History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 70

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 70
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 70
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 70
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 70

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Lewis M. Mundy acquired his early education in the district schools of Jackson Township, attending the Morgan schoolhouse, and all his life has been spent on the farm where he was born and where he worked in the fields for his father when a boy. About 1885 he began renting the place and farmed on his own account, and a few years later bought eighty acres of the homestead. Eventually he ac- quired the entire property, 120 acres, and as his means increased he has since extended his ownership to 220 acres, devoted to general farming and stock raising. For thirty years Mr. Mundy has been a successful breeder of blooded Percheron horses. At the present time his farm enterprise is tending to- ward the development of a dairy herd. He still has the old home, but the other buildings have been added chiefly by him.

In 1888 he married Amanda J. Harpster, daughter of John and Amanda Harpster. They have three children. Vera G. is a graduate of the college of Huntington, Indiana, and is a teacher in Iowa. Wil- bur E. studied at the Tri-State Normal at Angola, also at Huntington College, and is now renting his father's farm. Wava L. is a graduate of Hunting- ton College and is now a student in the Tri-State College at Angola. Mr. and Mrs. Mundy are mem- bers of the Hopewell Church of the United Brethren.

WALTER ATWATER. A hard working and successful young farmer, Walter Atwater was honored by his fellow citizens of Clay Township, LaGrange County, in November, 1918, with the important responsibili- ties of township trustee. He has been handling the duties of that office since January, 1919.

Mr. Atwater was born in Clay Township, April 18, 1877, and is a son of Myron and Ann (Brinley) Atwater. The history of the Atwater family in the older generations is described on other pages. Wal- ter Atwater grew up on his father's farm, attended the district schools, and worked on the home farm and lived with his father to the age of twenty-four. In 1900 he married Miss Clara Latta, daughter of William and Laura Latta.

The spring following his marriage he rented a farm in Clay Township, and during the next year showed he had the real stuff in him as a farmer. He then bought forty acres of the place where he now lives, and as his means justified has increased his holdings until he now has a farm of 116 acres. He also improved it with a good house and barn, and as a man of constructive ability has proved a useful factor in the community. Mr. and Mrs. Atwater have two children, Maynard and Marion.

William S. Latta, father of Mrs. Walter Atwater, was born in Clay Township, January 4, 1855, a son of Silas and Sarah (Franks) Latta. Silas was born in Ohio in 1821 and his wife in Hardy County, Vir- ginia, in the same year. They came to LaGrange County, Indiana, in 1844, and were early settlers in Clay Township. They rented for six years and in 1847 bought the forty acres where David M. Latta now lives. Later Silas bought forty acres in another place, also an eighty-acre tract, all in Clay Town- ship, and eventually had a good farm of 106 acres. He died in 1860 while his widow survived until May

12, 1906. He was a Republican and Methodist, and he and his wife had children named Ephraim, Isaac, Mary Ann, Hannah U., John Franklin, William S., David M. and Sarah Jane, who died in April, 1919.

William S. Latta grew up on his father's farm, had a public school education and has owned several different farms. In 1909 he bought the ninety-six acres where he has lived since 1910. He is a re- publican. July 2, 1879, he married Miss Laura Hoff- man. She was born in Ohio, August 17, 1854, a daughter of Israel and Catherine Hoffman, who were natives of Pennsylvania, moved from there to Ohio and spent their last days in Michigan. Wil- liam S. Latta and wife had five children: Cora C., who is a graduate of the LaGrange High School, attended the State University, was a teacher seven years and is now the wife of Harvey Myers, being the mother of Sylvia, Elsie and Birdena. Clara Latta, also a graduate of the LaGrange High School, is the wife of Walter Atwater. Harry finished the eighth grade in school and married Izora Gooch. Grace is a graduate of the LaGrange High School, was a teacher one term, and is the wife of Earl Bullock and has a son, Dean. The third child of Mr. and Mrs. Latta was George W., who died when eleven months old.

JONAS TWICHELL is one of the oldest residents of Steuben County. He was born a few weeks be- fore his parents came here and has lived in Jack- son Township for eighty-three years. The Twich- ells were in fact among the very first families to settle anywhere in Steuben County.

