Wabash County, Indiana - The whole text, 1914 (part 8 of 16)

Mr. Arnold married Eliza Lukens, whom he first met in a rather romantic way. It seems that when he first came to Pleasant township to look at Mr. Cole's farm, which he subsequently bought, he inquired the way from Miss Lukens, who was in her father's yard milking a white cow. On his return he spent the night at the Lukens homestead, and afterwards married the fair lassie whom he had first seen milking the cow, the bridal party journeying on horseback to the home of the bride and groom. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph 6. Arnold, namely: Eusebia Clementine, who died at the age of thirteen years; Lydia X., deceased, who married George Leffel; and Sarah E., who became the wife of Mr. Schuler.

Sarah E. Arnold first attended the public schools, later continuing her studies at the Wabash Seminary, and in North Manchester. Finely educated, she taught school at Rose Hill, Kosciusko county, for a short time, but at the age of nineteen years gave up her position as teacher to marry Azro Z. Schuler, as previously mentioned. She survived her hus¬ band, and is now living at Roann, Indiana. Two children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Schuler, namely : Ralph Arnold, the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; and Russell Philip, a wellknown and successful physician of Kokomo, Indiana.

But three years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Roann, Ralph Arnold Schuler there acquired his rudimentary educa¬ tion, after which he completed the course of study at the Valparaiso Normal School. Thus equipped for a professional career, he taught school ten years, first at Urbana, and later in Roann. At the death of his father, Mr. Schuler gave up teaching, and has since devoted his time and energies to farming and stock-raising, in both branches of which he is meeting with great success. Receiving but $100 from his parents, Mr. Schuler has made everything he possesses by his own efforts. For the first eighty acres of land that he purchased he paid $2,500, running in debt $2,000, it being the old " Squires" farm, mostly swamp and timber. The buildings standing upon it have been remodeled by Mr. Schuler, and on the farm he has put in three thousand rods of tile, making it one of the best farms in regard to its improvements and appointments of any in the neighborhood.

Mr. Schuler married, June 16, 1905, Maud Smith, a daughter of John B. and Rebecca (Johnson) Smith, old residents of Wabash county, and into their home three children have been born, namely : Miriam V. and Clarence B., twins ; and John Azro. Mr. Schuler is progressive in politics, but has never been an aspirant for official honors. He is a member of Lodge No. 583, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, at Roann ; and of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, at Kokomo, while his mother belongs to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Kokomo. Mr. Schuler is a member and a trustee of the Miami County Baptist church, of which his Grandfather Arnold was one of the founders.

James F. Stewart. Some of Wabash county's ablest business men are found on the farms. It is judgment, foresight, common-sense appli¬ cation of means to ends, and industry - the qualities which give success to the merchant, banker and manufacturer - that have been the secrets of success in the career of J. F. Stewart, or Frank Stewart, as he is best known among his many friends and associates. Mr. Stewart is the owner of one hundred and thirty-three acres, divided into two farms. His home place comprising eighty acres, is on the north side of the Butterbaugh Pike, about four and a half miles east of Roann. Another farm of fiftythree acres, on which his son resides, is on the west side of the Laketon road, about eight and a half miles north of Wabash. Both farms are in Paw Paw township.

James Franklin Stewart, who has lived on his present place since the spring of 1860, was born in Richland county, Ohio, August 14, 1845, a son of James and Harriet (McGee) Stewart, both old residents of Ohio. James Stewart was a pioneer of Richland county, and developed a farm five miles from the city of Mansfield. In the fall of 1860 the family moved out to Indiana, making the journey in a wagon, and first located on the old Murphy farm, a conspicuous center in the community because of the old Murphy church which stood there. James Stewart rented land for a time, but previous to his permanent settlement had bought a place of eighty acres in Noble township, and while living on the rented place put up a set of buildings there. Until he applied the axe and plow there had not been a stick cut on the Noble township land, and he was instrumental in making a farm out of the primeval wilderness. His first home and accommodations for stock were log buildings. That old farm was situated on the Range Line road. Indians used to camp nearby, and all of them were on friendly terms with the Stewarts and other settlers. They sometimes came to the house, and Mrs. James Stewart would bake bread for them. While living there James Stewart succeeded in clearing up thirty acres, and finally sold his farm to Henry Beidlestracker. The following year or so was spent in renting, and in 1860 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Paw Paw towrnship, adjoining the farm now owned by Frank Stewart. It is interesting to note that the price paid for the land at that time, more than half a century ago, was seven dol¬ lars an acre. Nearly every acre was covered with forest growth and brush, though about eighty acres had been 4 'deadened" - that is, the trees had been barked or chipped so that their foliage no longer shaded the ground and crops could be planted and raised under the bare trees. There were no buildings when James Stewart went there, and the many improvements which followed were all due to his strenuous labors as an early settler. His first home was a log house and he continued his work until most of the land was in cultivation. Subsequently he added the eighty acres now owned by his son, Frank, but paid sixteen hundred dollars for that land, a great advance in price over his former purchase. iJy the united labors of himself and son there was brought about one of the productive homesteads of Paw Paw township, and in spite of misfor¬ tunes the Stewart family have always prospered. Two sets of buildings have burned on that farm, but the enterprise of the owners always repaired what was destroyed. James Stewart passed away there at the age of seventy-seven years, and was survived many years by his widow, who died in 1909 at the age of ninety years, six months and three days. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom were bom in Ohio and accompanied their parents in the wagon on their journey to Wabash county. These children are : Robert, of Minnesota ; Mary Jane, who died as Mrs. Case; George W., of LaGrange county, Indiana; James Franklin; Logan, of Ijamsville, Wabash county ; Maria, a widow, Mrs. Middlecough, of Garden City, Missouri; Charles, of Elkhart, Indiana; Henry, of Wabash; and Anna, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Siders.

A child of five years when the family came to Indiana, Frank Stewart grew up in this county, and is one of the men still in active life who received their schooling in a temple of learning built of logs, though subsequently he attended a little frame schoolhouse. His youth was passed in the environment of the old home until he married, and his labors largely contributed to the improvement of the homestead. For many years the name of Frank Stewart was known over a wide district as a threshing man, a vocation he followed for twenty years, and in that time wore out two horsepower threshing machines. That was in the time before the introduction of steam power and also of the modern type of separating machinery. Threshing was then a community affair, requir¬ ing the labor of all the neighbors, and with the old-fashioned machinery it took much longer to thresh out a given amount of grain than it does today. Between the seasons of threshing Mr. Stewart followed farming.

In August, 1880, occurred his marriage with Ida Miller, daughter of Amos and Liberty (Brady) Miller. After their marriage they started life on a portion of his father's farm and bought the eighty acres, fifteen acres of which were then cleared. Its house improvements comprised a plank building and log stable. After their marriage they moved into this rough house, but as the furniture had not yet come they ate their first meal off of a packing box. In 1900 Mr. Stewart erected his present com¬ fortable seven-room frame house, and now enjoys all the conveniences and facilities of the twentieth century rural residence.

In February, 1909, Mr. Stewart invested some of his surplus in the fifty-three acres of land on the Laketon road, and his son, Earnest, farms that land. It was improved with a house and Mr. Stewart put up a barn, tilled and fenced the land, and it is now an excellent small farm. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have the following children: Earnest, who married Maude Butler, and their two children are Lawrence and Eveline ; Alma, who is the wife of Charles Whitmire of Logansport, and they have two children, Stewart and Dorothy; Nellie and Elsie are the two youngest and live at home. Mr. Stewart in polities is a democrat, and has fraternal affiliations with the Tent of the Maccabees at Urbana.

Alexander Pence. Bringing to his independent calling excellent judgment and good business methods, Alexander Pence, of Paw Paw township, is numbered among the extensive landholders of Wabash county, his home farm being situated about a mile from Roann, on the south bank of Eel creek, on the county line, and containing one hundred and thirty-seven acres, while on the north side of the river, in Perry township, Miami county, he owns a tract of land containing three hun¬ dred and ten acres. He was born, February 16, 1863, in Preble county, Ohio, a son of Thomas B. Pence, and grandson of William H. Pence, pioneers of Indiana.

William H. Pence was born and bred in Rockingham county, Vir¬ ginia, of colonial ancestry. Soon after his first marriage he settled in Ohio, where he lived a number of years. His eldest son, being infected with the Western fever, persuaded him to come to Indiana to look for land that might prove a wise investment. Coming direct to Wabash county, he bought the Dukes farm, now included in the farm of his grandson, Alexander Pence, but not liking this section of the country as a place of residence he went back to Ohio. He was subsequently taken ill, and his son, Thomas B. Pence, then residing in Wabash county, went back to Ohio to nurse him. He then made arrangements for Thomas to buy for him the farm belonging to William Duke, and he afterward came with his daughter Sarah to Paw Paw township, and here lived until his death, at a good old age, his death having been acci¬ dental, caused by injuries received when a log rolled over him. He was five times married, and reared six children.

