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 66

Author: Dougherty, Hugh
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Logansport, Ind. : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 732


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 66


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Dr. C. L. Blue, the rising young physi- cian of Tocsin, Wells county, Indiana, is the son of the Hon. M. C. Blue, of Lancas- ter township. He was born in Jefferson township, Wells county, December 16, 1868, and received his early training on his father's farm and in the district schools. Later he attended the Ossian graded schools and also took a three-years course in the Ossian high school. Before com- pleting his high school course he entered the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business College at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he took the course assigned to teach- ers, and also graduated from the busi- ness department of that institution Feb- ruary 24, 1891. He then returned to his father's home and after teaching two terms entered the School of Pharmacy at Chicago, graduating with the class of 1895. He then entered the Fort Wayne Medical College and after three years' study in that institution graduated with the degree of M. D. in the spring of 1898, in the same class with Dr. Fred Metts, of Ossian, Indiana. Immediately after completing his medical education Dr. Blue located in Tocsin, Indiana, where he succeeded in building up a large and lucrative practice. His knowledge of med- icine not being satisfactory to himself, he went to Chicago in 1901 and took a post- graduate course in the Chicago Clinical


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School. The Doctor is a close student of his profession and spares no pains to keep in touch with the latest theories advanced in medical science. His reading is exten- sive and his knowledge of his profession is thorough. He is a member of the Wells County and Indiana State Medical Societies and the American Medical As- sociation, and Fort Wayne Academy of Medicine. He has been vested with the privileges of notary public and also holds the office of deputy health officer of Wells county. He has always given his support to the Democratic party, but owing to his duties as a physician has never taken a very active part in the political affairs of his community.


Dr. Blue is a Mason and a man of many friendships, and stands well in the community in which he has labored since the, completion of his education. He is well versed in his profession and makes an excellent citizen of Wells county as well as Jefferson township.


JEREMIAH ROE.


One of the most experienced and re- spected farmers of Union township, Wells county, Indiana, is Jeremiah Roe, who was born in Fayette county, Ohio, April 4, 1828, and is a son of Ezekial and Elizabeth (Fonk) Roe. Jeremiah Roe was a child of but three years when he was brought by his parents from Ohio to Indiana. Ezekial Roe entered land in Randolph county and settled down to farming. On the land thus entered young Jeremiah was reared to manhood, in the meantime


attending school during the winter months and assisting in the work on the farm until he was twenty-three years old. At the early age of eighteen, however, he began to trade and made some money. At twenty he borrowed twenty dollars, and entered eighty acres of land, but con- tinued to work for his father until the sum- mer of 1850, when he came to Wells county and began clearing the timber from his property, and in winter returning to Randolph county. This practice he followed several years and kept on adding to his holdings until he now owns three hundred and twenty acres.


Jeremiah Roe was joined in marriage with Miss Mary Garnand, who was born near Reiffsburg, Indiana, in 1841, and is a daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Peter- man) Garnand, natives of Virginia, but who were reared in Ohio, whence they came to Wells county, Indiana, and set- tled in Nottingham township. Jeremiah Roe and his wife settled on the old farm at marriage, and here have been born ten children, namely: Prof. j. N. Roe, who was graduated from the graded schools of Ossian, afterward from the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, in which he is now in charge of the depart- ment of pharmacy; John W. married Sadie Hamilton, who died ten years later, and he is now assisting his father in the operation of the farm; Emma J. is the wife of H. Hercules, a prosperous farmer of Union township; Alice is the wife of George Young, of Markle; Charles C. married Jennie Haflich and is farming in Rock Creek township; George A. mar- ried Minnie Lawver and is in Huntington county ; Etta M. is the wife of Lawrence Set-


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tlemeyer; Dora E. is the wife of Aaron Duff; Vernie L. died in childhood, and Maud, at home.


