History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 10

Author: Ford, Ira, 1848- ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 618

USA > Indiana > LaGrange County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 10
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 10
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 10

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).

Jasper N. Ott while a boy on the home farm in Elkhart County attended the local schools, and lived in that county until he was about twenty-six years of age. October 28, 1875, Mr. Ott married Sarah Ott, a native of Noble County, Indiana. In 1876 they moved to Noble County and located on eighty acres of brush grown and wet land. Mr. Ott under- took the tremendous task of making a farm with unlimited courage and energy, and for many years the soil has been drained and available for cultiva- tion, and he has given his farm all its improvements of value. He raised good grades of livestock.

Mr. and Mrs. Ott became the parents of three daughters. Mary is the wife of William Hart. Laura married Eugene Rance and lives near Ripley, Indiana. The daughter Effie is the wife of Willard More and is now deceased. Mr. Ott was an active member of the Durham Christian Chapel, as is also Mrs. Ott, and he was one of the trustees of the church and did much toward financing it. In poli- tics he was a republican.

CHESTER E. MARSH, whose life for the most part has been spent in Steuben County, was born in Branch County, Michigan, June 3, 1853. He was only a small child when his parents, Ebenezer and Minerva (Gleason) Marsh, died, and after their death he was indebted to his aunt, Sally Marsh Lyon, for a home and his early training.

Mr. Marsh was educated in the North Eastern Academy at Orland and later the Angola High School, and taught school for several years before

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

he took up farming. To farming he gave his un- divided attention and with increasing success until he retired, and is now enjoying a comfortable home at Orland. He is a member of the Methodist Church.

April II, 1880, Mr. Marsh married Miss Eva C. Webb. She was born in Steuben County July 5, 1858, a daughter of Arthur and Amelia (Heath) Webb. Her father was a native of England and her mother of New York State, and both families were early settlers in Steuben County. Mr. and Mrs. Marsh have two children: Lizzie M., wife of Clyde Spangle of Jackson Township, Steuben County; and Elzie A., who was married to B. Frank- lin Collins.

CLYDE SPANGLE is owner of two handsome and productive farms in Northeast Indiana, and in every sense of the term is a progressive, up-to-date farmer and a citizen whose name is spoken with respect wherever known.

His home farm in Jackson Township of Steuben County was the place of his birth. He first saw the light of day January 3, 1877, and is a son of Henry and Sarah (Metzger) Spangle. His father was born in Steuben County, New York, in 1821, a son of Henry and Mary Spangle. He grew up in Seneca County and at the age of twenty-three came to Indiana, purchasing 160 acres in Jackson Township. Only six acres had been cleared, and eventually he brought under cultivation 120 acres and placed upon it some exceptional improvements. He died August 16, 1907, and his wife May 29, 1912. His wife was a daughter of Adam and Mary Metz- ger, who settled in Jackson Township of Steuben County. Henry Spangle and wife had two children, Carrie and Clyde. Carrie, who died in June, 1906, was the wife of Jacob Hellinger and she left three children, named Charles, Lucile and Basil.

Clyde Spangle attended the district schools in Jackson Township, also at Orland, and since he was eighteen years of age has been farming the home- stead for himself. He is owner of 21214 acres in section 6 of Jackson Township, and also has 240 acres in Springfield Township of LaGrange County. Both farms are improved with splendid buildings and for years these farms have been notable for the production of good live stock.

December 30, 1903, Mr. Spangle married Lizzie M. Marsh, daughter of Chester and Eva (Webb) Marsh. Her mother was born in Jackson Township in 1859, a daughter of Arthur and Amelia Webb. Chester Marsh was born in Branch County, Mich- igan, a son of Ebenezer and Minerva (Gleason) Marsh, and was two years old when his father died and four when his mother passed away. Soon afterward he was brought to Millgrove Township of Steuben County and with the exception of three years in Michigan has been a resident of Steuben County ever since. His present home is at Orland. Mr. Marsh had two children, Lizzie M. and Elzie, the latter the wife of Frank Collins.

Mr. and Mrs. Spangle have two children: Henry, born January 15, 1914; and Evelyn, born March 23, 1909.

GEORGE FRANKLIN HARDING, a successful hardware merchant at Fremont, Indiana, has also been a farmer, and much of the interest of his career centers in the fact that he owns a tract of land that was taken up by his grandfather more than eighty years ago and constitutes one of the oldest farms in Jamestown Township of Steuben County.

