Kosciusko County, Indiana - The whole text, 1919 (part 7 of 11)

October 16, 1898, Mr. Weaver married Clara A. Zerbe, who was reared in Whitley County, Indiana. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Weaver began housekeeping where they now live. Four children were born to them: Ralph, who died in the great war; Ray, a yraduate of the common schools in 1914; Vada G., who graduated from the common schools in 1918; and Lewis H., who is twelve years old. Mrs. Weaver is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pierceton, and her two youngest children are also members of that church. Mr. Weaver is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics is a democrat.

SaMUEL A. WHITE is one of the old timers of Kosciusko County and has had his home in this section of Indiana since early infancy, and for more than three-quarters of a century. The honor and respect due him are the results not only of his long residence, good work and management as a practical farmer, but also to his creditable record as a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil war.

Mr. White, who is now living retired at Pierceton, was born in Highland County, Ohio, December 12, 1840, son of George A. and May A. (Yohn) White. His parents were also natives of Highland County, grew up and married there, and in February, 1841, when Samuel was about two months cld, eame to Indiana and located in Kosciusko County in Tippecanoe Township. Here they lived until advanced years, when the father moved to Ligonier, Indiana, and died there. The mother died at the home of her son Samuel in 1896. Of their large family of seventeen children only four are now living: Emma, widow of Conrad Foute; Milton White, of Noble County, Indiana; Frances, widow of Frank Wright; and Samuel A.

Mr. Samuel A. White grew up in Kosciusko County, and had his education in the district schools here. He was just about turned of age when in November, 1861, he volunteered and enlisted in Company

I of the Forty-Seventh Indiana Infantry. He was with that command in many battles and campaigns for two years, was discharged and then veteranized and rejoined the same company and reginient, with which he fought loyally and gallantly until mustered out in 1865 at the close of the war. Mr. White has always kept in close touch with his old comrades, and is an honored member of John Murray Post of the Grand Army at Pierceton. .

Mr. White married for his first wife Sarah Smith, and eight of their children are still living. He married for his present wife Mary A. Snodgrass, and they have a daughter, Elizabeth White. The family are members of the Christian Church and Mr. White has been active for many years in Larwell Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a republican in politics and during his residence in Whitley County served as trustee of Troy Township. Much of his farming was done in Whitley Township and he still owns a highly developed place of 302 acres in that locality. He is a stoekholder in the North Webster Bank. Mr. White and family moved to Pierceton on March 1, 1918.

C. Epwin Stout. A very useful part in business affairs in Kosciusko County is taken by C. Edwin Stout, whose name will hardly require introduction to the present generation of county citizens since he was recently the efficient county clerk and has been active in banking and other affairs in the county for a number of years.

One of the younger generation of native sons, he was born at Silver Lake in Kosciusko County, May 19, 1880, a son of Adam and Sarah (Blue) Stout. His early life was spent in the environment of the old home in Silver Lake, he attended the local schools there, and when quite young took up bankirg and rose to the position of cashier of the Commercial State Bank of Silver Lake. He resigned that office in 1908 to begin a term of four years as county clerk. He had been elected to that office in 1906. In his election to county clerk Mr. Stout broke all reeords for the democratic party, since he was the only candidate of that organization who ever succeeded in being elected to this important county office. His record there was one of thorough competency and efficiency, and many have said that the affairs of the office were never in better hands than when Mr. Stout was clerk. In 1912, on retiring from office, Mr. Stout became secretary-treasurer of the Warsaw Investment Company, one of the important financial concerns of the county, but resigned that position in 1916 to accept the position of secretary and treasurer of the Elkhart County Trust Company of Goshen, Indiana, which position he still occupies. He is also secretary of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, and is doing a good deal to give and maintain vitality in local commercial affairs. Fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, while he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. On February 8, 1910, he married Miss Ethel Dickey. They are the parents of one daughter, Betty.

Witiiam A. Masre. It is nearly eighty years since the Mabie family became identified with Kosciusko County and this section of Indiana. The earlier generations were real pioneers. They helped to clear the forests, drain the swamps, break up the virgin soil, and institute the order of civilization where for centuries had been a wilderness. There are a number of names in this family which deserve special mention. To give some consecutive order to this record the heads of the several successive generations that have: been identified with Kosciusko County will be mentioned, beginning with Levi Mabie and continuing with Peter Mabie, Eli Mabie and finally Dr. W. A. Mabie, who for fully thirty years has practiced his profession as a veterinary surgeon at Warsaw.

Levi Mabie was born in New York State, probably about the close of the Revolutionary war. He moved to Ohio when it was a frontier and settled in Darke County. His wife was named Sarah. He followed some of his children to this section of Indiana in 1837, and located in Whitley County, building a cabin half a mile from the Kosciusko County line. A little later he moved to North Webster and died there about 1838 or 1839. They were victims partly of the fever and ague which was then so prevalent a disease in the new country, and partly of the bungling practice of medicine which at that time prevailed. Both were stricken with the ague, and a physician at Leesburg gave them calomel, and both died within twenty-feur hours after taking the medicine.

Peter Mabie, a son of Levi and Sarah Mabie, was born on Long Island, New York, in 1807, and after reaching manhood he moved to Huron County, Ohio, where he married Elizabeth MeConkey. Thev lived in Ohio until 1836, and then came to Indiana. In 1856 Peter Mabie sold his farm to his son and moved out to lowa, where he entered land from the Government in Marshall County, but in 1868 he went to Buena Vista County, Iowa, and died there June 20, 1885. His first wife, who was born in Holmes County, Ohio, in 1808, died October 14, 1851, in Whitley County, Indiana, and was buried at Webster. By her marriage there were the following children: Eli; Lott who died at Warsaw in 1866; Eliza J., who died in Iowa in 1884 as the wife of David Ingraham; Angelia, who married John Conklin and died in Elkhart County in 1862; Esther, who died in Whitley County in 1853; and Ellen, who died at the age of ten months. Peter Mabie married for his second wife Jemima Taylor. The children of that marriage were: Jemima, who died at the age of nine years; Samuel; and Austin.

, Eli Mabie was born in Darke County, Ohio, December 19, 1829, a son of Peter and Elizabeth (McConkey) Mabie. He was in his seventh year when he came to Indiana with his parents, who settled upon the farm owned by A. Goble. It was wild land, and he first became acquainted with conditions in this section of Indiana when the family lived in a log cabin. The family subsequently moved to Troy Township in Whitley County, and again went through the strenuous life of the pioneers, living in log cabins and clearing up the forests in order to secure land for cultivation. Eli Mabie had only a limited education, but by reading became unusually well informed. He worked by the month on a farm until April 14, 1852, and he then married Eliza Ann Beezley. She was born in Ohio, January 3, 1836, a daughter of Isaac and Sarepta (McMillan) Beezley, the former born in Stark County, Ohio. June 13. 1814, and died in 1862, and the latter born January 27, 1813. After his marriage Eli Mabie with his brother Lott bought their father's farm, and after several years of hard work in clearing and planting in the northwest corner of Whitley County they sold and in 1863 bought a place of about 100 acres in section 21 of Tippecanoe Township in Kosciusko County. He worked hard here and eventually aceumulated a large amount of land and other property. He was a member of the Baptist Church for over half a century and a great student of the Bible. He was a stanch republican, and served in the offices of school director and road supervisor. Most of his life was spent on his farm in Tippecanoe Township. and he died there May 17, 1910. while his wife passed away February 7, 1905. During the war Eli Mabie was a warm supporter of Lincoln's administration. A crippled hand prevented his entering the army. but he did all in his power to assist the cause at home and very frequently pulled the copperhead cent and butternut breast pin from the coats of rebel sympathizers. Eli Mabie and wife had five children, one of whom died in infancy. Those who were reared to maturity were: John B., William A., Rose and Jessie O.

Dr. William A. Mabie. of Warsaw, a son of Eli Mabie, was born on the Tippecanoe Township farm in this county May 16, 1857. He was reared after the manner of farmer boys in that time and place and his early schooling was obtained in the public and subscription schools. From boyhood he manifested an unusual fondness for and knowledge of live stock. This naturally made him very proficient in handling live stock as a farmer, and he was one of the substantial agriculturists of the county for a number of years. During 1889-90 and 1890-91 he attended the Chicago Veterinary College, where he combined scientific knowledge with his practical skill and experience, and was graduated with the degree D. V. S. in a class of eighty-seven. Since then for many years he has practiced his profession in Kosciusko County, and is the leading representative of that profession and has all the business he can attend to.

In politics he is a republican, and has been a member of the Warsaw Board of Health four years. He also served in the City Council four years. Im an official capacity he is best known through his former service as sheriff of Kosciusko County, to which he was elected in 1914. He served two years.

