substantial family of Huntington township, and his own career has been one of progress and of influential activities since he reached manhood.

Frank F. Holzinger was born in Huntington township October 13, 1869, a son of John and Caroline (Eberly) Holzinger. His father, now retired, after a long career as a farmer, is living with his wife in Huntington, on Cherry street. There are four children still living at this. writing, Frank being the oldest, and the others: J oseph, of Huntington township ; Mary, wife of Joseph Harkenrother ; Lena, wife of J. L. Kock.

dence continued with his parents, until he was twenty-six years of age, at which time he married Miss Theresa Eckert of Huntington township. She was born in that township, and like her husband received her education in the parochial schools.

Twenty-five years ago, in 1887, Mr. Holzinger started the manufacture of brick. His first kiln was a small one, and he employed- only one or two hands during a portion of the year, and had somewhat crude facilities for the manufacture. At the present time he has a large plant at his home north of Huntington, located on twenty acres of land, with all the facilities for making perfect brick of several textures and commercial varieties. Mr. Holzinger also owns a half interest in the Huntington Brick Company, whose plant is located south of Huntington on the Warren Road.

The seven children born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Holzinger are: Agnes, aged thirteen; Herman, aged eleven; Francis, aged nine; Mary, aged seven ; Carl, five years old; Rudolph, who is three years old; and Pauline, the baby. The family are communicants of the church of Sts. Peter and Paul, Catholic, at Huntington. Mr. Holzinger is a democrat in politics. He and his wife have labored together in establishing a home and a gratifying degree of material prosperity, and while enjoying the esteem of the community, they find their chief pleasure in their home and in affording their children the best of advantages in schools and in training under their own supervision.

Jonn C. Erzoup. An expert in his calling, John C. Etzold has been connected with the Cireuit Court of Huntington county for almost a decade of years, and his services in the capacity of court reporter have been of a nature to earn the hearty commendation of the officials with whom he has been associated. His present high efficiency has been attained through constant application, untiring study and steady perseverance, and -he has been able to develop his powers of concentration to a high degree. Mr. Etzold is.a native son of Huntington county, having been born in the city of Huntington, December 11, 1873, one of twins of the eight children who formed the family of Charles and Pauline (Welz) Etzold.

Charles Etzold was born in Germany, and as a lad left the Fatherland in company with his parents, the family emigrating to the United States and settling in the city of Syracuse, New York. There Mr. Etzold grew to manhood, receiving a common school education and early learning the trade of shoemaker. He there also met and married Pauline Welz, who had also come to the United States from Germany as a child, and after his marriage Mr. Etzold continued to reside in Syracuse for a number of years. Finally, however, deciding that he could find better opportunities in the West, he migrated to Indiana, and, settling in Huntington, established himself in business as a shoemaker. He was an earnest and thrifty workman, possessed of the honesty and industry of his race, and while he did not amass a fortune was able to keep his family in comfort and to give his children good educational advantages.

For this reason he won the esteem and respect of those with whom he came in contact. Mr. Etzold died in August, 1900, while the mother followed him to the grave, May 1, 1902, and both were laid to rest in Huntington.

John C. Etzold received his primary education in the German Lutheran school at Huntington, and subsequently became a student in the high school here, from which he was graduated with the class of 1894. Following this, he entered the Huntington Business University, where he paid special attention to typewriting and stenography, and graduated in 1897. Mr. Etzold secured a position at this time in the offices of Chicago Railways, at Chicago, but after four years returned to his native city. During this time he had worked assiduously to increase his speed and efficiency, and when he returned he was prepared to take the position of court reporter, to which he was appointed by James C. Branyan, in January, 1904. The able manner in which he has since discharged his duties has left no reason for the making of a change, and through the different administrations that have followed, he has been found at his accustomed position in the Circuit Court. While acting in this capacity, he has gained considerable knowledge of law, both criminal and civil, as well as an extensive acquaintance with the citizens of Huntington county. Mr. Etzold is unmarried.

