Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 45

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1034

USA > Indiana > Grant County > Centennial History of Grant County Indiana > Part 45

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HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY

from the high school in 1900. For several years Mr. Teeter alternated between attendance at school and college and teaching and other forms of employment which were in the nature of preliminary steps in his regular career. In 1904 he graduated from the Marion Normal College, having previously taught school for one year and then taught another year, after which he entered Purdue University and completed the course in pharmacy. Mr. Teeter is a member of the Grant County Pharmacy Association and of the National Retail Druggists Association. Mr. Teeter is of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. His grandfather, Jacob Teeter, was born in Pennsylvania, later moved to Pleasant Hill in Miami county, Ohio, where he was a successful merchant for some years. While there his son Levi A. was born January 11, 1847, and when a small boy lost his mother. Jacob Teeter married for his second wife a Miss Ward, and they continued to live in Miami county for many years, but Jacob died at his home in Dayton, Ohio, when eighty-seven years old. His widow, now about seventy years of age, lives in California. During the earlier generation the Teeters were all communicants of the Dunkard church.

Levi A. Teeter, who was one of the younger of his mother's children, was reared at Pleasant Hill, and from early boyhood gained a practical acquaintance with mercantile affairs under the eye of his father, a merchant at that place. He was given educational advantages that may properly be considered liberal, and after the common schools was a student in the Normal College at Lebanon, Ohio. For some years he taught school in Ohio, Indiana, and Nebraska. While teaching in Wabash county of this state he met Miss Ellen Bloomer, and their acquaintance ripened into marriage. After being married they lived three years in Ohio and then came to Grant county, where Mr. Teeter was engaged in farming in Pleasant township until 1890, and from that date until 1910 he was in business at Upland. In 1910 he returned to Ohio and located near Farmdale in Trumbull county, where he owns considerable property and is now living retired. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is a Republican in politics, and has had a long and busy and useful career. Levi Teeter and wife had the following children: Von E., who lives at home with his parents and is unmarried; Wade B .; J. Russell, who graduated from the Indian- apolis Dental College in 1914: Clara, who was for a time a student in DePauw University and now lives at home; and Francis, who is in the public schools.

Mr. Wade B. Teeter was married in Grant county in Monroe town- ship to Miss Mabel Mittank, who was born in Jefferson township in 1888. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Amaria A. Mittank. Mrs. Teeter was graduated from the Matthews high school in the class of 1910. To their marriage has been born one child. Louine, on November 15, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Teeter are members of the Methodist church. In politics he is a Progressive, and is now serving his home locality as town clerk. Fraternally he is affiliated with Arcana Lodge No. 427 of the Masonic Order, and belongs to the Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JACOB WISE. The career of the late Jacob Wise was one not only of long years, but marked by eminent usefulness as a man and citizen, and in many ways he made his impress on the Grant County community, which was his home for about sixty years.

Jacob Wise was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, February 15, 1833, and died at his home in Jefferson township of Grant county, December 12, 1909, when seventy-six years of age. His parents, Daniel and Catherine (Beckles) Wise, were of Dutch ancestry, and both natives

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of Pennsylvania, the former born August 30, 1805, and the latter in 1807. They were married in Center county. Daniel Wise was a skilled carpenter and cabinet maker, and he followed his trade for some years in Pennsylvania, though in later years he was chiefly a farmer. During their residence in Pennsylvania, four sons came into their home, and also a daughter, Ann Margaret, who was born and died in 1832. Then in 1848, the entire family set out for Indiana, placing. all their earthly belongings in a small wagon, and making the entire journey across the country and camping at night by the wayside. On arriving in Grant county they spent a short time with a friend Isaac Roush in Mill town- ship, and in the fall of the same year moved to Jefferson and acquired two hundred acres of land in section four. Only three acres of that tract was broken with the plow, and a log cabin was the home which first sheltered them in this county. After a number of years of hard labor and many difficulties the father prospered and came to be regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of his community. He was able to spend his later years in peace and comfort, and died in 1895, when ninety years of age. His widow passed away May 6, 1897, also ninety years old. They were both of the Lutheran faith, and were hard werkers, kind neighbors, and in every respect good, thrifty people. Their chil- dren are given brief record as follows: John, born January 27, 1830, and died in Jefferson township, December 20, 1887, married Mary A. Marine, also now deceased, and their children were Samuel, who died at the age of twelve years, and Jonathan, who died after he was married. The second in the family is Jacob. Henry, born March 25, 1835, is a retired farmer of Gas City, and by his marriage to Maggie Simons, has several children. Samuel, born March 3, 1838, died unmarried, Novem- ber 21, 1864.

