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 21
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Mr. Pancost has stood exemplar of the best in civic and business activity and has always stood ready to lend his influence and co- operation in the furtherance of measures and enterprises projected for the general good of the community. In politics he maintains an independent attitude and gives his support to men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment, irrespective of partisan lines. He served three years as a valued member of the city council, but he has been essentially a business man and has not been troubled with aught of ambition for public office.
Mr. Pancost was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in Travel Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, at Goshen, this state, in 1863. From the same he was demnitted to a lodge at
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Hillsdale, Michigan, and his present affiliation in Elkhart is with Kane Lodge, No. 183.
On the 8th of September, 1859, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pancost to Miss Catherine A. Pease, of Bristol, Elkhart County, Mrs. Pancost having been born in the State of New York and having been a girl at the time of her parents' removal to Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Pancost have three children,-Clarence Ellsworth, Lewis Grant, and Ernest Vernon, whose respective associations with the Pancost Milling Company have been noted in a preceding paragraph.
FRANCIS E. COMPTON. The high commercial average of the younger element of business men of Elkhart, as exemplified in the prominence attained by a large proportion of their numbers, their marked ability and capacity, and the vigor, energy and shrewdness with which their affairs are managed, has done much to maintain the commercial prestige of the city and promises greatly for its future welfare. In this class, one who is becoming well known in business circles, is Francis E. Compton, vice president and treasurer of The Martin Band Instrument Company.
Mr. Compton belongs to a pioneer family of Elkhart County, and was born on the old Compton homestead, settled by his grand- father, in Osceola Township, October 8, 1885, a son of George E. and Lizzie (Ames) Compton. His grandparents, Ezekiel and Frances (Ward) Compton, came to Elkhart County as pioneers in 1833, locating on a wild tract of land in Osceola Township, where the grandfather cleared a property from the wilderness, developed a farm and continued to carry on operations in farming and stock- raising during the remainder of his life. On this homestead George E. Compton was born August 5, 1849. He received his education in the district schools of Osceola Township, and in 1865, a lad of sixteen years, came to the Village of Elkhart and entered the employ of Davenport & Hope, with whom he spent five years, and then passed four years in the employ of A. A. Beardsley. In 1874 he formed a partnership with Mr. Meader and engaged in the dry goods and boot and shoe business, and at one time this firm was the leader in this line at Elkhart. Mr. Compton also was engaged in the milling business for several years, having rebuilt the old flour mill now known as the Burrell & Morgan Mill. In public affairs he never cared for office, but was interested in everything that promised for the welfare of the community, and was one of the founders of the movement which eventuated in the organization of the Elkhart Public Library. He was independent in his political views. Mr. Vol. II-13
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Compton died June 4, 1910, honored and respected by his fellow- citizens. Mrs. Compton, who was born in New York State, still survives her husband, and has been the mother of three children: Herman, Francis E. and Georgia E.
Francis E. Compton enjoyed good educational advantages, attending the graded and high schools of Elkhart and Winona Academy, from which latter he was graduated in 1908. At that time he entered upon his business career with The Martin Band Instrument Company, of which he has since become vice president and treasurer. This company, now one of the leading in its line in the Middle West, manufactures the famous "Renowned" instru- ments, which are marketed not only in all parts of this country, but in Mexico, Canada, South America, the Hawaiian Islands, Europe, India and Egypt, and Australia. The company was founded at Elkhart in 1904, as the J. H. Martin Band Instrument Company, and in the following year was reorganized as The Martin Band Instrument Company, with Henry C. Martin as president. Mr. Compton also has a fine farm of 260 acres located five miles east of Elkhart, where he carries on general farming. He is greatly interested in this property. He maintains an independent stand as to political questions and has taken only a good citizen's interest in public affairs. He is well known in Masonry, belonging to Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons; Elkhart Commandery No. 31, Knights Templar, and Murat Temple, Indianapolis, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
On June 2, 1909, Mr. Compton was married to Miss Kate S. Murray, who was born at Delphos, Ohio.
JEROME C. STEPHENS. One of the most competent members of the present municipal administration at Elkhart is Jerome C. Stephens, sealer of weights and measures. Mr. Stephens resigned from the city council January, 1915, to accept his present responsi- bilities. He had been a member at large of the city council for several years, and belonged to that body when the appropriation was made for the building of the city hall.
