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 53
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Mr. Turnock is affiliated with Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons, in which he was high priest in 1914; Elkhart Council No. 79 Royal and Select Masters ; Elkhart Commandery No. 31 of the Knights Templar; and Mizpah Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Fort Wayne. Politically he is independent.
In 1886 he married Matilda Tourvill, who was born in Montreal, Canada, of French ancestry. Their six children are Harry C., Wini- fred S., Lawrence, Llewllyn, Matilda and Enos Hill, Jr.
FRANK W. WICKWIRE. The father of Frank W. Wickwire was one of the pioneer hotel men of Elkhart, Indiana. He settled here in 1861 and for thirty-seven years he was proprietor of the old Elk- hart Hotel. Here he reared his only child, Frank W. Wickwire, who is the subject of this review, and he died here in 1906, when he was seventy-eight years old. He was of Connecticut birth, and he first came to the middle west in 1857. Thereafter he was one of the most highly esteemed men of Elkhart and Elkhart County. He was a first class hotel man and was prominent in business circles of the city and county. His wife was Myra A. Church, born in New York in 1835, and she died here in 1906. They were excellent people of many sterling qualities that endeared them to a wide circle of friends, and their passing was lamented by all who knew them.
Frank W. Wickwire was born in Connecticut on November 27, 1851. He was about ten years old when the family settled in Elk- hart, and he had the best part of his schooling in the Elkhart public schools, followed by a college training in Notre Dame. His first independent work was in the firm of Mckinley-Gilchrist & Com- pany, wholesale grocers in Chicago, where he was employed in the capacity of shipping clerk. Later he became a traveling salesman for the same concern and he passed twelve years in that end of the work. When they went out of business Mr. Wickwire found con- genial work with the Thompson-Taylor Spice Company in Chicago, and he spent some years with them as a traveling salesman, his ter- ritory embracing Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. He became connected in a similar capacity with the Wilson McCauley Tobacco Company, with a territory covering Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota, and he was with that house for about a year. He then engaged in the hotel business in Elkhart, resuming the business his father had Vol. II-32
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laid down after so many years of service, and he passed a year in the work here. Mr. Wickwire, however, concluded that he was not so well fitted for the duties of landlord as his father had been, and a year found him relinquishing his duties there, after which he became actively engaged in the creamery business. He was in that field for a year, when he engaged with a jewelry house in Chicago as Omaha manager of their sales force. He continued with that house for ten years and in 1898 returned to Elkhart, and engaged in the cafe business at 318 South Main Street. He was in that business for five years, when he bought the building at 218 South Main Street and opened a similar establishment which he operated successfully until 1909. Since that time Mr. Wickwire has been. conducting a billiard hall at 218 South Main Street, enjoying a pleasing degree of business success.
Mr. Wickwire was married on October 25, 1892, to Miss Alice Troxel, of Ohio birth and parentage. She died February 18, 1915.
Mr. Wickwire is a member of Elkhart Lodge No. 425 Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his politics are those of a democrat:
ELDER CLAUDIUS K. CURTIS. For over thirty years Rev. Mr. Curtis has been one of the leading representatives in the ministry of the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, not only in Elkhart County but in many sections of the West, and is now a presiding elder of the conference of the church covering Ohio and Indiana. While his duties have called him to many sections of the country, and he fills one pulpit twice in succession, he has for a number of years had his home on a farm in Union Township of Elkhart County.
Though of old American stock, Elder Curtis was born in Water- loo County, Province of Ontario, Canada. His father was Rev. Barton Curtis, who was born in Orange County, New York, about 1806. Grandfather Curtis was also a native of New York State and of English ancestry, and from New York he removed to Canada and became an early settler in the County of Waterloo. Grandfather Curtis was a potter by trade and conducted a pottery in Waterloo County until late in life. He then came to Elkhart County, lived there awhile afterwards moved to Michigan and spent his last days with a son near Detroit.
