USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > History of Elkhart County, Indiana; together with sketches of its cities, villages and townships, educational, religious, civil, military, and political history: portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 73
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Benj. O. Manchester, of the firm of Kinzy & Manchester, grocers, was born in Mahoning Co., Ohio, Nov. 11, 1846. He was the son of Isaac and Eleanor (Wilson) Manchester. His father was a farmer. Benjamin began to attend school at four years of age, and pursued his studies 14 years, never missing a day during the terms of school. He attended the Mahoning Academy for five years. His parents designed to give him a legal education, and all his tuition bad that end in view. When the family removed to the
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West in 1864, and Benjamin was 18 years of age, his design toward the legal profession was frustrated. After his arrival in the West he taught school for six terms.
At 20 years of age he was married to Miss Mary Fisher, of St. Joseph county. and farmed one year thereafter. In 1870 he moved to Elkhart, and was employed as a clerk in the summer and taught school in the winter. He was principal of the fourth-ward school one year, and of the fifth-ward school for three years. He resigned the latter position in February, 1879, in order to go into business with Mr. Kinzy. He was elected Councilman from the fifth ward in 1876, and was re-elected in 1877. In May, 1880, he was elected City Clerk, holding that office at the present time. When he was teaching he studied law during the evenings with Judge Evarts, and was admitted to the Bar in 1878, more for his own gratifica- tion at having accomplished the original design of his life than with the object of practicing law, as he himself confesses. He has been in business since February, 1879, and has achieved great success. His firin carries about $2,500 worth of goods, and does a business amounting to $25,000 a year. They have a bakery in connection with their store. Mr. Manchester belongs to the Evangelical Asso- ciation, of which he is an active member. He is a member of the order of Chosen Friends, and was manager of the finances of the lodge in Elkhart for some time. He was also once a member of the order of United Workmen. He has a family of 3 children, Philip Earle, Joseph Melvin and Etta Belle. Philip E. is 12 years of age, and is a student in the high school.
Thomas Murr, proprietor Clifton House, Elkhart; was born in the town of Milton, Northumberland Co., Pa., Oct. 22, 1840, and is a son of William Marr, deceased, who removed with his family to La Porte county, Ind., in 1845, settling on Stilwell Prairie. Our subject knows all about clearing land, and all other hard farm work, for his father owned a tract of timbered land. At the sound of the war drum, in 1861, he stepped forward to assist Uncle Sam, and enlisted in Company C, 29th Ind. Vol. Inf. He was afterward pro- moted to the office of First Lieutenant, Co. E, of the same regiment, which position he held until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, Chickamanga, Liberty Gap. Dalton and others, sixteen in all. He had three horses shot dead from under him, and he himself escaped unhurt. After the war closed he engaged in farming for five years, and has since run liv- ery business in Atlanta, Georgia, La Porte, Ind., and Chicago. At Chicago he built the Dexter Park stables by the Union Stock Yards. In July, 1880, he came to Elkhart and took charge of the Clifton House and is doing a large business.
Jonathan R. Mather was born in Orange county, N. Y., May 25, 1821. He is a son of Jonathan Mather, a descendant of Increase Mather, who was a brother of Rev. Cotton Mather, of Massachu- setts, whose fame was spread throughout the world about the year 1630. The maiden name of the mother of the subject of this sketch
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was Anna Bishop. He was reared on a farm and received no other edueational advantages save those furnished by the common schools. He came to this county in 1859, and purchased the Bron- son farm of 160 acres, two miles east of Elkhart, for $8,000, and in 1865 sold the same farm for $16,000. He then bought +5 aeres near the corporation of Elkhart, on the west side, and donated six aeres of this to the L. S. & M. S. R. R., on which to ereet their extensive shops. He has been interested in three additions to Elkhart, one of which he made wholly himself. He now resides in a magnificent briek dwelling on the south side, on lot No. 1, Pleasant Point ad- dition. Mr. Mather was married Jan. 13, 1849, to Miss Jane Swartwont, by whom he has had 4 children, 3 of whom are living, viz .: Sarah J., James S. and Carrie N. The name of the deceased was Jolin C. Mr. and Mrs. Mather and all their children are mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church.
