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 115

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 115
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 115

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After doing the "country school act" in Harrison township, on the Pine Creek, and st Beckner's School-house, in Elkhart county, he was successively principal of the union schools of Middlebury, Ind., Cassopolis and Mount Clemens, Mich., closing his teaching days in 1871; having taught four years after graduating in the classical course in Hillsdale College, Mich., in 1887, his present partner, Herbert B. Johnson, Hon. John M. Vanfleet (circuit judge of Elkhart county), and Will M. Carlton,

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the justly celebrated Michigan poet, were among his classmates. After studying

and also upon examination before the Supreme Court of Illinois, at Ottawa, Ill., in law with Baker & Mitchell, of Goshen, he was admitted to the bar in Indiana,

1872. He has had charge of and successfully conducted some of the leading board of trade, commercial law, as well as chancery cases, involving questions of title,

and Wisconsin, where he did effective work as German orator, for the election of lican State Central Committee of Illinois to stump the States of Illinois, Indiana important real estate snits, etc. In 1872 and 1876 he was sent by the Repub-

General Grant and Mr. Hayes, of the former of whom he was, and still ie, an ardent admirer. He was married to Mise Kate Lonergan, the daughter of Simon Lonergan, one of the early settlers of Chicago, who was largely interested in the

Herring, nine years old. Mary A. is the widow of George W. Schaeffer, who was farm, near Lockport, Will county, Ill. They have one child living, Eleanor F. canal and railroad constructions of Illinois, and who died on the old homestead

one of the principal hardware merchants of Goshen, where he died a number of

years ago. Mrs. Schaeffer, by her excellent management and rare executive ability, has added to her own fortune as well as to the beauty of old Main atreet, in Goshen,

considerable repute, reside in Goshen. Johanna A., the second oldest daughter, is the Mary, now a young lady, and Benjamin Schaeffer, a bicyclist and athlete of by erecting two of the finest store buildings on Main street. She and her two children,

wife of Rev. Harry L. Bickett, of Lynnfield, a suburb of Boston, Mass., where her husband has, very acceptably to his large congregation, "kept his charge" faithfully for many years; they have one child, Helen Irene, now abont two years old. Dr. John H. Herring, the second oldest son, resides in Eau Claire, Berrien county, Mich., where he has built up & wide reputation and paying. practice. He has been mayor of the village; being himself six feet, two inches tall, "in his stocking feet," his presence commands respect for the "cloth," as well as law and order. He was

married to Miss Mary Henkel, daughter of Philip M. Henkel, an old resident of Goshen, where he held the office of county anditor and was the projector of the canal and hydraulic works; they have no children. Paul, the third oldest son, has studied medicine at home and at the Bennett Medical College, of Chicago, and assists bis father in his laboratory, preparing extracts of fine quality, rare and of great value; he also cultivates a large botanical garden, where he and his father raise many of the rarest and most valuable plants known in the materia medica. Christine J. Herring. the youngest daughter, a graduate of Hillsdale College, Michigan, where nearly all the other children gradnated, after having taught for several years the higher branches in some of the best union schools in Indiana, Michigan and Iowa, is staying at home now, devoting herself to her mother and Christian work. Nathaniel, the youngest son, after graduating from the Bennett Medical College in Chicago, two years after his brother John had received his diploma from the same college, went to Bremen, Marshall county, Ind., where he married Miss Lizzie Wright, the only daughter of Mr. Wright, the leading manufacturer and merchant of Bremen, and enjoys a large and lucrative practice; they have one child, Frederick, now about six years old. This, in substance, constitutes a brief resume of the family history of Dr. Herring; having spent nearly one half century in our midst, leading a quiet, unostentatious life, scarcely ever seen outside of his office or garden, during many years he has been recognized as one whose patriarchal appearance, the example of whose moral and religious life and the success of whose practice of his profession have made him justly celebrated in neighboring States, and even in the far West, as well as at home, where he is known by young and old as a kind, benignant. charitable Christian gen- tleman, a model and honored citizen and a most intelligent and highly learned doctor. In the lore of the ancients, in antique and modern history, in philology, philosophy and botany, but especially in his familiarity with the history of the Christian church and works of the fathers of the church from the earliest times down to the present, and in his broad Christian work, both in this country and abroad,

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he has few equals anywhere, and we doubt whether a superior. Of him and his worthy wife it can truly be said: "their presence is like a sweet odor in the land; their memory shall be a precious treasure; their children shall rise up to honor and to bless them."

