History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 120

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 120
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 120
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 120
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 120

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).

He is a republican in politics and is affiliated with Star Lodge No. 225, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and Orland Chapter No. 100, Royal Arch Masons. He and his wife are Congregationalists. He married, December 26, 1901, Mrs. Grace Peet, of Vicksburg, Michigan. They have a son, Harry H., born February 23, 1905, now a sophomore in the Orland High School.

ALBERT GEIST. When Albert Geist, a well known merchant of Mongo, came to this country he could not speak a word of English, and his experience and achievements are a striking illustration of the op- portunities open in America and the industry and enterprise of his character. He was born in Ger- many December 24, 1862, and was seventeen years of age when he came to this country. At Fort Wayne he learned the baker's trade and for fifteen years he was in the bakery, restaurant and hotel business at Payne, Ohio. He had some business reverses there early in his career through a fire, and he made re- covery of lost ground through developing several farms. He first bought sixty acres, cleared away the woods and brush and put up buildings and tiled the land. He sold that and bought another place and followed the same process several times until when he sold his last Ohio property he received $12,000 for it. In 1906 he came to Mongo and bought a farm of 120 acres west of that village and engaged in the poultry business. In 1913 he built a two-story brick building, 28x70 feet with basement. He has since carried a large stock of general merchandise. He is also an extensive land owner in Northeastern Indiana. In politics he is a republican and is a mem- ber of the Lutheran Church.

Mr. Geist married Minnie Bullan on August 16, 1886. She was born in Germany in 1866. They have had six children: George, who is now postmaster at Mongo and married Florence Meek and has a

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

son Albert; Louise, who died in 1915, wife of Otto portunity presenting itself to get into the army he Taylor; John, formerly a merchant at Mongo, now a resident of Mishawaka, Indiana, who married Avis Reel and has a daughter Juanita; William, who is employed in the rubber works at Mishawaka, mar- ried Margaret Castel; Helen and Alfred Leroy, thic two younger children, both at home.

WILLIAM F. ALVISON, of Jamestown Township in Steuben County, is a prosperous citizen who has raised himself into the class of independent farm owners though he began life with practically no capital and has shown a degree of enterprise, initia- tive and judgment that are sure to reward any man who keeps working steadily along one line.

Mr. Alvison was born in Jamestown Township, March 10, 1875, son of Theodore and Minnie (Arm- strong) Alvison. He was their only child. Soon after his birth his parents separated. He lived with his mother until her death, when he was about ten years old. Such, briefly, were the circumstances that put him on his own resources at a time when most boys are under the shelter of their own home and in school. At the age of fourteen he started work by the month. He had several employers, George Collins first for two years, then Charles Collins, a brother of George, and later Bert Collins. Still later he was with Horace Davis, Jr., and he also worked for J. C. McNett, whose daughter he mar- ried. He was on the McNett farm for sixteen years. He bought the first land of his own in Millgrove Township, comprising eighty acres, and still owns that property. Later he bought sixty acres where he is living in Jamestown Township, and has since acquired forty-five acres additional, giving him 185 acres. All of this spells success and shows that he has made earnest and determined use of his op- portunities in life.

Mr. 'Alvison is a republican and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church at Nevada Mills. Nov- ember 24, 1896, he married Miss May McNett. She was born in 1876, a daughter of Jacob C. and Louise (Arnold) McNett, of a pioneer Steuben County family. Her father was born on the west side of Lake Gage in that county in 1848, a son of Jacob and Mary McNett, who came from Ohio in pioneer times. Jacob McNett did much of the clearing of the land which is now owned by J. C. McNett. He became a large land owner, owning about 200 acres, and died in 1879, while his wife passed away in 1907. Mrs. Alvison's mother was eight years old when she came to Steuben County. Mrs. Alvison was one of two children, her brother dying in infancy. She acquired her education in the public schools of Jamestown Township, in the Tri-State Normal Col- lege, and for three terms tanght school, until her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Alvison have two daugh- ters : Ruth, born February 6, 1905; and Joyce, born February 21, 1908.

