USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : from the earliest time to the present, with biographical sketches, notes, etc., together with a short history of the Northwest, the Indiana Territory, and the State of Indiana > Part 74
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HORACE MINER, a leading farmer and pioneer of Rock Creek Township, was born in Chenango County, N. Y., Septem- ber 20, 1820, and is the son of Francis D. and Mary Miner, both natives of Connecticut. The father was born April 19, 1797, and in early manhood emigrated to Chenango County, N. Y., where, on the 17th of July, 1815, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Parker, a union blessed with the birth of three children. In the fall of 1845, the family immigrated to Indiana and located in Rock Creek Township, Huntington County, where the parents lived a few years, selling out later and moving to the State of Wisconsin. They subsequently returned to this county, locating in Rock Creek Township, where their deaths occurred as follows: The mother's, February 20, 1876, and the father's, January 4, 1882. The immediate subject of this biography was raised on a farm and early learned those lessons of industry and thrift by which his subsequent life has been characterized. He received a prac- tical education from the country schools, and remained under the parental roof until 1841, at which time he started in life upon his own responsibility, securing employment at any thing he could find to do. On the 7th of January, of the above year, he married Miss Caroline Smith, a native of Onondaga County, N. Y., born December 21, 1823. To this union seven children were born, viz .: Henry C., Laura A., Loren B., Eveline, Emma C., Flora B., Horace R. In 1844, Mr. Miner came to Huntington County, Ind., settling in Rock Creek Township, and subsequently purchasing a tract of land near the village of Plum Tree. He began work in earnest, and within a few years had a respectable farm cleared from the forest. He after- ward exchanged this for another piece of land to which he has subsequently added until he now owns a fine farm of 220 acres,
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the greater part of which is under a successful state of cultiva- tion. His first wife died on the 24th of December, 1884, and on the 17th of November, 1886, he was united in marriage to Mrs. Sabina (Tam) Hoag, of Columbiana County, Ohio. She is the daughter of James and Rebecca (McNutt) Tam, and dates her birth from the 28th of June, 1842. Mr. Miner, in common with all the early settlers of Rock Creek Township, encountered his full share of the difficulties and obstacles of pioneer life, but looks back to the old times as one of the most enjoyable periods of his existence. He has cleared and prepared for cultivation over 200 acres of heavily timbered land, in view of which fact it can readily be seen that he has never been content to eat the bread of idleness. He is a Republican in politics, and justly entitled to mention among the representative citizens of Rock Creek Township.
PETER RITTENHOUSE was born in Montgomery County, Ohio, September 30, 1825, and is the son of Aaron and Sarah (Neigh) Rittenhouse. The parents were both born and reared in Ohio, and in the year 1826, moved to Shelly County, Ind., where they lived until their removal to Huntington County in 1837. Mr. Rittenhouse entered 160 acres of land in the county to which he moved the fall of the above year, and until he could erect a house, his family found shelter in a rude and hastily con. structed shed. Mr. Rittenhouse cleared a good farm, raised a large family, twelve members of which grew to manhood and womanhood. He departed this life in the fall of 1855, aged fifty- three years. Of his family, eleven children are still living, the eld- est having reached the age of sixty-three years. The mother is still iving also, and at this time has fifty-three grandchildren and twenty-nine great grandchildren, her age being eighty-two. Peter Rittenhouse was one year old when his parents moved to Indiana, and twelve years of age when they came to Huntington County. He assisted in clearing the farm, and from his early youth was taught to look upon idleness as a crime, in conse- quence of which his life has been one of great industry. Until twenty-one years of age he remained with his parents, but on attaining his majority he began doing job work as a day laborer, and continued as such until he had saved sufficient means to purchase eighty acres of timbered land, for which he paid the sum of $300. By perservering industry he succeeded in clearing from the " green " a good farm, and looks back upon his pioneer days as among the most enjoyable experiences of his life. He was united in marriage to Miss Barbara A. Zent, of Knox County, Ohio. She was born July 17, 1833, and when thirteen years of age, came with her parents, Daniel and Mariah (Yieder) Zent, to Huntington County. Mr. and Mrs Rittenhouse are the parents of the following children, to wit: Lodenia, born Febru- ary 17, 1853; Leonard J., born August 27, 1855; Mary M., born March 29, 1858; Philoma, born December 3, 1865. Mr. Ritten-
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house was originally a Democrat, but since the war, has been voting with the Republican party. He and wife are members of the Christian Church, with which they have been identified for a number of years.
