A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 147

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 147

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Mr. George R. Harmison was born and . reared in LaPorte county, as well as receiving an education of the common-school type. His whole life has been spent within the boundaries of this county, and agriculture has been his voca- tion. He married, February 14, 1882, Miss A. M. Henry, and one son Leslie G., was born March 20, 1884. He is a bright and promising boy, and finished the preparatory school course and pursued a four terms' course in the Walker- ton public schools. Mrs. Harmison was born in Marshall county, Indiana, September 10, 1860, a daughter of George and Cassiah Henry, who came to LaPorte county in 1864.

In 1891 Mr. Harmison was appointed trustee of Johnson township to fill out an unexpired term, and in 1900 was elected to the office and is the present incumbent. Mr. and Mrs. Harmison are pleasant and cordial citizens, and command the due respect of all who know them as worthy and upright citizens.

L. S. FITCH, who is the owner of a fertile and a well improved farm at Oakwood, Center township, LaPorte county, has been successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits on this, the homestead farm, for many years, and is recog- nized as one of the substantial and progressive spirits who took up the work where the first pion- eers laid it down, and carried on with intelli- gence and profitable effort the development of the lands of LaPorte county until they rank as the premier agricultural communities of the state. Mr. Fitch is a native son of the township, having been born on the farm on which he now resides, and throughout the long period of sixty-five years which has since intervened many of the

township's churches and schools have been built, towns and villages have sprung up, and the wild land of the pioneer epoch has been reclaimed and made to serve the uses of civilization. In this work of improvement Mr. Fitch has borne his full share, and has maintained a reputation for loyalty to the best interests of his county and for devotion to what he believes to be right and ben- eficial to his community.

Mr. Fitch claims the 24th of December, 1839, as the date of his nativity, his parents being Lemuel and Sally (Hatch) Fitch, both natives of the Empire state. The family name is inef- faceably traced on this history of the locality, for as early as 1835 the father of Mr. Fitch lo- cated in Center township, LaPorte county, tak- ing up his abode on the farm on which his son now makes his home, and there he lived to the age of fifty-six years. His name stood expon- ent for the most sterling personal characteristics, and he was honored by his fellow townsmen as their representative for the office of township trustee, which he held for several years. The mother survived her husband a number of years, passing away at the good old age of ninety-two years.

L. S. Fritch, the only chidl born to this worthy pioneer couple, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in assisting his father in the work of the home farm and in attending the district schools during the winter months. This prelim- inary education was later supplemented by study in the schools of South Bend, Indiana, and in Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, being thus well fortified to enter upon the active duties of life. Throughout his career he has been deeply interested in affairs pretaining to the world at large as well as to his own individual interests, and has been recognized as one of the intelligent and well informed men of the community. He takes five daily papers, and forty or more week- ly and monthly periodicals of various kinds, mainly agricultural, come to his home, and from all these he gleans much of benefit and instruc- tion. Mr. Fitch is an up-to-date farmer, and has placed the homestead farm under a high state of cultivation. He farms according to modern methods, makes use of the latest ma- chinery, and is one of the many progressive La- Porte farmers who make their occupation both interesting and profitable. The Fitch place is one of the models of the vicinity, and its fertility of soil, its proximity to transportation and gen- eral good management insure it a permanent high value.

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OAKWOOD STOCK FARM.

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Mr. Fitch was married December 11, 1865, to Miss Mary D. Edson, of Michigan. His fra- ternal affiliations, outside of his connection with the insurance order of the Royal Arcanum, are entirely with agricultural societies, with which important line of work he has been prominently identified for many years. He is a charter mem- ber of Pine Lake Grange, which was organized in 1873. He has been on the executive committee of the Indiana State Grange since 1882, and has been postmaster of Oakwood since the establish- ment of the office, January 1, 1876, centennial year.

