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 14
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January 4, 1900, recorded the marriage of Mr. Wambaugh to Miss Selma Meyer, and they have four children: Fred, Martha, Helen and Elmer. Mrs. Wambaugh was born in the historic old city of Strassburg. Province of Alsace, Germany,-a locality that is now the stage of the most deplorable military activities incident to the great European war, and she is a daughter of Emil and Selma (Kelner) Meyer, both likewise natives of Strassburg, where the former was born in 1851 and the latter in 1848, Mrs. Wambaugh hav- ing been the third in order of birth of their six children, all of whom are living. Mr. Meyer first came to America to visit the World's Columbian Exposition, held in the City of Chicago, in 1893. and after his return to Germany he arranged for the immigration of the family to the United States. He established his residence in Elkhart, Indiana, but shortly afterward he removed to the City
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of Chicago, where he and his wife have since maintained their home, and where he is now living retired.
WILLIAM H. RITTER. A veteran in the service of the Lake Shore Railway, William H. Ritter was involuntarily retired from that service five or six years ago as the result of an accident, which cost him a leg, and he has since lived quietly in the city of Elkhart, which has been his home for a great many years. Mr. Ritter is not only one of the men who have witnessed much of the develop- ment and improvement in this section of Indiana, but belongs to families that were closely associated with early history, especially in St. Joseph County.
It was on a farm in Penn Township of St. Joseph County, Indi- ana, that William H. Ritter was born November 10, 1853. His father, Samuel Ritter, who was born January 28, 1823, in Butler County, Ohio, where his parents were early settlers, grew up and received his education in his native state, and was about twenty years of age when he came to St. Joseph County, Indiana. That was in the early '40s, and civilized white men had been at work developing the wilderness for hardly more than a decade of years. He was a natural mechanic, and for some time employed his serv- ices as a carpenter in the construction of many of the early homes and other buildings. Later he bought one hundred acres of tim- bered land in Penn Township, and after his marriage began house- keeping in a log home. His later years were given over to the heavy work of clearing up the land and the business of general agriculture. The old log house gave way to a substantial frame residence, surrounded by a group of farm buildings, and he con- tinued to live at the old homestead until 1892, when he sold out and moved into South Bend, where his death occurred December 24, 1895. Samuel Ritter married Sallie Jones. She was a native of North Carolina, where she was born July 3. 1825. Her father Samuel Jones was probably also a native of North Carolina, but in 1830 he emigrated to the Northwest, accompanied by his family, the journey across the mountains and over the wide intervening stretches of country to Indiana being made by ox teams. He located in German Township of St. Joseph County in the same year that township was organized. He continued to reside in the county until his death in 1850. Thus Sallie ( Jones) Ritter was only five years of age when brought to St. Joseph County, and she grew up here in the midst of pioneer scenes. She had all the experiences of a pioneer woman, and in the absence of stoves she helped perform the cooking in the wide fireplaces. She also learned
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the household arts of carding, spinning and weaving, and helped to dress all members of the family in homespun. She lived in the home of her parents until her marriage, and she died in 1890. She reared eight children: Maria, Marion, Polly, Alice, William H .. Alexander A., Samuel W. and Sallie.
The youth of William H. Ritter was spent during the decade of the '50s and '6os. He was eight years of age when the Civil war broke out, and as a growing lad in Indiana he recalls many of the exciting scenes attendant upon the progress of the great war in the Southern states. In the meantime he attended school during the winter terms and developed his muscle by exercise in the duties of the farm. At the time of his marriage he rented a farm in Penn Township, but two years later moved to Barry County, Michigan, and continued his farming enterprise there for five years. He then returned to Indiana and established his home at Elkhart, where he entered the employ of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway. He was one of the trusted and capable men in the service of that great railway corporation until December 16, 1909, when, while in the performance of duty he met with an accident which cost him a limb, and he has since lived retired.
