History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 4

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 4
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 4
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 4
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 4

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).

Mr. Kimmell was born at Canton in Stark County, Ohio, March 25, 1830, and has now attained that venerable age where he can survey in retrospect more than fourscore years. His father, Joseph Kim- mell, was a native of Pennsylvania, son of Joseph Kimmell, Sr., a native of the same state, who became

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

an early settler in Stark County, Ohio, and lived and died there. Joseph Kimmell, Jr., married in Stark County Catherine Amich, a native of that county. They lived there until 1851, when they removed to Noble County, Indiana, and in this county Joseph Kimmell acquired a farm of 195 acres and was one of the well known and substantial residents the rest of his days. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and was quite active in republican politics, serving as trustee and as a justice of the peace in Ohio. He was the father of five children: Cyrus, who spent his life in York and Sparta townships in Noble County ; Harriet, who married John Arnold; Orlando, the only living member of his father's fam- ily; Maria, who married Nathan White; and Emeline, who became the wife of George Casper.

Orlando Kimmell was twenty-one years of age when he came to Noble County. He had attended the log school houses of Ohio, and in that way acquired a practical education. On January 24, 1856, Mr. Kimmell married Jane White. She was born in Marion County, Ohio, and was brought to Noble County, Indiana, when a girl. She attended some of the old log school houses of this county. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kimmell settled on his father's farm, and rented for thirteen years. His energy as a farmer and as a general business man enabled him to accumulate at one time 1,200 acres of land, and he still owns 1,120 acres. The town of Kimmell was built on land which he owned, and it was through his instrumentality that the railroad right of way was located as it was and the station established bearing his name. Mr. Kimmell made most of his money raising livestock, and has been a buyer and seller of livestock for many years. He is now practically retired from all the heavier re- sponsibilities of business.

Mr. and Mrs. Kimmell had ten children, two of whom died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Kimmell were happily married over sixty years. She passed away in June, 1918, and was a devout and loyal member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Of the children to grow up the following record is made: May, wife of Willis Kinnison, of Garden City, Kansas; Lillian, unmarried and living with her father; Jen- nie, wife of Doctor Shoab, of Ligonier; Maud, wife of Ed Eagles, of Albion ; Thela, wife of Martin Beck, of Albion; Morton, unmarried and living at home; and Claudius, who is married and lives on his father's farm.

Mr. Kimmell is a member of the Masonic Lodge and was formerly an Odd Fellow. In politics he has always been a republican since the formation of the party. He served four years as trustee of his township and for two terms was county commis- sioner. He was elected and served as a member of the Indiana Legislature in the session of 1877, and though renominated for that office declined to make the campaign. He was also nominated in 1890 as candidate for Congress from the Twelfth Dis- trict, but declined the nomination. Mr. Kimmell is a stockholder and is president of the Cromwell State Bank, the other officers of which are A. Meyer, vice president, and Bert Tucker, cashier. He is also a stockholder in the Wolf Lake Bank. Mr. Kimmell, though not a member of that denomina- tion, contributed $3,000 to the building of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Kimmell, and has always exercised a similarly liberal spirit in behalf of all community undertakings. He was one of the organizers of the Ligonier Livestock Associa- tion, serving as president of the organization during two years of its early existence. He was for thir- teen years president of the Noble County Agricul-

tural Society, and these and other positions indicate the high esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens of that county.

WILLIAM E. IDDINGS. There are several careers of younger men in Steuben County which illustrates the fact that opportunities are not all gone for mak- ing a success of farming from small beginnings. One of them is that of William E. Iddings, who came to Northeast Indiana comparatively poor in purse, was at one time a farm hand, and has won prosperity and a large farm in Jackson Township, making the most of his property during the trying years that beset agriculture and the farmer prior to the present great wave of prosperity.

Mr. Iddings was born in Belmont County, Ohio, July 3, 1865, and is a member of an old and promi- nent family in that section of Eastern Ohio along the Ohio Valley. His parents were Joseph and Teresa (Close) Iddings. His father was born in Jefferson County, March 25, 1836, and his mother in Belmont County. Her father, Josiah Close, was a Belmont County farmer. The paternal grand- father, Joseph Iddings, also had a farm in the early days of Belmont County. Joseph Iddings followed farming in Belmont County, where his wife died in 1875. She was the mother of the following chil- dren : William E .; John C., who was born July 6, 1870, and now lives on the old home farm in Bel- mont County; and Thomas J., who was born July 22, 1873, and was killed while on construction work in New York City in August, 1903. After the death of his first wife Joseph Iddings married Sina Hogue. Both are still living in Belmont County.

