USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 92
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rowed with the sorrowing and rejoiced with mothers over new found treasures. It caused him a pang of keenest regret when the swift- flying years and the hand of disease warned him that the time had come when he must sever his professional relations with the great public family to whom he had so long min- istered.
He spoke of the youths and children as they passed his door, and referred to the time when their mothers were blooming girls and proud young mothers; spoke of the dead and living for years back, and hoped that their children might be an honor and comfort to them. Financially he was successful in the practice of medicine, doubly so in that he was just and honorable. Many times dur- ing his illness he expressed himself as having always dealt with his patrons as he would wish to be dealt by. And so close was his hold upon the hearts of his patients that the children, grandchildren and great-grandchil- dren of many who employed him in his sturdy youth clung to him as long as he was able to minister to them, and mingled their tears when they heard he was no more, that his landmark in the community was swept away, that his stately form and good grey head would be seen among us no more. Over the whole community a shadow has fallen, every- where there is a feeling of personal loss.
As a husband he was tender and affection- ate, true as steel. He was a father of the highest type, loving, planning. sacrificing, that his children might be fitted for good citi- zenship, that they might enjoy to the fullest the privileges and blessings of life. As a friend he was incomparable, genial, compan- ionable, kind. Especially was he the coun- selor and friend of the young. Interested in educational affairs, counseling always perse- verance, economy and morality. As a citi- zen he was high-minded and honorable. His character was above reproach, and his repu- tation untarnished throughout a life of sev- enty-one years and a practice of forty-two years.
He was a Mason in good standing, having become a charter member of Lakeville Lodge, No. 353, in the year 1867. In 1852, two years before the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which swept away the line of Mason and Dixon. while in Missouri and before starting upon his journey across the plains, there oc- curred an incident which changed the color of his politics. He was then a Democrat. He
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witnessed an auction sale from the block of a slave mother, she to go to the cotton fields of Alabama, and her child, from whom she part- ed with the wildest grief, was sold to another master. His indignation was intense. He vowed never again to vote with the party of his fathers till the slave traffic should be abol- ished from the land. With the courage of his convictions he showed himself an Aboli- tionist. In 1854 he became a charter member of the Republican party. He joined the Grenback party at its incep- tion and stayed with it, as he declared, till the purpose for which it was organized was accomplished. Some years since he joined the party pledged to the prohibition of the liquor traffic, a traffic which he declared to be a greater curse than that of human slavery.
Like all intense natures he was strong in his likes and dislikes, and in the old mining days he had only one friend to whom he con- fided fully-Augustus Hartzey, of McComb, Ohio. They were comrades and messmates, sharing each other's secrets, hiding each other's treasures, watching each other's inter- ests. Mr. Hartzey, in speaking of his friend, says: "Our natures are dual. We climbed the Rockies and delved for gold together. We thought and acted in harmony. We had both voted for Pierce. We both voted for Fremont, and we both left the Golden state to redeem sacred promises made in youth." Mr. Hartzey visited his friend twice last sea- son, and he is here to-day to look for the last time upon the face of his dead comrade. He is the last surviving member of the old wagon train of '52. God grant that they may meet again when for him the journey overland is finished.
Dr. Moore was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and united with the Meth- odist Episcopal church in 1880, during a series of meetings held by the Rev. Saun- ders. Faults he had, for to err is human, but they were faults of a strong intense nature, which made him almost extreme in his de- nunciation of wrong and love of what he be- lieved to be right. He loved life, thought it a great privilege to live. The world was to him great and beautiful, but he expressed himself as perfectly resigned, having made his peace with God. Having forgiven, as he hoped to be forgiven, he looked forward with faith to a reunion with loved ones beyond the grave. The words of the Psalmist David, chosen by his mother as a text of Scripture
from which comforting thoughts suggested to her family when she walked through the Val- lay of the Shadow of Death, comforted her son when the Death Angel hovered near him : "Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they com- fort me."-Obituary by Mrs. Dr. John Moore.