On December 3, 1876, Doctor Mabie married Catherine M. Secrist. They are the parents of three children: Bert O., Thomas A. and Blanche E. Mrs. Mabie is a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Long) Seerist, and her father died when Mrs. Mabie was two years of age. Doctor Mabie is affiliated with the Masonic Order, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Goprrey Jacop SmirH. One of the fine farms that lend distinction and dignity to Kosciusko County is that of Godfrey Jacob Smith in Wayne, Washington and Monroe Townships. His home is in Wayne Township, seven miles southeast of Warsaw. Mr. Smith has been a farmer all his life and he knows the business as only one ean know it through years of practical experience and common sense application of his energies to the task at hand. \

His father, the late John Sleeper Smith, was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1806, of German ancestry. When nine years old the family moved to Bedford County, Pennsylvania, where he grew up on a farm. At the age of eighteen he started out to make his own way in the world and in Bedford County on March 9, 1830, he married Rose Ann Keith. Her brother, Lewis Keith, was the original owner of the land in Kosciusko County on which Pierceton is located. In 1838 John S. Smith and wife, with some of their children and with several other people in the party, started west from Pennsylvania for Kosciusko County. They traveled partly on foot and partly by wagon, and after crossing the Ohio State line they had to cut their road and construct bridges across streams. On reaching Washington Township John S. Smith entered eighty acres of Government land and after clearing a spot in the midst of the woods erected his first log cabin home, in which the family first sheltered themselves on Christmas Day of 1838. Both he and his brother-in-law, Lewis Keith, had much to do with the pioneer activities of the present town of Pierceton. John S. Smith cleared up and improved his land. and was one of the substantial citizens of Kosciusko County until his death on October 14, 1869. He was a Presbyterian and one of the first members of the church of that denomination at Pierceton. His widow survived him until 1890. They were the parents of eleven acta but only two are now living, Daniel J., of Iowa, and Godrey d.

Godfrey J. Smith grew up in Kosciusko County, and was liberally educated, partly in the district schools and also in normal institutes at Pierceton and Warsaw. For fourteen years he was one of the liberal and progressive minded men engaged in educational affairs in the county. i

November 10, 1881, Mr. Smith married Miss Lavina Stotes, who was reared on a farm in Washington Township, daughter of David and Barbara Stotes. Her parents were charter members of the Presbyterian Church at Pierceton. Mrs. Smith was a smail child when her mother died.

Mr. Smith has been on his present farm since 1887 and has over two hundred acres, which furnishes ample grounds on which to carry forward his activities as a general farmer and stock breeder and dealer. He specializes in Duroc Jersey hogs and every year buys a number of cattle in Chicago markets and finishes them off for the packers. Mr. Smith is also vice president and one of the directors of the Bank of Sidney in Jackson Township. The family are members of the United Brethren church and Mr. Smith is a past grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In polities he is a democrat.

He and his wife have two children. Ethel and Rulo W. Ethel is a graduate of the common schools and is the wife of Homer T. Menzie of Washington Township. Mr. and Mrs. Menzie have three children. Lucile, Audrey and Jacob. The son Rulo has perhaps an unique record in scholarship. He graduated at the age of thirteen from the common schools with the highest grade in his classes and at seventeen finished the work of the Pierceton High School, also with the highest honors of scholarship. From there he entered the Tm-State Normal College at Angola, and graduated also with a splendid record in all his studies. He has a state license as a teacher and the general average of his examinations was ninety-eight per cent.

Hon. JaMEs S. Frazer. For fully seventy years the name Frazer has been one of prominence in association with the Kosciusko County bar. Not only in his home county but in the state and nation was the late James S. Frazer distinguished. He was a splendid lawyer, was a great judge, and had diplomatie and administrative ability which brought him some delicate responsibilities in connection with the national government.

His death occurred at his home in Warsaw. James S. Frazer was born July 17, 1824, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. His grandfather came to America from Scotland as a British soldier at the beginning of the Revolutionary war, but soon left the British service and became an outright American citizen. Judge Frazer's parents were James and Martha Frazer, substantial farming people, who did all they could to provide their ambitious and studious son with opportunities such as he craved in the way of education and learning. The mother died when Judge Frazer was quite young and in 1837 James Frazer, Sr., moved to Wayne County, Indiana, and there Judge Frazer grew to manhood.

In 1840 he entered the office of Moorman Way at Winchester. Indiana, to take up the study of law. He also taught school part of each year to defray expenses, and was finally admitted to the bar in Wayne County in March, 1845. In the following April he opened his office in Warsaw. That was a little more than seventy years ago. Judge Frazer was a Warsaw citizen the rest of his life, though duties called him to the state capital and to the national capital and elsewhere. There has been a Frazer on the membership roll of the county bar ever since.

The late Judge Frazer was first a whig, but helped to organize the republican party in his section of Indiana, and it is said that from 1846 throughout the rest of his career he was a participant in practically every campaign. During 1847, 1848 and 1854 he served in the House of Representatives of the State Legislature. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1851. In 1862, during the war, he was appointed assessor of internal revenues. He reached the culmination of his service as a lawyer when he sat as a member of the Indiana Supreme Court from 1865 to 1871. On May, 1871, a treaty was entered into with Great Britain providing for the appointment of a commission of three to settle and adjudicate the various claims arising out of the Civil war. Under the terms of this treaty President Grant selected Judge Frazer of Warsaw as the American commissioner, the English commissioner was Russell Gurney, while the neutral member of the commission was appointed by the Italian Government. During 1873-75 Judge Frazer was connected with the treasury department at Washington and assisted in adjusting many claims for cotton captured or destroyed by the Government during the war. He was also appointed by the Indiana Supreme Court as one of the three commissioners to revise and codify the laws of the state according to the act of March 28, 1879. Judge Frazer impressed his ability upon the affairs of Indiana and the nation in many ways. His influence as a judge, lawyer, diplomat and public leader were written on many pages. He was one of the charter members of Kosciusko Lodge No. 62, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which was organized at Warsaw, February 7, 1849. He was reared a Presbyterian, though he was not an active communicant of that church. His last important office came to him in 1889, when Governor Hovey appointed him judge of the Kosciusko Circuit Court, and he remained on the Circuit Bench for one year.

Judge Frazer married October 28, 1848. at Goshen, Indiana, Caroline M. Defrees, a daughter of James Defrees, and a member of the very prominent family of Defrees in Goshen, members of which have made their mark in the public service, in the law and in other lines. Judge Frazer and wife became the parents of six children.

Wiiturm D. Frazer. The oldest son of the late Judge James S. Frazer is William D. Frazer, who for forty vears has been one of the leading lawyers of the Kosciusko County bar and has done much to maintain the high prestige of the name established by Judge Frazer.

Born in Warsaw, November 26, 1849, William D. Frazer grew up in that then small town, acquired his primary education there, and attended college at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, of which institution he is an alumnus. He read law under the direction of his father and later for many years the two were associated in practice.

While Mr. Frazer has not been called to the distinguished positions which his father filled, and has had little ambition for the mere honors of politics, he has given srevice of great capability in various ways. In 1881 and in 1883 he was elected a member of the Lower House of the State Legislature on the republican ticket. In 1898 and in 1900 he was chairman of the Kosciusko County Republican Central Committee. In March, 1899, he was appointed a national bank examiner, and for several years filled that position.

has been identified with the growth and welfare of his home city. His name is found associated with a number of enterprises that have brought good to both Warsaw and Kosciusko County. He was one of the organizers of the present Chamber of Commerce at Warsaw, which organization more than any other has brought about an awakening in the city to modern progress. From the beginning he has served as president and as one of the directors of this body. For years he was president of the Warsaw Gas Light & Coke Company, and is now the president and general manager of the Winona Interurban Railway Company, is vice president of the Indiana Loan & Trust Company, also president of the Winona Electric Light & Water Company, and in many less conspicuous ways has found opportunity for an exhibition of good citizenship and public spirit.

Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On September 5, 1876, Mr. Frazer married Miss Flora C. Ristine of Crawfordsville, Indiana. They are the parents of two sons: James R. and Theodore C.

JosEPH Scotr. Now that our nation is again at war there is a more general appreciation on the part of the present generation of the struggles and sacrifices made by the boys in blue of the '60s who preserved and perpetuated the union of states. One of the honored soldiers of that conflict between the North and the South was Joseph Seott, for more than half a century a well known farmer and active citizen of Kosciusko County. Mr. Scott spent the last years of his life retired from the heavier duties of his earlier years on his farm in section 36 of Wayne Township, on route No. 6 out of Warsaw. The farm is six miles southeast of Warsaw.

He was born in Stark County, Ohio, sixteen miles east of the City of Canton, May 29, 1842, son of Caleb and Mary (Ivens) Scott. His parents were both natives of New Jersey, his father of English ancestry. Caleb Seott brought his family to Kosciusko County in the summer of 1850, covering the entire distance from Stark County, Ohio, by team and wagon. He located in Wayne Township about five miles southeast of Warsaw, and died there in September, 1867, survived by his widow several years. Caleb Scott married for his first wife Rebecca Garwood, and they moved from New Jersey to Stark County, Ohio, and she died on the farm there. Rebecca Garwood Scott was the mother of two daughters, one of whom died young and the other, Sarah, was twice married and is now deceased. Caleb Scott had bought land in Kosciusko County prior to his removal here in 1850. He was a member of the Bible Christian Church, was a whig and went from that party into the ranks of the republicans. By his marriage to Mary Ivens he had thirteen children. Six of the sons were Civil war soldiers, named Caleb S., Isaac and Samuel, who were in Company B of the Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, William, a member of Company I of the Twelfth Indiana Infantry, Joshua F. in Company H of the Seventy-Fourth Indiana, while Joseph was in Company F of the Forty-Sixth Indiana.

