USA > Indiana > Allen County > History of the Maumee River basin, Allen County, Indiana > Part 32
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ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
Mr. Ashley was reared in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has never wavered in his hold to the same, being a valued member of the Wayne Street church of this denomination. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with Wayne Lodge, No. 25, Free and Accepted Masons ; Fort Wayne Chapter, No. 19, Royal Arch Ma- sons; Maumee Lodge, No. 50, Ancient Order of United Workmen, of which he is past master workman at the time of this writing; and with the Tribe of Ben Hur, of which he is past chief, the Court of Honor, and the Modern Woodmen of America, Ed- wards Camp, of Fort Wayne.
Concerning the five children of Mr. Ashley we enter the follow- ing brief data: Charles is deputy county recorder and is thus an able assistant to his father; Olive is the wife of Arthur J. Smith, of Fort Wayne; and Oscar J., George S. and Marguerite remain at the paternal home.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
JOHN L. GILLIE.
The subject of this review may well take pride in tracing his lineage back through many generations of sturdy Scotch forbears, while he is personally a native of the land of hills and heather and manifests the sterling characteristics of the true Scotchman. He is a successful dairy farmer of Washington township, where he has been engaged in this line of enterprise since 1891, finding a ready demand for his products in the city of Fort Wayne and being known as a reliable and progressive business man.
Mr. Gillie was born and reared in Berwickshire, Scotland, the date of his nativity having been May 12, 1852, while he is a son of George and Lillian J. (Lillie) Gillie, both of whom passed their entire lives in Scotland, the father having been a farmer by voca- tion. The subject was reared on the home farm and secured a good common-school education in the schools of his native land, where he remained until 1874, when he immigrated to America and located in the province of Ontario, Canada, taking up govern- ment land, and there continuing to make his home for the ensuing seven years, at the expiration of which, in 1891, he came to Allen county, Indiana, and located on his present farm, which is owned by his uncle, James Lille, from whom he rents the property, which comprises one hundred and fifty-five acres of most productive land and which is well improved. Since taking up his residence on the place Mr. Gillie has erected a fine modern barn, forty by sixty feet in dimensions, while he keeps the place up to the highest standard in all particulars, so that there is abundant evidence of thrift and prosperity.
Mr. Gillie devotes a portion of his land to general farming, but makes a specialty of the dairying business, in which connection he keeps about thirty milch cows, while he has the best of facilities for
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carrying on the enterprise successfully and for insuring sanitation and absolute cleanliness in all details. He runs a milk wagon and has built up a representative business in Fort Wayne, from which his farm is two miles distant. In politics Mr. Gillie is a stanch Re- publican, and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church.
In the year 1876 Mr. Gillie was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Douglas, who was born and reared in Scotland, being a daughter of Andrew and Janet (Hunter) Douglas. Mr. and Mrs. Gillie have had fifteen children, of whom thirteen are living, namely : George, Jessie, James, Jane, Andrew, John, Lizzie, Maggie, Alex- ander, Belle, William, David, Ralph.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
CHRISTIAN F. PFEIFFER.
Among those whose lives and labors have conferred honor and distinction to the history of the city of Fort Wayne and to Allen county is the venerable pioneer whose name appears above. He came to Fort Wayne in 1838, and was most conspicuously identified with the commercial and industrial, as well as civic, advancement of this section, where he continued to make his home for many years, finally removing to the city of Buffalo, New York, where he has since resided. Fort Wayne, however, has not lost her claim upon this honored citizen, who has many and important interests here, and it is with a feeling of marked satisfaction that we present in this compilation a review of his career.