CHRISTOPHER FUCHS, the popular trustee of Union township, is one of the native sons of the township, born on the farm on which he now lives May 6, 1851, and in this responsi- ble position he has made a fine record for gen- eral efficiency, fidelity and promptness in the discharge of his duties. His parents, George and Johanna Fuchs, were both natives of Ba- varia. Germania, and came to America in the fall of 1850, being accompanied on the jour- ney by their five children, their youngest child, Christopher, having been born after the arrival of the family in the United States. Mr. Fuchs had a sister, Mrs. Bauer, living in Indiana, and hither they made their way, the father purchasing fifty acres of the present homestead in Union township, of which a few acres had been cleared and a small log cabin erected. There he continued to reside until his life's labors were ended in death, when he had reached his eighty-fifth year, and in the meantime he had increased the boundaries of his farm to one hundred and ninety acres, devoting his entire time and attention to its cultivation and improvement, although pre- vious to his coming to this country he had been a locksmith. The timber on his land he untilized into the making of hubs, spokes and wagon lumber, also selling much walnut timber, and the double log house continued as his home until death, he having survived his wife for some years. He was a Lutheran in his religious belief, there being at one time a church of that denomination in the vicinity of his home, and gave his political support to the Democratic party. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fuchs were born six children: John, who followed farming in this neighborhood until his death at the age of sixty-nine years, and he had never married; Charley, an agricultur- ist of Center township; Henry, a resident of the gold mining section of Grass Valley, Cal- ifornia, he having been absent from this sec- tion since about 1854, although he has twice returned on visits; Caroline, the wife of John Fickenger, of Clay township, St. Joseph coun- ty; Kate, who served as her father's house- keeper until his death, and has since resided
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on the old homestead, having never married; and Christopher, whose name introduces this review.
Christopher Fuchs has spent his entire life on the farm on which he now resides, with the exception of a few months in California, and his homestead now comprises one hundred and seventy-five acres, one hundred and thir- ty-five acres of which is included in the old home farm on the Michigan road, nine miles south of the center of South Bend. The many substantial improvements which now adorn the premises are the result of his industry and ability, including a fine bank barn built in 1876, and a comfortable and commodious resi- dence erected in 1884. He is engaged in gen- eral agricultural pursuits, and in his pas- tures are to be found a fine grade of stock. He is a thorough farmer and excellent finan- cier, progressive in his methods and earnest in his desire to promote the interests of the community. He is a stalwart Democrat and . Valentine at Carson, Union township, when uses his influence in the support of his party he had reached the age of seventy-five years. They became residents of the county during its earliest pioneer epoch, before the advent of the railroads, and at that time Mishawaka was their nearest trading station. Unto this worthy old pioneer couple were born fourteen children, and the five now living, four sons and one daughter, are: David, who resides in Center township, three miles south of South Bend; Margaret, the wife of Lennett Rogers, of South Bend; Peter, whose name introduces this review; Valentine, of Greene township; and Adam, who resides in South Bend. principles and nominees. In 1904 he was elected the trustee of Union township, run- ning forty seven votes ahead of his opponent in a district with a Republican majority of sixty, and thus it is seen that he has many Republican friends. In the township are eleven schools, including the Lakeville school of three rooms, which is a township high school, and the thirteen teachers are Charles Bailey, Floyd Berkley, Floyd Annis, John Hardy, Walter Katering, Phiney Long, Maud Flucky, Annie Rush, Bernice Rush, Annie Thayer, Alice Smith, Nellie Eastburn and Ar-
Peter Slough was eleven years of age at thur Henderson. The schools have an enroll -. the time of the removal of the family to St.
ment of five hundred and sixty-five pupils, and include five brick buildings, and to Mr. Fuchs belongs the credit of erecting one of these beautiful school houses. He has often served as a delegate to the county and other conventions of his party, and is one of the active workers in the ranks of the Democracy in this section.
