USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A standard history of Elkhart County, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Volume II > Part 10
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With a boyhood spent on a farm, Isaac W. Miller acquired his education by attending the country schools in District No. 11 dur- ing the winter season, while much of his time went to farm duties during the summer. At the age of seventeen he began an appren- ticeship at the carpenter's trade, and he not only has the ability and knowledge which enables him to direct others, but is also a practical expert in the handling of all building tools and appliances himself. After working as a journeyman carpenter for several years he engaged in business on his own account as a builder and contractor at the age of twenty-four. It would be impossible to compile a complete list including all the structures which he has built and contracted for in and about Goshen. Some of the better known buiklings are the Goshen Public Library, the High School Building, the Lutheran Church, the Spohn Building, the Hawks Electric Light Building, the I X L factory, the Goshen Churn and Ladder Company's building, and at the present writing he has his organization engaged in the construction of the fine Science Hall at Goshen College. Many of the best residents in the City of Goshen also attest his skill.
Mr. Miller attends the Lutheran Church. He married Miss Clara Everett, and they have one daughter, Lois, a graduate of the Goshen High School. Mr. Miller's home is at 216 West Clinton Street. He has some active interests outside of his own business, and is one of the most substantial men of affairs in the city, a skill- ful workman, is honorable in all his dealings, and much esteemed for his sterling qualities.
SAMUEL D. REID. For the greater part of thirty years Mr. Reid has been identified with Elkhart citizenship. He was formerly con- nected with the extensive machine shops of the Lake Shore rail-
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road at that point, and is one of the men of thorough technical ability who have been attracted to this center of industry on account of its many manufacturing facilities. Mr. Reid is now a machinist and is employed at his trade in Elkhart. He follows closely the development of the city and is always ready to respond with his help to any cause for public spirited service.
By birth Samuel D. Reid is an Illinois man, having been born on his father's farm in Ford County, June 20, 1863. His remote ancestors were probably Scotch, but the first of the name came to this country from England as early as 1629. Mr. Reid's parents were William Jackson and Sarah Ann ( Howe) Reid. His father was born in Frederick County, Maryland, January 22, 1831, and died November 23, 1895. On December 4, 1861, he married Miss Howe, who was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, May 7, 1840, and died August 28, 1908. The paternal grandparents were Pat- rick and Justin ( Hahn) Reid. The latter was born in 1792 and died in February, 1848, and William J. was the youngest of their five children, three daughters and two sons. William J. Reid when twelve years of age was bound out to learn the carpenter's trade, and after completing his apprenticeship followed the work as a journeyman in Mississippi and Louisiana, but in 1858 located in Illinois, buying a tract of land from the Illinois Central Railway Company at Onarga in Ford County. After developing his farm interests for several years he removed to the vicinity of Chats- worth in Livingston County, Illinois, and there became the pioneer nurseryman in that section of the state. He did an extensive busi- ness in supplying the farmers over a large section of country with selected stock of fruit trees, and finally retired from business in 1887, then locating at Elkhart where he lived until his death. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, politically acted in- dependently, and though a good business man was noted for his liberality in responding to every demand upon his public spirit. William J. Reid and wife became the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter : Samuel D .; Marcellus; Alice C .; Brice H .; and William C.
The boyhood days of Samuel D. Reid were spent on his father's farm in Livingston County, Illinois, and his education came from the public schools of Chatsworth. At the age of seventeen he went to Chicago and learned the trade of machinist in the shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. His apprenticeship lasted four years. The date of his location at Elkhart was Sep- tember 23, 1885. As a machinist with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern he continued seven years four months until January 20,
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1893. His next employment was with the Chicago and Erie Rail- way Company at Huntington, Indiana, where he remained about one and a half years, and subsequently for one year was with the Big Four Railway at Delaware, Ohio. Returning to Elkhart in July, 1895, Mr. Reid took the post of engineer with the Doctor Miles Medical Company, and that was his service for about thirteen years, until June 1, 1908. He was then appointed engineer at the Central School Building of Elkhart, and finally after nearly thirty years of continuous service in his profession and technical trade he retired January 1, 1913. For about two years Mr. Reid and his wife and daughter lived the greater part of the time in Florida and also traveled extensively, but since May, 1915, have resumed their permanent residence in Elkhart. Mr. Reid is affiliated with the Woodmen of the World, and in politics is a republican.
