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 20

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 20
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 20

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DR. JACOB R. BROWN, physician and surgeon, of Sumption Prairie. The gen- tleman, the salient points of whose life history we shall endeavor to give below, is one of the most prominent physicians and surgeons in St. Joseph county, Ind., and

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his experience in this way in civil life has been supplemented by the crucial one of witnessing death and the most terrible of wounds, with their attendant surgical operations, while in the Civil war, in which he was the efficient surgeon in the Twen- ty-ninth Indiana Regiment for two years. As a gentleman, Dr. Brown commends himself most pleasantly to those with whom he comes in contact. He is a man of great force of character. He is well read and informed, not only as regarda his pro- fession, but in the current topics of the day. He was born in Augusta, Carroll Co., Ohio, December 7, 1823, and at the present time is the oldest practitioner in the county. He ia a son of Charles and Eliza (Finch) Brown, the former of whom was born in Virginia, and the latter in Maryland, both being of English origin. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Brown, was a colonel in the Revolutionary war, and after the cessation of hostilities removed from his native State to Ohio by wagons, entering land in Columbiana county, and being one of the pioneers of that section. Indians were very numerous in those daya, but he courageously faced the hardships and dangers inevitable with pioneer life, and there made his home until he waa acci- dentally killed by being thrown from his horse. Charles Brown, the father of the Doctor, was a farmer throughout life, and died in Carroll county, Ohio, in 1833, being abont forty-five years of age at that time, but his widow anrvived him until 1882, dying in St. Joseph county, Ind. She bore her husband aix children, but only two are living at the present time: Dr. Jacob R., and Mrs. Mary Gantz, of Carroll- ton, Ohio. Three of the children died in 1892, within six months of each other. Dr. Jacob R. Brown was reared in Carrollton, Ohio, where he received his initiatory training, and, later, finished his knowledge of books at Athens. He resided on his father's farm until twenty-one years of age, but when about eighteen began the study of medicine, and followed school teaching in order to defray his expenses in some medical college. He built himself a amall house, in which he lived all alone, and all his spare moments were devoted to hard study. After attending the Ohio Med- ical College, of Cincinnati, he had no funds with which to establish himself profes- aionally, and, in order to obtain means, accepted a position as clerk on an Ohio River steamboat, which position he filled for two years, and saved some money. He aoon after located at Osnaburg, Ohio, and in 1850 came to St. Joseph county, Ind., and located right where he now lives, at which time he had but 25 cents in money. He formed the acquaintance of the late Col. L. M. Taylor, of South Bend, and a warm friendship was formed which only ended with the latter's life. The Colonel sold Dr. Brown 100 acres of land and gave him his own time in which to pay for it. On this land was a small log house, in which the Doctor and his family lived until his means permitted better improvements. By industry and economy he soon built up a lucrative practice and was soon in fair circumstances. His practice extended in all directions about twenty miles from home, and he would often be gone two and three days at a time, attending to his professional duties, leaving his young wife to look after the place, which she often found to be quite a heavy responsibility. The Doc- tor is now the owner of 180 acres of nicely improved land, and can now enjoy the fruits of his early industry. He is endeavoring to give up the practice of his pro- fession, but his numerous old friends and patrons still ingist in calling upon his serv- ices. On December 7, 1848, he was married to Misa Sarah A. Gorgas, a native of Mechanicsburg, Penn., whose people were of German origin, her great-grandfather having come from that country. Her parents were Jacob and Catherine (Ober) Gorgas, the former of whom was a silversmith and manufacturer of pianos. They firat removed from Pennsylvania to Canton, Ohio, where the mother eventually died, the father's demise occurring in Chicago. Mrs. Brown was at one time a very fine musician, as was her father before her. Dr. Brown is a member of the G. A. R. (Auten Post, No. 8, of South Bend), and is a Knight Templar in the A. F. & A. M. He is a member of the St. Joseph County Medical Society, the Indiana State Med- ical Society, and the American Medical Association. He ia now examining surgeon of the pension board of South Bend. For sixteen yeara the Sumption Prairie post-

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office was kept in his house. He is in every respect a self-made man, and every dol- lar that he now possesses was earned by himself, with the efficient help of his ami- able and intelligent wife.

