Whitley County, Indiana - The whole text, 1907 (part 14 of 28)

During the years 1901 to 1905 consolidation of districts was being tried, but it did not prove successful ' nor popular, and since then the idea has been abandoned. Each district desires to have its own school. The township high school, which was started during- those years, has also been abandoned as not being a success. At the present time graduates from our common schools are being sent to the Columbia City high school and their tuition paid by the township. During the year 1906 the sum of two hundred and thirty-nine dollars was so paid out for sixteen pupils.

Some of the teachers of "ye olden times" in Thorncreek are John Magley, Air. and Mrs. John D. Sherwood and Mrs. S. S. Miller, of Columbia City ; Mrs. Henry S. Egolf. Mrs. Elizabeth K. VVaugh, Mr. and Mrs. P. F. Widup, Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Magley. Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Shilts, J. H. Snyder and sister Lizzie, now Airs. T. M. Orr. and George W. Laird, all residents of the township. The early teachers who died as residents of this township were the Rev. John

Miller, Hon. M. D. Garrison, William Widup and Nathan Gradeless. Other teachers of past years not resident here now are Benjamin Humbarger, John M. Deem, Rezin Orr, Mrs. Cyrus Reiser, William T. Harrod, Mrs. James W. Burwell, Mary Jane Wade, Mar}- Taylor, Cyrus Widup, Mr. and Mrs. Isaiah Brown, Miss Callie Cotterly and John Pressler. There are others whose names are not now recalled but to whom all due respect is given.

The citizens of the township manifest a pleasing- religious disposition as evidenced by the six neat, substantial and commodious frame churches within its boundaries. There are some who worship in the churches of Columbia City, and are regular attendants there. Even in the early years of the township's growth and settlement the pioneers did not neglect their religious duty, but performed their Sabbah worship and had their Sunday-schools in the school houses of that day.

The Saint John's church, better known as the Hively church, was built about 1865 or 1S66. The congregation was organized before the church was built and services were held in the school house in that locality. This church was remodeled and a spire built to it since and the congregation is today in a flourishing condition financially and religiously. A well kept cemetery is adjacent to the church, and in it are at rest some of the sturdy pioneers o fthat neighborhood substantial church structure in the township and is kept in the best condition. It is generally conceded that it was in the Egolf neighborhood, and at one of the Egolf homes that the first Sunday-school was organized. Before the church was built services were "held in the school house which stood where the church now stands. A beautiful and well kept cemetery occupying a hillside is to the south of this church and adjacent thereto. In this small city of the dead are at rest all that is mortal of the Egolf s who figured so prominently in the early history of this township. Lying in their company are others of the pioneer settlers, and gradually, one by one, those good old pioneer fathers and mothers are gathered together in their final resting place.

Blue River church in the eastern part of the township is maintained by the Free Methodist denomination and was built about 1875. The first pastor was the Rev. A. F. Godwin. This is also a commodious church and across the road from it is also a neatly kept cemetery in which also lie heroes of the early days, and where their descendants are being gathered about them one by one.

The Baptist denomination has a good and neat church structure in the southwestern part of the township. It is better known as the Foster church. This church was remodeled and a spire built to it a few vears ago. The congregation is strong and flourishing, and a keen interest is taken in religious matters by all its members. There is no cemetery near this church, but many of its deceased members rest in the Stough cemetery, just one mile east on a straight line. This is a very old cemeterv and the largest in the township. In its embrace are sleeping also

The Christian denomination has a fine church edifice in the northern part of the township which was built in 1887. Prior to the building of this church religious services were held in the school house one mile north. The congregation is also in a flourishing condition and has some very zealous members. The structure was completely finished and is of good size and has a fine church spire.

The Dunkard denomination has a church in the northeastern part of the township. This is also a substantial structure without spire or ornament. The congregation is composed of very zealous worshipers who take a keen and lively interest in their religious belief.

Besides the cemeteries mentioned in connection with the churches there is one in the northwest corner of the southeast quarter of section 9. Some old pioneers are also buried here but the cemetery is not used at present and has not been for some years. It is not abandoned, however. The only other place in the township where any pioneer is buried is the plat of ground on the Franklin Shilts farm, in which lie the remains of John H. Alexander, the first settler in the township.

The highways of the township have undergone many changes. When the first settlers came into its domain there were no roads, and they blazed and cut their way through the forests, around swamps and hills. In this manner the first roads wound around, and cut diagonally across farms and sections. But very few were on section lines at first. Gradually, however, they began to place newly opened highways on the section lines and straightened those already opened. In some instances where farm dwellings are situated some distance back of the present highways it is found upon investigation that in years past the road wound around some fancied obstruction and passed the site of such buildings. These crooked and diagonal roads have about all been changed with the exception of the Yellow River road. This will very likely never be changed.

This township has furnished some county officers from among its citizens as follows: Richard Baughan, sheriff, from March, 1838, to August 23, 1838; John 0. Adams, treasurer, from November 24, 1866, until Novembers, 1870; A. Y. Swigert. coroner, from December 2, 1867, until December 2, 1869. The following as county commissioners in the order named : Nathaniel Gradeless, John G. Braddock, Henry Knight, Adam Egolf, Andrew Adams, Jacob Ramsey, Henry W. Miller and Jacob Paulus. John H. Shilts served as recorder from November 10. 1887, until November 10, 1 89 1. Logan Staples is the present sheriff. John H. Alexander, the first settler in the township, sewed as county surveyor from 1839 to 1842, and again from 1848 to 1850, in which year he died. B. F. Magley is at present a member of the county advisory board.

Biographical Hon. Joseph Wilson Adair

No profession develops with so much accuracy and vigor man's native intellectual powers as that of the law. \\'hile it opens a vast field for profound philosophic inquiry and research it at the same time imperiously demands an acute and close observation of the daily workings and practical experiences of nearly every phase of life. In its record and principles it reaches back into the mist of ages long since historic, yet in the application of those principles to daily use the possessor must keep his mind constantly fixed upon the stupendous progress of modera improvements as well as upon the far more extended and complicated machinery of modern society. A moment's reflection will serve to show that, aside from the patient and laborious task necessary to accomplish successfully a work of such vast proportions, he who would rise to eminence in this most arduous and far-reaching of callings must possess a sound mind, keen discernment, and clear discrimination and practical judgment. He must be capable of extracting great principles of jurisprudence from amid the rubbish of ages, and stiff, stern and inflexible though they prove, they must in his hands be made sufficiently malleable to be applied to the rapidly changing

The mere disclaimer and sentimental dreamer will find in this profession no field suited to his talents or exertions. The lofty aims of a practical wisdom, of a farreaching and sagacious philosophy can alone be tolerated in an arena which more perhaps than any other demonstrates the law of the survival of the fittest, and it is but natural that those who have thus attained merited distinction should possess a charm and force which commend them to the favorable consideration of every sound thinker. There is a growing interest in tracing the record of one who, by sheer force of will and the powers of a native genius. has reached an elevated position in public confidence and wielded a wide and wholesome influence for the general good. Who, living truth and integrity for their own sakes, has undeviatingly followed his dictates, regardless of personal consequences, and risen to a commanding place at a bar long distinguished for the ability and high standing of its legal talent.

Of this class of lawyers the Hon. Joseph Wilson Adair, judge of the thirty-third judicial circuit court, and for a number of years one of the leading practitioners of the northern Indiana bar, affords an illustrious example. Like the majority of those who have attained eminence in legal circles, his success, both in the practice and on the bench, has come to him as the reward of profound research, energetic action and honorable endeavor, and with a laudable ambition to dignify his calling and make it what it has ever purported to be - a potential, as well as an active agency for the administration of justice among men - he has steadily advanced along the line of distinguished service until now, in the prime of his physical and mental powers, and the largest development of his professional ability, he stands a conspicuous type of the successful, self-made man of to-day. Judge Adair is a native of Noble county, Indiana, where his birth occurred on November 29, 1843. His father, Joseph E. Adair, was born in Ireland and came to America in early childhood, settling with his family on a farm near New London, Ohio, where he grew to maturity, familiar with all the duties that usually fall to the lot of those reared in close touch with nature, amid the active scenes of rural life.

