A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 120

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

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Jacob S. Heckman was the fifth child in his father's family, and was but an infant when the parents removed to Berrien county, Michigan. When a little lad of six summers he accompanied them on their removal to Galena township, La- Porte county, and here he was reared, pursuing his education in a log schoolhouse, which was built upon his father's farm. As his age and strength increased he more and more largely aided in developing the fields and clearing the wild land, continuing to assist his father until his marriage, which occurred on the 28th of February, 1850. He wedded Laura K. Marshall, who was born in Onondaga county, New York, April 6, 1833, a daughter of Noah and Ruth (Paddock) Mar- shall, who removed to Illinois from New York and afterward returned to LaPorte county, In- diana. Mrs. Heckman was the youngest of their seven children, six daughters and one son. She died August 4, 1894, leaving one son and one daughter, both of whom have since passed away. The eldest son, Albert P. Heckman, was a prac- ticing physician at Reed City, Michigan, and died December 21, 1897, at the age of forty-four years.

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Mrs. Francis J. Fargher died June 3, 1898, in her forty-second year, and left three sons, Dr. James H. Fargher, Albert T. and George F. Her hus- band, James A. Fargher, died November 1I, 1898.

For his second wife Mr. Heckman chose Elizabeth A. Ammons, and they were married February 16, 1898. She was a daughter of James and Anna (Calvert) Ammons, who were pioneer settlers of St. Joseph county, Indiana. Mrs. Heckman was born near South Bend on the 25th of September, 1862, the youngest in a family of four children, the others being Mrs. Isabella Heckman ; Alwilda A. Zimmerman; and Albert Ammons. Mrs. Elizabeth Heckman pursued her education in the schools of South Bend, and is a lady of culture and refinement, well known in the community in which she resides and held in high regard by many friends.

At the time of his first marriage Mr. Heck- man located on an unimproved farm situated a half mile north of the farm upon which he now resides. There he cleared and cultivated one hun- dred and sixty acres of land, doing most of the work himself. The valuable property which he now owns is the evidence of his life of thrift and industry. He rents the portion of his farm de- voted to the cultivation of crops and is therefore enabled to enjoy a measure of rest in quiet retire- ment from active business cares.

Since casting his first presidential vote for Fremont in 1856 he has been a stanch Republican. He gave his support to Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and again in 1864, and his last vote was cast for William Mckinley in 1900. In 1896 his was the first ballot deposited in his township. A promi- nent Mason, he belongs to Rolling Prairie Lodge, and enjoys the high esteem of his brethren of the craft. He has always been true to its teachings and its principles, and his worth as a citizen is widely acknowledged. Long a resident of the county, he is familiar with its history from pio- neer times down to the present, and has watched its development from an unimproved region to its present advanced stage of civilization and pros- perity.

JAMES ANDREW, who died at LaPorte in 1895, was one of the founders of the city and was a witness to every phase of its development from the days when waving stretches of prairie grass surrounding the dark green groves pre- sented a verdant picture of loveliness to the first comers, until a city of brick and wood, teeming with industries and commerce and with intellect-

ual life, stood in this favored location and offered! its unsurpassed attractions to the world. Tc bear the relation of a father to a city like La - Porte is an honor such as few men may enjoy, but the analogy of this relationship was carriedl further than birth, for Mr. Andrew was not simply the passive spectator of the drama trans- piring about him, but was a great part therein, and worked, lent his influence and was en- thusiastic for every advance which the city made during the sixty-four years that he spent here.

