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 37
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Reuben Seitner, the second born son, and the eldest living member of the family today, was born on July 13, 1851, in Perry township, on the estate of which his present farm was once a part.
On February 24, 1883, he married Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Glace) Geeting, and they took up their abode on the farm, two years later building the new brick house wherein they now reside. This farm came to Mr. Seitner as his share in his father's estate, which was a goodly one, and among the most extensive ever accumulated in the township. His share represented $1,000.00 and he paid for the remaining 60 acres at $50.00 per acre. He has brought about a great many notable improvements in the place, his fine new barn having been built as recently as 1909.
Mr. Seitner as a boy was educated in the Perry township schools, but as he was the oldest boy, his help was early needed at home, and his opportunities for book learning were thus limited. When the father died, Mr. Seitner was appointed executor of the estate, and he has given a careful stewardship of the charge laid upon him. He and his wife are members of the Church of God, and he was deacon of the church for two. years and an elder for a similar period.
JOHN C. PATTEN. Americans will never cease to venerate the soldiers who offered themselves to save the Union in the dark days of the sixties, and as the survivors of that great war decrease in number as they answer the roll-call one after another, it seems that the affection of their younger country-men should grow in increasing ratio. Of these old soldiers Miami county has a fine representative in John C. Patten, since 1891, a resident of Deer Creek township.
John C. Patten was born in Sullivan county, Indiana, June 21, 1837, a son of William and a grandson of Mark Patten. The war records show that Mark Patten was a soldier in the War of 1812. William Patten's wife was a daughter of Eli Dicks Bunda, and her Christian name was Malinda.
John C. Patten was reared on his father's farm, and has been engaged
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in agricultural pursuit all his life. At the time the Civil war broke out he was a resident of Tipton county. There he enlisted as a member of Company B, Seventy-Fifth Indiana Infantry, August 11, 1862, and served until July, 1865, when he was mustered out. During this period of almost three years he saw a great deal of campaigning and partici- pated in a number of historic engagements. On September 19, 1863, on the Chickamauga battlefield he was shot through the left leg and taken prisoner. After his discharge from the army, Mr. Patten went to Howard county, from there to Tipton county, then back to Howard, later to Cass county and from Cass county he came in 1891 to Miami county. Here his investment in forty acres of unimproved land in Deer Creek township, may be said to have been the first practical step in a career of steady prosperity and advancement since that time. Going in debt for part of the land, and its improvements he settled down to the work of clearing, and in a few years had developed a comfortable little home- stead. Mr. Patten has erected buildings and has made a great many improvements which increase the value and productiveness of his place. He now rents his fields and lives practically retired.
Mr. Patten is a pensioner on account of his services rendered in the Civil war, and is a popular member of the Grand Army of the Republic, being a past commander of his post two different times. He is a trustee in the local Horse Thief Association, and is affiliated with and a trustee of Crescent Lodge No. 280, A. F. & A. M., at Miami, Indiana. His and his good wife's religious faith is that of the Baptist church, with which denomination he has been identified since 1859.
On July 29, 1859, Mr. Patten married Margaret Lett, a daughter of Balaam and Sallie (Osborn) Lett. Her maternal grandfather was John Osborn. Her father was a Southerner, a native of Georgia, who came to Indiana before the war and he was a soldier in the Mexican war. Mrs. Patten is a native of Union county, Indiana, born February 27, 1846, and she is the only survivor of the family. She was educated in the common schools and the first school she attended was a log school- house. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Patten were born six children, named as follows: Denton S. C., born December 13, 1861, and now chief of police at Aikley, Minnesota, married Jennie Ridgeway ; Sallie, born July 9, 1865, married Edward Munson, resident of Cass county, Indiana; William Thomas, who married Bertha Babb, of Cass county ; John Grant, who is unmarried; Lurania F., the wife of Andrew J. Logan, in Cass county ; and Judson O., unmarried at home. Mr. and Mrs. Patten are citizens who are held in the highest regard by all who know them. He is a man who has a double name-as a grand noble man as to integrity and as a soldier in the saving and honoring of the flag of his country.
