History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 125

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 125
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 125
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 125
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 125

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HON. JOHN B. HOWE. He whose name heads this article was among the foremost men of Northern Indiana-a pioneer of pioneers-a man of intellect and heart, of whom the world has none too many. The village name was changed in memory of his life and career here, it formerly being called Lima. Mr. Howe was born of English parents in the City of Boston, March 3, 1813, was destined by force of character, and by natural ability, to achieve a great place in the annals of Indiana. His father, the Rev. James B. Howe, an eloquent minister of the Epis- copal Church and his beloved mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Badlam, were Puritans, who gave fair education to their children. The father was a graduate of Harvard College, and an earnest advo- cate of education and morals. Stephen Badlam was brigadier general of militia, who joined the Colonial Army in 1775, and the following year, as major of artillery, took possession July 4, of the point which, from the circumstances, was named Mount Inde- pendence. After the war he located at Dorchester, where he became magistrate, and a deacon of the church. At the age of sixteen, John B. Howe en- tered Trinity College, from which institution he graduated at the age of nineteen. This was in 1832 and in the autumn of that year he went to Detroit, thence to Marshall, Michigan, and in 1833 he moved to Lima. He had read law in Michigan, and was subsequently admitted to the bar, and for a number of years practiced with success. . In later years he took up banking for an occupation. He was the author of numerous books-several volumes on Political Economy and Finance. He was a member of the Indiana State Legislature in 1840, represent- ing the counties of Steuben, DeKalb, Noble and La- Grange; and in 1850, was a member of the Indiana State Constitutional Convention, at which time he, as a whig, advocated measures regarding the slave, identical with those afterward adhered to by the majority of justices in the Dred Scott Decision.

In 1846 Mr. Howe was married to Miss Frances Gidden of New Hampshire, who was born in 1825. They lived a beautiful and happy life till overtaken by old age. It was Mr. Howe who accomplished much toward the many educational institutions of Lima, including the private and public high schools. The present Howe Military School, of Howe, was founded largely by a bequest of his in 1884 and added to by his wife later. (See history of this school in Educational chapter.)

Mr. Howe died January 22, 1883, and his remains, with those of his wife are deposited beneath the Chapel of the Episcopal Church at Howe.

CHARLES EDWIN BRANT, who while his duties keep him on the road traveling, spends little of his time

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in Northeast Indiana, is member of an old and prom- inent family of LaGrange County and was born in the City of LaGrange December 18, 1879. He was educated in local public schools, attended the Univer- sity of Wisconsin, and was in the drug business, the line which his father followed for so many years until 1907. He then joined his half-brother, S. A. Brant, a well known publisher at Madison, Wiscon- sin. For a time he was also with the S. J. Clark Publishing Company of Chicago. From 1913 to 1916 he lived at Cherokee, Iowa, and was director of the Cherokee Concert Band. Since then he has been connected with the Brant Publishing business. He is independent in politics and is a member of the Delta Gamma Chapter of the Delta Tau Delta Fra- ternity in the University of Wisconsin.

December 26, 1907, he married Miss Enid E. Duff, daughter of W. H. and Harriet (Keith) Duff of LaGrange. She was born at Lima, now Howe, In- diana, December 26, 1885, and was educated in the schools of LaGrange, the Terre Haute Normal.

The late Charles A. Brant, father of Charles E. Brant, died December 23, 1911. He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 31, 1829, a son of Jabez and Arminda (Kirby) Brant. His youth was spent in various occupations, mostly farming, and he had a good common school education. In 1855 he married Armina Ensign and in March of the follow- ing year moved to Decatur County, Iowa, where he engaged in farming. In 1862 he returned east to Michigan and in 1863 settled at LaGrange, where for eleven years he made his headquarters while in business as a traveling salesman. In 1875 he estab- lished himself in the drug business at LaGrange, and followed that until within a few years of his death. He was succeeded by his son Charles E. Brant.

His first wife died September 4, 1866, the mother of four children, only two of whom reached mature years, Selwyn A., the Wisconsin publisher, and Ad- die M., deceased (wife of Dr. C. A. Seymoure), of Wawaka, Indiana. On July 1, 1873, Charles A. Brant married Louisa V. Chase, who is still living and Charles E. Brant is their only child. The late Charles A. Brant was always a democrat in politics, was member of the Town Council and affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Mrs. Charles A. Brant is a Presbyterian, and is now living in San Jose, Cali- fornia. She was born in Illinois April 3, 1846, a daughter of Rufus B. Chase.

