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 30
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As has previously been intimated, Mr. Burket has figured promi- nently in local and county politics as a Republican for a good many years. He has served as assessor of the township on several occasions, and has also served as a member of the County Board of Commissioners, to which he was elected in 1880 and was a member of the board for three consecutive years. In 1890 he was elected to the office of county assessor of Huntington county, and in that office he served for six years. He has been a member of Central Committee of the Republican party and has served as a delegate to several state conventions. In all these offices and posts he has acquitted himself most creditably, and has manifested a healthy and good citizen-like interest in the affairs of the party.
On March 24, 1867, Mr. Burket was married to Mary A. Ulrich, a daughter of Samuel and Julia A. (Davis) Ulrich. She was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on June 13, 1848, and at the age of nine months came with her parents to Huntington county, where the family has since resided. Of the five children born to them, four are now living. Nancy C. became the wife of Jacob Boehmer and is now deceased ; Ada married R. F. Andrews of Lancaster township; Samantha J. is the wife of Daniel Wintrode, of Wabash county, Indiana ; Jesse A. married Laura Kaufman of Huntington, Indiana ; and Levi is a resident of Lancaster township.
The family are members of the Church of the Brethern, and Mr. Burket is a deacon in the church and a member of its Board of Trustees. He has long been an enthusiastic worker in the Sunday school
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and he was chairman of the Lancaster township Sunday school for three terms, having done much to stimulate interest in the work of the branch of the church, and to extend the scope of the helpfulness of the Sunday school, both locally and throughout the county. He helped to organize the first school that had its existence in Lancaster township, and has done much to keep alive the flame of enthusiasm in the organization.
A man of few words, but of the most mature and sound judgment, he is much sought by his many friends and acquaintances in the town and county, where he is widely known as one of the honorable and estimable citizens of the community.
JOSEPH FOULKE. The Foulke family was established in Warren township of Huntington county, more than sixty years ago. The repre- sentatives have been chiefly identified with farming, and their names are synonymous with good citizenship and personal integrity. Joseph Foulke was a child when brought to this county, and has long been one of the successful and substantial farmers. He is the owner of two hun- dred and thirty-three acres, situated in sections thirty-three and thirty- four in Warren township, and the activities which have brought him the most money have been his crops of grain and his hogs.
Joseph Foulke was born in Wayne county, Indiana, near Richmond, on October 16, 1849, a son of Samuel and Asennath (Foulke) Foulke. The father was born in Warren county, Ohio, and the mother in Berks county, Pennsylvania. They came to Indiana, locating in Wayne county, where they were married, and in March, 1851, moved to Huntington county, and settled on a farm two miles south, and a half a mile west of the town of Bippus in section thirty-three, of township twenty-nine north, range eight east. It was on that farm that the parents spent the rest of their days, engaged in the quiet pursuits of agriculture, and were always known and respected as people of great industry and honor. The first home they had in Warren township was a log cabin, and that was subsequently replaced by a frame dwelling house that is still standing, having been erected in 1869. There were four children and two died in infancy. Besides Joseph, the only other representative of the family now living is Charles Foulke of Kansas.
Joseph Foulke was sixteen months old when the family came to Hunt- ington county. He grew up here on a farm, and alternated between the public schools and the home place in his activities until he was twenty- one years old. He then went west to Kansas, lived there from 1871 to 1873, and returned to Indiana, where he has ever since been well content to pursue his vocation.
In January, 1875, his father died, and in the settlement of the estate he bought the old place, and has since increased its acreage and has made one of the finest farms in the township.
On May 17, 1876, Mr. Foulke married Leah Holloway, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana. Their six living children are as follows: Lewis W., a bookkeeper in Chicago; Charles of Marion, Indiana ; Fannie L., wife of Charles B. Culp, of Marion, Indiana; Ethel, wife of D. E.
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Myers, of Warren township; Joseph L., a farmer in Warren township; and Lloyd, a carpenter and unmarried. Mr. Foulke is a birthright Quaker, and represents that fine old Quaker stock that was so prominent in Wayne county, from which center it spread over large areas of eastern Indiana.