Mrs. Roe is a member of the Church of God, to the maintenance of which she free- ly contributes, and in this her husband is in no respect backward. As to his political inclinations, Mr. Roe has always been a Democrat and has never found occasion to change the opinions impressed upon him in early manhood. Although a hard worker in his labors for the success of his party at the polls, he has never pushed himself forward as a candidate for office, leaving it to younger men to do the hus- tling. reserving the right to cast his vote at the proper time. The social standing of Mr. and Mrs. Roe and family is with the best people of the township, and, not- withstanding their advanced age they are still recognized as useful citizens, their sage advice being often sought by per- sons of less experience.


HERCULES H. NEFF.


An ex-school teacher and present farmer in Union township, Wells county, Indiana, Hercules H. Neff, a son of Jacob and Isabella (Garovick) Neff, was born in Crawford county, Ohio, January 16, 1863. From that locality the father re- moved with his family to Cambridge City, Wayne county, Indiana, where he died, and his widow re-married, becoming the wife of David R. Grubaugh. She then moved to Marshall county, Indiana, whence she went to Huntington county and in 1872 came with her second husband


and her son to Wells county, where they have lived and prospered ever since.


Hercules Neff was reared under the care of his mother and step-father on a farm, and has lived in Union township, Wells county, for thirty years. Here he was primarily educated in the district schools and in the normal schools of Hunt- ington and Wells counties. He taught two terms of school and although he had met with eminent success as a teacher, he became wearied of the profession and abandoned it for the purpose of resuming agricultural pursuits. Mr. Neff is engaged in general farming and stock raising, but gives especial attention to Polled Durham cattle and Cotswold sheep, in the breed- ing of which he has met with more than usual success and from the sale of which he has realized his largest profits. This farm contains one hundred and twenty acres, which is well cultivated and improv- ed with good buildings, tiling, etc.


March 13, 1888, Mr. Neff was united in marriage with Miss Emma J. Roe, the daughter of Jere Roe, of Union township, and a highly educated and accomplished young lady, who has blessed her husband with one child, Ola M., born December 16, 1889. In their religious connection Mr. and Mrs. Neff are members of the United Brethren church and are liberal contribu- tors of their means to the maintenance of this religious organization. For a number of years Mr. Neff has filled the position of superintendent of its Sunday school. In politics he is one of Union township's most active and ardent Republicans and has de- voted much of his time to the service of the party and in other capacities. He is popular, both as a Republican and as a


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citizen, and at one time was the nominee of his party for the office of county sur- veyor, but his indifference as to public position and his innate modesty were not conducive to his taking any active part in forwarding his own interests during the canvass.


As a citizen Mr. Neff is broad minded and liberal. He is an advocate of free schools and, when necessary, of compul- sory education, and good roads are among the other conveniences and comforts he deems absolutely necessary for the use of the farming population especially, but he does not believe in over assessing those who do not require such conveniences simply because others do require them. He believes in even-handed justice, but, as an individual, is always ready to make a sacrifice of his means for the benefit of the general weal, even though he may not reap the full benefit of such contributions toward promoting the well-being of the general community.


JESSE CRITES.


Sixty years ago Indiana was by no means the inviting place to bring a young and blush- ing bride that it is today. In the towns some of the comforts of civilization might be pro- cured, but in the timber the rudest kind of fare was what the hardy settler lived on. It was to a home in the woods of Indiana, more than a half-century ago, that Jesse Crites, of Union township, brought his wife. The maidens of those days were not so fastidious and exacting as those of the present. They were content with little and were happiest


when their husbands permitted them to bear their share of the burdens of pioneer life, and doubtless they were all the better for it.


Jesse Crites, the son of John and Mary (Walters) Crites, was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, December 2, 1824. His par- ents were natives of Pennsylvania, but in their youth emigrated with the families to which they respectively belonged to Ohio, and settled on adjoining tracts of land. Both families were of German ancestry, and the intimacy between them led to a closer relationship between the children. John and Mary were married and set up housekeeping on a piece of land they bought from the gov- ernment. He was by trade a cabinetmaker and set up a shop near his residence, from which he turned out many handsome, sub- stantial pieces of furniture. Many of the best tables, stands, bureaus and bedsteads that adorned the homes in the neighborhood where he lived were of his handiwork. The union of John and Mary Crites was blessed by the birth of five sons and five daughters. Nine of these still survive, namely: Re- becca, Jesse, Catherine, Elizabeth, John Cyrus, Eli, William and Sarah. The father of this family prospered and accumulated money. He followed his business of cabinet- making many years and continued to reside upon his farm up to the time of his death at sixty-eight years of age.


