A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 90

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

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DAYTON D. MANGUS. The oft-repeated (and seldom denied) statement that this is particu- larly the age of young men-an era when broad education and natural talents for lead- ership override all considerations of old-time experience finds forcible illustration in the career and present standing of Dayton D. Mangus, already so well known and highly honored in the southern part of St. Joseph county as a public official, a leading Republi- can and a citizen of progressive ideas and practical usefulness. Now a resident of Liberty township, ne was born in Union town- ship, to the east, on the 12th of September, 1871, the sixth in the family of George and Mary (Kaser) Mangus.

The other members of the family were as follows: William F., a farmer residing in Union township; Albert C., a leading agricul- turist and horseman of Liberty township; Della M. wife of John H. Walker, a prosper- ous citizen of Union township; Delbert, a farmer of the same township, and Melvin, also thus engaged in Union township; Etta E., wife of Rev. Solomon Imick, whose husband is a pastor of the United Brethren church, located at Vinton, Iowa; Anna L., whose hus- band, Rev. Earl O. Brown, is engaged in pas- toral work in the Willamette Valley, Oregon; Eva V., wife of Frank Gusteva, a farmer of

Liberty township; Carrie F., formerly a teacher, in the county schools and a graduate of the Valparaiso Normal School, who is now the wife of Everett Burns, timekeeper of the Erie railroad at Huntington, Indiana; Fred, a farmer of Liberty township; and Blanche, wife of a Mr. McCoy, a well known merchant.

George Mangus, the father, was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, July 19, 1837, and died January 29, 1901. Left as an orphan at an early age, he was thrown on his own re- sources when but a boy, and at the age of eighteen came to reside in Union township. He was fairly successful in worldly matters and at his death owned a good farm of eighty acres and the improvements which constitute a comfortable family homestead. He was a firm Republican from the time of casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, but never held or solicited public office. Although reared a Lutheran, he afterward joined the United Brethren church, of which he was long an earnest member, as is his widow at the present time.

Mrs. Mary (Kaser) Mangus was born in Stark county, Ohio, August 18, 1845, and she still resides in Union township near her daughter. She is of Irish and Dutch lineage, and is a lady of remarkable physical and men- tal vigor. She came to St. Joseph county when a young lady, and an indication of her hardihood at that period of her life is the accomplishment of the journey from Ply- mouth, Marshall county, on foot.

Coming of such parentage and reared amid the healthful labors and influences of agri- cultural life, it is small wonder that Dayton D. Mangus has stored an abundance of phys- ical and intellectual energy, which has tended to make him the active man of affairs that he is. After completing his elementary train- ing in the common schools, in 1886 he pur- sued courses in the normal schools at both South Bend and Plymouth. He had so hearty an appreciation of the value of a good edu- cation that, it is said, when he was short of funds, he has sometimes gone without his meals in order to purchase the necessary text books. But the young man fully accom- plished his purpose and in 1889, then but eighteen years of age, commenced his career in St. Joseph county. About the same time, also, he began to take an active part in politics, and the result is to place him in the ranks of the influential Republicans in the southern part of the county. His fine

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work as a teacher extended over a period of fifteen years, and many of the young men and women who are today holding responsible positions in the communities of St. Joseph county acknowledge their indebtedness to him for starting them along the progressive road.

Mr. Mangus' marriage to Miss Elizabeth Steele occurred December 28, 1893, and three sons and three daughters have been born to their union. Don C., the eldest child, is de- ceased; Ruth E., a pupil in the fifth grade is also pursuing a musical course ; besides whom, are Lois M., Mary C., Paul Dayton and John R.

Mrs. Mangus was born in Liberty township, St. Joseph county, July 23, 1870, being the third child in a family of six sons and two daughters born to Michael and Charlotte (Stradley) Steele. The seven living children are: Edwin Steele, married, a teacher for twenty years in the county, and now engaged in commercial lines; Clarence, a farmer of Laporte county, Indiana, and married; Eliza- beth (Mrs. Mangus) ; Daniel E. and Lloyd, farmers of Liberty township; Ira and Melino L., the former a merchant of South Bend and the latter an operator on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern road. All the above are married.

