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 38
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Returning to Noble County, he took up business as contractor, and lived there until 1870. Selling his farm after the death of his first wife, he returned to Ohio, but after a year, in 1871, came back to Indiana and bought a farm across the lake from Kendallville. He farmed there one year, and in 1872 came to Elkhart County and bought a place in Union Township one mile east of the present site of Nappanee. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had not yet been built, and as is well known Nappanee started to grow as a village after the construction of that line. When Mr. Yarian went there the present site of the city was a farm and much of it low marsh land. After farming his place until 1880 he moved to Nappanee, still but a hamlet, and conducted business for many years until he retired.
On July 9, 1860, Mr. Yarian married Miss Jane Hook. She was born in Overland Parish, England, July 9, 1840. Her father, Peter Hook, was a native of England, brought his family to America in 1851, locating in Summit County, Ohio, and later going to Noble County, Indiana, where he spent his last days. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Yarian, died on the ocean while en route to America. Mrs. Yarian died April 30, 1869. In February. 1870, Mr. Yarian married Rebecca Markley, who was born in Randolph Township of Portage County, Ohio, May 17. 1845. Her father, Martin Markley, was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and her grandfather Abraham Markley was one of the early settlers in Ashtabula and spent his last years in Portage County. Martin Markley lived in Randolph Township several years, then came to Indiana and located in Kosci- usko County, improved a small tract of land there, then sold out and purchased a farm in Missouri, but returning to Indiana lived until
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his death in Miami County. Martin Markley married Hannah Brad- field, who after the death of Mr. Markley married again and spent her last years in Kosciusko County. Mr. Yarian's second wife died in 1879. His third wife was Elizabeth Worley, who died July 5, 1915. The first wife Mrs. Yarian was buried in Swan Cemetery in Noble County along with her infant son David Russell, and Mr. Yarian has erected a monument to their memory. His third wife expressed a desire to be buried among her own people in Solomon Creek Cemetery, and the husband has placed a fitting monument over her grave there. The Yarian family lot is in Union Central Cemetery, where the second Mrs. Yarian was buried, together with her children Maurice Martin and Mary Evelyn. These graves are also commemorated by a suitable headstone.
By his first wife Mr. Yarian reared two children, William Owen and Jennie Elizabeth. William O. married Zora Butt and has two children named Fred and Marie. Fred married Bertha Whitmer and has two daughters named Florence and Faye, and Marie mar- ried Robert Abbott. The daughter Jennie E. married Thomas Mc- Donnell, and their eight children are Minnie (widow of H. E. Wil- son ), Orville, Nellie, Harvey, Rollo, Hubert, Howard and Ford. Of these children the daughter Nellie is the wife of William O. Miller and has two daughters named Maxine and Lavern.
Miss Carrie Hannah, the child of his second wife, now presides over Mr. Varian's household and attends with careful solicitude his declining years. Mr. Yarian is a member of Berlin Post No. 402, Grand Army of the Republic, and for many years has been active in the United Brethren Church. He donated the land on which the church stands in Nappanee, and for a number of years was super- intendent of the Sunday school. He is now a member of the men's class in the Sunday school.
HON. HORACE H. MOSIER, representative from his district to the State Legislature and manager of the Bristol Banner, was born in New Haven, Allen County, Indiana, January 13, 1872. His father, Cyrus F. Mosier, was a native of Seneca County, New York, and was a son of Cyrus and Rebecca (Weeks) Mosier. The great- grandfather was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, valiantly aiding in the struggle for independence. Both Cyrus and Rebecca Mosier were natives of the Empire State, and the former, in connection with the millwright business, conducted a carriage factory. The Weeks family was related to the Mosier family in the maternal line. Several members of the family were killed in the memorable Wyom- ing massacre. In the family of Cyrus and Rebecca ( Weeks) Mosier
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were three children : Horace, deceased; Cyrus F .; and Charles, who was drowned in a spring.
Cyrus F. Mosier was only two months old when his father died and his mother removed to Corning, New York, where she remained for six years. She then went to New Haven, Indiana, where she married Rufus McDonald, one of the prominent men of that locality. By this union there were two children, of whom one is living- Rufus.