Jesse, the oldest son, was reared upon his father's farm and helped to clear the land, much of the clearing devolving entirely upon him as he grew older, for his father was fre- quently quite busy in his shop. The boy was ambitious and desirous of being in the pos- session of land of his own, so when he at- tained his majority he looked about for a piece of government land in his native coun-


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ty, but there was none to be had. It was not quite so scarce in Indiana, however, so to that state he proceeded and in Union town- ship, Wells county, he found a tract of eighty acres which suited him and after making his entry upon it in 1848 he returned to Ohio.


In February, 1849, Mr. Crites was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Myers, a na- tive of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, born in 1829. Her parents were natives of Penn- sylvania, where they were born, reared and married, and soon afterward located in Tus- carawas county. Two years afterward she accompanied her husband to the woods of Wells county, and in the fall of 1849 hei parents followed to Allen county, going to Wisconsin four years later, where her father died and her mother moved to Kansas,' where she continued to reside until her death. Mrs. Crites was blessed by nature with vig- orous health and strength and in her girl- hood days she frequently assisted her father in the clearing and in the fields. Hence, when she came into the woods of Wells county with her husband, she proved a val- uable assistant to him. They first took up housekeeping in a little log shanty on the farm of a neighbor, Isaac Roe, while Mr. Crites was building a log cabin on his own · place. When it was completed they moved into it and began the laborious task of con- verting the woods and swamps into a pro- ductive farm. It took time, muscle and en- ergy, but it was eventually accomplished, as is amply attested by the well-kept, well-im- proved farm upon which he resides in sec- tion 20. To the original eighty acres he has added, until he was the owner of two hun- dred and four acres. This he has since divid- ed and given a good portion of it to his chil- dren, leaving one hundred and forty-four


acres in the homestead. When he came to Wells county, he had just fifteen dollars in money, and it was stolen from him within a short time after his arrival, and he never got even the satisfaction of knowing the thief.


Mr. and Mrs. Crites were the parents of seven children, only three of whom are still living. They are John, who married Aman- da McGoogan, resides at Uniondale; Jesse F. married Vianna Shaw, and resides in Charlevoix county, Michigan; Isa, wife of G. F. Platt, resides on the old homestead, which he operates. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Crites are members of the Church of God at Trinity Chapel, and he has been a worship- per in that society for sixty-one years, join- ing the church when he was only eighteen. For several years he has been a church offi- cial. The first meeting held in this vicinity by the adherents of this faith was held in Mr. Crites' cabin about fifty-two years ago, and the first society was organized there, there being six members, himself and wife, Daniel Fisher and wife and Daniel Hostet- ler and wife, the later having come at the same time as did Crites, and of these six four are still living, Mrs. Fisher and Mr. Hostetler being deceased.


In politics Mr. Crites is one of the old- line Republicans in Union township, but never sought or held any official position at the hands of his party. His business of farm- ing and stock raising has occupied too much of his time to afford him the chance of dab- bling in politics. He is a man of kindly dis- position and strong sympathy and every im- pulse of his nature is for the betterment of his fellow men. Hence, he is not only well liked, but exceedingly popular, a man whose friendship is highly valued and whose in- fluence is sought and appreciated.


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JOHN A. WALKER.


John Walker, the grandfather of the gentleman whose name opens this bio- graphical sketch, was born in North Caro- lina and descended from a very ancient English family. Rev. John Walker, the grandfather, was married in his native state, and about 1833 came to Indiana and settled in Rush county, where he officiated as a clergyman of the Baptist church until he felt a change in heart and belief and became a minister in the church of the Disciples. He was twice married and was the father of twelve or thirteen children. Leonard S. Walker, father of John A., was the youngest of the children born to his parents, his mother being his father's first wife. He was reared on a farm in Rush county, Indiana, and was a farmer by voca- tion. · He married Malinda Davis, a native of Ohio and for five years rented a farm in Rush county. In the fall of 1846, in com- pany with a brother, he came to Wells county, Indiana, and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in the woods where Zanesville now stands. He laid out this prosperous little town, in which his broth- er James was the first merchant and where he resided five or six years, removing to another farm in the township, where he remained until about 1874. He returned to Ft. Wayne, where he died at the age of seventy-seven years.