His paternal grandparents were George and Sophronia Harding. George Harding is credited

with having made the third land entry in Jamestown Township, on June 27, 1835. Both tracts of land which he acquired are located on Hoab Lake. He became a permanent settler on this land in 1836. He was a native of England, had lived for several years in Detroit, and was connected with the original survey of the railroad between Elkhart and Toledo, and also did some work on the railroad between Detroit and Ypsilanti, Michigan. He died in 1892, at the venerable age of eighty-two, having spent his later years at Orland. He was three times married, and his second wife was the grand- mother of George Franklin Harding.

George W. Harding, father of George Franklin, was born in Jamestown Township, on the old home- stead, March 4, 1845. He grew up in that locality, attended public schools there, and married Florence Flint. She was born at Kinderhook in Michigan in 1849. George W. Harding since 1886 has been a resident of Coldwater, Michigan, where he is asso- ciated with his son Ross W. in the implement busi- ness under the name Harding & Son. For many years he was a farmer in Jamestown Township and still owns a fine place of 200 acres there. Both he and his father were at one time extensively en- gaged in the breeding of pure bred Shorthorn cattle, and frequently exhibited this stock in fairs at Coldwater and Angola. George W. Harding is a republican, and was made a Mason at Fremont, Indiana, being affiliated with Northeastern Lodge No. 210, Free and Accepted Masons, with Fremont Chapter No. 5, Royal Arch Masons, Kendallville Commandery of the Knights Templar, and with the Knights of the Maccabees. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church, which the family attend. George W. Harding and wife had four sons : George F., Lewis K., Amos F. and Ross W. Amos died in 1905.

George Franklin Harding, who was born on the old farm in Jamestown Township December 3, 1868, grew up there, attending the district schools, and later was a student in the Tri-State College at Angola, and from the age of seventeen made his home with his parents in Coldwater, Michigan. On January 12, 1893, he married Miss Fannie D. Pease, of Rolling Prairie, Indiana. Before her marriage she was an instructor in a business college at LaPorte, Indiana. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Harding returned to the old Harding home- stead once owned by his grandfather and lived there until 1914. He still owns his homestead of 195 acres, and rents the land. As a farmer cattle feeding was his chief and most profitable business. After moving to Fremont in 1914 Mr. Harding en- gaged in the hardware business with J. W. McClue, but after two years bought out his partner.

He is a republican and served one term on the County Council. He is affiliated with Northeastern Lodge No. 210, Free and Accepted Masons, Fremont Chapter No. 48, Royal Arch Masons, Angola Coun- cil No. 27, Royal and Select Masons, and is a member of Coldwater Lodge No. 1023 of the Elks. He attends the Methodist Church, of which his wife is a member.

Mr. and Mrs. Harding had six children: Bessie and Bernice, twins, the former dying at birth and the latter at one year of age; George F., Jr., Floyd R., Florence L. and Ralph L. Two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Harding were in the war. George F., Jr., enlisted at Indianapolis in July, 1917, became first sergeant of Company B of the One Hundred and Thirty-Ninth Machine Gun Battalion, and is now at Camp Hancock, Georgia. He is a member of Northeastern Lodge No. 210, Free and Accepted

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Masons, and also of Khairum Lodge of Perfection No. 2 of the Scottish Rite. The son Floyd R. enlisted at Fremont in September, 1918, was sent to a school of instruction at Valparaiso, later to the Carnegie Institute of Technology at Pittsburg, was located for a time at Fort Howard at Baltimore, then transferred to the Clerical School at Fortress Monroe, Virginia, and finally to Camp Sherman in Ohio, where he received his honorable discharge in January, 1919.

CHARLES L. SCHLABACH has been a merchant prac- tically all his active career at Cromwell, and for more than a quarter of a century has been one of the stanch citizens and upbuilders of that thriving little village of Noble County.

