History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 95

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 95
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 95
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 95
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 95

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).

While at Mongo Doctor Grubb was one of the directors and vice president of the Mongo State Bank and was a member of the committee when the new bank building was erected. He donated ground for the Mongo Knights of Pythias hall and also platted an addition to the village, all of the lots in which have been sold. He also built a private hos- pital there, and he still owns the old Henry Rank dwelling, which has been remodeled by him. Doctor Grubb is interested in farm lands in Springfield Township. Politically he is a republican. Some years ago he was appointed trustee to fill an unex- pired term, and was a trustee when the high school building was erected at Mongo. He resigned the office before the close of his term.

In 1884 he married Miss Martha E. Meteer, a daughter of James and Elizabeth Meteer, of Van Buren Township. To their marriage were born six children, the oldest, Cecil, dying at the age of three years. Sylvia is a graduate of the Howe High School, attended the State Normal School in Michigan, and is a graduate of the Bush Temple Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She taught music in Springfield Township in the schools of Mongo and Brighton, and is now the wife of Charles Paul. They live in Elkhart, Indiana, and have three children, Elizabeth, Charles and Robert, the last two being twins. Fern Grubb is a graduate of the Mongo High School and of Saint Luke's Training School for Nurses at Chicago. She took the state examination at Indianapolis and is now a registered nurse in the state. She is the wife of Dr. Dale C. Weir, of Mongo, and the mother of one daughter Mary Jean. Carlie, the fourth in the family, is a graduate of the Mongo High School and the wife of Fred Deal, a son of Louis E. Deal. Mr. and Mrs. Deal live on a farm near Plato in Bloomfield Town- ship, and have two children, Albert Louis and Marion. Mildred Grubb, a graduate of the Mongo High School, is the wife of Louie Londick, formerly of Three Rivers, Michigan, and now a merchant at Fennville in that state. Doctor Grubb's youngest child is Millicent, who is a graduate of the Mongo High School and the LaGrange High School and is still at home.

C. L. SHATENBERGER has been a resident in the Fremont community of Steuben County for over twenty years, has been a farmer and still owns a

large and well improved farm in that locality, and is concerned with many of the leading business in- terests of the city of Fremont.

Mr. Shatenberger was born in Rollersville, Ohio, March 15, 1867. His grandparents were Peter and Margaret Shatenberger. Peter Shatenberger, a na- tive of Alsace-Lorraine, came to America when a young man after his marriage, and at first located in New York City. His two children were named Margaret and Peter. Peter Shatenberger, Jr., was born in New York State, July 15, 1836, and was a farmer and carpenter at Rollersville, Ohio, and spent practically all his life in that state. Much of his time was devoted to the carpenter trade. He died April 1, 1892. He married Susannah Sheesley, born at Rollersville, Ohio, June 8, 1848, daughter of John Sheesley. She and her husband were reared Lutherans and later became affiliated with the Meth- odist Church. Their children were two in number, William Henry and C. L. Shatenberger.

C. L. Shatenberger attended the public schools of Ohio in Sandusky County, had experience as a young man with work on a farm, and on December 24, 1889, married Sarah Boor. The first two years after their marriage they spent in Sandusky County, Ohio, on a farm, but in 1892 Mr. Shatenberger engaged in the general merchandise business at Rollersville. He was in business there and prospered for four years, but in 1896 sold out and about six months later came to Fremont Township of Steuben County. In the spring of 1897 he moved to Fremont to take charge of a dry goods business, and continued that work two years. He then returned to a farm in the same township and was actively identified with agricultural pursuits for seven years. Since then he has made his home at Fremont, but still owns and gives his supervision to a fine farm of 280 acres. Mr. Shatenberger's other interests are represented by stock in the First State Bank, the local flour mill, the Cider and Jelly Mill, and he is president of the Hammel Milling Company of Fremont. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Church, and he is affiliated with the Knights of the Maccabees.

Mrs. Shatenberger is a daughter of William C. and Sarah B. (Stockhouse) Boor. Her father was born August 25, 1833, and her mother March 24, 1840. William C. Boor was a native of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and moved from there to Sandusky County, Ohio, and in 1893 located at Fre- mont, Indiana, where he was interested in farming and the dry goods business. In Ohio he had owned oil property and operated oil wells. He died at Fre- mont, October 17, 1902, and his wife passed away in Ohio October 21, 1888. Mrs. Shatenberger's grand- parents were William and Sarah (Cessna) Boor.

