USA > Indiana > Wabash County > History of Wabash County, Indiana, Volume 2 > Part 47
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Mr. Bidlestetter owns and occupies a farm adjoining the one on Vol. II-26
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which he was born, September 27, 1869. Reared in that locality, with a training acquired in the country schools, when still a young man he married and selecting the place which has since been his home engaged in independent farming. John H. Bidlestetter is one of the six children born to John H. and Elizabeth (Pine) Bidlestetter, who were natives of Ohio, of German descent, the father born January 18, 1835; and the mother, September 4, 1834. The senior Bidlestetter came to Wabash county from Ohio about 1850, and first settled as a renter just west of the town of Wabash. After two years there he moved to another place, a little later bought it, a small farm of forty acres with its only improvement a log cabin, and after he and his family had occupied that place for two years he took up his residence on the farm in Noble township which for many years has been called the Bidlestetter place. John H. Bidlestetter, senior, was a man of no small ambition and energy, and while his life began without means except his sturdy man- hood and strength and courage he prospered so as to gain a place among the successful men of the township. At his death, on September 13, 1902, he was the owner of a well improved farm and was secure in the confi- dence and esteem of the best people of the community. His wife died on June 6, 1899, and both are buried in the Wallace cemetery. They were people of many excellent qualities of heart and mind, and all their lives were members of the Lutheran church and active in the church of their neighborhood. Besides John, Jr., their children were Jacob, Sarah, Elizabeth, Melinda and George.
In 1892 John H. Bidlestetter, Jr., married Miss Mary Lingg, who was born January 31, 1872, a daughter of Louis and Elizabeth Lingg of Logansport, Cass county. Born to their union are Elizabeth and Homer, both of whom are bright and promising children and are attend- ing the Wabash county country school; also John, Jr., who died in in- fancy. Elizabeth L., was born March 17, 1894; Homer R., was born Nov- ember 8, 1899; and John E., Jr., was born and died on October 1, 1910.
Five years after his marriage Mr. Bidlestetter bought the property adjoining the old home place, and has since been an independent farmer.
In the purchase he was associated with his brother George, whom he later bought out, and is now sole owner of the property. Mr. Bidle- stetter adheres to the faith of his parents, and has membership in the Lutheran church, while his wife when a child was raised a Catholic. Politically he is a Democrat as was his father, and takes an active part in political movements of that party in his town and county. Well worthy of the regard and esteem of all citizens, he possesses many stanch friends, most of whom have known him throughout his career, and it is his best distinction to have lived and worked honorably and successfully in the same community where he was born and reared. He is the owner of 120 acres of the best land in Wabash county and also a stockholder of the Wabash Citizens Savings and Trust Co. His wife has property in Lamb county, Texas.
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WILLIAM A. HOWELL. The farming and stockraising interests of Wabash county are being well represented in Waltz township by W. A. Howell, who has spent his entire life in this community with the exception of three years in Rutherford county, Tennessee, from the fall of 1876 to the fall of 1879, and is thoroughly familiar with conditions and possibilities here. During the past twenty-two years he has resided on his present property, a tract of sixty-six acres, which he has brought to a high state of cultivation through intelligent application of modern methods, and through a life of straightforward and honorable dealing has firmly intrenched himself in the confidence of his fellow citizens.
Mr. Howell was born March 7, 1859, in Waltz township, and is a son of William L. and Clarrissa (Cutler) Howell, who were married September 27, 1849. The paternal grandfather, John Howell, was born December 10, 1783, and died January 10, 1859, at Wabash, Indi- ana, while his grandmother, Elizabeth Howell, was born June 4, 1788, and died August 30, 1852, at Wabash. Their children were: Catherine, born October 28, 1806, and died March 4, 1846; Joanna, born August 16, 1810; Joshua, born February 6, 1813, died at Cincinnati, Ohio; Marguerite, born July 18, 1815, died in October, 1845; Julianna, born January 5, 1818, died October 21, 1847, at Wabash, Indiana; Daniel P., born June 5, 1820, died in December, 1906, at Muncie, Indiana ; Thomas, born February 9, 1823, died at Wind Fall, Indiana; William L., born August 31, 1825, died in August, 1863, in Wabash county ; John Q., born July 12, 1827, died March 20, 1909, at Kewana, Indiana. Of these, Joshua married Elizabeth Parkinson, September 19, 1835; Julianna married Jeremiah P. Flinn, June 21, 1837; Daniel P. married Mary Ann Kennedy, in 1841; Thomas married Nancy Ann Jones, May 1, 1845; and John Q. married Rebecca Halsted, June 23, 1846.
