History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 21

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 619

USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 21

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His parents were Wiley and Eliza (McVicker) Reed. Eliza Mc- Vicker was born in Wabash county, her parents having come from Fay- ette county, among the first settlers, and she lived here the greater part of her life and died June 4, 1889. Wiley Reed was born February 4, 1833, in Huntington county. That date indicates an early time in the history of his section of Indiana. The Indians were still all along the Wabash river, and only here and there had the sturdy settlers cleared a space in the wilderness and effected a beginning of the improvements which were to transform the entire landscape into a checkerboard of farms and towns and cities. John Reed, father of Wiley, was a splendid type of the old pioneer, and lived to a very ripe age, passing away at Bloomington, Illinois, in 1899. When he came to this section of the Wabash valley, he found only here and there a settlement and a lonely cabin in the midst of the green woods. Two other families came with him, and they all located near Hopewell. John Reed had only five dol- lars in cash when he arrived, and the journey hither was made with a wagon and a two-horse team. Some of the incidents of their early settle- ment are still preserved in family traditions. It is said that when the family reached their destination their goods were unloaded under a

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beech tree, whose foliage furnished them their first shelter. The three families cooperated after the fashion of most of the early settlers, and each week by their united labors a log house was constructed, until each family had a home of its own. These were some of the first families to locate in a large section of country, and almost the only people they saw for some months were friendly Indians, who often called at the cabin door, usually begging something to eat, and the relations between the red men and the whites were never strained. Some time later other families moved in and gradually the area of settlement was extended and various improvements introduced. During the first years the woods and fields supplied wild game for provisions, and while there were few luxuries the people lived in a style of substantial comfort that left many happy memories for later days.

Wiley Reed grew up under such circumstances and during the pio- neer times of northern Indiana. He was married in Wabash county, and soon afterwards took his little family west, living in Missouri and in Iowa. He bought a small farm, in the latter state, and was living there at the time of the Civil war. Soon after the beginning of the war, the authorities caused the erection of some breastworks within half a mile of his little home, and the prospects were for fighting in that very vicinity, possibly on his own land. Under those circumstances he con- sidered it best to send his family east, and in the following spring he him- self returned to Indiana. Arriving in Wabash county, he rented a farm in Lagro township, and continued as a renter until about 1883, when he bought some land. He is still living on his farm near Lincolnville in Lagro township, and although well advanced in years is still hale and hearty and to quote his own words "is still good for his forty bushels of corn a day." Wiley Reed and wife were the parents of eight children, two of whom died in infancy, and the others are: Florence, the widow of Richard Hill; Charles Daniel; Mary, Mrs. Jacob Howard; Joseph; John; Della, widow of William Gillespie.

Charles D. Reed was born in Harrison county, Iowa, December 26, 1858. His earliest recollections group themselves about the Iowa farm, where he was born, but he was still very young when the family returned to Indiana. He remembers how fine the soldiers looked in their blue uniforms and brass buttons, and can also recall how his father brought his little household to the river and accompanied them in a canoe built of a log, to the other side of the stream. That incident was during the family migration from Iowa to Indiana. While growing up in Wabash county, he attended the district schools, and as the oldest son had to help his father with his work, and accordingly had his opportunities cut to the barest fundamentals of education. In the early days, his father used to cut the hay with a scythe, while the son Charles had a stick pointed at each end, and with that turned the hay for drying, and it was with such crude implements that much of the early farming was done in Wabash and other sections of Indiana. The practical part of his education was never neglected, since he learned how to shoot wild game, fish in the streams, and from his Indian playmates acquired the Vol. II-12

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art of shooting fish in the water with a bow and arrow. In later years by close observation, by reading of books and current literature, and by association with men, Mr. Reed has more than made up for such knowl- edge as was neglected in his early training.

