History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 46

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 46
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 46
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 46
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 46

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).

He was born in Jamestown Township of Steuben County, March 27, 1861, and spent practically all his life there. His parents, Martin and Elizabeth (Conner) Clark, were both natives of Ireland. His father was born in 1813 and died in 1867 and his mother was born August 3, 1821. Martin Clark set- tled in Jamestown Township in 1855, and spent the rest of his life there as a farmer. His children were Walter, Mary A. and Francis J.

Francis J. Clark attended school in Jamestown Township, but owing to his father': dr. .v. was only six years old, had meager alene, who ,mar. acquire a thorough education. He las. good use of subsequent opportunities, became widely read and well informed, and always sought the companionship of men of good judgment and sound intelligence. After his father's death he worked industriously to help his mother pay off the mortgage on the farm, and he conducted the farm for a number of years. Eventually he became owner of about 200 acres, and enjoyed success in other lines as well. He was one of the organizers of the First Bank of Fremont, and served as a director until a short time before his death.

Mr. Clark died June 5, 1915. He was for one term a trustee of Jamestown Township, and was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons, being a charter member of the Knights of Pythias at Fremont.

October 17, 1906, he married Alma M. Baum, daughter of Michael and Mary A. (Michael) Baum. Mrs. Clark, who survives her honored husband and still lives at Fremont, represents a family that has been identified with Steuben County for seventy years. Her grandparents were Abraham and Eliza- beth Baum. Her maternal grandfather, Phillip Michael, was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Steuben County in 1849, settling at Fremont, where he followed the trade of weaver. He was quite successful and was able to start all his sons in business in and around Fremont. His ten chil- dren were named Enos, Joshua, Phillip, Jacob, David, Mary A., Lydia, Sarah, Lovina and Cath- erine. Mrs. Clark's father, Michael Baum, was born in Pennsylvania, April 17, 1818, and also came to Steuben County in 1849. He lived at Fremont and was a carpenter by trade. He died in August, 1873.

JAY STUCKMAN has been a resident and farmer of Noble County for seventeen years, and owns a well ordered property and good rural home in Noble Township. He has handled his own affairs with admirable success and has attracted attention to himself several times by his neighbors and friends, who have nominated him for public office.

He was born in Defiance County, Ohio, May 2, 1879, son of Isaac and Evaline (Rogers) Stuck- man. His father and mother were both born in Crawford County, Ohio, and lived in that state

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until about 1897. when they moved to Elkhart County, Indiana, and in that locality spent the rest of their days. The father was an active member of the Progressive Brethren Church and an elder or minister of that denomination. He and his wife reared a large and interesting family, comprising eleven children, a brief record of whom is as follows: Hattie, wife of George Myers; Curtis M .; Charles and William, all living in Defiance County, Ohio; Emma wife of Jesse Snyder, of Williams County, Ohio; George, a farmer in Defiance County ; Lewis, of Elkhart County, Indiana; Jay; Clyde, of Elkhart County; Ida wife of Carl Berkey, of Elkhart County; and Lottie, wife of C. A. Whittle, of Goshen, Indiana.

Jay Stuckman was eighteen years old when his parents came to Elkhart County. He had acquired his education in the common schools of Ohio, and since coming to this state has been applying all his time to farming and the varied relationships of a useful career. He moved to Noble County in November, 1902. His farm comprises 235 acres, and a part of it is devoted to the profitable crop of onions. He is also specializing in livestock, has some fine Shorthorn cattle and big type Poland China hogy-, He is a director in the Wolf Lake State Bany and a stockholder in the Kimmel State Bank.

In 1900 Mr. Stuckman married Drusilla Wysong, a daughter of Joseph Wysong. She is a graduate of the Nappanee High School and was a teacher before her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Stuckman have five children : Elva, Vesta, Guy, Paul and Roger. The two older children are both graduates of the Wolf Lake High School. Mr. Stuckman is a democrat, and his party nominated him a year or so ago for the office of county treasurer.