James Andrew belonged to a remarkable fam- ily, much of whose history will be found on other pages of this work. His grandfather, Dr. John Andrew, was born in New Jersey and served as a surgeon in the New Jersey Revolutionary Line from 1776 to 1783, and was with his regiment at the surrender of Cornwallis, which ended the war. After the war he moved to Center county, Pennsylvania, and in 1810 followed his son James to Hamilton county, Ohio. This son James, who was the father of our LaPorte pioneer, was a native of New Jersey, and while living in Penn- sylvania married Catherine Piatt, of French Huguenot descent. In the autumn of 1796 with his brother-in-law he rode on horse back to Fort Washington (afterward Cincinnati), to lo- cate a home for his wife and the family of her mother, the widow of Captain Abraham Piatt. These made the journey down the Alleghany and Ohio rivers to Fort Washington, arriving March 4, 1797. On his farm in Hamilton county James Andrew reared a large family, all sons but one, and who with one exception reached a venerable age. The eldest son died when he was twenty- two years old, then came James, Abram P., now deceased, Jacob P., deceased, Lewis Chamberlain, deceased, William and Mrs. S. Van Pelt. From various parts of the country they all came to La- Porte at an early day, and lived here together many years, until the removal of Dr. J. P. An- drew to the west.

James Andrew was the oldest man in La Porte at the time of his death. His mortal existence had touched that of every president of the United States, having begun early in the administration of John Adams and nine months prior to the death of the father of the country. He was a small boy in school when Jefferson was president. was nearly sixteen years of age when Jackson fought the battle of New Orleans. Such a life commands reverence, and teaches that the govern- ment of the United States is still only in its youth. covering the span of but little more than a single human life.

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Mr. Andrew was born March 31, 1799, in put a plank floor in the cabin and two window- Hamilton county, Ohio. He lived on his father's . panes for light. In the following fall James Andrew built the house south of town where his son William formerly lived, and then went to work breaking up the prairie and fencing the rich lands of his purchase. The brothers afterward sold their sawmill, and it was removed to another part of the county.

farm, about twelve miles from Cincinnati, work- ing in the summer, attending school in the winter, and later teaching school, until he was twenty-six years old. He then left the old homestead, and moved to Hartford, Indiana, near Rising Sun, where he was employed in merchandising for five years. With his brother, Captain A. P. Andrew, he took a contract to build the first fifteen miles (from Madison north) of the old Michigan road, in 1829. The brothers took land scrip for pay, and when the work was done they came to LaPorte to sell the scrip, and to look at the wild lands, just offered for exchange for the scrip, but with no intention of locating permanently. They were accompanied by General Wilson, two Barchalves, Dr. Todd and John Walker. This was in October, 1831, and the party passed their first night at the future city of La Porte in the one log cabin in the vicinity, standing where the An- derson House is now located, on State street. The Pottawottomies then occupied the country, with Chief Aub-be-naub-bee at their head, and Chief Shaderny or Chaudonia lived near Door Village. The tribe claimed all these lands, but by a treaty relinquished their title, and the lands were brought into market at the land office at Logansport.

The Andrews were so delighted with the country that instead of selling their scrip they de- cided to locate it, and attended the land sales at Logansport for the purpose, purchasing the land, or a part of it, whereon the city now stands ; they afterwards made some purchases of private parties. Early in 1832 they brought their families here, and in October, 1832, they succeeded in getting the county of LaPorte organized from a part of St. Joseph county, and soon afterward surveyed and laid out the town of LaPorte, in company with Walter Wilson, Hiram Todd and John Walker.

The Andrew brothers had brought with them the machinery of a steam sawmill, hauling it on ox wagons. In crossing the Wabash they made the boilers, to the inexpressible astonishment of the Indians, assist in floating the wagons across. When the mill arrived it was set up on the bank of the little lake near Camp Colfax. At that time there was not a sawn plank in the county. The brothers erected a little cabin for the winter, with- out a window, with a floor of basswood bark, and their table made of the boxes in which they had transported their goods. The demand for lumber was so great that they could not keep any for their own use until the next spring, when they

In 1823 James Andrew married Abigail Lane, near Cincinnati, who died in 1842 in the home which she and her husband had established near LaPorte. Three children were born to them, Catherine, now the wife of Dr. George L. An- drew; James, who died at the age of three and a half years; and William L. Andrew. In 1846 Mr. Andrew married Miss Sarah Ross, near Cin- cinnati, who died a few years before her hus- band.

