History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 38

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 38
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 38
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 38
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 38

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this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Oury have four children : Maynard, born September 8, 1899; Way- land, born November 25, 1901, and died August 25, IQII; Ruth Marguerite, born October 20, 1904; and Mildred Rachel, born October 1, 1908.

LEVI I. MILLER. Everyone having business rela- tions with the community of Shipshewana knows the work and position of Levi I. Miller as cashier of the Farmers State Bank. Mr. Miller has been one of the leading young business men of that town nearly twenty years.

He was born in Clay Township of LaGrange County July 10, 1877, and represents an old family, early settled in Northeast Indiana, and formerly of Pennsylvania. The Millers represented many of the fine and enviable qualities of the sturdy Men- nonites, who were so prominent in the early life and affairs of Pennsylvania. He is a son of Daniel J. and Catherine (Thomas) Miller, both natives of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. His father was born January 17, 1849, and his mother on January 23, 1846. Catherine Thomas, who died January 22, 1905, was a daughter of Jacob and Rachel (Blough) Thomas.

The great-grandfather of Levi I. Miller was Christian Miller, whose father came over from Germany and located in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. There are more than 700 descendants of Christian Miller, and of this great family connection there are sixty-six who are ministers and deacons in the Mennonite Church.

Jacob S. Miller, grandfather of the Shipshewana banker, was born in Somerset County December 10, 1795. He came to Clay Township, LaGrange County, in 1866, and lived in that locality until his death on January 26, 1874. He was twice married, and by both wives had eighteen children. His first wife was Catherine Kime, who died in 1832. She was the mother of Christian, Henry, Jacob, who died in infancy, Joseph, Martha, John, George and Fannie, who died at the age of seventeen. Jacob S. Miller married for his second wife Fannie Hershberger; who was born May 9, 1806. Her children, ten in number, were Susan, Barbara, Katie, Sarah, Lydia, Moses, Lizzie, Fannie, Daniel J. and Polly.

Daniel J. Miller came to LaGrange County with his parents when seventeen years of age, and a few years later bought his father's old homestead and lived there in Clay Township until about 1880. Since then he has made his home in Newbury Township and is owner of 100 acres of good farming land. He and his wife had three children: Harry D., Levi I. and Lucy, who is the wife of Herbert Hos- tetler and has a daughter, Arlene.

Levi I. Miller attended the district schools of Newbury Township, is a graduate of the Shipshe- wana High School, and in the same year completed a commercial course in Valparaiso University. Dur- ing his first year out of school he was employed by the Farver Brothers Lumber Company at Ship- shewana, but in 1901 entered upon his banking career as assistant cashier of the Bank of Shipshewana. When this bank was reorganized in October, 1907, and the name changed to the Farmers State Bank he was promoted to the post of cashier and is the genial and efficient man with whom most of the patrons of that bank have done business ever since. Mr. Miller also writes fire and tornado insurance and is owner of a farm in Newbury Township. He was honored with the responsibilities of trustee of Newbury Township from January, 1915, to January, 1919. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Shipshewana.

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June 6, 1906, he married Amanda Bowers, a daughter of Samuel and Catherine Bowers. They have two children : Helen, born January 10, 1912, and Stanley, born January 25, 1915.

GEORGE H. WALBERRY. A special place of esteem has always been reserved for George H. Walberry in Otsego Township of Steuben County, where he has spent forty-five years of his life. Mr. Walberry made an interesting record as a soldier of the Union during the Civil war. He served with an Ohio regiment, and after coming to Indiana busied himself for many years in clearing and developing a good farm in Otsego Township and is still living there though now retired.

He was born at Fremont in Sandusky County, Ohio, October 26, 1845, a son of Christian and Sophia (Miller) Walberry. His father was born in Germany, came to the United States at the age of twenty-two, and was married the same year. His wife was a native of Pennsylvania. Christian Wal- berry had a tragic end. He had been away from home working for a neighbor, and on his return alone he was taken ill and died, and his body was not found for three days. His death occurred in July, 1846. George H. Walberry was then an in- fant, and the other child was Rhoda Ann. In 1854 the widowed mother married William Burkett, who died in 1864, the father of five children, Ellen Jane, George W., Caroline, Angeline and Charlotte. The first two are now deceased. The mother spent her last years at Elkhart, Indiana, where she died Janu- ary 9, 1883.

