A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 134

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

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Mr. and Mrs. Hicks began their domestic life in their native county, where they remained for three years, and then came to LaPorte coun- ty, reaching their destination on the first of March. They first settled in section 31, Hudson township, where they remained for about twen- ty-five years. However, in the meantime, Mr. Hicks returned to the Empire state and was again a resident of Chemung county, New York, from 1871 until 1875. Since coming to the west he has continually engaged in farming, and he has about eighty-two acres of good land, but now rents most of this, while to considerable extent he is enjoying a well-earned rest from further labor.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hicks have been born six children : Wilson A., who died at the age of two years; Miles W., who married Lu Knight and resides in South Bend, Indiana; Hattie E., the wife of Frank Rogers, a resident farmer of Galena township; Walter T., who married Mat- tie D. Gleaves, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and resides in Atlanta, Georgia; Ralph G., who is living in South Bend; and Arch B., who is still under the parental roof and at the present time is pursuing his education as a high school student in New Carlisle.

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In his political views Mr. Hicks is an earnest and unfaltering Republican, having given an un- swerving support to the party since casting his first presidential ballot for Lincoln in 1864. He was a trustee of his township for eight consecu- tive years and proved a most capable officer. He has been chairman of the Republican committee of his township, and his activity in its ranks has been effective in promoting the growth and insuring the success of his party. He belongs to the Masonic lodge in New Carlisle and to the Tribe of Ben Hur. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hicks hold membership in the Methodist church at New Carlisle, and they are widely known in the county, being held in high regard because of their many excellencies of character. In her girlhood days Mrs. Hicks engaged in teaching school in New York, and for one year was a student in a high school in that state, but the greater part of her education was obtained through reading and study at home. She is a cultured lady, and like her husband, she has a large circle of friends in Hudson township and. LaPorte county.

FREDERICK L. STRUTZ, a young Chi- cago business man of much ability, who has for a number of years been the buyer and manager for the men's furnishing departments of the "Hub" in Chicago, is a member of a well known LaPorte county family. His parents were John and Mary (Warner) Strutz, both of whom were natives of Germany. John Strutz came to La- Porte in 1862, and, being a miller by trade, first worked in the old Early mill at LaPorte, and later in the mill of Strong & Barnaby. In 1878 he bought the flour mill at Rolling Prairie and moved his family there, where he lived as pro- prietor of the mill till his death, in April, 1902. His wife is still living at Rolling Prairie, and the mill is being conducted by their son William. Of their daughters, Amelia teaches school in Rolling Prairie; Lou is the wife of Hamilton Hoover, and Frieda is the wife of F. T. McCarty, both of these gentlemen being representatives of old LaPorte county families. Another son, J. C. Strutz, is in the barber supply business in Chicago.

Frederick L. Strutz was born at LaPorte in 1865, and received his education in the German Lutheran school at LaPorte and in the public schools of LaPorte and Rolling Prairie. At the age of sixteen he became engineer in his father's mill and held that position for five years, or until he reached his majority. He then came to Chi-

cago and was employed on the North Side in a men's furnishing store with W. S. Hussander. In 1888 he began his connection with the Hub store on State street, and his judgment and busi- ness ability soon procured him advance to the position he now occupies. He has entire charge of everything in the store except the clothing, hats and shoes, and is considered an expert in his line. He makes quarterly trips to the eastern markets, and is regarded as one of the most experienced and valuable of the employes of this great store.

In August, 1889, Mr. Strutz married Miss Anna Powell, of Rolling Prairie, and they have one son, Lisle Strutz. Mr. Strutz belongs to the Buyers' Association of America, and also the Chicago Riding and Driving Club. As a first- class, up-to-date business man he is much es- teemed by his associates, and has many friends both in Chicago and in his old home in LaPorte county, which he always cherishes as the home of his youth.

HENRY A. ROOT. As the years advance business is becoming more complicated and en- terprises more extensive. The day of small un- dertakings, especially in cities, seems to have passed, and the era of gigantic concerns is upon us. In controlling large enterprises there are men of great ability, of sound judgment and keen dis- crimination, and it is to this class that Henry A. Root belongs. He is now controlling a bus- iness of far-reaching magnitude as the president of the Root Manufacturing Company, manufac- turers of lumber and builders' supplies.

