USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 66
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James D. Lewis had little chance to attend school. He remained at home until he was twenty-four years old, and on March 25, 1877, he chose as a life partner the representative of an old and honored family in the person of Eliza Gates, of Washington township, Tippecanoe county, the daughter of Peter and Hester Ann (Doty) Gates, the latter a native of Lafayette, having been Forn where the court house now stands. She is the daughter of Ben- jamin Doty, who was the owner of eleven acres of land where the court house was built in Lafayette, having located there in 1822.
After his marriage Mr. Lewis lived in Washington township, this coun- ty, one mile west of Colburn, where he remained one season, then went to Monitor, Indiana, where he engaged in farming until the spring of 1882 when he moved west of Colburn, where he remained for two years. He then moved to Perry township on a farm and after working there for one year he
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bought forty acres where he now lives in section 2, Perry township. He cut logs and built a cabin and began making a home in true pioneer style, and, being a hard worker, it is useless to add that he has succeeded admirably well, having now a very productive farm of eighty-eight acres and an ex- cellent dwelling and plenty of farming machinery. All of his farm is under cultivation but ten acres. It was in 1903 that he built his beautiful home, and in 1904 that the old log barn was replaced by a modern one,-in short, his place, while not so large as some, is one of the most attractive and fertile in Perry township. Since 1903 Mr. Lewis has been a breeder of Berkshire hogs and Shropshire sheep, and everybody who sees his fine stock admires them greatly. His farm is located ten miles east of Lafayette on the Heath pike.
To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis the following children have been born: Hollis C., born July 17, 1878; after graduating in the home schools he took a course in Purdue University, from which he was graduated in 1903 from the agri- culture department. He took up civil engineering and was employed by the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company in construction work and bridge building for a period of five years. On March 24, 1909, he married Ada Jeffers, of Keokuk, Iowa. On March 28, 1909, he bought eighty-two and one-half acres of land in section 2, Perry township,, where he now lives, the farm having long been known as the Gibson place. Clifford B. Lewis, the second son of James D. Lewis, was born August 22, 1882, and was edu- cated in the home schools, after which he began teaching which he followed for six years, but is now farming in Perry township; he married Martha Buck. Maud May, the subject's third child, was born May 15, 1889, attend- ed the home schools, later Valparaiso University, from which he was grad- uated in 1909. She is a teacher in Perry township.
Although James D. Lewis started in life a poor boy, and has received no outside aid, he has succeeded, now having a good farm and an excellent income.
JOHN ZIMMERMAN.
It is interesting to study the life record of such a man as John Zimmer- man, owing to the fact that he began life under none too favorable auspices, and in battling his own way through the world he has not only succeeded remarkably well in the temporal things of life, but has done a great amount of good to his fellowmen and is therefore deserving of the high esteem in
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which he is held by all who know him and that includes everyone in Perry township, if not the major portion of the residents of Tippecanoe county. He was born in old Alsace-Lorraine, now a part of Germany. No man could have better ancestry, many of their commendable traits being noticeable in the subject, who is wearing the mantle that has descended to his shoulders with becoming dignity. His paternal grandfather went from Germany to Alsace, France, during the revolutionary troubles in the latter country, and there his son, John Zimmerman, father of the gentleman whose name intro- duces this sketch, was born, reared and married, his wife being known in her maidenhood as Magdalena Slagel, also a native of Alsace. By a previous marriage to Christian Shurk she had two children, Joseph and Nicholas, both now deceased. John Zimmerman, senior, was a farmer and a man of in- fluence in his community. His death occurred in 1846 and that of his wife a few months later in 1847. They were members of the Amish church, and they spent their lives in Germany. John Zimmerman, of this review, was the only child by his mother's second marriage. After the death of his parents he went to live with an uncle with whom he remained one year, and when only sixteen years of age he gratified an all-absorbing desire to come to America, setting sail from Havre, France, in an old-fashioned sailing vessel, the voyage requiring forty-two days, the harbor at New York finally being reached in June, 1849. Making his way westward, young Zimmerman, with little means but plenty of courage and youthful exuberance, made his way to Wayne county, Ohio. In Butler county of the latter state he found his uncle, Nicholas Roth, with whom he worked on the farm for a while, re- maining in Butler county for one year. In 1851 he went to Henry county, Iowa, visiting at Mount Pleasant and at Keokuk. After three years spent in this country he returned to the Fatherland and spent the three years following there. During that time he came into possession of a part of his father's estate.
