A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 29

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 887

USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

also attending the Hillsdale college. On the completion of his education he learned the tinner's trade, and was thereafter employed in his father's hardware store until the later's death, when he assumed the control of the business in company with his brother, Captain Edward Nicar and brother-in-law, Dwyght Deming. Mr. Nicar subsequently withdrew from the firm and engaged in the hardware busines for himself in this city, thus continuing until he sold his interests in 1875 and turned his attention to market gardening and general farming, also becoming purchas- ing agent for the Birdsell Manufacturing Com- pany of South Bend, having entire charge of their buying for four years. At the close of that period he engaged in the real estate busi- ness, which he now conducts in connection with a fruit ranch one and a half miles south of Spring Brook, and which is one of the finest properties of its kind in the state of Indiana. It consists of a tract of thirty acres, planted to many varieties of fruit, and its product has received more first premiums than that of any other farm in the state. Mr. Nicar is also connected with the Indian- apolis, Logansport & South Bend Railroad Company, of which he is one of the stock- holders and directors, and at one time was treasurer of the company.

In 1865 Mr. Nicar was united in marriage to Mary Taylor, the daughter of the late. Colonel L. M. Taylor, the founder of South Bend, where his daughter was born on the twenty-fourth of May, 1844, and was edu- cated in its public schools and St. Mary's seminary. The only child of this marriage is a son, Robert L., of Seattle, Washington. Mr. Nicar has given lifelong support to the Republican party, always active in its work, and for five years served as the assessor of Union township. He is president of the St. Joseph County Horticultural society and a member of the Grange. Sixty-five years have passed and gone since Mr. Nicar became iden- tified with the interests of St. Joseph county, and fifty-five years of that time have been spent in South Bend, years devoted to the improvement and upbuilding of its many in- terests. He has been a traveler throughout his life, visiting nearly all sections of the United States, and thus gaining that exten- sive information which only travel can bring.

EARL R. PERRIN is numbered among the enterprising young business men of St. Jo-

seph county. A community depends upon commercial activity, its welfare is due to this, and its promoters of extensive business en- terprises may well be termed its benefactors. Mr. Perrin was born in Lena, Illinois, Sep- tember 13, 1870, a son of Noah and Rosannah (Henderson) Perrin, the former a native of Pottsdam, New York, and the latter of Brock- ville, Ontario. In 1854 the father removed to Illinois, where he taught school and had charge of the construction work on the Illi- nois Central Railroad. He later embarked in the grain trade, purchasing the first grain ever brought into Lena. A number of years ago he retired from the active cares of a business life, and he now spends much of his time in traveling. His wife died in 1894, at the age of sixty-four years.

Earl R. Perrin, one of their nine children, three of whom are now living, received his educational training in the public schools of Lena, Illinois. For several years after laying aside his text books he was engaged in the ad- vertising business. Since 1896 he has been a resident of South Bend, and during a year and a half of the early period of his resi- dence here he was engaged in the study of law, and although he did not continue in the profession he obtained a knowledge of its fundamental principles which proved useful to him in his subsequent business career. In 1900 he embarked in the real estate business, first conducting operations in partnership with Daniel Gise, but in February, 1904, he purchased his partner's interest and has since been alone. He has contributed much toward the development of his adopted city and county. Among other work he laid out and developed the Battell Second Park Addition of Mishawaka, and also built for five blocks a boulevard eighty feet wide, with beautiful flower plots at the intersections of the streets. This was the first step toward the long pro- posed idea of building a boulevard from Mishawaka to South Bend. In South Bend Mr. Perrin is also interested in the Bowman addition and other enterprises for the im- provement of the city. He also represents the Continental Fire Insurance Company of New York.

On the first of January, 1900, Mr. Perrin was united in marriage to Miss Mae Humes, a daughter of John and Loranna (Tipton) Humes, of St. Joseph county. Mr. Perrin holds membership relations with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and is depart-

Digitized by Google

Digitized by

Google

·: Y Of SE JUSEPH COUNTY

For mental activit , Es War and its promoters of early

1 ,f

I.v. 1. 1 21' ! ! :.

.. Yo:k and the tat 1

. .....

" :.

Fax: R. Parro . ..

Pord. and day

Be tes contribut :

we agement of his adopten

19:

Digitized by Google

of th.

