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 70

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 70
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 70

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

JOHN H. PONTIUS is a merchant and the efficient servant of Uncle Sam in the postoffice at Crumstown, Ind., at which place he also owns & one-half interest in a dairy of eighty cows. He is & native Pennsylvanian, his birth occurring in Junista county, April 20, 1846, s son of William and Eliza (Haas) Pontius, who were also from the Keystone Stste. The father was a farmer and was killed in Pennsylvania, in & saw-mill, when the subject of this sketch was a child of four years, his widow yet being & resident of that State. In the State of his birth John H. Pontins resided until he was about seventeen years of age, when he then determined to enlist in the service of his country, and on the 11th of March, 1864, his name conld be found on the rolls of Company B, Second Battalion, Sixteenth United States Infantry. He remained in the service for three years, receiving his final discharge on the 11th of March, 1867. While in the regular army he was in several severe engage- ments, and for four months was under fire from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Upon receiving his discharge he returned to his home and once more took upon himself the duties of & civilian. After remaining there abont two years he came to St. Joseph county, with the expectation of bettering his financial condition, but at the end of two years he turned his face toward the setting sun and Kansas became his objective point. After s residence there of only one year he came back to his old " stamping ground" in St. Joseph county, and here his home has since continued to be. For a number of years after permanently locating here agriculture occupied his time and attention, then he moved to his present location and here, since about 1886, he has been interested in the dairy business, owning a half interest in eighty cows, the farm on which they feed being located about eleven miles southwest of South Bend. The milk is sold by the wholesale in that place and has proven a profitable industry to the proprietors. Mr. Pontius has been a married man since 1868, for at that time he took a wife in Pennsylvania in the person of Miss Mary E. Lower, a daughter of Jacob and Mary Lower, of that State also. The father was called from the scene of his earthly labors in Pennsylvania, and his widow afterward came to South Bend, Ind., where her home has been since 1880. John H. Pontius is one of two children born to his parents, of whom he was the elder, and since 1886 has efficiently filled the position of postmaster of Crumstown, and being a stanch Repub- lican cast his first presidential vote for Gon. Grant. While in the army he was a non-commissioned officer with the rank of sergeant, and is now & member of the G. A. R. He has an interesting family consisting of one son and three daughters. HON. ASHBEL P. WILLARD (deceased) was born October 31, 1820, in Oneida connty, N. Y., the son of Col. Erastus Willard, who was sheriff of that county at one time. His mother's given and maiden name being Sarah Parsons. He graduated with

464

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

honors, having the post assigned him of valedictorian of the class of 1842, of Ham- ilton College. In 1845 he became a resident of Indiana, and embarking in the practice of law at New Albany, practiced only a short time when he became involved in politics. In 1850 he was elected from Floyd county to the State Legislature, and his brilliancy there won for him a wide reputation, and the chairmanship of the Com- mittee of Ways and Means. In 1852 he was chosen lieutenant governor of the State, which position he filled four years, and was then honored, by the election of 1856, to the governorship of Indiana. He died October 4, 1860. Gov. Willard's career, in many respects, was a most remarkable one. He was a resident of Indiana only fifteen years. When in the State only seven years he was chosen to the second highest office within the gift of the people, and when only eleven years old in the State, was made governor. His most marked intellectual powers were that of will and intuition; these he possessed to an unusual extent.

