A standard history of Kosciusko County, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development. A chronicle of the people with family lineage and memoirs, Volume II, Part 10

Author: Royse, Lemuel W., 1847-
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 382


USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > A standard history of Kosciusko County, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development. A chronicle of the people with family lineage and memoirs, Volume II > Part 10


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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


WILLIAM HANES. Of the men who have made farming and the management of land and its resources their chief business in life, it is a special pleasure to refer to William Hanes, proprietor of the Sugar Lane Farm of 200 acres, situated four miles northwest of Sil- ver Lake in Seward Township. Mr. Hanes is an old timer of this community, has lived here all his life, and his boyhood strength and enthusiasm were contributed to the sum total of labors by which his family succeeded in the heavy pioneer task of developing a por- tion of Kosciusko County's original wilderness.


The Sugar Lane Farm was the old Hanes homestead where he was born March 19, 1849, a son of John A. and Catherine (Good) Hanes. Catherine Good was a native of Perry County, Ohio, daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Hoffman) Good, who were originally from Penn- sylvania and were settlers in Franklin Township of Kosciusko County about 1840. John A. Hanes in 1844, as a young man, moved from Hancock County, Ohio, to Kosciusko County, and he married Cath- erine Good January 6, 1846. In the same year he located on the old Hanes homestead, and he made his home there until the death of his wife. John A. Hanes died at Terre Haute, Indiana. For his second wife he married Mary Moore, and there were six children by each


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marriage. The six by his first wife, Catherine Good, were: Emeline, William, George, Mary E., Leander and Catherine.


Of these the only one still living is William Hanes. While a boy on the farm he attended the local schools and made such good use of his advantages that he entered the profession of teaching and fol- lowed it for ten winters. At the age of sixteen he tried to get into the nation's service as a soldier in the Civil War, which was then nearing its conclusion, but was rejected on account of his age.


In December, 1874, Mr. Hanes married Miss Elizabeth Stout, who was born in Ohio and was brought to this county by her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Hanes have three children : Luella, who died in child- hood; Charles V., who lives on the home farm and married Nora Shoe- maker and Roy E., a graduate of the Silver Lake High School, and now in the dry goods business at Silver Lake, married Opal Kirland.


Mr. Hanes many years ago bought the old Hanes homestead and has kept it in a perfect condition of cultivation and improvement so that it is widely known for its crops and live stock. Mr. and Mrs. Hanes are members of the United Brethren Church, and he is a republican, without any aspirations for holding office.


JOSEPH SMALLEY is one of Kosciusko County's well known citizens who started life with no particular advantages or assets, and by thrift and industry has gradually accumulated those means which represent financial independence. Mr. Smalley has been a resident of this county over thirty-five years, owns a farm, but in 1918 re- tired to a town home at Burket.


Mr. Smalley was born in Noble County, Indiana, January 31, 1842, a son of David and Margaret (Shoab) Smalley. The grand- father, Joseph Smalley, a native of Ohio, was a pioneer to Noble County, Indiana, going there about 1830, and enduring all the hard- ships and vicissitudes connected with the task of making a home in a wilderness. David Smalley grew up in Noble County, attended public school as opportunity offered, and after his marriage settled down to farming and made that his lifelong home. He and his wife had three children: Melissa, who never married and died at the age of seventy-four; Jacob, who lives on the old homestead and is a stock buyer ; and Joseph.


Joseph Smalley lived with his parents until he was grown, and his early youth was one of companionship with labor and without ready access to those liberalizing advantages of schools. On Novem- ber 17, 1871, he married Miss Mary Bybee, member of one of the oldest and most prominent families of Kosciusko County. Her father, Washington Bybee, was at one time county commissioner and was on the board when the court house was erected. Mrs. Smalley grew up on her father's farm in Franklin Township and was educated in the common schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smalley lived for thirteen years in Noble County, but in 1882 moved to their farm of 160 acres, half in Franklin and half in Seward townships. This property they still own, and Mr. Smalley also has a half interest in


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144 acres in Noble County. He is a republican in politics and Mrs. Smalley is a member of the United Brethren Church.


Of their children two are deceased. Those still living are: Harry, who lives on a farm and married Miss Borton; Gertrude, wife of Frank Bear, a farmer; and Lucinda, unmarried.


