History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Part 34

Author: B.F. Bowen & Co., Pub
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1182

USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families > Part 34

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City. Mrs. Leighity, who still resides in the old family home in St. Joe, is a lady of many gracious qualities, which have commended her to the love and esteem of her many friends. She was to her husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the word, much of his success in life being due to her wise counsel and the encouragement which she gave him in his affairs. She takes a kindly interest in all charitable and benevolent work in her community and her heart responds to every appeal for help in all good work.

COL. STEPHEN A. BOWMAN.

Great achievements always excite admiration. Men of deeds are the men whom the world delights to honor. Ours is an age representing the most electrical progress in all lines of material activity, and the man of initiative is one who forges to the front in the industrial world. Among the distinctive captains of industry in northeastern Indiana, a place of pri- ority must be accorded to Col. Stephen A. Bowman, of Waterloo, Indiana, for to him is due the upbuilding of an industry which is not only one of the most important in his county, but also one of the most extensive of its kind in this section of the country, while the comparatively short time within which these great results have been obtained further testify to his exceptional administrative power and executive ability. He is, in the fullest sense of the term, a progressive, virile, self-made American, thoroughly in harmony with the spirit of the advanced age in which he lives, conducting all his business matters carefully and systematically. and in all his aets displaying an aptitude for successful management. He has not permitted the accumu- lation of fortune to affeet in any way his actions toward those less fortunate than he, being a most sympathetic and broad-minded man, and has a host of warm and admiring friends.

Stephen A. Bowman was born in Keyser township, DeKalb county, In- diana, one-half mile west of where the county farm is now located, on No- vember 1, 1865, and is the son of Joseph and Ida ( Brand) Bowman. Joseph Bowman, who was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, was the grandson of Jacob Bowman, who came from Germany in 1772, settling near Gratz, Penn- sylvania. The latter's son, Samuel, came to Stark county, Ohio, in 1817, settling in Osnaburg township, where he became the father of a large family of children, one of whom was Joseph, the father of the subject of this sketch. Joseph Bowman was born January 31, 1814, in Pennsylvania, and came with

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his parents to Stark county, Ohio. In 1839 he came to DeKalb county, In- diana, entering eighty acres of government land at the place where the sub- ject was born. He also bought other land and sold some, so that at the time of his death he was the owner of one hundred and twenty acres. He was twice married, first to Eve Bortz, to which union ten children were born, of whom only one is now living, Mrs. George. O. Denison, of Auburn, this county. Some time after the death of his first wife, Mr. Bowman married Mrs. Ida (Brand) Tongue, the widow of William Tongue. She was a na- tive of Ohio and a daughter of English parents. When she was but an in- fant her mother died and she was reared by a German family, who talked the language of the fatherland, so that she thoroughly learned the German lan- guage. Years afterward she and her brothers were brought together, and as they talked only English she could not understand each other. She was. born in 1829, and died in 1878, at the age of forty-nine years, and lies buried in the first cemetery at Auburn beside her husband. By her second union she became the mother of ten children, of whom four sons are living, namely : William, who lives on a farm five miles west of Waterloo, married Ella Chaney, and they have five children ; Lydia, deceased, was the wife of George King, and the mother of four children; Eva, deceased, was the wife of John Palmer, and left one child; Stephen A., the immediate subject of this sketch, is the next in order of birth ; Frank lives on a farm two miles south of Water- loo and married Verna Kinney, to which union were born six children; George lives at Danville, Illinois, and has been twice married. The other four children died in childhood or infancy.

Stephen A. Bowman lived on the paternal farmstead until about four- teen years of age, and then for three years he resided with his brother-in- law, George O. Denison. In the fall of 1883 he came to Waterloo and here completed his education in the high school. In 1884 he entered the employ of J. S. Slaybaugh in the handle factory, and on August 1, 1885, he started handle making on his own account. At that time his cash capital amounted to five dollars, and much hard work and rigid economy were required in order to make both ends meet in the beginning of his business experience. At that time all the work of making handles was by hand and Mr. Bowman's first year's output was about one hundred and fifty dozen handles, the major portion of these handles being made for edged tools. Since that time the- growth of the business has been nothing short of phenomenal, machinery having taken the place of handwork in every respect possible, and now the- business has grown to a production of ten thousand dozen a year. Mr. Bow- man started his business career in a room twelve by sixteen feet in size, in.

