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 31
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HENRY W. SCHWOB. One of the young men whose energy and enter- prise have contributed something towards the increase of Huntington county agricultural wealth, and the improvement of rural life is Henry W. Schwob, whose home is in Clear Creek township. Owner of a paying farm, Mr. Schwob has his homestead to show for his years of labor and management, and in addition has heaped up some of that esteem and confidence paid by a community to the man who is a hard worker, an honest citizen, and a good provider for his household.
Henry W. Schwob was born in Jefferson township of Huntington county, February 17, 1872, a son of John and Mary (Miller) Schwob. He is of foreign parentage, his father a native of Switzerland, and his mother of Germany, their marriage occurring in the latter country, and in 1860 they emigrated to the United States, first locating in Ohio, and from there moved to Jefferson township of Huntington county. Their home was on a farm, and the father also followed his trade of shoemaker. Later they moved to Belleville, buying a farm at the northeast corner of Jefferson township, where the father spent his remaining years and died on January 6, 1907. His church was the German Reform, in which the children, numbering twelve were reared. Six of the family are living Vol. II-16
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at the present time, namely : Amos Schwob, of Warren, Indiana ; Mary, wife of William Ellerman ; Rosena, wife of August Bollhoefer, of Grant county ; Kate, wife of Leopold Ruff of Jefferson township; Henry W .; Luella, wife of Harry Posey, of Texas.
The old homestead in Jefferson township was the environment in which Henry W. Schwob was reared to manhood. In the meantime, in addition to learning farming by actual practice, he attended the public schools, and lived at home until twenty-one years of age. Since then he has been on his own resources, and has farmed and accumulated a fine improved estate of eighty-two acres in Clear Creek township.
On February 24, 1897, Mr. Schwob married Lelah Myers, a daughter of M. S. Myers of Jefferson township, Mrs. Schwob having been born in the town of Warren, July 23, 1874, and reared in that vicinity, getting her education at Warren. After graduating from the common schools of Jefferson township, she attended the Marion Normal College, and be- fore her marriage taught two terms in Jefferson township. Mr. and Mrs. Schwob became the parents of two sons, John W., born January 16, 1898, who graduated from the common schools, and has taken two years of work in the Warren high school, and one who died in infancy, named Henry Myers Schwob. The family belong to the Christian church at Belleville, and in politics Mr. Schwob is a Democrat, but has been little concerned with practical politics, although always ready to do his share of community work.
J. H. NEFF. A resident of Huntington county since 1900, Mr. Neff has been one of the progressive and successful farmers in Clear Creek township since that time. In the early years of his manhood he began working on a farm, and in addition to experience also accumulated a small capital, was married at the age of twenty-four, and with the loyal co-operation of his wife has steadily prospered ever since. His name in Huntington county counts for good citizenship, for effective business management, and for the honesty and integrity always asso- ciated with the best citizens.
John H. Neff was born in Wabash county, Indiana, February 13, 1859, a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Fisher) Neff. The founder of the family in America was a Virginian named George Neff, who lived and died in that old commonwealth. Benjamin Neff was born in Vir- ginia, and was three times married, his first wife dying in Virginia. After coming to Wabash county, Indiana, he married Elizabeth Fisher, and they became the parents of six children, of whom John H., the oldest, is the only one now living. The father brought his family to Wabash county, about 1855, and that locality was his home until his death. He was a minister in the Church of the Brethren, and active in the affairs of that denomination until the close of his life in 1899. After the death of his second wife he was again married, and the one daughter of that union is Daisy May, who is unmarried and living in Chicago.
John H. Neff spent his early years on the old farm and as soon as old enough he began assisting in the duties of the farm, and his oppor-
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tunities to go to school were limited to the winter seasons. At the age of twenty-one he started out for himself, worked as a farm hand by the month and continued that way until his marriage.