B. F. CATHCART. Mr. Cathcart, one of the most extensive fruit growers of Elk- hart county, Ind., and a man thoroughly posted on all subjects relating to his busi- ness, owes his nativity to this State, born in Wayne county on January 6, 1818, and inherits the sturdy characteristics of his Scottish ancestors. His parents, James and Pepina (Leonard) Cathcart, were natives of Genesee county, N. Y., and Penn- sylvania respectively, although the mother was reared in New York City. Our sub- ject's paternal grandfather, Robert Cathcart, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and served fifteen months. He and his wife emigrated to Wayne county, Ind., at an early day, and Ister to Elkhart county, where he received his final summons. His wife died in Wayne county, Ind. B. F. Cathcart tells the following story: "Once a circumstance happened st our home when we lived in three log cabins, grandfather occupying one. There was a large drove of cattle going by on their way from Illinois to New York and I went out to see them ss they passed. The drivers were yelling at them when I heard a scream in grandfather's cabin, the door being on the opposite side from the road. I ran around and upon looking in saw grandfather lying with his head and shoulders in the fire. It was late in the fall and there was a hot bed of coals and his hair was all ablaze. He was holding his hands up and I pulled him out of the fire. The hair was all burnt off his head and the skin came off the back leaving the skull bare. This caused him to gradually fail. He was a great smoker and I suppose that when he raised up to lay away hie pipe he got dizzy and fell back into the fire. Had I not heard him scream just as I did he would undoubtedly have burned to death. He was eighty six years old when he died." The Cathcarts were early settlers of Indiana and contributed their share toward the advancement and development of that Stats.' The father of our subject followed the profession of a school teacher, although previously he had studied medicine, but not caring to become a physician he gave it up and began his career as an educator, teaching for twelve years in one district in Wayne county. He was & very prominent man and well liked by all who knew him. He had a brother, David, who was postmaster in Cincinnati for twelve years, at an early day. Later this brother was postmaster at Dayton, Ohio, where he died. The Cathcart fam- ily, consisting of the parents, grandfather and six children with three other fami- lies, left Wayne county, Ind., October 4, 1830, and made the journey to Elk- hart county, Ind., the trip occupying ten days. They went in wagons and hired a neighbor with a four-horse team. James Cathcart lived first in a rude shanty belonging to Mr. Brennon. As soon as his own log cabin was finished he moved into it. There were no boards of any kind, not even slabs. The floors were split logs and the ceiling split poles. The following winter B. F. Cathcart husked corn on Baldwin's Prairie when the snow was a foot deep. This Mr. Bald- win was the first settler on the prairie. The Cathcarts located on the banks of the St. Joseph River and Mr. Cathcart purchased 320 acres of Government land for which he paid $1.25 per acre. Sixty acres had been pre-empted and a log cabin put up. Mr. Cathcart built a slab shanty in which he lived until he could build a better one. He went to work to put up a log house and on December 4, 1830, just after getting the roof on, the snow fell a foot deep. Christmas day a big dinner was given and the neighbors came for miles around to take part in the good time. At that day Indians were more numerous than whites and Mr. Cathcart has counted as many as forty in a gang. Plenty of game abounded, such as deer, turkeys, coone, etc., and & few bears still roamed the forest. Both parents died on this farm, and although years have passed since then, the memory of this worthy couple still remains fresh in the minds of the old settlers of this county. They were the parents of 8 large family, but only three are now living: Benjamin F .; Marvin, an artist of