Mr. Andrew was never a man of robust health, although he reached such an advanced age. An attack of typhoid fever when he was twenty years old affected him all the rest of his life, and only his careful and simple mode of living extended the span of his life to its unusual length. In politics he was first a Whig, then a Republican, and he gave his influence and financial support without stint to the cause of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. In religious faith he ad- hered to the doctrines of the New Church, where he had long been an attendant. But whether in religion, politics, citizenship or manhood an en- lightened conscience was his guide. He lived a quiet, peaceful and happy life, and traversed the past with few if any regrets, and looked into the future with serene conndence and inspiring hope.

HENRY L. CUMMINGS. With the agricul- tural interests of Noble township Henry L. Cum- mings has been actively identified since old enough to be of any assistance on the home farm, and to- day he is successfully operating the place on his own account. It is a fine farm of one hundred and fifty acres, under a high state of cultivation and well improved, and is pleasantly located within forty rods of the postoffice at Union Mills.

Upon that farm Mr. Cummings was born on the 16th of January, 1862, his parents being Al- len and Eliza (Stephenson) Cummings, who were married January 1. 1843. His father was born in Genesee county, New York, October 14, 1819, and died in Union Mills, Indiana, on the 25th of May, 1897. His mother was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, May 13, 1826, and died at Union Mills, on the 6th of January, 1901. In their family were only two children, but the older, Charles Lewis,

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who was born January 18, 1846, died August 13, 1851.

Henry L. Cummings, the younger son, has spent his entire life upon the old homestead and is indebted to the public schools of Union Mills for the educational privileges he enjoyed during his boyhood and youth. He is a good business man as well as a wide-awake, energetic farmer, and be- lieves in keeping abreast with the times in meth- ods of agriculture.

January 1, 1881, Mr. Cummings married Miss Ophalina Henton, who was born in Westville, Indiana, November 5, 1863, and is a daughter of E. R. and Charlotte (Temple) Henton. She is the second in order of birth in a family of four children, the others being Samantha Bell, Alta Jane and U. S. Grant. In politics Mr. Henton is a Republican and Bell Henton served as county recorder of Sac county, Iowa, for two terms. Mrs. Cummings was educated in Westville, Indiana, and was reared in LaPorte county. She is a member of the Rebekah Lodge No. 359, and was delegate to the General Assembly at Indian- apolis. Mr. and Mrs. Cummings have three chil- dren : Bessie Bell, born June 23, 1883; Harry Allen, December 28, 1885; and Willard Glenn, October 30, 1887.

In his political affiliations Mr. Cummings is a stanch Republican, and he takes a deep interest in public affairs, giving his support to all meas- ures which he believes will prove of public bene- fit. In his social relations he is a member of the Odd Fellows society, Noble Lodge No. 573, Un- ion Mills, and as a genial, pleasant gentleman he makes many friends.

JAMES A. DAVIDSON is one of the in- fluential and progressive farmers of Hudson township, living on section 9. He was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, November 5, 1824, a son of Richard and Selma (Norton) Davidson, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Waterbury, Connecticut. Richard Davidson was reared in the Green Mountain state and became one of the pioneer settlers of Trumbull county, Ohio. His wife lost her parents during her early girlhood and was therefore reared by strangers. She was twice married and became the mother of ten children, eight born of the first union, and two of the second marriage. Many years ago Mrs. Richard Davidson passed away.

