USA > Indiana > Whitley County > History of Whitley County, Indiana > Part 71
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Fred N. Hunt was born in Etna town- ship, August 6, 1878, his parents being Franklin and Martha J. (Long) Hunt, con- cerning whom particulars are given on an- other page. Besides the usual attendance in the country schools and at Fort Wayne, Fred N. spent two years at Orchard Lake (Michigan) Military Academy. It was his good fortune in early manhood to be favored with an opportunity for foreign travel, dur-
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ing which he learned much of the queer peo- ple who dwell in the region brought into prominence by the recent war in the Orient. This was due to the fact that his brother, Leigh S. J. Hunt, had acquired important mining interests in Corea, had accumulated a fortune and had become a man of influ- ence among the people inhabiting the penin- sula between Manchuria and the Sea of Ja- pan. Fred N. accepted an invitation to visit his brother and spent the year of 1901 with him in learning the intricacies of the mining business. Aside from this excursion into the land of the east, he is said to have spent his whole life in his native township. He has devoted his time to farming, and by study, experience and observation has mas- tered the details of this most important of all industries. After managing his father's farm for some time, Mr. Hunt became a member of the Gray Dawn Stock Farm Com- pany, of which he became president and gen- eral manager. Looking after the important investments of his concern absorbs all his at- tention and he has managed its affairs in such a way as to prove the advantage of company farming. Mr. Hunt owns one of the most beautiful and comfortable homes in the county, located on what is known as the Washington Jones farm. The residence, erected in 1862, is a large brick structure, with all the modern improvements, while the barn and other outbuildings all indicate the supervision of a progressive farmer.
June 27. 1902, Mr. Hunt was married to Miss Nellie Frances, daughter of Isaac P. ( Prickett) Beezley, a native of Noble county. Indiana. They have one child, whom they have christened Martha Ann. Mr. Hunt ac- knowledges allegiance to the Republican
party, and his fraternal relations are with the Masons and Odd Fellows.
SIMON W. HIRE.
Simon W. Hire, who is numbered among the successful farmers of Whitley county, was born in Elkhart county, Indiana, Sep- tember 25, 1861, and is the son of Jacob and Christina (Haney) Hire. Jacob Hire was horn in Ross county, Ohio, and at the age of eleven years accompanied his father Ru- dolph to Indiana. Christina (Haney) Hire was born in Fayette county. Ohio. in 1833 and accompanied her parents. Robert Ha- ney and wife. to Indiana in 1845. Jacob and Christina Hire were married in Elkhart county, where they resided till 1882 and then removed to Noble township, Noble county. near the present home of Simon and there she died in 1897 and he in 1889 They were the parents of nine children: Absalom and Allen died in childhood : Margaret is the wife of Milton Kitson and lives in Kosciusko county : James Alonzo is a grocer at Syra- cuse, Indiana : Simon W. ; Robert, a farmer of Noble county ; Alvin Mitchell, a farmer of Thorncreek township: Edward. a farmer of Smith township; Minnie, wife of Albert Gar- ver, lives in Kosciusko county. The paternal grandfather was Rudolph Hire, a native of Pennsylvania, who first located in Ross coun- ty. Ohio, and in 1833 removed to Elkhart county, when the region was nothing but a wilderness. He spent the remainder of his life in that county and died in 1852.
Simon W. Hire was reared upon the okdl homestead in Elkhart county and was early
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trained to habits of industry and economy. He attended the common schools of the lo- cality during the winter months, thus mas- tering the branches of learning usually taught, and after putting aside his text books he began farming on his own account. He came to Noble county with his parents and in 1885 purchased eighty acres of his present farm, to which he later added forty, making one hundred and twenty, the size of the pres- ent farm. He has tiled the farm, has se- cured good machinery to cultivate the fields and has erected substantial buildings for the shelter of his grain and stock. In 1903 he erected an attractive two-story residence. which is a structure of thorough convenience, has built a large and substantial barn and his farm is one of the best in the county. Mr. Hire was married October 20, 1886, to Miss Anna C. Seymour, who was born in Noble county, April 27, 1867, the daughter of McIntyre and Sophia (Boerger) Seymour. McIntyre Seymour was a native of New York and was one of the first settlers of No- ble county, entering three years before the county was organized. He died in 1873 on his homestead. Mrs. Seymour was of German descent, and when thirteen years of age accompanied her parents to Fort Wayne, where they died. She still lives on the old homestead in her eighty-third year. Mr. and Mrs. Seymour had four children : Alta, who is the wife of Thomas Ott; Rudolph, a resi- dent of Florida; Florence, who owns the old homestead; and Anna C. Mr. and Mrs. Hire have had six children : Charles, Nan- cy, Bertha, Edith, Edna, and Albert, who died in childhood. Mr. Hire supports the Republican party in public matters and takes a deep interest in passing events. The fam-
ily move in the best circles and in their home is dispensed a gracious hospitality, appreci- ated by all.
