USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > History of St. Joseph County, Indiana > Part 47
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
M. Spencer. By this marriage he had three children. In 1832 he served as foreman of the Boston Daily Atlas. In 1833 he typed the third and fourth volumes of Bowditch's Laplace's Mecanique Celeste. In 1834-'35 he published the Lonisville Notary (weekly), and the Louisville Daily Transcript. In 1836 he published the St. Joseph Herald, in Southwestern Michigan, and the next year he essayed farming. Soon failing in means, and losing health in his family, he repaired again to the printing business, taking charge of the State printing in Indianapolis for the session of 1837-'38 of the General Assembly. In 1839-'40 he published the Equator, a literary weekly, at Bloomington, Indiana. In 1841-'42 he was again connected with the Louisville (Kentucky) press, publishing with the Popes and William H. Johnson, the last year of the daily Louisville Public Advertiser. He was afterward interested in a general job office in that city with John C. Noble. Abont this time, in his thirty-fourth year, he assumed reporting as a profession. Three sessions he served in the Kentucky Legislature for the Frank . fort and Louisville press. In 1843-'44, with M. T. C. Gould, he reported the Campbell and Rice debate, in Lexington, 1,312 pages,
8vo. Before this time he had reported a theological debate in Bellville, Hendricks county, which was printed in Indianapolis. Afterward the Weinzophfleu Catholic priest case, in the Gibson Circuit Court, at Princeton, Indiana, with other court trials in Louisville and Frankfort, Kentucky, and in Knoxville, Tennessee.
In 1845 he compiled the "Elements of Swift Writing, after Taylor and Gould"-E. Morgan & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Morton & Griswold, Louisville, Kentucky, Publishers-adapting movable types to the short-hand symbols. In 1846-'7 he wrote for the Ohio Statesman, in that State Legislature. In 1847 he was engaged in the Tennessee Legislature. Then for two years he was in the first effort made by the Washington press to establish verbatim reports in Congress, which resulted in giving the contract to Jolin C. Rives. In 1850-'51 he wrote in the Ohio and Indiana Constitu- tional Conventions. In 1852 he was again in the corps of reporters for the Daily and Congressional Globe. In 1853 he established the St. Joseph County Forum, a Democratic weekly newspaper, in South Bend. In 1855-'56 and in 1857-'58 he was engaged in the Tennessee Legislature, for the Legislative Union and American, two volumes of which were anthorized as the authentic records of that body. He also reported the proceedings and debates in the Southern Methodist General Conference, at Nashville, in May of that year. He wrote in the Minnesota Constitutional Convention in 1857, and was official reporter to the Kansas Constitutional Con- vention in 1859. In 1858-'59 he instituted the first professional reporting for the Indiana Legislature, under the title of the " Bre- vier Legislative Reports."
As a citizen, Mr. Drapier was very modest and retiring. Had he pushed himself forward, a very prominent position in public life might have been his, but he was too pure a man to stoop to
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
the arts of a politician, and too dignified a man to be popular with the rabble. Twice he was the nominee, against his own wishes, of the Democratic party for the Legislature, but was defeated with his party, which was in a hopeless minority. He had a most com- manding presence, being over six feet in height, and shapely as an Adonis. He was very frank and cordial in his greeting to friends, and courteous to all. He was grave and dignified in manner, and to some may have seemed stiff and cold, but his heart was always warm; it was the dignity of an old style gentleman. He was al. his life a Christian, and was one of the founders of the Christian, or Disciple Church in South Bend, and at times, in its early days, officiated as a lay preacher. Editor or politician, preacher or citizen, he was always the same quiet, unostentatiousman, whose real worth was not justly estimated by the stranger, but which had a warm appreciation by the many who knew him well. Death called him home Saturday, May 26, 1877. His remains were interred in the South Bend cemetery, there to await the resurrection morn. His last days were full of pain, for his affliction was one of the most painful the human system can bear; but under all he bore himself with courage and Christian resignation. He heard the summons and he answered the call:
sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.
GEORGE W. MATTHEWS.