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Buchanan, Mich., and Flors, widow of Dr. Soverign, now of South Chicago. B. F. Cathcart was about thirteen years of age when he came to Elkhart county and he immediately was put to work to assist in improving and developing the farm. He never entered 8 school-house for the purpose of learning after this thirteenth birth- day, and what he has acquired in the way of an education has been by his own exer- tions. He is indeed one of the pioneer settlers, has experienced all the hardships and privations incident to those days, and has cleared six different farms during his time. He was hardy and stood the hardships, and saw many good times in his younger days. In 1869 he moved to the hills and turued his attention to fruit grow- ing and the nursery business at which he has been unusually successful. He has now forty-four acres of fruit orchard and at one time had 5,000 bearing peach treee. He is known all over the world as a fruit grower and is a man whose long life has been a success. He is in comfortable circumstances and can pass the annset of his life surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He organized s brass band in Bristol a half century ago and was leader of the same for many years. He has decided taste and talent for music, asindeed have every member of the Cathcart family, and is now the owner of a violin which has been in his possession for over sixty years. It was bought at a sale in Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Cathcart has made two violins in his time. Here is what he says about the violins: "I muet tell you how the first one was made. I cut out and split a slab from a maple, long enough for the bottom part, handle and all, and dug it out leaving the sides on the same piece and made both ends the same size and fitted a top on them and then strung it with linen thread and made a bow by bending a limb and using horse hair for the bow-string. Having no rosin I used beeswax for the bow. The second one I made was all right as Ihad seen one. I wish I had saved the first one I made; it would be a curiosity to exhibit st the fair." He has five children, three sons and two daughters, all of whom are fine musicians. Mr. Cathcart has been three times married, his first union being to Miss Johanns Calkins of Cass county, Mich., by whom he had three children, one of whom is now living: James M., of Judsonis, Ark .; Harrison was killed at the bloody battle of Shiloh, he was file leader of his company and a brave soldier. Mr. Cathcart married for his second wife Miss Mary Ireland, by whom he had one son, Frank. His third marriage was to Mrs. Sarah J. Calkins by whom he had s pair of twins and one other child, as follows: Royal and Rosa (twins), and Anna, now Mrs. Wolf, of Elkhart. Mr. Cathcart is a Free Thinker and non-sectarian and in politics is Independent. He wasa delegate to the State convention on the Green- back ticket st Indianapolis years ago, and has been elected justice of the peace but would not serve. He is held high in the estimation of all who know him and is a very pleasant, social gentleman to meet. He is a pleasant conversationalist and relates many amusing incidents of pioneer days. When a boy he wore home- spun clothes and felt very grand when he could get a pair of tow pants. His son, James M., was in the Rebellion and was captured on Cheat Mountain. He was eating his hardtack in an old spring house when captured and was kept & prisoner about six months, witnessing, during that time, many heart-rending scenes.

PARDON J. PERKINS. Upon investigation it is found that the founder of the family of which the anbject of this sketch is a member, was Newman Perkins, who Was born st Gloucester, England, in 1586, of Puritan stock and came to America in the good ship "Lyon," with his two sons, John and Moses. The famous founder of the Baptist Church in this country, Roger Williams, was a passenger on his second voyage to this country, and on February 5, 1631, they landed in America. John went to Boston where he lived two years and then settled in Ipswich, Mass. He afterward represented the colony in a general court and appears to have been a prominent man in its affairs. Newman Perkins settled in Rhode Island, where he was a magistrate until his death. His son, Newman, inherited the commission of magistrate from his father which he held for over forty years. He married and reared a family of children, among whom was John Perkins, the great-grandfather

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MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

of the aubject of this sketch. John married and reared a family, among whom was Christopher, who was born in 1757 in Rhode Island and married Rebecca Palmer, who was born in the same State in 1756. While living there they became the parents of one child. They afterward moved to Saratoga county, N. Y., and there reared the following children: John, Lucretia, Samuel, Newman, Lydia, Benjamin, Rebecca, Joseph, Palmer, Christopher. At the birth of the last child the wife died and Mr. Perkins afterward married Hannah (Bishop) Carpenter, a widow with a family of five dependent children. To this union the following children were born: Moses and Stephen (twins), Esther, Abraham T., Hannah, Amanda and Martin B. Mr. Perkins moved to Saratoga county, N. Y., during the Revolution and settled on leased land on the west bank of the Hudson River and his cabin home was one time used as a hospital. He died in 1813, his widow being left in rather straitened circum- stances but she moved West with her children, a number of whom can remember the bombarding of Oswego and were within hearing of the guna. They were very poor in wordly goods, endured many hardships and it ia said that for days they lived on leeks and milk and that the mother made a two daya' journey to get a little flour, all of which she used at one large baking and as the boys worked hard they were given all the bread they wanted, but the girls were given but one alice. The industrious mother had a loom made and taught her daughters to spin and weave. They wove the first rag carpet used in Fulton and Oswego counties. They eventu- ally gained a goodly property by their industry and thrift. Mrs. Christopher Per- kins moved to Michigan with her son, Martin B., and at Hudson, Mich., breathed her last surrounded by her children

"The mothers of our forest land Stout-hearted dames were they."

