History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 66

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 66
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 66
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 66
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 66

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).

aged sixty-one years. In 1858 the widowed mother came with Jacob Mishler to LaGrange County, In -. diana. The children born to Christian Mishler and his wife were as follows: Susie, William, Joseph, Polly, Henry, Katie, Jacob, John, Barbara and Isaac. The good mother died at the home of her son Jacob when she was eighty-three years old.

When the war between sections was in progress Jacob Mishler did his duty as a patriot, enlisting in Company B, One Hundred and Forty-Eighth Penn- sylvania Volunteer Infantry, in September, 1863, and he received his honorable discharge July 8, 1865. For a short time following the close of the war, he was in Pennsylvania, and then he returned to LaGrange County, and worked as a carpenter until he embarked in an ice business, conducting it for a time.

In 1867 Mr. Mishler was married in Newbury Township to Sarah Miller, and they had six chil- dren, as follows: Elias, Daniel, Barbara, 'Susie, Polly and Moses. Mrs. Mishler died in January, 1914, aged fifty-nine years. In April, 1915, Mr. Mishler was married to Mrs. Susan (Hershbarger) Miller, widow of Abraham D. Miller. She was born in Pennsylvania December 18, 1841. She and Mr. Miller had no children. He died February 12, 1911, aged seventy-two years. Mrs. Mishler is a daughter . of John and Elizabeth (Lehman) Hershbarger, natives of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1810 and she in 1808. They came to LaGrange County, Indiana, in June, 1842, settling on 160 acres of land in Newbury Township, which they ·bought for $10 an acre. On it they erected a log cabin, and cleared off the land. Within six years' time the cabin was replaced with a comfortable frame residence, in which he died in 1881 and she in 1885. They were of the old order of Mennonites, and the very best of good people. They had the following children: Fannie, Barbara, Lydia, Noah, Joseph and Susan.

The paternal grandfather of Mrs.

Mishler, Abraham Hershbarger, was married to Magdalena Yoder, and they came to LaGrange County from Pennsylvania by wagon in 1842, bringing with them their two sons and three daughters. The grand- mother died in 1846, the grandfather surviving her until 1850. The children of the grandparents were as follows: John, Joseph, Rachel, Leah and Fannie. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Mishler were John and Elizabeth (Bontreger) Lehman, both of whom died in Pennsylvania. Their children were as follows : Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, Gehmide, Mar- garet, Barbara, David and John. Mr. and Mrs. Mishler are members of the Amish Mennonite Church.

S. T. LEEK has been connected with the Baltimore & Ohio Railway, with headquarters at Garrett, for over thirty years. The greater part of that time he has been a locomotive engineer and is one of the oldest engineers in the service of the road and has one of the best records.

Mr. Leek was born in Bryan, Ohio, June 26, 1865, a son of Isaac and Ellen (Lindesmith) Leek. His parents were natives of Columbiana County, Ohio, his father born in 1832 and his mother in 1840. They were married at Bryan, Ohio, and the father followed different occupations, being a skilled me- chanic, a millwright, thresherman, sawmill operator and contractor. Both he and his wife were promi- nent members of the Christian Church at Bryan and in politics he was a republican. The two living children are Rose and S. T.' The former is the wife of Sherman Kelley, and they live at Bryan, Ohio.

S. T. Leek grew up in Bryan, attended the public schools and learned the machinist trade. He also

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became a sign writer and interior decorator. He had a real fondness, however, for railroading, and on October 1, 1887, came to Garrett and went to work for the Baltimore & Ohio road as a fireman. January 10, 1896, came his promotion to the respon- sibilities of locomotive engineer, and now for a number of years he has had a good passenger run between Garrett and Willard, Ohio. Mr. Leek has held various chairs in the Order of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, while Mrs. Leek is a charter member of the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, and has served as representative of the order in convention at Denver. Mr. Leek is a republican in politics and owns a good home at 406 Randolph Street.

May 7, 1887, he married Mary Turner, who was born at Montpelier, Ohio, and was educated in the common schools. She was the widow of Harry Turner and has a son, John L. Turner, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. Leek.

MELVIN A. YODER. Among the men whose careers and characters entitle them to the respect and esteem of their community around Topeka is Melvin A. Yoder, who is still giving diligent attention to his farm a mile west and a half mile south of the village.

