History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 108

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 108
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 108
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 108
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 108

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).

Both his parents and all his ancestors lived in England for generations. His father was Thomas Harris and his grandfather, William Harris. William Harris and wife spent all their lives in England. Thomas Harris married Anna Wheeler, whose father, Henry Wheeler, came to America at the same time with Thomas and Anna Harris and is remembered by some of the old settlers of La- Grange County, where he had a farm of forty acres in Greenfield Township. He was a blacksmith by trade and conducted a shop on his farm.

Thomas Harris and wife were married in Eng- land and came to America in August, 1866, going direct to the vicinity of Brighton in LaGrange County. Thomas Harris was first employed on the farm of William Anderson. He had become versed in the various arts of farming and animal husbandry in England, and was especially skillful in the shear- ing of sheep. He had won several prizes in compe- tition in his native country. As LaGrange County fifty years ago was the center for a considerable sheep industry, he had abundant opportunity to prac- tice his art there. For twenty-five years he rented the Crandall farm in Greenfield Township and also farmed other land nearby. Thomas Harris and wife finally left LaGrange County and joined their chil- dren in Nebraska, where he died in 1916 and his wife in 1918. They had five children, all still living, named : J. Sidney, Fred W., Lula, Charles and Frank, the last two twins. The first two are residents of LaGrange County, while the others are in Nebraska.

Fred W. Harris acquired his early education in LaGrange County. He was twenty-one years of age when he and his brother Sidney started for Ne- braska. They identified themselves with a com- paratively pioneer community at Ansley in Custer County. He took up a homestead of 160 acres on the prairie, proved up and developed that as a farm and made it his home for twenty-two years. Even- tually he had 240 acres. His brother Charles after- ward joined him, as did also their father, and the

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three of them together owned 720 acres in one body. Their improvements were high class and in later years they did an extensive business raising and feeding stock.

Mr. Harris, though absorbed in his business in Nebraska, kept in touch with his home community back in LaGrange and in 1892 returned to Indiana and in February married Miss Kate Fair. She was born in Bloomfield Township, daughter of Noah Fair, member of one of the best known families of the county. Mr. Harris took his bride back to the farm in Nebraska. In 1894 he and his wife and son returned to visit Indiana, and chose the old fashioned prairie schooner as their means'of return rather than a railroad journey. They drove all the way to Indiana, and in 1895 they went back to Nebraska in the same vehicle, taking along Mr. Harris' parents. Mr. Harris remained in Nebraska until 1910, when he sold out his property there and bought the 160 acre farm in Lima Township where he lives today. While in Nebraska he held offices in his school district and as road supervisor, and has been a road official in LaGrange County. He still retains his affiliation with the Modern Wood- men of America at Ansley, Nebraska.

Mr. and Mrs. Harris have four children: Walter T., Lulu M., Sidney H. and Ruby M., all in the home circle. The son Walter was a soldier during the World war.

JOHN HEATON RERICK was born near Dayton, Tip- pecanoe County, Indiana, February 4, 1830, at the farm home of his parents, Henry and Juliana Rerick. Henry Rerick was a native of Cayuga County, New York, and pioneering later into Indiana, was mar- ried in Tippecanoe County to the daughter of Isaac Lamb, who became one of the pioneers of Saint Joseph County, whither Henry Rerick and his fam- ily followed in 1835 and made their home on Sump- tion's Prairie. Henry Rerick was the son of John Rerick, born in New York State in 1783, and who died in the United States service at Fort Niagara in the War of 1812. John Rerick was the son of Henry Rerick, of American birth and English de- scent, born in New York State in 1737.

John H. Rerick was reared in the pioneer clear- ings. He taught school in Saint Joseph and Elkhart counties after he was fifteen years of age. He studied at South Bend in preparation for the medical profession and entered the class of 1853 in the medi- cal department of the University of Michigan. In the year of his graduation he was married to Eliza- beth Green. He began his practice at Fort Wayne in 1854, the year of the cholera epidemic. A son, Louis, was born to him there, but both mother and child died within the year. Leaving Fort Wayne, he be- gan the practice at Elkhart and was married there, May 1, 1856, to Marianette, daughter of Rowland and Elizabeth (Defrees) Devor. In the fall of 1859, Doctor Rerick and his wife and eldest child located at LaGrange, their home thereafter. In 1860 he became associated with Howard M. Betts in the drug business in addition to his practice.