Christian Frederick Pfeiffer was born in the famed old city of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany, where he made his debut in the drama of life on the 17th of April, 1824. In his native city he was reared to the age of eight years, and then, in 1832, he accompanied his parents on their immigration to America, the family settling on a farm within the present city limits of Buffalo, New York, the old homestead having been on what is now Hertel avenue, near Delaware avenue. In the public schools of Buffalo our subject secured his further educational training, and in old St. John's Lutheran church, in Hickory street, that city, he was confirmed in 1836, at the age of twelve years, while it may be said with all of consistency that he has exemplified in all the relations of his signally active and useful life his tenacious hold to and practical observance of the tenets of the faith which he thus early took to him- self, while it has in an exceptional measure guided and dominated his life. At the age of fourteen years Mr. Pfeiffer severed the grateful ties which bound him to his home and set forth for the west, with Fort Wayne as his destination. He came hither for the
67 Pfeiffer
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purpose of learning the shoemaker's trade under the direction of his brother-in-law, Mr. Nill, and thus he was not placed entirely among strangers on his arrival in what was then but a small village. He came by way of sailing vessels on the Great Lakes to Toledo, from which point he found it necessary to make his way on foot to his destination in Fort Wayne, a distance of about one hundred miles,- through the beautiful Maumee basin, to whose history this work is devoted. At the time of his making this memorable trip so many of the settlers along the route were afflicted with malarial fever, the bane of the early days, that he found much difficulty in securing needed food and shelter. In 1840 Mr. Pfeiffer's parents came to Fort Wayne, and with them he settled on a pioneer farm just north of the embryonic city, where the honored parents passed the remainder of their lives, being held in the highest esteem by all who knew them. It is interesting to record in the connection that Mr. Pfeiffer still re- tains this old homestead in his possession, his son Joseph C. having the management and general supervision of the same, said son being one of Fort Wayne's representative business men. While actively identified with the operation of this farm Mr. Pfeiffer also mani- fested in a significant way his initiative power and sound business judgment, by turning his attention to other lines of enterprise. Thus, we find him engaged successfully in the dairy and stock business, while during the period of the Civil war he made large profits through his operations in handling government army mules, as well as horses and cattle, in this way practically laying the foundation for his ample fortune, which has largely been accumulated through the live-stock business. Aside from ventures along the lines noted Mr. Pfeiffer also built the first plank roads in Allen county, the same being known as the Goshen and Lima roads, and recalls most vividly his first trip to Fort Wayne, when the Lima road extended only to Spy Run, while the Indians were wont to come in on horseback from the southwest, from a small village called Raccoon, thirteen miles distant from Fort Wayne, while the aborigines on these trips brought with them game of all descriptions, including venison, bear, wild turkeys, etc., together with furs and pelts, for which they found a market in Fort Wayne, which was the principal trading post of this section. The court house at that time was a log structure of primitive type and
28
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stood on Clinton street, the postoffice being located in the same building, while the county jail was another log building, on the site of the present court house. Our subject incidentally recalls the fact that the site of the present fine Hamilton Bank building, in the very heart of the city's business district, at that time served as a prolific potato patch.
It may be said that Mr. Pfeiffer's rise in connection with the in- dustrial progress of this section kept pace with, and undoubtedly accelerated, the material and civic upbuilding of the present fair city of Fort Wayne, in whose fortune he has ever maintained a lively in- terest. He was one of the original promoters of the stock yards in this place, and was, in fact, the first shipper of live stock over the line of the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne Railroad from this point, early becoming prominent in connection with this important line of en- terprise, which has engrossed so much of his time and attention. About 1868 he formed a partnership in the live-stock commission business with William Holmes, under the firm name of Pfeiffer & Holmes, and they established a branch house in the city of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1873 he removed with his family to Buffalo, New York, where he has since maintained his home and where he engaged in the live-stock commission trade under his own name, in the mean- while retaining his large interests in Fort Wayne. Somewhat later he became associated in the business in Buffalo with Joseph C. and Millard F. Windsor, under the title of Pfeiffer & Windsor Brothers, and under this name operations were actively carried on until April 6, 1901, the business in the meanwhile growing to one of great mag- nitude and importance. This firm was one of the foremost doing business at the East Buffalo stock yards, there having been only four other concerns there engaged in the same line of business at the time when the firm entered the field, while at the present time about twenty-five commission houses are there represented. At the time of the dissolution of the firm, on the date above mentioned, Mr. Pfeiffer entered into partnership with two of sons, Harry and Stephen, under the title of C. F. Pfeiffer & Sons, and this firm has since actively continued the business established so many years ago by the able and honored head of the concern, who has been identified with the commission business for more than half a century and whose
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name is well known in connection with the live-stock trade through- out the Union, while he is known as one of the most prominent and successful stock men of Buffalo and Fort Wayne.