„Pratat q trait . ? !

rights ..: 1

Digitized by

Google

.. dom

Digitized by

Google

7 :. E

1 J . J

Digitized by

Google

Digitized by

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY

Gods of Indian for the Patii-

o tar gnf ried branch of the :. was holds membership in several

It is of that ...... .. ]

dit broad ... . wie

: who brought him when all months to America, and settled og a f;sn m Borren On the home stead he de- mi, worked on the form

a noter and a thirty dem fare hip. two and a half mins ath Bend, married and .here

His aft. " settling a German

.12. .. Barer carried on att estangen disposing of his me won't 1. Sunil Bond, afterwards contracting . With h obtained from inthe ast - in his hand. For tive yours the way . 4 for roofin . for the Ford Rost

. rooting for the Outer OF a. i and a orly as mạnh for the Brothers Manufacturing Co- are far Minstramones at the ma-

former years he conted

ats 'nde to his roofing business SOPS.

Pod to Miss Fier. E M ber, who

and Amanda F. R .P ist : Janes R., Damar: 15. ... 10 1xx. and Many L. in 1 - Mr. Begge & a worthy

- a good citizen and gal, and se petter . worthE pr.

antal total father of the party. . a mon er of the Masmnie fra- I Odd Fellows order for the best

part of his life and in The fraternal o'valy tions

man and de wasa

...

for. .

white, and incomptant .

men.

weget in the drug bush .. .

who, he was one of it. Di teians. For eleven years Mr. Saber ka Fra mom- bership relations with the Knights of the Ma"- the Denovatie : Les ile is an earrest worker and a valand many as the Armaty Presbyterian church true . and secretary. od m all the varied relations of fate he is grew up him. It a worthy fart. r.

C. A. D.p. Organ. en ensalle pen- fin In to Be free of South Bend. 1. A. D ja is he moved and respected is vil. not alone on account of the Stress no . achieved. but also by reven of the manoralle, straight rwand i war paley he has over

Michigan on the 27th of August. It". of Josepy M. : : Ford di . Com Dolph. roth natives of the state of New York- Tlx father was born in Rochester, that state. July 1.

Digitized by Google

Digitized by

Google

781

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

ment commander of Indiana for the Patri- archs Militant, the uniformed branch of the order. He also holds membership in several other fraternal societies.

JOHN BEYRER, a prosperous real estate dealer of South Bend, is of that substantial and invaluable German stock which combines unfailing industry and broad common sense with native shrewdness and business ability. He is a native of the Fatherland, born No- vember 22, 1850, to Jacob and Barbara (Greiner) Beyrer, who brought him when an infant of six months to America, and settled with their family on a farm in Berrien county, Michigan. On this homestead he de- veloped to manhood, working on the farm and attending the district schools of his neigh- borhood, thus assisting his father and himself until he had reached the age of twenty-six year. He then purchased a thirty-acre farm in German township, two and a half miles northwest of South Bend, married and there established a home of his own.

For eight years after settling in German township Mr. Beyrer carried on an extensive dairy business, disposing of his product mostly in South Bend, afterwards contracting for gravel which he obtained from immense deposits in his land. For five years he sup- plied the gravel for roofing for the Ford Roof- ing Company of Chicago, has graveled twen- ty-one acres of roofing for the Oliver Chilled Plow Works and nearly as much for the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Com- pany, which are fair illustrations of the mag- nitude of the business which he conducts in this line. In former years he devoted some of his time to the real estate business, but is now devoting his time to his roofing business with his sons.

On the eleventh of October, 1877, Mr. Bey- rer was married to Miss Flora E. Miller, who was born in Warren township, this county, September 25, 1856, and is a daughter of James R. and Amanda E. (Ritter) Miller. Their four children were born: J. Lloyd, C. A. DOLPH. Occupying an enviable posi- tion in the business circles of South Bend, August 11, 1878; James R., December 16, 1881; Ada, June 10, 1886, and Mary L., in . C. A. Dolph is honored and respected by all, December, 1890. Mrs. Beyrer is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Her husband is a good citizen and man, and a warm practical supporter of worthy pro- jects. Politically he is a Republican, and an active and influential local factor of the party. He has been a member of the Masonic fra- ternity and Odd Fellows order for the best

part of his life, and is also a member of other fraternal organizations. Altogether he is a man and citizen who is a credit to himself, his nationality and the community in which he has faithfully labored for so many years.

