History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 25

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 25
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 25
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 25

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).

GEORGE H. WEBB. The records of the Webb fam- ily ih Steuben County runs back for over seventy years. George Webb, representing the third gen- eration, has for many years been a successful farmer in Jamestown Township, where he was born, and beginning with little more than his bare hands and with a rented farm he has achieved a position of prestige and influence in that community.

Mr. Webb was born March 3, 1872, son of Henry and Nancy (Parker) Webb, and a grandson of John and Grace (Harrison) Webb. His grandparents as well as his father were natives of England. His grandfather was a pioneer in Steuben County. He brought his family from England in 1830, lived for several years in Michigan, and in about 1845 came to Steuben County, where he acquired a large amount of land and was very successful in all his business affairs. Henry Webb came to manhood in Steuben County and in 1850 went with his brother Arthur to California. They traveled west by mule team, and on returning came back by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He was in the gold mines and other districts of California for about five years. On returning to the States Henry Webb began farm- ing in Jamestown Township, lived here many years, and the last twenty years of his life were spent at Angola, where he died in May, 1914. His wife passed away in 1916. The children were: Ida, who married Theron Summers; Grace, who became the wife of Silas Bressler; George; and Edna, who married Frank Wert.

George Webb acquired his early education in the district schools of Millgrove Township, also attended school at Angola, and for thirty years has occupied his present farm in Jamestown Township, begin- ning his independent career as a renter and now owning 160 acres.

He has followed general farming and stockrais- ing, and all the improvements, comprising a set of substantial farm buildings, were made under his per- sonal direction.

Mr. Webb married April 3, 1895, Vinnie Lucas, a daughter of Thomas Lucas. They have two chil- dren : Helen Arlene, born in 1904, and died April 10, 1909, and George Harley, born April 16, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Webb are Methodists and members of the church at Nevada Mills.

THOMAS LUCAS, a retired resident of Orland, was for many years a man of conspicuous enterprise in the farming and stockraising interests of Steuben County. He has been progressive, has sought to better conditions in the community as well as those affecting his own life and circumstances, and he and his family are among the most respected members of that community.

Mr. Lucas was born in Ohio March 21, 1849, a son of Israel and Betsey Elizabeth (Bailey) Lucas. His mother was born in Ireland. Israel Lucas was born July 5, 1795, and his birthplace is of special interest. He was born in the stockade at Marietta, Ohio.

Marietta was the first point of settlement in the State of Ohio when the emigrants from New Eng- land floated down the Ohio River and established their first foothold in the Northwest Territory there. When at the age of fourteen his father died the responsibility of looking after the rest of the family, including two younger brothers and two sisters, devolved upon him. He bound out these children and then bound himself out. In 1854, when well advanced in years, he moved to Waterhouse Cor- ners, Kinderhook Township, Branch County, Mich- igan, and in 1864 located in Jamestown Township of Steuben County, where he spent the rest of his life. He and his wife had seven children: James H., Robert, Zevolenia, Theodore, Israel, Girard and Thomas E.

Thomas E. Lucas acquired his early education in the district schools of Kinderhook, Michigan, also attended school at Nevada Mills in Steuben County, and during his youth learned the miller's trade. He worked five years in the grist mill at Nevada Mills, and after that engaged in farming in Mill- grove Township. He was on his farm until Feb- ruary, 1915, since which date he has made his home in Orland. Mr. Lucas still owns 382 acres in Mill- grove Township. For a number of years he was recognized as one of the leading sheep raisers in Northeastern Indiana, making a specialty of the blooded Delaine and Merino sheep. He was a mem- ber of the American Sheep Growers' Association. It is his distinction to have introduced the culture of peppermint in Steuben County, one of the big money-making crops in that part of the state. Mr. Lucas is affiliated with the Masonic bodies at Or- land, including Lodge No. 225, and the chapters of the Royal Arch and Eastern Star.

November 27, 1870, Mr. Lucas married Sarah Helen Chrystler, a daughter of Abraham and Martha Chrystler. To their marriage were born five chil- dren : Vinnie, wife of George Webb; Ora D., who married Ella Showater ; Ella, wife of Elmer Grabell; Jesse E., who married Mattie Murray; and Harley S., who married Libby Murray. 1

JOHN OESCH. On leaving home and venturing upon his own responsibilities John Oesch had about $300. His active career as a farmer, spent chiefly in LaGrange County, has brought him much to sat- isfy his ambition, and he has no fear of the wolf at the door nor even of the tax collector. His farm in Eden Township is often called the home of the Percherons, and his breeding stock of those horses represent some of the finest in Indiana.

