USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 27
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
He spent the last three years of his life in Marshall county. In his family were nine children, five sons and four daughters.
William H. Troup, the youngest of his father's children, was reared and educated in Elkhart county and received thorough training in the work of the farm. Ere leaving the county of his nativity he was married in 1884 to Miss Sarah Dausman, who was born in that county and was of German lineage. They became the parents of one son, Albert. The wife and mother died on the 17th of August. 1891, and in 1893 Mr. Troup was again married, his second union being with Miss Anna Herriman, who was born in German township, Marshall county.
It was in the year 1890 that William H. Troup came to Marshall county and located upon the farm which has since been his place of resi- dence. He bought eighty acres of land and in the midst of the green woods developed a home. Clearing away the timber, he prepared the land for the plow, enhanced its productiveness by ditching and drainage and as the years have gone by he has cultivated his fields and made all of the improvements upon his place, including the erection of the dwelling, the barns and sheds that furnish ample shelter for grain and stock. In his work he has shown remarkable skill and unfaltering industry, making a farm out of a place that had been condemned and shunned as worthless land. In addition to his home place he bought twenty acres of land but has since sold that tract. He possesses the resolute spirit that enables him to carry forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes and he is accounted one of the leading business men and enterprising citizens of Marshall county.
Mr. Troup has followed in the political footsteps of his father and has given unfaltering support to the democracy. From early manhood he has been deeply interested in the political questions and situation of the coun- try and is recognized as one of the local leaders in party ranks. In 1901 he was elected road supervisor and in 1904 was chosen county commis- sioner. He has been very active in the party, and his service in public office has been characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty. He is a member of the German Baptist church and a man whose honesty of pur- pose and fidelity to principle are above question.
MARCUS A. JACOBY. Since a very early epoch in its history the Ja- coby family have been prominently identified with the history of Marshall county, and the name is an honored one within its borders. The ancestry is traced to the Keystone state of Pennsylvania, from whence John and Elizabeth (Brown) Jacoby, both Pennsylvanians by birth, journeyed to Ohio in 1831, and lived in Marion county until 1847, when they continued their westward journey to Marshall county, Indiana, and setled in Center township. They died here some fifteen years later and were laid to rest in what is known as the Jacoby burying ground. These brave and hardy pioneers of Marshall county reared a large family of children, named as follows: William, Daniel, John, Christian, Peter, Anna, Elizabeth and Abbie.
Their son, John Jacoby, was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. August 5. 1822, and on the 11th of April, 1850, he married Serena Ray and located on section 3. Center township, where they both spent the
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
remainder of their lives, the former dying on the 15th of March, 1904, and the latter on the 25th of August, 1905, aged seventy-five years. For many years they traveled together the pathway of life, sharing side by side the pleasures and trials which checkered their busy and useful lives, and the two who were so closely united on this earth were not long sepa- rated by death. In their family were the following children, Eliza, now Mrs. Morrison, of Indian Territory ; Adelbert; Marcus A., the subject of this review; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Phoebe Alice, Mrs. Rhodes ; Sarah Jane, Mrs. Lee ; and Morris, deceased. Mr. Jacoby fol- lowed farming as a life occupation, evolving with the passing years a fertile and well improved farm from the dense woods, owning at his death a valuable homestead of three hundred and six acres. His political support was given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife were members of the German Reformed church. She was born in Union county, Indiana, but came with her parents, John and Phoebe (Goble) Ray, to Marshall county in 1835.
Marcus A. Jacoby, a son of John and Serena (Ray) Jacoby, was born in Marshall county, Indiana, June 18, 1857, and was reared on the old homestead in Center township. February 19, 1880, he married Sarah Alice Lee and moved to his present estate of one hundred and fifty-four acres, where he is extensively engaged in farming and stock raising. They have two children, Lillie Myrtle and John C., and the daughter is now Mrs. Heim. Mr. Jacoby gives his political support to the Repub- lican party, and both he and his wife are members of the German Re- formed church, of which his paternal grandfather was one of the found- ers in Marshall county.
