A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 65

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 65

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with the Great Northern Railroad Company. Mr. Cole, the father, was born in Putnam county, New York, April 23, 1815, and died on the 25th of December, 1876. During his young manhood he removed from his native commonwealth to Michigan, this being in 1836, but shortly afterward came to St. Jo- seph county, Indiana, purchasing three hun- dred and twenty acres of land near Walker- ton, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He was a Democrat in his political views, and both he and his wife were Bap- tists. Mrs. Cole was born in the same locality in New York as her husband, her natal day being the 21st of July, 1825, and her death occurred in 1870. Both Mr. and Mrs. Cole were interred in Woodlawn cemetery at Walkerton.

Mr. and Mrs. Vosburgh began their married life on the old homestead where they yet re- side. He is classed with the early pioneers of St. Joseph county, and can well remember the days when he used the old fashioned cradle in the harvest field and mowed the grass with the scythe. His valuable estate now consists of one hundred and eleven acres, located twenty miles from South Bend, three miles from Walkerton and four miles from North Liberty. In addition to his agri- cultural pursuits he raises standard bred stock, favoring the Poland China hogs and Polled Durham cattle and he also has draft horses. He cast his first presidential vote for Hon. Samuel Tilden, and has always sup- ported the candidates of the Democratic party, while many times he has served as his party's delegate to the county conven- tions. The family are numbered among the leading ones of this section of St. Joseph county, and are highly esteemed for their ster- ling characteristics.

THOMAS H. DOUGHERTY. As one of the representative business men and citizens of St. Joseph county Mr. Thomas H. Dougherty needs no introduction to the readers of this volume. He is classed with the honored pio- neers of the community, for his identification with its interests dates back to the time when the country was an almost unbroken forest. He is a native son of Stark county, Ohio, born near Canton on the 5th of April, 1847, the fourth in order of birth of the five chil- dren, three sons and two daughters, born to Martin and Tabitha (Leeper) Dougherty, but the son Thomas is the sole survivor of this once large family.

Martin Dougherty, the father, was also born in Stark county, Ohio, March 14, 1812, and he traces his lineage to the Germans, his great-grandfather having removed from the fatherland to America. It was in 1850 that Martin Dougherty left his native county of Stark and in true pioneer style with wagons journeyed across the swamps to Marshall county, Indiana, where he purchased one hun- dred and sixty acres of unimproved land and established their home in a little log cabin of the most primitive construction. The red men then roamed at will through the forests of this community, and the crudest of farm- ing implements were then in vogue. In 1859 Mr. Dougherty sold that farm and purchased one hundred and sixty acres in Liberty town- ship, which is now included in the township of Lincoln, his land lying within a short distance north of the present site of Walker- ton, and Mr. Dougherty of this review can recall to mind the primitive little log cabin home in which the family first resided on this farm. With the passing years Mr. Mar- tin Dougherty added eighty acres to his ori- ginal purchase of one hundred and sixty, and became one of the leading farmers of the community. In an early day he gave his political support to the Democracy, but at the formation of the Republican party he espoused its cause and cast his vote for the martyred Lincoln. He was a strong anti- slavery man, a thorough Republican, and a stanch advocate of the free public schools. The life of this noble old pioneer gentleman was ended on the 9th of November, 1864, and he now lies buried in the Walkerton cemetery. Mrs. Dougherty was born in Stark county, Ohio, September 2, 1814, and died on the 9th of September, 1874. She was a loving wife and mother, a devout Christian in her religious duties, and a kind neighbor and friend. She traced her lineage to the Scotch and the land of the hills and heather.

