USA > Indiana > Warren County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > White County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Newton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Pulaski County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Benton County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Biographical history of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, Volume II > Part 49
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The father of Edward F. Hellwig was born in Guber, Saxony, in 1775. In 1806 he emigrated to Neibush, Prussia, where he died, June 4, 1829. By his first wife he had the following children: Edmond, August, Ernest, Henry, Etta, Caroline and Ferdinand. By his second wife Caroline (née Schouke, - born in the province of Brandenburg, and married in 1820) he had two children: Emeline, born May 8, 1822; and Edward, May 4, 1826.
Our subject's paternal grandfather was a brewer at Christianstadt, where he died in 1836, at the age of eighty-eight years. His wife died in 1800, aged sixty years. The father of Mr. Hellwig, the brewer, was a blacksmith, and a son of Joseph Hellwig, who was a Lutheran reformer, going into the mountain wilderness in 1620 with his disciples, and founding a village mid- way between the cities of Landishut and Freutland, which still perpetuates his memory in its name, Hellwigsdorf. When Edward F. Hellwig visited the place in 1843 it was four miles in length, but none bearing the family name resided there. In 1850 Edward Hellwig was united in marriage with Miss Annie Zauleck, of Waldenburg, who was born in 1828. To the n were born eight children,-Clara, deceased; Emma, deceased; Edward, deceased, born February 11, 1857; Louis, born August 6, 1859; Clarence A., July 9,
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1861; Odenia, September 20, 1863, is the wife of Samuel Biggs; Charley, June 8, 1865; and Flora, September 4, 1868, is the wife of Willis Carter. Mr. Hellwig, the father, is passing the closing years of a remarkable life at his home in Williamsport. He has been a great traveler and a man of keen observation. He speaks four languages fluently. German he learned in Germany, Italian in Italy, English in America, and in addition to these he has acquired the Hebre.v language. He carried on the manufacture of tile at Williamsport, in connection with a pottery, until 1890, when he re- tired with a competence. In religion he is a Baptist, while Mrs. Hellwig is a Methodist.
Clarence A. Hellwig, whose name heads this biographical outline, was born in George Hill county, Canada, July 9, 1861, and was three years old when the family removed to Michigan. In the years which followed he at- tended school in Alliance and at Atwater, Ohio, at Annapolis, Indiana, and the Attica (Indiana) high school. He learned the trade of manufacturing brick and pottery, and for fourteen months was employed as a machinist in Chicago, in the service of A. Featherstone & Company. In the early part of the year 1896 he went to Boswell and sold binders and machinery for a firm of that place for several months. His new venture, running a grocery in Brookston, is meeting with success, and from the first he commanded the best trade of the town. Fraternally he belongs to the Woodmen of the World, being yet associated with the Williamsport lodge. In politics he is a Republican.
On the 18th of February, 1885, Mr. Hellwig married Miss Kate M. Hanes, a daughter of Wesley and Nancy (Fleming) Hanes. As they have no children of their own, they have adopted a little boy, named Charley. In their religious belief they are Methodists, and are earnest workers in the denomination.
SAMUEL S. SPACY.
This gentleman is a recent acquisition to the population of Fowler, Indiana, but has been identified with this state all his life, having been born near Mount Etna, Huntington county, January 27, 1848.
Turning to the records, it is found that the paternal great-grandfather of Samuel S. Spacy fought in the English army during the Revolutionary war, and, finding America a good place, decided to make his home in this country, which he did, and here for more than a century his posterity has lived and flourished. His son, John Spacy, married a Miss Todd, and they passed the greater part of their lives in Kentucky. She died in that state, and he died in Huntington county, Indiana. Their son, William H., the father of Sam-
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uel S., was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, July 29, 1818, and on the home farm in that county his boyhood days were passed up to the time he was twelve years old, when he came to Indiana. That was in 1830. After he grew up he became the owner of farms in various places in Indiana, which he improved and traded for others. When the civil war was inaugurated he tendered his services to the Union cause, in July, 1862, going out as a pri- vate in Company H, One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, and remaining in the service three years. He accompanied Sherman in his march to the sea and was wounded at Atlanta, his hip being mashed by a head logs struck by solid shot. He spent some time in hospital, but continued in the service until July, 1865, when he was honorably discharged, being mustered out at Indianapolis. That same year he moved with his family to a farm near Blue Grass Grove, where they remained until 1869; lived in Attica from 1869 to 1874; and in 1874 moved to a farm in Warren county, three miles south of Ambia. Selling this farm in 1895, he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Jasper county, where he died June 4, 1896. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Stephens, he married near Mount Etna, Indiana, August 15, 1846. She was born in Pennsylvania in 1827 and died in Ambia, Indiana, in 1886. They were the parents of the following named children, -of whom Samuel S., the subject of this sketch, is the eldest, the others being John W., Salathiel, Mary, James Franklin, Susan J., Joseph Marion, Hester and Axie. Of this number only Samuel S., John W. and Hester are now living, John W. being a farmer near Ambia, Indiana.
