USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 26
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Their son, John R. Dietrich, was but a lad of three and a half years when he became a resident of Bremen, receiving his education in its public schools and also in the Bryant and Stratton Business College of Chicago. In 1872 he became interested in the business which his father had established in the pioneer days of this city, and in 1876 his brothers, Christian and Peter, were admitted to a partnership therein, but in 1904 Peter withdrew to become a banker and the firm is now known as John R. Dietrich & Company. Mr. Dietrich of this review also owns eight hundred and eighty acres of land in Marshall and St. Joseph counties.
On the 13th of November, 1872, he was united in marriage with Anna Neff, a daughter of Jonas Neff, and their four children are Urban J., Lloyd, Harold and Pearl. The eldest son, Urban J. Dietrich, is in business with his father, and the daughter is the wife of Martin Horine, who is also connected with the firm of John R. Dietrich & Com- pany, a resident of Bremen. Mr. Dietrich casts his ballot in favor of the men and measures of the Democratic party, and for nine years served his city as a member of its school board and for three years as a member of the city council. His residence in Marshall county covers the long period of fifty-three years, years largely devoted to its best interests and upbuilding, and he now has the honor of residing within its borders during a longer continuous period than any other resident.
J. O. FERRIER. The name of J. O. Ferrier is well known to residents of Marshall county, as the senior member of the firm of J. O. Ferrier & Sons, dealers in lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors and blinds, cement blocks, cement, builders' hardware, drain tile and sewer pipe. Further. he is highly honored for his strong moral and religious convictions, which he earnestly inculcates and thereby acts as a constant and uplifting force in his residence community. Mr. Ferrier was born in Carroll county. Indiana, on the 18th of August, 1858, and is a son of George E. and Rebecca (Bennett) Ferrier, the father a native of the same county, and the mother, of Hancock county, Indiana. The father lived to the age of sixty-seven years, and the mother died at thirty-five. They were the parents of three sons, of whom J. O. Ferrier is the eldest. George E. Ferrier married a second time, and two sons and one daughter were born to this union.
J. O. Ferrier was reared in Carroll county, Indiana, and received his early education in the public schools of that section, later going to the
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high school at Battle Ground, that state, and completing his studies at Valparaiso. For about five years he was a merchant of Flora, Indiana, and thereafter, until the age of forty he was engaged in farming. In November, 1898, he established a lumber business at Culver, and after a few years associated himself with his son, Clark I., in the formation of the present firm. In addition to carrying a large and complete stock of goods at Culver, the house has a branch at Lakeville, Indiana, where is located a large storage yard. The elder Ferrier is also the proprietor of a town addition consisting of eighty-nine lots, which is known by his name and is being quite rapidly settled. It has been accepted by the town board, is nicely laid out, and lots are readily selling at from $100 to $300. Although a Republican in general politics, Mr. Ferrier is a strong anti- saloon man, believing that in local affairs the temperance question should be paramount. He was at one time a member of the town board, hut after serving one term refused firmly thereafter to accept a renomination. Rather he prefers to devote himself to the upbuilding of his church inter- ests, and the advocacy of temperance. He has long been a member of the Christian church, in which he is now an elder. He belongs to no secret societies, but has a wide acquaintance and is universally respected for his earnest and unflinching morality.
On January 27, 1885, Mr. Ferrier was united in marriage with Miss Rosa I. Gwinn, daughter of Clark C. and Martha (Runyon) Gwinn. Two sons have been born to this union, one of whom, as stated, is asso- ciated with his father in business ; the other died in infancy.
HENRY SCHLOSSER. In connection with industrial interests the repu- tation of Henry Schlosser is not limited by the confines of Bremen or Marshall county, his name being well known in this connection in many towns of Indiana and as far as South Chicago, where he has offices and sales rooms at 9140 Erie avenue. The firm of Schlosser Brothers, con- sisting of Henry, Jacob, Gustave and Samuel Schlosser, transact the largest creamery business of any firm in the entire state of Indiana. They became associated with this enterprise in August, 1884, establishing a creamery and wholesale produce business on a corner of the old home- stead farm in German township, and with the passing years their trade has grown to extensive proportions, they now having creameries at Bremen and Plymouth. The firm also own a farm of five hundred and thirty acres in Kankakee county, Illinois, and in Chicago they own their own wholesale houses. In tracing the careers of those who have achieved success in the business world and at the same time stand high in the public esteem it is found in almost every case they are those who have risen by their own efforts, their diligence and perseverance. These quali- ties are possessed in a large measure by Henry Schlosser, who by reason of his marked ability is numbered among the leading business men of Marshall county.
