History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 30

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 30
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 30
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 30
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 30

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 Straw who was born in Fremont Town- ship, August 2, 1868, acquired his education in the district schools there and the high school at the Village of Fremont. Along with farming he has had much business experience. As a young man he clerked a year in a dry goods store at the Village of Ray. In 1890 he went to Iowa and was a sales- man of agricultural machinery, with headquarters at Columbus Junction, for one year. On his return from Iowa he began farming in Fremont Township, lived there until 1909, and then sold his property and

bought his present place in Clear Lake Township. He has 112 acres in section 18, and during his own- ership all the buildings have been remodeled and improved. He handles much good stock, being a breeder of Holstein cattle.

Mr. Straw served as township trustee from 1914 to 1919, and in the fall of 1918 was elected assessor.

In 1801 he married Miss Lulie Young, a daughter of L. I. C. and Elizabeth (Potter) Young. Her father was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, in 1837, a son of Charles and Nancy (Scothorn) Young, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia. His parents were married in Ohio in 1818, and his father spent most of his active life as a farmer in Sandusky County. L. I. C. Young grew up on the home farm with his widowed mother, and in 1858 came to Steuben Township and settled in section 18 of Clear Lake Township. He taught school and worked his farm alternately, and in 1862 enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-Ninth Indiana Infantry. Though sick part of the time, he was with his command until October, 1865. After the war he resumed farming and also became prominent in local affairs. L. I. C. Young married Elizabeth S. Potter in 1862. They had eight children: Theresa M., J. Orville, Lulie E., who was born September 26, 1868, Armina V., Ozra V., Eda Z., Amie P. and Mattie E.

Mr. and Mrs. Straw are the parents of five chil- dren, Walter, Clayton, Hubert, Edith and Lewis. Walter married Bessie McTaggart and Clayton married Beulah Duguid. The son, Walter, saw some of the heaviest fighting in the great war. He went overseas with the Eighty-Fifth Division, land- ing in France August 2, 1918. He was soon trans- ferred to the 139th Infantry in the Thirty-Fifth Division, and before the signing of the armistice was under fire for twenty-one days. The heaviest fighting seen by any American division was in the Argonne Forest, and he was a participant there. During 1919 he has been a student in the university maintained for the "Men in Khaki" at Lyons, France. The son, Hubert Straw, was also in train- ing for military duty, being a student of electricity at Washington, D. C. He was taken ill with the in- fluenza there and in the spring of 1919 was still in a military hospital.

ORLANDO C. BASSETT has spent his life in La- Grange County almost entirely as a farmer, though he is now'associated as a partner with his son in a successful merchandise business at Appleman- burg.

He was born in Milford Township May 19, 1867. His grandparents were George W. and Samantha Bassett, both natives of New York, the former born August 6, 1805, and the latter September 16, 1806. They were married September 28, 1826, and in the fall of 1833 moved to Brockport, New York. Some years later they came to LaGrange County and settled four miles east of LaGrange and sub- sequently moved to Milford Township, where they lived on a farm. George W. Bassett and his son Lucas Bassett, who was a native of New York, bought eighty acres in Milford Township, cleared and improved a good farm there and put up some excellent buildings for the time, including a good home, a bank barn, and other structures. On Au- gust 23, 1866, Lucas Bassett married Christina Wy- cuff. They were married by Squire Starkey. She was born in Pennsylvania July 22, 1850, a daughter of Jesse and Katherine Wycuff, who subsequently. moved to Ashland County, Ohio, where her father died in 1862. She and her widowed mother then moved to Noble County, Indiana, where her mother died soon afterward. Lucas Bassett was a demo-

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crat in politics, casting his first vote for Buchanan. He died December 8, 1912. His children were Or- lando, Cora Adele, Franklin, Emma J., George, Christina and Mabel.

Orlando C. Bassett was educated in the public schools of LaGrange County and after leaving the home place he bought forty-seven acres of the old Daniel Wert farm. He sold that and in 1901 bought 120 acres in Springfield Township from the John M. Wade estate. Another forty acres he acquired in 1902 and now has a 160 acre farm well developed for general crops and stock. In 1914 he bought his father's old place and occupied it a year and a half, when he sold and returned to his farm in Springfield Township where he now resides. Mr. Bassett on January 4, 1919, bought the mercantile business at Applemanburg, and his son Lloyd is now a manager of the store. Mr. Bassett has been an influential man in local affairs, and though a dem- ocrat he was elected township trustee, being the only trustee of that political faith in the township. He also served as assessor of Springfield Township for six years in succession.

