History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 22

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 22
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 22
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 22
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 22

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).

Frank M. Tuttle attended the district schools of Steuben Township, and was then given the addi- tional advantage of two terms at Angola Academy. After attaining his majority he began farming on the old Tuttle homestead, where he remained until 1902, leaving it in that year to go to Colorado. Since then he has made five trips to that state, crossing the Rocky Mountains ten times. With the exception of these trips Mr. Tuttle has spent his entire life in Steuben Township. In the spring of 1919 he sold the Tuttle homestead and bought his present farm, one mile west of Pleasant Lake, which he is devoting to general farming.

In 1882 Mr. Tuttle was married first to Dora Lower, a daughter of Jacob Lower, and they had three children, Clair V., Carrol H., and Lower, the latter of whom died at the age of three months. Mrs. Tuttle died in 1901, and Mr. Tuttle was later married to Mildred Lemon, a daughter of Bert Lemon. Mr. Tuttle belongs to the Baptist Church of Pleasant Lake and gives it a generous support of time and money. He is prominent as a Mason and Knight of Pythias, taking a sincere interest in both fraternities. Since locating at Pleasant Lake he has become one of its representative citizens, and is ready to lend his influence to bring about any necessary improvements. An experienced farmer, he has known how to make his efforts yield him a good profit, and at the same time raise the standard for his neighborhood.

WALTER A. Ross has spent his life in Northeast Indiana and owns one of the many excellent farms found in this part of the state. While he never attended a scientific school of agriculture, Mr. Ross has made a thorough study of agricultural methods, illustrated in the splendid farm of which he is proprietor, known as Maple Shade Stock Farm, comprising 187 acres. This farm is two and a half miles west of Wolcottville on the county line, with thirty acres in Orange Township of Noble County.

Mr. Ross was born in Noble County, near Brim- field, November 13, 1870, son of William and Mary (Bear) Ross. His father was born in Morrow County, Ohio, in 1833, while his mother was a na-

tive of Pennsylvania. They were married in Mor- row County, then moved to Noble County, Indiana, and settled near Brimfield, and the father spent the rest of his life there as a farmer. The mother is still living on the old homestead. She is a mem- ber of the Mennonite Church and the father was a democrat. Of their six children three died young. Frank is a farmer in Orange Township, and Jennie is the wife of George Strater, of Wayne Township, Noble County.

Walter A. Ross grew up on the old farm, at- tended country schools and the schools at Brim- field, and lived at home to the age of twenty-one. He worked out by the year and by hard work, thrifty saving and good management accumulated the capital which finally enabled him to purchase eighty acres of his present splendid farm, where he has lived since April, 1905.

In 1892 Mr. Ross married Addie E. Dallas. She was born on the farm where she now lives, a daughter of James and Eliza E. (Young) Dallas. Mr. and Mrs. Ross have five children, who are an honor to their parents. Cecil D., the oldest, grad- uated from high school, spent three years in the Indiana State University, and was a teacher in the high school in Iowa when he enlisted, in June, 1917, in the Army Ambulance Service. He was assigned to duty with the French army and was overseas for sixteen, months. He received his honorable discharge April 15, 1919. He saw real fighting, and was in the battle of Argonne, where the Americans gained the greatest triumph of the war, and in the Champagne offensive and defensive. Elmer, the second son, is a graduate of Purdue and has taken a mechanical engineering course in Pur- due University. The three youngest children are Robert, Margaret and Raymond, the two former in the grammar schools. Mr. Ross is affiliated with Ionic Lodge No. 380, Free and Accepted Masons, of which his sons Cecil and Elmer are also mem- bers. He is a past master of this lodge and is past worthy patron of the Eastern Star, of which his wife is a member. The Maple Shade Stock Farm has gained considerable local note for its spotted Poland China hogs.

FRANK F. LEWIS is the fortunate owner of one of the well cultivated and valuable farms of Steuben County, land that has responded to his efforts as an agriculturist for a number of years. He was for- merly a traveling man, but in the environment of his farm has found that true contentment and pros- perity that is associated with the ownership of a portion of Indiana soil.

He was born at Orland August 29, 1869, and is a son of Hiram and Sallie Jeanette (Fuller) Lewis and grandson of Harvey and Elizabeth (Bassett) Lewis. His grandparents were early settlers in Salem Township of Steuben County, the land they owned and developed being now owned by the widow of their son, Dwight Lewis. Harvey Lewis returned to New York State for a time, but after 1855 lived in Steuben County until his death. He and his wife had the following children: Hiram M., Newel Pomeroy, Laura Ann, Frank B. and Dwight B.

