History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 60

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 60
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 60
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 60
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 60

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).

Ralph Waldo Sheffer was born at Angola October 18, 1885, and received his education in the public schools and also the Angola High School, from which he graduated in 1904. He took a commercial course in the Tri-State College and learned business by practical experience as a clerk in the grocery store of T. L. Gillis for two years. For five years he was chief clerk in the freight office of the Lake Shore Railroad at Angola, and in September, 1911, became bookkeeper of the First National Bank. For the past four years he has held the office of assistant cashier.

Mr. Sheffer is a republican, and is a Knight Templar Mason, being affiliated with Angola Com- mandery No. 45. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is a member of the Chris- tian Church. In 1906 he married Miss Mande Cowan. She was born in Otsego Township of Steu-

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ben County, where her father, the late Elmer Cowan, wooded country south of Adrian. From there he was a well known farmer. They have one son, Harold Edward, born February 21, 1915.

ELMER F. SEAGLY. The success of a business man can best be measured by the variety or extent and importance of the interests directed by or partici- pated in by him. One of the business men of LaGrange County who perform a number of serv- ices to their communities is Elmer F. Seagly of South Milford, who is a hardware merchant, a grain dealer, a farmer, and both in public affairs and business has been prominent for a number of years in that section.

Mr. Seagly was born in Johnson Township of LaGrange County, July 16, 1870, a son of John and Julian (Dannemiller) Seagly. His mother was a native of Germany and came to the United States with her parents in 1834. The family located near Canton Ohio, where she grew up and married. Her husband was a native of Pennsylvania. In 1853 John Seagly and wife came to Indiana and lived in Whitely County until 1865, when he settled in John- son Township of LaGrange County. He finally moved to Wolcottville, where he died in 1903 and his wife in 1904.

Elmer F. Seagly spent his boyhood in Johnson Township, attended the district schools and after- ward acquired a liberal education, with three years in the Wolcottville High School and one year in the State Normal. For seven years Mr. Seagly was a successful teacher in the country districts and in the intervals of teaching also followed farming. In the fall of 1897 he engaged in the hardware business at South Milford, and beginning with a very limited capital he has built up a large store and at the same time has made his personal influence and capital count with a number of other local enterprises. For several years he also conducted a hardware store at Stroh and Helmer. He is a stockholder in the Home Grain Company, operating elevators at La- Grange and South Milford. Mr. Seagly owns 280 acres of land in Milford Township and uses it as a stock feeding ranch, feeding several carloads of stock every year. He gives his personal supervision to his farm. He has served as president of the Milford Township Farmers Institute, and is secre- tary and treasurer of the Farmers Shipping Asso- ciation at South Milford.

Mr. Seagly married Grace Shanower, of Johnson Township, on December 23, 1894. They have two sons, Gerald J. and Elmer G. Gerald is a graduate of high school and is now with his father in business. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Mr. Seagly is a trustee, and out of the twenty-two years he has lived at South Milford he has been superintendent of the Sunday School for nineteen. He has been treasurer of the local lodge of Odd Fellows for eighteen years, is a member of the Encampment and his wife is a Rebekah. Politi- cally Mr. Seagly is a republican.

E. J. HACKETT is an old resident of Steuben Coun- ty, for many years was engaged in farming, and latterly has become affiliated with business affairs at Orland, where under the name of E. J. Hackett & Son he conducts an automobile and implement busi- ness.

Mr. Hackett was born in St. Joseph County, Mich- igan, August 19, 1858, a son of John and Caroline (Hoyt) Hackett. John Hackett, who for many years was identified with Steuben County, was born in Cayuga County, New York, in 1821, a son of Miner and Electa (Case) Hackett, natives of Ver- mont. John Hackett in early manhood came west to Oakland, Michigan, and eventually settled in the

moved to Burr Oak, Michigan, and in 1844 went to California, making the journey by water and suf- fering many hardships and exposure to disease. After thirteen months in the West he returned to Michigan, and at that time had a capital of $1,300. He triumphed over many obstacles, and though he never had a chance to obtain an education he ac- quired much knowledge of the world and altogether was a very successful man. He spent several years in Kansas, at one time operated a saw mill at Burr Oak, Michigan, and in 1875 acquired 200 acres of land in Steuben County in Millgrove Township. He used his resources and experience to develop that into a fine estate, and lived there until his death in 1897. He went to Kansas in 1862 and bought a farm four miles south of the City of Lawrence. When he left Kansas he sold the property and profited $3,000 by the transaction.

