History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 98

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 98
USA > Indiana > Noble County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 98
USA > Indiana > DeKalb County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 98
USA > Indiana > Steuben County > History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II > Part 98

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).

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HISTORY OF NORTHEAST INDIANA

J., who resides in Clay Township, LaGrange County; Moses J., who lives in Ford County, Kansas; and David J., who lives at Midland, Michigan. The parents were members of the Mennonite faith and all their children embraced the same.

John J. Troyer grew up on his father's farm and obtained a public school education. He started out for himself without capital, and all he has he earned through his own industry. His business all his life has been along agricultural lines and he has profited through experience. He now owns 170 acres of exceptionally fine land and has increased its value through excellent improvements, his farm buildings all being convenient and substantial. He gives much attention to grain growing and raises standard stock.

Mr. Troyer was married on November 13, 1893, to Miss Sophia Hostetter, who is a daughter of Samuel and Katie (Mehl) Hostetter, the latter of whom died in 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Troyer have had chil- dren as follows: Naoma, who is the wife of Mahlon C. Esch, and they have an adopted child, Gerald; Viola and Orpha, both of whom died in infancy ; Minnie, who is a teacher, is a graduate of the high school and Goshen College; Howard, who is in the senior class of the Shipshewana High School; and Nora May and Bessie, who have made fine records in the public school. Like his father, Mr. Troyer is a republican in his political opinions. He is a highly respected citizen of LaGrange County.

DATON H. LONG. The family of which Dator H. Long is a representative has been in LaGrange County for over half a century, and Mr. Long's personal relations here have been chiefly with farm- ing, and for a number of years also with the good and public-spirited citizenship of Bloomfield Town- ship.

He was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, Decem- ber 8, 1857, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Bair) Long. the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They were married in Ohio and came to LaGrange County in 1861, in the spring, settling on a large tract of prairie and timber in Greenfield Township. Daniel Long became one of the leading farmers and land owners of the county. At the time of his death his possessions aggregated 1,430 acres. He died at the old home in Greenfield Township, September 14, 1889, aged sixty-eight years, and his widow passed away August 29, 1915. He was quite active in republican politics, and he and his wife were members of the Dunkard Church. Their chil- dren were: Mary, wife of Daniel Blasus ; Benjamin; Rebecca, wife of John Stierenagle ; David J .; Sarah, wife of Adolph Segrist; Phoebe Jane; Daton H .; and Vesta, wife of Ellis Rowe.

Daton H. Long was four years old when the fam- ily came to LaGrange County, and he grew up on the homestead in Greenfield Township. He attended district school, the high school at Mongo and had a business course in Chicago. His first independent efforts as a farmer were made on eighty acres which he bought in Lima Township. Later he bought 971/2 acres in Greenfield Township, and traded that for forty acres, where he now lives in Bloomfield Township. Since coming here his possessions have grown and they now aggregate 146 acres. He has also remodeled the house and the barn and has a fine barn, 40 by 52 feet. For eighteen years he and his brother David were associated in the stock ship- ping business. Mr. Long is a republican, and his wife is a member of the Methodist Church.

October 21, 1880, he married Miss Sabra B. Stacy. She was born in Lima Township of LaGrange County, October 25, 1861, a daughter of Nelson and Laurette (Anderson) Stacy, early settlers of La-

Grange County. Mr. and Mrs. Long have five chil- dren: Mabel Clare, who is the wife of Albert J. Balkee and has a daughter, Vera Mabel; Harry D., who married Bertha M. Rennert, of Oshkosh, Wis- consin; Hazel, who died in infancy; Mahlon, who married Ruth Myers; and Morse, who died in infancy.

JOHN C. McCoy has a large and well kept farm in Bloomfield Township of LaGrange County, and his family have many interesting connections with past history.

Mr. McCoy was born on the old McCoy place, now included in the city limits of LaGrange, July 30, 1860, a son of Mathew and Hannah (Ferguson) McCoy. His father was born in Ohio in 1823 and his mother in Pennsylvania in 1821. Mathew McCoy moved to LaGrange County in 1856 with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McCoy, who settled in Bloom- field, just north of LaGrange, on 160 acres of land. Thomas McCoy and wife spent their last years there.

Mathew McCoy received his early education in Ohio, and from LaGrange County he went back to that state to claim his bride and brought her to the farm in Bloomfield Township and lived on the old homestead there until his death in 1901. His wife died in 1905. They were among the original mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church in LaGrange and contributed liberally to the erection of the first building. In politics he was a republican and at one time was appointed to fill out an unexpired term as county treasurer. Their children were: Mary, deceased; Walter, John C., William E .; and Jennie, deceased.