CAPT. JOHN H. CATON. As a veteran soldier and officer of the Civil war, and by reason of his exten- sive relations with the people and affairs of La- Grange County, Capt. John H. Caton is a figure whose record deserves a long memory.

He was born in Frederick County, Maryland, De- cember 16, 1839, one of the ten children of James A. and Catharine (Ludwick) Caton. In 1849 when he was ten years old the family moved to Preble Coun- ty, Ohio, and in 1850 to Elkhart County, Indiana, where the parents died. John H. Caton at the age of seventeen began learning the blacksmith's trade. He worked at this steadily until 1861. Then at the age of twenty-two he enlisted and went to Indianapolis to join the Ninth Indiana Infantry. The quota of that regiment had been filled, and no immediate op-

took employment as a mechanic for the Government at Mishawaka. In December, 1861, he went to Mis- souri and in the spring of 1862 came to LaGrange, Indiana. In the fall of 1864 he was commissioned a second lieutenant and ordered to recruit a com- pany. With his recruits he reported to the provost marshal at Kendallville, and he and his men were mustered in as Company G of the One Hundred and Fifty-Second Indiana Infantry. They were sent to camp at Indianapolis, and Mr. Caton was in the meantime commissioned captain and was formally enrolled in the army as captain of Company F of the One Hundred and Fifty-Second Indiana. With this command he was on duty until the close of the war. He then returned to LaGrange and resumed his former trade.

On October 3, 1869, Captain Caton married An- nette Kingsley. They became the parents of five children: James L., who was born September 1, 1870, and died six weeks later on October 13. Claud H., a well known LaGrange County citizen else- where referred to. Grace, born August II, 1874, and died December 2, 1875. John P., whose record also appears on other pages, and Kittie B., born February II, 1879, and died May 21, 1891.

Captain Caton was baptized in the Episcopal Church and both he and his wife were long affiliated with that denomination. He was an ardent repub- lican. Several times he served as town marshal of LaGrange. He was a Mason, belonging to the Royal Arch and Knights Templar Commandery at Ken- dallville. He held all the official positions in the Blue Lodge except that of secretary.

In 1882 he and his wife removed from LaGrange to Milford Township and bought a farm near Mount Pisgah. He improved his farm with a commodious brick house in the following year. Later he returned to LaGrange where he died honored and respected by all who knew him March 18, 1915. Captain Caton is remembered as the chief organizer of the Soldier's and Sailor's Picnic Association, which was started in 1892 and continued through a quarter of a cen- tury has heen a means of bringing together hundreds of the old soldiers in annual reunion at the grove at Mount Pisgah. Captain Caton was president of the association until his death and he was succeeded by William Ross, while the association president now is John P. Caton, a son of Captain Caton. Captain Caton for many years also acted as pension agent and in this capacity he became well known through- out Northern Indiana.

Mrs. Caton, who is still living at LaGrange, is a daughter of Loren and Hannah (Cronkite) King- sley. Her father was born at Pittsford, Monroe County, New York, May 20, 1814, and died at Ken- dallville, Indiana, in 1879. Her mother was born at Mendon in Monroe County, New York, in 1826, and died while at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Caton, at Mount Pisgah, in 1822. Loren Kingsley and wife were married at Rochester, New York, May 20, 1845, and he was a New York State farmer. About 1853 he settled in Springfield Township, La- Grange County, and bought a part of the old Asso- ciation Farm. He and his family for a time lived in the house on that farm, a building about 200 feet long. He later moved to Kendallville where he died. Mrs. Caton's mother was a daughter of Hustis and Eliza Cronkite, of New York, who spent their last days in Michigan. Loren Kingsley and wife had seven children: Levi, who was born Feb- ruary 28, 1847, and died December 22, 1865; Annette, born April 12, 1848, in Orleans County, New York; Elizabeth, who was born in Orleans County, De- cember 2, 1850, and is the widow of George L. Stohr living at Cincinnati; Carrie, born February 2, 1852,

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in Orleans County, wife of Warren K. Rosenberry, of Kendallville; Eva, born at the old Association Farm in Springfield Township, February 13, 1857, widow of Robert P. Barr, of Kendallville; Kate P., born May 17, 1862, wife of Henry C. Nicholson, of Perry, Oklahoma; and Charles E., born January 13, 1866, now living at Kalamazoo, Michigan.

LAFAYETTE G. RATHBUN. While the Rathbuns have been honored and useful citizens of Steuben County for over sixty years, their earliest place of settlement in the west was in Sandusky County, Ohio. They located there before Ohio was set off as a state and when all the country was still the Northwest Territory, inhabited chiefly by Indians.

The Rathbun ancestry runs back to the very early years of the seventeenth century, when Richard Rathbun came from England. In the Revolutionary war there were thirty Rathbun soldiers, while in the Civil war from Ohio alone there were thirty-three of the name in the service.

The grandfather of Lafayette G. Rathbun of Mill- grove Township was Lucius Rathbun, who was born April 17, 1900, in Sandusky County, Ohio. He married Rhoda Gillett, who was born in Pennsyl- vania, August 15, 1803. She died in Sandusky County, while he passed away in Cass County, Michigan.

Lafayette G. Rathbun was born in Sandusky County, June 4, 1849, a son of Wilkes and Naomi (Clark) Rathbun. His father was born in Green Creek Township of Sandusky County, February 20, 1829, while his mother was born in Lorain County, Ohio, in 1824. Wilkes Rathbun brought his family to Steuben County in 1855 and settled on the banks of Lake Gage in Millgrove Township. He put up a small frame house and began the work of clearing up his eighty acres, making it into a good farm. After a number of years he moved from the farm and died at Clyde, Ohio, in 1904. His wife died in 1884. They had four children, Lafayette G. and Sumner being the first and fourth, while the two intervening died in infancy.

Lafayette G. Rathbun has lived from the age of six years in Steuben County. He grew up on the home farm, and in addition to the public schools attended the Northwest Indiana Institute at Orland. His first farm was forty acres in Millgrove Town- ship, which he sold and then farmed for several years in Jamestown. He traded for nine acres near Lake Gage, and later lived at Nevada Mills. He came to his present place in 1901, when he bought 100 acres and has it highly improved as a general farm, though making a specialty of small fruits. He rents much of the cultivated land to his son. Mr. Rathbun is a democrat in politics.

In 1874 he married Celia Flagler, who died in March, 1876. In the fall of 1876 he married Mrs. Laura Abramson. She was born in Wood County, Ohio, February 21, 1857, a daughter of Dr. Brad- bury and Julia (Harkness) Hutchins. The Hutchins family moved to Steuben County in 1864, settling in Fremont Township, where Dr. Hutchins practiced medicine many years. He died February 3, 1866. He was born July 7, 1815. His wife, who was born September 18, 1821, died in 1901, at the age of eighty. Mr. and Mrs. Rathbun had six children, Bertha the oldest dying when two and a half years old. Stella, who was born December 1, 1878, is the wife of A. D. Stewart, and they have five children, named Ina, Alfred, Russell, Georgia and Clyde. Bruce, born January 9, 1881, married Myrtle Hyatt, and their family consists of Harley, Arlene, Glen, Raymond and Nelson. Clyde, born May 8, 1883, died in July, 1901. Kenneth was born March 5, 1889, and by his marriage to Zena Fisher has three

children, named Versel, Harold and Vere. Leon, the youngest child, was born August 30, 1891, and married Emma Edinger.

JOHN W. HOLCOMB began selling pumps and wind- mills at LaGrange and over the surrounding terri- tory thirty years ago, and has remained in that one line of business steadily ever since. He is one of the successful business men, a man of much public spirit, and has thoroughly identified himself with the best interests of that community. .

