A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 69

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 69

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CHARLES E. EARLY. Honored and respected by all, Charles E. Early has been for several years prominently identified with the public affairs of St. Joseph county, and he is now serving as trustee of his township. His entire life has been passed within the borders of the county, and has been one of uniform honor in business and fidelity in places of public trust. His birth occurred in Liberty township, St. Joseph county, July 4, 1868, a son of Rev. Isaac and Mary E. (Irvin) Early, whose his- tory is given in another portion of this work. The son Charles received a good practical common-school education, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, remaining with his father and giving him the benefit of his time until he was twenty years of age. At that age and with a small capital, possibly one hundred dollars, he began life for himself as a renter, his principal occupation being the raising of sheep, in which he was very suc- cessful. His first purchase of land consisted of one hundred and ten acres in Greene town- ship, for which he assumed an indebtedness of twenty-five hundred dollars, but being a type of the progressive spirit of the age and possessing that enterprise and perseverance which have ever characterized him he was soon able to meet his obligations in full. In 1902, however, he sold this land and pur- chased his present estate of one hundred and sixty acres lying within one mile of North Liberty, which is excellent farming land, with not an acre of swamp and only a small amount of timber. Beautiful and substantial build- ings adorn the homestead, but in 1903 he met with a severe loss in the burning of his barn. However, he has successfully surmounted all obstacles which have barred his path, and has made for himself a place in connection with the activities and honors of life.

On the 17th of March, 1897, Mr. Early mar- ried Miss Ella Kane, and they have become the parents of four children, Dorothy, Amy, Mary and Ruth. Mrs. Early was born in St. Joseph county March 31, 1876, the second in a family of six children, three sons and three

daughters, but only three of the number are now living: Arthur, who is married and is engaged in farming in Liberty township; Ella, the wife of Mr. Early; and Gladys, who is attending school. Mr. Kane, the father, and whose record appears in this work, is also a native son of St. Joseph county, and he is now a resident of Liberty township, where he owns one hundred acres of excellent farming land and he is well known as a produce deal- er, selling to the South Bend market. He is a Republican in his political affiliations. Mrs. Kane is also living, and is a member of the Brethren church. Mr. Early cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison, and has ever since continued to support the prin- ciples of the "Grand Old Party." In 1904 he was elected to the highest office within the gift of his township, that of trustee, assuming the duties of that responsible position on the 1st of January, 1905. During his administra- tion he has increased the school term from seven to eight months, and many other needed reforms have been instituted. Each school contains an excellent library, and at the pres- ent time there are nine brick and three frame school buildings in the township, while the best corps of teachers which money can pro- duce are employed. Mrs. Early's religious connection is with the Progressive Dunkard church, and both she and her husband are interested in all benevolent and progressive movements. As the record of a young man it is one of which he may be justly proud, and the success he has attained is the just reward of meritorious, honorable effort.

ANDREW J. INGLERIGHT for many years was a member of the medical profession of north- ern Indiana, and his long identification with the work and his prominence here entitles him to more than a passing notice in the his- tory of the representative men of St. Joseph county. He was born in Berrien county, Michigan, January 18, 1842, a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Weaver) Ingleright, who were . the parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters, of the number being: Andrew J., whose name introduces this review; George, a stock buyer and a resident of Ber- rien Springs, Michigan; Franklin F., who re- sides on the old homestead in Oronoco town- ship, Berrien county; Thomas, who is en- gaged in agricultural pursuits in the same lo- cality; Caroline, the widow of Albert Wil- liams, who was an inventor of medicines and a teacher, and his widow now resides in Bu-

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chanan, Michigan, and Eliza, the wife of F. Vary, a resident of Oronoco township, Ber- rien county, where he is an agriculturist and also a carpenter and joiner.

Andrew Ingleright, the father, was born and reared in Ohio, and during the Indian war and the Bad Land movements he served as a soldier, afterward entering land in In- diana, Illinois and Michigan. During a num- ber of years he resided on Portage prairie, near South Bend, thence removing to Oronoco township, Berrien county, Michigan, where he spent the remainder of his life. He was a Jackson Democrat in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife were members of the Brethren church. Mrs. Ingleright was a na- tive of Ohio, but reared in Indiana, and theirs was the twelfth marriage celebrated in St. Joseph county.

