USA > Indiana > Marshall County > History of Indiana : containing a history of Indiana and biographical sketches of governors and other leading men. Also a statement of the growth and prosperity of Marshall County, together with a personal and family histry of many of its citizens, Vol. II > Part 19
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
Hon. Perry O. Jones, a prominent member of the Marshall bar and present member of the Indiana state senate, representing the counties of Marshall and Fulton, was born in Greene township, this county, April 5, 1847. His father, Tyra Jones, was a native of Pennsylvania, but early moved to Ohio, in which state he was married to Sarah Ames, the mother of our subject. He came to Indiana in 1836, and after a short residence in Kosciusko county, and in the spring of 1837, settled in Marshall county, locating I20 acres of land in Greene township upon which he lived until his death in the fall of 1876. Mr. Jones is a man of intelligence, unostentatious in manner, but very successful in his business af- fairs, having accumulated a handsome property, his farm at the
177
MARSHALL COUNTY.
time of his death, consisting of over 300 acres of valuable land. He has always been a public spirited citizen, and though opposed to asking for official positions, was honored at one time by being elected a member of the board of county commissioners. He and his wife, who died in 1880, were both earnest members of the Christian church. To their marriage were born ten children, of whom eight are now living. Perry O. Jones spent the years of his youth on his father's farm, and in early life enjoyed the ad- vantages of a common scoool education. He left the parental roof at the age of twenty-two years, and attended school one year at Rochester, and later pursued his studies at the Valparaiso nor- mal school, which he attended two terms, teaching school in the meantime. He was for some months engaged in the sewing ma- chine business, but having early manifested a decided preference for the law, he entered an office at Warsaw, in 1871, in which he pursued a course of professional reading for about eighteen months, becoming a student in the law department of the state university at Bloomington. He attended this institution two terms, and in the spring of 1873 was admitted to the bar in Mar- shall county, and began the practice of his profession at Ply- mouth, where he soon earned the reputation of a careful and painstaking attorney. After spending ten months in the office of C. H. Reeve, he affected a co-partnership with John S. Bender, Esq., which lasted until the spring of 1875. In the preceding fall he was elected prosecuting attorney for the district composed of Marshall, Fulton and Kosciusko counties, was re-elected in 1876, and filled the office for a period of four years. During the years 1876-77, he was a member of the common council of the city of Plymouth, representing the Third ward, in which body he was a prominent factor in shaping city legislation, and he was elected mayor of said city in 1879, re-elected in 1881, serving in that ca- pacity for four years when he was again elected a member of the council. In November, 1888, he was elected upon the democratic ticket, state senator for the counties of Marshall and Fulton, and is the present incumbent of that office. As a proof of his popu- larity with the people, it is only sufficient to say that he was never defeated for any position for which he offered himself as a candidate. He has been quite successful as a lawyer and enjoys a large and lucrative practice in Marshall and other counties. In addition to his general practice he has given considerable atten- tion to the insurance and real estate business, and also operates a fine farm of 170 acres, one and a half miles south of Plymouth. Mr. Jones was married April 13, 1875, to Nancy C. Fife, of Mar- shall county, daughter of Thomas Fife, deceased, to which union four children have been born, of which two are now living, Ar- thur C. and Lou Clare. Mr. Jones is a member of the Masonic 12-B.
*
178
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
order, Royal Arcanum, and with his wife belongs to the Metho- dist church.
