USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 20
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
Johnson) ; Emma M., wife of Alva L. Porter, recorder of Marshall county, Indiana ; and Edwin J., the subject of the foregoing biography.
DR. OLIVER A. REA, one of the prominent medical and surgical prac- titioners of Indiana, has contributed his valued professional services and his strong personality toward the special advancement of Culver for the past twenty-eight years. A son of John. W. and Lucinda M. (Wait) Rea and a grandson of David Rea, he is of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the latter settling in Culpeper county, Virginia, about the year 1760 and removing to Logan county, Ohio, in 1803. On the maternal side his ancestors were Puritans, migrating from Massachusetts to New York and thence to Ohio in 1836. His maternal grandmother, whose maiden name was Dunham, was a first cousin to John Hancock.
Dr. Oliver A. Rea received a common school education in the insti- tutions of his native county, and after teaching several years attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1875 with the degree of B. S. A career of ten years as a teacher in the public schools of Ohio and Indiana followed, but in 1872 (before the conclusion of the decade) he commenced the study of medi- cine with Dr. Joshua R. Skidmore. Ten years before the commence- ment of his second professional career (in August, 1862) he had enlisted in Company H, Eighty-second Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and in the service of the Union cause participated in the following battles : Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock (seven days), Groveton ( second Bull Run), Gettysburg, Wauhatchie Valley, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Sandersville, Monteith Swamp, Savannah, Averysboro and Bentonville; also the entire Knoxville cam- paign. He was captured during the first day's fight at Gettysburg, escaped from the Confederates at Staunton, West Virginia, with H. H. Blakeley, now of Lyons, Kansas, crossed the Alleghany mountains and, after twenty-one days, arrived at Beverly, West Virginia, where he joined the Union forces and received transportation to his regiment on the Rappahannock river. In the spring of 1863 he was in hospital with pneumonia, but was soon again at the front and was honorably discharged June 20, 1865, by reason of the close of the war. During a portion of his service he acted as orderly and scout. At the conclusion of the war he returned to his Ohio home, taught for several years, and, as stated, attended normal school and afterward commenced the study of medicine.
In 1872, while yet teaching at West Mansfield, Ohio, Dr. Rea com- menced his professional studies, and in 1876 attended lectures at the Cin- cinnati College of Medicine and Surgery. He was afterward matricu- lated at the medical school of the Central University of Kentucky, from which he graduated in June, 1883, as valedictorian of his class, receiving first honor (a gold medal) for the highest general standing. In 1888 Dr. Rea took a regular post-graduate course at the Chicago Policlinic and in 1892 a special course at the same institution, and in 1907 he took a special course in medicine and surgery. In August, 1876, he had entered practice at Knox, Indiana, continuing there until March, 1880, when he removed to Marmont (now Culver), a summer resort and brisk town on Lake Maxinkuckee. Here he has enjoyed a growing reputation as an
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
able practitioner and a valued citizen, with a wide acquaintance and a substantial practice commensurate with his worth.
Dr. Rea is a leading member of the Marshall County Medical Society, of which he served as president in 1887-88 and 1897-8, and is also identified with the Indiana Medical Association. He enjoys member- ship in the Knights of Pythias, Knights of the Maccabees and Grand Army of the Republic, being (in the patriotic order named ) surgeon of Miles H. Tibbets Post, past commander of Henry Speyer Post, No. 489, and tent physician of the Knights. He is also past master of Henry H. Culver Lodge, A. F. & A. M. In 1890-93 and 1898 he served as United States pension examining surgeon ; was for ten years surgeon for Culver Military Academy, with the rank of major, and is now medical examiner for a number of life insurance companies. The Doctor is not only widely known through his wide professional association in the capacity of a practitioner, but his contributions to medical literature have materially added to his reputation. In politics he is a strong Republican, and in 1896 was a candidate for the Indiana legislature. In the Doctor's official career in the town of Culver he was president of the board of education for three years. He is also president of the Culver City Water Company. Mrs. Dr. Rea is president of the W. R. C. at Culver, Indiana, and this body is in a flourishing condition.