George W. Matthews was born in Baltimore, Maryland, Jan. 17, 1810. He was married to Mrs. Hannah D. Colfax, mother of Hon. Schuyler Colfax, in New York, November, 1834. Their children numbered five, four of whom are yet living. In October, 1836, he moved with his family to New Carlisle, this county, and remained there five years, engaged in the mercantile business, until he was elected County Auditor, when he removed to South Bend. He held this office two terms, Mr. Colfax serving part of the time as his deputy. Afterward Mr. Matthews was appointed Special Agent of the Postoffice Department, by President Taylor. For twelve years he served as printing clerk of the House of Represent- atives, with rare ability, resigning in the latter part of the year 1873. The long illness, and finally the painful death of his wife, with the nnremitting care bestowed by him toward her, told upon his own health. In the spring and summer of 1873 he was thought to be in better health than he had been for years, but in August of that year, while superintending the erection of a building being built for himself, he was prostrated by a sunstroke, from which he never fully recovered. In November, 1873, he went to Buchanan, Michigan, to visit brothers residing there, hoping the change would be beneficial to his healthi, but he steadily failed so he could
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
not return to his home in South Bend. He died very easily and quietly on the 15th of January, 1874, aged 64 years. Mr. Matthews was held in great esteem by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, and in South Bend, where he was so well known, and in Washington, where he was so long in public life, he made many friendships, deep and lasting, and he will long be remembered by all for his many good qualities, which made his friendship desirable and his companionship valuable.
COLONEL ALFRED B. WADE.
Alfred Bryant Wade was the youngest son of Judge Robert Wade, and was born in South Bend, Indiana, on the 28th of De- cember, 1839. His father died when he was quite young, and he was left to the charge of his mother, who reared him with all the care a fond, religious mother could bestow. He received his education in the " old seminary," in South Bend, and although he took great interest in athletic sports was noted for his close applica- tion to study. At 16 he was the readiest off-hand speaker and most forcible debater of his age in that city. His facility in draw- ing and lettering led him to learn the marble-cutting trade, but he followed it only a few years, as the dust affected his lungs. After abandoning it he went to Pike's Peak, but soon returned and began to read law under Judge Stanfield. When the war broke out, he enlisted in the 9th Regiment. When the 73d Regiment, Indiana Volunteers was rendezvoused at South Bend, he joined it as Adju- tant, and was with it at Lexington, Chaplin Hills, in pursuit of Bragg to Wild Cat, and the fight at Gallatin, Tennessee.
In the terrible fight at Stone River, Adjutant Wade's regiment took a prominent part. It was the first of the whole army to cross Stone river under the enemy's fire on the event of the first day's battle. Its brigade there encountered Breckenridge's whole divi- sion and was obliged to recross. The next day it passed in skirmishing, and then on the 31st of December, 1862, it participated in the most terrific fighting that occurred during the whole war. When the right wing of our army was beaten back two miles, the 73d was double-quicked a mile and a half to reinforce it, and taking a position on the extreme right engaged two rebel brigades. In 20 minutes, fighting at close range, the regiment lost one-third of its entire number engaged, but checked the enemy's advance and saved the right wing of the armny. After the fight Gen. Rosecrans com- plimented the regiment in person for its bravery. Through all this fighting Adjutant Wade was with the regiment as cool and collected as on dress parade. His horse was shot from under him and he fought on foot. In one of the attacks, when the storm of rebel bullets became so thick that no force could withstand them, and a retreat was ordered, Adjutant Wade tripped twice on his sword and fell. "The second time he fell," said an eye witness, "he got up, stopped, unbuckled his sword and walked after the
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
retreating regiment as collectedly as if he were going out to drill."
