History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 107

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 107
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 107
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 107
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 107

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).

Mr. Renner was one of the two men in Steuben County who voted for the prohibition candidate, St. John, for president, thirty-five years ago. He has been a radical in that movement ever since, and no one has rejoiced more than he in the pres- ent nation-wide victory of temperance. He was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

May 1, 1864, Mr. Renner married Miss Louisa Greenamyer. She was born near Wooster, Ohio, October 1, 1847, a daughter of Samuel and Caroline (Alberson) Greenamyer. In 1849 the Greenamyer family came to DeKalb County, Indiana, settling one mile west of Hudson. Her parents spent their last years at Butler, where her father died Novem- ber 30, 1878, and her mother February 11, IS75. Mr. and Mrs. Renner have been married over fifty- five years and a number of their grandchildren are now mature men and women. Their oldest son, William, born February 5, 1865, is in the insurance business at Hamilton. He married Lucinda Lemen, and has four children, named Osyth, Harold, Ger- hold and Grace. Samuel, who was born December 25, 1866, is a farmer in Michigan, married Catherine Brown, and they have a large family of children. Valma, Alma, Robert, Albert, Irma, Zoe, Helen, Charles and Roscoe, all still living except Charles. The sons Robert and Albert were both with the Expeditionary Forces in France and both were at the battle front and rendered active service, and Robert was a victim of a gas attack. John, the third son of Mr. and Mrs. Renner, lives at Hamil- ton and married Doll Bailey, but has no children. Effie, born December 13, 1872, is the wife of Will Helms, hotel proprietor at Hamilton. They have two children, Reba A. and Maurice. Charles, the youngest child, was born February 1, 1881, and married Anna Mortorff of Steuben County.

LOUIS EDWARD PENNER. Since he attained tlie years of discretion and manhood Louis Edward Pen- ner has been devoted to the great and important business of farming. He owns a good farm in York Township of Steuben County, and is one of that locality's most substantial citizens.

He was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1870, but has spent all his life since early infancy in Indiana. His parents were Martin and Elizabeth (Drenning) Penner, both of whom are still living in Steuben County. Martin Penner was born in Maryland in 1837 and his wife in Bed- ford County, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jolin

Drenning. Martin Penner moved from Bedford County, where he was a farmer in 1872, to Steuben Township of Steuben County, and for many years was actively engaged in farming there. He and his wife are members of the United Brethren Church. Their children, nine in number, were Louis Ed- ward, John, Kate, Clayton, Frank, Eula, Mabel, Clarence and Harry.

Louis Edward Penner acquired his early educa- tion in the district schools of Steuben Township and did his first independent farming in Jamestown Township. He sold his property there in 1911 and then bought ninety-six acres in sections 12 and 7 of York Township. For the past eight or nine years this farm has been the scene of his earnest activi- ties and progressive labors as a farmer and stock- raiser. He has also acquired an adjoining twenty acres. Mr. Penner also follows the profession of auctioneer, and his services are in great demand in crying sales. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Fremont.

September 27, 1897, he married Miss Cora M. Warner, a daughter of George and Melissa Warner. They have five children, Wilbur, Frances, Roland, Clinton and Russell. The daughter Frances upon graduating from the eighth grade was awarded a gold medal for having the highest standing in her studies.

JOHN BARROWS. At a time when America is hon- oring its old soldiers with renewed affection and significance there is special appropriateness in the personal record of John Barrows, a veteran of the great Civil war who for over half a century since the termination of that trouble has been identified with the agricultural community of Steuben and La- Grange counties. But on account of physical dis- ability he is now living retired in Millgrove Town- ship, Steuben County.

Mr. Barrows was born in Vermont July 22, 1845, of old New England ancestors. His father, Brewster Barrows, was born March 15, 1805. On April 12, 1827, he married Rachel Barnard, who was born in Vermont August 28, 1806. Brewster Barrows, who was a son of Pero Barrows, came with his wife and seven children from Vermont in pioneer times. They had ten children at the time, but the three oldest daughters remained in the East and followed their parents several years later. Brewster Barrows set- tled in Millgrove Township, where he bought eighty acres of land, but about ten years later sold that place and moved to Greenfield Township in La- Grange County. He lived in Greenfield Township, where he owned 160 acres, until his death on No- vember 17, 1882. His wife died September 9, 1874. The names of his children and the date of their births were: Hannah K., February II, 1828; Mary J., January 5, 1830; Nathaniel, October 28, 1831; Har- riet L., April 13, 1834; Martha L., June 6, 1836; Blake E., September 5, 1838; Angenette, January 27, 1841; Susan L., January 26, 1843; John B., July 22, 1845; and Amelia, April 11, 1848.