Mr. Root was born in Hebron, Connecticut, June 27, 1845, being one of the four children of Austin and Marina (Post) Root, who were also natives of Connecticut. The grandfather. Joshua Root, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a farmer by occupation. To him and his wife Esther were born several children. He served in the war of 1812, and died at the ad- vanced age of eighty-six years. The family of which Mr. Root is a representative is descended from one of three brothers who came from Eng- land to the new world at a very early day. The maternal grandparents were Asahel and Anna (Ingram) Post, and they too were natives of Connecticut. Mr. Post responded to the call of his country for service in the war of 1812. and after returning from military duty devoted his energies to farming. Upon the home farm members of the Methodist church, and in their in early manhood followed agricultural pur-

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suits, but later became connected with the Hay- ward Rubber Company. Subsequently, how- ever, his health failed, and he then resumed farming. His death occurred in Rockville, Con- necticut, in 1891, at the age of sixty-six years, and his wife has also passed away. They were members of the Methodist Church, and in their family were the following children: Esther A., the widow of Allen Lewis, of Stafford Springs, Connecticut ; Ellen E., the wife of Frank Cul- ver, of North Manchester, Connecticut; Henry A. Root; Emma, who is the deceased wife of W. L. Latham.

Henry A. Root spent his early boyhood days in Connecticut, and acquired his preliminary education in the schools of Tolland county. He also attended Bacon Academy in Colchester, Connecticut, and at the time of the Civil war he responded to his country's call for aid, don- ning the blue uniform as a defender of the stars and stripes. He enlisted in the Third and Twen- ty-second Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the war.

After the close of hostilities Captain Root began working at the trade of carpenter and builder, and in 1867 commenced contracting along that line at Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he made his home until the spring of 1872. In October, 1873, he became a resident of White Cloud, Michigan, and was the vice president and general manager of the Wilcox Lumber Com- pany until the spring of 1881, when he removed to Michigan City. Here he embarked in busi- ness as a wholesale lumber dealer, the firm being Rawson, Root & Company, which connection was maintained for several years. A change in partnership then resulted in the organization of the Rawson & Root Lumber Company, and a few years later, following the death of Mr. Raw- son, the Root Manufacturing Company was formed, being incorporated in June, 1894. This has become one of the extensive manufactur- ing concerns of northern Indiana. The planing mill and interior finishing factory was built by the Rawson, Root Lumber Company. The com- pany now employs fifty men in the manufacture of all kinds of interior wood finishings, and does a large amount of work on public buildings. The company has furnished the finishings for a num- ber of state and association buildings for the Lou- isiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, among them the agricultural building, which is the largest structure in the world, covering over twenty-two acres of ground; the Horticultural

building; the Galveston Flood building, which is a grand theater; the Indiana state building, and the Kentucky, New York and West Vir- ginia state buildings. The company also fur- nished the supplies for seven state buildings at Gallipolis, Ohio, for the gymnasium building of the University of Chicago, four large buildings in the Boston navy yard, the court house at Greencastle, Indiana, and the capitol building at Little Rock, Arkansas. For years the business has continually grown in volume and importance, and to-day the firm ranks among the foremost in this line in the entire country.

On the 3d of April, 1864, occurred the mar- riage of Mr. Root and Miss Clara Eaton, a daughter of Dr. J. C. Eaton, of Tolland, Con- necticut. Three children were born of that union, but all died in childhood, and Mrs. Root passed away on the 9th of April, 1903, at the age of fifty-seven. She was a member of the Episcopal church, and a most estimable lady. Mr. Root belongs to Acme Lodge No. 83, F. & A. M., Michigan City Chapter, No. 25, R. A. M., Mich- igan City Commandery No. 30, K. T., and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tist Rite in Indianapolis Consistory, and likewise belongs to the Murat Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the George V. Raw- son Post No. 46, G. A. R., of which he has been commander for many years, being the incum- bent in that office at the present writing. In politics he is a Republican, but has never aspired to public office, preferring to live a quiet life, directing his attention to his manufacturing in- terests.

