History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 97

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 97
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 97
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 97
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 97

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).

After the war Mr. Kelley returned to Steuben County and there took up the trade of painter, which he followed for a number of years. Since 1897 his home has been in Steubenville, where he owns a good residence. He has filled the office of post- master for the past eighteen years. He is a stanch republican in his political affiliation and is a member of the Grand Army Post.

In 1867 Mr. Kelley married Laura Hough, of Steuben County. They were afterward divorced and she died in 1912. She was the mother of two children, one of whom is Harry Kelley, in the coal business at Angola. In 1888 Mr. Kelley married Nora Swager, of Steuben County. They have four children: Volney, who for ten years has been a resident of France and is now a captain in the French army; James, of Steubenville; and Eugene and Kathleen, both at home with their father. James and Eugene both have army records, the former having served three years in the Fourteenth Cavalry of the regular army. During that time he was on the Mexican border service and in the Philip- pines, also visited in China and Japan, and received his honorable discharge after his term of service

expired. Eugene was in the Coast Artillery for about one year.

OLIVER WALTERS, a native of Steuben County, has busied himself since early manhood with farming, and is owner of one of the well improved and val- nable places in Salem Township.

He was born in Scott Township, May 29, 1876, son of William and Mary (Smiley) Walters. His mother was born in Steuben County, a daughter of George Smiley, one of the early settlers of Pleasant Township, where he and his wife both died. George Smiley and wife had a large family of children, including Martha, Phoebe, Lillie, Alonzo, Gilbert, William, George, Jesse and Charles. William Wal- ters was born in Sandusky County, Ohio, where his father died, the mother subsequently spending her days in Scott Township of Steuben County. Wil- liam Walters grew up in Scott Township, and owing to the death of his father had to look after the rest of the family from early years. He began as a renter, bought forty acres in Steuben Township, later went west, and finally acquired a farm of eighty acres in Michigan. He died while visiting in Steuben County in 1911, at the age of sixty-four. His widow is still living at the age of sixty-nine. William Walters was one of three sons, Andrew, William and Solomon. He and his wife had nine children, all of whom are living, named Charles, Frank, George, Albert, Nettie, Oliver, Arlie, Roy and Robert.

Oliver Walters attended the public schools in Pleasant and Jackson townships. He has been working his way steadily to independence since early manhood. The first land he owned was about thirty-six acres in Jackson Township. He sold that and in 1908 came to Steuben Township, where he bought eighty acres. He has remodeled the build- ings, and takes a just pride in the efficient manage- ment of what is one of the best farms of the town- ship. Mr. Walters is a republican in politics.

April 2, 1898, he married Miss Abbie Simmons, She was born in Jackson Township, January 19, 1876, a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Parker) Simmons. Mr. and Mrs. Walters have one son, Henry, born July 14, 1899. He lives on the farm with his parents.

FRANCIS M. MERICA. No one man has done more for the public schools of DeKalb County and per- forms a more vital service to the people in general than Francis M. Merica, superintendent of the county schools. Mr. Merica is a veteran educator, has been in school work more than thirty years, and has a high standing among school men over In- diana.

He was born at Millerstown in Champaign County, Ohio, February 28, 1862, but has spent the greater part of his life in Northeast Indiana. His parents, William and Catherine (Snyder) Merica, came to Indiana in 1865, locating three miles south of Garrett in DeKalb County. William Merica was born near Millerstown, Ohio, July 15, 1840, while his wife was born September 10, 1842, and both were reared in Champaign County. He was a farmer and the family had limited means. Both parents were members of the Methodist Protestant Church, and William Merica was quite active in democratic politics, serving as a member of the County Council of DeKalb County when the court- house and county infirmary were built. He was also assessor of Butler Township. William Merica died September 8, 1915, and his wife February 13, 1918. They had three children: Thomas, who died at Fort Wayne, May 22, 1911, had been a teacher in early life and later was a traveling salesman for

EDWARD HUFF

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the International Harvester Company; Francis M .; and Charles, who was a graduate of DePauw Uni- versity with the degrees B. A., M. A. and Ph. D., was a Methodist minister, at one time was president of Iowa College and later president of the Univer- sity of Wyoming, and died at Kendallville, Indiana, July 24, 1918.