He was one of the four delegates of Allen County to the anti-Nebraska convention at Albion which nominated Samuel Brenton for Congress in the old Tenth District, and he was one of the organizers of the republican party which followed, and aided in the election of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln called for troops Doctor Rerick drew up the first enlistment paper in LaGrange County. He enlisted and drilled with the Dawson Company, Thirtieth Regiment, and was commissioned by Governor Mor- ton as assistant surgeon of the Forty-Fourth Regi- ment. At camp in Fort Wayne he examined all the men for enlistment in that regiment. He was with

the regiment throughout the war and was promoted to surgeon, with the rank of major, and for some time was brigade surgeon. He rendered dis- tinguished service on the field in the great battles of Shiloh, Stone River and Chickamauga. At Stone River he worked on the field under fire until over- come with exhaustion, and the effects of this caused him great suffering during the remainder of his life. His name is mentioned in the roll of honor of the battle of Chickamauga. After a service of over four years Doctor Rerick returned to LaGrange and re- sumed his practice, but his health was broken. In 1857 he bought the LaGrange Standard, which, ex- cept for an interval, 1869 to 1872, he continued to own until his death. He was nominated for county . clerk by the republicans in 1868 and was elected and reelected in 1872. During the Harrison administra- tion he was postmaster at LaGrange.

He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church from boyhood and active in Sunday school work. He was a pioneer in the anti-saloon move- ment, and active in every phase of that reform. He made many addresses in this and adjoining counties on various community topics. He was one of the founders of the Northern Indiana Editorial Asso- ciation. He compiled and published rosters of the soldiers of the county and saw to it that stones were provided for the graves of the dead. In 1880 he published a history of the Forty-Fourth Regiment. From 1882 to 1887 he was the partner of J. S. Con- logue in the ownership of the Kendallville Standard. He was one of the founders and president of Island Park Assembly in the years of its fame. After many years of usefulness Doctor Rerick passed away January 21, 19II. He was survived until the next year by his wife and their three sons, Rowland Henry, John Defrees and Carl Hubert, are still living.

FRANK W. BAKER, a farmer in comfortable cir- cumstances near Angola in Pleasant Township, rep- resents a family that has been identified with Northeast Indiana since about 1850, most of the time in Steuben County.

Mr. Frank W. Baker was born in Pleasant Town- ship February 16, 1866, a son of Edward and Susan (Sandall) Baker. His parents were both natives of England, his father born in 1821 and his mother September 24, 1826. They were married January 21, 1847, and the first two of their children were born in England. April II, 1850, they took passage at an English port and on the 14th of May arrived in New York City. Their first settlement was in LaGrange County, Indiana, and they had their home at Applemanburg about eight years. Edward Baker then bought a farm from Philo Nichols in Jackson Township, near Otter Lake, later sold that and in 1865 moved to Pleasant Township of Steuben County. Here he bought cighty acres, cleared it up and for a time his family lived in a log house. Edward Baker spent his life usefully and honorably, and died with the respect of a large community in 1909. His wife passed away May 4, 1899. He was a republican voter, remained true to the faith of the Church of England, while his wife became affiliated with the Christian Church at Angola. They had seven children: Mary Jemimah; Mary Ann, who died in La Grange County at the age of four years; Susie, widow of Chester Crain, of Steuben County; Naomi, wife of James North, of LaGrange County; Mary, widow of Alexander Halstead; Ed- ward James, of Jackson Township in Steuben County ; and Frank W.

Frank W. Baker grew up on his father's farm in Steuben County, acquired a good education in

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the local schools, and on reaching manhood, having no capital and no land of his own, he went to work as a farm hand. His first purchase of land was fifteen acres. Later he bought forty acres in Jackson Township, and successive years haye brought him a slowly accumulating prosperity. In 1906 he acquired seventy-two acres two miles west of Angola, where he lives today. This farm was for- merly owned by his wife's father, Jacob Wolf. Mr. Baker is doing a good business as a general farmer and stock raiser. He is a republican in politics and attends the Christian Church. He is affiliated with the Odd Fellows Lodge at Angola.