John C. McCoy grew up on his father's farm and was educated at LaGrange. Since early manhood he has owned several tracts of land, and bought his present farm of 174 acres in Bloomfield Township in 1906. One hundred and nine acres of this tract was the old Westbrook Farm. This land is devoted to general farming and stock raising, and in the past twelve or thirteen years many improvements have been added, including a barn 46x72 feet, a silo 12x30 and other equipment in keeping.

Mr. McCoy is a republican and has served as trustee of Bloomfield Township one term. He and his wife are active and interested members of the LaGrange County Horticultural Society.

October 18, 1883, Mr. McCoy married Miss Rowena Repine. She was born at Wolcottville May 6, 1862, a daughter of John C. and Margaret (Vine) Repine. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy have five children : Hugh, who was educated in the LaGrange public schools, took a commercial course at Janesville, Wisconsin, and for several years has been a railroad man with home in Montana. He married Serena Taft. Hazel, the second in the family, is a graduate of the La- Grange High School and is a graduate nurse from the Presbyterian Hospital of Chicago and since graduation has been identified with that institution, for the past two years being a skilled attendant in the operating room. Margaret is also a high school graduate and taught school for two years before her marriage to Vern Shelly. Mr. Shelly is the active head of the McCoy farm in Bloomfield Town- ship. He and his wife have one daughter, Dorothy. John C. McCoy, Jr., was born in 1901 and graduated from the LaGrange High School in 1919. Arthur, the youngest child, was born in 1903 and is now in the second year of the Bloomfield Township High School.

Mrs. McCoy's father was born in Pennsylvania in 1831 and her mother in Ohio in 1832. Though more than forty years of age at the time, John C. Repine enlisted in Company A of the First Indiana Heavy Artillery in 1864, and was with that command during

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the last year of the Civil war. He was discharged August 8, 1865. He went to Ohio with his parents and later came to Noble County, Indiana, where he and his wife were married. Soon afterward they moved to South Milford, where he worked at his trade as a machinist, and four years later settled at Wolcottville and still later at Rome City, where he died in 1906. Mrs. McCoy's mother died in 1910. Both were members of the Baptist Church. Mrs. McCoy was the youngest of four children, the others being Clinton E., Emma, wife of Cassius Markham, and Cora B., wife of Dr. Charles Niman.

ARTEMAN A. STALLMAN, whose busy career as a farmer in York Township has made him well known throughout Steuben County, has spent many years in this county and was also formerly a druggist at South Bend, Indiana.

He was born in Bucyrus, Ohio, August 9, 1852, a son of Frederick E. and Elizabeth (Rupp) Stall- man. His father, who was born in Westphalia, Germany, April 2, 1819, came to America in 1841, locating at Bucyrus, Ohio, where he operated a butcher shop for over sixteen years. On October 4, 1844, he married Elizabeth Rupp, who was born at York, Pennsylvania, and died June 16, 1853. Abont 1857 Frederick E. Stallman moved to York Town- ship in Steuben County, and spent the rest of his life as a farmer. He died June 7, 1871. He and his first wife had the following children: Ann Eliza- beth, born April 23, 1846, and died April 29, 1846; John Henry, born May 3, 1847, died April 3, 1852; Charles William, born April 13, 1850; and Arteman A. On March 4, 1856, Frederick Stallman married Lonise Underwood. She died April 22, 1857, the day after the birth of her only child, Lydia Gertrude. The daughter was born April 21, 1857, and died February 10, 1912. On October 7, 1858, Frederick Stallman married Rachel Handley. She was born November 15, 1828. Her children were four in number, Esther Lillie, born Angust 19, 1859, and died May 13, 1862; Elmer Edwin, born Angust 30, 1862; Lettie Jane, born October 24, 1863, and died February 2, 1886; and David Casper, born January 18, 1867.

Arteman A. Stallman when ten months old was taken by his uncle, Dr. P. E. Rupp, to rear, and un- til he was two years old he lived with his grand- mother Rupp. Doctor Rupp marrying at that time took the boy into his home. Doctor Rupp was a resident of South Bend, and there Arteman Stall- man acquired his education in the public schools. From the age of fourteen to twenty-two he worked in his uncle's drug store at South Bend and ac- quired a thorough knowledge of the drug business.