The chapter in the life of Mr. Zimmerman bearing on his marriage began October 16, 1852, when he espoused Magdalena Slegel, a native of Alsace, where her birth occurred August 10, 1832, the daughter of Joseph and Magdalena (Smith) Slegel. The former, also a native of Alsace, was a prosperous farmer, and in 1853 he and his family accompanied John Zim- merman to America, Mr. Slegel settling in Davis county, Iowa, where he bought eighty acres of land which he developed. He died when about sixty- two years old.
Mr. Zimmerman also purchased eighty acres of land in Davis county. lowa. It was wild prairie land, but after being improved was very valuable.
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He lived here until 1863 when he went to Hickory county, Missouri. Here he also purchased eighty acres of land which was rough and the country lacked public improvements, but after seven years there Mr. Zimmerman, in 1872, came to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, locating in Perry township where he rented for five years, then bought his present farm in section 10 known as the Fisher place, owning at this time two hundred and twenty-four acres. He prospered and in 1888 built his fine brick dwelling-house, which is in the midst of attractive grounds, and everything about the place is in keeping with its ornate setting. He made the brick on his farm. In 1890 he built his barn, which is one of the best in the township, and he has made all the im- provements on this place,-in short, his place is one of the most attractive and valuable in Perry township and none is better managed.
Although well qualified for positions of public trust, Mr. Zimmerman has never aspired to public office. He is a member of the Amish church, and has been a minister in the church of this creed for over a quarter of a century, but of late years has done little preaching. He is an excellent scholar, having been educated in both the German and French languages, having attended in his youth a college at Montpelier, France. He has a good library, including a very highly prized old German Bible, printed in Zurich, Switzerland, by Christopher Froschouer in 1536, one of the first Bibles printed, and it is be- lieved to be one of the oldest Bibles in America.
Mrs. John Zimmerman passed to her rest January 16, 1888, after be- coming the mother of fourteen children, namely: Josephine, who was born in Germany, married Christian Garber, living in this state; Nicholas, who was born in mid-ocean and was named for the vessel on which the family sailed, is deceased; Leah is deceased; Annie married Simeon Roth, of Allen county, Indiana; Mary married Joseph Goldsmith, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Kate, who has remained single, is living at home; Joseph is also single and living at home; Lizzie, who married Simeon Roth, is deceased; John, who married Ruth Goldsmith, lives at Harlan, Indiana, where he is engaged in the hard- ware business; Lydia married C. Goldsmith and is living at Fort Wayne; Rosa is deceased; Lillie, who married Daniel Shubeck, is deceased; Sarah is also deceased; Benjamin, a farmer in Tippecanoe county, has remained un- married. These children have all received good educations in the home schools. Lena, Annie, Mary, Kate, Joseph, Lizzie and John were born in Iowa; Lydia, Rosa, Lillie, Sarah and Benjamin were born in Missouri. In 1884 Joseph, the son of the subject, bought one hundred and fifty-three acres in sections 9 and 10, Perry township, Tippecanoe county, known as the Cleaver farm. He has always been a farmer and a good one, too; however,
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he spent two years in the hardware business with his brother, John, at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
John Zimmerman is a man whom it is a delight to meet, for he is a scholarly, refined, honest and courteous gentleman, and he holds high rank with the people of Tippecanoe county.
WALTER C. ROSSER.
Among the representative agriculturists and public-spirited men of Tip- pecanoe county who, while advancing their own interests, have not neglected their duty to the community at large is Walter C. Rosser, the present effi- cient trustee of Tippecanoe township. He has many of the fine traits, espe- cially in a business way, of his father, long one of the best known business men of this county, who through his own indomitable efforts became the owner of property rated at one time at one hundred thousand dollars; so, for many reasons, this family is deserving of conspicuous mention in the his- torical annals of Tippecanoe county.