FRANK E. WARD. Among the native sons of Miami county, Indiana, who have won success and prosperity within the limits of their own county, should be mentioned the name of F. E. Ward, of Perry township. His father was a farmer in this township before him, and both father and son have held a high place in the esteem of their fellow citizens. Mr. Ward has been a hard working and industrious farmer, with mod- ern and progressive ideas, and the fine condition in which his farm is at present is clear testimony of his painstaking and untiring work.
Frank E. Ward was born in Perry township, on the 8th of August, 1858, the son of John T. Ward and Susanna (James) Ward. John T. Ward was the son of John Ward, and was born in the state of Virginia. He came with his father into Franklin county, Indiana, when he was a very young boy, and .here his father settled on a farm where
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they lived until 1850. Mr. Ward first married in Franklin county, his wife being a Miss Schofield. There were four children by this marriage, namely : James, Joel, Rebecca and Mary. Their mother died in Frank- lin county.
Susanna James, the mother of Frank E. Ward, was the daughter of Conklin James. She first married Sylvanus Newton and came to Miami county, Indiana, with him in 1837. They located on a farm in Perry township, the same farm where F. E. Ward was reared. Here Mr. Newton built a log cabin in the woods and then began to clear the land. Mrs. Ward often told of the way they used to drive through the woods to Logansport and further on to Michigan City when they wanted to buy salt and other staples. Here Mr. Newton lived until his death. There were three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Newton; Eli, Harvey and Mary. After the death of Mr. Newton his widow married John T. Ward and they continued to live on her farm. This property consisted of eighty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Ward died in Wabash, Ind.
Frank E. Ward grew to young manhood on his father's farm, receiving his education in the little log school house. In those days a term of school amounted to four months of the year and although the pupils were only taught a very rudimentary knowledge, what they learned they learned perfectly. They knew the old blue-backed speller by heart and the multiplication table as well as their own name, a rarity in these days. After his district school education was completed, Mr. Ward attended a normal school for a time and then he himself became a teacher. He taught in Perry township and in Fulton county, Indiana, and for twelve years this was his vocation.
After this he settled on a farm in Allen township which consisted of eighty acres and had an old log barn and frame house on it. He built a good barn on the place, ditched it and cleared about twenty acres of land. Later he traded this farm for the one on which he lives at present, having lived on the first farm for about eight years. There were 120 acres on this farm and the present buildings were also built at that time. He has however repaired them and improved them in many ways, by the addition of lightning rods and by putting on new roofing. He has done a great deal of ditching about the place and has built many rods of fence. He has also added to the property until it now consists of 155 acres. Mr. Ward does general farming, shipping some of his produce away and selling the rest to local dealers.
It was in 1886 that Mr. Ward was married to Miss Minerva Cun- ningham, a daughter of William Cunningham and Eliza (Williams) Cunningham. Mr. and Mrs. Ward have had six children born to them, as follows: Nellie, who married Francis Zegafuse; Edna, who married Russell Reahard; Myrtle; Hazel; Emma and Russell. The beautiful modern residence of Mr. and Mrs. Ward, erected in 1913, is a two- story and basement building, heated by furnace and lighted by elec- tricity, and it is a modern home in all its detail. The homestead is known as "Sunny View Stock Farm."
The father of Mr. Ward attended the Methodist Episcopal church but Mr. Ward is a member of the Baptist church and has been a trustee of his church for twelve years. In politics he is a member of the Republican party.
S. S. SMITH. The Smith family is undeniably one of the most interesting ones in these parts, and a brief contemplation of their history at this point is particularly fitting in a work of the nature of this historical and biographical work. They have been identified with the history of Miami county since they came hither in 1845, and men
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of the name and of their immediate family branch have had generous share in the development and upbuilding of the county. S. S. Smith, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Fulton county, Indiana, in 1853, and is the son of Lewis and Mary Smith, and the grandson of Michael Smith. Both father and grandfather were German born, their birth place being about twelve miles from Straussberg, Germany, and the grandfather brought his family to Miami county in 1845.
