USA > Indiana > White County > A standard history of White County Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and county, Vol. II > Part 28
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William L. Coffey was born in Douglas County, Illinois, May 4, 1871, a son of Jerry and Jeanetta (Cutler) Coffey. His father is still living and his mother is buried in Douglas County. There were nine children, eight sons and one daughter, and all are still living but one.
Mr. Coffey spent his early life on a farm, and came to manhood with a knowledge of stock, field work and general agriculture, in addition to the training he had received from the public schools. He began life for himself at the age of twenty-one in Douglas County, and after some years of continued experience, during which he had accumulated some capital, he arrived in White County, on March 1, 1905, and bought and located his present place. All the acres are under cultivation, and his revenues come from general farming and stock enterprise. In the way of improvements he has put down a large amount of tile, and in the fall of 1914 built a silo, which is a conspicuous object among his farm build- ings. As a stock man Mr. Coffey has twenty head of graded cattle and eight head of horses.
On March 9, 1898, Mr. Coffey married Miss Maud Josserand, a daughter of Louis and Emily Josserand. Their marriage has been blest by the birth of three children: Leota, born December 10, 1899; Lois, born May 11, 1901, and Louis, born July 1, 1912. The two older chil- dren are attending the public schools at Reynolds. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that village, and in poli- tics Mr. Coffey is a republican and has evinced considerable interest in public affairs. Mrs. Coffey was also born in Douglas County, Illinois, her parents having come to that state from Indiana.
EMIL G. WIESE. One of the most creditable careers of performance in White County has been that of Emil G. Wiese, who though a native of Germany was reared from early childhood in the United States, and has spent most of his life in White County. Like many other thrifty German families, this one came and made a hard struggle to gain a foothold in the New World, and bring up children to lives of useful- ness. Emil G. Wiese therefore started out to make his own way with nothing but willing hands and heart, and now, hardly more than in the
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prime of his life, can look around on substantial possessions in a fine farm of many acres in Honey Creek Township, lands in other states, and various interests and holdings which classify him as among the most progressive men of his community.
His father was Gottlieb Wiese, who was born in Germany, received only a common school education, and in 1872 emigrated with his family and first settled in Newton County, Indiana, and from there, in 1879, removed to White County. He was an active farmer all his career. He married Carolina Rosentreter, and their seven children were: Emil G .; Hermann A., deceased; Pauline, wife of Henry Reumler, who lives in North Dakota and has seven children; Wilhelmina, who married Frank Geier of Honey Creek Township, and has four children, one deceased ; Matilda, deceased; Lewis G., who is unmarried and lives with his mother; and Anna, wife of William Robinson, on the old home place in Honey Creek Township. Gottlieb Wiese was a democrat, but with only a passive interest in political affairs. He was a German Luth- eran, and always active as a member and contributor to the church. Though he came to the United States a poor man, he owned 115 acres at the time of his death. He had no affiliations with secret orders and was a quiet, unassuming man, who nevertheless performed a useful function in the world. His widow is still living at the old home in White County.
Emil G. Wiese was born near Bromberg, Posen, Germany, April 16, 1868, and was four years old when brought to America and to New- ton County. His life since he was eleven years of age has been spent almost entirely in White County.
Mr. Wiese was fortunate in securing a capable helpmate for his life career. On April 16, 1896, he married Miss Mary Bardonner, a daughter of John and Charlotte Bardonner of Honey Creek Township, where they were among the substantial farmers and had lived there since 1876. To Mr. and Mrs. Wiese have been born eight children : Herbert L., who is attending Concordia College at Fort Wayne; Otto J. and Charlotte C., both in school at Reynolds; Walter A., who died October 30, 1906; Lawrence. H .; Paul R .; Arthur E., who died October 18, 1913; Marie L.
