History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 114

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 114
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 114
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 114
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 114

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).

In that year he formed a partnership with Thomas Gale and bought a general stock of merchandise in New York, the value of which was $20,000. This was for that time an immense consignment of goods. To get it West was a problem of more than ordi- nary difficulty in the absence of railroads. It was shipped to Buffalo by the Hudson River and Erie Canal, thence around the Great Lakes to Michigan City, Indiana, and from that point teams and wagons brought it over the roads to Lima. The freight bill alone was $3,000. With this stock of goods they established what was at that time one of the largest general stores in Northern Indiana. In 1839 Mr. Williams bought out his partner's interest, and con- tinued alone until 1853, when he sold out to the firm of Jewett & Rawles. Between the years 1848-55 he

also operated a branch store at Blandinsville in Mc- Donough County, Illinois.

Most of the citizens of the present generation who remember this dignified figure associate his name and activity with banking. In 1853 with John B. Howe he established a private bank at Lima. This was the first bank between Fort Wayne and South Bend. Later it became a branch of the State Bank of Indiana and later still operated under a national charter and finally assumed its present character as a private institution. Through these various changes Mr. Williams continued his financial and to some extent his managing interests until about a year be- fore his death.

It would be impossible to give a list of all his activities which were of direct or indirect benefit to the community. He organized and was the chief stockholder of the National Bank of LaGrange, the institution over which, after his death, his daughter Katherine presided as chief executive. He was also a director in several other banks in Northern In- diana and Southern Michigan.

Successful in business, he had the broad outlook of genuine philanthropy and did much to stimulate education, morality and religion. In 1854 he founded a girls seminary at Howe, an institution that ex- isted for twelve years, after which the building and equipment were sold to be used as a public school. He was also a director of the LaGrange Collegiate Institute at Ontario and for thirty years was a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of Wabash College, Indiana, an institution to which he gave $20,000. He also contributed largely to the building and main- tenance of the Presbyterian Church at Lima. The Christian principals which guided Mr. Williams' life were wrought into his character in early years by godly parents. One sister became a missionary to Syria. His brothers were also active Christian men.

It was largely due to the influence of Mr. Williams that the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railway was built through Howe. He was an active member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows both at La- Grange and Lima. He served in the Indiana Legis- lature in 1856-57 and in 1847 he was a delegate to the River and Harbor Convention at Chicago, and was twice a delegate to republican national conventions.

His life of achievement came to a close with his death on March 31, 1897, when eighty-three years of age. In 1839 he married Lydia Ann Hume, who died in 1842, the mother of one daughter, Rebecca, who became the wife of Rev. H. L. Van Nuys, of Goshen, Indiana, and died in 1869. In 1843 Mr. Williams married Isabel Jane Hume, a native of Delaware County, New York. To this union were horn six children: Emily, who died in infancy; Mary, who became the wife of S. T. Cooper, of Howe, and is deceased; Ella, widow of Ira W. Nash, of Goshen; Solomon Baker, who died in in- fancy, and Katherine and Jane, both of whom occupy the old home of their father at Howe.

JOHN B. GOCHENAUR. The removal of John B. Gochenaur and his family to Bloomfield Township of LaGrange County thirty years ago was a dis- tinct addition to the industrial and civic resources of that locality. Mr. Gochenaur was a practical and thoroughgoing farmer, has shown much enterprise in managing his own affairs, and has always been allied with every public spirited movement in his township.

Mr. Gochenaur was born in Wayne County, Ohio, November 1, 1853, a son of Jacob and Christina (Schrock) Gochenaur. His father was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1824. The mother was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in September, 1824. Jacob Gochenaur moved from

410

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Pennsylvania to Steuben County, Indiana, with his parents and later he went to Wayne County, Ohio, where he married and where he lived until his death in 1896. His wife passed away in 1902. They had. seven children : Emaline, Elizabeth, who died young, John B., David, who died in childhood, Amos, of Mongo, Indiana, Ezra, of Kansas, and Amanda, of Wayne County, Ohio.

John B. Gochenanr was reared in his native coun- ty, attended public school there, and in 1877 mar- ried Miss Elizabeth Yoder. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, September 2, 1853, a daughter of Emanuel and Elizabeth (Miller) Yoder. Her fa- ther died in Ohio in 1874. Mrs. Yoder came with Mr. and Mrs. Gochenaur to LaGrange County and lived with them until her death in 1901. It was in the fall of 1880 that Mr. Gochenaur located on his present farm in Bloomfield Township. At that time he bought forty acres and has since extended his domain to sixty acres. The farm has a good quali- ty of improvements and has been the productive source of Mr. Gochenaur's prosperity.

