USA > Indiana > Memorial and genealogical record of Representative Citizens of Indiana > Part 9
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In 1849 Mr. Lane again made the race for Congress, but was defeated by Hon. James E. McDonald. He was a Whig until the Republican party was organized. He became identified with the Republican party upon its formation in the fifties. In this he soon became so popular that he was chosen president of the Re- publican national convention in 1856, filling this position with becoming dignity, and he was a most potent factor in the new party.
In 1859 Colonel Lane and Col. William M. MeCarty received votes of a majority of the members of the Indiana Legislature for United States senators. They went to Washington and con- tested the seats held by Senators Bright and Fitch, but the Senate voted against them. In 1860 the subject was nominated by the Republican state convention for governor and was duly clected, defeating Thomas A. Hendricks. While on his campaign he al- lowed himself enough time and went to Chicago to attend the convention at which Lincoln was nominated.
Colonel Lane delivered his message to the Legislature on January 14, 1861, and just four days later resigned the governor- ship to become United States senator, to which high office he had been recently elected. He gave much promise of a worthy and popular governor, but his was the shortest term (four days) as governor on record in Indiana.
In Congress he was chairman of the committee on pensions and also was on the committee of military affairs. He zealously sustained the government in its titanic struggle for the Union, voting it all needful supplies and upholding its hands in every way he could. When the flag was fired upon at Fort Sumter he lost his compromising spirit, and absolute and unconditional obedience to the law was the only condition he would offer to the South.
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After the expiration of his congressional term Colonel Lane retired to his attractive home in Crawfordsville, and never again held public office except as Indian commissioner, which office was tendered him by General Grant. In this, as in all his former posi- tions as a public servant, he discharged his every duty with fidel- ity and conscientiousness, reflecting much credit upon his ability and to the eminent satisfaction of all concerned.
As an orator Colonel Lane had few peers in his day; he was earnest, logical, convincing and often truly eloquent. He was an extemporaneous speaker, and never cared whether his addresses were printed or not. He always interested and instructed his audiences at the same time and swayed them as one man. Relig- iously, he was a worthy member of the Methodist Episcopal church and a God-fearing man, honest and straightforward in all his relations with his fellow men, consequently he ever enjoyed their respect and confidence. He was for many years one of the most popular men of the state, and his death on June 11, 1881, was mourned throughout Indiana and the nation as well, for his public career had been most potent for the general good, his private life exemplary in every respect and he was loved by all classes. His career is well worthy of emulation by all young men who stand hesitating at the parting of the ways.
On February 11, 1845, occurred the marriage of Col. Henry S. Lane with Joanna M. Elston, a lady of talent and culture, and long popular with a wide circle of friends. She is the daughter of Col. Isaac C. Elston, a prominent citizen of Crawfordsville, long since deceased. Mrs. Lane, now advanced in years, still lives at the old Lane homestead in Crawfordsville, at which place she has spent the happiest days of her life. Regarding this his- torie home and its occupants, we quote the following article, even at the risk of some repetition in a minor way, which appeared in the Northwestern Christian Advocate, of Chicago, in its issue of March 20, 1912, carrying a half-tone engraving of the Lane home- stead; the article was written by Rev. Fred Whitlo Hixson:
"Wooded, embowered, and hospitable, Lane Place lies in quiet dignity in the very heart of the Athens of Indiana; not with slight propriety since the people of this historic homestead have been held in veneration and love of the city throughout all the years of a quarter of a century. This is the home of the late United States Senator Henry S. Lane. For natural beauty and historical associations it shares with the homestead of the late
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Gen. Lew Wallace, author of . Ben Hur,' the interest of all visitors to the city.
"Upon the marriage of Henry S. Lane and Joanna M. Els- ton in 1845 this place was laid out, this house of pure colonial type was built and under the direction of the young bride these ample grounds were planted with almost every variety of noble trees of the Indiana forest. But for the broad avenue, arched by sweep- ing maples, sycamores and elms leading from the street up to the front piazza, which betrays the work of artist and home founder, one might easily think this one of the groves primeval. Upon privileged spring days, beneath its friendly wildness, children gather armfuls of wild flowers and weave garlands of ivy and myrtle. Its soft verdure of summer is tremulous with the song of birds.