Mr. John Barrows was brought to Indiana when a small child, and he acquired some of his education at Orland but most of it in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County. He was four months past eighteen years of age when on November 22, 1863, he enlisted in Company C of the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry. He was with the army just two years to a day, receiving his honorable discharge on November 22, 1865. He went into the army about the time General Sherman was undertaking his great campaign around Chattanooga and Atlanta, and had the duty of acting as patrol, guarding Sherman's line of sup- plies from Nashville, Tennessee, to Huntsville, Ala-

John Barrows Taken August, 1864, at Huntsville, Alabama

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bama. His regiment patroled all the country between Huntsville and Murfreesboro during the summer of 1864. Mr. Barrows was with his regiment in all its service until he was mustered out.

After the war he returned to Greenfield Township and devoted liis time and energies to farming in this neighborhood until 1911, at which time, on ac- count of physical disabilities, he retired to enjoy a well earned competence. Since then he has lived in Millgrove Township. He owns 252 acres, 160 acres in Greenfield Township which was his father's farm, and 92 acres in Millgrove Township adjoining it but just across the county line. Mr. Barrows is a member of the Grand Army Post at Angola.

On November 30, 1869, he married Maranda Gill- more. She was born November 1, 1850, daughter of Ambrose and Catherine (Khuns) Gillmore. To their union were born five children: William A., on November 11, 1870; George H., July 25, 1875; Effie, who was born December 7, 1880, and died December 18 of the same year; Harriett Pearl, born June 26, 1882, the wife of Benjamin Twichell; and Orley, born May 24, 1884.

EARL TUTTLE. While the call of the soil is recog- nized to be a powerful one, it is but seldom that it is strong enough to take a man from the triumphs of theatrical life, place him amid rural surround- ings and keep him contented with his lot, still such things do take place, as is proven in the case of Earl Tuttle, now a prosperous farmer of Steuben Township, but formerly well known in the world of amusement. He is a native of his present town- ship, having been born in section 28, Steuben Town- ship, Steuben County, Indiana, November 8, 1866. Mr. Tuttle is a son of Chester V. and Tillie ( Belles) Tuttle, and grandson of Lemmon Tuttle.

Lemmon Tuttle was born in New York State in 1813, and while still a boy was taken to Ohio by his parents. In 1838 he came to Indiana, and two years later settled in Steuben Township, Steuben County, where he entered fifty acres of Government land, to which he later added by purchase forty acres additional. At that time all of this land was in a wild condition, but, like the other pioneers of the region, he patiently went to work, broke the land, planted it, and continued to develop it as long as he lived. All of the buildings on the property were erected hy him, and when he died in June, 1881, the farm was greatly enhanced in value. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Filora Gould, was born in Cayuga County New York, in 1818, a daughter of Kiah and Mehitable (Sturges) Gould, and died December 25, 1880. Lemmon Tuttle and his wife had the following children: Lorana, Emeret, Ches- ter V., Frank M., Alptha, Adesta, who died in 1880, and Sylvester, Arad and Byron, all of whom died in infancy. Lemmon Tuttle was an expert woodsman, and made his way on foot through the woods from Clyde, Ohio, to his destination in In- diana.

Chester V. Tuttle, son of Lemmon Tuttle and father of Earl Tuttle, was born in Steuben Town- ship in July, 1847. In 1863 he enlisted in the Sev- enth Indiana Cavalry for service during the Civil war, and was assigned to the Department of the Mississippi, and participated in a number of the important battles of that front, proving himself a gallant and courageous soldier. At the close of the war Mr. Tuttle located at Pleasant Lake, Indiana, where he carried on a mercantile establishment for some years under the style of Chadwick & Com- pany, and he also owned a fine farm of eighty acres of land in section 26, on which he resided, being one of the substantial men of Steuben Township. Vol. II-25

His wife was born at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter of George and Caroline (Brid- inger) Belles. Chester V. Tuttle and his wife had children as follows: Earl, Carl, Worthy and Harry. In 1888 Mr. Tuttle was elected treasurer of Steuben County, assuming the responsibilities of that office in 1889, and discharging them very capably for two terms. After the termination of his second term of office he retired to Pleasant Lake, where he resided until his death, which occurred December 7, 1902. His widow survives him and makes her home at Pleasant Lake. Mr. Tuttle was well known as a Mason and Odd Fellow.

