USA > Indiana > Adams County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 1
USA > Indiana > Wells County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01786 7919
PRIVATE LIBRATY OF OTTO. J. TRIBOLE? .OVFTON. IND ELEg ... " AKTURN PRO ... . ..
Standard History of
Adams and Wells Counties Indiana
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with an Extended Survey of Modern Developments in the Progress of Town and Country
:
Under the Editorial Supervision of ยท JOHN W. TYNDALL, Decatur For Adams County and O. E. LESH, Bluffton For Wells County
Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO AND NEW YORK
1918
1204201
P. A. ALLEN
Adams and Wells Counties
PROF. PHILEMON A. ALLEN, superintendent of the public schools of Bluffton, Indiana, has been associated with educational work in the Hoosier State during much of his active career. For twelve years, how- ever, he was interested in journalism and during that time was editor of the Bluffton Banner. Holding advanced ideas concerning education and methods of teaching, during the ten years of his incumbency as superintendent of the Bluffton schools, he has introduced many methods that are proving of the most practical value in making the school what it ever should be-a preparation for the responsible duties which devolve upon every individual after reaching maturity. His course has received the hearty approval of the most progressive citizens of Bluffton and he has procured the co-operation of his teachers to such an extent that the result is one of great benefit to the pupils enrolled.
A native of Whitley County, Indiana, Philemon A. Allen was born January 29, 1853, and he is a son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Force) Allen, both natives of Akron, Ohio, where they were reared, educated and married. Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Allen came to Indiana in 1843 and located in Whitley County, then all woods, and there operated a saw mill with marked success for a number of years. There were nine children born to them, three of whom died in infancy and three of whom are living, in 1917. William and Wesley Allen, two of their sons, were both Union soldiers in the Civil war. The Allens were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and they were influential citizens in their own community.
Born and reared on a farm, Professor Allen attended the neighbor- ing district school during the winter months and in the summer time ably" assisted his father and brothers in the work and management of the old homestead. So diligent had he been in procuring an education that at the age of seventeen years he began to teach school himself. In 1873 he entered the National Normal School, at Lebanon, Ohio, and after several years' attendance in that institution he taught school for two years in Mason County, Illinois. During the year of 1875 he was a student in Fort Wayne College, where he subsequently became an instructor in the normal department, holding that position for two years. In 1877 he was elected superintendent of the Ossian schools and he served in that capacity with the utmost efficiency for a period of four years, during which time he raised the standard of and graded the schools. In 1881, in order to make himself more efficient as an educator, he traveled extensively in Europe and while there made a thorough study of the school systems of the various countries he visited. Immediately after his return home he was elected superintendent of the Bluffton schools, holding that position for ten years. One of the first things he did on assuming office was to organize a high school, the first class of which graduated in June, 1883. In every possible manner Professor Allen
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raised the standard of the schools under his guidance and did much to stimulate the pupils to greater efficiency in their school work. In May, 1891, he resigned his office as head of the Bluffton schools and was in- stalled as editor of the Bluffton Banner. For the succeeding twelve years the dissemination of news, the discussion of public questions and the promotion of the general welfare through the columns of his paper constituted life's object with him as a private citizen. Returning to the educational field in 1905, Professor Allen established a business college in Bluffton and conducted the same with marked success for a period of two years. In 1907 he was again prevailed upon to serve as local snper- intendent of schools and by successive re-elections he has continued to serve in that capacity up to the present time, in 1918.
Professor Allen is a democrat in politics and in a fraternal way is a Royal Arch Mason. His religious faith coincides with the doctrines of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he served as superintendent of Sunday school for twenty-four years.
December 25, 1884, was celebrated the marriage of Professor Allen to Miss Georgiana Swaim. She was born at Troy, Ohio, and was edu- cated in the public schools of Ossian. Mrs. Allen, prior to her marriage, was a teacher in Wells County and she is now an enthusiastic church and Sunday-school worker. Two children were born to Professor and Mrs. Allen : Forrest and Lucile. Forrest was graduated in the Bluffton High School as a member of the class of 1903 and he is now one of the assistant superintendents of the National Malleable Castings Company, in Chicago. In October, 1911, he married Grace Murray, of Chicago, and they have three children, namely : Murray Bernard, Charles Forrest and Patricia. Lucile, born October 2, 1888, died February 6, 1891.
