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 63
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but mechanical work had more fascination for him and he learned the cabinetmaker's trade in Noble county, devoting himself to carpentering after the death of his father in 1855.
December 15, 1859, Mr. Myers was married to Miss Agnes Ferguson, daugh- ter of James and Eliza (Hume) Ferguson, who was born near Quebec, Canada, Feb- ruary 23, 1838. When she was three months old she came to Indiana with her parents, who first settled in Fort Wayne, and later, in 1840, moved to Jefferson township, Wells county, Indiana, where they lived until their deaths. She received her early training in the subscription and common schools and had sufficient educa- tion to teach one term. After their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Myers went onto the home farm, but in May, 1869, they moved to their present farm, which was only par- tially cleared. He has made some im- provements, run ditches and by dint of hard work has made of his one hundred acres one of the model farms of the town- ship. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Myers, five of whom are living: William, though farming near by, is still at home; Charley, who is married to Jose- phine Morton and operates the old home farm, has four children, Forrest Ludwig, Charles Everett, Cora Agnes and Opal May. Luella is the wife of Charles Ball and lives in Fort Wayne; Edna, wife of Richard Morton, also lives in Fort Wayne, and Edith is the wife of Joseph Steinbau- cher. In political issues Mr. Myers has always voted independently in local affairs, but in national affairs he is a Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Myers are old and respected residents of Jefferson township, where
they have spent most of their lives, and, being members of the Presbyterian church at Elhanan, are much esteemed,
JOHN M. SPRINGER.
A native of Germany, born January 27, 1828, John M. Springer is now one of the prosperous farmers and prominent citizens of Jefferson township. He is a son of George L. and Maria C. (Mince) Springer, who were agriculturists, al- though he was also a blacksmith. They were the parents of six children, who in order of birth were named as follows: George L., John M., George M., Chris- tina Barbara and Catherine, of whom Catherine is the wife of Conrad Theely and lives in Allen county, Indiana.
John M. Springer received a fair edu- cation in his native land and there also learned the weaver's trade, at which he worked as a journeyman three years, serv- ing, like all German young men, the re- quired six years in the regular army. In 1858 he came to America and reached Pleasant township in June. He was ten dollars in debt, and worked at any thing he could find to do for four years, when he resumed his trade of weaver. August I, 1858, he married Miss Eva M. Fuchs- luber, who was also born in Germany and came to Wells county with her parents in 1831. To secure his marriage license Mr. Springer was compelled to borrow money, which he paid from his earnings at the looms. He now owns two hundred and ninety-four acres in Allen and Wells coun- ties, worth at least twenty thousand dol-
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lars, and thus presents another instance of what industry and persistent effort can accomplish under free institutions and by men who have a will of their own and or- dinary intelligence.
To John M. and Eva M. Springer have been born six children, of whom two died young, the survivors being Frederick, who is a farmer in Jefferson township and is married to Margaret Springer ; Dan- iel, who is married to Rosa Laringler and lives in Allen county ; Maria, wife of Hen- ry Helsmael, of Fort Wayne, and David, who is still at home. Mr. Springer is a devout and consistent member of the Lu- theran church in Pleasant township, is an elder and has held some offices of more or less importance in the church for the past forty years. He takes no active part in political affairs, but his proclivities are de- cidedly Democratic. He has never felt any ambition to hold public office, but has devoted himself to the industrial pursuits which have resulted in placing him in the foremost rank of the agriculturists of Wells county and in making him one of its most substantial citizens. Although Mr. Springer never thrusts himself forward as an intermeddler in public affairs, he is public spirited and is ever ready to aid financially in promoting such public im- provements as will conduce to the benefit of all his neighbors, by whom he is held in the highest possible esteem. His farm, while one of the largest, is also one of the best cultivated and one of the best im- proved in Wells county and is the pride of the neighborhood. Mr. Springer has led a straightforward and industrious life and has ever had in view some useful purpose. Frivolities have never had a charm for
him, though he is a good natured gentleman, a genial companion and a charitable, open- handed, open-hearted citizen, and well de- serves the high respect in which he is held by old and young, rich and poor.
JOHN C. DEAM.