The children born to William L. and Clarrissa (Cutler) Howell were as follows: Julia Anna, who died at the age of two years; John A., a railroad conductor, who was injured and died at Des Moines, Iowa, married (first) Ella Anderson, deceased, and (second) Marguerite A. Martin; James Thomas, who died at the age of sixteen years; William A .; Gilbert B., who married Florence Semans; and Daniel E., married Jennie Fisher, who is now deceased. The mother of these children was married again to Henry Bechtol and they had one child, Ida May, who married Addison Jones. Mrs. Bechtol is now a widow.
William A. Howell spent his boyhood much in the same manner as other lads of his day, dividing his time between attendance at the district school and work on the home farm. He chose agricultural pursuits as his life work when still a young man and to this occupation he has continued to give his attention. He has never had reason to regret his choice, for his efforts have been rewarded with success, and today he is known as one of his community's substantial men. Mr. Howell now owns the sixty-six acre farm formerly owned by Martha E. Rood and Thomas R. Rood, but which was entered from the Government by Henry Huddleston. He has succeeded in bringing it under a high state of cul- tivation, and since his arrival here, May 29, 1892, has added constantly
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to its conveniences, its improvements and its equipment. In addition to his farming, he has for several years done carpentry and contracting. Mr. Howell was for many years a democrat, but during the campaign of 1912 transferred his support to the new progressive party, the principles and candidates of which have since received his vote. He and his wife are members of the Brethren church although he was reared in the Baptist church, the faith of his parents.
Mr. Howell was married, February 15, 1883, to Miss Allena D. Kaufman, daughter of D. G. and Elvira (Jackson) Kaufman, and they have one child: Inez Marie, known as Marie, who was born March 3, 1888, she was married March 29, 1907, to Harry Knee, son of Clarence Knee, and has a daughter, Ruth Helena, who was born September 13, 1908.
CHARLES O. PETERS. Since coming to Wabash county and settling in Waltz township in 1908, Charles A. Peters has accomplished a good bit in the way of improvements on his eighty acre farm on which he located at that time. Prior to his arrival here, he had been located in Ford county, Illinois, where he had been for the most part occupied in the sale of machinery. He was born in Illinois, and there reared and educated. His birth occurred on June 10, 1871, and he is a son of Adolph and Minnie (Sanders) Peters, both natives of Germany.
Adolph Peters came to this country and took up his residence in Green Garden, Will county, Illinois, where he passed the rest of his days, as did also his wife, who died there when she was about fifty years of age. Of their four children, John married Louise Barton; Julius W. married Mary Tucker; Mary became the wife of Charles F. Shubert, and Charles O.
In young manhood Charles O. Peters married Meta Lange, a daugh- ter of John and Mary (Dedno) Lange, both native born Germans, and she was one of their nine children. The others were: Eliza, wife of William Eickhoof; Elvina, who married John W. Wold; Minne, the wife of John Egdohl; Emma, married to Henry Dannehl; Herman, who married Minnie Ebling; John, who married Lucie Shubert; Max, married to Minnie Godfrey.
To Mr. and Mrs. Peters were born three children: Lucie, born December 16, 1896, in Ford county, Illinois; Alvin W., born November 10, 1898, and Ida, born April 14, 1901, both in Ford county, Illinois.
Mr. Peters has devoted himself diligently to farming activities for the past five years, or since he first made his advent into the state from Illinois, and his success has been praiseworthy. He has done a com- mendable amount of ditching and filling on his farm, waking early to the needs of his land and carrying out the work faithfully.
