USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 26
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
ROBERT M. MILLER. Noteworthy among the practical and prosperous farmers of Wabash county is Robert M. Miller, whose home farm of thirty acres is located on the south side of Schuler pike, adjoining the Miami county line, and who also owns one hundred and twenty acres of land lying one-half mile south on the county line road, in Wabash county,
Digitized by Google
684
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
and another tract of one hundred and twenty acres situated one-half mile further south, on the Miami county side, in Miami county. Mr. Miller is a fine representative of the self-made men of our times, having left home to begin life on his own account with an old, time-worn suit of clothes, and forty dollars in debt, but having since, by close application, untiring energy, and a diligent use of his faculties and opportunities, acquired considerable wealth, his land being well improved and valuable. A son of Elisha Miller, he was born, March 1, 1850, in Union township, Miami county, Indiana, in a log house.
Elisha Miller was born and reared in Botetourt county, Virginia, and as a young man settled in Ohio. Soon after his marriage he came with his young wife to Indiana, making the long journey with teams, the pathway being marked a portion of the way by blazed trees. Buying land in Miami county, he at once assumed possession of the log cabin that stood in an open space, and on the farm which he cleared spent his remaining days, dying at the age of seventy-six years. He married, in Ohio, Sarah Albaugh, a native of that state. She survived him, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. The farm which they owned contained one hundred and twenty-six acres, and it was sold out of the family in 1913. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom three died in infancy, the others being as follows: John; Robert M .; Levi; Mary, wife of C. Fisher; William; Allen; Irving; Ida, wife of J. J. Esterbrook; Martin ; and Mrs. Emma A. Brubecker.
As a boy Robert M. Miller had very few educational advantages, his attendance at the district school being limited to two months each year. Being one of the eldest of a large family of children, he began very early to assist his father, and as soon as old enough worked out by the day or month. Later he rented a farm on shares, and after taking unto himself a wife rented the old Albaugh farm for a year, when it was sold. Moving then to his wife's father's farm, the old Graft estate of one hundred and fifty acres, in Jefferson township, Miami county, Mr. Miller rented it for three years. He then made his first purchase of land, buying one hundred and twenty acres on the county line, in Wabash county, paying for it the sum of $500. As his means increased he bought the other farms mentioned above, having now title to two hundred and seventy acres of fine farming land. An old house, and a barn, which was later struck by lightning and burned, stood upon the place which Mr. Miller first purchased, and in addition to erecting all new buildings he cleared the land, placing it in a productive condition. He also staked and fenced it, and put in many hundred rods of tile, and as a general farmer and stock-raiser has met with eminent success.
On February 2, 1875, Mr. Miller married Mary Graft, a native of Miami county. Her father, Abraham Graft, was born in Virginia, and died in Miami county, Indiana, at the venerable age of ninety years. He married Anna Morningstar, a native of Ohio, and to them six children were born, as follows: George Graft, deceased; David Graft; John Graft, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Fike; Lydia, wife of W. M. Turnipseed; and Mary, now Mrs. Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the
Digitized by Google
685
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
parents of nine children, namely : Carrie, wife of Comley Meyers, of Paw Paw township, has three children, Ross, Bruce, and Blanche; Olive, wife of Jasper Deardorf, has two sons, John and Harold; Mahlon, liv- ing on the old home farm, in Paw Paw township, married Minta Keith; Sadie, wife of Oliver Oswalt, of Miami county, has one child, Truman; Abraham, living on his father's farm in Miami county, married Nellie Keppel, and they have one child, Eugene E .; Hiel; Cleo; Dow; and Ray. Mr. Miller is a member of the Conservative Order of the German Bap- tist Brethren Church, and one of its most active and faithful workers.
RALPH ARNOLD SCHULER. A highly intelligent and prosperous agri- culturist of Wabash county, Ralph Arnold Schuler is successfully pur- suing his pleasant and independent occupation in Paw Paw township, where he has title to one hundred twenty-two and one-half acres of land. His home farm of eighty acres is situated seven and one-half miles from Wabash, on the south side of the Schuler road, and he owns in addition the old W. G. Ross farm of twenty acres, lying on the north side of the road, and twenty-two and one-half acres near Roann. He was born March 8, 1877, in Pleasant township, Wabash county, his birth occurring on the same farm that his mother's did.
