LaPorte County, Indiana - Chapter 36: Religion, 1904 (part 7 of 23)

Dr. Darling has a pleasant home, and the children who have been reared there have found honorable places in life's activities. Howard W., the eldest, is now a prominent wholesale lumber¬ man of Wichita, Kansas, having been very suc¬ cessful ; he gives liberally of his time and means to the Congregational church and Fairmount Col¬ lege and other philanthropies of Wichita. Eliza is the wife of Professor Hull, head master of Orchard Lake Military Academy, Michigan. Grace is the wife of Dr. John Madden, a physi¬ cian of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Both of these daughters are graduates of Michigan University at Ann Arbor, and were teachers prior to their marriage. Richard West Darling is a wholesale furniture dealer of Wichita, Kansas. Harry B. is city editor of the LaPorte Argus-Bulletin. Nelson S., Jr. is one of the founders and owners of the Oklahoma Sash and Door Company, a large wholesale plant at Oklahoma City, Okla¬ homa territory. Russell T., the seventh of Dr. Darling's children, is engaged in the lumber busi¬ ness at Wichita, Kansas.

Dr. Darling has been a factor in public affairs. He was one of the founders of the LaPorte public library in 1864, and his assistance has always been counted upon in all of that city's beneficent enterprises. For a number of years he was the secretary and for a time the president of the La¬ Porte County Medical Society, was county physi¬ cian for several years, also secretary of the city board of health for four years, and for one term served as councilman. He was a member of the United States pension examining board of sur¬ geons during the Harrison administration. He is a warm friend of education, progress and cul¬ ture, and has done much for the development of the city along these lines. LaPorte has long numbered him among its prominent representa-

FRANK WALKER, who follows farming on section 21, Hudson township, was bom on section 16, of the same township, his natal day being the 16th of May, 1866. His parents were Obediah and Jane Rilla (Solloway) Walker, the former a native of Switzerland county, Indiana, and the latter of Glenville, Ohio. The father was but four years of age when his mother removed to St. Joseph county, Indiana, with her family. When sixteen years of age he went to Iowa, lo¬ cating near Des Moines, where he remained for five years, and on the expiration of that period he journeyed westward to California, making the trip with ox teams. He crossed the plains after the primitive manner of the times, enduring all the hardships of that long journey over the arid region of the west, and through the mountain passes. His first wife died while on the way. He remained for four years in that state, being employed in a store. He then returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama and New York to Indi¬ ana, locating in St. Joseph county, where he re¬ mained for two years. He then established his home on a farm where his widow now resides, on section 16, Hudson township, and throughout the remainder of his days he gave his attention to agricultural pursuits. At the time of the Civil war he manifested his loyalty to the government by donning the blue uniform and going to the south in defense of his country. For three years he served as a soldier and proved his valor on many a battlefield. He was equally loyal in times of peace, and for three different times was elected township trustee of Hudson township. He was also justice of the peace for several years, and he took an active part in political work, being very decided in his views and un¬ faltering in support of the principles which he believed contained the best elements of good gov¬ ernment. He was a member of the Grand Army post at New Carlisle, and enjoyed pleasant com¬ panionship with his old comrades in military service. He died June 22, 1901, and is still sur¬ vived by his wife. They became the parents of four children : Charles, Major, Frank and Grace, the daughter being the wife of John Miller.

Frank Walker is the youngest son and third child of this family. To the public school sys¬ tem of his native county he is indebted for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and which prepared him for life's practical duties.

He remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age, assisting his father on the home farm, and then went upon the lakes, but after two weeks* experience as a sailor he returned and operated his father's farm for five years. He then turned his attention to the carpenter's trade, which business he followed continuously until 1893? when he again resumed agricultural pur¬ suits, locating on the farm on which he now re¬ sides, on section 21, Hudson township. He is a young man of resolute purpose, of strong charac¬ ter, and in his business affairs is capable, gaining a good financial return from his labors.

On the 9th of September, 1902, .Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Ella Hamilton, of Miller, Buffalo county, Nebraska. She was born in Rolling Prairie, but when three years of age was taken by her parents to Nebraska, her father being, one of the pioneer settlers of Buffalo county, ana it was there that Mrs. Walker was reared and educated. Their union has been blessed with one daughter, Alameda. Their pleasant home is located on a farm of eighty acres, to which Mr. Walker gives his time and energies "so that it is now under a high state of cultivation. In politics he is a Democrat, and is now serving as assessor of his township, being elected in a strong Republican district, the oppo¬ sition party outnumbering the Democrats two to one. This fact indicates his personal popular¬ ity and the confidence reposed in him by his fel¬ low citizens. Fraternally he is connected with the Masonic Order at New Carlisle, Terre Coupee Lodge No. 204, and also belongs to the tent of the Knights of the Maccabees in the same place.

GOTTLIEB MARKS, an old resident of section 26, Cas township, is one of the German farmers who, with their sturdy industry and in¬ telligent perseverance, made the swamp land of southern LaPorte county as fertile a district as is to be found within the bounds of the county, and while they became prosperous themselves at the same time added immeasurably to the mater¬ ial wealth of the county.

* Mr. Marks was born in Prussia, Germany, October 8, 1830, and was reared and educated in his native country. He also served three years in the German army. He did not progress toward material wealth in the old coun¬ try, and in 1866 he set out for America, arriv¬ ing in LaPorte county with a family and almost no money. He worked by the day in order to get a start, and later bought twenty acres of the marsh land in Cass township, which formed the nucleus for his present fine farm. He lived in a log house for the first few years, and meager enough were the comforts which were the lot of the family. But he was progressing toward his goal, and kept adding parcels of land to his original acreage until he now has one hundred and sixty acres to show for his hard toil. He has lived almost forty years in this township, so that he has been identified in great measure with its entire history, and has taken no small part in its upbuilding and development.

Mr. Marks was married before coming to this country to Miss Louisa Bockhouse, a native of Germany. Four children were born to them in the fatherland, and two sons and three daughters were bom since coming to LaPorte county, as follows : Emestina, Emile, Tillie, Albert, Her¬ man, Sophia, Gottlieb, Emma, and Lena, who is deceased. Mrv Marks has always affiliated with the Democratic party, and in religion is a member of the Lutheran church, in which he is a trustee. He has much to show for the years of his life spent .in this county, and besides rearing a family of industrious and honorable sons and daught¬ ers, he has a place of esteem among his fellow citizens, who honor him for his true and manly worth and his earnest endeavors.

WILLARD D. NORTON, a successful young lawyer at 115 Dearborn street, Chicago, is of the third generation of a family who have made LaPorte county their home, covering a period of nearly seventy years, which is nearly the extent of authentic history concerning that county. Mr. Norton, as was also his father, was bom in the old house that was erected in Union township by his grandfather and which is still standing as one of the landmarks of the youthful epoch of LaPorte county's history. The family are well known and held in high regard in the county. Mr. Norton himself, though for the past ten years immersed in his duties as a rising at¬ torney of the city of Chicago, remains true to the home of his youth and early joys, and is still kindly remembered by his friends there.

Mr. Norton's grandfather, David H. Norton, was bom in Columbia county, New York, and in 1834 emigrated west to the new town of Chicago, passing through LaPorte county on his way. He arrived in what has become the great western metropolis with a wagon and team, and in ex¬ change for these valuable articles of property was offered a piece of Chicago land and the tavern at which he stopped. But the marshy appearance of the town was not at that time very encourag¬ ing to investors, and he returned to the green woodlands and beautiful and fertile prairies of LaPorte county. In 1834, as mentioned in the general history of LaPorte county, he settled in Union township, and in the following year took up a tract of government land, property that has ever since remained in the possession of members of the Norton family. This old and honored pioneer passed away in 1886, but his generation is still represented in LaPorte county by his sis¬ ter, Phebe Stewart, who is now over ninety years of age and whose venerable years are filled with memories of the early days of LaPorte county.

Howell E. Norton, the father of Willard D. Norton, was bom on the old homestead in 1841, and it is a fact worthy of note, especially in the ever changing conditions of this western country, that he passed his life on this same farm and died there September 9, 1894. He was a highly respected citizen of LaPorte county, and was successful in the different departments of life. He was a Democrat in politics, and, while he often helped his friends in the various campaigns, never sought office for himself. He married Miss Lucy J. Hand, a native of New York state. Her parents located in Wisconsin when she was one year old, and she remained there until the age of eighteen, when she came to LaPorte county to teach school, and was married to Mr. H. E. Nor¬ ton in this county. She still lives in LaPorte, with her daughter, Miss Marietta Norton.

Mr. Willard D. Norton was born in Union township, two. miles east of Kingsbury, LaPorte county, October 31, 1869. He graduated from the high school in LaPorte in 1888, having spent his boyhood on the farm, and then entered Michi¬ gan University at Ann Arbor, where he spent three years in the classical and literary courses. He then matriculated in the law department of the same institution, whose head was then the re¬ nowned jurist, Judge Cooley, and was graduated in 1893. In the same year he located for practice in Chicago, and, with the exception of about a year and a half spent at LaPorte in the settlement of his father's estate, he has been in Chicago ever since, and has a satisfactory general prac¬ tice.

