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 2
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Judge Baker remained as an active and distinguished practitioner until the spring of 1892, when he was nominated for judge of the United States Court, for the District of Indiana, by President Har- rison, a nomination unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and he entered upon the active duties of his judicial position March 29, 1892. As a member of the bench he displayed the same marked characteristics that had placed him in the confidence of the people in his former offices of trust, and Indiana has known no more con- scientious, impartial or dignified jurist. After retiring from the bench he lived quietly at his home, at Goshen, until his death, on October 21, 1915.
For many years Judge Baker was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for a long period was teacher of the Bible Class in the Sunday School. He was elected in 1884 to the distinguished honor, for which the contestants were numerous, of delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Church, held at Philadelphia, by the Northern Indiana Conference. In that conference, whose membership comprised the most prominent, scholarly and able men of the denomination, he was, by reason of his familiarity with church polity and ability in discussion, able to take a leading part in the proceedings.
Judge Baker's wife before marriage was Miss Harriet E. Defrees,
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a daughter of the late Hon. Joseph H. Defrees, who was a pioneer sheriff of Elkhart County, and a member of both houses of the In- diana Legislature and of the United States Congress. To the union of Judge and Mrs. Baker one son, Francis E., was born.
In closing this review of the career of one who has indelibly im- pressed himself and his abilities upon the history of Indiana, we will quote from a sketch of a contemporary biographist, who wrote in part : "The biography of such a man as John H. Baker may well be sketched for an example and inspiration to young men. He began life under hard conditions and achieved notable success. With- out an inheritance of wealth, present or prospective; without the as- sistance of influential friends ; without any of the adventitious aids that tend to smooth the road to eminence, he started and literally cleared his own pathway through the forest, and blazed the trees so that others might follow. He inherited from a clean ancestry a strong, healthy constitution and a mental capacity above the average, and a frank, generous disposition. The crude, inhospitable environments of his youth were not without their compensations. The unusual and persistent effort required to obtain liberal qualifica- tions for professional pursuits, in spite of adverse surroundings, strengthens the character, as labor hardens the muscles. He was not satisfied with existing conditions and determined to rise above them. Every step in his progress has been the result of a well defined purpose. By his own courage and energy he has climbed steadily and stood firmly upon each round of the ladder, until he could reach the next above and plant himself upon it. Every advancement has been the result of honest effort ; every promotion has been deserved. What- ever success he has achieved in law is due to a careful preparation, high sense of justice, candor as a counselor, regard for truth as well as law, and courteous demeanor under all circumstances. The same thoroughness in the examination of authorities and the consideration of evidence, coupled with a conscientious purpose to do right. makes him a safe judge. No charge or suspicion of wrongdoing has ever tarnished his official record. No assault has ever compromised his personal honor. No breath of calumny has ever assailed the purity of his domestic life. His intercourse with all is characterized by un- affected frankness and dignity of manner. He is steadfast in friend- ship, modest in self-assertion, firm in adherence to principle. In all the relations of life, he is an honorable, upright gentleman."
REV. HERVEY LOGAN VANNUYS. On the last Sunday of Octo- ber. 1852, Rev. H. L. Vannuys, a graduate of that year's class of the Theological Seminary of Princeton, came to Goshen from Elk-
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hart by stage. He had made an appointment with the Hon. Thomas G. Harris to preach the next day in the Presbyterian Church. How- ever Mr. Harris was so engrossed in the political campaign of that season that he entirely forgot that he was being depended upon to arrange a service in the little neglected Presbyterian Church on Fifth Street. In the morning he met the young minister at the church where the latter was awaiting his congregation, and after expressing his deep regret for the situation said they would arrange a service later in the day. The church was unfit for occupancy, the door having been left open and a flock of sheep that had the freedom of the streets had used the room as a sleeping place, while the walls and benches had been chalk marked by sacrilegious boys.
From that date until his death on February 17, 1911, Rev. Dr. Vannuys was continuously identified with the Presbyterian minis- try in Goshen, was for several years pastor emeritus of the church. At the time of his death was the oldest Presbyterian minister also the most noted divine in the entire State of Indiana. The love and esteem in which he was held by the members of his church and the citizens of Goshen as a whole was remarkable. He was a saintly character, and one of the men of whom the city as well as his congregation was most proud. He had officiated at the weddings of several generations in many families, had christened, married and officiated at the funerals of thousands during his fifty years of active duty in the Goshen field. The history of the Presbyterian Church at Goshen could be told almost entirely in the individual career of the late Doctor Vannuys.
