USA > Indiana > Memorial record of northeastern Indiana > Part 97
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1895, when he bought out his partner's in- terest, and since that time has conducted business alone. He carries a full line of hardware and also deals in agricultural im- plements.
Mr. Schoenauer was married in 1885 to Miss Ida G. Hall, a native of Whitley county, Indiana, and a daughter of Dr. Hall. Her parents are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Schoenauer have two children, Est ella Pearl and Mildred Naomi.
Politically, he is a Democrat and has always taken an active interest and kept himself well posted in political affairs. He was recently elected to his present position as Trustee of Jefferson township, in which office he is serving very acceptably. He is a member of the Sugar Grove Grange and the K. O. T. M., both of Laud, and in the latter organization is at present serving as Finance Keeper. During his career as teacher and since he engaged in business at Laud, Mr. Schoenauer has made a wide ac- quaintance and won many friends.
ARTIN BECHTEL has been identified with the agricultural interests of Whitley county, Indi- ana, for many years, his location being on section 21 of Washington township. He is a native of the Keystone State and is descended from Pennsylvania-Dutch an- cestry.
His parents, Christian and Elizabeth (Schoenauer) Bechtel, were born in Pennsyl- vania, and his mother died there in 1820. In 1823 his father and family moved out to Ohio and settled in Wayne county, taking up their abode on a new farm. Christian Bechtel was a millwright and continued work at his trade after their removal to the West-
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ern Reserve. He died there in 1831. He had been twice married. By his first wife he had six children, two of whom are now living: Christiana Patterson, aged eighty-one years, and the subject of this sketch. Five children were born of the second marriage, and of this number only one remains, -Mrs. Margaret M. Warner, of Barry county, Michigan.
It was in Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- vania, September 24, 1816, that Mr. Martin Bechtel was born. He was seven years old at the time the family removed to Ohio, and when he was fifteen he was thrown upon his own resources, his father dying about that time. He hired out to a man by the name of George Firestone, with whom he remained, working on the farm, until after he at- tained his majority. His boyhood days being spent on the frontier, his educational advantages were of course limited. Fifteen months would probably cover the whole of his schooling; but in the dear school of ex- perience he has gained a broader and deeper knowledge than is found in books or learned in school-rooms. In 1838 Mr. Bechtel came over into Indiana, remaining here that sum- mer, and in the fall returned to Wayne county, Ohio, where he continued his resi- dence until 1845, when he again came to Indiana, and since that date has resided here.
Mr. Bechtel was married February 27, 1840, to Miss Eleanor Merryman, a native of Wayne county, Ohio, born in 1820, daugh- ter of Macaiah Merryman. Her father was a native of Pennsylvania and had moved from there to Wayne county, Ohio, at an early day, where he died. Mrs. Eleanor Bechtel died in 1845. They had three children, two of whom are living, viz .: Anna, wife of David First, Huntington, Indiana, has three
children; and Mary Ellen, who has been twice married, first to Mathew Tracy and after his death to a Mr. Coulson, their home being in Dakota. Mrs. Coulson has one child by her first husband. In 1847 Mr. Bechtel married for his second wife Miss Maria First, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, September 1I, 1823, daughter of Samuel and Hannah (Tafe) First, Pennsyl- vanians and early settlers of Wayne county. Her parents passed away years ago, and of the nine children composing their family only three are now living,-Mrs. Bechtel, Ellis and Elizabeth Catterman. Mr. and Mrs. Bechtel have six children, namely: Mrs. Martha Timbley, a widow; Clemenza, wife of Col. I. B. McDonald, Columbia City, In- diana; David, Columbia township, Whitley county; Mrs. Belle Stewart, a widow; Effie, wife of William Stallsmith, Washington township, this county; and Cynthia Alice.
