USA > Indiana > Delaware County > A twentieth century history of Delaware County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 6
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY
JOHN BIRKENSTOCK. Although his residence in Muncie does not cover an extended period of time John Birkenstock has become well and favorably known here because of his genial spirit and active interest in the progress of the city. The title of Colonel, given him by friends because of his affilia- tions with certain organizations among the brewers in Philadelphia when on several occasions of public receptions and parades he served his associ- ates as their leader, is not wholly undeserved, for he served with gallantry in the Civil war. He enlisted in the early part of 1864, as a private in Com- pany D, Forty-sixth New York Infantry, and participated in seventeen engagements, having been mustered out of the service in August, 1865. Since 1879 he has been a member of the E. D. Baker Post, No. 8, G. A. R., of Philadelphia.
John Birkenstock was born in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, October 12, 1845. His parents were Martin and Marie (Ackerman) Birkenstock. The former, who was a dry goods merchant and also a judge of and dealer in wines, was three times married and was the father of seventeen children. He died in Germany when seventy-five years of age. He was of strong and sturdy build and a successful business man. The mother came to America after her husband's death, and died in Milwaukee at the age of eighty-six years.
In the schools of his native land of Germany John Birkenstock received his educational training, and at the age of fourteen years he came alone to the United States, making the voyage on a sailing vessel to the New York har- bor, from whence he went to Philadelphia, where at the time he had seven sis- ters and a brother living. There he made his home until 1891, first working as a maker of the bodies of carriages, later at the cooper's trade, and finally entered upon his career as a brewer. During this time he drew an annual salary of five thousand dollars. In 1891 he went to Allentown, Pennsyl- vania, and rebuilt a brewery, but this did not prove a success, and in 1897, in company with Mr. Fred Horlacher, he built at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and this brewery was operated until 1902, when Mr. Birkenstock sold his interest and came to Muncie, here organizing the Muncie Brewing Com- pany, and the venture has proved very successful.
In Philadelphia, in 1868, he married Miss Elizabeth Scholl, who was born in the famous William Penn house, which has since been torn down and rebuilt in Fairmont Park, Philadelphia. It was the first brick house built in America, erected of English brick. When Fort Sumter was fired upon by the Confederacy she with her parents was living in Charlestown, South Carolina, and on account of the family's sympathy with the Union they found it well to remove to Savannah, Georgia. Here she carried food to the Union soldiers, and on account of this and the family & Union senti- ment the parents returned to Philadelphia, where her marriage with Mr. Birkenstock afterward occurred. This has been blessed by the birth of three children, Gertrude, Jacob and John. Mrs. Birkenstock's parents were of German birth, and she is a well educated and cultured lady. Mr. Birk-
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John. Birkenstock
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enstock is a member of Kenington Lodge No. 211, A. F. & A. M., Phila- delphia ; the Royal Arch Chapter No. 233. Philadelphia ; Commandery No. 20, Allentown, Pennsylvania ; Mystic Shrine, Lulu Temple, Philadelphia.
ROLLIN WARNER .. During a number of years past Rollin Warner has practiced at the bar of Delaware county. He was born in Blountsville, Henry county, Indiana, April 18, 1856, a son of Eli and Emily (Burch) Warner, natives of Vermont and New York respectively. In about 1850 they established their home in Blountsville, where for more than twenty years the father was engaged in mercantile pursuits. His busy and useful life was ended in death in 1871, when he had reached the age of fifty-one years, and Mrs. Warner lived to be sixty-nine years old, dying in 1898.
Mr. Rollin Warner spent the period of his youth in his native town of Blountsville, receiving his rudimentary education in its public school, and completing his literary training at the National Normal School of Lebanon, Ohio. During a brief period thereafter he taught school, but deciding upon the profession of the law as a life work he left the school room to prepare himself for his chosen calling, first studying in the office of Monks & Thompson, at Winchester, Indiana. In 1879 he was admitted to the bar in Henry, Randolph and Delaware counties, and at once entered upon the practice of law in Newcastle, where he remained for a period of ten years, removing at the close of that period, in 1889, to Muncie, which has since been his home and the scene of his activities.
