USA > Indiana > Porter County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 73
USA > Indiana > Lake County > Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana : historical and biographical > Part 73
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WILLIAM HILL was born in Windom County, Conn., March 5, 1820, and is one of the fourteen children of Rufus and Polly (Humes) Hill; the former was a native of Connecticut, and the latter died in 1855. Mr. Hill afterward married Mary Hamilton, who bore him six children, all of whom are living. About 1824, Mr. Hill and family moved to Ontario County, N. Y., and after six years to Medina County,
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then to Champaign County, Ohio, and in 1840 to Indiana, locating in Lake County, which has since been their home. He purchased 200 acres in Cedar Creek Township, which he improved and farmed. Mr. Hill and famlly passed through the trials and privations of their day and circumstances, and he died on the old homestead in 1879, aged eighty- five years. He was many years Captain of militia in New York. Mrs. Hill subsequently married a Mr. Taylor; she now resides in Stark County, Ind. William Hill resided with his parents until manhood, re- ceiving a school education. He became a farmer, which occupation he followed in Lake County, and where, by labor and perseverance, he owns 250 acres in Cedar Creek Township, besides twelve acres in Lowell, on which he lives. On January 16, 1845, he married Miss Mary Ann Wilkinson, born February 27, 1827, daughter of Robert Wilkinson, who came to Indiana in 1834. To their union there were born four chil- dren-Melissa A. (deceased wife of Jacob Miller), Cordelia (wife of Daniel Marman), Ocena (deceased wife of Ellery Nichols) and Charles R. (residing in Lowell). Mr. Hill's family is among the first in the place. Robert and Elizabeth (Miller) Wilkinson, natives of North Caro- lina and Virginia, were born-the former in 1797, the latter in 1805. They were married in Athens County, Ohio, about 1820, and were blessed with nine children, of whom but two-John B. and Mrs. Hill- are living, in Lake County. They came to what is now Lake County (then La Porte) in 1835; settled in West Creek Township and engaged in farming. After twenty years, they moved to Missouri, where they died in 1857. They were among the earliest settlers, their nearest neighbor being eight miles distant. Their son, born in West Creek Township, was probably the first birth there. John B. is the only one of the name in the county. He is married; has a family, and for six- teen years was mail-carrier between Lowell and Crown Point.
LEONARD KEILMAN was born near Worms, Germany, May 22, 1833, and is the youngest of the seven children of Henry and Elizabeth (Overal) Keilman, both natives of Germany. Henry Keilman was a farmer, and for a time teamster in the army of Napoleon I, during the Austrian campaign. In 1840, he emigrated to the United States and settled in Summit County, Ohio, where he purchased a small farm of twenty-seven acres. In 1845, he sold this, and moved to St. John's Township, Lake Co., Ind., where he bought 300 acres, and where he re- sided until his death, June 24, 1878, aged eighty-four years ; he was a member of the Catholic Church. Leonard Keilman, except for a short term of schooling, worked on his father's farm until he was eighteen years old, and then by the month for his brother, at from $10 to $15 per month. Afterward, he bought 330 acres, partially improved, in St.
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Johns Township, to which he has added until he now owns 640 acres of improved land, besides valuable town property in Lowell and Dyer. In October, 1854, he was married to Magdalena Austgen, a native of Prussia, by whom he had eight children. In 1856, he started in the lumber trade at Dyer, in which he continued four years, and afterward in mercantile business until 1874, when he again engaged in the lum- ber business, as well as dealing in grain and hay, at Dyer, in com- pany with John N. Du Breuil, of Crown Point, and has been so en- gaged since that time. In 1864, he and Mr. Du Breuil built a planing mill at Dyer, which was burned in 1872, and rebuilt, and in 1881 removed to Lowell, where it now is in operation, together with a large elevator and warehouse, changed to an elevator in 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Keilman are members of the Catholic Church.
KELLER, SHERMAN & CO., merchants, carry a large and se- lected stock of dry goods, clothing, hats and caps, boots and shoes, car- pets, groceries, fancy goods and notions, amounting in value to $15,000, as a minimum. This stock is the largest and best in Lowell, or in the southern part of Lake County. Their trade, which is constantly in- creasing, is the most extensive in this section, the annual sales amounting to $50,000. Adam J. Sherman, second member of the firm, was born in Marion County, Ohio, November 13, 1854; he received a fair public school education, and commenced business at the age of twenty at Knox, Starke Co., Ind., in a general store, where he remained a year. He then attended school three years, after which he went to North Judson, Ind., as a clerk for Jacob Keller one year. In June, 1881, he commenced business on his own account at Lowell, as partner with his former em- ployer, Jacob Keller, and having entire management of the Lowell house. Mr. Sherman is a son of John W. and Catherine (Fisher) Sher- man, the former a native of Virginia, the latter of Pennsylvania; both died when Adam was a boy. Mr. Sherman was married, April 1, 1880, to Lydia J. Herrold, a native of La Porte County, Ind. Two children grace their union-a boy and a girl.