Michael Smith entered the first government farm in Miami county, and walked to Indianapolis to get the title deeds to the place. He built a log cabin on his farm home, and settled down to a steady and persistent toil on the place, the results of which were soon apparent. The country was in a particularly wild and unimproved state in those years, with roads of the worst possible nature, so bad that wagons would sink in the mud to the hubs in inclement weather, and altogether presenting a decided drawback to the development of the country. The nearest road was the Erie railroad, and Mr. Smith, with others, took up a subscription to induce that road to run a line into their community, which proved a wise expenditure on their part.
Lewis Smith continued with his father for some years, helping man- fully with the work of the new home place, and when he moved to Fulton county it was to settle on a place of his own, where he continued to live until he died at the age of seventy-two. The grandfather of the subject, Michael Smith, lived to the fine old age of eighty-two, the family being one that is known for the longevity of its members.
S. S. Smith was one of the ten children of his parents. The others are here mentioned briefly as follows: Jake, who married Lydia, the daughter of Jacob Seitner; William, who married Jennie Neff; Charles, who married Etta Grindle; Nancy, the wife of Frank Hoffman; Mary, who married Francis Seitner; Henry A., who died at the age of two months; Jonathan died when one year old; and John, who lived to be twelve years of age.
The father of this goodly family was known for one of the most successful men of the county wherein he lived. He raised the first barley that was grown in these parts, and gave much of his time to that crop, often having as much as 20 acres seeded to barley. Mr. Smith, of this review, recalls very distinctly the early days of Fulton and Miami counties, and recounts with zest many interesting stories of pioneer life here and there. He received his schooling in the district schools of both counties, his attendance being limited to three months in each year, but he managed to acquire a solid basis of learning for future accomplishments, so that he has not passed through life entirely untaught.
In 1878 Mr. Smith married Mary, the daughter of Daniel Shilling, another of the pioneer settlers of the county, and in 1881 he took up his abode in his present home in Perry township. He has a fine place of eighty acres, all in excellent condition, properly fenced and ditched, and with modern buildings ornamenting the whole. In addition to his Miami county property, he has a farm of one hundred acres in Fulton county, which, until the present year, he has operated in conjunction with his home place. His operations in the agricultural field have been especially prosperous, and have indicated the true nature of the man in their business like and well directed activities.
Mr. Smith, and all of his family, are members of the Evangelical church, and he is particularly active in the work of the various depart- ments of that body. He has taught in the Sunday school for the past thirteen years, and at present has a class of nineteen young ladies who depend upon him for instruction in Biblical truths. He is a citizen of
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the finest calibre, and his residence here has been marked by an honest and earnest interest in the affairs of the community, in which he is ever willing and ready to share his just burden of responsibility.
JOHN W. SMITH has performed his full share of the development work that has gone to make Perry township the flowering spot it has been for many years and all credit should be accorded to him as one of the estimable and valuable men. All his life has been spent on the farm on which he was born, and which in his young boy and manhood he helped his father to convert into a fruitful and profit yielding farm, from a state of rank forest growth and all around wilder- ness. Mr. Smith was born on the Perry township farm in Miami county on December 5, 1846, and is the son of Hiram and Pleasant (Weaver) Smith. The father and mother were both natives of Pennsylvania, where they were married and they came to Miami county in 1836, entering land from the government and settling down to a life of toil and hardship attendant upon the reclaiming of a piece of virgin land and the making of a home in the wilderness.
A dense forest marked the spot which is today one of the showy farms of the township, and long years of weary toil on the part of the pioneer father and his sturdy sons re-built the face of the landscape with the succeeding seasons. A small cabin was built by the young husband, and he, in his life time, saw to the clearing of the south eighty acres of the quarter section, the north eighty having been looked after by the son, who is the present incumbent of the property. Following the death of the father, the place fell to the three children, and Mr. Smith came into full possession through purchase from his brother and sister. Here he has since continued, and has brought about many improvements that have greatly enhanced the general value of the property, and make it one of the best kept places in the township.
Mr. Smith was married September 25, 1870, to Miss Mary Ash, the daughter of Abraham Ash and Hannah (Logue) Ash. No children have blessed their union.
Mrs. Smith is a native of Seneca county, Ohio, born October 1, 1846, and she is the fifth on a farm of eleven children, four sons and seven daughters, born to Abraham and Hannah (Logue) Ash. There are five daughters and two sons living. William Ash is a resident of Missouri and a farmer. Atsey is the widow of William Harmon and a resident of California. Martha E. is the wife of J. R. Ridge and they are residents of California. Elizabeth, the widow of Henry Lower is a resident of Perry township and a member of the Baptist church.
