Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 37

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 932

USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 37

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

351

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

he settled on a farm on section 10 of Adams township, this county, which he partially cleared and improved and where he lived in a log house until March, 1856, when he moved to New Haven and opened out a stock of groceries and dry goods. In 1864, having disposed of his store, he and some others formed a company and built the Maumee Valley flouring mill, which they operated for a time and then sold. Again he engaged in merchandising. From 1870 to 1873 he was in partnership with his son W. S., and since 1881 they have been in business together. He is also interested in farming, owning 330 acres in three differ- ent tracts.

January 24, 1844, Mr. Rogers married Miss Harriet Corlew, who was born October 5, 1823, at Glen Falls, Jefferson county, New York, daughter of Presley and Lucy (Thornton) Corlew, her father a native of Canada and her mother of Vermont. The Corlew family came west to Champaign county, Ohio, at an early day, but the father returned to New York and died there. Sub- sequently the mother married again and moved to Logan county, Ohio, and from there came to Allen county, Indiana, where she died in March, 1844. By her first mar- riage she had seven children, of whom two are living, -George and Mrs. Rogers. The only child of her second marriage is Theo- dore Pattee. She was a devoted Christian and a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers have had five children, only two of whom survive: W. S. and Jessie P. The son has been twice married, first to Mary H. Taylor and next to Inez Randall. Both are deceased. His last wife left one child, Inez May. Jessie P. is the wife of Warren Hartzell and has one child, Harriet Marie.

Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are members of the Universalist Church. Fraternally, he is identified with both the Odd Fellows and the Masons. He was made a member of the I. O. O. F. in 1850, was the leading spirit in organizing New Haven Lodge, No. 253, and was its first N. G. In the F. & A. M. he maintains a membership in the lodge, chapter and council at Fort Wayne. Politically he is a Republican. At different times he has served in various official capac- ities and has always taken a deep interest in local affairs. It was largely through his efforts that the cemetery of New Haven was improved and beautified. He has served as a member of the Village Board, as Town- ship Trustee and Clerk, and for eleven years was Postmaster. Also he has rendered val- ued service as a member of the School Board. Much more might be written of his active and useful life, but the above will serve as an index to his character and place him where he belongs, among the foremost of the venerable pioneers of Allen county.

R. J. W. G. STEWART, a rising practitioner of medicine, of Wa- bash, Indiana, is a native of the State wherein he still resides, being born in Wabash county, fifteen miles south- east from the city of Wabash, October 22, 1861, the first year of the great war. His father, Robert Stewart, is a native of Wheel- ing, West Virginia, and emigrated to In- diana in the autumn of 1853, locating upon the farm which he still owns and occupies. It is in Liberty township, Wabash county, and comprises 280 acres. Mr. Robert Stew- art is now seventy-one years of age. He first married Elizabeth Graves, a native of

352

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

Coshocton county, Ohio, who died Decem- ber 3, 1885, at the age of fifty-nine years; and for his second wife Mr. Stewart wedded Miss Mary Stone, a daughter of Elder John L. Stone, a noted pioneer preacher of the Christian Church, who is still living.

Mr. Bobert Stewart had thirteen children, nine of whom are living, namely: Jennie, wife of William L. Hawkins, of Huntington, In- diana; James W., Dr. Frank C., Dr. Willis B., Julia, wife of James E. Bloomer, of La- fontaine, this State, Dr. J. W. G., of this sketch, Charles Edward, Dr. William Robert and Lizzie B. These are the children liv- ing, four being deceased. Altogether, there were six sons and seven daughters. They were all born on the homestead still occupied by their father excepting the first four, and were reared there and remained at their parental home until grown up. All became school-teachers, and all excepting one, who died when but a child, became members of the Christian Church.

The paternal grandfather, James Stew- art, was a native of Virginia, and his father was born in Ireland, and emigrated to La- fontaine, Indiana, in 1850, and died there, at the age of fifty-five years; but his wife lived to be eighty-one years of age. They had three sons and three daughters. He was a Presbyterian in early life, but later connected himself with the Christian Church. The Doctor's maternal grandfather, Wesley Graves, after a residence of many years at Coshocton, Ohio, emigrated to Indiana, in 1878, and died in Sullivan county, same State, at the age of eighty-two or eighty- three years. By occupation he was a fol- lower of agricultural pursuits, in religion he was a member of the Christian Church, and in politics was an enthusiastic Republi- can. He had a fair education, was a gen-

tleman of great force of character and brought up a large family.

