Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 74

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

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Mr. Drover was born in Sternberg, prov- ince of Lippe-Detmold, a protectorate of Prussia, January 21, 1815, and was a son

of Henry William and Henrietta (Meyer) Drover. The father was born in 1730 and died in 1826, having reached the ripe old age of ninety-six years. His wife was born in 1744, and died in 1841, when ninety- seven years of age. Thus we see that the family is noted for longevity. Their chil- dren were Henry William, who was born in 1778 and died in May, 1851; Frederick William, who was born in 1781, and died in this country soon after his arrival; Henrietta, who came with her brothers, Frederick and Henry, to the United States and here spent her remaining days; August, who died when about ten years of age; Fredrika, who came with the other members of the family to this country; and Henry, of this review. The Drover family was well-to-do in the old country, being landholders of Germany, and on reaching their majority each one of the sons was given a tract of land.

Henry Drover disposed of his portion and used the proceeds in emigration to the New World and establishing a home here. In 1840, accompanied by his mother, his two brothers, Frederick and William, and his sisters, Henrietta and Fredrika, he bade adieu to the Fatherland and on the Ist of May took passage on a sailing vessel which left the port of Bremen for Baltimore, ar- riving at the latter place on the 20th of June. Mr. Drover immediately came West to Auglaize county, Ohio, where he secured work on a farm near the town of Minster. While there the mother and brother died, in the year 1841. In 1842, accompanied by his two sisters, Mr. Drover came on to Al- len county, Indiana, and located on a farm five miles east of Fort Wayne, near the present site of New Haven. The heavy ex- penses attending the emigration and the ad- ditional expenses incurred by the deaths in

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the family left him with scarcely any prop- erty. The hard times and the misfortunes of these first years in the New World were often spoken of by him and he could relate many interesting incidents of frontier life. In those early days he cut cord-wood, hauled it five and a half miles to the canal and there sold it for eighty cents a cord, but was glad to find a market at any price. In the winter he allowed his hogs to feed on acorns and beech-nuts, and one cold morning he found the entire drove of about sixty head all frozen! They were all clustered up to- gether, having evidently attempted to keep warm in this way.

Mr. Drover remained on his farm for five years, or until 1847, when he removed to Fort Wayne and engaged in boating on the Wabash & Erie canal, as captain and part owner of a boat which was mostly used in hauling stone, and he was thus engaged for two seasons. He also extended his opera- tions to other fields of labor and became connected with various business enter- prises in Fort Wayne, where he continued his residence until the spring of 1856. In that year he removed to Huntington, where he made his permanent home. He· purchased 160 acres of land in what is now the Third Ward of the city, an unimproved tract, the greater part of which was covered with na- tive forest trees. With characteristic energy he began to clear this place and make a good home. From that time forward he was prominently connected with the com- mercial interests of Huntington, and the material welfare of the city was largely pro- moted through his earnest efforts. One of his first business ventures here was the es- tablishment of a spoke factory, in which he was connected with Adam Beck and Will- iam Bickel, the latter now of the German-

American Bank of St. Paul, Minnesota. The firm style of Henry Drover & Company was assumed and the business was carried on by the original partners until 1869, when Wilson Smith bought out the interest of William Bickel, and in 1870 B. Eisenhauer purchased Mr. Smith's interest. In the meantime Mr. Drover had bought out Mr. Beck's interest and in 1873 he purchased the remaining stock, thus becoming sole proprietor. He continued to manage the business until 1874, when he turned it over to his son William and his son-in-law, John J. Young. He manufactured spokes of every variety and also made bent stuff and wood-work for various vehicles. The enter- prise was a success from the beginning and the demand steadily increased until the sales reached as high as $70,000 per annum.

In the spring of 1845, while living on a farm in Allen county, Mr. Drover married Fredrika Block, who now resides at the old homestead in Huntington. She passed with him through the trials as well as the successes of life and was ever to him a faith- ful companion and helpmeet. Her parents were Frederick and Dorothea (Schrader) Block. Her mother was twice married and by her first husband, Mr. Kirchoff, she had ten children, as follows: Frederick, Ernest, Henry, Diedrich, Mrs. Louisa Tagmeyer, Mrs. Dorothea Strohmeyer, Mrs. Sophia Buttenbaum, Wilhelmina, who died in childhood, and a son and daughter who died in infancy. Of these children none ever came to America except Henry and Died- rich.