Mr. Warner has never been active in politics as a seeker for office, but has contributed much of his time and ability as a speaker to the interests of the men and measures of the Republican party. For several years he served as the city attorney of Muncie. and the records indicate that his services were of ability in that position.
In October, 1879, Mr. Warner married Miss Mary V. Cecil, and they have six children.
FRED KLOPFER. "We build the ladder by which we rise" is a truth which is certainly applicable to Mr. Fred Klopfer, for he has been dis- tinctively the architect of his own fortunes, but has builded wisely and well and has made for himself a place in connection with the activities of life. Muncie, as well as Delaware county, has long numbered him among its leading business men.
Mr. Klopfer is a native born German, his birth occurring in Wurtem- berg on the 21st of July, 1846, and in the fatherland his parents, Johanes and Katherine (Young) Klopfer, were born, lived and died. They sent their son to the public schools until he had reached the age at which children of his native country are excused under the compulsory school law from further attendance, and when scarcely more than thirteen years of age his father bound him out to learn the trade of a wood worker at carriage making. He served an apprenticeship of three years at the trade, working
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fourteen hours each day, without pay, and more than that his father had been required to pay the sum of one hundred dollars to the carriage maker to whom he was apprenticed. After the money had been paid the father said to his son, "This is all the money I ever intend to spend on you." With this understanding and under these conditions the youth began to learn his trade. By means of odd night jobs he managed to earn the means with which to clothe himself, and board was given him by the gentleman to whom he was apprenticed. For three years he thus battled earnestly to learn his trade, and having served the required time of indenture he was given a journeyman's certificate and the following three years were spent as a journeyman at his trade in Germany. Coming to the United States in 1866, Mr. Klopfer landed in New York city on the IIth of July, and on the following day legally declared his intention to become an American citi- zen. It was at Tiffin, Ohio, in the year 1868, that he became a citizen of this country, with all the rights and privileges as such.
The first sixteen months Mr. Klopfer spent in this country were de- voted to his trade in the city of New York, and during that time he had the opportunity to gain a thorough knowledge and training in the making of coaches, express wagons and heavy vehicles of similar kinds. In the latter part of 1867 he went to Tiffin, Ohio, and worked there until the spring of 1869, when he visited New York city for a short time, but desiring to learn the making of sleighs or cutters, went to the city of Milwaukee, where many of them were then manufactured. He remained there and worked at his trade from April 26, 1869, to the 27th of January, 1873, the date of his arrival in the city of Muncie. He has ever since continued his residence here, and during the first three months he was in the employ of the carriage and wagon firm of Bower & Gaston, Mr. Gaston being an old friend and fellow workman in Milwaukee, and who later sold to him his in- terest with Mr. Bower, the style of the firm becoming Bower & Klopfer, which continued for nearly eight years or until the Ist of January, 1881, when Mr. Klopfer sold his interest to his partner. Immediately afterward he began the erection of a business house at the southeast corner of East Main and Jefferson streets, in which he established his present business, that of carriage building, together with the making of all kinds of vehicles, including phaetons, runabouts, express and other wagons for the local trade. In 1897 he erected a building immediately south of the one above mentioned, where he has since carried on his extensive business. In his line Mr. Klopfer is the largest manufacturer and dealer in the city of Muncie. He began his business career on a very limited capital, the result of his own earnings working for daily wages, and to-day he is one of the most pros- perous business men of Delaware county, but his success has resulted from honest dealing. industrious habits, first-class workmanship and excellent management. He is a stockholder in both the Merchants' National Bank and the Muncie Trust Company, also a director of each, and the vice-presi- dent of the former.
James M Laborteaux Isaac A. Laboyteau
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Mr. Klopfer married Clarrie S. Hummell in 1884, and they have one living child, Caroline. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, is a Thirty-second degree Mason, and a member of the Commercial Club of Muncie.