PETER SNOWBERGER. While for nearly forty years Mr. Snowberger has been quietly engaged in farm- ing and other community activities in Steuben Township, his life on the whole has presented a great variety, beginning with a boyhood service in the Union army, following which he made a number of different ventures in different places. He has always been a man of independent spirit, and willing to work out his problems and destiny with the re- sources and means at hand.

He was born in Ashland County, Ohio, February 12, 1848, a son of David and Evaline (Haughey) Snowberger. His father was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, in 1820, and his mother in Jefferson County, Ohio, in 1822. They were married in Ohio February 21, 1845, and four years later, in October, 1849, arrived in Steuben County, settling on land in Steuben Township which David had en- tered from the Government the preceding year. On

342

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

his eighty acres he cleared a space and erected a log house, and eventually had much of the land in cul- tivation. His wife died there June 12, 1888, and he spent his last days with his son Peter and passed away March 7, 1900. His children were Robert, Peter, Henry D., Timothy, Alva, besides two that died in infancy and a daughter, Alice, who died at the age of three years. David Snowberger was a democrat until the war and then became a loyal re- publican, and all his sons followed his example in politics. For some time he and his wife were mem- bers of the Church of God and later were Dunkards.

Peter Snowberger grew up on the home farm in Steuben Township, attended the public schools and for one term was in school at Angola under Pro- fessor Carlin. He was not yet eighteen years old when he enlisted in March, 1865, in Company D of the 155th Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was with his regiment until mustered out and given his hon- orable discharge in August of the same year. Upon his release from military duty he returned to Steuben County, and did some work in contracting and also for his father until he reached his majority. Then near Pleasant Lake he and his brother Robert bought fifty acres, included in the present Willis Dale farm. Later he sold his interest to his brother and then became associated with John Crampton, operating a threshing outfit. They threshed many fields of grain in Steuben County fifty years ago. Next, join- ing with his brother Henry he bought forty acres in DeKalb County, increased the area of their hold- ings by another forty acres, and again sold out to his brother. Mr. Snowberger then left Indiana and went to Kansas, where he bought 160 acres in Sum- ner County. He had all the experiences of a Kansas pioneer and for ten years owned a farm there but sold it in 1880. He began with a small tract of land in Steuben Township which now has become a well proportioned farm of 14334 acres. Much of it has been cleared under his ownership and it has been improved with excellent buildings and is a fine place both for crops and for livestock. Mr. Snowberger is a republican, and for some time was affiliated with the progressive wing of that party. For two terms he was township supervisor. He is a member of the Grand Army Post. December 6, 1874, he married Miss Martha Jane Teeters. She was born in Steuben Township, February 1, 1856, a daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Kogan) Teeters, who were early day settlers in Steuben County, first locating near Hudson in Salem Township and afterward moving to Steuben Township, where her father died Feb- ruary 18, 1879, at the age of fifty-two. Her mother died at seventy. Mr. and Mrs. Snowberger had four children: Frank, who died at the age of three and a half years; Edward, who is unmarried and still at home; Blanche, also at home; and Bessie, who is the wife of Jesse McClughen, living at Helmer, and they have one child, Maxine.

Mrs. Snowberger's father was a stock buyer and also operated a cheese factory and a chair factory north of Hudson. He was a prosperous business man and at one time owned 420 acres in Steuben County. Mrs. Snowberger's mother was a member of the United Brethren Church, while she is affiliated with the Christian denomination. Mr. Snowberger is a member of Ashley Lodge No. 614, Free and Accepted Masons, and Ashley Chapter Royal Arch Masons.

ELZA SHULL. The Shull family came to DeKalb County in pioneer times and have been identified with its farming and civic interests for over seventy years. Elza Shull, who owns and directs the opera- tions of a large farm in Jackson Township, was born at Auburn, October 31, 1886.

His parents were Henry C. and Rosa A. (Cramer) Shull. His father was born in Keyser Township, Dehalb County, July 28, 1846, and died in Novem- ber, 1908. His wife was born in Ohio, January 13, 1846, and died in August, 1914. They were married September 5, 1869, and lived in Auburn for several years. Henry C. Shull was a teacher and later a prosperous dairy farmer. He was in the dairy business and supplied pure milk for nineteen years. He owned about 200 acres of land and his last years were spent in looking after his property. He was also proprietor of a wagon and buggy works at Auburn. He was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias. In their family were seven children, five of whom are still living: Carrie, wife of Isaiah Wert; Alice, wife of George Leyda, of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Harry M., who is a farmer in Union Township of DeKalb County and is present trustee of that township, being the second republi- can ever chosen to that office; Elza; and Earl, of Auburn.