When a boy Cyrus Mosier was thrown upon his own resources, but though he met many hardships and difficulties he was equal to all of them, possessing great determination and strength of char- acter. With what he was able to save from his meager wages, he paid the expenses of his education, and at the end of six years of strenuous work he secured the principalship of the school in which he had been an apt pupil. He put aside his duties in the schoolroom, however, in 1861, and was the first man in DeKalb County to re- spond to President Lincoln's call for troops, joining Company F, Twelfth Indiana Regiment, as a private. Later he was made a ser- geant of Company E, Fifty-fifth Regiment, and still later was com- missioned first lieutenant of Company D, One Hundred and Eigh- teenth Indiana Infantry, serving in that capacity for two years and one month, or until about the close of the war. He was captured with 7,000 men, but made good his escape without seeing the inside of prison walls. He was in many hotly contested battles and proved himself a brave and intrepid soldier.
Following the war, Cyrus F. Mosier was engaged in the manu- facture of brick for two years, when he returned to New Haven, Indiana, where he engaged in teaching school. For seventeen years he was one of the prominent educators of that section and was widely known and honored for his ability, contributing in large measure to the substantial improvement of the schools. He served for two terms as city attorney of New Haven, being elected on the republican ticket, in an acknowledged democratic stronghold-a fact which plainly indicated his personal popularity and the confi- dence reposed in him. He afterward removed to Maysville, Indiana, and established a newspaper, but in the spring of 1877 he came to Bristol and founded the Bristol Banner, a partisan organ that made itself a monitor and guide for the republican party within its juris- diction. He was chosen twice to represent his district in the State Legislature, where he served with credit and distinction both to himself and party, and then declined a renomination. He was presi- dent of the People's Mutual Benefit Society for a number of years and contributed in large measure to its prosperity. He was also
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treasurer of the Fidelity Building and Savings Union of Indiana- polis, and spent much of his time in that city. He held membership with the Grand Army of the Republic and the Odd Fellows, and he was always a public-spirited citizen, ready to do his share to further any enterprise for the advancement of his city or state. He wielded a wide influence, leaving the impress of his individuality for good upon many lines of public thought and action.
On the 24th of May, 1862, Cyrus F. Mosier was married to Dru- silla L. Roe. They lost two children, Urtes V. and Inez B., and their surviving son is Horace H. Mosier. The father died in April, 1901, at the age of sixty-one years.
Horace H. Mosier acquired his education in the public schools of Bristol and Indianapolis and in the Northwestern Military Academy of Chicago. He completed a course in stenography and typewriting in the business college at Indianapolis, after which he accepted a position with the Peoples Mutual Benefit Society at Benton Harbor, and thence came to Elkhart for the same company. Later he entered into business relations with the Fidelity Building and Savings Union, at Indianapolis, where he remained for eight years, when his health failed and he spent eighteen months in recuperating. He next opened a fire and life insurance office at Elkhart and afterward in Indianapolis, and in December, 1898, he returned to Bristol to take charge of the Bristol Banner, a weekly paper, established by his father in 1877 and now conducted and published by him. Under his guidance the Banner has maintained a position among the lead- ing papers of the county and through its columns he champions many measures of a salutary nature, proving of direct benefits to the community at large.
On the 5th of July, 1893, Mr. Mosier was married to Miss Jennie E. Bickel, a daughter of Charles E. and Harriet Bickel. She was born August 23, 1871, in Bristol, in which city her father was a pioneer hardware dealer. They have two children, Marie G. and Bruce B. Mrs. Mosier is a member of the Episcopal Church. Mr. Mosier belongs to the Masonic Lodge in Bristol, the chapter at Elk- hart, and also holds membership relations with the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Woodmen and Samaritans.
Mr. Mosier's study of the principles and movements involving the progress and welfare of the country has led him to give an unfaltering support to the republican party and his fitness for lead- ership and devotion to the general good has caused his selection for public honors and responsibilities. He has been president of the town board of Bristol and in 1004 he was elected to represent his county in the State Legislature and is now chairman of the commit-
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tee on house and roll bills and also served on the education, refor- matory institutions and other committees. He is a student of the signs of the times and the advocate of progress whether in or out of office, laboring as earnestly for the general welfare through the columns of his paper as in legislative halls.
EPHRAIM SEIDNER. For a great many years after the first settle- ment the district of Southwestern Elkhart County was rather neglected in development, the early comers favoring the fertile prairies and the uplands of other portions of the county. Now the finest farms can be found in that very region. One of these, excelling in the matter of improvement and general cultivation, is that owned by Ephraim Seidner.