_ F. M. Jerrerson. The utilization of the splendid soil of this section of the state constitutes probably the most important industry of Huntington county and among her most successful men are those who are engaged in agricultural pursuits in the fertile region of Polk township. To this class belongs F. M. Jefferson, a business man of marked enterprise and keen discernment, who in the careful control of his interests has gained a place among the substantial residents of his community. He is essentially a self-made man, for he entered upon his career without financial support or friendly influences and has fought his way upward step by step, overcoming such obstacles as have arisen in his path by the force of his own determination and energy. Mr. Jefferson was born in Wabash county, Indiana, September 5, 1861, and is a son of John and T. A. (Downey) Jefferson.

The Jefferson family came to Wabash county from Rush county, Indiana, while the Downeys originated in Ohio. John Jefferson, the father of F. M. Jefferson, enlisted for service in the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil war, and met a soldier's death on the field of battle in 1863. F. M. Jefferson was then only two years old, and not long thereafter was taken to rear by his uncle who educated him and kept him in his home until his fourteenth year. At that time Mr. Jefferson went to live with his mother, who had in the meantime been married a second time, to William Dillon. He remained with his mother and stepfather for four years, and then entered upon a career of his own, having made his own way since that time. Vol. II - 28

In 1883 Mr. Jefferson was married to Miss Barbara Snetzler, who was born in Switzerland and at the age of eleven years came to the United States with her father. They first landed at New York City, but after a short stay made their way to Columbia City, Whitley county, Indiana, and later to Wabash county, where she completed her English education in the public schools. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson rented land until coming to Huntington county, and here purchased eighty acres of land, on which they have continued to reside to the present time. Mr. Jefferson has brought his property to a high state of cultivation, and it is now one of the valuable farms of Polk township. Good buildings have been erected, substantial improvements have been installed and modern machinery and equipment put in, and its prosperous condition testifies to the owner's good management. He is essentially an agriculturist, and has found no time to give to other matters, although he takes an interest in those things which affect his community. He has supported democratic candidates and policies, but has never been an office seeker. With his family, Mr. Jefferson attends the First Christian church, of Andrews, and is serving as an elder and a member of the board of trustees.

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson, namely: William E., a graduate of the common schools, who married Tracy Gretzinger ; Stella, also a graduate of the public schools, who is the wife of Ed Windle, of Wabash county ; and Clarence L., who has also received good educational advantages, is married and makes his home at Detroit, Michigan.

FrANK A. McCaunay, Erie water works foreman for the Erie Railroad, and councilman of the Fourth Ward of Huntington, has had a career of activity and usefulness, and has won success in life through the medium of individual effort. He was born at Defiance, Ohio, June 9, 1872, the youngest of the five sons of James and Ann (Delangery) Me- Caulay. The father, a carpenter by trade, was employed by various railroad companies for a number of years, making his home for some time at Defiance, Ohio, and also being a resident of different points in New York. The family came from Ohio to Williams county, Indiana, where James McCaulay was connected with the Wabash Railroad in different capacities, and later he entered the service of the Chicago & Erie Railroad, with which he was connected until the time of his death in 1898. The mother survived him until 1912, and was the mother of five sons and a daughter, the family now being scattered over a number of states.

Frank A. McCaulay received his education in the parochial schools of Defiance, Ohio, and the public and high schools of Huntington. After his graduation from the latter he secured employment with the firm of Hay & Hawley, with which he remained some seventeen years, and then secured a position as traveling salesman for the wholesale grocery concern of McCooper & Company, continuing on the road for five years. At the end of this period he formed a partnership in the plumbing business with Francis Parker, an association which lasted only several months, when Mr. MeCaulay went to Mare Island, California, a military post, being there employed by Captain Levy on the battleship New York. Mr. McCaulay remained in this employment for eighteen months, but when an order came from Secretary of the Navy Herbert to lay off 600 workmen, he was among those whose employment ceased, and he accordingly returned to Huntington. For the following two years he was associated with Samuel Buchanan, and for a short time thereafter was engaged in the plumbing business on his own account, until entering the employ of the Erie Railroad. He spent some time in charge of a section, was then given charge of the waterpipe fillers, and after twelve years of faithful and efficient service received the promotion to the superintendency of the water works and water supplies department. This position he has continued to hold to the present time. In 1910 Mr. MeCaulay was elected alderman of the Fourth Ward of Huntington, on the democratic ticket, and his faithful and conscientious service in behalf of his constituents gained him the renomination and reelection in 1913 and 1914. He has been an influential factor in democratic politics and has been known for his faithfulness to his party and his loyalty to his friends. The best interests of the city find in him a live, progressive representative. Mr. McCaulay is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and also belongs to several fraternal orders, in all of which he has a number of warm and admiring friends.