It was on October 21, 1861, that Joseph Scott enlisted in Company F of the Forty-Sixth Indiana Infantry. He saw service practically throughout the period of the war until the fall of 1865, and though constantly exposed to danger was never wounded. He was present in some of the notable campaigns and battles of the war, including New Madrid, a number of the battles and campaigns along the Mississippi, including Fort Pemberton, one of the appruaches to Pittsburg, Champion Hills, the siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Port Gibson, Mansfield and others. He was taken prisoner at Champion Hills but was immediately paroled, re-entered the army and was four years in service with the exception of about three months.

After the war Mr. Scott returned to his old home in Wayne Township and engaged in farming. On July 3, 1867, he married Miss Martha J. Mickey, who was born in Wood County, Ohio, June 26, 1847, daughter of Isaac and Mary (Bryan) Mickey, of a family of early settlers in Kosciusko County. Her father, Isaac Mickey, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1819, and died June 30, 1884. His parents were Isaac and Susana (Brinley) Mickey. Prior to 1724 six brothers named Mickey emigrated from Treland to the United States, locating in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Isaac Mickey, grandfather of Mrs. Scott, married for his first wife Elizabeth Metcalf, and they had three sons: John R., born January 9, 1812, died October 3, 1849: Robert R., born August 22, 1814. and died December 8, 1849; and Henry H., born April 13, 1816. Elizabeth Metcalf Mickey died in Pennsylvania June 24, 1816. Isaac Mickey then married for his second wife Susana Brinley, and their family consisted of five sons and three daughters, named Jsaac, Joseph, Margaret, Daniel, Hiram, Mary, Lucinda and Harmon. Isaac Mickey moved with his family to Indiana and located in the southwest corner of Franklin Township in 1846, and on October 3, 1849. both he and his wife died and were buried in the same grave in Nichols cemetery.

Isaac Mickey, father of Mrs. Scott, grew to manhood in Ohio and married Mary Bryan. In 1851 he moved to Kosciusko County, locating near Silver Lake in Lake Township. That locality remained his home until 1864, and in the following vear he settled in Wayne Township, where he spent his Jast vears. Of the seven children of the Mickey family three are still living: Martha J.; Mary A., wife of S. C. Funk, of Warsaw; and Hiram G., of Pierceton, Indiana.

Mrs. Scott was reared in Kosciusko County and lived at Silver Lake until 1865. After completing her work in the common schools she taught in this county five terms. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Scott located in Harrison Township and lived on a farm near Atwood for seven years. Selling out that place, he came to the present home in 1874 and in this locality they prospered and performed their duties to home, family and community and well earned the wealth of esteem and affection which was showered upon them when on July 3, 1917, they celebrated their fiftieth or golden wedding anniversary in the presence of a host of children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren and loyal friends.

Mr. and Mrs. Scott had the following children: Cora A., widow of William H. Funk; Mary C., wife of Irvin Sheely, of Montana; Musetta B., wife of William F. Hetzler, of New Mexico; Walter S., who married Mattie Bogg and lives in Monroe Township; Elden D., who married Elizabeth Rock and lives at Lake Charles, Louisiana; Freddie, who died in childhood; Vernice O., wife of Sherman Fike of Wayne Township; and Joseph R., who married Gusta M. Harley and lives on the old homestead farm. Mr. and Mrs. Scott have eighteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Scott is a devout member of the United Brethren Church. Mr. Scott was long affiliated with Kosciusko Post No. 14 of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Mrs. Scott is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps. In politics he simply voted the republican ticket without seeking any of the honors of office. Mr. Scott died July 3, 1918.

ANDREW JACKSON LoGan. Now giving all his time to his duties as county treasurer of Kosciusko County, with home at Warsaw, Mr. Logan has had a long and successful career both in teaching and as a farmer in this county. His family has been identified with Kosciusko County since pioneer times and fully three generations have done their part and contributed their lives in whole or in part to the improvement of material and social conditions in this locality. Mr. Logan's record as an official has been characterized by such efficient performance and obliging courtesy to all who use his office that he is one of the most popular men in the courthouse at Warsaw.

He is probably the only one of the present set of county officials to claim a log cabin as his birthplace. It was in such a home, then the prevailing type of residence in this section of Indiana, that he was born on a farm in Washington Township of Kosciusko County, June 10, 1856. Out of a family of eleven children he is one of the four survivors. Their parents, Thomas W. and Chloe (Marquis) Logan, were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. Thomas W. Logan was a carpenter by trade, and part of his skill was required in the early days in making coffins when some member of the community passed away. He had migrated to Kosciusko County during the decade of the '40s and he found here a wild and practically untamed wilderness, and his own industry and good citizenship were not unimportant factors in the progress of the community where he lived so long. Both he and his wife died in Kosciusko County. They were members of the Presbyterian Church and were charter members of the church of that denomination at Warsaw. His father is remembered for his strictly temperate character, and though he lived in a time when such habits were more practiced than at present he never used either tobacco or liquor. He reared his children to the same wholesome principles and ideals.

Though the present county treasurer was named for one of the greatest leaders of the early democracy in America, he has belied his name to the extent that he is 2 republican. As a boy he lived on the home farm, attended the district schools and the public schools at Warsaw, and when vnly nineteen was qualified with a certificate as a teacher and began a work for which he is best remembered among a large number of people. For seventeen terms he taught in different districts, all in Kosciusko County, and combined that profession with his work as a farmer. He continued farming until called away from the country to assume his present office as treasurer of the county, to which he was elected in 1914. He still owns the beautiful and highly improved farm of 217 acres in Washington Township. He has long been a member of the Patrons of Husbandry in this county. On March 22, 1881, Mr. Logan married Miss Elizabeth Dunham. They have one son, Ward T.

Joun C. MerepirH is a native of Franklin Township, has lived there nearly all his life. and has accumulated many interests and associations to identify himself prominently with that community. Mr. Meredith's business town is Akron in Fulton County, and he divides his time between the management of his large stock farm in Franklin Township and his varied interests in Akron. Mr. Meredith is one of the leading stock buyers of this section of Indiana. His large and valuable farm is a half mile east and seven miles south of Mentone.

He was born in Franklin Township, September 20, 1852, a son of Simon C. and Mary A. (Middleton) Meredith. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of New Jersey. The respective families moved to Mahoning County, Ohio, where Simon Meredith and his wife grew up and married. In the spring of 1852 they arrived in the southwestern part of Kosciusko County, bought a tract of land that was completely covered with woods, and made their first home in a log cabin. Simon Meredith was a very industrious and capable farmer, cleared away the woods and made room for his crops, and lived there in comfort and growing prosperity the rest of his life. He and his wife were both birthright Quakers and were always faithful to that religion. In politics he was a republican. Simon Meredith had ten children by his first wife and three by his second marriage.

John C. Meredith grew to manhood in Franklin Township, attended the district schools there, and since the age of fourteen has been making his own way in the world. He worked out at day wages, also by the month, and was willing to take any employment that offered an opportunity to earn an honest living. He established a reputation for faithful performance and good honest work, and that reputation was his chief asset when he married and started to make a home of his own.

October 12, 1873, he married Miss Mary Burkett, a native of Franklin Township, where she was born December 20, 1849. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith had about five hundred dollars when they married and they used it to buy some equipment and located on a rented farm. The land was for the most part in the woods, and Mr. Meredith cleared up @ number of acres and got his real start by clearing land. Mater he bought stock and has been a stock dealer for thirty-five years. The Meredith farm comprises 300 acres, and in the past Mr. Meredith has owned much other land in this and adjoining counties.

Six children were born to their marriage, and the four now living are: Frank, of Deming, New Mexico; Elmore E., a farmer in Franklin Township; Zora, wife of Ora McFarland of Franklin Township; and Martha, who is a graduate of the common schools and the wife of Alvin Clinker of Fulton County.

Mrs. Meredith is a member of the Beaver Dam United Brethren Church. Mr. Meredith has long been an interested participant in local politics and is one of the republican leaders in the southwest quarter of Kosciusko County. A number of years ago when the Legislature passed a law establishing county councils to maintain general supervision over the finances of the county, Mr. Meredith was selected as a member of the first council and served continuously in that capacity for fourteen years. He is a member of the County Central Committee from Franklin Township and a member of the Township Advisory Board.

Of his interests at Akron Mr. Meredith is a director in the Akron State Bank, a stockholder in the Grist Mill and Lumber Company, and also owns a large barn used in connection with his stock buying and stock feeding enterprise. The Akron State Bank has as its officers: V. J. Lidecker, president; J. J. King. vice president; John McCullough, cashier; and John C. Meredith, Merl Whittenberger, E. O. Strong and Wade Arnold, directors.

Davip J. Utter. Some of the best farms and some of the most capable farmers of Kosciusko County are found in Franklin Township. One of them is David J. Utter, who has spent all his life on the farm where he was born and has given a good account of his energies and his time in the capable manner in which he has conducted his affairs. He gives much attention to stock raising, and conducts one of the well ordered and profitable places in the southwestern corner of the county.