Not only is Mr. Ritter himself identified by long residence with the earlier times in Northern Indiana, but his wife is also a member of a pioneer family in this section of the state. On June 9, 1875, Mr. Ritter married Alma D. Cook. She was born in Penn Town- ship of St. Joseph County. Her father, Robert Cook, was born in the village of Hayton, Yorkshire, England, February 18, 1813, and his parents probably lived there all their lives. Robert Cook and his sister Jane were the only members of the family who came to America. Jane married John Hutchinson, who died in early life, while she lived to a good old age and left several descendants. Robert Cook was thirteen years of age when he left his English home and came to America, spending several weeks on a sailing vessel. After a time spent in New York State he came on west to Indiana, and was one of the early pioneers of St. Joseph County. He was one of the very first to engage in the livery business at Mishawaka. About 1840 he bought a tract of timbered land some three miles south of Mishawaka, and there constructed a log cabin in the midst of the woods. From that as a center he extended his efforts as an axman and pioneer until he had cleared up a large part of his farm. In the meantime he was one of the vigorous young men attracted by the romantic scenes on the Pacific coast following the discovery of gold in California. He joined a colony of gold seekers, and made the long and tedious overland journey
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to the coast, where he remained two years. Having satisfied him- self of adventure and life in the Far West, he returned to Indiana and resumed farming, at which he was more than ordinarily suc- cessful. He gradually extended his holdings and was one of the substantial men of St. Joseph County. In 1883 he sold his property there and removed to Concord Township in Elkhart County, where he bought a farm in the northwest quarter of Section twenty-nine. He made his home there until his death in 1893. Robert Cook married Catherine Lichtenberger, who was born in Germany, November 13, 1823. Her father, George Lichtenberger, was a na- tive of Germany and emigrated to America in 1825, accompanied by his family. They spent fully two months on a sailing vessel, and after landing in New York City came on West to Ohio, and from there after a short time to Indiana. Mr. Lichtenberger was one of the early settlers of Marshall County, where he improved a farm and occupied it for many years. He later moved to Bremen and lived there until his death at a good old age. Mr. Lichtenberger married Mary Long.
Mrs. Ritter's mother is still living at the age of ninety-two. She reared eleven children: John, Mary, Jane, George, Clara, Alma, Thyons, William, Ella, Robert and Delbert. All of these married and reared families.
Mr. and Mrs. Ritter have reared two daughters: Bertha and Pearl. Bertha married L. M. Foltz and their three children are named Treva, Robert and Reo. Pearl married A. P. Lloyd, and their five children are Harold, Nelda, Rex, Arlene and Lewis. The family are members of the United Brethren Church at Elk- hart.
EDWARD W. HYDE. Half a century ago Edward W. Hyde, after having made a record as an efficient soldier in the Union army, located in Goshen, and has ever since been identified with Elkhart County, mainly as a merchant. His name is one of the most familiar among the older business men of Goshen, and carries with it associations of honorable integrity, square dealing, and the worthy success that comes from excellent service. Mr. Hyde is now living comfortably retired, and is one of the best known citizens of the county seat.
He was born at Milbrook, Wayne County, Ohio, January 19, 1845, being the third son in the family of William and Catherine (East) Hyde. Both parents were born, reared and educated in the City of London, England, where the father practiced medicine for several years before coming to America. He brought his little family Vol. 11-9
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to this country in 1835, locating in Ohio, and subsequently was in the drug business in Cleveland for a number of years. He was born in 1813 and died in 1881, and his wife was born in 1813 and died in 1857.
The boyhood of Edward W. Hyde was spent in Fulton County, Ohio, and he gained his early education in the common schools of that county and also attended a village school for some time. The summer seasons were spent in the wholesome discipline of farm work, but at the age of seventeen he responded to a call for sterner duty, and enlisted in Company D of the Eighty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Baning. He went with his regiment to Harpers Ferry, Virginia, spent some months in the East, but later was captured, with a number of his comrades, at the surrender of Harpers Ferry, eleven thousand Union soldiers having become prisoners of war at that place. Being paroled Mr. Hyde was sent home, but in February, 1864, again volunteered his services to preserve the Union, and this time went out with Company C of the Ninth Indiana Regiment of Infantry. He was with his com- mand in one of the great concluding campaigns of the war. In the movement on Atlanta he took part in the following engage- ments: Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost. Rocky Face, Adairsville, Cassville, Hope Church, Pickett's Mill, Pine Mountain, Kenesaw, Marietta, Smyrna, Chattahoochie, Peach Tree Orchard, siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station. In the pursuit of General Hood back to Nashville he was in the battles of Columbia, the second battle at Franklin and in the two days of battle at Nash- ville, Tennessee. At the close of the war he was sent to Texas to help guard the border. While there he was bitten by a snake and was ill for a short time, and on account of an operation on his left heel where the reptile struck him he was off duty for 21/2 months. He was mustered out in Texas and honorably discharged . and received his pay at Indianapolis in October, 1865.
