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 57
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Dr. J. Holcomb was united in marriage in 1889 with Miss Charity A. Swain, a na- tive of North Carolina and a lady of good family and well educated. To this happy union have been born two children, viz : Bertha, in May, 1890, and Effie May, in March, 1892. The parents are members of the Baptist church at Liberty Center, and the Doctor is a member of Bluffton Lodge No. . 145, F. & A. M., and is likewise a Royal Arch Mason. He is also a member of the Red Men's lodge at Barber's Mill, in which he has filled all the offices and which he has represented in the grand lodge. Dr. Holcomb is one of the substantial Democrats of Rock
Creek township and Barber's Mill, but while he is sincere in his political convictions he takes little active interest in his party's work, outside of the exercise of his fran- chise. He is very popular personally and is widely known in Rock Creek township, as well as in Bluffton and throughout the country, to nearly all parts of which his prac- tice has extended. The Doctor is a mem- ber of the Wells County Medical Association and is medical examiner for the State Life Insurance Company and the Meridian Life & Trust Company of Indianapolis, and also for the Escanaba (Iowa) Life Insurance Company.
Because of his extensive private prac- tice and his official professional duties, the Doctor's time is pretty well filled in, but he finds opportunity to pass many felicitous hours in the domestic circle, to which he is warmly attached, being an affectionate hus- band and an indulgent father. While the fortunate and successful professional man in many instances attains an enviable reputa- tion through fortuitous circumstances and empirical practices, it is the observant and re- flective practitioner, who mentally digests every clinical and even surgical case that comes within his observation or cognizance. He weighs all symptoms, which are often de- ceiving, diagnoses each case as it develops itself, and invariably reaches a conclusion that fully justifies his treatment of his pa- tient, irrespective of the practice of his sci- entific brethren who have had experience in similar cases in past time. While as a gen- eral rule, the combined experience of many exceeds that of a few, the discriminating judgment of such a man as Dr. Holcomb will at times strike facts that prove to be of wonderful influence in the profession,
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otherwise why have Eustace, Harvey and Jenner become immortal ?
WILLIAM SHEETS.
While a gentleman of most unassuming habits, William Sheets is one of the very popular residents of Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, where he owns three hundred and twenty-eight acres of good farming land, now worth at least twenty thousand dollars. He was born in Hunt- ington county, Indiana, August 4, 1848, is a son of John and Julia A. (Wyatt) Sheets, and is now in the prime of life.
John Sheets, the father of William Sheets, was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he went to Ohio, and a few years later came to Indiana and entered a tract of land, in 1836, in Rock Creek township, Huntington county, of which he took posses- sion in 1838. On this farm he lived for a number of years and then removed to Hunt- ington, where he resided thirteen years, then returned to his farm and passed the remain- der of his life at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mary C. Leavell, dying February 17, 1902. John Sheets was a remarkably en- terprising man and through his own indus- try had acquired at the time of his death three hundred and twenty acres of good land, all in Huntington county, Indiana.
As a matter of retrospect, it may be stated that John Sheets was twice married. His first marriage took place July 12, 1838, and the second July 12, 1884, there being a space of forty-six years between the two marriage ceremonies. To the second mar- riage no children have been born, but to the
first there were six, who were named and are now conditioned in life as follows : Frederick, residing in Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana; Sarah, who is married to Eli McCallister; Margaret married William Cariger, and is now de- ceased ; William is the subject of this rec- ord; Mary C., wife of Frank Leavell, of Rock Creek township, Huntington county, and John M., deceased.
