USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > History of La Porte County, Indiana > Part 56
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 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88
Alexander B. Campbell, farmer and Justice of the Peace; P. O., Wanatah. Mr. Campbell was one of the earliest settlers in Cass tp .; was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, July 18, 1811; was reared to manhood on a farm in his native county. In 1837 he went to Michigan, where he staid till 1839, when he came to this county, first settling in what is now known as Clinton tp., then a part of Starke county; he lived there till 1850, when he came to Cass tp., where he has since resided. Mr. Campbell aided in or- ganizing the township and subdividing it into districts in 1843. He was married in Michigan in 1830 to Anna Anderson, who died in 1836, and in the latter part of 1837 he married Susan Wolf, by whom he has had 7 children. Six are living, viz. : Wm. H., Margaret E. (now Mrs. Collins), Mary (now Mrs. Nelson), Catharine (now Mrs. Knapp), Susanna M. (now Mrs. Stevens), and Alexander B. (Jr.). Mr. Campbell served as Township Supervisor for five years and Justice of the Peace 13 years. Mr. Campbell owns a farm of 145 acres on sec. 11.
John H. Cannon, farmer, sec. 14; P. O., Wanatah; was born March 16, 1838, in Porter county, this State; was taken to Ohio by his parents, James and Pollie Cannon, in 1842, and in 1845 back to this county, where he grew to manhood. He was married January 19, 1865, to Maria Redinbaugh. To them were born 6 children, viz .: Emma A., Charles A., Mary E., Cary A., William H. and Edith. Mr. C. owns a farm of 214 acres.
Julius Conitz, of the firm of Conitz & Richman, dealers in hard- ware and all sorts of agricultural implements, Wanatah. He is a native of Germany, where he was born in 1843; he came to this country in 1865, and first settled at Wanatah. In the year 1866 he went to Chicago, where he engaged in clerking in a grocery till 1868, when he went to California; there he remained till the sum- mer of 1869, when he returned to Chicago and opened a grocery. He continued in this business until 1871, when he came to Wanatah and opened a hardware store. Mr. C. was married in 1872 to Mary Richman.
609
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Robert Gillham, farmer, sec. 10; P. O., Wanatah. Mr. Gillham is a native of Carroll Co., O .; was born Dec. 31, 1822. His parents, Ezekiel and Isabella Gillham, were natives of old Virginia. Robert came to Switzerland Co., Ind., in 1836, when he was only 14 years old; there he remained till 1844, when he came to this county, where be has since resided. He was married in 1849 to Elizabeth Griswold, by whom he had 6 children, 4 of whom are now living, viz .: Angelo, William F .. Mary C. and Oscar H. Mr. G. had one son, George, who was a soldier in the late war, and died in the Knoxville, Tenn., hospital. Mr. Gillham owns a farm of 160 acres, in Cass township.
Wm. Kimball was born October 1, 1835, in Erie Co., Pennsyl- vania. He is a son of Moody and Matilda Kimball. The former was a native of Mass., and the latter of N. Y. He was brought by them to this county in 1837, when only two years old. He received a common-school education, and after he reached the years of maturity he worked as a section hand on the P., Ft. W. & C. rail- road; afterward was foreman, and sometime after that again he reached the position of " conductor " on a passenger train on the G. R. & I. R. R. He was in that business for six years. He was also conductor on the switch-engine in Chicago on the same rail- road for two years. Mr. Kimball was married April 9, 1856, to Louisa J. Eahart, by whom he has had 3 children, 2 of whom are living, viz .: Mary E. and Flora B. Mr. K. owns 86 acres of land on sec. 12, Cass township.
John N. McCurdy, grain dealer, Wanatah, Ind. Mr. McCurdy is a native of this county; was born April 7, 1843. His parents, John and Rhoda McCurdy, were natives of Ohio. He was reared principally in Porter Co., this State. Feb. 20, 1862, he enlisted in the army in Co. B, 63d Reg. Ind. Inf., and was discharged Oct. 27, the same year, on account of disability. He re-enlisted Dec., 1863, in the 12th Ind. Cav., Co. M, 127th Reg. He served in that capacity till about the close of the war, when he returned home and engaged in the wholesale and retail business with his brothers; he continned in that business till his brother's death, which occurred in Oct., 1876, when his brother's son entered in partnership with him. Mr. McC. was married Feb. 17, 1865, to Hannah J. Lamoreanx, who died Jan. 22, 1873; and he was again married July 2, 1878, to Blanche C. Farmington, by whom he had one child, Frank.
