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 64

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 64
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 64

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For some time, when Daniel and his brothers were young men, they were very much annoyed by a Mr. Hawkins, who was putting up a grist-mill on the Elkhart River, one mile west of Goshen, and who very frequently desired their assistance. He kept this up so long that they at last got tired of it and concluded that the next time he came they would play a joke on him. As expected, he came one day when they were very busy, but all three agreed to go with him, and while crossing the river in a boat one of the boys deftly managed to upset it, and although Mr. Haw- kins managed to safely reach the shore it was the last time he asked their assistance. Many of his early adventures are still recalled by his children, to whom he related them. Indians were very numerous at first, and in time became quite troublesome, owing to their thieving ways, but they were not hostile. Mr. Ulery was a good teamster and usually drove four horses. He used to hanl a great deal of grain and produce from Goshen to Michigan City, and on returning would bring s load of salt back to Goshen, salt being then worth $10 per barrel. He was very handy with car- penter's and shoemaker's tools, and for many years made all the shoes worn by himself and family, or until boots came into style. The first shoes he purchased out of a store was in the fall of 1853, which practically ended his shoe business, for he saw that he could provide his family's footwear in an easier way. All hie first furniture was made by himself, with the exception of chairs and bedsteads, and the pieces were all made of black walnut and cherry. There is only one piece of the old stock left and that is in possession of L. D. Ulery, viz, the cradle in which he and his brothers and sisters were rocked. Mr. Ulery made one of the first pair of bobsleds that was used in

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the township, also his first pump for his well, but this was not like the modern pump. The upper stock was made of black walnut, twenty inches in diameter, and was in use for about thirty-five years. He was very fond of a joke in his young days, and often played them upon the unsuspecting, but with such good humor that it was impossible to be angry with him. His wife performed her part in the domestic affairs of their pioneer life. Cooking stoves were not in use in those days, and the culinary equipments consisted of a big fireplace, with a broad hearth made of stone, generally; a "Dutch oven," in which the bread was baked; a skillet and a frying- pan. The fireplace was generally provided with a crane, on which to hang pots and the old-fashioned teakettle. Mrs. Ulery spun and wove her own linen, likewise her woolen goods. She spun her own sewing-thread and made all the summer and win- ter garments for the family, and did it all without any assistance. She still sur- vives, lives on the old homestead and is a member of the Dunkard Church, with which Mr. Ulery also kept the faith from 1855 until his death, holding the office of deacon from January 1, 1867. Like most boys he was very adventurous, and in childhood, while attempting to walk a clothesline he fell off and broke one of his arms. After he had moved with his parents ont near Goshen, squirrels became very numerous and did great damage to the crops, and one time in attempting to catch a number that had taken refuge in a tree, he caught hold of two limbs, gave a sud- den jerk, when both gave way with him and he fell heavily to the ground, breaking both arms and putting one wrist out of place. Although his arms soon healed his wrist bothered him for a number of years. In the fall before he moved onto his farm he put out a wheat crop on the old farm, and at the harvest time the neigh- bors' boys and his brothers attempted to "hoist" him, as was customary, and in the good-natured scuffle his body became twisted in such a way that three of his ribs were broken and his back so severely injured that for seven years he was not able to chop his own firewood or stoop to do any kind of work. This was a great hindrance to him, commencing, as he did, on a pioneer woodland farm. In the year 1874, after harvest, misfortune again visited him, for his barn was struck by light- ning, and, besides the building, all his wheat, his hay crop, two horses, wagons, bug- gies, 400 bushels of old wheat, and many other things, were burned. In 1882 a heavy storm came up, and after his boys had taken a load of hay into the barn, Father Ulery went to close the door, but just then a little girl ran in front of the door, and to protect her he held to the door and was thrown off the barn bridge a distance of twelve feet, striking his arm on a mower and breaking it near the shoulder. This left that arm crippled the remainder of his life. He continued to have fair health until about one year before his death, when he began to fail, heart trouble setting in. He was always very much interested in school affairs, and after much hard work he managed to get a school started in his district, and although it was a log structure covered with clapboards and furnished in the most primitive style, yet it auswered the purpose, and here his children received their first instruction in the paths of learning. Mr. Ulery was township trustee for some time, and this gave him a good opportunity to work up the school system, of which he was not elow to avail himself. Later, the first rude school structure gave place to a hewed-log house, which was in turn replaced by a frame building, and now a handsome and convenient brick building occupies the site. Daniel Ulery succeeded in giving his children a fair education, and four of them became school-teachers. Their names are as follows: Levi D., who lives two miles east of Nappanee; Lydia, married John S. Wisler and lives south of Bremen; John D., lives east of Nappanee; Catherine, married Alphens Wisler and resides in Harper county, Kas .; Elizabeth, married Emanuel Whitehead and resides in Kosciusko county, Ind .; Samuel, lives on the old home farm in Union township; Sarah, married William Ebersole and resides in Harper county, Kas .; David. resides in Garrett, Ind., and is an employe on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. This family is honored wherever known, and are the descendants of a worthy scion of the house-their worthy

