USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Dekalb County, Indiana, with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of old families > Part 55
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Jonas F. Dilgard was reared on the paternal farm and in the schools of Waterloo he secured his education. In 1870, at the age of seventeen years, he began a successful pedagogieal career, and during the following ten years was numbered among the leading teachers of DeKalb county, having taught successfully at various places where a high standard of education was in de- mand. During this period his summer seasons were spent in agricultural employment. In 1876 Mr. Dilgard was married to Mary Goodwin, the daughter of David and Sarah (Wiltrout ) Goodwin, she being a native of Waterloo. David Goodwin was born in Ashland county, Ohio, on November 5, 1826, and his death occurred at Waterloo, Indiana, on March 9, 1899, in the seventy-third year of his age. About 1854 he moved from Ashland county and purchased a tract of land at the edge of Waterloo, which he cleared and developed, making of it eventually one of the best farms in this vicinity. He was survived a number of years by his widow, who died in October, 1912. After Mr. Dilgard married he rented a farm for about a year and then bought a farm located between Auburn and Waterloo in Grant township. where he now owns one hundred acres. In 1880 he gave up teaching school and moving on to the farm south of Waterloo, he lived there until 1906. when he retired from active farm labor and moved to Waterloo, where he now resides. He still owns the farm and in a general way supervises its management. In 1885, while still residing on his farm, Mr. Dilgard engaged in the agricultural implement business at Waterloo, but a year or two later he sold that business and during the following two years he was a traveling salesman for the Altman-Taylor Company and about a year for the Plano Binder Company; also for about two years after leaving the farm he was engaged in the restaurant business at Auburn, having hought the same from his son, Carl. He was successful in this enterprise, but eventually sold it and returned to his home in Waterloo. He is a man of good business ability and sound judgment, and because of his excellent qualifications he has succeeded in everything to which he has turned his hand.
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Fraternally, Mr. Dilgard belongs to the Knights of Pythias and takes a deep interest in the workings of the order. He has taken an intelligent in- terest in public affairs and served four years as trustee of Grant township, and is now president of the board of trustees of the town of Waterloo, dis- charging his official duties to the entire satisfaction of his fellow citizens.
To Mr. and Mrs. Dilgard have been born seven children, namely: Claude, Roy, Carl, Gladys, Glen, Ralph and Howard, all deceased except Carl and Howard. Carl was born September 16, 1884, married Dora Dan- iels, the daughter of Harrison Daniels, and they have a daughter, Bernadine. He lives in Waterloo and follows the trade of a carpenter. Howard Dilgard. born July 10, 1898, is a student in the public schools of Waterloo.
Mr. Dilgard is an able, educated, well read and progressive gentleman, a fine type of a self-made man who has confidence in the people and is ready at all times to do his full part in the advancement of the public welfare. He is not lacking in the qualities of sociability and those traits of character which win friends for a man, and in the community where he has spent so many of his active years, he enjoys a notable measure of popularity.
JAMES PURVIS McCAGUE.
Fealty to facts in the analyzation of a citizen of the type of James Purvis McCague is all that that is required to make a good biographical sketch inter- esting to those who have at heart the good name of the community, because it is the honorable reputation of the man of standing, more than any other consideration, that gives character and stability to the body politic and makes the true worth of a county or state revered and respected. In the broad light which things of good report ever invite, the name and character of the gen- tleman whose name introduces this sketch stand revealed and secure, though with 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 life's work, for it shows that the man who persists along right lines of endeavor will eventually accomplish what he sets out to do despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
James P. McCague was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on July 12, 1846, and is a son of Samuel Cochran McCague and Eliza Jane (Barfoot) Mc- Cague. Samuel C. McCague was a son of James and Elizabeth McCague, the former of whom was a native of the north of Ireland. though of Scotch-
MR. AND MRS. J. P. McCAGUE
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Irish descent, his ancestors having located in the Emerald Isle on account of the religious liberty which they enjoyed there and which was denied them in their native land. His wife, Eliza Jane Barfoot, was a daughter of Andrew Barfoot, who with his wife came from Scotland, her eldest brother having been born on the ocean en route to America. In 1848 Samuel C. McCague brought his wife and child to DeKalb county, Indiana, locating on the I. N. Cox farm one and one-half miles south and a little west of Ashley. After living there two years he sold this place and bought eighty acres of land one mile west of Sedan, where his death occurred in 1852, at which time the sub- ject of this sketch was but six years old, and the only child. The subject's mother than engaged in teaching school, which she followed until 1855. when she became the wife of Aaron B. Smith, to which union was born a son, Sanford S., who died May 24, 1913. The mother's married life continued until 1868 when, at the death of her husband, she came to Waterloo and made that her home for some time.