Elza Shull grew up in Auburn, attended the public schools and the high school, and on September 10, 1910, married Ida Hess. She was born in Kansas but was living in Butler Township at the time of her marriage. They have one daughter, Helen, born May 22, 1915.

Mr. Shull is a member of the Ancient Order of Gleaners and is a republican in politics. He farms eighty acres of land and is a member of the Ship- pers Association.

PIUS ALTON LONG. One of the complete and ade- quate farms of LaGrange County is the Pleasant Hill Farm in Bloomfield Township, the proprietor of which is Pius Alton Long, member of a family of prominent standing in the county since pioneer times, and a citizen who has kept his business affairs progressing and is now in the high tide of his career as a stockman and farmer.

Mr. Long was born in Greenfield Township of LaGrange County June 25, 1873, a son of David J. and Mary Ann (Moshier) Long. The Moshier family came from Berne, Switzerland. The paternal grandparents, David and Sarah (Baer) Long, were natives of Pennsylvania, moved from there to Ohio, where David J. Long was born, as was also his wife, Mary Ann Moshier. The grandparents on coming to LaGrange County settled on a farm near Brighton, where they spent the rest of their days. David J. Long was one of nine children and was a small boy when brought to LaGrange County. He finished his education in the LaGrange Collegiate Institute at Ontario, and then became a farmer in Greenfield Township. Later he moved to Bloomfield Town- ship, and his success enabled him to accumulate 640 acres. He was both a farmer and stock buyer for many years. He died on the farm where his son Pius A. now lives, and his widow survived him about four years and passed away at LaGrange. He was a republican in politics and was honored with several township offices. He and his wife had four children : Pius A., William, Maude and Daniel. The last three were born in Bloomfield Township. Will- iam is a resident of Sturgis, Mande is the wife of George Choler, of LaGrange, and Daniel is also a resident of LaGrange.

Pius Alton Long attended the Pleasant Hill School, also the LaGrange High School, and has been on the old farm ever since his parents moved there. He owns 255 acres and has many improve- ments. He keeps good grade stock, and has done much to improve the working power of the com- munity by maintaining a stable headed by a Belgian stallion and a full-blood Jack. He is a republican in politics and served two terms as assessor of

343

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

Bloomfield Township and one year as deputy assessor. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Gleaners. His father was a Dunkard in religion, while the mother was a Lutheran.

June 27, 1909, Mr. Long married Miss Io Bernice Adams, a native of Branch County, Michigan, daughter of Giles Adams. The five children of Mr. and Mrs. Long are named Madola Maude, Giles David, Mildred Orva, Clarence Amos and Marjorie Ellen.

HON. CYRUS CLINE, who ably represented the Twelfth Indiana District in Congress from 1909 to 1917, the Sixty-First to the Sixty-Fourth Congresses, inclusive, has been a member of the Angola bar for over thirty-five years.

He was born in Richland County, Ohio, July 12, 1856, a son of Michael and Barbara (Orewiler) Cline. His parents, who were natives of Ohio, moved to Steuben County in 1857 and settled on a farm five miles northeast of Angola. In 1873 the family moved to Angola, where the father died February 28, 1878, at the age of forty-nine. Mr. Cline's mother passed away August 5, 1918, aged eighty-eight. Michael Cline was a democrat up to 1860 and after that a republican. He filled the office of county commissioner in Steuben County and at the time of his death was township trustee of Pleas- ant Township. He and his wife were members of the Christian Church. Their family consisted of Cyrus; Melissa, wife of O. F. Rakestraw; Esther, widow of John Zabst; Alvisa, wife of Amos Cory; Elizabeth, wife of Ezra L. Dodge; Nancy, wife of David Wood; Virgil, an Angola photographer; and Grace, wife of J. L. Machin.

Cyrus Cline was educated in Steuben County, taking his high school work at Angola. After a year or so of teaching he entered Hillsdale College, Michigan, in 1873, and was graduated with his Bachelor of Science degree in 1876 and two years later received his Master of Arts degree. Mr. Cline served as county superintendent of schools of Steu- ben County from 1877 to 1883. In the meantime he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1884, and has since been engaged in a general law practice at Angola. He was elected a member of the Sixty- First Congress in November, 1908, and his service of eight years involved a critical and vital period in our national history.

