USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana > Part 35
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Company E of the 129th Regiment was recruited within Elk- hart county in 1863-64. and was mustered into service with the regi- ment. March. 1864. The officers belonging to this company were Captain S. McGuire, promoted major and subsequently lieutenant-col- onel. He was succeeded in the captaincy by E. W. Metcalf. The lieu- tenancy was successively filled by Henry Clay. N. W. Sherwin, Mar- tin L. Duck and W. Kelly. The non-commissioned officers and men comprised : Josiah Kronk. L. B. Grove, J. Clay, F. Molebush, R. W. Thomas. S. Tripp. J. Smith, H. B. Scolf. E. Leutz, J. W. Jamison. O.
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H. Probst, J. H. Miller. J. Janes, D. K. Apple. W. Boyd, J. Burrows, A. Clay, F. Comes, J. S. Eyer. J. M. Eldridge, J. Freed, 1. Frame, P. Fox, D. Gloose. A. J. Garver, B. Ginter, W. Gunton, B. Hall, W. Heaton, H. Hinebaugh, H. Haines, D. Hodge. S. Hartzog, J. Hine, E. Jukes. F. Johnson. M. B. Kulp, Isaac Kelmer, W. Kelly, J. Kelly, M. Krise, B. Lutz. S. Loux, T. Leipler, C. Morris, Cornelius Morris, C. Myers, J. Misner. W. Molebush, George Miller, M. D. McMaster, P. Market, L. McCumsey, G. Mock, C. Martin, J. Mobley. D. Ort, W. Overly, W. Potts. . \. Parks, J. Richison, N. Ramer. S. W. Reist, D. Rosenberger, J. B. Rowley, W. F. Rowley. G. Robinson, .A. J. Raught, Ross Reed. W. H. Reynolds, J. Stewart, Jacob Swartz, Amos Swartz. W. Smith, D. Shirk, D. Smeltzer, P. Seltzer. N. W. Sherwin, Michael Touley. C. Teet, D. Trussle. W. Thuxton, W. Tully. W. Weed, C. Woodworth. H. Watson, with Jacob McMullen as the only recruit.
The 136 Regiment comprised Company K, furnished by Elkhart county. This company was organized May 21. 1864, for 100 days' service, under Captain Myron A. Hawks, Lieutenants George W. Best and Albert Yates. In the ranks were: J. E. Andrews. R. Alford, C. \. Allen. C. B. Broderick, H. Bechtel, U. A. Beardsley. H. Bar- ber. J. F. Bemberger. D. W. Bonnell, S. Banninger. F. Burns, Tully Chamberlain, C. A. Crocker, B. F. Clay. J. A. Carmien, P. Culp, E. L. Cross, W. Carter, H. Druckamiller, E. J. Davis, Frank B. Defrees, M. L. Forbes, H. W. Farver, W. J. Fowler, B. S. Frazier, S. H. Grimes. C. E. Gardner. A. V. Goodspeed. E. H. Huggins. M. Hueston, M. C. Haney, G. Hapner, E. Hildebiddle, J. H. Huff. W. M. Hovey, J. Honk, T. S. Johnson, G. W. Kennison, G. Knox. J. C. Kittle, J. A. Lambs. W. H. Livering, W. H. Miller, A. J. Miller, D. C. Miller. W. Meader, T. D. Morse. E. W. Mc Allister, Z. A. McComber. G. E. McDaniels, G. W. Mount, J. Mckinley. A. Nee, W. M. Olivine, H. G. P. Oblinger, D. Ott. J. W. Ott. L. A. Powers, L. H. Phelps. J. O. Pond, J. H. Rosswell. J. A. Roach, George Reynolds, L. S. Richardson, F. Rudy. J. K. Smock, E. O. Shaw, C. Shaw, F. E. Shaw, L. . 1. Schofield. . \. J. Sherlock, J. F. Simpson, C. D. Sherwin, E. P. Shelt, J. B. Syphart. G. L. Thorpe. C. J. Thompson, Mahlon Thompson, G. W. Fiedemann. Ral. Tripp, H. Versalus, S. Van Tassel, E. Walburn. J. J. White, J. M. Woomer, F. F. Yeoman and G. Zimmer.
