History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 118

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 118
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 118
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 118
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 118

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. and Mrs. Jordan had seven children. Cary T., who finished his education in the Tri-State Nor- mal College, is a successful farmer and married Jennie Clark, by whom he has three children, Marie, Alma and Kathleen. Mrs. Jordan has one great- grandchild. Her granddaughter Alma Jordan mar- ried Gerald Vose and has a daughter, Wilma. Fred Jordan also educated in the Tri-State College at Angola, married Blanche Tarr, who died in 1905, leaving three children, Hazel, Harold and Lowell. Leon married Iva Peavy and has a son, Wayne. Bert W. married Lola Hall, and their children con- sist of Howard, Elizabeth, Ronald, Doris, Phyllis and Marada. Jessie, a graduate of the Fremont High School, is the wife of Charles Bailey. Bart, who finished his education in the Tri-State College, married for his first wife Ada O'Keefe and had one child, Weltha; and his second wife is Lila Taylor. Dean, the youngest of the family, since completing his education in the public schools has been managing the home farm. He married Anna Wiggins.

HARRY A. MARTIN is head of the firm Martin & Company, with offices in several towns of Northern Indiana, and with a business in general real estate and farm lands that covers Indiana, Ohio, Mich- igan and Illinois. This is one of the most com- plete organizations of its kind in the middle west.

Mr. Martin, who as a result of long experience has acquired an almost encyclopedic knowledge of real estate valnes, was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1868, a son of Frank and Lydia ( Baker) Martin. His mother was a sister of the late James Baker, widely and favorably known as a prominent manufacturer of Kendallville, Indiana. Frank Mar- tin was born in Morrow County, Ohio, in 1837, while his wife was born at Galion, Ohio, in 1842. After their marriage at Galion they settled on a farm in Richland County and in 1879 sold their Ohio property and moved out to Washington Coun- ty, Iowa. Frank Martin bought 320 acres of land in the county at $38 an acre. His son Seymour Martin now lives on that old homestead and al- together owns 1,300 acres of land in this very fer- tile section of Iowa. The old homestead bought forty years ago is now estimated to be worth $400

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an acre. Frank Martin in 1881 returned east and settled in DeKalb County, Indiana, buying a farm of 200 acres in Fairfield Township. He was busy with its improvement and development and lived there until his death in 1904. His wife passed away in 1917. He was a democrat in politics and voted with much regularity until Bryan became a can- didate on the free silver issue in 1896, at which time he turned his allegiance to the republican doctrine. He was a member of the Dunkard Church while his wife was a Quaker. Harry A. Martin's mother is of Scotch descent, her grandfather having come from Scotland and settled in Virginia when her own father was about two years old. Frank Mar- tin and wife had seven children: Seymour, of Washington County, Iowa; Frank, of Wolcottville; Ione, who married Edward Zimmerman and died February 1, 1918; Harry A .; Homer, of LaGrange; Willard, who owns sixty acres of the old Martin homestead in DeKalb County; and Allen, who has 100 acres of the same homestead.

Harry A. Martin owing to the change of resi- dence made by his parents as above indicated re- ceived his early education in three states. He at- tended the common schools of Ohio to the age of eleven, then for two years in Iowa, and finished his schooling in Fairfield Township of DeKalb County. He also acquired a practical knowledge of farming, and for a time was associated with Welt Brothers selling buggies. He found his con- genial field and best scope for his talents in 1901, when he entered the real estate business at Mongo, Indiana. He also established an office at LaGrange, also one at Howe, and for ten years was in partner- ship with Hubert Smith. Later Edward Zimmer- man, his brother Homer Martin, John L. Hagland and Edward Lacey were associated with him. The firm has always been known as Martin & Company. Another partner was Mr. Albert F. Powell, ex- county assessor. The present personnel of the company is Harry A. Martin, Homer B. Martin and Edward Zimmerman. Mr. Martin is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge.

In 1888 he married Sarah I. Kisell, who was born in Whitley County, Indiana, August 21, 1872. They have an interesting family of seven children: Clarence, who married Bernice Wonders; Lydia, who is the wife of Cecil Cook and has a son, Leo; Ruth, wife of Earl Grubaugh, assistant postmaster of LaGrange, and she is the mother of two children, Pauline and Herbert; Mary, wife of Earl Cattell, a resident of Detroit; Willard J., who was a mem- ber of Company 36 in a replacement division with the American Expeditionary Forces in France; Harry, a sophomore in the LaGrange High School; and John, who died in infancy.

