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 63
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On January 28, 1911, Mr. Ballard was united in marriage with Miss Josephine Sullivan, of Keene, New Hampshire, and to this union there has been born one son and daughter, Nerious Daniel and Mary Alice. Mr. Ballard is a consistent member of the Universalist church. Mrs. Ballard is a Roman Catholic.
WILLIAM C. ROUTH was born in Logansport, Indiana, on March 31, 1854, and is one of a family of four children born to William Isaac and Emily (Cook) Routh. Of these children two are living today. The parents were natives of England, where the father was reared, and there he learned the trade of a tanner. He came to America when a young man and in the thirties established a bakery on Fourth street in Logansport, Indiana, in conjunction with John Cook, also a native of England, and who afterwards became his father-in-law. The bakery thus established was one of the first, if not the first, to be opened in Logansport, which was at that early date scarcely more than a trading post. In time Mr. Routh sold his interest in the shop and started up in tavern keeping about two squares east of the Sackett's bridge. At that time the only possible means by which the point might be reached was by ferrying across the Wabash river. Mr. Routh finally gave up his inn-keeping venture and engaged in the buying and butchering of beef and in the sale of the product. In 1853, or thereabouts, he moved to a farm which he had purchased, located some two miles east of the city, in Washington township, and there he made his home for about sixteen years. His next move took him back to Logansport, and in the fall of 1871 he started a meat market on Twelfthi street, near Spear street. He continued to do business at that stand until his death, which occurred in 1877.
Mr. Routh was a man of conservative habits, inclined to be averse to branching out aggressively in business, but it was characteristic of the man that when he once embarked on a mission or venture, he clung
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tenaciously to the plans on which he had originally settled, admitting of no difficulties in the carrying out of his design. The establishing of the meat market business on Twelfth street was the real beginning of what has become the pork packing industry of William C. Routh & Company.
William C. Routh has always made his home in Logansport. He was educated in the public schools, and when old enough, began to assist his father in his various business undertakings, after the death of whom the son continued the retail meat market business. In about 1879 Mr. Routh arranged for more suitable accommodations for the business at No. 503-5 Twelfth street, and here, in connection with his retail business, he began the business of packing in a small way. This little venture was the entering wedge of the real packing industry which has since been evolved from that modest beginning. From the start, the industry grew apace, and while it was originally confined to winter packing, after five years, Mr. Routh built a refrigerating plant, which enabled him to con- tinue the year around. In 1889 his refrigerator plant and another of the principal buildings were destroyed by fire. He immediately rebuilt on the south side of the city and continued there until 1898, when he erected the buildings at his present location, his actual outlay at that time amounting to approximately $30,000. Since that time Mr. Routh has added other buildings and machinery to the extent of about $70,000. The present capacity of the plant is about two hundred and fifty to three hundred hogs per day, and the plant is run at its capacity. The main building has a floor space of 13,225 square feet, and the entire basement and about one-half of the first floor space is used for refrigeration pur- poses. The second floor is used for refrigeration and sausage room, and the firm gives employment to about eighty people. The firm of William C. Routh & Company was incorporated in January, 1905, with a capi- talization of $110,000, and in December, 1908, the capital was increased to $200,000. The first officers of the firm were: William C. Routh, presi- dent ; Lilliam W. Chase, secretary ; and W. A. Ronth, treasurer. The present officers are: William C. Routh, president; A. C. Routh, vice- president; Albert Cassube, secretary, and W. A. Routh, treasurer. The aggregate business done by the firm in the year 1912 was about $1,000,000.
Mr. Routh is a Republican, and a member of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
On October 24, 1877, Mr. Ronth was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Taylor, and to this union seven children have been born, as fol- lows: Edwin Wallace; Etta, now Mrs. Charles S. Tucker; Almon C .; William Arthur; Emily Cordelia, the wife of Guy Manaugh; John H. and Harry B. Of the sons, Almon C., William Arthur and John H. are associated with their father in the business, and are accounted among the most progressive among the younger business men of the city.
WILLIAM H. WALTER. William H. Walter is one of the well known builders and contractors of Cass county, and is located in Royal Cen- ter, where he has carried on his work since 1880. Much of the principal building work of this place has passed through his hands, as well as that of other towns in the vicinity. He is a native of the county, born in
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1.
