USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of the Maumee River basin, Allen County, Indiana > Part 1
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Gc 977.201 A&5s v.3 1420258
PUBLIC LIBRARY FORT WAYNE & ALLEN CO., IND.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01786 7497
FEB 1 0 1942
HISTORY
OF THE
MAUMEE RIVER BASIN
ALLEN COUNTY
INDIANA
BY
COL. ROBERT S. ROBERTSON
ASSISTED BY A CORPS OF ABLE EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
ILLUSTRATED
VOL. III
-
BOWEN & SLOCUM
٠
TEL:
1420258
INDEX
A
Ashley, George L
427
Atchison, Mrs. Lewis E.
341
B
Baade, Christian.
566
Baird, David W 472
Baird Family.
469
Baird, Robert D.
470
Baird, William H.
473
Baker, Kilian.
481
Barnett, Charles E
106
Barnett, James
176
Barnett, Walter W
407
Bass, John H.
112
Bates, Alfred H.
490
Beard, Milo
448
Becker, Henry W
348
Beerman, Henry
299
Bell, E. Edwin.
367
Berning, H. F. William
185
Bower, George B. M.
307
Bowers, Adam M.
319
Bowser, Sylvanus F
304
Bradbury, Sheriod
546
Branning, Ernst F. W
205
Breen, William P.
23
Buchman, Alpheus P
439
C
Carey, Willis W.
530
Carroll, Charles E.
516
Casselman, John
487
Chambers, John D
395
Cheney, James.
48
Clark, Wilson.
249
Colerick, Walpole G.
169
Cooper, Henry
259
Cooper, William P.
317
Corbat, Alphonse
478
Corbat, Frank.
478
Cosgrove, Franklin N.
582
Covington, Thomas
474
Cressler, Alfred D
416
Cunnison, James.
462
D
Daugherty, Alfred.
540
Deming, Nelson L.
65
DeWald, George.
272
De Wald, Robert W. T.
101
Diamond, Adolph
137
Dickerson, William
323
Diffenderfer, William A.
280
Downing, Jeremiah B.
252
Dunkelberg, Charles A.
405
INDEX.
E
Eckart, Fred.
511
Edwards, John W
493
Eick, Frank J.
189
Eme, Louis J ..
498
Enslen, William.
286
Etzold, William C.
411
F
Fahlsing, Frederick W
295
Fair, Gabriel.
509
Fairfield, Charles W
573
Felger, Henry G.
422
Fleming, William
208
Fortmeyer, Frank
442
French, Rufus M
315
G
Gandy, Clyde M.
382
Geake, Martin T
62
Getz, Henry.
569
Gieseking, Frederick W.
284
Gilbert, Newton W
125
Gillie, John L.
430
Gorsline, Homer A.
522
Graham, Jacol
451
Graham, James A.
140
Grice, Jesse.
390
Gruber, Joseph L.
436
Guldlin, Olaf N
67
H
Haley, Joseph M.
380
Hamilton, Andrew H.
334
Hamilton, William A.
192
Hanna, Joseph T.
37
Hanna, Samuel.
80
Harris, Emmett V
216
Harrod, Morse
172
Hart, Jonathan.
198
Hartman, Lemuel R.
277
Hartzell, John R.
350
Hayden, Frederick J
157
Heaton, Benjamin F
154
Hettler, Christopher F
133
Higgins, Cecilius R
235
Hilgemann, Henry F.
373
Hilgemann, Harry H.
123
Hofer, Theobald
446
Hoffman, William H.
118
Hughes, Rev. Joseph.
537
Hunting, Fred Stanley
467
J
Johnson, William A.
425
Jordan, George
293
K
Kalbacher, Anton
370
Kane, Alfred
393
Kelsey, Elva C.
552
Klaehn, Frederick C. W.
182
Krill, David.
543
Kruse, Ernest W.
302
L
Lasselle, Francis D.
221
Lomont, Herman L.
