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 15
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VITES E. KAGY. An active member of the Peru bar since 1901. Vites E. Kagy was born in Putnam county, Ohio, July 4, 1875, one of two children both of whom are still living born to Leander and Irene (Van Dyke) Kagy the parents were respectively of Swiss and Holland ancestry. Leander Kagy was a farmer by occupation and about 1879 moved to the vicinity of Tiffin in Seneca county, Ohio, where his home is still located and where he is engaged in farming pursuits.
Vites E. Kagy spent his youth on the home farm in Seneca county, and received his primary education in the public schools. When seven- teen years of age he attained a certificate, and began to teach, an occupa- tion which he continued during the winters for seven years, spending the alternate summers in study at college and in reading law. He attended the Ohio Northern University at Ada, and was graduated from the law department of that institution September 1901. In October of the same year he opened his office for practice at Peru.
Mr. Kagy has been prominent in politics and public affairs and in January, 1906, became county prosecutor, having been elected to this office in the preceding fall on the Democratic ticket. Two years later he was elected to the same office and gave four years of efficient service in that capacity. Mr. Kagy fraternally is affiliated with the Order of Elks.
On July 24, 1901 he married Miss Eda H. Hiestand, of Findlay, Ohio. They are the parents of two daughters, Helen E. and Bernice I.
JARED SPOONER, M. D. High on the roster of the men whose activi- ties in the field of medicine and surgery have served to materially advance the importance of Miami county in these sciences stands the name of Dr. Jared Spooner, for more than thirty years the possessor of a large and representative practice at Peru. A man of deep learn- ing, with a thorough understanding of the responsibilities and duties that devolved upon him in his chosen calling, he gained a reputation among his professional brethren and the confidence of those to whom he administered. Dr. Spooner was born in Noble county, Indiana, December 6, 1846, and was a son of John Spooner. During the early years of his life John Spooner was a sailor on the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, and later became a farmer. He married Martha Rawson, in Ohio, and moved to Noble county, Indiana, at an early day, where John Spooner passed the greater part of his life in farm- ing.
Reared in the county of his birth, as a boy Jared Spooner attended the country schools. When a lad of eighteen years, October 16, 1864, he enlisted in Company D, Twenty-ninth Regiment, Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and until his honorable discharge, in October, 1865, was engaged for the greater part of the time in detached duty in Vol. II-7
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Georgia and elsewhere. Subsequently, on his return to Noble county, he taught school for several years in Indiana and Michigan. It was during this time he sought to better his education by attending high school at Auburn, Indiana, and in the winters of 1869-70 and 1870-71 he attended the medical department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, having previously read medicine for a time, and was graduated in March, 1871. He at once began practicing at Auburn and was thus and there employed until 1880, when he came to Peru, this being his home ever afterwards with the exception of one and one-half years when he was division surgeon at Ashley, Indiana, for the Wabash Railroad Company. At Peru he built up a large prac- tice and was considered by the profession and laymen as an able prac- titioner and surgeon. He was a Republican in politics, a member of the Odd Fellows, and served at different times as president of the Miami County Medical Society. He also belonged to the Indiana State Medical Society and the American Medical Association. The winter of 1889-90 he entered the senior class of the University of Pennsyl- vania, at Philadelphia, from which he was granted the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine in the spring of the latter year. He also attended clinics at various places at different times on special surgical work that particularly interested him. While his practice was general, he devoted much of his attention to surgery, in which he enjoyed a wide reputa- tion. On April 4, 1871, Dr. Spooner was married to Mary E. Ford, and to this union there were born three children: Blanche, who died in infancy ; Quig F., a resident of Oklahoma; and John P. Dr. Spooner died September 25, 1910; his widow survives him and resides at Peru.
