History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 62

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 62
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 62
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 62
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 62

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. Shultz was born September 24, 1870, at the old Shultz place a quarter of a mile east of where he now lives. He is a son of Curtis S. and Chris- tina B. (Libolt) Shultz. His father was born in Ashland County, Ohio, January 4, 1845. His mother was a native of Wuertenberg, Germany, and was six years of age when her parents came to America, and she grew up in Ashland County, Ohio. The Shultz family came to DeKalb County in 1854, locat- ing in Franklin Township, where Curtis S. Shultz grew up from the age of nine. On December 23, 1868, he married and brought his wife to Franklin Township. For a number of years he lived retired at Waterloo, where his death occurred July 4, 1915. His widow is still living at Waterloo. He was reared in the faith of the German Lutheran Church, but after their removal to Waterloo she and her husband became affiliated with the Methodist Church. Curtis Shultz was a democrat in politics, a man of fine moral character, and a useful member of his community in Franklin Township for many years. Albert L. Shultz is the only one now living of three children, one of whom died at the age of five years. Alice, who died in 1886, was the wife of A. D. Faucett.

Albert L. Shultz grew up on the home farm, just east of his present place, graduated from the com- mon schools in 1888, and had normal training in the Tri-State College at Angola. Altogether he taught school twenty-three years, and all his work was done in his home Township of Franklin.

June 24, 1903, he married Effie Lautzenheiser, who was born and reared in Franklin Township and finished her education in the Hamilton High School. They have one daughter, Ruby P., born October 24, 1904, now attending high school. Mr. and Mrs. Shultz are members of the Methodist Church, and he is past chancellor of Butler Lodge No. 154, Knights of Pythias, and a member of the Grand Lodge. He and Mrs. Shultz are members of the Pythian Sisters and the Ancient Order of Gleaners. Politically he is a democrat and is a member of the Hamilton Co-operative Association.

HOWARD B. PERKINS. Though a native of Steu- ben County Mr. Perkins for a number of years has been regarded as one of the wealthy and sub- stantial farmer citizens of Springfield Township, LaGrange County, his home being on rural route No. 2.

He was born in Salem Township of Steuben County October 18, 1867, a son of Job and Sarah (Landers) Perkins. His father was a native of Milford Township, LaGrange County, son of Enoch Perkins, one of the early settlers there. The chil- dren of Enoch and Adaline Perkins were Stewart, Job, Enoch, Sarah Mariah and Elizabeth.

Sarah Landers, mother of Howard B. Perkins, was born in Ohio January 28, 1846. Her father Joseph Landers was born in Pennsylvania and died in Ohio. In 1849, when she was three years of age, Mrs. Perkins was brought by her mother, Mrs. Catherine Landers, to Steuben County, her mother buying eighty acres of land. They had traveled by team and wagon from Ohio to Indiana. Later Mrs. Catherine Landers sold her first farm, and she died at Applemanburg in 1901, at the age of ninety- three. Mrs. Landers was born in Ohio. In the Landers family were seven children: Joseph, Wil- liam, Mary Ann, Betsey, Rebecca, Sophia and Sarah, only the last two now living.

Job and Sarah Perkins were married in Salem Township of Steuben County, and for several years he operated the Landers farm. In 1870 he bought a place in Jackson Township, moved there, but had only a few years in which to improve his farm, since he was overtaken by death February I, 1878. In 1861, at Kendallville, he had enlisted in Company G of the Forty-fourth Indiana In- fantry, and saw much of the hardest service of the war, being in all the battles of his regiment, in- cluding Shiloh, Stone River and Chickamauga. Job and Sarah Perkins had two children, Howard B. and Catherine Adaline. Catherine was born July 7, 1869, and her first husband was Albert Johnson, and she is now the wife of Henry Ford, living at Hammond, Indiana. Mrs. Sarah Perkins lives with her daughter at Hammond.

Howard B. Perkins attended the public schools of Jackson Township, Steuben County. He moved to Springfield Township of LaGrange County with his mother and sister in 1884, locating at Apple- manburg. He worked as a farm hand for William Dunbar and later for Mrs. William Laurent Dryer, mother of his wife. He also followed the car- penter's trade for some time.