William Sheets, of this sketch, was reared on his father's farm in Huntington county, received a very good education in the district schools and the Roanoke Semi- nary, and for some time taught school in Huntington county. On May 9, 1872, he married Miss Malissa J. Thompson, who was born in Huntington county, Indiana, December 29, 1854, and is a daughter of George S. and Lydia (Helton) Thompson, who were among the early pioneers of Hunt- ington county. To Mr. Sheets' union with Miss Thompson seven children have been born, namely: Mary A., now the wife of John O. Redding ; Minnie K., who was mar- ried to Irwin Guldin, but who, with her husband, is now deceased; Charles F., who is still unmarried; Stella married Oliver B. McAfee and resides in Wells county ; Julia, Bessie and Josie are still single and reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Sheets are also rear- ing a grandchild, Charley J. Guldin. Mr. and Mrs. Sheets are members of the Dis- ciples' church at Buckeye, Huntington county, to the support of which they are most liberal contributors and in the work of which they are among the most active par- takers. In politics Mr. Sheets is decidedly a Democrat and is a hard worker for his party in all its operations in Rock Creek township. He has served as a member of
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the advisory board, but has never sought an office for the sake of honor or emolu- ment. He is, nevertheless, very popular as a citizen and a party man, and but few resi- dents of Rock Creek township are held in higher esteem by the general public than is the subject.
LEWIS GESLER.
As an instance of the unvarying success which follows intelligent industry, that of Lewis Gesler, of Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, is quite notable, as the reader will glean from the facts which are detailed in the following paragraphs. The parents of the subject were of German descent. Lewis Gesler was born October 30, 1851, but the father was summoned to . another world when the son was about six years old. The mother, being in strait- ened circumstances, placed the lad out at work when he was about twelve years of age, but continued to provide him with clothing and other necessaries of minor character, retaining for her own use his small earnings. At the age of sixteen years Lewis Gesler came to Wells county, Indiana, and found employment with Henry Edris, for whom he worked two years at fourteen dollars per month, and in this time saved considerable money. He continued to work out by the month for other parties until he had acquired five hundred dollars, which he invested in eighty acres of his present farm in Rock Creek township, al- though he was obliged to go in debt to some extent. He worked for Wierly Lamb three years, then bought land until he owned at one time two hundred acres, all of which he
paid for out of his own earnings with the exception of five hundred dollars received from home.
In March, 1876, Lewis Gesler married Miss Calista Johnson, daughter of Jonas Johnson, and to this happy union four chil- dren have added to the felicity of the home of the parents, and are named, in order of birth, as follows: Homer C., who had his nativity in 1879, is still unmarried and makes his residence with his parents, as do the younger three, Eva I., Wilna and Virgil. Mr. Gesler has been one of the most enter- prising men of his township, and from almost impecuniousness has raised himself to affluence, being now worth at least twelve thousand dollars in land alone. He and wife have led a most happy life since marriage and are honored and beloved wherever known.
Jonas Johnson, the father of Mrs. Lewis Gesler, deserves especial mention in this connection as being one of the oldest resi- dents of Rock Creek township. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, October 14, 1825, and is a son of Solomon and Sarah (Sanders) Johnson, who came from North Carolina, where the family had lived for generations, and, as was customary at the time, were slaveholders. The Johnson fam -ยท ily reached Indiana prior to 1821, about three or four years after the state had been admitted to the union, and lived in Wayne county about five years. They then removed to Delaware county, where they resided un- til the fall of 1835, when they came to Indi- ana and located where Montpelier now stands in Blackford county. They thence came to Wells county, at a time when there were no roads, they being obliged to cut their way through the woods in order to reach
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their destination. The previous spring, however, the father of the family had visit- ed Wells county and had entered one hun- dred and twenty acres of wild land across the road from the place on which his son Jonas now lives; at that time Jacob Miller and David Snyder were the only residents of the neighborhood, as well as of the town- ship. On coming here, Mr. Johnson first put up a temporary shanty and shortly after built a log cabin and cultivated a patch of ground. He throve and finally bought one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Salamonie township, Huntington county, which he and his sons cleared up and con- verted into a fine farm, but later sold. Mr. Johnson became one of Wells county's most prominent and influential citizens. A Democrat in politics, he served on the first board of county commissioners, which was composed of David Bennett, James Scott and himself, after whom three streets in Bluffton have been named, Johnson street running north and south past the jail and engine house.
Mr. Johnson was the father of twelve children, of whom five are still living, name- ly : Isabella, wife of John Cook, of Barber's Mills : Ermina, wife of George Strother, of Huntington ; Sarah, wife of John Haggert, of southern Missouri; Henry M., of Okla- homa, and Jonas.
