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 3
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
John Francis Noll was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on January 25, 1875. His education was in the Cathedral Brothers' school until he was thirteen years of age, when he went to St. Lawrence College at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, to study for the priesthood. After five years there he entered Mount St. Mary's Seminary, at Cincinnati, for the study of philosophy and theology. In the Cathedral at Fort Wayne, on June 4, 1898, Bishop Rademacher ordained him to the priesthood. His first appointment was that of assistant to Rev. Henry Boeckelmann, at Elkhart, from which place he was sent to assist Rev. B. Kroeger, at Logansport, from December, 1898, to February, 1899. From the latter date to June, 1902, he was pastor of Ligonier and missions. In June, 1902, Bishop Alerding transferred him to Besancon, where he continued his labors until July 11, 1906. At that date he went to Hartford City, with Montpelier as a mission. The work of giving missions to non- Catholics was also entrusted to Father Noll, who did that work as time and circumstances permitted.
During his pastorate at Hartford City, Father Noll began the pub- lication of a magazine known as the "Parish Monthly." This supplied a high-class, thirty-two page "insert," to which pastors throughout the United States add parish items and other local information, and dis- tribute as a local production. The "Parish Monthly" now has a circula- tion of 75,000.
On July 6, 1910, Rev. Noll was transferred to St. Mary's Church, Huntington. This parish has church property valued at $150,000, and is entirely free from debt. In December, 1911, Father Noll started a publishing establishment, which within a year grew to be Huntington's largest printing plant. In May, 1912, he began the publication of a National Catholic Weekly, known as "Our Sunday Visitor," and within one year this weekly acquired a circulation of 135,000, and now has a circulation of 370,000-two years after its first issue. At the present time more than thirty persons are employed in the publication plant of "Our Sunday Visitor." In this work Father Noll is ably assisted by Rev. George Moorman. Since coming to Huntington Father Noll has made some extensive improvements in the parish property of St. Mary's. He has had a remarkably busy and effective carcer, and yet with all his labors has found time for individual authorship, and several of his publications have gone through twelve or fifteen editions. Most of his books aim at creating a friendly feeling between Catholics and Protes- tants. The titles of some are: "For Our Non-Catholic Friends," "The Fairest Argument," "When Informed Protestants Speak Their Con- victions," "Kind Words From Your Pastor," "Your Parish Church," "Father Smith Instructs Jackson," "The Parochial School" and sev- eral others.
A school which has a large attendance adjoins St. Mary's Church, the curriculum of which includes a business and commercial course and two years of high school work. This parochial school is a free school.
Father Noll is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, and is a member of the Commercial and Cosmopolitan Clubs of Huntington.
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HEBER P. HARTER. One of the live young business men of Hunt- ington is Heber P. Harter, a dealer in real estate, and his active enter- prise has come into prominence recently through his subdivision and sale of Hawley Heights, one of the most sightly and desirable suburban locations, overlooking the city of Huntington.
Mr. Harter is a native of the city of Huntington, and a son of Edwin and Lucy (Purviance) Harter. His mother is connected with several of the most prominent families of Huntington county. She is a sister of Harmon Purviance, prominent as a furniture merchant and a former senator. Her father was Samuel Purviance, an old resident and citizen much respected for his many sterling qualities. Mrs. Harter was reared and educated in Huntington, and was married to Edwin Harter in 1872. Her mother was Elizabeth Jane (Montgomery) Purviance. Edwin Harter was for a number of years engaged in merchandising in Hunting- ton, and more recently has carried on an extensive business in bill post- ing. Their home is on North Jefferson street, one of the best residence thoroughfares in the city. Edwin Harter and wife have four children : Jean Harter, a graduate of the Huntington high school accomplished in music and a teacher in Indianapolis; Lyle H. Harter, who lives with her aunt in Indianapolis; Helen Harter, who is connected with the United Board of Charities of Cleveland, Ohio, and is a graduate of the Hunt- ington high school.
