USA > Indiana > LaGrange County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 122
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 122
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 122
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 122
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Frank Spaulding began farming in Milford Town- ship in the spring of 1877. During 1893-94 he was proprietor of a general store at Brushy Prairie and also postmaster of that village at the same time. In November, 1899, he returned to South Milford, and has since been engaged in agriculture. He has been correspondent for agricultural papers for a number of years and for the local press, and is a student and keeps in close touch with all matters affecting the welfare of his country district. He is liberal in religious views and a republican voter. He was formerly a member of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Gleaners, but now has a demit from all except the Odd Fellows.
June 15, 1893, at Goshen, Indiana, he married Ida M. Bartlett, daughter of John A. Bartlett. Her fa- ther was one of the pioneers of Milford Township. He was born in Oneida County, New York, Jan-
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uary 21, 1815, and was a carpenter and farmer. In 1838 he came to Milford Township, engaged in farming, and in the fall of 1840 married Salina L. Andrews. He enjoyed the complete confidence and trust of his fellow citizens, served as township trustee, and was a stanch democrat, casting his first presidential vote for Van Buren. He and his wife had four children, two of whom are living, Addie Crofoot of Goshen, and Mrs. Ida M. Spaulding of Milford.
BURTON YOUNG has been a farmer of Steuben County for thirty years, and is widely known as a sheep raiser. His farm is in Fremont Township.
He was born in Greencreek Township of Sandusky County, Ohio, October 2, 1857. His parents were Noah and Orlintha (Brown) Young, both natives of Ohio. His father, who was born in Pickaway County, spent his active life as a farmer in San- dusky County. His children were: Norman, who died in childhood, Emaline, Norton, Sidney, Chaun- cey, Olive, Burton, Edwin, Nancy Viola and Mary Villa.
Mr. Burton Young acquired a very good education, first in the district schools of his native county and later in high schools and academies at Fremont, Ada and Fostoria, Ohio. He had an early introduction to the vocation of teacher, and followed that work off and on until he was past thirty-one years of age.
In 1889 Mr. Young married Miss Emma Harden- brook, a daughter of Ferdinand Hardenbrook. Im- mediately after their marriage they came to Fremont Township of Steuben County and for thirty years have farmed in section 14. They own 139 acres, de- voted to general farming and stock raising, with a specialty of sheep. Mr. Young has been a breeder of the Polled Delaine sheep, and at one time all his sheep were thoroughbred. With the exception of seven years spent in Ray he and his wife have lived on their farm ever since their marriage.
FRANK R. WATERHOUSE has spent his active ca- reer as a general agriculturist and stock farmer in Noble County. He lives in Kendallville, owns part of the extensive Waterhouse estate, and for nearly thirty years has given his time and abilities to farm- ing on a large scale.
He was born in Milford Township of LaGrange County, Indiana, November 25, 1866, son of Chaun- cey G. R. and Harriet (Vine) Waterhouse. His father was born in Fulton, New York, March 28, 1827, while Harriet Vine was born in Pennsylvania in 1835. In 1834 the Waterhouse family came west, by pioneer transportation facilities, crossing the country in a wagon, and made settlement in the wilderness of LaGrange County north of South Milford six miles. Later they bought another farm in Milford Township, and in that locality Chaun- cey Waterhouse grew to manhood and married. In 1868 he moved to Kendallville, lived in the city four years, and then bought a farm northeast of town, which was his home for eight years. During that time he built the large brick house where his son Homer now resides. Both parents died in Kendall- ville, the father on June 29, 1917, and the mother November 24, 1913. Chauncey Waterhouse was widely known as one of the most successful farm- ers of Noble County. He accumulated about 2,000 acres of land and made most of his prosperity through his work as a stockman. He was a noted authority on the good points of livestock, was a suc- cessful trader and traded and dealt in land as well as livestock. He was a liberal supporter and trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church and as a repub- lican worked for the benefit of his friends, but not
to forward his own aspirations for office. He had four children: A. B. Waterhouse, who lives on North Main Street in Kendallville; Frank R .; John, who was born in 1874 and died at the age of nine years; and Homer, of Wayne Township.
Frank R. Waterhouse grew up on the home farm, attended the district schools to the age of fourteen and after that the Kendallville High School. Farm- ing has been his regular vocation since he attained his majority.