187
Long, Mason
336
Louttit, George W
212
Lowry, Robert.
238
Mc
McCaskey, George W
218
McHugh, James E.
332
McKee, Warren
560
INDEX.
McKeeman, Robert B 327
McMaken, Henry C. 288
McMaken, William B
309
M
Marquardt, Jacob
484
Meeks, John W
329
Melching, Albert E
385
Meyer, John C.
555
Miller, John A.
455
Morris, Elmor E.
127
Morris, John
56
Munson, Charles
534
Murray, Kerr
418
N
Nieschang, Charles C. F.
420
Niezer, Charles M.
34
0
Ogden, Benjamin F
531
Olds, Charles L.
526
O'Rourke, Patrick S.
29
O'Rourke, William S.
365
P
Page, William D
26
Peltier, J. C.
121
Peltier, Louis.
41
Pfeiffer, Charles F.
263
Pfeiffer, Charles G.
103
Pfeiffer, Christian F
432
Pfeiffer, John C.
270
Pfeiffer, Joseph C.
35
Phelps, Charles A.
513
Pickard, Thomas R.
528
Poinsett, John S.
563
Porter, Miles F.
368
Prange, Christian.
444
Purcell, Frank E
159
R
Randall, Franklin P.
518
Rastetter, Louis
240
Reiling, August W.
413
Reynolds, William E., Jr.
243
Robertson, Robert S.
17
Robinson, James M.
53
Rose, Morris F.
201
Rousseau, Reuben
503
Ruch, Joshua.
174
Rush, Fred.
129
S
Schick, Martin F
108
Schneider, Adam L.
409
Schnelker, Henry F.
359
Schnitker, August R
355
Scott, William.
195
Shaffer, John.
579
Shoaff, Frederick B
99
Shoaff, William W
465
Smith, Willard O.
210
Sprankle, John D.
458
Stellhorn, Charles
558
Stellhorn, Frederick W.
397
Stellhorn, John H.
402
Stout, George W
387
Strawbridge, Charles T.
282
Sweetser, Madison
224
T
Tapp, Herman W
46
Taylor, Robert S.
32
INDEX.
Thieme, Theodore F.
161
Thomas, Charles M. 228
Turflinger, Thomas.
363
U
Ungumach, John H
267
V
Vesey, William J.
142
Vonderau, Christ G.
345
W
Waltemath, Charles H.
377
Waltemath, William H.
375
Wayne Knitting Mills.
162
Weaver, Isaiah.
549
Whery, Mary A.
39
White, James B
144
-
Wheelock, Kent K
233
Wiebke, Henry A.
496
Wiese, Christian.
246
Wilbur, George W
255
Williams, Jesse L.
165
Williams, Samuel M.
73
Wolf, Samuel
214
Woodworth, Mrs. Charles B.
44
Worden, James L.
88
Work, Wesley I.
78
Wybourn, William T.
500
Y
Yant, Cornelius
576
Yaple, Carl.
110
Z
Zollars, Allen
150
Yours Foruly P.S. Robertson
I7
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
PERSONAL MENTION
COL. ROBERT S. ROBERTSON.
Indiana has been especially honored in the character and career of her public and professional men. In every county are to be found individuals born to leadership in the various avocations and profes- sions, men who dominate because of their superior intelligence, nat- ural endowment and force of character. It is always profitable to study such lives, weigh their motives and hold up their achievements as incentives to greater activity and higher excellence on the part of others. These reflections are suggested by the career of one who has forged his way to the front ranks of the favored few, and who, by a strong inherent force and superior professional ability, directed by intelligence and judgment of a high order, stands today among the representative men of Allen county and northern Indiana. It is doubtful if any citizen of this part of the state has achieved more honorable mention or occupied a more conspicuous place in the pro- fession which he represents than Robert S. Robertson, the well-known attorney of Fort Wayne, to a brief epitome of whose life the reader's attention is herewith invited.
