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 29
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Mr. A. H. Brown married Miss Fannie Nixon. They had one daughter, Ilah M., who is a graduate of the Leesburg High School and is the wife of F. D. Irwin. Mr. Brown lost his wife in 1885, and now lives with his daughter. He is affiliated with the Elks Lodge at War- saw and in politics is a republican.
CALVIN A. POOR. The name of Calvin A. Poor is familiar among the agriculturists of Kosciusko County as belonging to one of its most industrious citizens and a man who occupies a high position in busi- ness circles. He has been the architect of his own fortune, having made his own way in the world from a modest beginning, and has proven a fine example of the beneficial results of patient industry, a wise economy and well-directed judgment. While he is practically retired from active affairs, having passed the age of three score and ten years, he is still interested in the advancement and prosperity of his community, in which practically all of his life has been passed, and the growth and development of which he has watched and fostered.
Mr. Poor was born in Jackson County, Ohio, September 13, 1844, and is a son of John and Sabina (Crarey) Poor, his grandfather being Hugh Poor, who died in the Buckeye State. John Poor was born in Ohio in 1810, and in early life learned the trade of shoemaker, which time-honored vocation he followed during his early years. However, he decided that agriculture offered better opportunities for success, and accordingly, in 1847, he gathered together his possessions, and with his family came to Kosciusko County, settling on a farm in the near vicinity of Warsaw. Here he labored faithfully and indus- triously to such good purpose that he accumulated 240 acres of land, which he improved with good farm structures, and which was his home at the time of his death, in 1894. While Mr. Poor was not what would be termed a scholar at this time, he was fairly well read and educated for his day, and his sterling qualities of character fully made up for
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any book learning which he might have lacked. He was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and took an active and helpful part in its work, as did also his wife, and his children were reared in that faith. Mr. Poor was a republican, but not a politician, while his fraternal affiliation was with the Masons. While still a resident of Ohio Mr. Poor was married to Miss Sabina Crarey, who was born in Virginia, in 1814, and died at the age of seventy years in Kosciusko County, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom five are living, as follows: Mary, who is the widow of Eli Hayden and resides in the State of Oregon; David, who is engaged in agricultural operations in Kosciusko County ; Calvin A .; Susanna, who is the wife of Mr. Pike and lives on the old homestead ; and Ellen, who is Mrs. Rudolph Huffer, and also lives on the old family place.
Calvin A. Poor received his education in the country schools of Kosciusko County, and like other farmers' sons of his day and locality when not employed with his books was expected to devote himself to the cultivation of the homestead land. He grew to manhood with the ambition and determination to become a good farmer, and remained under the training of his father until long after he had reached his majority. Mr. Poor established a home of his own at the time of his marriage, in 1875, to Miss Mary O. Stinson, who was born in Kos- ciusko County, Indiana, daughter of John W. Stinson, one of the carly settlers of this county, who still resides here at an advanced age.
Mr. Poor came to his present property in 1885, and during thirty years has brought about many changes. He has a full set of commo- dious, modern buildings, equipped with every implement for the expe- ditious and thorough cultivation of the soil, and during the period of his active career devoted himself principally to general farming, raising corn, wheat, oats and hay. This eighty-acre farm, one of the most valuable of its size in the locality, is now being rented, Mr. Poor having practically retired from active life. He is a republican in his political views, and he and Mrs. Poor are faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Poor's life has been a long, full and useful one, and he is eminently entitled to the comfort and rest which he now enjoys, as well as to the respect and regard of his fellow- citizens, among whom he has lived so long.
CHARLES W. TUCKER has known Kosciusko County as his home all his life and is junior partner of the firm Downer & Tucker, furniture dealers and undertakers at Claypool.
Mr. Tucker was born in Seward Township of this county February 26, 1873, a son of Joshua and Catherine (Hartung) Tucker. His father was born in Wabash County, Indiana, in 1844, and served four years as a soldier of the Union Army, enlisting as a boy and coming out of the war when scarcely of age. After the war he came to Kos- eiusko County, married, and settled in Seward Township, and lived there until his death. Though he began life poor, he gave a good account of his abilities and services and developed a good farm of 120 acres. His wife was born in Pennsylvania in 1843. They had ten children, all of whom are still living, five sons and five
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daughters, namely : Lewis; Charles W .; Ellis; Otis C .; Ova E .; Dora, wife of Fred MeCherry ; Fluella J., wife of Orville Blue; Leona, wife of Justin Bunner; Zuda K. ; and Mertie Wertenberger.
