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 31
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When he retired from active agricultural pursuits, Mr. Swart took up his residence with his son Addison, on the Poplar Lane Farm, a tract of 160 acres which lies 11/2 miles west and one-half mile south of New Paris, the home being on New Paris Rural Route No. 3. Here Mr. Swart is enjoying, in hale and hearty old age, the fruits of a well-ordered life, with the respect and esteem of those among whom he has lived for so many years and with the con- sciousness that there is no blemish upon his record. Throughout his life he has been a firm supporter of the principles of the democratic party and while he has not been a seeker for public preferment has discharged the responsibilities of citizenship in a thoroughly con- scientious and capable manner.
DANIEL W. MCKIBBIN. One of the valuable and well cultivated properties of the central part of Elkhart County is the Rock Run Stock Farm, a tract of 170 acres situated 416 miles north of Millers- burg, in Clinton Township. This farm is owned and has been developed to its present fertility by Daniel W. Mckibbin, who has passed his entire life in Clinton Township, having been born on the family homestead here. Mr. Mckibbin is one of the self-made men of his community, as his father died when he was but a lad and he started out in life with few advantages. He was born
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September 29, 1868, and is a son of David and Magdalena ( Bolter) Mckibbin.
John McKibbin, the grandfather of Daniel W. Mckibbin, was born in Ireland and in young manhood emigrated to the United States, becoming an early settler of Wayne County, Ohio, where he was married. Later he became a pioneer of the vicinity of Fish Lake, Indiana, where he entered land, and in early days here, in order to add to his income, hewed logs for the houses and barns of his neighbors among the first settlers. He was a man of good ability, thrift and industry, and accumulated a tract of 240 acres. Mr. Mc- Kibbin was a member of the Lutheran Church at Fish Lake. His son, David McKibbin, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, and was a youth when he came to Clinton Township, Elkhart County, with his parents. Here he married Magdalena Bolter, who was born in Fulton County, Ohio, and they settled on eighty acres of the Mckib- bin farm, where David McKibbin died in 1880. Of their eight children, four are living: John W., who is engaged in farming in Clinton Township: Amos J., a resident of Denver, Colorado; Martha, who is the wife of W. H. Miller, of LaGrange County, Indiana ; and Daniel W.
Daniel W. McKibbin was educated in the public schools and was brought up on the home farm. His father died when he was only twelve years old, and subsequently the youth began his career by working by the month on the farms of neighboring agriculturists until he could accumulate sufficient means to embark in farming as a renter. For two years he farmed the old home place and then bought land of his own, which formed the nucleus for Rock Run Stock Farm, a property which is typical of the best farms to be found in the county. In addition Mr. McKibbin has other land, his holdings totalling 293 acres. His modern home is situated on Goshen Rural Route No. 8, and in close proximity are to be found his substantial barns and outbuildings, the whole property being up- to-date in every particular. During the winter months Mr. Mc- Kibbin devotes his energies to dealing in timber, a business which he has built up to large proportions. Various other interests have claimed his attention and abilities, and at this time he is president of the Mennonite Aid Insurance Company of Indiana and Michigan and a director and stockholder in the State Bank of Millersburg, one of the strong and stable institutions of Elkhart County. Mr. Mckibbin is a democrat in politics, but has not sought office at the hands of his party. With his family he belongs to the Mennonite Church.
On July 29, 1895, Mr. McKibbin was married to Miss Ida Haines, Vol. II-19
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who was born in Elkhart County, and educated in the public schools, daughter of William Haines. Eight children have been born to this union : David I., who is married, a farmer and thresher residing on his father's farm in Clinton Township; and Mabel, Ernest, Bernice, Haines, Grace and Alton and Alta, twins, all residing with their parents.
CLARENCE M. HARRIS. The long residence of Mr. Harris at Goshen has been characterized by many activities and important relationship with business and public affairs of the community. Mr. Harris was for many years an expert milling engineer, having been identified with the constructive side of some of the largest flour milling concerns in the country, and also operated mills of his own. To a large number of people he is perhaps best known as proprietor of the Scenic Stock Farm located south of Goshen near New Paris.