He was born on the farm on which he now resides March 28, 1863, a son of Jacob and Eva Margaret (Karrer) Schlosser, both of whom were born in Germany. They were married in New York city and came direct to Marshall county, Indiana, this being about 1855, and locating on a farm in section 2, German township, they spent the remainder of their
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lives here, the mother dying in 1892 and the father in 1906. They be- came the parents of eight sons and one daughter, all of whom grew to man and womanhood, and all are yet living with the exception of one son and all are residents of Marshall county with the exception of two, who reside in South Chicago.
Henry Schlosser, their fourth child and fourth son, was reared on the old homestead farm in German township, where he was born, attend- ing the district schools of the neighborhood until his fifteenth year, and he remained at home until reaching the age of maturity, assisting on the farm and also working at the carpenter's trade for some time, his father taking care of his earnings. In August, 1884, in company with his brother Philip, he engaged in the creamery and wholesale produce busi- ness, and their name is now prominently associated with the enterprise throughout northern Indiana. In company with his brother William, Mr. Schlosser also owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and in German township, which has a Democratic majority, he was elected to the office of trustee and is the present incumbent of the position.
Mr. Schlosser was first married to Mary A. Dugan, of Eldon, Mis- souri, who died a short time afterward, and in 1893 he wedded Mrs. Emma Martin, of North township, Marshall county, Indiana, and they have two daughters, Lottie D. Martin and Lula E. Schlosser, the elder the daughter of Mrs. Schlosser by her former marriage. Mr. Schlosser is a member of the Evangelical Association, and has served his church in the capacity of a steward.
LEWIS L. LEMERT is prominently identified with the business interests of Teegarden, Indiana, where he owns an interest in a large grain ele- vator, was also the proprietor of a brick yard for fifteen years, and he has a partnership interest in the Walkerton Telephone Company. He has also built several homes in and around Teegarden, and in 1888 he purchased of Thomas Blake a general store here and continued as its proprietor for nine years.
Mr. Lemert was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, April 3, 1840, and there his father, William Lemert, was engaged in agricultural pur- suits, his home being on a stream called Waughtomo. But he was a native son of Virginia, from whence he removed to Ohio, and was there married to one of Pennsylvania's native daughters, Nancy Cessna. She was reared in both states, and by her marriage to Mr. Lemert she became the mother of nine children, one of whom died in infancy, and Lewis L. was the youngest son in order of birth. Mr. Lemert, Sr., was a life-long Democrat, a member of the New Light church, and his death occurred in Ohio when he had reached the age of seventy-six years.
When Lewis L. Lemert was twenty-one years of age the Civil war was inaugurated, and in his native commonwealth of Ohio, where he had also attained to years of maturity and received his education, he enlisted in 1861 in Company D, Sixteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with which he served for sixteen months, and in that time participated in the battle of Tazewell, Tennessee, and in many skirmishes. After his return from the army he went to California and worked for two and a half years in
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quartz mills, returning thence to the east and to Marshall county, Indiana, in the fall of 1865. From that time forward Mr. Lemert has been prom- inently identified with its business interests, promoting the material wel- fare of his community and giving an active and liberal support to all measures which tend to its advancement. He first purchased eighty acres of land in Polk township, on which he erected a litle log cabin home and began the arduous task of clearing and improving his land, while at the same time he added to his original purchase until he became the owner of one hundred and twenty acres. Selling this farm, he purchased an- other in Polk township of sixty acres. This he also improved and placed under an excellent state of cultivation, and in 1888, as above stated, he moved to Teegarden and has since been prominently identified with its varied interests.