JERRY M. KENNEY, was born in Kennebec County, Me., No- vember 10, 1823, and is one of the five children of Charles and Deborah (Rollins) Kenney ; the former also a native of Maine, and one of the early citizens of Lake County, Ind .; his vocation was farming. In 1814, he was married to Deborah Rollins, and in 1816 moved to Muskingum County, Ohio, then sparsely settled, and engaged in saw-milling; not liking the climate, he returned to his native State after five years, and engaged in lumbering. In 1837, he came to Porter County, Ind., and wintered near Hebron. In 1838, he came to Eagle Creek Township, and . took a 160-acre claim of prairie and forty of timber land, at market price of
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$1.25 per acre. Mr. and Mrs. Kenney passed the ordeal of hardship at- tendant on pioneer life of that day. They had five children-Hannah N., Joseph A., Charles A., Jerry M. and George W. (deceased). Mr. Kenney died in 1856, and Mrs. Kenney in 1869. Mr. Kenney was a non-commissioned officer in the war of 1812. Both of Jerry's grandfathers were Revolutionary war soldiers. Jerry M. Kenney was reared in Maine until his fourteenth year, receiving a common-school education, and choos- ing farming as a vocation. In 1842, he was married to Phebe Wood- ruff, sister of his brother's widow, and daughter of James H. and Rachel (Denney) Woodruff, old settlers of Lake County. Their union was blessed with six children-George W., Lucinda R., J. C., Joseph D., Schuyler C. and Effie L .; all are married except Joseph D. and Effie, who reside at home. Mr. Kenney followed farming until 1872, when he purchased the stock of groceries and dry goods at Orchard Grove, which he and his son have operated together with farming since that time. His farm now embraces 513 acres in Cedar Creek and Eagle Creek Town- ships. Mr. Kenney was commissioned Postmaster in 1873, and is yet serving in that capacity. He is a Republican in politics, also a member of the M. E. Church.
WILLIAM A. KENNEY, was born in Cedar Creek Township, Lake County, Ind., May 18, 1860, and is the youngest of the six chil- dren born to Charles A. and Hannah (Woodruff) Kenney, the former a native of Maine, the latter of Ohio. Charles A. Kenney, when a young man, in 1837 came to Cedar Creek Township, in this county, and pur- chased 160 acres of prairie land, on which he erected a log cabin, and subsequently improved a farm ; here he resided until his death, in 1873. William A. Kenney obtained a good education, both from the common schools, and also the Normal College at Valparaiso ; beyond this, he was employed on his father's farm until he was twenty-one years of age. In September, 1881, he commenced the grocery business at Lowell, where he is now doing well; his stock of goods is the largest in the town or county, of which he is one of the rising and enterprising young merchants. He is a member of the Lowell Cornet Band.
JOHN A. KIMMET was born in Seneca County, Ohio, April 25. 1856, and is one of twelve children born to Jacob and Catherine (Shei- ber) Kimmet, the former a native of Bavaria, the latter of Northern France. The parents of Jacob Kimmet emigrated to the United States when he was twelve years old, locating in Seneca County, Ohio, at that time a wilderness, their nearest market and mill being at Sandusky City, forty-five miles away. Here Jacob Kimmet was married, bought forty acres, built a cabin, and improved his land ; in this cabin our subject was born; at the time of his marriage, Mr. Kimmet had but $16 with which
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to begin life's journey ; by industry and economy, however, he has ac- quired a fine farm in Seneca County, Ohio, comprising over 400 acres ; he has been Township Trustee and Assessor. John A. Kimmet obtained a good education at Heidelberg College, Ohio, St. Vincent College, West- moreland County, Penn., and St. Francis College, near Milwau- kee, Wis. ; he was for four years a teacher in Ohio. In 1878, he moved to Dyer, St. Johns Township, in this county, and took charge of the high school there, remaining until 1881, when he moved to Lowell and engaged as book-keeper at the elevator and planing-mill of Du Breuil & Keilman. He has bought a handsome property in Lowell. On June 24, 1880, he was married to Maggie Keilman, daughter of Leonard and Helen (Shoemaker) Keilman. By this union were born two children, one of whom survives, Adelia M. Both Mr. and Mrs. Keilman are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Kimmet is one of the most enter- prising young business men of the town or county.