It was about the time the new roller process of flour manufacture was being introduced that Clarence M. Harris came to Goshen. He here became a practical miller, and soon became an expert in the new process, and in the construction and planning of mills and the installation of improved machinery. His qualifications in these lines led to a varied employment which kept him traveling from place to place engaged in the building and planning of mills and for a num- ber of years he was one of the experts in the service of John T. Noye, of the great mill furnishing house of Buffalo, New York. He built mills in the North and Northwest, and for a number of years was manager of the Chicago branch of the Noye business. Sub- sequently he returned to Goshen, and has since lived in that city somewhat retired from the strenuous activities of his earlier years. In Goshen Mr. Harris remodeled his old home and has made it one of the finest residences of the city.
Clarence M. Harris was born May 24, 1846, and reared in Wash- ington County, New York. As a boy he enlisted for service in the Civil war, going out in December, 1862, as a private in Company I of the Sixteenth New York Heavy Artillery. He was in the service and performed all the parts and accepted all the hazards and duties of a loyal and faithful soldier, and continued till the close of the war. He then returned home and attended school for a time until his education was completed, after which he went to St. Paul, Min- nesota, and for two years was employed in the postoffice in that city. Mr. Harris came to Goshen, Indiana, in 1860). He was mar- ried in this city to Sarah I. Thomas, daughter of William A. Thomas. Her grandfather was the first county clerk of Elkhart County. Mrs. Harris was liberally educated, at first in the schools of Goshen and
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subsequently in finishing schools in other cities. Two sons were born to their marriage, but they are now both deceased.
Mr. Harris is a stockholder in the State Bank of Goshen. Since leaving the milling business he has given most of his time and ener- gies to his fine farm, The Scenic Stock Farm, located five miles south of Goshen in Jackson Township. This farm comprises 180 acres, and its manager is Marion J. Wilson. It is known as head- quarters for registered Holstein-Friesian cattle and Duroc-Jersey hogs, and a model dairy is also conducted there. The farm has sup- plied many of the fine stock for various farms both in Elkhart and in other sections of this state and adjoining states.
During his residence at Goshen Mr. Harris has identified himself in a public spirited manner with local affairs. He gained the grati- tude of local citizens by his splendid work as superintendent during the remodeling of the Elkhart County Courthouse, and the building in its present form stands as a monument to his ability at planning and in carrying out constructive details. What he did in the case of the Elkhart Courthouse attracted considerable attention, and he has since been appointed superintendent over several public build- ings.
O. C. VERNON. An instance of the call of the country rising above the din of the city and the rapid compensations of one of the learned callings is found in the return to nature of O. C. Vernon. Mr. Vernon comes of good farming stock, but for a number of years was engaged in educational work, and it has not been until comparatively recent years that he has returned to the vocation of his youth. At this time he is the owner of a finely cultivated farm of 132 acres, the Beechwood Farm, lying 21/2 miles south and one- half mile west of Millersburg, in Benton Township.
Mr. Vernon was born in Benton Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, September 1, 1859, and is a son of Eli and Sarah J. F. ( Butler) Vernon. His father was born at Zanesville, Ohio, in 1829, and came to Elkhart County, Indiana, in 1851, being here married May 10, 1853, to Miss Sarah J. F. Butler, who was born in this county, May 27, 1833, their married life extending over a period of thirty-four years and terminating in Mrs. Vernon's death in a runaway accident in 1887. Mr. Vernon survived her until March, 1907, having attained the age of seventy-eight years. They were the parents of six children, namely: Etta, who is the wife of Levi Hostetler, of Benton Township, Elkhart County ; Anna J., who is the wife of William Culp, of Benton Township; O. C .; Edwin E., employed in the county clerk's office at Seattle, Washington : Ida M.,
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who is the wife of Joseph Reicheldefer, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Burdette, who is the wife of Laverne Robinson, of Louisville, Kentucky.
