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 43
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ABRAHAM MAY. There is much inspiration here of Abraham May for younger men. At the present time he is probably more closely asso- ciated with business affairs at Markle than any other one individual. In every sense of the word he is a successful man, yet in his youth he had all the handicaps which could possibly be set to clog the efforts of a man except physical incapacity.
Born in Union township of Huntington county, August 27, 1854, a son of M. S. and Catherine (Davis) May, when he was three years of age he lost his father, and in the following year lost his mother. An orphan he was taken into the home of the maternal grandfather, A. A. Davis, and as soon as he was old enough had to hustle for his own living. During the winters he was permitted to go to school, but all the open months of the year were spent in such duties as his strength could per- form, and in that way he earned his clothes and keep. In that way he
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continued and arrived at his majority without any visible accumulation of capital. About that time his only sister died, and he assumed the debt for her funeral expenses, and his affection for his parents and his sister led him to devote a portion of his early earnings to pay for a suit- able monument over their graves. In eighteen months' time after reaching his majority he had satisfied all these debts, and had four hun- dred dollars besides. With that capital he bought a small farm, but owing to a defective title lost the whole investment. That was a backset, which would have discouraged many a man of less determined character. Undaunted, he took employment with the Wilkerson Lumber Company as general manager, was with that firm four years at Markle, and when the firm sold out he went as timber buyer for F. F. Fee four years in Markle and one year in Ohio. With this experience, which gave him a thorough knowledge of the lumber trade, Mr. May then engaged in business with W. H. Bassett as partner for two years. He next bought a two-thirds share of the business at Uniondale in Wells county, ini the Ditzler sawmill. The plant was moved to Markle, and was conducted under the firm name of Ditzler & May Lumber Company. George C. Ditzler, Mr. May and E. E. Youse were the constitutent members of the firm. It was operated as a flourishing business for seven years, at the end of which time Mr. Ditzler retired, and it continued under the title of May & Youse Lumber Company, and that firm is still in existence, and a very prosperous concern.
In the meantime Mr. May's interests had broadened out and he had become connected with several other important enterprises. In 1911 with Mr. Ditzler he bought the Briant mill at Huntington. That is a growing concern, and is successfully operated by the Ditzler-May Lum- ber Company. Mr. May is also interested in the Markle Stone and Lime Company, his connection with this concern dating back to 1908. He and six others were the incorporators of the concern, of which Mr. May is president and S. Lesh, secretary. The directors are: A. May, S. Lesh, Frank J. Harvey, J. J. Harvey, E. E. Youse, D. Lesh, Dan W. Lesh, U. S. Lesh, Eben Lesh, and A. J. Slaine. The business is a paying institu- tion, and some of the best known men in this part of the county are behind it.
Mr. May married Miss Laura C. Hill, a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Richards) Hill. Mrs. May was born in Fairfield, Ohio, and when a girl came with her parents to Rock Creek township in Huntington county. To their marriage has been born one daughter, Lillie May, who is now Mrs. E. E. Youse. Mr. and Mrs. Youse have two children : Harry D. Youse, a student in the Markle high school; and Hildreth M., also in the public schools of Markle.
Mr. May is a member and one of the trustees of the Methodist church of Markle, and is one of the leading Methodists of Huntington county, having served as a lay delegate in the Baltimore General Council in 1908. Fraternally he has membership in the Markle Lodge No. 423 of the Knights of Pythias, in which he is a past chancellor. In politics a republican, he has done much to promote party success. Mr. May is one of the trustees of the home for old people at Warren, Indiana.
Vol. II-22
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JAMES B. DUMBAULD. When Mr. Dumbauld married and started a home of his own, he had saved as a result of careful economy and hard work through several years the sum of five hundred dollars. This was invested in a small pieee of land, and as succeeding years added to his responsibility as the head of a family, his diligence and management also increased his material resources, and he eventually acquired a fine farm in Union township. Mr. Dumbauld still owns that farm, but for the past ten years has been identified with the business community of Markle, where he is proprietor of a first-class livery establishment.
Perry county, Ohio, is the birthplace of James B. Dumbauld, where he was born May 10, 1857, a son of Samuel and Salome (Wymer) Dum- bauld. When he was five months old his parents came to Union town- ship in Huntington county, and thus practically all his life has been spent in this part of Indiana. As soon as he was old enough he was sent to district schools during the winter term, and developed his muscles on the home farm in the summer season. That was the manner of his life until he was fifteen, and in the meantime when eleven years old he had lost his father. This threw a heavy responsibility upon the mother and her children, and he lived at the home and managed to farm for her until he was of age. Among his early experiences, and efforts to get a start, he was employed at monthly wages by his brother, Warren, eighteen months, and saved practically all his money.
In October, 1880, Mr. Dumbauld married Miss Malinda Brubaker, a daughter of John and Nancy Brubaker of Rock Creek township. When she was a small child she lost both her parents, and was reared as an orphan, and managed to get an education in the district schools of Rock Creek. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dumbauld continued as renters for a couple of years, but in the meantime he had invested his five hundred dollars of capital in forty acres of land. They took posses- sion of that place after two years, and with that as a nucleus began the task of building up a fortune. Mr. Dumbauld gradually added to his estate until he is now owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land in section 28 of Union township, located on the Prairie Gravel Road. This farm is one of the best in that neighborhood, and is situated six and a half miles from Huntington and four and a half miles from Markle. The entire place represents the many years of labor and self- denial of himself and his good wife. On November 17, 1903, Mr. Dum- bauld bought a livery barn in Markle, and in December of the same year moved his family to the city.
Mr. and Mrs. Dumbauld have five living children: Minnie, who is unmarried and lives with her father; Charles, who married Katie Miller, and has two children; Salome, a graduate of the Markle high school, and a clerk in the store of W. P. Bender; Ernest, attending high school ; and Fern, also in high school. The family worship in the Lutheran church at Markle, and Mr. Dumbauld is affiliated with Markle Lodge No. 423 of the Knights of Pythias. For some years he has been one of the local leaders in the Democratie party, and has directed his interests both to county politics and to municipal affairs.
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OMER SUMMERS. One of the highly esteemed citizens and prosperous agriculturists of Rock Creek township is Omer Summers, proprietor of the West Fairview Farm, where he resides, and the White Gables Farm, a tract adjoining consisting of 180 acres. Mr. Summers has devoted his entire career to the tilling of the soil, and has won success as a farmer through steady application and earnest effort. He has the distinction of being a native son of Huntington county, having been born in Union township, on a farm, April 13, 1868, and is a son of Golven and Sarah (Tressler) Summers.
The seventh child of his parents, Omer Summers was reared on the old home place and was trained to agricultural pursuits in the summer months while attending the district schools in the winters. He com- pleted the common school course, and in 1887, at the age of nineteen years, took and passed an examination for the position of teacher. Upon receiving his certificate he began to teach in the schools of Huntington township, but after one year found that the confinement of the school- room did not agree with him, and accordingly he returned to farming on his father's land. On August 16, 1890, Mr. Summers was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Armstrong, who was born in Huntington county, Indiana, daughter of Fred P. and Angeline Armstrong, of Union township. She was reared in that township and received a good com- mon school education, which was supplemented by attendance at Roanoke Classical College. After his marriage Mr. Summers settled on a farm of 100 acres, located in Rock Creek township, and there continued to carry on operations for five years, and then, in the fall of the year 1896 moved to West Fairview Farm, which has continued to be his home. Mr. Summers is accounted one of the progressive and enterprising farmers of his community, and has always been known as a breeder of high grade stock, making a specialty of Angus cattle. He uses modern methods and appliances in his work, gets good results from his land by reason of intelligent cultivation of the soil, and takes a pride in making his property one of the finest in the township. He has been very active in the farmers' institutes, has served during the past eight years as president of the Huntington County Farmers' Institute, and, with other prominent agriculturists, was active in securing the short course in 1910. With his family he attends the Baptist church, and during the past thirteen years has served a deacon of the White church. Mr. Sum- mers is a democrat politically and has served in county, congressional and state conventions, and on one occasion was his party's candidate for representative of his district, but met with defeat because of political conditions at the time. Mr. Summers has one of the finest country resi- dences in the county. This home, built in 1911, of quartered oak all taken from the farm, has sixteen rooms and is fitted with every modern convenience.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Summers: C. W., a . graduate of the Rock Creek High school, was a student at Valparaiso, and the Marion Normal College, married Opal Meyer, a daughter of Charles W. Meyer; and Muriel A., a graduate of the Rock Creek High
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school and now a student in the Bradley Polytechnic College, at Peoria, Illinois, where she is taking a course in domestic science.
SAMUEL W. RARICK. The proprietor of the Cloverdale Farm, in Rock Creek township, is a man so well known in Huntington county as to require no introduction. A successful farmer, he combines the prac- tical experience of the old time agriculturist with the knowledge and science of the twentieth century, and in every way has been a progressive worker for the improvement of country life conditions and the increase of soil production in his part of the state. Mr. Rarick is prominent in civic and several movements of a public nature, and is devoted to the work of his church.
Samuel W. Rarick was born in Perry county, Ohio, October 7, 1852, a son of John and Anna M. (Cupp) Rarick. The parents were likewise natives of Perry county, Ohio, where they were reared, educated and married. In the fall of 1864 they brought their little family to Hunt- ington county, Indiana, locating on the Wild Cat Reserve, near the forks of Rock Creek. That was the vicinity in which they spent the rest of their lives, and the father passed away in 1910 and the mother in 1890. Of their eight children four are still living: S. W. Rarick; Theophilus Rarick; Sarah, wife of Emmet Cheesam, of Markle, and John H. Rarick, also of Markle.
Samuel W. Rarick was between twelve and thirteen years of age when the family came to Huntington, Indiana. He had previously attended school in Ohio, and after coming to Rock Creek township had opportunities in an educational way to only a very limited extent. He remained at home with his father, and with his grandfather for several years, and at the time of his marriage in 1875 he had only a horse and saddle in property or capital. His wife, who thus began with him in the career of making a home and winning a comfortable competence, was Cornelia Taggart. She was born in Perry county, Ohio, and she likewise received somewhat limited educational advantages. After the death of his grandfather, Mr. Rarick bought two-thirds of the farm of one hundred and seventy-three acres which had comprised the old home- stead, and has since been steadily prosperous and improving his farm. He has a comfortable brick house which was erected in 1896, and a large frame barn was built in 1911. Mr. Rarick is an active worker in the Farmers' Institute. He has taken courses in agriculture at the Purdue University, and when his striking success as a producer of crops and manager of farming resources was referred to, he credited most of his success in that line to the help he has had from the university and from the fund of experience and knowledge which his ready mind has been able to draw from in associations with other farmers and by the reading of books and pamphlets and by regular attendance at lectures. How- ever, Mr. Rarick is no "book farmer," and he constantly tests every new theory by the rule of practical efficiency. Mr. Rarick is the original alfalfa grower in this part of Huntington county, and has made the cultivation of this typically western crop very profitable in his farm
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operations. Among other business interests he is a stockholder in the Farmers & Traders Bank of Markle.
Mr. and Mrs. Rarick have one living child, Dr. J. E. Rarick, a prac- ticing physician at Wolcottville, Indiana. He was born on the old farm in Rock Creek township, was educated in the Markle public schools and the high school, graduated from the former at the age of thirteen and the latter at seventeen, studied at Heidelberg College, at Tiffin, Ohio, for two and a half years, and from there entered Fort Wayne Medical College, where he was graduated M. D. Dr. Rarick married Mabel Webb of Chicago.
Mr. Rarick takes much part in civic and fraternal affairs. He affil- iates with Markle Lodge, No. 423, of the Knights of Pythias, and is a past chancellor and member of the Grand Lodge. He took probably the leading part of the organization of the Sparks Cemetery Association, which is incorporated under the laws of Indiana, and fifteen hundred dollars has been raised to endow the association and enable it to keep up its grounds. Mr. Rarick is president of the association, Will Wilt is vice president, and Elmer Levell is secretary and treasurer. Mr. Rarick is also a stockholder in the Majenica Telephone Company. In politics he is a prohibitionist.
For the past thirty-two years Mr. Rarick has been one of the most influential members of the Emanuel Church in Rock Creek township of Wells county, and has served in the capacity of deacon and elder, and is secretary of the joint consistory of the Emanuels at Bluffton He has contributed liberally both of time and money to the church. Mr. Rarick is known as a man of mature judgment, and when he once embarks upon any enterprise other people have confidence in the success of that undertaking, largely owing to his individual efficiency and their knowl- edge that he never goes into anything without a determination to carry it out in a satisfactory manner.
CHARLES H. RUDIG. Among the progressive farming men who have added to the wealth of Huntington county and made worthy names for themselves in the carrying on of the projects to which they were devoted, Charles H. Rudig is reckoned among the foremost. He has long been a resident of Warren township, and his fine place there is widely known as Hill View Farm, lying three-quarters of a mile south of Bippus. It is a farm of one hundred acres, which though not a large farm, is ample to his needs and is sufficiently extensive to require his whole attention in its management. Mr. Rudig was born in Dallas township, this county, on June 13, 1868, and is a son of Jacob P. Rudig, Jr., and his wife, Elizabeth (Biehl) Rudig.
Jacob Rudig, Jr., was born in Stark county, Ohio, as was also his wife. They came to Huntington county, Indiana, while young, even prior to their marriage, that event having been solemnized in Dallas township on May 7, 1867. They made their home in Dallas township until 1901, in which year they came to Andrews, and there they passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Rudig were the parents of five children. Charles
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H., the subject of this review, is the eldest of the family. William E., the second born, is a resident of Dallas township; Matilda is the wife of George Hanselman of Dallas; Malinda is unmarried and lives in Andrews; Martha is the wife of Charles A. Spencer and resides in Mil- waukee, Wisconsin.
Charles H. Rudig had his training in like manner with that of the boys of his time, and the farm added mnuch to his practical education. He attended the country schools up to the age of eighteen, and as a boy was confirmed in the German Evangelical church, of which his parents were members. He was twenty-six years of age when he married Lena Burkart of Chester township, their marriage taking place on Novem- ber 2, 1893. She was a native daughter of Wabash county and was there reared and educated, coming in young womanhood to Huntington county. To them one child has been born, Inez M., who was born on September 13, 1906.
Mr. and Mrs. Rudig have a place in their community of which they are in every way worthy. They have lived industrious and energetic lives, and their worldly fortunes have advanced in pleasing measure since they were united in marriage, for at that time all Mr. Rudig's possessions were comprised in a hundred dollars in cash and a horse and buggy. Today he has one of the fine and productive farms in the town- ship and is making steady progress in material advancement. He and his wife are members of the German Evangelical church of Bippus, and have a share in the general activities of the church and congregation.
A democrat in his politics, Mr. Rudig has always been constant to the interests of the party, along general lines, though he has not per- mitted party interests to interfere with his activities in local politics. In 1908 he was elected assessor of Warren township, an office which he still holds. Mr. Rudig has always been popular with the citizens of his community, and has taken a worthy part in the political and business activities of the town where he has so long resided.
MATHIAS SCHILLING. Any mention of agricultural enterprise in Warren township would be incomplete without reference to Mathias Schilling, proprietor of the Beaver Dam Farm, located on the northwest quarter of section 33 in that township. Mr. Schilling's homestead is one mile west and one mile south of Bippus. It comprises one hundred acres of highly improved land, well arranged and developed for purposes of general farming and stock raising. In addition to this Mr. Schilling owns eighty acres in Chester township of Wabash county, a mile west and half a mile south of Bippus.
It was on this old farm in Wabash county that Mr. Schilling was born October 25, 1862. He is a son of John and Catherine (Wagner) Schilling, both of whom were natives of Germany. The father came to America alone when a young man, and later married a widow. They became the parents of three children: Susan, now deceased; Louise, widow of John Stuart, and her home is in Chicago; and Mathias.