JAMES N. MOORE was born in Binghamton, Broome Co., N. Y., May 23, 1832, and is one of the seven children of Andrew and Irena (Hines) Moore, both natives of Broome County, N. Y. Andrew Moore was a farmer; he married in New York, and in 1837 moved with his family to West Creek Township, Lake County, Ind., where he bought a claim of one John Stein for 160 acres, on which he built a cabin and made improvements. The first school in the south part of that township was held on his place. In 1839, he removed to Will County, Ill., where he purchased land and resided until 1845, when he returned to West Creek Township, purchased a farm and resided until 1865; this he sold, came to Lowell, engaged in mercantile life until 1872, when he retired; he was the first Justice of the Peace in West Creek Township, which he continued to be for ten years, and a prominent member of the M. E. Church. James N. Moore received a fair education in the log school- houses of his early days. At the age of nineteen, he began to learn carpentering at Joliet, Ill. ; he soon became a partner of Norman Brown, a contractor and builder of that town. On April 20, 1856, he was mar- ried to Mary Ault, a native of Porter County, Ind., by whom he had six children, four of whom are living, of whom Edwin and Edson are twins. Mr. Moore has been a builder and contractor in Indiana and Illinois almost ever since his majority. In 1863, he came to Lowell, and on October 3 of that year he enlisted in Company G, Twelfth Indiana Vol- unteers, and was discharged in July, 1865, at Indianapolis. At the organization of his company, Mr. Moore was unanimously chosen Sec- ond Lieutenant, but, owing to some act of treachery, was not so mustered. All his brothers were soldiers in the late war. Three were killed and one severely wounded at Franklin. Mr. Moore is the Greenback can-
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didate for Congress in the Tenth District; he is a charter member of Colfax Lodge, No. 378, A., F. & A. M., and the first S. W .; he is now serving his eighth term as W. M., and is one of the bright Masons of Northwest Indiana; he is also a member of Lincoln Chapter, No. 53, R. A. M.
HORATIO R. NICHOLS was born in Madison County, N. Y., January 26, 1818, and is one of the seven children born to William and Nancy (Randall) Nichols, the former a native of Connecticut. The grandfather of our subject, Samuel Nichols, was also a native of the "Nutmeg State" and a soldier of the Revolution; he was wounded by a musket ball, and carried said ball in his leg until his death ; he refused to be a pensioner of the Government. William Nichols came to New York when a boy; he learned the trade of shoemaker, tanner and currier ; he was three times married-first, to Nancy Randall, who died March 26, 1826; second, to Huldah Kelsey, by whom he had three children ; third, to Catherine Storms, who is yet living. Mr. Nichols was a pioneer of Madison County, N. Y., and at one time Captain of a company of riflemen, and known as " Capt. Bill; " he died July 6, 1880. Horatio R. Nichols was reared in Madison County, N. Y., receiving such school facilities as were then attainable. In 1836, he and an elder brother- Abram R .- started West to seek a home. They came to Lake County, and purchased a claim of 160 acres in what is now Cedar Creek Town- ship, for which they paid $250. The same year, they took a claim of 160 acres adjoining, when they went to Michigan City and engaged in lumbering for the winter. In the spring, they returned to Lake County, and began to improve their land; here Mr. H. R. Nichols has since resided. On January 23, 1845, Mr. Nichols married Miss Eliza Ken- yon. To this union were born six children-William C., a soldier of the late war, now married to Mary Gragg; Irving L., deceased; Hannah L., now Mrs. Mortimer Gragg; Ella M., wife of Cyrus Dickinson; Alma E., now Mrs. Edson Foster; and Charles E. Mrs. Nichols was born in Providence County, R. I., January 3, 1826; her parents came to Lake County in 1838, where Mrs. Kenyon died. Mr. Kenyon is yet living on the old homestead at Pleasant Grove. Mr. Nichols is one of the few very old settlers; he has endured the hardships and witnessed the lights and shadows dawning and setting over this virgin country, and now rejoices in its prosperity ; he is a Republican, and has been since the birth of the party, and an honored and valued citizen. Mrs. Nichols is a member of the M. E. Church.
JACOB NICHOLS was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, February 20, 1824, and is one of the twelve children of John and Mary (Lantz) Nichols, the former a native of Maryland, the latter of Pennsylvania.