His birth occurred on a farm four miles east of Cromwell in Sparta Township, June 10, 1869. His parents were William and Sarah (Braucher) Schla- bach, his father born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1835, and his mother in Stark County, Ohio. They were married in Ohio and on coming to In- diana located in Noble County. William Schlabach though beginning life poor and gaining prosperity by his unaided efforts achieved prominence in this county. He made a farm of over 300 acres, and in many ways expressed his wise benevolence in behalf of those less fortunate than himself. He was an active member of the Sparta Christian Church, was a democrat and served four years as trustee of Sparta Township. He died in 1900, honored and respected all over the county. His wife passed away in 1879. They were the parents of ten chil- dren, one of whom died in infancy. All the others are still living: Mrs. Y. Werker, of Cromwell; J. R., of Cromwell; Anna, wife of James T. Iden, of Sparta Township; W. O., of South Bend, In- diana : Ella, wife of James Smith, of Ligonier; M. A., of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Charles L., of Crom- well; Stella, wife of Alvin Moore, of Hartford City, Indiana ; and Harry, of Kimmell, Indiana.

Charles L. Schlabach lived on his father's farm to the age of eighteen and in the meantime ac- quired a good district school education. He then joined his father in a mercantile enterprise and after two years bought the store at Cromwell, and has now been in business there, selling merchandise to a large circle of patrons for fully thirty years. He is also a stockholder in the Cromwell State Bank, is a democrat, like his father, and has filled all the chairs of the local lodges at Cromwell of the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

April 27, 1893, he married Miss Minnie Kauff- man. Mrs. Schlabach is a highly educated woman, a graduate of the Ligonier public schools and took the musical course in Purdue University. They have one son, LaMar, born in 1904, and now in the first year of the high school. Mrs. Schlabach is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Schlabach gives liberal support to that church and to all other worthy causes in the community.

JOSEPH E. KNAPP. Though he is vice president of the Wolf Lake State Bank and a director of the Sparta State Bank, Joseph E. Knapp is still living on his farm in Washington Township, a place which he started to clear and make into a farm fully half a century ago. It was his success as a substantial farmer that attracted the attention of his fellow citizens to his qualities and qualifications for public office and other places of trust.

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Mr. Knapp, who represents one of the oldest fam- ilies of Washington Township, was born in Sussex County, New Jersey, August 17, 1840, a son of August and Anna M. (Wetzel) Knapp. His father was born in Prussian Poland and his mother in Baden, Germany. They reached New York City about 1830 and were married there, and August lived in that vicinity about five years working at his trade as a cabinet maker. He then lived several years in Pennsylvania, and from there located in Sussex County, New Jersey. In the spring of 1850 he brought his family to Noble County, Indiana, and acquired eighty acres in the woods of Washington Township. He cleared his land, and ever afterward was a substantial factor in that community until his death. He was active in the Christian Church, and as a republican was affiliated first with the whig and later with the republican party. He and his wife had ten children, and the five now living are: Fer- dinand; Joseph E .; Amelia, wife of Aaron King; Cecelia, her twin sister, wife of Joseph Gerken; and William B., a farmer in Washington Township.

Joseph E. Knapp was ten years old when brought to Noble County, and the education he had begun in the East was continued in one of the familiar log schoolhouses of that time. He made good use of his educational opportunities, such as they were, and many men and women now grown to mature years gratefully recall his services as a teacher. Alto- gether he taught for thirteen terms.

Mr. Knapp is also one of the honored veterans of the Civil war still living in Noble County. He en- listed February 12, 1862, and was a fighting soldier in the army of the Cumberland under General Thomas. He saw more than three years of service and was not mustered ont until in December, 1865, while in Texas. For many years he has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Not long after his return from the army, on February 24, 1867, he married Delilah Breninger. She was born in Ohio and was brought to Noble County when a girl. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Knapp started farming in Washington Township, and they came to their present locality in 1867, and the house in which Mr. Knapp still lives was built in that year. At that time it was completely surrounded by heavy woods, and his own labors cleared away the timber and gradually increased the area of cultivation. He had a very limited capital saved from his wages as a soldier, and this was used to start him after his marriage.

Mr. and Mrs. Knapp had six children, two of whom died in infancy. Three are still living: Ed- ward E., a farmer in Washington Township; Ella, wife of John W. Adair, of Noble Township; and Charles M., who is a graduate of the Wolf Lake High School and married Grace Metz. Mr. Knapp is also proud of his eleven grandchildren. Mrs. Knapp died August 17, 1912, after they had been married forty-five years.

Mr. Knapp is one of the extensive farmers of Noble County, owning three hundred and seventy acres of land. He owns stock in the Farmers Bank at Albion in addition to his interests as a stockholder and executive official of the Wolf Lake State Bank and the Sparta State Bank. He has been quite active in republican politics, serving two years as county chairman of the Central Committee, and for six years was a member of the Board of County Com- missioners. He has been active and liberal in sup- port and work with the Christian Church and its Sunday school, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Wolf Lake.