He was born in Huron County, Ontario, Canada, January 29, 1860, a son of Daniel and Barbara (Roth) Oesch, the former a native of Canada and the latter of Germany, but brought to Canada by her parents when only seven years old. They were married in Waterloo County, Canada, and in 1869 moved to Hickory County, Missouri. They bought land, but after living there four years through some technicality lost title. Daniel Oesch then brought his family to Howard County, In- diana, locating and living near Kokomo for a year and a half. He next moved fifteen miles northeast of Fort Wayne and bought forty acres, where he spent the rest of his days. He died at the age of eighty-one. He and his family were Mennonites in religion and in politics after coming to the United States he was aligned with the democratic party. There are three living children: Christian, of Allen County, Indiana; Leah, wife of Joseph Delegrange, of Allen County; and John.

John Oesch lived with his father during the dif- ferent moves above recorded and acquired a com-

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

mon school education. On leaving home at the age of twenty-five he possessed the modest fortune above noted. December 18, 1884, he married Mary A. Troyer. For a year he rented a farm and then bought thirty-four acres, across the road from where he lives today. He traded this thirty-four acres for seventy-five acres included in his present farm. He bought fifteen acres adjoining and also has eighty-two and a half acres in Newbury Town- ship.

Mr. Oesch has been a horse breeder for thirty- three years. He began with the Clyde horses, changing to the Shire, and now for many years has been a specialist in the Percheron. In the spring of 1919 he had six registered mares, three registered stallions and other young stock, giving him thirteen head of full bloods. He is regarded as one of the wealthy men of Eden Township. He is a stockholder in the State Bank of Topeka and also the Farmers State Bank of the same place.

Mr. and Mrs. Oesch had fourteen children, one of whom died in infancy. Those still living are: Levi, Jennetta, Daniel, Amanda, William, Lester, Freeman, Artie, Erma, Chauncey, John and Tru- man. The family are members of the Mennonite Church. Mr. Oesch is a republican in political affiliation.

IRA SCHLOTTERBACK. One of the historic colonies planted in Noble County in the earliest pioneer days comprised several families from the vicinity of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, including the Engles, Hostetters, Wolfes and Teals, all of whom came in 1832 and all settled in the same neighborhood, living in the midst of wild conditions, with Indians as neighbors, and enduring with the patience typical of real frontiersmen the hardships of their time.

One of this group of early settlers was Gideon Schlotterback, who was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1812. He was about twenty years of age when he came to Noble County, and shortly afterward, in the same year, he married Mary Engle, member of one of the families just mentioned. They settled on a farm, and were long prominent and substantial residents of Noble County. Gideon Schlotterback as a result of his long continued labors accumulated an estate of 440 acres. He and his wife had twelve children, three of whom are still living: Amelia, wife of C. G. Fait, living in North Dakota; Amy, wife of A. B. Koontz, of Goshen, Indiana, and Ira.

Ira Schlotterback was born in Perry Township, a mile east of where he now lives, February 10, 1850. For over forty years he has borne his share of responsibilities as a farmer in that locality. His farm is located in section 33 of Perry Township on the line between that and Sparta Township, where he own 136 acres. The first school he at- tended was kept in a log schoolhouse, and he lived with his parents and helped with the farm work until after he was twenty-one years of age. On February 1I, 1875, he married Sarah J. John. She was born at Ligonier, Indiana, November 19, 1854, and grew up in Perry Township. After their mar- riage Mr. and Mrs. Slotterback managed the old farm, and he now lives on what is known as the Engle Farm. He is engaged in general farming and stock raising.

He and his wife have the following children: Leon is married and lives at Ligonier; Lulu is the wife of Eugene Swinehart and lives near Mongo in LaGrange County; Thomas is married and lives near Noblesville, Indiana; Willis is managing the old home place of 136 acres in Sparta and Perry townships, is married and is a republican in politics;

and Ina, the youngest of the family, is the wife of O. G. Bowen, an electrician at Ligonier.