Samuel S. Spacy spent his growing years in attending district school during the winter months and in summer doing farm work, employed on neighboring farms. March 2, 1876, he married Miss Mary A. Nern, daugh- ter of Martin and Christina (Adams) Nern, natives of Germany. Her father on coming to this country settled first in Pennsylvania and afterward in Warren county, Indiana, where Mrs. Spacy was born. Mr. Nern bought forty acres of land near Ambia, and a few years later sold this land and bought another farm of forty acres near Goodland, Indiana. He was killed by a stroke of lightning, while at the home of a neighbor, in the spring of 1892, aged fifty-six years. His wife died at the age of forty-eight.
After their marriage Samuel S. Spacy and wife began housekeeping on a rented farm of eighty acres, near Ambia, Indiana. On this place they lived and prospered until 1889. That year he invested his accumulations in one hundred and sixty acres of land near Alvin, Illinois, which he sold in 1892 and then bought two hundred acres near Goodland, Indiana, paying cash for it. This last farm he kept until March 1, 1898, when he sold it and bought one hundred and sixty acres north of Talbot, Benton county, Indiana, which is occupied by a renter. Since the spring of 1898 he has resided in Fowler.
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His family is composed of his wife and two children, -Starlus A. and Rebecca E. The former was born September 10, 1877, near Ambia, married Ruth S. Murphy, of Goodland, and they at this writing reside with his parents. Miss Rebecca E. is a native of East Lynn, Illinois, born August 18, 1879. They also had one child, John W., that died in infancy.
Mr. Spacy, while he favors church organizations and attends worship at the different churches, has never identified himself with any. His son is a member of the Christian church. Fraternally our subject is an Odd Fellow, having membership in Schuyler Lodge, I. O. O. F., at Remington, Indiana. Mr. Spacy is a man of quiet and even temperament, has a fine physique and robust health, and is a fair specimen of the self-made man who has made his way in Indiana.
ELI BRAND.
Eli Brand is numbered among the native sons of Tippecanoe county, where his parents located in pioneer days, and since that early epoch in the settlement of this section of the state the name of Brand has figured conspic- nously on the pages of its history in connection with the agricultural develop- ment of the region. The founders of the family in America were among the early Pennsylvania-Dutch people, and resided in Lancaster county of the Keystone state. Samuel Brand, the father of our subject, was born in Maryland, in 1802, and was a farmer by occupation. He emigrated to Ohio in pioneer days, and in Butler county, in connection with agricultural pursuits, he conducted a distillery. He married Miss Lydia Vance, a native of Penn- sylvania and a daughter of John Vance. Ere they left Ohio they became the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth, and after their removal to Tippecanoe county the following children were born to them: Washington, Mary, Michael, Samuel, Eli, John and Lydia. About the year 1835 Mr. Brand removed to the Hoosier state, locating in Sheffield township, Tippecanoe county, where he purchased of a Mr. Storm a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land, two miles east of the farm upon which our subject now resides. It was covered with timber, but with characteristic energy he began clearing away the trees, and in course of time well tilled fields yielded to him good harvests. He made a good home and spent there the remainder of his active business career. After the death of his first wife he was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Burkhalter, a widow. He then put aside business cares and removed to Dayton. He died at the home of his son Samuel, in Perry township, Tippecanoe county, when seventy years of age. He and his first wife were members of the German Reformed church, and in politics he was a Republican. In his business affairs he prospered, and at
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different times owned considerable land. He gave to each of his children three thousand dollars, thus enabling them to get a good start in life. In all his dealings he was straightforward and honorable, and was a highly respected citizen and honored pioneer.