JOHN W. ELLIS, president of the Elkhart Paper Company. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch is endowed by nature with such gifts as characterize true manhood and progressive citizenship in all that the words imply, and is de- scended from ancestry that won honorable distinction in the American Revolution as well as in the War of 1812, manifesting their love for truth, justice and right and for their country by deeds of valor on many & bloody battlefield. His paternal grand- father, Jacob Ellis, who was born in New Hampshire, was a lineal descendant of the Ellis family that landed at Plymouth Rock. He was reared to manhood on a farm and was following that occupation when Great Britain was endeavoring to en- force her unjust laws, and when the call for troops came he gallantly responded and served throughout the entire struggle with the mother country, rieing to the rank of lieutenant. After the war terminated he removed to Oneida county, N. Y., with his family, and was one of the first to settle in the vicinity of Utica. Here he resided until he paid the last debt of nature at the advanced age of ninety-four years. He was the father of two sons and two daughters: Jacob, Joel, Cynthia and Sarah. The eldest of these children, Jacob, was born in New Hampshire April 20, 1787, but was left without the loving care of s mother when he was very young, and when his father took up his abode in the Empire State, he also located there and there attained man's estate. He became interested in freight transportation on the lakes, by schooners, and found this quite & profitable source of revenue. On June 16, 1811, he was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Burch, who was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., December 28, 1792, being one of fifteen children born to Thomas and Nancy Burch. About one year after the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Ellis they set- tled in Oswego county, N. Y., of which they were among the first settlers, and se- cured 112 acres of land of the Holland Purchase, and although the land was totally unimproved and heavily covered with timber, they settled thereon, erected a log cabin and began battling for an existence in the wilderness, their capital consisting of much energy and pluck and a hand-made "chest," which they used as a table, and the contents of which consisted of their sole personal effects. Not long after mak- ing this settlement Mr. Ellis entered the service of his country to participate in the War of 1812 and was at Sackett's Harbor at the time the British endeavored to make a landing. Years after, or about 1850, Mr. Ellis received as compensation for his services a warrant for 160 acres of land. He was & man of indomitable energy, was resourceful and progressive and developed a fine farm from the forest and erected substantial buildings thereon. In Pulaski, the county seat, he built a large hotel, which he conducted for two years, but his early days of pioneer life had left its im- pressions upon him, and in the early part of 1831 he concluded that the far west had more attractions for him and offered better advantages and opportunities than the hemlock stumps and pine knots of Oswego county, and he boarded a schooner for Detroit, his objective point being Chicago, for he realized a portion of the possibili- ties of a country located at the head of navigation. Leaving Detroit, he started across the country on foot with his knapsack strapped to his back and walked the entire distance to Elkhart-over 170 miles-and upon arriving at that place was persuaded to locate, which he did after due consideration, purchasing about a half section and entering a section of Government land adjoining what is now the city limits on the east of the town, which at that time was called Two Mile Plain. He then returned to New York and in October, 1831, brought his family thither and set- tled on the land he had previously purchased and entered and which was destined to be his future home. He was very successful in all his undertakings and brought under cultivation over 500 acres of excellent and valuable farming land, and erected the first frame barn that was ever put up in Elkhart county, in the spring of 1832. During those early days an enormous business was done by boating on the river for