Mr. Norton did not follow the political cleav¬ age of the other members of the family, but as an adherent of the Republican party makes himself quite valuable in local politics. He is a man of personality, genial disposition, and manifest abil¬ ity, and his honorable career in the past decade as well as his great promise for the future makes him one of the most esteemed of LaPorte coun- ty's native sons who have sought distinction in other fields. He is a former member of the Hamilton Club, and his college fraternity is the Alpha Tau Omega.

Mr. Norton was married in Chicago, Decem¬ ber 28, 1899, to Miss Helen Loomis, a native of Chicago, but whose parents lived in LaPorte from 1882 to 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Norton have a little daughter, Laura Hope.

JOHN W. DAVIDSON, now deceased, is well remembered by many of the residents of LaPorte county as a man of sterling traits of character, reliable in business, faithful in citizen¬ ship and honorable in all life's relations. He made his home on section 3, Union township. His birth occurred in Knox county, Ohio, June 10, 1844, and he was the eldest son of Perry and Sophia (Hickman) Davidson, who were natives of Maryland. John W. was reared in Knox county, Ohio, and pursued his education in the public schools. He remained upon his father's farm until his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated in 1866, the lady of his choice being Miss Eliza Ellen Underwood, a native of Clinton county, Ohio, born on the 29th of January, 1843. Her father, Benjamin Under¬ wood, was a native of Pennsylvania and through¬ out his entire life followed the occupation of farming. He lived to be about fifty-three years of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Lewis, was also born in Pennsylvania, and was there reared and married* She became the mother of eleven children, all of whom were born in the Keystone state, save Mrs. Davidson and her younger brother. Mrs. Davidson is the ninth child and youngest daughter in the family and was reared in the state of her nativity.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Davidson located in Knox county, Ohio, where they re¬ mained until 1874, when they came to LaPorte county, Indiana. Here they first lived in Pleas¬ ant township, about five miles from the city of LaPorte, and in 1886 they took up their abode upon the farm where Mrs. Davidson now resides. Her husband, who engaged in general farming, was also a dealer in hay, grain and live-stock. He carried on an extensive business and was never known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transactions. His methods were honorable, and owing to his straightforward dealing and his extensive opera¬ tions he accumulated a comfortable competence. To him and his wife were born five children: Isabel, now at home ; William A., who married

Mr. Davidson took a very active part in public affairs and endorsed every movement and measure that he believed would contribute to the advancement of the county and its substantial upbuilding. He voted with the Democracy when questions of national importance were involved, but his ballot at local elections was cast regard¬ less of party affiliations, his support being given to the candidates whom he considered best quali¬ fied for office. He died July 26, 1898, and his remains were interred in Kingsbury cemetery. Mrs. Davidson still owns the old home farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which she rents. She is a member of the Friends church, and is a most estimable lady, widely and favorably known in the county.

JONATHAN SNOOK, justice of the peace of Michigan City, is numbered among the veterans of the Civil war, and is a representative of a pio¬ neer family of this county. He was bom in Miff¬ lin county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of August 1836, a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Kriepp) Snook, also natives of the Keystone state. The former was a son of Henry Snook, who was bom in New Jersey, but removed to Pennsylvania when a young man, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife bore the maiden name of Miss Goss, and was a native of England. He was of Holland Dutch descent and his death occurred on the old homestead farm in Pennsyl¬ vania when about eighty years of age. Henry Knepp, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Snook, claimed Pennsylvania as the state of his nativity, and he, too, followed the tilling of the soil as a life occupation. By his first marriage he be¬ came the father of three children, and by his second wife he had a large family of children.

Henry Snook, the father of Jonathan Snook, took up his abode in Michigan in 1852, locating on a farm in Colon township, St. Joseph county, where he improved his land and made his home until his life's labors were ended in death, in 1870, when he had passed the fifty-ninth mile¬ stone on the journey of life. His wife was called to her final rest in 1857, when about forty years of age. They were members of the Reformed church, and were the parents of nine children, four sons and five daughters, and five of the num¬ ber are still living, namely: Jonathan; Man*, wife of Reuben Kline, of Vistula, Indiana ; Henry, who resides on the old homestead near

Colon, Michigan ; Hattie, the wife of Lloyd Leland, of Genoa, Illinois; and Emma, the wife of John Neuman, also a resident of Colon township, Michigan.

Jonathan Snook spent the early years of his life in the commonwealth of his nativity, Pennsylvania^ his education being received in the oldfashioned log schoolhouses of those days. When sixteen years of age he accompanied his parents on their removal to Michigan, remaining under the parental roof until his twentieth year, when he began the battle of life for himself, working at the carpenter's trade there for one year, while for the two following years he was engaged in the same occupation in Iowa. Returning thence to his home in Michigan, he labored on a farm and also devoted some time to the carpenter's trade.

In 1 86 1 Mr. Snook enlisted for service in the Civil war, entering Company G, First Michi¬ gan Infantry, the first regiment that left the state, and on the expiration of his three months' term of enlistment he re-enlisted in Company A, Fifteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, in which he served until the 21st of September, 1864. He entered the ranks as a private, but on account of meritorious service was made second lieutenant and first lieutenant, commanding the company. During his military career he participated in the following battles : first Bull Run, Pittsburg Landing, the siege of Corinth, Vicksburg, and served throughout the entire Atlanta campaign. When he enlisted for the second time his brother Abraham went with him and the latter died from fever -contracted at Vicksburg.

After the close of his army service Mr. Snook returned to his home in Michigan, and in the spring of 1865 moved to the southern part of LaPorte county, Indiana, where he purchased a farm and spent the following three years, after which, on account of ill health, he was obliged to abandon the work of the farm, and accordingly removed to Union Mills. One year later he went to Wanatah, and in 1872 came to Michigan City, where he has ever since made his home. In the spring following his arrival here he was elected to the office of justice of the peace, in which he has served almost continuously since, and for two terms was also the township assessor. He has devoted considerable time and attention to real estate operations, having had charge of the Wood's Park addition, and he makes a specialty of the pension business.

recruiting service, when Miss Lovina Kern be¬ came his wife. She is a daughter of Yost and Polly (Romig) Kern. One son has been born of this union, Allen J., who married Freda Leusch, and they have two children, - Eva and Owen. For his second wife Allen J. Snook chose Annie Shultz, who is now also deceased. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Snook are Spiritualists, and in his fraternal relations the former is a member of Michigan City Lodge No. 265, I. O. O. F., hav¬ ing been identified with that order since 1868. He gives a loyal and earnest support to the principles of the Republican party, and he main¬ tains pleasant relations with his old ^arrny com¬ rades of the blue by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic, affiliating with G. V. Rawson Post No. 46.

WILLIAM H. REPLOGLE, who during his business career was actively connected with farming interests, but is now living a retired life in LaPorte, was born at the old Replogle home¬ stead in Center township, LaPorte county, Au¬ gust 26, 1834, and with one or two exceptions is now the oldest living native citizen of the county. His father, Jacob Replogle, was born at Morrison's Cove, in Bedford county, Pennsyl¬ vania, in 1800, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Booher) Replogle, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. In an early day in the develop¬ ment of the Buckeye state they removed to Mont¬ gomery county, Ohio, and from there to South Bend, Indiana, where their remaining days were passed.

Jacob Replogle, the son, first visited LaPorte county in the fall of 1833, and from the govern¬ ment purchased some land in what later became Center township. Returning to Miami county, Ohio, which was then his home, he made prepara¬ tions to remove to this county, and took up his abode here in April, 1834, bringing his family with him unloading his household goods on the place which still remains the Replogle home¬ stead in Center township. He was then closely associated with the early development and im¬ provement of his part of the county, and aided in reclaiming the wild land for the purposes of civilization. He prospered in his work, becoming very successful, and was universally esteemed be¬ cause of his many good qualities and his worth as a progressive pioneer citizen. A quaint okl oil painting of his home and grounds, including himself as one of the figures in the foreground, was executed in 1854 by a Mr. Fletcher, an artist of considerable renown in those days. It is a valued possession of Mrs. M. L. Orr, of La- Porte, a sister of W. H. Replogle. Jacob Replogle died May 5, 1886, honored and respected by all who knew him, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sina Jones, passed away several years ago. She was a worthy pioneer woman, an able assistant to her husband, and numbered friends in most of the pioneer households of the county.

William H. Replogle was reared on the home farm, and the occupation with which he became familiar in his youth he has made his life work. He obtained his education in the primitive schools of the early days. He came to the pioneer home soon after the arrival of the parents in this county, and amid frontier surroundings his boyhood and youth were passed. After arriving at years of maturity he began farming on his own account, and his farm in Center township is now very valuable, owing to the increase in the price of land in this county and to the improvements he has made upon it. In 1884 he removed to LaPorte, and has since resided in the city, but yet personally superintends the operation of his farm, which annually returns to him a good income.

In 1858 Mr. Replogle was united in marriage to Miss Ann Elizabeth Hupp, who was born in Center township, LaPorte county, in 1838, a daughter of Abram Hupp, an early settler here. The Hupps are Virginians, having come to Indi¬ ana from the Shenandoah valley. To Mr. and Mrs.- Replogle were bom two children, Orpheus E. and Mrs. Etta Belle Kerr.