DR. JOHN P. SPOONER, the youngest of the children of Dr. Jared Spooner, was born at Auburn, Indiana, April 26, 1876. He was about four years of age when brought by his parents to Peru, and here was educated, primarily in the public school. After his graduation from the high school, in 1893, he taught school for several years, and during this time also attended the State University at Bloomington. He was graduated therefrom in 1900, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and following this spent two years more in school teaching. After some preliminary study, in 1902 he entered Rush Medical College, at Chicago, where he was graduated in 1905, receiving the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine. Dr. Spooner was then for two years an interne in the Cook County Hospital, in the Illinois metropolis, and in 1907 came to Peru, where he has since been engaged in active practice. He attended clinics in Vienna in 1909. The Doctor is a member of the Masons and the Odd Fellows, and belongs to the various medical organizations.
On October 11, 1911, Dr. Spooner was united in marriage with Miss Helen Stiles, of Peru.
LEVI AND J. H. MILLER. It will not be gainsaid by those who knew him in whatever degree, that Levi Miller, who settled on the northwest quarter of section four in Jefferson township, in the year 1842, was a man considerably above the average pioneer in point of intellect and stamina. His after life gave every evidence of that fact, and the brief data here presented will support the statement amply. He was a native of Virginia, born in Augusta county on February 23, 1817, and was a son of Abraham and Nancy (Moses) Miller.
The year 1833 saw the removal of the Miller family from its native soil to that of Preble county, Ohio, where Abraham Miller died in later years. In 1842 Mrs. Miller, then widowed, came with her children to . Miami county, Indiana. Levi Miller had married, two years previous
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"THE MILLER STOCK FARM" RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JOHN H. MILLER
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to this, in November, 1840, Ursula, the daughter of John and Elizabeth (Eikenbury) Allbaugh, and they had one son when they came to Indiana to live. Levi Miller had in his possession several hundred dollars when he came to Miami county, and with this sum he made an initial payment upon a tract of land, going into debt, with his characteristic confidence in himself and the future, for the bulk of the cost of the place. He and his young wife moved into a log cabin on the new place, and there they began to delve. They applied themselves diligently to the work of cleaning up the place, passing through the formative period with the utmost courage and experiencing all the hardships of pioneer life in that early day. The land, when Mr. Miller acquired it, was covered with a dense growth of timber which then had absolutely no market value, and was regarded as a detriment rather than an advantage, and which today would have netted him a tidy fortune on the stump. Thus was giant timber felled to the earth, and such of it as was not available for fences and primitive buildings, was piled in enormous heaps and ruthlessly burnt. But the development of the country entailed sacrifices of that order, and progress justifies such seeming waste and profligacy.
When Mr. Miller recognized the fact that he must make another payment on his land, he was confronted with the realization that he had no money. He did, however, possess an extra mare and colt, and there being no demand for such collateral in his vicinity, he rode the mare to Preble county, Ohio, the colt following in their wake, and there he sold the pair for $55. With this sum in his pocket he walked the entire distance back to his forest home, and in this manner was able to liquidate a part of his indebtedness. Acts of this nature show forth in no uncertain manner something of the courage and pluck that characterized the man, and his overpowering determination to bring success out of the untoward conditions that then prevailed. As time passed he prospered, it is true, but only by reason of his tireless industry, self-sacrifice, and his unquenchable determination. At one time he was the owner of about a thousand acres of the choicest land in Miami county, but with advancing years he divided his holdings with his children, retaining a minor portion as his own. In connection with his regular farming activities, Mr. Miller was extensively engaged in stock raising, a business in which he gained prominence and success. He also inter- ested himself financially in some of the leading enterprises of the county, becoming a stockholder in the Citizens' Bank of Peru and gaining a reputation as a shrewd and capable financier, and a practical, hard- headed man of business, withal a liberal and enthusiastic supporter of laudable public enterprises.
In all his many business transactions Mr. Miller was known to be eminently fair and strictly honest. Because of his unblemished character he commanded universal respect, and few men in the county were ever more highly esteemed than was Mr. Miller all his days. He began the struggle of life as a poor boy. It is to his everlasting credit that he fought a good fight, succeeded well in overcoming seemingly unsur- mountable obstacles, and in the evening of his life was able to look with contentment and satisfaction on a career well and honorably spent.