Though a carpenter by trade, Mr. Seidner during the last forty years has applied himself continuously to the development and im- provement of his farm. He has shown great skill in bringing his land under cultivation, and now has almost a model homestead. Me- chanical proficiency, a steady industry and progressiveness have un- doubtedly been the chief factors in his commendable success.
Ephraim Seidner was born on a farm eight miles from Wooster Ohio, October 20, 1847. His grandfather Jacob Seidner, Sr., was one of the early settlers in Wayne County, Ohio, where he lived many years and improved a farm, and from there during the '50s he moved to Indiana, locating in Miami County, and purchasing land about fifteen miles north of Peru and about two miles from the Fulton County line. There he died about two years later, but in the meantime had made considerable progress in the improvement of his farm.
Jacob Seidner, Jr., father of Ephraim, grew up in Ohio, married there, and in 1854 set out from Wayne County to find a new home in Miami County, Indiana. He was accompanied by his wife and three children, and all of them rode in a wagon drawn by one horse, while a brother-in-law drove a two-horse team carrying the house- hold goods. It required two weeks to make the trip, and on reaching Miami County Jacob Seidner bought eighty acres of land. About thirty acres had been cleared, there was a young orchard, but the only other improvements were a log house and stable. At that time Miami County had not a single line of railroad. Much of the dis- trict was still in its primitive wilderness, and abundance of wild game supplied the families of the settlers with meat for the table. The Seidners endured all the usual hardships of pioneering in a new country. As the era of drainage had not been inaugurated, nearly every one not immune had to combat the disease of malaria,
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and Jacob Seidner suffered severely from this malady. He con- tinued to live in Miami County, gradually prospered, and died there when about sixty-eight years of age. He married Elizabeth Angle- mire, who was also a native of Ohio. Her father was Adam Angle- mire, who spent probably all his life in Ohio, and was survived for many. years by his widow, who afterwards came to Union Township in Elkhart County and died at the advanced age of ninety-three. Mrs. Jacob Seidner died in February, 1863. Her six children were . Ephraim, Alvin, Obadiah, Urias, John and Louisa.
Ephraim Seidner was seven years old when taken to Miami County, he grew up on the old farm, acquired a practical school edu- cation, and having a taste for mechanics he learned the trade of carpenter and developed into a skilled workman.
His home has been in Elkhart County since he was twenty-one years of age. During the next six years he devoted most of his time to carpentry, and one of the jobs on which he was employed has historic interest, since he erected the first frame building on the site of the present City of Nappanee. This was a stable, and was located on the southwest corner of Main and Market streets.
In the meantime he bought seventy-seven acres of land in sec- tion 4 of Union Township, about twelve acres having been cleared, but there were no buildings. In 1875 he started improvements by the erection of a small one-story frame dwelling, with a small stable nearby. Mr. Seidner proved equally as good a farmer as a me- chanic, and in course of time his entire tract of land was under cul- tivation, and has since been added to until his possessions now com- prise 178 acres. - There is hardly a more attractive home to be found anywhere in Elkhart County. His commodious frame house is built in very modern style, and there is also a large frame barn. Mr. Seidner has made his chief success as a general farmer and stock raiser. He has always been one of the first to adopt modern machinery, and he has an equipment of implements that make the work of a farm pleasant as well as profitable. He is one of the pro- gressive agriculturists in Elkhart County who have introduced the steam tractor, and he uses it both for plowing and for dragging. His son is associated with him in the management of this farm, and they also operate a steam thresher during the season.
In 1874 Mr. Seidner married Elizabeth Strycker, who was born in Union Township, a daughter of Christian and Martha (Stump) Strycker. Mrs. Seidner died March 9, 1882. In 1883 Mr. Seidner married Catherine Strycker, also a native of Union Township. Her parents were Jacob and Mary ( Stump) Strycker, both natives of the Province of Ontario, Canada, though of Pennsylvania stock,
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and they belonged to that early colony of Elkhart settlers who came from Ontario to Union Township in the year 1838. Mr. Seidner and his family are all members of the Church of the Brethren at Union Center.
