USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 54
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On February 19. 1895, Professor Sharpe was united in marriage with Sudie N. Dryer, and to them have been born three children, Brooke, Har- riet and Portia. Professor and Mrs. Sharpe are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has been the efficient chorister for a number of years, being also a teacher in the Sunday school. In politics he is a stanch Republican and takes a keen interest in the events of the day pertaining to public policies. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, having been raised to the degree of a Master Mason in Dayton Lodge, No. 103, of which he is the present worshipful master. He and his wife be- long to the Order of the Eastern Star, which Mrs. Sharpe is now serving
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as Ruth. In the Dayton Lodge, Knights of Pythias, Professor Sharpe has passed all the chairs and is now the keeper of records and seal.
In 1905 the subject entered into a partnership with Charles Morris, under the firm style of Sharpe & Morris, and conducted a grocery and meat market until the spring of 1909, when they sold out. Professor Sharpe is possessed of musical talent of a high order and has done much to advance the art in Dayton. He took a leading part in organizing the Dayton band, one of the best organizations of the kind in this locality. It is said he can play every instrument in the band, excepting the clarionet. He has taken a live interest in the improvement of the town and set a splendid example when he erected the fine cement residence in which he now lives. The house is mod- ern in every respect and is comfortable and well arranged. Here the latch- string of hospitality ever hangs outside and a hearty and cordial welcome is given all comers. Professor and Mrs. Sharpe are popular in the social circles in which they move and are esteemed by all who know them.
MOSES A. LENTZ.
The name of Lentz has been for many years an honored and respected one in Tippecanoe county, and the gentleman of that name who is the im- mediate subject of this sketch is richly deserving of the universal respect and esteem which is accorded him in the community in which he lives. For many years one of the leading manufacturers at Dayton, his business finally swept away during a serious financial panic, and then, by dint of the most strenuous and determined efforts to recover his former position in the business world -all the while retaining the confidence of those who best knew him-such is a brief epitome of the career of the subject. Now, in the fullness of years, he is still to be found at the helm and is today considered one of the leading and representative citizens of his community.
Moses A. Lentz, who has been engaged in active business at Dayton, Tippecanoe county, longer than any other man, is a native of the old Key- stone state, having been born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, on the 16th day of July, 1840. He is the son of William and Sarah (Baliet) Lentz, also natives of Pennsylvania and respected farming people of that section, but both now dead. The subject remained under the parental roof until nearly seventeen years old. The family was not well-to-do and the subject
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was compelled to toil early and late on the farm, to the neglect of his edu- cation, so that at the age mentioned he had been able to attend the public schools only about twenty months altogether. At this time he became an ap- prentice in a wood-working and painting establishment. In this shop he worked for five years for his board and clothes, the only exception to this plan being that during three weeks each year he was permitted to go to the harvest field and earn what he could there, the money thus earned being the sum total of all that came into his hands during these five years. However, he paid strict attention to his duties and learned all he could about the busi- ness, so that at the expiration of his term of apprenticeship he was a well- finished workman. He then accepted a position in another shop in Union- ville, Lehigh county, but, determined to start in business for himself, he came to Dayton, Indiana, in the fall of 1864 and opened a carriage shop. In the following March, he returned to Pennsylvania and brought his family to the new western home. There was but a small settlement here at that time, but there was a large demand for vehicles throughout this western country. Mr. Lentz started out with ten employees, but was soon com- pelled to increase his force until, in 1872, he was employing thirty men. He took pride in the high quality of his output and the establishment gained a reputation that brought business to it from all sides. Up to 1873 the factory was located where the Dayton Hotel now stands, and in con- nection with the shop Mr. Lentz also conducted a livery business for five or six years.