For many years Mr. Miller was of a deeply religious turn of mind, and he died secure in the faith of the German Baptist church, of which he had long been a member. He donated the land on which was erected the Old Folks and Orphan Children's Home at Mexico, and the two main buildings there were reared by him.
Mrs. Miller, the faithful wife of her husband, died in October, 1876. She was delicate in stature and seemed scarcely fitted for the rugged life of the pioneer, but she ably seconded every effort of her husband
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in his life work, bearing her share of the burdens in the most cheerful and uncomplaining manner. She died in the serene Christian faith that had characterized the passing of her husband.
To Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born ten children, named as follows : Abraham, Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, Mary A., Rebecca, John H., William I., Eli and Joseph E. Of these Elizabeth married J. E. Marsh of Miami county and Rebecca is the wife of Joseph Elliott of Rocky Ford, Colo- rado; John H. and Eli are the only sons of the ten now living.
John H. Miller has become widely known in Miami county and sur- rounding districts as an extensive breeder of Polled Durham cattle. He was born on the old farin adjoining where he now lives. His education, from the standpoint of his actual schooling, was limited, but to see his well stocked library and to converse with him on any topic that may arise would readily disabuse the mind of his hearer of any idea that he was scantily educated. His life work has been the breeding of fancy registered stock of the variety named above, and he is an acknowledged authority in these parts on that and kindred subjects. Mr. Miller's farm consists of four hundred and thirty acres, and is one of the best kept and most thriving in the county.
On March 26, 1874, Mr. Miller was married to Miss Rebecca A., daughter of William Stroud, one of the early settlers of Cass county. Mrs. Miller died on January 11, 1879, leaving one daughter, Bertha E., the wife of Frank E. Gregory, a resident of Los Angeles, Cal., and a silk merchant. On November 28, 1881, Mr. Miller married Miss Emma Con- stant, a daughter of Isaac and Tabitha (Stingley) Constant, and to this second marriage three sons were born, named as follows: Walter L., Herman C. and Grover T. Walter L. is engaged in business in Detroit, Michigan ; received his education at De Pauw University. Herman C. is manager of his father's cattle business. Grover T. is a resident of San Antonio, Texas. The wife and mother passed away on April 11, 1892, and Mr. Miller, on February 7, 1900, contracted his third marriage, when Miss Bettie M. Brown became his wife. Mrs. Miller is a native of Brown county, Ohio, born February 25, 1859, and the fourth in a family of ten children, four sons and six daughters, born to John T. and Mary E. (Pask) Brown, and all of the children as well as parents are living.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown were born in Lincolnshire, England, reared and educated there, also married there and emigrated to America in 1853 in a sailing vessel named "The Emisfield." Mr. Brown's vocation in life has been that of a mechanic and he and his wife are residents of Peru, Indiana, and members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Miller was educated in the common schools and is a lady of business qualifica- tions. She is a member of the Baptist church.
Mr. Miller is a stanch Democrat, up and doing in the party ranks, but never a candidate for office. He is one whose citizenship is of a high order, reflecting credit upon himself and his honored father, and his friends in Miami county are legion. The beautiful estate of Mr. and Mrs. Miller is known as "The Miller Stock Farm."
MOSES FALK. For thirty years Moses Falk conducted a thriving business in Peru, and in that time gained a wide prominence in this section of the state. He was a man of the highest integrity, and his business career was one of the most honorable and unspotted that might be pointed out in the history of the county. Of German birth and ancestry, he brought with him from his native soil many of the worthy traits that have made his country the world power it is today and long has been, and not the least of these was his sterling honesty and whole- souled integrity. When he died in 1878, the business he had estab-
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lished and so worthily conducted for three decades passed into the hands of his son, Julius, concerning whom separate mention is made on other pages of this biographical work.
