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 33
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 33
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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
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all around him land sold at that time for $6 or $8 au acre. In recent years he has been offered as high as $175 an aere for his farm. Mr. English followed feeding and shipping stock for twenty-five years and made a great success. He shipped to Chicago.
Three children were born to him and his good wife and have grown up to establish homes of their own. The oldest, Sarah Ann, married John Kennedy, now deceased, and they had eight children, all living but one. Melissa, the second daughter, is the wife of James A. Crisler and lives in Spokane, Washington. Herminia is the wife of Curtis D. Carpenter, and they live near Plymouth in Mar- shall County, Indiana.
Job English has been a consistent follower of the republican party for a great many years, in fact since it was organized, but in local matters lie maintains an independent attitude and gives his support to the best man. For four years he filled the office of justice of the peace in Jackson Township. At the present time Mr. Eng- lish owns 600 acres of land, partly in Jasper and partly in Newton County, and also considerable town property. He has always been in favor of improvement, and on his own land has laid many rods of tiling and his work and example have proved a lasting benefit to his community.
WILLIAM F. CORBIN. One of the oldest citizens of Newton County is William F. Corbin, now retired and living at Brook. Mr. Corbin has been a resident of Newton County more than fifty years and has busied himself with many activities, chiefly as a farmer, though he has always assisted in the mercantile enterprise of his home village, and was at one time postmaster there. His has been an honorable career throughout, and his name is one entitled to respect and the memory of subsequent generations.
He was born in Page County, Virginia, April 2, 1836, a son of Travis D. and Nancy ( Mayes) Corbin. In 1853 the family came to Indiana and settled in Jasper County in what is now Washington Township of Newton County, where the father was one of the carly farmer settlers. Travis D. Corbin besides helping to clear up and develop a tract of land in this county also rendered service by sev- eral terms as a school teacher. He died in Jefferson township in September, 1884, and is buried in the Roberts Cemetery. He was a democrat, though never a seeker for official honor, was a mem- ber of the Masonic Lodge at Morocco, and belonged to the Metho- dist Episcopal Church. By trade he was a carpenter. The children of Travis D. Corbin and wife were: William F., the oldest; Andrew J., who died young ; Mary, who died as the wife of David Sager; Jane, deccased wife of Anios Hyberger; George W., who died un- married : John W., whose home is in Jefferson Township and who married Leah Martin ; Hiram E., who died while in Texas.
William F. Corbin was about seventeen years old when the family came to Newton County, and finished his education here and
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was well prepared for the work of a farmer when he reached his majority. He continued actively in agricultural pursuits until he retired and moved to Brook in the fall of 1893.
In August, 1858, Mr. Corbin married Nancy F. Myers, who is of German descent and a daughter of John and Nancy (Snodgrass) Myers, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ken- tucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Corbin were born ten children, three of whom died young: Nancy J. is the wife of George M. Light and lives in Colorado; Martha E. is the wife of Byrd Light and lives in Brook ; Z. F., who lives at Brook, married Mollie Sterner; Henry R., whose home is near Morocco, married Ella Sell; Belzorah is the wife of L. G. Coovert and lives in Texas; Eddie Josephine married James J. MeCabe and lives three miles west of Brook; David E. has his home north of Brook and married Luella Marshall.
All his life Mr. Corbin has been an active democrat and served four years as postmaster of Brook during Cleveland's administration. He is a member of the United Brethren Church and was formerly an active participant in its work. Mr. Corbin owns 200 acres in Newton County and has a half interest in another farm near Medary- ville. He and his son Z. F. for five or six years were in partnership in a general store at Brook, beginning about 1905.
JAMES SHAEFFER has a commendable record of activities in Newton County. He has spent nearly all his life in the county, represents a family of early settlers, and his own energies have gone productively into farming, and various avenues of business life. His home for a number of years has been in the Village of Brook, where he is one of the well known figures in local citizenship.
His birth occurred June 5, 1852, in Berks County, Pennsylvania. His parents John and Gustina (Schlaesman) Shaeffer were of Penn- sylvania German stock. In March, 1860, the family left Pennsyl- vania, came to Newcastle, Indiana, but in December, 1862, moved to Iroquois Township in Newton County. Newton County was at that time a comparatively undeveloped district and the Shaeffers had their share in making farms out of the wilderness.
