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 8
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On August 26, 1897, they enjoyed what comparatively few mar- ried persons experienced, viz. : the fiftieth anniversary of their mar- riage. Mrs. Stauffer died September 28, 1901.
His interests were always centered in the advancement of the whole community and coincided with those of the town, making him a loyal and public spirited citizen. He was instrumental in building the St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Middlebury, giving over his time and energies to the cause that was uppermost in his heart. Both he and his wife were charter members of this church and for nearly half a century were faithful and consistent members.
It was an occasion of great joy to him to witness the laying of the corner stone of the rebuilt St. Paul's Lutheran Church which occurred on the day before his death. Despite failing health and the knowledge of approaching death he was always faithful to his duty and the same kindly spirit characterized his last days that was the moving influence of his prime. No one in Middlebury was held in higher esteem and his sudden call to his heavenly home was a distinct shock to all. As his work was centered in the advancement of the community, the entire community mourned his departure on October 4, 1909, when aged eighty-three years.
Four children were born to Amos and Susan Stauffer: Mary, Elizabeth, Susie and John. The three girls grew to womanhood. Mary married B. F. Freeland of Middleburg; their children are Curtis A. of Sturgis, Michigan, Lora Van Epps, of Portage, Wis- consin, Lloyd of Chicago, Illinois, Bruce, Roy, Amy Neff and Amos
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of Middlebury. Elizabeth married William T. B. Larimer of Goshen ; their children are : George A., of Memphis, Tennessee, Milton Brice, of Fort Wayne, Atta Bradford and Mary Emma of Goshen. Susie married Wilson R. Wilt, their children are Frank, deceased, Elma Clemence, Atlanta, Georgia, Mark Arlowene and Rebecca, of Goshen.
GOSHEN COLLEGE. An institution which during the last fifteen or twenty years has had much to do with shaping the ideals and with training the mind and character of young men and women for places of usefulness in the world is Goshen College. The aim of the college is significantly expressed by its motto, "Culture for Service." The founders and those entrusted with the administration of the college believe that education fundamentally is a preparation for life and that the culture of greatest value is that which helps the individual physically, intellectually, socially, morally and spiritually.
Goshen College is the outgrowth of the old Elkhart Institute, formerly located in the City of Elkhart. In 1895 its first sessions were opened in the Grand Army of the Republic Hall at Elkhart and before the end of the first year the Elkhart Institute Associa- tion was organized, and with the funds raised by the association a building was erected on Prairie Street. In 1898 the association was incorporated under the laws of Indiana, and the management vested in a board of nine directors. In 1901 the constitution was amended and the number of members on the board increased to twenty-five, and a committee was also appointed to receive propositions from the different localities to provide larger grounds and more buildings.
From the first the control of the older institute and the college has been in the hands of the Mennonite Church. As a result of the reorganization in 1901 ten acres of ground now comprising the campus were purchased just south of the city limits of Goshen, and this ground is now known as the Goshen College Addition. The first building ready for occupancy was East Hall, a woman's dormi- tory, and school opened there September 29, 1903. On January 8, 1904, the main college building or Administration Building was dedi- cated, and this is a commodious four-story structure of brick built at a cost of $25,000. Since then several other buildings have adorned the campus, including the new Science Hall, also a four-story brick building, equipped with scientific laboratories and for work in agri- culture and home economics. Another building is Kulp Hall, a three-story brick and stone building, containing dining hall, reception room, and studios, with young women's dormitory. The old East Hall, a three-story frame building, now furnishes quarters for young men. The college has a library of 6,000 volumes, including the Men- nonite Historical Library.
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In February, 1906, the property of Goshen College was trans- ferred to a board of trustees known as the Mennonite Board of Edu- cation, which was organized November 16, 1905. The college sup- plies many facilities for higher education under strictest auspices, and has been well attended during the last twelve years. Besides the standard curriculum for literary course it has facilities for scientific training, including a college farm, agricultural and dairy laboratories and work in domestic science. The regular departments are college, normal, academy, theology, music, vocal, and instrumental, business courses, and the faculty comprises a staff of educators well equipped to carry out the fundamental purposes of the college as well as that of any standard college.
