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 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
GEORGE E. SPRINKLE. It may be said that the whole business life of George E. Sprinkle, one of the prosperous farmers of Lancaster town- ship, is summed up in the one word "industry." Whatever success he may have attained, and it is considerable, has been gained through the. efforts of himself and wife, and while accumulating a material com- petency and achieving prosperity he has so directed his efforts as to win also the respect and esteem of his fellow men. Mr. Sprinkle was born in the town of Lancaster, Indiana, December 6, 1859, and is a son of Solomon H. and Marietta (Sinnett) Sprinkle.
The father of Mr. Sprinkle was born near Columbus, Ohio, where he grew to young manhood and then came to what is now known as New Lancaster, Indiana, where he was married, his wife having come to Hunt- ington county from her birthplace near Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Sprinkle was a wagonmaker by trade, an occupation at which he worked until
797
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
moving to the state of Missouri, where he ran a hotel and remained for a period of nine years. Upon his return to Indiana, he located at South Whitley, Indiana, where he lived for one year, following which he re- turned to Lancaster and made that point his home until the death of his wife in 1883. Mr. Sprinkle then went west, and died in Marion, Indiana, in 1906. He was the father of a family of twelve children, of whom five are still living: William H., a blacksmith of Liberty, Missouri; George E., of Huntington ; Edward L. and C. C., who reside at Marion, Indiana ; and Arthur D., a barber of Redlands, California.
George E. Sprinkle was five years of age when his parents moved to Chillicothe, Missouri, and in that state he attended the public schools. Upon his return to Indiana he supplemented his education by attendance in the schools of Lancaster township, although when only fourteen years of age he began to make his own way in the world. By the time he was twenty-one years of age he had managed to save $400 as a farm hand and working in a sawmill, and in 1882 he learned the photography trade and he worked at that and taught the art of the chemio oil painting. He began farming on his own account, although it was not until after his marriage, in 1884, that he settled on his present property, a tract of eighty acres, located five miles south and one-half mile east of Hunting- ton, in section 21, and the east one-half of the northeast one-quarter of section 14, in Lancaster township. When a farm hand, Mr. Sprinkle lived frugally and economically, worked hard and persistently, and as the years passed made steady financial progress. His life record should serve as a source of inspiration to others who have to start out in life as he did. He had no money to assist him when he began to earn his own living, and that he is today one of the substantial men of his community is due to the fact that he and his wife have persevered constantly. He is progressive in his ideas, uses the latest improved machinery, and makes his land pay him well for the labor he expends upon it. His dealings have been straightforward, and it would be difficult to find a man who stands higher in general public esteem.
On June 23, 1884, Mr. Sprinkle was married to Miss Martha J. Tuttle, who was born in Lancaster township, and there reared and edu- cated, daughter of Thomas and Anna (Slagle) Tuttle. Thomas Tuttle was born in Shelby county, Ohio, in 1813, and was married in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, to Anna Slagle, who was born in 1820. In 1836 they moved to Shelby county, Ohio, and three years later came to Hunt- ington county, Indiana, locating at Mount Etna, where Mr. Tuttle started a cabinet shop and worked at his trade of cabinetmaker. After seven years thus spent, the family moved to Lancaster township, and there the father continued to be engaged in farming until his death in 1891, the mother surviving until 1900. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Sprinkle, namely : Charles R., born October 28, 1886, a graduate of the Huntington public schools and Huntington Business University, and a farmer in Lafayette township, Allen county, Indiana, married Hazel Duffey, daughter of Amos Duffey, and has one child; and Dessie G., a graduate of the graded and high schools and the Valparaiso Uni-
*
798
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
versity, for one year a teacher in the public schools, and now the wife of Harry B. Bonewitz, a school teacher of Mount Etna, with one child.
Mr. and Mrs. Sprinkle are members of the Christian church at Kelso, Indiana, in which both have been decidedly active, Mr. Sprinkle having served as a member of the building committee when the new church edifice was erected. In political matters he has always been a republican and has been active in civic affairs, serving as supervisor of his district for seven years, and as superintendent of the Salamonie and Infirmary gravel roads and being known as one of the best superintendents, in the line of work accomplished, that Huntington county has known. For the last six years Mr. Sprinkle has given road work his entire attention; he has made the public highway a study, and his practical experience for years has taught him when and how to repair and maintain the high- ways. He has been such a booster of good roads that he is known over the county as "Sprinkle the good roads man."