The panic of 1873 found Mr. Lentz carrying a very heavy book account, and during those days he was compelled to extend a very heavy credit, with the result that he was unable to carry the burden, and during the following four years he lost about forty-five thousand dollars. It was a terrible loss, but Mr. Lentz and his good wife, undaunted by their misfortune, went bravely to work and from 1879 to 1882 they ran what was then known as the Lentz Hotel. Mrs. Lentz proved a good manager, and at the end of three years was able to show a balance on the right side of the ledger of over a thousand dollars. Mr. Lentz then went across Wild Cat creek and pur- chased forty acres of land for eight hundred dollars, on which he conducted farming operations for eleven years. In connection therewith he also ran a repair shop on the farm and was liberally patronized. In 1892 he sold the farm for eighteen hundred dollars and then found himself with a cash capital of three thousand seven hundred and sixty-two dollars. His thoughts were with his first love and he bought back the old carriage shop for seven
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hundred dollars and their former residence across the street for eighteen hun- dred dollars. Once again embarking in the carriage business, he soon found his old trade coming back to him and he has ever since enjoyed a splendid business. In connection with the turning out of much new work, the estab- lishment also does much repair work and blacksmithing. The firm name has been changed a number of times. A company was formed under the name of Lentz, Mathews & Company, but four years later it returned to the old style of M. A. Lentz, which it retained until 1896. In that year his son Roy became interested in the business, which was conducted under the name of M. A. Lentz & Son until 1906, when the subject again became the sole owner of the business, which is now run under his name alone.
Moses A. Lentz was married in Pennsylvania to Caroline Roth, a native of Lehigh county, that state. Mrs. Lentz proved a helpmeet to her husband in the fullest sense of the word and much of his success in life he attributes to her encouragement, wise advice and active assistance. Her death occurred in November, 1906, and the entire community sustained a distinct loss in her removal. She was a woman of many excellent qualities of head and heart and was loved by all who knew her. In her youth she was a member of the German Lutheran church, and after her removal to Dayton she became a member of the Reformed church. To Mr. and Mrs. Lentz were born three children, namely : Midina S. is the wife of Samuel P. Weaver and lives in Perry township, this county; Emma J. became the wife of Millard Edwards and resides in Sheffield township: Roy S. lives in Dayton. Mr. Lentz's second marriage was with Mrs. Laura L. Baer nec Muse. She is a lady of splendid attainments and is popular in the circles in which she moves. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star at Dayton and is also an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church here.
In politics Mr. Lentz is a stanch Republican, thoughi he has never been an aspirant for public office. His fraternal relations have been with the Ma- sonic order, holding membership in the blue lodge at Dayton, of which he was a trustee for a number of years, and with the chapter and commandery at Lafayette. He also belongs to the Eastern Star. Mr. Lentz is a mem- ber of the board of trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church at Dayton and otherwise takes an active part in advancing the interests of the church in the community. During his long and industrious career, Mr. Lentz has not only gained a strong position among his fellow business men, but as a man of force of character, upright and honest in his dealings with his fellow citizens, he has gained the esteem of all who know him.
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RANDOLPH WIGGINS.
One of the well-known and influential citizens of Wabash township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, is Randolph Wiggins, who has spent his en- tire life here. He has always been actively interested in everything which tended to promote the development of this region, and has been confidently counted upon at all times to endorse progressive measures and to uphold every effort to advance the best interests of the community.
Mr. Wiggins, who owns a fine farm in sections 31 and 32, was born on the farm which he now owns and on which he resides, the date of his birth being July 23, 1848. His parents were Isaac B. and Mary (Mar- steller) Wiggins. Isaac B. Wiggins was born on February 4, 1816, in Pickaway county, Ohio, and came with his parents to Tippecanoe county in 1829. They settled on the Wabash bottoms in section 27, Wabash town- ship, where the father engaged in farming, in which he was fairly success- ful. The subject's paternal grandfather was Lemuel Wiggins, who also followed farming. He was the father of a large family. Isaac Wiggins gave much attention to stock raising, in which also he was successful. He was not a man who courted publicity, but was eminently public-spirited in his attitude toward public improvements, especially gravel roads. In poli- tics he was a Democrat, and in religion he was a member of the Christian church, in which he took an active part. His early education, which was secured in the schools of his Ohio home, was somewhat limited, but he was keen mentally and exhibited a shrewdness and ability which put him on a par with others more fortunate in their schooling. When he came to Lafayette there had been but little improvement, the country being wild and covered with the primeval forests, excepting an occasional strip of prairie ground. At that time ( 1829) there was but one small brick store here, and the sub- ject can remember when there was no business transacted above what is now Fifth street. Isaac Wiggins died on September 30, 1881. His mar- riage to Mary Marsteller occurred on November 28, 1839. She was born in May. 1816, in Licking county, Ohio, and was brought in an early day to Tippecanoe county, her family being among the pioneers of this section. The subject was one of six children, the others being Ruth, Charles, Mar- ietta. Margaret E. and George B., all of whom are deceased. Mrs. Mary Wiggins departed this life on July 16, 1880.