Since that date, James Shaeffer, who was ten years of age when the family located in this county has had his home almost contin- uously within five miles of the first settlement. His father died in Iroquois Township October 20, 1891, and is buried in the Watson Cemetery at Rensselaer. He was always a farmer and acquired an estate of 220 acres in Newton County. His church home was the Methodist.
James Shaeffer had begun his education before the family came to Newton County, and grew up on his father's farm. On March 7, 1878, he married Priscilla O. Jones, daughter of Cornelius and Matilda A. (Minshall) Jones, of Newton County. Her parents settled in Iroquois Township as early as 1856, their former home having been in Ross County, Ohio. Cornelius Jones was of mingled
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German and Welsh descent, while his wife was of Scotch stock. Mr. and Mrs. Shaeffer have three children. Kittie M. is the wife of Claude A. Warr, who lives in Brook. Mattie G. is the wife of Charles A. Mather, who lives in Iroquois Township. Agnes V. mar- ried Henry Smith, and they live three miles northeast of Brook.
Having pursued farming successfully for a number of years Mr. Shaeffer in December, 1886, left his farm and established hin- self in the general merchandise business at Foresman. He remained one of the live merchants of that community until 1897, and he also became known as a buyer of livestock, real estate and a dealer in loans. Since 1897 his home has been in Brook, and here he has continued to look after his varied interests, including lands, the handling of loans, and he is also interested in the plumbing business with his son-in-law at Brook. Mr. Shaeffer is a republican, but has no aspirations for office. He is charter member of Brook Lodge of the Knights of Pythias.
ELMER E. HESS. Besides being one of the most genial and popu- lar townsmen at Brook, Elmer E. Hess has made his business a means of carrying the name and fame of this Indiana village beyond the borders of Newton County. For a great many years, in fact since the early settlement of the county, no name has been spoken with greater respect within its borders than that of Hess. Elmer E. Iless is a son of the late Andrew Hess, who established the family here a little more than fifty years ago, and whose descendants still play a valiant part in the business and social life of the community.
Something of his genial fellowship is indicated by the name "Old Mack" by which he is popularly known among his associates and old time friends, and his part as a factor in the business life is indicated by another familiar title, "Witch Hazel Hess."
On February 1, 1916, the E. E. Hess Drug Company was incor- porated under the state laws of Indiana, with Mr. Hess president, and the other members of the board of directors are Everett D. Hess, his son, and Jolin L. Cooke, of Goodland and Verne C. Sny- der. Articles of this corporation were taken out in order the better to handle an industry which has grown under the capable manage- ment of Mr. Hess during the past quarter of a century. The primary object of the E. E. Hess Drug Company is to manufacture what is known to the trade as "W. H. C.", which being translated means witch hazel cream. A year or so ago an article in the Brook Reporter gave a little history of this business, and it is reproduced here with some abbreviation.
On August 1, 1888, Mr. Hess established a little drug store in Brook, his stock consisting of a handful of goods, a good appetite for work and a determination to win out He had all he could do for several years in making a living out of the business. He also had a hobby, and by concentrating attention on this hobby it became his real business, and in time the drug store was a side
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issue. Ile kept on his shelves a considerable stock of creams, lotions, and other toilet preparations, many of them put up in fancy packages, and there was a special demand for such goods at certain seasons of the year, when many of his customers were looking for some- thing for rough and irritated skins, chapped hands, face and lips. Mr. Hess had sufficient conceit to believe that he could produce a toilet preparation a little better than the best. He kept up his experi- menting for a number of years, and finally brought out "W. H. C." Mr. Hess claims for this article something entirely different in com- position from the usual preparations designed to accomplish the same purpose.