Mr. Charles W. Tucker grew up on his father's farm and had a district school. education. He married Miss Birdie W. Arnold, who was born in Claypool and was educated in the schools of that village. They have had six children. Merle, Clarice (deceased), Jennie, Chauncey, Mahlon and Eva. Mr. Tucker is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He votes as a republican. Be- sides his business he is a stockholder in the local bank at Claypool.
OTIS C. DICK is a native of Kosciusko County, and has proved his worth and value to his community as a hard worker and progressive young business man. He is now secretary and treasurer and manager of the Claypool Lumber and Coal Company.
Mr. Dick was born in Clay Township, November 13. 1881, a son of Ira and Flora (Marshall) Dick, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kosciusko County. Ira Dick has for many years been one of the skillful carpenters of Clay Township. He is a democrat and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the family were two children, Otis C. and Mattie.
Otis C. Dick attended the village schools of Claypool until finishing the work of the common schools, and then started out to make his own living and way in the world. He learned the trade of carpenter, and worked at it several years. He then entered the service of a local Jum- ber company at Claypool, and at the end of eighteen months was made manager. When the company was incorporated he was elected secre- tary and treasurer.
Mr. Dick married Florence Linn. They have two children, Robert. and Herbert. They are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Dick is past noble grand of Claypool Lodge, No. 515, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has sat in the Grand Lodge. He is also past commander of the Knights of the Maccabees. Politically he votes as an independent.
MICHAEL A. CAUFFMAN. Though not a native son of Kosciusko County, Michael A. Cauffman has lived here since early childhood, and is a member of a family whose activities have made them during the last half century among the most prominent and substantial citizens of Clay Township.
Mr. Cauffman was born in Michigan June 5, 1859, son of John and Eva (Sellers) Cauffman. His parents were born and married in Penn- sylvania, and after their marriage moved west to Michigan and lived in the vicinity of Niles about five years. They then came to Clay township, and bought the land in section 29 where their son Michael now lives. John Cauffman was not only a capable farmer, but was a minister of the Evangelical Church, and continued preaching until overtaken by advanced age. He was a republican, but was satisfied merely to vote. He was twice married, and had four children by his first wife, all now deceased, and nine by the second marriage. six of
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whom are still living: Michael A .; Amelia, wife of Jacob O. Deaton, of Claypool; Levi F., of Lake Township; Nancy, wife of Richard Brown, of Nebraska; Pierce, roadmaster for the Big Four Railway Company, with headquarters at Wabash, Indiana; and John A., who is the present trustee of Clay Township.
Michael A. Cauffman grew up on the farm where he now lives and attended the district schools until he was about thirteen years old. After that he lived at home and helped work the farm until twenty- four.
In September, 1886, he married Miss Elizabeth Bause, who was born in Seward Township of this county, a daughter of George Bause. Arter their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cauffman lived twelve years on a farm two and one half miles east of Claypool. They then moved into the village of Claypool and he worked there and in the vicinity until the spring of 1900, when he bought the old homestead, and his capable management of this farm of eighty-nine acres has given him his most solid prosperity.
Mr. and Mrs. Cauffman have four children. Tressie B., a graduate of the common schools, is the wife of Eli Smith, of Clay Township. Elsie G., a graduate of high school and a former teacher, is now the wife of Lawrence Beigh, of Clay Township. Foster W. is a graduate of the common and high schools, also taught for a time, and is now a farmer in Clay Township. He married Testa Arnold. Lester R., a graduate of high school, lives in Lake Township and married Ruth Garman. All of Mr. Cauffman's children are farmers. He has one grandchild. Mr. Cauffman is a republican.
JAMES F. DENNY settled on his present farm four and one half miles southeast of Claypool, in Clay Township, thirty years ago, and although he and his wife began as renters, they have since acquired the land and done much to develop it in value and facilities. Mr. Denny has not only prospered in a business way, but is father of a family that does him credit, and altogether the Dennys are people much above the average in education, general intelligence, and in their usefulness to themselves and their community.