O. C. Vernon was reared on the home farm in Benton Township, where his early education was secured in the district schools. Later he attended the University of Indiana, at Valparaiso, and subse- quently was a graduate in penmanship under Prof. G. W. Michael. Adopting the teaching of writing as a vocation, Mr. Vernon taught for some time in normal schools both in Indiana and the West, and on his return opened private schools of his own at Goshen and Ligonier. In 1897, at Cleveland, Ohio, the O. I. C. Swine Breeders Association was organized, and Mr. Vernon was elected vice pres- ident, serving in that capacity until 1911, when he was made secre- tary, a position which he retains. In the spring of 1908 he came to Beechwood Farm, where he carries on extensive operations in general farming and stockraising, making specialty of the breeding of O. I. C. pure-bred hogs, his herd being headed by "Archie," No. 42,843. His pleasant, modern home is located on Millersburg Route No. 2, in the midst of a rich farming community, and here also he has commodious and well built barns and necessary outbuild- ings, his entire property at once evidencing the presence of good management and prosperity.
Mr. Vernon was married October 19, 1882, to Miss Elva Long- acre, who was born at Benton, Indiana, October 20, 1861, a daugh- ter of Thomas and Mary ( Willis) Longacre. Mr. Longacre was born August 28, 1831, and was married in Elkhart County to Miss Willis, who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, August 20, 1832. They became prosperous farming people of this county, and were the parents of five children : Ireson, Elva A., Sylvia, Allen and Elizabeth. Mrs. Vernon was given a good educational training, attending the public and normal schools of Goshen, and for six years prior to her marriage was one of the popular and efficient teachers of Elkhart County. She and Mr. Vernon have been the parents of four children: Harry E., born June 1, 1888, who grad- uated from the law department of the University of Michigan in 19II and is now manager of the Indiana Abstract Company, at Goshen ; Mary F., a graduate of the Goshen High School, who also attended Belmont College, Nashville, Tennessee, and was engaged in teaching for four years, and now the wife of Claude Harper, a grad- uate of Purdue University and at this time an instructor in the University of Illinois, at Urbana; Russell L., a graduate of the Goshen High School and now engaged in farming with his father; and Esther R., a graduate of the Goshen High School, who resides with her parents.
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Mr. Vernon is a member of Millersburg Lodge No. 328, Knights of Pythias, of which he is past chancellor and a member of the grand lodge of the state. He is a republican in politics .and from 1904 to 1908 served efficiently as recorder of Elkhart County. All good movements have his support and he is justly accounted one of the representative men of his township and county.
HENRY LONG. The first important connection of Mr. Long with the Village of Millersburg was in the founding of the State Bank of that village, in which he served as cashier for several years after the bank was started and is still a director. Mr. Long has for many years been well known both in Noble and Elkhart Counties, has extensive farming interests in the former county, and since locat- ing at Millersburg has carried on a somewhat extensive business in the buying and shipping of live stock. He is one of the live men of that village, progressive, enterprising, public spirited, and has usually been successful in every undertaking with which his name has been associated.
It was in Noble County that he was born February 14, 1856, a son of Joseph S. and Sarah A. (Vance) Long. The father, who was born in Ohio, when only eighteen years of age started out in company with a small party bound overland for the gold fields of California. He participated in the great exodus to the West in 1849, and the wagon containing the various possessions of the little party was drawn by six horses. In California he went to the mines, and through adversity and success remained at the business steadily four years. He then returned to Noble County, Indiana, and the proceeds of his efforts as a miner were invested in the purchase of a fine tract of land in Perry Township. Being thus well started, he was married in 1854 to Sarah A. Vance. The first farm contained 160 acres, and from that time forward he was continually prosper- ing, and at the time of his death at the age of forty-nine his estate comprised 400 acres. He also dealt extensively in live stock and was regarded as one of the best business men in Noble County. He possessed a very generous nature, and was very helpful to individuals in their struggles and public spirited in his relation to the com- munity welfare. He was also a liberal supporter of the United Brethren Church, of which he was a member, and in politics he was a republican. His death occurred January 27. 1870. He and his wife had nine children, and eight are still living: Henry Long ; John M., a resident of Harbor Springs, Michigan ; Cassius M., who lives at Ligonier, Indiana ; Harrison E., a farmer in Arkansas ; Jo- seph A., a farmer and stock dealer at Millersburg: Margaret, wife
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of J. F. Fissel, who is superintendent of the waterworks at Ligonier ; Sarah E., wife of William Taylor, a farmer in Noble County ; Rosa A., wife of James W. Taylor, a farmer of LaGrange County, Indiana.