Jacob Wise was fifteen years old when the family came to Grant county. He had an education perhaps of about the average amount and quality for the boys of his time, and had his share of pioneer labor in developing the estate in Grant county. In 1856 he was married, and he and his wife then located on eighty acres given them by his father-in- law, Asa Marine. To this their subsequent good management and in- dustry added three hundred and twenty acres, and the entire place was improved with a fine set of farm buildings and was improved as a com- fortable and profitable home.

In Jefferson township on March 13, 1856, Jacob Wise married Eliza- beth Marine, who was born January 15, 1836, in Wayne county, Indiana. She belongs to the Marine family that has been so prominently identified with Grant county from the early days, and since the death of her hus- band she has continued to reside at the old homestead, where she owns two hundred acres of land. Though approaching the age of fourscore she is a hale and vigorous old lady, intelligent and well able to look after her business interests, and enjoys the esteem and admiration of a large circle of friends. Her parents were Asa and Lydia (Huff) Marine, both natives of South Carolina, and of Quaker stock. They came separately to Indiana, and were married in Wayne county, and from there moved to Grant county, where Asa Marine bought land on the Mississinewa and developed a home from the wilderness. His first wife died there in 1860 and he was again married and had three children by his second wife. The Marine family has many interesting connec- tions and relations with Grant county history, and further information can be found touching its membership and activities under the name of Daniel Marine elsewhere in this volume.

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Wise became the parents of the following family of children: Samuel, who is sketched individually on other pages;

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Mary J., who was born October 13, 1858, is the wife of Jesse Stanley, a prominent farmer of Jefferson township, and they have several chil- dren; Solomon is a farmer in Jefferson township; Daniel lives on a farm in Jefferson township, and has a wife and children; Frank is living at home with his mother, is unmarried, and is considered one of the largest hog raisers and stock dealers in the county; Elmer, now married, lives at South Bend, Indiana, and has a daughter; Alice, is the wife of Howard Simons, a farmer of Monroe township, and they have a son and daughter; Lydia is the wife of George Himelick, a successful farmer in Jefferson township, and they have a family of eleven children.

JOSEPH MORROW, the elder, was born in the state of North Carolina, A. D. 1799, and when a lad was brought to Wayne county, Indiana, by his father, John Morrow.

He was reared to agricultural pursuits, and for a time was engaged therein, but subsequently became engaged in mercantile lines at New- port (now Fountain City), Wayne county, and while residing there served for a period as justice of the peace, and as a member of the State Legislature from Wayne county.

In 1843 he came to Grant county and located on his farm, bordering on the Mississinewa river, a part of which is included in the site of Gas City. In the spring of 1851, having sold his farm, he moved to Jonesboro and for several years was engaged in the dry goods business at that place, but finally retired from business entirely on account of advancing age.

In politics Mr. Morrow was originally a Whig and later a Republi- can, and was always opposed to slavery. He served twice as a member of the state legislature for Grant county, the last time in the winter of 1850 and 51. At this session an attempt was made to detach a portion of Grant county and add it to Blackford county which Mr. Morrow successfully resisted. His death occurred in 1863.

By his first wife he had, while living in Wayne county, four children of whom Joseph, whose history follows, is the only survivor. His second marriage was to Mary Smith, the sister of his first wife, and by that union there was born, in Grant county, three children: Alcinda L., Andrew T. and Lavina J., of whom Andrew T. is now the only one living and now a resident of Kansas and who was for many years a civil engineer in the United States service and for a time in the Argentine Republic, S. A., where his sister Alcinda L., who while young began her career as a teacher in Grant county, had been and was then engaged in teaching, having first acquired a proficient knowledge of the Spanish language and who recently died at Los Angeles, California, where she was highly respected as a teacher and for her charitable work. It is now proper as a conclusion to this historical sketch of Mr. Morrow's life to say that he was exceedingly conscientious in all his dealings with his fellowmen, and was highly circumspect in his demeanor, and always an unswerving advocate of what he believed to be correct principles of political and social life.