In 1866 Mr. Hyde engaged in the general merchandise business in Goshen, for two years being a clerk for A. F. Wilden. Next he moved to Middlebury in this county and was an independent merchant for seven years. Returning to Goshen he took up the boot and shoe business with Silas Wilden, a firm relationship that continued for seven years, following which he was sole proprietor of the store. He carried a stock of goods and stood behind the quality of his merchandise in such manner that for years the Hyde shoe store stood for quality footwear in the City of Goshen. Mr. Hyde finally sold the business to his son, Clarence W. Hyde, and L. J. Brooks, and after being in the wood and coal business for a
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time, finally sold all his mercantile interests and has since lived retired.
Mr. Hyde is a republican in politics, but has never sought office. He is a member of Howell Post No. 90 of the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1867 he married Miss Mina J. Wilden, a native of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Hyde have four sons : Clarence W., William E., Robert E. and Charles E., who are all graduates of the Goshen High School. The son Robert, graduated in law at Ann Arbor University, Michigan, is a successful attorney, now practicing law at Cleveland, Ohio. The other three brothers are associated to- gether in an extensive lumber and milling business. Clarence W., the president of the company, resides at South Bend, and he was the first of the sons to remove to that city, where he engaged in the coal and wood business. Later his brothers, William E. and Charles E., joined him, and they were for five years in the lumber business at Memphis, Tennessee, then built a mill at Arkansas City, Arkansas, which they operated five years, and finally con- centrated their milling interests at Lake Providence, Louisiana. The son Charles is the resident manager of the mill and lives in Louisiana. The vice president of the firm is William E., who makes his home in Memphis.
ALLEN R. BEMENDERFER. Of the officials of Elkhart County who are maintaining a high standard for public service, one who has, during the comparatively short period of his incumbency, es- tablished a record for efficient and conscientious discharge of duty is Allen R. Bemenderfer, who since January 1, 1916, has occupied the office of county auditor. Prior to taking his present position, Mr. Bemenderfer had served acceptably as trustee of Elkhart Town- ship, and as a citizen had displayed the possession of qualities which recommended him for the auditorship. His handling of the affairs of this important branch of county government has shown that his election was well merited.
Mr. Bemenderfer was born in Canton, in Stark County, Ohio, August 6, 1860, and is a son of Henry and Rebecca ( Prince) Bemenderfer. Henry Bemenderfer was born in Loudon County, Virginia, and as a child was taken to Ohio in 1828, where he fol- lowed farming and also engaged in the carpenter business. In 1865 he came to Goshen, Indiana, where he established himself as a contractor, and was engaged in the construction of buildings, etc., becoming widely and favorably known in that line of work as a capable and reliable business man. Subsequently, he turned his attention to the manufacture of building bricks, and that industry
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occupied his energies until the time of his retirement. He died on March 3, 1905. While primarily a business man, Mr. Bemen- derfer always took a commendable interest in affairs of a public nature, as affecting his community, and while a resident of Jeffer- son Township, Elkhart County, served for two years in the capacity of county commissioner. Mrs. Bemenderfer died at Goshen, February 25, 1908.
Allen R. Bemenderfer grew up on his father's farm, on which he worked during the summer months while acquiring his early education in the district schools during the winter terms. Having a desire to acquire an academic training, he entered Hillsdale Col- lege, where he pursued his studies for several terms, and on leav- ing that Michigan institution returned to the home farm, where he passed several years. In 1902 he turned his attention to edu- cational pursuits, becoming general manager of Ashland College, and retaining that position for five years, and then returned to Elk- hart County and took up his residence in Elkhart Township, the next six years being devoted to the duties of a township trustee.