When a young man Joseph E. Adair married Miss Elizabeth Winders, of Maryland, and subsequently, in 1837, removed to the new and sparsely settled county of Noble, Indiana, locating on January 1st of that year in what is now Washington township, of which they were among the earliest pioneers. Here Mr. Adair entered four hundred acres of land, which was very heavily timbered, but, nothing daunted by the discouraging prospect, he at once erected a diminutive log cabin, with clap-boards, daubed with mud and furnished with a rough puncheon floor, which afforded a fairly comfortable shelter for the family until replaced by a more commodious and substantial structure in after years. This frontier cabin commanded a beautiful site on the banks of the Tippecanoe and for several years was frequently visited by the Indians, between whom and the inmates a spirit of amity and good will seems to have obtained. The country at that time was largely as nature had created it, the few small clearings of the settlers being mere niches in the dense forests, in the midst of which various kinds of wild animals roamed in large numbers, some of them, like the wolf and bear, ferocious and during certain seasons destructive to live stock, and not infrequently proving dangerous enemies to man himself. Game of all kinds was plentiful and easily procured and as Mr. Adair was fond of hunting' and an exceedingly accurate marksman, many deer, wild turkeys. geese, ducks, squirrels, etc., fell before his unerring rifle, in this way the table being supplied with the choicest of meats during the greater part of the year. Immediately after providing a .shelter for his family Mr. Adair addressed himself to the more formidable task of clearing his land and preparing the soil for cultivation, to accomplish which required hard and continuous toil, such as the present generation can illy conceive, much less realize and appreciate. By persevering industry, however, he gradually succeeded in removing the forest growth and in the course of a few years had a goodlv number of acres under cultivation. By gradually extending the area of tillable land his efforts were in due time rewarded, as he finally developed an excellent farm on which were made some of the finest and most sub- stantial improvements in the county, and in time he became one of the prosperous and well-to-do men of his community. In connection with agriculture he dealt quite extensively in live stock, which he purchased throughout a large area of his own and neighboring counties and drove to Cincinnati, Columbus and other shipping points, where he disposed of his animals at handsome profits. So encouraging was his success in this line of business that he continued it as long as he lived and it was while on his way with a herd of cattle to Cincinnati that he was stricken with cholera and died at Wiltshire, Ohio, October 9. 1849. Joseph and Elizabeth Adair were the parents of a large family, thirteen children in all, of whom five are still living, Airs. Mary Correll, Mrs. Elizabeth Burke. Toseph W., subject of this review, and Dr. Thomas E. Adair, who is practicing medicine in the town of Moline, Kansas. Some years after the death of Mr. Adair the widow became the wife of C. B. AYood, but both have passed from the scenes of their earthly struggles and trials to the land of silence.

Reverting to the personal history of Judge Adair, it is learned that as a youth and during the earlier years of his boyhood he was subject to those wholesome family influences which give the proper direction to moral character; and to parental precept and example may doubtless be traced, in a large measure, the germs of the honorable and manly ambition which now distinguishes him as a public man. He was reared on the old family homestead, early bore his share of the labor required to clear the fields and cultivate the same and grew up to the full stature of vigorous young manhood, with the conviction that labor is honorable and that success in any line of endeavor must be the result of patient, energetic individual effort. While still a mere lad he entered the district schools, where he pursued his studies until the age of seventeen, when by reason of his advancement he engaged in teaching, which profession he continued during the winter seasons for several years, meeting with success as an able and painstaking instructor. During this period he manifested a decided taste for books and such was his desire to add to his store of knowledge that he eagerly read every book and periodical to which he could lay his hands, and in this way not only laid broad and deep the foundation of his subsequent career as student and lawyer, but also became widely informed in general literature and the leading questions of the times. His earlv and strong manifestation for learning induced him at the close of his first term as teacher to strive for still higher intellectual attainments. Ascordingly, he entered a .college in the city of Fort Wavne, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal church, where he remained one year, and subsequently prosecuted his studies for two years in Wabash College, Crawfordsville, the meanwhile devoting the winter months to the work of teaching. Having a decided preference for the law. which early attracted him, he decided to make the profession his life work and in due time he entered the office of Hon. H. D. Wilson, of Columbia City, subsequently judge of the thirty-fourth judicial district, under whose instructions he continued until his admission to the Whitley county bar in 1869.

ing a mind well disciplined by intellectual and professional training and it was not long until his abilities were duly recognized, as is attested by his rapid rise at the Columbia City bar. He practiced alone until 1873, when he became associated with Judge James S. Collins, the partnership thus formed lasting until 1883, during which time it achieved marked success in the courts of Whitley and other counties, the two gentlemen being retained as counsel in the majority of important cases adjudicated in this section of the state. Discontinuing the firm at the expiration of the period indicated, Mr. Adair has since been alone and before his elevation to the bench it is not too much to assert that he easily stood at the head of the bar to which the major part of his practice was confined, and for a number of years there was seldom a case of any import in which he did not appear either for plaintiff, or defense. Perhaps one of the most noted cases in which he was engaged was the trial of Doctor Gotwald, of Springfield, Ohio, for teaching and preaching doctrines contrary to the accepted creed of his church and for which he was called upon to face a charge of heresy. Judge Adair appeared for the defendant and it was through his efforts mainly that the accused was acquitted, but not until after a most interesting and in not a few respects sensational trial. As already indicated. Judge Adair stands in the front rank of his profession in his native state and his record as a practitioner is not only brilliant, but is above the suspicion of anything savoring of dishonor. In the commencement of his legal studies he made a thorough elementary preparation and having a retentive and disciplined memory, combined with remarkable quickness or readiness of manner, he is enabled instantly to render available all his learning and experience. It is in a great measure owing to these and other equally fortunate circumstances that he was enabled so soon to attain a commanding position in the profession and to win a reputation such as few achieve in a much longer and more varied period of practice. His highest ambition has been to excel in the line of his calling, to attain a thorough mastery of the legal science, and to this end he has with singleness of purpose directed the untiring industry and energy of a lifetime. Shrewd, keen, ever on the lookout to detect the weak points in an adversary's position, his ready exposure of the weakness frequently gives force and influence favorable to his cause beyond the power of the severest logic or closest reasoning. Careful and judicious in the preparation of leg-al papers, painstaking and thorough in their presentation to the court, he leaves nothing undone in matters confided to his charge and frequently secures verdicts at the hands of juries by skillful, and elaborate arguments, presented with power and great magnetic force. Another marked feature in his professional career is his faithfulness and untiring devotion to the interests of his client, no matter how trifling the amount or how uncertain the prospect of remuneration for his services, he works just as hard and with the same zeal as though the case involved large interests and abundant rewards.

In addition to the position the Judge now holds and so faithfully fills he has at different times been chosen to other stations of honor and trust, having been elected super- intendent of the Whitley county schools in 1880 for one term, and in 1889 was made mayor of Columbia City, filling both offices with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the public. In the latter year he was appointed judge of the district composed of the counties of Whitley and Kosciusko, and in 1890 was elected judge of the thirty-third judicial circuit, which position he has held by successive re-elections to the present time, his record since entering upon the discharge of his judicial functions, fully sustaining his erstwhile reputation as an able and brilliant lawyer and justifying the people in the wisdom of their choice. Judge Adair came to the bench eminently qualified for its many high and arduous duties and he has admirably tried to prove worthy of the important trust reposed in him and meet the wants of the people of the circuit in all matters of law, justice, and equity. Methodical in the disposition of business, fair and essentially impartial in his ridings, clear and unequivocal in the enunciation of his decisions, and withal gentlemanly and courteous to members of the bar and to all having business in court, he has depoi'ted himself with such becoming grace and dignity as to adorn the high station to which called and earned an honorable reputation among the most distinguished jurists of Indiana.

It would indeed be anomalous if, with such an intellect as Judge Adair possesses, he did not with the varied subjects that have engaged his attention, deeply study and carefully weigh the claims of revealed religion. This he has done with the happy result of strengthening and every day making brighter and surer his faith in an all-wise Father who doeth everything well and in his son, Jesus Christ, through the atoning merits of whose sacrifice he expects ultimately to enjoy in a far greater degree the consolation and solace which have been such potent factors in moulding his character and shaping his destiny, not only for the life that now is, but for the far more abundant life beyond death's mystic stream. For many years he has been a firm believer in the Christian faith and as a faithful and zealous member of the Lutheran church has made his influence felt in every laudable activity for the moral and spiritual advancement of his fellowmen. For thirty-two years he has had charge of the same class in Sunday school and during this time has never been absent from his place nor reached the school after the exercises had begun. Upon the minds of the young- he has left an influence for good which time will never erase and by his consistent Christian life and upright course of conduct, as well as by honorable professional and official career, he has won and retained the warm and abiding friendship of all classes and conditions of people with whom he has been brought in contact. Amid the multifarious and exacting duties of the bench the Judge finds pleasure and recreation in agricultural pursuits, owning a half section of fine tillable land, on which he has made many valuable improvements. He takes great interest in the cultivation of this place and in the raising of fine breeds of stock and in all that pertains to advanced agricultural methods he is justly considered an authority.

