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 13
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
F
483
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
common schools. He married Miss Mary C. Miller. They started housekeeping a mile south of Silver Lake, lived there one year, then moved to the end of Mud Lake in Seward Township, and had their home in that locality until 1906. In that year they moved to their present place, their home farm constituting seventy acres, while they own ninety acres near Mud Lake and eighty acres two miles east of the home.
Mr. and Mrs. Sands have six living children: Otto A., Ethel F., Seta F., John I., Minnie A., and Lulu A., all of whom have received good educational advantages in the district and high schools.
Mr. Sands is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and a member of the Grand Lodge, is a past sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men, and a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a democrat in politics and a stockholder in the Com- mercial State Bank of Silver Lake, and a stockholder and vice presi- dent of the Burket Equity Union or Farmers Elevator Company of Burket, Indiana.
BENJAMIN KANTNER. A fine farin, a good home and an excellent family belong to Benjamin Kantner, one of the prominent residents of Plain Township, on rural route No. 1 out of Leesburg.
Mr. Kantner came to Koscinsko County about fifteen years ago. He was born in Auglaize County, Ohio, March 3, 1852, son of Martin and Catherine (Bechdoldt) Kantner. His parents were both natives of Pennsylvania. The Kantner family came originally from Holland. Grandfather John Kantner was one of the pioneers of Auglaize County, where he located in the wilderness in 1832. Martin Kantner spent his life in that county as a farmer and was a member of the Lutheran Church and a republican voter. He was the father of fifteen children, all of whom grew to maturity except one daughter. Three are still living, the two daughters being Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Gagley of Auglaize County, and Hannah, wife of John Burden of Auglaize County.
Benjamin Kantner grew to manhood on the old farm in Ohio, and as a schoolboy attended school kept in a log cabin. He was at home until twenty-one years of age. April 13, 1873, he married Margaret R. Shank, a native of Franklin County, Ohio.
After his marriage Mr. Kantner remained in Auglaize County and owned and cultivated a tract of eighty acres originally a part of the old homestead. In March, 1903, he came to Kosciusko County and in 1912 located on his present fine farm of 191 acres. He has made more than a local reputation as a hog breeder, and has a number of the hig type Poland Chinas, having at the head of his herd one of the best boars in the country, Little Dawson. Mr. Kantner is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabecs.
Twelve children were born to him and his wife, ten of whom are still living. His son Leroy L., who completed his education in the Warsaw High School, is now serving as quartermaster in the United States Army in France. The son Martin is married and lives in Ohio. Leslie, a graduate of the high school, is married and is in busi-
484
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
ness in Chicago. Catherine is the wife of John A. Bitler, of Michigan. G. H. is married and lives at Elkhart, Indiana. Agnes A. is still at home. George W. is married and lives in Auglaize County, Ohio. Edwin is a graduate of the Winona High School and is now serving in the Sixteenth Railway Engineers Corps in France. Elizabeth, a graduate of the Warsaw High School, married John Ripley and lived in Elkhart. Lillian, a graduate of the Warsaw High School and valedictorian of her class, has spent two years at the University of Chicago and is now instructor in the high school at Leesburg. Mr. Kantner is a republican in politics.
ALBERT M. LENTZ is a well known figure in the industrial affairs in and around Milford, where for a number of years he has conducted an important local enterprise for the manufacture of hardwood lum- ber. He is also a dealer in coal and other supplies at Milford.
Mr. Lentz was born on a farm in Elkhart County March 23, 1858. The farm where he was born is where the Gilbert school house is now located. His parents were Cyrus and Mary ( Whitehead) Lentz. His father was born in Ohio and his mother in Elkhart County. Cyrus Lentz came to Indiana at the age eighteen, and later acquired a farm in Elkhart County and also bought 200 acres in Van Buren Township of Kosciusko County. He was a very industrious and capable farmer and business man and spent the rest of his life in this section of the state. He was a member of the German Baptist Church and a demo- crat. He and his wife had six children, and those still living are : Moses F .. Dessie, wife of John Dubbs, Jennie, wife of Charles Ham- mond. and Albert M.