Not long after his location in Elkhart County Mr. Reid was married December 29, 1886, to Miss Sadie Huntsinger. She was born in Elkhart County, a daughter of David and Julia Ann (High) Huntsinger. Her father was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, November 15, 1821, and died October 21, 1895. Her mother was born in Miami County, Ohio, July 30, 1828, and died January 20, 1912. They were married in Elkhart County November 27, 1847, a date which indicates their settlement in this locality among the pioneers. Mrs. Reid was one of a family of seven children, two of whom died in infancy, and the other four still living are named Alice, Jacob, Chauncey and Eli. Her father, Mr. Huntsinger, came to Indiana when a young man, and for several years was a farmer in St. Joseph County. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G of the One Hundred and Seventy-fourth Regiment of Indiana Volunteers. This regiment was a part of the great armies under Sherman and other Union generals in the campaign through the heart of the Confederacy, and he saw much active and arduous ser- vice and did not return home until peace had been restored and the country reunited. He marched with Sherman to the sea, and thence up through the Carolinas and participated in the Grand Review of the victorious troops at Washington in June, 1865. After the war he became one of the substantial farmer citizens of Elkhart County up to 1887, at which date he gave over his active supervision of the farm and spent his last days in Elkhart City. Mr. Huntsinger cast his first vote for the whig candidate, later was a republican and was a member of the Baptist Church.
Mr. and Mrs. Reid have one daughter, Gaynell, who received her education in the grammer and high schools of Elkhart and the Elkhart Business College. She married F. R. Taylor and they live in California.
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J. ARTLEY CLARK. In the death of J. Artley Clark September 17, 1914, there was removed from Goshen one of the most upright, energetic and lovable of the local merchants and business men. He had spent most of the years of his life in Goshen, and was for many years in the furniture business there, a member of the firm Smith-Clark Company, and had already attained the summit of the high road to success when death called him. He was thoroughly alert in business matters, a man of splendid character and public spirited in his attitude toward civic affairs.
Born at Mottville, Michigan, in 1869, he was the son of Amos and Anne ( Artley ) Clark, both natives of Pennsylvania. His early education came from country schools, but he graduated from the high school at Constantine, Michigan, and afterwards taught several terms in country districts. His business experience began as an employe with the firm of Elson & Becker, general merchants at Goshen, with whom he remained twelve years. His employers always had excellent commendations for the young man and his work, and on leaving Goshen he went to New Madrid, Missouri, and for about three years was connected with a lumber company. Return- ing to Goshen he became bookkeeper for one year in the state bank of that city, and resigned the position to become associated with Walter and Earl Smith in the furniture business. The name subsequently became the Smith-Clark Company, furniture and outfitters, with a department for undertaking in connection, and at the time of Mr. Clark's death this firm had a place second to none among enterprises of the kind in Elkhart County.
On August 22, 1900, Mr. Clark married Miss Estella Albright, daughter of Eli and Amelia (Seares) Albright. Her father is senior member of the Thomas-Albright Company, a manufacturing firm. Mr. and Mrs. Clark had two children : Evelyn and Harry Albright. Mrs. Clark, who occupies the substantial Clark homestead at 418 South Sixth street, was liberally educated in the common and high schools at Goshen and in the Westminster Seminary at Fort Wayne. She is one of the valued and popular members of local society. The late Mr. Clark was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and was one of the liberal contributors to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
CEPHAS CRIPE. One of the oldest locomotive engineers still in active service with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway is Cephas Cripe of Elkhart, who has been piloting engines in and out of that division headquarters for the past twenty-three years. To mention his name is to recall associations with much of the pioneer history of Elkhart County, since the Cripes were here at the be-
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ginning of civilization and there is hardly a name more closely iden- tified with the various affairs of the county and more honored by reason of such associations.
