A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 98

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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wealth's native daughters, Susanna Lomiller, a daughter of Henry Lomiller. In 1854 Mr. and Mrs. Elias Shearer came to St. Joseph county, Indiana, establishing their home in the woods of Madison township, where they lived for a time in a little log cabin and be- came familiar with the pioneer conditions which existed here at that early time. Their four children were Dorothy Kizer, of South Bend; Morgan Shearer, a resident of Madi- son township; William H., whose name in- troduces this review; and Abby Parker, also of South Bend. The mother was early left with the care of the little family, and she experienced many privations and hardships in her task of providing for her children and rearing them to years of maturity, but bravely she met the obstacles which beset her path and her efforts were rewarded with success. She subsequently became the wife of Preston Greene, now deceased, and she too has passed to her final reward, dying on the old home- stead farm at the age of sixty years. She was a member of the Lutheran church, and was loved and honored by all who had the pleasure of her acquaintance.

William H. Shearer . was left fatherless when but a small child, and as he grew in years he assisted his mother in the care of the farm. When he had reached the age of thirty-one years he established a home of his own by his marriage to Flora Ellen Bu- shong, who was reared in Ohio and Texas. She is a daughter of Hiram and Naomi (Saulsbury) Bushong, in whose family were four children : Flora Ellen Shearer, William F., Esther Belle and Lydia Barnes. Mrs. Bushong was born in Putnam county, Ohio, and there she was also reared, but her death occurred in Texas. Mr. Bushong resides in New Mexico. Four children have also been born to Mr. and Mrs. Shearer,-William Eugene, Naomi Lucile, Stella May and Susan Marie. The family home is a beautiful estate of eighty acres in Madison township. Mr. and Mrs. Shearer are members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and Mr. Shearer lends his political support to the Republican party.

FRANK RITTER. This well known farmer and honored citizen of German township, St. Joseph county, was born in the house in which he now resides December 13, 1845. His father, Jacob Ritter, was born in Dayton. Ohio, January 1, 1806, and came to Wayne county, Indiana, with his parents in 1817,

where he was married in 1827. With his bride. he removed to St. Joseph county in 1830, taking up his abode in Portage Prairie, on the farm on which his son Frank now re- sides, known as "Ritter-Schloss." His liv- ing children are: Aaron, of Green county, Missouri; Emeline, the wife of Newton Mil- ler, of New Carlisle; W. H. H., of South Bend; David M., also of Green county, Mis- souri; Frank, whose name introduces this re- view; Lorinda Bulla, of California; and Clarinda Buchtel, of South Bend. Two of the sons, William H. H. and David M., served as soldiers in the Civil war, in the Twenty- first Indiana Battery, remaining in service during the entire struggle. The father of these children died in South Bend on the 12th of April, 1898.

Frank Ritter remained on the home farm until 1865, when he went to South Bend, and during his residence in that city attended the Northern Indiana College. In 1868 he went to Kansas, and returning home spent nine years on the old homestead and three years on a farm in Warren township. In the spring of 1883 Mr. Ritter went to North Da- kota, where he was numbered among the pio- neers of the Red River Valley, Cass county, where he purchased a section of land, to which he later added a half section more, and was extensively engaged in the raising of wheat. During his residence in that state, which covered a period from 1883 to 1898, he served one term in the legislature, this being the second meeting of that body after the admission of the state into the Union, and he was elected by the Republican party. Re- turning to St. Joseph county, Indiana, in the fall of 1898, Mr. Ritter again took up his abode on the old Ritter homestead, where he now owns eighty acres of the original three hundred acres, and is extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits.