In 1878 Mr. Fuchs was united in marriage to Miss Julia Kunsman, who was born near Mishawaka, where her mother still resides, and they have become the parents of four children, Charley, Louie, Lizzie and Nellie, all at home. The daughter Lizzie is the wife of Russell Annis, but resides with her par- ents. Mr. Fuchs enjoys the outdoor sports of hunting, fishing, etc., and is a worthy mem- ber of the Lutheran church of South Bend.
PETER SLOUGH. Since an early epoch in its
history the Slough family have been identi- fied with the progress and development of St. Joseph county, and Peter Slough has long been numbered among the leading agricultur- ists and business men of Union township. He was born at Atwater, Portage county, Ohio, May 31, 1839, a son of Martin and Barbara (Sauers) Slough, both natives of Wittenburg, Germany. About 1832, after their marriage, they came to the United States, making their way to Portage county, Ohio, which continued as their home until in September, 1850, coming thence to Wood- land, Madison township, St. Joseph county. This section of the country was then new and wild, and from the virgin forest Mr. Slough made a fine farm, the parents there residing until about 1864, when they laid aside the active work of the farm and removed to Bremen. The mother's death there occurred, but the father died at the home of his son
Joseph county, and his boyhood days were spent in their forest home in Madison town- ship, where he helped to clear the land and place the fields under cultivation. The Ferris saw mill, built the same winter of their ar- rival, was located three miles north of their home, and much of his time was spent in hauling logs from the farm to the mill. Leaving home at the age of twenty-one years, he secured employment in the saw mills in Bourbon and Carson, owned by Slough & Alexander, the partnership consisting of his brothers Frederick and Martin and William Alexander. During his connection therewith he worked his way upward to the position of head sawyer, thus continuing about three years, and, returning to Bourbon, spent one year there and was there married. In com- pany with his brothers Valentine and David,
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he then rented the Slough & Alexander mill at Carson, which they conducted for one year, doing a general custom trade, and on the expiration of that period Mr. Slough pur- chased a half interest in the Slover & Keyser mill in Marshall county in company with a Mr. Monowick. After two years the property was burned, and, purchasing his partner's in- terest, Mr. Slough rebuilt and conducted the mill alone for one year, when he sold a half interest to Montgomery, Eggleston & Com- pany, of Mishawaka, he continuing in charge during the following year. His brother David then became his partner, and they purchased . two hundred and forty acres where Mr. Slough now resides. This was about the year 1871, and, removing the mill thereto, the two brothers continued its operation . for sixteen years, doing a general custom business. Theirs was the only mill within a distance of three miles, and it was located in a fine body of walnut, poplar, ash, maple and beech tim- ber, and proved a profitable investment. On the expiration of sixteen years Mr. Slough purchased his brother's interest, and con- tinued to operate it alone for four years or until the death of his wife in 1895, when he sold the mill and his since devoted his atten- tion to the clearing and cultivation of his land. His farm consists of about two hun- dred acres, one hundred and sixty-five of which are under a fine state of cultivation, and he has also erected a pleasant and com- modious residence and excellent barn. Dur- ing his connection with the saw milling busi- ness he found a ready market for his product in South Bend, selling principally to the Singer, Birdsell and Studebaker companies, and they gave constant employment to from five to seven men.
At the age of twenty-four years Mr. Slough was united in marriage to Maria L. Snyder, and for thirty-four years they traveled the journey of life together, she nobly assisting him in the establishment of their home. Dur- ing his identification with the milling busi- ness she boarded the men in their employ, and in many ways proved a worthy helpmate. Their union was blessed by the birth of five children : Elva O., the wife of Frank Niceley, proprietor of a paper manufactory in South Bend: Orris, who died in childhood; Otto, who had married and died at the age of twen- ty-four years; Russell, who is at home with his father and is conducting the farm; and Dessie, also at home. On the 29th of July,
1900, Mr. Slough married Miss Irene Hayes, of Logansport, Indiana. He also has an adopted daughter, Jennie, who came to them when a little maiden of five years, and re- mained with them until reaching womanhood. Mr. Slough gives his political support to the Republican party, and in 1865, during the period of the Civil war, he volunteered as a member of Company A, Thirty-fifth Indiana Regiment, which he joined at Chattanooga, Tennessee, under Colonel Tassen and General Thomas. He participated in two of the hard- fought battles of the war, Franklin and Nash- ville, and was honorably discharged on the 16th of November, 1865, having in the mean- time been sent to Galveston, Texas, where his term of service expired. He is broad-minded and patriotic, and merits the high regard which is freely accorded him.