Hiram Lewis was born in Coventry County, New York, in 1834. He acquired his education in New York and also in the Northeastern Indiana Institute at Orland. He was a teacher in the early days at Orland. By trade he was a carpenter, and he con- structed the old boarding hall connected with the academy at Orland, and was a carpenter for the Kimball buildings on East Street, the two buildings now the hotel and bakery, and the homes of Hib- bard Roberts, Ziba Roberts and John Roberts. A

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

very busy man always, he lived a brief but simple life and died in 1873, at the age of thirty-nine. He was a republican and his wife was a charter mem- ber of the Congregational Church at Orland. His wife was born in 1842 in Branch County, Michigan, in a log house along the banks of Gilead Lake. She survived her husband forty years, passing away in 1913, at the age of seventy-one. He had two sons, Homer, who died at the age of six months, and Frank.

Frank F. Lewis attended the public schools of Orland, graduated from the high school in 1887, and soon took up the business of traveling salesman. For fifteen years he sold buggies and did business in twenty-six states and in parts of Canada. In 19II he returned to Steuben County and resumed farming and stock dealing. In 1904 he bought fifty acres, erected a good farm home in 1907, and also a barn, which was subsequently burned and replaced by a large and well appointed structure in 1915. Mr. Lewis now owns 176 acres in Millgrove Township. He is a republican in politics and has been affiliated with the lodge of Odd Fellows at Orland for the past twenty-four years.

November 27, 1890, he married Anna Carrie Twitchell. She was born in Jackson Township of Steuben County, September 22, 1869, a daughter of George and Laura (Scoville) Twitchell, and a granddaughter of Benjamin and Sabria (Rogers) Twitchell, the former born in 1805 and the latter in 1804, a daughter of Jonathan Rogers. Benjamin Twitchell and wife came to Steuben County in 1836, being among the earliest pioneers. He was a brother of Jonas Twitchell, Sr., one of the very first set- tlers in the county. Benjamin Twitchell was a blacksmith in Orland and also bought forty acres of land in Millgrove Township and another farm of 120 acres in Jackson Township, and died at Orland in 1868. He and his wife had the following chil- dren: Mary Jane, Henry, William, Homer, Betsy Ann, George Warren and Julia Viola. Betsy Ann Twitchell was the first white girl born in Steuben County.

George Twitchell was born in Steuben County in 1840, in Millgrove Township. His wife, Laura Sco- ville, was born in Richland Township in 1843. He was educated in the Northeast Indiana Institute at Orland, was a farmer and bought the old homestead of 120 acres in Millgrove Township. His wife died there in 1899, and he passed away in 19II. He was a republican and a Mason, and his wife was a mem- ber of the Congregational Church at Orland. Mrs. Lewis was one of four children, named Clyde Sco- ville, Anna Carrie, Cora Bell and Bertha Laura.

Mrs. Lewis graduated from the Orland High School, and she and her husband were the first graduates from that school to be married. For some years she was a teacher and she comes of a family of teachers, her brother and sisters having taught, as well as their mother.

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis became the parents of five children. Anna Laura was born December 29, 1891, graduated from the Orland High School in IgII, attended Hillsdale College in 1912-13 and is a milliner by profession, spending two and a half years in her work at Bronson, Michigan. Marion was born in 1893, and died when six and a half years old. Ella Marie was born in December, 1896, and died ten weeks later. Hiram Twitchell, born January 22, 1898, is a graduate of the Orland High School, and lives at home with his father. Clyde Scoville was born January 5, 1901, and has a fine record as an athlete in the Orland High School, having won prizes for running and being a good baseball player.

JOHN W. LONG. One of the rural places that stands out conspicuous for its improvements, extent of acreage, and well ordered management in Noble County is the Ideal Farm in York Township. The farm proper comprises 400 acres, and its proprietor, John W. Long, also owns an additional 152 acres in another part of the township. His home is a mile west of Albion.

That Mr. Long is a very successful farmer and business man needs no proof beyond what has al- ready been stated, but it is interesting to know that he has gained that prosperity practically through his own unaided efforts. He was born in Shelby County, Ohio, January 30, 1860, son of John S. and Delila (Harvey) Long, his father a native of Pennsylvania and his mother of Maryland. They were married in Ohio and on December 23, 1863, located in Elkhart Township of Noble County. The father bought land there and spent the rest of his days in that community. The mother died at the home of her son John W. John S. Long had a farm of a 120 acres. He was a democrat in politics, and he and his wife were active members of the Chris- tian Church. In their family were fourteen children, divided equally between sons and daughters. The five still living are: Sarah, wife of Henry Conway; Permelia, widow of Daniel Whitmore; John W .; George, of Detroit, Michigan; and Frank, of Gar- rett, Indiana.

