USA > Indiana > Blackford County > Biographical memoirs of Blackford County, Ind. : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography embellished with portraits of many well known residents of Blackford County, Indiana > Part 64
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JONATHAN HITESMAN.
It affords the publishers much pleasure to present this brief and inadequate review of the life of the above named gentleman, in whose life there is much to commend. Filled with ambition, he unhesitatingly en- tered upon a course that promised financial prosperity ; filled with a love of country, he was among the noble few who immediately offered their services to defend their na- tion's honor when it was assailed at Sumter. In every emergency, throughout a busy and honored career, his duty has been nobly met, and no stain mars what has been a just and upright character.
Born in Huntington county, New York, while the cannon were booming in celebra- tion of the freedom of a people and the na- tion's taking its place among the first-class powers of the world, he seemed to breathe from his first breath the spirit of freedom and human liberty. His father was John Hitesman, of German stock, while his mother, Mary Robbins, was of English de- scent.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Being a strong lad, he decided to become a blacksmith and engaged as an apprentice, serving three years and eleven months up to his twenty-first birthday, receiving in com- pensation but his board and clothes. In the year 1838 he reached Cincinnati, Ohio, having worked for a while at Wheeling. He finally bought a shop at Moscow, Ohio, which he conducted for three years, in the meantime having, in 1840, been married to Miss Sarah Shetterley. Three years later · he removed to a six-hundred-and-forty-acre tract of land in Gallatin county, Illinois. However, after about six years spent in im- proving the farm, he returned to Ohio, and was soon after found operating a shop in the old home at Moscow, Clermont county. Until 1852 he worked at his trade principal- ly, part of the time, however, being spent as an engineer on a steamboat plying the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, visiting New Or- leans and St. Louis.
The gold fever had attacked him with such severity that, in 1852, securing several companions in Ohio, he started on the over- land trip to California. In a company of about twenty-one, fitt d with ox teams, they made the long and tiresome journey from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Gold Hill, Califor- nia, occupying one hundred and eleven days upon the road. After a few unsatisfactory efforts at prospecting, he took up his ham- mers and tongs, and, receiving from four- teen to eighteen dollars per day, was soon upon the road to prosperity. In a short time he became proprietor of a shop at Ne- vada City, which he conducted till April, 1853. He sold picks at seven dollars each, and as he could make twenty per day, he saved nearly one hundred dollars per day above his living, even though meat sold at thirty cents per pound, onions at one dollar
and potatoes at forty cents. He recalls the incident of paying two dollars and a half for one potato, it weighing six pounds.
Returning via the Nicaragua route, he soon resumed his old position at Moscow. The day after the memorable assault on Fort Sumter, when the nation was aroused to its danger, he was one who, without hesitation, volunteered his services to quell the rebellion. His enlistment was in Company I, One Hun- dred and Twentieth Ohio Volunteer In- fantry. The command was sent to Colum- bus, thence to Cincinnati, where it was em- ployed in erecting Camp Dennison. He had the honor of being one of the first two men ever placed on guard over that fort that fig- ured so conspicuously all through the war. When the term of his enlistment expired he resumed work in his shop, then located upon a farm he had secured in Brown county, Ohio. In 1865 he moved to his present farm, located three miles south of Hartford City, in Licking township. But six of the sixty acres was cleared and the house was simply a round-log pen. He set industrious- ly to work to make a farm, but also set up a shop in which he did the smith work for the neighborhood. He has at different times operated shops at Elizabethtown, at Upland and at Millgrove. His farm is now in a fine state of cultivation, being well tiled and improved.
Mr. Hitesman is a man of strong per- sonality and of a vigorous and hardy phys- ique. He was pronounced in his views on all public questions, being always a firm ad- hierent of the party that stood, at that time, for human liberty and personal freedom. Blackford county had an unenviable repu- tation, many of its citizens being as pro- nounced in their opposition views. Coming here at a time that political excitement ran
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high, our subject was at times brought into antagonism with some of the more rabid of different views, the contact at times culmi- nating in personal encounter. However, while never seeking a quarrel, his nature was to stand by his opinions, and in the course of a few years his even bearing established a confidence and won the respect of those who had at first been inclined to be antagonistic.
