USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County Indiana : From its earliest settlement to the present time with biographical sketches and reference to biographies previously compiled, Volume II > Part 14
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GEORGE A. LINTON is one of the oldest native-born citizens of Logansport, his birth having occurred in this city August 9, 1848, on North street, in the second house east of the present site of the Masonic Temple. Samuel B. Linton, his father, was born at Chillicothe, Ohio, and was a carpenter and contractor, coming to Logansport in that capacity in 1825, when there were but three houses in the place. He did not remain long at that time, but moved on to LaFayette, where he continued to reside for two years, but in 1827 settled perma- nently in Logansport, where he made his home during the balance of his life. He here worked at his trade, but with the passing of time the structures erected by him have been rebuilt. In addition to a number of residences and business establishments, he built two canal boats to ply on the Erie canal and these he operated from shortly after the completion of the canal until the year 1840. Joseph Dale was associated with him in the building of one of these boats. Attracted by the glow- ing reports from the gold fields of California, Mr. Linton started over- land for that locality in the spring of 1852 and was there three years, building flumes and flatboats on Feather river and at Sacramento. He returned to the east in 1855, but again returned to California in 1859, to recuperate his failing health, going by boat around Cape Horn, a trip that lasted six months. Seeing the futility of his mission, he re- mained there but a short time, returning to Logansport and dying in July, 1860. He was married twice, first to a Miss Blaine, a cousin of the Hon. James G. Blaine, and she bore him seven children, none of whom are now living. His second wife was Eliza Dale, daughter of Christopher Dale, who bore him two children: Thomas, who died in infancy ; and George A. Mr. Linton was a man rather small in stature, weighing about 150 pounds. His frequent association with the Indians enabled him to speak the Pottawatomie and Miami tongues. Resolute and firm, he never embarked on any undertaking without carrying it into execution. In his later life he joined the Methodist Episcopal church and died in that faith. He was a Whig in politics and later became a Republican, and served Logansport as town marshal in 1857 and 1858.
George A. Linton has always claimed Logansport as his home, al- though he has not lived here continuously. He received his education in the public and paid schools of this city. On February 4, 1862, when not yet fourteen years of age, he enlisted in the field service in the Union army and was assigned to duty in Knetucky, under General Nelson, for whom he was mounted orderly. In February, 1863, he was sent back to procure horses and while there, his guardian, Capt. Alexander Hardy, who had been made such while young Linton was at the front, secured him and permitted him to enlist in the Twenty-fourth
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Indiana Light Artillery. He participated in the pursuit of General Morgan, who had made raids into Indiana and Ohio, and from here went into Eastern Tennessee, under General Burnside. They were penned in at Knoxville until relieved after the battle of Missionary Ridge, and from Knoxville (including all the attendant campaigns preceding and following the battle) went to Charleston, Tennessee, in the spring of 1864. There the command was merged with the Second Brigade, Twenty-third Army Corps, under General Schofield, and entered the Atlanta campaign, having seen the first engagement at Snake Creek Gap, Dalton, and the continuous fighting until July 21. It was at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain that Capt. Alexander Hardy, com- manding the company of which Mr. Linton was a member, fired the gun loaded with a spherical shell that killed General Pope. After the fall of Atlanta, Mr. Linton was a member of the command that pursued General Hood north and participated in the battles of Franklin and Nashville. Here they went into camp at Fort Negley, and this, with the exception of some guerilla fighting, completed Mr. Linton's military career. He was wounded at Leonore's Station, through the left wrist and arm, and was discharged August 3, 1865, at Indianapolis, by order of the War Department.