In February, 1886, Charles D. Reed married Addie Jeffery, a daugh- ter of William and Tabitha (Jackson) Jeffery. To their happy marriage has been born eight children as follows: Clinton, who lives in Montana, and by his marriage to Lydia Ennis has one child, Dessa; Carrie; IIarry, a machinist at Detroit ; Jesse ; Inez; Ray ; Hovey ; and Robert.

For many years Mr. Reed rented land, having to depend upon his own energy, and without the fortune of inheritance, so that all he has represents the capable endeavors and management of himself and wife. He and his father spent eighteen years altogether on the old Ed. Busick farm west of Lincolnville, his father having lived there eleven years and the son seven years. After leaving that farm Mr. Reed rented the Joseph Busick place northwest of Wabash for about five years. In the meantime he had pursued a thrifty and economical course, and on leaving the Joseph Busick farm bought one hundred acres in Huntington county, paying for it three thousand dollars cash. Although he had a nice farm there he and his wife yearned for their old friends in Wabash county, and three years later he sold out and bought his present farm in Decem- ber, 1901. This comprises one hundred and forty-six acres, two acres having been sold for the right of way for the proposed interurban line. He owns some other land in the same township. Mr. Reed and his sons follow general farming. Each one of his boys remained with him for a number of years, and was given a practical education in the schools, and also a good training for independent careers, each having the ability to ride a horse and to perform some small duties when only six years of age.

Mr. Reed has been very successful as a business man, and it may be said that he has been in business ever since a small boy. One day he was coming home with one of his father's stray calves, and was met by a man who offered him eight dollars for the young animal. The boy dick- ered with the purchaser until he was paid twelve dollars, and on reaching home, concluded an agreement with his father by which he paid the lat- ter ten dollars and retained the other two dollars as profit for himself. Thereafter he represented his father as agent in many similar trans- actions. With the two dollars just mentioned he bought some little pigs, which were in turn traded to his father for a colt, and by a gradual evolution he in time acquired a little capital of his own. However, he occasionally made a mistake, and sold property from the home farm for less than the value placed upon it by his father, and in such cases always had to make up the deficiency.

Mr. Reed is affiliated with the Masonic Order at Lagro, the Modern Woodmen of America at Wabash, and belongs to the Wabash County Detective Association. A republican, he votes usually for the best man. He is one of the official members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

Mrs. Reed, his wife, comes also from true pioneer stock in this sec-

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THE HAUPERT FAMILY

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tion of Indiana. Tabitha Jackson, her mother, was two years old when her family left the Carolinas, and established themselves north of the Ohio river. Her father William Jeffery came to Indiana from Wayne county, Ohio, his father having given him eighty acres located in the green and unbroken woods of Grant county. Grant county was at that time a wilderness with its original Indian inhabitants still roaming the woods, and the little Jeffery family had to make a home in a country where practically all conveniences were absent, and where it required constant vigilance and industry to keep the wolf from the door, both literally and figuratively speaking. When the Jefferys reached Grant county their worldly possessions comprised a wagon and two horses, a barrel of flour, a barrel of meal, their personal clothing, with guns and ammunition and a few crude tools. The first home which sheltered them was an old log house that had been constructed for a meeting house. It had no door and to keep out the wind and rain they hung a blanket over the opening. Some old benches were found in the building, and these were pushed together in order to make a bed. Soon afterwards they built a house of hewed logs, and as they had come from compara- tive comfort and prosperity in their former home, they employed their energies in making the cabin as attractive as possible. Thus, while the wolves howled without, they lived simply but happily within, and had plenty to eat and their circumstances were not altogether unattractive, though offering plenty of hardships. There was usually hanging from a rafter in their home a ham of venison, and their table fare, though with- out luxuries, provided an ample nourishment for all who sat about their board. The mother of the family in such conditions had to make her own baking soda, wove the linen from flax grown on the farm, made flan- nels, and jeans for clothing, and there was hardly a phase of pioneer life described in the general historical accounts of this region which were not a feature of the Jeffery existence during the early days. The original Jeffery farm was subsequently traded to Mr. Leadbetter for eighty acres, six and a half miles south of Lagro in Wabash county, situated on the Lagro pike. There they established their home when Mrs. Reed was a child of two years, and both her parents died there, her mother at the age of seventy-seven, and her father when about eighty years of age. The Jeffery children were as follows: Louis, deceased; Harrison; Thomas; Albert; Leander and Emma, twins, the latter being deceased; Osro; and Addie, Mrs. Charles D. Reed.