Prominent among the representative citizens of Marshall county, Ind., is Major William M. Kendall, who for nearly forty years has been an honored citizen of Plymouth, and whose career as an official, soldier and merchant forms an interesting and component part of the history of the county and its capital. Major Kendall is a native of the Empire state, having been born on March 11, 1841, at Warsaw, Wyoming county. In 1851, when ten years of age, he came to Plymouth with his father, who died here two years later. During the period from 1853 to 1857, young Kendall made his home with H. B. Pershing, but in the latter year he was appointed deputy clerk of Marshall county, under N. R. Packard, and discharged the duties of that position until September, 1860. He then entered Ashbury university, (now De Pauw), at Green Castle, where he pursued his studies until the following spring, when he returned to Plymouth, and took charge of the postoffice, during the absence of the postmas- ter, Col. O. H. P. Bailey, who was at the front with the Union army. In January, 1862, Col. Bailey resigned and returned to Plymouth, and a short time afterward the young deputy post- master was commissioned a second lieutenant by Gov. Morton, and at once raised a company of volunteers for the federal army, which was mustered into service as Company D, of the Seventy-third regiment of Indiana volunteers. The company went into camp at South Bend, on July 12, 1862, when Lieut. Kendall was unanimously elected by Company D, as their cap- tain. He served gallantly until 1865, and while an inmate of a rebel prison in 1864, was commissioned major of the Seventy- third Indiana regiment. Upon his release he joined his com- mand at Larkinsville, Ala., where he was placed in com- mand of the post, and remained there until the war closed, and the order came for his command to be mustered out. Re- turning on July 12, 1865, he was mustered out of service at Indianapolis, with the rank of lieutenant colonel by brevet. Major Kendall then returned to Plymouth, and engaged in mer- cantile pursuits, at which he was successfully engaged until. 1869, when he was appointed postmaster of Plymouth by President Grant. He continued to hold the position of postmaster during the different republican administrations, and retired from the same on August 1, 1885, being one of the first removed under President Cleveland's administration, having served over sixteen years with satisfaction to all concerned and credit to himself. While in the postoffice, in 1872, Major Kendall engaged in the book and stationery business, which he has since continued. In July, 1888, he increased his business by adding a large and full line of groceries to the stationery business, and at present is
179
MARSHALL COUNTY.
conducting both enterprises, occupying two large store rooms on the southeast corner of La Porte and Michigan streets. Major Kendall is a member of Cyrene council, No. 944, Royal Ar- canum, and of Miles H. Tibbitt's post, No. 260, G. A. R. Major Kendall was married on September 29, 1861, to Harriet E., the daughter of Dr. Lyman Griffin, deceased, of Plymouth. She was born in Plymouth, in 1843. To their union six children have been born, one of whom is deceased. The living children are: Grace A., Mark Lee, Raymond Ames, Mary and Edith. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. The parents of Major Kendall were Abiather and Dorothy (Mack) Kendall. The father was born in Maine and the mother in New Hampshire, their marriage occurring in the latter state. Abiather Kendall learned the merchant tailor's trade when young, which he followed during life. He removed to New York state in 1840, and in 1847 he came west, and located at Grand Rapids, Mich., where he remained until about 1850, and then removed to La Porte, Ind., where his wife died. In 1851 he located in Plymouth, where his death occurred in 1853, in his forty-eighth year. There were six children born to the parents, of which the subject of this sketch was the fourth in number, and is the only surviving member. During Major Kendall's resi- dence in Plymouth, he has taken an active and conspicuous part in public and political affairs. He has on several occasions led a forlorn hope for his party, there being no chance of success on account of the large democratic majority. He has served as a member of the republican county central committee of Marshall county for a great many years, and is at present, and has been during four campaigns, chairman of the same.
Hon. Charles Kellison, the subject of this sketch, was born near the city of Hornellsville, Steuben county, N. Y., on the 17th day of June, 1850, being the youngest of seven children, whose parents were James and Elizabeth Kellison. His boyhood was spent in the severe labor of the farm, and as a consequence his opportunities for obtaining an education were confined during those years to the country schools of his neighborhood. He early developed a strong liking for mathematics, poetry, lan- guage, history and science, and by the closest application when at school and by employing his unoccupied hours and evenings, while engaged in farm life, succeeded in acquiring a fund of knowledge far in advance of the average person of like oppor- tunities. In this manner, without other advantages than such as were afforded by the district schools, and a few years in the city schools of Hornellsville, at the age of eighteen, he possessed mental acquirements rarely equalled by those having the ad- vantages of a thorough academic course. He was at this time a fair Latin scholar and possessed some knowledge of the Ger-
180
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