October 12, 1893, he married Miss Catherine Fo- ley, a native of New York State who was brought to Noble County when a girl. She is a graduate of the Kendallville High School. They have one son, Chauncey F., born June 22, 1902, and a graduate of the Kendallville public schools. Mr. Waterhouse is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Elks and in politics is a republican.
GEORGE W. BLAUSER, who has spent most of his life in the northeastern counties of Indiana, is a comparative newcomer in Steuben County, but occu- pies a place of special usefulness and honor in Jamestown Township, being founder of the local mill at Jamestown and present trustee of the town- ship.
Mr. Blauser was born in Lafayette Township of Allen County, Indiana, July 11, 1861, a son of Noah and Eliza (Seamen) Blauser, the former a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, and the latter of Trumbull County in that state. Noah Blauser, who died at the venerable age of eighty-six, spent his active life as a farmer in Lafayette Township of Allen County. His memory is still cherished in that locality. He was a good man, public spirited as a citizen, and took great pride in managing his farm and other business affairs with a thoroughness and method which did him credit. He acquired a tract of land in a wild condition, put the first buildings on the land, and eventually owned a fine farm of 160 acres, known far and wide as a model farm. It was characteristic of his general farming and business practice that he several times offered a prize to anyone who could find a ragweed on his land. He and his wife had six children, named George, Or- leva L., Addie, Joseph, Mary and Noah Webster.
George W. Blauser acquired a district school edu- cation in Allen County, and when a young man learned the trade of carpenter. When about twenty- five he started farming independently and followed that vocation for eleven years in Allen County and afterwards in Wells County. Selling his property in Wells County he came to Jamestown, Steuben County, in 1911, and has since been busied with the management of the milling business. The respon- sibility and honor of the office of township trustee was conferred upon him by election in the fall of 1918, and he has been capably looking after the office since January, 1919. He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Fremont and also the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Blauser married, January 21, 1886, Mary E. Keller, a daughter of John and Mary Ann Keller. She was one of their nine children, named in order of birth Rebecca, Fred, Mary E., John, Elizabeth, William, Andrew, Alice and Ellen. Mr. and Mrs. Blauser have five children, named Vernie, John, Bessie, Evelyn and Esther. Vernie is the wife of Charles Smyers and has one child, Cleo. Bessie is the widow of Clarence Semington.
JOHN H. STALLMAN. A capable farmer owning a good farm and identified with all the progressive citizenship and life of his community, John H. Stall- man was born in York Township of Steuben County, on the place where he now lives, December
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7, 1862. His life has been a comparatively quiet and uneventful one, though every year has been marked by well directed labor and steadily increasing re- sources. His parents, Louis Frederick and Cather- ine (Spanger) Stallman, were both natives of Ger- many, his father horn near Berlin. They came to Pennsylvania at the respective ages of twenty and eighteen, were married in that state, and in 1860 moved to Steuben County and settled on a small place of twenty-two acres in the midst of the heavy woods. Louis Frederick Stallman proceeded vig- orously to the task allotted to him as an early set- tler, cleared up some of the land, cut with his own hands the logs with which he built his cabin home, but his industry was interrupted when he was just beginning to see light ahead. He died in 1863, at the age of thirty-one. His widow survived him over half a century and passed away in 1915, at the age of seventy-eight. They had only two children, Emma, wife of Wright Tyrrell, and John H.
John H. Stallman was an infant when his father died. He grew up with his mother on the home farm, afterward succeeded to the ownership, and by the purchase of an additional forty acres now has a good place of sixty-two acres, and for many years has made a good living and put away some- thing for the future. He has had good building and follows the diversified plan of farming.
Mr. Stallman is a democrat in politics, and he and his family attend the Christian church. In 1889 he married Miss Julia Sowle, who was born in Steuben County August 6, 1861, a daughter of Francis and Elizabeth (McMahan) Sowle. Julia Sowle was a teacher in Steuben and DeKalb coun- ties for sixteen years, continuing the profession for three years after her marriage. The Sowle family is one of the oldest and most prominent in Steuben County. The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Stall- man is Carl Frederick, who was born March 27, 1893. He graduated from the eighth grade of the public schools of York Township and from the An- gola High School, and received the degrees Bach- elor of Science and Bachelor of Pedagogy from the Tri-State College at Angola, and for two years was a successful teacher in York Township. July 22, 1918, he joined the colors and was in training at Camp Taylor, Louisville, Kentucky, until receiv- ing his honorable discharge on December 29, 1918. He married, May 15, 1918, Miss Lucille Myres, of York Township, a daughter of Arthur and Emma Myres, of York Township. They have a son, Carl F., born March 22, 1919. While in training at Camp Taylor Carl Stallman rose first to corporal, then to sergeant, and when discharged was morale ser- geant of Battery B, Fourth Battalion, F. A. R. D. Mrs. Carl Stallman was a teacher before her mar- riage.