Returning to Logansport, he was engaged in the occupations of peace until February, 1867, when he enlisted in the general field sery- ice of the Regular Army and was stationed at Vicksburg, Mississippi, there passing safely through the cholera epidemic. He was then assigned to the Eleventh United States Infantry of the Fifth Military District, which comprised Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, and was under the command of Gen. Joe Reynolds, at San Antonio, Texas, being detailed to the Mounted Police whose duty it was to quell the disturbances of the frontier desperadoes, the Indians and the off-scourings of both armies, and in general to see that law and order were maintained. He was finally discharged March 4, 1870. He returned at that time to Logansport and for a time was engaged in railroad work, but in 1879 embarked in the pump and well business, in which he continued until 1895. Since that time he has been associated with Adam Graf in the plumbing and heating business. A thoroughly reliable and capable business man, Mr. Linton has the confidence and esteem of his associates, and his judgment is always consulted on questions of importance. He is a Republican in politics, but has not entered actively in the struggles of the public arena, for his whole attention has been given to his busi- ness enterprises. He takes a keen and intelligent interest in the welfare of his city and its people, however, and always supports measures that make for good government and good citizenship. He is a valued mem- ber of the local lodge of Masons and has risen to the Knight Templar degree.
On June 11, 1870, Mr. Linton was married to Miss Mary E. Emery, and they have had eight children, as follows: Horace B .; Minnie, who married William R. Cogley ; Gertrude, who married M. McMeans; Mary E., who became the wife of L. E. Slick; Elizabeth, Alice and Carrie, who are deceased; and Charles A. Mrs. Linton died July 14, 1912, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Linton is a consistent member and liberal supporter.
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY
JOHN ALBER, for many years identified with the crockery business in Logansport, and one of the widely known and prominent business men of the city, was born in Logansport, Indiana, on September 11, 1852. He is the son of Jacob Alber, who was a native of Lichtenstein, Austria, and his wife, Sophia Dierkson, a native of Bremen, Germany.
Jacob Alber learned the trade of a housepainter and decorator in his native land and in Italy, and in 1848, or thereabouts, he emigrated to the United States. He first located at Wabash, Indiana, but in 1849 came down the canal to Logansport, where he began working at his trade. He also became connected with the trade of a stone mason, and worked for a time as a bricklayer, as well as at various other employ- ments of a kindred nature. In 1850 he met and married Sophia Dierk- son. She came to Baltimore with a family of the name of Albers, and from there to Indiana with the family of James G. Cox, who settled in Bethlehem township, in Cass county, Indiana. There they were mar- ried, and during the remainder of his life Jacob Alber worked at his trade in and about Logansport. He was ever a hard-working and indus- trious man and in later life was reckoned fairly well-to-do. He was twice married. By his first wife he became the father of two children,- John and Philip, the latter of whom died at the age of two years.
The father, who was born January 7, 1821, died July 24, 1891, and the mother, born on May 15, 1813, died April 4, 1883.
John Alber is the only surviving child of his father. He was edu- cated in the public schools of Logansport, and at Notre Dame University, from which he was graduated in 1868. His first employment upon leav- ing college was a clerk in the store of Mitchell, Walker & Rauch, boot and shoe dealers of Logansport, and he remained with them for a year. He then accepted a position with Morris & Snider, as a clerk in their crockery establishment, then as traveling salesman. In 1880 he severed his connection with that firm and began traveling for Hollweg & Reese, wholesale crockery dealers of Indianapolis, and for twenty-nine years Mr. Alber remained with them with the exception of a two-year- period when, in partnership with W. H. Snider, he was engaged in the wholesale and retail crockery business in Logansport. When that asso- ciation was suspended Mr. Alber resumed his old place with the Indian- apolis house, continuing with them until 1909. In that year he again embarked in the wholesale and retail crockery business in Logansport, and again his business partner was W. H. Snider. On January 17, 1911, Mr. Alber bought his partner's interest in the business and has since conducted it alone, with a pleasing degree of success.
Mr. Alber is a Republican in his politics. He is a Mason of the Scottish Rite branch, and a member of the Knights Templar and Murat Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
On April 14, 1879, Mr. Alber married Miss Betty B. Dawes, daughter of Elisha Dawes, and they have one daughter,-Aline Sophia, now the wife of Joseph T. Graffis, whose home is at Indianapolis. Mrs. Alber is a member of the Episcopal church.
HENRY TUCKER, for forty-seven years a resident of Logansport, is of New England nativity, his birth occurring in the village of Norway, Maine, on March 27, 1843. His paternal grandfather located at that
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place in the year 1802 and established himself in the harness and sad- dlery business, and upon his death he was succeeded by his son, Ben- jamin, and a son of the latter succeeded him, at the close of the Civil war, in which he served in the Army of the Potomac. Upon his death a nephew took over the business, and he continues in it to the present time, thus making four generations of the Tucker family in a direct line to have conducted the harness and saddlery business in Norway, Maine.