Eli Brand, whose name introduces this review, was born on the old family homestead in Sheffield township, Tippecanoe county, where his brother John now lives, September 11, 1839, and in his youth pursued his education in the log school-house of the neighborhood. His privileges were limited to three months' attendance during the winter season, for through the remainder of the year his services were needed in the cultivation of the home farm. He was thus employed until twenty-one years of age. He married, February 11, 1877, in Madison township, Clinton county, Indiana, Miss Delphena Buck, who was born in Clinton county, March 23, 1854, a daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Gunkle) Buck. Her father was born in 1809 and was a son of Daniel Buck, Sr., who in early life resided in Pennsylvania, whence he re- moved to Butler county, Ohio, in the pioneer days of that locality. There he owned a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he and his wife spent their remaining days. They were members of the Lutheran church, and were parents of the following children: Joseph, Adam, John, Lamie, Daniel, Betsey and Mary.
Daniel Buck, the father of Mrs. Brand, learned the millwright's trade, and in early manhood was married, in Butler county, Ohio, to Barbara Gun- kle. They began their domestic life in Butler county, where two of their children were born. In 1836 they removed to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, locating in Washington township, where Mr. Buck purchased a sawmill and five acres of land. He operated the mill for some years and then purchased eighty acres of land in Madison township, Clinton county, of which tract about five acres had been cleared. He at once began the arduous task of preparing the remainder for cultivation; the work was eventually accom- plished and he made a good home, which continued to be his place of abode until called to the home beyond, June 14, 1879. In addition, he owned one hundred and ninety-four acres in Washington township, becoming one of the substantial farmers of the community, by reason of his diligence, persever- ance and straightforward dealings. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religious faith both he and his wife were Lutherans. They had nine chil- dren, namely: Isaac, Catharine, Lydia, Jacob, Elizabeth, Tina, Mary, Abraham and Delphena, the last named being now Mrs. Brand.
At the time of his marriage Mr. Brand took up his residence upon his present farm, in addition to which he owned one hundred and sixty-four acres in Perry township, Tippecanoe county. As the result of his sturdy thrift and industry, and the assistance of his wife, he has prospered and has added to
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the original homestead until it now comprises two hundred and fifty-four acres. He has erected thereon a substantial brick residence, two stories in height, finished throughout in hardwood, and built after the most approved style of modern architecture. He has also made other excellent improve- ments upon his farm, which is now one of the best in the county. The chil- dren born in this home are Barbara A .. who was born April 13, 1878, and died at the age of two years; Nina A., born February 20, 1881 ; Arlinda B., who was born June 11, 1883, and died when about two years of age; Oron G., born February 25, 1885, and Porter R., born March 11, 1888. The mother of these children is a member of the Lutheran church, and is a most estimable lady.
During the greater part of his life Mr. Brand has carried on agricultural pursuits, and he is accounted one of the leading and most enterprising farm- ers of Tippecanoe county. He was also a member of the Dayton Milling Company from 1870 until 1873, and in that connection carried on an exten- sive business, manufacturing flour and all kinds of mill products. Through- out the community, in which he has resided from infancy up to the present time, he is widely and favorably known. His record in trade circles is above question, and no man doubts his word. His life has been an active and busy one, in which good management and untiring industry have brought him suc- cess, and now he is numbered among the prosperous pioneer farmers of the locality.
MELVILLE W. MILLER.
Melville Winans Miller, county surveyor of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, was born in the city of Lafayette, June 23, 1856, son of John L. and Amanda (Stiles) Miller, natives of Ohio. In the Miller family were nine chil- dren, of whom six are now living: Melville W .; Eulora, wife of Rufus P. Jennings; Mabel and Maud (twins), the former the wife of A. G. Beeson and the latter the wife of R. J. Greene; Edgar S. ; and Katherine L., wife of O. WV. Peirce, Jr. John L. Miller, the father, was a lawyer and came to Lafay- ette among the very early settlers. He practiced his profession here for many years, until his death, in 1887, at the age of sixty one. His wife still survives. During the late civil war he was in the three-months service and had the rank of lieutenant. Politically he was a Republican, and for years took an active part in politics. He was prosecuting attorney three terms, postmaster two terms, and one term a member of the legislature.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was named John Miller. He was a native of Pennsylvania, when he moved to Ohio at an early day and later to Clinton county, Indiana, where he died, leaving a large family. By
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occupation he was a farmer. The maternal grandfather was Benjamin Stiles. He was born in Ohio, was by occupation a farmer, and died in his native state when a young man. He and his wife had two children.
