USA > Indiana > Marshall County > A twentieth century history of Marshall County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 9
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Mr. McDonald wrote the first history of Marshall county, in 1881, and the present history in 1908; also wrote a history of Lake Maxin- kuckee, a history of the removal of the Pottawatomie Indians from northern Indiana, and the only history of Free Masonry in Indiana ever published. He is prominent in secret circles, having been grand master of Masons in Indiana, grand high priest of Royal Arch Masons, and Royal and Select Masters. He is a Knight Templar and thirty-second de- gree Ancient and Scottish Rite Mason and past grand patron of the Order of Eastern Star. He was also great sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men in 1872.
Mr. McDonald married Lydia C. Armstrong at Sterling, Illinois, December 31, 1857. Four children were born, one girl and three boys, all deceased except Louis, who married Miss Bertha K. Reynolds, No- vember 19, 1891, and resides in Chicago. His oldest son, Edgar, was accidentally killed by falling from a wagon at Bourbon, Indiana. His wife Lydia died September 22, 1882. On June 30, 1887, Mr. McDonald married Lillie M. Brackett, at Rochester, Indiana. Mrs. McDonald is
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a native of Rock Island, Illinois. Their one child, James Brackett Mc- Donald, born September 20, 1889, died in infancy. Mrs. McDonald's parents were Dr. James W. and Sarah (Brown) Brackett, of Rock Island.
WILLIAM L. SARBER. Indiana in the early '3os was a region in the outskirts of civilization, inhabited by the red men, wild game and the animals of the forests, and few remain to tell the story of those who tarried here to lend their brain, energy and heart to the making of homes and the establishment of legitimate enterprises. In 1835 there wended his way from Ohio to the Hoosier state one whose name was afterward enrolled among the commonwealth's brave and honored pioneers, Chris- tian Sarber. He was one of the first to enter government land in Har- rison township, Kosciusko county, he having been obliged to walk to Laporte to make his land entry, traveling through the wilderness and blazing his own way through the woods to his destination, there making his land entry and starting on the return journey. On his arrival, home he found the Indians had made a raid on the family larder, his wife having given them nearly all the provisions their little cabin home con- tained. Mr. Sarber was a successful business man, having owned at one time nearly one thousand acres of land. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church from his early boyhood until his life's labors were ended in death September 1, 1883. He was born in Franklin county, Ohio, September 20, 1813, and in Putnam county, Ohio, he was married to Mary Ann Lee, who was born near Lebanon, that state, in 1815, and her death occurred in 1862. Of their seven children five are now living: Catherine. the wife of Charles Gibbs : William L., the sub- ject of this review; Harriet, the wife of Isaac Bell, of Los Angeles, California ; Martha, the wife of Jefferson Eley, of Chicago ; and Dr. H. O., a resident of Rockford, Michigan, where he has been in practice during the past thirty years.
William L. Sarber was born on the 13th of May, 1849, on the farm which his father entered in 1835 in Harrison township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, where the city of Mentone now stands, and his boyhood days were spent in assisting his father to clear the place and putt it under cultivation, his educational training having been received in the subscrip- tion schools of the neighborhood. Soon after his marriage he embarked in the mercantile business in Palestine, Indiana, but after about one year his store was burned and he lost nearly everything and was in debt to the amount of nearly eight hundred dollars. His father, however, signed his notes, and this enabled him to start in business in Silver Lake, Indiana, but two years later he removed to Sebastopol, where he was engaged in business for five years, from the close of that period until 1893 was ntimbered among the business men of Claypool, and he then became a resident of Argos. In 1894, the year after his arrival in this city, he erected the Sarber brick block and has ever since been engaged in busi- ness here. He is a stanch Democrat in his political affiliations.
At the solicitation of his many Democratic friends, Mr. Sarber has announced himself as a candidate for representative of Marshall county. The primaries were held in the county May 2, 1908, and out of a total
Martha Sauber.
