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 20
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James M. Stuart was born in the city of Huntington October 8, 1860, a son of Joseph and Louisiana (Smith) Stuart. His grandfather was James M. Stuart, who was born in Scotland and eame to the United States, locating in Camden, Ohio. By trade he was a bell maker and blacksmith. Somewhat later he was married in Preble county, Ohio, and then came to Huntington county in 1837. He was one of the very early settlers in the vicinity of Bellville, in Jefferson township. His death occurred at Bellville one year after his settlement. His widow then eontinucd her home there, and rearcd her family of small children. It was at Bellville that Joseph Stuart grew up, and with a taste and inclination for meehanieal work he was chiefly identified with milling during his eareer. In partnership with James Taylor, he built at Bell- ville about 1848 a mill which they conducted as partners for a number of years. The partners also construeted the grist mill which is now operated by R. A. Brown, and conducted that enterprise until 1862. In that year Mr. Taylor died and Mr. Stuart then moved to Cass county, Indiana, where he was identified with the milling industry until 1878. Transferring his home and interests to Miami county, he built a mill at Peoria, and was a miller there for five years. Finally returning to the old home at Bellville he bought the mill which he had assisted in estab- lishing many years before, and continued its operation and had his home in that locality until his death. Outside of his immediate busi- ness, he participated little in public affairs, but was a devout member of the Christian church. Of his eight children, six are now living, as follows: Martha, wife of Conrad Hummell; James M .; William W., a minister of the Christian church ; Ida, wife of Eli Kellar; Maude, wife of Isaae Zent; Frank, of Warren, Indiana.
James M. Stuart was an infant when the family moved to Cass county, and it was in the common schools of that county that he received his education so far as books werc coneerned. Under his father he learned the trade of miller, and worked along that line until he eon- centratcd all his time and attention on farming and stock raising. On January 9, 1887, Mr. Stuart married Mary H. Harvey. She was born in Rush county, Indiana, and had an education in the common schools. They are the parents of six children, as follows: Joseph Stuart ; Charles; Lewis; Harvey, who is a graduate of the Markle high schools;
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Floyd; and Merle. One child died in infaney. The family have active membership in the Methodist Episcopal church at Markle, of which Mr. Stuart is one of the trustecs. Fraternally he affiliates with the Markle Lodge, No. 423, of the Knights of Pythias. In polities he is a Democrat.
JACOB VOLLMAR. When in the fall of 1910 the citizens of the second district of Huntington eounty elected Jaeob Vollmar as a member of the county board of commissioners, their ehoiee fell upon a man whose long and prosperous identification with the county and whose sueeess in pri- vate affairs thoroughly entitled him to the esteem and confidence of his fellow eitizens, and his work in the important office of commissioner has more than justified their ehoiec. Mr. Vollmar eame to his present offiee fully qualified to handle its affairs, and has brought to his work the business sagaeity so necessary in direeting the fiseal matters of a prosperous, growing community.
Jacob Vollmar was born on a farm in seetion four in Dallas town- ship, of Huntington county, October 1, 1864. His parents were Peter and Wilhelmina (Felton) Vollmar. Both parents were born and reared and edueated in Germany and each eame to the United States with his and her respective parents. The Vollmar family landed in New York March, 1854. The Feltons arrived at New Orleans in April of the same year, eame by boat up the Mississippi to St. Louis, later located in Will eounty, Illinois, where after the death of the father the widowed mother took her children to Huntington eounty. The Vollmars first located in Starke county, Ohio, and in 1860, settled in Huntington county, where the two young people, Peter and Wilhelmina, first met and were soon afterwards married. To their union were born twelve children, seven boys and five girls, namely : Jacob, Peter, Mary, Minnie, John, Daniel, Carrie, Sarah, Louis, Christian, Elizabeth, and Carl. The last named lives in Michigan, but all the others have their homes in Indiana.
Jaeob Vollmar was reared in Dallas township, grew up in the whole- some environment of the country, and until he was fourteen years of age attended the local schools, being trained both in the German and English languages. As a boy he beeame familiar with the duties of the farm, and early adopted that as his permanent voeation. At the age of twenty-one his father employed him at regular wages, and in that way he lived at home until he was twenty-five.