John W. Long grew up on the home farm in Noble County, acquired a district school education, and at the age of nineteen started out without a dollar and put in the next five years at hard work and monthly wages. In that time he had saved and accumulated a modest capital of $600.

Thus fortified and with some degree of assurance for the future he married Catherine A. Stokes. Mrs. Long inherited forty acres, and they at once moved on that land and began farming. With that excep- tion and with the money Mr. Long had saved before his marriage, all the subsequent prosperity has only been a just reward for their efforts and good judg- ment. Mr. Long has always been a stock raiser. He has also traded a number of farms and has made money in every such transaction. As a stockman he is a breeder of Shorthorn cattle, Poland China hogs and Percheron horses. Besides his farm he is vice president of the Albion Bank, is a stockholder in the Albion Roller Mills, and has a number of other interests that identify him prominently with his locality. On November 5, 1918, he was elected a member at large of the County Council. In politics Mr. Long is a republican.

He and his wife have four children: Fred is a graduate of high school and is a farmer on his own account; Orlando is also an independent farmer ; Reed has a farm at Albion; and Ecil is still attend- ing school.

JAMES C. WICOFF, of Clear Lake Township, has spent his entire life in Steuben County as a pros- perous farmer, a member of one of the old families identified with Northeast Indiana and Northeastern Ohio.

He was born in York Township September 4, 1871, a son of Peter Bruce and Jane (Hathaway) Wicoff. Jane Hathaway was born at Bryan, Ohio, in 1840, a daughter of Richard and Lurinda (Bates) Hatha- way, both natives of Morrow County, Ohio. Richard Hathaway was born in 1813 and his wife in 1818. When their daughter Jane was a small child they moved to Williams County, Ohio, where Richard Hathaway died in 1885 and his wife in 1893. The Hathaway children were: Doctor Calvin; Jane;

MR. AND MRS. JOHN W. LONG

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Doctor Albert, of Ohio; Sarah, wife of Burton Donovan, of Fremont, Indiana; Charles, who was a railroad engineer and was killed while building a road in New Mexico; Horace, of Fremont, In- diana; Caroline, deceased; and Judson, deceased.

The grandfather of James C. Wicoff was John Wicoff, who married Margaret Castle. John Wicoff located in Williams County, Ohio, in 1844, and in 1864 moved to Berrien, Michigan, where Margaret Wicoff died November 21, 1865, at the age of sixty. John Wicoff lived to advanced years and was long a resident of Steuben County.

Peter Bruce Wicoff was born in Holmes County, Ohio, March 12, 1837, went as a boy with his parents to Williams County and was married on June 2, 1864. He and his wife at once removed to Berrien Springs, Michigan, and after one year returned to Williams County and settled in Northwest Town- ship. Four years later they moved to Missouri and then to Kansas. In 1874 they settled in Steuben County on a farm of seventy-five acres in York Township. They later resumed their residence in Kansas, where Peter B. Wicoff owned 160 acres of land. In 1880 they located permanently on a farm in York Township, where Peter Bruce Wicoff died in 1907. His widow is now living at Fremont with a daughter. Peter B. Wicoff was a republi- can, and he and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He had a record as a Union soldier, having enlisted in 1861 in Com- pany H of the Third Ohio Cavalry. He was in service until the close of the war. The record of the children of Peter Bruce Wicoff and wife is as follows: Lurinda is the wife of William Hutchins, of Steuben County. Zoa E., a prominent educator, completed her work in the public schools of Williams County, also attended school in Jewel City, Kansas, the Angola High School, took the scientific course in the Tri-State College at Angola, and for a num- ber of years taught in the country school district of Steuben County, was in the grade school at Crystal, Michigan, and for fourteen years has been con- nected with the schools at Fremont. She owns a fine home in that city. Her mother lives with her. Charles A. Wicoff is a farmer in York Township. He married Mary Reed, and they have seven chil- dren, named Helen, Harold J., Lucile, John, Milton, Arthur and Dale. The fourth of the family is Sarah Wicoff, who attended the State Normal School at Terre Haute, taught in Steuben County and at Angola for six years, and finally went to Battle Creek, Michigan, where she took the nurse's training course and for the past five years has been a trained nurse in the Battle Creek Sanitarium. John R. Wicoff after finishing his work in the Tri-State College taught three years and then took up railroading, and was killed in a railroad accident at Logansport in 1899. He married Sylvia Shertz. The sixth of the family is Harry J., unmarried and owner of a large ranch in Alberta, Canada. Archie B. died at the age of two years.

