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 15
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Mr. Wasmuth was married at Huntington, Indiana, to Miss Hazel Thomas, of Berlin, Wisconsin, and to this union there has come a son, Thomas, who was born in 1913. Fraternally Mr. Wasmuth is connected with Roanoke Lodge, F. & A. M., and Andrews Chapter No. 110, R. A. M., and is also enjoying the privileges of membership in Golden Rule Lodge No. 308, Knights of Pythias. Politically a Republican, he has taken some interest in public matters, especially as pertaining to his community, and at one time was his party's candidate for the office of county prosecutor.
JAMES F. STEPHENSON. One of the rising and prosperous young men of this community is James F. Stephenson, now cashier of the Bippus State Bank, and who has held that office since the organization of the concern in 1911. He has been identified with banks and banking since 1906, and has acquired in that time a deal of experience that stands him in excellent stead in his present position.
Mr. Stephenson was born on June 28, 1885, in Adams county, In- diana, and he is a son of William and Jane Stephenson, both of whom are now residents of Allen county, this state. James Stephenson was reared on the home farm, his parents being farming people all their days, and he attended the common schools of Allen county, after which he attended high school at Monroeville, Indiana. He was still later
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graduated from the Tri-State College at Angola, Indiana, in the teaching course, with the degree of B. E. D. He was thereafter employed as a teacher in the common schools for four years, and from 1903 to 1906 he was superintendent of the Hoagland high school.
In the year last named Mr. Stephenson had his initiation into the banking enterprise, when he became assistant cashier of the Hoagland State Bank. After a short time spent there, he became interested in the proposed organization of the new Bippus State Bank, and he was the first cashier of that institution, which first opened its doors for business in July, 1911. He is a stockholder in the bank, and has continued in the office of cashier down to the present time.
Mr. Stephenson was married in 1908 to Miss Etta Barkley, of Hoag- land, Indiana, where she was engaged as a teacher in the public schools while Mr. Stephenson was superintendent of schools at that place. The acquaintance formed while carrying on their educational activities re- sulted in their marriage, as above stated. Mr. and Mrs. Stephenson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Hoagland, Indiana, and he is a member of West Point Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. In politics Mr. Stephenson is Independent, and he is one of the most estimable citizens of the town. He is a young man of much energy, and of a pleasing uprightness of character, which have rendered him one of the most admirable younger citizens of the community. Both he and his wife are socially prominent and have many friends hereabouts.
CARL E. ENDICOTT. One of the progressive business enterprises of the flourishing city of Andrews, and one which contributes materially to its importance as a center of commercial activity is the Wasmuth-Endi- cott Company. This concern has been developed from humble be- ginnings by men of business ability, foresight and judgment, among whom stands prominently the company's present efficient secretary and treasurer, Carl E. Endicott. Mr. Endicott belongs to that class of men who have been the architects of their own fortunes and who have fought their way over every obstacle in their path and by sheer grit and perseverance have attained the goal of their ambitions. His career forms a striking illustration of what may be attained by mak- ing the most of opportunities, for when he began his struggle with life he had neither educational advantages or the assistance of means or influential friends.
Mr. Endicott is a native of the Hoosier state, born October 26, 1874, at New London, Howard county, a son of John and Frances Endicott. the former a descendant of Governor Endicott of Massachusetts. Carl E. Endicott was reared as a farm boy and spent his summers in assist. ing his father, while in the winter months he attended the district schools and subsequently graduated from the township high school. He then borrowed enough money to take him through the State University, where he was graduated in 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in order to liquidate his debts taught school for six years. Later he was superintendent in the Reformatory school at Jeffersonville for four
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years, and in 1902 came to Huntington county. Here he became one of the organizers of the State Bank of Andrews, of which he was cashier, and continued to act in that capacity for ten years, in the meantime serving for eight years of this period as treasurer of the school board. In February, 1912, Mr. Endicott decided to enter the field of business, and accordingly associated himself with the Wasmuth-Endicott Com- pany, of which he has since been sales manager. Through perseverance, industry and well-directed effort his firm has succeeded in building up a substantial business from a small beginning, and through careful atten- tion to the wants of their customers has won their trade and good will.
