A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 78

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

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J. V. Hickman, the father, became a resident not elected. In 1890 he was made the nominee of

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his party for supervisor, and was successful that time. He served until 1895, and in that year was again defeated for the position of trustee. In 1900, however, he was once more made the can- didate of the Democracy, and was elected by a large vote, although he had to overcome a strong Republican majority. He is proving a most cap- able officer as a member of the board, and re- ceives the commendation of all fair-minded citi- zens. His influence has not been limited by his business and political associations, however, for he is deeply interested in the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the lodge at Rolling Prairie and also to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in this place. He has filled all of the chairs in the latter organization, and is likewise connected with the Rebekah degree. He has spent his entire life in Kankakee township, covering a residence of fifty- seven years, and matters of local progress and national advancement are causes dear to his heart. His friends are many, his genial and social na- ture gaining for him the good will, confidence and favorable regard of those with whom he has come in contact.

WILLIAM EATON. Almost seventy years have passed since this gentleman arrived in La- Porte county, and he has therefore witnessed al- most its entire development. As a public-spirited citizen he has borne his part in the work of im- provement, especially along agricultural lines, as his life has been devoted to farming, which occu- pation he still carries on near Union Mills, in Clinton township.

Mr. Eaton was born in' Giles county, Virginia, January 12, 1822, and in October, 1834, came to LaPorte county, Indiana, with his parents. His father, John Eaton, was a native of Ireland, born about 1792, and emigrated to America about 1798 becoming a resident of Virginia. In that state he grew to manhood and married Miss Susanna Lindsey, who was also born on the Emerald Isle, in 1801. They became the parents of the follow- ing children : Joseph, born in 1818; Thomas L., in 1820; William, in 1822; Nancy B., in 1824; Samuel L., in 1826; Charles G., in 1828; George G., in 1829; Catharine, in 1830; Susana, in 1831 ; James Alexander, in 1833; and Elizabeth, in 1835. The last four were born in Indiana, and the others in Virginia.

Since starting out in life for himself William Eaton has followed farming, and about fifty years ago purchased his present farm near Union Mills. Here he has eighty acres under cultiva- tion and twenty acres of timber land. On the 23d

of April, 1857, he was married in Porter county, Indiana, the lady of his choice being Miss Mary Morrison, whose birth occurred in New York city, in 1834, Six children blessed this union: John William, born July 15, 1858; Almarette Vir- ginia, born March 22, 1860; Henry Elmer, born November 22, 1861 ; Kate Idela, born April 17, 1867; Lillian Victoria, who was born June 18, 1869, and died August 10, 1871 ; and Mary Inez, born August 9, 1871.

Mr. Eaton is a Democrat in politics, and he is a faithful and consistent member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, taking an active part in its work. As a citizen, friend and neighbor he is true to every duty, and justly merits the esteem in which he is held. In September, 1902, his wife died. She was a faithful wife and a loving mother, and for almost half a century they trav- eled life's journey together. She was an active worker in the church. She is interred in the Union Mills cemetery.

HON. JACOB R. HALL. No history of LaPorte county would be a complete and finished record without an account of the Hall family, for since the earliest epoch in the development of this section of the state representatives of the name have been active in promoting public welfare and advancing the general progress. They have been associated with agricultural, commercial and financial interests, and their influence has ever been felt on the side of right and improvement. Hon. Jacob R. Hall was the founder of the fam- ily in LaPorte county. His birth occurred in Harrison county, Virginia, on the 19th of June, 1807, and back of him was an ancestry honorable and distinguished.

His father, Thomas Hall, was also a native of the Old Dominion, and in the early years of his manhood worked as a shipbuilder, but later turned his attention to agricultural interests. His death occurred in 1821, when he had reached the ad- vanced age of eighty years. He was a son of Samuel Hall, who was born in the north of Eng- land and was of Scotch lineage. Samuel Hall became the progenitor of the family in the new world. Thinking that he might benefit his finan- cial conditions on this side of the Atlantic, he bade adieu to his native country and sailed for the new world, establishing his home in Bridge- water, Virginia. He was a shipbuilder by trade. His son, Joseph Hall, a brother of Thomas Hall, gained distinction as a soldier under General Washington in the Revolutionary war, while Ly- man Hall, another member of the family, was one

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WILLIAM EATON FAMILY.

