USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 22
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In 1894 he was united in marriage to Miss Edna B. Tobey, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Tobey, of Monterey, Indiana. Mr. and
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Mrs. Matthew are the parents of four children: Rose A., aged twelve years; Etta D., aged ten, and twin sons, John Robert and William Burleigh, who were born January 23, 1907.
Mr. Matthew was admitted to the Marshall county bar in 1903 and has also been a notary public since that time. He is a member of the Pottawattomie Club. In his political views he is a Democrat and has a large and enviable circle of friends.
I. L. D. SEILER. The name of I. L. D. Seiler is inseparably connected with the industrial interests of Bremen, and the large financial institution which he now controls forms an important part of the business life of the city. He became connected with the institution in 1893 as its vice presi- dent, while in January of the following year he was made the cashier, and in 1905 he became the president of the Union State Bank, one of the most reliable banking institutions of northern Indiana. It has a capital and surplus of sixty thousand dollars, and its officers are as follows: I. L. D. Seiler, president ; G. F. Wahl, vice president, and Edward Hecka- man, cashier, while its directors are J. H. Steineck, I. L. D. Seiler, John Huff. Frederick Ponader, G. F. Wahl, Clint Huff and Edward Heckaman.
Mr. Seiler is a native son of Bremen, born on the Ist of May, 1869, to Christian and Elizabeth ( Harzog) Seiler, the former a native of Swit- zerland and the latter of Ohio. The father spent the first twenty-two years of his life in his native country, and coming to America he located at Warsaw, Indiana, and began the study of medicine under Dr. Jacob Boss. He continued his practice in that city until his removal to Bremen in the early days of its history, and here his death occurred in 1883, aged sixty years. He became one of the widely known and loved pioneer physi- cians of Marshall county, and his life was filled with good deeds and labors of love toward his fellowmen. The wife and mother died in Indiana in 1904, aged sixty-nine years. Dr. Seiler was twice married and became the father of fourteen children, eight by his first wife and six by his union with Elizabeth Harzog, the mother of the Bremen banker, and of whom three are now living.
I. L. D. Seiler, the fourth in order of birth of the six children, received his educational training in the schools of Bremen and at Hillsdale, Mich- igan, where he pursued a commercial course from 1886 to 1887. During the following four years he was employed as a drug clerk in Bremen, and for one year thereafter was the treasurer of the Holland Radiator Com- pany of Bremen. He resigned the treasurership of that company to enter upon his connection with the Union State Bank, of which he is now the president. He also owns two farms in Marshall county, one in Ger- man township of eighty acres, and one in North township of seventy acres.
On the 15th of June, 1900, Mr. Seiler married Lucinda E. Link, a daughter of John and Hannah (Volknagle) Link, of Bremen, and their three children, two sons and a daughter, are Marvin, Louis and Inez. Mr. Seiler takes an active interest in the public life of his community and upholds the principles of the Republican party. At the present time he is serving as the president of the town council, having been a member of the board during the past eight years. He is courteous and genial in
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manner, and among the people with whom he has been so long connected he is very popular.
