USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana > Part 52
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Dr. Frink married, in 1889, Miss Maud Robinson, of Indianapolis. They are the parents of three children, Charles R., Miriam and Mau- rice MI.
ALBERT N. CHAMBERLAIN.
Albert N. Chamberlain is well known throughout this county and this section of the state as the proprietor of the A. N. Chamberlain Med- icine Company, manufacturers of the A. N. Chamberlain remedies, which have achieved a reputation as reliable and efficacious medical specifics. The Chamberlain's Immediate Relief, pills and salve, have held their places as a medicine for over half a century. The business was estab- lished by Mr. Chamberlain and his father in 1850, and is the oldest and longest continued enterprise of the kind in this county.
Mr. Chamberlain was born in Onondaga county, New York, in what is now the city of Syracuse, December 27, 1832, a son of Milo and Elizabeth ( Smith) Chamberlain. Each of the parents was twice married and had children by each union. When Albert N. was a year old his parents moved to Geneseo, Livingston county, New York, where he was reared, being educated in the Geneseo schools and Temple Hill College. He was in the printing business a while at Nunday Valley and also in a tin shop, and in 1850 he drove through the oil regions of Penn- sylvania, where he was engaged for a time in preparing milk tanks, and in the same year arrived in Elkhart. At this point receiving news of ill luck on the part of his brother in California, he remained in this city and went to work at the tin trade. He and his father had come here together, and they soon established the medicine business which the son has since continued with such remarkable success. Mr. Chamberlain has resided on lot 1 in Elkhart continuously since 1851, and is numbered among the oldest residents of the city.
Mr. Chamberlain married, May 17, 1859, Miss Mary Sanders, of Bristol, Indiana, who died December 24, 1883. She was the mother of the following children: Eva, who died in infancy: Garrie, deceased ; Albert, deceased ; Laura. Mrs. G. W. Evans, of Fort Wayne: Milo R.,
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Deane S. and Mary E. On May 9. 1888, Mr. Chamberlain married Lovina Spencer, who is his present wife.
While a stanchi Republican, Mr. Chamberlain has never held nor aspired to office. He has been a Master Mason since 1858, and various members of the family have taken a prominent part in the order for many years. Mr. Chamberlain has been identified very intimately with the affairs of Elkhart since he came here, and the first jewelry and notion store in town, on the corner of Main and Jackson, was conducted by hin, although for only a short time.
STEPHEN MARION CUMMINS, D. D. S.
Stephen Marion Cummins, D. D. S., who has successfully practiced dentistry in Elkhart for over forty years and whose realm of activity and usefulness has also extended beyond his profession and connected him with the public life of his city, was born in Ederton, Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, August 22, 1839. His parents, William S. and Isabella M. (George) Cummins, were both born in Pennsylvania. the father being Scotch and the mother Scotch-Irish, and they lived and died in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Cummins, after being in the public schools, at seventeen years of age began the study of dentistry, which profession has been his life work. He lived in Bluffton, Indiana, from 1859 to 1861, was then located a short time in Warsaw, and on May 24. 1862, located perma- nently in Elkhart, which has been the field of his dental practice since. He has long borne the reputation of being one of the most skillful dentists in this part of the state, and his training for the profession was unusually thorough, his last course having been taken at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, at Cincinnati, where he was graduated with the degree of D. D. S. in 1870. He is a member of the Indiana State Dental Society and the Northern Indiana Dental Society.
Dr. Cummins has identified himself closely with the public affairs of his city. and he was elected and served one term as mayor, in 1885-86. He has been a Knight Templar Mason over thirty years, and is now a member of Elkhart Commandery No. 31. and is also affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. His religious associations are with the Episcopal church.
Dr. Cummins married, in 1861, Miss Helen M. Case, who is a native of Indiana. Two of their children are living, and one died in infancy. Helen M. is the wife of V. W. VanFleet, of Elkhart, and Franc D. is the wife of R. C. Barney, of Elkhart.
WILLIAM H. RIBLET.
William H. Riblet, the genial proprietor of Hotels Golden and Mer- chants at Elkhart, hostelries which his able management has brought to a place of well deserved distinction among the public houses of the city
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and county, has been prominently identified both in the semi-public capac- ity of landlord and as a citizen with Elkhart for the past twelve years.