Mr. McCaulay was married to Miss Ella Broomer, of Huntington, and to this union there has been born one daughter: Jeannette, who is an accomplished young lady and a graduate of the Huntington High school. The modern family residence is located on First street.

Omer C. SmitH. Manager of the Beyers Brothers & Company, wholesale produce and commission merchants at Huntington, Mr. Smith has been identified with this line of commercial efforts since he was twentyone years of age. He knows all the ins and outs of the business, has collected poultry and other produce along country roads, has marketed the material, and experience and native sagacity have given him a splendid judgment in handling all details of the business. The Beyers Brothers concern, dealing in butter, eggs and poultry, was established at Huntington in 1894, and the business is located on Charles street in Huntington. The Beyers brothers have their home in Rochester, Indiana.

Omer C. Smith was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, June 1, 1872. He is the second son of Daniel and Lydia (Epshire) Smith, both parents natives of Fulton county, Indiana. The father is still living, and has followed farming as his regular vocation all his active career. Omer C. Smith grew up on a farm, and was well prepared for his business career by plenty of work in a wholesome environment while a boy, and with a practical education in the country schools. When he left school he entered the employ of Hostetter Brothers at Rochester, and continued with that firm until he was twenty-one years old. In 1899 Mr. Smith entered the employ of the Beyers Brothers, in their business at Huntington. As representative of the firm he did much driving in the country and neigh- boring towns, and bought poultry, butter and eggs from nearly every farm house in Huntington county. That was the experience which proved of inestimable value in his successful management of the local concern, since he came to know people and all conditions affecting the trade, and in 1900 he was made manager of the local business at Huntington by Beyers Brothers, who have ever since had the utmost confidence in their Huntington representative. Mr. Smith has subsequently acquired an interest in the business and is a director in the Beyers Brothers & Company. ; 4

In 1902 Mr. Smith married Miss Delia Keefer, a daughter of Jacob Keefer, an old resident of Huntington county. They have one daughter, Georgia M. In politics Mr. Smith is a republican but has never held office. His home is on East Front street.

CHARLES S. BOLLINGER. A descendant of the first families of Huntington county, an active farmer and public spirited citizen, Charles S. Bolinger is well known in Warren township, where he has spent practically all of his active career.

He was born in that township, January 7, 1873, a son of John and Martha (Wilte) Bolinger. His father was born in Huntington township of Huntington county, in 1833. That was one of the early dates in the county history, and the Bolinger family were located here among the very first settlers who came to this section of the state. The father lived for many years in Huntington county, but died in Wabash county. There were nine children in the family, seven of whom are still living, as follows: Sarah A., wife of Joseph Sechrist; Emma, wife of Mr. Gray; - Ida, wife of Henry Steele; Blanche, wife of Jesse W. Davis; George W., of Clear Creek township; Charles S., and Ira of Huntington township.

Charles S. Bolinger was reared in Warren township, attended the district schools until eighteen years old, and his youth was spent in the home of H. S. Wisener, to whom he owes many of the attentions and benefits which a son credits to a father. On Christmas Day of 1901 he married Miss Minnie Schoeff, a daughter of John K. Schoeff of Huntington township. Mrs. Bolinger received her education in the common schools of Huntington county. Their two children are: Mildred C., born October 29, 1904; and T. M., born December 7, 1910. Mrs. Bolinger is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Greenwood. In polities he is a democrat, but has never been drawn into practical politics. He lives on the old H. S. Weisener farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, and by quiet and effective industry has steadily prospered and is one of Huntington county's successful men.

