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 83

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, C. C. Chapman & co.
Number of Pages: 1192

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 83

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Cephas Hawk's, of the prominent firm of Hawks Bros. & Co., was born in Phelps, Ontario Co., N. Y., Dec. S, 1812. His father was Cephas Hawks, and his mother's maiden name was Chloe Case. Both parents were of Scotch descent. His father's occupation was mainly that of milling. The family remained in Ontario county till 1828, when they emigrated to Michigan, then attracting many settlers from Western New York, and settled in Washtenaw county, Cephas then being 15 years of age. He at- tended common school in his boyhood and youth, both in New York and Michigan, and thus acquired a practical English educa- tion. When he was 17 years of age, and was about to begin a course of higher tuiton, he was attacked with inflammation of the eyes, and suffered from that affliction for three years. In 1836 he visited Indiana with his father, and decided to remain there. IFis father settled in Indiana in the following year, 1837, and bought the mill at Waterford, in this county, and subsequently did a mill- ing business under the firm name of C. Hawks & Sons. About

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

1845 Eliazer, brother of Cephas, bought the father's interest in the mill. and the brothers have continued to run it there and in Goshen to the present time. In 1851 J. P. Hawks went to California, and returned in 1854. when he took an interest in the firm at Waterford. In 1865 the dry-goods and hardware business was joined together, and P. C. Messick was taken into the firm, and its style became Hawks Bros. & Co. The grocery business was also added to the other enterprises of the company. The hardware business had been begun in Goshen by the brothers in 1855, and the milling business was removed from Waterford in 196S. The firm began to manufacture furniture in 1573. and the business has since grown to large pro- portions. The business of Hawks Bros. & Co., in Goshen, now comprises the dry-goods, hardware and grocery trade, and the fur- niture business, and the transactions in each foot np a large ag- gregate during the year. Mr. H. is well known all over Northern Indiana as the head of his firm. and may be considered one of the most prominent citizens of Goshen.

Mr. Hawks was married Jan. 28. 1841 to Miss Delinda B. Bliss. daughter of Dr. Ezra Bliss. of Middlebury. Two sons and + danghters have been born of this marriage. One sou, Frank, is a bookkeeper for the firm, and the other, Edwin W .. has the super- intendency of the manufacturing establishment. Only one dangh- ter survives, and she is the wife of Mr. John Gortner, of Goshen. Mr. H. is a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church.

Dwight H. Hawks, a leading druggist of Goshen, was born in Waterford. this county. Jan. 19, 1852. His father was Joel T. Hawks, his mother's maiden name being Sarah Brown. Mr. Hawks' boyhood was spent in Waterford, his father being engaged in milling and trade there, and since a member of the well known firm of Hawks Bros. & Co., of Goshen. His parents moved to Goshen when Dwight was 10 or 12 years of age. Mr. Hawks' early schooling was obtained in the district schools of Waterford. After the family had taken up their residence in Goshen he attended high school, and subsequently took a course in the North- western Business College. at Madison, Wis., and graduated at that school in 1871. During the years that this educational pro- cess was going forward he had been somewhat employed in his father's store. He formed a partnership with John Mayberry. for the purpose of carrying on the drug trade, in 1872. At first the firm did business in the Noble building. North Main street. bnt later in the building on Hascall's corner, Main aud Market streets. In September. 1879, Mr. Hawks purchased the interest owned by Mr. Mayberry, and since has conducted the business individually. He has a thriving trade, and the best location for his line in town.

He is a Royal, Select and Council member of the Masonic order. He is a Republican in politics, and belongs to Hose Company No. 3, of the Goshen Fire Department.

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

John D. Hebert, who has for many years been prominently identified with the lumber-producing interests of Goshen, was born in Watertown, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Feb. 14, 1825. He was the son of John and Mary (Weeks) Hebert. The family resided on a farm near Watertown, and there John spent his childhood and youth until his majority, and. like other farmers' boys, his days alternated between work on the farm and attending school. His education was further enhanced by a period spent at the academy in Watertown. After he was of age he sought his fortune in what was then regarded as the West, and stopped first at White Pigeon, Mich. He subsequently went to Mishawaka, this State, and engaged in the Inmbering business. He spent the year 1857 in St. Louis, returning to Mishawaka and remaining throngh 1858. Eventually he settled down in Goshen, where he had previously lived a year. Here he engaged in the saw-mill business, and has continned in that line until the present. In 1872 he organized a stock company for the purpose of manufacturing hard-wood lumber, the members being himself. Oscar Dewey and James L. Kerstetter. Mr. Hebert had purchased the establishment called the " Globe Wood Works." owned by Nelson. Ferris & Co., and had ron the mill for 15 years. When the new company was organized a new mill was built, 40x60 and three stories in height. which was filled with different kinds of wood-working machinery. This was burned down in 1875, but it was rebuilt the following spring, though with reduced capacity. In the spring of 1875 the company was reorgan- ized, and was then composed of J. D. Hebert, Eaton Hahn and Jacob Wogomen, and these gentlemen own the mill at the present time, Mr. Hebert being the manager.