Moses Falk was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, on February 8, 1816, and in his boyhood was left an orphan. It was perhaps this unguided state that induced him to leave his native land so young, for he was yet in his teens when he came to America. He had in his home community been apprenticed to the trade of a carpenter, and had a thorough knowl- edge of the work, so that he was not without resources of a sort when he came to these shores. He first went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he entered upon what he had resolved to make his life career,-the merchandise business, and he began the work of establishing himself in the business by setting out as a pedlar. He traveled on foot with his goods and wares over the states of Ohio and Indiana, and thus gained a wide acquaintance. In 1837 he located near Peoria, in Miami county, and there he established what came to be familiarly known as the "Dutch Grocery." He met success in the enterprise, it is needless to say, and so well did he progress that he was able to extend his operations into other lines. He became the owner and proprietor of a goodly farm nearby, which yielded him a nice income, and in 1850 he moved to Peru and established himself in business there. For many years he occupied one of the most prominent places in the mercantile life of the county, as one of the firm of Falk & Sterne. The Sterne brothers, men he had known in Germany, at his instigation came to America and joined him in business in Peru, and these men came to be known among the best citizenship of the town. In 1859 he dissolved his partnership with them, by mutual consent, and he continued along thereafter until he retired in 1878, his son Julius succeeding him.
Twice did Moses Falk enter into a matrimonial alliance. His first wife was Helen Redelsheimer, whom he married in Fort Wayne, Indi- ana. She died in 1858, leaving seven children. The second wife of Mr. Falk was Jennie Kuppenheimer who survived her husband by many years. Three children were born to the second marriage.
JULIUS FALK. When Moses Falk, after thirty years of commercial activity in Peru, retired from active business associations and placed his affairs in the hands of his son, Julius Falk, of this review, there was continued by the latter gentleman a business that is now in the sixty- seventh year of its life,-a record far in excess of that of any other commercial establishment that might be mentioned, either in Peru or in the county. For such long-continued and successful business activ- ity there must be good and sufficient reasons, and it is apparent to all that the splendid integrity . and square-dealing that characterized the operations of the founder of the business, Moses Falk, have not been strangers to his son and successor. No other foundation would permit of such continued strength and prosperity in any given community.
Julius Falk is the son of Moses and Helen (Redelsheimer) Falk, both German-born people, and concerning them more specific mention is not essential at this pont, in view of the fact that a detailed sketch is devoted to the memory of Moses Falk on other pages of this work. Julius, who is the sole representative of his father's family to be found resident in Peru today, was born here on February 25, 1855. Up to the age of fourteen years he attended the public schools of the city, and was later for two years a student in Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana. Upon the conclusion of his schooling, Mr. Falk entered his father's place of business, and in 1878, some few years after he had first become identified with his father's interests, the senior gentleman retired and placed the
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business in the hands of his son, who had proven himself amply capable of conducting its affairs successfully and profitably, and who has since demonstrated his splendid business capacity in no uncertain terms.
The present location of the establishment at the corner of Main and Broadway has been maintained since 1887, and the stock of the store comprises full lines of clothing, men's furnishings and boots and shoes, the store being one of the most complete and comprehensive in its lines and the most fitly appointed in its accessories to be found in this part of the state. It is undeniable that Mr. Falk inherited many of his excel- lent business traits from his father, and to the methods of that worthy man of business he has added methods and plans of his own evolving that might be adopted with profit by more pretentious concerns than his. Keen business discernment and an unusual far-sightedness have taken important places in his career, and his judgment in matters pertaining to merchandising is admitted to be of the highest order.
Mr. Falk is a man of family, having married Miss Jennie Wile, of Owensboro, Kentucky, and to them were born three daughters, Francis, Corinne and Aimee. Mr. Falk and his family have always enjoyed the good will and whole-souled friendship of the best people of the city, and have maintained a prominent place in the leading social activities of the place for many years. The head of the family is known to be one of the most valuable citizens the town claims, and one who has never shirked his civic responsibilities, but has played well his part as a citizen and a member of society, and the just rewards of such a career are un- deniably his.
