USA > Indiana > Lake County > Encyclopedia of genealogy and biography of Lake County, Indiana, with a compendium of history 1834-1904 > Part 43
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WILLIAM CHARLES BELMAN.
William Charles Belman, cashier of the First National Bank of Ham- mond. is one of the leaders in business and financial affairs of this city. He is a self-made man, and has been dependent on his own exertions since he was fourteen years old. By hard labor and diligent application he be- came a successful teacher, and for many years was at the head of the HIam- mond public schools. From that profession he entered business, and for sev- eral years has taken an active part in the financial matters of Hammond.
Mr. Behinan was born in Detroit, Michigan. May 1. 1860. a son of William F. and Matilda II. (Sabine) Belman, the former a native of Penn- sylvania and the latter of Detroit. There was one other child of these par- ents, Lettie, wife of C. E. Cummins, of Putney. South Dakota. Mrs. Ma-
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tilda Belman died in Detroit in 1866, at the age of twenty-nine years. She was a member of the Methodist church. IIer father was John Sabine, a son of John and a native of England. He came to America about 1827 and settled in Detroit, where he followed his trade of harness-maker. He is still living at the age of eighty-eight years. By his wife. Maria Hagell, he had nine children. The father of William F. Belman, John Belman, was also a native of England, whence he became an early settler of Pennsylvania and later of Detroit, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying at the age of seventy years. He was a shoemaker. His wife was Hannah Creigh- ton. and they had nine children. William F. Belman learned the trade of harness-maker, and when a young man moved to Detroit, where he lived for many years and plied his craft. In 1869 he moved to Perry, Michigan, and bought a farm, on which he still resides. He married for his second wife Amanda Rowell, who died the following year. His present wife was Miss Elizabeth Gibbs, who is the mother of six children: Stella, wife of W. A. Tucker, of Des Moines, Iowa: Vidi, of Perry, Michigan ; Burchel, of Perry; Sarah, of Perry: Job, of Perry : and Bessie, of Perry. The par- ents of this family are both Methodists, and the father is a Republican.
Mr. William C. Belman lived in Detroit until he was ten years old. receiving his first schooling there. At the age of fourteen he left his father's farm and came out to Indiana, where for several years he was engaged in hard manual labor on farms during most of each year, and at intervals attended the Valparaiso College. He became a successful teacher. and for eighteen years previous to accepting the position of cashier of the First National Bank he was superintendent of the public schools of Hammond. He has held his present position for the past three years. He is also secretary- treasurer of the Lake County Savings and Trust Company and is president of the Hammond Building and Loan and Savings Association.
Mr. Belman is a Republican in politics. He is a Master Mason of Gar- field Lodge. F. & A. M., and also affiliates with Hammond Lodge No. 210. Knights of Pythias, and with the National Union and Royal League so- cieties. He and his wife are members of the Methodist church, and he is a church trustee and steward and for a number of years served as superin- tendent of the Sunday school. He resides at 130 Ogden avenue, where he built his pleasant home in 1889.
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June 25, 1884. he married Miss Nettie Smith, a daughter of Thomas W. and Sarah ( McCabe) Smith. Mrs. Belman was also a Methodist. She died in July, 1897, at the age of thirty-three, leaving two children, Charles and Edna. On August 10, 1899. Mr. Belman married Miss Emma Rork. a daughter of William Rork. They have a son. Creighton, and lost a daugh- ter in infancy.
MRS. JOHANNA MEYER.
Mrs. Johanna Meyer, of West Creek township. has, since the recent death of her husband. managed with fine executive ability the affairs of her fine homestead and farm, and has again illustrated woman's capacity for controlling the weightier matters of the world when such burden devolves upon her. The Meyer family belong to the thrifty and esteemed class of German-American citizens who have prospered so well in this country and at the same time have added so largely to its resources and high grade of citi- zenship.