A native of Ohio, Thomas B. Pence was brought up and married in Ohio. In 1865, accompanied by his wife and children, he came to In¬ diana, and settled just across the river from Wabash county, in Miami county, with his father-in-law, Abraham Yost, buying from George Butterbaugh the tract of land in Perry township now owned by his son Alexander, his only child. About one-half of the land had been cleared when he bought it, and in addition to the house that stood upon it there was a large barn, 40 feet by 80 feet, that was almost new. The buildings have since been remodeled, the house, with its thirteen rooms, being one of the largest farm houses in Miami county. The original barn burned, and has been replaced by the present owner with a twostory structure, 40 feet by 80 feet, with a shed 41 feet by 60 feet, the whole costing about $2,700. It is a very fine building, and the second largest barn in the county. Thomas B. Pence occupied that farm until their son married, when they turned it over to him, and moved to the farm now occupied by the son, where both spent their remaining days, Mr. Thomas Pence dying October 6, 1901, aged sixty-eight years, while his wife passed away January 17, 1913, aged seventy years, and one day.

But two years old when his parents settled in Indiana, Alexander Pence obtained his elementary education in the district school at Stockdale, after which he attended the public schools of Indianapolis two years. After his marriage he assumed possession of the parental home¬ stead in Miami county, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until after the death of his father, when he moved to his present resi¬ dence, in order to look after his mother and her property. A diligent worker, enterprising and progressive, Mr. Pence is continually adding to the value of his estate by improvements, and in addition to carrying on general farming most successfully ships two car loads of hogs each year, and also ships cattle, horses and sheep. He makes a specialty of breeding a fine grade of stock, including Durham cattle.

Mr. Pence is a man of rare business ability and judgment, and is connected with various beneficial enterprises. He is a charter member of the Wabash Trust Company, of which he has been a director since its organization, and of which he is now vice-president, having suc¬ ceeded Charles D. Baer. He is also a stockholder, a director, and the treasurer, of the Roann Telephone Company, a director of the Wabash Service Motor Truck Company, and has various other interests of a similar nature.

Mr. Pence married, March 24, 1895, Emma Shillinger, a daughter of George and Lydia (Seitner) Shillinger, early settlers of Roann, where both spent their last years. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have one child, Thomas B. Pence, who was named for his grandfather.

Although Mr. Pence obtained his education mainly by reading, ob¬ servation, and contact with the business world, he is well informed on the leading topics of the day. He takes a keen interest in politics, but has never been an office seeker. He has several times been solicited by his friends to become a candidate for office, but has invariably declined. At the democratic convention of 1912, when all indications pointed to¬ wards a victory for his party, his name was proposed on the floor of the convention hall for county treasurer. He declined, but had the honor of naming for a candidate in his own place a young man from his own township, and had the pleasure of seeing him elected to the office. During the many years he has lived in this vicinity, Mr. Pence has seen the country develop from a wilderness to a rich, rolling prairie, one of the finest farming communities in this part of the state. Few if any are better known in Wabash and Miami counties than Alexander Pence, and none are held in higher respect and esteem. He has ever been a busy man, but he has found time for the finer things of life, and along with other qualities and virtues has inherited a polish and culture that bespeaks his southern ancestry.

Willis Bryan. A venerable and highly respected citizen of Paw Paw township, Wabash county, Willis Bryan has lived in the vicinity of the Eel river since 1836, and in that towmship for seventy-six years, and is in very truth an honored representative of the early pioneers of this sec¬ tion of our beautiful country, and a true type of the energetic, hardy, and enterprising men who have actively assisted in the development of this fertile and productive agricultural region* In the days of his boy¬ hood the wild beasts of the forest had not fled before the advancing steps of civilization, but, with the dusky savage, inhabited the vast wilder¬ ness. Neighbors were few and far between, and the town of Roann was not even thought of for a full quarter of a century after he came here. A son of Jacob Bryan, he was born in Robeson county, North Carolina, near Lumberton, April 28, 1820.

Jacob Bryan was born and reared in North Carolina, belonging to an old and honored family of that state. He was a man of talent and cul¬ ture, and was not only a farmer, but was a typical old-style school master, teaching his children much outside of their school studies. In 1822, desirous of obtaining cheap land on the frontier, he migrated with his family to Indiana, settled in Jefferson county, Indiana, and in Jan¬ uary, 1836, located in Wabash county, one mile south of Deck's mill, in Paw Paw township, at the place then called Squirrel village. From the heavily wooded land, on which never a stick had been cut, he began the almost Herculean task of hewing a homestead from the one hundred and sixty acres of land that hie entered from the Government. There he lived with his family in pioneer fashion, depending upon the pro¬ ductions of the soil and the game to be found in the forest for their subsistence, carrying on general farming until his death, in 1852, at the age of sixty-nine years.

Jacob Bryan married, in North Carolina, Nancy Freeman, a native of that state. She died on the home farm in Paw Paw township, in 1844, aged three score years. Twelve children were born of their union, the ten older ones being born in North Carolina, Willis, the subject of this sketch, being the only survivor of the family. The names of the children are thus given : Theophilus ; Norman ; Lewis ; Jacob ; Rebecca and Mary, twins; Sophia; Patsie; Margaret; Willis; Sarah; and Jane.

The youngest son of the parental household, and but two years old when he accompanied his parents in the long journey made with oxteams to Indiana, Willis Bryan grew to manhood on the old homestead, as a boy playing and talking with the Indians. As soon as possible after a few log cabins had been reared in the township preparations were made to educate the children. A cabin was built of round logs, through one of which was cut space for a window, and in the sash that was inserted was placed a greased paper to let in the light. The seats were long benches made of slabs, with wooden pins for legs, and a fire of logs in the huge fireplace heated the room, the back being of rocks, while the chimney was made of sticks and clay.

Obtaining a good education in the schools, and under his father's tuition, Mr. Bryan taught school during the winter season from 1844 until 1862, with the exception of a few terms, in the meantime assisting his father on the farm in the summer time, helping him break and clear one hundred and sixty acres near the river. While thus employed, Mr. Bryan accumulated some money, and in 1865 purchased the farm of one hundred and sixty acres now occupied by his son William, paying $7,000 for it. The improvements upon the place when he bought it were of very little value, Jbut he cleared it up and tiled it, replaced the rude log house with a substantial frame structure, and later erected other necessary buildings, each year adding to the value and attractive¬ ness of the property. Thoroughly skilled in all matters pertaining to the cultivation of the soil, Mr. Bryan made an unquestioned success as a general farmer, accumulating a goodly share of this world's goods through his own unaided efforts, enabling him to spend the closing years years was replaced by a more modern and comfortable style of home, other buildings followed, and John H. Miller in time became regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of Wabash county. In 1902 he bought property in Urbana, retired from the farm, and died in that town Novem¬ ber 28, 1909, when past eighty-five years of age. His widow is still living there. When John H. Miller came to the United States he had nothing except the training in a trade and his native ability. When he sold out his farm in Ohio it brought thirteen hundred dollars, and he paid twentytwo hundred dollars for the Paw Paw township place. He was the father of nine children. The three by his first marriage were : Mary, Carrie, and Anna, deceased ; The six by his marriage to Elizabeth Week were : Lena, deceased; Henry; Adam M. ; Kate; Minnie, and Dora.

Adam M. Miller was a lad of seven years when the family established their home in Wabash county. The father and John Week had made the journey from Ohio by way of wagon, the mother and her children following on the train. His youth was spent on-the farm which is now his home, and though very young at the time he materially assisted in clearing off the land, and has always been a hard worker, which accounts largely for his success. His education was acquired in the old schoolhouse at Half Acre, near his home. When he was fifteen years old he began working out for farmers in the neighborhood, and during the first year was paid thirteen dollars a month by Valentine Keefaber. Each year after that saw an increase in his ability, and when he reached the point of comparative independence he established a home of his own.

On March 13, 1887, he married Christina Holstine, daughter of George and Madeline (Cook) Holstine. Mrs. Miller has for more than a quarter of a century been his capable adviser and helper and as valuable to him in business counsel as in the management of the domestic economy of the Miller farm. After their marriage he managed his father's place for two years, and then moved to the city of Wabash, which was his home for fourteen years. He followed various lines of employment, having assisted in laying the switch at the roundhouse for the Big Pour railroad and at the stone quarry, and had charge of the latter enterprise for seven years. He was also employed in the Strawboard factory. In 1901, in the fall, Mr. Miller bought his present farm from his father, and, besides the productive labor which has brought him abundance of revenue from regular farming activities, he has spent much money in improving the place, laying tile, and otherwise bringing it up to the best standards of Wabash county agriculture.

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born nine children, as follows : Anna, who married Lewis Haupert, and their four children are Marietta, Luther, Dorey and Edith ; Otto ; Marie, who is Mrs. Neely Kalb ; Minnie, now Mrs. Albert Conrad ; Carrie, who is Mrs. Ellis Alshaffer ; Philip, Reuben ; Floyd and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the German Evangelical church at Urbana, and in politics he supports the democratic party.

