A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 53

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 53

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yours sincerly Av. alexander Buscher

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THE NEW YORK PUBLK L.FRARY

Aster, Lanex and Tiden Foundations. 1909

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

work to infuse new life in the district, and of the choicest literature to the number of although many obstacles beset his path he ac- fully a thousand volumes. complished the work he had laid out to do.

He at once introduced to the parishioners the idea of a modern church building as well as the necessity of increasing the facilities of the school and enlarging the membership. On the 30th of August, 1903, he laid the corner stone for the foundation of the beautiful and symmetrical structure which now adorns Olive township, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Father John Kasprzyski, then pastor of the great St. Stanislaus parish of Chicago, the largest in the world. He is now general of the Resurrectionists of Rome. The foun- dation for this structure was stopped for a time for the lack of funds, but in the summer of 1904 the walls were erected, while in 1906 the brickwork and roof were finished, and the beautiful church as it stands today represents an expenditure of twenty seven thousand dol- lars. It was duly dedicated on Labor day, September 3, 1906, the dedicatory ceremony being performed by Very Rev. U. Raszkiewicz, the oldest priest in the state of Indiana. A large concourse of people were present, also numerous brother priests, and the day was a red letter one for the people of St. Stanislaus. The present school numbers seventy-five pupils and one teacher, while the men's sodal- ity has a membership of fifty and the ladies' forty-five, the young ladies' forty and the young men's is in formation. Father Buech- ler has organized all of these societies, and in addition to his own parish, numbering one hundred and thirty families, he has a mission of sixty-five families near Rolling Prairie, La- porte county, Indiana. Just recently Father Buechler has had the beautiful church fres- coed and beautifully decorated windows en- throned. He is also erecting a church in the St. John Cantius Parish, near Rolling Prairie, Laporte county, at a cost of six thousand dollars, which will be completed in the spring of 1908.

Father Buechler is a young priest of cul- ture and refinement, possessing unusual vigor, and he is proving a great help not only to his own parishioners but to the citizens of Olive township. The priest's home, as well as the church, are well lighted by an electric light plant of a six horse-power gasoline engine, and the home is cosily and tastefully fur- nished, a fitting abode where he may royally entertain bishop, priest or the laity. In this home is also a library well stocked with books

CHARLES IVINS. The pioneer record of a county or state is one of the most important epochs in its annals, and Charles Ivins has been a resident of the little town of New Carlisle longer than any living citizen and has witnessed the wonderful transformation in St. Joseph county from its primitive state to one of the greatest manufacturing centers in the middle west. He was born in Butler county, Ohio, May 15, 1826, a son of Joseph and Sarah (Morris) Ivins. In their family were six children, two sons and four daugh- ters, but Charles is now the only survivor of the family. Joseph Ivins, a native of New Jersey, was an hotel keeper and farmer, and his father, Moses Ivins, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, which entitles his descend- ants to membership in the order of Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. Joseph Ivins emigrated from his native state of New Jersey to Ohio when a young man, and in Butler county in that state was married and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1834 he made the journey by ox teams to St. Joseph county, Indiana, locating within two and a half miles of New Carlisle, and pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Warren township, his first home being a little log cabin, which was located partly in Michi- gan and partly in Indiana. His political sup- port was given to the Whig party. During a long period he was an hotel keeper, and in 1839 he came to New Carlisle and resumed that occupation, his hostelry having been sit- uated on the old stage line from Detroit to Chicago. His death occurred when he had reached the age of sixty-three years, three months and fourteen days, in the year 1862. His wife, also a native of Trenton, New Jer- sey, was a brave pioneer mother, and was a member of the Episcopal church, passing away in that faith in New Carlisle at the age of sixty-four years and three months, in her son's home.