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father, Daniel Ulery, whose memory yet remains green in the hearts of his numer- ons friends and acquaintances, as well as by his own immediate family. Besides raising his own children, he adopted, at the age of two years, the daughter of Christian Souder (Mary A.), of New Paris. She is now living in Union township and is the wife of Samnel Smeltzer, by whom she has two living children.

LEVI D. ULERY was born in Union township, Elkhart county, Ind., on May 30, 1842, the eldest child born to Daniel Ulery, one of the well-known old settlers of this section. In his youth he attended what was known as the Ulery school, in which he obtained a good education. He grew to manhood in Union township and on September 21, 1871, was married to Miss Catherine Kinsel, who was born in Ohio, October 1, 1847, the adopted daughter of Jacob R. Noffsinger. Mr. and Mrs. Ulery, after their marriage, settled on the farm where they now live and have suc- ceeded in making of it one of the pleasantest homes in the township. On this neat, well-tilled and productive farm of 100 acres, they have a substantial and handsome brick residence, in which they dispense a refined and generous hospitality to the numerous friends who gather beneath their roof-tree. Mr. and Mrs. Ulery have long been connected with the German Baptist Church, he being a descon in that church, and he has always been very enthusiastic in his support of Republican principles, and has held s number of offices of trust. He has an interesting and intelligent family of six children whose names are as follows: William W., who was born June 20, 1872; Jesse C., born August 7, 1874; Minnie, born February 5, 1878, and died Jannary 17, 1879; Alvin J., born February 5, 1881; Ada, born March 5, 1883, and Mabel, born July 23, 1887. Like the majority of the intelligent and prosperous agriculturists of the present day, Mr. Ulery learned the details of his work on his father's farm, but a considerable portion of his early years wss also spent in the timber, cutting wood and hanling lumber to South Bend. His spare moments were given to hunting, in which he took great pleasure, and he became skilled in the use of the shotgun and the rifle. His start in life was made by dealing in timber and lumber and, although this school was a rough one, it taught him self-reliance and energy, which attributes were of great benefit to him in later years. He comes of substantial, honorable and enterprising stock, is public spirited to 8 degree and is 8 law-abiding and worthy citizen, whose good qualities are seen and recognized by all who know him.

JOHN D. ULERY. During the forty-six years that have passed over the head of the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch, he has witnessed & wonderful transformation in Elkhart county, aud during all these years he has been an active observer of the trend of events. He has not been merely & "looker on in Venice," but a citizen who has, through his enterprise, his integrity and his public- spirit, contributed his full share to the magnificent development of the section in which he resides. He comes of an honored ancestry, for the well-known old pioneer, Daniel Ulery, was his father, from whom he inherited many of his most worthy characteristics. He was the third of his children and first saw the light of day on the old home farm in Union township, February 3, 1846, and like the majority of farmer's boys of that region, obtained his initistory education in what was known far and near as the Ulery School. This he alternated with tilling the soil until he had almost attained man's estate, when he quit school to devote his attention to agricultural pursuits, which calling occupied his time and attention until he was about twenty-seven years of age. He then, on March 10, 1872, united his fortunes with those of Mary J. Whitehead, who was the youngest child born to Valentine and Margaret (Lentz) Whitehead; the former was a son of Valentine snd Elizabeth (Rodebaugh) Whitehead, who were of German descent and were early pioneers of Pennsylvania and Ohio. Valentine lost his wife, Elizabeth, in Ohio, after which he removed to the Hoosier State and died in Elkhart county in 1867, at which time be was a retired farmer and 'nearly ninety years of age. He was the father of eleven children, all of whom are dead, with the exception of three: Louis, Peter

