History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 61

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 61
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 61
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 61
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 61

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John H. Yeager was two years old when he came to LaGrange County, acquired a good common school education and qualified himself for teaching,

which he followed three years. Since then he has been chiefly engaged in the buying of horses, mules and live stock. He owns a good farm of sixty- one acres, and is also president of Wolcottville Cement Products Company.

September 30, 1890, Mr. Yeager married Cora Newhouse, of LaGrange County, where she was born and educated. They have five children, four daughters and one son: Beryl, who is engaged in business with his father and also operates a profit- able side line in the raising of white Leghorn chickens; Hermona, a high school graduate, with Normal training received at Woodruff, is now a teacher ; Pauline D., a student nurse in the Lutheran Hospital at Fort Wayne; Eloise, a high school stu- dent; and Dorothy E., in the grammar schools.

Mrs. Yeager is a member of thei Methodist Church and her daughters are of the same faith. Mr. Yeager is affiliated with Ionic Lodge No. 380, Free and Accepted Masons, and also with the Royal Arch Chapter and Council at Kendallville. Politic- ally he is a republican.

GEORGE W. GRIM. The distinguishing feature of Mr. Grim's long career as a Steuben County farmer has been the breeding and growing of thorough- bred Hampshire sheep. His sheep have made his nanie famous among sheep raisers throughout the Middle West, and from his farm has gone some of the highest class breeding stock to many states and distant Western ranges.

For twenty-three years Mr. Grim made it a cus- tom to exhibit his sheep at stock shows and fairs. His rams and ewes were on exhibition at the State Fairs at Syracuse, Columbus, Indianapolis, Grand Rapids and Springfield, Illinois, and every fair where exhibited prizes were awarded. He has a beautiful pair of large silver cups as trophies award- ed his stock at the Michigan State Fair, and many medals besides. For the last few years Mr. Grim has not entered his sheep at state fairs, but still continues to exhibit at all nearby county fairs.

A member of one of the older families of Steuben County, Mr. Grim was born in York Township, June 14, 1856, a son of William and Mary J. (Keller) Grim. His mother was born in Portage County, Ohio, a daughter of Henry and Margaret Keller. William Grim was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, a son of Andrew and Angeline Grim. An- drew Grim was a farmer in Eastern Ohio. William Grim came to Steuben County and settled in York Township in 1853, locating on a farm where he lived until 1867, and then went to Fremont Township, owning II0 acres there, and in that locality he lived until his death. He and his wife had four children: Henry; Libbie, wife of Samuel Waters, Elwood and George W.

George W. Grim acquired his early education in the district schools of York and Fremont Town- ship, attended school in the village of Fremont, and his first independent efforts as a farmer were made in Fremont Township. He lived there until 1900, and in the month of March of that year moved to his present place. This is a farm with modern facilities and buildings, all put up in his time, and his arrangements are especially suited for sheep husbandry. Mr. Grim is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias at Fremont, he and his wife are mem- bers of the Pythian Sisters, and they belong to the Methodist Church of Fremont.

April 20, 1882, Mr. Grim married Mary J. Michael, daughter of Enos and Barbara Michael. Mr. and Mrs. Grim have two daughters and one son, the son representing the family in the World war. Lola B., the older daughter, is the wife of Carl Miller,

MR. AND MRS. DANIEL P. DONEY

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living in Chicago, and has two daughters, named Mary and Georgina. Bessie B. is the wife of Dwight Eckler, of Montpelier, Ohio, and has one child, named Loraine. Clifton E., the son, married Lillian Oberlander. He enlisted in May, 1916, in the Second Cavalry, was stationed during his train- ing period at Fort Ethan Allen in Wermont, and was sent overseas and arrived in France in April, 1918. Since then he has been with the Expeditionary Forces, and had not returned home in the early summer of 1919.

DANIEL P. DONEY. Among the fine farms of Clay Township, LaGrange County, one that would par- ticularly attract attention bears the name of Pleas- ant View, which indicates its location and suggests the comfortable and substantial surroundings of this well improved property that belongs to Daniel P. Doney, one of the county's well known and highly respected citizens.