On May 24, 1899, Mr. Endicott was married to Miss Elizabeth Was- muth. They have no children. Mr. Endicott is popular fraternally as a member of Antioch Lodge No. 410, F. & A. M., Andrews Chapter No. 110, R. A. M., Andrews Council No. 64, R. & S. M., Fort Wayne Con- sistory, S. R. M. and Mizpah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He has served as master of his Blue Lodge for three years. Mr. Endicott also holds mem- bership in the Knights of Pythias, and is efficiently serving in the capacity of treasurer thereof. He is a republican in political matters, but has not sought public preference, although he keeps well posted on affairs of importance, especially those which have any bearing upon the welfare of his community or its people.
MAURICE H. KREBS, M. D. Among the men of large ability and splendid professional and intellectual attainments who have selected Huntington as the field of their activities, a prominent place is held by Dr. Maurice H. Krebs, who has made the most careful and extensive preparation as a specialist in the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, in which particular branch of medicine he is one of the most qualified and most skilled practitioners in northern Indiana.
Maurice H. Krebs is a native of New York City, where he was born July 23, 1878. His parents are Sigmund and Jeanette R. (Kerby) Krebs. His father, who for many years was prominent in the dry goods trade in New York City, is still living, now partly retired, and looking after his extensive investments and other interests in the city of New York.
Dr. Krebs grew up in his native city, attended the grammar and high schools, and prepared for college in the Academic department in the College of the City of New York. Subsequently he became a student of medicine, and was graduated in 1900 from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical department of Columbia University. His graduation was followed by practical work and experience in the New York Hospital, and in the Willard Parker Hospital, where he remained eighteen months. He began practice in New York City, and continued following the general lines of his profession until 1904. In the mean- time his special ability had been demonstrated along the lines of his present practice, and as it was his intention to become a specialist he in- terrupted his private practice to become a student of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Going abroad, he attended lectures in the Univer-
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sity of Vienna, Austria, and clinics in the London Royal Clinic, and also visited the medical centers of Germany, in Berlin, and Halle, and was also a student for a time at Liverpool. On his return to the city of New York, he practiced a short time, then came west and located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and in 1906 opened a fine office in Huntington. His office is equipped with all the appliances for the successful conduct of his special practice. Dr. Krebs enjoys the patronage of many of the best families in Huntington, and in his specialty has no superior in this part of the state. While all his energies are absorbed by his private practice, he has found time to lend his professional service for the benefit of the public. It was Dr. Krebs who is largely responsible for having introduced the present system of medical inspection in the public schools of Huntington, and he is now serving as medical supervisor of the Hunt- ington public schools. He is a member of the Huntington County Medi- cal Society, the State Medical Association, the American Medical Asso- ciation, the Chicago Oto-Laryngolical Society and the New York Ophthalmological Society, etc.
In 1905 Dr. Krebs married Miss Inez Vernon, of Huntington, a daughter of James B. Vernon, a former county surveyor of Huntington county. The doctor and wife have one son, Maurice Vernon Krebs. Dr. Krebs is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, takes much interest in that fraternity, and was elected to the office of exalted ruler, April 1, 1914; he also belongs to Eureka Lodge No. 243, F. & A. M., New York City, and is a member of the Presbyterian church.
Dr. Krebs has contributed to literary, medical, society and other journals, and is a public spirited, broad minded and genial gentleman, and has won a notable success in his profession.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN SWAIM. All too rapidly the ranks of those who took part in the great struggle between the North and the South are thinning. The gray-haired veterans, one after another, are going to join their comrades in that land where bloodshed and warfare are un- known. But few of the defenders of the Union flag during the sixties now remain who are able to hold their own in the keen struggle of every-day competition. Yet here and there are found exceptions. Now and then a sturdy old warrior is found whose eye is as bright and whose step is as firm as in the days of youth, and who, with intellect still un- clouded, finds enjoyment in a struggle in which he is pitted against the sons and grandsons of his former comrades. Although more than sev- enty years of age, William Franklin Swaim, of Huntington, veteran of the Civil War, and ex-official of Huntington county, continues to re- main active in the management of his large affairs. He was born March 16, 1843, on the old home farm in Salamonie township, two miles east of the thriving town of Warren, Huntington county, Indiana, and is a son of the Rev. Samuel H. Swaim.