Robert Stoddart Robertson was born on the 16th of April, 1839, at North Argyle, Washington county, New York, and is the son of Nicholas and Martha Hume (Stoddart) Robertson. The paternal grandfather, Robert Robertson, was born in October, 1755, in Kin- ross-shire, Scotland, on the farm of "Touchie Miln," which had been inherited by the several generations of the family from their an- cestor, Robert Robertson, of 1470. The grandfather, as a younger
2
18
THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
son, emigrated to the United States in 1793, settling in Washington county, New York, where he carved a home out of the wilderness, and there resided during the remainder of his life, his death occurring on the 6th of November, 1840. This farm is now owned by two of his grandchildren. Nicholas Robertson, father of the Colonel, was born at North Argyle, Washington county, New York, on May 12, 1803, and his death occurred there in 1896. He possessed great strength of character and marked ability, and stood high among his fellowmen, having served as postmaster of North Argyle and for many years as a justice of the peace. His vocation in early life was cabinet-making, but later he became a mill owner and operator. On May 27, 1831, Nicholas Robertson was united in marriage to Miss Martha Hume Stoddart, who was born in New York city on March 20, 1812, the daughter of Robert and Anne (Hume) Stoddart. Her lineage traces, on both the paternal and maternal sides, to prominent Scottish families-the Humes and the Stoddarts. The Stoddart family is "one of illustrious record, its name being derived from the term 'standard,' inasmuch as the first of the name went to England with William the Conqueror, as standard bearer for the Vicompte de Pulesden." The late Lyon King-at-Arms of Scotland came from this family. The Humes were also prominent in Scottish annals, and the Colonel's maternal great-grandfather was a captain in the British army during the American war of the Revolution, but subsequently married a Long Island girl and became a citizen of New York. The death of the subject's mother occurred on the 20th of January, 1867.
Robert S. Robertson received his elementary education in the common schools, supplementing this by attendance at Argyle Acad- emy, his vacation periods being devoted to work in his father's mills. His boyhood experiences were much the same as those of most other boys reared in country villages, though he was considered more studi- ous than others of his associates, being an omnivorous reader of the best literature within his reach. He early decided upon the law as his life profession, and to this end he, in 1859, became a student in the law office of Hon. James Gibson, in Salem, New York. In 1860 he went to New York city and continued his studies under the pre- ceptorship of Hon. Charles Crary, author of that standard work, "Special Pleadings." In November, 1860, he was admitted to the
19
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
bar, and in 1861 he went to Whitehall, New York, and entered upon the active practice of his profession, as successor to Hon. John H. Boyd, member of congress from that district, who was retiring from the practice. His plans were soon interrupted, however, for upon the outbreak of the great Southern rebellion his love of country over- rode all other interests, and he at once devoted himself to raising a company of volunteers. During the autumn and early winter of 1861 this company remained at Albany, but upon the order to con- solidate parts of companies and regiments, his company became a part of Company I, Ninety-third Regiment New York Volunteer In- fantry, in which Mr. Robertson was mustered in as a private. Be- fore leaving the state, however, he was appointed orderly sergeant. He participated in all the campaigns, battles and skirmishes in which his command was engaged, and gained for himself a splendid repu- tation as a faithful and courageous soldier. He was promoted to a second lieutenancy in April, 1862, to first lieutenant in May, 1863, and subsequently, for "gallant and meritorious services in the field," he received two brevet commissions-one from the President, con- ferring the rank of captain of United States volunteers, and another from the governor of New York, brevetting him colonel of New York volunteers. He served as personal aide to General Nelson A. Miles while the latter was in command of the famous fighting First Brigade, First Division, Second Army Corps, and while so serving was twice wounded, the first time at Spottsylvania Courthouse on May 12, 1864, where he was struck on the knee by a musket ball, and again on the 3Ist of the same month at Totopotomoy Creek, where he was shot from his horse in a charge, a minie ball passing through his abdomen from the front of the right hip to the back of the left. His wound was considered fatal, but he possessed a vigorous constitution, and recovered in a measure, and again entered the active service. However, during the siege of Petersburg, his wounds broke out afresh, and on September 3, 1864, he was discharged "for dis- ability from wounds received in action." Subsequently Colonel Robertson received the "congressional medal of honor" for services rendered at Corbin's Bridge, Virginia, May 8, 1864.