May 25, 1898, Mr. Perkins married Mary Aurelia Dryer, who was born in Milford Township of La- Grange County October 25, 1870. The record of her parents is told in later paragraphs. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins after their marriage lived in the Vil- lage of South Milford, and he bought a house and lot in Applemanburg where he now lives, moving into that new home November 25, 1898. He also bought III acres, a part of the old Mallow farm. He subsequently sold two acres of this as the site of a school building. In 1901 Mr. Perkins bought seventy acres from G. F. Hall and in 1912 acquired forty acres more from Fred Seaburn. At the present time he has altogether 220 acres, constitut- ing a generous capital and facilities for his work as a general farmer and stock raiser. In 1903 he built on his farm a fine barn 36 by 72 feet. Mr. Perkins is a republican, a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge at South Milford, and has been affiliated with that order since he was twenty-one years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have five children : Harold B. was born April 30, 1899, is a graduate of the Springfield Township High School, finished the course of the LaGrange High School in 1918, and from October 10, 1918, until December 19, 1918, was a member of the Students Army Training Corps at Purdue University. He is now a government employe with the Bureau of Forestry. Gerald D. Perkins, the second of the family, was born August 5, 1900, and was a sopho- more in the Springfield Township High School when he died February 3, 1916. The third is Laurent Roger, born May 24, 1902, a graduate of the township high school and of the LaGrange High School with the class of 1919. The fourth of the family, a son, died soon after his birth in 1908. The youngest is Mary Beth, born March 5, I909.

Mrs. Perkins was educated in the schools of Mil- ford Township, studied music at the Tri-State Col- lege at Angola, and later had the advantage of foreign instructors in the College of Music at Fort Wayne.

Her parents were William Laurent and Lodema (Taylor) Dryer. Her father was born in Greene County, New York, December 1, 1831, and died in LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1884. Her mother was born in Milford Township of LaGrange County April 20, 1841, and died at South Milford in 1907. Mrs. Dryer in 1893 left the home farm and lived in South Milford until her death. Her second

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

husband, George. Gunn, survives her and lives in the old home at South Milford at the age of eighty years. William Laurent Dryer was a son of Darius and Clarissa ( Rogers) Dryer, of English descent, the former a native of Massachusetts. Darius Dryer came to Milford Township with his family in 1837, and was identified with the pioneers of that locality. He died in February, 1861. His wife was a native of the State of New York. At the age of nineteen William L. Dryer started to learn the wagon making trade, and afterward served an apprenticeship as a carpenter, an occupation he followed for some years. In 1857 he bought a farm in Milford Township of 120 acres, and so ordered his affairs that at the time of his death he was one of the wealthy farmers of the town- ship. He and his wife were married December 23, 1858. Of their five children the oldest died in infancy, and Laura, Morton W. and Lura are all deceased. The only survivor is Mrs. Mary A. Perkins.

Mrs. Perkins' maternal grandparents were Thes- tor and Nancy (Blair) Taylor, the former a native of New York and the latter of Vermont. Thestor Taylor entered land in Milford Township in 1836, and two years later brought his family to La- Grange County. William L. Dryer was a stanch republican and held the offices of path master and school director for a number of terms. His youngest brother, Zenas B. Dryer, enlisted in 1861 in the Twenty-first Indiana Infantry and sleeps in a soldier's grave at New Orleans. He was with Sherman on his march to the sea.

JOIIN W. BUTZ has given his energies chiefly to the lumber business as a manufacturer and sawmill man, an occupation which his father followed before him. He is one of the chief manufacturers of lum- ber in Northeast Indiana, and has a mill in constant operation at Angola, working up a large part of the hardwood timber in Steuben County.

Mr. Butz was born in Kosciusko County, Indiana, February 15, 1874, son of Franklin and Catherine (Stiegamier ) Butz, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Ohio, moved to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and in 1884 came to Steuben County, settling in Scott Township. Franklin Butz combined saw milling with farming, owning a place of sixty acres in Scott Township, where he died in 1915. His wife died in 1902. He was a republican and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The children of these parents were: Harrison, deceased; Albert; John W .; Susie, wife of Frank Reikser; Arvilla, wife of Frank Jackson; Cassie, wife of Fred Rice; Ella, wife of Andy Ramsey; and Pearl, wife of Leon Gray.

John W. Butz was ten years old when brought to Steuben County, and he finished his education here in the district schools of Scott and Pleasant Town- ship, and also attended the high school at Angola. Since he was nineteen years old he has been busy in the lumber business, and for ten years was asso- ciated with W. G. Croxton at Angola. After the death of Mr. Croxton he took over the business, and now operates an extensive sawmill plant that is running the year around, and employs from ten to thirty men. Mr. Butz also owns a fine farm of 170 acres in Scott Township, and is therefore one of the busiest men of Steuben County, having inter- ests which absorb all his time and energies every month of the year.