Strafford Macon was born in Wyoming county (formerly Gen- esce ), N. Y. He was the son of John and Lydia (Sweet) Maxon They resided on a farm in New York, and emigrated to Elkhart" Indiana, settling on a farmi above the city, now occupied by Mr' Halsted. He was eight years old when the family came to Indiana' When he was 18 years of age he went to California, and re -. mained in the Golden State three years, saving while there $1,000 a year by his industry. He returned to the East with $4,000, and embarked in the mercantile business in Elkhart with this snug capital, which he continued for abont 10 years. He then began the business of a wood-worker, and ran a planing-mill on the site of the Elkhart Iron Works. He sold that establishment in 1858, bonght his present site, Elkhart avenue, and built his present mill thereon. He has continued the wood-working business there ever since. He mannfactures sash, blinds, doors, brackets, window frames, sidings, flooring, moldings, etc. He has for some time been associated with P. J. Parmater, and besides their planing and wood-working mill, they carry on an extensive lumber yard on Jackson street. Mr. Maxon was married in 1854 to Miss Mary A. Stillman. They have 3 children. He was a member of the Elkhart City Conneil for some time, and City Treasurer, and served several years as a member of the Board of Education, holding that position at the present time. In that capacity he has done much for the cause of education in Elkhart. taking a leading part in the perfection of its present school system. He is a member of the Masonic order, and is a Republican in politics.
II. Mclachlan, proprietor of the Elkhart Harness Works, was born in York eounty, Canada, Nov. 15, 1842, and was the son of Hugh Mclachlan. He began to learn the harness-maker's trade when he was 18 years old, at Holland, Wellington county, Canada. He at length emigrated to Michigan, and settled at Hillsdale, where he married Miss Vibillia Becket. He remained there two years, and removed to Elkhart in 1866. Here he ventured in the harness business, which he followed till 1869, when he engaged in the same
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.
business with David Slear; afterward he was in business alone; and Oct. 20, 1875, formed a partnership with A. Emery, that gentleman retiring Oct. 20, 1877. Since that date Mr. MeLachlan has continued business on his own account. He manufactures his own goods, and sells at wholesale and retail. IIe carries a stock valned at $5,000 to $6,000, and has a first-class harness establish- ment in every respect. His marital relation has given him 2 chil- dren, Hugh and Elizabeth. Mr. MeLachlan is a member of the Masonic order, and a treasurer in Kane Lodge, and a member of the Chapter.
William M. McMillan, of the firm of E. Lacy & Co., meat market, Elkhart, was born in Centerville, St. Joseph county, Mich., June 8, 1853, and is a son of Ithuriel McMillan, who was brought by his parents from Ohio to Centerville in a very early day. He says they went 42 miles to mill. Wm. M. came to Elkhart in 1870, and has been engaged in butchering ever since, except 20 months, which time he spent in the employ of the L. S. & M. S. Railroad Company. He was married in April, 1880, to Miss Martha Dunn.
Jacob Metzger, deceased, was a native of Germany, and was born Oct. 25, 1813. He crossed the wide Atlantic to the " free soil" of America in 1834. and settled for the first and only time in this county, where he remained through life. He was married Oct. 2, 1843, to Mary A. Robinson, and had 8 children, viz .: Catharine (now Mrs. Abraham Luke), S. A. (now Mrs. Albert Milton), John, Mary A. (now Mrs. Jacob Leedy), Jacob, Rosella (now Mrs. Frederick Mast), William P. and Lillie Bell. In 1850 he started with his family for the " gold mines" of California, and after a long and toilsome journey across the " sandy plains" they reached their destination; they remained there about three years, then returned, coming by the Isthmus, He died Dec. 9, 1879, at the advanced age of 66 years. He was a consistent member of the German Bap- tist Church for several years. He left to his family a farm of 178 acres, in sec. 24, worth $60 per acre, with pleasant surroundings.
A portrait of Mr. Metzger is given in this book.
E. D. Miller, merchant of northeast Elkhart, was born at Selin's Grove, Pa., Feb. 17. 1855. He was the son of Isaac and Rosetta (Lenhart) Miller. He remained at home till he was 17 years of age, when he began to learn the machinist's trade in the city of Harrisburg, where he remained till he was 20. At that age the spirit of adventure seized him, and together with Mr. Charley Camp, a young lawyer, he embarked in the sale of chromos, trav- eling in that business throughout several of the Eastern and Western States and the Canadas. They made a wholesale business of it, and when they stopped in town, would employ a number of lads to canvass the place, remaining themselves at the hotel to direct the business. In this way they would sometimes make as much as $50 a day. At last Mr. Miller reached Elkhart, where he concluded to settle down. At first he was employed with Fish & Camp, in the insurance business, and remained with them one
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.
year. He then went into the office of M. F. & C. F. Shuey, and worked at insurance, and studied law, and also handled financial matters to some extent for F. A. Mussey. In 1879 he bought out a general stock of groceries, etc., in northeast Elkhart, and has continued business there ever since. He has the only store in that part of the city, and is doing a thriving business. On July 22, 1880. he was married to Miss Maria Knevels, who was a teacher in the Elkhart high school. Mr. Miller is yet a young man, has made good progress in the business of life, and has a prosperous future to hope for.