A. J. Shurte. farmer, sec. 2; P. O., Wanatah; is a native of Butler county, Ohio, where he was born April 14, 1838, a son of Samuel and Jenette Shurte. His father was a native of Ohio; his mother of Scotland. She came to this country in 1813. The sub- ject of this sketch was brought to this county by his parents in 1844; here, 'mid the wilds of Indiana, he was reared from boyhood to mature age. His educational advantages were limited. He attended school held in a rude log house, furnished with slab benches, and had the fire-place at one side of the room; the house had two windows, one at each end of the building; the remains of
610
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
this old structure are yet standing on sec. 2, where it was built. Mr. Shurte was married April 7, 1868, to Miss Charlotte Talbert, by whom he has had 4 children, viz .: Roxy J., Robert, Leora and Beneja. Mr. S. owns a farm of 150 acres.
William Smith, farmer, sec. 25; P. O., Hanna Station. Mr. Smith, one of the early settlers of Cass tp., is a' native of Pennsyl- vania, where he was born March 2, 1824. His father, Peter Smith, died when William was but two years old; and when he was 12 years of age he and his mother went to Michigan. In 1842 he went to Iowa, and in 1843 returned to Michigan and soon after was married to Phebe Hart, of New Jersey. To them were born 5 children, of whom 4 are living, viz. : Charles M., John, Elmira (now Mrs. Curran), Mary J. (now Mrs. Cannon), and Sydney H., who was drowned in the Kankakee river, March 28, 1873. June 13, 1850, Mrs. Smith died, and September 2, the same year, Mr. Smith was again married, to Eliza (Chrisman) Gettis, by whom he has had 10 children; 6 of these are living, viz .: William, Rosetta, George, Eliza, Loda, Cyrus and Bertie. Mr. Smith had one brother who was a veteran in the Union army. Her grandfather, Thos. Chrisman, fought in the Revolutionary war. Her father is yet living at the advanced age of 73. Mr. Smith's grandfather (Shults) was Captain in the Revolutionary war. In 1846 Mr. Smith came to this county, where he has since resided. He owns 180 acres of land.
Dr. John F. Tilden, one of the carly settlers of Cass tp., was born in Vermont February 25, 1813, a son of John and Sarah Tilden. He began reading medical works in 1831, and completed his medical course by graduation at the Hanover Medical College. He came to this county in 1846, engaged in farming and practicing medicine; he was the first doctor in Cass tp .; his practice continued to increase till it became so extensive that he required two spans of horses to do his traveling. Dr. Tilden was married March 15, 1835, to Elizabeth Lockwood, of Huron county, Ohio, by whom he has had 5 children, viz .: Sarah (now Mrs. Call), Jerome, Sarah A., (now Mrs. Pepple), Walter S. and Charlotte C. (now Mrs. William Irvin). Dr. T. owns a farm of 160 acres on sec. 2.
Nelson Ward, physician and surgeon, Wanatah, Indiana. Dr. Ward is a native of Parke county, Ind., where he was born July 23, 1836. He is a son of Thompson and Nancy Ward, both natives of Ohio. He was reared in this State and received his high-school education at Bainbridge, Ind. He began the study of medicine in 185S, at Bainbridge. About 1862 he attended the Rush Medical College at Chicago, and in 1863 commenced practicing medicine at Independence, Ind .; continned at that profession till 1865, when he re-attended Rush Medical College in Chicago: In 1866 he came to Wanatah and began practicing medicine. His wife graduated at the medical department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, in 1876, since which time she has been a very successful practitioner. Her maiden name was Masylvia M. Concannon
611
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
She was married to Dr. Nelson Ward, Jan. 12, 1862. To this nnion were born 3 children, only one of whom is living, Edith Grace.
James Wilson, farmer, sec. 11; P. O., Wanatah; was born in this county April 25, 1842, a son of Jeremiah Wilson, one of the early settlers of Cass tp. He was reared on a farm, and all his education was acquired in the common country schools during the winters of his early manhood. He was married July 4, 1869, to Miss Emma Lawrence, by whom he has had 3 children; 2 are living, viz .: Edith J. and Agnes D. His wife's parents were natives of England.
