USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 15
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The company was incorporated with a capital stock of sixteen thou-
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Charles Fr Hegel.
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leaving five sons and six daughters, and in later years the father sold the property, moving to Wayne county, where one of his married daughters lived, there making his home with her. He later married a second time, and spent his remaining days in the home of Harvey B., of this review, dying there at the age of seventy-nine years.
Harvey B. LaSelle made his home under the roof-tree of his parents until 1854, bearing his full share in the pioneer work that fell to the lot of the family as home-makers in a new country, and in the hardships that never failed to attend pioneer life. His total schooling did not exceed nine months, covering three periods of three months each at the district school of the community, located nearly two miles from his home. In 1854 he came to Wabash and here began working in a sawmill which then occupied the present site of the Big Four Railroad shops. This sawmill was the property of Hanner & Burr, and for his services as a laborer in the mill Mr. LaSelle received $1.25 and his board daily. He became head sawyer of the mill, having made continued advancement from post to post, but when he married in January, 1855, he decided to turn his attention to farm life again. The summer following his marriage he farmed the old place in Huntington county, after which he moved back to Wabash county and for three years he occupied a rented farm,. three miles southeast of Wabash on the Marion road. Then, in company with his brothers, George and Elizur, he bought a sawmill on the Vernon pike, some two miles south of Wabash, and he was thus engaged until 1863. During that time he sawed the lumber that built a good part of those early plank roads of Wabash county. In the spring of 1864 he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, nine and a half miles northwest of Wabash, only about one acre of which was cleared. He bought the farm for the timber it furnished, but moved to it and lived there from January, 1864, until March, 1875. He and his brother Elizur purchased a circular sawmill outfit and started in sawing timber. About four years later they moved to Wabash and sawed there until 1871, when they moved the mill to Chili, in Miami county, but still made his home on the Wabash county farm. Elizur LaSelle died in the next year and Mr. LaSelle sold the mill, turning his attention to his farm and devoting himself to the business of clearing and improving the place he had bought a few years previous. In November, 1874, Mrs. LaSelle, nee Sarah Jane Mitten, died, the mother of nine children, four of whom are now living, and who are here mentioned briefly as follows: Charles E .; John S .; Ellen, the wife of George Williams; and Clarence H.
In 1876 Mr. LaSelle married a second time, Elizabeth S. Williams becoming his wife. She died in March, 1907. A third marriage of Mr. LaSelle was contracted in 1909, when he wed Miss Cynthia H. Harrell.
In the spring of 1875, Mr. LaSelle left his farm and took up his abode in Wabash, where he has since made his home, and where he has played a conspicuous part in the civic life of the community. He cast his first presidential ballot for General John C. Fremont and has ever since that time voted the republican ticket. For more than fifty years he
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has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he has held all chairs in that and the Encampment. He is also a member of the Canton and of the Rebeccas. In the matter of civic service he has served two terms of two years each, a trustee of Noble township, and he has in many ways demonstrated the high character of his citizenship in the city and county. His standing in the community is an excellent one, well worthy of him, and he has a wide circle of friends hereabouts, though he has practically outlived his generation, and is one of the few men of the county who knew it in the early forties, as did he.
THE WABASH COUNTY LOAN & TRUST COMPANY. With a business life of less than seven years The Wabash County Loan & Trust Company has proved itself one of the most vigorous financial institutions in this part of the state. The origin of the company goes back to July 25, 1907, when a meeting was held for purposes of organization, the members present having been Nelson G. Hunter, Thomas E. Whiteside, Reuben F. Lutz, Alex Pence, Charles S. Baer, William S. Stitt, Aaron Simon, all of whom were elected directors of the company. The first officers were: Nelson G. Hunter, president; Charles S. Baer, vice president ; and John B. Latchem, secretary and treasurer. The capital stock was at first placed at sixty thousand dollars, all of it being paid up. The purposes for which The Wabash County Loan & Trust Company was organized was for the transaction of a general banking business, the performance of trusteeship and all other duties of a fiduciary and business nature provided under its charter and the state laws. On September 1.7, 1907, Charles S. Rose was elected cashier, and the company began business at once. Owing to the large volume of its transactions the capital stock was increased in January, 1913, to $125,000, the last available statement in 1913 showing a surplus and undivided profit of $31,000.