Earl Tuttle attended the schools of Pleasant Lake, and from childhood exhibited such decided talent that he was encouraged to develop it, and when a young man he entered the amusement world as a member of the Holten show, playing baritone and violin. After one season with this organization he was with the Bentley show for two seasons, and then for the succeeding seasons traveled with the Bob Hunting circus. His next theatrical experi- ence was secured with Josh Sprusbey's show, with which he traveled for three seasons. In 1901 Mr. Tuttle was married to Lula Cogswell, a daughter of George and Martha (Ritter) Cogswell, and set- tled on his present farm, and at the same time drove a mail route for one year. He then decided to give all of his time to the cultivation of his 135- acre farm, on which he carries on farming and stockraising, and his success has justified his choice, although those who realize his talents feel that his profession lost a valuable member when he returned to his inherited calling. Mr. and Mrs. Tuttle have two children, Sol A. and Chester. Mr. Tuttle is an Odd Fellow by inheritance and preference. From 1914 to 1919 he served very faithfully as assessor of Steuben Township, and deserves his standing 'as one of the capable and representative men of his native county.

MATHEW C. HILTERBRANT. While his neighbors in Bloomfield Township of LaGrange County have known him for a number of years as a substantial and successful farmer and public spirited citizen, Mathew C. Hilderbrant as a matter of fact had many struggles and adversities to contend with as a youth.

He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, November 3. 1859, a son of Isaac and Lucinda (Critchet) Hilterbrant. His mother was born in Lucas County, Ohio, and died when only thirty-seven years of age. The father was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania, in 1819, and as a boy of fifteen drove from Eastern Pennsylvania over the mountains to Ash- land County, Ohio. He grew up there in the home of his parents, and remained a resident of Ohio until 1878.

On October 23, 1878, Isaac Hilterbrant, his wife having died in Ohio, arrived in LaGrange County, Indiana. All his children, nine in number, were born in Ohio. Four died in infancy and the others are : Mary, Mrs. Albert Stauffer, of New London, Ohio; Alma, Mrs. Will McConnell, of Detroit, Mich- igan; Frank, who when last heard from was in Escanaba, Michigan ; Mathew C .; and Maggie, Mrs. Cornelius Andress, of Columbus, Ohio.

Mathew C. Hilterbrant was about eighteen years old when he came with his father to LaGrange County. He had in the meantime acquired a fair education in the common schools of his native state. His father located a part of the land now owned by his son, having twenty acres. The father and son came here with little capital. and they were greatly handicapped in the work of clearing the land and making a farm by reason of the absence of a woman

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in the home. They did the housework and cooked their own meals in addition to clearing away the timber and brush and raising crops. There was considerable reward for their labors before the father died. He was a Lutheran in religious affili- ations.

Mathew C. Hilterbrant remained on the home farm until his father's death and has since increased his holdings to 130 acres and has a complete group of modern farm buildings. For the past fifteen years he has done much in the way of live stock breeding and keeps full-blood Duroc Jersey hogs. Mr. Hilterbrant also engaged in the general lumber business in 1881, and for fourteen years he sawed, bought and sold lumber in Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan, though always keeping his home on the farm.

In 1885 he married Miss Mary L. Royer, who was born in LaGrange County, a daughter of Joseph Royer. To their marriage were born three children : Ralph B., who conducts a news stand at LaGrange; Mabel, who is Mrs. Hoyt Fuller and lives on the farm with her father; Madge, wife of Aaron Marker, a farmer of Bloomfield Township. Mr. Hilterbrant is a member of the Calvary Evangelical Church, and for many years has been affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

AMOS J. HOSTETLER, M. D. One of the most skill- ful physicians and surgeons of LaGrange County is Dr. Amos J. Hostetler, who has been in practice here for nearly twenty years. He has a large professional business in and around LaGrange and has also ex- erted himself as a citizen, particularly in auxiliary activities during the war.

