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 62
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August Grube was born in Danville, Illinois, on September 6, 1876, and is of German parentage. He was taken out of school when he was eleven years old and since that time has made his own way in the world, with a success which is well worthy of the name. His entire life has . been passed in mercantile lines, and he has learned the business from the ground up. He had charge of the silk department in which he was employed when he was twenty years of age, and is conceded to be one of the best versed men in his line of business to be found anywhere in the country. Mr. Grube maintains his home in Logansport, and his present expectation is that Logansport will be his home for many years to come.
In 1896 he married Miss Alice Johnson, of Danville, Illinois, his native town as well, and nine children have been born to them, of which number eight are now living.
BERNARD A. KROEGER, senior member of the undertaking firm of Kroeger & Winquist, in which business he has been long and success- fully engaged in Logansport, was born at Cloppenburg, Germany, on May 30, 1856, and is a son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Hochhertz) Kroeger. He was reared to man's estate in his native country, and until he was seventeen years old attended the parochial schools. In 1873 he entered the employ of the German government in the post office and telegraph department, and was thus engaged until he was twenty- two years of age. In August, 1878, Mr. Kroeger immigrated to the United States, and for one year succeeding his arrival he was a student at St. Francis' Seminary, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he bettered
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his already fair education and made rapid strides toward the mastery of the English language.
When he had finished his schooling in Milwaukee, Mr. Kroeger located in Logansport, Indiana, where he secured employment as book- keeper for the firms of W. T. S. Manley & Sons, undertakers, and Manly & Smith, furniture manufacturers. He continued thus until 1882 when he associated himself with R. W. Weaver, who had succeeded Manly & Son, and the firm of Weaver & Kroeger was then established. In 1884, Rodney Strain bought ont the interest of Mr. Weaver and the firm thereupon became Kroeger & Strain, until the death of Mr. Strain in 1910. Subsequent to that event, the firm of Kroeger. & Winquist came into existence, and the concern today occupies a leading place among the stable business institutions of Logansport. The continned connection of Mr. Kroeger with the firm during the past three decades, despite many changes, has won for it a reputation for integrity and fair dealing that has made it one of the respected business houses of the city.
Although of foreign birth, Mr. Kroeger is an American citizen in all that the term implies. He is one of the progressive and enterprising men of this city, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of all who come in contact with him in his business life.
Mr. Kroeger is a Roman Catholic in religion, as have been his an- cestors for many generations. He is a member of the Knights of Co- lumbus, the Catholic Benevolent Legion, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his politics are those of a Democrat. To his mar- riage with Miss Veronica Hoffman, of Logansport, on October 25, 1887, six children have been born, as follows: Bernard A., Jr .; Florence J., married Jos. C. Kienly of Logansport ; Marie, Edith, George and Francis.
JOSEPH MARTIN ELLIOTT, generally known in Logansport as Mark Elliott, was born on the old Elliott farm in Harrison township, on January 13, 1853, and is the son of Joseph and Martha (Lin- coln) Elliott, who came to Cass county from Tippecanoe county, Indiana, at about 1850. The Elliott family is of Irish extraction, the father of the subject having been born in North Carolina in 1801, the son of an Irishman. In an early day Joseph Elliott came to the north and settled in Drake county, Ohio, where occurred his marriage to Martha Lincoln, the mother of the subject. The father died in Har- rison township, Cass county, in 1855, his widow surviving him for some years. A goodly family of twelve children were reared by them, and of this number Joseph Martin Elliott was the youngest. Five of that number are living today. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Elliott married one Alexander Elliott, a cousin of her first husband, and one child was born to them, who is now dead.
"Mark" Elliott was reared on the old home place in Harrison township, and such education as he acquired was gained through the medium of the district school of the neighborhood. He began to shift for himself, as the old familiar saying goes. when he was sixteen years old, working out as a farm hand, and when he was seventeen he set about learning the trade of a horseshoer. For thirty-three years there- after he followed that work in Logansport, and in 1904 he embarked in the livery business, in which he has since continued with pleasing suc-
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cess. He was known for years as the leading blacksmith of the city, and had a reputation for honest work and dependability that has followed him in his newer venture.
