History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 121

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 121
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 121
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 121
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 121

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).

David B. Teeters was twelve years of age when brought to Steuben County. In the meantime he had acquired some education in the district schools of Sandusky County, and also attended school in Steuben County for a few terms. He early learned the work of the home farm, and after his father's death he farmed the homestead on his own account. He has always lived there and owns the homestead of 112 acres, having adorned it with substantial buildings and made many improvements that add to the comfort and value of the farm. In addition to farming for four years he sold farm implements throughout this neighborhood. It was only natural that his fellow citizens should select him for public responsibilty. For four terms he held the office of township trustee and was also assessor of Clear

Lake Township four terms. He and his wife are members of the Latter Day Saints Church.

Mr. Teeters married Susan McElhenie on Feb- ruary 23, 1864. She is a daughter of John and Sarah (Brouse) McElhenie, who came to Steuben County in 1854 from Wayne County, Ohio. She was one of a family of children as follows: Thomas, Susanna, William J., Margaret J., Walter C., Sa- bina S., John D., Maria, Ephraim, Arklow, Clara and Ella.

Eight children were born to the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Teeters: Annette, wife of Willard W. Houseman; Rosetta, who was married to William H. Ackerman; Orpheus, who married Ada Osburn; Addie, wife of A. L. Seely; Edith, who married George' Foster; Harriet, wife of E. C. Whitlock; Pearl, wife of C. E. Chapin; and Damon. Mr. and Mrs. Teeters have twenty-four grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. Including those who have married into the family they are head of a family clan of sixty-one, all well and strong, and with only one death record through all the years.

STRATTON LEONARD APPLEMAN. The publishers deem it a privilege and a duty to make special ref- erence in this work to the career of one of their vet- eran representatives and salesmen. Moreover, the Appleman family, as the following record will dis- close, was one of the first in Northeast Indiana, and its long residence and numerous relationships with other well known families justifies all that is said here quite apart from the personal interest be- tween Stratton Leonard Appleman and the pub- lishers.

The Applemans were, as the name indicates, prob- ably German or Dutch ancestry, though before com- ing to this state the family had received such an infusion of Scotch and English blood as to make it typically American. The name is not a common one, yet there are Applemans in New York, Pennsyl- vania, Maryland, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Texas, as well as in Indiana. Generally these widespread families trace their descent to a common ancestor, which fact, added to certain physical feat- ures possessed in common by many bearing the name, indicates that all had at some time a common ancestor. The name has been in Northeast Indiana for over eighty years, and judging from the number of males of the latest generation it is not likely to disappear in the near future. A lake in Springfield Township, LaGrange County, takes its name from a pioneer of the family and a hamlet in the same township was for years known as Applemanburg, though Brushy Prairie, the name of a former post- office in the village, has recently supplanted in com- mon usage the earlier name.

The older generation of the family is now rep- resented in LaGrange County by such men as Ira R., J. Wesley, William E. and Stratton L. Appleman. Stratton L. Appleman was born in Springfield Township October 10, 1857, son of John W. and Mary (Poppino) Appleman. His parents were first cousins. His paternal grandparents were Leonard and Mary (Rawles) Appleman, while his maternal grandparents were David L. and Jane (Appleman) Poppino. Leonard Appleman was a son of Jacob and Jane (Harris) Appleman. David L. Poppino, a son of William Poppino, married Jane Appleman, a daughter also of Jacob and Jane (Harris) Apple- man.

So far as known no one has ever traced the family history beyond Jacob Appleman. One enterprising member of the family has compiled a book entitled "The Harris Family," which contains a complete history of the Harrises and a history of the Apple- mans from Jacob Appleman down to about 1885.

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In this record it is found that James Harris, a native of Bristol, England, immigrated to America about 1725 and settled in Essex County, New Jer- sey, where he followed the tailor's trade until his death some few years before the Revolution. He married a girl named Boleyn, who bore him six sons and a daughter. One of the younger sons was John Harris, born in 1750. He grew up in New Jersey, learned the mason's trade, but later in life became a farmer. He was one of the well known "minute men" of New Jersey, ready at a minute's notice to give battle to the British. He is said to have taken part in the Battle of Monmouth, where his brother- in-law, John Hamilton, was shot down by his side. About 1787 John Harris moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania, and lived there until his death in 1816. A monument in the Amity village church- yard marks his grave. A military man must have been attractive to the fair sex during the Revolution as well as in our own day. John Harris was twice married during the midst of that war. His first wife was Sarah Burris, who died shortly after the marriage. For his second wife he won an excep- tional girl, Mary Hamilton. In accordance with the custom of the time they had a large family, eleven children, the oldest, Jane, being born May 8, 1778. This Jane Harris became the wife of Jacob Apple- man. She had been taken to Washington County when a girl of nine years and grew up and mar- ried there. The only reference made to the ante- cedents of Jacob Appleman in the Harris family his- tory is that he was "of German descent."