Charles Ivins was but eight years of age when the family home was established in St. Joseph county, and thus for almost three- fourths of a century he has lived within its borders, and is now possibly the oldest stage route agent living in northern Indiana. He began that occupation when but a boy, hav- ing driven to Chicago when that city was but a hamlet, and also from Kalamazoo to New Buffalo and St. Joseph, this being the long-

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est stage line in the United States at that time. His route made connection with the lake steamers to Chicago and Milwaukee, and he has staged between the two cities. In 1850 Mr. Ivins started with four large horses and a fine outfit for California, the El Dorado of the west, the trip consuming five months, and during the journey passed Salt Lake and saw the great Mormon temple, and crossed the great American desert of ninety miles in two days and two nights, carrying water in kegs. Arriving in Placerville, California, he was en- gaged in a search for the precious metal for three years, when he turned his attention to the stock business at Sacramento, and was reasonably successful in his endeavors until he entered upon the work of draining the American river, where he met with great loss. But not discouraged, he at once turned his attention to ranching, conducting a sale and feed stable, and he continued his residence in the Golden state until 1853, returning thence by the Nicaragua route to the states and ar- riving in New York in 1853.

Mr. Ivin's education in his boyhood days was of the pioneer type, having attended the old log cabin school, eighteen by twenty feet in size, with a clap board roof and heated by the old-fashioned fireplace and stick chimney, while the seats were of slabs and the writing desk a broad board resting upon wooden pins, the children using the old goose quill pen fashioned by the master. The schools were maintained by private subscriptions, and the teachers boarded at the scholars' homes. Mr. Ivins can only quote two of his classmates in that old temple of learning who are now liv- ing, Henry Ranstead and "Lucky" Baldwin. He has used the old cradle to cut the grain, and has also seen his father cut the grain with a sickle. He can also well remember the first binder which was brought into Olive township. Mr. Ivins has been twice married, first to Miss Helen Pierce, by whom he had one son, Walter. The wife and mother died in 1863, and Mr. Ivins afterward married Mrs. Mary (Gish) Streets, their wedding hav- ing been celebrated in 1864. Their only child is a daughter, Carrie, the wife of Wells Dennee, a resident of New York city, and both are on the stage. Mrs. Ivins is a native of South Bend, Indiana, born February 17, 1842, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Chalfant) Gish, and she is the only survivor of their two children. By her first marriage to James P. Streets she became the mother of

one daughter, Minnie M., now the widow of Robert L. Frewin and a resident of New York city. She also has one daughter, Maude P.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ivins started by team for the Pacific slope, passing en route Joliet, Council Bluffs, Omaha, Den- ver .and Salt Lake City, and this beautiful trip was one of the greatest pleasures of their lives. Mr. Ivins took charge of one hundred and thirty-five miles of stage road in Ne- braska in 1865, and as this was the time of the great Indian outbreak it was indeed a hazard- ous undertaking, as the stages had to be es- corted by the military. Schuyler Colfax, an old schoolmate of Mr. Ivins, was a member of this company across the plains to Ft. Kearney, and they were escorted by fifty militia. Mr. and Mrs. Ivins located east of Salt Lake City, he serving as superintendent of the stage route of two hundred miles, which was in con- nection with the Pony Express, and Buffalo Bill was with Mr. Ivins more than once when he was a "scout on the plains." They re- mained there for one year, returning in 1866 via the stage and arrived at their old home in St. Joseph county in the fall of the year. For seven years thereafter Mr. Ivins was engaged in the livery business in New Carlisle, and also had charge of his farm of one hundred and sixty acres just outside the village limits. A part of this village plat was dedicated by his father to found a college of the Methodist Episcopal society, and it is now known as the Iving school.

Mr. Ivins gives his political support to the Democratic party, and has often been solicited as delegate to county and state conventions, having served as a state delegate at the nomi- nation of Thomas Hendricks for governor of Indiana. During a period of six years he . served as the deputy sheriff of St. Joseph county. He has contributed liberally to- ward the erection of the different churches in New Carlisle, and his wife is a member of the Christian church. They can recall many pleasant remin- iscences of the early days of St. Joseph county, and can well remember when South Bend was but a hamlet, when the little old red brick court house and log jail stood in the center of the town, and from which, as Mrs. Ivins says, many a prisoner has escaped. Her cousin was at that time the sheriff. They resided here when the Indians were yet numerous and lived in their bark wigwams on their place. He has killed deer within

