USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of DeKalb County, Indiana : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns and biographies of representative citizens : Also a condensed history of Indiana > Part 78
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ure from " Dixie's land." Despite the threats of violence from the more radical ones, as well as the milder requests from con- servative sources, he manfully stood his ground till his term of school by virtue of contract had expired, at which time he crossed the Ohio River into the patriotic atmosphere of the loyal North. The presidential election of 1860 came off sev- eral months previous to his departure, and on the morning of said election he astonished the " natives " by presenting himself at the polls, Abolition ticket in hand, and although violence was threatened if he persisted in voting for Mr. Lincoln, he boldly declared himself a citizen of the Government and a legal voter of the State, and demanded to be peaceably allowed to exercise the right of suffrage as guaranteed to such in the Constitution of the United States. His fearlessness and cool determination so disconcerted the excited rabble opposed to him that his Re- publican ticket was formally entered on the election books (a mode of voting then in vogue in Kentucky), and afterward re- ceived due credit in the count, as did that of his brother, L. Casebeer, there being only two Republican ballots voted in that precinct. For one year following his return to Ohio he taught the Middleton school, and the subsequent year was Principal of the Fredericksburgh graded school, in which he won new honors as an educator and disciplinarian. During this latter term of school he began reading medicine under the direction of Dr. James Martin, a skillful physician of more than local note, who was his preceptor till the winter of 1863-'64, at which time he matriculated at the University of Ann Arbor (Michigan) School of Medicine and Surgery. After taking a course of lectures he returned to his former tutor's office, and soon after the Government Medical Purveyor of Ohio ap- pointed and assigned him to duty in the Dennison U. S. A. Hospital at Cincinnati, Ohio. In February, 1865, he was com- missioned by Governor Tod, of Ohio, Assistant Surgeon of the One Hundred and Third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He immediately joined his regiment in North Carolina, with which he served till after the war was over. He was honor- ably discharged from the United States' service, June 27, 1865, in Cleveland, Ohio. Subsequent to his return to civil life he entered the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York, which institution conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Medicine, March 1, 1866. Immediately thereafter he located in
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Auburn, where since he has devoted himself to the demands of a large, constantly increasing and remunerative practice, in which he has been eminently successful. He is devoted to his profession-a hard student, sparing neither labor nor expense to keep himself well abreast of the foremost in the rapid ad- vancement of the sciences of medicine and surgery. His library of medical works is large and well chosen, embracing volumes of all best known authors, and in his cabinet is to be found all modern appliances and instruments which facilitate operations in the most delicate cases, and give an approximation to safety before unknown in the more hazardous ones. His writings have gained for him considerable celebrity as an author; two of his papers, written at the request of the American Medical Association, before which they were read, have been exten- sively copied by leading journals of the United States, receiv- ing favorable comment wherever they appeared. He has also written numerous articles which have been read before the County and Northeastern Indiana Medical associations, which never failed to elicit meritorious praise for their conciseness and logic. There is in all his productions a style peculiarly laconic and terse, yet so comprehensible as to be entirely de- void of ambiguity. Of all the above societies he is a valued member, and of the last mentioned he is ex-President. Socially the Doctor is urbane and complaisant in speech and manner ; never indulges in sophism nor pedantic generalities ; is method- ical and systematic in all his doings ; and his conclusions are al- ways founded on honest convictions, and if ever wrong he has the moral courage and frankness to admit his error. He is an uncompromising antagonist to immorality of every kind. For a quarter of a century he has been an acceptable, active and consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church- a greater portion of which time he has served on the official board. In the religious, as in every other relation of life, the Doctor is no laggard, shirking responsibilities and content with the small " portion " passive inactivity always begets, but an energetic worker, whose reward is always commensurate with the efforts made to secure it. He stands perfectly erect ; is of medium height ; solidly or compactly built ; his movements are quick, and graced with a business-like air that gives weight to his presence; is fluent and intelligible in conversation, the whole combining with an agreeability that makes him justly 54
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popular with all. He has been twice married. To his first wife, Hattie G., daughter of Eli B. and Fannie Smith, of Fred- ericksburgh, Ohio, he was united in marriage in 1863. One child is the fruit of their union-Fannie R. Mrs. Casebeer de- parted this life Jan. 28, 1869, aged twenty-seven years, nine months and eleven days. His second marriage was celebrated with Sarah E., daughter of William and Margaret (Carr) Ny- cum, of Fort Wayne, Ind., June 4, 1873, by whom he has had one child-Hattie E., an unusually sweet-tempered and intelli- gent, lovely little girl.