JOHN ELLSWORTH HARTZLER, D. D. There is no institution which has brought greater distinction to the City of Goshen as an educational center than Goshen College, which has already sent forth a large number of trained young men and young women to their respective work in the world, and which now comprises a num- ber of buildings and a fine property in the south end of the city. The second man to hold the post of president of Goshen College is John Ellsworth Hartzler, who already in two years has started Goshen College upon a new era of expansion and influence.
A native of Indiana, President Hartzler was born in Noble County in the vicinity of the community known as "Henpeck" Feb- ruary 2, 1879, the second son of Joseph Z. and Mary ( Byler) Hartzler. The parents came from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, to Indiana, in 1876, and located on a farm in Noble County. Later Joseph Z. Hartzler operated a sawmill for the manufacture of hardwood lumber at "Henpeck." He and his family again spent several years in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, then moved to Logan County, Ohio, and from there to Cass County, Missouri, where he and his wife still reside. Joseph Z. Hartzler in Missouri has gained more than a local reputation as a stock breeder. He owns a fine farm of 350 acres in Cass County, fifty miles south of Kansas City, and has brought this land to a splendid state of cultivation and improvement. His farm is known as headquarters for registered Hereford cattle, which are raised chiefly for breeding purposes and shipped to all parts of Missouri and western states. Mr. Hartzler is not only a prosperous farmer and cattle man, but it is said that no man living in Cass County has taken a greater interest in and done more for the promotion of schools and educational advance- ment than he. He has for some years been a member of the school board, but otherwise has never sought political honors.
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While his early career was spent in various places, Dr. John E. Hartzler gained most of his elementary education at East Lynne in Cass County, Missouri. He also spent three years in the Elkhart Institute, which became Goshen College, where he was graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910. He also spent two years in the McCormick Theological Seminary at Chicago, and one year in the Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, New York, where he was granted the degree Bachelor of Divinity. On leaving college Doctor Hartzler became pastor of the Prairie Street Mennonite Church at Goshen, but a year later, in 1913, was elected president of the Goshen College. At the present time the annual registration of students at Goshen College aggregates 500. On the fine tract of land which comprises the campus in the southern part of the city are four substantial buildings, while in 1915 a $50,000 Science Hall was added to the building equipment. This latest addi- tion is a modern structure in all its furnishings and equipment, is four stories high, and is built of pressed brick. One im- portant feature of the college which increases its facilities for the instruction of students preparing for agricultural careers is a col- lege farm of sixty acres, and other land is leased, so that the total area cultivated and looked after by the students is 135 acres. The college conducts a model dairy farm and it is a practical experiment station and a nursery for well trained and efficient men and women who will carry their training and their Christian citizenship to rural communities all over the country. The farm is well stocked with registered Holstein cattle and Duroc hogs and there is an ample supply of machinery and general building facilities for all depart- ments of farm management.
In 1910 Mr. Hartzler married Miss Mamie Yoder, who was born in Ohio, a daughter of David S. Yoder, formerly from Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They have one son, John Ellsworth, Jr., and one daughter Helen Charlene. Doctor Hartzler is a member of the Mennonite Board of Missions, being president of the Indiana and Michigan Mission Board and also of the executive board. His home is at 1304 South Eighth Street, Goshen, Indiana.
REV. JONAS S. HARTZLER. A native of Noble County, Indiana, Mr. Hartzler was born August 8, 1857. His father was a native of Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, but in 1840 moved to Elkhart County, Indiana, and later to Noble County where he purchased a farm and spent the rest of his life. He was a hard worker, both on his farm and for the uplift of the neighborhood. He took a great interest in the Mennonite Church of which he was a member. He was married to Sarah Smoker of Wayne County, Ohio.
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Rev. Mr. Hartzler spent his boyhood days on the farm, attend- ing country school. He had a desire for a college education but this was never gratified. He attended several county normal schools and spent some time in educational work in Wooster, Ohio, and Chicago. He was vitally connected with the Elkhart Institute (which was later changed to Goshen College) from its beginning, having taught in that institution for more than twenty years. He has served in many pulpits in the Mennonite Church and is officially connected with several boards of the church to which he is devoting most of his time. He was married to Fannie C. Hartzler in 1880. They had one son, Vernon, who died in 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Hartz- ler live at 1139 South Eighth Street, Goshen, Indiana.