CHARLES HAARER. One of the best instances of the selfmade man is found in the person of Charles Haarer of Newbury Township, LaGrange County. Coming to this country a stranger to its language and customs, he has worked hard and saved thriftily and is now one of the well-to-do men of his region. He was born January 22, 1850, in Ger- many, he was there reared, and between the ages of six and fourteen years received the educational ad- vantages offered by its public schools. In 1869 he left his native land for the United States, and after landing made his way to Ann Arbor, Michigan, ob- taining employment first on a farm, and later on the construction of the Pere Marquette Railroad. He next moved to a wild piece of land in Michigan, 100 aeres, and then from there came to Indiana. In 1886 he came to LaGrange County, Indiana, and rented a farm, and also assisted in the operation of the saw-mill owned by Tilly Schrack for a year. While living in Michigan he had bought a farm of eighty acres, which he later traded for 100 acres on the Banbridge Road in LaGrange County. Af- ter conducting it for three years he traded his sec- ond farm for the Half Moon farm of 160 acres, adding to it until he had 260 acres, but sold this property in 1917, and another farm he had bought he disposed of in 1918. In 1912 he bought his pres- ent farm, and is still conducting it. His political faith is that of a republican. For a number of years he belonged to the Lutheran Church, but sixteen years ago united with the Mennonite Church, of which his wife has been a member for thirty-five years.

On April 25, 1880, Mr. Haarer was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Emmert. born in New- bury Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, Decem- ber 10, 1862, a daughter of Leonard and Catherine (Eash) Emmert, natives of Germany and Pennsyl-

vania, respectively, who were married in Elkhart County, where they lived for a few years prior to settling in Newbury Township. He died in Ore- gon in 1900, aged sixty-seven years. His widow, al- though eighty years old, survives and makes her home in Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Haarer became the parents of the following children: John, who is on the old homestead, married Edna Eash, and they have four children, Orpha A., Ruby Ruth, Roy and Charles; Mary Viola, who married Daniel M. Kauffman, and their children are, Ray, Ruth and Ruby, twins, the latter deceased; Rufus Charles, Clara and Henry; Willie Henry, a farmer, who married Fannie Eash, has the following children, Aldine, Corona, Sylvester and Leonard; Joseph Frank, who is a farmer of Newbury Township, married Grace Beam, had the following children, David Paul, deceased, and Ethel Marian; and David A., Charles Edwin, Martha Elizabeth and Susan Magdelina, all of whom are deceased.

An experienced farmer and excellent business man, Mr. Haarer is held in respect for his good qualities in his neighborhood, and deserves great credit for what he has accomplished in the land of his adop- tion in the half a century he has resided in it.

GEORGE H. SMITH is proprietor of the Buckeye Farm, consisting of ninety acres in section 22 of Jackson Township, DeKalb County. Mr. Smith is an Ohio man, and has been a resident of DeKalb County for the past ten years.

He was born in Licking County, Ohio, April 16, 1860, son of William S. and Cristy A. (Wood) Smith. His parents were also natives of Ohio, and in 1910 moved to Indiana and settled in DeKalb County.

George H. Smith grew up in his native county, had a common school education, and on September 22, 1878, married Sarah E. Davis. He began his career as a day laborer and from a modest start acquired two farms in Putnam County, Ohio. On moving to DeKalb County in 1910 he bought the ninety acres comprised in the Buckeye Farm, and has used it for general farming and stockraising. He is also a stockholder in the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Spencerville. Mr. Smith is a democrat and is affiliated with Lodge No, 536 of the Masons at Leipsic, Ohio.

He and his wife have three sons: Bert Smith, who lives near Hudson, Michigan; Earl, also a farmer near Hudson; and Audrey L., who is mar- ried and lives on the home farm.

WILLIAM J. MENGES. The farmer is a man who needs to be well informed upon many subjects if he hopes to make a success of his work. The day has passed when men sought only to "make a living" from their farms. Land is too valuable and the need for food is too urgent to permit of any such haphazard methods. The modern farmer needs to understand the chemical elements in his soil and how to supply any which may be lacking to bring it up to the highest degree of fertility. He has to know all about rotation of crops, and make such changes in the disposition of his fields as will pre- serve his soil from unnecessary deterioration. His buildings must be constructed so as to conform with state sanitary regulations, and he recognizes the practicality of installing improved machinery. In order to properly realize on his crops he must be posted as to markets and best methods of trans- portation. If he is a stock raiser as well as grain grower many other avenues of knowledge must be traveled by him. In fact the farmer never stops learning something about his work from the time

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he first goes on his farm until he leaves it for the last time. Yet, if he likes farming and appreciates its dignity and importance, in spite of the hard work and occasional reverses, he comes to recognize that he is the most independent man on earth, and that all other classes are looking to him for the most urgent necessity of life, food.

