History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 78

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 78
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 78
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 78
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 78

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).

Christian, who was born July 24, 1753, became an extensive landholder in Dauphin County, Pennsyl- vania, and reared a family in that section; Casper, who was born November 27, 1754; Margaretta, who was born Jannary I, 1757; Elizabeth, who was born March 4, 1759; Felix, who was born February 17, 1760; Susan, who was born January 13, 1761; Nich- olas, who was born September 12, 1763; Anna Mar- garet, who was born February 1, 1768; Michael, who was born May 15, 1770; William, who was born June 20, 1772; Johann, who was born Jannary I, 1775; and John, who was born March 27, 1778. All these children were born in Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania. John Nicholas Shaeffer died November 3, 1780, his widow surviv- ing him until August 26, 1804.

The John Shaeffer, whose name is attached to numerous old documents, was the youngest son of John Nicholas and Juliana ( Michael) Shaeffer, and he died September 24, 1836, having served in the War of 1812, holding the commission of captain. His children were as follows: John, Elias, Lydia, Chink and Catherine Elser. Records show that members of the Shaeffer family have served this country as soldiers during the Revolutionary war, the Whiskey insurrection, the War of 1812, the Mexican war, the Civil war, the Spanish-American war and the World war, which certainly entitles them to register themselves as 100 per cent Ameri- cans.

The grandfather of A. I. Shaeffer, whose name heads this review, was William Shaeffer, who was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, in 1777. He was a farmer and distiller, owning forty acres of land, on which there was a substantial stone resi- dence, in which his children were all born and reared, as well as several of his grandchildren. His distillery was built of logs, was two stories in height, the upper story being used for living purposes. The water used in distilling was carried by pipes made of logs, hollowed out and fitted together, into the upper story from a spring in a field on high ground. The necessary fuel was procured from a wooded tract on the mountain side about three miles dis- tant.

William Shaeffer was married three times, his first wife dying, leaving him with two little daughters, Nelly and Elizabeth. To take care of them he em- ployed a housekeeper, whom he subsequently mar- ried, but as she only survived a year he married for his third wife Margaret Beck, born June 4, 1790, the ceremony taking place in 1813. They had nine children to reach maturity, two passing away in in- fancy. These children were as follows: Barbara, Samuel, Jacob, John, Margaret, Catherine, Susannah, Daniel, and Lydia. The daughters of William Shaeffer's first marriage became the wives of Ger- mans named Maigleig and Neidhammer, and nothing is known of them subsequently nor of their de- scendants. William Shaeffer died in 1831, when his youngest child, Lydia, was but eleven months old. His wife, left a widow with a large family, bravely went into the field with her sons and labored to make a living. The eldest daughter, with the help of an old woman, Betsy Gewherlinz, who lived with the family, kept house and took care of the younger children. The distillery was operated by the sons and the husband of Mrs. Neidhammer, Mrs. Shaef- fer's stepdaughter, for a time, but later was aban- doned. One of the sons, Daniel Shaeffer, is quoted as saying: "When I came home on my wedding trip in 1847, I caught a mess of frogs in an old vat in the distillery."

The second son, Jacob, becoming dissatisfied with his mother's management, left home, but Samuel and John remained with her, and worked for and

with her until 1844, when they came to Indiana in search of new homes. After Mrs. Shaeffer's fam- ily had grown up and gone to homes of their own she sold the homestead in Dauphin County and came to Indiana to live with her children, the majority of whom had located at Fremont, Steuben County, Margaret, Samuel and John arriving here in 1844-5, and Lydia in 1851. Daniel accompanied his mother in 1854. He visited with his brothers and sisters, . and then going back to Dauphin County, brought his family to Fremont in 1855. Mrs. Shaeffer lived until January 14, 1875, and spent her declining years at the homes of her several children, to the very last being an important factor in their lives. She passed away at the home of her daughter, Margaret, who was the wife of Jacob Weaver. This branch of the Shaeffer family was descended from Christian Shaeffer of Susquehanna Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, who was the father of Wil- liam Shaeffer, and son of John N.

