History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 55

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 55
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 55
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 55
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 55

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David E. Wright, who was born during the brief residence of his parents at Fairfield Center in DeKalb County September 28, 1873, was one of two children, his brother Charles E. dying when nine years old. He acquired a good education in the district schools of Salem Township, attended school at Angola one term, and in early life assumed in- creasing responsibilities in the management of the fine farm of his father and eventually succeeded to its ownership and has lived there since he was eight years old. His affairs have prospered and the farm represents a valuable property. In 1902 he built the farm house in which he lives, and nearby is another dwelling occupied by a tenant.

October 30, 1895, Mr. Wright married Miss Celia A. Hunt. She was born near Kendallville, Indiana, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Spero) Hunt. They had three children: Russell L., who died at the age of fifteen months; Floyd E., born September II, 1900; Laurence, born January 2, 1905.

URVAN J. TROYER. The country owes much to the intelligent labors of its farmers and stockraisers, for it is largely dependent on their efforts. While there are but few farms of the old-fashioned type remaining in LaGrange County, where antiquated farm methods are still pursued, not every farmer here is as progressive and enterprising as Urvan J. Troyer, who carries on his industries in Clay Town- ship and is widely known as a breeder of Holstein cattle.

Urvan J. Troyer was born in Newbury Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, October 6, 1880, and is a son of Samuel and Fannie (Eash) Troyer, the latter of whom was born in 1862, and the former in 1860, in Harvard County, Indiana. Extended men- tion of his father, Jeremiah Troyer, will be found in this work. When fourteen years old Samuel Troyer accompanied his parents to Newbury Town- ship, LaGrange County, where he became a farmer and owned 210 acres of land. In 1911 he removed to Elkhart County and now resides on his farm of forty acres there. His seven children were as fol- lows : Emma, Urvan J., Matie, Lizzie, Martha, Ber- tha (deceased), and Edith. Samuel Troyer is a republican in politics, and he and family belong to . afterward for six years Judge Best and Judge the Mennonite Church.

Urvan J. Troyer continued in school until he left the Shipshewana High School, and then began the business of cultivating land and raising stock, to which he has given his close attention. He owns 212 acres of valuable land, which he operates intel- ligently, according to the best approved modern methods, and is greatly interested in his stock, hav- ing the sensible opinion that the best grade is the most profitable. As one evidence of his good judg- ment his investment for breeding purposes in Hol- stein cattle may be cited. At the present time he has in his fine herd a cow with the record of twenty- four pounds of butter in seven days, which almost equals the butter record of the famous champion Holstein cow that was sold at Philadelphia in June, 1919, and brought $26,000. Mr. Troyer has been equally judicious in the selection of his other high grade stock of pure bred swine and Shropshire sheep.

In 1902 Mr. Troyer was united in marriage to Miss Addie Miller, who was born in Clay Town- ship, LaGrange County, November 28, 1881, and is a daughter of Moses P. Miller, mention of whom will be found on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Troyer have four children, namely: Ma- rie, Wavia, Bernice and Glenn. Mr. Troyer and his family are of the Mennonite faith. Mr. Troyer is a republican in politics.

DOAK ROBERT BEST. Of the present bar of Steuben County one of the men longest in practice and with many accumulated honors of the profession and public life is Judge Doak Robert Best.

He was born in Huntington County, Indiana, June 16, 1850, son of James C. and Jane Eliza (Doak) Best. His grandfather, James Best, and wife, Mary (Coulter) Best, were both natives of Virginia and spent all their lives there. Of their family of fifteen children all but one daughter removed from Vir- ginia to other states. James C. Best was born in Augusta County, Virginia, in 1800 and his wife in 1805. They married in Virginia and about 1822 moved to Kentucky, and about 1836 settled among the pioneers of Huntington County, Indiana, where they bought a farm three miles north of the county seat. James C. Best lived there until his death in 1869, his wife surviving until 1872. He was a whig and later a republican and a strong abolitionist in sentiment. At one time he was a member of the. Board of County Commissioners in Huntington County. He and his wife had seven sons and seven daughters, twelve of whom reached adult years.