Francis M. Merica was educated in Butler Town- ship and graduated from the Methodist College at Fort Wayne with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1887. He also attended Upland University in 1889, and by later post-graduate work in the Uni- versity of Chicago received the degree Ph. B. Be- fore completing his education Mr. Merica taught for two years as principal of a high school, for eight years was superintendent of the same school, and after graduating from the University of Chi- cago was elected superintendent of the schools of LaGrange. He remained at that post three years, for four years was superintendent of schools at Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and then came to Garrett, where for ten years he was superintendent of the public school system. He was elected county super- intendent of schools for DeKalb County in 1917, and has held that office since August of that year.

Mr. Merica was a charter member of the board which organized the Carnegie Library at Garrett and is its present secretary. Out of his long service as a teacher he has made some accumulations toward independence and is a property owner at Garrett, having four dwelling houses there. He is one 01 the trustees of the Methodist Church at Garrett, 1s a past master of Garrett City Lodge No. 537, An- cient Free and Accepted Masons, is affiliated with Garrett Chapter No. 129, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is past high priest, and is a past grand of Lodge No. 602 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and past chief patriarch of Encamp- . ment No. 169. His wife is an active member of Harmony Chapter No. 67 of the Eastern Star, is a past matron and has served as secretary of the chapter for over fifteen years.

Mr. Merica married Arilla Jones, of Garrett. She died November 3, 1908, mother of one daughter, Marion, who is a graduate of the Western College for Women at Oxford, Ohio, and is the wife of Don E. Van Fleet, an electrical contractor at Gar- rett. June 25, 1912, Mr. Merica married Georgia Van Fleet. She was born at Deposit in Broome County, New York, and came to Indiana when thirteen years of age. Mrs. Merica is widely known as a former teacher in DeKalb County, having done twenty-six years of work in the different schools of the county. She finished her education in the Tri- State College at Angola.

WILLIAM A. CLINE. Any account of the older families of LaGrange County takes into considera- tion members of the Cline family, now making up. a widespread relationship, many of whom are indus- trious and important factors in various communi- ties. but particularly in Bloomfield Township.

The late William A. Cline came to LaGrange County when a young man. He was born in Rich- land County, Ohio. August 8. 1830, and he died at his old home in Bloomfield Township June 7, 1907. His parents were William and Ellen (Gibney) Cline. William Cline was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in 1794, and was married in Richland County, Ohio, where he bought and improved a farm of. 237 acres. On coming to Indiana in 1854 he bought 320 acres in Bloomfield Township, and lived there until his death on October 2, 1871. His wife was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, July 22, 1799, and died August 26, 1881.

William A. Cline became a farmer in Bloomfield

Township. On January 14, 1856, he married Mary E. Spears, and the same year he bought eighty acres in Bloomfield Township, and in the course of time had one of the best farms in that township, owning more than 300 acres. Mrs. Cline, who died May 31, 1917, was a daughter of Tunis and Mary J. (Scoville) Spcars. She was born in Springfield Township, LaGrange County, January 17, 1840. Tunis Spears was born in Pennsylvania in 1810 and his wife in Connecticut in 1820. William A. Cline was identified with the republican party in politics.

The oldest of the children of William A. Cline and wife was Milton, who was born June 17, 1859, and died August 21, 1860. The second was Mary J., who was born on the old homestead in 1861 and on September 20, 1888, became the wife of Orville Anderson. Mr. Anderson was born in Greenfield Township August 20, 1862, a son of Elijah and Nancy (Martin) Anderson, of the same township. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Anderson lived on the old Cline farm about thirty years, and he died there March 2, 1919. In the Anderson family were three children: Leon W., who was born Sep- tember 7, 1889, was educated in the common schools and the high school, and is running the farm of his mother; Bernice E., who was born February I, 1892, is the wife of Dr. P. W. Horner and lives at New Paris, Indiana, and has a daughter, Dorothy May, born November 15, 1915; and Troas L. An- derson was born May 8, 1894, and died April 1I, 1910.

Frank B. Cline, who was born June 27, 1864, attended the Howe High School, and married Carrie Hackett. He is a farmer in Bloomfield Township. They have two children, Fred B. and Vera Lucile. Fred B. married Troy Marks and has two children, Lloyd and Gladys.

Nellie E. Cline, born February 16, 1868, was well educated, attending Normal school at LaGrange, and taught for ahout nine years before her marriage to Charles Hill, of Bloomfield Township. They have a son, Ledger C. Hill, still at home.