His father, the late Azro Z. Schuler, was a son of Philip and Mary E. (Buck) Schuler, of whom further history may be found on another page of this volume, in connection with the sketch of A. W. Schuler, of Lagro township. Brought up in Wabash county, Azro Z. Schuler acquired his early education in the rural schools, and as a young man worked with his father, who was a contractor and builder. After his marriage he rented the Arnold farm, in Pleasant township, and after managing it three years moved to Roann, where he embarked in the furniture and undertaking business, being in partnership with his father- in-law, Ralph G. Arnold, in the building now occupied by the firm of Schuler & Schuler. At the end of fifteen years he retired from that line of business, and was afterwards engaged in general farming until his death, November 14, 1906, at the early age of fifty-two years. The maiden name of the wife of Azro Z. Schuler was Sarah A. Arnold. She was born on the Arnold homestead, in Pleasant township, Wabash county, September 5, 1857, a daughter of the late Ralph G. Arnold, of patriotic New England ancestry, her father, and her grandfather, Alvin Arnold, and also her great-grandfather, Jacob Arnold, having been born in Massachusetts. Jacob Arnold, a life-long resident of Western Massa- chusetts, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Alvin Arnold was born and reared in the Berkshire hills, and there spent his ninety years of earthly life. He was a farmer by occupation, but also owned a sawmill, which he operated during the spring freshets, and had a large tannery on his farm.
Ralph G. Arnold, maternal grandfather of Mr. Schuler, was born at West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1817, and was there bred and educated, as a boy, having for his playmates David Dudley Field and his brother, Cyrus West Field. After leaving school he worked as a
Digitized by Google
686
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
quarryman in the east, and assisted in finishing the stone from which the Girard College building was constructed. He subsequently read medicine, but never received a degree in that science. At the age of twenty-four years, desirous of trying the hazard of new fortune, he started westward, going by lakes as far as possible, and then walking to Wisconsin, where he first found work in a sawmill. The old doctor with whom he had previously studied had advised him to buy land in Chicago, so on his way back toward the east Mr. Arnold secured an option on a small piece of high ground, which might be used to keep sheep, he thought, it being at the junction of what is now Dearborn and thirty-third streets, Chicago, a most valuable piece of land. Mr. Arnold passed it up, and continued his journey on foot to Mexico, Indiana, where he ran a sawmill for Shirk & Cole, of Peru, Indiana, for two years.
Having accumulated some money, Mr. Arnold then bought from Mr. Cole one hundred and sixty acres of land in Pleasant township, Miami county, on which was the highest point of land in the county, it being a hill that had on its top an Indian burial ground. Part of the land had been cleared, and the trees burned off, the remainder being sandy ground. This land, for which he paid $800 in 1853, is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. (Arnold) Schuler. There were no buildings on the property when Mr. Arnold bought it, and he had to haul the lumber for house and barns from Warsaw, but from the Indian burying ground he got enough limestone to plaster the house. Warsaw was the nearest market and trading point, and in order to get supplies he had to make the trip either on horseback, or with two teams of oxen for each wagon. Mr. Arnold was a man of keen foresight and excellent judgment, and as dealer in land, and a loaner of money, accumulated a handsome property. He was also a veterinary, and in his house kept a complete stock of drugs. He was here when the first railroad in the state was built, and rode to Indianapolis on the old Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad. The tracks were made of 2 by 4 timber, with a sheet iron covering. At the age of fifty years, he left the farm, and for fif- teen years was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at Roann with his son-in-law, Azro Z. Schuler. He subsequently lived re- tired from active pursuits until his death, June 16, 1912, at the advanced age of ninety-five years.
Mr. Arnold was one of the six men that laid out the east side of Roann, and he helped solicit stock for the building of the Eel River Railroad. He was a man of much culture, a keen observer, and had a remarkably retentive memory. As a young man he was identified with the democratic party as opposed to the whigs, in 1856 voting for James Buchanan for president. He, however, assisted in the formation of the republican party, and in 1860 cast his presidential ballot in favor of Abraham Lincoln. He was interested in public affairs, and for many years served as school treasurer of Pleasant township, and was also county commissioner, and about the time of the organization of the republican party was a delegate to the state convention.