Born in Hanover township, Ashland county, Ohio, December 9. 1859. Mr. Riblet was a son of Emanuel and Margaret ( Hannawalt ) Rib- let. His parents were born, reared and were married in Ohio, and then settled down in life on a farm in the township where William H. was horn, and there they lived until death. Thirteen children were born to them, and of these five are now deceased.
The father being a farmer by vocation, Mr. Riblet spent his boy- hood and youth on a farm. and likewise it was the country schools which furnished him his first scholastic training. He attended the Normal School of Ada, Ohio, three years, and when twenty years oldl became a teacher in the public schools. After three years' experience in Ohio he went to Kansas and taught two years in the country schools of Jefferson county, and then for seven years was principal of the Perry schools, that state. On leaving Kansas and taking up his residence in Elkhart county Mr. Riblet continued his educational work as principal of the East Elk- hart schools, a position which he filled with eminent satisfaction for eight and a half years, only resigning to become proprietor of Hotel Goklen. Assuming control of the hotel on December 28, 1901, he has since im- proved every department of the institution and increased his patronage to practically the full limit of the house. The hotel is excellently well situated for the traveling public, and the conveniences and comforts are such as to attract a profitable business. In May, 1905, Mr. Riblet secured control of the Merchants' Hotel, which is now being conducted along lines that are proving very satisfactory to the traveling public.
As an educator Mr. Riblet gained a noteworthy success, and his retirement from that field meant the loss of a very able instructor and executive. But his services to the cause of education have not been entirely discontinued, since for the past three years he has been a member of the Elkhart board of education and is thus still identified with educa- tional affairs.
In 1887 Mr. Riblet married Miss Clara F. Clouse, whose many ex- cellent qualities of heart and mind have made her an ideal wife and assistant in the career of her husband. They are the parents of three sons, Earl. Roy and Guy. The family attend the Presbyterian church, and in politics Mr. Riblet is a Republican.
JOHN W. FIELDHOUSE.
In viewing the mass of mankind in the varied occupations of life. the conclusion is forced upon the observer that in the vast majority of cases men have sought employment not in the line of their peculiar fitness. but in those fields where caprice or circumstances have placed them, thus explaining the reason of the failure of ninety-five per cent of those who enter commercial and professional circles. In a few cases it seems that
John W. Fieldhouse
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
men with a peculiar fitness for a certain line have taken it up, and marked success has followed. Such is the fact in the case of John W. Field- house, now a well known capitalist of Elkhart, where for many years he has been extensively engaged in the real estate business.
Mr. Fieldhouse was born on a farm near White Pigeon, Michigan, October 15. 1850. his parents being William and Hannah ( Barker ) Fieldhouse. The father was born in England and emigrated to the United States when a young man, the voyage across the Atlantic being made in 1832. He settled near White Pigeon, Michigan, becoming one of the pioneer residents of that locality, and there he carried on farming. His death occurred there in 1882, while his wife, also a native of Eng- land. died in 1887.
Mr. Fieldhouse acquired his education in the public and high schools at White Pigeon, and was reared to farm life, assisting in the develop- ment of the fields when not engaged with the duties of the schoolroom. In 1871. when twenty years of age, he came to Elkhart with his brother and entered the retail meat business. Two years later his brother died and Mr. Fieldhouse continued the business alone, gradually extending his efforts until he became an active factor in the live-stock business. making shipments to Chicago and Buffalo. In 1883, however, he dis- posed of his interests in that line and turned his attention to real estate dealing, with an office at No. 113 West Lexington avenue. Here he has since erected a beautiful stone office building in which he carries on business. Since he started in this business he has purchased. platted and placed upon the market nine separate additions to Elkhart, located as fol- lows: First addition, north of Jackson street and east of Main street : second addition, West Jefferson street from Third street to Saint Joseph river : third addition, north of Franklin and west of Leitch street ; fourth and fifth additions, West Jackson street, contiguous to North Fifth and North Sixth streets: sixth addition, west of Willowdale, between the Adamsville and Edwardsburg roads in the north part of the city : seventh addition, east of Elkhart river and between East Lexington avenue and Jackson street : eighth addition. Crawford street, west of Main street : and ninth addition. West Indiana avenue. Nearly all of these additions have been built up by Mr. Fieldhouse, and the buildings erected have been sokl on monthly payments, thus making it possible for many people to gain homes who could not have done so had the transaction been carried on on a strictly cash basis. In all of these projects Mr. Fieldhouse has been very successful. One of the additions which he made was upon river bottom land, which he purchased and transferred into a beautiful resi- dence district, after expending twenty-five thousand dollars in filling up the tract. the dirt which he hauled thereto being from three to fourteen feet in depth. This addition is now adorned with many beautiful homes. and altogether he has erected about two hundred residences in Elkhart. In connection with the improvement of these different additions he has purchased and soll other property aggregating as much as that already
HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
mentioned, and his business is constantly increasing, having reached its highest point during the last two years. As a speculative dealer he has certainly been very successful and his efforts have been of marked value to the city, changing unsightly lots into beautiful residence districts. He was also vice-president of the Saint Joseph Valley Bank for fifteen years, and is a stockholder in several manufacturing industries of the city.