The subject of this sketch secured his education in the district schools, but in 1861, at the outbreak of the war of the Rebellion, his patriotic fervor was aroused and though but fifteen years old he tried to enlist to fight for the Union, but was rejected on account of his youth. He then went to Iowa and obtained employment on farms in Winnesheik county. While in that state he attended school at Decorah, and there became acquainted with two daughters of John Brown, the famous anti-slavery agitator of Osawatomie. At the time of the New Ulm massacre by the Indians in 1862, he joined an indepen- dent military company and went to the assistance of the settlers and was present at the capture of six hundred Sioux Indians, who were sent to Daven- port. While on a skirmish Mr. McCague was captured and was carried to a gorge, but while the guard was sleeping he loosened himself. In so doing he disturbed a dog which he killed with the guard's knife and he then made his escape. In 1863 Mr. McCague tried to enlist as a recruit in the Twelfth Iowa Regiment Volunteer Infantry, but was again rejected because of his boyish appearance. He then returned to Winnesheik county and attended school until the spring of 1864 when he enlisted in Company F, Forty-sixth Regiment Jowa Volunteer Infantry, a one-hundred-day regiment, with which he served his term, participating in the battles of Tupella and Guntown and being mustered out in August, 1864. After receiving his discharge from the army Mr. McCague returned to his old home near Ashley, DeKalb county, Indiana, and during the first winter here he attended school and then
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again applied himself to farm work, later coming to Waterloo and here be- ginning his association with machinery, which has characterized the greater part of his life since. In the spring of 1865 he went to Kendallville and attempted to enlist in the army, but having gone first to tell his mother of his intentions he was a day too late, the orders having been issued to enlist no more men. At Waterloo Mr. McCague obtained employment in a planing mill where he finally became engineer and afterwards ran engines at various mills. He was married in 1871 and immediately afterwards bought a saw mill and stave factory where he manufactured staves for oil barrels. When timber got scarce he sold his stave machinery, but continued to operate the saw mill, which, however, was burned in 1890. He then became a practical machinist, bought tools and started a machine shop in Waterloo, north of where the town hall is now located, conducting this shop until 1901. In 1900 he was so unfortunate as to lose an eye by its being pierced with a piece of steel, while he was working on a boiler. In 1901 Mr. McCague invested eight hundred dollars in stock in a new concern which was organized to manufacture corn huskers and he then turned his shop and machinery over to the new concern and became machine shop foreman for two years. In 1903, his ability as a machinist and engineer having become widely known, Mr. McCague was called upon to take charge of the machinery in the electric light and water plant of Waterloo, and in 1904 he was given full charge of the plant as superintendent and has held that position until the present time. Fully qualified by training and experience for this important position Mr. McCague has discharged his duties with promptness and with painstaking care and enjoys the confidence and regard of all who are familiar with his work. In 1881 he was gone for a short time to Des Moines, Iowa, as foreman of a band saw mill, and also for a short time ran a steamboat on the Des Moines river. He afterward spent a year at Evansville, keeping saws in a saw mill in good shape, as he was an expert in that particular line of work and received a good salary for his labors.
In 1871 Mr. McCague married Nancy A. Bowman, the daughter of James and Jane (Bort) Bowman, who are represented elsewhere in this work, and to this union have been born seven children, namely: Charles A., an engineer on the Lake Shore railroad, and who lives at Elkhart, married Lillian Phillips, and they have one son, James P .; Nellie A. died at the age of sixteen years; Edward Purvis married Rilla Newcomer, to which union was born a daughter, Irene, and he died at the age of twenty-five years; Blanche C. is the wife of Emmett E. Cox, of Waterloo; Eston B., who lives two miles
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west of Butler on a farm, is a machinist by trade, and he married Clara Hanes; Eugene J., who married Dessie Greenwood, died in 1907 at the age of twenty-seven years; Minnie 1. died at the age of twelve years.