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of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The coat of arms of this branch of the Hall family bears the inscription Turpiter Desperatur (despair is base). Samuel Hall was also a cousin of Dr. John Hall, of England, who wedded Susan Shakespeare, a cousin of the world's great- est poet William Shakespeare, and the signet ring which solemnized their marriage is still among the Shakespeare relics at Stratford-on-Avon. Both Dr. Hall and his wife lie buried beside the great dramatist. Of the twenty-five barons who were chosen to draw up the Magna Charta, nine were direct ancestors of the Hall family and one of them was a signer of that document.

Jacob R. Hall received but limited educational privileges, for the schools in old Virginia at that time were not noted for their excellence. He was reared upon the old family homestead, and in the fall of 1827, prior to the time when he at- tained his majority, he left the state of his na- tivity and emigrated to Indiana, settling first at what is now Logansport. He had when he left home a horse, saddle and bridle and seventy-five dollars in money. He spent thirty dollars of his money on reaching the Wabash valley, and afterward loaned the remainder and lost it. His horse, too, died, and thus he was left with only a saddle and bridle. There were only three white settlers in Logansport when Mr. Hall took up his abode there, those being General Tipton, Lewis Chamberlain and Mr. Barien, a Frenchman. There were no settlers to the north as far as the lakes except a mission station, that had been es- tablished, and a few squatters and traders were living in that district. The country was an un- broken wilderness, and Mr. Hall cut out the timber for the first frame building in Logansport. He was also the first man who took a wagon from that place to Elkhart. With the early develop- ment and improvement of the county he was ac- tively and prominently associated through a num- ber of years. By General Tipton he was em- ployed to secure the good will of the Indians and to work with them in building their cabins, rais- ing corn, etc. The red men belonged to the Miami and Pottawottomie tribes and Mr. Hall was present at all the treaties made with them.

In the year 1832 Jacob R. Hall was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Martin, a daughter of Joel Martin, of Cass county, Indiana. The young couple began their domestic life upon the farm on the western frontier, but as farm products did not bring very high prices at that time Mr. Hall was obliged to perform any kind of labor that would secure a remunerative return. Therefore

he engaged in building houses, repairing wagons and wagon wheels, constructing roads and other such work as would afford him some ready money or supply him with the necessities of life. Like other pioneers he was an eminently practical man, learning his lessons from experience and adapting his knowledge in such a way that his own efforts were followed by very gratifying results.

In 1833 he removed from Cass county to LaPorte county and established his home at Round Grove, Scipio township, a mile and half east of Door Village. He made his second pur- chase of land of Harrison & Rambeau, including the entire grove, and he also bought out the inter- ests of Mr. Knight, who had settled in the grove. There was no improvement on the land save a rude log cabin, and four or five acres had been broken. It was in this primitive home that he and his family spent the first winter. It did not afford very great protection from the elements, for the snow drifted in the crevices and sometimes lay over three inches deep on the puncheon floor. A sheet was hung up over the bed in order to kep the snow out of the faces of the sleepers. Even this home was an improvement upon the condi- tions with which Mr. Hall was surrounded when he first came to the Wabash country, for during the first five years of his residence in this state he did not sleep upon a bed altogether for more than one year. He camped out while building cabins for the other settlers, while engaged in the con- struction of the Michigan road and while work- ing among the Indians, and he truly belonged to that class of brave pioneers to whom the country owes an unbounded debt of gratitude for what they accomplished in the reclamation of the wild districts for the purposes of civilization.