When but a babe of two years Thomas H. Dougherty was brought by his parents to Indiana, and when he was three years of age the family home was established in St. Jo- seph county, and thus over half a century has been added to the cycle of time since he became identified with its interests. He has witnessed the growth of South Bend from a little hamlet of five hundred inhabitants to its present population of fifty thousand, can recall to mind when not a railroad traversed the entire county, and can also

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remember when the Pottawatomie Indians were numerous in this section. He has seen as many as fifty deer in one drove on his father's farm, and the latter, who was a great hunter, supplied many of his neigh- bors' tables with venison, he having earned the reputation of killing more deer than any other man in the township of Liberty. There was a deer runway on the Dougherty farm, and he has killed the little animals from a forked tree three-fourths of a mile from his home. Liberty township, now known as Lincoln, was one of the greatest hunting grounds in Indiana in those early days. Mr. Dougherty of this review has swung his old fashioned cradle many a day from morn until night and has cut as many as five acres of wheat in a day with that crude imple- ment, and he also used the scythe in cutting the grass. He can well remember the excite- ment the first threshing machine and binder caused when they were introduced into the county. He has also used the old fashioned flail to thresh out the grain, as well as rode the horses on the barn floor to accomplish the same result. His educational training was received principally in the school of ex- perience, as well as by reading and observa- tion, the first school which he attended having been held in an old barn, where the seats were made of slabs and rested on wooden legs and the desk a broad board resting against the manger. . He was reared as a farmer boy, later learning the carpenter's trade, and during the past twenty-five years he has been a salesman in northern Indiana, representing the International Harvester Company. He has been very successful in his career as a salesman, and is thoroughly familiar in every detail with the line of goods which he carries. He owns valuable real estate in the little town of Walkerton, where he maintains his residence.

Mr. Dougherty has been twice married. In 1867 he wedded Miss Sabrina Grommon, and of their two children, a son and a daughter, only one is now living, Emma, who is a grad- uate of the Walkerton high school, and for three years has been a successful teacher in St. Joseph county. She is a member of the Ladies' Aid Society of the Methodist Epis- copal church, also of the Women's Relief Corps at Walkerton, and she now resides in Lafayette, Indiana, where she is connected with the sanitarium. Mrs. Dougherty was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1849, and

her death occurred in 1870, passing away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which she was long a faithful member. In 1874 Mr. Dougherty married Miss Louisa Vincent, and their only child is a daughter, Ivy B. She received her di- ploma from the intermediate grade and pur- sued one year's study in the high school, and has also studied instrumental music. She is the wife of E. L. Narragon, a merchant of North Liberty, Indiana, and they have two children. Thomas Alexander, who is a mem- ber of the sixth grade in school, and Arthur. Mrs. Dougherty was born in St. Joseph county on the 5th of September, 1849, a daughter of Benjamin and Betsey (Ellis) Vincent, honored pioneers of St. Joseph county. The Vincent family became established here in 1849, but the father originally came from England. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Vincent were married in Mishawaka, and three of their children are now living: Louisa, the wife of Mr. Dougherty; Albert, a prosperous farmer of Lincoln township; and Martha, the wife of Frank Tisher, of Walkerton. Mr. Dougherty affiliates with the Democracy, and as his party's representative has been chosen as delegate to the county and district conventions. He is a member of the Walker- ton Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 263, of which he is a past chancellor, and his wife is a member of the Pythian Sisters. Both are devout members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and Mr. Dougherty is a mem- ber of the building committee for the erec- tion of the new church, which is to cost fifteen thousand dollars. During the long period of twenty years he served as trustee of the church society, and for twenty-five years he occupied one pew. He is a man of well rounded character and is a valued factor in church, fraternal and social circles.

REV. BRENTON H. BEALL has devoted his life to the work of the ministry, the highest and holiest calling in which one may engage, and therein his efforts have been abundantly blessed. He is a descendant of the sturdy and persevering sons of Germany, and his grand- fathers, Beall and Blont, were soldiers in the war of 1812. His birth occurred in Noble county, Indiana, on the 16th of August, 1848, the second of the four children, three sons and a daughter, born to Allen and Angelina (Lee) Beall. 'All of the children are yet living, namely: Rayon, who is married and is an agriculturist in St. Joseph county ;

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Brenton H. is the next in order of birth; Daniel W. is represented elsewhere in this work; and Helen, the youngest, is the wife of Frank P. Byers, a sawyer or lumberman in Independence, Oregon.