Emil G. Wiese has spent his life as a farmer, is a democrat, and in local affairs votes for the best man. He has served a couple of terms as supervisor of the township, but never seeks any official honors, though not unwilling to do his part as a public-spirited citizen. For three years he was a trustee of the German Lutheran Church in his community. Mr. Wiese's fine farm home is situated three miles southwest of Rey- nolds. It comprises 200 acres of land, well cultivated, and in a condi-
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tion of far greater value than when he first took possession. His owner- ship also extends to 160 acres in South Dakota, near Roscoe, on the main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. He is also owner of some stock in the Reynolds creamery, and this is only an indica- tion of his attitude towards all local improvements, being ever ready to respond to co-operative effort for local betterment in the way of ditches, roads, schools, churches and a general moral and civic uplift.
FRANK R. GEIER. Many business men of the cities might well envy Mr. Geier his country home on Section 27 of Honey Creek Township. Mr. Geier is one of the most substantial agriculturists of White County, and has largely created his prosperity out of his own efforts and judg- ment. From early life his career has been characterized by earnest purpose, and he has usually gone directly toward the object or objects which he has desired most in life. This quality of determination and prompt action have been largely responsible for his success. He has a high-grade farm comprising 132 acres, and has likewise surrounded him- self and family with facilities needed for comfortable living in a rural community.
Frank R. Geier was born in Newton County, Indiana, November 12, 1866, a son of William and Wilhelmina (Hayes) Geier. Both his parents were born in Prussia, Germany, and came many years ago to the United States. For two years they lived in White County, then spent seven years in Goodland in Newton County, and seven more years on a farm in the same county, after which they returned to White Coun- ty and lived here until their death. William Geier was a mason by trade, and followed that occupation in addition to farming. By hard work and thrift he managed to accumulate an estate of 132 acres before his death. As a farmer he raised general crops and kept graded stock, was a splendid neighbor, and liked in every community that he made his home. He and his wife belonged to the German Lutheran Church at Reynolds. Of their ten children, eight are now living, named as follows: Augusta, Otilla, William, Frank R., August, Dora, Albert and Louise. The parents are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery near Reynolds. While a democrat in politics, the interest he took in public affairs never led William Geier to seek an office.
Frank R. Geier has spent most of his life in White County. His education came from the schools of this county and Newton County, and he was carefully trained in industrious habits and as a young man sowed the seeds which have since ripened into substantial success. At the age of twenty-eight he left home, and at thirty was an independent farmer. He then located on his present place, and has owned it ever
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since, although he has not been constant in his residence there. In politics he is a republican, and has never held any official position in the community. He does not claim to be a specialist in farming, but has relied upon the time-honored methods of general farming and stock raising, and his prosperity is beyond question. His farm is im- proved and this is practically all due to his individual efforts since tak- ing possession there. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran Church at Reynolds.
On April 29, 1896, Mr. Geier married Miss Wilhelmina Wiese, daughter of Gottlieb and Carolina (Rosentreter) Wiese. The Wiese family settled in White County many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Geier have a happy family, three of their four children still living and being carefully educated in the local schools. Their oldest child, Homer, was born November 11, 1898; Luella was born August 3, 1901; Ruth was born December 12, 1903, and died at the age of six months; and Gerald was born May 15, 1907.
FRED HINTZMAN. Hard work and an earnest purpose to succeed have carried many poor men far along the road of prosperity, and the case in point is that of Fred Hintzman, whose name is well known to all White County's progressive agriculturists, and who has a fine rural home in Honey Creek Township, on Rural Route No. 11, out of Reynolds.
Many people who know of his success explain it briefly by saying that he is a German, and that means that he is possessed of the thrift and energy for which people of that country are noted. Mr. Hintzman, though he has spent most of his life in Indiana, was born in Mecklin- burg, Germany, January 21, 1866, a son of Frank and Dorothy Hintz- man. When he was about nine years of age the family left the old coun- try, and after landing from the Atlantic vessel, in New York Harbor, in October, 1875, came on to White County and settled at Monticello. Here the mother died in February, 1876, and her body is now at rest in the Bunnell Cemetery near Reynolds. Frank Hintzman was employed in the paper mills at Monticello, but about fourteen years ago moved to Danville, Illinois, and is still living at that city. Fred Hintzman was the first in a family of four children, the others being: Mary, who is the widow of Davis Ewald of Virginia; John; and Dorothy.