The family circumstances being as they were George H. Walberry early had to face serious re- sponsibilities upon his own account. He acquired some education in Sandusky County, and at the age of fifteen began working in sawmills and on farms. On December 9, 1863, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the Ninth Company of the First Battalion of Ohio Sharpshooters. This company was after- wards assigned to the Sixtieth Ohio Infantry, but after a protest to the Government it served its orig- inal purpose as sharpshooters for the Second Brigade, Third Division, Ninth Corps of the Army of the Potomac. Mr. Walberry was in his first battle at the Wilderness and later at Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor was under fire for seven days. He was in the siege of Petersburg, and was one of a party of twenty volunteers who responded to a call to "go over the top" and capture a portion of the enemy's works. After the successful charge only ten were left uninjured. Mr. Walberry par- ticipated in thirteen battles, serving under Grant most of the time, was at the surrender of Appomat- tox, and was a special guard on a number of oc- casions. He stood guard at the Carroll prison in Washington when Mrs. Suratt, the famous spy and an accomplice in the murder of Lincoln, was hanged.

Mr. Walberry received his honorable discharge July 28, 1865, and then returned home to his mother and worked at farming for a few years. On De- cember 5, 1875, he came to Steuben County, where the previous year he had bought ninety-five acres in Otsego Township. He at once busied himself with its clearing and improvement, put up good buildings, ditched the low ground, and successfully followed farming and stock raising there until the death of his wife in 1900. He then went to Oklahoma Terri- tory and proved up a quarter section of land in that part of the Southwest. He held his Oklahoma land until February, 1919, when he sold out at a good profit.

Mr. Walberry is a democrat in politics. He was elected trustee of Otsego Township on an inde-

pendent ticket in 1880. He is a member of the Grange and lias been interested in all matters per- taining to the welfare of his community.

December 22, 1867, at Woodville, Ohio, he mar- ried Miss Sarah Rhinehart, of Ottawa County in that state. She died in 1900, the mother of four children. Llewellyn, Perry O., Anna Bell and Roscoe Conklin.

CHARLES W. AUSTIN. The Austin family have kept their home and interests quite well concen- trated in Milford Township through a period of nearly eighty years. It is one of the oldest and best known families of LaGrange County. One of them, Charles W. Austin, has passed the age of three quarters of a century, but is still actively en- gaged in looking after his farm in section 21 of Milford Township, 21/2 miles north and 34 of a mile east of South Milford.

He was born in section 31 of the same township, January 14, 1842, a son of John W. and Louisa (Fathergill) Austin. His father was a native of Maryland and was one of the first settlers in Mil- ford Township. The Fathergill family also came at an early date to LaGrange County, and located in Springfield Township. Louisa Fathergill was a na- tive of Ohio and was reared and married in Spring- field Township. Both parents spent their last years on a farm in section 31, where they owned eighty acres. They were members of the Methodist Church and the father was a republican. Of five children, three are still living: Charles W .; Albert, a farmer in Milford Township; and Dora, widow of F. L. Racine, of Fort Wayne.

Charles W. Austin grew up in section 31, attended the district schools in winter and worked on the farm in summer, and at the age of twenty-one bought land and became a practical farmer, a voca- tion he has followed ever since. He now has a place of forty acres devoted to general farming and stock raising.

August 15, 1862, he married Ica L. McGowen. She was born in Morrow County, Ohio, September 20, 1847, and spent two years of her girlhood in Iowa and after that settled with her family in Mil- ford Township. Mr. and Mrs. Austin have six liv- ing children: Rose, wife of Charles Grim, of Ken- dallville ; Fred H., of Kendallville; Frank, at home; Grace, wife of Zofer Sherman; Floyd, of Milford Township; and Dora, wife of S. D. Vesey, of Mil- ford Township. Mr. Austin is a republican in political affiliations.

IRA T. BACHELOR. One of the oldest and most substantial American communities in Steuben County is in Millgrove Township, where a preponderance of the early settlers were New England people, par- ticularly from Vermont. Members of the Bachelor family have been identified with that section over eighty years, and one of the best known is Ira T. Bachelor.

Mr. Bachelor was born in Jackson Township of Steuben County, August 14, 1853. His grandparents were Ira and Hannah (Green) Bachelor. They had two children, Amos and Lucy. Ira Bachelor died in Ohio, and after his death his widow became Mrs. Elijah Owen. By that marriage there were three children: Henry, Ira and Hannah. Elijah Owen brought his family to Steuben County in 1836, mak- ing the trip from Ohio with ox team and wagon, and they were among the first settlers of Millgrove Township.