Judge Best, youngest of the family and the only one now living, was reared on a farm in Huntington County and lived there to the age of nineteen. He supplemented a district school education by attend- ing the Warsaw High School, and for a time was a teacher at Leesburg in Kosciusko County and also in Huntington County at Andrews. He received the degree Bachelor of Science from the Lebanon Normal College in 1872, and was a student of law all the time he was teaching. He was also in the office of his brother, George W. Best, a well known attorney at Elkhart. Judge Best located at Angola in the spring of 1875, and has continuously been a member of the bar for over forty years. He has owned some property in Angola ever since 1875, and has some farm lands in the county. In 1875 he became associated with Jesse M. Gale and Leland H. Stocker, both old and prominent lawyers of Steuben County, under the firm name of Gale, Stocker & Best. The senior partners retired about 1883, and

Emmet A. Bratton were in partnership. Charles A. Yotter became a member of the firm in 1893, and the title of the firm was Best, Bratton & Yotter until Judge Bratton was elected circuit judge. It then remained Best & Yofter. Judge Best has fre- quently been appointed a special judge, and there- fore his popular title is not merely honorary. He is an active republican, has served as a member of the School Board six years, was county attorney for a number of years in his earlier career, and is now serving his second four year term as city at- torney. He served as a member of the Legislature in 1883 and again in 1885. Judge Best is one of the organizers of the Angola Bank Trust Company, the name of the institution being suggested by him. For the past three years he has been its president and is one of the directors. For many years he has taken a helpful part in the affairs of the Tri-State College, served several years as a trustee, and is now dean of the law department. Judge Best is a

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member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are members of the Christian Church.

March II, 1875, Judge Best married Mary E. · Lancaster, of Baltimore, Maryland. She graduated from the State Normal School at Baltimore, com- pleted a classical course in the Tri-State College at Angola, and for several years was a teacher in pub- lic schools. She is now employing her time as teacher of French in the Tri-State College, and she instructed a class of soldier boys in that language in 1918.

FRANK D. MUNGER was born on a farm in North- east Indiana, has always been more or less inter- ested in farming and farm ownership, but his main tastes and talents have run along mechanical lines. It is doubtful if a more skillful machinist can be found in this section of the state than Frank D. Munger. He has served several large corporations and at present is connected with the Western Gas Company of Fort Wayne.

Mr. Munger was born in Noble County, Indiana, June 25, 1863, a son of Orin and Mary (Ayers) Munger, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New Jersey. His maternal grand- parents were Enoch and Nancy (Riker) Ayers. Enoch Ayers was a native of New York, was a turner and millwright by trade, and was one of the early settlers of Pleasant Township in Steuben County. His children were named Mary, Hestran, Nancy, Armstrong, Margaret, and Isaac.

Orin Munger came to Pleasant Township of Steuben County in 1864 and bought a farm from his father-in-law, Enoch Ayers. He lived on that farm in Pleasant Township until about 1874, when he moved to Jackson Township and became the owner of a place of 160 acres, which he cultivated and occupied until his death. He and his wife had the following children: Lorenzo D .; Virginia J., who became the wife of Alexander Hallstead; Frank D .; Brazil; and Edith, who married Gran- ville McClure.

Frank D. Munger spent his early life on his father's farm, attended public schools in Pleasant and Jackson townships, and in early manhood learned the trade of blacksmith. Working in iron proved a fascinating occupation to him, and he gradually developed his skill as a machinist and for upwards of thirty years has been a machinist of rare and skillful workmanship. About 1899 he bought a farm of 275 acres in section 36 of Jackson Township, and still owns that fine place. He im- proved it with buildings, and personally supervised its cultivation and management for sixteen years. Since then the farm has been rented to his son Clarence. After leaving the farm Mr. Munger was employed as a machinist by S. F. Bowers at Fort Wayne, eight months later joined the Western Gas Company there, and in January, 1919, moved to . Angola, where for four or five months he was in the machine works. Since then he has resumed his place with the Western Gas Company.

Mr. Munger married Allie Zimmerman, a daugh- ter of John Zimmerman. Both are members of the Methodist Church at Angola. To their marriage were born nine children, Ralph, Lula, Roy, Eula, Vera, Clarence, Etta, Clyde and Paul. Eula and Etta died in early childhood. Ralph married for his first wife Della Meeks, and their children were Orlow, Ora, Waldo, Harold and Ruth. She died at the birth of her daughter Ruth, and Ralph Mun- ger has since married Mrs. Edna Brown. The daughter Lula was the wife of Herbert Jackson and has a daughter, Pauline, and her second hus-

and is Lloyd Pairon. Roy is the soldier representa- tive of the family, having served in the One Hun- dred and Twenty-Seventh Field Artillery with the Expeditionary Forces. He married Jennie Pairon and has a son, Donald. Clarence, manager of the home farm, married May Griffin and has two chil- dren, Ida May and John.