Heber P. Harter, the only son, received his education in the grade and high schools of Huntington, being graduated from the latter. He early chose a business career and got most of his business experience as a real estate man in Oklahoma, where he was well trained by the vigorous competition existing in that state. Returning to his native city, he opened an office, and has done a big business in subdividing and disposing of the lots on Hawley Heights.
OLIVER C. WHITLING. It is as an oil producer that Mr. Whitling is best known to the citizenship of Huntington county, and for the past six years has operated in the field in Salamonie township. Like the majority of successful men in his profession, Mr. Whitling has courage and aggres- sive enterprise, and his judgment has been ripened by practically a life- long experience in the oil fields of his native state of Pennsylvania and in various states of the middle west. Mr. Whitling considers himself a permanent resident of Huntington county, and outside of his private business is thoroughly interested in all movements concerning the local welfare.
His birth occurred in Clarion county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1874. His parents, John and Mary (Neely) Whitling, are still residents of the Keystone state. The father was an oil producer in Pennsylvania, having been identified with the business from the early days, and under his tutelage the son was practically educated in the business from early youth. He had a substantial common school education, attending school until he was sixteen, but for several years previously had followed his father and had been variously engaged in the oil fields. There is prac- tically no phase of the oil business from a productive standpoint in which
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Mr. Whitling has not a thorough experience. He has done work as a pumper, driller, prospector, and has a wide acquaintance among oil men all over the country. From Pennsylvania he moved into the oil fields of Ohio, and worked as a pumper for several years, and came to Indiana in the same capacity. Subsequently he engaged in drilling new wells in Indiana, and purchasing an outfit of tools did work as a contractor for several years. Three years were also spent in the fields of Illinois.
In 1908 Mr. Whitling bought the lease from the Crude Oil Company in Huntington county, and for the past six years has operated largely in Salamonie township. He also acquired, by purchase, a piece of land a mile and three quarters southwest of Warren, and has his permanent home there, while his operations take him to different sections in the oil fields of this part of the state.
In June, 1899, Mr. Whitling married Ida Maloney. She is a native of Pennsylvania, and they are the parents of two children, Ray W., born in 1900, and Helen G., born in 1903. Ray has already finished the course in the common schools, while Helen is still a student. Mr. Whitling and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Warren, and he is a steward in the society. He takes much interest in Masonry, and is affiliated with the King Lodge No. 246, A. F. & A. M., and is at present Worshipful Master of the Lodge, while his higher degrees are with Bluff- ton Chapter No. 75, R. A. M., at Bluffton. A democrat in politics, he has never taken any part in practical politics.
D. YINGLING, M. D. The subject of this memoir presents the traits of two nations, remarkable for strength of character and oppositeness. His German ancestry gives to him the patient plodding feature, his Scot- tish lineage a studiousness along with vivacity, and a desire "to prove all things, and hold on to that which is good." That these traits are characteristic of the man, even ordinary observation confirms.
Dr. Yingling was born in Maryland, November 27, 1839. He was placed at school at the age of six years, and continued to attend nine months each year until he was seventeen, when he spent one year and a half in the states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. Minnesota was at that time still under a territorial form of government. After returning to his home in Maryland he entered Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, where on account of ill health and limited means he was not able to complete the full course. In the fall of 1859 he became a tutor in the Hagerstown Academy at Maryland, a well known institution, and occu- pied that position for two years, or until the beginning of the war when the school was closed. Subsequently he entered upon the study of medi- cine and graduated at a medical college in Cincinnati, Ohio, in April, 1865. Immediately thereafter, he located in Huntington, Indiana, where he has acquired an enviable reputation in his profession. During the winter of 1869-70 the doctor attended a full course of lectures in Bell- vue Medical College, New York, and has since attended several courses of post-graduate medical lectures in Chicago. The doctor contends that physicians though advanced in years, while engaged in the practice owe
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it to their patrons to be studious and keep in close touch with all new discoveries in medicine, or in other words should keep pace with the march of medical science, and we have reason to believe that he "prac- tices what he preaches," a fact which, coupled with his long experience in the practice, eminently fits him for the business he follows. The doctor is in excellent health, and says he has not yet felt the weight of age, and seems as spry and as active as many men fifteen or twenty years younger. Cold weather and visiting patients at night are the only limitations to his present activities. He has served several times on the Board of Health as secretary and also as president and is a mem- ber of the Board of Public Works of Huntington.