Upon his return from the South, Colonel Robertson located in Washington, D. C., and became a member of the law firm of Crocker,
20
THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
Robertson & Bramhall. In 1866, acting partly on the advice of Vice- President Colfax, he came to Fort Wayne, where he has since re- sided, having been continuously engaged in the active practice of his profession. His abilities were soon recognized here, and during 1867-8-9 he served as city attorney. In 1868 he was the Republican candidate for state senator, but could not overcome the normally heavy Democratic majority. From 1871 to 1876 he served as United States commissioner and register in bankruptcy. In the latter year he was nominated for lieutenant-governor of the state, with Godlove S. Orth as gubernatorial candidate, who, it will be remembered, was compelled to resign from the ticket, and was replaced by General Benjamin Harrison. The ticket was defeated. In 1886 General M. D. Manson resigned the lieutenant-governorship, and in the ensuing election Colonel Robertson was chosen as his successor, and later, in the presence of the general assembly, took the oath of office. "Then followed what eventually proved to be one of the most critical and exciting periods in the political history of the state. The Democrats had decided to regard the election as unauthorized by law, and, having a majority in the senate, forbade him to assume the duties of presiding officer in that body, a position prescribed as the function of the office to which he had been elected. Attempts were made by the opposition to secure a judicial decision, by means of two injunction suits, but the outcome was a ruling by the supreme court to the effect that the legislature had exclusive jurisdiction in the premises. Upon making a second formal demand for his rights as lieutenant-governor, Colonel Robertson was forcibly excluded from the senate chamber. This action caused the wildest excitement, but the subject's calm, dignified and courageous bearing had great influence in averting a calamitous and disgraceful outcome of this deplorable affair. He counseled that no attempts by force be made in his behalf, but that the question be submitted to peaceful arbitration by the people. His attitude and wise conduct undoubtedly prevented a serious outbreak, which might have proven disastrous to the welfare and dignity of the state. In all other functions of the office to which he had been elected the lieutenant- governor performed his duties without hindrance, and the people at large recognized his loyalty to the best interests of the state. While
21
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
in that office he was for two successive years elected president of the state board of equalization, a position which had hitherto been in- variably filled by the governor." Colonel Robertson was appointed by President Harrison, in 1889, a member of the Utah commission, and served efficiently in this connection until his removal by Presi- dent Cleveland in 1894.
Soon after his arrival in Fort Wayne, Colonel Robertson formed a professional partnership with Lindley M. Ninde and Robert S. Taylor, under the name of Ninde, Taylor & Robertson, which associa- tion was terminated in 1868, after which the subject was associated with David P. Whedon, under the firm name of Whedon & Robert- son, this relationship ceasing in 1871, when the senior partner re- moved to Utah. Soon afterward the firm of Lowry, Robertson & O'Rourke was formed, and so continued until 1876, when Mr. Lowry was elevated to the bench, Mr. O'Rourke receiving similar prefer- ment the following year. Thereafter for a number of years Colonel Robertson was associated with Judge James B. Harper, and in 1894 formed a partnership with William S. O'Rourke, a firm which from the beginning occupied a leading place at the bar of the state. As a lawyer Colonel Robertson evinces a familiarity with legal principles and a ready perception of facts, together with the ability to apply the one to the other, which has won him the reputation of a sound and safe practitioner. Years of conscientious work have brought with them not only increase of practice and reputation, but also that growth in legal knowledge and that wide and accurate judgment, the pos- session of which constitutes marked excellence in the profession. In the trial of cases he is uniformly courteous to court and opposing counsel, caring little for display, and in discussions of the principles of law he is noted for clearness of statement and candor. His zeal for a client never leads him to urge an argument which in his judg- ment is not in harmony with the law, and in all the important litiga- tion with which he has been connected no one has ever charged him with anything calculated to bring discredit upon himself or cast a reflection upon his profession. By a straightforward and honorable course he has built up a large and lucrative legal business and has been successful beyond the average of his calling.