HON. DAVID STUDABAKER. No one would regard it as a disparagement or criticism of other men to say that Hon. David Studabaker was one of the greatest, most commanding figures in the life and affairs of Adams County whether as a lawyer, banker, or all around citizen. His is one of the names that recurs most frequently in the reminiscences of the older and later generations, and so far as possible the record of his life should be set forth without diminishment or abbreviation, even though a number of years have elapsed since he quit this mortal presence.
He was born at Fort Recovery, Ohio, August 12, 1827, and died at his home in Decatur May 3, 1904, in his seventy-seventh year. The Studa- bakers are of Holland ancestry, originally lived in Pennsylvania, and the Studabakers of Adams County, of Wells County, and the famous manufacturing family of Studebakers of South Bend all trace their descent from a common ancestor several generations back.
The father of David Studabaker was Peter Studabaker, who had moved from his old home at Fort Recovery to Jay County, Indiana, and was the first settler at Portland in that county. In 1833 Peter Studa- baker came to the Wabash River in the southern part of Root Town- ship, and was one of the first to take up land at Geneva. He was in- dustriously engaged in the development of his farm on the Wabash, and while thus employed was stricken with typhoid fever and died in 1840. Peter Studabaker married Mary J. Simison, whose family also were prominent pioneers of Adams County.
David Studabaker was seven years of age when his parents removed to Adams County and he grew up in Wabash Township, trained to the duties and occupations of a farmer and as the oldest child though only thirteen years of age when his father died, he assumed many of the responsibilities and burdens of keeping the rest of the family together. He received an education in primary schools which he attended during
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the winter months, and was a pupil in the first school taught in Wells County. It was a subscription school, the teacher an Irishman, and was held in a primitive log cabin with a puncheon floor, the window being made by leaving out a log from the wall and the space covered over with greased paper. David Studahaker also attended a high school near Greenville, Ohio, one term, and the Jay County Seminary at Portland a year and a half. In the meantime he had qualified and had taught district schools in both Adams and Wells counties. Teaching was more or less a constant occupation with him until the spring of 1851, when he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Jacob M. Haines at Portland. In June, 1852, he was admitted to the bar at Portland, before Judge Jeremiah Smith. Later in the same month he located at Decatur and hegan the practice of his profession. It is said that while living with his mother in their home on the Wabash he was greatly encouraged in the pursuit of his law studies by P. N. Collins, an acquaintance and political leader, and by his lifelong friend and neighbor David MeDon- ald, who subsequently became sheriff of Adams County and served in the State Legislature. Uncle David MeDonald, as he was commonly called, was something of a hunter, and while he and young David were in the woods the older man would always insist that the younger make a speech, and thus he greatly encouraged and trained his budding forensic talents.
Mr. Studabaker practiced law at Decatur until 1883, a period of thirty-one years. During that time he was associated a number of years with James R. Boho and John P. Quinn. Along with his law practice he began dealing in real estate at a very early time. He had an im- portant publie record, beginning in 1852 with his election as prosecuting attorney for the district of Allen and Adams counties. He filled that office two years and in 1854 was elected to represent Adams County in the lower house of the Legislature and was reelected in 1856. In 1858 the district of Adams, Jay and Wells counties sent him to the State Senate and in 1868 he was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court for the district of Adams, Allen, Huntington and Wells counties. He resigned this office before his term expired.
Ile proved himself an excellent judge, his knowledge of the law was profound, and his administering of the ends of justice was tempered with moderation and with consideration. The attorneys who practiced in his court found in him a man who was eminently fair and courteous and he filled the office to which he had been chosen with dignity and to his lasting credit.