In September, 1887, Mr. Hitesman was called to part with the companionship of her with whom he had lived for more than forty years. September 26, 1891, he was united in marriage to Angeline, widow of Dr. L. M. Jackson, who is remembered as a physi- cian of Hartford City, but whose death oc- curred at Granville, Indiana. Her maiden name was Hurley, and she was born in Dela- ware county, Indiana. In early life she married Oliver C. Archer, of Clinton county, by which marriage three children were born : Lovinia Elizabeth, now deceased; Thomas Jefferson, of Warsaw, Indiana; and John Wesley Archer, of Marion. By her mar- riage to Dr. Jackson she was the mother of eight children, of whom four are living in 1900. They are: Arthur Egbert Jackson, of Converse; William M., of Alabama ; Cur- tis Otwell, of Muncie; and James Garfield Jackson, of Hartford City. Of nine chil- dren born to Mr. Hitesman, six are living, viz: Jonathan, a railway employe at Lo- gansport; William and Henry, of Licking township; Charley, of Hartford; Rebecca, wife of William Landon, of Hartford; and Mary Elizabeth, wife of Eli Inman, of Mill- grove.
The greater part of his life Mr. Hites- man has affiliated with the Methodist church. Fraternally he is a Mason. Being made a Mason in 1848, he, as the oldest member, is honored by his lodge, as is customary among
the craft, the Holy Bible, square and com- pass being carried by him at all public func- tions of the order.
GEORGE W. WYANDT.
The representative farmer whose name introduces this article, is a native of Ohio, born near the town of Convoy, VanWert county, on the 9th day of March, 1847. His parents were Simon and Elizabeth (Dull) Wyandt, and they had a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters, the subject of this sketch being the first in order of birth.
George W. Wyandt was reared to agri- cultural pursuits in his native county, and after attending the district schools for a few years was thrown upon his own re- sources by the untimely death of his father. This sad event occurred when young Wyandt was but thirteen years old, and two years later he assumed charge of the home farm; from that time until attaining his majority he looked after his mother's interests and contributed to the support of the other mem- bers of the family besides accumulating something for himself in the meantime.
At the age of twenty-one Mr. Wyandt engaged in the manufacture of lumber, op- erating a saw-mill with encouraging results until 1872, when he disposed of the same, came to Blackford county, Indiana, in the fall of the same year, and purchased his present farm in Harrison township. His original tract consisted of eighty acres in section 21, to which he has since added until at this time he is the possessor of one hun- dred acres, eighty-six of which are in a high state of cultivation, the rest well timbered wood land.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Mr. Wyandt is one of the progressive ag- riculturists of the community in which he lives, understanding every detail of the use- ful calling which he pursues according to the latest and most approved methods. The energy and good judgment displayed in everything he undertakes have resulted in substantial and well-merited rewards, and he now finds himself in comfortable circum- stances besides occupying a permanent place in the esteem of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Wyandt was married December 31, 1872, to Miss Lydia Mohler, who has borne him six children, namely: Leona A., wife of Rev. C. J. Roberts, a minister of the United Brethren church; Ora, wife of Lewis Schwarzkof; Orleffee, Bessie and two that died in infancy unnamed. Mr. and Mrs. Wyandt are valued members of the United Brethren church, noted for their many good deeds in the congregation to which they be- long. They are also popular in their com- munity, and have a large circle of friends here and elsewhere. Mr. Wyandt is a Re- publican in politics and as such was his par- ty's candidate in 1884 for sheriff, but failed of election by reason of the overwhelming Democratic majority in Blackford county. He has served his township one term as con- stable and four years as assessor and ac- quitted himself creditably in both capacities. He is this year his party's nomince for the office of county assessor.
JACOB HISER.
The gentleman whose biography is here- with presented is one of Harrison town- ship's native sons and also one of its repre-
sentative agriculturists. He was born on the farm where he now resides, July 22, 1860, and is the son of Simon Hiser, for- merly a well-known and popular citizen of this part of Blackford county.
Simon Hiser was born in Germany and accompanied his parents to the United States, becoming a citizen of Harrison town- ship, where he purchased and improved the place now owned and occupied by his son, the subject of this article. He married Eliza- beth Cale, who bore him two children : Lewis S., who died in Hartford City in the year 1893, and Jacob, and his widow followed him to the grave a number of years later, de- parting this life in 1892.