On June 25, 1883, Mr. Neff married Sarah E. Miller of Huntington county. Sarah E. Miller was born February 2, 1861, a daughter of John and Sarah (Seidner) Miller. Her father, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 1827, died at Huntington on March 7, 1912. He was married in Wayne county, his wife being a native of that locality, and they moved to Whitley county, Indiana, in 1856. About 1875 the Miller family moved to Huntington county, and in 1898 the parents retired to a home in the city of Huntington. John Miller by his first marriage was the father of thirteen children, ten of whom are yet living. Mrs. Neff was fourteen years of age when the family came to Huntington county, and her education was acquired chiefly in Whitley county.
After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Neff they rented a farm in Wabash county, and that was how they got their start. After some years as renters, they were able to purchase a small place, and through their united labor gradually prospered and got ahead in the world, until April 1, 1900, they came to Huntington county and bought the west half of the northwest quarter of section twenty-five in Clear Creek town- ship. This is a farm possessing many improvements and highly valuable. It is located five miles north of Huntington.
Mr. and Mrs. Neff have two children: Mertie M., a graduate of the common schools, is the wife of H. P. France, of Clear Creek township, and they have two children, Mark and Sarah. J. Quinter, the younger, is a graduate of the Clear Creek high school. The family have active membership in the Church of the Brethren, and Mr. Neff is one of the trustees in the Shock church. His politics is Republican. Mr. Neff pursues his farming industry on a common-sense basis, raises much grain, and feeds practically all of it to his stock. He keeps some high grade cattle and hogs, and good judgment and industry are the secret of his growing success.
WILLIAM F. WETTERS. Among the enterprising agriculturists of Huntington county who have improved their property, and have shown their ability and progressiveness by taking advantage of modern inven- tions to increase their capacity and decrease the cost of production is William F. Wetters, whose farm is situated in section nine of Clear Creek township. Coming of an agricultural family, which for years has con- tributed its members to the tilling of the soil, he has made a place for himself among the substantial men of his community.
William F. Wetters is a native of Huntington county, born in War- ren township, December 11, 1875. His parents, both well remembered residents of the same county, are Jacob J. and Charlotte (Rice) Wetters, who still have their home in Warren township. There were four chil- dren in the family, only two of whom are now living, a brother of Wil- liam being John F. Wetters, who is also a farmer in Clear Creek township.
William F. Wetters grew up on a farm, and at the proper age en-
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tered the district school, which he attended chiefly in the winter seasons for a number of years, and later was for three years in the high school at Bippus. His first important work when he started out for himself was in the construction department of the Bippus Telephone Company, with which he was employed for one year. He also worked at the car- penter's trade for one year, and since that time has given his entire attention to farming.
In November, 1905, Mr. Wetters married Miss Louise C. Kiser of Warren township. Her father is Martin Kiser, of that township. Mrs. Wetters received her education in the common schools and also in the Bippus high school. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wetters lived in Bippus about six months, and in 1906 moved to their present farm in section nine of Clear Creek township. Mr. Wetters is also a stockholder in the Bippus State Bank.
Of their children, it should be noted that five were born to their marriage, and the three now living are: Ruth, aged six years ; Dorothy, aged four; and Grace, two years old. Mr. Wetters is a member of the West Point Lodge No. 688, I. O. O. F., in which lodge he is past noble grand and a member of the Grand Lodge. Both he and his wife are members of the Rebekah Lodge at Bippus, and Mr. Wetters is a trustee in the West Point Lodge. In politics he has always supported the Repub- lican ticket, and has taken considerable part in local politics, having served as delegate to county conventions on different occasions.
DR. ISAAC A. SMITH. But little over several decades ago "scientific agriculture" was little more than a high-sounding phrase; farming was generally considered as an occupation in which the surplus sons of the old-time large families might find their natural and only means of livelihood. With the passing of the years, however, developments of a startling character have been brought about that have entirely changed the aspect of farming as well as the attitude of mankind toward this vocation. Each year witnesses remarkable progress along this line, and to understand this aroused and continued interest, the effective work carried on during the last fifteen years by men like Dr. Isaac A. ("Soy Bean") Smith, of Warren, must be considered. A physician by pro- fession, he gave up his practice to experiment along agricultural lines, and through his earnest and unceasing labors has contributed materially to Indiana's importance as an agricultural state, and the Bean Grove farm, a tract of 160 acres located three miles north of Warren, Indiana, on the southwest one-quarter of section 4, township 26 N., range 10, E., in Salamonie township, has been the scene of some remarkable develop- ments and discoveries.
