Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 56

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

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MEMORIAL RECORD OF

vision of the Big Four, and has held nearly all the offices sustained by that company, and was a director until it passed into the hands of the Big Four in 1889, when he sold his stock. In October of the same year he became interested in the Wabash Natural Gas Company, which was organized by citizens of Indianapolis, but later purchased by the citizens of Wa- bash, and during his entire connection with it has served as its president. He has al- ways taken an active and commendable in- terest in everything calculated to improve or upbuild the town, county or State, was one of the first to advocate free gravel roads, and was one of the first movers in establish- ing public schools. He is a representative of that class of American citizens, progressive and enterprising, who promote the public welfare while advancing individual pros- perity.

On the 15th of September, 1841, Mr. Cowgill married Miss Mary Flanagan, a na- tive of Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Thomas and Ann ( Moore) Flan- agan. They had three sons and three daugh- ters, namely: Caroline, wife of Harvey F. Woods, by whom she has two children, - Fred and Edith. Cary E. is a prominent lawyer of Wabash, who now is and for many years has been solicitor for the Michigan di- vision of the Big Four Railroad. He is now traveling in Africa and Europe. He married Nancy Stewart, and they have one son, named Stewart. Emma is the wife of Rob- ert P. Kennedy, of Bellefontaine, Ohio. She had formerly married Dr. William T. Men- Mr. Cowgill has led a very busy and use- ful life, and his name is inseparably con- nected with the business and political his- tory of this locality. His devotion to the best interests of the community is above denhall, who died in 1882. Catherine is the wife of Judge Harvey B. Shively, the present Judge of the Circuit Court. Thomas C. married Miss Minnie Evans and is assist- ant secretary of the Wabash Natural Gas | question, and whether as a legislator, a sol-

Company. Harry died at the age of four- teen months. The mother of these children died July 16, 1895, a sincere member of the Presbyterian Church.

In politics, Mr. Cowgill was formerly a Whig, and on the organization of the Re- publican party joined its ranks and has since been a stalwart supporter of the party. In August, 1851, he was elected to the Legis- lature, serving through the two succeeding years, during which he helped to make some very radical changes in the State laws, so as to conform to the provisions of the new con- stitution. In 1885 he was elected Treasurer of Wabash county, and acceptably served in that position four years, at the same time practicing his profession. When the war came on he enlisted in Company A, Seventy- fifth Indiana Infantry, and was appointed Quartermaster; but at the earnest solicitation of Governor Martin he returned home to act as Provost Marshal, in which capacity he served until after the cessation of hostilities, being one of the last men mustered out. He was again elected to the General Assembly in 1865, and was Presidential Elector for the Eleventh District of Indiana in 1872. In 1878 he was elected and served in the Forty- sixth United States Congress, entering upon his duties during the special session called by President Hayes, and continuing through the two regular sessions. He was appointed by the Government to pay to the Indians the last installment of the purchase money for the Miami Reservation, amounting to about a quarter of a million dollars.

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dier, a lawyer or business man in other con- nections, he has ever been faithful and true, and upon his life work there falls no suspi- cion of wrong.

EVEREND F. C. WIECHMANN, pastor of St. Genevieve Church, Gas City, Indiana .- The organiza- tion of St. Genevieve Church was effected July 30, 1893, with fifteen families, Father Wiechmann in charge. For six months the services were held in the board- ing-house of the United States Glass Fac- tory. The present magnificent brick edifice was erected under the supervision of the pas- tor, and was completed December 1, 1894. The location is an advantageous one, occu- pying half a block donated by the Gas City Land Company. Under Pastor Wiech- mann's kindly ministrations the congrega- tion has been increased to about sixty fami- lies, besides a large floating attendance.

Father Wiechmann is a native of Wash- ington, District of Columbia, and was reared in Philadelphia. He was educated in the preparatory seminary of the latter place, and finished his theological course at Mount St. Mary's of the West, at Cincin- nati, Ohio. Ordination was conferred upon him at Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 8, 1870, by the late Right Reverend John H. Luers. The following year he was assist- ant pastor at Peru, Indiana, where he had charge of a number of outstanding missions. Then he became resident pastor of a con- gregation at Wabash, Indiana, where he re- mained until 1879.

