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 49
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county and has had a long and honorable record of straightforward and square dealing.
One of the members of this firm is Tobias Hartman, whose career has been one of constant activity directed and guided by good judgment. He was born on a farm six miles northeast of Ash- land in Ashland County, Ohio. His grandfather Samuel Hartman was born in Germany May 17, 1784, married there and early in the nineteenth century or about the close of the seventeenth he set out for America with his wife and children, coming on a sailing vessel which battled with the winds and waves for ninety days before landing its passengers at Philadelphia. The family located in Lan- caster County. A Mr. Stauffer of Lancaster County had paid the transportation for the family, and Samuel Hartman worked in the Stauffer mill until he could repay his benefactor. He then removed to Ashland County, Ohio, bought a small tract of land, and occupied it until late in life, when he came to Elkhart County, buying eighty acres of land in Union Township four miles west of New Paris. It was a tract of timbered land, and his first home was a log house. After living there eight years he sold and bought in the Southwest community in Union Township, where he died in 1870 at a good old age. His wife had passed away some years before.
One of their children was Adam Hartman, father of Tobias. Adam was born in the Rhine Province of Germany December 18, ISII, and came to America with his parents, living in Pennsylvania and Ohio until he set out for Elkhart County in 1848. On that jour- ney he was accompanied by his wife and four children, and as there were no railroads they made the entire journey by wagon and team. All the country around Nappanee was then a wilderness and much of the land was owned by the Government. Wild game shot on the prairies or in the woods still supplied most of the families with their meat. In Harrison Township he bought eighty acres of timbered land, and put up the usual type of log house as a home. He also had a log barn. After clearing thirty acres he sold sixty acres of his farm for $400, and then removed to Union Township, purchasing eighty acres 71/2 miles northeast of the present site of Nappanee. This was also heavily timbered land, and again he went through the process of constructing a log house and log barn. There he lived until late in life, a prosperous and progressive farmer, but he died in Harrison Township at the age of eighty-three. Adam Hartman married Elizabeth Ramer, who was born in Lancaster County, Penn- sylvania, and died at the age of sixty-seven. Her parents Jacob and Catherine Ramer were natives of Lancaster County of German parentage and they spent their last years in Ashland County, Ohio.
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Adam Hartman and wife reared nine children named Samuel, Cath- erine, Tobias, Peter, Adam, Jacob, John, Emanuel and Elizabeth.
Tobias Hartman was about 51/2 years of age when the family came to Elkhart County. He attended some of the early schools, kept in log houses, and the dignity of honest toil was one of the cardinal virtues of the household in which he grew up, and conse- quently he employed his strength from an early age in clearing the land and cultivating it. After his marriage he engaged in the lum- ber business in Union Township, but in 1866 went to Marshall County where he bought a steam sawmill and was a manufacturer of lumber there until 1875. In that year he bought the interests of his brother Samuel in the mercantile business in Locke Town- ship. There was at that time a small store conducted at Locke. but in 1883 he moved the stock to Nappanee, which had only recently been founded and was still a hamlet. Since then, for a period of more than thirty years, the brothers, Tobias, Jacob and John Hartman, have been in active control and management of the busi- ness at Nappanee, and have conducted a general store that supplies all the needs of the surrounding community.
On February 14, 1864, Tobias Hartman married Elizabeth Brundage. She was born near Toronto, Canada, April 10, 1842, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Gayman) Brundage, both natives of Pennsylvania, from which state they had moved to Canada. Mrs. Hartman passed away February 9, 1910. Her four children were Daniel, Mary Ann, Sarah Jane and Henry. The son Daniel mar- ried Minnie Bowersheim, and their five children are Floyd, Claude, Clem, Lowell and Clel. The second child, Mary A., married Henry L. Snyder, and has six children named Lillie May, Ollie, Stella, Pearl, Vern and Millard. Sarah J. Hartman married Frank Wal- ters, and their four children are Ray, Hilda, Jay and Elizabeth. Henry Hartman, the youngest child, married Carrie Hodges and has two children, named Hubert and Wilbert.
Of the grandchildren of Mr. Hartman, Floyd, a son of Daniel, married Emma Eckhart and has two children named Donald and Maxine, who are great-grandchildren of Mr. Tobias Hartman. An- other grandson, Claude Hartman, married Emma Parcell and has four children named Fern, Fay, Guy and Orn. Of the daughter Mary A. Snyder's children, Lillie May is married and has a daughter named Verda, while Ollie Snyder married Irvin Stahley and has two children named Garrell and Erdine. while Stella Snyder is the wife of Abe Beigh and has three children named Millard, Donald and Vera. Still another grandchild, Hilda Walters, is the wife of Sylvan Koontz and has a son named Charles Franklin.