It was on a farm in Clinton Township of Elkhart County that Cephas Cripe was born. His father was Jacob C. Cripe, a native of Montgomery County, Ohio; his grandfather was Samuel Cripe, a native of Pennsylvania ; and his great-grandfather was Daniel Cripe, also a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Montgomery County, Ohio, as an early settler and when somewhat advanced in years came to Elkhart County in 1830, bought land and engaged in general farming. Daniel Cripe was the first preacher of the Dunkard denomination in Elkhart County and reared all his family in that faith. Grandfather Samuel Cripe and his brother Jacob were among the original members of the Dunkard Church which was organized at Goshen in 1835. Samuel Cripe had come to Elkhart as early as 1829, before the organization of the county and was first and foremost among pioneer activities. He possessed not only industry but a keen intelligence which enabled him to acquire what was at that time regarded as an immense estate. He bought land from time to time until his ownership evtended over 1,500 acres, and he was able to give his seventeen children an eighty acre farm. His death occurred when sixty-two years of age. He was twice married and the three children of his first wife were Benjamin, Daniel and Jacob, while the fourteen of the second marriage were Joseph, David, Emanuel, Levi, Noah, Aaron, Solomon, Catherine, Magda- lena, Tobias, Susan, Fannie, Mary and Elizabeth.
Jacob C. Cripe, father of Cephas grew up on a farm in Elkhart County, and some years later bought a tract of land on the Fair Ground Road about 31/2 miles east of Goshen. There he was suc- cessfully engaged in general farming until his death at the age of eighty-eight. Jacob C. Cripe married Lydia Hanes, who died when quite young leaving six children: Adam, Solomon, Elizabeth, Eli, Thomas and Cephas.
An infant when his mother died, Cephas Cripe grew up in the rural district of Elkhart County, was well educated in the rural schools and acquired habits of industry which have been an impor- tant factor in his career. At the age of sixteen, leaving home he found work with a neighbor for whom he did chores for his board, and attended school during the winter seasons. During the summer months he received very low wages for his work. He remained with this neighbor two years, then worked with his brother at the carpenter's trade for a year, and again resumed employment with his first employer, beginning at wages of $13 a month. In that way
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he found a home and work for his hands until he was twenty-three years of age.
After his marriage Mr. Cripe settled down to farming on his own account, but at the end of a year entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company as a locomo- tive fireman. In 1893 he was promoted to the responsibilities of the throttle, and has been one of the trusted and efficient engineers on that road ever since.
In 1887 Mr. Cripe married Miss Minnie Whittaker, who was born in Baugo Township, a daughter of Eli and Jane Whittaker, a prominent old family of that section. Mrs. Cripe died February 8. 1888, leaving one child, Pearl S. In 1895 Mr. Cripe married for his second wife Catherine Weiler. She was born in Elkhart, a daughter of John and Sophia Weiler, both of whom were natives of Germany. Her father was born in 1830 and grew up and received an early training in conformity with the customs and rules of his native land. After attending the common schools steadily until fourteen he began an apprenticeship at the shoemaker's trade, and some years later when still a young man emigrated to America. He first lived at Coldwater, Michigan, and from there came to Elkhart and established himself in business as a custom boot and shoe maker. Later he turned his attention to the grocery business having a store on Main Street, and he was later in the liquor business and con- ducted his various affairs actively until his death at the age of sixty. His wife's maiden name was Sophia Fadish who died at the age of eighty-three. Their seven children were Mary, Augusta, Wil- liam, Frank, Catherine, John and Emma.
Mr. and Mrs. Cripe have one daughter, Elsie. Mr. Cripe is a very popular member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and is also affiliated with Elkhart Lodge No. 425, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
JOHN W. FIELDHOUSE. Properly regarded, a business is not only a means of earning a living and securing if possible a modest fortune, but also presents an opportunity for real service to others. Such has been the way in which Mr. Fieldhouse has regarded his work as a business man in the general field of real estate at Elk- hart during the past thirty years. His various transactions and operations have netted him a comfortable fortune, but have benefited the city and its residents to an even greater degree. One of the old time business men of Elkhart, he has been one of the real up- builders of that city, and his name could not be omitted from any list of leading business men.
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Practically all his life has been spent in this fair and prosperous section of the world. His birth occurred on a farm not far from the Elkhart County line, near White Pigeon, Michigan, October 15, 1850. His parents, William and Hannah ( Barker ) Fieldhouse, were both natives of England. William Fieldhouse when a very young man ventured across the Atlantic in 1832, and became one of the pioneers who settled in the rich and fertile district around White Pigeon, Michigan, one of the oldest and best known localities in the southern part of the state. He developed a farm, lived a life of quiet influence and usefuless, and died there in 1882. His wife passed away in 1887.