Prominent among the farmers and citi- zens of Jefferson township is John C. Deam, son of James and Ruth (McDow- ell) Deam, who was born on a farm one mile south of Ossian July 9, 1847. James Deam was a descendant of John A. Deam, who was a pioneer settler in Harrison township, Wells county, in 1836. He was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1820 and came to Wells county when he was but sixteen years old. He lived on the old farm with his father until 1844, when he was married. His father gave him one hundred and sixty acres of land in Wells county which he had entered from the government and to this home he brought his bride. He built a log cabin, cleared a small patch and entered upon the life of a frontierman. On this farm he lived until his death, in 1883. At that time he owned four hundred and twenty acres of land, besides considerable other property, as he was a natural financier. He was an active man in public affairs and ever ready to promote all public improve- ments. He cast his vote with the Demo- cratic party and was a stanch supporter of its platform. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Deam lived but two years after the demise of her husband, her death occur- ring in 1885. They were the parents of
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nine children: Elizabeth, John C., Cathe- rine, Belle, George, Mary, Emma, Adam and Madison.
John C. Deam attended the county schools and assisted his father until he was twenty-three years old. September I, 1870, he became the husband of Miss Amanda Beardsley, who was the daughter of Calvin and Elizabeth (Wilch) Beards- ley, and was born in Bluffton, Indiana, July 8, 1853. Her education was received in the graded schools and for some time she was a teacher in the schools of Jeffer- son township. Her father, a wagonmaker by trade, served during the Civil war in the Seventy-fifth Indiana Regiment.
Mr. Deam started with but forty acres of land, but by careful management and industry he has added one hundred and sixty more acres to his farm. Most of his money was made from hogs, they be- ing his principle source of income. Mr. and Mrs. Deam are the parents of nine children, eight of whom are living: Grace is the wife of Bert Archbold; Lulu, the wife of A. Wilson Hoopengartner, was a teacher in the Wells county schools for eight years; Warner graduated from the Ossian high school, taught for a time and was sergeant of Company F, One Hun- dred and Sixtieth Indiana Regiment, dur- ing the Spanish-American war. At pres- ent he holds a responsible position with a telephone company in the South; Charles was a corporal in the same company and is now at home assisting in the operation of his father's farm; Marion, a graduate of the Ossian high school, is teaching in an adjoining district; Augusta, who grad- uated from the Ossian high school with the class of 1902; Areta and Hugh. They
are members of the Presbyterian church at Ossian, both Mr. and Mrs. Deam being workers in the church and exerting a healthy influence upon their associates.
Politically Mr. Deam is a Democrat and has always been an active worker in his party, serving it as committeeman and delegate to conventions, and holds the re- spect and confidence of his associates to a high degree. Mr. and Mrs. Deam are among the progressive and influential people of Jefferson township and take a prominent part in both the social and po- litical affairs of this community. They are excellent neighbors and superior citi- zens, being held in the highest esteem by all within a wide circle of acquaintances.
GEORGE R. NEVIUS.
George R. Nevius, son of James and Nancy (McClelland) Nevius, was born in Lewisburg, Greenbrier county, Virginia (now West Virginia), December 22, 1842. James Nevius was a native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, but was of New Jersey parentage, the family having settled in Virginia in an early day where his father was a slaveholder and by trade a black- smith. He died in the Old Dominion in 1840, his widow surviving him for ten years. In 1842 James Nevius removed to Charleston, West Virginia, where he was employed at his trade of blacksmith. He was a man of great physical strength and for a number of years was accustomed to work nineteen hours per day. He was of the strictest integrity and for half a cen- tury was a member of the Presbyterian
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church, in the faith of which he died in 1882. His family numbered nine children, of whom five are still living, George R. being the only resident of Wells county.
George R. Nevius was educated in the military school at Charlottesville, Vir- ginia, after an attendance in an academy at Washington Court House, Ohio. In 1861 he came to southern Indiana and September 23, 1862, enlisted at Brook- ville in the First Indiana Cavalry and fought in the Missouri campaigns under Gens. Fremont and Curtis. He was a true soldier, never shirking his duty, and took part in all the marches, skirmishes and battles in which his regiment was en- gaged, his service expiring while stationed at Helena, Arkansas. On his discharge, in 1864, he located in Franklin county, Indiana, where he was engaged in farm- ing for a short time and then for two years was a grain dealer at Oxford, Ohio, and then embarked in the same business at New Castle, Indiana, where he had an ex- tensive trade.