W. L. Sanker
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vote of 2,300, he received the handsome majority of 539, which is equivalent to an election, from the fact that Marshall county has a Democratic majority of from 800 to 900. Hon. Daniel McDonald, the historian of the "Twentieth Century History of Marshall County," is the present incumbent, and Mr. Sarber succeeds him in this important office. He has spent many years in Marshall county as an honorable citizen, a general merchant and a supporter of Democratic principles, and the people know where he stands.
Mr. Sarber married, in May, 1881, Miss Martha Dulany, who was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, March 11, 1850, a daughter of David and Barbara (Daugherty) Dulany, natives of Marion county, Ohio. They were married in that state, from whence in 1841 they came to Indiana and located in Palestine township, Kosciusko county. Mr. Dulany there purchased timber land and began the making of a home, first erect- ing a little log cabin, and on this farm which he cleared and cultivated he spent the remainder of his life. He was a member and for a number of years a local minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in political matters he upheld the principles of the Whig party. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Dulany was blessed by the birth of five children, namely : Sarah, the wife of Adam Stout, and they reside in Warsaw, Indiana ; Martha, who became the wife of Mr. Sarber; Susan, the wife of Ezra Creiger, of North Manchester, Indiana; Dennis, also a resident of that city ; and Annie, the wife of Isaac Mullenhour. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sarber three are now living: Dr. Wallace C., whose wife was Katherine Bowell; Myrtle, the wife of Roy Konouse. and Charles M., the eldest son, who is in partnership with his father. He married Miss Elizabeth Cadwallader.
HON. JOHN W. PARKS. In March, 1875, John W. Parks was grad- uated from the law department of the University of Michigan, receiving, at the same time, the regular degree of LL. B. Returning to his native county, where he had already, though a young man, received some proofs of esteem from his fellow citizens, he was soon admitted to the bar, and in 1876 removed to Plymouth, where he has been engaged steadily in the practice of law for over thirty years. He is now one of the senior members of the Marshall county bar, and as a lawyer ranks among the leaders of the profession. He has given the best years of his life, his talents and his energy to his practice, and has gained the best ohjects of his early ambition. Seldom has Mr. Parks allowed himself to be turned aside from the path of his profession into the tempting field of politics. Some years ago his friends desired to give him the nomination for a judicial position, and in spite of his positive declination of the honor he received a complimentary vote which was only two short of a nomination. He has never been a candidate for any political office except that of state senator, both in 1900 and 1904 receiving the unani- mous nomination for that office at the Republican primaries, and repre- senting Marshall and Kosciusko counties in the upper house during the sixty-second, sixty-third, sixty-fourth and sixty-fifth sessions.
Mr. Parks comes of a family in whom the pioneering spirit was evidently strong. During the period between the Revolution and the
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second war with Great Britain, some of the name crossed the Allegheny mountains and made settlement in Kentucky. In Bourbon county of that state was born James O. Parks, on March 20, 1813. In 1827 he and his family came to Rush county, Indiana, when that was still a thinly settled region, and in 1835 they crossed the Wabash valley and located, permanently, in the yet newer county of Marshall. It is an interesting fact of local history, and elsewhere mentioned, that they were the first white settlers in Bourbon township, and that name was given to the postoffice, town and township, in honor of the county from which they had come in Kentucky. James O. Parks lived more than half a century in this county. He was likewise a lawyer, among the first in the county, twice served in the legislature before the war, and always stood high in the esteem of the people of Marshall county. He was married in Rush county, in October, 1836, to Susan Dinwiddie.
A son of these parents, John W. Parks, was born on a farm north of Bourbon, May 25, 1852, and in boyhood moved into Bourbon, where he was reared and lived until his removal to Plymouth in 1876. He was a pupil in the public school of Bourbon forty years ago, but having been appointed deputy postmaster in 1870, in which capacity he served three . years and assumed most of the duties of the office, his schooling was interrupted before he had obtained what might be called a "finished" education. While he was in the postoffice, however, the German Baptists established Salem College in the town, and this offering opportunities for higher education he resigned his place in the postoffice and for two years attended this school, from which many men of this county received early enlightenment and culture. After this he entered the University of Michigan, and prepared for his profession, as already stated. Soon after beginning practice, on October 12, 1876, he married Miss Sallie H. Mozingo, of Tipton county, and shortly afterward Mr. and Mrs. Parks took up their residence in Plymouth.