Mrs. Meyer was born in Westphalia. Germany, September 29. 1855, being the oldest in a family of six children. three sons and three daughters, born to Herman and Ann E. (Wilke) Krudup. Four of the children are still living. Mrs. Meyer being the oldest. Her brother, Herman C., is mar- ried and resides in Englewood, Chicago, where he is a salesman in a whole- sale grocery establishment ; William F., married, is a harness-maker in Gibson City, Illinois : and John, who has a mercantile business in Brunswick, resides on the old homestead in Lake county, and is married. The two oldest of the children, both daughters, were born in Germany, while the others, four sons and one daughter, were born in this country. Their father was born, reared, and married in Germany, and was trained to the life and pursuits of farming. He brought his family to America about 1859, coming in a sailing vessel from Bremen, and it was nine weeks before they landed in New Orleans. Will county, Illinois, was their first destination, and from there they came to Lake county, where the father purchased eighty acres of land which remained his home till his death, although he had increased his estate to one hundred and sixty acres. The farm was virgin soil when he first took hold of it, and all the improvements and system of cultivation he brought about by his own efforts. He was a Republican, and the family religion was German Lutheran.
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The mother was born in the same part of Germany as her husband, and she preceded him in death.
Mrs. Meyer has spent all but the first four years of her life in Lake county, and she was educated in the common schools. October 26, 1871, she was united in marriage with John H. Meyer, and they had a happy union of many years, during which time seven children, three sons and four daughters, were born into their household, six of them being still living, as follows : Henry D., who was educated in the common schools, is a practical farmer and stockman and conducts the home farm, and is a Republican in political faith. Anna M., who was educated in the common schools and also in music, resides at home. Emma M., a graduate in 1903 and also trained in music, is at home. as is also the daughter Ida C., who graduated in 1904 and a student in Lowell High School. Herman C. is in the eighth grade of school, and Bertha, the youngest. is in the fifth grade. All the daughters have re- ceived musical instruction, and are bright and intelligent young ladies and are being well trained by their practical mother for the serious matters of the world.
Mr. John H. Meyer, the father of happy memory, by whose death on April 16. 1900. the entire community as well as the family suffered a positive loss in character and worth of manhood. was born in Hanover. Germany, November 23. 1849. He was educated in the fatherland and was about twenty years old when he came to America with his father. In time he be- came recognized as one of the first-class farmers of West Creek township, although he began humbly and with little in the way of capital. He and his wife, after their marriage, made their beginning on one hundred and twenty acres of his father's estate, and by industry and frugality and good manage- ment between them they were enabled to build up a fine estate. They later pur- chased the cighty acres where the home residence is now located. This land had for some years previous been rented out, and was badly run down. He went to work fertilizing and increasing the productivity of the soil and also improving the land by buildings and the many facilities that marked the first- class agricultural property. The Meyer farm is now known as one of the model places of West Creek township, and one that any family might be proud to own. Since her husband's death Mrs. Meyer has for four years given her attention equally well to both household and outdoor duties of farm
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management, and with the assistance of her noble children has succeeded remarkably well in her enterprise. She is deserving of all credit for her capable direction of the farm as also for rearing such useful and worthy sons and daughters and providing well for their education and training in youth. Mr. Meyer enjoyed the respect and esteem of all in the circle of his acquaint- ance. and was a man of excellent ability and integrity of character. He was an ardent Republican. He and his wife were confirmed in the German Lutheran church at the age of fourteen, and the family house of worship is at Eagle Lake, Illinois.
MILES C. FRYSINGER.
Miles C. Frysinger. attorney at law of Indiana Harbor, has established himself in this town at the beginning of his career, and as a talented young professional man is making his influence felt in its development and general progress. He has shown much ability and conscientious effort at the out- set of his own career as a lawyer, and his thorough training and personal worth are sure to be determining factors in his success and progress to prominence at the bar of the state and county.
Mr. Frysinger was born in Adams county, Indiana, March 17, 1871, a son of Andrew J. and Phoebe (Gause) Frysinger. His paternal grand- father. Peter Frysinger, was born in Pennsylvania and was an early set- tler of Van Wert county, Ohio, where he followed the occupation of farm- ing and died at the age of seventy-seven years. He held various county offices. He was of Pennsylvania Dutch stock. His wife was Catharine Bodey. and they had fourteen children. Grandfather Gause was a native of Virginia. whence he moved to Pennsylvania and later to Ohio, and died in Van Wert county at the age of seventy-five years. He was also a farmer. He had eleven children.