During his pastorate at Wabash he made numerous improvements in the church edi- fice, putting in the tower and bell, finishing the interior, besides erecting a parochial

schoolhouse and purchasing a parsonage. Upon the completion of this excellent work he was transferred to Warsaw, Indiana, where he erected a church at an expense of $12,000. In 1884 he was again transferred, this time to Anderson, Indiana, where his ministry extended over a period of seven and a half years, during which time he erected a parsonage at Anderson, a church at Noblesville, Indiana, and had charge of a congregation at Elwood.

While living in Anderson he became con- vinced of the feasibility of obtaining natural gas at that place. Through his influence Messrs. P. T. O'Brien, August Kramer and Francis Vogt became interested and ad- vanced sufficient money to defray the ex- pense of drilling the first well, which was successfully completed in 1887. These gen- tlemen retired in favor of the Citizens' Gas Company, which therefore became the first in the development of natural gas at Ander- son. In addition to his pastoral duties at Gas City he is in charge of a congregation at Fairmont, where he has in contemplation the erection of a church in the near future, and he is also Chaplain of the National Sol- diers' Home at Marion. He has established the nucleus of a' parochial school, which he is gradually developing and will be perfected by the time the new church edifice is com- pleted, it being his design then to use the present church structure for school pur- poses.

Father Wiechmann is greatly interested in all matters of public interest, and his in- fluence and assistance is never withheld from any good work. He is a progressive and intelligent gentleman and highly es- teemed by all good people in the community. In executive and administrative ability he has few equals, the work he has done stand-

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ing as the best indorsement of his enter- prise.

Father Wiechmann was for nineteen years actively associated with the Catholic Total Abstinence movement, and held the honored position of President of the Indiana State Union for nine consecutive years. In furtherance of this movement Father Wiech- mann, as national lecturer, has spoken in nearly all of the Northern States.

EORGE S. HARRIS, capitalist and prominent business man of Gas City, is one of the energetic, en- lightened and progressive men who have, in recent years, done so much for the development and improvement of Grant county. He is a native of this county, born September 9, 1843, son of John S. Harris, a respected Indiana pioneer who was born in Wayne county, this State, in 1818. He was a son of Thomas and Mary (Shugart) Harris, natives of North Carolina, who came to Wayne county in its early settlement. Afterward they removed to and settled on Deer creek in Grant county, where both died. They were members of the Society of Friends, who, like the most of Quakers from the South land, came North to escape the evil, blighting influences of the slave curse. These people always had the courage of their convictions, and with them origin- ated the first outspoken opposition to man ownership.

Indiana, and it is believed the Thonbergs also originally came from North Carolina; they were strict adherents to the simple Quaker faith. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Harris settled on a farm in Franklin township, where they now live. To them were born seven children, all of whom are now living except a daughter who died in infancy.

Our subject was reared upon the old homestead in Franklin township, in the pub- lic schools of which and at the Friends' College in Spiceland, Indiana, he received a good education. He was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Crutchelow, March 12, 1865, who is a native of Ohio. After this event he settled upon a farm in Franklin township, subsequently removing to this place, then called Harrisburg, and engaged in farming until 1892. About this time an incentive was given to the business interests of the locality by the discovery of natural gas, and a " boom " sprang up infusing new life into the quiet little village, giving mo- mentum and volume to business and in- creased prosperity to all.

This new condition of affairs gave to Mr. Harris the opportunity of exercising his business abilities, and he enthusiastically entered into the new order of things and took a prominent part in the reorganization of the place. In nearly all the numerous diversified interests of Gas City Mr. Harris has holdings, being connected with the Citi- zens' Gas Company, of which he is treasurer; a stockholder in the Gas City Land Com- pany, and the largest stockholder in the First National Bank, of which he is one of the board of directors; treasurer of the National Oil Company; and treasurer of the Method- ist Episcopal Church building committee.

John S. Harris was reared in the county of his nativity on a farm, having such ad- vantages for obtaining an education as the primitive schools of his boyhood days afford- ed. He married Sarah Thonberg, who also is of a pioneer family, the name yet being a common one in the central eastern part of | He also owns excellent farm property.

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Mr. and Mrs. Harris are parents of two children: Burr M. and Fred E., both popular young men, filling important busi- ness positions, the former having been the first Postmaster of Gas City, and is now a bookkeeper in the First National Bank. He married Anna Davis, a popular young lady in social circles.

