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 34
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The Keller family was founded in Huntington county by Joseph Keller, the paternal grandfather of Charles Keller, who came here at an early day and located on a tract of land near Belleville. He was an agriculturist by vocation and continued as a tiller of the soil until his death, being known as an industrious business man and public- spirited citizen. Like his father, Daniel Keller early embarked in farming, and was so engaged until his death in 1884, two years after he had located in Warren. Several years after his demise his widow was married to John J. Williams, and still survives him, being now a resident of Warren.
Charles Keller has been a resident of Warren since his sixth year. His early educational training was secured in the district schools of Salamonie township, following which he entered the graded schools of Warren, and was graduated from the high school of this city in 1897. In the spring of that year he received his introduction to mercantile pur- suits, when he became a clerk in the store of S. A. Pulse, and during the fifteen years that followed became thoroughly familiar with every detail of the business. At the time of Mr. Pulse's death, in 1912, Mr. Keller succeeded to the business, which he has continued to carry on with ever increasing success. By reason of his natural abilities, wealth of modern ideas and constant industry, he has broadened the scope of the business, and through catering to the needs and desires of his customers has attracted a thoroughly representative trade. At this time he is giving employment to from ten to fourteen clerks. Mr. and Mrs. Keller reside on the old Pulse homestead, and in addition to his business he owns eighty acres of land in Salamonie township, located two miles north of Warren. Mr. Keller is a very busy man, with large demands made upon his time and attention, yet he has ever been fore- most in contributing of his time, his means and his energy in forwarding movements for the betterment of his community and the advancement of its interests. He has shown an interest in fraternal matters, belonging to King Lodge No. 246, F. & A. M., the Knights of Pythias and the Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, of Bluffton. A stanch and active republican, he is widely known in local and county politics, where his in fluence is far-reaching. Mrs. Keller is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Warren.
In October, 1900, Mr. Keller was married to Miss Daisy M. Pulse, who graduated in the same class with him from the Warren high school, and they have become the parents of three children, namely; Charles Allen, eight years old; Virginia Rosadean, four years of age; and Wen- dell Pulse, who is just past one year of age.
WILLIAM E. SCOTT. Although he actively entered the political field but a few years ago, William E. Scott, sheriff of Huntington county,
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is already accounted one of the influential factors in the public and of- ficial affairs of this section of the state. A man of courage, self-reliant, progressive in his views and conscientious in the performance of the duties of his office, his administration of affairs is proving an eminently satisfactory one, and he has succeeded in making friends in all political parties. Mr. Scott is a native of the Hoosier state, having been born on his father's farm in Union township, Wells county, June 24, 1866. He is the youngest son of William and Mary (Byrd) Scott, the former of whom was born in Trumbull county, Ohio. The father came to In- diana as a youth of eighteen years and settled on a farm in Wells county, but after his marriage learned the trade of carpenter, to which he devoted the greater part of a long and useful life. He stood high in the esteem of his fellow citizens, and for some years represented them in the capacity of justice of the peace. His death occurred July 14, 1899, while the mother, who survives him, is a resident of Roanoke, Huntington county, having reached a ripe old age.
William E. Scott was granted ordinary educational advantages, at- tending the country school of Union township, where he was brought up to agricultural pursuits. He remained in that township until 1895, when he removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and for four years was en. gaged in a mercantile business. Succeeding this he located at Roanoke, Huntington county, and followed the same line, in the meantime de- voting a part of his attention to buying and selling hogs and sheep. He met with excellent success in this line and became widely known in Huntington county, especially among the farming class, with which he associated for some eleven years. For a number of years he has been interested in Democratic politics, principally in the interests of his friends, although he also served two years as a member and as chair- man on the Democratic County Central Committee. He had proved himself loyal to friends and party, and this, coupled with his splendid record as a business man, brought him into public favor, which resulted in giving him the shrievalty in the election of the fall of 1912. He as- sumed the duties of his office January 1, 1913, and has since had no dif- ficulty in demonstrating to the people of Huntington county that they made no mistake in their selection and in 1914 they nominated him for a second term as sheriff. There is every reason to feel that still higher honors await this progressive son of Indiana.