John Rosser, father of Walter C., was a Welshman, having been born in Wales, October 25, 1818, and he was brought to America when less than a year old. In 1820 he was brought by his parents to Springfield, Ohio, where he grew to maturity, attended the common schools and was apprenticed to a bookbinder to learn the trade, at which he worked faithfully until he had mastered the business, and then he ran away and went to New Orleans to do for himself. Not liking the climate and trade conditions in the southern state, he returned to Springfield. Coming to Lafayette, Indiana, in 1845, he went into the bookbinding and printing business, at which he prospered, having mastered his trade well and was a business man by nature. He soon became known not only as a faithful business man, but also as a public- spirited citizen of strict integrity. As already intimated, he became well-to- do, one of the leading business men of Lafayette in his day. He married Alice A. Casad on October 26, 1848. They resided in Lafayette until 1863 when Mr. Rosser purchased a farm on which he established a comfortable and attractive country home, but he continued in business in Lafayette. Taking an active interest in the wefare of the coounty and being also interested in politics, he was soon slated by the political leaders for public office, and al- though a very busy man, he accepted the nomination for representative from Tippecanoe county. He was elected in 1867 and made a very commendable
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record which received the approval of his constituents in every respect. After an influential, active and well-spent life, John Rosser was called from his earthly labors on March 24, 1903, having been preceded to the silent land by his faithful life companion March 13, 1897. They were the parents of eleven children, of whom Walter C. is the only one living.
Walter C. Rosser received a good education, having attended the com- mon schools and he also attended a business college. Deciding, upon com- pleting his school work, that the life of an agriculturist offered the greatest attractions for him, he began farm work, which he has since followed with very gratifying results, at present owning an attractive and productive farm of two hundred acres in section 27, Tippecanoe township, where he carries on general farming and stockraising in a manner that stamps him as one of the leading farmers of the county. He has raised an extraordinary fine grade of hogs for years which never fail to find ready sales.
Mr. Rosser was united in marriage with Virginia Nelson, a member of an old and highly respected family of Tippecanoe township, where she was born, just north of the Soldiers' Home. She passed through the common schools. Two children have brightened the pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Rosser, namely: John, who was born December 2, 1899, and Mary B., born March 17, 1902.
Mr. and Mrs. Rosser are members of the Christian church, and Mr. Rosser is a charter member of and past chancellor commander of Battle Ground Lodge, No. 273, Knights of Pythias. He is prominent in the polit- ical circles of Tippecanoe county, having been elected trustee of the township where he resides in 1908. He has served as a member of the county central committee, being a member from Tippecanoe township, and he looks to the interest of the public with the same careful consideration as he does his own business affairs, consequently he is well and favorably known to the people of his and adjoining townships.
THE LAFAYETTE CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC.
located at Nos. 401-403 North Fourth street, was founded in the year 1904 by Miss Lena M. Baer. It is the purpose of this conservatory to send forth artists and teachers whose work in any special line shall rest upon a broad and comprehensive knowledge of the principles underlying the arts and their relations to life. It is the aim of the conservatory to furnish opportunity
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for thorough training to those who wish to become professional musicians, also to provide for the general student a means of practical acquaintance with musical arts.
The Lafayette Conservatory of Music receives pupils of all ages, from six years upward. It is held that children should receive instruction as early as possible, in order to accomplish in life all to which innate talent entitles them, which instruction should be given by competent teachers, for without a good foundation no high degree of art or knowledge can be obtained. Care- ful study of the rules of technique and theory, intellectual training by which the student learns to grasp the spirit of composition, both modern and clas- sic. is the object of the intermediate and normal department.
The element of temperament and individuality-in short, the personal equation-enters so much more largely into the study of music than into the pursuit of any other branch of either art or literature, that it is im- possible to lay out any definite and absolute curriculum of works to be studied by each and every student. Any teacher or institution that attempts to definitely establish such a course ignores the intensely subjective nature of music as an art, and is in danger of failing of its highest significance and pos- sibilities. The science of musical pedagogy is becoming more and more sub- jective each year. The old-fashioned endless practice of dry technical ex- ercise is rapidly being supplanted by the more rapid and far more certain acquisition of technique through a higher recognition of mental and muscular functions.
The growth of this institution has been most encouraging to its pro- moters, and already its influence for creating higher and better standards of art and culture have been felt. The officers of the institution follow: Lena M. Baer, president ; Miss Alma E. Crowden, vice-president; Miss Susan K. Baer. secretary and treasurer.