James A. Davidson was the only son of his mother's escond marriage. He is also the last survivor of the family. His youth was largely passed in Portage county, Ohio, where he accom-

panied his parents on the removal when seven years of age. He continued there until 1865, and while living in Ohio was first married, the lady of his choice being Miss Rosina Schifferle, who was born in Germany. Three children graced this marriage: Julia C., who is now the wife of Charles Elded, of Fort Worth, Texas; Mary, who is a stenographer and typewriter in the office of the Featherbone Company at Three Oaks, Michi- gan; and Selina, the wife of Benjamin Burton, deceased, of Arapahoe, Nebraska. For his second wife Mr. Davidson chose Beulah (Deuel) Adams, the widow of Henry Adams, and two children 'have been born of this marriage: Ida M., now the wife of M. F. White, of Hudson township, LaPorte county; and Nellie, the wife of S. S. Hinman, of Bertram township, Berrien county, Michigan.

Mr. Davidson came to LaPorte county in 1865 and established his home upon the farm where he now resides in April of that year. Here he has lived continuously since with the exception of a period of three years spent in the city of La- Porte in order that his daughters might enjoy the educational advantages afforded by the schools there. He owns a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which is well improved, and, now renting the place, he receives a good income without fur- ther labor on his part. He was called upon to mourn the loss of his second wife on the 21st of April, 1889, aged fifty-nine years, and since that time he has made his home with a man who rents his farm.

He belongs to the Maple Grove Methodist Episcopal church, is very active in its work and is serving as one of its trustees. A life-long Re- publican, he cast his vote for the first candidate of the party, John C. Fremont, in 1856, voted for Lincoln in 1860 and 1864, and his last presi- dential ballot was cast for William Mckinley in 1900. At one time he served as a trustee of Hudson township, and has taken an active part in public affairs, introducing measures for the general good and supporting all movements that are calculated to enhance the public welfare. In his business career he has ever been straightfor- ward and honest, and he has made for himself a creditable record.

DR. GEORGE L. ANDREW. The Andrew family of LaPorte county, the story of whose prominent identification with the county's early settlement and development has been told at some length on other pages of this work in the general history, and much of whose genealogical and per-

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Catherine Thiatt Andrew,

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sonal history is detailed in the biographies, has some important members living in Chicago, notably in the persons of Dr. George L. Andrew and his wife, who reside at 6123 Kimbark avenue.

Dr. Andrew, who is now retired, having had a long and successful career as a medical prac- titioner during the Civil war and for many years in LaPorte, was born in Hamilton, Ohio, July 18, 1822. His paternal grandfather, Dr. John An- drew, was in the Revolutionary war. His father, Abraham P. Andrew, came to Hamilton, Ohio, from Pennsylvania, removed from there to La- Porte in 1848, residing on his farm three miles west of the city several years, then to his resi- dence on the corner of A and First streets, where he died, aged eighty years, in 1872. He was a farmer and for more than fifty years an elder in the Presbyterian church.

Dr. Andrew received a university education, studied medicine in Hamilton, and was graduated in 1845, from the Medical College of Ohio, in Cincinnati. He continued his studies in New York city, and was appointed a physician in Belle- vue Hospital. During the Civil war he received an appointment as chief inspector on the Sanitary Commission for the Army of the Potomac, and in this connection did much philanthropic work. He was transferred after a year to the Army of the West, in which he performed the duties of chief inspector with headquarters at Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also editor of the Sani- tary Reporter. Dr. Andrew has the distinction of being the only surviving prominent official of the Sanitary Commission. Dr. Andrew came to LaPorte in 1845, and almost from the first his time was occupied with professional duties, and he was regarded as one of the most skilful and re- liable physicians in the county. In 1885 he re- tired from active practice, and in 1893, after his children had all grown up and left the parental home, he and his wife came to Chicago, where they are now spending their days in pleasant re- tirement.