On June 1, 1875, Mr. Stallman married Catharine Harriett Wood, a daughter of George A. and Har- riet R. (Ranstead) Wood. Following his marriage he moved to a farm in York Township of Stenben County, but after five years returned to South Bend and was identified with his uncle's drug store for two years. Since 1883 he has been steadily identified with farming and at his present location. He also erected a building and put in a good stock of general merchandise and for five years he operated a huck- ster wagon during the summer months. In 1887 he ran a store at York and was postmaster there one year. After that he combined the operation of his home farm with his store. In 1894 he moved to section 20 in that township and in the spring of 1901 bought the place where he still lives in that section. He owns 135 acres and does general farming and stock raising. Mr. and Mrs. Stallman had four children : Mabel L., who died June 29, 1919, was the . wife of A. L. Phillips; Aclelia A., who married Fred

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D. Rowe and has four children, Victor Loomis, Harlon Dolores, Freda Doris and Frederick Arte- man; Edward Rupp, who married Neva Keys; and Muriel Dolores. Mrs. Stallman is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

HOMER A. BARKER. Among the good farms of Noble County one that deserves notice on account of its improvement and superior management, and is also representative of the industry and effective work of a very capable citizen, is that of Homer A. Barker on rural route No. I in Wayne Township.

Mr. Barker has been identified with this section of Northeast Indiana all his life. He was born in Salem Township of Steuben County, Indiana, December 8, 1867. His parents were John and Han- nah (McMillen) Barker. John Barker was born in England in June, 1828. Seven weeks after his birth his parents were members of a small colony that left England, there being seven families and seven brothers. After a voyage across the ocean they landed at New York, where the parents sojourned a short time and then moved west to Cleveland. John Barker grew up in northern Ohio, and for several years was employed as a boatman on the canal be- tween Cleveland and the southern part of that state. He was married at Newburg, now a suburb of Cleveland. In 1862 he came to Indiana and located in Milford Township of LaGrange County. Three years later he moved to Steuben County, and that was his home the rest of his life. He was a demo- crat in politics. Of the seven children six are still living: P. A. is the one deceased; N. N. Barker lives at Kendallville; William, of Fort Wayne; Harry, of LaGrange; Josephine, widow of A. T. Balote; Homer A .; and Cora A., wife of Arthur Cook, of Three Rivers, Michigan.

Homer A. Barker grew up on the old farm in Steuben County and was educated in the public schools there. He lived at home to the age of twenty-seven. December 5, 1894, he married Nettie Emerick. She was born in Wayne Township, of Noble County, March 26, 1872, daughter of J. W. and Phemia (Smith) Emerick, both of whom were natives of Ohio. Mrs. Barker grew up on a farm in Wayne Township and was educated in the com- mon schools.

Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Barker have been successfully engaged in farming in Wayne Township, and his ample farm now comprises 200 acres, well cultivated and well stocked and improved.

They have three children : Clifford J. and Mildred R., in high school, and Carl D. Mr. Barker is a member of South Milford Lodge No. 619 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is past noble grand, has sat in the Grand Lodge, and is also a member of the Encampment degrees. Both he and his wife are members of the Rebekahs. Politi- cally he votes as a democrat.

THOMAS CLARK BENSON. One of the beautiful homes of DeKalb County is Birdlawn Farm, situated in Richland Township, the property of Thomas Clark Benson. It is the old family homestead of the Hine family, and its name, together with that of the adjoining farm, Meadow Lark, which also is a part of the Hine family estate, serves to per- petuate the beautiful memory of a gifted woman, the late Mrs. Jane L. Hine, mother of Mrs. Benson, known in Indiana history as the "Bird Woman."

Thomas Clark Benson was born in Warren County, Indiana. His parents, Jonathan and Eliza (Jones) Benson, died when he was very young, and he was reared in the Ankrum family in Ver- milion County, Illinois. He had one brother and four sisters, namely: Asbury, Mary Jane, Eliza-

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beth, Matilda and Lydia. The only survivor is Mrs. Matilda Nichols, whose name is at Weather- ford, Oklahoma. Mr. Benson was afforded educa- tional opportunities and for a number of years taught school very acceptably, then began study for the ministry, pursuing theological courses at Union Christian College, Merom, Indiana, and Oberlin Theological Seminary at Oberlin, Ohio. It was at Oberlin that he met Miss Nellie Cynthia Hine, to whom he was united in marriage on March 26, 1884, at Birdlawn, the present family home.