James N. Chamberlain, M. D., is a native of Cayuga County, N. Y., born March 22, 1822. His father, Samuel Chamberlain, was a native of Adams County, Pa., near Gettysburg, and when a young man went to Cayuga County, where he met and mar- ried Mercy Cotton, a native of Vermont. To them were born twelve children, nine of whom lived till maturity. The father died in 1865, and the mother in 1881. James N. was educated in the district school and the academy in Cayuga. In 1844 he went to Ohio and taught school in Richland and Huron coun- ties several terms. In the spring of 1845 he began the study of medicine, and subsequently attended the Western Reserve Medical College at Cleveland, graduating with honors in Feb- ruary, 1849. He located in Seneca County, but soon after returned to Plymouth, Richland County, where he remained till 1852. Then lived a year in Huron County, and in the fall of 1853 came to Indiana and located at Auburn, and in 1865 re- moved to Waterloo where he has built up a large practice. He is one of the most prominent physicians of the county, and is held in high esteem, not only by the public, but by his brethren in the profession. He is a member of the Northeastern and the De Kalb County Medical societies. In 1860 Dr. Chamberlain was elected Sheriff of De Kalb County and served two years. In the early part of 1865 he entered the United States army as Surgeon of the One Hundred and Fifty-second Indiana Infantry and served till the close of the war. Dr. Chamberlain has always taken an interest in local affairs outside his profession, and has been an active member of the Agricultural Society ; was the first President of the society, and served nine consecu- tive years. He is a man of more than ordinary ability, and one capable of filling acceptably any position to which he may be called. Dr. Chamberlain was married March 29, 1849, to
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Catherine H. Brink, a native of Ohio. Two of their four chil- dren are living-Ida, wife of Judge R. W. McBride, and Ella E., wife of John W. Baxter, of Auburn. Laura married John M. Somers, of Waterloo, and died Aug. 27, 1884. Mrs. Cham- berlain died March 26, 1861. She was an active member of the Presbyterian church, and was highly respected by all who knew her. In 1862 Dr. Chamberlain married Sarah Thomas, a native of Wayne County, Ohio. They have two children --- Harry D. and Nettie E. Politically Dr. Chamberlain is a Re- publican.
Lyman Chidsey was born in the State of New York, and in his youth removed with his parents to Medina County, Ohio, whence in 1841 he came to this county, where till his death, a period of nearly forty years, he resided. Jan. 11, 1844, he was married to a daughter of the late John Somers, Eliza, who sur- vives him. Shortly after their marriage they moved upon the farm adjoining Auburn, on which he breathed his last. Mr. Chidsey was a quiet and retiring man, and because of his early removal to new and unsettled portions of the country, had not the advantages of early education as our youths now have. He was a man of many virtues in his character, of a sound judgment, and of enlarged views of man and his obliga- tions. His mind was always open for information and to reason, and when made up was firm and unswerving, as was his attachment to family and friends. His neighbors and asso- ciates always knew his convictions, which he maintained with reason and judgment, and always on the side of morality and in the interest of and for the good of society. His neighbors and friends realized these good qualities in our friend and neighbor, as was evidenced by the large concourse who, regardless of the - severe inclemency of the weather, attended the funeral from the Presbyterian church, of which denomination he had been a member for several years. Thus lived and died a good man (God's noblest work), a pioneer of the county, leaving to mourn his loss, a widow and one child, Mrs. William Ashleman, and hosts of friends and neighbors.
Orrin C. Clark, a pioneer of De Kalb County, was born near Beldingsville, Onondago Co., N. Y., May 6, 1825, a son of Henry and Betsy (Tappen) Clark, with whom he lived at his birthplace till seventeen years of age. In 1842 they came to Indiana and settled in Butler Township, De Kalb County.