In 1835 Mr. Hall built a small frame house, to which he from time to time made additions until the year 1850, when he erected a commodious front portion to the home, and thus converted it into a comfortable and roomy residence. In 1865 he built a substantial brick barn, which to-day is almost unequalled in the state. As the seasons came and went he cleared his land, plowed and planted his crops and in the autumn gathered rich harvests. When the country became more thickly settled there was a good market for all his pro- ducts, and, his financial resources being thereby increased, he added to his possessions until he became the owner of a very valuable farm of five hundred acres situated on Door prairie and equipped with splendid buildings and substantial improvements.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hall were born five children :

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Caroline E., who became the wife of Charles Simmons; Rachel, the deceased wife of Rev. Samuel Godfrey ; Albert S., who is represented elsewhere in this work; Louisa, now the wife of Jackson Rodgers; and William A., whose sketch is also given in this volume. The parents were consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part in its work, in its substantial growth and development. Mr. Hall died in March, 1875. He was one of the most prominent and honored of the early pioneer set- tlers, a man of strong force of character and up- right principles. His influence was widely felt for good, and he took an active and helpful part in advancing many measures which benefited the state and aided in shaping its policy. He became acquainted with many of the most distinguished and eminent men of Indiana, and enjoyed the con- fidence of his fellow citizens to a remarkable de- gree. In 1855 he represented his district in the state legislature, and no public trust reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest degree.

GEORGE L. McLANE, merchant and cap- italist of LaPorte, and with his business activity extending to other cities, has shown enterprise and progressive spirit that have proved important factors in promoting commercial expansion. There is no resident of this county who occupies a more enviable position in mercantile and finan- cial circles, not alone on account of the success he has achieved, but also by reason of the honor- able, straightforward policy he has followed : his close adherence to the most strict ethics which govern commercial life being among the salient features in his business career.

As one of LaPorte county's native sons, he was born in Noble township, February 8, 1858, and comes of Irish lineage, the family having been founded in America near the city of Phila- delphia many generations ago. His great-grand- father served in the Revolutionary war under command of Captain Bird. His grandfather was born, reared and married in Virginia, and re- moved to Wayne county, Indiana, during the territorial days of the state. Pioneer experiences soon became familiar to him, and amid frontier environments he carried on the work of estab- lishing a home for his family.

arrival, and his mind bears the impress of the early historical annals of this section of the state. In the fall of 1832 the other members of his fa- ther's family came from Wayne county, and a settlement was made on Rolling Prairie, where the work of developing a farm was begun. The family were living there at the time of the Sac war. In 1834 they removed to a farm at Union Mills; in what is now Noble township, and Bird McLane has since resided there. His parents died and were buried at Union Mills. When Bird McLane was fourteen years of age he and his brother drove an ox-team from Logansport to Cincinnati and returned with a load of groceries and several thousand dollars in silver for the payment of the Miami Indians. When twenty-one years of age, although in debt fifty dollars for his clothes, Bird McLane bought the farm near Union Mills upon which he now resides, and upon which he has lived for more than half a century. About 1868 he purchased a store at Kingsbury, and three years later moved it to Union Mills, but through- out the greater part of his life farming has been his chief occupation. His farm, now consisting of over five hundred acres, is said to be one of the finest, if not the finest, in LaPorte county, and is indeed a very valuable and attractive prop- erty. Mr. McLane is one of the prominent old- time figures in northern Indiana, a man of fine character and wide influence, and although now eighty-six years of age, he still maintains as keen an interest in business and in his private and pub- lic affairs as he always did. He has extensive financial interests, and his possessions have all come as the just reward of his labors. Starting out in life at the age of twenty-one, handicapped by a debt of fifty dollars, he has gradually ad- vanced until he occupies a foremost position among the men of affluence in the county, and is equally prominent in the public regard. (Bird McLane died January 24, 1904, and his career is sketched in the general history of this work.)

