USA > Indiana > Tippecanoe County > Past and present of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, Volume II > Part 70
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Mr. and Mrs. Simison are the parents of two interesting children, a son and a daughter, Edna Glen, born September 10, 1889, and Frank McMillin, born November 23, 1891 : they are both members of the home circle. Edna Glen married C. Lewis Green, of Attica, Indiana, a young attorney.
AUGUST G. FELDT.
None of the countries of the world have sent emigrants to the United States that are more appreciated than those that come from Sweden. Their national traits are sobriety, industry, singular self-possession and self-control and much of the admired quality of common sense. Usually they prefer agri- culture, but they are successful in all the trades and professions, their strong qualities always winning out. Tippecanoe county has obtained some of the desirable accessions to our citizenship and none more highly esteemed than the Feldt family. John and Mary Johnsdatter Feldt were both natives of Sweden where they were married and lived during the most of their lives. John was a blacksmith and mechanic and served in the regular army of his country for thirty years, during which time three different kings were on the throne. Being discharged in 1869, he came to this country and remained one of its esteemed citizens until his death. He had six children. John and the second child, unnamed, are dead. Charles is a farmer and carpenter in Wea township. Albert is a farmer in Perry township and Augustine is dead.
August G. Feldt, the fourth child, was born in Sweden October 6, 1850, and at the age of twelve years began to work out for a living. He served three years as an apprentice to the shoemaker's trade, finally mastered it and followed it for a livelihood for some time. In 1868 he and his brother Charles came to the United States and secured employment in different lines that kept the wolf from the door until they could do better. August farmed for three years and then rented for twenty-five years the Parker farm in
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Perry township which he managed for twenty-five years. In 1895 he bought eighty acres in Perry township, known as the Wallon farm, and under his energetic management this place has been wonderfully improved during the last fifteen years. The first year of his occupancy was spent in building a handsome residence and since then two barns and other outbuildings have been erected. Being a skillful mechanic he did most of the designing and build- ing himself. Mr. Field married Mary J. Mangason, of Perry township, by whom he has had four children; Agnes died in infancy. Harry Albert, who remains at home, has spent his life as a farmer. He is a member of the Odd Fellows, Dayton Lodge No. 758, and Knights of Pythias. Sheffield Lodge No. 414. Hattie Alfreda and Edith Blanche are two younger children. They are all well educated and all still remain under the parental roof. Mr. Feldt has proven himself to be a good farmer and has profited by the years of experience he has had in the business. He carries on diversified farming, raising the cereal crops and all kinds of livestock. He is also an expert car- penter and blacksmith and during the past twenty years has done much work at these trades. He was for twenty-five years owner and manager of a threshing machine, and with his many activities has been a very busy man. Elected assessor of Perry township in 1897 he served five years acceptably to his constituents, and has always taken much interest in township affairs. He is a member of the Lutheran church and highly respected all over the county. He came over a very poor boy and has worked very hard, but by pluck and much perseverance has won success.
LEWIS S. GRUBB.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, the well-known ex- trustee and assessor of Tippecanoe township, Tippecanoe county, is entitled to hold high rank among the modern agriculturists of this favored section of the great Hoosier commonwealth. He is of sterling Ohio parentage, he himself being a native of the old Buckeye state, having been born near Chil- licothe, that state, April 3, 1850. The year following, his parents, John and Louisa (Foust) Grubb, emigrated from their native state to Montgomery county, Indiana, and later, in 1866, came to Tippecanoe county. John Grubb was an honest, plain tiller of the soil and a man whom his neighbors trusted and liked and he succeeded in getting hold of an excellent farm. At an early age his son, Lewis S., showed that he had an inclination to follow the hon-
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orable pursuit of the husbandman and during the summer months he assisted with the work on his father's place, attending the district schools in the winter, and received a fairly good common school education. However, he soon turned all his energies to learning the best and most improved methods of agriculture with the result that he has always been considered one of the leading farmers in his neighborhood, the early training he received under his father having stood him well in hand during his subsequent career, until today he is not only one of the leading farmers of Tippecanoe township, but also a leading factor in the affairs of the community.