Hervey Logan Vannuys was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, November 3, 1829. In 1836 the family moved to Franklin, Indiana, the father possessing decided opinions on the evil of slavery and for that reason moving to a free state. Rev. Mr. Vannuys' parents were Tunis and Kate (Demaree) Vannuys, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. His father was of Hol- land descent and the mother of Huguenot extraction. Tunis Van- nuys was reared in Kentucky, and was a fine type of the pioneer and belonged to a family which had fought the Indians, cleared the forests, tilled the soil and helped build up the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Doctor Vannuy's mother was a woman of unusual piety and strength of character. There were eleven children in the fam- ily, and all of them reached mature years. Tunis Vannuys, who was able to leave his children generously provided for, died March 3. 1846, while his wife had passed away in 1844.
The youngest of the family and the last of them to die, Doctor Vannuy's brothers and sisters were named Samuel, Mary, Chris- tine, Susan, Isaac, Charity, John, Cornelius, Catherine, Emeline.
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He acquired his early education from private instructors and after a time at Hanover College entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, New Jersey. After a two years' course he spent a year in travel and private reading, and then returned to Princeton and graduated in May, 1852. He could have graduated after his first course, but sacrificed the honor of being the youngest graduate and the opportunity of being admitted to the ministry before he became of age, and voluntarily spent the additional years in further study.
He soon came West and visited an old friend Rev. S. C. Logan, then pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Constantine, Michigan. At the request of Rev. Mr. Logan, Reverend Vannuys filled the pul- pit at Constantine for a month or so. The young graduate then preached in several other Michigan towns and on setting out for Lafayette, Indiana, to attend the Indiana Synod he passed through Elkhart. There he learned the Presbyterians had a church but no regular minister. He was asked to fill the pulpit alternating with the Methodist minister who preached there every other Sunday, and upon the expiration of the latter's term to take full charge. He preached his first sermon in Elkhart in October, 1852. It was while in Elkhart that he received a letter from Thomas G. Harris, a promi- nent business man of Goshen, and in response to his invitation ar- rived in Goshen by coach on the evening of the last Saturday in October, 1852. As already mentioned he preached his first sermon on the Sunday afternoon following, and from that time his public life became merged into the history of the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen. He was never absent for any length of time from Goshen except during 1877, when he spent the greater part of the year abroad touring Egypt and the Holy Land.
On June 28. 1868, Rev. Mr. Vannuys married Miss Rebecca H. Williams, daughter of Samuel P. and Catherine (Hume) Williams of Hartford, Connecticut. Mrs. Vannuys was a graduate of the Ladies Seminary in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her death occurred May 6, 1869, and her only child died in infancy. January 2, 1873, Doctor Vannuys married Miss Lillie W. Loring, who was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, daughter of William and Phoebe (Smith) Loring, her mother being a descendant of the famous John Alden of Colonial time. There was also one child by the second union, but it did not survive beyond infancy. Mrs. Vannuys died March 4. 1903, at the home of her nephew, Dr. Harry Logan in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Rev. Mr. Vannuys was a commissioner to the general assembly many times and was moderator of the Synod of Northern Indiana
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in 1862 and of the Synod of Indiana North in 1879. He did much missionary work in early days. In 1881 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from Wabash College. He was elected clerk of the Synod of Indiana North and held the office for seven- teen years until the consolidation of the Synods of the state. The thirty-fifth year of his service as pastor in Goshen was fittingly cele- brated, as was also the fortieth. The fiftieth anniversary was made a great event, and a memorial book was published on the occasion of this jubilee anniversary. For several years the health of Doctor Vannuys was failing and the death of his wife confirmed him in his desire to retire. On March 17, 1903, the elders of the church gave consent to his request, though he continued as pastor emeritus to take a keen interest in the church affairs. It was with special gratifi- cation that the First Presbyterian Church of Goshen called as his successor his nephew Rev. Ezra Allen Vannuys, who had graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary just fifty-one years after his uncle.