Rev. Barton Curtis also learned the trade of potter and of brick making, and followed those occupations during his youthful days. In 1857 he moved to Indiana, establishing a home in Olive Town- ship of Elkhart County. Here he set up what was probably the first pottery in all that section and made it a useful adjunct to growing
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civilization. As a young man he joined the Baptist Church, was made a preacher in the denomination, and served the church and humanity long and faithfully. He was a good speaker, and a man who wielded more than ordinary influence in any community where he lived. During the Civil war he was appointed chaplain of the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment of Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, and was with his command in the Army of the Potomac and was stationed in the vicinity of Richmond when that city surren- dered. Besides his work as chaplain he was also regimental post- master. Along with his many other duties and responsibilities he superintended the improvement of a good farm in Olive Township. but some years after the war moved to LaGrange County and bought a home there, which he sold after a few years and moved to Reed City, Michigan, where he died at the age of seventy-three. Barton Curtis married Elizabeth Coplin, who was born in Waterloo County, Canada, a daughter of Jacob Coplin who probably spent all his life in Canada. Elizabeth Curtis died at the age of seventy- three. The five children whom she reared were Cleora, Leah, Eliza- beth, Claudius K. and Julia, all of whom are living except Leah.
Claudius K. Curtis spent his early youth in Elkhart County on the old farm in Olive Township, gained a public school education, and early became identified with the Mennonite Church. He after- wards transferred his membership to the Mennonite Brethren in Christ, and in 1884 he was ordained a preacher in that denomination. Since that time, a period of more than thirty years, he has been active in the ministry and has filled pastorates in Kent and Iowa counties, Michigan, in Elkhart, Nappanee, Wakarusa, Oak Grove, West Union, Ager School, Haw Patch and many other places, and has also undergone all the hardships and discomforts of extensive traveling in behalf of his church. He was made presiding elder of the district and did missionary work in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Iowa, organizing conferences in the states of Iowa and Ne- braska. Some years ago he was made presiding elder of the Ohio and Indiana Conference, and has looked after the duties of that office down to the present time.
For a number of years Elder Curtis has had his residence on the Blosser homestead in section 2 of Union Township, where in the intervals of other work he looks after a well improved farm. In 1869 Elder Curtis married Leah Blosser, who was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, daughter of Rudolph and Barbara ( Metzler) Blosser. Her father was born in Virginia but spent most of his years in Ohio. Mrs. Curtis died in 1878. In 1879 he married Miss Rebecca A. Blosser, who was also born in Mahoning County, Ohio, daughter
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of Peter and Mary A. (Reed) Blosser. Peter Blosser, a native of Virginia, and a son of John and Barbara (Kegy) Blosser, who moved from Virginia to Mahoning County, Ohio, where they were early settlers, was quite young when he accompanied his parents to Mahoning County and lived there until 1851. He married in Ma- honing County Mary A. Reed, who was born in Virginia of English ancestry and a daughter of William S. and Christina (Wenger) Reed. In 1851 the Blosser family moved from Eastern Ohio to Elkhart County. The journey was made overland with horses and carriage, while the household goods were shipped by way of canal to Fort Wayne and thence brought by wagon to Elkhart County. Peter Blosser bought 220 acres of comparatively unimproved land in Union Township. Its improvements consisted of a log cabin and about sixty acres of clearing, while the rest of his farm was heavily timbered. The log cabin was situated on the northeast corner of section 2, and in that environment Peter Blosser lived out the re- mainder of his life, passing away in 1861 at the early age of forty- three. His wife survived him and died at the age of sixty-one. In the Blosser family were three daughters: Rebecca, now Mrs. Curtis ; Amos P .; and Susan, now deceased.
Elder Curtis by his first marriage had four children named Lucinda, Ella, Joseph and Barbara. The six children of his present marriage are Viola, Eva, Otho, Homer B., Meta and Aura. The oldest child, Lucinda, married Sam R. Hoover and her six children are Arvilla, Mabel, Noble, Viola, Curtis and Bessie. Ella married William Sutter, and their three children are Claudius, Freddie and Willie. Barbara married Jacob Relinger. Viola, the oldest child of the present Mrs. Curtis, married David Garman, and her seven chil- dren are Grace, Loverne, Erma, Florence, Bertha, Mabel and Jessie. Eva, the second daughter, married William Overholt and has a daughter named Daetta Rebecca. Otho, the oldest son of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis, married Bertha Overholt, and their two children are Wayne and Harold. Meta is the wife of Orba Dillet and they have a son Homer Lowell.
JOHN H. KILMER. Some of the most satisfying rewards of rural experience have compensated the labors and well directed efforts of John H. Kilmer, one of Locke Township's best known farmers and citizens. His property has grown and developed under his man- agement, and while always an extremely busy man he has found the time and inclination to assist in movements that would benefit the community.
