History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 12

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 12
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 12
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 12

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).

February 1I, 1903, he married Lena R. Deardorf,

buchert metz

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

who was born in Noble County and was educated in the common schools. After his marriage Mr. Werker settled on a farm in York Township, later spent a year as a farmer in Sparta Township, and moving from there to Cromwell gained a thorough knowledge of merchandising as clerk in a general store. He spent nine years in that business, and then returned to a farm in Sparta Township and resumed agriculture for four years. In 1916 he bought his present store and stock of goods in Kimmell, and is now head of a very prosperous and thriving business. He is also a stockholder in the State Bank of Kimmell.

Mr. Werker and family are members of the Sparta Christian Church. He is a democrat, and is affiliated with Cromwell Lodge, Knights of Pythias. He and his wife have two children, both attending school, Merritt being thirteen and Esther eleven years old.

THOMAS KELHAM is the present trustee of Allen Township, Noble County. His public position is in many respects a reflection of the very able manner in which he has prosecuted his private affairs for many years. Mr. Kelham has been a resident of Noble County since early manhood, is a very suc- cessful farmer and land owner, and is a man who began life with very modest capital and has suc- ceeded beyond his sanguine expectations.

He was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1853, son of Edward and Sarah (Fownend) Kelham. His father was born in England October 13, 1812, and came to the United States at the age of twenty-two. His first home was near Sandusky, Ohio, where for a time he was employed with the construction forces of what is now the Baltimore & Ohio Railway. He married at Shelby, Ohio, and for a time lived on a farm, but in 1858 came to Indiana and located in DeKalb County, near Avilla. He was a farmer there the rest of his life. He served as a county commissioner, was a democrat, and a man highly esteemed all over DeKalb County. Of nine children six are still living: Thomas; Edward, of DeKalb County; Joseph, of Noble County; George, whose home is in Swan Township of Noble County; Charles, a resident of Idaho; and Mary, widow of David Turner, of Garrett, Indiana.

Thomas Kelham grew up on his father's farm in DeKalb County, attended the district schools, and lived at home until twenty-one. The next three years he worked out at common wages and relied upon his own energies to get his start in life. Mr. Kelham married Miss Emma L. Lobdell. She was born and reared in Noble County.

After their marriage they rented a farm and they made their first purchase of land when they bought forty acres. Mr. Kelham now owns what amounts to a large estate. It was acquired by a gradual process, buying as opportunity and means justified, until his present farm near Avilla comprises 300 acres, and he also owns a large ranch of 1200 acres in Montana.

Mr. Kelham was actively identified with the man- agement of his farm and lived in the country until 1912, when he moved to Avilla, from which point he looks after a varied line of business undertakings. He was one of the organizers of the Avilla Tele- phone Company, its first president and is still pres- ident of the company. He is one of the leading democrats of the county, and he served a regularly elected term as trustee of Allen Township from 1904 to 1908. He is the present trustee by virtue of appointment to that office in 1916. Fraternally he is a past master of Avilla Lodge No. 460, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Mr. and Mrs. Kelham

are active members of the Evangelical Church, and he is one of its trustees.

He and his wife had six children: Annetta, de- ceased wife of Samuel Scheurich; Alda Z., wife of Leroy Zellars; Frank E., a farmer near Avilla; James W., who lives on the old home farm near Avilla; Fred, who died at the age of twenty-two; and John C., who died December 6, 1918, aged twenty-four years. All of these children are grad- uates of high school and John completed the course of the Michigan Agricultural College.

HENRY J. HERRICK, whose long and active career as a farmer, lawyer and banker has made him widely and favorably known in Northeast Indiana and in other states, came to DeKalb County when an in- fant more than eighty years ago, and his father at one time was one of the largest land owners in that county.

Mr. Herrick, whose present home is on his farm of 118 acres in Concord Township, a mile south of Newville, was born at Norwalk, Ohio, August 9, 1835, a son of Lot and Lola (Sutliff) Herrick. His father was born in Herkimer County, New York, and his mother in Connecticut. The parents were married in Ohio. Lola Sutliff was an Ohio teacher, and under her supervision Lot Herrick learned to read and write. In 1836 the Herrick family came to Indiana and settled on the banks of the St. Joseph River, about twenty-six miles northeast of Fort Wayne. Lot Herrick acquired extensive tracts of land in and around that locality and he and his wife spent the rest of their days as farmers. They were members of the Presbyterian Church and he entered politics as a whig voter but subsequently was a democrat. He was elected probate judge of DeKalb County in early days. There were eight children in the Lot Herrick family, Henry J. being the only one now living.