PETER C. KENDALL. Ten years age Peter C. Kendall gave up his profession of public accountant and came to Elkhart, here to identify himself with the Sidway Mercantile Company as secretary and as- sistant treasurer. Soon after that he became treasurer of the firm. Still later he was made vice president and treasurer, and on June 15, 1915, he became president and treasurer of the firm. His rise in the business has been consistent with the careful business policies of the firm, and in Mr. Kendall the Sidway Mercantile Company has a head that is able to conduct its affairs to the best possible ad- vantage.
Mr. Kendall was born in Liverpool, England, on September 13, 1877, and he is a son of William and Sarah Ann (Cotteral ) Kendall. The father was born in Liverpool and the mother in London. Both are now living in Chicago. Eight children were born to them, and Peter C. Kendall of this review was the fourth born child. William Kendall was engaged in the flour business in Liverpool, England, up to 1888, in which year he emigrated to America, locating in Chicago. Since that time he has been engaged in the work of a professional accountant, and he has been well established in that work for some time.
Peter Kendall had his education in the public schools of Chicago. He has worked for himself since he was fourteen years of age, and was trained in the art of public accounting under the able direction of his father. He was still in his teens when he went on a six months' trip to Alaska with the Soloman & Council City Railroad Company as accountant, and when he returned from that experience he located again in Chicago. He has worked all through the coun- try in his capacity of accountant, visiting many of the large cities of the land, and getting a reputation for skill in his work that was well worthy of him. In 1905 he gave up the work and came to
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Elkhart, here to become associated with the Sidway Mercantile Com- pany, and his rise in that concern has already been indicated.
Like his father, Mr. Kendall has been prominent in Masonic circles. He was a member of Lawn Lodge Ancient Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Chicago; Lawn Chapter Royal Arch Masons, and Lawn Commandery of Knights Templar, from all of which he was demitted to the corresponding bodies in Elkhart. He is Past Eminent Commander of Elkhart Commandery No. 31, Knights Templar, and, with his wife, has membership in Lawn Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, in Chicago. He is also a member of the Fort Wayne Consistory, and of Mizpah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine at Fort Wayne. He is also a member of Elkhart Lodge No. 425, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and Master of Ceremonies for the Ma-Ha-Di Grotto. He is republican in his politics, as is also his father.
In 1901 Mr. Kendall married Mabel Willoughby, born in London, Ohio, and they have three children : William Willoughby, Ruth A., and Peter C., Jr.
JOE E. BOWMAN. The Bowman family has been identified with Elkhart County for more than fifty years. Joe E. Bowman, though not a native of this county, has spent most of his years here, and has long been one of the competent and highly respected industrial workers in Elkhart.
He was born in a log house in Copley Township of Summit County, Ohio, April 22, 1868. The original Bowman ancestry were Swiss people who were colonial settlers in Pennsylvania, where the great-grandfather Jacob Bowman was born. Jacob Bowman re- moved to Stark County, Ohio, prior to the War of 1812, and was one of the earliest pioneers to locate in that wilderness region of Northeastern Ohio. During the war which followed, being physi- cally unable to take his place in the ranks, he hired a substitute to fight the British army. He did his part as a pioneer by clearing up a farm from the wilderness, and somewhat late in life he fell from a load of hay and his death resulted soon afterwards from the injury.
Mr. Bowman's grandfather Peter Bowman was born in Somer- set County, Pennsylvania, and was a child when the family re- moved to Ohio. He served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade, and followed that vocation in Stark County until 1844. when he removed to Medina County, Ohio, and bought a farm. In 1853, accompanied by his son and a neighbor, he went out to Iowa with the expectation of finding a suitable location in that new state.