Mr. and Mrs. John Stallman also made a home for two nieces, Margaret and Luana Blackman. Margaret, born January 5, 1895, was nine years of age, when she came to their home, and she is now Mrs. Warren Whaley, of Hillsdale, Michigan. Her baby sister, Luana, born April 2, 1904, was an in- fant of three weeks when taken by Mr. and Mrs. Stallman, and she is still a member of their family.
SAMUEL P. CASEBEER. Counting Mr. Casebeer as head, there are four generations of his family rep- resented in the citizenship of Steuben County. He was a youthful soldier in the Civil war, and during the half century since the war has been identified with farming in Steuben County. In that time he has seen his own children grow up, leave home for homes of their own, and two of his grandchildren are married and there are two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Casebeer was born in Defiance County, Ohio,
August 21, 1845, a son of Adam and Susan ( Porter) Casebeer, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Medina County, Ohio. After their marriage they settled in Defiance County, and later moved to Williams County, Ohio, where Susan Case- beer died about 1857. The father afterward married a Miss Mack and had one daughter, Alice. His first marriage resulted in ten children: John, Cal- vin, Nathan (who died in infancy), Martha, Eliza- beth, Samuel P., James E., Susan, Lee and Theodore. Adam Casebeer spent his last days among his chil- dren and died at the home of his daughter Martha in 1888.
Samuel P. Caseheer grew up in Williams County. When he was sixteen years old he enlisted in Com- pany A of the One Hundred and Forty-Second In- diana Volunteer Infantry, and served eleven months. In September, 1864, he enlisted for a second term, and was in service until June 28, 1865. Three of his brothers were also in the war. All of them came through without wounds except Calvin, who was shot in the leg. John and Calvin were both in the Forty-Fourth Indiana Infantry, John enlisting in 1861, and being with that noted regiment which suffered more severely than almost any other regi- ment from Indiana.
After the war Samuel P. Caseheer came to Steu- ben County. For four or five years he lived at Gilead, Michigan, but with that exception has been a resident of Steuben County ever since. He first owned forty acres east of Nevada Mills, later had another forty acres in the same vicinity, and sold that land to purchase fifty-five acres north of Nevada Mills. He built a home there and lived on that farm until the death of his first wife. In 1891 he moved to the farm of forty-four acres where he is still living. When he settled there the land was a wheat field, but he has developed it with all its modern equipment, including buildings, and also the setting out of a large number of trees. It is a part of the old Robert Lucas farm.
Mr. Casebeer is now practically retired and his son Robert handles the farm. In politics he is a republican, and is a member of the Methodist Church.
In 1866 Mr. Casebeer married Miss Mary Weich- man. She died in 1870, leaving no children. On December 26, 1871, he married Jelania Lucas. She was born in Delaware County, Ohio, April 27, 1856, a daughter of Robert and Amy (Cravens) Lucas. Her mother was born in Greene County, Pennsyl- vania, January 3, 1833, and they were married June 6, 1852. When Mrs. Casebcer was two years old her parents moved to Kinderhook, Michigan, and when she was nine years old came to Nevada Mills, In- diana. Robert Lucas owned the Nevada Mills, being associated in that enterprise with his father, Israel Lucas. Israel Lucas' wife was named Betsey Eliza- beth Lucas, and both died near Fremont. Mrs. Case- beer's father finally bought 166 acres, on part of which Mr. and Mrs. Casebeer now live. The farm buildings stood south of the present Casebeer im- provements. Robert Lucas died here in 1888, at the age of fifty-six, and his widow survived until June 18, 1911, when she was seventy-eight years, five months and fifteen days old. Their children were Jelania, Thomas, who died at the age of two years, Israel, Joseph, who died at the age of twenty-seven, Jefferson, who died at the age of four years, and Frank, Bell and Jay, the last also deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Casebeer had five children. Jennie May, the oldest, is the wife of Oscar Spade, and their eight children are named Carl, Harvey, Mabel, Ethel, Blanche, Duly, Nellie and Florence. Lee, the second child, married Jennie Nutt, and their family consists of Nola, Edgar, Mildred, Walter, Margaret, and one son, Elmer, who died at the age of four
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years. Allie is the wife of Roy Van Fossen, and was the mother of two children, Arlene, who grad- uated from the Orland High School in 1919, and Wayne, who died in July, 1918, at the age of twelve years. Amy, the fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. Case- beer, is the wife of William Kellum and has two children, Coine and Cecil. The youngest of the family is Robert, on the home farm. He married Lucy Havens and has a daughter, Lucile. The two married grandchildren of Mr. Casebeer are Edgar Casebeer and Mildred. Edgar married Emma Tyler and has a son, Warren. Mildred is the wife of Clarence Beck, and her daughter is named Elnora.
