Whitley County, Indiana - The whole text, 1907 (part 19 of 28)

Although beginning in a modest way his profits far exceeded his expectations and as soon as practicable he abandoned vegetable gardening- to give all of his time and attention to floriculture, which not only proved remunerative, but for which he seemed peculiarly adapted. Without following in detail the advance of his business, suffice it to state that Mr. Noble has been obliged to enlarge the capacity of his greenhouses from time to time in order to keep pace with the steadily growing local and general demand for flowers and plants. His first green house, eighteen by fifty-four feet in size, was soon found to be entirely inadequate, so the next season he made an addition seventeen by eighteen feet, which for a time appeared to meet the exigency. With increased facilities, however, came increased demands, so that the following year he found it necessary again to enlarge the capacity of his plant, which he did by erecting another structure twelve by forty-two feet. Later a building twelve by forty-two feet was added, which greatly increased the capacity. Still the business continued to develop to such an extent that other houses became necessary and accordingly in 1902 he put up three building's eighteen by one hundred feet in size, with side addition, and in 1904 erected another of the same size. In 1906 he added a still larger building consisting of three houses each twenty-one by one hundred and fifty-one feet. These buildings represent a total of twenty-three thousand square feet of glass, by far the largest and most complete establishment in northern Indiana with the possible exception of one at Fort Wayne. Mr. Noble has made a close and critical study of floriculture and is familiar with its every detail, being devoted to the business with all the enthusiasm of a professional naturalist. By carefully considering the demands of the trade he is able to supply his numerous customers with anything in his line for which they may call. He has spared neither pains nor expense in stocking his establishment and keeping abreast of the times, his various houses being filled to their utmost capacity, some rare and costly exotics representing thousands of dollars, others being devoted to the more popular plants and flowers which are always favorites and of which the people never seem to tire. In the department devoted to roses there are sixteen hundred bushes of the finest varieties obtainable, some of which were procured only after long continued correspondence and painstaking effort. There are sixteen thousand elegant carnations, fifteen hundred chrysanthemums, and over two thousand geraniums. Mr. Noble has built up a mammoth business, representing a capital of many thousand dollars, all the result of his industry, sound judgment and wise forethought. His success is creditable alike to his business tact and refined taste, and that he stands among the foremost of his profession in the state of Indiana is cheerfully conceded not only by the laity, but by leading florists who have visited and inspected his splendid establishment. In addition to his large and growing business interests, he is keenly alive to every movement and enterprise having for its object the advancement of his city along material and other lines, and he discharges the duties of citizenship as becomes an intelligent, progressive American, who is proud of his country and its institutions. A member of the Masonic brotherhood, he endeavors to square his life according to the principles of the fraternity,, and he is also identified w;th the order of Ben Hur, to which society his wife also belongs.

Mr. Noble has been twice married; first on July 2, 1868, to Miss Rosella Bills, who was born in Ohio and came to this county with her parents when quite young. She presented her husband with the following children: Lillie Augusta, Lucy Adell, Lyman J., who died in infancy. The mother was called to her final rest January 8, 1879, and on May 5, 1881, Mr. Noble married Miss Alary A. Smith, of this county, the union being1 blessed with one child, Alva E-

George L. Hanes

George L. Hanes, the leading liveryman of Columbia City, was born in Wyandot county, Ohio, in 1856, and is the son of David and Lucy (Owens) Hanes, both natives of New York state and of Holland ancestry. They came to Ohio in 1852 and located on wild land, which for the first time under their energy began to quicken with the pulse of systematic productiveness. In 1859 these parents removed to Columbia City, where the father accepted a position as head sawyer in a mill. After filling this position to the entire satisfaction of his employers for two years, he resigned and opened up a grocery store. After three years of successful operation he accepted a favorable offer to dispose of the store, after which he engaged in general contracting and thus continued the remainder of his active business life. Mr. and Mrs. David Owens were the parents of seven children : Martin, who was a soldier during the Civil war, a member of the Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He died in 1905. Elizabeth, who is the widow of Joseph Souders ; Lena, the wife of Marion Tinkham. of Lima, Ohio ; Emeline, who is the wife of John W. Johnston, of Stonington, Connecticut; Jonathan, who is living in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Franklin, who is an engineer in Traverse City, Michigan, and George L.

George L. Hanes received his early education in the common schools of the neighborhood and after attaining mature years took up life's duties on his own account. He was employed in a planing mill for nineteen years, after which he took a position in a grist mill. He continued in this business for eight years, when he purchased a feed barn, which business he conducted for one year, when he disposed of it and in partnership with J. W. Collins bought a livery and sales stable. The firm is now known as Hanes & Wigent, the latter having purchased the interest of Mr. Collins. These gentlemen keep on hand quite a number of good roadsters and are able to supply any kind of a rig or conveyance required. They take especial pride in keeping their stock in the best possible condition and are courteous and affable in their relations with the public. In 1882 Mr. Hanes was married to Miss Mary Xesel, a native of Roanoke, Indiana. Their home has never been blessed with the birth of any children, but they are raising an orphan boy, Robert, who has been with them since he was three years old. Fraternally Mr. Hanes is a member of the Ben Hur lodge, while in politics he supports the Republican party. He is a man of sound discrimination and srood business abilitv and is counted a successful man. Mrs. Hanes is a member of the Methodist church and takes an active interest in the various charitable and benevolent movements connected with that society. She has been a true helpmate to her husband and with him is highly esteemed throughout the community.

Caldwell W. Tuttle

Conspicuous among the active business men and public-spirited citizens of Whitley county is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, whose character stands out clear and distinct as one of the leaders of enterprise and directors of thought and opinion in all matters relating to the material and social advancement of the community. Caldwell W. Tuttle is a native of Whitley county and was born in Columbia township March 1. 1843. His paternal grandfather, A\'olcott Tuttle, whose birth occurred in Xew York, moved in early life to Pennsylvania, thence to Ohio, in Sandusky county of which state he spent the remainder of his days as a member of the legal profession. His son, Horace Tuttle, was born at Mt. Morris, Xew York, received his education in his native state and later engaged in agricultural pursuits in Ohio. He also followed farming in Michigan and from the latter state came to Indiana in 1837 on ;i prospecting tour, during which he visited Whitley county, and being pleased with the country entered a tract of land in what is now Columbia township, to which he moved his family in 1839, coming from Sturgis, Michigan, in a sled. A brother. Ransom Tuttle. accompanied him to his new home in the forest of Whitley county, and the two entered into partnership to clear and develop land, of which in due time they had eighty acres under cultivation. They purchased other lands from time to time until their holdings amounted to four hundred acres, and on this they lived and labored for a period of ten years, removing much of the dense forest growth and improving a fine farm, their original cabin being the third building of the kind in the township of Columbia. In 1849 tne Tuttle brothers disposed of their personal effects, and renting their land, moved to Columbia City, where they opened a g'eneral store, which was conducted quite successfully for a number of years, and in connection therewith they also ran a tavern, "The Western Exchange," which appears to have been liberally patronized. For about three years after 1855 they retired from both lines of business, but at the end of that time again took charge of the tavern, which the}- continued to manage until its destruction by fire in i860, operating a hardware store in connection. Fol- 1< iwing this the brothers engaged in buying and selling real estate and various other interests, including the loaning- of money and selling- hardware. Horace Tuttle died in May, 1863, his wife, whose maiden name was Letitia Caldwell, having died in November. i86j. The)' were the parents of the following children: Randolph, killed in a railroad accident at Brainard, Minnesota; Caldwell W. ; Margaret E., who married S. S. Lavey; Alice; William S. ; Franklin P.: and Laura, all dead except the last named and Caldwell W.

his sixteenth year, pursued his studies with great assiduity, becoming familiar with the branches which then constituted the public school course. At the age of seventeen young Tuttle began learning the tinner's trade, but after working at it for one year laid aside his implements and entered the army, enlisting in July, 1862, in Company K. Eighty-eighth Indiana Infantry, with which he served for nine months, during which time he took part in the campaigns against General Bragg in Kentucky and participated in the bloody battle of Perryville. At the expiration of the period mentioned he was discharged on account of disability, and when sufficientlv recovered he accepted a clerkship in a mercantile establishment in Columbia City, where he continued for two years as a salesman. The better to prepare himself for a business career, in 1865 he completed a full commercial course in the Fort Wayne Business College and after his graduation again accepted employment in the mercantile line, spending the ensuing two and a half years clerking in a dry goods house. Severing his connection with the firm at the end of that time, he went to Kansas City. Missouri, and assisted in organizing a live stock insurance company, of which he became general agent. After two years in that capacity he and a friend became associated in the grocery business, which engaged his attention until 1870, when he disposed of his interest in the enterprise and opened a boot and shoe store in Columbia City in partnership with his uncle, Ransom Tuttle. the firm lasting until the latter's death in 1890. the meantime purchasing a grist mill, of which the subject took personal charge on March 15, 1881. This was one

the first mills of the kind in Whitley county and together with considerable other property it came into Mr. Tuttle's possession at his uncle's death. In 1883 a full roller process was installed with a capacity of two hundred barrels dailv. It was the first mill in this congressional district to be so remodeled to meet the modem demands. Mr. Tuttle sold his store in 1897. In August. 1897, he was appointed by President Mc- Kinley United States commissioner for Alaska, when he departed for the scene of his duties in Sitka, the capital, where he -spent three and a half years in the discharge of his official functions, which corresponded to those of a common pleas court. He has always been a pronunced Republican and as such has rendered valuable service to his party, serving as presidential elector for the twelfth congressional district in 1896, besides contributing largelv to the success of the ticket in various other capacities.