HOY L. SINGREY. The name of Hoy L. Singrey is recorded among the officials of Marshall county, which he is now representing in the office of auditor. He was born in Morrow county, Ohio, November 20, 1857, and there his father, David M. L. Singrey, also was born, and was a son of John Singrey, a native of Maryland but numbered among the early pioneers of Morrow county. His father-was born in Switzerland. David M. L. Singrey married Charlotta Bonar, who was born in Ohio, as was also her father, John Bonar, and of their five children who grew to years of maturity three sons and a daughter are now living.
Hoy L. Singrey, the eldest child, spent the first sixteen years of his life in his native county of Morrow, moving then with the family to Noble county, Indiana, but subsequently he returned to Ohio. It was in 1883 that he again made the journey to the Hoosier state, this time establish- ing his home in Whitley county, later spending one year in Kosciusko county, and in 1892 he came to Marshall county and became the station agent for the Nickel Plate Railroad Company. For over twenty years he continued to discharge the duties of a station agent, and from 1892 to 1904 he was located at Argos. At the close of that period he was elected the auditor of Marshall county, entering upon the duties of the office on the Ist of January. He has also served six years as a member of the school board.
In 1883 Mr. Singrey was united in marriage to Mary B. Brown, a daughter of William and Frances Brown, of Delaware, Ohio, and they
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
have a son and a daughter, Paul Herbert, employed in the auditor's office with his father, and Violet L., at home. Mr. Singrey is an active worker in the ranks of the Democratic party and is a member of the Masonic order in Plymouth.
T. FRANK KNOBLOCK, a member of the hardware firm of Huff & Company, is a representative of two of the oldest families of Marshall county and is a native son of Bremen, born on the 17th of March, 1865. His father, Benjamin Knoblock, claimed Stark county, Ohio, as the place of his nativity, but during his boyhood days he came with his father, Jacob Knoblock, to Bremen and later became prominently identified with its business interests, first as a miller, later as a merchant and during his later years was a contractor and builder. His death occurred at the age of fifty-eight years. Mr. Knoblock married Elizabeth, a daughter of Daniel and Eliza Ringle, early pioneers of Marshall county, Indiana, and which is also the birthplace of their daughter Elizabeth, who has reached. the sixty-third milestone on the journey of life. They became the parents of two sons, the younger being Buford Knoblock, a contractor of Misha- waka.
The elder son, T. Frank Knoblock, after attending the schools of his native city of Bremen, pursued a business course at the Valparaiso Uni- versity, and for about eight years after leaving that institution taught in the schools of Bremen and German township. At the close of that period he became a bookkeeper in the office of the Holland Radiator Company, his connection therewith covering a period of about eight years. He then served as superintendent of the construction of the water works plant, and for about six years after its completion continued in the office of superintendent, while during the past eight years he has been the town clerk, entering upon the duties of that office in 1890. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and takes an active interest in the local work of his party. In 1904 Mr. Knoblock formed a partnership in the hardware business with William Huff, Sr., and after his death his son Ervin became interested in the business, the firm being now known as Huff & Company. They carry a large stock of general hardware and are enjoying a large and remunerative patronage.
On the 29th of May, 1887, Mr. Knoblock was united in marriage to Eva Huff, a daughter of William and Eliza Huff, and they have five chil- dren, Herbert E., Lois, Leona, Lucille and Arlena. Mr. Knoblock is iden- tified with the fraternal life of Bremen by his membership with the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Maccabees orders. He has been a life-long resident of his native city of Bremen with the exception of two years spent in Chicago with the A. H. Andrews Company and with his four years' connection with the Louisville Fertilizer Company.
JOHN M. OLDS, the city clerk of Plymouth, entered upon the duties of that position in the fall of 1905, and he is also prominently identified with the business interests of the city as the foreman of the Weekly Chronicle. He was born in Winamac, Indiana, February 4, 1868. His father, William Olds, was a native of New York, but when a young man he came to Indiana, and in 1858 journeyed to California and there enlisted
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
for service in the Civil war, entering in 1861 the First California Volun- teer Infantry, and continued as a brave and loyal soldier until the close of the conflict in 1865, receiving his discharge at New Mexico. He lived to be only thirty-seven years of age. Mrs. Olds bore the maiden name of Sarah C. Stailey and was a daughter of Michael and Elizabeth Stailey. She was born in Pennsylvania, but was reared in Indiana, whither her parents had removed in 1843, locating at Winamac, and her death occurred at the age of fifty-seven years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Olds were born three children, two daughters and a son, but only one of the daugh- ters is now living, Mrs. William R. Stailey, of Chicago.