The ancestry of Mr. Swaim is traced back through many generations to the early settlement of Delaware and New Jersey by the Swedes and Finns, and later the family is found represented among the early
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pioneers of the historic old North State. From the most reliable in- formation obtainable, the Swaims appear to have been descended from both the above nationalities, and the name is first found in the local an- nals of Delaware and New Jersey as far back as the year 1638. Samuel Hines Swaim, the father of William Franklin Swaim, was born October 25, 1820, in Randolph county, North Carolina. He was a youth of six- teen years of age when he accompanied the family to the wilds of what is now known as Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana. He became a man of education, a great reader and lover of books written by eminent authors and known as standard works, and part of his career was spent as a teacher, beginning in 1834 and continuing for the succeeding twenty years, during which he gained a wide reputation in his calling. Reared a Baptist, he later joined the Methodist religion, be- came a widely-known minister, and was a great Bible student.
William Franklin Swaim passed his boyhood and youth in assisting his father on the home farm, his education being secured partly in the district schools, which he attended for about sixty days each winter, but principally under his father. The older man's preceptorship advanced the youth so rapidly that while still in his minority he secured a license to teach, although his work in the schoolroom was interrupted by the war. In December, 1863, he laid aside the cap and gown to take up the musket, enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and remained at Kokomo until the ensuing March, when it was ordered to join Sherman's army in Georgia. This regiment was assigned to the Second Brigade, First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, under General Schofield, being the flanking corps during the celebrated Atlanta campaign, and as such participated in many of the stirring scenes which marked that eventful service during the great War of the Rebellion. On July 22, 1864, while engaged before Atlanta, Mr. Swaim was taken sick, which necessitated his removal from the front to the field hospital, and later the character of his indisposition made it imperative to remove him to Knoxville, where better treatment could be obtained. On September 20, 1864, he left the hospital upon furlough and until the December following recuperated his strength under the care of relatives and friends at home. Rejoining his regiment at Nashville, he took part in the bloody battle at that place, after which he accompanied his com- mand in pursuit of General Hood to the Tennessec river. Later, his regiment embarked on the Tennessee and made its way down that river and up the Ohio to Cincinnati, where it took train for the national capital. After spending a month in Washington the command pro- ceeded by water from Alexandria to North Carolina, landing at the mouth of Cape Fear river, from whence it was ordered to Forts Ander- son and Beaufort. After a short stay at the latter place, an order came to proceed to Newbern, North Carolina, from which place the regiment, with others, made a long and tiresome march across cypress swamps and badly broken country to Goldsboro, taking part in the battle of Kingston on the way. Joining Sherman, they went to Raleigh, thence
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to Greensboro, and there Mr. Swaim witnessed the surrender of General Johnson, an event which broke the backbone of the Confederacy in that part of the South. For some time thereafter the regiment did guard duty at Charlotte, North Carolina, and in August, 1865, a part of the regiment was ordered to Lincolnton, where it remained until November following. In September, 1865, Mr. Swaim was detailed to serve as clerk to the captain of his company, who was inspector general of the District of West-North Carolina, in which capacity he con- tinued until mustered out of the service at Charlotte, North Carolina, December 2, 1865. Eleven days later he was honorably discharged at Indianapolis, Indiana, after which he returned to his home and once more took up the peaceful pursuits of civil life.
