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 22
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 22
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Henry Clay, was born May 20, 1844. Like his older brothers, his earlier boy- hood wae spent upon the old Portage prairie farm, and removing to South Bend with his parents, he attended school in winter and followed agricultural pursuits in summer. He attended the Northern Indiana College, and later, Ann Arbor Univer- sity. In 1867 he went to California, where he still lives. For some time after his arrival in San Francisco, he acted as private secretary to his brother, Gen. John F. Miller, then collector of the port. Subsequently he was appointed cashier of cus- toms, and held this important position until the change of administration, when he tendered his resignation, and accepted the secretaryship of a mining association in
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San Francisco, until Mr. Phelps was appointed collector, when he was again called to the office of cashier, and held the position till promoted to his present highly important office, auditor of customs, which he assumed some two years ago. Mr. Miller's popularity arises from the warm interest and kindly sympathy he shows toward others. He is a man of much depth of feeling, and very considerate to sub- ordinates, and in general circles, social, business, or political. his courtesy and can- dor give him the esteem and respect of those he meets. His long experience in the routine of custom house business, his unquestioned integrity and fine business abil- ity especially qualify him for the important position he fills. He was married to Miss Magdalena Rosetta Blakeman, a native of California, on October 5, 1874, and two promising children bless their union: the eldest Madaline Rose Miller, was born in California on May 11, 1877, and Henry Clay, Jr., March 2, 1879. Mr. Miller and family live in a pretty Swiss cottage on the heights in the beautiful suburb of San Francisco, Sausalito.
The seventh child of William and Mary Miller, was named Mary Ellen, who died in infancy.
The eighth, Horace Greeley, was born at the old farm homestead, November 14, 1849. His early life, like those of his brothers, was passed at home, until after his parents removed to South Bend, where he attended the city schools for a number of years, and later, entered college at Monmouth, Ill., where he met Miss Rachel Cochran, to whom he was married shortly after finishing school, on November 14, 1870. His first business venture was in the grocery business, in partnership with the late J. G. Bartlett, in the oldest and best known grocery house in South Bend. After several years of successful business, the firm changed to Miller & Campbell, Mr. Campbell purchasing the interest of Mr. Bartlett. The successors continued the business for a number of years, receiving a generous patronage, which was well earned by the integrity and ability of the members of the firm. When the firm quit business in , Mr. Miller engaged in the manufacture of lumber for a num- ber of years, and later filled the position of cashier in the large dry goods house of George Wyman & Co. In 1878 he resigned this position, and engaged in the coal and sprinkling business with his brother, W. H., in St. Louis, Mo. Returning to South Bend in 1880, he subsequently took a position as traveling salesman and office-man with the Studebaker Bros. Manufacturing Company, which he filled acceptably till the spring of 1891, when he resigned and became associated with, and a stockholder in the Miller-Knoblock Wagon Company, of South Bend, and now holds the position of vice-president and traveling representative with this company.
Edwin Irving, the ninth child of William and Mary Miller, died in infancy.
WILLIAM A. BUTLER is an Indianian by birth and bringing up, and has inculcated in him the sterling principles of the better class of citizens of the Hoosier State. He was born in July, 1831, on the old homestead, and as soon as old enough began pursuing the paths of learning in the pioneer log schoolhouse of olden days. His grandfather was a blacksmith and a citizen of Culpepper county, Va., of English descent, and was accidentally killed while a resident of Virginia. He was the father of the following children: Zaccheus, Alsea, Nancy, Joshua, David, Elizabeth, George, Fannie and Eliza. Zaccheus, the eldest of this family, was born in Cul- pepper county August 19, 1795, received a common-school education and learned the blacksmith's trade of his father. When he was twenty-one years of age his father was killed, and as he was the eldest of the family the burden of its support fell upon his shoulders, but by energetically wielding the hammer in his blacksmith shop, he managed to keep the wolf from the door. On February 28, 1820, he was married in Virginia to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Scalock, and eight.children eventually came to bless their home: Burwell J .; Owen T., who died at the age of twenty years; Tillman P .; Ira A .; William A .; Francis B .; Julia E. and Annie C. In 1822 Mr. Butler removed to Ross county, Ohio, and after working at his trade in Chillicothe for eight years he took up his residence in Fort Wayne, Ind., but one
