History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 56

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 56
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 56
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 56
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 56

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. Hall married Keziah Weaver, daughter of Jonathan Weaver. To their marriage were born four children : Guy, who died in July, 1916, married Nellie Rowe and had three children, named Gail, Mildred and Harland. Ray married Maude Welch and has one child, Ledean. Vera is the wife of James Wicoff and the mother of a daughter, Esther. Bessie is the wife of Charles Dally and has one child, Olin.

JOHN C. GILLIAN has been a factor in business affairs in Northern Indiana for many years, and is widely known to the trade as a traveling salesman out of Kendallville. He gained his early experience and training in Noble County, and was born in Allen Township of that county June 6, 1858. His parents were John and Margaret (Householder) Gillian.

His father, a native of Germany, came to this country at the age of fourteen, and grew up on a farm in Allen Township of Noble County. He married in that county, his wife, a native of France, having been brought to the United States by her parents when seven years of age. John Gillian was a farmer and lived on the farm until after the death of his wife, when he retired to Kendallville, where he is still living. He is a member of the Lutheran Church, as was his wife. They had six children, five still living: John C .; Elizabeth, wife of Martin Parr; Mary, widow of Lemuel J. Holmes; Katie, wife of George Snyder; and Charles, a farmer in Allen Township.

John C. Gillian spent his early life on the old farm, and besides the district schools had the ad- vantages of the Methodist College at Fort Wayne. After graduating there he took up work as a teacher, and followed the profession of educator for eight- een years. He also gained a knowledge of business as salesman in a local dry goods store. . When he first went on the road it was as representative for the McCray Refrigerator Company. He was with that house nine years and introduced the noted McCrav refrigerators in many parts of the country. Later he was with the Mishawaka Woollen Manu- facturing Company, but for the past seventeen years has been a traveling representative of Cooper, Wells & Company, manufacturers of hosiery at St. Jo- seph, Michigan. He has always lived at Kendall- ville, and has some local interests there, being a stockholder in the Noble County Bank and in the

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Noble Motor Truck Corporation. In Masonry he is affiliated with the Lodge, Chapter and Council and also with the thirty-second degree Consistory. He is a republican and Mrs. Gillian is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

January 9, 1881, he married Elizabeth Geanger. She was born in Allen Township of Noble County, January 6, 1862, daughter of Frederick Geanger. Mr. and Mrs. Gillian grew up as children together and attended the same school. They are the parents of four sons: Walter A., a graduate of the Hunt- ington Business College, is now cashier of the Noble County Bank; Herman A., a graduate of the same school, is now secretary of the Bacon Brothers Company, at Toledo, Ohio; Clarence C., a graduate of the local high school, Fort Wayne Business Uni- versity and Purdue University, is associated with his father as salesman in the state of Indiana; and Carl J., the youngest, is a student and still at home.

IRVIN W. PENCE. Certainly one of the outstand- ing features of the personal and family record of Irvin W. Pence, of Angola, is civic loyalty and patriotism. Steuben County has been a fervent center of patriotism in all its history, and the Pence family has contributed not a few of the names that have made up the roll of honor, including a son of Mr. Pence, who was the first man to volunteer from Steuben County for the war with Germany.

Long well known in the State of Indiana as a newspaper man, Irvin W. Pence is now serving as county auditor of Steuben County. He was born at Ligonier, Indiana, February 5, 1869, son of Sam- uel N. and Eliza (Simmons) Pence. Samuel N. Pence was born near Ligonier, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, January 28, 1820. He married for his first wife Miss Hannah Gerber, a relative of Hon. E. B. Gerber, of Ligonier, Indiana. By that mar- riage there were born three children: Harvey A., who died in infancy; David S .; and Eliza, wife of W. K. Sheffer, the veteran Angola editor and pub- lisher. David S. Pence, who died in December, 1917, had the misfortune when a child to have all his. fingers burned off. Notwithstanding that handi- cap he became a proficient and successful instructor in penmanship and was well educated. At one time he was an instructor in the Ohio Northern Univer- sity at Ada, also taught school at Angola and finally removed to Kansas, where for twenty-eight years before his death he served as county superintendent of schools of Sedgwick County.