Mr. Herrick was a year old when his parents came to DeKalb County. He secured his early training in a log school house, but made good use of his opportunities and for about eight years was a successful teacher. He entered the law department of the University of Michigan and was a member of the first graduating class in 1862, when he re- ceived the LL. B. degree. For one year he prac- ticed in DeKalb County and in 1863, during Civil war times, he moved to Northwestern Missouri, practiced at Princeton until he went into the Union army and served as assistant adjutant general under General Pratt. He was in the army until June 15, 1866. After that Mr. Herrick practiced at Tren- ton, Missouri, and finally moved to the southern part of that state. He was a Missouri lawyer for thirty years, and while living at Trenton held the office of prosecuting attorney for several years.

Mr. Herrick married Sarah Fusselman, a native of DeKalb County. She died while they were resi- dents of Missouri, and her only child died at the age of nine years.

Mr. Herrick was active in the banking business for about seven years. After the death of his wife he came to DeKalb County and lived with his sister Electa, who has long since passed away. For many years he was a deacon of the Christian Church and in politics a republican.

CALVERT METZ. Some of the best farms in Noble County are in Washington Township. One of them is the place of Calvert Metz in section 15. Mr. Metz has the reputation not only of owning a good farm but of being a good farmer, and a man of most sub- stantial character in the citizenship of his locality. He has acquired his present comfortable circum-

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

stances as a result of self denying labors in youth and for a number of years after he attained manhood he remained at home and helped lift the burden of debt from the old homestead.

He was born in the same section of Washington Township where he is now living on July 12, 1867, a son of Aaron and Mary (Prickett) Metz. His father was a native of Ohio. His mother was dis- tingnished as the first white child born in Washing- ton Township of Noble County. Her birth occurred in 1839, and the Pricketts were one of the first fam- ilies to locate in the woods of that section. Aaron Metz went with his parents to Whitley County, In- diana, grew up there, and learned the trade of sad- dler. He had a shop at South Whitley for several years, later one in Columbia City, and finally moved to a farm in Washington Township, but left the farm to conduct a saddlery and harness shop in Ligonier for seven years. He then returned to his farm, and two years later died. His widow survived him for a number of years and died on the old homestead in Washington Township. Both were active members of the Dunkard Church and Aaron Metz was a re- publican. Of their six children three are still living : William F. Metz, of Albion ; Calvert; and Norvel E., a farmer in Washington Township.

Calvert Metz grew up on the home farm, and after his father's death he and his brothers were in part- nership in managing the land and helped pay off the obligations resting upon the homestead. He received · his education in the common schools. After leaving the home farm he came to his present place, which comprises two hundred and twenty acres, and is one of the high class farms of the township. Mr. Metz is also a stockholder in the Sparta State Bank at Cromwell. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Fraternal Order of Eagles at Ligonier.

April 20, 1889, he married Amelia Gilbert. She was born in Washington Township, July 18, 1867, daughter of John and Margaret (Egner) Gilbert. She has spent practically all her life in Washington Township. Mr. and Mrs. Metz have two daughters, both married, and four granddaughters. Grace is the wife of Melvin Knapp and Velma is the wife of Claude Hardsock.

GRANVILLE L. MCCLUE represents some of the early settlers of Steuben County, has himself spent his life within the limits of that county, and has long been a successful farmer and stockraiser, though he now has a home in Angola where he spends the winter months.

Mr. McClue was born in Steuben County Jan- uary 13, 1859, son of Thomas and Henrietta (Kemp) McClue, the former a native of New York and the latter of England. Henrietta Kemp when a girl came with her parents to the United States, and after some years of residence in New York the family came to Steuben County and settled in Mill- grove Township, where her parents spent the rest of their lives. Mr. McClue's paternal grandparents were John and Maria (Smith) McClue, pioneer settlers of Steuben County. They lived at the vil- lage of Fremont. John McClne died in Pleasant Township. Thomas McClue was a farmer by occu- pation and died August 13, 1906, at the age of seventy-two. He was a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife died August 29, 1869, the mother of two sons, Granville L. and John Willis.