In political affairs Mr. Fieldhouse is also well known, being a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He served for four years in the city council of the third ward, and in 1888 was elected county commissioner for a term of three years. In 1901 he was re-elected to that office, and served until January 1, 1904.
In Elkhart, Indiana, in 1876, Mr. Fieldhouse was married to Miss Mary J. Hubbard, and they have three children : Mrs. Annetta Frank, Mrs. Carrie E. Mathias and Charles H. Fieldhouse.
Such in brief is the history of John W. Fieldhouse, classed to-day with the representative men of Elkhart. He has ever discharged his luties with marked ability and fairness, for he is a most loyal, public- spirited citizen. As a business man he has been conspicuous among his associates, not only for his success but for his.probity, fairness and hon- orable methods. In everything he has been eminently practical, and this has been manifest not only in his business undertakings, but also in social and private life.
ORVILLE C. PUTERBAUGH.
Orville C. Puterbaugh is, at the time of the compilation of this his- tory, serving as township trustee of Concord township. In this state the township trustee is perhaps the most important civil official in the list of county officers. for upon the efficiency of this person depends the welfare of the township's schools as also numerous other matters of near concern to every citizen. Mr. Puterhaugh represents the public spirit, the excellent common sense, the good business ability and the broad-mindedness with which every such official should be clothed, and his career in office has been characterized with fidelity to his constituents and able management of all interests intrusted to his care.
Mr. Puterbaugh is a lifelong resident of Concord township. He was born on a farm just a few miles south of the city of Elkhart, Novem- ber 6, 1863, a son of Henry and Mary ( Lloyd) Puterbaugh, who are now both deceased. Puterbaugh is a German name and Lloyd a Welsh, thus indicating the composite racial lineage of Mr. Puterbaugh. His parents were born in Ohio, the mother in Miami county, the father in Hunting- ton county, and on leaving that state they settled in Elkhart county, on section 20 of Concord township. They effected this settlement in 1848. a date which places them among the very early settlers of this section of the county, for at the time there were no homes in their immediate neighborhood. Elkhart was a small village, and the father helped to lay out several of the roads in his vicinity. He was one of the successful
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farmers of the township, and passed away, honored and esteemed, in 1888. aged sixty-seven years, while his good wife survived a year longer and was sixty-eight years old. They were members of the Dunkard church. There were seven children in the family; namely, George, de- ceased: Mary, now Mrs. Stone; John, who is a farmer near the old homestead; Amsey, deceased; David M., who was county assessor at the time of his death about a year ago; Mrs. Hannah J. Kurtz, of Mar- shalltown, lowa, and Orville C.
Reared on the farm, gaining his education first in the country schools and then in the Elkhart high school, Mr. Puterbaugh first gave his serious attention and energy to farming, which he followed for five vears ; then became a dealer in agricultural implements at Elkhart, from 1892 to 1896, and when fire closed him out of business in the latter year he entered the employ of the Elkhart Carriage Company as a harness- maker, a trade which he had learned some time previously. Two and a half years with this company were followed by similar employment in the harness department of the Indiana Buggy Company, and he also followed the same line of pursuit in other towns. Returning to Elkhart in November, 1903, he became connected with the well known real estate and law firm of Vail and Wehmeyer.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Puterbaugh was elected to the office of trustee on that ticket in November, 1904. Fraternally he affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He married in 1886 Miss Margaret E. Cripe. and of their two children the daughter, Nina Fay, is deceased, and the son, Ernest, is now seventeen years old.