On February 19, 1879, the doctor was married to Corrilla Beistle of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Clara, their only child, was married to Arthur H. Sapp, an attorney, in October, 1909. Mr. Sapp was born and reared in Ravenna, Ohio. He is a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity at Delaware, Ohio. He is also a graduate of the Indiana Law School, and is now practicing law in Huntington, in partnership with Otto H. Krieg. Helen Louise, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Sapp, was born January 19, 1913.
In order to find relaxation from the arduous cares of professional life at different times, Dr. Yingling has made tours to various sections of the country, and as these trips formed important epochs in his life's experience an outline of his travels in what was then known as the wild west before he located in Huntington will not be out of place. One of his tours was across the plains in 1864 to Virginia City, Montana, where gold had been discovered the year before, and was supposed to abound in inexhaustible quantities. He took the familiar "Salt Lake Route" as far as the Red Buttes, one hundred and fifty miles northwest of Fort Laramie on the Upper Platte River. From that point he went via "Bridger's Cut Off," an entirely new route, which was across Pow- der River, really as dry as powder when the doctor crossed it, over the Black Hills, through the Big Horn Mountain Country, along the base of the Rocky Mountains and across the mountain branches of the Yellow Stone River. The method of travel was with oxen and the famcd prairic schooner. The latter was loaded to the bows with provisions, so all the sleep enjoyed in the trip of fifteen hundred miles, requiring eighty- four days one way, was in a small muslin tent. This route, however, was not a desirable one for pleasure seekers. Water and grass were scarce, in the Powder River country, alarmingly so to the doctor and those with whom he was traveling. Despair was written on the face of every member of the company when in that region, and they were only saved a terrible death by a sagacious dog. The animal's instinct led him to water some ten miles distant, and on his return with wet hair, the party took the direction whence he came, and found water in abundance. The dog was an unusually large one, and very dignified in his bearing and a great favorite with the whole company, which consisted of about one hundred men. After that incident he was a hero and received a pat on the head or back whenever he came in contact with any of the parties
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rescued. Dire threats made against him by farmers in the neighborhood where he was raised in Ohio because of his fondness for mutton, caused his master, who was very much attached to him, to take him along on the trip, in order to save him an untimely wind-up of an inglorious career at his home, interspersed with escape from flying bullets, curses, etc., when on nightly visits to sheep pastures.
On the way to the much coveted water, as the oxen were known to be very thirsty, it was agreed among the company that just before reaching the water, each man should throw off one or more of the yokes, so as to free the animals from the wagons. When several miles from the streams, the animals showed evidence of scenting water by elevating their heads and quickening their pace. It was realized that unless the beasts were freed from the wagons, no ordinary power could restrain them from plunging headlong into the pool with the wagons. After the doctor had performed that part of the duty assigned to him, the first thing he knew until after a refreshing drink was had by lying on the bank of a nice stream of water, was to find one very large ox standing in the water quite near him on the left and another on the right, leaving simply space enough to get his head between them to the water. The stream was nearly banked full, but only two or three feet deep. The whole company and oxen drank copiously but none seemed to suffer from the replenishment.
Another incident was an interview with a grizzly bear. On this jour- ney one of the party, Mr. Popenoe, once rode in advance of the com- pany, and passing through a skirt of woods on a spur of the Rockies into an opening, found an enormous grizzly bear, standing erect, taking a survey of the intruder. The meeting was unexpected. The words of the doctor will best describe the scene. Mr. Popenoe brought his pony to a halt. The interview was conducted in pantomime, and somewhat hur- riedly. Bruin finished his performance first and manifested a desire to leave the stage. Mr. Popenoe, who had never attempted such a part before, was somewhat dashed, and fearing a breakdown he acquiesced in Bruin's intimation to postpone the interview, and with becoming speed returned to the party to recount the particulars of the most momentous occasion known to him. In the absence of Bruin he was the hero of the hour.