Michael Steele, the farmer of Mrs. Mangus, was a native of Coshocton county, Ohio, born May 30, 1838, and died October 16, 1898. He was a very successful man, both from a prop- erty standpoint and considered as a citizen of broad and high character. Of good practical education, the owner of valuable property consisting of three hundred and eighty acres, all highly improved, a stanch Republican since the days of the martyred Lincoln, and a reliable friend of public education and all agencies calculated to advance the interests of his home community-Mr. Steele was an acknowledged force of the utmost value to the entire county. His remains are interred in North Liberty cemetery, where a beautiful monument stands sacred to the memory of the father and his good wife, who had preceded him fourteen years. Mrs. Michael Steele, a native of Wabash county, Indiana, born in 1848, died September 2, 1885, being at the time of her death a faithful member of the . Methodist Episcopal church.

Mr. and Mrs. Mangus began their married life on a little farm of thirty-five acres, and after residing there for about five years, in

1898 purchased their present comfortable estate of eighty acres. Mr. Mangus has since been engaged in raising the standard breeds of livestock, at which he has made a decided success. The family residence is a commo- dious frame house and is the center of much neighborhood enjoyment of a social and intel- lectual nature.

As stated, Mr. Mangus has been an active Republican since he was eighteen years of age, and cast his first presidential ballot for Benjamin Harrison. He has since been among the most vigorous supporters of Mc- Kinley and Roosevelt in the county. Upon numerous occasions he has served as a dele- gate to district and county conventions, and has served in the following offices : Notary pub- lic, twelve years; census enumerator in 1900, completing his official work in eighteen days; assessor of Liberty township in 1904, running twelve ahead of the Roosevelt ticket and re- ceiving the largest majority of any one ever elected to that office. Being a practical edu- cator of high-grade himself, Mr. Mangus has always taken an advanced stand in the cause of public education, giving his support only to the best teachers and schools which the public means will afford. In every walk of life he is, in fact, a twentieth-century pro- gressionist. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mangus are bright and substantial representatives of old families of the county, and are themselves products of its institutions, in whose develop- ment they have already taken a goodly part.

HENRY B. WORSTER. There are few men who can more justly claim the proud Ameri- can title of a self-made man than Henry B. Worster, for at an early age he started out in life for himself and has steadily worked his way upward, gaining success and winning the public confidence, while at the present time his name is enrolled among the leading mer- chants of Liberty township. The family is of English extraction, and Mr. Worster was born in New York on the 19th of July, 1844, the eldest child of Anson and Betsey (Van Buren) Worster, in whose family were four children, two sons and two daughters, but only three are now, living, namely: Henry B., whose name introduces this review; Par- cellus, a contractor and builder in North Lib- erty ; and Nora, the widow of Joseph Leggitt and a resident of Avoca, Iowa. Mr. Leggitt was a soldier in the Civil war.

Anson Worster, the father, was a native of Chautauqua county, New York, born on the

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8th of July, 1818, and his death occurred on the 24th of August, 1900. He was a self-edu- cated man, and was reared to the occupation of wagon-making, following that occupation in his native state until the removal of the family to LaPorte county, Indiana, in 1850, the trip being made via the Great Lakes to Chicago; this was before the advent of the railroads into this part of the state. For two years Mr. Worster worked at his trade of wagon-making in the city of LaPorte, and at the expiration of that time, in 1852, came to North Liberty to assist in the erection of the second grist mill built in the township. A year later he erected a little shop and re- sumed work at his trade. During his early life he was a Jackson Democrat, but when Lincoln was placed in nomination he sup- ported him and afterward voted with the Re- publican party. Religiously he was an advo- cate of the Spiritualistic belief, but later in life became an Adventist, and in 1860 both he and his wife were instrumental in organiz- ing the society and erecting the church here. Mrs. Worster, who was born in New York about 1826, died on the 30th of September, 1901, and with her husband she now sleeps in the North Liberty cemetery, where a beautiful, stone marks their last resting place. Her father was a cousin of President Martin Van Buren, and the family is of Mohawk Dutch descent.