The principal work in which the subject of this sketch engaged in early life was that of teaching district school, which he fol- lowed for three terms. He then took a business course at Valparaiso, this State, and then began the study of medicine in Hahnemann Medical College at Chicago, graduating in 1889. He at once began the practice of his chosen profession in Wabash. He has just completed a post- graduate course at the Chicago Homeopathic school. He has a farm in Dakota, which State he visited in 1883, with his brothers Frank C. and W. B., pre-empting 160 acres of good land. In Wabash he is in possession of a good home and other prop- erty.

February 27, 1889, is the date of his marriage to Miss Nora M. Gillen, the youngest daughter of Dr. H. H. Gillen and Mary, nec Cartmel. The Doctor has two children, -Lawrence and Bruce. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian Church, in which denomination he is an officer. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, and of the Modern Woodmen of America, and politically he is a Republican.

ATHANIEL G. SHORB is a native of the neighboring State of Ohio, but has maintained his residence in Whitley county, Indiana, since 1842, coming here when a child. He is now ranked with the leading farmers of Cleveland township, his location being in section 25.

Mr. Shorb's parents, Andrew and Mary (Phillips) Shorb, were born in York county, Pennsylvania. About 1810, they settled in

5. 04. The Cormick.

355

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

Stark county, Ohio, where they resided un- til 1842, and at that time came to Whitley county, Indiana. He is still living, now in his eighty-sixth year. She died August 26, 1894. Eight of their children are living and are as follows : Lavina E. Almack, Nathaniel G., Josiah A., Sarah J. Stickler, Thomas J., Miranda Reese, Eliza Spoon- hour and Ella Penn. On the arrival of An- drew Shorb and his family in Whitley coun- ty in 1842 he looked about for a location, and in the following year settled on a farm on section 14, Richland township. This farm had a log shanty on it, and into this shanty he moved his family and at once be- gan the work of clearing and improving the land. He planted one of the first orchards in Richland township. After seven years' residence there he moved to a tract of land on section 23, where he lived until 1860, all this time in a log house. The next eight years were spent in Larwill. In 1868 he moved to Cleveland township, settling on section 26, and a few years later removing to section 8, where hestill resides.

Nathaniel G. Shorb was born in Stark county, Ohio, April 22, 1837, and was five years old at the time he came with his par- ents to Indiana. He distinctly remembers their settlement here. Indians and wild animals were numerous and the cabins of Mr. and Mrs. Shorb are members of the German Baptist Church, and, politically, he is a Democrat. An honorable and upright citizen, he is well known throughout the community and has the respect of all. the white men were few and far apart. Young Shorb assisted in the clearing of his father's land as soon as he was old enough, and during the winter averaged about twenty days' attendance at school, the primitive log schoolhouse being located about two miles and a half from his home. He remained at HOMAS H. McCORMICK, M. D. -Fort Wayne is favored in hav- ing represented in her list of pro- fessional men individuals whose the home place until his marriage, which event occurred in 1859. The following year he settled on his present farm, and here his rude log cabin served as a home for him- | endowments fully capacitate them for the

self and wife and also answered the purpose of stable and hen-house. He built his pres- ent residence in 1889, and all the other im- provements upon the place have been made by him. He is now the owner of 207 acres of choice land, 165 of which are under cul- tivation, and the whole premises give evi- dence of the thrift and prosperity which have rewarded the owner's earnest efforts. Mr. Shorb had but fifty cents in money when he started out in life for himself, and he knows by experience what hard times are. When he went to housekeeping he made his own chairs out of slabs.