When he had reached maturity and had gotten fairly well launched in life he chose as a helpmeet Margaret A. Patterson, who was born February 26, 1855. the daughter of Lewis Patterson. She, having been reared on the farm, has always been interested in agriculture, hence through the happy years of his married life Lewis S. Grubb has had a faithful companion. The early education which Mrs. Grubb received has enabled her to watch closely the training of her children, and their success in school work as pupils and as teachers may be largely attributed to her careful supervision. The names of these children are Anna, born August 21, 1876, who is now the wife of Frank Sowders, a resident of Tippecanoe township. She is a graduate of the com- mon and high schools of Battle Ground, and she was for some time a very successful teacher in the schools of Tippecanoe county. Nellie was born April 13. 1880. She, too, passed through the common schools and graduated from the high school at Battle Ground. She is now the wife of Ray Stewart, being very comfortably located at Brookston, White county, Indiana. Maggie, who is now Mrs. Harry Martin, a prosperous farmer of this county, was born July 22, 1882.
Mr. Grubb's well improved and highly productive farm lies in section 15, Tippecanoe township, and consists of one hundred acres. He has a good house, barn and such other buildings and farming machinery as his needs require. He keeps various kinds of stock and poultry.
In church affairs Mr. and Mrs. Grubb are well known in the local congre- gation of the United Brethren denomination at Liberty chapel, both having been members at that place for many years, Mr. Grubb being one of the trustees of the same. In his fraternal relations he belongs to Battle Ground Lodge No. 313. Free and Accepted Masons. also Tippecanoe Lodge No. 273, Knights of Pythias. He has long taken an active interest in political affairs, and was elected township trustee in the fall of 1904. having very ably held that office for four years ; he also served five years in a very satisfactory manner as assessor of this township. Mr. and Mrs. Grubb have always held high rank in their community.
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WILLIAM F. GREENBURG.
A self-made and successful citizen of Jackson township, Tippecanoe county, who has, by a life of straightforward industry and uprightness won the confidence and respect of all with whom he has come into contact, is William F. Greenburg, who belongs to that large class of foreign-born citizens who have done so much for the upbuilding of the great Republic of the west. He was born in Prussia, northern Germany, April 4, 1841, spending his childhood in his native community, not far from the city of Berlin, receiving there some education, which, however, was not very extensive, but practical. Being of poor parentage, he worked as a shepherd in order to pay for his own schooling, but such admirable grit was bound to win some time, and the abundant success that has crowned his efforts during his manhood years is sub- stantial proof that Mr. Greenburg has innate qualities that cannot well fail in the race for the goal-success, which all men seek one way or another. He is the son of William and Lottie ( Kruger) Greenburg, both natives of Germany, both having followed the humble calling of a shepherd-plain, honest people. The mother died in 1863 when fifty-five years of age, her husband surviving her for several years. He came with his six children to the United States, landing in New York harbor on June 9, 1865, after a tedious voyage of six weeks' duration, the trip having been made in an old-fashioned sailing vessel, carrying both passengers and freight, and the ship was many times blown out of its course by violent storms. The family did not tarry in New York, but at once started for what to them was the distant west, Lafayette, Indiana. This being at the close of the Civil war, it was a serious matter to secure transportation, owing to the great number of soldiers returning to their homes and prisoners of war being transported from place to place, the trip from New York to Lafayette requiring about a week. The family came to Jackson township. settling on rented ground near Sugar Grove church, where the father lived until his death, February 16, 1874, at the age of seventy years, having been born January 3, 1804.
To Mr. and Mrs. Willim Greenburg eight children were born, all of whom grew to maturity, and, with one exception, all living at this writing. They were named as follows: Frederick, Charles, John, William F., Albertena, Whilimena, August (deceased), and Gusta.
William F. Greenburg remained at home assisting his father with the farm work until his marriage, which occurred May 15, 1873. in Tippecanoe county to Emily Staeffen. She was born in Neuhauff, Prussia, October 7.
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1846, the daughter of John and Caroline Staeffen, both natives of Prussia, where the latter died. In 1873 Mr. Staeffen brought his two daughters to the United States and settled on a farm in Tippecanoe county, where Mr. Staeffen's death occurred October 26, 1874, at the age of seventy-three years. They were the parents of four children, all daughters, the wife of Mr. Greenburg being the youngest in order of birth. Their names are: Wilamina, Augusta, Lena and Emily. Wilamina and Lena still reside in Germany ; Augusta is the wife of Albert Dettbenner and resides on a farm in Jackson township, this county.