LEMEN SHAFER In the early settlement and subsequent history of St. Joseph county the ancestors of Lemen Shafer have been prominent, and his birth occurred on the site of his present home April 28, 1861, his par- ents being Hiram and Eliza (Schmachten- berger) Shafer. The father, who was a na- tive of Stark county, Ohio, and of Pennsyl- vania-German descent, was a son of David Shafer, whose death occurred in St. Joseph county, Indiana, whither he had come to join his son Hiram. When past the age of twen- ty-one years Hiram Shafer, in company with his brother Reuben, made the journey over- land with team and wagon to St. Joseph county, where for a time he worked at the shoemaker's trade in Mishawaka. Returning to Ohio for his bride, he came again to St. Joseph county and this time located on the farm on which his son Lemen now resides. This was about the year 1852, and he had to cut his way in the woods one mile from the Turkey Creek road to the farm, where he cleared a space sufficient to erect a hewed, two-story log cabin, one of the best in the vi- cinity at that time. The purchase price for his eighty-acre tract was two hundred and' fifty dollars, and it contained the finest of walnut, white oak, maple and beech timber, all of which was sacrificed in order to clear his land. He added another eighty acre tract to his original purchase, and one hundred and twenty acres he placed under cultivation. After some years spent in Harris township his brother Reuben came to Union township and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining Hiram Shafer's farm,
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where he also erected a hewed log cabin, but after ten years returned to Harris township and there spent the remainder of his life, dying in 1889. The death of Hiram Shafer occurred on the 29th of January, 1897, when he had reached the seventieth milestone on the journey of life, and eight days later his wife joined him in the home beyond. For forty-five years they had traveled the journey of life together, their mutual love and confi- dence increasing as the years went by, and the wish expressed at her husband's death that she might be with him in their heavenly home was so soon granted. Mr. Shafer was a member and assisted in the organization of the United Brethren church in this township. Its meetings were first held in a school house, but in the winter of 1874 a meeting resulted in the accession of eighty-five new members, and this was the origin of the United Breth- ren church at Bremen. Mr. Shafer was very active in raising the funds with which to erect the church, and long served as its stew- ard. Mrs. Shafer was reared in the faith of the Lutheran church. In their family were twelve children, nine of whom grew to years of maturity, and eight are now living: Cor- delia, the wife of John Kidder, of White Pigeon, Michigan ; Maria, who married John Bondurant, and died at the age of thirty- eight years ; Henry, a resident of Union town- ship; William, who resides near Lakeville; Lemen, the immediate subject of this review ; Edward, of North Dakota; Simon, who re- sides near his old home; Sally, the wife of Mr. Van Fisher, of South Bend; and George, of Union township.
Lemen Shafer remained at home until twenty-one years of age, as did also each of his brothers, and for one year thereafter was engaged in farming. During the following five years he was a resident of South Bend, where he was engaged in teaming, and then removed to Woodland, where for ten years he operated a sawmill and stave factory and also farmed. Returning to the old homestead farm in 1899, he purchased the interest of the other heirs, and there he has since lived and labored, in the meantime remodeling the house which had been erected by his father, building fences, tilling the land, and in many ways has increased the value of this old homestead.
On the 25th of May, 1882, Mr. Shafer was united in marriage to Margaret Grose, a daughter of Christian and Sophia Grose,
of Woodland, Madison township, where the father farmed for many years or until his life's labors were ended in death in 1882. She is a native daughter of Woodland, and the only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Shafer is Daisy, the wife of Clifford DuComb, a law student at the state university. Mr. Shafer votes with the Republican party, and his fra- ternal relations are with the Knights of the Maccabees and the Gleaners, with which his wife also affiliates. The family are well and favorably known, and stand high in the com- munity.