DANIEL RITTENHOUSE, secona son of Aaron Rittenhouse, was born in Shelby County, Ind., May, 1827. At the age of ten years he accompanied his parents to Huntington County, and from that time until his twenty-first year, assisted his father in clearing and developing the farm, doing a man's work while yet a mere boy. He was raised amid the scenes of pioneer life, and on account of the labor required of him at home, attained but a limited education, attending school but a few weeks each year. On attaining his majority he provided himself with a woodman's outfit, i. e., an ax, maul and wedge, and at once began working for himself, making rails, chopping wood, logging, etc., receiv- ing fifty cents per day, or only $8 per month. With his hard earnings he was at length enabled to purchase eighty acres of wild woodland, the beginning of his present beautiful farm, from which by an immense amount of hard work he at length cleared and developed a very comfortable home. He has added to his original purchase and at this time owns ninety-nine acres, supplied with good buildings and all the improvements and ap- pliances necessary to make farming pleasant and successful. His marriage took place October 9, 1851, with Mary A. Johnson, a native of North Carolina, and daughter of Elias and Sarah (Pierce) Johnson, of North Carolina and Virginia, respectively. Mrs. Rittenhouse was born October 12, 1831, and at the age of fourteen accompanied her parents to Grant County, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse are the parents of the following children: Sarah J., born October 5, 1857; Elias M., born December 18, 1858; Alonzo, born March 14, 1861; Cyrenus, born June 16, 1863; Ida M., born January 2, 1866; Jesse S., born September 4, 1873; Theodore and Theophilus (twins). Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse are mem- bers of the Baptist Church.
JOHN RITTENHOUSE. - The gentleman whose sketch is herewith presented is a native of Shelby County, Ind., and the fourth son and fifth child of a family of fifteen children born to Aaron and Sarah (Neigh) Rittenhouse. He was born on the 9th day of January, 1831, and at the age of seven years accompanied his parents to Huntington County, Ind., where he has since resided. His youthful years were spent on his father's farm, and amid the rugged scenes of pioneer life, he learned those lessons of industry by which his subsequent life has been characterized. His early educational advantages were somewhat limited, his schooling being confined to a three months' term each year, attending only about half the time. He soon developed into a strong, robust young man, thoroughly familiar with the use of the ax and maul, and all other implements common in the newly
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settled localities forty and fifty years ago. On attaining his majority he began life for himself and for sometime thereafter worked at anything he could find to do, his compensation having frequently been but $13 per month. He was thus engaged until about 1855, at which time he invested his hard saved earnings in forty acres of land from which not a stick of timber had been cut or removed. After erecting thereon a comfortable, hewed log house, he began clearing and " slashing," and by almost con- stant work night and day succeeded in a few years in developing a good farm. He subsequently exchanged this for an eighty acre tract, his present home, which when he obtained possession was in about the same condition as his first place, being just as nature made it. By persevering industry he cleared seventy-six acres, to which he has since added sixteen acres, making at this time a fine farm, the fruits of his unaided efforts. Mr. Rittenhouse and a brother in 1868, purchased a thresher which proved a very un- fortunate investment, as is shown by the fact that a few weeks after starting the same his sleeve was caught in the cylinder resulting in the mangling of his hand and forearm in such a horrible manner that amputation became necessary. After losing his arm he did not retire from active labor by any means, but has since accomplished with his remaining arm an immense amount of hard work, such as chopping, binding wheat, and in fact performing nearly all kinds of farm labor. Mr. Rittenhouse was married November 9, 1855, to Martha J. Johnson, daughter of Elias and Sarah (Pierce) Johnson,. natives of Virginia and North Carolina, respectively. Mrs. Rittenhouse was born in Ohio, December 5, 1835, and is the fifth in a family of thirteen
children. Mr. and Mrs. Rittenhouse have a family of four children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows, viz .: Amanda M., wife of P. Bell, born September 17, 1856; Joseph I., born March 24, 1859: Enos N., born April 6, 1863, and Willis L., born May 24, 1866. Mr. Rittenhouse and wife are active mem- bers of the Baptist Church.
CORNELIUS SCHMUCK was born in York County, Penn., September 26, 1814, the fourth of a family of eleven children born to Jacob and Catherine (Hildebrand) Schmuck, natives of Pennsylvania, and of German descent. Jacob Schmuck was by occupation, a farmer and weaver. He married early in life, and about the year 1836, emigrated to Wayne County, Ind., where he lived the rest of his life, dying at the advanced age of eighty- six years. His wife preceded him to the grave, departing this life at the same age. They reared a family of eleven children, all of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. Cornelius Schmuck was reared on a farm near the City of York, Penn., and received a fair education in both the German and English lan- guages. He came to Indiana when twenty-two years of age, and for a time worked at any thing he could find to do. He sub- sequently farmed rented land, and at one time owned a forty
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HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY.
acre tract of land in Madison County, which he purchased with his earnings, made by working at from $4.00 to $7.00 per month. In the fall of 1846, he came to Huntington County and bought eighty acres of land near what is known as Stringtown, and be- gan pioneer life in true backwoods fashion. He lived on this place until 1861, at which time he disposed of it and purchased his present farm, at that time an unbroken piece of wood land. Here he was obliged to live over again his pioneer experience, but by persevering industry was in time the possessor of a com- fortable home, it being now one of the best farms in the town- ship. Mr. Schmuck is a Republican in politics, but was originally a Whig, and cast his first vote for William Henry Harrison. He was married March 3, 1842, to Sarah Landes, daughter of Benja- min and Elizabeth (Kipps) Landes, both parents natives of Virginia. Benjamin Landes, in 1828, moved to Wayne County, Ind., and a number of years later emigrated to Missouri, in which State he is still living at an advanced age. Mrs. Schmuck was born in Virginia, January 17, 1826, and is the mother of nine liv- ing children, viz .: William H., Elizabeth C., Susannah M., Mary J., Jacob D., Emerson B., Benjamin F., Eli F., and Sarah D. Mr. and Mrs. Schmuck are members of the Christian Church and among the prominent citizens of Rock Creek Township.
DR. JOSEPH SCOTT, a prominent physician and pioneer of Rock Creek Township, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Cum- berland County, October 8, 1824, the oldest son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Walters) Scott. The doctor when nine years of age was taken by his parents to Massillon, Ohio, where he grew to manhood, and where he enjoyed superior educational advantages, taking an academic course in one of the best schools in the State. He assisted his father on the farm until his twentieth year, at which time, 1844, he began reading medicine with Dr. Perkins Wallace, under whose instructions he continued for a period of four years. Actuated by a laudable desire to increase his knowl. edge of the profession, the doctor in the winter of 1846-7, attended a course of lectures at Cleveland, Ohio, working his way through the college, having been early obliged to rely entirely upon his own resources. He attended the same institution the following winter, and in the spring of 1848 came to Huntington County, Ind., and began the practice of his profession in the town of Huntington, where he remained for a period of two years. At the end of that time he located on the north bank of the Wabash River, Rock Creek Township, erecting a house on the present site of Markle, hence was the first actual settler of that beautiful and flourishing little village. At that time the country was very sparsely settled, and the doctor being too poor to own a horse was obliged to make his professional rounds on foot, meeting with many interesting as well as startling experiences during the first two or three years' residence in the new country. On the 22d of January, 1852, he married Miss Susan Griffith, who was
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born in Perry County, Ohio, January 10, 1828. She was the daughter of Jesse and Catherine (Miller) Griffith, of Pennsyl- vania. At the time of his marriage the doctor was in very straitened circumstances, and states that he was obliged to borrow the money necessary to pay for the license and settle with the " squire" who performed the ceremony. For a period of six years he was the only physician and surgeon in Markle, during which time he succeeded in establishing a very extensive prac- tice throughout the southern part of Huntington and portions of Grant and Wells counties. This practice he has since com- manded and is justly entitled to the reputation of one of the most skillful and successful medical men of this part of the State. He has been a close student and a man of great physical endur- ance, as is attested by the fact that he is still in good health, although broken somewhat on account of exposure. He has in addition to his professional duties taken an active interest in local politics, being one of the leaders of the Republican party in the town and township where he resides. In 1857 he was ap- pointed Postmaster of Markle, and held the office for ten years, when the compensation amounted to but 75 cents per quarter. Was appointed again in 1882, but resigned the office a short time after the election of President Cleveland. The Doctor was made a Mason in 1851, and at this time stands high in the order, being a Royal Arch Mason, and a member of the Council. He belongs to the I. O. O. F. also, being one of the oldest members of that order in Huntington County.
