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 51
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country, and by much hard work he cleared up his farm and made it one of the best in the township. The indebtedness disappeared and he used his surplus means to purchase more land until at the time of his death he owned more than five hundred acres and was reputed to be worth seventy-five thousand dollars. His death occurred in Harrison Township in 1890. Daniel Bechtel married Sarah Neterer, who was born in Blair County, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 21, 1821, a daughter of Jeremiah and Peggie (Rouderbuck) Neterer and granddaughter of Jacob Neterer, while her maternal grandfather was Michael Rouderbuck. Jacob Neterer was a farmer, a member of the Dunkard Church, and spent his life in Pennsyl- vania. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Bechtel reared nine children: Mary A., Samuel, Henry, Jeremiah, John, David, Caroline, Sarah and Amanda.
Jeremiah Bechtel has some interesting recollections of the life his family lived in Harrison Township during the early days. He himself profited by such advantages as were afforded by the district schools, together with a more practical training on his father's farm. At the age of twenty-one he went west and located in Clinton County, Missouri, and followed farming until illness compelled him to return home. While recuperating he did farm work for a couple of years, and then engaged in the lumber business. Later he bought a farm in Union Township on which he erected a sawmill, and for about sixteen years operated that mill and converted some of the rich forests of that section into lumber. At the same time he continued the cultivation and management of his farm. Mr. Bechtel had that quality of enterprise which makes a success of any under- taking, and it was by farming and milling that he laid the foundation for his substantial fortune. On September 15, 1890, he left the farm and established the Exchange Bank of Wakarusa, and for the last quarter of a century has devoted his time to its management and to his varied private interests.
Mr. Bechtel married Louisa McDowell, who was born in Harri- son Township of Elkhart County, November 14, 1851, a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Cart) McDowell, early settlers in the county. Her grandfather James McDowell was born in Ireland but when he was a year old his parents came to this country and settled in Greenbrier County, Virginia, and some of the early Mc- Dowells were soldiers on the American side in the Revolutionary war. William McDowell, who was born in Virginia, August 24, 1823, when eight years of age came with his parents by wagon to Elkhart County, the family locating in Harrison Township when it was almost an unbroken wilderness. The McDowells have been
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identified with Elkhart County practically ever since it was organ- ized, and the earlier generations took up land and cleared up a portion of the wilderness. James McDowell, grandfather of Mrs. Bechtel, died in 1872 and his wife in 1866. William McDowell grew up on the old homestead in Harrison Township, had a district school education, followed farming on the home place many years, and for a time lived in Kansas. When twenty-five years of age he married for his first wife Elizabeth Alford, who was also a native of Virginia, and a daughter of Robert Alford, whose name should also be remembered among the early settlers of Elkhart County. She and her only child died, and William McDowell afterward married Elizabeth Cart, daughter of Conrad and Rebecca (Fenton) Cart. Conrad Cart was a native of Germany and his wife was born in Ireland. On coming to this country they settled in Greenbrier County, Virginia, where their daughter, Elizabeth Cart, was born February 24, 1830. She died in Elkhart County in 1868 and Mrs. Bechtel was one of her five children. Prior to her marriage Mrs. Bechtel was one of the successful teachers of Elkhart County.
In 1892 Mr. Bechtel bought a handsome residence in Wakarusa, and the family have lived there ever since. There are two children : Harvey S. and Ruth G. In politics Mr. Bechtel is a strong advocate of the principles of the republican party, and at different times in his career has been called upon to fill local offices of trust.
CHARLES S. MILLER. One of the older residents of Elkhart County who saw service during the Civil war is Charles S. Miller of Concord Township.
He was born in Wayne County, Ohio, September 29, 1842, a son of Joseph and Catherine ( Selner ) Miller. Some of his family history wil be found on other pages of this publication. Charles S. Miller attended the early country schools, and found plenty of work to do in helping to clear the land and till the soil. After he had reached manhood he enlisted in February, 1865, in Company A of the 152nd Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was with that command in Virginia and Maryland until after the close of hostilities. His honorable discharge was dated in June, 1895.
Returning to Elkhart County, he resumed life as a farmer and subsequently bought a farm in section 36 of Baugo Township. The chief improvement on this land was a hewed log house and he and his family occupied that for about four years. He then bought another forty acres adjoining, built a frame house, and took up his successful career as a general farmer. Some years ago Mr. Miller moved to Concord Township, and is now enjoying a comfortable prosperity the result of his well directed labor.