HENRY B. HALL. From a pioneer epoch in the history of Marshall county the Hall family has been represented here and the name has been synonymous through many decades with progressive agriculture. Henry B. Hall of this review is a representative agriculturist and stock dealer of West township, living on section 2, and in the control of his business affairs displays sound judgment and keen discrimination-qualities which have resulted in the acquirement of gratifying and honorable success. He was born in the township which is still his home, his natal day being June 9, 1852. His father, John Hall, now deceased, was a pioneer farmer of this township, casting in his lot with the early settlers who aided in reclaiming this portion of the state for the purposes of civilization. He was born in the state of New York, December 5, 1802, and was there reared, acquiring his education through the medium of the public schools. In early life he learned and followed the carpenter's trade, this making his initial step into the business world. He was married June 22, 1828, to Miss Henrietta Tully, who was born in the state of New York, February 3, 18II, and there spent the days of her girlhood. Both were of Holland lineage. Unto them were born nine children, five sons and four daugh- ters, of whom Henry B. is the youngest. In 1834 the father, leaving the east, took his family to Chicago by way of the lakes and remained in that city for two years, following the carpenter's trade. In 1836 he traveled across the country to Marshall county, Indiana, and located in Plymouth, where he again worked as a carpenter and builder. Eventu- ally he took up his abode in West township and invested his earnings in eighty acres of land, which was covered with the native forest growth. Indians still lived in the neighborhood and the seeds of civilization had scarcely been planted in the district. There were wild animals in the forests and considerable wild game. There were no commodious homes nor well tilled farms, but here and there was a little cabin in the midst of a clearing to show that some settler had made his way into the west and was endeavoring to establish a home. Mr. Hall, like the others in the neighborhood, built a log house and with characteristic energy began clearing his eighty acres of land. It was an arduous task to cut away the trees, to dig out the stumps and place the fields under the plow, but through resolute spirit and persistency of purpose he accomplished this, and upon the farm which he developed made his home until his death. In politics he was a lifelong Republican, stalwart and inflexible in support of the party. Fraternally he was a Mason, while his religious faith was that of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was an earnest and consistent member. The many good traits of his life won him the respect and confidence of his fellowmen and caused his death to be the occasion of deep regret to many who knew him, when, at the age of seventy-one years, he passed away. His wife survived and died at the age of seventy-seven years.
Henry B. Hall was reared upon the old homestead farm, and les- sons of industry, diligence and energy were early impressed upon his mind and have borne fruit in his later years. As a public-school student he
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mastered the branches of learning which usually constitute the curricu- lum of the common school and during the periods of vacation he was trained in the work of the farm. After reaching manhood he purchased the old homestead, upon which he carried on general farming until 1886, when he bought his present place of one hundred and forty acres. He cleared part of this and made the improvements thereon and today has a valuable and well conducted property, returning him a gratifying income annually. For eighteen years he has been a buyer and shipper of stock and is well known in this connection, conducting a successful business.
On the 17th of February, 1870, Mr. Hall was married to Miss Nancy Redd, a native of Holmes county, Ohio, born August 20, 1848, and a daughter of Adam and Isabelle (Quivey) Redd. Her father was a farmer of North township, this county. He came to Indiana from Ohio, arriv- ing in the year 1870, and for a year thereafter lived upon a rented farm in West township. On the expiration of that period he purchased a farm in North township, but after a brief period returned to Ohio. Later, however, he again came to Indiana and spent his last days in Plymouth. His daughter, Mrs. Hall, was reared in Ohio and is the second daughter in a family of eight children, of whom two are now deceased. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children, two sons and two daughters : Flora May, who has passed away; Edna, the wife of Fred- erick Fromm, a machinist in South Bend; one who died in infancy: and Lawrence L., located at Minot, North Dakota. All were born in West township.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Hall has been an earnest Republican, believing that the adoption of the principles of that party will best conserve the general welfare. He has been active in party ranks, doing all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of Republican principles. In 1900 he was elected to the office of trustee and proved most capable in the position. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and has attained the Knight Templar degree. He is also a member of the Knights of the Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias, while his religious faith and that of his wife is that of the United Brethren church. Throughout the community in which his entire life has been spent he is widely and favorably known as an enterprising business man and trustworthy citizen and a faithful friend.
Mr. Hall's great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and his mother's progenitors were Van Scoic of the Mohawk Dutch, and they were also in the Revolutionary war. This entitles Mr. and Mrs. Hall and children to become members of the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. Mrs. Hall has one of the double coverlets which were woven by her grandmother Quivey, and it is close to a century old.