Samuel Shaeffer, son of William Shaeffer and father of A. I. Shaeffer, was married in 1840 to Susanna Weaver, born in Dauphin County, Pennsyl- vania, a sister of Peter Weaver, a biography of whom appears elsewhere in this work. During 1844-5 Samuel Shaeffer came to Steuben County, Indiana, locating on a farm of 192 acres in Fremont Township, where he carried on general farming and stockraising, and improved his property, erecting the necessary buildings and fences, and otherwise adding to its value. The children born to him and his wife were as follows: Mary, who was born in 1842, died in 1848; Oliver, who was born in 1844; Enasetta, who was born in 1846, died in 1855; Daniel, who was born in 1849, died in 1904; Christopher, who was born in 1855; and A. I., who was the youngest in the family. Samuel Shaeffer died at Fremont September 16, 1877, his wife surviving him until February 3, 1880. They were consistent mem- bers of the German Methodist Church of Fremont, and he was one of the largest contributors toward the erection of the first church edifice of that de- nomination at Fremont.

A. I. Shaeffer attended the public schools of Fre- mont Township, and during his boyhood and youth assisted his father on the farm. When he was twenty years old he began conducting a threshing outfit, operated by horse power, and in 1878 added the conduct of a sawmill to his activities, moving in that year to Fremont, where his mill was located. In 1879 he bought a steam rig to replace the horse power in his mill, and continued to live at Fremont until 1896, at which time he rented the farm of George Straw near Fremont, and lived on it for ten years, moving then to a farm in Jamestown Town- ship. Two years later, in December, 1909, Mr. Shaeffer bought his present farm of seventy acres, . since which time he has rebuilt and added to the barn and erected several other buildings, putting the place in first class order. His farming is carried on according to modern methods, and he is satis- fied with the results, as he has every reason to be.

On December 10, 1878, Mr. Shaeffer was married to Miss Ellen C. Kauffman, a daughter of John and Mary Kauffman, and they became the parents of the following children: Bert E., who was born Decem- ber 3, 1879, died November 9, 1908, and married Euphemia Lytle, who died Jannary 4, 1919, leav- ing their one child, A. C., who was born December 18, 1907; Ina May, who was born March 21, 1881, married Lester Harter, and they had one child, Bernice Harter. She was later married to Wilbur E. Young, and they have had three children, Ber- nard F., Berdene and Berlene. The third child of Mr. and Mrs. Shaeffer, Eva A., was born October 13, 1892, and she was married to Ivan Isenhower,

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and they have a son, Maynard S., who was born in November, 1916.

DANIEL J. SHANK has spent all his life in Indiana and for nearly forty years has been a resident of Steuben County, and for the past thirty years has been proprietor of a large and flourishing lumber business in the City of Angola. He grew up around his father's grist mill and acquired a knowledge of the milling business and was connected with milling operations for some years.

Mr. Shank was born in Adams County, Indiana, April 9, 1849, a son of John R. and Mary (Lizer) Shank. His father was a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and his mother of Center- ville, Wayne County, Indiana. John R. Shank went to Ohio in 1841, and soon afterward to Indiana. A miller by trade, he followed his occupation in Adams County for many years, but in 1890 moved to Steu- ben County and operated a mill at Hamilton for several years. He finally retired to Angola, where he died in 1900, at the age of eighty-two. His wife, who died at the same age, passed away in 1912. John R. Shank was a democrat and a member of the Methodist Church. He and his wife had four children : Michael, who died about 1852; Kansas B., who died in 1865; Daniel J .; and Henry, who for a number of years was a druggist in Angola.

Daniel J. Shank acquired a good public school edu- cation in his native county, After several years of work with his father in the milling business he moved to Angola in 1880, and acquired an interest in the local grist mill and lumber yard. In 1887 he bought the lumber yard near the depot, and for over thirty years has supplied the needs of a large surrounding country with lumber and building materials. For about ten years of this time he also sold coal. Mr. Shank has been a director in the Steuben County State Bank for twelve years, and has prosecuted all his business interests with much vigor and corre- sponding success.

He has been a member of the City Council, is a republican, is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, and is a member of a very interesting local social club known as the Scavenger Club. This club evi- dently has strong fraternal ties among its members, since it holds only one stated meeting in the even years of the calendar, the date of meeting being on February 2, "ground hog day." Mr. Shank's mother was a devout Methodist, but he is a member of no church. His family are all members of the Christian Church.

In 1873, at Monroeville, Allen County, Indiana, he married Miss Malinda C. Dague, of that county, though a native of Ohio. Mrs. Shank died January 18, 1918, at the age of sixty-four, after they had been married forty-five years. She was the mother of four children: Emmet E. is associated with his father in the lumber business and by his marriage to Ella Goff has three children, named Adelbert, Editha and Anna Malinda. Nora V. is the wife of Joseph Brokau and has four sons, Austin, John, Richard and Robert, the last two twins. Myrtle P. is the wife of George G. Niehous and has one child, Mary Malinda. Mildred Mary is the wife of John Bakstad.