Mr. Elliott is a Republican in politics, and in 1896 was the nominee of his party for the office of county sheriff. At the previous election the Democratic state ticket had a majority of four hundred and fifty- nine votes, but in this election Mr. Elliott met defeat by but seventy- eight votes. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, in the Uniform Rank, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Independent Order of Foresters.
On March 14, 1877, Mr. Elliott married Miss Priscilla Castel, and to them four children have been born, named as follows: Blanche, now the wife of Dr. John Bradfield; Harry B., George M. and Earl, who died in infancy.
JOHN S. SMITH, M. D. For thirty years Dr. Smith has quietly per- formed his round of professional services and duties at Galveston and vicinity, and is not only one of the oldest, but one of the most highly esteemed practitioners in Cass county. A physician cannot live and practice his calling for thirty years in one locality without possessing a faithful character and a certain high ability and skill in his profession which have contributed to make the splendid type of family physicians which is known both in literature and in actual life.
Dr. John S. Smith was born on a farm in Jefferson county, Indiana, March 24, 1855. His parents were James and Catherine (Overturf) Smith. The mother was a daughter of Jacob Overturf, who was a farmer and a substantial citizen of his locality. James Smith, the father, came from Woodford county, Kentucky, to Indiana. He was a man of versatile accomplishments and for twenty-five years during his residence in Jefferson county, Indiana, he was a farmer, school teacher and sur- veyor. He was captain of Company A, Ninth Indiana Cavalry, and was the first man to chase John Morgan when he was on his raid through Indiana. He and his wife were the parents of six children, named as follows: Elizabeth (Merrill) ; William, who married Olive O'Neil, and is now deceased, his four children being: Nora, Luther, Homer and James; Sylvanis G .; Mary E. Hillis; Dr. John; James H.
Dr. John S. Smith attended the common schools of Jefferson county, Indiana, and during his early youth worked on the farm, and became thoroughly acquainted with the industrious life of the Indiana agricul- turist. He took up the reading of medicine under Dr. S. B. Lewis, who had been an army surgeon and continued his education in the Ohio Medical College, where he was graduated in March, 1882. Since that time he has been engaged in practice at Galveston, and has built up a large patronage, a great many people refusing to depend upon any other professional service in time of sickness than that of Dr. Smith.
On December 27, 1885, he married Miss Anna E. Jump. They are the parents of three children, now deceased, their names having been Chauncey, Lillian and Ernest. Fraternally the doctor is a member of Masonic Order, both York and Scottish Rite degrees; of the Improved Order of Red Men ; of the Eagles, and Sons of Veterans. He has served on the pension board and as township supervisor, and in various ways
John Smith M.D
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has given his services in public affairs as well as in the circle of people who are among his patients, and who esteem him for his professional ability and as a citizen and man.
JOHN W. KISTLER has occupied a leading place in the business activi- ties of Royal Center, Cass county, Indiana, for many years. He is a native son of the county, born in Boone township, on October 3, 1862, and is a son of Amos and Anna E. (Schlegelmilch) Kistler.
Amos Kistler was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, and came to In- diana as a boy, while his wife was a native of Pennsylvania, and was of German ancestry, her father having been born in Germany, coming to the United States in his youth. When Amos Kistler settled in In- diana his first position was with a corps of engineers who were engaged in the survey of the Pennsylvania Railroad through Royal Center. In later years the young man located permanently in the village, which he continued to make his residence until death claimed him in 1909. He was a man of many excellent qualities, and an upright and hon- orable citizen of Cass county. Ten children were born to Amos and Anna Kistler, of which number eight are now living. They are: Martha, who married D. B. Artrum; George L., a resident of English Lake, In- diana; John W., the subject of this review; Lena C., the wife of J. M. Verman; Cara D., who married Thomas J. Kistler; Laura, the wife of M. E. Fisher, of Florida ; August C., unmarried and a resident of War- saw, Indiana; Mabel, the wife of John A. Hardesty; Effie and Jennie are deceased.