Jeremiah Willson, whose portrait, from a photograph taken at the age of 53 years, is given on page 605 of this volume, is one of the oldest settlers now living in this county, having come here in 1811. He was born in the "Red-stone country," Pa., May 18, 1831; his parents were Jeremiah and Johannah (Moore) Willson, the last named a native of England, and the former of New Jersey; they were married near Elizabethtown, N. J. The Willsons are of Scotch origin. The grandfather of the subject of this notice, whose name was also Jeremiah, came from Scotland to America about the time of the Revolutionary war and settled in New Jersey. The father of the subject of this biographical sketch moved to Pennsylvania soon after his marriage, where he followed farming and blacksmithing. He afterward settled at Cincinnati, O., then a very small place, where he carried on blacksmithing. He was here during the war of 1812. In 1811 his wife had died, and in 1813 he, with his second wife and six children, moved to Vigo county, Ind. The children by his first wife were, Gabriel, James, who died in Pennsylvania, Henry, William, Elizabeth, Edith and Jeremiah; by his second wife were John, Aaron, Reuben and Miles. Mr. W. died in Vigo connty in 1828, surrounded by his family. He was an orthodox Friend.
The subject of this biography received the education afforded at the old log school-house in its day, attending school mostly but the three winter months in the year. On his father's death he went to live with his brother-in-law, Wm. Foster, who carried on the tanner and currier's trade; here he remained three years, being then 21 years of age; he then followed journey work one season; then, in the fall of 1831, he came and settled in Hudson tp., this county, where he set up a tannery and carried it on three years.
In December, 1833, he married Miss Abigail Wills, daughter of John E. Wills, who had emigrated to this county in the spring of 1830. Wills tp. was named after him; he died in Cass tp., where also he is buried. After his marriage, by the advice of his father- in-law, Mr. Willson bought 80 acres of heavily timbered land in Hudson, where he built a house and lived one year; he sold this place and purchased a farm on the south line of Clinton tp., in 1842; about 1852 he sold this place, expecting to go to Oregon with his father-in-law and family; but they changed their plans, and he bought another farm in Cass tp., three-fourths of a mile
612
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
east of his present residence, which is on sec. 11. He has now 100 acres of land in Cass tp.
Mr. Willson's first vote was for Henry Clay, but since then he has voted with the old Democratic party. He has served in vari- ons offices in the county, including Deputy Sheriff and Constable and Town Trustee. In 1836 he was elected Lieutenant of State Militia in Hudson tp., and served as such until November 12, 1853. He was commissioned by Gov. Joseph A. Wright, as Captain of Company E, 1st Regt. 9th Military District of Indiana, to serve for six years, and he was sworn into service Dec. 5, 1853. Capt. Willson still has his document, well preserved.
Mrs. W. died in Cass tp. Sept. 17, 1869. They had a family of 13 children, only 4 of whom lived to be grown, namely, the follow- ing: Henry Moore, who was born March 11, 1840, enlisted Aug. 10, 1862, in Co. I, 87th Ind. Vol. Inf., and mnstered into the United States service for three years, or during the war, Ang. 31, by Col. Carrington; he was in part of the campaign after General Bragg, including the battle of Perryville; here he caught a cold, and he died, with typhoid fever, Feb. 24, 1863, at Nashville, Tenn., where he was buried. James was born April 25, 1842, and was married to Emma, daughter of John Lawrence, of Hanna tp., and lives on part of his father's farm. His 2 children are Edith and Agnes. Thomas Benton was born July 12, 1844, and married Priscilla, daughter of Wm. W. Brick, who was born in New Jer- sey July 14, 1842; she was a resident of St. Joseph county, Ind., whither her father had immigrated in very early day. Their 4 children are: Emma E., born Sept. 17, 1865, now deceased; Abigail, born July 19, 1867; Paulina M., born May 24, 1874; and William Jeremiah, born Dec. 21, 1875. Sarah Florence married Henry Stuck and lived in Cass tp., and died Oct. 11, 1875, leaving a little . daughter. Flora Grace.
Mr. Willson came from Vigo county when it was almost a per- fect wilderness all north of the Tippecanoe river. He came with a team, in company with his brother Henry M. and his wife; and when they arrived where La Porte now is there was not a house there. On arriving at the Kankakee river on their journey, Oct. 12, they tried to attract the attention of an Indian on the oppo- site shore, to get him to come over after them with his canoes; but he would only stick his head out of the wigwam and say nothing; so Mr. W. had to swim across the river, although the weather was so cold that the ground was covered with snow. He went to the Indian and endeavored to converse with him. but he would say nothing. Mr. W. then took the canoes and ferried his family and possessions over, including a hog which they had killed. After they were all over the Indian came out and cursed them in broken English, but Mr. W., who could speak Indian, talked back in straight Indian lingo to such purpose that the stubborn savage returned into his wigwam, stepping pretty high.
