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 32
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In 1900 Doctor Laymon was married to Miss Vienna Ruby, of Ran- dolph county, Indiana, a lady of superior accomplishments, who was formerly a popular teacher in the public schools. To this union there have been born three children: Ruby, who is thirteen years of age; Robert, aged eleven years ; and Ruskin, who is nine years old, all attending school.
REV. EDGAR L. JONES, superintendent of the Methodist Memorial Home, at Warren, Indiana, is a man eminently fitted for the work he is now carrying on. An earnest and zealous laborer in the religious field, during the many years he has been a member of the ministry he has gained wide experience and great sympathy, and this, combined with his executive ability, makes him an ideal superintendent. Doctor Jones was born on a farm in Union township, Adams county, Indiana, March 30, 1868, and is a son of John B. and Catherine A. (Walters) Jones.
John H. Jones, the grandfather of Rev. E. L. Jones, was a native of Wales, and emigrated to the United States as a young man of twenty- two years, locating first in Delaware. From that state he moved to Ohio, and thence to Indiana, here settling in Adams county, where he resided until the time of his death. The mother's parents came to Indiana from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. John B. and Catherine A. Jones were the parents of six children, of whom five are living. Edgar L. Jones was reared on the home farm, and his boyhood was divided between work thereon and attendance at the district schools. At the age of fifteen
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years he entered the Decatur High school, from which he was duly graduated, and he then took a course of two years in the Methodist Episcopal College at Fort Wayne, Indiana. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church in the Northern Indiana Conference after spending two years in De Pauw University, and held various charges for some twenty years. On April 22, 1911, Rev. Jones came to Warren as superintendent of the Methodist Memorial Home, a position he has continued to capably fill to the present time. He has shown himself an excellent business man, and under his direction the institution has grown and prospered. His kindly nature and cordial manners have made him greatly loved in the home circle, and his sympathy with others, mani- festing itself in unobtrusive labors for their happiness, has given him a strong hold on the affections of the society in which he moves. He has positive convictions of duty and truth, and, while charitable and tolerant, he has never hesitated to denounce what he has regarded as erroneous in doctrine or degrading in life, however it might be entrenched in popular favor or protected by powerful influence. Doctor Jones has interested himself in fraternal work, belonging to the Masonic Lodge at Ossian, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and is popular in each.
Doctor Jones married Miss Melissa A. Helvie, of Delaware county, Indiana.
JAMES W. RUBLE. In the annals of early settlement of Huntington county, one of the names which is first to be mentioned is that of the Ruble family, and it is of this family that James W. Ruble of Salamonie township is a prominent representative. For more than sixty-five years the name has had its place in the history of Huntington county, and James W. Ruble is one of the older native sons of the county, and has been long identified with the industry of agriculture, a vocation which brings credit to its follower and helps to create the resources and wealth of the community. James W. Ruble is known far and wide as the proprietor of the Merry Hill Farm, a highly developed country estate of eighty acres, situated two and a quarter miles northeast of Warren.
James W. Ruble was born in Salamonie township at what is known as the Locust Glen farm, March 4, 1852, a son of Jonathan and Ruth (Ruse) Ruble. His father was a son of Walter and Sarah Ruble, and was born November 9, 1816, in Clinton county, Ohio. It was during his childhood that his parents left Ohio and settled in Randolph county, Indiana, where he grew to manhood, but subsequently returned to his native county, where on April 28, 1842, he married Ruth Ruse. She was a daughter of Thomas and Margaret Ruse, and was born February 13, 1823. A few years after his marriage Jonathan Ruble made a change of residence and established his home in 1848 in what was still the wil- derness of Salamonie township of Huntington county. His useful labors helped to broaden the scope of cultivated land in that section, and he was a man of influence and fine character. His death occurred January 20, 1872. He and his wife were very active as Methodists in their com-
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munity, and took a regular part in the activities of their home church. The faith which they possessed they carried into all their daily activities, and their home was noted not only for its hospitality to friends but for the kindness which emanated from its doors and which made it a source of help and comfort to many who needed assistance in distress. There were ten children in the family, and four are yet living: Mary J. is the wife of Levi Williamson; Sarah L. E. is the wife of Philip Shafer of Salamonie township; Aaron Ruble lives in Jefferson township ; and James W. is the youngest of the four still living.