One of the representative farmers of Steuben County, who not only has spent his entire life in the county but was born here, is William J. Menges, of Steuben Township. He was born on a farm adjoining his present one, in Steuben Town- ship, September 15, 1866, a son of Samuel Menges and grandson of Adam Menges and William Wolf. Adam Menges was born in Pennsylvania, but came to Steuben County in 1853. His wife bore the maiden name of Huffvines. William Wolf, the maternal grandfather, was born in Loudon County, Virginia, August 6, 1805, and his wife, Catherine (Fetterhoof) Wolf, was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. After their marriage they moved to Ashland County, Ohio, and in 1864 to Steuben County, Indiana, settling on the northeast quarter of section 7, Steuben Township, where William Wolf developed into a prosperous farmer. He and his wife had the following children : John, Susanna, Andrew, Jacob, Adam, Joseph, Mary Ann, Cath- erine, Magdalena, William, Amos, Lydia, Front, Phoebe and Sarah, of whom Mary Ann, born in Columbiana County, Ohio, March 21, 1843, became the mother of William J. Menges.

Samuel Menges was born in Wayne County, Ohio, January 26, 1840, but was only a lad when his father located in Steuben County, and he here attended the public schools. After attaining his majority he acquired a farm, all covered with timber, and had to clear a space in order to erect a log cabin in which to house his family. This pioneer farm has been developed by him and William J. Menges into the present magnificent rural property upon which the latter is residing. The little log cabin was in time replaced by a substantial residence that is still used. Other necessary buildings were erected by Samuel Menges, and he lived on this farm until he retired, when, during the spring of 1899, he moved to Angola, and there he died September 10, 1905. His widow survives him and lives at Angola. Their children were William J., whose name heads this review, and Ida, who married Morton Lemon. Samuel Menges was a consistent member of the United Brethren Church of Steuben Township. During the Civil war Samuel Menges responded to the call of his country, and enlisted during March, 1865, his regiment, the One Hundred and Fifty- Fifth Indiana Infantry, being detailed at Wilming- ton, Delaware, on provost duty.

William J. Menges attended the local schools of his native township and assisted his father in con- ducting the farm. After his marriage in 1890 he rented the homestead for a few years, and then rented another farm located in Otsego Township, where he lived until 1897, in that year going to Angola, where he was in a draying business until 1901. Selling his business, he rented his present farm of 118 acres, leaving it in 1903 for a farm he bought in Pleasant Township. After the death of his father he sold his farm and bought the old homestead, where he has- since resided. In 1907 his neighborhood was visited by a destructive cyclone and all of his buildings except the residence were blown down, but since then he has erected new ones and has improved the house. Here he carries on general farming and stock raising, and is justly numbered among the leaders in his com- munity. He belongs to the Baptist Church.

On October 1, 1890, Mr. Menges was united in marriage with Jennie Stover, a daughter of Isaac and Emma (Tubbs) Stover. Isaac Stover was born in Ohio, and his wife was born in Huron County, of that state. In young manhood Mr. Stover came to Steuben County, Indiana, and became a farmer of Salem Township, where he died in 1869. He and his wife had the following children: George Stover and Mrs. Menges. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Menges are as follows: Zeno, who died when small; L. D., who married Olivia Lacey; and June.

J. H. NYE, M. D. The community of Cromwell in Noble County, has had the able and kindly services of Dr. J. H. Nye as a physician and surgeon for nearly twenty years. Dr. Nye is a man of high attainments in his profession, of thorough training, and experience has brought him a general recognition of his talents.

He was born in Dix, New York, in April, 1870, a son of Ebenezer and Margaret (Sharp) Nye, both natives of New York State. His father was a graduate of the Buffalo Law School and spent many years as a successful lawyer in Schuyler County, New York. He served for a number of years as a justice of the peace and was active in republican politics.

Dr. J. H. Nye was educated in the common schools of Yates and Schuyler counties, graduating from the Dundee High School, and for seven years he earned his living as a teacher in the schools of New York and Pennsylvania. He finally entered the Medical College of Indiana, and after the full course was graduated M. D. in 1892. The following two years he was located at Buffalo, where he practiced medicine with his brother Dr. O. S. Nye. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore and took a post-graduate course, and in 1901 came to Indiana and located at Cromwell, where his work has been greatly ap- preciated ever since. He has served as deputy coroner of Noble County, and is a member in good standing of the County and State Medical Societies and the American Medical Association. Doctor Nye is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and a Knight of Pythias. In politics he is a republican. Among other local interests he is a stockholder and one of the directors of the Sparta State Bank at Cromwell. Doctor Nye married Miss Pearl Voorhees, daughter of Doctor Voorhees. She is a graduate of the Mansfield Normal School of Pennsylvania and was also a teacher of the public schools of that state and of New Jersey before her marriage.