The mother of these children died in Ohio, and Samuel N. Pence later married Eliza Simmons. Her father, Jonathan Simmons came to Ligonier in 1865, and had a farm adjoining that of the Pence family. Samuel Pence in 1866 moved to his farm a half mile from Ligonier. In 1870 he moved to Ligonier, and lived there until his death in 1902. His wife died November 15, 1897. He was a re- publican, but outside of his family and business his chief interest was in the Christian Church. He was one of the organizers of the church at Ligonier and an elder for many years. His wife was also a member. They were the parents of nine children: Mrs. Maggie Yonker, deceased; Ida, wife of J. D. Hendrickson, of Elkhart, Indiana; Emma, of An- gola; John, who died in Ligonier; William, who also died in Ligonier; Carroll, who died in infancy; Irvin W .; and two others that died in infancy.

Irvin W. Pence, the subiect of this sketch, was born at Ligonier, Indiana, February 5, 1869, and received his education there, attending the high school, and in 1884 entered the Tri-State Normal at Angola, taking the commercial branches. October 4. 1884, he went to work in the office of the Angola Herald, learning the trade of printer. He was there

seven years, and on March 2, 1889, married Miss Cora Jarvis, of Angola. In May, 1890, he was em- ployed on the Kendallville News and Standard, but in 1892 returned to Ligonier and for nine years was connected with the Ligonier Leader, and in Feb- ruary, 1901, established the Plain Dealer in that city, which he published until September 21, 1904. Following that for thirteen years he was connected with the Steuben County Republican, and left that paper upon his election, in 1916, as county auditor. He is still serving his four-year term.

Mr. Pence is an ardent republican. For several years he was a member of the National Guard Com- pany at Ligonier, and went with that company when it was absorbed by the 157th Indiana Regiment at the outbreak of the Spanish-American war, serving in Company H of this regiment. During the late war he was in many ways a leader in patriotic ac- tivities, and was a member of the publicity com- mittee for the Steuben County War Conference and exerted himself in every possible way to maintain the high standing Steuben County has always en- joyed among the counties of Indiana as a center of sterling patriotism.

Mr. Pence, about 1907, published a book entitled : "Steuben County and Her Lake Resorts," and later published another work called "Camera Glimpses of Angola." He is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Angola, and he and his wife are both members of the Christian Church.

Mr. Pence is the father of a family of eight chil- dren: Linda Jane, the eldest, was married Decem- ber 18, 1918, to Major Guy J. Shaughniss; Nora, the second in age, is the wife of E. B. Gilmore, who during the war was in the trench motor service in France; Arlie is the wife of F. R. Rogers, superin- tendent of schools at Salem Center, Indiana; Sam- uel A., the eldest son, was the young man who gained the enviable distinction of being the first to enlist from Steuben County. He enlisted April 7, 1917, and was for a time company clerk and was promoted to lieutenant at Camp Taylor, Kentucky. He was in the army nineteen months and since his release has served as deputy auditor under his father. Dorothea the fifth child, is the wife of William Aranguren of Fort Wayne. The three younger children are Richard A., Oscar W. and Byron J., all students in the Angola High School.

JOHN W. CHRYSLER. A native of Steuben County and now one of the prosperous farm owners in Jackson Township, John W. Chrysler represents a family of three generations resident in this section of Northeast Indiana.

He was born in Jackson Township of Steuben County June 17, 1866. His parents were John Wes- ley and Martha (Wilsey) Chrysler, the former a native of Cattaraugus County, New York, and the latter of New Jersey. The paternal grandparents, Abraham and Martha (Bowers) Chrysler, were early pioneer settlers in DeKalb County, Indiana, moving into the woods and creating a home from the wilderness. Later they came to Steuben County and were connected with the early settle- ment of Jamestown Township. Their children were named John Wesley, William, Henry, George, Eugene, Joseph, Martha, Manda, Helen and Emma.

John Wesley Chrysler took up farming as soon as he reached his majority, living on a place in Jack- son Township near Flint, later going to Jamestown Township, and was a resident of that community until his death. He owned a good farm of sixty acres. He and his wife had three children, named John W., Frank D. and William H. The mother of these died and he married Viola Sugars, who was the mother of two children, Ora M. and Nora.

