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 46
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Until he was about twelve years of age Anthony C. Hunt had the advantages of the public schools of Jefferson County. Ohio. He afterwards attended one of the early schools of Union Township in Elkhart County, the school being held in a log cabin with slab benches supported by wooden pins, and the older scholars stood at a desk made of a broad board supported at an incline by pins driven into the side walls. From the time he came to Elkhart County he also helped his father work the farm until 1861.
At that time he was twenty-three years of age and in September he enlisted in Company K of the Thirtieth Indiana Infantry. He
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went South and with the command in its various movements until early in 1863, when he was detailed to service in Company C, Second Battalion of Pioneers, and was with that company employed in the heavy work of the Pioneer Corps until two weeks before his term expired. He was then sent to Atlanta to join his command. Mr. Hunt received his honorable discharge at Indianapolis in September, 1865, and after four years of valiant service in behalf of the Union cause he returned to Elkhart County.
After his marriage he bought forty acres of land, worked it four years, then rented a tract of land seven years, and for the fol- lowing eight years owned and cultivated a little farm of forty acres in St. Joseph County. On selling that property he removed to Nap- panee, which has been his home for many years.
At the age of twenty-nine Mr. Hunt married Susanna Holder- man. She was a native of Indiana and a daughter of William and Nancy (Neff) Holderman. Mrs. Hunt died in 1898. On March 6, 1901, he married Amanda Fisher. She was born on a farm a mile from Selins Grove in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. Her father John Fisher was born at Ben's Creek, Pennsylvania, and her grand- father Jacob Fisher was probably born in the same locality of Dutch ancestry, and spent his life as a farmer at Ben's Creek. Jacob Fisher married Catherine Hosterman. John Fisher succeeded to the . ownership of the old homestead in Snyder County, Pennsylvania, and spent his career there. The maiden name of his wife was Lydia Whitmer, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jacob Whit- mer. She survived her husband and married for her second hus- band Samuel Ritter. Her ten children, all by her first marriage, were named Daniel, Margaret, Elizabeth, John, Jeremiah, Henry, Amanda, Corinda, William and Jacob. Of these four, Daniel, Jere- miah, Henry and Jacob were all soldiers in the Union army.
Mrs. Hunt first married Samuel Himbaugh, a native of Penn- sylvania and a son of Jacob and Catherine Himbaugh. Samuel Himbaugh acquired a good education, learned the trade of plasterer and about 1864 removed to Elkhart County buying a home at Dunlap Station. He taught school and worked at his trade and lived there until his death in 1895. The four Himbaugh children were: Matie, Minerva, John and Ira. Matie first married Albert Swinehart, by whom she had a son Artie, and she is now Mrs. Francis Holder- man. Minerva married William Beals, and their three children are Floyd, Russell and Hazel. John married Iva Corbin, and they have a son named Earl. Ira Himbaugh married Minnie Simmons and they have a daughter named Mary.
Mr. Hunt has three daughters by his first marriage named Alfa-
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retta, Rosa Belle and Eva. Alfaretta married Cal Leslie and their children are Howard and Mary. Rosa Belle is the wife of Andrew Young, and has three children, Flossie, Laveta and Vera. The daughter Eva is the wife of Milo Johnson and has four children named Russell, Merle, Margery and Morris. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt are both active members of the Church of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ.
REV. MICHAEL KRUEGER. With a life record of varied useful- ness and service to his fellowmen, Rev. Michael Krueger is spend- ing his declining years in' Concord Township, and has lived in the Dunlap community since about 1899. He is a retired minister of the Evangelical Church and is widely known over this and other sections of Indiana and adjoining states.