Andrew J. Frysinger, the father of Miles C., was a native of Ohio, and throughout his active career followed farming. He came to Indiana about 1860, settling in Adams county. He bought and improved a farm. and died there in 1885 at the age of forty-four. He saw active service as a soldier during the last three months of the Civil war. His wife. also a native of Ohio, died in 1892. at the age of forty-three. They belonged to the United Brethren church, that denomination having the only church in their vicinity.
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They were the parents of fourteen children. as follows: Grant M., of Ca- bool, Missouri; Klell, deceased: Laura B., wife of William HI. Winans, of Fort Wayne, Indiana ; May R., deccased ; Miles C., of Indiana Harbor ; Audie, of Angola, Indiana ; David F., of Van Wert, Ohio; Katy E. and Minta M., twins, deceased; Eva and Effie, twins, the former the wife of a Mr. Davis of Fort Wayne, and the latter also living in Fort Wayne; Maggie; and Iva. the wife of Walker H. Spayd of Van Wert. Ohio: Bertha L., deceased.
Mr. Miles C. Frysinger was reared on his father's farm in Adams county. Indiana, securing his first education in the district schools. He later attended the normal school at Middlepoint, Ohio, and Valparaiso College, at Valparaiso, Indiana, and in 1902 graduated from the Indiana State University with the degree of A. B .. and in 1903 graduated from the law department with the degree of LL. B. He was admitted to the bar in 1903, and in No- vember of the same year established his office at Indiana Harbor, where he has already gained considerable clientage and become identified with the pro- gressive interests of the town. Mr. Frysinger is a Republican in politics. He has fraternal affiliations with the Knights of Pythias.
He was married to Miss Flora Wilmer, of Ironton, Ohio, October IO. 1904.
JOHN K. HAYDEN.
John K. Hayden was a resident of Lake county in early pioneer days and is numbered among the county's honored dead. He bore his full share in the work of early progress and improvement and was known as a re- liable business man who never took advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transaction, but won success through unflagging industry. strong and commendable purpose and honorable effort. His birth occurred in Knox county, Ohio, on the 23d of October, 1835, and he was one of the thirteen children born to Nehemiah and Harriet ( Kitchell) Hayden. He was only about a year old when brought to Lake county, and his boyhood days were passed in West Creek township. There he was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads, attending the district schools through the win- ter months, while in the summer seasons he worked at the plow or in the harvest field. To his father he gave the benefit of his services up to the time of his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated on the 3d of March, 1859. He then located in Kankakee county, Illinois, near
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the boundary line of Lake county, and was there engaged in farming until 1896, when he removed to Lowell and retired from active business life. He was well known as an agriculturist who conducted his farm along mod- ern and progressive lines. placing his fields under a high state of cultivation and equipping the farm with all improvements and accessories that facilitated its work and rendered his labor of greater value in the acquirement of 2 competence. As his financial resources increased he added to his landed pos- sessions, and at one time he owned in the neighborhood of six hundred and thirty acres of valuable land. The homestead farm comprised one hun- dred and twenty acres, and he afterward divided some of his property among his children.
Mr. Hayden was united in marriage to Miss Rachel Dodge, who was born in West Creek township, Lake county, Indiana, June 6, 1840. Her father, Henry Dodge, was a native of Vermont and died in Michigan in 1879. He had removed to the west in 1837 and was one of the pioneer settlers of northwestern Indiana, establishing his home in West Creek town- ship. Lake county. He removed to Oceana county, Michigan, in 1871, and there passed away in 1879. His wife bore the maiden name of Lucretia De Gau, and was born in Canada. Her death occurred in Michigan in 1879. This worthy couple were the parents of twelve children, of whom Mrs. Hay- den was the second in order of birth. She has spent her entire life in Lake county, Indiana, and in Kankakee county, Illinois, the district separated only by the boundary line of the states. To Mr. and Mrs. Hayden have been born eight children, of whom George and Willis A. are now deceased. The others are Robert, who is a resident of Virginia: Mary, the wife of Will- iam Beeman, who resides in Monticello. Indiana; Lizzie, the wife of E. N. Hayhurst, of West Creek township: Alva, who is married and lives near Roanoke. Indiana: Ella, the wife of J. W. Diss, of Sherburnville, Illinois : and Jesse, of Kankakee township, Kankakee county, Illinois.