John W. Kistler was reared on the home farm west of Royal Center, and in the schools of the village received his early education. He began farming early in life, at first on the home place and later on his own responsibility, his marriage in 1884 being the occasion for his launching out in independent agricultural activities. His wife, who was Miss Sarah E. Holmes, was born in Boone township on May 30, 1862, and there reared and educated. She was the daughter of Jackson and Mary (Corbet) Holmes, old residents of Boone township. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kistler was celebrated on November 16, 1884, and one son has been born to them-Elden J., who was reared in his native community and finished his education in the Marion Normal School, and is now a member of the firm of John W. Kistler & Son. He mar- ried Catheryn Anderson and they are the parents of two children,-Eliza A., born in 1909 and May R., born in 1912.
Mrs. Kistler is a devout member of the Baptist church and a faithful worker in the various departments of its activities. Mr. Kistler is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows and the Knights of the Maccabees, also F. & A. M. He is a Re- publican and has held several township offices of more or less respon- sibility and is now a member of the village council. He is a man of the highest integrity and honor and occupies a worthy place in the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens in and about Royal Center.
BRADEN F. HARPER. On the line of Cass and Carroll counties, in Clinton township, is located the beautiful country home of Braden F.
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Harper, a citizen whose activities have had a distinct bearing upon the development of his section. The work he has done and the success he has gained may be taken as examples of what has been accomplished by men of his character, the sturdy agricultural citizenship that Cass county owes its prestige to. Mr. Harper is a native of the Old Dominion State, born in Loudoun county, Virginia, October 31, 1857, a son of Jonathan and Mary J. (Woodard) Harper. On his paternal side he is descended from a native of Scotland, and on his maternal side from residents of England, although his parents were born, reared and married in Vir- ginia. Jonathan and Mary J. Harper came to Cass county, Indiana, in 1871, after a short stay in Fulton county, and here spent the remainder of their lives, honest, God-fearing people who well merited the high esteem in which they were universally held. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom four are now living: James W., a farmer of Carroll county, Indiana; Nancy J., the widow of Benjamin Bear, now living in Logansport; Robert R., who resides in Carroll county; and Braden F.
Braden F. Harper was fourteen years of age when he came to Cass county, and here completed the education he had commenced in the schools of his native state. Like other farmers' sons of his day and locality, he divided his boyhood and youth between the district schools and the work of the home farm, and at the age of eighteen years had completed his education, and then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He continued to work for his father until he attained his majority, when he began working by the day, and when twenty-four years of age was married. He carried on farming operations for J. M. Justice for six years and for William Walker five years, and during this time, by careful management saved enough to invest in his present farm, a tract of eighty acres which was then covered with heavy timber. On this he built a hewed log house, 16x24 feet, in which the young couple settled down to housekeeping, while Mr. Harper started to clear the land, a task that took years of steady, persistent labor. During the years that followed, Mr. Harper encountered all the obstacles that are incident to the development of virgin soil, but his labors have borne fruit, and he may now point with a pardonable degree of pride to one of the finest farms of its size in Clinton township. The little log cabin home has been replaced by a modern residence, barns and outbuildings of appropriate size and substantial character have been erected, and the land is now worth $200 an acre. He is known as one of his township's substantial citizens, an excellent farmer, and an acknowledged judge of standard-bred stock and high-grade horses, his specialty being the draft.
On February 17, 1881, Mr. Harper was united in marriage with Miss Melissa Dale, of Carroll county, Indiana, and they have had four children : June M .; Estella : Clara B., who is now the wife of Ross Cree; and Julia F. The family is identified with the Methodist Episco- pal church at Clymers, and Mr. Harper's fraternal connection is with Burrows Lodge No. 485, I. O. O. F. With other men of advanced ideas, in 1912 he allied himself with the Progressive party, and its principles have since received his hearty support.
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ALBERT R. BECKLEY, president of the Citizens' State Savings Bank, farmer and stock buyer of Royal Center, is one of the more prosperous and widely known farming men of the township. He is a native of Cass county, born in Boone township, on October 25, 1862, and is the son of George Ward and Margaret ( Walters) Beckley.