DAVID E. SNYDER, the subject of this sketch, was born January 21, 1850, in North township, Marshall county, Indiana. His paternal grand- father, Adam Snyder, was a native of Maryland, of German descent, who, after the War of 1812, in which he had served as a soldier, inigrated to Virginia, where he met and married Miss Anna Sparks. Immediately after that ceremony he assisted some others in building and launching
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a flatboat on the head waters of the Monongahela river. Embarking their families, they made the dangerous and perilous voyage, beset by hostile savages, down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, and located on the latter river somewhere along the Ohio shore. That they were not believers in racial suicide is evidenced by the thirteen children that came to bless their union, all of whom were permitted to live to the full age of man and womanhood.
In 1834, with their large family and all their earthly possessions, they again started forth like Abraham of old to seek a new heritage. This time their objective point was the prairies of Illinois, but in passing through Marshall county they were so favorably impressed with the country, and being able to procure employment in cutting out the Michi- gan road which was then being constructed, they located, April 18, 1834, about six miles north of Plymouth and were among the earliest permanent settlers of the county.
John Snyder, the third child and son of the foregoing, and the father of David E., was born in Ohio, and at the time of his removal to this state was twelve years of age. In common with all the early settlers of that day, he endured many hardships and withal some privileges and pleasures to which he ever after was wont to refer. At an early age he took an active part in the affairs of his township and was well and favorably known throughout the county, having served frequently in local public office to the satisfaction of his constituents. He was actively engaged in the saw mill business and was the pioneer lumber- man of his section, operating for many years the first and only saw mill in the northern part of the county. In 1845 he married Miss Sarah J. McCormick, who had but recently come to this then new country from the romantic Shenandoah valley of Virginia. To this union were born nine children, three of whom have passed to the beyond. The father died in 1865, at the age of forty-three. The good old mother is still living, enjoying fairly good health, though she has passed through eighty- two years of summer suns and winter snows, and, with the same motherly devotion as of old, welcomes her loved ones to her home.
David Edgar Snyder, the third child and second son, was but fifteen years of age when his father died. His early life was not a life of ease, for after the settlement of the estate and payment of debts there was but little left of his father's property, and he was compelled to do his share of hard work to help support a large family. Attending the "district" school during winter, working at home or for the neighbors during the summer, until his eighteenth year, he entered the Plymouth high school, which at that time was but a primitive affair. Supplementing his attendance at the Plymouth school, by teaching in the country until his twenty-first year, he . entered the law office of M. A. O. Packard. Admittedl to the bar at the first term held in the present (then new) court house, he, with an elder brother, opened a law office in Plymouth, and in connection therewith conducted an insurance and loaning business on farm lands and other real estate. By strict and careful attention to business he has been eminently successful, until today he is considered one of the foremost financiers of the county.
In 1892 he assisted in organizing the Plymouth State Bank and
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became its president, which position he has held during the succeeding years, and his name has become well and prominently known in connec- tion with this solid financial institution. He has a farm a few miles south of Plymouth of nearly four hundred acres, to which he gives much attention ; with its stately buildings, fertile fields and beautiful groves of walnut, beech and maple, it is well deserving the appellation "a model farm," which it is called throughout the county. He is also interested in and one of the directors of the St. Joseph Loan and Trust Company of South Bend.
Mr. Snyder was married in September, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Steck- man, a daughter of Henry W. and Lydia (Cassady) Steckman, and their lives were blessed with two children, Bertie, the eldest, dying when but a few weeks old, and Dessie, born two years later, lived to be nearly four years old. As a memorial to their young lives, Mr. Snyder had erected the fine tower that adorns the St. Thomas Episcopal church of Plymouth, of which church he is a member and an active worker. He has been a lifelong resident of Marshall county. For five years he served his city as clerk and was a member of its council four years and a member of the Plymouth school board nine years.