JAMES M. LABOYTEAUX is numbered among the prominent business men and farmers of Center township. Although he has resided within its borders for many years and has been prominently identified with its inter- ests, he is a native son of Ohio, born in Hamilton county, December 15, 1833, a son of Peter and Phoebe (Davis) Laboyteaux. They were born in New Jersey, Peter, November 29, 1792, and Phoebe, September 26, 1800, but moved to Ohio in 1808, the family making the trip to the northwestern wilderness down the Ohio river in a keel boat. The maternal grandfather, Joshua Davis, was a slave holder in New Jersey, and when he removed to Ohio entered land which is now included in the site of the city of Middle- town, Butler county, there establishing his home and passing the remainder of his life, although after entering this tract he returned for a time to his New Jersey home. His name is among the honored patriots of the Revolu- tion, as is also that of the paternal grandfather of Mr. Laboyteaux, who sacrificed his life to the patriots' cause. Seven children were born to Peter and Phoebe Davis Laboyteaux, but two of the number died in infancy, Lucinda passed away in early life, and Evaline, Hannah and Isaac are now deceased, leaving James M. the only surviving child. Peter Laboyteaux learned the tailor's trade, which was his business for some time, and later engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was classed among the pioneers of Mount Healthy, Hamilton county, Ohio. His death, however, occurred in New Castle, Indiana, October 16, 1872, where he had resided but a short time, and his wife spent her last days in Ohio, where she died December 26, 1885.
At the outbreak of the Civil war James M. Laboyteaux was living in Butler county, and in September, 1861, enlisted for service in the Union ' cause, joining Company C, Sixty-ninth Volunteer Ohio Infantry. After serving for two years he re-enlisted in the same command at Chattanooga, and, as a brave and loyal soldier, subsequently participated in the battles of Stone's River, Chickamauga, Chattanooga and other hard-fought and san- guinary engagements. He also marched with Sherman to the sea, and was a unit of the grand armies of the north which composed the historic review at Washington. He was discharged as an orderly of General Buell.
At the conclusion of his military service Mr. Laboyteaux returned to his home in New Castle, and a short time thereafter went to Huntsville, Alabama, but has been a continuous resident of Hamilton and Center town- ships. In 1901 he located on the estate which he now occupies, located two and a half miles north of Muncie. Mr. Laboyteaux's wife was formerly Huldah Mullen, the three children born to them being all deceased. In politics he is a Republican, and has always generously supported local enter-
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prises of a public and charitable nature, one of the latest marks of his gen- erosity in this regard being his donation of ten thousand dollars for the founding of a Delaware county (Indiana) hospital.
THOMAS W. WARNER, although numbered among the younger repre- sentatives of the industrial interests of Muncie, is one of its most prominent business men, whose enterprise and excellent ability have not only promoted his individual prosperity but has advanced the public welfare. As the organizer of the Warner Electric Company he is well known in business circles, and his connection with the Warner Gear Company has also placed his name high on the roll of the leading men of affairs of Delaware county.
Mr. Thomas W. Warner was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, Septem- ber 13, 1874, a son of Thomas W. and Emma R. (Trail) Warner, both of whom also had their nativity in that commonwealth. He was reared and educated in his native town or city, and from an early age has had to depend upon his own resources for his success in life. In Cincinnati he served for several years as the manager of the Cincinnati Electric Light Plant, and it was there that he gained his first and his thorough knowledge of that form of business, while later he was in the electric business in the west. He came from Montana to Muncie in 1897, and here organized the Warner Electric Company, furnishers of electrical specialties and telephone apparatus, and in the large plant erected for this purpose employment is furnished to about twenty operatives. This is the only concern of its kind in Muncie, and the enterprise has had a wonderful growth from its incep- tion. In 1902 Mr. Warner organized the Warner Gear Company, the product of which are automobile parts or steering and transmission gear for automobiles. He is the manager of this large corporation. The business, which was begun on a limited capital and in a small way, has grown to ex- tensive proportions and now furnishes employment to about two hundred and twenty-five people, mostly skilled laborers. Their payroll is therefore very large.
Mr. Warner married, in 1897, Miss Nettie Moore. He is a Scottish Rite Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and also holds membership relations with the Knights of Pythias order, and with the First Baptist church of Muncie. He has earned for himself an enviable reputation as a man of business, and has been the promoter of many of Muncie's leading industrial interests.
