USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 13
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ANTHONY A. WEBER. A native citizen of Huntington county, and president of the firm of Weber & Purviance, Mr. Weber's position in business affairs has long been one of assured prominence. His service in public office and in civic matters has also been of such a character as to make his name one of influential associations throughout Huntington county.
Anthony A. Weber was born in Clear Creek township, Huntington county, Indiana, on January 21, 1853. He grew to manhood on a farm, learning from his contact with the rural life of the community and the training he had in his home such lessons of frugality and industry as has been of inestimable worth to him in his later years. This training was accomplished with regular and diligent attendance at the common schools and also as a student in the normal school at Huntington. Having obtained a teacher's license at the age of twenty, for eight successive terms he was employed as instructor in the common schools of the county. The summer vacations were devoted to farm work until the summer of 1877, when he entered the employ of P. T. Baker as salesman of agricultural implements. While the business of the city has long claimed his attention, Mr. Weber may also be classed as a farmer. In 1879 he bought forty acres of his present farm in Union township, later added another forty acres, and seventy acres of the whole has since been reduced to a fine state of cultivation. His subsequent investments in other fine farms have given him a large amount of property in the rural districts.
Mr. Weber comes from German lineage, his father Michael Weber having been a native of Germany, where he married Mary Falter, who
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bore him eight children. In 1840 Michael Weber emigrated to the United States, coming directly to Huntington county, Indiana, where he engaged in farming in Clear Creek township. That was his home until his death in January, 1894, his closing years being attended by all the comforts that his early thrift had provided for that time of life. After the death of his first wife in 1847, he married Barbara Huffman, who is now deceased. By that marriage there were three children, of whom Anthony A. was the oldest. Michael Weber during his early years in Huntington county served as trustee of Clear Creek town- ship, and in that capacity proved himself a man of fine executive ability and a citizen of sterling worth.
The business career of Anthony A. Weber has been one of varied relationships. At one time he was in the grain business with Henry C. Silver, the firm name being Silver & Weber, and continuing four or five years. He then associated himself with Schulenberg Bros., the firm name being Schulenberg Bros. & Weber, whose business was conducted on the same site now occupied by Weber & Purviance. As a Demo- crat he early became interested in public affairs. From 1886 to 1890 he served as trustee of Union township, and in June of the latter year was elected clerk of the court of Huntington county, assuming the duties of his office April, 1891, and retiring just four years later. His office brought him to a residence at the county seat. Concerning his record as county clerk it will be sufficient evidence of his efficiency to quote briefly from two editorials which appeared in the local papers in April, 1895, and indicate that both parties viewed his administration as one of unqualified success. The Evening Herald, a republican paper, printed the following comment: "Mr. Moffett will succeed one of the most efficient, courteous and obliging clerks the county has ever had, and his administration will bring no discredit upon himself and his party if it shall prove as acceptable as that of Mr. Weber. Mr. Weber retires with the utmost good will of all our citizens, no matter what their party sentiments are. The office has been run in the interests of the whole people during his incumbency, and he has won the plaudit, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' "'
The Huntington Daily Democrat about the same time said: "The outgoing clerk, Anthony A. Weber, has been a very efficient officer dur- ing his four years of service as county clerk. He has always been courte- ous, agreeable, accommodating and without any prejudice to party affili- ations in the discharge of his duties, has succeeded in meriting the good will of everyone with whom he has come in contact. As a citizen Mr. Weber ranks among the first in the city." The strength of his per- sonal following is also indicated by the fact that he was elected a coun- cilman from the Third ward, on the democratic ticket for four years, the Third being at that time a strong republican ward.
When Mr. Weber retired from office he bought the interests of Samuel Bucher in the firm of Bucher & Son, and the business assumed the new title of Bucher & Weber. They were together in business as proprietors of a large feed and sales stable until Mr. Weber withdrew to associate
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himself with Henry C. Silver. It was in 1913 that the firm of Weber & Purviance was incorporated, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dol- lars, and with officers as follows : A. A. Weber, president; Paul G. Weber, secretary ; and Donald A. Purviance, treasurer. The firm deals exten- sively in lime, cement, live stock, coal, tile, hay, grain, feed, etc., and maintain elevators on the Wabash and C., B. & C. railroads at Hunt- ington, Mardenis and Simpson, Indiana. Their Huntington business headquarters are on Warren street, and their dealings in grain, cattle, hogs and sheep have made them known all over this section of Indiana.