ROHERLES MERRIMAN. A citizen of LaGrange County whose life career has brought him in pleas- ant contact with many of his fellow citizens is Roherles Merriman, a native of the county and a resident on one farm for over half a century.

Mr. Merriman was born in Clay Township, Oc- tober 3, 1847, a son of George and Desire (Bur- roughs) Merriman. His father was born in Ohio in 1816 and his mother in New York State in 1825. His grandfather was John Merriman, who was one of the early settlers of LaGrange County, living here among the Indians in Clay Township, where he took up Government land. At one time he owned 400 acres. He was very active in politics and held a number of local offices and was a member of the regular Baptist Church. He died at the age of seventy-seven. He had a large family of about ten children.

George Merriman came to Indiana on horseback

from Ohio, and as a carpenter helped build the rail- road depot at Sturgis, Michigan. He witnessed the arrival of the first train in that town. In the early days he hauled grain to Fort Wayne and sold wheat at 50 cents a bushel. Later he settled on the eighty acres given him by his father, and acquired a large farm, most of which his children inherited. He died in 1899 and his wife in 1897. He was a re- publican, and he and his wife were Baptists. They had children named Roherles, William, Eber, Hud- son and George.

Roherles Merriman attended school in Clay Town- ship, and is still living on the farm of fifty acres which has been in his possession for half a century. He is a republican in politics.

June 10, 1869, Mr. Merriman married Amanda Brindley, a daughter of John Brindley, of La- Grange County. Mrs. Merriman died in 1894, the mother of the following children: Alton, who mar- ried Edith McMannes and has two children, Glenn and Losen; Grace, who is married and lives in Cali- fornia; Blanche and Burton, both deceased; Zoe, who is married; and Lena, deceased. In 1913 Mr. Merriman married Jennie Airgood, widow of Albert Airgood, by whom she had six children.

MEARL D. WATTERS. Land in Jamestown Town- ship in Steuben County which was cleared and cul- tivated by his father is now being capably managed and farmed by Mearl D. Watters,, one of the best known and most progressive citizens of the county.

Mr. Watters was born in Jamestown Township November 18, 1870, and is a son of James and Mary M. Henney Watters. James Watters was born in Lincolnshire, England, May 3, 1844, a son of James and Elizabeth (Cooper) Watters, who came to America about 1852, spent a short time in Buffalo, New York, then went west to White Pigeon, Michi- gan, later went to Ohio, and in 1866 settled in Steuben County, on a farm of forty acres in Fre- mont Township, to which later was added thirty acres. This old farm is now owned by George Wat- ters, a son of James and Elizabeth. James Watters, Sr., died in Fremont about 1887, and his wife about 1884. Their children were Mary, Thomas, Sarah Jane, Elizabeth, James, William, Morris, George, Phillip and Samuel.

Mary M. Henney, wife of James Watters, Jr., was a daughter of Daniel and Anna (Housman) Henney, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Penn- sylvania. The Henney family also came to Steuben County in 1866, settling on a farm of forty acres in York Township. Daniel Henney was a blacksmith by trade. He and his wife, who spent their last years in Steuben County, had the following children : Mary M., Elizabeth, John H., Rachel, Alice, Cath- erine, Irene and Daniel W. Daniel Henney was born in Stark County, Ohio, February 2, 1819, and his wife in Center County, Pennsylvania, in 1818. They were married in Summit County, Ohio, in 1842, and he died August 20, 1892, and his wife Jan- uary 23, 19II.

When James and Mary Watters came to Steuben County they lived for a time in Fremont Township and later bought eighty acres in Jamestown Town- ship now owned by their son Mearl D. The father put up good buildings, and managed the farm suc- cessfully for about thirty years. In 1909 he retired to the Village of Fremont, where his death occurred in June, 1918, at the age of seventy-four. His widow is still living at the age of seventy-five. On the old farm October 5, 1916, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, and their marriage companion- ship continued for two years longer. James Watters was a democrat in politics and he and his wife were very prominent in the Methodist Church. They

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

had four children: Annie E .; Charles, who died August 2, 1869, at the age of one year, six months and ten days; Mearl; and Cora.

Mearl D. Watters grew up on the home farm, at- tended the public schools and spent one year in the Tri-State Normal College, and since completing his education has devoted his time and energies to farm- ing. In June, 1918, he bought the homestead of eighty acres. He is on very familiar ground at this farm, since he helped his father clear away the woods and put up some of the buildings. In politics he is a democrat, is a member of the Masonic Lodge and Knights of Pythias at Fremont, and has always joined heartily in any movement for the general benefit of his community. He is a stock- holder in the First State Bank of Fremont and is a stockholder in the Fremont Cooperative Store.