In politics he is a republican and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. December 13, 1900, Mr. Butz married Miss Ada Kuhn, of Kosciusko County. They have one son, Paul, born September 21, 1901,

a graduate of the Angola High School and now a student in the Tri-State College of Engineering.

THE KNEIPP SANITARIUM, on the banks of Sylvan Lake, near Rome City, is one of the most remarkable institutions of its kind in the United States, and has the distinction of being the only Kneipp Sanitarium in the United States established and conducted by a physician who studied the original Kneipp treat- ment as instituted by Monsignor Kneipp at his famous institution at Woerishofen, Bavaria.

The Sanitarium, which was established in 1895, has probably done more to make the locality of Orange Township in Noble County well known throughout the length and breadth of this country than any other one circumstance or combination of circumstances, Sylvan Lake is an artificial lake, made by the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad Com- pany, and is four miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. It is a beautiful body of water in itself, and has attracted thousands of visitors every year, and is the scene of the annual gathering of the Western Chautauqua Assembly, and is sur- rounded by a number of hotels and resorts. Some years ago the Government stocked the lake with fish, and it furnishes some of the best fishing grounds in Northern Indiana.

But it is the Kneipp Sanitarium that has made Rome City and Sylvan Lake most famous. All in- telligent people know something of the "Kneipp Cure," a method that originated in Central Europe, but, as already noted, has received its finest ex- emplification in the United States at Rome City. The physician in charge of the sanitarium, Dr. B. Pulskamp, was long a student at the original insti- tution in Bavaria and has a diploma from the school there.

When the sanitarium was opened at Sylvan Lake in 1895 it had accommodations for but ten guests. Every year has witnessed an increase in these accom- modations and today the magnificent grounds are dotted with buildings of elaborate architecture, and with individual accommodations for 250 guests. The sanitarium grounds proper comprise eighty acres of land, containing extensive lawns and walks, special grounds for sports and games, and there is also a

large amount of land besides used for farming purposes. Besides the lake and grounds contain numerous mineral springs, and all of these have been adapted to the special feature of the Kneipp method of cure. Probably the best known feature of the Kneipp cure is diet, which has been developed to a highly scientific system, and yet does not run extreme practices as in some sanitariums. The diet is largely a generous variety of nature's best foods, with an ahsence of all stimulating and nar- cotic foods and drinks. The system of the Kneipp treatment is largely that of allowing nature to work its cure with the intelligent supervision of an ex- pert and scientific staff of physicians and surgeons and their assistants.

The sanitarium is owned and operated by the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood, who took charge in 1901. While the property and management are therefore invested in a Catholic authority, the re- ligious feature is not obtrusive, as the thousands of guests who have been in the sanitarium during the last twenty years have comprised every variety of religious creed. The chief reminder of the own- ership is the beautiful chapel where, according to the custom of the Order of the Most Precious Blood, perpetual adoration is maintained day and night.

The Sister Superior in charge of the sanitarium is Sister Mary Agreda. She was born at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1868, and was educated in the paro- chial schools of Cincinnati and afterward in the

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Normal School of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood at Maria Stein, in Mercer County, Ohio. She taught at Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, for ten years, and in 1902 came to Rome City as assistant to the Sister Superior, and has held the office of Sister Superior since 191I. 1

DAVID W. RISER, who spent a large part of his earlier career over the state line in Ohio, in Wil- liams County, has established a firm hold in DeKalb County, Indiana, as a farmer, business man and citizen and owns one of the attractive country places in Troy Township. His farm is in sections 31 and 32, and lies three and a half miles northeast of Butler.

Mr. Riser was born in Stark County, Ohio, Oc- tober 8, 1854, a son of Martin and Catherine (Ott) Riser. The parents were both born in Germany, his father September 28, 1810, and his mother in March, 1828. They were married in the old country and on coming to the United States settled near Alliance, Ohio, where the father worked at common labor for several years. In 1861 he moved to Williams County, Ohio, settling near Edon, and afterward came to Stafford Township of DeKalb County, where he and his wife spent the rest of their years. They were members of the German Lutheran Church, and the father was a democrat in politics. In their family were the following children: John, a farmer in Williams County, Ohio; Margaret, who died in 1862; George, a farmer in Stafford Township; David W., also a farmer; Christ, of Butler, Indiana; Mary, wife of Isaac Hose, of Butler; Catherine, wife of Frederick Blaker, of Troy Township; and William, who died in infancy.

David W. Riser was reared in Stafford Township, attended the district schools and was at home with his parents to the age of twenty-one. After that he supported himself and managed to get some ex- perience and a very modest equipment of capital by working out for others. May 17, 1888, he mar- ried Mary I. Jennings, member of an old and promi- nent family of DeKalb County. She was born in Troy Township, May 5, 1870, a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Higby) Jennings. Her mother was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, October 10, 1840, and was reared in Stafford Township of DeKalb County from August, 1851. Jacob Jennings was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, December 12, 1829, and moved to Wilmington Township of De- Kalb County, September 23, 1848. He and his wife were married September 23, 1860, and moved to his farm in Troy Township in March, 1864. He died September 27, 1894, and his wife October 4, 1916. Mrs. Riser was the younger of two children, her brother, Eli L., born April 10, 1864, now lives at Elkhart, Indiana. Eli was a soldier in the Spanish- American war. Mrs. Riser grew up on a farm in Troy Township and had a good education in the local schools.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Riser lived in Williams County until 1898, when they located on their present farm. The home place has 110 acres, and altogether they own 158 acres. Mr. Riser and wife are members of the Christian Church at Butler. They are also members of the Grange at Butler. In politics he is a democrat, and he was trustee of Troy Township for two years. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Butler and a stockholder in the Arctic Co-operative Asso- ciation. Mr. Riser enjoys fishing as his recreation, and he and his wife have spent a winter or two in Florida.

ANDREW J. CARPENTER. A long life and a busy one has been the record in brief of Andrew J. Carpenter,

one of the highly esteemed residents of Franklin Township, DeKalb County. He has lived nearly three-quarters of a century and is now enjoying a comfortable retirement. For about half a century he followed the trade and business of flour milling, and he also has owned and operated farms. He is living today on his farm in Franklin Township, near Hamilton.

Mr. Carpenter was born at Pontiac, Michigan, June 28, 1845, a son of Joshua and Mary (Church) Carpenter. Both the Church and Carpenter families were early settlers around Pontiac, Michigan, and acquired large tracts of land. Joshua Carpenter was born in New York State and his wife in Ver- mont. He was a stock man and also conducted a meat market at Pontiac. He died at the age of forty. He was a stanch republican in politics and he and his wife were active in church. Of their five children Andrew J. is the only one living.

He spent his boyhood days on his father's farm near Pontiac and was very much of a youth when he volunteered and joined the Union army. After the war he returned to Pontiac and learned the miller's trade. He followed that occupation with some inter- vals until a comparatively recent date. Mr. Carpen- ter has owned and operated several grist mills, own- ing the one at Hamilton, Indiana. He was head miller in several large mills at Topeka and also owned a mill at Edon, Ohio.

June 1, 1874, Mr. Carpenter married Mrs. Margaret R. (Fee) Taylor, widow of Jasper S. Taylor. Her first husband died February 19, 1869, leaving two children : Belle, wife of Theodore Hunt, of Frank- lin Township; and John S. Taylor, who lives on his farm four miles south of Egerton, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter have two sons: Frank W., who was born September 25, 1876, and Riley R., born December 3, 1878. Both sons are now married and are well known residents of Franklin Township. The family are active members of the United Breth- ren Church, and Frank W. is superintendent of the Sunday school of his home church. The sons are also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Carpenter is a republican in politics. He is one of the directors of the Arctic Livestock Association.

SFTH WALLACE. While Seth Wallace and all his children have long since passed away, there are memorials of their presence and beneficent activity in LaGrange County, particularly a fine farm in Springfield Township, now owned and occupied by a granddaughter of Seth Wallace, Mrs. Ellen Cowan.

Seth Wallace was born near the City of Boston, Massachusetts, November 21, 1701, about two years after the Government of the United States was instituted. His parents were Seth and Ann (Hul- bert) Wallace. the former horn December 1, 1761, and the latter June 2, 1765. It was a New England family, but originally Scotch-Irish. Seth Wallace grew up in his home community, was educated ac- cording to the standards of the time, and married Desire Belding (whose family name has in later generations been spelled Belden). They were mar- ried on November 3, 1815. and their children, born in the East, were as follows: Joseph W., born December 12, 1816, and died March 22, 1843; Deni- son Belden, horn September 15. 1818, started for California at the time of the original discovery of gold, and was never heard from; Zabina H .. born Tannary 14. 1821. and died April 11. 1805: George W., born November 25, 1824, and died August 16, 1877; John Quincy Adams. horn December 0, 1826. and died April 17, 1843; Charles C., born June 14, 1830, and died December 11, 1850; and Benjamin

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

F., born November 4, 1834, and died January 21, 1853.

