USA > Indiana > Miami County > History of Miami County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume II > Part 12
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
DOUGLAS MONROE BUTT. Few of the old-time Miami county families have prospered and lived such influential lives as the Butt family, which came here during the very carly days, and took their share of the hard- ships and the strenuous labors which were necessary to the establishment of homes in that period of history. The name is well known in different sections of the county, and one of the prosperous citizens, representing the third generation of the family in Miami county is Douglas M. Butt of Erie township.
Mr. Butt was born in Erie township, on the twenty-eighth of October, 1860, a son of Elias and Mary (Waltz) Butt. The grandfather was Wm. Butt, the founder of the family in this section. The father was born in Ohio, in 1831, and accompanied the family to Indiana about 1846. Their first location was near Fort Wayne, and they reached that locality by. driving across the country, with a yoke of cattle. After two or three years the grandfather came on to Miami county, and located in Erie township. Their settlement was in the woods, and the first home was the typical log cabin. This home was on the banks of the river, and the fateful experi- ence of the family during its early years in this county, indicate some of the hazards with which the early settlers had to contend, in addition to the hardships usually mentioned. Soon after locating here, eleven mem- bers of the family were stricken and died of typhoid fever. The grand- father as soon as he reached the county began clearing his land by chop- ping, burning, and clearing off the timber. He had very little means, and all members of the family worked hard together in order to get land for cultivation, and provide for the wants of existence. The first land occu- pied by the Butt family was secured from a man who had entered it as government land. In the first log cabin, which stood near the river, two uncles of Mr. Douglas M. Butt were born. In those days the principal market center for this country was at Fort Wayne, and they took their produce to that place by canal boat, the canal furnishing the practicable route for all travel and transportation in those years. The Indians still occasionally roamed through the forest, and deer and other wild game were still plentiful. After the death of the grandmother from typhoid, the grandfather was again married, and at his death the estate was divided. Daniel Butt, an uncle of Mr. Douglas M. Butt, received that part of the homestead on which the dwelling stood. Elias Butt, the father received twenty-six acres of land from the estate which was the regular share for all of the children. He had in the meantime bought one hundred and forty-four acres, and thus took up the practical work of a farmer. On his land stood a small brick house, which had been erected by an old Indian, named Frank Godfrey. In that structure the family had their home for about eighteen years. The father then moved to his present residence, which had been erected before he bought the land.
Mr. D. M. Butt spent the first twenty-two years of his life on the home farm, and received his education partly in Erie township, and partly in Peru township. It was the usual public school education, received as a result of attendance chiefly during the winter. seasons, while the rest of the months of the year were spent in the work of the farm. After his marriage he worked for his father a couple of years, and then bought thirty acres of land. Selling that he bought his present farm in Erie township of one hundred and thirty-five acres. This is now a highly developed estate, and one of the most attractive farms in that community. Mr. Butt has placed practically all the improvements upon it, consisting of good buildings, fences and other facilities for modern farming.
Mr. Elias Butt, the father, is still living at the venerable age of 82 years, and his wife is seventy-nine years old. One of the most successful men of Miami county, is Elias Butt. He has accumulated more than
- Pugsley
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"HIGHLAND LODGE" RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. DOUGLAS M. BUTT
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DOUGLAS M. BUTT'S FAMILY GROUP
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all the new demands of the trade during the many years in which he has directed his local shop.
Mr. Nelp is prominent in local politics, as a Republican and for six years was chairman of his precinct. He was married on January 15, 1889, to Henrietta Borchers, a native of Oldenburg, Germany. To their marriage have been born four children, namely : Louis, Edith, William and Jerome. Louis, the oldest of the children, married Marjorie O'Brien, and is now associated with his father in business. Mr. Nelp is fraternally affiliated with the Masonic order and the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and he and his wife are members of the Peru First Baptist Church.