On August 15, 1889, occurred the marriage of Jaeob Vollmar and Stella N. Settlemyre, of Jackson township. She was born and reared in Jaekson township, and like her husband had a distriet sehooling. After their marriage they lived on a Jackson township farm for about four years, and then Mr. Vollmar bought his present place of one hun- dred and twenty acres in seetions twenty-five and twenty-six in Union township. There for more than twenty years he has prosperously com- bined the work of general farming and stoek raising, and as a representa- tive of the thrifty and hardy German element in Huntington county has succeeded much above the ordinary.
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To his marriage have been born five children, as follows: Lena, a graduate of the Markle high school, and the wife of Daniel Heaston; Julia, a graduate of the Markle high school, and specially talented in music, in which she has been well trained and is now engaged in teach- ing that art; Alma, a graduate of the country schools, and now a student in the Markle high school; Bertha, also in the Markle high school; and Russell J., who was born in 1902, and now attends the common schools. All the family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Markle, of which Mr. Vollmar is a trustee. Fraternally he is affiliated with Markle Lodge, No. 423, Knights of Pythias, and his political alle- giance has always been given to the Democracy. Mr. Vollmar has not only served in his present office of county commissioner, but was at one time honored with election as member of the township advisory board.
JOHN D. MILLER. From the ranks of the best citizens are chosen under the provisions of Indiana laws the officials known as township trustees. In many respects this office is the most important in the entire county scheme of governments, and the men who are entrusted with the duties and responsibilities of that office are of the substantial class whose ability has been thoroughly tested and who enjoy the complete confidence of their neighbors. Among the former trustees of Union township, John D. Miller represented in the highest degree the qualities of good citizen . ship and of business efficiency. Mr. Miller has spent practically all his life in Huntington county, and is the owner of a fine farm of seventy- six acres, three and a half miles northwest of Markle. He is a quiet, unassuming man, goes about his work without much noise, but with an efficiency which has brought him into the number of thoroughly pros- perous Huntington county citizens.
John D. Miller, through both his parents, represents substantial Ger- man stock. He was born in Starke county, Ohio, August 12, 1857, a son of David and Sarah (Arnold) Miller. Both parents were likewise natives of Starke county, and were reared and married in that state. In 1857, a few weeks after John was born, the parents moved from Ohio and found a home in Huntington county in October of that year. Their location was in Union township, and they lived there until death. Of the eight children only two are living at the present time, the sister of John D. Miller being Clara, wife of George Messler, of Nebraska.
John D. Miller grew up on the old home farm in Union township, and as a boy was privileged to attend the country schools about three months each year. All his schooling was obtained at the Number Eight District school in Union township. With a fair equipment in the line of education he started to work for his father and lived on the farm until he was twenty-one. He then began as a renter, and gradually accumulated the capital which gave him an independent position. Mr. Miller for a number of years has been proprietor of the Lone Oak Farm, and employs his acres for the production of the general crops, and also for consider. able stock raising.
On October 5, 1884, Mr. Miller married Amanda Brubaker, a daugh-
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ter of Samuel and Mary Brubaker, who came from Perry county, Ohio, and were among the early settlers of Rock Creek township in Huntington county. Mrs. Miller died December 5, 1900, leaving four children, as follows: Bessie, the wife of Hugh Drabenstat; Gusta, who died Feb- ruary 2, 1901; Gale, who died at the age of seventeen months; and Rudy, who was born August 5, 1899. On December 14, 1902, Mr. Miller married Ida A. Keplinger, who was born in Huntington county. Mr. Miller is a Democrat in politics, and his service as trustee of Union town- ship was from 1900 to 1905.
GEORGE W. SOUERS. Among the local industries of Huntington, prob- ably none has gained greater fame over the country than the stables of George W. Souers & Sons, importers and breeders of Percheron, Belgian and Coach horses. These stables are located in the city of Huntington, at 601-949 West Matilda street. No finer horses of their kind can be found in the world than those imported or bred through the Souers stables at Huntington. Mr. Souers is an expert in the care and handling of horses, and has been in the business practically all his life, and has made his skill and judgment the basis of a really great and growing busi- ness which has been not least among the factors that gives Huntington a reputation in the outside world.