Benjamin Tucker was the father of Henry Tucker. He was born at Norway, Maine, there married Sarah Millett, the mother of Henry, and passed his life in the place of his birth, employed in the business which descended to him on the death of his father.
Henry Tucker attended the district schools and the academy in his boyhood, and learned the harness and saddle-making trade under his father. While he was yet a boy, on November 9, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Fourteenth Maine Volunteer Infantry, receiving the ap- pointment of corporal of his company. In 1862 he was promoted to sergeant and with his regiment became a part of the command of Gen. B. F. Butler, on the expedition to Ship Island, Mississippi, and thence to New Orleans, arriving at the latter place the day Mumford was hanged by order of General Butler for pulling down the American flag from the city hall. By reason of ill health, Mr. Tucker received an honorable discharge from the service on July 5, 1862, and for some time thereafter was unable to actively engage in any arduous undertaking. On May 1, 1864, his strength renewed by his continued relaxation from duty, he reenlisted and became first sergeant of Company H, Maine State Guards, stationed at Fort McClary, Portsmouth Harbor. He re- ceived his final discharge on July 4, 1864.
Mr. Tucker then determined that his education was not sufficiently complete, and he accordingly took a course of study in the Business Col- lege of Bryant & Stratton, at Portland, Maine, after which he set out for the west in search of a favorable locality in which to engage in busi- ness. For a year he made his home at Elgin, Illinois, but in April, 1866, he came to Logansport, Indiana, and in the following August he bought the J. W. Fuller harness shop. Here for a period of nearly forty years Mr. Tucker was engaged in the business at that stand, and in the course of his business transactions during that time gained an acquaint- ance with almost every man in Cass county. For the past few years, however, Mr. Tucker has been occupied with the undertaking business, in which he has experienced a goodly measure of success.
In the quiet, unobtrusive way which characterizes Mr. Tucker, he has lived so as to leave an indelible impress for good upon every enter- prise with which he has been identified. He is a Mason, having joined the order in Maine many years ago, but is now a member of Orient Lodge No. 272 A. F. & A. M. of Logansport, of which he has served as worshipful master. He is also a member of Logan Chapter No. 2, of Logansport, the Council No. 11 of Logansport and St. John Command- ery, No. 24, serving as eminent commander in 1881-82, and the oldest in point of membership of the Scottish Rite in the county. He is also a member of Logansport Post No. 14 Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Tucker has been twice married. In 1871 he married Emma Stal- naker, who died about one year later. In 1876 he married Julia Mer-
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riam, daughter of J. A. Merriam, one of the leading business men of Logansport, and they are the parents of two daughters,-Minnie and Florence, both of whom are married. Minnie is the wife of N. W. Blem- ming, now living in Fort Scott, Kansas, and Florence is married to J. Burt Winter, of the firm of Elias Winter & Son, who was born and has always lived in Logansport.
ISAAC HIMMELBERGER was one of the noted men of Cass county and was always a credit to the community wherein he made his home. He was born August 13, 1840, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and was one of seven children born to Charles Himmelberger and his wife, Lavinia (Hain) Himmelberger.