Dr. Ingleright, the eldest of their living children, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native county of Berrien, where he had the pleasure of attending one of its first log cabin schools, a little structure six- teen by twenty-four feet made of logs and chinking, while the roof was covered with clapboards and the room was heated with a large box stove. The desks were long enough to accommodate eight or ten pupils, and he has used the old goosequill pen fashioned by the master. This temple of learning was known as the Burke school, and there he re- ceived the rudiments which served as the foundation for his subsequent excellent edu- cation. He, however, had to battle earnestly and energetically for the educational training he received. The second school which he at- tended was the Buchanan high school, located at the edge of the village, where he worked his own way through, and then studied under the preceptorship of Professor D. A. Ewing at South Bend, who proved a friend in need and assisted the struggling youth in his ef- forts for literary advancement. Mr. Ingle- right next went to Morris, Illinois, and dur- ing the following two years read medicine un- der Dr. Williams, returning thence to Berrien county and continuing his medical reading under Dr. Martin, although he had previously obtained a certificate for practice. In 1878, after a long and hard struggle, but with an excellent literary and professional training to serve as the foundation of his life work, he entered upon the practice of medicine, and his professional career was attended with marked success. In 1882 he received his

diploma from the American Health Univer- sity of Chicago, and he also held a state license in both Indiana and Michigan.

Dr. Ingleright was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Williams, and they became the parents of three children, two sons and one daughter, as follows: Leon Ray, who received his education at Ashland, Ohio, Chicago, Illi- nois, and Valparaiso, Indiana, and is now en- gaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Rose City, Michigan, having previously been associated with his father in South Bend ; Ross, who is a self-educated man and a grad- uate of telegraphy, but he owns and resides on a farm near Rose City, where he is also a minister in the Saints church; Lena Dell. the wife of Perry O. Smith, an agriculturist of South Bend. After the death of Mrs. Ingle- right the doctor married Miss Luella Huff, their wedding being celebrated July 20, 1884. and they had five children : DeWitt, at home; Mabel, the wife of Ira D. Carpenter; Eva B .. at home; Ethel, who is in the eighth grade in school ; and Allegra, the youngest of the fam- ily. The children have all been given excel- lent educational advantages, and the two old- est daughters were also educated in music and both were teachers. In his political affilia- tions Dr. Ingleright was a Democrat, but his sympathies were with the Prohibition party and he was an active worker in its cause. He was among the first in the county to offer his services in defence of the Union during the Civil war. and even organized a company in Berrien county. but just at this time he un- fortunately broke his leg which necessitated his remaining at home. In the religious as well as professional circles Dr. Ingleright was equally well known, and for nine years he was a minister in the Brethren church. He has found special pleasure in the work of the Sunday school throughout the county, was of great assistance in the building up of the Sunday school on Portage prairie, and served as superintendent of the Sunday school at North Liberty. He was also an important fac- tor in the erection of the church in this vil- lage. His life and achievements worthily il- lustrate what may be attained by persistency and painstaking effort. and his noble, manly life has proved an inspiration to many of his old friends and associates. Dr. Ingleright died at his home in North Liberty in April. 1907. aged sixty-five years, three months and one day. The funeral services were conduct- ed by Rev. C. F. Yoder, of Ashland, Ohio.

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

who voiced the feeling of the community when he spoke of the deceased's devotion to the church and his fellow citizens and his varied and active career as physician and minister.

FRANK H. FOE. The Dominion of Canada has given to the United States some of her most energetic business and professional men of the present epoch, and among the number may be mentioned Frank H. Foe, who now holds a representative place among the lead- ing men of affairs in his section of the county. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, May 8, 1871, the youngest child of Charles and Ro- setta (Ilughes) Foe. In their family were four children, namely : Estella, wife of Isaac Colborn, a lumber merchant of Goodland, In- diana, and they have two children: Ernest, who is married and is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Edgetts, Michigan; Adah, the wife of Herbert E. Smith, a carpenter and joiner in Grand Rapids, Michigan ; and Frank H., whose name introduces this review.