SamueL H. Bowers. Though still in his twenties, Mr. Bowers has made for himself a secure place in the business economy of Union township. He is proprietor of the Bowerstown feed mill and repair shop, located two and a half miles east of Huntington on the Ganesville Pike. His is an important local industry. The manufacture of vegetable crates is one of his most profitable products, and he also makes a specialty of the rebuilding and repairing of furniture and the manufacture of new furniture. In the repair shop he also does a great deal of work in the grinding of plow-points, and general repairing.

Samuel H. Bowers was born in Union township of Huntington county June 21, 1889, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Gregg) Bowers. He is the youngest in a family of four children. A sister is Edith, wife of Andrew Zink, and a brother is William Bowers. The father was born in Allen county, Ohio, came with his parents to Huntington county when eight years old, was reared to manhood in Union township, and there married Miss Nancy E. Gregg. Miss Gregg was a native of Preble county, Ohio, where she was born April 27, 1859, and her parents brought her to Wabash county, Indiana. She was reared partly in Wabash and partly in Huntington county, getting a training in the district schools of both counties.

Samuel H. Bowers was reared in Union township, and when at the proper age entered the district school of his neighborhood. His training was such as is supplied by the common schools, and he early showed an inclination for practical affairs. His business apprenticeship was as a worker in the shops at the lime kilns. Five years ago he started his present business, and has developed it by the addition of special features, until he is now well on the road to prosperity. Mr. Bowers is a republican in politics, and while a public spirited citizen has done little in party affairs.

CuarLes E. Fuurs. This well-known citizen of Huntington county resides on his fine farm in Polk township, owning 160 acres of valuable land, to the cultivation of which he devotes his best energies. Burr Oak Farm, as this property is known, is situated three miles south of Andrews, Indiana, on the Andrews and Monument City turnpike, and its well-cultivated fields, its substantial buildings, its modern improvements, and its general air of prosperity, all testify to the presence of good management, and to the thrift and enterprise of its owner. Mr. Fults was born in Wabash county, Indiana, in December, 1862, and is a son of George and Mary (Boyce) Fults. His parents, members of an old family that originated in this country in Pennsylvania, came to Indiana from Columbiana county, Ohio, and located in Wabash county, where they spent the remainder of their years in agricultural pursuits, and passed away highly respected by the people of their community. There were five children in the family of George and Mary Fults.

Charles E. Fults is fully entitled to the proud American title of selfmade man. His educational privileges were limited and no special advantages fitted him for the cares and responsibilities of life. Until he was fourteen years of age he was allowed to attend the district schools during the short winter terms, but the summer months found him working hard at the tasks which go to make up the life of the busy farmer. He was industrious, determined, ambitious and resolute, and those qualities stood him instead of fortune, enabling him to overcome the difficulties and obstacles in his path and work his way steadily upward to the plane where success places the laurels upon the victor's brow. He today ranks among the leading farmers of Polk township and his creditable life work has won him the respect and commendation of all who are familiar with the details of his career. The next to the youngest of his parents' children, he was expected to contribute his full share to the family income, and this he did while endeavoring to better his education in the Lagro and La Fontaine high schools, and finally succeeded in securing a teacher's certificate. For five years he followed educational work in the winter terms, in the meantime working at farming in the summer months, but after his marriage he rented land and devoted his entire attention to the tilling of the soil. He continued as a renter until coming to Huntington county, when he purchased eighty acres in Polk township and to this has added a like amount, which comprises Burr Oak Farm. Here he has erected some of the finest buildings to be found in the township, including a modern residence and substantial barns. He devotes his time principally to general farming, but has also met with decided success in stock raising, keeping pureblooded Duroc Jersey hogs, and a high grade of cattle. He is also a poultry fancier, and in this line, as in others, has achieved a satisfactory measure of success. He was one of the founders of the Andrews State Bank, of Andrews, Indiana, and has been a member of the board of directors thereof since its inception. In political affairs he is a republican, although he has not been active except as a supporter of men and measures calculated to advance his community's interests. His fraternal connection is with Ambrose Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M., at Andrews.