He is truly a self-made man. He started out out in life a poor boy and with but limited edu- cational advantages. However, he possessed an earnest purpose to succeed, unflagging indus- try and laudable ambition, and these served as the foundation upon which he has reared the superstructure of prosperity. There have been few idle moments in his life, and he has indeed. been a very busy man, as one may judge when viewing the vast enterprise that he has built up. He is, however, a gentleman of unassuming man- ner, entirely free from ostentation and display, of pleasing address, unfailing courtesy, unflinch- ing principle and unquestioned integrity. He adds to these the common sense that never runs to the extreme, and it is no wonder that wher- ever he goes he wins friends. His life has been well spent, and his honorable and useful career is worthy of emulation.

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SAMUEL WEBSTER LARSEN. No citi- zen in Michigan City, LaPorte county, enjoys the confidence and high esteem of his associates in a greater degree than does Samuel Webster Larsen, the manager of the Greer-Wilkinson Lumber Company. He was born in Winchester, Wisconsin, on the 12th of September, 1859, be- ing a son of Gunder and Mary Jane (Rogers) Larsen, the former a native of Christiania, Nor-

way, and the latter of Syracuse, New York. Five children were born to these parents, three sons and two daughters, and three of the number are now living. Samuel W .; Florence, the wife of L. Cole, of Clintonville, Wisconsin; and Arthur l'., a resident of Winchester, Wisconsin. Their father followed farming as a life occupation, and about 1848 came to America, locating at Win- chester, where he still makes his home, although he is now retired from the active cares of bus- inoss life. Some years after his arrival in this country he was joined by his father, Torger Lar- sen, who died at Winchester at the age of eighty- four years. The later did not engage in business after coming to America. He was the father of five sons and two daughters, and the family were among the early pioneers in Wisconsin. Gunder Larsen, the son of this worthy old pion- ecr, served as a soldier in the Civil war, in Com- pany B, Thirty-second Wisconsin Volunteer In- fantry, his military career covering a period of three years, during all of which time he served as a private. He participated throughout the en- tire Atlanta campaign, and took part in many of

the hard-fought battles of the war. His political support is given to the Republican party, and at one time he served as register of deeds of Win- nebago county. He maintains pleasant relations with his old army comrades by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Gunder Larsen are members of the Metho- dist church. She is a descendant in about the eleventh generation from the martyr John Rog- ers, and is a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Enos) Rogers, the former a native of the state of New York and of English descent. He, too, was among the early settlers of Winchester, Wis- consin, and his death there occurred when about eighty-two years of age.

Samuel W. Larsen spent the days of his boy- hood and youth in the place of his nativity, re- ceiving his elementary education in its public schools, and was also a pupil in the high school at Neenah, Wisconsin. After completing his education he became deputy register of deeds at Oshkosh, that state, thus continuing for five years, and on the expiration of that period he engaged in the furniture manufacturing business at Oshkosh. After about two and a half years spent in that occupation he entered the employ of Hoxie & Miller, lumber dealers at Antigo, Wisconsin, and in the winter of 1890 became con- nected with the Interior Lumber Company of Interior, Michigan, serving as their assistant manager until 1896, after which he spent a short time at Waldo, Arkansas. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Larsen came to Michigan City, Indiana, and for two years was engaged in the wholesale bus- iness for himself, after which he sold his inter- est to the Greer-Wilkinson Lumber Company, but remained a stockholder in the concern and became manager of the business, which position he still retains. .

Mr. Larsen is also vice president of the In- diana . Transportation Company and secretary and treasurer of the Michigan City Navigation Company, and also administrator in the Hermit Company.

On the 24th of June, 1884, Mr. Larsen was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Sabra Slos- son, a daughter of Joseph and Celestia B. (Mey- ers) Slosson. In his fraternal relations Mr. Lar- sen is a member of Washington Lodge No. 94. Knights of Pythias, and the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. He gives a stanch sup- port to the principles of the Republican party, and while living in Michigan was the recipient of many public offices at the hands of his fellow

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citizens. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church, and the Larsen home is located at 1413 Washington street.