Jacob Hiser was educated in the common schools and grew to manhood on the farm, choosing agriculture for his life work. He remained with his mother, looking after her interests until his marriage, whch was sol- emnized on the 27th day of March, 1884. with Miss Jane Bradford, of Blackford county. After his marriage he began farm- ing for himself, which he has since success- fully continued, owning at this time a beat- tiful and valuable place of one hundred and five acres, one hundred of which are in a high state of cultivation, the rest well-tim- bered land. As a farmer Mr. Hiser ranks with the best in Blackford county, his place containing five improvements, with the soil developed to its full capacity of tillage. He is a wide-awake, progressive man of affairs, a local leader of the Democratic party and a careful student of political, industrial and economic questions. The Lutheran church embodies hi. religious belief and for a num- ber of years past he has been an active worker in the local congregation with which both himself and his estimable wife are con- nected. Mr. and Mrs. Hiser have an inter-
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esting family of four children whose names are as follows: Charley. Effie, Earl and Frank.
JOSEPH M. RAINES.
The name of Mr. Raines is familiar to the people of Harrison township, as he has long been identified with its development and is entitled to a place among its substan- tial citizens and representative self-made men. He is a native of Indiana, born Feb- ruary 2, 1847, in the county of Delaware, to which part of the state his father moved some time in the early '30s. George Raines, father of Joseph, was born June 20, 1811, in Highland county, Ohio, where, in February, 1832, he married Elizabeth Anderson. Shortly after the above date he became a resident of Delaware county, Indiana, where he lived until 1849, at which time he moved to Blackford county and purchased a farm of forty acres in the township of Harrison. Here he made his home until changing his residence, in 1856, to Jay county, where his death occurred in 1863. George and Eliza- beth Raines were the parents of a large fam- ily, twelve children in all, whose names and dates of birth are in the following order : Henry, born December 20, 1832, deceased ; John, October 10, 1834; Mary, October II, 1836, not living; Sarah E., October 8, 1838; George W., September 27, 1840, deceased; William A., May 21, 1843, deceased; Louisa K., April 6, 1845, dead; Joseph M., whose birth is noted above; Phœbe A., born March 29, 1849, deceased; Isaac and Anthony, twins, born December 14, 1851, both de- ceased ; and Charles, June 25, 1854.
Joseph M. Raines was three years of age when brought by his parents to Harrison
township. He accompanied the family to Jay county, and after his father's death took charge of the farm which he operated for his mother from the time he was sixteen until he attained his majority. In the mean- time, 1866, the family returned to Black- ford county, and in 1870 Mr. Raines pur- chased his first piece of real estate in Harri- son township, but did not move to the same, remaining with his mother until her death, in 1874. In 1882 he bought his present home place of sixty-two acres, in addition to which he has from time to time purchased other lands, until he now owns two hun- dred and eighty-one acres, the greater part of which is highly improved and very valu- able.
Mr. Raines' various holdings are the fruits of his own industry and superior busi- ness management. He began life with lit- tle or no assistance, and the position to which he has since attained as one of the successful farmers and wealthy land owners of Blackford county is directly traceable to good judgment combined with a well- formed resolution to succeed. As a farmer he long since achieved prominence, in addi- tion to which he also has the reputation of being one of the most successful stock rais- ers in the township where he lives. In this connection it may be proper to state that Mr. Raines derives considerable income from the six oil wells on his land, and there is also on one of his farms one of the best gas wells in Blackford county.
Mr. Raines was married, December 24, 1874, to Mary C., daughter of David Hess, who has borne him children as follows : Amanda E., deceased; Nora A., wife of M. C. Pugh; George H., Leroy R., Eva, Ida, William, Grace and Levi M.
Mr. Raines is a gentleman of intelligence
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THE BIOGRAPIIICAL RECORD.
and enjoys in a marked degree the confi- dence and esteem of his fellow citizens of Harrison township. He keeps fully abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to ag- riculture and has always been an intelligent reader of political literature, forming his opinions only after mature and careful delib- erations. He is a stanch supporter of the Pop- ulist party and has the courage of his convic- tions upon the leading questions now before the American public. While free and even ag- . gressive in defense of principles he believes to be right, he is at the same time tolerant of the views of others and numbers his friends by the score, irrespective of political differences. No man in Harrison township is more highly respected and none have done more for the general good of the community in which he resides.