For a time after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. William F. Greenburg lived on a farm which they rented. In 1899 they purchased one hundred and twenty acres, having prospered and laid by a competency by their judicious management and hard work. They still reside on this place, which is one of the most productive and best improved in Jackson township. He has erected a modern, comfortable and nicely arranged house and good outbuildings and has been very successful since moving on his present farm on which he con- ducts a general line of farming in a manner that stamps him as fully abreast of the times in every respect regarding agricultural matters. He also makes a specialty of breeding high grade hogs and sheep for the market, always finding a ready sale for his stock-in fact, they usually bring top prices and are eagerly sought for.
Mr. and Mrs. Greenburg are the parents of nine children, namely : Carrie married Arthur Anderson and resides on a farm in Tippecanoe county, being the parents of one child, Walter. Benjamin married Etta Finnegan. They reside in Nebraska and have one son, Platt. Laura is the wife of Darwin Lane. They reside on a farm in Montgomery county and are the parents of two children, Edna and Howard. Otto married Lola Clark. They re- side in Tippecanoe county and are the parents of one child, Rex William. Minnie is the wife of Edward Berryhill, residing in this county. Julius, Lillian May, Anna May and Harry are single and living at home with their parents.
Mr. Greenburg is a Republican and for some time he has taken much interest in local political affairs. He is a loyal supporter of the temperance cause, taking an active part in the local option movement. He has served as petit juror many times, but has never aspired to public office, although he has frequently been solicited for various positions of public trust. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Wingate. Mont- gomery county, just across the line from Jackson township; also belongs to Starlight Lodge No. 365, in the work of which he has long been faithful and
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prominent, having passed all the chairs in this order. He and his family were formerly members of the German Lutheran church in Germany, but since coming to the United States this family has been associated with the Methodist Episcopal church, holding their membership with the congregation at Shawnee Mound, near their home in Jackson township, and they are all very active in church work. This family bears an excellent reputation and all its members are favorably known throughout the township.
MORAINE McCOY.
Although yet a man young in years, the gentleman whose life record is herein outlined has stamped his individuality upon the locality where he resides in no uncertain manner, being an excellent representative of that type of the much heralded American business man-the type that does things- Mr. McCoy being a worthy descendant of a long line of honorable and in- fluential ancestors.
Moraine McCoy, better known as "Rainey" McCoy, was born in Wea township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, June 11, 1879, the son of John McCoy, a native of Ross county, Ohio; the latter a son of Joseph McCoy, and he was the son of James McCoy, the latter being a son of Joseph McCoy, a Ken- tuckian and a pioneer in Ross county, Ohio. He had the distinction of serving with his brother, Alexander, in the war of 1812. They were both captured by the Indians near Sandusky, Ohio. Alex was held by the Indians five years and was finally traded for a barrel of whisky. Joseph was only held a short time and was released .. Alexander was never married, but Joseph was the father of two sons and two daughters. He was the owner of a farm of three hundred acres. His son, James, and family con- stituted the second settlers in Ross county, Ohio. He married Kate Anderson, and their children were: Joseph, James, John, William and Maria. James McCoy settled on the old homestead in Ross county, Ohio, and he was an elder in the Presbyterian church. He died at the age of sixty-seven years. His son, Joseph, was born in 1820, educated in the home schools, and adopted farming as his vocation. He married Nancy Dawley, daughter of Moses and Mary (Cook) Dawley, natives of Baltimore, Maryland, and also pioneers of Ross county, Ohio. His children were : James, Nancy and John. After his marriage Joseph McCoy settled one mile from the old homestead and devoted his life to farming, becoming comparatively well-to-do. He life.
