Kosciusko County, Indiana - The whole text, 1919 (part 1 of 11)

The whole text

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A Standard History Indiana

An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development. A Chronicle of the People, with Family Lineage and Memoirs.

Chicago And New York

JOHN FREDERICK Bryer. Kosciusko County could claim no better citizen and one of more distinctive achievements during the past thirty-eight years than John Frederick Beyer of Warsaw. It was Mr. Beyer who was the primary factor in establishing one of the largest provision packing and commission firms in Northern Indiana, and as this concern is still in operation in Warsaw, there need be no further reminder of his connection with that widely known commercial enterprise. However, Mr. Beyer has made more than a commercial success, and has been one of the vital energizers and upbuilders in the county and the City of Warsaw.

A native of Germany, he was born in the Kingdom of Hesse Cassel, now a part of Prussia, October 17, 1850. He was one of a family of five sons, whose parents were August and Mary (Eckhart) Beyer. His father died when his youngest child was three months old, and the widow subsequently married George Pfeifer, by whom she had four more children.

Of the five sons, J. Frederick Beyer was the second. His older brother is still living on a farm in Germany. Reared in an attractive section of rural Germany, after leaving the common or volk schools he served a thorough five years' apprenticeship in the blacksmith's trade. In 1869, at the age of nineteen, he came to America to visit relatives. The steamer ''Donau'' on which he made the passage was twelve days in crossing the Atlantic. In his company was his brother Albert. He first went to Goshen, Indiana, where his relatives were living, and remained there seven years, a part of the time working at his trade. However, it was while at Goshen that he laid the foundation for his highly prosperous business career. He began on a small scale and with hardly any capital, to collect and handle butter and eggs, which he gathered up from local producers and shipped to outside markets. This was the germ of the present wholesale packing business of Beyer Brothers, with three main offices at Warsaw, Kendallville and Rochester, and with commission houses in New York City, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, besides numerous branch establishments throughout the country. It would be interesting if space permitted to give a detailed history of the growth of this industry. It was started by Mr. Beyer with a capital of only about $5,000 and with two wagons. It is now an incorporated company under the title Beyer Brothers Company, has a vast capital employed, and its equipment includes hundreds of wagons and automobile trucks, and an independent refrigerator line. In the course of time two more brothers, Christian C. and J. Edward, came to this country and threw in their energies with the business.

It was in February, 1877, that Mr. Beyer came to Warsaw and extended his business to this town. In the early days he had many difficulties to surmount, but by hard werk,.good business management and indomitable energy succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. Gradually, however, he withdrew from the active management of the packing business. It was not a retirement from business altogether, since in the meantime he conceived the idea of establishing an educational and pleasure park at Winona Lake. Toward that end he acquired extensive tracts of land along the eastern shore of the lake, and then in 1888, with his brothers, founded Spring Fountain Park. Their first enterprise there was a creamery, and they also built a hotel. After a few years, in 1895, Spring Fountain Park was sold to the Winona Assembly and has ever since been the beautiful grounds of what is probably the most noted and best attended chautauqua assembly in the country. Though he sold the property, Mr. Beyer was asked to remain as superintendent of the grounds. He has ever since been actively identified with the assembly, and much credit is due him for the splendid condition of the park and facilities with which thousands and thousands of people become acquainted every year. In a hardly less important manner Mr. Beyer has been a prominent factor in the making of modern Warsaw. He has been a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises. Coming to America with but little means at his command, unacquainted with the language and customs of the people, he has been wonderfully prosperous, but better still has acquired an honest name and commands universal respect.

In politics he is a republican, though he has never aspired for political office. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On - December 15, 1877, he married Miss Anna M. Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania and spent many years of his career in Elkhart County, Indiana. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Beyer are: Mae E., Carl F. and Harold R. Mr. and Mrs. Beyer are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In later years Mr, Beyer has devoted much of his attention to farming and stock raising, and is one of the most extensive cultivators of crops and general agricultural enterprise in this section of Indiana. He owns about 500 acres, comprising a splendid country estate near Warsaw, where he spends most of his time, and he also operates about . 700 other acres, largely in Kosciusko County.

known as a local preacher and exhorter of the Methodist Church, and whose descendants have borne a prominent part in the development and all the subsequent history of Kosciusko County. Before churches were built here John Cook preached in the cabins of the early settlers, in the open at camp meetings, in the isolated school house and wherever two or three.came together for religious worship. His familiar figure, traveling about on horseback, was a welcome sight to the lonely settler. With his wife, whose maiden name was Ann Houston, John Cook settled ingwhat is now Plain Township in 1834, when Kosciusko was still a part of Elkhart County. He then took up what was known as a ''floater's claim'' which, owing to uncertainty as to boundary lines, ultimately proved to have been previously settled upon. In this way he lost the claim and the round log cabin he had erected thereon, and then moved into the wilds of what is now Wayne Township, that being before Warsaw was platted as a town. He lived in Wayne the rest of his days, and because of his many admirable traits of character was universally esteemed. :

In the second generation of the Cook family's residence in Kosciusko County was John W. Cook, a son of John and Ann (Houston) Cook. John W. was born in Ohio, and was quite young when he came with his parents to Kosciusko County in 1834. He had much to do with those things which help make pioneer history. He was the first man appointed to the office of constable in Kosciusko County after it was organized. He assisted in making the shingles that served for a roof on the first frame house built in Warsaw. Like his father he was prominently identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and did much to keep up religious worship in a new country. He was a member of the first jury empanneled in the county, and he assisted in blazing the road to Rochester through swamps and around hills. He was a strong man in a community which especially needed strong men. He was a thorough Christian and a man who made his deeds conform to his beliefs. He gave liberally of his substance, aided many less prosperous than himself, and was the type of early settler whose character should be longest remembered by those who came afterward. John W. Cook married Ann Pettinger. Eight of his children were reared to mature years: Nicholas P., James A., Stephen N., Allen T., Henry, Mary D., Peter S. and William F. Peter and William were ministers of the Methodist Chureh and did pioneer missionary labors in Dakota Territory.

James Asbury Cook, at the time of his death perhaps the oldest representative of the Cook family living in Kosciusko County, was born when Kosciusko County was still a wilderness. He was born on his father's farm September 22, 1843, a son of John W. and Ann (Pettinger) Cook. As a boy he had the advantages of the country schools and for several terms taught school in the winter terms. His children and descendants will always be proud of the fact that he served as a soldier in the Civil war. He enlisted in February, 1864, as a member of Company A, Seventy-Fourth Indiana Infantry. That regiment bore its full share of campaigning in the march and siege of Atlanta, but just before the battle of Resaca in that campaign he was taken ill and sent to a hospital. He subsequently rejoined the regiment, was with Sherman in his triumphant movements through Georgia and up through the Carolinas, and after participating in the grand review at Washington was honorably discharged in July, 1865. During the last few weeks of his service he was a member of the Twenty-Second Indiana Infantry. ,

After the war Mr. Cook applied himself to the business of farming in Harrison Township. He was also active in that locality as a citizen, served in the office of constable, and in the spring of 1866 was¢lected assessor of Harrison Township for four years. He continued his career as a farmer until 1897, and then lived in Warsaw for a time, went back to his farm and managed it several years longer, but from 1902 was a permanent resident of the county seat. For a number of years Mr. Cook served as ditch viewer, and in that connection had much to do with county improvement. He served his second term as a member of the Warsaw city council. In politics he was a republican, was active in the Methodist Episcopal Church and affiliated with Kosciusko Post' No. 114, Grand Army of the Republic. On September 6, 1868, only a few years after he returned from the war, Mr. Cook married Mary J. Huffer, daughter of Joseph Huffer. Five children were born to their marriage: John W., Jacob E., Anna B., Joseph M. and Matilda J. Two of these children, John W. and Joseph Merlin, are now deceased. Jacob E. is a stock buyer and farmer in Harrison Township. Anna B. is a deaconess in the Methodist Episcopal Church and for the past fifteen years has resided at Dubuque, Iowa. Matilda J. married Edward Levi, and they reside in Warsaw.

The mother of these children died June 5, 1883. In March; 1884, Mr. Cook married Mrs. Mary C. (Harter) Lehman, daughter of Mathias: Harter and widow of Benjamin F. Lehman, reference to both of vb is made in subsequent sketches. Mr. Cook died on May 12, 1916.

Maruias Harter, the father of Mrs. James A. Cook of Warsaw, was a prominent old settler in Kosciusko County. He was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in 1808, son of Christian and Elizabeth Harter, and during his youth and early manhood he lived successively in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Indiana. He was a blacksmith by trade. In 1833 he united with the United Brethren Church, and was one of its most earnest supporters wherever he lived. It was due to exposure while working on the camp meeting grounds at Warsaw that he was taken with the illness which brought about his death on September 17, 1886. .