His boyhood was spent in the wholesome environment of the country, and his education was acquired by attendance at the old fashioned dis- trict schools, a type of educational institutions which have long since gone out of vogue, and there are perhaps only one or two schoolhouses in the entire county which would bear any resemblance to the temple of learning which Mr. Ruble attended as a boy. After his education was finished and he had made a practical beginning of his career as a farmer, he married Berthena Tharp, a sister of Isaac M. Tharp. She was born in Wells county, Indiana. Of the six children of that mar- riage, four are still living, and their mother passed away July 25, 1888. The living children are: Alva D., a florist in Indianapolis; Charles, who is married and a farmer in Salamonie township; Mamie, wife of George Brown of Liberty Center, Indiana; Lucy, wife of Leonard Break of Adams county, Indiana. For his second marriage Mr. Ruble married Alice (Thrailkill) Day, widow of Richard Day. Mrs. Ruble was born in Liberty township of Wells county, August 23, 1862, grew up there, received her education in the common schools of her native township, and was a daughter of Silas Thrailkill, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, August 5, 1834, and died July 15, 1901.
Mr. and Mrs. Ruble are active members of the Methodist Protestant church, of which he is one of the trustees and has long been one of its most liberal supporters. In politics a Republican, he has often used his influence in the party for the benefit of good government in the locality, and is a man whose opinion and advice are much courted in this part of Huntington county.
CHARLES SMITH. A residence covering a period of thirty-six years . in Plum Tree has made Charles Smith one of his community's best known citizens, and the honorable and industrious life which he has led has given him a substantial place among its people. As a business man he has gained success through steady application and well-directed effort, and at this time he is enjoying a prosperous patronage as a blacksmith and is at the head of the general hardware firm of Charles Smith & Son. He has won his own way to position and financial independence, and while so doing has found time to assist in his community's advancement. Mr. Smith is a native of the Empire state, born October 15, 1856, a son of John and Christina (Wilhelm) Smith, the former of whom passed away in 1876 and the latter in 1910.
Charles Smith received a somewhat limited public school education,
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and at the age of sixteen years left the parental roof and became appren- ticed to the trade of blacksmith, an occupation which he has followed all of his life. When he had mastered this vocation, he followed it for some years at different places, finally entering the employ of the Door & Monroe Street Car Company, with which concern he remained for one year. He was highly recommended by this company, and in 1878 came to Huntington county and located at Plum Tree, which community has since continued to be his home and the scene of his success. When he came here, Mr. Smith was possessed of but small means, consisting of what he had, through industry, managed to save from his earnings. He was determined and capable, however, and soon had himself estab- lished in a brick shop of his own building, where he has continued to do business with ever-increasing success. Later Mr. Smith established the hardware store at Plum Tree, which he conducted alone for some years and then admitted his son to partnership under the firm style of Charles Smith & Son, and this venture has also proved a successful one and enjoys its full share of patronage. He has likewise found time to interest himself in agricultural matters, being the owner of a farm of seventy acres located in Salamonie township, not far from Warren, this property being under a high state of cultivation and very productive. As will be seen, Mr. Smith's career has been an active and industrious one, and has been marked by consecutive advancement and steadfast effort.
Mr. Smith was married to Miss Mary L. Sowars, the daughter of M. M. Sowars, and three sons and two daughters have been born to this union : William, who is a resident of Chicago, Illinois; Mabel, who is the wife of James Dodd; Edna, who is the wife of Ira Hawkins; Carl I., a graduate of the common schools, who married Mattie E. Ryan; and M. I., who married Dollie Alexander, of Warren, Indiana. Mr. Smith is a member of Salamonie Lodge No. 392, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Encampment at Warren; the Improved Order of Red Men, at Barbers Mills; the Hay Makers Lodge, and the Ancient Order of Gleaners. In politics he is a democrat, and although he has never cared for public life, he has always been willing to bear his full share of the duties of citizenship, and has served two years as superintendent of the Rock Creek Center and Plum Tree gravel roads. He is a stock- holder in the Warren Fair Association. .