In January, 1884, Mr. Scott was united in marriage with Miss Annie Gardenhour, the estimable daughter of John Gardenhour, an old resident of Huntington county. Five children have blessed this union : Thomas, who is now deceased; Nellie, who became the wife of Samuel Rodenhouse; Ruth H. and Rose, who reside with their parents; and Homer O., a detective on the Erie Railroad, and who married Maude Longsdorf, a daughter of Albert and Rosamond Longsdorf. Mr. Wil- liam E. Scott is prominent and popular in fraternal circles, a member of Roanoke Lodge No. 275, F. & A. M .; of the Roanoke Lodge of the I. O. O. F. ; and of the L. O. O. N. fraternity.
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JAMES G. I. PENFIELD. For more than thirty years the name Pen- field has had valued and honorable associations with the City of Hun- tington. Both in this city and among the older employes of the Erie railway arc many who have a kindly memory for the late Alfred P. Pen- field, a veteran railway man, and also one of the useful citizens of Huntington until his death. The family is now represented at Hun- tington by James G. I. Penfield, a local jeweler, and a man who has won his way by successful position through earnest and well directed efforts.
Alfred P. Penfield, who met his death by accident on September 25, 1900, was one of the most prominent engineers on the Erie system between Chicago and New York. He was an influential member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and was widely and favorably known among railroad men in the middle and central western states. At Huntington his citizenship was regarded as an honor to the com- munity. A man of rugged honesty, fearless in his convictions, with a clear head and a clean heart, he was known not only for his personal character but also through his service in the Huntington City Council and the Huntington County Council.
Alfred P. Penfield was born September 15, 1849, in Warren county, Pennsylvania. His parents were George and Mary Penfield, who had come from New York. At the age of eighteen he began his active career as a fireman on the Pennsylvania railroad. Three years of that work was followed by six years in other lines of business, after which he returned to railroading. In 1871 Mr. Penfield became identified with the construction operations in the building of the Dunkirk, Allegheny Valley & Pittsburgh railroad. When this road was finished he was made fireman on a passenger engine, and in 1876 was given a regular engine. In 1879 he resigned to become traveling engineer for the Brooks Loco- motive Works of Dunkirk, New York. In April, 1882, Mr. Penfield again entered the service of his former employer, who at that time was in charge of the construction of the Chicago & Atlantic railway, a portion of the Erie system. Mr. Penfield was assigned to one of the first engines on the new road, his orders being to take an engine from the Brooks Works to Hammond, hire his fireman and crew, and take charge of both ends of train engaged in laying track. The road was opened for business in 1883, and Mr. Penfield had the honor of piloting the first passenger train, a solid Pullman, which left Chicago over the Erie track. From that time until his death he was among the most highly prized engineers in the service of the company. During the World's Fair he had charge of the Erie Engineers' Locomotive, the "E. B. Thomas," and went with the locomotive after the Fair closed from Chicago to Jersey City. For a number of years he had charge of one of the finest trains between Chicago and New York, and helped to sct a record for fast time in the United States. On one occasion he drew his train a distance of forty-two miles in fifty-two minutes.
Mr. Penfield was an active and influential member of the Brother- hood of Locomotive Engincers. For over ten years he had been a mem- ber of the General Board of Adjustment on the Erie system. During
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that period he also served as Chairman of the Local Committee on the Chicago & Lima Division. He held the position of Chief of Division No. 221 in Huntington for several terms, and had also been a delegate to several of the national conventions of the Brotherhood. He had great influence with the officials of the company and also with the Brother- hood. The fact that the Erie employes in Huntington did not lose their heads during the A. R. U. strike in 1904 was largely due to Mr. Penfield's influence, as he stood like a wall against the folly of the sym- pathetic strike which ended so disastrously. The Erie boys, through his influence and that of other leading and conservative employes, elected to remain loyal to the company, and the fact that they did so was a source of great satisfaction to the company, and was of decided advan- tage to the employes ever since.