Fraternally, Mr. McCague is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, having passed through all the chairs and serving as worshipful master of his lodge. He also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and here enjoys the association with other veterans of the late war. He has taken a deep interest in local affairs and has served four terms as a member of the town board. In 1872 Mr. McCague built a fine home in the northeast part of Waterloo, where, on a large lot, which has been beautified in every respect with large beds of flowers and fancy shrubbery, he has erected a beau- tiful home heated by furnace, lighted by electricity and with water through- out the house, his home as regards beauty and convenience comparing favor- ably with any home in Waterloo. Mrs. McCague is passionately fond of flowers and spends much of her time in the care of them, in which she has met with much success. Mr. McCague is probably as versatile in his mechan- ical ability as any man in this locality, being not only an expert electrician, but a good all-around machinist, an expert plumber and an experienced saw man, besides which he learned the trade of steam engineer. He is a close student of practical mechanics and is a deep reader on a wide variety of sub- jects, being able to converse intelligently on many themes which ordinarily do not interest the average man. He has passed through a varied and strenuous career in many respects, being able to recite some very interesting experiences and narrow escapes, but is entirely modest and unassuming, caring nothing for praise or public applause, and he possesses to an eminent degree those qualities of character which beget friendship, and in this locality where he has resided for many years he has earned the high regard of all who know him.
W. I .. BLAIR.
It is with a great degree of satisfaction that we advert to the life of one who has made a success in any vocation requiring definiteness of purpose and determined action. Such a life, whether it be one of prosaic endeavor or radical accomplishment, abounds in valuable lesson and incentive to those who have become discouraged in the fight for recognition or to the youth whose future is undetermined. During a long, strenuous and honorable career W. L. Blair, one of the substantial and representative citizens of
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DeKalb county, has directed his energies and talents toward the goal of success in this locality and by patient continuance has won, and is now num- bered among the worthy and substantial farmers of Wilmington township. The subject bears the distinction of being the oldest resident of DeKalb county, he having resided here continuously for seventy-eight years, and being the only survivor among a family of thirty-five relatives.
W. L. Blair was born in Portage county, Ohio, on November 27, 1831, a son of John and Margaret (Douglas) Blair, who moved to DeKalb county in 1835, settling in Concord township, at which time there were but nine fam- ilies in the county, seven of whom were located in Concord township. The Indians were frequent visitors at their home and at one time the subject's sister turned an empty barrel over him while she ran to the field to tell the men of the approach of the Indians. Mr. Blair was reared to the life of a pioneer and early began assisting in the arduous labors of clearing the land, his educational privileges being very limited. The first school he attended was taught by Rev. Benjamin Alton in a log house on land now occupied by Christian Curie. Mr. Blair is descended from a sturdy line of ancestors, his parents having been natives respectively of Massachusetts and Pennsyl- vania. They were the parents of nine children, namely : Mrs. Jane Notestine, deceased ; Douglas, deceased ; Mrs. Samantha Dragoo, deceased ; Hiram, de- ceased ; Lucius J., deceased ; William L., the subject of this sketch, and Ben- jamin, John and Carlin, who are deceased. The land which the subject's father entered in DeKalb county is that now occupied by the present site of St. Joe, and there the subject of this sketch spent his early years. He has always devoted his activities to agricultural pursuits, and, owing to his per- sistent industry, sound business methods and careful attention to the con- servation of the soil and other practical features of successful agriculture. he has for many years enjoyed a splendid reputation among his fellow farmers. He owns thirty acres of land near the town of Butler, on to which he moved in 1865, and during the long period of his residence here he has continuously enjoyed the confidence and good will of the community.
