Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of northern Indiana and of the whole state, both living and dead, Part 108

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Brothers
Number of Pages: 786

USA > Indiana > Elkhart County > Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of northern Indiana and of the whole state, both living and dead > Part 108
USA > Indiana > St Joseph County > Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of northern Indiana and of the whole state, both living and dead > Part 108

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

716

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

Ohio; Sovila resides in Coshocton county, Ohio, and is the wife of Dr. Christian Swartz, and Samuel is a farmer of Clinton township, Elkhart county. The youthful days of John D. Rahrer were passed in his native State, and he secured a good busi- ness education in the district school. When twelve years of age he was left an or- phan, and from that time until grown he was actively engaged in farm work. In 1863 he came to Elkhart county, Ind., and began the struggle for a livelihood. He began at the bottom of the ladder, and has only himself to thank for the success which has crowned his efforts. He is a self-made man in every sense of that term, and although he met with many discouragements and drawbacks, he persevered, and to-day may be classed among the successful and substantial men of his section. Prior to coming to Indiana, or in 1862, he enlisted in the army, and served faithfully for ten months, participating in the bloody battle of Murfreesboro. He W88 8 good soldier, was never sick more than two or three days while in service, and was discharged at McMinnville, Tenn. In 1863 he returned to Holmes county, Ohio, and now draws a pension for services. The same year, as before mentioned, he came to Elkhart county, and worked at the carpenter's trade for three or four years. In 1866 he married Miss Mary Dausman, daughter of Jacob Dausman, who was one of the early pioneers of this county. Mary was born on her father's farm in Elkhart county, in 1842, and died after two years of married life, at the age of twenty-six. She had but one child, 'William, who was born July 27, 1867. This son was married to Miss Belle Bacher, who bore him one child, Elma V., and they now reside in Dausmantown. In 1872 Mr. Rahrer was married to Miss Elizabeth Stricker, whose parents, John and Catherine (Bucker) Stricker, came from Canada to Elkhart county about 1850. These parents reared seven children, as follows; Jacob, Elizabeth, Lavina, Henry and three who died young. Mr. and Mrs. Stricker were among the early pioneers, and their daughter Elizabeth was born on the old farm where she now lives, the old home of her parents, which her husband bought, April 27, 1853. Her father died in 1862, but his wife is still living, and finds a comfortable home with her son-in-law, John Rahrer. She is now over seventy years of age. To Mr. and Mrs. Rahrer have been born seven children: Lavina, born March 12, 1873, married John Bare, and resides in Union township; Ols, born December 23, 1875, is at home; Matrona, born July 13, 1878; Helen, born February 27, 1880; Alvin, born August 24, 1881; Jacob, born July 6, 1885, and Evaline, born November 26, 1887. Mr. Rahrer is giving his children good ed- ucational advantages, and is interested in school work. In politics he is a Demo- crat, is much interested in the affairs of the Government, and is one of the most prominent citizens of the township. He has been remarkably successful as an agri- culturist, and his boys are getting so they can assist him in the management of the same. He is interested in all worthy movements, and no laudable enterprise is allowed to fail for want of support on his part.

DANIEL ZOOK. Among the best known and prominent men of Elkhart county, Ind., is the subject of this sketch, who is a member of the firm of Coppes Bros., & Zook, who are among the leading business firms of northern Indiana. Mr. Zook was born in Elkhart county, Ind., January 22, 1851, the youngest son born to John M. and Rebecca (Shellenberger) Zook, the former of whom was born in Huntington county, Penn., March 4, 1818, a son of David and Mary (Mack) Zook, David being a native of Germany, and his wife a daughter of Alexander Mack, who helped to found the German Baptist Church in this country. The latter was a native of Ger- many also, but came to this country at an early day. David Zook and family made their home in Pennsylvania until 1840, then came as far west as Richland county, Ohio, and there, for a few years, followed the life of a pioneer tiller of the soil. Elkhart county, Ind., became their home in 1842, and here they resided on a wood- land farm until the discovery of gold in California in 1849, when he made the over- land trip to the gold fields, where he remained until his death, two years later. He was a prominent citizen, and for a number of years held the office of justice of the