On the 28th of February, 1871, he was united. in marriage to Miss Justina Sump- tion, who was born on Sumptions Prairie. Greene township, St. Joseph county. June 24, 1849, her grandfather, George Sumption. from whom the prairie took its name, having been the first to settle in Greene township, dating his arrival in April, 1830, and he took up his abode in section 32. He came to the county with his four sons and two daughters. One of the former, Charles Sumption, was born the 29th of May, 1817, accompanied his parents on their removal to this county in

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Ritter-Schloss Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ritter, German Township

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1830, and was killed by his horse on his re- turn journey from Texas in 1849, dying be- fore the birth of his daughter Justina. Her mother, nee Mary Hoover, was born in Miami county, Ohio, September 7, 1822, and was eleven years of age when she came with her parents, David and Sarah (Weinbright) Hoover, to St. Joseph county, Indiana. Her death occurred at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Ritter, on the 17th of January, 1901. Mrs. Ritter had one sister, Helen Marian, who became the wife of William H. H. Ritter, and died in 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Ritter have four children: Edna Marian, wife of N. B. Fitch, a resident of Denver, Colorado, and he is state agent for the Manhattan Life Insurance Company. They have two children, Theodosia and Norris Ritter. Mrs. Fitch graduated in the class of 1890 at Castleton, North Dakota, and was also a student in the South Bend Commercial College. She then returned to Castleton and accepted a position as teacher in the schools for six years. Bertha is the wife of Emmett Wolverton, of Denver, Colorado, who is a salesman. She received a splendid high school education in Castleton, North Dakota, and graduated in the class of 1893. She taught in South Bend, Denver and North Dakota. Arthur Raymond completed his studies in the common schools and was a student for three years in the South Bend high school. He has taken up a claim in Montana. Mary Elizabeth received a common school education and was also a student for two years in South Bend high school. She is now a stenographer with the well known South Bend firm of Jones & Bates, attorneys. Mr. Ritter formerly gave his political support to the Republican party. but is now independent in his affiliations. On one occasion he voted twenty-one consecutive days for a United States senator, resulting in the election of the Democratic Senator Roach.

Mr. and Mrs. Ritter have one of the old parchment deeds dated March 1, 1831, and which bears the signature of President An- drew Jackson, this being the sixth deed of the kind found in the county of St. Joseph.

Mrs. Ritter also has samples of her grand- parents handiwork in patchwork, coverlets and counterpanes. The latter were designed by grandfather David Ritter, and the arti- cles are about three-quarters of a century old. She also has a copy of "The Ulster County Gazette," New York, published Janu- ary 4, 1800, which contains the obituary of

President George Washington, who died in 1799. Possibly there is not another copy of the edition in the entire county of St. Joseph. She has a Bible published in 1813, and she is also a numismatist, a collector of coins. The pretty country residence in German township is known as "Ritter-Schloss."

ALEXANDER GROSE, a well known and highly esteemed agriculturist of Madison township, is a member of one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of St. Jo- seph county. He was born on the farm on which he now resides March 12, 1852. His father, Jacob Grose, claimed Alsace, France, as the place of his nativity, born June 10, 1820, the year following the birth of Queen Victoria, and was a son of Jacob Grose, Sr., who was also born at Alsace and was a sol- dier under Napoleon at Waterloo. During the early boyhood days of Jacob, Jr., the family crossed the Atlantic to the United States on a sailing vessel, and from the harbor of New York made their way to Stark county, Ohio, near Canton; this being in 1826, and there the little lad grew to years of maturity on a farm. He subsequently removed to Owens county, Indiana, where he was married to Sarah Grines, who was born in Ohio, and was reared in that state and Indiana, a daughter of James Grines, who was of Irish descent. In 1844 Mr. Grose came to St. Joseph county, In- diana, having been one of the first to take up his abode within the borders of Madison township, this being before the building of its roads and when all was new and wild. On his land he erected a little log cabin, six- teen by twenty feet, with a clapboard roof, also a primitive log barn, and began the ar- duous task of clearing his land and preparing it for the plow. Mrs. Grose passed to her final reward on the 2nd of July, 1898, but the husband and father yet survives, having reached the eighty-seventh milestone on the journey of life. He is the oldest resident of Madison township and one of the oldest in St. Joseph county, a worthy and exemplary type of the honored pioneers. In their family were three children, but only two grew to mature years, and the daughter is Elizabeth, the widow of John Whitmer. Mrs. Grose was a member of the United Brethren church.

