Kosciusko County, Indiana - The whole text, 1919 (part 11 of 11)

'and he at one time spent about four months in Chicago. Later on the court appointed him trustee of the George Miller estate, consisting of 169 acres, which he superintended until the old gentleman's death, after which he settled up the estate. Mr. Van Dorn then bought a farm, and in connection with the management of this farm he and his wife operated the People's Mutual Telephone Company's Exchange at Burket, also collected rent for the same, using one room of their home for the office. This work they continued for over twelve years, until the death of the wife. A few months after her death Mr. Van Dorn discontinued the work of this office and it was moved from his home. Since that time he has been living alone and directing his attention to his home and farm.

July 4, 1875, Mr. Van Dorn married Maggie Everly. She was born in this county and was educated in the common schools. When she was only fourteen years old she taught her first term of school and continued that work for some years. Mr. and Mrs. Van Dorn lived on a farm and cultivated it during the summer and during the winter he did his work as a teacher. Two children were born to their marriage. Ollie is the wife of Emmett Benton, who is a railway employe living at Elkhart, Indiana; Effie, the second daughter, now deceased, married Robert Eaton. Mr. Van Dorn lost his good wife and companion by death May 15, 1914. She was a devout member of the Christian Church.

Mr. Van Dorn owns a farm of ninety acres and is also a stockholder in the elevator at Burket. He is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men and the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics is a democrat. He served two terms as justice of the peace. He is a member of the Christian Church.

Hon. Jesse E. Escusacu. Here is a name that bespeaks a large relationship and many prominent associations with affairs in Kosciusko County during the past sixty years. Members of the family have been loyal soldiers and loyal citizens in whatever position duty has called them, and there is no name entitled to greater respect in Kosciusko County.

The late Aaron F. Eschbach, who died October 28, 1913, was a well known merchant in Warsaw for thirty years, and prior to that had been a farmer. He was born at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1838, a son of Tobias and Catherine Eschbach. When a boy he came to Indiana with his parents, who first located in Huntington, and from there the family in 1857 moved to Kosciusko County and established their home on a farm south of Warsaw. Aaron F. Eschbach went out to Kosciusko County to give his service to the Union during the latter months of the Civil war. He was enrolled in Company G of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment of Indiana Infantry on February 11, 1864, and received his honorable discharge August 29, 1865, several months after the close of actual hostilities. At the time of his muster out he was a sergeant. He married Sarah A. Knox, and they are the parents of six children, four of whom are still living.

the leading members of the Warsaw bar and Wea? eee pred in public life, particularly as a legislator, was born at Warsaw July 23, 1876, a son of Aaron F. and Sarah A. (Knox) Eschbach. His boyhood was spent in his native city, and in 1892 he graduated from the Warsaw High School, completed a literary course in Otterbein University in 1896, and for a number of years before taking up his legal career was a successful teacher. He was superintendent of the Silver Lake High School four years, and altogether a teacher in Kosciusko County for six years. Mr. Eschbach graduated from North- -western Law School at Chicago in 1903, and in April, 1907, began active practice at Warsaw. He has since built up a splendid private practice, though much of his time has been required by his duties as a legislator.

_ Mr. Eschbach served as a member of the Sixty-fifth, Sixty-sixth Sixty-seventh, Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth General assemblies and was a member of the Special Session in September, 1908. He was republican leader in the House of Representatives during the Sixtyseventh, Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth assemblies. He was chairman of the committee of labor in the Sixty-fifth Assembly and a member - of the ways and means committee in the Sixty-sixth, Sixty-eighth and Sixty-ninth assemblies. One fact which indicates his popularity and hold upon the confidence of his fellow citizens is that in 1906 he was the only republican elected on his ticket during the democratic landslide of that year. His name is also associated with much beneficial legislation. He was author of the drainage law of the State of Indiana, which was passed in 1907, and was also author of a number of acts for the protection of the inmates of the state institutions. He also brought about changes in laws providing for the qualifications of teachers in the public schools and the regulations for the common and high school system of the state. Mr. Eschbach is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JosEPpH SCHOONOVER BAKER, who among other distinctions is an honored survivor of the Civil war, in which he fought as a Union soldier, has been a prominent resident of Kosciusko County for many years and is well known over this and other counties in the real estate business.