FRANK W. WILLIS, whose honorable career as soldier, journalist, business man, and public official, is familiar to the people of DeKalb County, and especially to those of Waterloo, of which town he was one of the foremost citizens, was born in Syra- cuse, New York, June 13, 1842, and died at his home in Waterloo, Indiana, May 19, 1913, at the age of seventy years, eleven months and six days. He was a son of Henry and Emerline (Hewitt) Willis, and came to this county in 1844 when his parents located on a tract of land in Richland Township, where they resided until 1864, at which time they removed to Waterloo, when the senior Mr. Willis was elected sheriff of DeKalb County. Frank W. Willis was reared on the farm belonging to his father and attended the common schools. In addition to this he attended the schools at Au- burn and Waterloo, and also spent some time at the Orland Seminary. At the age of eighteen years he offered his services to the United States at the time of the Civil war outbreak and enlisted as a member of Company K, Forty-fourth Indiana Vol- unteer Infantry, serving his country for over three years. During these years of service he spent the best part of his life for his country and engaged in the battles of Shiloh, Chickamauga, Stone's River and other important engagements, and was wounded three different times, but was always ready to do his duty as a soldier.
After his discharge Mr. Willis was appointed assistant assessor and deputy collector of the tenth congressional district, by William Pitt Fessender, secretary of the treasury under President Johnson. For four years he discharged his duties in this ca- pacity with the full satisfaction of his superiors. Soon after the war he commenced to practice be- fore the Department of the Interior, and as a claim agent secured many pensions for old soldiers and their widows. He was well known among the sol- diers of the county and elsewhere, and had many comrades who thought of him during his illness and were kind to him. After his return from the army he was stricken with violent illness and at times suffered greatly, due to his exposure in the service for his country. At times regaining his health, he thought that he would become stronger, and for a number of years was much improved, but after the fire of 1896 he again lost his health, and from that date gradually failed, although he held on to life always with a tenacious grip, and his sturdy constitution gave him courage to live as long as he could, until he had passed the three score years and ten. Many a time he seemed cheerful when he was suffering from severe pain. He en- joyed his home and reared a large family. On Jan- uary 1, 1884, Mr. Willis formed a partnership with E. P. Dickinson, and the new firm bought out the Waterloo Press, then owned by C. K. Baxter. For a number of years Mr. Willis had editorial charge of the paper and later bought out the interests of his partner and continued The Press, being in edi- torial charge until the time of his death. In 1867
he purchased the book store of H. K. Davis and with C. K. Baxter, purchasing that of T. Y. Dick- inson, the two then consolidated their business un- der the firm name of Baxter and Willis. In De- cember, 1868, Henry Willis, father of the late de- ceased, purchased the interest in the book store of Mr. Baxter, and the firm was then known as Wil- lis & Company, and remained so until 1896, when in February of that year their business was de- stroyed by fire, including that of the Waterloo Press. It was at this time that Frank W. Willis and his son, Herbert C., formed a partnership and continued the publication of the Waterloo Press, and also succeeded the firm of Willis & Company in the book and stationery business, Henry Willis then retiring from active business on account of his age. From the time of his entering the news- paper business Mr. Willis was actively identified with the general interests of the county and com- munity, and always conducted an editorial column in the paper up to the time of his last illness.
In the fall of 1894 he was elected to the state leg- islature as representative from this county, being elected by the largest majority ever accorded a re- publican in this county to that office. After serving for two years, during which time he was foremost in the passage of good legislation, he retired from active politics, but was always active in the inter- ests of his party until his health failed to such an extent that he could no longer take active part in the work. However, he was very forceful in his editorial writings, and was ardently enthusiastic in advocating his party principles as long as he be- lieved them right.