Granville L. McClne grew up on a farm in James- town Township, had a public school education, also attending high school at Fremont and Angola, and when he was twenty-two years old he bought his first farm in Jamestown Township. Later he traded

for another farm, and at the present writing is owner of two complete and well arranged farms, aggregating 320 acres and constituting a compe- tence. Mr. McClue for many years was a success- ful breeder of Shorthorn cattle. In the spring of 1915 he moved to Angola, where he owns a nice home on North Wayne Street.

Politically Mr. McClue has been affiliated with the republican party and served as a member of the advisory board of his township, also as a member of the county council. He was formerly president of the Bank of Fremont, which later became the First State Bank of Fremont. Recently he sold his stock in that institution. Mr. McClue married Flora E. Mallory, of Steuben County. She died July 16, 1912, mother of three sons, Carl C., Howard L. and Emmet G. Emmet graduated from the Angola High School in 1919, at the age of seventeen. The son Carl married Miss Mary Rakestraw and has a son, Wayne Russell. Howard L. married Ethel Clark. On July 16, 1914, Mr. McClue married Mrs. Edith (Munger) Craig, widow of Fred Craig. She has a daughter, Florence E. Craig, now the wife of Dr. Clyde R. Clark of Goshen, Indiana, and is the mother of one child, Vincent. Mrs. McClue, who is a member of the Christian Church, is a daughter of one of the early settlers of Steuben County.

GEORGE W. COLE. The last several years have found George W. Cole busily engaged in the man- agement of one of the valuable farms of Scott Township in Steuben County. A native of that county, he has been familiar since early childhood with all conditions affecting farm life and work, and is one of the practical, progressive men who are doing much to bring Steuben County to the front as an agricultural community.

Mr. Cole, who represents an old family of North- east Indiana, was born in Scott Township, December 28, 1870, a son of Nelson and Eliza (Phenecie) Cole. His father was born in Portage County, Ohio, May 4, 1838, and his mother in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, January 27, 1843. The paternal grandparents were Jacob V. and Sarah (Geer) Cole, who were early settlers in Steuben County, where they bought a large tract of land in Scott and Pleasant townships and spent the rest of their days in that community. Jacob Cole and wife had four- teen children, and the three still living are: Charles, of Scott Township, Sarah Rathburn and Marcia Eliza.

Nelson Cole and wife were married in Steuben County, February 16, 1860. On August 9, 1862, Nelson Cole and his brother Samuel enlisted as Union soldiers in Company H of the Seventy-fourth Indiana Infantry. Samuel was severely wounded at Jonesboro, Georgia, and died a few weeks after- ward. Nelson Cole saw a great deal of severe fighting, participating in the Atlanta campaign and the march to the sea. His cousin, George Geer, was killed in the battle of Chickamauga. After the war he returned to Steuben County and became a farmer and owned a large place of 210 acres in Scott Town- ship. He was later a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and in politics an ardent republican. He died at his home in Scott Township, January 4, 1901. His wife, who died December 29, 1904, came to Steuben County with her parents, George and Mary Ann Phenecie, who also settled in Scott Township. Her father later died in Kansas, and her mother a few years afterward in Steuben Conn- ty. Nelson Cole and wife had four sons: Samuel, who died in infancy, Sherman, Frank and George.

George W. Cole grew up on the homestead farm, attended local schools for his education, and lived

HISTORY. OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

at home until 1909. He then sold his possessions there and bought the farm he now owns in Scott Township, comprising 122 acres. This, under his management, is devoted to general farming and stock raising. Mr. Cole is a republican in politics and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge at Angola.

March 1, 1898, he married Miss Jennie Harmon, of Steuben County. She died May 27, 1911, the mother of two sons. Glen, born October 21, 1900, is a student in the Angola High School. Leon, born January 12, 1003, was educated in the district schools and the Angola High School, and died while a high school boy October 20, 1918. Mr. Cole married Lulu Mangherman on December 24, 1915.

GLENN W. KESLER, who represents one of the old and prominent families of Noble County, has made good use of his opportunities and is conducting one of the best appointed dairy farms in the vicinity of Kendallville. His home is in Jefferson Town- ship, west of Kendallville.

Mr. Kesler was born in Orange Township of Noble County, June 4, 1890, son of T. P. and Ella (Smith) Kesler. His father was a native of Cardington, Morrow County, Ohio, while his mother was born in Eaton, Ohio. Both were brought to Noble County while children by their respective parents, and they grew up and married there. They were the parents of four children. Alta, the oldest, graduated from the Eclectic Medical College at Cin- cinnati and is now the wife of Doctor Boram, and both are in practice at South Bend, Indiana. Theo P. is a farmer at Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Glenn W. is third in age. Ethel is the wife of Ed Belmont and lives at Price, Utah.