HENRY BEMENDERFER. The above mentioned gentleman is one of the wide-awake, thoroughgoing business men of Elkhart county, and has been engaged in the man- ufacture of brick in this county since 1869. In March, 1865, he purchased his present farm, on which brick had been manufactured by lease for two years, the lease covering a period of five years. At the expiration of his lease Mr. Bemenderfer purchased machinery, etc., and has carried on the business ever since. He has s machine for the manufacture of pressed brick with a capacity of from twelve thon- aand to fifteen thousand per day, and gives employment to twelve men. Mr. Bemen- derfer was born in Loudoun county, Va., August 18. 1824, and his parents were Peter and Susanna (Rahn) Bemenderfer, natives of Adams county, Penn., where they were reared and married. Abont the year 1813 they removed to London county, Va., made their home there for fifteen years, and in the fall of 1828 moved to Stark county, Ohio, where the family settled on a farm. Peter Bemenderfer was a car- penter by trade, and followed this until he went to Virginia, when he was engaged in the milling business. After settling in Ohio he devoted his attention to farming, the nearest market for grain being eleven miles distant, where the canal passed through Massillon, Ohio. In 1838 Mr. Bemenderfer removed to Carroll county, where his death occurred in 1856, his wife surviving him until 1862. They were the par- enta of the following children: William, died in infancy; William; Samuel; Peter; Joseph; John; Henry; Isaac; Elizabeth; Susanna; Sarah and Catherine, all of whom are deceased except John, Susanna, Henry and Isaac. At the age of four years our subject settled with his parenta in Stark county, Ohio, and grew to man- hood on the farm, receiving his education in the log school-houses of the early day. He learned the carpenter and cabinet maker's trade, and followed this for twenty-six years. On September 25, 1851. he married Miss Rebecca E. Prince, s native of Stark county, Ohio, born in 1838, and the daughter of Reuben Prince, a native of the Old Dominion. Her mother died when Mrs. Bemenderfer was a child. To Mr. and Mrs. Bemenderfer were born ten children: John P. (deceased), Mary E., Be- linda S., Allen R., Charles H., Cora E., George W., Hattie May, Bertie I. (deceased), and Emma Frances, who died when seven years of age. Mr. Bemenderfer came to Elkhart county in the spring of 1865, settled on his present farm, consisting of 115 acres in Section 24, and also purchased fifty-five acres in another part of Jefferson township. In politics Mr. Bemenderfer is a Democrat, and served as trustee of Jefferson township for over ten years. He is a successful, enterprising farmer and business man, and has many warm friends. He has also held the office of county commissioner one term and discharged the duties of that position in a very creditable manner. He has a fine large two-story brick residence and is surrounded by every comfort and convenience.

DANIEL W. PEFFLEY, the efficient trustee and a successful farmer of Warren town- ship, St. Joseph Co., Inc., ie the product of Jackson township, Elkbart Co, Ind., his advent into this world occurring on Angust 28, 1846, his parents being Joseph and Catherine (Burtner) Peffley, who were born in Lebanon county, Penn.,

465

MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

April 12, 1817, and Cumberland county, Penn., June 10, 1819, respectively. The father died in Warren township, this county, January 24, 1885, having immigrated from Pennsylvania to Montgomery county, Ohio in 1826 with his parents, who were born in Pennsylvania, but were of German descent. In the Buckeye State Joseph Peffley was married, in 1843 became a resident of Elkhart county, Ind., and of St. Joseph county in 1848. The mother was called from this life on November 7, 1884. Her father, George Burtner, was a Pennsylvanian, who became a resident of Montgomery county, Ohio, in an early day. Joseph Peffley was a prosperous tiller of the soil, was an influential minister of the United Brethren Church, and was a prominent and influential citizen of the different sections in which he resided. Daniel W. was the fourth child in a family of five sons, and in St. Joseph county he was reared, his education being acquired in the common country schools, and in the high school of South Bend. At the age of twenty-one he began teaching school, and followed this occupation during the winter months for ten years, his summers being devoted to tilling the soil, in both of which occupations he was successful. He was first elected trustee of Warren township in 1880, and served very efficiently as such, for four years, then was out of office four years. At the end of this time he was again elected to the same office, and was honored by a re-election in 1890. In the conduct of the affairs of this office, he has shown himself to be capable, energetic and faithful, and, in fact, the right man in the right place. He is one of the substantial citizens of his section, and is highly regarded by his many acquaint- ances. The principles of the Republican party have always commended themselves to his excellent judgment, and his first presidential vote was cast for U. S. Grant, He is greatly interested in the affairs of his section, keeps well posted and up with the times in all respects, and his good judgment can always be relied upon. His farm of 160 acres is advantageously located about five miles west of the county seat, and is an admirably tilled farm, showing that a man of enlightened and intelligent viewa, as well as one who is industrious and enterprising, has the management of affairs. In May, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Frances Clay of Union township, who was born in Darke county, Ohio, a daughter of Andrew J. and Nancy Clay, who settled in St. Joseph county, Ind., in 1865. Mr. Clay is now living in South Bend. Mr. Peffley was called upon to mourn the death of his wife on Feb- ruary 3, 1885, having borne her husband one son and one daughter; Essie B. and Harry D. Mr. Peffley's second union was consummated on December 9, 1888, to which union one child has been born, Jay Earl. During the Civil war Mr. Peffley was not in the service, but two of his brothers, Simon and Henry, were participants in the great conflict.