In his political affiliations Mr. Replogle is a Democrat, and for four years was city council¬ man from the fifth ward. As an official he did all in his power for the improvement and material benefit of the city, at the same time discourag¬ ing any needless expenditure of money, and his course won the endorsement of his fellow citi¬ zens, as shown by his re-election. He has ever been deeply interested in the agricultural advance¬ ment of this part of the state, and for several years was connected with the county fair as a department superintendent.

WALTER VAIL. Among the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle excite the admiration of his con¬ temporaries, Mr. Vail is prominent. His life has ever been characterized by absolute fidelity to duty in all relations, and he stands to-day one of the strong men of Michigan City - strong in his honor and good name, in the respect of his fellow men and in the success he has achieved. He is the president of the First National Bank, of which he was one of the founders and with which he has been connected since the organiza¬ tion, always in an official capacity.

Mr. Vail is a native son of LaPorte county, his birth having occurred in the city of LaPorte on the 2 1st of August, 1846. His paternal grand¬ father, Isaac Vail, was a native of New Jersey and was well advanced in years when he re¬ moved to the Mississippi valley, settling in St. Joseph county, Indiana. He was twice married, his first union being with Sarah Thom, while for hfs' second wife he chose Sarah ShotwelL By these two marriages he had seventeen chil¬ dren.

Edward Vail the father of Walter Vail, was born in Rahway, New Jersey, and in 1845 ^e" came a resident of LaPorte, Indiana, where he remained for many years. Establishing a jewelry store, he long conducted business along that line, and was numbered among the leading merchants of the city. He married Miss Emily Allen, a na¬ tive of Connersville, Indiana, and a daughter of John Allen, who at an early epoch in the develop¬ ment of this state made his way to Connersville in a canvas-covered wagon, traveling after the primitive manner of the times. He took an active part in the upbuilding and progress of the locality in pioneer times and died when well advanced in years. He, was also twice married. To Mr. and Mrs. Edward Vail were bom four sons and four daughters, and five of the family are yet living: Walter; John A., of Engadine, Michigan: Ed¬ ward, of Wichita, Kansas ; Emily A., of LaPorte; and Kate A., who is a teacher in the kindergarten schools of LaPorte. The father died in LaPorte in 1882, when sixty-five years of age, and the mother's Meath occurred July 1, 1902, when she was seventy-six years of age. He was a member of the Society of Friends, while his wife be¬ longed to the Episcopal church and was one of the founders of the congregation of that denomi¬ nation in LaPorte. Politically Mr. Edward Vail was a Whig until the dissolution of the party, when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party.

Walter Vail spent the first fifteen years of his life in his native city and attended the public schools there until he entered Earlham College, at Richmond, Indiana. When but a boy he en¬ tered the army in defense of the Union, enlisting in Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry, serving for six months on land and then joining the United States navy as pay- master's clerk tinder the late Albert B. Clark, in the south gulf squadron. He was thus engaged until the close of the war, about two years, after which he returned to his home. Some years later the subject of securing a pension for Mr. Vail was agitated, and perhaps nothing more clearly illustrates the character of the man than the letter which he wrote to Washington saying: "Kindly withdraw and cancel all papers in relation to claim for pension. I do not need it and the ser¬ vices rendered do not in my judgment entitle me to it." Many a man who did not render half the service which Mr. Vail did is now receiving a monthly payment from the government. In com¬ ment upon his course in this matter the New York Times said: "Walter Vail, of Michigan City, deserves the respect and esteem of his coun¬ trymen and should receive their plaudits. He accepts and acts upon the principle laid down in one of President Cleveland's veto messages that while it is manifestly the duty of the people to support the government it is not the duty of the government to support the people. Vail respects himself. It i§ about the first duty of man to so bear himself as to be worthy of his own selfrespect."

After his return from the war Mr. Vail en¬ tered the employ of the First National Bank of LaPorte as a bookkeeper and served in that capacity until 1873, when he organized the First National Bank of Michigan City. He was its first cashier, then became its vice president, and for the past ten years has been its president. This institution has always followed a safe, con¬ servative business policy, and under the able management of its president it is steadily advanc¬ ing, its business annually increasing in volume and importance. Mr. Vail is also a director of the Haskell & Barker Car Company and is the presi¬ dent of the Michigan City Trust & Savings Com¬ pany, and as a representative of financial circles here is prominent and trustworthy.

On the 16th of July, 1873, Mr. Vail was united in marriage to Miss Georgiana Truesdell, a daugh¬ ter of Harvey and Catherine (Tryon) Truesdell, both of whom were natives of New York. Her father became one of the pioneer settlers of Indi¬ ana, and they were married in this state. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Vail : Harvey Edward, who died in early childhood; William Walter, who is assistant cashier in the First National Bank of Michigan City; George Trues¬ dell, the secretary and treasurer of the Michigan City Trust & Savings Company; Caradora and another who died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Vail hold membership in the Episcopal church, of which Mr. Vail is serving as senior warden, while he is also treasurer of the diocese of Michigan City. He belongs to Acme Lodge No. 83, F. & A. M. ; Michigan City Chap¬ ter No. 25, R. A. M. ; Michigan City Council, R. & S. M. ; and Michigan City Commandery No. 30, K. T. He is also connected with Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine, and high honors in Masonry have been conferred upon him, as he is a past grand commander of the Knights Temp¬ lar of Indiana. He has likewise attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the Indianapolis Consistory, and, November 20, 1882, he received in Boston the thirty-third degree. In his political views Mr. Vail is an earnest Re¬ publican, and has served as a delegate to several state conventions of his party. He was a member of the board of prison directors of the state of Indiana for three years, and he has served as mayor of Michigan City for two years, his ad¬ ministration being of a character that promoted the substantial improvement and benefit of the .municipality. He is a man of distinctive ability,, and his character is one which is above a shadow of reproach. He has been faithful to the high offices in which he has been called upon to serve, and is widely known and respected by all who have been at all familiar with his honorable and useful career.

JOHN R. WEAVER, who is conducting a first-class livery stable at 127- 129 Fourth street, Michigan City, and has a comfortable residence at 315 Pine street, is one of LaPorte county's na¬ tive sons and one of the best known and most popular citizens. He has been engaged in various lines of activity during his lifetime, has rail¬ roaded, has filled public offices, and in his present business has achieved good success during the past fifteen years.

Mr. Weaver was born in Galena township, LaPorte county, Indiana, October 2, 1852. His father, Henry Weaver, was a native of Pennsyl¬ vania and a son of a farmer who was born, lived and died in that state at an advanced age. Henry Weaver, who was also a farmer, came to Indiana at an early day, and located in Galena township, LaPorte county, where he improved a farm and reared his family. He spent the last twenty years of his life near Zionsville, Boone county, where he died in 1894, at the age of eighty years. His first wife was Catharine Martin, a native of New Jersey, and who died at a comparatively early age, having been the mother of eight children, six sons and two daughters, five of whom are living, as follows : Joseph, John R., James, George, and Martha, wife of Arthur Gilbert, of Pleasant Lake, Steuben county, Indiana. Both parents of these children were Methodists. Mr. Henry Weaver married for his second wife a Mrs. Abrams. Jacob Martin, the father of the first Mrs. Henry Weaver, was a native of New Jersey, and was one of the pioneer settlers of Galena township, La- Forte county, where he owned a fine farm, and was also justice of the peace for some years.

John R. Weaver was reared on his father's farm in Galena township, and attended the dis¬ trict schools there. On leaving the farm he went to railroading on the Lake Shore Railroad, first as a passenger brakeman and later as a freight brakeman. In 1878 he was appointed deputy sheriff of LaPorte county under F. D. Bowen, with whom he served four years, then for a simi¬ lar period with William Everhart, and for a year and a half with A. F. Earl. In 1888 he embarked in the livery business in Michigan City, and has successfully continued that business up to the present time. He has a good establishment, en¬ joys a fine patronage, and is popular with all classes of citizens. He is now serving as county commissioner, to which office he was elected in November, 1900, and is president of the board. He is a Democrat in politics, and served four years as deputy coroner. He has been efficient and upright in every capacity, whether in public or private life, and his citizenship partakes of the solidity and enterprise which have so much to do with the general welfare and progress.

On June 26, 1883, Mr. Weaver was married to Miss Anna Baldwin, a daughter of Joseph Baldwin. Mrs. Weaver was a teacher in the public schools before her marriage. The chil¬ dren of this marriage are Guy and Earl, and an adopted daughter, Catherine. Mrs. Weaver is a member of the Methodist church, and Mr. Weaver., affiliates with the Elks, the Modern Samaritans and the Ben Hur societies.

JOHN M. ADAMS, a long-time resident on section 5, Dewey township, has spent his entire life since childhood in the southern part of La¬ Porte county, where he has made himself a name for integrity, honest dealings, industry and pros¬ perity as an advanced and progressive agricul¬ turist. Not many years ago this part of the coun¬ ty was thought to be waste and unprofitable land, but such men as Mr. Adams, who have had the foresight to anticipate the development of the land's fertility and the industry and perseverance to ditch and tile and drain the marsh and swamp flats, have reaped a rich reward and to-day culti¬ vate as productive fields and harvest as big crops as any in northern Indiana. Mr. Adams has not only been prominent in this work of development and improvement of Dewey township's material resources, but has been at the front in many public affairs, has held various offices of trust, in the discharge of whose duties he has promoted education and other progress toward civic ideals, and altogether is a man whose substantial char¬ acter and worth as a citizen may be relied upon as the bulwarks of a community and a nation.