Henry B. Worster was but eight years of age when he became a citizen of St. Joseph county, where he was early taught the duties of a contractor and builder. The first money he ever earned was from picking apples when but a little lad, working an entire week. for one dollar, but which to him seemed a muni- ficent sum. When but twelve years of age he began as a wage earner with his father, and gradually he ascended the ladder of success until he became one of the leading contractors and builders of the locality, many of the resi- dences in St. Joseph, LaPorte and even Mar- shall counties standing as monuments to his ability. In 1892 he erected a large brick gen- eral store building in North Liberty and en- tered upon his career as a general merchant, carrying a full and complete line of general merchandise, and in this enterprise he is assist- ed by his son. Their trade extends over much of the surrounding country, and North Lib- erty may well be proud to claim them among its leading business men. In addition he also owns two beautiful farms of two hundred and

sixty-six acres. He has truly made of life a success, and the secret of it is found in that persistent purpose which has been a motive power in his life, to put to the noblest and best use all that he is and has.

On the 10th of April, 1868, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Worster and Miss Amanda Rupert, which has been blessed by the birth of two sons. The elder, Bert, is his father's associate in business. He received his education in the Indiana Normal College, graduating in the business department, and in 1905 he was admitted to a partnership with his father. He married Miss Chloe Matthew- son, and they have two little sons, Bert and Wayne. He is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Harrison. Charley, the second son, is a solicitor in South Bend. He married Miss Delpha Swihart, and one little son has been born to them, Derwin. He, too, is a stanch Republican. Mrs. Worster, the mother, died on the 6th of September, 1875, and Mr. Worster afterward married Miss Maggie Brillhart, their wedding having been celebrated on the 1st of January, 1877, and two children have been born to them. Dr. W. W. Worster graduated from the Adven- tists College in Battle Creek, Michigan, after which he was a student in the American Med- ical College, the Rush Medical College and the University of Michigan, and is now a resi- dent of Lafayette and manager of the Wa- bash Sanitarium. He is a man of marked ability. His first presidential vote was cast for Mckinley, and he is a stanch supporter of the Grand Old Party. He wedded Miss Ada Olson. Lela May, the daughter, is book- keeper in the sanitarium at Lafayette. After attending the North Liberty public schools she entered the South Bend Business College, where she completed the course and gradu- ated and also graduated in instrumental music. Mr. Worster has given his children exceptional educational advantages, and they have worthily improved their opportunities. Mrs. Worster, the mother, was born in Rich- land county, Ohio, May 31, 1852, a daughter of Adam and Elizabeth (Bucher) Brillhart, in whose family were four children, three sons and one daughter. Her parents both died during the early days of Marshall county, and for ten years she taught in the schools of Kosciusko and Marshall counties. In 1892 Mr. Worster erected his beautiful home on Center street, where the family dis- pense a gracious hospitality to their many

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friends and acquaintances. He gives a stanch and unfaltering support to the Repub- lican party, and has often been selected as delegate to the county and district conven- tions. He has also served on both the school and town boards for years, and has always favored any movement for the betterment of the community. Both he and his wife are ad- herents of the Adventists faith.

JOHN W. GRIFFITH. During many years John W. Griffith has been classed among the prominent and influential agriculturists of Harris township, St. Joseph county, Indiana. His birth occurred in Milton township, Cass county, Michigan, about one mile from the state line, on the 18th of November, 1840, and the farm on which he was reared was located in both Michigan and Indiana, the state line running through it, but the home was situated on the Michigan side. His father, Mathew Griffith, was born in Sussex county, Delaware, March 10, 1811, and was a representative of one of the prominent old Delaware families of English descent. He came to Michigan before his marriage, in 1830, having been one of the first to take up his abode within its borders, and he spent the remainder of his life in Cass county, that state, where at one time he owned over two hundred acres of land. His death occurred on the 28th of Jan- uary, 1879, passing away in the faith of the Methodist church, of which he was long a faithful member. Mrs. Griffith bore the maiden name of Emeline Smith and was a native also of Sussex county, Delaware, born on the 1st of December, 1815. When thir- teen years of age she removed with her par- ents, Cannon and Charlotte Smith, also na- tives of Delaware, to Milton township, Cass county, Michigan, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Griffith, namely : Wil- liam C., a resident of Cass county, Michigan ; John W., whose name introduces this review ; Sarah, the wife of Isaac Shetterley; and Lydia, the wife of John Dunning, of Cass county, Michigan.