In 1887 Mr. Fults was married in Wabash county, Indiana, to Miss Emma J. Barnes, who was born in Ohio and was taken to Wabash county as a child of two years. Two daughters have been born to this union, namely: Elva F., who is a graduate of the public schools and the Andrews High school, and for five years a teacher in the public schools of Dallas and Polk townships, now the wife of Lawrence E. Knee, of Andrews; and Ethel, a graduate of the common schools and Andrews High school, who is now a teacher in the high schools of Polk township.

Jonn W. Zook. Among the prosperous and progressive farming men of Lancaster township, of which there are a goodly number, mention may be made specifically of John W. Zook, proprietor of the -Hickoryhunst Farm, consisting of two hundred and thirty well tilled and highly productive acres. Mr. Zook has been identified with farming interests all his life, and was well fitted for his independent career, as the son of his father, on the home farm in Polk township. He was born there on June 2, 1853, a son of Martin L. Zook and his wife, Emeline (Bailey) Zook.

Martin L. Zook was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and his wife was of Henry county, Indiana birth and Kentucky parentage. They came to Huntington county about 1840 and settled in Polk township, there spending their remaining years. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom are living at this writing, here named as follows: William R., John W., of this review; Susan, the wife of Allison Owen; Sarah, the wife of H. G. Jeffrey, of Dallas township; Florence

John W. Zook was reared in Polk township, there attending school until he reached his teens, and when he was twenty-eight years old he attended the district school of the township as a means of adding something to his neglected training of former years.

In 1883 Mr. Zook came to Lancaster township where he settled on his present place, and here he has since continued. Mr. Zook began life with nothing in the way of material assets, but he had courage and energy, and he has acquired a comfortable home in the township, after having rented for a number of years. He came to his present farm in 1893, as the owner of his place, and an idea of the extent of his activities may be realized when it is known that his farm today is worth about $30,000, land in this vicinity selling for $150.00 the acre.

In 1883 Mr. Zook married Mary E. Ham, of Polk township, and they have four living children. Pearl G. is a farmer in Lancaster township ; Guy L. married and moved to Texas, where he now resides on 160 acres of his own; Everett W., a graduate of the Lancaster Center High school, married Winnie Cline, a daughter of W. D. Cline, of Rock Creek; and Indus E. is single, living at home with the parents.

Mr. Zook is a republican in his politics and with his family he has membership in the Church of the Brethren in Rives, Indiana. He and his family are popular and prominent in their home community, where they are held in the genuine confidence and esteem of all who know them.

SAMUEL Moore was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, February 14,1809. His father died when he was two years old, leaving a widow and four children in moderate circumstances. At nine years of age Mr. Moore found a home among strangers. He remained in the family until he was fourteen years old. During this time he was sent to school for three months of one winter, the only educational advantages he ever enjoyed.

When twenty years of age he became the owner of a wagon and yoke of oxen with which he carried supplies from the vicinity of Lafayette to a trading post near Fort Dearborn. On one of these trips he was urged to trade his team for a section of land now occupied by the city of Chicago, but he thought a yoke of oxen on dry land was a better possession than a farm under water; a lost opportunity which verifies the truth of Shakespeare's words: ''There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."'

Mr. Moore first came to Huntington in 1832, while buying furs for a firm in Buffalo; he packed the furs upon the back of an Indian pony which he now possessed and walked by its side, following the Indian trail that alone marked the forest. In 1833 he settled near the forks ` of the Wabash river selling provisions to those engaged in the construction of the canal. In June, 1834, he voted at the first election to elect justices of the peace for Huntington township which is now

In June, 1837, he married Mary Foxlater, who died, leaving three young daughters. His marriage was the fist in the county of which any record is found. In two years he was married to Belinda Anderson, to whom was born five children, one dying in infancy. In 1838 he was elected one of the board of justices, taking the place of county commissioners. He subsequently filled a postoffice appointment under President Fillmore. He was one of three directors who constructed a plank road from Huntington to Liberty Mills. He contributed liberally to every public enterprise, churches, schools, public roads, everything tending to material, social and religious advancement shared his generosity. It was as a merchant and citizen that he was best known in Huntington and vicinity. Beginning his business career in a little shanty, he became one of the leading grain and dry goods merchants of Huntington. » For forty years he pursued his chosen work, with unquestioned honesty and tireless industry.