ROBERT M. WADDELL was born in Wabash County, Indiana, the son of Dr. Charles and Alice (Hosmer) Waddell. His father was a soldier in the war for the Union. Both of his parents are dead. He came to LaGrange in 1884, attended the public schools and while in school was employed in the newspaper of- fices of the town. His newspaper activities include a year with the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Herald, a morning daily, and several years as the managing editor of the Evening News, a daily, and the News and Express, a weekly, at Cadillac, Michigan, Hon. Perry F. Powers, the owner, prominent in Michigan politics, being absent from home much of the time. Mr. Waddell returned to LaGrange in 1906 and has since been connected with the Standard.

He is a republican in politics, a member of the LaGrange board of education, secretary of the repub- lican county committee and president of the Corn School Week. He belongs to the Masonic lodge.

Mr. Waddell is married and the father of three children. Mrs. Waddell is a daughter of Captain and Mrs. Samuel P. Bradford, the former a soldier in the war for the Union and for eight years clerk of the LaGrange Circuit Court. Mrs. Waddell was educated in the LaGrange public schools and in St. Mary's Academy at Notre Dame, Indiana. The chil-

dren are Ruth Marian, Rose Marjorie and Robert M. Waddell, Jr., all students in the LaGrange public schools.

Mr. Waddell was publicity chairman in connection with all of the World war drives in LaGrange County, was chairman of the first war organization, and in connection with this work has spoken in nearly every voting precinct in LaGrange County at public meetings.

WILLIAM KLINE has spent his life in Huntington and LaGrange counties, was reared and trained to farming, and though identified with other pursuits for a number of years he finally answered a call back to the land and recently moved to one of the good farms in Springfield Township of LaGrange County.

He was born in Huntington County September 13, 1858, a son of Peter M. and Lucetta (Sellers) Kline. His parents were both natives of Pennsylvania, his father born in 1822 and his mother in 1828 near Har- risburg. After their marriage in Pennsylvania they moved to Perry County, Ohio, and from there to Huntington County, Indiana. They arrived in Huntington County when the present City of Hunt- ington contained only a few houses. They were farmers in that section of Indiana the rest of their lives. Peter Kline died in 1892 and his wife in 1914. He was a republican and very active in the party and he and his wife were members of the Christian Church, formerly identified with the New Light branch of that church. In their family were eleven children, Rebecca, James, Samuel, Sarah Ann, Peter, Lucetta, John, Levi, Mary Jane, William and Amos.

William Kline attended the public schools of Hunt- ington County, was reared on a farm, had his first trials in agriculture in that county, and in 1896 moved to LaGrange. Here he followed different occupa- tions for several years and for eight years was town marshal. In the spring of 1919 he bought a farm of 781/3 acres in Springfield Township. This is a part of the Prentiss farm and is land once owned by Leslie Appleman. Mr. Kline does general farming and stock raising and during his first year showed the quality of his experience and ability as a farmer in the fine crops he raised. He has good buildings, rich soil, and is in a position to enjoy independence and comfort. Politically he is a republican.

In 1896 he married Mrs. Margaret C. Mygrants of LaGrange. They have one son Lea A., born May 13, 1904, and now being educated in the public schools of LaGrange.

FREDERICK JACOB BROWN. For a great many years the Brown family have been one of splendid initi- ative, business energy and progressive character in the citizenship of LaGrange. There were several Brown brothers who did important things in the up- building of the city. One of the present generation is Frederick Jacob Brown, for many years a promi- nent druggist in the city.

Frederick J. Brown was born at LaGrange August II, 1871, is a graduate of the LaGrange High School and took the pharmacy course at Northwestern University in Chicago. He entered the drug busi- ness in June, 1896, and has continued it without in- terruption for twenty-three years. He is a repub- lican, is interested in local affairs, is a member of the LaGrange School Board, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family attend the Presbyterian Church of which his wife is a member.