Mr. Yoder was born in Clear Spring Township of LaGrange County September 4, 1865, a son of John S. and Catherine (Stahly) Yoder. His father was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in 1829, and his mother in Stark County, Ohio, in 1834. The former died in 1907 and the latter in 1911. They were married in LaGrange County and began house- keeping in Eden Township in 1853, and spent the' rest of their days in LaGrange County. They were active members of the Mennonite Church at Maple Grove and John Yoder was a republican in political affiliations. They had a family of five sons: Samuel W., a farmer in Eden Township; Daniel J., a farmer in the same township; Emanuel C., whose home is in Goshen, Indiana; Melvin A .; and Alvin E., of Goshen.

Melvin A. Yoder grew up on a farm and had a district school education. At the age of twenty-one he began farming in association with his father and on December 10, 1891, he married Maggie Reese. After his marriage he started farming with fifty or sixty acres, and gradually enlarged the scope of his operations until he is one of the leading agri- culturists of this section. He is one of the direc- tors of the State Bank of Topeka. He is a man of good business ability, and his integrity has caused · him to be selected as administrator of several estates. He also served one term as trustee of Eden Town- ship and is a republican in politics. He and his family are members of the Maple Grove Mennonite Church.

His first wife died in 1909, the mother of four children. Erman B., a graduate of the high school, is married and has one daughter; Clara, a high school graduate and unmarried; Floyd C., a graduate of high school, married and living in Eden Township; and Virgil, who completed his high school work in 1919. In 1911 Mr. Yoder married Amanda Mullet.

EDWARD H. CURTIS is one of the prominent stock feeders of LaGrange County, and owns a large farm adjoining Howe as the basis of his operations in this industry.

Mr. Curtis was born at Howe December 1, 1876. About five years before his birth his parents, Henry and Elizabeth Curtis, had come from England and settled in LaGrange County. Henry Curtis was a flower gardener by trade, but after coming to

LaGrange County engaged in farming near Ilowe and still owns a farm there. Edward 11. was one of ten children, nine of whom are still living.

Edward H. Curtis attended public schools at Howe and early took much interest in livestock. He was a buyer and shipper of stock for eight years in connection with farming. He began farming for himself in 1904 at his present location, just east of Howe. He now has 280 acres, in three different places, much of which constitutes a feeding lot for his livestock, and he buys much feeding stock every year and prepares it for market. He was also one of the organizers of the Lima Elevator Company and is a director.

Mr. Curtis and family are members of the Methodist Church, He married Miss Ida A. Damer July 3, 1902. She is a daughter of William Damer and Caroline ( Mohler) of Brighton. The family of six children of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis are named Mary K., Ralph E., Ruth C., William D., Isabel and Dorothy May.

CLYDE J. LETTS is one of the younger farmers of Steuben County, has an immense fund of energy, enthusiasm and enterprise and is already well launched as an argriculturist and stockman.

Mr. Letts, whose home is in Fremont Township. was born in Jamestown Township of the same county, February 3, 1890. His paternal grandparents were Edward and Mary (Van Nattan) Letts, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of New York State. Edward Letts was an early settler in Steuben County arriving in York Town- ship in 1855. He located on forty acres, afterward moved to Scott Township, and lived there until his death. His children were: Daniel, who died in young manhood; Nelson; Diana and Edward, both deceased, and Millard.

Millard C. Letts was born in Huron County, Ohio, Angust 8, 1849, but grew up in Steuben County. He began as a farmer in Scott Township, afterward lived on a place of 541/2 acres in Jamestown Town- ship, subsequently returned to Scott Township, where he had an eighty-acre farm, and in 1915 moved to Fremont Township, where he is now living with his son Clyde. His wife, who died in 1916, was Matilda C. Schritchfield. She was born in Fre- mont Township of Steuben County, April 13, 1858, a daughter of James and Sarah (Bowers) Schritch- field. James Schritchfield and wife had eleven chil- dren, four of whom came to maturity, George, Ellen, Linnie and Matilda, all of whom are now deceased. Millard Letts and wife had four children: Jesse, who married Allie Loose; Bessie, wife of Ernest Parrish : Clark M., who married Ethel Brockway and died in 1902; and Clyde.

Clyde J. Letts acquired a good education, beginning in the district schools of Jamestown Township and after graduating from the high school in the Village of Jamestown took up work at the Tri-State Normal College in Angola. During his fourth term he was taken ill and was obliged to discontinue his further education. Since then he has given his time and energies to farming, and in 1915 bought 160 acres in section 17 of Fremont Township. He does general farming and stock raising.