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an old sawmill, but in November, 1886, he was enabled to buy a little building northwest of the Lake Shore crossing. He has added to this from time to time and now has a substantial building about forty by one hundred feet in size, wonderfully well equipped in every respect for the work to which it is devoted, and an inspection of the plant by those not acquainted with its workings would surprise and gratify the sightseer. Many machines are found here which are almost human in their apparent intelligent action, some of them being very intricate, and one of which took a year to plan. Many of the machines have been invented by Colonel Bowman and his son, and many others improved by them, so that practically all of the manu- facturing done here is the product of machinery. It is worthy of note that so simple a thing as an ax handle is handled twenty-eight times from the time it comes into the shop with the bark on until it leaves the factory, a finished handle ready for shipment. The shop is equipped with its own electric light plant, there is above every machine an electric fan for the com- fort of the workmen, and the plant is steam heated in winter by exhaust steam from the engine. Colonel Bowman has made it a point to use nothing but the best stock in his plant, and therefore his product has earned in the market of the world the highest reputation for its superior quality and work- manship. The industry has been one of the principal enterprises of Water- loo, and to Colonel Bowman is due a large meed of credit for the stimulus he has given to local business life.

Aside from his business interests, Colonel Bowman has been deeply interested in the development and progress of his community, and for eleven years he served as clerk of Waterloo and is now an efficient and active mem- mer of the library board.

In May, 1882, Colonel Bowman entered the Indiana National Guard as. a private in Company I of the Third Regiment and served in the ranks until 1887, when he was appointed second lieutenant of Company I. In 1889 he received his commission as captain, in 1892 was promoted to major and in 1896 to lieutenant-colonel, and in 1900, and in 1908 again, he was appointed colonel by Governor Marshall. In December, 1908, he was in command of the First Regiment, Indiana National Guard, and on February 1, 1913, he retired from the service, having completed a continuous service of nearly thirty-two years, at the time of his retirement being the oldest in point of continuous service in the National Guard, with the exception of Adjutant- General McKee. Colonel Bowman was called out to prevent prize fighting at Roby in 1893, and in 1894, because of railroad strikes, he was located twenty-two days at Hammond, and was shot at by strikers. He served a

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number of times as president of courts martial and on courts of inquiry, and was president of the examining board sixteen years. At the joint maneu- vers held at West Point, Kentucky, by the National Guard of several states, Colonel Bowman was highly complimented by Colonel Wagner, of the United States army, a high military authority, and in reference to the incident the following quotation is made from the Il'aterloo Press of that date:

"During the joint maneuvers of the United States army and the organ- ized militias of the various states held at West Point, Kentucky, in Sep- tember, 1903, Col. Arthur L. Wagner, of the United States army, chief umpire, maneuvering division, in his report of maneuvers of the Third Infantry, says: 'The Third Regiment, commanded in the absence of Colonel Studebaker by Col. S. A. Bowman, for quickness of movement, intelligence in executing orders, rapidity in comprehending wholly unexpected difficulties, good training in taking advantage of cover, the regiment was especially commended.' The tribute is especially pleasing to Colonel Bowman and his friends because of the somewhat difficult position of commanding the regi- ment in the absence of the senior officer. Had censure been his portion, no matter how mild, it would have been felt keenly. Since praise is his share, his pleasure is all the more heightened."

On September 16, 1887, Colonel Bowman was united in marriage with Cora Fisher, daughter of Solomon and Harriett (Rhodabaugh) Fisher, the former a retired merchant of Waterloo. Mrs. Bowman was born at Waterloo on January 3, 1865. To the Colonel and his wife have been born eight children, six sons and two daughters, namely: Harry Fisher, born April 9, 1889, is an electrical engineer for the Hunt Helm Ferris Company, of Har- vard, Illinois, with whom he has been employed continuously since 1907. He married Leora Thompson, of Harvard, Illinois, and they have a daugh- ter, Lelah; Paul A., born May 23, 1891, and who is unmarried, is assisting his father in the handle business; Fred Rhodabaugh, born November 13, 1893, is a commercial traveler for the hat and cap house of G. H. Gates Company, of Detroit, Michigan, and, though not yet twenty years old, is a very successful salesman. These three sons have been especially educated in their particular lines: Joseph Solomon, born March 20, 1886, is attending high school and at the same time taking a special course in electrical engi- neering; Wilbur E. and Walter M., twins, born January 15, 1900, are now in their first year in high school, and are enthusiastic boy scouts; Harriet Ida, born March 19, 1906, is attending school, and the youngest in the family is Daisy May, born April 4, 1911.