PETER MILL is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred acres situated near Union Mills, LaPorte county. He was born March 15, 1840, at Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, and is a son of George and Elizabeth (Line) Mill. The father was a native of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, born in the year 1812, and the mother's birth oc- curred in 1814. The former died in 1888, and the latter passed away in 1894. To them were born six children : Mary, born in 1835; Henry, in 1837 ; Peter, in 1840; Sylvester, in 1842; Frank Hamilton, in 1848; and Charles Fremont, about 1855.

As a student in the district schools near his boyhood's home in Pennsylvania, Peter Mill began his educaton, and after the removal of the family to the west he continued his studies in the high school at Union Mills. He was also a student in the Valparaiso Methodist College, where he completed his education in 1861. He was a youth of ten years when he accompanied his parents from Pennsylvania to LaPorte coun- ty, at which time the family home was estab- lished on section 14, Noble township. It is the old homestead which is now in possession of Peter Mill, a tract of two hundred acres of rich farming land. After leaving school he con- tinued to engage in farming for three years, and then went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he secured a position as traveling salesman for the Monitor Flour Company, which he represented for two years in that state. He then returned to LaPorte county and purchased a farm in 1865. This he operated until 1875, when he entered the services of the Marsh Harvesting Company and also of J. D. Easter & Company, selling farm machinery. Mr. Mill represented both of these houses at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, and after the close of the fair he returned to Chicago and continued in the employ of J. D. Easter & Company until the failure of the firm in 1877. Mr. Mill next entered the Appleby Binder Company as an ex- pert, and built their first thirty-two binders at their factory at White Water, Wisconsin, in the year 1877. For two years he was connected with that house, and in the fall of 1879 he ac- cepted the position of state agent for the Min- neapolis Harvester Works, with which he re- mained for three years, representing that house in Indiana and in the southern part of Michi-

gan, also in the northern part of Kentucky. He made his headquarters at Indianapolis and on the expiration of his three years' connection with the house the president of the company said that the books showed a net profit of over a half mil- lion of dollars. Mr. Mill remained with the firm, but ceased to occupy the old position, and became more of a general man, superintending the general agents in the different states and also settling up a business which was left by a de- faulter in Ohio. He also settled up an exten- sive business in Rochester, New York, where the agent of the company had died. Later he re- turned to the general office at Minneapolis, Min- nesota, where he remained for eight years as a general manager. The business then changed hands, and Mr. Mill returned to LaPorte, living in the county seat for two years. He next pur- chased the old home farm of the heirs and lived upon it for four years, after which he sold it to Allen Chaney. He then purchased the Lemming farm three miles from LaPorte and was engaged in its operation for three years, after which he sold that farm to Frank Osborn and was again a resident of LaPorte for two years. . On the ex- piration of that period he once more purchased the old homestead, and has since made it his place of residence.

Mr. Mill has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Adeline Wilmot, of Elyria, Ohio, who died in 1897 in LaPorte county. In 1899 he was married to Mrs. Mary A. (Stroud) Guth- rie, a widow. Mr. and Mrs. Mill hold member- ship in the Adventist Christian church at Union Mills, and in his political faith, he is a Repub- lican, keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day so that he is enabled to support his position by intelligent argument. In business life he became well known, and that he was one of the most capable representatives of the different firms with which he was connected is shown by the fact that as the years advanced his salary was increased from seventy-five dol- lars per month to twenty-five hundred dollars per year. Failing health then caused him to abandon the work in which he was engaged, and at the present time he is owning and operating the old family homestead, which is a valuable and well improved property.

