A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 137

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

USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana > Part 137

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Alabama. After the battle of Cool Springs, Ala- bama, the surgeon sent Mr. McCurdy to Nash- ville, because he had again become ill. Although eager to rejoin his regiment, by the advice of his physician he took lighter duty, remaining as one of the force of guards at Nashville until about the close of the war. He was mustered out at Indianapolis, in July, 1865.

Returning home, Mr. McCurdy located at Wanatah, LaPorte county, where he went into business with his brother, Frank McCurdy, who was then station agent for the railroad there. They began dealing in grain and general pro- duce, and after a few years devoted to the grain trade John N. McCurdy became a live-stock dealer at Wanatah, in which business relation he continued up to the time of his election to office, meeting with fair success in his undertakings, and making large purchases and sales.

On the 17th of February, 1865, Mr. McCurdy was united in marriage to Miss Mima Lamor- eaux, who died January 22, 1873. His present wife bore the maiden name of Blanche C. Farm- ington, and they were married July 2, 1878. They have six children: Frank, Louis N., Al- len M., Joseph E., George O. and Robert M. Socially Mr. McCurdy is connected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Grand Army of the Republic, Patten Post No. 179. In his political views he is an earnest Democrat, and in 1898 was elected county recorder, entering upon the duties of the office April 16, 1900, for a period of four years. In this official position he won high encomiums by his faithful and reliable dis- charge of public duties. He is to-day as true and loyal to his country and her welfare as when he followed the old flag in the south and respond- ed to the calls of battle.

REV. WILLIAM HARBISON WILSON, pastor of the First Presbyterian church in Michi- gan City, is descended in the paternal line from Thomas Wilson, his great-great-grandfather, who, with his wife, was a Puritan and came from Scotland to America before the Revolutionary war, settling in South Carolina. His son, Rob- ert William Wilson, a native of South Carolina, became a large landowner, being the possessor of what is now the Vanderbilt estate in Baltimore. He died soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, of which he was not a participant. His wife, Mary Armstrong, was a niece of the first secre- tary of state under Washington, and her father was a captain in the colonial army. Their son,

Abner William Wilson, the grandfather of Rev. Wilson, was born in North Carolina, April 7, 1801, but in an early day removed with his par- ents to Indiana.

John Armstrong Wilson, the father of Wil- liam H. Wilson, was born in Jackson county, Indiana, May 12, 1840, where he was reared in the home of Rev. Mr. Milligan. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company H, Twenty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his regiment being later consolidated with the sixty-seventh, and he entered the service as a first sergeant. He took part in many of the hard-fought battles of the war, and at its close received an honorable dis- charge as a lieutenant. When a young man he learned the carriage-maker's trade, and a few years after the close of the war located in Des Moines, Iowa. Mr. Wilson married Mary Bell, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Chris- topher and Mary Margaret (Cassiday) Bell, the former a native of England and the latter of Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, and whose mother, Nancy Adams, was a daughter of Charles Ad- ams, the founder of Adams Express Company. Her grandfather Adams came to this country from Ireland, and surveyed the state of Ohio for the government. Five children were born to John A. and Mary (Bell) Wilson, three sons and two daughters, and three are now living, William H., J. Archie and Bessie C. The parents are members of the University Avenue Reformed church of Des Moines, and the father is also a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows fra- ternities, and of the Grand Army of the Repub- lic. His political affiliations are with the Re- publican party.

Rev. William Harbison Wilson was born in Des Moines, Iowa, August 2, 1873, there attend- ing the public schools and Woodland College. He left school at the age of seventeen years, being called to the assistant secretaryship of the Young Men's Christian Association at Pittsburg, Penn- sylvania, but a year and a half later resigned to prepare himself for the ministry, entering Baker University in Kansas. His course in that uni- versity, however, was interrupted for a year while serving as secretary of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association at Kansas City, Missouri. On the 25th of June, 1896, Mr. Wilson was united in marriage to Miss Mae Blanche Hooper, of Kansas City, and in the year following his mar- riage he engaged as an instructor in mathematics in Des Moines College. He subsequently enterd upon a theological course in the McCormick

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Theological Seminary, of Chicago, from which institution he was graduated in May, 1900, and was then called to the pastorate of the First Pres- byterian church in Michigan City, of which he is still the pastor.