THOMAS S. GUTHRIE, D. D. One of the best known and most generally loved citizens of Muncie and vicinity is Rev. Thomas S. Guthrie, many years of whose life have been passed in this city, and during a long period he has been an efficient laborer in the cause of Christianity as a minister in the Universalist church. Although now living practically retired, he is still active in the continuance of the work to which he dedicated his life.
Rev. Guthrie is a native of Madison county, Ohio, born on the 10th
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of August, 1830, a son of John C. and Gency Jane (Glass) Guthrie, natives of Virginia. The paternal grandfather was James Guthrie, who was also born in Virginia, and he resided there until about 1820, when he removed to Highland county, Ohio, his death there occurring at the age of ninety-six years. He followed the occupation of farming. The Guthrie family is primarily of Scotch and English origin. The marriage of John C. and Gency J. Guthrie occurred in Campbell county, Virginia, and about 1826 they moved to Highland county, Ohio, and a short time afterward to Mad- ison county, that state, where they settled in the woods. They lived there until about 1858, when they moved to Madison county, near Winterset, Iowa, and lived there until their death. The wife died in 1864 at the age of sixty-five, and the husband died in 1875 at the age of eighty years. Mr. Guthrie was a man of varied attainments, working as a farmer, carpenter and school teacher, and was also chaplain of a militia company with the rank of captain. Although he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church he was strongly inclined toward the "New Light" faith of the Christian church, and he was a Democrat in politics. In his father's family there were eleven sons and one daughter.
Rev. Thomas S. Guthrie, their seventh child in order of birth and now the only living representative of the family, was reared in the wilds of his native county of Madison, and in its early schools he gained a limited educational training. At the age of about twenty-one years, seeking to per- fect his earlier training, he entered a school in Mechanicsburg, Ohio, at his own expense, and soon after began teaching in the country schools. He was then about twenty-two years of age, and for twelve years he continued his educational labors and also worked at farming, carpentering or any honorable employment. When he had reached his fortieth year he had earned enough to enter college, and accordingly matriculated in the Theo- logical College of Canton, New York, a Universalist institution. He had preached some before this, having embraced the Universalist doctrine as early as 1850, when about twenty years of age. Spending two years at Canton, he then entered Lombard University of Galesburg, Illinois, in which he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Divinity at about the age of sixty years. During his work in the ministry Rev. Guthrie has been stationed, at Miami City and Eaton, Ohio; Lafayette, Logansport, Indianapolis and Muncie, Indiana, and Cleveland, Ohio. He first came to Muncie on the Ist of January, 1874, where he remained for four years, and in 1884 returned to this city and continued in the active work of the ministry for seven years. Since 1900, however, he has been practically retired. Throughout all these years he has earnestly labored for the Master by voice and pen, and is the author of a fine publication, a sermon on Immortality.
Rev. Guthrie married Mary A. Comer on the 6th of March, 1856. Her death occurred on the 25th of July, 1906, after traveling the journey of life with her husband for fifty years. They had two children, J. Augustus, cashier of People's National Bank of Muncie, and Ruby, wife of I. A.
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Westfall, a jeweler of Muncie, Indiana. In politics Rev. Guthrie was first a Democrat, but since 1856 has been identified with the Republican party, and in 1891-2 he represented Delaware county in the lower house of the state legislature. He was chaplain of the One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio Infantry, has been chaplain of the Loyal Legion of Indiana, has been a member of the Odd Fellows' order since 1854, and is a Sir Knight Templar in Masonry.
GEORGE W. ROWLETT. There is perhaps no other young business man of Delaware county whose career has been marked by a greater degree of success than that of George W. Rowlett. He was born and reared in this county, his birth occurring in Harrison township on the 15th of November, 1874, and from his own personal mention we turn to that of his father, David E. Rowlett, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, June 28, 1849, and is an ex-soldier and a retired resident of the village of Gaston, this county. His parents were Edwin and Mary E. ( Wright ) Rowlett, natives of Indiana and Pennsylvania respectively. Edwin Rowlett, after residing for a considerable time in Wayne county and then in Jay county, Indiana, removed to Madison county, Nebraska, and died there. He was thrice married, and became the father of twenty-one children.