Rachel L. Cline was born April 27, 1870, and after receiving her education taught music for sev- eral years. On October 29. 1891, she became the wife of Joseph R. Smith. He was a son of James Smith, and was born in Greenfield Township in 1870, and was educated in the public schools of Brighton. Mr. Smith is a farmer. He and his wife had seven children : Drusus, born September 9, 1894, married May Johnson, and they have three young children, Charles, Orville J. and Albert; Orval B., born July 3, 1806: Kenneth E., born June 3, 1899; Gaylord G., born . June 26, 1902, died February 15, 1903; Annabelle, born January 23, 1904; Owen W., born October 3. 1906; and Mary Helen, born De- cember 13, 1910.

EDWARD HUFF, who for many years was a resident and prominent property owner in Van Buren Town- ship, was prominently connected with families both in LaGrange County and over the line in Southern Michigan.

He was born on White Pigeon Prairie in Michigan, July 10. 1851, son of Alexander and Elizabeth (Six- bey) Huff. Alexander Huff was born in Schoharie County, New York, in 1816 and was twelve years old when his father died. When a young man he moved to Southern Michigan, married in that state, and lived at Constantine, later at Adrian, and finally on a farm near Klinger Lake, where he and his wife both died, he in 1892 and his wife in 1887. He was a cooper by trade, but for many years was a farmer. Their children were Charles; Edward, de- ceased ; Ida : Lemuel : Christiana. deceased ; Henri- etta ; and Almeda. Alexander Huff was a republi-

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can and a member of the Presbyterian Church. His wife was a daughter of Nicholas and Christiana Sixbey, who came from Schoharie County, New York, and were early settlers near Constantine, Mich- igan. The Sixbeys owned much land in Southern Michigan. Nicholas Sixbey died near Vistula, Indi- ana, in 1875, and his wife died in December of the same year. In the Sixbey family were the follow- ing children: Elizabeth, Margaret, John, David, Charlotte, Henrietta, Nicholas, Catherine, Ephraim and Augusta.

Edward Huff was educated in public schools, at- tended the Raisin Valley Seminary near Adrian, Michigan, and had to his credit a successful record as a teacher. After his marriage he lived for one year in Indiana and for nineteen years made his home in Michigan. In 1900 he located in Van Buren Township, and was a resident of Scott until his death on March 6, 1917. His widow is still living in the home at Scott. Mr. Huff owned 209 acres in Van Buren Township and also had 200 acres in Michigan. He was a republican and with his wife was active in the Methodist Church.

November 24, 1880, Mr. Huff married Lucila Dal- ton. She was born in Van Buren Township of LaGrange County March 29, 1853, a daughter of John and Anna (Hayner) Dalton. Her parents were natives of New York, born July 6, 1810, and August 22, 1812, respectively. On coming West they settled on White Pigeon Prairie, Michigan, but soon afterward came to Van Buren Township in LaGrange County, where Mrs. Huff's father acquired and owned 650 acres of land, constituting one farm but lying partly in Michigan and partly in LaGrange County. Her father also owned the grist mill at Scott. The Daltons were Methodists. Mrs. Huff was one of the following children : Frances Augusta, born January 27, 1847; Catherine, born July I, 1849; and Lucila, born March 29, 1853. Mr. Dalton died March 20, 1888, and his wife October 27, 1900.

Mrs. Huff is the mother of one son, Harry Dalton Huff, who was born October 10, 1881. He had a good public school education, studied medicine at the University of Michigan, but has followed farm- ing during his active career and is working land owned by his mother. September 7, 1905, Harry D. Huff married Miss Jessie Whistler. They have two children, Lucile Elizabeth, born December 30, 1907, and Stanley, born March 10, 1913.

Durward Duff, a nephew of the late Edward Huff, being a son of George and Henrietta (Huff) Duff, was a soldier in the great war and his record should be briefly noted. For about four years he was in the Home Guard Regiment in Chicago. He went to Houston, Texas, September 8, 1917, and was a private, afterward being promoted to corporal in the One Hundred and Twenty-Second Artillery, Thirty-Third Division. He went overseas to France May 28, 1918, and was in service during the crit- ical summer of that year. He returned to New York City May 27, 1919, and was honorably discharged June 7, 1919.

HUGH M. WIDNEY. The name Widney was spoken in the wilderness of Southern DeKalb County more than eighty years ago, and the family has always been one of the most substantial and influential in Concord and neighboring townships. One of the younger generation is Hugh M. Widney, a widely known authority on fruit growing and horticulture, who is proprietor of the Spring Brook Fruit Farm and the Rivera Farm, comprising 200 acres in Con- cord and Spencer Townships.

He was born in Concord Township March 24, 1866, a son of Oliver H. and Emily F. (Maxwell) Widney. His father was also a native of Concord

Township, while the mother was born in Ohio. Oliver Widney and wife were married in 1864, and he died at Auburn, while his wife passed away at St. Joe. They had two children, Hugh M. and Lenore.