Mr. Hebert was married in 1861 to Miss Mary Cooly, of Goshen. They have 3 sons. The eldest is at school in Jacksonville, Ill. Mr. Hebert is a Freemason, and a charter member of Fravel lodge. Goshen, having been a prime mover in its organization. He is a Republican in politics, and his fellow-citizens have manifested their confidence in his ability and integrity by appointing him for many years consecutively Inspector of Election, and for five years in suc- cession Clerk of the Board of Inspectors.

Israel Hess, a prominent farmer and well-known old settler of Elkhart county and of Elkhart Prairie, was born in Franklin connty, Ohio. Sept. 28. 1818. His parents were Balser and Sarah (Immel) Hess, who removed with their family to Elkhart Prairie, this county, in 1829. At that time there were but few settlers, but many Indians in this locality. Mr. Hess had the Indian boys for his playmates, and many times he wrestled with them, and, as he says, received his education among them. He does not mean, how- ever, to convey the idea that the Indian boys attended school. He attended the old-time school, which was tanght by subscription, in a log cabin. The seats were of puncheon, as well as the floor and writing desks. The latter were fastened np by means of pins in the walls. Mr. Hess owns an excellent farm on Elkhart Prairie,

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

which we describe, with the rest of this locality, elsewhere in this work. He feels the necessity of an artesian well in the neighbor- hood, and proposes to organize a company soon to prosecute the work. He was married Jan. 24, 1853, to Miss Rosanna Cripe, daughter of John Cripe, an early settler of this county. They have had 10 children; of these, 7 are living; Mary E., Seymour, Moses, Cassins M., Martha, Nancy and Ida L. The deceased were: Susan- nah and 2 infants. Mrs. Hess is a member of the Dunkard Church. Mr. Hess is a staunch Republican. IIis position is that where there is no devil there is no danger; and that when two leading political parties are nearly equal in strengtli, both are in danger. He thinks the country is now in danger of passing into the hands of its enemies. He believes in a " true and living God."

John M. Hoover, school- teacher, Goshen, was born Aug. 29, 1850, in Stark county, Ohio. His parents, John A. and Susanna Hoover, were natives of Pennsylvania. At the age of two years he came with his parents to this county, settling in Clinton tp., where he was reared to maturer years. He received his education in the common schools and also the high school at Goshen, and has for 10 years followed school-teaching. Dec. 17, 1874, he married Miss Josephine S., daughter of Samuel and Martha Rensberger, of Ohio. Mrs. H. was born March 3, 1855. They have had 1 child, Law- rence Montgomery. Mr. Hoover's grandfather, Balser Hess, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and his father fought in the Revolu- tionary war.

Clayton Huff was born in Kosciusko county, Ind., June 28, 1846, and is a son of George and Belinda Huff, who came to Indiana at an early day. His grandfather, Enoch Wright, was one of the pioneers of Elkhart county, and laid out the town of New Paris. Mr. Huff was reared on a farm, and being the only son, had to work very hard, and had but limited educational ad- vantages. He came to this county in 1850; was married in April, 1871, to Miss Lovina, daughter of Edward Clark. They have 3 children: Edward, Herbert and Nellie. Mr. Huff helped run the Union Mills, near Waterford, for five years, but now is engaged in farming.

R. D. Irwin .- Among the enterprising farmers of Elkhart tp. is the subject of this sketch. He was born July 30, 1824, in Alle- gheny county, Pa. His parents were Alexander and Elizabeth Irwin, natives of Pennsylvania. In 1832 they came to this county and settled on Elkhart Prairie. At this time there were but few settlers there; all was wild and was but the borders of a "large wilderness extending far westward." On this barren prairie the subject of this sketch was reared to maturity. His education was received in log houses, where he had to sit on slab benches. Dec. 29, 1853, he married Catharine Osborn, who was born in New York Aug. 19, 1832. To them were born 3 children; 1 is living, viz. : Albert J., an eminent physician in Goshen. Mr. Irwin's grandfather was a soldier in the American Revolution.