John W. Griffith enlisted for service in the Civil war when twenty-one years of age, on the 1st of September, 1861, one of the first to enlist in the three years' service, and became a member of Company L, Second Michigan Cavalry, under Colonel Phil Sheridan. They were assigned to the Army of the Cumber- land, and with his command Mr. Griffith par- ticipated in the battles of Booneville, Missis-

sippi; Perryville, Kentucky; Corinth, Missis- sippi; and Chickamauga, Franklin, Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee; besides many minor engagements. His military career covered a period of four years to a day, and returning home he at once resumed the labors of the farm. His present place consists of one hundred and three acres, eighty-three acres of which are located in section 10, Harris township, St. Joseph county, Indiana, and twenty acres of woodland in Milton township, Cass county, Michigan. His first home here was a small frame dwelling, sixteen by twen- ty-six feet, but this has long since given place to a beautiful and commodious residence and he also has a fine bank barn, fifty-five by thirty-six feet in size, while these and the many other substantial improvements which now adorn the farm stand as monuments to his energy and business ability. The home- stead is a part of the old Jesse Smith place, and is known as Sunny Banks Farm.

On the 21st of February, 1866, Mr. Grif- fith was married to Elizabeth McMichael, a native of Harris township, St. Joseph county, where she was born on the 13th of May, 1841, and has resided in this vicinity throughout her entire life. Her parents, Samuel and Nancy (Smith) McMichael, were natives of Delaware, but were numbered among the early pioneers of St. Joseph county, where their marriage was afterward celebrated, and here they passed away in death during the youth of their daughter. In their family were five children, namely: Hiram, who of- fered up his life on the altar of his country during the Civil war, having been one of the first to enlist in the three months' service, and from Niles entered the Sixth Michigan Infan- try; Elizabeth, who became the wife of Mr. Griffith; Eliza Mariner, a resident of Kan- sas; Rebecca Beardsley, who died, leaving four sons and one daughter; and Mary, who died at about the age of ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Griffith have no children of their own, but have reared an adopted child, a nephew Milton Beardsley Griffith, a noted musician, and who is now the head of the Concert of Music at South Bend. Mr. Griffith also raised his sister. He is a life-long Republican in his political affiliations, having cast his first vote for Lincoln's second term, and he is a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church, Smith's Chapel, in Milton township, Cass county.

ADAM W. SHIDLER, one of the well known

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citizens of Lakeville, Union township, has reached the Psalmist's span of three score years and ten. His has been a busy and useful life, a life filled with ardu- ous and honorable toil for the welfare of his family and others, and all who know him respect and esteem him. His birth oc- curred in Stark county, Ohio, eleven miles east of Canton, October 30, 1832, a son of George W. and Catherine (Wise) Shidler, both of whom were natives of Washington county, Pennsylvania, where their marriage was also celebrated. About 1810, they emi- grated from that state to Stark county, Ohio, making the journey on horseback, and the mother carried a little child in her arms. The Shidler family were originally from Switzer- land, whence they emigrated to England, and thence to the United States and to Pennsylva- nia. `The maternal grandfather, John Wise, was a Tory soldier in the war of the Revolu- tion, and at one time, escaping from the sol- diers, was hid in a haymow and bayonets penetrated his tall hat. He afterward made his home in Pennsylvania. George W. Shid- ler operated a saw and grist mill in Stark county, Ohio, in addition to his agricultural labors, and his death there occurred at the age of seventy-five years, his widow afterward removing to Indiana and dying at the age of eighty-seven years. In their family were thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to years of maturity, and three are living in 1907, the daughter, who has reached the age of ninety-two years, in Columbiana county, Ohio, and the son, eighty-two years of age, in Stark county, Ohio.