Mr. Holcomb was born in Gallia County in South- ern Ohio, October 17, 1860, a son of Riley and Mary Jane (Geah) Holcomb. His parents were also na- tives of Gallia County, his father born in 1833 and his mother in 1832. His paternal grandparents were John and Polly Ann (Rowland) Holcomb. John Holcomb died in Gallia County, while his widow moved to LaGrange County, Indiana, before the Civil war and lived in the northern part of Noble County for several years and died there in 1887 at the age of eighty-four. The maternal grandfather of John W. Holcomb was John Whitmer Geah, who died in Gallia County. Riley Holcomb and wife on coming to LaGrange County settled in Milford Township, but subsequently lived in Noble County where he died in 1882 and his wife in 1869. Their children were John W., Martin N., Ulysses Grant, Edward and Rebecca, both deceased, and Seth.

John W. Holcomb attended public school in Mil- ford Township and when a young man began work- ing for Isaac Sears, the well known stock farmer of LaGrange County. He spent several years work- ing by the month, and in 1887 entered the employ of John L. Hagland in the pump business. He was with him two years and in 1889 took the local agency at LaGrange for the Star Windmill manufactured at Kendallville. He has been selling windmills and similar machinery ever since, and has the oldest established business of its kind in LaGrange County.

In politics Mr. Holcomb is a republican. For thirty years he has been a member of the Odd Fel- lows and belongs to the Encampment and for twenty- five years has been affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. He is also a member of the Modern Wood- men of America and the Knights of the Maccabees.

October 12, 1884, he married Miss Oramanda Wert. She was born in DeKalb County, December I, 1863, a daughter of William and Lovina (His- song) Wert. Her father was born in Pennsylvania, April 5, 1833, a brother of Daniel Wert, and her mother was born in the same state, January 25, 1839. The Wert family was established in DeKalb County at an early day. Mrs. Holcomb's father en- listed in 1863 in the Union army and served until the close of the war. He was a millwright by trade and for several years operated the Dorsey mill in LaGrange County. He was engaged in overhauling the mill of Isaac Werts in Milford Township when he died, March 20, 1893. Mrs. Holcomb's mother passed away April 19, 1898. In the Wert family were twelve children, Jacob Henry, Elizabeth Ann, Alice Celestia, deceased; Mary Oramanda, William Sherman, Marion Elsworth, better known as Els- worth, Enola May, Emma Nettie, Nancy Jane, Lot- tie L., deceased; Bert Ray and Minnie T.

Mr. and Mrs. Holcomb had four children, the old- est being Flora Gay, who was born February 2, 1886. She was educated in the LaGrange High School, and is the wife of Forrest H. Ritter, a lawyer at Fort Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Ritter have two children. Harold Holcomb, born May 14, 1909; and Mary Virginia, born September 28, 1915. Carrie May Hol- comb was born September 23, 1888, and died April 16, 1889. Lulu M. and Laura M., twin daughters, born July 1, 1890. Both were educated in the La-

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Grange High School. Lulu is the wife of William C. Reno, of LaGrange, and has a daughter, Violet Elnore, born April 2, 1917. They now reside at Wayland, Michigan, where Mr. Reno is connected with the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway. The daughter Laura is the wife of Charles B. Hern, of LaGrange, and her five children are: Amanda May, born January 7, 1909; Ruth Irene, born June 20, 1910; Willis Whitner, born May 1, 1914; John Har- low, born June 14, 1918, and Charles Benedict, born July 14, 1919. Mr. Hern is clerk in a hardware store in LaGrange.

FRANK L. MALLORY has many relatives in North- east Indiana, due to the fact that his grandfather settled here in pioneer times, and it has been to the credit of the community that the family in its dif- ferent branches has remained, grown and flourished and is represented by many of the best farmers in Steuben County today.