Digitized by Google
687
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
Mr. Arnold married Eliza Lukens, whom he first met in a rather romantic way. It seems that when he first came to Pleasant township to look at Mr. Cole's farm, which he subsequently bought, he inquired the way from Miss Lukens, who was in her father's yard milking a white cow. On his return he spent the night at the Lukens homestead, and afterwards married the fair lassie whom he had first seen milking the cow, the bridal party journeying on horseback to the home of the bride and groom. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Arnold, namely: Eusebia Clementine, who died at the age of thirteen years; Lydia X., deceased, who married George Leffel; and Sarah E., who became the wife of Mr. Schuler.
Sarah E. Arnold first attended the public schools, later continuing her studies at the Wabash Seminary, and in North Manchester. Finely educated, she taught school at Rose Hill, Kosciusko county, for a short time, but at the age of nineteen years gave up her position as teacher to marry Azro Z. Schuler, as previously mentioned. She survived her hus- band, and is now living at Roann, Indiana. Two children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Schuler, namely : Ralph Arnold, the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; and Russell Philip, a well- known and successful physician of Kokomo, Indiana.
But three years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Roann, Ralph Arnold Schuler there acquired his rudimentary educa- tion, after which he completed the course of study at the Valparaiso Normal School. Thus equipped for a professional career, he taught school ten years, first at Urbana, and later in Roann. At the death of his father, Mr. Schuler gave up teaching, and has since devoted his time and energies to farming and stock-raising, in both branches of which he is meeting with great success. Receiving but $100 from his parents, Mr. Schuler has made everything he possesses by his own efforts. For the first eighty acres of land that he purchased he paid $2,500, running in debt $2,000, it being the old "Squires" farm, mostly swamp and timber. The buildings standing upon it have been remodeled by Mr. Schuler, and on the farm he has put in three thousand rods of tile, making it one of the best farms in regard to its improvements and appointments of any in the neighborhood.
Mr. Schuler married, June 16, 1905, Maud Smith, a daughter of John B. and Rebecca (Johnson) Smith, old residents of Wabash county, and into their home three children have been born, namely: Miriam V. and Clarence B., twins; and John Azro. Mr. Schuler is progressive in politics, but has never been an aspirant for official honors. He is a member of Lodge No. 583, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, at Roann ; and of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, at Kokomo, while his mother belongs to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Kokomo. Mr. Schuler is a member and a trustee of the Miami County Baptist church, of which his Grandfather Arnold was one of the founders.
Digitized by Google
688
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
JAMES F. STEWART. Some of Wabash county's ablest business men are found on the farms. It is judgment, foresight, common-sense appli- cation of means to ends, and industry-the qualities which give success to the merchant, banker and manufacturer-that have been the secrets of success in the career of J. F. Stewart, or Frank Stewart, as he is best known among his many friends and associates. Mr. Stewart is the owner of one hundred and thirty-three acres, divided into two farms. His home place comprising eighty acres, is on the north side of the Butterbaugh Pike, about four and a half miles east of Roann. Another farm of fifty- three acres, on which his son resides, is on the west side of the Laketon road, about eight and a half miles north of Wabash. Both farms are in Paw Paw township.