As has already been stated, Mr. Shorb was married in 1859. Mrs. Shorb, nee Lydia J. Zigler, was born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, in 1843, daughter of George W. and Christina (Myers) Zigler, who went to that place from York county, Pennsylva- nia. This Mrs. Shorb died January 1, 1876, leaving no children; and in October, 1878, Mr. Shorb married Miss Caroline Miller, a native of Whitley county, Indiana, born in 1859, daughter of William Miller, a native of Germany and an early settler of Columbia township, this county. Their union has been blessed by the birth of five children, - Florence E., Leoni May, Grover C., Mary Ann and Blanche Hazel.

356

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

discharge of the responsible duties which devolve upon them. In considering the life histories of the leading medical practitioners of the city, we would speak of him whose name introduces this paragraph.

Dr. McCormick dates his birth in Tus- carawas county, Ohio, May 16, 1840, and is a son of Henry and Mary (Armstrong) McCormick, natives of the Keystone State. His parents emigrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio at an early day, and there spent the rest of their lives and died. Of their ten children two are still living, the subject of this article being the only son living.

On his father's farm Dr. McCormick spent his boyhood days, working on the farm in summer and attending the public schools in winter. When he was eighteen he began the study of medicine and pre- pared himself for its practice, after which he opened an office at Liberty Center, Ohio, and there entered upon his professional ca- reer. He continued at Liberty Center, with the exception of time spent in the army, un- til 1867, at that time coming over into In- diana and locating at New Haven, Allen county. Some years later, feeling the need of still further preparation for his life work, he entered the Fort Wayne Medical College, in which he graduated in 1881. In 1888 he removed to this city. Here he soon built up a large and substantial practice, which he has maintained to the present time, and to- day holds rank with the leading physicians of the city.

Dr. McCormick is identified with a num- ber of fraternal organizations. He is a mem- ber of the Allen County and Indiana Medi- cal Associations and the American Medical Association, and he is also connected with the F. & A. M. and the G. A. R. In 1862 he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred

and Twenty-fourth Ohio Regiment, and went to the front; and after service of some months he was discharged on account of physical disability, and returned to his home in Ohio. Politically, he supports the Re- publican party; religiously, both he and his wife are identified with the Christian Church.

In 1861 Dr. McCormick married Miss Rosina Yagerlehner, and they have had the following children : Florence, who died in 1881, in the eighteenth year of her age; Min- nie M., Della C., Pearl R., Firman C., Thomas H., Jr., Ada M., and Harry B.

ILLIAM S. EDSALL, deceased. In the first half of the nineteenth century the conditions of life among the people of the northern States of this country were very different from those now existing. Daily toil, bread earned by the sweat of the brow-by the unflinching application of the physical or mental faculties, from youth to age-has ever been the lot of the great majority; but the toilers in shops or factories or on the farms of to-day live in the daily enjoyment of comforts which were held as unattainable luxuries or were entirely unknown to their predecessors of half a century ago. Yet to them, in their generation, the conditions which would seem to us hard caused no more discontent than attends the lot of men anywhere -men who have hope or can dis- cern prospective opportunities for bettering their condition and who are spurred on by such discontent to make the best of the op- portunities at hand. Everywhere in our own fair land are found men who have worked their own way from humble and lowly be- ginnings to places of leadership in the com-

357

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

merce, the great productive industries and in the management of the veins and arteries of the traffic and exchanges of the country. Not unfrequently are they found among the trusted leaders and representatives in the councils of the State and nation.

Prominent, and in some respects excep- tional, among the distinctively self-made men of Indiana stood the subject of this memoir-a man honored, respected and es- teemed wherever he was known, and most of all where he was best known. With his death there passed away another member of that little group of strong men and true who were the pioneers in inaugurating and build- ing up the chief industries of the Middle West, and his name is a familiar one in the city of Fort Wayne, where he lived and labored for more than half a century, con- tributing to its development to an extent equaled by few of his contemporaries. He early had the sagacity and prescience to discern the eminence which the future had in store for this great and growing country, and, acting in accordance with the dictates of his faith and judgment, he reaped in the fulness of time the generous benefits which are the just recompense of indomitable in- dustry, spotless integrity and marvelous en- terprise. No history of Fort Wayne or of northern Indiana would be complete or con- sistent with itself were there failures to re- vert to the career of that honored pioneer whose name initiates this review. The fol- lowing paragraphs will serve to show some- thing of his life and of the prominence with which he figured in the history of this pros- perous city, the only regret being that the province and limitations of this volume will not permit of a more detailed record.