His first wife, whose maiden name was Ellen Richardson, died of smallpox while they were liv- ing in Michigan. She was the mother of two children : John, of Sand Lake, Michigan, and Josephine, deceased. John Hackett married for his second wife Anna Hause. One of their two children died in infancy and their son Frank now lives in Steuben County. In 1856 John Hackett married Caroline Hoyt, who was born in Canada, February 14, 1830. She is still living at the venerable age of eighty-nine years and is an active member of the Methodist Church. She was the mother of six chil- dren: Edwin J .; Gertrude; Maud; Lillie, de- ceased; Carrie, deceased; and Fred, who is in the real estate business in Orland.

Edwin J. Hackett was four years old when his parents went to Kansas, and he acquired his educa- tion there and also in the Scott School in Steuben County. After reaching manhood he acquired a part of the old homestead, and was steadily engaged in farming there until April, 1915, when he moved to Orland and bought an automobile and implement business. His active associate has been his son Lyle, and under the name of E. J. Hackett & Son they do the leading business in their line in Mill- grove Township. Mr. Hackett is affiliated with Star Lodge No. 225, Free and Accepted Masons, and he and his family for twenty-five years have been members of the Congregational Church.

In 1880 he married Miss Nellie Van Benschoten, daughter of S. and Sarah (Claflin) Van Benschoten. Mr. and Mrs. Hackett have six children: Florence is the wife of Jesse Monroe, of Bronson, Michigan, and has four children, named Nellie, Guy, Ruth and Millie. Earl, a farmer in Millgrove. Township, mar- ried Blanche Crow and has three children, Julia, Morris and John. Lonel is the wife of Elmer Snyder, of Cleveland, and was the mother of two children, Thelma, deceased, and Edna. Marie is the wife of Weldon Laurmer, who spent six months at Camp Shelby in Mississippi during the war. Lyle, his father's business associate, married Carroll Case, daughter of William Case, of Orland. The youngest of the family is Glen.

JOSIAH M. MILLER is a native of LaGrange County and has spent nearly all his life in an active career as a farmer, divided between Clay and Newbury townships. He owns one of the good farms in Newbury Township and is widely known all over the county as a dealer in live stock.

Mr. Miller was born in Newbury Township Au- gust 31, 1866, a son of Moses P. and Eva (Hostet- ler) Miller. His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1845, and came to LaGrange County in 1857, and is still living in Clay Township. His personal rec- ord appears on other pages of this publication.

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Josiah M. Miller when three years of age was taken by his parents to Hickory County, Missouri, and he attended his first school in that section of Missouri. In 1872 the family returned to LaGrange County and settled in Eden Township, where he was a student in the local schools for three years. He finished his education in Clay Township and began his personal career as a farmer there. He re- mained in Clay Township as a farmer for eleven years and in 1900 bought his home place in New- bury Township, in section 25, where he has eighty acres. For the past nine years in connection with farming he has been buying and shipping live stock. Mr. Miller and wife are members of the Mennonite Church.

He married Fannie Yoder, a daughter of Jacob and Barbara (Miller) Yoder, on September 1, 1889. To their marriage have been born five children: Earl J., a farmer in Clay Township, who married Ruby Stahl and has two children, Ruth and Helen; Eldon, who died in childhood; Orva, who farms with his father; and Clyde and Iva Elizabeth.

FAY EBBERT. It is a source of pride to anyone to be able to trace back through honorable ancestry those who bore a part in developing any given sec- tion of a state or country, and those men of Steuben County who are descended from the pioneers of this locality take an added interest in keeping up the good work by forwarding any new movements for its further advancements. Fay Ebbert, of Pleasant Township, belongs to a family early founded in Steuben County, and he is himself a native son of Steuben, as he was born in Johnson Township, Angust 19, 1872, a son of James and Emma J. (Dove) Ebbert, and grandson of Hiram Ebbert. Hiram Ebbert came to Indiana in 1857, and after stopping for a while in LaGrange County, one mile north of LaGrange, he came to Steuben County, where he spent the remainder of his life. He mar- ried Maria Jackson, and they had the following children born to them: James, Isaac, Sarah, Ma- tilda and Eliza Jane.