GEORGE W. SLOAM was born in Chester County, Penn., July 27, 1839, son of Patrick and Phebe Sloam, the father a na- tive of Ireland and the mother of Pennsylvania. Patrick Sloam came to the United States about the year 1816, and grew to man- hood in the City of Philadelphia. In early life he married Phebe A. Moore, who was born of English parentage in the County of Lancaster, Penn. He early learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until 1850, when he came to Wayne County, Ind., and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1857 he moved to Hunt- ington County, where he is now living. G. W. Sloam, is the eld- est son of a family of nine children, and when eleven years of age, accompanied his parents to Wayne County, where upon a farm he grew to early manhood, attending the country schools at intervals during the meantime. At the age of eighteen, he came to Huntington County and began the carpenter's trade, at which he worked for several years. In November, 1861, at the first call for troops, he entered the army, enlisting in Company H, Forty- Seventh Indiana Infantry, and served as a brave and honorable soldier until honorably discharged, December, 1864. He shared with his command the fortunes and vicissitudes of war in many campaigns and bloody battles, and in all his varied experiences, acquitted himself as a true soldier, and earned a military reputa- tion of which he feels justly proud. At the expiration of his
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period of service, he returned home, and until 1876, worked at his trade, abandoning it that year and engaging in agricultural pursuits, which he has since followed. He purchased his present farm in 1881, and has a beautiful and comfortable home, the re- sult of his unaided efforts. He is a staunch Republican in poli- tics, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He is promi- nently identified with the G. A. R., and with his wife, belongs to the Christian Church. He was married August 12, 1866, to Miss Anna C. Brown, daughter of Asa and Cinderella (Wilson) Brown. Mrs. Sloam was born on the 7th of April, 1843, and is the mother of the following children: Curtis O., Effie M., Mary C., deceased, and Albert W.
NATHAN SMITH, retired farmer, is a native of Onondaga County, N. Y., and the second son of a family of seven children, six sons and one daughter, born to David and Laura (White) Smith, natives of Vermont; the father born May :9, 1752, and the mother January 20, 1798. Daniel Smith was a farmer by occu- pation. He was married in 1814, and a little later emigrated to New York, where his wife died in 1839. Early in the forties he was united in marriage to Mrs. Catherine (Rozelle) Smith and a short time prior to 1850 moved to Huntington County, Ind., and located near the village of Plum Tree, where he lived for several years. Five of his sons and one daughter became resi- dents of Huntington County, to-wit: Solomon, Nathan, William, Caroline, John and Daniel. His other son, Delevan, lives near Mason, Michigan, where he located in 1857, he and the subject of this sketch being the only members of the family now living. Daniel Smith was a man highly esteemed by all who knew him, and departed this life December, 1872. Nathan Smith was born January 7, 1818, grew to manhood in his native State, and re- mained with his parents until his twentieth year, at which time he began life for himself, engaging to work for one year for $12 per month. He continued as a common laborer for three years, and in April, 1842, was united in marriage to Miss Phebe Turner, who died February 14, 1844, leaving one daughter, Elzina. Mr. Smith, in 1846, came to Huntington County, Ind., but on account of sickness subsequently returned to his native State, exchang- ing the fifteen acres of land he had purchased, for an Indian pony and $10 in money. In 1849 he again came to Indiana, and settled near Rock Creek Center, Rock Creek Township, where he invested his sole earthly possession, $130, in land. His second marriage was solemnized April 15, 1851, with Miss Susan McCon- ner, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio, and daughter of Samuel and Clarissa (Wright) McConner, of New Jersey. Mrs. Smith was born November 25, 1818, and is the mother of five children, viz .: Mary F., wife of Isaiah Dill; Laura O., wife of Charles Hunt; Delevan, Francis M., and Cassius E. Soon after his second marriage Mr. Smith settled near Plum Tree Village, and five and a half years later moved to the place adjoining the
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farm on which he now lives. He moved to his present home place in the fall of 1865, and is now spending his declining years in the enjoyment of that peace and retirement which only those who have so long and successfully battled with the cares of life know how to appreciate. In early life he was a Whig, later a Republican, and in 1884 became a firm supporter of the principle of Prohibition, which he has since earnestly advocated. He and wife are active members of the Christian (Disciples) Church.