Newman Perkins, third son of Christopher and Rebecca (Palmer) Perkins, waa born in Saratoga county, N. Y., March 18, 1784, where he was brought up to be a farmer and lumberman. When twenty-one years old he went to Greenwich, N. Y., and two years later to Bolton, N. Y., where he engaged in farming and lumbering He continued in this business until 1845. June 17, 1810, he married Betsey Tanner who was born December 26, 1787, and it is here worthy of note that her cousin, W. T. James, made the first successful cast-iron cook stove ever made in America, in the manufacture of which he continued for many years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Per- kins were naturally inventive and their children inherited this faculty to a remarkable degree. To them were born ten sons: John T., Samuel, Elmeron, Allmon, Alfred, Newman, Barber, Palmer C. and Pardon J. (twins) and William T. In 1845 Mr. Perkins moved to Michigan and died on his farm near Dover in 1859, after which his widow lived with her children at Cold Water until her death in 1869. They were both members of the Baptist Church and he was an old line Whig in politics. Mr. Perkins was a man of high character, honorable, upright and of good business ability and in early life was a very hard worker. He instilled into the minds of his sons the principles of honesty, industry and virtue and gave them all good common- school educationa, five of them becoming teachers and all of them substantial citi- zens. P. J. Perkins, his son, is one of those men whose aterling traits of character and manly virtues, deserves more than a pasaing mention. He was born in Warren county, N. Y., near Lake George, April 13, 1824, and at the age of twenty began learning the ax maker's trade, to which his attention was given for five years. He was married at Cohoes, N. Y., November 22, 1849, to Elizabeth Skiff, who was born in the same neighborhood June 15, 1824, a daughter of Obediah and Azuba (Judd) Skiff, the former of whom was a pioneer of Warren county, N. Y., from Massa- chusetts. To Mr. and Mrs. Perkins two children were given: Charles A., born December 20, 1851, and Edward A., born October 31, 1858. In 1854 Mr. Perkins moved to Kane connty, Ill., and bought eighty acres of land at $15 per acre, upon which he afterward erected a commodious residence and other farm buildings and

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added to his original purchase until he had 170 acres of fertile land. He finally sold his place for $70 per acre. In March, 1871, he came to Mishawaka and bought residence property here and a large interest in the Perkins Wind Mill Company, of which he was made one of the directors and the remarkable success of which is largely due to his efforts. Mr. Perkins has traveled extensively in the interests of the busi- ness throughout the States of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska, in which line of work he is remarkably gifted. He has probably sold more windmills person- ally than any other man in the United States, the figures reaching 1,500. His kindly disposition and pleasant address have made him a friend in every customer, and for the past eight years he has been vice-president of the company. He has ac- quired substantial property, owning ten residences in Mishawaka which he rents. He has always been a Republican and during the war was a strong Union man and a zealous Abolitionist. Upon the rise of the Prohibition party he became a steadfast adherent to its doctrine, which he now supports. Mrs. Perkins was president of the Sanitary Commission of Sugar Grove township, Ill., during the war and received a large amount of money and supplies which she forwarded for the relief of the sick and disabled soldiers. She was deeply patriotic, and a devout member of the Presby- terian Church from her twelfth year. Mr. Perkins belongs to the Methodist Church, which he aids liberally with his means and influence. His wife died in Mishawaka on August 5, 1881, and besides being devoted to her family was a steadfast temper- ance worker and ready to aid in any good cause. October 1, 1883, Mr. Perkina married Anna E. Oatman, born February 25, 1832, she having been a daughter of Alexander and Susan (Finch) Minzey, the former a Scotchman by birth. He was a mechanic and farmer in Branch county, Mich. By her first husband Mra. Perkins became the mother of three children. She was left a widow at Toledo, Ohio, August 19, 1878. Their children are: Harriet A., wife of Israel A. Sheridan, a prominent hardware merchant of Indianola (he is now a member of the State Legislature and has one daughter, Ethel E.); Frank H. married Letitia Drake, is now foreman of the Michigan Soutbern Railroad of Toledo, Ohio, and has one son, Howard; and Wilder H., who married Mary Patterson, is a skillful carriage ironer at Flint, Mich- igan, and has one son, George H. Mrs. Perkins has been a devout member of the Methodist Church for fifty years, is a woman of high character and is well informed. Socially Mr. Perkins has been a member of the I. O. O. F. at Mishawaka for sixteen years. He is one of those men who from boyhood has lived an exemplary life and is strictly self-made. He is now surrounded by comfort and plenty, the result of honest purpose, thrift and industry. He is a man of active mind and has gained a wide fund of general information by travel and the reading of good books and news- papers. He is of a very amiable disposition and has always been a peacemaker. He has a remarkably good constitution and during his long life has never had occa- sion to call in a physician on account of any serious illness of his own. His children are settled in life as follows: Charles A. was married January 26, 1877, to Miss Nellie Hutchinson. He is a farmer of Newton county, Ind., and is the father of three children: Inez, Leona and Lynn. Edward A. married September 30, 1882, Myrtie Hinkle. He is also a farmer of Newton county and has four children: Mand, Frank P., Bessie and Vadah .-