He and his wife have three daughters, Lulu, the oldest, is a graduate of the Howe High School and the Indiana State Normal and for seven terms in succession taught the Brushy Prairie School and later was a teacher at Angola and LaGrange. She is now the wife of Alvah A. Moore and has a daughter, Helen Elizabeth. Amanda Gochenaur fin- ished her education in the Mongo High School and is a graduate of music at the Tri-State College. She married Albert W. Kelley, and they have a son, John Walter. Bessie, the youngest of the daughters, was educated at Mongo and Brushy Prairie, is also a graduate of music at Tri-State College, and is the wife of Milton Garlets. They have three sons, Charles J., Monroe W. and John P.

LEWIS SUMMERS. During thirty years of resi- dence in Green Township of Noble County a large community has come to know and esteem Lewis Summers and family, recognizing in them some of the best citizens and in Mr. Summers himself a man of industry, ability and of thorough public spirit.

Mr. Summers, whose farm home is the north half of the northwest quarter of section 22 in Green Township, close to the village of Green Center, was born in Eel River Township of Allen County, In- diana, December 25, 1860. He is a son of Ambrose and Rachel (Harter) Summers, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. The sum- mers and the Harter families came to Northeast- ern Indiana at an early date and settled in the same neighborhood, though the former lived in Allen County and the latter in Noble County. Ambrose Summers and Rachel Harter were married there, and then located in Allen County, where he engaged in farming and working at his trade as a blacksmith. He was a republican in politics. There were six children in the family: Lewis; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Fisher ; Lucinda, wife of V. P. Matthews ; and Albert and Edward, all of whom live in the Churubusco neighborhood.

Lewis Summers grew up on the home farm in Eel River Township and had an education supplied by the district schools. At the age of eighteen he left home and went to work on farms by the month, and in Noble County on October 28, 1886, he mar- ried Miss Clara B. Shambangh. Mrs. Summers is a daughter of Henry and Margaret (Mckinley) Shambangh. Mr. and Mrs. Summers immediately after their marriage began farming near where they now live, and have ever since been residents of Green Township. They have a valuable farm of 119 acres.

Mr. and Mrs. Summers have two children. Charles F. married Pearl McCoy. Bessie is a grad- uate of the common schools and the wife of Ira J. Black, of Green Township. Mr. and Mrs. Sum- mers also have eight grandchildren. They were among the early members of the United . Brethren Church in their neighborhood, and in politics Mr. Summers is a republican.

CLAUD DEWEY KINGSBURY. The genial proprietor of the Kingsbury Hotel at Howe is a veteran land- lord, and has devoted practically his entire life to the indispensable service of providing for the wants of the traveling public. His father was in business before him at Howe, and the Kingsbury family have probably kept hotels longer than can be credited to any other one family along the route of the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad.

Mr. C. D. Kingsbury was born at Dewey's Corn- ers in Jamestown Township of Steuben County, No- vember 17, 1858, a son of Nathaniel R. and Lucinda (Dewey) Kingsbury. The Dewey family were very early settlers in Steuben County. The paternal grandfather, Capt. Ira Kingsbury, was a native of Coventry, Connecticut, served in the War of 1812, and it is said that he made the first grain cradle used in Herkimer County, New York. He spent his last days in Ashtabula County, Ohio.

Nathaniel R. Kingsbury was born in Herkimer County, New York, July 11, 1813, while his wife was ·born in Niagara County in the same state, December 26, 1819. They were married in Sheffield, Ashtabula County, Ohio, in September, 1836, and about 1858 they settled in Steuben County. Later they removed to the vicinity of Mendon, Michigan, still later to Vicksburg, Michigan, and while in Michigan Nathan- iel Kingsbury engaged in the hotel business. In 1863 he settled at Lima, now Howe, and kept a hotel there for several years, but in 1867 was identi- fied with the management of a hotel at LaGrange for some six months. He then moved on to the farm now owned by Harlie Hern, and spent a season or so in agriculture. In 1869 he returned to Lima, and not long afterward his son Claud Dewey became associated with him in the hotel business, and the father continued active in that line until his death on January 28, 1886. His wife died January 30, 1898,

They had a family of seven children. Greenlee, their oldest. was born March 17, 1838, and died in 1915. Caroline was born in Ashtabula County, February 6, 1840, and died January 27, 1842. Martha was born September 7, 1842, also in Ashta- bula County, and died in Alabama, August 27, 1894. Teslie was born February 3, 1846, in Ashtabula County, and died at Albion, Indiana. Charles Ray was horn at Plvmonth. Ashtabula County, Decem- ber 25, 1852, and died at LaJunta, Colorado, January 31, 1917. The sixth of the family was James Lee, who was horn Mav 3, 1855. in Plymouth, Ohio, and is a rancher near Portland, Oregon.