James Ebbert was born in Stark County, Ohio, September 5, 1842, and grew up in that and Steuben County. He was well started in life as a farmer when he felt that his country needed him for the army, and he enlisted in Company B, One Hundreth Indiana Infantry, for service during the Civil war as a volunteer. After a long and faithful service as a soldier he was honorably discharged and returned to Jackson Township, where he continued to engage in farming up to 1891, in that year moving to La- Grange County, Indiana; and locating on a small farm in Lima Township. About 1913, he made another change, and now lives at Howe, Indiana. James Ebbert was married to Emma J. Dove, born in Jackson Township, and their children are as fol- lows: Clark, Lilly, Etta and Fay. He is one of the pillars of the Presbyterian Church of Howe.

Fay Ebbert attended the schools of Jackson Town- ship, and at the same time gained a practical knowl- edge of farming under his father's instruction. Branching out for himself, he began farming in Springfield Township, LaGrange County, Indiana, but in 1898 moved to Pleasant Township, Steuben County, buying his present farm of forty acres, and proceeded to rebuild the house and erect a new barn. He has made other improvements which add very much to the appearance of the place and the con- venience of the various buildings, and has a com- fortable home.

On March 18, 1895, Mr. Ebbert was united in mar- riage with Florence Walter, a daughter of Calvin Walter, and they became the parents of three chil- dren, namely: Wanda, who is deceased; Hazel, who

is also deceased; and Robert. Calvin Walter, the father of Mrs. Ebbert, was born near Wooster, Wayne County, Ohio, March 2, 1854, a son of Daniel and Jane (Craimer) Walter, the former born Oc- tober 1, 1828, and the latter born January 19, 1835. Daniel Walter moved from Wayne County, Ohio, to DeKalb County, Indiana, when Calvin Walter was three years old, and he spent the greater part of his life in the latter county, being a farmer of some note. In 1882, however, he moved to Pleasant Township, Steuben County, where he lived until his death in 1884. He was married to Ellen Brum- baugh, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Leady) Brumbaugh, the former born December 28, 1824, and the latter born November 26, 1829. The chil- dren of Calvin and Ellen Walter were as follows: Margaret Jane, Florence, Squire and May, of whom Florence became the wife of Fay Ebbert.

JOHN H. CLARK. It is easy to identify the career of John H. Clark in the farming industry of Steuben County, since he has been a resident for over thirty years, and his work has contributed to the improve- ment and development of several tracts of land. He owns one of the fine farms in Pleasant Town- ship, has won a competency through his integrity and ability, and is now preparing to live a retired life.

Mr. Clark was born in Williams County, Ohio, January 12, 1871, son of Joseph B. and Ellen (Favorite) Clark. His father was a native of Wil- liams County, while his mother was born in Eaton County, Michigan, a daughter of John Favorite, a farmer of that state. Joseph B. Clark was a blacksmith and wagon maker who lived in Williams County until about 1885, when he moved to Clear Lake Township in Steuben County and located on a farm. Late in life he moved to Jamestown Town- ship, and died there about 1912. He and his wife had the following children: George W., John H., Thomas T., Charles A., Cleveland F. and Izole May.

John H. Clark had the privilege of attending the public schools of Williams County only a few years. Practically from the time he was nine and a half years old he has made his own way in the world, has overcome many obstacles and has worked his own way to independence and influence. On Febru- ary 4, 1894, he married Mary Beigh, a daughter of John and Mary (Gooding) Beigh.

After his marriage Mr. Clark rented a farm, and about 1897 he bought forty acres in Salem Town- ship. This land had no buildings, and in order to operate it he rented a nearby tract of land with buildings. The Salem Township place was sold in 1902, and he next bought seventy acres in section II of Pleasant Township. He has increased his farm by a subsequent purchase of ten acres, and all the good buildings on the farm represent his invest- ment and construction. He has used the land for general farming and stock raising purposes. In 1919 Mr. Clark was engaged in building a home at Angola, which he designed for the comfort of his years of retirement.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark have one daughter, Pauline B., born August 13, 1904. When Frank Little was twelve years old Mr. and Mrs. Clark took him into their home, and he has been with the family ever since and is now renting the Clark homestead. Mr. Clark is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mrs. Clark's father was born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, while her mother was a native of the City of New York. They were among the pioneers of Steuben County, arriving in May, 1854, and set- tling in Jackson Township. John Beigh bought eighty acres at $4.50 an acre, built a log house, and

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cleared the land. After fourteen years he sold this farm at $44.00 an acre, and then bought 100 acres in Salem Township, where he lived honored and re- spected until his death in 1902, at the age of eighty- two. He was a republican and with his wife was active in the United Brethren Church. The children of John Beigh were Silas, Julia, Lucinda (deceased), Edwin, Willis, Amelia, Rosella (deceased) and Mary.