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year later located in Benton township, of Elkhart county. He settled on a woodland farm on the banks of the Elkhart River, and here the rest of his days were spent in tilling the soil and working at his trade, his shop being the first one in his section of the country. People came to him with work from Elkhart Prairie and other parts of the county, and by this means he earned the money with which to purchase eighty acres of land, and in order to enter it he walked to Fort Wayne, a distance of forty-five miles, in one day and returned home the next. Through good manage- ment he, in time, became the owner of 560 acres, most of which he entered by eighty acres and each time made the trip to and from Fort Wayne on foot. He was a man of great industry and assisted by his faithful wife, who was a woman of great sagacity and prudence and an excellent manager, although she was of small stature and possessed a not over strong constitution. Mr. Butler was a member of the Baptist Church, and was a Democrat politically until the formation of the Repub- lican party, after which he gave his support to that party. He gave eighty acres of land, or its equivalent, to each of his children, and was in every respect a kind and considerate father and husband. He was a useful pioneer settler and helped lay the foundation of the magnificent commonwealth of Indiana, by many years of unremitting toil, perseverence and push. He lived to be eighty-five years old, dying in 1880. When the country was new he was a great hunter, and many deer and wolves fell victims to his skill as a marksman. In 1835 he assisted in killing a bear that was caught stealing a hog from Mr. Elsea, and was tracked and killed in a neighboring swamp by Mr. Butler, his eldest son and Mr. Elsea. His son, William A., was reared a farmer, ard grew up in the rough school of pioneer life. On October 19, 1869, he was married to Mary B. Cowan, a daughter of William and Narcissa (Jones) Cowan. [Seesketch of the Cowan family for a more extended notice. ] After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Butler settled on land belonging to the old Butler estate, consisting of eighty acres. By industry and thrift and estimating the land which his wife inherited, consisting of 167 acres, he has now in his possession 616 acres upon which he has made excellent improvements, erecting a handsome brick residence in 1882 which is tastefully furnished, and bears evidences of culture and refinement. Mr. and Mrs. Butler are the parents of three children: Wina S., William Burton and Eddie L. These children are receiving good educations and interesting reading matter and wholesome books are an important feature of the family life. Mr. Butler is a Republican, and although he is eminently capable of filling any office within the gift of the county, he much prefers the quiet, unostenta- tious life he is leading. His wife was formerly a member of the United Presbyterian Church.
WILLIAM COWAN, SR. The ancient Scotch Highland clan of Colquhon (Cahoon) were stanch Catholics until the Reformation, when one branch embraced the Protestant faith and to emphasize the event changed their name to Cowan. In 1732 two brothers and a nephew came to America. The brothers settled in New York City. The nephew, William Cowan, removed to Pennsylvania, fought in the siege of Louisburg in 1745 and subsequently united with his neighbors in their defense against the Indians. Among his papers is a duplicate of the article trans- ferring his allegiance from George III. to the Continental Congress dated in 1776.
He married Annie Wilson and in 1788 removed to Bourbon county, Ky., his family consisting of three sons and three daughters. In 1794 his second son, William, was married to Mary Steele, and in 1806. in consequence of his hatred of slavery he removed to Clark county, Ohio. There his wife died. In 1832 Joseph Steele Cowan, eldest son of William and Mary S. Cowan, removed with his family to a farm adjoining New Paris, Elkhart Co., Ind. In 1834 William Cowan, Sr., with the remainder of his family, excepting one daughter, settled in Plain township, Kosciusko county, he giving each of his children eighty acres of land. The country was still occupied by the Pottawatomie and Miami Indians. The set- tlers boiled potatoes for their hogs and the whites of 1835 can remember seeing
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a circle of Indians grouped around the great fireplace in (W. C's.) kitchen waiting for the potatoes to be done, when each would plunge a sharp stick into the kettle, capture a potato and proceed with great gravity to peel and eat it. "The only time I ever remember hearing them laugh aloud was when looking at a doll of mine, prettily dressed and that had joints in its limbs, they would pass it from one to another, make it assume different positions and then laugh. It was the only "schamoke" man's invention I ever saw them notice," says one of the family.
William Cowan, Sr. (third in direct line of the name), died in 1838. His eldest . son, Joseph, who fought when a boy of seventeen, in the War of 1812, was a justice of the peace in this State and Ohio for more than forty years, a member of the State Legislature, and all his life an active and public-spirited citizen. Four of his nine children remain in this State: John W., an invalid, and blind for years; Mrs. P. C. Merrick and Mrs. Margaret Murray reside in Goshen, and his eldest daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Hively, iu Elkhart. Two sons are in the far west; the rest are dead. Mr. Cowan, Jr., engaged in farming and merchandising in Kosciusko connty until in 1849, when with a company of twenty men of which he was captain, he went to California and died there in December of that year. He left one child, a danghter, a resident of Goshen.