FLAVIUS E. SHULTZ. Individuals contribute by various services and heterogeneous gifts to the forming of a city. Some find their field in the founding of law and order, others in the establishing of institutions of religion and learning, still others in opening up the avenues of trade and commerce and in furnishing facilities for the transaction of busi- ness. In many different, although always converging directions they bend their energies and activities, according to some impenetrable law of organization, to the common welfare. Among all the various lines to which man may devote himself, none is more promotive of the reputa- tion abroad of a growing city than that which furnishes a comfortable home for the traveler. Those whose journeys take them to Warren,
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Indiana, find excellent accommodations at the Commercial Hotel and Restaurant, whose proprietor, Flavius E. Shultz, is one of the city's most substantial and popular citizens. Mr. Shultz is a native of War- ren, having been born in a house on Wayne street, April 6, 1874, and is a son of Samuel B. and Mary E. (Edwards) Shultz.
The maternal grandfather of Mr. Shultz, Elkanah Edwards, was born in North Carolina, from whence he removed to Ohio in young manhood, and subsequently came to Huntington county, where he passed the remainder of his life. David and Esther (Paul) Shultz, the paternal grandparents, came to Huntington county from Pennsylvania, settling in Lancaster township, near Majenica, where they passed the remainder of well-filled lives in the peaceful pursuits of the farm. The parents of Mr. Shultz were married in Lancaster in 1867, and subsequently came to Warren, later moved to Converse, then to Hartford City and to Bluff- ton, and then back to Hartford City, where the father is now engaged in the blacksmithing and wagon repairing business. Five children were born to Samuel B. and Mary E. Shultz, namely : Joseph, a resident of Warren, Indiana; Flavius E .; William L., of Alexandria, Indiana; Arthur B., a resident of Indianapolis; and Earl F., of Elwood, Indiana.
F. E. Shultz was reared in Huntington county, Indiana, and received his early education in the public schools of Warren. Following this he attended the Warren High school for one year, at the end of which time he put aside his books and began the study of his trade, that of a baker. He started to work for Henry Badger, then was with Frank Shultz, and for some time worked at different places in Warren, also spending nine months at Greentown. Upon his return to Warren he entered the employ of Henry Badger, then worked for Clarence Harvey and Ora Souers, and April 10, 1897, embarked in business on his own account. He was possessed of practically no capital, but he was a thorough master of his trade and had the additional desirable qualifications of energy, enterprise and modern ideas. With these, during the seventeen years that he has been in business, he has accumulated a handsome competence, has a property worth $11,000, and has interested himself in various lines of business enterprise which have materially contributed to the welfare of his native city. His hostelry is popular with the traveling public by reason of its modern accommodations and excellent table, as well as be- cause of the genial and courteous personality of the host. Mr. Shultz is one of the stockholders in the Warner Fair. He was an ardent repub- lican, and as such served the city two terms as clerk, but in the campaign of 1912 exercised his right of franchise in behalf of the new progressive party. He is known throughout Huntington county as a member of the famous Schubert Quartette that sang at numerous political meetings during many campaigns. Fraternally, he is connected with Artesian Lodge No. 388, K. of P., with King Lodge No. 246, in the Masonic order, and with the Court of Honor. With his family he attends the Christian church.
Mr. Shultz was married in 1894 to Miss Nellie P. Purviance, born in Jefferson township, Huntington county, daughter of Elam Purviance,
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and four children have been born to this union: Leon, born December 24, 1894, a graduate of the Warren High school, and now a clerk with W. H. Hickerson; Garl R., born in April, 1896, a graduate of the graded schools and now in his third year at high school; Buena M., born Febru- ary 3, 1903; and Basil W., born September 22, 1908.