man. His earliest ambition was to become a lawyer, and when about eighteen years of age he decided to take a medical and scientific course at college as a better means of preparing him for a specialty in the law. He completed this course, took the degree of doctor of medicine at the University of Michigan at the age of twenty-two. He practiced medicine for two years at Scio, Alleghany county, N. Y., for the purpose of earning means to prosecute his legal studies, made a decided success, and gained considerable reputation as a surgeon. In 1874, for the purpose of getting in the profession of law, according to original plan, he left a promising medical practice, and removed to Deca- tur, Adams county, Ind., where he entered himself as a law stu- dent in the office of Judge Studebaker of that place, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. Mr. Kellison spent several years of his life in the work of teaching in the public schools of New York and Indiana, and in Adams county before his admission to the bar he was employed in the grammar department of the De- catur public schools as a teacher. In 1877 he settled in Ply- mouth, Marshall county, Ind., where he has since been engaged in the practice of law. In politics he has always been a demo- crat, and has served the people of Marshall county two terms in the legislature. The writer has been intimately acquainted with him for many years, and is familiar with his standing as a lawyer and a citizen. He has a strong analytical mind, indomitable pluck and perseverance, and he has met with flattering success in the practice of his profession. As a member of the legisla- ture of 1885 without previous legislative experience or parlia- mentary practice, he leaped at once into prominence as a strong debater and parliamentarian. He was particularly noted for his absolute fearlessness and rugged honesty. He vigorously op- posed the apportionment bill of 1885 (commonly called the ger- rymander), and made a strong speech in opposition to it in the house when floors and galleries were packed with people. He appealed to his political associates to refrain from passing so un- fair a measure, and predicted the defeat of his party in 1886, if they passed the bill, a prediction that was fulfilled to the letter. Some of the ward politicians of his city were displeased with this action, and sought to defeat him for renomination. They brought out three candidates against him at the primaries, but the demo- cratic masses of his district were pleased with his loyalty to Jef- fersonian principles, and Mr. Kellison received more than eighty per cent. of the entire vote, and was renominated by acclamation in the delegate convention that followed. He was re-elected by an increased majority, and at both his first and second elections, was the first candidate for representative in his county that re- ceived a majority of all the votes cast for that office for a period of eight or ten years before his candidacy. In the legislature of
181
MARSHALL COUNTY.
1887, he was one of the foremost figures on the democratic side in the stirring scenes incident to the election of Mr. Turpie to the senate. He was one of the three democratic members of the house that were by universal consent looked to by their col- leagues for parliamentary leadership and political guidance. These three, Kellison, Jewett and Gordon, represented the demo- cratic members of the house in the celebrated " compromise " conference that practically guaranteed the election of Senator Turpie. Mr. Kellison was chairman of the democratic caucus committee of the house during the session of 1887, and presided over the joint convention that nominated Senator Turpie. As an orator Mr. Kellison had no superior in either branch of the general assembly, and as a jury advocate and political speaker stands in the front ranks. He took the place of Senator D. W. Voorhees as orator of the evening at the Emmett anniversary of 1887, and with but few hours for preparation, delivered an ad- dress that was pronounced equal to anything that had ever been made on that occasion in the city of Indianapolis. As a legisla- tor he labored earnestly and untiringly to secure the passage of laws that would better the condition of the masses of the people. He endeavored to secure legislation to exempt individuals, whose property was encumbered with valid liens and obligations, from paying taxes on what they owed. His celebrated bill to reduce interest to six per cent. was the occasion of the greatest struggle in the house in the session of 1887. Mr. Kellison's. speech in support of that measure was universally conceded to be the strongest array of facts and argument, and the most eloquent appeal for the reduction of the burdens of the debtor class, that was ever made in the legislature of Indiana. The bill failed by a few votes, but the author's speech was published in full in the Indianapolis Sentinel, and more than a thousand extra copies were purchased and circulated by friends of the measure in the house and senate. Mr. Kellison could have received the nomi- nation for a third term in 1888 without opposition, but publicly and positively declined to be a candidate. His name has been mentioned for congress in the thirteenth district, and he has long ago earned a nomination to that office by his numerous campaigns and able speeches in behalf of democratic congres- sional nominees, but he has never asked or been a candidate for . that nomination, and refuses to push himself for any office. He is honest and straightforward in all his business transactions, is industrious and painstaking in all he undertakes, and whether he continues in political life, or confines himself to professional pursuits, he is a man who is bound to grow in favor with the people.
Rudolph C. Kloepfer, manager of the largest dry goods and carpet house in Plymouth, was born in the kingdom of Wurtem-
.