Daniel P. Doney was born in Clay Township, La- Grange County, Indiana, May 24, 1857, and is a son of Samuel and Lydia (Perry) Doney, the latter be- ing the father's third wife. She was born in Elk- hart County, Indiana, in 1834, and died in Oregon September 28, 1885. She was the mother of five children, namely: Daniel P., John Edward, Samuel, George and Joseph. Samuel Doney was born in Crawford County, Ohio, July 4, 1816. He came to LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1840, and stopped for a time with his father-in-law, Ralph Herbert, on Cedar Lake, then settled in Clay Township, where he cleared a tract of 160 acres and improved the same. In 1876 he moved to Oregon, but after the death of his third wife he returned to LaGrange County and died in 1903, at the home of a daughter, Mrs. George Libey. He rented and for some years operated the old water-wheel sawmill first known as the Doctor Hobb's and later Fleck's mill. He was a leading member of the Dunkard faith in this neigh- borhood and his last wife was also a member of this church. His first wife was Jane Herbert, who died in 1853, the mother of four children, namely: Elizabeth, Charles, Alice and Sarah. His second wife was Huldah Lawrence, who died eighteen months after marriage, leaving one child. His third marriage was to Lydia Perry.

Daniel P. Doney attended school in Clay Town- ship and assisted his father, whom he accompanied to Oregon. He remained there five years. In 1895 he purchased forty acres of land in Clay Town- ship, LaGrange County, to which he later added forty acres and still later seventeen acres, all of which he has practically developed, as when he first came here the only evidence of civilization was a log house. The clearing and improving of this land has demanded Mr. Doney's best efforts for a num- ber of years, but he now has a beautiful home and a valuable property. He carries on general farm- ing with the method and care that insure the best results, and may well he named as a representative agriculturist of this section.

In 1876 Mr. Doney was married to Miss Mary Green, who was born in Clay Township, March II, 1859. Her parents were James and Hannah Ann (Brown) Green, who settled in Clay Township in 1842 and became people of prominence there. Her father acquired 380 acres of land and operated what was known as Green's sawmill. The settlement was named Green Corners in his honor, and he also gave his name to what is yet called the Green school- house. His death occurred in October, 1904, when aged ninety-one years. The mother of Mrs. Doney died March 12, 1893, at the age of seventy-one years. Their children bore the following names: Frances, Maggie, Thomas, Lucinda, Willis, Mary Josephine,

Sophronia, Seymour and Icy. Mr. and Mrs. Doney have had two children, namely: Leona J., who was born in Oregon March 18, 1877, died September 28, 1885, and George, who was born July II, 1887. The latter is a farmer in Clay Township, like his father, and is equally prosperons. He married Miss Nettie Mann, and they have two children: Mary Ann and Margaret Elizabeth. Mr. Doney is a democrat in his political views, but he has never been willing to accept any township office, although he is a man well qualified for the same.

GEORGE EARL CRAMPTON. One of the farms in Van Buren Township of LaGrange County that has been longest under cultivation is that owned by George Earl Crampton and his mother, Emily A. Crampton. Mr. Crampton was born on the farm, and it was acquired by his maternal grandfather in the earliest period of settlement.

Mr. Crampton was born January 22, 1869, son of William and Emily Adelia (Cook) Crampton. His father was born near Boston, Lincolnshire, England, June 18, 1830, and when a young man crossed the ocean to New York, spending forty days on the water. He went up the Hudson River to Albany, thence by rail to Buffalo, and from there crossed Lake Erie to Toledo, traveling from there down the Erie Canal to Fort Wayne and by stage to Lima, Indiana, where he arrived in August, 1851. One summer he spent working in a distillery, and the following winter was hostler for the prosecuting attorney of Steuben and LaGrange counties. In the spring of 1852 he went to Sturgis, Michigan, and worked in a distillery and also on the newly com- pleted railroad. In 1853 he began seven years of employment for Orsen Douglas, a Michigan farmer. In 1854 he and Mr. Douglas erected the first pepper- mint still in Sturgis Township. In the spring of 1859 he moved to Indiana, and in December, 1860, was married and then bought sixty acres of what is known as the Marionas Cowan Farm. He lived there one year and then bought a part of the Cook homestead owned by George Cook. Including his wife's inheritance, he acquired about 160 acres and lived there as a farmer until his death on May 16, 1913. He was a republican and was well known in LaGrange County politics, serving two terms as county commissioner and two termis on the Advisory Board of Van Buren Township.