On the 2d of April, 1859, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pfeiffer to Miss Charlotte Rudisill Edwards, daughter of Joseph G. Edwards, a member of one of the oldest and most influential families of Fort Wayne, and to them have been born the following children : Henry W., of Buffalo, New York, a partner with his father; Amelia R., at home with her parents; Charlotte E., at home; Stephen F., a partner with his father; Anna E., wife of Charles Rogers, of Buffalo, New York; Joseph C., of Fort Wayne ; Eliza C., at home; Frederick L. died in 1893, at the age of sixteen years ; Florence E., at home: Mr. Pfeiffer has always been a Republican, but has never taken a very active part in public affairs. Since residing in Buffalo he has given substantial support to a number of meritorious public enter- prises. His religious affiliation is with the English Lutheran church, and while a resident of Fort Wayne he was a liberal giver to the church of that denomination here.
Our honored subject has been in a significant sense the architect of his own fortunes, and while he has been an aggressive and success- ful business man he has been in no way unmindful of the higher duties of citizenship, has been true in his stewardship as prosperity has crowned his efforts and has shown a loyal interest in all that makes for the well-being of the communities in which he has lived and labored, while he has so directed his course as to command at all times the unequivocal confidence and regard of his fellow men. His name merits an enduring place on the roll of Fort Wayne's honored pioneers and influential citizens and business men.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
JOSEPH L. GRUBER.
A member of one of the pioneer families of Allen county is this well known business man of Fort Wayne, while it was his to render valiant service as a member of an Indiana regiment during the war of the Rebellion, after which he was for many years identified with the railroading business, with headquarters in Fort Wayne, where his friends are in number as his acquaintances. He is at the present time a member of the firm of J. H. Stellman & Company, dealers in hardware and tinware, at No. 2060 Fairfield avenue.
Mr. Gruber was born on the old homestead farm, near Mays- ville, Springfield township, this county, on the 27th of October, 1843, and is a son of Henry and Leah (Metzger) Gruber, both of whom were born and reared in Pennsylvania, being members of families early settled in the old Keystone state, while the lineage of each traced back to stanch German stock. They came to Indiana in 1831, and became numbered among the first settlers of Spring- field township, Allen county, where the father secured a tract of wild and heavily timbered land, from which he developed a good farm, while he was a citizen of worth and prominence in his com- munity, commanding the respect of all who knew him. His death occurred on the 17th of July, 1886, and his widow was summoned into eternal rest on the 22d of February, 1899, both having been consistent members of the English Lutheran church. They became the parents of eight children, of whom five are living.
Joseph L. Gruber passed his boyhood days on the home farm, and in the common schools of the locality was secured his early educational training. He later entered the Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, where he continued his studies until the outbreak of the Civil war. His intrinsic patriotism was quickened to re- sponsive protest, and in 1862, at the age of eighteen years, he gave
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distinctive evidence of this by enlisting as a private in the Twenty- third Indiana Light Artillery, with which he proceeded to the front, and with which he continued in active service until the close of the war. His battery served principally in the commands of Generals Thomas and Schofield, and he participated in many of the notable battles incidental to the great internecine conflict, the history of his regiment offering the essential record of his military career. He received his honorable discharge on the 4th of July, 1865, having been mustered out at Indianapolis.
