USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 38
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On the 5th of November, 1907, Mr. Van Buskirk married Mertie Ehle, of Canajoharie, New York, and she, too, was for a time numbered among the successful and popular educators of Marshall county. Mr. Van Buskirk has membership relations with Bourbon Lodge No. 227, A. F. & A. M., and with Lodge No. 233, I. O. O. F. His political affiliations are with the Republican party.
J. P. LEITCH. Bremen's well known cigar manufacturer, J. P. Leitch, was born in Noble county, Indiana, March 10, 1867. His father, Malcolm Leitch, had his nativity in Pennsylvania, but in an early day in its history he became a resident of Noble county, Indiana, and was identified with its agricultural interests from the year of his arrival, 1854, until the time of his death at the age of sixty-five years. He mar- ried Esther Harrison, who was born in Virginia but was reared in Pennsylvania, and she reached the advanced age of eighty-four years. In their family were nine children, five of whom grew to years of maturity and three are now living: Daniel A., a resident of Noble county ; James M., also of that county; and J. P., the subject of this review.
Noble county, Indiana, continued as the home of J. P. Leitch throughout the period of his boyhood and youth, receiving his educa- tional training in its public schools, and during an early period in his life he worked as a well driller, thus continuing until his removal to Bremen in 1897. Here he at once began the manufacture of cigars, and in addition to carrying on this business he is also interested in five thousand acres of land in Cuba and has made three visits to that country. In company with C. F. Wahl they formed a stock company, and their land is rich in its various kinds of timber.
In 1886 Mr. Leitch was united in marriage to Margaret Hanlon, a daughter of Robert Hanlon, of Noble county, Indiana, and their four children are Laura, Robert, Myrtle and Minnie. Mr. Leitch is a Demo- crat politically and has taken an active interest in the work of his party. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic order, affiliating with its Chapter and Blue Lodge at Plymouth, with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Knights of Pythias, of which he is a past chancellor.
FATHER JOHN TREMMEL. There is particular propriety in directing the attention to those who have consecrated their lives to the cause of
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the Master and the uplifting of man, and in the pastor of St. Michael's church of Plymouth, Father John Tremmel, we find a man of ripe schol- arship and the deepest human sympathy. He came to this charge from St. Joseph's church in Covington, Indiana, September 18, 1905, and is now in charge of a congregation numbering one hundred and fifteen families.
As a preparation for his life's work Father Tremmel first studied in the public schools of Fort Wayne, his native city, where he was born August 29, 1866, and was later a classical student in Mt. Calvary College at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. After studying also at St. Francis Semi- nary of Milwaukee, that state, and Mt. St. Mary Seminary of Cincinnati, Ohio, he was ordained for the priesthood June 13, 1890, and his first work was as assistant to the pastor of St. Joseph's church of Hammond, Indiana. After four months there he took charge of St. Patrick's church at Lagro, this state, from whence on the 18th of January, 1891, he assumed the pastorate of St. Joseph's church in Covington, Indiana, and from there, as before mentioned, came to Plymouth September 18, 1905.
JOHN F. LANGENBAUGH. One of the oldest and best known citizens of Marshall county is John F. Langenbaugh, who since an early epoch in its history has been identified with many of the interests that have contributed to its substantial development and improvement, and he is now serving as the county truant officer in Plymouth. His probity, fidelity and sterling worth have won him the unqualified confidence of his fellow citizens and his life has been filled with arduous and honorable toil for the good of others, while all who know him respect and reverence him.
Mr. Langenbaugh was born in Millheim, grand duchy of Baden, Germany, November 10, 1822. His father, John F. Langenbaugh, a native of Alsace, France, came to the United States on the 28th of February, 1835. Previous to his emigration, however, he had served as major of the Second Dragoon Regiment under Bonaparte, continuing on the medical staff of that famous general for seven years, and he kept a complete record of their retreat from Moscow, which his son John is still engaged in translating. Mr. Langenbaugh, Sr., served in the engagement of Austerlitz, also in the great battle of Waterloo, where he was one of twenty-five to escape death out of a regiment of one thousand soldiers. After his emigration to the United States he located in Stark county, Ohio, and was a practicing physician until his death in 1863, at the advanced age of ninety-three years, dying in Bourbon, Indiana. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Barbara M. Conrad, died and was buried in her native land of Germany in 1834.