On the old farm in Madison township which has ever since been his home Alexander Grose was reared to a sturdy manhood. Its domains contain three hundred and twenty acres of

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the best land in the township, on which has been erected a large frame residence and one of the best barns in St. Joseph county, a large bank structure forty-five by ninety feet and twenty-one feet high, with a slate roof. In addition to his agricultural interests Mr. Grose is also extensively engaged in the rais- ing of high grade stock, including Shropshire sheep. The Grose farm is one of the most valuable estates in Madison township.

At the age of twenty-one years Mr. Grose was united in marriage to Mary Seifer, who was born in New Jersey, but was reared to mature years in Madison township, where her parents, George and Mary Seifer, had es- tablished their home in an early day. The mother is deceased, but the father is yet liv- ing and has reached the age of eighty-four years. They were the parents of four sons and four daughters. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Grose, but only two are living, John Irvin, who married Sarah G. Pent, a native of Topeka, Indiana, and he is a railroad engineer at Massillon, Ohio, and Eva Elizabeth, the wife of J. P. Canavon, of Galion, that state. Mrs. Grose is a member of the Lutheran church. In his political affiliations Mr. Grose is identified with the Republican party, and he keeps well in- formed on the issues and questions of the day. He is a fine type of strong and vigor- ous manhood, weighing two hundred pounds, and he is a great lover of the chase. He is a genial, affable gentleman, broad-minded and courteous with all, and he enjoys the high regard of a large circle of friends.

PHILLIP G. HORINE. Few of the residents of Madison township have a wider acquain- taceship than Phillip G. Horine, who is a rep- resentative of one of its earliest pioneer families, and his birth occurred here on the old homestead which had been located by his grandfather. His father. Christian Horine, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and when a lad of fourteen years he came with his parents to the United States, making the .voy- age on a sailing vessel which was sixty-four days in reaching the harbor of New York, for a servere storm was encountered en route and the captain was obliged to cut away the masts and also obtain food from a passing vessel. From New York the family made their way to Wayne county, Ohio, and thence with ox team and wagon to Madison township, St. Joseph county, Indiana, where Mr. Ho- rine, Sr., purchased a farm, erected a little

log cabin and barn and began life here in true pioneer style. The first home was after- ward replaced by a large and substantial frame residence, and in time the homestead of two hundred acres became one of the most valuable estates in the township. Christian Horine married Catherine Marker, a sister of Jacob Marker, Sr., whose history will be found on' other pages of this work. The Marker family also made the journey to Madison township with ox team and wagon. coming in the year of 1852. Of the seven children born of this union four are now liv- ing, Jacob, Joseph, Elizabeth and Catherine. After the death of the wife and mother Mr. Horine married her sister, Caroline Marker, and they have ten children living: Kate; Phillip; David, a resident of Elkhart, In- diana; Pauline Shafer; Henry, of Bremen, this state; Julius; Freda Shafer; Martin; Charles, who also makes his home in Bremen; and Anna. During the last eight years of his life Mr. Horine lived retired from the active cares of a business life, and his death oc- curred in 1896, when he had reached the age of seventy-two years. He assisted in the erec- tion of the Zion Evangelical church in Madi- son township, and was one of its most devoted members for many years. His widow is still living, and is a resident of Bremen, Indiana.

It was on this old Madison township home- stead that Phillip Horine was born and grew to years of maturity. During six years of his early business career he was a resident of Elkhart, this state, engaged in the grocery and meat business, but for many years past he has resided on the Beehler homestead, which is one of the finest estates of Madison township, improved with excellent buildings. In addition to his agricultural interests Mr. Horine is also agent for the Mutual Aid As- sociation of Elkhart county, one of the largest and best farm insuranec companies in the state, capitalized at eighty million dollars, and they transact an enormous business in

northern Indiana.

When he had reached the age of twenty- three years Mr. Horine was united in mar- riage to Emma Beehler, a native daughter of Madison township, born on the farm on which she now resides. The history of her father, Phillip Beehler, appears on other pages of this work. The two children born to Mr. and Mrs. Horine are Minnie, a young lady at home, and John. who is twelve years of age. Mr. Horine is a leading member and

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THE DEN YORK PUR, C LIBRARY

. Aster Lenox and Tilden Four Lations. 1903

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P.S.Hollowell

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

an active worker in the Zion Evangelical church of Madison township, in which he is serving as choir leader and as superintendent of the Sunday-school. He is an active and efficient worker in the cause of Christianity, and he commands the regard of all by his upright life.