. Glenn W. Kesler grew up on a farm a mile east of Brimfield, Indiana, and besides the advantages afforded by the schools of that village attended Notre Dame.University at South Bend for four years. He is one of the young college men who are making notable strides in agriculture in Indiana today. He has a 600-acre farm, located partly in Jefferson and partly in Orange townships, and his main source of production is dairying.

March 10, 1915, Mr. Kesler married Mrs. Pearl Shanafelt. She was born in Fulton County, Indiana, and was educated in the local schools and in the schools of South Bend. By her first husband she has a son, Elwood Shanafelt. Mr. and Mrs. Kesler have one son, Glenn W., Jr. Mr. Kesler is affiliated with Lodge No. 1194 of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.

FRANK G. SALISBURY, whose father was one of the settlers of 1836 in Steuben County, is one of the best known citizens, is present county commissioner, former state representative, and while many years of his life were devoted to farming, his chief atten- tion at present is given to the Shady Nook resort at Lake Gage, of which he is proprietor.

Mr. Salisbury was born in Millgrove Township November 28, 1854, a son of Chester D. and Julia (Collins) Salisbury. His great-grandfather, Heze- kiah Salisbury, at one time owned land included in the present site of the city of Brattleboro, Vermont. His grandfather, Edgar Salisbury, was in the War of 1812. Chester D. Salisbury was born in Jeffer- son County, New York, in 1817, and owing to the death of his father when he was eight years of age had to become a working member of the household and saw much hardship and few educational or other advantages except such as he could gain for him- self. He served an apprenticeship at the tanner's trade, but left that employment in 1836 to come to

Indiana. On arriving in Steuben County he burned lime for two years in Jamestown Township, then opened up and improved a farm, and after four years moved to another place in Millgrove Township. He reached Steuben County almost penniless and fifty years later was enjoying the income and comforts of one of the model farms of the county. He mar- ried in 1838 Julia Collins, a daughter of Barton Col- lins, distinguished as the first permanent settler in Jamestown Township.

Frank G. Salisbury grew up on his father's farm, attended district schools, high school at Orland and the high school at Angola. He worked on the home place until he was twenty-three, and in August, 1878, he went to the Nebraska frontier. He was in Nebraska until December, 1884. Being a man of good education he employed some of his earlier .years in teaching school. He was thus employed for four years in Steuben County, two years in Branch County, Michigan, and while in Nebraska he taught for two years in Fillmore County. On returning to Indiana in December, 1884, Mr. Salis- bury bought a farm in Millgrove Township, joining the place where he was born. He lived there and gained most of his competence for twenty-eight years. On leaving the farm he moved to Orland, and in 1913 he moved to his present home in Shady Nook on Lake Gage in Millgrove Township. As owner of the Shady Nook resort he has a valuable property consisting of a hotel and seven cottages, and it is one of the most attractive and best patron- ized resorts in Steuben County.

February 26, 1879, Mr. Salisbury married Barbara E. Pocok, daughter of Levi and Barbara (Yanney) Pocock. Levi Pocock, who was born in 1817, in Maryland, grew up in Ohio, and in 1866 moved to LaGrange County, Indiana, and two years later to Steuben County, where he became a farmer in Mill- grove Township. Mr. and Mrs. Salisbury had four children : Earl married Jeanette Van Fossen, and their family consists of Esther, Martha, Wendell and Arthur. Geneva is the wife of Harry Fashbough and has three children, Barbara, Shirley and Keith. Irene is the wife of Carl Cary and has a son, Gor- don. Winifred is now employed in the adjutant general's office at Washington, D. C.

Mr. Salisbury for many years has been a prom- inent figure in the public life of his home township and county. He served as trustee of Millgrove Township from 1895 to 1900, from 1903 to 1905 represented Steuben and LaGrange counties in the State Legislature, and in 1914 was elected county commissioner, taking office in January, 1916. He is a member of the Lodge and Chapter of Masons at Orland and the Knight Templar Commandery at Angola.

ALLEN J. GREENE was for thirty years one of the leading stock buyers of Steuben County, living at Orland, and was also a Union soldier during the Civil war.

He was born in Ohio in 1847 and died at Orland November 17, 1900. His parents, Francis and Aleeta ( Mason) Greene, came to Steuben County about 1856, settling in Fremont Township, where they lived on a farm the rest of their lives. The mother died June 27, 1895. Francis Greene was also a minister of the Baptist Church.