At first he manufactured only a few bottles, but the trade has now grown until it is manufactured by the hundreds of gallons, and this growth is the more interesting and noteworthy because it is the result of personal endorsement and a gradual extension of the reputation of the product, rather than from elaborate advertising. At the beginning Mr. Hess had no idea of selling the preparation except to the local trade. Foriner customers who moved away ordered a few bottles sent by mail or express, and gradually drug- gists in other towns began inquiring and asking for a few bottles, and thus the industry came to have more than a little importance. The equipment at first was an old granite kettle in which the preparation was boiled. The next year he introduced a kettle of about double the capacity, and following that came a copper wash boiler, sufficient to make about ten gallons at one time. But in a few years it appeared that the wash boiler was inadequate. Before investing in a larger and much more costly equipment, Mr. Hess sent out letters of inquiry to all the merchants who had handled the preparation, and answers were received to four out of five of these letters, giving him such encouragement and endorsing the prepara- tion so highly that he felt justified in establishing the industry on something like a factory basis. As a result the equipment was increased until it was capable of making about 100 gallons of "W. H. C." every day. With increased trade there came the incorporation of the business, already mentioned, and early in 1916 the company moved to larger quarters and now has a plant with equipment far in advance of any of the earlier stages mentioned.
Elmer E. Hess was born February 20, 1862, in Iroquois Town- ship of Newton County, and has always had his home in that one community. He grew up on a farm, and besides the common schools attended for a time the high school at Logansport.
His first business experience was as a clerk for about eighteen months in the drug department of W. D. Foresman's general store. Then in 1888 he established his drug business at Brook under the name "Hess The Druggist." Later the business was known as E. E. Hess & Son, and out of that came the E. E. Hess Drug Com- pany, Incorporated.
In 1890 Mr. Hless married Ida Foresman, a daughter of John
-
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B. Foresman, of a well known Newton County family elsewhere referred to. Mr. and Mrs. Hess have two children, Everett D., who is associated with his father in the business, and married Hazel Lawrence; and Leland F., who is attending school at Brook. In politics Mr. Iless is a republican and has always been a strong admirer of Theodore Roosevelt. He served on the school board and one term on the town board, and is now president of the library board. He is affiliated with Knights of Pythias Lodge at Brook.
BERNHARD PAULUS. This is the oldest living resident of Iro- quois Township in Newton County. His home has been in this section of Indiana for fifty-three years, and though he long since passed the age of fourscore and is now nearing the age of ninety, it was only in 1913 that he gave up his active responsibilities as a farmer in Iroquois Township and moved to take life somewhat at leisure to the Village of Brook.
Few men have accepted more of the opportunities that come to every honest and worthy citizen than Bernhard Panhuis. A history of Newton County would hardly be complete without some reference to this venerable octogenarian.
He is a Bavarian by birth and ancestry, and was born in the district between Nuremberg and Wuerzberg, in Bavaria, June 30, 1828. His early life was spent on the vine clad hills of Bavaria and one experience of his early manhood was a service of three years three months thirteen days with the Sixth Regiment of Bavarian Infantry. In 1853 he hired a substitute to take his place in the ranks and set out for America, landing at Baltimore September 13, 1853. His sweetheart accompanied him on the same boat and on New Year's Day of 1854 they were married in Cincinnati.
llis home was at Cincinnati until 1861, and he then moved to Wayne County, Indiana, and on April 13, 1863, arrived in Iroquois Township of Newton County, locating two miles south and one mile east of Brook. As a German lad he learned the baker's trade, which he followed in the old country, and he also worked in the same line at Cincinnati. Later he started a cooper shop in Butler County, Ohio, but when his hands all deserted him to enlist in the army dur- ing the Civil war he gave up the business, and soon afterward moved to Indiana. His career in Newton County has been entirely that of a farmer. He still owns a fine place of 120 acres in Iroquois Town- ship, and has some town property. Practically all his land is thor- oughly drained by tiling.
The young Bavarian woman whom Mr. Paulus married at Cin- cinnati over sixty years ago was Margaret Neuberd. They lived together nearly thirty years and her death occurred in 1883. Seven children were born to their union. The oldest, Margaret, is now deceased. Philip L. is a farmer in Jasper County, Indiana. Johanna is the wife of Henry Getting and lives at Hartford, Indiana. John L .. is a farmer in Illinois. Ilenry is a farmer near Rensselaer.
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Emma is the wife of Howard Van Dorn of Harvey, Illinois. Mary is the wife of Fritz Stewart, of Mason City, Tennessee. For his second wife Mr. Paulus married Irene Hines, of Newton County.