.
613
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Peter Woodin was the first permanent settler in Cass tp. He was born Aug. 20, 1804, in New York. His parents, Amos and Mary Woodin, were natives of Conn. His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and fought in the battle of Burgoyne under General Gates and Schuyler. He died afterward at the advanced age of 91 years. Peter was reared to manhood in New York; in 1825 he went to Michigan, and in 1837 he came to Cass tp., this county. There were but few settlers in that region of country. There were so few that it was not convenient to hold elections in that section of the country. In 1840 he went to Plymouth, about 40 miles distant, to vote at the Presidential election of General Harrison.
The land of Cass tp. was mostly owned by speculators, and the rest had not been procured from the Government. He wasa mem- ber of the body that organized the township (Cass) and aided in laying out the first road in the tp. He was also the first Supervisor in this division of the county. The Indians came to his house quite often, and he was with them on many a hunting expedition. Mr. Woodin followed trapping wolves and other wild game for four years, during which time he captured 400 wolves. In 1850, during the gold excitement, he went to California, and returned home in the fall of 1851. He went afoot all the way across the plains. While in the Territories he was also out with a troop of 200 soldiers in the Sierra mountains in pursuit of the Indians, who were so hostile toward the settlers. In 1859 he was married to Margaret Bials, by whom he had 9 children; 4 are living, viz .: Chas. M., Sarah M. (now Mrs. Sergeant), Rowley, Helen M. (now Mrs. Horine). Mr. Woodin's oldest brother died a few years ago near the age of 90 years. Mr. Woodin is 76 years old, and is apparently enjoying good health.
CENTRE TOWNSHIP.
Man for great and wise purposes has been endowed by his Creator with the wonderful faculty of memory. Without memory there could be no human development or progress; for in the main man learns by experience, and without memory the lessons and wisdom taught by observation and experience would be lost; and man, like the brute, would remain substantially the same in all ages. The memory of an event dies with the observer of it; but the knowledge of events, when imparted by the mouth of observ- ing age to the ear and memory of listening youth, becomes tradition, while the record of events on the durable monument, or the still more durable written or printed page, becomes history in its full- est and highest sense. That record of occurrence and sequence of events, and of human activities, whether contributed by memory or tradition, by the chisel, the pen, or the press, and which together constitute what men call history, is at all times interesting; but at certain times it is full of fascination and power.
The rounding up of a period of time naturally turns our eyes backward over the pages of State and local history, and we gather a grand harvest of memory and tradition which, when threshed and winnowed and screened as perfectly as the imperfections of human observation and memory may be corrected, by an imperfect human reason, will be made fit for the garner of history, and fit to be wholesome intellectual food for all coming generations. To perform this grateful though difficult, delicate, and responsible labor is our purpose and duty.
The birth of a child is one of nature's mysteries, and the birth of all races, nations, States and most communities is, historically speak- ing, likewise enveloped in a cloud of mysterious obscurity, from which there first emerge to the eye and the mind of the historian only the distorted myths and the incredible fables of a poetic imagination. These slowly fade and dissolve like the fabric of a dream, as the light of truth and the dawn of real history reveal to him men and women endowed with human qualities like ourselves, whose loves, and hopes, and fears, whose ambitions and desires and activities, and whose physical, mental and moral natures prove them to be " bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh." And in the effort to travel back to the history of their beginning, what an expenditure of toil and study, what an interviewing of mummies, what a catechising of hieroglyphics, what a disemboweling of the very earth, what a reckless questioning of the great secrets of nature herself, do men undertake in the effort to extort from some source a knowledge of human beginnings.
(614)
615
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
When the first white man stepped over the line of civilization and took up his abode on the beautiful prairies of this township, we know not. Our record begins in 1830, when Aaron Stanton came to this township and built a log cabin on section 24, being two miles north of the eastern boundary of the city of La Porte. Phillip Fail and Richard Harris came at the same time, and they all lived together in Stanton's cabin. In the fall of the same year Fail moved to Kankakee tp. The Clements arrived in 1831 and opened a store within the limits of the present city of La Porte.
Benajah Stanton, who came to this township with his brother Aaron, hauled goods from Niles, Mich., for the Clements. During the year 1830, William Clark, Adam Smith, Wilson Malone, Wm. Stanton and Alfred Stanton arrived and made settlements in the township. William and Jesse Bond, John Garwood, William Thomas and many others arrived in 1831. From this time the township filled up rapidly, settlers coming in great numbers. No part of the county could offer as great inducements to the settlers as this township. It was heavily timbered in the north, and broad prairies covered the south and east. The soil, unequalled by any in the county, and its many clear, sparkling lakes formed an attraction that the early settler was not slow to take advantage of.