Fred M. Barnhart. Numbered among the well known and influen¬ tial citizens and progressive agriculturists of Wabash county, Fred M. Barnhart is an excellent example of the benefit to be acquired by a life of industry and integrity when directed along well defined lines of endeavor. Few local citizens have been the architects of their own fortune in a greater degree, none have been more deserving of success. While speaking of his individual work, it should not be forgotten that he has had a loyal and effective partner for many years, and Mr. Barn¬ hart credits much of his prosperity to his wife. Both represent old and prominent families in Wabash county, and have cooperated both for the establishment of home and for the upbuilding of their material pros¬ perity. Their home place comprises two hundred sixty-five acres, divided into five tracts, in Paw Paw and Pleasant townships. The home farm proper is of forty-five acres, lying on the west side of the Barnhart Pike near the Pleasant township line. Just across the road are two farms, each of eighty acres, and besides these are three pieces of land in Pleasant township, respectively thirty-seven, thirty and sixteen acres.

F. M. Barnhart was born in the city of Wabash, at the corner of Main and Comstock streets, August 24, 1868. He is a son of the late James H. and Martha A. (Mount) Barnhart. James Harvey Barnhart, who died on. the old Mount farm in Paw Paw township June 21, 1913, aged nearly sixty-nine years, was born at the forks of the Wabash river in Huntington county July 11, 1844. At the age of twenty, on November 2, 1864, he enlisted at Indianapolis in Company I of the Forty-Sixth Indiana Infantry, and after a service of nearly a year was discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, September 4, 1865. Soon after the war, on June 12, 1866, he married Martha Ann Mount. She was born in Wabash county in 1847, and died November 18, 1909. Her parents were Peter and Eliza Ellen Mount. Peter Mount was born in New Jersey April 28, 1810, was married in Miami county, Indiana, to Eliza Ellen Kidd, a sister of Major Kidd and a daughter of Edmond J. and Christina Kidd. Eliza E. Kidd was born October 23, 1824, at Connersville, Indiana. After his marriage Peter Mount moved to the farm now occupied by Elliott Smith, in Paw Paw township. His father, David Mount, had acquired that place direct from the government as one of the pioneers of Wabash county, and it subsequently became the property of Peter Mount, and has always remained in the family possession, Mrs. Elliott Smith being one of his direct descendants. Peter Mount acquired several hundred acres, and cleared up a large part of the forest growth which originally encumbered the soil, erected log buildings, and died there in April, 1849. His widow subsequently returned to the Kidd farm in Miami county, married Adam Haas, and after his death Arch Kennedy, and she spent the rest of her days in Wabash county. After the marriage of James H. Barnhart and wife in 1866, they lived for a time in Peru, and he was employed in the Blue Front drug store there until 1867* Then moving to Wabash he engaged in the drug business with Mr. Haas, and the firm of Barnhart & Haas continued until 1872, when it was dissolved and T. L. Barnhart became proprietor. The store was located on Canal street in Wabash. James H. Barnhart then moved to the old Mount farm, and both he and his wife died at that place. For nearly forty years the late Mr. Barnhart had been a member of the Methodist church, and also affiliated with the Roann Grand Army Post. The thirteen children of the Barnhart family were: Edith, Mrs. Elliott Smith; Fred M. ; Guy S.; Charles K. ; James H., deceased; Nellie May, Mrs. 0. D. Steele ; Robert M., deceased ; Homer and Horace, twins, both of whom are deceased ; Hugh W. ; Howard J. ; Ruth Lillian, Mrs. L. R. Burns; and Jessie, who died in infancy.

It was while his father was in the drug business that Fred M. Barn¬ hart was bom. During his early childhood the family moved out to the old Mount farm in Paw Paw township, and while there he attended the district school in Pleasant township, and lived at home and helped in the duties of the clearing, planting and harvesting until his marriage. On September 8, 1889, Mr. Barnhart married Rose N. Day, daughter of George W. and Nancy (Hoover) Day. Both her parents are now living at Laketon in this county, and were both natives of Wabash county, the Hoovers coming from Ohio and the Days from Pennsylvania. Mrs. Barnhart is the oldest of three children, the two others being : Frank, of Pleasant township ; and Orrill M.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart began as renters, on the east part of the old Barnhart farm. Then in the spring of the year he bought the forty-five acres which is the nucleus of his present estate, from Amos Ivans, and moved to the land in August of the same year. During the next five years Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart worked hard and in order to get as much capital as possible lived in the old house which stood on the farm when they bought it. They then rented four hundred acres from his grandmother Kennedy's farm, a mile south, and lived there for six years. In the last year Mr. Barnhart remodeled his own buildings, and then returned to his own farm. The other land above mentioned has been bought from time to time as his means justified it, and his estate is now one of the best improved in this section of the county. With his son Howe he carries on general farming, and besides his agricultural interests has stock in the bank at Laketon. Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart have three children : Howe ; Lola ; and Eugene. Mr. Barnhart in politics is a progressive republican.

Mr. and Mrs. Barnhart after their marriage had only six dollars in cash, besides two horses, and what they have since acquired is due to their own enterprise and good management. Long after he had succeeded independently Mr. Barnhart received his interest from his father's estate, but that was only a small factor in his prosperity. It was the special ambition of Mrs. Barnhart that they should have a home of their owrn, and soon after their marriage she prevailed upon her husband to go in debt for their first forty-five acres. That was a little farm which had long been used and drained of most of its resources, and they found it aimost impossible to make a living, and in consequence rented land elsewhere until the forty-five acres could be restored to a productive con¬ dition. While living on the Kennedy farm Mr. Barnhart paid off several thousand dollars in rent, and at the same time was working to get his own land in shape both as to soil and building equipment. In spite of the early hardships and vicissitudes of their career Mr. and Mrs. Barn¬ hart have given their children good education, and the oldest son is a graduate of the class of 1911 at the Roann high school. The daughter is now a student in the class of 1916 in the same school while the youngest is still in the grade school.

Chester A. King. The home of Chester A. King and wife is the old Eby farm, three and a half miles northeast of Roann in Paw Paw township. The King and Eby families have lived in this section of Indiana since early days, and much of the pioneer work in subduing the wilderness can be credited to them. On both sides it is good, substantial family stock, and it is a heritage as well as a product of their individual effort that Mr. and Mrs. King find themselves so comfortably situated in life.

Chester A. King was born in Huntington county, Indiana, just over the Wabash county line, on September 15, 1858, a son of George and Mary Ann (Loy) King. Both his parents were born and reared in Ohio, were married in that state, and soon afterwards moved to Hunt¬ ington county, and subsequently established a home in Chester township of Wabash county. During the war George King was one of the number of young men who enlisted for service at the little old church formerly situated three miles northeast of Manchester, known as the Lower Union church. Benjamin Tillman, Rev. David Hidy and George King all went out together to the war from that church, and their wives and families lived together while the men were fighting for the Union. The three subsequently returned, and the families took up once more their individ¬ ual mode of living. On his return from the war George King became head sawyer in a saw mill, and being an expert in that line was employed in saw milling all over this part of the state. His death occurred at the home of his son William in Kosciusko county, Indiana, June 18, 1902, at the age of sixty years and six months. His widow is now living in North Manchester with her son Charles.

It was along the dividing line of Huntington and Wabash counties, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, that Chester A. King grew to manhood, and the schools he attended were also in both counties. Like his father, at an early age, he took up saw mill work, did threshing, farming, and throughout his career has been one of the useful and dependable workers in his community.

On August 15, 1899, Mr. King married Anna Sampson, widow of W. M. Sampson and daughter of Christian and Sarah A. Eby. Christian Eby came out to Wabash county from Ohio with his parents, John Eby and wife, and was married in Indiana. His wife's father, Samuel Eby, settled in Kosciusko county, while John Eby was a settler of Wabash. Christian Eby was one of the substantial farmers of his section, but in 1849, followed the exodus to the west, and spent some time in California hunting for gold and also working as a cook, but without conspicuous success. He returned to Indiana, resumed farming, and in that way laid the basis of his substantial prosperity. After his marriage he bought a farm a mile and a half north of Liberty Mills, obtaining one hundred and sixty acres in* that location, cleared up some of the land, and after selling it bought another place in Paw Paw township. A log cabin stood on both the latter lands, and he subsequently erected the more comfortable residence, where his daughter Mrs. King, now lives, Mr. and Mrs. King occupying one hundred and twenty acres which were originally a part of the Eby farm. Mr. Eby died on that place and his widow is now living in Logansport. Their five children were: Anna, Mrs. Chester King ; Frank ; Charles, who died in infancy ; Samuel ; and Daisy, wife of Ed Hall of Rochester, Indiana.

After their marriage Mr. King and wife settled on the place they now occupy. George E. Carr, a son of Mrs. King, lives in Chicago, and has one child, Mary Jane Carr, aged eight months. Mr. King is a stanch republican in politics.