Ahout 1818 or 1820 Jacob and Jane following the westward trend of migration moved to Richland County, Ohio, where both resided until death. Jacob now lies buried at Frederickburg. He does not ap- pear to have been a very enterprising man, but suc- ceeded in making a living in a small way at farm- ing. His wife, Jane, was much the stronger char- acter of the two and imparted much of her person- ality to her children. Her eleven sons and daugh- ters were James, Mary, William, Permenas, Betsey, Leonard, Jacob, Jane, John Harris, Samuel and Mar- garet Ann. Of these Mary, William, Betsey and Jacob died in infancy. The other seven grew to maturity, married, and "replenished the earth" with their kind. James and Permenas lived and died in Ohio, where they left many descendants. These descendants, now numbering hundreds, have for many years gathered annually at a reunion held late in August, an occasion for renewing family ties and welcoming visiting members from other states.

The five youngest children of Jacob and Jane (Harris) Appleman removed at various times be- tween 1840 and 1855 to LaGrange County, Indiana. Leonard Appleman came about the year 1832.

John Harris, commonly known as "Jack," Apple- man settled on the farm now owned by Fred Schultz in Springfield Township, and lived there for many years. Late in life he removed to the Village of LaGrange, the county seat, where he died in 1897. His remains lie buried in the Springfield Cemetery. He was the father of twelve sons and daughters, several of whom reside in the county.

Samuel Appleman made his home for years on a farm near Wolcottville, living first in LaGrange County and later in Noble County, where he died. He had nine children, of whom three were triplets and two twins. The triplets died in infancy but the twins, William E. and Willis, grew to maturity.

Margaret Ann, the youngest of the eleven chil- dren of Jacob and Jane Appleman, married Hugh W. Mains of Richland County, Ohio, and with him and their children removed to LaGrange County. She lived to be nearly eighty-five years of age. The family home was for many years in Milford Town-

ship, where both she and her husband died. They have many descendants living in the township and county.

Going back to Leonard Appleman and his direct and immediate family. Leonard was born May 12, 1808, in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and re- moved as a boy of nine or ten years to Richland County, Ohio. Jane, his sister, was also born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, the date of her birth being May 9, 1813. The brother and sister grew to maturity on a small farm in Richland County, Ohio, and both were married in that state. Leonard married in Ohio Mary Rawles, while Jane became the wife of David L. Poppino, a tailor. David Poppino was born in Orange County, New York, the son of William and Deborah Poppino, of French descent, and had come to Ohio to ply his trade. At the time of his marriage he was a wid- ower with three children.

As noted above, Leonard Appleman was the first of his family to remove to LaGrange County. On arriving here he bought a tract of land con- sisting of about 600 acres, a part of which is now occupied by the little hamlet which later bore his name. He built a country store in this pioneer set- tlement and for many years managed the farm and store. He built the first frame house in the town- ship, and this house, in a somewhat changed con- dition, is occupied today by one of his descendants, S. L. Appleman. His second wife was Margaret Millis. By his marriage to Mary Rawles he had three sons, John W., Charles and Samuel. By his second marriage he had a daughter, Sarah. Con- cerning his son John W. more is said in following paragraphs. Samuel lived and died on a farm east of Mongo in LaGrange County. Charles was a farmer and died in that county. Sarah became the wife of Jewisen Smith, son of James Smith.