On the old Mallory homestead in Jamestown Township Frank L. Mallory saw the light of day for the first time November 1, 1868. He is a son of Asa and Sytheria (Wright) Mallory. Asa Mallory was born in Rutland County, Vermont, October 17, 1824, a son of David and Cynthia (Collins) Mal- lory. David Mallory entered land in Steuben County in 1835, and settled there the following year. He had a forty acre homestead and continued to be busied with its cultivation and improvement until his death on October 14, 1864, at the age of seventy- six. His wife died October 26, 1868, aged seventy- seven. Their children were Cordelia, Minerva, Clay- ton, Elias, Lucy, Asa, Amanda and Emeline. David Mallory was a democrat in political faith.

Asa Mallory was about twelve years old when his parents moved to Steuben County. In the spring of 1850 he went overland to California. While work- ing in the mines he contracted typhoid fever and under the orders of his physician returned to the States by ship, reaching New York after a voyage of fifty-five days. After recovering his health he took charge of the homestead farm, and to the origi- nal forty acres he added 125 acres and made many improvements in the shape of good buildings and other facilities. He died October 19, 1903. In 1860 he married Sytheria Wright, a daughter of Sherman and Anna (Failing) Wright. She is still living on the old homestead. Her parents were both natives of New York. Sherman Wright also made a trip to California in 1853, and died while in the West the same year. His widow then lived with her par- ents, Thomas and Catherine (Flock) Failing, in Steuben County, where they had located in pioneer times. Sherman Wright and wife had the follow- ing children: Sytheria, Elizabeth L. and Jerome. Anna Wright, after the death of her husband in California, married Charles E. Benedict, and she lived to the age of seventy-four, passing away in 1898. By her second marriage she had three chil- dren: Edwin, Arthur and Orrie.

The following is a brief record of the family of Asa Mallory and wife: Florence E., who died July 13, 1912, wife of Granville McClue and the mother of Carl C., Howard L. and Emmett. Cynthia B. be- came the wife of Bruce Green and was the mother of Ruth C. and Owen. The third of the family is Frank L. Herbert C. married Dell Herald. Clarence A. is farming a portion of the old homestead and is specially mentioned elsewhere. Clyde L., the young- est, married Lenora Christian.

Frank L. Mallory grew up on the home farm and had a public school education. He now owns fifty acres of his father's place and has improved it with good buildings. The first buildings on the Mallory

farm were built of logs. Mr. Mallory is a general farmer and he is a democrat in political faith.

April 12, 1892, he married Miss Erva L. Shutts, She was born in Jamestown February 12, 1874, daughter of Herman and Mary (Collins) Shutts. Something more is said of the Shutts family on other pages. Mr. and Mrs. Mallory have one daugh- ter, Pearl E. She was born August 14, 1893, is a graduate of the Fremont High School, taught for five years in Jamestown Township, and on October 10, 1918, went to work for the Government in Wash- ington, D. C.

FREDERICK G. SMELTZLY. While his home for a number of years has been on a farm in Greenfield Township, the services by which Mr. Smeltzley is most widely known in LaGrange County have been rendered as an educator. He has been in school work continuously for thirty years, and is a former county superintendent of schools.