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three-quarters of a mile from his door, and at one time even caught a litle fawn. Wolves and wild turkeys were then plentiful, and there was not a railroad in the northern part of the state. Mr. Ivins can also recall that the township of Olive was named in honor of Olive Vail, one of its early settlers. In the home of this worthy pioneer couple is an old Longfellow clock, seventy-five years old, and has passed down through many generations in Mrs. Ivins' family, and it yet keeps splen- did time. They also have two or three of the beautiful old coverlets woven by their grand- mothers, and among other reminiscences Mr. Ivins recalls that in 1848, when the stage had stopped at their home in New Carlisle, there was stolen four thousand six hundred and seventy-three dollars in pension money, and nothing was ever afterward heard of it. They are held in the highest esteem by all for their sterling character, and we are pleased to pre- sent the history of their lives in this Twen- tieth Century History of St. Joseph county.

HURTAIN PROUD. The pioneer record of the great county of St. Joseph is one of the most valuable in the history of the state, and this grand old man, Hurtain Proud, has spent almost three-fourths of a century as an hon- ored citizen of this section of the common- wealth, being numbered among the early pioneers of Olive township. He has witnessed the wonderful advancement made by the county and state from an unbroken and track- less wilderness to one of the greatest manu- facturing centers in the middle west. Mr. Proud is a native of Warren county, Ohio, his natal day being the 7th of November, 1831, and he is the eldest of the thirteen chil- dren born to James and Harriett (Woolley) Proud. Seven of the children are living at this time, namely: Hurtain, whose name in- troduces this review: Marie, the wife of W. L. Cassidy, one of the leading citizens and prominent manufacturers of South Bend; Abbie Ann, wife of James Slocum, an agri- culturist of Olive township; Olive Ellen, wife of William Fox, of New Carlisle; Lewis P., a stock buyer of Buchanan, Michigan ; Rebecca, the wife of Milton Stinchcomb, of New Carl- isle; and Marietta, wife of George Smith, an agriculturist of Olive township.

James Proud, the father of this family, was also born in Warren county, Ohio. April 19, 1808, and his death occurred on the 20th of June, 1894. His father, Peter Proud, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his

descendants are thus entitled to become mem- bers of the order known as the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. The son James was engaged in the packing business in his native state of Ohio, but in Indiana he was a well-known agriculturist. It was in the early year of 1835 that the family started on the arduous journey across the country to the Hoosier state, their destination being Olive township, St. Joseph county, which was reached after encountering much difficulty and hardship en route. Their first habitation here was a double log cabin, which continued as their home for several years, and in the course of time Mr. Proud purchased eighty acres of virgin land in Olive township, on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made, and here the timber was cleared from a sufficient space on which to erect the first frame dwelling of the family. As the years passed by this land was brought under an excellent state of cultivation, and in addition to his large landed possessions in Olive township, Mr. Proud also owned forty acres in Laporte county and forty acres in Olive township. He was a Jackson Democrat in his political views, stanchly advocating the principles of his party, and was also an active worker in the cause of Christianity. The wife and mother also claimed Warren county, Ohio, as the place of her nativity, born about 1812, and she and her husband were reared as chil- dren together. Her death occurred in 1880, when a true pioneer woman, a loving wife and devoted mother passed away, and both Father and Mother Proud now lie buried in New Carlisle cemetery, where a beautiful monu- ment stands sacred to their memory.