He was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, March 10, 1834, and has already passed the age of fourscore. His father was Jacob Krueger, a native of the same place, and his grandfather Bern- hard, who was a farmer and spent all his life in Germany. Jacob Krueger was reared and educated and married in his native land, and in 1848 came to America accompanied by his family, making the voyage on a sailing vessel that was sixty-nine days before land- "ing in New York. He came by way of the Hudson as far as Albany, through the Erie Canal to Buffalo, and thence by lake boat to San- dusky. A few months later they moved south to Cincinnati, and from there went down the Ohio River to Spencer County, Indiana, where Jacob Krueger bought forty acres of land, containing as its chief improvement a log cabin and barn, and paying only $300 for the entire place. The land was heavily timbered, and it was in a region much afflicted with malaria and other diseases, and after clearing up a few acres Mr. Krueger was stricken with illness and died in 1852. The maiden name of his second wife, the mother of Rev. Michael Krueger, was a Bernhardina Lang, who was born in Baden, where her father was a weaver by trade and spent all his career. Rev. Mr. Krueger's mother died in 1857 at the age of forty-eight. Their six children were Jacobina, Michael, Christian, Regina, Jacob and Jonathan.
Rev. Michael Krueger was fourteen years of age when the fam- ily came to America, and he grew up chiefly in Southern Indiana, attending the country schools until prevented by high (back) water from the Ohio River. He was also confirmed as a member of the Lutheran Church at the age of fourteen years. Not long after- ward he was bound out to an Indiana farmer, and worked at wages of $5 a month, later at $7, and as his usefulness increased so were
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his wages. At the age of eighteen he was gloriously converted to God, and has been a happy Christian ever since being now eighty- two years of age. He began learning the blacksmith's trade and served a two years apprenticeship and then worked as a journeyman until he was twenty-two.
At that time Mr. Krueger turned from the anvil and took up the ministry under the auspices of the Evangelical Association. At the age of twenty-four he was ordained as a member of the Indiana Conference, and thereupon entered his career of service to the church and to humanity. For nearly forty years he continued as a pastor in different places in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Southern Illinois. The church honored him as delegate to four general con- ferences. In 1899 he located at Dunlap, Elkhart County, Indiana, and has since lived retired.
PERRY L. TURNER. The death of Perry L. Turner at a Chicago hospital on November 4, 1915, recalls a life that should be an in- spiration to younger men, and was of long standing and far reaching benefit in Elkhart County, where for more than thirty years Mr. Turner practiced law and where he was for several years before his death considered the dean of the profession in the City of Elk- hart.
As one of the local lawyers long associated with and acquainted with Mr. Turner's work said: "Mr. Turner's death is a distinct loss to the legal profession. He was without question the most promi- nent lawyer in this section of the State and his associates in the city of Elkhart, who survive him, may always point with pride to the record he established for fidelity to duty and devotion to his clients. His was a career marked with few distractions in the way of politics and other things not directly connected with the pro- fession."
It was on a farm in Osolo Township of Elkhart County that Perry L. Turner was born October 27, 1860. He was a brother of the late Dr. Porter Turner, who is especially well remembered in Elkhart by his capable administration as mayor of the city. Mr. Turner was the last survivor of the five children born to Lyman and Tamar (Wilkinson) Turner. His parents came to Elkhart County in 1849. The mother is still living, her home being in the City of Elkhart.
Environed with the wholesome associations and incidents of country life, Perry L. Turner depended much on the spur of individ- ual ambition, and there are few native sons of Elkhart County whose careers have been so creditable. He attended public school Vol. II-28
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in the country, graduated from the Elkhart City High School in 1879, and then for three successive years taught country school in the winter seasons and during the summer was a student in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, where he received his diploma in 1881.
In May, 1882, Mr. Turner entered the law office of Capt. Orville T. Chamberlain and began the study of law under the instruction of that prominent member of the Elkhart County bar. In 1884 he was admitted to the bar and taken into partnership with Mr. Chamber- lain. Captain Chamberlain, on being informed of Mr. Turner's death, gave the following brief resume of his career as a lawyer :
"From the first he took a leading position at the bar. He was interested either on one side or other in nearly all important litiga- tion in the county, and later his business took in much of the con- tignous territory. Of later years he had legal business and profes- sional interests in many of the larger cities of the country. While always a republican and active in the councils of the body Mr. Tur- ner never sought an office for himself. He was one of the best law- yers in the county, always diligent and studions and faithful to the interests of his clients in every particular."