After the close of the war Mr. Gruber returned to Allen county, and for the ensuing three years he devoted his attention to teaching in the public schools. On the 17th of July, 1868, he entered the employ of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, in the capacity of brakeman, and one year later he received merited pro- motion, being made freight conductor, while in January, 1869, he was made a passenger conductor. In this capacity he rendered most efficient service for the long period of twenty years and three months, ever proving faithful to the responsibilities devolving upon him and making an enviable record in the connection, while he gained the high regard of his superior officers, of the various em- ployees with whom he was associated, and of the general traveling public with whom he came in contact in his official sphere. He re- tired from the railroading business in 1890, and on the 5th of April of that year he engaged in the hardware business in Fort Wayne, opening a store on Calhoun street, where he successfully continued operations for a period of seventeen years. He then sold out and engaged in the same line of enterprise at his present location, 2010 Fairfield avenue, where he continued the business individually until 1903, when he entered into partnership with John H. Stellhorn, under the firm name of J. H. Stellhorn & Company, which title has since obtained, while the business controlled is one of representative order, and the establishment one that is well equipped and well stocked in all departments.
Mr. Gruber is essentially public-spirited in his attitude, and he has taken an active interest in local affairs and been a zealous worker in the ranks of the Republican party, of whose principles and policies he is a stanch advocate. Mr. Gruber is an appreciative
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affiliate of the time-honored order of Freemasonry, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. He is identified with Home Lodge, No. 342, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Fort Wayne Chapter, No. 19, Royal Arch Masons; Fort Wayne Council, No. 4, Royal and Select Masters; Fort Wayne Commandery, No. 4, Knights Templar; and with the various Scot- tish Rite bodies, including the Indiana Consistory, Sublime Princes of the Royal Secret. He and his wife are active and valued mem- bers of the First Presbyterian church.
On the 27th of May, 1871, Mr. Gruber was united in marriage to Miss Emma J. Lowe, who was born in Pennsylvania, being a daughter of George and Mary Lowe, who came to Allen county in an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Gruber have but one child, Bertha May, who remains at the parental home.
439
ALLEN COUNTY, INDIANA.
ALPHEUS P. BUCHMAN, M. D.
At this point we accord consideration to one of the most ad- vanced and progressive representatives of the medical profession in the city of Fort Wayne, where he has been actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery for the past thirty years, being known as a physician of high technical erudition and standing high in the esteem of his professional confreres and in the confidence and good will of the community in which he has so earnestly and ef- fectively labored, while further we may state that his is the distinc- tion of being a veteran of the war of the Rebellion.
Dr. Buchman is a representative of a family whose name has been identified with the annals of American history ever since the early colonial epoch, and his agnatic ancestry is traced back to worthy pioneers who settled in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1734, while the name has ever since been linked with the civic and industrial activities of that section of the old Keystone commonwealth, while members of the family in later generations have gone forth from that locality to found homes in divers other states of the Union. The Doctor was born in this ancestral county of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of November, 1844, being a son of Henry and Mary (Whitehead) Buchman, both of whom were born and reared in that county, where they continued to reside until 1848, when they removed to Stark county, Ohio, the subject of this review being four years of age at the time. In Ohio the father turned his attention to farming, milling, lumber and iron production, and both he and his devoted wife passed the remainder of their lives in Stark county, honored by all who knew them. Of their seven children five are living at the time of this writing. In Stark county Dr. Buchman was reared to maturity, and in its com- mon schools he secured his early educational discipline, after which
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he entered Mount Union College, at Mount Union, Ohio, where he was a student at the time when the dark cloud of civil war spread its gruesome pall over the national firmament. The student body was roused to marked patriotic ardor as the great conflict pro- gressed, with varying fortunes, and in August, 1862, Dr. Buch- man, who was then seventeen years of age, left the classroom to tender his services in defense of the Union, enlisting as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infan- try, with which he proceeded to the front, the regiment being as- signed to the Army of the Potomac, and with this command the Doctor continued in service until victory crowned the Union arms and the war ended. He received his honorable discharge at Cleve- land, Ohio, in August, 1865. He participated in the battles of the Wilderness and at Gettysburg, subsequently joining the Army of the South, where there were constantly small engagements on the islands adjacent to Charleston, South Carolina. From here they went to Jacksonville, Florida, where almost daily raids were made up the St. John's river, a sort of guerilla warfare being carried on with wandering bands of the enemy.