717

MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

peace. Politically he was an old line Whig, and took an active part in questiona of the day, and was once the nominee of his party for the State Legislature. He and his wife reared a family as follows: John M., the father of the immediate subject of this sketch; Joseph; Jacob, who died in California; Alexander; David M. ; Lydia, who married a Mr. Eisenbiss; Sarah, who married John Scott; Catherine, who married Daniel Leedy, a prominent citizen of Elkhart. The mother of these chil- dren, after the death of the father, emigrated with some of her children to Iowa, and there died in 1858. John M., the father of the subject of this sketch, and of Aaron S. Zook, a lawyer, of Goshen, Ind., spent his early life as a teamster over the mountains of Pennsylvania. He was a young man when the family moved to Ohio, and there and in his native State he obtained a practical and useful educa- tion and eventually became a school teacher. He came to Elkhart county, Ind., and settled on a school section in the woods, which he farmed until 1862, when he traded his farm and located in Clinton township, where he reared his family and tilled the soil until his death, June 6, 1872. He succeeded in accumulating a fair amount of worldly goods and as a public-spirited and enterprising citizen, he had not his superior in his section of the country. He was first a Whig in politics, later a Republican, and in the neighborhood in which he lived, he held a prominent po- sition and a number of official places. He was extremely active in educational work and managed to give his children good educational advantages. His wife was born in Huntington county, Penn., a daughter of Michael Shellenberger, who were of Pennsylvania stock, but of Swiss descent. They were among the early residenta of Richland connty and there reared a family of children who are named as follows: Rebecca, born November, 1823; John; David; Baltzer; Sarah and Elizabeth. The father died in Ohio and the mother returned to Pennsylvania, where she was called from life. Mrs. Zook was the eldest of their family, and is now making her home in Goshen with her son Aaron. She is well preserved and is in the enjoyment of good health. She has long been a member of the Lutheran Church and in that ·faith reared her children: David L. was born March 1, 1846, was reared on a farm and followed the calling of a teacher for many years; he took a college course in Michigan University, also studied law and graduated from the Chicago Law School, and is now a member of the law firm of Wilson & Zook, at No. 79 Metropolitan Block, Chicago, Ill. ; Aaron is the next in order of birth, and is a lawyer of Goshen, Daniel, the subject of this sketch; and Sarah, who is the wife of Dr. I. J. Becknell; of Mifford, Ind. The early life of Daniel Zook was spent on a farm where he learned the art of practical farming. He not only pursued the paths of learning in the district schools in the vicinity of his rural home, but also the public schools of Goshen, and after assisting his father for some time in the saw-mill, he became a school teacher and followed that occupation for five years, during which time he won an excellent reputation as an educator and disciplinarian. He took up the study of law at an early day with his brother in Goshen, and for some time he practiced law in Goshen. In 1882 he became a resident of Nappanee, and four years later was elected to the office of county clerk, which he filled with ability for four years, but refused to stand for nomination a second term, claiming that one term of four years was enough. At the expiration of his term of office he became a member of the firm of Coppes Bros. & Zook, by purchasing the interest of S. D. Coppes, in which he has since remained interested. He is an active citizen of Nap- panee and is deeply interested in the current topics of the day, and politically is a Republican. He was married to Miss Della Reifenberg, of Bristol. Ind., who died in 1882, at the age of twenty-five years, leaving a son, Harold, who was born Sep- tember 4, 1878, and is now attending school. For his second wife Mr. Zook mar- ried Miss Lizzie Yarian, daughter of Benjamin Yarian, of Nappanee. She was born in Nappanee in 1867, and she and her husband move in the best social circles and have numerous warm friends, whom it is their pleasure to entertain at their hospitable home.