William S. Edsall was born in Orange county, New York, in April, 1809, being

the fourth son of Peter and Catharine Ed- sall. Of his more remote lineage nothing definite can be gleaned, since the family rec- ord was destroyed by accident, as will be noted later on. In 1812 his parents emigrated from the Empire State to the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio, the same repre- senting at that early period the practical frontier of civilization. The journey was made in the primitive method which ob- tained at that time. They proceeded over- land by wagon as far as Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, and thence embarked on a flatboat and transported themselves and their house- hold effects down the Ohio river to Cincin- nati. Arriving in that city they secured the boat to a large tree on the north bank of the river and then camped out for the night. Before morning dawned the boat with its entire cargo was at the bottom of the river, a heavy storm having uprooted the tree and precipitated it upon the boat-all sinking together! It is needless to say that the loss was a serious one and practically irreparable, for the financial resources of the father were very limited, but he had started forth to make a home in the West, and even this great loss did not discourage him or his de- voted wife. On this occasion was lost the old Bible which contained the family record -a fact which has been greatly regretted by succeeding generations, as it was by the parents at the time. From Cincinnati the family proceeded to Montgomery county, Ohio, where the father rented land and en- gaged in farming for a period of two years, removing thence to Darke county and finally to Saint Mary's, Auglaize county, where they conducted a boarding house, and through this medium eventually accumulated sufficient funds to purchase eighty acres of land at Shane's Crossing. On this farm the father died

358

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

in the year 1822, leaving his widow with nine children. In 1824 the entire family removed to Fort Wayne, our subject having visited this place the year previous. He came hither in company with a friend, ten days being consumed in making the journey of forty miles, and they found here only a small settlement which gave little indication of ever becoming a populous and opulent city. Within the whole forty miles they saw but one house, and at that time there were but six white families living between the old fort and the mouth of the Tippecanoe river -- a distance of 134 miles. Upon the ar- rival of the family in Fort Wayne they took up their abode in a cabin located on the Saint Mary's river, near the site of the pres- ent county jail. Soon after this the sons selected their vocations and started out to do for themselves. Samuel, the eldest, was apprenticed to Colonel Hugh Hanna to learn the trade of carpenter and joiner. John be- came a tailor; Simon engaged in farming; and William S., the immediate subject of this review, joined, in 1826, a United States topographical engineering corps that had been detailed to survey a route for the Wa- bash & Eric canal. The survey was com- inenced from Fort Wayne in June of that year, but soon the entire corps was pros- trated by sickness, and the chief, Colonel James Skinner, died at the old fort. . Col- onel Asa Moore succeeded him and contin- ued the survey as far as the mouth of the Tippecanoe, when he too sickened and died at his post-this being in the year 1828. Young Edsall suffered much from prevalent diseases, but remained with the corps until after the death of Colonel Moore.

When the Indians came to Fort Wayne to trade they camped on the river bank op- posite the cabin occupied by Mrs. Edsall and

her family, and the subject of this sketch showed his enterprising spirit and that com- mand of expedients which characterized his subsequent career, by establishing a ferry for the purpose of transporting the Indians and the traders across the river. While operating this primitive but effective ferry he formed the acquaintance of the late W. G. Ewing, who appreciated the energies and self reliance of our subject and offered him a position in connection with the extensive business in which he was engaged. Mr. Edsall became an employee of the Messrs. Ewing in 1832, and they purchased for him a stock of goods with which he opened a general mercantile establishment at Huntington. He soon gained the confidence and esteem of the people of that pioneer community, as shown in the fact that, in the year 1833, he was elected Clerk and Recorder of Huntington, Whitley and Wabash counties, the duties of which dual office he performed in connection with his other business, gaining a reputation as an excellent executive and as a man of honor and integrity. He resigned these offices in 1836, closed his business affairs in Huntington, and returned to Fort Wayne. From that time until 1839 he was associated with his brother, Major Samuel Edsall, in mercantile pursuits, and in the year last mentioned he again formed a connection with G. W. & W. G. Ewing, taking a third interest in the business of the firm, which then became known by the title of Ewing, Edsall & Company. They carried on most extensive operations, dealing in furs and ex- tending the ramifications of their business as far west as the Mississippi river. Within the year in which he became a member of the firm, Mr. Edsall made a business trip on horseback, visiting various points throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. By reason of the

359

NORTHEASTERN INDIANA.

close competition with the American Fur Company, with its great capital and re- sources, Ewing, Edsall & Company met with heavy losses in their business, and in 1841 the firm was dissolved.