Seth Wallace was a sturdy New England farmer and he came west for the purpose of acquiring land in more generous measure and on cheaper terms than could be obtained in the well settled districts around Boston. Before breaking up his home in the East he came west in 1841, prospecting over much of the country in Northern Indiana, and as a result of his examination bought the land where his descendant, Mrs. Cowan, now lives. This land he obtained from a Mr. Michael, who was the original entrant from the Government. After making some improvements he went back east and arranged to transport his family west. After some weeks of travel they arrived in the clearing in the midst of the woods, and from that time the Wallaces were fixtures in LaGrange County. Seth Wallace acquired 400 acres of land in his home farm and later bought other tracts in the same vicinity. His first buildings were of logs and stood directly behind the site of the present home, occupying ground in the center of the farm and half way between the North and South roads. It is said that he hauled logs and wheat to Fort Wayne, and brought back lumber with which to build the house now standing. This old resident landmark was erected about 1851. He also put up the substantial barns which still stand along the road on the west side of the farm. He hired as the carpenter to boss the job of construc- tion his brother Thompson Wallace. The timber was cut on the land, and all the interior finish of this residence is of walnut, now almost priceless, the work having been done entirely by hand labor. Seth Wallace and his sons cleared up much of the land and he also set out an orchard. Some of his younger children attended school at the Asso- ciation Farm.

His son Zabina H., mentioned above, had come with his father to Springfield Township and re- mained on the homestead when Seth Wallace went back to bring his family. Zabina is well remem- bered as a school teacher in the old community and later was a merchant at Sturgis, Michigan, where he died. During the Civil war Zabina served as a recruiting officer and sent many companies to the front.

George W. Wallace, son of Seth, received a good education in the East and after coming to LaGrange County spent his time and labors on the home farm, and after living there for over thirty-five years passed away August 16, 1877. Both he and his father were stanch republicans in politics, but neither of them ever sought public office.

On October 26, 1862, George W. Wallace mar- ried Catherine Griffith, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, a daughter of Henry Griffith. With her mother and stepfather she came to Indiana by way of canal and wagon to the site of the present Town of Waterloo, then covered with a dense forest. . Her step-father made a shack of slabs and started there among pioneer circumstances. Mrs. Wallace's mother soon died, and Catherine went to live at the Wallace home and subsequently hecame the wife of George W. Wallace. She died August 8, 1913, leaving one child, Ellen May.

Ellen May Wallace, who lives in the dignified associations of the old Wallace homestead in Springfield Township, was married February 19, 1887, to Sheridan E. Hughes, of LaGrange. Mr. Hughes died in 1891, the father of one child, Hilda Wallace Hughes. In 1903 Mrs. Hughes became the wife of Charles C. Cowan, whose death occurred April 7, 1918. Mrs. Cowan has been a generous supporter of church and other community activi-

ties, and about 1890 she deeded the lot on which the Brushy Chapel stands.

Hilda Wallace Hughes, daughter of Mrs. Cowan, is a graduate of Northwestern University. She made a fine record as a teacher, and was super- intendent of schools at Stroh and South Milford in LaGrange County, but declined to continue in that profession in order to give her time to the management of the farm which has been handed down from her great-grandfather.

L. D. HUGHES was born in Holmes County, Ohio, on Independence Day, 1839, one of the twelve chil- dren of Esrom and Rosanna (Shreve) Hughes, the former a settler in Holmes County as early as 1845. L. D. Hughes had a good practical educa- tion and on April 17, 1861, enlisted in Company H of the Twenty-Third Indiana Infantry. He served until discharged in June, 1864, and except for six days was ready for duty at every roll call and participated in all the engagements of his regiment. He was slightly wounded at Giles Court House in West Virginia. On leaving the army he engaged in farming and on April 19, 1866, married Ellen Drake, a daughter of his former captain in the army, later Maj. J. L. Drake. L. D. Hughes on account of impaired health gave up farming and in 1867 located at LaGrange, where for two years he clerked, and in 1869 engaged in the hardware business, an enterprise which he successfully prose- cuted for many years. His first vote was given to Abraham Lincoln. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Methodist Church. He died in 1916 and his widow is still living. Their five children were Sheridan, James, Carl, Susie and Lulu.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 62

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