Orville Adams, his father, was a native of Litchfield county, Connecticut, and came to La¬ Porte county in 1868, locating on the place of which a part is the farm of Mr. John Adams. He remained on his farm until November, 1894, when he retired from a busy and successful career, and moved into Union Mills, where he died May 25, 1900, in his seventy-fifth year. He was one of the first settlers of Dewey township. He was a life-long Republican, and a member of the Presbyterian church at Union Mills. He mar¬ ried Amanda M. Hill, a native of Livingston county, New York, whence she moved to Litch¬ field county, Connecticut. She is still living in Union Mills. She was the mother of four sons and one daughter, the latter dying in infancy. H. M. is a resident of Union Mills; George C. is a resident of Allegan county, Michigan ; and A. E. is a resident of Marshall county, Indiana.

John M. Adams was born at Lakeville, Litch¬ field county, Connecticut, July 28, 1858, and is -the third child and second son of his parents. He came to Dewey township, LaPorte county, at the age of ten, and was reared on the farm where he now resides. He was educated in the dis¬ trict school and at the school in Wanatah, James O'Brien being one of his teachers. After his marriage he began farming on a part of the home¬ stead, with a house of three rooms, but since then has built a fine residence, has ditched his land and placed numerous improvements on it, and his farm of two hundred and forty-five acres is one of the model places of the township. The original homestead comprised seven hundred acres.

November 4, 1883, Mr. Adams married Miss Viola Williams, a native of Porter county, Indi¬ ana, and the daughter of George and Angeline (Lambert) Williams, who came from Berrien county, Michigan, to Porter county about 1861. Mrs. Adams was reared in Porter county, re¬ ceiving her education in the schools there and in the normal at Valparaiso, and she taught school in Porter county for several years before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have three sons, all at home and attending school at LaCrosse, as follows : John M., Jr., Arthur L. and Ralph C.

In the public life of the community Mr. Adams has performed his due share. He was trustee of the township from 1894 to 1900, and during his incumbency of this important local office the fine high school building was erected at LaCrosse costing forty-five hundred dollars, and his efforts had much to do with making the school one of the best in the county. He is a Republican in his political views, and fraternally is identified with the Knights of the Maccabees at Wanatah, Wanatah Tent No. 41, and he and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at LaCrosse.

WILLARD PLACE ALLEN, who has been prominently connected with business interests in LaPorte county and is now engaged in the super¬ vision of two extensive estates, is a representative in both the paternal and materal lines of old, dis¬ tinguished and honored pioneer families of north¬ ern Indiana. He was born in LaPorte, June 10, 1847, a son of James M. and Eliza J. (Place) Allen. His paternal grandfather, Israel Allen, came from England during the period of the Revolutionary war and settled in Pennsylvania, whence he afterward removed to Virginia.

The maternal grandfather was Colonel Willard Allen Place, who was born in the state of New York, of a well-to-do family. He ac¬ quired a good education, and in 1818 removed to Burlington, Ohio, ten miles from Cincinnati, where he learned the cabinet-maker's trade. While living there he was called out to do mili¬ tary duty and was elected captain of a light rifle company. Subsequently he was made major of the regiment that was organized by William Harrison, a son of General William Henry Harri¬ son, and afterward was promoted to the rank of colonel of this regiment. On the 20th of July, 1831, he started on an exploring trip to LaPorte county, Indiana, and decided to make this his future home. He then returned to Ohio and brought his family to this county in 1832, set¬ tling on section 18, Center township. In that year he aided in building the first log cabin in LaPorte, on the site of the present Lake Shore depot. For several years he successfully en¬ gaged in farming. In 1834 he was elected county commissioner, which office he held for many years, and in 1837 was elected associate judge, acting in that capacity for two years. In 1840 he was elected county treasurer and served for two terms, while in 1848-9 he was a member of the Indiana legislature. Thus in many offices he manifested his loyalty to the welfare of the public by his prompt and faithful discharge of the duties which devolved upon him. He became financially interested in the first railroads that were built through LaPorte county, and for some time was land agent for the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad. In 1857, upon the organization of the State Bank of LaPorte, he was elected a director and later served for five years as its president. In 1843 he sold Ids farm property and removed to the city, remaining an active factor in its financial, business and political circles until his death. He always took an active part in the development of its industrial and financial inter¬ ests, and was also the president of the LaPorte County Agricultural Society and of the Gas Com¬ pany. A man of marked ability and strong force of character, he aided largely in the substantial development of his adopted county, and his efforts were of lasting benefit.

James M. Allenr the father of W. P. Allen, was born in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia, in 1813, and at the ag;e of eighteen years left home and came to the west, going first to Chicago. After a short time, however, he came to LaPorte, in 1835, arriving about the same time as the Andrews family, who were among the pioneer settlers of the county. James M. Allen estab¬ lished a store and carried on merchandising un¬ til 1852, when he removed to one of the three farms which he had previously purchased and which became known as the Allen place. It is located in Center township and adjoins the city of LaPorte on the south. Here Mr. Allen lived until a few years prior to his death, which oc¬ curred September 15, 1893, in his home in La¬ Porte, for his last days were spent in the city. He was well known as a most capable and suc¬ cessful farmer, applying business principles to the management of his lands. Year by year he added to his possessions, and at the time of his death was a very wealthy man. He built the Allen block on Main street in LaPorte, in 1852, and through the control of his business affairs added largely to the development of the county. He was a man of fine breeding, of superior intelli¬ gence and of splendid appearance, and, in fact, was a high type of manhood. His wife, who was born in Ohio, came to LaPorte county at five years of age with her parents. Here she spent her remaining days, her death occurring at La¬ Porte, March 21, 1900.

Willard P. Allen was five years old when his parents removed to the Allen farm south of the city, and there he was reared, attending the schools of LaPorte. After completing his educa¬ tion he accepted a position as bookkeeper and later became a teller in the State Bank. Subse¬ quently he turned his attention to the grocery business, in which he continued for a year or two, after which he resumed farming, locating on a tract of land north of town, given him by his father. There he conducted a successful dairy and stock business for a few years, and upon his return to the city he began dealing in men's furnishing goods, carrying on trade in that line for several years. About 1894 he retired from merchandising in order to look after his father's estate, and since his mother's death he has devoted most of his time to the supervision of his own property interests.

For the last few years he has also been en¬ gaged in settling up the estate of his uncle, Judge William Homer Allen, deceased, who left valu¬ able property in LaPorte county and in Helena, Montana. Judge Allen went to Montana in the days of the Virginia City gold excitement, in 1864, and in Last Chance gulch he took up one hundred and sixty acres of land upon which the city of Helena is now located, putting a two-wire fence around it. Later, however, on account of the mining laws, his holdings were reduced to forty acres. He was one of the most prominent figures there in pioneer days, when the vigilantes committee was an active factor in maintaining law and order. For years he was associated with the leading financiers and public men of the state, and his splendid character won him the respect of all. He was kind, just and generous, and at the same time conducted extensive and important business interests that won him great wealth. His death occurred in March, 1899.

In LaPorte, in 1870, Willard P. Allen was married to Miss Thomasine Person, a native of this county and a daughter of Hon. Samuel Per¬ son, a prominent early settler and at one time the president of the State Bank. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have a daughter, Harriet Crawford. In his political views Mr. Allen, like his father and grandfather, is a Democrat, stanch and con¬ servative, and as a citizen is deeply and actively interested in the welfare and growth of his na¬ tive city, contributing generously to many meas¬ ures for the public good. His business ability is manifest by his capable conduct of important in¬ vested interests, and in financial circles his name is an honored one, not alone because of his posses¬

DR. GEORGE E. WASSER, D. D. S., den¬ tist at LaPorte, Indiana, and classed among the younger and energetic citizens of that thriving city, was born at Mercer, Pennsylvania, February 22, 1873, being the son of William and Catharine (Snyder) Wasser, both natives of Pennsylvania and still living there. Dr. Wasser had, at the be¬ ginning, the advantages of a good education. He was graduated from Washington College, Wash¬ ington, Pennsylvania, with the degree of Bachelor of Science on June 22, 1893. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the honorary degree of M. S. He followed out his aptitude for science when he came west, and entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago with the intention of becoming a physician. But after two years of study there he decided to take up the profession of dentistry. Accordingly he entered the Northwestern University School of Dentistry, and in 1896 was graduated with the degree of D..D. S.

Dr. Wasser first opened his office in Pontiac, Illinois, and from there went to Paducah, Ken¬ tucky. In 1896 he took up his permanent loca¬ tion at LaPorte, Indiana, and from the first he took rank among the leaders of his profession, and has enjoyed a very large and increasing patronage from the public; in fact, his success is quite unprecedented in the city of LaPorte. His brother, Dr. A. S. Wasser, is now in partner¬ ship with him, under the name of Wasser & Wasser.