Mrs. Smith's father was a native of Pennsylvania and was a tailor by 'trade, and also an agriculturist. He came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, where he was married and thence to Indiana in 1852. Mrs. Ash was also a native of Pennsylvania. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ash were mem- bers of the Methodist church and both are deceased.
The parents of Mr. Smith died on the old farm home in Perry town- ship and they were long members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Smith also has membership in the church that sheltered his parents. He is prominent in local politics and is now acting as trustee of his township, to which office he was elected on the Republican ticket in 1908, and in which he has given a most praiseworthy service.
During his term of office he has built ten cement bridges in the township of Perry. He has ten schools to supervise, besides the excellent High School of Gilead, one of the accredited schools in the state. The beautiful and costly building was erected in 1900 and is one of the ornamental school houses of the county. . The schools are in excellent con- dition and are controlled by an able corps of teachers.
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JAMES H. SMITH. A well known citizen and farmer of Miami county, Indiana, is J. H. Smith of Perry township. He has lived in this county for many years and has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. As a farmer he has attained success, not through good fortune but solely through hard work, and carefully directed work. He is a farmer of ability, who understands the soil with which he has to deal, and he has succeeded in raising fine crops, and has one of the most lucrative as well as attractive farms in the township.
The father of J. H. Smith was Henry Smith, a native of New Jersey. In 1851 Henry Smith came to Indiana and settled in Miami county, in Richland township, two and a half miles east of Chili. The property consisted of 107 acres, very little of which was cleared land. There was nothing on the place but a log cabin, but Henry Smith set to work with the energy of the early pioneer and before his death which occurred on the 2nd of April, 1852, he had the materials and everything prepared to build a new home. With the courage typical of the women of her day, his widow set to work and erected the house, which together with the log stable comprised the buildings of the farm. Henry Smith had married in New Jersey Miss Matilda Burling. After her husband's death Mrs. Smith married a second time, her husband being Elijah Lowe. They became the parents of four children: Cornelius, Peter, Isaac and Martha.
J. H. Smith was born in Dayton, Ohio, on the 24th of October, 1849. He was therefore only a baby when his parents came to Indiana. He grew up on the farm but he was very young when he left his mother's house and went to work on his own account. He first worked for neighboring farmers and continued in this way for two years, at the end of which time he found employment in a saw mill. After working in the saw mill for eighteen months he began to work at the carpenter's trade, continuing thus for four years. After this he went into the saw mill business for himself and for seventeen years was a well known lumberman of this section, his mill being located in Perry township. He then traded his property for his present farm in Perry township. There were at the time some of the present buildings on the farm but he has thoroughly repaired the house and barn and has added a number of smaller buildings. There was only one ditch on the place, which consisted of 102 80/100 acres, and now there are over five hundred dollars' worth of buried tile drains. He has also built a good deal of fencing and has put the farm into fine shape generally. He raises all the standard crops for this section.
In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican and in the fraternal world his affiliations are with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, his mem- bership being with Gilead Lodge No. 354, of which he has been a member for forty years. He served as trustee of the township from 1895 to 1899.
Mr. Smith was married September 30, 1874, to Miss Mary McKee, a daughter of John McKee and Elizabeth (Houser) McKee. Six children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, two of whom are dead, namely, Frank, who died at the age of four years; Charles, who died at the age of six months; Corey, who married Fred Blackburn; and who has two children, Hanley and Harold; Ross who is unmarried and lives with his parents; and Ruth and Mabel, who are both unmarried and live at home.
JAMES M. COUCHER. The importance of Bennetts Switch to the farm- ing community in the southwest part of Miami county is largely due to the grain and elevator business conducted at that point by Mr. James
Pugsley
PHOTO
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"LONGVIEW" RESIDENCE OF MR. AND MRS. JAMES M. COUCHER
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M. Coucher. Mr. Coucher is one of the men who began life at the bot- tom, and by industry and economy work up to a place of influence and commercial standing in the community. He is now proprietor of the large grain elevator at Bennetts Switch, and has also been twice honored with the chief responsibilities of township government.