GOODSPEED, BROS-CHI

James S. Dolgu

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the shipment and importation of merchandise and Mr. Ellis, being a live business man, erected a large warehouse at the confluence of the Elkhart and St. Joseph Rivers, and he also owned boats for the transportation of goods. He did much for the development and upbuilding of Elkhart, and while putting forth his efforts to bring about this desirable result he aleo increased his own wealth and at one time owned over 1,000 acres of land, besides other valuable business interests which were eventually divided among his children. In an early day, after stages began to thrive, Mr. Ellis built a tavern on his farm and for about eighteen years conducted this on his farm, it being the headquarters and stopping place for stages and the traveling public for some fifteen years. His wife bore him eight children as follows: Maria, Fannie, David (who died in infancy), Joel, David, John W., Sarah and Louisa. John W. and Fannie are the only surviving members of this family, the latter being the wife of Edward Loomis, a resident of California. Jacob Ellis, the father of these children, was a member of the Masonic fraternity from the time he was a young man until the day on which his death occurred, December 26, 1860, and he was also a life long member of the Congregational Church, as was his wife. In the early part of his manhood he affiliated with the Whig party but he afterward be- came a Republican, although he voted for Andrew Jackson on one occasion. His last years, which ended a useful sud successful career, were spent retired from act- ive life and in comfort in the homes of his children. To illustrate the generous character of Mr. Ellis, the following is given: During the first years of his resi- dence in Elkhart county educational facilities were very meager and Mr. Ellis con- tributed the use of a building for a school room for the use of the rising generation. He was also first and foremost in contributing and assisting to establish religious advantages in the way of churches, although the denomination was not always of his own choice. His son, John W. Ellis, whose name heads this sketch, was born in Oswego county, N. Y., August 12, 1825, and therefore, was less than six years of age wben his parents settled in Elkhart county, at which time the country was extremely wild and the population mainly consisted of Indians. During his boy- hood days his playmates in many instances were the dark-skinned children of the forest, and as far as occupation went his father found a ready use for him on the home farm, and with that line of work he became thoroughly familiar. His educa- tion was necessarily limited, for his advantages were very few, but by close applica- tion he succeeded in mastering a great deal of useful information which he could not otherwise have obtained. When about twenty years of age his father placed him in charge of the large warehouse on the banks of the St. Joseph River, and he found his time fully occupied, for at that time the entire business of the section came through river navigation and his father practically had control of all the storage and for- warding transacted here and did an enormous business. Although the position was a very responsible one, Mr. Ellis was gifted with natural executive ability and success- fully managed affairs for about four years, when an older brother took his place and Mr. Ellis turned his attention to merchandising, which calling occupied his attention until the spring of 1850, when he went to the gold regions of California in search of a fortune. He made the trip across the plains from where Omaha is now situated to Sacramento in fifty-six days, the quickest trip recorded of the season. Two years later he returned east as far as Illinois and for four years was a merchant in that State, after which he returned to his former home in Elkhart and from that time until 1870 the peaceful calling of a farmer occupied the attention of Mr. Ellis, but he also continued to carry on merchandising. Like his father before him he has de- voted his influence and his means to assist in improving and building up the city, and no enterprise of any importance has been inaugurated to which he has not lent val- uable sid, either in the way of money or by influence and labor. He is one of the promoters and builders of the Excelsior Starch Company, and for twenty years was closely identified with the same, being secretary of the company a considerable por- tion of this time. It was an enterprise that employed from ten to twelve hands st

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first, but now gives employment to seventy-five or eighty, with a corresponding in- crease in business. He also assisted in establishing the Eagle Knitting Works, which was started in a modest way but now furnishes work for 400 people. He was president of this institution for many years, and was one of the projectors of the Electric Street Railway, being one of its board of managers and secretary of the company. Heis a member of the Masonic fraternity, and has taken all the degrees up to that of Knight Templar, and he is an active member of the Congregational Church. Politically he has always been a Republican and from 1860 to 1872 he was assessor of the town and township and during the Civil war was enrolling commissioner and deputy collector of internal revenue. He was also one of the first aldermen after the organization of the city. On July 26, 1849, he was married in Lake county, Ill., to Clarissa W. Green, who was born in Bristol, Vermont, Sep- tember 22, 1831, a danghter of Isaiah and Mary (Gage) Green, who were born in the Granite State. Mr. Green died in 1864, but Mrs. Green survives him and re- sides with her son, Cullen W., in Elkhart. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis are the parents of five children: Mary C., Jay B., John F., James S. (who died at the age of twenty- two years) and Lulu B. Mr. Ellis owns a farm adjoining the city of Elkhart, which originally consisted of 185 acres of land, and, besides, a large amount of real estate in different parts of Elkhart, as well as manufacturing interests. He has been eminently successful and through his success and generosity the city hasgained much. Although he is now retired from active business life, he still takes pleasure in assisting, almost daily, some of the many business enterprises he is connected with. His son, Jay B. Ellis, graduated from the Hahnemann Homoeopathic School of Physicians and Surgeons, of Chicago, and is engaged in the practice of his pro- fession at Ligonier, Ind. John F. Ellis graduated from the Homoeopathic Medical College, of New York City, and is now practicing medicine at Eureka Springs, Ark.