The late Doctor Vannuys was a man of scholarly attainment and of great dignity of character. He possessed a strong will, his life was free from all vice, and he flavored his counsel with the sound common sense which is a characteristic of his New England ances- tors. His sermons pleased and instructed two generations of church goers in Goshen, and they were remarkable for their beauty of dic- tion, their persuasive arguments, their fine literary style, and their freedom from all ostentatious display.
SILAS BALDWIN. In this chapter may fitly be recorded the life history of Silas Baldwin, who was for forty-five years one of the most conspicuous figures in the business and civic life of Elkhart. Dying in Elkhart May 22, 1889, he had passed the age of seventy- seven years, and his career from boyhood till death was filled with usefulness in every department of life to which he turned his attention.
Born in East Bloomfield, New Jersey, September 23, 1811, being one of the nine children of Daniel S. and Elizabeth (Kent ) Baldwin, when ten years old he accompanied the family to near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, thence two years later moved to Warren County, Ohio, and in April, 1828, settled on Beardsley Prairie, St. Joseph County, Indiana. He was therefore one of the pioneers of Northern Indiana, and in order to reach the spot selected for settle- ment they had to practically hew their way through the dense for- ests, Indian trails being at that time the nearest approach to a highway.
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Silas Baldwin began to meet the responsibilities and hardships of life at an early age, and attended the log-cabin school. He had begun working on a farm when ten years old, and at the age of twenty-one, in 1832, volunteered his services for the Black Hawk war. He was a lieutenant in a company commanded by Captain Isaac Butler, and was stationed in Chicago until relieved by Major Whistler of the regular army. In 1836 he began speculating in government land and finally engaged in the mercantile business at Edwardsburg, Michigan, where he remained until he located perma- nently in Elkhart in 1843. At the time of his coming, the village contained a sawmill, grist mill, a distillery, two hotels, stores, and about three hundred inhabitants. For a number of years he was connected with the commercial life of the city, and though twice burned out he every time rose superior to and master of circum- stances and lived to see a satisfactory culmination of his ambitions.
Mr. Baldwin was identified with a number of enterprises which have formed the very foundation of the material prosperity of Elk- hart. In 1850 he took an active part in the movements which finally brought the Michigan Southern Railroad through Elkhart. He acted as agent for the company in securing the right of way from Baugo to Bristol, and on the completion of the road he was installed as first station agent at Elkhart. He held the office of postmaster of Elkhart from 1844 to 1848. In 1850 he became interested in the Elkhart Bank, and later he and his associates organized the First National Bank, which is now the oldest bank in the city. He was the first cashier of the institution, which position he resigned in 1867 on account of ill health, and thereafter till his death was vice president and a director. In early life he was a democrat. being twice nominated for the Legislature by that party, but changed his political views when Fort Sumter was fired upon and thereafter was a consistent republican.
In 1837 Mr. Baldwin married Mrs. Jane Gephart. Their daugh- ter Elizabeth is the wife of Mr. A. R. Beardsley, of Elkhart. Another daughter, Helen Jane, became the wife of Col. John W. Shaffer. She spent a great deal of time with him on the field of war, especially when he was under General McClellan. Volunteer- ing as a nurse at the Jeffersonville Soldiers' Hospital, as a result of the disease contracted in that service she died July 24, 1865. The patriotic record of the family during the Civil war culminated in the gallant young Frank Baldwin, who was killed at the battle of Stone River. Only a short time previous to this engagement he had been promoted to lieutenant in recognition of his personal bravery on the field of battle. He was only eighteen years old at the time of his death.
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Through his love for the Union cause in general and from a sense of his own great personal loss in connection with the great tragedy of the rebellion, Mr. Silas Baldwin caused to be erected and dedicated to the soldiers and sailors of the Civil war the splendid monument which stands on Main Street near the Lake Shore tracks. Mr. Baldwin did not live to see the completion of this memorial shaft, which was not ready for dedication until the August following his death.