Colonel Bowman is an ardent lover of outdoor sports, being an enthusi-

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astic hunter and frequently going to the woods of Maine and Wisconsin in pursuit of wild game. He has been very successful, being a splendid rifle shot, and possesses many interesting relics of his trips, and is able to recite many entertaining reminiscences. Personally he is a man of genial and kindly impulses, a splendid conversationalist and entertaining companion and enjoys a wide circle of warm and loyal friends. He and the members of his family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church at Waterloo, and Mrs. Bowman is a devoted member and active worker in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Colonel Bowman deserves a large measure of credit for the success which he has attained, for in early boyhood he was compelled to work hard and had very little opportunity for a school edu- cation. In view of his own experiences he vowed he would give his children better chances for education and for a right start in life than he enjoyed, and he is, to the extent of his ability, fulfilling his vow. Tall, well built, and with a distinct military carriage, he is a man of pleasing address and is a welcome member of all the circles in which he moves. He has been an important factor in the commercial and industrial prosperity of Waterloo and holds an enviable position in the esteem of the community which is honored by his citizenship.

GEORGE ROCK, M. D.

Actively connected with the profession of medicine, Dr. George Rock has won that favorable regard that comes only as the result of superior ability and personal worth. Having carefully prepared for the practice of his pro- fession, he is now devoted to his work and his strict regard for the ethics of the profession has gained for him the confidence of his brethren of the fraternity as well as of the general public.

George Rock was born in Crawford county, Ohio, on January 11, 1854, and is a son of William and Sarah (Greiner) Rock, the former a native of Columbiana county, Ohio, and the latter of New York state. The home of the subject's parents was in Crawford county, Ohio, for a number of years prior to 1860, when they moved to Delaware township, Defiance county, that state, where the remainder of their lives was spent. The subject accompanied his parents on their removal to Defiance county when a lad of but six years and there received his elementary education, subsequently attending the high school at Defiance. Early in his manhood he became identified with the mer- cantile and subsequently the insurance business at Sherwood, but having

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resolved to make the practice of medicine his life work he abandoned these pursuits and, in 1887, entered the Miami Medical College at Cincinnati, where he prosecuted his studies for two years. He then spent two terms at Rush Medical College, of Chicago, after which he matriculated in the Toledo Med- ical College, where he was graduated with the class of 1891, receiving the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after his graduation he located at Sherwood, Ohio, and entered upon the active practice of his profession. In some respects one might have criticised him for making the change from ordinary business pursuits, for while a resident of Defiance he had attained to a high standing in business circles, being known as an enterprising and in- fluential citizen and his fellow townsmen had manifested their esteem for him by honoring him with various offices of trust. However, his career since entering upon a professional life has proven the wisdom of his choice, for he has continuously enjoyed a large and remunerative practice and has been successful in the line of effort to which he has devoted himself. In 1900 Dr. Rock came to Auburn, Indiana, and has been continuously engaged in the practice of medicine and has enjoyed from the beginning his full share of business in his line. He has successfully handled a number of very difficult cases and has earned not only the regard of his professional brethren, but the esteem and good will of the entire community.

Dr. Rock has been twice married, first at Sherwood, Ohio, to Amanda Taylor, who died soon after marriage. Two years later he married Margaret Sausaman, also a resident of Sherwood, and a native of Defiance county, and to them has been born a daughter, Emma. Margaret Sausamon is the daughter of Samuel and Jane ( Schwab) Sansaman. Her father came from Pennsylvania to Crawford county, Ohio, moving from there to Defiance county, that state, where he died at the age of eighty-seven years. Mrs. Rock's mother, Jane (Schwab) Sausaman, was a native of Germany, who upon coming to America located first in Crawford county, thence moved to Defiance county.