On December 28, 1876, the Doctor wedded Miss Sylvia A. Green at Marysville, Ohio, and the following are their children: Robert H., Lucretia and William S. Robert H. graduated from the Culver Military Academy in class of 1898, then graduated from the Chicago University in scientific department in 1901, and then he graduated from Rush Medi- cal College in 1903. He was then interne at Cook County Hospital for one term and he began his practice at No. 5643 Lake street, Chicago. He is medical inspector of the city schools. Lucretia graduated from the Culver High School in the class of 1902. She entered the musical department of DePauw University and graduated in instrumental music in 1906. She is now a teacher of music. William S. is a graduate of the common schools of Union township and a graduate of Culver Mili- tary Academy in class of 1903, and now will graduate in State University at Bloomington, Indiana. He taught one year in Culver High School. He is studying law in the university.
WILLIAM G. HENDRICKS, editor of the Tribune in Plymouth, Indiana, is one of the native sons of the city, born on the 20th of November, 1863. He is, however, of Holland descent, for his parents, George and Wil- helmina (Kruyer) Hendricks, were born in the land of the dykes. The father, who was a miller by trade, came to America in about 1856, locat- ing first in Laporte county, Indiana, but soon afterward came to Plym- outh in Marshall county. During the Civil war he served as a soldier in Company I, One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, continuing his services as a private soldier for about nine months. At the close of that period he returned to his home in Plymouth, and in this city where he had so long lived and labored he passed to the home beyond April 11, 1896, at the age of seventy-two years. He was a mem- ber of the Catholic church, and also maintained pleasant relations with
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
his old comrades of the blue by his membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. The death of Mrs. Hendricks occurred in Plymouth September 22, 1904, at the age of sixty years. There were eleven chil- dren in their family, eight of whom grew to years of maturity and are living at the present time.
William G. Hendricks, their second child and second son, attained to years of maturity in the city which gave him birth, Plymouth. In 1878 he began learning the printer's trade, but in 1881 he abandoned the occupation to learn the art of telegraphy. From 1882 until January of 1885 he represented the Pennsylvania Company as their operator in Plymouth, was with the Nickel Plate Company at Hibbard for one year, and for two years was with the Texas Pacific Company at Sweetwater, Texas. At the close of his relations there in the winter of 1888 he returned to Plymouth and resumed his connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, but in the month of July 1890, he left the fascinating life of railroading to enter the journalistic field, purchasing of Mr. John W. Siders his interest in the Plymouth Republican. In the publication of that paper Mr. Hendricks was a partner of Eddy S. Brooke, and this relationship continued until July of 1892, when Mr. Hendricks sold his interest to his partner and removed to Indianapolis, there entering the job printing business. Returning to Plymouth in May, 1898, he pur- chased the Plymouth Republican from Rollo B. Oglesbee, and since that time has been the publisher of this well-known and leading journal.
Mr. Hendricks married, June 11, 1884, Mary A. Westling, a daugh- ter of John A. and Anna Westling, and they have had four children: Theresa L. E., William C., Cecil C. and Gertrude, but the last named died at the age of five years. Mr. Hendricks holds membership relations with the St. Boniface Society, of which he is now the president, and is a member of the Catholic church.
JOHN GRAVERSON, who carries on general farming and stock-raising in German township and follows practical and progressive methods in conducting his business interests, was born in Jutland, Denmark, April 25, 1845. His father, Gravers Jenson Berg, was also a native of Den- mark and a blacksmith by trade. He was reared upon a farm in the land of his birth and afterward engaged in teaching school during the winter months, while in the summer seasons he learned and followed blacksmithing. Having arrived at years of maturity, he married Anna Christenson Dykjer, also a native of Denmark. They became the parents of thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters, of whom one died in infancy, while the subject of this review was the sixth child and the oldest son. Both parents died in the land of their birth.