WARREN R. WIGENT.
Warren R. Wigent, junior member of the firm of Hanes & Wigent, liverymen, was born November 26, 1871, at Fort Wayne, and is the son of John and Ida (Spore) Wi- gent, both natives of New York. John Wigent came to Indiana when young and became a farmer. He was elected recorder of Whitley county and was county prose- cutor for several years. He was a Republi- can and a man who won and held the respect and esteem of the people of Columbia City, where he spent the greater part of his ma- tured life. He died in 1895, at the age of fifty-four. He was married at Norwalk, Ohio, in 1868, to Miss Ida Spore. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wigent were of Holland extrac- tion and were the parents of three living children : Roy, who is employed in the United States mail service and lives in Co- lumbia City; Warren R. and Claud.
As a young man Warren R. worked on a farm as a laborer as well as in a machine shop. He also conducted a grocery and ex- press business for four years. He then as- sociated himself with his brother in a gen- eral teaming and truck business, which they successfully carried on for five years, when he again returned to the grocery business in company with W. C. Glass for three years. Mr. Wigent then clerked in a hardware store, where he remained until he purchased a half interest in the livery and sales barn.
In 1893 Mr. Wigent was united in mar-
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riage with Miss Mertie Eisaman, of Colum- bia City, and they have two children, Paul and Philip. Fraternally Mr. Wigent is a member of the Knights of Maccabees and the Knights of Pythias. He is considered one of the able and progressive men of the city and is well liked by all with whom he comes in contact. Mrs. Wigent is a member of the United Brethren church.
RICHARD H. MARING.
Richard H. Maring. who is numbered among the most prominent farmers and among the leading and influential citizens of Whitley county, was born on the farm which is still his home on the 13th of April, 1859, and is a worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Whitley county. His father, Leonard S. Maring, was born in Richland county, Ohio, March 6, 1817, and was the son of Philip and Sarah (Lash) Maring, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Virginia. Philip Maring was the son of Nicholas Maring, who emi- grated from Wurtemberg. Germany, about the year 1770 and settled in New Jersey. Philip Maring was a soldier in the war of 1812 and soon after the close of that war became one of the earliest settlers of Rich- land county, Ohio. In 1844, he came with his family to Whitley county, Indiana, and located in Washington township where he spent his remaining years. His wife died October 25. 1873, and Mr. Maring passed away September 17. 1879, aged ninety-one years, one month and twenty days.
1842, united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bell, a native of Richland county, born Au- gust 21, 1820, and a daughter of Rev. Zephaniah and Margaret (Smith) Bell. The father was a Wesleyan Methodist min- ister and preached in Ohio for a good many years, after which, in 1845. he took up his residence in Whitley county, then on the frontier, where he continued his ministerial labors until his death, March 29, 1876, aged eighty-five years. He was also a soldier in the war of 1812 and was one of the promi- nent preachers of his day, most highly re- spected and winning friends everywhere. During his ministerial career he solemnized many marriages and conducted a large num- ber of funerals.
Leonard S. Maring, with his wife and a number of relatives, left Richland county. Ohio, with ox teams, October 3, 1843, and came to Whitley county, Indiana, being sev- enteen days on the journey, part of the way they had to cut their way through the dense woods. Mr. Maring first settled in Wash- ington township, but the following year re- moved to the farm now owned by Richard H. Maring, in section 18. Jefferson town- ship. Their first home was a log cabin in the midst of an almost unbroken forest. As acre after acre was made ready for the plow, the tract of land was transformed from a wild region into one of rich fertility and became one of the fine farms of the county. Mr. Maring took quite an active interest in political affairs, was one of the early trustees of the township and was elected the first justice of the peace of the township after its organization in 1845. Both he and his wife held membership with the Church of
Having arrived at years of maturity, Leonard S. Maring was, on January 16, God, being charter members of the local so-
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ciety known as the Evergreen Bethel church, in which he took quite an active part, serving as trustee and as superintendent of the Sun- day-school for a number of years. Both were estimable people whose many excellent traits of character won the regard of all. The mother died July 8, 1880, and the fa- ther's death occured February 22, 1892. The family numbered six children, three of whom are now living: Amina, wife of Simon Bennet, of Forest, Indiana: Flora C., who died at the age of eight years ; Wealthy A .: Charles H., who died at the age of twenty-four; Richard H. and an in- fant deceased.