In July, 1883, Mr. Penfield moved his family to Huntington, and that was his home until his death. On September 25, 1900, while in charge of his engine on one of the fast trains, he was struck by the crane used in suspending a mail pouch, and his injuries were such that he died almost at his post. Many tributes were paid to his faithful service and personal character, and among perhaps the most significant is contained in the following telegram sent Mrs. Penfield from New York by E. B. Thomas, one of the high officials of the Erie Company: "I am shocked to learn of the sad accident which has caused the death of your husband. He was one of our most valued and trusted employes and, while our loss is insignificant compared with yours, his death leaves a vacancy which will be keenly felt. I beg to tender you my most sincere . sympathy and, if I can in any manner be of assistance to you, please command me."
Mr. Penfield's reputation as a railroad man was supplemented by his work as a citizen. He was a member of the city council from 1885 to 1887. That was a period of development, and he always had the best interests of his city at heart. He was one of the trustees of the Waterworks Board from 1892 to 1895, and he and his associates brought the system to a point of efficiency where the city could depend upon a pure water supply. When the county council was introduced into the county government of Indiana, Mr. Penfield was one of the appointees to the Huntington county body, and gave a service which was much appreciated. Fraternally he was associated with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Royal Arcanum, and in politics was a Demo- crat. On September 18, 1870, he married Miss Emily J. Nesmith, of Warren county, Pennsylvania. Of their two sons, the older, Harrison A., was born July 9, 1871, and is a leading dentist in Dayton, Ohio.
The younger son, James G. I. Penfield, was born in Warren, Pennsyl- vania, January 9, 1873, and has lived in Huntington since he was ten years of age. His education was continued in the public schools, and · when a young man he entered the store of Olney Grafton, a well known Huntington jeweler. He served a full apprenticeship as a jeweler and watch-maker, and was manager and head watch-maker for this firm. With his experience and his reputation as a reliable business man, in
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June, 1901, he embarked in business on his own account, and has steadily built up what is now regarded as one of the best jewelry shops in Hunt- ington county. His establishment is centrally located, and he carries a complete line of watches, clocks, jewelry and silverware, and the excel- lence of his goods is supplemented by honorable dealing and a pleasant personality in his relations with the trade. Mr. Penfield is unmarried. Fraternally he is affiliated with Amity Lodge, No. 483, A. F. & A. M., and with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Besides his own handsome home on East Washington street, he is the owner of several other properties in the city.
PETER DEISER. Among the leading citizens of Bippus, none has a better or more secure position than Peter Deiser, a merchant and banker of this place, where he has been prominent for many years. Mr. Deiser was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, on May 4, 1857, and is a son of Jacob and Tessie Deiser, who were of German birth and ancestry. They were married in their native land and came to the United States soon after that event, locating in Ohio, where they continued for some years. They later migrated to Highton county, taking up their residence in Warren township, where they passed the remainder of their lives, save for a short period spent in Lake county, Indiana.
·Of the seven children born to Jacob and Tessie Deiser, there are six living at this writing. Mary is the widow of Emery Petrie; Peter, the subject of this review; Louise, the wife of John Miller; Jacob, a resident of Lebanon, Indiana; Emma, the widow of Andrew Miller; and Celia, the wife of Arthur Buzz.
Peter Deiser was two years of age when his parents came to Highton county, this state, and he was reared on the farm home in Warren town- ship. He had his education, not a very extensive one, in the common schools, and remained at home on the farm until he was twenty-three years of age.
In 1891, one year after Mr. Deiser had launched out for himself in life, he engaged in business in Bippus, and he has since been successfully occupied in mercantile pursuits in this town. He has accumulated some real estate and the building in which he runs his store is his property. In later years Mr. Deiser interested himself in banking affairs, becoming a stockholder and a member of the directorate of the Bippus State Bank, a thrifty young concern that promises sturdy and conservative growth along the lines laid down by its present management.