In 1869 Mr. Nevius came to Green- wood. Wells county, and conducted a lu- crative lumber trade until 1896, operating a saw-mill here for nearly thirty years. Mr. Nevius was united in marriage De- cember 24, 1863, with Miss Emma Mur- phy, of Franklin county, Indiana, and to this union four children have been born, namely: Ida, who is the wife of C. W. Eastman, of Winchester, Indiana; Bur- ton B., the present marshal of Hunting- ton, Indiana; Minnie, wife of Woodson Archbold, and James D., who is a fireman on the Erie railroad.
George R. Nevius held allegiance for many years to the Republican party,
though exercising his own common sense and right to think for himself, he decided, in 1896, to support the Democratic party, though he today is what may be termed an independent. He is plain and straight- forward in expressing his views and is thus termed a plain-spoken man; but what he says is based upon sound, logical rea- soning. He judges for himself and is will- ing to grant the same privilege to every- body else, but never indulges a sense of animosity on account of a difference in honest convictions.
THOMAS W. ARCHBOLD.
It is always pleasant and profitable to contemplate the career of a man who has made a success of life and won the honor and respect of his fellow citizens. Such is the record of the well known farmer whose name heads this sketch, than whom a more whole-souled or popular man it would be hard to find within the limits of the township in which he resides. He is one of the old settlers of Jefferson town- ship, Wells county, Indiana, and was born to Joseph and Elwyla (Van Horn) Arch- bold, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, Octo- ber 4, 1834. The Archbold family are of Irish descent, the grandfather, Patrick Archbold, having been born and reared in that country. In early manhood he emi- grated to America, the Mecca for all ex- panding young life, and settled in Harri- son county, Ohio, where he met and mar- ried Miss Francina McClain, a fellow coun- try-woman. Becoming dissatisfied with his life in Ohio, he brought his wife to
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Jefferson township, Indiana, in the spring of 1848, remaining here until his death at up- wards of eighty years old. Joseph Arch- bold had come to Jefferson township in October, 1847, just one year before the emigration of his father, and entered land in section thirty and immediately began to improve it, residing there until his death. He had always been a hard work- ing man and it was owing to his industry that during his life he was able to accumu- late a comfortable fortune, being the pos- sessor of one hundred and fifty-two acres of fine farm land. He was a Presbyterian of strict belief and died in the faith which in life he had supported. His children numbered fourteen, nine daughters and - five sons, namely: Isaac, Patrick, William J., Thomas W., Rachael, Lucinda and Ma- linda (twins), Francina, Lucina, Catha- rine, Elizabeth, Ellen and Barbara. Bar- bara was the most fortunate member of this large family of children. Being the youngest, she was able to obtain many educational advantages which were de- nied the others and it was through the efforts of her brother, Thomas, that her education was cared for. For some time she followed the vocation of teaching with success and always looked to her brother who had been the means of obtaining for her the advantage of an education, as her best friend and guide. She is now the wife of John Engle.
Thomas W. Archbold was reared on his father's farm and, owing to a large family of which he was one of the eldest, he received almost no education. In those days the older boys were kept at home clearing the farm and tending the crops in order that the family might ex-
ist in the great wilderness and he was no exception to the rule for he kept steadily at work on the home place, carefully nur- turing his longing for the knowledge that had been denied him, until he was twenty- six years old, when he took a short term with M. C. Blue as teacher and later en- tered the Roanoke Academy, where he attended three terms, getting a sufficient education to enable him to teach in the common schools of Wells county. He continued to teach in the Jefferson town- ship schools for ten years.
March 14, 1867, Mr. Archbold was married to Miss Matilda C. Miller, daugh- ter of Henry and Nancy (Kunkel) Miller. Mrs. Archbold was born in Crawford county, Ohio, in 1850 and had received a common school education. They were the parents of seven children: Alonzo H., resides at Markle, Indiana; Nancy, wife of N. Q. Hildenbrand; Lydia, wife of Charles Crowel; Clayton, William, Stella and Clifton.