June 29, 1899, he married Miss Mary Catherine Roy. She was born in Clear Spring Township, La- Grange County, October 3, 1873, a daughter of William and Mary Catherine (Musser) Roy. Her father was born in LaGrange County in 1848, a son

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of Charles and Jane Gray (Oliver) Roy. The Roys were among the early settlers of Springfield Town- ship, where Charles Roy bought a farm of 240 acres and cleared up most of the land and made it produc- tive and valuable. He and his wife both died there. William Roy also acquired a farm in Clear Spring Township. As a youth he did his part as a soldier in the Civil war and for many years was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic. He was a republican, served as trustee of Clear Spring Town- ship, and many other facts are remembered to his credit. He and his wife were married November 7, 1867, and he died October 8, 1902, while Mrs. Brown's mother passed away March 17, 1917. She was a member of the Methodist Church. In the Roy family were six children: Irva, deceased wife of R. L. Thompson; Jennie, unmarried; Jessie, wife of H. S. Zimmerman; Mary Catherine, Mrs. Brown; Harry E .; and Edith, wife of A. W. Davidson.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown had four children: Sarah Margaret, born September 29, 1902, now a senior in the LaGrange High School; Jacob S., born Decem- ber 18, 1905, who is in the first year of his high school work; William Roy, born August 5, 1911 ; and Barbara, born April 13, 1914.

The father of the LaGrange druggist was the late Jacob S. Brown. His father, Abijah Brown, was born at Adams, Vermont, May 30, 1799. When a boy his parents moved to Herkimer County, New York, where the father and mother of Abijah died. Abijah at the age of twenty-one married Maria Shoff. In 1826 he settled in Allegany County, New York, and in 1838 moved to Huron County, Ohio. He had bought land in LaGrange County as early as 1845. However, it was not until 1865 that he dis- posed of his property in Ohio and joined his family in LaGrange County. On December 30, 1867, his wife died in this county and he survived her less than five years, passing away January 8, 1872, both are buried in the LaGrange Cemetery. Abijah Brown and wife had seven children: Electa, Ira W., Charlotte L., Jacob S., Julia M., Adrian D. and one that died in infancy.

Jacob S. Brown was born in New York State May 22, 1829, and grew up in Huron County, Ohio. In the fall of 1854 at the age of twenty-five he came to Indiana and located near the south line of Bloom- field Township. Here he established the first steanı sawmill in Johnson Township. The following spring liis brother Ira W. came out from Ohio, and they shared the responsibility of operating the mill for two years. Jacob then sold out his share in the property and went back to Ohio, where for three years he followed farming. His younger brother Adrian who was born in Huron County, Ohio, De- cember 17, 1840, came to LaGrange County in 1865, and in the summer of the same year as noted above Abijah Brown and his son Ira bought the Boyd property. In the spring of 1867 Adrian and his father engaged in the drug business. Thus Frederick Jacob Brown as a druggist is in a measure continu- ing a business that has been in the family for half a century or more. Adrian and his father continued as druggists until the winter of 1871, when Jacob S. succeeded to his father's place. About that time Jacob, Ira and Adrian Brown began the erection of the Brown Hotel Building, which was completed in the spring of 1872. A four-story brick block 48 by 100 feet with basement, it stood as the largest and most conspicuous improvement in the business dis- trict of LaGrange for several years. The building was leased, the lower rooms being occupied by bus- iness firms. In one of them Jacob S. and Adrian Brown continued their drug business, while the bank occupied another part of the building. This struc- ture was destroyed by fire January 7, 1877, entailing

a loss of over $18,000. In 1878 the ground was divided and Jacob S. and Adrian D. began the im- provement of their holdings, constructing what has ever since been known as the Brown Block. Adrian D. took the north lot 22 by 100 feet, while Jacob acquired the three lower lots, 22 by 80 feet. The second story of the Jacob S. Brown building con- tains Brown Hall, the best hall in town, with a seat- ing capacity of 800. This was one of many evidences of the progressiveness of the Brown brothers as business men and property improvers in LaGrange. After Jacob S. Brown left the drug business he was a grocery merchant, and finally sold out all his mer- cantile holdings and lived retired. He was very successful though his prosperity had come to him largely after he was fifty years of age. He died October 27, 1906.

On May 11, 1856, he married for his first wife Elizabeth Ingraham. Of their five children only two grew up: Ellen M., who was educated in the LaGrange High School and the County Normal School, was a successful teacher, later for some years was employed with the George P. Bent Piano Com- pany in Chicago, and is now living at Highland Park, Illinois, unmarried; and Catherine E., who is the wife of Ira White, for many years a druggist in South Bend, and they have a daughter Jane, wife of William Duff, Jr., of LaGrange.

Jacob S. Brown and his second wife, who died January 5, 1917, aged seventy-two, had two children : Frederick J. and Caroline G., the latter the wife of Dr. H. B. Roberts and lives at Highland Park, Illinois.