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Randolph Wiggins attended the common schools in his youth and se- cured a fair education for that day. He was reared to the life of a farmer and has followed that pursuit all his life. He owns now eighty-five acres in section 31, township 24, range 4 west, and one hundred and fifteen acres in section 32 adjoining. He has given considerable attention to the raising of livestock, in which he has been very successful, having on hand con- tinually an average of about two hundred head of various kinds. He is progressive in his methods, giving proper attention to the rotation of crops and other elements of successful agriculture, and the present condition of his property indicates him to be a man of good taste and sound judgment. He is a man of splendid physique, standing but a fraction of an inch under six feet in stature. While Mr. Wiggins is public-spirited in his attitude toward those things which go to the betterment of the community, he is not a seeker after public office. In politics he is a Prohibitionist, believ- ing that the temperance question is the most vital problem now before the American people, and in this movement he takes an active part. He and his wife are members of the Christian church at Pleasant Grove and take a leading part in the various activities of society.
On November 3, 1875, Mr. Wiggins married Sarah Emma Stanford, who was born June 19, 1854, the third of six children born to William and Elizabeth Ann (Swartz) Stanford. William Stanford was born in England February 8, 1826, and came to the United States in young manhood, locat- ing in New Albany, Indiana, where he met and married Miss Swartz, the latter event occurring on February 14. 1850. Mrs. Sanford was born Oc- tober 10, 1828. Her father was a successful farmer in Floyd and White counties and was also engaged in teaching in Floyd and Warren counties. being widely known and highly respected. To Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins have been born nine children, as follows: Mary Ellen, born November 22, 1878, died at the age of one year and five months; Charles, born May 22, 1880, is at home; Clara, born April 5, 1882, is the wife of Philip McKinnis and lives at Battle Ground, this county; Aaron, born January 6, 1884, died in in- fancy ; Maud, born January 22, 1886, is the wife of Homer Roos, of Wabash township, and they have one child, Mary Emma; Netta Pearl, born February IO, 1888, at home; Rudolph, born September 11, 1889. at home; Everett. born February 8, 1892, died in infancy ; Cora Blanche, born January: 19. 1895, at home. Mr. and Mrs. Wiggins, who have been residents of this sec- tion of the country for many years, have always enjoyed the warm con- fidence of all who knew them, their sterling qualities of character commend- ing them to the entire community.
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MICHAEL RENTSCHLER.
Indiana has received her full share of the better class of German im- migrants, regarded in all the states as the most desirable of any of the Eu- ropean people that come to us. Among those who came over during the dec- ade succeeding the Civil war were Matthew and Christena (Claughbaugh) Rentschler, who were born and married in Wurttemberg, Germany, and emigrated in 1874. After reaching New York they started as quickly as ยท possible for Indiana, which had been decided on as their objective point, and in due time reached Lafayette, in which place, however, they resided only temporarily. After looking around a while they decided on a suitable tract of land in Tippecanoe county, of which they took possession and began to farm with the industry and painstaking care known only to this thrifty race. Mr. Rentschler died in 1886 and his wife on March 29, 1909, leaving be- hind them a host of friends and the good will of all. They were members of the German Lutheran church and people of high notions about everything, especially questions with a moral side to them. They had eight children, Mary, the eldest, is the wife of Frank Morris; Michael, the oldest son, is the subject of this sketch; John and Matthew, next in order, are unmarried; Fred married Emma Southworth, George took Lillian Shilling for his wife, and William and Anna are single.
