USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > A twentieth century history and biographical record of Elkhart County, Indiana > Part 60
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Community of interests, as well as compatibility of nature. led Mr. Willard to ally himself in marriage with another very successful school teacher. He was married May 19, 1888, to Miss Anna E. Holdeman. and they have one little daughter, Una Frances E. Mrs. Willard was born in Elkhart county, December 10, 1864. a daughter of Joseph and Anna ( Nusbaum ) Holdeman. Educated in the common schools, the Wakarusa high school and the Northern Indiana College, she gained a teacher's certificate at the age of nineteen and for the subsequent ten years made her influence and work felt as a worthy factor in the intel- lectual improvement of Elkhart county. She taught four years in Har- rison township, six terms in one district, and six years in Olive town- ship, also six terms being spent in one district of this township. She has had three first-grade certificates. She began teaching in 1885, a mile west of Wakarusa, then she taught six terms in the Mitchell school. four miles north, and in all taught ten years, up to 1895.
Mrs. Willard is a member of a family whose individuals have been identified with this county and with life and affairs elsewhere in an honorable manner for many years. Her mother, Mrs. Anna Holdeman. an esteemed old lady of Wakarusa, was born in Ashland county, Ohio, February 26. 1830, a daughter of Christian and Catherine ( Weiss) Nusbaum, both natives of Switzerland. Mrs. Holdeman has four liv- ing children-Christian, Catherine. Margaret, and Anna ( Mrs. Wil- lard). Joseph Holdeman, Mrs. Willard's father, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1823, settled in Olive township in 1851, at a date when Wakarusa's site was covered with timber and when the old postoffice.
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named Salem, was the center of the community. Mr. Holdeman erected the first log church in southwest Olive township for the Mennonite church. A well educated man, he taught eighteen terms of school in. Ohio and Indiana. He died August 19, 1894, one of the honored pioneers of this part of Elkhart county.
In 1901 Mr. Willard retired from his long career as educator, and has since given his attention to business and financial affairs. He deals in bonds, real estate deals and transfers and insurance, and his ability and acumen in this department of activity have been displayed to not less advantage than his former career in educational work. He is the owner of three hundred and eighty-six and a half acres of land alto- gether, situated in Harrison and Olive townships and within the corpor- ate limits of Nappanee, and also owns a nice home property in Waka- rusa. \ Republican in politics since he voted for Garfield. he has lent his influence and assistance to advancement in all community interests. A man of affairs and instinct with the business spirit which accom- plishes things, he at the same time holds himself aloof from all petty methods or taking advantage of others' weakness, for which reason his success is all the more commendable. Of all the mortgages that have fallen due on farms in this vicinity, he has never yet had to sue one of his debtors, and he seems to have found the happy medium for transact- ing business along profitable lines and at the same time showing con- sideration and favors to those with whom he has dealings.
WILSON H. ROOD.
In the lives of its best citizens will be found the history of a nation. says the Sage of Concord, and by placing Mr. Rood in this class we not only do his career and character justice, but at the same time give his personal history all the introduction necessary to the readers of this his- tory. His ancestry traceable to English forefathers, Mr. Rood was born in Mercer county, Ohio. August 16, 1856, the youngest of five children. four sons and one daughter, born to Loren B. and Susannah ( Golder) Rood. Four of the children are living. John resides in Elkhart : Nelson. who was educated in the common schools and normal and was a teacher. is engaged in the brick and tile manufacturing at Nappanee, where he and his family reside: Lizzie is the wife of Eli McQuate, a farmer of this county.