Mr. Utter was born November 15, 1854, son of Edwin A. and Elizabeth (Byers) Utter. His father was a native of Fayette County, Indiana, but was reared and married in Johnson County and from there came in October, 1851, and located on the tract of land in Franklin Township which with its many improvements is now the home of his son David. The farm today bears little resemblance to the tract of wild land which Edwin Utter acquired. He first introduced his family to a log cabin home. He lived there many years but in 1882 went to Akron, Indiana, !ater lived with his son David, but his death occurred in Fulton County. He was a man of unimpeachable integrity and it was said that his word was as good as his note. He served as supervisor of the township and as school director, and was a republican in his political proclivities. He constituted an exception to his family in the matter of politics. He had seven broth- ers and two half-brothers, and all of them were democrats. Edwin Utter and wife had ten children, and those living today are: Miltou H., of Claypool; David J.; Jacob B., of Fulton County; Luella, wife of Irvin Friend. :

David J. Utter had his earliest recollections in the same environ. ment where he is today busily engaged with farming. While a bov he attended the schools in winter sessions, and worked with his father in the summer. On March 23, 1882, he married Miss Eliza Landis, who was born in Fulton County.

After their marriage Mr. Utter and his oldest brother bought the 160 acres of the old homestead and conducted it in partnership for twenty years. He then bought his brother's interest and is now soie owner and proprietor. He breeds good grades of live stock, and his principal annual income comes from stock raised and fed on the

Mr. and Mrs. Utter have six children: Cora is the wife of John Eber of Fulton County; Clarence is a farmer in Franklin Township; Frank married Ida Beeler, of Fulton County, and is now with the National Army at Camp Custer; Tressie is the wife of Henry D. Smith and they live on the home farm of Mr. Utter; Arthur married Bertha Baker, of Fulton County; James married Fern Gall and lives in Fulton County. Mr. Utter and family are members of the United Brethren Church at Beaver Dam. He is a republican and has served as supervisor.

GrorceE W. Groves, representing some of the oldest names in Kosciusko County history, is one of the prominent farmers and land owners of Wayne Township. His farm is known as Grovesland Farm, located four miles northeast of Warsaw. He has lived here nearly all his life and since acquiring the old homestead has developed it to the purposes of general farming and stock raising. It comprises 240 acres.

Mr. Groves was born on the farm where he resides, a son of Daniel and Amanda (Lightfoot) Groves. His father was born in Jackson, Ohio, in 1812, and his mother in Springfield, Ohio, September 2, 1815. The Groves family arrived in Kosciusko County about 1837, a year after the county was organized. They entered land in Wayne Township. The Lightfoots were also early arrivals, and Christopher Lightfoot, maternal grandfather of George W. Groves, was a surveyor by profession and laid out the Village of Leesburg. Daniel Groves and wife were married at Leesburg, and they then lived in that town for a time and from there moved to the farm owned by their son George. They were very liberal and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and attended worship at Warsaw and at Morris Chapel. Daniel Groves was a leading republican of his day and a man who always kept himself well posted on current affairs. He died in 1875 and his widow passed away in 1895. They had four children: Mary K., wife of H. H. Conrad, of Anderson, Indiana; Catherine L., deceased, was the wife of Garrett W. Brown; W. A. Groves, who married Mary Selser, of Fayette County, Ohio; and George W

George W. Groves grew up on the old farm, and was educated in the country schools and the high school at Warsaw. He has always lived at home and looked after his parents during their lives and since then has been busily engaged in farming the old place. He is one of the prominent and sustaining members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Warsaw, and has served the church as trustee. He is affiliated with Warsaw Lodge No. 46, Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, and is a member of the Horse Thief Detective Association of the county. Politically he is a republican.

JosEPH S. MerzcGER. The Metzgers are one of the oldest and most substantial families in the eastern part of Lake Township. They cleared much of that region from the wilderness, and as extensive Jand owners, farmers and citizens have used their resources to the general good and advancement of the community. One of the characteristics of the topography of that township is Metzger Ditch, which drains and has served to reclaim many valuable acres, and the Metzgers as a family bore a large share of the assessments required for the construction of this drainage outlet.

Mr. Joseph S. Metzger is one of the most successful members of this family. He has a large farm four miles east of Silver Lake, and in this community he was born August 24, 1865, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Studabaker) Metzger. His parents were both natives of Ohio, were married there and were early day comers to Kosciusko County. The country was then all in woods and swamps, and Joseph Metzger, Sr., had to clear out a space before he could erect his log cabin home. He was industrious, a man of exceptional judgment, and his prosperity was measured by the ownership of about a thousand acres of land. He was also one of the early leaders in the German Baptist Church. His large family consisted of six sons and six daughters, and those still living are Abe, Phoebe, Rebecca, Lydia, Isaac, Joseph S. and John S.

Joseph S. Metzger grew up on the home farm, was educated in the district schools, and carried an increasing burden of responsibilities on the home place until he was twenty-four.

February 27, 1890, he married Sarah G. Garber. They have three daughters: Alma, wife of Mark Miller; Elva, wife of Roy Cline; and Dorothea, unmarried. The two married daughters are both graduates of the common schools. The family are members of the Brethren Church at West Eel River. Mr. Metzger votes as a democrat. His farm comprises 342 acres, all in Lake Township, in sections 1 and 2, and it is one of the important units in the volume of production of grain and live stock by which Kosciusko County makes its showing in agricultural statistics of Indiana.

Hon. Francis E. Bowser. With thirty years of continuous membership in the Kosciusko County Bar, Judge Bowser has won all the better distinctions and successes of the able lawyer, and to his present office as judge of the Fifty-Fourth Judicial Circuit he brought

A son of William H. Bowser, a prominent Kosciusko County citizen and old timer, Judge Francis E. was born in Kosciusko County, February 1, 1861. On the old homestead farm he spent his youth in the usual manner of country boys, attending local school and working as strength permitted. When he was about sixteen his parents moved into Warsaw, and in 1881 he graduated from the Warsaw High School. Then for two years he was a student in the University of Indiana at Bloomington, and also studied law with W. S. Marshall at Warsaw. His law studies covered altogether a period of about five years, and he was admitted to the bar in 1885. In the meantime he had also taught school, and taught his last term after his admission to practice.

Judge Bowser became an active member of the Warsaw bar in the fall of 1885 as a partner of A. G. Wood. This relationship was continued altogether for about twenty-three years, and there are few partnerships that endured longer and more successfully in the annals of the Kosciusko County Bar. In 1908 Francis E. Bowser was elected judge of the Fifty-fourth Indiana Judicial Cireuit, and in 1914 he was re-elected for another term of six years. As a judge he has the confidence of both the bar and the general public, and he is regarded as one of the most competent men who have ever sat on the Circuit Court Bench in this district.

In politics Judge Bowser is a democrat. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar Mason and a Knight of Pythias. On June 20, 1894, he married Miss Regina Bitner. Her father, Daniel S. Bitner, was a well known citizen of Kosciusko County, and Mrs. Bowser is a granddaughter of George Moon, one of the early pioneers of this county. Judge Bowser and wife have two sons: Francis K. and George M. Francis K. is now a first lieutenant and adjutant with the Five Hundred and Thirty-ninth Engineers in France. George M. is in high school.

BrenJAMIN F. RicHarpson. A great many people recognize in Benjamin F. Richardson the strongest individual force for general civic improvement and development in the City of Warsaw. In fact it would not be too much to credit him with Warsaw's present condition of prosperity. Mr. Richardson is a man who came up through struggle and adversity to a position as one of the foremost merchants in Northern Indiana, and the ability which enabled him to win business success also gained for him the confidence of his fellow citizens, who as frequently as he would consent has sought his leadership in public affairs. Mr. Richardson has been a resident of Kosciusko County for the past thirty-five years.

His birth occurred on a farm in Monroe County, Michigan, in Ida Township, August 9, 1851. The family were early settlers in Southern Michigan, and originated in England, where his paternal grandfather, Joseph Richardson, was born. He became a weaver by trade and reached the foremanship in shops at Halifax, Yorkshire. As a young man he had also served with the British Army, and while stationed in Ireland wooed and won his bride. In 1848, with his wife and three married children, he came to America, settling in Monroe County, where he turned his attention to farming. There he and his wife spent the rest of their days. James Richardson, father of the Warsaw citizen and merchant, was born, reared and educated in England, and married there Mary Bradley. They were both quite young when they came with other members of the family to the United States in 1848. James Richardson in a few years had become a prominent factor in the life and affairs of Monroe County, Michigan. While living in England he had served a seven years' apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade in Manchester, but after coming to America farming was his principal work. He was a man of high general intelligence and sound practical sense, and these qualities led to his election as a member of the Michigan State Legislature. He was a loyal and patriotic citizen and during the Civil war one of his sons, Bradley Richardson, served as a private in the Federal army, became corporal of his company, and was severely wounded on the battlefield of Bull Run. When James Richardson died at his old home in Monroe County his passing was the occasion for many sincere tributes to his honorable and self-respecting career.