PHARAOH HONESS. Steuben County with its beautiful topography is an attractive place for people to spend their declining years as well as a country that repays effort and youthful enthusiasm. Pharaoh Honess spent many years of his life in the service of the New York Central Lines. When he retired from railroading he sought a home in the country, and selected his present place in Scott Township, where he is carrying on a systematic business as a farmer. Mr. Honess is a man of interesting personality, and is father of a very brilliant and scholarly family.

. He was born in Kent County, England, February 22, 1852, a son of William and Margaret (Seeley) Honess. His parents spent all their lives in Eng- land, and in their family of twelve children Pharaoh was the third of age. The latter remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, and is largely self-educated. Arriving in New York without money, he had to make shift to earn a living at different occupations for a time, and soon went to the vicinity of Cleveland, Ohio. While working there in 1875 he studied music in night classes at Baldwin University, and spent part of his time composing two pieces of music each week for the Baldwin University. In 1880 Mr. Honess went to work for the New York Central Lines, was night yard master, was soon made check clerk in the freight house, later was waybiller in the office, and then bookkeeper and collector and chief clerk. He collected millions of dollars for the railroad com- pany and never filed a bond. After twenty years of faithful and efficient service he resigned and in April, 1900, came to Steuben County and bought thirty-eight and one-half acres of land where he lives in Scott Township. He has since added ten acres, and has made a good home and made a living as a farmer and stock raiser. He keeps a small herd of Shorthorn cattle. Mr. Honess is a member of the Congregational Church.

July 5, 1884, Mr. Honess married Anna Riddles. She was born at Cuyahoga, near Cleveland, August 20, 1863, a daughter of William and Sarah (Nichols) Ford. Her father was born in Kent County, England, in 1804, and her mother in Broome County, New York, in 1822. The family settled in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where her father died in 1886 and her mother in 1894. Both were laid to rest in the Monroe Street Cemetery of Cleveland. Mrs. Honess' father was in the meat business at Cleveland for many years and later was a farmer. Mrs. Honess was one of four children: Charles, deceased; Edward, of Lorain, Ohio; Mary, de- ceased; and Anna. A half sister of Mrs. Honess is Mrs. Sarah Dunham, of Angola.

Mr. and Mrs. Honess have five children. Charles, the oldest, born June 28, 1885, was educated at Berea in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, also at the Angola High School, and graduated from Oberlin College, Ohio, in 1912. He won a scholarship in Cornell University, where he took his Master's Degree in 1913. He also won scholarships at Yale and the University of Chicago and received a Fellowship in Columbia University. He is now geologist for the State of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Sigma Psi Chi Fraternity. Arthur P. Honess, the second son, was born August 10, 1887, is a graduate of the Angola High School, finished his work at Oberlin College in 1914, and won a Fellowship in Princeton University, valued at $1,000 a year. He remained in Princeton three years, receiving his Master of Arts Degree. He has since been con-

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

nected with the Pennsylvania State College, where he is now professor of mineralogy and of other subjects. The third child, Edith, born January 21, 1893, is a graduate of Angola High School, grad- uated from Oberlin College in June, 1918, and is now teacher of science in the Scott Township High School. Thus Mr. Honess' three oldest children have achieved when still young noteworthy dis- tinction in the field of scholarship. The fourth child, Clayton, was born March 19, 1895, completed the grammar school work and is a mechanic. He was drafted in the World war, went into the army in July, 1918, as a private and was promoted to top sergeant in the Heavy Artillery. He received his honorable discharge in January, 1919. Leon Honess, the youngest of the family, was born in November, 1904, and is now in the freshman year of the Scott Township High School.

HERBERT FENTON NEWNAM. It has been said that at no time in history has opportunity been so bounti- ful to the tenant farmer and renter as within the last two or three years. The estate of Herbert Fenton Newnam is one which shows what was possible to the industrious and capable farm tenant in the years of more restricted opportunity, since he made steady progress and while a tenant bought and paid for a farm of his own, which he still oc- cupies and which gives him a place among the fore- most agriculturists of Noble County.

Mr. Newnam, whose home is in the northwest corner of Wayne Township in that county, has a large amount of land under cultivation, and has a home equipped with all the modern improvements, including a lighting plant and heating system. He was born on a farm in Milford Township, La- Grange County, Indiana, November 10, 1872. His parents were Joseph E. and Isadora (Spaulding) Newnam. His father was born in Wayne Town- ship of Noble County and his mother in Brushy Prairie. After their marriage they settled on a farm across the road from where Herbert now lives, later lived in Ohio two years, and then re- turned to Noble County. They now reside at South Milford. The father is affiliated with Lodge No. 380 of Masons, of which he is a past master, is also a Knight of Pythias, and is a republican in politics. There were just two sons, Herbert F. and Vern I. The latter is a machinist with the Alliance Steel Foundry at Alliance, Ohio.