A republican all his life thus far, Mr. Peters has manifested a whole- some interest in the affairs of the party, and while a resident of Illinois he was for twelve consecutive years a member of the school board in his community, serving well and faithfully in that position. He is a member of no church, but with his family attends the church of the
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Brethren in the community. His fraternal affiliation are confined to membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he is promi- nent with his brother members, as he is wherever he is known.
THOMAS J. THOMPSON. Twenty-three years of service in the teach- ing profession in Wabash county is the altogether creditable experience of Thomas J. Thompson, who successfully combined his teaching activi- ties with the farming industry and is reckoned among the prosperous agricultural men of the county today. Four years of his teaching experience were passed in the schools of Wabash, but the remainder of the time he devoted himself to work in the rural schools, and many of the solid and substantial citizens of the county today owe to Mr. Thompson the credit of having directed their early studies in their various communities.
Mr. Thompson was born in Howard county, Indiana, on April 24, 1860, and is a son of Samuel R. and Caroline (Hale) Thompson. The father was a native of the Hoosier state, while the mother comes of an old Virginia family. Samuel Thompson and his wife married in Henry county, Indiana. They were the parents of six children, four of them yet living.
Thomas J. Thompson was reared in Howard and Grant counties and had his education there. He married early in life, his marriage taking place on March 7, 1883, when he was twenty-three years of age, and Lizzie Nesbit became his wife. She is a daughter of Syvis and Sophronia Nesbit, the mother a native of the Hoosier state and the father of Ohio. Mrs. Thompson had three brothers and a sister, one of the brothers being now deceased, as is also Mrs. Nesbit, the mother. To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were born three children: Paul J. married Ethel Sexten, and they have a daughter, Leah. Karl married Minnie Emerick, daughter of a well known and highly estimable family of this county, and they had two children, Siras and Russell. The hus- band and father met death in an accident. Opal H. is now attending school. All three were born in Grant county, while the father was there engaged in teaching school.
Mr. Thompson taught in Grant county for twenty-three years and in Wabash county four years. He has always confined his activities to the rural districts, and his success has been marked in this work. He attended the State Normal school after his marriage to prepare himself for the work, and he has continued with it through all these years. He has carried on farming activities in the summer months and attended to his school duties in the winter seasons, and in each line he has been successful. Today Mr. Thompson owns a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. When he took possession of this place in 1913 he found it void of fences or of adequate amount of suitable buildings, so that he has found himself a very busy man getting the place in its present fine shape in those respects since that time. He began life with practically nothing, but through the exercise of those
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sturdy virtues that are undeniably his, he has advanced to a state of independence that is most commendable.
Mr. Thompson is a member of the progressive party in his politics, and he is now serving as a member of the advisory board of Waltz township. He has never been very active in politics, beyond the de- mands of good citizenship, but he has fulfilled every civic duty and borne his full share in the responsibilities of communal life.
He is fraternally identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Swasey.
OTHO WINGER, A. M. Of Wabash county's educational institutions outside of the public schools, none has existed with greater benefit to the community and on a higher plane of scholastic and moral endeavor than Manchester College. Concerning this well known institution, ap- propriate place is given on other pages of this publication, and there follows a brief sketch of the college's president, who for a number of years has been identified with the institution and is a cultured and scholarly gentleman whose life work has been in the educational field.
A native of Indiana, born in Grant county, October 23, 1877, Otho Winger is a son of John Martin and Mary Ann (Smith) Winger, who were respectively of German and Scotch-Irish, and of English descent. The parents are given credit by their son for having afforded him the ' best possible educational advantages in his youth, though beyond the ordinary common school facilities he has relied chiefly on his own efforts for his advancement. His attendance at public schools continued until he was seventeen, and after that he taught country school for three years. He has been over the entire routine of educational work, from the management of a small country school, and the teaching of all sub- jects and grades, up to the specialized departments of college work. In 1898 he entered Manchester College as a student, and completed the academic and part of the college course, in 1902. Subsequently he continued his education in the University of Indiana, and in 1905 was graduated from the literary department and two years later was given the degree of Master of Arts by the University. In the meantime he had been more or less continuously in active work as a teacher, having been the superintendent of schools at Sweetser, and Hope, and for a time was teacher of history and philosophy in Manchester College. Since 1907 Mr. Winger has been closely identified with Manchester Col- lege as a member of its faculty, and in executive direction of its affairs. The present high standing of the school is due in no small degree to his efforts. During the season of 1910-11 he served as vice president and in the latter year was chosen president of the college. The General Conference of the Church of the Brethren chose him to serve as a member of the general educational board and he is also a member of the General Mission Board of the church.