Company D of the 142d Regiment was organized in Elkhart county in September and October, 1864, for one year's service, and Thomas Il. Chance was commissioned captain. The other officers from
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
the county were: Lieutenants. David Frankfoder and William Hol- land, promoted from 2d lieutenant and first sergeant respectively. The roster of enlisted men contained the following names: B. H. Curtis. D. R. Longnecker, C. R. Frisby. J. Holland, sergeants: W. J. Wolf. R. G. Bailey, J. Lechlitner, P. Weekes, D. H. Winbrener. J. Scott. 1. Willis. H. W. Gore, corporals: \. B. Walverton and James Shewy. musicians; with privates, E. V. AAdkins. S. Allen. A. AArnspacker, J. Bailey. . \. Bell. J. W. Bowman. F. Blyly, J. Brambaugh. J. Balenline. J. H. Bryan, W. J. Blair, H. Bebe. J. Clark, D. Culp. A. D. Carry, F. O. Carry, J. C. Cunningham. J. Debelbus. J. W. Deming. J. Dun- nivan. F. Dusheet. S. Ever. W. Fletters. A. L. Frakes. D. Fuse. B. J. Funk. J. Grove, Sol. Gruber. H. Guipe. Jos. Hughes, M. W. Henry. W. R. Lindsley, P. B. Lowcks, Wm. Matthews. E. Morris, J. B. Nol- an, M. Rone. W. Shewy, Irvin St. John. J. Wittmyer. C. H. Whyte. C. F. Whitson and Wm. Wittmyer. Among the great majority of Elk- hart men in this company were a few from the surrounding counties. and nine from neighboring states. Its principal duty was performed before Nashville.
The 152d Regiment held a fair representation of the military ele- ment of Elkhart county in many of its companies. In the roll of offi- cers the following names appear : Major Waldschmidt. Captains H. W. Smith, J. W. Liveringhouse: Lieutenants E. Liebole. J. Scheckles. J. F. Carmien and C. M. Boyd. The roster of enlisted men contained the following names: First sergeant, J. S. Chase: sergeants. E. F. Man- ning, H. J. Corns. M. Hurd. C. Onderkirk ; corporals, J. Zoover, .A. Kline- felter, W. Bowld. S. Davis, M. Hartzog. W. Dagget. W. J. Smith. C. Barnhart : musicians. G. W. Keller and H. A. Rudy; privates. J. C. Allen. W. Blake. P. Culp. J. Confer. G. Compton. T. W. Corns. . 1. M. Cassida, J. Campbell, C. Confer. O. R. Everett. J. B. Eckhart, S. Ernsperger. H. Farver. W. H. Foster, H. Guy, H. Grissom, J. Garl. Wm. Hovey. J. R. Hawkins, R. Hilton, P. Heller. E. Hildebiddle, C. Hope. Eli Jenkins, A. Knee, D. L. Keggeriss, Wm. Kissinger. T. Long- aker. G. P. Morse, J. Miller. C. Miller, Stephen Monries, J. P. Prick- ett. T. Pendland, B. Probst, S. D. Plumbley, C. Ramer. C. Renninger. C. C. Rabins. W. Rosbrugh, I. F. Simpson, F. Strayer. I. Sheline. B. Stone. G. Stanger, S. Shively, D. Stewart. D. A. Shiner. . \. Scott, W. B. Taylor. J. R. Thomas. E. Vesselius, C. T. Williams, and recruit Henry Vesselius.
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In Company B were: J. H. Baker, J. Jarret, N. O. Kersey, J. B. Mock, A. Rhinehart, P. Slater and M. Thompson.