For many years Judge Studahaker was chiefly a figure in the com- mercial life and the larger affairs of his section of Indiana. In 1869 he was one of the promoters of the Richmond & Fort Wayne Railroad. was elected one of its directors, and held that position for a long period of years, in fact until his death. In 1871 he became a stockholder in the Adams County Bank, and when it was incorporated in 1874 he was chosen a director and vice president and in 1883 elected president. He was also a director of the Bankers National Bank of Chicago, the First National Bank of Marion, Indiana. the Bank of Geneva and the Bank of Berne. and the First National of Fort Wayne and the Bank of Wren, Ohio. In polities he was an active democrat.
On October 26, 1854. David Studahaker married Miss Harriet Evans, whose father, John K. Evans, was a prominent figure in the state's history and had been shortly before the marriage of his daughter to David Studabaker associate judge of the District Court in which Adams County was located. Mrs. David Studabaker died June 7, 1891. In June, 1895, he married Mrs. Jennie Phelps, who survived him. The
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children of Judge Studabaker who reached maturity were: Mary, wife of John Niblick of Decatur; Mrs. Lizzie Morrison of Decatur; Ilattie ; Mrs. W. J. Vesey of Fort Wayne; and David E.
How much the career of Judge Studabaker meant to the people of Adams County was well expressed in the words of an editorial in the Decatur Democrat, queted herewith: "In the death of Judge David Studabaker a worthy and honored citizen has lived his allotted time and passed to the Great Beyond. During his long life, covering a period of three score years and ten, we look back upon a busy, active and useful career, in which he rose from a self educated boy to a school teacher, then a law student, lawyer, judge, banker and in later years has been as busy and as energetic in the control and management of his many and varied personal interests. All of these he managed and directed to the last days of his last illness, and he died honored and respected to the highest degree. Such a life is worthy of the ambi- tion that is rife in the mad rush of progress, and its emulation should be a high ideal among the youth who are striving to win laurels in the days and years to come. Judge Studabaker's public and private life is an open book, and upon its pages are written many good deeds of charity and encouragement. Publie spirited, kind and observant, his counsel and advice will be severely missed but thanks to the seed that has been sown Judge Studabaker will live for many and many years to come."
JOHN NIBLICK. It would be impossible to tell the history of Adams County or recount the business activities of the City of Decatur with a multiplication of reference to members of the Niblick family. More than eighty years ago they settled in the county, then a complete wilder- ness. They did the work of pioneers, clearing up the forests, making possible the cultivation of land, and their business enterprise took many directions. One branch of the family, of which Mr. John Niblick is a member, has been especially identified with merchandising and banking at Decatur. Mr. John Niblick is president of Niblick & Company, con- ducting perhaps the chief department store of Adams County, and it is interesting to note that this business is a lineal and logical successor of a stock of merchandise established in a log house in Decatur more than seventy-five years ago.
The Niblicks from time out of mind have been Irish Presbyterians, their original home being in County Armagh, Ireland. Several gen- erations ago the name was spelled Niblack, and it was the grandfather of Mr. John Niblick who changed the spelling to the present form. The founder of the family in America was known as John Niblack, Sr., who was born in County Armagh of old Irish stock. Besides farming he was also an Irish miller. He brought his family to America about 1803.
James Nibliek and his twin brother Robert were both pioneers of Adams County, Indiana. James Niblick was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1801 and was brought by his parents to America at the age of two years. From New York State they removed to Ohio, where James Niblick's brother followed farming and James learned the cooper's trade, and in the fall of 1834 came to Adams County, settling on section 6 of Washington Township. Ile is said to have been the ninth settler in the county. He subsequently sold his farm in that township and moved to Decatur, and later removed to Missouri, where he lived until his death in the fall of 1869.
Before coming to Indiana James and Robert Nibliek lived for some time in Tuscarawas and Harrison counties, Ohio. James married his
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first wife there, Anna Carter, and they brought with them to Adams County two children, Jesse and Adelaide. They arrived in this county the same year as Decatur was laid out as a town. Robert Niblick made settlement at the same time and in the same community. Before they could engage in agriculture it was necessary to clear away the heavy forests which encumbered the land, and their first homes were log cabins. Indians were still numerous, and these pioneers had no diffi- culty in supplying the table with provisions of wild game. There were no roads nor bridges, and the Niblick brothers cut or blazed trails through the woods in order to mark the way to their habitation. Robert Nibliek died on his old homestead in Adams County. James Niblick married for his second wife Sarah A. Ball, who died in the fall of 1886, having returned to Decatur after her husband died in Missouri. James Niblick was the father of sixteen children, eight hy each wife, there being five sons and three daughters of the first marriage and one son and seven daughters of the second. Among the children of the first marriage were Robert, Jesse, Mary Jane, Adelaide and William S. William is a bachelor and still living in Chicago. Adelaide is Mrs. James Dailey and lives in Wells County.