182
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
burg, Germany, December 19, 1849, the son of Rudolph C. and Augusta (Colb) Kloepfer, both natives of the same country. The father followed the drug business in Germany until 1840, when he came to the United States, locating in New York city, where he followed the same trade for some years. In 1848, after his marriage, he returned to the old country and resumed his busi- ness there, but ten years later came back to the United States, and located at Joliet, Ill., where he remained one year, moving thence to Michigan City, Ind., in which city he followed the drug business until his death in 1874. His widow, who is still living with a daughter at Massillon, Ohio, has reached the ripe old age of eighty-one years. Rudolph C. Kloepfer, who is one of five children born to the above parents, spent his youthful years principally at Michigan City, and received .a good education in the public schools, which supplemented by a commercial course in an institution at Chicago, has enabled him to manage quite successfully his various business enterprises. He came to Ply- mouth from Michigan City in 1876, for the purpose of starting a branch store of his establishment in the latter place, which for some time previous had been conducted under the firm name of Kloepfer & Co., there being two other partners, Frederick Bof- inger and Henry Opperman. Mr. Kloepfer took charge of the store in Plymouth, and when the partnership was dissolved a few years later, Mr. Opperman withdrawing, another house was established in Michigan City, which with the one at Plymouth, was conducted under the firm name of Kloepfer and Bofinger until 1883, when they were compelled to suspend business on ac- count of financial embarrassment. Subsequently Mr. Kloepfer purchased the business from the assignee, and has since suc- ceeded in building up a very large and lucrative trade, the house at this time being the largest establishment of the kind in Mar- shall county, the stock representing a capital of $20,000, while the annual sales are considerably in excess of $50,000. Mr. Kloepfer was married in 1875 to Leonore Bofinger, daughter of Rev. C. Bofinger, pastor of the German Lutheran church, at Plymouth. Six children have been born to this union, one of whom is living, Carl O. Mr. Kloepfer is an active member of the Lutheran church, at Plymouth, in which he holds the office of trustee and secretary.
Fred H. Kuhn, proprietor of the leading meat market of Plymouth, and chief of the city fire department, is a native of Michigan, born in Detroit on the 6th day of January, 1858. His father, Henry Kuhn, a native of Germany, came to the United States in 1850, and first located at the city of Detroit, where he engaged in the tannery business, subsequently following the trade at New Baltimore, to which place he moved in 1864, residing there until his removal to Port Huron, Mich., in 1867. He still
Respectfully Jours
183
MARSHALL COUNTY.
lives at the latter place and is engaged in the leather and finding business, being one of the leading tradesmen of the city. He was married in Detroit, Mich., to Elizabeth Meyer, who was born in Germany, the result of which union has been six children. The subject of this biography remained with his parents until 1875, and received a liberal education in both the English and German tongues. He early began to learn the butcher trade in Port Huron, and after becoming proficient in the same, went to Michigan City, Ind., in 1877, and continued there working at his trade until the fall of the same year, when he located in Plymouth, where he remained until July, 1878. At that time he went to Chicago and worked in that city until 1879, when he returned to Plymouth and engaged in business for himself, establishing a meat market which has since grown to be the largest enterprise in the city, and one of the most successful in northern Indiana. Mr. Kuhn began business upon a very small scale, and with but limited capital. But by studying the demands of the trade, with a laudable desire to please his customers, he has succeeded in building up a handsome business and is now one of the repre- sentative men of the city. On May 5, 1884, he was appointed by the council chief of the Plymouth fire department, the duties of which position he has since discharged in a manner highly cred- itable to himself and pleasing to the public. Previous to 1884, the head of the fire department was chosen every year, but since Mr. Kuhn's appointment, which has been so satisfactory to the people of the city, the council has seen fit to retain him, a fact which speaks well for his efficiency and popularity. He is a member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity, K. of P., Royal Arcanum, and belongs to both the National Association of Fire Engineers, of which he is at present one of the vice presidents, and the State Firemen's Association of Indiana. He was married September 14, 1880, to Miss Bertha Haslanger, of Plymouth, daughter of Will- iam and Anna Haslanger, a union blessed with the birth of two children: Fred H. and Gustave R. Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn are active members of the St. John's Evangelical church of Plymouth.