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and his wife were the parents of seven children, namely : Emma, who married E. B. Ritchey : John, of Lafayette, and father of Moraine McCoy of this re- view; James, of Stockwell, Indiana; Kittie is single and is living in Ross county, Ohio, with her mother ; Maria married John N. Ray, of Wea town- ship; George died when young; Lucy married Stanton Morrow, who lives in Ross county, Ohio. Joseph McCoy was a Republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church. He had trying experiences during the Civil war, having been in the army that encountered Morgan, the famous Con- federate leader, on his northern raid. He was twice wounded by bullets and was captured by the guerrillas, but was released after a short time. After a successful life as a farmer, he died in 1892, at the age of seventy-three years. His widow still lives on the old home place at the advanced age of eighty- three years. John McCoy, the father of Moraine McCoy, married Keltie Ritchey of Wea township, this county. She was the daughter of John and Maria L. (Adams) Ritchey, natives of Pickaway county, Ohio, who came to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, in an early day, settling in Wea township, where they developed a farm on which they both died. John Ritchey was also an extensive raiser of mules and horses. They were the parents of the fol- lowing children: Josephus, deceased; Margaret; Alice, deceased: Keltie; Benjamin, deceased; Eliza, Robert, deceased.
John McCoy was educated in the common schools. He came to Tippecanoe county. Indiana. in 1859. locating in Wea township. His sister married Benjamin Ritchey, who was with John Hay for several years, and he secured forty acres of land in section 34, Wea township. It was wild land, but he cleared it and made a good home. He later moved to section 21, where he purchased sixty-eight acres and was there until 1882. He bought one hundred and four acres, part of Ritchey's estate, and he lived on that place until 1904. He is now living retired in Lafayette, Indiana. He was a very successful farmer. Although an active Republican, he never aspired to public office. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church, having been a member of the church practically all his life.
To Mr. and Mrs. John McCoy six children were born, namely: A daughter who died in infancy, unnamed; Moraine, of this review; Joseph, married Edna Sale, of Champaign county, Illinois; he is an architect in St. Paul, Minnesota; they are the parents of one daughter, Josephine; Joseph McCoy graduated from the University of Illinois in 1906. The fourth child of Mr. and Mrs. John McCoy was a daughter who died in infancy; Nettie Eldora graduated from the high school in Lafayette, spent one year at Ferry Hall, Illinois, and married Cripps Moore and lives in West Lafayette. Eugene Ritchey, the youngest child, died in infancy.
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Moraine McCoy was educated in the home schools, having graduated from the local high school in Lafayette in 1899. He lived with his parents until his marriage on September 7, 1934. to Mary Esther Ray, of Randolph township, this county, daughter of Elias Ray, a prominent agriculturist and stock man (see his sketch in this work). Mrs. McCoy was educatel in the common schools of Randolph township and later took a course in St. Mary's Academy at Terre Haute, where she remained for five years, from 1894 to 1899. Being artistic by nature, and having developed her esthetic qualities, she is able to do some very fine painting and decorating, as well as fancy work of all kinds. She is a woman of pleasing personality, cultured and affable.
To Mr. and Mrs. Moraine McCoy three children have been born, namely : Elias Ray, born May 22, 1905: John Ritchey, born April 21, 1937; Mary Eleanor, born March 4, 1909. They are bright and interesting children, adding sunshine to the pleasant, modern and attractive home of Mr. McCoy.
Mr. McCoy carries on general farming in a manner that stamps him as fully abreast of the present day methods of agriculture. He handles large numbers of mules and large quantities of grain, and he is very successful at whatever he directs his attention. He lives on the old place in section 27. Wea township, which is well improved in every respect. In politics he is a Republican, and is an elder in the Spring Grove Presbyterian church, Wea township. He is regarded by his neighbors as a model young man in every respect and he is one of the leading citizens of the township, he and his estimable wife having won hosts of warm friends here by reason of their integrity, hospitality and generosity.
THE GLADDEN FAMILY.
England has sent her proportion of citizens to the new world and they have become valued residents of the communities with which their lots have been cast. They have ever been valiant people, fearless in defense of what they believe to be right, industrious, persevering and reliable, and the charac- teristics of the race have been found in the members of the Gladden family. of whom Walter Owen Gladden, of Lauramie township, Tippecanoe county. is a worthy representative. He is well known as an enterprising and progres- sive citizen of the township, where he is engaged in agricultural pursuits, his well-directed efforts bringing to him gratifying success in his undertakings.