Dr. Andrew was married in LaPorte in 1845 to Miss Catharine Piatt, only daughter of James Andrew. Two of their children are still living, Mrs. Carlton Shafer, an author of prominence in Baltimore, and Mrs. Victor Heinze, of Chicago. Their son, Frederick George Andrew, was a busi- ness man of LaPorte and died in 1901. Mrs. An- drew is a distant relative of her husband, belong- ing to the main branch of the Andrew family which settled at LaPorte at the beginning of that city's history, and ancestral and personal details will be found in the life of her father, James An-

drew, in another part of this work. Dr. Andrew is a member of the Sons of the American Revolu- tion, while Mrs. Andrew is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, both de- riving their title to membership through the same ancestor. He is also a member of tne societies of the Alumni of Miami University, of the Ohio Medical College and of the Bellevue Hospital; also a member of the American Medical Associa- tion, of the American Academy of Medicine, of the American Public health Association, and of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He has been a member of the Presbyterian church since 1838.

ARTHUR J. HOLMAN, who follows farm- ing on section 8, Hudson township, was born in Munroe county, New York, June 13, 1840. His father, Thomas Holman, was a native of Essex county, England, and there spent the days of his boyhood and youth, acquiring his education in the public schools of that country. He was also mar- ried there, and his first wife died in England. He afterward came to America, bringing his only daughter with him and locating at Pittsford, Monroe county, New York. There he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Brown, and subse- quently removed to Genesee county, New York, where he remained for a short time, returning then to Monroe county. In 1851 he decided to establish his home in the west, hoping that he might enjoy better business opportunities, and came to LaPorte county, locating in Springfield township. There he purchased a small farm, on which he lived for some time, but both he and his wife died at the home of their son Arthur. They were the parents of eight children, of whom two died in early childhood.

Arthur J. Holman, the fourth child of the family, was a lad of only ten summers when he came to LaPorte county, Indiana. He was reared in Springfield township and attended the district schools near his home. The work of the farm early became familiar to him, for he assisted in the work from early spring planting until after crops were harvested in the late autumn. On attaining his majority, however, he began to learn the miller's trade, and for twelve years followed that pur- suit, operating a mill in Galena township, at La- Porte and in other places. He then began farm- ing and purchased his present tract of land of one hundred and twenty acres, to which he has added until he now owns two hundred acres, con- stituting a very valuable property. Everything about his place is neat and thrifty in appearance, indicating his careful supervision, and the farm

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is supplied with all modern equipments and ac- cessories. Five years of his life were devoted to the fire insurance business as a representative of various companies, during which time he wrote many policies in Laporte, Jasper and Porter coun- ties of Indiana and in Berrien county, Michigan.

Mr. Holman has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Sarah Francis, and to them were born two children: Frederick, who resides in Montana; and Catherine, now the wife of Philip Teeter, who is principal of the high school at Rolling Prairie. For his second wife Mr. Hol- man chose Miss Ellen M. Knight, a native of Michigan, and of this union four children have been born : Edith, now the wife of Albert Goode- nough, of Berrien county, Michigan; Jessie and Claude, at home, in the eighth grade of school; and Irene, who is now attending school at New Carlisle, being a member of the New. Carlisle high school of the class of 1904.

Mr. Holman is a very prominent Mason, holding membership in the order at LaPorte. He has attained the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite, and he assisted in building the lodge building at Hatchis Mill. He is also prominent in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in which he has taken high rank. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has served as trustee of Hudson township. In all of life's relations he is honorable, and is recognized as a man of strong character and sterling worth, and through laudable endeavor has won the success which now crowns his efforts.

EDWARD DOLMAN, known everywhere in and about Wanatah as the senior miller of the firm of Dolman & Mitzner, and one of the wide- experienced and capable business men of the town, was born in the city of Derby, Derbyshire, England, April 4, 1842. In 1848 he came to America with his parents, who located in Bureau county, Illinois, near Princeton, for two years, and were then in Iowa two years. In 1854 his father bought the old Rough and Ready mill in Cool Spring township, LaPorte county, and dur- ing his father's many years' ownership and opera- tion of that mill Edward Dolman thoroughly learned the business in all its details. He worked in the mill during the hours he was not in school, . and after his education was finished he devoted all his time to it, remaining with his father until he was twenty-one years old.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 120

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273