HARRY EUGENE CROSBY, who is serv- ing as foreman of the car works at Michigan City, was born in Morris, Illinois, on the 24th of November, 1870, his parents being Clarence and Ellen (Goodrich) Crosby, natives respec- tively of Ohio and New York. The father, who was one of five children, three daughters and two sons, was a blacksmith and wagon-maker in his young manhood, but later followed agricultural pursuits, and is now employed as an engineer on the Michigan Central Railroad, having been connected with that road since 1880. In his boyhood days he moved to Illinois, thence to Indiana in 1871, settling at Goodland, and in 1880 came to Michigan City. After his arrival in this city he was employed for little more than a year as a night patrolman, was then engaged as a railroad fireman and since 1888 has had charge of an engine. Ellen (Goodrich) Crosby, the mother of our subject, is a daughter of Henry S. and Cynthia (Phelps) Goodrich. The former, a native of the state of New York, was a farmer by occupation and was a soldier in the Mexican war. His death occurred when about fifty-five years of age, after becoming the father of seven daughters and two sons. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Crosby, three sons and four daughters, and four are now living, namely : Harry E., whose name introduces this review ; Mabel, the wife of A. B. Teale ; Kate; and Edna. Mrs. Crosby is a member of the Congregational church.

Harry Eugene Crosby made his home at Goodland, Indiana, until he was twelve years old, during which time he attended the district schools, and he then became a student in the public schools of Michigan City. Learning the chair-maker's trade in his young manhood, he followed that occupation until 1888, when he was tendered the position of brakeman on the Michigan Central Railroad, in which capacity

he continued for six months, while from that time until 1892 he was employed in the car ac- countant's office in this city. In that year Mr. Crosby became connected with the Haskell & Barker Car Company, with which corporation he has ever since remained, entering as shipping clerk and receiving the various promotions as his ability was demonstrated until he is now serving as foreman of the enameling and finish- ing department in the foundry.

On the 16th of September, 1891, Mr. Crosby was united in marriage to Miss Helen S. Robin- son, a daughter of Wilford Robinson, and they have two children,-Howard Chauncey and Clarence Wilford. Mr. Crosby is a Congrega- tionalist in his religious faith, while his wife is a member of the Baptist church. He is identi- fied fraternally with the Maccabees, and his poli- tical support is given to the Republican party.

JOSEPH BLUHM is a representative citi- zen of LaPorte county, and as a farmer is meet- ing with success in his efforts at tilling the soil upon a tract of land on section 29, Union town- ship, of which he is the owner. Germany has furnished many worthy citizens to the new world, men who have rapidly adapted themselves to the changed conditions which they have found in America, and by improving their opportunities have become leading representatives of business life here. Such a one is Joseph Bluhm, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, on the 5th of September, 1843. He was reared in his active country until twenty-five years of age, and ac- cording to the laws of his native land remained in school between the ages of six and fourteen years. He then started out to earn his own living, and worked at any employment which he could secure until he came to America in 1868. Having heard favorable reports concerning LaPorte county, he did not tarry long on the Atlantic coast, but came at once to Indiana and settled in Union township. He made the journey with his pa- rents. His father, Fred Bluhm, who was born in Germany, lived to be seventy-seven years of age, while his mother, who bore the maiden name of Miss Greger, was eighty-two years of age at the time of her death. In their family were five children, three sons and two daugh- ters, of whom Mr. Bluhm was the third child and second son.

A young man of twenty-five years at the time of his arrival in America, he possessed ambition and determination to make the most of his op- portunities and as the years have passed he has

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gained that success which is the merited reward of persistent labor. He now owns one hundred and fifty acres of well improved land and his farm is the visible evidence of his life of enter- prise. About three days before sailing for Amer- ica Mr. Bluhm was united in marriage to Miss Lyetta Townuckle, a native of Germany. They are the parents of eight living children : Minnie, Rosie, Louisa, Effie, Fred, Emma, Lillie and George.

In his political views Mr. Bluhm is a Demo- crat where questions of national and state im- portance are involved, but at local elections he votes independently. Throughout his residence in the new world he has remained in LaPorte county and has become well known here. His consecutive effort, his unfaltering diligence and his honorable business methods have commended him to the confidence and to the respect of his fellow men, and he is now classed with the lead- ing and valued agriculturists of this section of the state.