Michael Rentschler, second of this family, was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, March 26, 1864, and hence was ten years old when his parents crossed the waters. He assisted his father with the farm work after settling in Tippecanoe county and as he grew up obtained a fair education both in German and English. After leaving school he worked by the month as a farm laborer, which occupation he followed until his marriage to Ida Jane Mclaughlin, which occurred December 25, 1892. She was a daugh- ter of William and Jane (Mattix) McLaughlin, deceased, and born August 13, 1873, in Fairfield township, Tippecanoe county. Her father was born in Ross county, Ohio, September 27, 1832, while his wife was a native of Jefferson county, Indiana. Of their four children two died in infancy and the survivors are William E., who married Bertha Wise and resides at Lafayette, and Mrs. Rentschler. After his marriage Mr. Rentschler lived on the old Mclaughlin farm until March, 1908, when he bought the farm of eighty acres in the west half of the northwest quarter of section 36 in Washington township, where he has since resided. Grace Anna, their one child, born March 24, 1896, has gone through most of the common school
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grades and is a bright and promising girl. The family are members of the English Lutheran church at Lafayette and Mr. Rentschler is a Republican in his political views. Mrs. Rentschler's mother died February 27, 1903, and her father June 6, 1905. The Rentschlers are fine samples of the Ger- man farming class, careful, hard-working, industrious and saving. They also show the national traits of sociability and hospitality, as all worthy per- sons who call are sure of a warm greeting and good treatment.
PROF. ERASTUS TEST, M. S., M. D.
Indiana has been especially honored in the high character and eminent attainment of her professional educators, among whom none are better known or hold more distinctive prestige than the distinguished scholar and professor whose name appears at the head of this article. For many years identified with one of the people's most sacred interests and a teacher in the especial field to which his talents have been devoted, he has labored long and earnest- ly to raise the standard of education in his beloved commonwealth. And in view of what he has so successfully achieved it is but just to claim for him a conspicuous place among the eminent men to whom the state is so greatly in- debted for the high rank to which her system of common schools and various institutions of more advanced grade have attained.
Dr. Erastus Test, of the department of mathematics, Purdue University, is a native of Indiana and hails from the county of Wayne, where his birth oc- curred on November 12, 1836. His father, Samuel Test, Jr., was a native of New Jersey and originally a manufacturer of cotton and woolen goods, but later became a tiller of the soil, and his mother, who bore the maiden name of Hannah Jones, was of Pennsylvania birth. These parents came west in an early day and for a number of years were honored residents of Wayne county, Indiana, where they reared their family of seven children, three of whom are still living. Dr. Test's childhood and youth were spent in his native county and his preliminary educational discipline under the direction of a private tutor was of such a character as to develop at quite an early age the lad's intellectual capabilities and to arouse in him a decided predilection for study and the acquirement of knowledge. In due time he was prepared for a higher course of training; accordingly in 1861 he matriculated at Earl- ham College, where he prosecuted his studies until completing the prescribed course, receiving from that institution, in 1863, the degree of Bachelor of
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Science. Three years later his alma mater conferred upon him the Master's degree and in 1868 he was graduated from the medical department of the University of Michigan. Having decided to make the medical profession his life work, he subsequently entered the Indiana Medical College at Indian- apolis where in 1873 he took for the second time the degree of Doctor of Medicine. In the meantime he taught a private school in Richmond and in 1864 was elected principal of the high school of that city, which position he held with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of the public for one year.
In 1865 Doctor Test became professor of science in Earlham College. in which capacity he continued until 1875 when he severed his connection with the institution and during the three years ensuing practiced medicine at Dundee, Illinois. Later he went to Oregon, but after filling the chair of chemistry in the medical college of that state for one year, returned East and accepted the principalship of the Raisin Valley Seminary, near Adrian, Mich- igan, where he taught with marked success for a period of five years. In 1881 he founded the Central Academy at Plainfield, Indiana, which he began with very meager accommodations and a small attendance, but by the close of the second year a substantial brick building had been erected and fur- nished and the institution placed on a solid basis for effective work. Turning the above enterprise over to other management, the Doctor in 1883 was made instructor in the Richmond Normal School, which position he held until 1886, when he took charge of the Union high school at Westfield, where he labored with great acceptance until elected head of the preparatory department of Purdue University two years later.