Mr. Parks was, in early life, identified with the Presbyterian church, but as his wife and family were Methodists he changed his membership to the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has since been very active and prominent. Since 1878 he has served as a popular Sunday school superintendent in Plymouth for more than twenty-two years.
DORUS STROHECKER, a farmer and stockman of West township, is a member of one of Marshall county's oldest and best known families. His birth occurred on the farm on which he now resides, August 21, 1870. His father, Adam Strohecker, whose name was long and prominently connected with the agricultural interests of West township, was a native son of Ohio, and in that commonwealth he grew to years of maturity and continued his residence until his emigration to Indiana during an early period in the state's history. He established his home in West township and worked by the day at his trade of carpentering until with his brother- in-law he purchased eighty acres of land, and later became the owner of the entire tract, subsequently adding six acres thereto. With the passing years he cleared and improved his homestead until it became one of the valuable estates of the township, and the work which the father inaug- urated is now carried forward by the son.
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Adam Strohecker married in West township Harriett Stuck, who also claimed Ohio as the commonwealth of her nativity, but when a little maid of six years the family came to Marshall county, Indiana, and established their home in West township. The journey hither was made with ox teams, and in West township the father cleared and improved a farm. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Strohecker were born five chil- dren, three sons and two daughters,-Ida, Charles, Milton, Dorus and Rena. All were born on the old homestead farm here, and here the father lived and labored until his busy and useful life was ended in death, being sixty-three years of age when called to the home beyond. He gave a lifelong support to the principles of the Democratic party. and was a member of the Reformed church. When the Civil war was inaugurated in 1861 he responded to its call and for nine months served his country as a brave and loyal soldier. He was a member of an engineer- ing corps. The name of Adam Strohecker is recorded high on the roll of the honored pioneers of Marshall county, and in the community where he so long lived he enjoyed the regard of his fellow men, for he was a man that was ever true to himself, his neighbors and his country.
Dorus Strohecker, the youngest son of this well-known Marshall county pioneer, received his educational training in the schools of West township, and his entire life has been spent on his homestead farm in section 23. He too has affiliated with the Democratic party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise, and his fraternal relations are with the Woodmen of the World.
MARK R. VANVACTOR. The student of history does not have to carry his investigations far into the annals of Marshall county to learn that the VanVactor family has been closely associated with its agricul- tural development and that its representatives have ever been men of enter- prise and business integrity, while in citizenship they have ever been faith- ful to the best interests of the community. Mark R. VanVactor, who is now carrying on general agricultural pursuits in Center township, was born on the old family homestead May 15, 1866, and is a son of Riley VanVactor. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood days. He divided his time between the work of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the labors of the home farm, and after putting aside his text-books he con- tinued to assist his father in the conduct and management of the old home place until twenty-six years of age, when he was married and established a home of his own.
It was on the 15th of March, 1892, that Mr. VanVactor was joined in wedlock to Miss Jennie Gibson, a daughter of James Gibson and a native of Center township, where her birth occurred September 25, 1870. This union has been blessed with five interesting children, namely : Ward Gibson, Clifford Russell, James Riley, Mark Earl and Mary. The family home is a pleasant and attractive residence in Center township in the midst of a good farm of one hundred and four acres. They took pos- session of their dwelling on the 25th of July, 1892, and through the sixteen years which have since come and gone Mr. Van Vactor has care- fully performed the work of the fields and through the rotation of crops
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and modern methods of farming has achieved desirable success. He is now one of the substantial agriculturists of the community and also a worthy representative of an honored pioneer family. His political views are in harmony with the principles and purposes of the Republican party and fraternally he is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees, Tent No. 27, at Plymouth. His salient characteristics are such as win him warm regard and he is a man of many friends.