Most of his life has been spent in Elkhart County, though he was born on a farm in LaPorte County, Indiana, March 11, 1863. He is of old American ancestry, and his line goes back to Arch- bishop Obediah Stephens, who spent all his life in England. Erastus Stephens, a son of the archbishop, and great-grandfather of Jerome C. Stephens, was born in the City of York, England, in 1754, and with two brothers and four sisters came to America and settled on
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the Yadkin River in North Carolina. In 1793 Erastus Stephens emigrated with his family to North Haven in Connecticut, and some years later he served as a Patriot soldier in the War of 1812 and was wounded in one of the battles in which he was engaged.
Justus Stephens, grandfather of Jerome C., was born at North Haven, Connecticut, in 1795, and a number of years later moved to Carthage, Ohio, and from there a few years later to Indiana, and after spending a time in the southern part of the state became one of the first settlers in St. Joseph County. From St. Joseph County he moved to LaPorte County in 1848 and bought land in Springfield Township. By trade he was a cooper, and he combined that voca- tion with his activities in clearing up and cultivating his farm. Late in life he moved to the City of LaPorte, where he died in November, 1862. He married Rebecca Rude. She died August 18, 1861, hav- ing reared six children named Solomon, Francis, John C., Seymour Hiram and Lucy.
John C. Stephens was born in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Feb- ruary 12, 1836, a date which indicates the early settlement of the family in that part of Northern Indiana. He grew up on his father's farm in LaPorte County and continued farming until September, 1864, when he enlisted in Company D of the Twenty-second Indiana Infantry. That regiment was largely employed in guarding prison- ers at Indianapolis, and with his comrades received an honorable discharge in May, 1865. On returning home he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company as a sta- tionary engineer, and in 1871 moved to the City of Elkhart, where he remained in the employ of the railway company until his death on November 17, 1888. On March 23, 1862, John C. Stephens married Elizabeth A. Pease. She was born in Chautauqua County, New York, August 26, 1845. Her father, Isaac Pease, was born near Boston, Massachusetts, her grandfather, David Pease, was also a native of Massachusetts, whence he went as a pioneer to Chautauqua County, New York, and spent the rest of his days there. Isaac Pease was reared and educated in Chautauqua County, but in 1851 moved west and settled near LaPorte, Indiana, and several years later moved across the state line into Berrien County, Michigan, where he died about 1875. Isaac Pease married Phebe Aspenwald, who was born in Vermont, and surviving her husband returned to LaPorte County and lived there in 1889. Her six children were named Elizabeth, Charles, George, David, Ellen and Amos. Mrs. John C. Stephens is now making her home with her son Jerome at Elkhart. She reared three children named Jerome, Charles W. and Pearl.
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Jerome C. Stephens acquired his early education in the public schools at Elkhart, in which city he has lived since he was about eight years of age. He served an apprenticeship at the trade of carriage trimmer, and for many years was one of the most faithful and efficient workers in the Elkhart Carriage and Harness Manufac- turing Company. From 1900 to 1915 he was shop foreman of this large local industry, and gave up his work in the shop to become sealer of weights and measures in the city government in April, 1915.
In June, 1889, Mr. Stephens married Olive E. Parke. She was born on a farm in Concord Township, Elkhart County. Her ancestry goes back to John Parke who was born in Ireland and brought his family to America and settled at Boston. A son of this immigrant was also named John and at one time filled office as justice of the peace in Boston. He was the great-grandfather of Mrs. Stephens. From Massachusetts he removed to Pennsylvania, locating on a farm near Williamsport. Mrs. Stephens' grandfather, John Parke, was born in Pennsylvania, and spent his last years in Concord Township of Elkhart County. Robert Parke, father of Mrs. Stephens, was born in Pennsylvania and learned the trade of carpenter. About 1850 he came with wagon and ox team to Indiana and located at Sugar Grove in Concord Township, where he bought a tract of timbered land. He had to cut down some of the trees in order to make room for his first home. He conducted business as a con- tractor and builder, and also superintended the clearing of his land, and resided in Concord Township until his death at the age of fifty-five. By his first marriage Robert Parke had four children named Henry J., Clara A., John D. and Sarah Jane. His second wife, the mother of Mrs. Stephens, was Margaret Schick, who was born near Akron, Ohio, daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Swine- hart) Schick, who came from Ohio and became early settlers of Concord Township. Jacob Schick was a shoemaker but he also cleared up a farm in Elkhart County, and he and his wife both died on that place. Robert Parke and wife reared six children named Amasa M., Sylvester W., Olive E., Melvin J., Cora A. and Altha C.
