USA > Indiana > Wells County > Biographical memoirs of Wells County, Indiana : embracing a comprehensive compendium of local biography, memoirs of representative men and women of the county whose works of merit have made their names imperishable, and special articles by Hugh Dougherty [et al.] > Part 36
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pleasure and will be supplied with his cloth- ing until he shall have attained his twenty- first year.
In politics Mr. Lee was reared a Demo- crat, has never been over active in party mat- ters and votes for the man he deems best suited for office.
REV. PETER VITZ.
Among the men who have indelibly stamped the impress of their personality upon the communities with which they have been connected is the gentleman whose name appears above. Deeply impressed with the responsibilities incumbent upon one of his calling, he has at all times and under all cir- cumstances endeavored to perform life's du- ties so as to do the greatest good to the greatest number. That his life has been im- measurably beneficial to the world is the con- sensus of opinion among those at all con- versant with his life career and a volume of this character would be incomplete were there failure to make mention of him.
Rev. Peter Vitz is the son of Fred Vitz, and is a native of Germany, his birth having occurred October 6, 1825. His ancestry is traced back to the French Huguenots who, because of religious persecution, were forced to leave France and took up their homes in Germany. At an early age Peter Vitz was left an orphan and was thus deprived of the tender and solicitous care of parents. He early entered upon life's active duties, his first employment being as a worker or ap- prentice in silk mills. He was at the same time given an opportunity to attend school and, being of a studious disposition, was en-
(MRS. PETER VITZ.
REV. PETER VITZ.
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abled to gain a fair education. He con- tinuéd his work in the silk mills and by closely studying his work and by his in- defatigable industry was at length enabled to command good wages. According to the custom of his country, he entered the mili- tary service of Prussia and served for five years, receiving but scant pay. He had long been convinced that in America lay larger opportunities and wider possibilities for a man of energy and ambition and determined as soon as possible to make the change. He was of a deeply religious nature and paid close attention to his church and her re- quirements, and the fact was forcibly im- pressed upon him that his German breth- ren in the United States needed spiritual help and guidance. In July, 1853, he em- barked for America with the definite inten- tion of engaging in missionary work among the German population . and went im- mediately to Wisconsin for that purpose. Wishing to become better equipped for the work, and learning of a college at Tiffin, Ohio, he entered that institution in 1853 and pursued a two-years theological course, after which he was again sent into the field. He came at first to Adams county, Indiana, where he organized a congregation and erected a church near where the town of Magley now is. Under his ministry the society continued to grow until it is now one of the best country churches in Adams county. Later he organized a church near Honduras and remained in charge there for several years, a large number of communi- cants being added to the church through his influence. From this charge he went to Huntington, Indiana, where a church had been started, but which was in a weak and somewhat demoralized condition. When
he entered upon his work at that point there were but ten members, but as a result of his energetic and persistent efforts, at the close of his ministry a few years later the society numbered three hundred members and a neat and substantial brick edifice had been erected. He was next called to take charge of a congregation at Lafayette, Indiana, also in an unsatisfactory condition, and, as else- where, his work here was accompanied by most remarkable and gratifying results. He ministered to the society there about eight years and succeeded in building the member- ship up to about three hundred. The church was at that time a strong, active and ag- gressive body of Christians and the influence of his work there will remain always as a blessed benediction upon that church, as upon all other churches over which he min- istered. Upon leaving Lafayette the sub- ject located at Vera Cruz, Wells county, where for over six years he was in charge of a congregation and then he returned to a tarm which he had purchased in Huntington county, this state. But one of his tempera- ment and deep interest in the cause in which he had so long labored could not remain in- active and he soon went to Wisconsin and for three years served a church there in a pastoral capacity. He returned again to his Huntington county farm, but again was called into the. work and for eleven years served as pastor over a church in Delphos, Ohio, at the end of that time coming to Vera Cruz, Wells county, where he has since re- sided.