JOHN E. JOHNSON. The village of Tyner finds in John E. Johnson an enterprising merchant and business man, who belongs to that class of representative American citizens that promote public progress in advancing individual success. He is moreover one of the worthy native sons of Marshall county, his birth having occurred upon his father's farm in Polk township on the 30th of June, 1849. He is a son of Abraham Johnson, who was one of the pioneers of the township, but is now deceased. The father was born at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, where he was reared, educated and married and throughout his entire life he followed the occupation of farming. In early manhood he wedded Miss Mary Ann McCormick, who was likewise a native of the Old Dominion and as the years passed eleven children were added to the family circle, seven sons and four daughters. Of this number nine are now deceased. It was in the year 1833 that Abraham Johnson left Virginia and traveled across the country by wagon to Indiana. He first located in Elkhart county, where he lived for a year, and in 1834 he came to Polk township, Mar- shall county, where he continued to make his home throughout his remaining days. This was then a wild frontier region, much of the land still being in possession of the government. He entered one hundred and sixty acres upon which stood the native forest and in the midst of the green woods he built a log cabin and began clearing land. He lived a life of industry and enterprise and continued to make his home upon his claim until his death, which occurred when he was fifty-seven years of age. At different times he gave his political allegiance to the Whig, to the Republican and to the Democratic parties and was always a stalwart champion of the principles in which he believed. At no time was his position an equivocal one and his fidelity was one of the salient and admirable characteristics. He had a wide acquaintance throughout the entire county and all who knew him respected him for his genuine worth.
In retrospect one can see John E. Johnson-a farmer boy attending the district schools. The little temples of learning at that day on the frontier were built of logs and the methods of instruction were somewhat primitive, but the work of the farm was not meager and when not busy with his text-books Mr. Johnson's time was fully occupied by the tasks of plowing, planting and harvesting. He continued to give his father active assistance up to the time of his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated on the 19th of December, 1880, the lady of his choice being Miss Lillie I. Black, a native of Ohio, who was reared, however, in Illinois. Her father was John K. Black, who, removing from the Buckeye state, became a farmer of Illinois. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been blessed with one daughter, Bessie E., and the family is prominent socially in the community.
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At the time of his marriage Mr. Johnson left the home farm and became identified with mercantile interests in Tyner and also in Lapaz. He disposed of the first goods ever sold in the latter village and remained there for four years, when he went to the west, where he also spent four years. Upon his return he opened his present place of business in Tyner in 1888, conducting a general mercantile store. He likewise carried on a store at Burr Oak Flats. His diligence and enterprise are a valued factor in the commercial life of the community. In addition to general mer- chandising he built the elevator and coal house here and is now conduct- ing business along both lines and at the same time is buying and shipping live stock. In 1906 he opened a lumber and coal business and thus as a general merchant and dealer in grain, coal, lumber and live stock he is contributing in substantial measure to the commercial prosperity of the village and at the same time is meeting with gratifying success through his well directed labors. He has erected a pleasant dwelling in Tyner and has been closely associated with the upbuilding and improvement of the village in many ways. For four years he served as its postmaster and in politics he has been a lifelong Democrat where national issues are involved, but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He has held to high standards in his business life and meets competition in a rivalry of merit rather than in a war of prices. The obstacles and difficulties which he has met have been overcome by determined purpose and laudable endeavor and thus he has steadily worked his way upward to success.
FRANK VANGILDER, prominent grocer and city treasurer of Plymouth, Indiana, was born near Silver Lake, Indiana, January 30, 1869, and is a son of J. V. and Elizabeth Vangilder, both residents of Plymouth.
Our subject was twelve years of age upon coming to Plymouth and received his education in the public schools of that place. He was, for eight years, a clerk for F. H. Jacox, grocer, and in 1906 engaged in the grocery business on his own account.
In 1897, Mr. Vangilder was united in marriage to Catherine Swisher, a daughter of John Swisher, of Ohio.
Mr. Vangilder is a Democrat and is actively identified with the public interests of his community. He was elected city treasurer of Plymouth in 1904 and was re-elected in the fall of 1905, holding the position at this time. He is an energetic and resourceful business man ; is widely known and universally respected.