When the above department was discontinued in 1894 Doctor Test was transferred to the department of mathematics, where he has since remained and where he has added continuously to his success and reputation as a teach- er, also to his high personal standing, being one of the most popular members of the faculty and a general favorite with the hundreds of students who every year profit by his instruction.
As already indicated, Doctor Test has achieved enduring fame as an educator and his many years of distinguished service have brought him prominently to the front among the leading teachers of his own state and have given him an honorable reputation in educational circles throughout the entire country. Although well advanced in years, he is as fresh and alert physically and mentally as in the days of his prime and it is a fact worthy of note that he is now doing the most effective and acceptable work of his life, his intellectual faculties appearing to increase in strength and vigor and his manner of imparting instruction more efficient as he grows in age and experience.
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Doctor Test was married, August 13, 1868, to Mary Taylor, of Morgan county, Indiana, daughter of Joseph N. and Phoebe G. Taylor; Mrs. Test was educated at Earlham College, graduating with the class of 1867, and is a lady of intelligence, culture and beautiful character. She has presented her husband with three sons, the oldest of whom, Dr. Frederick C. Test, whose birth occurred on June 14, 1869, is a prominent physician of Chicago where he has built up a large and lucrative practice. He is married and the father of two children, a son and a daughter. Charles Darwin and Louis Agassiz Test, twins, were born June 18, 1874, the former being professor of chemistry in the State School of Mines, at Golden, Colorado, while the latter is head of the department of chemistry in Occidental College, Los Angeles, California.
Politically, Doctor Test is pronounced in his allegiance to the Repub- lican party, casting his first presidential ballot in 1860 for Lincoln and his last for Taft in 1908. He was reared under the auspices of the Society of Friends, to which society he and his wife still belong.
LOUIS CLAWSON.
Among the well-remembered citizens of Fairfield township, Tippecanoe county, who succeeded in leaving the indelible imprint of their strong per- sonalities upon their neighbors, who established a good home' for his family and then passed on to his reward on a higher plane of action in the undis- covered beyond, was Louis Clawson, who was born near Delphi, Carroll county, Indiana, February 28, 1854, and whose death occurred July 31, 1902, after a well-spent and useful life. He was the son of Abraham Clawson, a na- tive of Greene county, Ohio. His mother was a Miss Nipper, born near Delphi, Indiana. Early in life they came to Colburn, Indiana, locating near that town, where Mrs. Abraham Clawson died, and it was there that Abraham married a second time, his last wife being Alice Liptrap, of Chillicothe, Ohio. She is still living near Boswell, Indiana. To Abraham Clawson and his first wife six children were born, only two of whom, George and Mary, are liv- ing, she is the wife of F. Loy, living east of Delphi, Indiana. Abraham Clawson devoted his life to farming and always made a comfortable living for himself and family.
Louis Clawson, of this review, was taught by Abraham Clawson to carry on general farming, ,consequently when he started in life for himself he was equipped for the struggle which he carried on so successfully. He
LOUIS CLAWSON
MRS. LOUIS CLAWSON
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had remained at home assisting with the farm work, attending the common schools in the winter time, until he was twenty-three years of age. He came to Tippecanoe county in 1878 and he spent the remainder of his life here, achieving distinction as a progressive agriculturist and a public-spirited citizen.
Mr. Clawson was married on May 6, 1880, to Susan Lairy, of Lafay- ette, Indiana, daughter of Alexander and Mary Ann (Isley) Lairy, both natives of Ohio. Mr. Lairy came to this county with his parents in 1830, locating in Perry township, but after his marriage he moved to Fairfield township, where he engaged in farming. His wife was the daughter of Henry and Mary (Miller) Isley. The former died in 1863 and the latter in February, 1894. She married a second time, her last husband being Charles H. Grimes, a native of North Carolina, the wedding occurring in March, 1869. Mr. Grimes is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Lairy were the parents of six children, namely: Henry, Thomas and Elizabeth, all de- ceased; Robert, a carpenter and farmer, lives at Lafayette; Susan, who mar- ried Louis Clawson, of this review; Manson, a well-known physician of Lafayette.
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