John F. Langenbaugh, the only child of this marriage, obtained his educational training in the schools of the fatherland and in February, 1835, he graduated in a high school of Germany. It was on the 28th of February of the same year that he came with his father to the United States, and making their way to Stark county, Ohio, they remained there about one year, going thence to Holmes county, Ohio, which con- tinued as their home from 1835 to 1840. Mr. Langenbaugh received only four months of English training, and he then began teaching in the
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
old log schoolhouses of Holmes county, beginning his educational labors in 1840 and continuing for eight years in the Buckeye state. During that time he served as a soldier in the Mexican war. On the 25th of February, 1850, he came to Indiana and established his home on Elkhart Prairie, Elkhart county, where he resumed his educational labors for two years, and at the close of the period purchased and moved to a small farm in Lagrange county, this state, where he was later made the trustee of his township and also taught in its schools. It was on the Ist of November, 1850, that he first arrived in Plymouth, and purchasing land of an old Indian chief, Peter Comeway, he removed to his farm, teaching school and farming at the same time. On the Ist of October, 1856, his family joined him in Marshall county. On the 28th of February, 1861, Mr. Langenbaugh left the farm and obtained a clerkship with G. S. Cleveland of Plymouth, while later for four years he served in the same capacity for Rice & Smith, and at the close of that period he resumed his old profession of teaching, first in the Turner school for one year, was later made principal of the Inwood school, and was the first prin- cipal of the Bremen high school, entering on his duties in that institution in 1871. To Mr. Langenbaugh and his sister, Lizzie, belong the honor of being the only living representatives of the first teachers' institute held in Marshall county, Indiana.
Throughout the entire period of his residence in this community he has been deeply interested in its cause of education and has been one of its most influential citizens in all public affairs. During one year he served as the land appraiser in German township, was an assistant civil engineer for the P. K. & P. Railroad Company, now known as the Three I Road, in 1880 was appointed the census enumerator of German township, for four years was the city assessor of Plymouth, and in 1861 he was elected a member of the Plymouth Hook and Ladder Company, and he still has membership relations with this the most beneficent and helpful of the city's early organizations. He has now reached the eighty-fifth milestone on the journey of life, but he can yet mount a ladder with as much rapidity as many of the younger members of the company. During four years Mr. Langenbaugh served as the delinquent tax collector of Marshall county, for thirty years was its notary public, was the assistant county superintendent of schools under Thomas McDonald, the father of the editor of this history, and in the meantime he served as the president of the Indiana State Firemen's Association for five years, and was the captain for eleven years and the secretary for six years of the Plymouth Firemen's Association. He was subsequently appointed the county truant officer, and is now serving his second year in this office.
At Millersburg, Ohio, November 3, 1849, Mr. Langenbaugh married Margaret Boone, a daughter of Daniel Boone and granddaughter of Daniel Boone of Kentucky fame. They have had four children : Daniel B., a resident of Traverse City, Michigan; Margaret A., the wife of J. L. W. Trickham, also of that city; Barbara A., the wife of D. C. Cole, of Plymouth, Indiana ; and John F., Jr., deceased. In the beneficent and time honored order of Masonry Mr. Langenbaugh has achieved dis- tinction, and has received his degrees as follows: E. A., December 19,
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1862; F. C., January 2, 1863; M. M., January 16, 1863; Mark M., Feb- ruary 16, 1864; Past M., February 22, 1864; Most E. M., March 21, 1864; R. A. M., March 29, 1864; K. R. L. and K. T., September 16, 1864; R. & R. M., August 16, 1865. He served as worshipful master for one year, one year as high priest of the chapter, four years as grand . master of the Council, and two years as generalissimo of Warsaw Com- mandery No. Io, K. T. Mr. Langenbaugh is now the only living charter member of the commandery. In his political affiliations he votes with the Republican party where national issues are involved, but locally casts his ballot for the best man.