In politics he has always been a Republican, but in 1912 lined up with the Progressive party.
ADAM SCHENKEL. One of the most prosperous agricultural men of this county is Adam Schenkel, a pioneer of the county and of Dallas township. He was born in this town and county, in the house where he now lives, and all his life has been spent here. A farmer by birth and inclination, he has prospered beyond the prosperity that is accorded to the average man, and he today owns three valuable and productive farms in Huntington and Wabash counties. The farm on which he re- sides is Fruit and Grain Farm, a fine place of 125 acres. His second place, a stock farm, operated by his son, is a place of 120 acres, and the third farm is located in Wabash county. This place of eighty acres makes up a total acreage to his credit of 325 acres, all of which is profitably and wisely managed by himself and his associates.
Adam Schenkel was born on December 30, 1854, and is a son of Adam Schenkel and his wife, Margaret (Christman) Schenkel. The parents were both natives of Germany. They came to the United States in their young days, the wife in 1840 and Mr. Schenkel in 1837, and located in Starke county, Ohio, where they met and married, coming to Dallas township of Huntington county in 1847. They located at that time on the farm that Mr. Schenkel of this review now occupies, and there they spent the remainder of their lives. To them were born seven children : John, a resident of Dallas township; Katie, the wife of Adam Young of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Mary, who married Frederick Gret- zinger, of Wabash county, Indiana; Peter, a farmer of Wabash county ; Sarah, the widow of Charles O. Miller, of Wabash county ; Elizabeth, the wife of Fred Holbert, also of Wabash county; and Adam Schenkel of this review.
Adam Schenkel has always made his home on the farm where he now lives. As a boy he attended the German Parochial schools and also the public schools of Dallas township. When the parents passed away, he purchased the home place from the heirs, and continued as before. He married Elizabeth Keaffaber on November 20, 1879, she being a native daughter of Wabash county, born there on November 27, 1859, and educated after the same manner as was her husband. They settled quietly down to farm life, and have continued here cheerfully and con- tentedly in the work for which they felt themselves best fitted by inclina- tion and training, and the results of their labors have fully justified their choice of a calling. Prosperity has waited upon them, and two valuable farms have been added to their holdings with the passing years, each place being well kept and cared for by one of their sons. To them were born nine children, brief mention of whom may be made 'at this point.
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Sophia,'the eldest, is a graduate of the local schools, and is now the wife of William Defembaugh, of Montpelier, Indiana. Joseph, who had a similar educational training, married Lena Gemmer and occupies and operates his father's stock farm in Dallas township. Rose is the wife of Jacob Ankeny of New Philadelphia, Ohio. Mollie is unmarried and lives at home. Emma is the wife of William Bickel of Dallas township. Hattie is the wife of Elmer Stephan; and Lena, Freida and Esther are at home.
The family have membership in the St. Paul's Evangelical church and are leading members thercin. For ten years past Mr. Schenkel has been a trustee of the church, and others of the family have active inter- ests in the work of the church. Politically Mr. Schenkel is among the leading Democrats of Dallas township, or this part of Huntington county, and has had a voice in the leading activities of the party in this com- munity for a great many years. Never an office seeker, he has been well content to see that able and honorable men were placed in the local offices, in so far as his influence could bring about that end. He has manifested a genuine interest in the welfare of the community, and has done all one man could do to promote the best interests of the township at all times.
Mr. Schenkel also owns city property in Montpelier and Marion, Indiana, is a stockholder in the Huntington Trust Company, the Bippus State Bank, and he is president of the Bippus Telephone Company, so that his interests in the county are of a wide and varied nature, not con- fined alone to agricultural activities, but embracing financial and in- dustrial operations as well.
ADAM E. MATTERN. North Dallas Farm is the very appropriate title that Adam E. Mattern gives to his place of eighty acres in Dallas town- ship, lying some two miles north of Andrews and three-quarters of a mile west of that place, on the German Road. Here Mr. Mattern carries on an extensive farming enterprise that has long since placed him in the class of prosperous farmers of the township, and in consideration of his standing in his community and the nature of his accomplishments in his chosen enterprise, it is fitting and proper that some mention be made of him and his work in a publication of the nature and purpose of this one.