GEORGE W. BOUSE is one of the capable farmers and stock raisers of Kosciusko County, made his start in life at an early age, worked at one time for farmers at wages of $3 a month, and by thrift, energy and foresight has accomplished what most men desire, the establish- ment of a good home, a fair degree of prosperity, and has reared a family and kept all of his relations to his friends and his community honorable and straightforward.


Mr. Bouse who lives on a farm in Seward Township four and a half miles northwest of Silver Lake, was born in Fulton County, In- diana, February 13, 1866, a son of John and Mary A. (Worley) Bouse. His father was born in Germany and his real name was John Prince. Brought to this country as an infant, his parents soon died and he was adopted and carefully reared by John Bouse, whose name he took. After reaching manhood, and with a very limited education, he began to carve out his own destiny. He married Mary A. Worley, a native of Ohio, and they began housekeeping in circum- stances just above the level of poverty, but by day labor, by thrift and economy, they got a start and finally secured a piece of land in Monroe Township of Kosciusko County, where in the course of time they developed a good home. They did an excellent part by their children, twelve in number, nine of whom are still living: Cather- ine, wife of Ben Perry; Nancy, wife of Jake Hulban; Tena, wife of Charles Near; Lydia, wife of A. J. Packer; Harvey, a farmer; Wil- liam, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, and is employed by the United States Government ; Ollie, wife of James Craig, of Monroe Town- ship ; Dessie, wife of Al Cook of MeCook, Nebraska; and George W.


George W. Bouse grew up on his father's farm in Monroe Town- ship, and left school at the age of eleven to begin work to support himself. Some of his early employment was with farmers in Seward Township, where he now lives. He gained the reputation of being hard working, honest and a thrifty young man, and that reputation was his principal capital when he married and settled down to achieve independence. Mr. Bouse is now the owner of 130 acres of land, most of which represents his individual efforts and striving, and he has been a very successful breeder of Shorthorn cattle and Belgian horses. He is a democrat in politics and he and his family are iden- tified with the United Brethren Church at Yellow Creek Lake.


Mr. Bouse married for his first wife Miss Wava Mattix. She died the mother of two children, the only one now living being Walter, who is a graduate of the high school at Claypool. For his present wife Mr. Bouse married Etta Miller. They have two children, Alton D., born in 1915, and Lauretta, born October 6, 1917.


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ORVEN A. HEIGHWAY. A well situated and circumstanced farmer and stockman of Franklin Township is Orven A. Heighway, pro- prietor of the "Hillside Home" in section 26. Mr. Heighway is one of . the vigorous and hustling younger men in the farming industry of Kosciusko County and has already reached a most satisfactory stage of progress, though doubtless the most fruitful years of his life is still ahead of him.


Mr. Heighway was born in Newcastle Township of Fulton County, Indiana, August 23, 1883. His parents were Empson A. and Keziah (Teel) Heighway, his father a native of Ohio and his mother of Franklin Township, Kosciusko County. Empson A. Heighway was born in Ohio, was reared in Illinois, and moved to Indiana when a boy, and after his marriage lived in Kosciusko County for a time and then settled in Fulton County, near Akron. He and his wife are members of the Church of Christ, and in politics he is a republican. There are six children in the family: Leslie M., a telegraph operator at Bluffton, Ohio; Charles W., of Plymouth, Indiana; Mary C., un- married; Maggie A., wife of Sidney Leininger; Cora, who died in infancy ; and Orven A.


Orven A. Heighway grew np on his father's farm in Fulton County and was educated in the district schools. He lived at home until he married in 1904 Miss Nellie M. Black. She is a daughter of John R. and Lucinda Black, both now residing in Montone. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Heighway lived for a year on the Black farm and then came to their present place, where they have 120 acres, and this land has responded magnificently in crops and products to their management and labors.


Mr. and Mrs. Heighway had four children: Edith, Frances, now deceased, Robert and Wanda. The family are members of the United Brethren Church at Beaver Dam, of which Mr. Heighway is a trustee and secretary and treasurer. He carries insurance in the Modern Woodmen of America, and also in the Farmers National Life. In politics he votes as a republican, and has served as a member of the Township Advisory Board.