Mr. and Mrs. Stephens have one daughter, Hazel V. Mr. Stephens is an active member of Pulaski Lodge No. 60, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he served as secretary for fifteen years, and he also has taken the higher branches of Odd Fellowship and is a member of the Elkhart Canton No. 8 and Elkhart En- campment No. 104.
FRED PALMER. In 1894, when Fred Palmer was seventeen years old, he bought the newspaper on which he had been employed since
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he was eleven, and published it for about four years. Since that time he has been continuously engaged in the newspaper business and he has had a varied experience that has embraced every phase and feature of the profession. Since 1912 he has been editor and business manager of the Elkhart Truth, a daily newspaper. Mr. Palmer has seen many changes in the modus operandi of the news- paper office in the past twenty years. When he first entered the business as a 'prentice boy the old Washington hand press was in favor, it being a modification of the original Franklin press. Many are the improvements that have been added year by year since that time. Today his office in Elkhart is equipped with everything in the way of practical appliances known to modern journalism, and progress is the watchword of the plant.
Mr. Palmer is a native of Iowa, born in Pottawattamie County on January 9. 1877. He is the son of Elias and Nancy (Abbott) Palmer. The father was born in old Virginia in 1828 and he died in 1902, aged seventy-four years. The mother was a native born Ken- tuckian. Of the ten children born to them, six are living, Frederick, of this review, being the youngest child.
Elias Palmer, when a young man, took up his residence in New- castle, Kentucky, where he engaged in the flour mill and lumber business. He spent a few years there and moved to Madison, Indiana, where he enlisted for service in the Union army at the outbreak of the Civil war. He was a member of Capt. John Rich- ardson's company, a part of the Ninth Regiment of Indiana Volun- teers. This regiment did duty throughout the war and Elias Palmer was in the thick of its activities on many important occasions. When the war was over he moved to Iowa, settling in Creston, Union County, and he was one of the pioneers of that section of the state. After the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was built through Creston Mr. Palmer engaged in the grain elevator business, his interests being divided between Creston and Council Bluffs. Later on he located in Cumberland, Cass County, engaging in the same business. He gained much prominence in Cumberland, and served that town as mayor for two terms, also postmaster of the town under the Cleveland administration from 1893 to 1897.
Fred Palmer had the rudiments of his education in the public schools of Cumberland, and when he was eleven years old he iden- tified himself with the Cumberland Courant as an apprentice to the trade of a printer. He continued his school work at the same time, , working in the Courant office before and after school and on Satur- days and holidays, up to the age of seventeen. In that time he completed his high school course in Cumberland. He became re-
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porter for the paper about that time, as well as having charge of the advertising end of the business, and so well acquainted was he with the plant and all its business details that when the owner decided to sell out, young Palmer felt himself able to assume control of the paper and run it. He bought the paper, being then only seven- teen years old, and for four years he continued to own and publish it. His next venture was the publication of the Fremont News at Farragut, in Fremont County, Iowa, being the owner of the plant, as well as the publisher. He sold out after a short while, locating in Fairbury, Nebraska, where he published the Jefferson County News successfully, and still later he disposed of his interests there and moved to Omaha in search of a wider field. He was there engaged in journalism for some time, and in 1892 he went to Cincinnati for the purpose of taking a special college course in journalism, under the direction of Murat Halstead, one of the fore- most newspaper men of the country at that time. After his course of study there Mr. Palmer returned to Iowa, and became identified with the Pocahontas Democrat for about two years, after which he returned to Cumberland, Iowa, and assumed control of the Cum- berland Enterprise, which he published in magazine form for some little time. He next became editor of the Dixon Daily Star at Dixon, Illinois, continuing there up to 1908, when he took a position as reporter on the Elkhart Truth, a daily paper of Elkhart. After seven or eight months of activity on the paper in that capacity Mr. Palmer became editor and continued in that post until 1912, when the duties of business manager were added to his editorial work. He is now filling those positions on the paper, and his success with the publication has been highly creditable to him as a modern and progressive-minded journalist. He has brought to his duties on this paper all the qualities of a wide-minded and aggressive citizen, and the result has been of undeniable benefit to the community in which he is active.