James M. Coucher was born near the town of Bunker Hill, Pipe Creek township, this county, August 25, 1865. His father was William and his grandfather Jacob Coucher, while the maiden name of his mother was Mary E. Nesbit, a daughter of Walter D. Nesbit. The father settled on a farm near the village of Bunker Hill during the early sixties, and in the Civil war was a soldier for the Union, spending a life of honored activity in its every relation. He died at a good old age on November 28, 1912, while his wife passed away in 1879.
Mr. James M. Coucher was married August 18, 1888, to Miss Louise C. Lawrence, a daughter of James F. Lawrence. They are the parents of two daughters, both of whom are now attending school. Genevieve is attending State University at Bloomington, Indiana, and is a member of the class of 1913 and Elba M. is attending the Conservatory of Music at Indianapolis, Indiana. They are being educated liberally for lives of usefulness and influence. Mrs. Louise C. (Lawrence) Coucher is a native of the city of Peru, Indiana, born December 16, 1869, a daughter of James F. and Marguerite (Taylor) Lawrence. Five of the Lawrence family are living in 1913, and four are residents of Miami county. The sister, Viola, wife of Horace Clark, is a resident of Howard county, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence were both natives of Montgomery county, Ohio. He was by vocation an agriculturist. He was one of the noble men, who, at the sound of the tocsin of war enlisted in the 39th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and afterwards was a member of the 38th Cavalry. He was in the same company as Mr. Coucher's father and they participated in some of the heavy battles of war, being present at the terrible two days' battle of Chickamauga, was at Stone River and other actions. Mr. Lawrence was a Democrat politically and he and wife were members of the Methodist church.
Mrs. Coucher is a pleasant and social lady and her friends in Miami county are many. She received a good practical education in the public schools of the county and her pretty modern home and her family comprise her paradise. She and her husband may well be proud of their two daughters as they are preparing themselves in the best educa- tional institutions of the state.
The beautiful home of Mr. and Mrs. Coucher, known as "Long- view," is modern in detail. Lighted by acetyline, heated by a hot water plant and the library well stocked with standard literature, indi- cates the intelligence of the family.
Mr. Coucher was reared and received his education in his native vicinity, and when he was twenty years of age began working for wages in the grain business. He continued in the employ of others for a number of years, but all the time was acquiring valuable experience and was accumulating some savings which in 1900 enabled him to estab- lish himself independently in the same line of business at Bennetts Switch. His elevator, bearing his name, is now one of the chief features of this little village, and is the center of a large amount of business. Mr. Coucher has served his township two terms in the office of trustee. He was trustee from 1890 to 1895 and again from 1900 to 1904. He was reared in the Methodist faith and fraternally is affiliated with the Red Men and the Masonic order.
SAMUEL W. BUTT. Among the prosperous farmers of Miami county, Indiana, may be mentioned Samuel W. Butt, who has lived in this
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section of the state of Indiana for many years. He owns a large farm which he has improved and developed and which yields him a generous return for the labor he has spent on it. Mr. Butt is popular and highly respected in Perry township, and is known throughout the county as an honorable man and valuable citizen.
Samuel W. Butt was born in Jefferson township, Miami county, on the 8th of September, 1849, a son of Regneld Butt. The latter came to Miami county at an early date and settled on a farm in Perry town- ship adjoining the one which is now owned by Samuel W. Butt. He bought this farm from Jonas Cleland who bought it from the Erie Canal Company. He cleared the land and erected a cabin of round logs and here he lived until his death which occurred in 1853. The mother of Samucl W. Butt was Phoebe Kinzie. After the father's death, his sons took charge of the farm, and after a time Samuel W. Butt went to live with his uncle, Benjamin Kinzie in Cass county. He later came to his present farm which was owned by David Keefer at that time. He remained with him for eleven years, and then he married and settled on a farm of forty acres in Allen township. There was a log cabin on the farm and here he made his home for a few years until he sold the place and bought the farm that is now owned by Emmond De Wald. He lived there until 1895 when he bought the present farm of 128 acres. All of the present buildings were already on the place, but he has added numerous improvements both to the buildings and the farm in general.
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