History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 64

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 64
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 64
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 64
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 64

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).

John Walter Griffith acquired his early education in the public schools of Otsego Township and also of DeKalb County, and in early life learned the trade of cooper in connection with farming. He moved to Hamilton in 1807, and has been a resident of that village for over twenty years. He served as justice of the peace, township supervisor twelve years, and has been quite active in the republican party. He is a member of Hamilton Lodge No. 701, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1870 Mr. Griffith married Mary Crandall. She

was born in Summit County, Ohio, October 28, 1850, daughter of W. A. and Harriet Eliza Cran- dall. Her parents were married in 1844 and came to Steuben County in 1853, settling on a farm in Otsego Township. This farm, much of which was cleared by Mr. Crandall, is now owned by William Kugler. Mrs. Griffith's father died there May 8. 1871, at the age of fifty. His widow continued to live on the farm for some years, then moved to Pleasant Lake, and in 1906 came to live with her daughter, Mrs. Griffith, in whose home she died in 1913, at the age of eighty-eight.

Mr. and Mrs. Griffith became the parents of four children. Charles, a resident of Pleasant Lake, mar- ried Ella King, and their children are Weir, Ford, Edith and Gertrude; Lillian Jemimah married Syl- vester Hoover and lives at Detroit, Michigan; Lauren, who is chief clerk in the postoffice at Fort Wayne, married Tessie O'Neal at Chicago, and their children are John, Virginia, Mary Catherine and Lawrence. Hattie, the youngest child, is the wife of Glenn Sweet, of Hamilton.

SAMUEL E. DICKINSON is superintendent of the water and light department of the City of Kendall- ville. He has been connected with this important public utility for over twenty years.

Mr. Dickinson was born at Wolcottville, Indiana, September 15, 1870, son of Newell J. and Elizabeth (Stroman) Dickinson. His father was born in New York State and his mother in Pennsylvania, and they were brought to Indiana by their respective parents when the father was eleven and the mother seven years of age. Both families settled near Wol- cottville on farms, where Newell Dickinson and Elizabeth Stroman grew up and married. After their marriage they lived on a farm a time. Newell Dickinson was a mechanic and engineer, and was employed in that capacity in different factories at Kendallville for some years. In 1890 he became engineer of the water and light plant, and on April 17, 1895, his son Samuel became his assistant.

Samuel Dickinson was well educated and after following various lines of employment became a lo- comotive fireman with the New York Central lines in 1891. In 1895 he entered the waterworks and light plant at Kendallville, and has shown such capacity in that work that his services have been retained by the authorities ever since. He was made chief engineer and filled that post two and a half years, and since 1915 has been in charge of the entire business as superintendent.

In February, 1894, Mr. Dickinson married Miss Maggie A. Roche. She died in December, 1894. Mr. Dickinson is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and is a republican in politics.

ELMER E. CLARK since early youth has been a hard working business man, has been identified with sev- eral different lines of vocations, and until recently was manager of the Co-operative Store at Ashley.

He was born in Steuben County, Indiana, August 21, 1874, a son of Daniel and Lavina Clark. His father was born at Fairfield Center, DeKalb County, Indiana, in 1854. His mother was born at Plymouth, Ohio, in November, 1834, and came to Indiana with her first husband, Josiah Bevier, settling in Steuben County, two miles north of Hudson, where they cleared a farm and lived until the death of Mr. Bevier. By her first marriage she had two children, Samuel and Mrs. George W. Fisher. Elmer E. Clark is the only child of his mother's second mar- riage. His father was a minister of the United Brethren Church and for thirty-three years fol- lowed that calling in Ohio, Indiana and Michigan.

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Elmer E. Clark grew up in the various communi- ties where his father was engaged as a minister, and received a common school education, also attended high school and the United Brethren College at Hartsville. At the age of twenty-two he married Mertie G. Frederick, who was born at Hudson in Steuben County, Indiana.

After his marriage Mr. Clark was in the restau- rant business about four years, spent four seasons on a farm, was a rural mail carrier five and a half years out of Hudson, and for a year and a half was a blacksmith, a trade he had learned as a boy. Until 1916 he was engaged in the general merchandise business at Hudson, selling out his store November 20, 1916. The following few months he spent with the B. F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, and in April, 1917, began selling stock for the Co-opera- tive Association at Ashley, and on July 3 became manager of the store and so continued until August 25, 1919. Mr. Clark owns a farm of 120 acres seven miles north of Coldwater, Michigan. He is a re- publican in politics and is active in the United Brethren Church, being a trustee and superintendent of the Sunday school at Hudson. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have two children, Gail F., born December 30, 1898, a graduate of the Hudson High School and died October 30, 1918, when nearly twenty years of age; and Barbara Catherine, born December 4, 19II.