JOSEPH MORROW, JR., a pioneer of Grant county, whence he came in 1843, and an esteemed citizen of Marion, has been a witness and partici- pant in the wonderful development of this section of the Hoosier state, and although now living a quiet life, retired from business activities, is still interested in the growth and progress of his community.

Mr. Morrow in his boyhood was denied many of the advantages con- sidered necessary to the education of the youth of today, and his early training or knowledge was secured largely by dint of his own unaided

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HENRY D. CARTER AND WIFE

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exertion as opportunity was afforded him in connection with the school of hard work. His steadfast determination and industry have enabled him as will herein be further disclosed to make for himself an honorable place in life. He was born September 9, 1838, and was the son of Joseph and Letitia (Smith) Morrow.

He was four years of age when he was brought by his parents to Grant county, and here he received his education in private and public schools. After going to Jonesboro he clerked in the stores of his father and afterward, for several years, in those of other merchants; and subse- quently for a time served as first assistant teacher in the graded school at that place.

In 1866, at the age of twenty-eight years, he was elected clerk of Grant county on the Republican ticket, and continued to serve in that office for four years, and following this was a member of the Grant county bar and thence devoted a portion of his time to the practice of probate law.

Later Mr. Morrow was connected with the North Indiana Conference, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as a minister, but withdrew from the conference at a session held in Ft. Wayne, in 1874. He had joined the church at the age of 18 years, at Jonesboro, and was soon made a local preacher and served as such for many years.

In 1898 Mr. Morrow removed to Traverse City, Michigan, where he resided for eight years, at the end of which time he again took up his residence in Marion, Grant county, and soon retired, on account of failing health, from all active secular pursuits.

On March 27, 1864, Mr. Morrow was married to Miss Mary A. Taylor, one of Grant county's school teachers. She was born in England, daughter of William and Mary Ann (Fitch) Taylor, where Mrs. Taylor died. Afterward, in 1849, Mr. Taylor with his children came to the United States and settled in Grant county, Indiana, where he became engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm located between Jonesboro and Fairmount and there his death occurred about five years later.

Mrs. Morrow was the youngest of five children born to her parents, and is now of them the only survivor.

Her father's second marriage was to Rebecca Rich of Grant county, now deceased, by whom he had two children, Joseph, now also deceased; and Eli who lives in Kansas.

Mr. and Mrs. Morrow have three children, the eldest, Flora Elma Baldwin, wife of Dr. M. F. Baldwin, of Marion; and Arthur J., now a member of the city council, of Marion, whose wife was Anna M., daugh- ter of Augustine and Loretta Kem; and Alcinda Estella, wife of Thomas H. Sherman, a merchant of Traverse City, Michigan, where they now reside. Mr. Morrow's character is so well known and so fully to be inferred from the foregoing as to make particular reference to it here unnecessary.

HENRY D. CARTER. Eighty-five years ago the first of the Carter family to become identified with what has in more recent years been known as Grant county, made his way from North Carolina into this section of the country, and from then to now men of the name have been worthily connected with the enterprises that have made of Grant county the progressive and prosperous district that it is.

Henry D. Carter, now deceased, represented the third generation of the name in Grant county. He was a son of George Carter and a grandson of Solomon Carter, the one who first settled here, and concerning those worthy pioneers it is proper that some mention be made at this point.