Doctor Smith was born on the farm on which he now resides, April 1, 1849, and is a son of David G. and Mary (Johnson) Smith, the former a native of Muskingum county, Ohio, and the latter of Harrison county, that state. They were married in Ohio, and in 1844 migrated to Indiana, locating in Salamonie township, where they entered a tract of 160 acres, the quarter-section described above, all at that time covered by a dense
Isaac Q Smith. Amanda J. Smith.
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growth of timber. Mr. Smith engaged in farming, cleared his land and became one of the substantial men of his community. He was pro- gressive in his work and public-spirited as a citizen, and is remembered as a man of firm convictions and even temperament. He was the father of five children, of whom two are now living: Thomas J., a resident of Sedgwick City, Kansas; and Isaac A.
Dr. Isaac A. Smith received his carly education in the district school, following which he became a pupil in a select school at Warren. At the age of eighteen years he secured a teacher's license and began his educational work in Jefferson township, and, when opportunity offercd, he attended Shurtleff College. Following this, he entered the depart- ment of medicine and surgery at the University of Michigan, and was graduated therefrom with the class of 1881, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the same ycar he established himself in practice at Kelso, Indiana, and was rapidly rising in the ranks of his profession when ill health caused him to give it up after five and one-half years. Returning to the farm, he devoted himself to the raising of small fruits for about fifteen years, and at the end of that period began to concentrate his activities upon the development of the soy bean and to legume inocu- lation, in which he has become so well known all over Indiana and the surrounding states that he has been given the nick-name "Soy Bean" Smith.
To quote from Doctor Smith's book on this product, "the soy bean is probably the best plant known at present to grow protein for domestic animals in what is known as the corn belt, and second only to clover as an agent to supply nitrogen to the soil-even this latter point may be contested, if we consider the comparative time cach crop occupies the land, and are satisfied to remove and sell off the land as small a per cent of the crop as we do of the clover. As compared with the cow pea it is hardier, may be planted carlier in the season and makes its full plant growth more quickly." It is interesting to note the manner in which Doctor Smith began to secure successful results in the cultivation of the soy bean. We are permitted to quote from the Indianapolis News, which, in an extensive article, said in part :
"These beans were little known among the farm products in Indiana and many farmers believed them, as some think of alfalfa, impossible of production in this state. Doctor Smith worked along with reasonable success, but, somchow, the soil did not bring forth the desired yield. In 1905 he received a circular from the Purdue agricultural experiment sta- tion telling of the tests made on the Purdue University farm in soil inoculation. The circular described the inoculation of soil by trans- ferring bacteria-laden ground from a healthy farm to one lacking in the necessary nitrogen. In this case, the much dreaded word, bacteria, mcant profit instead of loss. The Perdue scientists made it clear that the transfer of soils containing the bacteria found on the roots of leguminous plants would reproduce a yield of the same crops in another field if all other soil conditions were right. Sour soil would, of course, reject all attempts at inoculation, but such conditions are casily remedied. The
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bulletin said, in discussing soil inoeulation 'Inoculation
may be obtained by scattering over the field to be treated a small quantity (a hundred pounds or more an aere) from a field where the partieular legume to be grown has been suecessfully produced.' It was the last sentence quoted above that caught the eye of Dr. Isaac Smith. If his farm could be made to successfully grow soy beans by the mere transfer of bacteria from the field where soy beans had already been grown he was going to give his farm some soy bean bacteria, as a soil strengthener. One morning Doctor Smith walked into the office of Prof. A. T. Wianeko, soil expert of the Purdue University school of agricul- ture. Under his arm he carried a large gunnysaek.