On July 27. 1867, Judge Adair was united in marriage with Miss Amelia M. Young, of Wolf Lake, Noble county, daughter of John and Sarah Young, the union be- ing blessed with two children, Jessie, the wife of E. K. Strong, and Josephine, now Mrs. Clyde Kein, of Kendallville, Indiana, The home of the Judge and his estimable wife has long been noted for its free-handed, open-hearted hospitality and their children, as well as themselves, occupy prominent positions in the best social circles of their respective places of residence. Judge Adair is essentially a man of the people, with their interests ever at heart, and proud of his distinction as a citizen of a country for whose laws and institutions he has the most profound admiration and respect, while his strong mentality, ripe judgment and unimpeachable integrity demonstrates to the satisfaction of all his ability to fill honorably important official station and to discharge worthily high trusts. In the larger sense of the term he is a politician and gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but at no time has he been a partisan or resorted to the questionable methods of those who make politics their chief aim in life. Like many truly great men, he shrinks from, rather than courts, notoriety, his becoming modesty and desire to keep as much as possible from the public gaze being among his most pleasing characteristics. He has long been a prominent member and active worker in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has risen to high standing, being past master of the lodge to which he belongs, besides holding for a period of thirteen years the position of high priest of the chapter, and is also a Knight Templar and a member of the Indianapolis consistory, S. P. R. S.

eminent jurists and distinguished men of affairs who, by a life, of integrity, laborious study, energy, activity, and devotion to duty, has been honored by his fellow citizens and who occupies to-day a first place in their affection and regard. Beloved with a fervent warmth of attachment by all who know him personally and respected by men of all parties he now, in the prime of life and the vigor of his mental powers, stands at the head of his profession in the northern part of the state and an acknowledged leader in matters of public import. In the future, should he see fit, there are no honors to which he may aspire and no place which he would not fill with dignity and honor to himself and credit to his state and country.

Samuel P. Kaler

The family of this name originated in Switzerland, where its representatives figured conspicuously in political and industrial life during the first half of the nineteenth century. We first hear of John Kaler as a member of the legislative body of the Swiss Republic, in which he was evidently a man of influence as he served as its president during three consecutive terms. He seems to have held other important official positions and to have achieved reputation as a practical statesman in the affairs of his native country. His son Henrv emigrated to America near the close of the Revolutionary war and as a servant of Gen. Nathaniel Green was a participant in the stirring scenes that preceded the final triumph of the American arms. After the cessation of hostilities.

Henry Kaler located at Baltimore, Maryland, and through the influence of General Green was enabled to secure special employment in the weaver's trade, in which he had become proficient before leaving his native land. He married in Baltimore and some years afterward removed to York county. Pennsylvania, where his remaining' days were passed. He had three sons, but the only one to reach maturity was John Kaler, whose activities found an outlet on the western shore of Maryland. We find him during the war of 1812, established as proprietor of a large boot and shoe store at Havre de Grace,, which did an extensive business in supplying the government with foot-wear for the army. This commercial enterprise, however, seems to have met with eventual failure and the proprietor returned to his old home in York county, Pennsylvania, where on October 3, 182 1, the family records mention the birth of a son named George Kaler. The latter learned the shoemaker's trade in youth and followed this calling for many years, but finally abandoned the bench to become a farmer. In March, 1875, he came to Whitley county and located upon a farm near Larwill, where he spent the subsequent fourteen years in agricultural pursuits. At length feeling the approach of age, he decided in 1889 to give up active business and retired to a home in Columbia City, where his career was closed by death in 1892. In early life he had married Kate Traub, a lady of talent and honorable lineage, who through all the years of trial or triumph proved a loyal and loving companion. Her grandfather. George Traub, was one of the clerks of the Continental Congress and later served as private secretary to Thomas Jefferson, by whom he was tendered a diplomatic position of importance which, for some unexplained reason, he declined. Other members of this connection achieved political influence at different times and places and the family was always regarded favorably. George and Kate (Traub) Kaler had three sons : Samuel P., Dr. William A., now deceased, and James B.. a leading business man of Columbia City. Samuel P. Kaler. eldest of this family of promising boys, was born in Crawford county, Ohio. February 17, 1853, and spent his boyhood in the place of his nativity. Being ambitious to learn he made the best of the opportunities afforded by the common schools of his neighborhood and at the age of seventeen began teaching. He devoted the next nine years to this vocation, in Ohio and Indiana, but meantime worked on the farm during the summer vacations and studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1879. In the fall of 1880, Mr. Kaler was appointed deputy sheriff of Whitley county, served two years in that position and then received an appointment as deputy auditor, to the duties of which office he devoted his time until the expiration of the four-year term of his principal. It is evident that he had attracted attention and gained popularity by his method of discharging these deputyships, as we find that thev resulted in a promotion of importance. In 1886, he was nominated by the Democratic party as candidate for the office of clerk of Whitley count)-, and after a vigorous campaign he was elected by a decidedly complimentary vote, his majority exceeding the largest obtained by any other candidate. He served acceptably for four years and during- this time greatly extended his acquaintance and knowledge of public affairs. It is ing blessed with two children, Jessie, the wife of E. K. Strung, and Josephine, now Mrs. Clyde Kein, of Kendallville, Indiana, The home of the Judge and his estimable wife has long been noted for its free-handed, open-hearted hospitality and their children, as well as themselves, occupy prominent positions in the best social circles of their respective places of residence. Judge Adair is essentially a man of the people, with their interests ever at heart, and proud of his distinction as a citizen of a country for whose laws and institutions he has the most profound admiration and respect, while his strong mentality, ripe judgment and unimpeachable integrity demonstrates to the satisfaction of all his ability to fill honorably important official station and to discharg-e worthily high trusts. In the larger sense of the term he is a politician and gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but at no time has he been a partisan or resorted to the questionable methods of those who make politics their chief aim in life. Like niaii\ truly great men, he shrinks from, rather than courts, notoriety, his becoming modesty and desire to keep as much as possible from the public gaze being among his most pleasing characteristics. He has long been a prominent member and active worker in the Masonic fraternity, in which he has risen to high standing, being past master of the lodge to which he belongs, besides holding for a period of thirteen years the posilion of high priest of tine chapter, and is also a Knight Templar and a member of the Indianapolis consistory, S. P. R. S.

eminent jurists and distinguished men of affairs who, by a life, of integrity, laborious study, energy, activity, and devotion to duty, has been honored by his fellow citizens and who occupies to-day a first place in their affection and regard. Beloved with a fervent warmth of attachment by all who know him personally and respected by men of all parties he now, in the prime of life and the vigor of his mental powers, stands at the head of his profession in the northern part of the state and an acknowledged leader in matters of public import. In the future, should he see fit, there are no honors to which he may aspire and no place which he would not fill with dignity and honor to himself and credit to his state and country.

The family of this name originated in Switzerland, where its representatives figured conspicuously in political and industrial life during the first half of the nineteenth century. We first hear of John Kaler as a member of the legislative body of the Swiss Republic, in which he was evidently a man of influence as he served as its president during three consecutive terms. He seems to have held other important official positions and to have achieved reputation as a practical statesman in the affairs of his native country. His son Henry emigrated to America near the close of the Revolutionary war and as a servant of Gen. Nathaniel Green was a participant in the stirring scenes that preceded the final triumph of the American arms. After the cessation of hostilities.

Henry Kaler located at Baltimore, Maryland, and through the influence of General ( Ireen was enabled to secure special employment in the weaver's trade, in which he had become proficient before leaving his native land. He married in Baltimore and some years afterward removed to York county. Pennsylvania, where his remaining days were passed. He had three sons, but the only one to reach maturity was John Kaler, whose activities found an outlet on the western shore of Maryland. We find him during the war of 1812, established as proprietor of a large boot and shoe store at Havre de Grace., which did an extensive business in supplying the government with foot-we ar for the army. This commercial enterprise, however, seems to have met with eventual failure and the proprietor returned to his old home in York county, Pennsylvania, where on October 3, 182 1, the family records mention the birth of a son named George Kaler. The latter learned the shoemaker's trade in youth and followed this calling for many years, but finally abandoned the bench to become a farmer. In March, 1875, he came to Whitley county and located upon a farm near Larwill, where he spent the subsequent fourteen years in agricultural pursuits. At length feeling the approach of age, he decided in 1889 to give up active business and retired to a home in Columbia City, where his career was closed by death in 1892. In early life he had married Kate Traub. a lady of talent and honorable lineage, who through all the years of trial or triumph proved a loyal and loving companion. Her grandfather, George Traub. was one of the clerks of the Continental Congress and later served as private secretary to Thomas Jefferson, by whom he was tendered a diplomatic position of importance which, for some unexplained reason, he declined. Other members of this connection achieved political influence at different times and places and the family was always regarded favorably. George and Kate (Traub) Kaler had three sons : Samuel P., Dr. William A., now deceased, and James B.. a leading business man of Columbia City. Samuel P. Kaler. eldest of this family of promising boys, was born in Crawford county, Ohio, February 17, 1853, and spent his boyhood in the place of his nativity. Being ambitious to learn he made the best of the opportunities afforded by the common schools of his neighborhood and at the age of seventeen began teaching. He devoted the next nine years to this vocation, in Ohio and Indiana, but meantime worked on the farm during- the summer vacations and studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1879. In the fall of 1880, Mr. Kaler was appointed deputy sheriff of Whitley county, served two rears in that position and then received an appointment as deputy auditor, to the duties of which office be devoted his time until the expiration of the four-year term of his principal. It is evident that he had attracted attention and gained popularity by his method of discharging these deputyships. as we find that thev resulted in a promotion of importance. In 1886, he was nominated by the Democratic party as candidate for the office of clerk of Whitley county, and after a vigorous campaign he was elected by a decidedly complimentary vote, his majority exceeding the largest obtained by any other candidate. He served acceptably for four years and during this time greatly extended his acquaintance and knowledge of public affairs. It is carrier on the rural mail delivery service of the county. He is a veteran of the Civil war. having served throughout that struggle as a member of the Seventy-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, becoming lieutenant of his company. Burdette F. Mc- Near, son of Josiah F., was born at Douglas, Kansas, January 7, 1872. His mother died when he was thee and a half years old and for a while he was entrusted to the care of his grandfather. For six years he was in the family of George Dice, west of Churubusco, and attended school at the latter place for two years, during which time he lived with an uncle. Subsequently he attended school at Columbia City, took a course in a business college and was for a while in the commercial department of the Valparaiso Normal. At intervals he clerked in a hardware store, acted as reporter for the "Mail" and made himself useful in whatever his hands could find to do. For a year he was a commercial traveler, selling hardware over Indiana for a Fort Wayne firm, and eventually entered into the partnership above described, a line of trade to which he seems peculiarly well adapted.