Thomas Cowan, youngest son of the second William Cowan, was married in Ohio to Jean Gamble, who was of Scotch-Irish descent and came to this country from Ireland with her father and a half-brother in the ship that brought the tea to Boston Harbor in old Revolutionary times, and was on board the vessel when the tea was thrown into the harbor at the memorable Boston tea party. He moved to Indiana in 1832, bonght a farm near New Paris and died in 1846, leaving his aged wife (who died in 1851), one son and two daughters. The daughters married and settled in Kosciusko Ind. The son, William, a well-known and highly respected citizen, was in 1840, married to Narcissa Jones, daughter of Samuel Jones, a pio- neer of Noble county, Ind., by whom he had two danghters: Mary B. and Jane G. He cleared a farm in the vicinity of New Paris, made a good home for himself and family and became possessed of 300 acres of land. Both Mr. Cowan and his wife were members of the United Presbyterian Church, in which he was for many years an elder. Mr. Cowan died in 1871 and his wife in 1884.
C. J. GILLETTE, ex-sheriff of Elkhart county, Ind., owes his nativity to the Empire State, his birth having occurred in Genesee county, September 26, 1825, his parents, Henry and Betsey (Jenks) Gillette, who were of Scotch-Irish descent, having also been born in the East. Both families were early settlers of the region, and from this State the paternal grandfather, Timothy Gillette, enlisted in the War of 1812, in which struggle with the mother country he rose to the rank of captain. He was a farmer and mill owner by calling, and accumulated considerable means. Adam Jenks, the maternal grandfather, died soon after settling on a farm in Ashta- bula county, Ohio. Henry Gillette, the father, also became an early emigrant to Ashtabula county, Ohio, and there he reared his family and resided until his death, which occurred after many years of invalidism. He and his wife became the parents of seven children, four of whom are living at the present time: George W., of New York City; C. J., the subject of this sketch; Julia and Helen, the last mentioned being residents of Ashtabula county, Ohio, and the mothers of families. C. J. Gill- ette removed to Ohio when thirteen years of age and received the principal part of bis education in Geneva, but as the schools of his boyhood days were not like those of the present, he was not so thoroughly drilled in his books as he could have desired. Owing to the ill health of his father, the support of the family rested upon his and his brothers' shoulders and as they naturally possessed good business judgment, their efforts were prospered and they were successful in keeping the wolf from the door. C. J. Gillette remained with his mother until he was twenty years of age, when he married and removed to an establishment of his own. He continued to reside in Ashtabula county until 1857, when he moved to Camanche, Clinton Co.,
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Iowa, at which place he engaged in the hardware business for two years. In 1859 he moved to Mishawaka, Ind., but after spending one season there came to Elkhart, in which place he took up his residence in the fall of 1859, soon after embarking in the grocery business. From the time of his arrival in the city until 1873 he was an active business man. In the fall of that year he was appointed marshal, William Proctor resigning, which office he held until elected sheriff of the county in 1878, to which office he was re-elected in 1880, serving his two terms in a very efficient and satisfactory manner. Since that time he has been practically retired from the active duties of life. He owns considerable property in Elkhart, also Chicago, and being very progressive in his views, he has done much toward building up the town of Elkhart. He is a demitted member of the Masonic fraternity, was a member of the corporation board for two terms before Elkhart became a city, and has otherwise interested himself in the progress and development of the place. He was married in 1845 to Miss Mary Palmer, of Ashtabula county, Ohio, who was a native of Ver- mont, by whom he has two sons, both of whom are residents of Chicago: Lamar, an employe in the Goodyear Rubber Company, and Henry, who is in the mail service. They are bright young business men and creditably fill first-class positions. The mother of these two boys died January 15, 1876, and the father took for his second wife Miss Frances C. Bates, also of Ashtabula county, Ohio. She removed with her parents from the East when but a child and was a warm personal friend of his first wife. Mr. Gillette is a stanch Republican politically. In 1859 when he took up his residence in Elkhart it was a town of 1,000; at this date, December 1, 1892, a city of over 13,000.