In December, 1831, Mathias Harter married Mary Easterly. She was born November 27, 1812, in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Lawrence and Catherine Easterly. She was sixteen years of age when the family moved to Richland County, Ohio. Several years after their marriage Mathias Harter and wife came to Kosciusko County, and for many years he was one of the prominent residents of Harrison Township. His home was in section 15, west of Warsaw, and he developed a large and valuable farm in that locality. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, and those who reached mature years were George W., Henry, Susan, Mathias, William and Mary C. Four of the sons of Mathias Harter were Union soldiers. One of them, Jonathan, died while in the army at Chattanooga, Tennessee, July 4, 1864. The oldest, George, entered the army in 1862, was advanced from private to second lieutenant, to first lieutenant, and in March, 1864, was made captain in the Seventy-Fourth Indiana Infantry.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN LEHMAN, who spent nearly all his life in Kosciusko County, was a splendid citizen, and his record as a soldier during the Civil war should be especially remembered and made a matter of record in this publication.

He was born in Ohio, a son of John Lehman. The family came to Kosciusko County when Benjamin F. was a boy in his teens, and he grew up in this locality and acquired his education in the public schools. From the schools he graduated into the active- work of the farm and continued that vocation until the outbreak of the Civil war. Then, when the country most needed defenders, in July, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the Seventy-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. For a time he was in the instruction camp at Camp Allen at Fort Wayne, and was regularly mustered into service on August 21, 1862. He saw much of the arduous campaigning through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia, fought at Hoover's Gap, and in the great battle of Chickamauga was wounded in the left leg by a minie ball. He recovered in time to join his regiment immediately after the fall of Atlanta. Thence he marched with Sherman's splendid army to the sea, up through the Carolinas, and the last event of his service was the grand review at Washington. He received an honorable discharge at Indianapolis June 16, 1865.

After the war Mr. Lehman resumed his life as a farmer in Kosciusko County. On March 10, 1872, he married Mary C., daughter of Mathias Harter. To their marriage were born two sons: Herbert C., who is in the railway mail service and has his home in Warsaw, and Edgar E., who is auditor of the Dalton Foundry at Warsaw. Both these sons made records in the Spanish-American war, the former as a private and the latter as sergeant in Company H of the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

Benjamin Franklin Lehman died January 5, 1878. His death was hastened by the wounds which he had received in the battle of Chickamauga and he practically laid down his life for the integrity of the Union. He was an active member of the United Brethren Church.

Aupueus B. Uvrey. It indicates to a large degree the esteem in which he is held by his neighbors that Alpheus B. Ulrey was noininated for the office of trustee of Jackson Township in 1918. He has also served as a member of the Township Advisory Board. He is a man of first-class ability and is known among his neighbors as a very suceessful farmer. The Ulrey home is in section 5 of Jackson Township, two miles south and a mile and a half west of Sidney.

tlers and have long been well known in this southeastern corner of Kosciusko County. Alpheus B. was born in the township August 18, 1889, a son of Gabriel and Mary A. (Kreider) Ulrey. His father was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, four miles from the City of Dayton, December 26, 1839, and died April 23, 1914. His mother was born in Ohio July 27, 1843, and is still living at the advanced age of seventy-five. The parents were children when their respective parents came to Indiana and located in Kosciusko County, and here they grew up and married May 8, 1862. Gabriel Ulrey was an ordained elder in the Church of the Brethren. His children were: Rosa, born August 23, 1863, wife of A. J. Wertenberger; Anna, born October 10, 1865, wife of Jacob N. Miller; Lizzie, born September 1, 1868, wife of Jacob A. Metzger, of Jackson Township; Alice, born March 19, 1870, wife of Albert Miller, and she died in February, 1903; Mattie, born August 20, 1872, wife of S. N. Hawley, living in California; Asa, born December 4, 1875, a farmer in Jackson Township; Alpheus B.; and Ella, born April 4, 1882; wife of E. P. Tridle, of Sidney.

Alpheus B. Ulrey had as his boyhood environment the old home farm, and he learned the common branches taught in the neighboring district schools. At the age of twenty, on April 12, 1900, he married Miss Cora Ross, who was born in Jackson Township, January 12, 1878, daughter of John and Jane (Stout) Ross. Mrs. Ulrey was educated in the public schools of Jackson Township.

After their marriage they rented the Ross farm for a number of years, but in 1905 moved to their present. place of eighty acres, one of the high class and valuable farms of that township.

Mr. and Mrs. Ulrey have six children: Flossie, born March 13, 1902, a graduate of the common schools; Fern, born October 7, 1904, who has also completed the course of the common schools; John A., born December 10, 1907; Irene and Pauline, twins, born April 20, 1911; and Gladys, born August 14, 1914. The family are members of the Church of the Brethren and Mr. Ulrey takes an active. part in church affairs and is a deacon. Politically his active part has been played as a republican.

Revra DePvy is one of the men who have helped to make Warsaw an industrial center. He first located in this city in 1896 and founded what is now the DePuy Manufacturing Company, a factory that turns out products that are sold all over the country, employing a number of workmen, and the payroll is one of the important assets of the community.

By birth Mr. DePuy is a Michigan man, having been born in Grand Rapids March 22, 1861. His father, James DePuy, was a lawyer in Grand Rapids, but when the son Revra was still a child he took his family to Canada, where he died. The mother subsequently returned to the United States and lived in Marseilles, Illinois.

Owing to the early death of his father, Revra DePuy came face to face with hard circumstances in his boyhood. He lived in a number of different localities and supported himself by many kinds of work. He was compelled to fight the battle of life unaided, and his education was largely such as he could pick up by an occasional term in the regular schools and by much reading and study in private. As a boy he worked as a clerk in a drug store, and this led to his taking a course in chemistry in the University of Toronto, from which institution he received his diploma. EoD leaving the university he went as a traveling salesman, and it was while making the rounds of his customers that he first came to Warsaw. He came to that city with a purpose. He had conceived the idea and had carefully worked out a plan for manufacturing a fiber splint to take the place of the wooden splints which up to then were almost entirely employed for broken bones. On the basis of this idea, Mr. DePuy began in a very small way his manufacturing industry at Warsaw in 1896. He soon had the business on a profitable basis. In 1901 he responded to some inducement and removed his factory to Niles, Michigan, where he incorporated the company. However, the concern did not prosper there in accordance with his plans and expectations, and in 1904 he returned the business to Warsaw. He has continued with more than an average degree of success. With the progress of time the wood fiber splint, which constituted the basis of his manufacturing enterprise, gave way to wire cloth, and that is now the chief output of the DePuy factory. There are sixteen people employed in the local industry, and six of these are traveling salesmen.

Mr. DePuy is married and is recognized as one of the substantial men of Warsaw and Kosciusko County. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Owen S. Gasxity. Any history of the Village of Burket, which was established thirty-five years ago, must repeat the name of Owen S. Gaskill in connection with nearly all its leading interests and industries. Mr. Gaskill is a pioneer lumberman, having been in the business for over half.a century, and in the past has owned several of the mills which at one time gave to Burket its chief industry, lumber manufacture. He is also a banker, practical farmer and stock raiser, and his long life has contained a succession of undertakings, beginning with the struggles of a poor boy and mounting gradually higher until they have become vitally identified with the entire community.

Mr, Gaskill is president of the Bank of Seward, which was organized with a capital stock of $10,000. The other executive officers are Mrs. Ida Huffer, vice president, and H. H. Roberts, cashier. The directors of the bank are Mr. Gaskill, H. H. Roberts, W. S. Howard, George Alexander and Clem Jones, while the finance committee consists of Mr. Gaskill and W. S. Howard. Mr. Gaskill and his son, E. E. Gaskill, are also large stock holders in the State Bank of Warsaw and his son is one of the directors of the bank. The business of lumbering is still carried on under the name Gaskill & Son. Mr. Gaskill and son have about 600 acres of land under their ownership in Kosciusko County.

Mr. Gaskill was born in Stark County, Ohio, December 25, 1838, a son of Levi and-Nancy A. (Maxwell) Gaskill. His mother was a native of Meadsville, Pennsylvania. At an early age Owen S. Gaskill was thrown on his own resources. A limited attendance at district schools was all the education he was able to secure. For five years he worked from early morning to late at night on a dairy farm. He also had another youthful experience as a laborer in a brick factory. As a youth he was modest, quick in comprehension, thrifty and industrious, and naturally gained the sympathy and earned the assistance of the people around him. While he was attending school at Marlboro, Ohio, a proposal came to him to move to Indiana and teach a term of school. In the fall of 1858, at the age of twenty, he arrived at Bourbon, Indiana, and taught there during the following winter of 1858-59. Altogether he taught four years. After his first term he had no difficulty in securing a school. His first license for two years was renewed for two years more. He invested some of his first earnings in a tract of land and has never been without some practical interests in agriculture and land development.

In 1863 Mr. Gaskill was drafted for service in the army and was with Company C of the Eighty-Third Indiana Infantry until the close of the war. He brought back from the army only $37.50. Returning to Bourbon, he joined his brother, who had come from Ohio in 1860, and built a sawmill near that town. Mr. O. S. Gaskill acquired a half interest in this mill and at the end of two years sold out and realized a cash capital of $3,700. He used $2,700 of this to buy a hardware store at Bourbon. The next ten years were spent in the hardware trade, but despite his best efforts his business failed to prosper. Having lost all his capital, he had to begin all over again. Here again he resorted to farming, buying thirty acres and paying for it out of the proceeds of his labor. Some friends who recognized his sterling honesty and industry supplied him with the capital to get into the lumber business again, and from the stumpage of a tract which he bought he cleared up a good profit and that started him again on the road to prosperity.