Peter Vitz was united in marriage in Germany to Miss Catherine Jorris, and to this marriage there was born one son, Fredrich, now a resident of Huntington county, this state. Mrs. Vitz died in Wis-
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consin, and subsequently Mr. Vitz chose for his second wife Miss Mary A. Jacob, of Toledo, Ohio. This union was blessed by the birth of nine children, six sons and three daughters, namely : Martin received a good common school education and afterward graduated from a theological school at Tiffin, Ohio, and one in Wisconsin, and is now the successful pastor of a church in Cleveland, Ohio; Otto supplemented his earlier education by graduating from the theological seminary near Sheboygan, Wis- consin, and is now pastor of a church at Louisville, Kentucky; Henry graduated from the same seminary and has charge of a church at Indianapolis, Indiana ; Albert is a farmer and resides in Huntington county, this state; Martha is the wife of Rev. P. S. Kohler, of St. Mary's, Ohio; Emma is the wife of Rev. H. B. Robrock, of Sandusky, Ohio; Anna L. is the wife of E. Eberhardt, proprietor of a laundry at Indianapolis; Na- thaniel is a student in the theological school at Tiffin, Ohio; O. P. is a graduate of the Sheboygan Seminary, Wisconsin, in the class of 1897 and the same year received a call to the charge at Vera Cruz, of which he is still the pastor. He married Miss Barbara Emmer, of Crestline, Ohio, and they have two children, Edwin D., born May 29, 1899, and Anna M., born July 26, 1902. In his political relations Mr. Vitz is allied with the Democratic party, believing the principles announced in the platform of that party to be those most conducive to the welfare of the people of this country. Father and son alike have closely endeared themselves to the people of this county, who value them be- cause of the eminent services they have per- formed in the interest of humanity. They are generous and manly men and their un-
tiring labors in the cause of Christianity have endeared them to their many acquaint- ances and aroused in all with whom they come in contact an admiration seldom en- joyed by preacher or layman. Broad-mind- ed, charitable and devout, they well deserve the high regard in which they are held and the good they have accomplished in the name of God and humanity is incalculable by any human standard.
THADDEUS S. HURST.
A gallant ex-soldier of the Civil war and now a prosperous farmer near Ruth, Wells county, Indiana, Thaddeus S. Hurst was born January 26, 1845, in Stark county, Ohio, a son of Samuel Hurst, who was born in Pennsylvania October 2, 1822, a son of George and Naomi, the former of whom was a native of Ireland and the latter of the Keystone state. From Ireland, George Hurst came to America and with his family settled in Stark county, Ohio, where Samuel grew to manhood and was reared to farming, and where George and his wife passed the re- mainder of life.
Samuel Hurst was joined in marriage, in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1844, to Isabella S. Brackney, who was born Novem- ber 8, 1825, in Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of Samuel and Hannah Brackney, the former of whom was a native of New Jersey and the latter of Pennsylvania. He went back to Wells county and for some time was engaged in farming. In 1847 Samuel Hurst came to Wells county, Indiana, and lo- cated on forty acres of land where the Ruth postoffice now stands, but which was then
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in a wilderness. His only neighbors at that time were Abram Stahl, to the northeast, Samuel Watts to the southeast, and Robert Smith to the west, and there he died in 1883 and his widow in 1884. To Samuel Hurst and his wife were born three chil- dren, viz : Thaddeus, whose name opens this biographical record: Albina, deceased wife of Henry Bower, and Mary, wife of William Sark, who resides in Bluffton.
Thaddeus S. Hurst was educated in the public schools of Nottingham township, which he attended until he was nineteen years of age, He then, fired by the glorious patriotism that inspired the breast of the American youth of that day, promptly re- sponded to the call to arms and enlisted in Company A, Forty-seventh Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, on the 20th of March, 1864, and took part in all the marches, skirmishes and battles in which his regiment was en- gaged until November, 1865. when he was honorably discharged. During his service he was present at the skirmish at Atchafal- aya Bayou, Louisiana, and was here struck in the left side by a piece of shell. It hit his rubber blanket and the belt of his cartridge box. While on the skirmish line at Alexan- dria, Virginia, he was startled by a rebel minie ball which struck a brick, knocking the pieces into his face. He also accompanied General Banks on his famous Red river ex- pedition, and was later present at the siege of Mobile and the capture of Fort Blakeley and Spanish Fort. He was mustered out at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and was honor- ably discharged at Indianapolis. He has al- ways been an admirer of Indiana's great war governor, Morton.
After returning from his military service, during which he never shirked his duty, but
endured all the hardships of a soldier's life with fortitude and indomitable courage, Mr. Hurst worked out by the day in Wells coun- ty for about five years, or until 1870, when he went to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in the manufacture of queens- ware, and later continued at day work until 1887. In the meantime Mr. Hurst married Miss Ida Lockwood, who was born June 7, 1860, a daughter of George A. and Esther Ann (Schooley) Lockwood, and settled on the farm he now owns and occupies. Mr. Hurst has cleared up this farm of ten acres, has ditched it well, and drained it with over five hundred rods of tiling, and in addition to his farming operates three oil wells which produce about four tanks per month.