He was born in Lima Township, LaGrange Coun- ty, October 8, 1867, son of Christian and Mary (Lehmer) Smeltzly. His parents were both born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. His maternal grand- parents were Henry and Nancy (Neff) Leh- mer, of old Pennsylvania Dutch families. They lived in Ohio a number of years, where Henry Lehmer died, and his widow, after marrying again, came to Greenfield Township, LaGrange County. Two of the Lehmer sons, Isaac and Jacob, were soldiers in the Civil war. The paternal grandfather of Frederick Smeltzly was born in Germany, and when a boy of sixteen years served with the German army against Russia. He and his people later sought refuge in America to avoid the incessant warfare and enforced military duty of Europe. Christian Smeltzly was educated in the public schools of Ohio, was a farmer in that state, and during the fifties came to LaGrange County and later moved to Nebraska in 1871, returning to LaGrange County in 1876. His widow is still living at Ontario. They were active members of the Lutheran Church. Christian and Mary Smeltzly had a large family of children, all of whom are living except the fifth, Andrew, who died at the age of twelve years, and the sixth, Simon. The others in order of birth are Celista, Emeline, John, Nancy, Frederick G., Harriet, Ida, Alice, Anson, Daisy and Elizabeth. Frederick G. Smeltzly attended the common schools of La- Grange County, and immediately after completing his work in the schools he became a farmer in Green- field Township and afterward in Lima Township, teaching his first school in 1887. Later he attended the Howe High School, and after graduating was principal of the Howe school eight years, and after- ward principal of the Brighton High School. He has also attended the LaGrange County Normal and the University of Indiana and Winona Lake Normal. Mr. Smeltzly while principal at Brighton was elected county superintendent of schools, and held that office for six years. Then for one year he served as superintendent of the Howe city schools, and that brings his record down to date as a teacher. Mr. Smeltzly huilt his home on his farm in Greenfield Township in 1910.

May 9. 1893, he married Miss Susan Keim. They have two children, Katharine and Harold K. The family are Presbyterians, and Mr. Smeltzly is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America.

Alexander S. Keim, father of Mrs. Smeltzly, was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, February 23, 1828, a son of Solomon and Elizabeth Keim, natives of Somerset County of that state, who removed to Ohio in October, 1832, and spent the rest of their

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lives there. Alexander Keim on reaching the age of twenty-one became a drover during the summer months, while every winter he taught school. In the early days he drove many heads of stock from Holmes County, Ohio, to Eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland, and continued that business until 1860. On February 20, 1853, he married Elizabeth Som- mers, of Holmes County. Eight years later they moved to Owen County, Indiana, where her parents, Jacob and Martha Sommers, had located in 1853. Alexander S. Keim bought a farm of 260 acres in Owen County, and lived there until 1863, when he came to Greenfield Township and located on a farm of 160 acres. While living in Ohio he filled for six years the offices of justice of the peace and township clerk. In April, 1880, he was elected trustee of Greenfield Township, and filled that office two years. He and his family were members of the Dunkard Church. In the Keim family were thirteen children, named Barbara E., Alice J., John C., Mary E., Martha A., Eliza, Alexander H., Clara, Olive B., Charles E., Joseph W., Susan L. and Sarah.

DAVID B. TEETERS has many of the characteristics of the patriarchs of old. He has lived over three- quarters of a century, has had his home in Steuben County the greater part of his life, has seen his efforts prosper whether as a farmer or public official, and for more than half a century he and his good wife have lived together and in that time have seen their own children come to manhood and woman- hood and many others come into the family, grand- children and great-grandchildren.

Mr. Teeters was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, February 24, 1842, son of Wilson and Sophia ( Smith) Teeters. His father was born in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1803, and his mother in 1806. Sophia Smith was a daughter of David and Mary (Blank) Smith, who lived for many years in Columbiana County, Ohio, where David Smith made himself useful to the pioneer settlers as a gunsmith. The Teeters family became settlers in Columbiana County about the time of the War of 1812 and later Wilson Teeters moved to Sandusky County and had his home there about twenty years. In the spring of 1854 he came to Steuben County, settling in Clear Lake Township. He has been described as a man of unlimited energy, and taking a tract of about 265 acres of uncleared land, he developed it into a fine farm and before his death owned 385 acres, eighty acres of which were in Michigan. He served in several township offices and was well known among his neighbors for his many admirable qual- ities. When he went on a journey he seldom rode a horse, going on foot, and was a celebrated walker in those days. He died in April, 1864. He had a large family of ten children, named Andrew J., Elisha, John, David B., Wilson, Priscilla, Harriet, Lavina, Catherine (who died in childhood) and Mary W.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 120

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