Hugh M. Widney grew up on the old farm in Concord Township and had a common school educa- tion. On December 31, 1885, he married Hattie A. Davis, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Davis, of Newville Township, DeKalb County. Mrs. Widney in former years was a teacher of music. Two chil- dren were born to them, Blanchard V., who is a graduate of the Tri-State College at Angola with the Bachelor of Science degree, has spent three years in Purdue University and is now county agri- cultural agent for Noble County, Indiana. He mar- ried, August 19, 1913, Flossie Copp, daughter of Abner and Alice Copp, of St. Joe. The younger child, Dorris Davis Widney, was born August 16, 1903, in St. Joe, and died in the Johns Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore, Maryland, January 29, 1919, in her sixteenth year.

The family are members of the Methodist Protestant Church. Mr. Widney is affiliated with Concord Lodge No. 556, Free and Accepted Masons, and with St. Joe Lodge No. 400 of the Knights of Pythias, being a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. Politically he is a republican.

Mr. Widney has been busily engaged with his horticultural specialty for thirty years, and has a highly developed and valuable fruit farm of thirty acres in Concord Township. His wide experience and expert knowledge has made his services valuable to the state at large. He has been on the staff of lecturers under the auspices of Purdue University for county and township institutes, and has traveled all over the state.

JOHN CHESTER BURCH, a progressive farmer in Otsego Township, is in the third generation of the Burch family, which performed some of the land clearing and other pioneer labors in Steuben County. It is a family of long standing and the highest in- tegrity of character.

John Chester Burch was born on the old home- stead in Otsego Township, January 5, 1870, a son of Halbert and Mary (Rhinehart) Burch. His grand- father, Chester Burch was born in Vermont in 1810, was reared to manhood and married in Ohio, and in 1837 came to Steuben County, Indiana, settling in section 15 of Otsego Township. Chester Burch died January 26, 1879. His son Halbert was one of seven children and was killed in a runaway accident in November, 1872, when John Chester was only two years old.

John Chester Burch grew up on the home farm under the care of his widowed mother, attended public schools, and for a number of years has suc- cessfully pursued farming and stock raising on 531/2 acres of the old homestead. He is a republican in politics.

In 1892 he married Miss Bernice Lybarger. She was born in Starke County, Indiana, September 5, 1874, a daughter of Alonzo D. and Mary (Barnes) Lybarger. Her parents were both natives of Knox County, Ohio, where her father was born April 19, 1842, and her mother August 3, 1847. After their marriage they came to Kosciusko County, Indiana. later went back to Knox County, and in 1880 settled in Steuben County, where her father was a renter for a time but in 1896 bought a farm in Otsego Township. Her parents are still living in Steuben County, in Scott Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Burch have five children: Vera, who attended the district schools and the high

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school at Hamilton and is the wife of Glenn Sewell; Wayne, a student in the Metz High School; Gael who has finished the grammar school work; and Ford and Vanita, who are the youngest children.

JOHN BENJAMIN HAYWARD. There is hardly a locality in Steuben County where the name Hayward is not known and respected. One of the members of the family who did most to make the name gen- erally known in that county is John Benjamin Hay- ward, former sheriff. Mr. Hayward lives in Salem Township, and his grandfather was one of the earliest pioneers of LaGrange County.

John Benjamin Hayward was born in Milford Township of Steuben County, November 28, 1861, a son of William and Louisa (Chaffee) Hayward Grandfather Isaac Hayward came to LaGrange County and settled in Milford Township, south of Stroh, in 1844. He owned the land where the village of Stroh now stands. He acquired 320 acres, and after the death of his wife he sold this farm to his son, William. His death occurred about 1878, when ninety-three years of age. He was a native of England, married in that country, and six of his children were born there. When he came to Amer- ica he was five weeks and five days on the ocean. In this country six other children were born. Wil- liam Hayward was the youngest of this large family, was born in Ohio, June 30, 1840, and was four years old when brought to LaGrange County. He became one of the most successful farmers and stock men in this section of Northeast Indiana. He began with 320 acres and increased this to 520 acres, and later bought another 120 acres, giving him a complete section. He was an extensive cattle dealer and a sheep feeder. He was the man who origi- nated the important improvement known as the Tur- key Creek Ditch, by which hundreds of acres of fertile land were reclaimed for tillage. He also built an elevator at Helmer and one of the main store buildings there. For five years he success- fully operated the elevator. He sold that business, and after the village of Stroh started he built an elevator there and platted twenty acres of his land into village lots, erecting several dwelling houses on them. He was living at Stroh at the time of his death in 1906. His wife was born in 1841 and died in 1872. They had the following children: Walter, John Benjamin, Dora Louise, Estella, who died at the age of twelve years, Cora, Ollie and Ida. Wil- liam Hayward married for his second wife Caroline Drayer. She was the mother of four children, Mary, William C., Arthur and Frank. Frank died when four years old.