Mr. Denny was born on the farm that he now owns March 4, 1863, a son of James and Lucinda (Fisher) Denny. His father was born in North Carolina in 1826 and died February 22, 1867, his death being the result of an accident while he was loading logs. His wife was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1840, and died October 14, 1912. Both the Denny and Fisher families came to Indiana in early days and James and Lucinda were reared here, and after their marriage settled in Wabash County, but later moved to the farm in Clay Township where they spent their last years. Mrs. Lucinda Denny was an active member of the Christian Church. Of their seven children five are still living: Emanuel F., a banker and cattle man of Nebraska ; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Crider, living in Kansas; Joseph, of Elkhart, Indiana ; James F .; and Rosella, wife of Oscar Feigley, of Wisconsin.
James F. Denny grew up on the old homestead and early learned its duties in barn and field, working industriously every summer while
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the winters were spent attending the district school. On March 10, 1888, a few days after his twenty-fifth birthday, he married Miss Lettie V. Corrall. Mrs. Denny was born in Kosciusko County and was educated here in the local schools. After their marriage they located on the farm of 120 acres which their united thrift and industry en- abled them to buy later, and here they have made their success in life and enjoy the esteem of an entire community. Mr. Denny is also a stockholder in the Packertown Elevator Company. He is independent in politics and his wife is a member of the United Brethren Church at Claypool.
Their six children are: Roy, who is married and lives at Three Rivers, Michigan ; Cecil, wife of William Richardson, of South Whit- ley, Indiana; Prudy, wife of George Petrie, of Clay Township; Da- frema, wife of Ermon MeGown, of Harrison Township; James, who is in the service of the United States Government in Texas ; and Sparks, who lives on the home farm with his father and married Clara Shull. Mr. and Mrs. Denny also have eight grandchildren.
GEORGE MERKLE. There seems to be no limit to what a man may achieve and the forces and instruments of industry he may come to control provided he has the proper equipment of intelligence and industry and directs his efforts in the right place and with sufficient persistency. Thus twenty-five or thirty years ago George Merkle was known to only a small community in his native State of Illinois as a hard-working tenant farmer. Nearly every one in Kosciusko County knows him in the role of an extensive farmer and land owner, banker and business man, one of the men most directly concerned and inter- ested in the business affairs of Claypool.
Mr. Merkle's home farm is three and one fourth miles southeast of Claypool. He was born in Iroquois County, Illinois, June 30, 1868, son of Christ and Helen (Thascher) Merkle. His parents are both now deceased and their lives were spent as Illinois farmers. George Merkle grew up on a farm, had a district school education, supplemented by commercial and preparatory courses in the Grand Prairie Seminary, and his life was spent quietly at home until twenty-one.
His marriage to Jennie Wallace, of the same county and state, brought him a most valued companion and coadjutor, and together they have solved many of the problems and difficulties that vexed their progress. Mr. and Mrs. Merkle farmed on the renting plan for eight years. For ten years or more Mr. Merkle supplemented his earnings by teaching school. After realizing some capital in Illinois, he sold his interests and moved to some of the cheaper lands of Paulding County, Ohio. He was in that section about two years, and in 1907 came to Kosciusko County, where he bought his present place of 300 acres. Since then his business interests have reached out in various other directions.
Mr. Merkle was one of the organizers and from the first has been president of the State Bank of Claypool. The other officers and directors are: J. O. Deaton, vice president; E. W. Kinsey, cashier ; and Leroy W. Caldwell, secretary of the Board of Directors.
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Mr. Merkle is also president of the Farmers Elevator Company at Packertown. Levi Fruit is vice president, W. M. Reed is secretary, and the other directors are Samuel Smith and Ode Fisher.
Mr. and Mrs. Merkle have five children: Roy, born in 1897; Frank, born in 1899; Alice, born in 1907; George, born in 1909; and Robert, born in 1916. Mrs. Merkle is a member of the Catholic Church. Mr. Merkle is affiliated with the Odd Fellows Lodge at Claypool.
JACOB O. DEATON. Clay Township, the village of Claypool, and all that section of Kosciusko County have in many ways been impressed by the abilities and influence of the Deaton family, who have lived here over half a century. Few names recur more frequently in the annals of that locality.