Charles Foe, the father, was born in On- tario, Canada, February 2, 1838, and his death occurred October 28, 1872. His father was a native of England, and was a stanch advocate of the customs and manners of the mother country. His son Charles continned as a tiller of the soil throughout his entire business life, and was one of the leading citi- zens of the locality in which he made his home. Mrs. Foe was also a native of Eng- land, born in Northamptonshire August 26, 1840, and is now a resident of Wayland, Mich- igan. When a little maiden of seven years she came with her parents to Canada, making the voyage in a sailing vessel, and fourteen weeks passed on the voyage from Liverpool to Quebec. During her early girlhood she was adopted by a family, and with them removed to western Michigan in 1856, where she re- mained until about eighteen or twenty years of age, when she returned to Canada and there gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Foe. After the death of her first husband she be- came the wife of John R. Stauffer, and of their three children two are now living, Alon- zo, who is married and follows farming near Wayland, Michigan; and Clara, the wife of William J. Cisler, a salesman in Middleville, Michigan. Mrs. Stauffer is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

When a little lad of five years Frank II. Foe accompanied his parents on their removal to Caledonia, Kent county, Michigan, and when yet a youth he went to live with Asa Vol. II-25.

Luther, with whom he remained until sixteen years of age, in the meantime receiving a common school education, but principally by his own endeavors. It will thus be readily seen that Mr. Foe, like many other leading men of the twentieth century, has risen by his own perseverance and determination from comparative obscurity to a place of promi- nence in the commercial world. After the completion of the regular farm work of the season he would work for others in cutting and husking corn or do any labor that would win him an honest dollar. In compensation for his labor he received the munificent salary of fifty cents a day, which he then considered a large sum. Until the year 1891, when he was twenty years of age, he was a resident of Michigan, and then went to Goodland, In- diana, and entered the lumber business with his brother-in-law, Mr. Colborn, of the Col- born Lumber Company, where he at first re- ceived fifteen dollars a month, and remained with that company for eleven years, during the time becoming proficient in every depart- ment of the business. In 1902 Mr. Foe went to Sheldon, Illinois, where for almost one year he served as manager of a branch establish- ment of J. A. Patten, a large poultry dealer. In February, 1903, he embarked in business for himself, as a dealer in lumber, lime. cement, coal and all builders' materials, at North Liberty, and within the few years which have since elapsed he has enlarged his operations until his business is now one of the leading industries of the town. He has erected his own lumber sheds and buildings, and his sales annually run as high as forty thousand dollars, while his name has become a familiar one in the business circles of this portion of the county.

On the 8th of June, 1898, Mr. Foe was united in marriage to Miss Eula Hefner at Goodland, Indiana, and their three sons are : Charles Clifford, who is a 'little lad in the first grade of school; Forrest Hefner and Donald Franklin. Mrs. Foe was born in Mc- Lean county, Illinois, near Lexington, April 3, 1877, a daughter of Samuel P. and Eva (Herberth) Hefner, in whose family were six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom four are living: Eula, who became the wife of Mr. Foe: Eson G., who received his education in the Lexington public schools and the Goodland high school, and is now engaged in farming near Chalmers, Indiana ; Belle E., who was educated in the same schools as her

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sister Eula, and is now the wife of George F. Taylor, a merchant of Chicago, Illinois; and Lenore C., a student in the Chalmers high school, and after the completion of her studies there will receive collegiate training.

Samuel P. Hefner, the father, was born in Upshur county, Virginia, November 24, 1852, and was brought by his parents when but a child to McLean county, Illinois. His father was born in Virginia, and was a carpenter and joiner by trade in the early years of his life. He came to McLean county, Illinois, in 1853, in the spring, and engaged in farming, raising, feeding and shipping stock. He died in 1871. He was of German parentage and could speak the language until the age of ten. He never cared to hold any office. The Hef- ners were one of the most prominent families in that county. Samuel P. Hefner has often driven large droves of cattle to the Chicago market. He is a stanch Republican in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. They now reside on a farm near Chalmers, Indiana, honored and respected for their sterling worth. Mrs. Foe's mother, Eva (Herberth) Hefner, was of German lineage but was born in Peoria county, Illi- nois, December 10, 1853, and was educated in the schools of Secor, Illinois. Her parents were born in Germany. Her father was en- gaged in mercantile and grain business at Secor, Illinois. In March, 1896, Mr. and Mrs. Hefner moved to Goodland, Indiana, and in 1902 to Chalmers. Mrs. Foe remained in her native county of McLean until she had at- tained womanhood, and graduated from the Goodland high school with the class of 1897, in the meantime having also received both in- strumental and vocal culture.

