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 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
Albert A. Rieth secured his early education in the Concord Town- ship Public Schools and the Goshen High School, and after his graduation from the latter, in 1903, took a position with the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway, where for one year he was employed with an engineering corps. Desiring a better training for his chosen life work, he then entered Purdue University, at La- fayette, Indiana, where he took a course in civil engineering and graduated with his degree in 1907. He was employed as an engineer in the construction of the Detroit River tunnel for one year, and later was called to Texas in the irrigation, railroad and highway construction, remaining in the Southwest until 1913. Returning to Goshen at that time, Mr. Rieth was made deputy under County Sur- veyor Benjamin Wise, and in the fall of 1914 was elected county surveyor of Elkhart County, assuming the duties of that office Janu- ary I, 1915. Mr. Rieth's varied experiences in different sections of the country, combined with his training as an engineer and his broad general education, fit him admirably for the responsibilities of his position, and the voters of Elkhart County have had no reason to regret of their choice. The eight men under his charge are kept busy during the greater part of the time, and the county's work in this department is moving along in an expeditious and entirely satisfac- tory manner.
Mr. Rieth was married in 1908 to Miss Arvilla Blough, of Goshen, a daughter of W. D. Blough, for many years a resident of Elkhart County, and a prosperous agriculturist. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Rieth, namely: Herbert B., Mary C., Blair A. and Albert L., Jr. The pleasant family home is located at No. 624 South Fifth Street. Mr. Rieth is a member of several col- lege fraternities and of Calantha Lodge No. 41, Knights of Pythias. With his wife and children, he belongs to the First Methodist Episco- pal Church.
455
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
LIEUTENANT EDWIN LUTHER BARLOW. A large circle of intimate friends, business associates, and a membership of several organiza- tions marked with the tribute of their respect and affection the pass- ing of Lieutenant Barlow on January 15, 1913. Lieutenant Barlow died at his home in Goshen at 508 South Sixth Street after a brief illness. He had long been identified with Elkhart County and was a man whose activities and character commanded respect wherever he went.
He was born near Albion, New York, May 20, 1836, and conse- quently was nearly eighty years of age when he passed away. In early childhood he lost both parents, his father having been a phy- sician. In 1858 Lieutenant Barlow came to Indiana, and took up his residence at Leesburg, where in 1866 he married Miss Catherine Hattel.
The late Lieutenant Barlow came from a military family. His great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary war, his grandfather in the War of 1812, and his father in the Mexican war, while he himself attained the rank of lieutenant during the Civil war, in which he served four years. Most of his service was in Company 1 of the Seventy-fourth Indiana Regiment, though for part of the time he was in Company E of the Twelfth Indiana. One of the most important events in his army life was his participation in Sher- man's famous march to the sea.
Lieutenant Barlow should be remembered as a man of alert in- tellect, which remained clear to the last. He was a constant reader, and was remarkably well informed in many lines and was devoted to his family and his simple duties. For a great many years he was employed by the firm of Lewis & Neville Manufacturing Company, the Goshen industry whose output is high class vehicles of all kinds. Lieutenant Barlow's home was filled with handsome pieces of his handicraft, and he was one of the most skilled and competent work- ers in the wood turning and finishing trade in Elkhart County. His gentle manners won him many friends, and he had many associa- tions with local organizations.
For a great many years he was a faithful member of the First Methodist Episcopal Church at Goshen. He was a past chancellor in the Knights of Pythias Lodge and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. During the active existence of the uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias he served as captain of the local company and was adjutant of the regiment.
Mrs. Barlow had passed away in 1901. Their only son died in infancy. Lieutenant Barlow was survived by two daughters: Mrs. Helen B. England, a teacher of music ; and Miss Luella Barlow, a teacher in the public schools of Goshen.
456
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
WILLIAM H. WINSHIP came to Elkhart, Indiana, on December 17, 1889. Since that time his interests have been centered here and he has come to occupy a place of importance in the town. He has been identified with varied lines of activity in the years of his residence here, and at the present time he is treasurer of Elkhart County.