On July 19, 1865, at Whitehall, New York, Colonel Robertson
22
THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth H. Miller, whose grand- father, Alexander Robertson, came to New York in 1804. To this union were born the following children: Nicholas Alexander, now city attorney of Eureka, Utah; Louise, who is the wife of William H. Shambaugh, city attorney of Fort Wayne; Robert Strowan, of the Ferguson Palmer Lumber Company, of Paducah, Kentucky ; Mabel is the wife of Ernest F. Lloyd, who is engaged in the gas construction business in Detroit, Michigan; Annie M. is the wife of William N. Whitely, assistant manager of the Farmers' Co-operative Manu- facturing Company, of Springfield, Ohio. Mrs. Elizabeth Robertson died in May, 1896, and subsequently, August 31, 1898, the Colonel wedded Mrs. Frances M. Haberly (nee Stinson), a lady known inter- nationally as an authority on art and a lecturer in many states upon that subject. Politically, as has been before indicated, Colonel Rob- ertson gives an earnest support to the Republican party. His fra- ternal relations are as follows: In 1862 he became a Free and Ac- cepted Mason, and in this order has taken all the degrees of the Scot- tish Rite up to and including the thirty-second; he joined the Grand Army of the Republic in 1866, and has ever maintained an active interest in this association of his old comrades in arms; in 1882 he joined the Ohio commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Le- gion, and subsequently, in 1888, became a charter member of the Indiana commandery ; he also belongs to the Medal of Honor Legion. Socially, he is a member of the Fortnightly Club, of Fort Wayne. He was long a member of the American Association for the Advance- ment of Science, the Indiana State Historical Society and of the Congress International des Americanistes, of Europe. He is the possessor of an interesting and valuable collection of minerals, fossils and prehistoric curios of great value, and has devoted much attention to historical and scientific studies, having written many able and valuable articles pertaining to the results of his research, these having appeared in the reports of the Smithsonian Institution, in the North American Review, the Magazine of American History and other leading publications.
23
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
WILLIAM P. BREEN.
Among those who have conferred honor and distinction on the bar of Allen county and that of the state of Indiana, whose jurists and legists have commanded the admiration and respect of men from the early pioneer epoch to the present, stands the subject of this brief sketch,-a representative member of his profession in the city of Fort Wayne, where he has been engaged in active practice for a quarter of a century.
William P. Breen claims the Hoosier state as the place of his nativity, having been born in the city of Terre Haute, on the 13th of February, 1859, and being a scion of stanch Irish stock. His father, James Breen, was born in the fair Emerald Isle, in the year 1820, where he was reared to maturity and where he received fair educational advantages, of which he made good use. In the year 1840, when a youth of twenty years, he severed the home ties and came to America, thoroughly imbued with the ambition and de- termination to make for himself a place in the world. He remained in the east for five years, at the expiration of which he came to In- diana and located in Terre Haute, where he continued to reside until 1863, which year marked his advent in the city of Fort Wayne. Here he engaged in the mercantile trade, with which he continued to be identified for many years, having built up a prosperous business, while as a man of inflexible honor, marked intellectual acumen and force of character, he attained to a position of prominence and in- fluence in the community. He served for many years as a member of the city council, and at the time of his death was a valued member of the board of water-works trustees, while he was ever found at the front in supporting measures having as their object the welfare and advancement of the city of his home and of his loyal pride. He was
24
THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
summoned to the life eternal in the year 1883, having been a con- sistent communicant of the Catholic church, in whose faith he was reared, his wife likewise being a devoted member of the great mother church. The latter's maiden name was Margaret Dunne and she was likewise born in Ireland, the date of her nativity having been 1818, while she survived her honored husband by five years. The subject of this sketch is the only child born of this union.