718

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

JOHN H. VIOLETT. A prominent farmer and wealthy and influential citizen of Elkhart township ia John H. Violett, who was born at a point two miles south of Goshen, November 22, 1829, the first child of white parents born in Elkhart county. His father, John Wesley Violett, was a Virginian by birth, but of French descent, his ancestors having been among the early settlers of this country, and he was born near Harper's Ferry, August 29, 1795. When John Wesley Violett was seven years old, his father having died, his mother took her little family to Ohio, and located ten miles from Springfield, on Buck Creek, where he assisted her on the farm and attended school until he was eighteen years old. Thongh little more than a boy, he gave his services to his country during about two years of the War of 1812-14, and waa at Fort Finley at the time of the seige of Fort Meiga, and for his services in the army he was later in life granted a Government land-warrant. A Henry Clay Whig politically, he cast his first vote for President for "Harry of the West," and pre- served very carefully a copy of it during the remainder of his life. From 1820 to 1823, he was a resident of Missouri, where he served by appointment as justice of the peace, and in the last mentioned year, returning to Ohio, he purchased a farm in Clarke county. In August, 1824, he, having manifested great interest in the Ohio militia organizations, was elected sergeant major of the Second Regiment, Fifth Brigade of the Fifth Division. Early in 1828 he disposed of his farm in Clarke county, Ohio, with the idea in mind of procuring a larger body of land west of the Mississippi. Very favorable reports of the Indiana country watered by the St. Joseph of Lake Michigan, having reached him, he concluded to prospect for land on the St. Joseph and its tributariea, and he set out, accompanied by his father-in- law, October 4, 1828, for the trip, knowing they would beobliged to camp out a part of the time, and having laid in a supply of provisiona, ammunition and other necessaries. A man of close observation and excellent judgment, and of much method in all his habits, he kept a memorandum of events from day to day, and not long before his death prepared from his diary a narrative of this memorable journey from Ohio to Indiana. The two men proceeded to Fort Wayne the first day, and, as may be. imagined, Fort Wayne was then an insignificant hamlet instead of the charming city of this time. The next morning they started for Wolf Lake, and there encamped the second night. A desolate place indeed, Major Viollett described this to have been at that time; but the next eighty miles of their journey took them over a much more attractive country. In the Elkhart bottoms, where they soon arrived, they found a rich expanse of timber land, and across the river was Elkhart Prairie, which impressed Major Violett as being the most beautiful and attractive land he had ever gazed upon. At the Elkhart River, at the spring where De Camp afterward built a mill, they remained over night, and on the following morning they crossed to St. Joseph, a little below where it receives the Elkhart, where they encountered the first white settler they had seen since their departure from Fort Wayne and its vi- cinity. Nine miles further on waa Beardaley's Prairie, which Major Violett referred to in his narrative as " a beautiful rolling plain with a few squatters," and were there entertained by Mr. Beardsley, who showed them the first crop of growing sod corn they had seen on their journey, which they found to be plentiful and of good quality for its kind, the blades being yet green, there being no frost that year until October 9. Here they became acquainted with Hon. George Crawford, during later years of La Porte, and Mr. Meacham, his partner, who took much pains to inform them concerning the conntry, its resources and its promises for the future. Young's Prairie was reached the next day, and was found to be a very desirable tract of land, but a squatter with whom they stayed claimed a very large amount of the prairie for himself and his friends. After inspecting another crop of corn here they proceeded to White Pigeon Prairie next morning, where they were made at home by Judge Winckel, who also had a good crop of corn. The next day they went to Elkhart Prairie next morning, which Major Violett wished to further examine, having about concluded to settle there. They encamped for the night on the site of

719

MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

Benton, at Elkhart River. The prospect for a settlement appeared very flatter- ing, as the land was rich and fertile, and there was a plentiful supply of water and much valuable timber. Messrs. Crawford and Meacham soon joined them on their way south in quest of stock hogs, and Matthew Boyd arrived in their camp about the same time and afterward became a permanent settler at Benton. They started for home October 14, and on the evening of that day met Elias Riggs and his son-in-law, with their families moving to Elkhart Prairie, where they built a house on the land owned later by Col. John Jackson and were the first permanent settlers on the plain. The succeeding winter was passed by Major Violett in making preparations to move to Elkhart Prairie, and March 3, 1829, he set out with an ox team, carrying farming utensils, heavy furniture and provisions, his family re- maining for a time with friends. William Chance and James Bishop, two young men whom he had employed to help open up his farm went with him, and the party was accompanied by two other men with ox teams, whose names have not been handed down to us. The journey consumed twelve days. Making a squatter's claim on a timbered portion of a prairie near the river, Major Violett erected a cabin and began splitting out fence rails. In the following spring he fenced fifty acres of his land and planted thirty-two acres of it to corn, which was the first crop of its kind raised in the vicinity and was in great demand during the following win- ter and spring for the use of families and stock, quite a number of people having moved into the country without a sufficient grain supply. In July Major Violett brought his family out to his Indiana home. A brief resume of the characteristics and principal events in the life of this distinguished pioneer demonstrates that he was a man of unusual ability, as can not be doubted when his career from first to last is taken into consideration. Intellectually superior, he was naturally influential among his fellow men. He was a ready and convincing speaker and, as his diary shows, a most pungent writer. While entertaining the highest respect for the re- ligious convictions and opinions of others, he was not of orthodox belief in religious matters, and was unable, honestly, to accept many of the creeds and practices of the churches. Though not an active politician, he was unswerving in his political con- victions and gave his influence without stint to the support of his party, its men and its measures. When Elkhart county was organized in 1830, he was elected its first recorder and held the office for seven years. In 1830 he was appointed major of the Eighty-second Regiment of Indiana Militia; in 1840 he was candidate for 88- sociate judge, but his party being largely in the minority he was defeated, and in 1842 he was appointed commissioner for the Erie & Michigan Canal, and subscribed $1,000 toward its construction. He was a candidate of the Whigs for State senator in 1844, but was defeated. although securing more than his regular party vote. In 1854-5 he built the Violett House in Goshen, which stands to-day as a monument to his public spirit. He was a model and enterprising farmer, and, as the pioneer nurseryman, supplied the country with its first fruit and ornamental trees. In private life he was charmingly genial and cordial and his home was the center of a generous hospitality. His character was above reproach and endeared him to all who knew him; and his death, which occurred October 24, 1871, after he had passed his seventy-fifth year, was lamented by a large circle of relatives and friends.