The early settlers found in him a friend and helper, loaning money to them to make their first payment on their land, giving them credit for food and clothing until their crops were gathered. Hundreds of those who planted their homes in the wilderness, remember with tears his generous sympathy and bless his memory. `

He died April 24, 1877, at Huntington, aged sixty-eight years. Quiet, modest, unassuming, deeds not words revealed the excellence of his character. His example embodied in a long and blameless life and holy peaceful death is an imperishable inheritance.

FRANK SUMNER Basm. Former county recorder of Huntington county, now resident manager for the National Fireproofing Company, and in many ways both past and present identified with the business, civic and social life of Huntington county, Frank Sumner Bash is'a man of varied attainments and experience.

The only son of Rev. John B. Bash and Naney (Zent) Bash, he was born at Roanoke, Indiana, February 16, 1859. His early years were spent on a farm near Roanoke, and in the meantime he attended the public schools and the Classical Seminary in that village. While a resident of Roanoke he engaged in farming, and as a side-line conducted a piano and organ business. To a great many people Mr. Bash is best known for his ability as a singer and choir master, and as a promotor of musical activity. For a number of years he taught music and assisted in organizing and for several years was president of the Roanoke Beethoven Society, which had a membership of fifty, and for ten or more years was one of the leading musical organizations of northern Indiana. He arranged programs made up from oratorios and other heavy and classical works from the old masters, and the influence of the organization is still appreciated in the community. Mr. Bash's musical talent brought him a in contact with musical people all over the state and country, and for many years he has been at the head of musical societies, choirs and quartets. While still a resident of Roanoke he sang for years in what was known as the Emerson Male Quartette, an organization which toured the country and filled engagements as far away as Pacific Coast cities. Soon after locating in Huntington in 1888, he was made choirmaster of the First Methodist church, a position he has filled ever since, for more than twenty years. The Temple Quartette, in which he has sung for a number of years, is well known in the city and throughout the state, where engagements have been filled from year to year.

For a number of years, while still a resident of Roanoke, Mr. Bash edited a Roanoke page in the Huntington Herald. This led to an offer from the publishing company to accept the city editorship of the Daily and Weekly Herald, a place he continued to fill for a period of nearly seventeen years. While in the journalistic field he was correspondent for metropolitan newspapers as well as for the Associated Press. Voluntarily he left the newspaper field when elected county recorder in the fall of 1904. Although the county in those years generally showed the dominant parties to be of equal strength and mixed party results as a rule, Mr. Bash's majority was 817. He served the county for four years and was the first, recorder to occupy an office in the new court house.

After four years of public office, Mr. Bash engaged in the real estate business, and also acted as secretary-treasurer of the Huntington County Live Stock Insurance Association, until retiring for the purpose of accepting the secretary-treasurership of the Imperishable Silo Company of Huntington. Later, when this company formed an alliance with the National Fire Proofing Company, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for a more extensive field in the sale of silos, Mr. Bash was made resident manager, which place he still occupies. In addition to the many activities of usefulness occupying the attention of Mr. Bash, he has looked after the duties of a director in the bank of the Huntington Trust Company, one of the prosperous institutions of the city, which he helped to establish. He has an interest in the Majestic Furnace & Foundry Company, of Huntington, and devotes some time to his farm, located in Clear Creek township. For a number of 'years some of his time was given to the City Library. He was a member of the Library Board and did active duty on the book committee.

In religion Mr. Bash is a Methodist and a member of the board of trustees of the First Methodist church in Huntington. Fraternally his affiliations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias.