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 40
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expert window trimmer and resides in Joliet, Illinois; Clyde Smith is in the restaurant business at Roanoke.
Mr. E. F. Smith was reared on the farm where he now lives and all his boyhood associations were around this old homestead. As soon as he was old enough to attend school, he likewise exerted his young strength in performing some of the duties about the home, and most of his educa- tion was acquired in the winter seasons when he attended the Poplar Grove school house. He grew up to a career of farming and has fol- lowed that vocation with many substantial results of his industry and good management since early manhood. On October 4, 1888, Mr. Smith mar- ried Sarah J. Showalter. She is a daughter of David Showalter of Jack- son township, and was reared and educated in the district schools of that locality. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of three children, two daughters and one son : Effie, a graduate of the Roanoke high school, and for three terms a student at the State Normal, and is now a popular teacher in the Roanoke schools; Dessie is a graduate of the Roanoke high school, and a teacher in the district schools; Lawrence is a student in high school. The family are members of the United Brethren church at Zion, of which Mr. Smith is a trustee. He affiliates with the Roanoke Tent No. 124 of the Knights of the Maccabees. A republican in politics, he has long taken considerable interest in party affairs, and as a vigorous and progressive citizen was elected township trustee in November, 1908, and is still serving in that office. He is one of the directors of the Roanoke Telephone Company, and is recognized as a man of judgment and capacity wherever known.
SEBASTIAN G. BEAR. Now one of the prosperous farmers of Hunt- ington county, and a citizen whose services have been available for the general advancement and public welfare of his community, Sebastian G. Bear began his career with a minimum of capital, and won his success entirely through his industry and business push, and enterprise.
Mr. Bear was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, November 16, 1856. His father was Joseph Bear, who left Pennsylvania, and took his family out to Illinois, locating in Fulton county in 1858. On a farm in that county the son had his earliest recollections, and the family continued to live there until 1866, when the father moved to McLean county in the same state, where he lived until death. There were two children in the family who are still living, the older brother being Joseph Bear of Union township in Huntington county.
Sebastian G. Bear lived on a farm and shared its work and responsi- bilities and attended school until he was about eighteen. He then gave up books and became his father's active assistant. He continued with his father until he was twenty-one, and the latter then gave him a team of horses, and a set of harness, and with that he started out to make his own fortune. He lived in Illinois as a renter for some years, finally came to Howard county, Indiana, where he acquired ownership of one hundred and forty acres and in March, 1905, moved to Jackson town- ship of Huntington county where he bought the old Christian farm of
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one hundred and seventy acres. Mr. Bear is a very progressive farmer and stock raiser, a man who invests his surplus in extra land, and fol- lows out strict business principles in all his dealings. To the one hun- dred and seventy acres which he first purchased, he has added first sixty acres, and then cighty acres more, and at the present time has a splendid farm of three hundred and ten acres in Jackson township. In Howard county, in 1898, Mr. Bear married Miss Minnie Peters. They are the parents of six children : Lulu is the wife of Floyd Johnson ; Sebastian R. is thirteen years old, and the other younger children are Minnie, Rob- ert, Lavada and Jane. Mr. Bear affiliates with Roanoke Lodge No. 195, A. F. & A. M., and in politics is a republican.
WILLIAM HORACE YOUNG. The modern enterprise which is develop- ing the country everywhere and transforming the conditions of rural life is well represented in the person of William Horace Young of Jack- son township, proprietor of the North View Grain and Stock Farm, on sections 20 and 21. This farm is two miles west of Roanoke on the Roanoke and Christian Gravel Road. Mr. Young and wife after their marriage had resources next to nothing, and it was largely on their confident courage and resourcefulness and industry that they lived for several years. They have made an exceptional success and are now among the prosperous people of their vicinity.
William Horace Young was born on a farm in Union township of this county, November 13, 1873. His parents were John S. and Elba (Ward) Young. His father was a son of John E. Young, Sr., who was of Scotch ancestry, and who lived in Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio. John S. Young, Jr., came to Indiana, in the Spring of 1864, after he had been reared and married in Warren county, Ohio. He located in Union township in the midst of the woods, where he still lives, and is one of the oldest residents in that section. His wife died in 1885. John S. Young has been a farmer and a lover of good stock, particularly fine horses. He became the father of the following children: Ida B., wife of Emery Taylor of Zanesville, Indiana; James F., of Union township ; William H., a native of Union township; Sarah E., wife of John Difen- dorfer of Jackson township.
William H. Young was reared on a farm in Union township, attended the district schools as a boy, and his training in books which was more or less irregular, was completed so far as school attendance was con- cerned at the age of seventeen. After that he studied at home at night, and made up many of the deficiencies of his early training, so that he is one of the best informed and best read men in his community. Mr. Young early in his career married Carrie Vollmar, a daughter of Peter Vollmar of Jackson township. They have a little household of six children, three sons and three daughters, namely: Elgie C., a graduate of the common schools; Elvie L .; Minnie G .; George E .; Thomas C .; and Ida E. All the younger children are attending school. Mr. Young is a member of the Evangelical church, and in politics he is a Democrat.
Though they started out with nothing, Mr. and Mrs. Young now have
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the income of a handsome farm of one hundred and forty acres in Jack- son township. Since June 2, 1900, Mr. Young has owned three differ- ent farms, and has succeeded in paying for each one of them, and his suc- cess is now growing rapidly. Farming and stock raising have been the lines along which he has reached toward success, and he keeps good grades of all kinds of live stock. He is a good financier, and his management has carried the credit along with his industry for his prosperity.
JOHN A. DEARMITT, Jackson township's quota of successful citizens would not be complete without mention of John A. DeArmitt, who for a number of ycars taught school during his earlier career in this locality, and is remembered well for his work in that direction, and a later generation knows him as a successful farmer and stock raiser.
John A. DeArmitt was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, December 20, 1859, a son of John A. and Margaret (Gallagher) De- Armitt. Both parents were also natives of Huntingdon county, Penn- sylvania. Grandfather Barney DeArmitt was of Irish birth, and emi- grated to the United States when a young man, locating in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. There he married an Irish girl named McIlhaney, and they had a family of five sons and two daughters, all of whom are now deceased. John A. DeArmitt, Sr., father of the Jackson township citizen, was reared and married in his native state, and on moving to In- diana, located in Huntington county in 1870. There he lived out the re- mainder of his days, as an industrious farmer, and by long years of effort and good management accumulated considerable property. He was the father of four sons and three daughters, four of whom are liv- ing at this time. His sister is Anna, wife of Charles Hobley, of Hunt- ington.
John DeArmitt, Jr., was reared on the old farmstead in Jackson township, had a schooling in the local institutions of learning, and as his early career was largely spent in educational work, he equipped him- self for his profession by a great deal of study in higher colleges and seminaries. The Roanoke Classical Seminary was one source of cultiva- tion for his mind; he also was a student in the Danville Normal, and attended the DePauw University for a time. While attending school he was also teaching, and altogether taught eighteen terms in the schools of Jackson township.
In August, 1889, Mr. DeArmitt married Miss Mary Shroyer, who was born and reared in Jackson township, a daughter of J. S. Shroyer. Mr. and Mrs. DeArmitt have no children. After their marriage they settled on a farm, and at the present time Mr. DeArmitt owns seventy acres of land, two and a half miles west of Roanoke on the Christian Gravel Road. He has been particularly successful in the raising of Poland-China hogs, and Jersey cattle, and some of his stock is of the prize variety. He and his wife worship in Pleasant Chapel of the United Brethren faith, and in politics he has taken an active part in the affairs of the democratic party. At one time he was his party's nominee for county auditor. He and his wife have a pleasant home and are both agreeable people in all their relations with the social community.
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JOHN H. AHNER. Three miles west of the village of Roanoke, along the Roanoke and Christian Gravel Road, is the eighty-acre farm of John H. Ahner, comprising the north half of the northeast quarter of section 19 of Jackson township. This is a well improved and well appointed farmstead, and represents the business enterprise and much of the accomplishment of John H. Ahner as a business man and citizen. Since he was a few months old, Mr. Ahner has had his home in Hunting- ton county, and is a product of the old log cabin days, since the home to which he was introduced in this county was a rude house built of logs, and had furnishings which were primitive in the extreme.
John H. Ahner was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, January 25, 1853, a son of Mary A. (Eshbach) Ahner. The parents were both born near Philadelphia. When about nine years old the father was left an orphan and was put out among strangers to be reared. He had varied experi- ences and hardships as a young man and finally found his way into the state of Ohio, where he was married. In the fall of 1853, when their son John was less than a year of age, they came out to Indiana, and located in Jackson township of Huntington county. Section 19 on which they located was then a dense forest, and it was necessary for the father to clear away a small patch before he could erect his log cabin and have a place for his first crops. The parents lived to see all the surrounding country settled and improved with splendid farms, and they lived in the one locality all the rest of their lives. The father died in 1900 and the mother in March, 1912. Both were devout Christians, and were among the excellent people who composed the early citizenship of Huntington county. There were six children, two of whom died in infancy, and the four now living are: Catherine, wife of Nicholas Kreamer; John H .; Jacob, a resident of Fort Wayne, where he is a carpenter, and Charles, of Detroit, Michigan. Besides their own family, the parents took into their home a daughter, named Charlotte Moss, who is now the wife of Frank Berry of Fort Wayne.
John H. Ahner was reared in Jackson township, and when old enough entered the district schools which he attended with more or less reg- ularity, until he was about eighteen years of age. At the same time he had for a number of years devoted his summers to work on the farm, and in that way got a practical education for life. Mr. Ahner has been de- pendent on his own resources for his livelihood since he was sixteen, and worked as a farm hand and in other employments at monthly wages for a number of years. In this way he gradually got ahead in the world, and at the age of thirty-one took upon himself the responsibilities of a home and family. He was married in 1887, to Elmira J. Christian. She is one of the daughters of Samuel Christian, who was one of the pioneers of Huntington county. She grew up and received her education in the local schools, and since her marriage has become the mother of two chil- dren : Grace M., who is a graduate of the common schools, and is now a student in the Roanoke high school; and Ray C., who is still in the grade schools.
Mr. Ahner in politics is a Democrat, and at one time allowed his name
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to go on the party ticket as candidate for the office of trustee in Jack- son township. Such was his standing in the community, that although he belonged to the minority party he came within seven votes of being elected. His chief public service consists in the supervision of several important highways in the vicinity of his residence. He is superin- tendent of the Roanoke and Christian, the Roanoke and County Line, and the Harris Gravel Road.
CYRUS BLAUGH. The farming community of Jackson township has known Cyrus Blaugh as a quiet but energetic citizen for more than forty years, and he is a man who beginning on a very small and modest scale has established himself securely in the business economy of his com- munity, and has acquired a substantial property as a bulwark against the advancing enemy of old age and adversity.
Cyrus Blaugh was born in Stark county, Ohio, June 30, 1852, a son of Christ and Elmira (McConekey) Blaugh. The parents also were natives of Stark county, but when their son Cyrus was fourteen years of age they moved to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1866. Their loca- tion was in Jackson township, where they remained until their death, and were prosperous as farmers. They were the parents of two sons. Eli Blaugh lives in Huntington City, and is connected with the Erie Rail- road. On the old home farm in Jackson township, Cyrus Blaugh grew to maturity, and his education was supplied by the district schools. Cir- cumstances over which he had no control made it necessary for him to give more of his time when a boy to the work of the farm and to attend- ance at school, but he has supplemented his early deficiences of education by close observation of men and affairs, and by constant reading. Mr. Blaugh married Mary J. Simons, a daughter of Abraham and Mary Simons. After their marriage they started out with one acre of land, and he now has sixty-five acres in section 7, and has been able to provide well for his growing family. By his first wife there were born two children and both are deceased. For his second wife he married Sarah Darr, a daughter of Godfried Darr. The children of the second marriage are five in number as follows: Evie, wife of Melvin Simons; Emmet, who is married and lives in Whitley county; Arthur Blaugh of Huntington ; Otha, who lives in Fort Wayne ; and Roy, seventeen years of age and at home. Mr. Blaugh is a republican in politics.
CORNELIUS MARTZ. On a finely improved estate of one hundred and twenty acres in section nine of Jackson township, Cornelius Martz is most successfully engaged in diversified agriculture, and the raising of high- grade stock. He has lived in Jackson township during the entire period of his life, and commands the confidence and esteem of all who have known him from earliest youth.
His birth occurred in Jackson township, April 1, 1852, a son of John and Margaret (Keller) Martz. His father was a native of Pennsylvania. His mother claimed Ohio as her birthplace. The parents were mar- ried in Ohio, and from that state came out to Indiana, and on the twenty-
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second of May, 1851, located in Jackson township of Huntington county. In the following year was born their son, Cornelius, and the parents con- tinued to make that their home until they were called from earth's activities by death. There were nine children, and four are living at the present writing, as follows: Sarah A., widow of Daniel Goodman of Michigan ; John H. Martz, a resident of Whitley county; Clara H., wife of John M. Fisher of Warren, Ohio; and Cornelius.
Cornelius Martz grew up on the old farm, had a common schooling, and lived at home until he was twenty-two years of age. Then in order to get properly started in the world, his father gave him twenty-five acres of land. With that as his capital he was united in marriage on April 19, 1874, with Miss Margaret Dinnius. She was the daughter of Josiah Dinnius, and was born and reared in Jackson township. To their mar- riage were born four children, as follows: Melvin H., unmarried ; Early, who is married and lives in the state of Virginia; Edith, wife of Elmer E. Kreusen; Laura, who lives at home with her parents. The family worship in the English Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. Martz is a republican. As the basis of his farming activities he owns one hundred and twenty acres, three and a half miles northwest of Roanoke. He has used this to good advantage in creating sufficient wealth for his own means, and in providing liberally for the education of his children and in seeing them properly started in the world.
DAVID PHEBUS. The distinction of being the largest land owner in Jackson township belongs to David Phebus. The credit for such achieve- ment becomes the greater when it is recalled that David Phebus at the age of twenty-one was known in the country district of White county, where he was reared, as a reliable and industrious young workman, but entirely without capital, and with all his prospects in the future.
David Phebus has been an industrious worker all his life, and has well earned the fine competency which is now his. Born in White county, Indiana, May 11, 1851, David Phebus is a son of Silas and Martha (Har- vey) Phebus. The parents were both born in Ohio, and were early set- tlers of White county. David Phebus was reared on a farm, got his education in the district schools, and grew up at a time when book learning was much disparaged in favor of the practical training of the fields and woods. He learned to swing an ax and follow a plow almost before he learned the multiplication table. In attending school and working at home, he continued until he was eighteen, and then gave all his labor to his family until he was twenty-one. At that date he started out to make his own way, and was employed at day or monthly wages for several years. Samuel Ramey, of White county, for whom he worked, took a liking to the young man, and in order to encourage him and give him a start, sold a tract of land on credit. Assuming this obligation, Mr. Phebus strained every effort to acquit himself of his obligation and in time had not only paid for the land, but had got it into a high state of cultivation. Finally he sold that and bought one hundred and twenty acres and continued to prosper year in and year out. In 1903 Mr.
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Phebus sold his White county interests, and came to Huntington county, where he now owns four hundred and eighty acres. Sixty-seven and a half acres of his farm lies in Whitley county. His fine estate, with its principal residence and excellent barns and other improvements, lies one mile west and two miles north of Roanoke, and twelve miles northeast of Huntington. As a general farmer and stock raiser, Mr. Phebus has been realizing handsome profits from his long experience.
Mr. Phebus married Alice Taylor of White county, where she was born and reared on a farm and had her education in schools of the same charac- ter as those attended by her husband. Their family of children are named as follows: Walter, who is unmarried and lives at home; Mabel, a graduate of the common schools; Frank, who lives at home; Bernard and Bernice, twins, the latter being the wife of Glenn Hartley of Michi- gan ; Merl, living at home ; Charles, who is unmarried and lives at home. Mr. Phebus, though a Democrat, has never interested himself in politics, and it is as a hard working and prospering citizen that he has contributed most to the community.
ERVIN E. RICHARDS. Representing a family which has been identi- fied with Huntington county for about sixty years, Ervin E. Richards is a prominent merchant at Roanoke, who has made his prosperity from small beginnings. Among his natural endowments and the results of self- training, energy and business ability have been conspicuous, and upon these qualities as a foundation, he has developed and prospered until today his name is among those of the leaders in commercial affairs in this county. His department store at Roanoke is an extensive establishment, carrying a general line of merchandise with the exception of hardware and drugs.
Ervin E. Richards was born on a farm near Roanoke, Jannary 23, 1859, a son of Daniel and Harriet (Smith) Richards. Both parents grew up and were married in Stark county, Ohio, and early in the fifties came to Huntington county, locating on a farm in Jackson town- ship. That farm remained their home until they were taken away by death. They were quiet people, devoted to the interests of the United Brethren church, made a home and provided as liberally as possible for their family, but never had a conspicuous part in affairs. They became the parents of eleven children, four of whom died in infancy, and six are still living as follows: B. A. Richards, of Huntington; Mrs. R. E. Zent, of Huntington; Marvin W. Richards, of Roanoke; Newton D. E. Rich- ards, of Roanoke; Mrs. A. W. Longsdorf, of Roanoke.
Mr. E. E. Richards was reared on a farm, attended the district schools, and later the Roanoke high school, until he was about seventeen years old. It was at that age that he laid aside his books, and gained the first experience which has led to his business success. For some time he was clerk in a drug store, and worked in that way until 1884. Then with his savings and such money as he had been able to accumulate in the meantime, he started off on his own account, opening a small stock of general merchandise. He bought his stock for cash, and throughout his
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career as a merchant, during thirty years, has made it a point to discount his bills promptly, and to satisfy every legitimate obligation against him. His business has grown with increasing years, and the stock alone is worth more now than the gross aggregate of an entire year's business twenty-five years ago.
In the meantime his relations have also broadened and comprehend several other important concerns in this vicinity. He is vice president and a director in the Roanoke State Bank, and in partnership with E. M. Wasmuth organized and incorporated the Roanoke Telephone Company. Mr. Wasmuth is president and Mr. Richards is secretary and treasurer of this company.
In 1890 Mr. Richards married Ida M. Zent, a daughter of Samuel H. Zent. Mrs. Richards was born and rearcd in Jackson township, had her education in the local schools and in the Roanoke Classical Seminary, and finished her studies in Otterbein University at Westerville, Ohio. She is a cultured and thoroughly educated woman, has proved a valuable helper to her husband in his career, and has taken a prominent part in the education and training of her sons. There are three sons in the fam- ily : Donald, who is a graduate of the Roanoke high school, and is now associated in business with his father, under the name of E. E. Richards & Son; Eldon Z., also a graduate of the Roanoke. high school; and Noel E., who is still in the Roanoke high school. The family worship in the United Brethren church, and Mr. Richards is one of the church trustees and has served as superintendent of the Sunday school for the past twenty years. Fraternally he is affiliated with Roanoke Lodge No. 195, A. F. & A. M., and with Little River Lodge No. 275, I. O. O. F., of which he is past noble grand. His politics is Republican.
ALBERT M. DEHAVEN. One of the oldest and most prominent fam- ilies of Huntington county is represented by Albert M. DeHaven of Rock Creek township. He himself was born here forty-four years ago, was reared and educated in his native environment, and since attaining manhood has been closely identified with the farming and stock raising interests of the locality. Mr. DeHaven is owner and proprietor of the Loon Creek Valley Stock farm, a name which is registered in the county and which stands for thorough efficiency of agricultural methods, and a regular year in and year out prosperity for its owner. The farm com- prises sixty-five acres in section 16 of Rock Creek township, six miles southwest of Markle and eight miles southeast of Huntington on the Browns Corners Gravel Road. Mr. DeHaven raises excellent grades of cattle and other stock, and is progressive in all his methods.
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