H. M. SPEYER. A member of the general merchandising firm of Porter & Company, of Culver, and treasurer of the local school board, H. M. Speyer is a native of Kentucky, born September 3. 1863, a son of Henry and Margaret (Pickens ) Speyer. He resided in New York until he was six years of age, when his parents removed to Marshall county, Indiana. His education was received in the public schools of Plymouth, and he spent his early youthful years in assisting his father in various mercantile enterprises. After his father's death he devoted his time to mercantile pursuits, with those natural talents which, combined with experience, are sure to bring success. Mr. Speyer has faithfully given of his time and talent toward the public administration of the town, and, from personal reasons, as well as in the capacity of a good citizen, has long been closely identified with the educational system. For several years he served as president of the Culver school board, and is the present treasurer of that body. Much of the credit for the economical erection of the fine school building completed in 1906 attaches to the diligence and fine business methods of Mr. Speyer. He has also been treasurer of the town of Culver, and for eight years (under appointments of Presidents Harrison and Mckinley) served as its postmaster. His fraternal con- nections are with the Masonic order and the Knights of Pythias, of which latter lodge he is a charter member, having filled all its chairs. Marshall county, in short, has few institutions of a progressive nature with which Mr. Speyer has not an influential connection.
In 1890 Mr. Speyer was united in marriage with Miss Mary Peeples, daughter of George and Caroline Peeples, and a native of Marshall county, Indiana. Of this union are the following children: George, Pauline, Ruth, Helen, Margaret, Harry and Jacob.
GEORGE W. HUFF, a farmer and stock-raiser of German township, also figures in community affairs, filling the position of county council-
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man at this writing, in the winter of 1907-8. His entire life has been passed in Marshall county and the farm to which he now devotes his time and energies was the place of his birth and also his playground in youth. His natal day was September 9, 1863, and he was the eighth in order of birth in a family of thirteen children, seven sons and six daugh- ters, of whom one died in infancy. The father, Philip Huff, now deceased, belonged to one of the early families of German township and was a native of Germany. When thirteen years of age he came to America with his parents. They located in Ohio, where Philip Huff was reared, and, having attained his majority, he was married in that state to Miss Lydia Keyser, a daughter of Solomon and Sarah Keyser, who were likewise worthy pioneer settlers of German township and of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. In the early '40s Philip Huff and his father's family came to Marshall county, Indiana, and located upon the farm which is now in possession of George W. Huff. There Philip Huff purchased eighty acres of land which lay in the midst of the green woods, and upon the place he built a log cabin, carrying on the work of clearing and cultivating. As opportunity offered he added modern improvements and upon the place he remained until his death, which occurred when he was fifty-six years of age. As the years had passed by he had prospered and from time to time, as his financial resources permitted, he invested in more land, until at his demise his possessions aggregated six hundred acres in this county. He also operated a saw mill in German township for many years and was a man of marked industry and enterprise, whose well directed labors brought him a gratifying measure of success. Polit- ically he was a Democrat, active in the ranks of the party, and his fellow- townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, several times called him to office. He served as trustee for a number of terms and his co-operation was always regarded as an asset for public improvement. He held mem- bership in the Evangelical church and was very widely and favorably known, his many sterling traits of character gaining for him the high regard and unfaltering trust of his fellow-townsmen. As indicated, he prospered in his business and added not a little to his income by the sale of cattle to Notre Dame for many years.
George W. Huff is indebted to the public-school system of Indiana for the educational privileges he enjoyed. At the usual age he took up the task of mastering the common branches of learning as a pupil in the district schools of German township, and later he attended the Bremen high school. In early manhood he chose a companion and helpmate for life's journey, being married on the 15th of November, 1883, to Miss Clara E. Balsley, a native of German township, and a daughter of John Balsley, a pioneer farmer of that township. At her father's home Mrs. Huff spent the days of her girlhood and youth and was well trained in the labors of the household, so that she was thoroughly qualified to take care of a home of her own at the time of her marriage. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Huff have been born four sons and a danghter : Floyd E., Ralph W., Edna V., Richard D. and Ivo G., all born in German township.