Mr. Letts is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Fre- mont. March 9, 1910, he married Maud N. Waller, a daughter of Andrew and Erabelle (Nichols) Wal- ler. They have two children: Lewis L. and Rus- sell W.

LEVI J. BONTRAGER gathered crops for nearly forty consecutive years from his home place in Newbury Township, but in the past four or five years has

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largely surrendered his heavy burdens as an agri- culturist and is now enjoying well earned leisure but still occupies his farm, which is endeared to him by many associations, his children having grown up there and most of them are now married and well established in homes of their own.

Mr. Bontrager was born in Eden Township of LaGrange County March 8, 1856. His grandparents were John and Anna (Yoder) Bontrager, natives of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, who settled in Eden Township in 1843, and were factors in the early development of that region. John Bontrager spent the rest of his life in Eden Township. He and his wife, Anna, had eight children, Christian, Joseph, Magdalena, John, Daniel, Barbara, Anna and Manassas. John Bontrager married for his second wife Magdalena Miller, and by that union had two children, Susan and Isaac.

John J. Bontrager, father of Levi J., was born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, April 27, 1834, and was about nine years old when his father settled in LaGrange County. He began farming in Eden Township, and about 1864 moved to Van Buren Township, where he lived until his death in 1910. He married Fannie Kauffman, who survived him until 1918. She was born in Holmes County, Ohio, February 5, 1834, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Miller) Kauffman. Her father was reared in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, and settled in Elkhart County, Indiana, in 1841. He was a resident of Elkhart County the rest of his life. John J. Bon- trager and wife had seven children: Elizabeth, Levi J., Simon, who died soon after his marriage, Daniel, Mattie, deceased, Manassas and Fannie.

Levi J. Bontrager acquired his early education chiefly in the schools of Van Buren Township. On November 12, 1877, at the age of twenty-two, he married Sarah Yoder, danghter of John and Cath- erine (Schrock) Yoder. The spring after his mar- riage Mr. Bontrager began farming in section 34 of Newbury Township, and has lived there ever since. He owns 160 acres in that section, and altogether has 6271/2 acres. He has been retired from active farming since 1914. Mr. Bontrager and family have for many years given their sturdy allegiance to the old order of the Amish Mennonite Church.

John, his oldest son, who died in I911, married Kittie Yoder, and their children were Edna, Levi, Amelia, Obediah, Lena and Sarah. Enos, the second son, married Katie Miller, who died February 15, 1919, leaving four children, Ammon, Irvin, Amelia and Jerry. Amelia Bontrager, the third child, was the wife of Manassas J. Yoder and has a family of Sarah, Lena, Mary, Andrew, Monroe and Ezra. Andrew Bontrager married Polly Miller and has two sons, Levi and Perry. William, who married Mattie Yoder, is the father of Sarah, Milo and Lydia. Levi Bontrager married Rebecca Schrock, while Ezra, the youngest of the family, married Susan Lehman.

EDWARD KELHAM is a prominent farmer and land owner of Keyser Township, DeKalb County, having 300 acres in his ownership. He is practically retired from the responsibilities of farming and lives at Altona. His name is well known in connection with several important offices which he has filled with signal credit and efficiency.

Mr. Kelham was born in Richland County, Ohio, September 30, 1854, a son of Edward and Sarah Downend (Huston) Kelham. His parents were both natives of England. His father was born in Lincolnshire, November 3, 1826, and his mother in Yorkshire, March 5, 1826. He came to the United

States at the age of twenty-two while his wife came to this country when only eight years old. They were married in Richland County, Ohio, and Ed- ward Kelham, Sr., was a farmer. In 1858 he came to DeKalb County, Indiana, and bought eighty acres of land in Keyser Township. Eventually he accu- mulated much valuable farming land in the county, and on account of his business ability and probity of character he was widely known and honored and was entrusted with the administrative settle- ment of some of the largest estates in the county. He also served as county commissioner one term and was an active democrat. He and his wife had ten children, seven of whom reaclied mature years, and the six now living are: Thomas, of Avilla, In- diana; Edward; Mary, of Garrett; Joseph and George, of Laotto, Indiana; and Charles, of Troy, Idaho.

Edward Kelham was four years old when brought to Indiana, and he received his early education in the district schools of DeKalb County. At the age of twenty-one he left home and began earning his living in a brick yard. On February 1, 1880, he married Viola Whetsel, who was born in Keyser Township June 8, 1859, a daughter of Michael and Caroline (Simons) Whetsel.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kelham took up farming, and that has been his steady vocation until he accumulated the competency which enabled him to retire. Mr. and Mrs. Kelham have four children. Chloe G., who is a graduate of the com- mon schools, and is the wife of W. A. Helme, of Angola; Claude K., a graduate of the common schools, is a machinist by trade but in practice a farmer, married Frennie Crowe; Mary M. is the widow of Arthur Gump; Caroline is the wife of Newton DePew.