Herbert Fenton Newnam grew up on a farm joining the one where he now lives, and attended the public schools at South Milford. For three years he clerked in a store. On April 1, 1895, he married Miss Mattie I. Gross. She was born near the center of Milford Township in LaGrange County April 21, 1870, daughter of William and Isabelle (Frances) Gross. She was educated in the common schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newnam started housekeeping at Greenfield Mills, lived there two years, and at Brushy Prairie one year, and then came to the farm which they now own. For twenty years they worked and saved as renters, and used the proceeds of this long period to buy and construct the splendid farm of 334 acres which they now own.

Mr. and Mrs. Newnam have one daughter, Grossie Joe, born February 18, 1897. She grad- uated from the South Milford High School with the class of 1915, and in December of that year married John Wible. Mr. Wible was born in Ken- dallville, Indiana, graduated from the South Mil- ford High School in 1911, and he and his young wife lived happily together for only a little more

than a year, until their marriage was broken by his death on January 7, 1917.

Mr. Newnam is affiliated with Wolcottville Lodge No. 380, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, with South Milford Lodge No. 619, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past noble grand, and has been a member of the Grand Lodge and is also a member of the Encampment. Mrs. New- namn is a Rebekah and has held all the chief offices in that order. The daughter Grossie Joe belongs to the Eastern Star Chapter at Wolcottville and to the Rebekahs at South Milford. Mr. Newnam in politics is a republican.

SAMUEL A. STOUT. His friends and neighbors regard Samuel A. Stout as one of the fortunate men of Steuben County, though his good fortune, repre- sented in the ownership of what is known as the "Otter Lake Stock Farm," has been the product of long years of capable management and labor, good judgment and that all around character which the good farmer represents.

Mr. Stout was born on the farm which he now owns in section 32 of Jackson Township, September II, 1859. He is a son of Hervey B. and Sarah (Alcott) Stout, his mother a native of Ohio and a daughter of Samuel Alcott, who married a Miss Collins. Mr. Stout's grandfather, George Stout, married for his first wife a Miss Bliss. He was an early settler in Michigan, and from that state came to Salem Township of Steuben County and settled on a farm along the county line between Steuben and DeKalb counties, but spent his last years in Jackson Township. The children of his first marriage were Aaron, Orville, Hervey B., George, Edward, Caroline and Nancy. He married for his second wife Cassie Shaddock, and they had four daughters, named Mary, Anna, Olive and Emma.

Hervey B. Stout, who was born in Lenawee County, Michigan, in December, 1827, and died in 1880, began his career as a farmer in Salem Town- ship, lived there several years, and then bought the land in Jackson Township comprised in the Otter Lake Stock Farm. When it came into his posses- sion it was practically all wild land. He cleared away a space for his log cabin house and barn and made many good improvements before his death. He cleared up eighty acres out of the 120. He and his wife had eight children: Ellen, wife of T. K. Miller; Charles L .; Jane, who married William Lock; Orville M .; Samuel A .; Lydia A., who married M. K. Hall; Dora B., who became the wife of James Parsell; and Frank B.

Samuel A. Stout had the educational advantages supplied by the district schools of Jackson Town- ship. When a young man he went out to work on farms at monthly wages, and continued in that way for eleven years, gaining experience and also some meager capital which enabled him to start for himself.

In April, 1892, Mr. Stout married Miss Kate Velie, a daughter of Tunis and Margaret (Kroutz) Velie. In August following his marriage Mr. Stout came to his present farm, and during his proprietorship of more than a quarter of a century has erected all the substantial buildings, has equipped his place espe- cially for stockraising, and now has the ownership and supervision of 303 broad acres.

He and his wife have three daughters, Clara B., Ruth M. and Mabel G. The two older daughters are both graduates of the Flint High School, and Clara is also a graduate of the Tri-State Normal College at Angola, and Ruth has spent two terms in that institution.

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

JAMES D. ROWLEY is one of the oldest residents of Butler Township, DeKalb County, and for nearly half a century has been identified with its farming interests. His home place is in section 36 of that township.