Mr. Weber is a member of the Knights of Pythias, his only fra- ternal affiliation. He has a fine residence on South Jefferson street. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church.
On March 20, 1879, Mr. Weber married Miss Mary Catherine Bucher, daughter of Samuel and Eliza (Johnson) Bucher. Her father was at one time head of the firm of Bucher & Son, already mentioned. Mrs. Weber was born in Clear Creek township, Huntington county, August 6, 1859, and died January 10, 1889, the mother of four children, as follows: Lilly May, born April 23, 1880; William Michacl, born June 28, 1882; Grace Gertrude, born June 18, 1885; and Margaret Ruth, born February 20, 1888. On January 21, 1890, Mr. Weber married Miss Freelove Clara Yant, a daughter of Eli and Mary (Miller) Yant. She was born on July 25, 1861, in Stark county, Ohio. The children of this marriage are three in number: Paul Grayston, born October 8, 1892; Modjeska Mary, born February 24, 1894; and Myrtle Catherine, born August 12, 1902.
CHARLES K. LUCAS. It is seldom that a young lawyer entering upon the practice of his profession achieves instantaneous and striking suc- cess. The path that leads to a large and representative practice is in nearly every case a weary and, a tortuous one, for in the legal profes- sion there is found no royal road to prosperity, the rewards of the call- ing going alone to merit. But to all rules there are exceptions, and it is probable that no better example may be found than that embodied in the career of Charles K. Lucas of Huntington. It must not be supposed that Mr. Lucas won his way to the forefront through any lucky chance or adventitious circumstance; he prepared faithfully, worked hard and studied continuously and assiduously ; however, his recognition came far in advance of that attained by most men, and he has never betrayed the confidence which was placed in him when he entered upon his carecr.
Mr. Lucas is a native son of Huntington, and was born May 17, 1871. His family may be classed among the early residents of this county, which has been their home for a period of sixty years. His grandfather, Fred P. Lucas, was born in Ohio, and in 1854 came to Huntington county, where he became actively identified with Democratic politics and served four years in the capacity of county recorder. He married Hannah Har- lan, a daughter of Charles Harlan, a native of Kentucky, who afterwards ยท moved into Ohio. The father of Charles K. Lucas is Thomas L. Lucas,
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who was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1841, spent his boyhood there and gained his schooling, and in 1854 accompanied his father to Huntington county. He is now living in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. A prominent democrat of his day, he served as county clerk for two terms, from 1871 to 1879. Thomas L. Lucas married Miss Edith Taylor, a daughter of Charles Taylor, an old resident of Huntington county. She died in 1887 in Huntington.
Charles K. Lucas received his early educational training in the pub- lic and high schools of Huntington, and early adopted the profession of law as the field in which to devote his activities. After some prepara- tion he began to read law in the office and under the preceptorship of the Hon. James B. Kenner, and in 1894 was admitted to the bar. In 1902 he formed a professional partnership with Mr. Kenner, but after four years this association was dissolved, and since that time Mr. Lucas has practiced alone. He is now in the enjoyment of an excellent and lucrative practice, and his connection with a number of important cases has made him a familiar figure in the courts of the county. As a strict adherent of the unwritten ethics of his calling he is held in high esteem by his fellow practitioners, and public confidence has been his since the outset of his career. At present he maintains offices at 51 East Market street.
In 1890 Mr. Lucas was united in marriage with Miss Pearl Humbert, daughter of Josiah Humbert of Huntington. To this union have been born four children, namely: Edith, who is the wife of Harrison M. Brightman of Columbus, Ohio; Geneva P., who is the wife of Robert P. Griggs of Florence, Louisiana; Edwin T., a student in the Huntington high school ; and Kent, who attends the graded schools.
In political matters Mr. Lucas has republican leanings, although he is somewhat liberal in his views. He is a prominent Mason, holding mem- bership in Amity Blue Lodge No. 483, A. F. & A. M., and Huntington Chapter No. 27, R. A. M., in both of which he has numerous friends.