Harrison township, on the 17th of January, 1861, and is the son of Jesse and Margaret (Caloway) Walter. The father was born in Ohio, while the mother was a native of the state of Delaware. They met and married in Indiana, both having located in Cass county, and there they passed the remainder of their days, the father having passed away in 1905 and the mother in 1877.
William H. Walter was the fifth born of the twelve children who came to his parents. He was reared on the farm of his father and was educated primarily in the district schools, later attending the high school of Logansport, Indiana, and finishing the curriculum of that school. Locating in Royal Center in 1888, since which time he has devoted himself to the contracting and building business.
Since Mr. Walter has been identified with the building activities of this community, he has reared many of the principal buildings that grace the town today, and he may be said to have experienced a most gratify- ing success in his work.
On November 22, 1888, Mr. Walter was united in marriage with Miss Cordelia A. Kistler, a daughter of Jonas and Amy Kistler, and a sister of Thomas J. Kistler, Sr., the daughter of one of the finest and most highly esteemed old families in Cass county. She was born and reared in Boone township and received her education in the public schools. Five children have been born to them: Durword G., who is married to Etha Chapman; Edna 'F., the wife of Bruce Chapman; J. William, seven years of age; Oliver E., four years old, and Ned R., now at the age of one year. The family are members of the First Christian church at Royal Center, and Mr. Walter is a member of Royal Center Lodge No. 585, A. F. & A. M. and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is also a valued member of the Royal Center Commer- cial Club, in which he takes an active part. He is Progressive in his politics, and bears his full share of the burden of civic responsibility as do all open-minded and generously disposed citizens.
PETER MICHAEL. One of the pioneers of Cass county, who did a worthy part in the development of the material resources of the county, and who established his family now well known in this and other sec- tions of the middle west, was Peter Michael, who for nearly sixty years was a resident of Harrison township, and who during his life there wit- nessed practically every phase of development from the clearing of the original wilderness down to the time of railroads and electric facilities.
Peter Michael who was of mingled German and Scotch ancestors, was born in Virginia, but now West Virginia, January 15, 1811. His death occurred March 5, 1893. His father was a farmer in Morgan county, West Virginia, and the family belonged to that sterling class of Scotch- Irish people who gave character to the entire life of mountain district of Virginia, and other middle eastern states. The other children in the family, brothers and sisters of Peter were: Samuel, Andrew, and Wil- liam, and Mrs. Harriet Burk, Mrs. Martha Caw, and Mrs. Nellie Bruner. Peter Michael was reared in West Virginia, had the education of the old field schools, was trained to habits of industry and to the strict religious life that prevailed in that section of the country during the early part of the nineteenth century. In the fall of 1835 he accomplished the journey
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westward by river and canal and wagon road to Cass county, Indiana, settling in Harrison township on the farm, which continued to be his home until his death, nearly sixty years later. He was a farmer, was a man of thrift and good management, and provided well for his large family, and his later years were spent in comfortable circumstances. He was a Democrat in politics until the Civil war, and after that a Republi- can. He served as a trustee of his township, and was always held in the highest esteem in his community. In religion he was non-sectarian with a preference for the Episcopal church.
Peter Michael married Christina Frushour, daughter of Solomon Frushour, a farmer of West Virginia. She was born in West Virginia, and their marriage occurred April 17, 1834. They were married fifty- nine years. Mrs. Peter Michael died December 22, 1907. The children of Peter Michael and wife with dates of birth, and present residence are as follows: William Uriah, born in Ohio, January 31, 1835, and now a resident of Harrison township; Susan Winn, born April 5, 1837, and died April 12, 1893; Albert P., born July 27, 1838, and a resident of Logans- port; Harriet Beard, born December 25, 1839, living in Chillicothe, Mis- souri; Ellen McKee, born July 25, 1841, and living at Kahoka, Missouri; Mary Thomas, born March 18, 1843, living at LaFountaine, Indiana; George W., born March 14, 1845, living in Campbell, Missouri; Lydia J., born November 4, 1846, died June 11, 1855; Celia E., born October 1, 1848, died October 8, 1848; Samuel A., born December 25, 1849, a resi- dent of Logansport; Martha Curl, born October 3, 1851, living at Bloom- field, lowa; Margaret A., born June 1, 1853, died September 1, 1853; Emily Puterbaugh, born October 5, 1855. All the children were born in Harrison township of Cass county, except the first.