The Souers family were among the first settlers of Rock Creek town- ship, in Huntington county, where George W. Souers was born Septem- ber 15, 1864. His parents were Joseph R. and Mary (Ryan) Souers, and his father was a farmer and stockman, and at one time a well known breeder of shorthorn cattle. The grandfather was a native of Pennsyl- vania, and the great-grandfather was born in Germany, settling in Penn- sylvania, and afterward living in Ohio and Indiana.
George W. Souers secured an excellent education, and his thorough schooling, combined with his natural adaptability to his present work, has enabled him to excel and reach a position of foremost importance in his special line of activity. The country schools supplied his first advantages, and afterward he was for four years a student in the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio. On leaving school he returned home, and for several years raised and handled horses for light harness purposes. Later his attention was given to draft horses, and with the accumulation of experience and capital his enterprise broadened to a field of international scope. Mr. Souers' reputation as a horseman is almost as well known abroad as in this country. For years he has made purchases of Percheron and Belgian horses and also Coach horses in the best stables of Germany, Belgium and France. No expense or care has been spared in the importation of these animals. The shipments were made in the best and fastest live stock vessels, and at times they have been brought across the ocean on the finest passenger steamers, being shipped from the ports of Antwerp and London, the usual shipment being from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five head, and on arriving in New York City, they were brought by express to the Souers stables in Huntington. The stables are fitted with every accommodation
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for the care and handling of horses. From Huntington the animals are shipped to all parts of the Union.
The Souers horse barns perhaps are the finest in America, and are located in the corporate limits of Huntington. The main structure is three stories in height, with a tile roof, and ground dimensions of sixty by one hundred and fifty feet. The stalls and floors are of reinforced con- crete construction, and sanitation is almost as perfect in this barn as in a home. The prevalent colors of the horses are black, roan, grey, bay and chestnut. Mr. Souers has for a number of years employed an expert to care for his horses. At times when it has been desired to fatten the animals, systematic feeding has brought an increase in weight of one hundred pounds per week. They have been exhibited at International and State Fairs and have competed favorably with the best imported in the country.
Mr. Souers is the possessor of valuable real estate, and several farms in Huntington county. He is an all around horseman, devoting his thoughts and capital to that line of business until he has become thor- oughly versed in every department belonging to the purchase and sale of his noted horses.
On September 24, 1884, Mr. Souers married Miss Ida King, daughter of Samuel King, a native of Huntington county and a prominent farmer of the county. They are the parents of two sons who are associated with their father in business. Carl K., now does much of the purchasing abroad, and began making trips to the old country in his nineteenth year. While a young man, he is old in the business, and each year makes from two to three trips to foreign stables. Glenn, the other son, is at home assisting in the management of the stables. He is also a good judge of horses and a very capable young business man.
Mr. Souers is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church and a member of the building committee having in charge the erection of the new church building. His home is a fine residence on North Jefferson street, one of the best in Huntington.
WILLIAM J. TRIBOLET. Of the able young men who are going about in the quiet but effective performance of their duties as citizens and home makers, Mr. Tribolet has a special place in Union township. For some years he was identified with Drain Tile manufacture, but is now proprietor of an excellent eighty-acre farm. His place is in Union town- ship, being the east half of the northeast quarter of section twenty-five. His home is on the rural free delivery Route No. 3 out of Markle, and the farm lies two miles north and a half a mile west of Markle, on the Prairie Road. It is in a state of excellent improvement, and Mr. Tribolet has shown himself to be not only a progressive farmer, but a man of action in the community.
William J. Tribolet was born in Bluffton, Indiana, August 23, 1875, a son of David and Mary (Sarge) Tribolet. His father was a native of
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Germany, coming to the United States when twenty-three years of age, and loeating at Bluffton, Indiana. A blacksmith by trade he followed that voeation. which he had learned by a thorough apprenticeship in his native land. It was in Bluffton that he married Miss Sarge, who was a native of Pennsylvania. After getting a start, the father established a shop of his own at Rifetown, later at Bivens Corners, and finally went south and died at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The widow is still living. They were the parents of six children, mentioned as follows: John Tri- bolet; Rosa, wife of Ben Robroek of Union township; William J .; Samuel F .; Charles, of Rock Creek township; and Clara, wife of Henry Shoeff of Union township.