After the close of his faithful and valorous military career Dr. Buchman returned to his home in Ohio and soon afterward resumed his studies in Mount Union College, where he finished the sophomore year as a member of the class of 1867. Having determined to adopt the medical profession he then initiated his technical training, being finally matriculated in the Cincinnati College of Medicine and Surgery, in 1868, graduating in 1870. He practiced for three years at Trenton, Ohio, then came to Fort Wayne and entered upon the general practice. He has been a member of the faculty of the Medical College of Fort Wayne ever since its organization.
In politics Dr. Buchman has ever accorded a stanch allegiance to the Republican party, having cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln and having ever taken a loyal interest in the party cause. He is affiliated with the following named Masonic bodies: Sol D. Bayless Lodge, Scottish Rite and Knights Templar, and is one of the valued comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic. His practice is one of wide scope and distinctively representative char- acter, and he holds the inviolate friendship and esteem of the many
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families to whom he has ministered in the community, while he keeps fully abreast of the advances made in all branches of his pro- fession and is thus numbered among the leading physicians of the northern part of the state.
On the 29th of December, 1870, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Buchman to Miss Dora Painter, who was reared and educated in Stark county, Ohio, where her birth occurred. She is a daugh- ter of Joseph and Sarah Ann Painter, both of whom are deceased. They have one daughter, who has achieved some distinction in art.
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THE MAUMEE RIVER BASIN.
FRANK FORTMEYER.
Among the leading dairymen supplying the people of the city of Fort Wayne with the best of milk and cream the subject of this sketch is numbered, and his well equipped dairy farm is located in Washington township, the property being held by him under lease. He has attained success of no indefinite order and is one of the popular and progressive citizens and business men of the county.
Mr. Fortmeyer is a native of Hanover, Germany, where he was "born on the 17th of March, 1872, being a son of Frank and Clara (Piper) Fortmeyer. The father was identified with agricultural pursuits in his native province and was also engaged in the drug business for a number of years, being a man of influence in his com- munity. He continued to reside in the fatherland until his death, which occurred in 1888, while his widow survives him still and is now a resident of Allen county. The subject secured his early educational training in the excellent national schools of his native land, where he was reared to the age of sixteen years, when, in 1888, he came with his widowed mother and his brothers to Amer- ica and settled in the city of Fort Wayne. Here he soon afterward secured employment in railroad shops, following this line of work for two years, at the expiration of which he went to the city of Chicago, where he remained about nine years, including the period of the Columbian exposition, in 1893. In the "Garden City" he se- cured a clerical position in a leading dry-goods establishment and eventually rose to the position of assistant manager in the Boston store, one of the leading department concerns of the great western metropolis. After holding this important and responsible position about four years, Mr. Fortmeyer found his health so impaired by the close confinement that he was compelled to resign and seek a change of vocation. He accordingly returned to Allen county and
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here he soon effected the lease of his present fine farm, for a term of five years, this being in 1901. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty acres, of which about eighty acres are available for culti- vation, the remainder being timber and pasture land. The agri- cultural products of the place he largely utilizes for feeding his stock, for he gives his attention principally to the dairy business, in which he has met with most gratifying success, controlling a large and representative trade on his milk routes in the city, from which his farm is three and a half miles distant. His milch cows are of the best type, being a cross of the Durham and Jersey breeds, and his herd averages about forty head. The most punctilious care is utilized in maintaining cleanliness and perfect sanitation, and this fact, in connection with the fine quality of the products, has gained to the dairy a high reputation and the subject has not been able to supply the demands placed upon him in the connection. His thor- ough business experience in a great metropolitan establishment makes him fully appreciative of the value of system and close application, and thus he utilizes this knowledge effectively and by his pro- gressive methods has made his enterprise a noteworthy success in every particular.
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