USA > Indiana > Newton County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 20
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 20
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
On the '7th of March, 1895, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Porter to Miss Dorothea May, daughter of Robert May, and the four children of this union are: Lottie C., Dorothea S. (affec- tionately called Dot), Helen M. and Donald Burdett. The two elder daughters were graduated in the Remington High School and the family home is one known for its generous hospitality and good cheer, Mr. and Mrs. Porter and their children being popular in the social activities of their home community.
FRED LYONS. A son of John B. Lyons, whose name is so closely associated with the history of Brook, and whose career as a soldier, stock farmer, banker and public spirited citizen is told on other pages, Fred Lyons has inherited many of the worthy qualities of his father and for many years has been likewise an active figure in business affairs at Brook.
He was born on his father's farm near Brook April 30, 1873. He grew up there. gained his education in the local schools, and at an early age became a responsible and active factor in his father's business. He remained with his father until his twenty-fifth year, when he went into the grain business with William Esson under the firm name of Lyons and Esson. This continued until 1903, and the name was then changed to Lyons, Esson and Light. In 1910 Mr. J. D. Rich bought a third interest in the business and the three partners have since conducted one of the largest grain buying and shipping enterprises in this section of Northwestern Indiana.
Among other interests Mr. Lyons is owner of 556 acres of choice farming land in Jasper County. He is a very practical man, pro- gressive and enterprising, and is always ready to take his share of ' community burdens. He is an active member of the Knights of Pythias, of Brook Lodge No. 670, F. and A. M., belongs to the United Brethren Church and to the Haselden Golf Club and the Columbia Club of Indianapolis.
On July 11. 1901, Mr. Lyons married Miss Laura Esson. They are the parents of five children : Pauline, Gladys, William B., Fielder A. and Fred Lyons Jr.
JACOB A. MANY. Among the highly esteemed residents of Rem- ington, Jasper County, there are many retired farmers of ample means, and one of these, who is rich also in the experiences of life, is Jacob A. May, who is an honored survivor of the great Civil war. Although of Southern birth his life has been preferably spent in
586
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
Indiana, in which state, he, as well as other members of his family, are well and favorably known.
Jacob A. May was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, August 23. 1846, and is a son of George and Mary (Yeager) May. In his infancy they left Virginia and came to Jasper County, Indiana, and here he grew to manhood and has made the county his permanent home. He has witnessed remarkable changes since the days when, as a boy, he helped his brothers herd cattle on the prairie, quite often sceing herds of deer and other wild animals, long since driven away by civilization. He attended school in those days at a point about three miles north of the present site of Remington, but the schoolhouse would not compare very favorably with many of the present day. His father was a practical man and all his sons, including Jacob A., had farm duties they were expected to perform. When about fifteen years old, inheriting forty acres from his father's estate, he started out for himself as a farmer, but on every hand men were enlisting for service in the Civil war, then in its second year, and he, too, decided to volunteer, with this object in view making his way to Indianapolis. When he reached there he learned that the regiment which he wished to enter had ceased enlistment, therefore, on June 9, 1862, near Pittsburgh, Pa., he became a member of Company A, Eleventh United States Regulars. The first engagement in which Mr. May participated was the battle of Antie- tam, following which were the engagements at Fredericksburg, and closely after the battles of Chancellorsville and Mine Run. When the battle of Gettysburg is mentioned in Mr. May's hearing, he probably proudly tells of the valor of his regiment, which went into that great struggle 240 strong and came out with 118 survivors, even if he does not mention that he here received a wound in the side. Following this came the battle of the Wilderness and in this series of engagements he was captured by the Confederates and as a prisoner of war was taken to the prison at Andersonville and later to that at Florence. In conveying the prisoners from one point to another the captors drove the captives on in front so that no rear attack by the Federals could recapture them. It was because of this that Mr. May made a desperate attempt to get away and fortunately succeeded, and, after many hazardous adventures finally rejoined his regiment after the surrender of Richmond. Although at the time of enlistment he was little more than a child, not sixteen years old, he went through three years of army life with the courage and strength of a man, taking part in some of the greatest battles of the war. During the latter part of his service he transferred from Company A to Company B. in the same regiment. He was honorably discharged at Camp Winder, June 9, 1865.