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had but limited educational advantages, but by private study and observation he acquired a reasonable business education. He remained at home till twenty years of age, but in the mean- time had worked for the neighboring farmers, and although a part of the time he had been paid but $11 a month, he had been economical and in 1845 had saved enough to buy eighty acres of wild land in Butler Township. He continued to work out for two years, mostly at chopping, and at odd times worked on his own land, and by the time he was married, in 1847, had con- siderable of it cleared. He lived on different farms in Butler Township till 1882, when he retired from agricultural pursuits and moved to Auburn. He has served several terms as Justice of the Peace and Assessor of Butler Township, and two terms as Trustee of Keyser Township, and has been the nominee of the Republican party for Sheriff, Commissioner, and Represent- ative to the State Legislature. Oct. 17, 1847, he was married to Serena, daughter of Paul and Susannah Long, of Butler Township. She was born in Champaign County, Ohio, Oct. 14, 1832, and came to De Kalb County, Ind., in 1841. They have eight children living at this date, and have buried three. Those now living are-Harriet, wife of John Huston ; Harvey, a farmer ; Frank, a dealer in live-stock and butcher at Garrett; Nettie, Elmer, Origin, Mary and Roxanna at home. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are members of the Protestant Methodist church. He is a member of the Masonic lodge at Garrett; was one of the charter members, and has served as Treasurer. For thirty years he was a strong Abolitionist, and now an earnest, active Prohibitionist.
I. N. Cool, manufacturer of buggies and carriages, Auburn, Ind., is a native of De Kalb County, Ind., born in Jackson Township, Oct. 12, 1850. He is the second son and third child of Isaac and Catherine (Snyder) Cool, natives of New York and early settlers of De Kalb County, coming here in 1843. He was reared on a farm, receiving his early education in the dis- trict schools and completing it at the Auburn Academy. While attending school he taught for a time. After reaching his majority he began to clerk in a general store in Auburn, and a year later became associated with his employer in the grocery department. He subsequently bought his partner's interest and carried on the business alone two years. Then sold out and engaged in the livery business five years, and in 1881 estab-
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lished his present business. He manufactures all kinds of buggies and carriages, and does a general repairing business. Mr. Cool was married July 16, 1877, to Allie Fair, daughter of Abraham and Christina (Delong) Fair, early settlers of De Kalb County from Dayton, Ohio. They have three children-Vina F., Sidney M., and Franklin C. Politically Mr. Cool is a Dem- ocrat.
James R. Cosper, a pioneer of Union Township, was born in Tompkins County, N. Y., Feb. 20, 1813. His grandfather, John Cosper, was a native of Saxony; came to America in in- fancy; settled in New Jersey where he grew to manhood; mar- ried, and to him were born three children. Early in the war for Independence, his wife and two children were killed by Indians. He then enlisted and served seven years. At the close of the war, he again married and finally died in Pennsylvania. Of a second family, the eldest, David Cosper, father of the subject of our sketch, lived in New Jersey until eighteen, when he re- moved to Tompkins County, N. Y., where he married. In 1812 he entered the army; was engaged at Fort George, Chippewa, Lundy's Lane and Niagara ; at the last-named place was severely wounded. Returned home and subsequently moved to Penn- sylvania where he lived ten years, when he went to Ohio and settled in Knox County. In February, 1841, he came to De Kalb County, Ind., settled upon a small farm in Concord Township where he died, Jan 27, 1868, aged eighty-five years. James R. Cosper learned the carpenter's trade in his youth, was married February, 1835, to Mary McKay, and in May fol- lowing migrated to Knox County, and settled in Chesterville, where he worked at his trade until 1841, when he purchased land in De Kalb County, Ind. He lived one year in Auburn and then returned to the farm where he still resides. He worked at carpentry and with the means thus provided, hired the chopping of his land. He put up his own buildings. He was burned out in 1850 and during the same year lost heavily in stock. Not discouraged by these losses he again took up his tools, and in time retrieved them. His land is now under a good state of cultivation. He has a good residence and capacious barns. Of eight children four are living; two died in infancy. The eldest son, James S., was a most promising young man; learned the trade of his father, and also taught school. At the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted in Company E, Eleventh
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Indiana Zouaves, and was killed at the battle of Champion Hills, Mississippi, on May 16, 1863. A commission as Lieuten- ant reached the camp the day of his death. Mildred, second daughter, was educated as a teacher; married, had two children, and died in 1867. Anna Z. Cosper was born in Auburn, in September, 1841; became a teacher; was a nurse in the hospitals of Murfreesboro, Tenn .; taught a colored school under the auspices of the Christian Commission; married Wm. H. McIntosh, and resides in Auburn. Florence, third daughter, married H. P. Colgrove, and lives in Kansas; Byron A. and Frank B., sons, are married and live upon the farm.