Mr. Tuttle was married December 23, 1869. in Henderson. Kentuckv, to< Miss Alice B. Nesler, of that state, who has borne him three children, namely : Ransom, who is interested with his father in operating the mill ; Laura Belle and Marie, the last two deceased. As indicated in a preceding paragraph. Mr. Tuttle is one of the leading business men of Whitley county and for many years his name has been intimately associated with all enterprises having for their object the material prosperity of the community and the general welfare of his fellowmen. In the Masonic fraternity Mr. Tuttle has taken all the degrees of the York rite and those of the Scottish rite up to and including the Rose Croix. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

William Franklin King. M. D., a leading member of his profession at Columbia City, was born at Bellaire, Ohio, March 10, 1874. and is the son of William and Emeline (Dent) King, both of whom are natives of Ohio.

William Franklin King attended the public schools of Bellaire, after which he spent three years in Franklin College at New Athens, Ohio. Entering the Ohio Medical University at Columbus he completed the course, graduating as a Doctor of Medicine April 5, 1898. He then engaged in the practice of his profession with his brother, Dr. James R. King, at Roanoke, Indiana, until July, 1898. when he located in Columbia City, where he has since been actively engaged. Dr. James R. King was associated with him here for one year. He has met with gratifying success and a large and constantly increasing patronage. The Doctor holds membership in the Whitley County and the Indiana State Medical societies and the American Medical Association and is generally recognized as a safe counsellor and close medical student by his professional brethren. He is treasurer and a member of the board of censors of the Whitley County Medical Association and was secretary of the Whitley county board of health for two years. Doctor and Mrs. King are devoted members of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally he is identified with the Knig-hts of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen. He takes an active part in municipal affairs and has been instrumental in the inauguration of needed reforms in matters affecting the health of the community. Keeping abreast of the great advance in med- ical science through his professional associations and journals, Dr. King is ever found in the front ranks of practitioners. While not too sanguine as to every advance claimed by enthusiasts, he stands ready to accord due credit to whatever appears to conform to scientific demands and meets the requirements of a varied daily practice.

October 24, 1901, Dr. King was married to Miss Blanche Meely, of Columbia City. Her father. George Meely, was an early resident of Columbia City, being remembered as one of the successful and prominent merchants. He served as a soldier in the Civil war, with the Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was an early member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His death occurred February 22. 1903. Doctor and Mrs. King are the parents of one child, Eleanor.

The subject of this review is a native of Whitley county, Indiana, as was also his father, Horace Widup, his mother, whose maiden name was Anna Shepherd, having been born in the state of Ohio. Horace Widup is a farmer and stock raiser and for the last twenty-five years has lived in Pulaski county, where he owns a fine farm yielding him an independent income. Mrs. Widup was brought to Whitley county by her parents when nine years old and here grew to maturity and married, and is the mother of five children, whose names are: Merlin V., a farmer of St. Joseph county, Indiana; Bernard V. William 1\., George A. and Alpha.

Dr, Widup received his elementarv education in the district schools of Pulaski county and spent the spring and summer months meantime on the farm, growing into rugged manhood. He taught four years and then entered the dental college in Indianapolis, from which he was graduated with an honorable record as a close and painstaking student in 1905. Doctor Widup at once came to Columbia City and purchasing the office and good will of his uncle, Dr. H. C. Widup, entered upon the practice,, which he has since continued, receiving that liberal patronage that technical skill, experience and courteous treatment demand. He* not only holds the business which his uncle had built up but has added materially to its volume. The Doctor has a fine suite of parlors, elegantly furnished, and a laboratory thoroughly equipped with the latest and most improved instruments and appliances used in the profession.

Doctor Widup was married in 1892 to Miss Glen Anderson. They have one child, Clio Bonita. The Doctor is an esteemed member of the Knights of the Maccabees, Modern Woodmen and the Order of Ben Hur, and, with his wife, belongs to the Methodist church. Socially both carry a healthy and elevating influence tending toward greater geniality and a closer social relationship in the circles where their presence is most often found.

being the son of Dr. Christopher and Sabina (Trembly) Souder. Dr. Christopher Souder was of German descent, was born in Ohio, and accompanied his parents to Indiana when a child. He became a physician and practiced in this county for twenty-six years. He was a graduate of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Medical College and also of the literary department of Mendota College. He taught school until the outbreak of the Civil war. when he enlisted in the Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for three years and six months, taking part in all of the battles in which his regiment earned its enviable record in the Army of the Cumberland and Tennessee. He was auditor of Whitley count)- for four years, and as an educator ever took an interest in the education and upbuilding of children and young people. He was an active member of the Masonic order and shaped his life in harmony with its fraternal teachings. He died December 15, 1899. Mrs. Souder was the daughter of John S. Trembly, of Ohio. Doctor and Mrs. Souder were parents of eight children, four of whom are deceased. Those living are : Carl ; Ralph, a physician of Chicago ; Wade, a farmer, and Bessie, a stenographer.

Carl Lawrence Souder received his education in the common and high schools, after which he taught for two years. Subsequently he attended the Northern Indiana Normal University and the State University at Bloomington..and graduated from the scientific department of the Northern Indiana University, at Valparaiso, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then took a course in the medical department of the Northwestern University at Chicago, graduating with the class of 1898. Doctor Souder is active in the various societies of his profession and stands high in the esteem of his community as a careful and scientific conservator of health. June 5, 1900, he was married to Miss Lura Shinneman, a native of this county. Doctor Souder's religious affiliation is with the Lutheran church, while fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias and the Order of Ben Hur.

Among the rising members of the Whitlev county bar is Charles Lemuel DeVault,. whose birth occurred in Columbia City, October 22, 1872. His parents are Captain Osmus F. and Julia (Watson) DeVault. One brother is William Allen DeVault, of Cherubusco, and a younger brother, Lewis Marshall DeVault, was for some years a prominent educator of this county, dying June 10, 1900. Capt. Osmus Fletcher DeVault, a native of Ross county, Ohio, is the youngest of six sons and five daughters, whose parents were Nicholas and Frances (Popejoy)' DeVault, the former of French ancestry, descending from a line of distinguished French soldiers and himself an officer in the American army during the war of 181 2. He earned an honorable career in both military and civil life and died at Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1858. Osmus F. DeVault enlisted at the breaking out of the Rebellion, serving as an officer in Company A, Eleventh Indiana Cavalry, One Hundred Twenty-sixth Regiment and participating in a number of campaigns and battles, receiving the distinc- tic in due to a brave officer whose duty was faithfully performed. Julia Watson DeVault, born in Morrow county, Ohio, October 1 1 , 1837, was the eldest of a family of seven born to Alexander and Laura (Storrs) Watson, he a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and educated in the celebrated Scotch University. He came to the United States when twentyfour years old and engaged in business at Milford, Connecticut, until his removal to Ohio. In 1855 he came to Whitley county, where he died in 1862. His wife, a daughter of Emory Storrs, of Connecticut, survived a number of years, dying at Alta-Vista, Kansas, in 1890.

Charles Lemual DeVault, after attending the schools of Lorane and Cherubusco. entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1895. Mr. DeVault had taught for some time in the schools of Whitley county, his first school being when he was less than fifteen years of age. He taught in Smith. Thorncreek and Washington townships and was principal of the Coesse graded schools. He was next superintendent of the schools of New Haven, achieving an enviable reputation as an educator. He also conducted normal schools at South Whitley and Cherubusco, and in 1807 entered the race for the office of county superintendent, but suffered defeat by a single ballot. He then opened a law office, his success fullv justifying his expectations and assuring a leading position at the Whitley county bar. Excepting two years spent in the southwestern part of the United States and Central and South America in the interest of land and colonization enterprises, he has devoted his time and energies to legal affairs. Mr. DeVault as a student won honors in oratorical contests and in 1894 took the platform as a popular lecturer, which experience added luster to his already established reputation as an entertaining speaker. Mr. DeVault is a Republican and is an influential factor in his party councils. His religious creed is represented by the Evangelical Lutheran faith, being a member of Grace church. He is also identified with Alpha Zeta chapter of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. An able lawyer, a public spirited citizen and an intelligent gentleman of progressive ideas, Mr. DeVault holds a warm place in the esteem of the community.