March 19, 1889, he married Rosa Gross. She was born in Milford Township October 8, 1868, a daughter of William and Isabel (Francis) Gross. Her father was born in Pennsylvania in 1844 and her mother in Noble County, Indiana, October 1, 1848. The Gross family moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio where the father of William Gross was in the hotel business and subsequently came to Mil- ford Township and bought the farm known as the John Forst farm. After a few years the grandpar- ents moved to Tennessee, and acquired about 400 acres near Spring City, where both of them spent the rest of their days. William Gross remained in Milford Township, married there, and acquired a farm of eighty acres on which he lived until his death in 1884. His widow is still living, a resident of South Milford, where she bought the Wonders property. William Gross was a democrat and his parents were members of the Lutheran Church. Mrs. Rose Bassett is the oldest of her father's chil- dren. Her sister Mattie I. was born April 21, 1870, and is the wife of Herbert Newnam of Milford Township and has one child, Grossie. Her other sister Nettie L. is the wife of George W. Lovett and has two sons, Jesse and Lester.

Mrs. Bassett's maternal grandfather Samuel Fran- cis was born in Bradford, Connecticut, June 14, 18II, and as a youth moved to Genessee County, New York, and from there in 1836, soon after his marriage to Sarah Combes, came to Indiana and set- tled in Swan Township of Noble County. He en- tered land from the Government, cleared and made a home there, and in 1853 bought about 200 acres of the old Colonel Cochran farm in Milford Town- ship of LaGrange County. He lived there until 1874 when he moved to Kendallville where his wife died, and in 1879 he went to Fort Wayne and mar- ried Mary Miller. He died at Kendallville Febru- ary 15, 1001. In the Francis family were seven children, Welton, Sylvester, Isabel, Elbridge, Eliza, Mattie and one son that died in infancy.

Mr. and Mrs. Bassett have two children, Lloyd and Velma Luella. Lloyd was born October 23, 1893, had a good education, being a graduate of the Springfield Township and the LaGrange High Schools. He was formerly manager of the Mount Pisgah Mercantile Association for two years, and. then removed to Applemanburg to take charge of his father's business. On December 23, 1914, he married Miss Lucile Faust of Springfield Township. They have a daughter, Eileen, born December 2, 1916.

Velma Luella Bassett was born May 23, 1900, is a graduate of the Springfield Township and La- Grange High Schools, also attended the Tri-State College at Angola, and is now assistant cashier of the Farmers State Bank at Stroh.

JOHN A. THUNANDER is a resident of Noble County who appreciates the value and opportunity of American citizenship, and in turn his own sub- stantial character, his enviable work and enterprise are thoroughly appreciated in the community where he has lived and worked out his destiny and success during a period of thirty years. He is a farmer in section 36 of Sparta Township.

Mr. Thunander was born in Sweden, November 26, 1856, son of Erickson and Christina (Lyon) Thunander. His parents spent all their lives in Sweden, and his father was a contractor and builder by profession. Both parents were very active members of the Lutheran Church. Erickson was chorister in the church for forty years, and that was his chief interest outside of his business and home. Of eight children six are still living : Carl, a farmer in Sweden; John A .; Claus, of Elkhart, Indiana; Anna, unmarried, and still living in Sweden; Alfred, a Swedish farmer; and Oscar, also farming in Sweden.

John A. Thunander grew up on a farm in his native land, attended the common schools, and at the age of eight started out to make his own living. He remained in Sweden until he was twenty-seven years of age. In April, 1884, he landed in New York City and came direct to Ligonier, Indiana, to join his brother. During the next two years he was a laborer at monthly wages in Elkhart County.

On December 4, 1888, he married Matilda Walter. She was born in Sweden July 12, 1862, attended school there, and came to the United States in September, 1887, from the same locality as her husband. She lived near Ligonier until her mar- riage.

Mr. and Mrs. Thunander rented a house and during the following three years he supported his little family chiefly by day work. He was a ditch digger and accepted any other employment which would earn him an honest living. He then moved to York Township and rented a farm, and they remained on one place for nine years. For four years he rented the Orlando Kimmell farm, and then with the savings of fifteen years or more bought eighty acres in Sparta Township. He has since increased this to 100 acres, and is now the fortunate possessor of a good farm and has a home with all the improvements. His farm is well stocked.