John Graverson was educated in the public schools of Denmark and also in a military school of that country. He served for five years in the regular Fifth Cavalry and in 1872, when a young man of about twenty-seven years, left his native country and sailed for the new world, for he had heard favorable reports concerning America and its opportu- nities, and resolved to try his fortune in this country. After landing on the eastern coast, he proceeded directly to Chicago and thence to Elkhart, Indiana, where he worked in a furniture shop, being thus
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employed for about six months. He next went to South Bend, Indiana, where he was employed by the Studebaker Wagon Works, and also engaged in business as a teamster. Subsequently he went to Chicago, where he remained for about nine months, when he again located at South Bend and was in the employ of the Studebakers for about five years as coachman. He afterward followed his trade as gravel roofer for about a year and then returned to the Studebaker factory as lumber inspector and roofer. Soon, however, he was promoted to the super- intendency of the lumber yard maintained in connection with the factory. In the spring of 1886 he resigned his position and removed to his present place of residence in German township, Marshall county. Here he pur- chased one hundred and twenty acres of land, eighty acres of which was inherited by Mrs. Graverson, which at the time of his purchase was cov- ered with a dense growth of timber. He has cleared away the trees, has cultivated the fields and has made all of the improvements upon the place, and now has one of the fine farms of the township. The soil is rich and productive and responds readily to the care and labors he bestows upon his place. He has also extended the boundaries of his property until he now owns one hundred and ninety acres in the home place and thirty-three acres in North township, which he has also improved. In connection with the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he also raises Durham cattle and finds this a profitable business.
On the 9th of July, 1879, was celebrated the marriage of John Grav- erson and Miss Sarah Schilt, the wedding ceremony being performed in Bremen, Indiana. Mrs. Graverson, however, is a native of Ohio, in which state she was reared, and a daughter of Christian Schilt, who is mentioned on another page of this volume. She acquired her education in the Bremen schools and also in St. Joseph's Academy at South Bend. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Graverson have been born three sons and two daugh- ters: Gravers Christian, John Lewis, Anna Frances, Theodore Edward and Ida Ruth. Three of the children were born in South Bend and two at their present place of residence on the home farm.
Since becoming a naturalized American citizen Mr. Graverson has supported the Democracy and is in thorough sympathy with its princi- ples and purposes. He is recognized as one of the local leaders in party ranks and does everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of the organization. He is also a member of the Masons and of the Eastern Star, as is also his wife, and their religious faith is indicated by membership in the Congregational church. He is likewise a stockholder in the Bremen Agricultural Association and was its presi- dent for two years. Mr. Graverson has never had occasion to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for in this land he has prospered, owing to the excellent advantages which are here afforded. In this country labor is not hampered by caste or class, and the resolute, ambitious and diligent man always has opportunity to work his way upward. This Mr. Graverson has done, and although he started out in this country empty-handed, he is today in possession of a very desirable property.
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
CHARLES L. ANDREWS has also the distinction of being one of the oldest citizens of Marshall county. He was born in Wyoming county, New York, in the town of Perry, March 25, 1838, and was but a little over a year old when brought by his parents, Lyman and Mary J. (Yake- ley ) Andrews, natives respectively of Vermont and New York, to Mar- shall county in May, 1839, and they located on the banks of Twin lake in West township. That farm continued as the family home until the father sold the land in 1853 and moved to Sligo in this county, where he was engaged in the making of wagons, and he lived in that town until his death in 1879. aged seventy-three years, surviving his wife for four- teen years. Mr. Andrews was a strong Republican politically, and of the seven children born to him and his wife only two are now living.