When a young man Mr. Willis joined the Pres- byterian Church of Waterloo, and remained an ac- tive member up to the time of his death. He was an elder in the church for nearly forty years and never missed attending services when he was at home and not detained by illness. As a worker in the Sunday school, he was a teacher fifty years. He also served as superintendent for many years, and took part in Sunday school conventions in the county, and, in earlier years, in the state conven- tions.
Among the many beautiful tributes to the life, work and character of Mr. Willis was the follow- ing from John B. Stoll, the veteran journalist of South Bend and life-long friend of the deceased : "He was what I considered the ideal country news- paper man-discreet, vigilant, intelligent, consid- erate, conscientious, patriotic. His death is a dis- tinctive loss to the newspaper fraternity, as well as to the community, which for many years enjoyed the benefit of his inspiring example and his well directed efforts for civic righteousness and the moral uplift. Though now numbered among the dead, his splendid record as a man, citizen and pa- triot will live long in the memory of those who prize nobility of purpose as cardinal virtues of man."
It is eminently fitting that there should be incor- porated in this memoir the splendid tribute paid the deceased by his son and business associate. "In the passing away of the senior editor of this paper the community loses one of its oldest citizens, and a man who has been identified with public interests to a very large extent. As a man he lived a life that stood for itself. No comment is necessary as to his character. He was possessed with Christian character that stood foremost in his life. Since a young man he was interested in Sunday school and church work and was active up to the time of his last illness. As a soldier, his active service stands as a tribute to his loyalty to his country. As a man for right he was always found unflinching for all
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that was good and honorable. As a business part- ner the writer has been actively associated with him for the past seventeen years, and during all that time has been in such close relationship that he knew him better than anyone else outside the immediate family circle. As a parent for over two score years, the writer knows that he has always been kind and loving and had a desire that his children should be trained in honorable paths, and that they should live such lives that they would be as ready to be called to their eternal homes as he was. During the twenty-nine years that he has been at the editorial head of this paper he has been honest in his editorial opinions, and while there have been many incidents that perhaps have been left uncovered in his editorial writings, his scope has been so general that it was made plain where he stood on all the important subjects of the day. His writings have been widely copied, and no doubt he will be missed from among the journalists of the state. All the years that he has been broken in health he has done his part in making life cheer- ful, not only to himself, but others as well. The close association in business causes a grief on the part of the writer that hut few can understand. It is hard to fight life's battles, and it is hard to give them up. He has fought for his life and was ready to give up at the call of the Master. He was a good man and no one can dispute that he has been con- sistent in his life's habits, and that he had the con- fidence of his friends, and those with whom he had done business. The end came like a shock, and while it has been known for some time that he could not get well, yet while there was life there was hope, and at last that hope vanished. There might be no more fitting tribute to be paid a father by a son than to say he has been a good father and one who has done all he could in rearing a family of nine children, all of whom today survive."
On September 27, 1868, Mr. Willis was united in marriage with Josephine Dickinson, who was born in Auburn, Indiana, on May 17, 1850, the daughter of Timothy R. and Mary (Youngman) Dickinson, her father having been at one time one of the most prominent attorneys in DeKalb County. During the Civil war he was drafting officers for this coun- ty, and thus filled a very difficult position, which inevitably aroused animosity and enmity among many, especially those southern sympathizers who then infested this locality and who assaulted him with stones, eggs and other missiles, so that at times it was necessary for him to be guarded by his friends. He was even asked hy a committee from his church to resign his membership because of his strong anti-slavery views, but he was fearless and upright, stood staunchly for freedom and the per- petuity of the national union. Soon after the war he bought a tract of land north of Waterloo, and laid it out, naming it Waterloo cemetery and in- corporating an association to own and control it. There have been several additions to this cemetery, the last one being laid out by Frank W. Willis. Probably twice as many people have been buried there as comprise the present population of Wa- terloo. For awhile Mr. Dickinson practiced law in Auburn, but eventually moved to Waterloo, where he lived during the remainder of his life. Mrs. Willis, who lived at home until her marriage to Mr. Willis, had attended Oberlin College, and also had received some academic instruction. To Mr. and Mrs. Willis were born nine children, six sons and three daughters, namely: Herbert Clyde, who was his father's business partner and associate for a number of years, and who is now editor and own- er of the Waterloo Press; Mary Gertrude, wife of James P. Hornaday, newspaper correspondent at
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