Company E was mainly composed of Elkhart men: D. M. Fravel, C. Klein, I. C. Fox, W. S. Pearman, J. Allison, J. Baumback. C. Went- worth, L. Beckner, S. Tefft, I. Zumbrun, J. H. Huff, J. M. Selders, M. H. Phelps, F. Abrecht. R. Alford, C. E. Brown, Felix Burns, G. A. Blood, N. Berkey. E. Berkey. W. L. Burroughs, J. Berger, J. D. Boyd. R. Brown, J. A. Carmien, C. Chivington, L. Croop. J. J. Cripe, E. D. Case, A. E. Doty, E. Davis, Sam Erb, J. Favinger, J. C. Grimes, B. Grant, J. Griswold, E. Hildreth, H. Helwes, J. W. Handson, C. F. Haskins, A. C. Jennings, T. Knight, G. Kreuger, D. Landaw, Lewis Liveringhouse, G. A. Losee, F. Lanther, \. Mayfield, H. Medland, H. Miller, A. J. Miller, L. W. Neusbaum, J. Nimrick, D. C. Newell, J. H. Newell, W. Overshott, F. Nay, J. Obrecht. L. H. Phelps, D. Poorbaugh, L. W. Peppley, S. Prough. A. Prough. G. M. Reger, E. Rehr, U. Snowberger, J. Spahr, W. Smith, W. Sparks. P. A. Slote, F. . \. Stroup, S. A. Scalf. T. D. Thomas, L. Walter, F. Walter and W. F. Walker.
The 21st Battery, Light Artillery, comprised W. Harper, W. ... Miller, E. W. Cooper, J. W. Cornell, W. L. Cornell, E. Cole, J. Cope- land, S. H. Eldridge, H. W. Hickson, W. J. Smith, B. L. Slight, G. .A. White, D. Houser, W. Haggerty, H. H. Loomis, of Middlebury ; C. L. Brant, J. A. Ashbaugh, G. Barnhouse, L. Coffin and W. Cornell, of Elkhart; W. Marker. E. L. Montgomery, and G. H. Miller, of Bristol: C. J. Werntz and E. M. Hubbell, of Goshen.
Of the entire number of men comprised in these regiments over three thousand volunteers, volunteer recruits and drafted men were from Elkhart county.
While the history of Elkhart county thus opens freely her pages to the names of her veterans, it should be remembered that there were as true patriots at home as there were in the field, and, too, their serv- ices were just as vitally necessary to the success of the cause. And, furthermore, impartial history must record that there were troubles and obstacles to be overcome here in this northern Indiana county. The righteousness of the war, although at this late date conceded by all without proof, was not recognized by all, at least not in the same (legree; then, as now, there were men of conservative temper who, following the dictates of judgment or conscience, withheld their sup- port, and some who even sympathized with the "lost cause." Then, too, when the draft became a military necessity, there was dissatisfac-
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
tion in some quarters. But all these instances are of minor considera- tion and, in the grand sweep of events toward the goal, hardly to be noticed more than the pebbles that ineffectively oppose the rush of mighty waves from the deep.
Not the least factor in the sum of loyalty was the work of the ladies. The boxes and bales of necessities and delicacies which they sent to the soldiers were simply amazing. Their busy fingers were always at work for their relief societies. Immediately succeeding the commencement of hostilities the women of Elkhart county resolved themselves into the " Soldiers' Aid Society," who met in October, 1861, adopted by-laws and organized for effective work in the field and at home. Among those prominent in this work may be mentioned Mrs. H. W. Bissell and Misses Reynolds, Abbott, Beardsley, Hudson, Mc- Cord, Martin, Milier, Powell, Stauffer, and many others. The pulpits spoke out, entertainments for the benefit of the soldiers were given by the different social, fraternal, literary, military and religious organiza- tions, private individuals gave liberally of their means, and profes- sional men gave not only of their means but their time and efforts, many of them going south to nurse the sick and wounded, and our unenlisted surgeons lent a free hand in army hospitals. Many thou- sands of dollars were dispensed among the families of soldiers, and those who gave in this manner are hardly less worthy of recognition than those who marched away in the ranks.