Charles L. Andrews attended in his youth the log cabin schools of Marshall county. When the Civil war was inaugurated he answered the first call for troops, tendering his services in April, 1861, but before he was mustered into the service the quota for Indiana was filled, and he and his associates were necessarily rejected. In August of the same year he enlisted in Company D. Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and after serving with his regiment for eleven months he was sent to the hospital at Corinth, Mississippi, on account of disability, and later received his discharge at Louisville, Kentucky. In October of 1862 he again tendered his services in the cause of freedom, but was rejected, and on the 5th of October, 1863, became a member of Com- pany E. Twelfth Indiana Cavalry, of which he was made the sergeant. and in June, 1864, received the rank of a second lieutenant. He was mustered out at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in November, 1865, as first lieu- tenant. During his military career he participated in many of the historic battles of the war, including those of Shiloh and Murfreesboro, and he is now a member of Tibbet Post, G. A. R.
In March, 1866, Mr. Andrews married Ellen Conover, and in the following year they took up their abode where they now live, on the banks of Dixon lake, their farm consisting of thirty-seven acres. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrews: Frank, Dora, Mary and Edith. Mr. Andrews is a Republican and a Methodist, and his wife and children are members of the Evangelical church.
H. Y. SHIRK. Mr. Shirk is a member of a prominent old family of Switzerland, from whence in 1735 its representatives emigrated to the new world and planted the name on American shores. They sought a home amid the wilds of the famous old county of Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania, becoming prominently identified with its early and subsequent his- tory, and there Ulrich Shirk, the grandfather of H. Y., was born and attained to the advanced age of ninety-five years. That also became the birthplace of the father of H. Y. Shirk. Samnel Shirk. He attained to years of maturity within its borders, became well and prominently known for his sterling worth of character, and passed away amid the scenes with which he had been so long identified when he had reached the sev- enty-ninth milestone on the journey of life. Mrs. Shirk bore the maiden name of Mary Yocom, a native of Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, and she too was a member of one of the old established families of the
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Keystone state, her father being Daniel Yocom, of Irish descent. She reached the age of seventy-seven years and became the mother of twelve children, all of whom grew to years of maturity, but only four are now living.
H. Y. Shirk, the ninth child and sixth son, spent the first nineteen years of his life in his native county of Berks, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the 9th of May, 1832, and going thence to Stark county, Ohio, he followed farming near Louisville, in the eastern part of the county. While there he became personally acquainted with William McKinley, forming his acquaintance when he first came to Canton. Leaving the farm, Mr. Shirk was engaged in the meat and stock business in Ohio until his removal to Marshall county, Indiana, becoming the owner of a farm on which Lapaz is now located, but selling this to a Mr. Hunt, he purchased and removed to a farm a half mile south, where he maintained his home for twenty-three years, and where he reared his children to lives of usefulness and honor. During all these years he was extensively engaged in general farming and the stock business, while for some years he was also interested in the shipping of horses, and he was at one time engaged in the hardware trade, his son Henry succeeding him in this business. Mr. Shirk is now the owner of a fine estate of two hundred and fifty acres in North township.
On the 26th of November, 1861, he married Margaret Trump, a native daughter of Stark county, Ohio, and there she also gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Shirk, they becoming the parents of six children : Byron, of Chicago; Raymond, an employe in the American Express office in that city; Henry, engaged in the hardware business in Lapaz ; Clara C., the deceased wife of Henry Jarrell; Flora, the wife of Frank McCormick ; and one who died in infancy. Mr. Shirk upholds the prin- ciples of the Republican party, and he was a member of the G. A. R. post at Plymouth, his services in the Civil war entitling him to member- ship therein. He enlisted in 1861, in Company A, Nineteenth Ohio Vol- unteer Infantry, under Captain Manderson, afterward a state senator of Nebraska, and who returned from the war as a general. Mr. Shirk served only until the following fall, his military career then ending on account of failing health. His name is engraved on the pages of Mar- shall county's early and subsequent history, for through many years he has been an important factor in its agricultural and financial interests.