He represents a very old American family. He is descended from Jacob Hostetler, who was born in 1704 and died in 1776. Jacob married a Miss Lor- entz. Their son, John Hostetler, came to America at the age of three years, settling in Pennsylvania, where the families lived for many generations. John married Catherine Hetzler. In the next generation was a son also named John, who was born in 1752, near Hamburg, Pennsylvania, and married Barbara Miller. John Hostetler, third of the name, was born June 23, 1782, and died March 2, 1856. He married Magdalena Lehman, born October 18, 1787.

Moses J. Hostetler, grandfather of Doctor Hos- tetler, was born June 9, 1812, and died April 17, 1894. He married Elizabeth Mast, who was born May 1, 1822, and died August 9, 1889.

Moses M. Hostetler, father of the doctor, was born March 21, 1844, and died January 29, 1903. He married Mary Ann Mehl. During the father's life- time the family lived in Holmes County, Ohio, and from there came to LaGrange County, Indiana, lo- cating on a farm at Emmatown.

Dr. Hostetler was born in LaGrange County, May 2, 1867, and acquired his early education in the public schools, and he taught public school for six years. Later he took his medical course in Wooster University medical department, at Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1893 he graduated from the Indiana Univer- sity medical department at Indianapolis, Indiana. Later he took post-graduate work in the Post Gradu- ate School of Medicine in New York City, and for one term was an interne in an Indianapolis hospital. For twelve years he practiced at Shipshewana in LaGrange County, and has had a busy and success- ful career in the City of LaGrange since 1906.

June 30, 1888, he married Ella May Smith. Their only child, Mae, was born May 29, 1889, and died in infancy. Dr. and Mrs. Hostetler have taken two children to rear in their home. "One is Alta Seybert, who after graduating from high school was a teach-

er and is now the wife of Ort Seigler. The second adopted daughter is Lucile Hostetler, a daughter of Doctor Hostetler's brother Milo. She is now a senior in the LaGrange High School.

Doctor Hostetler is a member of the official board of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a director in the State Bank of LaGrange and is affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter and Council of Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of the Maccabees and Woodmen of the World. In politics he is a republican. He has prospered in his profession and owns consider- able real estate, including the building where he has his offices.

During the war Doctor Hostetler was chairman of the Advisory Board, also chairman of the Civilian Relief Committee, and a member of the LaGrange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. He is secretary of the LaGrange County Medical Society.

JOHN R. THOMPSON has spent his life close to the state line between Indiana and Michigan, and his grandfather settled in Steuben County more than half a century ago. His own career has been chiefly identified with banking, and he was one of the organizers and is now cashier of the First National Bank of Fremont.

He was born in Branch County, Michigan, De- cember 19, 1889, a son of Alexander and Alice (Ellis) Thompson. His grandparents were Wil- liam and Harriet (Ferguson) Thompson, who came from Ohio to Indiana in 1863. William Thompson died in 1890, at the age of eighty-one, and his wife in 1900. Their family consisted of Alexander, Mary, Hattie and John F. Alexander Thompson was born in Ohio in 1847, and was sixteen years old when brought to Steuben County. In 1865 he joined a company of Union soldiers and served until the close of the struggle. After the war he returned to Steuben County and married in Michi- gan Miss Alice Ellis, who was born in that state in 1858. He then settled on a farm near Ray, Indiana, and now lives on the farm his father selected in 1863. He is a republican and served as justice of the peace, and was formerly a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church but is now affil- iated with the Methodist denomination. He and his wife had six children: Effie, deceased; Madge; Irene; Ross A .; John R .; and Kenneth, deceased.

John R. Thompson was reared at the Village of Ray, attended public schools there, the Tri-State Normal College at Angola and acquired his early banking experience as assistant cashier in the Bank of Ray. He was there four years, and coming to Fremont he helped organize the First State Bank, and was its first cashier. Three years later he assisted in organizing the First National Bank of Fremont, in 1915, and has since been its cashier, and in that office has been mainly responsible for the growth and prosperity of this institution.

Mr. Thompson is a republican and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Fremont. September 5, 1917, he married Miss Ruth Vana- man, of DeKalb County. Their one son is named John R., Jr., and was born July 21, 1918.

EDWARD M. GEORGE, serving his second term as county assessor of Steuben County, has for many years been busied with farming and public affairs, and his record is one that appropriately belongs in this history of Northeast Indiana.

Mr. George was born in Steuben Township, three miles west of Pleasant Lake, September 20, 1862, only child of Sylvenus and Martha (Harpham) George. His paternal grandfather, Jerry George,

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was a native of Ohio and settled in Steuben Town- ship about 1852. He died in 1897, the father of a large family.