In 1902 Mr. Palmer was married to Miss Winifred B. Howard, who was born in Iowa, and five children have blessed their home. They are Uldeline, Paul, Lillian, Howard and Josephine. Mr. Palmer is a member of Elkhart Lodge No. 425, Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks, and he is independent in politics.
JAMES A. WORK, JR., M. D. In the same profession where his father has made so admirable a record at Elkhart, the junior Doctor Work has found success and has carried his attainments in special departments even further than Doctor Work, Sr.
A son of Dr. James A. and Emma (Bartholomew) Work, he
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was born at Elkhart March 30, 1883, attended the grammar schools and the high school at Elkhart, graduating from the latter with the class of 1899, then spent three years in Northwestern University, and entering from there the University of Michigan was graduated in 1904 from the literary department with the degree A. B. He con- tinued his professional studies in the same institution, and in 1906 won his degree M. D. The following year was spent in a valuable training service as interne in the hospitals maintained in the copper mining region of the Calumet and Hekla districts at Calumet, Mich- igan. Returning to Elkhart, he then engaged in general practice, but is widely known all over this section of Northern Indiana as a spe- cialist in obstetrics and diseases of women and children.
Doctor Work is a member and served as president in 1914 of the Elkhart Academy of Medicine, and since January 1, 1913, has been secretary for the Elkhart County Medical Association. He is also a member of the American Medical Association and the Clin- ical Congress of Surgeons of North America. He is vice president of the Elkhart Anti-Tuberculosis Society, is secretary of the local Red Cross Committee, belongs to the Elkhart County Board of Charities and Correction and has been a deacon in the Presbyterian Church since 1908. In politics Doctor Work is a republican.
On October 29, 1910, he married Miss Bess M. Middleton. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri. They are the parents of two daughters, Jean M. and Mary B., and one son, James A. III.
GEORGE C. KISTNER. For nearly forty years the Kistner family has been established in Elkhart County. George C. Kistner, who was reared and has spent all his active career here, is a successful contractor and builder in the City of Elkhart and also operates a fine stock farm near that city. The family in all its related branches has been identified with America for a number of generations and is of sturdy old stock, a combination of German, Swiss and English entering into the composition of the ancestry.
The Kistners lived in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, before coming to Elkhart County, and George C. Kistner was born in that section of the Keystone State. His great-grandfather Kist- ner was born in Germany and came to America when a young man locating in Pennsylvania where he spent the rest of his days. The grandfather, John Kistner, was born in Pennsylvania, and early in his career learned carpentry and followed that trade in Northumber- land County. He married Jane Highlands, who was born and spent all her life in Northumberland County and was of English lineage.
Matthias Kistner, father of George C., was a native of
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Northumberland County, was reared and educated there, and like- wise took up a mechanical trade, becoming a proficient boat builder. In the early days when the old Pennsylvania Canal was still an important artery of traffic, he constructed a number of boats that went back and forth on its waters. In 1876 he came west to Elk- hart and there began the business of contracting and building, which under father and son has been carried on continuously for forty years. Matthias Kistner died at Elkhart in 1907 at the age of fifty-nine. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Ott. She was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. Her great-grandfather Daniel Ott was of German ancestry but spent all his life in Penn- sylvania. Her grandfather Daniel Ott, Jr., was a Snyder County farmer and married Esther Hummel, also of Pennsylvania. George Ott, father of Mrs. Kistner and maternal grandfather of George C. Kistner, was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, and as a young man learned the trade of blacksmith, which he followed in con- nection with farming until 1876, in which year he moved into Elk- hart County, locating on a farm a mile east of Elkhart. He con- tinued to operate that farm for a number of years, and then retired and lived in the City of Elkhart until his death at the age of seventy-seven. George Ott married Amelia Gemberling, who was born in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Phillip and Judith (Feather) Gemberling, both of whom spent their lives in Snyder County. Mrs. Matthias Kistner is still living in Elkhart. She reared two sons, George C. and John W. John W. is a practic- ing physician at Berrien Springs, Michigan.