Bird McLane wedded Abbie White Wells, in 1844. She was born January 28, 1825, and died February 10, 1901. She was a remarkable woman, and was descended from splendid ances- try. Her father, Theodore Hopkins Wells, was born in Connecticut, and in the early part of the nineteenth century the family emigrated to Lo- raine county, Ohio, where Theodore Wells was married, in 1824, to Jane Weed. In 1835 they removed to LaPorte county, Indiana, and he be- came a rich farmer and leading man of Noble

Bird McLane, the father of George L. Mc- Lane, was born in Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, in 1817, and there resided until 1832, when he came with his father to LaPorte county, where he has since lived. Few, if any, of the residents of the county, now living, antedated his . township. He was born in 1800 and died in 1842,

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Gro L Molane

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and although but in middle life he had already laid the foundation for a snug fortune, so that his family were left in very comfortable circum- stances. The Wells family was of English line- age, and representatives of the name came to the American colonies soon after the first settlements were made. On the family escutcheon there is no stain. Mrs. McLane's grandfather was a com- missary officer in the Revolutionary war, and among his treasured possessions was a personal letter written him by George Washington. On the maternal side Mrs. Bird McLane was de- scended from Frederick Weed, of the Thurlow Weed family, who were of French-Huguenot an- cestry. Frederick Weed emigrated from Con- necticut to Loraine county, Ohio. Mr. McLane has every reason to be proud of his mother's ancestry, who represent the highest type of sturdy and successful New Englanders that, emigrat- ing westward in the early days, developed this into a very rich section of the country.

In the usual manner of farmer lads, George L. McLane spent his boyhood days until seven- teen years of age, when he turned his attention to merchandising at Union Mills, and thus en- tered upon a successful business career, there gaining the knowledge and experience in mer- cantile life that have made him one of the most prosperous merchants of northern Indiana. He built up an extensive trade at Union Mills, and there remained until about twelve years ago, when he came to LaPorte and purchased the interest of L. F. Weaver in the Frederickson & Weaver mercantile establishment, the firm then becoming Frederickson & McLane, by which name it has since been known. The store is one of the larg- est and most important in LaPorte, carrying an extensive line of dry-goods, carpets, curtains and the finer grades of house-furnishing goods. Mr. McLane is also a partner in the still larger store at South Bend, that of McLane, Baird & Com- pany, of which store his brother-in-law, Mr. Baird, is the resident partner. While engaged in merchandising Mr. McLane also became exten- sively interested in the wholesale grain business under the firm name of McLane & Swift, which firm he organized at Union Mills. Their busi- ness rapidly grew, elevators were established at a number of places, and the trade eventually reached a valuation of two million dollars per year. Two years ago Mr. McLane sold out his interest in the business, although on account of this being an incorporated company it still retains the name of McLane, Swift & Company, with headquarters at Battle Creek, Michigan.

A man of splendid business ability and marked capacity as a manager, Mr. McLane has been an important factor in the successful control of other business interests. He is one of the direc- tors of the LaPorte Improvement Company, and is also one of the heaviest stockholders of the Cumberland Mining Company, which owns one of the richest developed and working gold mines in Arizona, it being located in the Prescott district. He is also manager of his father's financial in- terests, and gives supervision to one and all of these various concerns. He quickly comprehends intricate business situations and finds the key to their unraveling. He bases his judgment upon a thorough knowledge of conditions, upon ex- perience and keen foresight, and his word carries weight in mercantile and financial circles.

Mr. McLane was married December 30, 1884, to Miss Mollie Josephine Baird, of Louisiana, Missouri, a daughter of P. H. and Huldah (Gunn) Baird, of one of the prominent southern families of Pike county, Missouri. They have one son, Howard McLane. Mrs. McLane is a member of the Episcopal church, and in social circles the family occupies an enviable position, while their beautiful home on Jefferson avenue is noted for its pleasing hospitality. Mr. McLane in the midst of onerous business duties finds time to aid in movements for the amelioration of the less fortunate and is most charitable to the poor and needy. He is a trustee of the Ruth C. Sabin Home for Old Ladies, and is a member of the Presbyterian church, while in the Masonic fra- ternity he also holds membership. He has gained wealth, but does not regard it as the primary object of life, and the person of upright character always receives from him kindly consideration and ofttimes warm friendship.