The law firm of Chamberlain & Turner was for many years re- garded as one of the strongest combinations of legal talent in Elk- hart County, and it continued with uninterrupted success. In 1902, Captain Chamberlain withdrew to make his home in California. For a number of years the firm had its offices on East Franklin Street, in a building in the rear of the postoffice of that date. In 1885 Mr. Turner was elected city attorney of Elkhart, succeeding Cap- tain Chamberlain in the office, and so satisfactory was his record that he was retained in the office sixteen consecutive years.
From the establishment of the Sidway Mercantile Company in Elkhart, Mr. Turner was connected with that institution both as stockholder and director and as attorney. He was also attorney for the C. G. Conn Company and was a stockholder and director of the St. Joseph Valley Bank. He also had business interests in Texas and elsewhere. Some years ago he erected the Law Exchange Building on West Marion Street, and he owned that building and had his offices there. His library was regarded as one of the largest and best selected owned by any lawyer in Northern Indiana. He was a man of affairs, but understood literature, was widely read, and took great delight in the fine private library in his home.
Fraternally Mr. Turner was affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons; Elkhart Commandery No. 31, Knights
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Templar; and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He and his wife were active members of the Episcopal Church.
In 1886 Mr. Turner married Miss Mary E. Wright. Mrs. Tur- ner, who was devoted to the welfare of her home and was the com- panion and aid of her husband, was born and reared in Elkhart, and graduated from the Elkhart High School and St. Mary's Acad- emy of South Bend. Her father, the late H. C. Wright, was the first mayor of the City of Elkhart. He was also well known as a lumber dealer. Mrs. Turner has been well known as a hostess in Elkhart's social affairs, and has twice served as an official in the Indiana State Federation of Woman's clubs.
WALTER S. HAZELTON. In mercantile and banking circles one of the best known figures at Elkhart during the past forty years has been Walter S. Hazelton, who is now enjoying an honorable retirement and a competency won by hard effort and a thorough in- tegrity in all the relations of his life. Mr. Hazelton is a veteran of the great Civil war, spent many years in the West, chiefly in Cali- fornia, is of rugged New England birth and ancestry, and is so well known in Elkhart County as to require no extended introduction.
Born in Strafford, Orange County, Vermont, December 1, 1840, he is a son of Thomas and Sarah ( Kibling ) Hazelton. His father was born in Vermont August 24, 1790, and died January 21, 1865. His mother was born October 9, 1795, and died November 31, 1863. They had a family of thirteen children, one of whom died in infancy. while twelve, six sons and six daughters, grew to maturity and three are still living. Walter S. was the youngest of the children. His ancestry is traced back to John Hazelton who came to Bradford. Massachusetts, a number of generations ago. John's sister Ann es- tablished the Baptist Seminary in Massachusetts, later married a missionary, went to Indiana, and established there the largest Bap- tist mission in the country. The farm on which Walter S. Hazelton was born has been occupied by five successive generations of his family, beginning with his great-grandfather and continuing from father to son until it is now occupied by one of Mr. Hazelton's nephews. This farm is located in Orange County, Vermont. Mr. Hazelton's father spent his days on that homestead, followed farm- ing and in addition gained more than a local note as a breeder of thoroughbred Merino sheep and full blooded Morgan horses. He also held township offices, was a deacon in the church, and in poli- tics a democrat.
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It was in the common schools of the Green Mountain State that Walter S. Hazelton acquired his early education, and afterwards at- tended Chelsea Academy, the Newbury Academy and Norwich Uni- versity, which is now located at Northfield, Vermont. He enlisted in June. 1862, in his twenty-second year in Company I of the Seventh Regiment of Rhode Island Volunteers. His enlistment was for three months, but he was in the army four months before getting his honorable discharge. In 1864 Mr. Hazelton went out to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He made that journey to the far west on borrowed capital, and on arriving in San Francisco had spent his last cent. He finally managed to borrow $5 from a friend to pay his way to Sutler County, which was his destination. During the first month there in order to earn his board he dug post holes, and then on one Sunday walked to Lincoln, a distance of ten miles, to buy a pair of sheep shears. The friend with whom he had been staying persuaded him to abandon the idea of sheep shearing, and instead took him to Cashville and secured a situation for him as clerk in a local store. Later Mr. Hazelton worked his way out of these humble positions to the plane of an individual merchant, and conducted a general store at Cashville. He later sold that busi- ness, removed to Sacramento, locating at the corner of Eighth and Jay streets, and was in general merchandising there until 1876.