It was on the old home farm in Michigan that Benjamin F. Richardson had his youthful training and experience. A great deal of hard work was his portion in those days, and it was a steadfast ambition to amount to something in the world that enabled him to make better use of his limited advantages than would otherwise have been true. He attended the neighboring schools, taught in a log cabin, and early made up his mind to get into a broader field of activities than was bounded by the horizon of the farm on which he was reared. Before reaching his majority he left home and started the battle of life for himself by clerking in a feed store and driving a dray in Toledo, Ohio. Toledo was the training ground for his business career. He worked as clerk in a grocery store, and with experience in that occupation and with a capital, very slowly and gradually realized, he finally was able to embark in the grocery trade for himself.

It was in 1883 that Mr. Richardson came to Warsaw, Indiana, and still with very limited capital established a retail dry goods business. He encountered many adversities, but determination to succeed coupled with hard work finally had its just rewards, and he is now undoubtedly one of the foremost merchants of the city. While he has had a man's work in looking after his own store and enterprise, public spirit has been one of the dominating qualities of his character. For years he has advocated a better and greater Warsaw. It was largely his views and vigorous opinions on municipal affairs that led to his election to the City Council. While a member of that body, and under his energetic and shrewd leadership, the city acquired those substantial municipal improvements represented by sewerage, sidewalks, waterworks and other facilities. In 1901 he was elected mayor of the city to fill out an unexpired term, and this was followed by a full term, at the end of which it was his hope and expectation to retire from public affairs. However, in 1912, the citizens of Warsaw again required the leadership of such a man as Mr. Richardson, and he again consented reluctantly to acceptance of the office. He has been a wise and painstaking, capable and thoroughly able public official. In fraternal affairs he is a Knight Templar and thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, and while a member of no religious organization has been an active supporter of religious work and charity.

Jacos B. NEFF is one of the best known residents of Kosciusko and Elkhart Counties. He is a man who has made his success in life by a tremendous exertion of energy and natura! ability. When he married he had little or no property, but at the present time is owner of one of the best farms in Van Buren Township of this county, is also president of the Farmers State Bank of Milford, and is in a position to influence much of the business and community life.

Mr. Neff was born on a farm in Elkhart County, Indiana, December 29, 1859, son of Daniel and Lydia (Brown) Neff. His father was a native of Virginia and his mother was born near Toronto, Canada. Their respective families settled in Elkhart County in pioneer times, and Daniel Neff and wife were married there and became farmers in Jackson Township, where they spent the rest of their years. Daniel Neff was a man of more than ordinary local prominence, was known for his upright and honest character, and fer a number of years was a minister in the Church of the Brethren. He and his wife had ten children: William B., now living in Michigan; James, who died in Kosciusko County; Jacob B.; Lydia, widow of Jacob R. Svmensma, living in Elkhart County; Daniel. of Milford; Henry, of Elkhart County; Jesse and Omar F., both of Milford; Frances M., of Van Buren Township; and Susie, wife of Charles Snyder, living in Jackson Township of Elkhart County.

Jacob B. Neff taught school for eight years continuously before his marriage. At the age of twenty-eight he married Chloe Dubbs. She was born in Elkhart County. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Neff moved to a farm southeast of Milford, and resided there for seventeen years. Since then they have made their home in Milford, but Mr. Neff still owns a fine estate of 270 acres. He was one of the organizers and charter members of the Farmers State Bank of Milford, which was established in 1915. He has been its president from the beginning, and is associated with some of the best known citizens in this part of the state on the board of directors. Mr. Neff is also president of the Royal Telephone Company. He is a demoerat in politics, has taken quite an active part in local affairs, and is one of the deacons of the Church of the Brethren at Milford. He was nominated for the office of Trustee of Van Buren Township in 1918 by the democrats of the township.

He and his wife have two living children: Gladys is a graduate of the Milford High School and of Goshen College, and is now the wife of Lawrence Dewart, and they live in Van Buren Township. Bertha M. is a graduate of the Milford High School, finished a music course in the North Manchester College, and was also a student in the American Conservatory of Musie at Chicago.

Ira Gans. The business and records of Kosciusko County have never been entrusted to more efficient hands than to the present county recorder, Ira Gans, who entered upon his official duties in January, 1915, for the regular term of four years. Mr. Gans is a native son of Kosciusko County and his family were among the most substantial early settlers. His active career has been divided between farming, the postal service and other duties and interests, and as a citizen his popularity has been of that type which is only extended to men of the highest integrity and public usefulness.

The Gans family was established in Kosciusko County by his grandfather John Gans, who came from Stark County, Ohio, to Koseiusko County, Indiana, a number of years before the Civil war and settled in Turkey Creek Township near the head of what was then called Nine-Mile Lake, now Lake Wawasee. John Gans had married Elizabeth Shafer, and out of their nine children only two are now living. Jacob Gans, one of their sons, was a very small boy when brought to the wilderness of Kosciusko County, grew to manhood there, and as a boy finished his limited schooling in the old log schoolhouse in the McClintick woods. He farmed all his active years, held a few local offices, was a member of the Dunkard religious faith, a democrat in politics, and, like his father before him, commanded universal esteem. Liberal in his regard for his fellow men, charitable in his views, he fitly represented the best elements of citizenship in Kosciusko County. Jacob Gans married Ellen Shock, daughter of Isaiah Shock, whose people were also pioneer settlers in Kosciusko. She died in 1907, while Jacob Gans passed away in 1913. Their five children were: Ira, Ida, Emma, John and William, and of these Emma died at the age of twenty-two.

The present recorder of Kosciusko County was the oldest of his parents' children, and was born April 20, 1869. Having spent all his years in this county, he is intensely loyal to its interests and its general welfare and progress. His early home was one of simple comforts and high ideals, and after he had finished his education in the public schools he took up the substantial vocation of the farmer. lor sixteen years he carried the mail from Vawter Park te Leesburg by way of Oswego and North Webster.

Mr. Gans has a large and loyal following among the people of Kosciusko County. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose and has long been active in the republican party. It was the votes of a handsome majority which called him to his present office in 1914, his official term beginning January 1, 1915. On December 5, 1899, he married Miss Lena Poppenfoose, daughter of Harmena Poppenfoose. The two children of their marriage, Margaret and Carroll DeWitt, both died in early childhood. Mrs. Gans is a member of the Church of God.

Epoar S. Hover is a native of Kosciusko County and for many years has been successfully identified with the farm enterprise of Monroe Township. He is perhaps most widely known over the county as operator of a grain threshing outfit. He gained his first experience in this business in Illinois and since 1900 has been proprietor of a complete equipment for power threshing 'and has threshed grain for most of the farmers throughout the county. The Hover farm is in section 7 of Monroe Township, on rural route No. 6 out of Warsaw.

Mr. Hover was born in Washington Township, this county, on section 34, southwest of Pierceton, December 27, 1859. He is a son of Samuel S. and Minerva J. (Pratt) Hover. His father was born in Logan County, Ohio, and after his marriage came to Indiana and located on land in section 34 of Washington Township. The family lived there to the spring of 1860, when they removed to Monroe Township. Samuel S. Hover died here February 17, 1897. He is a republican and a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife, who is still living in Monroe Township, is a Methodist. They had two sons, James S. and Edgar S., the former also a farmer in Monroe Township.

Edgar S. Hover grew up on his father's farm, and was educated in the common schools. At the age of nineteen he left home, and had a varied experience for some years in Illinois and other localities. On March 12, 1882, he married Miss Mary S. Linn. She was born in Prairie Township of Kosciusko County March 31, 1858. When she was thirteen years old her parents moved to Clay Township, where she finished her education in the district schools. Mr. and Mrs. Hover after their marriage moved to a farm near the old homestead but subsequently sold that and bought the place where they now reside, aes all the improvements and comforts and conveniences of country

They have six children: Dessie B., a graduate of the common schools, is the wife of Frederick Hartsock; Walter D. married Bessie East and lives in Monroe Township; Emma G., a graduate of the high school and of Valparaiso University, is the wife of Edward Polk, of Monroe Township; Callie is the wife of Arch Kirkendall, of Clay Township; Lenna L., a graduate of the common schools, married Herschel Boyer; Wilma, who is now attending high school at Warsaw. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hover has served as trustee of the church. He is a member of Kosciusko Lodge No. 62 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in politics has been quite prominent in his locality as a republican.

Wiiui1aM H. Burrersavan, proprietor of a farm in Lake Township, has made his years and experience count toward useful ends not only as a farmer but as a good citizen and as a worker in church, politics and other affairs of his community.

The farm that he now owns was his birthplace. He was born April 18, 1851, son of John and Sarah (Montel) Butterbaugh. His father was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, and came to Kosciusko County about 1840. His wife was also a native of Montgomery County. They grew up and married in Indiana, and soon settled on the farm now owned by their son William. The father died here in 1895 and the mother July 3, 1885. They were members of the Dunkard church and in politics the father was a republican. Of their eight children only two are now living, William H. and Mahlon, the latter a resident of Bloomington, Indiana.