Mr. Bechtel settled on his present farm in 1847. It was all covered with woods then, and there were no roads through this part of the country. The roads had been laid out but not yet opened up. There were plenty of Indians and wild animals here. Mr. Bechtel says that he remembers seeing fourteen deer in one wheat-field at one time. But the white settlers here were few and far apart. When he started out in life at the age of fifteen Mr. Bechtel had not a penny; by the time he reached his majority he had a hundred dollars, and at the time of his ar- rival in Whitley county his belongings con- sisted of a team of horses, some household goods, and ninety-five cents in money. Here he built his cabin, established his home, and settled down to the work of clearing and im- proving a farm; and that he has succeeded in this undertaking is shown by his present com- fortable surroundings. He has a hundred acres
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of land, all well improved, and has a nice brick residence, built in 1875. His log cabin was superseded by a frame house, which was burned before the erection of the brick. There is now not a settler in Washington township who was the head of a family when Mr. Bechtel located here.
Mr. Bechtel and his family are members of the Missionary Baptist Church, in which he has served officially for many years. For twenty-three years he has been Clerk, a num- ber of years Trustee, and now Deacon. His first presidential vote was cast for Martin VanBuren, and he has ever maintained his allegiance to the Democratic party. In sev- eral local offices he has served with ability and to the entire satisfaction of all con- cerned. He was Road Supervisor and Town- ship Treasurer, and when the entire county was one district he served as Land Appraiser.
0 R. JOSEPH W. PATTERSON, one of the leading physicians of Fairmount, Indiana, was born Oc- tober 28, 1859, in the same house in which he now resides, son of early pio- neers of this place.
Dr. Patterson's father, Dr. Philip Pat- terson, was in born Ohio in the year 1825, the son of William Patterson, a native of that State and a veteran of the war of 1812. William Patterson removed with his family to Indiana in 1830 and settled near Ander- son, Madison county, where he cleared up and improved a farm and where he spent the rest of his days and died. Philip Pat- terson was reared at Anderson, received his education in the old Franklin College south of Indianapolis, and in the Ohio Medical College at Cincinnati, graduating in the last named institution in the year of 1846.
Subsequently he took a course in the Jeffer- son Medical College of Philadelphia. About 1847 he located at Fairmount, then a very small place, and here he entered upon his professional career, and continued practicing here for about eleven years. The next ten years he practiced at Frankton, Madison county, and his death occurred there in November, 1870. Dr. Philip Patterson was the first practicing physician, who was a graduate of a medical college, that ever lo- cated at Fairmount, and at the time of his location here this part of the country was nearly all dense forest; and in his practice, which extended for many miles around the town, he experienced all the vicissitudes and privations of the frontier. The mother of our subject was by maiden name Mary Baldwin. She was born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1827, daughter of Daniel Baldwin, one of the prominent early pioneers of eastern In- diana. Daniel Baldwin and his son were for a long time the only white settlers for many miles along Black creek. It was at Fairmount, Indiana, that Dr. Philip Patter- son and Mary Baldwin were married, and they continued their residence here until the time of her death, in the spring of 1860, after which, as above stated, he returned to Madison county. They were the parents of five children, three of whom reached ma- turity.
Dr. Joseph W. Patterson is the youngest in his father's family and was only five months old at the time his mother died. After her death he found a home in the fam- ily of his uncle, David Baldwin, of Fair- mount, and was reared by this uncle, re- ceiving his education in the public schools of his native town. When quite young he learned the trade of plasterer and brick- layer, and worked at this trade until he had
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earned the money with which to attend medical college, it having been his ambition from early boyhood to enter the profession of which his father was an honored member. In 1886 he entered the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, where he graduated with honor in the class of 1889, receiving the Taylor anatomical prize. With thecom- pletion of his medical course he found his funds exhausted and returned to Fairmount, and soon after this was elected President of the Harvey Medical Association of the Indi- ana Medical College, serving as such two years. Immediately after his return to Fair- mount he began his professional career here, soon established a fair practice and has suc- cessfully conducted the same ever since, now being ranked with the leading physi- cians of the town.
From his early manhood Dr. Patterson has taken an active interest in the affairs of his town. When only twenty-one years old he served as Justice of the Peace. At this writing he is serving his sixth year as a rep- resentative of the Third ward in the City Council, and in 1893 was President of the Board. It was in that year that the city water works were put in. Dr. Patterson is now Secretary of the Fairmount Board of Health, and is a member of the Grant County Medical Society, the Delaware Dis- trict Medical Society, and the Indiana State Medical Association. Politically, the Doc- tor harmonizes with the Republican party. Both as a physician and as a worthy citizen is he held in high esteem by the people of the town in which his whole life has been spent.