"In 1846 Mr. Lane raised a company of volunteers and went to the Mexican war. The departure of the men was given a touch of sentiment by the presentation of a silk flag which was made by the ladies of the city. Upon Mr. Lane's return from the war he was met by his wife at New Orleans and came by steamboat up the Mississippi river.
"Mr. Lane as a Whig was elected a member of Congress in 1840 and re-elected in 1842. Mr. Clay, his political idol, was then in the Senate. Mr. Lane was one of the leaders in the organiza- tion of the Republican party and was chairman of the first na- tional convention of the party which was held in Philadelphia, June 17, 1856. In 1860 he was a candidate of the party for gov- ernor of Indiana and one of the delegates to the national conven- tion in Chicago. This was the memorable convention that finally nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. It will be re- called that the convention was expected to nominate Mr. Seward. But secession was in the air and civil war seemed inevitable. In the North there was a lack of defined and determined policy, a thorough breaking up of parties and a new political alignment. The Republicans knew they could not elect their candidate with- out the vote of Indiana and Pennsylvania, two uncertain states. It was felt that Mr. Seward's nomination would prevent success in these states and defeat the party in the national election. Mr. Lane, who was at this time the party's candidate for the governor of Indiana, went to Chicago determined to work for the nomina- tion of Mr. Lincoln, believing him to be the only man, although then comparatively unknown, who could carry the autumn elec-
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tion and the man best able to meet the impending crisis. At Chi- cago he urged Hon. Andrew G. Curtin, Republiean candidate for governor of Pennsylvania, to join forces with him in securing the nomination of Lincoln. Mr. Curtin, in spite of the fact that Hon. Simon Cameron of his own state was a candidate for the nomina- tion, saw eye to eye with Mr. Lane in the matter. After a compli- mentary vote had been east by Pennsylvania for Mr. Cameron on the first ballot, and knowing that he could not be nominated, Pennsylvania, under Curtin, united with Lane and Indiana in an effort that turned the tide toward Lineoln and seeured his nom- ination upon the third ballot. So eminent an authority upon the political history of war times as Col. A. K. MeClure aseribes to the powerful influence of Governor Lane and Governor Curtin the credit for Lincoln's triumph at Chicago. Of these two, Gov- ernor Lane was the first to advocate and urge openly the selection of Lincoln.
"In the autumn election Mr. Lane was triumphantly elected governor of Indiana. Five days after his inauguration he was elected United States senator. He resigned as governor, went to Washington, and served with conspicuous ability through the six years of his term, declining re-election on account of ill health. Mr. Lane's great strength as a political leader lay in his high eharacter, his moral courage, his accurate judgment, and his elo- quenee upon the platform. His speeches were wrought of com- pelling logic and dignified oratory. At the close of one of his great speeches in the Philadelphia national convention in 1856 there was wild excitement and a spontaneous rush of delegates about the speaker to offer congratulations. One voice shouted: 'Heavens! He's old Demosthenes. Have you got any more like him in Indiana ?'
"Upon his retirement from the Senate and the stirring war events at Washington he resumed his large law practice in In- diana. His home was for many years a political Meeea. Here eame and went many of the nation's greatest men. In the prac- tiee of his profession he was associated often with Thomas A. Hendricks, afterwards governor and United States senator from Indiana; Schuyler Colfax, afterwards vice-president of the United States; Governor Joseph A. Wright; Judge Harlan, afterward chief justice of the United States; Benjamin Harrison, afterwards President of the United States; Daniel W. Vorhees, the great criminal lawyer of Indiana, afterward United States senator,
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upon his graduation from old Asbury began his professional train- ing in Mr. Lane's law office.
"Mr. Lane was a devout Christian and a loyal Methodist. Ile was for years a trustee of Asbury (now DePauw) University. Ile and Col. Richard W. Thompson, secretary of the navy under Hayes, were the first lay delegates of the Northwest Indiana con- ference to the general conference in 1872. The great men of our church of an early day met hospitable and royal welcome at his home. Up these avenues of elms have come and gone the golden- mouthed Simpson, the saintly Janes, Wendell Phillips, the gra- cious Bowman, Horace Greeley, Fowler the mighty, Joyce the tropical, and scores of others slightly less renowned. He died in June, 1881, universally mourned by his church and state, a man rich in natural gifts, of varied and interesting public service, his character unassailed, his memory a proud heritage of our citizen- ship.