When Mrs. Benson's grandfather, Sheldon Ho- ratio Hine, first invested in this half section of Richland Township wild land he traded thirty milch cows for it, at the time living in the Western Re- serve across the Indiana-Ohio state line, buying this property as an investment. When he sent his son, Horatio Sheldon Hine, to pay the taxes the young man, then nineteen years old, did not regard it as worth the money, but his father said, "Young man, some day you will be glad to have it." Since 1863 Birdlawn has been a part of the estate now owned by Mr. Benson. When Horatio S. Hine came to pay the taxes he found conditions that would have justified almost any business man entering a pro- test. He found a swamp instead of a farm and the sink hole in it was so deep that for many years the New York Central Railroad passing through Water- loo, Sedan and Corunna, had to make a detour in order to avoid it. A road bed through the sink hole was finally made by hauling timber from three states, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, laying tier on tier on the ice, subsequent draining making it pos- sible to make a solid permanent roadway. The above is interesting as local as well as family history.

While a brother of Horatio Sheldon Hine, Lemon Hine, first came to this DeKalb County farmstead and remained long enough to build the house which still stands there, it was Horatio S. Hine who de- veloped the farm, and it is his grandson, Martin Lee Benson, who at present maintains its standing in agricultural pre-eminence. Horatio S. Hine was twice married, his first union being with Cynthia Brooks, who was the mother of three sons: Sheldon H., Charles L. and Frank B. After her death Mr. Hine married her sister, Jane L. Brooks, who be- came the mother of three children, namely: Mrs. Nellie Cynthia Benson, Brooks L. and Lemon. The mother of Mrs. Benson was born April 2, 1831, and died February 11, 1916, the centennial year in In- diana history. With a natural love of nature, Mrs. Hine beautified the hill slope in front of the farm- house by setting out wild flowers and it has been Mrs. Benson's pleasant duty to protect and preserve them. It was not, however, until she had faithfully discharged her duties as wife and mother that Mrs. Hine began her special studies of bird life, and some of her finest essays were written after she had passed three score and ten. She was frequently invited to address audiences on bird lore, wrote voluminously on the subject for different publica- tions and many of her manuscripts are preserved and consulted as being scientifically authentic. She was a member of the National Ornithological Society, and a booklet has been issued as a memorial.

For several years after their marriage Mr. Benson continued in the ministry, serving Christian churches in Kansas, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In 1896, coming to Birdlawn with Mrs. Benson to visit her parents and finding them in need of a daughter's ministra- tions, he decided to remain, and this has been the Benson home ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Benson have the following children: Paul Hine, Martin Lee, Rhoda Bernice, Kathryn Eunice and Frank Earl. As a student in Angola College Paul H.

Benson specialized in literature and chemistry. As a soldier in the state military organization sent to the Mexican border, he soon became an interpreter of languages, and his knowledge of chemistry has been very useful to him in a business way at Sagi- naw, Michigan, since he returned from military service. Martin Lee Benson made a special study of agriculture and is the farmer at Birdlawn. Rhoda B. is the wife of J. H. Miser and they live on their fruit ranch in California. They have two sons, Harold and Glenn. Kathryn E. Benson, a graduate of the Auburn High School, had training in the Oklahoma College of Agriculture, and for several years taught school in Wyoming. Frank Earl Ben- son, who was one of the earliest enlisted men to go overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces in the World war, served as orderly to Dr. Richard Derby, son-in-law of the late beloved Theodore Roosevelt, and at Chateau Thierry and other points was between the lines in the hardest of the fighting and ever exhibited the valor that has won laurels for the American soldier. This family in all its branches illustrates the sterling qualities, high ideals and solid worth that make the real American type.

V. D. WEAVER. In the citizenship of LaGrange County few men have played a more active and varied part in the last twenty-five or thirty years than V. D. Weaver, whose name is associated with a number of important enterprises, and is also well known in public affairs through his long service as county auditor. While he is a man of many inter- ests, he is usually found in business hours in the National Bank at LaGrange, of which he is president.