W. P. STEWARD is a popular figure in business cir- cles in the southern part of DeKalb County, being proprietor of the Steward Lumber & Grain Company at Spencerville.

He was born in Spencer Township, formerly Con- cord Township, March 7, 1887, a son of L. W. and Cora C. (Barr) Steward. His father was born in Jackson Township of DeKalb County in 1862, and his mother in Spencer Township in 1864. She is still living. L. W. Steward was a sawmill operator and a retail lumberman for many years and died in 1912. He was a Methodist. He and his wife had four children, one of whom was the late Fred Stew- ard, a partner with his brother W. P. in the lumber business. Fred Steward was a graduate of high school and went into the army and died at Camp Taylor in 1918. He married Laura Worley and left one son. The three living children are Arminta, W. P. and Jennie, wife of Roscoe Walters.

W. P. Steward is a high school graduate and from

Wm Huntsman

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school entered his present business and has carried it on successfully for a number of years. He is one of the leading men of Spencerville, being a director of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, president of the Town Hall Association, and is a stockholder in a hardware business at Fort Wayne.

He married Hazel Berry of St. Joe, Indiana, March 20, 1909. She is a graduate of the St. Joe High School. They have two children, Ercil and Florence. Mrs. Steward is a member of the Meth- odist Church. He is affiliated with Concord Lodge of Masons, is a member of the thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Consistory at Fort Wayne, both he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star, and she is a past worthy matron and a member of the Grand Lodge. He is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has sat in the Grand Lodge. Politically Mr. Steward is a republican.

CHARLES A. DOHNER is not only a farmer but re- garded as one of the livest business men of Troy Township, DeKalb County. He owns 120 acres, all of which he has acquired and made as a result of years of hard work and saving and careful co-opera- tion between himself and his wife. He is also a stockholder in the Arctic Co-operative Livestock Shipping Association and is one of the directors of the Butler Grain Shipping Association.

Mr. Dohner was born in St. Joe Township of Wil- liams County, Ohio, August 20, 1876, a son of Isaac and Rachel (Adams) Dohner. Isaac Dohner was born in Wayne County, Ohio, December 31, 1838, and died in a hospital at Detroit, Michigan, July 7, IgII. He came to DeKalb County in 1859. On No- vember 28, 1860, he married Susan Bratten, of Wil- liams County, Ohio. He left home and on March 28, 1864, enlisted in Company H of the Eighty-Eighth Indiana Infantry and was in active service until wounded at Bentonville, North Carolina, in one of the last battles of the war, on March 19, 1865. While he was in the army his wife died, leaving one child, Clara, wife of Adolph Vogal, a resident of Chicago. On November 1, 1866, Isaac Dohner married Rachel A. (Adams) Johnston, of Wayne County, Ohio, widow of Cyrus Johnston, who was also a Union soldier and died while in the war. Mrs. Johnston by her first marriage had one son, Robert, now de- ceased. Isaac Dohner and wife were the parents of seven children : William H .; May, wife of Charles Jennings ; Etta, wife of William Wilson; Ella, wife of Jacob Cole; Mary, wife of Floyd Hollinger ; Charles A., and John, of Williams County. The parents were members of the United Brethren Church at Big Run. Mrs. Isaac Dohner is still liv- ing at Butler. Her husband was an active member of the Grand Army Post at Butler and a repub- lican in politics.

Charles A. Dohner spent much of his early life in Steuben County, where he attended the common schools. At the age of fourteen he went to work on a farm and then for five years was employed in a basket factory at Edgerton and Sherwood, Ohio. On coming to DeKalb County he worked on a farm and on September 19, 1896, married Jessie M. Souder. She was born in Troy Township April 19, 1880, a daughter of George B. and Sarah M. (Adams) Souder. Her father was born in Perry County, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1846, and in 1859 went with his parents to Richland County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. In 1874 he settled on section 24 of Franklin Township, DeKalb County, and in 1879 moved to Troy Township, where he is still living, the owner of eighty acres of land. Mr. Souder mar- ried Sarah M. Adams February 27, 1868, who was

a daughter of Andrew Adams, of Richland County, Ohio, where she was born January 14, 1848.