Allen Beall, the father, was born in Frank- lin county, Ohio, June 6, 1820, and during many years of his early business career he was a machinist in an iron manufacturing establishment, but later he turned his atten- tion to farming. He was a self-educated man, for being a great student in history, also an extensive reader and possessing a retentive memory, he became well informed and a lover of good literature. At the age of twelve years he left his native state of Ohio and journeyed in true pioneer style to Noble county, Indiana, arriving there when the red men yet roamed at will over that section. In an early day he erected a foundry in Ligonier, also a forge at Rochester, this state, and was successful in his business enterprises. Being a strong abolitionist, he espoused the Repub- lican party at its birth, and both he and his wife were devout members of the Methodist church. In 1867 they came to St. Joseph county, where the husband and father pur- chased two hundred and forty acres of land in Lincoln township, to which he afterward added a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, and there he continued his agricultural labors until his life work was ended in death, pass- ing away in October, 1901. He was one of the most prominent representatives of the Ma- sonic order in St. Joseph county, and exem- plified its beneficent principles in his every day life. Mrs. Beall was a native of Wythe county, Virginia, born about 1820, and her death occurred when she had reached the age of forty-nine years. She was a descendant of the celebrated Lee family of Virginia, who were conspicuous as Revolutionary heroes, and her brother, Jackson Lee, was a soldier in the Mexican war. She came to Noble county, Indiana, in an early day, and be- came a successful teacher in the public schools of Ligonier. She had received an excellent educational training for those days. With her husband she now lies buried in the Walkerton cemetery.

Rev. Beall attained to years of maturity in his native county of Noble, where he com- pleted a common school education and then entered the Fillmore Academy at Fillmore. Missouri, where he pursued the scientific course, and later was a student in the Mt.

Vernon College of Iowa. For two years he pursued the study of medicine, but his trend of thought led him into the higher calling of the ministry, and in 1868 he entered upon his work as a pastor. He had pre- viously pursued a course by correspondence at the Wesleyan University of Bloomington, Illinois, and entered the ministry at Culver. Indiana, where he remained for one year, and during that time erected and dedicated a new church, the cost of which was twenty- five hundred dollars. His next charge was at Kewanee, Indiana, where during his pas- torate of two years he erected a three thou- sand dollar church, was for two years a min- ister at Lowell, this state, where he paid off a long standing indebtedness of fifteen hun- dred dollars, and during the following eleven years he was located by his conference and resided at Walkerton. He came here to re- store his failing health, and during the time entered the practice of law, for he had been admitted to the bar in St. Joseph county. and also embarked in the mercantile business. meeting with success in both his professional and business ventures. In 1886, however, Rev. Beall was readmitted to the Northwest- ern Indiana Conference and was stationed at Pittsboro and Brownsburg, while in the following year he was transferred to the Laporte circuit, there remaining for two years, and for five years was stationed at Argos, Indiana. During his pastorate there he com- pleted the parsonage and increased the mem- bership of the church from one hundred and twenty to five hundred, showing a wonder- fully healthy growth and the earnest efforts of its pastor. From there he went to Rom- ney, Indiana, remaining one year, was for two years at Knox, where he lifted a five hundred dollar incumbrance, and was then transferred to Bringhurst and Flora, Carroll county, Indiana, the towns being but one mile apart. At Flora he erected a six thou- sand dollar stone and brick church, his pas- torate there covering a period of two years. During the following year he was stationed at Chesterton, Porter county, two years was at Union Mills, and then came to Walkerton, this being in the year of 1900. For a time thereafter he had charge of the surrounding charges of the church, while for one year he also had supervision over the Wanatah and Hanna churches and two years over the Union Mills church. In 1903 he was ap- pointed to the charge of the Lowell Heights

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church at South Bend, where he continued in his ministerial labors for three years, but at the last conference he was placed on the retired list, for his work in the Master's vineyard had covered the long period of thirty-nine years, and he had grown old in the service. As long as life remains he will be an active worker in the cause of Chris- tianity, active in the continuance of the work to which he dedicated his life in early man- hood. He is now interested in agricultural pursuits.