" 'I'd like to get a little soil from your soy bean field to inoeulate my farm,' Doctor Smith said. Professor Wiancko liked the businesslike tonc of the farmer, but was compelled to reply: 'I'm sorry, but we're not permitted to give away any of the soil of the Purdue farm. If we did that it wouldn't be long before we would be without a farm.' 'But I just want a little,' Doctor Smith persisted. 'I've been trying to raise soy beans on my farm, but they don't seem to have the proper amount of growing energy. I thought I'd try inoeulating a little piece of ground in a field where soy beans had never been grown. It struck me you fellows here would have just the right kind of soil to give me a start.' Professor Wianeko found in Doetor Smith exactly the sort of man for whom the university's experiment station was looking. The school had preached the gospel of soil inoculation, and here was a man ready to try it. The Purdue expert recalled that the men on the farm were employed at that moment plowing in a field that had contained soy beans. He de- cided to give Doctor Smith a start, and the two went to the soy bean field. There they found the soil rich with the little nodules that con- tain the nitrogen-giving power. Professor Wiancko explained the fine qualities of this form of plant baeteria and then gave Doetor Smith all the soil he eould carry. The Huntington county farmer hurried homeward. On his way, he told several farmers of his intention to inocu- late his farm and they laughed at him. Doetor Smith selected for his experiment a corner of one of his least produetive fields, a traet that had been steadily farmed for years and praetieallly was without soil life. He prepared the traet for inoculation and then plaecd the Purdue farm soil in a corn drill. Every particle had been erushed so that it would easily pass through the drill. The soil was then distributed over the traet. It was a happy experiment. Doctor Smith's soy bean seed brought forth a good yield the next year, and he then transferred some of the soil from the yielding traet to another that was nonproductive. Gradually he has inoculated his farm until today he has sixty acres in soy beans and is making money out of them. Not only is Doctor Smith finding the growing of soy beans profitable as a hog and cattle fattener, but he is marketing hundreds of bushels to other farmers for seed. He is also selling soil for inoeulation purposes and, further, is preparing for the market a process of inoeulation that will enter into competition with other prepared bacterial cultures now on the market. He says his
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process is to be used in connection with the transfer of soils, but the method he holds a secret. There are several patented methods of inocu- lation, some of which the agricultural experts say are effective while many others are pure fakes and cost American farmers thousands of dollars a year.
"Doctor Smith's experience with soy beans shows what is possible in soil development. When he began experimenting with bacteria he was the only farmer in north central Indiana who felt confident of the result. As a scientific man he knew he would at least improve his farm. From the start the soy beans made good. So successful was the experiment that in 1911 Doctor Smith told Professor Wiancko that he was in doubt regarding the future disposition of his soy bean crop. He did not know whether to sell the beans or feed them to the hogs. He had been receiv- ing three dollars a bushel for the beans. With pencil and paper and a good pair of scales he proved to himself that even at three dollars a bushel he could make more money feeding the beans to his stock than by selling the bulk beans. He weighed his hogs at the beginning of the fattening season. So splendidly did they thrive on the beans that he figured soy beans at three dollars a bushel as a loss. He figured he could at least make $3.50 or $4.00 a bushel out of the beans as they produced fat on the hogs. In 1912 he had a crop of sixty acres of soy beans. He has averaged better than twenty-two bushels to the acre in past years. Doctor Smith has an interesting sample of this year's (1912) soy bean crop. He has cut one stalk that contains seven hundred pods, or about fourteen hundred beans, there being an average of two beans in one pod. The physician-farmer has been trying the experiment of feeding the soy beans to his cows, and he declares there is no greater butter fat producer."