October 31, 1900, Mr. McNear married Miss Edith, daughter of Alfred Ale, a cabinetmaker. Mrs. McNear, who is a native of Kosciusko county, is a popular lady, taking active part in the Coterie Literary Club.

Franklin Pierce Bridge

have made their influence felt in connection with farming interests. It was in 1845 that Levi and Rebecca ( Hines ) Bridge arrived in Whitley county, coming from Cleveland, Ohio. Five years later they bought a farm in Washington township near the present village of Laud, and their remaining years were devoted to the active work of improving the property. The father died at the age of sixty-two, while his wife survived until her seventy-seventh year. Of their nine children to reach maturity, three sons and two daughters are living in 1907. Franklin Pierce Bridge, now deceased, was born at Cleveland, Ohio, January 1, 1853. When about coming of age he learned the carpenter's trade, but after working at the bench several years took charge of his mother's farm and manag'ed it until her death, nearly eight years later. Upon the settlement of the estate he bought out the other heirs. He made expensive improvements, including an open ditch through the place, beside laying a great deal of tile, thus making it one of the most productive farms in the township. He died May 7, 1899, as the result of a kick from a horse received twenty-seven hours previously. In politics he was an ultra Republican and was also an active member of the Knights of the Maccabees, whose impressive burial service was used in paying the last sad rites to one highly respected by all.

May 20, 1880, Mr. Bridge married Miss Elsie Lenwell. whose parents were pioneer settlers of Kosciusko county, and who later settled in Washington township. She was born in 1856, was seventeen years old upon coming- to this county, and twenty-four at marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Bridge had four sons : Arthur, who married Rosa Rupert, manages the old homestead ; Salathiel Castle is bookkeeper in the First National Bank at Columbia City ; Emmet, having finished the high school course at Columbia City, is a teacher in the old home school ; Clemmet, twin brother of the last mentioned, is a student in the freshman class at Wabash College.

Rosanna Crider

Indiana was still a young state when Francis Tulley was married in Ross county, Ohio, to Alary E. Nickey, of Augusta county, Virginia, and came with his bride to Whitley county. This was in 1834, and previous to that time, friends had already settled in the same vicinity, Samuel Smith had built the first cabin in the township, subsequently named after him. and this rude structure was occupied by the Tulleys during the owner's temporary absence. Francis Tulley built the second cabin in Smith township, and here he made his home for over forty, years, meantime accumulating four hundred acres of land most of which he distributed among his children. In 1872, he removed to Columbia City, where he lived in retirement until his death, twenty- four years later, in 1896, surviving his life companion one year.

The children of this pioneer couple were four in number: Rosanna ; William A., proprietor of a repair shop in Columbia City; Cyrus B., lawyer and member of the legislature, who died at his home in Columbia City, aged fifty-five; and Wesley C. who lives on the old homestead in Smith township.

Rosanna Tulle}-, eldest of these, was born in Smith township, September 15, 1834, this being the same year in which her parents came. Neighbors were few and far between, wolves were plentiful and made the lonesome night still more dreary by their dismal howling, it being the custom of the settlers to fire guns to frighten them away. Indians were also numerous, though not hostile and often called at the Tulley cabin for food or out of idle curiosity. If Rosanna's birth was romatic, her youth and girlhood were none the less so, though they did not differ materially from those of other pioneer children in the western wilderness. She had to "pitch in" to help clear the farm and many a sturdy blow she struck with ax or mattock, to say nothing of holding the plow, feeding the stock, and attending to the household drudgery. The first school she attended was kept in the kitchen of her parents, and was taught by an Eastern man named Wisner. Her father had to work out to secure food for the family, and often put in three days of hard work for one bushel of corn meal. He had brought with him from Ohio a team and cow and had to cut a road through the woods to his land. She and her mother spent many weary hours spinning and weaving cloth with which to make wearing apparel for the household. November 1, 1855. when she was twenty-one years of age. there was a pioneer wedding at this rude cabin in the woods, the contracting parties being John Crider and herself. The groom, who was but two months older, had come into Smith township with his parents when about fifteen years of age, and as a wedding present his father gave him a horse and cow. The bride's dowery consisted of two horses, two cows, a sheep and forty acres of wild land.

They went to housekeeping in a small frame structure, and with the sturdy courage characteristic of those times, faced resolutely toward the future. Before marriage Mr. Crider had taught school at intervals and he kept at this occupation intermittently for some time after. He was, however, of an ambitious turn of mind, and aspired to something higher than grubbing and township teaching. In 1872. he removed to Columbia City, was elected township assessor and during spare hours devoted himself to the study of the law. Forming a partnership with his brother-in-law, Cyrus B. Tulley, he entered actively into practice until 1882, meantime running a hardware store. His death occurred at Churubusco November 6, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. John Crider had three children : Noah W., the oldest, taught school and dealt in musical instruments, books and sewing machines and died unmarried at the residence of his mother after two years' illness of consumption, aged twenty-six years. Rosa May died in infancy and Bertie Wilson died in 1885. when eleven years old, just two months after his older brother had passed away. Since 1874, Mrs. Crider. the bereaved mother and widow, has lived in her residence on North Line street, and devoted her life to works of charity and religion. A lifelong member of the United Brethren church, none have done more than she to forward the interests of this denomination. The structure in which the services are held is situated on the corner of Chauncey and Market streets facing the courthouse square and bears the name of Tulley-Crider Menu .rial church, being, as the name would indicate, a building put up in honor of the family, and erected largely through the efforts of Mrs. Crider. During all these years she has continued to support the church liberally, not only by generous contribution of funds but by individual effort and all her personal influence.

Born of a martial family whose members showed in the time of its imminent peril that they were ardently devoted to the Union, three of them laying down their lives on the altar of their country in the Civil war, Col. Isaiah B. McDonald, of Whitley county, bore well and bravely his part in that awful struggle between the sections of our then unhappy country, and made a military record of which any man might well be proud, sustaining the honor of his family, his state and his county, and making for the credit of the whole body of American manhood.

The Colonel is a native of Culpeper, Virginia, where he was born on September 18, 1826, and is a son of Carter and Mary Elizabeth (Carder) McDonald, who were born in Scotland and came to the United States in their childhood. They obtained their education in the common schools of Virginia, and after leaving school the father became a blacksmith, a craft which he followed industriously to the end of his life. In 1835 the family moved from Virginia to Wooster. Ohio, and seven years later they became residents of this county, in which they passed the remainder of their lives, the father dying in 1872 in the house in which the Colonel lives, and the mother passing away in 1883. They were earnest and devout members of the Baptist church and lived acceptably in accordance with its teachings. In politics the father was an antislavery Democrat. They were the parents of thirteen children : Melzer, who was a farmer in Ohio and Indiana, and died in Noble county of the latter state at the age of seventy-nine years; Isaiah B., the immediate and interesting subject of this memoir; Malachi, who was a farmer, served through the Civil war, and died in California in 1892, aged sixty-eight years ; David, who was a farmer in Indiana, and who was killed on the railroad at the age of fifty-eight years; Samuel B., who was a farmer, and a soldier in Company G. Fifteenth Indiana Infantry, serving more than four years in the Army of the Cumberland and the subsequent organization in which it was merged. He died as the result of army service at Columbus Grove, Ohio, in 1903. in his fifty-fifth year; Joseph G., who died in early life; Silas B., who was a farmer and died in the Indian Territory in 1901 ; James G, who was a soldier and served in Company B, Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga and deserted by his company on the battlefield, where he was taken prisoner, and after suffering all the horrors of Andersonville prison he there starved to death and his remains were buried in a trench without a mark ; Mary Jane, who was the wife of William B. Benton, of Noble county, Indiana, and died in 1906, leaving five children ; Sarah Jane, wife of Alfred Peyton, of Allen county, this state, deceased; William, a farmer who is now tax commissioner of Whitley county; and Andrew Jackson, a farmer and a soldier in the Union army, serving in Company I, Thirtieth Indiana Infantry. He was wounded at the battle of Stone River and died soon afterward in a hospital at Louisville, Kentucky. Eliza married Daniel Hollycress, and both died in Whitley county.