JEFFERSON BETZ is an honored figure in the com- munity of Franklin Township, DeKalb County, is an old soldier of the Union, has been a resident of DeKalb County for half a century, and is now en- joying a well earned retirement from his respon- sibilities as a farmer.

Mr. Betz was born in Columbiana County, Ohio,

December 21, 1838, a son of Henry and Catherine (Stull) Betz, the former a native of Bedford Coun- ty, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Columbiana County, Ohio. After their marriage they spent all their lives in Columbiana County. Jefferson Betz grew up in his native state, had a common school education, and early in the Civil war en- listed in Company D of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio Infantry. He saw a great deal of active service during the next fifteen months, and was then granted an honorable discharge on ac- count of impaired hearing. After the war he went back to his native district in Ohio and in April, 1865, married Jennie Musser. She was born in Columbiana County.

Mr. Betz brought his family to Indiana in 1869 and has been a resident of DeKalb County ever since. For many years he worked in the fields and handled his farm, but is now living in comfort among his children. He is a republican in poli- tics and active in the Grand Army Post at Hamil- ton.

He is the father of four children: Della, wife of George W. Kepler; Dora, wife of Oliver W. Fee; Elmer, who lives on the home farm in Frank- lin Township; and Emma, wife of Clyde Hinker.

GEORGE W. STOUT probably has the premier honors of long and veteran service in Uncle Sam's post- office department. He has been connected with the Hamilton postoffice almost continuously for thirty years, most of the time as assistant postmaster, and since 1914 has been chief executive of the office.

Mr. Stout was born at Fairfield Center in DeKalb County, Illinois, August 19, 1866, a son of Andrew J. and Sarah Anna (Houser) Stout. His mother, who died July 28, 1914, was born in Ohio, a daugh- ter of Samuel Houser. The paternal grandfather, George Stout, was an Ohio farmer living near Attica. Andrew J. Stout was born in Seneca County, Ohio, and in March, 1868, came to Hamil- ton from DeKalb County, Indiana, and established himself as a shoe and boot maker. He bought his leather direct from the tanners. In connection with his business he also served about twelve years as postmaster of Hamilton. He was also a skillful veterinarian, and practiced that profession for a number of years. In 1917 he disposed of his busi- ness interests at Hamilton and has since lived re- tired at Ashley. Recently he paid a visit to old home localities in Ohio after he had been away from that community for forty years, and he died at the home of his son in Dayton, Ohio, March 12, 1919. He and his wife had four children: George W., Samuel W., one that died in infancy, and John W.

George W. Stout received his education in Hamil- ton, graduating from high school there, and took a business course at Oberlin, Ohio, and was a stu- dent in the Tri-State College at Angola when illness of his father called him home. He then took up the duties of assistant postmaster, and has assisted every postmaster since his father's time with the exception of one. He received appointment as post- master of Hamilton, July 1, 1914.

July 28, 1888, Mr. Stout married Lenora Dirrim, of DeKalb County, daughter of Robert R. and Amanda (Firestone) Dirrim. The Dirrims are one of the oldest and most prominent families of DeKalb County. Mr. and Mrs. Stout had six children : Webster G., assistant postmaster under his father at Hamilton, married Mrs. Vera B. (Copp) Barney, daughter of Abner Copp, of St. Joseph, Indiana. Letha M. is the wife of Jesse Mountz, operating the Home Bakery at Butler. Walter L. died July

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

20, 1904. Fernie B. and Waldo F. are still at home, and George W. died in infancy.

CHARLES C. EATON. Forty-three years ago when a boy of twelve Charles C. Eaton helped put in and harvest a routine of crops. He has never missed a season since then, and out of his forty odd years of farming experience he has achieved a competency and one of the best farms in Clay Township of LaGrange County.

Mr. Eaton was born in that township July 4, 1864, a son of Josiah and Rachel (Preston) Eaton. His mother was a daughter of John M. Preston. Josiah Eaton, a native of Sandusky County, Ohio, grew up in Lima Township of LaGrange County from the year 1845 and began farming there. About 1856 he moved to a place in Clay Township owned by Dr. J. T. Hobb, and as a renter made such good use of his opportunities that in a few years he acquired the ownership of the Hobb farm. He was not only a successful farmer, but served as assessor of Clay Township, and was drainage commissioner of La- Grange County eight years. He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church and superintendent of its Sunday school many years. He and his wife had five children : Sarah E., wife of Mott Bowen ; J. Edward; Charles C .; William, deceased; and Alton H.