In the fall of 1880 Mr. Gaskill came to Burket, which, however, had not yet been established, and acquired a half interest in the sawmill through the backing of Mr. C. L. Morris. In 1881 he moved into the Village of Burket, and has been his home now ever since. As a sawmill man he has cleared off and converted into lumber many tracts in Northeastern Indiana. In 1883 he bought ninety-four acres near Burkett, and that was one among many profitable enterprises.

Mr. Gaskill married Mary J. Collins, who died in 1893, and was the mother of Mr. E. E. Gaskill of Warsaw. For his present wife Mr. Gaskill married Hattie Elliott, of New York.

Mr. Gaskill is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Burket, is affiliated with Bourbon Lodge of Masons and is a former master of the lodge. In politics he is a republican, and has filled positions on the township advisory board.

ANDREW GEROW Woop, the dean of the Kosciusko County bar, not long ago celebrated his eightieth birthday anniversary. While there are many men who reach the age of fourscore, comparatively few make these years significant by such experience and achievement as have been the lot of Captain Wood. He earned a captain's commission by service in the Civil War during the dark days of the sixties. For fully half a century he has practiced law at Warsaw. His fellow citizens in Kosciusko County do not need these statements of fact in order to appreciate his sterling character and his value as a citizen. As a matter of permanent record for the future, how ever, something more concerning his career should be noted here.

He was born at Marysville in Union County, Ohio, January 16, 1835. Dr. Ira Wood, his father, who was of Irish ancestry, was born in New York State, was reared there, read medicine, and in 1821 became one of the early physicians to practice at Canton, Ohio. He was married at Canton to Margaret Hawley. She was the daugh ter of John Hawley, who was born in Ireland and married in that country at the age of twenty-one. John Hawley lived near Fingal's Cave and was of old strict Presbyterian stock. He immigrated to the United States, lived for a short time near Myers Lake, in Stark County, Ohio, and then moved to the locality of Marysville, Ohio, where his death occurred at the venerable age of eighty-nine years. When that movement in American politics was at its height he was a member of the knownothing party.

Ohio. He built a two-story frame house, the first house of frame timbers erected in that locality. There he engaged in the practice of medicine with Dr. Andrew Gerow as his partner, and they were closely associated not only professionally but on terms of great friendship, and Captain Wood was named for his father's partner. Dr. Wood died at Marysville in 1839. He and his wife were the parents of eight children, three of whom died in infancy. One died in 1860, another in 1900, another in 1914, and still another in 1916. Captain Wood of Warsaw is the only living survivor of these children. Andrew Gerow Wood was reared at Marysville, Ohio. His youthful days were not particularly eventful. He attended school, and also developed a good constitution and helped pay his way by working on farms belonging to his uncles. At one time he was paid $3.00 a month for this kind of work, and at another $4.00 per month. He carefully put away the money thus earned and with it bought a scholarship at the Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware. He spent two years as a student there, and as he had little money beyond enough to pay his tuition, he maintained himself by working evenings and on Saturdays. At the age of twenty he found employment in the general store of Fullington, Garwood & Company at Milford Center, Ohio. ,

While living at Milford and employed as a struggling young . clerk, Dr. Wood was married October 10, 1855, to Rose A. Reed, daughter of Samuel Reed, a farmer of Champaign County, Ohio.

In the same year of their marriage Mr. Wood and bride moved out to Waterloo, Iowa. That was then a remote community, and there were few white settlers around the Waterloo of that time. .He spent fifteen months there as a member of the general mercantile firm of Elwells & Wood. They conducted a trading post and carried on most of their business with the Indians who lived around Waterloo. Then returning to Milford Center, Ohio, Mr. Wood resumed business under the firm name of Wood & Reed, handling retail dry goods stock, in which he continued for about four years.

With this varied experience behind him Captain Wood then returned to his native town of Marysville and took up the study of law in the office of P. B. Cole. His preceptor afterwards became the father-in-law of Charles W. Fairbanks, Vice President of the United States, and Mr. Fairbanks himself read law under Mr. Cole.

Admitted to the bar of Ohio in August, 1860, Captain Wood in 1861 moved to Lawrenceburg in Southern Indiana and took up practice as a member of the firm of Gregg & Wood. He handled his law cases as a rising young attorney in that city during the first years of the Civil War, but in February, 1864, enlisted in Company H{ of the One Hundred and Twenty-Third Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a private. He was later elected first lieutenant and still later captain of his company, but owing to lack of men to complete the company organization he never mustered in, though holding a captain's commission. His command was part of the division under the leadership of Gen. A. P. Hovey, who afterwards. became governor of Indiana. Soon after he was mustered in he went to Louisville, Kentucky, spent a week there in an instruction camp, and then for a short time was stationed at Fort Negley, near Nashville. From there his command marched to Cleveland, Tennessee, spent four days there, and thence on to Chattanooga, where he arrived in time to participate in Sherman's great campaign against Atlanta. During that compaign he was aid-de-camp on the staff of General McQuiston. In the historic advance towards Atlanta he fought at the battles of Resaca, Kingston, Rome, Ezra Church, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain. His was the first brigade that crossed the pon- - toon bridge spanning the river six miles from Atlanta. With the fall of Atlanta Captain Wood and his command were detached from Sherman's army, leaving that organization at Rome, then marched back to Chattanooga, took train to Nashville, and went to Columbia and across Duck River and participated in those battles which finally broke the resistance of the Confederacy in the Mississippi Valley. He fought at Spring Hill, and at the great battle of Franklin he was on detached duty with the staff of General Strickland. From Franklin he accompanied the Federal troops to Nashville, where sixteen days later, under General Thomas, was fought the battle whieh effectually dissipated the Confederate army under Hood. From Tennessee Captain Wood was sent to Clifton, thence to Washington, D. C., on to Wilmington, and at Jonesboro he again joined Sherman's army. While on the way to Raleigh he participated in the battle of Wise Forks, known in history as Kingston, which was the last important engagement of the long struggle between t North and the South. When peace was deeleeea CRriate Woo, along with the Twenty-Third Army Corps, went to Charlotte, North Carolina, thence to Salisbury, and on September 14, 1865, was mustered out of service. On April 1, 1865, at Charlotte, North Carolina, he was appointed judge advocate of that place, and he also had jurisdiction at Salisbury until mustered out.

On leaving the army Captain Wood returned to Indiana, and on November 8, 1865, located at Warsaw. This has been his home ever since, now fully half a century, and all those years have been spent in the practice of his profession. But little important litigation has been tried in the local courts with which Captain Wood has not been identified on one side or the other. It is indeed a stranger in Warsaw who does not know Captain Wood's law offices. In fact, those offices are almost as much of a landmark in the city as the courthouse itself. For forty-one years he has interviewed his clients and has welcomed his friends in one and the same office building. In that long period he has seen many of his former contemporaries leave the county or pass to their last reward. He has had a number of partners in practice. F. E. Bowser, now Judge of the Circuit Court, was a student under his direction and afterwards was for twenty years a partner.

In politics Captain Wood is a democrat. He was the first demoeratic councilman and mayor ever elected to those offices in Warsaw. That was more of a compliment to his recognized standing and personal character, perhaps, than to the party of which he was a member. He has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for fifty-seven years, and is a member of both the subordinate lodge and the Hackleman Encampment of that order. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, of the Loyal Order of Moose, and his church is the Episcopal.

Captain Wood and wife became the parents of three children. Charlotte was the wife of Abe Brubaker, but she and her husband and two of their children are now deceased, and the only survivor is a son, Lawrence Brubaker, an active member of the Warsaw bar. The daughter, Jennie, married O. P. Eversole, they live at Fort Wayne, and have two children, Sarah and Arthur. Mrs. Eversole's ' daughter is the wife of James Johnson, of Fort Wayne, and she has two children, Jennie and Dorothy. Emma, the third daughter of Captain Wood, married Oscar Baker, and they live in Warsaw. There is one child in the Baker family, Edgar. Thus Captain Wood in his declining years has the comfort and solace of four grandchildren.