Melville W. Miller was reared in Lafayette, receiving his early education in the public schools of that place and later attending DePauw University, where he graduated in 1878. On leaving college he took up the study of law in his father's office and in due time was admitted to the bar, the date of his admission being January 10, 1879. From that time until 1889 he was engaged in the practice of law. Then he entered the county surveyor's office as deputy, and in November, 1896, was elected county surveyor, which office he now fills.
On the 15th day of November, 1881, he married Miss Amy Cook Puett, daughter of Austin M. and Amy D. (Wright) Puett. Mrs. Puett is a sister of Governor Joseph A. Wright. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have three children, Ruth, Dorothy and Eulora. The family home is at No. 528 South Ninth street, Lafayette, which residence Mr. Miller built in 1887.
He is a member of Trinity Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is a steward, and fraternally he is both a Mason and an Odd Fellow. Politically, like his father before him, he is a Republican.
JAMES C. LEIDY.
James Clayton Leidy, a prominent farmer, thresher and sawmill man of Harrison township, Pulaski county, is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred near the town of Hatboro, Montgomery county, January 24, 1851. His paternal grandfather, Bernard Leidy, was born in Ireland, of Spanish parents, was the lease owner of what was considered a large and valuable homestead for that minature island, and besides attending to its management he owned looms and was engaged in the weaving of linen to some extent. He was married to Bridget Gannon, and to them were born seven children, -Michael, Terrence, Andrew, Mary, Elizabeth, Catherine and Julia, -five of whom came to America. Michael married Catherine Dinley and had three children, -Bernard, Bridget and Owen: the last named is an engineer and lives on California avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Bernard, who died in July, 1898, lived on Ash street, Philadelphia: he left a wife and two daughters, -Mary and Catherine; Mary became the wife of a Mr. Kennedy and with her sister Elizabeth moved to England; Catherine, who never mar- ried and who was the twin sister of our subject's father, was accidentally shot and killed by a small boy in St. Louis. Andrew, who married Jane Whalen and lived in the Quaker City, was the father of these children: Mary Jane, who died in infancy; Mary (the second of the name); Eliza Jane, William,
.
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Bernard and John; Julia, who became the wife of John White, of New York city, and whose children were named respectively Julia and Katie.
Terrence Thomas Leidy was born in the county Cavan, Ireland, June 24, 1810, and in 1840 came to the United States, locating in Philadelphia. His first work on this side of the " creek " was on the Lehigh canal; but as this was not as interesting as it appeared, he politely "threw up the shillaly" and went to clerk in a grocery on Third and Spruce streets, where he re- mained for six years. In 1846 he was married to Nioma Emma Mary Ellick, and moved to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania; he engaged in contracting for macadamized roads, in which work he was engaged for thirteen years. The roads were named respectively Spring House, Upper Dublin, Broad Ax, Springville, Bunker Hill, Quakertown, Cashtown and Lambertsville, all of which he built from the rough clay roads, and the stone used was taken from quarries along the road wherever one could be opened; and it will be remem- bered there was no such luxury in those days as stone-crushers; the work was all done with sledge-hammers.
Becoming tired of this work, Mr. Leidy went to New York city and car- ried on a grocery business there on Twelfth street, between B and C ave- nues, for some time; but the ill-health of his children caused him to move again, this time to the country town of Columbus, Ohio, where he remained for a year. In 1859 he came to Indiana and located in Clinton county, where he was occupied in farming, and in March, 1875, he removed to Pulaski county, having purchased a quarter-section of land here of Noah Kistler. The small house on the place was superseded by the present cosy cottage in 1891. One hundred and twenty acres of the original homestead was sold, and later forty acres added, thus leaving a good farm of eighty acres, situated in one body. The esteemed husband and father departed this life in December, 1891, having spent only one month in his new home, where so much happi- ness was expected, and where the dark shadow of sorrow settled down in- stead.