John M. Olds, the only son and the eldest child, spent the early years of his life in his native city of Winamac, and there learned the printer's trade. Going to Chicago in 1886, he pursued his vocation there until his removal to Plymouth in 1899, and in this city he was first connected with the Clizbe Manufacturing Company as their shipping clerk for one year. In 1902 he became the foreman of the Weekly Chronicle, his present posi- tion, discharging its duties in connection with those of city clerk. He takes an active part in the public affairs of his community, and is also prominent in its social circles, his fraternal relations connecting him with the Knights of the Maccabees.
Mr. Olds married, in 1893, Dora J. Anderson, a daughter of John A. and Ida Anderson. He votes with the Republican party, and to him be- longs the honor of being its first representative in the office of city clerk in Plymouth.
PERRY E. SARBER is a prominent farmer and stock-raiser, being the proprietor of "Yellow River Stock Farm," located in section 36, Union township. His is also a familiar figure in the county in connection with the Marshall Home Fire Insurance Company, of which he has served as treasurer for a number of years. Born in Allen county, Ohio, on January I, 1851, Mr. Sarber is the son of Edward and Isabel (Ridenour ) Sarber, the father having been a native of Pennsylvania, who spent most of his life as an Ohio farmer, and his mother, of German descent, who was both born and reared in the Buckeye state. The elder Mr. Sarber attained considerable local prominence as a Democrat, was a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and died at the age of seventy-seven years.
Perry E. Sarber was born, reared, educated and married in the Buck- eye state, his marital union to Miss Eliza J. Smith occurring April 27. 1877. His wife is a native of Champaign county, Ohio, and the children of this union are as follows: Grace B., now Mrs. C. H. Grube ; Harry C. and Harley E., the two sons being natives of Marshall county. On Christmas day of 1879 Mr. Sarber located in Bourbon, Marshall county, where he opened a livery stable, conducted it for a year, and then sold the business and moved to West township. There he purchased a farm of sixty-seven acres and operated it until 1889, when he disposed of the property and removed to his present location. His place then consisted of one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has since added a tract of thirty acres. This fine estate of one hundred and ninety acres has been brought to its full producing capacity, both land and building improve- ments being the work of Mr. Sarber's physical and mental energies,
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guided by practical intelligence. He now devotes most of his attention to the breeding of fine stock, but is also widely known in the community as a Democrat and a citizen of strong and good influence. He has served for two terms as councilman of the county, and has otherwise attained to local prominence.
C. M. SLAYTER is a representative of the business interests of Ply- mouth, engaged in the grocery and queensware trade, and he has also been a life-long resident of Marshall county. His birth occurred in its township of West December 4, 1852, the youngest of the three sons of William Slayter, one of the best known of the early pioneers of Marshall county. As a youth he attended the district schools of the neighborhood and assisted his father with the work of the farm, remaining at home until he had reached the age of maturity, and from that time until the year of 1901 he followed agricultural pursuits in Center township. For two and a half years following the close of that period he was the proprietor of a restaurant, and since that time he had been a grocery and queensware merchant in the city of Plymouth. His business interests are extensive, but at the same time he has taken an active interest in the local affairs of his community, voting with the Republican party, and at one time he accepted the office of assistant postmaster of Plymouth, continuing in the office for eighteen months, but this is the only position he has ever been induced to accept.
Mr. Slayter married Catherine, a daughter of Edward and Hannah ( Wickizer) Cavender, and the only child of this union is a daughter, Ger- trude M., the wife of Milton C. Cook, of Plymouth, Indiana. The family reside in a pleasant and commodious residence in Plymouth, and in addi- tion Mr. Slayter also owns an estate of one hundred and sixty acres in Marshall county, the old Slayter homestead, with twenty acres additional. He is a member of the Masonic order, affiliating with its commandery and its auxiliary, the Eastern Star, and also member of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Foresters. He is a member of the German Reformed church.