E. A. SCHIFFER. Numbered among the younger but prominent business men of South Bend is E. A. Schiffer, who is the proprietor of one of its leading drug houses, located at 527 East Jefferson street. South Bend also claims him among her native sons, his birth here occurring on the tenth of August, 1876, a son of E. A. and Augusta (Tesmer) Schif- fer, both natives of Germany. Mr. E. A. Schiffer was numbered among this city's earliest residents, where he was engaged as a florist for a number of years, and his death occurred at the comparatively early age of thirty-two years. His widow is yet living, and is now the wife of August Kuss.

South Bend has continued as the home of E. A. Schiffer throughout his entire life, his educational training having been received in its public schools, and he is also a graduate in pharmacy. When twenty-one years of age he engaged in the drug business at his present stand. Gradually he has ascended the ladder of success, his business constantly growing in volume and importance, and the city now numbers him among her substantial business men.

In 1899 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schiffer and Miss Grace May Arris, her father having been the late John Arris, whose name is so well known throughout South Bend, where he was one of its leading politicians. For eleven years Mr. Schiffer has held mem- bership relations with the Knights of the Mac- cabees, and his political affiliations are with the Democratic party. He is an earnest worker and a valued member of the Trinity Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as trustee and secretary, and in all the varied relations of life he is proving himself a worthy factor.

· not alone on account of the success he has achieved, but also by reason of the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. He was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, on the 27th of August, 1862, a son of Joseph M. and Cordelia (Cox) Dolph, both natives of the state of New York. The father was born in Rochester, that state, July 1,

Digitized by Google

782

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

1835, his parents being Obed and Electa (Lewis) Dolph. His educational training was received in the schools of his native state, and during his boyhood days he moved with his parents and family to Ithaca, New York, where he resumed his studies. In 1848 the family home was established in Michigan, and young Joseph engaged in cabinet-making and the undertaking business, and his efforts have ever since been directed along that line. In 1892 he came to South Bend to join his son in the furniture business. On the 24th of Feb- ruary, 1864, Mr. Dolph enlisted for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of the second company of Sharpshooters attached to the Twenty-seventh Michigan infantry. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House, in the latter of which he was wounded and was discharged on the 18th of August, 1865. He now makes his home in South Bend, and is a member of Auten Post, No. 8, G. A. R., in which he main- tains pleasant relations with his old army comrades.

Charles A. Dolph came to South Bend in 1892 and organized the extensive furniture business of which he is now the proprietor. In 1903 he assisted in organizing the South Bend Brick Company and he is the treasurer of the company and also a director. This com- pany turns out over ten million brick a year and is an industry of importance in this sec- tion of the state. He is a director and vice- president of the Merchants National bank, and is a director and one of the original incor- porators of the Home Improvement Company, which made Navarre Place one of the most beautiful home sights in the state of Indiana. In 1882 Mr. Dolph was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Snyder, a daughter of Philip and Betsey (Snider) Snyder. One son, Frank, has been born to this union, a promising young man now serving as assistant in his father's business. Another son, Bertie, died in 1894, at the age of nine years. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Dolph also has membership relations with the Commercial Athletic club.

W. R. PHILLIPS. In the business circles of South Bend Mr. W. R. Phillips has become an important factor through his connection with the coal and wood trade, and as a mem- ber of the firm of Kanouse & Phillips he is well known in its industrial interests. His birth ocurred in Center township of St. Jo- seph county April 29, 1859, a son of Randolph

Phillips, who claimed Virginia as the common- wealth of his nativity, and he was there reared to years of maturity. He was also married to one of its native daughters, Lucy Ann Storer, and they became early settlers of St. Joseph county, Indiana, and the parents of four sons, one of whom died when young.

W. R. Phillips, the youngest in order of birth of the four sons, attained to years of maturity in his native township of Center, attending its public schools during his early boyhood days, and after reaching a suitable age engaged in the tilling of the soil. For some time he was also employed as a house painter, and in 1888 he embarked in the coal and wood business in company with Mr. Ka- nouse, this business relationship continuing to the present time. They conduct both a whole- sale and retail trade, with offices at 540 South Chapen street, and they are among the lead- ers in their line in South Bend, and are num- bered among the city's valued and useful resi- dents.