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and David. Valentine, one of the children of the above mentioned family, was the father of Mra. John Ulery. He removed to Indiana at an early day, having mar- ried Margaret Lentz, in Ohio, and settled on a woodland farm of 160 acres in Jackson township, Elkhart county, which he did much to improve prior to his death, which occurred on July 24, 1851. He was a member of the German Baptist Church, a Democrat in early life and afterward became a Republican in political principle, although he but seldom exerciaed the privilege of auffrage. Five children were the result of his union: Lucinda, wife of Joseph B. Haney, was born December 13, 1842; Samuel, a carpenter of Goshen, was born in 1845; Jacob is a farmer of Bates county, Mo. ; Emanuel, of Kosciusko county, Ind., is married to Elizabeth Ulery, by whom he has four children-Argus, Jesse, Clayton and Calvin; Mary J. is the wife of John D. Ulery. After the death of her hnaband, Mrs. Whitehead married John D. Miller, of New Paria, who was born near Dayton, Ohio, in 1812, a aon of David Miller (a more complete sketch of this gentleman ia found in the aketch of David B. Miller). He has resided for years in the vicinity of New Paria, where he is highly honored and esteemed. Mrs. Miller ia now seventy-one years of age, but is still healthy and active. To her union with Mr. Miller three children were given: Evaline, Ira and Perry. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are residents of Jackson township, Elkhart county. Mrs. John D. Ulery was born in this county, February 11, 1852, and has presented her husband with two children: Edward W., born December 13, 1872, who has the principal charge of the home farm and is a steady, kindly and intelligent young man, and Lizzie, who was born November 28, 1874, and ia an accomplished young lady. Mr. Ulery ia classed among the foremost citizens of Union township, and is at the head of his business, owing to the energy and en- terprise he has displayed. He owns an exceptionally fertile farm of 135 acres, on which are probably the best buildings of any farm in the township. He is a man of wealth and owna an interest in the Nappanee Furniture Company, as well as in other paying interests. He has followed in hia father'a footatepa in regard to meet- ing with accidents, as well as in other respecta, for on July 4, 1881, he was badly injured by a reaping machine and for about a year thereafter was an invalid. He ia deservedly classed among the public-spirited and intelligent men of the county and his warm personal friends can be numbered by the acore. Mrs. Ulery is a member of the German Baptist Church. Her maternal grandfather came to thia country at an early day, having started from his native land a rich man. The voyage by water occupied nine months, and upon landing he found himself without means, owing to the tyranny and dishonesty of the captain of the vessel. On thia voyage some three hundred souls died. Mr. and Mrs. Ulery took to rear aa their own child, David A. Leatherman, who, at that time was six years of age, and the orphan son of John and Elizabeth Leatherman, gave him every advantage and provided means for him to graduate from the University at Valparaiso, Ind. He is a young man of much promise and at the present time ia a traveling man. He re- mained with his foster parenta until he waa twenty years old and still holds them in grateful and honored remembrance. for they proved to him a friend in his need and were always as kind and thoughtful of his wants as though he were one of their own family. Thia ia but one instance of the many kind and disinterested actions done by Mr. Ulery in his walk through life, and clearly indicated the true character of the man.