The school training which had begun in the old country for Fred Hintzman was continued in the public schools near and in Monticello. At the age of eighteen he made himself responsible for his own career, and supported himself by employment in the pulp mills at Monticello and Norway for about three years. Then came several years of hard work as a farm hand. Industrious, willing and capable, he also had
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habits of economy, and when about twenty-five years of age made his first purchase of land and secured ninety-five acres in Honey Creek Township. He takes commendable pride in the fact that this land is still in his possession. More than twenty years have passed since he thus secured a foothold among the landed proprietors of Honey Creek and he now owns about three hundred acres, with such improvements that its acreage value measure up to the highest standards found else- where in White County.
Mr. Hintzman married Miss Mary Brandt, a daughter of Fred Brandt. Their home has been blessed with the birth of three children: Dorothy, Emelia and Albert. Mr. Hintzman is a democrat in national politics, but votes independently in local affairs. He is a friend of improvement and an advocate of progress, but has never sought the honors of public office. He and his family are members of the German Lutheran Church at Reynolds.
JACOB W. DAUGHERTY. A resident of White County for a period of thirty-six years, the late Jacob W. Daugherty passed his career here principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, although he was likewise a carpenter and at various times followed his trade. More than five years have passed since his death, yet he is still remembered as a man of in- dustry, integrity and public-spirit, who gave freely of his abilities and energies in advancing his community's welfare and the influence of whose straightforward and manly life still remains.
Mr. Daugherty was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, Febru- ary 20, 1842, and was a son of John and Magdalena (Marcham) Daugherty, the family being of Irish and German descent. His educa- tion was received in the district schools of his native county, where he was reared on a farm, and as a young man learned the trade of car- penter, to which he served an apprenticeship. He was engaged in work- ing at this vocation when the Civil war came on, and August 14, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, 133rd Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, for nine months, and was mustered out of the service in May, 1863. During this service he participated in several skirmishes and the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. In 1874 Mr. Daugherty came to White County from Carroll County, Indiana, where he had spent a short time in working at his trade. Here he settled on a farm in Union Township and applied himself to agricultural pursuits, in which he continued to be engaged during the remainder of his active career. He accumulated a handsome property of 153 acres, all of which he put under cultivation, and improved it in appearance and value by the erec- tion of modern and substantial buildings. He retired from active par- Vol. II-17
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ticipation in agricultural affairs in 1903, and from that time until his death, which occurred April 24, 1910, he lived quietly at Monticello. Mr. Daugherty was a practical and progressive agriculturist, making the most of his opportunities and directing his operations in an intelligent manner. He was reared in the faith of the United Brethren Church, but after locating at Monticello, joined the Methodist Episcopal Church and continued to be identified therewith until his death. In politics a democrat, he never cared for the doubtful and often disappointing honors of public life, being content to spend his life as a farmer and good citi- zen. Always ready with aid to those in need, he proved a friend to many who were less fortunate than he, and when he died he was mourned not only by his large circle of friends, but by many who had come to know and respect him because of his many sterling virtues of mind and heart. His death was caused by an attack of Bright's disease, and he was laid to rest in Riverview Cemetery. He was an honored member of Tippecanoe Post at Monticello, and was buried with the honors of the post.