Mr. Hayden continued to make his home in Lowell until his death. which occurred on the 6th of October, 1903. He was very well known in the county as the champion of all measures for general progress and im- provement. His political allegiance was given to the Republican party, and the cause of education found in him a warm friend. He took a deep interest in the schools and served as school director for about nine years. Mr.
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Hayden spent almost his entire life in this portion of the country and he possessed many sterling traits of character which gained for him warm personal regard and friendship. He was a devoted husband and father, a progressive and public-spirited citizen and one whose loss was deeply mourned throughout the community.
REUBEN FANCHER.
For a half century Reuben Fancher has made his home in Lake county and is now living a retired life at Crown Point. He was for many years actively identified with agricultural interests, but now is enjoying a well earned rest. His birth occurred in Huron county, Ohio, on the 28th of April, 1834. and he comes of English ancestry. His grandfather and his father both bore the name of Thaddeus Fancher, and his mother bore the maiden name of Amy Chapman. She was born in Connecticut and was a daughter of Cyrus Chapman, who was also of English lineage. To these parents were born twelve children, of whom seven are yet living.
Reuben Fancher, the eldest of the family, was reared in Huron county, Ohio, until twenty years of age, when he started out in life on his own ac- count and, believing that he might have better business opportunities in a less thickly settled district, he went to Michigan, where he attended the public school during the winter months. March 20, 1855, he came to Crown Point, and at that time his capital consisted of only forty dollars in gold, but he possessed a resolute and determined spirit, renting a tract of land ou which he began farming. He also bought stock, and when his financial re- sources had increased to a sufficient extent he purchased eighty acres of land, to which he added until his farm comprised one hundred and sixty acres. Subsequently he traded that for property in Crown Point and took up his abode in the city. For three years he served as deputy sheriff. He has, however, been largely engaged in dealing in farm machinery and live stock, but is now living a retired life, for through his perseverance and energy he accumulated a handsome competence that now supplies him with all of the necessities and many of the comforts and luxuries of life.
In August, 1857, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Fancher and Miss Mary Hawkins, who was born in New York and died in Lake county, Indi- ana. in 1895. They were the parents of four children, the eldest of whom
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died in infancy. The others are William; Mary, the wife of E. H. Crowell; and Grace, at home.
Mr. Fancher is a Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for Fremont and afterward supported Lincoln in 1860 and again in 1864. He has never wavered in his allegiance to the party, but has always voted for its presidential candidates and has put forth every effort in his power to promote its growth and secure its success. For thirty-five years he has been a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has been identified with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows for about the same length of time. For half a century he has lived in Lake county, spending much of the time in Crown Point. and his life record is thus closely identified with the history of this portion of the state. He has watched the development of the county as it has emerged from pioneer conditions and has advanced toward its pres- ent progress and prosperity. His mind bears the impress of the early his- toric annals of northwestern Indiana, and what to many others are matters of record are to him affairs of intimate knowledge if not of personal ex- perience.
Many years ago he established the important business, with its adjuncts, of putting down wells; an occupation still carried on by his son: and although nominally retired from business life, being now seventy years of age, he may be found quite regularly in their office on Main street, looking after the interests of their business. The wells which they put down are known as tubular walls. They go down to various depths. Furnishing windmills and pumps is one of the adjuncts of this business.
Mr. Fancher is a believer in Christianity, a friend to Sunday schools and churches, and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church many years ago.
The fuller genealogie record, which in such a work as this it is desirable to preserve, is the following :
I. Thaddeus Fancher was born in England in 1777. He was by trade a harness-maker. When a young man he came to the United States and settled in Connecticut. He there married Sally Mead. "a daughter of Gen- eral Mead of Revolutionary fame." There were of this family twelve children.