CHAUNCEY C. CARPENTER, a worthy resident of German township, St. Joseph Co., Ind., was born in Genesee county, N. Y., September 18, 1826, his parents being Rufus and Mariam (Watkins) Carpenter, the former's birth occurring near Burlington, Vt. The father of Rufus was a native of Vermont also and tilled the soil for a living, in which calling he was followed by his son Rufus, when he com- menced to fight the battle of life for himself. The family moved to Genesee county, N. Y., when it was still in quite a primitive condition, but a short time afterward continued their march westward, and finally found themselves in Macomb county, Mich., where Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter lived until their respective deaths. Rufus Carpenter, the father of Chauncey C., was reared in his native State on a farm, and when his parents made their move to Genesee county, N. Y., he went with them and there formed the acquaintance of and was eventually married to Mariam Watkins, whose birth occurred in Massachusetts on the 19th of May, 1805, her father being a well-known physician. Mr. Carpenter became an emigrant to Michigan at about the same time as his parents, and was one of the pioneers of Macomb county, where he made his home until the winter of 1837, when he took up his residence on a farm two miles south of Mishawaka iu Peun township, of which locality he was one of the first settlers. His death occurred in Warren township, March 8, 1858, his widow surviving him until May 1, 1871. They were the parents of the following children: Isaac, born September 7, 1824, and died February 1, 1842; Chauncey C .; Jerome B., born June 11, 182 -; Alvin, born March 16, 1830, and died in California in 1850; Mary, born March 4, 1834, and died February 11, 1837; Henry, born May 4, 1832, now a resident of California; James M., born June 28, 1836, living in La Porte county, Ind .; Oliva M., born June 16, 1839, living in Michigan, and Ellen, born March 9, 1843, a resident of Michigan City, Ind. Chauncey C. Carpenter was a child of two years when taken to Michigan, and that State continued to be his home until he was eleven years of age. Since that time he has resided in St. Joseph county, consequently, the major portion of his life has been epent here, and at present he is one of the few remaining old settlers. Owing to the fact that his younger days were passed on the frontier of the then almost uninhabited West, his education was limited to the common subscription schools then in vogue, but by application and reading he has developed all the educational traits necessary to a
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successful business life. He was married May 14, 18-, to Miss Mary W. Greiner, who was born May 7, 18-, in Germany, a daughter of Israel and Caroline (Curley) Greiner, who were also natives of the old country. Israel Greiner was born in Wurtemburg, February 13, 1824, and came to America in 1853, settling in Ohio, where he resided two years. After living some time in that State, he settled in German township, St. Joseph Co ., Ind., and in this State his death occurred on the 13th of June, 1888. His widow and four children (two sons and two daughters) survive him. After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter, they settled on the farm purchased by Mr. Carpenter some time previous and on which they still reside. Mr. Carpenter is the owner of 154 acres of valuable land, is an energetic and suc- cessful farmer and a successful business man. In politics he is not a partisan but is independent and votes for whom he considers the best man. He and his wife are the parents of six children: John E., born September 7, 1873, and died May 9, 1877; George C., born February 23, 1877; Edith born January 2, 1881; James A., born August 8, 1882, and died August 3, 1884; Ira, born August 20, 1885, and Allen G., born July 1, 1887.
PROSPER NICHOLS was a resident of St. Joseph county, Ind., for many years, but was a native of the Green Mountain State, where he was born, September 16, 1793, and where he grew to manhood. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and during the most of the time served as a scout. In the fall of 1830 he came to St. Joseph county, and in German township entered 160 acres of land, but about nine years later settled near Rochester, Ind., and on a farm in that section resided until his death on November 1, 1868. He was married to Susanna Kessler, by whom he became the father of ten children: Solomon, David, Mary, Sarah, Anna, Lucy, Eliza- beth, Samuel, Rachel and Aaron. Mrs. Nichols died in January, 1869. The daughter Sarah was born April 28, 1821, in southern Indiana, and near Rochester, Ind., was married to William Wagner, in 1841. After their marriage they came to St. Joseph county, and in 1849 settled on the farm in German township where Mrs. Wagner now lives. She bore her husband eight children, four of whom are living: Aaron, Margaret, Eva and Ellen. Those deceased are: Prosper, Daniel, Benjamin and Susanna. Mr. Wagner was a native of Ohio, his birth occurring there on March 16, 1818, and his death in Nashville, Tenn., December 24, 1863. He had gone to that place for his son, Prosper, who was a soldier of the Union army, and was lying sick in the hospital in that place. The son finally returned home, bnt died four weeks afterward. Mrs. Wagner now owns a good farm of eighty-five acres, and is in the enjoyment of a competency. Aaron Wagner, the eldest of her living children, was born in Marshall county, Ind., December 13, 1848, and on April 18, 1877, was mar-' ried to Mary Kizer, who is a native of Lucas county, Ohio, her birth occurring on November 20, 1832, a daughter of Jesse and Nancy (Foster) Kizer. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner are the parents of two children, Lynn A. and Walter R. Leslie C., another child, died July 8, 1892. Mr. Wagner has a good farm of ninety-eight acres, but resides on the old homestead, which consists of 360 acres, and successfully farms both places. He is intelligent and progressive in his views, and in the estimation of the public occupies a high place, and deservedly so. Politically he has always supported Republican principles.