David August Walter

David August Walter, civil engineer and official surveyor of Whitley county, is a native of Indiana and the fifth in a family of twelve children, whose parents were Frederick and Mary (Shinbeckler) Walter. Frederick Walter was born in Germany and was brought to America when a child, the family settling in Whitley county, Indiana, throughout which the name has since become quite familiar. The maternal grandfather. Meinrod Shinbeckler, also a native of Germany, was for many years a well known and respected farmer of this county, in which his death occurred in 1894. Frederick Walter learned the trade of brick making, which he followed for a number of years in Columbia City and elsewhere, but later turned his attention to brewing. For twentyeight years he devoted his entire time to that manufacture. He died in Columbia City at the age of sixty years, his widow, who survives, having reached the age of sixty-seven. Their family consisted of twelve children.

David August Walter was born February I, 1882, in Columbia City and graduated from the high school. This was supplemented by a course in Wabash College. Mr. Walter's tastes ran to mathematics and while in college he devoted considerable attention to civil engineering. While still in college he was elected surveyor of Whitley county, the duties of which he has since discharged in a highly creditable and satisfactory manner. In November, 1906, he was re-elected to succeed himself. This election was a landslide to the Republicans and Walter was the only Democrat saved to his party. Mr. Walter is a Democrat, in full sympathy with the principles of his party and keeps thoroughly informed on the issues of. the day. Fraternally he belongs to the Pythian order.

Theodore Garty

The gentleman to a brief review of whose career the following lines are devoted,' is an American by adoption, but none the less an ardent admirer of the government and institutions under which his success has been achieved and in all the term implies a loyal citizen of the state and nation to which for many years he has given his allegiance. Theodore Garty is a native of France, where his birth occurred November 3, 1843, being one of three children whose parents, John P. and Catherine (Setton) Garty, were also born amid the vine-clad hills of that beautiful and romantic land. The father of Mrs. Garty, Col. Theodore Setton, was a soldier by profession and served the greater part of his life in the armies of France, participating in a number of campaigns under the first Napoleon, during which he received several slight wounds and not a few serious injuries in the many bloody battles in which his command was engaged. By successive promotions he rose from the ranks to the command of his regiment and in addition to filling the various offices of his line he was attached to the staffs of different generals, in all of these capacities displaying bravery and gallantry, which endeared him to his men and won the confidence and esteem of his superiors. Fie lived to a ripe old age, respected by all who knew him and his name is honored in the country he served SO' long and well as one of its most faithful and devoted defenders. Col. Setton had one brother, who was also bred to arms and who met a soldier's fate while upholding the cause of the ill-starred Maximilian in Mexico. His remains fill a forgotten grave in that land, as do the bodies of many of his comrades who followed their nation's emblem in an unholy cause. John P. Garty, the subject's father, came to America in 1850 with the object in view of preparing a home for his loved ones in a land abounding in better opportunities than his own afforded. Animated by laudable zeal he followed this honorable purpose with every prospect of success, but the fates appeared to conspire against him as he was taken violently ill shortly after arriving at St. Louis. Missouri, and a little later died and was buried in that city. Subsequently, 1853, Mrs. Garty became the wife of a fellow countryman by the name of Victor Crauser, with whom she and her children came to the United States shortly afterwards, settling' in Stark county, Ohio, where Mr. Crauser turned his atten- tion to the pursuit of agriculture. In i860 he moved his family to Whitley county, Indiana, where for a time he followed any employment he found to do, but it was not long until his industry and business ability won recognition, with the result that they were soon directed into more lucrative channels. In due time he opened a commission house in Fort Wayne, and another in Toledo', Ohio, in both of which cities he built up an extensive business which he conducted with well merited success until his death in 1903. By her first marriage Mrs. Crauser had three children, and two by her second, the names of the former being Theodore, the subject of this sketch, Simon, who died in Columbia City in 1862. and John Garty, who departed this life in 1880. Theodore Garty attended school in his native land until twelve years of age, during which time he not only became familiar with the French language, but also acquired a sufficient knowledge of the German tongue to use it intelligently in reading and conversation. On coming to America he found no use whatever for the language which he learned at his mother's knee, but had ample opportunity to apply his knowledge of German, there being not a few of that nationality living in the community in which the family settled. He has never forgotten the smooth, classical speech of La-belle France, however, and still speaks it with fluency, its sound being one of the most musical that can possibly fall from the lips of man. Mr. Garty's scholastic experience was finished in Ohio and immediately after coming to Columbia. City he began to learn cabinet making, a trade in which he acquired considerable proficiency, and at which he worked under instruction until 1862, when he accepted a position in an establishment at Fort Wayne, where he labored during the ensuing two years at regular wages. Leaving Fort Wayne at the expiration of the period indicated, Mr. Garty went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked as a journeyman for one year and then accepted a similar position in a St. Louis factory, where he continued for the same length of time, going from the latter city to Quincy, Illinois, between which place and Palmyra, Missouri, he spent the next three years, becoming quite a skilled artisan the meanwhile. During the succeeding three years he was employed in the car shops at Hannibal, Missouri, after which he opened an establishment of his own in Lawrence county, Missouri. Owing to the prevalence of malaria, however, to which he was easily susceptible and from which he suffered greatly. Mr. Garty closed out his business in Missouri and sought a more healthful and congenial clime elsewhere. Accordingly, he returned to Columbia City, where he entered into partnership with his former employer, Mr. Snyder, the firm thus constituted conducting a profitable business in the manufacture and sale of furniture until about 1879. Mr. Garty established in Columbia City a plant for the manufacture of walnut lumber specialties, such as stir balusters, etc., procuring his raw materials principally from the limbs, stumps and other parts of walnut trees which had been considered as of little or no value, but which were found especially adapted to . the ends the establishment was designed to meet. Mr. Garty lost no time in visiting the woods and fields of the surrounding country and for a trifle procured these neglected portions of trees and from the lumber into which they were converted built up a large and thriving business, which he continued with growing success until 1883. He converted his factory so as to manufacture handles for forks, hoes and other agricultural implements, his plant being' the larg-est and best equipped of the kind in northeastern Indiana and as successful as any similar enterprise in the state. For twelve consecutive years Mr. Garty devoted his attention very closely to this line of manufacture, including that of extension tables, and during- that time his establishment forged steadily to the front among the leading industries of this section of the state, gaining for him an honorable reputation in business circles and a high standing as an enterprising citizen. Bv reason of combinations of capital which cheapened production so that he was no longer able to compete, he was obliged to close his plant and retire from the business. In 1900 he was elected on the Democratic ticket county assessor, which office he still Tiolds, and the duties of which he has discharged in an able, trustworthy manner, -creditable to himself- and satisfactory to the public, irrespective of political affiliation.

In 1871 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Garty and Miss Christina Blume, of Hannibal, Missouri, a union blessed with five children: Nellie is the wife of Charles Seymour, of Fort Wayne : Edwin E. ; Celestia, wife of Arthur T. Carmody; Robert W., a telegraph operator in the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Columbia City; Menna is still with her parents. Mr. Garty and family are Catholics in their religious belief and have ever been loyal to the Holy Mother church and its teachings.

Adam E. Hively

There are few harder struggles in life than that presented to a young mother of numerous small children, left with little means and dependent upon her own manual labor to escape penury. With the stimulus to "keep the children together" until of age to do for themselves, many a brave woman has faced this task but none who met and accomplished it in a more commendable way than the wife of the Civil war veteran, to whom this sketch is devoted. Adam E. Hively was born June 15, 1842. his parents being Jacob and Delilah Hively, of Ohio. August 11. 1862, when entering upon his twenty-first year, he enlisted in Company K, Eighty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under Captain David Harshberger and served faithfully, being honorably discharged June 7. 1865. As a result of eating poisoned food Mr. Hively's health was permanently injured. He operated a barber shop until forced to succumb and died October 18, 1878, when only thirty-six years old. November 15, 1866, he had married Martha Thorn, then a mere girl and a native of Whitley county. With five small children she faced the future with a resolution and determination to provide for and keep her little ones together. The struggle was hard and bitter, but by doing washing she was enabled to feed and clothe her children, giving them such training as would enable them to care for themselves. By the aid of a small pension she purchased a modest home, where she resides in comfort. Mrs. Hivelv's five children are Loran Leroy, proprietor of a laundry in Columbia City: Charles Edward, foreman in a paint shop at Auburn,

The Galbreath family originated in Scotland. The first authentic record is in 1750 when three brothers from Glasgow crossed the North Channel and settled in the little Irish village of Bellanahench, about twenty miles south of Belfast. Their residence here was of short duration when they came to America and settled near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. One of them, the grandfather of our subject, took an active part on behalf of the government in the whisky insurrection. He was a noncommissioned officer of the Continental army and did good service during the entire Revolution. Religiously for several generations the Galbreath family has been identified with the Universalist church and has adhered to the different political parties that have been in opposition to the Democracy, but the subject of this sketch has been an active Democrat since his majority and his counsel and assistance are sought and given in each campaign. While not a member of any church himself and family are regular attendants and supporters of the First Presbyterian church in Columbia City.