His birth occurred on the very farm that he now owns and
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occupies January 18, 1860. His father was Samuel Kilmer, who was born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, in 1820, a son of Isaac and Eva (Shelly) Kilmer. The grandparents moved from Pennsyl- vania and spent their last years in Ohio. However, Grandmother Kilmer subsequently came to Elkhart County and died there. Sam- uel Kilmer was married in Ashland County, Ohio, and came to Elk- hart County in the very early days, making the journey with wagon and team and securing a tract of timbered land including the east half of the northeast quarter of section I in Locke Township. There he put up a log cabin in which John H. Kilmer first saw the light of day. That was a heavily timbered district at the time, and a large part of the land was too wet for cultivation, and mosquitoes and malaria abounded. Samuel Kilmer worked hard, cleared up a good part of his land, and resided there until his death in 1865. He mar- ried Catherine Boyer, who was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of George and Sarah (Moyer) Boyer. When she was sixteen years old her parents removed to Ohio where they spent their last days and she was married in that state to Samuel Kilmer. After his death she married John Freed, a well known farmer of Locke Township, and her death occurred in February, 1913, at the age of eighty-nine. By her marriage to Samuel Kilmer she reared four children named Isaac, Elizabeth, Philip D. and John H. The son Isaac served in the Union army during the Civil war and died while still in the service. The daughter Elizabeth married Eli Wire, and is now deceased.
John H. Kilmer gained his education in the district schools, and from the age of eight until sixteen lived on the farm with his step- father and mother. He then returned to his father's old place, and was engaged in farming it with his brother. After a few years he became the owner of the old homestead and has thus come into pos- session of the farm where he was born. He has done a great deal of improving, in buildings and in fencing and cultivation, and has one of the first class farms of Locke Township.
In 1881 Mr. Kilmer married Alice May Salsbury. She was born in Locke Township, a daughter of Luther Salsbury. Luther Sals- bury was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, a son of Elias Salsbury, who was also probably a native and a lifelong resident of that state. Elias Salsbury married Hannah Leavens. Mrs. Kilmer's father when a young man, came to Elkhart County settled in Locke Town- ship and for a time occupied a log cabin in the southeast quarter of section 11. It was in that humble abode that Mrs. Kilmer was born. Later he removed to the northeast quarter of section 14, and lived there until the death of his wife, when he returned to Pennsyl-
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vania. Some years later he came back to Indiana, making his home with his two daughters Mrs. J. H. Kilmer and Mrs. John Weldy. He died at the home of Mrs. John Weldy in St. Joseph County, Indiana, in 1907. Luther Salsbury married Clarissa McCoy, who was born in Locke Township, a daughter of Daniel McCoy, a native of Ohio, and one of the first settlers of Locke Township. The Goshen Democrat of December, 1847, has an item which speaks of the establishment of a postoffice in Locke Township called Locke, with Daniel McCoy as postmaster. When the McCoy family lo- cated in Locke Township settlements were few and far between, and the greater part of the land was still owned by the Government and for sale at $1.25 per acre. There being no railroads all trans- portation was by stage or other overland conveyance. Daniel McCoy married Rebecca Albin, also a native of Ohio. Mrs. Kilmer's mother had all the housewifely accomplishments of her time. Four chil- dren were born to J. H. and Alice Kilmer: Luther Lemuel, Lillie Catherine, Dora Agnes and Lola Beatrice. The son Luther L. is now engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at North Liberty. St. Joseph County, and by his marriage to Bertha Cothran has two children named Frances Clarabel and Catherine Elizabeth. The daughter Lillie C. is the wife of John M. Hartman, a farmer in Locke Township, and their two children are Owen Kilmer and Luther Lemuel; Dora Agnes died at the age of seven years; Lola Beatrice, the youngest child, and still at home, is a graduate of the eighth grade of the public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Kilmer are mem- bers of the Christian Church at Wakarusa.
GEORGE E. COMPTON. For almost half a century George E. Compton was actively associated with Elkhart's commercial and . civic activities. His long and useful life came to a close with death on June 4, 1910, and he should be remembered as one of that group of energetic and whole souled men who largely laid the foundations and built the superstructure of Elkhart's present greatness as a city. His widow and children are still living in Elkhart.