EVERITT W. SHANK is in the opinion of many, one of the very best and most successful farmers in Eden Township of LaGrange County. He lives on the old Short estate in section 6, and both his crops and livestock show the evidence of his skill and management. He now farms over 200 acres.

Mr. Shank was born in Elkhart County of In- diana, June 3, 1864, a son of Jonas and Lucinda (Bentley) Shank, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of New York State. Jonas Shank came with his parents to Elkhart County in 1836. The family were pioneers in the Forest Grove community, where he grew to manhood. The Bent- ley family were also early settlers in Elkhart County. Jonas Shank and wife after their marriage moved to LaGrange County, where they spent the rest of their lives. Of their five children three are still living: Jane, widow of Oscar Short, of Go- shen, Indiana; Lucy, wife of C. C. Method, of Mil- lersburg, Indiana; and Everitt.

The latter grew up in LaGrange County and at- tended the district schools to the age of seventeen. On December 31, 1893, he married Burdette Kauff- man. She was born in Elkhart County in 1875, and had a common and high school education. After their marriage they settled on their present farm of 200 acres, and Mr. Shank has been handling that fine property for a quarter of a century. As a livestock man he is well known as a breeder of thoroughbred Hereford cattle, Poland China hogs and Belgian horses. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran Church at Fish Lake and he has served as church trustee. He is a republican in politics.

Mr. and Mrs. Shank have five children: Helen, Willis, Irene, Wilma and Carl. Helen is the wife of Ray Larimer, of Eden Township, while the other children are still at home.

DAVID H. REESE. The Reese family had a very interesting and useful part in the pioneer develop- ment of Williams County, Ohio, and from that sec- tion their interests many years ago were trans- ferred to Steuben County. David H. Reese, a na- tive of Williams County, has lived in Steuben County for a quarter of a century, part of the time as a farmer and latterly as a successful merchant "at Angola.

He was born in Williams County, September 13, 1866, a son of Herman J. and Frances Amanda (Merchant) Reese. His father was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1828 and his mother was born in Seneca County, Ohio, in 1832. They married in Seneca County and in 1852 moved to Williams County. The section of Williams County in which they settled had been neglected by the earlier residents of North- west Ohio, and was virtually a wilderness. Her- man Reese and wife went through all the trials and hardships incident to pioneering. Their first home was a log cabin. There were no doors nor windows, and the spaces between the logs were chinked with clay and mnd. Every night they kept a vigorous fire burning in order to scare away the wolves. The nearest and most convenient trading point was De- fiance, Ohio, thirty-five miles away. Herman Reese acquired his land at $1.25 an acre, and started his career in Williams County with only 50 cents in cash. In spite of all these difficult circumstances

Willbul T. Hlines Eva E. Hines

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at first he had the true pioneer grit and the ability to raise himself above the level of poverty. For some time he spent his days working in a saw mill, and then would continue with his day's labor several hours at night cutting wood and clearing up his farm. This life of industry and toil brought its sure reward, and at the time of his death he owned 160 acres, constituting a good farm in Williams County and also eighty acres in Richland Township of Steuben County. For eight years he was en- gaged in the implement business at Edon, where he owned a good residence and also a business block. He was very active in politics as a republican and at first was affiliated with the United Brethren and later with the Edon Methodist Church. Herman Reese died in Edon in 1894 and his wife in 1902. By a previous marriage he had a daughter, named Elizabeth. He and his wife Frances Amanda had a large family of eleven children, named Calvin A., John H., Alwilda Jane, Lewis Jackson, Amandus E., Ida Bell, David H., Burton B., Joseph E., Mary B. and Frances Ella.