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ELDER DANIEL WYSONG. The Wysongs are among the oldest and best known families of Elkhart County. Elder Daniel Wysong, who several years ago passed the seventieth milestone on his life's journey, and has lived in Elkhart County since early childhood, has been a notable figure not only as a farmer and good citizen, but also as a preacher in the Church of the Brethren. Though in spite of his age he is still a tall commanding figure, possesses a pleasing voice, and in the service of his church has done missionary work in twenty-six different states.
He was born on a farm in Montgomery County, Ohio, Septem- ber 28, 1842. His great-grandfather, Valentine Wysong, was a native of France, coming to America in colonial days and settling in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A few years later he moved to Virginia, and in 1822 located in Randolph County, Ohio, in which state he and his wife spent the rest of their days. Their son, Jacob Wysong, grandfather of Elder Wysong, was born in Virginia in 1776, the year of the Declaration of Independence, lived with his parents in Virginia and subsequently moved to Montgomery County, Ohio, where he was one of the vigorous pioneers. He bought tim- bered land eleven miles west of Dayton and a mile north of the National Road, and there hewed a farm out of the wilderness. That was his home until his death. Jacob Wysong married Jemima Cot- trell, who was born in Virginia, a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Cash) Cottrell.
Robert Wysong, father of Elder Wysong, was born in Mont- gomery County, Ohio, in 1819, on the farm and in the same house where Elder Daniel Wysong was born. He grew up and married in that county, but in 1845 loaded his possessions on a wagon and accompanied by his wife and child came to Elkhart County, where he bought 240 acres of timbered land in Section 33 of Union Town- ship. He had to cut away the trees to make room for the log cabin home. There the family lived in the midst of primitive circum- stances for a number of years. Besides farming, Robert Wysong followed his trade as a brick layer and stone mason. The maiden name of his wife was Anna Miller, who was born in Ohio in 1822. a daughter of Daniel and Sarah (Harris) Miller, and a grand- daughter of Stephen and Anna ( Baldwin) Miller.
Daniel Wysong was three years old when brought to Elkhart County. The first school he attended was taught in a log cabin, and it had all the appliances and rude equipment which have been so frequently described in the reminiscences of pioneers in this sec- tion of Indiana. Despite the limited advantages he made the best of them and acquired such a good education that he was able to
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
teach school in the country, and continued that vocation for several years in the winter while he farmed in the summer. At the time of his marriage he located on the farm which he still owns, includ- ing the southeast quarter of Section 33 in Union Township. This farm under his management has been well improved with buildings and otherwise, and represents a valuable estate. On leaving the farm he moved to Nappanee and owns his home there.
At the age of twenty years Elder Wysong married Mary Miller, who was born in Ohio, September 13, 1843, a daughter of David C. and Rachel ( Bigler) Miller. David C. Miller was born in Mont- gomery County, Ohio, near Dayton, June 8, 1817, a son of Jacob and Polly (Michael) Miller. Jacob Miller was born in Kentucky about 1795, a son of David and Abigail ( Morgan) Miller, and a grandson of Philip Miller, who was born in Maryland, of German parentage, and from Maryland the family became pioneer settlers in Kentucky. The mother of Mrs. Wysong was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, May 1, 1817, daughter of David and Nancy (Graybill) Bigler. The Bigler family moved from Washington County, Pennsylvania, to Stark County, Ohio, and David and his wife died there at a good old age.
Mr. and Mrs. Wysong have reared four children, Melvin, Calvin, Cora and Clara Etta. The son Melvin married Catherine Smith and their seven children are Robert, Harvey, Ruth, Mary, Donald, Kenneth, Cora June. Calvin, who died in 1913, married Melinda Stahly and left three children named Irman Ione, Glen and Freda. The daughter Clara Etta is married and has two sons named Marion and Paul.
Of the grandchildren, Irman Ione Wysong married George Unger, and they have a small son named Glen. Glen Unger, it is worthy to record, has living three great-grandfathers, two great- grandmothers, and one step-great-grandmother.