SAMUEL ULERY ia the sixth child born to Daniel Ulery, his birth occurring in Union township, Elkhart Co., Ind., April 20, 1852, and after acquiring a good edu- cation in the district schools in the vicinity of hia rural home, he began life for himself as a school teacher. He received the rearing that ia usually given the pioneer farmer's boy, i. e., hia days were spent in clearing the home farm and in following the plow, during which time he attained to vigorous manhood, and improved both muscle and brain by the healthful outdoor life he lead. When about the age of twenty-three years he decided that it was not good for man to live alone, and for his companion

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through life he chose Miss Sarah A. Martin, a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, and daughter of David and Sarah (Miller) Martin, the former of whom was an Ohioan, of which State his father was an early settler. The mother was a daughter of Abraham Miller, an early pioneer of Montgomery county, Ohio. Mrs. Ulery's parents are still living in Preble county, where they brought up their eight children: Sarah, Marish, William, Lydia, Nancy, Lizzie, John and David. Mra. Ulery's birth occurred November 16, 1852, and she attained womanhood on the old home farm in Preble county, her union with Mr. Ulery being celebrated there. She has presented her husband with the following children: Charles E., born October 24, 1875; Ida B., born April 22, 1878; Bertha M., born October 4, 1882; May C., born April 22, 1884; Daniel A., born September 25, 1887, and Vernie E., born July 6, 1892. Mr. Ulery and his wife support the doctrines of the German Baptist Church, and are living on the old Ulery homestead, where they have a finely improved tract of land of 158 acres, all of which is very fertile notwithstanding the fact that it is one of the oldest farms in the county. Mr. Ulery has always supported Republican princi- ples, and is a wide awake, public-spirited citizen. He has held offices of trust in his township and school district, and has at all times given his support to worthy enter- prises. He and his wife are among the prominent citizens of the county, and as such are recognized.

JOSEPH C. ULLERY is one of the wide-awake and progressive tillers of the soil of Green township, St. Joseph Co., Ind., of which he has been one of the public-spir- ited residents for many years. He was born in Miami county, Ohio, January 22, 1842, to George A. Ullery and wife, natives of Prussia, who came to this country in 1828, and after a five years' residence in Pennsylvania, removed by wagon to Miami county, Ohio, where he purchased a farm on which he made his home until his death, at the extreme old age of ninety-four years. He was a soldier in Napoleon Bonaparte's army, and distinguished himself in a number of severe engagements, in one of which he was captured by the English, who gave him his choice of remaining in prison or joining the English army, and he prudently chose the latter. He was brought to this country as a member of the British army, and was a participant in three en- gagements in Maine. At the end of four years he was taken back to England, and there discharged from the service. He immediately returned to Prussia, and from there came to the United States to seek a home for himself and family, and eventually passed from life in Ohio as above stated. His wife, whose maiden name was Marie C. Wittig, was also born in Prussia, and bore her husband eleven children, of whom the immediate subject of this sketch was the youngest. He came from Ohio to St. Joseph county, Ind., in 1859, located in the vicinity of South Bend, and there engaged in farming. September 7, 1862, he was married to Miss Mary I. Robertson, daughter of Daniel D. and Esther Robertson, and on the farm on which he now resides he settled immediately after his marriage, and there resided for six years. He then went to Iowa, and after living in that State for about six years, returned to the vicinity of South Bend, and there has since been content to make his home. His farm ie carefully looked after and is devoted, not only to raising the usual cereals, but to stockraising also. a specialty being made of Chester White swine. He served in the Union army from September, 1864, to May 10, 1865, in the Fifty-third Indiana Regi- ment, and during that time was on detailed service. He was justice of the peace & number of years in Green township, was township clerk all the time he was in Iowa, and is a member of the board of directors of the Northern Indiana and Southern Michigan Agricultural Association. He has one daughter, Myrtle A., who was born in Iows February 4, 1871. At the early age of fifteen years she began school teach- ing, and is now one of the most successful educators of St. Joseph county. Mr. Ullery is a member of the G. A. R., and belongs to the co-operative association known as the Union Threshing Company, which has been in successful operation for six- teen years. Daniel D. Robertson was born in Warren county, Ohio, September 10, 1815, and in 1824 moved to Indiana and located in Wayne county with his father,

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where he was engaged in farming and harness making until 1836, at which time St. Joseph county, Ind., became his home, and here he resided, in Green township, un- til his death, on September 7, 1891, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife was a daughter of John Bishop, and was born in Wayne county, Ind., January 31, 1832, and died September 11, 1891, her husband having passed away on the 7th, only three days before. They were buried together September 12, in the Sumption Prairie Cemetery, Green township, St. Joseph Co., Ind.