The old Deaton homestead of 200 arres. a mile and a half east of Claypool, is now owned and managed by Jacob O. Deaton, who when a youth had the responsibility of helping his widowed mother and the other children in lifting the heavy incumbrance upon the farm, and after those obligations were cleared away Mr. Deaton settled down to a life of prosperity and vigorous agricultural management which continues to the present time.
His great-grandparents were George W. and Susanna (Ream) Deaton. George W. Deaton was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, in 1785, and died in that state in 1826. His wife was also a native of Virginia. During the War of 1812 he hore arms for his country, and after his death his widow moved to Clark County, Ohio, taking with her six sons and three daughters. She died there in 1867. All her children grew up and became well to do and prosperous citizens.
William Deaton, grandfather of Jacob O. Deaton, was proprietor of a saw mill in Clark County, Ohio, and spent his life there. William Deaton married Catherine Leffel, and their oldest son was George W. Deaton.
The founder of the family in Kosciusko County was George W. Deaton, who was born and reared in Clark County, Ohio. March 9, 1856, he married Miss Frances Fortney, a daughter of Jacob and Ann (Knoops) Fortney. In March, 1863, George W. Deaton brought his family to Kosciusko County and settled in Clay Township on land now owned by his son Jacob O. He continued to live in that locality the rest of his life. He and his wife were very active members of the Mount Pleasant Episcopal Church, and he was chorister and other- wise active in the church service. He was prominent in local repub- lican politics, had much eloquence as a speaker, and ın 1872 his per- sonal popularity enabled him to overcome the normal democratic majority of eighty, and he had the distinction of being the first repub- lican elected trustee of Clay Township. He was also a charter mem- ber of the Grange at Claypool. He was a hard worker, and but for the fact that his life came to a close when still in the prime of his years he would doubtless have accumulated a large estate. As it was he left to his family over 200 acres of land, and they assumed and paid off the obligation. George W. Deaton and wife had eight chil-
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dren: William S., born October 15, 1856, died December 25, 1871; Jacob O., born August 26, 1858; Mary B., born December 12, 1860, and died October 10, 1862; John E., born October 16, 1862; Sherman S., born February 23, 1865; Ulysses Grant, born May 19, 1867, and died May 31, 1918; Cyrus B., born July 29, 1869; and Charles G., born April 1, 1874.
Jacob O. Deaton was born'in Clark County, Ohio, and was about five years of age when his parents came to Kosciusko County. He grew up here, attended the common schools, and was nineteen years of age when his father died. He remained at home, and worked stead- ily until $8,000 was cleared off the homestead, and for that time he received wages of $100 a year. He now owns 200 acres of the old homestead, having greatly improved and enhanced the value of the property, and now owns one of the most complete modern rural estates in the county.
August 21, 1883, Mr. Deaton married Miss Mealy Cauffman, a sis- ter of Mr. J. A. Cauffman, elsewhere noted in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Deaton have nine children : George W., born June 2, 1884; John L., born September 23, 1885; Florence E., born June 1, 1888, wife of Carl Haines ; Fluella B., born June 16, 1890, and now the wife of Horace Tucker, grandson of Horace Tucker; Fern C., born March 30, 1892, a former school teacher and now the wife of Ernest Carr, of Lake Township; Sherman B., born February 5, 1895, a former school teacher but now a farmer; Ruth A., born November 23, 1896, and also a teacher; Orie B., born July 29, 1898, who has taught school two terms; and Delphia, born March 7, 1903.
The family are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Claypool. Mr. Deaton is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees, and is one of the influential republicans of this part of the county. He served as committeeman from 1880 to 1912, and was a member of the county commissioners from 1900 to Jannary, 1907.
Besides his farm Mr. Deaton now gives much of his time to the State Bank of Claypool, which he helped organize in 1917. The officers of the bank are George Merkle, president; J. O. Deaton, vice president ; E. W. Kinsey, cashier ; while the other directors are Boyd Popham, Leroy Caldwell, Emery Metzger, Theodore Parker.