July 3, 1892, Mr. Baker married Miss Loma Wolf. She was born in Steuben County January 9, 1870, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth ( Menges) Wolf. Her parents were both born in Ohio, and were married in 1866, after they came to Steuben County. They settled in York Township, where Jacob Wolf had eighty acres, and on selling this property moved to Kansas and spent six years in the Sun- flower state. Returning to Steuben County, he located in Steuben Township, rented a farm for a time, and then bought the farm in Pleasant Town- ship. Mrs. Baker's mother died in 1906, at the age of sixty-four, and her father is now eighty-three years of age. In the Wolf family were four chil- dren : Cora A., wife of Peter Crowl; Mrs. Baker; Alice, who died in 1894; and Peter, living in Michi- gan.

Mr. and Mrs. Baker have four accomplished daughters. Blanche L., the oldest, born October 4, 1894, is a graduate of high school and the Tri-State Normal College, had a teacher's license for three years and taught school, and is now the wife of Ray D. Hosack. Lola Alice, born September 9, 1897, also took the high school and Tri-State Nor- mal courses. Cora Gladys, born July 18, 1902, is a student in the Angola High School, as is also the youngest daughter, Mildred Berdina, who was born March 10, 1904.

LEWIS RITTER. In several localities of Steuben County the name Ritter has been impressed by many years of residence, active participation in community effort and the improvement of land and homes.

One of the old Ritter farms is in Steuben Town- ship, now occupied by Lewis Ritter, who was born on the farm April 22, 1880. He is a son of Jacob and Mary (Lucas) Ritter and a grandson of Joseph and Eva Ritter. Joseph Ritter came to Steuben County from Ohio at an early day. He and his wife, Eva, had nine children: Andrew, Corleus, Thomas, Hiram, Jacob, Maria (who died in child- hood), Della, Ellen and Nettie. After the death of his first wife Joseph Ritter married Mrs. Welthy Lucas, and by that union had one child, George.

Jacob Ritter, who was born in Ohio March 20, 1855, married Mary Lucas, who was born in DeKalb County, Indiana, January 19, 1858, a daughter of Samuel and Welthy Lucas. Jacob Ritter when a young man began farming the old homestead where his son Lewis now lives, and was busily engaged with his work there until 1906, when he and his wife moved to Angola and are now retired residents of that city. They are members of the Methodist Church. They have two children. Lewis and Gary. Gary married Byrd Erwin, and their family consists of Garold, Velma and Virginia.

Lewis Ritter acquired his early education in the schools of Steuben Township and when a young man farmed for two years near Fox Lake, lived in Angola a year and a half, and in March, 1907. succeeded his father as manager of the old home- stead. He rents the place of 120 acres and is rap-

idly making his way to independence and pros- perity as a farmer and stockman.

December 14, 1901, Mr. Ritter married Maude Erwin, a daughter of Edward and Eliza ( Meintiver ) Erwin. They have two children, Marcellus and Irene. Mr. Ritter and wife attend the United Breth- ren Church.

CAPT. LAWRENCE GATES, an honored veteran of the Civil war and one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Angola, was born in Germany April 25, 1839, and received his early education there and then came to America. He arrived at Angola in 1853 and had some further education in the schools at Nevada Mills in Steuben County. He worked as a clerk in Angola until 1862, when he volunteered in Company H of the Seventy-Fourth Indiana In- fantry. For his meritorious service he was pro- moted to first lieutenant and later to captain, and served until May 15, 1865. He was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and in the Atlanta campaign. Two weeks after the fall of At- lanta he lost a leg during a railroad wreck. After the war Captain Gates engaged in the dry goods business at Angola, and was one of the local busi- ness men who organized the First National Bank. He held the post of director as long as he was con- tent to serve. In recent years he has busied him- self with a fire insurance agency. He is a Repub- lican and cast a vote in 1860 for Abraham Lincoln and Oliver Morton. He was first city clerk of Angola after the incorporation of the town. He is a past grand patriarch of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his family are mem- bers of the Christian Church.

In 1865 he married Miss Martha Sowle, of Steu- ben County. She died in 1868. On March 28, 1869, he married Miss Tina M. Elya, who was born in Steuben County in 1849. They have four children, three of whom are living at Cleveland and all are married. Their names are Milla, Fred C., Harry L. and Louis A. Milla is the wife of Dr. W. H. Lane, who served in the Medical Corps with the rank of captain in France.

LLYOLL E. AL.SPAUGH. Members of three genera- tions of the Alspaugh family have been factors in the life and affairs of LaGrange County for over fifty years. Llyoll E. Alspaugh owns one of the good farm homes of Greenfield Township and has spent practically all his life in that township.