The marriage of Mr. Lemert was celebrated in Marshall county in 1868, Matilda McVicker becoming his wife. She was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, and resided there until her eighteenth year, when she came with her mother to Marshall county and Mrs. McVicker purchased eighty acres of land in Polk township. In political matters Mr. Lemert upholds the principles of the Democratic party, and he is a member of the Adventist church.
HARRY L. UNGER, a prominent attorney and a justice of the peace in Plymouth, was born in Etna Green, Kosciusko county, Indiana, Oc- tober 17, 1878, a son of Sylvanus S. and Frances M. Unger. The father was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, and after coming to Marshall county he became identified with the saw milling interests of Tippecanoe township, but he is now living retired in South Bend. He has been twice married, first to Mary Stauffer, by whom he had two children, Mary and Francis. Two children have also been born of his second marriage, Harry L., the subject of this review, and Dottie, the wife of Jesse A. Zehner, of Plymouth. Mrs. Unger was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, but was reared in Indiana, and she is now the proprietor of a millinery store in South Bend.
When Harry L. Unger was about eight years of age he was brought by his parents to Marshall county, Indiana, the family home having been established on a farm seven miles west of Plymouth, where the young lad attended the district schools and later the graded schools of Donald- son. He was also a student in the Valparaiso University, where he pur- sued the teachers and commercial courses, and thereafter taught for five years in West township, Marshall county, and one year in Kosciusko county, Indiana. Deciding to ally his interests with the legal profession he began the study of law in the office of Jacob O. Kantz in Nappanee, and later became a student in the Indiana law school of the University of Indianapolis, where he completed his studies and was admitted to prac- tice in the supreme and appellate courts of the state of Indiana and also in the United States district court of the state. His practice was first in partnership with Jacob O. Kantz, his old preceptor, in Nappanee, with whom he remained for one year and then came to Plymouth in 1905. In the meantime, however, he had traveled over the west in search of a loca- tion, and deciding upon Plymouth as the scene of his future operations he
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
opened a law office here and has since been numbered among the city's leading law practitioners. He is a stanch Democrat in his political affilia- tions, and is now its representative in the office of justice of the peace.
In 1903 Mr. Unger was united in marriage to Zorah A. Rosenberger, a daughter of William Rosenberger. They are the parents of one son, Harry L., Jr., born July 21, 1907. Mr. Unger has membership relations with the Knights of Pythias order in Nappanee, Lodge No. 287, and he also assisted in organizing and is now a member of the Court of Honor in Donaldson.
E. E. PARKER, M. D. A life-long resident of Marshall county and widely known as a successful practitioner of medicine even beyond its limits, Dr. E. E. Parker is a native of Maxinkuckee, Indiana, born on the 18th of December, 1870. He has amply fulfilled the destiny of the sub- stantial American citizen, which to make an honorable name for himself by long years of faithful industry and straightforward work among the associates who know him best. It is the conclusive test of a stalwart character. To this faithfulness and industry, Dr. Parker has added nat- ural aptitude and thorough professional training : so that his success and high standing seemed predestined. His father, Eli Parker, settled in Mar- shall county about 1860, opened a general store at Maxinkuckee, and largely invested his profits in land, so that his death at the age of sixty- five removed from the community a substantial, as well as a highly hon- ored citizen. By his marriage to a Miss Spangler he became the father of three sons and three daughters, all of whom are living at the present time. Of this family, Dr. Parker is the fifth child and the third son.
Dr. Parker was reared in Marshall county, attended the common schools of his native town, and completed his literary training at Butler University. In 1895 he was matriculated at the Indiana Medical College, from which he graduated in 1898. locating for his initial practice at Flora. Indiana. There he continued for two years, when he removed to Culver, since which time he has actively progressed in professional repu- tation and business. His wife was formerly Miss Dora Moss, daughter of William and Josephine Moss, and to their union have been born two daughters, Kathryn and Josephine. To his professional work have there- fore been added the good American traits of domesticity and tender fatherhood. Besides his membership in the Marshall County Medical Society and the Indiana State Medical Association, Dr. Parker enjoys a fraternal identification with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and other societies. Socially, domestically and pro- fessionally, he is a strong and constant force in the advancement and uplifting of his home community.