GEORGE HAUPERT. Lying about two miles west of Urbana, in Paw Paw township, is found the farm of George Haupert. This property is an excellent illustration of what may be attained through intelligent effort, and is a good example of the type of farm in Wabash county that has been cultivated by one man throughout the period of his agricultural activities. Mr. Haupert has spent his entire life on this property and it is due to his progressive spirit and well-directed enterprise that this is accounted one of the best farms in the township. A member of a family that has been known and respected in this section for many years, he has

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maintained the high reputation established by its members, and has done and is doing much to advance his community's welfare.

Mr. Haupert was born on the farm on which he now resides, February 8, 1862, and is a son of Frederick and Barbara (Nunemacher) Haupert. The history of this family is an interesting one, for it has had a direct bearing upon the development of a prosperous county in a great common- wealth, and should prove interesting to those who have spent their lives here. Frederick Haupert, the father of George Haupert, was born in Germany, where the grandfather passed away. The grandmother brought the children to the United States when Frederick Haupert was a lad of sixteen years, and she died in Ohio, the original settlement of the family being made in Tuscarawas county, that state. Frederick Haupert had received a good education in the public schools of his native country, but received no instruction in the English language until he had passed his majority, and then earned the means with which to put himself through school. He grew to sturdy manhood in Tuscarawas county, and prior to the advent of railroads in this section came overland to Wabash county. Here he met and married Barbara Nunemacher, and at this time went into debt for $300 with which to purchase eighty acres of land in the woods of Paw Paw township. The young couple began their married life in a one-room log house, located in the midst of heavy poplar and walnut timber, which was then ruthlessly cut down and burned, although in later years it was to become of great value. The woods was filled with game of all kinds, and the family larder was often replenished by the father, who with his gun could kill plenty of game for the family within the shadow of his cabin. In the first year the squirrels were so numerous that his corn crop was completely destroyed by these little animals and numerous devices were necessary to drive them away. The first tract of eighty acres grew as the years passed and Mr. Haupert's finances in- creased, and from time to time he added to his acreage until he had five fine farms, of eighty acres each, although at the time of his demise he had but three farms, as he had disposed of one of 170 acres in Lagro town- ship and another of forty acres in Paw Paw township. Mr. Haupert represented the highest type of self-made manhood. He was a constant reader, both in the German and the English, was looked up to by his neighbors, and was frequently called upon to settle their disputes and to clear up estates. For years he was a faithful member of the German Lutheran church, and religious movements in Wabash county found no greater friend, for he assisted to build all three churches at Urbana and constantly contributed to the support of worthy movements. Politically he preferred to be independent, exercising his own good judgment in choosing the candidates whom he believed worthy of office, and his judg- ment was rarely wrong. After his first log house, he erected a second one, which is now occupied by his widow, who has enlarged, weather- boarded and plastered it, making it one of the most substantial residences in the community. Mr. Haupert was within three months of being eighty- five years of age at the time of his demise, July 18, 1911, and when he

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passed away he was mourned by a wide circle of friends who had come to know and recognize his numerous admirable traits of character.