Mr. Archbold was poor when he mar- ried, having only a small farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres which he sold and later purchased the old Johnson farm two and one-half miles south of Ossian where he now resides. His advancement was due not to a lucky stroke of fickle fortune, but by his own untiring efforts and his de- termination to win. He was a teamster for one year during the Civil war. In the early days he had been a great hunter and trapper in Wells county, especially along the Eight Mile. He is a most moral man and, while not a church worker, having never united with any denomination, yet he commends all good works be they of a religious or secular nature. In political
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affairs he has ever been identified with the Democratic party, being an active and ardent worker for the cause, although never having been an office seeker. He was at one time a member of the Wells county central committee and has also served on the election board for twenty- five years. He is not only well and favor- ably known in Jefferson township but throughout Wells county. He is known as a man of unimpeachable honor and in- tegrity, honest motives and intelligence. He is one of the best citizens of the county and enjoys the highest regards of his ac- quaintances.
EVAN L. CHALFANT.
This prominent and widely known young agriculturist, journalist and teach- er, is now considered one of the most prosperous and successful farmers in Jeff- erson township. He was born in Craw- ford county, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1859, and the first eight years of his life were spent amongst the hills and streams of that state. In 1867 he came with his par- ents, James and Amanda H. (Barber) Chal- fant, to Wells county, Indiana. After com- pleting the common school studies, and some of the higher branches in the Ossian graded schools, he began to teach, which occupation he followed in Wells county for nineteen years, meantime being en- gaged in his father's saw-mill and being familiar with all departments, especially that of head sawyer. He then settled down to what he considers his life occu- pation, farming. He takes great interest
in this, his chosen calling, reads many farm journals and books on agricultural subjects and is also a contributor to sev- eral farm papers. At the present time he is chairman of the Wells County Farmers' Institute Association. He is also a jus- tice of the peace, having been elected the . second time to that position as the nomi- nee of the Republican party.
In the month of May, 1886, Evan L. Chalfant was united in marriage to Miss Flora E. Benedict, daughter of Luther and Julia Benedict, and who also for elev- en years had been a teacher in the public schools. They have one child, Beth E. Mr. Chalfant and wife are members of the Kingsland Presbyterian church, of which he is an elder and trustee, clerk of the session and secretary of the congre- gation. They are both likewise teachers in the Sunday school, of which he was su- perintendent for some years, Mrs. Chal- fant of the primary class and he of the young ladies' Bible class. Of fraternal or- ders Mr. Chalfant is a member of the Un- iondale Lodge, K. P., and of the Ossian Lodge K. O. T. M.
Mr. and Mrs. Chalfant mingle with the best people of Jefferson township and Wells county, by whom they are greatly esteemed and with whom his graphic and trenchant pen wields a potent influence. His habits of close observation and his retentive memory are valuable aids in the preparation of his numerous contributions to the press. These articles are read with interest by all on account of lucidity of expression and valuable information which they impart to the reader and seek- er after agricultural knowledge, and are also widely quoted.
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WELLS COUNTY, INDIANA.
WILLIAM G. ARCHBOLD.
Among the prominent farmers of Jeffer- son township, Wells county, Indiana, is Wil- liam G. Archbold, who was born in Tuscara- was county, Ohio, July 6, 1839, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Gibson) Archbold, who came respectively from Ohio and Penn- sylvania families. They were married in Tus- carawas county, coming subsequently to In- diana and locating in Adams county, where John Archbold purchased two hundred and five acres of wild land, which he partially cleared and to a great extent improved, but later removed to Decatur, Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their days.
William G. Archbold was reared on the farm on which his parents settled and was well trained in the details of agriculture, though his opportunities for a scholastic training were somewhat meager. Neverthe- less he acquired a sufficient knowledge of books to qualify him for a good position in society and for the understanding of every- thing that books could impart touching his calling and the current events of the day as recorded by the press.