Mr. and Mrs. Thunander had one child, who died when a week old. They took into their home Wayne Scott Breece when five years old, and carefully reared him and gave him a good education. He graduated from the common schools at the age of fourteen, later from the Wolf Lake High School, and also attended South Bend Business College. This adopted son married Lena LeCount, and they have one daughter, Bertie May.

Mr. and Mrs. Thunander are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Kimmell, and he gives as much time to church duties as did his father. Mr. Thunander is treasurer, steward, trus- tee and class leader of the church. He has also served as township supervisor, is a republican in politics, and is a past grand of Sparta Lodge No. 773 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

JOHN L. CROTHERS. For over fifty years the name Crothers has been spoken in Noble County with the respect due a family of more than ordinary

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intelligence, business ability, energy and resource- fulness. Representing the third generation of the name John L. Crothers learned a mechanical trade as a youth, still continues it, but is also a farmer and one of the leading onion growers of Allen Township.

Mr. Crothers was born in Green Township of that county, December 30, 1882, a son of Cyrus and Mary (McCoy) Crothers. His parents were both born in Green Township of Noble County. The grandfather, Lafayette Crothers, was a native of Ohio, married Martha Beard, and they arrived in Noble County about 1855, settling on a farm in Green Township, where they spent the rest of their days. Their four children were Viana Parker, Cyrus, W. C. and Leslie, all of whom are still living. After his marriage Cyrus Crothers settled on a farm and lived there until 1906, when he moved to another farm in the county. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Protestant Church, and he was a republican. Cyrus Crothers and wife had four children: John L .; Lettisha, wife of Ernest Rawson, of Kendallville; Lafayette, a farmer in York Township; and Arthur, of Ken- dallville.

John L. Crothers grew up on a farm in Green Township and received his education in the local schools. When only fifteen years of age he began learning the trade of plasterer, and has followed that occupation in the intervals of his other business affairs to the present time. He now owns a good farm of eighty acres in Allen Township, and has nineteen acres of good muck soil devoted to onion culture. His average crop is about 8,000 bushels a year. He also raises the other crops suitable to a general farm.

April 14, 1901, he married Miss Mina Hetzel, who was born in York Township of Noble County and was educated in the public schools. They have four children : Floyd, Coy, Martha and Kenneth. Mr. Crothers is a republican.

MAURICE MCCLEW, a former member of the Legis- lature from Steuben County, a farmer and a lawyer by profession, represents some of the oldest names identified with the early history of Steuben County.

He was born at Fremont in that county, May 5, 1879, a son of Charles and Mary (Farnham) Mc- Clew. His great-grandfather, David McClew, was a native of Scotland, and on coming to this country prior to the Revolutionary war settled in New York and passed his last years in Niagara County of that state.

The founder of the family in Steuben County was grandfather John McClew, a native of New York, who came to Steuben County in 1836 and brought his family here the following year. He was one of the first settlers of Fremont Township, taking up eighty acres of Government land. Eventually he owned several farms, followed the carpenter's trade, was a man of great influence and substantial char- acter. For eleven years he served as a county com- missioner. In early life he was a Presbyterian and later a Methodist, and in politics he was allied with the whigs and later the republicans. He died at Fremont in February, 1891.

Charles McClew, son of this pioneer, was born in Steuben County, December 27, 1842. His wife, Mary Farnham, was born in the same county, April 3, 1846, a daughter of Erastus and Lucinda (Brad- ley) Farnham, the former a native of Delaware County, New York, and the latter of Connecticut. Erastus Farnham came to Fremont Township in 1836. Prior to coming here he had taught school in twelve different states. He was a surveyor by

profession, and at one time held the offices of county surveyor and county treasurer in Steuben County. He died in 1873, at the age of seventy-one.

Charles McClew was educated in public schools and the Orland Academy, was a teacher for about two years, and otherwise a farmer, owning farms in Pleasant and Jamestown townships. He was a republican in politics. He and his wife had three children : Maurice; Bell, wife of Claud Neer, a mining engineer at Denver, Colorado; and John J., an engineer at San Jose, California. Charles Mc- Clew's wife by a previous marriage to Henry M. Willis had two children, Estella, who died in Sep- tember, 1914, the wife of Lorenzo D. Creel, of An- gola, and Elizabeth, wife of John J. Gavin, of Wash- ington, D. C.