Mrs. Haupert, who survives her husband, has resided in Wabash county for upwards of sixty years, and there are few who retain in greater degree the esteem and respect of people here. Born November 26, 1832, in Wittenberg, Germany, she is a daughter of Christofer and Mary (Singlinger) Nunemacher, the former of whom was engaged as a stone mason in Germany, where he built wells and foundations for houses and barns, in addition to cultivating a few small fields. In 1847 Mr. Nune- macher decided to try his fortune in the United States, and together with his little party boarded a sailing vessel. It was found at this time that one of the women among the emigrants had lost her money which she had tied in a handkerchief and left in a store, and Mr. Nunemacher loaned her the means to make the journey to the United States, with the understanding that the amount should be repaid by the woman's brothers, who lived in Pennsylvania. After a journey of some seventy-five days, in a sailing vessel, the party landed at New York City, from whence they went to Erie, Pennsylvania. Here they remained three weeks, while Mr. Nunemacher vainly tried to recover the money he had advanced, but, finding his quest useless, moved on to Tuscarawas county, Ohio. This was the family home for a little more than a year, and from this point one of the sons, George, enlisted for service in the United States army during the war with Mexico. In that struggle he lost his life, and Mr. Nune- macher was given seventy-five dollars and 160 acres of land by the United States Government, as a pension. Having some German friends in Wabash county, Indiana, he packed up his belongings, gathered his family about him, and traveled overland into the new region. Upon his arrival, however, he was given only eighty acres, this now being the farm in Lagro township which adjoins that belonging to George Haupert. The outlook here was not prepossessing, for the land was covered with a heavy growth of timber so dense it seemed almost impenetrable, but when it had been cleared and cultivated it proved to be an excellent and productive property. Quantities of wild game frequented this timber, and on numerous occasions the family arose in the morning to find tracks where the deer had made their beds during the night only a few steps from the little log cabin door. It was no unusual thing for the children of the family to become lost while going to and from school, or while in rounding up the family's cattle. Christofer Nunemacher and his esti- mable wife labored hard and earnestly, worshipped their Maker, and brought up a family of children well trained to honest and useful pur- suits, and when they died they were widely mourned. Of their eleven children, three grew to maturity : George, who is now deceased ; Barbara, who became the wife of Frederick Haupert; and Martha, who is the widow of Peter Grimmer, and lives at Marion, Indiana.

Mrs. Frederick Haupert received a good education in the schools of Germany, where the educational institutions were at that time far in advance of any in the United States, and was a bright intelligent girl of fifteen years of age when the family emigrated to the United States. She

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still remembered the ocean trip as well as the journey to Ohio, overland, and has a distinct recollection of her homesickness when they entered the bleak and unpromising wilderness of the woodland of Wabash county. It was not long, however, before she grew to love her new surroundings and to work cheerfully among her new acquaintances in this section. After coming to the United States she was given no further educational advantages, but by personal observation, study and reading managed to acquire a broad knowledge of the English language, as well as customs and manners. On first coming to Wabash county she began working out among the families here, being first with a Jewish family named Hariff, residing at Wabash, by whom she was very kindly treated, later with Dunkard families of Largo township, named Blocker and Rennicker, and finally with Phil Albers, now deceased, who was a well-known resi- dent of Wabash. She had started to work at a wage of seventy-five cents per week, but later had shown herself so capable and willing that she was advanced to $1.00 a week, and while with Mr. Albers was treated exactly as a member of the family. She still remembers how, with the other women, she worked in the field, with the old-fashioned scythe and other hand tools, and how she always sent her wages home to her parents. It was while she was living at the home of Mr. Albers, when she lacked one day of being nineteen years of age, that she was united in marriage to Frederick Haupert by a justice of the peace. The young couple at once started housekeeping in the little log house in the woods of Paw Paw township, and, like other pioneers of their day and locality, had to be satisfied with but few comforts, aside from the absolute necessities of life. The comfortable spring wagon and buggy of today were at that time represented by a rumbling, creaking cart (when there was a con- veyance of any kind) and other luxuries were also conspicuous by their absence. Mrs. Haupert, however, has lived to see these luxuries become hers and to share in the good things which invention has brought. An interesting memento of the old days is an old hand-made flatiron, which is now owned by Mrs. Haupert, and which at one time belonged to and was used by her mother. She was strong, able and willing, and was of great assistance to her husband, both in the home and in matters of busi- ness. They reared a family which has since proved itself a credit to the community and to the parents, and a number of grandchildren are grow- ing up to perpetuate the name. Mrs. Haupert is eighty-two years of age, but is alert in mind, active in body, and thoroughly alive to all matters of interest that are occurring. She has been granted a long and full life, and she has made it a useful one, and now may look back, contented, over the years which she has shared in assisting to develop one of Indiana's most flourishing communities. She and her husband became the parents of the following children: Jacob, who is deceased; Mary, wife of Valen- tine Keefaber; Philamina, who is deceased; Fred; Elizabeth ; George, of this review ; Peter; Philip, who is deceased; Joseph, a farmer of Paw Paw township; Charles H. and Rose. Mrs. Haupert still resides on a part of the old homestead, which was recently divided, her son George having