WILLIAM SHERMAN BARBER. If true success con- sists in a steady betterment of one's material cir- cumstances, a growing enlargement of views and increasing influence as a member of the community, the life of William Sherman Barber has been ex- ceptionally successful by all the standards that might be applied to it.

Mr. Barber, proprietor of a fine farm in Mill- grove Township of Steuben County, was born in Jackson Township of the same county September 12, 1865, a son of William and Sidney (Slaybaugh) Barber. His father was born in England and came to Steuben County at the age of fifteen, two years after his father had settled here in 1840. The grandfather Barber first located in Angola when it was a town of a few log houses, later acquired land in the county, and lived here until his death. He had two sons, William and John. William Bar- ber acquired his early education in England, and during his life in Steuben County was chiefly a farmer. He lived in several localities, was a renter as well as a farm owner, owned one place in Pleasant Township, later had a farm in Otsego Township, and for a time owned and operated a grist mill at Millersburg in Elkhart County. He finally bought 160 acres in Millgrove Township now occupied by his son William S. He died there in 1915, at the age of seventy-eight. His wife, who was a native of Ohio, died in 1905. Their family of children consisted of the following: Cynthia C., Benjamin F., Minerva, William S., Leonard Curtis, Emma, Bertha and John.

William Sherman Barber attended the public schools of Steuben County, including the Fremont High School. Since leaving school he has fol- lowed farming as his chief occupation. For a time he owned some property in Millersburg. He for- merly rented the old homestead in Millgrove Town- ship, but since 1911 has been its owner and pro- prietor. Besides the 160 acres there he has an- other eighty acres. Most of the improvements on the home farm were placed there by his father.

Mr. Barber is a republican. His wife is a mem- ber of the Congregational Church. January 24, 1905, he married Bertha Dudley, member of the old and prominent Dudley family in Steuben Coun-

ty. Her father is Grove H. Dudley elsewhere men- tioned.

OLIVER SCHAEFFER, who died October 18, 1918, was a man of interesting personality and experience and spent most of his life in Steuben County. Farm- ing was his main business, and it is an essential part of his record that he made a success of his under- takings, and withal reared a large family of sons and daughters, most of whom are married and in homes of their own. His two youngest sons started overseas with the American army for France just a month before the death of the father.

Oliver Schaeffer was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1844, a son of William and Margaret (Beck) Schaeffer. When he was about a year old he was brought to Steuben County and he grew up on a farm in Fremont Township, ac- quiring his education in the public schools. Oliver Schaeffer was a soldier in the Civil war, enlisting September 28, 1864, at the age of twenty, in Com- pany F of the First Regiment, Michigan Cavalry. He remained in the service until honorably dis- charged June 7, 1865. From what he was able to save from his meager wages as a soldier he bought eighty actes of heavily timbered land in the south- eastern part of Fremont Township. He sold that and bought the 120 acres where his widow now lives. Later he increased this to 120 acres, improved and added to the buildings and made a fine property. He was always industrious, used intelligence with his labors, and was able to make ample provision for the sons and daughters who grew up in his home. In politics he was a republican.

November 23, 1873, he married Mary Ellen Miller. She was born in Fremont Township, December 17, 1854, a daughter of Daniel and Mary (Schaeffer) Miller. Her parents came to Steuben County in 1852, settling on eighty acres of timbered land in Fremont Township. Daniel Miller was a cooper by trade, and followed that occupation to some ex- tent while clearing and making a farm. His first house was built of logs. Daniel Miller died Novem- ber 7, 1890, aged sixty-five, and his wife, November 7, 1905, aged seventy-seven.

Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer had twelve children: Lucinda, the first born, died in infancy. Susanna is the wife of Clarence G. Pennell. Andrew is un- married and lives at home with his mother. Aaron married Lucy Morgan and had three children, Polly, Isadora, deceased, and Arthur. Fred married Katie Friday and has two sons, Ralph and Harry. Lizzie May is the wife of Harry Pennell, and her two children are Oliver and Albert. Charles is also an unmarried son and at home. Margaret Anna was married to Jerome Morris. Clara B. is at home. Lydia E. died in 1911, wife of Lyle Fisher, who died October 31, 1918, and their one daughter, Vesta Marie, now lives with her grandmother, Mrs. Schaeffer. The two younger children are Mearl E. and Earl M., twins. Both were in service with the One Hundred and Ninth Engineers, and went over- seas on September 18, 1918.

LEVIN MILLIS ANTONIDES. For more than sixty years the family name of Antonides has been known favorably in LaGrange County. The family was founded here by the parents of Levin Millis An- tonides, who is a representative citizen and sub- stantial farmer of the county. He was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, August 26, 1854, and is a son of John and Sarah (Millis) Antonides.

John Antonides was born near Dayton, Ohio, in 1826. He was thirteen years of age when he came to Fort Wayne and joined his uncle, John Lillie,

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

who at that time was operating a hotel and run- ning a stage line. In 1840 the youth was entrusted with the responsibility of carrying the mails, mak- ing the trips on horseback over an Indian trail, starting from Fort Wayne and stopping at Ken- dallville, Howe, and other points. In 1853 he was married to a young lady who had come to LaGrange County from Eastern Maryland, where her birth had taken place in 1825, the marriage ceremony being performed in Springfield Township by Rev- erend Connelly. Her name was Sarah Millis, and she belonged to an old English family that can be traced back 200 years. After marriage John An- tonides and wife lived for a time in Springfield Township, then spent one year in Kendallville. In 1857 Mr. Antonides hought 120 acres of land in Clay Township, which he cleared, doing the work with an ox-team and subsequently made many im- provements. In 1883 the family moved into La- Grange, where Mr. Antonides conducted a feed barn for some years. In his early years he was a demo- crat, but the issues of the Civil war brought about a change in his political opinion and caused him to vote for Abraham Lincoln and afterward until the close of his life to support the republican party. His wife died at LaGrange, June 2, 1900, when he retired to the home of a daughter in Iowa, and died there in 1905. They were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had three chil- dren, namely: F. C., who is a resident of LaGrange; Lillie, who is the wife of Calvin Harrington, of Clinton, Iowa; and Levin Millis, who has passed his life in his native state.

Levin Millis Antonides attended the country schools in Clay Township in boyhood and later had further advantages at Ontario Academy. He as- sisted his father on the farm as long as his help was deemed necessary, then invested in farm land for himself, and has spent his time since then in carrying on the quiet pursuits of agriculture, than which no more important can be found in any direction. Mr. Antonides has 117 acres in one tract and he also owns forty acres of the old homestead. He raises grain and general produce and also gives attention to stock of all kinds. He is a careful, prudent farmer and his undertakings usually prove successful and profitable.

On February 27, 1878, Mr. Antonides was united in marriage to Miss Eunice Emma Woodward, who was born near the old Green saw mill in Clay Township, June 30, 1858. Her parents were Wil- liam and Sophronia (Parish) Woodward, the former of whom came from Ohio to LaGrange County with his parents in 1837, they being among the early settlers in Clay Township. Mrs. Antonides owns a very interesting utensil brought from Ohio by her grandparents. It is a fire shovel moulded of solid iron, all in one piece and unbreakable. In what kind of early forge or furnace it was so fashioned is unknown. The father of Mrs. Antonides died in 1905, her mother having passed away in 1895. Seven children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Antonides, namely: Maud, Claud, Arthur Levin, Florence Jerusha, Sarah Hattie, Eunice Bess, and John. The last named, born January 2, 1894, died at the age of eight months. The eldest daughter, Maud, was born February 9, 1879, and is the wife of Adrian Thomas, of LaGrange, Indiana. Claud, who was born April 21, 1880, was married August 3, 1904, to Opal Gage, a daughter of Owen Gage, and they have five children: Gerald, Donald, John Paul, Margaret and Dale. Arthur Levin, who was born June 27, 1881, married Nina Beal, and they have four children : Lloyd, Ruth, Dorothy and Lee Millis. Florence Jerusha, who was born Octoher 10, 1886,

resides at home. Sarah Hattie, who was born Sep- tember 10, 1888, is the wife of Albert Lytle, and they have three children : Vada, Eunice and Wava. Eunice Bess, who was born June 10, 1891, resides at home. The family attends the Methodist Epis- copal Church at Shipshewana, and Mr. Antonides belongs to the Lodge of Odd Fellows there. He has always supported the principles of the republican party because he believes in their soundness, but at no time has he ever desired a public office, al- though undoubtedly well fitted by sterling char- acter and natural good judgment to serve acceptably in many. Mr. Antonides has some interesting fam- ily heirlooms which he prizes highly. One of these is an English watch that has been handed down in the Millis family from generation to generation for 200 years, its engraved face reading "From Levin to Levin." It is a priceless treasure in this family and will continue to descend to the future generations.