EDWARD B. REAM AND FRED S. REAM. Those of this name in Miami county, Indiana, are the descendants of Michael Ream, who was a hat- ter in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, during his early life, later engag- ing in the farming industry in Holmes county, Ohio, to which place he moved in about the year 1834. He was twice married, and to his first union there was born six children, while to his second marriage twelve are accredited. His second wife was Catherine Wyant, and she was the mother of those of the name of Ream who came to Miami county. Only three of these, however, came here to make permanent homes, they being William, who came in 1844; Silas Augustus, in 1850, and Samuel in 1852. Silas A., be it said at this juncture, is the only one now living, and he has reached the age of eighty-seven years.
William Ream married Harriet Schultz and they became the parents of five children that grew to years of maturity, they being John; Michael W., deceased ; Alfred A., died June, 1913; Thomas and Frank, those living being actively connected with railroad work in one capacity or another.
Silas A. Ream, in addition to his railroad work, was for a time identified with grocery interests in Peru. He married twice. His first wife was Louisa Winter, and they became the parents of three children, namely : Horace W .; Charles A., and a girl that died in early childhood. His second wife was Martha Wilson, and they became the parents of three children, of whom two daughters are now living.
Samuel Ream married Elizabeth Porter and the names of the three of their children that grew to maturity were: Samuel, Elizabeth and Charles, the daughter being the only surviving member at this time.
Michael W. Ream, the son of William Ream, bore an exceptionally praiseworthy military record. Concerning him, it may be said, that he was born in Holmes county, Ohio, January 8, 1842, and was employed as an engineer on the old I. P. & C. Railroad. On June 19, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Thirteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and with his command participated in some of the famous battles of the Civil war. He received a gun shot wound through the lungs at one time, was captured and incarcerated in the prison at Belle Isle, was later exchanged and finally was honorably discharged on July 1, 1864, at the expiration of his term of enlistment. He finally died at the Soldiers' Home, at Marion, Indiana, on January 8, 1912. He mar- ried Minnie E. Marquis, and to them were born nine children, as fol- lows : William A .; Edward B .; Fred S .; Gale H .; Daisy, now deceased; Arlie E., now Mrs. Will McCarthy, of Washington, Indiana; Glen M .; George, who is deceased ; and Vivian. Of these, Edward B. and a sister are the only ones married. Edward was married on June 27, 1907, to Miss Minnie Tillett, the daughter of H. J. Tillett.
Thomas E. Ream, a son of William Ream, founded in 1902 the laundry business now being successfully conducted by his nephews,
"LOCUST CREST" RESIDENCE OF MRS. JESSIE F. NASH
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Edward B. and Fred S., who, it may be mentioned here, are twin brothers. They succeeded Thomas E. Ream in the business in 1905, and five years later added dry cleaning to the business, so that their estab- lishment was the first in Peru to conduct a fully equipped laundry and dry-cleaning business. They are careful and prosperous business men and merit the esteem and regard of the best citizenship of Peru, which is unhesitatingly accorded to them.
CARLETON C. STEVENS, who died in September, 1875, in Peru, was a native of Greenfield, Indiana, born in 1831, and he was a son of Isaac Stevens, who was a farmer by occupation and who lived in Wisconsin for a time. The mother of Carleton Stevens died when he was born, and he was reared by the Cottingham family of the Noblesville locality. Such education as he secured was of the character and quality provided by the public schools of his boyhood period, and he was trained in the work of the farm from his earliest boyhood on. When his father re- married and had moved to Wisconsin, the boy joined his parent and continued with him until 1849, when he and two brothers, Ira and John, came to Peru. In the rush to the California gold fields, he went there in '49, making the trip via the Isthmus of Panama, and the years he remained there resulted in some financial profit to him. He returned to Indiana in 1851, once more locating in Peru, and here he embarked in the grocery business, as well as carrying on a huckstering trade. In about 1870 he disposed of the business and moved to the country in Peru township, locating on what was known as the old Rettig farm.
Mr. Stevens married Catherine Rettig, a daughter of George Rettig, who was one of the early pioneers of Miami county, and they became the parents of six children, named as follows: Frank I .; George R .; Jesse T., who is mentioned more fully in the succeeding article; Katy K .; John C .; and Anna C. Of these, all are living with the exception of George R.
JESSE T. STEVENS was born in Peru on May 27, 1868, and received his education in the public schools of his time and place, such as they were. Early in life he began clerking in the book store of Pliny M .. Crume, and he continued there for some time. After he had attained man's estate, he traveled extensively throughout the United States for about two years as salesman for the Peru Electric Manufacturing Com- pany, after which he was employed for eight years in the carpet depart- ment of the John S. Hale Department Store in Peru. In January, 1905, in association with Harry E. West, mentioned elsewhere in this work, he purchased the Crume Book Store, in which he had begun his business career in his boyhood days, and he has thus continued to the present date, the firm of West & Stevens enjoying a pleasing patronage in the city, and the individual members standing well in business and social circles.
Mr. Stevens was married on June 17, 1891, to Miss Lizzie Hauk, and to him and his wife have been born two daughters: Helen H., born Feb- ruary 22, 1893, and now a student at Mercy Hospital, Chicago, and Harriet E., born March 24, 1898, who is making a thorough and practical study of music.
Mr. Stevens is a member of the Elks, the Moose and of the Masonic fraternity, and the family are members of the Presbyterian church.
BENOMA NASH. In the death of Benoma Nash at his home in Erie township on May 8, 1908, Miami county lost one of its prosperous and energetic citizens, a man who had spent all his life in this section of
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Indiana, was an industrious and capable agriculturist, and made a credit- able and honorable record in all his transactions and relations with his fellow men. He leaves a widow, Mrs. Jessie Nash, and a family of chil- dren and Mrs. Nash has proved herself a capable manager of the fine farm estate on which Mr. Nash spent his latter years. Benoma Nash was born in Tipton county, Indiana, November 24, 1858, a son of Robert and Ruhanma (Styers) Nash, both of whom were natives of Rush county, In- diana. Benoma Nash, though he received only a common school educa- tion, was always a student, and was one of the best informed men in his community. He spent his early life on a farm, and when he started out for himself it was in the vocation of farmer, which he pursued steadily and prosperously all his career.
Mr. Nash married Jessie F. Smith, a daughter of John D. and Pheoba (McFarland) Smith. Her grandfather was William Smith. The parents were both natives of Ohio and of Scotch and English descent. John D. Smith was one of the pioneers of Tipton county, and was one of the first county commissioners, having been elected in 1844 at the time of the or- ganization of the county. The children of John D. Smith by his first wife were: David, Benjamin, Mellisa, Sarah, Ellen, Nancy, William and John, both of whom died in infancy, Mary, John, Jessie, Cassius, and Oscar and Laura. John D. Smith spent all his career in Tipton county, served as a trustee of his township, and died in 1895 on the old farm in Jefferson township of Tipton county. During the period of the Civil war he sent three of his sons to the front in the Union army. The youngest was only seventeen years old, and was made a drummer boy, but that posi- tion did not satisfy him, and he soon was given a musket, which he carried throughout the rest of the war. The late John D. Smith was a Republican in politics.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Nash settled on a farm in Tipton county, their place comprising eighty acres. They farmed the land with practically no improvement except some buildings, and Mr. Nash applied himself industriously to ditching and draining, and stood a great deal to develop the farm during their residence of six years. From there they moved to the farm occupied by Mrs. Nash's mother, where they lived for two and a half years. Her mother died in 1908. In 1898 they left the old homestead in Jefferson township of Tipton county, and came to the farm in Erie township of Miami county, where Mr. Nash died. This is now a model farm, and since Mr. and Mrs. Nash took possession a large barn has been erected, the house has been improved, and many other changes have been made for the betterment of the place. Mr. Nash had two hundred and forty acres in the homestead, and April 13, 1913, Mrs. Nash purchased 118 acres and the total acreage is three hundred and fifty-eight acres of land.
The following is the record of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nash. The eldest is Frank L. He received his diploma from the public schools, then took up an agricultural course at Winona, Ind. He is now a resident of San Francisco, Cal. He has been employed in a large wholesale fruit house for the last two years, and is worthy of the responsible position. Politically he has been a Republican.
Clytis, the daughter, graduated from the eighth grade at age of four- teen and was a student in the Peru high school for three years and has also taken musical instructions. She wedded Levi Wilson, one of the young farmers of the county, residents of Erie township. Mrs. Wilson is a member of the United Brethren church.
Robert Smith graduated from the public schools at the age of thir- teen and then from the Peru high school in the class of 1913, at the age of seventeen. He is now a student in Purdue University and is unusu-
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ally bright. Walter Hartley is in the eighth grade. Jessie C. is in the fifth grade and has taken instrumental music. Benjamin E. died June 3, 1910. The older children were all born in Tipton county, and the others in Miami county.
Mrs. Nash is giving her children the best of educational training. She is a member of the Presbyterian church of Peru, Indiana, a member of the Ladies Aid Society and also a member of the Eastern Star. Her beautiful country seat, and estate is one of the modern homes of the township fitted with all modern equipment, and is known as "Locust Crest," the abode of hospitality.
The late Mr. Nash was a member of the Quaker faith. He served as superintendent of the dredging work in this section of the state, and was a progressive citizen who believed in development and improvement along all lines. At different times he used his efforts to get telephone service to his district, and was the type of citizen whose activities and influence count for a great deal in the advancement of a county.
FRANK W. BEARSS, son of Daniel R. Bearss, appropriate mention of whom appears elsewhere in this historical work, was born in the house in which he now resides, on the old Bearss homestead, just outside the cor- porate limits of the city of Peru, on August 9, 1846. His early schooling was obtained in the little brick schoolhouse at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, and later he was privileged to attend the Seminary on Third street. He remained on the farm until he was twenty-five years old, and for seven years thereafter was in the railway mail service. He then returned to farm life once more and in that industry has practically con- tinued to the present time, about four years of the time being spent in Fulton county.
He has been a man of considerable prominence in the political affairs of his district, and was nominated by the Republican party for the Sixty-third General. Assembly, and while the county was hope- lessly Democratic, he was elected by a majority of two hundred and eighteen. He was chairman during his service in the house of the so-called "River Bill Committee,"' and was also awarded prominent recognition as a member of certain other of the most important com- mittees of the house.
Mr. Bearss was married on June 17, 1872, at Kendalville, Indiana, to Desdemona Iddings, the daughter of Hiram Iddings, one of the more prominent men of Noble county, and to their marriage were born six children, as follows: Mary Amoret, who died in infancy ; Hiram Idd- ings, born April 13, 1875, now a captain in the regular marine ser- vice; he is a veteran of the Spanish-American war, served in the Phil- ippines, was recommended for "Brevet Major, or Medal or both" for distinguished gallantry in action, and is now stationed at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia; Braxton Higgins, another son, was born Decem- ber 3, 1876, and is engaged as purchasing agent for the Stone & Web- ster Construction Company, of Boston, Massachusetts; Emma Amoret, now the wife of Oscar Muhlfeld, is a resident of Boston, Massachu- setts; Lucy Rowena was born on December 27, 1882, and Desdemona Frank, the youngest of the six, was born on November 18, 1890.
Capt. Hiram I. Bearss was married to Louise Madden, of New York City, and they have one daughter, Louise Iddings Bearss, who was born in the Philippines. Mrs. Muhlfeld is also the mother of one daughter, Emma Amoret, named for herself, but there are no other grandchildren in the family. The Bearss family are adherents to the Presbyterian faith.
Vol. 11-6
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HISTORY OF MIAMI COUNTY
CHARLES FOOTE AND CARTER FOOTE, men of Connecticut nativity, were among the oldest settlers of Miami county, Indiana. They were the sons of Roger Foote, who it is believed was a great-grandson of Nathaniel Foote, who was the first American progenitor of the family. He was born in Colchester, England, in 1593, and in 1630, ten years subsequent to the coming of the good ship "Mayflower," he made his way to the American Colonies, and located at Watertown, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts Bay Company during his residence there. He later moved to Weathersfield, Massachusetts, where the remainder of his life was passed, and where lie died.
Full data concerning the house of Foote from the time of Nathan- iel down to Roger, the father of Charles and Carter, are not avail- able at this writing, but enough is known to establish the family as one of colonial ancestry beyond all doubt.