FRANK H. BOLLINGER, proprietor of a meat market in Donaldson and identified with farming and stock raising interests in West township, is numbered among the energetic, far-sighted and successful business men of Marshall county. He was born in Ohio March 14, 1861, his deceased father, Andrew Bollinger, having been also a native of the Buckeye state, where he spent the days of his boyhood and youth. Arriving at years of maturity, he wedded Adaline Russher, who was likewise born in Ohio, where she passed her girlhood days. Coming to Marshall county in 1864, they settled on a farm in West township, the father purchasing forty acres of land. It was covered with the native growth of forest, but in the midst of the green woods he began clearing his fields, which he brought under a high state of cultivation, adding many modern improvements and accessories. In the course of years he sold that property and invested in 120 acres of land. He cleared the greater part of this tract, improving it and making it his homestead until his death at the age of sixty-eight years. His political views were in harmony with the principles of the Republican party, and he voted for its candidates at state and national elections, but at local elections where no general issue was involved, cast an independent ballot. Fraternally he was a Mason, loyal to the teachings of the craft, and religiously he was connected with the United Brethren church. He had a wide acquaintance throughout the country and his many excellent traits of character won the esteem of all who knew him, so that his death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Bollinger, namely: Lila, Frank H., George, Mary, Wil- liam, Rosie and Ida, but the last two are deceased. Five of the family were born in West township, following the removal of the parents to Indiana.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of life for Frank H. Bollinger in the days of his boyhood and youth. At the usual age he entered the public schools and therein mastered the common branches of English learning, becoming well qualified for the transaction of business and the duties which naturally come when one leaves the school room to commence practical life. To some extent, however, he attended school in Illinois. He was well trained in the work of the farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors which fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In the year 1885 he established a butcher shop in Plymouth, where he remained for about one year, after which he spent a like period in that line at South Bend, Indiana. He has con-
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ducted butchering in Donaldson at intervals for about seventeen years, and is now conducting a meat market in the town. He is likewise a professional auctioneer and is frequently called upon to cry sales. He is also interested in farming and stock raising in West township and his varied business affairs are bringing him well merited success.
Mr. Bollinger was married in West township to Miss Sadie Leannan, who was born in Ohio but reared in Michigan. They have four children, two sons and two daughters, all natives of West township-Edward, Daniel, Ora and Lila. The family home is a good farm of 100 acres in West township, in the midst of which stands a comfortable residence. The fields are carefully tilled and the work is carried systematically for- ward in keeping with ideas of modern progressive agriculture. The family attend the United Brethren church, of which the parents are members, and Mr. Bollinger politically is a Republican, and does not consider himself bound by party ties, but frequently casts an independent ballot. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and with the Court of Honor, and is true to the beneficent teachings of these orders. His business interests have brought him into contact with a large number of Marshall county's citizens, and a genial, social manner and cordial dispo- sition have gained him the friendship and regard of many with whom he has come in contact.
S. A. LAIRD. For about twenty years the name of S. A. Laird has been inseparably interwoven with the history of the educational interests of Marshall county, and during ten years of that time he has served as the principal of the Tippecanoe schools. He has charge of two buildings, one of which is located in the western part of town, and the central building, which was erected in 1891 and contains three rooms, is a credit to the little town of Tippecanoe. The rooms can accommodate one hundred pupils, with about forty in the high school.
Professor Laird is a native son of Marshall county, born on the 22d of September, 1868, and is a representative of two of the oldest American families. The paternal ancestor was a Scotchman, and his descendants participated in the Revolutionary war, and in an early day became resi- dents of Pennsylvania. On the maternal side the ancestors were Pil- grims on the Mayflower. The parents of the Professor were John W. and Mary (Alden) Laird, natives, respectively, of Comstock county, Ohio, and of Massachusetts, and of their family of ten children, seven sons and three daughters, eight are now living, five sons and three daughters. Four of the sons are successful and popular educators, as is also one of the daughters.