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

CHARLES HOLSINGER's home is one of the best im- proved farms in Allen Township of Noble County. It is a mile and a half southwest of Kendallville, and is the old Holsinger homestead, where the people of this name have lived since early times.

Mr. Holsinger was born in Orange Township, near Rome City, December 8, 1869, son of William and Lucinda (Dyer) Holsinger. His father was a na- tive of Stark County, Ohio, and his mother of Noble County, Indiana. William Holsinger came to Noble County, Indiana, locating in Orange Township, where he married, and lived on a farm in that locality until he traded for the old homestead, but in 1903 sold out and moved to Kendallville, where he died. Both parents were active church members, and he was affiliated with the Masons and Knights of Pythias. There are only two living children, Wil- liam and Charles, the former a resident of Chicago.

Charles Holsinger grew up in Noble County, at- tended the common schools and the high school, and since early manhood has industriously pursued the business of farming. Besides the operation of the old homestead he also does a rather extensive busi- ness buying stock cattle, feeding and fattening them, and selling them through the different markets.

January 30, 1893, he married Miss May Knight. She was born at Leo, Indiana, and was educated in public and high schools. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Holsinger lived one year in Kendall- ville, then moved to their home farm, spent three years in Saranac County, Michigan, and sold their property in that county at an advantage and re- turned to Noble County and bought the Holsinger homestead in Allen Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Holsinger have one son and three daughters: Walter, born in 1898, was educated in the grammar and high schools and is still at home; Bessie, a graduate of the high school at Columbus, Ohio; Helen, educated in the local public and high schools; and Lois, who is still in school. Mr. Hol- singer is affiliated with Kendallville Lodge No. 109, Knights of Pythias, and is a republican.

JOHN E. BORNTREGER. The Borntreger family is one of the large and important ones in LaGrange County, and its representatives stand for good gov- ernment, upright manhood and desirable and loyal citizenship. One of those bearing this honored name is John E. Borntreger of Newbury Town- ship, a man widely and favorably known. He was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, October 9, 1837, a son of Joseph and Barbara (Yoder) Born- treger, who made the trip overland from the Key- stone State to Indiana during the year 1841, in wagons, and bought land in Clinton Township, Elk- hart County, on which they lived for twelve years, moving then to Newbury Township, LaGrange County, and here purchasing 160 acres, to which they later added eighty acres. This continned the family home until the death of the father, April 5, 1908, when he was ninety-six years eight months and one day of age, the mother having passed away October 2, 1888, aged seventy-seven years. Their children were as follows: Elizabeth, Christina, Bar- bara, John and David, all of whom were born in Pennsylvania; and Eli, who was the first Amish Mennonite child born in Indiana who lived; Susan- nah, Rosa, Daniel, Rebecca, and Martha, all of whom were of Indiana birth.

John Borntreger was brought up on his father's farm, learning how to operate it, and he also at- tended the public and private schools of his neigh- borhood. When he began farming for himself he settled on his present property, which he cleared, and he erected his present house, which replaced the little frame cabin in the woods he built with his

own hands. At one time he owned 190 acres, but has sold some of it, so that he now has but 116 acres, all of which is finely cultivated and improved.

In 1864 Mr. Borntreger was married to Barbara Mishler, a daughter of Christian Mishler, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Borntreger became the parents of the follow- ing children: Catherine; Samuel, who is deceased; Eli; Polly; Joseph; Lydia, who died at the age of four years; Anna; Menno; John; Barbara, who is deceased; Levi; and David. The first Mrs. Born- treger died May 16, 1900. On June 27, 1907, Mr. Borntreger was married to Mrs. Fannie Miller, widow of Levi L. Miller. Of the above children, Eli, who owns a portion of the old homestead, mar- ried Mattie Miller, and has five children. John, who is a farmer, responded to the call of his country during the World war and served in the National army for about a year, reaching France, having en- listed August 21, 1917, as a motor mechanic and was assigned to the Thirtieth Aero Squadron. He received his honorable discharge April 15, 1919.

Mr. and Mrs. John E. Borntreger belong to the old Amish Mennonite Church. When a young man Mr. Borntreger taught three terms in the district schools and three terms also in private school on the farm.

DANIEL A. DOUGLASS, a former county auditor of Steuben County, has had a long and active career, and is prominent and well known both in that county and in Branch County, Michigan. He was at one time a county official of Michigan County.