HON. JAMES S. DODGE. Few men in Elkhart County have given so wide a range of service and in so many diverse capacities of use- fulness as James S. Dodge, who will perhaps longest be remembered in the county as a former judge of the Thirty-fourth Judicial Dis- trict, but who for more than thirty years has filled an honorable posi- tion as a member of the Elkhart bar, had previously practiced with success the profession of medicine, and first came to Elkhart half a century ago as a boy veteran of the Civil war. All these services have been sufficient to give his name associations of honor that are among the best rewards of worthy and useful living.
His is the story of an orphan boy who won his way to success by close application and rugged honesty. He was born in Morrow County, Ohio. August 24, 1846, a son of Charles and Mellissa (Shaw) Dodge. In 1849 the Dodge family removed to Elkhart County, where the mother, who was a native of Pennsylvania, died in 1850, while the father, who was born in New York State, passed away in 1856. After the death of both parents James S. Dodge, then ten years of age, went back to Ohio and lived with the Shaw family and with other relatives, and hard work on a farm is among his chief recollections of early youth. He attended the common schools, but at the age of seventeen volunteered to help beat back the advancing tide of Confederate armies. He enlisted as a private in Company M, Third Ohio Cavalry, being mustered in in June, 1863, and joining his regiment at Chattanooga on the 17th of September. On the following day he received his baptism of fire in the great Battle of Chickamauga and received a sabre wound on that day. He was soon back in the ranks and continued his faithful service until the close of the war. He was with his regiment at Missionary Ridge, Rocky-faced Ridge, Snake Creek Gap, Big Shanty, Kenne- saw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, in a number of the battles mark- ing the advance upon Atlanta, and after the fall of that city the Third Ohio was part of the army that followed Hood back to Nashi- ville and there took a part in the decisive battle of December 15-16, 1864, resulting in the complete overthrow of the Confederate
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strength in the Mississippi Valley. The Third Ohio subsequently took part in Wilson's Raid to Selma, was at Columbus and Macon, Georgia, and in July, 1865, the troops were given their honorable discharge at Nashville. Judge Dodge also participated in the raid and liberation of Union prisoners at Andersonville and in the pur- suit and capture of Jefferson Davis. While in the rear of Atlanta he was again wounded, even more severely than at Chickamauga, but each time his recovery was rapid and he was soon again fighting with his comrades. A horse was shot from under him at Farming- ton, Tennessee, but he at once mounted a riderless Confederate steed and kept up with his regiment. Judge Dodge came out of the war an orderly sergeant.
Nineteen years of age at the time, he became a permanent resi- dent of Elkhart in September, 1865, and after attending the city high school one term secured a teacher's license and the two fol- lowing winters taught school in Penn Township of St. Joseph County. Early in 1866 he began the study of medicine under R. J. Haggerty of Elkhart, and by combining study with teaching for three years was graduated from the medical department of the Uni- versity of Michigan, March 31, 1869. For fifteen years he was known in Elkhart as Doctor Dodge and had a substantial practice. Not entirely satisfied with the medical profession, he took up the study of law, and in 1884 was admitted to the bar. It is as a lawyer that Judge Dodge has gained his most important successes. For many years he has been closely identified with political affairs in Elkhart County and the republicans have always recognized him as one of their strongest potential candidates. In 1892, when Cleve- land was elected for his second term, Mr. Dodge was republican candidate for Congress, but his vigorous campaign was unavailing against the overwhelming democratic strength. In November, 1904, he was elected circuit judge of the Thirty-fourth Judicial District, and brought to the bench a thorough ability tempered with wide experience, a close knowledge of men and affairs, and served with dignity and impartiality on the bench throughout the term for which he was elected. Since leaving the bench Judge Dodge has been en- gaged in private practice at Elkhart, and has numerous interests to connect him with local affairs in that city.
He is a past department commander of the Indiana Grand Army of the Republic, has local membership with Elmer Post, No. 37 at Elkhart, and has been very active in Grand Army affairs all over the state. He and his family are members of the English Protestant Episcopal Church. In May, 1875. he married Miss Jeannette J. Peck. She was born in New York. The son, James S. Dodge, Jr.,
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was born at Elkhart July 2, 1876, graduated from high school in 1896, finished the scientific course in the University of Indiana in 1900, also studied hydraulic engineering in the University of the State of Washington, but in 1901 was admitted to the bar and began active practice at Elkhart. In 1903 he married Miss Winifred W. Fisher, daughter of Dr. A. L. Fisher of Elkhart. Judge Dodge's daughter, Berenice F. Dodge, is a graduate of the Elkhart High School, of the Chicago University and of Columbia College, New York, and is at present ( 1916), an instructor in the latter institution.