He was born there August 6, 1873, a son of Peter and Martha J. (Swihart) Alspaugh, both natives of Ohio, and a grandson of Philip and Mary Ann Alspaugh. His grandparents were born in Pennsyl- vania, lived in Southern Ohio for some years, and in the fall of 1854 settled on a farm in Johnson Township, LaGrange County, south of Valentine. This farm is now the Charles Wolf farm. Philip Alspaugh cleared up and improved that place and lived there until his death in August, 1880. His widow survived him to a ripe old age and died at the home of her son Peter. Peter Alspaugh was one of six children, Matilda, Catherine, Reuben, Peter, Edward and Oliver, all now deceased. Reuben lost his life while a Union soldier in the Civil war. Peter Alspaugh was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, April 21, 1841, and was thirteen years of age when he came to LaGrange County. He had a common school education, and at the age of twenty, on October 14, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany H of the 44th Indiana Infantry. He was a participant in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pitts- burg Landing, siege of Corinth, Perryville and Stone River. At Stone River, also known as Mur- freesboro, he was wounded in the leg on Decem-

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ber 31, 1862, and was granted his honorable dis- charge September 9, 1863. On November 11, 1866, he married Miss Martha J. Swihart, daughter of Daniel and Sarah Swihart, whose connection with LaGrange County has been noted at length on other pages. In 1868 Peter Alspaugh bought eighty acres in Greenfield Township. He had previously lived on a rented farm on Pretty Prairie. He increased his farm to 150 acres, and improved it with good buildings. He died March 25, 1913, at the age of seventy-four. His first wife died February 3, 1881, aged thirty-five. She was an active member of the Methodist Church. Their two children were Luila, who was born February 6, 1869, and died in May, 1888, and Llyoll. In 1883 Peter Alspaugh married Phoebe E. Hand.

Llyoll E. Alspangh attended school in the country districts and also at Howe, and lived at home with his father until he was twenty-eight years of age. He came to his present farm in the fall of 1901, and owns a hundred eighty acres devoted to farm- ing and stock raising. He has done much to im- prove the property, increase the fertility of the soil, and the farm has probably doubled in value under his ownership.

Mr. Alspaugh and family are members of the Progressive Brethren Church. He married, Sep- tember 17, 1901, Miss Lena Sigrist, a native of La- Grange County and a daughter of A. H. Sigrist. Mr. Alspaugh's father helped organize the creamery at Howe and Mr. Alspaugh is still interested in that local industry and is also a stockholder in the Pretty Prairie Telephone Company. He has the old Bible of the Alspaugh family, dated 1649.

CHARLES H. SHEETS, one of the progressive men of Steuben County, divides his time between farming and acting as agent for the Standard Oil Company at Angola, maintaining his residence in this city. He was born at Millersburg, Monroe County, Ohio, March 27, 1858, a son of Henry Sheets and grand- son of Henry Sheets. The elder Henry Sheets was born in Bavaria, Germany, came to the United States in 1835, and located at Pittsburgh, Pennsyl- vania, where he became a tool dresser and maker, having learned the blacksmithing trade in his native land. He remained at Pittsburgh the remainder of his life. Henry Sheets was married to Mary Stov- ell, also a native of Bavaria and they had the fol- lowing children : Michael, Jacob and Henry.

Henry Sheets, the younger, father of Charles H. Sheets, was born in Bavaria, Germany, December 25, 1834, and consequently was only a baby when his parents came to the United States. He was reared at Pittsburgh, where he attended the pub- lic schools. In 1854 he was married to Magdeline Peters, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Peters, and they became the parents of the following chil- dren : William, who is a farmer of Pleasant Town- ship ; Charles, whose name heads this review; Tillie ; Elmer, who is a farmer of Pleasant Township; Herman, who married Elsie Wood, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has two children, Magdeline and Elsie Lucille ; Fred, who is a merchant of Crooked Lake, Indiana; and Eugene, who lives at home, owns twenty cottages on Crooked Lake, and about the same number of boats, operating the Long Beach Resort. In 1860 Henry Sheets came to Steuben County, Indiana, and located on a farm in Steuben Township, where he was engaged in farming for five years, but left it to locate on his present farm in Pleasant Township. In 1893 he retired and moved to Angola, where he and Mrs. Sheets lived in comfort until the death of the latter July 3, 1916, when Mr. Sheets returned to the farm and now makes his home with his children.