Loren B. Rood, the father, now deceased, is commemorated in the following obituary notice: "Loren B. Rood was born in Middlesex county, Massachusetts, near Boston, April 27. 1812, while his father served in the war of 1812. At the age of six years he moved with his parents to Litchfield county, Connecticut, where he remained until 1836, when he and a brother started for the west and entered land in Mercer county, Ohio, near the scene of St. Clair's defeat in 1791, and where General Wayne subsequently built Fort Recovery, in memory of which
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there is a thriving town bearing the name Fort Recovery. During the winter of 1836 and '37 he returned to Connecticut, traveling the entire distance on foot, and returned to Ohio the following summer. He was one of the first school teachers of Fort Recovery and took part in the first election held in that township. In 1867 he removed with his family to Jefferson township, Elkhart county, where he was engaged for some time in the manufacture of drain tile, his factory being the first of the kind in northern Indiana. He died of paralysis February 22, 1897. aged eighty-four years, seven months and twenty-five days, leaving his wife, three sons and one daughter to mourn his loss." In politics he was a Whig, voting for " Tippecanoe and Tyler too." and later gave his support among the first to the new Republican party, being firm in his anti-slavery principles. The widow of Loren B. Rood, who is now a bright old lady of eighty-six years and resides on the old homestead in Jefferson township, was born in Pennsylvania in April, 1819.
A boy of eleven years when he accompanied his parents to this county in 1867. Mr. Rood has spent all the remaining years of his life here and received a good practical training at home and in the schools of his county. For fourteen years he followed, during a part of each year, the profession of teacher. He is a practical tile-maker, and made tile during the open portions of the year, while teaching in the winter. His teaching was in Jefferson, Union and Harrison townships. On reaching his majority he had about three hundred dollars in cash and property, and from this capital has progressed into a successful position in the world's affairs. In 1881 he and his brother bought one hundred and twenty acres in Harrison township, and, locating their tile factory thereon in 1882, continued this partnership until 1895, when. Mr. W. H. Rood took entire charge of the factory. His tile products average about four thousand dollars a year, and this industry as an adjunct to his gen- eral farming enterprise affords him a comfortable yearly income. He has recently increased his facilities for manufacture by building a new kiln and otherwise enlarging his plant. He owns two hundred and ten acres of choice land in Harrison township, and all the excellent improve- ments on the farm be placed there himself. His pretty country residence he erected in 1887, and his excellent barn with concrete-floor stable he built in 1800. He takes great interest in the good grades of stock, being especially proud of the O. I. C. hogs, a breed that he has been very suc- cessful with so far.
A stanch Republican, he cast his first vote for Garfield. He has served his community in various relations, having been elected trustee of his township in 1890, and in 1900 was again elected to this important position. During his trusteeship he had four brick schoolhouses erected, kept up the school libraries, and attended to all the administrative func- tions of his office in such an efficient manner as to reflect credit upon himself and at the same time put his township in the first rank among
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the like divisions of the county, so far as school improvements and the maintenance of good roads and bridges are concerned.
Mr. Rood married, in 1887, Miss Cora Bemenderfer. They have two children. Winifred B., who received her diploma from the common schools in 1903, has just completed her second year in the Goshen high school, where she is a member of the high school orchestra, having taken instruction in instrumental music. Ralph, the son, is in the third grade of school. Mrs. Rood, who is a daughter of Henry and Rebecca ( Prince ) Bemenderfer, was born in Elkhart county September 30, 1857, and was reared and educated here. She and her husband have made themselves a very cosy and delightful home, furnished in comfortable and tasty style, and they are recognized as substantial members of their community. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, her place of worship being Bashor Chapel, which is one of the ten religious edifices in Harri- son township. Mr. Rood possesses the second oldest deed of its kind in this part of Elkhart county, a parchment deed signed by the hand of President Van Buren and bearing the date March 15, 1837, the year of the great panic-one of the valuable and interesting documents which are a feature of very few households.
W. S. CLINE.
The history of a community, state or nation is told in the lives of its representative citizens and to this class in New Paris W. S. Cline belongs. He is a man well known for stability of character and hon- esty of purpose, and in the village he is connected with the grain trade. meeting with good success. He represents one of the pioneer families of Jackson township, his birth having occurred in Elkhart county. Octo- ber 16, 1857. He is now the only surviving member of a family of two sons and two daughters, who were born to Samuel T. and Delilalı (Cart) Cline, who are represented on another page of this volume.