THERON D. BUTTERBAUGH is one of the men of distinction living on the extreme sonthern line of Kosciusko County, his farm and home heing in the southeast quarter of section 14, Lake Township, adjoin- ing the Wabash County line and only a mile or so from the Big Four Railway. Mr. Butterbaugh has a fine farm and is also a man of education and of leadership in civic affairs and is an ordained minister of the Church of the Brethren. His home is 51/2 miles south- east of Silver Lake.


Mr. Butterbaugh was born in Pleasant Township of Wabash County June 18, 1872, a son of George W. and Lydia (Miller) But- terbaugh. His father was born in section 14 of Lake Township September 28, 1846. The Butterbaugh families were pioneers here, coming to the county about 1840. The wife of George W. Butter- banglı was born in Pleasant Township of Wabash County October 17, 1848. Both grew up in that locality, married there, settled in Wabash


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County and later in Lake Township of this county, where they owned 185 acres close to North Manchester. They lived on that farm home thirty years and then bought a small farm where the widow is still living. There were three sons in the family. Theron D .; Abraham, a resident of North Manchester; and Esta, a well known citizen and business man of Warsaw, auditor and a stockholder in the Hugo Manufacturing Company of that city.


Theron D. Butterbaugh was reared on the farm near North Man- chester and made for himself unusual opportunities in the way of an education. He is a graduate of the Bible department of the North Manchester College, and also attended the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute. Most of his experience has been in practical farming and on January 20, 1895, he married Miss Mary E. Wright. She was born in Manchester Township of Wabash County July 12, 1876.


Five years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh located on the farm where they now reside, and where Mr. Butterbaugh owns the southeast quarter of section 14. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising. He has been an ordained minister of the Church of the Brethern since December, 1913, and now has charge of the West Eel River Church and does considerable evangelical work. Politi- cally he is a republican.


Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh have seven children: Hazel M., a graduate of North Manchester, now in Bethany Bible School in Chi- cago preparing for foreign missionary work; Rubie M., wife of Russell E. Werking, of Wabash County; Robert E., attending high school, as is the next child, Delbert W .; James D. and Paul R., twins, born in 1910; and Mariam Lucile, born in January, 1917.


WILLIAM S. PERSON. The people of Prairie Township know Wil- liam S. Person as a most capable farmer, a citizen who responds to all the duties and obligations of his community, and a very straight- forward and capable official, now serving as trustee of the township. Many declare that the affairs of the township were never better man- aged than by the present trustee.


Mr. Person was born in this township October 7, 1871, and has spent most of his life here. His present home farm is a mile west and a mile north of Atwood. His parents were William and Marga- ret (Mccutcheon) Person, both now deceased. His father was born at Richmond, Indiana, in May, 1830, and when he was a small child his parents moved to LaPorte County, Indiana, where he grew to manhood. Margaret MeCutcheon was born in Pennsylvania Febru- ary 14, 1840, and came with her parents to Liberty Mills in Wabash County. She married at the age of fourteen. She reared in her home after her marriage her baby brother, who later ran off and enlisted as a soldier in the Civil war. He made a record as a brave and gallant soldier, and is still living, a very capable business man. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. William Person lived at Liberty Mills for several years and then moved to Collamer in Whitley County, where he established the first grocery store. Margaret Person was an


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active member of the United Brethren Church. They had a family of five sons and one daughter : Charles, of Bourbon, Indiana ; Edward, of Atwood; Benjamin, of Bourbon; Sarah, wife of Frank Henderson, of Warsaw ; William S .; and Rollie E., of North Dakota.


William S. Person grew up on the farm where he still lives and acquired an education in the district schools, attending school in the winter and working on the farm in the summer. After leaving school he took employment with a neighboring farmer and spent six years in his service.


In November, 1894, he married Miss Ida Mangus. She was born in St. Joseph County, Indiana, and was educated in the common schools of Kosciusko County, where her parents located when she was a small girl. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Person engaged in farming, and now have a place of fine improvements comprising sev- enty-five acres. Mr. Person is a successful stock raiser and has a number of graded Durham cattle.


Mr. and Mrs. Person are the parents of four sons and one daugh- ter: Hershel, a graduate of the common schools, is now with the American Armies in France ; Hobard also finished the common school course and lives at Fort Wayne. Harley lives at home. Emma is a senior in high school, and the youngest, William, was born in 1913. Mr. Person is affiliated with Atwood Lodge No. 493, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, of which he is the present Noble Grand. He is a republican in politics and has been one of the active leaders in local politics for a number of years. For fourteen years he served as su- pervisor, and in 1914 was elected township trustee, beginning his duties in January, 1915.