HENRY SHEETS. After years of productive labor along agriculaural lines Henry Sheets, of Pleasant Township, is enjoying a well earned rest in the midst of his family circle. During the time he con- ducted his farm he was well known for his skill in raising good crops, and at the same time he com- manded respect for his solid and reliable charac- teristics. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, De- cember 25, 1834, a son of Henry and Mary (Stovell) Sheets, both natives of Bavaria, Germany.

The elder Henry Sheets learned the blacksmithing trade in his native land, but after he came to the United States in 1835 he became a tool maker and dresser at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he rounded out his useful life. He and his excellent wife had three children, as follows : Michael, Jacob and Henry. Henry Sheets, whose name heads this biographical mention, was reared at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and attended its public schools. In 1854 he was married to Magdeline Peters, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Peters, and for six years thereafter lived at Pittsburgh, but in 1860 came to Steuben County, Indiana, first lo- cating in Steuben Township, but five years later moved to his present farm in Pleasant Township. Here he was actively engaged in farming until 1893, when he retired and moved to Angola. On July 3, 1916, he lost his wife by death, and his home at Angola then became too lonely, so he closed it and returned to the farm, where he is now ministered to by his children.

Henry Sheets and his wife had the following children : William, who is a farmer of the old homestead; Charles H., who married Emma Longa- baugh, and has one son, Harcourt; Tillie, who keeps house for her father and brothers; Elmer, who is also farming the homestead; Herman, who married Elsie Wood, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and has two children, Elsie and Magdaline; Fred, who conducts a store and hotel at Crooked Lake, Indiana ; Eugene, who owns ten cottages and as many boats on Crooked Lake, conducts the Long Beach resort, but lives at home with his father and the rest of the family. The Sheets family have been very success- ful as farmers, the homestead now comprising 598 acres of very valuable land in the vicinity of Crooked Lake. While Mrs. Sheets lived Miss Tillie kept house for her brothers on the farm. The death of this estimable lady was felt all the more deeply because hers was the first this family has suffered, and the loss has bound the survivors still more closely together. They are regarded as being among the most desirable people in this section, and are progressive in their methods and upright in their dealings.

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

ISAAC N. Cox. For nearly forty years Isaac N. Cox gave his best energies to farming and is now enjoying a well earned retirement. His home has been at Ashley since 1907. While accumulating a landed estate he has been active in many local af- fairs, including church, fraternity and civic respon- sibilities.

He was born in Smithfield Township of DeKalb County October 16, 1851, a son of William and Nancy (Van Aken) Cox. This branch of the Cox family is descended from an Englishman who came to America in colonial times. William Cox was born in Pennsylvania in 1811, was married in Portage County, Ohio, and in 1850 settled on the farm in Smithfield Township where his son Isaac was born. He acquired 120 acres of land. He was keenly interested in politics, was originally a whig and later a radical republican, and for nine years he held the office of trustee of Smithfield Township. He was also prominent in the Cedar Lake congrega- tion of the Christian Church and served as an elder many years. Of his ten children four are still living: B. O. Cox, a retired farmer at Coldwater, Michigan; Sarah, widow of Levi Freed and living at Ashley; Harriet, widow of John Wilsey, of Traverse City, Michigan; and Isaac N.

Isaac N. Cox grew up on the home farm, attended district schools and also the Angola High School and the Waterloo High School. For two terms he was a teacher in his native township, but since then has followed farming.

June 8, 1871, he married Anna Stamets, who was born in Ohio December 2, 1851. She finished her education in the district schools of Indiana. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cox rented his father's place for two years, and from 1874 to 1879 lived in LaGrange County. He then bought forty acres of his father's homestead and subsequently acquired another forty acres, giving him a good sized farm, from which he earned the greater part of his pros- perity.