For several years Mr. Bemenderfer had interested himself in democratic politics and had served for a short period as trustee of Elkhart Township. In the fall of 1914 he was made the candidate of his party for the office of county auditor, and, being elected, as- sumed the duties of that post January 1, 1916. With his family, Mr. Bemenderfer attends the First Brethren Church. He is an enthusiastic automobilist, and is the owner of a late model Buick car, in which he and Mrs. Bemenderfer have taken numerous pleasure trips through Indiana and Ohio. The pleasant family home is located on North Main Street.
On September 26, 1883, Mr. Bemenderfer was married to Miss Alice E. Beasecker, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of Samuel and Martha (Bowman) Beasecker. Her father, who was one of the prosperous farmers and influential citizens of Concord Township, died in 1899, while her mother survived until 1912. Two children have been born to this union: Florence E., a graduate of Ashland ( Ohio ) College, who married Chris E. Wiese, of Goshen, and they have two sons, Robert and Samuel ; Samuel H., a graduate of Ashland ( Ohio) College, is now superintendent of the State Correspondence School, at Muncie, Indiana. He married Merle Garris and has one daughter, Jean.
MILTON C. BOWMAN. One of the old established and honored names in Elkhart County, particularly in Concord Township, is that of Bowman. A representative of this name is Milton C. Bow-
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man, who for many years was actively connected with the railroad service in the Lake Shore Company, but has more recently divided his time and attention between his farm in Concord Township and work in Elkhart, where he resides during the winter.
Born on a farm in Concord Township, November 9, 1854, Mil- ton C. Bowman is a son of Peter Bowman and a grandson of Jacob Bowman. Jacob Bowman was born in Pennsylvania of Swiss ancestry, and moved to Ohio before the War of 1812, becoming a pioneer of Stark County. On account of illness he was unable to serve in that war, but hired a substitute to take his place in the ranks. He improved a farm just two miles east of the present City of Canton, and lived there until his death. His death resulted from a fall from a load of hay. Peter Bowman was eight years of age when the family removed to Ohio, and he grew up there and learned the trade of blacksmith, an occupation which he followed in Stark County until 1844, and afterwards in Medina County, though in the latter locality he bought a farm and gave most of his attention to its development. In 1853 Peter Bowman went West to Iowa, accompanied by his son, Levi. At that time Freeport, Illinois, was the western terminus of the railroad toward the Mississippi, and from that point they journeyed by stage into Iowa. Iowa was a very new state, with a scant population, and it was necessary for them to go about from one locality to the other by stage coach, horseback, or even on foot. They were not well satisfied with con- ditions, and returned East without buying land or making any preparation to locate beyond the Mississippi. While on their re- turn they stopped in Elkhart County, and Peter Bowman acquired a tract of land, consisting of 140 acres, in Concord Township. This land had received considerable improvement, 100 acres being under cultivation, and there was a substantial log house. In 1854 the family located permanently on the farm, and Peter Bowman con- tinued his vocation as a general farmer and made many improve- ments, including the erection of a large frame house. He lived there until his declining years. He finally started West to Kansas to visit a daughter, and while en route was taken ill at Kansas City and died. Peter Bowman married Julia Ann Essig, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, a daughter of John Essig, a native of Pennsylvania, and an early settler in Stark County. Mrs. Peter Bowman died on the home farm in Elkhart County, having reared ten children named Levi, Jolin, Lewis, Lucinda, Lovina, Simon, Sarah, Louisa, Frank and Milton C.
It was on the country estate of his father in Concord Township that Milton C. Bowman spent his youthful days, and recalls many
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pleasurable associations with the old time country schools and the activities of that neighborhood during the '60s and early '70s. When he was twenty years of age. he left home and started for himself as an independent farmer on rented land. After two years of that work he entered the service of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company, and was one of the trusted men in their employ for fourteen years. He then resumed farming in Concord township, and still keeps his estate in the country, although most of his work is done by tenants. In 1905 Mr. Bowman was appointed janitor of the old Central School at Elkhart, but in 1909 was transferred to the new South Side School. After a year he took charge of the power house of the new high school, but a year later resumed his old position as janitor of the South Side Schoolhouse, and has looked after the duties of that position to the present time.