He was born on a farm in Osolo Township of Elkhart County. August 5, 1849. His father was Ezekiel Compton, who was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, February 24, 1810. His grandfather. Jacob Compton, a native of New Jersey, moved to Ohio and became one of the first settlers in Cuyahoga County, locating there when the site of Cleveland was covered with forest. He improved a tract of land and kept up its cultivation until his death. Ezekiel Compton grew up amid the pioneer surroundings of the old homestead, gained his education in his native county, and lived there until 1836, when he
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came west and emulated the example of his father in becoming a pioneer along the western frontier. He made the journey by ox team and wagon, accompanied by his family, and with such house- hold goods as could be brought over the rough roads. Arriving in Elkhart County, he bought a tract of timbered land in Osolo Town- ship, and the first home of the family here was a rude log house. By trade he was a carpenter and he furnished a valuable service to many of the early settlers in the construction of their homes and other buildings. He also gave his time to clearing up his land and cultivating the soil and after a few years erected a substantial brick house which was his home until his death on June 1, 1853. Ezekiel Compton married Frances Ward, who was born in Philadelphia in 1813, and who died April 30, 1894, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Her six children who grew up were named Davis, Eliza, Hortense, Hugh Gaston, George E. and Emma.
George E. Compton had the early life of the typical Indiana farmer boy. He attended district school, developed his muscles by work on a farm, but early saw a vision of better things, and at the age of sixteen came to Elkhart and for five years gained valuable business experience as a clerk. For some time he was in the employ of A. A. Beardsley. In 1874 he engaged in the mercantile business with William Meader, and they continued their associations success- fully for several years.
Many years ago Mr. Compton became associated with Dr. Franklin Miles, in the manufacture of medicine. The Miles Medical Company has long been regarded as among the strongest commercial organizations of the City of Elkhart and due credit should be assigned to the part Mr. Compton played in the upbuilding of that flourishing enterprise. When he first became associated with Dr. Miles the business was conducted on a very modest scale, with a small capital and with a greatly restricted trade. He was active both in the management of the home plant and in spreading the fame of the medicine abroad, and when the Miles Medical Company was incor- porated he was made first secretary and treasurer.
On September 25. 1877, Mr. Compton married Miss Lizzie Ames. She was born at Concord, New Hampshire, while her father Samuel Ames was a native of Boscawen, New Hampshire and a son of Samuel Ames. Samuel Ames, Sr., at one time kept a hotel and stage station at Boscawen and remained there all his life. Mrs. Compton's father was given a good education and for many years followed the profession of civil engineer. He was in the govern- ment service for a time, but in 1856 came west and settled in Lake County, Indiana, where he followed general farming and stock rais-
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ing. In 1881 he removed to Elkhart and lived retired until his death in 1887. He married Emily J. Hubbard, who was born in Cattaraugus County, New York, in 1822. Mrs. Compton had one brother, Edward P.
The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Compton are Herman A., Francis E. and Georgia E. Mrs. Compton is an active member of the Presbyterian Church and is well known socially in Elkhart.
JUSTICE B. NOLAN of Elkhart is one of the few native sons of this county whose memory extends back into the past for more than sixty years. He is a veteran of the Civil war, and for fully half a century has been active in his business as a painter and decorator at Elkhart and vicinity. He has been a close observer and possessing a retentive memory is able to tell many interesting anecdotes of the older generation and former times in Elkhart County.
He was born on a farm in Cleveland Township of Elkhart County April 24, 1846. His father was Benjamin Nolan, born in Mercer County, Ohio, in 1805. Grandfather Nolan was a native of Ireland. On coming to America he first landed in Canada and from there went to Ohio as a pioneer in Mercer County, and after im- proving a tract of land lived on his farm until his death. He mar- ried a Miss Robbins, and they reared a large family of children.
Benjamin Nolan grew up in a pioneer district of Ohio. He became an expert axman and had no superior in the art of hewing timber in his section of Ohio. In 1844 he made the journey by team and wagon to Indiana, accompanied by his wife and eight children. After a residence of a few years in Cleveland Township he moved to Osolo Township, buying land, part of which is now included within the city limits of Elkhart. There he continued farming and was a prosperous and substantial citizen until his death. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Spicer. She was born in Genesee County, New York. Her father was a native of England and was a minister of the Methodist Church, having moved to Mercer County, Ohio, where he spent most of his remaining years. Mr. Nolan's mother died at the age of seventy-three, having reared nine children named John, Clinton, Harriet, Rachel, Joseph, Sylvester and Lorenzo, twins, Louise and Justice B. The twin sons Sylvester and Lorenzo were both Union soldiers, the former a member of the Twelfth Michigan Infantry and the latter of the 44th Indiana Infantry.