William E. Iddings acquired his education in the public schools of Belmont County, and in April, 1883, when about eighteen years old, came to Steuben County, Indiana. He farmed the first year in Jackson Township, and after two years worked out by the month. He has remained in that one locality, and with his hard earned savings and ex- perience he eventually acquired some land of his own, seventy acres, and with that as a start has built up a large and valuable homestead of 230 acres, devoted to farming and stock raising. He is one of the successful hog raisers of the county, is a good manager, and knows how to make farming pleasant as well as profitable.

October 6, 1887, Mr. Iddings married Lottie E. Benninghoof, a daughter of Renben and Susan (Metzger) Benninghoof. They have two daughters, Violet W. and Iona P. Violet is a graduate of the Flint High School and is now continuing her higher education in DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Iddings are members of the United Brethren Church at Pleasant View.

MARY THAYER RITTER, M. D. The Thayer and Ritter families were connected with the pioneer life and enterprise of Steuben County. These are family names that have always been associated with the best interests of the community, and it is in comformity to the traditions of her ancestors that Mary Thayer Ritter should choose some special form of usefulness, and in her choice of the medical profession she has achieved success and for fifteen years has been one of the most capable members of her profession in Angola.

Doctor Ritter's mother was Helen Thayer, who was born in Steuben Township of Steuben County September 14, 1843. She was a daughter of Eber and Amy (Golden) Thayer, both natives of New York State. The Thayer family came to Steuben County when most of the land was covered with heavy woods. Amy Golden Thayer became the mother of six children: Mrs. Fronia Carver; Mrs.

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Lucinda Kratzer; Mrs. Emily Scoville; Mrs. Susie Hunter ; William A. and Mrs. Helen Ritter.

Doctor Ritter's paternal grandparents were Theo- bold and Catherine (Hartzel) Ritter. They were Ohio people and in 1854 settled in Steuben Town- ship, on the land where Doctor Ritter was born. Theobold Ritter died in 1877 and his wife in 1869. Their children were Simon, Peter, Sarah, Margaret and Lucy. Theobold Ritter married for his second wife Ruth (Fishbaugh) Johnson, and had two sons, Enos and Eli. Eber Thayer also married a second wife, Laura Mason, and by that union had children named Frank, Charles, Judson and Carrie. Carrie was the wife of Onslow Nixon, and they had two sons in the late war, Mason E. Nixon, who as a member of the Signal Corps was killed in France October 7, 1918; and Clark Nixon, who is also in the Signal Corps and is still in France.

Doctor Ritter, who was born in Steuben Town- ship, is a daughter of Simon and Helen (Thayer) Ritter. Her father, the late Simon Ritter, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, November 15, 1836, and came to Steuben County with his parents at the age of sixteen. He spent his life actively and usefully on the farm where his parents had settled and attained the good old age of nearly eighty-one. He died at the home of his daughter Doctor Ritter in Angola September 15, 1917. In 1858 he married Helen Thayer. They were the parents of thirteen children seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood, the others dying in infancy. Mrs. Helen Ritter died in 1894. Both were members of the United Brethren Church and Simon Ritter was a Republican. The names of his children were Charles, Amy, Loretta, Nettie, Vira, Mary, Lettie, Judson, Fielding, Pearl, Effie, Bertha and Guy. The son Pearl died in 1905 and the son Charles in 1899.

Doctor Ritter grew up on the homestead farm, though from 1871 to 1875 her parents lived in Kansas. In 1884 they left the farm and moved to Angola, where Doctor Ritter attended High School and the Tri-State Normal College. After five years of successful work in teaching she took up the serious study of medicine, spending two years in the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia, and in 1903 graduated from the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis. Doctor Ritter has been enjoying a busy practice at Angola since April 18, 1903. She is a member in good standing of the County and State Medical Associations, the Woman's Medical Association, and the American Medical Association, and is a member of the Sorosis Circle and of the Christian Church.

FREDERICK WERNER, who has been a figure in the business life of Steuben County for many years, is the present postmaster of Orland, and was the first incumbent of that office after it was raised to a third-class postoffice.