THEODORE H. WELLS is an honored veteran of the Civil war, who, when the call to arms came, offered his services to the govern- ment in defense of the Union and valiantly fought for its preservation, never faltering in

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the performance of any duty that was for the welfare of his country. He is now engaged in farming and grain dealing and makes his home in Wellsboro. Mr. Wells was born December 1, 1833, in Austinburg, Ohio, and when a babe of about fourteen months was brought to LaPorte' county, Indiana, by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Theodore (Weed) Wells. His father was born May 31, 1800, and died March 3, 1842, while

his mother, whose maiden name was Jane A. Weed, died in 1864. This worthy couple were the parents of twelve children: Abbie, Mary, Margaret, Louisa, Alice, Henrietta, deceased, Harriett, Henrietta, Theodore H., Lewis P., Charles F. and Theodore. Only three are liv- ing.

In the common schools of Wellsboro Mr. Wells began his education, and at an early age started out in farming, having been reared to that occupation from his boyhood days. When quite young he began on the farm and thus early became familiar with agricultural life. August 28, 1861, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted for three years or during the war as a member of the Twentieth Indiana Infantry, joining the regi- mental band, but was discharged by an order from the war department. In July, 1862, he re-enlisted for three years' service, becoming one of the boys in blue of the Eighty-seventh In- diana Infantry, and served in this regiment till its time expired. In July, 1865, he was trans- ferred to the Forty-second Indiana Infantry, and received an honorable discharge July 21, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky. He made a creditable military record and rendered valiant aid to his country in the preservation of the Union.

On again reaching home Mr. Wells resumed the occupation of farming, which he followed continually until 1875, when he was appointed agent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Com- pany at Wellsboro. In 1877 he also accepted the agency for the Grand Trunk Railroad and the Chicago & West Michigan Railroad com- panies, retaining that dual position until 1888. Since that time he has engaged in the purchase and sale of grain, and is well known as a grain dealer of his part of the county. His business methods are honorable and will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny, and he is now enjoy- ing a good annual return from his labor.

In Wellsboro, December 8, 1870, was cele- brated the marriage of Theodore H. Wells and Miss Elizabeth McLane, who was born in Noble township, LaPorte county, May 28, 1845. She

was reared and educated in LaPorte county, and was a student under Professor Laird. She traces her ancestry back to Scotland. In October, 1871, they became the parents of a son, George F. Wells, who was educated at Lake Forest, Illi- nois, and after leaving school was employed as a clerk in the railroad office of the Baltimore & Ohio road at Wellsboro. He served in that capacity until 1897 when he accepted a position as traveling expert for an electrical company, and he still represents this company. Mr. and Mrs. Wells are members of the Presbyterian church at Union Mills. Mr. Wells is identified with the Masonic fraternity, with the blue lodge at Union Mills, LaPorte Chapter No. 15, R. A. M., and LaPorte Commandery No. 12, K. T. He is a worthy follower of the craft, exempli- fying in hs life its beneficent spirit. Much re-, spected in the community in which he has long lived, he is widely known as a sincere Christian gentleman and honored veteran of the war and a reliable business man. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have in their possession two parchment deeds, executed November 7, 1837, and March 20, 1837, by President Van Buren, and still in a good state of preservation, being among the very few documents of the kind to be found in western LaPorte county.

JOHN P. VAN KIRK, a brick, stone and cement manufacturer and contractor of LaPorte, is classed among the leading business men of the city whose enterprise, energy and capability form the basis of the city's commercial and industrial activity. Alert, far-sighted and progressive, he has so controlled his business. affairs and guided his course that he is now prominent in trade cir- cles here, and gratifying success has attended his efforts.

Mr. Van Kirk is a native of Logansport, Cass county, Indiana, born in 1848, and a son of John and Mary (Coulter) Van Kirk. The paternal ancestry is Holland Dutch, and the family was founded in America by the great-great-grand- father of Mr. Van Kirk, who came from Holland and settled at New Amsterdam, now the city of New York. He was very prominent and influ- ential among the Hollanders of that period in the embryo city, and aided in shaping its early policy. John Van Kirk was born in Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, and in 1843, when a young man, went to Ohio, where he lived until about 1846. He afterward came to Logansport, Indiana, settling on a farm near there, and in 1855 he removed to Marshall county, where he carried on agri-

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 134

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