Mr. Rose, the cashier, resigned in January, 1913, being succeeded by George Martin. Mr. Latchem died in July, 1913, and was succeeded by Charles S. Baer, and Miss Lucy Latchem was elected assistant secretary and treasurer. On the 15th of October, 1913, Mr. Baer retired from the secretaryship of the company and was succeeded by Miss Lucy Latchem. In January, 1914, Mr. Baer sold his interests in the company, and has since been devoting his time to his private business. The Wabash County Loan & Trust Company has enjoyed a prosperous existence, and has the complete confidence of the public which it serves.
CHARLES S. BAER. Until recently one of the chief executive officers of the Wabash County Loan & Trust Company, Charles S. Baer aside from these financial relations has been known in this business community as a lumber manufacturer and dealer. Thirty-three years ago he had his first experience in a subordinate capacity in a local factory, and has sold lumber products, has managed milling interests, and since 1895 has been at the head of a large wholesale hardwood lumber concern, with its main offices in Wabash.
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Mr. Baer is an example of a farm boy who was reared and trained in the rural atmosphere, and by force of ability has won a successful position in commercial affairs. He was born on a farm near Canton in Stark county, Ohio, August 2, 1856, a son of William C. and Christina Baer. When he was ten years old his parents moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, locating on a farm, where he grew up and received the usual advantages of the schools of an Indiana community. On March 27, 1879, Mr. Baer married Ella Truxell of Wabash, a daughter of William P. and Eliza Truxell.
For one year after his marriage he continued on a farm in Kosciusko county, and then moved to Liberty Mills in Wabash county, had one year's experience as a school teacher, and in 1881 became identified with the lumber business in Wabash. His first employment was with the L. Bruner & Son in their spoke and bending factory. He was factory inspector and later traveling salesman in the distribution of their products, and continued with the Bruner concern until 1889, when he engaged in the saw milling business in Wabash. Since 1895 his attention has been exclusively devoted to the hardwood lumber trade.
Mr. Baer was one of the organizers of the Wabash Valley Loan & Savings Association in 1894, was elected its first vice-president, later becoming president, and holding that office for fifteen years. When the Wabash County Loan & Trust Company succeeded the older association, Mr. Baer accepted the place of vice-president, but sold out his interests and retired in January, 1914.
Mr. and Mrs. Baer are the parents of two children: Bess, who is a graduate of the Wabash high school and of DePauw University, and is now teacher of mathematics in the Wabash high school; and Miss Lou Baer, who lives at home. His fraternal affiliations are with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Bene- volent and Protective Order of Elks. Active in community affairs, he served nine years on the Wabash Board of Education, from 1903 to 1912. He has also served as a member of the Carnegie Library Board of Wabash, and is now a member of the Falls Cemetery Board of that city. Mr. Baer is one of the trustees and on the board of stewards of the First Methodist Episcopal church of Wabash.
WILLIAM A. CONNER. Although more than forty years have passed since the late William A. Conner journeyed to those shores toward which all mankind is hastening, the influence of his well-spent, useful and energetic life still remains as an example to aspiring youth and the services which he rendered his community in the fields of commerce and trade link his name indissolubly with those whose activities laid the foundation upon which was built the great county of Wabash.
Born in Fayette county, Indiana, in July, 1826, he was a son of Daniel and Elizabeth Dicken Conner, farming people of that part of the state. His early life was spent on a farm and he received his scholastic training in the district schools and a seminary. Although a poor boy, he obtained a good education for those days. After attending
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MRS. CAROLINE CONNER, AND FINISHED IN 1882. RESIDENCE OF ELLA M. CONNER, WABASH, INDIANA. ERECTED BY HER MOTHER,
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welfare of the city, and for her interest in her church. She was reared on a farm, attended the district schools and a girls' seminary in Rush county. Although her parents were comparatively well-to-do for that period, after her marriage she helped her husband in many ways to lay the foundation of their fortune, and in their early married life, while operating the mercantile establishment, she spent many hours behind the counter assisting her husband to wait on trade. She was ever a helpful and faithful wife and made many sacrifices and self-denials in their early married life. After they had moved to Wabash and were well on the road to a deserved prosperity, she continued to take an active interest in all her husband's affairs. At the time of his death a great deal of unfinished business remained, although her husband had retired from active business, he had invested largely in farm land and real estate and died before these deals had been entirely completed. Mrs. Conner carried out faithfully and with excellent judgment his last wishes and finished the business perhaps as capably as Mr. Conner could have done had he been spared. In 1881-82 Mrs. Conner erected on the grounds on West Main Street, where they had long lived, what was then the finest home in Wabash county, and which still stands a handsome monument to her business ability. A fine engraving of that old land mark in the residence district of Wabash accompanies this sketch.