Reared at Lancaster as a boy, Isaac Himmelberger received not more than a common school education. When he was eighteen years old he moved with his parents to Meyerstown, Pennsylvania, and there he was later associated with his father in the milling business, and still later with an uncle, Levi Hain, in the grain business. From Meyerstown he came to Indiana in 1865, and with Levi Hain, Henry Sherk and John Myers, engaged in the lumber business about two miles north of the town of Walton, in Tipton county. Here they established a sawmill in the swamp, acquired a tract of three hundred and eighty acres, and at once began to convert the towering timber into lumber. When the work here had been completed and the supply of raw material been exhausted, Mr. Himmelberger and Perry Kessling leased a tract of land near On- ward, there erected a mill, and began the work of sawing as they had done near Walton. Mr. Himmelberger then came to Logansport and in partnership with a Mr. Dewey, built a mill and established a general lumber business, buying timber throughout the entire country surround- ing them. It was during this time, in 1878, that he became the candi- date of the Republican party for the office of sheriff of the county, and notwithstanding the fact that the nominal Democratic majority in the county was something like six hundred, Mr. Himmeberger was elected. He served a two year term in the office of Sheriff, and it was during this period that he bought out his partner's interests in the business. Soon after his retirement from office he went to Buffington, Missouri, and there started a sawmill, moving the equipment from Logansport to the Missouri town, to angment the equipment of the mill already in opera- tion there. A few years later he formed a partnership with John Burris in the stave business at Dexter, Missouri, in connection with his other business, and this partnership existed but a comparatively short time, but Mr. Himmelberger still continued the lumber business at Buffington, Missouri, and later at Morehouse, Missouri, a place of which he was really the founder and builder. His son, John, was associated with him at these two latter places. At Morehouse he built one of the largest hardwood lumber plants ever known in the southwest, if not, indeed, in the entire country. They acquired approximately 100,000 acres of land and at times employed more than two hundred mill hands. Mr. Himmelberger, while yet in the prime of life and while the future yet held glowing promise of attainment, was suddenly stricken with an illness which culminated in his death on July 16, 1900.
His was a life that held many lessons. He began his independent
8. Himmellingen
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career without other means than his own courage and willing hands. His courage never faltered in all the years of his activity, and repeatedly he was called upon to overcome obstacles that would have overwhelmed many with dismay, and would have been the sure defeat of many an- other. Through all the years he steadily pressed forward, achieving a success far beyond that which the average man meets. At no time was the honesty and fairness of his dealings ever questioned. With him "whatever was worth doing at all was worth doing well" and that old axiom he held up for the constant admonition of all who were associated with him in his work. He died as he had lived,-an honored and re- spected citizen, and his untimely death was deeply mourned by all who came within the circle of his acquaintance.
In 1860 Mr. Himmelberger was married to Catherine Haak, and seven children were born to them, four of whom lived to reach years of maturity, as follows: John, who is now engaged in conducting the business in Missouri which was founded by his father; Jane, the wife of Samuel Fisher; Lillia, the wife of H. J. Crismond; and Nettie, who married W. O. Murdock, and is now deceased. Mrs. Himmelberger, who still lives and is the grandmother of twelve children, is the daugh- ter of Henry and Sarah (Bassler) Haak, who were natives of the state of Pennsylvania, and like the Himmelbergers, people of German ances- try.
JOHN W. GUARD was born in Dixon, Illinois, on March 1, 1863, and is one of the five children of John L. and Anna Mary (Gable) Guard, all of the five being alive today.
John L. Guard, the father of the subject, was a minister of the Eng- lish Lutheran church, an occupation which he followed all through his busy and active life. He was a native of Virginia, descended from German-Hessian ancestry, and his wife's people originally came from Bavaria. Rev. John L. Guard died in Carroll county, Indiana, on Octo- ber 18, 1895, and his wife died in Peoria county, Illinois, in March, 1868.
Carroll county, Indiana, was the home of John W. Guard until he was fifteen. Camden was the town where he was reared, and he lived on a farm between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one. He received his pre- liminary education in the common schools of his community, further advantages not being afforded him. In 1885 he came to Logansport, Indiana, and there engaged in the draying business, which appeared to him to offer a chance of success. He handled the draying contracts for Elliott, Stroyer & Company, wholesale grocers, they being among his largest patrons, and after he gave up draying he was for three years engaged in ranching in southwestern Kansas, after which he returned to Logansport, in 1890, and for sixteen years thereafter was employed as a clerk in the retail grocery store of Lewis Ray. He then bought an interest in the Rice Hardware Company, and has since been engaged in that business, at present being the treasurer of the corporation.
Mr. Guard is a Republican, and his fraternal relations are with the Masons, in which he is a member of Tipton Lodge No. 33, A. F. & A. M. He is a member of St. Luke's English Lutheran church, as is also his wife, who was Miss Anna Hildebrandt, and to whom he was married on November 23, 1903.