FRANKLIN MILES, M. D. The City of Elkhart has had no more useful citizen than Dr. Franklin Miles. He has been more or Jess closely identified with the city since 1861. His father was a merchant at Elkhart many years ago and died there in 1864. Doctor Miles is an able physician and is so recognized not only in one or two localities, but throughout the United States. It was for the purpose of extending his practice and making known the results of his many researches and discoveries in medicine and particularly in nervous and heart diseases, that many years ago he established the Dr. Miles Medical Company at Elkhart, and still later the Dr. Miles Grand Dispensary.
A son of Charles J. and Electa A. ( Lawrence) Miles, Dr. Franklin Miles was born at Olmsted Falls near Cleveland, Ohio. He comes of distinguished American lineage, and his individual attainments have been what might have been expected of a man descended from many worthy forebears.
In the paternal line he is descended from Richard Miles, who came from Hertfordshire, England, to New England, in 1637, and was a highly respected citizen first at Boston and later he was one of the earliest settlers of Milford and New Haven, Connecticut. This first American ancestor married Catherine Constable. Next in line was Capt. John Miles, who lived about New Haven, Con- necticut, and who married Elizabeth Harriman. They had a son also known as Capt. John Miles, who in turn was the father of John Miles of Wallingford, Connecticut. The latter married Sarah Ball. Their son, Daniel, married Ann Daily. Charles Miles, son of Daniel and Ann Miles, and great-grandfather of Doctor Miles, took part in the Revolutionary war as a soldier on the American side. He married Ruth Thompson. Their son, Erastus, was a distinguished citizen of Northern Ohio, having located at Newburg, now a part of the City of Cleveland, about 1814. He was success- ful as a merchant, held the office of postmaster and later was asso- ciate judge. Erastus Miles married Laura Carter. Her father,
Franklin miles M.D
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Maj. Lornzo Carter, the great-grandfather of Doctor Miles, was one of the pioneer settlers at Cleveland, Ohio, having established a trading post there as early as 1796. He built and owned the first hotel at Cleveland, and also was part owner of the first lake vessel in that port. This vessel was part of Commodore Perry's fleet which enabled the commodore to write his famous message of vic- tory after the battle in Put-In-Bay. Major Carter was a distin- guished figure at Cleveland, both through his influential relations with the Indian tribes and with the white citizens. He captured and held prisoner in his own house the first man, an Indian, to be hanged in the State of Ohio. He also owned several hundred acres of 'land in and immediately adjacent to the present City of Cleveland.
Charles Julius Miles, father of Doctor Miles, was a son of Erastus and Laura (Carter) Miles. At the age of twenty-three he was appointed clerk of the Ohio Legislature, subsequently was engaged in merchandising both in Ohio and at Elkhart, as already mentioned, and also for a number of years filled the post of super- visor or chief customs officer for the port of Honolulu in the Sand- wich Islands. Charles J. Miles married Electa A. Lawrence. The Lawrence lineage goes back to the Dukes of Normandy. Electa was a daughter of Ralph Lawrence, and the latter's line goes back through Jonathan, Thomas, Joseph, Peleg, John, Robert, Robert, the last named having lived in Lancastershire, England, about 1150 A. D. The founder of the Lawrence family in America was John Lawrence, who came from Suffolk, England, and settled at Watertown, Massachusetts.
Doctor Miles was one of three children, the other two being Catherine and Charles. He received a very liberal education both in the law and in medicine, and has degrees in both professions. From the common schools he entered at the age of seventeen Williston Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, and continued in the Phillips Academy at Andover, was graduated in the scientific course from Yale University, and with the degree LL. B. from Columbia College at New York. He soon turned to medicine instead of law, took his first lectures in the University of Michigan, subsequently graduated from Rush Medical College in Chicago and from the Chicago Medical College and also took special courses in the Illinois State Eye and Ear Infirmary at Chicago.
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