GEORGE SOWERS, prominent citizen and retired farmer, is a native of Fayette County, Penn., and the eldest of nine child- ren born to Jacob and Elizabeth Sowers. The father was a native Pennsylvania also, where in 1810 he married Elizabeth Franks. In 1817, he emigrated to Wayne County, Ohio, and settled near the town of Wooster, where he entered a tract of government land and made a home. He was a pioneer in the true sense of the term, and met with many thrilling experiences during his early years in the backwoods. George Sowers was six years old when his parents moved to Ohio, in which State he passed the years of his youth and early manhood. Being the eldest of the family, he was obliged to forego the privileges of an education in order to contribute his share toward making a home, and sup- porting the family. At the age of eighteen he went back to his native State and bound himself for two years, to learn the wagon maker's trade, receiving at the end of that time, $10.00 worth of tools and $120.00 in cash, his father furnishing him with clothing in the meantime. After acquiring proficiency in his trade, he returned to Ohio, and worked for some time as a jour- neyman, but subsequently opened a shop on his father's farm, which he operated with good success for several years. He followed wagon making for a period of several years, and at the end of that time, 1836, came to Huntington County, Ind., and entered a tract of 240 acres of land in Rock Creek Town- ship. The following year he worked at his trade, in Logansport, in which city, on the 20th day of July, 1837, he married Miss Martha, daughter of Joseph and Mary Redd, of Pennsylvania. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Sowers went back to Ohio, where he remained until the fall of 1840, at which time he returned to Indiana, and settled in Rock Creek Township, where he has since resided. He took an active part in the development of the country, and like many others, bore his full share of the priva- tions, hardships and hard work of pioneer life. In all these years he has been known as a very careful and industrious citizen, an honorable neighbor, and a man against whose good name, no breath of suspicion has ever been uttered. He had charge of his farm until a few years ago, when he retired from active life and is now enjoying in quiet and content, that rest which he has so well and so nobly earned. On the 30th of December, 1883, his faithful companion in all his years of toil, the sharer of his joys and sorrows, yielded to the last summons - dying at the
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age of sixty-seven years. She was, with her husband, an earnest worker in the Baptist Church, and bore him five children, two sons and three daughters, viz .: Artlissa J., Arnetta, Mary A. (deceased), Joseph R., and Meredith (deceased), who was a gal- lant soldier in the late war.
ISAAC B. SPARKS, retired farmer, is a native of Indiana, and the tenth of a family of thirteen children born to Solomon and Isabell (Swaim) Sparks, parents natives of North Carolina, and of English and German descent, respectively. Solomon Sparks was by occupation a farmer, and grew to manhood in North Carolina. He emigrated to Ohio in an early day, and later to Indiana, renting on what is known as Nettle Creek, where he lived until his removal to Wells County in 1834. He settled near the present site of Markle on the south side of the Wabash, and and was one of the earliest settlers in that locality. He entered a valuable tract of land near Rock Creek, and spent quite a num- ber of years in true pioneer style, meeting with many interesting adventures with the Indians and wild beasts during his early ex- perience in the backwoods. He lived to see ten of his children grown and settled, was a man of influence in the community where he resided, and died some time prior to 1860. Isaac B. Sparks was born April 2, 1822, and was only twelve years of age when his par- ents moved to Wells County. He was early taught those lessons of industry and frugality by which his subsequent life has been characterized, and grew to manhood amid the rugged duties of farm life. He attended school for only a limited period, conse- quently did not acquire much of an education so far as books are concerned, but by intelligent observation has since obtained a valuable practical knowledge, which has enabled him to trans- act business in a safe and satisfactory manner. He early be- came quite expert in the use of the rifle, and at one time killed nine deer and crippled the tenth in one day. He made his home with his parents until his twenty-eighth year, and in 1845 pur- chased his first land, an eighty-acre tract, for which he paid the sum of $240, a :. d upon which he made a number of substantial improvements, including a double log barn that is still doing good service. He moved to the farm in 1853 and has since made it one of the best places in the township. Mr. Sparks was for- merly a Democrat, but espoused the principles of the Greenback party when Greeley ran for the Presidency, and has ever since been an earnest advocate of said principles. He was for some years prominently identified with the Grange movement, having been one of its ablest workers in Rock Creek Township. Mr. Sparks was married December 18, 1851, to Miss Cynthia A. Roberts, of Kentucky, and daughter of William and Martha (Hultz) Roberts. Mrs. Sparks was born December 27, 1832, and is the mother of the following children, viz .: William, Albert D., deceased; Robert R., Rachael E., Frederick, Sarah A., Mariah, Rebecca J., deceased; Susan E., Isaac H., Cynthia I., deceased,
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