The marriage of Thaddeus S. Hurst and Ida Lockwood has been crowned with four children, namely: Chloe, born April 26, 1887; Chester. H., born July 27, 1888 ; Hugh H., born July 27, 1891, and Hazel, born April 1, 1896.
Mrs. Hurst and her oldest daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which they are active workers and to the maintenance of which they are liberal and willing contributors, and fraternally Mr. Hurst is a member of the Lew Dailey Post No. 33, G. A. R., at Bluffton. In politics Mr. Hurst has always been a Republican, and in April, 1890, was elected township trustee by a majority of fifty-one in a pre- cinct which had had no Republican trustee since 1866. Mr. Hurst has been chairman of his precinct for six years, has been a del- egate to various conventions of his party, and is a delegate at present to its judicial convention. Mr. Hurst is not only very pop- ular with his party, but he is a great favorite in the community in which he lives and in
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which he and his family enjoy the sincere respect of all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance.
Thaddeus S. Hurst, it will be perceived from the foregoing, has placed himself in his present position through his own unaided efforts and indomitable industry, backed by a life of strict morality, and the time has never come when his word has been doubted by friend or foe, but it is a pleasure to add that the latter are few and far between.
JOHN H. REEVES.
Chief among the breeders of fancy live stock in Wells county, Indiana, as well as among the thrifty farmers, stands John H. Reeves. He was born June 4, 1864, in Adams county, Indiana, and is a son of Den- nis and Nancy (Alberson) Reeves, natives of Randolph county, Indiana.
1 Dennis Reeves was twice married, but about a year after his first marriage he was bereft of his wife, and he next married Nan- cy Alberson, in Adams county. This lady is a daughter of Joshua and Catherine (Deeter) Alberson, who were the parents of ten children, five of whom were mutes. Af- ter his second marriage Dennis Reeves came to Wells county (in 1865) and purchased the farm of eighty acres on which John H. Reeves now lives. Dennis lived here until about 1882, when he purchased forty acres. in Adams county, and has virtually resided there ever since, although at present living in Bryan, Indiana, at the age of seventy-six years and partially blind. His wife is now sixty-five years old, and has borne her hus- band eight children, namely: John H.,
whose name opens this biography ; Kather- ine, wife of Lewis Nusbaumer ; Winfield, in Randolph county, Indiana; Joshua, deceas- ed, as are also James, Thomas, Mary and Willis.
John H. Reeves attended the Harper school house in Nottingham township, Wells county, until eighteen years of age, when his father removed to Adams county, accom- panied by John H., who worked until twen- ty-eight years old for his father for no recompense beyond his expenses.
September 5, 1885. John H. Reeves was united in marriage with Miss Martha E. Coffman, who was born July 27, 1867, in Wells county, a daughter of Jacob and Amelia Coffman, the former of whom was born in Hocking county, Ohio, and the latter in Wells county, Indiana. Jacob Coffman is a son of Andrew Coffman, one of the old pioneers of Wells county, and with his wife, Amelia, now resides in Ruth, Wells county, in quiet retirement and highly esteemed by their neighbors; they had born to them thir- teen children, in the following order: Re- becca, deceased; Martha E., wife of John H. Reeves ; Nancy, deceased ; James, deceased ; Peter, residing in Wells county; Charlotte, wife of William Fordice, of Huntington; Benjamin, deceased; Charles, in Wells coun- ty ; Mary, Edward, Bertha, Alta, deceased, and Esther.
John H. Reeves for eight years after his marriage continued to live and work on his father's farm, which he then purchased. It is but just to add that the father deducted one thousand dollars from the purchase price, however, in consideration of the labor the latter had previously performed, leaving a balance of eighteen hundred dollars to be paid by the son, who has erected all the build-
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ings necessary, has underdrained the fields and meadows, and has sixty-four acres in a good state of cultivation ; but he gives special attention to the breeding of Berkshire hogs, while he does not neglect other classes of live stock.
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Reeves have been born six children, namely : Glennie, August 26, 1886 ; Tressie, November 25, 1889; Earnest, January 30, 1892; Harold, February 14, 1895; Baby Reeves, January. 3, 1899, and an infant daughter, deceased.
In 1896 John H. Reeves and P. B. Al- berson purchased a store in Phenix from Thomas Bouse and for some time conducted a prosperous general trade, Mr. Reeves sub- sequently selling his interest to Charles Mann; at the present time Mr. Reeves holds an interest in the fine Percheron Norman horse, Daniel, and of this animal he has charge. He also has six producing oil wells on his land, which have netted him about three thousand dollars.