Professor S. A. Laird received his elementary educational training in the district schools of Marshall county, while later he became a student in the state normal and graduated with its class of 1894. Throughout the period of his majority he has been prominently con- nected with the educational interests of Marshall county, and he also has a farm of forty acres to which he devotes his attention in the summer vacations when not occupied in the school room. He married in Bourbon, Maud Jordan, who was also numbered among the educators of Marshall
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HISTORY OF MARSHALL COUNTY.
county, and she was born, reared and educated in Bourbon. Her father is a well known citizen of Tippecanoe county and is a veteran of the Civil war. One daughter, Leonora, a little lady of three years, has blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Laird. Mrs. Laird is a member of the Methodist church. In his political affiliations Professor Laird is a Republican.
ANDREW R. GERARD was born in Switzerland county, Indiana, No- vember 12, 1825, and died at his home in Marshall county January 16, 1901, aged seventy-five years, two months and four days. He became one of the earliest settlers of Marshall county, for he came here with his parents and their family in the fall of 1842 and located in Center town- ship, where the remainder of his life was spent. At that time Plymouth was a village of but two or three houses, and the homes of a few scat- tered pioneers were separated by miles of wilderness, in many parts unmarked by roads and unbroken by the settler's ax. Mr. Gerard pos- sessed in an eminent degree the pioneer virtues of industry, economy, integrity and hospitality, and he thus acquired a comfortable home and a competence. In 1845 he entered from the government the farm where he ever afterward lived, and he partially cleared this farm, built and furnished a dwelling, and to this home he brought, in 1848, his first wife, Susanna Hindel. Nine children, four sons and five daughters, were born to this union, namely: Lydia E., Mary A., Eva M., John W., Sarah J., George N., Christian C., Susan and Andrew E. His first wife died in 1862, and in 1866 he married Sybilla Bright. Six children were born of the second marriage-Christina (deceased), Jennie, Cora, Emma, Nora and Charles. Thirteen children survive, and with the exception of a daughter ill in Marion, Indiana, and two sons who reside in Colorado, all were present when their honored father was laid to rest.
During the Civil war Mr. Gerard offered his services to his country as a volunteer to assist in the suppression of the rebellion, but he was unable to pass the medical examination and was not accepted. For over fifty years he was a member and an earnest worker in the Methodist Episcopal church, first worshiping with a class that met in a log school- house called Salem, a mile and a half south of Inwood. He was the class leader of this organization for many years, and a church which was afterward built at that place was destroyed by fire. During the pastorate of Rev. T. C. Neal he united with the church at Inwood. His religious life was even, calm and consistent. He was one of the last of a people who are rapidly passing away-the pioneer settlers who con- tended with the wilderness, wild beasts and savages, and in toil and poverty, in hardships, privations and disease built for the later generation who enjoy the fruits of their labors.
Charles C. Gerard, the youngest son of Andrew R., was born in Marshall county, Indiana, March 22, 1874, and he now resides on the old homestead farm where his father lived and labored for many years. He also follows in the political footsteps of his father and votes with the Republican party, and his religious connection is with the Methodist church. In 1897 he married Pearl Deacon.
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NOAH BERGER. The attractiveness of Marshall county as a place of residence is indicated by the fact that many of her native sons have remained within her borders after attaining adult years, finding here good opportunity for advancement in various lines of business. To this class belongs Noah Berger, now a successful agriculturist and stock raiser of German township. He was born March 18, 1861, upon the farm which is yet his home. His father, Jacob Berger, is a retired farmer, living in Bremen, and is a native of Germany, but was only about a year old when he came to America with his parents. His father, Frederick Berger, now deceased, was a pioneer of German township. He, too, was born in Germany and was there reared and married. His family numbered four sons and three daughters, of whom Jacob Berger was the sixth in order of birth. Leaving the land of his nativity, Fred- erick Berger brought his wife and children to the new world and settled first in Ohio, where he remained for about six years. Attracted by the opportunities of the frontier, he then journeyed westward to Marshall county, Indiana, and was among the earliest settlers of German township. Here he entered from the government a claim to one hundred and sixty acres of land, constituting the farm upon which Noah Berger now resides .. The grandfather cleared this place of the native forest and made a part of the improvements. He was a lifelong Republican, was a progressive citizen and faithful member of the Evangelical church. He died at the age of eighty-two years.