Mr. Galbreath was born on the farm in Kosciusko county May 12, 1858. While yet quite young his father died, leaving a large family dependent on the mother. He made the most of conditions on the farm, attended the district school and began teaching at nineteen. He worked his way through the Indiana State Normal, completing the course in 1878. For several years his work was teaching and he held the principalship in various towns, but located in 1883 on a beautiful farm at Collamer, which he still owns. In the fall of 1890 he was elected trustee of Cleveland township, brought order out of chaos and put the township in good condition, financial and otherwise. Soon after the expiration of his term as trustee he was appointed receiver for the Arnold bank and his work in closing the business of this financial wreck attracted the attention of financiers, so that on the organization of the Provident Trust Company at Columbia City in 1900 he was offered and accepted the position of manager. His conduct of this institution has been eminently satisfactory to the patrons of this bank, as well as to its stockholders and officers. He has shown himself large enough to master the various and comprehensive functions of this highly successful institution and has its business well in hand. He is the best posted man on farm values and conditions in the county.

October 18, 1882,. Mr. Galbreath was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Puterbaugh, of Peru, Indiana, and to them have been born five children : Neva, a teacher in the Columbia City schools; Russell, just completing the high school course ; Mariae, a student in the high school ; and Jamie and Walter, aged five and two years.

Robert R. Scott

This enterprising business man. who has contributed greatly to the material advancement of Columbia City and adjacent country, is a native of Whitlev county. Indiana.

and dates his birth from November 10, 1857. His parents, James E. and Lydia Scott, came from Ohio, the former being of Scotch-Irish descent, the latter of Welsh blood. James E.'s father, Robert, a native of Ireland, immigrated to the United States a number of years ago and settled in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, thence removed to Fayette count)-. Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his life as an industrious and prosperous tiller of the soil. His wife. Mary Ray. who was of Scotch lineage, also died in the above county, leaving five children, of whom James E. Scott was the fourth. James E. Scott remained in Ohio until attaining his maturity, when he. in 1849, located permanently in Whitley county, taking possession of a tract of two hundred acres in Troy township, which his father had previously purchased from the government. In due time he developed a fine farm and followed agricultural pursuits with success and profit all his life. He died on his home place in December. 18S4, his widow surviving to the present time. The maiden name of Mrs. Scott was Lydia Cockerill : her ancestors, originally Welsh, settling in Virginia, from which state they subsequently migrated westward and became identified with the growth and development of various parts of Ohio, in several counties of which the name is still familiar. Three children were born to J. E. and Lydia Scott, namely: James W.. a physician of Whitley county ; Edward M. (deceased) and Robert R.

Robert R. Scott was reared and educated in Whitley county and on arriving at manhood's estate took charge of the family homestead, where he followed the pursuit of agriculture until 1891. at which time he dis- continued tilling the soil and became a real estate agent in the city of Chicago. After a short time there he returned to the farm, which had fallen to him by inheritance, and which he still owns, and continued its management until April. 1904, when he removed to Columbia City, the better to look after the interests of the Wilmot Mutual Telephone Company, which had been organized in the meantime, and of which he was secretary' and director. Mr. Scott was officially connected with this enterprise until the following year, when he promoted the Farmers' Mutual Telephone Company, of Whitley county, which was originally capitalized at twenty-five thousand dollars, and subsequently increased to one hundred thousand, and of which he was president. After one year as executive head of the concern he was made general solicitor and field manager, in addition to which he also became. in Jul}-, 1906. assistant secretary, discharging the duties of these responsible positions in an able and praiseworthy mariner, as the rapid growth of the enterprise in public favor abundantly attests. On March 16, 1904, the first instrument was set, since which time considerably in excess of one thousand have been installed and the efficiency of the enterprise greatly facilitated. The company represents an actual investment of forty-five thousand dollars and as originally planned something like thirty thousand dollars additional capital will be required in order to make it meet the purposes for which designed. There are at present seven hundred stockholders, among whom are many of the leading farmers of the county and the lines are being extended so as to communicate with various points in the counties of Whit- ley, Kosciusko, Huntington. Cass, Miami, Wabash, Noble and DeKalb. At this time the company has instruments in Whitley, Huntington, Noble and Kosciusko counties and about six hundred miles of wire, but the enterprise is being pushed rapidly furward and* when completed it will doubtless prove one of the most efficient and best managed plants of the kind in the state. The credit of the undertaking belongs largely to Mr. Scott and to him more than any other is due its steady growth and the confidence with which it is regarded by the public. Air. Scott possesses business abilities of a high order, is a fine executive and manager, and under his able direction the company, as already indicated, is forging rapidly to the front among similar enterprises through' nit Indiana and other states.

Mr. Scott was married April 10, 1879, to Miss Margaret Templeton, of Etna township. Three children were born and peculiarly all were born on the 7th of the month. The two surviving are Ina, a teacher in Etna township Central school, and Marvin, manager of the Central Union Telephone station at Huntertown, Indiana. Mr. Scott is a Democrat and is generally found in campaign work.

George Allen Pontius

The gentleman whose biography is herewith presented is a native of Pickaway county. Ohio, where his birth occurred January 14. i860. He is descended From an "Id German family that settled in Pennsylvania at an early period in the history of that state and it was there that his grandfather, Daniel Pontius, reared his family and spent his entire life as an honest, industrious tiller of the soil, a vocation which the majority of the name appear to have followed. Levi Pontius, son of Daniel, and father of the subject, was born in Pennsylvania, but in early life went to Ohio, settling in Pickaway county, where he married, reared a family and followed quite successfully the pursuit of agriculture and stock raising. At one time he made arrangements to dispose of his holdings in Ohio and move his family to Indiana, to which end he came in advance to the latter state and purchased land in Adams county, which he designed for a home for himself and those dependent upon him, bul before he could carry out his plans he was seized with a violent illness which soon developed unmistakable symptoms of hydrophobia, although nineteen years had elapsed since he had been bitten by a dog. having almost forgotten the occurrence. In due time, however, the dread disease manifested itself and after intense suffering and untold agony, death mercifully came to his relief. Shortly after the demise of her husband Airs. I'ontius and her children soon moved to the farm in Adams count)', Indiana, on which some improvements had been made, and there she raised her family and spent the remainder of her life. Some years after changing- her residence to this state she became the wife of Jacob Clinge. with whom she lived until called to the other world in r886. By her first marriage she was the mother of six children, Daniel, deceased: Sarah Elizabeth, deceased: Rachel Ellen, wife of Fletcher Rayns; George Allen: Emma and Minnie, the last two deceased.

George Allen Pontius was quite young when brought by his mother to Indiana and his early life on the farm in Adams county was pretty much after that of the majority of boys reared in close touch with nature in the woods and fields. His first school experience was in a crude log building, hastily constructed and meagerly furnished, but later he pursued his studies under most favorable conditions until obtaining a fair knowledge of the branches constituting the common school curriculum. Although young in years the conditions under which the family were obliged to live early threw upon him cares and responsibilities ill suited to his tender age, but he acquitted himself with credit in the work of the farm and contributed his full share to the support of his mother and other members of the home circle. Being needed in the fields during the spring, summer and part of the fall months, his educational advantages were consequently limited, but by making the most of his opportunities he in due time, as already indicated, succeeded in becoming quite well informed. In addition to the district schools which he attended in winter seasons during his childhood and youth he subsequently pursued his studies for about three years in a village school of higher grade, at Vera Cruz. Indiana, at the end of which time he accepted a position in a drug store, where he remained until 1875. In that year Mr. Pontius went to Bryant, Indiana, where he also engaged in the capacity of drug clerk and after remaining there for a period of two years accepted a similar position in the city of Bluffton, where he continued during the ensuing four years, severing his connection with his employer at" the expiration of the time indicated to become traveling salesman for a wholesale drug house. Mr. Pontius represented his firm on the road about two years, or until 1884, when he resigned his position and engaged in the drug business in Columbia City upon his own responsibility. Three years later he purchased a drug store that stood on the lot occupied by his present building and in due season built up an extensive trade, which has steadily increased from that time to the present, being now one of the largest and most successful drug" dealers in Columbia City, with an establishment complete in all its departments and fully stocked with everything demanded by the trade. In addition to his regular retail and prescription business he does quite a profitable jobbing trade, his store occupying a larg'er space and representing more capital than any other establishment of the kind in the northeastern part of the state. The building is three stories high, twenty-one by one hundred and fiftv feet in area, the entire space being devoted to his business with results that have been highly satisfactory, as the ample fortune which he has accumulated bears evidence. Mr. Pontius is not only a careful and methodical business man, thoroughly conversant with every detail of the line of trade to which his attention is devoted, but as a skillful pharmacist stands at the head of his profession and enjoys to the utmost the confidence of his numerous customers. He is a careful buyer, employs modern methods throughout his establishment and to his easy, courteous manner and eminently fair and honorable dealings he attributes not a little of the large measure of success which he to-day enjoys, Mr. Pontius is nut only a representative business man of the modern school, who keeps abreast of the times in everything relating to his lines, but is also a public-spirited citizen, with the welfare of the community at heart, and a cultured gentleman whom to know is to respect and honor. By industry, sound judgment and rare forethought he has succeeded in establishing himself and family in the confidence of the people, and his high standing in business circles and in the social world has been fairly and honestly won. Starting in life with no capital save a well rounded character, sterling- honesty and a will that hesitated at no difficulties, he perseveringly pursued a straightforward, manly course, taking advantage of opportunities when the)7 presented themselves and creating them where they did not exist, he gradually surmounted every obstacle in his way and now, in the prime and vigor of his life and power, he has reached an eminence which few attain. Mr. Pontius began in 1894 making sealing wax just for local trade and the business has become one of great proportions, making now in the neighborhood of five hundred tons per year and which is sold from coast to coast and is known as Pontius Pure Sealing- Wax. He owns land in Adams county, Indiana, and valuable property in Columbia City.