JAMES E. WEDDEL is of Welsh descent, a member of one of the old pioneer fam- ilies of Elkhart county, and seems by nature to have been especially designed for a planter, for he has met with more than the average degree of success in pursuing that calling, and is now the owner of a fine farm of 300 acres, which he has shown himself quite capable of conducting in a satisfactory manner. After coming to this country his grandfather settled in Westmoreland county, Penn., twenty miles from Pittsburg, where he followed the calling of a farmer and died when full of years, a highly respected citizen. He reared three sons: Joseph, Jesse and Peter. Jesse Weddel was born in Westmoreland county, and in addition to receiving a practical education in the common schools, he obtained a thorough knowledge of farming,
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which he found to be of great use to him when he started to tilling the soil on hia own account. He became a very prosperous farmer, and was also the owner of a large distillery. He was a faithful soldier of the War of 1812, in which he did effective service, was loyal to the core, and throughout life was deeply interested in the welfare of his native land. He was married to Nancy, daughter of Ephraim and Agnes Davis, and by her became the father of the following named children: . Joseph, Amanda, William, Rebecca, Peter, James, Agnes, John and Elizabeth. Mr. Davis came to Indiana and visited Elkhart Prairie in 1828, then went through Michigan to Detroit and thence home. The following year he returned to Elkhart Prairie, then went on to Chicago and St. Louis, but found no place he liked as well as Elkhart Prairie, and here he entered land as soon as it was open for settlement. He was a substantial farmer, owning at one time a considerable body of land, and at the time of his death was the owner of 200 acres, having prior to that time made a number of real estate sales. He was called from life in 1838, at the age of sixty yeara, having been a famous hunter throughout life, and during the days when game was abundant throughout this section, he kept his family well supplied with meat. His son, James E., whose name is at the head of this sketch, was born in Westmoreland county, Penn., June 11, 1831, and was an infant in his mother's arms when he was brought to Indiana. His father died when he was bnt seven years of age, and he consequently received but little schooling, and is principally self-educated. In his early childhood his father went to mill to Big Prairie Round, fifty miles distant in Michigan, and used often to go to Ft. Wayne for supplies also. James E. was reared in the country, but after he attained his majority he went West for the purpose of seeing the country, and traveled through Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado. For some time he was in the livery business in Georgetown, Colo., and drove a stage from Aurora to Rock Island. Later he worked on a steamboat on the Mississippi River, and for three summers held the rank of second mate. He returned to Indiana finally, and on March 14, 1867, he was married to Annie C., daughter of Zacheus and Sarah Butler, the former of whom came to Benton township in 1831, and settled on land now owned by Mr. Weddel. He was from an Ohio family, originally from Virginia, hut became well known throughout Elkhart county, where he became a prosperous farmer and reared a family of eight children: Burwell J., Owen (who died at the age of twenty years), Filmon T., Ira A., William A., Francis B., Julia E. and Anna C. Mr. But- ler lived to the age of eighty-five years, dying on the farm where so many years of his life had been spent. His wife's death occurred four days previous to his own, and they were buried in the same grave on the same day. After his marriage Mr. Weddel settled on the Butler homestead, but two years later changed his place of residence to the Weddel homestead in Elkhart Prairie, where he resided until 1879, at which time he again removed to the old Butler homestead, which he purchased. He is now a substantial farmer and owns about 300 acres of land, which makes him an admirable home, for it is well cultivated and improved, and very advantageously located, both as to farming and stockraising purposes. He was quite an extensive traveler in his early days, and spent considerable time with the Indians, but through it all his record as an honorable man was clean and untarnished, and he bore him- self with that uprightness which has ever been one of his leading characteristics. His wife is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has borne him three children: Carrie D., Zack and Jesse. Mr. Weddel's mother lived to be over ninety-two years of age, for she was born in Westmoreland county, Penn., January 28, 1800, and died in De Kalb county, Ill., March 9, 1892, at which time she was the oldest pioneer living who came to Elkhart Prairie with her family. She was a member of the Old Settlers' Society of Goshen, and for many years of her life had been connected with the Baptist Church. She was a very bright, capable and energetic woman, and after the death of her husband she succeeded in keeping the family together, reared them in comfort and taught them to be honor-
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