Miss Crowden, the vice-president, was the first student of the conserva- tory to finish the artist's course. A number of students have been graduated from the normal departments and are filling positions as instructors. Stu- dents' recitals are held frequently at the conservatory which are of great benefit to the student. The annual recitals are held in June, at which time diplomas are awarded.
Through the efforts of Miss Baer, the directress, a number of the fore- most artists and musical organizations have appeared before the public. It is the aim of the conservatory to present at least four celebrated artists dur- ing the academic year. These concerts will be held at the Dryfus and may
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be attended by the general public. Season tickets are procurable at a rea- sonable price and a special rate is made to all students of music, whether con- nected with the conservatory or not. The following artists have appeared : Course of 1907-1908-Charles W. Clark, baritone; Olive Mead quartette; Rudolph Ganz, Swiss pianist; Herr Ferdinand Schafer, violinist; Tilla Par- sons, reader; Douglass Boxall, pianist: Christian F. Martens, baritone. Course of 1908-1909-George Hamlin, tenor; Theodore Bohlmann, pianist ; Marion Green Concert Company ; Steindel Trio.
The piano department of this conservatory is deserving of special notice. Miss Lena M. Baer, who is a teacher in this department, is widely known as an able and successful instructor, having spent a number of years in the study of piano at St. Mary's Academy in Lafayette, Miss Clara Baur's Con- servatory of Music in Cincinnati, and the Indianapolis Conservatory of Music. Her special aim is to send out students as teachers, and. in fact. all who pass through the institution to be well qualified. She is assisted in this department by Miss Stella M. Gause, who has been a member of the faculty for a period of four years. Two most important additions to the faculty were Herr Ferdinand Schafer and Christian Frederick Martens. Herr Schafer, who has charge of the violin department, is a native of Germany, a concert violinist of international reputation, formerly taught in the Royal Conservatory at Leipzig and is conductor of the Schafer Symphony Or- chestra of Indianapolis. Mr. Martens, who is at the head of the vocal de- partment, is a native of Norway and is widely known as a master of the voice and an accomplished singer. The other members of the faculty are well qualified for the work to which they have been assigned, and hundreds of pupils are being benefitted by this praiseworthy institution annually.
PROF. CHARLES FRANCIS HARDING.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is professor of elec- trical engineering and director of the electrical laboratory of Purdue Uni- versity, Lafayette, Indiana. He is a native of New England and combines many of the characteristics which have long distinguished the people of that section of the Union. His parents. Charles Theodore Harding and Ellen M. Lane, were born in Massachusetts, the former in the town of Millis, the lat- ter in Ashburnham. He is the only child born of their marriage. his birth occurring in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, September 1I, 1881. He received his
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primary education in the public schools of his native town, completing the prescribed course and graduating from the high school in 1898. He then entered the Worcester Polytechnic Institute at Worcester, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated four years later, with the degree of Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering, and in 1902 accepted a position with the General Electric Company, of Schenectady, New York, where he remained for some time in the testing department. During his connection with the above named company he was made electrical engineer of the Worcester & Southbridge Street Railway Company, which position he held two years, when he resigned to engage with the D. & W. Fuse Company, of Providence, Rhode Island, where for a period of one year he had charge of the electrical engineering department, carrying on design and original research work.
At the expiration of the time indicated, Professor Harding left the em- ploy of the last-named company and became manager of the publication de- partment of the electrical works at Fort Wayne, Indiana ; but after nearly a year in that city resigned for the purpose of accepting the position of assist- ant professor of electrical engineering at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, where, in addition to his professional duties, he did post-graduate work during his connection with the institution. From Ithaca, Professor Harding went to Boston, Massachusetts, where for two years he was electrical engi- neer for the Stone & Webster Engineering Corporation, during which time he was also associated with the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, of that city, making rapid advancement in his profession the meanwhile and acquiring much more than local repute as an electrical engineer.
In 1908 Professor Harding severed his connections with the two Boston companies and on March 15th of that year became professor of electrical engineering at the head of the school of electrical engineering of Purdue Uni- versity, Lafayette, Indiana, and director of the laboratory, which position he still holds.