Col. Isaiah B. McDonald attended the public schools in Ohio until his parents moved to Indiana. In February, 1844. he returned to Ohio, and there worked as a farm hand for a time, going to school in the winter season. In 1845 he began to learn the carpenter trade, working out an apprenticeship of two years and during the greater part of this period devoting his evenings and all other time when he was not at work to a systematic course of reading. He then taught school in Ohio for three years, after which he followed the same occupation at Christiansburg, Kentucky, for two years. He read law under the instruction of John McSweeney, of Wooster, Ohio, and Martin D. McHenry, of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and on his return to Indiana in June, 1852, he was elected prosecuting attorney for Noble and Whitley counties. In November of the same year he was appointed school examiner for Whitley county. He filled both offices acceptably until Ni 1- vember 19. 1855. when he was qualified as clerk of Whitley circuit court, an office he held four years. He then served again a? school examiner until April, 1861, when he enlisted in defense of the Union as a private soldier of Company E, Seventeenth Indiana Infantry, of which he was soon afterward elected second lieutenant, and commissioned as such by Governor Morton. On July 20, 1861, he was made senior aide-de-camp and acting assistant adjutant general on the staff of Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds, serving in West Virginia. General Reynolds resigned in 1862 and Lieutenant McDonald was transferred to the staff of Gen. Robert H. Milroy, then at Huttonville, West Virginia. In April of that year he was appointed captain of commissary of subsistence by President Lincoln, and continued on the staff of General Milroy until June, 1863, when driven from Winchester, Virginia, by General Lee. During all these years he took an active part at the front under Generals Reynolds, Milroy, Siegel, Kelly and others, at Elkwater, Cheat Mountain, Green Brier River. Camp Allegheny, McDowell, Strasburg, Cross Keys, Cedar Mountain, Waterloo Bridge, in the second Bull Run fight, and in many other engagements in which the contest was war to the knife and the knife to the hilt on both sides. On August 22, 1862, he had his hardest fight to save the army trains of Milroy's command and other divisions, at Catlett's station. Virginia. General Pope's headquarters and trains were captured, sacked and burned by Gen. J. E. B. Stewart, and Colonel McDonald had only ninetyfour men with whom to fight off Rosser's and Lee's commands during a terribly stormy night. In June, 1863, he took an active part in the battle of Winchester, from which he was driven into Pennsylvania, and in the ensuing month of July was placed in charge of military matters at Hagerstuwn. Maryland, where he remained until December following, when he was ordered to report to Gen. B. F. Kelly at Cumberland, Maryland. In April, 1864, he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Sixth West Virginia Veteran Cavalry. He passed two months in reorganizing this regiment, but at the end of that period, owing to the state of his health, he declined to muster as lieutenant colonel, but returned to his home. Governor Morton afterward offered him the command of the One Hundred and Fiftysecond Indiana Infantry, but he was obliged to decline the proffered honor on account of the state of his health.

Colonel McDonald was slightly .wounded twice, but was not disabled from service an hour. During the whole of his long and active service he was never under arrest or reprimanded. Entering the army as a private soldier, for meritorious conduct and excellent service he received promotions from Governor Morton of Indiana, Gen. J. J. Reynolds of the army, President Lincoln and Governor Boreman, of Wrest Virginia. After his return from the army he once more entered public life in the service of the people, being school examiner of Whitley county from November, 1864, to December 25, 1870, and on the date last given became a member of the lower house of the state legislature, receiving a majority of seven hundred and thirty-one votes, the largest ever received by any candidate in the county. In 1886, he was elected to the senate from Allen and Whitley counties. LJp to this time there had never been passed by the legislature any bill originating from a Whitley count)- member. But this record was gloriously reversed by the activity and influence of Colonel McDonald. He was chairman of the military committee in the senate, and as such put through the bill providing for the erection of the Soldiers' Monument and carrying an appropriation of two hundred thousand dollars for the pur- pose of starting the monument. This bill he succeeded in getting every senator to vote for, and as the monument finally cost over six hundred thousand dollars, the importance of so good a start for the project may easily "be realized. He afterward secured by a unanimous vote from the Indiana department of the Grand Army of the Republic an appropriation of nineteen thousand dollars for the foundation of this monument. Other legislation of great importance of which he may properly be styled the father, was the law locating the school for feebleminded children at Fort Wayne, which he secured the passage of after a stubborn fight, and the reorganization of the Knightstown Soldiers' Orphans' School. In this behalf he got the titles to the real estate perfected and an appropriation of fifty-four thousand dollars for putting the school in good condition.

Colonel McDonald has been connected with the public press since 1859, and is still in the harness. He established the Columbia City News, now the Post, has been the owner the Huntington Democrat and the Fort Wayne Daily and Weekly Journal, and is now part owner of the Ligonier Banner.

Colonel McDonald was first married on the day of the presidential election in 1852, when he was united with Miss Agnes S. Kollar, of Wayne county, Ohio, who Uvea -only eleven months after her marriage. On November 28, 1854, the Colonel married as his second wife Miss Catherine Brenneman, of this county, who died ninteen years ago. Four children were born of this union, two of whom are living: James Eli, who has been state senator for DeKalb and Noble counties, and has served on the state board of agriculture for more than twenty years.

He is part owner and the managing editor of the Ligonier Banner. He is an active Democrat, fifty-one years old, and has three children. Charles Emmett McDonald was for some years engaged in teaching,' but he is now the managing editor of the Auburn Daily and Weekly Courier. He is a fluent and forceful writer, lives at Auburn and has three children. The third child. Abraham C. died at Ligonier in 1866, aged twentythree years. He was a graduate of the Columbia City high school and an excellent printer; and the fourth child, also a son, Frank Warren McDonald, a printer and telegraph operator, died of hip disease at the age of twenty-two. The Colonel married his third wife June 9, 1889. She was Miss Clemenza Bechtel, daughter of Martin Bechtel, of this county. He was widely known and highly esteemed as a "grand old man." Mrs. McDonald is an active member of the First Baptist church of Columbia City and a devoted worker in the Woman's Relief Corps. Colonel McDonald is also a zealous member of the Baptist church, and one of the trustees. Out of his earnings in the clerk's office he built the first church for this denomination in the city and has continued a liberal supporter. He was an Odd Fellow from 1858 to 1888. He was made a Free Mason in 1863 and is now a Knight Templar. Ever since its organization, he has belonged to the Grand Army of the Republic and in this organization he has filled every office but that of department commander.

In 1872. the first effort was begun toward the making of a new up-to-date residence town of Columbia City. Colonel McDonald was the first to begin a system of sewerage, in company with Eli W. Brown, Theodore Reed and Cyrus B. Tullev. The matter was contended in the courts, but soon other progressive men adopted the idea and it was not long before the town began to assume more desirable conditions. He has ever stood for better conditions and never hesitated to engage in battle, either in the newspaper columns or in courts.

Always a Democrat, he has always been active in the party. In i860, he was a delegate to the Charleston convention that was adjourned to Baltimore. He was active as a campaign speaker and has probably made more speeches than most men in Indiana. In 1876, he was a Tilden elector, receiving over six thousand majority in his district. In later campaigns he was a Bryan man, and keeps in touch with the modern tenets of his party.

Ferdinand F. Morsches

This name has been made familiar in Whitley county by reason of the long residence and prominent business connections of the founder of the family. The latter was William H. Morsches, a native of one of the Rhine provinces of Germany, who after his marriage came to the United States in 1868. Locating in Chicago, he took employment as a baker and brewer and continued in this line for several years. In 1 87 1, he came to Columbia City to accept the position of brew-master of the present Walter Raupfer Brewing Company, and later the Strausser Brewing Company, which he purchased in 1882 and conducted four or five years. After that he opened a bakery on the present site of Eganson's store, and continued in this business for seven or eight years, at which time he retired. He died December 10, 1906, at the advanced age of eighty-six years, leaving a second wife, Gertrude Kempton, as his widow. By his first wife he had two children and eleven by the second union, of whom seven are living.

Ferdinand F. Morsches was born in Columbia City, April 14, 1873. As soon as he became old enough to work, he entered the mill-yard of the Peabody Lumber Company as a laborer, and now has been with that company eighteen years. For seven years he has been manager for the three mills of the company, which employ fifty men in the Columbia City plant and about sixtyfive in all, besides teamsters, timber cutters and miscellaneous help. Mr. Morsches is a stockholder and vice president of the company, being in direct management of the production of the lumber, the full details of the immense business frequently devolving upon him, especially in the absence of the president of the company. He has a fine business standing, is full of energy and keen discernment as to needs in the mills or yards and has a happy faculty of eliciting hearty co-operation of all employes. He is too busy to indulge in social affairs or politics, but is fond of out-door sports and during vacation seasons enjoys an outing on the lakes with his rod or in the forest with his gun.

October 3, 1896, Mr. Morsches was united in marriage with Miss Mabel Foust, a lady of prominent and influential social connections. She is a niece of Franklin H. Foust and a daughter of Albert Foust, deceased, both well known citizens of Whitley county. Mr. and Mrs. Morsches have two children, who have been christened Elizabeth and Carl F.