It was in the environment of the country around White Pigeon that John W. Fieldhouse grew to manhood, with the wholesome discipline of the farm supplemented by the instruction supplied by the common and high schools of White Pigeon. From the age of twenty, in 1871, he became a resident of Elkhart, and for two years was associated with his brother in the retail meat business. After the death of his brother he continued the business alone, and made it one of more than local importance, since he dealt extensively in live stock, and shipped many carloads of meat on the hoof to the markets of Chicago and Buffalo.
Mr. Fieldhouse turned his attention exclusively to real estate in 1883. His original location was at 113 West Lexington Avenue, and for a number of years his office has been in the fine stone build- ing at that number. While he has used his office as a general rental and brokerage agency, Mr. Fieldhouse's particular achievements have been as an upbuilder and developer of vacant property. He has bought, platted and put upon the market at least nine additions to Elkhart, the locations of which can be traced in the plat of the city, and are noted as follows: First addition, north of Jackson Street and east of Main Street : second addition, West Jefferson Street, Third Street to St. Joseph River; third addition, north of Franklin and west of Leitch Street ; fourth and fifth additions, West Jackson Street, contiguous to North Fifth and North Sixth streets; sixth addition, west of Willowdale, between the Adamsville and Ed- wardsburg roads in the north part of the city ; seventh addition, east of Elkhart River and between East Lexington Avenue and Jackson Street ; eighth addition, Crawford Street west of Main Street ; and ninth addition, West Indiana Avenue. While some of these addi- tions are now included in the best residence sections of the city, Mr. Fieldhouse has on the whole pursued the plan of building and im- proving and selling to people of moderate means, who could pay for their homes only on the installment plan. Perhaps his biggest
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venture was the purchase of a large tract of river bottom land, the grade of which he raised by filling from three to fourteen feet in depth, and after expending $25,000 in this work he transformed the ground into a most attractive residence section and it is now prac- tically covered with homes. Altogether Mr. Fieldhouse has erected several hundred residences in Elkhart and all his transactions have been guided by such tact and good judgment that there has never been an important loss recorded.
For fifteen years Mr. Fieldhouse was vice president of the St. Joseph Valley Bank, and has been president of the same bank for the past ten years. He has many interests in local real estate and in various manufacturing concerns. At the same time he has made his influence count in the public affairs of the city, represented the third ward for four years in the city council, was elected in 1888 a county commissioner for a term of two years, and in 1901 was again elected to the same office for another three years. In politics he is a staunch republican. At Elkhart in 1876 Mr. Fieldhouse mar- ried Miss Mary J. Hubbard. Their three children are: Mrs. An- netta Frank, Mrs. Carrie E. Matthias and Charles H. Fieldhouse.
WILLIAM O. VALLETTE, D. D. S., M. D. While Doctor Vallette came to Goshen nearly twenty-five years ago in the capacity of a dentist and has ever since conducted a large practice in that line, he is perhaps equally well known for his prominence in business and industrial concerns at Goshen, where he is president of the Superior Ladder Company, manufacturers of ladders and other specialties, and is interested in various industries.
Born at Wheaton, Illinois, December 21, 1864, he is a son of Henry A. and Harriet (Jewell) Vallette. His father settled in Illinois in the vicinity of Elgin many years ago, and was a car- penter by occupation. The mother was a native of Illinois.
Doctor Vallette as a boy attended the schools in Chicago where his parents lived at the time, he also attended Wheaton College, and at the age of seventeen passed the Civil Service examination and was appointed a clerk in the Chicago postoffice. A year later he resigned to become station agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway at Winfield, Illinois. It was by his four years' work as a railway man that he earned the money sufficient to pay his college expenses. Doctor Vallette is a graduate of both the dental and medical departments of Northwestern University, having won his degree D. D. S. in 1890, and his M. D. degree in 1891. He was awarded the prize for the highest average grade in dentistry.