George Beckley was also a native of Boone township, this county, and was one of the first children born in this section of the country. He was the son of David and Lucinda ( Wooley) Beckley, natives of Penn- sylvania, who came from the old Keystone state to Ohio and settled at Caldonia. There David Beckley was engaged in wagon making, which was the trade he had learned in his youth, but they only remained in Ohio a comparatively short time, coming on to Indiana, where the head of the family took up a claim, his land being that which is occupied by Royal Center today. At one time this pioneer settler owned about half a section of rich Indiana land. Here George W. Beckley was born and reared, and when he had reached young manhood he taught school for some time during the winter seasons, and farmed in summer. It was while he was teaching school that he married Margaret Walters. She was born in Virginia and came to Indiana with her parents, who were of German and Irish descent. Eventually George Beckley bought a farm and settled upon it, there making his home until the end of his days, his death occurring in 1912. The wife and mother yet lives, and makes her home with her son, Albert R., in Royal Center. To these parents were born five children, all of whom are yet living. They are: Albert R., the subject of this review; Ira B., also of Royal Center; Edward L., liv- ing in Boone township; Anna E., the wife of R. C. Roach, of Waterville, Ohio; George W., Jr., living in San Diego, California, where he has property interests.
Up to the time of his marriage Albert R. Beckley lived in his par- ents' home and shared in the work of the farm. He received a common school education in the schools of his native community, but beyond that his educational privileges did not extend. On November 23, 1888, he was united in marriage to Dollie Woods, the daughter of Thomas and Martha J. Woods, people of Indiana birth, and to them one child has been born: Dottie L., now the wife of C. G. Beach, of Fargo, North Dakota.
Mr. Beckley is busily occupied with the care of his fine farm of two hundred and forty acres and with his other interests in Royal Center. His politics are those of the Prohibition party, and he is a member of various fraternal orders, among which are the A. F. & A. M., Lodge No. 585 at Royal Center; the Knights of Pythias; the order of the Eastern Star, and the Knights of the Maccabees. He and his wife enjoy the good will and confidence of a large number of friends and acquaint- ances who have known them with more or less of intimacy for many years.
WILLIAM C. THOMAS. Practically the whole of the active business career of William C. Thomas has been devoted to financial affairs, and no man in Cass county has been more prominently identified with the leading banking concerns of the county than has he. Mr. Thomas is a native of the state of Indiana, born at Royal Center, on the 20th day of
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February, 1863, and is one of the four children of his parents, James and Elizabeth (Little) Thomas.
Dr. James Thomas was one of the pioneer physicians and surgeons of Cass county, and to this honored gentleman a sketch is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further detail concerning him and his family history is not necessary at this juncture.
William C. Thomas was reared to manhood in Royal Centre, and his preliminary educational training was secured in the public schools of that place. In 1883 he entered Wabash College from which he was grad- uated in 1887 with the degree of B. S., and following his graduation he was occupied for a year in the settling of his father's estate. In 1889, private matters having been disposed of, he found himself free to engage in business enterprise, and he helped to organize the Royal Center bank, of which the late D. P. Baldwin was president, and Mr. Thomas was cashier. In 1891 Ernest B. Thomas, a brother of William C., bought out the interest of Mr. Baldwin, upon which he became cashier and Mr. William Thomas was elevated to the position of president. The bank continued as a private institution until 1902, when it was incor- porated as the Royal Center State Bank, and Mr. Thomas has con- tinued in the presidency, with his brother Ernest as cashier up to the present time. The Royal Center State Bank is today the second oldest bank in Cass county, and has a splendid reputation for stability and clean, wholesome methods of operation. In August, 1907, Mr. Thomas organized the State Bank of Burnettsville, and he is and has been its only president thus far. This bank also is one of the growing and solid fiscal institutions of the county, its management being on a par with that of the Royal Center State Bank.
In 1893 Mr. Thomas moved to Logansport and assisted in the organ- ization of the Logansport State Bank, of which he became the cashier, and in which capacity he served continuously for some fifteen years. He resigned the position owing to a state of ill health, and for two years did practically no business, except that which absolute necessity forced him to attend to. On February 23, 1911, Mr. Thomas was appointed state bank examiner, his territory comprising fifteen counties in North- east Indiana, and covering one hundred and thirty-nine banks and trust companies.
Mr. Thomas is a Democrat in his political faith, but has never been an aspirant for official preferment or favor. He is a member of the Sigma Chi college fraternity) and the Indiana Democratic Club at Indianapolis.