David E. Rowlett was reared in Jay county, Indiana, receiving a common school education, and when only a little over fourteen years of age he en- listed in the Union army, Company B, Eleventh Indiana Cavalry. Enlisting on the 4th of November, 1863, he served to the close of the war and received an honorable discharge on the 19th of September, 1865. During the time he participated in the battles of Nashville, but the greater part of his service was as a scout. On returning from the war he turned his attention to the grist and saw-milling business, and was thus engaged until the year 1872. He then transferred his activities to the shoemaker's trade, and removing to Gaston in 1881 he conducted a shoe and harness store with success until his retirement from business in November, 1895. He married, in 1868, Esther A. Heaton, who was born in this county on the 23d of December, 1851, and died January 5, 1879. They became the parents of five children : Mary J., Edwin M., George W., Ida B. and John. On the 9th of May, 1880, the father married Samantha A. Brock, born in this county on the 16th of December, 1852, and they had three children: Orpha B., Arthur J. and Nettie E. Mr. Rowlett is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, also of the Order of Odd Fellows and in politics is a Republican.
George W. Rowlett was reared in the village of Gaston, and after com- pleting his common-school education he learned the trades of harness and shoe making, gaining his first business experience in his father's store. In November, 1894, he became an equal partner with his father, and a year later the sole proprietor of the store. During his residence in Gaston he erected several buildings and to his already large stock of goods he added first that of buggies and then hardware and furniture, building up a large
G. AZ Roulet
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and extensive business in his lines and winning for himself a place among the leading men of affairs in Delaware county. In 1903 he sold his inter- ests there, and during the following six months was engaged in the furni- ture and storage business in Indianapolis. In 1904 he came to Muncie, and in the spring of the same year entered upon his career as a merchant of this city. On the southwest corner of East Charles and South Mulberry streets he has a large and well equipped store of four floors, sixty by one hundred and twenty feet in dimensions, where he furnished employment to about thirty salesmen. He also has a branch store at 315 South Walnut street, known as "the Annex," where he makes a specialty of five and ten cent and racket store goods. This occupies three floors, with a frontage of thirty by one hundred and twenty feet in depth, and employment is furnished to upwards of twenty-five people. He carries a well selected stock of furni- ture, house furnishing goods, hardware, etc., having in all ten departments, and his is one of the leading business enterprises of Delaware county.
In 1893 Mr. Rowlett married Miss Lillie Fallis, and they have one child, Fred. Mr. Rowlett has fraternal relations with the Odd Fellows' order, and is a member and trustee of the East Jackson Street Christian church.
THOMAS BENTON MCCULLOUGH, a retired farmer and a resident of the city of Muncie, has been numbered among the citizens of Delaware county since March of 1882, at which time he and his wife came hither from Penn- sylvania. where they had previously resided for about fifteen years, and from which state they had gone from Wayne county, Indiana, in 1866, to care for two of his uncles in their declining years.
Mr. Mccullough was born in Wayne county, Indiana, March 1, 1839, and was reared on the parental homestead where he first saw the light of day. This farm was located about three miles east of Hagerstown. He was less than two years of age when his father died, and he was the youngest of a family of ten children, all of whom save one lived to ages of maturity, were married and reared families of their own, but of this number only Mr. Mccullough and his youngest sister are now living. The father, John Mccullough, was a native of Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, a son of James McCullough, who was born in Ireland. The mother bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Elliott and was a native of Monongahela county, Penn- sylvania. She survived her husband many years, and died at the advanced age of eighty-one years. She was married to John McCullough in Penn- sylvania, and they moved from that state to Wayne county, Indiana, about 1820, thus becoming pioneers of the commonwealth, for Indiana had but recently been admitted to statehood. In Wayne county they spent the re- mainder of their days. They were sturdy, honest people, and farming was the father's occupation. Death came to him early in life, for he was but forty-seven when he died, and he left a large family. The widowed mother struggled along against many odds and adversities to rear her children.
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