Here, then, is a record of achievement well worth the life labors of any man. Throughout his career, Doctor Smith has steadfastly en- deavored to raise the standard of agriculture and to encourage the efforts of his fellow agriculturists to make their land more productive. Witness the closing paragraph of his booklet on legume inoculation pub- lished in 1913: "In our efforts to build up a prosperous and permanent agriculture, we must keep continuously before us the fact that all plant life depends upon a series of chemical changes, mutually dependent upon each other, forming as it were an endless chain, whose working strength is measured by its weakest link, working automatically when the raw material and the proper conditions are supplied. For instance the raw material for the manufacturer of protein is everywhere inexhaustable. Its manufacture is governed chiefly by activities of the Azotic bacteria, and these again depend upon the existence and thrift of their particular family legume, and its vigorous development is possible only when abun- dantly supplied, in available form with the various elements entering its make-up; these again depend on the disintegrated remains of former generations of plant life; and thus the round moves on with a vigor which rises and falls in direct ratio with the activities that strengthen each individual link in the chain and determine the sum of results. It
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is therefore evident that if we would draw largely on this store of unlimited wealth of nitrogen, we must have a chain that draws, and supply each and every link in that chain with the necessary strength to draw the load we want, and it rests with each individual husband- man to determine how heavy a load he will make it draw." Even when experimenting with small fruits, Doctor Smith was considered an authority in the farmers' institutes in this line, and it is needless to state that his advice and counsel are being continuously sought in the direction of his present endeavor. He specializes in the breeding of Duroe hogs, with which he has had most excellent success. While he has been an extremely busy man, with large interests to make demands upon his attention, he has nevertheless been ever ready to bear his full share of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. For eight years he served as president of the council of Huntington county, and at the end of that period resigned. During this time the building of the New Court House took place and other large matters taken care of, and in every capacity the Doctor displayed his eapability and through respect for the high responsibilities devolving upon him. He has been a supporter of republican principles all of his life. With his wife and children he attends the Baptist church, where he is serving as a member of the board of trustees.
On April 15, 1876, Doctor Smith was married to Miss Amanda Gar- rett, who was born in Ashland county, Ohio, and reared in Wells county, Indiana, and to this union there have been born two children: Bertha E., a graduate of the Warren High school, who spent one term at the State Normal school and one year at Franklin College, now the wife of Clar- ence A. Craft, of Kokomo, Indiana, a graduate of Purdue University ; and Lucian W., a graduate of the Warren High school and the Indiana Medical College and now a surgeon in the soldiers' home, at Lafayette.
HENRY E. LAYMON, M. D. The doctor of medicine occupies an estab- lished place in any community. His standing in his profession argues in itself for the possession of superior ability, and it is not, therefore, unusual to find one of the medieal profession standing high in other fields of endeavor. Dr. Henry E. Laymon has firmly established him- self in the confidence of the people of Warren, Indiana, not alone as a master of the healing art, but as a skilled financier whose management of large interests has at all times been such as to give him prominence in a community not lacking in able bankers. His praetiee in his learned vocation is large, and as president of the First National Bank he is con- stantły making his helpful influence felt.
Doctor Laymon was born in Jackson township, Wells county, Indiana, December 23, 1867, and is a son of Jacob A. and Lockey A. (Trout) Laymon. When he was six years of age he was brought to Jefferson township, Huntington county, where the Laymons had lived since the presideney of Martin Van Buren, during whose administration Joseph Laymon had entered land from the Government here. Doctor Laymon early decided upon a medieal career, but the family was in modest finan-
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cial circumstances, and he experienced some difficulty in obtaining his medical training. After completing the curriculum of the country dis- trict schools, he attended the normal school at Marion during the sum- mer months, and finally, in 1893, was able to become a student in the Indiana Medical School. He worked his way through this institution, and in 1897 graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, at once commencing practice in Warren, which city has since been his field of activity. His ability soon attracted to him a large patronage, and he has continued to be one of the leading physicians and surgeons of the county. He keeps fully abreast of the advances made in his calling, and is a valued and active member of the Huntington County and Indiana State Medical Societies. In 1905, Doctor Laymon was one of the organ- izers of the First National Bank of Warren, of which he was elected president in 1907, and his capable management of its affairs has since made this institution one of the most substantial in this part of the state, attracting depositors from all over this and adjoining counties. Another helpful enterprise with which he is connected is the Warren Telephone Company, which he helped to organize, and in which he holds a director- ship. Few men take a more active interest in the welfare and advance- ment of their community. Fraternally, the Doctor is connected with King Lodge No. 246, F. & A. M .; Artesian Lodge No. 388, Knights of Pythias, and Salamonie Lodge No. 392, Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. His political support is given to the candidates and policies of the democratic party.
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