Mr. Swaim operated his father's farm during the two years that followed his leaving the army, and then embarked upon a career of his own by the purchase of eighty acres of good land. He continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits from 1868 to 1881, and at inter- vals also worked at the carpenter's trade. Upon disposing of his farm- ing interests, he moved to Warren, and there, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Franklin Shaffer, he operated a planing mill for a period of four years. Subsequently he left this business to take up teaming and also interested himself in various other lines of endeavor. In 1889 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Warren, and three years later had the honor of being chosen town treasurer, the duties of which position he discharged conscientiously and faith- fully for two terms. In May, 1894, Mr. Swaim became the Republican nominee for county auditor, to which office he was elected after a strenuous campaign, with the handsome majority of 403 votes. As in his army life, in his official career Mr. Swaim showed himself true to every duty reposed in him, and through his courtesy won friends throughout the county. Although he retired from the activities of life upon the expiration of his official career, he has continued to look after his business interests, in the management of which he has shown keen discernment, foresight and acumen.
Mr. Swaim was married February 21, 1867, to Miss Mary Thomp- son, who was born in Salamonie township, Huntington county, Indiana, November 20, 1841. She is the daughter of John H., who was born November 12, 1802, and Mary (Thompson) Thompson, who was born February 14, 1807, both parents natives of Kentucky, from whence they came to Huntington county, Indiana, in the autumn of 1840. John Howard Thompson was one of the prosperous farmers and representative citizens of Huntington county, a man of unimpeachable honor and integrity and a leader in all moral and material movements for the well-being of the community. He followed farming until the year 1870, when he disposed of his property and made removal to the town of Warren, there continuing his residence until his death, October 26, 1889. Mrs. Thompson preceded him to the grave, passing away February 3, 1880. They were devout members of the Christian church and were known as kindly, charitable people. One child was
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born to Mr. and Mrs. Swaim: Alfred Edward, September 16, 1868. He was married September 1, 1889, to Miss Amelia M. Irwin, and they had one daughter, Edith Marie, who was born November 8, 1890. Alfred Edward Swaim was his father's deputy while he occupied the county auditor's office, and later became assistant cashier of the Citizens State Bank of Huntington.
Mr. Swaim has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church since March, 1857. He exemplifies his faith in his daily life and con- versation, takes an active interest in the affairs of the local congrega- tion with which he is identified, and is foremost in all movements having for their object the advancement of education, morality, good citizenship and the public welfare. His fraternal connection is with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he also likes to foregather with his old comrades in James R. Slack Post No. 137, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he has been Adjutant for the last six years.
JAMES MAURICE HICKS, M. D. Numbered among the leading phy- sicians of Huntington county is James Maurice Hicks, who for more than a decade has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in the city of Huntington. Dr. Hicks stands high in his profession and has made a great success, but is perhaps equally well known as a gentle- man farmer, and his integrity and uprightness and public spirit and enterprise have placed him high in public favor.
James Maurice Hicks was born near the city of Reading, Pennsyl- vania, April 21, 1867, a son of Jacob S. and Amelia (Moyer) Hicks. His father, a stonemason, followed that trade for many years in Pennsyl- vania, but in 1889 moved to Indiana and settled on a farm in the vicinity of Huntington, where he remained the rest of his life, his earnest and industrious labor resulting in well-earned success. He died on the farm in 1893, but the mother, who was born in 1842, still survives and makes her home on Frederick strect in Huntington.
Dr. James Maurice Hicks received his primary education in the country schools of Berks county, Pennsylvania, and later in the schools of Altoona, Blair county, finishing at the Altoona high school. His studies in medicine were pursued in the office of J. M. Buck at Altoona, then following his instruction there he entered the Hahnemann College, Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1893. Dr. Hicks has supplied himself with exceptional thoroughness in his profession. He spent eighteen months in the Homeopathic Hospital of Chicago as a surgeon. In October, 1901, he took a trip to Vienna, Austria, and pursued special studies abroad for one year. In 1904 came a post-graduate course at the Detroit Hospital, and he has at all times continued to be earnest in his efforts to keep fully abreast of the various advancements and dis- covcries marking the progress of his profession. Whenever the oppor- tunity has come he has availed himself of the privilege of attending clinics, he is a close observer and student, and has contributed a number of articles to various medical journals. Dr. Hicks was like- wise prominent in organized medical affairs, and has served as presi-
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J.M. Hicks
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dent of the Huntington County Medical Society. Besides membership in that body he is also a member of the Indiana State Medical Society, of the American Medical Institute of Homeopathy and the Indiana State Medical Institute of Homeopathy. His fraternal connections include membership in the Knights of Pythias, the Elks and the Foresters.