On the old home farm in Noble County Henry Long grew to manhood, gained his education in the public schools there, and also attended the high school at Ligonier and at Albion. When his school days were finished, he took up farming as his serious voca- tion, and for many years was one of the progressive agriculturists of Noble County. In 1908 he came to Millersburg and in the same year organized, sold the stock, and established the State Bank of Millersburg. Nearly all the stockholders are representative farm- ers and business men of the southern part of Elkhart County. The capital stock of the bank is $25,000, and the institution has been steadily growing and increasing its assets ever since it was estab- lished. At the organization the following officers were elected : S. L. Thomas, president ; S. A. Widner, vice president ; Henry Long, cashier ; and besides these the other directors were Dr. G. W. Kirby, B. F. Deahl, Simon J. Strauss, S. F. Evans, D. W. Mckibbin and B. F. Dewey. For three and a half years Mr. Long was one of the executive officials of the bank in the capacity of cashier, and then resigned in order to have more time to look after his private interests.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Goshen Lodge No. 12, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. In politics his work has always been with the republican party, and for twenty years he filled the office of justice of the peace. In July, 1880, Mr. Long married Alice M. Bowser, who was born in Noble county, and was a student in a dis- trict school in that county while her future husband, Mr. Long, was teaching in the same district. Of the seven children born to their union five are still living. I.yman C. is a graduate of the com- mon schools and now a farmer on his father's place in Noble County, Bertha J. is the wife of Clark Rink, a rural mail carrier of Millersburg. Homer M. is married and is a painter by trade. Rob- ert R. is a graduate of the common schools and Stanley A. com- pleted the course of the common schools, spent some time in high school, and is now clerk in the store of B. D. Miller at Millersburg. Mr. Long's farm property in Noble County comprises 120 acres.
A. C. MENIL. The greater part of his life thus far A. C. Mehl has spent in Goshen, Indiana. He gained some of his education there and has been engaged in business there in the practice of his profession, and has conducted a successful practice of the law since he began. His son is associated with him, so that all depart-
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ments lack no attention and are capably and conscientiously man- aged.
Mr. Mehl was born in Holmes County, Ohio, on September 29th, 1859. He is a son of Christian Mehl, who was a native son of Germany, and who in early life emigrated to America and found a home in the farming centers of Ohio. Mr. Christian Mehl reached a position of prominance in Holmes County, and was county recorder there for eight consecutive years. He also served ably in the office of justice of the peace for some years, and was in every way a valuable citizen. He married Miss Anna Schrock, who was also born in Holmes County, and in 1864 the family moved from Holmes County, Ohio, settling in LaGrange County, Indiana, buying a farm in the vicinity of Shipshewana. Later Mr. Christian Mehl gave up that place, where he had been successfully occupied in stock raising and general farming, and in 1900 retired from active farm life, retiring to a small farm in the vicinity of Goshen, where he lived quietly for a few years and died in 1907. His wife died several years later.
Their son A. C. Mehl, of this review, attended school in La- Grange, Indiana, and finished his high school training in Goshen. He then entered the law office of E. A. Dausman, of Goshen, and took up the study of law, his admission to the bar following as a result of his work in 1896. Soon after Mr. Mehl opened a law office on his own responsibility in Goshen, and engaged successfully in the general practice of his profession.
Later the son of A. C. Mehl, who is a graduate of the law school of the University of Illinois, graduated from the said institu- tion and entered into partnership with his father, and today the firm of Mehl & Mehl conducts a thriving law practice in and about Goshen, Indiana.
Mr. Mehl is a member of various fraternal orders, among them being the Masonic order, in which he is affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Goshen Lodge No. 12. Goshen Chap- ter No. 50, Royal Arch Masons and Goshen Commandery No. 50 Knights Templar, and the Goshen Lodge of Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
The family home is located at 623 South Sixth Street in said city.
HENRY B. SYKES, until his retirement a few years ago, was proprietor of one of the largest dry goods establishments in Elk- hart. For more than thirty years the name Sykes has been prom- inently identified with the business affairs of Elkhart and while
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Mr. Sykes spends much of his time in traveling his sons are active factors in local affairs.