The Gladdens are of English descent and there the family, after a time-
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honored custom of that country, lived on leased land for generation after generation, it being customary to lease large tracts of land for periods of ninety-nine years. Richard Gladden, the first of the name to come to America, was a native of Leeds, and was but sixteen years old when he determined to try his fortune in the New World. He was accompanied on the journey by an older sister, who married a Mr. Ingram, whose family were land- leasers like the Gladdens. It was some time prior to the outbreak of the war of the Revolution when Richard Gladden came to this country and at the opening of hostilities he espoused the cause of the colonists, serving as a soldier against the mother country for six years. On one occasion, while working in a field, a party of British soldiers approached, and the officer in command, after calling him a rebel and other offensive epithets, ordered him to take down the fence bars that they might pass through. Believing that. under the circumstances, "discretion was the better part of valor," he complied with the request.
Having mastered the trade of miller, Richard Gladden gave it his sole attention for a number of years. He was noted for his skill in dressing buhrs and his services were in demand far and near. For that day, he possessed a good education and stood high in the community. Subsequently Mr. Gladden moved to Ohio, locating in Montgomery county, fifteen miles west of Dayton, where he entered and improved one hundred and twenty-five acres of land. He also operated a grist and flour mill in Perry township, that county, a number of years. He died there at the age of about eighty-nine years. He was twice married, both wives being natives of Virginia. The result of the first union was a son, James. The second wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Hiatt, bore him two children, Joseph and William. James and Joseph were drummer boys with a Virginia regiment during the war of 1812.
William Gladden, the youngest son of Richard and Catherine Gladden, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1795, and soon after the war of 1812 moved to Ohio with his parents. He assisted his father on the farm and in the mill, and in the meantime received a limited education in the common schools of the period. On reaching manhood he applied himself to agricultural pursuits, in which he was successful. He settled on a small farm in Perry township. Montgomery county, which had been entered by his father, and for eight years he operated that farm. He then moved to Preble county, the same state, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, which he cleared and lived on until 1834. He was then persuaded to come to Lauramie township, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, by his brother Joseph, who had previously settled here and who returned to Ohio and assisted in bringing
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the family on. The trip was made with a two-horse wagon, the men sleep- ing out of doors at night, while the women obtained shelter in the hospitable homes along the route. William Gladden located on a quarter section of land four miles southeast of Lafayette, on Wild Cat Prairie. The place had to some extent been improved by its former owner and on it stood a one- story house, which the family occupied. During the following year Mr. Gladden contracted malarial fever, then so prevalent in this state, and died in August, at the early age of forty years. He was survived about five years by his widow. The latter, in her maidenhood, bore the name of Magdalena Yost, a daughter of Anthony and Catherine (Brock) Yost. Mr. Yost was born in Germany and came to Virginia when a child, subsequently settling in Montgomery county, Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Gladden were born the follow- ing children : Elizabeth, Richard, John, Joseph, William, Harrison, Jacob W., who now lives in Kansas, Catherine who is now Mrs. Warwick of Battle Ground, this county. In politics Mr. Gladden was a Democrat and stood high in the respect of his acquaintances wherever he had lived. While a resident of Montgomery county, Ohio, he served as a justice of the peace and was also captain of a company of state militia. His widow was a member of the German Baptist church.
William, the sixth child in order of birth of William and Magdalena Gladden, was born in Preble county, Ohio, September 23, 1823, and came to Tippecanoe county with his parents in 1834. He was but twelve years old when bereft of his father and five years later his mother died, consequently early in life he was compelled to shift for himself in a large measure. He secured what education he could in the common schools, and achieved special success in mathematics, in which it was said he was never "stuck" on a problem. About 1849 he bought eighty acres of timber land, on which he built a log cabin. In this they lived until 1862, when they built a frame house, which still stands. He made a distinct success of agriculture and brought his farm up to a high standard of excellence. At the time of Mor- gan's raid, during the Civil war, he left his wheat, which he was about to cut, and went to Indianapolis and offered his services to assist in the capture of the noted guerrilla. He was too late to be of service, but in the meantime a neighbor, a Mr. Connell, had cut his wheat for him.
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