GEORGE J. STAIGER, of the Staiger Hardware Company, dealers in general hard- ware, stoves, tinware, plumbing, gasfitting, etc., at Michigan City, has demonstrated himself to be a man of unusual ability and acumen, and peculiarly well fitted for the place which he occupies. To an observer of men and their ways it seems that in the majority of cases they have sought employment not in the line of their greatest fitness, but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explain- ing the reason of failure of many who enter com- mercial or professional life. Mr. Staiger, who has lived in Michigan City practically all his life, became interested in the trade which leads up to his present business when he was a boy, and with one step of progress after another has con- tinued until his firm is now one of the fore- most in its line in northern Indiana, with a pros- perous and increasing business and with a repu- tation for absolute reliability and financial solidity.

Mr. Staiger was born in Detroit, Michigan, January 8, 1861, and comes of German lineage. His grandfather, Jacob Staiger, was born in Germany, and on emigrating to America estab- lished his home in Detroit, where he died at the extreme old age of ninety-two years. His wife, a Miss Lange, died in early womanhood, having become the mother of a large family. In this family was George Staiger, who was born in Beringen, Germany, and was but a boy when he

came to America, being reared in Detroit. He learned the trade of coppersmith there and fol- lowed it until his removel to Michigan City, where he was engaged in the same business until 1867, when he opened a hardware store and con- ducted it until his death, which occurred in Mich- igan City in 1890, when he was fifty-four years old. He was an excellent business man, and was especially proficient in his trade, so much so that at the time of the Civil war, when he was in charge of the copper departments in the shops of the Louisville and New Albany Rairoad Com- pany, the company hired a substitute to go to the front in his place, as it felt that his services could not be dispensed with. He and his wife were both Lutherans in religious faith, and he was a most active and helpful member of St. John's Lutheran church, in which he served as an officer for many years, being president of the church board at the time of his death. George Staiger married Miss Mary Lutz, who was born in Tuttlingen, Germany. Her father, Herman Lutz, brought his family to America and made his home in Detroit, Michigan, where he was a street-paver and contractor on other public works, and there he died when well advanced in years, after having been long and closely asso- ciated with business affairs. By his wife, Mary Magdelena Baisch, he had four children, all of whom are now deceased, with the exception of the son Jacob. Mr. and Mrs. George Staiger had six children, four sons and two daughters, of who four are now living, namely : George J .; Herman J .; Mary, the wife of Herman Zesse; and Emma, the wife of Otto Frehse. The mother of these children died in Michigan City in August, 1902, when she was sixty-two years old.

George J. Staiger was in his infancy when his mother brought him from Detroit to Michi- gan City, his father having preceded them and established a home in readiness for them. He therefore spent his youth in Michigan City, and was educated in its public schools. At the age of fifteen he began learning the tinner's trade, and was a journeyman for a few years and then took work in his father's store. The business was conducted under the name of Staiger & Klapsch until 1894, but in that year Mr. Staiger, with his brother, entered into a partnership and established a new store, under the firm name of the Staiger Hardware Company, which has been increasingly successful to the present time. The stock is large and carefully selected, and the an- nual sales have been large and spread over a considerable territory adjacent to the city.

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September 8, 1886, Mr. Staiger was married to Miss Bertha Shure, a daughter of Fred and Hannah (Klang) Shure, and they have three children, Maude, Florence and George. Mr. and Mrs. Staiger are members of the St. John's Luth- eran church, and contribute generously to its support. He affiliates with Acme Lodge, No. 83, F. & A. M., with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum and the Ger- man Union. Politically he is a Democrat, and for one term served as city clerk. He was also one of the water works commissioners one term and a member of the school board for one term. Everything pertaining to the public welfare and the improvement of the city elicits his attention and receives his encouragement. He built his present nice home at 612 Wabash avenue in 1886, and he has a happy household and many friends. He has achieved success in business through hon- orable effort, untiring industry and capable man- agement, and in private life has gained that warm personal regard that arises from true nobility of character, deference for the opinions of others, kindliness and geniality.