It was in 1876 that Mr. Hazelton located in the City of Elkhart. In February of the next year he opened a grocery store, conducted that for eighteen months, and in 1879 entered the dry goods trade, also carrying stocks of boots and shoes and notions and other wares. Under the firm name of W. S. Hazelton & Company this business was one of the largest and most prosperous in Elkhart for many years, and the volume of trade aggregated about $90,000 annually. In 1893 Mr. Hazelton sold his interest in the store and at that time became cashier in the St. Joseph Valley Bank. He remained cashier of that institution until January, 1914, since which time he has been retired from active business life.
In public affairs Mr. Hazelton has always been greatly interested in the local welfare of his city and county. He served three years as county commissioner, six years on the Elkhart School Board, and ten years as a member of the city council. Fraternally he is affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons ; Elkhart Command- ery No. 31, Knights Templar ; and with Shiloh Field Post No. 198 of the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics he is a republican. While living in California, and during the war with the Mojave In- dians in 1869, Mr. Hazelton enlisted in the Fourth California Regi-
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ment, and served as regimental quartermaster with the rank of cap- tain until the end of the campaign.
On October 20, 1872, Mr. Hazelton was married in California to Miss Lavonia L. White. Mrs. Hazelton is a native of Elkhart County, born at Middlebury. To their marriage was born one daughter, Eva M., now the wife of Dr. H. B. Kurtz living in Cleve- land. Doctor Kurtz and wife have two sons, Walter H. and Robert W.
GEORGE MUTSCHLER. One of the concerns which contributes materially to the business importance and manufacturing prestige of the City of Goshen is that conducted under the name of The I-X-L Furniture Company, manufacturers of kitchen chairs, ladies' desks and kitchen cabinets. The rapid growth and development of this enterprise during recent years may be largely attributed to the carnest efforts of its energetic and capable secretary, treasurer and general manager, George Mutschler, who has been connected with the company since 1904 and has steadily worked his way to a posi- tion of importance among the business men of the city.
Mr. Mutschler is a native of Indiana, born in Elkhart County, in the vicinity of Goshen, in March, 1880. His parents were George and Lucy ( Wooster) Mutschler, the former of whom died in 1911, and there were three sons and three daughters in the family, George being the second son. His early education was secured in the public schools of Goshen and after his graduation from the Goshen High School he entered the University of Indiana, but left that institution to take a business course in a commercial college. He then was em- ployed by the I-X-L Furniture Company, but realized the need of further training and again entered the University of Indiana, where he pursued his studies for five terms. Thus equipped. in 1904. he returned to the company and was rapidly promoted, becoming mana- ger and treasurer in 1909; and in 1911 being made treasurer, secre- tary and general manager, positions which he now occupies.
The I-X-L Furniture Company was founded in 1854. at that time manufacturing pumps, scales and interior fixtures, and continued as a partnership until 1885, when a stock company was formed. In 1900 a reorganization was effected, with a capital of $36,000, and at that time the concern began manufacturing kitchen chairs, kitchen cabinets and ladies' desks. The present officers are B. F. Deahl. president ; and George Mutschler, secretary, treasurer and general manager. The output of the plant finds a ready sale all over the Middle West and to points in the East, West and South, and sixty people, largely skilled labor, are given employment. The main
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building is 150x60 feet, two stories in height, with an L extending back 100 feet, and is equipped with the latest improved machinery known to the trade, including a boiler with a 125 horse-power capac- ity and three electric motors. The management of this important industry falls largely upon the shoulders of Mr. Mutschler, who has the entire confidence and faith of his associates, whose interests he has carefully conserved.
Mr. Mutschler was married in 1906 'to Miss Myrtle May Rodi- baugh, of Goshen, and to this union there has been born one son : George Robert. Mr. Mutschler is a member of the Knights of Pythias and various other fraternal organizations, and is well known to and highly esteemed by the members of the trade.