Adam E. Mattern was born in the city of Wabaslı on August 22, 18,64, and is a son of Valentine and Catherine (Schwartz) Mattern, a sketch being dedicated to the father in other pages of this work. Both parents were natives of Germany but in view of the extended considera- tion that is accorded to them elsewhere in these pages, further details in that regard will not be required at this point. It will suffice to say that they located in Wabash county in 1848, after their marriage, and after some time settled in the city of Wabash, where the father died.
Adam E. Mattern is one of nine children of his parents, eight of whom are now living .. The others are Peter, V. A., John, Anna, Eliza- beth, Helena, and Carolina, concerning whom further mention will be found in the sketch dedicated to the father.
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Adam E. Mattern was reared on a farm, for the most part, and had his education, which was somewhat limited in its nature, in the public schools of Wabash county. He remained an inmate of his parents' home until he reached his majority, at which age he rented a farm and began its operation. On December 13, 1888, Mr. Mattern married Elizabeth Fleck, who was born in Dallas township, and who had her education in the schools of her native community. She was a woman of German ancestry, her parents having been born there. In 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Mattern took up their residence in Dallas township, and there Mr. Mat- tern has a fine farm, with a modern and comfortable dwelling, and suit- able buildings to meet the other needs of the placc. Besides this place of eighty acres he has another farm of forty acres just south of the original place, and the two yield the family a comfortable income, as a result of the careful and efficient management to which they are subjected.
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mattern. Herman, the eldest, was graduated from the Andrews high school and for two years taught the home school. He is now a student in the State Normal. Louis is also a high school graduate and is now attending Purdue Uni- versity. Clara, the youngest, is attending the Andrews high school, and will doubtless continue with a college training, also.
Mr. Mattern and his family are members of the St. Paul's Evangelical church, and Mr. Mattern is fraternally identified by his membership in the K. O. T. M., Andrews Tent. Politically he is a Democrat, and takes an active part in the politics of the county. He was superintendent of the gravel roads in this section of the county, and has done much to raise the standard of the roads in the district covered by his jurisdiction. At the present time he is a candidate for the office of trustec. Aside from his farming interests, Mr. Mattern is a stockholder in the State Bank of Andrews, and has in other ways identified himself with the leading enterprises of the town.
GEORGE W. SWARTZ. In agricultural communities throughout the country there will be found from time to time men who devote their energics especially to the cultivation of a certain product, and it is a habit that is especially commendable, for many reasons that need not be enumerated here. But it is seldom that one chances upon one of these specialists who gives himself to the production of the horseradish root. This, however, is the especial province of George W. Swartz, and it has remained for him to gain a degree of fame as the cultivator, manu- facturer and marketer of that well known and altogether delightful relish. So widely known is Mr. Swartz as the devotee of this particular industry that he is known far and near as "Horseradish" Swartz, and it is a title that he is in no wisc inclined to refute, or take exceptions to.
George W. Swartz was born in Portage county, Ohio, on November 27, 1839, and is a son of George Swartz and the grandson of Mathias Swartz, the latter a native of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry, his parents having come from Germany. The mother of the subject was Mary Pauling, and she was born in Maryland, though her parents were
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of English birth. The father was a prominent Methodist all his days. He was a member of the church from boyhood and a class leader in the church for thirty years. He was the son of a Methodist preacher, Mathias Swartz having preached for fifty years from the pulpits of that denomination. He died in 1850. In 1856 George Swartz left his native state and came to Indiana, settling in Akron, where he lived until his death in 1869. He was the father of a family of twelve children, of which number only two are living at this writing,-Mathias Swartz of Toledo, Ohio, and George W. of this review. The first mentioned is a veteran of the Civil war, having served three years as a member of an Indiana regiment.