David L. Poppino had come to Indiana about 1849, presumably on foot. His wife, Jane, followed him in 1850, bringing the children and all the family belongings in a wagon. They occupied a house near the corner in the village, where David Poppino followed his trade for some thirty-five years. About 1885 they retired to a farm near Stryker, Ohio, where both died, Mr. Poppino in 1887. Their re- mains were brought to East Springfield Cemetery for interment. As already noted, David L. Poppino was a widower at the time of his marriage to Jane Appleman. His three children by his first wife were John, Elizabeth and William. Both sons were soldiers in the Civil war, William being killed at Gettysburg, while John suffered almost complete blindness following his service. David Poppino by his marriage to Jane Appleman had ten children : Letitia, who died in Kansas, the wife of John Lyon; Deborah, who died in LaGrange County, the widow of William Jefferds; Margaret, who hecame the wife of Frank Kniffin, a resident of Stryker, Ohio, and now deceased; Mary A., who was twice wid- owed, an old resident of Applemanburg; Harriet, who was Mrs. Carver, living in New Mexico; Arminda, who died in Ohio, the wife of Albert Healy, and her first husband was Charles Kniffin ; Amsi; Mrs. Alice Bliss, living in California; Albert and Frank, who died very young.

This record now comes to John Appleman, eldest son of Leonard Appleman, and Mary Poppino, daughter of Jane ( Appleman) Poppino. Both were born in Ohio, John on June 20, 1836, and Mary on March 30, 1837. They were brought as children to LaGrange County, grew up in the neighborhood of Applemanburg, and as a youth John helped his father in the store and on the farm. After his mar- riage he gave most of his attention to the store and was a prosperous country merchant until his

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

death in 1865. At the outbreak of the Civil war he offered his services as a volunteer to the Union Army, but was refused on account of physical dis- ability. At his death Mary ( Poppino) Appleman was left a widow with three children, Stratton L., Taylor E. and Lulie G. She married for her second husband Griffith F. Hall, a widower with two sons. Mr. Hall had bought a farm including land much of which was formerly a part of Leonard Apple- man's tract. On this farm in 1872 he erected the first brick house in Springfield Township. He lived there until his death on October 5, 1906. Mrs. Mary Hall was left a widow for a second time, and as such she still remains. She is now eighty-three years of age, and one of the oldest women in the community. She resides in the old brick house at Applemanburg, in the neighborhood where she has been a witness of past events for nearly seventy years. By her marriage to Mr. Hall she had two daughters, Florence and Grace, the latter dying in infancy. Her other four children are all living : Stratton L .; Taylor, who is a farmer and fruit raiser at Mammoth Springs, Arkansas, married and has a large family; Lulie G., widow of Augustus Sears, living with her mother, her only daughter, Grace, dying in 1911; and Florence, wife of Bruce Stead, a resident of Applemanburg, their son Frank hav- ing married Dona Parr and having a son, Basil.

Stratton Leonard Appleman grew to manhood in the neighborhood of his birthplace. He was edu- cated in the local schools, in Normal School at Orland, Kendallville and LaGrange, and subsequently entered the State Normal at Terre Haute. After completing his education there he engaged in teach- ing for some years and was principal of the Amboy Academy in Miami County, Indiana, for a time. In 1800 he entered the county history business as a salesman and has been engaged in that line ever since. He is now one of the veterans of the busi- ness and has probably helped to compile more local histories than any other man in the United States. His work has at various times carried him into about half the states of the Union. He was one of the compilers of this publication.

Through all these years Mr. Appleman has main- tained a home at or near the place of his birth. He owns lands in Springfield and Milford townships and has been especially interested in the breeding of Duroc-Jersey hogs, being one of the first to estab- lish that fine strain in the county.

Mr. Appleman first married Ella Goodsell, daugh- ter of Minot and Nancy (Johnson) Goodsell, pio- neers of Milford Township and elsewhere referred to. Ella Goodsell was a graduate of the State Nor- mal School at Terre Haute and for some years a teacher. She died December 2, 1895, leaving two sons, Earl and Cecil G. Mr. Appleman married for his second wife Mrs. Alice F. (Hayley) Thomp- son. She was a widow with three children living at Columbiana, Alabama. Her three children were William, Eva Juanita, now deceased, and Harry. Mr. and Mrs. Appleman have one son, Stratton Leonard, Jr.