Mr. May returned immediately to Jasper County and resumed his former interests, shortly afterward purchasing eighty acres of land, Carpenter Township school land, for which he paid $to per acre, and to this he continued to add until now he owns 3327/3 acres
587
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
of very productive land. lu 1913 he moved to Remington, where he is most comfortably established, but has not entirely given up over- looking his farm properties.
On December 3. 1868, Jacob A. May was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Ann Ravenscroff. She is a daughter of IIar- mon and Mary (Fink ) Ravenseroff, who were natives of Virginia. At the time the war broke out between the states, the father of Mrs. May was a captain of state militia, and in order to avoid being forced into the war against the Union, he came with his family to Jasper County and here he and wife passed the rest of their days. Mrs. May was born in Virginia, August 28, 1848, and was a school girl when her parents came to Indiana. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. May : Elwood, who died at the age of fifteen years; Jessie, who died at the age of twelve years; Claude W., who is a farmer in Carpenter Township; Bertrand, who is also a farmer in this township; and Artie, who died in infancy. Mr. Máy has never been an aspirant for political honors although his advice has often been asked and followed concerning public matters. He is affiliated with the republican party.
GEORGE WELCH. Although valuable and highly cultivated land now surrounds the comfortable farm house of one of Carpenter Township's most respected citizens, George Welch, it seems but a short time, in listening to his interesting story of his settlement here, when all this section was wild prairie. An honorably dis- charged officer of the great Civil war, when, at its close he chose this section for his permanent home, he since has pursued the peace- ful pursuits of agriculture and now owns eighty acres lying two miles east of Goodland, Indiana.
George Welch was born January 2, 1838, in Hampshire, Eng- land. In 1852 he accompanied his parents, George and Sarah (Ifould) Welch, to the United States, the family settling in Onondago County, New York. In his native land he had school privileges, but after coming to America he largely made his own way in the world by his own labor. He listened to tales of the great West and at length decided to visit Brook, Indiana, starting in the spring of 1857 and reached Rensselaer, Jasper County. It was a time of high water and as the land was covered he had no opportunity to judge of its location or fertility there or chance to reach Brook, his intended destination, in Newton County. In 1860 he was more successful and was living in the vicinity of Brook when the call came from President Lincoln for soldiers to preserve the life of the nation.
George Welch did not hesitate long, for on April 25, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Fifteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which regiment he remained until it disbanded, when, as a veteran, he entered the Seventeenth Indiana Infantry and con- tinued in the service until the close of the war and was honorably
588
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
discharged August 8, 1865. During this long period of service he had many hard experiences for he took part in some of the greatest battles of that war, these including Shiloh, Stone River, Perryville and Selma, Alabama, and he was with that brave and soldierly body that accomplished what is known in history as the Wilson cavalry raid. Prior to his re-enlistment his valor had won him promotion from private to corporal, to sergeant and to first sergeant, and after he veteranized he was made sergeant major of the Seventeenth Regiment. It was at the battle of Selma that he received his wound.
In 1865 Mr. Welch returned to Jasper County, Indiana, and bought eighty acres situated on Section 19, Range 7, West, in Carpenter Township, and this farm he still owns. It took hard and continuous work to make this land profitable under cultivation, but that he had expected, and during his many years of activity kept making improvements until now he has one of the valuable farms' of the township. In recalling old days when primitive customs prevailed in this section and neighbors were far apart, he says that during the entire first year that he lived in Jasper County he saw but one covered carriage. It was then an unusual possession and an indication of much affluence.
On January 3, 1867, Mr. Welch was united in marriage with Miss Jane Moulton. She was of Scotch-Irish descent and a daughter of Joseph M. and Eliza (IIibbard) Moulton, residents then of Cicero, New York. To this marriage three children were born : Charles A., who is a resident of Carpenter Township, married Carrie E. Johnson, and they have two children, Winona and Helen; Herbert J., who is in the jewelry business at Wabash, Indiana, married Mae Lilves, and they have a daughter, Myrtle ; and William H., who is a resident of Antrim County, Michigan, near Alba, mar- ried Lenna Risbridger, and they have three children, Lola, Crystal and George.