Jesse Niblick, son of James and Anna (Carter) Niblick, was born in what is now Carroll County, Ohio, August 12, 1826. His mother died on the old homestead in Adams County August 12, 1838. Jesse Nibliek was about ten years of age when the family came to Adams County and a few years later his grandfather, John Nibliek, gave him the opportunity of attending school at Cadiz, Ohio. In 1842 he re- turned to the home farm, and he soon began an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, and in 1846 engaged in that business for himself. He thus became early identified with the business affairs of Decatur, and continued the boot and shoe business until 1866. In that year he sold his business to his brother-in-law and in July of that year bought an interest in a general store with John Crawford, under the name Niblick and Crawford. They bought the stock of merchandise estab- lished by that pioneer of Decatur merchants, John Nutman. Later the firm of Niblick & Crawford brought in their sons as partners and the business title was changed to Niblick, Crawford & Sons. In February, 1887, the Crawfords withdrew and from that time on Mr. Nihliek was active head of the business until his death in October, 1895. After that the store was conducted by his son John and the latter's brothers as executors, and in March, 1897, the business was incorporated under the name of Niblick & Company. This has been developed as a large department store, carrying a stock of staple merchandise sufficient to supply all the demands of both city and country dwellers. Thus there has been no interruption to a business which was established by J. D. Nutman in a log house in Decatur in 1840. Years have brought many increases and changes in style and quarters, but the house is today one of the oldest business firms of the county.
In 1871 Jesse Niblick with J. D. Nutman engaged in a private bank- ing business, opening the Adams County Bank, Nibliek & Nutman, hankers. Later David Studabaker and R. W. Allison became asso- ciated with them. Joseph D. Nutman was responsible for the estab- lishment of the first bank at Decatur in 1857. The institution was moved to Fort Wayne several years later. The permanent banking history of the city begins with the year 1871. Mr. Nutman soon re- tired from banking, leaving the firm Niblick, Studabaker & Company, and in August, 1874, the Adams County Bank was organized with a state charter. Jesse Niblick was elected a director and the first presi- dent of this bank, and was later succeeded by R. B. Allison as presi-
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dent, he taking the office of vice president. Jesse Niblick was also identified with the organization of Eagle Manufacturing Company of Decatur. He was also prominent in local affairs, was a stanch demo- crat, was elected elerk of Washington Township in 1848 and until 1865 was either elerk or trustee of the township, sometimes holding both offices at once. In the fall of 1865 he was elected county treasurer and reelected in 1867. For many years from 1870 he held the office of village trustee or councilman.
Jesse Niblick married October 16, 1851, Miss Catherine Closs, a native of Germany and a daughter of John and Catherine Closs. Jesse Niblick and wife were the parents of eight children. The sons to grow up were William. John, James K., Charles and Daniel.
Mr. John Nibliek has spent all his active life in the atmosphere of the business which was established by his father. He was born in Decatur in a home that stood on the public square January 8, 1853. He was educated in the local schools and early became identified with the store of his father. He has been president of Niblick & Company since it was incorporated in 1897, and his brother Daniel is the present secretary of the company. His niece Mary Catherine Niblick has for many years presided at some of the important departments of the store, and several of the many employees have long and faithful records of service and have contributed much to the prosperity and importance of the establishment. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the largest mercantile enterprise of its kind in Adams County.