Mrs. Kelham is an active member of the Method- ist Protestant Church at Altona. He is affiliated with Garrett City Lodge No. 537, Accepted Free and Ancient Masons, and is a democrat in politics. Mr. Kelham filled the office of trustee of Keyser Township for five years and three months, also served two terms as county commissioner, and is at present a member of the County Council.

HOMER G. WATERHOUSE. Some of the best land in the vicinity of Kendallville has been under the ownership of the Waterhouse family for many years. A splendid farm at the north edge of Ken- dallville is the home of Homer G. Waterhouse, a progressive young farmer who has given an excellent account of his business ability and all around good citizenship.

Mr. Waterhouse was born January 14, 1880, in Wayne Township, and has lived on his present farm since he was a year and a half old. His parents were Chauncey G. R. and Harriet (Vine) Water- house. His father was a native of New York and his mother of Pennsylvania. Chauncey Waterhouse was nine years of age when his parents in 1836 pioneered to LaGrange County, Indiana, settling in Milford Township. He lived there until he moved to Ken- dallville about 1880. He was a highly successful farmer and accumulated about 2,000 acres in this part of Indiana. He died June 29, 1917. He was a member and liberal supporter of the Methodist Church at Kendallville, and was one of the leading republicans of Wayne Township. In the family were three sons, Albert B., of Kendallville; Frank R., of Kendallville, and Homer G.

Homer G. Waterhouse grew up near Kendallville, attended the public schools, and for the past fifteen years has been successfully engaged in general farm- ing. On his land he raises and feeds many cattle

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and hogs, and sends three or four carloads to market every year.

He married Miss Irene Brainard. She was born in LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1880 and was edu- cated in the public schools of that county. They have one son, Dale, born September 13, 1903, a grad- uate of the common schools and now a student in the Culver Military Academy. Mr. Waterhouse owns 600 acres, all of it in Wayne Township. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

GEORGE WILLIAM DOLL gave thirty years of his active life to the business of farming in LaGrange County, and was always accounted a man of splen- did industry and of fine influence in the community where he lived from childhood until death.

He was born at Fredonia, Michigan, April 20, 1863, a son of George and Angeline (Fiesler) Doll. His parents were both natives of Germany, his father being born September 22, 1823, and his mother March 20, 1825. Both came to America when children, the father at twelve and the mother at nine, with their respective parents. George Doll joined two of his brothers at Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1837, and there learned the trade of cobbler. When twenty-two years of age he presented him- self to the Conference at Fairfield, Ohio, and was ordained a minister of the Evangelical Church, a profession he followed the rest of his life. He was one of the early itinerant ministers of his denomination in Ohio and Michigan. He married Angeline Fiesler at Erie January 16, 1851, and in 1855 he went back to Erie for a time. He was in pastoral work in Michigan in the sixties, and in 1869 became pastor of the Evangelical Church west of Lima or Howe. That was his last regular charge, though he preached many sermons and otherwise officiated as a minister. In 1870 he bought a farm about a mile west of Howe, and in 1872 he moved to the farm as a permanent home. In 1897 he turned over the responsibilities of this place to younger members of the family and moved a little further west to a small farm and in 1904 retired to the village of Howe, where his wife died in September, 1911. He spent his remaining months with his son, George William, and died June 15, 1912, aged eighty-eight years. He and his wife had six children, John Abner, Joseph, Jacob, Samuel, Sarah Margaret and George Wil- liam. Only two are now living, Joseph, of Howe, and Samuel, of Alma, Illinois. Sarah Margaret died when seventeen years of age.

George William Doll received his early education at Howe and, in 1886 attended the Valparaiso Busi- ness College. He then went to farming on the old homestead, where he lived from the age of six years until his death on August 20, 1913. Mr. Doll had 133 acres in his home place and also owned 160 acres in Clay Township. The spring following his death Mrs. Doll moved to Howe, and from that point has managed and supervised the farms. Mr. Doll was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mrs. Doll is also a member. At one time he was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and both he and his wife were members of the Knights of the Maccabees.