David H. Reese spent his own early life on the farm which his father had in the meantime cleared out from the woods. At the age of sixteen he went to Edon and attended high school and then for nine years was engaged in the implement business. In 1891 he married Miss Angelina L. Fetters, of Wil- liams County. She is well known in that county, where for seventeen terms she taught school. Mr. Reese for three years after his marriage was en- gaged in the implement business, until his store at Edon was burned in July, 1894. He then took possession of the farm in Richland Township of Steuben County, which his father had formerly owned. He remained there in the diligent cultiva- tion of his soil and crops for eighteen years, and had eighty acres. He sold this land in 1912 and on the 7th of March in that year moved to Angola, where he has since built up a large trade in coal. Mr. Reese is a republican in politics and is affiliated with the Lodge of Knights of Pythias at Edon, Ohio, of which he is a charter member. He and his family are members of the Christian Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Reese have two sons, Paul D., who was born May 30, 1894, was educated in the Edon High School and the Tri-State College at Angola. He married Lola Rinehart and has a son named Claud Burton. Claud Burton Reese was born August 18, 1900, and is now a student in the Tri- State College. He has been appointed for four years to Annapolis to prepare for a naval officer. He secured the appointment by making highest per cent in grades.

WILBERT T. HINES for over forty years has been one of the practical and progressive farmers of Jefferson Township, Noble County, and is widely known over the county by his former service for two terms as county treasurer.

Mr. Hines was born in Noble County February 29, 1864, son of Thomas and Sarah (Koontz) Hines. His father was a native of Knox County, Ohio, and his mother of Harper's Ferry, Virginia. They mar- ried in Ohio, and on coming to Indiana first lo- cated in LaGrange County for one year, and follow- ing another interval spent in Ohio came to Noble County. Thomas Hines had the following children : Anna E., Mrs. William Bowen; Lucetta, wife of Jerry Henney; Melvin, a farmer in Jefferson Town- ship; Mary, wife of George Black; Ella, wife of Martin Halferty; Lydia, wife of Albert Singery; and Wilbert T.

Wilbert T. Hines grew up in Jefferson Township, and was educated in the district schools there. He lived at home to the age of twenty-three, when he

established a home of his own by his marriage with Miss Eva Black, daughter of Benjamin and Ruth Black. Mrs. Hines was born in Jefferson Township and was educated in the district schools.

After their marriage they located on their pres- ent farm, where Mr. Hines has 220 acres, and has given a very fine account of his possessions as a stock farmer. He built his modern home in 1903, and has one of the valuable estates of the county and also an ideal home for his family.

He is the father of two children: Glenn B., now assistant cashier and bookkeeper of the Noble County Bank; and Fern R., wife of Charles Lem- mon of Jefferson Township. There are also four grandchildren.

Mr. Hines is a democrat, and it was on that ticket that he was elected for his two terms of service as treasurer of Noble County. He is affiliated with Albion Lodge No. 94, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, Kendallville Chapter No. 64, Royal Arch Masons, and has always interested himself in any movement for the welfare of his community.

ARCHIE GASKIL after a number of years in the service of the Wabash Railroad returned to the old home farm in Otsego Township of Steuben County, and is now numbered among the pros- perous and progressive agriculturists of that section.

He was born in York Township January 8, 1882, a son of Guy and Florence (Emerson) Gaskil and a grandson of George and Theodosia (Reeves) Gaskil. His grandparents were natives of New York State and settled in York Township of Steu- ben County about 1850. George Gaskil as one of the early settlers took up and developed a good farm and lived there the rest of his life. His chil- dren were named Benjamin, Charlotte, Martha, Garrett, Mary, Louisa, Diantha, Lydia and Guy.

Guy Gaskil, who was born in York Township of Steuben County, became a farmer there and about 1900 moved to the place where his son now lives in section 1 of Otsego Township. He was a man held in the highest esteem, was prospered in his business enterprise and was in comfortable circumstances when he died in July, 1916. His wife, Florence Emerson, was a native of Stark County. Olio, danghter of Ira and Almira (Teeters) Emerson.

Archie Gaskil acquired a good public school edu- cation in York and Otsego townships, and as a young man entered the service of the Wabash Rail- road. He was a railroad man for eight years, and during that time made his home at Montpelier, Ohio. In 1914 he returned to the home farm. He was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

In July, 1908, Mr. Gaskil married Ruth Soule, daughter of Darwin and Margaret Soule. They have two children, Florence Imo Jean and Bettie Jean.

HENRY H. YODER. Another of the notable family group of Yoders whose records are scattered through this publication is Henry H. Yoder, pro- prietor of the Grand View Stock Farm, comprising 1561/2 acres and located six miles southwest of Ship- shewana in Eden Township of LaGrange County.