S. B. IDEN. Probably the only bank in the State of Indiana that is owned and managed from president to assistant cashier by one fam- ily is the Etna Bank at Etna Green. All the offices in this institution are held by persons named Iden. S. B. Iden is president, Mrs. S. B. Iden is vice president, the cashier is their daughter Altha M., the two assistant cashiers are also other daughters, Mary A. and Amy J. The Etna Bank was established in 1900, and supplies the only banking fa- cilities of the town of Etna Green. It has a capital of $20,000, sur- plus of $10,000, and a recent statement indicates that its deposits ag- gregate more than $300,000, all of which is a most ereditable showing for a country bank, and indicates the confidence the people of that part of Kosciusko County have in the personnel of its management and ownership.


Mr. Iden has been a resident of Kosciusko County since early childhood. He was born in Carroll County, Ohio, May 21, 1860, a son of Washington and Eliza (Heston) Iden, and a grandson of George Iden. Both his parents were born in Carroll County, Ohio, Washington Iden in 1815 and his mother in 1818. They were reared and married in that county, lived on a farm there for a number of years, and in 1864 brought their family to Etna Township of Kos- ciusko County and established a new home on a farm north of Etna Green. Washington Iden was one of the most capable farmers of his


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time. He was as progressive and ready to adopt new ideas as he was diligent and capable in routine affairs. He is credited with having introduced into this part of Kosciusko County the first Poland China hogs and the first Durham cattle. At one time he was president of the Bourbon Fair in Marshall County. His name also appears on some of the older official lists of the township. For a number of years he was township assessor. He began voting as a whig, and cast a ballot for General William Henry Harrison. Later he was equally active in the republican party. He and his wife were members of the Christian Church. They were the parents of eleven children, and seven are still living. The father died in 1903. The son Thomas J. lives in Iowa, while John, William A., L. A., Florence and S. B. are all residents of Etna Township. Mary C. is married and lives in New Mexico.


S. B. Iden was four years old when brought to Kosciusko County, and here he attended the district schools of his home township, also the schools at Warsaw, and early qualified for work as a teacher. For ten years he taught school in different parts of the county, and after giving up that vocation took up the business of stock buying. Since the establishment of the Etna Bank he has concentrated his principal time and energies upon its management, and in 1910 erected the sub- stantial building in which the bank has its home.


Mr. Iden lived at home with his parents until he was thirty years of age. February 15, 1891, he married Miss Viola Yeiter. She was born in Prairie Township of this county, was well educated, and had also taught school before her marriage. They have three daugh- ters: Altha May, who is a graduate of the Etna Green High School and is cashier of the bank; Mary Avis, who is a high school graduate and also attended the State University three years; and Amy J., who graduated from the local high school with the class of 1918 and is attending the State University. The family are members of the Christian Church and Mr. Iden is one of the church trustees. He is a loyal republican in politics, and served one term as trustee of Etna Township, and for about ten years has been a member of the County Council.


FORREST KNEPPER has a number of interests to occupy his time and energies. He is the present trustee of Etna Township, has lived in that community for a number of years and gained a reputation as a farmer and stock man, and is one of Kosciusko County's best known republican leaders.


He was born in Whitley County, Indiana, June 4, 1873, a son of Lewis and Matilda (Sevits) Knepper. His parents were both born in Ohio, and their respective families moved to Indiana when they were young. After their marriage they settled on a farm in Whitley County, but in 1888 moved to Kosciusko County and had their home in Etna Township until October, 1917, when they moved to another farm in Tippecanoe Township of Marshall County. They are still active and have a host of friends in Kosciusko County. They are members of the Christian Church and Lewis Knepper is a democrat.


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They had four children. Iva is the wife of Edwin Gay, of Etna Township. Dora died at the age of sixteen and Homer died when twelve years old.


Forrest Knepper was fifteen years old when the family came to Kosciusko County, and he grew to manhood on the farm in Etna Township. He acquired a good education, at first in the common schools, later in the North Manchester College, and after a normal course began teaching at the age of eighteen. For six years teaching was his chief occupation. He had also acquired by experience a thor- ough knowledge of farming, and for ten years he worked with an ele- vator company at Warsaw, Indiana.