John C. Kuhn was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, March 20, 1842. He is the son of Frederick Kuhn, also a native of Wur- temberg, who came to America in 1855, settling first in Canada, and later, in the United States. The mother of the subject died in Germany, and he accompanied his father to this country in the year above mentioned. John C. Kuhn learned the shoe- maker's trade in Canada, where he worked at the same for some time, and afterward followed his chosen calling at La Porte, Ind., to which city he moved in 1862. In 1863, he enlisted in the state troops for the purpose of assisting in driving the guerilla Mor- gan out of Indiana, and in January, 1864, he entered the service of the United States as a menber of Company D, Thirty-second
184
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
Indiana Infantry. He participated in the Georgia campaign un- der Gen. Thomas, was in the celebrated march to sea, and while engaged in one battle, received a severe wound in the right foot, which compelled him to leave the active service of the field. He subsequently started to join his regiment at Chattanooga, and got as far as Nashville, where, on account of having been badly frozen by exposure, he was obliged to go to the hospital, in which he lay under the physician's care for eight days. From Nash- ville, he was sent to the general hospital at Jeffersonville, Ind., where he remained until discharged from the service, May 27, 1865. On leaving the army, he returned to La Porte and re- sumed his trade, and was married in that city August 3, 1865, to Miss Frederica Berndt, who was born in Germany, January I, 1843. Mrs. Kuhn came to the United States with her parents, in 1854, settling in Michigan City, from which place the family moved to La Porte, a few years later. In September, 1867, Mr. Kuhn came to Plymouth and entered the employ of John Paul, for whom he worked at his trade for three years, making a specialty of fine boots and shoes. He then purchased the tools of his employer, and after he had run the shop by himself for six months, effected a co-partnership with Jacob Weckerly, from which he was obliged to retire at the end of six months, on ac- count of sickness. He afterward returned to his trade and ran a business one and a half years, when he was again compelled to close out on account of an accident which resulted in a broken arm. He then went into partnership with John M. Shoemacher, and two years later, purchased his partner's interest, and for seven years thereafter, continued the business upon his own responsi- bility. He was eleven and one-half years in all, in the shoe busi- nsss. He engaged in the liquor trade in 1881, and has continued the same with success and financial profit to the present time. Mr. Kuhn is a member of the fire department of Plymouth, to which he has belonged since 1868, and is now captain of the fire police, a position which he has filled with eminent satisfaction. He was made an Odd Fellow in 1863, belongs to the Royal Arca- num, and is a member of the Miles Tibbitt's post, G. A. R., of which he is now quarter-master. He and wife are members of the Ger- man Lutheran church. They have had a family of seven chil- dren, the following of whom are now living: Edward E., born November 9, 1870; John F., born June 2, 1872; Adolph M., born April 14, 1877, and Mate C., born February 24, 1881.
Charles H. Lehr, auditor of Marshall county, is a native of St. Joseph county, Ind., and the eldest of fifteen children born to Samuel and Malinda (Guiselman) Lehr, both natives of Ohio, the father born in Stark county, and the mother in New Paris. The subject's ancestors came originally from Germany, and were among the substantial pioneers of Ohio, in which state Samuel
185
MARSHALL COUNTY.
Lehr grew to manhood. He was a farmer by occupation, and in connection with agricultural pursuits, followed carpentering, which he learned in his younger days. Charles H. Lehr came to Marshall county with his parents when three years of age and was raised on a farm four and one-half miles east of Bremen. He was deprived of educational advantages until his eleventh year, after which he attended two or three terms in the pioneer log school-house, but did not make very great progress in his studies. He has been an intelligent observer, however, and by coming in contact with his fellow men in business and official capacities, has obtained a practical knowledge such as schools and colleges do not impart. He remained under the parental roof until seventeen years of age, at which time he began life upon his own responsibility as a moulder in the town of Bremen, but at the expiration of three months he abandoned this trade and engaged as fireman on a saw-mill. He afterward became head sawyer, a position he held during the winter season for several years, work- ing during the summer season at the carpenter's trade. At the age of nineteen he responded to the country's call for volun- teers, enlisting August 1, 1861, in Company K, Twenty-ninth regiment, Indiana infantry, which formed a part of the army of the Cumberland. He was with his command in all of its varied experiences until honorably discharged, November 6, 1864, and during his period of service took part in a number of the blood- iest engagements of the war, including the battle of Shiloh, where his cartridge box and canteen were shot away and his clothing pierced by a number of bullets. After the siege of Corinth he marched across Mississippi and Alabama, and later on a retreat to Louisville, marching from Bowling Green to Louisville, he suffered great privations, becoming shoeless and being compelled to clothe his feet with rags in order to keep them from being lacerated by the stones upon the highway. To give a full ac- count of Mr. Lehr's army experience would require an elabor- ately filled volume, but suffice it to say, that his record while in the service is without a blemish, and he earned the reputation of a brave and gallant soldier. After his discharge, he returned to Bremen, and the following spring engaged in carpentering and building, and was also head sawyer on a large mill during a part of the year. In 1870 he began journeyman work at cabinet- making, in which he became quite skillful and which he followed for a period of several years. He was elected justice of the peace in 1872, the duties of which office he discharged for eight years, and in the meantime he was elected town clerk of Bremen, a position he filled with credit for about seven years. He was for several years engaged in the saw-milling business, which in the main was very remunerative, although he met with several reverses. He has been active in politics since 1868, having served
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.