When Colonel Streight organized his Independent Provisional Brigade to penetrate the enemy's country and cut his communica- tions, the 73d, which seemed to be doomed to do hard figliting, was assigned to it. Two days after it left Tuscumbia, Alabama, 1,500 strong, it was attacked by 4,000 rebel cavalry under Forrest and Roddy. The 73d was on the left flank, where it gallantly repulsed a fierce charge of the cavalry within 20 feet of its colors, and the enemy was eventually repulsed with the loss of two pieces of artillery. In another fight the same day the enemy fared no better. On the 2d of May the 73d bore the brunt of the fight at Blount's farm, and there lost its commander, Colonel Hathaway. On the next day, out of ammunition, exhausted by incessant travel- ing and fighting, and surrounded by superior forces, the brigade surrendered, and Adjutant Wade, with the rest of the officers, was taken to Libby prison, where he was confined for nearly two years, and received such injuries from close confinement that his naturally strong constitution never recovered from them. His exchange was finally secured through the influence of Schuyler Colfax, who had been his Sabbath-school teacher for many years, and who had always taken a great interest in him. He was promoted to Major and sent to take command of the 73d at Nashville, and with it picket a portion of the Tennessee river. As usual there was a great deal of fighting to do, and General Granger several times compli- mented Major Wade and his boys for their bravery and efficiency, and he was made Lieutenant-Colonel. In the latter part of 1864 the 73d was sent to Athens, Alabama, which Forrest had captured a few days before with 600 men, and then abandoned it. Colonel Wade's orders were to hold the place, and he did it most success- fully. He constructed a bomb-proof of his own invention inside the fort. On the 1st of October Gen. Buford, with 4,000 cavalry and a few pieces of artillery, appeared before Athens, and a skirmish was kept up all that day, Col. Wade having but 500 men and two pieces of artillery. At six o'clock the next morning Gen. Buford opened a fire, but owing to the bomb-proof Col. Wade sustained no loss, though he managed to inflict a serious one on the enemy. After two hours' hard fighting Gen. Buford sent in a flag of truce and demanded a surrender, " to stop the effusion of blood," and wound up by saying that he would not be responsible for the action of his men if Wade did not surrender. Col. Wade replied that he had been ordered to hold the fort and intended to do it, and as to. stopping the effusion of blood, there had been none among his men to stop. As soon as the bearer of the flag of truce reached Buford's lines, and before the rebel general had time to recover from his sur- prise at the audacity of a Yankee boy who was not afraid to fight 4,000 trained cavalry with a handful of men, Col. Wade opened a fierce fire among the enemy's ranks and Buford and his men precipitately retreated with great loss. The loss to Colonel Wade's men was so slight as to attract special mention. For his
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
gallantry at Athens Lieutenant-Col. Wade was promoted to the Colonelcy of the 73d, which was the only Indiana regiment which went through the war with but two Colonels. On his muster out with the regiment, he went to Ann Arbor and graduated; then returned to South Bend and opened a law office and practiced his profession until the accession of Grant to the Presidency, when he was appointed postmaster. He was re-appointed in 1873.
Colonel Wade was a member of the Presbyterian Church. His mother, who was a member of that Church from its organization, named him after its first minister, Rev. Alfred Bryant.
In the fall of the same year that he was mustered out of the ser- vice (1865) he was married to Miss Jennie Bond, of Niles, Michi- gan. The union was a very happy one, and was blessed by four children.
On Tuesday morning, Feb. 27, 1877, Colonel Wade left South Bend for Crum's Point, abont ten miles distant, to hunt ducks. He went alone, taking with him his dog, gun, sachel, pail of provi- sions, and a light metal boat built in two sections. On arriving at the Point he left his horse and wagon in charge of Christian Haller, launched his boat and started on the hunt. About four or five o'clock the same afternoon the dog returned to Haller's, but nothing strange was thought of the matter. On Wednesday, while two men who were trapping along the river were examining their traps, they came across Col. Wade's boat, opposite the farm of Henry Burden. It had apparently drifted down stream until it lodged in the grass and bulrushes a short distance from the shore. They pulled it in, and also secured a buffalo robe a short distance below, floating on the water. On the seat of the boat lay the Colonel's gun case; close beside it was his breech-loading gun. The alarm was immediately given, and some fifteen or twenty men engaged in the search for the body and continued until compelled to abandon it on account of the darkness. Early the next morning the search was resumed, and the body of the Colonel was found abont three-fourths of a mile above where the boat was found. The theory of the drowning was that he was sitting in the boat eating his dinner, when he was seized with one of his dizzy spells, which had been troubling him for some time, and falling to one side, careened the boat sufficiently to throw him out into the river; that the water revived him and he struck out for the shore, but failed to reach it, thongh an excellent swimmer, on account of the icy coldness of the water chilling him into a state of numbness .. His body was at onee taken to South Bend, where an inquest was held with the verdict of "accidental drowning." His funeral was con- ducted under the auspices of the South Bend Commandery, No. 13, K. T., and Crusade Lodge No. 14, K. of P.
HORATIO CHAPIN.