Allen J. Greene grew up in that county, had a public school education, and in 1863, at the age of sixteen, enlisted in the 12th Indiana Cavalry and served until the close of the war as a Union soldier. After the war for thirty years he was engaged in the live stock business. He was a republican and finally became a democrat. He was affiliated with the Masons and Odd Fellows at Orland.

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST -INDIANA

In 1870 he married Miss Mary Brown, a native of LaGrange County, and daughter of Frederick and Olive (Gambia) Brown, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of New York. Her father came to LaGrange County when a young man, and was married at Hamilton in Steuben County, his wife being a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (Smart) Gambia, who settled in Steuben County as early as 1843. Mrs. Greene's parents spent many years on a farm in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County, where, beginning with eighty acres, they gradually acquired 230 acres. Mrs. Greene now owns part of that old homestead. The father of Mrs. Greene died in 1886 and her mother in 1893. Besides Mrs. Greene, the oldest of their children, there were Florence, Frederick, who died at the age of nine months, and Charles.

FLEMING NEWELL WILSON. Of the old citizenship of Steuben County, no name for almost seventy years has carried with it, generation after genera- tion, more genuine respect and esteem than that of Wilson. While it has not been an unusually prolific family, it has been sturdy, independent and useful, and not without heroic qualities, for it has not been lacking in military sacrifices. A worthy representa- tive of this fine old family is found in Fleming Newell Wilson, and his large estate of 235 acres, lying in Jackson Township, includes ninety acres of the old original Wilson homestead secured in 1850.

Fleming Newell Wilson was born in a log cabin then the family home, standing on land he now owns, in Jackson Township, Steuben County, In- diana, February 20, 1864. His parents were Newell A. and Mary (Klink) Wilson, the former of whom was born near Plymouth, Ohio, and was a son of Fleming and Susannah Wilson, and the latter, also born in Ohio, was a daughter of Christian and Mary Klink. In 1850 Fleming Wilson and his family came from Ohio to Steuben County and secured 160 acres of land in Jackson Township. They were quiet, frugal, industrious pioneers, and after the building of the log house Mr. Wilson cleared his land and gradually improved it, and here both he and wife died. Of their seven children but three reached maturity, namely: Newell A., Levi and John.

Newell A. Wilson was thirteen years old when the family came to Indiana, and he completed his schooling in Steuben County, after which he taught school. In the course of time ninety acres of the home place became his property, and he took pride in its possession and never parted with it. His span of life was not extended into old age, for he was a martyr to his loyalty to country. He enlisted for service in the Civil war, was taken sick and came home on a furlough, but failed to recover, dying August 22, 1864. In 1873 his widow married George King, who died in 1905, leaving no children. To her first marriage two children were born: Frances R. and Fleming Newell.

Frances R. Wilson was born in June, 1862, se- cured a good education and taught school for some years prior to her marriage to Guy Bodley, a son of Levi N. and Mary Jane Bodley, of Salem Township. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bodley, namely: Ethel and Glenn. Ethel mar- ried Clarence Houts, and they have three children : Lois, Lawrence and Mary. Glenn Bodley married Bonnie Avery, and they have two children: Harold and John. Guy Bodley and his wife live at Kala- mazoo, Michigan.

Fleming Newell Wilson was reared on the home farm and first attended the country schools and

later the high school at Angola, which was in 1883. He has devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and is considered one of the most up-to-date and suc- cessful farmers and stockraisers of Steuben County. For some years he was an extensive grower of sheep. Mr. Wilson has carried on his operations carefully and systematically, keeping well informed through the Grange and by other means, and has built up fortune as well as reputation.

Mr. Wilson was married December 24, 1887, to Miss Myrtie L. Barr, who was born in Jackson Township, Steuben County, July 28, 1869, and is a daughter of Luke and Mary (Williams) Barr. Her paternal grandfather, Jared Barr, was born in Massachusetts in 1784, and married Lucretia Hazen, a native of Connecticut, a cousin of the father of General Hazen. They lived in Dover and Elyria, Ohio, until 1845, when they moved to Steuben Coun- ty, Indiana, and bought eighty acres of Lyman Clark in Jackson Township, and both died there. Jared Barr served in the War of 1812, and was captain of a company. He and wife belonged to the Disciples Church, in which he was a minister.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 12

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