Mr. and Mrs. Block had the following children: Carl, who came to America and died in Allen county, Indiana, in October, 1846; an infant son who died unnamed; Mrs. Drover; and Carolina, who was born

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July 19, 1829, and is the wife of Christian Bischoff, a farmer of Adams county, Indi- ana, by whom she has five living children. Mr. and Mrs. Block, together with their children, Carl, Caroline and Fredrika and Diedrich Kirchoff, sailed from Bremen on the 19th of September, 1844, and landed at New York, where their daughter Fredrika stopped with friends until securing a position to do housework. The other members of the family went to Cleveland, where they passed the winter, and in the following spring continued on their way to Fort Wayne, where Mrs. Drover joined them the next summer. They all lived together until 1845, when she gave her hand in marriage to Henry Drover. The following year the Block family was deeply afflicted. The mother died August 20, 1846; the half brother, Diedrich Kirchoff, died on the 6th of Sep- tember; the father died in November; and the brother, Carl, a few days later. Thus all the members of the family, save the two sisters, died within a few months. The pa- ternal grandfather of Mrs. Drover had two sons, Ernest and Frederick, and the estate all descended to the elder, while the younger -the father of Mrs. Drover-received only a very limited portion. Her mother in- herited a large and valuable tract of land from her first husband, which was afterward divided among his children.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Drover are: Caroline Fredricka, who was born January 22, 1846, and died on the 6th of September, following ; Henry Frederick William, born January 25, 1848, died Sep- tember 14, 1889: he married Theresa Hag- ener, who still resides in Huntington; Fred- rika Augusta, born March 2, 1850, married George W. Fennemann, and is now living in Indianapolis, Indiana: their children are

Edward, William, Laura, Henry, Frederick, Le Roy, who died at the age of two years, and a daughter who died in infancy; Sophia Catherine, born April 7, 1851, is the wife of John J. Young, of Hammond, Indiana, a Government meat inspector: they had three children, -Elizabeth, deceased, Matilda and Henry; William Frederick Henry, born April 3, 1853, is a prominent resident of northeast- ern Indiana; Wilhelmina Catherine Eliza- beth, born June 16, 1854, married Robert Brommer, and both are deceased, her death having occurred May 10, 1892: their children are Lorena, William, Ferdinand, deceased, Hannah and Hermann; Frederick Simon Conrad, born October 27, 1856, married Ida Thiebe, and is engaged in the dyeing busi- ness in Toledo, Ohio; Maria Caroline, born February 11, 1858, is the wife of William Lahmyer, of Huntington; Hannah Dorothea, born March 2, 1860, is the wife of M. B. Schaef- fer, a druggist of Huntington; John Coffroth, twin brother of Hannah, died March 15, 1862; Henry Carl, born March 4, 1863, de- ceased; Hermann Henry, born March 27, 1864, was married in 1889 to Hattie E. Salonkey, a native of Galena, Ill .: by this union there were two children, Walter H., born May 3, 1892; and Carl S, born February 21, 1895; Henry C. is a leading citizen of Huntington; Elizabeth Matilda, born July 13, 1866, is the wife of John W. Hayden, an electrician, residing at 5938 Wabash avenue, Chicago: their children are Gertrude Elizabeth and Emma Fred- rika; and Emilia, born June 9, 1868, was married August 4, 1892, to John W. Pro- vines, and is the youngest of the family.

Honored and esteemed by his fellow citi- zens and well worthy their high regard, Henry Drover was frequently called to posi- tions of public trust. For several years he

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served as Councilman of the city of Fort Wayne, and was president of its fire depart- ment from 1853 until the spring of 1856, when he removed to Huntington. He was elected Mayor of that city in the spring of 1857, and in April, 1858, was chosen Town- ship Trustee, and continued in that office by successive elections until the spring of 1878. He was then nominated for the position of State Representative by the Democratic party and won the election. Through his long continued public service he was ever faithful to the trust reposed in him and la- bored earnestly and effectively for the best interests of those whom he served. He was practical in his office-holding, and the trust placed in him was one which he faithfully performed by working untiringly for the in- terests of the community. His educational privileges were very limited and he learned the English language simply by coming in contact with the people who spoke that tongue. In speaking of this epoch of his ca- reer, Mr. Drover related a little incident which illustrated his desire to acquaint him- self with the language of his adopted coun- try and also indicates the Christian charac- ter of the man. He said, "I was keeping 'bach' with a Protestant Irishman named John McIntosh. We were farming. I could read German and he could read English. When we came in from work at night we took our Bibles and read to each other.