Charles C. Eaton attended the district schools of Clay Township, and during his mature career has kept his affairs progressing and prospering. He owns a farm of 23334 acres in Clay Township, his home being in section 10. He has for a number of years been a prominent hog raiser. He served nine years as superintendent of the Sunday school of the Methodist Protestant Church, of which he and his wife are both active members.

In 1888 he married Eva McManus, daughter of Nelson McManus. She died August 24, 1893, the mother of two children: Ethel and Clarence. Ethel is the wife of Lloyd Bricker and has four children, named Cecil, Gladys, Melvin and Mary Jane. Clar- ence married Bessie Ellsworth and has a son, Charles Ellsworth. In November, 1894, Mr. Eaton married Addie Atwater, a daughter of William Atwater. They have one daughter, Bell, still at home.

MOSES M. MILLER, who for over a quarter of a century has had his home in section 29 of Clay Township, has developed a fine farm out of the woods there, and is a sturdy representative of one of the old and well known family names of La- Grange County.

He was born in Hickory County, Missouri, Feb- ruary 24, 1870. His father is Moses P. Miller, more extended reference to whose career will be found on other pages. Moses P. Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1845, had come to LaGrange County in 1857, but from 1869 to 1872 lived in Hickory County, Missouri, and since then has been a resident of LaGrange County.

Moses M. Miller was therefore brought back to LaGrange County before he was able to remember things consecutively, and has lived here ever since. He attended district schools in Eden and Clay townships, was employed on his father's farm, at the age of twenty-one worked out as a farm hand, and the following fall moved to the place where he is still living. He was married July 19, 1891, and took his bride to a tract of timbered land, where his efforts have resulted in many improvements and developments. He makes a specialty of well bred Holstein cattle and is properly regarded as one of the best farmers in the township.

Mr. Miller married Lydia Patterson. They had

ten children : Rollin, born May 7, 1892, and died in March, 1896; Ray M .; Roy; Minnie May; Samuel; Moses Ivan; Ina and Nina, twins, who died in in- fancy; Milo Uriah; and Wilbur. Mr. Miller and family are members of the Mennonite Church.

Mrs. Miller was born in Van Buren Township of LaGrange County, a daughter of George and Polly (Miller) Patterson. Her father was a life- long farmer in LaGrange County. In the Patterson family were the following children: John, Simon, who died December 27, 1899; Fannie, who died in 1915; and Clara, Lydia, Hattie, Jacob, Amanda, Susan, and Daniel.

JOHN MAULT. For over thirty years the name of John Mault has been identified with the farming enterprise of Sparta Township. He is proprietor of one of the well managed and valuable farms of that locality of Noble County, his home being ou the Lincoln Highway three miles southeast of Ligo- nier.

He was born in Shelby County, Ohio, January 24, 1860, a son of William and Amanda ( Morris) Mault. His parents were also natives of Shelby County, were married there, and on August 20, 1866, moved to Noble County, Indiana, and settled in Sparta Township, where they spent the rest of their lives. They were active church people and William Mault was a republican. Of seven children three are still living: John R .; William, of Sparta Township; and Clara, wife of James Smith.

John R. Mault was only six years old when brought to Noble County, and he grew up here, at- tending the district schools and also the high school at Syracuse. He lived at home to the age of twenty- one. Then after several years of work on his indi- vidual account he married on July 3, 1886, Martha L. Beck. She was born in Hardin County, Ohio, April 6, 1869, a daughter of Lewis F. Beck, of Pauld- ing County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Mault have six children: Minnie, wife of Ralph Gallup; Wilbur, who is married and lives in Toledo, Ohio; Andrew, a farmer at Middlebury, Indiana; Albert, unmarried and at home; Walter, also at home, who married Elma Price; and Clarence, at home.

The family are members of the Broadway Chris- tian Church. Mr. Mault is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows at Kimmell, his wife is a member of the Rebekahs at Cromwell, both are members of the Knights and Ladies of the Macca- bees, and she belongs to the Pythian Sisters at Crom- well. In politics he is a republican but has never had official aspirations. The Mault farm is one of the best in Sparta Township, comprising 136 acres, and is well stocked with grade cattle and hogs and has very superior equipment and facilities.