James Franklin Stewart, who has lived on his present place since the spring of 1860, was born in Richland county, Ohio, August 14, 1845, a son of James and Harriet (McGee) Stewart, both old residents of Ohio. James Stewart was a pioneer of Richland county, and developed a farm five miles from the city of Mansfield. In the fall of 1860 the family moved out to Indiana, making the journey in a wagon, and first located on the old Murphy farm, a conspicuous center in the community because of the old Murphy church which stood there. James Stewart rented land for a time, but previous to his permanent settlement had bought a place of eighty acres in Noble township, and while living on the rented place put up a set of buildings there. Until he applied the axe and plow there had not been a stick cut on the Noble township land, and he was instrumental in making a farm out of the primeval wilderness. His first home and accommodations for stock were log buildings. That old farm was situated on the Range Line road. Indians used to camp nearby, and all of them were on friendly terms with the Stewarts and other settlers. They sometimes came to the house, and Mrs. James Stewart would bake bread for them. While living there James Stewart succeeded in clearing up thirty acres, and finally sold his farm to Henry Beidlestracker. The following year or so was spent in renting, and in 1860 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Paw Paw township, adjoining the farm now owned by Frank Stewart. It is interesting to note that the price paid for the land at that time, more than half a century ago, was seven dol- lars an acre. Nearly every acre was covered with forest growth and brush, though about eighty acres had been "deadened"-that is, the trees had been barked or chipped so that their foliage no longer shaded the ground and crops could be planted and raised under the bare trees. There were no buildings when James Stewart went there, and the many improvements which followed were all due to his strenuous labors as an early settler. His first home was a log house and he continued his work until most of the land was in cultivation. Subsequently he added the eighty acres now owned by his son, Frank, but paid sixteen hundred dollars for that land, a great advance in price over his former purchase. By the united labors of himself and son there was brought about one of the productive homesteads of Paw Paw township, and in spite of misfor- tunes the Stewart family have always prospered. Two sets of buildings
.
Digitized by Google
PAW PAW TOWNSHIP MR. AND MRS. J. F. STEWART AND FAMILY AT THEIR HOME,
.1
Digitized by
Digitized by
i 1
689
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
have burned on that farm, but the enterprise of the owners always repaired what was destroyed. James Stewart passed away there at the age of seventy-seven years, and was survived many years by his widow, who died in 1909 at the age of ninety years, six months and three days. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom were born in Ohio and accompanied their parents in the wagon on their journey to Wabash county. These children are : Robert, of Minnesota; Mary Jane, who died as Mrs. Case; George W., of LaGrange county, Indiana; James Franklin; Logan, of Ijamsville, Wabash county ; Maria, a widow, Mrs. Middlecough, of Garden City, Missouri; Charles, of Elkhart, Indiana; Henry, of Wabash; and Anna, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Siders.
A child of five years when the family came to Indiana, Frank Stewart grew up in this county, and is one of the men still in active life who received their schooling in a temple of learning built of logs, though subsequently he attended a little frame schoolhouse. His youth was passed in the environment of the old home until he married, and his labors largely contributed to the improvement of the homestead. For many years the name of Frank Stewart was known over a wide district as a threshing man, a vocation he followed for twenty years, and in that time wore out two horsepower threshing machines. That was in the time before the introduction of steam power and also of the modern type of separating machinery. Threshing was then a community affair, requir- ing the labor of all the neighbors, and with the old-fashioned machinery it took much longer to thresh out a given amount of grain than it does today. Between the seasons of threshing Mr. Stewart followed farming.
In August, 1880, occurred his marriage with Ida Miller, daughter of Amos and Liberty (Brady) Miller. After their marriage they started life on a portion of his father's farm and bought the eighty acres, fifteen acres of which were then cleared. Its house improvements comprised a plank building and log stable. After their marriage they moved into this rough house, but as the furniture had not yet come they ate their first meal off of a packing box. In 1900 Mr. Stewart erected his present com- fortable seven-room frame house, and now enjoys all the conveniences and facilities of the twentieth century rural residence.
In February, 1909, Mr. Stewart invested some of his surplus in the fifty-three acres of land on the Laketon road, and his son, Earnest, farms that land. It was improved with a house and Mr. Stewart put up a barn, tilled and fenced the land, and it is now an excellent small farm. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have the following children: Earnest, who married Maude Butler, and their two children are Lawrence and Eveline; Alma, who is the wife of Charles Whitmire of Logansport, and they have two children, Stewart and Dorothy; Nellie and Elsie are the two youngest and live at home. Mr. Stewart in politics is a democrat, and has fraternal affiliations with the Tent of the Maccabees at Urbana.
ALEXANDER PENCE. Bringing to his independent calling excellent judgment and good business methods, Alexander Pence, of Paw Paw township, is numbered among the extensive landholders of Wabash
Digitized by Google
690
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
county, his home farm being situated about a mile from Roann, on the south bank of Eel creek, on the county line, and containing one hundred and thirty-seven acres, while on the north side of the river, in Perry township, Miami county, he owns a tract of land containing three hun- dred and ten acres. He was born, February 16, 1863, in Preble county, Ohio, a son of Thomas B. Pence, and grandson of William H. Pence, pioneers of Indiana.
