USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > Pierceton > A history of Pierceton, Indiana > Part 3
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stood where Pierceton now stands. This old cabin was owned by Hannah Warsing, a maiden lady, who died at the age of 70 years. She and Lewis Keith owned the land that Pierceton was later built upon. Mr. Leedy moved upon his own farm February 5, 1843. Here he built a hewed log cabin 18x20 with a clapboard roof. He lived in this for 17 years when he built a frame house. In 1856 he built a barn. Leedy was born in Richland County, Ohio in 1814. At the age of 21 he married Liss Elizabeth Baker. His fat- her was six feet one and weighed 362 pounds. His maternal grand- father was Lewis Keith. Leedy was a republican and served for five years as justice of the peace in his township. For seven years he was township trustee. It appears that a township used to John Irving have three trustees and a clerk. Lesdy, asa Pratt, & // /Øyprzen were trustees together and William O'Brien was township clerk. The Leedys were members of the German baptist Church. For fif- teen years Ir. Leedy was bothered with rheumatism. He opened a bog spring on his farm and found that the waters therefrom cured his trouble. Ile built a sanitarium nearby and people came there to be cured. This was in the 1880's. The waters cured rheumatism, catarrh of the head, dyspepsia and other diseases. Mr. Leedy is mentioned many times in the old Indianians. At the age of 73 Kr. Leedy could read and write without the help of glasses. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children. He was petten pe- titioner of the aibe K. Leedy ditch which drains ground west of the former site of Washington Union church. The Leedy home site is now owned by John Bilts. He was familiar character around the town of Lees Pierceton for fifty years. The -ESey Leedy
sanitarium was a long frame building with an outside porch. We
are told that it burned down and another was never built.
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S. D. Thomas a farmer living on Section 18 in 1887 came to the township in 1865. Rev. A. G. McCarter was born in Penn- sylvania in 1827. In the fall of 1852 he was licensed to preach as a minister in the M.E.Church. In 1856 he was on the Pierceton circuit. In 1880 he retired from active work. He was married on June 17, 1858 to Miss Sarah A. Stinson, a native of Pike County, Ohio. They have been the parents of five children. George Mc Carter and Elmer McCarter were two of the boys. George was sur- veyor of the county for several years and Elmer McCarter served in several public capacities at Pierceton being Postmaster at John one time. Daniel Bennett used to live on the Orr farm where he died in 1863. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1797. He was mar- ried to Miss Susan Decker who was born in 1805. She died in 1864 and her remains were bured buried in the Micheal cemetery. This cemetery is east of the present Road Be 13 and south of Road 30. Daniel Bennett was born in 1829. He was a son of John. He married Rachael ilber. Jacob H. Miller was one of the firm of Miller Brothers of Pierceton dealers in hardware and farm implements in the 1880's. He was born in Stark County, Ohio in 1843. He was wounded in the Civil War and was twice captured by the con- federates and spent some time in Libby prison. In 1880 he came to Pierceton and became associated with his brother Jonas W. Mil- ler in the hardware business. For two years or so he was the town treasurer. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge and to the John Kur- ray Post of the Grand Army of the Republic. It is a pleasure to re read of these oldtimers who came here from the east and cleared the land in and around Pierceton. They had their own pleasures. They lived cloase to Nature and must have enjoyed their work even though it was difficult.