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been given eighty acres on the east, while another, Charles, received eighty acres on the west, the latter on the Laketon road.

George Haupert, to whom we are indebted for the above interesting facts, has never married. He was educated in the Half-acre district school, in the vicinity of his birthplace, and has always lived with and looked after his mother. He cultivates her land, as well as his own, and has been successful in his operations, especially in the line of hogs and cattle. A man of progressive and enterprising spirit, he has never been afraid to grasp opportunities as they have presented themselves, and has had the ability to make the most of them. He secures excellent prices for his stock, and has the reputation of being a business man of integrity and ability. Like his father, he believes in voting for the man who is best fitted to serve the people, and his friends are to be found among men of all political creeds. He is proud of his family's record and of its members, and one of his most highly prized possessions is an old leather purse which belonged to his grandfather.

JOHN HEINNICKEL. The spring of 1870 marked the advent of the Heinnickel family into the United States, so that they may not be re- garded as pioneers in any sense, but it is not unreasonable that they should be regarded as among the best citizenship of the community in which they have made their home for some years, for they have con- tributed of their time, their energies and their enthusiasm in promoting the development of their township. It has been said on numerous occa- sions that Germany has contributed, perhaps sometimes unwillingly, to the best citizenship of this nation, and to Germany must be given the credit for the acquisition of these worthy and progressive people.

John Heinnickel, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Bavaria, Germany, on January 26, 1864, and is a son of George and Catherine (Awet) Heinnickel, both natives of that place. At the time of their removal to America, in 1870, war between France and Germany was imminent, and the family was particularly averse to further partici- pations in hostilities, in view of the fact that three uncles of George Hein- nickel's father had lost their lives in a combat with the forces of Napoleon on his march through France to Russia in 1815. The outbreak of war meant that the Heinnickel men must participate and when one of the brothers came to George and suggested that they dispose of their pos- sessions and make haste to America, where they might live in some degree of peace, the plan was no sooner broached than the family took action and in a brief time they had sold their farm and all their goods with the exception of clothing and bedding, a Jew of the community striking an excellent bargain because of the desire of his neighbors to sail for America. Two brothers and a half brother of George Heinnickel accom- panied him and his father on their journey, and when they reached these shores Mr. Heinnickel took his little family and came to Hamilton, Ohio, and his first work was done in the harvest fields of the Buckeye state in the year 1870. Mrs. Heinnickel had relatives who resided in the Level Lands south of Logansport, in Cass county, who urged them to go there

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and settle, and though they did move to Indiana, they located in Miami county, there buying sixty acres, ten miles south of Peru, paying there- for a purchase price of $10 per acre. To his small acreage, Mr. Hein- nickel kept on adding from year to year, until he had one hundred and forty acres of land in that vicinity. He devoted a good deal of his time to the work of clearing it up, and getting it in first class shape for crop- ping, and today the land he bought for $10 an acre or thereabouts, is worth not a penny less than $200 per acre.

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History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2, Part 21

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Number of Pages: 619

Author: Clarkson W. Weesner
Publication date: 1914
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 619