RALPH S. HOLLOWELL. One of the early settlers and pioneers of St. Joseph county was Jacob Shimp, grandfather of the sub- . ject of this sketch, who came from Warren county, Ohio, with his bride, traveling with ox teams and settling on government land on Terre Coupee prairie, Olive township. On one corner of this farm the town of Plain- field was started but soon succumbed to the sister town of New Carlisle, after the building of the Lake Shore Railroad. Margaret E. Shimp, daughter of Jacob Shimp and mother of the subject of this sketch, was born in the same house as her son, the home of his grand- father at Plainfield.

Isaac T. Hollowell, descendant of English colonial settlers in Virginia, and born near Paoli, Orange county, Indiana, was united in marriage to Margaret E. Shimp, and their son was born at Plainfield, August 12, 1873. He received his early education and training in the public schools of the city of South Bend, attending the high school to the junior year. At the age of seventeen he entered the preparatory department of Butler College at Indianapolis. After completing the two years' preparatory course he entered the Theological School at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, completing the course and re- ceiving the theological diploma in 1894. Dur- ing the next three years he engaged in minis- terial and missionary work in Mississippi and Louisiana, representing the Church of Christ or Disciples of Christ. At this time he as- sisted in the organization of several churches in this new field for the people he repre- sented. As a result of the impoverished con- dition of the south at the close of the panic from 1893 to 1897, Mr. Hollowell returned to South Bend in January. 1897, and entered the employ of D. E. ITuntsinger, as an under- taker's assistant, with whom he remained for one and one-half years.

For about one year thereafter he engaged in the life insurance business with the Metro- politan Life Insurance Company, and at this time in company with J. L. Mills, he or- ganized and established the South Bend Towel

Supply Company, of which he was manager for three years. Disposing of his interest in this successful enterprise in 1901 to Mr. Mills, he engaged in the real estate and building business. He first purchased lots and thereon erected four houses. The result of this ven- ture proved so satisfactory that he continued to enlarge his operations, until he is numbered among the leading real estate dealers and home builders of South Bend, his specialty being the building of modern homes for those of moderate means.

For one who wishes to invest, he will pur- chase a lot, furnish plans and specifications and superintend the erection of the building until all is completed. During the last five years, Mr. Hollowell has erected over one hundred houses, being identified with the erection of many more and at the present writing has ten houses under construction.

In company with his wife, Addie Z. Hollo- well, and his brother-in-law, Knowles B. Smith, he is one of the owners of the Hollo- well-Smith addition, located on Linden avenue and Smith street, running from Sixth street to Olive street, and located two blocks north of the Singer factory. He is also iden- tified with several other locations and enter- prises in different parts of the city.

During the past two years, Mr. Hollowell has made a careful investigation and numer- ous experiments with concrete construction, having in mind the building of economical, permanent homes for those of moderate means. His investigations along these lines have resulted in his becoming one of the in- corporators, president and member of the board of directors of the Concrete Manu- facturing and Construction Company. This company was organized in November, 1907, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, having as its object the establishment of a permanent business in the line of concrete construction, using the American Hydraulic stone, and constructing homes as well as other buildings, practically fire and moisture proof and almost everlasting; at but little more than the present cost of frame buildings.

In 1901 Mr. Hollowell was united in mar- riage to Addie Z. Smith, of South Bend; her father Abraham Smith having been among the early pioneers of Michigan and Indiana. They have two children, Knowles B. and Do- rothy M.

Mr. Hollowell is a member of the Commer-

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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

ial Athletic Club, the South Bend Business Men's Association, South Bend Real Estate Board and the Y. M. C. A.