In local affairs of a public nature, Mr. Harris displays quite as much interest as he does in his private business. The public good ever has an uppermost place in his thoughts, and he shirks no duty which, if performed, would aid in giving a healthier condition to the municipal anatomy of thé city and county. He has served in the City Council, on the School Board, and of the Gravel Roads Company he is a director and treasurer.

His politics he is of the Republican kind, and the duties of citizenship as understood by Mr. Harris are strictly attended to. The religious faith of his fathers is adhered to by him, and he carries into the daily practice of his active life the precept of the Golden Rule.

3 D. ALLEGER, editor and propri- etor of the Monroeville Breeze, Monroeville, Indiana, has for more than a decade been at the head of this weekly publication, which, as its name suggests, is breezy and newsy and up to date in every respect. Of the enterprising editor and proprietor, we are pleased to here present a biography.

J. D. Alleger dates his birth in the town of Danville, Pennsylvania, July 24, 1854, and is of English and German descent, thus having in his veins a mixture of the blood of two of the best elements which

have entered into the make-up of Ameri- canism. David Alleger, his father, was born in New Jersey, a descendant of English ancestry. Grandfather Alleger was a participant in the war of 1812. Our sub- ject's mother, Margaret Dixon, was born in Espytown, Pennsylvania, her people being of German and Irish origin. David Alleger was twice married, she being his second wife. By his first wife there were three children, one child that is now living, Amelia, wife of Lawrence Dignan, of Sus- pension Bridge, New York. It was in 1849 that David Alleger first came to Indiana and located at Fort Wayne, and here he was engaged in the sawmill business until after the death of his wife, when he re- turned to Pennsylvania. But after a sojourn of two years in the Keystone State he again moved to Indiana, in the mean- time having married his second wife, who accompanied him to Fort Wayne. Here he engaged in the butcher business with John Brooks, his being one of the pioneer meat markets of the city, and this business he carried on for a number of years. Sub- sequently he turned his attention to saw- milling again, this time owning and oper- ating a mill, having for partners the Messrs. Muirhead and Mclaughlin, and their busi- ness being conducted under the firm name of Alleger, Muirhead & Mclaughlin. Also for a number of years he was interested in a similar business at Monroeville, under the firm name of Alleger & Purman; and besides he took contracts for county work; and he continued in the lumber business the rest of his life, his death occurring Feb- ruary 23, 1890. He was a worthy and useful citizen. During the war he entered the Union ranks and did his part as a brave soldier. In politics he was a stanch Repub-

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lican, taking an active interest in public affairs, and at one time was within one vote of being elected Marshal of Fort Wayne. Religiously, he was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Alleger is still living and makes her home with her son, and is also a member of the same church. She is the mother of ten children, three of whom are deceased. Those living are as follows: J. D., Charles F., Esther V., Frank, James C., Jessie and Benjamin.

J. D. Alleger, the eldest of the above named family, was only a year old at the time his father returned to Fort Wayne, as above stated, and in this city his boyhood days were passed. Until he was twelve he attended the Fort Wayne schools, and at that early age he secured employment as mule driver on the Wabash & Erie Canal, next as carriage boy for Hon. Hugh Mccullough, late of this city. When Mr. Mccullough went to Washington to accept a cabinet position, young Alleger lost his "job " and we next find him in business for himself as bootblack and newsboy. He was the first bootblack in the city of Fort Wayne. Later he accepted a position with Clark & Rinesmith, lumber dealers of Fort Wayne, in whose employ he remained until 1869. In June of that year he entered the printing-office of the Fort Wayne Gazette, under A. S. Wright, where he soon became proficient as a printer and where he con- tinued until 1872, when he went to New Haven, this county, to take charge of the New Haven Palladium. Previous to this he had for a short time had charge of the Fort Wayne Free Press. He ran the Palladium until November of that year, when he came to Monroeville to occupy a similar position on the Monroeville Democrat for Thomas

Foster, proprietor of all three papers men- tioned. In 1874, on account of ill health, he resigned his position on the Democrat and returned to Fort Wayne. Here he was subsequently employed as foreman of the patent room of the Fort Wayne Gazette, and was thus occupied up to 1882. The next two years he was engaged in farming near Monroeville, where he still owns a choice farm of seventy-two acres. January 1, 1884, he bought the Monroeville Demo- crat, changed its name to the Monroeville Breeze and its politics from Democratic to independent; and soon he had increased its circulation from less than 200 to more than double that number, and now it has a sub- scription list which numbers no less than 800 names. The office has been improved and enlarged and everything put in first-class condition; and in connection with the pub- lication of the paper Mr. Alleger also does a large amount of job work. For some time he has also been dealing in real estate and is the representative of some of the best and most reliable insurance companies, all of which keep his time thoroughly occupied.