DR. GEORGE M. JEROLAMAN. Among the doctors of the old time there were men of rare human greatness-strong but tender, brusque but true, with a devotion to duty that bestead them through all storms and stress. The past generation knew such men in Cass county, and among them esteemed none more highly both for his professional and for his vigorous citizenship and personal character than Dr. George M. Jerolaman, who was not only one of the very first physicians in Northern Indiana, but also one of the pioneers of Logansport.
George M. Jerolaman was born in Bedminster township of New Jersey, May 10, 1811, and was a son of Nicholas and Elizabeth (Jessup) Jerolaman, the mother being a French girl. The father spent practically all his career in New York City, and finally retired and died at Neshanic, New Jersey. Besides Doctor Jerolaman there were five sons and three daughters, none of whom ever came west to live.
Dr. George M. Jerolaman was reared in the east, and is a student of Union College of Schenectady, New York. While he was growing to manhood there were few regular medical schools in the county, and the majority of medical students pursued their studies under the direction of a preceptor. Doctor Jerolaman studied medicine under a particularly fine authority, Doctor Schermerhorn of New York City. In 1832 at the age of twenty-one Doctor Jerolaman went west, traversing the new and sparsely settled states of Ohio and Indiana, and from Fort Wayne came down the Wabash river in a row boat to Logansport. In the
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boat he had a small stock of drugs, it being his intention to practice in Logansport. The boat capsized, and all his medicines were left in the bottom of the river. As there were no drug stores, in the modern sense of the term, it was a necessity that the doctor should combine the skill and ability of the pharmacist, and practically every pioneer physician compounded his own medicines, and in the saddle bags which he carried in his weary rounds of the country always had a liberal stock of medi- cines of all kinds and for all cases. Doctor Jerolaman, after coming to Cass county, practiced as a physician until his health failed, and he sought recuperation in New Orleans. When his health was restored he returned to Logansport, and formed a partnership with Doctor Lytle in the drug business. In 1838 Doctor Jerolaman was appointed attending physician to the Pottawatomie Indians, who were still dwelling on their reservations in Indiana, but who soon afterwards were compelled to leave their villages on Yellow river, Tippecanoe, and Eel rivers, and take their long journey to the west. For a number of years Doctor Jerolaman made his home on a farm three and a half miles west of Logansport on the Wabash river. In 1853 he moved back from the farm, building the brick house on the northeast corner of Market and Tenth streets, which has long stood as a land mark of the city. During the latter years of his life he gave practically all his attention to farm- ing and to dealing in farms and livestock.
Doctor Jerolaman in politics supported the Democratic party. He was a member of the Presbyterian faith, and was affiliated with the Tipton lodge of Masons. In 1840 he married Margaret Weakley of Syra- cuse, New York. She died in 1845. In 1847 occurred his marriage with Mary Rush, a daughter of Judge James Rush of Ohio, who came to Cass county and settled on a farm two miles east of Adamsborough on the bank of Eel river. The five daughters of Doctor Jerolaman are mentioned as follows : Isabella married Egbert Phelps and lives in Joliet ; Elizabeth became the wife of John W. Layne of Joplin, Missouri ; Mary is the wife of Maj. W. H. Snider of Logansport; Martha married Thomas Forman, deceased; and Harriet died in childhood.
Dr. George M. Jerolaman died March 4, 1883, after a short illness and is buried in Mount Hope cemetery. During his long career in Cass county, his fellow citizens esteemed him as a man of energy and varied activity, his fine sense of humor and for his unselfish devotion to his community. He was a good friend and a frank enemy.