William H. Pence was born and bred in Rockingham county, Vir- ginia, of colonial ancestry. Soon after his first marriage he settled in Ohio, where he lived a number of years. His eldest son, being infected with the Western fever, persuaded him to come to Indiana to look for land that might prove a wise investment. Coming direct to Wabash county, he bought the Dukes farm, now included in the farm of his grandson, Alexander Pence, but not liking this section of the country as a place of residence he went back to Ohio. He was subsequently taken ill, and his son, Thomas B. Pence, then residing in Wabash county, went back to Ohio to nurse him. He then made arrangements for Thomas to buy for him the farm belonging to William Duke, and he afterward came with his daughter Sarah to Paw Paw township, and here lived until his death, at a good old age, his death having been acci- dental, caused by injuries received when a log rolled over him. He was five times married, and reared six children.
A native of Ohio, Thomas B. Pence was brought up and married in Ohio. In 1865, accompanied by his wife and children, he came to In- diana, and settled just across the river from Wabash county, in Miami county, with his father-in-law, Abraham Yost, buying from George Butterbaugh the tract of land in Perry township now owned by his son Alexander, his only child. About one-half of the land had been cleared when he bought it, and in addition to the house that stood upon it there was a large barn, 40 feet by 80 feet, that was almost new. The buildings have since been remodeled, the house, with its thirteen rooms, being one of the largest farm houses in Miami county. The original barn burned, and has been replaced by the present owner with a two- story structure, 40 feet by 80 feet, with a shed 41 feet by 60 feet, the whole costing about $2,700. It is a very fine building, and the second largest barn in the county. Thomas B. Pence occupied that farm until their son married, when they turned it over to him, and moved to the farm now occupied by the son, where both spent their remaining days, Mr. Thomas Pence dying October 6, 1901, aged sixty-eight years, while his wife passed away January 17, 1913, aged seventy years, and one day.
But two years old when his parents settled in Indiana, Alexander Pence obtained his elementary education in the district school at Stock- dale, after which he attended the public schools of Indianapolis two years. After his marriage he assumed possession of the parental home- stead in Miami county, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until after the death of his father, when he moved to his present resi- dence, in order to look after his mother and her property. A diligent worker, enterprising and progressive, Mr. Pence is continually adding
Digitized by Google
691
HISTORY OF WABASH COUNTY
to the value of his estate by improvements, and in addition to carrying on general farming most successfully ships two car loads of hogs each year, and also ships cattle, horses and sheep. He makes a specialty of breeding a fine grade of stock, including Durham cattle.
Mr. Pence is a man of rare business ability and judgment, and is connected with various beneficial enterprises. He is a charter member of the Wabash Trust Company, of which he has been a director since its organization, and of which he is now vice-president, having suc- ceeded Charles D. Baer. He is also a stockholder, a director, and the treasurer, of the Roann Telephone Company, a director of the Wabash Service Motor Truck Company, and has various other interests of a similar nature.
Mr. Pence married, March 24, 1895, Emma Shillinger, a daughter of George and Lydia (Seitner) Shillinger, early settlers of Roann, where both spent their last years. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have one child, Thomas B. Pence, who was named for his grandfather.
Although Mr. Pence obtained his education mainly by reading, ob- servation, and contact with the business world, he is well informed on the leading topics of the day. He takes a keen interest in politics, but has never been an office seeker. He has several times been solicited by his friends to become a candidate for office, but has invariably declined. At the democratic convention of 1912, when all indications pointed to- wards a victory for his party, his name was proposed on the floor of the convention hall for county treasurer. He declined, but had the honor of naming for a candidate in his own place a young man from his own township, and had the pleasure of seeing him elected to the office. During the many years he has lived in this vicinity, Mr. Pence has seen the country develop from a wilderness to a rich, rolling prairie, one of the finest farming communities in this part of the state. Few if any are better known in Wabash and Miami counties than Alexander Pence, and none are held in higher respect and esteem. He has ever been a busy man, but he has found time for the finer things of life, and along with other qualities and virtues has inherited a polish and culture that bespeaks his southern ancestry.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.