Mr. Winship was born in Parma Centre, Monroe County, New York, on May 4, 1868, and he is the son of George W. and Eliza J. (Twentyman ) Winship, both of Massachusetts birth and parentage. The father was born in 1817 and he died in August, 1885, while the mother, born in 1835, died in June, 1885. They were the parents of five children, all of them living at this time. The subject is the youngest of the five. The father was educated in Massa- chusetts and trained to the trade of a blacksmith. In the sixties he moved to New York State and settled in Monroe County where he engaged in farm life, and he was the owner of one of the fine farms of that county. He was a progressive man and was the organizer of the Grange Association in his part of the state, and one of the original organizers of the movement. In early life he was a whig and later he became a democrat.
William H. Winship had his education in the schools of Brock- port, New York, in the New York State Normal. He came to Elk- hart County, Indiana, on December 17, 1889, and his first position was with the firm of Felt Brothers, in the capacity of clerk. After a short time he became associated with the Kies Clothing Company, and he was with that firm for about two years. He was next asso- ciated with the Wiles Medical Company as general advertising agent, remaining with that concern for about five years in that position after which he was traffic manager for the same company for something like two years. He was later employed by Warren, Hill & Company as credit man, and still later by the Electric Light & Power Company at Hartford City, Indiana, as manager. He occupied a similar posi- tion at Lagrange, and was later located in Indianapolis in the life insurance business. He terminated his connection with that city in 1906, when he located again in Elkhart and became agent for the National Life Insurance Company of Des Moines, Iowa, with a ter- ritory of seven counties to manage. In 1907 he became local manager for the Home Telephone Company in Elkhart, and he served in that capacity during 1907 and 1908, when he became asso- ciated with the Davis Acetylene Company as manager of the fixture department, thus continuing until he was appointed county treasurer on November 1. 1916. He was a member of the Elkhart City Coun- cil for four years, from 1898 to 1902.
WILLIAM H. WINSHIP
457
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
Mr. Winship is a member of the Commercial Club of Indian- apolis, Indiana, and his fraternal affiliations are many. He is a member of Kane Lodge No. 183 Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons, Concord Chapter No. 101, Royal Arch Masons ; Elkhart Council No. 79, Royal and Select Masters; Ma-Ha-Di Grotto; Elkhart Lodge No. 75, Knights of Pythias ; Lodge No. 599, Loyal Order of Moose, and other fraternal societies. He is a member of the Century Club and served as its president from 1913 to 1915. He has been senior warden of St. John's Episcopal Church of Elkhart, Indiana, for several years.
On December 27, 1892, Mr. Winship was married to Miss Louie M. Main, of Elkhart, Indiana, the daughter of Oliver H. and Sarah Main. Mr. Main was born in Herkimer County, New York, and was a man of unusual intellectual attainments. He was a lawyer of prominence in Indiana, and he located in Elkhart.in 1850. He was one of the pioneer legal men of this section of the state, and he was the first city judge at Elkhart. He was a member of Kane Lodge No. 183, Ancient. Free and Accepted Masons, and served in all eighteen years as master of that lodge. He reared a family of five children, four daughters and one son.
To Mr. and Mrs. Winship were born four children. The first two, Allyn M. and Martha, died in infancy. The others are Kath- erine and Florence.
ANDREW JACKSON PICKERING. Two occupations, farming and teaching, have occupied the energies and abilities of Andrew Jackson Pickering in Elkhart County, and in both he has rendered an exceed- ingly good account of himself. During a period of fifteen years he was one of the most capable and popular of the county's educators, and when he laid aside the cap and gown to grasp the plowhandles, he displayed that the training of his youth in the field of agriculture had not been forgotten,-a training that has enabled him to become one of the substantial farmers of Jackson Township.
