USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 29
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In 1885 he established his present business, in which he has met with most sanguine suc- cess.
Mr. Bruder takes a deep interest in every- thing pertaining to the welfare of the city of his adoption and is ranked with its leading and most enterprising citizens. He is a stockholder in the White National Bank.
e RNST C. RURODE. - Practical industry wisely and vigorously ap- plied never fails of success; it car- ries a man onward and upward, brings out his individual character, and acts as a powerful stimulus to the efforts of others. The greatest results in life are usually at- tained by simple means and the exercise of the ordinary qualities of common sense and perseverance. The usual life of every day, with its cares, necessities and duties, affords ample opportunities for acquiring experience of the best kind, and its most beaten paths provide a true worker with abundant scope for effort and for self-improvement.
The subject of this sketch stands dis- tinctively as one of the most alert and pro- gressive business men of the city of Fort Wayne, and holds marked prestige as the managing partner of the firm of Root & Company, in which connection he has been associated for more than three decades. Honored and esteemed by all and being at the head of the largest wholesale and retail dry-goods establishment in Fort Wayne, it is eminently befitting that within these pages be accorded specific attention to him whose name initiates this review.
Ernst C. Rurode, though so closely identified with the progressive American spirit, is a native of the province of Han- over, Germany, where he was born on the
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4th of May, 1838, being the son of Henry Rurode, who was born in the same place and whose life was devoted to agricultural pursuits. Up to the time when he attained his sixteenth year our subject attended the excellent schools of his native province and then, being disinclined to undertake the military duty required in Germany, he de- termined to emigrate to America, and to avail himself of the superior advantages here offered for individual accomplishment. Up- on his arrival in the United States the youth took up his abode in Terre Haute, Indiana, and in 1854 he entered the employ of W. B. Tool & Company, dealers in dry goods, and retained this incumbency for a period of two years. He was animated by signal ambition, was earnest and zealous in his efforts and showed a marked fidelity to the interests of his employers, and the result was that he acquired a valuable knowledge of business methods and of the details of that line of enterprise with which he was identified. Mr. Rurode, however, realized that he would consult practical expediency and conserve the success of his future career by supplementing his somewhat theoretical education, and accordingly severed his con- nection with the firm mentioned and matric- ulated as a student in Waverly Academy, at Waverly, Morgan county, where he con- tinued his studies for a period of two years, devoting himself earnestly to the work in hand and acquiring a good practical educa- tion.
In the year 1860 Mr. Rurode came to Fort Wayne in company with L. B. Root for the purpose of establishing in this city the firm of Root & Company, and in 1862 he was admitted as a member of this firm. From that early date he has maintained the position of managing partner, and under his
efficient supervision and direction the busi- ness has been materially prospered and has kept pace with the rapid growth and sub- stantial development of the city. The value of such an enterprise is not to be lightly es- timated, for the ramifications of the business extend throughout a wide trade territory, and bring the city into distinctive recog- nition. This great wholesale and retail dry- goods emporium is the most extensive of the sort in Fort Wayne, and its scope of operations has shown consecutive expansion during each successive year of its history, and it has contributed materially to the in- dustrial activities of the city, its affairs be- ing directed in accord with the highest prin- ciples of commercial integrity and honor and its trade extending thronghont Indiana and contignous States.
In the year 1873 was consummated the marriage of our subject to Miss Emmeline Peddecord, daughter of J. J. Peddecord, an influential citizen of Decatur, Illinois, and one of the most prominent bankers of that State. Mr. and Mrs. Rurode are the par- ents of three children, namely: Ophelia Valette, Emma P. and Ernst C. Rurode, Jr.
In his political preferences Mr. Rurode has ever been stanchly arrayed in the sup- port of the Republican party and its princi- ples, and in his fraternal relations he is prominently identified with the Masonic order, in which he has advanced to the thirty- second degree of the Scottish rite, being also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.
It is not because of special prominence that Mr. Rurode is justly entitled to the re- spect and confidence of his fellow men, nor is it solely because he has attained an emi- nent degree of success in temporal affairs, for some do that who have neither the re- spect nor confidence of others, but it is be-
SoTalen
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cause, in a comparatively pre-eminent de- gree, he is a representative man of a class to whom, more than any other, is due the continued growth and prosperity of the many thriving cities of the West.