CHARLES C. TRYON, a. thrifty young farmer on sections 23 and 24, Michigan town- ship, has made a creditable record for himself in this line of activity. He is enterprising and pro- gressive, and even the casual observer could un- derstand the reasons for his success in the up- to-date improvements which are everywhere in evidence. Mr. Tryon is one of the well known residents of the county, in which he has also partaken of the responsibilities which fall to the lot of a public-spirited citizen, and he is accorded additional respect because of the fact that his father was one of the first settlers in this part of La Porte county.

Mr. Tryon's family comes from the east, and his grandfather, John Tryon, was a native of Vermont, was a blacksmith by trade and an es- teemed citizen. One of his ten children was Charles Tryon, who was also born in Vermont, and later came to Chicago with his father's fam- ily. He arrived in Michigan City in 1834, and ran the first passenger train, as conductor, over the Monon route when it was known as the New Albany and Salem road. He followed railroad- ing for sixteen years, and then removed to Colum- bus, Ohio, and later to Cuyahoga Falls, the same state, where he manufactured sewer tile. In 1870 he returned to Michigan City, and was employed in the freight office of the old I. P. & C. Railroad, and later for several years worked in the employ

of the United States Express Company as agent. In 1877 he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Michigan township, to which he later added forty acres, and on this homestead passed the remain- der of his life, dying here February 7, 1891, aged seventy-two years. He married for his first wife Jane Lewis, a native of Connecticut, and one of twelve children born to Abel Lewis, also a native of that state and a butcher by trade. The two children born of this marriage were Charles C., of Michigan township, and Harvey H., of Penn- sylvania. Jane (Lewis) Tryon died in the fall of 1867. She and her husband were members of the Episcopal church. He married for his second wife Adelaide L. Eves, of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and she still lives in Michigan City, the mother of one son, Parvin Porter Tryon.

Charles C. Tryon was born during the short residence of his parents in Middletown, Middle- sex county, Connecticut, on February 17, 1865. He lived in Michigan City until he was twelve years old, and attended the public schools there and at LaPorte. He has resided on the old home- stead farm since he was twelve years old, and now owns its one hundred and twenty acres. He has a splendid brick house on the place, besides a frame house, two large barns, and other things in keeping, and he makes every department of farming pay steady and profitable dividends.

October 17, 1899, Mr. Tryon married Miss Margaret M. Couden, a daughter of Chauncey B. and Ida M. (Hubbard) Couden, whose his- tory will be found on other pages of this work. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Tryon, Mary Persis, Lawrence Couden and Or- ville Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Tryon are members of the Episcopal church, and he affiliates with the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Royal Arcanum, and Mrs. Tryon is also a member of the Tribe of Ben Hur. Mr. Tryon votes the Republican ticket, and takes a creditable interest in all matters affecting the general welfare of township or county.

JEREMIAH B. COLLINS, is a well known attorney-at-law of Michigan City, LaPorte coun- ty. His father, John Collins, was born in coun- ty Cork, Ireland, but in 1827, when only four years old, was brought to America by his father, the family taking up their abode in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, where the young lad was reared to years of maturity. After following the profession of teaching for a time he engaged in railroad contracting, and in 1860 removed to Renovo, Pennsylvania, and there became a gen-

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eral merchant, his attention being thus directed until 1895. Two years later, in 1897, when he had reached the age of seventy-three years, his life's labors were ended in death. For his wife Mr. John Collins chose Bridget Buckley, a na- tive of county Limerick, Ireland, and they be- came the parents of three children,-Cornelius R., Mary Collins Gleason and Jeremiah B. The mother pased away in death in 1895, when sixty- five years of age, and both she and her husband were members of the Catholic church.