On the 30th of November, 1846, the marriage of Terrence Leidy and Nioma Ellick was solemnized by the Rev. Francis Patrick Kenrick, bishop of Philadelphia, afterward archbishop of Baltimore, in St. John's church, which is in ashes now. She was born near Catawissa, Columbia county, in April, 1822, and was but five years old when her father died. Jacob Ellick was a native of Germany, and was the only member of his father's family to come to the United States. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Leidy, Henry Close, however, settled in Pennsylvania, at an early date. He mar- ried Catherine Fisher and their children were Catherine, Gertrude, Marie, Elizabeth, Lydia, Mary and Henry. Gertrude married William Ashton, of Catawissa Valley; Elizabeth married a Mr. Hulsaffer; Lydia married Philip
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Sheets; Mary became the wife of William Bowman; Catherine married Jacob Ellick, and their children were Michael, George, Nioma, William, Samuel; George married a Miss Wethero; William R. married Mary Goosecup, of Rockland, Pennsylvania; he moved to Clinton county, Indiana, and fromn there to Illinois, where her brothers lived; from there they went to Missouri.
After the death of the father, Nioma, who was the only daughter, was adopted by Eer and Sarrah Harder, of the town of Catawissa, and for the benefit of the lady readers of this history we will give a sketch of her life while there. Her most loved friends and companions were Stephen A. Douglas, whose statue adorns one of the parks of the city of Chicago; John Clayton, who was United States senator and candidate for president at one time; also Margaret Feaster, and Amelia Douglas, sister of Stephen, who was one of the most beautiful girls she ever knew. Miss Douglas married when quite young, and her bridal robe was something of a historical wonder, having been drawn through a modern-sized open-ended thimble after it was completed. Besides those just named, other companions of Nioma were Vasta and Rebecca Clayton. Of this happy band of young people how many are yet above the soil! The union of Terrence and Nioma was blessed with eleven children, namely: John Washington, born February 22, 1848, and died on July 30, 1849; Elizabeth, born July 28, 1849, and died March 3, 1851; James Clayton; Catherine, born March 15, 1852, and died in July, 1873; Thomas George, born January 3, 1854, and died in 1886; Andrew, born November 20, 1855, and died January 19, 1857; Michael, born in June, 1858, and died in 1862; Mary Agnes, born March 17, 1861, and now the wife of Hamilton Platt Peters, of Chicago; Frances Jane, born May 24, 1865; Joseph, born August 15, 1867, and died at the age of fourteen months; and Josephine, born September 24, 1869, and died when thirteen years of age. Of this large family but two sons lived to maturity and the care of the home- stead fell largely to James Clayton Leidy, our subject. At an early age he mastered the details of farming, and to-day he ranks with the practical agri- culturists of this region. He is carrying on the work of improving the farm, besides threshing in season, and sawing in winter and spring, and enjoys the confidence and high regard of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. In political matters he is a Democrat, but he has no aspirations to hold public office.
JOHN F. EWALT.
Mr. Ewalt is of sturdy German ancestry, and represents a type of citi- zens much esteemed for their sterling worth and thrifty ways. He was born March 31, 1861, near Tiffin, Ohio, and is a son of John and Elizabeth
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(Smith) Ewalt. His father was born in Germany, in 1836, and came to this country with his parents when he was nineteen years of age. They pur- chased land near Tiffin, Ohio, which they cultivated, and upon which the grandfather, Nicholas Ewalt, lived until his death, in his seventy-second year. John Ewalt, Sr., remained at home, cultivating the land for his father, and at the latter's death fell heir to the homestead of three hundred and twenty acres. He continued to live here until his own death, Septem- ber 12, 1897. He married in Tiffin, Miss Elizabeth Smith, who also had come to this country with her parents, from Germany. She died at her home, in 1870, when our subject was but a child of nine years. They were industrious, thrifty people, and had accumulated a considerable property, owning in Tiffin real estate valued at four thousand dollars, besides the homestead. Four children were born to them, the two oldest dying in infancy; Anne, the third child, is the wife of Michael Wank, and resided near Winamac, this state; and the youngest is John, our subject.
John F. Ewalt attended the district school near Tiffin, Ohio, and later the parochial school of that village, until he was eighteen. He then chose the vocation of a farmer and tilled the soil on his father's farm until he was twenty-nine years of age, when he embarked on the sea of matrimony and moved to the farm now occupied by him, three miles northeast of Dunning- ton, in Benton county, Indiana. This farm contains one hundred and sixty acres and is devoted to general farming, while he also keeps a good grade of stock. Everything about his premises speaks of the care bestowed upon it.
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