Mr. Edsall's initial association with the official affairs of Fort Wayne began in 1840, when he was elected a member of the first Common Council of the city. Three years later he was appointed to the important office of Register of the United States Land Office in Fort Wayne, and held this prefer- ment until 1847. Within the preceding year he had associated himself with his brother in the mercantile and milling busi- ness, and they continued their operations in these lines until 1849, conducting one of the leading enterprises of the sort in this section of the State. About this time the Fort Wayne & Bluffton Turnpike Company was organ- ized and he became prominently identified with the association and the improvements which it instituted. The company built the plank road from Bluffton to this city and this proved of great value to Fort Wayne, contributing in a great measure to its devel- opment and advancement. In 1853 the Messrs. Edsall contracted for the grading, masonry work and ties of the Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis Railroad, from the Ohio State line to the Wabash river, and, notwithstanding many obstacles, including a great financial depression and a cholera epi- demic, they carried the work successfully for- ward and completed the same in the spring of 1856. Our subject was also one of the contractors on the construction of the Wa- bash & Erie canal. That he had a marked capacity for affairs of breadth is shown in the successful manner in which he conducted the various business enterprises in which he was engaged during his long and active ca-

reer. Rare discernment and determined effort along clearly defined lines were char- acteristic of his endeavors at all times and in all instances. He was engaged in the commission and produce business in Fort Wayne from 1856 until 1865, in which latter year he removed to Chicago, where he was concerned in similar lines of enterprise until 1868, when he returned to Fort Wayne, where he continued his residence consecu- tively until the time of his death. His ster- ling worth of character and his lively interest in everything pertaining to the growth and prosperity of the city gained him unmistak- able prominence and popularity, and he was recognized as one of Fort Wayne's most progressive and influential citizens. In 1870 he was elected County Clerk, and for a term of four years served most acceptably in that office. From 1874 until his death he was retired from active business life, having ac- quired a competency and having surrounded himself with all that goes to conserve com- fort and happiness. His was a well earned repose, for he had accomplished much and had been true to his ideals and to his pos- sibilities for accomplishment, and his death, which occurred November 29, 1876, was but the consistent merging of the finite into the infinite: his course was run and he passed away in the fullness of years and of honors attained. The world was better that he had lived and all who knew him could not but deplore his loss.

Mr. Edsall was most vitally instinct with the deepest human sympathy and in him generosity had its personification. He was unostentatious and unassuming and never withheld his largeness from the poor and needy, and through his influence many a friend was tided over an uncertain or difficult place. He was a man of many friendships

360

MEMORIAL RECORD OF

and one whose nobility of character was such as to entitle him not alone to the es- teem of his fellows, but their reverence. He was eminently a self-made man. Without theoretical education, without influential friends, without financial aid, he started out upon his own responsibility while yet a mere lad, and through his own efforts he arose to a position of prominence and attained a measure of success that is allotted to but few. His alert mentality and receptiveness were sufficient to develop in him a broad in- tellectuality and to give him a depth and breadth of comprehension and wisdom which books alone cannot supply. High upon the scroll of the representative pioneers and honored dead of the city of Fort Wayne should be inscribed the name of William S. Edsall.

Mr. Edsall was married in early life to Miss Louisa McCarty, daughter of General Jonathan McCarty, and with her he lived in happy companionship until her death, in 1857. Four of their children are living, -Clarence W., to whom specific reference is made in appending paragraphs; Joseph W .; Mrs. Willis Maier; and Mrs. Henry Colerick.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 37

Author: Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company Number of Pages: 932

Author:
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 932