This branch of the Sykes family was founded in America in 1637 and for many generations they were New Englanders. There were men of the name who fought gallantly in the war for inde- pendence. Henry B. Sykes was born in Bennington County, Ver- mont, in 1844 in the same house which was the birthplace of his father, Judge Israel Newton Sykes. Judge Sykes, though reared on a farm, studied law, served with distinction as a judge for a number of years, and died in 1896 at the age of ninety. He married Diana Gilbert, who was also a native of Vermont, and died there in her eighty-seventh year.
Henry B. Sykes was well educated, having attended the noted Burr and Burton Seminary at Manchester, Vermont, and the East- man Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. After two years experience as clerk in the store of his brother, G. M. Sykes, at Dorset, Vermont, he came West in 1866 and for nearly twenty years was a resident of Belvidere, Illinois. There he was clerk in a drug store nine months, subsequently became assistant cashier of the First National Bank and three years later engaged in the dry goods business with D. D. Sabin and for sixteen years the firm of Sabin & Sykes kept the largest and best stock of dry goods in that Illinois city.
From Belvidere Henry B. Sykes came to Elkhart in October, 1884, and bought the dry goods store of J. F. Hunt at 227-229 South Main Street. In a few years Mr. Sykes had extended the business so as to occupy the three stories of the building, and in September, 1902, he accommodated his increasing trade by the construction of a building on the corner and finally had a store with a frontage of sixy feet from 227 to 231 South Main Street. This is one of the largest general dry goods and department stores in Northern Indiana. After almost half a century of continuous mercantile business Mr. Sykes sold out and has enjoyed a well earned retirement.
His name is associated in Elkhart with many organizations and undertakings outside of merchandising. He was identified from the first with the Century Club, particularly in its relations to the general growth and improvement of the city, was treasurer and director of the Home Telephone Company, a director of the Build- ing & Loan Association, and had various interests in Elkhart's industrial and commercial affairs. In 1894 he was elected repub- lican mayor of Elkhart and for four years gave the city an admin- istration which was both efficient and competent, and was charac-
WILL HIRE
RUDOLPHI IHRE WILLIAM B. IHRE MERRILL HIRE
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terized by progressive improvement and the inauguration of many important reforms.
Henry B. Sykes was married at Belvidere, Illinois, in 1868, to Miss S. Louisa Avery. Their four children were: Egbert Newton, Mary Gertrude, Harry Blakesley and Walter Avery.
WALTER AVERY SYKES, a son of Henry B. and S. Louisa (Avery) Sykes, is continuing the laudable business and civic career of his honored father at Elkhart, where he is now city comptroller and has one of the principal agencies in the county for general insurance and bonding.
He was born at Belvidere, Illinois, November 26, 1878. Six years of age when brought to Elkhart, he attended the public schools of that city and from high school entered business col- lege, and also gained a practical experience in business affairs in the dry goods store of his father. In 1911 he left merchandising to take up life insurance, and in 1912 established a general agency both in life and fire insurance and in the general bonding business. He represents a number of the well known companies and has a large clientage both in the city and in the surrounding territory. Mr. Sykes was appointed city comptroller of Elkhart on January I, 1914. Politically he is a republican.
On May 18, 1904, he married Miss Maude Buzzard. She was born in Wakarusa, Elkhart County, a daughter of John F. and Caroline Buzzard. To their marriage have been born two chil- dren : Henry B. and Caroline.
WILL HIRE. The entire career of Will Hire has been passed in the vicinity of his present home, known as "Prominent Corner Stock Farm," a splendidly cultivated tract of 440 acres which is located on the Lincoln Highway, eleven miles southeast of Goshen, in Benton Township. He was born on the farm adjoining this prop- erty, August 16, 1870, and is a son of Rudolph and Rachel (Clover) Hire.
William B. Hire, the grandfather of Will Hire, was born in Preble County, Ohio, and as a young man came to Elkhart County, Indiana, settling in Benton Township, where he was married to Elizabeth Wilkinson, also a native of Ohio. Mr. Hire was a skilled agriculturist and good business man and accumulated a property of 300 acres in Benton Township, in the cultivation of which he passed his entire life. Before his death they moved to Ligonier, where she passed away and he died on the farm of his son Rudolph several years later. They were devout members and leaders in the Meth-
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