Emily Adelia Cook, mother of George Earl Cramp- ton, was born on the land where she is living today in February, 1840. Except for one year of her life she has made her home in that locality for prac- tically eighty years. Her father, George Cook, was born in England and married a Miss Cowan, a native of New York. In 1831 the Cook family moved to White Pigeon, Michigan, and soon afterward settled in Van Buren Township. The father of George Cook was John Cook, who died in August, 1831. George Cook carried the mail between Constantine and Cassopolis, Michigan, in 1832. He owned about 180 acres in Van Buren Township, and lived there until his death in December, 1858, his wife passing away in 1853. They were the parents of four children : Emily Adelia, Mary, George Albert and Jennie L. George Cook married for his second wife Harriet (Fowler) Bates. After his death she be- came the wife of Lewis Nichols, and she is still living at the advanced age of ninety-five.

William and Emily Crampton were the parents of three children: Alta Ione, widow of Edgar Mc- Claskey; George Earl; and Edwin Cook Crampton. Edwin C. Crampton is a prominent lawyer at Raton, New Mexico, and was a delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention when the Constitution of the new

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State of New Mexico was framed. He also served two terms in the first State Senate and had much to do with the formulation of the school system of New Mexico. He is a graduate of Indiana State University, and has been an extensive traveler.

George Earl Crampton grew up on the home farm and has always lived there. He attended the public schools and spent one year in the high school at Lima, and in 1895 took the agricultural course at Purdue University. He has found pleasure and profit in farming and is one of the well known and substantial citizens of LaGrange County. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Shipshewana and the Knights of Pythias at Howe.

December 23, 1902, he married Miss Cora May Keefus, of Lima Township. They are the parents of three children: Hilda Margaret, born in Novem- ber, 1903, a student in the Scott High School; Ray- mond L., born May 31, 1906; and Wallace Edwin, born May 7, 1911.

CHAUNCEY M. KAUFFMAN. While Mr. Kauffman was born in LaGrange County and has spent prac- tically all his life there, he has made a number of changes, and every change has been a step in progress in his material circumstances. He became an independent farmer over thirty years ago, and has always farmed what has been con- sidered high priced land. He has bought several times at "the top of the market" and later has sold at a great advance. His present splendid farm is in Greenfield Township and is regarded as one of the most valuable in point of acre value in the county.

Mr. Kauffman was born in Clay Township, No- vember 11, 1864, son of Jonas and Mary Jane (Schermerhorn) Kauffman. Jonas Kauffman was born in Holmes County, Ohio, August 10, 1826, son of Stephen and Martha (Miller) Kauffman. His parents moved to Indiana in 1844 and cleared up and improved forty acres of land in Elkhart County, where Martha Kauffman died in 1854 and her husband in 1858. Jonas Kauffman was one of four sons and four daughters. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that occupation from the time he was eighteen years of age until 1850. With three other men he also built and operated a saw mill in Newbury Township of LaGrange County. In 1854 he bought 200 acres in Clay Township, and for ten years he and his family lived in a log cabin. In 1864, having sold that property, he bought 140 acres in another part of Clay Town- ship, and lived there until 1888, when he sold and bought the Isaac Plank farm on Pretty Prairie in Greenfield Township. This farm contained 185 acres, and he paid $67 an acre, then considered an unusually high price. He sold the farm in 1905, and after that lived with his children until his death in December, 1916. He married Mary J. Schermer- horn on March 28, 1852. She was born in Stark County, Ohio, and died in February, 1903. Jonas Kauffman was a member of the German Baptist Church. His wife's father, Michael Shermerhorn, was a native of Germany and married Elizabeth McKibbin, a native of Ireland. Jonas Kauffman and wife had eight children: Julia A., Mary M., Laura A., Sarah A., Ada I., Chauncey M., Augusta J. and Luther J.

Chauncey M. Kauffman spent his early life on his father's farm in Clay Township. He attended district schools and spent one year in the Lima High School. In 1888 he removed to Greenfield Township, and lived on his father's farm there for eleven years after his marriage. He then bought

fifty-two acres of John Smeltzly, and traded that to Jacob Mast for eighty acres on Pretty Prairie. One year later he sold this for $5,000. He next bought the George Price farm east of Brighton, containing 100 acres, paying $7,000. When he sold this in 1913 the price was $13,500. The highest price paid for land here up to that time. Mr. Kauffman then bought the 160 acres known as the old Alex Keim farm, paying $15,000. He remodeled the buildings and with improvements and with the demonstrated productiveness of the farm he sold this farm September 1, 1919, for $150 an acre. He does general farming and for years has been a sheep feeder. Mr. Kauffman is a republican, but has no aspirations for public office.