WILLIAM BUZZARD. The dignity of labor raises the farmer to a level of importance corresponding to that occupied by any class of producers. To labor long and faithfully, giving the best of one's ability and talents along any line of endeavor, is to fulfill the destiny of mankind and to make possible a happy, contented old age. William Buzzard, one of the substantial farmers and highly esteemed citizens of Salamonie township, is a man whose life has been one of constant industry and honorable labor, but who although always busy, has never failed to find time to make friends or to contribute to the welfare and advancement of his community.
Mr. Buzzard was born in Jefferson township, Huntington county, Indiana, November 26, 1859, and is a son of Jesse and Jane (Couch) Buzzard. The parents were early settlers of Wayne township, in this county, but after their marriage removed to Jefferson township, and there spent the remainder of their lives on a farm, the father dying July 7, 1896, and the mother November 27, 1913. They were the parents of seven children, of whom four now survive: Henry, whose home is in Ohio; William, of this review; Lucinda; and Luella, who is the wife of Leander Tumbleson. William Buzzard was reared on a farm in Jeffer- son township, and there secured good educational advantages. It was customary for farmers' sons of his day to spend the greater part of their time in the fields, and their literary training therefore was confined to such opportunities as offered themselves during the short winter terms in an adjacent district school. Mr. Buzzard was a studious lad, with a retentive mind, and he was able to acquire a much better educa- tion than many who had greater advantages. He was reared to agri- cultural work, and when it came to the time for him to make a choice of vocations he decided upon becoming a farmer, a decision which he has never had reason to regret. He continued to work on the home farm until 1886, having charge thereof from the time he reached his majority, but finally determined to establish a home of his own and accordingly left the parental roof. Mr. Buzzard secured his present farm by purchase in August, 1899, a tract of seventy-five acres located two miles northeast of Warren, on the M. B. & E. Traction line, an ex- cellent location. Mr. Buzzard has one of the valuable farms of its size in Salamonie township, and takes a pride in making it pay in full meas- ure for all labor expended upon it. He has brought the land to a high state of development through scientific treatment of the soil, has a set of handsome, substantial buildings, and his machinery and equipment are of the latest manufacture. In business circles he is known as a man of the strictest integrity, alert to grasp each opportunity, yet thoroughly respecting the rights of others. In political matters he is a democrat, but he has never been a politician.
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On February 7, 1885, Mr. Buzzard was married to Miss Minerva R. Myers, who was born and reared in Jefferson township, a daughter of Irwin C. and Elizabeth (Mast) Myers, of Fairfield county, Ohio. They came to Huntington county, and were early settlers here. Mr. and Mrs. Buzzard have numerous friends throughout this locality.
ARTHUR P. BACK. Many lives have entered into the foundation of Huntington county, and none of them more worthy to be considered in a history of the old families than the Back family, represented by Arthur P. Back, one of the foremost farmers and citizens of Salamonie township. The Back family was established in Huntington county more than three-quarters of a century ago. Those who have come and en- joyed the prosperity of the later era, however important their own contribution, have all owed a great debt to the pioneers who first tested the capabilities of soil and climate, who faced the hardships of exist- ence when only the strong and brave could remain, and who laid the foundations of a greater civilization and permanent prosperity. Arthur P. Back is representative of the third successive generation which has thus been identified with this part of Indiana from pioneer days to the present.
His birth occurred in Salamonie township, January 25, 1858, a son of John and Mary A. (Swaim) Back. John Back, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, son of Aaron and Elizabeth (Hamner) Back, who in 1837 emigrated from their home in Preble county, Ohio, to Huntington county. It was John Back, then a young unmarried man, who had left Preble county some time previously, and after pros- pecting throughout northeastern Indiana, had finally entered at the government land office in Fort Wayne the North East quarter of Sec- tion 33, and the North West quarter of Section 34 in what is now Salamonie township. This land was entered for his father, and all the family came out to occupy it in 1837. Besides the Back household, there were only one or two neighbors in the entire surrounding coun- try, and it required the courage of the real pioneer to establish homes in such a wilderness. The first buildings were erected alongside the War- ren and the Montpelier Pike, and on that old homestead the grandfather spent the rest of his years. John Back entered vigorously into the work of clearing up the land, and some years after his settlement in Huntington county married Mary A. Swaim, a sister of Samuel H. Swaim. They established their home a short distance from the Warren and Montpelier Pike, and there lived and enjoyed prosperity for a long period of years. Of their nine children, three are living in 1914: Malinda A. Browley, of Winchester; Rettie C., wife of Abe Clinging- peel of Pulaski county, Indiana; Arthur P.