John A. Cowan, M. D., was born in Decatur, Adams Co., Ind., March 1, 1843, a son of Israel R. and Eliza A. Cowan. He re- mained with his parents till 1862, receiving a high school education. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Eighty-ninth Indiana Infantry, and served till the close of the war; was discharged at Mobile, Ala., Aug. 19, 1865. He par- ticipated in thirty-seven battles; was slightly wounded twice, and was taken prisoner three times. He escaped from his captors twice and was exchanged once. After his discharge he returned home and taught during the winter, working on the farm the rest of the year for three years. In the meantime he commenced the study of medicine under the tutelage of Dr. T. T. Dorwin, of Decatur. In the winter of 1868-'69, he attended lectures at Rush Medical College, Chicago, Ill .; subsequently attended Detroit Medical College, from which he graduated June 9, 1869. In February, 1870, he located in Auburn and succeeded in building up a large practice. He was married Sept. 9, 1869, to Lydia A. Teeple, of Decatur. To them were born two children-Jennie and Annis. Mr. Cowan was a mem- ber of the De Kalb Lodge, No. 214, F. & A. M., and De Long Post, No. 67, G. A. R., of Auburn. He died June 18, 1885, of disease contracted while in the service of his country.
Mathew Crooks, one of the pioneers of De Kalb County, Ind., was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, April 10, 1816, a son of William and Jane (Nixon) Crooks; his father a native of Penn- sylvania, and his mother of Maryland. When he was sixteen years old his father died, leaving the care of eleven children to the mother. In 1833 he came to De Kalb County, but remained only a short time, returning to Trumbull County in the spring of 1834. In 1836 he came again to De Kalb County and worked
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by the day for farmers and on the canal several years. In 1850 he bought the farm in Union Township where he has since lived. He owns eighty acres of good land, valued at $75 an acre. He was married in July, 1844, to Nancy Bryan, a native of Lancaster County, Ohio. To them were born twelve chil- dren, seven of whom are living-Marinda, Sheldon, Almond, Barbara, Amanda, George and Alice. Mrs. Crooks died April 20, 1884. Politically, Mr. Crooks was originally a Whig, cast- ing his first Presidential vote for Harrison, but later has affili- ated with the Republican party. When he first came to the county it was covered with timber and infested with wild ani- mals. He was a noted hunter, and was often hired by the set- tlers to hunt for them, as their only meat was game. He relates many interesting anecdotes of his adventures in the early settle- ment of the county, incidents of thrilling interest, especially to all lovers of the hunt, as he has had many hair-breadth. escapes from death by wild animals.
R. N. Crooks, farmer and stock-raiser, Union Township, was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, near Warren, Dec. 9, 1830, a son of William and Jane (Norris) Crooks, and grandson of Henry Crooks, a native of Scotland, who emigrated to America in an early day. William Crooks was one of the first settlers of Trumbull County, and was married there to Jane Norris, an early settler of the county, of Irish descent. Eleven of their thirteen children grew to maturity. Mr. Crooks, Sr., was a very energetic man and an active worker in the interest of the county. He was a very large man, he and two brothers being known as the " great race." When our subject was two years of age his father died, and the next year he went with his mother to Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and was there reared and educated, and there his mother died in July, 1850. He was married in 1850 to Melvina Reynolds, who only lived three months and two days after her marriage. In November, 1852, he married Mary Ann Burdick. Of the sixteen children born to them, thirteen are living -- Martha L., wife of Christopher Newcomer ; Linna, wife of B. F. Frets ; Hattie M., wife of George Crowel ; Lucy H., Mary Rebecca, Eudora, Laura, Robert W., Fred- erick E., Victor H., Burton B., Clyde E. and James. Mr. Crooks came to De Kalb County in July, 1859, and purchased a farm on section II, Union Township. He owns a fine farm of 120 acres, valued at $75 an acre. In politics Mr. Crooks was
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originally a Republican, but later has affiliated with the Green- back party. He has held the office of Township Trustee six years, and was also electd Sheriff on the Greenback ticket. He is a member of Waterloo Lodge, No. 307. F. & A. M., and has passed all the chairs in the Odd Fellows' order : is also a mem- ber of the Knights of Honor.