In 1897 Ur. Wasser was married in LaPorte to Miss Dollie Kramer, the daughter of a promi¬ nent wholesale merchant of the place. Dr. Wasser's most important fraternal connection is with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, in which he is past exalted ruler, and during his incumbency of this office the fraternity had a phenomenal growth. The Elks lodge in LaPorte is representative of the best class of citizenship, and Dr. Wasser has done much to promote its influence and progress. He is also a prominent Mason; is Master of Excelsior Lodge No. 41, and a member of Commandery No. 12, K. T. ; and is Past Chancellor Commander of the Knights of Pythias.

Dr. Wasser is dentist and oral surgeon on the consulting staff of the Interlaken Sanatorium at LaPorte and is in other wteys connected with the public life and the social progress of his city.

LaPorte is rapidly advancing to a place of fore¬ most importance among the cities of northern Indiana, and among the enterprising younger element that has materially contributed to this result, within the last four years especially, the name of Dr. Wasser deserves particular mention.

ANDREW J. WESTERVELT, a retired farmer of LaPorte and a business man whose energy, capability and sound judgment have brought him affluence, was born in Brooklyn, New York, on the 18th of September, 1837, his parents being Abraham J. and Mary Freeman (Blakely) Westervelt. The family, as the name indicates, is of Holland descent, although many generations ago it was planted on American soil.

Abraham J. Westervelt was born in New York, near Poughkeepsie, and in early life learned the carpenter's trade. When a young man he removed to Brooklyn, and followed car¬ pentering in that place and in New York city. While in the Empire state he was one of the builders of the "Sailors Snug Harbor" on Staten island. In 1845 he left the Atlantic coast and came to LaPorte county. He purchased a tract of land in Scipio township, and was a successful and prosperous farmer throughout the remainder of his business career. In his earlier years he was noted for his proficiency in carpentering, and after following farming for some time, he re¬ tired from business cares and spent his last years in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former labor. On emigrating westward he landed at Michigan City, on the 5th of May, 1845, and by harvest time he had his house in Scipio township en¬ closed, doing nearly all the work himself. He lived an energetic, useful life, and was well and favorably known in LaPorte county. In 1868 he retired from his farm and made his home in the city of LaPorte until his death, which oc¬ curred March 11, 1888. His wife, who was bom in New York city, was a member of the well known Freeman family of New Jersey. She was married to Mr. Westervelt in New York city, and died in LaPorte, January 23, 1886.

Andrew J. Westervelt attended school in La¬ Porte, and later became a student in Racine College, of Racine, Wisconsin, while in a com¬ mercial college of Pittsburg. Pennsylvania, he prepared for the business world. He has had an interesting and varied career, and although num¬ bered among the pioneer people of LaPorte county and always active and interested in its affairs, he has also spent much time elsewhere. In 1861 he went to New York city, where he was engaged in merchandising for some time, and later he became connected in an official capacity with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He was one of the early associates of William A. Pinker¬ ton, and remained with the agency for several years. His experiences in that connection would form a most thrilling tale if written out fully and would prove the truth of the old adage that "truth is stranger than fiction." In the meantime, however, Mr. Westervelt retained his interests in farming in LaPorte county, and has spent much of his life in Scipio township upon a farm, con¬ ducting the. home property after his father's removal to the city. There he remained until 1884, when he purchased a residence in LaPorte, where he has since made his home in comfortable retirement from active business cares, save the supervision of his investments. He has always been a successful money-maker, but is liberal almost to a fault and has given largely and gen¬ erously to religious and charitable objects. Among his benefactions was a donation of two thousand five hundred and twenty-five dollars to the Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago. His farm in Scipio township consists of one hundred and eighty-two acres of very fine land. He continued to manage this farm for several years after his removal to the city, but recently has rented the property. He has never married, and his home is shared by his sister, Mary I. Westervelt. She has always been an influential and earnest Christ¬ ian worker, and like her brother belongs to the Presbyterian church of LaPorte.

THOMAS J. GARWOOD, one of the proserous and highly esteemed citizens of New Duram and Clinton townships, LaPorte county, as an energetic and progressive agriculturist has met with remarkable success, and is to-day the owner of a valuable property of six hundred and fifty acres of as fine farming land as is to be found in the county.

Mr. Garwood is the son of John and Jane (Garwood) Garwood, who, though of the same family name, were not related by blood. John Garwood was born in New Jersey in 1795, and his wife was born in Warren county, Ohio, April 11, 1800, and her marriage took place in that state. Mr. John Garwood followed farming throughout his life, and his death occurred in LaPorte county in 1867. In his family were nine children, namely : Benjamin, who was born in 1819 and died in i860: John, born in 1821 ; William, born in 1823: Marv and Elizabeth, twins, born June 24, 1827; Charlotte, who was

Thomas J. Garwood was born in Scipio town¬ ship, LaPorte county, April 11, 1833. He re¬ mained on the home farm during youth and ac¬ quired a general education in the schools of the neighborhood. After leaving school he com¬ menced farming in Scipio township, and in 1864 made his first purchase of land, a tract of eightyeight acres. As years passed he steadily pros¬ pered in his farming operations, meeting with the success that usually follows the industrious and enterprising man, and he has added to his prop¬ erty till he now has six hundred and fifty acres.

January 31, 1866, Mr. Garwood was married at Westville to Miss Elizabeth Conlon, who was born in Ireland, April 17, 1847, and came to America in 1853 with her father's family, who located in LaPorte county. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Garwood, and the family circle is yet unbroken by the hand of death. Frank, a farmer of New Durham township, mar¬ ried Mrs. Fannie (Rose) Butterfield; William, also of New Durham township, married Miss Maggie Luce ; Charles, of Westville, married Miss Myrtle Martin ; Thomas, who lives at home, married Miss Iva Bray ton ; Edward married Miss Nora Cathcart and resides in Clinton town¬ ship; Mary Edith and Robert, the youngest, are at home. All the children finished the eighth grade of school, and Edith studied music at the St. Rose Academy at LaPorte.

Mr. Garwood is a Jacksonian Democrat in politics, and his wife and daughter Edith are members of the Precious Blood Catholic church at Wanatah. They have one of the pretty homes of the township, and their many friends delight to frequent its hospitable threshold. As a publicspirited citizen Mr. Garwood gives his support To any movement for the good of the county or the benefit of the people, and he enjoys the confidence and respect of all with whom he conies in contact either in business or social life.

JOHN WALKER LUDLOW. The history of a state, as well as that of a nation, is chiefly the chronicles of the lives and deeds of those who have conferred honor and dignity upon society, whether in the broad sphere of public labors or in the more circumscribed but not less worthy and valuable realm of individual activity through which the public good is promoted. The name borne by the subject of this sketch is one which has stood exponent for the most sterling personal characteristics, the deepest appreciation of the rights and privileges of citizenship in our great republic, and one which has been indis¬ solubly identified with the annals of LaPorte county from an early epoch in its history.

In 1830 John Walker, his maternal grand¬ father, and a native of Pennsylvania, came to this county, this being just one year after the first white settler had located here, and prior to the county's organization. As the years passed by he became the owner of extensive tracts of land in the central portion of LaPorte county, having at one time owned the land on which the eastern and southern portions of the city of LaPorte now stand, and his excellent business ability and in¬ defatigable labor secured for him a handsome competence. Several of his sons were also resi¬ dents of this locality, and as they all had numerous descendants the Walker family was at one time a large and influential one in LaPorte county, but in later years death has claimed many, and the family is now comparatively small.

Oliver P. Ludlow, the father of John W. Ludlow, was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, in 1814. His father, Stephen Ludlow, removed from New Jersey to Cincinnati, and assisted in the establishment of that city and labored earnestly for its promotion and welfare. His maternal uncle, Ogden Ross, was also prominent in the early history of Cincinnati. Oliver P. Ludlow was born at Lawrenceburg, Indiana. As early as 1840 he cast in his lot with the pioneers of LaPorte county where he en¬ gaged in agricultural pursuits, and he is now spending his declining years on his homestead adjoining LaPorte on the south, which has been his place of residence for a number of years and which was formerly the property of the above mentioned John Walker. In his earlier life Mr. Ludlow took an active interest in political matters as a member of the Whig party, and when the Republican party was organized he joined its ranks, having ever since remained true and loyal to its principles. At one time he served as chair¬ man of the LaPorte county Republican central committee. As a companion on the journey of life he chose Eliza Crawford Walker, who was born in Shelbvville, Indiana, a daughter of La¬ Porte county's worthy pioneer, John Walker. This union has been separated by the hand of death, for in 1872 the wife and mother was called to the home beyond. She exerted a broad and beneficial influence upon the community in which she made her home, and the highest tributes of love and respect were paid her.

John Walker Ludlow was born on the old" Ludlow farm adjoining LaPorte on the south, December 27, 1845, an^ m the public schools of the city he received his elementary education, which was later supplemented by a course in Earlham College, of Richmond, Indiana. After at¬ taining to years of maturity he chose the tilling of the soil as a life occupation, and for many years was regarded as one of the leading and representative agriculturists of the county. The deserved reward of a well spent life is an honored retirement from labor in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil, and in 1889, after a useful and beneficent career, Mr. Ludlow was enabled to put aside the more active cares of business, and removed to LaPorte, where he is now surrounded by the comforts that earnest labor has brought to him.