He was born in Hancock County, Ohio, September 8, 1838, son of Isaac and Rebecea (Schoonover) Baker, the former a native of Rockingham County, Virginia, and the latter of Fairfield County, Ohio. His father was of German ancestry and his mother of Holland. Isaac Baker was a farmer, an old-line whig in politics and a member of the Methodist Church.

Mr. Baker lived on a farm until he was eighteen years old, and in the meantime acquired a common school education. He was still in the flush of young manhood when in October, 1861, he enlisted in was on the road almost constantly until 1878, when he was elected county auditor of Kosciusko County. The efficiency with which he performed his duties is testified to by the fact that his constituents kept him in office steadily for eight years. For the past twenty years Mr. Baker has been associated with the Straus Brothers Company of Ligonier, Indiana, the largest dealers in improved farms in the United States.

Mr. Baker has always been a republican, but never sought any important office except that of county auditor. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church for sixty-seven years and has held some official post in his home church for over sixty years. He was a delegate from the North Indiana Conference to the General Conference of the church at New York in 1888. His affiliation with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows is almost as long and continuous as that with the Methodist Church. He has been a member for sixty years and has filled all the offices in the local lodge. He has been a Mason for half a century, and a Knight Templar for over forty years, also a member of the Scottish Rite.

On November 23, 1862, at Warsaw, Mr. Baker married Angeline Runyan, of Irish ancestry. She is a daughter of Peter L. and Mary (Ervin) Runyan. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have three children, all born in Warsaw: George Bramwell, the only son, is now a banker at Boston, Massachusetts, Blanche is a kindergarten teacher, and Ethel G. is assistant in the Public Library at South Bend, Indiana.

LEMUEL W. Royss, supervising editor of this history of Kosciusko County, was born near Pierceton, this county, in 1847. Much of his knowledge of pioneer history was derived from his father, who was one of the first settlers.

His father, George W. A. Royse, a native of New Hampshire, came to Kosciusko County in 1835. He was a blacksmith by trade, but had previously been ordained a Methodist minister and had been an Ohio circuit rider. He officiated as local minister in several of the early Methodist churches in Kosciusko County. He also taught school, be-

'ing one of the first teachers in the county. He was also for many years a justice of the peace in Turkey Creek Township. He was a whig and later one of the first adherents of the republican party in this county. His death occurred at Larwill, Whitley County, in April, 1859, at the age of fifty-seven. The maiden name of his wife was Nancy Choplin, who was born near the old Bennington battlefield in Vermont. She and her husband were married in Wood County, Ohio, and she spent her last years with her son at Warsaw.

Lemuel W. Royse was twelve years old when his father died, and after that he lived with a Kosciusko County farmer and worked for his board to the age of sixteen. He then contributed his support to his widowed mother and acquired his education in the intervals of employment and with considerable difficulty. At the age of eighteen he began teaching, and continued alternately to teach winter terms and work on farms for about eight years. Such leisure as he had from this strenuous employment he used to study law, and in the spring of -

1872 entered the office of Frazer & Encell at Warsaw. He was admitted to the bar at Warsaw in September, 1873, and began hia practice at the county seat the following year. Mr. Royse has thus had & continuous association with the Kosciusko county bar for forty-five

_ In 1876 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the thirty-third circuit and served two years. He was chosen mayor of Warsaw in 1885, and held this office for six years following. He was elected to Congress for the Thirteenth District of Indiana in 1894, and again in 1896. Under an appointment from the governor he served as judge of the Kosciusko Circuit Court of Indiana from February, 1904, until November, 1908. Under the selective draft law he served as a member of District Board No. 2 of Indiana until the cloge of the war. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythies, the Red Men and the Elks. July 10, 1883, at Hillsdale, Michigan, he married Mixs Belle Mentyre.

Loman A, Ingen. The record of farm owners and cultivators, good citizens and upbuilders of the community in Etna Township carries the name of Iden prominently, since that family has been here for over half a century and its members have always been people of consequence. The experience of Mr. Loman A. Iden has been largely along the line of farming, but his home is in Etna Green.