On the 22d of December, 1867, Rev. Beall married Miss Lois M. Gorsline, and of their eight children, five sons and three daughters, four are now living. The eldest, Allen M., resides on the old homestead two miles south of Walkerton. He is an inventive genius, and to him belongs the honor of inventing the Beall Non-Pounding Frog and Crossing, which is now being used by all railroads, while at the present time he is working on a patent air compressor. He is a Republican in his political affiliations. For his wife he chose Miss Eva Loutz, and they have six children, Maude, Orville, Beulah, Donald, Marvin and Marjorie. Thomas Eddy, the second son, is a resident of Mishawaka, where he is employed as a machinist with the Dodge Manufacturing Company. He affiliates with the Democracy. Jessie M. is the wife of Paul M. Seifert, formerly of Walkerton, but now engaged as a machinist, decorator and painter in Chicago. They have three children, Paul, Freddie and Helen. Carl, the youngest of the family, is a resident of Walkerton. He was a member of the Eighteenth Battery and stationed in Cuba, while at the time of the terrible earthquake in San Francisco he as- sisted General Funston in taking care of the inhabitants of that stricken city. Mrs. Beall, the mother, was born in Decatur, Adams county, Indiana, January 11, 1851, the daughter of Marvin and Julia (Daily) Gorsline, both born in Ohio and both now deceased. Mrs. Beall remained in her native state until reaching mature years, receiving her education in its public schools. She has worthily aided her husband in all his minis- terial labors, as well as in the establishment of their home and the rearing of their chil- dren. Rev. Beall is a strong Prohibitionist, an active worker in the cause of temperance, and his fraternal relations are with the Ma- sonic order at Wheeler, Indiana, the Odd Fellows at Knox and the Knights of Pythias

at Argos. In Walkerton, where they have so long made their home, Rev. and Mrs. Beall are held in the highest regard by their in- numerable friends.

HENRY A. ADLE. The old soldier is an important personage in any community, and among those who wore the blue in defense of their country in the memorable Civil war is numbered Henry A. Adle, who throughout nearly his entire life has been a resident of St. Joseph county. His birth occurred in Cayuga county, New York, November 11, 1836, the youngest of the four children, two sons and two daughters, born to John and Cyrena (Barrus) Adle. All of the children are yet living, namely : Charlotte, the widow of Benjamin Leroy, who served in an Iowa regiment during the Civil war, and his widow now resides in Central City, Nebraska; Sarah, the wife of Arthur Cole, an agricul- turist of San Jacinto, California; John, a resident of Topeka, Kansas; Henry A., of this review.

Mr. John Adle, the father, was born in Cayuga county, New York, July 24, 1808, and in 1840, in true pioneer style, he jour- neyed from that commonwealth to Steuben county, Indiana, making the trip with teams across the mountains, through quagmires and swamps to their destination in the Hoosier state, he having previously traded forty acres of land in New York for an eighty-acre tract in Steuben county. Their first home was a little log cabin, but he soon sold his land there and came to St. Joseph county in 1844, where he spent the remainder of his life and died on the 26th of March, 1871. When he secured his farm here it was located just west of Walkerton in Liberty township, but after the formation of Lincoln township it became a part of that division. In his early life Mr. Adle was an old-line Whig, and at the formation of the Republican party he joined its ranks and ever remained true to its prin- ciples. He was a sincere and devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his entire life was a reflection of honest and up- right principles. Mrs. Adle, whose birth oc- curred in New York May 17, 1808, was called to the home beyond on the 5th of April, 1872. She was of Scotch descent. while her husband traced his lineage to the Germans, his father having emigrated hither from that country. She was reared in her native commonwealth of New York, and there attended with her husband the old log schools of the early days.

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She was a kind and loving wife and mother, and her prayers and admonitions will ever live in the hearts of her children.