JONAS B. HOOVER.
Jonas B. Hoover was born in Richland unty, Ohio, near the city of Mansfield, bruary 12, 1856, the son of Aaron and Eliza (Ballyeat) Hoover, the parents both natives of the Buckeye state. He is the sec- ond of a family of eight children, whose names are as follows: Isaialı, deceased ; Jonas, the subject of this sketch; Alfred, a resident of Van Wert, Ohio; Emma, twin of Alfred, is the wife of Orville Pierson, of Canton, Ohio; John resides in Van Wert; Reuben, deceased ; Abraham also makes Van Wert his home, as does Mary, the youngest member of the group. When the subject was two years old his parents moved from Ashland to Van Wert county, and it was near the seat of justice in the latter county that he grew to manhood on a farm, attend -.
ing meantime the public schools of his neigh- borhood. He remained with his parents until his twenty-fourth year, but before that time, on reaching his majority, he purchased and operated a threshing machine for some time in various parts of the county of Van Wert.
On the 14th day of November, 1880, Mr. Hoover was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Terry, and the same year took his bride to Blackford county, Indiana, locating about two miles from Montpelier, in Har- rison township, where he purchased the farm which has since been his home. He has made a careful study of agriculture and the neat and orderly condition of his farm and the success with which it is tilled prove that intelligence as well as labor is neces- sary in order to obtain the best results from efforts put forth. While giving his atten- tion in the main to general farming, Mr. Hoover has not neglected stockraising, which, combined with agriculture, has made him one of the prosperous and well-to-do men of his community. Fortunately for him, his farm lies in the midst of the far- famed Indiana oil belt, in consequence of which he has leased much of his land to par- ties who have already drilled thereon three paying wells, besides one well which pro- duces an abundant flow of natural gas. From these sources he derives considerable income, and from present indications this is likely to be largely augmented by future operations now in prospect.
Mr. Hoover is a public-spirited man, keenly alive to whatever benefits his town- ship and county, while in his immediate neighborhood he usually takes the lead in all movements calculated to promote moral and religious conditions of citizenship. He is an active worker in the Baptist church,
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and for some time has filled the office of president of Harrison Township Sunday School Association. For a period of fifteen years he has been a deacon in the local con- gregation to which he belongs, and to his self-denying efforts is the church largely indebted for much of the prosperity which it today enjoys. Politically he is a Republi- can, but by no means a partisan or aspirant for official honors at the hands of his fellow citizens.
Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are the parents of two interesting and promising children, Wil- lic and Mabel, both at home.
JACOB I. LEACH.
Jacob I. Leach, a successful farmer and stockraiser of Harrison township, is a native of Wells county, Indiana, and one of three sons born to Stephen and Margaret ( Wood- ward) Leach. He is the youngest member of the family, and the only one living at this time, his oldest brother, Francis, having met death by drowning, and George W., the sec- ond in order of birth, died in the year 1873:
Jacob I. Leach was born in the township of Chester, Wells county, September 20, 1855, and grew to manhood on his father's farm, attending in the meantime the district schools until ill health compelled him to lay aside his studies. He early became ac- quainted with the rugged duties of farm life and remained under the parental roof until his marriage, which was solemmized on the 19th day of April, 1894, with Miss Rosila Shaw.
Mrs. Leach came to Blackford county with her parents in 1877, settling on a farm
in Harrison township where in due time she formed the acquaintance of the gentleman who is now her husband. Immediately after marriage Mr. Leach brought his wife to the place where they now reside, a beautiful and highly cultivated farm of one hundred and eighty-six acres lying in sections 1 and 6, the residence being situated on the former. Ninety acres of this place are in a successful state of tillage and the appearance of the dwelling house, barn, outbuildings and fences and, indeed, the general neat aspect of the entire place bespeak the presence of an intel- ligent and progressive agriculturist. In addi- tion to tilling the soil, Mr. Leach devotes con- siderable attention to raising live stock, his breeds of cattle, horses, hogs and sheep ranking with the best in the country and add- ing very materially to his income.