JACOB E. SHAFER. Three miles northeast of Warren at stop No. 18 on the Marion, Bluffton and Eastern Traction Company, is the situation of the country home of Jacob E. Shafer and family. As a farm it repre- sents the highest standards of cultivation and productivity, and not only for its commercial value but for its long associations with the Shafer name is it prized by its present owner. Mr. Shafer was an infant when brought to this farm by his parents over fifty years ago, has grown up and spent all his life in one community, and in all that time his neigh- bors have never known anything but good of him and his relations with business, church, social and the moral interests of the community. He is a fine class of Huntington county citizen.
Born in Butler county, Ohio, March 18, 1862, Jacob E. Shafer is one of the six children of George E. and Margaret (Wolfe) Shafer. He was the youngest in the family, and was one year of age when George Shafer brought the family to Huntington county in 1863. The father paid a thousand dollars for a quarter section of heavily timbered land in Salamonie township, and it is a portion of that old homestead which is now owned and occupied by Jacob E. Shafer. The woodlands and the cultivated fields of the old farm provided a stimulating environment for the youth of Jacob Shafer, and when not otherwise employed by the duties of home he attended district school No. 6 of that township. His education was finished at the age of eighteen, and thenceforward he was a practical worker and more than paid his way both as a youth and as a man. When he was twenty he started out for himself, and practically ever since has farmed the same land. His homestead comprises sixty acres of the original one hundred and sixty bought by his father in 1863.
On October 1, 1887, Mr. Shafer married Anna E. Poling. She was born in Rock Creek township of Huntington county February 3, 1866, a daughter of Silas and Margaret (Goss) Poling. Her early years were spent on a farm in Wells county. When she was nine she lost her mother, and thereafter made her home with Almeda Irick, and previous to her marriage earned her own way by working at a weekly wage. Her educa-
799
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
tion was acquired in the common schools of Wells county. In politics Mr. Shafer is one of the ardent republicans, and has taken much interest and has been influential in both township and county politics.
JOHN F. RAY. Nature has been liberal in her gifts to Huntington county, for there are few, if any, sections of the state where such ideal agricultural conditions exist. For this reason a great number of the most substantial men here are connected with farming, and their progress- ive and energetic efforts have resulted in the raising of agricultural standards here to a high degree. Among these men, one who has won well-merited success through individual effort is John F. Ray, the owner of fifty-five acres of good land in Polk township, on the Range Line gravel road, seven miles southwest of Huntington, and twenty-five acres in Lancaster township, just across the road from the Polk township land. Mr. Ray is a product of the farm, having been born in Liberty township, Wabash county, Indiana, March 22, 1871, a son of Alexander M. and Mary E. (Morrow) Ray.
Alexander M. Ray was born in Wabash county, Indiana, June 17, 1843, a son of Moses E. and Sarah (Brown) Ray, natives of Kentucky. Moses E. Ray served as a soldier during the Civil war, as did also Alex- ander M. Ray, the latter enlisting in Company K, One Hundred and First Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and in 1863 being trans- ferred to the Fifty-eighth Regiment. At the close of the war he received his honorable discharge and returned to his farm duties in Liberty town- ship, Wabash county. Both he and Mrs. Ray live at Mount Etna. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ray: Charles, who died at the age of five years; Emma, who is the wife of Thomas Moore, of Marion, Indiana; John F., of this review; and Ella, who is the wife of Elve Russell, of Lancaster township.
John F. Ray was reared on his father's farm in Wabash county, and there received his educational training in district school No. 1. He re- mained at home assisting his father until his marriage at the age of twenty-six years, December 24, 1896, to Miss Emma L. Wise, who was born April 1, 1871, daughter of Peter W. and Elizabeth (Shell) Wise. Mr. Wise was born in Henry county, Indiana, and came to Huntington county in 1855, settling on the farm now owned by Mr. Ray, which he cultivated until his death, May 13, 1913. He was the father of five chil- dren, of whom three are living: Mary C., the wife of J. B. Bailey, of Huntington; Ada E., the wife of Frank L. Gordon, of Polk township; and Emma L., who was educated in the public school and became the wife of John F. Ray. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ray : Myrtle R., born March 27, 1906, and now attending the public schools; and two children deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Ray are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is fraternally connected with Mount Etna Lodge No. 333, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is past master and a member of the Grand Lodge; and of Mount Etna Lodge No. 304, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is past grand and a member of the Grand Lodge; and both Mr. and Mrs. Ray
800
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
belong to Mount Olive Lodge No. 421, of the Rebekahs, in which Mrs. Ray is past noble grand, a member of the Grand Lodge, and noble grand for the year 1914. In politics Mr. Ray is a republican, but he has taken only a good citizen's interest in public matters.
Mr. Ray is one of the good, practical farmers of his community, and his activities have not alone put him in a foremost position among his township's substantial men, but have also contributed materially to the general welfare of the community. He has been engaged in a number of business ventures, being at this time a stockholder in the Majenica Telephone Company, and in every relation his associates have found him a strict adherent of the highest business ethics. His friends in Polk township are as numerous as are his acquaintances.
JOHN A. MILLER. Huntington county is noted for its fine farmsteads, and in Clear Creek township is located one of the most attractive and valuable, known as the Miller Shorthorn Stock Farm, situated four and a half miles northeast of Huntington on the Mishler Pike. Its chief industry is the breeding of registered shorthorn cattle, and many of the up-to-date farmers in all this part of Indiana depend upon the Miller stock as a nucleus of their herds. Mr. Miller has spent money, patience and labor in laying the foundation of a splendid herd of shorthorns, and his animals are now considered as good as any of that breed now to be found in the state. He is the owner of eighty acres of land, in his farm, and has some valuable property in the city of Huntington. His achievements speak for themselves, and it is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Miller has long been regarded as one of the leading citizens of Huntington county.
John A. Miller was born on a farm in Whitley county, Indiana, August 2, 1862, a son of John and Sarah A. (Seidner) Miller. John Miller, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, October 3, 1827, was reared and married in his native county, and in 1856 moved to Indiana, and settled in Whitley county, where he followed the vocation of farming. This location was changed to Huntington county, Indiana, in 1875, and to the city of Huntington in 1898, where he resided until his death on March 7, 1912. In 1896, his first wife died, and in 1898 he was again married. By his first marriage there were thirteen children, of whom ten are still living, five sons and five daughters. The sons are mentioned as follows: Franklin E., of Whitley county; William A., of Hunting- ton; Henry, of Clear Creek township; John A., also of Clear Creek township; and Perry E., of Jackson township. The daughters are : Mary E., wife of James W. Allen of Clear Creek township; Sarah E., wife of J. H. Neff, of Clear Creek township; Amanda E., wife of Frank Emley, of Lafayette township, Whitley county; and Irena J., wife of C. C. Howenstein, of Clear Creek township; and Minerva, wife of New- ton Chenoweth, of Huntington.
Mr. John A. Miller was about twelve years of age when the family located in Huntington county. His training up to that time had been in the common schools of Whitley county, and he finished his education
801
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
in this county. His home was with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age, and after he was nineteen he received wages for his work. In the meantime, Mr. Miller had learned the carpenter trade, and fol- lowed that as a workman for several years, and it is a skill which has been very useful to him in his subsequent career as an independent farmer.
On January 13, 1887, occurred the marriage of John A. Miller with Mary N. Fairchild, of Whitley county. She was born in that county, was educated in the common schools, and belonged to one of the old and well known families in that vicinity. To their marriage have been born five children : Jessie E., a graduate of the common schools and now the wife of H. O. Colclasser of Clear Creek township; Mertie E., a graduate of the common schools and the wife of Howard Haines; Flora M., who finished her work in the common schools; Ida, also a graduate of the common schools; and Marshall J., who is four years of age.
The Miller family have membership in the Brethren church, Mr. Miller being one of the deacons in the Clear Creek township church. His politics is that of the democratic party, and his part in community affairs has always been that of the good citizen, but he has never sought the distinctions of political office.
GEORGE W. KAPP. Coming to the United States a young man of twenty-six, without much knowledge of the English language, and handi- capped by the lack of financial support, excepting whatever work he could find in order that he might get a start, and gradually working his way upward and making a place for himself among the successful men of his community-such has been in brief the career of George W. Kapp, now a substantial farmer citizen in Clear Creek township, and who dur- ing his residence of more than a quarter of a century in Huntington county has won and enjoyed the high esteem of all citizens.
George W. Kapp was born in Germany, March 7, 1858, a son of John and Barbara A. (Wehr) Kapp, both of whom spent all their lives in their native Fatherland. There were four children in the family, three sons and one daughter, namely: George W .; Michael, who died at the age of nine years; Barbara, who is married and living in Germany; and Adam, who also lives in Germany.
The early life of George W. Kapp was spent on the farm in his native land. His education was continued in the public schools, up to the time he was fourteen years of age. His early training was all directed towards a career in agriculture, and in the preparation for his life work he spent some time in an agricultural school. With this equipment he was fitted for work as a farm foreman, and spent two years in that occupation before he became of age. Mr. Kapp saw three years of service in the German army, according to the requirements of his native land, and came out of the army with the grade of sergeant. His age at the time of leaving military service was twenty-three years, and following that he was for two years foreman on a farm.
On the first day of May in 1884, Mr. Kapp set out for the United
802
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
States, landing at Baltimore on May 24, and on May 26 arrived in the city of Huntington. The first three years were spent as an employe in the lime kilns of W. T. Bryant. This was followed by three years of farm work, and then for three years he rented a farm. Mr. Kapp then bought a small place in Polk township, lived there for five years, and after selling out, rented the Roach farm in Huntington township. That was his home for five years, and he next rented the Conrad Lynn farm, for a similar period. In the meantime Mr. Kapp bought what is known as the Haney farm in Clear Creek township, and since taking possession he has devoted all his energies and his accumulated experience to the proper management and improvement of same. There are eighty acres in his homestead, and with the thrifty enterprise of his race, he makes every acre of his land pay a profit. He raises registered Holstein cattle and Duroc hogs.
Mr. Kapp married Anna Learnbucher, who was born in Germany and came to the United States in 1884. They are the parents of four chil- dren: Fred, George J., Magdalene and Anna L. All have been given the advantages of the local schools, and have been trained to the same thrifty habits and honorable principles which have characterized their parents in all their relations with the community of Huntington county. The family are members of the Catholic church, and in politics Mr. Kapp has regularly supported the democratic party since becoming an American citizen.
LEWIS SHINKEL. Probably no citizen of Huntington county has had a more interesting business career than Lewis Shinkel, who is known as a farmer, fruit grower, dealer in automobiles, and especially as proprietor of the Shinkel Fruit Farm in section 33 of Clear Creek township. Success has come to him, and it has been worthily won. The story of his career, and a brief outline of his work have a very appropriate place in this history of Huntington county.
Lewis Shinkel was born in Dallas township of Huntington county in May, 1867, a son of Nicholas and Catherine (Diefenbaucher) Shinkel. His father was three years old when his parents left Germany, their native land, and came to America, and when he was thirteen years old the home was established in Dallas township of Huntington county. Among the hills of that township his boyhood was spent, and his educa- tion was both practical and literary, his time being divided between the work on the homestead and in attendance at the local district institution of learning. In Dallas township he married Catherine Diefenbaucher, who was born in Ohio, and of German parentage, her father having located in Dallas township about the same time the Shinkels came. She was then about fourteen years of age. Nicholas Shinkel and wife, after their marriage bought land and started as farmers, in moderate circum- stances, but managing to provide the necessities and comforts for their large family of ten children. They were of the thrifty German stock, and the pioneer labor of clearing and tilling the soil presented no hard- ships which they were afraid to face. However, the necessity of hard
803
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
labor pursued month after month and year after year, caused education to be a minor factor in family life, and the children had only limited advantages in the local schools. Lewis Shinkel, who was fifth in order of birth in the family attended school when opportunity was presented, but most of his education was acquired by learning to perform the prac- tical duties of the home and from the age of sixteen all his time and labor were spent in assisting his parents. Until he was twenty-two years of age, he lived at home, and then started out for himself at wages of fifty cents per day.
Mr. Shinkel's first introduction to commercial salesmanship indicates his quick intelligence and grasp of opportunities. One day a man came to his father's home, selling linens, and being discouraged offered to sell the entire stock at a bargain. Young Lewis offered him ten dollars for the outfit, and quickly had possession of the entire pack of goods. With this stock Lewis Shinkel started out on the road as a peddler. In a short time he had sold all the goods at a handsome profit, and with this cn- couraging beginning set out for Huntington to find the man from whom he had bought the outfit. On the way he fell in with a friend who induced him to take up the sale of nursery stock, and he quickly proved his ability as a distributer of fruit trees over a large territory. His success as a salesman in nursery goods opened the way for his larger business career. Mr. Shinkel has made a thorough study of fruit growing, and for years has been one of the leading authorities in northern Indiana, on the planting, the selection of the stock, and all departments in the fruit raising industry. This thorough knowledge of the business, com- bined with his exceptional talents as a salesman has enabled him to build up a business second to none of its kind in Huntington county. The Shinkel fruit farm is located three miles northwest of Huntington, and comprises forty-seven acres of land. The attractive and interesting feature of this farm is what is called a "fruit avenue." This avenue consists of a double row of fruit trees on each side of the highway, bor- dering the farm, and the general public are privileged to help themselves to all the luscious products found on those trees that afford both fruit and shade to passers-by. During the past six years Mr. Shinkel has also inaugurated another scheme, whereby he puts out fruit trees to persons on the "shares." He furnishes the trees and instructs the farmers in the planting, caring and pruning, and then receives as his share one-fourth of the crops during the fourth, fifth and sixth years after the trees have been set out. This has proved a very successful venture, and Mr. Shinkel now has fifty-five thousand trees growing on this plan.
Mr. Shinkel is a very progressive man and takes an active interest in the Farmers Institute, and has delivered many valuable talks on fruit raising before the meetings of farmers. His fruit raising industry is of itself a large business, and would content many men of less energy and ambition. However, Mr. Shinkel finds time to supervise other affairs. He is one of the most successful automobile salesmen in the state, and during 1912 headed the list of Studebaker salesmen in Indiana, a gold medal having been awarded him for his record of sales. His garage is
804
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
called the "Big Four," and is located immediately in the rear of the Huntington Hotel. Mr. Shinkel is also a stockholder in the National Life Insurance Company of Chicago.
Mr. Shinkel married Sarah E. Bruch. They have two daughters: Grace, a graduate of the Huntington high school; and Marie, a graduate of the common schools and now pursuing her studies in the high school at Huntington. Mrs. Shinkel died in 1912, and her husband and daugh- ters now live on their beautiful farm estate in Clear Creek township. Mr. Shinkel has membership in the German Lutheran church, and fra- ternally is affiliated with Huntington Lodge No. 93 Knights of Pythias. A man of honor, integrity, of valuable citizenship and industry and enter- prise, he has long been one of Huntington county's prominent citizens.
HARVEY R. HIPPENSTEEL. Now one of the most prosperous farmers of Clear Creek township, and a citizen whose services have often con- tributed to the general advancement and public welfare of his com- munity, Harvey R. Hippensteel began his career practically without any of the capital which is supposed to be necessary to successful endeavor. He is a substantial man, has won his prosperity by hard work, and in public affairs is honored for his services as a soldier during the Spanish- American war, and for a brief time he also served as trustee of Clear Creek township.
Harvey R. Hippensteel was born on a farm in Kosciusko county, October 1, 1873, a son of Henry and Naomi (Misener) Hippensteel. The father was born in Pennsylvania and the mother was a native of Ohio. The respective families came to Wabash county, Indiana, and it was there that the father and mother grew up in the same neighborhood and there acquaintance finally ripened into marriage. They lived for some years in Kosciusko county, later in Wabash county, and finally in Hunt- ington county, where the father lived in Warren township until 1903. February, 1893, the mother died, and the father subsequently married in Goshen, Indiana, where he still resides. Henry Hippensteel made a record as a soldier during the Civil war. His first service was in the Forty-seventh Indiana Regiment, and he was soon discharged for dis- ability. Later he veteranized and became a soldier of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Indiana Regiment, with which command he continued until the close of the war. He and his first wife were the parents of nine children, five of whom are still living: O. A. Hippensteel, a farmer in Michigan ; Harvey R .; Maude, who is married and living in Huntington township; Guy G., a farmer in Clear Creek township; and Marvin of Clear Creek township.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.