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At the age of twenty-four he married Nancy Ann Shaum, who was born in Seneca County, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Eliza- beth (Holdeman) Shaum. Mrs. Miller was his devoted companion for many years until her death in 1903. He subsequently married Mrs. Sarah (Shaum) Otto. By his first wife there are two chil- dren, Harrison and Ida Belle. The son, Harrison, married Lizzie Lehman and their four children are Florence, Orville, Ivan and Lamar. The daughter, Ida Belle, married Myron B. Miller and his two children, named Maude Inez and Ruth Agnes.
DAVID HOLDREAD was for many years an honored citizen of Wakarusa. He was the village blacksmith, was a man of sturdy industry and of most reliable character. He died respected and honored as he had lived.
He was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, September 29, 1832. His parents were Jacob and Catherine (Steele) Holdread, and his father was a farmer in Columbiana County, where he spent his last years. In the family were three sons and five daughters.
David Holdread as a youth learned the trade of blacksmith back in Ohio, and in early manhood moved to Elkhart County and set up his shop in Wakarusa. In that shop he gave reliable service to his widening circle of customers during all the active years of his life. His death occured September 21, 1890.
On December 24, 1857, he married Mary Mikel, who was born in Baugo Township, April 8, 1837, a member of an old and prom- inent family of that locality. When she was four years of age her parents moved to Olive Township, and she has lived in that locality ever since. There were six children: Samuel, Sarah, Daniel, David, Mary and Jacob, while Minnie, the first born, died at the age of twenty-three.
JOHN IRISH. A veteran of the Civil war, from which he carried a wound which has largely disabled him through the past half century, John Irish is a highly respected resident of Elkhart.
He was born on the farm in the Town of Wheatland, Hillsdale County, Michigan, February 14, 1846. His father, Allen A. Irish was born near Syracuse, New York, and the grandfather, John Irish, was a native of the same state. Grandfather Irish became a pioneer settler in Hillsdale County, Michigan, and improved a farm in Wheatland Township on which he spent his last years. He married Maria Mosher.
Allen A. Irish was quite young when he accompanied his parents to Michigan, and afterwards was given a tract of land by his father
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from the old homestead, but sold that land and bought another farm in Cambria Township in the same county. He continued general farming there for ten years, but later bought another place in Mos- cow Township, on which he died at the age of sixty-three. He married Ruth Hoxy, who was born in Wheatland, Hillsdale County, daughter of William and Polly ( Kenyon) Hoxy, who are natives of New York State and early settlers in Hillsdale County. Mrs. Allen Irish died at the age of eighty-two. He reared the following children : Alfred, John, William Nathan, Silas C., Ezra, Charity, Eliza Jane, George and James. The son, Alfred, served in Com- pany K Fourth Regiment of Michigan Volunteers.
John Irish grew up on a farm and received his early education in Hillsdale County. He was about seventeen years of age when on February 13, 1863, he enlisted in Company K of the Fourth Regi- ment of Michigan Infantry and was in service until 1866, nearly a year after the close of the war. He was with his regiment in all its campaigns and battles, excepting twice when he was laid up in hospital on account of wounds, and was most severely injured in the battle of Peebles Farm in Virginia. In the fall of 1865 he went with his regiment to Texas, making the journey by boat across the gulf from New Orleans to Indianola and thence marching overland to San Antonio. When he received his honorable discharge John Irish was blind in one eye, and that injury proved a handicap to all his subsequent career.
For a time he continued as a farmer in Hillsdale County and then moved to Elkhart County, but after a year as a farmer here he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Rail- way. Finally his sight failed and he has since lived retired and is now totally blind.
In 1874 Mr. Irish married Sarah M. Kern, who was born in West Virginia, a daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Michael) Kern. Mr. and Mrs. Irish have one son, Bird, who married Sybil Massie. Mr. and Mrs. Irish are members of the Lutheran Church and he is a faithful member of Shiloh Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
JONATHAN STUMP. Among the very early families settled in Elkhart County that of Stump is one of the best known and one of those with the most widely distributed relationships.