John H. Violett, the immediate subject of this memoir, who deserves a place in history as the first white child born in this county, inherited many of the sterling qualities of his father. His boyhood days were passed in the old log cabin which his father built in the spring of 1829, preceding the fall of his birth, which was afterward sold to Daniel Hess. The only door in that historic building, which was of course its outside door, was the first door hung on hinges in the county and it is still preserved by the family as a relic of the pioneer days. Mr. Violett's educa- tional advantages were extremely limited, being only such as were afforded by the "pay schools" of that time. His first experience in school was in the log cabin which was built on Section 27, near the site of Waterford, an odd building which

720

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

was constructed minus one log on the side, with wooden atrips nailed scrosa the opening over which oiled paper was stretched to serve as a window. His school life closed when he was fifteen years old, and thereafter for six years, or until he ob- tained his majority, he labored on the farm. The country had now bagun to feel the influence of the gold excitement in California, and one of Mr. Violett's enter- prising disposition was not at all likely to escape it. In the spring of 1850, he went with others to California by the overland route, and there engaged in mining with some little success, until March, 1851, when he left for home from San Francisco, via Panama and New Orleans. Unfavorable winds drove the vessel far south of the equatorial line, in the early part of the voyage, and, pasaing near the Marquesas Islands, it arrived in port after a voyage of about two months and a half. Soon afterward Mr. Violett bought a farm from his father, not more than a hundred rods from his birthplace and built upon it a large substantial brick building, and. purchasing s saw-mill on the Elkhart River, he engaged in lumber- ing and farming until 1853, when, aelling the mill, he devoted his attention entirely to other interests. When war became imminent between the North and South, he began to make arrangements to participate therein, and September 2, 1861, enlisted as a private in Company E, Ninth Indiana Regimeot, and served in that capacity faithfully for three years, several times refusing promotion. He participated in the two days' fight at Pittsburg Landing April 6 and 7, 1862; the battle of Stone River, on the last day of 1862 and the first day of 1863; the battle of Chickamauga, August 19 and 20, 1863; the battle of Lookout Mountain (the "fight above the clouds"), November 24 and 25, 1863, and in numerous other sanguinary engage- ments. Captured in Tennessee, he was taken to Libby Prison, but was at once exchanged, thus escaping long incarceration in that mundane hell. After the ex- piration of his term of service, he was mastered out with his regiment, at Indianap- olis, September 6, 1864, and returned to agricultural pursuit until, after the death - of his wife, in the spring of 1878, he rented his farm and practically retired from setive business for a time. His farm, consisting of 170 acres of fine prairie and tim- ber land, was always, under his management, one of the finest in the township, and he prided himself on keeping it in a high state of cultivation. Before returning from the war, in the fall of 1864, he was nominated and elected sheriff of Elkhart county by a most gratifying majority and held the office for two years. Referring to his nomination, the Goshen Times said: "John H. Violett was nominated for sheriff without his knowledge or consent, while he was manfully doing his duty as a private soldier, 'way down in Dixie', and that, too, over other worthy men, who were present in the convention working for the place." Until the Whig party was merged with the Republican party in 1855, Mr. Violett was in politics an uncompromising Whig; since that date he has been an equally uncompromising Republican. He is s most earnest man and a very liberal contributor to the support of his political convictions. An extensive reader, he is not only well versed in all events of the present time, but is thoroughly well read in historical, classical, poetical, romantic and scientific liter- ature. A clear thinker and s sound reasoner, he is scenrate in his judgment and prompt to set upon it. A pleasing conversationalist, he is at the same time a writer of ability, his contributions to the public press being clear, forcible and comprehen- sive, strong in sarcasm and overflowing with pungent humor. Reared in a strong moral atmosphere, but not under church discipline, he is like his father, entirely unorthodox in religious belief, having become doubtful concerning theological dog- mas upon mature reflection in early youth, and having since been what is properly termed a " radical. " April 28, 1852, he married Miss Catherine Rodibaugh, daugh- ter of David Rodibangh, of Elkhart township, a woman of marked ability, of many lovable qualities, who died July 16, 1877. They had four children, one of whom is living: Mariet J., born October 11, 1853, died June 2, 1860; Horace E., born No- vember 2, 1855, died April 23, 1859; Chloe, born August 11, 1857, married Charles A. Irwin, son of E. D. Irwin, of Elkhart Prairie, October 14, 1873; Florett, born