JOHN U. WALTER, who for twenty-eight years has made his home in St. Joseph county, Ind., is one of the most prominent and well-to-do farmers of Union town- ship, and has a fine home about one mile southeast of Lakeville. He was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, September 9, 1832, the youngest of three children born to John and Waldburg (Gleckler) Walter, both of whom were born in Germany, the former dying there about 1878, and the latter in 1849. The father was a prosper- ous farmer, and during Napoleon's time was drafted into the army, and was employed to carry off the wounded from the field. He was married twice, his first wife being a Miss Stetter, by whom he became the father of five sons: George, John. David, Jacob and Albrecht, all of whom are now deceased, David being the only one to come to the United States. He reached this country in 1859, married, reared a family and died in Whitley county, Ind. After the death of his first wife Mr. Wal- ter wedded Miss Gleckler, who bore him the following children: Octavins, who regides on the old homestead in Germany; Anna, who died after her marriage with Frederick Stetter, and John U., the subject of this sketch. Two children, Mariah and Anna, died in infancy. When eighteen years of age John U. Walter left the land of his birth and took passage on board a sailing vessel for America, and after a voyage of eleven weeks landed at Castle Garden, New York, from which place he

466

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

went to Sandusky City, Ohio. He had received a good German education, and after reaching Ohio he apprenticed himself to a shoemaker, but remained with him only one month, when he began working on a farm, and followed that occupation until he married, in 1856, Miss Elizabeth Boyer becoming his wife. She is a daughter of Daniel and Caroline (Wolf) Boyer, who spent their lives in Bavaria, Germany, and ia one of the three children born to them: Adam, Catherine and Elizabeth. Cath- erine died in the old country, and Adam lives on the old place in Germany. Mrs. Walter came to the United States on a sailing vessel with a cousin, and after a very pleasant voyage of thirty-one days she landed at New York. She and her cousin and his family proceeded to Whitley county, Ind., and there she was residing at the time of her marriage. Soon after the celebration of their nuptials Mr. and Mrs. Walter rented s small farm, but six years later purchased eighty acres, on which a little clearing had been done and a small cabin erected. After living there eighteen months they came to St. Joseph county by wagon, having three teams, and settled on the farm on which he is at present residing, his first purchase amounting to 120 acres. He now has 205 acres, the most of which is improved, but on which are a few huckleberry marshes. He has followed general farming and has been very anccessful, especially as s raiser of good grain and stock. A strong Democrat in politics, he has always been very public spirited and has held the office of assessor of Union township two years, and on various occasions has been a member of the school board of his district. He and his wife are members of the Christian Church of Lakeville, and he ia an elder and an active worker in the same. He and his wife have the esteem and respect of all who know them, and are deservedly classed among the prominent citizens of their section. Their children are as follows: Will- iam H., born December 30, 1856, is unmarried and is a railroad man of Colorado; Anna E., born December 1, 1858, is the wife of George Barnhart of this county, by whom she has two children-Homer and Roxie; Mary E. was born Jannary 7, 1861, ia the wife of Frederick Zngelder of Colorado, and is the mother of three children- Carl, Hazel and Frederick; Catherine was born March 23, 1863, is the wife of Robert Robertson, of South Bend, and has three children-Gladys, Fern and Edith; Caroline was born February 14, 1866, is the teacher of music, has taught in the public schools and is now at home; David was born November 24, 1868, and died December 19, 1869; Edith was born December 15, 1870, and died Jannary 22, 1892, and Linna, who was born October 20, 1872, is living at home and has been a school teacher. All these children seem to have a natural gift for music and their parents have given them all good educational advantages.