The ancestry of most of the Stumps in Elkhart County goes back to .Abraham and Mary ( Meekely) Stump, who were thrifty Penn- sylvania people, who in 1804 moved to Canada and became very carly settlers in the Province of Ontario.
One of their children was Daniel Stump, who was born in Penn- Vol. II-31
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sylvania, May 1, 1790, and was fourteen years of age when he went to Canada. He grew to manhood and married there and in 1838 headed a colony of Canadians who emigrated to Elkhart County, making the entire journey overland with wagons and teams. Danie! Stump was a man of considerable wealth for that day and genera- tion, and purchased thirteen tracts of land of eighty acres each, for the benefit of his children. For his own home he erected a log house on the southwest quarter of section 24 in Union Town- ship. He was a leader in the River Brethren Church, held the office of bishop, and in the early days rode a wide circuit to look after the interests of the church. When not attending to his pas- toral duties he superintended the clearing of his land, and was a prominent citizen of Union Township until his death May 7, 1877. He had then reached the venerable age of eighty-seven. Bishop Daniel Stump was married in Canada to Sally Smith, and they reared thirteen children, namely: John, Mariah, Abraham, Samuel, Jacob, Daniel, Susan, Joseph, Benjamin, Soloman, Sally, Jonathan and Noah.
Of these children to mention only one, Jonathan Stump was born in Vaughn Township about twenty miles from Toronto in the Province of Ontario, and was but three years of age when his parents moved to Elkhart County, Indiana. He grew up on a farm. attended the rural schools, and at the time of his marriage received an eighty-acre tract from his father. This land was one mile south and one mile west from his father's old home in Union Township. After living there a few years he moved to St. Joseph County and conducted a sawmill, but subsequently returned to Union Township, where he had a peaceful and prosperous life on a farm until his death on January 18, 1912.
Jonathan Stump married Katie Nusbaum, who like her husband was one of a family of thirteen children. She was born in Switzer- land a daughter of Jacob Nusbaum. Her mother, who was a Musser, died in Switzerland when the youngest child was but five hours old, and the daughter, Katy, took the motlier's place to raise the child. At present she is the only one surviving. She was twenty years of age when she came from Switzerland. The names of the Nusbaum children are: Jacob, Anna, Katy, Mary, Christ, Abraham, John, Samuel, Barbara, John, Rosyann, Benjaman. Mrs. Jonathan Stump survived her husband and is now living on the home farm with her son, Daniel. She reared the following children: Sarah, Barbara, Alice, Susanna, Lovina Jane, Daniel, Mary Catherine, Jonathan, James, Josephus and Rosanna.
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JACOB H. DELL. No name in Western Elkhart County is more suggestive of the thrift and enterprise of the sturdy early settler than that of Jacob H. Dell, whose family have lived in Olive Town- ship around Wakarusa more than sixty years. Mr. Dell, who is now retired from active business affairs, successfully managed his interests as a farmer, sawmill operator and merchant, and has been equally influential in local affairs. For five years he was township trustee of Elkhart Township, has been a member of the school board, and is a vigorous republican in politics.
He was born in Elkhart Township about a mile from Goshen in 1844, a son of Jacob and Mary (Cripe) Dell. The name Dell is of Irish origin and the family was established in this country by his great-great-grandfather. The grandfather, John Dell, was one of the very earliest settlers of Elkhart County, having come here from Ohio and locating about 1835 on a heavily timbered tract in Elkhart Township, four miles southwest of Goshen. He lived there until his death at an advanced age. John Dell married Mary Shaup, and they reared eight children, named Catherine, Levi, Jacob, Eliza- beth, John, Mary, Barbara and Samuel. John Dell died about 1859, being survived by his widow who passed away in 1884, both were lifelong members of the German Baptist Church.
Jacob Dell, who was in Pennsylvania in 1819, was a small boy when the family moved to Ohio, in which state he learned the car- penter's trade, and made that his vocation for a number of years after coming to Indiana. He lived on a farm west of Goshen until 1854 and then bought a tract of timbered land in Olive Township. Having cleared a small tract on which to build his log house, he set to work in earnest to make a good farm, and for years lived prosperously and in the high esteem of his neighborhood. At the age of twenty-four he married Mary Cripe, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine Cripe. When she was nine years of age her parents moved to Elkhart County. Jacob and Mary Dell reared six children: Jacob H., Nancy, William, Mary. Solomon and Catherine, while two others, John and Samuel, died in infancy.