2. Thaddeus S. Fancher was born in Ulster county, New York (to
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which state his father had removed in 1808). April 8. 1809. His father was a soldier in the American army in the war of 1812, and in 1815 visited the then new and truly wild region of Iluron county, Ohio, to which state he removed with his family in November and December of 1820, when Thaddeus S. was eleven years of age. The Fancher family therefore were true pioneers of Huron county, Ohio, knowing well the experiences of a frontier life. Thaddeus S. Fancher was married to Annie M. Chapman, September 8. 1833. In 1894 they were "the oldest married couple in Huron county."
3. Reuben Fancher, the oldest of twelve children, of whom the fore- going sketch has been written, it thus appears, is a descendant of soldiers of the war of the Revolution and the war of 1812, and of resolute and suc- cessful pioneers of the state of Ohio.
P. J. KELLY.
P. J. Kelly, who is engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Hobart and is also notary public, is a type of the representative business man whose life contains no exciting chapter or incidents, but whose record shows the force of consecutive endeavors supplemented by laudable ambition and guided by sound and reliable judgment. He was born in New York city March 4. 1841, and when but four years of age was taken to England by his parents, where he remained until 1864. He then returned to his native land, locating in Chicago, where he engaged in the grocery business at the corner of Randolph and State streets. In 1871 he suffered severe losses in the great fire which swept over the city. He had nothing left but a horse and wagon. He remained in Chicago. however, for about a year or until he had managed to earn a little money, when he again engaged in business as a partner of James Casey under the firm style of Kelly & Casey, at the cor- ner of State and Fourteenth streets. There he remained until he came to Hobart, Indiana, where he was engaged in teaching school for four years. and was also justice of the peace and filled that position for eight years. He was also a railroad postal agent for eight years, running between New York and Buffalo, and during that time he maintained his residence in Hobart. He was known as one of the "short stops" of the postal service. He made the trip between New York and Buffalo three times a week, distributing the
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mail from the former city west to Buffalo. The mail was distributed on the cars, a regular postoffice being maintained on the mail train. His con- tinuance in that position was from 1881 until 1889, and he never missed a day's service during ail that time and many times he substituted for others. Formerly he conducted a newspaper in Hobart for two and a half years, this being the first Republican journal of the town. When he left the mail ser- vice he was elected justice of the peace of Hobart and filled the office for eight years, at the end of which time he declined a renomination. He is now notary public and is also engaged in the real estate and insurance busi- ness. He is doing well in both branches and has handled many important real estate transfers since beginning in this line.
In 1866 occurred the marriage of Mr. Kelly and Miss Mary E. Wilbur, a native of Compton, Rhode Island. They were married in Chicago, and traveled life's journey happily together for more than a third of a century, when in December, 1901, Mrs. Kelly was called to ler final rest. In the fol- lowing July Mr. Kelly was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Butts, the widow of Frank Butts, who was formerly a prominent contractor and builder of Lake county, Indiana. Mr. Kelly owns his own residence, which is one of the attractive homes of Hobart. He is numbered among the representative citizens of Lake county, and is a stanch Republi- can, while socially he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He has been grand master, district deputy and chief patriarch of the grand encampment. For thirty-two years he has maintained his residence in IIobart, and throughout this period he has been noted for his reliability in every relation of life in which he has been found. whether in the govern- ment service or conducting private business affairs.
EMERSON OTTO SUTTON.
Emerson Otto Sutton is a representative of one of the oldest and most representative families of west Lake county, and in his life vocation of agri- culture and in the discharge of those responsibilities which fall to the lot of every substantial and public-spirited American he has shown himself a man of perfect integrity and solidity of character well befitting one of his tamily name.
He was born in Rush county, Indiana. December 6. 1859, and is the
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sixth in a family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, born to Gabriel F. and Almeda ( Hall) Sutton. Seven of these children are still living, named as follows: Festus, who is a prosperous farmer and stock- man of West Creek township, and whose biography will be found on other pages of this history; Maggie, wife of William Smith. a retired farmer of Lowell: Mary, wife of Frank A. Hayden, a resident of Kankakee county. Illinois: John. a farmer of West Creek township: Emerson O .; Grant, a farmer of Jasper county: and May, who resides on the old home with her inother and brother Otto.
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