In 1881 Mr. Deiser married Miss Sina Morgan, a native daughter of Huntington county, Indiana, and well known in this vicinity. They have no children.
Mr. Deiser still retains an interest in the old farm in Warren county where he was reared. He is reckoned among the prosperous men of the community, and as an honest and upright citizen. He has the esteem and confidence of the community as a whole. He is a Democrat, and has always taken a healthy interest in the politics of the county and state. As to his fraternal relations, he has membership in the West
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Point Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is a past noble grand and a member of the grand lodge of the order.
DR. IRA E. PERRY. When Dr. Ira E. Perry was graduated from the Indiana Medical College in 1905 and was awarded his medical degree, he lost no time in choosing a location, but in November following he opened an office and hung out a shingle announcing his readiness to minister to the physical infirmities of his fellow beings. In the years that have passed, few though they are, confidence has not been withheld from him, and he is today recognized as a capable and conscientious physician and surgeon, than whom none in the vicinity has a better or more lucra- tive following. Dr. Perry has won a secure place in the esteem of his fellow townspeople, and one of which he is well worthy because of his professional attainments as well as his many excellent personal qual- ities.
Born in Rock Creek township, Hyton, Indiana, on January 14, 1873, Dr. Perry is a son of W. H. and Rosa (Smith) Perry, both natives of Ohio. W. H. Perry, himself a son of William Perry, was married as a young man in Ohio, and he located in Rock Creek community soon after his marriage. He was one of the youngest of his father's children, and was a man of sterling qualities. He served in the Civil war, and died in Rock Creek township in 1878. Two years later his wife passed away.
Ira E. Perry received his education in North Manchester, where his mother moved after the death of the husband and father. Following his public school training, which ended in his graduation from the local high school in 1891, he became a student in the North Manchester Col- lege. He fitted himself for the duties of a teacher and taught in Wabash for two years, being very successful in that work, though he felt it was not the exact field for which he was best fitted by nature and inclination. After two years of teaching he engaged in the drug business with Dr. Gunther of North Manchester, and continued with him until the year 1900 as a partner, after which he bought the stock of his partner and continued to operate the business for two years. In 1901 Dr. Perry decided on a course he had been considering for some time, and he entered the Indiana Medical College, from which he was duly graduated in 1905, gaining his M. D. degree at that time.
It has already been set forth how he located in the fall of the same year in Bippus, and how he has since continued prosperously and suc- cessfuly in his chosen profession.
Dr. Perry was married in 1906 to Miss Lena Sandoz of North Manchester, and they have one son,-Fred G., born in 1910.
The fraternal affiliations of the Doctor are with the Masonic frater- nity and West Point Lodge No. 688, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, as well as the Knights of Pythias, of Manchester, Indiana. The Doctor is a republican in his political faith, and has been active in local politics to some extent. He is one of the trustees of Warrant township, and has done good work in the best interests of the community from a civic standpoint. Dr. Perry has also identified himself with the financial
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enterprises of the city, and was one of the organizers of the Bippus State Bank, one of the newer and advancing concerns of the place. He was the first one to hold the office of vice president of the bank, and is now a member of its directorate.
A man of quiet tastes and manners, Dr. Perry goes on his way with- out attracting undue attention to himself, but his position in the com- munity is one of which he may well be proud, and is the result of his earnest work and his steadfast character.
DAVID S. GEPHART. On a finely improved estate of three hundred and twenty acres in Sections 27 and 26 in Salamonie township Davis S. Gephart is most successfully engaged in diversified agriculture and the raising of high-grade stock. Mr. Gephart is one of the honored citizens of Huntington county who were born here and have spent all their lives in this county, and he commands the confidence and esteem of all who have known him from earliest youth. While his work as a farmer has brought him substantial prosperity, his relations with the community have also been useful and have contributed to the welfare of the vicinity, and his family is one widely known and esteemed.