"Mrs. Lane, at eighty-five years of age, with marvelous pow- ers of body and mind, presides over Lane Place and brings down to this day the fine spirit and traditions of one of the noblest families of the West. Her mother, Mrs. Elston, was one of the five charter members of First church, Crawfordsville. Her father was one of the founders of Asbury University. Appreciating the urgent necessity for such an institution, he was one of the liberal sup- porters of the enterprise. Mrs. Lane, as a child, was present at the laying of the cornerstone of the first building and heard the oration delivered by Henry B. Bascom on that occasion-proba- bly the only person now living who was there present. She has continued a steadfast friend and generous benefactor of the in- stitution all these years. In the recent campaign under President McConnell to add a half million dollars to the endowment, she was one of the first to encourage the effort with a large gift. She is active in every good work, goes out among people as much as the average person of sixty, is keenly interested in state and national polities, and is a constant attendant at the services of her church. She has taken intelligent interest always in public affairs, and, having had a wide range of acquaintance with eminent men and women of the nation, her conversation and reminiseences are in- forming to a degree most rare. With all the fullness of her graces and womanly strength and charm, she is yet averse to the 'new woman.' She holds steadfastly to the belief that woman's high- est glory is attained in the gentle art of home-making."
PETER CERTIA.
In the early days the Middle West was often a tempting field to energetic, ambitious, strong-minded men, and Indiana was filled with them during the time she was struggling up to a re- spectable position in the sisterhood of states. There was a fas- cination in the broad field and great promise which the new region of the Northwest presented to activity and originality that at- traeted many men, and induced them to brave all the privations and discomforts of frontier life for the pleasure and gratification of constructing their fortunes in their own way and after their own methods. It is this class of men more than any other who give shape, direction and character to the business of a commun- ity, county or state. The late Peter Certia, for a long lapse of years one of the most substantial and prominent citizens of Fort Wayne, became identified with the commerce of this favored sec- tion of the country at an early period, while its trade was in its first stages of rapid development and from the first lie wielded a potent influenee in industrial circles. He gave to the world the best of an essentially virile, loyal and noble nature and his stand- ard of integrity and honor was ever inflexible. He was a citizen of high civic ideals, and ever manifested his liberality in connec- tion with measures and enterprises tending to advance the gen- eral welfare of the locality honored by his residence, and for many years he was prominent and powerful in political life, whose keen discernment and sound judgment augured for the general up- building of Fort Wayne and the state of Indiana, both during his lifetime and the future, winning a reputation not only as a cap- tain of industry and a leader in public affairs, but as a citizen who was well worthy of the unqualified confidence and esteem in which he was universally held. He was the architect of his own fortune and upon his entire career there rests no blemish, for he was true to the highest ideals and principles in business, civic and social life and was one of the world's noble army of productive workers. He lived and labored to worthy ends and as one of the sterling citizens and representative men of Indiana in the generations that are now merged with the irrevocable past his memory merits a tribute of honor on the pages of history.
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Peter Certia was born in Starke county, near Canton, Ohio, on a farm, July 17, 1840. There he grew to young manhood, and attended the district schools in his community. Lured by tales of the "golden West" he left home when nineteen years of age and went to California and there he began driving oxen for a liveli- hood. He gained much valuable experience in the West and finally returned to the Middle states, taking up his residence in Fort Wayne over forty years ago and soon became successfully launched in his business career. HIe conducted a grocery store in that locality, and later he engaged in the saloon business, con- dueting the place located in the room now occupied by the Lehman clothing store. After moving from this place he conducted the Aveline hotel bar, retiring from this on account of failing health, about 1906. After that until his death, except giving his atten- tion to his large dairy farm near Fort Wayne, which he then owned, he was not engaged in business.