Maurice McClew grew up on his father's farm in Pleasant Township, attended public schools there, the Normal School at Angola, and like several of his ancestors, was a teacher in early life. He studied law with Brown & Carlin for a year and a half, was admitted to the bar in 1905, and spent about a year in the West. He has been successfully en- gaged in farming in addition to his law work. Mr. McClew was elected a member of the Legislature in 1910, on the republican ticket. He is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge at Angola and at the age of twenty-three was elected master of the Grange in Fremont Township.

June 10, 1917, in Chicago, he married Nora Hurd. She is a member of the Christian Church and the Eastern Star.

DANIEL J. BONTRAGER. This family name is prac- tically synonymous with good farming, good citizen- ship and individual prosperity in many localities of Northeast Indiana. Daniel J. Bontrager, whose ef- forts have brought him the ownership of a large and well managed farm in Van Buren Township of LaGrange County, is a son of John J. and Fannie (Kauffman) Bontrager. Much of the information concerning other members of the family will be found on other pages of this publication.

Daniel J. Bontrager was born in Eden Township December 25, 1860. He was reared and attended district schools in Van Buren, and has applied his chief efforts and experience as a farmer in that locality. He bought his first land, about seventy- eight acres, in section 31, in 1887, and during the thirty odd years since then has seen his possessions expand until they now include 400 acres in sections 31 and 30 of Van Buren and forty-six acres in New- bury townships. All of this land is under general cultivation and he has always made live stock a feature of his business.

December 23, 1886, he married Lovina Mast. She was born in Newbury Township November 14, 1866, a daughter of Jacob and Susie (Bontrager) Mast. Mr. and Mrs. Bontrager and family are members of the Amish Old Order Mennonite Church. Since its organization he has been secretary and treasurer of the Farmers Threshing Association.

The family of Mr. and Mrs. Bontrager comprise nine children, named in order of birth: Jacob, John, Levi, Susie, Moses, Gideon, Fannie, Daniel and Katie. Jacob married Fannie Schrock, and they have six children, named Simon, Clara, Laura, Daniel, Viola and Ida. Levi married Lizzie Graber and has two daughters, C'adys and Viola. Susie is the wife of Milo Miller, and her children are Erwin and Mahlon.

HARRY C. KANKAMP. Among the younger men who have already won recognition as capable farm- ers in Steuben County, one of the most conspicuous

David H Renne

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is Harry C. Kankamp, who only recently turned his majority, but has the responsibility and is suc- cessfully looking after all departments of a large farm in Steuben Township.

Mr. Kankamp is a son of Fred and Etta (Hayden) Kankamp, more particularly referred to on other pages of this publication. He was born on the home farm in Pleasant Township October 6, 1896, grew up in a good home, acquired a good education in local schools and in the Angola High School, sup- plemented by a course in the Tri-State Normal Col- lege. The farm he operates comprises 251 acres two miles southeast of Angola. It is one of the good and well improved farms of the township, and Mr. Kankamp is using it for general farming and stock raising purposes, specializing in pure bred Shropshire sheep and Duroc Jersey hogs.

In politics he is a republican. July 23, 1916, he married Miss Ida Mae Kain. She was born in Union Township of Wells County, Indiana, Febru- ary 15, 1898, a daughter of William Henry and Mary Mandilla (Fryback) Kain. Her parents are now living near Youngstown, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Kankamp have one daughter, Mary Ellen, born June 2, 1917.

DAVID H. RENNER. While so much of his life has been passed in the quiet environment of the farm in Steuben Township, his intimate friends know that David H. Renner has always been ready for duty when duty's call was heard. Those duties have been none the less important because they have been performed as part of the day's routine, and the same spirit has characterized his performance of simple and homely toils as uged him on when a young man in following the flag of the Union during the Civil war.