WARREN G. SAYRE. In the various relations which have combined to form his career, the Hon. Warren G. Sayre, of Wabash, has made an enviable record. As a brilliant attorney at law, as a public servant rendering signal service to his fellow men, and as an honorable, upright citizen, he has performed faithfully and efficiently every responsibility which has devolved upon him, and in every connection has shown him- self eminently worthy to bear the name of this old and honored family, which has been widely known in Wabash county for upwards of eighty years. Mr. Sayre was born July 29, 1844, on a farm three and one- half miles northeast of Lagro, Wabash county, Indiana, and is a son of Daniel and Mary Newhall (Grover) Sayre.
Daniel Sayre was born in Seneca county, New York, a son of Benja- min Sayre, a stone mason by trade. The family moved to Miami county, Ohio, when he was a small child, and later to Richmond, Indiana, during the early history of the state. His father was one of the contractors of the old National road and built the abutment and piers of the bridge over Whitewater river at Richmond. From Richmond Benjamin Sayre moved to Muncie, Indiana, where he lived for many years, and thence to Wabash, where he died at 90 years of age; a son, Henry C. Sayre, is still living here. Daniel Sayre was born June 6, 1815, and in 1832 went to Fort Wayne and there found employment as axeman and general utility man in the construction of the Wabash & Erie Canal. He went down the canal as far as Logansport with the surveying party, and either in the fall of 1832 or the spring of 1833 came to Wabash county. and for a time lived with a man named Rogers, in Lagro township,
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opposite the mouth of the Salamonie river. In 1834 he purchased a tract of land from the Government, located on Section 6, Township 26 North, Range 7 East, on which he erected a round-log cabin and began to clear his farm. As time passed he improved and cultivated his land, and about the year 1835 was married to Mary Newhall Grover, who was born in Lexington, Kentucky, a daughter of the Rev. Joel Grover, a Methodist preacher. Daniel Sayre did not live on this property long, however, but moved to Hopewell (now so-called), three and one-half miles north-east of Lagro. In 1848 he moved to the latter place and em- barked in mercantile pursuits, and for many years lived there as well as at Wabash, continuing in the same line of endeavor. In 1865 he retired from active business pursuits, but in 1876 was appointed postmaster at Wabash, and was reappointed by President Garfield, serving in all eight years. Previous to this time, in 1872, he was elected a member of the state legislature, but, with others, resigned in order to break a quorum, as it was known the democrats were planning to gerrymander the state. He died in 1897 and the mother in 1902. Of their nine children four are now living, Warren G. being the sixth in order of birth.
Mr. Sayre received his early education in the public schools of Wabash, and was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, in 1865. He then commenced reading law in the office of John U. Pettit, at Wabash, and in 1866 he was admitted to the bar of the state. Ever since that time (with the exception of a period of four years) he has been engaged in practice in Wabash. In 1865 he was appointed county school examiner, in 1868 was elected mayor of the city of Wabash, an office which he held for four successive terms, and in 1880 was elected joint senator from Kosciusko and Wabash counties. In 1884 he was elected representative from the same counties, and in 1886 was elected representative from Wabash county, and in the session beginning in 1887 was chosen speaker of the house. During all this time his earnest and conscientious efforts in the performance of his duty was attracting widespread and favorable attention, and November 4, 1889, he was appointed by President Harrison a member of the Cherokee Commission which was created to extinguish the Indian titles of land in Oklahoma in order that it could be opened for settlement. At the end of four years, this stupendous task was completed, the commissioners having spent over $13,000,000 during this time in buying Indian lands and bought an area equal to two-thirds of Indiana. In 1902 and again in 1904 Mr. Sayre was elected to the legislature from Wabash county, and he has also been a candidate for the nomination for governor of the state. Few men have had such a long experience in high public office, certainly none has brought more honor and distinction to his native county. In his fraternal connections, he is a valued member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On January 8, 1865, Mr. Sayre was married to Miss Martha Jane Bronk, of Albany, New York, who died October 22, 1906, being the mother of four children, only one of whom, Daniel Bronk Sayre, is now living. Mr. Sayre married again, November 13, 1909, Mrs. Ida A.