While the conduct of this store has absorbed Mr. Niblick's best abilities, he has never neglected to contribute his resources and influence to the public welfare in every possible way. He is a director and mem- ber of the finance committee of the old Adams County Bank. This institution which was first started by the state in 1874 as above noted, was conducted throughout the twenty years of its first charter as the Adams County Bank. It was rechartered in 1894 and then became the Old Adams County Bank. In 1914 it was again chartered and during the more than forty years of its existence no depositor has ever lost a single dollar and the resources and integrity of the institution are unimpaired to the present time.
On May 18, 1876, Mr. John Niblick married Mary A. Studabaker. She was born in Decatur in 1855, grew up and received her early educa- tion there and in 1875 graduated from Glendale College, at Glendale, Ohio. The Studabaker family have been identified with Adams and Wells counties for fully eighty years, and their relations with banking, business, law and civic and social affairs give them an enviable prom- inence in the history of this locality. Judge David Stundabaker was a cousin of the great family of Studebakers of South Bend, Indiana, though there is a slight variation in the spelling of the name. Judge David Studabaker in early life was a teacher, was admitted to the bar in 1852, was in active practice of law at Decatur over thirty years, and filled many offices, including prosecuting attorney, member of the legis- lature and senate and judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He was also a railroad builder and was long active in the Adams County Bank. His death occurred in 1894.
Mr. and Mrs. John Niblick had four children: Harrie E. married Arthur D. Suttles, now assistant cashier of the Old Adams County Bank. Mr. Suttles was well educated in the Decatur High School and Normal School, and for about eight years was principal of a ward school in Decatur and he has been connected with the Old Adams County Bank since 1907. They have four children, Mary, Josephine, Arthur D., Jr., and Helen. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. John
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Niblick is Josephine, wife of O. P. Edwards of Leipsic, Ohio. They have one daughter, Harriet. Burton S. is now bookkeeper in the Old Adams County Bank and married Bessie Nolan. Helen, the youngest child, is a graduate of Lake Forest College, studied at Mount Holyoke, is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware and took domestic science work in Chicago. She has been very active in local affairs at Decatur and especially prominent in Red Cross matters. The Niblick family are active members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Nibliek is a democrat.
RALPH STUDABAKER TODD. It is not necessary that the man who achieves success be made of sterner stuff than his fellow man, but there are certain indispensable characteristics that contribute to the prosperity of an individual; these are energy, ambition, determination and the ability to recognize and improve success. These qualities are cardinal elements in the character of Ralph Studabaker Todd and have accom- panied him in his progress to a position of prominence and affluence. Mr. Todd is one of the substantial citizens of Bluffton and is president of the Studabaker Bank here.
Jacob Todd, grandfather of the subject of this review, was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1805, and his wife, whose maiden name was Jane Thomas, was a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, where her birth occurred January 2, 1807. After their marriage they located on a farm in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. and there resided until 1851, when they came to Wells County, Indiana, and settled on a farm in section 19, Jefferson Township. The latter place was their home until their respective deaths, he passing away November 3, 1861, and she died June 5, 1888. Jacob J. Todd, son of Jacob and Jane (Thomas) Todd and father of Ralph S. Todd, was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1843, and he was eight years of age when the family home was established in Indiana. After completing the curriculum of the public schools of Wells County he attended Roanoke Seminary and Fort Wayne College. He taught school during most of the time from 1861 to 1866. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-fourth Indiana Infantry, but was rejected on account of poor health. In April, 1864, he was accepted as a volunteer in Company D, One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and he served until October, 1864, when he was honorably discharged. During his spare time while teaching school he studied law and was admitted to the bar May 22, 1866. His first political office was that of assessor of Jefferson Township, Wells County, and in June, 1872, he was appointed national alternate delegate to the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia. In 1880 he was delegate to the same convention in Chicago. He was prominent both in state and national polities. August 12, 1876. he married Mary J. Studabaker, a daughter of John and Rebecca (Angel) Studabaker. Mrs. Todd was educated in the Bluffton schools and in Fort Wayne College. To this marriage were born two children : Mary and Ralph S. Jacob J. Todd was a Knight Templar and a thirty-second degree Mason and in that connection he served for one year as grand master of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Indiana. He died May 13. 1900, and his cherished and devoted wife passed to rest February 7, 1903.
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