James Madison Coggeshall. The deserved reward of a useful and helpful life is an honorable retirement from labor and a season of rest in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. Consecutive endeavor, unfalter¬ ing energy and resolute purpose, well directed, bring success in the activ¬ ities of life, and when prosperity is attained these should be followed by a period of leisure, when one may enjoy his individual desires and find satisfaction in pursuing plans from which former duties had withheld him. For a long period James Madison Coggeshall, now living retired at his pleasant home at Somerset, was prominently identified with the agri¬ cultural interests of Wabash county as a farmer of Waltz township. His career was an honorable one, in which his straightforward dealing and indefatigable labor brought him a handsome competence that now enables him to put aside the heavier burdens and find pleasurable recreation in his home and among his friends. Mr. Coggeshall was born in Waltz township March 26, 1847, and is a son of Louis and Phoebe (Weesner*) Coggeshall.

Louis Coggeshall was a son of Job Coggeshall, while Phoebe Weesner was a daughter of Micajah Weesner. During the early 'forties, not long after their marriage, they came to Wabash county, and here entered a tract of sixty acres from the Government, on which the father erected a small log cabin. This first tract was traded some time after* ward, and in 1861 the family went to Illinois. There were six children in the family: Elizabeth, who died in infancy near Paris, Illinois; James Madison ; Minerva, who died when between three and four years of age ; Martha J., who married William Withers; Joseph, and Marshall, and all were born in Wabash county, with the exception of the first named, who was born ne£r Paris, Illinois, where the father and mother lived for a time when first married. A year or so later they returned to Wayne county, Indiana, and a little later entered land in Wabash county. Again, in the fall of 1861 they moved back to Illinois, where the mother died in 1863. The father later moved to Colorado and died there.

Mr. And Mrs. J. M. Coggeshall

James M. Coggeshall grew up amid pioneer surroundings. He was rocked to sleep as a baby in a sugar trough, and his early education was secured in the primitive schools. Game was to be found in plenty in the woods, and when the family larder became empty the father or one of the boys would step out of the door and soon bring back enough meat to keep the family supplied. Indians were also numerous, one of them being Peter Bundy, an educated red man, who was later assessed by Mr. Coggeshall, who also heard him lecture. No bridges had been built at that time, and it was necessary to ford the rivers and streams when they were encountered. During the years 1858 and 1859 Mr. Coggeshall was engaged in driving the horses attached to his father's canal boat, and he then returned to the farm, on which he worked until the family started for Illinois. The Civil war was in progress at this time, and Mr. Cogges¬ hall, while in Illinois with his family, enlisted as a recruit in Company E, Seventy-ninth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He subsequently served for eighteen months, the last six months as corporal, and partici¬ pated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, as well as in several smaller engagements. On September 23, 1865, he received his honorable discharge and was mustered out of the service at Springfield, Illinois, with an excellent record as a soldier. In 1866 he returned to Wabash county and started working by the month until he had accumulated enough means to embark on a career of his own. In the spring of 1877 he moved to Sumner county, Kansas, where he resided until the fall of 1880, and then returned to Wabash county, Indiana. A period of renting followed, and he finally became the owner of a property to which he added from time to time until he became one of the substantial agriculturists of his community. During all the years in which he has been a resident of Wabash county Mr. Coggeshall's name has been a synonym for upright manhood and good citizenship. He owned 100 acres in farm land and eight acres in the village of Somerset. He has given his influence and means to the betterment of society, to schools and church, to the support of good government and order, and to the industries which he has believed calculated to promote the interests of this section of his state. He has always been a republican, and has acted efficiently in public position, being township assessor for five years and deputy assessor for a like period. He is a valued comrade of the Grand Army of the Republic.

In 1868 Mr. Coggeshall was married to Miss Mary E. Pavey, of Miami county, Indiana, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (West) Pavey, farming people. To this union there have been born three children: Martha E., who married John Fleming and has had three children - John, who died in infancy; James M. and Hugh - Otto E., who died in infancy, and Isaac M., who married Grace Bruebaker and has two chil¬ dren, James Ellis and Alva Roy.

Alex Flora. A record of good citizenship, including three years of faithful service as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war, of stead¬ fast integrity in all his relations with his fellow men, and of acquisition of an honorable prosperity in material things, is what distinguishes Alex Flora in addition to the fact of his long residence in Wabash county. Mr. Flora is no longer under the necessity of pursuing active labors, but lives in the enjoyment of the fruits of a well-spent life on his home place of fifty-five acres in Paw Paw township, located on the south side of the road three miles east of Roann.

Alexander Flora was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 16, 1840, a son of Abe and Mary (Groshon) Flora. His father was a native of Germany and his mother of Switzerland, and the record of the Groshon family in Wabash county will be found on other pages. His parents were married in New York, after coming to this country, and subsequently moved out to Ohio, rented land there, and finally came to Wabash county, where Abe Flora bought sixty acres from Ferdinand Groshon in Paw Paw township. The land was all covered with woods, and most of the familiar pioneer conditions still existed. Deer were so plentiful in the woods about their home, that Mr. Flora's mother one day killed a deer with a hatchet. After clearing up and improving his land, Abe Flora lived there until his death, followed by his wife, and both were more than seventy years of age when they passed away. Their six children were: Alex; Edward, who went out to the war in Company B of the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry under Captain Goodwin, and was killed in the battle of Champion Hill; Leonard; John; Ellen, who died unmar¬ ried ; and Marshall.

A boy of twelve years when the family came to Wabash county, Alex Flora has a keen recollection of the journey, which was made with a one-horse wagon. He grew up on the farm which was occupied by his father, and as the oldest son a large share of home duties fell upon his shoulders. In order to get an education, he had to walk through the woods to a log schoolhouse that stood on Paw Paw creek, but it was practical experience rather than book learning that equipped him for a useful career. Before the war he worked out at wages on different farms, and had just reached his majority when the war came on. At the first call for troops he enlisted in 1861, in Company B of the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry, and though in many engagements up and down the Mississippi Valley he was never wounded. His term of enlistment was for three years, and when the term expired he was sick in the hospital. The rest of the regiment re-enlisted but by the time he was well enough the war had closed. During his service the closest call he had was at the battle of Champion Hill, where the bullets flew around him like hail, and the ramrod of his gun was shot off.

After leaving the hospital in New Orleans Mr. Flora came back to Wabash county, and spent three months in the employ of Daniel Ward on Eel river. He then married the daughter of his employer, Eliza Ward, who died in the following year. There was one child of that union, Eliza, who died after becoming the wife of William Watts, leaving three children, Edward, Buford and Howard. Mr. Flora married for his second wife Susan Squires, daughter of Thomas Squires and widow of Harry Martindale, who had died during the war. By her first husband Mrs.

Flora had one child, Rose, now deceased, who was the wife of Oscar Caruthers. The Caruthers children are : Harry, Guy, Estelle, Blanche, Paul, Frank and Lilly. Mr. and Mrs. Flora have the following children : William, who lives two miles south of his father's place in Paw Paw township, and who also supervises the farming operations on his father's farm, married Myrtle Merrick, and their children are Harold, Hugh, Monterey, Edith, Margaret, Kathleen, Howard and Irene. Dora Ellen is the wife of Chauncey Mylin of Paw Paw township, and their three children are Helen, Glenn and Lois. Erma is unmarried and lives at home with her father. Hattie is the wife of Homer Dunfee, and their children are Verne, Houston, John S., Louise and Leah Ruth.

After his first marriage Mr. Flora and his brother Leonard rented a farm of eighty acres from Mr. Day of Pleasant township. Their partner¬ ship as renters continued for three years. Following his second marriage Mr. Flora moved to his wife's farm, which is now the property of Howard Squires. It has eighty acres, and is also located in Paw Paw township. The principal improvements of that estate are due to the energy of Mr. Flora, who put up buildings, tiled the low land, cleared off the woods and brush, and lived there and prospered and reared his family. His home was on that place for twenty years, until he sold to Howard Squires. Mr. Flora then bought his present place from Amos Ivans. This too has much to show as evidence of the enterprise of Mr. Flora, and all the buildings were erected under his management. Only ten acres were cleared when he took possession, and he has laid tile, put up fences, and carried on other improvements in connection with his work as a general farmer. Mr. Flora is one of the honored members of the army which fought for the union of states fifty years ago, and has membership with the Grand Army of the Republic at Roann. In politics he followed the fortunes of the party which had control of the government during the war, and has always done his best to live up to the ideals of good citizenship in every relation. Mr. Flora is a Deacon in the Paw Paw Christian Church.

Chauncey Maxwell Mylin. Of the younger generation identified with the agricultural activities of Paw Paw township, there is no better representative than Chauncey M. Mylin. A keen and alert young busi¬ ness man, he has brought ideas as well as hard labor into his vocation, and his showing has all the elements of success. His homestead comprises one hundred and sixty acres on the Laketon Road, on the west side of that thoroughfare, about nine miles north of Wabash.