Previous to conducting a grocery store in Bloomingdale Mr. Certia was a salesman for the Centlivre brewery. Then he pur- chased the Bloomingdale brewery and conducted it for several years. Retiring from this, he was in the West, in Dakota, where for a few years he was in the milling business, returning to Fort Wayne to engage in the saloon business. He was for some years the owner of extensive Dakota properties and gave much of his attention to their development, finally disposing of his western holdings at a handsome profit. His long business career in Fort Wayne was immensely successful and he accumulated consider- able realty, both in city business blocks and in Allen county farm realty. A few years prior to his death he erected the handsome modern residence at Washington boulevard and Ewing street, in which he spent the balance of his days.
In politics, Mr. Certia was a Democrat and until business so closely engaged him as to prevent, he was very active in the coun- cils of his party and exerted a great influence throughout the eity and county. In 1882 he was the Democratic candidate for sheriff of Allen county, and although he made a splendid race he was de- feated, but only by a small majority. The campaign for this office was one of the most hotly contested ever conducted in this county. After that Mr. Certia was never a candidate for office. Turn- ing his attention almost exclusively to his large business interests, he became one of the Fort Wayne's wealthiest men. IIe was a stockholder in the First National Bank and the German-Ameri- can Bank of Fort Wayne. He was one of the old and esteemed
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members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, having been among the first to be initiated in the lodge at Fort Wayne immediately after the close of the charter. Ile never held office in this organization, but was always an active worker toward the progress of the order. The only other fraternal orders to which he belonged was the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Mr. Certia was a son of Jacob and Julia Certia, of French descent, and he was one of six children, all now deceased but Louie Certia, of New Haven, and Mrs. Kate Rolland, of Fort Wayne.
In 1886 Peter Certia was united in marriage with Rose Mosher, of Fort Wayne, she having been born, reared and edu- cated here, and is the daughter of David and Rose (Eckert) Mosher, both natives of Germany and who have been deceased since Mrs. Certia's childhood days. They spent their earlier years in Germany and came to the United States when young, being among the pioneer settlers in Fort Wayne. They were the parents of three children, Mrs. Certia being the only one who now survives. She is an active member of St. John's Lutheran church and one of its liberal supporters. She is a member of the various societies of the church, and is a lady of culture who is socially prominent and who numbers her friends by the scores.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Certia, namely: Magnus Peter, who married Charlotte Schick, daughter of Dr. M. F. Schick, of Fort Wayne, and they have one son, Peter Certia. The daughter, Evelyn Marie Certia, lives at home and is attend- ing high school at this writing. Mrs. Certia and her children re- cently spent eight months in California.
The death of Peter Certia occurred on January 1, 1910, at the age of sixty-nine years, having closed on that New Year's day a life of singular success and one that had not been lived in vain, for he had done much during his forty years' residence in Fort Wayne to encourage the general upbuilding of the city. Many young men have been helped in starting life's serious work by him, and the good he did in many ways cannot be estimated. He was a man of great energy and uncommon business capacity and he prospered in almost every undertaking which engaged his cap- ital and activity, but while laboring for his individual advance- ment he never neglected his duties as a neighbor and citizen, con- sequently his friends were mimerons and he enjoyed a high degree of popularity and for a number of decades was one of the most widely known and influential men of Fort Wayne.
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Sophia a DWald
MRS. SOPHIA ANGELINE DeWALD.
When Mrs. Sophia Angeline De Wald passed away one more name was added to the list of honored dead whose earthly records closed with the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful ser- vant;" but so long as memory remains to those who knew her the influence of her noble life will remain as a source of encour- agement and inspiration. "To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die," for the good we do lives after us through the cen- turies, handed down from generation to generation. Who, then, can measure the results of such a life work as was that of Mrs. De Wald? Her energies were devoted to the uplifting of human- ity, doing what little she could faithfully and cheerfully. She recognized "the spark of divinity" in each individual with un- erring judgment and endeavored to fan it into the flame of right- eousness. Not to condemn, but to aid, she made the practice of her life, and the world is better and brighter for her having lived. But though the voice, gentle and kindly, is stilled "in the tongue- less silence of the dreamless sleep," the spirit of her worth re- mains as the deep undercurrent of a mighty stream, noiseless but irresistible. Her influence was as the delicate fragrance of a flower to those who had the pleasure of her friendship. Her sym- pathies were broad, and quietly, yet strongly, she called forth the best in one, ennobling all by her own Christian character. Her life was beautiful in its purity, goodness and Christian virtues, and her memory will long remain as a blessed benediction to all who knew her.