William H. Butterbaugh spent his early life on the home farm, attended the district schools, and in 1876 married Miss Viola Dirck. She was born in Seward Township of this county, November 18, 1857, and was reared in Wabash County. Her father, Henry Dirck, was a native of Ohio, and died in September, 1916. He married in Ohio, but spent most of his life in Indiana. Mrs. Dirck is still living. Her family comprises eight children: Ida, wife of Emanuel Homan; Viola, Mrs. Butterbaugh; Orpha, deceased wife of Charles Wells; Sadie, wife of John Landis; Leonard. a farmer in Michigan; Samantha, wife of Joe Swihart, of Silver Lake; Ada, wife of Robert Warren; and Asa, who farms part of the old homestead.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh rented the old farm and finally bought 19714 acres there. The farm has since been reduced to 148 acres, and during his more active years Mr. Butterbaugh gave much attention to the breeding of Hereford cattle. He has been prospered, and has used his means and position in the community to forward many worthy enterprises. He and his family are members of the First Brethren Church and in politics he has been active as a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh have two children and four grandchildren. Hazel, their older daughter, is a graduate of the common schools and wife of Alvin Perry of Wabash County. Nellie M. is also a graduate of the common schools and the wife of Glenn Walthen. Mr. and Mrs. Walthen live with her father.

Levi Fruir has been one of the leading farmers and stockmen of Lake Township for many years. For twenty-five years he has annually fed a bunch of cattle and hogs on his farm, and for the past seven years has been an extensive shipper both of his own stock and of that of other growers. Mr. Fruit's farm comprises 160 acres in Lake Township, and 101 acres in Jackson Township, 244 miles south of Packerton.

Most of his life has been spent in the southeastern corner of Kosciusko County, and he was born two miles south in Wabash County November 26, 1864, a son of Christian and Frances (Snell) Fruit. His father, who was born in Germany in 1827, was brought to the United States a boy of twelve years, and about that time the Fruit family established a pioneer home in Jackson Township of this county. Christian Fruit married Frances Snell, a member of the old and prominent name of that family in Jackson Township. After their marriage they located in Wabash County, but eventually returned to Jackson Township and spent the rest of their days here. He died in 1914 and the mother in 1915. Both were members of the Conservative Brethren Church. Of their nine children six are living : Anna, wife of John Brumbaugh, a prominent citizen of Huntington County ; Sophia, wife of Ellis Lehmer, of North Manchester ; John, of North Manchester; Levi; Frances, wife of Charles Livezy, of Lake Township; and Susan, wife of Joseph Cripe, of North Manchester. |

Levi Fruit spent his boyhood and youth in Jackson Township, and attended the neighboring district schools. On April 8, 1891, he married Miss Florence C. Ganote, who was born in Clarke County, Indiana, November 28, 1864. She came to Kosciusko County at the age of twenty-two, and had in the meantime completed the course of the common and high schools. Mr. and Mrs. Fruit have five living children, Calvin, a graduate of the common schools; Frank, who has taken one year in a commercial school ; Louise and Ernest, both graduates of the common schools; and Walter, who finished the common school course in 1918. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at North Manchester. Mr. Fruit's politics has been in line with the republican party for many years.

Wipert F. McGary, manager of the Piercetou Lumber Company, is the example of a young man of enterprise and ability who started life without capital and by his undivided energies attains a successful and influential position in business and community affairs.

He was born at Middlebury, Indiana, June 23, 1881, a son of Charles and Mary (Miles) McGary. His parents are still living at Middlebury. Of their two children the daughter Rosa died at the age of twenty-one.

Wilbert F. McGary was educated in the public schools at Middlebury, also had a high school course and learned and followed for four years the painter's trade. Since then he has given his attention almost entirely to the lumber business. For seven years he was with the Griner Brothers at Middlebury, then for two years was with a lumber firm at Schoolcraft, Michigan, and on March 4, 1917, came to Pierceton and with W. B. Schaefer of South Bend owns the Pierceton Lumber Company yards and Mr. McG@ary is the active manager of the business.

Mr. McGary married for his first wife Elnora T. Anderhalt. She was reared at Sturgis, Michigan, and died in 1914. At Schoolcraft, Michigan, Mr. McGary married Ivah Schug. She is a graduate of the high school at Schoolcraft and was a teacher before her marriage. They are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. McGary is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter at Schoolcraft. In politics he is a republican, and while a resident of Middlebury served as a member of the city board.

E. M. Rapcuirr is one of the successful business men of Kosciusko County, has had a long and varied career as a merchant, teacher and in other business affairs, and is now proprietor of the E. M. Radcliff

Flour & Feed Exchange at Pierceton. Mr. Radcliff knows the general - provision and feed business from the standpoint of an expert in experience and of long study, and while he is a thorough business man it is also his ideal and aim to make his business and his experience count as a real service to the community in which it is located.

Mr. Radcliff was born in Vinton County, Ohio, June 1, 1853, a son of Hiram and Margaret (Rogers) Radcliff. Both parents were natives of Vinton County. The father was born there in 1828. The mother died in Vinton County when a comparatively young woman. She left two children, E. M. and Rachel A. The latter is the wife of I. N. Bryan, of Pierceton, Indiana. In 1862 Hiram Radcliff moved with his family to Whitley County, Indiana, and spent the rest of his life there as a farmer. By a second wife he had the following children: John L. and C. O., merchants at Pierceton; Frank H., deceased: Roscoe R., a coal dealer at Pierceton; and Zelda, wife of John McDonald, a farmer in Whitley County.

E. M. Radcliff was nine years old when his father moved to Whitley County, and he grew up on a farm there and was educated chiefly in the publie schools of Larwell. He did his first work as a teacher in Whitley County and taught seven winter terms in the country district. He also had some experience in the intervals as a merchant. Mr. Radcliff was one of the early students of the old Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, now Valparaiso University. He first entered that institution in 1872, about the time it was founded, and graduated in both the normal and commercial courses. For five years he was a merchant at Larwell, sold out and moved to Sidney, where he bought a tract of land and laid out the town of Sidney and gave that village its first impetus to growth. He remained there 414 years and in 1884 came to Pierceton, a date which makes him one of the oldest business men and residents of that village. He was first in business at Pierceton under the firm name cf Radcliff & McNamara. This firm continued for sixteen years. Mr. Radcliff then sold his interests and for four years was alone in business, and after selling out his store to his brother entered his present special line as a flour and feed merchant, and has conducted the BE. M. Radcliff Flour & Feed Exchange successfully for seven years.

March 30, 1876, Mr. Radcliff married Mary M. Norris, who was born and reared in Whitley County, and had a good public school education. They have only one child, Dr. F. E. Radcliff, of Bourbon, Indiana. Doctor Radcliff was educated in the high school at Pierceton, and is a graduate of the Indiana Medical College, since which date he has pursued his professional career with marked appreciation and success. He married Lela Knox.

The Radcliff family are members of the Baptist church. Mr. Radcliff has been active in church affairs, and is also affiliated with Pierceton Lodge No. 377, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Warsaw Chapter No. 48, Royal Arch Masons, and Warsaw Commandery No. 10, Knights Templars. Politically he is a republican, but has practically given all his time to business without seeking the honors of office.

Cuiype L. Bisnop is a jeweler by trade, was in that business at Pierceton for a number of years, but is now finding profitable and congenial employment in looking after his broad acres and his other interests as an agriculturist and stockman on his farm near Pierceton in Washington Township. :

A native of Kosciusko County, he was born in Monroe Township December 16, 1877, son of Marquis and Harriet (Baker) Bishop. His father was born in Crawford County, Ohio, and his mother in Hancock County, that state. She came with her parents to Kosciusko County, while Marquis Bishop reached here in young manhood. After his marriage he farmed successfully, owned a large amount of land, and was especially well known as a breeder of registered livestock. He was an active factor in politics and: at one time held the office of township trustee.

Clyde L. Bishop was one of two children and the only one now living. He grew up on the home farm in Monroe Township, and attended both the grammar and high schools. At the age of eighteen he went to Elgin, Illinois, and served a long and thorough apprenticeship at the watchmaking and jewelry trades. He followed his occupation as a journeyman in different places and for five years was in business for himself at Pierceton. His farm of 155 acres adjoins the corporation limits on the north, and he is one of the men in this county who are helping swell the volume of agricultural products not only as a matter of professional pride and good business practice, but also as an aid toward winning the war.

October 25, 1899, Mr. Bishop married Miss Jessie Knox. Mrs. Bishop is a graduate of the Pierceton High School. They have four children: Merwood, a high school boy; Harold, in the grade schools; and Robert and Mary. Mrs. Bishop is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Bishop is a republican in politics and is ponte with Pierceton Lodge No. 277, Ancient Free and Accepted

Joon L. ANDREAs. When «ny new and progressive enterprise breaks the routine of the community life of Pierceton it *s pretty certain that John L. Andreas has a hand in it, if he is not primarily responsible for the undertaking. Mr. Andreas during his residence at Pierceton has been a lumberman, farmer, manufacturer. and more than any one else has helped revive an old time agricultural industry, hemp raising and manufacturing. There has never been any difficulty in raising hemp, but the handling of the crop has presented difficulties that could only be overcome by the hardest and most arduous manual labor. Mr. Andreas is responsible for some of the machinery and' appliances which lighten the burden of hemp culture. He is inventor and manufacturer of hemp breaking machinery and of practically a complete installation of apparatus used in preparing hemp between the field and the final processes of manufacture.