Mr. Twichell, who has grown old and gray in the useful routine of duties as a farmer, home builder and generous provider for his family, was born in Chenango County, New York, January 18, 1836. His parents were Jonas and Malinda (Scott) Twichell. His father was born at Oxford in Salem County, Connecticut, in 1800, and his mother in Simsbury of the same state March 12, 1802. When children they went with their respective parents to Chenango County, New York, where they grew up and married. Jonas Twichell, Sr., was reared on a farm but learned the stone engraver's trade, which he followed for a number of years. Many of the cor- ner stones in Steuben County were cut by him. In 1833 he moved to Catskill, New York, and in 1835 came to Steuben County, Indiana, which was then largely a wilderness. He bought a tract of land in Jackson Township and the following year brought his family west. He had prepared for their recep- tion a log cabin. This old home was in section 9 of Jackson Township. The eighty acres first ac- quired was increased by the proprietor to 200 acres. He lived there until 1856, and then moved to Or- land and died in that village in February, 1887, his wife passing away in December, 1886. They had a family of nine children, Harriet, Clarissa, Charles, Jonas, Benjamin, Marcus, Sterling, Bliss and Ma- linda. Those still living are Jonas, Marcus, of Cali- fornia, and Bliss, of Orland.

It will be noted that Jonas Twichell, Jr., was only a few weeks old when brought to Steuben County. He grew up on the farm and attended some of the pioneer schools. In 1858, at the age of twenty-two, he bought 100 acres of the old home- stead, and later he bought his brother Marcus' in- terest in the remainder. He has since increased his property to 240 acres, and during an ownership of sixty years has introduced many modern improve- ments. His comfortable home is one of the oldest in the township, having been erected forty-six years ago. His father also entered eighty acres of land in LaGrange County, but sold it after about two years.

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Mr. Twichell is a republican in politics. His father was a member of the first Board of County Commissioners of Steuben County, and the son like- wise held that office for one term, refusing a re- election.

He married for his first wife Catherine Johnson, who died May 5, 1866. She was the mother of three children: Augusta, William and Eugene, the last two still living. In October, 1867, Mr. Twichell married Miss Anna Milner, who was born in Scot- land in 1844, daughter of Ebenezer and Jane Milner. Her parents came to this country and settled in La- Grange County, Indiana, in 1850, and spent their last years at Kinderhook, Michigan. Mrs. Twichell died January 1, 1917, the mother of five children : Victor Scott, who died at Kendallville in 1916; Ber- tice Anna, at home with her father; Benjamin Homer, of Jackson Township; Charles Elfred; and Robert Ebenezer, who is now the active manager of the home farm.

FAYETTE R. WOODWORTH. There is much besides his success in business and farming to distinguish Fayette R. Woodworth among the citizenship of Clay Township, LaGrange County. He is a man of sound intelligence and progressive ideas, whether applied to his private affairs or any community un- dertaking. He is a persistent advocate of progress, and in the community where he was born and reared has found all the rewards and durable satis- factions of a busy life.

He was born in Clay Township, LaGrange County, February 11, 1860, a son of Ira M. and Melissa (Robbins) Woodworth. His father, a na- tive of New York State, came to LaGrange County, Indiana, with his parents when he was a child. He grew up there and in young manhood became a farmer in Clay Township of LaGrange County. In 1861 he enlisted in the Eightieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was a Union soldier from that time until the close of the war. He was in most the battles in which his regiment engaged, but for a time endured confinement in the notorious Libby prison. After the war he resumed his place as a Clay Township farmer, and lived there until his death on June 1, 1887. His wife, who was born in LaGrange County, a daughter of John and Sarah Robbins, became the mother of four children, named Sarah C., Fayette R., Mary E. and Ira Bela.

Fayette R. Woodworth attended the public schools of Clay Township, also attended LaGrange schools, and for over thirty-five years has given the best that was in him to the task of agriculture in Clay Township. He and his wife together owned 200 acres of land there, and their good home is in sec- tion 21. Mr. Woodworth has served one term as assessor of Clay Township.

He married Icey V. Greene, a daughter of James and Ann (Brown) Greene. Her parents were mar- ried May 28, 1842, and about 1848 they came from Ohio to Clay Township of LaGrange County. James Greene acquired 120 acres of timbered land, and was noted as one of the well-to-do and substantial farmers of Clay Township the rest of his life. In 1851 he built the first steam saw mill in that town- ship.

Mr. and Mrs. Woodworth have a family of seven children: Ira Cecil, who married Sylvia Todd; James D., who married Lettie Warner ; Beulah Ann, wife of Frank V. Carney; Mary M., wife of Charles G. Miller; Fayette Mckinley, John O. and Bela R.