He was reared in his home township and still resides in the house where he was born. Following a course in the common schools he continued his studies in the Goshen Normal School and for one year engaged in teaching in Union township before he had attained his ma- jority. He spent about six years of his life as an agriculturist, and in 1882, at the age of twenty-four years, he became connected with the railroad service of the Cincinnati. Wabash & Michigan Railroad, now a part of the Big Four system. He was first employed as a clerk in the Warsaw office and he remained there for about six months, after which he went to Niles, Michigan, again occupying a clerical position. While thus engaged he also learned telegraphy under the direction of a practical railroad man. He remained in Niles from April, 1883, until April, 1884, when he was appointed station agent of the New Paris office. Here he has remained continuously since 1884, and he occupied the position of station agent until 1898, when he determined to embark
yours truly Harrow & Clive
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY
in the grain business. He then formed a partnership with W. J. Char- pie, with whom he was connected for two years, when he again accepted his former position, acting in that capacity continuously since 1901. His duties in this connection have ever been most faithfully and promptly discharged and his courteous treatment of the patrons of the road and his obliging manner makes him a popular official.
Mr. Cline was married February 22, 1882, to Miss Anna Yost, who was born in Fultonham, Ohio, October 2, 1862, and was reared and educated in her native state. They have two children, Maud E. and Lena E .. who were graduated from the New Paris high school with the class of 1903. The former has also been instructed in music at the Danville, Indiana, Musical College and she is a member of the Century Club, a literary organization of New Paris. The other daugh- ter, Lena, is now pursuing a scientific course of study at the Danville Normal School, and she has her teacher's certificate and will teach in her home township.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Cline are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Cline is serving as one of the trustees and as a mem- ber of the board of stewards, while his wife belongs to the Ladies' Aid Society. He has also been superintendent of the Sunday school for about fourteen years, and under his guidance the school has maintained a healthful growth and the work is being carried steadily forward. Mr. Cline is a starch Republican, supporting the party since casting his first presidential vote for James A. Garfield, and he has frequently been elected a delegate to the county conventions. In 1894 he was chosen township trustee and was instrumental in securing the erection of a new brick schoolhouse in district No. 6, and also in the building of three iron bridges, one being one hundred and ten feet in length. Also, during his administration. the high school course of study was estab- lished in New Paris. He was appointed postmaster here in 1888, under President Harrison, and every public trust reposed in him has been faithfully performed. Mr. and Mrs. Cline have a pretty home in New Paris and also own eighty acres of fine farm land in Jackson township. He is one of the reliable citizens of his locality, having a wide and favorable acquaintance.
WILLIAM REDDEN.
William Redden, who for seven years has been a resident of Elk- hart county, has now reached the seventy-second milestone on life's journey and in a review of his history there is found much that is com- mendable, and not the least important chapter in his life record is that which elle of his defense of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. He is a native of Kent county, Delaware, born on the 8th of April. 1833. the fourth in a family of seven children, five sons and two daughters, who were born to Sanmel and Sarah ( Curtis) Redden. The father, likewise a native of Delaware, was born in 1792 and died
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June 9. 1842, when fifty years of age. His father had been a soldier of the Revolutionary war and thus his descendants are entitled to mem- bership in the organization known as Sons and Daughters of the Revo- Intion.
Samuel Redden was a merchant by occupation and about 1840 emigrated from Delaware to the state of Michigan, settling in Berrien county, near Niles. He remained there for a few years and was then called to the home beyond. In politics he was a strong Jacksonian Democrat, but he cared little for political preferment. He was respected by his fellow-townsmen for his integrity of character and genuine worth, and his entire life was in harmony with his profession as a member of the Methodist church. His wife also belonged to the same denomination and both did everything in their power to advance the cause of Christianity in accordance with the teachings of Methodism. Of their family four are yet living: Mary is the widow of D. E. Perry, a resident of Chicago, who was a soldier of the Civil war, serv- ing with the Army of the Cumberland. Samuel W., who went to Cali- fornia in 18449. attracted by the discovery of gold on the Pacific slope, there met with success and afterward became a prosperous merchant. He is now married and at this writing lives retired in Buchanan, Mich- igan. William is the third of the surviving members of the family. John, the youngest, who is married and lives in Buchanan, where he follows the occupation of farming. is the father of triplets-daughters- now twenty-two years of age.