Mr. Werner was born in Jackson County, Michi- gan, November 24, 1870, a son of George and Pauline (Nooding) Werner, both natives of Ger- many. His father was born in 1832 and his mother in 1830. George Werner came to the United States at the age of fifteen, reaching New York City with only $5 in money. He was a tailor and worked at that trade in New York City for a time and also spent two years on a farm. About 1858 he moved to Michigan, and in that state followed farming. Eventually he acquired 312 acres in Jackson County, and was one of the prosperous men of that section. He retired when about sixty-five years of age and lived at Somerset Center in Hillsdale County until his death in 1915. His wife died in 1913, at the

age of eighty-three. He was an independent demo- crat in politics and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He and his wife had ten chil- dren : George; Joseph, who died when one year old; Jennie; Hallie, who died in 1899; Jacob, Josie, Frank, John, Ernest and Frederick.

Frederick Werner grew up on his father's farm in Jackson County, Michigan. He had a public school education and as a boy lcarned the trade of harness maker with his brother Jacob. He first came to Orland in 1800 and opened a shop of his own. In 1895 he went to Quincy, Michigan, and engaged in the harness, agricultural implements and buggy business. In October, 1898, his shop was burned out, and then for four years he was travel- ing salesman for the McCormick Harvester Com- pany. Later he represented the Portland Cement Company of Bronson, Michigan, and for six years engaged in the hardware business at Orland. He served as postmaster when Orland was a fourth- class office and the grade was raised to the third class in July, 1916. His appointment as postmaster bears date of December 20, 1916. Mr. Werner has been quite prominent in democratic politics. While living at Bronson, Michigan, he served as treasurer of Bronson Township two years, and also as town- ship clerk. At Quincy he was city treasurer two years, and was precinct committeeman when ap- pointed to the office of postmaster. Mr. Werner is affiliated with Star Lodge No. 225, Free and Accepted Masons, Orland Chapter No. 100, Royal Arch Masons, and both he and his wife are mem- bers of the Eastern Star and of the Congregational Church.

In 1894 he married Miss Grace Parker, daughter of John and Elmina (Luce) Parker. Her mother is a daughter of one of Michigan's most noted governors, Cyrus G. Luce. Mr. and Mrs. Werner have one daughter, Pauline Elmira. She was born December 23, 1896, and was educated in the Orland High School and two years in the Hillsdale College. She is now the wife of Lieutenant Frederick Seitz of Hillsdale, a son of Frederick Seitz, who for many years has been with the Lake Shore Railroad Company. Lieutenant Seitz is a graduate of Hills- dale College, and entered the officers' training school at Camp Custer, later was sent to Camp Lee of Virginia, and received a commission as lieutenant. He was honorably discharged from the army in February, 1919.

MITCHELL S. CAMPBELL is the present superin- tendent of the County Farm of Steuben County in Pleasant Township. He is a young man well quali- fied for his administrative responsibilities, is a capable farmer, a vocation to which he has been trained since early boyhood, and is a native of Steu- ben County.

He was born in Richland Township, May 27, 1887, a son of William and Sophronia (Haswell) Camp- bell. His parents were both born in DeKalb County, where the grandparents were pioneers. The paternal grandfather, James Mitchell Campbell, was one of the early settlers in that county and developed a farm and spent the rest of his life there. His farm was on Fish Creek. William Campbell was born in 1848 and his wife in 1851, they were married in DeKalb County and in the late '7os moved to Sten- ben County and bought a farm in Richland Town- ship, where the father lived until his death in 1893. His widow is now living with her son Hugh in Richland Township. They had six children: Viola, deceased; Clara; Florence; Lizzie; Mitchell S .; and

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Hugh A. Hugh A. Campbell also served four years as superintendent of the Steuben County Farm and is now a resident of Richland Township.

Mitchell S. Campbell grew up on the home place in Richland, acquired a district school education, and by practical experience has become a good farmer. He also took the Jesse Berry Horse Train- ing Course, and is well qualified to handle and train horses. Until his appointment to his present duties he was a farmer and owned thirty-three acres in Scott Township. In March, 1918, the County Board of Commissioners appointed him as superin- tendent of the County Farm. Mr. Campbell is a republican and is liberal in his religious views.

In 1917 he married Miss Verle Holbrook, of Steu- ben County, daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Folck) Holbrook, of Fremont, Indiana. They have one daughter, Mildred Elizabeth, born Decem- ber 15, 1918.