April 14, 1897, Mr. Doll married Miss Elsie Kline. She was born in Van Buren Township and is a graduate of the LaGrange High School. Her par- ents were James and Calista (Shoup) Kline. Her father was born in Marion, Ohio, March 15, 1830, and her mother at Sandusky, Ohio, August 26, 1834. Both of them spent their last years in their

home in Van Buren Township, where her father died November 13, 1879, and her mother September 9, 1873. Mrs. Doll's maternal grandparents were Sebastian and Eliza Shoup. Sebastian Shoup, son of Jacob and Elizabeth Shoup, was born in Penn- sylvania in 1797 and died at Howe in 1856, being an early settler in Greenfield Township. His wife was born at Wheeling, West Virginia, January 17, 1797. The children of James Kline and wife were: George H., of Newton, Kansas; Lucinda, wife of Abner Berger, of Van Buren Township; Alice, de- ceased wife of Charles Seybert, the village of Sey- bert being on his farm in LaGrange County: Wil- lard, deceased; two that died in infancy; James, of Bedford, Indiana; Celia, wife of Sidney Glime, of Howe; Mrs. Doll; and Elva, wife of Norman Jacobs, living in Kansas. Mrs. Doll is the mother of one daughter, Sarah Marguerite.

JOHN W. SCHAEFFER is a member of a family of long standing and much prominence in Fremont Township, is a native of that township, was in business for many years and is now devoting his energies to a good farm in that locality.

He was born July II, 1852, son of John and Eva (Walmer) Schaeffer. His father was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, April 10, 1820, son of William and Margaret (Beck) Schaeffer. John Schaeffer came to Steuben County in the spring of 1845, entered a tract of land and afterward walked back to Pennsylvania to get his bride, and in 1848 brought his family and settled permanently on a farm in Fremont Township. He and his wife had seven children, five of whom reached mature years, David, John W., Eleanore, Daniel A. and Mar- garet M.

John W. Schaeffer grew up on his father's home- stead and acquired a public school education. In early manhood he engaged in the retail meat business at Fremont, and sold meat to his customers in and around that village for eleven years and two months. He was in a similar line of business at Reading, Michigan, for about twelve years. He owns the building in which he did business at Fremont. His farm comprises seventy acres of land, and has up-to- date improvements and is well fitted for general agriculture and stock raising. An important spe- cialty on his farm is handling a flock of White Leghorn chickens, about 225 in number.

Mr. Schaeffer is a prohibitionist in politics, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Church at Fremont. January 1, 1879, he married Frances McNickle, of California, Michigan. Their one son is Lewis, a graduate of the Fremont High School, and now a distributer at Tiffin, Ohio, for the Delco Lighting System. He is head of the office with four men under him. Lewis married Mazie Montz, and their children are Pauline, Neddie and Helen.

MRS. JULIA A. HONTZ, who lives on the Hontz farm a half a mile north of Cromwell, known as the Upson Farm, has spent over seventy years in Noble County, belongs to one of the early families, and is the widow of the late John Hontz, one of the most capable farmers of Sparta Township.

She was born in the immediate locality of her present home October 16, 1846, a daughter of Hiram H. and Priscilla M. (Vail) Upson. Her father was born in the State of New York, May 2, 1820, and her mother in Pennsylvania January 20, 1827. The Upson family came to Noble County, Indiana, in pioneer times, settling here in 1837, while the Vails settled in Elkhart County in 1836. Hiram and Pris- cilla were married in Benton County, and then settled on a farm a half mile north of Cromwell on

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July 17, 1844. They lived there until 1869, when they removed to Ligonier, where Hiram Upson died October 13, 1878. His widow then returned to Sparta Township, and spent the rest of her days in that locality with her daughter, dying January 25, 1902. Both were members of the Presbyterian Church, and Hiram was a Republican in politics.

Julia A. Upson grew up on the home farm and had such advantages as were supplied by the schools of that day, including a very meager curriculum, and on November 2, 1864, she became the wife of John Hontz. Mr. Hontz was born in Stark County, Ohio, May 17, 1838, and came to Noble County when a boy. He was always a republican in politics. His death occurred on the 2d of June, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Hontz had three children: Harry T., born July 23, 1866, now a resident of South Bend, In- diana; Bertha F., born May 26, 1869, and died August 8, 1870; and Harvey H., born October 5, 1874, is married and lives at Cromwell and is a traveling salesman. Mrs. Hontz owns 140 acres of land, and rents this farm, and has proved herself a very capable manager. Eighty acres of this estate was included in her grandfather Upson's old home place.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 66

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