Arthur P. Back was reared on the farm which is still his home, grew up in the midst of conditions which have greatly changed for the better during his lifetime, and acquired his education by attending three months each year at the public schools of Salamonie township. Though the duties of the home kept him out of school during most of
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the year, he aceepted every opportunity to improve his knowledge and training and acquaintance with books and attended school at more or less regular intervals until he was about twenty-three years of age. His independent farming enterprise began as a renter of a portion of the old homestead, and he continued in that way until his father's death.
Mr. Back married Mary L. Irwin. By that marriage one daughter survives, Theodosia P., born January 23, 1888, a graduate of the eom- mon sehools and also a student in the Warren high school. The mother of this daughter died October 7, 1897. Later Mr. Back married Aliee P. Andrew, a daughter of Calvin Andrew. She was born in Salamonie township, and the common schools of that locality afforded her eduea- tional advantages. By this marriage there are three children: Edna A., born in 1900; Russell L., born in 1902 ; and Ardella B., born February 20, 1914; the two older attending the publie sehools near their home. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Warren.
Mr. Back since getting suecessfully started as a business man and farmer, has taken much part in public affairs, and is one of the men of capable judgment and broad public spirit who have helped to administer the fiseal affairs of the county. For four years he served as a member of the Huntington county council, and it was during his term that the new eourt house was erected at Huntington. While he gave close at- tention to all the affairs that eame before the board during his term, Mr. Back's chief serviee probably consisted in his sturdy stand on the mat- ter of the second issue of bonds for the building of the court house. He insisted and finally earried his point that the bonds should be issued for only a short time, and that course proved the wise one, sinee the bonds carried only a normal rate of interest, were sold at a good price, and have already been paid off and are no longer a part of the county debt. Mr. Back as a farmer has prospered, and his prosperity is represented in his ownership of one hundred and forty acres of land a mile and three-quarters southeast of Warren. His wife owns ninety-two and a half aeres from the old Calvin Andrew estate. Mr. Baek is a man of thorough publie spirit, has a broad outlook on all interests of the world, and has never failed to earry his share of civic burdens. At home he has a number of old relics of the family and pioneer times, which are interesting witnesses of the early days in Huntington county, and are prized heirlooms of this old and notable family of Huntington county pioneers.
WILLIAM H. HELMS. Now one of the most prosperous farmers in Salamonie township, William H. Helms is a man whose success, which is of a large and worthy nature, has been won entirely as the result of his own well direeted efforts. Coming to Huntington county at the age of twenty-one, without money and with only his industry to depend upon as a means of advancement, he soon afterwards had the courage to marry and go in debt for a small farm, which became the nucleus around which he has built up one of the best agricultural properties in his town-
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ship. Throughout his career he has been public spirited in his attitude toward local improvements, and stands high in the regard of his fellow- men wherever known.
William H. Helms was born in Randolph county, Indiana, six miles northwest of Winchester on September 12, 1851, a son of Samuel and Anna (Ruble) Helm. His father, who was born in Indiana July 5, 1818, a date which indicates the pioneer residence of the Helms in this state, was a single man about eighteen years old when he entered gov- ernment land in Randolph county in 1836, and in that county he after- wards married Anna Ruble who was a native of Ohio. At one time in the early days Samuel Helms worked for Ebenezer Thompson in Hunt- ington county, when the city of Huntington was a mere village. Samuel Helms and wife had nine children, and the four still living are: John Helms, of Winchester; Mary, wife of Harmon Oglesby of Wells county ; Thomas A., a resident of Winchester and a former clerk of Randolph county ; and William H.
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