E. W. HESS.
F. W. Hess, in the real estate and insurance business at Goshen as a member of the well known firm of Inimel, Hess and Foulks, is identi- fied most intimately with Elkhart county, her affairs and her history. Born on a farm in Elkhart township south of Goshen, October 4, 1861. he is the son of Moses N. and Mary Ann ( Beckner) Hess, whose re- spective parents were among the very earliest settlers of Elkhart county. Balser Hess, which is a familiar name in Elkhart county annals and which appears on other pages of this volume, was the grandfather of Mr. E. W. Hess. It was another Balser, and the father of Balser, the Elkhart county pioneer, who founded the Hess family in America, com- ing directly from Germany to Pennsylvania. Balser Hess, the grand- father, came from Pennsylvania to Elkhart county about 1830, and was one of the settlers who chose as their place of residence the beautiful Elkhart prairie, his place being situated about two miles south of Goshen and on the Elkhart river. He continued to make his home in Elkhart township until death called him away at the advanced age of eighty years. He was a sturdy character, of the true pioneer type, and well
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deserves remembrance in the history of his county. He was the father of a large family of thirteen children.
Moses N. Hess, a son of the pioneer, was born September 28, 1818, and lived in this county from 1830 until his death on December 12, 1880. His wife, a native of Virginia, was a daughter of Daniel Beckner, who came from Virginia and was a pioneer settler in Elkhart township. whence several years later he moved on to Webster county, Missouri, where he died. Moses N. Hess was a farmer and a minister of the German Baptist church. In 1848. when the gold excitement had pene- trated Elkhart county as well as all other parts of the country. he drove from Goshen across the wide intervening country to San Francisco, and remained in California five years, returning with considerable gold as a reward for his labors, He then continued to follow farming on Elkhart prairie the rest of his life. Successful in his undertakings, he left a good estate, and was a man of influence in his community. A Republican in politics, he never held nor aspired to office.
With a grandfather and a father of such sterling worth and integ- rity, it is not surprising that Mr. E. W. Hess has found a sphere of large usefulness in his county. Reared on the farin and attending the country schools, for some years he followed the occupation to which he was reared, settling on the farm where he was born, in 1885, and continuing as a successful agriculturist until 1893. in which year he moved to Goshen. For the first year he clerked in a hardware establish- ment. He was elected trustee of Elkhart township in 1895 and during his term in that office gave his time and energies without stint to the improvement of the schools and other matters entrusted to his official care. In 1900 he engaged in the real estate and insurance business, and is now a member of the firm of Immel, Hess and Foulks. He has always been a Republican and has taken an active part in politics. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.
August 30. 1885. Mr. Hess married Miss Lizzie Berkey, and they have three daughters, Lottie .A .. Romayne O. and Mary .A.
SAMUEL F. SPOHN.
Samuel F. Spohn, known to every farmer and horseman of north- ern Indiana as the proprietor of the Spohn Medical Company at Goshen. whose specifies for the prevention of contagious diseases among horses and live stock generally have been the means of saving thousands of dollars annually to stockmen and whose preparations have a reputa- tion established through years of successful use. is himself a native product of Elkhart county, having been born on a farm in Concord township. August 16. 1855. His father was Daniel Spohn, of Ger- man lineage. and his mother, Mary M. (Nodle) Spohn, both of them natives of Ohio. The father came to this county in 1844 and the mother two years later, and they were married here. after which they
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settled down on a farm. There were six children, four sons and two daughters, in their family. The father died in 1858, when Samuel was but three years of age, and the noble mother, who survived until 1893. and who was a woman of great force and sweetness of character and also of unusual business ability, remained on the farm and reared her children to goed and useful lives.