Mr. Cline was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Angola in 1903, and served as its president for seven years. He is still one of its directors and is also a director of the First State Bank of Pleasant Lake, which he also helped organ- ize. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and in 1906 was illustrious grand master of the Grand Council. He attends and supports the Congregational Church.

October 6, 1880, he married Jennie Gibson, a native of Vermont. She was born in 1858. They have one daughter, Carrie, who is a graduate of the Tri-State College and the University of Chicago, and has been an instructor in the Angola High School.

DAVID J. NORRIS, a resident of LaGrange County since 1876, is a highly respected and widely known old citizen, a prosperous land owner and in the past has figured influentially and prominently in the of- ficial affairs of both Clay Township and the county.

Mr. Norris was born in Huntingdon County, Penn- sylvania, February 1, 1847, a son of Thomas and Nancy (Snyder) Norris. He represents some of the old families of Pennsylvania. His mother, a native of Clearfield County, was a daughter of Louis

and Susanna Snyder. Louis Snyder was born in Germany, a son of Louis, Sr., who was a member of the German nobility and brought his family to America in colonial times and took part in the war for independence. This Revolutionary veteran lived to be 117 years old and was active until the end. His wife attained the age of 107. Louis Snyder was a large land owner in Clearfield County, Penn- sylvania. David Norris' grandparents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Enyeart) Norris, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Joseph Norris was a slave owner and planter in Maryland, but on moving to Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, took his slaves with him and gave them their freedom. Thomas Norris was a Huntingdon County farmer, a successful business man, and spent all his life on the place where he was born. His children were: Luden, who served in the Fifty-third Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil war, David J., Eliza, Samuel, Rachel, Susan, Jane, Louis, Reuben, Joseph, Ella and Martin.

David J. Norris grew up in a country and district where his family had so many associations, attended the common schools and began his career as a farmer in his native county. On coming to La- Grange County in 1876 he settled in Clay Township, has lived there more than forty years, and has ac- quired a valuable farming property, comprising 240 acres, with a model group of buildings.

Mr. Norris married Mary A. Heffner, a daughter of Jacob and Susanna (Grubb) Heffner. Her father was a Union soldier during the Civil war and was killed in the Battle of the Wilderness. Mr. and Mrs. Norris have five children, named Hiram, Flora, Thomas T., Rollen and Ruth. The last named has been a teacher for the past four years.

For nine years Mr. Norris was honored with the responsibilities of the office of trustee of Clay Town- ship. He also served three years as a commissioner of the county. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge, the Royal Arch Chapter at LaGrange and the Knight Templar Commandery at Kendallville.

FRANKLIN WADE CRAMPTON, like all the members of the Crampton family in Steuben County, has shown great capability in business affairs, particular- ly as a farmer. He owns one of the good farms of Steuben Township, near Pleasant Lake, and is also a business man of Angola. .

The farm which he now owns was his birthplace. He was born April 18, 1891, son of Herbert and Amy (Bartlett) Crampton. His father was born in England in 1847 and his mother was born in 1860. The grandfather, William Crampton, who was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1817, married Mary Ohtfield. He came to America alone in 1849 and afterward sent back for his family. He did not have enough money to pay for forty acres of wild land, but his good management and hard work eventually brought him one of the best farms in the county.

Herbert Crampton was three years old when he came to Steuben County, and he grew up in the township of that name, attending public schools. His first land purchase was eighty acres now owned by H. J. Crampton, a son of Ford Crampton. Her- bert and his brother William also owned a farm in DeKalb County. Later he bought 168 acres com- prised in the homestead jointly owned by Franklin W. and his sister. Here he lived and prospered until his death in 1911. His wife died in 1909. Herbert Crampton was a republican and he and his wife were Baptists. They had four children: Ford, deceased; Mabel; Franklin Wade; and Ruth, who died in infancy.

Franklin Wade Crampton attended the district

344

HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

schools and the Pleasant Lake High School. He is one of the younger farmers and at the same time is one of the most progressive citizens of Steuben Township. He owns seventy-three acres of the old homestead, his sister, Mrs. Mabel Wolf, owning the rest. He also has another place of eighty acres in the same township, and is using the land profitably for general farming purposes. Mr. Crampton in 1914 built a shop at Butler to do vulcanizing work, and has built up a very successful business in that line. He is an independent republican in politics and with his family worships in the Baptist faith.