On June 7. 1893. Mr. Pontius entered the marriage relation with Miss Estella May Baker, of Columbia City, who has borne him two children, Thomas Thornburg, whose birth occurred on May 17, 1894, and May, whose natal day is December 2j. 1895. Essentially a business man and making every other consideration subordinate thereto, Mr. Pontius has not been unmindful of the duties of citizenship, or of the debt which every enterprising man owes the public. He has ever been interested in whatever makes for the general good of his city and county, encourages all laudable measures for the social, intellectual and moral advancement of his fellowmen and in every relation of life his influence has been both salutory and powerful. He has attained high standing in the Masonic fraternity, including" among others the degree of Sir Knight, is also an active worker in the Pythian order and, with his wife, belongs to the Presbyterian church, both being zealous and consistent members and deeply interested in all lines of activity under the auspices of the same. He is a Democrat in politics.

Lewis Hartman

This honorable citizen and gallant exsoldier is a native of Shelby county, Ohio, where his birth occurred August 12, 1842. being the son of Peter and Savilla Hartman. Peter Hartman. whose parents came from Germany, was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, about TS14. and when a mere lad accompanied the family to Shelby count}', Ohio, where he grew to maturity and resided until 1853. Pie there married Savilla Swander, who was born in Fairfield county. May 2^, 1820, and moved to Whitley county in August, 1883. purchasing' one hundred sixtv acres of land near Columbia City, where he died in 1864, surviving his wife eight years. Her parents were Frederick, of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and Eva Glick, of same county, and they came to Ohio about one hundred years ago. The

Swander family in America starts with Frederick, who came from Switzerland to Philadelphia in 1732. The family numbers about two thousand in America. Peter and Savilla Hartman had ten children : Peter, win i died in infancy; Lewis; Benjamin F., who served in Company D, Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry, during the late Civil war. and died near Leesburg. Indiana, April. 1904; George Michael, a farmer near Leesburg. Indiana ; Jonathan Monroe, a farmer of Richland township, Whitley county; Katherine Jane, who is the wife of John Rittenhouse, a resident of Thorncreek t( iwnship, this county ; Florence, wife of Andrew Roberts, of Shelby county, Ohio; Sarah, twin sister of Florence, also married a Mr. Roberts, a brother of Andrew, and lives in Shelby count}', Ohio ; James, who died in infancy; Eva Savilla, Mrs. John Fey. als<> a resident of Shelby county. Ohio.

Lewis Hartman attended the district schools, meantime working on the farm. He was eleven vears old on coming to Whitley county. He worked on a farm as a hired man until the breaking out of the Great Rebellion, when he responded to the President's call fur volunteers by enlisting in his nineteenth vear, in 1861, in Company E, Seventeenth Indiana Infantry. He was with his regiment throughout its varied experience, being in a number of campaigns and on many bloodv battle fields. He was in West Virginia under General Reynolds and took part in the battle of Cheat Mountain, thence to Louisville, Kentucky, being attached to General Nelson's command. At Gallatin. Tennessee, the Seventeenth was assigned to General Wilder's celebrated cavalry brigade. At Leet's Tan Yard, Georgia, the entire command, by reason of the overwhelming force of the enemy surrounding it. was reported lost or captured. Cutting his way through the opposing force General Wilder succeeded in effecting his escape, this being one of the two hundred battles in which the brigade participated. Mr. Hartman was honorably discharged at Macon, Georgia, in August, 1S65. and immediately resumed the peaceful pursuits of civil life as a tiller of the soil. In 1867 he mined to the farm in Columbia township, three miles southwest of Columbia City, on which he still lives and which, under his persevering toil and able management, has been cleared and brought to an advanced state of tillage, one hundred acres being under cultivation, the remaining sixtv consisting of fine timber land and pasturage. The original log cabin has been replaced bv a splendid modern residence and in place of the pole stable and rude sheds for live stock there are now a first-class barn and substantial outbuildings. The farm is well drained and in all that constitutes a representative agriculturist its owner may be reckoned among the most enterprising and progressive.

November 11. 1866. Mr. Hartman entered the marriage relation with Miss Anna Nolt, born September 9. 1843. in Whitley county, whose mother. Reginia Schrader. German by birth, died here in 1900. at the ripe old age of ninety years. The children are: AVilliam H. : George A., died in childhood; Mary S. is the wife of Charles Schrader : Cora married Byron Yohe : John Nathan: Olin; Katherine, wife of Edward Metz ; Franklin ; Irven L. ; Jennie is the wife of Harry Steele and Fannie at home.

and Olin, each have a section of land in Cherry county, Nebraska, which they are holding as homesteads. Charles Schrader and Byron Yohe are farmers of Miner township. Edward Metz is a stenographer with the Capitol Rattan Company, Indianapolis. Franklin is employed on drainage work in Iowa. Irven L. is operating the home farm and Harry Steele is a carpenter in Orland township.

Mr. Hartman holds to the faith of the Church of God. in which he has been an elder much of the time during the past twenty years. His wife was born and reared a Mennonite and is still loyal to the teachings of that denomination.

Mrs. Hartman is daug-hter of Jonas and Regina (Schrader) Nolt, who came from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, to Whitley county in 1845, purchasing' two thousand one hundred acres of land in The Beaver Reserve, settling two miles south of Columbia City. He soon after built a saw mill and carding mill on the banks of Eel river, one mile from his house, placing his oldest son John in charge, he devoting bis attention to making a farm. He died in February, 1857, aged fifty-eight. His widow survived till past ninety. At the father's death two sons, Amos, aged twenty-one. and Emanuel, aged eight, died of the same disease, typhoid fever. John took charg'e of the farm, living on the old homestead during his life, dying at about forty. His widow still lives at the old homestead. Of six daughters there are living in 1907: Barbara, a widow of James Myers, who has part of the original purchase of his father; Lizzie, wife of Nathan Roberts, also farmer on same tract; and Anna, Mrs. Hartman. Three daughters are deceased : Fanny, who married Henry Eberhart, and died past seventy, and who had survived her husband eighteen years. Their son Jacob has her share of the Nolt estate ; Mary married Jeston Honnithore - both are deceased ; his son William is on the old homestead; Leah married William Lichtenwalter and died soon after marriage ; he finally sold the farm and with a daughter lives in Illinois. Each daughter received one hundred and sixty acres or its value of the original purchase.

A preacher himself and a son of a preacher, a lifelong farmer, and descended from a generation of farmers, the above named g-entleman is now enjoying repose at his well earned home in one of the best agricultural sections of tbis county. Though not as yet an old man, be is the only survivor of a once numerous family, which included several sets of children, with the usual collateral relatives now all g-one. His parents, Levi and Catherine (Hunter) Workman, were farmers in Ohio in the olden days of that state, but came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, in. 1859, found a home on a small farm and there spent the remainder of their lives. They were devout members of the German Baptist church, in which denomination the father was a preacher for forty years, and was the elder in the Columbia City church at its organization and continued to serve this church for several years. Their children, eight in number, were George, Norman. Isaac, Sanford, Eliza, David A., Lydia and Robinson. David being- the onlv survivor.

Mr. Workman later married Julia Secrist, by whom he had two children, Martha and Mar}'. His second wife dying, there was a third marriage to Sarah Andrews, who died without issue. David A. Workman, the sixth child, was born in Knox county, Ohio, September 4, 1848, and hence was about eleven years old when the parental emigration to Indiana took place. He remained at home as a helper in the farm work until he had completed his twenty-fourth year, when he engaged in labor on his own account. In 1876 he was elected a minister of the German Baptist church and ordained by the elders <>f the church in the same year. His first regular charge was the church at Columbia City and he has continued to serve that church most of the time since. He has done evangelistic work elsewhere, including various places in Ohio, as also in many counties of Indiana. Himself and wife are the mil}- resident survivors of the original members of the Columbia City church. He has generally attended as a delegate to the district conference. Failing health in 1900 compelled him to give up ministerial work. He owns a neat farm of forty acres in Thorncreek township, where he lives in practical retirement. He is a man of intelligence, well informed on public questions, stanchly Republican in politics and regarded favorably by all his acquaintances.

September 8, 1872, Mr. Workman married Henrietta, daughter of Joseph and Charity (Bowman) Connell, of Stark county, Ohio. Her parents came to Indiana in the spring of 1865, first settling in Kosciusko county, but eight years later they came to Whitley county and located on a farm in Thorncreek township. The father died in

1894, but his widow is still living. Their eight children were Henrietta, Samantha, Levi. Rachel, Lemon, Harriet, William and May, of whom six are living. Mr. and Mrs. Workman have had seven children : Charity, deceased in young girlhood; Minetta, wife of Dr. L. A. Kenner; Ira, a railroad man, married Bertha Jackson and lives in Fort Wayne ; Amos, who married Estella Shuman and is a railroad employe ; Homer is also with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Fort Wayne; Blanche, wife of Horton Bills, of Troy township; and Roy, deceased at thirteen.