JOHN G. MATHEWS, chairman of the Democratic county central committee and now serving in his fourth term as deputy sheriff of LaPorte county, is the son of one of the well known pioneers of northern Indiana. John G. Mathews, Sr., was born in Prussia, Germany, October 19, 1819, and took up his residence in Michigan City, LaPorte county, in 1836. His first employment was as porter in the old or- iginal Lake House, and afterward he was con- ductor on the Monon Railroad for twelve years. Two years were then spent on a farm in Cass township, LaPorte county, after which he once more entered the employ of the Monon at Michi- gan City. About a year and a half later, how- ever, he gave up railroad work for good, and came to the farm in Essex township, Porter county, where he lived the remainder of his life, his death occurring October 3, 1893. He was well known in Porter and LaPorte counties, and was an upright and worthy man in all his rela- tions with his fellows. His wife was Henrietta ·Henslin, a native of Prussia, and she died April 9, 1903, when sixty-seven years old. They were the parents of six children, Alvina, Amelia, Lot- tie, Dora, John G. and William R.

John G. Mathews, Jr., who is the fifth child in this family, was born September 13, 1868, in Essex (now Morgan) township, Porter county, Indiana, and remained there until he was twenty- one years old. In addition to his education in the public schools, he attended school at Val- paraiso. He has been an active and energetic man, and has been popular in his dealings with men. For the past eight years he has been actively interested in local politics, and in 1898 was appointed deputy sheriff under Mr. Mc- Cormick, and is now holding the same office under Mr. Craft. He has proved himself a very efficient officer, and his genial ways and popu- larity with all classes of citizens assure his suc- cess in whatever activity he may engage in the future. He received his fourth appointment to office on January 1, 1903. As chairman of the Democratic central committee of the county he has large responsibility in the safe and wise di- rection of party affairs, and he has demonstrated the wisdom of his choice for the place.

June 3, 1891, Mr. Mathews married Miss

Ernestine Krueger, the daughter of Frederick and Henrietta (Long) Krueger. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mathews: Wil- liam, Grace and Edwin. The family are esteemed residents of Wanatah, and their home is one of the delightful places for their many friends to congregate and spend an hour of good cheer.

CHARLES G. POWELL, editor of the Re- publican at LaPorte, was born in Monroe county, New York, on the Ist of December, 1829, a son of Isaac and Anna (Heaton) Powell. His fath- er, who was born in the year 1785, died in La- Porte county, Indiana, in August, 1863, while the mother, who was born in 1792, died in this county in August, 1871, in her eightieth year. In February, 1835, the son Charles removed with his parents from Monroe county to Cattaraugus county, New York, the family there remaining until June, 1837, when they again sought a change of location and took up their abode in Erie county, that state. There they remained until August, 1840, when they again moved. Coming west they located in Clinton township, LaPorte county, Indiana, thus making their son a citizen of the county at the age of ten years, and for sixty-three years this has continued his home.

The early educational advantages of Charles G. Powell were such as the public schools of New York and Indiana afforded during the years of his boyhood, and his literary and journalistic career was begun by writing for the papers when quite young. As early as 1854 he wrote, espec- ially for the Indianapolis papers, during the ex- citement consequent upon the agitation of the Kansas and Nebraska question. This correspon- dence gave him a free hold upon his pen and confidence in its ultimate power. In November, 1856, he assumed the control of the Westville Herald, from which period until now his life is sketched in giving the outline of the papers with which he has been connected.

Mr. Powell is of strong Republican convic- tions as to politics, and his papers have always defended its principles. He has maintained the confidence of those with whom he has affiliated. and twice have the Republicans sent him to the national convention, first to the convention in Chicago in 1868 and second to the one held at Philadelphia in 1872, at both of which General U. S. Grant was nominated as the candidate for president. He has also served as president of the Northern Indiana Editorial Association for four years, from 1872 to 1876, was postmaster of the city of LaPorte from 1877 until 1882, and

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

for nearly twelve years after retiring from the postmastership Mr. Powell held an official posi- tion in the pension office at Washington. While there he wrote regularly for Indiana papers. Re- turning to this city in 1894, he established the Republican, which he has since conducted.