Of Mr. Appleman's five sons none are married. The four oldest were in military service during the recent war with Germany. Earl was a flyer at various American fields. Cecil was a motor mechanic, saw service in aviation fields in France and was at the second battle of the Marne. Wil- liam was in the infantry in a southern camp. Harry was in the Engineer Corps of the First Division in Company B, and spent more than two years in France. He was at the front at Sommerville sec- tor, Ansanville sector, Montdidier sector, Cantigny, Soissons, in the first and second battles of the Marne, and at Argonne and Meuse, Sedan, Coblenz

and Bridge Head and after the armistice was with the Army of Occupation at Coblenz, Germany.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN GREENAWALT. It was by the exercise of a tremendous amount of thrift, in- dustry and good management that the Greenawalt family became established in LaGrange County in the early days. They exemplified all the best stand- ards of thrifty industry and self-sufficiency in former times. In later generations they have been known as progressive farmers and land owners and business men, and Benjamin Franklin Greenawalt runs true to these traditions and reputation.

He was born on Bullfrog Prairie, Eden Township, LaGrange County, March 18, 1883. He is a son of the late Samuel Y. Greenawalt, and a grandson of Adam and Catherine (Yoder) Greenawalt. The grandparents came from Ohio in 1854 and after a long journey with wagon and team arrived in the Hawpath community of LaGrange County. Adam Greenawalt depended upon day labor at 50 cents a day for nine years, and in the meantime had the energetic cooperation of his wife and children, who made good use of the spinning wheel and distaff to supplement his meager wage. Later Adam Green- awalt acquired a farm of eighty acres, and was living there in considerable comfort and prosperity at the time of his death in 1885. He and his wife had thir- teen children, John, Joel, Christian, Daniel, Adam, Joseph, Emanuel, Samuel, Jonathan, Mary, Elizabeth, Ann and Catherine.

Samuel Y. Greenawalt was born in Fairfield County, Ohio, June 5, 1851, and was three years old when brought to LaGrange County. On December 24, 1876, he married Catherine Ann Plank. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, April 20, 1858, a daughter of Christian J. and Mary (Mosier) Plank. More information concerning the Plank family is found on other pages. Samuel Y. Greenawalt and wife had twelve children: Nora Alice, Charles E., Daniel Earl. Benjamin Franklin, Walter, Arthur W., Elva Roy, Lester, who was drowned in 1911 at the age of twenty ; Herman Guy, Edna Myrle, Iva Ruth, who died in infancy, and Dennis Christopher.

In 1885 Samuel Y. Greenawalt moved to Spring- field Township and located on the place known as the Mallow farm, now owned by his son Benjamin Franklin. His entire life was a synonym of indus- try and good management. In 1896 he bought 190 acres adjoining the Mallow farm on the south, known as the Joseph Foos farm. In 1916 he bought the Charles Wade property in Applemanburg and lived there until his death on May 5, 1918. While he had acquired his means bv slow and thrifty proc- ess he was liberal in support of public enterprises, and was especially prominent in the Church of God, serving as deacon for many years, and contributed largely to the building of the Valley Bethel Church. At the time of his death besides his own children he was survived by fourteen grandchildren, also by three brothers, Emanuel K. of Goshen, Jonathan of Charlotte, Michigan, and Christian of Topeka, and two sisters, Elizabeth Plank and Catherine Hooley on the old homestead. Mrs. Samuel Y. Greenawalt is still living at Applemanburg.

Benjamin Franklin Greenawalt was two years old when taken to Springfield Township, and as he grew up on the farm he attended the local schools of Brushy Prairie and in 1905 graduated from the La- Grange High School. During the past fifteen years he has been actively engaged in farming and also in the grain business. In 1907 he and his brother Daniel Earl bought a part of the Mallow homestead, 250 acres, and in 1917 by purchasing his brother's interest he became sole owner of this splendid prop- erty. He has improved this land with one of the

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best barns in that community, the main part being 36x80 feet, with a wing 36x40 feet. He raises a great deal of good stock. Mr. Greenawalt during the winter of 1905-06 and also in 1906-07 was em- ployed by the Bern Grain and Hay Company at La- Grange. In 1908 he took part in reorganizing this company as the Home Grain Company, and has been one of the directors of the company since it was organized. Mr. Greenawalt is a republican in poli- tics.

April 15, 1908, he married Sophrona Nickell. She was born in Kentucky in January, 1889, and was about eleven years of age when her parents, James Oliver and Virginia Nickell, came to LaGrange County. Mr. and Mrs. Greenawalt have one daugh- ter, Oma, born September 23, 1909.

H. LYLE SHANK. The head of the public school system in Steuben County for eight years has been H. Lyle Shank, a teacher of wide and varied expe- rience, who began his work in district schools and who represents one of the old and prominent families of the county.