In 1909 he married Miss Edith Gritman, of Fre- mont, a daughter of Henry and Isabel Gritman. Her mother is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Watters have one son, Leon James, born March 1, 1911.

GEORGE W. TRUBY, of Bloomfield Township, La- Grange County, was born in Huntington County, Indiana, October 31, 1856, a son of Rev. David M. and Mary (Smutz) Truby. His parents were both born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, his father in 1825 and his mother in 1826. They were married in Ohio and then settled in Wells County, Indiana, and in 1861 moved to Steuben County and from there in 1864 to Springfield Township, LaGrange County. The father developed and cleared what is known as Pleasant Hill Farm. He was a min- ister of the Dunkard Church, and labored unself- ishly in that cause many years. He preached in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana, and for many years served the English Prairie Church near his home in Bloomfield. He was a republican. He and his wife died in 1894, he in August and she in April. Their children were named Jacob, Mary, David, Sarah, Emily, Joseph and George W.

George W. Truby was eight years old when he came with his parents to LaGrange County. As a boy he did a man's work in clearing the land and piling brush. Later he bought a farm in Bloomfield Township, and when he sold that he went to Arkansas. After eleven months in that state he returned to Indiana and bought the farm he owns today in Bloomfield Township. He has cleared most of this land for cultivation and has good buildings. His farm consists of eighty acres. He is a republican, and both his wives have been Methodists.

October 31, 1880, he married Hannah Slack, who was born in LaGrange County, a daughter of Abram Slack. Mr. and Mrs. Truby had five children : Turah, wife of George L. Schadle; George Lester, who was an enlisted man at the Great Lakes Train- ing Station and received his honorable discharge in July, 1919; Hazel, wife of Charles Routsong and the mother of four children, named George W., Ruth, Retha and Lois; Eva and Neva, who died in infancy. The mother of these children died May 25, 1911. December 18, 1912, Mr. Truby married Mrs. Minnie (Brown) Yergin, widow of Oscar Yergin and a daughter of Peter and Julia (Hill) Brown, early settlers of LaGrange County. Her father died in 1909, at the age of seventy-one, and her mother was born December 12, 1844, and is seventy-five years old. Mrs. Truby hy her first husband had the following children: Wilmer, of Elkhart. Indiana: Mary, wife of F. O. Gibson and the mother of two children, Paul and Helen; Basil, who trained as a soldier at Camp Lewis, Washing- ton, and in August, 1918, went overseas to France and was connected with Unit No. 93 at the Base

Hospital in Paris, being still in overseas service ; Ivan, who served as a private in Company G, of the Three Hundred and Eighth Infantry and re- ceived a wound in battle, being now in Seattle, Washington; Velma, wife of J. J. Martin, of Seattle, Washington; Vernon, who was in France eighteen months as a private in Field Remount Company No. 312; Andelra, who died in infancy; and Dana, at home.

HARRY J. CURTIS. While he was born in London, England, Harry J. Curtis has no memories of the great metropolis which surrounded him in infancy, practically all his life having been .spent in La- Grange County. He started his independent career with a small fund of experience and less capital, worked as a farm hand, and has since steadily ac- cumulated interests, property and many other assets that make him one of the substantial and influential citizens of the county.

He was born in London, December 18, 1869, a son of Henry and Elizabeth Curtis, the former a native of North Hampshire, England, and the latter of South Hampshire, England. In 1871 they brought their family to America and came direct to La- Grange County. Henry Curtis in England was a flower gardener. For a time after coming to La- Grange County he worked for S. P. Williams, of Howe. Later he engaged in farming near that city, and still owns a farm there, but lives in Howe. He and his wife had a family of ten children: One died in infancy and the others are all living today, their names being Harry J., Thomas; Nellie, George, Jennie, Edward, Earl, Samuel and Leonard.

Harry J. Curtis attended the common schools for his education. He went to work as a farm hand and for eighteen years he conducted a draying busi- ness at Howe. Since 1909 he has been engaged in farming and stock raising on an extensive scale. In that year he bought a large acreage, ninety-six in Greenfield and 202 in Bloomfield Township, and uses this farm for cattle and hog feeding. While a resident of Lima Township Mr. Curtis served as road supervisor and member of the county council. He also helped organize the Lima Elevator Com- pany and is now its president. He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Howe.