Reared en the farm and receiving his preliminary training in the country schools. Mr. Spohn, after having the privileges of some school- ing at the Northern Indiana Normal at Valparaiso, obtained a license to teach when twenty years old, and in the following year began his career as teacher, which he continued for some time, and is remem- bered as one of the good teachers of this county. He taught from 1877 to 1885. and in the latter year was elected county superintendent of schools, a position which he held for two terms of two years each, and in that time advanced the welfare of the county schools to a point much beyond any they had previously attained. After leaving this office in 1880 he went into the life insurance business. Having made a thorough study of chemistry, bacteriology and infectious diseases, about this time he began devoting his efforts and experiments to per- fecting a preparation which would cure and prevent contagion among live stock. The result of his endeavors was seen in October. 1894. when he placed on the market Spohn's Distemper and Cough Cure, which in the subsequent ten years has taken rank above all other horse spe- cifics, and is sold throughout the United States and Canada, in Aus- tralia, and in London, Paris, Vienna and other great centers of the world. Its value is unquestioned and its use in the finest stables of the country as well as on the farm proves its effectiveness as the one great horse remedy.
In his successful career Mr. Spohn always lays great emphasis upon the assistance and co-operation which have been so freely ren- dered by his life companion, whose inspiring influence has been ever present with him. He was married on July 20, 1887, to Miss Mary Maud Bonham. who is a native of Noble county and one of the six children. four sons and two daughters, born to William and Elizabeth ( Hadley) Bonham, both of English lineage. Mrs. Spohn is a woman of many accomplishments, before her marriage having been a school teacher and also a music instructor. teaching five years in Noble county. and since becoming a wife has assumed and conducted in a most pleasing degree her househokl. They have two children. Carlisle Bon- ham and Dan M. Mr. Spohn affiliates with the order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias.
CHAUNCEY B. STIVER.
Chauncey B. Stiver is proprietor of the Stiver furniture and un- dertaking establishment in Goshen. One of the more recent additions to the laisiness circle in this city, he has displayed the enterprising and
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progressive spirit which is behind all commercial success, and this com- bined with his thorough preparation for his line of business has placed him among the toremost of Goshen's men of affairs.
An Elkhart county man by birth and lifelong residence, Mr. Stiver was born in Jackson township, on his father's farm, October 20, 1871, his parents, Michael and Mary ( Miles) Stiver, natives of Ohio, hav- ing been residents of Jackson township for the past fifty years. Their four sons are all residents of this county.
Mr. Stiver was educated in the country schools and lived on the old homestead until he was twenty-one years old, at which time he came to Goshen and began working in an undertaking establishment to learn the business. He subsequently took a course of professional training in schools in Chicago and Indianapolis, after which he located at Leesburg in Kosciusko county and opened a furniture and under- taking store. Four years later. in 1899, he sold out at Leesburg and came to Goshen, buying out a firm and establishing himself in the busi- ness which he has since carried on with marked success.
Mr. Stiver married, in 1893, Miss Dora B. Forney, and they have two sons and one daughter. Politically Mr. Stiver is a Demo- crat, and he has fraternal affiliations with the Benevolent and Protec- tive Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Maccabees.
CHARLES E. FRANK.
Charles E. Frank, county attorney and a successful member of the Elkhart county bar, was born March II, 1871, on a farm in Cleveland township, this county, but since the age of three years he has lived in the city of Elkhart. He is a son of George W. H. and Mary C. (Reigle) Frank, who for many years have resided at 806 South Main street, where they own a nice property with nearly an acre of ground. The father was born in Stark county, Ohio, January 28, 1835, and the mother was born near Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1842. They were married in Elkhart county, where the respective parents of each were early settlers, the fathers being both ministers of the Evangelical church.
Mr. Frank, who is the oldest but one in a family of four sons and one daughter, was reared in Elkhart and educated in the city schools. He was still a boy when he entered upon independent life, accepting a position with the Elkhart Carriage and Harness Manufacturing Com- pany in 1884, and for the following four years was in charge of the stock rooms of that company. He then became a reporter for the Elkhart Daily Truth, and for a few months was city editor, until he resigned to become clerk in the carpet department of the George Vin- nedge and Company's store. Two years later he withdrew from this store and took up the study of law. His studies were carried on in the
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