James C. Wicoff is the youngest of the family. He grew up on the home farm in York Township. attended the public schools, and for a number of years has devoted his best energies to farming. He bought a farm of seventy-five acres in York Township and recently sold that and on March 1, 1918, bought the Sam Bailey place of 100 acres in Clear Lake Township. This is one of the good farms, and under his management its resources are completely devoted to crops and livestock. Mr. Wicoff is a republican and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1908 he married Miss Vera Hall. She was born in Hillsdale County, Michigan, October 21,

1876, a daughter of Thomas and Keziah (Weaver) Hall, formerly residents of York Township, Steu- ben County. Mr. and Mrs. Wicoff have one daugh- ter, Esther, born September 21, 1910.

JONATHAN A. HONTZ. The ownership of 110 acres of land in northeast Indiana constitutes a competence which would satisfy the man of ordinary ambition. In the case of Jonathan A. Hontz the ownership of that body of land in Washington Township of Noble County is the product of his own energies and labors carried on through a period of thirty years or more, since he left home to take up the battle of life on his own account. His farm is nine miles south of Cromwell.

He was born in Sparta Township of the same county November 1I, 1862, and has been a lifelong resident of Noble County. The parents, Jacob and Hannah (Hoak) Hontz, were both born in Ohio, his father in Stark County and his mother in Cham- paign County. Both families came to Noble County in early days, and Jacob and Hannah grew up and married here and then settled on a farm north of Cromwell, but in 1882 moved to the southeastern part of Washington Township, where they spent the rest of their lives. They were good Christian people, hard working and honest, and reared a fam- ily worthy of their names. The father was a demo- crat and quite active in the party. Of eleven children eight are still living: William, of North Webster, Indiana; Jonathan; Jennie, widow of Horace Scott; Daniel S., a dentist at North Web- ster; Harriet A., wife of Noah S. Stump; Lewis C., of Washington township; Effie, wife of Norvel Metz; and Mabel, wife of Joseph Luckey.

Jonathan Hontz attended the district school near his father's home, and after his education took his place in the fields, and lived on the home farm most of the time until he was twenty-eight years old. In September, 1900, he married Pearl C. Todd, who was born in Dallas County, Iowa, but came to Indiana before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Hontz have seven children: Mary O., wife of Leroy ·Ringenberg; Mildred M., who is a student in the high school at Etna, Indiana; Ermel L., Sedrick D., Neva, Mabel L. and Thomas M. The family are members of the Baptist Church and Mr. Hontz is affiliated with Etna Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, he and his wife both being mem- bers of the Rebekah Lodge. In politics he is a democrat.

WILLIAM W. HOSLER. Good citizenship is not measured altogether by a man's success in his own business, but also by the interest he shows and the part he takes in the larger and broader affairs of the community in which he lives. While William W. Hosler is one of the most successful farmers of Orange Township, Noble County, his name is known and respected in that community fully as much for the valuable part he has taken at differ- ent times in the promotion of schools, good roads, and the raising of the standards of country life.

Mr. Hosler is the proprietor of what is known as the Maple Hill Farm, comprising 210 acres, lo- cated two and a half miles east of Brimfield. He has lived in Noble County nearly all his life but was born in Morrow County, Ohio, April 22, 1846, a son of Samuel R. and Barbara (Kifer) Hosler. His parents were married in Ohio, and in 1850 came to Noble County and located in Orange Town- ship, where they were among the industrious and respected citizens the rest of their lives. The mother died in 1910, and the father, who was a re- publican, died in 1915. There were four children:

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

J. H. Hosler, deceased; William W .; Catherine M., wife of Thomas L. Imes; and Ella B., wife of Admiran Imes.

William W. Hosler was four years old when his parents came to Noble County. As a boy he at- tended the district schools, which were then far below the state of efficiency found in the country schools of this day and age. He also attended a commercial college in Chicago. For about a year he was employed as a clerk and bookkeeper at Brimfield, and then returned to the old farm. On December 10, 1874, Mr. Hosler married Mary E. Imes. She was born in Noble County in 1856, and died in 1916, at the age of sixty years. Mr. and Mrs. Hosler had only one daughter, Maude. who was a graduate of high school and spent three years in Oberlin College. She is now the wife of Edward H. Rhoades, of Toledo, Ohio. Mrs. Hosler was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Brimfield. Mr. Hosler is a republican. One item of his public service which deserves especial record was his term as trustee of Orange Township. He was in that office four years, from 1884 to 1888. He was one of the original stockholders of the East Indiana Agricul- tural Fair Association when it was organized in 1883, and for many years has been a director and is now its general superintendent.