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However, conditions were altogether too new for him, and he went back to Ohio. While en route he stopped in Elkhart County long enough to buy 140 acres of land in Concord Township, and in 1854 he permanently settled on this farm and was a general farmer in that locality until his death. His wife's maiden name was Julia Ann Essig, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, daughter of John Essig. She spent her last years on the old farm in Concord Town- ship, and reared ten children named Levi, John, Lewis, Lucinda, Lovina, Simon, Sarah, Louisa, Frank and Milton C.
Levi Bowman father of Joe E., was born in Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio, February 20, 1832, and was reared and educated in his native state. In 1853 he made the journey out to Iowa with his father. They went by railroad as far as Freeport, Illinois, which was then the western terminus of the line toward the Mississippi River, and from that point journeyed by stage into Iowa. Iowa then had very few cities or towns, and probably three-fourths of its entire area was still government land. After visiting a number of points, traveling by stage, on foot or horseback, they came to the conclusion that they could go better in a country not so far re- moved from civilization. Levi Bowman consequently returned to Ohio, but in the following year moved out to Elkhart County. While the other members of the family came by rail, he brought the household goods across the country in a wagon. Even in Elk- hart County there were ample evidences of a not remote pioneer era, since a large part of the land was covered by a heavy growth of timber or brush, and the young man found plenty of employment for his energy and time in clearing up the land which his father had purchased. He conducted a farm in Concord Township, and later lived in Ohio for several years, during the period when Joe E. Bowman was born. In 1876 he removed to Elkhart City, and for more than thirty years was employed as a stationary engineer. He is now living retired. being in his eighty-fourth year. At the age of twenty-one Levi Bowman married Polly Freeman, who was born in Pennsylvania, a daughter of Daniel Freeman. She died in 1907. Their six children were Susan, Lovina, Erastus, Mary Ann, Joe E. and Rosetta. The last named died at the age of eighteen.
Joe E. Bowman acquired part of his early education in Summit County, Ohio, and later was a student in the schools of Elkhart. After leaving school he worked as a farm hand until the age of twenty-one, and then followed various kinds of employment until 1896. In that year he learned the trade of buffer and polisher in the Buescher factory at Elkhart, and has since continued work along the same line and is now connected with the Sidway Com-
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pany. He is a member of the Metal Workers Union and is also affiliated with Elkhart Camp No. 30, Woodmen of the World.
On August 3, 1889, Mr. Bowman married Mrs. Ella ( Ritter) Chapman. She was born in Elkhart, her father being Dan H. Ritter, the pioneer provision dealer to whom reference is made on other pages. By her first marriage Mrs. Ritter has two children : Magdalena and Daniel E. The daughter married for her first husband Harry Splady, who died leaving a daughter named Har- riet and she is now the wife of Ernest Bardon. The son Daniel married Myrtle Phelps, and has a daughter Isabel.
DAN H. RITTER. The first meat market at Elkhart was opened by the late Dan H. Ritter, who for many years was one of the enterprising business men in this section of Elkhart County.
He was born in Cooperville, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in 1828. His father, John Ritter, who was born in Bergersville in the same county, was a limestone burner, an occupation which he followed many years. He spent all his life in Pennsylvania, and died from injuries received from a fall from a horse when about seventy years of age. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Newsbickle, and she attained the advanced age of ninety-two.
As a boy Dan H. Ritter worked for several years assisting his father in the lime burning trade, and later going to Philadelphia learned the butcher's trade. He was still a youth when he moved to Elkhart during the '40s and established himself in the butcher busi- ness. He opened a market at the southwest corner of Harrison and Main streets and this was the first regular meat market in the vil- lage and for some time the only one. A few years later he sold out, and then employed his time in farming and in clearing up some tracts of land. Later he resumed his original business, opening a meat market at the corner of Middlebury and Madison streets, and continued at that location for a number of years. His last days were spent in retirement and he died in December, 1906. Many of the older residents will recall gratefully the presence of Dan H. Ritter among Elkhart's earlier citizens. He was of a cheerful disposition and had a gift for music, and in the absence of any other instrument during his youthful days he whistled merry tunes to which the people gathered together for social purposes were accustomed to dance.