Jacob H. Dell was nine years of age when his parents moved to Olive Township, and he well recalls many of the incidents of pioneer life, particularly the old fashioned schoolhouses which sup- plied mental training to the children of his generation. In the meantime his muscles had been hardened and his judgment trained by hard work on the farm, and at the age of twenty-two he was ready to take up an independent career. He owned and tilled a small farm for three years, but then began operating a sawmill near
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Wakarusa. This was his regular business for fourteen years. Mr. Dell tells in an interesting manner many incidents descriptive of the giants of the forest which once covered this part of Elkhart County, and particularly the heavy walnut timber which at one time was cleared away to make room for the fields, but which would now be worth a fortune. After selling his mill he resumed farming on a place about a mile east of Wakarusa, but in 1892 again took up the saw mill business in Wakarusa as a member of the Wakarusa Lumber Company. That was his active business connection until he retired, and has since enjoyed the comforts of a good home in Wakarusa.
In 1865 Mr. Dell married Barbara Pletcher, who was born in Ohio, November 20, 1846, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Reed) Pletcher and a granddaughter of Jacob and Barbara (Nestle- rode ) Pletcher. Mrs. Dell's father who was born in Pennsylvania was taken when an infant one year of age to Ohio and in 1852 lie came to Elkhart County, which was his home until his death in 1892 at the age of seventy-three. His wife died in Olive Township in 1865 at the age of fifty. Mr. and Mrs. Dell had eight children, five of whom died in infancy. The two now living are William and Rosa. William is a farmer in Harrison Township and Rosa, who graduated from the State Normal School at Terre Haute is now connected with the public schools of Billings, Montana.
HARDEN D. MARKEL. For more than seventy years the Markel family has played a part in Elkhart County. There have been three successive generations residents here, Harden D. Markel, the old established real estate man of Elkhart, representing the third gen- eration. Seventy years ago they lived amid pioneer conditions and did the work of the pioneer settlers, and they have always been wor- thily identified with community progress.
Harden D. Markel was born in 1847 in a log cabin that stood on the old homestead farm in Concord Township. David Markel, his great-grandfather, was born either in Germany or in America of German parents, and the name was originally spelled Merkle. David Merkle was married in Pennsylvania and spent his last years in that state.
David Markel, Jr., grandfather of Harden D., was a farmer in Berks County, Pennsylvania, but from there moved to Ohio in the very early days of the last century, making the journey with wagon and team, and establishing his home in Stark County. When past middle age in 1847, he followed some younger members of the fam- ily to Elkhart County and bought a tract of land in section 18 of
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Concord Township. The principal improvement on his land was a log house, and he and his family lived there about a year, and then erected a substantial frame house. It is interesting to note that this frame residence is still standing and inhabited. David Markel died at his home in Concord Township in 1855, as a result of an accident, and was then sixty-three years of age. His widow, Mary Markel. survived him several years. The mother of David Markel, Anna Catherine Maria Markel, also came with him to Elkhart County, and she lived to the great age of ninety-three.
Nathan Markel, a son of David and Mary Markel, was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in May, 1819, being one of eight chil- dren, the names of the others being Polly. Jonas, Rufina, William, David, Franklin and Lavina. Nathan Markel grew up in Stark County, Ohio, and was married there to Catherine Machamer. In 1845, two years before his father and mother, he brought his family to Elkhart County and bought a tract of land in section 18 of Con- cord Township. This place also had a log home, and he and his wife lived there for several years, and it was in that humble place that Harden D. Markel first saw the light of day. Nathan Markel had learned the trade of carpenter in Ohio, and his services were of marked value in the construction of houses, barns and other build- ings in the rapidly developing country of Stark County. About 1849- 50, while the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad was being built, he entered the employ of that company and built a number of bridges and railroad stations, continuing with the company for a period of nine years. He was next for one year in the employment of the Terre Haute & St. Louis Railroad Company, and spent most of his time in Illinois. Returning to Elkhart County he devoted his remaining years to the quiet vocation of farming, being proprietor of upwards of 400 acres in Concord Township. He was prosperous and highly esteemed for his integrity of character.