Frederick W. Miller, the Postmaster of Elkhart, is a native of Cass county, Mich; was born Feb. 13, 1837. His parents were Frederick W. and Belinda (Colby) Miller, the former a native of New Jersey, and the latter of New York. They came to Michi- gan in 1835, when the country was wild, and settlers few. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, and educated at Hills- dale (Mich.) College. He located in Elkhart in 1866, and engaged in the drug business until 1874. He was appointed Postmaster in 1875, by President Grant, and re-commissioned by President Hayes. He filled the office of City Treasurer of Elkhart for two terms to the entire satisfaction of his many constituents. In 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Helen Bird, by whom he has 1 child, Frank B. Mrs. Miller is a worthy member of the Pres- byterian Church.
Daniel Mitchel is a native of Snyder county, Pa., and was born Sept. 6, 1818. His parents, John and Sarah Mitchel, were also natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Mitchel was reared on a farm and in a blacksmith shop. His father was a blacksmith by trade, and at an early age he became quite expert in wielding the sledge and hammer; education limited; came to this county in 1845; followed his trade here for a number of years, but his attention was directed principally to farming. In August, 1837, he married Hannah Aurand, by whom he had 6 children; 5 of these are living, viz .: John, Jesse. Elizabeth (now Mrs. Henry Shutley), Henry J. and Wm. W. John and Martin L. were both soldiers in the late war. The latter fought in the battle at Chattanooga, where he received the fatal shot, and soon after expired on the scene of action; thus "met death on the battle-field" in the defense of his country. In politics Mr. Mitchel votes the way for which his son shot, bled and dicd.
Enos M. Myers was born in Ashland county, Ohio, Jan. 4, 1852, and is a son of Andrew and Mary Myers, natives of Penn- sylvania. He was brought up on a farm and educated in the common schools. He came with his parents to this county in 1855. They resided, however, for 12 years in Cass county, Mich., and in 1876 he removed to Elkhart. He kept dairy for two years, when he engaged in the butchering business. He has a large and steadily increasing trade. Ilis shop is situated on Harrison street. Sept. 7, 1876, he married Miss Elizabeth Patrick, by whom he has 1
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.
child, Jessie. Mr. Myers is a member of I. O. O. F., and Mrs. Myers is a worthy member of the United Brethren Church.
Jonas H. Myers, a leading agriculturist of this county, was born in Montgomery county, May 26, 1824; six years later his parents, Joseph and Mary C. Myers, located in Preble county, where the subject of the sketch received his preliminary education, remaining until his 16th year, when his attention was attracted to the fertility and resources of Indiana, by glowing accounts from those conversant with the facts, and hither he directed his foot- steps; and after the usual trip made in the usual manner of pio- oneer days, he settled in Concord tp., near the present flourishing city of Elkhart; one year later finds him hard at work as an ap- prentice to a blacksmith, having a small shop at Goshen, and trans- acting a comparatively light business in general blacksmithing, repairing and horse-shoeing; after a service of some 18 months in this vigorous field of action he departed for Elkhart, where he continued in the same vocation for about two years; thence in 1845 he went to Vermont, Fulton county, Ill., thence to Ellisville, same county, the year following, where he worked as a journeyman until the war with Mexico; in the interim he made a visit to Nauvoo, Hancock county, Ill., where he had the pleasure of looking upon the great Mormon temple, and listening to a ser- mon from that distinguished apostle, the late Brigham Young; after a brief visit to the spot made memorable by Mormon settle- ment, he proceeded to Lewistown, where he enlisted in the United States service, for the suppression of the uprising in the Mexican frontier. a member of Co. K, 4th Ill. Vol. Inf .; he served under the noted commanders Gen. Winfield Scott, the gallant Col. E. D. Baker and Capt. L. W. Ross; he remained in the service one year, and participated in many of the well-known battles of the war, as Vera Cruz. Cerro Gordo, etc., for three months, in common with other soldiers appointed for this purpose. He did excellent duty as a hospital nurse at JJalapa Hospital for a period. Shortly after the expiration of hospital service, he was honorably discharged, and returning to his peaceful pursuits of private life, he resumed at Elkhart his old-time occupation, until the acquirement of suf- ficient means wherewith to enter into business, when he settled at Monmouth, Ill., where he formed a copartnership in the drug trade with his brother, Dr. John W. Myers. However, it would ap- pear that Elkhart was a center of attraction, for at the end of a year's experience in compounding prescriptions for suffering hu- manity, we find him once more a resident of Elkhart, where he opened out as a cabinet-maker and dealer in clothing. Like many energetic business men, Mr. Myers was somewhat migratory in his business relations, for shortly afterward he severed his business connections in this commercial branch and settled upon a farm south of this city, where he resides at the present writing, owning 216 acres of land.