Dr. Patterson was married, in 1883, to Miss Moslen Pickard, a native of Madison county, Indiana, who was reared in Fair- mount. She is the daughter of Alexander
and Mary Pickard, her father deceased and her mother a resident of this place. The Doctor and his wife have two children, - Freddie P. and Minnie M. Mrs. Patterson is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
ETER S. HESS, County Commis- sioner of Whitley county, Indiana, is one of the prominent and highly respected citizens of the county, and as a representative farmer and county official it is appropriate that a sketch of his life be accorded place in this volume.
Mr. Hess is a native of the neighboring State of Ohio. He was born in Knox county, December 15, 1847, and when three years of age came with his parents to Indiana and located in Whitley county, where he was reared and educated, his educational advan- tages being limited to the district schools. His father, John Hess, also a native of Knox county, Ohio, was a son of Henry Hess, one of the early settlers of the Western Reserve. John Hess was married in Knox county to Miss Ann Snedeker, who was born there in 1826, daughter of Peter Snedeker, a pioneer of Knox county. They continued to reside in Knox county until 1850, when they removed to Whitley county, Indiana, and settled on section 30, Thorn Creek town- ship, where he secured a tract of land, and before he died had the greatest part of it cleared. His death occurred in 1858. In politics he was a Whig, and, religiously, he was a Methodist. His wife also is a mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She still survives and maintains her residence on the old homestead. In their family were four children, Peter S., Sarah E. Creager, Silas Hathaway and Charles H.
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At the time the Civil war was ushered in, the subject of our sketch was a boy in his 'teens and was at work on the home farm; and as the war continued to rage and as more troops were needed his youth did not pre- vent him from entering the ranks. Decem- ber 23, 1863, he enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Twenty- ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was soon honored by promotion to the rank of Corporal, at that time being only seventeen years of age. His regiment was sent to Louisville, Kentucky, and placed under com- mand of General Thomas, after which it played an active part in the following bat- tles: Resaca, New Hope Church, Peach Tree Creek, Franklin, Nashville, and the Atlanta campaign. Subsequently they were ordered to Cincinnati, then to the East, and from Washington, District of Columbia, on down to North Carolina, and at Charlotte, that State, August 29, 1865, Mr. Hess was honorably discharged. Although he was in numerous battles and often in the thickest part of the fight, he escaped without a wound.
On his return home after the war, Mr. Hess worked for a time on the home farm, and after his marriage, which event occurred in 1869, he rented land, first in Thorn Creek township and later in Columbia township, and in 1876 he rented the farm on which he now lives and established his home here. As he was prospered in his operations he pur- chased this land, a fine farm of 110 acres, located on section 19 of Thorn Creek town- ship, and now has it all well improved.
As already stated, Mr. Hess was married in 1869. The lady of his choice, Miss Mary Ann Creager, and to whom he plighted his troth at that time, was born in Cleveland township, this county, October 22, 1847,
and is a daughter of Christian Creager. Their union has been blessed in the birth of three sons and two daughters, namely: Chloe May, Charles Oscar, John Edward, Annie and Clarence. All are living except their first born, Chloe May, who became the wife of Francis M. Keirn, and who died leaving one son, Carl.
Mr. and Mrs. Hess are among the prom- inent and active members of the Baptist Church of their place, of which he was at one time a Trustee. He has a membership in the George W. Stough Post, No. 181, G. A. R. of Columbia City, in which he has been Corporal of Guard. On becoming a voter he allied himself with the Republican party, with the ranks of which he has ever since maintained his allegiance. He has served his district as Road Supervisor, and in the fall of 1894 was elected to the posi- tion of County Commissioner, a position for which he is well adapted.
a HARLES M. BROWN, of the firm of Baxter & Brown, Auburn, is one of the popular young lawyers of northeastern Indiana. His history is that of a poor boy who educated himself and at the same time assisted in the main- tenance of the family.
Mr. Brown was born in De Kalb county, Indiana, June 24, 1866, son of John and Susan Ann (Mann) Brown, both natives of Pennsylvania, the latter a daughter of Philip Mann. On coming west, John Brown set- tled first in Wayne county, Ohio, and sub- sequently came over into Indiana and located in Hamilton, Steuben county, where he was engaged in general merchandising. He died in 1885, at the age of sixty-three years. In their family were four sons and three daugh-
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ters, Charles M. being the fourth in order of birth.