Jonas Johnson was a lad of but nine years when brought by his parents to Wells county, Indiana, of which county he has ever since been a resident. When twenty- one years of age he rented the home farm for a few years, and in 1849 married Miss Urania Barber, daughter of Hallette Barber, after whom Barber's Mills were named, as he had the first grist and saw-mill at this place,
having come from Darke county, Ohio. Mr. Johnson was poor and for three years rented a farm and then his father-in-law's mill for seven years, after which he bought the eighty-acre farm on which he now resides. Here he erected a two-room house in the woods, which frame has been replaced by a modern and commodious dwelling.
To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were born five children, namely : Levetta, now the wife of James Knudson ; Deliscus, unmarried and living in Oregon; Glessner, who lives on the old farm; Calista, wife of Lewis Ges- ler, and Norah, wife of Adam Korn. Mr. Johnson was among the first members of the Seventh Day Adventist congregation of his township, was a Granger, and in politics was a Democrat until 1875, when he be- came independent, and for the past few years has abstained altogether from voting. It is now sixty-seven years since Mr. Johnson. came to Wells county, and it may well be conceded that no resident is more sincerely honored.
WILLIAM HAIFLICH.
The gentleman whose name opens this biographical notice is a member of one of the oldest settled families of Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, being a son of Isaac and Catherine (Pletcher) Haiflich, but was born in Richland county, Ohio, April 12, 1837. The paternal grand- father as well as the parents of William Haiflich were natives of the Buckeye state. The Pletcher family came from Pennsyl- vania and early settled in Richland county, Ohio, also, and were agriculturists of the better class.
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Isaac Haiflich, after marriage, rented a farm in Ohio, on which he resided until about 1848 or '49, when he came to Wells county, Indiana, and settled in Rock Creek township, there being at that time but two houses in Murray and one house in Markle, the intervening distance between the two villages containing a solitary farm, that owned by Jacob Miller, but now occupied by William Coover. Isaac Haiflich here entered one hundred and sixty acres of wild woodland, which he lived upon and cleared up and developed it into one of the best farms in the township. In politics Mr. Haiflich was one of the leading Democrats of Rock Creek township, and his religious faith was that of the German Baptist church. He had led a pure and industrious life and through his personal labors acquired a fortune of eight thousand dollars. To Isaac Haiflich and Catherine (Pletcher) Haiflich there was born the large family of twelve children, of whom there are five still living.
William Haiflich was reared in the woods of Rock Creek township, and was early inured to hard work, which has re- dounded eventually to his pecuniary benefit, as well as to his physical and mental de- velopment. Whatever may be said of the malarial conditions of the atmosphere in cer- tain portions of the state of Indiana, it may safely be said that Rock Creek township is blessed with an invigorating circumambient belt of ozone, or oxygen, very conducive to health and longevity, and under these favor- able circumstances Mr. Haiflich developed into the prominent and influential gentle- man he now is.
A's the early services of Mr. Haiflich were called into requisition in clearing up
the home farm, he had but few opportunities of attending school, yet the time he was per- mitted to devote to this purpose was not abused and he succeeded in acquiring an education adequate for all practical pur- poses. He has done as much work, in all probability, in making Rock Creek township the paradise it now is as any man of his age within its boundaries. He managed the home place after leaving school until he had attained his majority and at the age of twenty-two found himself with a wife and forty dollars in cash, with which to start in business as a renter of his father-in-law's farm.
Mr. Haiflich was married, March 3, 1859, to Miss Sarah E. Sparks, daughter of Aaron and Huldah Sparks. She was born in Wells county, Indiana, February 14, 1843. To Mr. and Mrs. Haiflich have been born eight children, of whom six still sur- vive and are named as follows: Eli C., Almeda Ann, William A., Samuel H., Charles E. and Rosetta.
After Mr. Haiflich's marriage he settled on the Sparks homestead, which he subse- quently purchased, and on which he resided until moving to his present farm in Novem- ber, 1897. Mr. Haiflich owns at present three hundred and twenty acres of good, well improved land and is considered one of the well-to-do and substantial farmers of Wells county. In 1864 he responded to his country's call to arms and enlisted in Com- pany E, Twelfth Regiment Indiana Volun- teer Infantry. He took part in several bat- tles, served nine months, and was then hon- orably discharged, being now the recipient of a pension of twelve dollars per month.