Mr. Pickering was born on a farm in Rush County, Indiana, March 1, 1859, the eldest son of Lewis and Mary Jane (Cart) Pick- ering. The father was born in Illinois, where he grew to manhood, was educated in the public schools, and adopted the vocation of farm- ing. He was so engaged in Rush County, where he moved when a young man, when the Civil war came on, and in 1862 he became a private in a company recruited in his community, which was at- tached to an Indiana volunteer cavalry regiment in the Union army. He served bravely and faithfully with that regiment until meeting a soldier's death on one of the battlefields of the Southland. In
458
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
1865, when the war closed, the widowed mother took her children to Elkhart County, Indiana, settling in Waterford. There Andrew J. Pickering resided for three years, at the end of which time he was taken to rear by his grandmother and an uncle, George Cart, and while living on their farm acquired a good education, first at- tending the country school of his district and later attended DuPauw University at Greencastle. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-one years of age, at which time he began teaching, and for fifteen years thereafter occupied a leading place among the instruc- tors of the county. At intervals during this time, he also spent the summer months in work on the farm. When he abandoned teach- ing as a profession Mr. Pickering returned to the farm, and in 1890 was united in marriage with Miss Alice Whitehead, the daughter of Henry and Caroline Whitehead, of Jackson Township, early and honored settlers of Elkhart County. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Pickering settled on the old Whitehead farm, which consisted of 160 acres of choice land in a good state of cultivation. There Mr. Pickering erected substantial buildings and modern improve- ments, and this is now accounted one of the model farms of this part of the county, including in its equipment the latest machinery and appliances. In 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Pickering moved from the farm to Goshen, where they reside in their fine home at the corner of Douglas and Main Streets, a comfortable and handsomely furnished residence, with modern conveniences. Mr. Pickering, while living in the city, continues to superintend the operations on his farm, and under his far-sighted and capable management it is yielding very satisfactory returns.
Mr. and Mrs. Pickering are the parents of two children : Miriam Alice, a graduate of the Goshen High School, who resides with her parents; and Carlyle Whitehead, a graduate of the Goshen High School and of Fenis Institute, Big Rapids, Michigan, who is now employed by the Elkhart County Trust Company, at Goshen. Mr. and Mrs. Pickering celebrated their silver wedding on the 16th of July, 1915. With their children they attend the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
JOHN B. CRIPE. Among the enterprises which have contributed to the manufacturing supremacy and prestige of the city of Goshen, one of the best known and most substantial is the Goshen Churn and Ladder Company, which, during the years of its existence, has carried on a large and steady business and furnished employment to many of the city's skilled workmen. Of recent years this concern has grown and developed rapidly under the capable management
459
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
of John B. Cripe, a product of Elkhart County, and a man who can point to his success as achieved solely through his own efforts.
Mr. Cripe was born on a farm in Clinton township, Elkhart County, Indiana, January 15, 1863, and is a son of Noah M. and Rebecca (Baker) Cripe. His father was also born in this county, the son of a pioneer settler, and was reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he engaged during the greater part of his life. Through industry, perseverance and well-directed management he succeeded in the accumulation of a good farm, while his probity and integrity won him many friends and admirers, and his death was mourned as the occasion of the loss of one of this community's best citizens. Mr. Cripe married Miss Rebecca Baker, who was also born in Elk- hart County, Indiana, where she passed her girlhood, was educated, and married. Her parents were among the earliest settlers of Elk- hart County.
John B. Cripe received his education in the country schools and was brought up to the hard work of the home farm, where he passed his time in various tasks when not employed with his studies. When he was eighteen years of age he began working in a factory, and continued to be so engaged until he was twenty, when he realized the need for further training, and for a time attended the normal school of his neighborhood. He had been reared as a farmer, but the life of the agriculturist did not appeal to him, and he accordingly turned his attention to the city, where he helped organize the Goshen Churn and Ladder Company. He is now general manager and vice president, and is directing the company to still greater success. He is a man of energetic nature, thoroughly capable, and possessed of the con- fidence of his associates. The concern employs a large force of men, and as a contributor to the importance of Goshen as a manufac- turing center has no mean place.
Mr. Cripe was married to Miss Della Carr, of Goshen, who was born in Elkhart County, Indiana, daughter of Lafayette Carr. Four children have been born to this union, namely : Hazel, Leroy, Edith, and Ruth. Mr. Cripe is a democrat in his political views, and his public spirit has led him to accept office at the hands of his fellow citizens, being at this time a member of the Goshen City Council, representing the Fourth Ward of the city for a term of four years. He has been a tireless and conscientious worker in behalf of his con- stituents, whose interests are safe in his hands. Mr. Cripe is the owner of a substantial residence, located at No. 424 East Jefferson Street.