Since 1891 Doctor Vallette has been a resident of Goshen, and
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soon after establishing his office he had a promising and profitable practice. He is widely known in dental circles, having served as president of the Northern Indiana Dental Association, and in June, 1915, was appointed a delegate to represent the National Associa- tion of Dentists in the Panama Exposition at San Francisco.
Much of his time he has also devoted to public welfare. He has served as a member of the Goshen Library Board and the Board of School Trustees, is an active republican, and in 1916 was a candidate before the primaries for nomination for county treasurer of Elkhart County. He assisted in organizing the Superior Ladder Company, of which he is president.
In 1887 Doctor Vallette married Miss Alice Maiden at Chicago, a daughter of James Maiden. Mrs. Vallette is a highly educated woman, active in civic organizations, belongs to the Beacon Light Club and is chairman of the Thirteenth District of the Federated clubs of Indiana. Doctor and Mrs. Vallette occupy a fine residence at 416 East Madison Street. They have two sons: Elbert Carlyle and Vincent Jewell, both of whom are graduates of the Goshen High School, while Vincent is a graduate of the University of Wis- consin.
ABRAHAM H. MOYER. The distinctive work by which Abraham H. Moyer has identified himself with Elkhart is as a contractor and builder. As a boy he showed unusual qualifications for the business and his record of constructive work is perhaps not excelled by that of any other building contractor in the City of Elkhart. His build- ing has not been confined to any one locality, but within a radius of twelve miles from Elkhart he has constructed a total of twenty- nine barns, with many others at a further distance and has also built many school-houses, and churches, including a $60,000 church at Angola in Steuben County. He also built the centralized schoolhouse at Jimtown, has erected a number of business blocks on Main Street in Elkhart, and one of the finest residences of the city is the product of his business activity.
He was born on a farm on Burr Oak Flats in Marshall County. Indiana, March 22, 1858. His grandfather, Abraham Moyer, was born April 11. 1802, probably in Pennsylvania, and was of early German ancestry. From Pennsylvania he moved to Ohio, and after a few years spent in that state came in 1847 to Indiana, making the entire journey overland by wagons and teams and bringing an equip- ment of household goods. He located in Harrison Township of Elkhart County and as an early settler constructed a log cabin which was the first home of the Moyer family in the Hoosier State. By
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hard work and constant diligence he hewed a farm from the wilder- ness and continued to live in Harrison Township until his death. He married Susanna Albert, who was born June 24, 1804, and died in her ninety-fourth year. She reared eight children named Anna, George W., Mary M., Elizabeth, John M., Christian, Barbry and Susanna.
George WV. Moyer, father of the Elkhart County contractor and builder, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1827, and as a young man he came to Indiana some months before his parents. He made the entire journey overland on foot. In Harrison Township he secured a tract of land when the greater part of that locality was in the midst of heavy timber, and when it was possible to secure a bountiful supply of provisions from the wild game that was so plentiful in the woods. After his marriage he moved to Marshall County, where he lived about two years, and then returning to Harrison Township bought a farm and continued general farming. In addition during each season he operated for a number of years a threshing outfit, and the motive power was sup- plied by an old fashioned turntable horsepower. Some years later he sold his land in Harrison Township and moved into Union Town- ship, where he remained three years, and then to Marshall County, and lived in the eastern part of that county five years. Returning to Union Township he bought a farm, on which he lived until late in life, and spent his last days in Nappanee, where he died July 3. 1911, in his eighty-fourth year. George W. Moyer married Mary Ingle, who was born in Ohio. Her father, Mathias Ingle, came from Ohio to Indiana and was also an early settler in Harrison Township. By his success as a farmer he acquired a large tract of land in that and in Union Township, but finally sold his posses- sions in Elkhart County and lived in Marshall County for about ten years. Returning to Harrison township he bought the old Moyer homestead, but finally sold that and acquired a tract of land near Wakarusa in Olive Township, where he remained until his death. Mathias Ingle married Catherine Burns, who was born in Ohio, and surviving her husband died in Harrison Township at the age of eighty-one. Mrs. Mary (Ingle) Moyer now makes her home with her daughter in Union Township and though eighty-one years of age is still hale and vigorous. She reared eight children named: Angel- ine, Daniel, Abraham H., David, Catherine, Nancy, Susanna and Saloma.
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