Mr. Daugherty was married January 13, 1876, to Miss Amanda Jane Hornbeck, born in Carroll County, Indiana, October 22, 1848, a daughter of William and Sarah (Hornbeck) Hornbeck, who came to White County from their native state of Ohio. Mrs. Daugherty was the fifth born of their seven children, four sons and three daughters, and four of the children are yet living. The three daughters are residents of Indiana, and the son, Charles A. Hornbeck, has his home in California. Mr. Hornbeck, the father, was born in Ohio, and died in Carroll County, Indiana, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a farmer, and owned an estate of 192 acres in Carroll County. His political affiliations were with the republican party, and both he and his wife were members of the New Light Church. Mrs. Hornbeck, the mother, was also born in Ohio. They now lie buried in the Dyer Cemetery in Carroll County. Mrs. Daugherty still survives her husband and makes her home on South Main Street, Monticello, where she has numerous friends and is well known by reason of her activities in the Methodist Episcopal Church. While Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty had no children of their own, they adopted and reared a daughter, Lora May Van Scoy, who became the wife of Rufus J. Morrison, of Kosciusko County, Indiana, and is now the mother of two children-Walter Adair and Catherine Jane. Mrs. Morrison is a member of the United Brethren Church in Kosciusko County, as is also her husband. Mr. Morrison is a successful farmer, owning an estate of 130 acres near Pierceton, Indiana, and in his political affiliations he is a democrat.
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ARCHIE K. RAWLINS. During nearly thirty years as a builder and contractor in White County, Archie K. Rawlins has established a repu- tation for responsible financial management and systematic and accurate execution of every contract which he undertakes, even down to the last detail. He has given competent building service, and hundreds of the better structures throughout the country stand as monuments to his work.
Archie K. Rawlins was born in the State of Minnesota, January 16, 1862, being one of three children whose parents were Joseph V. and Melinda M. (Fleener) Rawlins. His parents were among the early settlers of Minnesota, but about the close of the Civil war left that state and located in Monroe County, Indiana, and a little later went to Mat- toon, Illinois, then back to Indiana, living at several different localities, spent one winter in Arkansas, and in the spring of 1871 returned to Monroe County, Indiana, and followed this with four years of residence in Texas. In the meantime Archie K. Rawlins was sent back to Monroe County to attend school. His parents having in the meantime located at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, he joined the household there and re- mained two years. His father finally came back to Monroe County, Indiana, and engaged in farming.
By trade his father was a carpenter, and Archie K. Rawlins learned the same occupation, and started life with the equipment of a common. school education and a training and natural inclination for the build- ing business. Early in 1886 he took up contracting and building inde- pendently, and after a brief stay at Mansfield, Illinois, located in Mon- ticello, in November, 1886. The county seat of White County has since been the seat of his individual enterprise as a contractor and builder, and in the carpenter work that has been done of the better class in the county since that time he has probably had as large if not a larger share than any of his competitors.
Mr. Rawlins was married November 12, 1885, to Gertrude M. Parks .. They have one son, King Parks Rawlins, born October 16, 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Rawlins are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Improved Order of Red Men, and is a member of the January Club at Monticello. Politically his associations have been with the democratic party.
MARION J. SWARTZELL. A representative of a family whose name has been identified with the civic and industrial activities of White County for more than half a century and with the history of Indiana for nearly seventy years, Marion J. Swartzell has through his own well-ordered endeavors and progressive policies gained secure place as one of the
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successful and representative agriculturists of White County, where he is known as a steadfast, reliable and loyal citizen, who eminently merits the confidence and good-will so uniformly accorded to him in the com- munity. His well-improved farmstead of eighty acres gives every evi- dence of thrift and good management and is eligibly situated in Cass Township, 11/4 miles northeast of the Village of Headlee. In addition to carrying forward his farm operations with energy and discrimination, Mr. Swartzell also operates each season two thoroughly modern thresh- ing outfits, with which he covers a wide field of service and controls a profitable business. Aside from his individual activities he gives loyal support to those enterprises and agencies that tend to further the gen- eral social and material prosperity of the community, and while never a seeker of public office he is found aligned as a stalwart advocate of the principles of the republican party. He is not formally identified with any religious body, but accords liberal support to the work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which his wife is a zealous adherent.
Samuel Swartzell, father of him whose name introduces this article, was born in Union County, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of October, 1825, and died at his old homestead farm in Cass Township, White County, Indiana, on the 22d of January, 1893, secure in the high regard of all who knew him. He was a scion of one of the sturdy German families that settled in Pennsylvania in an early period of our national history, and in the old Keystone Commonwealth were born and reared his par- ents, John and Elizabeth Swartzell, who came to Indiana about three years after he had here established his home, their settlement in Cass County having occurred in 1851. A few years later the parents removed to Starke County, where they passed the residue of their lives.