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(Smith) Davis, whose father, Thomas G. Smith, is a well-known attorney at Huntington, Indiana, becoming his wife. She was the widow of Charles W. Davis, a merchant at Wabash, by whom she is the mother of two children, viz: Mrs. Charles Huff of Wabash, and Dr. Thomas K. Davis, of New York City. Mr. Sayre is now a great-grandfather, his son's daughter, Henrietta V. Sayre having united in marriage with Mr. Ed- ward Raymond McClung, June 12, 1912. Mr. McClung is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy, and he is now an Ensign, and with the De- stroyer Warrington in Mexican waters. His son, Edgar Raymond Mc- Clung, Jr., was born June 10, 1913.
U. A. ANDERSON. In other articles appearing in this work frequent mention has been made of the astounding growth Wabash county has undergone during the past few years, and of the many new buildings, especially residences, that have been erected during that time. All, or nearly all, of the contracts that have been placed for these have been given to the county's home contractors, one of the most prominent of whom is U. A. Anderson, of Lagro, carrying on general contracting and building in partnership with his son. Mr. Anderson is well known in Wabash county, having spent his life here since his fourth year, with the exception of four years in Indianapolis. The fundamental under- lying principles of success in any line are simple honesty, ruggedness of character, frugality, and assiduous application to hard work. In none of these has Mr. Anderson been lacking, and to them he can give credit for the high place he has attained in the business world and in the general esteem of his fellow-citizens.
U. A. Anderson was born in Marion county, Indiana, October 8, 1864, and is a son of Elijah and Lucy (Walters) Anderson. His father was born and reared in Marion county, and his mother in Hendricks county, Indiana, and moved to Wabash county in 1868, settling in Lagro town- ship, one mile east of Urbana. The father spent his entire active career in the tilling of the soil and at this time is retired from hard labor and is enjoying his declining years quietly at his home at Lagro, surrounded by the comforts which his years of industry have brought him. He and Mrs. Anderson have been the parents of four children : Uriah A., of this review; Frank, of Lagro; Alice, who married E. Haguewood; William, of Lagro; and Maude, who died at the age of twelve years.
Uriah Alexander Anderson was given good educational advantages in his youth, first attending the district schools of Lagro township and later being a student in the Lagro High school. When he left the latter institu- tion he became apprenticed to the trade of carpenter, at the age of seven- teen years, and applied himself to learning thoroughly every detail of that occupation. This accomplished, he embarked upon a career of his own as a carpenter, and remained at Lagro until 1888, in which year he went to Indianapolis, there following his vocation until 1893. He then returned to Lagro, which has since been the scene of his activities. By the time of his return, through his industry and frugality, he had accu- mulated enough to start in business as an independent contractor in a
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JACOB A. SHULTZ. A list of those Wabash county citizens, who have worthily prospered, and have attained that position of competence desired by every ambitious man, would not be complete without the name of Jacob A. Shultz. Now living retired at Urbana, he is surrounded with ample material means and comfort, has family and friends, and stands as a man of intelligence and influence in the community. As a result of his well directed efforts, he is now the owner of two hundred and thirty-five acres of valuable farm land, in Paw Paw township and Noble township.