I learned the meaning of many words in En- glish that way, and Mac learned some Ger- man." Mr. Drover was a consistent Chris- tian.

In 1847 with his family he joined the Presbyterian Church at Fort Wayne, and on his removal to Huntington became a faithful member of the German Reformed Church. He gave the ground on which the

church edifice, the schoolhouse and the par- sonage now stand. He served both as Trus- tee and Elder in the church, and his name was inseparably connected with the church history from its organization until his death. He took life as a sober reality, was a man of resolute purpose, patient and earnest. His career was full of good works and furnishes an example most worthy of emulation. He was a man of strong and marked personality who could not be turned from a course which he believed to be right, and though winning great prosperity in business his rec- ord is untarnished by shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil. He passed away Febru- ary 25, 1880, and amid the deep regret of many friends was laid to rest in the city which had so long been his home. Mrs. Drover still occupies the old family residence. She is a most estimable lady whose genuine worth and excellencies of character have won her the high regard of all. The family residence is a fine building, standing in the midst of a beautiful lawn on Etna avenue, one of the principal resident streets of Hunt- ington. Five of the children are also living in this city.

ILLIAM CAREY CHAFEE, M. D., whose name has long been prominent among the members of the medical profession in Hunt- ington county, is a native of the State of Ohio, born at Lima, Allen county, April 2, 1835. He is the oldest son of William and Abigail (Thayer) Chafee. The father was born at Ashford, Connecticut, April 22, 1800, and died at Indianapolis, Indiana, in February, 1868; the mother was a native of New York State, born in 1805, at West Winfield; she did not long survive her hus-

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band. They were the parents of seven chil- dren: Ann Haseltine, born August 3, 1833, is the wife of Andrew J. Neff, a real-estate dealer of Kansas City, Missouri; William Carey is the next in order of birth; Lois Maynard died of scarlet fever at the age of three years; Harriet Attwood (deceased) was the wife of William W. Cline, a resident of Hartford City, Indiana; Ebenezer Thayer married Miss Lyons, of Greencastle, Indi- ana; John Q. A. died at the age of twenty- four years, just after he had returned from the war with the honors of service as a mem- ber of Company G, Thirty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry; Alfred Burgess died at the age of thirty-eight years; his wife's maiden name was Margaret J. Jemison, and she died before her husband. The maternal grandfather of these children was Ebenezer Thayer. The family name was originally spelled Chaffee, but in 1860 it was written on the college register where the Doctor was a student with one f, and he has continued to write it so.

Dr. Chafee was a youth of fifteen years when his parents removed from Ohio to Indiana and settled in Blackford county, at Hartford City. Agriculture, which then claimed the energies of old and young alike, was his principal occupation until nineteen years of age. He had determined to enter the medical profession, and with this end in view he took up the literary course at Franklin College, Franklin, Indiana; there he remained two years, complet- ing the classical course to the junior year. Returning to Hartford City, he began teaching in the common schools, employing his leisure time in the study of medicine. After he had taught five terms he entered the office of Dr. Moses Stahl, who was his preceptor until 1859. In that year

he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there took a course of lectures in the College of Medi- cine and Surgery, returning to Hartford City, where he began the practice of his profession in 1860. Two years later he came to Huntington county and settled at Roanoke, where for twenty years he was one of the most successful practitioners. In March, 1869, he was graduated at the Chicago Medical College with the degree of M. D., and in 1881 he took a post-graduate course in this institution. In May, 1882, Dr. Chafee took up his residence in the city of Huntington, where he has fully sustained the reputation that had preceded him. He is fully abreast of the times in all that per- tains to the practice of medicine and sur- gery, and ranks second to none as a prac- titioner. In all these years he has been as- sociated with different physicians in practice; he formed a partnership with J. H. Jones, which lasted from 1863 until 1865; from 1865 until 1867 he was associated with C. B. Richart, and from 1870 until 1874 he was with T. T. Linn. His present partner- ship was formed at Huntington, Indiana, in 1887, with Ervin Wright.