Mr. Paulus has always been a republican, and while ever ready to perform those duties which come to every good citizen he had no ambition for public office. Therefore it was a case of the office seek- ing the man when his fellow citizens in Iroquois Township chose him as township supervisor, an office he filled for eleven years. He has also exerted his influence both by example and by encouragement to others in such improvements as ditches and roads. lle was also a school director, and has proved a loyal and stanch friend of public schools. Mr. and Mrs. Paulus are both active members of the United Brethren Church at Brook, and he has been liberal in giving to and supporting the church of that denomination.
CLAIR M. RICE, M. D. When Doctor Rice finished his medical education in the City of St. Louis in 1901, he chose as his first loca- tion and point of practice Jasper County. During the five years of his residence in that county he built up a promising patronage, and then in 1906 he removed to Rose Lawn in Newton County, and for the past ten years has been the leading physician in that rural com- munity.
To his ample practice in this district, he has brought the ability and careful skill which would have gained him perhaps more dis- tinction but not greater honors for substantial service in the populous urban centers. A special honor as a citizen was paid him in 1915 when the citizens of Lincoln Township elected him their trustee. and he is now filling that office and is giving much time and atten- tion to the supervision of the schools and the other duties of his office. Doctor Rice is a stanch democrat and has taken an active part in behalf of his party. He is a member of the Newton and Jasper Counties Medical Society, and is medical examiner for a number of fraternal orders. His personal affiliations are with the Masonic Order, Earl Lodge of Rose Lawn, Indiana, the Knights of Pythias of Rose Lawn, and the Modern Woodmen of America of Morocco, Indiana.
The Rice family to which he belongs has been identified with Northwestern Indiana since pioneer days. Doctor Rice was born at Hebron in this state June 3, 1879, a son of James V. and Elizabeth Rice. His father was a native of Ohio, and his grandfather canie to Hebron at an early day. Ilis grandfather, whose name was James V. Rice, acquired a large amount of valuable farming land in the vicinity of Hebron, and was one of the men of substantial prominence in this locality until his death. He had the distinction of serving as a soldier in the Mexican war. James V. Rice, father of Doctor Rice, also followed the vocation of farmer, and died in 1913.
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Doctor Rice is the youngest of his father's children. His father was married three times. Doctor Rice attended high school at Hebron, and after his literary training entered the Medical College at St. Louis where he took his degree M. D.
On January 3, 1902, at Kankakee, Illinois, he married Miiss Mabel Burgess. Mrs. Rice is a woman of culture and well fitted by education and nature for the responsibilities of a home maker and also as a leader in her social community. She graduated from Valparaiso University, and taught school for several years before her marriage. Doctor and Mrs. Rice have a fine family of live chil- dren : Burgess, James V., Clair Malcohn, John JI. and William K.
DAVID K. FRYE. For more than thirty years a substantial and well known business man of Rose Lawn, David K. Frye has led a very active career and has always found a way to employ his energies profitably and usefully. The business activities and prestige of the Village of Rose Lawn largely center around the establish- ment of Mr. Frye. He is not only the oldest merchant of the village but one of the oldest in point of continuous service in Newton County. For more than a generation he has supplied general mer- chandise to his large patronage in that community, and his store has been one of the important mediums for the marketing of farm produce. Added to his responsibilities as a general merchant are also the duties of the local postoffice.
The best kind of help is self-help, and throughout his career Alr. Frye has acted on that principle and policy. He was born in Allen County, Indiana, November 8, 1856, a son of Jacob and Mary (Minich) Frye. His father, who was a native of Bavaria, Germany, came to America alone and fully three quarters of a century ago arrived in Indiana, locating on a farm in Allen County. Ile was a hard working farmer all his active career, and died in 1861. Of his family of nine children seven are still living.
David K. Frye grew up on the old homestead and remained there until he was twenty-one. Ilis education came from tl.e local schools, and he wisely improved his opportunities. At the age of twenty- one he went to Valparaiso, Indiana, and was there employed as a meat cutter until 1888. He was thirty-two years of age when he arrived at Rose Lawn in Newton County and engaged in the gen- eral merchandise business. He had ambition, considerable ex- perience, made a close study of local conditions as affecting a store, and his energy and square dealing have been constant factors in his progress to prosperity.