Adrian D. Brown married Helena C. Chamberlain, a sister of his brother's wife. They had five chil- dren, Guy C., Harold, Mabel, Thaddeus and Char- . lotta, who is now deceased.

ROBERT BRUCE STEAD, who is one of the leading automobile salesmen in Northern Indiana, with home at LaGrange, was born in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County March 11, 1863, son of Jacob Pickett and Nancy Elizabeth (Elya) Stead, the for- mer a native of England and the latter of New York State. The paternal grandparents were William T. and Hannah (Pickett) Stead, both born about seven miles from Leeds, Yorkshire, England. During the '3os they came to America and from White Pigeon, Michigan, settled in Greenfield Township, 'where William T. Stead died in 1867, when about seventy- three years of age, his wife having passed away in 1863. Their children were William, John, Thomas, George, Hannah, Joseph, Robert and Pickett. Jacob Pickett Stead grew up in LaGrange County, had a public school education, and owned a farm of eighty acres in Greenfield Township, now known as the Garletts farm. In 1873 he sold that place and moved to Mongo, and his wife died there in 1877. After that he lived in Greenfield Township until his death on February 19, 1905. He was for about fifteen years an extensive stock dealer. Politically he was a democrat, member of Orland Lodge of Masons, and one of the well known citizens of the county. His wife Nancy Elizabeth Elya was a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Green) Elya, who came from New York to LaGrange County in 1847 and settled in Springfield Township. David Elya was a carpenter by trade, and he and his two brothers-in-law, Francis Smith and Nathan Green, also carpenters, worked together and erected many of the old houses, barns and other buildings in Springfield and Springfield Township and also in Steuben County. Jacob Pickett Stead and wife had three children, Willis, the oldest, born in 1861 and dying in 1867; Robert Bruce was the second in age; Matilda was born December 6. 1870, became the wife of Harley Anderson. Her

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two children were Charles, a farmer in Greenfield Township, who married a daughter of B. F. Swihart; and Lulu, wife of C. E. Truby. Mrs. Matilda An- derson died in 1896.

Robert Bruce Stead lived in Greenfield Township until he was ten years of age, and then lived at Mongo. He attended the public schools there. Since October, 1884, his home has been in Springfield Township. In 1887 he engaged in the mercantile business at Brushy Prairie and in 1891 rented the farm of Griffith F. Hall, his father-in-law, and con- tinued farming until 1904. In the spring of that year he left the farm and became a salesman for the Belleville Foundry Company of Belleville, Illinois, and was on the road for that company for eleven years. In 1915 he began selling automobiles for the LaGrange Auto Company. Mr. Stead is a republican in politics.

October 30, 1886, he married Miss Florence Mabel Hall, who was born in Springfield Township October 10, 1870. Her father Griffith Foos Hall was born in Clark County, Ohio, April 2, 1832, a son of Will- iam and Lucinda (Hall) Hall. Griffith Hall was brought to Springfield Township by his parents in 1835 and grew up in the Brushy Prairie community. As a young man with a capital of $1,000 he moved to Cass County, Michigan, and contracted for a $10,000 farm. Through misfortune he was com- pelled to lose his investment and returned to Springfield Township with only $600. In 1860 he hought 256 acres north of Brushy Prairie, adjoining the village, built a fine brick house, the first of its kind in the township, and was always known as one of the substantial men of that community. His first wife was Lucinda Bradford, daughter of Elder Bradford. They were married in 1857 and had three children, Charles, Franklin and Lucinda, all of whom are now deaceased.

On December 31, 1865, Mr. Hall married Mrs. Mary A. Appleman, a daughter of David L. Poppino and widow of John W. Appleman. To their second marriage were born two children, the second dying in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Stead had two children. Frank C., born August 27, 1887, was educated in the Spring- field Township High School, is a farmer by occupa- tion but is now a salesman for the LaGrange Auto Company. December 25, 1905, he married Miss Dona Parr, who was born in Steuben County May 30, 1887, a daughter of John and Sylvia Parr of Kendallville. They have one child, Basil, born November 7, 1906. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. Stead was Bessie born December 1, 1898, and died February 8, 1900.

CLAUDE L. CARPENTER. Many of the government officials, especially those in charge of the postoffices of the country, have been appointed to these re- sponsible positions as an honorable reward for party service rendered, but in no instance are they thus chosen unless fitted for the work in question and having the endorsement of the responsible men of their community. Claude L. Carpenter, postmaster of Pleasant Lake, Indiana, is one of the most effi- cient young men of Steuben County, and his selec- tion for this office met with almost universal ap- proval not only from the men of his own party but those of the opposing forces, who recognized his capabilities and sterling integrity. The original appointment was secured by civil service examina- tion in competition.