Until his seventeenth year young Brown attended the district school and by that time had acquired sufficient knowledge to enable him to secure a position as teacher. His first experience in the school-room as teacher was in district No. 10, Richland township, where he taught one term. After- ward he taught three terms in another dis- trict. Then he was employed in the Hamil- ton schools, the first year as teacher in the intermediate department and afterward as principal, and in the meantime attended the Normal School at Angola, Steuben county. While at Angola he took up the study of law in the office of Woodhull & Brown, eminent lawyers of that place. Mr. Wood- hull was Judge of the Thirty-fifth Judicial Circuit Court, and his partner, Mr. Brown, was an ex-member of the Indiana State Legislature. Under their able instructions he diligently pursued the study of law, teaching at intervals in order to provide himself support, and in the spring of 1892 passed a rigid examination and was admitted to the bar. In September of that same year he opened an office and entered upon the practice of his profession at Hamilton, where he remained one year. During that time he also conducted at Hamilton a branch of the Steuben County Bank. Since Sep- tember, 1893, he has maintained his resi- dence in Auburn and has been engaged in the practice of his profession here under the firm name of Baxter & Brown. They are attorneys for all the large corporations of Auburn, are thoroughly posted in legal mat- ters, and are ranked among the most success- ful law firms in northeastern Indiana.
Mr. Brown has a pleasant home, charm- ing wife and little daughter. He was married
November 10, 1885, to Miss Zo Thomas, daughter of J. W. Thomas, of Hamilton, Indiana.
Like most of the leading men throughout the country, Mr. Brown is identified with fraternal organizations. He has a member- ship in both the A. O. U. W. and the K. of P. In the latter he has passed all the chairs. His political views are those ad- vanced by the Democratic party, with which he casts his vote and influence.
S AMUEL MOORE, one of the old and honored pioneers of Hunting- ton county, was prominently iden - tified with the development of the resources of the country, and is well worthy of representation in this volume. He was born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1809, descending from Irish stock, his ancestors in this country settling in the State of Pennsylvania. His father died when he was an infant of two years, and at the age of nine years he was bound out according to the custom of the time; as stipulated, he attended school three months in all the six years, which covered the term of his service. His life was that of an unfortunate waif un- der an exacting master; he did all the drudg- ery of the farm, and the heat of summer and the cold of winter brought him many hardships. In 1824 his mother removed to Clinton county, Indiana, and there bought a small tract of land, which she and her two sons, John and Samuel, cleared and placed under cultivation. One product of the farm was flax, which she spun and wove into clothing for her family.
When Samuel Moore had attained the age of twenty years he had also become the owner of a wagon and yoke of oxen, with
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which he began an independent career. He carried supplies from Tippecanoe to Fort Wayne, and upon one of these trips he was offered a section of land, now occupied by the city of Chicago, for the yoke of oxen and wagon. He thought his team a more valuable possession than a tract of swamp land; this was a lost opportunity, and one which a man who was less of a philosopher might have regretted bitterly. In 1832 Mr. Moore first came to Huntington. He was engaged in buying furs for the firm of Hollister & Company, of Buffalo, New York, packing his purchase upon the back of an Indian pony and following the Indian trails that alone marked the path through the dense forest. His first settled place of business was at Wood- worth's Station, an Indian trading-post in Dallas township, where he opened a stock of goods in 1834, drawing his patronage chiefly from the hands employed in the con- struction of the Wabash & Erie canal. In June, 1834, he voted at the first election of justices of the peace for Huntington town- ship, at which 147 votes were polled. He was afterward appointed Postmaster of the town of Huntington by President Fillmore, and was one of the directors of the company that constructed the plank road from Hunt- ington to Liberty Mills.