GEORGE I. WITTER is one of the substantial residents of German township, St. Joseph Co., Ind., but in the township of Warren was born, on April 16, 1863, to George and Sarah (Miller) Witter, and was there brought up on the home farm, becoming well versed in the minutiæ of agricultural life. He resided on the old place until March 21, 1892, at which time he purchased his farm in German town- ship, consisting of 110 acres of fine farming land and twenty acres of timber land in Warren township, for which he paid the sum of $10,000, and at once settled on the former tract. On this farm he has shown what a man of energy and intelligent views can accomplish and in every transaction in which he has been engaged he has shown excellent judgment, and as a consequence has been prospered in worldly matters. Agriculture has received much attention at his hands, for which branch of agriculture his farm is well adapted, and he has some of the best blooded cattle and hogs in the county and is considered an excellent judge of those animals as well as of good horseflesh. After he had come to the conclusion that it is not good for man to live alone, on March 27, 1885, he took a wife in the person of Miss Cora Ross, who was born in the city of Chicago, Ill., August 10, 1867, a daughter of Capt. Willism R. and Juliette (Warner) Ross, and their union has resulted in the birth of two interesting children: Mabel, born February 22, 1887, and John L., born November 28, 1891. Mr. Witter is one of those young men of whom his county may well feel proud, for he is not only well supplied with this world's goods, but he is also deeply interested in everything tending to the good of his section and aids them by influence and purse. He has always been an enthusiastic Republican, in fact, is enthusiastic in everything that he undertakes, and, as a rule, everything in which he interests himself is pushed to s successful issue. In social circles he is liked and admired for the genuine kindness of his heart, and his well-meant efforts are appreciated, and among business men his intelligent and practical views and his strict integrity are recognized and valued.

JOHN THORNTON. The older members of a community are doubly entitled to the respect and esteem of their neighbors when their lives have been replete with acts

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of kindness, and their whole career marked by integrity and uprightness. Among those who have fought the battle of life successfully, is now retired from active life and in the enjoyment of the fruits of his early labors may be mentioned John Thornton, who is an intelligent and progressive citizen of Elkhart. He is a product of Summit county, Ohio, where he first saw the light of day May 19, 1831, his parents, Henry and Sarah (Kreitzer) Thornton, having been born in Snyder county, Penn., where they were reared and married. In the spring of 1830 Mr. and Mrs. Thornton emigrated to Ohio, and after a residence of twenty-seven years on a farm in Summit county, they came to Elkhart county, Ind., and in Section 32, Cleveland township, Mr. Thornton purchased 160 acres of land on which he made his home until he paid the last debt of nature on March 31, 1880. He was an active member of the Evangelical Church, in which he was steward for several years, and being active and enterprising and a worthy citizen, his death was deeply regretted by the community at large. He was a successful tiller of the soil and at the time of his death left an estate valued at about $15,000. His widow survived him until April, 1886, her death occurring at the home of her daughter, Luvina Kuntz. She was a daughter of John Kreitzer, a native of Germany, who came to America with his parents when a child, and at the time of his death, which occurred when his daughter Sarah was about fifteen years of age, he was a well-to-do farmer of Penn- sylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Thornton a family of thirteen children were born: Elias; Hannah; Leah, who died at the age of five years; John; Noah, who died in infancy; William; Mariah; Peter, who died March 9, 1892; Solomon; Samuel; George; La- vina, and Louisa, who died at the age of eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton were persevering and industrious and everything that they accumulated was by dint of hard work and energy, for their married career was commenced in poor circum- stances. They were very ardent supporters of the cause of temperance, were earn- est workers in the church and their children and grandchildren have inherited the same excellent qualities and are living examples of their respected ancestors. The paternal grandfather, Henry Thornton, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. John Thornton, whose name heads this sketch, attended the common schools in the vicinity of his home in his youth, and discharged the numerous duties that can al- ways be found for a boy on a farm, during which time he acquired a practical in- sight into the details of agriculture. On February 3, 1852, he was married in his native county to Miss Susannah Weyrick, who was born in Summit county, Ohio, March 13, 1828, a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Walter) Weyrick, who were born, reared and married in Snyder county, Penn., and removed to Summit county, Ohio, about the year 1825, where they lived until their respective deaths. After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Thornton they made Ohio their home for one year, then settled in Osolo township, Elkhart Co., Ind., where Mr. Thornton first pur- chased a farm of eighty acres, but sold thie place three years later and purchased 120 acres in Cleveland township, which he still owns. Not only has he been suc- cessful as a tiller of the soil, but he has devoted considerable attention to the various enterprises inaugurated in the county, and so far as it lay in his power has assisted in their promotion and establishment. He has been a director of the Home Fire Insurance Company of Elkhart county for eleven years, but resigned his posi- tion about four years since, and in the fall of 1889 retired from active business pur- suits and took up his residence in Elkhart, where he purchased a comfortable home in which he and his wife are living in comfort and quiet. After Mr. Thornton set- tled in Cleveland township, he purchased sixty acres of land which increased his farm to 180 acres, the income from which is amply sufficient to supply all his needs. His farm is occupied by tenants, but is kept in good farming condition, and the building and fences in excellent repair by Mr. Thornton, who is an intelligent man of affairs and decidedly progressive in his views. He and his wife are active mem- bers of the Evangelical Church and have reared their children in that faith, the names of the latter being as follows: George W., William H., Levi B., Leah C.,