JOHN MORLOCK. The student of history cannot carry his investiga- tion far into the records of Marshall county without learning that the Morlock family has been represented here for more than a half century, and that the family name has ever stood as a synonym for agricultural progress and for business integrity in this part of the state. John Mor- lock is a worthy representative of this honored pioneer family and his personal worth entitles him to representation with the successful and enterprising farmers and stock-raisers of West township. He was born in Union township, this county, March 17, 1854. His father, George Adam Morlock, now deceased, was a resident farmer of West township for many years. A native of Germany, he was reared in that country, but at the age of twenty-five years, attracted by the favorable reports which he heard concerning America and its opportunities, he sailed for
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the new world and located in New York. Gradually he made his way westward to Marshall county, where he arrived in 1853, settling in West township. Here he purchased a tract of land of about forty acres, mostly covered by heavy timber. He cleared the greater part of this, cutting down the trees, burning the brush and grubbing up the stumps. The land was thus prepared for the plow and in due course of time brought forth rich harvests as a reward for the care and labor bestowed upon it. He added all the modern improvements, purchasing the latest improved machinery that was placed upon the market as invention perfected the farm implements and rendered the toil of the agriculturist less arduous and confining. As the years passed and he prospered in his undertakings, he added to his possessions from time to time until his landed holdings embraced six hundred acres, of which he cleared about three hundred acres. He thus took an active and helpful part in the development of the county and was a well-known representative of agricultural life here.
George A. Morlock was married in Ohio to Miss Elizabeth Zechiel, who was born in the Buckeye state and there spent the days of her girl- hood, being reared upon a farm. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Morlock were born seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom the subject of this review is the eldest. The others are : Mrs. Caroline Kyser, Daniel, George, Mrs. Rose Shively, Joseph and Fred. After coming to this county the father continued to reside upon the old homestead property until the time of his death, which occurred when he was seventy-two years of age. He was a lifelong Democrat, interested in the success and growth of his party, and to various movements and measures for the public good he gave earnest, loyal and efficient support. In early life his religious faith was that of the Lutheran church, but in later years he identified himself with the German Baptist church.
John Morlock was reared under the parental roof, accompanying his parents from Union to West township, and in the public schools near the family home he acquired his education. He was early trained to habits of industry, economy and diligence, and these have proven salient features in his later life record and have constituted the basis of his success. Having arrived at years of maturity, he made arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage on the 14th of October, 1879, to Miss Dora B. Crampton, who was born and reared in West township, a daughter of Jonathan S. Crampton, one of the early settlers of the county. He was not only identified with agricultural interests but was also county surveyor for one term. He cleared one hundred and sixty acres of land in West township, transforming the timber tract into rich and productive fields, his place becoming in time a valuable farm. Mrs. Morlock was the eldest in a family of four children, all of whom were born and reared in West township, while two have passed away. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children, two sons and two daughters : Osie, Howard, George and Opal, all of whom were born upon the farm which is still their home, the family circle yet remain- ing unbroken by the hand of death.
At the time of his father's demise Mr. Morlock inherited fifteen hun- dred dollars from the estate. He had previously purchased eighty acres of land and he has now about two hundred and forty acres, constituting
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a valuable and productive farm in West township. All of the improve- ments upon it have been placed there by Mr. Morlock, who is enter- prising and diligent. He not only follows in the work of progressive farming, but is a leader, and in addition to cultivating the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he raises high grades of stock and also engages in threshing. The various branches of his business are proving profitable and he is numbered among the representative agriculturists of West town- ship. With the exception of what he inherited from his father, he has gained his success entirely through his own labors, and his record shows what may be accomplished by diligence and persistency of purpose.
A. A. KEEN, president of the town board of Culver, Marshall county, has been a resident of the place for about twenty years, and during the entire period has been an industrious, earnest and highly honorable member of the community. His paternal ancestry is German and his mother's forefathers came from the sturdy English, his more immediate forebears being native to the Buckeye state. He himself was born in Wayne county, Ohio, on the 9th of December, 1867, son of Michael and Eliza A. (Oldman) Keen, the former being a native of Ashland county, that state, and the latter of Medina county, also in Ohio.
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