Hurtain Proud was a little lad of four and a half years when he became a resident of St. Joseph county, and therefore nearly his en- tire life has been passed within its borders. He was reared as a farmer's boy, receiving his educational training in the primitive frame structure near his home, in which the seats were benches and the house only a makeshift of a school building. The text books which he used were the elementary spelling book and McGuffey's reader, while the school was maintained by private subscriptions, the par- ents boarding the teachers week by week. Out- side of the school his surroundings were equally as primitive, and Mr. Proud has la- bored with the old hand sickle and the turkey wing cradle many a day from early morn until night, and he also well remembers when

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the first old Blue Jay McCormick reaper was brought into Olive township and the excite- ment which it occasioned. He recalls the present populous city of South Bend when it numbered not one hundred houses, the now compact north and northwest portion being but a lake, while there was not a railroad in the northern part of Indiana. He has lived in the "Victorian" age, witnessing the inven- tion of steam, electricity, the telephone, and the railroad, and the many other inventions which have been brought forth. He was a resident of the county before the departure of the Pottawatomie Indians, and on one oc- casion five of the red skins came to the door of his father's house to ask for shelter, which was given them for the night, they lying with their heads to the fireplace. In those early days their table was bounteously supplied with all the wild game common to this section, while their only highways were blazed trails, and so dense were the woods that at one time Hurtain and his brother William were lost for a time near New Carlisle.

On the 16th of June, 1861, Mr. Proud wedded Miss Beulah Haines, and they be- came the parents of four children, three sons and a daughter, namely: Mary, the wife of Albert Hostetter, a prominent citizen of St. Joseph county, and they have four children, Joseph H., Martha May, Ida and Lillian Lucile; George, who is engaged in railroad work in Rapids City, South Dakota; James, one of the successful farmers of Olive town- ship, and who wedded Miss Anna Borden, and they have four children, Keith, Theodore, Marguerite and James Cecil; and Milton H., who resides with his father on the old home- stead. He married Miss Dora Tippey, a na- tive of Marshall county, Indiana, born on the 11th of March, 1870, and they have four chil- dren, Vivian, Clarence, Dorothy and Oliver Randolph. Mrs. Proud was born in Laporte county, Indiana, August 25, 1830, and was reared in northern Indiana. She was a grand pioneer woman, a loving wife and mother and a devout Christian, affiliating with the Methodist Episcopal church. After a happy married life of fifteen years she was called to the home beyond. Mr. Proud subsequently married Mrs. Mary A. (Lough) Carr, who remained his loving counselor and companion for thirty years, when she, too, was called to the home beyond. Their wedding was cele- brated on the 1st of February. 1877, and her death occurred December 6, 1906. She proved

a kind and loving mother to her husband's children, was always ready to administer to the afflicted and was kind to the poor and needy. She was a devout member of the Christian church. But the sun is fast setting beneath the western horizon of the husband's life, and it will not be many years ere he joins his dear ones in the happy home beyond.

Mr. Proud is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of rich and fertile land in Olive township, fifty-seven acres of which was inherited by his first wife. He is a Demo- crat in his political affiliations, and takes an active interest in the welfare of his party.

MRS. MARY ZURELDA VAN RYPER. The Rey- nolds family long constituted what perhaps was the most substantial pioneer element of St. Joseph county, and were especially the founders of Olive township. At one time the Reynolds brothers owned the major part of North Olive township and were by far the largest land proprietors in the county. They were both men of remarkable business ability and broad and moral views of life, and were citizens of the highest repute in every par- ticular.

A representative of this family, well known and very highly honored, is Mrs. Mary Z. Van Ryper, wife of Dr. A. N. Van Ryper, and daughter of James Reynolds, one of the two brothers mentioned above. She is a native of Berrien county, Michigan, born May 18. 1856, and is the eldest of four children, of whom the only other one now living is Estelle, the wife of Clyde H. Baker, a resident of Buchanan, Michigan.

James Reynolds, the father, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, near Richmond, on the 12th of August, 1824, being the youngest of six sons born to Joseph and Mary (Starry) Reynolds. The paternal grandfather was a Virginian-the day of his birth October 5, 1785, and descended from good Irish ances- try. He was a patriot and showed his faith in his adopted country by enrolling himself with Washington's troops in the Revolution- ary war. Miss Mary Starry, as the maternal grandmother was known before her marriage, was also a Virginian, born two years after her husband. James Reynolds was trained on the home farm and educated. in a literary sense, in the district schools of Laporte coun- ty. He remained with his parents until he had reached the age of twenty-four years. but early showed a decided business or commer- cial instinct. His first investment venture

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THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY.