It was in Chester township of Wabash county that Mathias Schilling
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grew up to manhood. As a boy he had opportunities to attend the public schools during the winter time, but his services were for the greater part of the year required on the farm. In that way he spent the early years of boyhood, but at the age of eleven, consequent upon the death of his father, had to assume important responsibilities in managing the farm, and eventually practically managed the entire estate in the interest of his mother and brothers and sisters. When he was eighteen years old he bought forty acres adjoining the original home, and that made the eighty acres which comprise his present place in Wabash county.
On November 19, 1890, Mr. Schilling married Ida Leonhardt. She was the daughter of Emery Leonhardt and was reared in Warren town- ship. To their marriage have been born eight children, as follows: Mabel, a graduate of the common schools and unmarried; Howard J., a graduate of the common and the high schools; Clarence; Hattie, a graduate of the common schools and now a student in the high school ; Ervin, Martha, Emery, Palma, all at home and quite young.
The family are members of the Evangelical church of Bippus. Mr. Schilling is a class leader, a trustee, has served twelve years as superin- tendent of the Sunday school, and is one of the most active and liberal supporters of the church organization. Besides his farm, he is the owner of a house and lot in the village of Bippus. He was one of the original stockholders in the Bippus State Bank. In politics Mr. Schilling is a republican. In agricultural activities he has made a special reputa- tion as a brecder of first class stock. It has been his experience that farming on high class and high priced Indiana soil pays best in connec- tion with the very finest of live stock and by the use of the best methods and the best of tools and all facilities. Practicing these rules, he has been more than ordinarily successful. Of his stock mention should be made of his Duroc hogs, Holstein cattle and shorthorn cattle, and all his stock is of the very best and headed by some thoroughbreds.
MARTIN L. VICKERY. Another of Indiana's native sons who have contributed in generous measure to the agricultural advancement of the state, and more particularly of the community wherein they have lived, may be mentioned Martin L. Vickery, a representative citizen of Warren township and the prosperous proprietor of Brackenridge Farm, adjoin- ing the village of Bracken and about three miles north of Bippus. Here he has labored for about fifteen years and his activities have been well rewarded in the material things of life.
Martin L. Vickery was born in Henry county, Indiana, in October, 1857, and he is the son of Isaiah and Mary W. (Fletcher) Vickery. They, too, were natives of the Hoosier state, the father born in Rush and the mother in Henry county. Isaiah Vickery was the son of Martin Vickery, a man of North Carolina birth and ancestry, who came to Indi- ana in young life and settled in Henry county, where he passed the remainder of his life. He met and married his wife in Henry county, after which they came to live in Huntington county, and later moved to Wabash county, where they ended their days. To Isaiah and Mary
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(Fletcher) Vickery eight children were born, six of whom are yet living.
Martin L. Vickery was reared on Henry and Wabash county farms and had his educational training, which was none too extensive, in the common schools of his home communities and in the Spiceland Academy. He was by nature a farming man and he had no desire to do other than to follow in the footsteps of his forbears in the choosing of an enterprise. His success has been worthy of him, indeed, and he is today reckoned among the foremost and substantial agricultural men of the township and county.
On December 1, 1883, Mr. Vickery married Ellen Havenridge, a native of Putnam county, Indiana. They became the parents of eight children, and the mother died in 1905. She was a lifelong member of the Quaker church, having been a birthright member, as is also Mr. Vickery. In 1911 Mr. Vickery married Lillian D. Saylors, the widow of Anderson Saylors, of Wabash county.
Mr. Vickery is fraternally identified with the Odd Fellows, having membership in Lodge No. 640, and he is a Democrat as to politics. He served four years as assessor of Warren township, and has demon- strated his citizenship as the incumbent of other offices of more or less import in the community. He was appointed administrator of the Mary A. Brockover estate, consisting of five hundred acres of land in Warren township, of which he has complete control. In business circles he is known as a stockholder in the Bippus State Bank, and he is identified in the town as one of the successful and prosperous men of the township. The family have many sincere and warm friends in and about the town, and the sons and daughters of Mr. Vickery are taking their places among the useful and progressive citizenship of the county.
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