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John W. Chrysler spent his boyhood on the home farm in Jackson Township, attended school there, and on February 27, 1889, at the age of twenty- three, married Margaret A. Nuttle. She is a daugh- ter of Robert and Lucinda Nuttle. The two years after his marriage Mr. Chrysler spent as a farmer in Branch County, Michigan, and then returned to Jamestown Township, where he was a progressive member of the agricultural community in that sec- tion until 1905. In the latter year he bought his present farm of eighty acres in section 18 of York Township, and in addition to the responsibilities of managing this place he has taken an active part in local affairs, having been elected assessor of the township in 1914 and re-elected in 1918. He is identified with the Knights of Pythias Lodge at Metz, he and his wife are active members of the Christian Church, and he is a deacon and trustee.

Mr. and Mrs. Chrysler have four children: Bell, wife of Harvey Shonp; Hazel, deceased, who was married to Homer Teegardin, also deceased; Clande; and Clarence.

GEORGE W. Roy has spent his profitable and useful life in LaGrange County, for many years was a farmer, and is now postmaster of Wolcottville. While the office of postmaster is conferred by Federal appointment, Mr. Roy has a claim to the office not only by Federal commission but by popu- lar choice. When it came to decide upon a new postmaster a hundred patrons of the office balloted for a new incumbent and seventy of the votes went to Mr. Roy.

He was born in Clay Township of LaGrange County December 14, 1859, son of John and Ellen (Giggy) Roy, the former a native of New York State and the latter of Germany. His mother was brought to this country at the age of fourteen and grew up in Noble County, near Kendallville. His father came from New York State to LaGrange County, was married there, and then spent his life on a farm. He was one of the leading farmers of his county, and owned 220 acres, all of which he had made himself. He and his wife were active in the Methodist Church, and for fourteen years he . was a trustee of Clay Township. In politics he was a democrat. John Roy and wife had six children, two of whom are still living. James H. Roy is the present postmaster at Topeka, Indiana.

George W. Roy spent the first twenty-one years of his life on his father's farm, and while helping in the fields he also attended district school. In 1879 he married Margaret Zimmerman, and they began on a rented farm. Later they bought forty- three acres and lived there until they sold out and moved to Wolcottville in June, 1917.

Mrs. Roy died June 21, 1917. She was the mother of two children. Ethel is a graduate of high school and the wife of Lorin Shanower, of Wolcottville. H. J. Roy married Panzy Preice and lives in Wol- cottville. Mr. Roy is active in the Baptist Church, being a deacon and trustee, and is assistant superin- tendent of the Sunday School. He is a past noble grand of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge. For a number of years he has been one of the most influential democrats in his section of LaGrange County.

ELMER E. OREWILER is a member of a family that has been identified with Steuben County since early days. He himself has played a varied role in the life of the county, as a teacher, farmer, public of- ficial and for half a dozen years has been an active business man of Angola.

He was born in Scott Township in Steuben

County, March 2, 1861, son of David and Lucy (Mas- ters) Orewiler, the former a native of Richland County and the latter of Crawford County, Ohio. The paternal grandfather, Adam Orewiler, was a native of Pennsylvania. David Orewiler received a public school education in Ohio, and came to Scott Township in Steuben County and acquired a tract of land that was largely covered with timber and brick. He spent a number of years clearing up this land, and in company with a brother-in-law acquired a large farm of 280 acres. His share of this prop- erty when it was divided was 160 acres, comprising a valuable farm upon which he spent the rest of his life. He served ten years as trustee of Scott Town- ship and was an active member of the Church of Christ. He and his wife had six children, and their names are Alice, Adam, Elmer, Mellisa, Alta and Jesse.

Elmer Orewiler grew up on his father's farm and attended public schools of Scott Township, also at- tended school at Angola and took his commercial course at Hillsdale College, Michigan. Altogether Mr. Orewiler taught school through seven winter terms. Besides teaching he was also engaged in farming, and until 1902 lived on a farm of forty acres in Scott Township. That year he re- moved to Agola, and for four years served the office of county surveyor. Mr. Orewiler engaged in the coal business in Angola in 1913, and was one of the leading coal dealers of the county until 1918. In August of the latter year he started a feed mill, and has a business that now supplies ground grain products over a large part of Steuben County.

Mr. Orewiler married Bertha Holdridge, and they have one daughter, Vera. Mr. and Mrs. Orewiler are members of the Christian Church and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias.

STEVEN WISNER is an old soldier of the Civil war, his youngest son was with the colors in the World war, and his individual record has been that of a sterling citizen, a good farmer and a man of highest standing in the Metz community of Steuben County.