Frank Seidner, the only son of Mr. Seidner, by his first marriage, married Florence Hartman, who was born in Harrison Township of Elkhart County, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Hartman. Mr. Frank Seidner and wife have two children, Mildred and Noble.
CHRISTIAN NEFF. It would be impossible to give a just account of Elkhart County without reference to the Neff family. For more than eighty years the county has been continuously honored and benefited by the presence within its borders of some of the active and influential people of this name. One of them of the more mod- ern generation is Christian Neff, who has found prosperity as a farmer in Union Township, and whose name is widely known and esteemed in that section.
When the Neff family came to Elkhart County the county had been organized only three or four years, and thus they were among the real pioneers. During the succeeding decades various represen- tatives of the name have cleared up the wilderness, have made homes, have reared families, have supported churches and schools, have contributed to the building of roads and to all other community improvement, and the county is better and richer for the presence of such a family within its borders.
Christian Neff was born in a log cabin home in Union Township February 13, 1866. His ancestry goes back to the German stock, but the family located in Virginia during colonial times. The great- grandfather of Christian Neff was Isaac Neff, who so far as known spent all his life in Virginia. Grandfather Henry Neff was born in Franklin County, Virginia, grew up and married in that state, first moved to Stark County, Ohio, and from there in 1834, accompanied by his family, he came west driving a team and wagon, and after a toilsome journey reached Elkhart County. His first settlement was near Bristol. At that time the settlers could pick and choose almost any of the best land in the county and pay the Government $1.25 per acre for it. Henry Neff lived near Bristol about seven years, and then removed to Jackson Township, acquiring another tract of tim- bered land, and once more began the work of improvement, which eventually resulted in a cleared farm, on which he resided until his death at the age of seventy. Henry Neff married Annie France, who was also a native of Virginia and a daughter of Christian France. She died at the age of eighty-three. The France family was also of German stock.
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Samuel C. Neff, father of Christian, was born near Bristol in Elkhart County April 2, 1839, and was two years old when his parents moved to Jackson Township. His early life was environed by pioneer circumstances, and along with other experiences, includ- ing a moderate amount of book education, he acquired many of the arts and crafts of the typical woodsman. He knew how to use the rifle, and there was an abundance of such wild game as deer and turkey to reward his efforts as a hunter. After he had grown to manhood he moved to Union Township, and in the midst of the heavy timber in section 16 put up the log house in which Christian Neff was born. His labor soon extended the clearing, and as pros- perity came to him he bought other land in section 15, and remained there and prospered until his death a few years ago. Samuel C. Neff married Miss Lydia Stouder, a daughter of Christian and Mary (Miller) Stouder. Christian Stouder came from Ohio to Elk- hart County, and was also one of those who bore a share in the labors of clearing up and developing Union Township. His home was a tract of timbered land in the southeast quarter of section 10, and the family for several years occupied a log cabin which he had constructed. His wife did her cooking by the open fire, and dressed her family in homespun, since she was practiced in the housewifely arts of spinning, carding and weaving. Christian Stouder and wife lived on their old farm until the fullness of years and died many years ago. Mrs. Samuel Neff is still living, and resides with a daughter in Union Township. Her seven children were: Alice, Annie, Christian, Bessie, Jesse, Alvin and Eva.
Christian Neff may properly take pride in his worthy forefathers, several of whom did so much in behalf of pioneer progress in Elk- hart County. His own youth was spent in much different circum- stances from that in which his father had grown up. He attended public schools, and learned the discipline and the duties of a farm, and chose agriculture as his own vocation. As an independent farmer he located on the northeast quarter of section 16 in Union Township, and that has been his home for many years! Mr. Neff has 140 acres of well improved land, well stocked, and has all the modern machinery necessary for cultivation. He also owns the north half of the southwest quarter of section 10 in the same town- ship. In 1890 Mr. Neff married Minnie Smith, daughter of Samuel and Regina Smith. Mrs. Neff died in 1894, leaving a daughter Bessie, who is now the wife of Harry Anglin.