He was born in Livingston County, New York, November 12, 1843, a son of Alexander and Christie (McCall) Douglass. His father was born in Scot- land in 1809 and his mother in Livingston County, New York, in 1818. In February, 1863, the parents moved to Branch County, Michigan, locating on a farm four miles north of Fremont, Indiana. Alex- ander Douglass died in Steuben County in 1879 and his wife at the home of her son Daniel in 1901. Their children were Catherine, Jennie, Daniel A., Alexander, John, Mary and Lillie. Alexander Douglass was a republican, and he and his wife were devout Presbyterians.

Daniel Douglass acquired his education in Liv- ingston County, New York, attended an academy in Wyoming County, that state, and was a young man when he accompanied his parents to Michigan. In September, 1864, he enlisted in Company G of the First Michigan Light Artillery, and was with that organization during the last year of hostilities. After that he returned to Branch County and took an active part in its business and civic affairs. In 1879 he moved to Steuben County, locating in the village of Fremont, where he had his home until 1900. In that year he moved to Angola to take up his duties as county auditor, to which he had been elected. He held that office nearly five years, one full term and ten months of over term. Mr. Donglass after selling his farm of 160 acres in Branch County bought a place of fifty acres in Fremont Township, later sold that, and now owns a place of 120 acres two miles east of Pleasant Lake in Steuben Township. He has always affiliated with the republican party. While living in Branch County he served as supervisor of California Town- ship and was elected register of deeds, beginning his official term January 1, 1870. He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Coldwater. During his residence at Fremont in addition to farming he was a traveling salesman for over twenty years. He is also a member of the Grand Army Post.

Daniel Douglass married in 1870 Miss Ellen

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Averill, of Ontario, LaGrange County, daughter of James Averill. She died in 1893, the mother of two children: Clande Douglass, of Angola, and Agnes, who was married to William Stevens and has two sons, named William and Donald. The Stevens family live at Coldwater, Michigan. Daniel Douglass married for his second wife in 1907 Alta Wood, of Angola.

CLAUDE H. DOUGLASS, secretary of the Angola Bank Trust Company, has been one of the respon- sible men in commercial affairs in Angola for a quarter of a century, and his entire record justifies the confidence and esteem in which he is held.

Mr. Douglass was born at Coldwater, Michigan, October 11, 1874, son of Daniel and Ellen ( Averill) Douglass. When he was four years old his par- ents moved to Fremont, Steuben County, Indiana, and in that locality his boyhood was spent. He at- tended the local schools, also the high school, and he gained his first business experience as a clerk at Fremont. He also worked on a farm. On coming to Angola in 1894 Mr. Douglass was clerk in a local drygoods store for about three years, and then was associated in that line of business with W. C. Pat- terson. For five years he served as deputy county auditor, and then became interested in a private bank with G. R. Wickwire. In 1906 Mr. Douglass helped organize the Angola Bank Trust Company, and became its assistant secretary. Since 1916 he has been secretary of that solid financial institution.

He is a republican in politics and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Improved Order of Red Men. He married in June, 1897, Miss Nora J. Hirst, of Angola, daughter of Joseph Hirst, now re- tired. To their marriage was born two sons, Robert H., born in 1899, at Fremont, and Joseph M., born in 1908. The son Robert is now a student of engineer- ing in the Tri-State College.

HON. JOHN H. HOFFMAN. During the greater part of his active career covering more than half a century, John H. Hoffman has been identified with business and other interests connected directly or indirectly with the public welfare. At Ligonier he is known as a merchant, farmer and banker, is also a former postmaster, and represented his county in the Legislature in the sessions of 1917 and 1919.

He was born in DeKalb County, Indiana, Novem- ber 7, 1845, son of George R. and Sarah (Cramer) Hoffman. His parents were both born in Pennsyl- vania, his father in 1808. After their marriage they lived for several years at Gettysburg, but in 1842 came to Indiana and located in DeKalb County. George R. Hoffman spent his active life as a farmer, and was also prominent in politics, serving as county recorder and in other county offices. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. In a family of six children John H. and his brother George H. are the only living survivors. His brother has long been prominent in South Dakota, where he still resides, and had the distinction of being the first lieutenant governor of that state.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 10

Author: Ford, Ira, 1848- ed Publication date: 1920 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 618

Author: Ford, Ira, 1848- ed
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 618