Fraternally, Dr. Rock is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to the subordinate lodge at Auburn, in which he has passed through all the chairs and is now a member of the grand lodge. He also belongs to the encampment of that order at Garrett, and holds mem- bership in the lodge of Knights of Pythias at Auburn. The record of testi- mony is ample that Dr. Rock is a good citizen in the full sense of the term, worthy of honor and public trust, ever doing worthily and well the life work to which he has consecrated himself. Well qualified by natural aptitude, training and experience for the profession which he follows, he is numbered

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among the steady and sterling citizens of his community, and as far as pos- sible he devotes his attention also to the upbuilding of the community with which he is identified, giving his support to every movement for the benefit of his fellow men. He is genial and companionable and enjoys the friendship of all who know him.

JESSE JOEL MUSSER.

Among the younger generation of DeKalb county citizenship who are giving promise of fruitful lives and who are now laying the foundations for their future careers is the gentleman whose name forms the caption to this sketch.

Jesse Joel Musser was born at Sherwood, Ohio, on July 22, 1891, and is a son of Jacob G. and Lovina (Rock) Musser, now residents of Auburn. Jacob G. Musser was also a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born in Defiance county, Ohio, on November 7, 1852, and is a son of Joel and Sarah C. (Gier) Musser. Both of these parents were of rugged old Pennsyl- vania Dutch stock, and both came to Wooster, Ohio, with their respective parents in an early day, their marriage occurring in that city. Immediately after that interesting event, which occurred in the early forties, they moved to Defiance county, that state, where they made their permanent home. Joel Musser was a shoemaker by vocation and for many years followed that busi- ness in Brunersburg, that being at a period when boots and shoes were made to order. Eventually he abandoned the shoemaker's bench and took up farm- ing which he followed during the remainder of his active life. He died in 1899, and his wife in 1901. Jacob G. Musser was born and reared on the parental farmstead between Defiance and Brunersburg, and at the age of seventeen years he went to the latter place and learned the blacksmith's trade, which he followed for about forty-five years. When twenty-five years old, he started a shop of his own at Sherwood, Ohio, and for a period of six years operated a farm at the same time. In the fall of 1901 he moved to Auburn and established a blacksmith shop, which he is still operating. His years of experience have qualified him for the most difficult jobs of horseshoeing, in which he specializes, and as a general blacksmith he has few equals and no superiors. - Though only medium in physical build. he is a man of extraor- dinary endurance and on more than one occasion has shown unusual pres- ence of mind and courage when shoeing nervous or vicious horses. At the age of twenty-six years, while residing in Sherwood, Ohio, Mr. Musser was

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married to Lovina Rock, a sister to Dr. George Rock, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. To Mr. and Mrs. Musser have been born eight chil- dren, seven of whom are living: Charles, the first born, died at Auburn in 1910, at the age of thirty-two years ; he had been a teacher in a business col- lege in Wisconsin, and had been married less than a year at the time of his death; Maude is the wife of Arthur Thomas, who with his father and brother runs an artificial ice plant and saw mill in Auburn. She is the mother of two children, Arnold Clay and Charles Burgess; Albert, who is employed at Jackson. Michigan, is an automobile top builder, married Mary Schomberg, and has two children, Howard and Ralph; Edgar Guy, Sarah Ella, Jesse Joel, George and Ruth, all of whom are still under the parental roof. Edgar is employed at the Auburn automobile factory.

Jesse Joel Musser came to Auburn with his parents on their removal from Defiance, Ohio, and has finished his education in the high school. Mr. Musser is an industrious young man of good character and splendid habits, self reliant and possessing those qualities that betoken his future success. He is genial in disposition and is deservedly popular in the social circle in which he moves.

EGBERT BENSON MOTT.