July 4, 1895, Mr. Curtis married Miss Nellie Squires, of Lima Township, a daughter of Miles B. and Mary Squires. They were married nearly twenty years. Mrs. Curtis died February 12, 1915, the mother of three children: Elizabeth, Clarence and Helen.

The only son, Clarence Curtis, served with the colors in the World war. He entered Camp Taylor at Louisville, May 25, 1918, in the infantry service. Later he was sent to Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, and hecame a member of the Thirty-Ninth Division and subsequently was put in a Machine Gun Battal- ion with the Fifth Infantry. He was returned to Camp Taylor, December 7, 1918, and was discharged there March 20, 1919. He did not have the fortune to go overseas with the Thirty-Ninth Division, being kept in America because of defective feet.

LINCOLN BROUSE. By intermarriage with other families the name Brouse frequently appears in the family records of Steuben County. The Brouses have been here for over half a century, and Mr. Lincoln Bronse, who was an infant when the family came to Steuben County, is a prosperous farmer.

He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, Decem- ber 16, 1864, a son of Cyrus and Mary (Tuttle) Brouse. His parents came to Steuben County in 1866. The parents of Cyrus came at the same time, Frederick and Mary Ann (Pifer) Brouse. They

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settled in Clear Lake Township, and their old home- stead is now owned by Simon Brouse, a brother of Lincoln. Frederick Bronse and wife had three children, Cyrus, Eliza and Jane. Cyrus Brouse has bought and sold a number of times in this part of Indiana and is now living retired in the Village of Ray, at the age of seventy-nine. His wife passed away in 1908, aged sixty-six. He was a republican, and he and his wife were active in the United Brethren Church. They had four sons, all living, named, William, Simon, Lincoln and Lucius.

Lincoln Brouse grew up on the farm in Clear Lake Township, acquired his education in the public schools and Hartsville College, and took a normal course in the Tri-State College at Angola. He was a successful teacher and followed that voca- tion for ten terms in Clear Lake Township, employ- ing his summer vacations at farming. Later he bought a place of fifty acres in Clear Lake Town- ship and traded that with his father for the farm he now owns in Fremont Township. He moved to this place in 1903 and has kept his work mov- ing ahead, and has some excellent improvements, including a fine barn built in 1905 and a home erected in 1907. He is a general farmer, a pro- hibitionist in politics and a member of the United Brethren Church.

October 29, 1891, Mr. Brouse married Miss Ada Bratten. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, January 18, 1867, a daughter of George and Jane (McElhenie) Bratten. Her parents came to Steuben County and settled in Clear Lake Township in 1882, and spent the declining years of their lives with Mr. and Mrs. Brouse. Her father died February 6, 1915, and her mother January 13, 1906. In the Bratten family were four children, named Carrie, Clement, Ada and Jennie.

Mr. and Mrs. Brouse have two children, Mabel and Walter. Mabel was born December 25, 1892, a graduate of the Fremont High School, and is the wife of Guy Throop, of Clear Lake Township. They have two children, Mildred Lorene and Cleon. The son, Walter, born November 15, 1896, is also a grad- uate of the Fremont High School, and during the world war was for six months a member of Com- pany D of the 214th Infantry. Since his honorable discharge he has gone to work in the furniture de- partment of the Wilhelms factory at Sturgis, Michi- gan. Walter Brouse married Rachel Sowle.

FRANK A. McMANUS, whose farm. is in Bloom- field Township of LaGrange County, is related to a number of interesting people in Northeast In- diana, and his own life has been one of exceptional effort and enterprise.

Mr. McManus was born in Clay Township March 21, 1871, a son of Henry and Mary (Hardesty) McManus. His paternal grandparents were Jacob and Phidelia (Bettis) McManus. The father of Phidelia Bettis was captain of a company in the Revolutionary war. Jacob McManus after coming to LaGrange County followed farming in Lima Township, where he died in 1887 and his wife in 1898. Their children were: Henry, Nelson, Robert, who remained in Ohio; Orrin, who is the only son now living and is past seventy, a resident of Elk- hart, Silas, who was at one time state senator and also well known as a poet, and Lucy, wife of Daniel Crowel, of Colorado.