Mr. Foe gives his political support to the Republican party, his first presidential vote having been cast for Mckinley, and he stanchly upholds the principles and is an active worker in the party. He is now serving as president of the Business Men's Associa- tion of North Liberty, and was one of the leading factors in the movement for the lay- ing of the excellent cement sidewalks in the town. His fraternal relations connect him with the Masonic order, North Liberty Lodge No. 266. also with the Knights of Pythias, Castle Hall No. 141, at Goodland, Indiana, in which he has passed all the chairs and has been selected as delegate to the state lodge at Indianapolis. Both Mr. and Mrs. Foe are

members of the Methodist Episcopal church at North Liberty. They are young people who stand high in the social circles of the town of North Liberty, where a gracious hos- pitality is extended to them from the best homes. Mr. Foe has been distinctively the architect of his own fortunes, and stands as a symmetrical type of the sterling American manhood which our nation delights to honor.

GEORGE A. BETTCHER. "Peace hath its vic- tories no less renowned than war," and this fact has been proved often and again as the march of progress has continued with ever accelerating speed. But the military career of George A. Bettcher is one which will ever redound to his honor as a loyal and devoted son of the republic and as one whose courage was that of his convictions.

Mr. Bettcher was born in St. Louis, Mis- souri, May 20, 1838, the eldest of three chil- dren, one son and two daughters, born to Christian Alfred and Eleanor (Kennedy ) Bettcher. Only two of the children are now living, the sister of our subject being Laura A., the wife of George P. Kimmel, a retired coal merchant living in Terre Haute, Indiana. Christian A. Bettcher, the father, was a na- tive of Prussia, Germany, born March 9, 1812, and his death occurred on the 1st of February, 1881. The original German spell- ing of the name was Boettcher, but the orthog- raphy has since been changed to Bettcher. The father received a superior educational training as a Lutheran minister, being pro- ficient in both the Latin and Greek languages. When about twenty-three years of age, in '1835, he bade adieu to home and native land and came to America, securing passage on a sailing vessel which encountered severe storms and was driven from her course, many weeks passing ere anchor was cast in Baltimore, Maryland. He landed in a strange land and among strange people without money, but he made his way to Louisville, Kentucky. where he was married and for a number of years worked at the carpenter's trade. From there he went to St. Louis, Missouri. in 1836, thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, and in March, 1842, came to Terre Haute, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life. In an early day he voted with the Whig party, and after the for- mation of the Republican party he joined its ranks and remained one of its stanch support- ers. His religious affiliations were with the Universalist church, while Mrs. Bettcher was an Episcopalian. She was a native of

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Charleston, South Carolina, born on the 5th of January, 1805, and her death occurred in Terre Haute, Indiana, February 8, 1875. She was reared in her native city and there re- mained until reaching womanhood. Her son still has in his possession a letter written by his mother over half a century ago, and which he prizes very highly.

George A. Bettcher was but four years of age when the family home was removed from Cincinnati to Terre Haute, and there he was reared and received his education. His mother, however, was highly educated, and had taught her little son during his early boy- hood so that when he entered school he used Ray's third part arithmetic and the Fourth Reader. When but fourteen years of age he began learning the trade of a gunsmith, work- ing at that occupation until the tocsin of war was sounded in 1861. On the 18th of April of that year he enlisted in Company C, Eleventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, under General Lew Wallace, and was sent to Cumberland, Maryland, to join the Army of the Potomac. Their first little battle was at Romney, Vir- ginia, then waited for orders at Harper's Ferry, and in August Mr. Bettcher was dis- charged and returned to his home in Terre Haute. He then re-enlisted for three years under General Fremont, but a short time aft- erward. by special order, was again dis- charged, then he was returned to Terre Haute and assisted in recruiting Company B, Fifty- fourth Indiana Infantry, going out as its first ' lieutenant, the regiment being ordered through the state of Kentucky to guard the railroads and bridges. In 1862, at Red River bridge, Company B was captured by the rebels, but they were paroled on the field and returned home. A call was then made for five cavalry regiments for three years, and Mr. Bettcher again engaged in recruiting duty, going out as the second lieutenant of Com- pany D, Eleventh Indiana Cavalry. The regi- ment was sent into Alabama under General Thomas, and at Paint Rock, that state. Cap- tain Carlton A. Goodman was wounded and Lieutenant Bettcher was commissioned cap- tain of the company. They were then ordered to join Thomas' army at Nashville, thence to Pulaski to join Schofield and on to Duck river and Franklin, Tennessee, where Captain Bettcher participated in that short but ter- rible battle, the Federals losing three thou- sand in killed and wounded and there the Captain was shot through the right hand just