WILLIAM C. DIVELBISS. Every village, town and city has a certain number of residents who have passed earlier periods of life engaged in agricultural pursuits, and to eliminate them would be to exclude a body that makes up the most solid and substantial class of citizens. In coming from rural to urban life they bring with them ample means as the result of industry, and they have the leisure and inclination to enjoy them, and this, of itself, adds no little to the general prosperity. Usually also they have the ripened judgment that admirably qualifies them for the necessary calm consideration of matters of public concern, sure to be presented in the every day life of so vigorous a country as the United States, and the force of their their influence must be duly reckoned with. In William C. Divelbiss, a retired farmer, who, since 1910 has been a valued resident of Huntington, Indiana, occupying his comfortable resi- dence on Salamonie avenue, may be found an excellent representative of the class above referred to. He was born in Wells county, Indiana, March 28, 1850, and is the youngest in his parents' family of nine children. Wil-
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liam Frederick Divelbiss, the father of William C. Divelbiss, was born August 27, 1809, in Franklin county, Pennsylvania. When twenty years of age he left his native state and went to Ohio and from there came to Indiana, settling first in Wells county. Farming was his chosen occupa- tion and his first purchase of land was a tract of forty acres, situated near Markle, in Rock Creek township, Huntington county, Indiana. To this section he remained loyal all his life and died on the farm which he had already improved, in 1896. In early manhood he married Elizabeth Henleline, an admirable woman, who died in 1881, the mother of nine children, William C., as above mentioned, being the youngest born. This was a patriotic family, four of the sons, John, David, Samuel and Jonas, serving as soldiers in the Civil War, all belonging to Company C, Thirty- fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. The last one was not discharged from the service until in November, 1866, having participated in a bat- tle in Texas after hostilities had been declared closed. All the brothers survived the dangers of war and lived to return and resume their peace- ful pursuits.
William C. Divelbiss grew up on his father's farm, an excellent train- ing for any boy, and attended first the district school in Rock Creek township and later the village school at Markle. After his marriage, in 1873, he settled on a farm in the vicinity of Markle and there engaged in general farming and stock raising for fifteen years. Subsequently he purchased a farm of 80 acres situated in Union township, Huntington county, near the old home place, and for a number of years largely devoted his attention to the breeding and sale of registered Polled Angus cattle, shipping to all parts of Indiana. Mr. Divelbiss remained on his farm until 1910, when he changed his place of residence to Hunt- ington. Although he no longer takes an active part in the farm activities, he enjoys a general oversight and makes a daily visit as a matter of recreation.
On January 2, 1873, Mr. Divelbiss married Miss Elizabeth Sparks, who is a daughter of John and Rebecca Sparks, who were early settlers in Huntington county and still survive, enjoying fair health at the age of eighty-eight and seventy-seven years respectively. Their marriage has covered a period of sixty years. Mr. and Mrs. Divelbiss have four children : Charles E., who is a farmer; William Franklin, who is an employe of the Erie Railroad Company ; Clara B., who is bookkeeper for the Majestic Furnace and Foundry Company; and Harry E., who man- ages his father's farm in Union township. Mr. and Mrs. Divelbiss are widely known. For forty years they have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Markle, Indiana. In his political views Mr. Divel- biss is a republican and has given his support to this party since reach- ing manhood but has never accepted any public office.
ABNER H. SHAFFER, M. D. Though now retired, Dr. Shaffer is the oldest physician in Huntington, where he has had his home for fifty- seven years. He began practice in this city in 1856, and few pioneers in the county have had more active or more useful careers.
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Abner H. Shaffer was born in Starke county, Ohio, January 15, 1829, and at this writing is past eighty-four years of age. In a family of seven children, four sons and three daughters, he was the sixth. His parents, George and Elizabeth (Maurice) Shaffer, were born and reared near Gettysburg in Adams county, Pennsylvania. The family has much military service to its credit. The father was a captain during the war of 1812. In 1824 he moved to Starke county, Ohio, where he entered a tract of land from the government, and converted the forest into a good farm. There the parents lived until October 12, 1866, and both died on the same day, the father at the age of seventy-eight and the mother at the age of seventy-six. Their deaths occurred eight hours apart.