Our subject is the only surviving son of the family. His childhood and youth were passed on the old homestead, which is therefore dear to him from early associa- tions as well as because it is the home of his later life. He was educated in the district schools of his township, in the schools of Columbia City and was a student at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Val- paraiso, Indiana, and at the age of eighteen years began teaching, being employed for five terms in the public schools of Jefferson township. He took a course in penmanship in the Spencerian Business College at Cleve- land, Ohio, and also a course in an institu- tion of penmanship at Delaware, Ohio, after which he organized and taught classes in penmanship and subsequently was employed as a teacher of that branch of study in a business college at Columbus, Ohio. He has since carried on farming and now has the old place under a high state of cultivation and improved with the accessories and con- veniences which go to make up a model farm.
On the 15th of May, 1884, was cele- brated the marriage of Mr. Maring to Miss Vallona Shinneman, a native of Columbia City, born January 6, 1856, and a daughter of Adam and Vallona (Pond) Shinneman. Her parents both died during her early child- hood and she was reared by her grandfather, Isaac Shinneman, one of the early pioneers of Whitley county, obtaining her education in the public schools of Columbia City. One child graces the union of Mr. and Mrs. Maring, a daughter, Mayolo, who was born May 17, 1885, and on November 23, 1905, became the wife of Daniel Tschantz, of Jef- ferson township.
Mr. and Mrs. Maring are not members of any church organization but in religious faith are Universalists. In his political affil- iations Mr. Maring is a Republican, has served as precinct committeeman for a num- ber of years, has been a delegate to both state and congressional conventions and is recognized as one of the leaders of the party in Whitley county. He was appointed cen- sus enumerator for Jefferson township in 1880 and again in 1890 and on May 26, 1894, received by acclamation the nomina- tion for clerk of the circuit court of Whitley county by the Republican county convention and on the 6th of November following was elected, receiving 2,115 votes to 2,057 that were cast for his Democratic opponent, Walter J. Tyree. This was considered a great political victory for Mr. Maring as the county had heretofore been strongly Demo- cratic and Mr. Tyree was a man of excellent reputation. On November 30, 1895, Mr. Maring entered upon the duties of his office which he filled in a very acceptable manner and at the close of his term returned to his
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farm which he has continued to improve and is to-day a model country home.
On the retirement of Mr. Maring from the clerk's office, the Columbia City Com- mercial said of him editorially: "Thursday, R. H. Maring turned the clerk's office over to Walter J. Tyree. Whitley county, nor no other county for that matter, ever had a more efficient and conscientious clerk than Mr. Maring. By his uniformly courteous treatment of all with whom he has had busi- ness to transact he has won the esteem and respect of the entire county and retires from the office he has so efficiently. filled for four years, with the well wishes of all persons of all parties. The Commercial hopes for Mr. Maring and his estimable family a bright and pleasant future."
THOMAS GAFF.
The death of a parent, where there is a family of small children, is always to be de- plored, yet such conditions frequently re- sult in the development of children who be- come leaders wherever their lost is cast and distinguish themselves in the various occupa- tions. The history of the Gaff family illus- trates these facts, as we shall observe later 011. The subject of this sketch was born in Stark county, Ohio, in 1824, and was the son of Robert and Mary (Deardoff) Gaff, who came to Noble county, Indiana, about 1838 and devoted their energies to the clear- ing and making of a farm. Here Thomas grew to manhood, receiving the advantages of the common schools to be had in those days and rendering material assistance in
clearing, cultivating and improving the land. In 1852 he was married in Noble county to Alpha, daughter of George and Sarah (Nethercutt) Brown, born in Preble county, Ohio, June 4, 1831. Her father was a na- tive of North Carolina and the mother of Virginia, and settled in Preble county, Ohio, in an early day, where they lived honest and moral lives, giving a family of twelve chil- dren all the educational and social advan- tages the country afforded. Alpha came to Noble county when about nineteen years old.