Mr. Yoder was born on an adjoining farm March 10, 1883, and is the seventh son and youngest child of Valentine T. and Catherine (Schrock) Yoder. He grew up on the home farm and after graduating from the common schools remained with his parents, helping in the fields, until he was twenty-two years of age. January 5, 1905, Mr. Yoder married Mary L. Wingard. She was born in Newbury Township of LaGrange County, September 8, 1884, and died December 28, 1918, after nearly fourteen years of

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happy married life. She was the mother of five children, one of whom died in infancy. Those liv- ing are Beulah, Leroy, Katie and Carrie A.

Mr. Yoder was born on an adjoining farm March a generous prosperity, and besides the farm on which he lives he has 123 acres in St. Joseph County, Michigan. It is something of a family characteristic of the Yoders to be successful stockmen. Mr. Yo- der's specialty is registered Guernsey cattle and Belgian horses, also Duroc hogs. He is a demo- crat in politics and a member of the Amish Men- nonite Church.

ROSCOE CONKLIN. The Conklins were among the pioneers in Steuben County, and many of the family have been esteemed as prosperous farmers and pub- lic spirited citizens in Salem Township. Mr. Roscoe Conklin, who represents the third generation of the family to reside here, is still living on a fine farm adjoining Salem Center where he was born on September 9, 1865.

The Conklin family for many years lived in New York State, at first in Dutchess and later in Cayuga County. The great-grandfather, Isaac Conklin, brought his family from Cayuga County to Rich- land County, Ohio, where he was among the pio- neers. About 1842 he moved to Steuben County with his youngest son, James, and settled in Salem Township. Isaac Conklin spent his last days in Kansas.

His son, David Conklin, grandfather of Roscoe, was born in New York in 1803 and arrived in Steuben County in 1844. He settled on the north- east quarter of section 15, Salem Township. In 1874 he moved to Fulton County, Ohio, where he died in 1881. He married Polly Van Fleet, who died in Ohio. Their seven children to reach mature years were named Ensign, Calvin, Nelson, William, Elizabeth, Cynthia and Lime.

Calvin Conklin, father of Roscoe, was born in Crawford County, Ohio, in 1832, and was twelve years of age when the family moved to Steuben County. He acquired eighty acres of his grand- father's estate, also another eighty acres, and was a prosperous farmer at the time of his death on April 17, 1916. He married Lydia Ann Boss, daugh- ter of Dr. Jacob Boss of Kosciusko County. She is now living at Angola at the age of eighty-two. She is a member of the Methodist Church, and her husband was a democrat.

Roscoe Conklin, only son of his parents, was reared on the homestead and educated in the local schools and the Angola High School, and for many years has been proprietor of a large farm in Salem Township, his land holdings aggregating 338 acres. He has been extensively engaged in stock raising, especially as a feeder of cattle and sheep. His farm has all the modern improvements. He is a repub- lican in politics, but has never asked for office.

In 1891 he married Miss Etta Weaver, of Pauld- ing County, Ohio, where she was born October 23, 1869. Mr. and Mrs. Conklin have one daughter, Ruth, born February 8, 1904. Mrs. Conklin is a daughter of David and Sarah Jane (Shade) Weaver, the former a native of Toledo and the latter of Crawford County, Ohio. She was the only child of her parents, and her mother died October 29, 1884.

THOMAS HALL. For about forty-five years Thomas Hall has been engaged in the business of agriculture, part of the time in Michigan and part of the time in Steuben County. He owns one of the large and valuable farms of York Township, and is one of the men of highest standing in that community.

He was born in Branch County, Michigan, Octo- ber 18, 1854, but came to Steuben County when a small boy. His parents were James and Mary (Ford) Hall, his father born in New York State in 1819 and his mother a native of Ireland. James Hall went to Branch County, Michigan, about 1840. He acquired 160 acres of raw land, which he de- veloped as a farm and improved with buildings, but in 1860 left Michigan and moved over the Indiana line to Jamestown Township of Stenben County. That locality was his home until his death in 1891. The children of these parents were: Maria, who was the wife of Horace Lyons; John R .; James; Thomas; William; Ida; and Alma, wife of John Rogers.

Thomas Hall acquired his education in the dis- trict schools of Jamestown Township, and had his first experience as a practical farmer in that lo- cality. He lived there several years and in 1885 moved to Hillsdale County, Michigan, but in 1902 returned to Steuben County and has since been a farmer in sections 8 and 9 of York Township, where he owns 163 acres. He keeps most of this in cultiva- tion and has a good set of buildings, all of which have been rebuilt or remodeled under his ownership and supervision.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 55

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