Edward L. Gallagher

contractor, ex-county official and one of the esteemed citizens of Columbia City, is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, where his birth occurred on April 2, i860. As the name indicates, he is of Irish descent, his parents, Hugh and Anna (O'Brien) Gallagher, both having been born in the Emerald Isle. By occupation Hugh Gallagher was a stone mason. He came to America in 1 85 1 and after following his trade for a limited period in the city of New York, went to Mahoning county, Ohio, where he became manager of a farm near Youngstown, which position he held until earning sufficient means to purchase property of his own, when, in 1866, he moved to Whitley county, Indiana, locating at Columbia City. Shortly after his arrival here he purchased a lot and in due time erected a house, after which he entered the service of the Pennsylvania Railway Company and still later took contracts for constructing ditches for the county and private citizens. \\ Tiile thus engaged Mr. Gallagher demonstrated marked ability. He died May 5. 1895, just twenty-nine years to a day from the date of his arrival in Columbia City. Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher had eight children, the oldest of whom, James, died in 1872; Patrick is a contractor in the state of Ohio ; Thomas G. was an agent for twenty-five years on the Wabash Railroad. Both himself and wife are dead, ' their five children being kindly cared for by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gallagher; the fifth in succession is the subject of this sketch: Mary, married Dennis Galvin, of Columbia City; Frank, is train dispatcher at Joliet, Illinois, and Hugh and a twin sister to Edward died in infancy. Of the early years and experience of Edward L. Gallagher the biographer can speak only in a general way, there being nothing of the tragic connected with that period of life. Lntil his eleventh year his time was largely given to study in the public schools and at about that age he took his first contract, which was the piling of a large amount of staves, which required a month's hard labor, and for which he received the sum of seventy-eight dollars. He has always considered this the most satisfactory contract he ever carried out and recalls it with a greater degree of pleasure than any other experience in his business career. After assisting his father for several years and becoming familiar with every phase of contracting, Mr. Gallagher engaged in the same line of business for himself and, with the exception of the period devoted to his office duties, has followed the same to the present time, meeting with a large measure of success and earning an honorable reputation for faithful and efficient work. Like his father before him, his work has taken a wide range and while doing the major part of the contracting in his line in Whitley county, he has also taken a number of large jobs elsewhere. It is a matter worthy of note that throughout his entire business career as a contractor, he has never worked a day under the direction of a superior, a fact of which he feels deserve'llv proud, and which it may safely be said is a remarkable exception in the lives of the majority of mechanics and business men. Mr. Gallagher is a Democrat and for a number of years has been an active participant in political affairs. In 1896, he was appointed deputy sheriff of Whitley county, under B. F. Hull, the duties of which position he discharged in such a creditable manner that at the expiration of his four years of service he was elected sheriff, being the only deputy that ever succeeded to the office since the county was organized. He took charge of the office in 1900 and two years later was reelected for a second term, at the expiration of which, in 1904, he resumed the business which he had temporarily discontinued eight years before. He operates a steam dredge, working night and day, and employing about eight assistants and with which he has constructed at least two hundred miles of drains, not only in Whitley but in many other counties and in other states. The business is conducted under the name of The Raupfer & Briggs Drainage Company, consisting of Benjamin Raupfer, S. O. Briggs, Dennis Galvin and Mr. Gallagher. In his religious belief Mr. Gallagher is a Catholic and an influential member of the church in Columbia City. He belongs to the Catholic Knights of America and the Modern Woodmen, in both of which organizations he has been honored with important official positions.

On January 3 1 . 1 900, Mr. Gallagher was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Emma Adang, who was bom in Fostoria, Ohio, but since about 1896, has reresided in Whitley county. Mrs. Gallagher's ancestors were of German blood, her grandfather emigrating to America in an early clay and settling in Seneca county, Ohio. Her parents, who were both natives of that state, mi ived to Indiana in the year indicated above and are now residents of Columbia City. Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher have three children, Mary Ann, Edna L., and Hortense Bernice. Besides these, his brother's five children have found a suitable home with Mr. and Mrs. Gallagher. They are: Edward T., Bernard G., Ida M., Helen and Claudine.

Whitney & Luckenbill

The above named firm of funeral directors entered into business at Columbia City in November, 1904, as successors to Maine & Whitney, Mr. Luckenbill buying the former's interest. They occupy commodious quarters in the Adair building and keep a full supply of everything appropriate to this line of business. Rev. Lewis A. Luckenbill, the junior member, was born in Miami county, Indiana, May 30, 1867. His father was a native of the Keystone state and served nearly four years during the civil war as a member of the Ninety-third Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Shortly after the close of hostilities, he removed to Miami county and located at Denver. Lewis A. spent his boyhood on the farm and when of age began teaching in the common schools, which occupation he followed for eight years. When thirty years old he came to Columbia City, to take charge of the Oak Grove and Evergreen congregations of the Church of God. For two years he served the Blue River circuit besides the two above mentioned. He is now serving his second term as pastor of the home Church of God, in connection with Oak Grove and Evergreen. They have prospered under his care and have a fine membership. The local church is out of debt, was recently re-decorated and now enjoys the luxury of electric lights and other improvements. Air. Luckenbill is quite active and influential in connection with the general business features of his church organization. What is known as the general eldership consists of about one hundred and forty members elected as delegates from each of the subordinate elderships and it meets even' four years. The general eldership elects an executive board of five members, which meets each year for a week at the commencement of the college of the church, at Findlay, Ohio. This board has charge of all business of the general eldership and is of great importance in the affairs of this religious organization. Mr. Luckenbill was twice elected as a delegate to the general eldership and in June. 1905, was chosen as a member of the executive board, and was made secretary by that body. He has also for eight years been financial secretary of the eldership composed of Indiana and part of Michigan. The executive board is in control of the editorial staff of the church paper published at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and in fact has supervision of all the church work. Mr. Luckenbill is secretary and treasurer of the Inter-state Assembly of the Church of God and it is hardly necessary to add that he is one of the busiest men in Columbia City, as well as one of the most useful.

August 18, 1889, Mr. Luckenbill was married to Miss Laura Alspach, of Miami county, and they have had five children. Charles G., Ulysses S., Jennie Lind, Lewis A., who died when two years old, and Argel Rudyard.

of E. G. Whitney, a teacher at the Fort Edward Institute. He spent his boyhood on a farm in Franklin county until his father's death, and then attended school at the Franklin Academy. At the age of nineteen he began to teach and spent four years in this occupation, two in New York and two in Vermont, being subsequently engaged for twelve years as a contractor and builder. In 1894, he entered into the undertaking business, preparing himself with a course in embalming. He was for two years at Noblesville, Indiana, and in 1902, came to Columbia City. He was in partnership with J. M. Maine until 1904, when the retirement of the latter brought about the firm of Whitney & Lukenbill. Mr. Whitney was married in 1886 to Miss Grace H. Barnard, who died ten years later, aged twentyeight. By this union there were four daughters, Ethel E., a teacher, in Whitley county, Miry E., a pupil in high school, Grace A., and Gladys. In December, 1896, Mr. Whitney married Miss Bertha A. Hudson.

Otis W. Stair

The railroad agent at an important shipping point is a man of many responsibilities, as well as a target for criticism and it takes both tact and judgment to gain and retain the good will of those interested. - Few men have better filled this role and achieved those results than the present agent of the Vandalia at Columbia City. Taking- charge of the station at South Whitley in 1896, and coining to the county seat in 1902, he has achieved an excellent standing with his com- pany and the people. The Stair family in Indiana came from Virginia and settled in Tippecanoe county, where the father entered and occupied a farm near Lafayette. To this pioneer was born a son named Charles W. Stair, who after reaching manhood, married Savanna Frances Reed, also a native of Tippecanoe county. He passed his whole life on this farm up to the time of his death in 1879, and his widow still resides on the old place. Otis, son of Charles W. Stair, was born on this farm in Tippecanoe county. August 10, 1872. At the age of seventeen he entered a business college at Lafayette and after graduating, attended the school at St. Louis conducted by the Wabash Railroad. In 1 89 1 he began what has proved to be fifteen years of continuous railroad work, as night operator at Fairmount, Illinois, and after working for short periods at various places, he took a position at Newton, Indiana. Later he was in the office of the superintendent of the Wabash at Detroit, and in the despatcher's office at Peru. In 1893-4 he took a course in civil engineering at Purdue University, but was soon in the railway harness again as agent at South Whitley. He came to Columbia City, November 7, 1902, being placed in charge of the station. In 1904.. the depot was remodeled, and now Mr. Stair has three assistants. He has a clean and creditable record, and stands well with the company, because he procures business, and with the people, because he accommodates them in every possible way. During the great demand for cars in which to ship the immense onion crop of 1906, Mr. Stair managed it so that his supply of cars never failed, thus affording greater satisfaction to shippers.

Mr. Stair owns his home in Columbia City, and a part of the old homestead near Lafayette. He is a member of the Masonic order, of the Knights of Pythias and Modern Woodmen.

In 1894, Mr. Stair was married to Miss Minnie Maud Baer, of Buck Creek, Indiana, and they have five children, Lucille, Otis W.. Carlvle. Nina Bell and George Kenneth.