A representative of an old and honored name in this county, C. M. Mylin was born on his grandfather Mylin 's farm three-quarters of a mile north of Servia in Chester township on September 19, 1872. Chester township was the original place of settlement of the Mylin family in Wabash county. His parents were Henry E. and Mary E. (Sholty) Mylin. His mother was a daughter of William and Barbara (Hoffman) Sholty, pioneers of Pleasant township who came from Ohio and both died in Pleasant township. Mary E. Sholty was a girl when the parents drove constant and well-applied industry; he has succeeded in his earnest en¬ deavors, and has become highly respected by those who have come into contact with him in any manner. He is a native of Roanoke county, Virginia, and was born February 10, 1844, a son of Thomas and Eliza¬ beth (Brubaker) Garst.

The parents of Mr. Garst were both born in the Old Dominion state, and were there married. They were honest, industrious people, but were in modest financial circumstances, and finally came to the conclusion that they could better themselves and find better opportunities for their children in the newly opened West. Accordingly, about 1850, the father secured a horse and wagon, gathered together such means as he could, and with his little family struck out bravely for the woods of Indiana. It was a long, tiresome and dangerous journey, and at times it seemed that the horse would never be able to drag the wagon through the dense timber which the little party of immigrants encountered. However, they finally arrived in Wabash county, where the father took up eighty acres of timberland, on which was located a log cabin, and he spent one dollar for ten apple trees, which he planted in the weeds on his farm. This primi¬ tive structure was the family home for some years until the father was able to replace it with a more commodious frame structure. An energetic and hard-working man, Thomas Garst continued to reside in Waltz town¬ ship during the remainder of his life, although he later added to his holdings from time to time until he owned 420 acres. He won a high place in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and was always known as a public-spirited citizen in whom the utmost confidence could be placed. He and his wife were the parents of eight children: John, Jacob, Henry (deceased), Sarah, George, Eliza, Joel, and Mary.

John Garst, the oldest child of the family, was but six years of age when he was brought to Wabash county by his parents, and he still remembers the long and wearisome trip over the mountains, across the streams and through the forests. He was early put to work in assisting his father and brothers clear the homestead of its timber, and because of primitive conditions his education was decidedly limited. The first school which he attended was a deserted log cabin, in which the winter terms lasted for about two months, the teacher usually arriving at day¬ light and beginning his lessons when the first pupil would arrive. Later a frame school was erected, and terms in this building lasted three months a year. Thus Mr. Garst 's education was slight and his opportunities for culture of a genuine sort were few, but one cannot now be in his presence long before realizing that he is a man of broad general information and with a wealth of knowledge on a number of subjects, so it is probable that he made the most of the opportunities that were granted him. He remained on the home farm, assisting his father, until he reached the age of twenty-six years, at which time he was married to Miss Lydia Stambaugh, daughter of William and Regina Stambaugh, natives of Penn¬ sylvania. She had one brother and one sister: David and Mary. Mr. Stambaugh, after the death of his first wife, was married to Eliza Winger. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Garst: Lizzie, at home, helped support his mother, as a boy and youth worked for .bis board while attending the winter terms of school, in that way obtar jg a prac¬ tical education, fitting him for a business career. ,

Schuyler Colfax Long. Almost every older resident of Wabash county can point to many interesting contrasts between the present and the earlier days with which he was familiar. No more interesting illustra¬ tion of the change in social and economic conditions, and the progress in all directions, can be found than exist on the Schuyler C. Long farm in Paw Paw township. On one hand is the log cabin home, where Mr. Long and both his children were born. On the other hand is the modern rural residence, erected in 1907, and with all the comforts and conveniences that indicate some of the farthest advances in country life. Though it was not unusual and in no sense discreditable to have been born in a log cabin fifty years ago, Mr. Long has really come up to prosperity from an early career which was by no means affluent, and it is with commendable satisfaction that he can now regard the many evidences of his material prosperity and his influence as a citizen in his community. He is the owner of two hundred and forty acres located on the Laketon road on the west side of that thoroughfare, about six miles from the city of Wabash.

Schuyler Colfax Long was born in a log house owned by his father July 2, 1868. The name bestowed upon him shows that his father was an ardent admirer of one of Indiana's greatest sons, Schuyler Colfax, who was at that time one of the foremost men in national life. Mr. Long is a son of Samuel and Marjorie (Richards) Long. Samuel Long came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and from there to Indiana, and was married in Paw Paw township. When he settled in the same locality where his sons now live, all the surrounding country was covered with woods, and a space had to be cleared by felling the large trees in order to make room for the cabin. The pioneer of the family was Jacob Long, who on coming to Wabash county entered a large tract of land, sufficient to give each of his sons eighty acres apiece. Samuel Long was contented for a few years with the log building, but subsequently built a frame barn 32x24 feet, and having bought eighty acres across the road from his brother Jacob, moved into the frame house which had been built as a part of its improvements and died there April 12, 1895, at the age of sixty-five years. His widow is still living on the old homestead. That homestead was the site chosen by Grandfather Jacob Long and his wife Elizabeth, who journeyed into Wabash county many years ago with ox teams and a big wagon. One of the family traditions is that just before their arrival at their destination in Paw Paw township, a big black grizzly bear crossed their path. After leaving Ohio the grandparents located for a time in Grant county, but moved from there into Wabash. Their home was the eighty acres of land where Mrs. Samuel Long now lives. Its dwelling was a big double log house, the grandparents living on one side and the son Jacob in the other. Mrs. Jacob Long was the first person to be buried in the Long cemetery, which was laid out on the Long farm. After her death grandfather Long lived alone in the double house for many years, and cookt his own meals at the fireplace and never had a stove. He died in that home and his remains also rest in the Long cemetery. Two of the sons, Jo* ah and Emanuel, whose bodies are laid in Long cemetery, were both soldiers in the war of the Rebellion and gave their lives for the cause of the Union, one of them falling on the battlefield. Grandfather Long possessed many of the accomplishments of the true frontiersman. He was acquainted with the woods and all the environments of a new country, and one of his diversions in Wabash county was the setting of bear traps, and in his time he caught a number of those animals. Grand¬ father Jacob Long and several of his sons, including Samuel, followed a somewhat unique occupation in the early days in the making of sugar troughs for the Indians. These troughs w'ere sold to the red men who still were in an Indian village of this vicinity, and when one of the Longs went to the village to collect the money many scores of dogs would rush out and stop the approach of the traveller until the Indians called "sicem," a term which among the Indians meant just the opposite of what it does among white men. It was a common sight in those days to see Indian squaws riding through the woods with their papooses strapped upon their back.

Samuel Long, father of Schuyler C., was quite a young man when he came to Wabash county, and followed the usual profession of the family as a farmer. He was also one of the first men to introduce into his sec¬ tion the threshing machine. It was a very crude machine which he first operated for the benefit of the farmers, and in subsequent years he kept up with the advance in this type of farm machinery and bought several new ones, each one more perfect than the last. Finally his son Schuyler bought out his interest, and the Long family have for many years been known in Wabash county for their identification with that phase of agri¬ cultural industry. The father also operated sawmills, and one of his partners in that industry was his son Alexander.

Schuyler C. Long grew up in and about his birthplace, attended the district school located at the corner of the road, and was employed in the duties of the home farm and in following the threshing outfit among the harvest fields in various parts of Wabash county. For the past twentythree years he has divided his time between the operation of a threshing outfit and paper hanging, which is his regular trade. He has worked at his trade all over the county.

On December 7, 1895, Mr. Long married Anna Dunfee, daughter of William and Elizabeth Dunfee. After their marriage Mr. Long rented his present place for two years, living in the old log house, which was his birthplace, and in which were born to him and his wife their two children - Mabel and Carl. His first purchase was eighty acres of land, and in March, 1911, this was increased by one hundred and sixty acres from the Deardorf estate. His land is now cultivated in general farm crops, and affords a most substantial basis for the prosperity of the Long fam¬ ily. The modern farm residence was erected in the fall of 1907.

Farmers State Bank at Urbana. In politics he is a republican, and affili¬ ates with Tent No. 70 of the Order of Maccabees at Urbana, and is a member of the First Christian church, located at the corner of his farm, and he served as treasurer of the church society twelve years.

George W. Roser. No richer or more productive land may be found in Wabash county than that which lies within the confines of Waltz town¬ ship, made so by the intelligent treatment and methods of the agricul¬ turists here. Among those who have profited by their industry and are , now numbered among the substantial citizens of this community is George W. Roser, a native son of Wabash county, who has lived in the near vicinity of his present home during the past quarter of a century. Mr. Roser was born in Wabash county March 4, 1866, and is a son of Jere¬ miah and Catherine (Renaker) Roser.