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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.
Feb. 22, 1824, he was nnited in marriage with Isabella Sandford, who was born April 22, 1835, in New York; to whom were born 7 children; of these 6 are living, viz .: Robert, William, Lonisa, Jacob E., Anna and Catharine.
At the age of 22 Mr. Myers became a teacher of a district school in this tp., familiarly called the "Mock school-honse." This was the first school-house built in this district, and this school was also the first school taught in this district.
In going west Mr. M. made the trip by steamer on the St. Joe river trom Niles to St. Joseph, and thence across Lake Michigan by steamer. This was the only mode of conveyance at this early day save the stage-coach, the inseparable harbinger of advancing civilization. Arriving at Chicago, the " Garden City" of the day, he sojourned for a short time at the old "Lake House," so graphi- cally described in the pioneer history of the "City by the Lakes."
From the great future metropolis, boasting but a few thousand in- habitants and a few awkwardly constructed dwellings, he made a laborious journey by stage and wagon conveyance, to Vermont, Ill., via Joliet and Peoria, then the principal cities of the now noted "Prairie State."
But little more remains to be told beyond the fact that Mr. Myers is a man of the people, reared amid pioneer influences. He received little or no aid whatever in a financial point of view, and his subsequent successful business and agricultural career were founded upon the simple yet worthy rule of economy, in force among sturdy inhabitants, who were sterling actors amid the scenes of early Western life.
Mr. Myers' portrait, from a photograph taken this year (1880), is given in this volume.
William A. Neal. M. D., was born¿in Elkhart Jan. 29, 1836. His father. Henry Neal, still residing in Elkhart, is one of the pioneers of the county. Our subject is the oldest native of this city now residing here. He graduated at Rush Medical College in Chicago, in 1857. He located in New London, Iowa, the same year. where he practiced until 1861, when he entered the army as Assistant Surgeon in the 1st Missouri Engineer Corps. He had charge of. Post Hospital at Johnson, Tenn., during the summer of '64, and was with Sherman on his noted march to the sea. In the fall of 1865 he located in the town of Dayton, Berrien Co., Mich., where he practiced medicine for 14 years. In 1879 he located again in his native town, and is building up a good practice. He was married May 29, 1857, to Miss Elizabeth J., daughter of Rev. E. H. Lamb, deceased and they have had 4 children, 3 living, Eva, William H. and Harry. The deceased's name was Frank.
James Newman was born in Luzerne county, Pa., Ang. 7, 1827, and is a son of John and Anna Newman, also natives of Pennsyl- vania. His parents removed to Ohio when he was but five years old. He was there brought up on a farm, and educated in the common school in the town of Clyde. After he obtained his
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majority he worked on a farm several years. In 1855, when per- forming his duty as Deputy Sheriff, in attempting to arrest a ruffian, he was stabbed in the neck, which came near ending his days, and which crippled him for life. He came to the vicinity of Coldwater, Mich., in 1863, and to Elkhart county in 1865. He farmed until 1870, when he engaged in the livery business in Elk- hart, which he still follows, and has a good patronage. He was married in June. 1854, to Miss Adelma Stone, by whom he has had 12 children; of these, 9 are living, viz .: Charles, Fred, Emma, Adelma, Jay. Dewey, Ernest, Arthur and Maud.