Adam W. Shidler, in company with his brother Jacob, in 1854 erected a saw mill three miles south of Lakeville in Union town- ship, which later became known as the Coquil- lard mill, the partnership continuing for two years, and the year following its dissolution the brother Jacob went west in company with a small party of St. Joseph county men, his destination being the Black Hills, but he died en route and was buried on Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, he being only twenty- eight at the time of his death. His widow reared her family near Lakeville, and is still a resident of the county. Adam Shidler continued to operate the mill until the close of the war, but was not successful in the venture as there was too much competition, and after selling his interests therein secured his present farm north of Lakeville and nine

miles south of South Bend, on the Michigan road. In 1854 this was a plank road from South Bend to one mile south of Lakeville, but the company which had built it failed to keep it in repair and in consequence its condition was so poor that only light loads could be hauled over it. Mr. Shidler offered to pay his toll in plank, but his driver being demanded cash hitched to the toll gate and hauled it out of the way. He was arrested and fined, but the result was that plank was accepted for toll. Later, however, the road changed hands, and in a few months cash was demanded of another driver, who also refusing was arrested and given a three days' trial. In the meantime, however, Mr. Shidler sued the company for unlawfully collecting toll, and the jurors, at the request of the company, passed over the road as far as Lakeville, making the trip in a band wagon, and on the way fell into a chuck hole, with the result that they were not long in deciding against the company. The road remained in this terrible condition for some time after- ward.

In 1869 Mr. Shidler secured letters patent on a sugar sap evaporator which consisted of a float to make the flow of sap automatic, but as he did not push the invention they were never manufactured extensively. During the long period of forty years he has conducted his present farm, while in addition he has also operated two portable mills, one having been located on his land, and to which he added a planer for the manufacture of his own lumber. His estate consists of one hun- dred and twenty acres, one of the best and most fertile farms in the county, on which he erected a pleasant and commodious residence in 1870, and eight years later his fine barn was built. He follows diversified farming, and in his pastures keeps an excellent grade of stock, he having introduced the Poland China hogs into this community.

The marriage of Mr. Shidler occurred on the 6th of November, 1853, in Stark county. Ohio, when Mary M. Klopfenstine became his wife, who with her sister, Mrs. Fogle. are the only survivors of their parents fifteen children, eleven of whom grew to years of maturity. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shidler have been born nine children: Belle. `the wife of Andrew Moon, of South Bend; Frances, wife of Erastus Hupp, of Union township; Emma. the wife of John Neddo, an agriculturist near the old home place ;

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Arthur L., who after ten years as a general medical practitioner in Fulton county, Illi- nois, specialized in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat and practiced in South Bend, where his death occurred at the age of thirty-nine years; Schuyler, who was a medical practitioner at Sheridan, North county, Missouri, died at the age of forty years; Alice, the widow of Dr. Albert Wagner, late of Lapaz, Indiana, and she now resides on the farm with her father, her son, Albert Wagner, performing its work; Willard and Adam were engaged in the hardware business at Ellisville, Illinois, two years, and now engaged with the firm of Wells & Shidler, in the manufacture of tables in South Bend; and Clem, a dentist in South Bend. All but one of the children have been teachers in the county, and the daughter Alice was also an instructor in music. Most of the sons have attended the Valparaiso University, and all have received excellent educational advant- ages. In his early life Mr. Shidler gave his political support to the Whigs, and in 1856 voted for the first Republican presidential nominee, Fremont, and although he has always since upheld the principles of that party he is independent in local matters. At various times he has been elected to the office of trustee, and is one of the influential citi- zens in public affairs of the locality. During the long period of thirty years both he and his wife have been members of the Christian church, and he was made the third member in the Lakeville Masonic lodge, this being over forty years ago, and for some time he served as its junior warden. Mr. Shidler has traveled much over the United States and Canada, and belongs to that class of repre- sentative Americans who advance the general prosperity while promoting individual suc- cess.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 90

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