Jacob Berger, being but an infant at the time of the emigration of the father's family to the United States, pursued his education in the old-time log schoolhouses of this locality and was reared on the present place. The hardships and trials of pioneer life fell to his lot, but he bravely met these and learned to overcome difficulties by perseverance, determination and unwearied industry. He was married in German township to Miss Pauline Walner, a native of Elkhart county, Indiana, where she was reared. Her people were of Pennsylvania Dutch descent. Unto this marriage were born twelve children, the old family homestead in German township being the birthplace of all. Noah Berger was the third in order of birth in this family of eight sons and four daughters, of whom two died in infancy. As he reared his family Jacob Berger continued the work of the home farm and made most of the present improvements upon the place, his labors converting it into a productive tract of land. The Republican party received his earnest endorsement, for he believed its principles were most conducive to good government. He was always loyal to his honest convictions and his life was in har- mony with his professions as a member of the Evangelical church.
Noah Berger, reared under the parental roof upon the old home- stead farm, acquired his education in the schools of the township, while from his father he received practical training in the work of field and meadow. He was married in 1887 to Miss Sarah Keppler, a native of Indiana, who died in 1888, leaving one child. In 1890 Mr. Berger wedded Miss Lucy Grimm, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana, and by whom he had four children. The second wife passed away in 1902 and Mr. Berger was again married on the 12th of March, 1903, his present wife having been Emma E. Miller, a daughter of Frederick
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and Catherine (Manger) Miller. Her parents were farming people of German township, but both are now deceased. Mrs. Berger was born and reared in German township and is of German lineage, her father having been born in the land of the Teutons. He devoted his life to general agricultural pursuits and owned forty acres of land in German township. Unto the present marriage of Mr. Berger there have been born two children, a son and daughter.
In his political views Noah Berger is both a Republican and Pro- hibitionist. He endorses principles of both parties and at different times casts his ballot for the candidates of each. His vote is usually influenced, however, by his belief in the capability of the candidate. He belongs to the Evangelical church and his life record has been characterized by all that is just and honorable in man's relations with his fellowmen. There have been no startling chapters in his life history, but to the thoughtful student it will be manifest that his course has been shaped in accordance with upright principles and guided by an understanding of his duties and obligations toward his fellowmen.
ALBERT R. ZIMMERMAN. Throughout his entire business career Albert R. Zimmerman has been connected with journalistic work, and since 1903 he has been the editor and proprietor of the Bourbon Advance, one of the leading journals of northern Indiana. He is a native son of Newark, New Jersey, born on the 22d of May, 1854, a son of Adam and Eliza M. (Drake) Zimmerman, natives, respectively, of Hamburg, Ger- many, and of Plainfield, New Jersey. In their family were thirteen children, all of whom received the advantages of a common school train- ing, and after the completion of his education Albert R. Zimmerman began his work as a printer in Mason City, Illinois, being then seventeen years of age, and he thoroughly mastered the business in all its details. In 1890 he began the publication of the Dwight Star and Herald in Dwight, Illinois, removing four years later to Lamont, Illinois, to become the publisher of the Observer. In 1894 he removed to Plymouth, Indiana, and established the Marshall County Independent, the first daily paper ever edited in Plymouth, and from that city he came to Bourbon in 1896 and began the publication of the Mirror. His residence here was not continuous, however, but in 1903 he returned and as above stated, began the publication of the Advance. The life of this journal has been prosperous and today it ranks among the ablest papers of this section of the state. It has ever been a true friend of Bourbon, and much of the prosperity of the city is due to its progressive spirit. Mr. Zimmerman is an independent Democrat in his political affiliations.
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