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About 1804, John Nichols went to Fairfield County, then almost a wil- derness, where he afterward married and engaged in farming; he died in 1872. Jacob Nichols received a limited education, and until of age worked on the farm of his father, and afterward by the month during summer and in winter attending school, for two years. After farming on shares for two years more, he purchased eighty acres in Crawford County, Ohio, on which he erected a house and began clearing. After one year, he leased the place, and removed to Wyandot County, where he bought a prairie farm of fifty acres. This he sold and removed to Marion County, where he farmed on shares. On March 20, 1849, he was married to Elizabeth L. Hight, of Marion County, Ohio, daughter of David and Elizabeth Hight. To this union eight children were born, five of whom survive. Mrs. Nichols died August 12, 1853; she was a member of the Baptist Church. In 1856, he removed to Washington County, Iowa, but soon after came to Cedar Creek Township, where he purchased 120 acres; here he has resided and added thereto, until he now owns 240 acres, well improved. On September 12, 1872, Mr. Nichols was married to Julia A. Henderson, a native of Huron County, Ohio, and daughter of George and Bethia B. (Newton) Henderson. To this union have been born four children, all living. Mr. Nichols is an old settler, a prominent farmer and a stanch Republican.
ADELBERT D. PALMER was born in Erie County, Penn., May 3, 1829, and is one of the eight children of James and Almira (Taylor) Palmer, the former of Connecticut, the latter of New York. James Palmer was a farmer. When young, he removed to New York, where he married. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and a participant in the battle of Lake Erie. In 1831, he emigrated to St. Joseph County, Ind., locating at South Bend. He soon moved southward, on what was afterward known as Palmer's Prairie-named from him as the first settler-where he en- tered 160 acres, built a log house and made farm improvements. He sold his farm in St. Joseph County and moved to West Creek Township in 1846, where he purchased 320 acres. This he sold in 1854, and came to Cedar Creek Township, where, after purchasing 200 acres, he resided until his death, August, 1863. Adelbert D. Palmer obtained a fair education, and worked for his father until nearly twenty-one years old, when he bought eighty acres, partially improved, in West Creek Township. In 1849, he was married to Marietta Burch, of New York, by whom he had nine children. In 1852, he sought his fortune in Cali- fornia, going by the overland route, and engaged in mining, the real estate and lumber business, returning in August, 1854, by way of Nica- ragua and New York. At home again, he engaged in agriculture and stock-raising. In February, 1865, he enlisted in Company E, One Hun-
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dred and Fifty-first Indiana Volunteers ; he was discharged in September of the same year. In January, 1869, he commenced a general store at Tinkerville, in this township, in conjunction with his former business. In January, 1875, he lost his entire stock by fire, amounting to $5,000. Having some goods at Crown Point, he resumed business the next day in the kitchen of his dwelling. He replenished his stock at Chicago, and the same year built a storeroom and house at Creston, where he has since done a paying business. Mr. Palmer was Assessor and Justice of the Peace, each four years, in this township; also Justice of the Peace four years in Cedar Creek Township. In 1869, he was Postmaster at Cedar Lake, and re-appointed at Creston in 1882. He belongs to Lake Lodge, No. 157, A., F. & A. M. He was once a Whig, but now a Republican, and is an enterprising citizen.
C. P. POST was born in Wyoming County, Penn., August 11, 1838, and is one of the seven children of Hiram and Hannah (Joslin) Post, the former a native of New York, the latter of Pennsylvania. The grand- father of our subject was a resident of the Wyoming Valley at the date of the Indian massacre, but survived. Hiram Post was a farmer, and in 1850 emigrated to Indiana, locating at Southeast Grove, in Lake County, where he has since resided. He and wife are aged respectively eighty- six and eighty-two years, and have been married sixty-four years. C. P. Post came to Indiana with his parents when twelve years old, and was reared on the farm. He received a practical education, and finished at the old Male and Female College at Valparaiso. In 1861, he went to his old home in Pennsylvania, and while there, on November 4, enlisted in Company A, Fifty-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was discharged, from disability, at the York Hospital, as First Sergeant, December 22, 1864. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac in 1862, proceeding to Fortress Monroe, and was in the engagements of Williams- burg, Fair Oaks, and the battles before Richmond. During the summer, his command lay at Harrison's Landing; they were afterward engaged at Bull Run and Chantilly, where their General was lost-Gen. Kearney; they were also engaged at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and later at Gettysburg, thence going to Sulphur Springs, where they remained until October, 1863; they then advanced, captured the works at Kelly's Ford and at Brandy Station, where they wintered, but later fought a bat- tle at Mine Run. During the winter, Mr. Post was discharged as a vet- eran, but at once re-enlisted in the same regiment. On May 2, 1864, they engaged in the Wilderness campaign, and in front of Spottsylvania Court House, Mr. Post was shot through the right wrist by a minie ball May 10, 1864, which wound has much disfigured and nearly destroyed the use of the hand. After his discharge, he returned to Lake County,
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where he attended and taught school. On July 28, 1868, he married Miss Mary Davis, by whom he had five children-Merritt O., Charles A., Elwyn H., Rutherford B. and Bessie L. Mrs. Post was born June 4, 1844, and is a member of the Baptist Church. Mr. Post is now engaged in the drug trade at Lowell ; he has also a line of ready-made clothing. In 1870, he was commissioned Postmaster of Lowell, which he has since retained. Mr. Post is a Republican.