Professor Harding is a close student and avails himself of every op- portunity to keep in touch with the trend of professional thought and scien- tific investigation and discovery. To these ends he holds membership with the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education, Indiana Academy of Science, In- diana Engineering Society, and he is an associate member of the American Street and Interurban Railway Association. He is a charter member of the Purdue chapter of the honorary fraternity of Sigma Xi.
Professor Harding was married on July 14. 1903, to Mabelle C. Brooks, a native of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the daughter of Howard W. and
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Celia M. (Warner) Brooks, the father a merchant of that town for many years and a citizen of influence and high social standing. Mrs. Harding was educated in her native state, graduating from the high school of Fitchburg when young.
In his political affiliations, Professor Harding is a Republican. He was reared a Congregationalist, a religious body to which his parents and many of his antecedents belonged, but he is now a member of the Second Presby- terian church of Lafayette, as is also his wife.
Professor Harding is well grounded in his profession, keeping abreast of the times in all matters pertaining to electrical engineering, and possesses the happy faculty of imparting his ideas and theories in a lucid and comprehen- sible manner.
JOHN C. BARTHOLOMEW.
There is no nation that has contributed to the complex make-up of our American social fabric an element of more sterling worth and of greater value in supporting and fostering our national institutions than has England. A man who may well look with pride on his English ancestry is the subject of this review, who is a representative of one of the pioneer families of Tip- pecanoe county, where he has passed his entire life and where he is person- ally recognized as a representative citizen, having attained a high degree of success through his operations in connection with agriculture.
John C. Bartholomew, who for sixty-six years has resided in Lauramie township, was born in this township on the 3d of September, 1843, and is a son of William and Rebecca (Chandler) Bartholomew. William Bar- tholomew was born October 29, 1813, in the parish of Mardon, county of Kent, England, about twelve miles southeast of Maidstone, the market town, and fifty miles southeast of London. He was the first child born to William and Philadelphia (Moon) Bartholomew, the former having been the first child born to Thomas Bartholomew and wife, whose maiden name was Hisk- mott. Thomas Bartholomew died at the age of eighty-four years, while his wife was sixty years old at the time of her death. Grandfather William Bartholomew died about the year 1840, at the age of about fifty-six years, his wife having died in the fall of 1837, at the age of fifty years.
William Bartholomew, the subject's father, was married in 1837 to Rebecca Chandler, and three children were born to them in England. In the
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latter part of October, 1841, they sailed for America, leaving the St. Cath- erine's dock, London, bound for the port of New York. They were pas- sengers on the old sailing vessel "St. James," one of the regular line of sail- ing vessels running between those two ports. They had a very tempestuous voyage of forty-six days, adverse winds and storms driving the vessel far out of its course. They were so far behind their schedule time that a sister ship, which left London ten days after they did, reached New York and was on the return trip before they reached port. They arrived in New York city on December 10, 1841, and they at once took boat passage up the Hudson river to Albany. Thence they went by rail to Canastota, where Mr. Bartholomew left his wife and children at a hotel and started out into the adjoining coun- try in search of work and shelter for his family. Some three miles from the town he met a gentleman who offered him work and a house for his family, and still further evidenced his kindness of heart by sending his son and a team for the family. The family were located in a little village called Quality Hill and here they made their home until April of the following year, when they again took up their way westward. They went to Buffalo by rail, be- yond which point there were then no railroads, and they' proceeded from there to Cleveland by lake boat, thence through the Ohio canal to Portsmouth on the Ohio river. Down the Ohio river to Evansville, they proceeded up the Wabash river to Attica, then by wagon across the country to the town of Monroe, where for a few days they stopped with William Oyler. Mr. Bartholomew at this time purchased eighty acres of land just south of the village of Stockwell (at that time known as Baker's Corners), Lauramie township, and here he spent the remainder of his life. His wife had been in poor health for a number of years and her death occurred on the 9th of Oc- tober, 1847. She was the mother of the following children: William, born January 21, 1838; Thomas J., born August 17, 1839; Walter D., born Jan- uary 3, 1841; John C., born September 3, 1843; and Aldred, born October 27, 1845. Of these, William lives at Colfax, Indiana, and the last two in Lauramie township. On February 4, 1849, Mr. Bartholomew married Mrs. Amanda Patton, and to this union was born one son, Edmond T., on Jan- uary 19, 1850, his death occurring on October 28, 1865.
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