On July 24, 1902, Mr. Winger was united in marriage with Miss Ida Miller. They are the parents of two sons, Robert and Paul.
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GEORGE F. OGDEN. One of the advisory editors of this "History of Wabash County," was born on a farm near Laketon, Indiana, on the 25th of November, 1864. After graduating from the high school of his native town, and pursuing collegiate courses at several institutions, he commenced his business career at Laketon in 1888.
Mr. Ogden served as postmaster at Laketon from June, 1897, to January 1, 1905, and as recorder of Wabash county during a period of four years from January 1, 1905. He was deputy auditor of the county for about three years during the last part of Porter Noftzger's term of office, and was principal doorkeeper of the state House of Rep- resentatives at the session of 1903. Upon the organization of the Laketon State Bank, in the fall of 1912, he was elected cashier of that institution, which position he still holds.
Mr. Ogden's wife was formerly Orra D. Strauss, to whom he was married in June, 1896.
THOMAS E. WHITESIDE. One of the old and honored families of Wabash county whose members have been identified with the com- mercial and industrial interests of this section for many years is that bearing the name of Whiteside, a worthy representative of which is found in the person of Thomas E. Whiteside. This highly respected citizen, now in the seventy-first year of his age, who with firm step and unclouded mind still walks the streets and attends to his daily routine of affairs, has, during his lifetime in Wabash, witnessed almost its entire development and borne a full share in the startling course of its progress. Mr. Whiteside was born in Medina county, Ohio, March 23, 1843, and is one of the three children (all living) born to the mar- riage of William Whiteside and Lucy Buckingham, the former a native of Steubenville, Ohio, and the latter of Connecticut.
William Whiteside was a carpenter and cabinetmaker by trade, and his father was Thomas Whiteside, a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who served in the army of the United States during the second war with Great Britain. William Whiteside worked at his trade in and around Seville, in Medina county, Ohio, and was there married. In 1844, in company with a brother-in-law, John Johnson, he came to Wabash county, Indiana, and here entered 160 acres of land from the Government in Waltz township. He continued, however, to reside in Ohio until 1848, and then moved here and erected a round log cabin with stick-and-mud chimney, and lived in this during the winter of 1848 and 1849, his family having moved here permanently in October of the former year. Mr. Whiteside was a hard-working man, sober, industrious and jovial, and by reason of his upright life was called upon to occupy local positions of trust. In the spring of 1849 he moved his family into Wabash, and here had a furniture store and cabinet- maker's shop, making by hand all of his goods. He became associated with Peter King in the manufacture of furniture in 1860, having con- verted the old King mill into a factory for this purpose. In this build- ing they installed what was then the most modern equipment, and this
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was the first furniture factory in Northern Indiana. After about two years Mr. Whiteside continued the business with other partners, Mr. King having retired from the firm, but eventually, in the latter part of 1865, gave up furniture manufacturing. He then resumed the opera- tion of a furniture store, but soon became interested in a furniture fac- tory at Richmond, although he still resided at Wabash. The great panic of 1873 found Mr. Whiteside, like many other business men of his day, totally unprepared to face such a crisis and the company of which he was such a large owner failed. He suffered heavily, and was compelled to begin his business life all over again, which he attempted to do as a traveling salesman on the road. This he continued until he was unfortunate enough to lose his eyesight, when he was eighty-two . years of age, when he was compelled to retire, and he did not long survive this misfortune, dying November 30, 1903, at the age of eighty- three years.