James L. Maloney

An emigrant ship that came over in 1832 brought a bright Irish lad by the name of Patrick Maloney. He was the poorest of the pool- but being ambitious was determined to make a success of life somewhere in the great republic. Making his way to Indiana, which was then an uninviting wilderness, Patrick joined the early pioneers in Whitley county and was one of the noble band that redeemed it from the wilderness. A few years after his arrival an Irish girl, by the name of Catherine Welsh, also became a resident of Indiana. They met and married and about 1836 settled on a tract of wild land in Smith township, just north of Churubusco. Since then the name of Maloney has been a familiar one in this locality and none has enjoyed more general respect as a member of the pioneer army who made Whitley county. Patrick Maloney died when about fifty-five years old, but his widow long survived him, spending the last years of her life in Swan township. Noble count}-, where she passed away in the seventy-sixth year of her age. Patrick Maloney's children that attained maturity were Mary, wife of George Hull, and lives in Noble county; Ellen married William Kennedy and lives at Elwood, Indiana ; John is a farmer of Eel River, Allen county ; James M. ; Patrick died at the age of twentyfive years; Nancy, deceased wife of John Wilkinson; Bridget married Edward Summers and are both deceased. James L. Maloney, fourth of the seven children, was born on the paternal farm in Whitley county, October 9, 1846. As he grew up he helped in all the work incidental to pioneer farming, mastered the details and thus qualified himself for his future responsibilities in the same line of business. In the course of time he became owner of this Smith township land, which now amounts to two hundred and thirty acres, the greater part of which is well improved. He is regarded as one of- the model farmers and as he has spent all his life on his place just north of town, has obtained a wide acquaintance both with the older and younger generations. His long residence of over sixty years in his native township gives him rank as a charter member of the early pioneers and entitles him to a front seat in the meetings of old settlers. Though not an office-seeker, Mr. Maloney is not neglectful of public affairs and as a stanch Democrat may be relied on to assist whenever anything is on hand concerning the welfare of the community.

August 2T. 1876. Mr. Maloney was married to Mary Ann. daughter of Philip and Julia (Cullen) Lynch, early settlers of Green township, Noble county. Mr. and Mrs. Maloney have nine living children: Edward.

on part of the homestead, his wife being Elizabeth Burns; Lawrence married Bessie Magers and is an electrician at Ouray. Colorado ; Joseph : Patrick, a teacher in the Whitley county schools ; Catherine was educated at Sacred Heart Academy and is a teacher of music at the home; Julia, Lewis. Mary and Bernard are all at home. The family are members of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic church and are much esteemed as they are good friends, eood citizens and srood neie'hbors.

John M. Smith

Among the emigrants from the Rhine Baier, Germany, who settled in Ohio in 1843 were Henry and Catherine (Lepley) Smith. They located in Tuscarawas county and lived there many years, but in 1856 removed to Whitley count}- and took possession of a farm in Smith township three miles south of Cherubusco. Eventually finding old age pressing on, the father located in Churubusco and lived in retirement until his career was closed by death, when about eighty-five years old. His widow died in LTnion township in her eighty-ninth year. Six of their children reached maturity : Catherine, widow of James Roach, of Union township ; William, of Middlebury. Indiana ; Henry, in Union township; John M. ; Philip, of Richmond, Indiana, a lumber dealer, and Adam J. Smith, of Decatur, Indiana, also a lumberman. John M. Smith was the fourth in age. He was born in Tuscarawas count}-. Ohio, March 18, 1848. and thus was eight years old when his parents reached their new home in Indiana. He grew up on the Smith township farm, and after completing his twenty-first year began working out by the nn mth with farmers of the neighborhood. Too ambitious to continue this line, he rented his father's farm when twenty-four years old and managed it in his own interest until 1876. At that time he removed to Areola and put in three years at hauling sawlogs for the neighboring mills. In 1879 he returned to his father's farm, took charge as before and conducted it for four years and then purchased a place in Union township, where he made his home until December, 1904, when he decided to retire from active business. Taking up his residence at Churubusco, he has since been one of the respected of that place, esteemed for Ids probity and kindly disposition. Mr. Smith is a Democrat in politics and though not seeking office for himself, keeps posted on public especially those of a local nature, and may be counted on to lend a hand when questions are being considered for the advancement of the public welfare. His farm in Union township consists of one hundred and seventy-two acres, has been well cultivated for years and is regarded as valuable and productive property.

May 23, 1878, Mr. -Smith was married at Areola to Tillie A. Binkley, daughter of Ohio pioneers. Her parents, Abraham and Leah (Emley) Binkley, came from Stark county, Ohio, in 1864 and were long residents of Allen county, but in 1897 removed to Whitley county. The father died at Churubusco in his eighty-sixth year and the mother passed away at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Chauncey Wigent, in Union township, after reaching her seventy-sixth year. Of their five children. Airs. Smith was the fourth, her birth occurring in Stark county, Ohio, March 19, 1855. Allie. the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, is the wife of Samuel De Poy and resides in Columbia City. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Martin Kocher

Though Germany has contributed manyvaluable citizens to the United States, it is doubtful whether any of them stand better in their respective communities than this popular boot and shoe man of Churubusco. He has the German geniality, the German energy and thrift and pretty much all the good qualities that have made that nationality famous throughout the world. Louis and Mary Kocher were poor but respected citizens of Alsace and there spent all the vears of their lives. They had a large family of children, of whom Martin Kocher was the seventh. He was born in Alsace, Germany, then France. July 4. 1853, and grew up in his native land, where he obtained a fair education and learned the trade of shoemaking. Like many another he looked longingly across the waters to the great republic and finally decided to cast his lot with the people of this nation. It was in 1872 that he enrolled his name on the passenger list of one of the steamships plying between Germany and America, and made the trip without accident or mishap. On arrival at Castle Garden he bought passage to Buffalo and spent three years in that city in diligent prosecution of his trade. In 1876. he went to Ohio, but after spending a year there decided to push farther west in search of an advantag-eous situation. It was late in 1877 that Mr. Kocher found himself in the countv seat of Whitley count}-, and he lost no time in resuming work at his bench. Being favorably impressed with Churubusco as offering an opening in his line. Mr. Kocher came there in 1878 and opened up in the boot and shoe business. He has prospered and has something to show as the result of his twenty-eight years' residence in the town of his adoption. Above all, he has many friends, has gained the good will of the community and is regarded as a safe and reliable citizen. Being a friend of education and interested in the welfare of the young, he accepted and now holds the position of school trustee.

In August, 1880, Mr. Kocher was married to Laura D. Shoemaker, who was born in Ohio but reared in Indiana. Her parents. Henry H. and Matilda Shoemaker, became early settlers in Noble county Mr. and Mrs. Kocher have four children: Louis H. a partner with his father: Frank A., a shoe clerk in Indianapolis; YVilma A. and Mary. Mr. Kocher is a Democrat. He is interested in farming, having one hundred and twenty acres in Smith township.

It was in 1846 that William Boggs came in from the east and settled on a farm in Smith township, where he entered upon the hard work of clearing and improvement. In Pennsylvania he bad married Susanna

Moore, but on the 9th of November, of the same year that witnessed his arrival, he died at the comparatively early age of fifty-two. His widnw after surviving him forty-seven years, passed away on the originally settled farm. February 13, 1893. when nearly seventy years old. This pioneer couple had ten children, the third being Ovin Bog-gs, who was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1829. He was seventeen years old when he first came to Whitley county and has been a resident of it for over sixty years. During- this time, however, he lived in Noble county for four years but all of his life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits. In 1902 he removed to Churubusco, where he is passing the evening of life in well earned ease. His farm in Smith township is rented, the income furnishing a competent support.

February 12, i860, Mr. Boggs was married in Smith township to Maria Penn, who was born in Richland county, Ohio. October 15. 1835. Her parents, John and Mary (Chamblin) Penn, had ten children, of whom Mrs. Boggs was the sixth in order of birth. She came to Whitley county when nineteen vears old and has spent all the remainder of her days as one of its esteemed citizens. Mr. and Mrs. Boggs have had nine children, of whom six are living: Lawrence, Ella. Elmer, William. Eulalia and Francis. Two children died in infancy and one. Jesse, passed away when twenty-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Boggs are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and no couple in Churubusco have more friends or general respect than these two pioneers. Mr. Boggs is public spirited and allows nobody to get ahead of him in movements to benefit the community. He knows evervbodv and

Tohn A. Bryan

The family of this name originated in Ohio, where fi ir many years they were farmers in Hancock county. Jacob Bryan there married Jennie Pickens, both finally ending their days on their farm in Hancock count}-. John A. Bryan, the second of their three children, was born in Hancock county, Ohio, August 16, 1850, and was reared there after the usual manner of farm boys of the period. As soon as he reached the legal age he went into business for himself as a farmer and this occupation he followed in his native county for over twenty years. In 1S92 he came to Whitley county and purchased a farm in Smith township, which he cultivated for ten years with success. He sold this place and purchased a farm of one hundred acres in Noble county, after which in March. 1902, he located at Churubusco. where he has since lived a retired life.