IRVING A. WILFORE. The principal business of its kind in Elkhart County is that of which Mr. Wilfore is manager. with offices in the
460
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
Hawks-Gortner Building, at Goshen. This is the wholesale head- quarters for dealing in monumental and granite building material, and was established in 1910, with Mr. Wilfore as general man- ager. This company handles the products of some of the finest quarries of New England, chiefly granite and choice marble, either for monuments or for general building purposes.
The general manager of this concern is himself a product of the New England hills of the Green Mountain State. Barre, the center of the great granite and marble industry of Vermont, was the place of his birth, where he first saw the light of day in 1882. His father was for many years a manufacturer of hardwood lumber, and owns some extensive tracts of woodland in New England. Some of this woodland was underlain with valuable quarries of granite, and he leased much of the land for quarrying, receiving royalty on the out- put. The father is still living at Barre, Vermont.
Reared and educated in Barre, Irving A. Wilfore completed his education in the high school, and when quite young was em- ployed by his father in the lumber business, and later in the quarries, beginning as a messenger. He literally grew up in the quarrying in- dustry in New England, and is master of its every detail. For some time he sold the products of the Barre granite quarries as a travel- ing representative, until the Vermont company located him per- manently at Goshen, where he now handles New England marble and granite products over a wide extent of territory.
In 1904 he married Miss Jessie L. Dean of Boston, Massachusetts, where she was born, reared and educated. They are the parents of two children: Doris D. and Irving W. Mr. Wilfore is active in Masonry, having affiliation with the Lodge, Chapter and Knight Templar Commandery and the Mystic Shrine, and is also a member of Scioto Valley Consistory, thirty-second degree, Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Wilfore's parents are Theodore and Elenor (Genette) Wilfore, both now living at Barre, Vermont.
CHARLES P. FRIBLEY. One of Goshen's best known younger busi- ness men is Charles P. Fribley, whose office for real estate and insurance is located in the Hawks-Gortner Building. Mr. Fribley is a native of Elkhart County, and the family were among the pioneer settlers of this locality.
His birth occurred near Bonneyville, May 16, 1880, and he is the oldest son of Irvin R. and Martha ( Minard ) Fribley. The paternal grandfather was a pioneer who located near Bristol, Indiana, in 1851. He came from Pennsylvania, and as a farmer he improved and de- veloped some of the virgin soil of Elkhart County. He gave to that
461
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
occupation the best years of his life, and afterwards owned a fine farm in the vicinity of Middlebury. The grandfather married Sarah Doctor, and she died in her eightieth year.
Charles P. Fribley acquired his early education in the public schools, and then entered Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, where he remained one year. On leaving college he returned to Middle- bury, and for the next nine years was in the employ of A. J. Kepp, a miller. But liking the business of real estate, he determined to make it the basis of his individual career. In 1906, having come to Goshen, he opened a real estate office and since then has sold a great volume of both city and country property.
Mr. Fribley married Miss Mabel E. Neff of Goshen, a daughter of Cornelius T. and Rebecca (Rentfrow ) Neff, a family of old resi- dents in this city. Mr. Fribley is a member of Middlebury Camp No. 143 of the Knights of the Maccabees, and Knights of Pythias of Goshen. His home is at 512 East Purl Street.
JOHN E. BOYTS. This name is at once recognized through asso- ciation with the well known Boyts restaurant on South Main Street, Goshen. Mr. Boyts, as proprietor of this establishment, has fur- nished a very popular service to the people of Goshen. It is regarded as the leading restaurant in the city, and has been successfully man- aged by Mr. Boyts since 1909.
John E. Boyts was born in Missouri, in January, 1881, but spent the most of his boyhood in Goshen, whither he came with his father when but nine years old, and he received his education here in the common and select schools. Here he has also become well known in the restaurant business. His dining room is 22x165 feet, well lighted, furnished with good taste and for solid comfort, and he has made a close study of the requirements and science of the business, and has more than succeeded in giving the people what they want. His restaurant occupies a two-story building and the second story is used for furnished rooms. His dining room will accommodate between 110 and 120 people. Mr. Boyts superintends every department, pur- chases only the best material, and practically every one in Goshen or who comes to the city periodically are familiar with this high class establishment.