IRA A. SMITH. A representative of the progressive element among farmers in southern Cass county, Ira A. Smith is one of Deer Creek town- ship's prospering farmers. He is the owner of sixty acres of land, and since making his home there has brought his estate into a high condition of productivity, and has made a comfortable home and one which reflects credit upon his own enterprise and upon the neighborhood of which he is a member.
fra A. Smith was born on the Smith farm, just west of his present residence, on October 9, 1873. His parents were Artemus and Mary (Logan) Smith. He was reared on the old homestead and while attend- ing the district schools of this neighborhood was also becoming versed in the varied duties and responsibilities of farm life. He belongs to the
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younger generation among Cass county farmers, and has succeeded to a gratifying degree. Mr. Smith established his own home on the fifteenth of September, 1897, when he was married to Miss Mary Burrous. They are the parents of two children, Edna Alice and Earl Van Buren. Mr. Smith has no fraternal affiliations but is an active member of the Church of the Brethren. In politics he is conservative.
FREDERICK N. BOERGER is undeniably one of the most prominent men in Indianapolis, where he has for years occupied positions of trust in the administration of the affairs of the city, and where he is esteemed of all who know him for his many admirable traits of heart and mind.
Born in Logansport, Indiana, on August 4, 1856, Frederick N. Boerger is the son of Frederick August and Margaret (Eberts), both native Ger- mans. The father was born in Hanover, his birth occurring on November 4, 1854, and he came to America with his parents in 1852, making his way directly to Logansport, where his half-brother, Henry Miller, a tailor, had previously located. For a time after he came to Logansport, Frederick August Boerger worked on a farm, but later set about learning the trade of a wagon maker. He also found employment at the stone quarry at Kenneth,-the first quarry that produced stone that entered into the construction of the stone building which stands today directly north of the alley in the same block with the Masonic Temple. This building was occupied as a residence by Henry Miller, the half-brother of Mr. Boerger, and the stone was conveyed to Indianapolis by canal boat. After completing the learning of his trade, Mr. Boerger continued in wagon making until his death. He married Margaret Eberts in Logans- port in 1855. Her parents had died in Germany, and she came to America in company with an uncle and annt, and when she first arrived made her home at Roanoke, near Fort Wayne, on the old canal. She was born on January 13, 1834, at Worms, province of Hesse, Germany. She remained but a short time at Roanoke before coming to Logans- port and for sixty years this city has represented her home. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Boerger, six of whom are yet living. Of this number Frederick N., Charles H., Minnie, William H., John and George W., all reside in Logansport. The father was a Democrat and served about five years in the City Council. He was a member of St. James Lutheran church. He was a man of excellent character and habits, highly industrious and a man who lived a clean, wholesome and straight- forward life. He had a healthy dread of debt, and avoided undue liabil- ities at all costs. He died on January 16, 1896.
Frederick N. Boerger is the oldest of the twelve children of his parents. He was educated in the parochial and public schools of Logans- port and at Hall's Business College, and when he finished school learned the wagon maker's trade with his father, and continued with him in the work until 1884. From then until 1892 he was in charge of the wood shops for Holbruner and Uhl, carriage makers, but in 1892, the failing health of his father induced him to give up his work in that connection and take charge of his father's shops, in which he continued until 1902. In that year he was elected city treasurer, and two years later was his own successor in the office. In the autumn of 1906 he became an assistant in the office of the county treasurer, and continued
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thus until January 1, 1910, when he was appointed by the mayor as a member of the Board of Public Works, and as such is present street commissioner of the city. He has served faithfully and honorably in every office he has filled thus far, and is regarded as one of the ablest officials the city has known. Mr. Boerger is a Democrat, and he is a member of the German Lutheran church, in which he was a deacon and trustee for twenty-one years.
On October 22, 1885, Mr. Boerger was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Hauenstien, and three children have been born to them : William, who died in 1902, aged twelve years; Emma, who died in infancy, and Edward, who was born in 1900.
ANDREW J. ZANGER has been engaged in business in Logansport since 1897, and has enjoyed a pleasing prosperity in the passing year. He came from Kewanee to this city, although he was born in Fulton county, Indiana, on September 30, 1873. He is the son of Matthew Zanger, who was a native of Germany, and there reared to maturity.
Matthew Zanger married Lena Moser in his native land and came to America soon after. He came to Indiana soon after his arrival upon American shores, and located in Fulton county, where he followed farm- ing until death claimed him, in September, 1887, his faithful wife hav- ing preceded him in 1883. They were the parents of thirteen children, Andrew J. of this review being the twelfth in order of birth.