It was on his father's farm in his native county that Dr. Shaffer was reared. During the winters he attended the district schools, and laid the foundation of a sound education. When he was nineteen years old he entered the Western Reserve University at Hudson, Ohio, and con- tinued college studies two and a half years. At Paris in Bourbon county, Kentucky, he taught for two years, and in the meantime his ambition for a career had crystalized into a definite object. Returning to Ohio, he studied under Professor A. Metz, then a noted surgeon of Massillon, Ohio. During the winter of 1855-56, he took a course of medical lec- tures at the University of Michigan. Returning to Massillon, he prac- ticed medicine a short time with his preceptor, and in August, 1856, arrived at Huntington, and started his professional career in this county. In October, 1861, Dr. Shaffer entered the Western Reserve Medical Col- lege at Cleveland, where he remained until graduating M. D., with honors, in the spring of 1862.
Not long after his return to Huntington, Governor Morton in June, 1863, commissioned him assistant surgeon of the Seventy-Fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He at once joined his regiment at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After the battle of Chickamauga, he was on hospital duty and was captured by the Confederates. Dr. Shaffer has the not enviable distinction of having been confined in the notorious Libby Prison, and his exchange was finally effected at City Point, Virginia, December 28, 1863. On reaching Washington he received a sixty days' lcave of absence from the Secretary of War, and on its expiration rejoined his regiment at Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was with the regiment at the capture of Atlanta, and had charge of the Post Hospital in that place. On Septem- ber 16, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of surgeon, and was with his regiment under General Sherman on their march to the sea. June 8, 1865, his service ended, and he then returned to Huntington and resumed practice. While a general practitioner, Dr. Shaffer for many years had a high reputation in the county as a skillful surgeon.
In Huntington on March 20, 1867, Dr. Shaffer married Lizzie J. Collins. Her father, John B. Collins, served as a lieutenant in both the Mexican War and the Civil War. The two children of their marriage were: Clyde, and Von C., the former of whom died in infancy. Mrs. Shaffer died November 9th, 1891. On April 19, 1894, Dr. Shaffer married Lizzie M. Snyder.
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Dr. Shaffer has long been an active member and also an elder in the Presbyterian church. His politics is republican, and in his earlier years he took a prominent part in public affairs. In 1875 he was elected to represent the counties of Huntington and Wabash in the Indiana legislature, and in 1878 represented the same counties in the state senate. In public affairs he possessed the qualities most needed for effective service, both knowledge and action, and was always vigorous in his championship of causes designed to promote the welfare of state and district. A service which he performed in behalf of his home city was his part in 1879 in the passage of the bill legalizing the act of the common council of Huntington, so that all litigations then existing was annulled or voided. He has often been honored with various smaller offices in his community. Dr. Shaffer is the oldest charter member of Amity Lodge A. F. & A. M., and one of the oldest surviving members of the Pres- byterian Church organization at Huntington. He is a charter member of the James R. Slack Post, Grand Army of the Republic, has served as president of the Pension Examining Board, as president of the Hunt- ington County Medical Society, was for thirty-five years local surgeon of the Wabash Railroad, and his name has been associated as a sup- porter and interested party in probably every important movement undertaken for the advancement of the prosperity and welfare of his home city and county within the past half century. Dr. Shaffer in 1871 was elected a school trustee, and is now the only surviving member of that board. At that time began a new era in the development of the public school system, when suitable buildings for the use of the schools were first advocated and eventually established. Much prejudice was encountered in the efforts in that direction, and it is an interesting illus- tration of the remarkable changes in public opinion in the course of thirty or forty years that the improvements suggested and advocated by the school board of that time would now encounter opposition from another source, namely, that the improvements were not adequate for the high and important uses of education. Governor Isaac P. Gray appointed Dr. Shaffer a trustee of the schools for Feeble-Minded Youths at Fort Wayne, and he served in that office for ten years, during the administrations of Governors Gray, Hovey and Matthews. Dr. Shaffer in 1875 received from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Indian- apolis, the ad eunden degree. Dr. Shaffer is probably the oldest mem- ber of the Grand Old Party in Huntington county. His first vote for president was for Fremont, when that general ran as the first nominee of the republicans in 1856. Through fourteen successive presidential cam- paigns, Dr. Shaffer has voted for every republican candidate.