Nathan Markel died in Elkhart County in 1891. His wife, Cath- erine ( Machamer) Markel, who was born in 1819, lived to be eighty- eight years of age and died in 1907. She and her husband were the parents of four children, one of whom died in infancy, while Almira died at the age of nineteen, and the two survivors are Harden D. and Orlando W., the latter a resident of Nebraska. Nathan Markel was active in the Masonic order.
On the old homestead in Concord Township Harden D. Markel spent the days of childhood and early youth. He obtained a practi- cal education in the public schools, and when twenty-eight years of age moved out to Kansas and lived for twenty years in Harvey County, where he took a very prominent part in business affairs as
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a hardware and agricultural implement merchant and also in bank- ing and real estate. On account of his father's death in 1891 he re- turned to Elkhart County and the following year he moved his fam- ily to the old homestead in Concord Township, which he has since effectively managed and improved. In business circles he is best known for his activity as a real estate man at Elkhart and he laid out and put on the market the Elliston Addition to the city. He is also one of the directors of the Sidway Company.
Harden D. Markel is one of the honored surviving veterans of the Civil war in Elkhart County. In November, 1863, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted in Company D of the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, and for three years was with his command in all its battles and cam- paigns, being finally mustered out in November, 1865. For many years he has taken an active part as a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
In 1876, at Osceola, Indiana, Mr. Markel married Miss Sarah Woodside. Mrs. Markel was born in Penn Township of St. Joseph County. Her father, William Woodside, was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, a son of James and Sarah ( Shiver ) Wood- side, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. James and Sarah Woodside moved from Pennsylvania and became pioneer settlers in Crawford County, Ohio, and William Woodside bought a tract of timber land in that county and conducted a sawmill incidental to the task of clearing up his land and manufactured great quantities of lumber. From Ohio he came to Indiana and bought a farm in Penn Township of St. Joseph County, which he occupied until late in life, when he moved out to Kansas. He then returned to Ohio and spent his last days with a daughter, near Bucyrus, where he died at the age of eighty-five. William Woodside married Susan Heller, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Heller. Mrs. Markel's mother died at the age of fifty. Mr. and Mrs. Markel have four children : Nathan, who died when three years of age; Orrin H., William W. and Ivan J. Politically Mr. Markel is a democrat.
JAMES PARKS. One of the first families to come to the wilder- ness of Elkhart County before it was organized as an individual county, was that of Parks, represented by James Parks, one of the old and honored citizens of Nappanee.
James Parks was born in Goshen March 15, 1845. His father, Joseph Parks, was a native of Virginia, in which state he was reared, went at the age of twenty-two to Ohio locating in the western part of the state in Montgomery County, and from there in 1829 he came to Indiana and settled in what is now Elkhart County. His name is
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on the roll of honored pioneers. He had learned the trade of car- penter and on locating at Goshen engaged in that trade, erected many of the first structures put up in the town and the surrounding coun- tries, and he lived at Goshen until his death in 1858. His wife was Mary Jacobs, who was born in Ohio. Her father Henry Jacobs, probably a native of Pennsylvania, moved to Ohio, and from there came to Elkhart County also among the first settlers. Henry Jacobs entered a tract of Government land which is now included in the City of Goshen. He improved a farm, erected good buildings, and contributed much to the early growth and improvement of his local- ity. His remains were buried on his farm, but were later moved to the Dunkard cemetery. Henry Jacobs married Catherine Felters, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and who died in 1886 in her ninety-second year. Mrs. Joseph Parks passed away in 1856, being survived by six children.
James Parks attended some of the early schools at Goshen, worked on a farm, and when a little past seventeen years of age on August 6, 1862, he enlisted for service in the Union army as a member of Company M of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. This regiment had a notable record in the Civil war as a part of the Army of the Cumberlands. He was with his regiment in all its campaigns except for such time as he was confined in Confederate prisons. He participated in the battle of Stone River, at Chickamauga, and started the march with Sherman to Atlanta, and on September 26, 1864, was captured by the enemy. He was confined in different places until December 25th of that year when he was sent to Ander- sonville, and remained in prison there until the 15th of the following April. He was then released, hostilities having closed, and was sent to Jacksonville, Florida, from there to Annapolis, Maryland, and at Camp Chase at Columbus, Ohio, received his honorable discharge June 16, 1865. He is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war and few had a longer and harder service.
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