Elder Wysong was reared in the Church of the Brethren, and on August 17, 1862, became a member of the Turkey Creek Con- gregation. Later he was granted the privilege of preaching, and in 1808 was ordained an elder. He is now pastor of the Church of the Brethren in Nappanee and for years has carried his gospel efforts to many states of the Union.
ELDER JAMES H. McGOWEN. For more than half a century the country around the City of Nappanee in Southwest Elkhart County has in many ways been wrought upon by the activities and influences of the McGowen family and their numerous relationship. They have been sturdy farmers, helped to build some of the first homes and
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clear some of the first farms, and have upheld high standards of morality and civic righteousness.
One of the number is Elder James H. McGowen, who in 1888 was ordained a pastor in the Amish Mennonite Church and has con- tinued active in the ministry ever since. He is now pastor of the Amish Mennonite Church at Nappanee, and a few years ago he re- moved from his fine farm in that locality to the town, and owns and occupies a pleasant home convenient to the church to which he is so devoted.
He was born in Morrow County, Ohio, March 11, 1851. His father Isaac McGowen was born in Eastern Pennsylvania in 1801. The grandfather was a native of Ireland of Irish ancestry and on coming to America located in Eastern Pennsylvania, whence he subsequently removed to what is now Morrow County, Ohio, and after developing a tract of timbered land spent his remaining days on the farm. The grandmother was a native of Germany, and spent her last days in Ohio. One of her sons, James McGowen, served as a soldier in the War of 1812 and Isaac McGowen, though only twelve years of age at the time, assisted in moulding bullets for use in that war.
Isaac McGowen grew to manhood in Morrow County, Ohio, and continued to live there as a farmer until 1856, when he came West to Elkhart County. His household goods were brought in a wagon, and it required eight days to make the journey from Morrow County to their new home in Northern Indiana. They usually rested for the night at some farm house along the road, and the first night in Elkhart County was spent at the tavern in Waterford, which was still one of the most important towns of the county. Isaac Mc- Gowen bought a tract of land in section 15 of Locke Township, where he constructed a house of round logs, covered with clapboards rived by hand, and held in place by weight poles while the doors were held with wooden hinges and had a string latch. All iron articles were scarce at that time, and the builders of houses usually contrived to hold the timbers together without the use of nails. Cooking was done on an old-fashioned fireplace. The house was located on the main highway leading from Plymouth to Goshen, and the nearest railroad point was a number of miles northeast at Goshen. Isaac McGowen devoted the remaining years of his life to clearing and cultivating his land and passed away in 1861. He married Sarah H. Burns, who was a native of Pennsylvania, a daughter of James Burns, a native of Ireland. James Burns at the age of twen- ty-one came to America, working his passage over on a sail vessel, which was several months on the ocean because of storms. The
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
mother of James Burns came with him on the same vessel. They located in Pennsylvania, where he lived a number of years. then went to Morrow County, Ohio, and he and his wife spent their last years there. After the death of Isaac McGowen his widow married Jacob Dausman, and her death occurred in 1903 when in her sev- enty-fifth year. By her marriage to Isaac McGowen her six chil- dren were: James H., Mary J., Charles S., Thomas H., Isaac and Frances. She had one daughter by her marriage to Mr. Dausman, Urena.
Elder McGowen was five years old when the family came to Elk- hart County, and he grew up in what was still a pioneer community. The first school he attended was kept in a hewed log house, the seats being plain planks without desks in front. Responsibilities came early to boys in that generation, and he was still in his teens when he was working out on a farm by the month, and according to the custom of the time his mother received his wages. He worked as a farmer at wages and also at the carpenter's trade until he was twenty-one, and after his marriage he began his independent career as a farmer on rented land. Thrift and economy had their sure reward, and in a few years he bought a farm, and by good manage- ment is now the owner of a fine place of 125 acres situated 11/2 miles west of Nappanee.
On February 25. 1875, Elder McGowen married Elizabeth Weber, who was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Her father Jacob Weber was born in Germany February 22, 1830, and in 1835 was brought to America by his parents, who located in Ohio. He grew to manhood in that state and married Catherine Weber, who had been born in Germany November 26, 1832, and had come to America with her parents in 1836. In 1855 Jacob Weber brought his family to Elkhart County and secured a tract of timbered land 11/2 miles west of the present site of Nappanee. Their first home was a log cabin and Jacob Weber continued his industrious toil in that vicinity, clearing up and cultivating his land, for a number of years. In the fall of 1864, when the war was almost over, he entered the Union army as a private in Company E of the Thirteenth Regi- ment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was with the regiment in some of the concluding campaigns of the war and when hostilities were really at an end he died while still in the army in South Caro- lina May 16, 1865. His widow survived him many years, and lived at Nappance. There were eight children in the Weber family.