In his political sentiments Mr. Welch has always been a repub- lican and, taking an interest in public matters in his county and advocating public improvements of all kinds, his views, when known, met with the approval of his fellow citizens as is evidenced by his frequent elections to office. With marked efficiency he served two terms as township supervisor, was road supervisor and for ten years was a member of the township advisory board. Mr. Welch has not only been an excellent farmer, but has been a prudent investor and business man in other directions, and at present owns stock in the First National Bank of Goodland, and shares in the Newton County Loan and Savings Association of the same place. In his religious belief he is a Universalist, while Mrs. Welch belongs to the Methodist Church. He is a valued comrade in the G. A. R. post at Goodland.
589
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
MOSES SIGO. In traveling through Jasper County, Indiana, a visitor cannot avoid admiring some of the fine farms that are presented to view, and when he enters Carpenter Township is sure to note the richly cultivated and well tilled land, 145 acres of which is the property of one of the representative men of this section, Moses Sigo, who, for three years, served very efficiently in the office of township supervisor. Moses Sigo has been a farmer all his life and is well and favorably known all through this section of Indiana, and has resided on his present place in Section 12 since 1891.
Moses Sigo was born April 16, 1854, in Kankakee County, Illi- nois, near Bourbonnais, a son of Louis and Mary R. (Taylor) Sigo, natives of St. Johns, Canada. He grew to manhood in his native county, attending school when opportunity offered, in the meantime learning to be a careful farmer. He continued to live in Illinois for two years after he had married and then moved to Benton County, Indiana, for one year engaging in farming near Fowler. From there he moved to Newton County, Indiana, and for six years carried on farming operations near Kentland, removing then to near Wolcott, in White County. Two years later he moved to the Village of Remington and in the following year, 1891, settled on his present farm of 140 acres. Like all land in this vicinity it had to be properly drained in order to ensure profitable farming, and Mr. Sigo soon began his fine system of putting down tile and through his sensible and far-seeing methods has vastly increased the value of his land. He has never engaged in any other business, from boyhood finding himself more interested in tilling the soil and urging its production of all the rich products which sustain life, than in anything else. An agricultural life has brought him health, contentment and independence.
In Kankakce County, Illinois, January 7, 1880, Mr. Sigo was united in marriage with Miss Philomene Beaudreau, who is a daughter of Cyprian and Palagie Beaudreati. Both parents of Mrs. Sigo are of French descent but they were born in Canada. A family of nine children has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sigo, the most of whom live near home: Napoleon, the oldest, is a farmer in Carpenter township, married Lillian Lattimore, and they have two children, Raymond and Inez; Cordelia, who is the wife of John Kolhoff; George, who is a resident of Jordan Township, married Isabel Luers, and they have three children, Lloyd, Ione and Robert ; Rose, who is the wife of Joseph Kolhoff, both the Kolhoffs being residents and farmers of Jordan Township; Emma, who is a Franciscan sister, is engaged in teaching in a parochial school at Memphis, Tennessee; Joseph E., who is a farmer near Goodland, in Newton County, married Eva Ulm; and Victor, Louise and Jolin, all of whom live at home. Mr. Sigo and family are devout Catholics and members of the Sacred Heart Church at Remington. Ile belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters and at times has
590
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
filled offices in the order and has served as a trustee of the church, and also of the Catholic Cemetery at Remington.
Mr. Sigo has always voted with the democratic party, and when he has been elected to office it has been because his friends believed in his honesty and efficiency and not because he sought political honors. He has been open in his advocacy of improved roads and drainage ditches, one of the latter running through his farm, bearing his name. Mr. Sigo is a well-informed man and a charitable one, is a good neighbor and loyal friend and is respected by all who know him in either business or private life.
JACOB D. Ricu, long and favorably known in Newton County as a banker and grain merchant, is a lawyer by profession, but has used his knowledge of the law largely to promote his own business affairs.