Gideon Wright Wilcox

May 6, 183 1, Gideon Wright Wilcox, now deceased, son of Gideon and Amanda Wilcox, was born at Worthington. Franklin county, Ohio. At eighteen he made the overland trip to California. May 29, 1861, he married Nettie Black and came to Whitley county, where some years before her parents had settled. His wife's untimely death, August 13, 1862, temporarily interrupted his plans. March 6, 1866, he was married at Columbus, Ohio, to Mary Aston, a native of that city, whose father, William Aston, was brought from Ireland in infancy and became a soap and candle-maker. Mr. Wilcox then brought his wife to the house he had previously built but had not as yet occupied. During the civil war he and his brother-in-law, David Weaver, worked for - a time as blacksmiths for the government at Little Rock, Arkansas, having put substitutes in the field to exempt them from military service. His life was unostentatious and devoted to the cultivation of his farm. He voted the Republican ticket though not active in politics. His only lodge connection was with the Odd Fellows. He died

July 12, 1 89 1, in the sixty-first year of his age. But two of three children lived to maturity. Clinton is the county treasurer of Whitley county, and Lucy is a stenographer in the office of Gates & Whiteleather, attorneys, at Columbia City.

In 1893, Mrs. Wilcox came to Columbia City for a permanent home and resides in a pleasant dwelling on North Chauncey street, where she enjoys the company of old friends. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Jacob A. Ruch, retired business man of Columbia City, and one of the community's "well known and greatly esteemed citizens, was born March 2, 185 1, in Smith township. Whitley county, being one of the thirteen children that constituted the family of Charles and Sarah A. (Fertig) Ruch. His paternal grandparents, Jacob and Hannah Ruch, were natives of Pennsylvania, and it was in Northumberland county, in which his father was born, November 1, 1808, and reared. In 1838, Charles Ruch married Sarah Ann Fertig, born July 7, 1819, and in 1845, moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he worked at his trade as cabinetmaker until 1849, when he came to Whitley county, settling in Smith township. Six years later he moved to Columbia City, where he followed painting in connection with the livery business, and later became a merchant. Charles Ruch was a publicspirited man and a leader in the local Democracy, serving as postmaster of Columbia 'City, during the administration of Pierce.

Jacob Ruch was three years old when brought to Columbia City, and he assisted his father as soon as his services could be utilized and at intervals attended the public schools. He soon became a painter, in connection with which he helped in the livery, devoting his attention to these lines until the organization of the city fire department, when he was placed in charge of the same, as well as the construction of water-works and all other city utilities. Mr. Ruch continued at the head of the department at intervals for ten or twelve years, proving a faithful and efficient fireman. He became deputy county treasurer under Joshua P. Chamberlain, upon whose death, while in office, he was appointed by the board of commissioners to fill out the unexpired term. When John Gross was elected custodian of the county funds, Mr. Ruch was again made deputy and continued as such until the expiration of that term, serving eight years in all and gaining the confidence of the public. Mr. Ruch was then, in 1892, the Democratic nominee for county treasurer, but with the rest of the candidates, suffered defeat in the general Republican landslide of that year. Mr. Ruch organized the Whitley County Telephone Company, in which he was associated with Messrs. Peabody, Pontius, Adams and Magley, the construction of the line falling to him. On the completion of the enterprise he took a contract to operate the same, and fitting up an office in his own business block, he continued in full control for six years, during which time he also superintended the extension of the line and brought it to a high state of efficiency, making it meet the expectation of the promoters and the public and fully answer the purpose for which intended.

In 1892 he resigned his position and, disposing of his interest in the company, retired from business, being induced to take the step on account of failing health. October 26, 1875, Mr. Ruch was united in the bonds of wedlock to Miss Edith A. Rhodes, daughter of John and Ann (Whitney) Rhodes, natives of Maryland and Ohio respectively. As already stated, Mr. Ruch has been an active politician and for many years a leader and influential adviser of the local Democracy, besides taking a prominent part in a number of state and national campaigns. The Presbyterian church represents his religious creed, he having long been a valued member of the home congregation, and a liberal contributor to the support of the gospel at home and elsewhere. His wife also belongs to the same church and like himself is deeply interested in its success and progress. Mr. Ruch is an enthusiastic Mason, and as a Knight Templar has attended among others the triennial conclaves in California, Denver and Louisville. He and his wife have traveled extensively throughout the United States, visiting all the leading points of interest, east, west, north and south, thus becoming familiar with the magnitude of their country and the greatness of its people and institutions.

John Rhodes, Mrs. Ruch's father, was born at Hagerstown, Maryland, November 9, 1814, his father having been a soldier in the war of 1812. He was a millwright by trade and in 1841 moved to Columbia City, and purchasing a lot at the corner of Chauncey and Van Buren streets, started a general store. He was an active and prosperous business man and did much to promotethe material growth of the city, erecting a number of buildings, among which is thelarge Rhodes' brick block, containing three store rooms on the ground floor with several apartments above, which was put up in the year 1890. This property is in the central part of the city and is one of the most valuable pieces of realty within the corporation. Mr. Rhodes will long be remembered as one of the leading men of his day and generation in Columbia City, having been liberal in the expenditure of his means to advance the interest of the municipality and public-spirited to the extent of assisting all enterprises for the general welfare of his fellow citizens. He died March 11, 1904. Of the four children of John and Ann Rhodes, but one, Mrs. Ruch, survives. Two daughters, Sarah E. and Alpharitta, died young, and a son, Francis, who died March 25, 1898, aged fifty-six. Mrs. Rhodes, whose maiden name was Ann Whitney, was born February 29, 1812, died November 22, 1874. She is well remembered as the landlady of the Rhodes' Hotel, and her reputation as such made her house one of the most popular stopping places in northern Indiana.

John T. Clapham

William and Lydia (Reish) Clapham, natives of Pennsylvania, came to Columbia City in 1885. He had been foreman, superintendent and owner of woolen mills, and when he came to Whitley county became superintendent of the Eel River mills at Columbia City. He died in 1886, at the age of forty-nine, while the widow still resides in Columbia City. They have seven surviving children, three of whom live in Whitley county.

John T. Clapham was born in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, July 25, 1865, and at nine years of age began to work in the woolen-mills. Upon arrival at this place he was given charge of the weaving department. He continued in this position until 1890, after which he worked for several seasons in the mills at Rochester and in Lagrange county, Indiana. In 1892. he helped pack the machinery of the mill owned by Eyanson & Hunt, going with it to Seattle, Washington, where he assisted in installing it and had charge of the weaving department until the mill closed down in 1893. He was then employed as foreman of the weaving department in the mills at Zanesville, Ohio. In December of 1894, he became deputy under Sheriff Thomas Hughes and so served until the expiration of the term. In 1898, he went to Cuba with the home company, under Colonel Harrison, and served until mustered out after twelve months' service. July 15, 1899, Air. Clapham enlisted at Denver, in Company F, Thirty-fourth Regiment Infantry United States Volunteers, going with the regiment to the Philippines a few months later. He was one of the two chosen from his company to assist in policing Manila. His command was then four hundred miles north of Manila, on the island of Luzon, and he was mustered out in order to accept the place at Manila. Ill health, due to the depressing nature of the climate, compelled him to resign June 1, 1902, the return voyage being in July. The campaign to the north of Luzon was one of the hardest ever participated in by federal troops, men suffering much from tropical fever, he being disabled from service for months on its account. During the session of 1903, Mr. Clapham held a clerical position in the Indiana state senate and in January, 1905, was appointed deputy under Sheriff Logan Staples, in which position he has since served, giving personal attention to the office demands, including attendance at the courts. Mr. Clapham is an ardent Republican. He was president of the Young Men's Republican Club in 1888 and has been secretary of the Republican county central committee, besides being delegate to congressional and, state conventions. He is a member of the United Workmen and of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Alfred L. Foust was born in Delaware county. Ohio, January 26, 1839. He was engaged in farming in his native county until 1886, when he became a resident of Indiana. He married Loretta Smith, by whom he had the following children: Archibald, deceased; Mabel, wife of Ferdinand F. Morsches, of Columbia City; Claude, who died in boyhood ; and Cleon H. Alfred was foreman and overseer for the large farming interest of Foust & Wolf, until bis death. December 6, 1898.

county, Ohio, November 21, 1881, and attended the public schools more or less until his sixteenth year, when he clerked with S. Stine and later in the hardware store of W. A. Tulley. Five months afterward he took a position in Peabody's planing-mill, until 1898. In July of that year he became identified with the Columbia City National Bank, of which he is now acting cashier and vice-president. He applies himself closely to the details of the bank management, having given financial affairs that careful study through which only can such enterprises be successfully conducted.

September 12, 1901, Mr. Foust was married to Miss Lela G., daughter of Franklin and Alice (Bumgardner) Stemen, a native of Allen county, Ohio. Her father was for many years an employee of the Pennsylvania Company. Mr. and Mrs. Foust have one child, Franklin H., Jr. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and in politics Mr. Foust renders allegiance to the Republican party.