Mr. Rowley was born in Henry County, Ohio, March 23, 1845, a son of Thomas and Ellen (Davis) Rowley. His father and mother were born in County Antrim, Ireland, and after their marriage came to the United States. They made their first home in Henry County, Ohio, where the father worked in the construction of the canal between Lake Erie and the Ohio River, and his wife boarded other workmen. Later he followed different lines of employment in Illinois and Southwestern Indiana, and eventually settled in Jackson Township of De- Kalb County, where he and his wife spent the rest of their years. As a farmer he cleared up eighty acres of land. He was a democrat, and he and his wife were faithful Catholics. Of their eight children three are still living: James D., Catherine, wife of Samuel Surface, and John, of Fort Wayne.

James D. Rowley grew up from early boyhood in Jackson Township, attended public schools, and has made industry the keynote of his life and by that means has found prosperity sufficient for all his requirements. He is still engaged in general farming and stock raising and owns 215 acres in Jackson and Butler townships. He and his family are members of the Catholic Church.

Mr. Rowley married Ella Surface on February 23, 1871. They have nine living children, named, Thomas, Charles, Carl, Elizabeth, Catherine, Mabel, Grace, Walter and Ralph. The son, Carl, is a phy- sician at Boston, Massachusetts; Elizabeth is the wife of Martin Schaaf, of Fort Wayne; Catherine is the wife of Thomas Kavanaugh, and Mabel is the wife of Forest Sheets.

EUGENE VAN AUKEN. Some of the thrifty char- acter of his ancestors has been exemplified by Eugene Van Auken in the management of his farm- ing enterprise in Otsego Township of Steuben County. He is one of the men who make farming pay, and does so by able and progressive manage- ment of every detail.

Mr. Van Auken was born in Steuben Township September 23, 1872, and is a son of Elton and Sarah (Dutter) Van Auken and a grandson of Everet Van Auken. This is one of the oldest and most prominent family names in Steuben County. Elton Van Auken was born in Portage County, Ohio, and his wife in Pennsylvania, a daughter of George and Anna Dutter. Elton Van Auken as a young man worked in a freight house at Angola, but aside from that experience spent his life as a farmer in Steuben Township. His children were Lena, Eugene, Paul and Carl E. Only Eugene and Carl are now living.

Eugene Van Auken attended public school at Angola and the district schools of Steuben Town- ship, and has been farming steadily since early manhood. In 1897 he moved to Otsego Township, and for seven years rented land. His present pros- perity is the more creditable for the fact that he began with a minimum of capital and proved his ability as a renter before he became an independent owner. In 1904 he bought his present place of 120 acres in sections I and 12. He has kept improve- ments steadily going forward, and even in the midst of war times in the summer of 1918 he built a large bank barn, 40 by 80 feet, one of the best barns in the township.

Mr. Van Auken is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Metz. He married No- vember 2, 1893, Dora George, a daughter of Robert

and Ann (Smith) George. They have two children, Ralph and Mildred.

OTIS G. GATES is proprietor of a farm in Otsego Township of Steuben County around which the associations of the Gates family center covering a period of over three quarters of a century. Mr. Gates is able to appreciate the remarkable changes and transformations made in the seven decades since his grandparents settled here. As he goes about his fields he doubtless often thinks and is grateful for the labors done by the earlier genera- tions, and his own career has been a part of the substantial character of the Gates family.

He was born on this farm October 25, 1864, a son of Ransom and Abbie (Ellis) Gates and a grandson of Levi and Sallie Gates. Levi Gates brought his family from New York State in 1840. Their place of settlement was in the midst of the heavy woods of Otsego Township. Indians were still found in that locality, and wild animals abounded in the woods. Levi Gates built a log house for the shelter of his family. On the east side of a big tree he put up a shelter which he called a barn, the trunk of the tree forming one side of that structure. He pursued his industrious labors until called away by death a few years after coming to the county. His wife survived to a good old age. Ransom Gates was born in New York State in 1834. He grew up on the home farm, attended the primitive district schools, and during his mature career followed a busy life as a farmer and thresherman. He owned 130 acres of the farm now occupied by his son Otis. He died in 19II. He was a republican and a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church. His wife, who was born in Ohio in 1837, died in 1913. Their children were five in number: Van Rennselaer, who died in in- fancy, Blanche, Otis, Pearl and Burr.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 25

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