Horatio Chapin was born in Bernardstown, Mass., in 1803. In 1822 he moved to Detroit, Michigan, and in 1831 to South Bend,
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
Indiana, then consisting of about a dozen log cabins. In this same year he called on the different professors of religion in South Bend with reference to the necessity of establishing a Sabbath-school. A meeting was held and a union Sabbath-school organized. This school afterward, being suspended for a time, was by a similar effort re-organized in 1833. At both organizations Mr. Chapin was elected superintendent. By old settlers Mr. Chapin was termed the " Pioneer of Sabbath-schools in St. Joseph county." In 1835 separate Sabbath-schools were organized in connection with the Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian Churches. On the organi- zation of the Presbyterian Church in 1834, Mr. Chapin was one of the first members received, and was one of its officers from that time until his death. In 1838 the South Bend branch of the State Bank of Indiana was established and Mr. Chapin became its cash- jer, which office he filled for over twenty years. In 1862 he became connected with, and manager of, the private banking house of Chapin, Wheeler & Co., in Chicago. Two or three years after he retired from the business, and returned to South Bend.
Mr. Chapin was a man of considerable culture, being niore or less thoroughly acquainted with several branches of knowledge, such as medicine, theology, finance, horticulture and natural science. He was a man of great strength and decision of character. With Puri- tan firmness he stood fast by his convictions and principles. In his character was illustrated the rugged strength of the oak. From the day he came to South Bend his influence was continuously exerted on behalf of morality, intelligence and religion. In his long career as a business man, those who knew him most thor- onghly testify to his life-long integrity. During the last years of his life, he seemed to ripen fast for the kingdom of heaven. Unceas- ingly he gave his dying testimony as to the preciousness of the Lord Jesus Christ as his only and all-sufficient Savior, in whom alone lie trusted for salvation, or acceptance with God. He was called to his final home on the thirteenth day of May, 1871.
SAMUEL BYERLY.
Samnel Byerly was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1796. His father was a partner and relative of Josiah Wedgewood, the great pottery manufacturer, and inventor of the "queensware " which is now used everywhere throughout the civilized world. But in the days of the Wedgewood-Byerly partnership this ware had not acquired much celebrity, and before the firm became wealthy Mr. Byerly died, leaving his family in limited circumstances. Samuel was then thirteen years old, and had received only a limited education, but Staffordshire sends no drones out into the world, and young Byerly left to his own reasources did not long remain idle, but applied himself diligently to acquiring an education and securing a living. His aptitude for learning, untiring industry and strength of char- acter soon attracted attention, his amenity of manners made him
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.
very popular, and before he was of age he found himself on the highway to wealth, position and influence. He was a close student, and although self-educated, could speak seven different languages; was as conversant with the French, Italian, German, Spanish, Latin and Greek, as with his native tongue.
During the Napoleonic wars Mr. Byerly was chosen as dispatch carrier to Russia, a position of great importance, but surrounded with innumerable dangers. Once his route took him across one arm of the Baltic sea. He was obliged to make the crossing, some three or four hundred miles, in an open boat. It was in winter, and the sea was filled with floating ice. The trip was made, but nearly all his companions were frozen. At the close of the wars he traveled pretty much all over Europe, visiting among other places Norway, Sweden, Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, Greece, Turkey and Turkey in Asia, He finally settled in Trieste and became a partner in a large commercial house. While there he became acquainted with and married the lady who survived him. She is a native of Tyrol, a niece of Andrew Hofer, the Wallace of Tyrol, commander of the Tyrolese insurrection in 1809, during the war between France and Austria. Hofer, whom the Tyrolese fairly worshiped, was betrayed and shot, but his brave and chivalrous deeds are still the wonder and talk in the mountains and valleys of Tyrol.
In 1832 Mr. Byerly severed his connection with the firm in Trieste and came to the United States. His administrative and executive ability, his rare business qualifications and linguistic powers soon attracted the attention of Howell & Aspinwall, of New York, then one of the largest mercantile and shipping firms in the United States. He was admitted to the firm and soon took entire charge of the vast commercial and shipping interests. The firm had ships on every ocean; their trade extended to every quarter of the globe. Many New Yorkers yet remember Samuel Byerly as the business prodigy of that city, laboring unceasingly, for years, twenty hours out of the twenty-four, and dispatching business with a celerity and accuracy of which few men are capable. Ten years of such life had their effect on even as robust a life as Mr. Byerly possessed, and in 1843, then fifty years old, he retired from busi- ness and came West seeking a home where he might pass the rest of his time with his family, in quiet. Struck with the beauty of South Bend and its surroundings, he settled here, built him a country house and passed the remainder of his days in horticultural pursuits and with his books, for he was an unwearied, untiring student to the close of his life.