George W. Swartz had his somewhat limited education in the dis- trict schools of Ohio and Akron, Indiana, and when he was twenty-one years old he enlisted in the Union army. After a brief service he was mustered out and returned to his home in Akron, where he turned his attention to the carpenter business and worked at the trade for some time. It was some years ago that he settled in Dallas township and began to farm, and he gradually interested himself in the growing of horseradish for the market. His success was so marked, even from his small operations, that the possibilities of the work made a strong appeal to him, and he gradually worked into the business on a larger scale, experiencing a success that has fully justified the close attention he has given to the matter. He has a ready market for his product in Hunting- ton and Andrews, and the fact that the best horseradish on the market in this section of the state is the Swartz product, gave rise to the familiar title "Horseradish" Swartz.
In September, 1869, Mr. Swartz married Isadore Bauserman, and to them have been born six children, five of whom are now living. Frank is a resident of Huntington; Lenora; Edna, of Michigan City; Clara, the wife of James Wilson of Seattle, Washington; and Ray, unmarried and living at home.
The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, having adhered through four generations to the faith of the family. Mrs. Swartz, however, has membership in the Holiness Christian church, and she is a class leader and an ardent worker in that church. Mr. Swartz is a member of Andrews Post No. 116, G. A. R., and in his politics he is a republican, alert and active in the interests of the party, in so far as his influence reaches.
The Swartz family is well established in Dallas township, and are held among the best people of the community, wherein they have a wide circle of friends of which they are well worthy.
WILLIAM E. SHARP. In Dallas township, Huntington county, Indiana, there are few among the agricultural men of the community who have fared farther in that domain than has William E. Sharp, proprietor and owner of Fairview Stock and Fruit Farm. The place, which covers one hundred and five acres, is located in the Peter Gour Reserve in Section 24 of Dallas township, less than a mile distant from the town of Andrews,
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and something like four and a half miles southwest of Huntington. Mr. Sharp is a native of the Hoosier state, born in LaGro township, Wabash county, on January 20, 1867, and he is a son of George G. and Anna (Williamson) Sharp. The father was born in Philadelphia, and the mother was a native of Huntertown, New Jersey.
George G. Sharp came with his parents to Indiana when he was a boy, and with them located in LaGro township, where he was reared to manhood, and where his parents lived for a good many years, though late in life the elder Sharp went to Pendleton, Indiana, and there operated a woolen mill with a considerable degree of success. The Williamson family came from their New Jersey home to Indiana in an early day and located in Polk township, where they spent the rest of their lives. It was in Polk township that George Sharp met and married his wife, Anna Williamson, and after their marriage they took up their residence in Wabash county, in the vicinity of Dora, later moving to LaGro town- ship. The father enlisted, with the outbreak of the war, in the Seventy- fifth Indiana and was later a member of the One Hundred and Fifty- third, in which he served until the close of the war. To these parents were born five sons, three of whom are here mentioned : William E., of this review; Isaac O., deceased; and G. Ray Sharp, who is a graduate of the Monument City high school and of the Terra Haute State Normal school, and is now superintendent of the Linwood school of La Fayette, Indiana.
William E. Sharp was about nine years old when the family moved to Huntington county and settled in Polk township, and he attended the schools of the latter community for a time, and later was a student at Andrews. He advanced especially well, and became a teacher, being employed for eight years in the schools of Huntington.
In 1890 Mr. Sharp married Amanda L. Slusser, who was born in Warren township in 1870, and educated in the schools of Andrews. She died in October, 1911, leaving two children: Guy G., a graduate of the Andrews High School and the Marion Normal and now a teacher in the schools of Lancaster township, and May M., also an Andrews graduate, and now the wife of Everett Brown.
In 1898 Mr. Sharp gave up his teaching activities and turned his attention to the business of farming,-a work for which he had much early training, and which coupled with a natural fondness for the in- dustry, has brought him a pleasing success. He is one of the foremost men of his community, and by reason of his accomplishments in an edu- cational way as well as in the farming industry, he is rightly regarded as a man of more than average versatility.