His birth occurred on the farm where he now resides, but then largely wilderness and only a few years after the land had been entered from the government, on August 27, 1850. His parents were George and Elizabeth (Pence) Gephart. His mother was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, May 2, 1808, and his father was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, February 14, 1819. Their respective families subse- quently located in Preble county, Ohio, and there the parents were married January 1, 1840. A few years later, in 1845, the father made a journey into Indiana, looked over the land, and finally entered a farm in Section 27 of Salamonie township in Huntington county. A log cabin was the first home of the family, and there the father lived, engaged in the clearing up and cultivating of his acres, prospered in a quiet way, and died at a good old age on November 13, 1906, his wife having passed away February 22, 1881. The father was one of the original members of the United Presbyterian faith in this part of Huntington county, and after a church of that denomination was established he became one of its elders and continued to be devoted to church and local interests until his death. There were three children, and Davis S. is the only survivor. The son, William F., died in 1860, and Mary J. died when ten years of age.
On the old homestead on Section 27 Davis S. Gephart spent his boy- hood, and has many recollections of early days in Huntington county. He has been a witness of practically every important event which has brought about the modernization of the county, from the first railroad down to electric trolley lines and rural free delivery. His education was acquired in one of the little red school houses, and he profited by the ad- vantages afforded in the local schools, and was well equipped for the re- sponsibilities of his mature career. He took charge of the farm after reaching manhood, and has always cultivated its broad acres and has
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followed farming on such a scale and by sueh methods as to win the highest amount of annual revenue consistent with the proper preserva- tion of the fertility of the soil.
On February 17, 1870, Mr. Gephart married Martha A. Huffman. She was born in Salamonie township January 14, 1852, a daughter of John and Susanna (Myers) Huffman. The Huffman family were like- wise among the early settlers of Salamonie township, having located there about 1847. Mrs. Gephart grew up in the same loeality as her husband, and was likewise well trained for life in the common schools and in the performance of home duties. After their marriage Mr. Gep- hart and wife continued to live on his father's estate. To their union four children were born: Arminda E. is the wife of William Ware of Minnesota ; George M., after graduating from the high school at Warren took up teaching, but is now a farmer in Salamonie township and married Effie Taylor ; Charles A., who is a prosperous farmer in Salamonie town- ship, married Myrtle Moore; Edna F. is the wife of Clyde Moore of Salamonie township.
The family worship in the Christian church at Warren, and Mr. Gephart is a deacon in that church. Fraternally his membership is in Salamonie Lodge No. 392 I. O. O. F., of which he is a Past Grand, and also belongs to the Eneampment of the Odd Fellows. His politieal affil- iation has always been with the Republican party. Mr. Gephart resides in one of the comfortable homes which for forty years has been a land- mark of rural prosperity in Salamonie township. The brick house was erected in 1875-76, and all its surroundings betoken the thrift and effi- cient management of its proprietor.
ELI KELLER. Profitably engaged in farming in Salamonie township, of which he is one of the most enterprising and progressive men, Eli Keller in the fifty-five years of his life has exemplified many of the best and most admirable and useful traits of eharaeter and attributes of citizenship, and is esteemed in aeeordance with his genuine worth and sterling American manhood. He has interested himself in the publie affairs of his township and county, and has spent nearly all his life in the honorable industry of agriculture.
Eli Keller was born in Wayne county, Indiana, June 23, 1859, a son of Joseph and Margaret (Fitler) Keller. His father was a native of Germany and a son of William Keller, who brought the family to the United States, and they located in York county, Pennsylvania, where the grandparents lived and died. Joseph Keller was reared in York county, and after growing to manhood was married in that locality, and then moved west and found a new home in Wayne county, Indiana. From Wayne county in 1866 the family came to Huntington eounty, loeating in Salamonie township, where the parents were known among the kindly and useful people of the community until their death. There were seven ehildren altogether, and the five living in 1914 are mentioned as follows: William Keller, of Warren, Indiana; Henry Keller, of Huntington; Eli Keller; Mary, wife of James L. Johnson, of Salamonie
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