Mr. Renner was born in Union County, Pennsyl- vania, December 21, 1837, a son of John and Julia Renner. His parents came to Steuben County and settled in section 31 of Otsego Township in 1844. They had six children, four of whom were born in Pennsylvania and two in Steuben County. David H. Renner grew up from the age of seven on the old home place, acquired such education as was possible in the limited district schools of his youth, his school days being spent chiefly in District No. 7 of Otsego Township. He worked out as a farm hand, and in August, 1861, enlisted in Company A of the Twenty-Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. In September he was transferred to Company E of the Ninth Indiana Infantry at LaPorte. The regi- ment to which he was transferred left at once for the West Virginia campaign, and except for a short time in a hospital at Louisville Mr. Renner was with his command in all its engagements. While in Louisville and while convalescent he was assigned to duty as a cook. Several times he urged his offi- cers to let him return to his old organization at the front, but he was told some one must cook and he had to stay. One day he and his comrades were paid off. It was the first money he had received since entering the army. His pay amounted to over $100. Most of it he sent to his wife, and then packed up his belongings. A company was leaving the next day for the front, going to the same locality where his old company was stationed. When this organization left the barracks Mr. Renner went A. W. O. L. and traveled with them. The first day's journey was by train. On leaving the train the company was lined up at a mess shack, and the men counted before going in. The extra member was then discovered and the captain asked: "Have one of you men deserted from Louisville and come along with this company?" Mr. Renner stepped

out and replied, "Yes, sir, I did." He then explained to the captain why he had come. "Well, I'll be damned," said the captain, "hundreds of men have deserted to get away from the firing line, but you are the first to desert to get back to it." Mr. Renner was then issued a pass back to his old com- pany. That was not the first instance of his good soldierly qualities and his eagerness to be on the fighting line. While he was a recruit of Company A, Twenty-Ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, the Ninth Regiment was ordered to the front. Com- pany E lacked about twenty men. The organization of Mr. Renner were then lined up and the captain explained the situation and asked for volunteers to fill out the quota of Company E. Mr. Renner and a number of his comrades at once stepped out and volunteered. He was in the army until receiv- ing his honorable discharge in September, 1865, more than four years after his enlistment. He left a wife and two children to go into the army, having married in 1857 Miss Ellen Ruthrauff. After the war he returned to his father's farm and then bought his present place of forty acres in section 25 of Steuben Township, and has lived there quietly and uneventfully for over half a cen- tury. He now makes his home with his daughter Nora, and her husband is running the farm. Mr. Renner lost his wife by death May 28, 1912, after they had been married over half a century. Their children were: James; Frank, deceased; Edward, Henry, Nora, Jacob and Isaac. Nora is the wife of Joseph Metzler. She has six children, named Lillie, Roy, Ralph, Addie, Della and Clarence. Mr. Renner is proud of the fact that two of his grand- sons, Roy and Ralph Metzler, were American sol- diers in the great war. They are members of Company M, Thirty-Sixth Infantry, having enlisted May 21, 1918, and in the spring of 1919 were in camp in Massachusetts.

JAMES E. YEISER is one of the influential citizens of Allen Township in Noble County. He is a prac- tical farmer, and farming has been his regular vocation all his active years. His home is two and a half miles west of Avilla.

Mr. Yeiser is all but a native of Noble County, having been brought there when less than a year old. He was born in Richland County, Ohio, September 25, 1854, a son of John and Margaret (Shambaugh) Yeiser, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Ohio and in April, 1855, moved to Noble County, Indiana, locating in Allen Township, three and a half miles west of Avilla. The parents spent the rest of their useful lives in that community. The father was a republican. Of five children four are still living : Elizabeth, widow of Jacob Myers and now living with her brother, James E .; James E .; Mary, widow of P. Brooks and a resident of Oklahoma; and Frank C., also living in Allen Township.

James E. Yeiser grew up on the old farm, was educated in the district schools and lived at home until past twenty-one. He sold his interest in the old estate and homestead, and later he and his sister Elizabeth bought the eighty-acre farm where they now reside. Elizabeth's husband, Jacob Myers, had died in the meantime, and she and her brother have since had a congenial home and an effective arrangement for handling the farm and the house- hold to their mutual satisfaction and profit. Mr. Yeiser is a republican in politics.

FRED B. KIMBALL. Orland is a substantial com- munity that still reflects the spirit and qualities of its pioneers. It was originally known as the Ver-

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mont settlement, most of the pioneers having come from that state. They brought with them many of the outstanding characteristics of the New England- ers, and probably no community in Steuben County had at an earlier time churches, free schools and other evidences of culture and enlightenment of New England people.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 30

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