JOHN S. MCCARTHY has been engaged in the retail boot and shoe business in Peru since August, 1902, and here he has gained a consider- able prominence and reputation as a successful man of business. He was born in this city August 2, 1872, and is one of the nine surviving children of the eleven that were born into the home circle of John and Bridget (Daly) McCarthy, both of whom were natives of County Cork, Ireland. John McCarthy was reared to farm life in his native land, and when in young manhood he emigrated to the United States, with the idea of bettering his circumstances. He landed at New Orleans and from there went by boat down the Mississippi and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati, and thence to Mansfield, where he found employment in railroad work. From Mansfield Mr. McCarthy moved on to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he continued with his railroad work, and when the Wabash railroad was projected through Peru he came here as an em- ploye of the road. It was after his arrival in Peru that he married, and he continued his connection with work on the railroad until the later years of his life, when he lived in retirement. He died on January 23, 1907. He was a quiet, even-tempered man, always a hardworking per- son, and one who found his greatest happiness in his home life. He was a devout Catholic, true to the faith of his people, and he reared his family in that religion. His wife died September 3, 1898. She came to America as a girl, in company with her parents, who were among the early settlers of Miami county.
John S. McCarthy has always made his home in Peru. He received his early education in the parochial schools and when fourteen started out for himself as a clerk in the employ of the John S. Hale Company. He continued thus until July 1, 1902, since which time he has been in the shoe business for himself.
Mr. McCarthy is a Democrat, but in no sense a politician. He has taken an active part in the civic activities of the city and as a citizen
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of the best order, has taken his place among the leading men of the town.
On May 7, 1900, Mr. McCarthy was united in marriage with Miss Gertrude Murphy, of Logansport, Indiana, and to them three children have been born, two of whom died in infancy. The one living child is John, born September 12, 1911.
SHIRK FAMILY. The city of Peru has a reputation for being the home of probably as much wealth as any of the smaller cities of Indiana, and the factors in producing this wealth have with almost no exceptions been residents throughout their active careers in this city. Among the families which have contributed to this reputation the Shirk family has probably the most notable record in financial circles, and through three generations it has been identified with this city and its members have been prominent both in business and citizen- ship. An entire city square in the residence district comprises the park-like homestead of the Shirk family in Peru, and the beauty of this home place is consistent with the achievements of the family in the business world.
The founder of the family name and fortunes in this county was Elbert Hamilton Shirk. He was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1818, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Stout) Shirk. Samuel Shirk came to Indiana from Georgia and his wife from Kentucky. Elbert H. Shirk spent his boyhood on a farm, having limited advantages in the district schools during the winter months, but after reaching his majority was a student for two years at Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. He then for two years was an instructor in the Rush County Seminary, but from that vocation came to the field for which he was most fitted, that of commerce. In 1844 he located in Peru, where he formed a partnership with John Harlan, who had for some years been a merchant of this town. From that time until his death in 1886, his career was one of unbroken prosperity. At the end of a year, having obtained a thorough business experience he withdrew from the partnership with Mr. Harlan and went into business on his own account. Elbert H. Shirk had the judgment, the foresight, and the executive ability which are the characteristics of the great merchant princes of this country. He was a student of methods and men and of every circumstance which would affect his enterprise. He built up a trade which extended throughout Indiana, and embarked in numerous enter- prises which always rewarded his judgment with good profit. He dealt in depreciated land warrants which had been issued to the veterans of the Mexican war and invested them in lands in the then western states of Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Many of the settlers who went from this section of Indiana to those trans-Mississippi states were equipped with warrants for land sold them by Mr. Shirk. This was his first extensive venture in real estate and he thereafter followed up that line of business very extensively and systematically. It was through his real estate operations that his large fortune was accumulated, and some of the largest of his investments were in the city of Chicago during the period of most rapid development in that city.
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