Claud Dewey Kingsbury, youngest of the family, spent his early life in Steuben and LaGrange coun- ties, also in Michigan, and acquired most of his education in the grammar and high schools at Lima. He was a boy when he began taking responsibilities in association with his father in the hotel, and after his father's death he continued the Kingsbury House at Howe, giving an uninterrupted service under his personal direction for over thirty years. He owns both the hotel and other property, is a republican in politics and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

January 20, 1882, he married Emma Adams, of Bristol, Washington Township, Elkhart County.

411

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

They have a daughter, Frances, now the wife of Clarence Schaeffer, a son of James Schaeffer.

WILLIAM E. VAN AUKEN, a son of Jacob H. and Nancy (Strawway) Van Auken, of sainted mem- ory, has spent his life chiefly as a successful farmer in Steuben County, and in his individual career has earned and deserved the respect which has long been paid to members of the Van Auken name.

He has lived in Steuben County since early in- fancy, having been brought here in 1860. He was born in Ohio December 23, 1858. His parents set- tled on a farm in Steuben Township, comprising 157 acres, and his father cleared up most of that land. Later he sold it to his son Frank, and he spent his last days at Pleasant Lake, where he died October 6. 1882. The good mother passed away July 19, 1878.

Jacob H. Van Auken was born on a farm in Pike County, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1810. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812. Jacob was the youngest of a large family of children, and at the age of five years was left homeless. He attended country schools in New Jersey, with his feet clad in rags during the winter time. He was a diligent student and afterward mastered the art of survey- ing. He taught in Pennsylvania, and one of his pupils was Nancy Strawway. In March, 1831, they were married, and their happy relationship con- tinued for nearly fifty years, until her death. Soon after their marriage they started for southwestern Michigan, but on account of the Blackhawk In- dian war stopped in Portage County, Ohio. Jacob Van Auken taught village school and worked a lit- tle farm. From Portage County they moved to Cuyahoga County and in the fall of 1860 came to Pleasant Lake in Steuben County and bought the homestead around which so many of the family as- sociations still gather. Jacob Van Auken was often confronted with poverty, having a large family to rear and maintain, but his courage and industry en- abled him to keep his face bravely to the front. He was a skilled broom maker as well as a surveyor. In 1840 he was one of the surveyors in Northern Michigan. At one time he had assisting him in his work a boy he called Jim, and who afterwards was better known as James Garfield, President of the United States. Jacob Van Anken was a follower of Thomas Jefferson in politics, and his extensive read- ing and study made him a liberal in religion.

His wife, Nancy Strawway, was born in New Jersey, the daughter of an iron miner, and she too spent her girlhood in near poverty, rising above her circumstances by sheer force of will and a great native intelligence and perfection of character. In the early days of her married life she had to per- form the never ending toil of the mother of num- erous children, and her entire life was consecrated to the high ideals of service for others. She was born November 22, 1814, was married March 3, 1831, and died, as above noted. July 19, 1878. She was the mother of sixteen children, and was comforted in her last hours by the presence of children and many grandchildren. The record of her children is as follows: Sarah Jane, born in 1832, and died in 1832: Calvin R., born in 1835. killed at a railway crossing in July, 1910; James H., born in 1837, died in October, 1906; Horace N., born in 1839, died in July, 1014; Maria, born in 1841, died in October, 1018; Nancy, born in 1842, died in 1845; Phoebe Elizabeth, born in 1843, died in February, 1917; Mary Jane, born in 1845, and is still living at West- gate, California; Amos B., born in 1847, and killed by lightning in 1874: David E., born in 1848, and died in September, 1889; Frank B., born in 1850, died

in November, 1915; Jacob J., horn in 1852, died in November, 1905; Nannie, born in 1854, died in 1856; Leah Catherine, born in 1856, died the same year; William E., born in 1858; and Perry D., born in 1861, and died in 1865.