In Paris, Illinois, in 1885, Mr. Phillips was united in marriage to Rosella Green, who died leaving one son, Ralph, a resident of Pitts- burg, Pennsylvania. In 1900, Mr. Phillips wedded Anna Clingman, and their only child, Helen, is now six years of age. Mr. Phillips has been a lifelong resident of St. Joseph county, and since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has supported the prin- ciples of the Democratic party. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a man of business, and his honorable methods of dealing haye won him the unbounded confi- dence of his fellow citizens.

J. E. WILLIAMS is a worthy representative of the business interests of South Bend, and possesses that progressive spirit which, un- deterred by seeming obstacles or disadvan- tages, steadily presses forward to a desired end and accomplishes the result in view. Throughout his entire life he has been a resi- dent of St. Joseph county, his birth having occurred within its borders in North Liberty on the 11th of August,, 1852. The paternal family has long been established in the United States, and is traced back to Thomas Will- iams, who came from the mother country of England in 1777 and planted the family home on American shores. He was of Welsh descent. The grandfather of our subject, George Williams, was born in Harpswell, Maine, August 3, 1777, and was married to Mabel Litchfield, of South Lewiston, that

Digitized by Google

1 1

---

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC L'OTARY

Astor, Lenex and Tilden Four gations. 1909

Digitized by

Google

Jacob P.T. Finch

Digitized by Google

783

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

state. Their son, Sumner G. Williams, was born in Durham, Maine, December 20, 1813, and as early as 1836 he came to Indiana, locating in North Liberty, where he was en- gaged as a farmer and carpenter until he retired from the active duties of a business life and established his home in South Bend in 1874. His death occurred on the 23d of April, 1894. In his early manhood Mr. Wil- liams married Ann Wood, who was born on Staten Island, New York, of French descent. She was in her eighty-fourth year when death claimed her, and had been the mother of twelve children, only three of whom are now living: W. S., who is now engaged in busi- ness with his brother J. E., and Mabel, the wife of Jacob Reamer, of South Bend.

J. E. Williams remained on the home farm in St. Joseph county until he came to South Bend in 1874, purchasing the grocery store of J. W. Buffman, the business being carried on under the firm name of Reamer & Williams until Mr. Williams purchased his partner's interest in 1888. Remaining alone from that time until 1897, his brother, W. S. Williams, then became a member of the firm, which is now known as Williams & Brother. South Bend has long placed this institution at the forefront of her business interests, and the house enjoys a large and representative trade.

In 1877 Mr. Williams was united in mar- riage to Anna, the youngest daughter of Col. Norman Eddy, of South Bend, and they have three children, Owen, of Mishawaka; Eugene, at home; and Bertha, the wife of Harold E. Herr, of South Bend. To Mr. Williams belongs the honor of being the second oldest grocery merchant in point of years of con- tinuous service in South Bend, his connec- tion with the trade continuing during the long period of thirty-four years, while during that time there has been no shadow of wrong or injustice to mar his career. At one time he represented the third ward in the city council, and for one term served as a mem- ber of the city council, the cause of education ever finding in him a warm friend. His fra- ternal relations are with the Masonic order. Having spent his entire life in St. Joseph county, Mr. Williams is very widely known, and his extensive circle of friends and the warm regard in which he is held indicate his upright and honorable life.

JACOB P. T. KIRSCH. For many years Mr. Kirsch has occupied a very conspicuous place among the leading business men of South

Bend. As the manager of the South Bend Mercantile Company, he is prominently con- nected with its commercial interests, and through the channels of trade has contributed not alone to his individual prosperity but to the welfare of others as well. His birth occurred in Friedheim, Adams county, In- diana, July 10, 1869. His father, Charles Kirsch. was a native son of the fatherland, born in Baden, Germany, but when eighteen years of age he came to America. In Indiana he was married to Margaret Kiefer, who was born in Adams county, that state, of German descent. They became the parents of nine children, seven of whom grew to years of maturity.

Jacob P. T. Kirsch, the sixth child and second son in order of birth, spent the early years of his life in his native place, receiving his higher education in Addison Seminary, of Addison, Illinois, where for five years he pursued the teacher's course. Thus with this excellent educational training to serve as the foundation for his future life work he entered the teacher's profession, spending about two years in Pekin, Illinois, and about seven years in South Bend, he having taken up his abode in this city in 1880. About 1887 he abandoned the professional for a business career, embarking in the general mercantile order and advertising business, and on the 19th of June, 1906, he organized the South Bend Mercantile Company, of which he was made the secretary and manager. The com. pany sells all kinds of merchandise by mail. By his able management of finances, Mr. Kirsch has succeeded in placing it upon a substantial and paying basis, and is making it one of the leading mercantile interests of the city. He is also the secretary and treas- urer of the South Bend Advertising Agency.