EDGAR J. WILSON. The prosperity which Edgar J. Wilson now enjoys, surrounded by his rich and pro- ductive acres in Millgrove Township, hast been earned by many years of well directed industry. At one time he was a farm laborer, working for a monthly wage, and only through thrifty habits, good judgment and all round business ability has ad- vanced to the stage of independence.

Mr. Wilson was born in Jackson Township of Steuben County, May 4, 1866, son of Edwin H., and Christina (Klink) Wilson. His mother was a daughter of Christian and Mary Klink, of a promi- nent old family of Northeast Indiana. Edwin H. Wilson was born in Richland County, Ohio, a son of John and Hannah (Bodley) Wilson, the former a native of New York State. John Wilson was one of the pioneers of the "thirties" in Steuben County, reaching Salem Township in 1836. He settled near the Block Church, and remained the rest of his life in that township. His children were named Mar- garet, Elizabeth, Melvina, Harvey, Edwin H., and Rebecca.

Edwin H. Wilson spent most of his active life as a farmer in Jackson Township. In 1881 he moved to Millgrove Township, and in 1890 retired to Mil- ford Township of LaGrange County, where he died. He and his wife had seven children, named Lillie, May, Edgar and Edson, twins, Edwin, Edna and Addie.

Edgar J. Wilson acquired his early education in Jackson Township, attending the Morgan School and District School Number Seven, and for one year attended school in Millgrove Township. He left home and began working out for wages when six- teen years old, and continued in that way for a period of sixteen years. The first farming he did independently was in Millgrove Township in 1896, and for over twenty years he has been enjoying a constantly rising position of influence and pros- perity. He bought ninety acres there in 1904, added thirty-five acres a few years later, and on selling that first place bought his present farm of 110 acres in section 22. Since 1918 Mr. Wilson has leased his farm and is now practically retired.

November 5, 1899, he married Miss Zella L. Webb, a daughter of Arthur and Rosana (Case) Webb. Her father was a native of England and the Webbs were early established in Steuben County. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson have two daughters, Mabel and Iva. Mabel is the widow of Claude Brown, and has a daughter, Dorothy. Iva married Homer Fisher, and has a daughter, Mattie Lorene.

CYRUS KINT, of Clear Lake Township, came to Steuben County in the role of a hard working farm

hand and renter, and gradually the years have brought him their sure reward, and he is today a prosperous farmer and land owner and a citizen entitled to the respect he enjoys.

He was born in Williams County, Ohio, December 15, 1856, a son of Simon and Mary Jane (Hight) Kint. His father was a son of Simon, Kint, Sr, and they cleared up 120 acres of land in Superior Township of Williams County. Simon Kint was a Republican and a member of the Reformed Church.

Cyrus Kint was only six years old when his father died. At the age of thirteen he was bound out to John Snyder, with whom he lived a few years and then worked by the month on a farm and rented land. In 1886 he came to Steuben County, working for Dwight Lewis in Salem Town- ship and later rented William Kinser's farm for five years. In 1900 he acquired his first farm, 103 acres in Clear Lake Township. He moved to the land in 1901. It was a tract of heavy brush land, and year after year he has broadened the area of cul- tivation, has improved it with good buildings, and enjoys a well earned independence. Mr. Kint is a Republican and a member of the Baptist Church.

In October, 1882, he married Miss Alice E. Rogers. She born in Northwest Township of Williams County, Ohio, December 10, 1862, a daughter of Joseph and Margaret (Robbins) Rogers. Her grandparents, Adolphus and Amelea (Whaley) Rogers, were pioneers in Williams County, and both of them spent their last years at Marion Center, Kansas. The old Rogers homestead today is owned by Lyle Shank, county superintendent of schools of Steuben County. Adolphus Rogers at one time was a merchant in Williams County, also a teacher, and on his farm kept an early day tavern. Joseph Rogers, the father of Mrs. Kint, was a farmer and died in Williams County in 1910, at the age of seventy- four. Mrs. Kint's mother is still living, aged seventy- five. Mrs. Kint's great-grandfather on the maternal side was Thomas' Whaley, a very early settler of Williams County who took up government land and made a farm of it.