William E. Van Auken was one of the eleven children of his parents to reach manhood and womanhood. He has stood at the grave of seven of his brothers and sisters. He grew up on the old homestead in Steuben County, attended the district schools, the Angola High School, and the Valparaiso Normal, and for several years was a teacher. In October, 1881, he was married to Miss Louise, the only daughter of George and Elizabeth Hurtt, of Defiance, Ohio. When she was but three years of age her mother was called to her heavenly home, followed by her father only two years later, leaving her a homeless orphan at the tender age of five years. Someone has said "God has only permitted to live a few people who are good enough to be foster mothers," but one of these was truly found in the person of Mrs. Elisha Avery, of Pleasant Lake, an aunt of the little girl, who tenderly reared her to womanhood.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Auken had two children: Grace, a graduate of the Fremont High School, a former teacher, and now holds a government posi- tion in Washington, District of Columbia; and Vella, who attended the Fremont High School and for eleven years was a teacher in the Steuben County schools. She is now the wife of Fred W. Lott, a prosperous lumber and coal merchant of Milford, Kosciusko County. In the spring of 1884 he moved to Jamestown Township, where he had purchased ninety acres of the farm where he has lived and worked and prospered for thirty-five years. He subsequently sold ten acres of the original place, but by the purchase of an additional twenty-four acres has 104 acres with good improvements. His resi- dence was burned, but was rebuilt. His place is known as Pebble Brook Farm, and is on rural route Number 3 out of Fremont.

Mrs. Van Auken died on March 18, 1914, and in November, 1917, Mr. Van Auken. married Mrs. Theodosia Day, of Hudson.

Mr. Van Auken died on August 27, 1919. A long procession of his life-long friends followed his still form from his pleasant farm home in Jamestown Township to the old cemetery at Fremont, where it was laid to rest beside that of his wife, Louise.

Mr. Van Auken was a democrat without aspira- tions for political office, a member of the Masonic Lodge at Fremont, and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

RAMA D. SIMMONS. The Simmons family have been identified with Perry Township of Noble County for over sixty years. A capable representa- tive of the family is Rama D. Simmons, a practical and progressive farmer living in section 32 of Perry Township.

He was born in that locality May 6, 1872, son of Adam and Elizabeth (Klick) Simmons. Adam Simmons, who was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1828, was a son of Jacob and Frances Simmons, who when Adam was a boy they moved to Stark County, Ohio, and in 1856 Adam came to Perry Township in Noble County. He was a successful farmer, took an active part in local affairs, especially church and all religious causes, and enjoyed the thor- ough respect and esteem of a large community until his death on May 30, 1895. On April 25, 1871. he married Elizabeth Klick, who died No- vember 17, 1910. They were charter members of the

412

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Christian Church in their locality, and Adam Sim- mons was a choir leader in the church and Sunday school. In politics he was a republican.

There were seven children in the family. Those still living are: Rama D .; Frank B., a farmer in Perry Township; Harry W., also a Perry Town- ship farmer; Carl W., of Memphis, Tennessee; Mable, wife of Ray A. Wolfe, of Ligonier; and Laura B., a graduate of the Ligonier High School.

Rama D. Simmons owns 120 acres of land and is also a stockholder in the Citizens State Bank of Ligonier. He is a democrat in politics.

JOHN F. MITCHELL is one of the oldest locomotive engineers in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and is also one of the oldest residents of the railroad colony in Garrett. He has handled prac- tically every type of engine used in American rail- roading since the time of the Civil war, and out of his individual experience he could give an authentic history of practical railroad operation.

Mr. Mitchell was born on the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, March 10, 1852, son of Nicholas and Amelia (Hillier) Mitchell. His parents were also natives of Jersey and in 1858 brought their family to the United States, settling at Sandusky, Ohio. Nicholas Mitchell was a ship carpenter by trade and had been an officer in the British Navy. He followed his trade at Sandusky the rest of his life. He and his wife were members of the Estab- lished Church of England. In their family were two children, Nicholas and John F. The former lives at the old Mitchell homestead in Sandusky and is a boss in the fertilizing works in that city.

John F. Mitchell had a grammar school educa- tion at Sandusky. His early aspirations were for railroading and he satisfied his desires at first as a news butch, selling papers, apples and oranges on the trains. At the age of sixteen he was advanced to the honor and responsibility of locomotive fire- man and four years later was made an engineer. At that time he was the youngest engineer on the road and having been in the service fifty-one years, he is now one of the oldest active railroad men in the country.

Mr. Mitchell came to Garrett in 1874 and has been a resident of that railroad town for forty-five years. Thirty-five years ago he bought ten acres of land where he now lives. Later he added ten acres more and also had a farm of forty acres. He has since sold all his real estate except his home, including two cottages.