In 1889 Mr. Thomas was united in marriage with Miss Nettie Min- thorn of Royal Center, who died in 1901, leaving three children: Wal- ter, Paul and William. In 1903 Mr. Thomas married Miss Estelle Keiser, of Indianapolis. She is a member of the Presbyterian church, and enjoys the friendship of a wide circle of the best people of Logans- port, as does also her husband.
BEAUFORT BANTA is undeniably one of the most successful farming men in Jefferson township, where he has been engaged in agriculture and horticulture since 1892, but not continuously on present farm. He has a fine place of one hundred acres, and there engages in general farming
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and stock raising, giving a generous bit of time to fruit culture, his orchard of more than three hundred trees being one of the features of his well kept and productive farm.
Mr. Banta was born in Cass county in 1866, and is the son of John and Sarah Banta. In his childhood he suffered the loss of his hearing as the result of brain fever when he was but five years of age, and his wife, whom he married in 1891, suffered a like misfortune when eight years old, through an attack of measles to which she was subject at that age. She was Addie M. Hayden, a native of Elkhart county, Indiana, and her marriage with Mr. Banta has been blessed with four children, all of whom have perfect hearing. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Banta experi- enced any detriment to their vocal organs in the illnesses which robbed them of their sense of hearing.
Since his marriage Mr. Banta has been devoted to farm life, and his success has been one that is well worthy of the name, and places him well up in the ranks of the prominent farming men of his township. Mr. Banta is a Republican, or has been all his life, until in the election of 1912 when he voted the Progressive ticket.
Mr. Banta and his wife were educated in the schools of Indianapolis, Mrs. Banta being a graduate. Mrs. Banta is a member of the Episcopal church and holds her membership in Indianapolis. As previously men- tioned, they have four children, their names and the dates of their birth being as follows: Robert, born September 25, 1894; Lorena, born October 28, 1896; Bertha, born on July 27, 1903; and Thelma, whose natal day was September 16, 1906.
The farm home of the family is in Section 16, some ten miles distant from Logansport, and is one of the finest places in the township. Mr. Banta has some fine stock on his place, and gives careful attention to matters of breeding and selection, his success being of a most pleasing nature. His fruitful fields, his productive flocks and his fine orchard of more than three hundred bearing trees, all unite to further his pros- perity and give him place among the leading agriculturists in the town- ship, and the family is one which holds secure position in popular esteem.
WALTER ERVIN BALLARD. The advent of the automobile has created a profession altogether unknown only several decades ago. Its members have not learned their art in school or from books, but in the workshop, in daily contact with the work they have had to do. They have had no precedents to guide them, but have worked out the problem which their employment brought in the school of experience. In this school was educated Walter Ervin Ballard, of Walton, proprietor of the only automobile garage in Cass county outside of the city of Logans- port. A machinist by trade, he early recognized the growing importance of the automobile, and had the courage to attach himself to this new vo- cation, and the ability to make a success of his operations. Although still a young man, he has attained a degree of success that places him with the substantial business men of his locality, where he has forced his abilities to be recognized. Mr. Ballard was born April 23, 1883, in Walton, Indiana, and is a son of N. A. and Luella (Noel) Ballard. His father, a farmer by occupation, was born in South Carolina, and came to Cass county when still a lad, his education being completed in the
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4
public schools of Walton. He and his wife were the parents of three children, namely: Walter Ervin; Leorus; and Hazel, who became the wife of Ernest Neblung, and has had one child-Noel.
Walter Ervin Ballard received his education in the common schools, and was brought up on the home farm, but early gave evidence of me- chanical ability that presaged success in other fields than that of agri- culture. With commendable foresight he developed this inclination, accepting whatever honorable employment he could find in the machine shops of Kokomo until he was able to enter business on his own account, when he started to work as a machinist. After about two years, how- ever, he opened a garage, which, as before stated, is the only one in Cass county, outside of Logansport. He has attended strictly to busi- ness, and the result has been the development of an excellent business and the gaining of a position of independence. He is known to be thoroughly reliable, a master of his trade and conversant with all its details, and as a man who has won confidence and public esteem by the honorable manner in which he has conducted his operations. He has been too busily engaged in his business to give much thought to public matters, but can be relied upon to assist in any way when progressive movements are inaugurated.
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