John Makemson was born in Logan County, Ohio, December 19, 1811. His parents were natives of England, and after their immi- gration to the United States they first settled in Kentucky and then went to Logan County, Ohio. There they found the Indians still the principal inhabitants. The settlers were obliged to build block-houses to protect themselves at night from their troublesome neighbors. October 21, 1835 John and Vincent Makemson came to Washington Township, Kosciusko County. warsaw was not laid out yet and Leesburg and Monoquet were the two main villages of the newly formed County. When John came here he had 200 acres of land , a five dollar reserve so far as money is concerned,
two horses, one wagon, six head of cattle, fifteen head of hogs, an ax, handsaw, a cross-cut saw, two planes, a broad ax, a drawing knife and a grindstone. With these tools with his own hands his bedsteads, tables, chairs and other furniture. He made his own farming tools comprising plows, harrows, cultivators, sleds, rakes and grain cradles. Grain cutting had to be done by hand. By kill- ing deer and other game he kept his table supplied with meat. After tanning the hides he made shoes for his family making his own lasts and pegs. He never learned a trade but was brought up on the farm and did farm work. After coming to Washington Townshij he purchased some sheep. His wife spun and carded the wool, got it woven and made all their clothing. He cleared his land and raised corn, beans, and potatoes enough for his own use and some to sell. The first year he was here he cut his own road to War- saw's future site and to Leesburg. He also cut browse enough dur- ing the winter for six head of cattle. He killed that year five de deer, caught fifty muskrats, six minks, one otter, and twenty-five
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raccoons. He also found four bee trees. Honey and maple sugar were used for sugar by the oldtimers. His first year was the best one for the fur trade for the settlers coming in scared the game to other parts. For several years after his arrival in this county the Pottawatomie Indians were numerous. The Squabucks around Osweg were peaceful but the others were more or less troublesome. There were some Miamis at the east end of Nine Mile Lake. Mr. Lakemsons, first tax reciept was for only 33 cents. In 1887 his first install ment was 996.00. He is a public spirited man and liberal. He did much of his trading at Pierceton and when he passed away a good Christian man passed to his reward. Hiram 0. King was a physician in Pierceton in the late 1880's. He was born in 1850 near kendall- ville, Indiana. For several years he taught country school in Noble County. He then took up the study of medicine for several years and began to practise at Moscow, Michigan. In November, 1877 he came to Pierceton. He married Miss Ida B. Wilson of Noble County. They are the parents of one son Ralph Newton King. They attended the Methodist Church. He was a member of the Masonic Lod e and she belonged to the Eastern Star. Mr. King's parents wer natives of Germany, and Richland County, Ohio. His father came to America in 1830. At this time there was nothing but the Kenzie home and a fort marking the present site of Chicago. He first lo- cated in Ohio and then in 1849 came to Noble County. He died in 2 1885 at the age of 79. Doctors in these days had to go horseback over poor roads and the trip out to some cabin was a real journe;
Fever and ague was a common ailment. A patient became cold and had the shakes and then would go into a fever. The year 1838 was called the sickly for many people died that summer. Whiskey was
a commonnementy
In 1887 Edward Ryerson and Hiram F. Smith were publishing
the Pierceton Record. ha This paper had a long life in Pierceton. Edward Ryerson was born in Pierceton in 1863. After leaving school he assisted his father in the lumber business. In 188: he entered the office of the Pierceton Record. Commodore Clemens was an at- torney at Pierceton in 1887. He was born in 1837 in Madison Co- unty, Ohio. His parents came here in 1841 and his father died four years leter. Clemens was reared to be a farmer. Until he was 16 years of age he had had an opportunity to attend only one year of country school. he went back to Ohio and attended school for one year, then attended at Goshen high school a year and at War- saw another year, two years. He worked as a farm hand until 1861 when he started to Union Christian College at Merom, Indiana. In 1863 he began to read law in the office of John W. Caples at war- saw. He was admitted to the bar in 1869. In this respect he was a close contemporary of the late Judge Lem Royse who was admitted in 1873. Royse was also originally from south of Pierceton. Er. Clemens in 1869 began practising law at Pierceton. He affiliated with the democrat party. He married Miss Catherine Garver, a dau- ghter of Jacob and Barbara Kock Garver, whose folks were old set- tlers around Webster. They were the parents of two children astor C. Clemens and Mrs. Mary Brosnahan of Pierceton. Commodore Cle- mans was one of the first members of the Masonic Lodge at Piercetc and figured prominently in the towns affairs for many years. The holding of court in the county was quit an event in earlier years and brought many people to the county seat. The courthouse was a frame building built in 1843-5 on the courthouse square. In 1859 an office building was built north of the courthouse proper and some offices were in this building.
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Dr. William Hayes was born in 1811 in Coshocton County, Ohio. His parents were natives of Ireland, his mother being - from Wales. Ilis father came to America and settled in Virginia. William Hayes came from the same family that President Ruther- ford B. Hayes came from. William was reared to be a farmer. He attended subscription schools of the day and completed his edu- cation by studying privately. He married Miss Amelia McCoy and to this union six children were born. One was S. M. Hayes who grew up around Pierceton and became treasurer of the county and died January 18, 1876 while in office. Hayes lived in Warsaw on the north end of the present post-office site. His funeral was largely attended. inother son Henry W. Hayes in 1887 was in the restaurant business in Pierceton. In 1844 at the age of 33 William Hayes began to study medicine. He went to Cleveland, Ohio and attended a series of lectures and graduated from the Electic Med- ical College in Ginna Cincinnati, Ohio February 8, 1860. To help pay his expenses as a student he worked on the Ohio Canal. In this respect he followed in the footsteps of James 1. Garfield Hayes. who was a tow boy along the Erie Canal about this time. Le came to Pierceton in March, 1854 when the town was just emerging from its cradle. It was then a hamlet containing but five or six fam- ilies. All but one lived in hewed log houses. He acquired some wealth and in 1878 the Hayes Block burned consisting of five bus- ness rooms and his dwelling. All were frames. He built a new 1 Hayes Block this time making it of brick. For years this was used for stores and lodge hals halls. He was a member of the Masonic lodge and also of the Odd Fellows. Hayes additions cover much of
the map of Pierceton.