Amos Bachelor was eleven years old when brought to Indiana. He was born in Lake County, Ohio, in April, 1825. He married Susan Burroughs, who was born in New York State December 10, 1828, a

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Charles. Black ,

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daughter of Rev. Truman Burroughs. Her father was a pioneer Baptist minister who carried the gos- pel through several counties in Indiana and Mich- igan.

Amos Bachelor began his career as a farmer in Jackson Township, and in 1857 came to Millgrove Township. In May, 1869, he left the farm and lived at Waterloo until March, 1874, in order to give his children the advantage of high school. With that exception he spent all his active career on the farm in Millgrove Township. In the fall of 1899 he retired from farming and moved to Angola, where he died January 29, 1905. His widow passed away in June, 19II.

Amos Bachelor was one of the highly successful farmers of Steuben County, and at one time owned over 500 acres of productive land. He and his wife had four children: Ellen, who is the wife of James Campbell and lives at Waterloo; Ira, Fre- mont and Elmer.

Ira Bachelor in his individual career has mani- fested many of the good business qualities of his father. He acquired a good education, partly in the district schools of Jamestown Township, also in the high school at Waterloo, and for three terms he " taught school. He has many talents and gifts in music. He began his farming career in Millgrove Township, where he has lived for over thirty years. He owns a farm of 185 acres, and all its substantial buildings were put on the land by him with the ex- ception of one house.

Mr. Bachelor married in 1873 Miss Etta Patter- son, daughter of William Patterson. They have three children: Clyde, Io, wife of Fred Terry, and Paul.

THEODORE HUNT. The passing years have dealt pleasantly with Theodore Hunt, one of the prosper- ous farmers of Franklin Township, DeKalb County. He has lived in DeKalb County most of his life, has worked hard for his prosperity, and enjoys high standing as a citizen and has a happy family around him.

Mr. Hunt, whose sixty-eight acre farm devoted to general crops and livestock is six miles north of But- ler and near the Town of Hamilton, was born at Fostoria, Ohio, October 9, 1864, a son of Theodore and Harriet H. (Boughton) Hunt. His father was born near Fostoria and his mother was a native of Connecticut, coming when a girl with her parents to Seneca County, Ohio. In 1867 the Hunt family moved to Williams County, Ohio, locating five miles northwest of Bryan. In 1877 they settled in Frank- lin Township of DeKalb County, but after several years sold their property and returned to Bryan for about two and a half years. They then resumed their residence in Franklin Township, where the father and mother spent their last years. They were active members of the Methodist Church and the father was a worker in the Grange and was a past grand and member of the Grand Lodge of the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows. Politically he was a stanch republican. He and his wife have eight children: Ellen and H. B., both deceased; Emma, wife of John Hinkle; Mary, deceased wife of Ed Hinkle; Theodore; Hattie, wife of Arthur Oberlin; Eben; and Jennie, wife of Oren Aldrich.

Mr. Theodore Hunt was about thirteen years old when his parents first came to Franklin Township. He completed his education in the district schools, and after the age of nineteen began his independent career. On December 31, 1883, he married Belle Taylor, daughter of Jasper S. Taylor. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have three children: Grace, wife of

Bert Oren; Ida, wife of Guy Obbendorph; and Ralph T., who makes his home with his father.

Mr. Hunt is affiliated with Hamilton Lodge No. 648 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, is a past grand, and he and his wife are both members of the Rebekahs. Politically he is a republican.

CHARLES BLACK. It was not altogether personal popularity nor partisan strength that resulted in the choice of Charles Black for sheriff of Noble County at the general election of November, 1918. Mr. Black has exceptional qualifications for any posi- tion to which he might aspire. He has been a resi- dent of Noble County practically all his life, is a sturdy and thorough farmer, and bought and sold stock for a number of years and has been direct- ing the management of a good farm right up to the date he assumed the duties of his office.

Mr. Black was born in York Township October 18, 1871, son of John W. and Matilda (Tyler) Black. His parents were both born in Stark County, Ohio. The father was born October 16, 1837. They were married in that county, and about the close of the Civil war moved to Noble County, Indiana. After a few years in York Township as a renter John W. Black bought a farm, and at the time of his death owned 156 acres. He was a republican, quite active in his party, and served at one time as assessor of York Township. In his family were twelve children, five of whom are still living: John W., a resident of Canton, Ohio; Emmett, a farmer in York Town- ship; Charles; Calvin, of York Township; and Jen- nie, wife of David Young, of LaGrange County, Indiana.