as he was drawing his sabre. With about forty of his regiment he was taken prisoner and sent to Columbia, Tennessee, where they were confined in an earthwork fort with about eighteen hundred Federal prisoners. About this time the Confederates began to distribute them to Andersonville and Libby prisons, and they were crowded into the cars like so many cattle, some even being placed on top of the cars. Captain Bettcher with the last squad of seventy-two were placed in the last car and were the last to leave. They were recaptured by the Federals and returned to their regi- ment, the Eleventh Indiana Cavalry at East- port, Mississippi, and Captain Bettcher re- ceived his final discharge in March, 1865, after a military career covering three years, an honorable record as a defender of the stars and stripes. He has three commissions from the old war governor Morton.

Captain Bettcher has a special room in his home called his "den," which contains many war relics, such as his company's sword, sabre, cartridge box and knapsack, and mus- kets, holsters and an Arkansas toothpick taken from the dead body of a Texan during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi. IIe has also a flintlock musket of the year 1820 and a navy cutlass used in olden times in boarding vessels in a hand to hand conflict. He has also one of the Mauser rifles used by the Ger- mans during the Franco-Prussian war.

On his return to Terre IIaute he entered the commercial college, where he completed the course and secured the position of ac- countant. In 1871 he came to North Liberty to take charge of his father-in-law's store, which he conducted for a time, while for a few years thereafter he conducted a store of his own, and in the meantime he had pur- chased eighty acres of land in Lincoln town- ship, but this he subsequently sold and is now living retired from the active cares of a busi- ness life.

Mr. Bettcher was first married to Miss Mary E. Donaldson, but there were no chil- dren of that union. On the 26th of Decem- ber, 1869, he married Miss Margaret Mc- Cauley, by whom he had two children. The daughter, Elizabeth E., attended the common schools and also graduated at the Terre Haute normal in the class of 1890, after which she was engaged in teaching at Newport, Indiana, for two years, during a similar period taught at Alexandria, this state, and for nine years followed her profession successfully in In-

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dianapolis. She then went to Wyoming, where she taught for one year and then took a course in the state university at Bloomington, In- diana. She is a renowned educator. She was located at McCook, Nebraska, as cashier in her uncle's store for two years and now is teaching in the city schools of McCook. The son, Earl M., is superintendent of the car- rier's department in the South Bend post office. He is a graduate of the state univer- sity at Bloomington, Indiana, and he taught school before he had reached his sixteenth year, while during his career as a teacher he saved one hundred and twenty dollars, the first year's salary before his sixteenth year. He wedded Miss Mabel Williams, a represent- ative of one of the leading families of North Liberty, and they reside in their own home in South Bend. Mrs. Bettcher, the mother of these children, died on the 4th of April, 1881, and on the 21st of June, 1883, Mr. Bettcher wedded Miss Mary Rosemond, his present wife, who was born in Harris township, St. Joseph county, Indiana, December 18, 1845, a daughter of Theodore and Elizabeth (Nixon) Roosevelt. She is their only child, and was brought up in a family by the name of Ryan, but her direct lineage is the Dutch family of Roosevelts. After attending the common schools of St. Joseph county she entered the South Bend high school, and was also a student in the state normal at Terre Haute. When nineteen years of age she en- tered the teacher's profession, and she de- voted twenty years of her life to that occupa- tion in the schools of St. Joseph and Elkhart counties and also in Michigan. At the time of her marriage she was teaching in North Liberty, and she continued during one year thereafter. They then took up their abode in North Liberty, where they have ever since resided, honored and respected by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 69

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