He represents one of the old and prominent families of North- western Indiana. Mr. Rich was born April 23, 1869, at the home of his parents, three miles northeast of Goodland, and is the fourth of nine children -- six sons and three daughters-born to William L. and Sarah Jane (Catterlin) Rich. The Rich family originally came from North Carolina, but William L. Rich was a native of Indiana and lived for a short time in Montgomery and Clinton counties. In 1867 he moved to Jasper County, where he died August 20, 1916, at the age of seventy-six. He was a very success- ful old time farmer and stock raiser, and contributed his share to the elevation of the standards of that industry in this section of Indiana. Politically he was a democrat and was a member of the . Christian church. Jacob D. Rich is the youngest of the three sons still living. Frank C., his oldest brother, is now the efficient county treasurer of Newton County living at Kentland, and the record of his career may be read on other pages. Walter E., the second brother, is president and manager of the Goodland Grain Company at Goodland, a $50,000 corporation, and is married and has three children.
In the home of his parents Jacob D. Rich spent the first nineteen years of his life. Ile received a good discipline at home in the work of the farm and also attended the public schools. After graduating from the Remington High School with the class of 1888 he entered the normal department of Valparaiso University and for three years was a successful teacher in the schools of Jasper County. He then took up the study of law in the office of William Cummings, of Kentland, Indiana, and was admitted to the bar in 1891. During the quarter of a century since his admission Mr. Rich has actively practiced only a few years. For a short time he had a law office in Wolcott, Indiana. He then became identified with the grain business at Foresman, Indiana, where he remained three years, and in 1904 he located in Brook.
Here he practiced law and at the same time was in the banking
.
د الضحية
Jacst a Rick
Mrs. Jacob D. Rick.
الكفـ
استاك استكمبادة ؟
FAIR VIEW LODGE Residence of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob D. Rich.
591
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
business. Mr. Rich was one of the organizers of the Citizens Bank which was operated under the firm name of Rich & Stonchill until they disposed of the institution to the Bank of Brook. On leaving the bank Mr. Rich practiced law and engaged in the real estate business until 1910. In that year he became a third owner in the Lyons, Rich & Light Grain Company, and has since acquired inter- ests in various other grain elevators in other towns.
He is largely interested in real estate both in Jasper and Newton counties and in North Dakota. He is proprietor of what is known as The Richland Farm, four hundred acres of fine land in Iroquois Township of Newton County near Julian Station. Mr. Rich and Mr. Foresman are the sole owners of the Brook Reporter, one of the live journals of Northwestern Indiana. He has other important properties.
Mr. Rich is an active member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Brook, is a Royal Arch Mason and belongs to Brook Lodge Number 670, Free and Accepted Masons. Politically he is a republican. He does his part to promote religious and moral growth in this community and is an elder and trustee in the Christian Church, having held such a position since its organization in 1896.
On June 16, 1898. at Brook he married Miss Hattie Victoria Sunderland. Mrs. Rich was born in Newton County, Indiana, June 27, 1875. the youngest of six children, three sons and three daugh- ters, whose parents were William Clay and Victoria (Boyle) Sun- derland. Her father was a native of Woodford County, Illinois, was educated in the public schools, was often employed as a teacher of music though his main vocation was farming. He was an ardent republican and he and his wife members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Sunderland died at Brook in 1912. His wife, who was born in Bureau County, Illinois, was educated in the common schools and finished her training in the Ladies Seminary at Princeton, Illinois, and for some years after coming to Indiana was a successful teacher. She died in 1903.
Mrs. Rich's brothers and sisters, all older than herself, are: Louis A., who is a contractor and builder at Brook and is married and has four children : Clarence, a merchant at Brook, is married and has three children ; Lillian is the widow of Fred R. Foresman, living at Brook and the mother of one daughter; Cora is the wife of Marcus Foresman, editor of the Brook Reporter. Mrs. Rich was educated in the public schools and in the high school at Good- land, Indiana. She is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Brook and corresponding secretary of the Welfare Club, a club of prominent ladies at Brook devoted to literature, music and art. Mr. and Mrs. Rich have one of the most beautiful and modern residences in Brook known as Fairview Lodge. A fine library of 300 volumes of choice literature attests their interest in some of the best things of life, and reminiscent of his profession and
592
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
practice Mr. Rich also has about three hundred and fifty volumes on law and kindred subjects. Their beautiful home is one of those which tend to increase a reputation so often associated with Indiana homes where a gracious hospitality is extended to all the friends that pass the threshold.