FRANK W. SILBERG, who has practiced his pro- fession as a veterinary surgeon at Spencerville for the past ten years, is one of the best qualified men in this profession in Northeast Indiana.

Doctor Silberg was born in Spencer Township, formerly Concord Township, of De Kalb County, April 12, 1886. He represents one of the first fam- ilies to settle at the old town of Spencerville. He is a son of Warren W. and Mary J. (White) Silberg. His grandfather, Michael M. Silberg, came from Ger- many to the United States, lived in Ashland County, Ohio, for a time, and later moved to Spencerville, where he put up the first frame house in the vil- lage. He was a blacksmith and worked at his trade until his death, performing a useful service to his community. His children were Warren W., William, Stephen, Cash, Mary and Lillie. The only one now living is Cash. Warren Silberg grew up in Spencer- ville and attended the common schools and spent his active career as a farmer. He and his wife had nine children.

Dr. Frank W. Silberg grew up at Spencerville, graduated from the high school, and is a graduate of the Chicago Veterinary College. He took post-grad- uate work at Cornell University in New York, and received the degrees of M. D. C. and D. V. M. He has been in active practice at Spencerville since 1909 and has well equipped facilities, including stables and operating room both at Spencerville and the Village of St. Joe. He has prospered in his business affairs and owns property in Spencerville and St. Joe and is a stockholder in the local bank and one of its directors.

Doctor Silberg married Florence Miller, who is a graduate of the common schools. They have one daughter, Orpha M., born in 1918. Doctor Silberg is a Scottish Rite Mason, being a member of the Scottish Rite Consistory at Fort Wayne. He is a member of the North American and Indiana and Illinois associations of veterinary surgeons and has won a deservedly high reputation in his profession. He is a democrat in politics.

JOHN H. SISSON, who for many years has worked industriously at clearing and improving and cul- tivating a farm in Bloomfield Township of La- Grange County, is related to several well known families in this county and in other portions of Northeast Indiana.

He was born at Montpelier, Ohio, March 28, 1853, a son of Orman and Ann (Brooks) Sisson. His father was a native of New York state, where the paternal grandparents both died. Orman Sis- son moved from Ohio to LaGrange County in 1856. He located at McCoy's Crossing in Bloomfield Township, and in that locality he cleared up and improved 120 acres and was a highly respected citizen for many years. His wife was born in England, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Brooks, who in 1827, when she was ten years old, came to this country and from the state of New York they later moved to Steuben County, In- diana. George Brooks was a farmer and also did a great deal of ditching and clearing of land in Steuben County. He died in that county and his wife passed away at Coldwater, Michigan. Orman Sisson and wife had the following children : Eliza- beth, wife of William Metzger; William; Lora, who married William Spears; Amie, who became Mrs. Henry Munger; Oran; Albert; George, who was a Union soldier and died in Libby prison ; John H .; Edgar; Alma, deceased; Sinda, who died in infancy.

John H. Sisson has lived in LaGrange County since early boyhood, and attended the country schools and also the Seminary at Ontario for his education. For many years he has occupied his present farm, obtaining the land when it was a wilderness of brush and unproductiveness. He put

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up the first shanty there, has broadened the area of cultivation, and now has good improvements and an all around valuable farm of 100 acres.

Mr. Sisson and family are members of the Brethren Church. He married Martha Rose, a daughter of John Rose. She was born in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Sisson had the following children : Hattie, Laura, Lulu, William, Bessie, J. Merle. Verne, Marjorie and Lillian, all living except the last named, Lillian.

OAKLEY AMERMAN represents the third generation of a family that has lived in Steuben County for over sixty years. His own enterprise as a farmer and stock man in Salem Township has been greatly prospered, and his individual career reflects credit upon the record of his ancestors.

He was born in Salem Township, July 23, 1879, a son of William and Frances (Silvey) Amerman, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Salem Township, Steuben County. His grandparents, Peter and Margaret (Hall) Amerman, came to Salem Township about 1857, and spent the rest of their days on a farm there. Their children were named Garrett, William, Henry, Sophia, Ida and Addie.

William Amerman when a young man took up the serious vocation of agriculture in Salem Town- ship, his first home being a half mile south and quarter of a mile west of Salem Village. He lived there and farmed for fourteen years. For two years he conducted a store in Salem, and then had a farm at Bronson, Michigan, for seven years. Returning to the old home place, he remained about five years and then bought a farm a mile south of Orland, which was his home locality until the spring of 1918. His present home farm is a half mile north of Kin- derhook, Michigan. He and his wife have four children, Mabel, Oakley, Benjamin and James.