L. FREDERICK PONADER has been identified with the business interests of Bremen since 1875. He came to this city and allied his interests with its early pioneers in that year, first working at the carpenter's trade, which he had previously learned, and many of the residences and business build- ings of Bremen and surrounding country stand as monuments to his abil- ity. He continued in this vocation for fourteen years, and at the close of the period, in 1885, he embarked in the grocery and restaurant business, opening a small store, but gradually he has enlarged his interests until now he is the proprietor of one of the largest department stores in the city. His four sons are also interested in the business, and they also fur- nish employment to eight others. In their department store they handle all kinds of merchandise and also conduct a bakery, and the store forms an important part of the business life of the city.
Bremen's leading merchant, Frederick Ponader, was born in Bavaria. Germany, June 17, 1845, a son of Restler and Barbara ( Ponader) Pon- ader, also natives of the fatherland. The father spent his entire life in his
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
native country, but the mother came to the United States and spent her last days in Bremen. In their family were two children, a son and a daughter, the latter being Christena, the wife of John Huff, of Bremen. Fred, the son and younger child, received his educational training in the German and French schools of his native land, and coming to America in 1870 he first located in South Bend and worked at any employment which he could find to do, spending a short time with the Studebakers. After one year in that city he came to Bremen and entered upon his suc- cessful business career here. In addition to his proprietorship of the largest store in Bremen he is one of the directors of the Union State Bank of this city and is a stockholder in the Bremen and Lapaz elevators and is extensively engaged in the buying and shipping of grain. Mr. Ponader came to America a poor boy, but he has steadily worked his way upward, gaining success and winning the public confidence, and his history fur- nishes a splendid example of what may be accomplished through deter- mined purpose, laudable ambition and well directed efforts.
In 1870 Mr. Ponader married Henrietta Lang, who was born and reared in Germany, but in 1870 she emigrated to America, coming direct to South Bend, and in the same year she gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Ponader. Her death occurred in 1904, leaving five children: Ed- ward, Theodore, Carl, William and Ella. The sons are all in business with their father and have assisted in building up the business to its pres- ent large proportions. Throughout the period of his residence in the United States Mr. Ponader has been a prominent member of the Lutheran church.
MILES VANVACTOR. In the history of Marshall county there are none more worthy of mention among its representative citizens than Miles Van Vactor of Center township, where he is rightfully numbered among its most honored and oldest citizens. He was born in Union county, Indiana, October 26, 1831, the oldest child of David and Harriet (War- ren) Van Vactor. The father was a native of Pennsylvania, and with his father, Joseph, he came to Union county, Indiana, in a very early day. He was there married to Harriet Warren, a native of Ohio, and they became the parents of the following children: Miles, Riley, Mary Jane, Joseph, a resident of Center township, Sarah, the wife of William Pom- eroy, of Plymouth, Hiram, and two who died in infancy. In 1835 the family became residents of Marshall county, settling in the dense woods in Center township, on the Michigan road, where the parents spent the remainder of their days. Here the sturdy pioneers cleared from the for- est a good farm and reared their children to lives of usefulness and honor, and in those early days the Indians were still numerous in this community.
It was amid such pioneer surroundings that Miles Van Vactor grew to manhood's estate, assisting his father and brothers to clear the farm and cultivate the fields, in the meantime attending for a limited time the old log school house. He remained under the parental roof until his mar- riage in 1882, Claracy Pomeroy becoming his wife. She was born in Marshall county and was reared on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. VanVactor. She was a daughter of Grove Umstead Pomeroy, an old and prominent pioneer of the county. Mrs. Van Vactor died in 1891,
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
aged forty-five years, leaving four children : William, a leading farmer of Center township; Cora, the wife of Alonzo Stephenson, also an agricul- turist of Center township; Umstead, who is married and farming on the old homestead of his father ; and Hubert, residing in Chicago.
Since 1863 Mr. VanVactor has resided on his present homestead, his estate consisting of two hundred and eighty acres of the most fertile and best improved land to be found in the county. He has done many a hard day's work, has contributed to the development of the county and is well and favorably known. He is a Republican politically, but has never sought office.