JACOB J. CROMLEY. The business interests of Marshall county num- ber among its representatives the Burr Oak merchant. Jacob J. Cromley, who was born in Ohio November 17, 1849. His father, Joel Cromley, a deceased farmer of Union township, was born in the east, in Union county, Pennsylvania, and was reared and married there. Amelia Samp- sel becoming his wife, who bore him five children-John F., Jacob J .. Sarah, Marion Miles (deceased) and Merrit. The two youngest were
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born in Union township, Marshall county, Indiana, and all were reared there. It was about 1847 that Joel Cromley came with his wife and children to Marshall county, purchasing eighty acres of land in Union township and also entering a tract of forty acres. He gradually cleared and improved his land, and on this homestead he spent the remainder of his life and died at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was a life- long Democrat and a member of the United Brethren church.
The public schools of Union township gave to Jacob J. Cromley his early educational training, and in his boyhood days he assisted his father to clear and improve his land. But in 1885 he left the farm to become a merchant, erecting his present store building in Burr Oak. During twelve years he served his township as a trustee, and he is an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party, while socially he has membership rela- tions with the Masonic fraternity.
The marriage of Mr. Cromley was celebrated in 1882, Mary, a daughter of John and Nancy Loring of Plymouth, becoming his wife. Mrs. Cromley was born in Grant county, Indiana. Two sons were born of this union, Carl and Donald, but Carl is now deceased, and both were born in Burr Oak.
H. M. GARVER. Bremen's popular and well known liveryman, H. M. Garver, is a representative of a prominent old German family. His grandfather, Frederick Garver, came from the fatherland to America with his father and established his home in Maryland from whence he removed to Ohio, and agriculture was his life occupation. His son, John S. Garver, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, but during his early life he left his native commonwealth for Cass county, Michigan, where he was numbered among the early and honored pioneers. From Cass County he removed to Elkhart County, Indiana, and there married. His death occurred in Marshall county, Indiana, in his eighty-eighth year, he having established his home here in 1855. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Stutzman, was called to the home beyond in her seventy- seventh year. She was born in Medina county, Ohio, and was a daughter of Stephen Stutzman, whose native state was Pennsylvania. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Garver were born twelve children, eleven of whom attained to years of maturity.
H. M. Garver, the third child and second son in order of birth, was born in Elkhart county, Indiana, September 11, 1840, there residing until fifteen years of age, when he came to Marshall county and completed his educational training in its public schools. He remained at home until twenty-three years of age, assisting in the work of the farm. He was then numbered among the agriculturists of Union township, Marshall county, until 1876, when he sold his farm there and spent the following year in Plymouth. In 1878 he came to Bremen and entered the livery business, but after one year as a liveryman he transferred his activities to the hotel business, and for twenty-six years he continued as the pro- prietor of one of Bremen's most popular and best patronized hostelries, the Garver hotel. But at he close of that period in 1903 he sold his house and after one year of rest from a business life he again entered the livery trade in Bremen, and since 1904 has conducted his popular and well
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known livery. During the long period of fifty-two years he has been identified with the business interests of this city, and his name has become inseparably associated with its industrial interests.
In 1860 Mr. Garver was united in marriage to Caroline Thomas, a daughter of Martin Thomas, of Plymouth, but after a happy married life of sixteen years the wife was called to the home beyond. She became the mother of the following children: Melvin, deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of Clayton Huff, of Bremen ; John E., of Bozeman, Montana ; and Nettie, the wife of Arthur Genevacoe, of Chicago. Mr. Garver married for his second wife Nellie Bowman, who died in 1903, and there were no children by the second marriage. Mr. Garver is prominent in the local lodge of the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with the blue lodge of Bremen, and he is an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party.
DR. G. F. HITCHCOCK, practicing dentist at Plymouth, Indiana, was born November 6, 1878, and is a native of Ashtabula county, Ohio. His parents, H. F., and Margaret (Newson) Hitchcock, were pioneers in Ashtabula county, where they are both residing at the present time. Their family comprised three daughters and one son, the subject of this sketch being the only son.