JAMES H. ROBERTS, recently deceased, was deputy state factory inspector, and had been a resident of South Bend for twenty-four years. All who knew him willingly accorded him a leading place among the esteemed citi- zens of the community. A native son of the Empire state, his birth occurred in Oneida county, New York, on the 26th of July, 1841. His father, William Roberts, was a native of England, and in his native land was married to Sarah Clayton, also a native of the mother country. Together they came to America about 1823, locating in Oneida county, New York, he having come to this country for the purpose of erecting a cotton mill in that county. The Empire state continued as their home throughout the remainder of their lives, the father passing away at the age of fifty- four years, while the mother survived until the age of seventy-two years. In their family were thirteen children, all but three of whom grew to years of maturity, and the family was one of prominence in the locality in which they so long resided.

James H. Roberts, the eleventh child and fourth son in order of birth, grew to manhood in the county of his nativity, receiving his educational training in the schools of Troy, New York, and the commercial college at Syr- acuse, that state. At the age of sixteen years he began learning the machinist's trade in the mills of Oneida county, remaining with his father for about ten years, when in 1867 he went west to Colorado, also spending some time in Minnesota and Mississippi, thence go- ing to Providence, Rhode Island, and in 1882 arrived in South Bend, where the rest of his life was passed and which has been one of uniform honor in business and fidelity in places of public trust. During the long period of twenty years thereafter he was employed as foreman in the machine shops of the Oliver works, and at the close of that long connec- tion, in 1891, he was appointed state deputy factory inspector, his systematic business methods, his sound judgment and his laudable ambition all contributing to make his official career a prosperous one.

On the 10th of June, 1868, Mr. Roberts was married to Mary Harris, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Glover) Harris, the former of whom was a native of England and came to America when only ten years of age.

while the mother was born in Scotland and was seven years of age when brought by her parents to this country. Mrs. Roberts was born in Prince Edwards Island December 29, 1836, and was about fifteen years of age when the family home was established in the state of New York, where she grew to womanhood. She has become the mother of two daughters, Charlotte J. and Isabell. In his political affil- iations Mr. Roberts is a Republican, laboring earnestly for the adoption of the principles which he believes will best advance good gov- ernment, and for four years he represented the second ward in the city council of South Bend. His fraternal relations connect him with the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and Mrs. Roberts is a member of the Presbyterian church.

PATRICK H. CASEY, who is now serving as superintendent of the mechanical department of the Times Printing Company in South Bend, has been a resident of this city for twenty-five years, and during twenty years of that time has served in his present position. His birth occurred in Ligonier, Indiana, Feb- ruary 8, 1860, his parents being Michael and Catherine (Daily) Casey, who were natives of county Kerry, Ireland. Some time in the '30s, however, they left their native land for the United States, first taking up their abode in Elkhart, Indiana, where Michael Casey was employed in the construction of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, but eventually they located on a farm near Ligon- ier in Noble county, Indiana. where their nine children, seven sons and two daughters, were principally reared. Of that large family of children all grew to years of maturity.

Patrick II. Casey, the eighth child and sixth son in order of birth, spent the days of his boy- hood and youth in Noble county, Indiana, and received his educational training in the Ligon- ier high school. He began the printer's trade in 1876, under the tutorship of that veteran newspaper man, the Hon. John B. Stoll, in whose employ he has been almost continuously ever since. He is at present a stockholder in The Times Printing Company and one of its directors, and takes an active interest in the welfare and success of that corporation.

The marriage of Mr. Casey was celebrated in 1892, when Ella Stoll, the daughter of J. B. and Mary (Snyder) Stoll, became his wife, and they have one daughter, Mary Margaret. Mr. Casey holds membership relations with the order of Ben Hur of South Bend. and is

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a member of the Catholic church of this city. His long identification with the interests of South Bend has made him well known to its citizens, and he is held in high esteen in the community for his honorable, upright life.

C. N. CRABILL. The man who wins promi- nence at the bar of America's thriving cities must have a thorough understanding of the law, a keen perception, logical reasoning, forc- ible argument, and above all habits of pains- taking, patient industry. Not by inheritance, by purchase or by gift can he win reputation in his chosen calling. It must come as the reward of true merit. All must begin on a common plane and rise to eminence by per- severance, industry and ability, or fall back into the ranks of mediocrity. In like manner with all others C. N. Crabill started out to win a name and place for himself, and his success has made him one of the leaders of the Misha- waka bar.

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A history of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 98

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