He was born in Jackson Township September 13, 1880, a son of Norman C. and Emma (Davis) Shank. His grandparents were Cornelius and Re- becca (Ransburg) Shank, both natives of Maryland, who moved to Seneca County, Ohio, where Rebecca died. Cornelius Shank came to Steuben County about 1848, buying land in Jackson Township, where he was a farmer until his death in 1884. Politically he was a democrat until after the Civil war when he became a republican,

Norman C. Shank was born in Seneca County, Ohio, January 29, 1845. He grew up on his father's farm in Jackson Township, attended the public schools, and in 1861, when sixteen years old, enlisted in the Forty-Fourth Indiana Infantry. This was one of the hardest fighting Indiana regiments in the war, and probably none suffered heavier losses or more casualties. The regiment, including Norman Shank, was in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. Finally, as a result of losses at Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, the regiment was so reduced as to exist in name only, the surviving veterans being as- signed to guard duty. Norman Shank received two wounds at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, but con- tinued in the service until the end of the war.

Afterward he was a farmer, owning a place of 362 acres in Jackson Township. He died in 1917. He was a republican and a member of the Grand Army Post. He was three times married. His first wife was Caroline Bowerman, and their three chil- dren were Nellie, Melvin and Norman. For his second wife he married Emma Davis, daughter of Horace E. Davis. She was born in Steuben County in 1859 and died in 1906. Her children were Ray, H. Lyle, Floy, wife of Lloyd Van Wagner, Cecil, Grant and Earl. Norman Shank married for his third wife Ella Northrup, and by that union there was one child, Aden.

H. Lyle Shank grew up on his father's farm in Jackson Township, attended the district schools there, and in 1902 graduated from the Tri-State College at Angola. In 1909-10 he did post-graduate work in the Indiana State University. His first work as a teacher was done in 1899 in Jackson Town- ship. He had charge of district schools for five years, taught in the high school at Oak Grove in Bloomfield Township, in the Flint High School and one year in the Pleasant Lake High School. He was elected county superintendent of Steuben County in 1911, and has served continuously in that office to the eminent satisfaction of all who are in- terested in the welfare of the county schools. In

1918 he was honored by election as president of the County Superintendents Association of Indiana.

Mr. Shank is a republican, a member of the Masonic Lodge at Angola, also of the Knights of Pythias and Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church. In 1906 he married Miss Lulu Ely, daughter of Daniel Ely of LaGrange County. They have three children, Lawton, Ledgar and Lorrayne.

Mr. Shank also has a brief military record, having enlisted in 1898, when a boy of seventeen, in the Spanish-American war. He was in the army for seven months.

FRANK SPAULDING, the proprietor of the Peach Blow Farm, has played a useful and worthy part in the affairs of Milford Township, and continues the traditions of one of the best families in that part of LaGrange County.

He was born at Brushy Prairie, September 1, 1857. The Spaulding family is of English origin and at one time had its seat at the town of Spalding in Lincolnshire. One of the first ancestors to come to this country was Edward Spaulding, who arrived about 1630 or 1633 and was made a freeman in Massachusetts, May 13, '1640. At that time no one could be made a freeman or be entitled to any share in the Government who was not a member of some one of the churches established in Massachusetts Colony. The Spauldings are a long lived people. One of the ancestors attained the remarkable age of 120 years. Frank Spaulding's grandfather, Miles Spaulding, died at the age of eighty-six while his sister, Julia Baily, was 101 at her death, and though blind for several years, enjoyed good health other- wise.

Dr. A. More Spaulding, a son of Miles Spaulding and father of Frank Spaulding, was born at Crown Point, New York, January 6, 1827. He was one of the most progressive citizens who ever lived in Springheld Township, LaGrange County. October 10, 1850, he married Lovina Holtom, who was born at Belleville in Richland County, Ohio, February 7, 1830. In the spring of 1854 they moved to Brushy Prairie and lived in that community the rest of their lives. Doctor Spaulding was a practicing physician whose services were in demand by the locality for nearly forty years. He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J. E. Newnam, in Milford Township, June 7, 1892. He was a graduate of the Medical College of Columbus, Ohio. He was an active re- publican, was an active member of the Regulators Society and was chiefly instrumental in causing to be organized a Lodge of Good Templars. He was in- fluential in establishing a permanent mail route in his community. His wife died November 19, 1901. Their three children were Frank, Fred and Dora, Fred dying at the age of two and a half years.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 121

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