AMUEL P. KALER is one of the representative business men of Co- lumbia City, Whitley county, Indi- ana, the secretary and superintend- ent of the Harper Buggy Company, one of the conspicuous business enterprises of this locality. To a student of human nature there is nothing of more interest than to ex- amine into the life and history of the self- made man and to analyze those principles that have enabled him to pass many on the highway of life and attain a position of prom- inence in the community. He of whom we write has forced aside the barriers that ob- struct the way, and climbing up the hillside of endeavor has reached the plane of prosperity.
Mr. Kaler comes of a family that has been long and honorably identified with the history of this country. He was born in Crawford county, Ohio, on the 17th of Feb- ruary, 1853, and is a son of George and Kate (Traub) Kaler, the former of Swiss descent and the latter of French extraction. The Kaler family was one of much prominence in Switzerland, and its first representative to seek a home in America was Henry Kaler, the great-grandfather of the subject of this review. His father held many important official positions in his native land. He bore the name of John Kehler (this being the or- iginal orthography) and was recognized as one of the leading statesmen of the little Al- pine republic, having been President of its legislative body for three consecutive terms. He died in his native land.
His son Henry came to America the year before the close of the Revolutionary war, and entered the Colonial army as a servant of General Nathaniel Greene, with whom he remained until after the cessation of hos- tilities, accompanying that intrepid and cele- brated officer through his series of brilliant engagements which contributed in so large a measure to the success of the patriot arms.
After the close of the war he located in Baltimore, Maryland, following the weaver's trade, which he had learned in his native land. He secured a position in this line of indus- try through the influence of the General, whom he had served so faithfully. Henry Kaler was married in Baltimore, and later removed to York county, Pennsylvania, where his remaining days were passed. He had three sons, only one of whom, -John, the grandfather of our subject, -lived to at- tain man's estate.
John Kaler was the proprietor of a large boot and shoe store at Havre de Grace, Maryland, during the time the war of 1812 was in progress, and from his establishment the army received its supplies in the line of foot-wear. The enterprise, as conducted in a time of abnormal business conditions, proved unsuccessful, notwithstanding the supply contract referred to.
On the 3d of October, 1821, in York county, Pennsylvania, the father of our sub- ject, George Kaler, was born. In his youth he learned the shoemaker's trade, which he followed for half a century, and then turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. In March, 1875, he came to Whitley county, Indiana, locating upon a farm near Larwill, where he resided until 1889, when advanc- ing age rendered it necessary for him to re- tire from active business life. He accord- ingly took up his abode in Columbia City,
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where be passed away in December, 1892, at the venerable age of seventy-one years. His widow is still living. Her grandfather, George Traub, was one of the Clerks of the Continental Congress, and later served as private secretary to Thomas Jefferson, by whom he was afterward tendered a Govern- ment position as minister to some foreign country, -an honor which he declined. The Traub family from that time to the present has been prominently represented in polit- ical circles. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. George Kaler were three sons, namely: Samuel P., of this sketch; Dr. William Allen, deceased; and James B., a leading merchant of Columbia City.
In the county of his nativity, Samuel P. Kaler spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and the common schools of the neigh- borhood afforded him his educational privi- leges. At the age of seventeen years, he put his acquirements to practical test by engaging to teach a district school and for nine years he devoted himself to pedagogic pursuits in Ohio and Indiana, finding em- ployment on the farm during a portion of the summer months represented in this period. He terminated his labors as a schoolteacher in the winter of 1879-80, and in the fall of the latter year received ap- pointment as Deputy Sheriff of Whitley county. After serving in that capacity for two years, he became, in the fall of 1882, the Deputy Auditor of the same county, serving in this official capacity for four years, with credit to himself and satisfaction to all concerned. His advancement was consecu- tive, for in the fall of 1886 we find that he was elected to the office of Clerk of the Courts of Whitley county, on the Demo- cratic ticket, receiving a majority of more than 150 votes above his party majority,
and retaining the office for four years. Be- fore entering upon his duties of Clerk, he had acted as an assistant in the various county offices, and upon retiring from official life, in the fall of 1891, he bore the reputa- tion of having a more intimate knowledge of county affairs and the condition of its business than any other man in the county.