As a boy Oakley Amerman attended country schools in Salem Township, spent three terms in a district school in Michigan, and on reaching the age of twenty-one began working out at monthly wages. He pursued that course about three years and in 1004 took up farming as an independent vocation. He bought eighty acres in Jackson Township in 1907, and lived there for ten years. In the fall of 1017, having sold his first place, he moved to his present farm, which he had bought the spring be- fore. This containes 160 acres. constituting the southeast quarter of section 4. He is a successful general farmer and stock raiser.

Mr. Amerman married Blanch Ewing, daughter of Henry and Florence Ewing. They have two chil- dren, Florence and Geneva. Mr. Amerman is affili- ated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he and his wife are Presbyterians.

ABRAHAM L. HOSTETLER, a native of LaGrange County, spent some years of his early life as a suc- cessful teacher, but for the past fifteen years has applied his time and energies profitably and effi- ciently to the management of a farm in Clay Town- ship.

He was born in Eden Township, September 8, 1876. The Hostetlers are one of the widely known families of Northeast Indiana. His parents were John M. and Susan (Hostetler) Hostetler, the former a native of Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and the latter a daughter of Noah and Elizabeth Hostetler. John M. Hostetler was a son of Moses J. and Elizabeth (Mast) Hostetler, both natives of Somerset County, the former born in 1812 and the latter in 1822. Moses J. Hostetler came to LaGrange County, and a year after his arrival his son, John M.

Hostetler came. He had been married in Holmes County, Ohio, and settled in Newbury Township, but a year later went to Eden Township, where he lived until his death in July, 1914. He and his first wife, who died in January, 1879, were the parents of five children, named Lucy, wife of Joseph Hersh- berger; Carrie, wife of M. S. Yoder; Ira J .; Noalı J .; and Abraham L. John M. Hostetler for his second wife married Barbara Suntheimer, and their children were: Lizzie, who was the wife of George Y. Miller and died in July, 1916; Ida, wife of Phineas Weaver; Allen; Fred; Katie, who married Todd Bontrager; and Mima, wife of Ezra J. Schla- bach.

Abraham L. Hostetler attended the district schools of Edeon Township, the Topeka High School, and took a normal course at Bushnell, Illinois. For two years he taught in Illinois and for five years one of the leading young educators of LaGrange County. In 1904 he moved to his farm in Clay Township, and has carried on a general farming and stock raising business.

So far as possible he has also given his time to local affairs, is a member of the Clay County Ad- visory Board, and is affiliated with the Lodge of Masons at Topeka and the Royal Arch Chapter at Ligonier. December 24, 1902, he married Winnie B. Beatty, daughter of Lewis C. and Mary Elizabeth (Kline) Beatty. They have two children, Lolita and John Beatty.

ELDON M. HOSTETLER. The Hostetlers are a very numerous and prominent family in Northeast In- diana, and many of its representatives are found in the different counties comprised in this publication. Eldon M. Hostetler, whose position is that of a successful farmer in Newbury Township of La- Grange County, is a member of the branch of the family comprising a brother, Dr. A. J. Hostetler, at LaGrange and is a son of Moses M. and Mary Ann (Mehl) Hostetler.

He was born on the farm where he now lives in Newbury Township, June 15, 1885, and was edu- cated in the common schools. On January 26, 1905. he married Opal Davis, member of another well known family of LaGrange County, her father being Eugene Davis.

After his marriage Mr. Hostetler farmed in Van Buren Township four years and in 1909 moved to Elkhart County and was employed as a carpenter about two years. Since then he has been farming in Newbury Township and since 1913 has operated the old homestead in section 36. In the spring of 1919 he also bought a farm of forty-four acres in Clay Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Hostetler are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They had four chil- dren: Alice Marie, Ruth Marguerite, Paul Davis and Elizabeth Mae. Paul and Elizabeth are both deceased.

JOSEPH R. WILEY, a former trustee of Troy Town- ship, DeKalb County, has been a successful farmer in that locality for many years, and both he and his wife are people of culture and influence and leaders in community affairs.