John Benjamin Hayward from the age of four grew up on the homestead, attended local schools, and in 1885 established' a home of his own by his marriage to Clara May Butler. She is a daughter of James and Elnora (Wright) Butler. His grand- father, Jesse Butler, was an early settler of Stenben County. Mrs. Hayward was born on the same farm as her father.

After his marriage Mr. Hayward bought forty acres known as the Daniel Rouse farm in Milford Township of LaGrange County. He sold it to James Gettings and bought the eighty acres in Salem Township of Steuben County where he is still living. In 1902 he bought eighty acres adjoin- ing on the north side of the road. His first eighty was acquired in 1891. Mr. Hayward was elected sheriff of Steuben County in 1902. He held that office for four years, and at his second election had the largest majority given any candidate in the county. After retiring from the office of sheriff Mr. Hayward remained in Angola for six years in order to educate his children, and during that time

represented the firm of Shaughniss & Company at Angola in the sale of buggies.

Mr. Hayward is an active republican, as was his father before him. He is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows in Salem Center, being a charter member, and he joined the Knights of Pythias at Salem but is now a member of Angola Lodge. He and his wife are members of the Pres- byterian Church.

To their marriage were born seven children: Lloyd who died at the age of ten months; Elsie, wife of Paul Crundwell and the mother of one daughter, Mary Jane; Imo, who married Harry Lambert and has two children, Margaret and Ralph; Berdina, James, Edgar and Robert, the four younger children still at home.

JOHN J. TROYER. One of the representative fam- ilies of LaGrange County bears the name of Troyer, a name that has been identified with Indiana history since pioneer days. Seventy-five years have passed since the Troyer family left their old home sur- roundings in Holmes County, Ohio, and journeyed westward as homeseekers. They paused in Elkhart County, Indiana, later moved on into Howard County, and still later became firmly established in LaGrange County. A worthy member of this sturdy old family is found in John J. Troyer, who owns one of the best improved farms in Clay Township, and is a man of high standing in township and county.

John J. Troyer was born in Howard County, In- diana, in his father's pioneer log cabin, January 6, 1870. His parents were Jeremiah and Mary (Troyer) Troyer, both of whom were natives of Holmes County, Ohio, where he was born November 28, 1828, and she was born November 28, 1830. Jere- miah Troyer was sixteen years old when he ac- companied his parents, Samuel and Barbara (Hos- tetter) Troyer, to Elkhart County, Indiana. When his mother died his father went back to Holmes County and was married there a second time. He died in Howard County, Indiana. In those early years Jeremiah Troyer journeyed back and forth to Holmes County on numerous occasions, making five trips on horseback and several by wagon, when he had to ford unbridged creeks, penetrate swamps and sleep in the open, and on more than one horse- back journey escaped from thieves and was at- tacked by panthers. He was married in Holmes County, Ohio, and the trip back to Howard County, Indiana, was made by wagon. The first home was a log house in Howard County. From there in 1874 the parents of John J. Troyer moved to LaGrange County and settled in Newbury Township, where the father bought 220 acres in the woods, north of the Pleasant View schoolhouse. He and wife spent the greater part of their lives on that place, but subsequently moved to Elkhart County, where Jere- miah Troyer died in 1896, having survived his wife three years. They had the following children : Cornelius, who was born in Holmes County, spent the most of his life on the farm in Newbury Town- ship; Lydia, who was in Howard County, Indiana, married Jerry Yoder; Mary, who lives in Newbury Township, is the widow of Tobias David Yoder; Sarah, who died in Marion County, Kansas, was the wife of Edward Shock; Susan, who is the wife of Samuel S. Esch, of Elkhart, Indiana ; Samuel E., who lives at Elkhart, formerly lived in Clay Town- ship, LaGrange County; Barbara, who is the wife of P. S. Schrock, of Marion County, Kansas; Panlina, who died in early womanhood; Jeremiah. who lives at Chateau, Oklahoma; Elizabeth, who was the wife of J. D. Troyer, and died in Johnson County, Iowa; Abraham, who died in infancy; John

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 97

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