Mr. and Mrs. McGowen reared four children: Charles E., Nellie M., Milo V. and Mary A. The son Charles went West and died when still single in Oregon in 1903. Milo V. acquired a tract
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of Government land at Lyman, Colorado, where he was engaged in farming and stock raising until struck and killed by lightning at the age of twenty-six ; by his marriage to Matie Essig he is survived by one son Milo, Jr. Nellie is the wife of Harvey Stahly, and their three sons are Ward, Ralph and Paul. The daughter Mary married WVilyard Gwin.
KARL B. KORRADY. One of the native sons of Elkhart County whose career since boyhood has been passed far from the scene of his birth is Karl B. Korrady, assistant manager of the Illinois Life Insurance Company, with headquarters at Chicago. Mr. Korrady's entire business life has been passed in the insurance field and the position which he now holds has been self-gained and is well merited.
Mr. Korrady was born at Goshen, Indiana, January 28, 1880, and is a son of John L. and Margaret ( Blaine) Korrady, the former born in 1848, at Goshen. Mrs. Korrady, who was born at Laporte, Indiana, in 1850, was a member of an old, prominent and honored family of the northern part of the state, and a daughter of James H. Blaine, who was born in Pennsylvania. He was one of the well known pioneers of Northern Indiana, took a leading part in civic affairs of Goshen and was repeatedly elected by his fellow-citizens to positions of public trust. Mrs. Korrady died in October, 1900. the mother of three children : Karl B., Florence and J. Blaine.
The education of Karl B. Korrady was commenced in the public schools of Goshen, which he attended until reaching the age of ten years, at that time going to Chicago. He was an industrious and ambitious youth, as is shown by the fact that while attending the public schools there, he passed his vacations in work, while other youths of his age were at play. His first employment was as a cash boy in the establishment of Charles A. Stevens & Brothers, great Chicago silk merchants, and when he was fourteen years old he began his experience in life insurance as office boy for James W. Stevens, who was president of the Illinois Life Insurance Company at that time. Energetic, industrious and faithful in the carrying out of the tasks assigned him, the lad gained the good will of his associates and the respect of his employers, and was soon appointed to a clerkship. Later other promotions came to him until he was made assistant auditor, and August 1, 1900, he was made assistant manager of the company which is one of the best known in the Cen- tral West. Mr. Korrady's offices are at No. 10 South LaSalle Street, Chicago, while his residence is maintained in Kenilworth, a residential suburb of the Illinois metropolis. He holds membership in the Indiana Society of Chicago, whose patriotic members include Vol. II-30
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many of the most famous Hoosiers. Politically a republican, he has not been inclined to enter public affairs, contenting himself with per- forming the duties of good citizenship and supporting movements making for civic betterment.
On May 22, 1907, Mr. Korrady was married to Miss Gladys Wells, who was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and to this union there was born on January 22, 1911, a daughter, Margaret.
M. A. FARVER, M. D. In 1915 Doctor Farver completed his twentieth year as a successful physician and surgeon at Middlebury. He is a man of high standing in medical circles, has from the first enjoyed a substantial practice in the northeastern section of Elk- hart County, and has accepted the many opportunities which come to a medical man to render important service to a community.
He was born in LaGrange County, Indiana, November 28, 1866, a son of Abraham Farver. His father was born in Ohio in 1828, was a farmer by vocation, and died December 26, 1893. Abraham Far- ver married Harriet Snyder, who was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1832 and died in 1874.
Doctor Farver grew up on a farm, gained a country school edu- cation, and largely through his own efforts secured the means to pay his way through medical college. He was graduated from the Balti- more College of Medicine in 1893, and soon afterwards located at Topeka, Indiana, where he practiced the first two years. Since then his home has been in Middlebury and practically everyone in that section of Elkhart County knows him for his professional attain- ments, and many of the best families recognize him as their kindest friend.