DANIEL C. VOREIS. In the year 1835, when Marshall county was a wild, western region, on the very border of civilization, there came to reside within its borders a brave and sturdy pioneer from Rush county, Indiana ; James Voreis, the grandfather of the present sheriff of Marshall county, Daniel C. Voreis. He entered land in Green township, and with the passing years inscribed his name indelibly on the pages of its early his- tory. In 1836, the year following his arrival, he brought his family here, and thus Marshall county became the birthplace of his son, Jonas L. Voreis, the father of Daniel. He was here reared and educated and in its township of Green was united in marriage to Rachel A. Marks, who was born in Miami county, Indiana, and is now living here at the age of sixty- three years; but the husband and father is deceased, dying in 1902, at the age of fifty-seven years. There were eight children in their family, six sons and two daughters: James L .; Daniel C .; Uretha B .; Francis M .; Otto M .: Delbert C .; Grace M. and Oscar, and all are living at the present time, and six are residents of Marshall county.
Daniel C. Voreis, their second son in order of birth, was born in Green township, Marshall county, December 22, 1873, and he spent the first sixteen years of his life on the farm, going thence to Union township, working for his father in the manufacture of brick and tile, remaining at home until reaching the age of maturity. In 1900 he was made the deputy sheriff under Clinton A. Bondurant, and served in that capacity for four years, and in 1904 made an unsuccessful race for sheriff on the Democratic ticket, and was defeated by 365 majority, the largest of any candidate on the ticket : but was elected two years later by 595 majority, the largest of any candidate on the ticket. He is now discharging his duties of that im- portant office.
On April 28, 1900, Mr. Voreis was married to Lydia Mangus, a daughter of Hiram and Sarah Mangus, of Polk township, Marshall county, Indiana, and they have one son, Wilford E. Mr. Voreis is a life- long resident of Marshall county ; a representative of one of the earliest and most prominent pioneer families, and those who know him best are numbered among his warmest friends.
JAMES L. MOSHER, a farmer in Union township, was born in Erie county, New York, February 18, 1842. His father, Jeremiah Mosher, who for many years was identified with the farming interests of Marshall county but now deceased, was born and attained to mature years in the Empire state, but was married in Vermont to Sarah M. Craine, a native
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daughter of the state. They became the parents of seven children, four sons and three daughters, of whom five are now deceased, and two were born in Marshall county, Indiana. In 1855 Jeremiah Mosher emigrated with his family to Indiana and established his home in Stark county, where he purchased a farm of two hundred and fifty acres. After spend- ing three years there the family came on to Marshall county, this being in 1858, and Mr. Mosher bought one hundred and sixty acres in Union township. The land was then in its primitive state, but with the aid of his sons he in time cleared and improved it, and also added thereto a tract of eighty acres. The death of this Marshall county pioneer occurred when he had attained the age of sixty-two years. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party.
The boyhood days of James L. Mosher were spent in attending both the district and subscription schools of Union township and assisting to clear and cultivate the home farm. In 1862 he offered his services to the Union cause in the Civil war and enlisted in the Twenty-first Indiana Light Artillery, Twenty-first Battery, and served for three years. In that time he took part in many of the hard-fought engagements of the war, including the historic battle of Chickamauga. After the war had ended Mr. Mosher returned to his home in Marshall county and received his discharge at Indianapolis June 25, 1865.
He had married on the 17th of August, 1862, Sarah J. Thompson, who was born in Union township to one of the community's earliest pioneers, William E. Thompson. He was born in the southland of Ken- tucky and came to this county about 1837, locating on a farm in Union township. His father was William Thompson, who entered a farm here and became prominently identified with the county's early history. Will- iam E. Thompson married in Union township Martha McDonald, a mem- ber of another of its pioneer families, and they became the parents of eleven children, six sons and five daughters, four of whom are now de- ceased. All were born in Union township, and Mrs. Mosher was the eld- est of the children. William E. Thompson in time became a large land owner here, but in his later years removed to Nebraska. He was an active worker in the local ranks of the Democratic party, and was a mem- ber of the Adventist church.
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