Carter Foote in young manhood took up his residence in Paines- ville, Ohio, and Charles, his younger brother, made his home with him. The latter was born on July 1, 1817. He was a young man when he first came to Indiana from Ohio, and locating in Peru engaged in the general merchandise business on the Canal, at the present site of the Commercial Hotel. Some two or three years later his failing health induced the brother Carter to come to Peru and look after the business founded by Charles, who left Peru in search of health. A year later he returned, and there made his home for the remainder of his life. He engaged in merchandising and pork packing under the name of Smith & Foote, and was thus occupied when death claimed him on October 25, 1862. He married Caroline Zern, who was born in Pennsylvania on July 6, 1831, and died March 1, 1897, and to them were born five children. The only survivor of the number at this writing is Jesse Foote, a resident of Peru. Charles Foote was an honored and lion- orable citizen of Peru as long as he continued in it. He was an Epis- copalian in his religious faith, and in earlier life was a Whig in his political views, but later became a Democrat. Always a man of deli- cate health, he was the possessor of a strong will and sturdy determina- tion, and his life was doubtless prolonged a number of years by rea- son of these faculties. His career as a citizen and as a business man was ever above reproach and his long identity with Peru left an indel- ible impress upon the passing years.
Carter Foote was a man of more robust constitution than was Charles, but both died of consumption, the death of the first named occurring in 1865. He married Emily A. Forbes and to them were born nine children, Mrs. Mary Harter of Peru being the only one liv- ing in Miami county today. One son, Horace Foote, while attending college at Crawfordsville, responded to the first call of President Lin- coln for troops for the suppression of the Rebellion. He served all through the war and rose to the rank of Major, being now a resident of San Jose, California.
JOSEPH A. FAUST. A practicing lawyer in Peru, Indiana, since he was admitted to the bar in 1877, with the exception of a brief time when he was located in Cincinnati, Joseph A. Faust is one who has taken a prominent place in the life of this community, and gained a name and place for himself solely through his accomplishments and his citizenship. He is a native product of the state, born in LaFayette, on June 15, 1851, and he is a son of Joseph A. and Elizabeth (Buf- fert) Faust.
Concerning them, it may be said that the father was a native born German, Bensheim, Germany, being the place of his birth, and he came
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to America when a young man. In his boyhood in Germany he had learned the trade of a cooper, and on coming to American shores, he settled in Indiana and established himself in the cooperage business, which, for the most part, he followed throughout the remainder of his life. In those days the work of the cooper was practically all done by hand, the materials being taken from the forests and worked into shape in the shop of the cooper,-far different from the processes in vogue today. Mr. Faust brought the first bucking machine to Miami county, and as long as he gave his attention to that work, was regarded as a first class workman and cooper. It is said that a few of his hogs- heads and casks are still in existence in this county, and are offered as examples of the skill and honest workmanship of the man to this day.
Mr. Faust came to America wholly untaught in the English lan- guage, and he learned to read, write and speak the English fluently in a comparatively brief time after coming here. He was ever a great reader and devoted a considerable attention to the study of the German classics. A Roman Catholic, he was ever a stanch adherent of the faith, and he reared his family in the precepts of the church. He was twice married. Three children were born of his first marriage, Joseph A., John G. (deceased) and Henry J. The wife and mother died on April 22, 1858. In later years he married Louisa Guendling who was a daughter of John Guendling, and to them were born eight children. The father died on May 3, 1893.
Joseph A. Faust, with the exception of the years from 1890 to 1896, has always made his home in Peru. He was educated in the Catholic and public schools and was a member of the first graduation class of the Peru high school, that event occurring in 1870. Forty-nine years later Mr. Faust was a member of the school board of Peru that condemned and caused to be razed the building from which he was graduated, and he aided very materially as a member of that board in the erection of the present fine structure. Following his graduation Mr. Faust was occupied in teaching German, philosophy and astron- omy in the high school and still later, not finding educational work altogether to his liking, he was employed in a dry goods store for a few years. He also gave some few years to the cooper's trade, which he had learned as a boy under his father's able instruction. It was during this time that he took up the study of law, and he was admit- ted to the bar in April, 1877, where he has been engaged in practice in this city with the exception of some time spent in Cincinnati.
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