Dr. Chafee was married April 28, 1861, to Miss Anna Stahl, a daughter of Abraham Stahl and born in the State of Pennsylvania, February 10, 1837. The Doctor and his wife are the parents of three children, -Ida May, Frank and Charlie Mott, all of whom died in infancy. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and have taken a prominent and active part in carrying for- ward the work of the church in this city. Dr. Chafee was reared in the faith of the Baptist denomination, but on account of the dissolution of the society at Hartford City he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church thirty-six years ago. He belongs to

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the I. O. O. F. and to the Masonic order. In his political convictions he finds support in the Republican party. He has always been deeply interested in the establishment of the public-school system, and has earn- estly encouraged every movement tending to the raising of educational standards. When a member of the school board at Roanoke he planted the trees about the school-house there, and now takes great delight in their beauty and in the pleasant shade afforded the children of the town.

J AMES B. DE ARMITT, who is well known as one of the foremost educa- tors of Huntington county, has des- cended from good old Irish stock. His great-grandfather, James De Armitt, emi- grated from the Emerald Isle to America and settled in Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, some time prior to the war of the Revolution. He was the father of a family of nine children, the youngest of whom was Barnabas De Armitt, grandfather of our sub- ject. He was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, June 3, 1797, and died in the same county, March 1, 1860. He was the father of four sons, the second being John A. De Armitt, the father of James B. John A. De Armitt was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 26, 1828, and was there united in marriage to Margaret Gallagher, November 27, 1856. She was the youngest daughter of Hugh Gallagher, born April 28, 1835; she died in Hunting- ton county, Indiana, March 20, 1887, whither she and her husband had removed in 1869. They were the parents of a fam- ily of seven children: James B., the sub- ject of this biography, born September 3, 1857; John A., born December 20, 1859,

married Mary M. Shroyer, August 25, 1889; Mary E., born December 26, 1862, died January 4, 1885; Francis E., born March 31, 1865, married Florence L. Stults, Oc- tober 29, 1891; Anna V., born August 9, 1867, became the wife of Charles D. Hub- ley, July 15, 1887; Margaret C., born Oc- tober 4, 1870, died December 4, 1877; Henry A. was born September 9, 1874. The father has always devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, and is still living on his farm, a tract of 100 acres in Jackson township, Huntington county. He has al- ways supported the principles of the Dem- ocratic party.

James B. De Armitt received his educa- tion in the common schools of the country districts of Pennsylvania and Indiana. He pursued the higher studies in the Roanoke Classical Seminary, Roanoke, Indiana, at the Central Normal College, Danville, In- diana, and at DePauw University, Green- castle, Indiana, remaining in each of these institutions one year. He began teaching in the district school, in the country, in 1878, and continued this work until 1890, when he organized the high school at Roanoke, Indiana; he taught the first term of this school, and the following year organized the high school at Monument City, Indiana, where he also taught the first term, and continued his work there until he was elected to the office of Su- perintendent of Schools for Huntington county, Indiana, June 5, 1893. His term of office expired September 2, 1895, and he retired with the good will of both political parties and the entire confidence of his constituents. He considers that in the work of education he has found his life's calling, a conclusion which his success amply justifies. In politics he is a Demo-

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crat. He belongs to Mount Etna Lodge, No. 304, I. O. O. F., and to Salamonie Encampment, No. 178.

Mr. De Armitt was married December 25, 1890, to Anna M. Huyette, the oldest daughter of Joseph R. and Louisa (Gray) Huyette. Mrs. De Armitt was born in Hunt- ingdon county, Pennsylvania, April 18, 1860, and came with her parents to Huntington county, Indiana, October 15, 1861. Her father and mother still reside in this county, making their home on their farm in Clear Creek township. She is a member of the United Brethren Church. Our subject and wife have one child, a son, G. DeVore, born January 6, 1892.