CHARLES E. KUTZ. No business requires a more thorough knowledge of details than that which relates to the sanitary conditions of our houses and public build- ings. Of late years this subject has received the careful study of scientific men who make sanitary plumbing a specialty, and the perfection to which the sci- ence has been brought ia the best comment upon the intelligence which has been devoted toit. One of the successful business men engaged in plumbing and gas fitting is Mr. Charles E. Kutz, who is a skilled exponent of his craft and a promi- nent citizen of Goshen, born in Sunbury, Penn., July 26, 1856. He is the son of Daniel G. and Mary A. (Everett) Kntz. natives of Pennsylvania. The Kutz family came originally from Hessen Castle, Germany, aud the Everett family trace their ancestry to Switzerland. Daniel G. Kutz was born in the year 1819, and his father was among the forty-niners who went to California, and as he was never afterward heard from it is supposed he was killed by Indians. Daniel was resred in his native State and when young learned the blacksmith's trade which he followed for a number of years and afterward removed to a farm. In the latter occupation he met with success and became the owner of a large amount of land. He was district lecturer of the State Grange and Government statistician and had the most important of the 300 fires in the repair department from 1863 to 1865, at Washington, D. C. About the year 1845 he married Miss Mary A. Everett, daughter of John and Sophia

467

MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

(Houser) Everett, natives of Germany, who came to America at an early date, settling in Pennsylvania, where they resided until their deaths. To Daniel G. Kutz and wife were born the following children: John, George, Charles E., William, Clinton, Hannah, Ella, Sarah, Fanny and Richard (deceased). The mother of these children passed to her final reward on the 9th of October, 1869, but the father survived until December 22, 1891. Charles E. Kutz was reared in his native county and there learned the trade of plumbing and gas-fitting. In 1873 he went to Pekin, Ill., and there worked in a blacksmith shop for about a year, afterward returning to his native State. For two years he worked in Sunbury Gas Works and in the spring of 1876 he went to Colorado, seeking his fortune in the mining districts. During the summer season he was engaged in prospecting and then when cold weather appeared he returned to Pennsylvania and worked at his trade until the fol- lowing spring. This he continued for three years but without success. In 1879 he went to Seymour, Ind., to assist in the construction of gas works and was man- ager of that institution for three years. From there he went to Louisville, worked at his trade for over a year and in October, 1882, he came to Goshen, where he became a member of the firm of Minnich & Kutz, dealers in plumbing, gas and steam- fitting, etc. In 1887 Mr. Minnich retired and the business has since been contin- ued by Mr. Kutz. He has made an excellent reputation for good work and is doing a thriving business. In the matter of charges, he makes it a rule to be moderate and reasonable, and this has undonbtedly had an influence in building up the excel- lent trade enjoyed. Another feature that has given great satisfaction among his patrons is the promptnese with which all orders are attended to. He does the largest jobbing trade in his line in northern Indiana; performs work for town and county, and has contracte over northern Indiana and western Ohio and southern Michigan, the business increasing each year. In connection with his brother he had patented Kutz System of Hot Water Heating, for buildings of every decription, and this is generally in use in this section of country in the majority of the largest and best buildings. Socially Mr. Kutz is a K. of P., Lodge No. 41, Division No. 11, and is a charter member of the Knights of Maccabees. In politics he is a Republican. On the 21st of October, 1886, our subject was married to Miss Josephine Hottinger, who was born June 12, 1866, to the union of Alonzo and Rosina Worster Hottinger, natives of Indiana. Mr. Hottinger died in 1880, but his wife is still living and finds a comfortable home with her daughter Josephine, in Goshen. To Mr. and Mrs. Kutz have been born one child, Gracie W., whose birth occurred September 5, 1888.

HON. SCHUYLER COLFAX was a true representative of what an American boy can become by his own unaided efforts. His life began in the city of New York, March 23, 1823, and owing to the death of his father prior to his birth, he became the only living child of a widowed mother. Gen. William Colfax, his grandfather, was a lieutenant in the Continental army when only nineteen years old, and was a close and confidential friend of General Washington. General Colfax married Hester Schuyler and their third son was Schuyler Colfax, who was the father of the sub- ject of this sketch. It was in his native city that Schuyler, Jr., received his early schooling. At ten years of age he began clerking in a store and at thirteen immi- grated westward and found a home in New Carlisle, Ind., where he clerked until 1841, when he moved to South Bend. Prior to attaining his majority he served as reporter of the Senate for the State Journal and later was appointed deputy auditor of St. Joseph county. Instinctively he liked and seemed to grasp the ideas neces- sary to make a successful newspaper man. Purchasing the St. Joseph Valley Register in 1845, of which he was the founder, he continued its editor and publisher for a period of eighteen years, obtaining renown as a brilliant writer on all the prin- cipal topics of the day. His first election to office was in 1850, when he became a member of the convention which framed the new constitution of the State. As a Whig he was nominated, much to his surprise, for Congress in 1851, but was de-