STILLMAN L. COLLINS is a grandson of the first permanent white settler in Jamestown Township, and his individual record has been in keeping with that of the two preceding generations. Mr. Collins, formerly a merchant at Jamestown, is now looking after the old homestead place where he was born.

Many of the interesting early chronicles of James- town Township might be described as the experi- ences of the Collins family. His grandfather, Bar- ton Collins, was, like many other early settlers of Steuben County, a Vermonter. He was born in Richland County, Vermont, February 23, 1794. His wife was born in Rhode Island January 2, 1797, and they were married in 1820. Barton Collins first came to the West in 1834, visiting LaPorte, Indiana. In the spring of 1835 he sold his property in the East, and with his wife and six daughters and three sons came west by wagon and team, shipping his goods by water to Detroit and not recovering them for a number of weeks. He traveled through South- ern Michigan to Coldwater and to Bronson, and then came south to the Vermont settlement at Orland. He was attracted to what is now Jamestown Town- ship, and on the third of July, 1836, entered land at the Fort Wayne land office. Some days later all the men from the Vermont settlement came and helped him put up the first log house in Jamestown Township. He and his family lived isolated from neighbors, and when their supply of provisions ran ont they had nothing to subsist upon except pota- toes and salt. The nearest milling point was Burr Oak, Michigan, and Barton Collins before raising a crop of his own had to pay $2 a bushel for wheat and $I a bushel for corn. Late in the fall of 1836 he bought an ox team and went to Detroit to get his goods. Barton Collins was a hard worker, a man of fine influence in the community, but his life was spared only a few years after coming to Stenben County. He died in January, 1849. His widow survived him many years and was one of the best known of the early settlers. She died July 16, 1882, when past eighty-five years of age. She was the mother of eleven children, and undoubtedly derived a great deal of satisfaction from the worthy places her sons and daughters attained in life.

The old homestead in Jamestown Township be- came the property of George W. Collins. He was

born in Vermont in 1829 and was six years of age when his parents came to Steuben County. He at- tended some of the first log cabin schools, and for over half a century was identified with the social and business life of Jamestown Township. In 1856 he married Avis Walter, whose parents, Seymour W. and Orra (Coe) Walter, came from Vermont to Steuben County in 1846. George W. Collins died in 1912, and his wife in March, 1918. They were the parents of five children: Stillman L., Seymour B., Orra, Lydia (who became the wife of Fred Baker), and Bert L.

Stillman L. Collins acquired his education in the district schools of Jamestown Township, also at- tended school at Orland and Angola and remained at home with his parents assisting in the work of the farm until he was twenty-six years old. For about twelve or fourteen years Mr. Collins con- ducted a general merchandise business at James- town. In 1914 he retired to the old home, where he owns 911/2 acres and is giving his time to its management, and has it equipped with all the facili- ties for general farming and stockraising.

September 15, 1880, Mr. Collins married Frances J. Wooster, a daughter of Dennis K. and Sarah Jane (Hammond) Wooster. Her father was born in Onondaga County, New York, March 30, 1824, and her mother was born in England May 1, 1828. Dennis K. Wooster moved to Branch County, Mich- igan, about 1869, and a year later settled in Mill- grove Township of Steuben County and spent his last years in Springfield Township of LaGrange County. He died in December, 1917. He and his wife had eight children: John, Frances J., Lyman H. (who died in childhood), Rupert L., Herbert and Helen, twins; Jennie E., and Dennis C.

Mr. Collins is affiliated with Lodge No. 261 of the Knights of Pythias at Fremont, and Mrs. Collins is a member of the Pythian Sisters of the same place. To their marriage were born four children, and they also have four grandchildren. Lois M., the oldest of their children, was a successful teacher for about twelve years and is a graduate nurse from the Homeopathic Hospital at Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mamie L. also taught school for about twelve years and is now a clerk in the War Department at Wash- ington, Una is the wife of Clyde Berry, and her three children are named Thelma, Elmore and Owen. Grover, the only son, married Elva Darr and has one child, Dale.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 22

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