Mr. William J. Tribolet was reared in Wells and Huntington counties, and his book learning was supplied by the common sehools. A number of years ago he became interested in the manufacturing of drain tile in Union township, and continued that for ten years, and thus aeeumulated the surplus which in November, 1912, he invested in his present home- stead.
On April 10, 1905, Mr. Tribolet married Mina Tumbleson of Union township, a daughter of Willard Tumbleson. They have one ehild, Daley E., aged five years. Mr. Tribolet is a Demoerat in politics.
ISHAM SWAIN. Five miles northeast of Huntington, on the Hasler Gravel Road in Union township, is the Leghorn Poultry Farm, the pro- prietor of which is Isham Swain, whose residenee in Huntington eounty has been continuous for more than sixty years, who is a veteran of the Civil war, and whose eareer sinee then has been one of quiet pros- perity and honorable relations with his community. Mr. Swain has more than a loeal reputation as a breeder and grower of fine poultry, especially of the Leghorn breed. He has all the facilities for successful poultry farming, and his experience has enabled him to make a steady profit out of an industry in which the failures are probably more eon- spieuous than the suceesses. His farm comprises forty aeres of land.
Isham Swain was born in Preble county, Ohio, September 14, 1847, a son of John L. and Nancy (Waters) Swain. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Kentucky, they were married in Ohio, and coming to Indiana in 1850 located in Clear Creek township of Huntington county, from which loeality in 1854 they moved into Union township, with which this family has been identified for nearly sixty years. There were thirteen children in the family, and four are living in 1913, as follows: Hezekiah, whose home is in Huntington : Stephen, of Union township; and Naney, the widow of Matthew Waters, of Hunt- ington.
Isham Swain attended publie sehools in Union township, where he located when about seven years old. It was his fortune to be one of the boy defenders of the Union, during the dark days of the Civil war. The war had been in progress several months, when he passed his four- teenth birthday, and two years later, in August, 1863, he responded to the call for volunteers and enlisted in Company D, of the One Hundred
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and Thirtieth Indiana Infantry, remaining with that regiment until near the close of the war. His service was with the army of Tennessee under General Thomas, and he took part in the Atlanta campaign. He fought in the battle of Nashville on December 15, 1864, one of the greatest bat- tles in the Mississippi Valley, and there he was shot in the mouth and disabled for further service. After leaving the hospital he received his honorable discharge, and came home. There were altogether five mem- bers of the Swain family in the Civil war. On returning to Huntington county, Isham W. Swain took up the serious responsibilities of civil life, and worked to prepare a home for himself.
In 1872 he married Mary E. Bristo, who was born in Huntington. They are the parents of two children: Burtis A., who is married and lives in Huntington ; and Gladys, wife of Edward Thorn, of Huntington. The family worship in the Evangelical church, and Mr. Swain keeps up his old associations with his comrades by membership in the James R. Slack Post, G. A. R. In politics he has been a Republican since the days of the war, and has frequently interested himself in behalf of local can- didates and has been a factor in the party councils.
ORLAND E. JOHNSON. Among those farms which give a distinctive character to Union township, one of the most noteworthy is "Happy Home Farm," the proprietor of which is Orland E. Johnson, a man of quiet and capable citizenship, who has followed farming as his vocation during a long and active life. His farm is located on the Fort Wayne and Huntington Stone Road, four and a half miles northeast of Hunt- ington. Its sixty-eight acres are under complete cultivation, and all the improvements are first class.
Orland E. Johnson was born in Fountain county, Indiana, December 7, 1846, a son of Samuel B. and Sarah (Rced) Johnson. Both parents were natives of Warren county, Ohio, where they grew up and were mar- ricd and about 1839 made settlement in Fountain county, Indiana, among the pioncers. The father followed his trade as a cooper for many years though he combined that occupation with farming.
Orland E. Johnson spent all his early life on a farm, and while growing up had the advantages of the local school. In 1860, when he was fourteen years old, the family moved to Benton county, in this state. His school work was finished when he was about eighteen years old, and after that he lived at home and assisted in the cultivation of the old homestead until he was twenty-six.