Albert M. Lentz received his education in the district schools of Elkhart County. When he was sixteen his parents moved to Koscinsko County and he lived on the home farm to the age of twenty-one. In 1877 he married Mary Robinson. a native of Medina County, Ohio. After his marriage Mr. Lentz rented a farm, and in 1883 first engaged in the sawmill business. Since 1909 he has been proprietor of a fac- tory at Milford for the manufacture of hardwood lumber.
He and his wife had eleven children. Those still living are: Eliza- beth, Charlotte, Emma J., Cleo, Edward, Jennette. Richard. Lou and Helena. Elizabeth is a graduate of high school and is now in college The family are members of the Brethren Church at Milford. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and in politics is a democrat.
BERT E. DAUSMAN has been a factor in the business affairs of Mil- ford Junction for a number of years. He recently retired from his local business connection and owns a fine farm in Turkey Creek Town- ship. However, he continues to reside with his family at Milford Junction, and owns and occupies there the handsomest residence in the village. He built this modern home in 1916. It is constructed of excellent material, the outer walls being laid with the noted Hytex brick.
Mr. Dausman was born in Cass County, Michigan, on April 19,
485
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
1874, a son of Henry and Sarah (Brumbaugh) Dausman. His father was a native of Canada and his mother of Elkhart County. The family lived for a number of years in Cass County, Michigan, but in 1876 moved to Jackson Township of Elkhart County, where they had their home until 1910, and the father then moved to Milford Junction. He died June 10, 1916. He was a man of progressive spirit, a demo- cratie voter, and had a good farm of 120 acres.
Bert E. Dausman is the only survivor of the five children born to his mother, his father's first wife. He grew up on a farm in Elkhart County, had a district school education and lived with his father until he was twenty-one. His first real business experience was as a brake- man with the Baltimore and Ohio Railway. He had a run between Garrett, Indiana, and Chicago Junction, Ohio. After three years on the road he resigned and went into business at Garrett for two years. Selling out there, he removed to Milford Junction in 1905 and bought a restaurant. He continued this enterprise until April 1, 1918, when he sold out. He has been local agent for the Interurban Railway at Milford Junction since it was constructed. In 1918 Mr. Dansman sold or traded for a farm of 120 acres in Turkey Creek Township, and is now preparing to develop and cultivate that on an intensive scale.
December 11, 1901, he married Miss Cecil Haney, who was born in Milford Junction in 1884 and was educated in the district schools. They are the parents of four children: Dorothy, born August 30, 1902; Raymond, born February 26, 1904; Helen, born August 30, 1905; and Trella, born May 9, 1909. Dorothy is a graduate of the common schools and has had two years in the high school. She has an interesting school record, having never missed a single day and never having been tardy. The son Raymond graduated from the common schools in 1918. Mr. Dausman is a democrat and has been quite active in local politics.
CHARLES M. REGENOS. There is a ready public recognition and appreciation of the man who struggles against heavy odds to make himself useful, win a moderate prosperity, and achieves his proper place in the community. When Charles M. Regenos was five years old he was partially crippled, and has overcome the handicap of lame- ness and in spite of that fact has done all the work of a practical farmer, and is one of the successful men of that industry in Seward Township. His farm is four miles southwest of Claypool.
At the same time he has been prominent in local affairs and has served four years as justice of the peace, is now filling his fourth year as township assessor, and has also been nominated and elected by a large majority by the democratic party as township trustee.
Mr. Regenos was born in Seward Township, son of Jacob and Julia A. (Brown) Regenos, both now deceased. His parents were born in Stark County, Ohio, grew up and married there, and in 1868 settled in Kosciusko County. Here they bought a farm of eighty acres in section 23 of Seward Township, and on that farm they made their home the rest of their lives. They were very active members of the Fairview
486
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
United Brethren Church, and in politics the father was also a demo- crat. They have six children: Mary, wife of James Miller; Laura, wife of William Schue, of Portland, Oregon; Alice, wife of John Kintz; Ira, who lives at Niles, Michigan; Charles M .; and Della. deceased.
Charles M. Regenos grew up on the home farm, and in winter attended district school and in summer worked on the farm. At the age of twenty he started out for himself and in the fall of 1895 he married Rozella Clink, who has been his most capable wife and com- panion in home making. She was born in the same community and when they married their joint possessions aggregated about $100 worth of household goods. They rented a farm and continued as renters for ten years before they were able to make their first purchase of land. This consisted of forty acres. and after keeping it and im- proving it they sold and bought the eighty acres where they now live. All their prosperity represents their joint struggles, self denial and hard work of many years. Mr. Regenos is a practical farmer and stock raiser, and is one of the busiest men in the community. He and his wife are active members of the United Brethren Church and he has heen prominent both in church and Sunday school work, serving as superintendent of the Sunday school.