Claude L. Carpenter was born at Pleasant Lake, Steuben County, Indiana, June 26, 1883, a son of Joseph J. Carpenter, grandson of John Carpenter, great-grandson of Thomas Carpenter, and great- great-grandson of John Carpenter. The last named gentleman was born in Virginia, and had the mis-

fortune to be captured by the Indians about 1750. As was the custom in those days, he had turned his horses loose in the woods, and went out to get them, when he was surprised by a band of hostile redskins and taken prisoner. They bound his hands with a leather strap, still preserved as a trophy by the Carpenter family, and led him away with his two horses. After they had journeyed about 150 miles, during which time John Carpenter learned that they proposed to take him to their village still several days' journey away, where he would be put to the torturous Indian death, and, watching his opportunity, he effected his own escape while the vigilance of his captors was relaxed, and also of his horses. Although the territory was entirely strange to him and he was without compass, his knowledge of woodcraft was such that he made his way back over the 150 miles, through dense forests a portion of the way, and crossed the Ohio River just one-half mile away from the point over which the Indians had taken him. His son, Thomas Carpenter, was born in a rail pen, near Marietta, Ohio, and is supposed to have been the first white child of the male sex born on this side of the Ohio River.

John Carpenter, son of Thomas Carpenter and grandson of John Carpenter of Virginia, was born in Coshocton County, Ohio, and his wife, who bore the maiden name of Sarah Casey, was born in Jef- ferson County, Ohio. After his marriage John Car- penter became a farmer of Defiance County, Ohio, and there he died in 1894, and his widow in 1904. Their children were as follows: William, Hannah, Poe, Ellen, John, Donia, Joseph J., and Susan.

Of the above named children, Joseph J. Carpen- ter is the father of Claude L. Carpenter, postmaster of Pleasant Lake, and his birth occurred in De- fiance County, Ohio, December 3, 1854, while his wife, whom he married in 1882, was born in the same county, she having been Nellie J. Barr prior to her marriage, a daughter of James and Lucy (Close) Barr. Their children were as follows: Claude L., Nina M., Clair J., William B., and John W. In 1882 Joseph J. Carpenter came to Steuben County, Indiana, and, locating at Pleasant Lake, conducted a livery business here for about nine years, but in 1891 sold it and went back to Ohio. In the early part of 1897 he returned to Steuben County and bought a farm in Salem Township, which he conducted until February, 1908, when he sold this property and moved to Michigan, leaving it in De- cember, 1909, to go to Virginia for two years. Once more he returned to Steuben Township, and is now engaged in operating his farm of forty acres in section 22, Stenben Township.

Claude L. Carpenter was reared at Pleasant Lake. where he received his intellectual training for a period, supplementing it with attendance upon the schools of Ohio and those of Salem Township, and completing his studies in the high school of Hudson. When he attained his majority he began farming in Salem Township, from which he moved after two years to Steuben Township and spent two years more. In October, 1909, Mr. Carpenter went to a farm in the vicinity of Newport News, Virginia, and was there engaged in business for four years, but left in January, 1913, to locate permanently at Pleas- ant Lake. While he was in Virginia he was a gen- eral salesman for the Auto Tread Company, his territory embracing Maryland, Virginia and North and South Carolina. For the first two years after his return to Pleasant Lake he was connected with the Lake Shore Railroad, leaving it to accept ap- pointment as postmaster of Pleasant Lake on Oc- tober 16, 1914. At that time the office belonged in the fourth class, but through his efforts the business

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was so increased that it was put in the third class. He received the presidential appointment from President Wilson December 20, 1916, and has since continued in office.

On July 3, 1904, Mr. Carpenter was united in mar- riage with Leona Odessie Ransburg, a daughter of George W. Ransburg. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have the following children: Ruth V., who was born May II, 1906; Frances O., who was born August 19, 1913; and Robert L., who was born July 18, 1916. Mr. Carpenter is a Mason. He has lived up to the best conceptions of manhood, and has rendered his government efficient and valuable service in his present position, as well as in a private capacity during the late war. He and his family, from which three brothers went into the army to fight against Germany, are recognized as being 100 per cent loyal Americans.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 125

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