JOHN A. PITTENGER. As breeder and raiser of thoroughbred Shropshire sheep, Berkshire hogs, Belgian horses and Shorthorn cattle, John A. Pittenger has a reputation far beyond the limits of Kosciusko County. Men far and near are accustomed to making more or less regular trips to the Big Oak Stock Farm in order to secure the finest pedigreed strains for improving their own herds. Mr. Pittenger's farm in Wayne Township is a model place of its kind, and its improve- ments and adaptation to the uses of modern stock raising are the results of an exceptional degree of enterprise on his part. He has spent money, patience and lahor in laying the foundation of his various herds, and when it is considered how many years he has spent in this business and how carefully he has studied it it is a matter of no sur- prise that his stock on exhibition has taken more first premiums than
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have been bestowed upon any other individual stock breeder in the county.
The Pittenger is a well known and prominent old family of Kos- ciusko County. Mr. Pittenger was born on the farm he now owns May 20, 1863, son of A. D. and Asenath (Poulson) Pittenger. He grew up here, his education coming from the common schools and the Warsaw High School. Mr. Pittenger® married Vera Elder, also a native of Kosciusko County. They have three children: Ada F., Allen Dean and Vera. Mr. Pittenger is affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men.
As a farmer he started early to develop good grades of livestock, and at first handled Shorthorn cattle exclusively. Gradually he has broadened his enterprise to include cattle, hogs, horses and sheep. His horses are all registered Belgian Percherons with recorded pedigrees recognized in all the registers of this country and abroad. He has exhibited his stock at all the county fairs, and is himself an authority on some fine points of the various strains which he has developed. Mr. Pittenger owns two fine farms, his homestead being registered under the name of Oak Stock Farm.
REV. JOHN B. DUNKLEBERGER. The esteem and respect paid to Rev. John B. Dunkleberger is not confined to the people of Kosciusko County. As a minister of the Gospel he has served communities in various sections of Indiana and in other states, but at the same time has carried on progressive farming as a resident of Monroe Township for many years. Rev. Mr. Dunkleberger's home is nine miles south- east of Warsaw, and he is one of the foremost citizens of that locality.
He was born in Wayne Township of this county April 9, 1867, son of Daniel and Hannah V. (Peterson) Dunkleberger. His father was born in Pennsylvania and his mother in Ohio, and they married in the latter state and subsequently came to Kosciusko County and found a tract of farming land in Wayne Township southeast of Warsaw, where they were quiet and industrious and prosperous people the rest of their lives. Both were members of the United Brethren Church. Of their ten children eight are still living: Samuel, a retired farmer in Arkan- sas; William, a minister of the Christian Church living in Arkansas; Daniel, a preacher in the same church in Missouri; Andrew, of Clay- pool, Indiana; Hannah V., who is married and lives in Wyoming ; David L., a minister of the Christian Church at Shelbyville, Indiana ; John B .; and Mrs. Martha B. Black, of Oklahoma.
John B. Dunkleberger grew up on the old farm in Wayne Town- ship and afterwards supplemented the education he acquired in the district schools with theological and literary studies in various locali- ties. He spent two years in the Theological School at Canton, Missouri. He was ordained to the ministry of the Christian Church in Kosciusko County, but the first seven years of his practical ministry were spent in Iowa. On returning to Indiana he had charge of churches at St. Joseph and Newville. Then for seven years he did farming and preaching alternately.
On January 22, 1888, Mr. Dunkleberger married Anna E. Pot-
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tenger. Mrs. Dunkleberger, a daughter of William K. Pottenger, was born on the farm where she now lives and was educated in the district schools. They are the parents of two children : Russell H. and Edith M. Russell is a graduate of the public schools, has attended Val- paraiso University and Winona Lake Schools, and is a teacher. Edith has acquired a good education in the public schools and has had three years of musical training. One child of Rev. Mr. Dunkleberger and wife is deceased. He carries insurance with the North American Union, and in politics is a republican. As a farmer Mr. Dunkleberger is successfully applying his efforts to the management of a hundred acres of land, and operates it as a general farm, with good livestock as the chief source of his revenue.
JOHN A. CAUFFMAN. No one could spend much time in Clay Township without coming to know or know of John A. Cauffman, one of the older residents, a capable and thrifty farmer, and a man whose usefulness has made him an important factor in the community's wel- fare. Mr. Cauffman is now serving as township trustee.
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