In 1853 Thomas Gaff moved to the farm in Etna township which is still owned and occupied by his widow and family, but then a native forest. They were industrious and frugal and soon enjoyed the comforts com- mon to the condition of the country. He was little interested in politics, but in reli- gious matters held membership in the Chris- tian church, passing away March 1, 1873. full of hope of final reward in the great be- yond. Seven children were born to them, namely : Orell Ann, wife of John Hart, liv- ing in Iowa; George, deceased at twenty- six ; Amanda, wife of John Crouch ; Oliver. living at home with his mother; Robert, de- ceased in infancy: Mary, living at home ; Emma, wife of Thomas Whitmer. Since the death of his father Oliver has constantly remained at home, assuming the operation and giving successful management to the farm in every detail. In fact, the farm, un- der his skillful direction, has become one of the best in the county, being thoroughly tiled, well fenced and equipped with substan- tial and commodious house and barn and convenient outbuildings. He is a Republic- an and fraternizes with the Knights of Pythias. The Gaff family is one of the most
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reputable and highly respectable in the com- of two children, Dwight and Ferris; Flossie munity and merits a place in the history of the county.
MOSES M. TRUMBULL.
Moses M. Trumbull, a well known and successful farmer of Etna township, living ·on the farm where he was born February 24, 18.47, is the son of Ami L. and Samantha C. (Palmer) Trumbull, who were natives of Connecticut and Vermont respectively. Ami was the son of Moses and Amelia Ann (Mun- son) Trumbull, he a native of New England. who came to Noble county in 1836, where he remained to the close of his life. He was the father of six children: Ambrose M., Ami L., Mary, Amelia, Aujanette and Har- riette. Ami Trumbull was born about 1822 and died in 1858. He came to Whitley county in 1846 and settled on the farm now partly owned by Moses M. The original log cabin in which he lived is still standing. He was the father of seven children: Moses M. : Frances M .; Delia C., who was a teach- er for some years; Henrietta; Henry W., living in Whitley county; Lewis M., living in Colorado; and William, now deceased. Washington Jones, now deceased, married the mother of these children, and she is spending the evening of her life with her son Moses M., on the farm where she ex- perienced many of the pioneer hardships.
Moses M. Trumbull was married Octo- ber 1, 1874. to Eliza Anna, daughter of Bar- ton and Elizabeth (Bryan) Marrs, who was born in Whitley county November 14. 1852. To them were born eight children : Roscoe .A., who married Lois Bear and is the father
A., who is the wife of Sherman W. Rimmel, residing in Noble county, and has five chil- dren. Roscoe, Beth, Aaron, Edith and Ber- nard; Lyman Q., who married Catherine Stephenson, and resides in Chicago, and has one child, Lura; Ora I., who married Wil- liam D. Miller, and has one child, Otto, and resides in Columbia City; Harry G., who married Nellie Bouse, has one child, Robert, and resides in Noble county ; Fay, who mar- ried Marvin Scott and resides in Hunter- town, Indiana; Willis and Ivo are both in home and school.
The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools and as an evidence of their real merit and favorable results, his reputation for good judgment, knowledge of values and public interests generally, is with- out a peer in the township, which his neigh- bors and friends have recognized by elect- ing him to the responsible and important of- fices of assessor and trustee. In fact no fam- ily in the township is held in higher esteem than that of the Trumbulls. He is a Repub- lican and often found in conventions. His farm of eighty acres is half of the old Trum- bull homestead, where his parents begun in 1846. The farm is well drained by tile, there being over four hundred rods of drainage.
DEWITT NOBLE.