October 2, 1890, he married Emma Steirnagle, of LaGrange County. She was born in Greenfield Township November 12, 1869, daughter of John and Rebecca (Long) Steirnagle. Her father was born in Pennsylvania June 3, 1837, and her mother in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, May 20, 1848. Rebecca Long was a daughter of Daniel Long, member of the prominent Long family so numerously repre- sented in the citizenship of LaGrange County. John Steirnagle came to LaGrange County when a young man, about 1865, was married here, and after living with Daniel Long for about a year and a half bought forty acres in Springfield Township and later added forty more. He made many im- provements on his land and specialized in fruit culture. He died at the home farm in May, 1901, and his wife passed away January 17, 1899. Mr. Steirnagle was a democrat, and he and his wife were members of the Dunkard Church. They had a family of five children : Mary Etta, wife of D. M. Plank; Emma, Mrs. Kauffman; Daniel, deceased ; William; and Bertha, wife of Elmer Grady.

Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman had six children, Nellie, the oldest, dying at the age of seventeen and a half months. Florence graduated from the LaGrange High School in 1912, attended Tri-State College at Angola and is a teacher by profession. She was principal of a school at San Benito in extreme Southern Texas for two years and on December 9, 1916, became the wife of J. D. Thacker, of San Benito, and they now live in LaGrange. She is principal of the Bloomfield graded school. The third and fourth children of Mr. and Mrs. Kauff- man are Ralph and Ruth, twins. Ralph enlisted April 27, 1917, in the Eighth Aero Squadron, went overseas November 21, 1917, and spent five months at the front as a truck driver. He was given his honorable discharge May 22, 1919. Ralph is a graduate of the LaGrange High School, while Ruth graduated from the Howe High School, spent two years in the Tri-State College and for two terms was a teacher. The voungest of the chil- dren of Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman are Arthur and Marshall, the former a student in the Brighton High School and the latter in the grammar school at Brighton.

WILLIAM GOUDY is well remembered in Steuben County, where he spent so many years of his life. Mr. Goudy developed and owned a large farm in Otsego Township, and the old home is still owned and occupied by Mrs. Goudy.

The late Mr. Goudy was born in Williams County, Ohio, July 18, 1846, a son of Samuel Goudy, who was a miller by trade, and operated mills in different parts of Northeast Indiana. He was one of the early men to follow that business in Angola. Wil- liam Goudy during his early manhood, attended school, worked out for neighboring farmers, and at the age of sixteen, in 1862, enlisted in Company C of the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry. He saw much

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arduous service during the remaining years of the Civil war, and his record covers about three years. In 1874 Mr. Goudy moved out to the western frontier of Nebraska and homesteaded a quarter section claim which he occupied for several years. On re- turning to Indiana from Nebraska he farmed as a renter in DeKalb and Steuben counties, and in 1880 bought the farm in Otsego Township of 120 acres where his labors were effectively directed during the rest of his life. He improved the land with good buildings and other facilities and lived there until his death on February 24, 1904. He was affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and the In- dependent Order of Odd Fellows.

Mr. Goudy married Mary E. Dirrim. Mrs. Goudy was born February 8, 1848, a daughter of William Dirrim and a sister of Timothy H. Dirrim, whose family history has been recorded on other pages of this publication. Mrs. Goudy was the mother of eight children, namely: Fletcher; Frank, who mar- ried Mary Wells and has three children, named Flora, Lois and Marcus; Charles; Matie, who is the wife of Harvey Wilson and they have one child, Raymond; Robert, who married Golda Hall and has one son, R. Edwin; Fannie, wife of Charles Burrell and the mother of Marion, Maynard and Charles; Timothy and Crissie. Mrs. Goudy is an active mem- ber of the Methodist Church.

Fletcher Goudy, oldest son of the late Mr. Goudy, grew up on the home farm and when a young man, on June 22, 1898, enlisted in the Forty-Ninth Iowa Infantry as a United States volunteer. He served with that regiment in the Cuban war until May 13, 1899. On August 2, 1899, he again enlisted, this time in the Thirty-Fourth United States Volunteer In- fantry, and served until mustered out, April 17, 1901. His second period of enlistment was for service in the war in the Philippines. Altogether he partici- pated in one battle and eleven minor engagements. At the close of his service he was quartermaster sergeant in Company M. In 1902 Fletcher Goudy married Lola Sattison, a daugliter of Fred and Martha (Haverstock) Sattison. They have two children, Dorothy and Freddie.