MARTIN T. KRUEGER. In 1856 there came to America from Germany Carl Krueger, the grandfather of. Martin T. Krueger. After his arrival he took up his abode in Michigan City, where he continued to reside until his life's labors were ended in death, in the early seventies, when eighty-six years of age. His wife passed to her reward about the same time, her death occurring at the age of seventy-seven years, and to this worthy old couple was born a family of four chil- dren, all of whom came to America.

Included in this number was Carl Krueger, Jr., a native of Mecklenburg, Germany. In his native land he served as coachman for a minister, and in 1864 he joined his parents in the new world, also taking up his abode in Michigan City,

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where the remainder of his days were passed with the exception of one year spent in LaPorte. His death occurred in 1896, when eighty-two years of age. Ere leaving the land of his birth Carl Krueger had married Fredericka Urbahn, whose father, Carl Urbahn, was a shepherd in Germany, and his death occurred there at the age of sixty- five years. To Mr. and Mrs. Carl Krueger were born ten children, six sons and four daughters, and nine are still living, namely : William; Fred C .; Otto C .; Martin T .; Conrad C .; Rudolph F .; Augusta, who became the wife of William Have- kost, both of whom are now deceased; Caroline, the wife of Henry Seegert; Anna, the wife of John Brumner; and Minnie, the wife of Fred Spath. The mother of these children, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, still survives her husband, having reached the age of seventy-five years, and is a worthy member of the Lutheran church, with which Mr. Carl Krueger was also identified.

Martin T. Krueger was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, November 10, 1853, and was a member of the little band, consisting of father, mother and nine children, which crossed the Atlantic to America and took up its abode in Michigan City, Indiana, in 1864. As the parents were poor the children were early compelled to struggle for themselves, and at the early age of thirteen Mar- tin left home and secured work on a farm, re- ceiving six dollars a month during the summer in compensation for his services, while the winters were spent in attending the district school and in doing chores for his board. In 1870 he worked for a time in the Haskell & Barker car shops at Michigan City, after which he learned the trade of making and covering saddle-trees, but this occu- pation became unprofitable, and he then secured employment in a planing-mill, and was next em- ployed in cleaning locomotive grates for the Mich- igan Central Railroad Company. This work proving unhealthy, Mr. Krueger concluded to go farther west, and accordingly resumed agricul- tural pursuits near Mendota, Illinois, where he received twelve dollars a month as a farm hand. Continuing that occupation in Lasalle, Lee and Bureau counties, Illinois, for five years, he then returned to Michigan City in 1877 and began reading law in the office of F. G. Johnson. His preceptor died in the following year, and as Mr. Krueger had no money with which to further pur- sue his studies he secured the agency of the in- surance company lately represented by Mr. John- son and began business for himself, adding real estate and foreign passage to his line. After

some years he was able to resume the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1886. Gradually he withdrew from the insurance business and de- voted himself exclusively to the practice of law. He now enjoys a large practice, and is the local attorney for the Michigan Central Railroad and the Pere Marquette Railroad, the Haskell & Barker Car Company, the First National Bank and many manufacturing firms.

Mr. Krueger cast his first ballot for Tilden and Hendricks, in Bureau county, Illinois, in 1876, this being the only Democratic vote cast in that precinct, and has voted for every Democratic presidential candidate since that time. In 1879 he was elected city clerk of Michigan City, to which position he was re-elected in 1881 and again in 1883. In 1884 he was elected to repre- sent LaPorte county in the lower house of the Indiana legislature, in which he served as chair- man of the committee on cities and towns and was a member of other important committees. He in- troduced and passed seven measures through the house, among them several proposed amendments to the constitution of the state. He surrounded himself with a personal following which in many cases determined the fate of a bill, but rarely took much time in debate. Upon his return from the legislature Mr. Krueger was urged to again be- come the candidate for the office of city clerk but declined, although he afterward consented to be- come the councilman from his ward, which was politically Republican, being nominated by both parties, and served one term. In 1886 he was nominated by the Democratic state convention for clerk of the supreme court, but with the entire ticket was defeated.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 78

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