Samuel Swartzell was reared to the discipline of the old home farm in Pennsylvania and in his youth he also learned the trade of cooper, at which he became a skilled workman. In 1848, when about twenty- three years of age, he came to Indiana and entered claim to a tract of 160 acres of wild land near the present Village of Royal Center, Cass County. In the following year was solemnized his marriage to Miss Lovisa Snetchen, and they became the parents of six children-Alvin B., Abraham, Lydia, Rachel, John M. and Hannah. Of these children only Rachel and Hannah are now living. Some time after the death of his first wife Samuel Swartzell was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Burns, this nuptial ceremony having been performed in 1859 and Mrs. Swartzell having been born in Union County, this state, a representa- tive of a sterling pioneer family, the date of her nativity having been October 15, 1837. The names of the eleven children of this union are here indicated in respective order of birth : Elizabeth, Adam, Marion J.,
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Isaac W., Albert P., Jasper F., Martha M., Melissa J., Andrew J., Ce- lestia M., and Ada H. All of the children are living except Adam and Celestia M. Isaac W., who is a prosperous farmer of Cass Township, married Miss Zeta McCloud. Marion J., the immediate subject of this review, was born in Cass Township, this county, on the 23d of Febru- ary, 1862.
Samuel Swartzell improved his farm in Cass County and there con- tinued his residence until 1861, when he sold this property and removed with his family to White County, where he was the owner of a valuable farm of eighty acres, in Cass Township, at the time of his death, he having contributed his quota to the social and industrial development and progress of the county and both he and his wife having stood as true exemplars of the Golden Rule-folk of strong character and invincible integrity. Both were earnest communicants of the German Lutheran Church and in politics Mr. Swartzell was aligned with the democratic party until the climacteric period of the Civil war, when he found that the republican party stood sponsor for principles and policies more thor- oughly in harmony with his convictions and views, with the result that he espoused its cause, of which he ever afterward continued a staunch advocate.
On the 19th of September, 1892, was solemnized the marriage of Marion J. Swartzell to Mrs. Rebecca H. (Kistler) Davis, a daughter of William and Maria Kistler, who were early settlers in Cass County, where Mrs. Swartzell was born and reared. The two children of this union are Jasper Clyde and Hazel F., both of whom remain at the par- ental home and are popular young people in the social activities of the community.
THOMAS E. CONN. Numbered among the enterprising and thrifty agriculturists of White County who brought to their independent and useful calling good business methods and excellent judgment, is Thomas E. Conn, now living retired from active business in Monticello, his at- tractive home being located but a half mile from the courthouse. A na- tive of Indiana, he was born in Clark County, November 3, 1854, being one of a family of fourteen children, twelve of whom are now living. His parents, Nelson and Amanda (Blaukenbaker) Conn, were natives of Kentucky, but became residents of Indiana, where their closing years were spent.
Educated in the rural schools, Thomas E. Conn was thrown upon his own resources when young, being left fatherless in boyhood. Immedi- ately taking his place in the ranks of the world's workers, he began
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life for himself as a farm hand, and in the tilling of the soil, and stock raising, he found both pleasure and profit. Coming to. White County in 1900, Mr. Conn bought 160 acres of land in Monon Township, on which substantial improvements had been previously made, the house and barn being in excellent condition, although he erected a few other necessary buildings. Meeting with signal success in the management of his estate, he accumulated a competency, and in the spring of 1909 gave up active work on the farm, and having purchased nearly six acres of land near the Monticello courthouse, has since lived retired, as stated above. Since that time, however, Mr. Conn has acquired title to other valuable real estate, having, in the spring of 1911, purchased 160 acres of highly improved land in Honey Creek Township, all of which is sub- ject to cultivation, there being no timber on it.
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