Mr. Alleger was married in February, 1874, to Miss Melinda Wass, a native of Monroeville and a daughter of Samuel and Permilla (Eggy) Wass, early settlers of this township and both now deceased. Her father cleared up one of the first farms here. In the Wass family are the following named members: Mary Argo (deceased), Abigail Thatcher, Taylor, Harriet Mundorff, Per- milla Drake, Westley, Lydia Campbell, Me- linda Alleger and William. Mr. and Mrs. Alleger have three children, Dovie May, William Ray and Allie Elsie Winnifred.

Mrs. Alleger, like her husband, was reared by Methodist parents, and is an act- ive member of the Methodist Episcopal

E.G. Shull.

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Church. Mr. Alleger has been a Steward, and is now a Trustee of that church. He is also identified with a number of secret organi- zations, in which he has frequently been hon- ored by official preferment. In the blue lodge, F. & A. M., he has filled all the chairs except that of Master; in Monroeville Lodge, No. 283, I. O. O. F., he is V. G. ; has filled all the offices up to Chancellor Commander in the K. of P .; and has held several offices in the Junior Order of American Mechanics. Also he has for nine years been a member of the Board of Trustees for both the F. & A. M. and the I. O. O. F. at Monroeville; and another order with which he is connected is that of the Daughters of Rebekah, in which his wife has passed all the chairs. Mr. Alleger has served as Supervisor of his township, and since 1886 has been Justice of the Peace, being re-elected from time to time, his present term to expire in 1899. At his first election to this office he received every vote that was cast in the township with two exceptions.

ALVIN Q. SHULL, M. D., of Montpelier, is a retired physician of note, and one of the best known men in northeastern Indiana. He was born in Frankstown, Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, November 24, 1830, a son of Henry Broomfield and Sarah (Wolf) Shull. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Frederick Shull, was a native of Pennsylvania, and a Captain in the Revolu- tionary war, serving gallantly throughout the entire conflict. After the establishment of peace he received a military land grant, which was located in Trumbull county, Ohio, and utilized by his son Frederick. John, another son, remained in Pennsylvania.

Henry Broomfield Shull, father of the sub- ject of this review, was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, March 19, 1789, and died in Montpelier, Indiana, in December, 1856. He was the third child of the family.

At an early age Henry B. Shull began learning the carpenter's trade and later learned cabinet-making, eventually becom- ing proprietor of a shop of his own. In 1828 he removed to Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, and carried on business first at Holli- daysburg, and later at Frankstown. In the meantime he had been revolving the plan of making his home in the West, and thus lay- ing the foundation for the future prosperity of his children. Accordingly, in 1834, he began the journey to Indiana, and located at Milton, Wayne county, that State. There he engaged in merchandising, being asso- ciated with John Crum, under the firm name of Crum & Shull. He also ran a hotel and farmed with a small acreage. Finally dis- posing of his dry-goods business, he engaged in the drug business, and his children and his grandchildren followed in his footsteps in this respect. He closed out his store in Milton in 1839, and assumed charge of a hotel at Cambridge City, in the same coun- ty, which he conducted for a year only, re- turning to Milton in October, 1840, where he resumed his drug and hotel business. In 1848 he closed out permanently his business in Milton, and purchased ninety acres of land, four miles southeast of Indianapolis, upon which he at once located. In the spring of 1853 he disposed of this farm and purchased sixty-three acres in Harrison township, Blackford county, Indiana, where he made his home through the last days of his busy life. That tract is now a part of the town-site of Montpelier.