Mr. Andreas is a native of Ohio. He was born near Nevada in Wyandotte County in June, 1867. His boyhood days were spent there but in 1877 he came to Indiana and finished his education with a business course in Valparaiso. For the next five years he did office work and floor work in a general store at Akron, Indiana, and then came to Pierceton and for a number of years was chiefly identified with the lumber industry. He was associated with hia brother and they both bought and sold lumber and timber. Mr. Andreas made this business his chief work until 1911.

In 1895 he married Miss Ida A. Brower, of Kosciusko County. She is a graduate of the local high school. They have three children. Susie G. is attending high school, and she was a student of St. Mary's University. The two younger children are John L., Jr., aged seven, and Sarah, aged three. Mrs. Andreas is a member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Andreas is a charter member of the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Akron, Indiana, and in politics is independent.

- His home farm comprises 188 acres adjoining Pierceton, but altogether he has under cultivation about 315 acres. He is a specialist in some of the truck crops, including ecabbages and tomatoes. AS a hemp raiser he began on a verv small scale, but especially emphasized the matter of quality. He increased his fields until he has 300 acres in cultivation. He also began the manufacture of hemp breaking machinery on a very small scale, and he put in the first drying kilns for curing hemp. A large part of his time is now taken up with installing and manufacturing hemp dryers, breaking machines and

Eimer E. McCarter. Among the men who have lived longest in Kosciusko County a place of special honor belongs to Elmer E. Mc- Carter for his unique record as a teacher in Washington Township. In later years Mr. McCarter has applied his industry successfully to the management of a first class truck farm, and is the present trustee of the township.

He was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, April 4, 1861, son of Alfred G. and Sarah A. (Stinson) McCarter. The McCarter family are of old Pennsylvania stock. Grandfather William McCarter was born in Pennsylvania January 1, 1800, and was a bricklayer by trade. He married Harriet McCord, who was born in Philadelphia November 27, 1800.

Alfred G. McCarter, father of Elmer E., was born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, May 16, 1827, and is well remembered in Kosciusko and other Indiana counties for his work as a Methodist missionary and minister. He grew up in Montgomery County, Ohio, began the trade of cabinet maker at Dayton, and in that trade worked as a journeyman for seven or eight years in different towns and localities. In 1852 he was licensed as a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Logansport and in 1853 was received into the North Indiana Conference. He did his work as a missionary preacher in nearly every county of Northern Indiana, and was retired from the ministry in 1880. In 1854 he was pastor of the churches west of Warsaw in Kosciusko County, in 1856 was on the Pierceton circuit, in 1858 on the Leesburg circuit, in 1872 on the Silver Lake circuit, and in 1873

Rev. Mr. McCarter married June 17, 1858, Sarah A. Stinson, who was born in Pike County, Ohio, February 26, 1838. She came with her parents to Indiana and grew up in Kosciusko County. Five children were born to their marriage and four are still living: George W., of Warsaw; Elmer E.; Luella, widow of Morton Little; and Harriet, wife of Dr. A. B. Rimer, of Remington, Indiana. :

Elmer E. McCarter grew up on a farm, and was educated in public schools in different localities. He also attended the Methodist College at Fort Wayne. He began teaching in early life, and for twenty-nine consecutive years had charge of one school in Washington Township, where toward the last he taught some of the children of his early

April 7, 1886, Mr. McCarter married Miss Lou Baker, who was born in Kosciusko County and was educated in the local public schools. For a number of years Mr. and Mrs. McCarter have lived on a small but highly productive farm in Washington Township, comprising seventeen acres, which they have operated as a fruit and truck farm. They have three children: Nina is a graduate of the Warsaw High School, also carried her higher education through the University of Chicago, and is now a teacher in the Pierceton High School. Jacob C., a graduate of the local high school, is connected with a wholesale jewelery house in Chicago. Alfred F. is a graduate of the Pierceton High School and is still at home with his parents. The family are members of the Methodist Church at Pierceton and Mr. McCarter has served on the official board and also as superintendent of the Sunday school for over twenty years. In politics he is a republican but his only public office has been his present responsibility as trustee of Washington Township.

JOSHUA WEAVER is one of the prominent residents of Monroe Township, where he has conducted a well managed and profitable farm for a number of years. His home is on route No. 1 out of Sidney and located four miles northeast of that village.

Mr. Weaver was born in Wood County, Ohio, August 17, 1851, and lived in that section of the Buckeye state for many years before coming to Indiana. His parents, John and Harriet (Martin) Weaver were born and married in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and from there moved to Bloom Township in Wood County, Ohio. They were among the substantial farming element of that section the rest of their lives. The father was a democrat and quite active in party affairs and filled office as township assessor, treasurer and trustee. Of the ten children only two are now living: Mary E. and Joshua. Mary is the wife of Samuel Kachensbarge, of North Baltimore, Ohio.

Joshua Weaver was reared on his father's farm in Wood County and was given a district school education. He lived at home with his parents to the age of twenty-five. On September 13, 1877, he married Amy A. Whitacre. She was born in Wood County and was educated in the schools of that locality.

Mr. and Mrs. Weaver spent nearly thirty years on a farm in Wood County but in 1905 sold out and moved to Monroe Township of Kosciusko County, where they have a large and well managed farm of 120 acres. Mr. Weaver has always been very successful in handling livestock and makes that an important feature of his farm work.

They have four children. Mary, a graduate of the high school and formerly a teacher. is the wife of Charles Dickinson and lives at Bakersfield, California. Isaac is a worker in the oil fields of California. Alta, a graduate of high school, married Charles Tracy, living near Casey, Illinois. Earl is an oil well driller in California.

Mr. Weaver is one of the deacons of the Christian Church in his neighborhood. As a democrat he has filled several offices and while in Bloom Township, Ohio, was township trustee.

SaMvuEL Guy, whose country home is known as Springdale Farm, situated two miles northwest of Pierceton on route No. 3, has spent practically all his life in Kosciusko County. He began here with small means, and his own work has contributed to his success until he now has one of the better and larger farms of this section of the county.

He was born in Prairie Township of Kosciusko County, July 11, 1858, son of Robert and Mary (Vanator) Guy. His mother was born in Morrow County, Ohio. His father died January 1, 1866, and after his death the mother married Mr. E. J. Smith. Both are now deceased, and her children were by her first marriage, named Harriet and Samuel. Harriet is unmarried and lives with her brother.

Samuel Guy lived on the old homestead in Prairie Township until he was sixteen. when his mother moved to the place he now occupies in Washington Township in 1874. His education was the product of attending the district schools until the age of sixteen and after that he went to work and used his strength in plowing and planting and otherwise helping in the management of the farm. In that way he grew to maturity and his associations with agricultural enterprise in this county have been continuous for forty years.

On November 24, 1887, he married Miss Ina V. Crum. Mrs. Guy was born in Turkey Creek Township in June, 1869, but at the age of three years her parents died and after that she grew up in Wabash County with her paternal grandmother. She was educated in the public schools until about the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Guy had one child, Roy Martin, who died at the age of fifteen.

Mrs. Guy is one of the prominent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pierceton. Mr. Guy is affiliated with Pierceton Lodge No. 377, Free and Accepted Masons, and with the Consistory of Scottish Rite at Fort Wayne. Both are active in Pierceton Chapter No. 56 of the Eastern Star, and Mrs. Guy is a past worthy matron of its Chapter and is also past lady commander of the Ladies of the Maccabees. In politics Mr. Guy votes as a republican. The farm which has been the scene of his mature activities for so many years and which has amply repaid his efforts and management comprises 140 acres and it fully justifies its name and title as Springdale Farm.

Joun W. FautKner. One of the enterprising and progressive men who are principally engaged in agricultural pursuits in Kosciusko County, John W. Faulkner brought to his calling excellent judgment and good business methods, and his labors have been crowned with success. He owns a good and well managed farm of 160 acres in Monroe Township, 31% miles south of Pierceton on rural route No. 2.

Mr. Faulkner was born in this township September 7, 1850, son of Nelson and Julia A. (King) Faulkner. His father was born in New York State and his mother in Ohio. Nelson Faulkner came to Indiana at the age of twenty-one, and became a resident of Kosciusko County. The King family came to the state in pioneer times and first located at Kendallville, and afterwards moved to Noble County, where they died. Nelson Faulkner and wife had six children, four of whom are still living: Barbara, wife of Mr. Hoagland, of Warsaw; John W.; Louisa, wife of William Klingle; Hannah, wife of William Mounson ; Rachel, who married John Kegg, and is now deceased ; and Isaac N., deceased.

John W. Faulkner spent his early days on the old farm in Monroe Township, was educated in the common schools, and lived at home until his parents moved to Pierceton. On September 2, 1874, he married Miss Alice V. Norris. Mrs. Faulkner was born in Wabash County, Indiana, December 9, 1854, but was brought to Kosciusko County as a child by her parents, who located in Monroe Township. Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner have the following children living: Lilly M., wife of George W. Campbell; Lura O., wife of James R. Winsley; Lula A.. wife of George W. Winsley; Loyal C., who married Eva M. Headlee and lives on an adjoining farm; and Lyman M., who married Fannie F. Clover and is a farmer in Monroe Township.