John & Mulholland M. v. .

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

James L. Kerstetter was born in Minerva, Stark Co., Ohio, Feb. 6, 1837. His father's name was Peter Kerstetter, and his mother's maiden name Mary Rogers. His parents moved to Elkhart county in 1840, when he was two years of age. He passed his boyhood in Goshen, and attended district school. In 1854 he entered Kala- mazoo College, and afterward he attended Wabash College, Craw- fordsville, Ind. After leaving school he was for some time a clerk in E. & J. Gortner's dry-goods store, and in the winter he tanghit school and "boarded round." At length he went to Lagrange Center and was employed as clerk in the store of King & Cum- mings. In 1861, his father having enlisted in the army, Mr. Kerstetter returned to Goshen to supervise his father's affairs dur- ing his absence. When he was relieved of that duty he engaged in the grocery business with A. L. Hnbbel, and continued that relation for four years. His brother returned from the war in 1865, and desiring to go into business, the two brothers bought a stock of goods belonging to the Barnes estate, and began a busines which they continned a year and a half, when Mr. Kerstetter's brother was elected Sheriff, and he, James, became Deputy, and the brothers conducted the sheriffalty while they ran the store for six months, and then the goods were sold. Edward being re-elected, the brothers continued together as Sheriff and Deputy. Subse- quent to this period, when W. H. H. Venamon was Treasurer, Mr. Kerstetter was his Deputy. Later he entered into partnership with John D. IIebert and O. F. Dewey, and engaged in the wood- working line, which was continned for two years, when, in the fall of 1874, the mills were burned np. Losing heavily by this misfor- tune, in the following January he went to La Porte and engaged with King & Fildes to work in their woolen mills. He remained there five years, when the owners of the Goshen Woolen Mills, desiring a competent manager, requested Mr. Kerstetter to take charge of the factory. A partnership was formed by King & Fildes, J. M. Noble and Mr. Kerstetter, under the firm name of Kerstetter, Noble & Co., by which arrangement the mills were renovated and made one of the flourishing mannfactories of Goshen. The capacity of the mills has recently been increased by the addition of another set of cards and spinning machines. The company are now principally engaged in the manufacture of flan- nels. The mills are provided with both water and steam power, so that when the water is low and inadequate, steam can be used as a motor, and thus obviate delay.

Mr. Kerstetter was married in the fall of 1861 to Miss Susan E. King, a protege of Mr. F. C. King. One son and two daughters are the fruit of the alliance. He was elected Alderman in 1864. He is a Freemason, and a Republican.

T. J. Kessler, one of the most spirited and liberal-minded of the younger citizens of Goshen, was born in Summit county, Ohio, in 1843. He was the son of Abraham P. and Mary ( Wirt) Kessler. The family came to Elkhart county to reside when the subject of

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this sketch was five years of age. They settled on a farm in Wil- mington tp., where Mr. Kessler performed the duties of a farmer's boy, and attended common school. In the spring of 1863. he enlisted in the First Regiment of Michigan Sharpshooters. The regiment was assigned to the second brigade, first division, of the army of the Potomac, Gen. Wilcox commanding. He was in the battle of Petersburg, when his command captured that place. When the war closed Mr. Kessler returned to Goshen, and was employed as clerk by Defrees & Co. He was married in the fall of 1867 to Miss Hattie C. Barnes, by whom he has had 1 son, who is now 10 years of age. Through the influence of Hon. Wm. Williams, member of Congress for this district, Mr. Kessler, in 1872, was appointed to the United States railway mail service, with a ronte on the Michigan Southern road. He has been engaged in that employment ever since. As would be natural, Mr. Kessler is true to his "cherishing mother," and is a stannch Republican. He occupies a handsome and commodious residence on Market street, opposite the court-house, and has the finest and best appointed stables in Goshen. Mr. Kessler is one of the gentlemen whom it is a pleasure to meet, and being still young, can look for- ward to a future of prosperity and honor among his fellow citi- zens.

Joseph L. Kindig was born in York county, Pa., Sept. 21, 1830. His parents were Joseph and Salome Kindig, also natives of Penn- sylvania, and the latter still lives on the old homestead. Mr. Kin- dig was brought up on a farm, and was educated in Litez Academy, and York County Academy. He came to Goshen in 1854, and engaged in the mercantile business the same year, in which he remained till 1868; and was eminently successful. He was mar- ried in 1857, to Miss Laura A., daughter of Joseph D. Knox, of Goshen. They had 2 children, both deceased. They are worthy members and pillars of the Baptist Church in Goshen.