Mr. Blair has been twice married, first in 1859 to Amy .Aldrich, to which union were born two children. Corwin B., of Gary, Indiana, and Mrs. Lena Corcoran, of Michigan. Mr. Blair's second union was to Mary L. Hall, the daughter of J. C. and Abigail ( Norris) Hall, natives of New Hampshire. Mr. Blair has reached an advanced age, heaven having lengthened out his life until he has been permitted to witness the vicissitudes of the most remark- able epoch in the world's business and inventive history, in all of which he has been an interested spectator.' There is no doubt but that his long life has
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been due to his sterling character, his conservative habits and his pure thinking. He is even tempered, patient, scrupulously honest in all the relations of life, hospitable and charitable, his many kindly deeds being actuated solely from his largeness of heart rather than from any desire to gain the approval of plaudits of his fellow men. In all that constitutes true manhood and good citizenship he has been a worthy example and none stands higher than he in the esteem and confidence of the circles in which he moves.
JOHN H. LEASURE.
Specific mention is made in the following paragraphs of one of the worthy citizens of DeKalb county, Indiana-one who has figured and is still an active participant in the splendid commercial prosperity which characterizes this community, and who is contributing in a definite measure in his particular sphere of action to the growth of the locality and to the advancement of its best interests. Earnest purpose and tireless energy, combined with mature judgment and everyday common sense, have been among his most prominent characteristics and he has merited the respect and esteem which are accorded him by all who know him.
John H. Leasure was born in Savannah, Ashland county, Ohio, on July 26, 1849, the son of Lovengar and Eleanor ( Hayes) Leasure. In 1852 the family moved to Auburn, Indiana, where he secured a limited education in the public schools, which, however, has been liberally supplemented through the years by much reading and habits of close observation. At an early age, the subject was apprenticed to learn the trade of shoemaking. that being a period when most boots and shoes were made by hand to order. He worked at that trade for eight years, then accepted employment as a clerk in a hard- ware store at Auburn. About 1893 Mr. Leasure moved to Angola, where he remained most of the time up to 1900, in which year he returned to Auburn and engaged in the hardware business on his own account. Subsequently he, with W. H. McQuiston and Harry Swarts, organized the Auburn Hardware Company, with the intention of opening a new store. At that time the John L. Davis estate was being closed up and his old established store was offered for sale. The subject and his associates bought the store and ran it for two years, when Mr. Leasure and his wife and son bought the interests of Messrs. McQuiston and Swarts and thus became sole owners. This business has prospered under the wise management of Mr. Leasure and is now one of
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the principal mercantile establishments of: Auburn, commanding a large and constantly increasing trade through this section of the country.' A large and well selected stock is carried, consisting of shelf and heavy hardware, paints, stoves and other lines usually carried in an up-to-date store of the kind .:
On December 30, 1880, John H. Leasure was married to Lida Powers, who was born near Greensburg, Indiana, the daughter of Jonathan and Mary ( Hood) Powers, and who is mentioned more fully elsewhere in this work. To this union have been born two children, namely: Flossie is the wife of Harry M. Richwine, of Auburn, and they have one child, Helen Marguerite; J. Kent is a medical student in the Indiana State University, at Bloomington.
Politically, Mr. Leasure gives his support to the Democratic party,. while. fraternally he is an appreciative member of the Knights of Pythias. His: religious membership is with the Presbyterian church, to which he gives his earnest support. In all the relations of life he has been a man among men; and, because of his high character and earnest life, he merits the confidence- and good will which he enjoys in the community.
JACOB LUTZ.
The character of a community is determined in a large measure by the- lives of a comparatively few of its members. If its moral and intellectual standard be good, if its reputation for the integrity of its citizens has ex- tended into other localities, it will be found that the standard set by the lead- ing men has been high, and their influence such as to mold the characters and shape the lives of those with whom they mingle. Placing the late Jacob Lutz in the front rank with such men, justice is rendered a biographical fact universally recognized throughout the locality long honored by his citizen- ship. Although a quiet and unassuming man, he contributed greatly to the- material and moral advancement of his community, while his admirable. qualities of head and heart and the straightforward, upright course of his. daily life won for him the esteem and confidence of the circles in which he- moved and gave him a reputation for integrity and correct conduct such as- few achieve, and, although he is now "sleeping the sleep of the just." his- influence is still living and his memory is still greatly revered.