In 1877 Mr. Bowman married Miss Martha Longley. Mr. and Mrs. Bowman have reared two sons, named Cleo and Grover. Cleo married Minnie Beckel, and they have a son named Robert. The son Grover, who died at the age of twenty-four, married Rachel Cramer, and was survived by his widow and an infant son, Harold Laban, who has since lived with his grandparents. Mr. and Mrs. Bowman are members of the United Brethren Church.
WILLIAM HERRICK, now living retired at Elkhart, is a veteran of two lines of service. As a boy he fought during the last year of the great rebellion, and is one of the youngest of the surviving soldiers of that Civil war. Then for upwards of forty years he was active as a railroad man, and became well known, not only in Northern Indiana, but in various parts of the South, finally retir- ing from railroad work some seven or eight years ago to enjoy well earned repose at his home in Elkhart.
He was born in Lake County, Ohio, February 7, 1847, and in April of the same year, Alderman B. Herrick died, an event which had much to do with the subsequent fortunes of William Herrick. since it threw him early on his own responsibilities, and he deserves that much misused title of self-made man. His father was born in one of the New England states, April 17, 1800, and was an early settler in Lake County, Ohio. Mr. Herrick's mother was Vashti Vesey, who was born in Vermont, April 25, 1805, and first married Archibald Graham, who died, leaving her with six children. By her marriage to Alderman B. Herrick she was the mother of three children, named Ebenezer, Alderman B. and William. She survived her second husband and passed away in 1875.
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When William Herrick was seven years of age, in 1854, his mother brought him to Indiana and he lived with an uncle, William Caldwell, Sr., in St. Joseph County, for one year, and then, with a half-sister, in the same county for seven years. He made the best of his opportunities to secure an education, attending the dis- trict schools, working much of the time on the home farm.
He was only fourteen years of age when the war broke out, but in 1864, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in Company F of the Forty-eighth Indiana Regiment of Infantry, and at once went South and arrived in time to join Sherman's army at Carters- ville, Georgia, during the course and progress of that splendid march from Atlanta to the sea. He continued with the command through the Carolinas and Virginia and at Washington participated in the grand review. The regiment was then sent West to Louisville, Kentucky, and there was given an honorable discharge in July, 1865.
Returning home, the youthful veteran engaged in farming in St. Joseph County until 1871, and that year marked his entrance upon another line of service. Going to Elkhart, he entered the em- ploy of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad Company, and was with that system for eleven years. Resigning, he went South, and was employed as a conductor on three different lines of railroad during the next ten years. He then returned to Elk- hart, and became a conductor with the Big Four Railway Com- pany, and rendered a valuable service to the corporation and gained a host of friends. In 1908 he resigned and has since lived retired in Elkhart.
In April, 1866, Mr. Herrick married Carolina Laidlaw. She was born in Penn Township of St. Joseph County, Indiana, and her father, John Laidlaw, was a native of Scotland, and one of the early settlers of St. Joseph County. In fact, when John Laidlaw came into this section of Northern Indiana, much of the land was still owned by the Government, and the woods and prairies were filled with all kinds of wild game, deer, turkey, etc., and he endured and contended with all the primitive obstacles to settlement. Secur- ing a tract of Government land, he built the log cabin in which Mrs. Herrick was born, and continued the work of improvement and the erection of more substantial buildings, and by much industry and good management acquired 490 acres, which comprised the large estate which he left at the time of his death. He spent his last years retired at Mishawaka. He died in 1882. The maiden name of Mrs. Herrick's mother was Sarah Shaw. She was a native of Ohio, and her parents were early settlers in St. Joseph County. Mrs. Herrick's mother died in 1899, having reared ten children.
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Mr. and Mrs. Herrick have three children, named Nella, Frank and Clyde. Nella married James Russ and has two sons, named Ray Herrick and Marion B. Clyde married Clara Preim. Mrs. Herrick is an active member of the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. Fraternally Mr. Herrick keeps up his associations with old army comrades in Elmer Post No. 37, Grand Army of the Re- public, and is also affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and with Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons.
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