Sylvenus George, who was born in Ohio, grew up in Steuben Township and from early life was a farmer. He died in 1863, a few months after the birth of his only child, Edward. His wife, Martha Harpham, was born in Steuben Township, a daugh- ter of John and Margaret (Gillanders) Harpham. John Harpham was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1810, and came to the United States at the age of twenty-six. He married at Rochester, New York, in 1843, Margaret Gillanders, who was born in the north of Ireland in 1821 and came to the United States in 1841. The year of his marriage John Harp- ham moved to Steuben County, locating in section 17 of Steuben Township. He acquired 110 acres and made one of the best farms of that locality. He had come west by steamboat as far as Cleveland and then made the rest of his journey to Steuben County by stage coach. John Harpham lived to a ripe old age. His children, seven in number, were Martha, Joseph, John, Mary Jane (who died in childhood), Samuel, Anna and George.

Mrs. Sylvenus George, after the death of her first husband, became the wife of Lewis Fifer. She died in October, 1910, the mother of five children by her second marriage: Elva, Lenora, John, Orlando and Jessie.

Edward M. George acquired his early education in the district schools of Steuben Township, at- tended high school at Angola, then taught school one year, and has made farming a source of his prosperity and his chief business since early man- hood. He was a farmer in Otsego Township for several years, in 1895 moved to Steuben Township, 21/2 miles southeast of Pleasant Lake, and in 1899 moved to his present place of 115 acres in section 7 of the same township. He also owns a farm of eighty acres in section I of Salem Township. He moved to Pleasant Lake in the fall of 1919, where he owns property.

July 3, 1884, Mr. George married Emma Avery, daughter of Jesse W. and Eliza (Shumaker) Avery, member of a well known family of Steuben County, one member of which is Seth S. Avery. Mr. and Mrs. George have two children. Dessie Dale mar- ried Leo Koons and has two children, Georgia and Virginia. Elsie May is the wife of Robert Slick, and their children are Clair, Louis and Dorothy.

Mr. George is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Angola, also the Rebekahs, the Masonic Chapter at Angola, the Lodge of Moose and the Gleaners at Pleasant Lake.

His experience as a public official began as as- sessor of Steuben Township, an office which he filled faithfully for six years. In 1914 he 'was chosen county assessor, and his first term deserved his re-election, which came in 1918.

WILLIAM H. FREED. Members of the Freed fam- ily came from Ohio to Northeast Indiana at the beginning of the Civil war, and have been among the progressive citizens and farmers of Steuben County. William H. Freed has been a hard work- ing and industrious farmer in Steuben Township the greater part of his life.

He was born in that township July 22, 1861, a son of Anthony and Elizabeth (Bender) Freed and a grandson of Peter Freed. His grandfather was born in Pennsylvania and his father in Stark County, Ohio. Anthony Freed came to Steuben County early in 1861, a few months before the birth of his son, and bought the farm that his son Joseph now occupies. He cleared up a large part of the land, owned 130 acres, and died there in 1882. His widow

survived until 1905. They were members of the Mennonite Church. Their children were eleven in number, named Peter, Nancy, Adaline, Angeline, William H., Daniel (who died in childhood), Lauretta, John, David, May and Joseph.

William H. Freed acquired his early education in the public schools of Steuben Township and then worked on the home farm until he was past his majority. In 1884 he married Della Sunday, daugh- ter of Andrew and Mary Sunday, of a family whose record in Steuben County is elsewhere recorded.

After his marriage Mr. Freed bought the twenty acres adjoining the old homestead and has since added forty' acres, and for twenty years has worked hard to cultivate and improve the land and has put up all the buildings. He is a member of the United Brethren Church.

Mr. Freed and wife have four children: Nellie, Harold, Ralph and Lucile. Harold married Arlie Lininger. Nellie's first husband was Lewis Fred- erick, and by that marriage she had two children, Opal and Aline. After the death of Mr. Frederick she became the wife of Earl Sams, and has one daughter, Ida.

FRED W. HARRIS was born in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County November 8, 1866. He grew up there to years of manhood, and after nearly a quarter of a century of successful homesteading and other business activities in the State of Nebraska he returned to his native county to renew his asso- ciations with the old community. For the past ten years he has owned a substantial farm property in Lima Township, and is well satisfied to regard Northeast Indiana as his permanent home.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 107

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