JOSEPH ULERY, decessed, was one of the first settlers of Clay township, and owed hia nativity to Huntingdon, Penn., where he was born about the year 1779, to Stephen Ulery and wife. The paternal grandfather wae a German by birth, and during the very early history of this country came thither and took up his residence in Pennsylvania at a period when the Indians were quite troublesome. Stephen Ulery was born in Pennsylvania in 1751, and throughout life followed the occupation of farming in that State, his death occurring in 1836, at the age of eighty-five years and five months. He reared a family of three sons and three daughters. Joseph, like his worthy father before him, waa reared to a farm life, and upon starting out to fight the battle of life for himself, it was but natural that he should choose that as his life's calling. He was married about 1803, to Miss Catherine Cripe, who waa born in Pennsylvania in 1782, to John Cripe, who was one of the early settlers of Montgomery county, Ohio, where he lived until his death. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Ulery resulted in the birth of thirteen children: Samuel, Susie, Betsy, Stephen, John, Joseph, Jacob, Mary, Hannah, Catherine, Barbara, David and Esther. In 1807 Mr. Ulery, with his family, emigrated from Pennsylvania to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he had entered 166 acres of land the year before, and on this land he erected a log cabin and at once began the arduous work of clearing. Four years later he settled on another woodland farm nearer the town of Dayton, where he remained until the fall of 1836, when he removed to St. Joseph county, Ind., for the purpose of procuring more land, as he had a large family and desired to provide for them properly. The family arrived in Clay township September 18, 1836, being twelve days on the road, and settled on land where St. Mary's Academy now stands, in the vicinity of which Mr. Ulery had entered nearly one thousand acres about 1831. There had been no improvements whatever made at the time of their settle- ment, and they at once began to erect a log house, 16x20 feet. In this they lived until the spring of 1838, when they settled on Palmer's Prairie on which Mr. Ulery eventually died in 1869, being over ninety years of age. His wife died several years earlier, when seventy-three years old. Stephen Ulery, son of Joseph, was born in Huntingdon county, Penn., April 12, 1806, and was but one year old when his par- ents removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, where his first knowledge of the " world of books" was acquired in the old-time subscription schools, but when quite young he was apprenticed to the woolen manufacturer's trade, at which he continued to work for four years. At the end of that time be had become sufficiently well veraed in the business to assume its management, and he successfully conducted the bus- iness for ten years. He was married in April, 1827, to Elizabeth Olinger, a native of Maryland, and four children were born of this union: Daniel; Mary, deceased; Christians and Susan. At the time he removed to St. Joseph county, Ind., his father sold the woolen-mill of which Stephen had charge and which he operated for one- third of the product, and since coming to Indiana he has devoted his entire time and attention to farming. He first entered 160 acres of land, but had deeded a portion of the aame to his children, although he has retained a good farm for him- aelf. Although he has attained to the advanced age of eighty six years, he has an excellent memory and is quite active. His wife was called from life July 5, 1881, both being members of the German Baptist Church. Politically, he has always been a Republican. Joseph Ulery, son of Joseph and Catherine (Cripe) Ulery, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, October 15, 1809, and the occupation of farming has always received his attention. He was married in his native county June 10, 1831,

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to Mary Olinger, a native of Pennsylvania, who, when young, was taken by her par ents to Ohio. To Mr. and Mrs. Ulery four children were given: Catherine; Mary; Joseph and Sarah A., deceased. Mr. Ulery came with his people to this section in 1836, and still resides on the farm on which he first located. Although the land was wholly unimproved, he at once erected a log cabin and began clearing hia land of timber and brushwood, and although this was alow work, he was eventually auc- cessful, and in time his 160 acres of laud waa one of the best improved places in the township. At the present time hia home farm consists of ninety-seven acres, of which twenty acres are timber land. He ia a worthy and active member of the German Baptist Church, and politically a Republican. Although he is quite advanced in yeara, he is still quite active, and during the fifty-six years that he has resided in Clay township has been considered one of her foremost citizens. He was left a widower in December, 1887, and is now living retired from the active duties of life.

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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 64

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

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