MARTIN PASH, one of the very oldest resi- dents of Wanatah, and well known there both on account of his good citizenship and because of his handiwork which is in so many of the buildings of this town, was born in Austria, No- vember II, 1841. He came to America at the age of eleven, coming at once to LaPorte, Indi- ana, where at this early age he began to earn his daily bread. He worked for a butcher by the name of Heggin for two years, and in 1854 came to Cass township and for the next three years was principally engaged in driving six yoke of oxen to a plow, breaking up the prairie for culti- vation. This was not easy work, but he was of that vigorous type which has the strength of manhood in boyhood, and he waxed sinewy and large at the work, and at the same time gained a thorough knowl- edge of farming. At the age of seventeen he was employed by Joseph Unruh to farm the latter's land, and remained with him for ten years. Mr. Pash then gave up farming as an occupation and learned the trade of brick and stone mason, and for the following thirty-six years has been stead- ily engaged in that business in Wanatah. He was one of the first to locate where the town now is, and the foundations for many of the early as well as later buildings are the work of his skilled hands. He has always been known for his efficient work, and men have come to rely on him when they wish a first-class piece of stone or brick work. A man engaged in a trade must be skillful and thorough in order to retain his cus- tomers, and the fact that Mr. Pash has been in constant demand in his neighborhood for over thirty-five years is the highest testimonial that could given to the regard his fellow citizens en- tertain for him.

Mr. Pash has been married twice, the first time in March, 1866, to Miss Mary E. Bryant, a native of Clinton township, LaPorte county. She died November 25, 1893, having been the mother of one son, Loran N., who is now at home. April 16, 1895, Mr. Pash married Martha Hundt, who was born in Germany. One son was born of this union, Richard M.

Mr. Pash as one of the old settlers of the county has been identified with much of its sub-

stantial progress. He is a stanch Democrat and has been an intelligent voter for forty years. He is also rigid in his adherence to the temper- ance cause, and has worked zealously for pro- hibition both locally and nationally. He served as trustee of Cass township for five years and three months, and in that capacity as well in- many other ways has done all in his power for the advancement of the material, intellectual and moral life of the community. He is an attendant at the services of the Methodist Episcopal church.

PETER FUDENSKI, who is the pioneer merchant of the thriving town of Wanatah, and during his residence there of a third of a century has been instrumental in many ways in building up and improving the village, was born in Prus- sian Germany, June 28, 1829. He spent the first twenty-one years of his life in his native country, where he attended school to the age of fourteen, the age required by law, and then learned, after the thorough fashion of the old country, the trade of nail-maker. He followed this occupation dur- ing the remaining years of his residence in the fatherland.

Mr. Fudenski came to America in 1850, and located at Albany, New York, where he learned stove moulding and engaged in that trade until January, 1855. For the next fourteen years Mr. Fudenski had an adventurous life in the far west, in the romantic and thrilling scenes of mining on the Pacific coast. He went by way of Grey- town whence he crossed the Isthmus, and from there up the coast to San Francisco. He at once went to the mines, where he remained until June, 1858, and at the time of the Fraser river excite- ment in British Columbia he followed the rush and was there until 1869. In the latter year he came across the continent to Chicago, and thence to Cass township, LaPorte county, where he bought a farm and was engaged in the quiet pur- suit of agriculture for four years. He had nearly reached the prime of life, and from the years of excitement and constant movement he welcomed a settled occupation in the beautiful country of northern Indiana. In 1873 he sold his farm and opened up a general store in the village of Wana- tah, erecting his own store building, and during the thirty succeeding years he has been prosper- ous and has enjoyed an ever increasing trade with the surrounding country.

Mr. Fudenski was married in 1870 to Miss Magdelana Casmienkiewicz, who is also a native of Prussia. The following children have been born to them: Felix, John, Charles and Mary.

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Mr. Fudenski has always been recognized as one of the progressive men of this county, and has performed a good citizen's part in advancing the interests of his community. He held the office of trustee of Cass township for many years, and was postmaster of Wanatah for four years, proving in public and private life his integrity and solid ability.