April 19, 1909, he married Miss Barbara Brooks. She was born in Steuben County, October 21, 1890, a daughter of Elroy and Ella (Robinett) Brooks, of Angola. Mr. and Mrs. Crampton have three chil- dren: Myrick, born August 9, 1910; Ned, born March 17, 1913; and Amy Maxine, born November 23, 1914.

GEORGE T. PARSELL. It has been the good fortune of George T. Parsell to have his home associations centered around one spot from birth until the pres- ent time. The farm he owns today in Jackson Township of Steuben County was where he was born May 22, 1867. Mr. Parsell has the reputation of being one of the leading farmers of Steuben County, and when only seventeen years old he began buying and dealing in livestock, and in that business his name has become well known throughout North- eastern Indiana.

He is a son of Thomas B. and Caroline (Klink) Parsell, and some further history regarding these old and well known Steuben County families is found on other pages. Mr. Parsell grew up on the homestead and attended local schools and the Angola High School. He acquired 120 acres of the home farm in 1893, and in 1908 he bought eighty-seven acres adjoining and in 1913 acquired another eighty acres. Thus his management as a farmer and stock man extends to 287 acres, improved with excellent buildings, and is a first class crop and stock farm. During past years he has been an extensive feeder of sheep, cattle and hogs.

Mr. Parsell is a republican in politics, but without official record, and for thirty-three years has been identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows. He is a member of the Lodge at Salem Center and for twenty years has been affiliated with the encampment.

May 24, 1891, he married Miss Estella M. Davis. She was born in Salem Township, October 15, 1868, a daughter of Edwin and Theresa (Dreher) Davis. Her father, who was born in 1828 and died in 1871, was a son of Abram and Nancy (Conklin) Davis, among the earliest settlers of Steuben County. Abram Davis spent his last years in Missouri. Theresa Dreher was a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Roeader) Dreher, the former born in Pennsylvania in 1804 and the latter in New Jersey. The Dreher family moved to Ohio, where Elizabeth Dreher died, and about 1860 Daniel came on to Steuben County and lived there until his death in 1895, at the age of ninety-one. He and his wife had a family of thirteen children. Mrs. Parsell's mother died in 1916, at the age of seventy-eight. Edwin Davis grew up in Salem Township, was married in that county, and had five children, named Melvina, Alfretta, Estella M., William and Edwin. Of these Mrs. Parsell is the only survivor.

Mr. and Mrs. Parsell had four children: Ruth E. is the wife of J. LeRoy Boggs, of Pittsburg, and has a daughter, Ruth Elizabeth. Winifred is the wife of Roscoe Warring, a son of Charles W. War- ring, of Steuben County. They have a son, Ralph

Augustin, and a daughter, Helen. The third child, Z. A., died at the age of twenty-two months, and the youngest is Georgia Pauline, still at home with her parents.

WILLIAM B. LAWHEAD is a farmer in Butler Township, DeKalb County, has many well cultivated acres under his ownership and management, and is one of the solid and substantial citizens of that community. His home farm is in section 24 of Butler Township.

Mr. Lawhead, whose family has been identified with DeKalb County for eighty years, was born in Jackson Township April 24, 1871, a son of James G. and Wealthy (Nelson) Lawhead. His great- grandparents were James and Martha Lawhead, who came to DeKalb County in 1839 from Wayne County, Ohio. James Lawhead died in 1854 and his wife in 1880. Their son Benjamin Lawhead, grand- father of William B., was born in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, April 1, 1820, went with his parents to Wayne County, Ohio, in 1834, and was still a young man when he arrived in DeKalb County. In 1843 he married Mary Jane Essig, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, in 1821. Benjamin Lawhead bought a farm in section 17 of Jackson Township in 1851. James G. Lawhead was also a native of Jackson Township, and he married Wealthy Nelson in 1870. She died April 25, 1877, leaving two chil- dren, William B. and Queen Victoria, the latter becoming the wife of Eli Amstutz and dying in 1917. In 1879 James G. Lawhead married Eliza Walter, and they had five children: Gertrude, de- ceased; Walter, who died in infancy; Frank, an attorney in Detroit, Michigan; Kirby, a farmer of Jackson Township; and Dr. Nixon Lawhead, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Lawhead, the mother of these five children, is living in Auburn, Indiana.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 95

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