468

PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

feated by about 200 votes, claimed by hia friends to have been illegally caat at Mich- igan City. The year following he was a delegate to the National Convention which nominated General Scott for the presidency, and in 1854 was elected to the Thirty- fourth Congress by 1,776 votes, although the district the preceding election gave a Democratic majority of 1,200. In 1858 he was re-elected to Congresa and was made chairman of the Committee on Postoffices and Poatroads. He was elected to the special session of Congress (the thirty-seventh) called to provide for the prose- cution of the war, and was active in raising troops for the suppression of the Rebel- lion. At the organization of the Thirty-eighth Congress Mr. Colfax was elected speaker ou the first ballot, and in the Thirty-ninth Congress was re-elected to the position by a majority of 103 votes. At the organization of the Fortieth Congress Mr. Colfax was a third time elected speaker which fact attested his popularity with his colleagues. The favor with which his name was received was not confined to the halls of Congress, but extended all over the country, and so manifest was this that he was nominated by the Republican party for the office of Vice-President of the United States in 1868 and was triumphantly elected. At the expiration of his term of office he returned to South Bend and, declining further political preferment, was practically retired from active life until his death. His home life was one of purity, happiness and affection. He was an ardent member of the I. O. O. F. and was founder of the Daughters of Rebecca degree. For a number of years he devoted his leisure to the delivery of lectures, principally upon the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, and in the prosecution of this work was found in almost every northern State in the Union. Mr. Colfax died in Mankato, Minn., January 13, 1885.

JOSEPH E. GARDNER. Like many of the prominent citizens of the county, Mr. Gardner is of German nativity, born in Ruttenburg, February 26, 1810. His parents, Joseph and Victoria (Single) Gardner, were natives of the Fatherland also, and the father wss a soldier under Napoleon. He was a prominent business man and had large interests in the city of Ruttenburg, operating flax, plaster and oil mills at that place for many years. He was twice married and to each union were born eleven children. In 1832 Mr. Gardner sold his business interests in his native country and came to America, settling aix miles east of Buffalo, N. Y., where he purchased & farm of 260 acres. He subsequently built & canal boat and operated the same for several years on the Erie Canal, but finally moved to Michigan, where his death occurred about the year 1875. Twenty-two years had passed over the head of our subject when he came with his parents to the "land of the free." During his early days he received a good education in the German language in his native country, and after reaching America he applied himself and through his own efforts succeeded in gaining a good practical English education. After settling in New York he started out to fight life's battlea for himself and as he received no as- eistance from his father, he began working by the day at whatever was profitable or legitimate. He selected his wife in the person of Miss Catherine Follmer, a native of Germany, born February 9, 1809, and their marriage was celebrated on October 4, 1832. In 1832 Mr. and Mrs. Gardner turned their faces toward the setting sun, and went by boat to Detroit. After landing in that city Mr. Gardner purchased an ox team and into the wagon which he had brought from Buffalo, he and wife started overland to Elkhart county. They were over a week on the way and camped out nighta, experiencing many incidents of interest during that memorable trip. Ar- riving at Goshen, Mr. Gardner settled on eighty acres, about eight miles south- west of that town, in a log cabin, where he cleared about six acres of land. There he resided for about a year. The land at the time of settlement was not open to purchase, and at the time of sale he was beaten out of the same by land speculators and sharka. He was obliged to commence at the beginning once more and came to Jefferson township, this county, settling on his present property. At that time he purchased sixty acres, erected a rude log cabin, and began clearing the land and

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

Pictorial and biographical memoirs of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties, Indiana, together with biographies of many prominent men of northern Indiana and of the whole state, both living and dead, Part 70

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

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