C. K. & R. PRATT, importers and breeders of thoroughbred Clydes- dale and Suffolk Punch horses, have done more for the advancement of stock interests than any men in Lake County, or in this section of coun- try. They are natives of Yates County, N. Y .; the elder was born August 20, 1822, and the latter February 6, 1834. Their parents were John and Hannah (Knapp) Pratt, natives of New York. Both are de- ceased. C. K. Pratt, when nine years of age, went to reside with an uncle, with whom he remained until he was twenty-one. In 1852, he abandoned farming, and since then has dealt exclusively in horses in New York, Pennsylvania and Canada, where he began buying heavy horses and importing them into the United States. In 1869, by reason of the reciprocity treaty ceasing between the Governments, and the high tariff on stock, he returned to the States and resumed business with his partner, R. Pratt. In 1879, he came to Lowell, where his brother resided, and commenced importing full-blooded horses and breeding them in Lake County. He has imported eight Clydesdale stallions and three mares, with one Suffolk Punch stallion. Such laudable enterprise should not be unappreciated in the stock history or interests of Lake County. These brothers have no equals in their line of importance, and they have justly carried off first honors at all the fairs. C. K. Pratt is unmarried. Ran- som Pratt married Elizabeth McConnell, and they have two sons-Fred and Harry.
HARVEY C. SANGER was born in Washington County, N. Y., May 22, 1815, and is the youngest of nine children born to Adin and Elizabeth (Niles) Sanger, both natives of Connecticut. Adin Sanger was a tinner and coppersmith, which trade he followed in Connecticut several years, and where he was married. About 1800, he removed to Washing- ton County, N. Y., then almost a wilderness, and followed his trade about twenty-four years. In 1824, he moved to Ontario County, N. Y., where he bought a farm and pursued agriculture until his death, in October, 1829. Harvey C. Sanger acquired a limited common school education, and afterward worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-three years old. In 1838, the family sold the homestead, and Harvey and his mother and two brothers moved to Cedar Creek Township, Lake County, Ind., where each entered eighty acres. Harvey built a log
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. cabin and made other improvements, on a portion of which he still resides, but has added thereto until the same embraces ninety acres. Mr. Sanger was one of the Nimrods of the frontier ; his rifle was his companion, and in his hands was certain death to game. For several years during the winter he hunted with the Indians on the Kankakee Marsh. Mrs. Elizabeth Sanger lived with our subject until her death, May 28, 1855; she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On April 20, 1840, he was married to Sarah A. Bryant, a native of Wyandot County, Ohio, and daughter of Samuel D. and Mary (Ross) Bryant. To this union were born seven children, four of whom survive. Mrs. Sanger died May 29, 1855; she was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Sanger's second marriage, on June 26, 1856, was to Mrs. Nancy Swaney, a native of Decatur County, Ind., and daughter of Cooper and Harriet (Griffin) Brooks. By this union they had two children, a son and a daughter. Mr. Sanger is a member of the Lowell Lodge, No. 245, I. O. O. F., a Republican, and an old settler and prominent farmer.
SIMEON L. SANGER was born in Ontario County, N. Y., Octo- ber 13, 1835, and is the second of eight children born to James H. and Martha B. (Cleveland) Sanger, both natives of Ontario County, N. Y. (A sketch of James H. Sanger, Sr., will be found elsewhere in this vol- ume.) Simeon L. Sanger acquired a common school education in youth. When one or two years old, his father came to Lake County, Ind., and Simeon worked for him on his farm until he was twenty-one years of age, and afterward on shares for three or four years. He then began farm- ing on 116 acres of his own in Cedar Creek Township, where he has since remained. To this land he has added until he now has 190 acres, all well improved. On February 26, 1868, he was married to Mary E. Belshaw, a native of Lake County, daughter of Henry and Mary (Smith) Belshaw, the former of England, the latter of Terre Haute, Ind. To this union were born four children, three of whom are living- Walter Lee, Henry and an infant unnamed. Mr. Sanger is a member of Lowell Lodge, No. 245, I. O. O. F. In politics, he is a Republican, and also a prominent farmer of the township and county. Mrs. Sanger is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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