Mr. and Mrs. Regenos have two children, Golan V., a graduate of the high school who has spent two years in college; and Graden W .. a graduate of high school. Mr. Regenos is also rearing a daughter of his sister, Ethel Mortomore.
GEORGE HARTTER. In the last fifteen or twenty years many live and enterprising men seeking good farm lands and opportunities for investment have come to Kosciusko County from other states and counties and have here realized their expectations in finding good lands and a good farming community, and are now among Kosciusko Connty's most prominent citizens. One of these is Mr. George Hartter, who has lived in Kosciusko County for the past fourteen years and is not only a large farm owner in Van Buren Township but is known throughout the northern part of the county as an unusually capable and progressive citizen.
Mr. Hartter. whose farm is in section 17, just west of the corpora- tion limits of Milford, was born in Alsace Lorraine June 19, 1850. son of Mark and Catherine Hartter. He attended the common schools of his native country until he was fourteen years of age, and after that served an apprenticeship to learn the carpenter's trade. He was employed in that line until 1873 when he came to the United States to seek better opportunities in this eonntry. Later his father followed him to America. Mr. Hartter did his first work as a carpenter at Morton, Illinois, but five years later invested his modest capital in an Illinois farm, and for a number of years was a prosperous agrienl- turist in that state. He had only $50 when he arrived in America, but under his thrifty management his capital grew and expanded until he had 160 acres of Illinois farm land. In 1904 he sold out his property in Illinois and coming to Koseinsko County
487
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
bought 320 acres where he now lives. He has always been an extensive stock raiser and has made most of his money in cattle and hogs. He is a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank at Milford.
Mr. Hartter married Miss Lena Jacob. She was also born in Alsace Lorraine. They are the parents of the following children: George. Jacob, John, Samuel, William, Catherine and Lena, all of whom have grown to manhood and womanhood and are all married.
Mr. Hartter is an influential republican and his fellow citizens have frequently honored him with publie responsibilities. For the past four years he has served as assessor of Van Buren Township and in 1918 was honored with the nomination for commissioner to repre- sent the northern district of the county.
DANIEL C. DARR is a man well known in the good citizenship of Van Buren Township, has acquired and improved a good farm, and he and his wife owe their present comfortable circumstances to their joint efforts, good management and well directed enterprise.
Mr. Darr, whose home is half way between Milford and Syracuse, was born in Van Buren Township of this county February 17, 1867. a son of Thomas and Dorothy (Cory) Darr. His father was born in Elkhart County of this state November 24, 1844, and his mother in the same county in 1847. Dorothy Darr died leaving two children, John and Daniel. John is now living at Three Rivers. Michigan. Thomas Darr married for his second wife Elizabeth Phebus, and she became the mother of twelve children.
Daniel C. Darr was only six weeks old when his mother died, and after that he lived in the home of his grandmother Cory until he was six years old. His father then having taken a second wife he returned home and lived there until manhood. His education was acquired in the district schools. After starting for himself he found employ- ment as a farm hand, and for five years worked at wages of $200 a year. This furnished him a good experience and thorough training for his subsequent career, and at the same time he saved some money with a view to the future: On November 21. 1895, Mr. Darr married Flora E. Chilcote, of New Paris, Indiana. She was born August 25, 1871, daughter of James I. and Hattie (Ebv) Chilcote. Her father was horn near Wilshire, Ohio, August 27, 1837. and her mother was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1834, and died May 21. 1915. Her father was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil war.
Mr. and Mrs. Darr after their marriage located on forty aeres of land, and later bought another forty acres. This farm they sub- sequently sold and eame to the place of 115 acres where they now live. They have done much to improve and increase the value of their land and it is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Darr have one son, Earl J., born August 27, 1900. He is a graduate of the common schools and from the Milford High School with the class of 1917, and is now assuming most of the responsibilities con- nected with the home farm. The family are members of the Methodist
488
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
Episcopal Church at Syracuse, and Mr. Darr has been active both in church and Sunday school. In politics he is a republican.