In a souvenir edition published at the laying of the corner-stone of the Huntington County Courthouse on Wednesday, September 13, 1904, we find the following: "About. 1900 it began to be whispered about that we were nearly out of debt and some general talk was indulged in about a new courthouse, but the politicians of both parties fought shy of the proposition, and it dragged along until in the summer of 1902. A petition was circulated about this time, but less than a hundred freeholders signed it, and the project was dropped. About this time Dr. Yingling's attention was called to the matter and he became inter- ested in it. To him to become interested in anything for the betterment of Huntington was to become an agitator, and to become an agitator meant to become a worker, until the idea crystalized into an accomplished
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fact. He talked and wrote and planned, until success crowned his efforts and he was able to lay before the board of county commissioners a petition signed by more than five hundred reputable resident freehold- ers of Huntington county. The law required five hundred. As a result, Huntington county has one of the finest courthouses in the state, at a reasonable cost of three hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
In conclusion it may be stated that few individuals in this county during the last half century have manifested a more practical public spirit in behalf of all matters of community growth and progress. His three terms on the Huntington school board should not be omitted. No profession than medicine has a more intimate value to mankind, and while his regular work has borne all the fruits of quiet and useful achievements his interests have always been broader than his profession, and his citizenship has been hardly less in importance than his value as a skillful and kindly doctor.
JOHN P. KRIEGBAUM. As business men of Huntington none have been better known or regarded with greater esteem than the members of the Kriegbaum family. In the business district, at one of the eligible sites in Huntington, is now located the large three-story brick block with the name Kriegbaum Brothers engraved on its upper front, and housing the largest stock of its kind in Huntington county. The firm of Kriegbaum Brothers is incorporated with a capital stock of fifty thou- sand dollars, and it deals in engines, threshing machines, binders, mow- ers, drills, Star wind pumps, and in wood and coal, doing both a whole- sale and retail business in the latter department. This business has been in existence on a progressive scale in Huntington for more than a quarter of a century. The name and house have always represented not only good and profitable business but to a large number of citizens have stood for the sterling character and fine integrity which are intimately associated with the Kriegbaum name:
Mr. John P. Kriegbaum, the Huntington representative of the busi- ness, was born in Cedarville, Ohio, August 13, 1863. His parents were Philip and Mary (Huben) Kriegbaum. His father, who was born in Germany in Hesse-Darmstadt, where he received his education, in 1849 emigrated to the United States and after living a time in Oldtown, Ohio, moved to Cedarville, Ohio, at which place he operated a flax mill for a long time. From there he moved to Covington, Ohio, and on January 25, 1886. located in Huntington, Indiana.
In Huntington he became identified with the hardware and imple- ment trade under the firm name of Kriegbaum and Sons. Four of his sons were interested in the business. In 1886 they established a hard- ware store at Warren, Indiana, under the firm name of Kriegbaum & Sons, and the business was later expanded by the addition of stocks in implements and coal. The Warren establishment is still conducted un- der the same name. The father, until his death, was interested in both stores. In 1906 was built in Huntington the brick block above mentioned, occupying ground space sixty-seven by one hundred and thirty-three
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feet. It is a most solid and substantial structure, three floors and a basement, and furnishes room for the large and well selected stock car- ried by the company, including merchandise of every kind required by the agricultural trade in addition to coal and wood. As already stated the firm conducts the largest business of its kind in Huntington county. John P. Kriegbaum has three brothers: George D. and Albert. are at the head of the business in Warren, while Edward W. died in March, 1911.