Mr. Mitchell married Ella Babbott. She died in 1916, the mother of two children, William F. and Jane. Both are graduates of the Garrett High School and William is superintendent of the Moler Car Works at Paterson, New Jersey. Jane is the wife of Mr. Boden, of Haleyville. Mr. Mitchell married for his present wife Mrs. Emma Hess, of Willard, Ohio. By her first marriage she has four children, Louis, Elizabeth, Marie and George, each having a business or college education. Mr. Mitchell is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and is affiliated with Garrett City Lodge of Masons, while politically he is a republican.

JOHN SPAULDING MERRITT. JR., secretary of the Lima Creamery Company at Howe, has been an ex- tensive farm owner and operator for a number of years in LaGrange County, and both he and his family connections are widely known and have been people of prominence in this part of Northeast In- diana.

He was born on the old Merritt homestead in LaGrange. June 1, 1875, son of John S. and Antoin- ette H. (Spaulding) Merritt. His father was born

in Onondaga County, New York, May 6, 1823, and when a child accompanied his mother to Cass Coun- ty, Michigan. His father, Samuel Merritt, died in New York. His mother was Nancy W. (Satterly) Merritt. John S. Merritt, Sr., on December 1, 1847, married Sarah Bull. The only child of that marriage was Francis Dewitt Mer- ritt, who was born in 1849 and came to LaGrange in 1860. He studied law in the Univer- sity of Michigan, became a member of the La- Grange bar in 1879, was in partnership with Judge James Drake and had a high place among the law- yers of LaGrange County until his death in October, 1914. He was president of the LaGrange Town Board, served as prosecuting attorney four years, and for two terms was a members of the Legisla- ture, acting as speaker of the House during his first term and being a candidate for that office. For one year he was judge of the Circuit Court, appointed by Governor Durbin as successor to Judge Joseph D. Ferrell. Judge Merritt married Marjorie Rice, and his second wife was Nellie Vail. He left no chil- dren.

John S. Merritt, Sr., married for his second wife Antoinette H. Spaulding, who was born August 16, 1835, a daughter of Judge Thomas and Sabra (Proctor) Spaulding. Her father was born in Massachusetts in 1801 and her mother in New Hampshire in 1800. Thomas Spaulding for several years peddled merchandise in Vermont, but in 1827 moved to Wayne County, New York, where he en- gaged in the manufacture and sale of patent medi- cines. He came to LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1835, and after a brief return back to Wayne County, settled here permanently in 1836, purchasing a large tract of land in Lima Township. In 1837 he moved his family to the farm and became extensively en- gaged in farming and speculating. He was one of the first directors of the First Bank at Lima, and he also served as associate judge of LaGrange County at a time when the County Court was made up of a chief or presiding judge and two associates. The Spaulding children were Oscar J., Wesley J., Marietta, Antoinette H. and Lois A.

The career of Oscar J. Spaulding requires some special reference here. In 1861 he enlisted as a private in Company K of the Seventy-Eighth New York Infantry, and was soon fighting on Virginia soil. After six months he was promoted to second lieutenant and finally rose to the rank of colonel, commanding a regiment during the later part of the war. He was in thirty-six engagements and was twice wounded. Following the war he became a farmer and stock raiser, and owned 335 acres of im- proved land in Lima Township. Colonel Spaulding married Mary A. Tyler on September 27, 1844. She was born in Michigan, July 24, 1826, a daughter of Isaac and Eleanor (Knapp) Tyler, who were early settlers in St. Joseph County, Michigan. Oscar Spaulding and wife had four children: Mona E., Jonathan L., DeAlton F. and Florence A.

John Spaulding Merritt, Jr., was the third of three children born to his father and mother. The oldest was Mary Adella, who was born February 20, 1858, and died September 25, 1918. She was married to John W. Hanan, and her son Frank was born July 19, 1881, and on December 18, 1915, married Lottie B. Slack. Marietta, the other sister of Mr. Merritt, was born June 12, 1866, and on October 28, 1886, be- came the wife of Willis Deal. Her daughter, An- toinette, was born September 7, 1889, and is the wife of Fred W. Sears and has one child, Charles Willis Sears, born June 20, 1908. George P. Deal, a son of Marietta Deal, was born April 18, 1893, married Gladys Duncan, of Three Rivers, Michigan, and has- a child, James Willis, born August 11, 1917.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 114

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