Dr. Martin, K. Krider, homeopathic physician, was born in Milton, Wayne Co., Ohio. IIis father was Jacob Krider, and his mother's maiden name was Anna Overholt. Both parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. Dr. Krider began his education in the primary schools of his locality. During his youth he attended a high school in Smithville, near his native town. His school days were ended in 1865, when he was 18 years of age. He removed to Indiana in 1865 and began teaching school at the age of 19. He had an inclination to anatomical and medical stud- ies at an early age, and began a systematic reading on those sub- jects at the age of 15. Teaching and studying, he prepared himself for medical lectures, and took a course of that kind of instruc- tion at Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, in 1875, and gradnated at that school in 1878. He opened an office in Goshen soon after, and has continued to practice here ever since, having secured an enviable reputation and lucrative business. Dr. Krider has been cheercd and encouraged in his arduous endeavor by an excellent

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

helpmeet, whom he married in 1869. His wife was Miss Saloma Hoover, a farmer's daughter, of Harrison tp. Four children were born of this marriage, all daughters. Dr. Krider has taken an active part in social matters, especially those promotive of temperance reform. He is a member of the order of Knights of Honor, and Dictator of the Goshen subordinate lodge. He is a Republican in politics. The present year, owing to an overburden of professional work, he formed a partnership with a younger brother, Dr. W. B. Krider, so that the firm is now known as " Krider Brothers," and promises to grow in the favor of the community.

William E. Manrow, a prominent dealer in stoves and tinware, on the corner of Eighth and Jefferson streets, Goshen, was born near Massillon, Ohio, May 23, 1835, and is a son of M. H. and Orra (Eldridge) Manrow. He spent a portion of his early days on a farm. At the age of 16 years he returned to Massillon, laboring on the farm one season, when he went to Canton, Ohio, and there learned the tinner's trade, remaining here three years. In 1854 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and worked at his trade seven months, then at Findlay, Ohio, one year, and then went to Geneseo, Ill., where he kept books and worked in a hardware store for one year. He then spent a short time in the towns of Muscatine and Davenport, Iowa, and East Paw Paw and Earlville, Ill. He then returned to Massil- lon, Ohio, and married Miss Nancy H. Shilling, Feb. 10, 1859. They have had 6 children, viz .: Isaac N. (dec.), William S., Nathan W., Charles O., Myron W., and Archibald (dec). Mr. Manrow engaged in the sale of stoves and tinware in New Philadelphia, Ohio, for six years. Hle then formed a partnership with two other parties, and engaged in stamping tinware and the sale of stoves for 15 months. Ile came to Goshen in 1876, where he engaged in sell- ing stoves and tinware for one year, when he took A. A. Norton as his partner. He then received Mr. Brubaker as a partner, to whom he sold out in about four months. He then did journey work for

some time. In 1878 he obtained a patent for his noted " Universal Eave-Trough Hanger." This had been rejected five times by the examining committee, from which decision his attorney appealed to the Examiner-in-chief, who reversed the decision and granted him a patent. Mr. M. has sold about 40,000 of the hangers, and his trade is increasing. He is a fine workman, and is doing a good business. He is agent for the noted Rathbone stoves.

John Mayberry is a flourishing druggist of Goshen, doing bnsi- ness on Main street. He was born in Medina county, Ohio, his parents being Joseph and Eliza (Jones) Mayberry. They removed from Ohio in 1849, and settled in Harrison tp., Elkhart Co., when the subject of this sketch was an infant. They remained on their farm about four years, and then removed to Goshen, when Mr. Mayberry's father engaged in trade. John attended the village schools, where he acquired a good English education. When he was sufficiently advanced in years he entered the drug store of Geo. Manahan as clerk, and remained in that employment for five years.

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HISTORY OF ELKHART COUNTY.

When Marsh & Hill succeeded Mr. Manahan he continued with that firm for two years and a half. After this he went to Elk- hart, and was for three years in the employ of Isaac Buckland. Returning to Goshen, he worked for Hawks Bros. & Co. five months, and succeeded Beyerle & Barber as proprietor of a drug business on Main street. He was married while at Elkhart to Miss Emma Hawks, and they have had 2 sons and 2 daughters. When he went into the drug business in 1873 he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Dwight H. Hawks, and the firmn did business on the corner of Main and Market streets, where Mr. Hawks is now located in the same trade. In December, 1879, he sold his interest to Mr. Hawks, and began the drug business, where he is now located, on Main street, and he has secured a flourishing trade. Mr. Mayberry is peculiarly fitted for his vocation, and by his affability and close attention to the wants of his patrons is making troops of friends.