Mrs. Dohner grew up on her father's farm and had a common school education. For one year after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Dohner lived at Butler and since then have been farmers in Troy Town- ship. They have three children : George, born April 28, 1898, is a graduate of the common schools and married Edith Worthington, and they have one child, Howard E. Glen, born June 22, 1899, graduated from the common schools at the age of fifteen; Ross, born September 7, 1902, finished his common school edu- cation at the age of twelve. Mr. Dohner is affil- iated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Butler and he and his wife are members of the Butler Grange. He is a republican and on that ticket was elected a member of the DeKalb County Council November 5, 1918.

WILLIAM H. HUNTSMAN. While much is heard in these days of farming as a business, there are a number of men in Northeast Indiana who at the outset of their careers had practically nothing but experience, ambition and hope, and have managed to rear their families and provide for all their needs and comforts through strict dependence upon the tilling of fields and the raising of livestock. One of these is William H. Huntsman, a prosperous farmer in Greene Township, in section 7, Noble County.

He was born on the farm where he now resides November 25, 1875. His parents were George and Susanna (Hosler) Huntsman, both natives of Ohio. His father was born in Morrow County, that state, grew up and married there, and on coming to In- diana located in Greene Township of Noble County. They spent the rest of their days on the old home farm. They were devout church members and in politics the father was a democrat. They had nine children and five are still living: Elza, a farmer in Nohle Township; Alice, wife of D. A. Harlan, of Noble Township; William H .; Cora, who is mar- ried and lives in Noble Township; and Anson L., of Greene Township.

William H. Huntsman has spent practically all his life on the home farm and as a boy he attended the local district schools. In October, 1896, he married Miss Emmaretta Ott. She was born in Noble Township of Noble County and had a district school education. Mr. and Mrs. Huntsman started life with no capital, and for eleven or twelve years he worked for his father on the farm. Having saved all he could during this interim and at the same time having provided for the expenses of a growing family, he then bought a half interest in the home farm, and his prosperity has been growing steadily with the passing years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Huntsman were born eleven chil- dren, ten of whom are still living: Cleo, Blanche, Fern, Wilda, Lavon, Martha, Hays, Raymond, Lydia and Robert. Cleo is the wife of R. Weber. Mr. Huntsman is a democrat and was the nominee of his party for county commissioner in 1918.

PERRY W. BOWERMAN. Some of the best land of Jackson Township in Steuben County has been developed through the enterprise of members of the Bowerman family, some of whom have been here for over thirty-eight years. After an active career spent on one of the farms there Perry W. Bower- man is now living retired at Flint, but still owns a large farm.

Mr. Bowerman was horn in Seneca County, Ohio, July 5, 1856, a son of Simon and Lydia (Spangle) Bowerman. The maternal grandfather was Jacob

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Spangle. The paternal grandparents were Jacob and Mary (Ritter) Bowerman, the former a native of New York State, who moved to Seneca County, Ohio, in 1827, and spent the rest of his life as a farmer in that locality, having lived there from earliest pioneer times. Jacob Bowerman's children were Simon, Michael, Henry, John, Jacob, Isaac, Joshua, Charles, Catherine, Susan and Mary. Of this large family, two are still living, Charles and Mary.

Simon Bowerman was born in New York State, January 4, 1820. He was a child when taken to Ohio and after reaching manhood became a farmer in Seneca County. In 1872 he brought his family to Jackson Township of Steuben County, locating in sections , 16 and 17, and made the bulk of his prosperity while living there. He acquired the ownership of 240 acres of land. He died April 27, 1903. His wife, who was born in New York State in 1823, died in November, 1907. They were mem- bers of the Dunkard Church. The children of Simon Bowerman and wife were: Rachel, who be- came the wife of William Oury; Cassie, who died in childhood; Joshna; Perry W .; Clarence, who died when a small boy; and Charles, who died in early life.

Perry W. Bowerman was sixteen years old when his parents came to Steuben County. He finished his education in School No. 4 of Jackson Township, and soon afterward began farming there. In 1879 he married Jennie Johns, a daughter of Peter Johns. After his marriage he bought a farm in section 16, adjoining the old Bowerman estate, and for nearly forty years was diligently engaged in its manage- ment and cultivation, putting up all the buildings and carrying on his business as a general farmer and stock raiser until the spring of 1918. At that date he moved to a good home in Flint, and his farm of 180 acres is now carried on by a son. Mr. Bower- man is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge in Flint.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 46

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