The Mott family of which the subject of this sketch is a descendant is of English descent in both paternal and maternal lines, representatives of which came to America in early colonial days. The family was an ancient and honorable one in England. The emigrant ancestor was Capt. James Mott, youngest son of John Mott, Esq., of Shalford, in the county of Essex. who came to America in 1665-6, locating in Mamaronek, Westchester county, New York. He was for several years a captain in the army of the Province, and in later life one of the magistrates of Westchester county, appointed by successive royal governors. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits, as did all of his descendants down to Egbert B. Mott. During the Revolutionary war another James Mott, the fourth of the name, participated in the Sara- toga campaign, resulting in the surrender of Burgoyne, and was given a com- mission June 25, 1778, as ensign in Colonel Hopkins' regiment of Dutchess county, New York. He married Mary, daughter of James Denton, of New- burg, New York, a Revolutionary soldier, who was captain of a company of the Fourth Ulster County Regiment. His first commission was as second lieutenant, October II, 1775. He was fifth in descent from Rev. Richard

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Egbut B Bott

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Denton, a Puritan divine of Halifax, Yorkshire, England, who came to America in 1630 in the ship "Arabella," with Governor Winthrop and a company who founded Boston.

When Egbert B. Mott was about twelve years old his father died, leaving a family of five sons and three daughters to the care of the mother. After a few years' residence in Saratoga county, New York, the family removed to Lehman, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1824. Mr. Mott was married December 30, 1830, in Abingdon, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, to Mary, the daughter of John Winterbothamn, of Moseley, Lancashire, Eng- land, where she was born on February 4, 1806. Her mother's maiden name was Anne Wrigley. In 1836 Mr. Mott removed with his wife and two chil- dren from Pennsylvania to Frederickstown, Knox county, Ohio, where Mrs. Mott's family then resided. After living several years in Knox and Rich- land counties, Ohio, Mr. Mott removed, in May, 1843, to Kalida, Putnam county, where he made the acquaintance of Judge Morris, a young lawyer, between whom and himself there formed a friendship as strong and endur- ing as life. Subsequently Mr. Mott and Mr. Morris came to Indiana in search of a better location for the practice of their profession, and Mr. Mott located in Auburn on October 16, 1843, being the first lawyer who settled in this locality. In 1856 he was elected judge of the court of common pleas for the district comprising the counties of DeKalb and Steuben. In politics the Judge was first a Federalist, then a Whig and finally a Republican. He had a remarkable memory, excellent judgment and the utmost firmmess of principle. Throughout his whole life he was a faithful Christian, exempli- fying his faith by a life of practical righteousness. He died on September 30, 1865, after an acute illness of three weeks. Two sons died before him, Reginald Heber, an infant, and Sheridan Edward, who was wounded at Chickamauga on September 20, 1863, and died in the hospital in Nashville, May 15, 1864. Mrs. Mary W. Mott died on October 4, 1893, at the age of eighty-seven years and eight months. During her earlier years Mrs. Mott had many advantages from a literary and social point of view, for her father was in partnership with Col. David Humphreys and Judge John Humphreys in the manufacturing business, they having engaged in the manufacture of fine woolen goods, broadcloth, etc., at Seymour, Connecticut. then called Humphreysville, this being the first successful attempt to manufacture that class of goods in the United States. Colonel Humphreys had been one of Washington's aides-de-camp in the Revolutionary war and subsequently United States minister to Portugal and Spain, from which latter country he brought the first Merino sheep to America. At an carly age Mrs. Mott was

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placed in school at Derby, near Humphreysville, where her associations and training were of the very best. Owing to the condition of her health, she made a protracted visit with an uncle, Abram Wrigley, of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where she rapidly improved, and not long afterwards began teaching school, and at Providence, a few miles from her uncle's residence, she first became acquainted with her future husband, to whom she was mar- ried on December 30, 1838.

EDWIN L. FOSDICK.

Fealty to facts in the analysis of the character of a citizen of the type of Edwin L. Fosdick is all that is required to make a biographical sketch interesting to those who have at heart the good name of the community, because it is the honorable reputation of the man of standing and affairs, more than any other consideration, that gives character and stability to the body politic and makes the true glory of a city or state revered at home and respected abroad. In the broad light which things of good repute ever in- vite, the name and character of Mr. Fosdick stand revealed and secure, and though of modest demeanor, with no ambition to distinguish himself in public position or as a leader of men, his career has been signally honorable and it may be studied with profit by the youth entering upon his life work.

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History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families, Part 34

Author: B.F. Bowen & Co., Pub Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen Number of Pages: 1182

Author: B.F. Bowen & Co., Pub
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen
Number of Pages: 1182