While still officially connected with the political interests of the community, Mr. Kaler had assisted in the organiza- tion of the Harper Buggy Company, and was made its superintendent and secre- tary. This dual office he still retains, and to his business sagacity, capacity for the handling of minute details and progressive methods, the success of the venture has been in a large measure due. The concern repre- sents one of the most important industrial undertakings of the city, and its business policy has been of that conservative order which insures growth and financial stability.
The capability of Mr. Kaler is by no means confined to one line of business. He has held the position of president of the Whitley County Building & Loan Associa- tion since the time of its organization, and ever stands ready to lend his influence and support to all measures which will advance the growth and substantial prosperity of the town and county.
The ist of May, 1873, marked an im- portant event in the life of Mr. Kaler, since on that day he led to the marriage altar the lady of his choice, -Miss Alice Kerr, daugh- ter of David Kerr, of Crestline, Ohio. They now have two children, viz .: Laura, who was graduated at the high school of Colum- bia City in the class of 1894; and Walpole, who is now a student in the same school. The parents are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in his fraternal associations Mr.
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Kaler is identified with the Knights of Pyth- ias, being Past Chancellor of his lodge. It is needless to say that he is one of the lead- ers of the Democracy, for the official honors which have been conferred upon him well indicate this. His opinions are received with interest in the councils of his party, and he has long been one of its most active and ef- ficient workers.
0 AYTON ALDERMAN is a progres- sive and enterprising business man and an esteemed citizen of Fort Wayne, he being well known as a dealer in agricultural implements, seeds, etc. His establishment is a prominent feature in the commercial supremacy of this city, and before passing to a review of his life we wish to refer briefly to the business of which he is the head.
The agricultural implement establish- ment of Dayton Alderman is located at Nos. 4 and 6 Harrison street, Fort Wayne. This enterprise was founded in 1878, and from that date up to the present time has main- tained a high reputation for the superiority of implements handled and the fair and square methods employed in all its opera- tions. The building occupied is a two-story brick structure, 40 x 135 feet in dimensions, and affords ample quarters for the display of a large and well selected stock. Storage facilities are found elsewhere. While he carries a general stock of all kinds of im- plements, Mr. Alderman makes a specialty of handling the Milwaukee Harvesting Ma- chines, Wizard cultivators, J. I. Case walk- ing plows, etc .; and an important feature in his business is that of grain and all kinds of seeds.
Dayton Alderman is a native of Union
county, Indiana, born January 4. 1850. His father, William Alderman, was born a few miles from Jersey City, New Jersey, in the year 1811, and when a child of three years came with his mother to Union coun- ty, Indiana, where he grew up. Subse- quently he came to Allen county and bought a farm of 135 acres, upon which he spent the rest of his life and where he died in 1889, at the age of seventy-nine years. His paternal grandmother was a member of the old Dayton family in honor of whom the city of Dayton, Ohio, was named. The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Mary Jane Scott. She was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and her father, John W. Scott, was a veteran of the war of 1812. She has passed her eighty- third year and is still in the enjoyment of excellent health. Six children were born to William and Mary Jane Alderman, two daughters and four sons, and all survive ex- cept the youngest, who died at the age of eighteen years. Dayton, next to the youngest, was the next in order of birth and was two years old at the time his parents removed to Allen county.
Mr. Alderman attended the district schools until he was seventeen and in that time acquired sufficient knowledge to enable him to teach. Then he entered the school- room as teacher. He taught during the winter months and in summer worked on the farm, and in this way his time was occupied for twelve years. In 1878 he moved to Fort Wayne and entered the employ of his eldest brother, Frank Alderman, who was here engaged in the agricultural business, and for six years clerked for him. In 1884 he bought out his brother, from that time until 1887 conduct- ing the business alone, his operations being
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attendo with great success. In 1887, owing to the ill health of his wife, and in accordance with the advice of her physician, he sought a change of climate and located in Wichita, Kansas, where he remained un- til 1890. That year he returned to Fort Wayne and entered into partnership with D. Shordon in the agricultural business. Their association continued until 1895, when Mr. Alderman located at 4 and 6 Harrison.