The Haiflich family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Sparks
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Chapel, of which Mr. Haiflich has been a trustee for several years. He has served as class leader and also as Sunday school su- perintendent. In his political affiliations he is a Democrat, but although he is a faithful worker in his party's interests he has never sought an office. Mr. and Mrs. Haiflich, as may well be inferred, are among the most highly respected residents of Rock Creek township, and it may be a gratification to the reader to refer to the biography of Eli Hai- flich, to be found on another page of this volume, for further information concerning this old-time family.
JACOB MCAFEE.
One of the most extensive stock raisers and farmers of Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, is Jacob McAfee, a native of this township, born February 26, 1851, and a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Lesh) McAfee. The McAfee family is of Irish origin and the American branch from which Jacob McAfee descended were early settlers in Virginia, where Samuel McAfee, father of Jacob, was born and reared, though he subsequently settled in Pennsylvania. Subse- quently both the McAfee and Lesh families came to Indiana and located in Rock Creek township, Wells county, where Samuel Mc- Afee spent the greater part of his life after moving to the county, though in later years he lived in Liberty township. The family of Samuel and Elizabeth McAfee comprised five sons and three daughters, of whom six still survive, viz: Jacob, John, Peter, Cath- erine, wife of Chester Scotton, Prescilla, wife of James Gordon, and Hattie, married to William D. Gordon.
Jacob McAfee was reared to agricultural pursuits on the farm on which he had his nativity, and received a very good common school education. At the age of twenty-two he was first married, selecting for his help- mate Miss Jane Logan, daughter of the late John Logan, and to this union was born one child, Mollie, a resident of Toledo, Ohio. Mrs. Jane (Logan) McAfee was called away soon after the birth of her child, and Jacob McAfee in due course of time mar- ried Miss Amanda A. Lamm, daughter of Waverly Lamm, of Lancaster township, and this marriage has been crowned by the birth of five boys and three girls, of whom five are still living, and all single.
At the age of twenty-one years Jacob McAfee was a poor young man as far as this world's substantialities were concerned. But he was possessed of robust health, a clear and comprehensive intellect and an in- domitable spirit of enterprise, united with indefatigable industry. He first found a means of earning money by working out by the job at ditching, chopping and clearing, from which labor he realized about three hundred dollars, of which amount he was the possessor at the time of his first venture on the sea of matrimony. For two years after marriage Mr. McAfee engaged in farming, a pursuit to which he had been well trained, and next went into the saw-mill business, having by this time acquired a capital of seven hundred dollars. This mill, known as the McAfee Brothers' mill, was located near Rock Creek Center, in Wells county, and here Mr. McAfee did custom work, and also bought, cut and sold lum- ber for thirteen years, at the close of which period he was worth six thousand dollars and the owner of one hundred and forty
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acres of good land, to which he has since added one hundred and eighty acres, and is now worth twenty-four thousand dollars. Mr. McAfee has also been largely engaged in stock raising, in which he has been very successful, as he has been, indeed, in all his undertakings, being what is usually known as a "hustler" and naturally a shrewd busi- ness man.
In politics Mr. McAfee is one of the re- liable Democrats of Rock Creek township and is active in his support of his party, but has never sought to advance his personal in- terests by aspiring to public office. Mrs. McAfee is a member of the German Re- formed church, to the support of which both she and her husband are liberal contribu- tors. As the reader will naturally infer from the fact that Mr. and Mrs. McAfee are both natives of Wells county, they are widely and favorably known, and their upright walk through life has augmented the great respect in which they are held throughout the community in which they have their residence.
JACOB LESH.
Jacob Lesh is a native of Pennsylvania and was born in Berks county, September 25, 1835, but has lived in Wells county, Indiana, since he was thirteen years old, when he was brought hither by his parents.