Dan H. Ritter married Magdelena Ohl, who was born in Applebockville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Nancy Ohl. John Ohl was born in England, and came to America in time to serve with the United States troops in the War of 1812.
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Mrs. Dan H. Ritter died February 23, 1909. There was only one daughter, Ella C., now Mrs. Joe E. Bowman of Elkhart. Mrs. Bowman is one of the oldest native women of Elkhart and has many interesting recollections of early days in the city. She attended school there when the city school system comprised only one school building, located at the corner of Jefferson and Main streets, and later she attended the first brick school house located at the corner of High and Second streets. She also recalls the time when the business center consisted entirely of Main street and only a comparatively brief string of stores along each side of that thoroughfare. During her girlhood the Lake Shore Railroad had only one track, and stages came and went from many directions.
SILAS LONGLEY. One of the veterans in the service of the Lake Shore Railway, Silas Longley has for a quarter of a century piloted an engine back and forth from Elkhart, and during much of the time has had one of the passenger runs between Elkhart and Toledo. Additional interest attaches to his career on account of the early connections of the Longley family with Elkhart County, where they arrived in time to share in pioneer hardships and bur- dens.
Born on a farm in Concord Township of Elkhart County, Silas Longley is a son of Levi Longley, who was born in Pennsylvania November 14, 1817, and is a grandson of John Longley, who was probably also born in Pennsylvania and was of English ancestry. It was about 1835 that John Longley brought his little family to Elkhart County. The county had been organized only four or five years before, and probably three-fourths of its entire area was unoccupied and there were some parts of the county where as yet the foot of civilized man had never trod. John Longley bought a tract of timbered land at once and set himself to the heavy work of clearing it. He was a man of unusual education and in the early days he taught a school during the winter, while the open months of the year were spent in his pioneer toil. He lived in Elkhart County on his farm until his death in 1850. John Longley married Frances Bird, who was born in Ohio and died at the age of sixty- five, having reared ten children.
Levi Longley, father of Silas, was about eighteen years of age when he came with his father to Elkhart County, and his early life was one of many pioneer experiences. He grew up as a farmer and in 1848 be bought the east half of the northwest quarter of section 19 in Concord Township, paying only $350 for the entire eighty acres. Practically every acre of the land was heavily tim-
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bered, and he had a heavy task before him to clear it off and put it in cultivation. In 1850 he erected a log house, and that for several years was the family habitation and while he and his wife lived there four of their children were born. While improving his land Levi Longley erected good frame buildings, and it was a very com- fortable home and valuable estate before he died in 1878. The maiden name of his wife was Julia Jewell, who was born in Ohio. Her father, Joseph Jewell, was at the time of the War of 1812, in which he served as a soldier, a resident of that portion of Massa- chusetts now included in the State of Maine. From New England he came to Ohio, and married in the latter state Elizabeth Lewis. From Ohio he moved out to Illinois, and then came to Elkhart County, locating on the river road in Baugo Township. Not long afterward he moved to the village of Elkhart. Joseph Jewell was a carpenter by trade, and for a number of years he conducted a business as contractor and builder at Elkhart, having constructed some of the pioneer dwellings and business houses of the city. About 1847 he moved to Texas, which had recently become a state, and located with the very early pioneers in the vicinity of Sherman, where he bought land, but occupied it only a few years. He finally moved to Cass County, Missouri, acquiring a tract of land about five miles from Harrisville, where he engaged in farming and merchandising until his death. Mrs. Levi Longley survived her husband several years, and she reared seven children: Andrew, Emma, Jesse, Rebecca, Anna, Martha and Silas. The son Andrew saw active service in the Union army during the Civil war, and was wounded at the battle of Buzzard's Roost during the Atlanta campaign, and died six weeks after the battle.
Silas Longley grew up on the old homestead in Concord Town- ship and gained his education first in the district schools and later in the city schools of Elkhart. It was in 1880, thirty-five years ago, that he entered the employ of the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. His first work was in the round house, afterwards he acted as "caller," was then promoted to fireman, and in 1891 was given his first run as a regular engineer. There are few men older in this branch of the service with the Lake Shore Company, and none have a better record for fidelity and carefulness.
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