James H. Mayfield was born Jan. 1, 1821, in Washington, D. C. He was the son of Henry and Betsey (Shields) Mayfield. His father emigrated to America from London, Eng., in 1819, and located at Washington, where he was engaged in the boot and shoe business for five years, after which he took up his residence in Bal- timore, and there was engaged in the same trade that he pursued in Washington. Mr. Mayfield during his boyhood attended the city schools of Baltimore, and thus acquired a good English education. At length the parents sought the betterment of their fortunes by removal to Ohio, and eventually settled on a farm in Knox county. There they remained about five years, when they again moved westward, stopping till 1834 at Mottville, Mich., and then remov- ing to York tp., this county. In 1843 Mr. Mayfield, having arrived at manhood, was engaged in making fanning-mills with Peter Kerstetter. The firm of Kerstetter & Mayfield made fanning- mills for six years, and were about the first manufacturers of this kind of machinery in the place. In 1852 Mr. Mayfield went to California, and remained there three years. He accumulated in half of this period $3,000, and lost it in the memorable failure of Adams & Co.'s bank. Recovering somewhat from his loss, Mr. Mayfield returned to Goshen, and, his father dying, he came into possession of his property, which was, in part, land in the northern portion of the city of Goshen. He utilized this land for some time as a market garden, and subsequently converted it into an addition to the city, and, by the proceeds of the sale of town lots, accumn- lated funds for the purchase of a fine farm on the west side of Elk-

hart river, below Goshen. Mr. Mayfield was the pioneer market gardener of Goshen, and still makes this branch of industry a specialty. Socially he is interested in the Methodist society of Goshen, and contributes both labor and money for the promotion of religion and morals. He has, during his residence in Goshen, been honored for twelve years with the office of Councilman. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order, and votes the Republican

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tieket. Mr. Mayfield has a tasteful residence in the southern part of the city, on Main street, and is spending his time in the man- agement of his fine farm.

Wm. A. McAllister was born in Elba, Genesee county, N. Y., March 20, 1817. His father was William McAllister, his mother's maiden name being Annie Snyder. Mr. McAllister spent his chilhood at his birth-place, and at nine years of age he went with his family to reside in the city of Buffalo. There his father died when William was 14 years of age. About this time he was appren- tieed to the harness-maker's trade, and began business in this line on his own account when he was 26 years of age. During the fol- lowing year he was married to Miss Eleanor Stevens, of Buffalo. They had 1 child, a son, now a physican of large practice in South Bend. Mr. McAllister and family eame to Goshen from Buffalo in 1853, and soon after established a harness store and manufactory, which business he has continued ever since. He has been in his present location on Main street for five years past, and keeps a large stock of excellent goods in his line, employing several men in the manufacture of harness. His is one of the oldest and best established houses of the kind in Elkhart county. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and also is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow. He was once a member of the Goshen Common Council, and is now on his second term of three years as School Director. In the latter capacity he has done mueh toward the present perfec- tion of the Goshen school system.

Alex. McConanaughy, deceased, was born in Ireland in 1820. He came to Canada with his parents in 1834, and prior to 1840 he came to Elkhart county. He worked for James Frier three years, then married his daughter, Jane, June 2, 1844. This union was blessed with 9 children, viz .: James, Clarinda (dec.), William (dec.), Charles, Leonard, David, Elizabeth, Austin (dee.), and Isadora. Mr. McConanaughy was an honest man and a good neighbor. He died Oct. 22, 1866.

Dr. Burt P. McDonald was born in Adams tp., Allen Co., Ind. His father was W. H. McDonald, and his mother's maiden name was Naney E. Palmer. He passed his boyhood in Adams, and attended district sehool. When he was 19 years of age he began a commercial conrse at Fort Wayne, and gradnated in 1866. After that he entered Dr. S. B. Brown's office, in Fort Wayne, for the pur- pose of learning dentistry, and remained there three years. Look- ing about for a place to practice the dental art, he selected Goshen, and located here in 1869. He opened an office over the present location of the Salem Bank, and there he had continued to practice to the time this sketch was written, a period of nearly 12 years. During almost this entire period he remained the master of the dental situation in Goshen, there being no rival in the place to share the labor and the profits with him. The consequence has been a successful career. Ile has been an honored member of the State Dental Association, and was elected secretary of that body in

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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 83

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, C. C. Chapman & co. Number of Pages: 1192

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, C. C. Chapman & co.
Number of Pages: 1192