He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, January 27, 1854, a son of Washington and Elizabeth (Heston) Iden. His father was a native of Virginia and settled in Ohio in early days, and in 1864 moved to Indiana and located north of Etna Green. He later sold his farm there and bought another tract of land to the north, eventually sharing this farm of a hundred and seventy acres with his children. He finally acquired eighty acres in the same locality, and there spent the rest of his life. He was a hard working citizen, and was greatly prospered in all his undertakings. His wife was a greatly beloved woman in the community, and attained the great age of ninety-three. They were members of the Christian Church and he served as an elder. In politics he was a republican, and for many years he was township assessor. Of the ten children of the parents, seven are still living.

The eighth in order of birth, Loman A. Iden, had a farm training and was educated in the district schools. In September, 1884, he married Miss Tena Shively, daughter of Daniel B. and Hannah (Slabaugh) Shively. Her parents were both born in Ohio, but came to Kosciusko County when young. Her mother's people died in Ohio and Mrs. Shively was reared by an uncle. Daniel B. Shively after his marriage settled on a farm in Marshall County. Mrs. Iden was educated in the district schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Iden settled in Etna Township, and their labors have been rewarded with a good farm of sixty-seven acres. Eleven years ago they moved to the Village of Etna Green and among other interests Mr. Iden is a stockholder in the Mutual ' Telephone Company.

They have two sons. Chester, a graduate of the common schools and the business course of Valparuiso University, is bookkeeper for a large wholesale house at Las Vegas, New Mexico. The son Earl, who perfected himself as a stenographer, afterwards studied law and was a Federal Court reporter at Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is now an attorney at Roswell in that state, and is doing a large business in his profession.

JoHN D. Wipaman. Those older citizens of the county seat at 'Warsaw whose memories go back to a period between thirty-five and forty years ago can recall John D. Widaman as a poor and struggling young lawyer, who was not ashamed of any honorable occupation in order to make ends meet, and who at that time occupied a place of comparative obscurity among the many brilliant lights composing the Kosciusko County bar. It would be ungrateful to recall these facts had not Mr. Widaman overcome the obstacles in his path at that time. To the present generation he is known only as a very successful and able lawyer, a man who has identified himself with many of the business and civic institutions of Warsaw, and whose position and standing in the community are above question.

Coming of substantial German lineage, he was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1851. Michael Widaman, his father, was the son of a German count. This count was reared to enter the Catholic priesthood, but instead embarked upon.a military career. He fought with the troops of the German Empire in many campaigns until he lost an arm. He finally went to Paris, conducted a military school there for a time, and thence emigrated to America. After his marriage he located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and became a minister of the Lutheran faith. His death occurred in 1835. Michael Widaman was a native of Pennsylvania and married Catherine Miller. Through her the Warsaw attorney is directly descended - from soldiers who bore a conspicuous part in the American Revolution.

John D. Widaman had a comfortable home and opportunities for a liberal education. After the common schools he finished the course in Mount Union College in Ohio, and his father offered to defray the expenses of a theological training. However, he had already made up his mind that his profession should be that of the law, and he declined to accept further aid from his father, and thenceforward paid his own way. While still under age he secured a certificate and began teaching school. He followed that occupation for three years, and used all his leisure intervals to read Blackstone and other legal authorities. He was not yet a qualified lawyer when on October 1, 1875, he came to Warsaw, Indiana. For a time he read law in the office of W. S. Marshall, uncle of Thomas R. Marshall, now vice-president of the United States. It is an interesting fact that Thomas R. Marshall had only shortly before completed his legal studies under W. S. Marshall and had gone to Columbia City, Indiana, to start his career towards eminence.