In 1887 Doctor Farver married Elizabeth Hostetler, who was born in LaGrange County in 1868, a daughter of Samuel Hostetler. To their marriage have been born seven children : Minnieola, who is twenty-six years of age and in 1914 married Ora Smucker ; Austin, aged twenty-four and unmarried and now a practical electrician, being a graduate of Purdue University ; Alvin D., aged twenty-two, who graduated from the Indiana Dental School at the age of twen- ty-one and is now practicing his profession ; William Hobart, aged twenty, who is an automobile machinist ; Jennie Edith, aged eighteen, and a member of the Middlebury High School class of 1916; Francis F., aged sixteen, and Thelma, aged eleven, both in the public schools. The three older children are all graduates of the Middlebury High School. Doctor Farver and wife are members of the Methodist Church, he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees and politically acts with the republican party.
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JACOB I. WELDY. This is a name which bespeaks a large rela- tionship with some of the pioneer families of Elkhart County. In the following paragraphs are mentioned a number of the names which are closely associated with early developments in this part of Indiana, including the Weldys, the Freeds, the Landis, Holdemans and others. All were substantial homemakers, all were thrifty, in- dustrious, God-fearing and capable people, and the county as it is now owes much to such substantial stock introduced in early days
On a farm in Locke Township, Jacob I. Weldy was born Decem- ber 31, 1871. His father, John K. Weldy, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 7, 1847, only a few years before the Weldy family moved to Elkhart County. John K. was a son of John and Anna (Kitch) Weldy and a grandson of Abraham and Elizabeth (Overhold) Weldy, all natives of Pennsylvania. Abraham and Elizabeth Weldy accomplished the first stage of westward migra- tion when they moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1812, joining the very first settlers of Tuscarawas County, where Abraham Weldy improved a farm and where he and his wife spent their last years. He was a bishop and an active leader in the Mennonite Church. John Weldy, grandfather of Jacob I., moved to Indiana in 1851, and while making his place of residence in St. Joseph County he bought some land in the adjoining County of Elkhart. From Ohio the fam- ily made the journey by wagon and team, and were ten days en route. A portion of his farm was in Olive Township. He was reared in the Mennonite Church and always held to that faith. His wife was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Martin Kitch a native of Pennsylvania and an early settler of Ohio.
John K. Weldy, who was four years old when brought to Indiana, grew up on a farm, attended the rural schools, a part of the time what was known as the Mitchell schools. Part of his early youth was devoted to the service of clearing the land owned by his father. and he lived with his parents until his marriage, when he located on the north half of the northeast quarter of section 10 in Locke Township. For many years he was known as one of the very suc- cessful farmers on that section. At one time he owned 210 acres, and improved it with good frame buildings and always kept his fields, his fences and the general system of farm management apace with the best in his locality. On the homestead there was a brick house. About four years before his death he built a good frame house on the southwest quarter of section 2, and died there February 4, 1912. John K. Weldy married Susanna Mumaw, who was born on a farm near Winesburg in Holmes County, Ohio, March 15, 1847. Iler father, George Mumaw, was born in Westmoreland County,
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Pennsylvania, the son of a Pennsylvanian who probably spent al! his life in that state. From Pennsylvania George Mumaw moved to Holmes County, Ohio, and acquired a tract of partly improved land near Winesburg, and subsequently another piece of land three miles northwest of Winesburg. He was there engaged in general farming until his death at the age of fifty-seven. The maiden name of his wife was Catherine Benneman, who was born in Fairfield County, Ohio. Her father Henry Benneman was probably also a native of Fairfield County, and spent many years as a farmer near Bremen in Fairfield County. Mrs. Catherine Mumaw spent her last days on the farm in Holmes County. She reared seven children named Susanna, Henry, Amos, Rachel, Fanny, Mary and John.
Mr. and Mrs. John K. Weldy reared a large family of eleven children: George, Jacob I., Daniel S., Amos B., Silas L., Martin D., Ira, Homer R., Walter, Elmer and Ruth Naomi. George by his marriage to Lucretia Witmer has five children, Nelson, Samuel, Mary, Glen and Edna. Daniel S. married Ada Shawm and their two children are Gladys and Clifford. Amos B. married Sarah Blosser and has three children, Bernice, Paul and Twila. Silas mar- ried Nora Metzler and has a son Maynard. Martin married Mary Welty. Ira married Minerva Welty and has three children, Grace, Ethel, and a baby boy named John Ward. Homer by his marriage to Chloe Miller has two children, Florence and Veda. Walter mar- ried Rosa Miller, and their two sons are Virgil and Kenneth. Elmer married Minnie Strope and has a daughter Eveline Virginia. Ruth N. is the wife of Alvin Yoder and. their son is named Herschel Lavon.
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