MYRON CHASE was born in Portage county, Ohio, April 14, 1851, but his entire business career has been passed in Marshall county and he is now extensively engaged in general farming and dairying in Polk township. His father, Joseph Chase, a retired farmer of Polk township, was born in Jefferson county, New York, in 1822, but during the early years of his life he was taken to Ohio, there attaining to mature age and becoming a farmer in its county of Summit. In New York he married Hannah Chart, whose birth occurred in England, but during her child- hood days she came with her parents to the United States and was reared in New York. Four children were born to bless this union, one son and three daughters,-Myron, of this review ; Cordelia A., deceased, wife
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of D. A. Snyder; Emma, the wife of D. R. Richardson, of Chicago; Nellie A., the wife of B. M. Sebolt, of Plymouth. In 1867 Mr. Chase, the father, came with his family to Marshall county, Indiana, purchasing a farm of eighty acres in Polk township, and with the passing years he improved his place and made it a valuable estate. The wife and mother was called to the home beyond in 1892, leaving the companion with whom she had so long traveled the journey of life, and he then left the old home farm and went to live with his son Myron. He has voted with the Repub- licans since the inauguration of the party and previously was an old-line Whig.
Myron Chase was a young man of seventeen years when the family home was established in Marshall county, and for several years thereafter he taught in the schools of Polk township. On the Ist of December, 1878, he was united in marriage to Louisa F. Harris, the daughter of Martin and Mary (Barber) Harris, who came from Ohio to Polk town- ship during the early years of its history and identified their interests with its agricultural pursuits. Mrs. Chase was reared in Ohio and came with her parents to Marshall county. Three children have been born of this union,-Eva L., deceased, wife of Jolin R. Nye; Bessie, the wife of J. E. Myers, of Plymouth, and Lorie, all born on the home farm in Polk township.
Mr. Chase became the owner of this homestead in 1877. It consists of eighty acres of rich and fertile land, and in addition to his general farming he is also quite extensively engaged in shipping cream to Chicago and in the dairy business. His first vote was cast for Gen. U. S. Grant, and he has ever since actively supported the Republican party. During a term of four years he served his township as its trustee, and in 1898 was the Republican candidate for the office of representative. During three years he served as the president of the Marshall Farmers' Home Fire Insurance Company, for two years was the president of the Mar- shall County Sunday-school Association, being a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has taken an active and com- mendable interest in all movements for the good and upbuilding of his community. He has fraternal relations with the Maccabees and the Grange.
MAYER ALLMAN, dealer in dry goods, clothing and general merchan- dise, at Plymouth, Indiana, is of German nativity, and was born in the fatherland September 23, 1842. He emigrated to the United States in 1857, and located at Laporte, Indiana, where he began work as a grocery clerk, for the munificent sum of $6 per month. His industry and per- severance, however, soon brought him more adequate returns for his labor. He remained in this position until 1863, when he removed to South Bend, Indiana, and engaged in the grocery business on his own account, under the firm name of Allman & Rinehart. He remained in South Bend for ten months, when he closed out his interest in the business and returned to Laporte. In 1866 he moved to Plymouth, and the year following opened a grocery store at that place. This he conducted for about fifteen years, when he branched out into other lines, and, in 1895, closed out
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his grocery interests, and has, since that time, made dry goods and cloth- ing his specialty.
In 1867 he was married to Miss Hannah Nussbaum, a daughter of Baruch Nussbaum, a merchant in Germany, at Harren Kassel. They have six children,-Minnie, wife of Louis Laemle, a merchant at Marsh- field, Wisconsin; Sol, now in business in Marion, Indiana; Louis N., a traveling salesman for the Connecticut Kahn Tailoring Company, of Indianapolis, Indiana; Berthold, associated with his father in business; Jesse M., in business with his brother-in-law (Louis Laemle) at Park Falls, Wisconsin ; and Bessie, wife of Henry J. Eisendrath, of Chicago.
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