There is no better citizen in Lincoln Township than Mr. Frye. Evidence of this is found in the fact that his fellow citizens elected him township trustee, an office he filled from 1904 to 1908. He was appointed postmaster of Rose Lawn some years ago, and his store is also the headquarters of the local postal department. In politics Mr. Frye is a democrat.
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On December 8, 1884, he married Miss Elizabeth Tanner of Rose Lawn, and they have had their home in that village for more than thirty years. Mr. and Mrs. Frye are the parents of one daughter, Flora, who is now twenty-three years of age and a young woman of culture and refinement, being a graduate of high school and also of the Indiana State Normal College at Terre Haute.
GEORGE A. HOPKINS. There are in every community men of such force of character that by reason of their capacity for leader- ship they become recognized as foremost citizens and bear a most important part in public affairs. Such has been the creditable posi- tion in Newton County of George A. Hopkins, whose work as a business man in the construction of many solid homes and other buildings has gained him a splendid reputation as a carpenter and builder, and his position in public affairs is that of trustee of Jackson Township.
He has spent most of his active career in Newton County, but was born in Stark County, Illinois, November 8, 1851. His parents were Jedushan S. and Anna 1 .. (Rouse) Hopkins, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of New York State. His mother's people carne originally from Germany. J. E. Hopkins moved from Ohio to Illinois, was a practical farmer there for many years and then came to Newton County, Indiana, locating in Iroquois Town- ship. After a year he went to Jasper County, Indiana, and was identified with farming in that locality until his death ten years later, in 1875. His widow survived him until 1884. J. S. Hopkins was a member of the Methodist Church, a republican in politics, a believer in temperance and in every respect a model and upright citizen.
George A. Hopkins spent the first twenty-two years of his life in the home of his parents. He acquired such education as the local schools could afford, and as a means of securing a livelihood and advancing himself as a useful citizen he learned the carpen- ter's trade.
On January 5, 1889, in Newton County he married Miss Harriett F. Clark, a daughter of William and Hester Clark. Her parents lived in Wisconsin for three years, then removed to Illinois, from there to Ohio, afterward returned to Illinois, and in 1871 the Clark family came to Newton County, and in 1881 bought a farm of 120 acres near Brook. Mrs. Hopkins was the eighth in a family of nine children. Three children were born into the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins, and the one now living is Lloyd. The son Lloyd has successfully taught school in Newton County six years, and is now married to Miss Allie Spangler.
In matters of politics Mr. Hopkins is an active republican. For four years he filled the office of postmaster at Mount Ayr, and has always been one of the sturdy and progressive citizens of his community. In 1914 the people of Jackson Township elected him
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township trustee, and since taking that office he has given much of his time to the successful administration of the township schools and of other duties that come within the scope of his office.
The trade of carpenter which he learned as a youth has been the basis of his successful business carcer. He has erected many substantial residences both in the villages and country districts of Newton County, and his own beautiful home is in Mount Ayr. He is still active as a builder and carpenter, though not to the same extent he was in former years.
JESSE BRINGLE. Among the Iroquois Township farms in New- ton County, that are deserving mention as places of value in the material sense and as homes of thrifty and energetic citizens, there is the Bringle place, the proprietor of which is Mr. Jesse Bringle, who has lived in this section of Northwestern Indiana for more than thirty years. It is only a matter of propriety that a brief record should be given in this history of Mr. Bringle's career.
Born August 2, 1855, in New Saulsbury, Harrison County, Indiana, he is a son of Lawrence and Nancy ( Craydon ) Bringle. His father was a native of North Carolina, born there in 1800 and went as a pioneer to Harrison County, Indiana. He was a general farmer, a man who enjoyed the esteem of his fellow citizens, and his death occurred fifty-nine years ago when his son Jesse was two years of age. He had been twice married. His first wife, whom he married in 1824, was Anna C. Reep, who died leaving six chil- dren. On November 12, 1866, Lawrence Bringle married Nancy Craydon of New Saulsbury, Indiana. She became the mother of five children, the last being Jesse.
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