ESLEY WILLARD HAWLEY, who is known as one of the most enterprising and successful busi- ness men of Huntington, Indiana, was born in this city, April 27, 1848. He is the sixth of the seven children of Samuel Willard and Meribah Robbins (Emley) Hawley, a full history of whom will be found upon another page of this volume. He acquired his education in the public schools, which he attended until sixteen years of age. He then began his career in the commercial world, working at such employment as he could find; he was clerk in a dry-goods store, worked on the canal, and drove rafts from this point to Toledo, the trip requiring eight weeks, and the cargo being black- walnut lumber chiefly. The first mercan- tile establishment in which he was employed was that of S. Moore; he was next connected with M. Rothschild, and later with O. W. Conner & Company, of Wabash; he then entered the store of Fred Dick at Hunting- ton, where he remained a short time. In

all the years he had been in the dry-goods trade he had acquired an experience which he afterward turned to account in his own business. He opened a store on the east side of Jefferson street, June 6, 1870, and there conducted a general dry-goods trade until 1876, when he sold out to H. W. Meech.

Another industry, which has assumed proportions of no little importance, claimed Mr. Hawley's attention in 1872. At that time he purchased five acres of lime land, one and one-half miles east of town; in the winter of 1872 he formed a partnership with his brother, and under the name of Hawley & Brother they conducted business in this place. In 1887 they bought 165 acres two miles east of town, and opened quarries, where their pleasant headquarters are sit- uated. They have six patent kilns, with a capacity of 2,000 bushels per day; to these were added two kilns in 1889 and two in 1891. The firm of Hawley & Brother was merged into the Huntington White Lime Company in 1888. The Huntington White Lime Association, formed in 1879, repre- sented the lime companies of Adam Beck, Foster & Company, Frank Lisman, F. Shoenell, Baltes & Martin, and Hawley Brothers. Mr. Hawley was made president of the association. In the spring of 1880 Hawley & Brother purchased the interest of F. Shoenell. In 1882 the Huntington White Lime Association No. 2 was organized for a period of five years, with Mr. Hawley as president, and representing the same firmns except that of Foster & Company. January 1, 1888, the Western Lime Company was formed, with Peter Martin as president, representing the firms of Beck, Purviance & Beck, Huntington White Lime Company (Hawley Brothers), and Baltes & Martin.

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Mr. Hawley is at present opening stone quarries upon an extensive scale. He was one of the charter directors of the Hunting- ton County Bank, and has been one of the heaviest dealers in city real estate. He bought the north end of the town, a tract of fifteen acres, which is known as Hawley Heights addition; in the eastern part of town is another tract of land, which is known as the Hawley Brothers' addition. The interests of Huntington have always been paramount with our subject, and he has never allowed an opportunity for fur- thering public enterprises to pass unim- proved.

He was united in marriage at Marlboro, Massachusetts, July 24, 1878, to Anna Sturtevant, a daughter of Gartner and Charlotte (Smith) Sturtevant. Mrs. Hawley was born August 8, 1855, and received superior educational advantages in the old Bay State. She received two diplomas from the Normal School in Framingham, and after her graduation came directly to Huntington, where she took a position in the graded schools and taught for two years. At the age of sixteen years she taught a country school in New Hampshire, and early displayed unusual qualifications as an educator. Mr. and Mrs. Hawley are the parents of two children: Edith Maria, born May 27, 1879, and Frank Wesley, born July 19, 1893. In politics our subject is an uncompromising Republican.

0 AVID MEIRS HAWLEY is a na- tive of Huntington county, Indiana, born on the old Gridley farm, De- cember 22, 1838. His parents, Samuel W. and Meribah (Emley) Hawley, were among the early settlers of Huntington 35

county, where they endured the privations and vicissitudes that mark the path of civil- ization. Young Hawley received his educa- tion in the common schools of the neighbor- hood, making the most of the opportunities afforded. He employed the long vacation time in his father's nursery, gaining a thorough knowledge of the business. In October, 1861, when there was a call for troops to go to the nation's aid in her hour of peril, he promptly responded, enlisting in Company F, Forty-seventh Volunteer In- fantry of Indiana. He was first sent to Louisville, Kentucky, but after a year in the service was stricken with pneumonia, which compelled his return home. When his health was sufficiently recovered he rejoined his regiment then stationed at Vermilion Bayou, Louisana. He had received an honorable discharge regularly issued in Oc- tober, 1862, and at the close of the war was mustered out with his regiment at In- dianapolis, Indiana, in November, 1865. He returned to Huntington, and engaged in painting, giving his attention to his trade until 1873, when he became interested in the manufacture of lime. He has been a member of the White Lime Association ever since it was formed in 1879. He is a man of good ability and strictest integrity, em- ploying only the most honorable business methods.

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Memorial record of northeastern Indiana, Part 74

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