Mr. Kirsch was first married to Anna Knoll, by whom he had one child, Hulda, while by his second marriage, to Lizetta Hans, he has become the father of four children, Renata, Oswald, Genevieve and Aletha. Mr. Kirsch is an active and valued member of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church, in which he is completing his third term of three years as one of its deacons, and for seven years he has also served as a teacher in its parochial school. In this city, where they have so long been citizens, the family are held in the highest regard by their in- numerable friends.

HILTON HAMMOND. The name of Hilton

Digitized by Google

784

HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

Hammond occupies a high place in the busi- ness circles of St. Joseph county, being well known in connection with contracting and real estate, and the success he has achieved is the result of enterprise and his own un- aided efforts. He was born on a farm m Bartholomew county, Indiana, near Colum- bus, October 1, 1860, his father being Joseph Hammond and a native of Switzerland coun- ty of this state, but was reared in Cincinnati. In 1863 he moved west to Hastings, Minne- sota, where he continued his occupation of contracting, for he too was well known as a contractor and builder, and his death oc- curred in Kansas City, Missouri, January 1, 1893, when he had reached the age of seventy- three years. He was of English descent, as was also his wife, nee Minerva Hilton, a na- tive of Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was reared and educated. Her father, John Hil- ton, taught the first public school in that city, continuing in the profession for forty years, and his labors were effective in raising the standard of the schools with which he was connected. During the Civil war he served as scout for General Harrison. Mrs. Ham- mond passed away in death in 1892, aged sixty-eight years, the mother of eleven chil- dren, seven of whom grew to years of ma- turity.

Hilton Hammond, the sixth child and fifth son in order of birth, began in the contracting business with his father when only thirteen years of age, and two years later, at the early age of fifteen, he started out in the world to battle for himself, traveling over the country as a journeyman until his ar- rival in South Bend in 1888, coming hither from Chicago and associating himself with the well known contractor, Mr. Werst. Sev- ering his connection with that gentleman six years later, he entered the contracting field for himself, and many of the finest buildings which now adorn St. Joseph county stand as monuments to his ability, among which may be mentioned the Jefferson building, several of the Singer manufacturing buildings, the Masonic Temple, Places Hall on Lafayette street, and he now has in course of construc- tion the Y. W. C. A. building. Mr. Ham- mond is also extensively interested in real estate in St. Joseph county, where he owns and handles much valuable property. He today ranks among the leading men of finance in his adopted county, and although a young man his creditable life work has

won him the respect and commendation of all who are familiar with his history.

In 1884 Mr. Hammond was married to Reese Bailey, the daughter of Elisha Bailey, and their only child is a daughter, Edith, the wife of A. C. Mecklenburg, a manufacturer of gasoline engines in South Bend. Mr. Ham- mond is a prominent member of the Masonic order, having reached the Knight Templar degree, and in his political affiliations he up- holds the principles of the Democracy.

FRED T. KEMBLE may well be termed one of the representative business men of South Bend, as well as one of its most highly re- spected and esteemed citizens. He is an hon- ored veteran of the war of the rebellion, and his bravery aided in no small way the cause for which he victoriously fought. He was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, De- cember 13, 1843. His father, John Kemble, also a native of that commonwealth, became a resident of South Bend on the 3d of June, 1853, where he engaged in farming, saw-mill- ing and the distillery business. He was quite an old man at the time he established his home in this city, and he was the father of twelve children, of whom his son Fred was the youngest in order of birth and was nine years of age when he accompanied his father to South Bend. In 1861 he offered his service to his country's cause, enlisting in Company E, Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and after three years of service re-enlisted in the same company and regiment and was mustered out as first duty sergeant on the 17th of July, 1865, his military career having covered a period of four years. During that time he participated in many of the historic battles of the war, including those of Corinth, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, siege of Vicksburg, the Atlanta campaign and the march of Sherman to the sea and finally took part in the grand review at Washington. Al- though often in the thickest of the fight he was never wounded or in the hospital, and his military career is one of which he may justly be proud.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 29

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916 Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 887

Author: Howard, Timothy Edward, 1837-1916
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 887