The present Centre township was at the time of the organization of the county, wholly included in the limits of what was then Scipio, which extended from the northern to the southern boundary of the county. But at an early period a division of it was made. At the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners, held on Nov. 5, 1833, the following order was passed :
" Ordered, that the township at present known by the name of Scipio be divided by the line dividing township thirty-six and thirty-seven, and that all north of said township line compose a new township to be called Centre township, and that Aaron Stanton be appointed inspector of elections, and John Stanton and William Bond be appointed overseers of the poor in said township of Centre."
Some changes have since been made in the extent of the town- ship as established by this order, so that now it occupies sections one and two of township thirty-six, and township thirty-seven, except the northern tier of sections, which belong to Springfield township.
Col. Place brought his family and settled here in October, 1832, and helped build the first log cabin erected on the site of the city of La Porte. It stood near where the Lake Shore railroad depot is located, and was built for George Thomas.
Centre township is quite densely populated with intelligent and industrions citizens, who are engaged almost wholly in agricultural pursnits. The principal crops raised are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, etc. Considerable attention is given to the culture of fruit and vegetables. There are quite a number of farmers near the city of La Porte devoted exclusively to this business, their products being shipped largely to Chicago, and other markets in this State and Illinois.
616
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
Pine Lake cemetery is located abont two miles north of the city of La Porte in this township, on the heights bordering the east side of Pine Lake, and is one of the most beautiful places in La Porte county. It was laid out under the State laws in 1855, and contains 47 acres. The first president of the association was Gilbert Hathaway. D. J. Woodward was the first secretary and treasurer. The grounds were improved and ornamented under the manage- ment of Gen. Joseph Orr, who was president of the association for a number of years. It is indeed a beautiful resting place for the dead, and visitors to it are always charmed with its diversity of scenery, looking out upon the lake in front, and resting on a dark green background of woods, while all between presents gentle ele- vations, quiet vales and winding walks and carriage drives. Nature here furnished a happy ground-work of beauty, which the hand of art has perfected, rendering this silent city of the dead a place of loveliness and solemn delight.
Centre township has but one town, the thriving city of
LA PORTE,
which was surveyed, laid out and platted in 1833. John Walker, Walter Wilson, Hiram Todd, James Andrew and Abram Andrew, Jr., bought at the land sales at Logansport, Ind., in the month of October, 1831, 400 acres of land, known as the "Michigan Road Lands," with a view of laying out the town and making the county seat of La Porte county. It is without doubt one of the most beautiful places in the State. The city is surrounded by a beautiful chain of lakes, gem-like in their dazzling beanty. Imagine for a moment a pretty little lake, whose wavelets glisten and murmur beneath a summer's sun and bounded on every side by deep and shady woods whose monarch trees grow down to the water's edge, with here and there a cosy little island that looks like so many floating Edens, and you have an uninspired description of one of La Porte's most pleasant attractions. Among the most noted of these lakes are Clear lake, Stone lake and Pine lake. It is not strange that those who first came should have beheld in this spot the place for a town that should be the county seat of the county. It may be readily imagined that when nature only had visited the lakes and groves and prairies of this locality, even the dullest and most unsusceptible of minds must have been touched with its beauty.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
In 1830 Richard Harris and George Thomas arrived and built cabins within the present limits of the city. Thomas' cabin stood near the present site of the Michigan Southern depot, and Wilson Malone was the first person that slept in the cabin before its occu- pancy by the family of Mr. Thomas. This cabin was built of slabs procured from the steam saw-mill of Capt. Andrew, which stood a
617
HISTORY OF LA PORTE COUNTY.
short distance west of the town. Thomas' house was built for him by his neighbors on Sunday, and the first session of the Board of County Commissioners was held in this house. Other cabins soon followed, and in 1834 there were 15 houses on the site of the present town, and the place began to assume a business aspect. Merchants, mechanics and professional men began to arrive. In 1831 Joseph Pagin came and built a house on the east side of Clear lake. Charles Fravel arrived in 1832 and built a house. John and William Allison, Hiram Wheeler, Jolin B. Fravel, Dr. Ball and Nelson Sandon were in business here in 1832-'3. The Blakes and a man named Lily kept the first hotels.
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.