MRS. SUSAN C. STONER, who resides in Rolling Prairie, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, on the 30th of December, 1838. Her father, Joseph Rynearson, was like- wise a native of the Keystone state, while his father, Rynear Rynearson, was a native of Hol- land. Crossing the Atlantic to the new world, he settled in Pennsylvania, and it was in that state that Joseph Rynearson was reared and married, his home being in Northumberland county. There he carried on blacksmithing business for a num- ber of years or until 1848, when he came to La- Porte county, Indiana, locating in Kankakee township, where he purchased a tract of land and improved and developed a farm, making his home thereon until his life's labors were ended in death when he was seventy-one years of age. He be- longed to the Presbyterian church, and in his political faith was a Democrat. Widely known as one of the leading and influential farmers of the community, he enjoyed the regard and re- spect of a large circle of friends and was classed among the substantial residents of this part of the state. He married Miss Elizabeth Webster, also a native of Pennsylvania, and with her hus- band she came to LaPorte county in 1848. For twenty years she survived him, and passed away at the very advanced age of eighty years. She was a daughter of Abram Webster, a native of England, who together with three of his sisters was captured by the Indians when the family re- sided in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, and taken to Niagara Falls, New York, where they were held as captives for seven years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rynearson, the pa- rents of Mrs. Stoner, twelve children were born, and all reached manhood or womanhood, while nine are still living. The family record is as follows: Ann, now deceased ; Rebecca, the wife of Joseph Miller, one of the old settlers of La- Porte county ; Lemuel, a resident of the state of Washington; Abraham, who has passed away; Elenora, the wife of John Kisstead : John, who is living in LaGrande, Oregon : David, of Kankakee township; Mrs. Stoner; Elizabeth, the widow of Perry A. Derr, of Oregon; Julia, the wife of

William P. Hamilton, of Constantine, Michigan; William, who is living in LaGrande, Oregon ; and Josephine, who died in California.

Mrs. Stoner is the eighth child and fourth daughter in the family, and was a maiden of about ten summers when brought by her parents to LaPorte county. She pursued her education in the common schools of Byron, and in early womanhood gave her hand in marriage to P. Darrow, the wedding being celebrated in 1863. He was born in Bristol, Connecticut, and came to LaPorte county about 1843, settling in Kanka- kee township. There he engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death. By this marriage there were born two children : Anna, now the wife of Jacob Grove, who is living in North LaPorte, Indi- ana ; and Lemuel Darrow, who is a prominent at- torney of LaPorte and the mayor of that city. In 1886 Mrs. Darrow became the wife of David Stoner, who was born in Ohio in 1803 and came to LaPorte count in 1832, being one of the oldest settlers of this part of the state. He died in 1893. His first wife had borne the maiden name of Margaret Shelby and had died in 1871, and by that marriage there were seven children: David, Sarah, Catharine, Jacob, Lovina, Henry and Mary Ann.

Mrs. Stoner has lived in Kankakee township for about fifty-five years, and is well known throughout the county. She owns here a fine farm of one hundred and twenty-six acres, and the rental from this place supplies her with all the necessities and many of the comforts of life. She holds membership with the Presbyterian church, and has long been a witness of progress and improvement here, her mind bearing the im- press of many of the historic annals of this section of the state.

CLAYTON S. GOODWIN, a well known farmer of Clinton township, is a veteran of the Civil war and bears an honorable record for brave service in the cause of freedom and union, and likewise in the paths of peace has won an en- viable reputation through the sterling qualities which go to the making of a good citizen.

His parents, Dr. John M. and Sarah (Biggs) Goodwin, were natives of New York, the former born at Cuba Lake, June 5, 1812, and the latter at Lodi, January 1, 1819. He was a physician and a man of prominence in his community. In his family were four children: Anna Louise. who was born in 1841 and died in 1894: Clayton S .: William H., born in 1846; and Elizabeth P., born in 1850.