He was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, Febru- ary 26, 1838, a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Rich- ardson) Wisner, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Columbiana County, Ohio. His father came to Steuben County during the '50s, locating in Richland Township, where he spent the rest of his life. The children in the family were: Delorma, Steven, Melissa, Richard, Theresa and Abraham.

Steven Wisner acquired his early education in the schools of Salem, Ohio, and had not yet reached manhood when he came to Steuben County. From this county he enlisted August 3, 1861, in Company C of the Seventh Michigan Infantry. At the Wilderness he was shot through the finger and spent more than two months in a hospital at Balti- more.

A soldier who had deserved well of his country and fellow citizens Mr. Wisner at the close of the war returned to Metz and except for two years spent northwest of Angola has lived in that com- munity ever since. For half a century he has been engaged in agriculture but is now living retired in the Village of Metz.

Mr. Wisner married in 1866 Martha Ferrier, and they had three children : Evelyn, Clifford and Addie. He married for his second wife Malinda Hannas, and she was the mother of Clair, Justine and Clar- ence. Mr. Wisner married Leah Petre, daughter of Benjamin Petre, for his third wife, and they had one son, Clayton. Clayton Wisner entered the army May 21, 1918, as a member of the Thirty-

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Sixth Regiment of Regular United States Infantry. Most of his time was spent at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, and on March 29, 1919, he was dis- charged at Camp Taylor, Kentucky.

MOSES H. LEHMAN. LaGrange County has long been noted for its fine farms and valuable agricul- tural development, but this prestige is due to the efforts of the men who have invested their time and money in the land of this region. Because of what they have accomplished for themselves and in constructive community progress they deserve in no small degree a place among the leading men of Northeast Indiana. Among them it is but right to mention Moses H. Lehman of Newbury Town- ship. He was born in Pennsylvania, January 27, 1862, a son of Harmon and Christina (Harshbarger) Lehman, who in 1866 came to Indiana, and after stopping in Elkhart County for a year came to LaGrange and bought the farm in Newbury Town- ship which their son, Daniel Lehman, now owns. Here they lived until death claimed them, he pass- ing away April 15, 1896, aged sixty-three years, and she, November 13, 1889, aged fifty-five years. Their children were as follows: Polly, who is deceased, Moses H., Daniel, Noah, Joseph, Levi and John. Both parents were devout members of the Menno- nite Church.

Moses H. Lehman remained on his father's farm until he was sixteen years old, and then began work- ing by the month for the neighboring farmers. After his marriage in 1885 he moved on a farm he owned, comprising 120 acres in Newbury Town- ship. Since then he has remodeled the buildings and put everything in first-class shape. He has ac- quired the greater part of his possessions through his own industry and thrift, and has every reason to be proud of what he has accomplished.

In 1885, Mr. Lehman was united in marriage with Miss Barbara Borntrager, a daughter of Manassas Borntrager, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Lehman became the parents of the following children: Lydia, is the wife of Joseph Borntrager, their children being: Lizzie, Moses, Ruth, and Milo; Polly, who is the wife of Emanuel Harshbarger, has the following children : Amelia, Katie, Mattie, and Reuben ; Jonas, married Fannie Troyer, and their children are : Amos, Laura, Mahlon, Levi, Enos, and Sarah; Anna, who married Benjamin Raber, has the fol- lowing children: Abbie, Mary, and Mattie; Katie, who is at home; Amelia, who married Levi Mast, has . one son, Andrew, and Manassas, who is at home.

HARVEY E. SHOUP, now serving his second term as county recorder of Steuben County, is one of the younger men in the courthouse at Angola, but has thoroughly justified the confidence of his friends and supporters who relied upon him for an effi- cient handling of the routine of this important office.