Mr. Alderman is a man of family. He married Miss Amy Swift, daughter of P. A. Swift of Allen county, a prominent and highly respected pioncer. Their union has resulted in the birth of five children, three daughters and two sons. The sons both died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Edna, is the wife of R. C. Houck, of Fort Wayne: and the other two daughters, Florence and Gertrude, are at home.
In public Mr. Alderman has taken a land- able interest and kept himself well posted on political issues. He affiliates with the Republican party, of which he is a stanch member.
IRAM VAN SWERINGEN, A. M., M. D., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is one of the distinguished practi- tioners of the medical fraternity, and is a gentleman so intimately and well known in social and professional circles that a review of his life will not be without inter- est to the general reader. Of marked per- sonality, from his youth he early evinced talents of an uncommon order, and although his carly advantages for acquiring an educa- tion were of a decidedly limited character, it in no wise checked his rise in the world. His was an indomitable spirit even in youth, triumphing over a lack of advantage and ad-
versity with the same courage and persist- ency that later in lifecharacterized his efforts in solving more abstruse problems in life. The forces here indicated Dr. Van Swer- ingen undoubtedly inherited in a large de- gree from his sturdy Dutch ancestors.
It is a matter of authentic historical re- course that Garrett Van Sweringen, upon the surrender of the Dutch colony in America to the English, broke his sword across his knee and hurling the fragments from his presence defiantly renounced allegiance to the Dutch government. He was a noble man, the youngest man of a noble family, born at Roensterdwan, Holland, in 1636. In early life he was in the service of the West India Company and subsequently came to America on the " Prince Maurice," which sailed to the Dutch colony on the Delaware. He married, in April, 1669, Barbara de Bar- rette, of Valenciennes, France, and had two children, Zacharias and Elizabeth. The family was naturalized by an act of the gen- eral assembly at St. Mary's, according to the records and private documents of those stirring martial days in which Europe and Great Britain were contending for mastery in the New World. The family in its migra- tions principally gravitated southward, though descendants of it are to be found in nearly every State, the late W. C. Ralston, presi- dent of the Bank of California, being a de- scendant. All the professions have been represented in the family, but it appears that that of medicine has been the choice of a great majority. Dr. R. M. Sweringen, of Austin, Texas, has long been the Health Officer of that State, and at the present time is president of the Texas State Medical So- cicty.
To return to the immediate subject of this sketch, it is to be noted that he was
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born at Navarre, Stark county, Ohio, Octo- ber 5, 1844, ninth in order of birth of eleven children, of whom two sons and four daugh- ters lived to maturity. The eldest son, Dr. Budd Van Sweringen, was thoroughly edu- cated in the ancient and modern languages. Becoming a teacher, he was at one time principal of the Fort Wayne high school. Subsequently he studied medicine, was grad- uated with honors and received an appoint- ment as surgeon to General McCook's brig- ade. His prospects for a brilliant career were of the best. Youth, ambition and a thorough acquirement of both practical and technical knowledge, all gave unusual promise of a bright and useful future. After a brief term of army service as surgeon, he died, aged twenty-eight years. Misfortune having in some way absorbed the revenues of the family, young Hiram was obliged at the age of sixteen years to seek his own maintenance. Arriving in Fort Wayne in May, 1861, his patriotic impulses prompted enlistment in the Forty-fourth Indiana Regi- ment, but his parents and friends obtained his release on account of his extreme youth. Colonel Hugh B. Reed of the regiment be- coming interested in him, a position was ob- tained in Colonel Reed's drug store, and thus was opened the way and a foundation laid for his future creditable career. He was apparently now in his element, and his ver- satile talents soon won for him golden opin_ ions and popularity. His oratorical talent developed young and was of an order that attracted attention. In 1864, when only twenty years of age, he was invited to de- liver the Fourth-of-July oration at Hunting- ton, Indiana, which he did most acceptably, and twenty-three years later he delivered a memorable address at the annual meeting of the Huntington County Medical Society. 14
Upon decoration days, at celebrations, as well as at private gatherings, he has always been a welcome participant. Of fine pres- ence, a graceful and easy talker, he is the center of attraction upon all private and public gatherings. During a revival at the Berry Street Methodist Episcopal Church an unusual interest in religion was awakened in the young people of the city, and he united with the church. Subsequently the strong- est influence of the church and many friends were directed to induce him to enter the ministry, but he declined.