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Solomon Carter came of an old North Carolina family whose habitat there had long been Randolph county, which has in the past century contributed much new blood to the growth and upbuilding of this county. He was born there in the latter part of the eighteenth century, and there was reared. In young manhood he was married. His wife's surname was Jane, and with their family they migrated to Grant county, Indiana, about 1827. It is not to be thought that they found conditions other than most primitive in those early days. The state was young, having been admitted to the Union but a few years previous, and Grant county was in a particularly undeveloped and uninviting state. Mr. Carter had come to make a new home in a new land, however, and he did not permit the conditions that con- fronted him to daunt him in any manner. The result was that he settled down in what is now Center township, Grant county, his place being located on the turn of the Mississinewa River, a spot of singular beauty even in those wilderness days:

Here Solomon Carter and his wife passed the closing years of their busy and fruitful lives, death claiming them there not many years after they had settled, when they were somewhere between the ages of sixty and seventy years. They reared a fine family of seven sons and two or three daughters, none of which are living today. All of them married with the exception of Solomon Jr., who was a veteran of the Civil war and died in the Soldiers' Home in Illinois when he was quite an old man, and Jane, a daughter, who died aged 16 years.

Of these children, George Carter, who became the father of Henry D., of this review, was a good sized boy when his parents came north. He saw much of pioneering in the days of his residence on the home farm in Center township, and when he reached his majority and began to look about for himself, he felt that he could do no bettter than to take some Indiana land on his own account. He accordingly entered 120 acres in Section 9, Mill township, and when he married a little later, he located on this new and uncultivated spot of land. There he built a log house, small but comfortable, and until 1850 he lived the life of a pioneer farmer. In that year they built a fine frame house, in which they passed their remaining years. He died on April 3, 1889, and his wife passed away on April 10, 1903. Both had reached a fine old age, and were ready to go when their summons to another life came to them. They were reckoned among the finest citizenship of their time, and as successful farming people of a splendid type, they had a secure place in the esteem of their fellows. Mrs. Carter particularly was known to be one of the most excellent managers of her day, and proved herself possessor of qualities and powers in matters of finance that undeniably had much to do with the prosperity they enjoyed. She retained her splendid mental vigor and much of her physical strength until the closing hours of her life. They were long active members of the United Brethren Church and were among its early organizers in their community. Mr. Carter was a prominent man in the community as an office holder, and his interest in the affairs of the church was such that he was usually to be found holding some important office in the administration of its activities. Their home was the free abiding place of all the itinerant preachers of the day, that being the period characterized by the circuit riders of the church, and all knew that the Carter latch string always hung out with a hearty welcome forthcoming to those who would avail themselves of it. Mr. Carter was a Republican in his political faith. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Carter. The names of the twelve in the order of their birth are here given as follows:

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Eliza J., born in 1838 and'died in 1848. Mary Ann, born in 1840, and now Mrs. Bond. She is without issue and has her residence at the Old Ladies' Home of Marion. John was born in 1842 and died in the same year. Susanna was born in 1843 and died in 1849. Elizabeth, born in 1845, died in 1846. Lydia, born in 1846, died in 1871. She married Thomas Knight and had one son. William Carter was born in 1850 and died in February, 1912, on his fine farm home in Mill township. He married Elizabeth Knight, now living in Marion, Ind., and they have one son. Martha was born in 1851 and she died in 1875, two years after her marriage to Jesse Bogue, without issue. Solomon Jr. was born in 1854 and now is a resident of Marion. He married Lydia Linder and is the father of three children. Lucy R. was born in 1856 and married Daniel Gibson. She died in 1898, leaving a son and daughter. Rachel J. was born in 1860 and died in 1862. Henry D.

Henry D. Carter grew up on his father's farm and early in his boyhood he gave evidence of those qualities that make for unqualified success in the farming enterprise. After he married he located on a farm of seventy acres in Section 31, Mill township, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He improved the place until it reached a high plane of modern completeness, and his barns and other similar buildings were built and equipped in a manner that left nothing to be desired. They were among the finest in the state and were built along scientific lines, in a manner most approved by experts in the line. His poultry house was a model of completeness with cement floors and every possible arrangement conducive to the comfort and general productiveness of the poultry.

In addition to his own place Mr. Carter came into ownership of the old homestead farm of 120 acres, which is another of the fine places of the county. His widow now owns and operates these places, with a success that is praiseworthy and that reflects great credit upon her as a manager.

Mr. Carter was a man of splendid native ability and of wonder- fully fine character. In addition to the care and conduct of his two farms he was largely engaged in the contracting business, road and street building being his line. Two years before he died he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and though he did not enjoy the best of health thereafter, he was able to attend to his duties in his former manner. He was a Republican and died a member of the Christian church.