George C. Kistner grew up in the city of Elkhart, attended the public schools, and on leaving high school began work under his father acquiring a thorough knowledge of the carpenter's trade. At the age of twenty he had advanced so far as to be taken into partner- ship with the elder Kistner in the contracting and building busi- ness, and since his father's death the younger man has carried on the business along very successful lines to the present time.
His business interests are divided between his organization at Elkhart for the handling of building contracts and his fine stock farm about four miles southeast of Elkhart, bordering the Elkhart River. This is known as the Maple Lane Stock Farm, contains 128 acres and has a fine set of buildings and equipment for its purposes. Mr. Kistner is an excellent judge of good stock, knows how to raise and care for them, and has his farm equipped with all the machinery and appliances necessary for the successful conduct of the busi- ness. His favorite stock is Shorthorn cattle and the big type of the Poland China hogs.
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In September, 1905, he married Ellen R. Miller. She was born in LaGrange County, Indiana, a daughter of Moses S. and Eliza- beth (Miltonberger) Miller, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Kistner's great-great-grandfather was a native of Switzerland, and on coming to America before the Revolution located in Penn- sylvania. From their native state of Pennsylvania Mrs. Kistner's parents removed to Indiana, lived for several years in La Grange County, during which time Mrs. Kistner was born, and then established their home on a farm in Concord Township of Elkhart County, where her father spent the rest of his days in agricultural activity. Mr. and Mrs. Kistner have two children: Russell M., who is a student in the Central School at Elkhart; and Sarah Bernadine.
The church membership of Mr. and Mrs. Kistner is in the United Brethren faith. Mr. Kistner takes much interest in fraternal affairs and is affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, with Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons; with Elkhart Council No. 79, Royal and Select Masters; and Elkhart Commandery No. 31, Knights Templar.
JOHN RICHARDSON. A history of Elkhart County will best ful- fill its purposes which preserves in enduring record the largest number of careers of those men who as pioneers laid the founda- tions of the solid prosperity and affluence which this county has in recent years enjoyed as a harvest of early toil and hardships .. Among the names most entitled to the distinction of such record is that of the Richardson family, one of whom was the late John Richardson, one of the oldest native sons of Baugo Township and who in addition to his sturdy management of his own affairs as a farmer served as a soldier during the Civil war.
He was born in Baugo Township February 23, 1847. His father, Daniel Richardson, was a native of Pennsylvania and the grandfather, Joshua Richardson, was probably a native of the same state and of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Joshua Richardson in the very early days came west and was one of the very first settlers in Baugo Township. His location was on the River Road, and in that com- munity he spent the rest of his days. Daniel Richardson was reared and was married in Pennsylvania, and soon after his marriage migrated west to Indiana, in company with his parents. When the Richardson family located in Baugo Township the entire region was one sparsely inhabited with few clearings in the wilderness, and with none of those commercial and institutional advantages that the people of a later day enjoy. In fact nearly all the land was still
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owned by the government and could be bought as low as $1.25 per acre. Daniel Richardson traded a wagon for eighty acres in section 23 of Baugo Township. This same land could not now be bought for the price of forty or fifty wagons. Here he erected a typical log cabin with a puncheon floor, and with the utmost simplicity of surroundings and comforts started to build one of the substantial homes of the township. When the Richardsons first came Elkhart was still a hamlet, and not infrequently they took their grist as far as Fort Wayne to be ground. Any amount of game could be shot down in the woods and in the prairies by the skill- ful hunter, and nearly all the pioneers had much skill in the handling of the rifle and musket. The mother of the family did all her cooking by the fireplace, and she was accustomed and trained to card and spin the wool and flax which she afterwards manufactured into homespun garments. By dint of many years of steady toil, Daniel Richardson cleared up a good farm, but finally sold it and removed to Harbor Springs, Michigan, where he passed away at the age of seventy-five.
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