Hmam D. Miuuer. The chief financial institution in the southeastern corner of Kosciusko County is the Bank of Sidney. Above and more important than its financial status and resources are the personnel of the men behind it and active in its management. A. B. Palmer is president, G. J. Smith is vice president, Hiram D. Miller is

Hiram D. Miller has been cashier of the bank nearly ten years. He is a well trained and efficient business man, and has lived in this community most of his life. He was born in Jackson Township, on a farm four miles south of Sidney, March 19, 1874, a son of Levi J. and Anna E. (Ulrey) Miller. Both his father's and mother's families have been long and usefully identified with this section of Indiana. His father was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, October 4, 1845, while his mother was born in Jackson Township of Kosciusko County, September 2, 1847. The grandparents were John and Mary A. (Mishler) Miller, who brought their family to Indiana in 1847 and settled in section 18 of Jackson Township. The grandparents spent the rest of their days on their farm, and they were active members of the Church of the Brethren, the chief religious organization in that part of the township. Levi J. Miller was one of a family of six sons and four daughters. After his marriage to Anna E. Ulrey he located in Jackson Township, lived there until 1876, then had a farm two and a half miles east of Claypool in Clay Township until the fall of 1882, when he returned to Jackson Township and continued his active life as a farmer until 1908. His wife died in 1905, and in 1908 he moved to Wabash County, lived on a farm there for ten years, and in the spring of 1918 retired to North Manchester, where he is still living. In his family were seven children by his first marriage, and those living today are: Joseph H., cashier of the Farmers State Bank of Cherubusco, Indiana, and who formerly served as postmaster of Syracuse, of Kosciusko County, fourteen years; Hiram D.; Ora, wife of Vern Bushong; Melvin F., assistant cashier of the Bank of Sidney; Lizzic, wife of Ford Landis; and Dayton, a farmer in Elkhart County. The one deceased child was named Alvin.

Hiram D. Miller grew up in Clay and Jackson Townships. The education of his youth was supplied by the local schools, also the higher schools at North Manchester and the Tri-State Normal College at Angola. With this splendid education Mr. Miller was a successful teacher for seven years, altogether in Jackson Township. Then for six years he was engaged in the hardware business at Sidney, and selling out removed to Syracuse, where he remained eight months, and for two years was located at North Manchester. Returning to Sidney in March, 1909, he took up his present duties and responsibilities as cashier of the local bank.

December 24, 1899, Mr. Miller married Miss Susie Ulrey, who was born in Kosciusko County, member of one of the well known families of that name in the southeastern part of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have four children: Paul and Pauline, twins, born May 8, 1901, now in the third year of the local high school; Carl, born August 1, 1912; and Bennett, born July 8, 1914.

The family are members of the Brethren Church, and Mr. Miller is clerk of the church society. He is now serving as Master of Sidney Lodge No. 579, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; he is also affiliated with Chester Chapter No. 47 Royal Arch Masons. Politically

J. D. Lee Curne ig superintendent of the Silver Lak i schools, has been identified with educational work since evi eaase hood, and unlike most educators is also a progressive and rather successful business man, having a number of interests as a farmer and formerly as a merchant, and is one of the leaders in local civic activities and in those movements which are helping win the war.

Mr. Cline was born in Adams County, Indiana, May 21, 1881. He represents an old and prominent family of Root Township in this county. His ancestors for several generations lived in the State of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Jacob Cline, was born in Pennsylvania, married Barbara Robinson of that state, and immediately after marriage moved to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and about 1838 loaded his household goods upon a wagon and with ox and horse teams crossed the country to Northeastern Indiana. He secured 160 acres of land in section 14 of Root Township, and in a house of logs he and his family put up with the primitive conditions for a number of years. They lived principally upon corn bread and wild meat. Jacob Cline was a resolute home maker, put all his land under the plow, and in his later years enjoyed the comforts of a good home and an ample competence. He was a class Jeader for many ate in the first church of the Méthodist denomination in his township.

The parents of Superintendent Cline were George B. and Lavinia (Luckey) Cline. George B. Cline was born in Root Township of Adams County March 26, 1842, and is one of the three surviving children of his father. The other two are Jonas and William.

George Cline grew to maturity in Adams County, attended the district schools, and after his marriage became a farmer, but is now living retired in Decatur, from which city he oversees his farming interests. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. George Cline was a gallant soldier of the Union Army, serving more than four years in Company C of the Forty- Seventh Indiana Infantry. Politically he is a republican. He and his wife had three children: Martha D., who studied music in Ohio University and is the wife of Dr. W. E. Smith of Decatur; J. D. Lee; and Juna G., who died in infancy.

J. D. L. Cline had a farm rearing, and his first advantages were supplied by the district schools. Later he attended the Decatur High School and was only seventeen when he taught his first winter term in a country district. In the intervals of teaching he attended higher schools and acquired an education which well fitted him for the responsibilities of leadership he now enjoys. He was a student in the Ohio Northern University of Ada, in Valparaiso University 'and also in Winona College under Dr. Rigdon. Mr. Cline holds the degrees A. B. and A. M., and is now possessor of a life certificate from the state. He has filled positions in all the grades of teaching

Mr. Cline has been a resident of Silver Lake since 1905. For a time he was in the drug business here and also resumed his work as an educator in charge of the grammar school, and is now superintendent of the entire school system of the village.

Mr. Cline married Miss Daisy A. Cline, who was a student of music at Valparaiso University. They have one son, Eldred D., born April 13, 1905, now a student in the eighth grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Cline are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Modern Woodmen of America, and has filled chairs in these orders. He is a republican and is now serving his fifth term as town clerk of Silver Lake. He is also president of the local Red Cross Chapter of Silver Lake Township, - and Mrs. Cline gives much of her time to supervising the sewing department of that chapter. Mr. Cline owns a small farm of forty acres in Adams Township, and has an interest in another place of 'eighty acres in the same county. His own home in Silver Lake is a& modern residence on Jefferson street.

Frank C. Tucker, M. D. V., whose work as a veterinary surgeon has made him well known in Claypool and surrounding territory, is a grandson of that splendid Kosciusko County pioneer Horace Tucker, and this is a point at which it is appropriate to mention some of the interesting details of the Tucker family history.

Dr. Tucker's ancestors 'were New England people. His greatgrandfather, John Tucker, was born in New Hampshire in 1791, and in 1815 settled as a pioneer in the woods of Richland County, Ohio. After three years of pioneer experience he returned to New Hampshire and married Mary Ward, who was born in 1800. In 1818 the young couple returned to Ohio, and it is said that for six months Mrs. Tucker never saw the fage of a white woman, her neighbors being chiefly Indians. John Tucker was a man of fine education, and had a record of thirty-five consecutive terms of school teaching in Ohio. In December, 1853, he moved to Kosciusko County, having bought several years before land upon which the Village of Sevastopol was later situated. This village was surveyed and named by him. About that time the Crimean War was in progress and the achievements of the British army at Sevastopol were prominent in the popular mind. Though in advanced years John Tucker after coming to Kosciusko County also planted the seed and developed a fine apple orchard. His wife died February 27, 1876, and he soon afterwards returned to Ohio, and while there was taken ill and died December 25, 1879. He was laid to rest in Kosciusko County. John Tucker and wife had six children: Horace, Aurelius, Albert, Serena, Regulus and Livonia.

The real pioneer of the Tucker family in Kosciusko County was Horace Tucker, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, November 8, 1825. In 1846 he came to Kosciusko County, and paid $2.50 an acre for a tract of 160 acres in section 20 of Franklin Township. The following spring he cut down the first timber and erected a log cabin, and in the fall of 1847 went back to Ohio and married on January 13, 1848, Eliza Johnston, daughter of Francis and Ann (Fleming) Johnston. In the fall of that year they returned to Kosciusko County, and it was in their log cabin home that all their three children were born, namely: Albert L.; Rosella, who married Jonathan Tinkey; and Hollis C.

Horace Tucker lived a life of great industry and was a man of remarkable business judgment, and came to be classed as one of the wealthy citizens of the county. He was a pioneer stock raiser and dealer, and it is said that with a partner he took the first carload of stock ever sent by railroad from Warsaw. It is said that when Horace Tucker and his wife came to Kosciusko County he brought all their household possessions and goods in a small box. Much of their furniture was hand made and of the crudest description. But their prosperity enabled them to introduce many improvements as they came. They brought the first cooking stove into Franklin Township, an implement which Mr. Tucker bought at Fort Wayne. It is said that the neighbors for miles around came to view this wonderful improvement over the old style of cooking at the open fireplace. In 1871 Horace Tucker erected a substantial brick residence, and it was the first home in Franklin Township heated by furnace steam. His windmill pump was the second in the township. He not only made improvements himself, but fostered improvements affecting the general community welfare, though he steadfastly refused any political honors, being satisfied merely to vote as a republican.

Dr. Frank C. Tucker was born in Franklin Township, a son of Albert L. and Elizabeth (Bechtelheimer) Tucker. His father was born in Franklin Township in 1848, and his wife in the same locality. Doctor Tucker was only an infant when his mother died March 16, 1888. He was the youngest of eight children, and was reared largely by a sister and also in the home of his grandfather, Horace Tucker. He attended district schools, and in 1906 entered the Mc- Killip Veterinary College at Chicago, from which he graduated with his degree in the spring of 1909. He began practice at South Whitley, Indiana, but on January 2, 1912, returned to Kosciusko County and located at Claypool, where he has his office and headquarters. His services are in almost constant demand by the farmers and stock raisers of that community.

September 2, 1908, Mr. Tucker married Frances Kern, daughter of Jacob and Martha Kern. Mrs. Tucker was born in Franklin Township, and had two years of high school work. They have two sons, Marshall B., born July 22, 1909; and Carl C., born Septemher 15, 1911. Dr. and Mrs. Tucker are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Claypool. He is affiliated with Lake City Lodge No. 73, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is a democrat in politics.