Jeremiah B. Collins was born in Renovo, Clinton county, Pennsylvania, and there he was reared to mature years, receiving his education in the public and parochial schools. He after- ward became a student in the Central State Nor- mal School at Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, in which institution he was graduated with the class of 1888. Immediately thereafter he began reading law in the office of Charles S. McCor- mick, of Lock Haven, and later went to Val- paraiso, Indiana, and entered the Northern In- diana Normal School, in which he graduated in the law department with the class of 1890. Be- ing thus well prepared to enter upon the active duties of life he came to Michigan City in June of that year, and one year later became associ- ated with his brother, Cornelius R., in the prac- tice of law. Since entering the legal profession his practice has grown constantly with the pass- ing years, and the firm of Collins Brothers now occupies a leading place in the profession. His political support is given to the Democracy, and he represented the counties of LaPorte and Stark in the Indiana legislature during the session of 1893, and in 1902 he was elected to the position of prosecuting attorney.

CHAUNCEY BLAIR COUDEN, store- keeper for the Haskell & Barker Car Company, has been connected with that department for the past twelve years, and has been employed in some capacity by the company during the greater part of his business career. He is one of the most esteemed residents of Michigan City, and also a native son, having passed nearly all his life in this city. He has taken part in the public life of the community, and has borne with alacrity and fidelity his duties as an individual worker and as a unit of society.

Mr. Couden is a son of Renolds and Mar- garet (Marshall) Couden, and his paternal grandfather was born in Pennsylvania, whence he moved at an early day by wagon into the new state of Ohio. The grandfather on the maternal

side, Alexander Marshall, was an early farmer of Mahoning county, Ohio, and was the father of three sons and three daughters. Reynolds Couden was a tinner by trade, and was one of the earliest settlers to Michigan City. He came in 1834, and for nearly forty years was in the hard- ware business. He lived retired from that time till his death in 1887, at the age of seventy-nine years. His wife survived him until March, 1888. Both were active members of the Metho- dist church, and he has taken part in public af- fairs, having served as county commissioner and as a member of the city council. Six sons and three daughters were born to them, and the three now living are Albert Reynolds Couden, a · captain in the United States navy and at present acting rear admiral at Manila ; Chauncey B .; and Rachel, wife of G. S. Van Deusen, of Michigan City.

Chauncey B. Couden was born in Michigan City, March 28, 1850. He attended the public schools, and had one year of college at Craw- fordsville, Indiana, and one year in Bryant and Stratton's Business College in Chicago. He then entered his father's store and began learning the tinner's trade, continuing this for two or three years. For ten years he was in the Michigan Central freight office, and for the following ten years was in the employ of the Haskell & Barker Car Company as foreman in the yards. During two or three seasons he manufactured brick, but then returned to the car company. Since that time, with the exception of one year spent in the grocery business in Kansas City, Missouri, he has been continuously in the employ of the Has- kell & Barker Company, as one of their most trusted and efficient workers. Since 1891 he has been storekeeper, and is superintendent of that department.

October 17, 1877, Mr. Couden married Miss Ida Hubbard, and the following children have been born to them: Margaret, who married Charles C. Tryon, residing three miles east of Michigan City, and has three children, Persis, Lawrence and Orville; Miss Florence, who is a kindergarten teacher ; and Albert, a fireman on the Michigan Central Railroad. Mrs. Couden is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He affiliates with the Royal Arcanum and the Tribe of Ben Hur, and politically is a Republican and served a term on the city council. He built his present comfortable home at 302 East Market street in 1880, and also owns other similar property in the city.

Mrs. Couden was the only child of Henry

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and Maria (Lawrence) Hubbard, both natives of, New York state. The former was a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Aldridge) Hubbard, who were New Yorkers, and lived to advanced ages, being the parents of three children. Maria (Lawrence) Hubbard was a granddaughter of Jeremiah and Elizabeth Lawrence, the former of whom died in Canaan, Connecticut, and the latter in 1812, and among their children was William Lawrence, father of Maria Hubbard, who was born in Connecticut, whence he removed to New York state and was a merchant there the

remainder of his life. His wife was Persis Wood, and they had nine children. Henry and Maria Hubbard came to Michigan City in 1852, and he worked for Haskell, Barker & Aldridge when that company made threshing machines, and he was foreman of the machine shops and connected with the firm for many years. He moved to St. Louis in 1866, and died there the following year at the age of forty-six years. His wife survived him until 1891, and was sixty- four years old at the time of her death. She was an Episcopalian.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 147

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