Jeremiah Roser was born in Pennsylvania, and was a young man when he came to Indiana, leaving Philadelphia in 1849 and coming to this vicinity by canal-boat, the only means of transportation to be secured at that time. This journey consumed about a week. On his arrival in Wabash county he purchased a tract of land which was all located in the timber, and there built a small log cabin and started in to clear and cultivate his property, but before he had completed his task accepted a favorable opportunity to sell. Following this, he moved about for some time, living at various places in the county, but finally settled down in Waltz township, where he spent the remaining years of his life in suc¬ cessful agricultural pursuits. Mr. Roser was married to Susan Ridenour, a member of the old Ridenour family of Wabash county, and they became the parents of six children. After the death of his first wife he was married to Catherine Renaker, who was a native of Ohio, and she died September 8, 1892, having been the mother of four children.

George W. Roser was granted ordinary educational advantages, and from boyhood was trained in agricultural pursuits. He early adopted the tilling of the soil as his life work, and began his operations on the farm opposite to his present property. About the year 1897 or 1898 he located on the farm which he is now operating, the old Ridenour home¬ stead, the buildings on which were all erected by the original owners, although they have since been remodeled and improved by Mr. Roser, who has installed numerous improvements and added machinery and equipment. Whatever success Mr. Roser has attained, and it is not incon¬ siderable, has been gained through his own efforts and ability. He has labored energetically and steadfastly and has studied the best methods of enriching the land. As a business man he is known as one ever ready to grasp an opportunity, but his dealings have been carried on in such an honorable manner that he holds a high position in the esteem and respect of those who have come into contact with him. In political mat¬ ters Mr. Roser is a democrat, but he has found his farming duties so engaging that he has had little time for the activities of public life. With his family he attends the Lutheran church, where he is serving as a member of the board of trustees.

Mr. And Mrs. D. C. Ridenour

Mr. Roser was married March. 24, 1889, in Waltz township, to Miss Permelia Ridenour, the estimable daughter of David C. and Catherine! (Smith) Ridenour, of the old family of that name, and seven children have been born to the union : Elzie, Philip H., Ola M., Jessie, Juineta and George, all born in Waltz township. Yern H., the fifth child born, died aged seven weeks.

David C. Ridenour. All his life David C. Ridenour has spent thus far in Wabash county. He now resides in Noble township, but spent the most of his life in Waltz township. He was bom in Waltz township on April 1, 1843, and is a son of David and Sarah (Schawver) Ridenour, a family that has long been established hereabout. David Ridenour, the father of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania on February 7, 1802, and he and his wife reared a family of twelve children, of which goodly num¬ ber David C., of this review, was the ninth in order of birth. The others were Barbara, Catherine, Samuel, Lydia, Susana, Isaiah, Sarah, John, George, Mary, and Daniel. Of these all are deceased except Isaiah and Daniel.

In 1843 the father and mother brought their little flock here and set¬ tled on a farm of 240 acres just across the line from Noble township, in Waltz township. This land was covered with a dense forest growth, and on it Mr. Ridenour built a small cabin, which he replaced two years later with a more pretentious and commodious frame house.

The country surrounding was in a wild and unsettled state, and Indians, more or less inclined to unpleasantness, infested the woods. At one time, while residing in Ohio, Barbara, the eldest daughter, when yet a small girl, got lost in the woods not far from the house, and before she was discovered her absence caused the family a deal of mental agony. Fortune' favored them in this, as in many another circumstance, and the little daughter of the wilderness learned a lesson she did not soon forget.

The parents lived on this place to the end of their days, and did much to reclaim it from its wilderness state to one of fruitfulness before death called them.

David C. Ridenour, their son, married Catherine Smith, the daughter of Philip Smith and his wife, Pamelia (Unger) Smith, and the mother of Mrs. Ridenour still lives at the fine old age of ninety-five. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Ridenour are Jacob, Benjamin, Clarissa, and Helena. The oldest and youngest of these are both deceased. Their father, Philip Smith, was born in Germany, and came in early life to Wabash county.

David C. Ridenour in his boyhood days attended the district school for two months each winter during a few years. Both parents spoke the German language, and they talked it in the home, thus insuring their children an intimate knowledge of the mother tongue of their parents. Mr. Ridenour was twenty-two years of age when he left the home fire¬ side and married, and, though he was without means, he settled on a farm of eighty acres owned by his father, and this he put in excellent shape within the next few years. Comfortable buildings took the place of old and primitive cabins, and the land was cleared and put under the plow. Later he added thirty-five acres, and here he lived until 1896, when he moved to his present place, an eighty acre farm in Section 22, Noble township. He has since that time, however, come into ownership of another farm of 160 acres, which he operates independent of his home place. He owns in all 355 acres in three separate farms.

The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ridenour: Permelia, who married George W. Roser; Edwin, who died in infancy; Lillie, also died in childhood ; Anna, married Philip Pence, and David, Jr., who married Nellie Votaw.

The family are members of the Lutheran church, and Mr. Ridenour has held the office of deacon and of trustee in the church, as well as of elder and secretary.

William A. Richards. A retired farmer, an old soldier, and an ex¬ superintendent of the Wabash County Infirmary, William A. Richards is numbered among the best known and most respected citizens of Paw Paw township, where he and his wife own and occupy a fine farm of one hundred and thirty acres, situated on both sides of the Laketon road, about five and one-half miles north of Wabash. A native of Ohio, he was born in Coshocton county, May 30, 1840, a son of Josiah Richards.

Josiah Richards was born in Pennsylvania, but spent much of his earlier life in Ohio, living there until after his marriage. In the fall of 1842, having decided to follow the march of civilization westward, he came with his little family to Indiana, locating in Paw Paw township, onehalf mile north and one-half mile west of Urbana, making his way thither through the almost pathless woods in a covered wagon. He spent a few days with his wife's brother, Thomas Dunfee, sleeping in the wagon in which he and his family had made the journey. Having secured title to forty acres of heavily timbered land, he put up the customary round log house of the pioneer, with a puncheon floor, stick and mud chimney, and greased paper window, the floor, however, covering only the space occu¬ pied by the bed. Wolves and other wild animals were then numerous and destructive, frequently visiting the clearing. He improved a goodly portion of the land, and subsequently put up more substantial buildings. In the spring of 1864 he moved to another farm, located on the Eel river, between Laketon and Roann, and there continued farming and stock raising and breeding. For twenty-six years he was one of the foremost horse breeders in Wabash county, keeping high bred stallions, and being the pioneer horseman of this part of the state. He was always an ex¬ hibitor at the county fairs, and each year captured many premiums. He subsequently moved to the farm of his son-in-law, Samuel Long, and there resided until his death, in January, 1879, at the age of sixty-three

The maiden name of the wife of Josiah Richards was Eunice Dunfee* She was born in Ohio, and died in 1885, on the farm now occupied by her son William, at the home of her daughter, who was then living on the place. Of the eleven children born of their union, two died in child¬ hood, one in Lafayette, Indiana, and one in Paw Paw township. The names of the others are as follows: Marjorie, widow of Samuel Long; William A., the special subject, who, with his sister Marjorie, were the only children born in Ohio ; Julia Ann, deceased, married Nelson Purdy ; John; James; Selena L., deceased, married Robert Smyers; Eunice Malinda, wife of James Jack, and Josiah B., twins; Rue Ellen, wife of Jacob Smith.

But two years old when he came with his parents to Wabash county, William A. Richards grew to manhood on the old homestead, acquiring his education in the pioneer log school house, at the same time obtaining a good knowledge of the various branches of agriculture under his father's instruction, and later working some at the carpenter's trade. In August, 1863, inspired by patriotic ardor, he enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Eighteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under com¬ mand of Captain E. W. Fluhart, and served until March, 1864. During the time he was with his command, Mr. Richards took part in two import¬ ant engagements, one at Blue Springs, Tennessee, and one at Walkers Ford, in the same state. After the latter battle he was detailed to nurse duty at the hospital in Taswell, Tennessee, and there continued until re¬ ceiving his honorable discharge, at Indianapolis.

Returning home, Mr. Richards again became an inmate of the par¬ ental household, and worked both in Paw Paw township and in Illinois, going back and forth by rail. Marrying in 1872, he rented land for three years, and was then appointed by the county commissioners as superintendent of the Wabash County Infirmary, a position which he filled most efficiently and satisfactorily from March 17, 1875, until March 17, 1885. During that period Mr. Richards had purchased fifty-five acres of his present farm from Nancy A. Long, and to the original acreage he has since added by purchase from time to time until now he and his wife own one hundred and thirty acres of finely improved land, on which he has erected substantial buildings. He retired from active farming about eighteen years ago, the farm being now ably managed by his son.

Mr. Richards married, May 12, 1872, Margaret Foster, a daughter of William and Sarah (Drake) Foster, of Coshocton county, Ohio. Two children have blessed their union, namely : Glenn, of Toledo, Ohio, a rail¬ way mail clerk between Toledo and St. Louis, married Mae Louise Stokely; and George A., running the home farm. Politically Mr. Rich¬ ards has always been a stanch republican, and is now actively identified with the progressive republicans. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, and takes much interest in the organization.