Captain E. B. Cutter is a native of North Hadley, Hampshire Co .. Mass., born Oct. 12. 1831, a son of Elam and Mary (Gay- lord Cutter. His great-grandfather. Jairus Cutter, came to America with the Pilgrims in the Mayflower. His great-grand- mother, Susan Bowman, was living in Charlestown at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, and carried water to the gunners. She died in Boston at the age of 100 years, two months and five days. His Grandfather Cutter was a soldier in the Revolu- tion, and his father in the war of 1812. Our subject was reared in his native county, and when sixteen years of age be- gan to learn the carpenter and joiner's trade of his father. In the spring of 1851 he went to Walworth County, Wis., and raised the first crop of tobacco in that State for a man named Isaiah Hibbard. In 1852 he went to Texas, where he helped to build the first steam saw and grist mill in Bonham, Fannin County. He then built a cotton-gin and mill in Grayson County, and in 1853 went to Santa Fe. New Mexico, for his health, but soon after returned home. In the spring of 1856 he came to Indiana and spent a year in Steuben County, and there met Miss Eliza Vinton, to whom he was married May 19, 1856. May 3, 1857. he moved to Waterloo. where he followed millwrighting and house building till Aug. 6, 1862, when he enlisted in Company A, Eighty-eighth Indiana Infantry, as a private. At his first battle, Perryville, he was promoted to Or- derly Sergeant; at Stone River. to Sergeant, and soon after to Second Lieutenant. He participated in the battles of Chicka- mauga, Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge, and in Decem- ber. 1863, was commissioned Captain for his bravery, having previously risen to the rank of First Lieutenant. He was sub- sequently in the Atlanta campaign and in all the engagements of the Fourteenth Army Corps, comprising Dalton, Resaca, Pumpkin Vine, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Mari- etta, Chattahoochee River, Peach Tree Creek and siege of Atlanta. After the battle of Atlanta he was given a leave of ab- sence, and subsequently was on detached service under General
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Thomas, and engaged in the battle of Nashville and the pursuit after Hood. He was then stationed at Whitesides a short time ; soon after joined his former command at Goldsboro, and with it participated in the battle at Raleigh where his com- mand captured a rebel flag, a part of which is still in his posses- sion. At the time of Sherman's and Johnston's armistice and Lincoln's assassination he was at Martha's Vineyard. N. C., and marched from there with his command to Washington. He participated in the grand review at Washington where he was mustered out, and June 16, 1865, was discharged at Indianap- olis. He then returned to Waterloo where he has since resided. He has followed the millwright's trade, and has built mills in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Flori- da. He helped to erect the first grist-mill in Waterloo, De Kalb Co. To Captain Cutter and wife have been born six chil- dren-Carrie, Faney, Charles. George, Frederick and Earl. He is a member of Waterloo City Lodge, No. 307, F. & A. M., and Wm. Hacker Chapter, No. 63, R. A. M. In politics he is a Republican, and has twice been nominated by his party as can- didate for Sheriff.
Orris Danks, dealer in boots and shoes, Waterloo, Ind., was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., July 16, 1815. a son of Be- noni and Phœbe (Earle) Danks, natives of New York. His grandfather, Robert Earle, was a soldier in the war of the Rev- olution, and subsequently a very prominent man of his town. Our subject was reared on a farm, but received a good educa- tion for an early day. In 1836 he left his native home and started for the West to buy a home, and liking the looks of the country in De Kalb County, Ind., bought a tract of land on section 13, Smithfield Township, on which he lived two years, clearing the land of timber and preparing it for cultivation. In 1838 he returned to New York where, in 1840, he was married to Euseba, daughter of William Brown. In the fall of 1841 he moved to De Kalb County and settled on his land. in a little log cabin 16x 20 feet in dimensions. The young couple were poor in purse. but rich in ambition and perseverance. and with a determination to make a home for themselves and their fam- ily, laughed at all difficulties and obstacles, and bravely en- dured privation that they might gain the end for which they toiled. After sharing his cares and participating in his joys eleven years, the young wife died in 1851, leaving two chil-
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dren-Charles O., who enlisted in the fall of 1861 in the Forty- fourth Indiana Infantry, and died at Battle Creek, Tenn., in August, 1862, and Ella, now the wife of Frederick Waterman, of De Kalb County. In the spring of 1862 Mr. Danks moved his family to Waterloo and formed a partnership in the hard- ware business under the firm name of St. Clair & Co. In 1870 he sold his interest and engaged in the grocery and boot and shoe business, but in 1874 disposed of his stock of groceries and has since devoted his attention to the boot and shoe trade. He was married in 1852 to Miss Estella Booge, who died in 1863, leaving one child-Emma, now the wife of Wm. H. Leas, at- - torney, of Waterloo. In 1864 Mr. Danks married Sarah A. Jones. He has 'been a prominent man in the township, and has served in many official positions.
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