He was born in Newbury Township of LaGrange County July 26, 1869, son of David and Elizabeth (Yoder) Weaver. His father was born near Johns- town, Pennsylvania, January 9, 1832, and his mother in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1842. They were reared in Pennsylvania, were married there on December 5, 1861, and about the close of the Civil war, in 1864 or 1865, came to Newbury Township of LaGrange County. They bought a farm, lived on it a short time, and then bought an- other place in the same township, where they spent the rest of their industrious and useful lives. The mother died July 10, 1886, and the father April 8, 1915. They were lifelong members of the Men- nonite Church. Their family consisted of eleven children, ten of whom are still living. Willis died after his marriage. Those still living are: Cather- ine, wife of Jonathan Farver ; Daniel, connected with the LaGrange Hardware Company; Nancy, wife of George Nelson; V. D .; Mahlon, a farmer in New- bury Township; Mary, wife of Harry J. Hostetler, of Newbury Township; Silas, a farmer in Bloom- field Township; Susan, wife of Milo Miller, of Michigan; Elizabeth, wife of William E. Hoffman,. of Kent County, Michigan; and Rose, wife of Lorenzo Blough, of Windber, Pennsylvania.

V. D. Weaver grew up on the home farm in LaGrange County, attended the district schools and later graduated in a business course from Valpa- raiso University. On returning to LaGrange he was connected with the Farver Brothers lumber busi- ness for fifteen years, and he is still a director of the Farver Lumber Company. In the meantime he had interested himself in public affairs, and being · recognized as a man of capability and good judg- ment was elected at the age of twenty-five trustee of Newbury Township. He served the long term. In December, 1903, he was appointed to fill out an unexpired term of one month in the county auditor's office, and on January I, 1904, entered that office by formal election, serving four years, and was then re-elected and held the reins of administration until

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January 1, 1911, when he retired with a splendid record to his credit. In 1910 he had been elected assistant cashier of the National Bank of LaGrange and on January 1, 1911, he entered upon his duties in that position, serving as cashier until July 1, 1919, when he hecame president of the bank.

Mr. Weaver is also a director of the Weldman State Bank, of the LaGrange Hardware Company, and is connected with a number of local organiza- tions. He is treasurer of the LaGrange Commercial Club, treasurer of the Red Cross, president of the LaGrange School Board, is Sunday school treasurer and a steward of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is treasurer of the Republican County Central Committee. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias.

December 22, 1895, Mr. Weaver married Elora Frazier. She was born at Nappanee, Indiana, November 21, 1875, and died January 8, 1910. Mr. and Mrs. Weaver had four children: G. Hobert, a graduate of high school and of the Valparaiso Com- mercial College, was cashier of the Weldman State Bank for eighteen months and then left civil life to give his services to the Government, and was con- nected with the mechanical department in the great ship building plant at Newport News. Benjamin M., the second son, is a traveling salesman for Coppes Brothers & Zook, cabinet manufacturers at Nappanee, Indiana. The two younger children are David F. and Ruth Pauline, both public school students.

WILLIAM FAIR was long and favorably known in LaGrange County, was an old Union soldier, and for half a century was identified with the agricul- tural community of Springfield Township.

He was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1844, son of Samuel and Mary (Weaver) Fair. His parents were both born in Pennsylvania, were mar- ried in Ohio and in 1866 came to LaGrange County and located in Springfield Township, where they bought eighty acres of land. Later they bought twenty acres more in the same township, and on that place spent the rest of their lives. The father was born March 11, 1818, and died August 28, 1871. The mother was born July 14, 1823, and died De- cember 23, 1908, at the age of eighty-five. The record of their children is as follows: Charles, born April 25, 1842, and died August 18, 1842; Hannah, born July 7, 1843; William, born October 12, 1844, and died August 6, 1916, his older sister Hannah surviving him and passing away September 28, 1917; Elizabeth, born May 17, 1846; Ephraim, born March 26, 1848, and died September 29, 1875 ; Manasses, born August 24, 1850; Eston, born Sep- tember 1, 1853; Nathaniel, born March 9, 1855, and died July 17, 1861 ; Emanuel, born October 10, 1860, and died July 3, 1880; and Dora Ellen, born Febru- ary II, 1867.

William Fair was reared in Ohio, attended the public schools there, and at the age of twenty, Octoher 3, 1864, enlisted in Company E of the One Hundred and Eighty-Second Ohio Infantry. He was a private during the latter period of the war and was granted his honorable discharge July 7. 1865. Soon afterward he assisted his father in buying the land in LaGrange County, and he took twenty acres there where his widow still lives. He lived there until his death and the family homestead now consists of forty acres. William Fair was a republican in politics, was public spirited, a kind neighbor and friend, and led a wholesome and un- selfish life.

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History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Volume II, Part 98

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