JOHN W. PHELPS. A residence for more than forty-five years in Jasper County has made John W. Phelps one of his community's best known citizens, and the honorable and industrious life which he has led has given him a substantial place among its people. As a business man he has won a substantial success, and the esteem which he enjoys among his neighbors is indicated by his varied official performances in township and county.
He is of New England stock, and his father, Henry C. Phelps, · moved out from Barnet, Vermont, to Manteno, Illinois, in 1863, and from there in 1869 brought his family to Jasper County, settling in Section 33, Range 6 West, southeast of Remington, in Carpenter Township. From his farm he moved into the Village of Remington in 1879 and died there February 11, 1894. His body now rests in the Remington Cemetery. Henry C. Phelps was born May 29, 1826, a son of Anthony and Catherine Phelps, and several genera- tions back the ancestors of the Phelps family came from Scotland. On April 24, 1851, at Barnet, Vermont, Henry C. Phelps married Marion Warden, who was also of Scotch descent. There were four children born to them. Ervine Henry married Josephine Thomas, and both are now deccased: Mark Anthony, who is deceased, married Clara Wells, and she lives in Chicago; John William is the next in age; and Lizzie Jeanetta married Thomas Vandervort and they live at Carson City, Nevada. The late Henry C. Phelps was a republican in politics, and for two years of his residence at Remington filled the office of justice of the peace, and was also a school trustee in Carpenter Township. He and his wife were members of the Presbyterian Church. At one time he owned 240 acres of land in Jasper County, but a short time before his deatlı suffered considerable losses in consequence of investments in California. He enjoyed much esteem in Jasper County, where he lived for many years, and had the sterling honesty and integrity which commanded respect. His wife, Marion Phelps, was born November 9, 1823, and died February 10, 1905, and was laid to rest in the Remington Cemetery.
John William Phelps is himself a native of Vermont, born at Barnet, August 4, 1858. He was only a child when the family moved out to Illinois, and has lived in Jasper County almost con- tinuously since he was eleven years old. While educated in the country and identified with farming up to the age of about twenty- five, he then moved to town and for twenty years was a successful dealer in implements and hardware at Remington. During ten years of this time he bought horses, and it is estimated that alto-
.
593
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES
gether he shipped more than 3,500 animals to Chicago market. For the past eleven years Mr. Phelps has been in the real estate and insurance business, and has a large clientage in and around Remington.
In 1883 he married Miss Anna E. Dickman, a daughter of Peter II. and Alvina C. (Beck) Dickman. Mr. Phelps has two children, Henry and Lena M. The son, Henry, is showing liis enterprise by successfully conducting the Hilltop Progressive Truck Farm at Remington. For many years Mr. Phelps has been one of the active republicans in his part of Jasper County. He has served as township assessor for the past six years, and was re-elected to that office in the fall of 1914, and has three more years to serve. In 1909 he was appointed to the town board of Remington to fill out the nnexpired term of William York, and in 1911 was regularly elected to that position for four years, his term expiring in the fall of 1915. Ile and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America at Remington. He has town property both in the City of Wabash and Remington, and his home in Remington is on the edge of the town, and his comfortable house is surrounded by a large tract of ground used by his son for gardening and trucking purposes.
JOIN HUDSON. The activities by which he has become best known in Jasper and Newton counties are those of farming and stock raising, which Mr. Hudson carries on at his farm of 270 acres six miles northeast of Goodland in Carpenter Township. For nearly thirty years he has been a hard working and prospering farmer citizen of this section, and his name probably signifies as much in the way of real accomplishment as that of any other resident of Carpenter Township.
Born in Cook County, Illinois, December 24, 1854, John Hudson is a son of George and Eliza (Gee) Hudson, both of whom were born in England, came to America in the late '40s, and spent the rest of their lives in Cook County, Illinois. It was in that county and in the vicinity of Chicago that John Hudson grew up and gained his early education. At the age of eighteen he went West to Rice County, Kansas, spent one year farming there, and then came to Goodland in Newton County, and for two years was employed on the old Colonel Straght Farm. His next location was near Julian, where he continued farming eight years, and then, in 1886, moved to Carpenter Township, locating in Section 6, where he has had his home now for thirty years.
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.