GOTTLIEB WILLIAM SCHROEDER. The substantial element of German citizenship is represented by G. W. Schroeder, who came to Lagro town- ship, Wabash county, Indiana, about twenty years ago, and has sur- rounded himself with land, home, and all the products of honest and energetic labor. Mr. Schroeder is a man whose substantial position in the community goes without question, since he is the owner of three hundred acres of the fertile soil of Lagro and Chester township.
G. W. SCHROEDER
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Born in Huntington county, Indiana, October 14, 1867, Gottlieb William Schroeder is a son of Fred and Sophia (Poehler) Schroeder. Both parents were born and grew up and were married in Germany, came to the United States and lived in Huntington county for five years, and soon after the birth of their son, Gottlieb, located on a farm in Dallas township, in that county, where both lived until their death. The father owned one hundred and seventy acres, and all his land and pros- perity were acquired through his independent effort. There were five children, as follows: Henry, Gottlieb W., William, Charles and Dick.
Gottlieb William Schroeder grew up in Huntington county, had the advantages of the district schools, and has followed a career of hard work and constant attention to business, the result of which has been a generous prosperity. On December 26, 1895, occurred his marriage with Miss Theresa Young, the only daughter of P. P. Young, who was a well known citizen of Lagro township, Wabash county. Mrs. Schroeder died on April 10, 1911. There are seven children living: Philip, who is a student in the Fort Wayne Business College, Adolph, Appolina, Arnold, Sophia, Theresa and Lawrence.
Immediately after his marriage Mr. Schroeder came to Wabash county and bought one hundred and twenty acres from Henry Wendell, in Lagro township. Subsequently he bought forty acres from John Steuber, and from time to time has added to his acreage, until he now possesses three hundred acres in this part of Wabash county. He is one of the largest land owners in the northeastern part of Lagro township, and has a highly creditable standing in the community and is regarded as one of the most successful farmers and business men in that section. He was one of the organizers, and is a director, of the Bippus State Bank, and owns stock in the Farmers National Life Insurance Company. In politics he is an independent voter, and is a member of the Lutheran Church.
CITY FREE LIBRARY. This is the proper title of the Huntington Public Library, with the additional sub-title "The Building Gift of Mr. Andrew Carnegie." As an institution of Huntington which comes close to the schools and the adult population, a history and description are appropriately inserted in this work.
The building regarded as a model by scientific librarians is of Bedford stone, with an attractive red tile roof, built on a foundation seventy by fifty-five feet, and comprising two stories. It was first opened to the public February 21, 1903. The main stack room was built to shelve forty-five thousand volumes, and while about eight thousand three hun- dred volumes were moved into the new library, at the end of ten years, the shelves were lined with nearly twenty thousand volumes. The circula- tion of 1903 totalled the figures 27,463, while the last report shows a circulation of 41,402. Six stacks have been added to the main stack room, and the shelving capacity at this writing is totally inadequate. Improvements have been recently made by which the available space is increased by a new second-story balcony, with a mezzanine floor, and
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with additional shelving capacity of between fifteen and eighteen thou- sand volumes. The metal newspaper case, with roller shelving, located on the second floor, was the second equipment of that kind to be installed in any Indiana library.
The most noteworthy features of the library are its facilities and service to the public. On December 9, 1911, was opened on the ground floor a railroad and scientific room. This is designed as a place where the railroad man, the mechanic, the electrician, or any interested citizen may find answers to his problems, relaxation and instruction. All books on engineering, mechanics, electricity, bench work, shop work of any kind, are placed in that room, besides files of technical magazines and periodicals. The room is splendidly lighted, and the walls hung with pictures and maps donated by different railroad lines. It was due to the interest and efforts of the Erie Railroad officials that this room has become so important a part of the library. Probably of even greater importance to the coming generation is the children's department of the library. This is a spacious room containing several thousand children's books, and is located on the first floor. Everything possible is being done to encourage young people to use the library. Reading lists have been compiled by the teachers of the city schools and printed in pamphlet form, and by cooperation between the schools and the officials the cir- culation of children's books has been greatly increased. While the library board have taken pains to increase their circulation on a systematic and general plan, it has been a special policy to add works of an industrial and technical nature, since Huntington is becoming more and more an industrial city, and the library is the center of information and culture to a great many of the industrial workers in the community.
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