Mr. Shull was always of a deeply relig-

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ious turn of mind. Both he and his estim- able wife were members of the Presbyterian Church until 1846, when they joined the Christian Church under the ministrations of Rev. Benjamin Franklin, a preacher of great power in his day. Mr. Shull was always active in church affairs and was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church. Politically he was a Whig, and a warm friend of Henry Clay, whom he occasionally entertained while the great commoner was on political tours. Local politics, however, had but small in- terest for Mr. Shull other than to elicit his support for the best candidate, regardless of party, but on national questions he was a strong believer in the principles of his party and would make a hard fight to secure its success. When the war of 1812 broke out he responded to his country's call for troops and saw service for a few months in the lake country under command of General Harrison. Physically he was a man of medium build, but very active, and his alert mentality was such that he was quick to decide on matters in which he was interested. His devoted wife, whose maiden name was Sarah Wolf, was born September 22, 1801, and died October 20, 1863.

The following is a brief record concern- ing their children: William Tetlow, the eldest, born February 23, 1818, died Jan- uary 17, 1890. He married Emeline Reed, and they had one son, William Ulysses. His second wife was Sarah Putnam, and their children were Henrietta, Adnie, Ed- ward S., Calvin, Elmeretta, Henry B., and Melville A. For many years William T. Shull was a leading physician of Montpelier and a most highly respected citizen. Josiah, the second child, was born February 19, 1820, and died August 19, 1822. Eliza- beth, born October 17, 1821, died Septem-

ber 20, 1822. Amelia, born June 3, 1824, died January 13, 1878. She was the wife of Dr. Henry Beyerly, of Goshen, Indiana, and they had one child, Edith, who resides in Goshen. Catherine, born June 10, 1826, died on the 28th of September, of that year. Henry Grove, born August 4, 1828, died June 12, 1829. Calvin Q. is the next of the family. Sarah Ann, born June 3, 1833, died September 7, 1838. Harrison Irving, born November 7, 1837, was married in Missouri, but is now practicing medicine in Auburn, Nebraska, and has three children. Thomas, born October 13, 1840, is a hard- ware dealer of Montpelier. He was mar- ried March 24, 1872, to Margaret Ann Kimble, and they have two sons and two daughters. Henrietta, the youngest of the family, was born June 16, 1847, is the wife of William Pegg, of Goshen, Indiana, and they have three children. Her husband was severely injured in the late war and has since been an invalid.

Peter Wolf, the maternal grandfather of Dr. Shull, married Elizabeth Grove, a de- scendant of Hans Groff (John Grove), a Protestant who emigrated from Holland to America in 1744 to escape religious persecu- tion. The children of Peter and Elizabeth (Grove) Wolf were Peter, Henry, Jacob, Daniel, Julia Ann, and Sarah, the last named being the mother of our subject. The first two spent their entire lives in Mil- lerstown, Pennsylvania, and were never mar- ried. Jacob accompanied the father of our subject to Indiana in 1834, was married and reared a family which numbered the follow- ing: Jesse, who lived near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, until 1870, and then removed to lowa, where he died leaving three chil- dren, Henry, Libbie and Agnes. Henry married and removed to Morristown, In-

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diana, in 1840, there making his home until his death in 1872. He left a family of six daughters and one son, all of whom reside in Morristown. John located in Morristown in 1840, where he died in 1852, leaving four sons and a daughter, one of whom, Jacob G., is living in Carthage, Indiana, while the daughter, Mrs. Lydia Wrenick, resides at Morristown. Jacob G., another son of Jacob Wolf, located at Morristown in 1851, and is a physician in active practice there; his son Roscoe is a dentist at Shelbyville, Indiana. Mary, another child of Jacob Wolf, married Christian Denlinger, and died in Pennsylvania. Julia, the youngest child of that family, married Dr. Calvin West, and died in Hagerstown, Indiana, in 1889. Daniel Wolf, son of Peter, grandfather of our subject, settled in New Madrid, Missouri, where he died leaving one son, John. Peter Wolf descended from Maryland ancestry and for many years lived in Little York, Penn- sylvania, where he reared his family.

Dr. Calvin Q. Shull, the subject of this review, has practically spent all his life in Indiana, having been brought to Milton, Wayne county, by his parents at four years of age. He worked in his father's store, of which he had charge at the age of fourteen, conducting it for two years. The business was then disposed of that young Calvin might attend school. His medical educa- tion began at the age of eighteen years, at which time he began his technical reading under Dr. David Funkhauser, a prominent physician of Indianapolis, who was his preceptor for a short time. Sub- sequently he was matriculated at the old Indiana Central Medical College, at Indian- apolis, which was a part of the Asbury Uni- versity, and the college soon after passed out of existence. In June of that year he

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Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 56

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