Charles H. Sheets grew up in Pleasant Township, and was accorded the advantages offered by its schools and the Angola High School. Until 1884 he was engaged in farming in conjunction with his father, but in that year came to Angola, where he established himself in a transfer business, and also carried the mail to and from the trains. In connec- tion with his transfer business he dealt in ice, and his operations were extensive. During 1900 he in- vested in ninety acres of land opposite the Angola Fair Grounds, adding to this farm until he had 180 acres of land, and he also owns sixty-six acres of land in another part of Pleasant Township. From the time he bought his land until the present Mr. Sheets has superintended its operation, hiring the necessary men to do the work, and is a breeder of high bred, fine wool sheep, and handles and feeds a large amount of other stock. In 1904 Mr. Sheets sold his transfer and ice business, as his other interests had become too heavy for him to continue it. Since April 11, 1887, he has been the representative at Angola for the Standard Oil Com- pany.

On November 17, 1887, Mr. Sheets was united in marriage with Emma L. Longabaugh, a daughter of Joseph Longabaugh, a native of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, who in 1862 came to Angola, Indiana. A tailor, he worked at his trade upon first coming to Angola, but within a few years started in the mercantile business in connection with a tailoring establishment. Still later he sold these two lines of business and was engaged in handling produce until his death in 1894. Joseph Longabaugh was married to Miranda Milner, a native of Columbi- ana County, Ohio, who died April 23, 1915. They had the following children: Emma L., who is Mrs. Sheets ; Lena, who married Robert Shephard; Mary, who married Martin Miser; William A .; and Eliz- aheth, who married Robert Rae. Mrs. Longabaugh was a consistent member of the Christian Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Sheets have one son, Henry Har- court, who was born January 24, 1902. He is now attending the Angola High School, and is a very bright pupil. Mrs. Sheets belongs to the Congrega- tional Church. In his fraternal relations Mr. Sheets maintains membership with the Knights of Pythias. He is recognized as the very soul of probity and uprightness, and in all of his ventures he has main- tained a high standard of business ethics, which won for him unqualified confidence and thorough respect.

WILBER H. HILL is one of the men who have made a success of farming in Noble County, and the success with which he has managed his private af- fairs has gained him the confidence and respect of his fellow citizens and brought him into active relations with county affairs. He is now serving as one of the county commissioners, representing the Northern District in Noble County.

Mr. Hill resides on his farm in section 17, Wayne Township, two and a half miles northwest of Ken- dallville. He was born in the same township May 19, 1860, son of Nicholas and Mary (Kinney) Hill. His father, a native of Wuertemberg, Germany, came with his parents to the United States at the age of seventeen. At that time they located on a farm in Wayne Township of Noble County, and the grandyarents spent all their lives there. Many Kinney was born in Ohio and came to Indiana be- fore her marriage. Nicholas Hill and wife had nine children, six of whom are still living: Mary, unmarried; Avilla C., wife of William Wright, of Kendallville; Orange L., on the old homestead in Wayne Township; Wilber H .; Charles R., of Rich-

S. M. Cash. M. D.

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mond, Indiana; and Albert S., a farmer in Wayne Township.

Wilber H. Hill grew up on the home farm, at- tended the common schools and lived with his par- ents until he was twenty-one years of age. In 1882 he went to Michigan, and was in that state five years, part of the time in the lumber woods and also em- ployed in salt works. On March 18, 1886, he mar- ried in Noble County Carrie L. Hunt. Mrs. Hill was born in LaGrange County, July 1, 1865.

After their marriage they lived a year in Mich- igan and on returning to Noble County took up farming as renters. For fifteen years they rented land, and at the end of that time, in 1902, they bought their first farm, seventy-two acres, paying $800 down. Since then their prosperity has much increased, and in 1917 they bought another place of 120 acres, and now have a complete and highly improved farm,

Mr. and Mrs. Hill have three children : Archie, born September 1I, 1889, is a graduate of the Hunt- ington Business College, is married and lives on a farm in Wayne Township; Ralph D., a graduate of the common schools, married Leota Loucks, and they live with his father; and Cecelia, who is now in clerical work for the Government at Battle Creek, Michigan.

Mrs. Hill is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Wayne Center. Fraternally he is affiliated with Kendallville Lodge No. 276, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and is also a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council, and is a Knight of Pythias and a Maccabee. In politics he is a republican, and besides his present office as county commissioner, to which he was elected in 1916, he served four years as trustee in Wayne Township.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 108

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