Justice B. Nolan as a boy attended the rural schools of Elkhart County. When he was about eighteen years of age in 1864 he enlisted in the 142d Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, in Company
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D, and going South had his baptism of fire in two of the greatest battles of the war, at Franklin and Nashville. After these engage- ments he remained with his regiment until honorably discharged July 14, 1865. For years he has been active in Grand Army affairs and is a member of Elmer Post, Grand Army of the Republic.
After returning home he learned the trade of painter and decorator, having served a three years' apprenticeship and for two years was foreman for his employer. He then engaged in business on his own account and by close attention to his work has acquired a sufficient competence for his declining years.
On September 9, 1866, Mr. Nolan married Mary Helen Hunt- singer, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Jones) Huntsinger, who were early settlers in Michigan. When Mrs. Nolan was a child both her parents died and she grew up among strangers. To their marriage have been born five children: Blanche, Rachel, Pearl, Nellie and Hattie, the last named having died at the age of eighteen. The daughter Blanche married Samuel Eby and their five children are Glenn, Gordon, Irvin, Garth and Helen. The daughter Rachel married Daniel Urquhart, and has a son Justus. Pearl married Charles Barber and their four children are Lester, Helen, Margaret and Norma. Nellie is the wife of John Bowers and has three children named Friend, Dorothy and John, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Nolan in religious matters are inclined towards Spir- itualism.
BENJAMIN F. TETERS, M. D., one of the advisory editors of this publication, has been a successful practicing physician at Middlebury for upwards of thirty years.
Born in Ohio October *16, 1860, a son of Daniel and Leah (Stough) Teters, he acquired his early education in the Ohio public schools and also by attendance at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, and like many professional men did his first serious work in the world as a teacher. He spent seven years in the schoolroom, from 1877 to 1884, and thereby acquired the means for his medical education. In April, 1886, Doctor Teters was graduated M. D. from Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, and has since been in active practice.
For twenty-four years continuously he has been a member of the Middlebury School Board. He is a democrat, and has held all the offices in the Maccabees of the World and is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. On September 13, 1883, in Ohio, three years before he graduated in medicine, he married Henrietta Showalter, daughter of Ephraim and Adaline Showalter.
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They are the parents of four children: Grace, wife of Dr. J. O. Walter; Melvin S., who is a very recent graduate in medicine; Mary L., a teacher; and Esther, who just graduated from high school.
C. R. GARMAN. Thirty-one years of continuous residence in Millersburg, Indiana, is the record of C. R. Garman, postmaster of the town and well known to the community in his capacity of painter and paper hanger for Millersburg, before he came to his present position of postmaster. Mr. Garman is a native son of Indiana, born in the Town of Vistula on July 30, 1878, and he is the son of Leonard C. and Malissa ( Rodenck ) Garman.
Leonard Garman was born in Pennsylvania, and he was reared to young manhood in Lancaster County, that state. When the war broke out in 1861 he enlisted in Company F, One Hundred and Fifty-Seventh Regiment of Volunteer Infantry, serving through the war in the army of the North. He saw much active service during those years of bloodshed and was honorably discharged from the army after the close of the war. It was after that time that he came to Indiana, and when he did so he joined his brother- in-law in Elkhart County, engaging with him in the lumber busi- ness and continuing for a few years in that enterprise. Then he moved to Vistula and engaged in the service of the Lake Shore Railroad Company. He died there on September 27, 1905, at the age of sixty-five years. His widow still survives and has her home with her daughter, Mae, the widow of Harry H. Kuhn. Five chil- dren were born to Leonard Garman and his wife. They are here mentioned as follows: Rev. Alonzo B., pastor of the Church of the Brethren in Auburn, Indiana; Kate L., the wife of Ed John- ston, Millersburg, Indiana ; Mae, already mentioned as the widow of Harry H. Kuhn, also of Millersburg. Indiana ; Abbie, who died in infancy ; and C. R. Garman, subject of this brief family review.
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