Howard Squires. As a worthy representative of the prosperous agri¬ culturists of Paw Paw township, and as a former sheriff of Wabash county, Howard Squires is eminently deserving of special mention in this biographical work. A native of Kentucky, he was born December 15, 1841, in Owen county, a son of Martin Squires.

Born, reared and married in Kentucky, Martin Squires began life for himself as a farmer in Owen county. Disposing of his land in that vicinity in 1848, he came with his family to Indiana, making the tedious journey with teams, there having been neither railways nor canals at that early day. Locating in Wabash county, six miles north of Wabash, in what was then Noble township, but is now Paw Paw township, he bought eighty acres of heavily timbered land, and having erected the customary log cabin began the improvement of a homestead. A few years later, again seized with the wanderlust, he sold out there, and started with his family for the newer country of Minnesota. He traveled as far as Chi¬ cago with teams, thence by railroad to Galena, Illinois, where he was stricken with pneumonia, died, and was there buried, his death occurring in 1857, at the age of sixty-one years. His widow continued with her children to Minnesota, going up the Mississippi river on a steamboat. Eighteen months later she returned with her family to Wabash county, Indiana, by wagon, and located on a farm which her husband had pre¬ viously purchased in Paw Paw township, two miles west of the present Lome of their son Howard. She subsequently removed to Roann, where her death occurred March 12, 1913, at the venerable age of ninety-four years. The maiden name of the wife of Martin Squires was Sarah Williams. To them ten children were born, as follows: Eveline, de¬ ceased, was the wife of W. R. Keep ; Caleb, deceased ; Mary, wife of J. W. Strausberg and lives in Detroit, Mich.; Howard, with whom this sketch is chiefly concerned; Catherine, wife of Ed Williams; John, de¬ ceased; George, deceased; Sarah; Thomas; and Ella, wife of John Overley.

A small boy when his parents left Kentucky, Howard Squires was scarce out of school when the family started for Minnesota, where his wi¬ dowed mother lived with her children for eighteen months. After return¬ ing to Paw Paw township, he assisted in the care of the home farm until September, 1861, when he enlisted in Company F, Forty-first Regiment, Second Indiana Cavalry, under command of Captain Alexander Hess. Continuing in service three years, one month, and two days, Mr. Squires participated in all of the important engagements of his regiment. At Archville, Tennessee, he was taken prisoner, but was soon released on parole. After being honorably discharged from the service, Mr. Squires returned to the home farm, where he remained until his marriage.

He subsequently farmed on rented land for a time, and then bought one hundred and twenty acres of land in Paw Paw township, northeast of Roann. Disposing of that a few years later, he bought the hotel at Roann, and ran that for a year. Then trading the hotel for eighty acres of land in Paw Paw township, Mr. Squires was there engaged in tilling the soil until elected sheriff of Wabash county, an office that he filled most satis-

Politically Mr. Squires is a stanch republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Mr. Squires married, in 1873, Miss Alice McCoy, daughter of Thomas and Lucinda (Gamble) McCoy, and into the pleasant household thus established five children have been born, namely : Maude, who married Dow Van Buskirk, cashier of the bank at Roann, has two children, Cath¬ erine and James; Ed, who married Jessie Leffel, has three children, Helen, Elizabeth and Fred ; Jessie, wife of Fred I. King, of Wabash, has two children, Howard and Miriam; Hazel; and Hugh, who died at the age of eight years.

William Bright. When the Bright family settled on a wilderness farm in Waltz township, this county, in 1845, they probably had not the vision that would enable them to see that farm seventy years later and realize something of the change that would be wrought in the place with the passing years. They did their best with the rugged and primitive means at their command in that early day, and even in their generation great indeed was the extent of progress. But their son, William Bright, today owns the place and has in it one of the finest farming properties in the township. He was born on the old place on February 17, 1854, and is a son of William and Eliza (Compton) Bright. The mother was the daughter of David and Hannah (Beesely) Compton. When Mr. and Mrs. Bright first came to Indiana it was in the year 1837, and they first settled in Decatur county, there continuing until 1845. In that year they came to Wabash county and chose a farm of 160 acres in Waltz township. It was a veritable wilderness then, untouched by the hand of man, and it offered the prospect of years of vigilant toil before more than the barest living might be wrested from its grasp, but these hardy pioneers were nothing daunted by the prospect, and, instead of being discouraged, were filled with a courageous zest that in every age has been the backbone of the pioneer movement. To such men and women is Indiana and every other great state in the union indebted for the progress and growth that is today evidenced, and it is fitting and proper that some mention of their careers, however brief that mention may be, should be sketched into the historical facts of the country.

On November 30, 1869, after years of struggling with his new farm, the father died, his widow surviving him until November 29, 1889. They were the parents of nine children, all now deceased with the exception of the subject and one daughter, Sarah, who married Henry Holderman and lives in this county. All the deceased members of the Bright family lie buried in the Mount Vernon cemetery, with the exception of one son, Richard L. Bright, who was buried in Colorado.

William Bright of this review had his education in Waltz township, where he was born and reared. Here he saw much of pioneer condi¬ tions, and remembers the time when a letter back to the old home in New

Jersey required twenty-five cents in postage. He spent his boyhood days between work on the farm and in the school room, and continued on the home place without a break until the spring of 1914, when he moved to Vernon, this county, on a farm of forty acres, which he also owns. In 1879 he married Alice Cochran, a daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Flook) Cochran, who were the parents of five children, all bom in Waltz township. The father of Mrs. Bright served in the Union army during the Civil war as a member of the Eighth Indiana, and he died while yet in the service. The mother still lives in Somerset.

To Mr. and Mrs. Bright were bom three children. Edwin was born on September 7, 1881, and died in October, 1912. He married Eliza Vaughan, and their three children were LeRoy, Lorine and Clifford. Myrtle was born on November 21, 1883, and she married Elwood 0. Har¬ vey, and has three children : Derwood, Darwin and Dorothy. They oc¬ cupy Mr. Bright's farm of 185 acres south of Vernon. Clarence, born on February 17, 1886, married Winnifred F. Garst, and he died on May 29, 1913. All three were born on the old home place where the father was born in 1854.

That farm is one of 185 acres, and is one of the comfortable and prosperous places in the township. All the buildings in use today were built by the original owner of the place and were put up by hand, all of the interior work being hand work and very attractive in design. It was finished in the year 1851, and so well was the work carried out and so properly has the place been kept up that the home today looks like a modern dwelling. Mr. Bright also owns a forty-two acre and an eighty acre farm, all in Waltz township, making a total of 307 acres.

Mr. Bright is one of the prominent men of the community, socially and otherwise, and is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Somerset lodge, at Somerset. He is a progressive in politics, and has a healthy interest in the political activities of the town and county, though he has never been an office seeker or holder. His name is one that stands well to the front in the community, and his labors in his chosen work have made for continued progress all his days.

John Schuler. One of the oldest residents of Wabash county is the venerable John Schuler, now more than fourscore years of age, and who from boyhood to his present lengthened span of existence has witnessed the changing course of civilization and the progress of mankind in Wabash county since 1837. While he still gives active attention to busi¬ ness, and is a member of the firm of Schuler & Schuler, conducting an undertaking and house furnishing establishment in the village of Roann, Mr. Schuler many years ago was relieved from the necessity of hard work, but it is a part of his nature to continue active and he prefers to wear out rather than rust out. His experiences have been many, it has been given him to observe the work of nearly three generations of men in Wa¬ bash county, and through it all he has borne his own part worthily and with many contributions to the good of the community.

ber 19, 1832, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Rantz) Schuler. Both par¬ ents were born in Pennsylvania, and the father was a farmer, owning a place in Lycoming county. In 1837, being inspired by the news of the great western country, he sold out his land in Pennsylvania, started west with wagons and teams, and after a six weeks' journey across the mountains of western Pennsylvania, across Ohio, he arrived in Wabash county. The little family party consisted of the husband and wife and eleven children. At the time of their arrival the Wabash and Erie canal had not yet been completed, so that practically the only means of reach¬ ing this part of the state from the east was by the overland roads. In the village of Wabash at that time was a double log cabin used as a tavern, but the Schuler family did not spend the night there, electing to remain in the shelter of their own wagon. The Indians throughout this section were more numerous than the whites, and the progress of civilization had hardly made a clearing except here and there, so that the country was practically in its primitive state of nature. Robert Schuler, the father, bought eighty acres of land three miles north of the present village of Roann in Pleasant township. Subsequently, as his prosperity and means increased he bought three or four other eighties. On the first farm there stood a hewn log house, which furnished a shelter for the family for some time. The equipment of that early home was extremely primitive. A large walnut door, two windows, covered with greased paper, a puncheon floor, an open fire place, with a mortar and stick chimney, were the more familiar and conspicuous features of the residence. In 1840 the father built a new home on the river, two miles north and a mile east of Roann in Paw Paw township, but on the Pleasant township line. This new home was considerably in advance of the first, but its outer structure was still of hewn logs. Some years later the father and mother went east to visit old friends and relatives in Pennsylvania, and while there they were thrown from a buggy and the father died in 1848, as a result of that accident. The mother recovered from her in¬ juries, returned to Indiana, and died twenty years later in the state of Minnesota. Their twelve children are mentioned briefly as follows : Han¬ nah, who married William Johnson, both are deceased; Daniel, deceased; Philip, deceased; Polly, who married William Robinson, both are de¬ ceased ; Elizabeth, who became the wife of William Townsend, both now deceased ; Henry, deceased ; Sarah, who died at the age of sixteen ; Sam¬ uel, deceased; Margaret, the deceased wife of Theo Sower; John; Jacob; and Nancy, who married Daniel Thurston, and both are deceased. The brothers John and Jacob now own the old homestead of one hundred and seventy-three acres on the Pleasant township line in Paw Paw township.