VICTOR FULLER represents one of the oldest families of Kosciusko County, and the vigor with which he has prosecuted his enterprise as a farmer and all his business and private relations was the source of the confidence felt in him by his fellow citizens who recently elected him a trustee of Van Buren Township. He has the distinction of being the first republican trustee of the township in a period of twenty- eight years.
Mr. Fuller, whose fine home is located two miles northeast of Mil- ford, was born on that place March 13, 1874, a son of Preston and Mary C. (Brower) Fuller. Preston Fuller was born in Pennsylvania, a son of Benajah Fuller, a native of the same state, and grandson of William Fuller, who was born in Massachusetts of English ancestry. Benajah Fuller came from Pennsylvania to Kosciusko County and entered a number of extensive tracts of land, being one of the pioneer land holders in this part of the state. Preston Fuller came to the county with his parents, grew up and after his marriage settled on the old Fuller farm. During the Civil war he served three years as a private in the Seventy-Fourth Indian Volunteer Infantry, and his record as a citizen was in keeping with the faithfulness and ardor of his patriotism. He was very active in the Christian Church and a republican in politics. His wife, Mary C. Brower, was born in Penn- sylvania, a daughter of Isaac Brower, who brought his family west, first to Indiana, thence to Illinois, and back to Turkey Creek Town- ship four miles south of Syracuse in Kosciusko County, where she lived until her marriage. Preston Fuller and wife had seven children, five of whom are still living: Frank, of Fresno, California; Stella, wife of Richard Fuller of Glendale, Arizona; Victor; Ernest and Robert, both living in California, the latter at Riverside.
Victor Fuller had a district school education. He married Almeda Leatherman, daughter of Conrad Leatherman. She was born in Jef- ferson Township of this county, and was educated in the common schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Fuller lived for a few years in the West, part of the time in Oklahoma, but finally returned to Kosciusko County and located in Van Buren Township, where their affairs have been greatly prospered as farmers.
Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have four children: Floyd P., a graduate of the common schools, married Savilla Cox; Royce, a graduate of the common schools and now in the United States Navy ; Hilda, wife of Leroy Troster, who owns a good farm of ninety-seven acres near Mil- ford Junction in Van Buren Township; and Donald C., a graduate of the Milford High School. The family are members of the Christian Church and Mr. Fuller is one of the church elders.
THOMAS J. CoY is one of the prosperous farm owners and well known citizens of Kosciusko County, and for his success the credit is due almost entirely to his individual efforts and his steadfast honesty and integrity. Mr. Coy has spent nearly all his life in Kosciusko
489
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
County and has one of the best equipped farm homes in Turkey Creek Township north of Syracuse.
Mr. Coy was born in Van Buren Township of Kosciusko County May 2, 1850, and represent a family that has long been identified with this section of the state. His parents were Henry and May A. (Grissamer) Coy, both natives of Ohio. They were married in Kosci- usko County and soon afterward settled in Elkhart County and from there went to Van Buren Township, where they spent their worthy lives as farmers and as faithful members of the Dunkard Church. They had five sons and four daughters, three of the sons and the four daughters still living.
Thomas J. Coy grew up on the old home farm, and as a boy at- tended the common schools. He married for his first wife Ellen Berry. She was the mother of four children : Charles E., a machinist now in Illinois ; Myrtle, deceased ; Laura, wife of Charles Lutz of Elk- hart County ; and Harry E., a farmer in Elkhart County. For his present wife Mr. Coy married Mrs. Iva Jones Middleton. Mrs. Coy was born near Dunlap, Elkhart County, April 15, 1864, daughter of David H. and Susan (Stutsman) Jones. Her father was a native of Ohio and her mother of Elkhart County. Mrs. Coy was educated in the district schools and for her first husband married Ozias Middleton. By that union she has one son, Floyd, who married Bulah Jones, of Chicago.
Mr. and Mrs. Coy are active members of the Dunkard Church. Politically he is a republican. Mr. Coy has been a farmer in this vicinity for forty years or more and his present estate consists of 13 acres in Kosciusko County and 117 acres adjoining in Elkhart County. In 1916 he built his modern country home, furnace heated and with all the facilities such as are usually found in best city resi- dences.