Mr. Archbold was first married, in 1863, to Miss Elmira Ruby, a native of Ohio, but who was early brought to Indiana by her parents. To this union were born two chil- dren, namely : James W., who married Min- nie Mills, and lives in Union township, and Mary E., now the wife of A. E. Ormsby, of Union township, and has four children liv- ing, Ralph, Argus, Brice and Dale. The sec- ond marriage of Mr. Archbold was with Mary C. Sommers, born in Adams county, May 9, 1843, who has borne him three chil- dren, viz : David A., who is married to Grace Deam, daughter of John C. and Amanda
(Beadsley) Deam, and has one son, Law- rence, who assists his father in operating the farm ; Sylvester, who died in infancy, and Ioda, who is still with her parents. The parents of Mrs. Mary C. (Sommers) Arch- bold removed from Adams county to Allen county, Indiana, whence they came to Wells county, and here the father died at Ossian in 1898, his death being greatly deplored by all who knew him.
Mr. Archbold in his political affiliations is a Democrat, but he has never been a strong partisan, much less an office seeker. He start- ed in life poor, and has made all he has by in- domitable persistence and skill. His farm is one of the best of its size in Jefferson township and everything about it denotes thrift, enterprise and good management. All or nearly all the improvements on the place have been made by himself, and all are of the most modern and substantial character. He is widely and favorably known throughout his township and is recognized as a public- spirited and liberal-hearted gentleman, ready at all times to promote every project designed for the good of the public. He is one of the best of neighbors, his name being synony- mous with truth, fidelity and charity.
ARTHUR F. ROE.
The world bows to the young and en- thusiastic; humanity is swayed by their dictations. It is the young man who moves the world forward and places each succeeding decade of her history on a higher pedestal than she has ever before occupied ; it is the young man who causes the older generation to wonder at the
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present and the present to stand in awe of the more glorious future. His en- vironments make this possible, for as each generation nears the meridian, and then the close of life, the burden of the world's destiny is shifted, almost unconsciously, from their shoulders to those of the suc- ceeding generation, which takes up the march and steadily proceeds to a higher goal. Of the present progressive gener- ation, Jefferson township can boast no better than Arthur F. Roe, who is the son of Ezekiel and Catharine (Puderbaugh) Roe. He was born in Jefferson township, April 9, 1862, and was reared on the old Roe farm, one half mile north of Ossian. His early education was received in the graded schools of Ossian, after leaving which he began to teach. He taught his first term at Lancaster Center, and at the same time studying the Latin course of the Ossian high school, from which he graduated with the class of 1882. In 1884 he entered the Methodist Episcopal Col- lege at Fort Wayne, after having taught two more terms at Lancaster Center. He graduated in the literary course from that institution in 1886. After spending one year in the West on account of health he returned to Wells county in 1887 and learned telegraphy at Ossian during the fall and winter of that year. He was given charge of the office of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad, at Hamilton, Indiana, for one year, when he was transferred to Ossian. After retaining this position three years he accepted the office of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad at De- catur, Indiana, and after nearly a year there was transferred to Wayland, Michi- gan, at which place he was stationed
three years. He resigned this position in April, 1893, and, in company with John S. Krewson and N. W. Newman, op- ened a general stock of merchandise at Ossian. H. O. Stine then became a partner, Krewson and Newman retiring after the first year, and two years later he sold his interest to E. H. Roe, the firm be- coming Roe Brothers, whose department store is justly considered the leading mer- cantile establishment of this thriving little city. Roe Brothers carry a stock valued at about four thousand dollars, in depart- ments devoted to dry goods, notions, boots and shoes and groceries, and do an annual business of fifteen thousand dol- lars. In the fall of 1897, owing to a deli- cate state of health, Mr. Roe bought the old William Somer's farm, one-half mile south and one half mile east of Ossian, where he finds congenial employment in the attention demanded by the many de- tails of a successfully conducted farm.
Mr. Roe was married April 28, 1886, to Miss May Stine, the daughter of Wil- liam and Nancy (Spence) Stine. She was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, April 21, 1863, receiving her education in the Os- sian high schools, from which she gradu- ated in 1882. She then taught in the dis- trict and high schools for three years. Both husband and wife are members of the Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder for several years. He is also superintendent of the Sunday school, of which he has had charge for nearly thir- teen years, and takes commendable pride in the schools, ranking with any in the county. To this couple five children were born, namely: Opal, a student in the freshman class of the Ossian high school;
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