Mr. and Mrs. Reeves are active as well as devout members of the United Brethren church at Phenix, of which Mr. Reeves is also a member of the board of trustees. He is likewise a member of Lodge No. 721, I. O. O. F., at Petroleum, in which he has filled all the chairs and represented his lodge in the grand lodge; he is at present a member of Encampment No. 145, of Pennville. He and wife are likewise members of Rebekah Lodge No. 571 at Petroleum, and Mrs. Reeves has missed attending its meetings but twice in two years. In politics Mr. Reeves is a Democrat and is very active in local affairs, having been largely instru- mental in causing the Phenix gravel road to be laid out.
MARTIN KIZER.
A native of Champaign county, Ohio, Martin Kizer was born April 24, 1841, a son of Martin Kizer, who was born in the same county December 19, 1819, and on the same farm. Martin Kizer, Sr., was a son of Jos- eph and Catherine (Coner) Kizer, who were natives of Virginia. Joseph Kizer settled with his family in Champaign county, Ohio, in 1813, and there passed the remainder of life, having had born to them eight children, namely : Peter, Philip, Daniel, Benjamin, Charles, Polly, Cornelius and Martin, all now deceased.
Martin Kizer, Sr., grew to manhood in Champaign county, Ohio, and there married Mary A. Rinaker, who was born June 4, 1820, in Page county, Virginia. She was a daughter of Abraham and Mary Rinaker, also natives of the Old Dominion, and after his marriage Martin Kizer, Sr., and his wife lived in the old homestead until the fall of 1851, when they removed to Adams county, where Martin, Sr., bought two hundred and two acres in the woods at two dollars and a half per acre, put up a cabin eighteen by twenty feet and cleared up four acres, hiring Robert Simminson to do the clearing. By the end of the first year seven acres had been cleared, and from that time on six or eight acres were cleared per year until sixty-five acres were placed under cultivation. On this farm Martin Kizer died November 6, 1878, while Mary A. is yet living, aged eighty-two years old, at Beuna Vista, with her daughter, Mrs. Rosanna Christman. - To Martin, Sr., and wife were born five children, viz: Mar- tin, whose name opens this record; Cather- ine, deceased wife of Joseph Runyon ; Philip, deceased ; Rosanna, wife of William Christ- man, and Emanuel.
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Martin Kizer, at the age of ten years, came with his parents to Indiana. They lo- cated in Adams county, where young Martin attended the public schools until twenty-one years old, and then taught one term, but did not like the vocation on acount of its being too confining. He continued to live with his father until he reached his twenty-second year, and on July 30, 1863, married Mary Ann Runyon, who was born October 7, 1840, in Champaign county, Ohio, where her parents, John and Mary Runyon, natives of Virginia, had settled in 1842. From Champaign county the Runyon family moved to Adams county in 1842 and lived under a beech tree until they had an oppor- tunity of putting up a cabin, and there the parents died, the mother at the age of sixty- six years and the father at eighty-three.
After his marriage Martin Kizer erected a cabin on his father's farm, in which he lived four years. The father then presented the son with a forty-acre tract of wild land, on which the latter built a dwelling, eighteen by twenty-two feet, and here he and wife lived until 1883. Mr. Kizer cleared off his forty-acre tract, then sold it and bought one hundred and twenty acres, to which he re- moved and on which he still resides. The high ground on this place had been cleared, but there were no ditches in the low ground. Since then Mr. Kizer has, however, done an immense amount of ditching and draining and has made many other improvements. He has seven producing oil wells on his premises, yielding from ninety to one hun- dred and fifty dollars per month, and besides carrying on general farming he breeds Ches- ter White and Duroc hogs and Holstein cattle.
The marriage of Martin Kizer and Mary
Ann Runyon has been crowned with five children, viz: Emma C., born August 13, 1866, is now the wife of Andrew Burgess and has five children, Mildred, Josie, Wel- ford, Bessie and Marie; Thomas E., born April 4, 1869, is a teacher in Wells county and is also attending school at Angola ; Cora E., born September 3, 1871, was married to Samuel Dickerson, but died November 29, 1899; William W., born February 13, 1874, is still with his parents; Orlando O., born February 5, 1877, is also at the paternal home.