Andrew J. Zanger was reared on the home farm in Fulton county and educated in the district schools of his home community. He was nine- teen years old when he came to Logansport and began learning the trade of a baker. He worked at that business here and in Winamac, Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Louisville, Kentucky, and numerous other places, but in March, 1897, he established himself in business at No. 8 Front street, in Logansport, opening a modern bakery. It was there that Mr. Zanger got his start in business. He remained there until in May, 1905, when he moved to his present quarters and built his present establishment. He has prospered, but his success has not been the result of chance, but rather through his hard work, economy, in- dustry and excellent business judgment. He employs from twelve to fourteen people constantly, and is constantly adding to and improv- ing his place of business. In the spring of 1912 he doubled his capacity. The trade which Mr. Zanger has established is not confined exclusively to Logansport, but he supplies many of the surrounding towns as well, his products having a reputation for wholesomeness and general ex- cellence that makes them particularly desirable.
Mr. Zanger is a Democrat, and in 1908 was elected a member of the City Council at large for a term of four years. He is a citizen of a high order, and one who has always consistently borne his full share of the civic burden in Logansport, where he enjoys the esteem and confi- dence of all who know him.
On November 19, 1901, Mr. Zanger was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie Rech, of Washington township, Cass county, and they are the parents of four daughters: Agnes E., Mary M., Gertrude M. and Dorothy C. Mr. and Mrs. Zanger are members of the Roman Catholic church.
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SIDNEY A. VAUGHN whose name is so closely interwoven with the lumber industry of Cass county, was born in Niagara county, New York, on June 29, 1842, a son of Artemas and Eleanor (Hines) Vaughn. His early life was passed on his father's farm in Niagara county and in at- tending the district schools, and in 1861 he enlisted as a private in the Seventh New York Cavalry for three years. By an order of the War Department, in 1862, the cavalry arm of the service was reduced and the Seventh Cavalry, with others, was disbanded. Mr. Vaughn re-en- listed in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth New York Volunteer In- fantry, which in 1863, became the Eighth New York Heavy Artillery, which was recruited to its maximum of eighteen hundred men. While on the Peninsular Campaign, Mr. Vaughn applied to the War Depart- ment for permission to appear before the Carey Board and take the examination for a commission. This was granted, a creditable exam- ination was passed, and he was commissioned a First Lieutenant by President Lincoln. He was then ordered to Kentucky to help recruit a command which became the Twelfth United States Heavy Artillery. With this he continued during the remainder of the war, and was honor- ably discharged at its close after having served a total of four years and four months. Succeeding this service, for a year he was in charge of the retail department of the packing house of A. E. Kent & Company, Chicago, and then came to Indiana, in search of a permanent location in a business way. With A. E. Richardson he bought a sawmill and a quantity of poplar logs located a short distance northeast of Lincoln, in Jackson township, Cass county, and after converting these logs into lumber, moved to Lincoln. In partnership with J. E. Parker, he then bought thirteen hundred acres of the best timber land in Jackson town- ship, one and a half miles north and west of Lincoln, and here they installed a saw mill and converted the timber into merchantable lumber. Mr. Vaughn was for many years one of the largest shippers of black walnut in this locality. The firm of Vaughn & Parker bought the old Johnson residence property on Fourth street, opposite the Fourth Na- tional Bank, in Logansport, which old building they razed and on the site they erected what is known as the Vaughn & Parker block. in this building was entered the first plate glass in Logansport. Mr. Vaughn has been an active figure in the commercial and political history of Cass county for nearly half a century, and has borne his full share of the civic burden and in the development and upbuilding of the city along the lines of its best good. He was a Republican in politics until 1896, when, owing to the financial plank in the platform of the party in that year, he went over to the Democratic faction, and has since affiliated with that party. He has served three terms in the city council of Logansport, one term as police commissioner, by appointment of Governor Matthews, and one term as mayor of the city, in all of which offices he acquitted himself with the utmost credit, his services resulting in much good to the common good of the city. He is a Mason of the Knight Templar de- gree, and is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
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