On March 27, 1880, Mr. Carter was married in Fairmount town- ship to Miss Sarah C. Lamm, born in Jackson township, Miami county, Ind., on January 18, 1857. Her mother, Johanna (Elliott) Lamm, died when Mrs. Carter was six weeks old, and she was reared by her grandparents, Isaac and Rachel (Overman) Elliott in Center township, Grant county, Ind. The home of the Elliotts in those days was on the spot now occupied by the National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts in the earlier days entered the land from the government, and there they lived and finally died, after which the land was sold back to the government by their son, Isaac, Jr., as a site for the proposed National Soldiers' Home. The Elliotts were of an old Quaker family, and people of many excellent qualities of heart and mind. The father of Mrs. Carter was Edmond Lamm, a native of Randolph county, North Caro- lina, who came to Miami county, Indiana, as a young man, in company with his parents, Caleb and Sarah Lamm, who passed the closing years of their lives in that county. They, too, were Quakers. Edmond Lamm was reared to farm life and he entered land in Jackson township, in Miami county, there passing his life, which, though busy, was unevent- ful. He was sixty-two years of age when he died and he had been three times married. The children of his first marriage were three in number,

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and besides Mrs. Carter there were Mrs. Margaret J. Bundy, now living at Converse, in Miami county, and Rachel, who died at the age of eighteen years. By his last marriage Mr. Lamm had one daughter, who died in infancy.

Mrs. Carter was educated in the public and normal schools and was for five years prior to her marriage engaged in teaching. She is the mother of Prof. George E. Carter, of Port Arthur, Texas, and an instructor in manual training at that place. Professor Carter married Esther Shafer of Jonesboro, Indiana, and has one daughter, Margaret Catherine. Frank, another son of Mrs. Carter, is now in the branch house of a Cincinnati, Ohio, roofing concern, with headquarters in Chicago much of the time. He is not married.

Hazel Carter, a daughter, has been given an excellent education in the public schools and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Normal School and in Bradley Institute, having specialized in Domestic Science and Economy. She is now a successful instructor in that important branch in the Marion Normal.

Mary, the youngest daughter, is a graduate of the Marion Normal, and is engaged in kindergarten teaching.

Dwight is a graduate of the Marion Normal Institute in 1913, and he is busy at home, helping his mother to manage the farm, which is known as Oak Grove Terrace, and their combined skill and energy has been resultant in the most thriving and prosperous conditions about the place.

Mrs. Carter is a member of the Friends church, and is one of the most highly esteemed and popular women of the community.

IVY LUTHER. To be well born is one of the greatest blessings that can come to a child. Ancestry counts for benefits and becomes a matter of pride only as it confers attributes of character and family traits that enable later generations to live more fully and with greater usefulness to themselves and their community than the generations that have pre- ceded them. No matter how much may be charged to circumstances and environments in the making or marring of character, it is as true as the hills that "blood will tell." These remarks have special application to the Luther family in Grant county. They come of many generations of strong, sturdy Americans, characterized by mental and moral qualities of a high order, and the present generation has well lived up to the stand- ards set by its predecessors.

The family history is authentically traced back to John Luther, a brother of Martin Luther, the great German and reformer and founder of German Protestantism. One of the descendants of that John Luther came from Germany to England prior to 1630. The first American of the family was also named John Luther, born in England before 1630, and emigrating to the American colonies previous to 1640. This immi- grant was known as Captain John Luther, and was killed by Indians in Delaware Bay in 1644. He married Sarah Butternut, who was probably an English girl, and they were probably married in England, since their son Hezekiah Luther, next in the line of the family history, was born in England in 1626. Hezekiah Luther married and had children, among whom was Michael Luther, who was born in Maryland about 1656-7. From Maryland he moved south into North Carolina, settling in Randolph county, the point of origin for so many Grant county settlers. There he died in 1734. In religion he was a Methodist. He was twice married and had children by both wives.

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Centennial History of Grant County Indiana, Part 45

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1034

Author: Rolland Lewis Whitson
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1034