Coming to the Spanish-American war of 1898, we find that the patriotism and military spirit of Elkhart county had suffered no diminu- tion through thirty years of pcace. And though the companies organ- ized within the county never realized their ambition to taste the real glory of war, they are none the less deserving because of the efficiency and alacrity which characterized their performance of duty from time of recruiting to the muster out. At the call of President Mckinley the Third Indiana National Guards immediately started for the state capi- tal, and was there reorganized as the One Hundred and Fifty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The regimental officers were Col. George M. Studebaker, Lieutenant Colonel W. T. May, and Majors G. W. Fraser, E. H. Fitzgerald (Goshen) and A. L. Coleman. Charles F. Cline, of Goshen, was sergeant major, and Joseph P. Hawks, of Goshen, was commissary sergeant, and on October 12, 1898, promoted to quar- termaster sergeant.
The Elkhart county enlistments were divided almost entirely be-
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tween companies C and E. which were recruited, respectively, at Goshen and Elkhart, while other companies of the regiment received scattered members from the county. Company C, which was mustered into serv- ice April 26. 1898, had the following officers: Captain. Elias D. Salis- bury: first lientenant. Charles Slade : second lieutenant, Joseph .. Col- lins : first sergeant. E. F. Gordeau ; quartermaster sergeant, O. W. Bale. Lieutenant Slade died July 20, 1898, and Joseph A. Collins was then promoted to first lieutenant, and Sergeant Thomas H. Mew to second lieutenant.
Company E. of Elkhart, was officered as follows: Joseph E. Graves. captain : Norman E. Beall, first lientenant ; August Groll, second lieu- tenant: W. H. Hopkins, orderly sergeant: E. A. Lefebre. commissary sergeant.
The regiment left Indianapolis on May roth, was encamped ser- eral weeks at Camp Thomas, Chattanooga, and on the Ist of June set out. under sealed orders. for Tampa, Florida. The eagerness and agil- ity which the boys of this regiment displayed when breaking camp and loading their equipments on trains earned for them the title of " Indiana Tigers," which remained with them throughout their service. . At Tampa the horses, ammunition and rations for the One Hundred and Fifty- seventh had been loaded on a transport and all was in readiness to start for the hostile shores of Cuba when a collision so damaged the trans- port that it could not accompany the fleet. This was the exasperating mischance which prevented the boys of Elkhart county from participat- ing in the brief campaign which swept the tyranny of Spain out of the Greater Antilles. The regiment remained at Tampa till the last of July, was then stationed at Fernandina a month, and on September I started for Indianapolis, where it arrived the next day. A month's fur- lough was granted on September 10, and, reassembling at Camp Mount on October 10, they were mustered out on November I.
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CHAPTER XXIII.
THE CHURCHES.
Religion crowns the statesman and the man, Sole source of public and of private peace. -- YOUNG.
The pioneers of Elkhart county did not leave their religion behind when they settled here but brought it with them. In the first settle- ments which were formed there were not a sufficient number of any one sect to form a church by themselves, and so they worshiped to- gether. The points of doctrine or practice which divided them were held in abeyance, persons of each sect yielded a little for the good of the whole, and in a spirit of union and Christian toleration they came together and each one tried to derive all the good he could from the meetings, exercises and discourses. For a time there were no church buiklings, but schoolhouses were soon erected, rude log structures, and there in the winter, or in the open air in summer, the people assembled. We have elsewhere mentioned how some of the people at the mouth of the Elkhart came together in the home of Mrs. Beebe and there held prayer meetings. As yet there were no churches organized and no settled pastors, but ministers passing through were asked to preach and did so. An appointment was made at some dwelling house or schoolhouse, and at the time appointed a true pioneer community gathered. Some came on foot, some on horseback, and some with ox teams. If in the summer time, not only the children but some of the men came barefooted, bringing their dogs with them; and all, even some of the dogs, gave earnest attention to the services. There were no organ and no choir, but some one would lead in the singing, and as hymn books were scarce the reader would give out two lines of a stanza and the people would sing them, then another two, and so on. This was called "lining off " the hymn, and a variety of voices would inin in the singing. There was not as much harmony and beautiful melo 1. as now. but there may have been as much devotion. Some among the pioneers were accomplished singers, and when these met there was richy music. The court house was the place selected for many early religi ".3
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meetings, as such a notice as follows, extracted from the old Goshen Express of March 26, 1837. will show: " Rev. G. R. Brown will preach at the court house in this place on next Sabbath at 10 o'clock A. M., and at the schoolhouse in Benton, same day. 3 P. M.," and two weeks later it was announced that Rev. Adam Miller, "of the Bap- tist persuasion," would preach at the court house.