Mr. and Mrs. Cox had five children, four of whom are still living: Emmett, who is married and lives at Waterloo; Anna Rosezettie, a high school gradu- ate, wife of John May; Arthur, who is married and lives on the old farm; and Harry H., who spent three years in high school and is married and a farmer. The family are leading members of the Cedar Lake Christian Church and Mr. Cox has served it as deacon, elder and trustee, and for twelve years as superintendent of the Sunday school. He is a past chancellor of Hudson Lodge No. 25, Knights of Pythias, and a member of the Grand Lodge, while his wife is a past chief of the Pythian Sisters. Mr. Cox has always been identified with the republi- can party, and has served as township supervisor.

FRED E. HALL, who for the past ten years has concentrated his energies upon the management of the Hall farm in Springfield Township of La- Grange County, is a member of a family whose activities have been influential in shaping the de- velopment of several communities in Northeast In- diana, beginning in pioneer times, more than eighty years ago.

Fred E. Hall was born in Wayne Township of Noble County June 3, 1879, and is a son of Ben- jamin Franklin and Catherine A. (Longyear) Hall. The paternal grandparents were William and Lu- cinda (Hall) Hall, who came to Springfield Town- ship, LaGrange County, in 1835, and located at Brushy Prairie. William Hall entered land in sec- tion 16 of that township. but later acquired a tract of Government land in Kosciusko County, Indiana. His Kosciusko land he traded for 130 acres near

Lexington, now Brighton, in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County. William Hall was one of the pioneers thoroughly equipped for meeting the hard conditions of the early days, and his affairs were prospered so that at one time he owned 616 acres. Later he sold this property for $27,000, then con- sidered a large fortune. In 1867 he bought land near Kendallville and lived there until his death. He was born September 22, 1809, and died April 29, 1900. His wife was born in Clark County, Ohio, August 6, 1811, and died March 27, 1869.

Benjamin Franklin Hall was born in Greenfield Township, LaGrange County, June II, 1847, and was well educated, attending Notre Dame Univer- sity at South Bend and Kendallville High School. He spent a period working on his father's farm and in 1882 went out to Kansas and bought a 160- acre farm. After a year he returned east, spent one winter in Chicago and two years at Charlotte, Michigan, and then returned to Kendallville, In- diana. In 1909 he bought 115 acres in Springfield Township, and lived there until his death on May 31, 1916.

He married Catherine Longyear on January 17, 1869. She was born in Wayne Township, Noble County, June 11, 1847, daughter of John and Ann E. (Green) Longyear, both natives of New York. Her father was born February 7, 1815, in Ulster County, and her mother in Cayuga County, May 15, 1817. The longyear family settled in Wayne Township of Noble County in 1844, where John Longyear acquired a heavily timbered tract of eighty acres. He put a road between his home and Kendallville. Soon afterward he moved to the old Plank Road north of Kendallville, to a farm of 160 acres. John Longyear was one of the notable men in the early day citizenship of Noble County. He was a man of great enterprise and had the keeping of six miles of the old Plank Road. He was also the first postmaster on that road, and the postoffice was called Marseilles. For a number of years he served as justice of the peace and assessor of Wayne Township. He was much interested in educational matters, and the school- house established on his farm was known as the Longyear School. He was affiliated with the Masonic Order, in politics was a whig and later a republican, and he and his wife were Presbyterians and original members of the Presbyterian Church at Kendallville. John Longyear died at his home farm north of Kendallville June 8, 1890, while his wife passed away December 1, 1893. Their chil- dren were: Melissa and Bradford, deceased; Cath- erine; Charles, deceased ; Emma; John and Calista, both deceased. John Longyear married for his first wife Angeline Winfield and had a son, Wil- liam Winfield Longyear, who is now eighty-four years of age and lives with his daughter, Mrs. Orange Hill, in Wayne Township, Noble County.

Benjamin Franklin Hall and wife had three chil- dren: The oldest, Lucinda, died in infancy, while the second is Fred. Olive, the youngest, was edu- cated in the schools of Kendallville and Wayne Township, and is the wife of John C. Prillaman and lives at Mason .City, Iowa.

Fred E. Hall acquired his early education in Ken- dallville, attending high school there. For sev- eral years he worked in railroad shops in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but in 1909 came with his father to Springfield Township, LaGrange County, and since that date has rented and managed the home farm. He is a republican in politics.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 64

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