Monroe Pautus. In the Indiana plan of local government the most important office is that of township trustee. Through this office is administered the business and financial management of the local schools, and the conditions of the schools, highways and other improvements are largely an index of the character of the man chosen to fill that important office. The present incumbent of that office in Lake Township is Monroe Paulus, whose family was one of the first to locate in this section of the county, and the name Paulus has been prominently identified with that locality for over three quarters of a century. ~~,

Monroe Paulus was born a mile and a half east of Silver Lake in Clay Township, February 5, 1858, son of Daniel and Maria A. (Miller) Paulus. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Maryland, and after their marriage they lived in Montgomery County, Ohio, and in 1841 moved to Kosciusko County and settled in the wild woods, where they had a log cabin home until they could provide themselves with one of greater comforts. Daniel Paulus and his brother Jacob were the first merchants in what is now Silver Lake Village, and they were the founders of that town, the town being laid out on land owned by Jacob. Their old store, a hewed log structure, stood until 1884. Daniel Paulus and wife both died in 1886. They had their home on the farm where Monroe was born until 1864, when they moved to the Village of Silver Lake. Daniel Paulus was a democrat and a very active man of his party. He and his wife had the following children: Jacob M., Annie, David, Catherine, Henry, Mary A., Susannah, Elizabeth, Lydia, Monroe and Sarah. Five of these children are still living

Monroe Paulus grew up at Silver Lake, and after finishing his education went to work in a saw mill. He also had a splendid experience in grist and flour mills and in a butter tub factory. For three . years he was in the saw mill business in Eastern Tennessee, and for two and a half years was superintendent of the Nettleton Hardwood Lumber Business. He also spent two and a half years in: the far west, in Utah, in the milling business. :

In January, 1898, Mr. Paulus married Alice Funk, a native of Kosciusko County. After his marriage Mr. Paulus spent another period of two and a half years in the saw mill business in the State of Mississippi. On returning to Lake Township he resumed farming, and has since steadily devoted his time to his place of eighty-five acres three-quarters of a mile north of Silver Lake.

He and his wife have four children: Cloice, who is married and lives on the home farm and has twin sons, Corlyss and Corlyle; Glenn, a graduate of high school, now serving with the American forces in the war against Germany; Meta, a graduate of the Silver Lake High School, and now a student in the South Bend College; and Thelma, who is in the second year of the local high school.

Mr. Paulus is affiliated with Deming Lodge No. 88, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at North Manchester, and is also a Past Noble Grand and a member of the Grand Lodge of the Odd Fellows, his local affiliation being with Silver Lake Lodge No. 576. In polities he is a democrat and it was as a member of that: party, but chiefly as the man best fitted for the place, that his fellow citizens chose him for the responsibilities of township trustee.

Smas W. Curpman. Much that is worthy and estimable in human life was the lot of Silas W. Chipman, president of the State Bank of Warsaw. He was one of the early merchants of Kosciusko County, and for more than half a century lived up to his obligations as a banker and business man, and it would be an effort to imagine the first prosperity of Warsaw dissociated from the influence and enterprise of this venerable citizen, who was one of the oldest and one of the few remaining at the time of his death of the very early settlers. For years his fellow citizens regarded him as their natural leader, though he never took any part in politics, and he gained his enviable position through the strictest integrity in every relation.

Mr. Chipman died at Warsaw March 9, 1916, when within one week of ninety years of age. Death came very suddenly from heart failure. He was actively engaged in the banking business until the day of his death. His was a long and useful life. He was a New Englander by birth and ancestry, and was born in Addison County, Vermont, March 16, 1826. His parents, Isaac and Sarah H. (Hemenway) Chipman were of English ancestry. The first of the family in America came when the country was in its colonial period of development, and members of subsequent generations have taken their full share in the national wars, in the work of legislative bodies, and in business and the professions. Isaac Chipman was a farmer, but was a man of more than ordinary local influence in his section of Vermont. He served aS a justice of the peace, was a member of both the Lower House and Senate of Vermont, in politics was first a whig and later a republican, and was a member of the Congregational Church. Of his seven children two subsequently took a prominent part in business affairs in Kosciusko County, Indiana.

Silas W. Chipman had the usual environment and experiences of a New England boy during the early half of the last century. He gained a training on one of the rugged farms of Vermont and was edueated in district schools. Soon after reaching manhood, in 1849, he came to the then small and isolated Village of Warsaw, Indiana. Here his first employment was as clerk in the store of Atwood & Pottenger, but not long afterwards he and his brother Samuel H. established a mercantile enterprise of their own. Mr. Chipman remained an active merchant of Warsaw until 1881, and nearly all of the older settlers recall his store as one of the landmarks of the town. After the death of his brother Samuel he succeeded him as president of the State Bank of Warsaw. For more than a third of a century Mr. Chipman was president of this institution, and his name was invariably used as synonym for integrity and sound commercial judgment.

who died in infancy ; Antoinette, who died at the age of thirteen; and Helen M. A republican in politics, Silas W. Chipman steadfastly declined all political favors, and gave his greatest service to the community as a conservator of its financial resources and as a splendid example of commercial integrity. For a great many years he was an active member of the Presbyterian Church. Perhaps his greatest interest in life was his church. He sacrificed financially that he might give to the church and its missionary enterprises. For twenty-two years he was superintendent of the Sabbath school and was a noble example of a Christian business man.

JONATHAN TINKEY. To live many years is something of an achievement, to live them usefully and well, to accumulate as well as to distribute prosperity and happiness, to bring a masterful mind and courage to the successive problems and obstacles of life - that is to deserve well of destiny and merit those items and practice which make up success

Such has been the life of Jonathan Tinkey of Seward Township, whose career covers three-quarters of a century. He was born in Richland County, Ohio, October 21, 1842. It was in the same year that the Tinkey family became identified with Kosciusko County. His father, Noah Tinkey, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1818, a son of Frederick and Mary Tinkey, who were of German ancestry. Noah Tinkey grew up in his native state, and in 1837 went with his parents to Richland County, Ohio. There on June 15, 1838, he married Eliza Easterly. She was born in Pennsylvania June 14, 1819, a daughter of Lawrence and Catherine Kasterly, natives of the same state. In 1842 Noah Tinkey brought his family to Kosciusko County and found his destination west of Warsaw on the Tippecanoe River. Arriving there late one evening he unloaded his goods under a beech tree; and under its shelter the family spent the night. He bought 160 acres of land, built a shanty, replaced it with a hewed log house, and then still another house of hewed logs, and finally a substantial frame dwelling arose, which sheltered him the rest of his days. Noah Tinkey was prospered, and acquired altogether 420 acres. He and his wife were very active and liberal members of the United Brethren Church, and in politics he was a democrat. He and his wife had eleven children, one of whom died in infancy. The others were named George, Frederick, Jonathan, Mathias, Mahala, Catherine, Susan, Louisa, Artemesia and Mary. Of this family Mr. Jonathan Tinkey is the only surviving son.

He grew up in Harrison Township and acquired a very liberal education, beginning in the district schools, was later in the Warsaw schools, and finally in the State University. His education he utilized as a teacher for thirteen terms, all this work being done in Kosciusko County. Mr. Tinkey is also one of the honored veterans of the Civil War. In 1864 he was enrolled in Company I of the Thirty-Third Indiana Infantry, and saw some active service during the latter months of that great struggle between the North and the

South. He has long been interested in the Grand Army of the Republic, is a member of Post No. 114, and in 1918 was chosen as a delegate to the National Reunion or Encampment at Portland, Oregon.

While Mr. Tinkey had a modest inheritance, most of his prosperity has been won by his individual abilities and labors. Of his holdings in Seward Township there is a large body of farming land amounting to 440 acres, besides 135 acres in Jackson Township. Mr. Tinkey organized the Bank of Seward and was its largest stockholder. He is also interested in a number of other enterprises, local and elsewhere. He has a residence property in Warsaw and also has eighty acres of land in Wayne Township.

He has been one of the stanch leaders of the democratic party in the county for many years. He has served as supervisor, and some years ago was the only democrat elected to the county council.

Mr. Tinkey married Rosella Tucker. Her father, Horace Tucker, who died September 10, 1907, was one of Kosciusko County's prominent citizens. Born in Richland County, Ohio, November 8, 1825, a son of John and Mary (Ward) Tucker, he came to Kosciusko County in- 1846 and settled on 160 acres in Franklin Township. He eut the first tree on the land, lived in a log cabin, and in the fall of 1847 went back to Ohio, and on the following 13th of January married Eliza Johnston. They returned to Indiana and occupied their pioneer home in 1848, and in that log house their three children were born, including Rosella. Horace Tucker was remarkably prosperous in business and for many years ranked as one of the wealthiest citizens of Franklin Township. He was a stock raiser and also a stock dealer, and it is said that he shipped the first carload of stock ever sent by rail from Warsaw. Other references to his career will be found on other pages of this publication.