William Redden was a lad of about seven years when he accom- panied his parents on their removal to Michigan. They settled there in 180, when many of the evidences of pioneer life were still found. The red men yet roamed in the forest and pitched their wigwams under the tall trees, hunting the wild game which was still plentiful. William Redden obtained his early mental discipline in a log schoolhouse, such as was common at that time. He had to make his way to school by a trail through the forest that was indicated by blazed trees. The little " temple of learning " was a typical structure of the time, being a building about sixteen feet square, constructed of logs. Its furnish- ings were crude, the desks being made of a board raised upon wooden pins driven into the wall, while the seats were formed of rude slabs upon wooden legs. The old-fashioned goosequill pen was in use, the teacher manufacturing these for the scholars, and various kinds of text books were found, mainly such as the pupils could obtain in their own homes. The school was conducted on the subscription plan and Mr. Redden says that some paid about four cents and others one dollar. He used the Elementary spelling book, Daboll's arithmetic and Kirk- ham's grammar. As the years have come and gone, however, he has seen these pioneer schoolhouses pass away, while in their place are pretty brick or modern frame structures. The high school, the college and university have also found their way to the west. having all been estab-
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lished here since Mr. Redden took up his abode in the Mississippi val- ley. He pursued his studies largely through the winter months, while in the summer seasons he worked on the home farm, remaining with his mother until he had attained his majority. In the farm work he used the old-time four-fingered cradle and threshed the grain out on the barn floor, the horses tramping it from the chaff. Mr. Redden has everywhere witnessed as remarkable changes in farm life as in ine school system, and in his own work to-day he uses the best improved farm machinery.
On the 8th of October, 1857, occurred the marriage of William Redden and Miss Emily E. Baker, who was born in LaPorte county. Indiana, August 26, 1839, and is a daughter of Stephen T. and Mar- garet ( McLain) Baker, in whose family were three daughters, born in this county, of whom two are living: Mrs. Redden and her sister, Frances. The latter is the widow of Charles Wells and a resident of Oklahoma, being one of the successful people who obtained a claim on the strip of land which was set aside by the government for the use of the white people. Mrs. Redden was a maiden of ton summers when she accompanied her parents to South Bend. Indiana, there residing until sixteen years of age, when the family removed to Buchanan, Mich- igan, where she formned the acquaintance of Mr. Redden and was mar- ried. The young couple began their domestic life on a farm, where they remained until after the war.
During the first year of hostilities Mr. Redden, in the month of August, responded to his country's call for aid, enlisting in Company B. Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, under Captain O. C. Rounds. his regiment being assigned to the Army of the Cumberland under General " Pap " Thomas. Mr. Redden acted as the old general's clerk. but previously was in the quartermaster's department, where he met Generals Grant, Sherman and Benjamin Harrison. He participated in the battle of Fort Donelson and afterward went to Chattanooga, re- turning in time to take part in the engagement at Murfreesboro. There he was taken prisoner by the Confederate troops and with other Union soldiers was sent up the mountains, where thirteen hundred of the fed- eral troops were paroled. Mr. Redden then returned to Columbus .. Ohio, and later was exchanged, after which he returned at once to the front. He then took part in the battle of Chickamauga, lasting two days, and he witnessed the battle of Missionary Ridge. While at the front he was also in the hospital. suffering from an attack of smallpox. In September. 1865. he received an honorable discharge, having served his country for four years and one month.
Following his return to the north William Redden resumed the operations of civil life and for two years was engaged in farming. He then sold his property in Michigan and removed to Delaware county. Iowa, where he purchased a grist mill, which he owned and operated for twenty-two years, meeting with good success in that undertaking.
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He then returned to Michigan, where he again engaged in the milling business for two years, after which he came to Elkhart county and purchased the Elkhart Valley Rolling Mill Company in 1898. Here he has since remained, having for seven years made his home in this county, during which time he has gained the favorable regard of many friends. In addition to his milling property he owns seventy acres of good land, on which stands a pretty and comfortable home.