As we have made clear in an earlier chapter, the first Christian influences to penetrate the wilderness of northern Indiana was that emanating from the devoted priests who of their own initiative or close in the train of those who conquered the land for the King of France sought to win to their religion the souls of the heathen red men. Of course the names of the early fathers who may have passed over this country are not accessible, and the zeal with which they undertook their cause is the best monument of fame which they have left. Rev. James Marest is one who is known to have been in this county after Vincennes was established. Then there was Rev. Francis Cointet, who may be termed the first pastor of the Catholics of Elkhart county. This French priest no doubt ministered to the people of his own race, who had a small settlement in the county at the time the English settlers began pouring in. The successor of Rev. Cointet was Rev. Dr. E. B. Kilroy, who took charge of the mission of Elkhart county in 1855. At that time there were four Catholic families in Elkhart and about ten in Goshen. In speaking of his missionary labors he says, "during my travels I was often forced to sleep in nature's bedroom, the beautiful forests of northern Indiana. The roads were horrible then; but for the two years which I gave to constant travel over them the fatigues of those journeys were fully compensated by the genial welcome of my co-religionists, and people and ministers of other forms of Christianity. Indeed, many men who did not thoroughly acquiesce in the teachings of the church attended my Sunday mass, and the court houses of Goshen, Plymouth and Valparaiso were always crowded when I preached."
The first great Protestant denomination to take up active work in Elkhart county was no doubt the Methodists. Of course it is difficult to determine when and where and of what religious sect, if any, were the first religious services in the county, but the Methodists seem to have been the first to spread their organization over this part of the state. The Carey Mission, at Niles, was conducted under Baptist auspices, and perhaps some of their ministers held services in this county during the pioneer days.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH BUILDING
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
The first missionary of the Methodist church, who came here at the instance of the Ohio conference, was named Felkner, who is prob- ably the circuit rider mentioned as having held a meeting in a cabin on Elkhart prairie in 1831, Aza Sparklin being the class leader and local preacher of that little denomination. In 1831 this county was included in the Indiana conference, and Rev. Nehemiah Griffith became the circuit rider who attended to the spiritual needs of all the people in this part of the state. The old-time circuit rider is celebrated among the men who participated in the founding of civilization in the Missis- sippi, and many men and women yet living within the limits of this county can remember the comings of the itinerant preacher to their neighborhood. and especially would they not be likely to forget such an important occasion as a visit of his reverance to their own home. when the best that the thrifty housewife could procure from her larder, always including some " yellow legs," was set before the man of cloth.
In 1832 Rev. R. S. Robinson was assigned to the post at Elkhart, and from that time the ministerial force was augmented to keep pace with the rapidly increasing population of the county. Some valuable information concerning early Methodism contained in an address de- livered by Hon. J. H. Defrees on the occasion of the laying of the cor- ner stone of the First M. E. church in Goshen, should be given here. According to Mr. Defrees, the first sermon preached in Goshen was in a building which had been erected by Dr. J. Latta on a lot between the residence of Dr. M. M. Latta and Dr. Jackson's office. Their first prayer meeting was held in the bar room of a hotel, and the prayers rendered by Sparklin and Waugh. William Waugh, Thomas and George McCullom, with their wives, lived then on the town plat and in the immediate vicinity, so that they formed the first little society. A Sabbath school was formed early in 1832, and in 1833 the entire class comprised only five or six men with a few women and children. But there were other Methodists in this part of the county, among them James Beck, R. W. Randall, James Frier and J. Myers, and toward the close of 1832 a meeting was held which decided upon erecting a church wherein they might worship in peace. This building was, in its archi- tectural outline, very uninteresting ; it formed a peculiar quadrant, forty feet square and only about twelve feet high, and cost $445. In 1840 no less than one hundred and fifty members were added to the con- gregational roster, as the result of a camp meeting held in Violette Grove, south of Goshen. In 1845 George Rumsey, Ebenezer Brown,
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John Durlan, Asa A. Morton, James Anderson, Samuel Murray and Joseph H. Defrees, the trustees of the old church, which had been named the " Still house," resolved to desert this monument of James Beck's architectural genius, and with the co-operation of their brethren succeeded in raising the moncy sufficient to construct the building in which they continued till the dedication of the more imposing structure in 1874.