Mr. and Mrs. Tinkey had four children: Laura M., still at home with her parents; Alta M., who died at Rochester, Indiana, wife of Norman Stower; Nellie A., wife of Isaac Kern of Seward Township; and Horace G., who lives in Franklin Township and married Goldie Melons.

Mr. Tinkey and wife are members of the Universalist Church at Roan in Wabash County. He is also a past noble grand and has heen a member of the Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Joun E. DeEaTon, representing a family of long residence in Kosciusko County, grew up on one of the farms in Clay Township, but for a number of years has applied his energies most successfully to business, and is proprietor of the Sidney Elevator in Jackson Township.

Ar. Deaton was born in Clarke County, Ohio, October 16, 1862, son of George W. and Frances C. (Fortney) Deaton. George W. Deaton, who died many years ago, was born and reared in Clarke County, son of William Deaton, a sawmill man. George Deaton married Miss Fortney March 9, 1856, and in March, 1863, they brought their family to Kosciusko County and located in Clay Town- ship. George W. Deaton was a hard worker, and succeeded in establishing his family in good circumstances before his death. He was an eloquent speaker and one of the leading advocates of the republican party. He served a term as trustee of Clay Township, and was the only republican ever elected to that office up to that time. He was also a charter member of the Grange at Claypool, and was an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife had eight children, seven sons and one daughter: William S., Jacob O., Mary B., John E., all of whom were born in Ohio, and Samuel S., Ulysses, Cyrus B. and Charles G., who were born in Clay Township. Those still living are Jacob O., John E., Sherman S., Cyrus B. and Charles G., the last a resident of Toledo, Ohio.

John E. Deaton was less than a year old when brought to Kosciusko County. He grew up in Clay Township, attended the district schools there, and was a factor in the home circle until the age of twenty-one. March 11, 1888, he married Miss Louie E. Ball, who was born in Lake Township of this county. After their marriage they lived on a farm for several years, and then established their home in Claypool, from which town Mr. Deaton traveled for two years representing the Cleveland Stock Yards Company. Mr. Deaton came to Sidney in 1905, buying the local elevator interests, and has since handled a large share of the surplus grain marketed by the farmers throughout Jackson and adjoining townships.

Mr. and Mrs. Deaton have three children: Sedie, a graduate of high school and wife of Dale H. Homma; Russell B., a graduate of high school and formerly a student of the Terre Haute State Normal School, is now associated with his father in the elevator at Sidney, and married Gladys Baker; Mabel, a graduate of high school, still at home with her parents and is teacher of domestic science in the Sidney schools.

The family are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Deaton is a trustee of the church and is past noble grand of Sidney Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows, has sat in the Grand Lodge, and is also affiliated with the Masonic Order. He has been quite active in republican ranks for a number of years.

J. H. WINDBIGLER represents an old and honored name in Kosciusko County. His vocation has been that of an agriculturist, and while he has never sought those honors associated with public office, he has, nevertheless, rendered a valuable service to the community by his industrious career as a farmer and through his support of all public spirited enterprises, church, good schools and other affairs touching the community welfare. His farm, comprising eighty-nine acres of thoroughly cultivated land, is situated in Seward Township.

Mr. Windbigler was born in Newcastle Township of Fulton County, Indiana, March 10, 1851, son of John B. and Rebecca (Barkman) Windbigler. His father and also his grandfather, John Windbigler, were shoemakers by trade, and the family came west from Pennsylvania, where they had lived for a number of generations.

John B. Windbigler was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, son of John and Mary (Buchter) Windbigler, natives of the same county. His parents moved to Richland County, Ohio, and in 1852 the family came to Indiana, first locating in Marshall County, later moving to a farm in Newton County, where John Windbigler, the grandfather died. His widow afterwards lived in Kosciusko County among her children.

John B. Windbigler was reared in Ohio and married Miss Rebecca Barkman there. On coming to Indiana he settled in Fulton County, bought and cleared a tract of timbered land, and after living on it fifteen years sold and moved further west in 1867 to Carroll County, Missouri. From there two years later he returned to Indiana and bought his farm in Kosciusko County. Here he lived to improve his land, was a capable and industrious citizen, and one of the leaders in the local democratic party and a devout member of the Church of God. He died in 1913, and his widow in 1909. While a resident of Fulton County he served as justice of the peace two years. John B. Windbigler and wife had seven children: Jeremiah H.; Mary K., deceased ; James W., deceased; John F., who was born while the family lived in Missouri and is now a resident of Kansas; Rebecca L., deceased; Louis A., of Wabash, Indiana; and T. B., also of Wabash.

Jeremiah H. Windbigler grew up in Fulton and Kosciusko counties and had the advantages of the local schools while a boy. When he was twenty-one years of age he left home to support himself and carve out his own destiny. February 25, 1877, he married Miss Fanny Funk, who was born near Silver Lake in Kosciusko County February 20, 1852, daughter of Henry B. and Polly (Beigh) Funk. Her parents were natives of Pennsylvania and came to Koseiusko County from Ohio. The Funk family has long been a prominent one in this section of Indiana. Mrs. Windbigler is a granddaughter of Jacob Funk, and her remote ancestors came to America from Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Funk had three children: Fanny, Mrs. Windbigler; Anna C., wife of Aaron Boyer, of Jackson Township; and Mary A., wife of Morrison Paulus, of Lake Township. Mrs. Windbigler was carefully educated at home and in the common schools. After their marriage they started as renters on the old Funk estate, lived there for six years, then rented elsewhere, and finally bought a farm in Fulton County. Several exchanges of property followed and eventually they returned to Kosciusko County and bought their present place. : j ;

Mr. and Mrs. Windbigler have three children: Levi B., who is a resident of Franklin Township and married Pearl Norris; Mary, a graduate of the common schools and wife of Herman Swick, of Seward Township; and Anna L., wife of Harrison Armey, who lives on Mr. Windbigler's farm. Mr. Windbigler and wife are also proud of their ten grandchildren. The family are members of the Church of God, and in polities Mr. Windbigler is a democrat.

Irvin H. Utsu. A practical agriculturist, giving close attention to the management of his farm, Irvin H. Ulsh of Seward Township is meeting with well earned success in his work and is a popular and highly esteemed citizen in his community. His farm lies three and a half miles southwest of Claypool.

Mr. Ulsh was born in Miami County, Indiana, June 19, 1859, and is a son of Benjamin and Lydia (Lautsenhizer) Ulsh. His parents were both born in Pennsylvania, but were married after they came to Indiana and then settled in Kosciusko County on the farm now owned by C. M. Regnaous. Much of the land of this farm was cleared by the senior Ulsh, and he lived there until he went to Texas in 1884. He was a soldier of the Civil War, serving in the Union Army for nine months, and it was at the close of that struggle that he settled in Seward Township. He died in Texas, while his wife passed away at North Manchester in 1865. They had three children: Irvin H.; M. J., who is married and lives at Laketon, Indiana; and Viola H., who died in Oklahoma.

Irvin H. Ulsh was about six and a half years old when his mother died, and that was the first important loss and handicap which he had to overcome in his early life. As a boy he attended school at North Manchester, Laketon and in Seward Township, and took most of the studies taught in the common schools. He was at home until twenty-one, and gave to his father all that he made. He started out for himself as an agriculturist and at the age of twentynine married Mrs. Eliza M. Caldwell, whose maiden name was Nelson. Her first husband was Joshua Caldwell. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ulsh lived a half mile west of Claypool, where he farmed five years, and then sold out and came to his present place, where he owns eighty acres of good land. In addition to general farming, Mr. Ulsh has had a very unusual success as a poultryman. He has raised chickens and produced eggs on a large scale, and has developed a high class utility flock.

Mr. Ulsh has two sons, Irvin V. and Benjamin F. The older son is a graduate of the common schools and also attended the Claypool High School. He is a Seward Township farmer, and married Ollie M. Foster. The younger son married Miss Parker and also lives in Seward Township. In political belief Mr. Ulsh is a socialist.

Harvey MEREDITH is another Kosciusko County citizen who had to start life with very little capital, with such experience as he had been able to gather when a boy on the farm, and he has utilized his opportunities and directed his energies to a point where he is now the possessor of a good farm, is more than paying his way, and is looked upon as one of the most: substantial citizens of Seward Township. His home is on Rural Route No. 3 out of Akron, Indiana.

Mr. Meredith was born a few miles west of where he now lives in Franklin Township, March 26, 1875, a son of Simon and Sarah (Cattern) Meredith. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio. They married in Franklin Township of this county and were identified with farming in that locality until the death of the father. The widowed mother survived i ee ves bees sons : Willis, who lives on the fa paateaan ! a i Fe anaeens Ome is three and a half miles southeast of Claypool ; Mr. Harvey Meredith grew up in Franklin Townshi the public schools of his home locality. He made RUDE eecr ate his work on the home place until he was twenty-five, and then established a home of his own by his marriage on February 4, 1900, to Miss Ada Paxton. Mrs. Meredith was born in Silver Lake. Indiana and was educated in the schools of Seward Township. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Meredith chose the role of renters for a time later bought land in Seward Township, and a few years ago traded that for the sixty-acre farm where Mr. Meredith and his family still reside. Mrs. Meredith died July 12, 1917, and four children mourn her loss. These children are: Opal, Trelba, Alonzo and Donovan. Opal, the oldest, was born July 1, 1902, and has finished the work - of the common schools. Mr. Meredith and children are members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and in politics he votes as a 'republican.