Mrs. Sophia Angeline DeWald, a descendant of one of the earliest families of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was born on January 8, 1835, in a frame house which stood at the southwest corner of Main and Calhoun streets, this city, and she was the daughter of Francis D. Lasselle and wife, both representatives of sterling old families. Soon after her birth the family moved to the old Las- selle homestead, which was at that time in the country, but is now one of the most thickly populated parts of the city, the house having stood close to what is now known as DeWald square. The Lasselle estate comprised most of the territory now lying along
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DeWald street, on the south side, and the broad acres were reached by a country road through a section now intersected by scores of paved streets and thousands of modern residences and business places.
Mrs. DeWald was the last of a family whose name has been intimately connected with the history of Fort Wayne for one hundred and thirty years, and whose members bore a leading part, not only in the settlement of the great Northwest territory, but in its defense of the government later on. Lasselle is a name indissolubly connected with the growth and history of Fort Wayne. The first ancestor of Mrs. DeWald of which we have definite knowledge was Col. James Lasselle, who came from Mont- real, Canada, to the Indian village of Kekionga, now Fort Wayne, in the year 1776, as Indian agent for the British government. One of his sons, Hyacinth, served as a general in the American militia in the war of 1812. The family maintained peaceful rela- tions with the Indians and remained at Kekionga until Labalme's invasion in 1780, when they filed down the Maumee river in ca- noes, and on this voyage one of the daughters was drowned by accidentally falling from a boat. The family went to Detroit, Michigan, but afterwards the younger members returned to Kekionga and settled there, preferring the old homestead vicin- ity and there they became influential in the affairs of the same and developed good farms, being widely known in this section of the state for a number of generations.
The death of Francis D. Lasselle, father of the subject of this memoir, occurred in the year 1864, his wife, mother of Mrs. DeWald, having preceded him to the grave in 1845.
Sophia Angeline Lasselle grew to womanhood at the old fam- ily homestead here, and she received her educational training in the common schools and in St. Augustine's Academy. On Novem- ber 12, 1855, when twenty years of age, she was united in mar- riage with Charles W. Nettlehorst, which union resulted in the birth of two children, Hannah, who married John Mohr, cashier of the Hamilton National Bank, of Fort Wayne, and a son, Fran- cis, who died in infancy, in 1858. In that year also occurred the death of Mr. Nettlehorst. On February 11, 1861, the widow was united in marriage with George DeWald, then a rising young business man of Fort Wayne, a member of the firm of Townley, DeWald & Company. The marriage ceremony took place in the
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then newly erected cathedral, the pioneer missionary, Father Jul- ian Benoit, being the officiating clergyman.
Mr. De Wald became one of the leading merchants and busi- ness men of this section of the state, and at the time of his death, on June 27, 1899, he was one of the most influential and best known men in Fort Wayne. A complete sketch of his career appears elsewhere in this volume.
To George and Sophia A. DeWald the following children were born: Robert W. T., who is president of the George De Wald Company of Fort Wayne; Mary E., who married James A. Me- Donald, of Chicago; Caroline S. is the wife of Henry J. Beuret, of Fort Wayne; Elizabeth M., who has remained single and lives in the old home; and George L., who is vice-president of the George DeWald Company, the well-known concern founded and developed by the father.
In the death of Mrs. Sophia A. DeWald on April 27, 1906, at the age of seventy-one years, one of the links connecting the pio- neer epoch with the present was severed. She was a Christian by family inheritance, by training and by nature. Her ancestors accompanied the early missionaries who planted the cross in the wilds of Indiana, and she never wavered in the faith. Her par- ents were members of the old church of St. Augustine, which stood on what is now Cathedral square, and she was given a care- ful Christian training. She was a devoted member of the Cathe- dral congregation until the division of parishes occurred, about twenty-three years ago, and St. Patrick's was organized, when she transferred her membership to that parish. However, many years prior to that division, she assisted in forming St. Peter's congregation and lent it her aid and encouragement. Until the day of her death she was loyal and active in her support of St. Peter's, maintaining a pew and being a member of the Ladies' Society of the congregation, although an attendant at St. Pat- rick's. She was also a member of the Rosary Society of St. Pat- rick's church.
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