DANIEL SMELTZER is one of the honored citizens of Elkhart County, has given many years of his life to the work of the school- room, and is held in grateful remembrance by a host of his former pupils. For a number of years he has had his home at Wakarusa.
He was born in Olive Township of Elkhart County November 28, 1857. His grandparents Michael and Susan ( Rhodes) Smeltzer were both natives of Pennsylvania and of German origin. John Smeltzer, father of Daniel, was born in Pennsylvania March 26, 1823, grew up in his native state, and had little schooling and was prepared for life's duties mainly by practical discipline. When quite young he removed to Richland County, Ohio, and from there in 1848 came to Indiana. After a brief residence on section 31 of Allen Township he bought the southwest quarter of section 35, land that is now included in the Town of Wakarusa. Thus he was among the pioneers of that community. His enterprise led to the establishment of a sawmill, and that mill sawed up great quantities of the heavy native timber which was found in that region until com- paratively recent years. The mill is still owned and operated by Calvin Werner. John Smeltzer was married while living in Ohio to Leah Lechlitner, daughter of Anthony Lechlitner. To their union were born eleven children : Susan, Henry, Anthony, Michael, Cath- erine, Joseph, Libbie, Daniel, Simon, John and Mary.
Daniel Smeltzer has some idea by recollection and personal ex- perience of what the western part of Elkhart County was like before the passing of pioneer conditions. He was trained to hard work on the farm, and his advantages in the way of schooling were confined to winter terms. As soon as opportunity afforded he began working for his board in order to attend school at Wakarusa. With the cn- largement of his horizon of knowledge, he fitted himself for places of responsibility, and eventually was made cashier in the Exchange
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Bank of Wakarusa. In the meantime and afterwards he taught school both in the country and at Wakarusa, and kept up his own education by attending the Normals in Goshen. He taught school many years, and at three different times he conducted a normal school at Wakarusa.
For a number of years Mr. Smeltzer has served as a justice of the peace, and is an ardent republican in politics. On January 26, 1879, he married Ida M. Lammond, who was born in Ohio May 25, 1862, a daughter of Courtland and Nancy ( Grove ) Lammond. The Lammond family came from Ohio and settled at Wakarusa, where they lived until 1887, and then moved to Michigan, settling at Law- ton in Van Buren County. Mr. and Mrs. Smeltzer have six chil- dren : Olive A., Birch B., Hazel C., Forrest D., W. Don and Dewey. The daughter Olive is the wife of Ira Eshelman. Hazel married Jacob B. Yarian and her two children are Carlisle and Evelyn. For- rest Dale married Ethel Moore and their two children are Ida Mar- gery and Maxine L.
WILLIAM F. SHAVER. When the subject of this memoir accom- panied his parents on their removal from Ohio to Elkhart County he was but six weeks old, and he was thus a representative of the second generation of one of the most honored pioneer families of the county, where he continued to maintain his home until his death, which occurred on the IIth of September, 1915, at his beautiful old homestead farm in Osolo Township, where he resided from in- fancy until the close of his life, the original farm having been ob- tained from the Government by his father more than seventy years ago and being one of the few places in Elkhart County that has re- mained without interruption in the possession of the family that obtained the Government deed. The fine old place is one of the admirable rural estates of this section of Indiana. Mr. Shaver marked the passing years with earnest and worthy achievement. his course was guided and governed by the highest principles of integrity and honor, and he commanded inviolable place in the con- fidence and esteem of his fellow men. He was one of the loyal young patriots who represented Indiana as a valiant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and in the "piping times of peace" he mani- fested the same spirit of loyalty that thus prompted him to go from his home in defense of the nation's integrity. He was one of the world's productive . workers, a strong, noble, and generous nature blossoming forth in a character that made him worthy of the suc- cess which he achieved and of the honors which he won. There was naught of ostentation or self-seeking in his makeup, but he lived
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and moved among his fellow men with gracious equipoise and with that consideration and kindliness that ever denote high sense of per- sonal stewardship. His life and labors were such that this publica- tion exercises a consistent function when it enters tribute to this honored citizen who has passed from the stage of his mortal en- deavors and left a record that offers both lesson and inspiration.
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