On February 2, 1895, Mr. Neff married Kate Shively. She was born in Marshall County, Indiana, and is of some old pioneer stock of Indiana. Her great-grandfather was a Pennsylvanian, a man of
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commanding stature, being nearly seven feet tall, and was a preacher of the Dunkard faith. From Pennsylvania he moved to Ohio and late in life came to Indiana, spending his last days near Bourbon in Marshall County. Mrs. Neff's grandfather was Jacob B. Shively, a native of Pennsylvania and also a Dunkard preacher. He moved to Stark County, Ohio, and later became one of the very first set- tlers in Marshall County, Indiana. In that county and in adjoining counties he carried on his work as a minister, and was one of the old time circuit riders, making his rounds on horseback. He also purchased a tract of land in Marshall County, superintended its clearing, and resided there until his death, his remains now resting in Mount Pleasant Cemetery about seven miles from Plymouth. Jacob B. Shively married Anna Bortz, who survived her husband a few years and died at the home of a son. Daniel C. Shively, father of Mrs. Christian Neff, was born in Stark County, Ohio, went to Indiana when quite young, and became engaged in the grain business and also owned and operated a mill at Inwood in Marshall County. He died in 1887. He served as a deacon in the Yellow River Breth- ren Church. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Burkholder, who died in 1880, having reared six children named Owen, John, Katie, Jacob, Sarah and Ulery.
Mr. and Mrs. Neff have two children : Flossie and Clifford. The family are members of the Brethren Church at Union Center.
WILLIAM WAGNER. One does not inquire far into the annals of Western Elkhart County long without coming upon the name Wagner. The Wagners were among the pioneers in Harrison Township, and Mr. William Wagner has been almost continuously identified with the Nappanee community thirty-five years or more.
He was born in Harrison Township 212 miles east of Wakarusa June 9. 1859. His father, John George Wagner, was born in Grab- ener, Kurhessen, Germany, November 6, 1808. Grandfather Mar- tin Wagner was a stone mason by trade and probably spent all his life in that part of Germany. Martin Wagner married Anna Chris- tina Landgrabe, and they reared one son, John Wagner and several daughters. One daughter Martha Elizabeth married John Sinning and they settled in the southwest part of Harrison Township of Elk- hart County. Another daughter married a Mr. Zimmer, and they lived in Columbiana County, Ohio. Two other daughters married brothers named Nodler and lived in Pennsylvania. One daughter remained in Germany. A son died in infancy.
John George Wagner was reared and educated in Germany, learned the trade of carpenter, and in 1836 emigrated to America,
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making the journey on a sailing vessel that finally landed him in New York City. After one year in that state he came West as far as Columbiana County, Ohio, followed his trade in that community until 1852, and then with wife and three children moved to Indiana. They made the journey with wagon and team, and arriving in Har- rison Townshp of Elkhart County he bought a tract of land in sec- tion 29. It was measured by the standards of that time an improved farm, having a large log house and a small acreage cleared. John G. Wagner continued to follow his trade a part of the time for several years, but then turned his attention entirely to farming. He had about forty acres of his farm cleared up, built a frame barn, and lived there in comfort and plenty until his death in 1893. The maiden name of his wife was Magdalena Laver. She was born in Kurhessen, Germany, February 16, 1824. and when twenty years of age she accompanied her parents to America. The family set- tled at Lewistown, Ohio, where her father lived until his death. Her widowed mother married again and finally moved to Elkhart County, and later to Shelby County, Illinois, and died at the home of a daughter there. Mrs. John G. Wagner died March 22, 1899. She reared three children named Isaac, George and William. Her first child was a son named Louis who died at the age of five, and she also had two daughters Mary Ann and Lovina who died in early childhood.
William Wagner grew up on the old homestead in Harrison Township. He was a strong and vigorous youth, gained such edu- cation as was offered by the country schools and when he was six months past his nineteenth year his father gave him his time and he accepted the opportunity to learn the trade of carpenter. In 1881. still a very young man, he moved to Nappanee, which was then a hamlet, having recently started to grow by reason of the railroad, and he followed his trade in building many of the houses and build- ing structures in that locality. He was active as a carpenter and builder until 1803. In November of that year he returned to the old homestead in Harrison Township, farmed it until February 25, 1806, and then established his home on the farm which he now owns and occupies in section 19 of Union Township. In improve- ments and general fertility and productiveness the Wagner farm bears favorable comparison with the best found anywhere in Elk- hart County. It contains 159 acres, and Mr. Wagner also owns eighty acres in section 20. He is systematic and thorough, allows no waste land on his farm, and keeps everything moving in an orderly fashion from one year's end to the next.
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