Coincident with, and often working alongside of. the Methodists in this county, were the Baptists. It will be remembered that Isaac Mc- Coy, the founder of the Baptist mission at Niles, known as the Carey Mission, was one of the earliest visitors to Elkhart county, and named Christiana creek in honor of his wife. Gradually, as members of that faith increased, meetings were held. In November, 1836, a congrega- tion of eleven persons was found at Goshen, under the leadership of Elder Adam Miller or Deacon William Stancliff. Another congrega- tion was organized in January, 1839, at Benton, and within the course of a few years there were quite prosperous Baptist bodies in different parts of the county.
The Presbyterian church was not far behind- the other pioneer de- nominations. A congregation was organized in Goshen with fifteen members, in 1838, and two years later one at Elkhart with ten mem- bers. Millersburg and Bristol some time later had churches. The name that is always mentioned with reverance in connection with the Pres- byterian church of Elkhart county is that of H. L. VanNuys, who has been identified with both the pioneer and modern epochs of his church ; who took charge of the church in Goshen in 1853. guided it through all its struggles and times of prosperity, and is still honored as the pastor emeritus.
In the memorial book published on the occasion of the jubilee anni- versary of the First Presbyterian church of Goshen and of the pastorate of Rev. VanNuys, the history of the church is set forth with such inter- esting relation to other matters of historical importance that we quote liberally from its pages. "Very soon after the county of Elkhart was organized and its county seat platted, a Presbyterian minister preached the first Presbyterian sermon at the home of a Mr. Irwin in Benton in July of 1832. This man. Rev. Mr. Cory, a few weeks later, preached the first Presbyterian sermon in Goshen. In 1838 a Rev. Mr. Cook. of the New School, formed a church organization of fifteen members. and held it together for about two years. He was succeeded by the
REV. H. L. VAN NUYS, 1902 REV. H. L. VAN NUYS AS HE LOOKED IN 1852 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1852 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 1902
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Rev. Enoch Bouton, a minister and home missionary of the Presby- terian church, who found here practically no church organization ; after holding service for a time in the old court house, he organized a small church, mainly of the families of Frederick and Leonard Harris, and Charles L. Murray, the latter from the state of New York. In 1842 they erected a neat frame house of worship on North Fifth street on the north end of the old Messick property now occupied by the Goshen House. The old subscription paper for the building is still extant, dated November 22. 1841, and is a somewhat remarkable document. There were fifty-three subscribers giving a total value of $578, a large portion of which was in work, lumber and other materials, one man, George Rowell, giving a plow, perhaps to prepare the field for the Great Sower. In 1892 but thirteen of these contributors were living and without doubt all have now received their reward.
" The second year of Mr. Bouton's ministry he was a commissioner to the general assembly of the church, meeting at Philadelphia. He returned from that meeting with a fever, by which he was taken away in the course of a few weeks. After his death the church was unsup- plied for a period of two or three years, when the Rev. A. S. Kedsie. a minister of the Congregational faith, came here to reside, supplying the pulpit for a period of nearly three years. During his ministry the Presbyterian organization was abandoned and the Congregational form was adopted, and, mainly through the instrumentality of an itinerant evangelist-Avery by name-the membership was increased to perhaps forty. Immediately following that period. that pastor accepted a call to Kalamazoo and left the church vacant, and it remained so for three years and more.
" In the spring of 1851 Rev. James Johnson came to Goshen from Peru, where he had been pastor of the Presbyterian church. He sup- plied the pulpit so far as he was able, with the great burden of constant sickness at his home, until the death of his wife in the autumn of that year, after which he removed to Iowa. During the winter succeeding the church building was unoccupied. The following summer, that of 1852, it was given up to a private school.
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