John C. Miller

John C. Miller is a native of Prussia, and came to the United States, with his family, when thirteen years old. They located at Pittsburg, where he learned his trade of cigarmaker and in 1863 came to Fort Wayne, where he worked five years as a journeyman and then set up in business for himself. In 1879 he established a small cigar factory and eventually, in company with his brother, Henry, became a jobber in tobacco, pipes and other articles suitable to this line of trade. From small beginnings he has enlarged until he now employs eight or nine hands, supplying an extensive jobbing trade in the surrounding towns, besides doing a paying local business. His own output is about 120,000 cigars annually of the finer brands of goods, though he sells fully double that number. Mr. Miller has ever taken a keen interest in the educational and commercial progress of Columbia City and as a citizen has liberally assisted in helping the growth of his adopted home. He was one of the organizers and is a director in the Building and Loan Association, an important factor in the city's growth. He is a supporter of the Republican party, though not counted as particularly partisan. In 1873 Mr. Miller was married to Miss Lizzie Witte, of Fort Wayne, and to this union were born the following children. Flora, wife of Joseph Deerheimer, a contractor at Fort Wayne; Harry W., and Ida, a talented musician. Harry W., who is actively associated with his father, married Miss Mabel G. Lee. He takes much interest in fraternal work and is an active member of the Order of Ben Hur, Knights of Pythias and Knights of the Maccabees, the elder Miller holding membership also in the order first named.

Robert Hudson

Among the representative business men of Columbia City, whose achievements entitle them to more than casual notice, the well known merchant whose name heads this article stands out clear and distinct. Robert

Hudson was born on the 19th of June, 1865, in Dunfermline, Fifeshire, Scotland. In 1882 he came to America and at Buffalo, New York, secured a clerkship in a mercantile house. After becoming familiar with merchandising, he became associated with his brother in a general store at Mount Morris, New York. Mr. Hudson later became a traveling salesman for a wholesale house in St. Louis for five years, traveling over an extensive territory. In February, 1896, he established the present business, the beginning being on the modest capital of three thousand dollars, which the demands of the trade soon obliged him to increase, the growth of the business exceeding his fondest anticipations. To dry goods he added other lines and at intervals enlarged the floor space to suit the growing demands. This store soon became one of the largest and best patronized establishments of the kind in Columbia City.

Mr. Hudson's business has grown to its present mammoth proportions as a result of fair and honorable dealing and a desire to accommodate his patrons, between whom and himself mutually pleasant and agreeable relations have ever obtained. Since 1905 he has occupied the Masonic building, the ground floor of which is forty-eight and one-half feet front by one hundred and fortyfive feet deep, the entire apartment handsomely equipped, advantageously arranged and stocked with everything in the dry goods line that the most critical and exacting public could expect. The trade, as already indicated, is extensive and constantly growing and so large at present as to require the combined services of twenty-one clerks. In addition to dry goods, Mr. Hudson carries a full line of carefully selected carpets, rugs, house furnishings, boots, shoes, ladies' suits, a complete stock of millinery and numerous other kinds of merchandise. A part of the second floor has been completely stocked and all systematized under the supervision of a skilled salesman with a full corps of competent assistants, the entire establishment being conducted in the most orderly and systematic manner under the judicious management of the proprietor. As a practical merchant, Mr. Hudson has few superiors and his career presents a series of continued advancements. Possessing executive ability of a high order, with his wide and varied knowledge of the trade, his pleasant relations with wholesale firms and customers, his judgment as a buyer and skill as a salesman, make him one of the representative merchants of the state.

Mr. Hudson married Miss Helen Smith, of Dunlap, Iowa. His children are Robert, Margaret, Helen and Estelle. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson are esteemed members of the Presbyterian church of Columbia City, of which for some years he has been trustee.

Stephen O. Briggs

Stephen O. Briggs is a native of Whitley county, being born in Union township, September 15, 1867, his parents being Silas and Rebecca (Nickey) Briggs. Until his twenty-sixth year he remained on the farm. At the period mentioned he determined to learn the plumber trade and found a favorable opportunity while the water-works plant was being installed at Columbia City. He sue- ceeded from the start, but soon found his business enlarging until at present he carries a stock worth about three thousand dollars, and employs seven men. Mr. Briggs' work is always first-class, being clone conscientiously and under his own direction. Mr. Briggs does most of the well drilling in Whitley county. Aside from all of this. he finds time to supervise an eighty-acre farm, located five miles east of Columbia City, which is devoted to general farming and the breeding of Polled Angus and Durham stock. For three years Mr. Briggs has been president of the school board, the present high school building being constructed under his direction at the cost of twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Briggs is a Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Mason, and in politics is a Democrat. Industrious, courteous and unobtrusive, attentive to business and strictly honest, in all his dealings no man in Columbia City has more friends than Stephen O. Briggs.

In 1893 Mr. Briggs was married to Miss Belle, daughter of the late Harlan Clark, of LTnion township. They have three children, Phil. S., aged twelve, and Gertrude and Garnett (twins.) aged ten. Mrs. Briggs was an invalid for nine years, during which time she underwent several operations, but at present is fully recovered.

William H. Magley

William H. Magley was born on a farm in Thorncreek township, March 2, 1861. his parents being John and Elizabeth Magley. He was on the farm until the close of his thirteenth year, during this time having passed through the grades of the city schools. At fourteen he began to clerk in the dry goods store of G. M. Bainbridge, and after four years in this line he became assistant postmaster under O. H. Wood worth, continuing during the terms of J. W. Baker and E. W. Brown, an experience extending from 1879 until 1885, when he became a clerk in the bank of F. H. Foust. In 1890 Mr. Magley was elected county clerk, receiving the small majority of four votes, which was in fact a decided victory, the lowest successful candidate on the Democratic ticket receiving a majority of 150. He did not seek a re-election, but soon after the expiration of his term resumed his old position in the bank. In April, 1904, this institution was organized into the Columbia City National Bank, of which Mr. Magley became a stockholder and director and was also elected cashier. Owing to failing health he was forced to retire from the confinement of the bank and in February, 1906, went to New Mexico, finding benefit in that salubrious climate so that he returned in a few months. Mr. Magley then became actively interested in the management of the Whitley County Telephone Company, which he had helped to organize in 1896, and of which he continued to serve as secretary and treasurer. The company employs twentyfive people, Mr. Magley having full control over all its operations in Whitley county. Mr. Magley has devoted considerable attention to political affairs, and for one term was chairman of the Republican county committee. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a Presbyterian.

Mary, daughter of Captain Peter Simonson, a soldier of the civil war, who was killed at Pine Mountain, Georgia, while serving as captain of the Fifth Indiana Battery. Mrs. Magley is a native of Columbia City and during her girlhood held various important clerical positions, including service for four years in the pension office at Indianapolis under Captain Ensley. Mr. and Mrs. Magley have one daughter, Dorothy, aged seven.

William A. Clugston

Among the native sons of Whitley county who have gained honorable recognition in commercial circles, as well as in the social world, is the gentleman whose name furnishes the caption of this review. William A. Clugston, member of the firm of Clugston Brothers & Company, and son of Azariah R. Clugston. was born in New Castle, Delaware, June 25, 1862. When a lad of twelve or thirteen years he entered the mercantile house of Clugston Brothers, where by close and diligent application he soon mastered the basic principles of business and in due time became a successful salesman. With the exception of the time spent in school he has been connected with the firm for more than twenty-five years, and in January, 1890, was admitted into partnership. Mr. Clugston possesses the practical intelligence, mature judgement and sound business ability necessary in the successful conduct of a business devoted to general merchandise and, working in harmony with able associates, has developed an establishment in which every citizen feels just pride. His relations with his associates and customers have ever been of the most pleasant and agreeable nature, not a little of his success being directly attributed to his courteous manner and genial personality. As stated elsewhere, the firm of which he is an influential factor commands an extensive patronage not only in Columbia City, but throughout Whitley county, and being managed by men with safe and conservative policies, stands a lasting monument to a broad commercial spirit.

Mr. Clugston manifests a lively interest in other matters, being alive to all that benefits the community and a friend and advocate of every measure having for its object the good of his fellowmen. He is a thirtysecond degree Mason.

Mr. Clugston was wedded to Miss Cora Tanpert, of Columbia City, who died after a brief companionship. For several years prior to her marriage and for some time thereafter, Mrs. Clugston was a popular sales-lady in the store, with a wide circle of warm personal friends.

Robert F. Hood

In 1858 Robert Hood came to Columbia City and opened a wagon shop and either as proprietor or journeyman, was engaged in this business for forty-five consecutive years. He is remembered, however, not solely as a mechanic, but because of his su- periority as a singer, being gifted with an unusually rich bass voice, whose natural timbre had received careful cultivation. For thirty years he was leader of the Lutheran church choir, which his efforts had brought to a condition of efficiency, the tones of his own voice affording a peculiar pleasure to lovers of sacred music. Born in London, he came to the United States at the age of eighteen and was married at Fort Wayne to Sarah Smith, who died in her thirty-ninth year. After a third marriage he went to Chicago in 1903, to live with his son, J. W. Hood, superintendent of the Reagan Printing Company and who acquired reputation as a skilled workman.