Mr. Byerly was noted for his kindness of heart and generosity of character. He scattered his bounties with an unstinted hand, hardly stopping to inquire if the objects of his beneficence were worthy or not; in short, he was generous to his own pecuniary injury. He was not less remarkable for his buoyancy and bright- ness and his delight to labor over whatever work he had in hand. This was also characteristic of his brothers, several of whom held
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important civil or military positions in England, and of his sister, Mrs. Catherine Thompson, a well-known English historian and romancist.
Mr. Byerly was a member of the Catholic Church. His death occurred Saturday, March 10, 1870. His remains were deposited in the cemetery at Notre Dame.
ELISHA EGBERT.
Elisha Egbert was born in New Jersey in 1806. At an early day his father moved to Lebanon, Ohio, where his boyhood days were spent. He studied law with Hon. Thomas Corwin, then a rising young lawyer. He removed to Sonth Bend in 1829, and soon after engaged in teaching school. He was among the first teachers in the county. He was present at the organization of the first courts in Elkhart, St. Joseph and La Porte counties, and at the time of his decease was the last of the first members of the Bar of Northern Indiana. He was said to be the first admitted to practice in the courts north of the Wabash river, and was plaintiff in the third suit on the records of St. Joseph county. In 1834 he was appointed probate judge. With the exception of one term, which time he spent in farming, he continued to hold that position until the office was abolished in 1852, when he was elected common pleas judge, which position he held for 18 years, up to the time of his death. Many were the changes in political parties in the course of his long, judicial career, but so fully did he have the confidence of his fellow citizens that his election seemed to follow as a matter of course. On the 4th day of November, 1870, he was called to his reward above. Judge Egbert was a member of the Masonic order and was buried by the members of the order in South Bend. The South Bend Commandery, in their resolutions of respect thus speaks of him. "In paying an appropriate tribute to the memory of our deceased Brother and Companion, it is eminently proper to state that during a long life, nearly all of which has been spent in our midst, he has been the one to whom the sorrowing of earth could go and have their grief assuaged; that for more than a quarter of a century he has been a faithful Mason, in early life having presided over St. Joseph lodge, of which he was so long an acceptable mem- ber; that he has filled highly honorable and responsible positions in the chapter in which he belonged, and feeling, as he often said, that he had a desire to travel the full length of the Masonic road, a few months since he presented his application for the orders of Knighthood, and but quite recently passed through these solemn ceremonies, exhibiting as he did his goodness of heart, when receiv- ing the crowing glory of Masonry. He expressed a desire that he should be buried by the order. Judge Egbert was the courteous gentleman, the warm-hearted friend, devoted companion, affection- ate parent and true Mason."
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HISTORY OF ST. JOSEPHI COUNTY.
A local writer thus speaks of Judge Egbert: "He studied law in the office of Hon. Thomas Corwin, of Ohio. That generous old Roman took him into his family, boarded him, and treated him as one of their number. When the young student got through his studies, and was admitted to the Bar, he was, like most other Western students of law, without money and without clients. His old preceptor said to him: ' Now Lishe, you owe me three or four hundred dollars, and it does not make much difference whether you can pay it or not, but I advise you to strike out into some new country and begin for yourself.' He did so, and pitched his tent amongst us. In eight or ten years afterward, Corwin was broken up by endorsement for friends. The gratefulstudent, though pushed with debts himself, did not forget his benefactor. As soon as he heard of his misfortune, he sent him six or seven hundred dol- lars. I saw Corwin's reply. It was a warm and sympathetic reply, characteristic of the great and good man. For the first year or so after Judge Egbert settled here there was very little litigation in the country. The people did not have time to dispute much. All were intent on getting a home, and honest, hard work was considered the most legitimate way of accomplishing that end. Our young lawyer had to look to some other avocation for a living, in connec- tion with his profession. One of the first houses built in the new town was a log school-house. I think it was four logs high, and 16 by 20 feet square, The logs were liewed, and not less than two feet wide. This was the common meeting-house for all religious purposes for several years. Mr. Egbert opened a school in this house in the summer of 1831 and taught for several quarters, at the same time practicing law and speculating a little. In 1834 he was commissioned probate judge and held the office until 1838, when he was elected a member of the Legislature over Captain Anthony Defrees. Both candidates were Whigs. In that day nobody regarded the politics of a candidate for the Legislature on national questions. A Whig would vote for a Democrat for the Legislature as quick as he would for one of his own political faith, and Demo- crats would as soon vote for a Whig under the same circumstances. The party lines were never drawn until 1840.
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