July 24, 1873, Mr. Bryan was married in Hancock count}', Ohio, to Miss Martha, daughter of George and Sophia (Sholty) Dice, who came to Whitley county about 1876, and she died in Smith township when fifty-eight years of age. He is now living retired at Garrett, Indiana. Mrs. Bryan was the second of her father's family of five children. Mr. and Mrs. Bryan had six children : Blanche B. is the wife of Newton McGuire. of Erie. Pennsylvania; Linnie J. is married to Edward Miller, of Churubusco: Lettie B. is the wife of Jesse Greenwait, also of Churubusco : Earl A. operates his father's farm; George E., with the Strauss Real Estate Company, of Ligonier; and William S., a painter. The family are well known in their section of Whitley county and enjoy the regard of a wide circle of friends. Mr. Bryan takes life easy after years of struggle to establish himself and finds the evening of life passing pleasantly in his home at Churubusco. He is a Republican and formerly took quite a part in public matters. Mrs. Bryan is a member of the United Brethren church and Mr. Bryan is a Knight of Pythias.

Lavina Pence Richey

Miles and Miranda (Woodrow) Richey who came from Pennsylvania to Whitley county in 1850, brought with them a son Lemuel, who was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. January 11, 1843. The father died on his farm in Smith township, when eighty-six years old, being survived by his widow four years. Abraham Pence had come to Whitley county in 1836, had here married Nancy Bucklew. and settled on a farm in Smith township, farming part of the section of land purchased by his father, where both ended their days. The father died in his seventy-eighth year, and his wife when about forty-four years old. This couple had eight children, the third of whom was Lavina Pence. She was born on the family homestead December 13, 1846. April 18. 1867, she was married to Lemuel Richev and thus the families of the two old settlers were united. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Richey continued to reside in Smith township, pursuing the occupation ol farming and improving a farm from the wilderness. With the exception of four years spent in Fort Wayne as fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Mr. Richey was a permanent resident of Whitley county. He returned to Churubusco and engaged in the hardware business, but was compelled after more than twenty-five years to relinquish this on account of failing health, about five years before his death, which occurred. June 23. 1906. Mr. Richey was an energetic and useful man during his lifetime. He was elected township trustee and held that important office for two terms and in addition to this served as a member of the school board of Churubusco at different times for several years. Mrs. Richev, who is a woman of unusual business sense, owns the old homestead of one hundred and sixty-nine acres, three miles west of Churubusco, which is rented. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes an active interest in all affairs affecting its interests. Mr. Richev was a soldier with an excellent record. He enlisted in the Forty-fourth Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but after serving a short time with this command was discharged on account of disability and soon after joined < Company D. of the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Indiana Regiment of Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. That he made an excellent soldier is attested by the fact that a short time before the conclusion of hostilities, Mr. Richey was commissioned as captain of his company. He was for many years a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in everv way an estimable man and citizen. Having no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Richey took into their home and hearts May Dorsey at four years old and who has ever remained with her foster parents. She was married December 3, 1903, to Laurence Jackson, who has operated Mrs. Richey's farm but is now giving a general supervision of Mrs. Richey's financial interests, including business property in Churubusco. Thev have one child. Everett.

James W. Burwell

This name has long been familiar in Whitley and adjoining counties by reason of an active career in business and connection with public affairs. The family was of Ohio origin, as Joseph Burwell. a soldier of the Mexican war. and a cooper by trade, spent there most of his forty-six years of life. His death occurred in 1863. when he was a resident of Madison county, Ohi' >. and the widow found herself with five children to support. Deciding to seek a new location, Mrs. Burwell came to Whitley county in 1865. settling in Thorncreek township, where she eventually died when seventj years of age. James W. Burwell. third of her family of five, was bom in Fairfield county. Ohio, December 13, 1847, and hence was seventeen years old when he became a resident of Whitley county. During the next seventeen years he was engaged in farming in Thorncreek township, but finally decided to abandon agriculture for commercial pursuits. Establishing a hardware business at Laud, he prosecuted this diligently for seven years. Later he reopened in the same line in Sidney,

Kosciusko county, and remained there until 1901. After selling his store, Mr. Burwell went to South Whitley and formed a partnership with M. H. Maston to conduct a hardware business, which was continued until 1906. In that year he joined with his son, Walter K, to purchase the hardware establishment of Welsheimer Brothers at Churubusco. Mr. Burwell has not only been an active business man, but usually took the lead in questions of public interest in the various localities where he has resided. While a citizen of Jefferson township and during his residence in Kosciusko county he was elected to the position of trustee and served six years. His standing in the community is attested by the confidence thus reposed in him. He holds membership in the Masonic fraternity.

September 21, 1871. Air. Burwell married Miss Caroline C, daughter of \\ 'illiam P. and Rachel Craft, who were old settlers of Whitley county. Mr. and Mrs. Burwell have five living" children: Edna, wife of Calvin C. Miller; Walter K, in partnership with his father; Cecil Blanche, a teacher in Kosciusko county; Geneva N., a graduate of the high school ; and James B. Lester died at Sidney when fifteen years old.

John W. Clanton

An interesting character was lost when Isaac Claxton, after completing eighty-five years, departed this life July 2, 1808. As a young man he had come from New York in the late thirties and settled in Noble county, but soon after became a citizen of Whitley, with which his name was ever after identified. He had a diversified talent and boundless energy and became widely known as a civil engineer, as well as a teacher ot long and varied experience. He took state contracts for ditching' in early life and employed his winters in teaching "the young idea how to shoot." His teaching experience extended over thirty-eight years, an unusual record. He was married in 1841 to Sarah Crow and settled in Smith township, which locality was his home during much of his career. He was, however, residing in Noble county, some miles north of Churubusco, when his death occurred, his wife also passing away on the same place, May 5, 1888, when nearly sixty-seven years old. Their family consisted of five sons and five daughters. John W. Claxton was the sixth of these, his birth occurring in Noble county, August 20, 1854. He spent eighteen years with his parents, meantime securing his education in the neighborhood schools. In 1872 he secured work at a sawmill in Thorncreek township, but after working there a year came to Churubusco and took up the calling which has proved the business of his life. He is now the oldest auctioneer in Whitley county, having followed the occupation over thirty-two years. During this time his sonorous voice has become familiar to thousands and his "going, going - gone" has been the finale of "many a sale. The auctioneer must necessarily be something of a diplomatist, and it is safe to say that Mr. Claxton knows more people in Whitlev county than any other resident of the vicinity. Everybody likes him and he likes everybody else, as his nature is genial, his address cordial and his disposition of the kind that makes and holds friends.

September 4, 1884, Mr. Claxton married Eliza Coverstone, who was born in Smith township, July 26, 1858, of pioneer parents. Jacob and Jane (Halterman) Coverstone, parents of Mrs. Claxton, settled in Smith township at a time so far back that little improvement had as yet been made and when nearly all the land was wild. Mr. and Mrs. Claxton have two children, Sarah J. and John B., and the family is one of the most popular in Churubusco. In politics Mr. Claxton has always been a stanch Republican, and his fraternal affiliations are with the Knights of the Maccabees.

Toh.N W. Smith

Among" the earl}- settlers of .Mien county was Nathan Smith, who married Barbara Diffendarfer and spent his life in agricultural pursuits. After a brief residence in Noble county, he returned to Allen but spent the latter years of his life at Churubusco, eventually dying there in the seventy-fourth year of his age. His wife died when sixtynine rears old, after becoming the mother of eight children. John W. Smith, the second, was born in Green township. Noble county, November 3, 7846. He was reared chiefly in .Mien county and when fourteen years old went to work for his uncle. A. M. Long, in Whitley county, with whom he remained two years. In March, 1864, he enlisted in Company C, Forty-fourth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war, much oi his service being as orderly for Gen. James 1!. Steadman. Returning" then to Allen countv, he remained two rears and then put in some years in different states of the west. About 1870 he came back to Allen county and was engaged in farming one year, but abandoned this for carpenter work, which occupied his time more or less for the next twenty years. Subsequently he was employed for some three years in a cabinet shop and furniture store for S. E. Barr and later took a position with the Wabash Railroad Companv and for two rears had charge of the water works between Detroit and Logansport and between Michigan City and Indianapolis. After working for the Wa-' bash about five years he purchased the furniture and undertaking business of S. F. Barr, at Churubusco, in partnership with his brother, W. C. Smith. This firm continued for fifteen years when Mr. Smith sold his interest and about 1899 bought the hardware establishment of Alex. Craig & Son. In jSqo was erected a two-story brick building twenty-two by eig'hty with one-story extension of fifty-two feet, the second floor being devoted to lodge purposes. He has been a resident of Churubusco since 1874 and has done much to assist in building up the city. He has served as a memlier of the school board and for two years has been one of the most active members of the council.