Jacob Lutz was born near Canton, Stark county, Ohio, on January 17 .. 1829, and was a son of Michael and Magdalena Lutz. In 1828, when about seventeen years of age, he came to DeKalb county with his parents, who-
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located here on a farm. His father died about two years after their arrival here and Jacob and his brother John became assistants to their mother in the clearing, improvement and cultivation of the farm, and in the protection and care of the younger children. Mr. Lutz devoted his entire life to agricul- tural pursuits and his farm in Grant township became one of the most up-to- date and productive in the county. Progressive and methodical in his busi- ness affairs, as well as in the operation of his' farm, it was hardly surprising that he should achieve a splendid success, for he possessed to a notable degree those qualities which contribute to prosperity in any undertaking. Mr. Lutz was at all times actuated by the highest motives and so ordered his life as to retain throughout his career here the confidence and good will of all who knew him, and his death, which occurred on September 22, 1900, was con- sidered a distinct loss to the community. Mr. Lutz was an active and earnest member of the Reformed church from boyhood, of which society Mrs. Lutz is also a member, and in everything that affected the moral, civic, material or educational welfare of the community he was active in support of the best measures.
On June 29, 1869, Jacob Lutz married Sarah Hamman, who was born at Tappan, Kosciusko county, Indiana, the daughter of Daniel and Sophia ( Wolfe) Hamman. Her father formerly lived in Columbiana county, Ohio. but subsequently became a resident for a few years of DeKalb county, Indi- ana, later moving to Kosciusko. He was married in Ohio to Sophia Wolfe. who was a daughter of Adam and Susan Wolfe. Her father died when she was but four months old, and her mother afterward became the wife of George Mull, who lived until about 1872, or until Mrs. Lutz was married. After her husband's death, Mrs. Mull came to DeKalb county and lived with her daughter until her death, which occurred in 1901. Mrs. Lutz came to DeKalb county two years prior to her marriage and lived with her sister. Mrs. Robert N. Crooks.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lutz were born four children, namely: Allen, who lives on a farm at Cleveland, Tennessee, married Carrie Barth, and they have four children, Coral, Roy, Ralph and Iva; Laura died at the age of three years; William, who was born in 1874, lives on the home place with his mother ; Arthur died on April 22, 1900, in his twenty-first year. In addition to these children, Mr. and Mrs. Lutz adopted a little girl at the age of six months, whom they named Dora, and whom they raised the same as they did their own children. She is now the wife of Clarence Bowman and lives on the old Bowman farm two miles east of Waterloo. She is the mother of a daughter, Thelma. The Lutz family have long occupied a high position in
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the social circles of the community where they live, and are held in high esteem because of their estimable qualities and the part they have played in the development and welfare of their county.
HOWARD B. McCORD.
The prosperity and substantial welfare of a community are in a large measure due to the enterprise and wise foresight of its business men. It is progressive, wideawake men of affairs that make the real history of a community, and their influence in shaping and directing its varied interests is difficult to estimate. The well known gentleman of whom the biogra- pher writes in this connection has long ranked among the leading business men of Auburn, and it is to such enterprising spirits as he that the locality is in- debted for the high position it occupies as a center of commercial activity and progress.
Howard B. McCord was born on April 1, 1862, about one mile south- east of Auburn, DeKalb county, Indiana, and is a son of George S. and Eliza J. (McClenathan) McCord. George S. McCord was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 1835, and on March 26, 1861. he married Elizabeth J. McClenathan, who continued his faithful and loving companion for over thirty-five years. Two years after the consummation of this marriage, Mr. and Mrs. McCord came to Auburn, Indiana, where they lived about six years and then moved to Fort Wayne, this state, where Mr. McCord was superintendent of a bucket factory. In 1875 they re- turned to Auburn where they made their future home and where George S. resumed contracting, which he had followed here prior to his removal to Fort Wayne. Later he engaged in the furniture and undertaking business for Schaab Brothers, and when they eliminated that department from their business, Mr. McCord went into that line of effort on his own account and continued in it until his death. He was exacting and methodical in every- thing he did and this characteristic was exercised in the last hours of his illness when he made a careful preparation and disposal of his business affairs just as he would were he starting upon a journey. Morally and spiritually, he was of unblemished character and had for many years been ready for the call whenever it might come. As was said of him by one who knew him. "Not only did he live this in formal service and devotion, but
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