Henry A. Adle was but three years of age at the time of the removal of the family to Indiana, and in this commonwealth he has spent the remainder of his long and useful life. In his youth he attended the little log school house near his home, a building twelve by fourteen feet in size, with a clapboard roof and heated with a box stove. Its seats were of slabs with wooden legs, the desks a broad board resting on wooden pins driven into the wall, and there were no books in these early schools, which were maintained principally by private subscriptions. Mr. Adle remained with his parents until his thirtieth year, and when the tocsin of war sounded throughout the land he responded to its call for troops, and on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1861, enlisted in Company G, Twenty- ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at La- porte, Indiana, his regiment being assigned to the Second Brigade, Second Division, Twen- tieth Army Corps, in the Army of the Cum- berland, under Generals Buell and Rosecrans. The first battle in which he participated was at Shiloh, while his next important engage- ment was at Stone River, followed by the bat- tle of Chickamauga, where on the first day of the siege Mr. Adle received a wound in the abdomen and a minie ball struck his belt buckle and the ball was flattened like an old copper cent. This buckle saved his life, and had it not been for some of his comrades carrying him from the bloody field he would have been made a Rebel prisoner. Three of these noble men have answered to the last roll call, while the fourth, Simeon Nelson, re- sides in Plymouth, Indiana. Mr. Adle was sent to the hospital, spending three months at Nashville, Tennessee, and then joined his regiment at Indianapolis on veteran furlough. Thus during a period of almost four years he continued a brave and loyal soldier in the defense of his country, receiving his hon- orable discharge on the 26th of September, 1864, after a military career of three years and twenty-three days. All honor is due and is paid these brave men who endured the hardships and privations of a soldier's life that their country might be saved.

Mr. Adle wedded Miss Margaret Grennert on the 23d of February. 1865, and they have two children, a son and a daughter. The elder, May, is the wife of W. E. Simmons,

who follows agricultural pursuits in Lincoln township, St. Joseph county. She received a good education in the Walkerton high school, and by her marriage has become the mother of two children, Walter A. and Susie C. Mrs. Simmons is a member of the United Brethren church. The son, James B., is at home with his father. He, too, was educated in the Walkerton high school, and is now en- gaged in the fruit industry. He wedded Miss Sylvia Brannaman, and has one little son, Harry, in the second grade in school. Mrs. Adle, the mother, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, December 13, 1840, a daughter of Michael and Barbara (Culp) Grennert, both of whom were Germans and now deceased. They came to Penn town- ship, St. Joseph county, during the early girlhood days of their daughter Mar- garet, and she was educated in its common schools, and could read and write both English and German languages. Her death occurred on the 5th of August, 1893, leaving the com- .panion of her youth to continue the re- mainder of the journey of life alone. She was a loving wife and mother, a kind neigh- bor and friend and was ever ready to help the poor and needy. She now sleeps in the Walkerton cemetery. She was a devout mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. Adle is a stalwart Republican in his political affiliations, and cast his first presi- dential vote for the great and good Lincoln. having since supported Garfield, Blaine, Me- Kinley and Roosevelt. He has often been selected as delegate to the county and district conventions. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic order, Lodge No. 619, at Walk- erton, in which he has filled all of the offices but that of secretary, and is also a member of Jesse Coppock Post, No. 378, G. A. R .. of which he was the first commander and held that position for thirteen years. He attended the grand encampments at Boston, Indian- apolis and Chicago, and while in Boston he sailed up the coast past Cape Cod to the celebrated Plymouth Rock, the landing of the Pilgrims in 1620. Mr. Adle is one of the honored old pioneers and soldiers of St. Joseph county. and the record of its repre- sentative men would be incomplete without the mention of his name.

DAVID EDMUND RUPEL has devoted the greater part of his life to the task of in- structing the young along lines of mental advancement which are the source of prep-

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aration for the responsible duties which de- volve upon each individual as he puts aside the text books to take up the work which must follow the labors of the school room. He has always resided in the county which gave him birth, for he was born within the borders of St. Joseph county January 31, 1865, the eldest of the seven children, five sons and two daughters, born to Dennis and Mary (O'Connor) Rupel, the full review of whose lives are given elsewhere in this history. Five of the children are yet living, namely: David E., whose name introduces this review; Charles F., who attended the district and South Bend high schools, after which he was engaged in teaching in St. Joseph county for about three years, and is now married and engaged in farming in Liberty township; Effie B., at home with her parents; Alfred B., who sup- plemented his common-school course by at- tendance in the Walkerton high school, while for one term he was also a student in the Valparaiso University, and during the past seven years has been a successful educator as well as a farmer in Lincoln township; and Mary Emma, who after completing her education in the district schools entered the Walkerton high school, and then taught for two terms in Lincoln township.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 65

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