Mr. Charles Black grew up in York Township and attended school in winter and worked on the farm in summer. At the age of twenty-one he left home and spent three years in Illinois, and on returning to Noble County he and his brother bought ninety acres in York Township and farmed it in partner- ship for five years. Mr. Black then sold his in- terest to his brother and on March 7, 1912, he moved to Albion and engaged in the business of huying and shipping livestock. He lived on his farm three miles southwest of Albion and also has a residence in the Town of Albion. He is a stock- holder in the Albion Grist Mill. Mr. Black has been active in republican politics for a number of years. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and he and his family attend worship in the Pres- byterian Church of York Township.

October 17, 1901, he married Miss Lulu A. Moore. Mrs. Black died October 9, 1916, the mother of two sons, Clarence G. and Charles D. On February 28, 1918, Mr. Black married Mrs. Gail Frazure.

NOAH S. STUMP. For nearly forty years the Stump family have been factors in the agricultural development and business and civic enterprise of Washington Township in Noble County. Noah S. Stump, who came to that locality when he was a boy, is a farm owner, farmer and stock raiser in section 22.

He was born in Jackson Township of Elkhart Countv. Indiana, December 7, 1873, son of Noah and Maria (Hettzel) Stump, the former a native of Canada and the latter of Pennsylvania. The Stump and Hettzel families came to Indiana in early days and Noah and Maria were married here, after which they settled four and a half miles southwest of Paris, Indiana, and from there in 1880, after selling their farm, went to the western frontier in Nebraska, but after a brief experience returned to Indiana and then bought land in Wash- ington Township of Noble County. Both parents

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spent the rest of their lives in this county, where the father died in 1912, and the mother in May, 1917. They were active members of the River Brethren Church. A brief record of their large family of twelve children is as follows: Daniel D., a former county commissioner of Noble County ; Anna, deceased; Adam, of Washington Township; Susan, of Kosciusko County; Mary, wife of Marion S. Weigle, of Washington Township; John B., of Washington Township; Fannie, wife of Lewis C. Hontz; Noah S .; Frank, of Monroe, Michigan; Levi, deceased; James, of Columbia City; and George, of Washington Township.

Noah S. Stump was seven years old when his parents came to Washington Township, and in addition to the advantages of the district schools attended the Tri-State College at Angola and has a term or so of teaching to his credit. On December 30, 1899, he married Aldine Hontz. She was born in Noble County, Angust 26, 1872, and is a daughter of Jacob Hontz. Mr. and Mrs. Stump have three children : Earl, a graduate of the common schools and with three years of attendance at high school, is unmarried and is still at home; Jennie is a gradu- ate of the common schools and attending high school; and Paul is still in the district school.

Mrs. Stump is a member of the Baptist Church. He is a past grand of Lodge No. 722 of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, is a member of the Grand Lodge, and is past chief patriarch of the Encampment. Both he and his wife are members of the Rebekahs and she is a past grand of that order. He is also affiliated with Cromwell Lodge No. 705, Free and Accepted Masons. Politically, Mr. Stump is a democrat. The farm which he conducts with so much profit comprises 147 acres. One phase of his efforts there is the breeding of registered hogs. He is a stockholder and director in the Sparta State Bank at Cromwell and is also a stockholder in the Farmers National Life Insurance Company.

FREDERICK E. SHROYER, who in his early life was a successful teacher, has been equally successful as a practical farmer. He is one of the best known men of Milford Township in LaGrange County, where he is the present township trustee.

Mr. Shroyer was born in Orange Township of Noble County, Indiana, August 23, 1882, a son of William F. and Florence (Reinoeh]) Shroyer. His father was born in the same township of the county April 30, 1861, a son of Edward and Mary (Swine- hart) Shroyer, both natives of Ohio, who came to Noble County in early days and settled in Orange Township. William F. Shroyer now lives near Hel- mer, Indiana, an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, an Odd Fellow and a democrat in political affiliations. He and his wife had three children, one of whom died in infancy. The two sons are Frederick E. and John F. The latter is a graduate of the Bushy Prairie High School, gradu- ated from Business College in Fort Wayne, and is a farmer in DeKalb County.