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Sarah E., Emanuel W. and Amelia, all of whom are living and have homes of their own. Mr. Thornton has always voted the Republican ticket, although in local affairs he is not a partisan, and being an enterprising citizen, has done much to further the best interests of the city of Elkhart, as well as the county. As.an illus- tration he was one of the promoters and original stockholders of the electric street railway, his original stock amounting to $2,000, but he has since taken $1,500 more, although it has never been a paying investment, only five of the first stockholders retaining an interest in the same at the present time. In addition to his farm he also owns other property in Cleveland township and enough land in St. Joseph county to amount to 242 acres, which he disposed of at different times. He owns six lots in Elkhart, besides his residence lot, and has erected two houses on some of his property. He was one of the first stockholders in the Fair Association, an en- terprise of considerable magnitude lately established.

JOHN BEYRER is one of those strictly honorable and upright German citizens for which Indiana and especially St. Joseph county has become well known, and pos- sesses all the characteristics for which those of his nativity have become well known- unbounded energy, sterling honesty and much public spirit. He was born in Ger- many November 22, 1850, to Jacob and Barbara (Greiner) Beyrer, but at the age of six months was brought to America by his parents, who settled in Berrien county, Mich., on a farm. On this place John grew up to sturdy manhood and in the public schools in the vicinity of his rural home he received a practical education. He remained at home and assisted his father until he was twenty-six years old, when he purchased a thirty-acre tract of land in German township, two and one-half miles northwest of South Bend, where he still resides. He is a shrewd man of busi- ness, has always been very successful in his undertakings and is quite an extensive and prosperous real-estate dealer in South Bend. For eight years after locating in German township he carried on an extensive dairy business, disposing of 300 quarts of milk per day in Sonth Bend, but after retiring from that business he engaged in contract work and the sale of gravel from immense deposits extending over forty acres of land and of a depth of ten feet, which comprised a portion of his land. For five years he was very busy in supplying gravel for roofing for the Ford Roofing Company, of Chicago, and has graveled twenty-one acres of roofing for the Oliver Chilled Plow Works and nearly as much more for the Studebaker Bros. Manu- facturing Company, which is a fair illustration of the magnitude of the business he carries on. He probably understands the business of roofing, especially of the South Bend manufactories and business blocks, than any man in the county. In fact, he is an all-around, wide-awake and successful man of business and is one of the most useful citizens of which the county can boast. October 11, 1877, he was united in marriage to Miss Flora E. Miller, who was born in Warren township, September 25, 1856, a daughter of James R. and Amanda E. (Ritter) Miller, and she has presented him with four children: J. Lloyd, born August 11, 1878; James R., born December 16, 1881; Ada, born June 10, 1886, and Mary L., born Decem- ber -- , 1890. Mr. Breyer is a member of that worthy society, the I. O. O. F., and is a member in good standing of the Royal Arcanum. Mrs. Breyer is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Politically he is a Republican, on which ticket he was a candidate in 1890 for county commissioner, although he was defeated not- withstanding the fact that he ran ahead of his ticket.

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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 20

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

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