In his politics, Mr. Sharp was always a stanch republican up to the time of the presidential election campaign of 1912, when he joined forces with the Progressive ranks and has since given his support to the new party. He has had a leading part in local politics, and his voice is heard to excellent purpose when matters relating to the civic welfare are under discussion. Between the years of 1905 and 1909 he was a member of the Board of Trustees of Dallas township, and there he did excellent
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work in the interests of the community. Fraternally he has membership in the Knights of the Maccabees, Tent 167, of Andrews, Indiana, and he is active in the work of the order.
Few men in the community, if indeed any, have a better standing, socially or otherwise, and none has a wider circle of friends in and about the county.
JOSEPH A. SCHENKEL. Among the enterprising younger agricul- turists of Huntington county, one who has been especially progressive in inaugurating improvements on his property and who has already made a name for himself as a breeder and raiser of fine stock is Joseph A. Schenkel, one of the successful men of Dallas township. Coming of an agricultural family, which has for years contributed its members to the vocation of tilling the soil, he has at the age of thirty accomplished what many men do not attain until past middle life, and his fine farm elo- quently testifies to his ability in a calling which is at once the most dignified and most valuable among all the activities of man.
A native son of Huntington county, Joseph A. Schenkel was born in Dallas township on March 28, 1884. His father was Adam Schenkel, a citizen who in his generation was esteemed for his many excellent qualities of character and accomplishment. The son was reared on his father's farm, and attended the public schools of Huntington county. Mr. Schenkel now has charge of his father's extensive farming properties in Dallas township, and having been thoroughly trained to agriculture and stock farming from early youth has accepted the opportunities pre- sented by twentieth century methods and has gained a reputation for success in connection with every one of his undertakings. He is espe- cially identified with the business of breeding thoroughbred Belgian and Percheron horses, Shorthorn cattle and hogs. His work along thesc lines has been very successful, and he has helped considerably in raising the standard of horses and cattle among the farmers of his town and throughout the county.
In August, 1908, Mr. Schenkel married Lena Gemmer, who was born in Wabash county. To their union has been born three children, as follows : Louise, aged six ; Elsie, four years of age ; and Paul, about one year of age. Mr. Schenkel and his family are members of the St. Paul's Evangelical church, and in politics he is a Democrat. The Schenkel family is well established in this community, and they have a host of good friends in and about the township, who have known them for many years and who have esteemed them for their many excellent qualitics.
JOHN B. STOFFEL. About thirty-five years ago John B. Stoffel came from his native Germany to America. He was then a young man with a few hundred dollars of capital, and with a courage and industry equal to all the hardships and hazards confronting him in his carcer in the new world. Mr. Stoffel has for the past twenty-five years been a pros- perous farmer in Clear Creek township of Huntington county and long since reached a place of high esteem in the community and has founded
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a beautiful and comfortable home and become able to provide for his growing family and at the same time enjoy the comforts of life for himself.
John B. Stoffel was born in the Kingdom of Luxemburg, December 6, 1852. His parents were Peter and Margaret (Feight) Stoffel, both of whom spent all their lives in the old country. There were ten children and three of them came to the United States.
John B. Stoffel was reared and educated in his native land, was trained to habits of industry, and thrift, and on coming to the United States in 1878 possessed six hundred dollars in cash. His first location was in the city of Huntington where he was employed by his brother in a tannery for a year and a half. After that he bought a farm ,in Jackson township, and settled down to a career of farming. Mr. Stoffel married Margaret Ludwig, who came from the old country, and who died a few years after their marriage. She left one son, Charles Stoffel, who now lives in Huntington, and another child died in infancy.
On November 17, 1887, Mr. Stoffel married Rosie Scheu, who was born July 15, 1858, in Germany. Their marriage was celebrated in Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, and they came to Huntington county and located on the farm in Clear Creek township where they still reside. Eight chil- dren have been born to their marriage as follows: Frank, born Novem- ber 11, 1889; Celia, born November 23, 1890; August, born March 21, 1891; Peter, born July 14, 1893; Edward, born February 14, 1895; Oscar E., born July 10, 1897; Hilda, born May 6, 1899 ; and Fred, born December 10, 1901. The family are members of the Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic church in Huntington and are quiet but substantial people who are prospering and are active workers in behalf of their friends and neighbors ..
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