Henry McManus was born in Ohio in 1830. His wife, Mary Hardesty, was born in the same state in 1840, a daughter of Thompson and Sarah (Bobel) Hardesty. Sarah Gobel was related to the same family as that of the late Governor Gobel, whose death by assassination while governor of Kentucky was one of the most noted cases in criminal his-

tory. Thompson Hardesty spent a large part of his life as a forgeman, and came to LaGrange County in 1856 to run the old forge in Lima Town- ship. Henry McManus and wife came with him. Thompson Hardesty died May 19, 1885, having spent his later life as a farmer. His children were Mary and Silas. After coming to LaGrange County Henry McManus worked in the forge for his father-in-law and later became a farmer, living in Clay Township and finally in Lima Township, but spent his last years on a farm in Bloomfield Township, where he died April 28, 1898, his wife in 1902. They had five children: Charles, of Howe, Indiana; Hattie, who died at the age of five years; Bracie, who died when seven years old; Frank A .; and Edith, wife of Alton Merriman, of Clay Township.

Frank A. McManus was reared largely in Lima Township, attended the Woodard schools and for three years the Lima schools, and since early man- hood has been a farmer. In 1897 he bought his place in Bloomfield Township, two and a half miles from LaGrange, and in twenty years has done much to improve and increase the value of his land and equipment. He raises much stock, and a silo is a prominent feature of his farm equipment. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at LaGrange, and for twenty-six years has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Howe.

July 31, 1897, he married Miss Alma Stoehr, who was born in LaGrange December 18, 1875, a daughter of John and Josephine Goodsell Stoehr, both natives of Milford Township. The mother was a daughter of Mynott Goodsell. Mrs. McManus' paternal grandparents were John and Mary Eliza- beth (Beng) Stoehr, both natives of Germany, who came to the United States, the latter at the age of thirteen with her parents. John Stoehr, Sr., acquired a tract of government land and lived un- der a tree until he could build a log house. He died on the old farm and his wife died in La- Grange. Their children were: ] Kate, John N., George, Fred, Frank and Mathias. John N. Stoehr, father of Mrs. McManus, had three children: Edna, wife of Adelbert Mains, of Milford Town- ship; Alma, Mrs. McManus; and Josephine, wife of Leo D. W. Rowe, of Brestow, Oklahoma.

Mr. and Mrs. McManus have two children : Geraldine, born May 8, 1898, has completed her education in LaGrange High School. Paul Good- sell, born July 29, 1904, is a student in the public schools of Bloomfield Township.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SWIHART has spent practic- ally all of his mature years as a farmer in Greenfield Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, on the land formerly owned by his father. He has directed his affairs with wisdom and good judgment, is progres- sive in all community matters, and is thoroughly well informed on local agricultural conditions. For the past nineteen years he has been reporting crop con- ditions, estimates and yields in his township for the Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Swihart was born in Lafayette Township, Allen County, Indiana, January 7, 1851, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Summers) Swihart. His pater- nal grandfather Johnothan Swihart, spent most of his life in Ohio, but died in LaGrange County when eighty-four years of age. After his death his widow returned to Ohio to live. The maternal grandfather, Jacob Summers, was an early settler in Owen County in Southern Indiana. He served as a drummer boy in the War of 1812. After his discharge he walked three hundred miles to his home. His daughter Sarah was born in Pennsylvania in October, 1820. Daniel Swihart was born in Tuscarawas County,

Benj. J. Swihart. amy G . Suikast

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Ohio, in April, 1820, was reared and educated there, serving in the state militia at the time of the Mexi- can war. In 1840 he was united in marriage to Saralı Summers, and to this union were born eleven children, as follows: Elizabeth, born in 1841 and Johnothan, born in 1843, both dying in childhood in Ohio; Martha Jane, born April 13, 1845, and died February 2, 1881 ; Susan, born March 17, 1847, died January 26, 1914; Joseph L., born March 7, 1849; Benjamin Franklin, who was the sixth child; Nancy E., born November 12, 1852; William H., born Janu- ary 30, 1855; Laura E., born April 3, 1858; Clara B., horn May 3, 1860; and Samuel A., born March 30, 1862. In the year of 1850 Daniel Swihart purchased a homestead of 160 acres in Allen County, Indiana, and moved onto the same, and here he and his fam- ily lived for the next four years, clearing part of the land. In the spring of 1855 he sold this farm and moved to a farm in LaPorte County, where he lived one year and then moved onto a farm in St. Joseph County, Indiana. In 1859 he purchased 200 acres now owned by his sons in Greenfield Town- ship, LaGrange County, Indiana, and on February 8, 1860, he moved his family to this new home. It contained some buildings and the old house and barn are still in use for different purposes on the portion of the land where Benjamin Franklin lives. Daniel Swihart had a great fund of energy and much prac- tical ability as a business man, and accumulated 380 acres. In 1869 he erected a large bank barn and in 1873 built a large modern home, and these buildings still stand and are now owned and occupied by their son Samuel. Daniel Swihart served as road supervisor for several terms.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 118

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