John A. Walker was born on this Zanesville farm March I, 1847, on which he was reared and was educated in the schools of his native district. He began to teach at the age of twenty years and later attended the seminary at Roanoke, and a commercial college at Toledo, and for ten years folowed his profession of


teacher in Wells county. January 1, 1874, Mr. Walker was married to Miss Alfor- rettah Austin, who was born in Preble county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Rev. Dr. C. B. and Sarah A. (Burnau) Austin, who came in 1868 from Ohio to Indiana and first located in Henry county, and later lived for several years at Noblesville where she grew to maturity. Mrs. Walk- er was educated in the schools of Nobles- ville where she became a teacher and after- ward taught in Allen county, devoting about ten years to the schoolroom. Dr. Austin represented Allen county in the state legislature one term, about 1876, when he resided at Zanesville. The latter part of his life was as a minister and phy- sician at Veerdersburg, Indiana, where he died at about sixty-five years of age. One brother of Mrs. Walker, T. B. Austin, served through the war in the Eighth In- diana Cavalry .· He became a teacher and dentist and was engaged in the practice at Ft. Wayne at the time of his death.


The first farm owned by Mr. Walker comprised forty acres in section 17, but selling this, he bought the old Samuel B. Caley farm. He has added to this until he now owns one hundred and seventy acres in one tract which is known as the Pleas- ant Grove farm and is located three and a half miles north of Maple.


To Mr. and Mrs: Walker has been born one son, Earl J., who was born February 20, 1880. He graduated from the district schools in 1894 and from the Huntington high school in 1898. He then attended the State University, graduated in 1902 with the degree of B. A., and was chosen valedic- torian by the class. He is now principal of the Ossian high school.


Mrs. Walker is a member of the


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Church of the Disciples, at Markle, Indi- ana, and is president of the C. W. B. M. In company with a number of other ladies of Huntington and adjoining counties, she ,organized, in 1900, what is known as the Ladies' Home Maker Association, an aux- iliary to the Farmers' Institute work and which was designed to give suitable training to the home makers, and she was selected as the first president, a position she filled for two years, during which time the interest and membership were flattering. Mr. Walker is a Democrat and served three terms as trustee, covering eleven years, during which time most of the finest school buildings were erected.


GEORGE HOOPENGARNER.


The Hoopengarner family had its ori- gin in Germany, but for five generations members of the family have been residents of America. George Hoopengarner, whose name opens this biographical sketch and now a representative citizen of Wells county, Indiana, had his nativity in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 12, 1835, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Walters) Hoopengarner. When the great- grandparents of George Hoopengarner came from Germany to America they settled in Pennsylvania, where there was born to them a son who there grew to manhood, was married and became the progenitor of the Wells county family. The Walters family also came from Ger- many and the great-grandparents of Mrs. Hoopengarner were the founders of the family of that name in the Keystone


state. The great-grandparents were mar- ried in Pennsylvania, whence they emigrat- ed to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where great-grandfather Hoopengarner purchas- ed a farm, although he was a shoemaker by trade, and in inclement weather, which precluded outdoor work, worked at his calling under shelter. These great-grand- parents reared a family of eight children and passed the remainder of life in Tus- carawas county.


George Hoopengarner was reared on his father's old farm and was educated in the schools of his district, but had the mis- fortune, when but three years old, of los- ing his father. At the age of twenty-one years he began working out by the month. December 22, 1857, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Emily Smuts, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Fleming) Smuts, of German descent but natives of Pennsyl- vania, who settled in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where Mrs. Hoopengarner was born and reared. Jacob Smuts was a son of John and Anna (Thomas) Smuts, both born in Pennsylvania, but whose parents came from Germany, and they both lived and died in Fayette county, Pennsylvania.