Thomas E. Whiteside was reared principally in Wabash, where he received his education in the public schools. He learned two trades, in reality, those of cabinetmaking and finishing, and was engaged in working at these until his enlistment, April 19, 1864, in Company F, 138th Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his military career being passed in Alabama and Tennessee in doing guard duty. He received his honorable discharge in October, 1864, and at once resumed the oc- cupations of peace. In 1866 he embarked in the buying and selling of lumber, an occupation which he followed until the latter part of 1867. At that time, in company with others, he built a tannery at Wabash, but a short time thereafter disposed of his interest therein to become a clerk in the store of Busick Brothers. He continued thus employed until February, 1874, when he embarked in mercantile pur- suits at La Fontaine, and in 1879 he sold out and came to Wabash, where he established himself in a general merchandise business. He retired in 1911, after thirty-one and one-half years of successful opera- tions. The prosperity which attended the conduct of his business at- tested the sagacity, foresight and financial skill of Mr. Whiteside, whose watchful care and fidelity built up and perpetuated his fortune. He was a merchant bred behind the counter, and although he was always ready to adopt modern ideas which promised to be beneficial he ever maintained his old-fashioned ideas as to the value of the strictest in- tegrity and unassailable honesty and of practicality in all things. Although he is living retired from active pursuits, he has a number of business and financial interests, and is at this time a stockholder and director in the Wabash County Loan and Trust Company. Mr. White- side was a republican until the campaign of 1912, at which time he gave his support to the new progressive party. In fraternal circles he is well known in the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Council of the Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Whiteside was married May 6, 1879, to Miss Hannah Lynn. While no children have been born to this union, they have an adopted child Essie M. Lynn, a niece, whom they have reared since she was eight
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months old. Mrs. Whiteside is a devout member of the Presbyterian church and has been well known in its work.
FRANK EVISTON. One of the most consistent and gratifying privi- leges afforded in connection with the compilation of this history is that of giving specific mention of so appreciable a percentage of the substantial and honored farmers and stock-growers of Wabash county, for the county and its people may be given high tribute for the fine status of these basic industries and the general personnel of those who are maintaining the county's precedence as an agricultural center of most opulent resources. He whose name initiates this paragraph is one of the representative citizens and progressive farmers of Liberty township; his standing in the community in which he was born and reared sets at naught any possibility of applying the scriptural aphor- ism that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country," for he has inviolable place in the confidence and high regard of all who know him, besides having the distinction of being a scion of sterling pioneer families of the Hoosier state.
Mr. Eviston was born in Liberty township, this county, on the 8th of August, 1868, and is a son of Samuel H. and Frances (Green) Eviston, the former of whom was born in Huntington county, this state, of Scotch and English lineage, and the latter of whom was born in Liberty township, Wabash county, where her parents settled in the pioneer days. Samuel H. Eviston was long numbered among the promi- nent farmers and influential and honored citizens of Liberty township, and he has now retired from active life, he and his wife having an attractive home in the city of Marion, Grant county. He is a stalwart Republican and he served one term as a member of the board of county commissioners of Huntington county while a resident of that county. At the time of the Civil war he manifested his patriotism by enlisting in the One Hundred and First Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and he proved a valiant and faithful soldier of the Union, his memories of this experience being perpetuated through his affiliation with the Grand Army of the Republic. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Christian church. Concerning their children the following brief record is given : Flora E. is the widow of Leslie Witter and resides in the city of Marion; Frank, of this sketch, was the next in order of birth; David E. is a prosperous farmer of Huntington county, his homestead place being in Huntington township; William R. is engaged in farming in Wayne township, that county; Ada is the wife of Homer Calvert, a merchant at Mount Etna, Huntington county; Clay is a farmer of Wayne township, that county; and Lulu is the wife of Dr. Joseph Bloomer, a representative physician and surgeon at Rockville, Parke county.
Frank Eviston was reared to the age of fourteen years on the farm which was his place of birth, in Liberty township, and he then accom- panied his parents on their removal to Wayne township, Huntington county, where he continued his studies in the public schools and where
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