To Mr. and Mrs. Redden have been born seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom five are living. Effie is the wife of Henry Drybread, a successful general merchant of Greeley, Iowa. Emma Margaret is the widow of William McPherson and resides at Rocky- ford, Colorado. In her girlhood days she attended the common schools. was afterward graduated from the Presbyterian college at Hopkinton, lowa, and devoted almost fifteen years of her life to the profession of teaching, in which work she was very successful. She was the first to introduce the synthetic method in Delaware county, Iowa. Lulu is the wife of Charles McElwain, who is cashier of the Hartley State Bank of Hartley, lowa, proving a popular bank official and prominent citizen there. Mrs. McElwain was also a successful teacher. LeRoy, a miller by trade and now living in Jackson township, was educated in the com- mon schools of Iowa and Michigan and wedded Miss Bertha Ross, by whom he has two children, Marie and Charles William. John is a practical miller, residing with his parents and assisting his father in his business operations.
In his political views Mr. Redden is a Democrat who advocates the principles promulgated by Jackson. Both he and his wife have gained many friends during their residence in New Paris. They have in their home some interesting relics, including an old Bible printed in 1820 and a quilt which was quilted by the wife of George Hamilton when Andrew Jackson was president of the United States. In business and military life Mr. Redden has made a creditable record and deserves the esteem which is so uniformly accorded him.
THIE COPPES FAMILY.
The members of this well known and distinguished family in Elk- hart county, Indiana, have become noted as practical, honorable, shrewd and successful business men, who have made the most of their advan- tages and have always grasped at opportunities for bettering their finan- cial, moral and social conditions. They come of good old Puritan stock. and the progenitor of the family in this country settled in Mount Bethel township, Northampton county. Pennsylvania, which neighborhood was the family seat for a number of years, in all probability for nearly two generations. The Coppeses originally came from England, where today there are large estates belonging to the family, but their right to this valuable property can not be directly traced up to the present time.
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Of the early members of the Coppes family Rev. Samuel D. Coppes was among the most prominent. He was born in England, came to America during the early history of this country, became a wealthy landholder of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, was very popular throughout that section, owing to his kindly disposition and charitable nature, and became eminent as a successful practicing physician. for the duties of which he fitted himself in England. He won golden opinions for himself as a medical practitioner, for besides being remarkably skill- ful he was very philanthropic and bestowed his services on rich and poor alike. never charging the latter for attending them unless they were willing and desirous of repaying him. His practice extended all over the state of Pennsylvania, as well as a large portion of the state of Ohio, and in the early days of Indiana he made frequent visits to this state. Ile was also a minister of the Mennonite church, and for many years looked after the spiritual as well as the bodily welfare of his fel- lows, and was an able instructor in a righteous cause. He was one of the pioneer preachers of his church, and held services in different por- tions of Pennsylvania. Ohio, and Indiana, and his visits to this section of the country are well remembered by his people. He was an honor- able, upright and God-fearing man, and his example as an earnest Chris- tian is still in the minds of those who knew him. He was first married in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, to a German lady by the name of Delph, and by her became the father of the following children : Abra- ham, whose descendants are now in Ohio: Jacob, who was one of the early pioneers of Elkhart county, Indiana: John, who left a family in Ohio; Samuel, who also died in that state, and Polly, who married Jacob Carver, lived and reared a family in the Buckeye state. The first wife of Rev. Samuel Coppes paid the last debt of nature in Northampton county, Pennsylvania, after which he took for his second wife Miss Susan Burkey, whom he took with him to Ohio about 1834, settling on a farm in Medina county. This union resulted in the birth of one daugh- ter. Rebecca, who married Jacob Shaffer, with whom she removed to Elkhart county, Indiana, and whose descendants are now living in Har- rison township. The second wife of Samuel D. Coppes survived him a number of years and died in this county at the home of her only daughter. Mrs. Shaffer. Rev. Dr. Samuel Coppes was called from life in Ohio, in 1863, his death being a source of much regret to all who knew him. He was well known as a public-spirited citizen and politic- ally was a Whig. He was a shrewd financier and accumulated a good property, which was divided among his children in 1865. He was one of the oldest settlers of this section of the county, and as an expounder of the gospel he was forcible, eloquent. and logical, wielding a wide influence for good in the different sections in which he resided. His homes in Pennsylvania and Ohio were many times occupied by his pa- tients, who had no homes of their own and possessed but little means, and thus he carried on his noble work until death overtook him and he
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