Samuel M. Hayes, extreasurer of Kosciusko County was born in Coshocten County, Ohio, on August 6, 1839. He had all the advan- tages of a common school education and improved them well. le came to Pierceton with his parents in 1854. His father, Dr. william Hayes, was an active practisioner with a large practise and his sor decided to be a doctor and began to read medicine in his fathers office. He volunteered for duty in the war of the rebellion and became a hospital steward with the 30th regiment. In 1864 he was promoted to assisstant surgeon. Ifter he returned hom he entered his fathers drug store at Pierceton as a clerk. In 1866 he married Miss Virginia Leedy of Mansfield, Ohio. In the campaign of 1872 known as the Horace Greely campaign he was elected treasurer of Kosciusko County. He was re-elected again two years later. he lived in Warsaw during these years on the quarter block now occu- pied by the postoffice in a frame house that sat next to the east and west alley. I.r. Hayes became afflicted with consumption and on the 18th of January centennial year 1876 he departed this life. He left his wife and four children to mourn his departure. he was a member of several branches of the Masonic Lodge, a member of the Odd Fellows at Pierceton and of the Hackleman Encampment I.O.O.F. at arsaw. His funeral was largely attended by the members of these orders. Hayes followed Andy bair as treasurer. bram Funk was ap-
. pointed to succeed Hayes until the next election in 1876. naron Stumpff was the next county treasurer being elected in 1876. when Hayes was treasurer Reub Williams was the clerk of the court, Perry Jaques was sheriff, William G. Piper and J. E. Roberts were re- Colet corders, and James H. Carpenter, probate judge. Hughes was surveyor and the commissioners were James Plummer, William M. O'brien and
Colomon Nichols.
Herman Ingraham stevens was a man who traded much at Pierceton and Wooster years ago. He used to haul goods for Chipman to warsaw from ft. wayne and no doubt he hauled for other merchants along the old Ft. Wayne road. He was born March 1, 1818 in Cayuga County, New York. his father was Timothy Stevens who was a millwright. The family came to Huron County, Chio in 1826 and Timothy Stevens died soon af- ter. The family returned to Cayuga County where the mother died in 1833. Herman attended the common schools in new York state and acquired a good education. In 1839 he was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta Ingraham in Seneca County, Ohio. That same year they came to Kosciusko County and pur- chased a farm which was then in the wilderness. Le improved the farm which was 160 acres in the southwest corner of cash- ington Township. Five children came to bless this home. In 1855 his wife died thus breaking up a happy home. In 1857 he married Mrs. Elizabeth Jane Spencer of Wayne County, N. Y. Therew were two children willie and Jennie. Again in 1861 his home was broken by the death of his wife. For his third wife he married Miss Julia R. Adams of Wayne County, T. Y. Four children were born to them, Charlie, Kittie, Frank and Annie. Tannie. Fannie still lives in Pierceton. Mr. Stevens was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge and a charter member of the Hackleman Encampment. In 1879 he was regared as one of the most substantial farmers in the township. Le was a man of upright character and few possessed the confidence and respect of their fellow men in a more marked degreee The old home is pictured on Page 123 of the atlas which page also shows a picture of Ir. & I'rs. Stevens.