In November, 1865, he was united in marriage to Miss Elna M. Hanna, a poor orphan girl, who proved a faithful helpmeet, indeed, through his early struggles. Be- coming a member of the American Pharma- ceutical Association, he read a paper at its Chicago meeting in 1868, which was well received and admitted to its transactions.
About this time he and a partner erected a small building at the southwest corner of Jefferson and Broadway streets, which they stocked with drugs and did a reasonably good business. His literary tastes were not destroyed by the activities of trade, and he now began the preparation of a work on pharmacy, which, after several years of the hardest labor, under the most trying difficul- ties, was published by Lindsay & Blackiston, Philadelphia, upon the very favorable opin- ion and recommendation of Prof. John M. Maisch, of that city. The book, "Phar- maceutical Lexicon," was well received and proved a valuable acquisition to the phar- maceutical literature of the day, besides making the Doctor a host of friends, and still further extending his reputation as a literary man, which in future years became of great advantage to him. He had mean- while been practicing medicine, though sur-
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rounded by embarrassing environments. Failing to accumulate means sufficient to defray the expense of attending a medical college, he ventured to announce to the pub- lic that he was a physician and surgeon. The venture was a success and he happily succeeded in not only curing the sick but in making a living as well. A few years later he was able to realize a long deferred hope and was matriculated at the Jefferson Med- ical College, Philadelphia. Here he was agreeably surprised to find his way smoothed by the high esteem in which his work on pharmacy was held by the able faculty of that renowned institution. Finishing the regular course of lectures and passing, with credit and honor to himself and alma mater, the examinations, he received the degree of M. D. in March, 1876. Returning to Fort Wayne he entered upon his practice, in which he has won distinction. In 1878 he was elected Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics of the Fort Wayne Med- ical College, which chair he creditably filled until the college was forced to close up, owing to the fact that the city was too small to support a school of this character. In 1883 Dr. Van Sweringen was honored by the Monmouth College, Illinois, with the degree of A. M., and in 1884 he was invited to accept the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago, an honor he high- ly regarded, but which circumstances not under his control forced him to decline. In June, 1885, he was appointed the Repub- lican member of the board of examining surgeons for the pension department. He has just recently been re-elected to the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the new Fort Wayne College of Medicine.
Dr. Van Sweringen's career is a notable
example of the success that can be obtained by patience and perseverance. His early life was fraught with discouragements of the gravest kind. These spured him on rather than having the opposite effect, which is so often true of men-particularly young men. While not devoting himself to any specialty in his profession, he has won particular dis- tinction in the field of obstetrics, and in that of diseases of women and children. The Doctor and his amiable wife have been blessed with nine children, -- seven sons and two daughters,-two of whom died in in- fancy. His eldest son, Budd, is a talented physician and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
ICHAEL BOLAND, of Auburn, Indiana, is one of the well known and highly esteemed citizens of De Kalb county. He is a son of Patrick and Bridget (Owens) Boland, natives of Ireland. Their marriage was consum- mated in their native land. They emigrated to this country early in the fourth decade of the present century and located in Toledo, Ohio. Upon the organization of the police force of that city Mr. Boland was appointed a patrolman. He was an efficient officer and possessed that quality of shrewdness that is so characteristic of his race. Subse- quent to his service on the police force he received the appointment as bailiff of the District Court at Toledo, a position he cred- itably filled until his death, which occurred in April, 1890, at the age of eighty-one years. Mrs. Boland departed this life in March, 1874, aged sixty-seven years. The following children were born to them: Eliza, widow of John Bradley; Thomas, Patrick, James (the two latter were killed by a boiler
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