FRANK ALEXANDER. Success has amply attended the efforts of Frank Alexander, who has devoted himself with diligence and energy to the farming business nearly all his life. He is a representative of the progressive type of farmer, and today is cultivating and handling the resources of one of the good farms in Seward Township. The Alexander home is in section 36 of that township, one "site a half miles west and one and a quarter miles north of Silver

About three miles west of his present home Mr. Alexander was born January 4, 1870, a son of Mathew and Editha (Darlin) Alexander. His parents were both natives of Richland County, Ohio, grew up and married there, and in 1865 brought their family to Kosciusko County. The parents located on a tract of land in Seward Township about half way between Yellow Creek and Beaver Dam lakes. They spent their lives there. The father was a republican. Of the nine children six are still living. Peter, of Warsaw; Jonathan, of Seward Township; Ida, wife of Elias Parker; Nettie, wife of Hollis Tucker, of Akron, Indiana; George M., of Seward Township; and Frank.

Frank Alexander grew up on the old homestead and attended the district school in the same community. December 24, 1891, he married Miss Rose Stoffer. She was born in Miami County, Indiana. For a number of years Mr. Alexander owned eighty acres of the old homestead, but in 1907 sold that and came to his present farm, also comprising eighty acres. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising. Mr. Alexander votes the republican ticket.

He and his wife have three interesting young sons: Myrl, a graduate of the common schools and high school; Gurney L., who has finished the course of the common schools; and Luhr, now attending the grade school.

Isaac B. Hire is one of the oldest native sons of Kosciusko County still living, and has spent his life actively and prosperously as a farmer and stockman. He is now living at Burket.

The first stock buyers operating on an extensive scale through this section of Indiana were his father, Rudolph Hire, and Washington Bybee. Long before railroads were built and when the only known means of getting livestock across the country was by driving, these men were among the chief drovers from this section of the country. They frequently drove their cattle and other livestock to market at Cleveland. The business, still one of large proportions, was acquired in 1864 by Allen Bybee, and Milton E. and I. B. Hire, under the firm name of Hire, Bybee & Company, and they continued buying and shipping hogs, cattle, sheep and horses for nearly forty years. Their operations were on a large scale, and while there were of course many transactions which did not yield a profit, the business on the whole was a prosperous one. They bought livestock all over Northern Indiana and Ohio, and in this way Isaac B. Hire came to be a well known figure to the stock raisers throughout many counties. Mr. Hire was also solicitor for passenger traffic on the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad for fifteen years.

He was born in Franklin Township of this county April 28, 1844, a son of Rudolph and Hannah (Linsey) Hire. Rudolph Hire was born in Ross County, Ohio, April 2, 1817, and his wife was born in Indiana in 1825. He was a small boy when his parents moved to Elkhart County, and from there he came to Prairie Township of Kosciusko County. He and his wife married in Franklin Township and they then located in that region, but eventually moved to Burket. Rudolph Hire was one of the leading: citizens of the county and was so esteemed at the time of his death in 1889. His widow survived until April 4, 1911. Both were members of the Dunkard church and he was a democrat They had eleven children, including: Milton E., deceased; Isaac B.; Nancy A., widow of John Jones; Mary, who married Orlando Sludy, and both are now deceased ; Eliza, deceased, wife of George Melons; Susan, was the wife of Alonzo Study; Lillie, wife of Charles Eggleston, living in California; Alpheus, of Warsaw; and Allen, deceased.

Isaac B. Hire grew to manhood on his father's place in Franklin Township and was given such advantages as the local schools could afford. At the age of twenty-one he married Miss Maria Warren. To their union were born five children, and the only one living is Norma H. Hire of Blue Springs, Missouri. On April 24, 1891, Mr. Hire married for his second wife Amanda Wirick, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, May 21, 1852, and was brought to Kosciusko County at the age of two years. Mr. and Mrs. [lire have no children of their own and a nephew lives with them on their home place of seventy acres. Mr. Hire also owns 640 acres of good land in the State of Texas. In addition to farming and the stock business he has readily enlisted his energies and influence in behalf of every community undertaking. For two years he served as assessor in Franklin Township, and while in that office he set the

Joun W. Firton is one of the thoroughly businesslike farmers of Seward Township. He cultivates his fields, raises stock, buys and feeds cattle, is interested in the Equity Union Elevator Company at Burket, and in many other ways keeps in close touch with the progress of his community and is doing what he can to increase the efficiency of this community as one of the many factors in America's stupendous war program. The Fitton farm is in section 28 of Seward Township and comprises 100 acres of well-tilled fields, feed lots and building improvements.

Mr. Fitton was born in the same township July 19, 1876, son of Robert and Jane (Parker) Fitton. His parents were also natives of this county, his father born February 17, 1839, and his mother February 20, 1851. Robert Fitton died in 1878, when his son John was only two years old. The latter was the only son and he grew to manhood without the care or supervision of a father. Until he was eleven years of age he lived with his mother on the farm now owned by George W. Bouse, and after that made his home in different places until he came to the farm he now owns, in March, 1895.

November 24, 1894, Mr. Fitton married Miss Sadie Rickel. She represents one of the oldest pioneer families of Kosciusko County. Her grandfather, Samuel Rickel, was born in Pennsylvania March 14, 1810, son of Mathias and Catherine (Croyle) Rickel. The Rickel family left Pennsylvania in 1818, and Mathias and his wife spent the rest of their years in Ohio. In Wayne County, Ohio, Samuel Rickel married in 1835 Miss Sarah Moyer, and of their nine children six were born in Kosciusko County. Samuel Rickel brought his family to Kosciusko County in 1842, and established his home in the woods of Franklin Township. He had many interesting pioneer experiences. He entered his land from the government and acquired patent signed by President John Tyler. His first house eee a log eabin, and the roof was so low that a full grown man coulc not enter the door without stooping. He lived on wild game, venison and turkey, had experiences with wolves, plowed his fields with a yoke of cattle, and served as the first postmaster in Franklin Township of Beaver Dam postoffice, his commission being given him in 1844, and for twenty years he held that dignity, but aie ys paid in service more than he received, since it was SS elaine people journeying a long distance to the postoffice to enjoy : e | ne pitality of the postmaster at the meals and even staying oe ae occasionally. He was also the first trustee of Franklin Pale ip, and his son William, father of Mrs. Fitton, enjoyed sens ee William Rickel was born in Wayne county, Ohio, April ie : He was a democrat in politics a Petes ee as Bete pe ship eleven years. He marrie ee ae ewer Gentge seven children, three of whoin are still living: Samue eae ;

Mr. and Mrs. Fitton have seven children. Lloyd is now in the army as a mechanic in the aviation corps, having received his training at the aviation field near Fort Worth, Texas. Edna is a graduate of the common schools and the wife of Russell Barber. Ida has _ finished the common school course and is living at home, as is Ruth, while the younger children are Marle, Orville and Neva. The family are members of the United Brethren Church and Mr. Fitton is. a democratic voter. ;

RanpoLtpH B. ALLISON. The durable satisfactions of life are. those won by hard work and by the overcoming of many obstacles. While he is now generally recognized as one of the successful and substantial farmers and stock raisers of Kosciusko County, there was a time when Randolph B. Allison had to depend upon the work of his hands at day and monthly wages. He paid for his first land in that way, and with the co-operation of a loyal wife has made progress over obstacles and has achieved his present position and success in the world. Mr. Allison is proprietor of the Lakeside Farm of eighty acres a half mile south of Yellow Bank in Tippecanoe Township.

He is a native of Delaware County, Indiana, where he was born November 28, 1859, son of Samuel and Martha (Fields) Allison. The parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, where they grew up and married, from there moved to Ohio, and a little later to Delaware County, Indiana, and their next move took them to Sullivan County in this state, and from there they came to Kosciusko County, locating in Plain Township, where they acquired seventy-two acres southeast of Leesburg. Eight years later they made their final move to Tippecanoe Township, where the mother spent her last years. The father died in Missouri. Of their twelve children eight are still living, and the family are now widely scattered: Emma, unmarried, at Leesburg; Randolph B.; Samuel, of Kansas; William, of Missouri; Perry, of North Dakota; John A. and Madison, twins, the former in Wyoming and the latter in Oklahoma; and Arthur, in Wyoming.

Randolph B. Allison grew up in Kosciusko County and attended publie schools to the age of sixteen. Even before that he had been working and contributing his help to the support of the family. He has made his own way since early youth. :

On July 15, 1882, Mr. Allison married Miss Jueuesa Stemler. Mrs. Allison was born at North Webster August 14, 1866, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Arnold) Stemler. Her parents were both natives of Germany. Her father came to this country when a young man and her mother with her parents. They married in Ohio and from there moved to North Webster. Jacob Stemler became widely known in that community. He was the first shoemaker to locate in the town, and being a man of expert skill he had a large trade and continued active in the work until advanced years over- took him. He was a charter member of the Evangelical Church and a trustee. His wife died in 1893, while he passed away in 1901. In the Stemler family were eight children, four of whom died young. Catherine, the oldest of those who grew up, married Hiram Kindle. The second, Mary, is the wife of John Webber, of Nappanee, Indiana; Emma is the wife of Lewis Baugher; Leuesa, the youngest, is Mrs. Allison. Mrs. Allison was educated in the common schools.