Jacob A. Shultz is a son of George and Catherine (Karns) Shultz, early residents of Lagro township. Catherine Karns who was born in Switzerland, came to the United States with her parents, who located in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where she married George Shultz. The latter came to the United States from Germany, with his parents, Peter Shultz and wife, who also settled in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. George and Catherine, following their marriage, moved to Indiana, and the Shultz family came at the same time. They all located in Lagro township of Wabash county, and the Karns family came and settled there soon after- wards. George Shultz bought a tract of land from the government, paying a dollar and a quarter per acre. That tract in itself indicates the early settlement in this vicinity, and a traveler in those days could drive for miles through the woods and across the swamps, and seldom see a cabin or a clearing. The land office was at Fort Wayne, and George Shultz went there to make his entry and pay his land office fee. Fort Wayne itself was then in the woods, and most of the houses of this section of Indiana were of logs. There were few, if any, good roads in this part of the state, and the swamps made it necessary for the settlers to follow devious routes in order to reach market. About 1870 George and Catherine Shultz moved to Paw Paw township, where he died about six years later at the age of fifty-five. Catherine Shultz died in Paw Paw township on the old farm about 1888. George Shultz at the time of his death owned several valuable farms, one of five hundred and twenty acres in Lagro township, one of one hundred and sixty acres in Noble township, and one hundred and twenty-eight acres in Paw Paw township. He was a self-made man in the fullest sense of the term, coming here without any means and dying a comparatively wealthy man. He and his wife were the parents of eleven children, the first dying in infancy, and the others mentioned as follows: Elizabeth, deceased; Catherine; Peter, who went west and was not again heard of; Sophia, deceased; Jacob A .; Mary; Philomena, deceased; Sarah, deceased ; George, deceased; Fred, deceased.
Jacob A. Shultz was born on the Shultz farm in Lagro township, land which his father had taken up from the government, grew up in that locality, attended the public schools at Urbana, about two months each winter, and as soon as his strength permitted he was given all he could do in the varied duties of the farm, and also did his share of the clearing and improving. When he was a boy of about thirteen, the family moved to Paw Paw township, and he lived at home until after his marriage. In the fall following that event he bought one hundred
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and thirty acres, and began farming for himself. His father-in-law, Asa Kanower, owned thirty acres adjoining, and Mr. Shultz later bought that place giving him a full quarter section of land. His steady industry gradually wrought many changes in the land, it was thoroughly culti- vated, the low places were tiled, and the farm came to be esteemed as one of the most productive in the township. General farming has been the line chiefly followed by Mr. Shultz, and after he had spent about twenty-six years on his original homestead, he decided to retire and let his sons work the land on shares. Therefore he bought his present place of seventy-six acres at Urbana, on the west side of the Manchester Pike, remodeled the house until it has become a large modern residence, and has since lived there in comfort, busied only with the supervision of his varied interests.
In the spring of 1881, Jacob A. Shultz was married to Mary L. Kanower, a daughter of Asa and Jemima Kanower. Her father is now deceased. To their marriage have been born four children, as follows: Homer F., who married Lucy Helkema, a native of Holland, and they reside in Noble township, and have one child, Nada; Clarence F., who manages his father's farm; Naomi and Nondus, twins. Naomi is Mrs. Charles Kefaber, a resident of Chester township, and they have two children, Ruth and Kenneth; Nondus is Mrs. Ezra Pretorius, and they live on a farm in Lagro township, and have one child, Josephine. Like his father before him, Jacob A. Schultz is a strong democrat. Although his father for his time was quite prosperous and gave his children all a start in the world, Jacob A. has made a fine success outside of what his father was able to give him. It is such men as Mr. Shultz who have made Wabash county what it is today.
SAMUEL AMBER. Steady industry, when combined with honorable methods, invariably results in the establishment of a high record in the business world, and in no line is this more true than in that pertain- ing to the furnishing of food stuffs. Samuel Amber is well known in this connection, being the proprietor of a general store and bakery at Urbana, where he also conducts one of the most popular hostelries in this section, the Hotel Central. He has spent his entire life within the limits of Wabash county, and by reason of his industry, perseverance and integrity has risen to a high place in the esteem of those who have come into contact with him in a business way. Mr. Amber was born November 8, 1859, on the old homestead farm located one-half mile west of Urbana, Indiana, and is a son of Robert and Parmelia (Freeman) Amber.
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