Mr. and Mrs. Kint have two children: Carl, was educated in the public schools, the Tri-State College, and took a course in the Michigan State School of Agriculture at Lansing. He is a practical and scientific farmer and lives in Clear Lake Town- ship, where he owns 164 acres and rents 120 acres. He married Fannie Gowthrop, and they have one son, Carl Vere. Emma L. Kint, is a grad- uate of high school, took the teacher's course in the Tri-State College, and later graduated from the Indiana State Normal at Terre Haute. She has a state license, and for many years has been a success- ful teacher. She taught in Clear Lake six years, also taught in Angola six years, and is now con- nected with the Tri-State College.

CHARLES H. BRUCE has lived at Ashley for over a quarter of a century, and has been a man of great usefulness in that community. He is a lawyer by profession and training, for many years was in the railroad service at Ashley and elsewhere, and is now serving the town and surrounding com- munity effectively in the office of postmaster.

Mr. Bruce was born in Noble County, Indiana, March 31, 1854, a son of Charles F. and Sarah A. (Hammond) Bruce. His father was born at the head of Skaneateles Lake in New York State in 1823, and his mother was born in the same year at Lockport, New York. The paternal grandfather, Ezra Bruce, came to Noble County about 1838, after a residence in Erie, Pennsylvania, and acquired government land in Swan Township. Ezra and his

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

wife Susannah spent their last years in Noble County. Charles F. Bruce was only a boy when brought to Noble County, and he grew up here, followed farming, and at one time kept the tavern in Swan Township. He was a whig and later a republican, but had no official aspirations. He was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist Church. He and his wife had eight children, of whom Charles H. is the only survivor. Two died in infancy and the others were named Edward, Alice, Anna, Luella and William. Charles F. Bruce died in 1882, and his widow survived him and passed away at the age of eighty-three. She lived at Kendallville, but her death occurred while visiting her son at Ashley.

Charles H. Bruce spent his boyhood on the old homestead, and after the . public schools entered Oberlin College in Ohio, where he graduated in the law department. For a number of years he was a skillful telegraph operator, employed by the Wabash Railway Company. He was located at various places and at different times was at Kalamazoo, Mendon and Cedar Springs in Michigan. In 1893 he came to Ashley, where he began the practice of law, and for several years was also chief clerk in the Wabash Machine Shops. He has been one of the leading spirits in community affairs there. He served about six years as city clerk of Ashley, and is now serving his fifth year as postmaster. He is a democrat in politics and is affiliated with Ashley Lodge No. 614, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Ashley Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Kendallville Commandery, Knight Templars, and also the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his family attend the Christian Church.

En 1882 Mr. Bruce married Miss Lyda Chittenden of Lenawee County, Michigan. Their only daughter is Bessie, a graduate of the Ashley High School and the wife of Jay Gage of Ashley. Mr. and Mrs. Gage have one child, Grace.

HARRY BLACK is now the active head of what is probably the oldest mercantile establishment at Al- bion, and one of the oldest in one location and under the direction of one family in Northeast Indiana.

The Black family has been in Noble County for over fifty years. The ancestry goes back' several generations to about the time of the Revolutionary war, when a German boy came to this country and settled in Pennsylvania. This German immigrant was the father of Peter Black, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1787. Peter Black served as a loyal soldier in the War of 1812. His son Owen Black was born in Pennsylvania in 1813, and grew up in Richland County, Ohio. Owen Black came to Albion, Indiana, in 1856, and in the fall of that year established a partnership with Mr. Love in general merchandising. Three or four years later he con- ducted the business himself, and was at its head until 1862. In that year Samuel Foster became a member of the firm. In 1863 the store was burned and Owen Black then re-established the business for himself under the name Black & Son. This title was continued until 1870, when, upon the death of his son and business partner, another son, Jackson D. Black, was taken in. Finally Owen Black retired, and the firm was Black & Brother for a number of years. Finally Jackson D. Black took over the busi- ness alone and continued it until about 1905, when he took in his son, and the firm has since been con- ducted as J. D. Black & Son.

Jackson D. Black was born in Richland County,

Ohio, April 3, 1846, and died at Albion, May 9, 1916.

Mr. Harry Black is a son of Jackson D. Black and was born at Albion in December, 1879. His brother, Albert Black, associated with the business, was called to the army May 15, 1918, and was an instructor' at Camp Perry, Ohio, with the title of captain. He was discharged January, 1919, and is now at home in the same business.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 4

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