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MOSES R. FRAZEE. With the exception of a four years' period which he spent in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moses R. Frazee has been a resident of Logansport for the past fifty-two years. He was born on August 26, 1834, in Miami county, Ohio, a son of David and Mary (Price) Frazee. The father of David Frazee came to America from the Isle of Jersey, and the mother was a native of Wales. David Frazee was a farmer and Moses R. made his home upon the farm home until he was about fifteen years old. He helped with the work of the home place as a boy and attended the old fashioned school common to his time, finish- ing his schooling with two years in the schools of Piqua. After this latter experience he clerked in a general store for something like two years, in the employ of I. B. Whipple. He then went to Marion and managed a store which Mr. Whipple owned there, and some fifteen months later, in 1857, he came to Logansport. Here Mr. Frazee em- barked in a general dry goods business on his own responsibility. His stock in the early days consisted of boots, shoes, general dry goods, prod- uce and clothing. He sold his store in 1866 and went to Minneapolis, where with his brother-in-law, William Murphy, he built a flouring mill and for four years was engaged in the milling business. This was one of the old stone buhr mills and had a capacity of three hundred barrels daily. During this time the firm of Frazee & Murphy had sold a two- thirds interest in the business, and finally disposed of the remaining one-third to Charles Pillsbury, and under his management and eventual control the mill was changed over to the patent roller process, and made millions for its owners. Mr. Frazee returned to Logansport in 1870 and once more embarked in the dry goods business, in which he has been continuously engaged since that time, and he is the oldest merchant now doing business in this city.
On August 21, 1864, Mr. Frazee was united in marriage with Miss Mary Higgins, a daughter of Capt. A. M. Higgins, who was one of the early and well known men of the county. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Frazee, as follows: Helen, who died in infancy ; Jessie, who lived to be five years old; and Stuart R., who died on November 20, 1912. The wife and mother died on November 5, 1902.
Mr. Frazee is a Republican and cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont. He is one of the best known men in Logansport, esteemed by a large circle of friends and acquaintances who have known him for many years as one of the substantial citizens of Logansport.
WILLARD ELLIOTT. Among the old and honored families of Cass county whose members have been identified with the growth and develop- ment of their section's commercial, industrial and agricultural impor- tance, that of Elliott is among the best known. Its members have for years resided in Harrison township, where the history of the family has been commensurate with that of the community, and have contributed in no small degree to its public service. A worthy representative of the name is found in Willard Elliott, of Logansport, assistant clerk at the City Light Company, and a man who has represented his city and county in various positions of trust and responsibility. Mr. Elliott was born December 26, 1868, in Harrison township, and is a son of Alfred and Emily (Williamson) Elliott.
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Joseph Elliott, the grandfather of Willard Elliott, was a farmer by occupation, and owned a tract of land in Harrison township which had been secured from the government by one Skinner, who erected log build- ings thereon. When Mr. Elliott secured this tract of eighty acres, the wolves were still plentiful in the community, and pioneer conditions of all kinds had to be met and overcome, but he was of a sturdy and per- severing character and managed to make a good home for his family, replacing the log buildings with more modern structures of frame and making various other improvements. Alfred Elliott followed in his father's footsteps as a farmer, and was also engaged for some years as a carpenter contractor. He died in 1902, at the age of sixty-five years.
Willard Elliott secured his education in the public schools of Har- rison township, and grew up on his father's farm, it being his father's intention that he adopt the vocation of agriculturist. As a young man, however, Mr. Elliott entered the field of politics, becoming deputy auditor of Cass county, a position which he held for several years. Sub- sequently he became receiver for the Baldwin banks, and after three years in that position became connected with the City Light Company, where he now acts in the capacity of assistant chief clerk. Here he has displayed his ability in numerous ways, his services having been of a high order.
On April 29, 1894, Mr. Elliott was united in marriage with Miss Mary Burton, who was born in Cass county, daughter of Levi Burton, a complete review of whose career will be found in the sketch of J. J. Burton in another part of this work. One child has been born to this union : May Burton, born March 18, 1896. Mr. Elliott has interested himself to some extent in fraternal work, being a valued member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. They attend the Christian church, where they have numerous friends. Mr. Elliott is known as a man who has taken a lead- ing part in every movement that has had for its object the betterment of the community, and his long and honorable career has been marked by constant fidelity to duty and the strictest integrity and probity of character.
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