He married Miss Zulu Ecklebargle, and they have one son, Eu- gene. Mr. Boyts is a member of Goshen Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and the Knights of Pythias, and has many friends, both in a business and social way. His home is at 504 South Fifth Street.
462
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
JOIN N. SWART. It has been in the field of education that Mr. Swart has performed his most valuable services to the people of Elkhart County, where he has lived all his life. While it takes him temporarily out of his profession and causes a break in the ranks of Elkhart County educators which can hardly be filled, it was a de- served tribute to his long and valuable service when Mr. Swart was elected county recorder of Elkhart County, an office which he as- sumes on January 1, 1916.
Born in Jackson Township of Elkhart County, February 9, 1857, John N. Swart is the oldest son of Piebe Swart, who was born in Holland and came to the United States in 1854, locating in Elkhart County. He was one of the early farmers of this county, and in characteristic Holland Dutch manner developed a place which was notable for its cleanly, thorough and intensive cultivation, at a time when such qualities were rarely exhibited on farms in the Middle West. He became one of the prosperous and substantial citizens of Jackson township. He was also unusually well educated, and for four years held the office of county superintendent and did much to promote the extension of church and schools in his locality. He was a member of the Dutch Reform Church Piebe Swart trans- lated the "Works of Menno Simon," founder of the Mennoite Church, from the Holland language to the English in 1873-4. He married Miss Sarah A. Alford, whose father was an old resident of Elkhart County.
John N. Swart spent his early boyhood on the farm, attended the country schools, graduated from the high school at Goshen, and later attended the Elkhart County Normal School. It was in 1878 that he taught his first term in a country district of Elkhart County, and he has now been identified with that profession for thirty-seven years. He was teaching in the country districts for eleven years, and then moved to Goshen and began teaching in the city schools. He finally was advanced to principal of the Fifth Street School. For twenty-seven years he has served as principal of that school and a number of his older pupils have since had their own children under his instruction. There is no other post of duty where Mr. Swart could have influenced for good a greater number of people than in his work as head of this city school.
In 1881 he married Miss Anna Knisely, daughter of John and Mary Knisely, who were long well known residents of Elkhart County. To Mr. and Mrs. Swart were born the following children : Walter S., Robert P., May and Ray. In politics Mr. Swart is a democrat, and it was on that ticket that he was nominated for the office of county recorder and elected in 1914. After more than
463
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
a year's interim he took up the active duties of his office on January 1, 1916, for a term of four years. Mr. Swart has a reputation for efficient and methodical management in everything he undertakes, and his many friends predict for him an excellent record in his new position. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
ABRAM M. BRADFORD. When Abram M. Bradford came to Goshen, in 1883, he became the founder of a mercantile enterprise that has grown and developed into what may be termed a necessary commercial adjunct of his city. At its inception it was but a modest, unpretentious venture, but under Mr. Bradford's energetic manage- ment it has become one of the solid and representative houses in the city, just as its directing head has become known as one of the substantial, reliable and honored business men of Goshen.
Mr. Bradford was born at Schenectady, New York, August 20, 1849, the youngest son of Abram and Sarah ( Hatch ) Bradford, natives of New York. His father, who divided his time between mer- chandising and farming, died in 1849, not long after the birth of the son, but the mother survived until 1876. Abram MI. Bradford had only ordinary advantages in his youth, but managed to secure a good education, attending the country schools during the winter terms. He was brought up as a farm boy and when not applying himself to his studies was employed in the various tasks of the agri- culturist. His studies were completed when he was eighteen years of age, but for three years more he remained on the farm, or until he attained his majority. In 1860 he went to Steuben County, New York, where he engaged in farming. In 1883 he found the means and opportunity for entering business on his own account, but wisely did not attempt to establish himself in the crowded New York business field, coming instead to the newer community of Goshen, where he was content to embark upon his individual career and to accept the opportunities this rising city offered. For a short time he was in the manufacturing business. In 1908, with his son, Miles P. Bradford, he engaged in the grocery business. The store is located at the corner of Main and Douglas streets, where a large and well selected stock is tastefully and attractively displayed. Mr. Bradford has always held a high position in the esteem and confidence of those with whom he has done business. He may, per- haps, be termed a merchant of the old school, a school that graduates of which place honorable dealing above all other desirable attributes.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.