721

MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

April 21, 1860, died October 16, 1863. Mr. Violett was married November 28, 1878, to Melissa Leedy, of Elkhart township, a lady of pleasing presence, of good parent- age, cultivated and refined in appearance, and highly respected. They have by this marriage an interesting family of children, who add sunshine to their already happy home and are the pride and delight of their parents and friends. It may be said of Mr. Violett that he has been, during all his life, deservedly esteemed in every rela- tion; as a citizen, a public official, 86 soldier, a husband, and a father, his every act has been such as to reflect credit upon him and increase the high esteem in which all have held him from his youth to the present time. It is not probable that there is in all Elkhart county another man whose declining years are crowned with greater respect and honor than those which are but the just acknowledgment of Mr. Violett's manly worth and dignity of character.

GEN. MILO S. HASCALL was born in Le Roy, Genesee Co .. N. Y., August 5, 1829, a son of Amasa and Phoebe (Smith) Hascall, natives of Massachusetts. His father occupied various official positions. Emigrating to New York be located at Canandaigua, and subsequently at Le Roy, Genesee county. The boyhood of Gen. Hascall was passed on the farm and in the common schools. At the age of sixteen he attended an academy, and at seventeen, in 1847, came west to Goshen, Ind., where three of his brothers then resided. Chauncey S. Hascall was then en- gaged in trade in Goshen and the General entered his store as clerk. This engage- ment lasted but three months, when he taught school for one term. He went to West Point in June, 1848, and remained there four years, graduating June 16, 1852, fourteenth in a class that entered ninety-six and graduated forty-three, a record of which any West Point student might well be proud. His class embraced Gen. Sheri- dan, Gen. Henry W. Slocum, of Brooklyn; Gen. D. S. Stanley, Jerome N. Bona- parte (the Baltimore member of the illustrions family), George L. Hartsuff, Gen. Charles R. Woods, Marshall T. Polk, Alex D. McCook, Gen. William Myers, Gen. A. V. Kautz, Gen. George Crook. After his gradnation Gen. Hascall was promoted to the Third Artillery as brevet second lieutenant, and stationed at Fort Adams, R. I., where he remained about one year. He was then promoted to a second lieutenancy in the Second Artillery, and was stationed at Old Point Comfort, Va., where he re- mained until 1853, when he resigned. He came to Goshen after leaving the army and traveled for some time thereafter. For one year he was a contractor on the Northern Indiana & Michigan Sonthern Railroad, after which he studied and event- ually began the practice of law. During his law practice he was elected prosecuting attorney for the court of common pleas. In the fall of 1859 he was elected clerk of Elkhart Circuit Court, which office he retained till the spring of 1861, when the war of the Rebellion broke out and called him to his country's defense. Gen. Hascall was one of the first volunteers to respond to the call for troops, and was elected captain of the first company raised in Goshen. This company arrived at Indian- apolis too late, however, to be mustered into either of the six regimente required by the State, and was obliged to disband; but having learned that Capt. Hascall was a "West Pointer," Governor Morton appointed him captain and aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Thomas A. Morris, in which capacity he organized and drilled aix regiments in Camp Morton, preparatory to their taking the field. In June, 1861, he accompanied Gen. Morris to West Virginia, upon the first active movement of the war, and was in the fight at Philippi, the first engagement of the war after that at Fort Sumter. The next day after that event he was appointed colonel of the Seventeenth Indiana Regiment. Returning to Indianapolis he bore, on the way, Gen. Morris's report to Gen. McClellan, and bore also the flag captured at Philippi. His regiment, mustered for three years, arrived at Parkersburg, W. Va., about the time of the first battle of Bull Run. After some service in western Maryland, the regiment was ordered to Grafton, W. Va., and thence via Philippi and Beverly to Elkwater and Cheat Mountain, where it remained untilthe winter of 1861, partici- pating in all the engagements abont Elkwater, Huttonville and Cheat Mountain.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of northern Indiana and of the whole state, both living and dead, Part 108

Author: Publication date: 1893 Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Brothers Number of Pages: 786

Author:
Publication date: 1893
Publisher: Chicago, Goodspeed Brothers
Number of Pages: 786