In 1859 Mr. Hoopengarner came to Union township, Wells county, and pur- chased ninety-two acres of woodland, for part of which he went into debt and on which he has resided ever since. But the debt he incurred has long since been liquidated and he now stands among the most substantial and well-to-do agriculturists of Union town- ship.


To the felicitous marriage of George and Emily (Smuts) Hoopengarner have been born four sons and one daughter. Of these, Clarence E. married Miss Lydia


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Neff, who was early called away, and he next married Miss Christine Elich, and still retains his home in Union township; Joseph N. married Mary Robinson and lives in Markle; George F. married Ne- vada Graubaugh; Ralph V. married Miss Ella Edmondson and still lives on the old homestead which he has cultivated with success; Elmira is the wife of Riley M. Caley and also lives in Union township. The family are members of the United Brethren church, of the liberal branch of which he has been connected forty-seven years and for many years has been a trus- tee and class leader.


Mr. Hoopengarner may not only be termed a Republican in his politics, but an arden and faithful member of his party. He is a Republican from conviction and not from persuasion, being capable of judging for himself in politics as in all things else, and of this fact his progress through life has given ample proof: He has probably done as much in developing Union township as any man of his age who has resided in the township for the same length of time. He and his family, as has already been intimated, are among the most highly esteemed people of the town- ship and none are, it may be truthfully as- serted, more deservedly entitled to the es- teem in which they are held.


JOHN JONES.


Among the oldest settlers of Union township, Wells county, Indiana, is John Jones, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, May 9, 1831, a son of Samuel


and Nancy (Walker) Jones, who came to Indiana from North Carolina, in which last named state Samuel Jones was born and reared.


John Jones was but five years of age when death deprived him of his father, at which time he went to live with an uncle, John Felts, with whom he remained until he had attained his majority. In the mean- time, however, in 1847, Mr. Felts came to Wells county and settled on the farm on which young Jones was reared to man- hood and assisted in developing. Owing to the constant demand for his labor in accomplishing the task of clearing up this place, the opportunities of attending school were but few, and at the age of twenty-one he found himself to be not only without an education, but without cash. But at his majority Mr. Jones was possessed of a robust constitution and his general health was all that could be de- sired. Moreover he was filled with am- bition and determination, and he worked hard to earn the money he knew he need- ed when the time for his marriage should come about. This happy event took place January 29, 1857, when he led to the altar Miss Sarah J. Kohr, a native of Ohio. This union has resulted in the following named children: Rosa, now the wife of Stephen D. Caley; Mary J., who is mar- ried to Ephraim Nicholson; William, who married a daughter of John M. Waters; Frank, who is married to Elma Lawrence; John A., who married Minta Hill; E. S., unmarried, and Della, who is the wife of Waldo Salter. The family of Mr. Jones have been reared in the faith of the Christian church, of which he has him- self been a member ever since childhood and


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to the support of which he and his chil- dren have been and still are liberal con- tributors financially. All are sincere in their profession of the faith and live strict- ly up to its teachings.


In politics Mr. Jones is an enthusiastic Democrat and is one of the most active workers for his party in Union township. Notwithstanding the fact that he has never been habitually an office-seeker, he has, on account of his personal merits and undeniable qualifications, been selected by his fellow citizens to fill the office of supervisor for Union township, the duties of which position he performed in a most satisfactory manner, and he has also serv- ed as school director and on the election board.


Having been a resident of Wells county since childhood, or for more than half a century, Mr. Jones is fully acquaint- ed with the needs, wishes and desires of the people of his township and county and is therefore well qualified for aiding in fram- ing and administering such measures as re- dound to the benefit of the community. His life has been been one without reproach, and in all his business transactions he has been straightforward and upright. Without being parsimonious or niggardly, he has succeeded in acquiring a fair share of this world's goods as a reward for his industry and judicious manner of living, has an open hand to those in need or who have been less fortunate than himself and was never known to turn away from his door unassisted any person who applied to him for relief. He has reared his children in respectability and is himself one of the most honored citizens of Union town- ship.




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