Few men in Columbia City are as well known and as much appreciated as the sub- ject of this sketch, a gentleman whose mind and energy enlisted in behalf of the beauti- ful and attractive in nature and art and of a
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high standard in the domain of the aesthetic, entitle him to be called a true benefactor of his kind. DeWitt Clinton Noble, the lead- ing florist of Whitley county and the propri- etor of the largest establishment of the kind in northern Indiana, outside of Fort Wayne, has exercised a powerful influence in arous- ing an interest in this most fascinating of pursuits, and to him, more than any other man, is the city indebted for much of the beauty and charm which render it such a desirable and, in many respects, ideal place of residence. Paternally Mr. Noble is de- scended from stanch New England stock and traces his lineage back to the early his- tory of Connecticut, in which state his grand- father, Jonathan Noble, was born, and from which he emigrated in 1810 to Ohio. Jona- than Noble was a conspicuous type of the New England farmer of the early day and was well fitted for the stern duties which fell to him as a pioneer in the state of his adop- tion. He was of Scotch blood and possessed many of the sturdy characteristics for which that nationality has always been distin- guished, and is remembered as an industri- ous, honorable, God-fearing man of admir- able virtues, many of which have been pro- duced in the lives of his descendants. He died a number of years ago in Franklin county, Ohio, where he originally settled and where representatives of the family still re- side. He was twice married and became the father of fourteen children, two by his first wife and twelve by his second, all of whom grew to maturity. The oldest of the second set of children, a son by the name of Solo- mon Noble, was about nine years old when the family moved from their New England home to the wilds of Ohio. In the primitive
schools of Franklin county he received a meager knowledge of the branches then taught and when old enough to wield an ax was put to work in the woods, where he spent the years of his youth and early man- hood assisting in preparing the land and soil for cultivation. He was industrious in all the term implies, bore his full share in es- tablishing the home and supporting the fam- ily and remained on the original farm until his removal to Whitley county, Indiana, in 1851. Solomon Noble was married in 1845 to Harriet Scoville, of Delaware county, Ohio, who bore him five children, the oldest of whom is DeWitt C. : Cicero Milton, whose birth occurred in 1850, lives near Larwill, Whitley county, and is the father of eight children : Cordelia is deceased ; Horace lives in Kansas ; Jay is also a resident of Larwill; Solomon Noble departed this life in 1887; his widow is still living at Larwill at an ad- vanced age and with the exception of im- paired eyesight, being almost blind, is in the enjoyment of remarkably good health for one of her years.
De Witt Clinton Noble was born July 23, 1848, in Franklin county, Ohio, and there spent the first three years of his life, having been brought to Indiana by his parents in 1851. His educational experience embraced a few months of the winter season in the public schools of Whitley county, the rest of the year being devoted to a continuous round of labor on the farm and in this man- ner were passed his childhood and youth. By far the greater part of his education has been obtained by the slow but sure process of com- ing in contact with the world under varying conditions and he grew to manhood's estate with the sound, practical knowledge of men
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and things that enabled him to take advan- tage of opportunities and lay a firm founda- tion for his future career of honor and use- fulness. Possessing natural mechanical skill, he easily turned it to account by work- ing at carpentry, which trade he thoroughly mastered without passing through the ap- prenticeship usually required in those days. His marked efficiency as a worker in wood served him well in subsequent years, as is attested by the signal success which he achieved as an architect and builder, quite a number of the beautiful and attractive dwellings and other structures in Columbia City and elsewhere being the result of his mechanical skill. In 1887 Mr. Noble moved to Columbia City and shortly thereafter pur- chased a small tract of land near the corpor- ate limits, on which he erected a small but comfortable dwelling, which the family oc- cupied for a limited period. Meanwhile he · worked at his trade and devoted his spare time to raising vegetables for market, which he soon found quite profitable. The demand for the products of his gardens increased to such an extent that he was soon obliged to devote more time to their cultivation than merely his mornings and evenings, as the sum realized from the sale of vegetables ex- ceeded that earned at his trade. In due sea- son he discontinued the latter altogether to devote hisentire time to gardening and it was not long until he was the recipient of a fine income from this source. It was while thus engaged that his attention was attracted to floriculture, there being nobody in the city to supply the growing demand for flowers, and as soon as he could do so he secured the necessary seeds and plants and ventured upon this new and untried line of business.
Although beginning in a modest way his profits far exceeded his expectations and as soon as practicable he abandoned vegetable gardening to give all of his time and atten- tion to floriculture, which not only proved remunerative, but for which he seemed pecul- iarly adapted. Without following in detail the advance of his business, suffice it to state that Mr. Noble has been obliged to enlarge the capacity of his greenhouses from time to time in order to keep pace with the steadily growing local and general demand for flow- ers and plants. His first green house, eight- een by fifty-four feet in size, was soon found to be entirely inadequate, so the next season he made an addition seventeen by eighteen feet, which for a time appeared to meet the exigency. With increased facilities, how- ever, came increased demands, so that the following year he found it necessary again to enlarge the capacity of his plant. which he did by erecting another structure twelve by forty-two feet. Later a building twelve by forty-two feet was added, which greatly in- creased the capacity. Still the business con- tinued to develop to such an extent that other houses became necessary and accordingly in 1902 he put up three buildings eighteen by one hundred feet in size, with side addition, and in 1904 erected another of the same size. In 1906 he added a still larger building con- sisting of three houses each twenty-one by one hundred and fifty-one feet. These build- ings represent a total of twenty-three thou- sand square feet of glass, by far the largest and most complete establishment in northern Indiana with the possible exception of one at Fort Wayne. Mr. Noble has made a close and critical study of floriculture and is fa- miliar with its every detail, being devoted to
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