April 4, 1898, Mr. Knepper married Miss Lucy Towns. She was born in Marshall County, Indiana, and is a graduate of the common schools. Mr. and Mrs. Knepper have three children, Lucile, Robert and Lyndon. Lucile is a graduate of the Etna Green High School, attended the Winona School, and is now a teacher in Etna Township. Robert is a graduate of the common and high schools and spent one year in the State University. Lyndon is attending high school at Etna Green.


The family are members of the Christian Church, and Mr. Knep- per is one of its deacons. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and is a republican in politics. He has served as a mem- ber of the county central committee and in his present office as town- ship trustee is carefully looking after the welfare of the schools and highways, and all the other routine business connected with his office. Mr. Knepper has a good farm of 120 acres, and also rents 160 acres. All this land is devoted to pasturing and the raising of grain crops, and he is one of the shippers of livestock out of the county. .


CHARLES C. JOHNSON has figured prominently in the business af- fairs and citizenship of Etna Green and Etna Township for many years. His present work in relationship to the community is as gen- eral farmer and stock raiser, his home being a quarter of a mile east of Etna Green.


Mr. Johnson was born in Stark County, Ohio, August 6, 1862, a son of Daniel and Jane (Brush) Johnson. His father was born in Pennsylvania September 14, 1837, and his mother in New York state April 10, 1836. Both are still living and both are past the age of eighty years. They grew up from childhood in Stark County, were married there, and in 1874 moved to Kosciusko County and located south of Etna Green. They continued to live in that farming com- munity until 1892, when they moved into the village of Etna Green, where they are still living. Daniel Johnson owns 194 acres of well cultivated land in Etna Township. He is a republican voter and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were four chil- dren in the family: Florence M., wife of Douglas Senour; Charles C .; Oscar A., who married Lulu Shenefield and lives south of Etna Green ; and Daniel C., who died in fancy.


Mr. Charles C. Johnson grew up on the old farm and obtained a


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good education in the local schools. He worked on the farm and lived with his parents to the age of twenty-two.


December 9, 1887, he married Miss Cora A. Catell, who was born in Kosciusko County, June 2, 1865, daughter of Joseph B. and Alice (Garwood) Catell. Mrs. Johnson has spent practically all her life in Kosciusko County. After their marriage they farmed his father's farm two years, then lived on Mrs. Johnson's father's farm for a year and another year on the Senour farm. After this experience as a practical agriculturist Mr. Johnson went to Etna Green and became identified with the company as a partner operating the local flour milling industry, elevator and lumber yard. He was a factor in that business for seven years, at the end of which time he sold out his interests and resumed farming, though he made his home in the vil- lage for three years longer. He moved to his present farm in 1901.


Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children : Ethel J. is a graduate of the Etna Green High School, and is still at home. Charles H. was born November 5, 1905, and is still a school boy. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Johnson is on its official board. Politically he is a republican.


CHARLES A. KINTZEL. The people of Kosciusko County know Charles A. Kintzel particularly for his very efficient service as sheriff of the county, and many remember the fact that he was at the time of his election the youngest sheriff the county ever had. Aside from his activity in public affairs he has for many years been one of the successful and progressive farmers of Etna Township, and since leaving the court house has resumed farming on his place three- quarters of a mile north of Etna Green.


Mr. Kintzel was born in Prairie Township, February 15, 1871, a son of Christian and Mary (Anglin) Kintzel. While he is of Ger- man ancestry, his people have been Americans for more than a cen- tury, in fact since the colonial period in Pennsylvania.


David Kintzel, grandfather of Charles A., was a tanner by trade and owned and operated two tanneries in Pennsylvania. He mar- ried Mary Rathfang, and they had ten children, including Christian Kintzel, father of Charles A. In 1865 David Kintzel brought his family to Kosciusko County. Christian Kintzel was born near Har- risburg, Pennsylvania, in 1848, and was still a youth when the family came to Kosciusko County. He grew up in Prairie Township, and after his marriage moved to Etna Township, southeast of Etna Green, and that locality is still his home. He is a republican in poli- tics. His first wife died in February, 1871, her only child being Charles A. Kintzel.




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