After his marriage Mr. Allison supported his little family by monthly wages, and for two years lived in Kansas. On returning to this country he again resumed his program of work by the day. His first purchase of land was ten acres and it was paid for by his wages. He then bought ten acres more, also rented ground, and finally acquired sixty acres, and has gradually built up the Lakeside Farm, which is widely known for its fine Norman horses.

Mr. and Mrs. Allison have one daughter, Elizabeth. She is now the wife of Milo Daniels, and lives in Elkhart, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Daniels have four children: Ruth E., Mary E., Louise, and C. Wilber.

The family are members of the Evangelical Church at North Webster, and Mr. Allison is one of the trustees and a class leader, and for twenty years was superintendent of its Sunday school. In politics he votes as a democrat. He is one of the directors of the Farmers State Bank at North Webster.

H. G. Mickey, whose home is at Pierceton, has been successfully identified with Kosciusko County for practically all the years of his life, was formerly a farmer, but is now one of the leading contractors in cement work and especially in bridge building. Mr. Mickey is especially well known in Washington Township on account of his long and creditable service as township assessor.

Mr. Mickey was born in Kosciusko County, west of Silver Lake, April 6, 1864, son of Isaac and Mary (Bryan) Mickey. His father was a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Ohio. They married in Ohio, and coming to Indiana settled on a farm in Kosciusko County, where they spent the rest of their years. They were very active church members, and he was identified with the republican party, though never as an aspirant for office. Of their seven children three are still living: Mary, wife of Samuel Funk, of Warsaw; Martha J., wife of Joseph Scott, of Ludlow, six miles southeast of Warsaw; and H. G. Mickey.

H. G. Mickey spent his early life on a farm near Ludlow, was educated in the public schools there and lived with his parents until he was twenty years old. When he started out for himself he had no capital but diligence and readiness to accept responsibilities, and confidence in his own powers have taken him steadily along the road to success. He began farming as a renter, and was identified with agriculture as his chief vocation until 1914, when he formally took up contracting in cement and bridge building.

E., a graduate of the common schools and married and living in Kosciusko County; Lawrence R., a graduate of the common schools and still single; and Mary M., wife of Byron Davis. The family are members of the United Brethren Church at Wooster, Indiana. Mr. Mickey has served as superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty years and in church as well as in civie affairs has always tried to do his utmost. In politics he is a republican, but has only sought to do his duty as a trustworthy voter in politics and as a worker for community progress. He was elected township assessor for four years, held the office for six years altogether, and later was again elected for a term of four years, so that when he resigned in the spring of 1918 to engage in bridge building he had filled a term aggregating ten years.

Levi Swick. The community to which Levi Swick has contributed his energies as a successful farmer and as an upright and straight-forward citizen is in Seward Township, his valuable farm being five and a half miles northeast of Akron on rural route No. 2.

Mr. Swick was born in Wyandot County, Ohio, March 7, 1859, son of William and Mary (Shoop) Swick. His father was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, December 24, 1812, and his mother in Stark County, Ohio, September 1, 1817. They were married August 17, 1837, and in the fall of 1860 they moved to Indiana and located on a farm near Beaver Dam Lake. That community had the benefit of this industrious family until the death of Mrs. Mary Swick on June 15, 1885. The father then moved to Silver Lake, and spent his last years on the farm now owned by his son Levi, where he died December 9, 1897. Both the parents were very active workers and members of the Church of God, and in politics William Swick gave his allegiance to the democratic party. He and his wife had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, named: Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine, Henry, Samuel, John, Drana, Alpheus, George, Levi and Lucinda. All are still living except Mary and Catherine.

Levi Swick was about a year old when brought to Indiana. As he grew to manhood he attended the district schools and lived in the home circle and shared in the responsibilities and work of the home farm until a short time after his mother's death. He then established a home of his own by his marriage on November 8, 1885, to Miss Maggie Wiece. She was born in the Republic of Switzerland January 31, 1867, and was a young girl of sixteen when in 1883 she came to the United States with her mother. She lived near Silver Lake until her marriage, and her education was acquired in the schools of her native land. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Swick rented the old Swick farm for five years, and then with the other heirs bought the father's farm. It has been their home now for over thirty years, and eighty acres of excellent land have responded to the care and cultivation of Mr. Swick, though in recent years some of the heavier labors have been assumed by his sturdy sons. There are three boys in the family: Ira, born October 21, 1888, is a graduate of the common schools, and is a resident of Seward Township.

He married Goldie Jenkins. Sherman, the second son, born June 3, 1892, married Viola Young and lives in Miami County, Indiana. Percy W., born October 6, 1895, is a graduate of the common schools and is now doing much of the farm work for his father. He married Olive M. Reddinger. Mrs. Swick is'a member of the Church of God. Politically Mr. Swick votes as a democrat, and has always taken ,an active interest in local affairs and in questions of public policy.

_ Bengamin F. Wrutiamson. The community of Packerton recognizes in Benjamin F. Williamson one of its most important personages, a man of usefulness to the entire community. He is a veteran of the telegraph key, having been operator and agent in railroad service. for a number of years. He is still connected in that capacity with the Nickel Plate Railway, but is also a farmer and stock raiser at Packerton.

Mr. Williamson was born at Burket in Seward Township of Kosciusko County January 13, 1886, son of John H. and Sarah A. (Byers) Williamson. His father was born in Miami County, Indiana, and his mother in Johnson County. Benjamin F. Williamson has a common school education and attended Burket High School three years. It was his early ambition to become a railroad man and he entered the service through the avenue of telegraphy, which he learned in one of the local offices. For a year and a half he was agent and operator for the Nickel Plate at Bremen and was then transferred to Packerton, both as agent and operator, and remained here steadily for seven and a half years. At present he is performing the duties of operator at Claypool, though his home is at Packerton.

In 1907 Mr. Williamson married Zora C. Borton, who was born near Mentone, Indiana, and was educated in the common schools. Mr. Williamson's home at Packerton comprises a _ well-improved farm of forty-three acres, where he has a modern home and all the facilities for his business as a stock raiser. He specializes in hogs, and is rapidly earning a place among the stockmen of the county.

He is a member of the United Brethren Church at Packerton, has served as class leader and superintendent of the Sunday school, and he and his wife have done much to uphold the various moral and religious activities of their community. In polities he votes as a republican.

Perry Siuveus. Thirty-four years' residence in Kosciusko County gives Mr. Silveus many interesting as well as honorable associations here, and his enterprise as a farmer, his kindly and genial disposition and his public spirit have earned him a place of esteem in Seward Township, where he owns one of the best farms, four and a half miles west and half a mile south of Silver Lake. _

Mr. Silveus is of a Virginia family and was born in Rockingham County of that state August 8, 1858, a son of William and Susanna (Tusing) Silveus. His parents were born in Virginia, grew up and married there, and soon afterward moved to Indiana and located in

Kosciusko County. The first summer was a dispiriting one to them, especially in the matter of climate, and they went back to Virginia. About the close of the Civil War they came west again, locating near Tiffin, Ohio, for four years. Again they spent a season of four years in Virginia, and after that lived one year in Seneca County, Ohio, and then moved to Henry Coynty, Ohio, where the parents spent their last years. They were very active members of-the Baptist Church, and William Silveus was a democrat. There were eleven children, five of whom are still living: Simon A., a retired farmer at Warsaw; Perry; John, a carpenter living in California; Menassa, a Baptist minister and a farmer; Amos, a farmer in Ohio.

Perry Silveus spent most of his boyhood and youth in Seneca and Henry counties, Ohio. The district schools there gave him his education until he was thirteen years of age, and after that he sturdily helped his father on the home farm until he was past twenty-three. January 22, 1882, Mr. Silveus married Della J. Steward, of Henry County, Ohio, where she was born January 4, 1864, daughter of Thomas Steward.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Silveus lived on a farm in Henry County, Ohio, for two years and then settled in Kosciusko Connty, near Milford in Van Buren Township. Later they bought a farm in Jefferson Township, and that was their home until 1907, when they came to their present happy location in Seward Township. Mr. Silveus has 120 acres of land, and it is thoroughly developed according to methods and principles of modern and efficient farming. In politics he is a democrat.

Buruineton D. Hisscuman. In giving honor where honor is due more than passing mention should be granted Burlington D. Hibschman, who began life empty-handed and has accumulated a good property by dint of energetic and well-directed effort. The Civil war, in taking its great toll of death, left many lads fatherless at a time when they needed not only the material support but the moral direction of the elder men. Many of these youths were forced to fight their own way through life, and of this class Mr. Hibschman, who is now one of the substantial agriculturists of the vicinity of Warsaw, is an excellent example.