The Lesh family is of German origin, but the ancestors of the family from which the gentleman whose name opens this sketch descends, were among the early settlers of the Keystone state. It may be added, as a matter of honor to the Lesh family, that the
grandfather of Jacob Lesh, Peter Lesh, was a participant in the war of the American Revolution. John Lesh, the father of the subject, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1800. He married Miss Mary Snavely, who was a native of Lebanon county, the same state. She bore him six children, namely: Elizabeth, John, Jacob, Peter, Jonas and Daniel, twins, all of whom are now deceased except the subject. The mother of this family died when the subject was a small boy, and the father subsequently married Harriet McAfee, who bore him eight children, viz: Sarah, Catherine, de- ceased ; Prescilla, deceased; Samuel, deceas- ed; James, Susan, Matilda and George W. After his father's death, John Lesh bought the old homestead, which he subsequently sold, and in 1848 moved to Indiana. He came by wagon, and was twenty-one days on the road, finally reaching Union City, whence he came to Rock Creek township, Wells county. Here he settled on eighty acres of land which he had purchased the year previous-for nine hundred dollars and on which was a hewed-log house. Thirty acres had been placed under cultivation, and it was on this farm that he passed the re- mainder of his life, dying in 1864, in the faith of the Lutheran church. He .was a Democrat in politics and always took an ac- tive interest in the success of his party, though never aspiring to public office. He was an honest, enterprising and hard work- ing man, and was highly respected by all who knew him.
Jacob Lesh was educated in the district schools of Wells county and assisted on the home farm until twenty-one years old. He then worked at the carpenter's trade, which
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he thoroughly learned. Later he purchased a threshing machine, and still later bought eighty acres of land, the farm on which he now resides.
At the age of twenty-five years, Jacob Lesh married Miss Mary A. Gregg, a sis- ter of the late W. H. Gregg, of whom men- tion is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Lesh, at his marriage, erected a small house, in which there was born to him one daugh- ter, Mary L., now the wife of A. J. Miller, and in which Mrs. Lesh died. The second marriage of Mr. Lesh took place November 9, 1872, to Miss Elizabeth Gilbert, a daugh- ter of Martin and Lydia A. (Houtz) Gil- bert, and who was born in Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, October 6, 1852. To this union have been born six children, namely : Charles E., born April 3, 1875, but now deceased; George L., born August 8, 1877, is married to Clara Far- ling and is farming in Rock Creek town- ship; Fred C., born June 22, 1881, received his preliminary education in the district schools and was subsequently graduated from the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business College at Valparaiso; Henry A., who was born March 29, 1884, was graduated from the common schools in 1901, and is now a teacher in Chester town- ship: Maggie C. was born September 29, 1887, and Jessie Esther, July 5, 1893. Mrs. Lesh is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran church in Rock Creek township, and in poli- tics Mr. Lesh is a Democrat. No family is more highly respected than that of Mr. and Mrs. Lesh, and if an upright and useful life entitles them to the high regard in which they are held, it may truthfully be said that no family is better entitled to it. Such peo- ple are a credit to any community.
ANDREW J. MILLER.
This well known business man, farmer and ex-assessor, whose residence is in Rock Creek township, Wells county, Indiana, was born in this township, June 8, 1859, a son of Isaac and Mary A. ( Bachtol) Miller, who came from Stark county, Ohio, but whose parents came from Pennsylvania and were of German descent. Isaac Miller was born, reared and educated in Ohio, and married, about 1850, in Stark county, the same state. He first came to Wells county, Indiana, in 1853, and purchased land, but returned to Ohio, where he resided a short time, and then moved his family out, settling on the land which he had purchased during his previous visit. In politics Isaac Miller was a Democrat and was a justice of the peace for several years. He cleared up his farm and made all the improvements, which are still standing, and here he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives and died in the faith of the Lutheran church. To them were born nine children, in the following or- der: David H., who resides in Markle, Huntington county, Indiana ; Helen J., wife of W. H. Herron, of Wells county ; Mary E., deceased ; Andrew J., the subject of this sketch; Uriah, who makes his home with Andrew J .: Charles E., of Rock Creek township; Elmer I., a resident of Hunting- ton, Indiana; Alice L., wife of Sherman Johnson, a resident of Grant county, and Cora F., deceased.
Andrew J. Miller was a child of but three years when his parents settled on the farm on which he now resides. He was educated in the district school and reared on the homestead, which he assisted in cultivating until he was nineteen years old. At the age
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