JOSEPH M. BONTRAGER. One of the important agricultural industries of LaGrange County is the growing of peppermint, and certain portions of the county are admirably adapted for this profitable crop. One of the principal men engaged in the business is Joseph M. Bontrager of section 5, Eden Township. He has considerable muck soil, grows a large acreage of peppermint every year, and dis- tills large quantities of peppermint oil. He is also a general farmer and stockraiser.

He was born in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County, May 9, 1873. a son of Joseph C. and Lydia ( Mast) Bontrager, the former a native of Holmes County, Ohio, and the latter also a native of Ohio. Joseph Bontrager grew up in Elkhart County, In- diana, and his wife in LaGrange County. After their marriage in the latter county they settled in Greenfield Township and spent the rest of their lives there. They were members of the Mennonite Church. Joseph M. Bontrager is the only one liv- ing of five children. His mother and the four other children all died of diphtheria within a period of two weeks. Joseph Bontrager was six years old when his mother died, and he grew up in the home of a stepmother, attending the district schools of Greenfield Township.

He remained at home to the age of twenty-one and in November, 1895, married Amanda J. Yoder. She was born in Elkhart County August 28, 1870, and was educated in the district schools. Mr. and Mrs. Bontrager started out as renters in Newbury

Township, where they remained two years, and then bought 160 acres comprising their present farm. Mr. Bontrager has made extensive improvements, in- cluding much draining and tiling.

He and his wife have six children: Clara Celesta, Oliver J., Nina D., Mary Leona, Melvin J., and Willis, all of whom are unmarried and at home. They were educated in the common schools and Willis is still a student. The family are members of the .Mennonite Church and Mr. Bontrager takes an active interest in democratic politics. He served as a member of the County Council and is a stock- holder in the Farmers State Bank of Topeka. He breeds some high class Hereford cattle and has good grades of other live stock.

WILLIAM J. CRAMPTON. Probably the efforts of no one individual have contributed more to making Steuben County a feeding ground for large flocks of sheep than William J. Crampton, who uses most of his land in Steuben Township for that purpose. However, Mr. Crampton is a general farmer, and has much of the ability of his late father in business affairs.

Mr. Crampton was born in England, August 23, 1848, a son of William and Mary (Oatfield) Cramp- ton. His father was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1817, and in 1849 he came alone to America, and the following fall arrived in Steuben County, In- diana. In 1850 he sent for his family. It is said that he was so poor when he came to Steuben County that though land was exceedingly cheap in those days he was unable to pay for forty acres of virgin soil. His good management and industry enabled him to build up one of the finest farms in Steuben Township, and he reared a family of children who had many of his virtues, most of the sons develop- ing good farms in the same vicinity.

William J. Crampton has no memory of his birth- place, and practically all his life has been spent in Steuben County. He attended the California district schools in Steuben Township and he remained at home with his parents as long as they lived and not only did the work of the farm but looked after his aged father and mother for a number of years. Later he acquired the interest of the other heirs in the original homestead of 160 acres, and has gone steadily ahead increasing his property until he has 400 acres of good land. He remodeled the old barn on the place, and constructed a handsome new barn fifty by one hundred fect, with facilities unex- celled. He also has a windmill to pump his water, and has the farm ideally arranged for his pur- poses. As a sheep raiser Mr. Crampton has fre- quently had as high as 600 head on his place to feed through the winter. He is also a buyer and feeder of cattle, and has shipped many carloads of live- stock out of Steuben County.

Mr. Crampton is a republican, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church. He married Miss Martha Haynes. She was born in Salem Township of Steuben County, March 7. 1862, a daughter of William and Mary (Crawford) Haynes. Her parents were natives of Carroll County. Ohio, and were early settlers in Jackson Township of Steuben County, and later lived near Auburn in DeKalb County, where both died. Mr. and Mrs. Haynes had eight children, named Mitchell, Oscar, Martha, Libbie, Lawrence, Harvey, Perry and Wil- liam. All are still living except Harvey.

ALBERT L. SHULTZ, whose energies for several years past have been devoted to the management of his farm of eighty acres in sections 21 and 28 in Franklin Township of DeKalb County, is a lifelong resident of that community and for many years was

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a teacher in the township schools. He farmed in the intervals of teaching and is now giving all his time to agriculture and the varied interests which affect him as a home owner and citizen.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 61

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