John Schuler was about five years old when the family made its long trip from Pennsylvania to Indiana. He retains many interesting recol¬ lections of early days in Wabash county, and while he was developing his strength at home, in the pursuits of the fields and the woods, he had many acquaintances which are no longer possible to the children of Indiana. Indians came and went so frequently as to excite no surprise, and it was possible to stand in the doorway and with a rifle shoot deer and other wild game, and in the recesses of the woods, from which they would come forth at night, were a number of wild cats, catamounts, and other beasts of prey. Elkhart was the nearest market and a center of sup¬ ply for flour, salt and other necessities. At that time the site of the village of Roann was in the midst of the wild woods, and only two or three tav¬ erns stood between the Schuler home and the village of Wabash. About three months every year John Schuler would go to school. The old school which he recollects attending during those sessions was kept in a log house, with split log benches, supported from the floor by wooden pins, with a broad board around the room for a desk, and the boys and girls studied from books that are now hopelessly out of fashion and out of print, and wrote with a quill pen, manufactured for the occasion by the schoolmaster. He not only developed his mind but also his body by helping clear the land, plant the fields, and harvest the grain with scythe and sickle. In 1857 John and Jacob Schuler went to Kansas, and while there on an Indian reserve between Manhattan and Topeka, Jacob con¬ tracted small pox. During the five weeks of his illness he was cared for by his brother John, and so successfully did the latter cope with the dread disease that no marks were left.

On February 21, 1861, was celebrated the marriage of John Schuler to Jennie W. White. Her parents were Robert and Elizabeth White, who had come from Ohio. Mrs. Schuler was a young woman when she left her Ohio home to find a place in the home of her uncle, Robert Chinworth in Pleasant township of Wabash county, her father having died when she was a small girl.

After his marriage John Schuler moved to a place two miles west of Laketon, and he spent two years on a brother's farm. Returning to the old place he lived there until 1900, and in the meantime he and his brother Jacob had bought the interests of the other heirs in the one hundred and seventy-three acres. Mr. Schuler and his brother have added to the area of the old homestead, and John Schuler now has fortythree acres of his own adjoining the old place. In 1900 Mr. Schuler moved into the village of Roann, and engaged actively in business with his son Robert. In 1898 they had bought the undertaking and furniture store at Roann from Colt & Oswald, which during the following year was conducted under the firm name of Lowman & Schuler. Then Ed Case bought the Lowman interest, and after running for a year as Schuler & Case, the establishment passed entirely into the control of the Schulers, father and son, and is now run by the firm of Schuler & Schuler. The first store stood across the street, and the building was burned in February, 1901. On the present site they erected what is the largest and best equipped store building in Roann, built on foundations 44x76 feet, with a basement and a second story. They keep a complete stock of house furnishing goods, and also have a complete equipment of funeral supplies, with a large barn and rooms for caskets, keep a funeral car, and all other facilities for first-class service in the undertaking busi¬ ness. There is no other town in the state of Indiana that has a finer under¬ taking service than is furnished by Schuler & Schuler. The entire store is a credit to a community of this size, and it is due largely to the enterprise of its owners, and partly to the fact that Roann is situated in the midst of as fine a farming community as can be found in Indiana, and the people who live in that section are willing to support the very best. Robert Schuler, the son of John, studied a course of embalming at home, and took the examination before the state board and made a very creditable grade with an average of eighty-six.

Mr. Schuler and wife have three children: Robert F., who married Emma Hensler, a daughter of George Hensler; Laura, who married F. W. Eby of Paw Paw township, and has two children, the first being Mabel and the second Harry, who by his marriage to Hazel Long has a daughter Jane Josephine; and Maggie E., the wife of Edward Case, of Akron, Indiana, and by their marriage there is a daughter, Ruth Janette. Mr. Schuler is a member of the Presbyterian church. He is distinguished as one of the very few original members of the Republican party in Wabash county. He cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont in 1856. Notwithstanding that original alliance and long con¬ tinued support of the republican party, Mr. Schuler is now found in the ranks of the progressive party. Outside of his local interests at Roann, he oversees the management of his farm, and at one time did a consider¬ able business as a stock shipper.

Charles Miller. While Charles Miller claims the Buckeye state as his birthplace, it was only three months after his name was added to the family roll that the Miller family settled in the woods of Paw Paw town¬ ship, only a mile east of where Mr. Miller has his fine country home. In all other particulars he is a Wabash county product, and is a loyal and progressive citizen of this favored section of Indiana. Few farmers are more emphatically business men than Charles Miller. He has kept up with the times, and often in advance, though his keen judgment has given him as much success as some more conservative neighbors. His home¬ stead comprises two hundred and fifty-five acres on both sides of the Laketon road, in Paw Paw township, about eight miles north of Wabash, his comfortable residence being located on the west side of the highway.

Charles Miller was born near Massilon, Ohio, October 23, 1856, a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Fetzer) Miller. His parents wTere both natives of Germany, were married in that country, and then seeking better oppor¬ tunities for themselves and their family they emigrated to the United States and found a home in the state of Ohio. They bought a small farm in Stark county, but in 1856 came further west and settled in what was then Noble township, now Paw Paw towmship, one mile east of Charles Miller's place. All the land in that vicinity wras then covered with woods, and it was necessary to clear a space among the trees in order to have room for a log cabin home. Both the parents lived there until the close of their days, and the father passed away in 1886 at the age of fifty-eight and the mother in 1907 aged seventy-five. Jacob Miller wras a poor man when he came to America, wras industrious, thrifty, and honorable in all

The third child in the family, Charles Miller was just three months of age when his parents moved to Wabash county, and his early recollec¬ tions were of that community. The old homestead was the scene of his boyhood days, and while at home he learned the lessons of industry, he also attended the district school in that neighborhood. His labors helped to clear a portion of the father's farm, which is now owned by Charles Carnes. Mr. Miller lived at home until March 20, 1879, which was the date of his marriage to Caroline Pretorius. Her parents were Jacob and Catherine (Schultz) Pretorius, and the Pretorius family, which has long had a prominent part in the activities of Wabash county, is sketched else¬ where in this publication under the names Jacob and Joyce Pretorius, brothers of Mrs. Miller. After his marriage Mr. Miller moved to a portion of his present farm, at that time owned by his father. His career began as a renter, and he and his wife contrived to prosper stead¬ ily and to provide a good home and living in that way for nine years. He then bought the eighty -six acres from his father, and has added more lands from time to time, until his is now one of the large and valuable farm estates of PawT Paw towmship. His business is general farming and stock raising, and there are few farmers in Wabash county who have more business transactions than Mr. Miller. He has remodeled all the buildings on his farm, has put in many rods of tile, and his work has contributed to the substantial improvements of the land and its resources.

Mr. Miller and wife are the parents of eleven children, mentioned briefly as follows : Albert, who lives on a farm owned by his father west of the homestead in Paw Paw township, married Rose Schultz, and their children are Kenneth, Elmer and Gilbert; Clarence, who lives on his father's land across from the neighboring schoolhouse, married Freda Barker, and their one child is Edward; Katie is the wife of Osro Faucett, whose home is south of Manchester in Chester township, and their children are Maxwell, Eunice and Paul; Anna married Fred Barker, living south of Wabash and in Waltz township, and is the mother of two children, Howard and Irene ; Mary, who lives in Paw Paw township, is the wife of George Flora, and their children are Ethel and Beulah; Freda is unmarried ; Pauline married William Barker, who lives west of Laketon in Pleasant township, and their daughter is Dorothea ; Earnest, Ida, Homer and Edith are the youngest of the family, and all still at home or in school. All of the children were born on the Miller farm, and Mr. Miller and wife have taken great pains to give them the best of home training and suitable school advantages. Mr. Miller and wife are mem¬ bers of the German Lutheran church at Urbana, and in politics he is a republican.

Benjamin Franklin Starbuck. No history of Wabash county and its representative citizens would be complete were not mention made of B. F. Starbuck, affectionately known to his many friends as * ' Uncle Frank" Starbuck. He is a native of Indiana, having been born in Wayne county, about nine miles north of Richmond, December 6, 1846, and is a son of Andrew R. and Avis (Gardner) Starbuck, natives of North Carolina.