Dr. Hitchcock received his education in the local grammar schools and in the high school at Jefferson, Ohio. In 1901 he received his diploma from the dental department of the Western Reserve University, in Cleve- land, and the year immediately following moved to Plymouth, Indiana.
In 1904 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Kendall, a daughter of William and Harriet Kendall, who are old settlers in the town of Plymouth.
Dr. Hitchcock is a member of the Indiana State Dental Society, and of the Delta Sigma Delta Fraternity." He is a Blue Lodge Mason, and a member of the St. Thomas Episcopal church at Plymouth. He enjoys a rapidly increasing practice in dentistry, and is well known throughout Plymouth and vicinity.
JONAS HAAG, a retired farmer, who in former years was closely asso- ciated with agricultural interests but is now making his home in Tyner, where he is successfully conducting a hotel, was born in Stark county, Ohio, July 2, 1845. His father, Jacob F. Haag, now deceased, was an agriculturist of Ohio. He was born, reared and married, however, in Germany, and his wife bore the maiden name of Barbara Zeigler, also a native of the fatherland. They became the parents of twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, of whom one was born ere their emigra- tion to the new world. The father died in June, 1856, having for about three years survived his wife, who died in May, 1853.
Jonas Haag was the sixth son and the eighth child in his father's family. He was reared in the usual manner of farm lads, early taking his place in the fields and assisting in the labors of the farm until after the outbreak of the Civil war. He was but seventeen years of age when on the 3d of August, 1862, he enlisted as a member of Company B, One Hun- dred and Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, continuing with that regiment until mustered out at the close of the war. With his command he went
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to the front and saw active duty upon the battlefields of the south, also participating in the long, hard marches and the monotonous waits that came in the winter season. He was on active duty in the battles of Cov- ington, Kentucky ; Knoxville, Tennessee ; Buzzards' Roost, Dallas, Resaca, Atlanta, Lovejoy Station, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville, the battle of Fort Anderson and of Old Town Creek. He participated in the entire Georgia Campaign, was with Sherman on the march from Atlanta and was also at Wilmington. When the war was over he was mustered out at Cleveland, Ohio, in June, 1865, and returned with a most creditable military record.
When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Haag went to Stark county, Ohio, where he resided until 1874. Not long after his return home-on the 23d of November, 1865-he was united in marriage to Miss Susan E. Scheafer, who was born in Ohio and was there reared. Her parents were of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Haag have been born four children: Nettie I., Cordie A., Clara E. and Ira E., but the youngest daughter is now deceased.
Mr. Haag and his family continned to make their home in the Buck- eye state until November, 1874, when they removed to Marshall county, Indiana, settling in Polk township, near Tyner. There he cultivated a rented farm for some time and in 1881 took charge of the county farm, of which he was in control for four years. Carefully saving his earnings, he then purchased a farm in Polk township of fifty-one acres and im- proved most of that tract, continning its cultivation and development until 1901, when he sold the property and removed to Tyner, where he has since opened the hotel that he now conducts. He also carries on a livery and feed stable and both branches of his business are proving profitable. He keeps a well appointed hostelry and is a popular host, doing everything in his power for the comfort and convenience of his guests.
In his political views Mr. Haag is an earnest Republican, thoroughly in sympathy with the party and its principles, but at local elections where no issue is involved he casts an independent ballot, regarding only the capability of the candidates. Fraternally he is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic, and religiously with the United Brethren church. He takes much interest in his association with his old army comrades and in recalling the scenes of tented fields at their camp fires, and he is today as loyal and devoted to his country as when he fol- lowed the old flag upon southern battlefields.
WILLIAM H. TROUP, a farmer and stock-raiser of German township, is well known as a leading citizen of Marshall county, and is now filling the office of county commissioner. He was born in Elkhart county, In- (liana, October 6, 1862. His father, John B. Troup, was an early farmer of that county and was a carpenter by trade. His birth occurred in Canada, where he was reared and educated and in that land he married Miss Elizabeth Sherk, also a native of Canada. On coming to Indiana, John B. Troup settled in Elkhart county when it was still a pioneer dis- trict and there in the midst of the forest he cleared and developed a farm, aiding in the reclamation of the wild land for the uses of the white race.
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