George W. Huff has cultivated several farms in this township and in 1901 he bought the old homestead, upon which he now resides. He here has two hundred acres of rich and productive land, which responds
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readily to the care and labor he bestows upon the fields. Annually he harvests large crops and the sale of his products brings to him a gratify- ing financial return. Politically he is an earnest Democrat, active in the local ranks of his party, and he is now serving as a member of the county council. His religious faith is that of the United Brethren church and his belief has characterized his entire life and shaped his relations with his fellowmen.
ED. S. HOGARTH. Among the merchants of Plymouth none is per- haps better known than Ed. S. Hogarth, the pioneer grocer of that city. He is a native of Ohio, having been born in Toledo, July 25, 1854. His father, William H. Hogarth, was born in Cincinnati, and his mother Ellen (Washburn) Hogarth, was born and reared in Marshall county, and is a descendant of one of the old pioneer families in that section of the state.
Mr. Hogarth, whose name introduces this sketch, was reared in Wabash, Indiana, but received most of his schooling in the public schools of Plymouth. About 1877 he began his business life as an employe of J. W. Palmer, of Chicago, for whom he worked five years as a grocery clerk, after this going to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he obtained employ- ment with Alex. Taggart, driving a bread wagon, and remained at this latter place about two years. Following this he returned to Plymouth and in company with O. G. Soice they purchased the grocery business of Thomas O. Taber and have conducted this store continuously for twenty-three years, it being, in point of ycars, the oldest established grocery business in Plymouth.
On December 15, 1881, he was married to Miss Nellie E. Soice, a daughter of John and Margaret ( Hertzog) Soice. Mr. and Mrs. Hogarth are the parents of one child-Georgia Leon, who is unmarried and resides with her parents.
Mr. Hogarth is a Mason and a member of the Knights Templar Commandery, Order of Ben Hur, and the Royal Arcanum. He is a Democrat in politics and is one of the substantial men of his local party organization.
WILLIAM W. WARNES has been a resident of Marshall county for forty-two years, dating his residence here from 1866. He has seen many changes here as the years have gone by and in his farm work has aided in clearing away the forest and preparing the land for the plow. He has made farming his life vocation and in this field of activity has won the success which always crowns earnest, persistent and well directed labor. His birth occurred in Ohio, April 5, 1842, so that he was a young man of, twenty-four years when he came to Indiana. His father, Henry Warnes, now deceased, also a native of Ohio, was there reared and married, the lady of his choice being Miss Hannah Winklepleck, a native of the Buckeye state, where she was reared. Removing westward to Indiana, they settled in Miami county, where Henry Warnes engaged in business as a tanner. Unto him and his wife were born eight children.
William W. Warnes, the third in order of birth, spent his boyhood days with his parents, was instructed concerning the value of industry,
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diligence and integrity, and the habits of life which he based upon those principles have constituted the measure and secret of his success in later years. In 1862 he offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, for his patriotic spirit was aroused by the continued attempt of the south to overthrow the power of the federal government. He joined Company F of the Seventy-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry and served until 1864, when he was honorably discharged for disability. He was with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea and also took part in the battles of Nashville and Perryville and was always faithful to his duty, whether stationed on the lonely picket line or in the midst of the firing line.
When the war was over, Mr. Warnes returned to the north and in 1866 came to Marshall county, settling in West township. Here he pur- chased a farm of forty acres, which he improved, and later by additional purchase he added to his original holdings a tract of seventy acres, which was in the midst of the forest. He cleared and cultivated his land, cut- ting down the native trees and preparing the soil for the plow. In course of time, however, he sold that property and made investment in his present place, comprising one hundred and forty acres on section 32, West township. This he cleared and improved, adding many of the equipments and accessories of a model farm, and his place presents a neat and well kept appearance, indicative of his sound judgment and excellent management.
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