Mr. Kizer is a Democrat in politics and has served as trustee of Adams township. In religion he and family are Methodists and to his church Greenwood cemetery in Adams county was donated by Martin Kizer, Sr.
When Martin Kizer, the younger, started housekeeping he had one yearling colt and a cow, but no swine, and he also had thirty-five dollars in cash, but through his industry and skill he has been able to add continuously to his possessions ever since and today stands among the most substantial and respected farmers of his township and community.
HENRY BOWER.
Many of the early settlers of Indiana were natives of Pennsylvania. They did not all come direct from the Keystone state but most of them sojourned a number of years in some part of Ohio before coming to the land of the Hoosier. The Bower fam- ily was among those who entered from Pennsylvania through the gateway of Ohio. Henry Bower, the subject of this sketch, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, August
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16, 1846. His parents and grandparents were natives of Pennsylvania, who emigrat- ed to Ohio in the early part of the last cen- tury. Simon and Hannah Bower were his grandparents and Joel Bower was his father. The latter married, in Ohio, Susan Shoe- maker, who was a daughter of Henry Shoe- maker. After his marriage Joel followed the business of making and repairing shoes.
In 1853, believing he could materially better the condition of his family by doing so, Joel Bower moved with his wife and chil- dren to Nottingham township, Wells county, Indiana. They spent their first winter on the old Henry King farm and in the spring built a log house on their own land, in the woods, the farm where Henry Bower, the subject, now resides. The remainder of the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Bower was spent upon this place. They were the parents of ten children, only six of whom are now living, Henry, Simon, Ephraim L., Jacob, Noah and Mahlon. Each received the benefit of a good common school education and are worthy, useful citizens.
Until he had attained his majority Henry Bower remained in the employ of his father. When he was twenty-one years of age his father turned over to him the customary re- ward of the time for the youth who had helped his father until he was twenty-one, viz : a horse, bridle and saddle. His father then offered him employment by the month at good wages. He accepted and worked for his father until March, 1868, when he was united in marriage to Miss Albina Hurst, a native of Darke county, Ohio. Her parents were Samuel and Sabella Hurst, who were among the early settlers of Wells county and who continued to reside there until their deaths. Mrs. Bower died December 18,
1900, leaving her husband and seven chil- dren to mourn her loss. The children are: Clara married Harvey Foust, who died re- cently, leaving a widow with two children, Lora and Estella M .; Sabilla married James G. Nute and they have two children, Grace and Ruth ; Ephraim married Nannie Oswalt, lives just west of his father and cultivates his father's lands; they have one child, Merle; Susan married Art Fetters and they have two children, Gladys and Ethel; Eli is a school teacher and resides with his widowed sister, Mrs. Harvey Foust; Jennie wedded John Cosart, of Chester township, and Hattie is still at home. Up to the time of her marriage, Susan, Mrs. Fetters, had also been a teacher.
Soon after his marriage Henry Bower settled on seventy-six acres of woodland, half a mile south of Poneto. Here the family resided for about thirteen years, the husband and father clearing the land and having to work much of the time away from home in order to make a living for his fam- ily. In the beginning of their domestic career the Bowers were not possessed of much property. He had a horse and later secured a start in swine by purchasing a sow and pigs. In 1871 he sold the place they first set- tled on after he had cleared about thirty acres, and purchased the place on which he now lives, one hundred and twenty acres. At the time of the purchase about sixty acres were cleared on this place. Ninety acres are now cleared out of the one hundred that re- main, he having sold twenty acres, which is now owned by his son Ephraim. The place is splendidly improved, between fifteen hundred and sixteen hundred rods of tiling having been put in on the place. He breeds. feeds and rears all kind of stock, to which
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he devotes his entire attention, the farm be- ing rented. There are five oil wells upon his place that are bringing him each month sixty dollars, and he has location for three more. Farming has formed the entire life- work of Mr. Bower. In politics he was a Democrat, but of late years he has refrained from voting, not taking enough interest in the campaign to go to the polls. He is not a member of any religious denomination nor of any fraternal order, but has no objec- tion whatever to either. He likes to hear a good discourse by an able speaker on almost any subject and sometimes attends church when the prospects of hearing a good ser- mon are good. He is a thoughtful, conserva- tive, prudent man, with no ambition what- ever to be considered either learned or bril- liant. For himself he says he has endeav- ored to fill the little niche in life well. Sins, both of omission and commission, he has been scrupulously careful to avoid, but he is human and it is human to err. However, if some of the "truly good" people could point 10 a life with as little blemish, the world would have been many times brighter than it has been.
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