John J. Newman, a pioneer paper-manufacturer of the West, was born in Brown county, Ohio, in 1826. He was the son of Joseph and Nancy (Jolley) Newman. His family resided on a farm about five miles from Georgetown, Ohio; his father died when Mr. Newman was nine years of age. When he was 12 he went to Cin- cinnati with his mother, and was apprenticed to the carpenter's trade. He worked as a carpenter nine years, after which he began business for himself, and continued it till 1850; he then removed to Middletown, Ohio, where he engaged in millwrighting, contract- ing, paper-making and other business, by which he made con- siderable money, but met with some misfortune. About six years ago he came to Elkhart for the purpose of building a writing-paper mill for Erwin & Upp. and remained there as millwright some time after it was completed. He built the Cook & Beardsley mill, superintended the building of the tissue-paper mill, and the com- bination-board mill, and placed the machinery in the straw-board mill. This latter establishment he is now managing. He has done probably more than any other man in Elkhart toward the practical work of establishing the important paper-mill interest here. Mr. Newman was married in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss Elizabeth Devall. They have 3 living children, 2 of whom are married; one residing in Middletown, Ohio, and the other in Elkhart, the latter being foreman of the box factory here. The youngest is at home. Mr. Newman was once quite active in the politics of Ohio. He was delegate to the State convention that nominated John Brough for Governor of Ohio, in opposition to Vallandigham, and participated heartily in that memorable campaign. He was a mem- ber of the City Council of Middletown, Ohio, four years, and was solicited to stand as a candidate for Councilman of Elkhart, but de. clined. At Middletown he was Chief of the Fire Department for several years. Mr. Newman is a Republican in politics, having adhered to that party since its formation.
Thomas Oliver, grocer, Main street, is a native of Scotland, and came to America with his parents in 1840. They landed in New York and came West to Mishawaka, this State. Thomas was then only two years old. When he was quite young his father died. During boyhood he was obliged to labor arduously for his support, and at 21 he was out of employment. In 1862 he enlisted in the army. going out with a Kansas regiment. He had resided in
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Missouri since 1859, and the jayhawkers had given him a Union sentiment. He spent three years in the army and was most of the time west of the Mississippi. When he left the service he returned to Mishawaka, and in 1870 went to Watseka, Ill., and engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement trade. After three and a half years in this business he sold out, and in April, 1875, em- barked in the grocery trade, and has since continned this business. He is a Mason, and has passed through all the chairs in the Odd Fellows order. He is a representative grocer in Elkhart.
Benjamin Page was born in Union county, Pa., Ang. 3, 1835, and is a son of Abram and Mary M. Page, who were natives of Penn- sylvania. His early life was passed on a farm, and he was educated in a common school. In 1855 his father and family moved to Berrien county, Mich., and in 1860 to St. Joseph county. In the spring of 1880 Mr. Page and his family came to this county. He was married Ang. 25, 1860, to Susan Scott, and they have had 3 children, viz .: Mariett, Lillie and George R. Mr. Page's grandfather (Page) participated in the achievements for our national independence. He owns a farm of 172 acres, one mile south of Elkhart. He has been a member of the Masonic order for 10 years, and a Democrat all his life.
Stephen Parker, mechanic, was born in the province of Lower Canada, district of Montreal, county of Shefford, township of Stnkeley, June 11, 1822, the son of Nathaniel Parker, who emi- grated from Brattleboro, Vt., in 1800, with his father, Capt. Caleb Parker, of Revolutionary fame, who was a descendant of Thomas Parker, a native of England, who came over to this country about 1634 in the ship " Susan and Ellen," settling first at Lynn, Mass., and afterward at Reading: Stephen's mother's maiden name was Persis Stone, daughter of Purchase Stone, Esq., of Wayland, Mass., whose ancestry came from Ireland about 1645, as nearly as can be learned, and settled in the vicinity of Wayland. The subject of this sketeh was educated in the common schools of Canada, and brought up on a farm; when he was 15 years of age he enlisted in the war of the "Papineau Rebellion," under Capt. Shepard Parker, his uncle, but his father was unwilling to spare him, as he had two other sons already in that war; at 21 he left home and worked at manufacturing matches two years; 1845-'7 he worked on a farm in Massachusetts, and then one year at carpentering and in a factory; during the season of 1848 he worked for his father, in Canada, then bought a farm and followed agriculture on his own account.
March 12, 1851, he married Miss Mary Jane, a native of Canada and daughter of Gorham Page, Esq., who was taken to that coun- try at the age of four years by his father, settling in the township of Bolton; Mrs. Parker's mother was the first white female child born in Stanstead tp., Can. In the spring of 1853 Mr. P. sold out in Canada and removed to St. Johnsbury, Vt., where he worked at the manufacturing of threshing-machines three years, when he rented a part of the factory and commenced business for himself; at
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