CLYDE A. WALB, president of the LaGrange County Trust Company, has been a man of affairs in LaGrange County for a number of years. He was formerly county surveyor and engineer. In later years a prominent drainage contractor, he still operates a large fleet of dredges which have excavated millions of cubic yards in the process of reclaiming thousands of acres of fertile soil in Northern Indiana.

Mr. Walb was born in Clay Township of La- Grange County October 3, 1878. son of Reuben B. and Susana (Norris). Walb. His parents are still living. He grew up on a farm in Clay Township, attended district schools there, graduated from the LaGrange High School, and studied civil engineer- ing. He was elected county surveyor and engineer on the republican ticket, filling that office with credit for six years. He then engaged in the busi-

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ness of drainage contracting, operating steam shovel dredges, and his work in this line has included a number of contracts in different parts of the state and in other states. He owns ten steam shovel dredges and has a highly adequate and efficient or- ganization for their operations. Mr. Walb helped organize the LaGrange County Trust Company and has been president since it started.

He married Vida Wildman, a graduate of the Wolcottville High School. They have four chil- dren : Walter, Eloise, Ralph and Clyde A. Jr. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of which Mr. Walb is a trustee. He is ac- tive in Masonry, being past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter, is a member of the Knights Templar, the Scottish Rite and the Shrine. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. He is present county chairman of the republican party.

Besides the interests detailed above Mr. Walb is president of the LaGrange Hardware Company and is half owner in a tract of 320 acres of land. He is therefore one of the most substantial men of LaGrange County and it is easy to understand the weight his name carries in public affairs.

LAORA M. RowE formerly a druggist and for many years engaged in the real estate and insur- ance business at LaGrange, and is member of a family that has played an active part in this sec- tion of Northeast Indiana for over sixty years.

He was born in Preble County, Ohio, August 15, 1858, a son of Milton and Caroline (Dorsey) Rowe. His father was born in Prehle County, Ohio, July 31, 1833, and his mother near Baltimore, Maryland, February 18, 1832. They were married in Preble County, Ohio, October 26, 1854, and after living for some time in Preble County came in the spring of 1861 to LaGrange County, Indiana, and settled on a farm of 120 acres in Eden Township. Later Milton Rowe added forty acres more and was one of the industrious agriculturists of that locality un- til his death on June 17, 1915. His wife died March 25, 1886. They were the parents of a large family of nine children. Josiah, a farmer of Eden Town- ship, married Nora Benham; Emma who died April 13, 1880, the wife of Mathias Longcor; Laora M., Henry A., who died in his fourth year; Margaret E., wife of August Herrmann of LaGrande, Ore- gon; Cecelia, who died March 4, 1896, wife of Lo- renzo Haller; Charles who married Anna Mckib- ben lives on the Mckibben homestead; Mary E.,. who died October 25, 1899, the wife of John Pen- rose ; and Howard P., who lives at Enterprise, Ore- gon, and married Cora Pierman.

Laora M. Rowe grew up on the homestead farm in LaGrange County and supplemented his educa- tion in the country schools with attendance at the LaGrange County Normal. At the age of nineteen he taught his first term of school and was an edu- cator six years, four years in country schools and two years in the LaGrange schools. He then joined his brother-in-law E. S. Ballou and Dr. Betts in the drug business and continued in that line for about fourteen years until he sold out. During the second administration of President Cleveland he was appointed postmaster of LaGrange. Since then he has been an insurance man, a notary public, a dealer in real estate and now is a member of the LaGrange Bar and these various activities ac- count for the last eighteen years of his life.

Mr. Rowe is a democrat, and four times received appointment by the judge as a member of the board of review. October 12, 1881, he married Miss Ann M. Ballou, sister of O. L. and E. S. Ballou, else- where mentioned in this publication. Mr. and Mrs.

Rowe had three children, Anna M., dying in in- fancy; Lura A., a graduate of the LaGrange High School, now residing at Lincoln, Nebraska, and Anna C., also a graduate of the LaGrange High School and the wife of Walter Spangenberg of Sturgis, Michigan, and the mother of one child, June Pauline.

JACOB MILLER. There are a great many people who will recall the upright life and character of the late Jacob Miller, who for many years was one of Salem Township's most substantial farmers. The farm he acquired, developed and owned so many years is now the property of his widow and under the active management of his only son, Henry Miller.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 78

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