On the 4th of September, 1872, Mr. Ludlow was united in marriage to Miss Frances Allen, a daughter of James M. Allen, also a prominent pioneer of LaPorte county, and the history of whose family appears elsewhere in this volume. Mrs. Ludlow passed away in death May 2, 1901, leaving one son, Oliver A., who is now serving as secretary of the Johnson Harness Company, of this city. In political matters Mr. Ludlow also gives his support to the Republican party, being an earnest worker in its cause, and in his fraternal relations he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. . Public-spirited and progressive in all his ideas, he lends his influence to all measures which he believes useful to the majority, and his is the record of a true and loyal citizen.

Mr. Ludlow's only living brother is Oliver P. Ludlow, Jr., who owns and resides on the farm formerly the homestead of his uncle, John W. Ludlow, deceased. His wife is Melissa (Bowen) Ludlow, daughter of Fitch D. Bowen, ex-sheriff and a prominent old-time resident of the county. To Oliver P. Ludlow and wife were born four children: Porter Bowen, Eliza C., Willard W. and Sarah Frances.

WILLIAM NILES. Among the earnest men whose depth of character and strict adherence to principle excite the admiration of his contem¬ poraries is William Niles. Banking institutions are the heart of the commercial body, indicating the healthfulness of trade, and the bank that follows a safe, conservative business policy does more to establish public confidence in times of widespread financial depression than anything else. Such a course has the First National Bank followed under the able management of its presi¬ dent, Mr. Niles. Throughout his business career he has been one of the active men of the county, closely associated with its enterprise and progress, and now he is numbered among the well-to-do of his native city.

Mr. Niles was born in LaPorte, September 27, 1835, his parents being John B. and Mary (Polke) Niles. The ancestral line can be traced back through many generations to John Niles, of Welsh descent, who came from Wales to America and who was one of the company that settled the town of Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630. He took the freeman's oath on the 26th of May, 1647.

Hon. Samuel Niles, the great-great-grandfather of William Niles, was graduated from Harvard College in 1731, and became a distin¬ guished and influential citizen of his community. He was judge of the court of common pleas of Suffolk county, Massachusetts, and was one of twenty-eight counsellors who exercised the func¬ tions of government before the constitution of the new republic was framed.

His son, Nathaniel Niles, the great-grand¬ father of Mr. Niles, was a graduate of Princeton College and became a trustee of Dartmouth Col¬ lege. He was both a minister and judge, promi¬ nent both at the bar and as a preacher of the gospel. He served as a member of the continen¬ tal congress, and was the author of a patriotic poem which attracted considerable attention in those days and aroused a loyal spirit among its readers.

William Niles, the grandfather of Mr. Niles, was a graduate of Dartmouth College, and it will thus be seen that the members of the family down through the different generations have been gen¬ tlemen of strong intellectuality and broad scholarly attainments.

John B. Niles, the father of William Niles, was born at West Fairlee, Orange county, Vermont, September 8, 1808, and he, too, was a graduate of Dartmouth. He studied law, and after pre¬ paring for the bar came to the west, making the journey on horseback in 1833. It was his in¬ tention to locate on a ten-acre lot in Chicago, but while enroute for that city he stopped at LaPorte, and, being pleased with this place, purchased a lot here instead and continued to make his home in LaPorte throughout his remaining days. Open¬ ing a law office, he engaged in practice for many years and became prominent and a man of means. He was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of LaPorte, founded in 1864, and he gained distinction in connection with public affairs bearing upon the welfare of Indiana. He was elected a member of the convention which framed the new constitution for the state in 1850, and his influence was effective and far-reaching in behalf of general progress and improvement. His strong mind, his lofty patriotism, his marked success and his upright character made him a citizen whom Indiana regards as one of her honored sons. His death occurred in LaPorte on the 6th of July, 1879.

Mrs. John B. Niles was born in the old town of Vincennes, Indiana, June 13, 1811, and was a daughter of the Hon. William Polke, whose birth occurred in Brooke county, Virginia, in 1777. William Polke became one of the pioneer settlers of this state, removing from Kentucky in 1808, at which time he took up his abode in Knox county, in what was then the territory of Indiana. He was wounded at the battle of Tippecanoe, in which he served under the command of General Harrison. He was a member of the first state constitutional convention of Indiana in the year 1816. In 1829 and for a number of years after, he was commissioner for the sale of the Michigan road lands. In 1832 he removed to Fulton county, Indiana, and established a farm where the Michi¬ gan road crossed the Tippecanoe river. His was the first frame house built on that road north of the Wabash river and was known for many years as the White House. In 1836 he had charge of the removal of the Pottawottomie Indians to the Indian Territory. He was a member of the senate in the first legislature of the state. He also had something to do as a commissioner with the locating and naming of the state capitol. As an associate judge he opened the first court held in LaPorte county, the temple of justice being at that time a log cabin, containing two rooms. In 1841 he removed to Fort Wayne to accept the position as President Harrison's appointee of register of the land office, and there he died on the 26th of April, 1843.

William Polke was a son of Charles Polke, who removed from Virginia to Madison county, Kentucky, about the year 1785, and there en¬ gaged in the Indian wars. At one time he was captured by the Indians and held as prisoner until exchanged at Detroit about a year later. The ancestral line is traced still further back through John Polke, who was a son of John Polke, Sr., and a grandson of Robert Bruce Pollok, the last named born in county Donegal, Ireland, about 1630, and in 1680 came to America, settling in Somerset county, Maryland, where he assumed the name of Robert Bruce Polke, the surname being a contraction of Pollok, which was the an¬ cestral name of the family. Robert Bruce Polke was a son of Sir Robert de Pollok, who joined the Scotch Covenanters in 1640. He was a native of Scotland and received from King James II a large grant of land in "Vetus Scotia," as Ireland was then called. His father was Sir John de Pollok, and the record goes back to Petrius de Pollok, who in 1153 held the baronetcy of Ren¬ frewshire and also of Roths and Aberdeenshire, the chevron of which is still borne on the shield of the Prince of Wales. The father of Petrius was Fulbert the Saxon, born in 1075, who held the vast feudal baronetcy of Pollok.

It will thus be seen that William Niles on both sides comes of honorable and distinguished ancestry. He acquired his early education in private schools, and later attended Urbana Uni¬ versity of Ohio and Dartmouth College, the latter being also the alma mater of his father and his grandfather. Mr. Niles was graduated at Dart¬ mouth with the class of 1859, an(I returning to his home took up the study of law in his father's office, being admitted to the bar in 1861. For a number of years he practiced in partnership with his father, but in later life increasing busi¬ ness interests compelled him to give up his law practice and devote his undivided attention to other affairs. The First National Bank of La¬ Porte, of which he is the president, was organized in 1864, and is thus one of the old national bank- t ing institutions of the country, very few banks in America having obtained their charter at an earlier day. Its first president was A. Case, while the original directors were John B. Niles, Ezekiel Morrison, Sidney S. Sabin, James Ridgeway and Samuel E. Williams. Mr. Niles was one of the stockholders, and has thus been connected with the institution since its establishment. He was made president several years ago, and is therefore the chief officer in one of the most substantial institutions of the state. The excellent business policy inauguarated at the beginning has ever been maintained, and under the control of Mr. Niles and his .associates the scope of the busi¬ ness has been increased.

Other enterprises have claimed the attention and received the assistance of Mr. Niles. He was one of the organizers of the Niles & Scott Company, manufacturers of wheels for agricul¬ tural implements. For many years only wood wheels were constructed, but since 1890 the com¬ pany has also made steel wheels, which are welded by electricity. This business was estab- lished in 1870, being then conducted under the name of the La Porte Wheel Company, while later the name was changed to the present style of the Niles & Scott Company. This is a large and important industry, and with its control Mr. Niles was connected for some time, after which he sold out, although the business is still con¬ ducted under the old name. He has varied busi¬ ness interests and investments, including a fine farm in Lake county and one in LaPorte county, his landed possessions aggregating about two thousand acres.

Mr. Niles is a Republican and is a member of the New church. On the 16th of December, 1885, occurred the marriage of Mr. Niles and Miss Judith King Anderson, a native of LaPorte county. She died December 13, 1902, in this city, her loss being deeply deplored by many friends as well as her immediate family. She was the mother of two daughters.

Judith King Anderson, the esteemed wife of William Niles, was the daughter of Robert T. and Mary M. Anderson. She was born on her father's farm in Scipio township, February 28, 1849. In her early life she attended the public schools of her township, and her education was completed at Hanover high school in Indiana, and at Monmouth College in Illinois. She spent about two years in Europe, and her mind was en¬ larged and liberalized by foreign travel. She was an extensive and discerning reader, and was many-sided in her attainments in art, music and literature, apt and clever in them all. She was a woman with a finely strung nature, intense and exuberant, the soul of devotion to her family and friends. Her home was her heaven, where she ministered to her family with never failing love and attention. She was very hospitable; it was her delight to entertain her friends, for which she possessed a peculiar aptness, and she was never more happy or more successful than when she was the moving spirit of some social company. It was when in this capacity that her gifts and cul¬ ture manifested themselves in a striking manner, the more so because she was always unassuming. She was a lover of music and possessed a rich contralto voice. She had a fine sense of humor, and was natural whatever the occasion. In her church relations she was a Presbyterian, but after her marriage she attended worship with her hus¬ band in the New or Sweden borgian church more frequently than in her own. She entered heartily into much of the church work of this society ; though she never saw her way clear formally to change her church relations.