JOHN SIEFER. The Siefer family is one of the oldest in Union township. For over half a century they have been identified with the agricultural interests of their community, aid- ing materially in the development of the re- sources of their section and taking an active part in all movements tending to advance its welfare.
George Siefer, the father, was born in Al- sace, France, November 2, 1822, and in 1852 he came to the United States, spending the first three years in this country as a tailor in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he had a brother-in-law living. It was in the year 1855 that he came to Indiana, first locating in Madison township, a half a mile from his present home in Union township, where he owned a farm for nearly fifty years, but about twenty years ago he transferred his residence to another part of the land, so he has lived on the old farm since his advent into the county over a half century ago. The hewed log house in which he first took up his abode was located in the dense woods, and it continued as his home until it finally gave place twenty years ago to his present frame dwelling, and as the years grew apace he added to his original purchase until he owned four hundred acres in this vicinity, two hundred acres in the homestead and two tracts consisting of one hundred and twenty and eighty acres each. Most of the land was covered with a heavy growth of timber, which he at first burned in his efforts to clear the farm, but later he secured a saw mill and was thus able to utilize the valuable timber. For thirty-five years in addition to his general farming labors he also handled the largest part of the stock in this vicinity, and was widely known as the leading stock dealer in this section of St. Joseph county. About three years ago, however, Mr. Siefer laid aside the active work of the farm, and has since
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lived in quiet retirement, enjoying the rest which he has so truly earned. He helped each of his children as they grew to years of ma- turity and left home, and has at all times been a devoted father and a true and loyal friend and neighbor. From the little home across the sea he made his way to the new world with but little capital and without influential friends, and has made for himself a place in connection with the activities of life, success- fully surmounting obstacles and gaining rec -. ognition for intrinsic worth of character.
In has native land of France Mr. Siefer had married Mary Conrad, who accompanied him on his emigration to the United States, and continued his faithful and loving com- panion until her life's labors were ended in death on the 30th of October, 1891, when fifty-nine years of age. In their family were the following children: Mary, the wife of Alexander Grose, of Madison township; George, who owns a valuable farm in Union township, but is now living retired in Bremen ; John, whose name introduces this review : Emma, the wife of William Klinkner, of Center township; William, a resident of South Bend: Edward, who owns the old home- stead and with whom his father now lives; Ida, who became the wife of Walter Huff, of Bremen, and died October 30, 1906, when but thirty-five years of age; and Cora, who served as her father's housekeeper after the death of her mother until she too was called to the home beyond, passing away on the 24th of December, 1901, aged twenty-seven years. Mr. Siefer, the father, affiliates with the Democracy, but is not bound by party ties, and is a member of the Evangelical church at Bremen.
John Siefer was born in the old log house in which the family so long resided December 17, 1858, and he continued as his father's helper until his marriage, which occurred in his twenty-fifth year, February 7, 1884, Katie, the daughter of Christian and Sophia (Scherer) Grose. becoming his wife. The name was formerly spelled Grotz, and the family is one of the old and honored ones of this section of the county. She is also a na- tive of Madison township, born a half a mile south of Woodland, and there the parents died on the farm they had cleared and cultivated, and where A. L. Grose still resides. After his marriage Mr. Siefer purchased eighty acres of land of his father, which he received on easy terms, and the land was then mainly
covered with stumps, brush, etc., but he has since cleared the tract and has added forty acres to its original boundaries, also owning fifty acres near by, the old Fred Willmer place. He has placed his fields under an ex- cellent state of cultivation, has erected many substantial buildings, and is now enlarging his fine bank barn, forty by seventy-two feet, which was erected nine years ago.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Siefer, a son and a daughter. The lat- ter, Elsie, is a high school student in South Bend, and Marvin is a sturdy little lad of eight years. In his political affiliations Mr. Siefer was formerly identified with the De- mocracy, but during the past eight years has given his support to the Republican party. He enjoys his summer outings with his gun and rod, and often visits the lakes during his vacations.
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