Mr. Leach's land lies in the richest sec- tion of the Indiana oil belt and there are already eleven wells on various parts of his estate, with others contemplated. From these he has derived no inconsiderable money while the prospect for still more liberal returns in the future is certainly most encouraging. Financially Mr. Leach has met with success beyond that attained by the majority of farmers, his lands in the township being among the most valuable in the county, in addition to which he also owns a fine little farm of forty acres in the county of Wells. He is progressive in all the term implies, taking a lively interest in every enterprise having for its object the advancement of his community, materially or otherwise, and the people of Harrison look upon him as one of their representative citizens. Politically he is a Republican and in religion belongs to the Christian church, as does also his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Leach have one child, a promising little daughter by the name of Beatrice.
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WILLIAM W. CLINE.
The well-known gentleman whose name introduces this article is among Blackford county's oldest native sons, having been born in the township of Licking October 30, 1837. Paternally he is descended from German and Dutch ancestry, and possesses in a marked degree the characteristics of those two sturdy races.
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His grandfather on his father's side, a native of Germany, came to the United States many years ago and settled in Mus- kingum county, Ohio; and the grandmother, whose birth occurred in Holland, was an early settler of the same county and state.
The subject's father, Michael Cline, was born in the county of Muskingum, state of Ohio, on the 17th day of February, 1812. On the 16th day of May, 1833, he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Geyer, whose par- ents were natives of Pennsylvania. Miss Geyer was born in Westmoreland county, of that state, March 15, 1810, and with her par- ents, Daniel and Susanna Geyer, emigrated to Muskingum county, Ohio, and afterward removed to and settled in what is now Lick- ing township, Blackford county, Indiana. Michael and Elizabeth Cline moved from their Ohio home, in 1834, to what is now Blackford county, Indiana, and settled in a log cabin, located on eight acres of land situ- ated five miles south and one mile west of what is now Hartford City, having pur- chased the land of the United States gov- ernment by entry at the land office, then lo- cated in Fort Wayne, Allen county, Indiana. When a young man, Michael Cline served an apprenticeship of three years, learning the potter's trade, near Zanesville, Ohio, and af- ter moving to his wild western home devoted a part of his time to his trade, and the bal-
ance of his time was devoted to clearing up the land and farming. The better to afford his family (which consisted of one son and two daughters) educational advantages, he removed from the farm in November, 1847, to Hartford (now Hartford City), where he purchased property and worked at his trade with success until 1870. The carly youthful years of William W. Cline were passed on the farm upon which his father lo- cated in 1834. The country at that time being new and undeveloped, he has witnessed the remarkable change which in the last sixty years have transformed the forest into cultivated fields and advanced the country to its present condition of prosperity and civilization.
Being of a mechanical turn of mind, and being the only son, through the inducement of his parents, young William learned the potter's rade and worked in the shop with his father until 1866, when he engaged in the manufacture of drain tile, being the first man to engage in that business in Blackford county. In the indifferent public schools of that early day he obtained a knowledge of the elementary branches of learning, but by dili- gent application and private study he made rapid progress. Being qualified, and a young men of energy and good character, in 1855 he was licensed by the county school examiner, Wellington Stewart, to teach his first school in Licking township. A school term at that time consisted of sixty-five days, and the school term would commence in December and end in March. He taught four consecutive winter terms, gaining quite a reputation as an efficient instructor. Dur- ing the summer season he worked in the pot- ter's shop with his father. In September, 1860, he purchased property in Hartford City, Indiana, but moved to his present loca-
William W. Coline.
Harriet. A Cline.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tion, North Walnut street, April 13, 1869. On November 21, 1861, he was united in marriage, by Rev. S. T. Stout, to Miss Har- riet Atwood Chafee, an estimable young woman, who was his schoolmate in earlier days. Miss Chafee was born October 20, 1839, in Hancock county, Ohio. Her fa- ther, William Chafee, who for many years was an elder in the Baptist church, was a native of Connecticut, his birth having oc- curred in the county of Windham, that state, on the 22nd day of April, 1801. The mother, Abigail Thayer Chafee, a woman of education and refinement, was born De- cember 19, 1805, in Herkimer county, New York. Rev. William and Mrs. Chafee lo- cated in Hartford City in the year 1850.
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