JOHN W. POTTINGER, one of LaPorte county's native sons and a prominent agricul¬ turist, is a representative of one of the county's old and honored families, three generations of which have been identified with its history from the period of early development to the present.

His grandfather, Samuel Pottinger, Sr., was born in Ohio in 1793 and came to LaPorte county in 1835, where he established a home in the midst of the wilderness, becoming an important factor in the upbuilding and improvement of this sec¬ tion of the state. He settled on the farm which is now the property of his grandson, and built a log house about forty rods from the present ele¬ gant residence of the latter. He made his home in this county during the remainder of his life, and died in LaPorte in 1861, honored and re¬ spected by all who knew him. During the gold excitement, in California in 1849, crossed the plains to the Pacific cofeist and was engaged in mining for two years. He was one of the founders of the first Christian church at LaPorte and remained one of its most active and promi¬ nent members until his death.

Samuel K. Pottinger, father of John W. Pottinger, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1824, and was about eleven years of age when he accompanied his parents to LaPorte county. In this county he married Miss Sarah Harvey, who was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, in 1830, a daughter of John Harvey, another pioneer of the state. She died December 27, 1890, hav¬ ing survived her husband about nine years. He followed farming throughout his life, and was a worthy citizen and good neighbor.

John W. Pottinger was born on the old home¬ stead in Scipio township, October 15, 1858. He was the only child, and has been absent from the parental home for only one considerable length of time; he was at Northwestern University for one year, in the literary department, and in Chi¬ cago for four years. He was graduated from the LaPorte high school in 1876. He aided his father in the operation of the home farm until the lat¬ ter's death, when he took entire charge of the place. He has a well improved and valuable farm of two hundred and seventy acres, supplied with all the conveniences and accessories of a model farm of the present century, and in connection with his 'general farming is engaged in stockraising, making a specialty of thoroughbred short¬ horn cattle.

Since attaining his majority Mr. Pottinger has affiliated with the Republican party, and cast his first vote for James A. Garfield. He is a prominent Mason, having taken the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite at Indianapolis in 1891, and is a member of Excelsior Lodge No. 41, F. & A. M., at LaPorte; of LaPorte Chapter No. 15, LaPorte Council No. 32, and LaPorte Commandery No. 12, and has been presiding officer of each order ; in 1898 he was grand master of the Royal and Select Masters of the state of Indiana, and has been delegate to the grand lodge many times. Mrs. Pottinger is a member of the Eastern Star Lodge No. 52 at LaPorte. Mr. Pottinger is a public-spirited citizen, is popular in both business and social circles, and those who have known him from boyhood are numbered among his warmest friends.

HENRY CARL ROSENBAUM, one of the substantial and prosperous German-born resi¬ dents of LaPorte county, with a good farm on section 5, Dewey township, was born in Prussian Germany, July 12, 1844, and was brought across the waters to America and LaPorte county when he was eleven years old. The family settled in Cass township, and he finished his education in the common schools there. He has been ac¬ quainted with farm labor ever since he was old enough to perform his small part, and was an able assistant to his parents till their death. He remained on the old homestead, and has pros¬ pered in all his undertakings to such an extent that he is looked upon as one of the most in¬ fluential citizens of his community. He owns now six hundred and forty acres of land, and it is all well improved and excellent for farming pur¬ poses. He has been a resident of Cass township most of his life, but in 1903 moved over into Dewey township.

Mr. Rosenbaum was married in 1866 to Miss Calania Werner, and nine children were born to them: Emile, Herman H., William H., Powell R., Paulina (deceased, the eldest born), Amelia, Alvina, Augusta, and Bertha, deceased. Mr. Rosenbaum has been interested in local affairs, and is now serving on the advisory board for the second term. He affiliates with the Democratic party, but as a rule votes for the man he thinks best fitted for the office. In religion he is a mem¬ ber and trustee in the Lutheran church, and by his influence and purse contributes much to the success of that body. Mr. Rosenbaum owes his advancement in material things almost entirely to his own efforts. He possessed a large amount of Teutonic perseverance and shrewdness, but these qualities would not have accomplished so much without his untiring industry. And as a man he is admired for his integrity and devotion to upright principles, and his position among friends and business associates is one of esteem.

JOHN L. CONBOY, one of the prominent representatives of agricultural interests of La¬ Porte county, residing on section 36, Clinton township, not far from Wanatah, is not only a thoroughly progressive farmer, understanding that calling in all its principles and details, but is also known by his fellow men as a worthy Chris¬ tian gentleman, and one whose part in life is not played along the lines of selfish interest but for the benefit and uplifting of humanity.

He was the son of Michael and Mary (Rey¬ nolds) Conboy, both natives of county Leitrim, Ireland, born, respectively, in 1796 and 1815, and were married there in 1836. Their wedding journey was a voyage to the new world, made with the intention of locating permanently in America. They settled in Wilkesbarre, Pennsyl¬ vania, and made their home in that state all their lives, Mr. Michael Conboy dying in Susque¬ hanna county in 1883. Thirteen children were born to these parents, whose names and dates of birth are as follows : John L., the eldest ; the sec¬ ond died in infancy; Ellen, April 18, 1840; Pat¬ rick M., January 20, 1842; Michael A., April 26, 1844; Edward, January 30, 1847; one ^at was born and died in 1848; Francis, April 20, 1849; Mary, August 14, 1851 ; William J., July 6, 1853; Thomas, February 21, 1855, died in infancy; Cornelius, April 18, 1859; and Thomas, May, 2, 1861.

John L. Conboy was bom in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1837. He grew to man¬ hood in that state, and was educated in the com¬ mon schools, finishing at Owego Academy. During his early years he taught school for a time, and he was such an active youth and was possessed of so much ability to manage affairs that he was often intrusted with responsibilities fitting those of more mature years. At the age of sixteen he drove fourteen hundred head of cattle, having four helpers under him, from Pennsylvania through to Connecticut. He has been along the whole course of the Susquehanna river on a raft, and knows its windings like a book. He early learned the carpenter's trade, and during a part of 1861-2 was in the service of the Union army, building bridges and hospitals, under General Superinten¬ dent of Military Roads D. C. McCollum. He witnessed several battles, among them being the awful conflict at Fredericksburg. When he came to LaPorte he engaged in carpentering and build¬ ing. and had the contract for the wood work on the first high school building in the city. He continued in this line of business there until 1872, when he came to Chicago, shortly after the great fire, and for the next three years he was contract¬ ing and erecting many structures to take the place of those burned. He afterward engaged in the hardware business, which he carried on until 1880, when he returned to LaPorte county. He had previously purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Clinton township, and since that time his energies have been successfully em¬ ployed in agricultural pursuits. He became the owner of eight hundred and forty acres of land in this county, some of which cost him as low as two dollars and a half an acre, but his develop¬ ment of its productiveness and improvements added to its value until in 1902 he sold six hun¬ dred acres at forty dollars an acre.

On April 17, 1864, Mr. Conboy married, in Chicago, Miss Helen Sullivan, who was born in county Cork, Ireland, August 16, 1840. The following children have been bom to this union : Michael, who died in infancy; Edward P., born March n, 1867, who is proprietor of a livery stable at Wanatah, and a successful business man ; the third child died in infancy ; Mary, born May 9, 1870, who was educated in literary courses and music at St. Genevieve's Convent, Chicago, is the wife of J. F. Tilden, a farmer of Indian Point, LaPorte county ; John T., born Sep¬ tember 18, 1872, was educated in the Hanna high school and the Valparaiso Normal, and is a stockman and farmer ; Frank J., bom February 18, 1875, graduated at the Wanatah high school and taught school for two years in LaPorte county, and in 1903 was graduated in the law department of Notre Dame University ; the next child died in infancy; Charles P., born November 1, 1879, was a student in the Wanatah schools and spent one year in the commercial department at Notre Dame, and intends to take up a commercial life.

The family are communicants of the Catholic church of the Precious Blood at Wanatah, and Mrs. Conboy is a member of the sodality. It speaks volumes for the Christian spirit and kindly nature of these people that, in addition to the care of rearing their own children to useful and honor¬ able men and women, five orphan children owe their nurture and early training to the philan¬ thropy and big-heartedness of Mr/ and Mrs. Conboy. These are Julia Calnan ; Katharine Calnan, the wife of William Conboy, of Pennsylva¬ nia ; Maude Derby, the wife of Albert Schunardt, a printer and foreman on the Milwaukee Sentinel ; and two others, who are still under the hospitable roof of their foster parents. Mr. Conboy affiliates with the Democratic party, and is a member of the Royal Arcanum No. 569. He is a man of rec¬ ognized ability, is energetic, progressive and in¬ dustrious, and to these attributes he owes his success in life, for he started out with no capital or influential friends to aid him and has had to make his own way in the world.