Mr. Wiley was born in Crawford County, Ohio, December 25, 1865, a son of James and Harriet (White) Wiley, the former a native of Harrison County, Ohio, and the latter of Bangor, Maine. The mother was a well educated woman and on com- ing west to Crawford County, Ohio, was a teacher until her marriage. She and her husband then settled in Harrison County, Ohio, where James Wiley and brother owned and operated a foundry. During the

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Civil war this foundry's chief output was cannon balls for the Government. After selling out his interest in that business he moved to Crawford County, Ohio, locating on a farm near Leesville, sub- sequently bought another place near Galion, Ohio, and in 1869 left the Buckeye state and came to DeKalb County, settling on a farm in Troy Town- ship, where he spent the rest of his life. He was a Presbyterian and his wife a Lutheran, and politically he was a republican and served as a township trustee in Ohio. Of their nine children six are still living : William, of Los Angeles, Calfornia; Charles, of Fort Benton, Montana; James C., a farmer in Troy Township; Joseph R .; Stella, wife of Ambrose Mc- Glaughlin; and Harriet, who is a graduate of the Woman's Medical College of Chicago and a prac- ticing physician at Portland, Indiana.

Joseph R. Wiley was past four years old when brought to DeKalb County and he grew up here, attending the common schools and taking a special course in Valparaiso College for one year. He married Nellie Wertz, a daughter of D. W. Wertz, of Troy Township. They have one daughter, Har- riet M., who was born June 13, 1900, is a graduate of the Butler High School, taught a term or two and is now attending the James Milliken University at Decatur, Illinois.

Mrs. Wiley is a graduate of the high school at Edgerton, Ohio, and received the Bachelor of Sci- ence degree from the Tri-State College at Angola. Before her marriage she taught school for eight years.

Mr. and Mrs. Wiley are members of the Lutheran Church and he is one of the trustees and is superin- tendent of its Sunday school. He is a republican and is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America. He served four years as trustee of Troy Township. His farm in that locality comprises 196 acres.

WELDON HASKINS. While his early education and training was directed so as to fit him for technical responsibilities in industrial affairs, Weldon Has- kins since coming out of the army, in which he served with the Chemical Warfare Division, has taken up farming as the serious business of his life, and is now operating the old farm on which he was born in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County.

His family were among the earliest settlers of LaGrange County, and he represents the fourth generation here. His grandfather, Willis Haskins, was born in Cayuga County, New York, August 21, 1797, and was one of the earliest settlers in Springfield Township of LaGrange County, com- ing with his parents, Erastus and Mary (Moore) Haskins, in Angust, 1836. Willis spent practically all the rest of his life on the farm where his parents located and where his father died at the age of seventy-two and. his mother at seventy. Willis Haskins improved 208 acres, became prominent in agricultural affairs, and lived to very advanced years. He was one of the early trustees of the township. On November 21, 1830, he married Miss Jane Jackson, who died April 5, 1856. She was the mother of eight children, named Elizabeth, Franklin, Charles, George, Albert, Mary J., Edith and Willis. For his second wife Willis Haskins married Mrs. Clarissa L. Murray, a daughter of John Kemp. They were married October 25,. 1858, and two children were born to that union, Eugene and Ella. Three of the sons of Willis Haskins were Union soldiers in the Civil war, Franklin, Charles and Albert. Franklin died in service and was buried at Nashville, Tennessee.

The third generation of the family in LaGrange County was represented by George Haskins, who was born on the old Haskins place in Springfield Township. He married Emma Hoard, who was born near Ontario in LaGrange County. George Haskins had his education in the home schools and began farming in early manhood. About 1880 he located on the farm where his son Weldon lives. He has 300 acres, and had much of it cleared up and was a breeder of Shorthorn cattle. He was still in his prime when he died in 1898. The splen- did building improvements on the farm were placed there during the ownership and management of his widow, who died in 1912. George Haskins was affiliated with the Masonic Lodge in Orland. He and his wife had four children: Pearl, Mrs. Peter L. Stauffer, of Howe; Lulu, who died at the age of three years; Weldon; and Elwood, who died when twenty-one.

Weldon Haskins was born on the farm where he lives today in Greenfield Township May 11, 1894. He received good advantages in the public schools of his home district, graduated in I911 from the Orland High School, and later entered Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where he finished his work in 1917, receiving the Bachelor of Science degree. He made chemistry his major study. He then entered Yale University, but soon enlisted in the army, and was in the Chemical Warfare Service for one year. January 1, 1919, he returned home, and is now busily engaged with farming. Mr. Haskins is af- filiated with the Masonic Order and the Eastern Star. June 25, 1919, he married Miss Pearl Scud- der, daughter of Charles Scudder, of Clinton Coun- ty, Michigan.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 70

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