WILLIAM HALLER, an honored veteran and pen- sioner of the Civil war, was through nearly all that struggle, and for over forty years has been a resi- dent and farm owner in LaGrange County. He is still active and gives his supervision to his farm, located four miles east of Topeka.

Mr. Haller was born in Henry County, Ohio, April 15, 1841, a son of Benjamin and Mary (Mil- ler) Haller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in the lat- ter state, and then settled on a tract of raw land in Henry County, Ohio, where they were among the early settlers. After the Civil war Benjamin Haller moved to Indiana and bought eighty acres in Elkhart County, where he spent the rest of his days. He was a stanch and steadfast republican in politics. There were six children in the family : Sybilla, born in February, 1838, widow of Jasper Spergeon; William; Louisa, born September 11, 1844, unmarried; Lucinda, born in 1847, widow of David Gehrett; John M., living in Ohio; and Re- becca J., wife of George Held.

William Haller grew up in the county district of Henry County, Ohio, attended the common schools there, and just about the time he attained his ma- jority he volunteered for the war, enlisting in Com- pany F of the Fourteenth Ohio Infantry. This was a three months' regiment, and after his term had expired he re-enlisted in Company A of the Sixty- Eighth Ohio Infantry for a period of three years. When he had served two years and two months he accepted the opportunity to veteranize at Vicksburg, and continued on until the Union banners were folded in victory. He was a corporal and sergeant, and in one engagement was wounded in the left knee.

After the war he came to Indiana and located in LaGrange County, where his activities have ever since been concentrated. Mr. Haller owns a good farm of eighty acres. He has served as constable, township supervisor and school director, and is a republican in his political allegiance.

April 16, 1864, while on furlough from the army, Mr. Haller married Martha J. Russell, who died in February, 1913. To their union were born nine chil- dren, four of whom are still living: Harrison, of Noble County, Indiana ; Almeda, wife of Jacob Hull; Will H., who married Leona Sanders; and Caroline, wife of Henry Rochenbauch, of Elkhart County. There are also thirteen grandchildren living.

FRANK DRENNING. In order to make a success of farming a man must have a natural inclination for it, and understand all of its possibilities. The reason that some fail in this line is because they only en- gage in it as a last resort, without any practical ex- perience or liking for the soil. Their experiments are costly and seldom successful, and the land under their ineffectual management loses many of its prop- erties and becomes unfertile and practically worth- less. However, when a man does know how to cul- tivate his farm and likes the work there are almost unlimited opportunities for him. Given fair treat- ment land will yield more generously than almost any other kind of investment. The out of door life, good food and dignity which comes of being a pro-

prietor instead of a hired man, all are aids in keep- ing the farmer on his job. Within the past couple of years a new element has arisen which gives added importance to the work, for owing to the pressure of circumstances arising out of the great war Amer- ican farmers will have to supply a large amount of the food for the world during the next few years. They can and will do it, and those thus fed will ac- cord praise where it is due. Indiana farmers will rank among the best in this work of regenerating the devastated people, and one who is now and has been for many years one of the representative farm- ers of Steuben County is Frank Drenning of Steuben Township.

Frank Drenning was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1850, a son of John Dren- ning and grandson of Henry Drenning, the latter having been a farmer of Bedford County, Pennsyl- vania. John Drenning was married to Catherine Clark, of Greenberry, Bedford County, Pennsyl- vania, and they had the following children: James, Mary, who died young; John; Maria, who married Sam Laizer; Martin; Frank; Elizabeth, who mar- ried Martin Penner; and Susan, Richard and Josiah, all of whom died young. In 1872 John Drenning came to Steuben County, where he passed the re- mainder of his life. He and his wife were devout members of the United Brethren faith.

Frank Drenning attended the local schools of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and was taught farming from the time he was a small boy, assisting his father until his marriage in 1873, when he se- cured a farm in Steuben Township and began farm- ing for himself. With the exception of three years which he spent at Angola, Mr. Drenning has lived on this farm since he bought it, and his premises show that the owner is on hand and takes a pride in having everything in order. The excellent and suit- able buildings on this farm have either been erected or completely remodeled by him, and he has also put in many other improvements, adding very ma- terially to the value of his 100 acres. When he bought this property it was practically in the timber, and he has cleared off the greater portion of it.