On March 22, 1873, occurred his marriage to Isabelle, daughter of H. II. and Elizabeth (Owens) Scott. After more than twenty-seven · years of married companionship she died on June 10, 1900. In 1902 Mr. Johnson bought his present farm in Union township of Huntington county. In February, 1906, he married Mrs. Barbara Purviance, widow of Rev. Charles Purviance, and representing one of the pioneer families of Huntington county. Mrs. Johnson was reared in Union township and got her education from the local schools. Her maiden name was Barbara Ricc, a daughter of Nicholas and Hannah (Coy) Rice. Her
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father was born in Wayne county, Indiana, May 11, 1826, and moved to Huntington county in October, 1850. Hannah Coy, his wife, was born in West Moreland county, Pennsylvania, and was a girl when her family made the long overland journey by ox teams and wagons from Penn- sylvania to Ohio, and from there to Indiana.
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are faithful members and attendants of the United Brethren Church of Zion, and he is superintendent of the Sunday school. In politics Mr. Johnson supports the Republican cause, and for ten years was township assessor of Gilboa township in Benton county, and also served as county assessor for two years. Mr. Johnson is a man whose career has been spent without conspicuous incident or abnormal event, has lived uprightly before all men, and has well won his prosperity and his high standing in the community.
ALBERT RICE. Huntington county has its many beautiful and valu- able farm estates, some of which have been under one name since the pioneer era of this region. One of these older places is the Rice farm, a well improved and beautiful place of sixty acres, in Union township, and known throughout that section of the county as Hillside Farm. Its owner, Mr. Rice, has lived there practically all his life, has shown him- self possessed of those qualities which in modern agriculture count for steady success, and an influential position in the community.
Albert Rice was born in Union township, July 23, 1863, a son of Solomon and Retta (Hibbard) Rice. His father, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, came to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1848 There were many pioneer settlers in the county at that time, but condi- tions were practically new, and when he located in Union township in that year he had few neighbors and had to take up the task which con- fronted all the rest of the first settlers. Solomon Rice was fourteen years old when he came to Huntington county, having been born in 1834, . and is still living in Union township, now at the venerable age of almost eighty years. His wife died thirty-eight years ago.
Albert Rice, who was the only son of his parents, grew up on the old farm, and as a boy had the advantages of the local school. His school attendance continued until he was about seventeen years old, and he then made farming the choice of his permanent vocation, and through nearly all his active career has been identified with the old homestead. Mr. Rice married Dona Shinaberry, of Ohio, who came to Huntington county with her parents, when she was a girl. To their marriage have been born seven children, six of whom are living: Carl, who is married and lives on a farm in Jackson township; Frank, who is married and is in Union township; Ross, who lives at home, and helps run the farm; Clarence, who is a student in the local schools; Ruth, who attends the high school; and Mary, also a school girl. Katie died when three years old. Mr. Rice takes an active part in fraternal work, especially in Odd Fellowship, having membership in La Fontaine Lodge No. 42, I. O. O. F. and also the Encampment No. 82 at Huntington. In politics a Democrat, he has seldom manifested much interest in party affairs, though he is a Vol. II-11
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good citizen and always ready to do his part in making this a better com- munity to live in.
TULLY ANSON. Union township is noted for its industries and able farmers, and public spirited citizens. One of these is Tully Anson, who represents one of the pioneer families in this section, and who is proprie- tor of the Ranacross Farm, located four and a half miles northeast of Huntington, on the Fort Wayne Traction line, and in a very eligible posi- tion, for all the demands of modern agriculture. Mr. Anson is a man who has never been content to follow without question in the beaten paths traveled by his predecessors, and has always been extremely pro- gressive, ready to adopt improvements which have been thoroughly tested, and has also contributed out of his own original mind to the better welfare of agriculture and its followers. Thousands of farmers in In- diana and elsewhere cultivate what is known as the Anson Dent and the Anson White Corn, a variety of maize, which is the result of Mr. Anson's careful selection and cross fertilization. Mr. Anson has a very hand- some farmstead, and its situation on the traction line gives him practical city facilities.
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