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Clayton S. Goodwin was born in Aurora, Illi- nois, July 15, 1844. He spent the first four years of his life in Illinois, and then went with his par- ents to New York, where he began his education ; the family came to LaPorte county in 1856, and his education was completed in the schools of Westville. When the country became involved in Civil war he manifested his patriotism by en- listing, in July, 1862, in the Seventy-third Indi- ana Volunteer Infantry, at Michigan City. He took part in a number of engagements, and was wounded in the right arm and shoulder at the battle of Stone river. On Colonel Stuart's raid all the officer's of his regiment were taken pris- oner's and the privates were sent to Indianapolis and exchanged, and there Mr. Goodwin received his discharge in August, 1863. On his return home he resumed the quiet duties of farm life, and has since been carrying on that occupation with good success. He has an excellent place of two hundred and fifty acres, and in 1894 he erected his beautiful country residence, which is a credit to the community. He and his wife began their married life in Pine township, Por- ter county, and in that place he was justice of the peace for two years.

April 20, 1868, Mr. Goodwin married Miss Jennie Pinney, who was born in Clinton town- ship, April 20, 1850, and their marriage was cele- brated on her father's farm. She was reared and educated in LaPorte county, where her father was a successful farmer. Her parents, Horace and Angeline (Haskell) Pinney, were natives of Ohio, and the former was a pioneer of La- Porte county, where he became prosperous, al- though he began as a poor man. He was a Jack- son Democrat, and he and his wife were members of the Baptist church. They were the parents of five sons and four daughters, eight of whom are living, three in Indiana. One of Mrs. Good- win's brothers, Jay Pinney, is in the real estate business in Macksville, Kansas ; Erastus is a con- ductor on a railroad in New Mexico; Emma, who for seven years was a missionary in India for the Baptist Association, is now a teacher near Albuquerque, New Mexico; Loie is matron in the Methodist Hospital of Chicago.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin : Cora A., born April 12, 1869. was educated in the normal school at Val- paraiso and was a teacher in LaPorte county, but is now the wife of William N. Osborn, a far- mer and stock-raiser of Clinton township: Wil- liam J., born May 18, 1871, received an education in the public schools, married Miss Cora Camp-

bell, by whom he has three children, and is a prosperous farmer in Porter county ; one child died in infancy; Herman, born November 10, 1874, was also a teacher in LaPorte county, re- ceiving his normal training at Valparaiso; Eddie K., born December 30, 1876, died January 19, 1878; Clayton E., born December 10, 1878, took a course in pharmacy in Valparaiso and is now located in Mentone, Indiana ; Frank E., born No- vember 15, 1880, took the commercial course at Valparaiso, and was run over by the cars near Nevada, Ohio, December 5, 1902, while holding a position as fireman on the Pennsylvania Rail- road; Jennie Estella, born July 9, 1883, was edu- cated in the higher branches at Valparaiso and in music, and is now teacher for the second year in her home district; Arthur L., born November 14, 1886, has finished the eleventh grade in the Wanatah high school; and Leland Glen, born July 8, 1892, is in the fifth grade.

Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin are members of the Christian church at Wanatah, and he is a trus- tee. He affiliates with the Democratic party, and is a member of Chaplain Brown Post No. 106, G. A. R., at Valparaiso. He receives and merits the high regard of the entire community in which he makes his home, and has friends wherever he goes.

REV. J. G. HOCH, pastor of the Evangelical St. John's church at Michigan City, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, February 17, 1837, a son of Frederick and Christina Hoch, also natives of the fatherland.

Rev. John G. Hoch was reared and educated in Germany, and in a special mission house at Basel, Switzerland, was prepared as a mission- ary to Africa. He journeyed to that country in February, 1863, there remaining until June, 1870, when he returned to Germany on account of failing health. During the thirteen months spent there the Franco-Prussian war took place. He also spent one week in France, and during that time war was declared, and the freight ves- sel on which his goods were shipped was cap- tured by the French government. In September, 1871, Rev. Hoch came to America and settled at New Buffalo, Michigan, but, his health still being poor, he went to Port Huron, that state, where he regained his strength and had charge of St. John's church. From that point he went to Niles, Michigan, and there preached the gospel for seven years. In 1881 he came to Michigan City, Indiana, and took charge of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, of which he has

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 137

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