On March 13, 1873, Frank Drenning was married to Jane Menges, a daughter of Peter Menges, and they had the following children: Alice, who mar- ried George Grubbs and lives at Indianapolis, In- diana ; William H .; Lovina; and Fannie, who mar- ried George Crossland. Mrs. Drenning died January 1, 1906.

JACOB KEPLER. The Keplers moved into Franklin Township of DeKalb County over eighty years ago. As a family the name has been identified with some of the largest land holdings in DeKalb and Steuben County, and throughout this region the name is synonymous with prosperity, good business man- agement and undoubted thrift and hard work.

Jacob Kepler, a son of the original settler in De- Kalb County, has for many years owned and worked a large and complete farm in Otsego Township, part of which is in the Village of Hamilton, where he resides.

His father, Samuel Kepler, was born in Stark County, Ohio, October 30, 1814, a son of. John Kepler. Samuel Kepler in the fall of 1837 settled on section 21 of Franklin Township in DeKalb County. He entered land in that section and in section 28. He went there with practically no capital, but was young, willing to work hard and was ambitious, and succeeded much above the average. His enterprise took several different directions. About 1853 he built the first grist mill in the town- ship, on Fish Creek, and that mill was fulfilling its functions in grinding local grain for over thirty

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years. Samuel Kepler was one of the largest wheat growers in Northeast Indiana. He had a genius for acquiring extensive tracts of land, and at the time of his death, which occurred March 19, 1862, at the age of forty-seven, he owned over 1,000 acres in Steuben and DeKalb counties, and 1,100 acres in Iowa. He was not content to hold the land merely as an investment, but always improved it, and had a fondness for good buildings. His old grist mill stood about a mile and a half east of Hamilton. Along with farming he sold agricultural implements, and had a store at Hamilton. In 1834 he married Mary Noragon, who was born in Pennsylvania. She died June 15, 1892, at the age of seventy-one years. They had a family of fourteen children, and those to reach mature years were: Andrew, John, Caroline, who married Samuel Hussman, Edwin, Samuel, Sarah Jane, who married Lafayette Perkey, Solo- mon and Jacob.

Jacob Kepler was born September 14, 1851, in Franklin Township of DeKalb County, and attended public school there. He early learned the value of honest toil as a means of making his way in the world. He worked his mother's place in Franklin Township for several years. He married Rosanna Brown, daughter of William and Elizabeth Brown. After his marriage lie moved into Otsego Town- ship of Steuben County, and has since occupied his present farm, about thirty acres of which are within the corporation limits of Hamilton. Altogether he has 320 acres. The splendid buildings were all erected by him and his farm is devoted to general agriculture and stock raising.

Mr. Kepler is a member of the United Brethren Church. He has three children: Gertrude, who married Charles Hoch and has two children, Oline and Gertrude; Bertha, wife of Charles Swift, has one child named Marsell; and Wier.

JOHN H. YEAGER is a business man as well as practical farmer of Johnson Township, LaGrange County. For many years he has been a dealer in live stock, and through him a large part of the stock raised in LaGrange County has found its way to market. However, he lives on his farm a half-mile northeast of Wolcottville. In connection with his dealing in live stock he owns and operates a slaugh- ter house. His business associate is Herbert F. Newnam, of Wayne Township, Noble County.

Mr. Yeager was born on a farm near Wolcott- ville, in Noble County, December 21, 1865, a son of Andrew R. and Frances E. (Shanower) Yeager. His father was a native of Ohio and his mother of Pennsylvania, and their respective families came at an early day to LaGrange County, Indiana, where Andrew and Frances were married. Andrew Yeager was in the saw mill business for some time and later with his older son became a contractor and builder. He died as a result of injuries received in his mill. He was active in the Masonic order, was a republican, and his wife was a member of the Methodist Church. They had four children, two of whom are still living, Dora, wife of George W .; Leonard, of Milford Township, LaGrange County ; and John H. The son, Edmond E., who died on the operating table in his home, was master of Masonic Lodge No. 380, Free and Accepted Masons, and was prominent in the building of the Masonic Temple at Wolcottville, and a republican in poli- tics. Rena, the deceased daughter, became the wife of J. W. Reifschneider, and her death was a tragedy, she being burned to death.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 60

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