Mr. John P. Kriegbaum, who stands at the head of the firm in Hunt -. ington, is a most active and thorough business man. He has lived in Huntington county since he was twenty-two years of age, having acquired his education and his early business training in Ohio. Due to his care- ful and honest manner of doing business he has for years enjoyed an unassailable reputation, and what John P. Kriegbaum says has come to. be accepted as reliable and a guaranty to his many customers, a large number of whom have traded with him continuously over a long period of years. Besides his local business Mr. Kriegbaum is owner of a good farm in Huntington township, comprising one hundred and eleven acres. The land is well improved and cultivated and has excellent buildings.
In September, 1891, Mr. Kriegbaum married Miss Anna Smith, a. daughter of Albert C. Smith, an old resident of Huntington county. Mr. Smith originally came from Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Krieg- baum have been born seven children, all of them sons, mentioned as. follows: James, who is with his father; Albert, Arthur, Walter, Brice, Edward and Howard attending school and living at home. Mr. Krieg- baum has a fine residence on North Jefferson street in Huntington.
HAROLD GUTHRIE. The public business and records of Huntington county has never been entrusted to more efficient hands than to the pres- ent county auditor, Harold Guthrie, who entered upon his official duties. in January, 1912, for the regular term of four years. Mr. Guthrie has been a resident of Huntington county almost continuously for nearly fifty years, his family having located here when he was a boy. His. active career has been divided between farming and contracting, and as a citizen his popularity has been of that type which is only extended to- men of the highest integrity and public usefulness.
Harold Guthrie was born in Warren county, Ohio, in July, 1855, so- that he was nine years of age when the family moved to Huntington county. His parents were John C. and. Martha (Hunter) Guthrie, the former a native of Ohio, where he grew to manhood and was married. Grandfather William G. Guthrie was born in Virginia, became a pioneer· settler in Ohio, and served as a soldier in the war of 1812, taking part in a battle fought on the site of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The maternal grandfather was Thomas Hunter, an old resident of Warren county, Ohio, where the Hunter family of Welsh ancestry were among the pio- neers. In 1864, John C. Guthrie and family moved to Huntington county, where he bought a small farm and became a general farmer and stock raiser. Both he and his wife lived on that farm until his death. They
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in their community.
Harold Guthrie was educated by attending country schools, and what knowledge was not supplied by books he acquired from practical experience in farm work in which there was never any insufficiency. His early years were thus divided between farm and school, attending the latter chiefly in the winter seasons, and working at the plow and in the harvest during the open months of the year. When he was twenty-one years of age he started farming for himself, and a few years later, in 1880, established his own home when he married Miss Elma Kelsey, of Allen county, Indiana. Her father was Henry S. Kelsey. After his marriage Mr. Guthrie engaged as a contractor and builder, and spent about seven years in the states of Kansas and Nebraska. Returning to Huntington county, he resumed his career as a farmer, and has also done considerable building contracting in this section of the state.
Early in life Mr. Guthrie made up his mind as to his political prin- ciples, and has been a stanch supporter of the democratic party for many years. For some time he has been regarded as a leader in the local offices, and has served as a member of the Democratic County Central Committee, also on the City Central Committee and has attended conventions both county and state. A few years ago Mr. Guthrie was an active candidate for the office of auditor, and as claimed by his party, was actually elected, but as a result of errors was counted out of the race. In 1910, in the fall of that year he was elected auditor by a sub- stantial vote and according to the law now prevailing in Indiana, an en- tire year elapsed before he took charge of the office, so that his official term began in January, 1912. He is a trusted and efficient county officer and is making an enviable record.
Mr. Guthrie is affiliated with the Huntington Lodge No. 42, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks of Huntington. Besides other interests, he owns considerable city property.
RUSSELL S. GALBREATH, M. D. One of the younger physicians of Huntington county, Dr. Galbreathı has made an excellent record in his profession since opening his office at Huntington in 1911. From the first he was recognized as a young man of high standards, and exceptional equipment, and in the fall of 1912 was honored by the citizens on elec- tion to the office of coroner.
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