On November 29, 1875, only a few weeks after his arrival in Warsaw, Mr. Widaman married Estella, the only child of Allen: and Lucinda Saine. His struggles to obtain a living share of practice at-a bar then famous for brilliant members were both long and disheartening, and he oftentimes wondered if he could raise means: to meet the next week's living obligations. Through his preceptor, Mr. Marshall, and others he was frequently employed to: transact minor matters connected with the law, and in this way he managed to make a living. At one time Sheriff O. P. Jaqués appointed him bailiff, and by carrying wood upstairs to the court room and performing similar menial duties he managed to eke out an existence.' Such was the early career of one who is now among the most prosperous' men of Kosciusko County and conceded a position among Indiana's ablest lawyers. aim bs og

In politics Mr. Widaman is a republican and in Masonry he has attained all the degrees of the Scottish Rite except the thirty-third. -Mr. Widaman was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Indiana Loan &. Trust Company at Warsaw in 1899, and ever since its beginning has been president. He is materially interested in various other enterprises closely connected with the commercial proé- perity of Warsaw, but is most widely known as a wise counselor, a superior lawyer, and one frequently mentioned as the leader of the local bar. hes

A. L. SEuugrs, one of the farmers of high standing in Monroe Township, owns and occupies the old homestead that was established by the Sellers family here in pioneer times. This farm is three miles north of Sidney in Monroe Township. pa

Mr. Sellers was born here: April 14, 1875, son of F. P. and Mary M. (Tillman) Sellers. The parents were both natives of Ohio. The father died in 1905, at the age of eighty-one and the mother is still living at that age. Of their ten children eight are still living: 0. G. Sellers, of Grenola, Kansas; M. H. Sellers, of Pierceton, Indiana; Isadora, wife of Leandro Pottenger; C: H. Seliers, of Bourbon, Indiana; M. W., of Brant, Michigan; Lenna, wife of Frank Brown, of Claypool; and Everett E., of Bourbon. aa. a ad

Mr. A. L. Sellers grew up on the farm he now owns and besides the advantages of the common schools attended the high school at Pierceton and was given a license to teach, though he never used it. Since early manhood all his energies have been absorbed in farming.

February 5, 1899, he married Miss Grace Hoaglund, who was born in Monroe Township, daughter of J. R. and Barbara (Faulkner) Hoaglund. Mrs. Sellers was educated in the common and high schools. After their marriage they lived on a farm north of Warsaw for eleven years, but then sold and bought eighty acres of the old Sellers homestead, and later he bought another eighty acres, giving them a well balanced and productive farm of 160 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Sellers have two children, Clifford L., born May 29, 1900, a graduate of the Sidney High School in 1918; and Dula H., born September 21, 1913. The family are members of the Brethren Church,

Wiuuiam H. Masron has been a resident of Kosciusko County forty years, and is a citizen looked up to as a most successful and substantial farmer in Washington Township and one who can be depended upon for co-operation in every wholesome and worthy public 'movement. His farm of 180 acres in section 14 of that township is situated on rural route No. 3 out of Pierceton.

Mr. Maston was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, April 23, 1852, sor of John and Margaret (Meredith) Maston, the former a matrve of Virginia and the latter of Ohio. The father moved from Virginia to Coshocton County in early days, married there, lived on a small farm in the county until 1862, when he sold out and moved to Whitley County, Indiana. After farming there for a year he sold and went further west to Cass County, Illinois, but not liking that location returned to Coshocton County, and from there came in 1875 to Kosciusko County. In this county the father bought 160 acres, and occupied it as a farm until 1888. He then bought sixty acres in Whitley County and he and his wife spent their last years there. His wife was a member of the Baptist Church and in politics he voted as a democrat. They had ten children, eight of whom are still living: John W., William H., Marion H., Eliza, Aaron B., Ida, Jesse L. and Rosa B.

William H. Maston was reared in Ohio chiefly, gained his education in the district schools there, but has lived in Kosciusko County since he was about twenty-two years of age. He married for his first wife Barbara Heffelfinger. One of their children died in. infancy, Flora B. is also deceased, and the only one now living is Minnie A., wife of Noah E. Block. For his second wife Mr. Maston married Margaret Fulbright, who died childless. His third wife was Mary ' KE. Cross, and by that marriage there were two children: Maude M., wife of John J. Wolfe; and John F., who died at the age of eight years. For his next wife Mr. Maston married Maria Galbreath, whose only child, Loren, is a graduate of the Columbia City High School, graduated in law from Valparaiso University, and in 1916 was ad- - mitted to the bar of Kosciusko County and is now located in practice at Freedom, Pennsylvania. For his present wife Mr. Maston married Emma J: Bennett. In politics he is independent.