Dr. Hieks has well appointed offices at Huntington, where he has been engaged in practice since 1904, and it is probable that his profes- sional business is the largest of any general practitioner in Huntington. In addition to his modern home, at 325 S. Jefferson strect, Dr. Hicks has considerable real estate in the city, and a valuable farm of three hundred acres in Huntington eounty. This farm is improved with modern and substantial buildings and is stoeked with a good breed of cattle, hogs and horses. Personally Dr. Hicks is a man who has no diffi- culty in making friends and retaining them. He takes a public spirited interest in all matters that affects the welfare of his community, although the onerous duties of his practice will not allow him to enter the field of polities. He is a Democrat and is a member of the German Reformed church.
In 1895 Dr. Hicks married Miss Zella Cameron of Huntington, whose parents came to this state from Ohio. To their union has come one son, James Maurice Jr., born in 1907.
JOHN KENOWER. Now at the venerable age of ninety-four years, an old settler, a resident of Huntington since January 23, 1841, and long an active factor in industrial and business affairs, John Kenower is one of the men whose careers have been vitally effective in promoting the welfare and development of this Indiana county.
John Kenower was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1820, and was the third child and second son of Jacob and Sarah (Wise) Kenower. His ancestry is of good old Holland Dutch stoek. His parents were natives of Cumberland county, where the father was born October 6, 1791, and the mother on July 15, 1792. The family home remained in Pennsylvania until 1834, when it was moved to Clark county, Ohio, in New Carlisle. From that locality the parents moved in 1844, and in the first month of that year reached Huntington. In the family were nine children, several of whom reached prominent places in business, social and publie affairs. These children were as follows: George, born January 29, 1816; Mary Ann, born March 7, 1818; John, born March 2, 1820; David, born March 13, 1822, and died in childhood; Catherine, born December 9, 1824; Sarah, born May 27, 1827; Adam Q., born July 18, 1829; Ann Elizabeth, born November 16, 1831; and Jacob, born November 19, 1834. All except the last named were born in Pennsylvania. The father of this family died August 6, 1866, and his wife had prceeded him August 27, 1854.
John Kenower was fifteen years old when the family moved to Clark county, Ohio. Reared on a farm, he had a thorough training in a pioncer vieinity, and his education was more of the praetieal sort acquired through association with the plow and the ax than by study
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of books. In January, 1841, he left home and came to Huntington, Indiana. That village then contained fourteen families, and this in- teresting fact of early history would be more complete with the names of those residents at that time, which are given as follows: John Roehe, David Osborn, William G. Johnson, Patrick McCarty, John McClel- lan, J. E. Taylor, William Delvin, Captain Elias Murray, Sr., E. W. Sawyer, Cheisea Crandall, Thomas Doyle, James Gillespie, Mrs. Daniel Johnson, a widow, and Julia Murray. Mr. Kenower came to Hunting- ton in company with the families of H. J. Betts, Hugh Montgomery, Charles Taylor and William Taylor, the party traveling from New Carlisle, Ohio, overland in a wagon.
Arriving at his new home without any capital John Kenower found his first work in the employ of H. J. Betts for whom he labored four months at twenty-five dollars a month, including his board, washing and mending. He took a town lot in payment for his services. That town lot is the site on which the old American house was later built. For his first labors, Mr. Kenower took up earpentering work, which he followed until about 1852. He had previously been trained in that trade under his father. In 1846 he purchased a eabinet shop, and did business as one of the early cabinet makers in Huntington until 1863.
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