MILO MALOY. Some of the best farm homes of this county are located in Van Buren Township. One of them is owned and occupied by Milo Maloy, located two and a half miles northeast of Milford and two and a half miles west of Syracuse. The Maloy family have been in that locality for sixty years and the name is associated with good farming, good citizenship and active relations with all progressive community affairs.
The family was founded here by John and Polly (Smith) Maloy, who in 1841 moved from Wayne County, Ohio, to Whitley County, Indiana, and in 1851 removed to Kosciusko County and settled in the woods of Van Buren Township. John Maloy lived there until the lat- ter part of his life, and then removed to Syracuse, where he died. His wife died on the old farm. They had twelve children, four of whom, John, Daniel, David and Seth, reached mature years. The son Andrew gave his life as a soldier in the Civil war. Four of the daughters were Mary, Lucy, Sarah and Catherine.
Seth Maloy, a son of John and Polly Maloy, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, July 9, 1838, and was only three years of age when brought to Indiana and was thirteen when the family located in Van
490
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
Bnren Township. He grew up on a farm, and in 1880 located a place of fifty acres in Van Buren Township, where he spent the rest of his life. December 10, 1865, he married Mahala J. Coy, daughter of Henry and Mary A. Coy, of Kosciusko County. Both were active members of the Church of God at Syracuse, and Seth Maloy was trustee of the church property. He was a republican in politics. He and his wife had four children, Simeon, who died at the age of five years; Milo; Frank, a farmer in Van Buren Township: and Ada. wife of Charles Visley.
Mr. Milo Maloy was born on his father's place in Van Buren Township June 19, 1874. He had a district school education and most of his life's activities have been identified with farming. Ou September 4, 1898, at the age of twenty-four, he married Luln Blough. She was born in Plain Township of Kosciusko County, daughter of David and Jane Blough. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Maloy located on a farm, subsequently moved to another place. and also lived for a time in Benton Harbor, Michigan, and South Bend, Indi- ana, before returning to Kosciusko County and establishing themselves in their present comfortable circumstances.
Mr. Maloy is affiliated with Syracuse Lodge No. 458, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and with the Knights of the Maccabees. He is one of the influential republicans of his township and is now nominee for the office of township trustee.
DELBERT W. NORRIS. The Norris family is one of the oldest in Kosciusko County, and while Delbert W. Norris was born and reared here he spent so many years in Canada that he became a naturalized citizen and a British subject and has only recently returned to Kos- ciusko County and is now renting the old Norris farm five miles south- east of Syracuse.
He was born in Turkey Creek Township, January 13, 1870, a son of John L. and Emma (Stainer) Norris. His father was born in Van Buren Township of this county August 11, 1840, a son of William and Elizabeth (Knox) Norris. William Norris was a son of Joseph Norris. and a grandson of Thomas Norris. Thomas Norris. a native of Liver- pool. England, came to the United States in colonial times and located at Hagerstown, Maryland, where he lived during the period of the American Revolution. Joseph Norris, his son, was one of the men who responded to the call of the West and was one of the first to secure Government land in Van Buren Township of Kosciusko County. His sons entered fourteen eighty acre tracts of land in that locality. and thus the name of Norris appears on more abstracts of title than almost any other name in the county.
William Norris, one of the sons who entered land in Kosciusko County. lived here for some years and in 1849 joined the exodus to the California gold fields. He prospered in the far West, later re- turned to Indiana, hut spent his last years in Missouri. His children consist of John L., Joseph, Melvina, Lena, Rebecca and Dora.
John L. and Emma (Stainer) Norris had three children, one of
491
HISTORY OF KOSCIUSKO COUNTY
whom died in infancy. The daughter Bertha is the wife of Lawrence Snodgrass, and they live in the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada.
Delbert W. Norris grew up on the old farm and lived there until the age of eighteen, after which he spent six years in Elkhart County. He then returned to Koscinsko County, and was a resident here until the age of thirty-three. On January 1, 1898, he married Edna Cripe, a native of Turkey Creek Township. In the spring of 1903 Mr. and Mrs. Norris moved to Canada and homesteaded 160 acres in the west- ern part of the Dominion. They had their home there for fourteen years and only returned to Kosciusko County on April 8, 1917. They now occupy the old Norris homestead comprising eighty acres.
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.