March 26, 1872, Mr. Smith married Miss Mina. daughter of Nelson Compton. who came to Smith township as far back as 1834. He entered a farm from the government and both himself and wite ended their days on this place. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Smith bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in Republic county. Kansas, but only remained in that state until the summer of the following year. His return to Whitley county recalled the days of the old settler^, as he made the trip in a "prairie schooner." Mr. and Airs. Smith have two living children: Willard Znr, associated with his father in business; and Ethel A., wife of Elmer E. Gandy.

Tohn M. Deem

Whitley county was largely settled by Ohioans, and these in turn were either natives of the states farther east, or descendants of those who crossed the Alleghanies in the "early days" so often mentioned in connection with the pioneers. Lewis Deem. who was born in 1818, married Catherine Birney in Stark count}-. Ohio, and came to Whitley county in the fall of 1854. They settled on a farm in Smith township, where the father died December 10, 1879, his wife, who was somewhat his senior, passing away when eig'hty-three years old. This worthy pioneer couple had three children: David died in Smith township in his twenty-ninth year; Eliza is the wife of Georg'e W. Krider, of Smith township; John M. Deem, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, January 16, 1 86 1, and hence was about three years old when his father settled in Whitley county. He grew to manhood on his father's farm and was reared to hard work from his earliest boyhood. He was ambitious to learn and obtained a good education in the common schools, supplemented by a course in the high school in Columbia City. His first venture in the business world was as a teacher, which occupation he followed for several terms, but his main business has been that of farming, raising, buying, shipping and selling stock. He purchased the old homestead of one hundred and sixty acres to which he has added seventv-one acres, his farm now consisting of two hundred and thirty-one acres. He has greatly improved this place since he came into possession by remodeling the house, building a bank barn, draining, and by hard work making it one of the best farms in the county for grain and stock raising. He was often called on to fill the minor offices in his township and is regarded as a safe and reliable citizen. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and takes much interest in the affairs of the order, having filled all the offices in the lodge and being a representative to the grand lodge. In 1900 Mr. Deem retired from active business on the farm and took up his residence in Churubusco, where he. is in enjoyment of general respect from all his neighbors. He has done much for the general good, urging the draining of swamps and the straightening of public roads.

March 29, 1874. Mr. Deem was married to Emma Jane Mowrey, by whom he had four children: William L. : Alice M., wife of William Johnson ; Herber E. ; and Florence. The sons each have a farm near Churubusco. The family has been long and favorably known about Churubusco and their friends are not only numerous, but appreciative of their sterling worth. Mr. Deem is a Republican and has served on county committees and in various conventions.

John A. Pressler

When the Presslers and Duplers are mentioned, old-time residents of Whitley county recognize the names as those of very early settlers. Valentine, son of John Pressler, came to Whitlev count}' as far back a?

Whitley Couxty, Indiana

1X4(1. In .March. 1855, he married Diana, daughter of Jonathan Dupler. who came with her parents in 1840 and settled on a farm in Thorncreek township. He spent many years in improving this place and finally died there, January 11, 1894, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. His widow survives and resides on the place originally settled more than half a century ago. Valentine Pressler was a man of popularity and influence during the active period of his life and for fifteen years had the office of township assessor. His wife has long been an active member of the Christian church and noted for her interest in all charitable undertakings. This worthy couple had thirteen children and the second in age was John A. Pressler. He was born on his father's farm in Thorncreek township, August 29, 1858. and from early boyhood manifested a desire to obtain a good education. He succeeded in this and put his qualifications to test by teaching many years in his native township. Altogether his work as a teacher had extended over seven years and in August, 1888, he left the farm to engage in the grocery business at Churubusco. After a few years he disposed of his interests and resumed teaching, which occupation he followed four years. He then abandoned teaching permanently to accept a position as assistant cashier of the Exchange Bank owned by O. Gandy & Co., and he has since retained this employment.

March 18, 1886, Mr. Pressler married Miss Emma E. Cotterly, who was born in Thorncreek township, November 3, 1865. Her father. John Cotterly, was a native of P.erne, Switzerland, married Anna Born, of Ohio, and came to Whitley county in iS^o.

settling on a farm in Thorncreek township. Mrs. Pressler is a sister of Mrs. George R. Hemmick, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, and her family is among the oldest in the county. She was a teacher in the public schools for ten years and is a lady of unusual intelligence. Mr. Pressler held the office of clerk and treasurer of Churubusco for five years, and has long been regarded as one of the progressive citizens of the place. His fraternal affiliations are with the Masonic Order, of which he has for years been an esteemed and influential member. He and his wife are members of the Baptist church and active in its religious and charitable work. Churubusco numbers among her citizens no man who stands higher or has done more for the town than Mr. Pressler. Enterprising, energetic and thoroughly competent as a business man, his advice is sought and his help appreciated wherever anything is to be done to forward the interests of the community or advance the course of progress.

George H. Tapy

Prof. George' H. Tapy, county superintendent of Whitley county schools, was born in Clay county, Indiana, the son of Francis H. and Wilhelmina Tapy. Francis Tapy, when a youth, accompanied his parents upon their removal from Ohio to Indiana. His father, Harman Tapy, was a native of Germany, though he lived in Ohio and settled in 1844. near the town of Brazil, where he purchased land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. Prof.

Tapy's mother, also born in Germany, bore the maiden name of Wilhelmina Telgemier. She came to America when but five years of age, subsequently married Mr. Tap}' in Clay county and there reared her family, and spent the greater part of her life, belonging with her husband to the large and respectable middle class that constitute much of the moral bone and sinew of the American Republic. The early life of the subject of this sketch was spent under the rugged but wholesome influences of the farm and proved conducive not only to healthful physical growth, but also to the development of those qualities of mind and heart which enter so largely into the formation of correct habits and well rounded character. In his childhood and youth he attended the district school near the parental home, where he pursued the common branches of study, until his fourteenth year, when he entered upon a high-school course, which being finished he became a student at the Valparaiso Normal School. After attending that institution at intervals until 1886, he took a course at Wabash College, graduating therefrom. The training there received especially fitted him for the profession as an educator, which line of work he began when but seventeen years of age, teaching school in his native county. After two terms in the graded school of Poland, he took charge of the school at Etna, where he remained two years, the first year in the public schools, the second year teaching a private school in a public hall, having forty pupils. At the expiration of that time, in 1891, he was -induced to come to South Whitley and accept a position in the schools of that place, filling the place with an honorable record for a period of four years. At the end of that time he was promoted to the superintendency of the schools of that city, in which capacity he continued until 1899. when he was elected county superintendent of schools, which responsible and exacting position he has filled with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the public to the present time, in the meanwhile demonstrating executive ability of high order and winning a conspicuous place among the leading school men of the state. It is a fact worthy of note that Prof. Tapy was not a candidate for the place he now holds, the honor coming to him without any solicitation on his part, being a recognition of services faithfully and efficiently rendered while at the head of the school system of South Whitley and elsewhere. At the expiration of his first term, June. 1903, he was re-elected and, as stated above, his official duties have been discharged in such a capable and satisfactory manner that the schools of Whitley county now compare favorably with the best in Indiana. Many needed reforms having been introduced since he took charge of the office, and the entire system advanced to a higher standard of efficiency.

The better to arouse a professional interest among the teachers, he has been very active in the matter of county and township institutes, in addition to which line of work his suggestions concerning educational matters command respectful attention in all the conventions and teachers' associations which he attends. He is a ready platform speaker and his ability as such has been recognized and utilized by the management of the Winona Assembly, where he appears every season as lecturer to the summer school of teachers. He is also keenly alive to the value and necessity of the reading circle as an educational force and in addition to keeping alive an interest in the work in the schools of his own jurisdiction is now serving as president of the State Reading Circle Board, to which position he was chosen at the meeting of the State Teachers' Association in the year 1902. He also served sometime as editor of the Country School Department in the Educator Journal, the official organ of the teachers of Indiana, and by his clear, forcible and logical articles was influential in arousing a lively interest and no little enthusiasm among the teachers of the rural districts.

Prof. Tapy is a gentleman of scholarly tastes and attainments and, possessing great force of character as well as a pleasing personality, his efforts in behalf of education have been fruitful, of beneficial results and it is not too much to state that none of his predecessors were more popular among the teachers of the county or enjoyed a greater degree of public esteem. With all of his success in his chosen field of endeavor and his standing as an educator and official, he is nevertheless a man of conservative demeanor, and with becoming modesty shrinks from rather than courts the publicity 'to which his service so manifestly entitles him. He is a young man in the vigor of his power and his usefulness and his career in the past justifies his many friends and admirers in the prediction, that the future awaits him with slid brighter laurels and a more extended sphere in which to exercise his ability.

Prof. Tapy was married August 28, [895, to Miss Charlotte Clark, of Coesse, Indiana, daughter of John O. Clark, a resident of that place. Before her marriage

Mrs. Tapy was a teacher in the public schools of Whitley county, and having kept in close touch with the trend of the educational thought, she not only sympathizes with her husband in his work, but assists and encourages him in all his efforts, proving a true helpmate in all that the term implies.