STEPHEN EVANS. In giving a history of the prominent citizens of Elkhart county, Ind., the biographical department of this work would be incomplete without men- tioning the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, for he is deservedly ranked among its prominent planters and stock dealers. His earnest and sincere efforts to make life a success are well worthy the imitation of all, and as a tiller of the soil he stands second to none in the county. This family is one of the prominent ones of Benton township and our subject is a desceudant of sturdy Welsh stock. James Evans. the grandfather of our subject, was born in the Keystone State and emi- grated to Fayette county, Ohio, where he was one of the early settlers. His son, Dan Evans, father of our subject, was born in Fayette county, Ohio, received his

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education in the district school, and was reared to farm life. He was married in his native county to Miss Mary A. Shaffer and seven children were given them: Casset, Stephen, Elizabeth, Salena, Albert, Johnnie and William. In 1851 Mr. Evans came to the Hoosier State, settled in Benton township on the same section where his son Stephen now resides, and cleared up a farm of about forty acres. This he sold and bought a farm of eighty acres adjoining. He is a member of the Methodist Church and has been class-leader and superintendent of the Sunday- school for many years. In his political opinions he is with the Republicans, and during the Civil war was a strong Union man. Two of his sons fought for the Union, Casset and Stephen. When the war cloud hung darkly over the nation Mr. Evans wished to enlist, but the demands of a large family prevented him. He was offered the captaincy of a company. He was one of the popular men of his section and held the office of justice of the peace for fonr years. His reputation as an hon- est, straightforward man ia second to none in the county and he is universally re- spected. He is now retired from active life and resides with his son Stephen. He lost his excellent wife on September 12, 1890. She was seventy-two years of age. Mr. Evans has ever been public spirited and has spent a great deal of money in 88- sisting to build and maintain his church. His son. Stephen Evans, first saw the light of day in Fayette county, Ohio, April 10, 1844, and was but seven years of age when he came with his father to this county. His early life was spent in 88- aisting his father to clear the land of the heavy timber and at an early age he be- came skillful with the ax. He received but little schooling, attending during the winter months for a few years, and on February 13, 1865, when but twenty years of age, he enlisted in Company A. One Hundred and Fifty-second Regiment Indians Volunteer Infantry. He served nearly eight months and for the most part in the Shenandoah Valley. His brother Casset was in Company I, Seventy-fourth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and enlisted in August, 1862. His death occurred on January 7, 1863, in the hospital at Gallatin, Tenn., of typhoid fever. After return- ing from serving his country, Stephen Evans engaged in farming and in connection ran s threshing machine for seven years. In 1868 he married Miss Elizabeth Silburn, daughter of James and Hannah (Milner) Silburn, and subsequently settled in Kos- ciusko county, Ind., where he followed agricultural pursuits for three years. After this he came to his present farm, then consisting of eighty acres, and by energy and good management has increased his land to 240 acres. He has made many excellent improvements on this farm, a tasty modern brick residence has been erected and bears evidence of the refinement and culture of its inmates, and the ont-buildings are all in first-class order. Mr. Evans is a member of the G. A. R., Stanbury Post, No. 125, Ligonier, Ind., and in politics is a Republican. He is very popular in the community, is public spirited and enterprising, and has held the office of township trustee for four years. He is in favor of all improvements, schools, roads, etc., and has been a member of the board of education of his town- ship. Mr. Evans is a man of more than the average ability, is progressive in his ideas, and keeps thoroughly apace with the times. He began dealing in stock when a young man, became one of the largest in Elkhart county, and is still engaged in the business. He has also been a large dealer in timber.

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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 115

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

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