Mr. Shoup, who was a well known educator in Steuben County before taking public office, was born in Williams County, Ohio, October 15, 1889. His parents were Jacob and Mary ( Scheiber ) Shoup. His father was born in Crawford County, Ohio, October 30, 1852, and his mother was born in Wur- temburg, Germany, July 20, 1856. Jacob Shoup when four years old was taken to Williams'County, Ohio, by his parents, Peter and Anna Catherine (Field) Shoup. Peter Shoup was an early settler there, acquired a tract of eighty acres of timber land, and cleared away the woods and made a good farm. He owned 100 acres there eventually and died in 1894, at the age of seventy-five. His wife also

passed away at the age of seventy-five. Their chil- dren were: John, who enlisted as a Union soldier in the Civil war in 1861, and later re-enlisted as a veteran and was killed during the siege of Atlanta while with Sherman's army; Margaret, who became the wife of Charles Kaellner; George, who died in Williams County, Ohio; Jacob, Magdalena, wife of Christian Smell, of Williams County; Catherine, who married Joshua Michael, and both are now deceased; and Elizabeth, wife of Albert Harwood, of Altona, Indiana.

Jacob Shoup received his education in the public schools of Williams County, and became a farmer there. In 1895 he moved to Steuben County and bought eighty-eight acres in Scott Township. He was one of the honored residents of that locality and lived there until accidentally killed while thresh- ing in September, 1912. His widow now lives at Angola. Jacob Shoup was a stanch republican, and a member of the Methodist Church. In the family were four children: Anna, wife of Burton R. Brown, and occupying the old home farm; Emma, who died at the age of five years; Rosa, who mar- ried John J. Greenamayer of Scott Township; and Harvey E.

Harvey E. Shoup spent his boyhood on the old home farm in Scott Township, attending the public schools there and also the Fremont high 'school. Later he was a student in the Teachers' Course at the Normal at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and the Tri- State College at Angola. He also is a graduate of the International Business College at Fort Wayne. For one year he was a teacher in Michigan, and then taught steadily in Steuben County for six years. He taught school every year after leaving high school until he entered upon his duties as county recorder. He took that office January 1, 1916, and has been re-elected for a second term. Mr. Shoup is a re- publican, and he and his family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

May 28, 1911, he married Miss Nadda Belle Chrys- ler of York Township, daughter of John W. and Margaret (Nuttle) Chrysler, of York Township. Mr. and Mrs. Shoup are the parents of three chil- dren : Otto Clare, born July 1, 1912; Willis R., born August 30, 1914; and Miriam Margaret, born March 13, 1918.

FRANK HAUGHEY lived forty-one years, earned prosperity for himself and family, and left a record of achievement in his community, but for all that his death on May 27, 1908, was looked upon as a calamity and the end of a career which could be ill spared.

He was born in Otsego Township of Steuben County April 7, 1867, and died at his home in the same locality. His father, Timothy Haughey, was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, November 5, 1824, and died June 28, 1914. Timothy Haughey came to Steuben County in 1843 and was one of the early school teachers in Otsego Township and otherwise a farmer. He married Mary Catherine Gerst, who was born in 1823 and died in 1800. They reared a large family of children, one of the daughters being the wife of Dr. John F. Cameron of Pleasant Lake.

Frank Haughey attended the public schools of Otsego Township and also took a course in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. Three years of his early life were spent in teaching school in his native county, but at the same time he was following the plow during his vacations and working on the farm in section 23, where he spent the greater part of his life. He acquired the ownership of 120 acres there and altogether had 153 acres. He improved the farm with good build- ings, and since his death it has been capably man-

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aged by Mrs. Haughey, who now has the assistance of her son Dwight.

From 1904 until his death Mr. Haughey served as trustee of Otsego Township. On October 7, 1893, he married Mrs. Louise Aldrich, a daughter of Orlando and Hannah Hicks and widow of Simeon Aldrich. Her first husband was a brother of David W. Aldrich, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. Mr. and Mrs. Haughey had five chil- dren : Helen Lucile, who is a graduate of the Hamilton High School and wife of Samuel Kohl; Inez Genevieve, also a graduate of the Hamilton High School, wife of Don Isenhart and the mother of one child, Donald D .; Edna and Dwight, both of whom are graduates of high school; and Laura Wilma, a student in the high school at Hamilton. Mr. Hanghey was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge.

The late Mr. Haughey was distinguished by a broad-minded character, by an intelligence that never ceased to seek information and study prob- lems, and in all things he was thorough. In serving as trustee he applied the excellent rules of his private life, economy in expenditure, accuracy in accounts and mastery of details, and had a record of faithful performance in that office. By nature he was somewhat retiring in disposition and did not permit himself to press his own claims for recog- nition. He was upright and honorable, and the respect that was paid him by his friends and the confidence shown him in his election to the office of trustee were fully justified in every particular and in every act of his life.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 56

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