The little beginning made at Wood- worth's Station was the foundation of Mr. Moore's mercantile career. From that point he removed to Huntington, in 1845, and formed a partnership with his brother John, which existed until the death of the latter, in 1857. He entered into business relations with William McGrew March 13, 1860, but this partnership was dissolved in July, 1863. In February he sold his stock of goods and accounts to Nathan Levi, and during the
three years following was engaged in buying grain, which he shipped to other markets. In May, 1867, he resumed mercantile oper- ations, opening a stock of dry goods and no- tions in Huntington. He conducted this business until his death, April 23, 1877. A man of the strictest integrity and of sterling worth, his death was a loss to the com- munity in which he had so long been a con- spicuous figure. In recognition of this the mayor of Huntington issued the following:
PROCLAMATION.
WHEREAS, Providence in His infinite wis- dom has seen fit to call from labor to rest Samuel Moore, Esq .; and
WHEREAS, The deceased was one of the first settlers of our county, identified with all the enterprises which added so much to the material prosperity of the city and county of Huntington;
I, therefore, as Mayor of the city of Huntington, would respectfully request mer- chants, manufacturers, and all men of enter- prise, to close their workshops and business houses on Friday, the 27th day of April, from ten o'clock, A. M., to one o'clock, P. M., in respect to the memory of our honorable deceased fellow citizen.
Done this 25th day of April, 1887. .
G. W. STULTS, Mayor.
Mr. Moore was twice married, his first union being with Mary A. Foxtater, who was of French lineage and a devout Roman Catholic. This is the first marriage in the county of which any public record is found. Mrs. Moore died May 22, 1845, and the second marriage occurred August 16, 1846, when Mr. Moore wedded Belinda Anderson, a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Anderson. To them were born four children: Alfred, Emma Moore Taylor, Dessie and Alice. When the father died the mother met the bereavement with the fortitude and courage that are the heritage of pioneers. Under her
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supervision the business was continued, the children becoming members of the firm. Much of the success is due to the shrewd management and keen judgment of Alice Moore, who stands at the head of the busi- ness. She furnishes one of the many ex- amples of the ability of women to compete with men in the commercial world; and al- though her tastes are not naturally inclined to this channel, for the sake of the family she has yielded to her desire to pursue the art of painting as her life's work. She is an ac- complished woman, and was graduated at Glendale Female College, Ohio, June 17, 1875.
Samuel Moore was a man of the most generous impulses, a friend to the needy and distressed, and a ready helper of all who sought his aid. Although his opportunities for amassing a fortune were broad, he was content with the accumulation of a modest competence, preferring rather to divide bene- fits with his less fortunate brethren. His life was blameless, his death peaceful, his untarnished name a priceless heritage.
A NDERSON B. NICKEY. - Never was a better known or more highly respected man connected with the lumber business of Indiana than Mr. Nickey, whose enterprise and push, with an intelligent grasp of the local and general situation, has led to the securing of a retail lumber trade unequaled in northeastern In- diana. He is to-day a prominent figure in the commercial world: he is the senior mem- ber of the well known firm of A. B. Nickey & Sons. His connection with this industry has long been continued, and his business career has not only brought prosperity to
himself but has also promoted the welfare of the community in which his enterprise is located.
Indiana may well be proud to number this gentleman among her native sons. He was born in Lake township, Allen county, August 8, 1844, and is the son of Samuel Nickey, who belonged to one of the early and honored Virginian families, and was one of the first settlers of Allen county. He located in Lake township when northeast- ern Indiana was an almost unbroken wilder- ness. On the frontier, Anderson B. Nickey was born and reared and an uneventful boy- hood has been followed by an activity in the commercial world that has made him one of the most prominent and prosperous men of the State. When he had arrived at years of maturity he began farming and became the owner of a large and valuable stock farm, making a specialty of cattle, which enter- prise he prosecuted on an extensive scale. An unswerving purpose, close application and fidelity and honorable business methods have brought him success of which he may be justly proud.
In connection with his farming interests, Mr. Nickey and his sons control one of the largest lumber businesses of the State. They have an extensive mill at Auburn, Indiana, with a capacity of 25,000 feet of hardwood lumber per day. They also have another mill of the same capacity at Prince- ton, Indiana, which was recently erected and is now under the management of William Mossman Nickey, a son of the senior mem- ber of the firm, who was named in honor of William Mossman, a prominent citizen of Whitley county. The firm has an office on Blue Island Avenue, Chicago, in order to facilitate shipments and promote promptness in filling all orders. From the mills is turned
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