Nelson R. Galbreath was born near Dayton, Ohio, in May 1845. and came with his parents to Indiana in 1852. He and his father began to clear a farm in the unbroken wilderness. He was a soldier in the civil war even though he was small in stature. After the war was over he married Miss Cynthia A. Royse, a sis- ter of Lem Royse. Although his family had been of the democratic belief N. R. identified himself with the republican party. For four years he was a constable in Washington Township. During these years he studied law with J. H. Taylor as his teacher. Taylor was an attorney in Pierceton, and lived south of town where the Ryer- Galbreath sons had lived some years before. He took an active part in poli- tics but never practised law. In 1883 he and his wife were baptise into the religious faith of the Church of God. The Galbreaths were the parents of eight children and the descendants of N. R. and his wife still live around Pierceton. N. R. Galbreath was one of a family of ten children. His father was of Scotch ancestry and his mother was Pennsylvania German. The father, Alexander Gal- breath died in September, 1874 on the same farm where he had lived for thirty five years. Mrs. Galbreath's father, G. ". ... Royse, was a native of Canada. Her mother was born in Vermont. They were married in 1834 and came to the present vicinity of Fierceton in 1835. Both of them were school teachers. G. A. is supposed to have taught the first school in the countyon the prairie west of Leesburg which was then just a village surrounded by Indians and a few whites. Royse took the east side of the county in the first. assessment and we have his old record. Felkner took the west. This was in 1836. G.W ... was a minister of the gospel. He died before the civil war and his son Lem took care of the family.
Samuel Galbreath was born in Darke County, Chio in 1827. He was a son of John and Elizabeth Galbreath who were natives of Pennsylvania. John Galbreath was born in 1780. This was three years after the Revolutionary Mar was ended. H-s Samuel Galbreath' mother died near Pierceton at her son's home in 1869. She was a member of the Universalist church: samuel married Miss Sarah Kelt- ner and they were the parents of seven children. ilice, one of the daughters, became the wife of Henry Hayes. Jemima and Marion · Galbreath were two of the children. Samuel located on 106 acres of heavily timbered land in 1852 about the time that Fairview was being laid out. "rs. Galbreath died in 1856. Some years later he married Mrs. Margaret Hibbets and seven children were born to this marriage. He was a republican in politics and an active member in the Masonic lodge. Levi P. Snyder was born in _ennsyl- vania in 1829. At the age of 4 he was taken by his parents to Richland County, Chio. Here he grew to manhood and in 1853 came to this county. For nine years he did farming in washington Town- ship. From 186. to 1865 he clerked in a store at Pierceton and then went to Larwill where he was a clerk until 1869. Then for eleven years he was a business man in Larwill and then came to Pierceton. Here he became a member of the firm Shanton, humphreys and Snyder who had a hardware store. He was much interested in the Masonic Lodge of which he was a member. Ee was a man of strict integrity and by his fair and honorable dealings with his custom- ers he gained the confidence and respect of all who knew him. Clerks in these days spent long hours in the store and recieved
small pay perhaps .9.00 a week. Stores opened ant time after 6 in
the morning and did not close until 9 or 10 at night. Some places kept open on Sunday from about 8 to 11.
Isaac Raymond Shanton was born near Waynesburg, Stark County; Ohio in 1834. He was one of eight children of Abraham and Cather- ine Woy Shanton. His father was a farmer by occupation and came to Washington Township in 1868. Isaac attended the district school and completed his childhood education at Pierceton when Prof. I. M. Gross was at the head of the schools. At the age of 19 he besar teaching school in this county. Some people ar; perhaps still living around Pierceton who went to him as a teacher. During this time he spent the summer months as a clerk. In 1882 he form- ed a partnership with R. I .. Humphrays in the hardware business. On January 1, 1885 he was united in marriage with Miss Eva L. Guy, a daughter of Norman and Mary Guy, old residents of Pierce- ton. Mr. Shanton and his wife were both prominent in the Presby- terian church, he being leader of the choir, and she being the organist. He was a member of the Odd Fellows. The ditch going thru Froehley Lake and on into Cedar Creek is known as the Ike Shanton Ditch. Er. & I'rs. Shanton lived on the corner south of the church and on the east side of First Street. He was as well known as any man about the town and was a highly respected citizer Gabriel I. Lesh was born in Preble County, Ohio, in 1843. In 1846 his parents took him to Wabash County, Indiana, locating in North Manchester. Here G.B. was reared as a farmer until 1861. From this date to 1869 he taught school and became principal at Pierce- ton. About 1868 he engaged in the lumber business at Pierceton
and a year or so later took 0. H. Matthews as a partner. In 1872 they sold out and went to Warsaw and started a plow handle factory
The Lesh factory in Pierceton was 'northeast of the depot. The
Lesh factory was a large concern in the county seat until about the close of the century when for lack of good lumber they Huit.
here went smith.