Frederick E. Shroyer grew up on a farm in Orange Township of Noble County and received his first advantages in the district schools there. He also graduated from high school, attended the State Normal at Terre Haute, Indiana, and spent one year in the State University at Bloomington. Mr. Shroyer was a teacher in the common schools for seven years and for two years in high school. September 12, 1907, he married Inez Milbourn. She is also a graduate of the high school at South Milford and for four years taught there, being the primary teacher in South Milford. They have two children, Harold E., born October 21, 1910, and Mildred I., born January 16, 1914.

The Shroyer family are members of the Christian Church at Stroh, Indiana. He is affiliated with Philo Lodge No. 672 of Masons, and in politics is a democrat. Before entering upon his duties as town- ship trustee he served four years as township as- sessor, from January 1, 1915, to January 1, 1919. Mr. Shroyer is a general farmer and stock raiser, having 136 acres in Milford Township under his management.

ROBERT H. SNOWBERGER, one of the successful farmers and landowners of Northeast Indiana, was a veteran of the Civil war, and for over half a cen- tury has been identified with different agricultural communities in Stenben and DeKalb counties.

He comes from a family of well known promi- nence in this section of Indiana, being a son of David and Evelyn (Hanghey) Snowberger. Some of the other details of the family history are found on other pages.

Robert H. Snowberger was born in Ashland County, Ohio, December 19, 1845, but grew up in Steuben County, acquiring his education in the Cali- fornia district school in Stenben Township. He was not yet eighteen years of age when on August 4, 1863, he enlisted in Company D of the Seventh In- diana Cavalry. He was in service for more than two years, receiving his honorable discharge February 2, 1866. He participated in the campaign in Missis- sippi, involving the battles of Okolona and Guntown, and saw much other active service. After his return from the army Mr. Snowberger did some ditching work for a year and a half, then bought a small stretch of land in Steuben Township, a few years later moved to DeKalb County, and remained there a year and a half, again moved to Stenben Town- ship and then located on the farm where he had previously lived in DeKalb County, and remained there nine years. His next place was a farm of 200 acres in Pleasant Township of Steuben County, and that was his home and the scene of his activities for the next twenty-nine years. After leaving there Mr. Snowberger and his family lived in Angola for a year, and in March, 1918, he moved to his present place in Jamestown Township. His efforts have been prospered, and at the present time he owns about 359 acres in Pleasant and Jamestown town- ships.

Mr. Snowberger is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He married in 1867 Maria Lacey, daughter of Thomas Lacey. Some of the records of the Lacey family are found on other pages.

Mrs. Snowberger, who died in 1909, was the mother of five children, the first two dying in in- fancy. Those living are: Cary M. a dentist at Hud- son; Grace A. the wife of Homer Brown; and Fred who also follows the profession of dentistry. Mr. Snowberger married for his second wife Mrs. Clara Baker.

JAMES C. DEVINNEY. While much of his time is spent away from LaGrange County in handling his business as a traveling salesman, James C. DeVinney is a member of an old and well known family of this part of Northeast Indiana, and owns an exten- sive and well arranged farm in Van Buren Town- ship.

He was born in Newbury Township of LaGrange County November 28, 1858, a son of Dennis and Lauretta (Dibble) DeVinney. His father was a native of Pennsylvania. Lauretta Dibble was born in New York State, a daughter of Volney C. and Hannah Fidelia (Parker) Dibble. Volney Dibble was born in the same state January 7, 1808, a son of Andrew Dibble, and came to Lima, Indiana, in 1843, and conducted a wagon making shop there until

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1859. He then moved to a farm in Elkhart County, later established his home in Newbury Township of LaGrange County, and continued farming until 1871. After that he spent four years in DeKalb County, and in 1876 moved to the farm now owned by James C. DeVinney in Van Buren Township, in section 32. He lived there until his death in 1901. He was a good mechanic and a capable farmer and a man whose relations with the community gave him a place of special prominence. Volney C. Dibble had three children: Hannah, Lauretta and Adel- bert.

Dennis De Vinney came to LaGrange County when a young man, and after his marriage worked in the wagon shop with Mr. Dibble. Subsequently he was a farmer in Newbury Township, and he died in 1863, when a comparatively young man. His wife had passed away in 1862. Their children were: Charles A., who lives in DeKalb County, and by his marriage to Emma Treman had three children, Laura, Clair, who died at the age of two years, and George. James C. is the second child. Ida L. L. is the widow of Charles Weiss, who died April 2, 1915, and her children are Lola Fidelia, Henry C., E. Eugene, Earl C., and Ruth, who died when four and a half years old.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 38

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