Extson V. Bowman. One of the prosperous farmers of Monroe Township who conducts his extensive operations with method and good judgment is Elson V. Bowman, whose home is 214 miles southeast of Pierceton on rural route No. 2.

Mr. Bowman was born on the farm where he now lives February 22, 1886, son of Thomas and Eliza (Vandergrift) Bowman. His parents are still living. Thomas Bowman was born in Stark County, Ohio, November 23, 1844, was reared and educated there. and married on February 23, 1886, Miss Vandergrift, who was born May 14, 1846. In 1872 they came to Kosciusko County, Ohio, and have been among the substantial people of this community for over forty-five years. Thomas Bowman is a veteran of the Union Army, having enlisted in the 25th Ohio Battery and saw active service for three years. He is now a member of the Grand Army Post at Pierceton, Indiana, and in pqlitics is a republican, Thomas Bowman and wife have six children, all still living: O. H. Bowman, of Monroe Township; Grace, wife of J. L. Helwig, of Warsaw; Emily, wife of O. H. Harmon, of Burlington, Colorado; Josephine, wife of C. L. Hass, of Pierceton ; Crete, who is unmarried ; and Elson.

Elson V. Bowman was educated in the district schools, also attended Pierceton High School one year, and the scene of his active labors as a farmer is the place where he was born and reared.

December 18, 1907, Mr. Bowman married Miss Alta Tatman, of LaPorte County. She is a graduate of the Union Mills High School and was a teacher two terms before her marriage. They have two children, Alice, attending the Pierceton public schools and Florence, aged five years. The family are members of the Presbyterian Church and in politics Mr. Bowman is a republican. :

Orvin S. YEAGER. There is no local office for which the qualifications of candidates are more carefully scrutinized than that of township trustee. The citizens of Jefferson Township have congratulated themselves upon the work and efficiency shown by the present incumbent of that office. Orvil S. Yeager, who has fully deserved the confidence of the community and is giving a very careful administration of the affairs entrusted to him.

Mr. Yeager, whose home is 614 miles southwest of Milford. was born in Tippecanoe Township of Kosciusko County, August 27, 1866, son of Andrew and Clarissa (Hull) Yeager. His father was a native of Canada and his mother of Ohio, and they married in Indiana. They lived for several years in Tippecanoe Township and finally settled near Nappanee. Both were members of the Church of God and the father was a deacon. In politics he voted as a republican. They had eleven children, and those now living are Charles, Annis, Ida, Rosa, Orvil and Orlando, twins, Clemma, Eva and Leonard.

Orvil S. Yeager grew up on the homestead and attended the common schools. At the age of twenty-one he started out on his own account and was a farm worker for several years.

December 28, 1889, he married Miss Lizzie Carris, a native of Indiana and reared in Kosciusko County. Mr. and Mrs. Yeager are members of the Evangelical Church and he is one of the church trustees and is very active in Sunday school. His fine home comprises twenty-seven acres in Jefferson Township. In politics he is a re-. publican.

Davip H. Lessia. There was no more admirable figure in Warsaw business circles than the late David H. Lessig, who passed away, and with his passing left vacant a high position in the community, on February 12, 1913. Those who were only familiar with him during the last twenty or thirty years of his life knew him as a man prosperous and influential beyond the ordinary. Those whose memory went further back could recall some of the hardships and obstacles which he had to overcome in his advance to success. Along the strict lines of integrity and honor he gained some of the best prizes of life.

A native of Indiana, he was born on a farm near Goshen September 4, 1851, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hart) Lessig. When he was a small boy his parents moved to Leesburg in Kosciusko County. There the father engaged in merchandising. David H. Lessig was reared to manhood in the Leesburg locality, educated by private tutors and in the public schools of Leesburg, and when only eighteen taught his first term of school. He continued teaching for two years. Early in life he had realized the importance of securing a good education. He never relaxed his studies, his close observations of men, and he was a sound reasoner in everything he undertook. _ : ,

He was only sixteen years of age when his father died. - From that time forward he had to mold his destiny according to his own energies, ambitions and ideals. Many men more fortunate in their early environment might well envy what Mr. Lessig accomplished.

Prior to attaining his majority he came to Warsaw as deputy county clerk under Gen. Reub. Williams. He remained in the Court House for three years. Returning to Leesburg, he took the post of station agent for the Big Four Railroad Company, and also served as bookkeeper for the firm of H. B. Stanley, grain dealers. Gradually he accumulated experience and some limited capital, and with this as a basis engaged in mercantile pursuits on his own account. He also during this period of his life served as trustee of Plain Township for four years, and for a similar length of time as postmaster of Leesburg.

No man in the county was better fitted for public responsibilities. In 1894 he was elected auditor of Kosciusko County, and remained in charge of that office in the Court House at Warsaw for four years. ~ The day following the expiration of his term of office he was elected president of the Lake City Bank, and this was the office with which he was most familiarly identified and which he administered with exceptional ability until his death. He had also assisted in organizing the Leesburg Grain and Milling Company and served as president of that until the close of his life.

For nine years Mr. Lessig was a member of the Board of Education and was its secretary when the fine new high school building was erected in Warsaw. He was one of the organizers of the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce, and continued on its board of directors until he was called away by death.

On March 29, 1877, Mr. Lessig married Miss Fannie Richardson, of Rochester, New York. She died on the first anniversary of their wedding. She left one daughter, Frances R., who married Earl Conrad and they have a daughter named Mary Louise. On March 9, 1888, Mr. Lessig married Miss Mary Eugenia Killbury, of Hornellsville, New York. Mrs. Lessig still lives at the old home in Warsaw, and is the mother of four children. The oldest, Harriet Louise, is Mrs. Harry Wann. The other three children are Joseph S., Donald H. and Eleanor H.

The early years of Mr. Lessig were fraught with hardships and privations. This fact undoubtedly led to his being ever ready to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than himself. Of a studious turn of mind, he was also genial, making friends readily, and invariably retaining these friendships to the end. Few men stood higher in the community because of native ability, energy and unostentatious charity. He was a Royal Arch Mason, a republican in politics, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. ;

_ Awnprew J. Hitt. An esteemed and highly respected citizen of Koseiusco County and one of its enterprising and progressive farmers, Andrew J. Hill has for many years been intimately associated with the development and promotion of agricultural interests in Seward Township. The esteem in which he is held is well reflected in the fact that he is the present trustee of the township, and this is not the only position for which his fellow citizens have indicated their absolute trust and confidence in his ability to fill.

Mr. Hill was born in Lake Township of this county February 18, 1863, a son of Charles and Mary (Batzner) Hill. His father was born in Pennsylvania July 6, 1809. His mother was born in Germany December 11, 1829, and as a girl of nine years was brought to this country by her parents, who settled in Southeastern Indiana. Mary Batzner was the second wife of Charles Hill, and their five children were: Sarena, who died at the age of fifteen; Andrew J.; Albert, who died at the age of eleven; Danie, who died when twenty-one years old; and Mary, wife of Clyde McKnight, of Indianapolis.

Andrew J. Hill grew up in Lake Township, made the most of his advantages in the district schools, and he called his parents' home his own until he was twenty-one. But from the age of nineteen he was making his own way in the world and on June 9, 1888, at the age of twenty-five, he really established himself in life when he married Emma Perry. Mrs. Hill was born in Pleasant Township of Wabash County. After their marriage they moved to the Village of Silver Lake, where he was in business for a time, but in 1892 moved to his farm of 161 acres, and to its improvement and cultivation he has given his closest attention now for over a quarter of a century.

Mr. and Mrs. Hill became the parents of nine children: Dean C., a graduate of the common schools is now serving in the United States Army; Herbert, also a common school graduate, is still at home but may also be called into the army; Eunice, wife of David Wood; Icel, wife of Russell Shoemaker; Augustus D., who is a graduate of the high school of Silver Lake and of the Normal English department of North Manchester College; Grace, a high school student; Priscilla, John and Pauline, who are the younger children and are still to finish their education in the common schools.

Mr. Hill is affiliated with Lake View Lodge No. 165, Knights of Pythias, and with the Loyal Order of Moose. In politics he is a democrat. Before his election to his present office he served as township assessor and at this writing is democratic nominee for county commissioner.

WesLey STAcKHOUSE, a native of Kosciusko County, and practieally a lifelong resident of Scott Township, has given his capable attention to farming and with such good results that he now enjoys an enviable prosperity and is well able to relieve himself of the heavier responsibilities that formerly engaged him. However, he is still living on his comfortable rural estate in Scott Township.

where they were reared and married, and all their children except Wesley were born in England. As a family they came to the United States about 1847 and were pioneers in Kosciusko County. They took an active part in church matters and the father was a republican. Of their children three are still living: Hugh, William and Wesley. Hugh still occupies the old homestead, while William is also a well known farmer of Scott Township. ide, ee

Mr. Wesley Stackhouse was well educated, partly in district and partly in select schools. He married Miss Celestia Gearhart, who was also born in Scott Township. She was a faithful companion and mother to her children, and her loss was widely lamented. She died in January, 1914. Of her nine children all but one are still living: Ella, James, Ed, Leonard, Lulu, William, Allie, Fred and Hobert.