Daniel J. Dick was a doctor in Pierceton in the early days. He came here in the spring of 1865. His father was in the revo- lutionary war and he was a soldier in the Mexican War and was wounded. He was succeeded in his pracitse by hi's son M. L. Dick. George W. Ryerson was born April 9, 1811, in Butler County, Ohio. He was one of five children of John Ryerson and Anna Ryerson. They lived with their children in Darke County, Ohio for some time and then were driven out by the Indians. The county seat of this
Indián
county is Greenville where the bigatreaty was made in 1795. After-
wards they returned to Darke county and John Ryerson became promin- ently associated with its early history. George W. grew to manhood in the woods of Ohio. In 1833 he married Miss Rebecca Lipps who was a native of Greenbrier County, Virginia. In the fall of 1833 he came to Ft. wayne. In 1836 he came to this county and lived for three years on Turkey Creek Prairie and in 1839 came to Washington Township. Here he purchased a wooded tract which he made into a farm. Throughout a long residence in the township he sustained the reputation of an honorable and upright citizen. he was ever ready to lend aid to the needy and was always a hearty supporter of any worthy public enterprise. He died November 2, 1871. Samuel Fire- stone was born in Logan County, Ohio in 1827. it the age of ten in 1837 he came to this county. In 1853 he married Miss Sarah Fash- baugh. To this union ten children were born. He owned a large farm on the east side of Ridinger Lake and in all owned 332 acres. lle was a member of the Masonic Lodge in Pierceton. Joseph Warner came to this county in the fall of 1848. He lived on 160 acres east of Froehly Lake, the SW4 of section 14-32-7. He cleared this 160 acres and made it into a fine farm. Besides farming he was owner of a mill site in Whitley County. He was one of the successful farmers of the township.
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John Late Wince was born in Culpepper County, Virginia on the day before Christmas in 1832. On the morning of the phenomenon of the falling stars in November, 1833 his paret parents moved to Muskingum County, Ohio. Lere they followed farming until 1854 when they moved to a site near Pierceton. It was in Whitley County. he John attended the district school and the high school at Columbia (City) . He then left home and spent ten years teaching in Ohio. Then for seven years he was an invalid and lived at home with his father. In 1867 he came to washington Township and and on March 13 he married Sarah Roxana Chaplin who was born in 1836 and had spent her life south of the present site of Pierceton. Her father was a native of Vermont and her mother of Tioga County, New York state. They came to Washington Township and purchased 160 acres of timber- ed land which he proceeded to clear. They' experienced all the hard- ships and privation incident to pioneer life. Mrs. Chaplin died in 1872 and her husband went to Plymouth where he preached and was the edøtor and publisher of The Restitution, a religious paper. lir. &
Mrs. Wince were members of the Church of God and her husband was
an elder and preached in different places. Ers. Tince for a long t
time wrote poetry and sent itt to the Northern Indianian. Old issue 5
of the papers contain many of her writings and poems. M. P. Chaplin in 1879 owned the SE_ of Section 29 and 40 acres in Section 33. The old angling road to Ryersons went past their buildings. By re- ferring to a Standard History of Kosciusko County published in 1917 and sponsored by the late Judge Royse we find some interesting data given by Mrs. Winch concerning the old days in Washington Township when she was a girl in the neighborhood. Te include some of these.
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, "I was not intimately acquainted with John hakemson but have good cause to hold him in kindly memory because of his Christian bearing towards my brother. His people came from England to Ken- tucky and had moved from there to Logan County, Ohio. The settlers there had to flee to blockhouses at night to protect themselves from the Indians. John was born there December 19, 1811. He came to this township with his brother Vincent in October, 1835. They settled in Section 3. John took up 200 acres. Uncle John was a good man and much esteemed. Ile helped in the building of ten of our churches. They lived alone in the township with the Indians for a year. In the fall of 1836 others came here including John MoNeal, Henry Hoover, George and Henry Sommerville, Samuel Tire- stone, William Moore, Alexander Graham and William beasley. The first school in the township was taught by Adam Laing in a log building on the pr sent (1879) farm of William Moore. Laing was married to my aunt Mary J. Chaplin. Mr. Edward Cone, brother of Irs. David Hayden pronounced the ceremony and was so frightened that he forgot to pronounce the couple man and wife. My babay baby brother Byron was the "best man" . He stood up with them and held fast to her dress, a pretty figured delaine. Mr. Morse Pierce Chaplin, my uncle and brother of the bride, was married a short time before to Sarah Ann Morris. This was one of the first-weddings ever held in the township. Prine Albert and Queen Victoria were married about the same time. Billy illiams of the county seat married Miss Elizabeth J. Douglas about this time. He became one of the outstanding politicians of future days. The Sommervilles were find people. The two sons of George w.re my pupils when I taught school in the winter of 1857-8. "
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