WILLIAM M. BUTTERWORTH, who un- \il about ten years ago was a citizen of LaPorte, and is now a lawyer and engaged in the real estate business in Chicago, and is also especially known as the efficient and graft-opposing aiderman of the thirty-first ward of Chicago, comes from one of the most prominent families in con¬ nection with the early history of LaPorte county, Indiana.

His grandfather, Benjamin Butterworth, was born in Ohio, a member of the Butterworth fam¬ ily of that state, to which Congressman Ben But¬ terworth belongs. In 1834 he moved to Indiana and became one of the very earliest settlers of La¬ Porte county, where he was one of the wealthiest and most influential residents. He bought from the government eighteen eighty-acre tracts of land at $1.25 an acre, and was one of the largest land owners of the county. He died in 1874.

Moses E. Butterworth, the son of Benjamin and the father of William M. Butterworth, was born at Harveysburg, Ohio, in 1829, and when five years old was taken by his parents to La¬ Porte county, where he was reared on his father's farm in Scipio township. In 1849 he was one of the gold-seekers who crossed the plains to Cali¬ fornia, and subsequently made six other trips int a like manner. His companion on one of these quests for gold was George M. Pullman, of Chi¬ cago, and on this occasion Mr. Butterworth in¬ stalled the first quartz mill west of the Missouri river. Moses Butterworth moved to Chicago from LaPorte county in 1893, and his death oc¬ curred in that city in March, 1900. He was one of the founders of the famous Quaker church of LaPorte, with which were connected some of the most prominent men of LaPorte county. He was a Republican in politics. His wife was Martha Miller, who was a native of St. Joseph county,

Indiana, where her father, Squire Miller, was one of the old-timers and an intimate friend of Schuyler Colfax. Mrs. Moses E. Butterworth is still living, and makes her home in Chicago.

William M. Butterworth was born in 1867 in Union township, near Kingsbury, LaPorte coun¬ ty, Indiana, was reared there and received his early education in the schools of Kingsbury and LaPorte. He was also a student at Purdue Uni¬ versity, Lafayette, Indiana, and at the Indiana State University at Bloomington, two years at each place. Mr. Butterworth, on leaving school, turned his attention to newspaper work, and his energy and originality in this line made him very successful. He was the first city editor of the LaPorte Daily Herald , which was the first suc¬ cessful daily newspaper in LaPorte up to that time, and which he assisted in establishing. He remained with the Daily Herald until 1892, when he came to Chicago. He worked for a real estate firm for about two years, and employed his even¬ ings studying law. He afterward went into the office of ex-Governor Hamilton and was admitted to the bar in 1894. Since then he has had an office of his own and has been engaged in a suc¬ cessful practice up to the present time.

Mr. Butterworth has from the first been in¬ terested in politics, and the association with and the management of men come natural to him, for he has that strain of humor and geniality which is hereditary in the Butterworth family, and which has been one of the pregnant causes of success with all men who have engaged in public life. But more than this is his honest, sincere nature, which has been responsible for his honorable record in the field of politics. In 1900 he received the Republican nomination for aiderman of the thirty-first ward, and was elected on April 1 of that year by twelve hundred ma¬ jority, and in 1902 was renominated and elected by twenty-three hundred majority. In the city council he has been a member, among others, of the judiciary committee and the committe on streets and alleys south. But he has rendered especial service to the city as a member of the committee on sanitation, of which he is chairman. He is recognized by the others members as an au¬ thority on sanitation, of which subject he has made deep study, and in his official capacity has had charge of drawing up the milk ordinances and other measures for the public safety. Mr. Butterworth, as the opponent of graft and in¬ efficiency in public office, has done much for the cause of reform, particularly in his own ward, where he has reorganized the departments of public work, has discharged the loafers and leaches and timeservers, and so purged the city payrolls in his ward that every name thereon represents actual services rendered. He estab¬ lished a ward office at the comer of Ashland boulevard and. Marshfield avenue, and in many other ways has established himself in the graces of his constituency. The thirty-first is one of the largest wards in the city, embracing a part of Englewood; it has three hundred and sixty-six miles of streets, and sixty thousand population.

In addition to his law practice and aldermanic duties, Mr. Butterworth has recently taken charge of the famous Drexel sub-division on the South Side, and he is also building some houses and is otherwise interested in real estate.

In 1892 Mr. Butterworth was married in Chicago to Miss Julia V. Fox, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, the daughter of English parents. They have two sons, Edward and Harry. Mr. Butterworth's brother, Harry T., is a well known ' professional singer and is manager of the Schiller Quartette of Chicago. Mr. Butterworth has long been a prominent Odd Fellow, a past noble grand and member of the grand lodge, and is also a member of the Englewood Men's Club. His law

JOHN L. HUTCHINSON was one of the pioneers in the founding of a school in America in which the trade of watchmaking can be learned, and is now the sole proprietor of the ex¬ cellent institution of LaPorte known as the Hutchinson School for Watchmakers, Engravers and Opticians. Having thoroughly mastered the business in early manhood, and followed this by a number of years at practical training' in the work in some of the leading watchmaking estab¬ lishments of the country, he was well qualified for the task which he undertook of instructing others, and the institution has met a long-felt need in the trade circles of the country. Because of his ability and skill success has come to him, and in LaPorte his business and social standing entitle him to classification with the leading men of the city.

Mr. Hutchinson was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1849, and comes of an old New England family which was planted on American soil in Connecticut. Rev. Charles Hutchinson, a Presbyterian minister of New Albany, Indiana, has traced the ancestry to William the Conqueror. John Hutchinson, the father of John L. Hutchin¬ son, was born in Vermont, learned the trade of carpentering and located in Hanover, New

Hampshire. He married Phebe Johnson Davis, and soon after the birth of John L. removed his family across the Connecticut river to Norwich, Vermont, where he lived for a short time, and then removed to Rutland, that state. There the Hutchinson home was maintained for many years, but the father later went to Albany, New York, where he now resides. In the line of his trade he soon gained the reputation of being an excellent workman, and while he has been an extensive contractor and builder, he has made a specialty of the higher grades of carpentry work, such as stair-building and fine finishing. He is also an architect, and in many places in the country splendid buildings stand as monuments to his skill as an architect and builder. His wife died at Lewiston, Maine, in 1894, while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. George D. Babbitt.

John L. Hutchinson was only two years old when his parents removed to Rutland, where he attended the public schools and between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years was employed by his father at carpentering. Even at that early age he showed exceptional thoroughness in his work, and this won him such an enviable repu¬ tation that his labors were always in demand and he was frequently given precedence over others. In October, 1868, when nineteen years of age, he went to Burlington, Vermont, when he entered upon an apprenticeship to Brinsmaid & Hildreth, jewelers and watchmakers. To learn watchmak¬ ing had long been his ambition, and he undertook the business with all the delight of a person carry¬ ing out a cherished desire. With that firm he got a good start in clock work and general jewelry repairing. After three years he entered the em¬ ploy of the American Waltham Watch Company, at Waltham, Massachusetts, where under the tutelage of D. D. Palmer, head adjuster on highgrade movements in that factory, he completed his apprenticeship in watchmaking, his experience there making him thoroughly qualified in the higher branches of the trade. He was such an apt and skillful student that his work attracted the favorable attention of the superintendent and treasurer of the company. He remained at Waltham for more than a year, and then returned to Rutland, where he established a repair shop of his own.

Later Mr. Hutchinson was employed for a few months by the New York Watch Company, at Springfield, Massachusetts, going thence to Northampton, that state, where he worked for J. H. Fowle, a jeweler and watchmaker, for one year. Returning then to Rutland, he had been in that city but a short time when he received a call from D. E. Washburn, the wealthy proprie¬ tor of a jewelry store in Houghton, Michigan, who came there from Boston to engage his services on the recommendation of Mr. Hutchin¬ son's former instructor, D. D. Palmer.* Mr. Hutchinson had just borrowed five hundred dollars with which to purchase tools, and being so greatly in debt did not feel inclined to take the risk of going west with that handicap. How¬ ever, his honorable character and ability as a workman had been so impressed on Washburn by Mr. Palmer that the former offered to ad¬ vance him the money to discharge the indebted¬ ness if he would go to Houghton for a year. This Mr. Hutchinson did, and after two years there accepted a more advantageous offer from the Elgin National Watch Company, at Elgin, Illinois, in October, 1876, and was with them until July, 1877. He then took a still better posi¬ tion with N. Matson & Company, at the corner of State and Monroe streets, Chicago, and was with that firm for several months, when he was offered and accepted a position with the whole¬ sale jewelery firm of Lapp & Flersheim, of Chi¬ cago, as traveling saleman. When two years had thus passed he went into the wholesale material house of Kearney & Swartschild, with whom he remained for a few months, when he took a posi¬ tion with C. H. Knight, a wholesale dealer of Chicago, with whom he remained for four years, both as a workman and salesman. His next busi¬ ness connection was with the wholesale repair department of Giles Brothers & Company, at the corner of State and Washington streets, Chicago, and there he remained for one year, followed by four years spent as a broker and watch repairer of Chicago.