William P. Breen acquired his preliminary education in the school maintained in Fort Wayne by the Brothers of Holy Cross of the Catholic church and supplemented this training by entering that great and noble institution, the University of Notre Dame, near South Bend, this state, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1877, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Endowed with alert mentality, ambition and initiative power, it is scarcely necessary to say that the young man had ere this formulated definite plans for his future career, deciding to adopt the profession of the law. In order to properly prepare himself for this important and exacting vocation Mr. Breen entered, in the same autumn of his graduation, the law offices of Coombs, Morris & Bell, at that time one of the leading law firms of Fort Wayne. Under most effective preceptor- ship he thus continued his technical studies with so much discernment, discrimination and assiduity that in May, 1879, he was duly admitted to the bar of his native state, and in the following September he began his practical novitiate in the work of his chosen profession, being only twenty years of age at the time. From the start he was asso- ciated with Warren H. Withers, and this loyal professional alliance remained unbroken and inviolate until the death of Judge Withers, on the 15th of November, 1882. Thus identified in their practice, the two were mutually helpful, utmost harmony characterized their re- lations and they retained a clientage which was of singularly repre- sentative order. After the death of his able and honored confrere and friend, Judge Withers, Mr. Breen continued an individual practice of constantly increasing scope and importance until 1893, , in the spring of which year was formed the copartnership between himself and John Morris, Jr., an able young attorney and the son of Judge John Morris, who passed to his reward in 1905, having been one of the most venerable and distinguished members of the
25
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
bar of Fort Wayne, where all of honor and reverence crowns his memory.
The writer of this article has previously had the pleasure of en- tering a published estimate concerning the life and services of Mr. Breen, and feels that there can be no inconsistency in here quoting briefly from his earlier sketch: "In active practice our subject is eminently a man of resources. Always a student, careful in the preparation of cases and always quick to see and to anticipate dif- ficulties which are or may be encountered, he has been enabled to so shape his various causes as to avoid these dif- ficulties and obstacles. Strong and forceful in the presentation of his cases, he has gained the good will and commendation of both his professional confreres and the general public, retaining his reputation - among men for integrity and high character and never losing that true dignity which is the birthright of a gentleman."
In his political allegiance Mr. Breen is known as one of Indiana's stalwart and aggressive Democrats, and in his characteristic, vigorous way he has done much to further the party cause, though never a seeker of political preferment. In religion he holds tenaciously and consistently to the revered faith of his fathers, and is one of the valued members and devoted communicants of the Cathedral church, Roman Catholic, in his home city, Mrs. Breen likewise being a devoted churchwoman.
On the 27th of May, 1884, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Breen to Miss Odelia Phillips, of Fort Wayne, where she was born on the 13th of March, 1859, being a daughter of the late Bernard Phillips, who was long a prominent business man and honored citizen of Fort Wayne, where both he and his wife died.
26
THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
WILLIAM DAVID PAGE.
The march of improvement and progress is accelerated day by day, and each successive moment seems to demand of men a broader intelligence and a greater discernment than did the preceding. Suc- cessful men must be live men in this age, bristling with activity, and the lessons of biography may be far-reaching to an extent not superficially evident. There can be no impropriety in justly scanning the acts of any man as they affect his public, social and business rela- tions. Among the able and representative men of Allen county, In- diana, is William D. Page, who has had to do with matters of public interest and importance and whose executive capacity has been such as to enable him to achieve a noteworthy success, while the methods employed have been such as to gain and retain to him the confidence and high regard of his fellow men. It is both gratifying and profit- able to enter record concerning the career of such a man, and in the following brief outline sufficient will be said to indicate the forceful individuality, initiative power and sterling character of a well-known citizen of Fort Wayne.
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