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was not very propitious ; he bought a team of horses from his brother for two hundred hard- earned dollars and, after enjoying the pos- session of his property for a short time, lost it through the ingenuity and boldness of horse thieves. Afterward he spent about two years with his brother John in farming and then, borrowing seven thousand dollars, opened a general store at Buchanan, Michigan, this same brother being his partner. Continuing thus for three years, his next move was to Dayton, Michigan, where he also engaged in general merchandising for six years. Ill health compelled him to abandon a very suc- cessful venture, or rather established busi- ness, to resume agriculture on his brother's farm, the two profitably working the same on shares. He settled in St. Joseph county in 1833, and in 1853 married Miss Nancy S. Howe, who became the mother of Mrs. Van Ryper. In 1861, having brought himself to a position of comfort in this world's goods, he purchased about three hundred and twenty acres of land on the beautiful prairie known as Terre Coupee, Olive township, and moved his family to his new homestead. From un- settled notes and accounts left from his mer- cantile business and profits from his farm, he purchased twenty-one hundred acres of land in Laporte and St. Joseph counties. He and his brother together also owned about thirty- two hundred acres in Indiana, ten acres in Chicago and valuable real estate in South Bend.

James Reynolds was a stalwart Republican after the formation of that party, and pre- viously an old-line Whig. Although he did not go to the front in the service of the Union, he assisted in the prosecution of the Civil war, even more effectively, by the generous expenditure of his money and his abilities as a patriotic citizen. In 1890 Mr. Reynolds was elected president of the First National Bank at Buchanan, Michigan, and was pre- eminently a man of affairs. He not only amassed property but established a reputa- tion as a good man and a useful citizen. He was a man most temperate in his habits. and always took most high moral ground on all questions which came before him for consider- ation. Among other works which are indic- ative of his standing and which are also con- sidered an improvement of the county was his erection of the beautiful residence in which Mrs. Van Ryper now lives. It seldom hap- pens that even two brothers form such an en-

during attachment as will withstand the test of intimate business relationship as marked the lives of James and John Reynolds. For half a century they resided within half a mile of each other, their business and private affairs closely connected, and yet their re- lations were always affectionately harmonious. Mrs. James Reynolds was a native of New York, who came with her parents to Berrien county, the family locating on the Indian reservation near Niles, Michigan. Wife and husband are now interred in the Hamilton cemetery, and none whom its soil enfolds have received greater or more merited honor while on earth.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. James Rey- nolds were as follows: Zurelda, who married Dr. Van Ryper; John F., deceased, formerly a resident of South Bend and cashier of the Citizens' Bank, of that place; Clara, also de- ceased, who married Dickson Scoffern, of Olive township; and Estelle, now Mrs. Clyde H. Baker, of Buchanan, Michigan.

. Mrs. Van Ryper was a child of only four years when she became a resident of St. Joseph county, and she has since resided within its boundaries, although she received her education in the common and high schools of Niles, Michigan. On May 4, 1880, she was united in marriage to Dr. A. N. Van Ryper, and one son and two daughters have been born to their union. Of these James Rey- nolds was educated in the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana, also spending four years at Northwestern University, and is a farmer located near New Carlisle. He is a Knight of Pythias, with membership in No. 41, of that town. Relda, one of the daugh- ters, graduated from the Knickerbocker Fe- male Academy, at Indianapolis, Indiana, class of '06, and is a student in music at the North- western University, Evanston, Illinois. Fran- ces, as a member of the class of 1911, is in at- tendance at the Young Ladies' Seminary at Grand Haven, Michigan. All the children have received, or are now receiving educa- tions which are fitted for any walk of life which they may enter.

Dr. A. N. Van Ryper is a native of New York, where he obtained his education. He first graduated from St. Edward's College, prior to commencing the study of medicine at the Michigan University. He graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago, and has practiced at Three Oaks, Buchanan and in Olive township, but of late

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 53

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