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 75

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 75
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 75

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MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

WILLIS LAYTON. Prominent among the representative citizens of Elkhart county stands the name of Willis Layton, a native of the Buckeye State, which has contrib- uted so much of population and of intelligence to Indiana. He was born in Miami county, June 15, 1843, and is a son of Benjamin F. and Mary (Wilmore) Layton, native Virginians, the father born on December 19, 1801, and the mother in Rock- bridge county, January 19, 1808. Both parente grew to mature years in their native State and were married on September 16, 1823. Five years after this union they removed to Miami county, Ohio, and located on a farm near Piqua, where they made their home until December, 1848, at which time they removed to Elkhart county, Ind. They settled on a farm in Cleveland township, where the son Willis now resides, and as there were only about five acres cleared at that time, Mr. Layton went actively to work to develop and make improvements. He was unusually successful and passed the remainder of his days in cultivating the soil, his death occurring on October 7, 1854. His wife survived him until November 17, 1872. An old-fashioned family of eleven children was born to this worthy couple, four of whom are living: Susannah, born September 2, 1834; Katie A., born July 19, 1837; Joseph J., born May 18, 1841, and Willis. Those deceased are: Martha J., born August 16, 1828, and died Jannary 30, 1892; William W., born Angust 16, 1832, and died May 20, 1866; Benjamin F., born June 2, 1837, and died in the army in 1862 from the effects of a wound received in the battle of Fort Donelson; Mary E., born June 23, 1846, and died October 3, 1854; Nancy E., born March 27, 1849, and died September 18, 1854; Sarah A., born June 14, 1853, and died September 25, 1854, and one died in infancy, in Ohio. When five years of age, Willis Layton was brought by his parents to Elkhart county, Ind., where he was reared on a farm, and where he received his education in the common schools. On September 10, 1861, he donned his suit of blue and enlisted in Company I, Forty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry; turned recruiting officer and got several recruits for said company and was with his regiment in all its battles, skirmishes and marches the entire four years and four days, except time of absence caused by being a prisoner and a three days' mounted infantry ride after the enemy while he was on detached service. He was in the siege of Chatta- nooga, where there was less than one-fourth rations issued for more than three months, and he paid 50 cents an ear for corn to grind in a coffee-mill to make mush without salt to season it with; it was relished better than well-prepared meals are now, and there was very little corn or provision to be had at any price. If a person succeeded in buying an ear of corn the thought would come up before him that it was stolen from a starving mule. But from General Thomas down, they had resolved not to go any farther north until the enemy was whipped or they were starved or killed. The men made little complaint about their condition. For two or three weeks after the Chickamauga battle, going on picket duty was about like going on the skirmish line, as there was more or less firing on the line all the time. Willis was in a train wreck between Chattanooga and Knoxville, Tenn., where one man was killed and himself and several others were more or less seriously injured. He took a prominent part in the battle of Chickamauga, in which he received a gunshot wound in his left knee. He still feels the effects of this wound, and being obliged to be vaccinated, in April, 1864, he suffers from the impurities that passed through his system and is unfit for work. He receives a pension of $14 per month, which is a very smail price indeed for the loss of his health. Mr. Layton was taken prisoner while on picket duty near Henderson, Ky., and was taken to Little Rock, Ark., where he was confined three months. About the first of the year 1862 he succeeded in escaping, but before he got to the Union lines was taken seriously ill, from exposure, was re- captured and taken back to the rebel hospital. There he remained four months and was very ill indeed. When he improved again he was confined in the prison, but shortly afterward effected his escape and made his way to Fort Scott, Kan., the nearest point where the Union army was stationed. Before reaching his destination he was fired upon by Coffey's cavalry, and they, believing him to be a spy, gave him

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a hasty trial; but there not being sufficient evidence he was paroled, afterward mak- ing his way to Fort Scott. At that point he was furnished transportation to the North by General Lane, commander of the post at that place. During Sherman's famous march to the sea he was detailed to drive a post ambulance from Chattanooga to supply the General's shortage in that line. He followed after the Sixty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers, which were armed with the Henry repeating rifles and they fought like tigers, being deployed as skirmishers most of the time. They ran the enemy as a deer would run from a destroyer, keeping up almost a continual fire at them. But every once in a while it was his sad duty to pick up one of the boys who had fallen in battle, far from home and kind hands that would gladly have cared for them. He went with them well down into the heart of Georgia before he was relieved. He then returned to his regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., and was at the battle of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, but was in reserve. He fought bravely for the old flag and no braver soldier trod the sod of a battlefield. Mr. Layton was married on October 6, 1870, to Miss Sarah L., daughter of John and Jane (Bryson) Nixon, the former a native of Ireland, born September 24, 1805. Mr. Nixon was reared on the Green Isle and when seventeen years of age braved Neptune's tender mercies and came to America, locating in Pennsylvania, where he remained one year. From there he went to Ohio, located in Huron county, and was there married on September 20, 1827, to Miss Jane Bryson, a native of Center county, Penn., born January 17, 1806. To them were born the following children: Jane A., born November 20, 1828, and died January 15, 1875; Elizabeth, born July 20, 1830, and died March 4, 1873; James, born January 14, 1833, and was killed at the battle of Richmond, Ky., August 30, 1862; Robert, born Angust 26, 1835, and died April 12, 1854; Samuel. B., born August 29, 1837, and died September 28, 1838; Isabella, born April 18. 1840; William, born April 11, 1843, and killed at the battle of Iuka, Miss., September 19, 1862; Sarah L., born September 30, 1845, and David, born October 12, 1850. After residing in Ohio twelve years, Mr. and Mrs. Nixon moved to Cass county, Mich., and there resided until February. 1838, when they moved to Kosciusko, where they made a permanent settlement, residing on one farm for over forty years. Mr. Nixon died on February 25, 1875, and his wife sur- vived him until February 11, 1890. To our subject and wife were born three children: Etta L., born August 23, 1871; Millard W., born April 3, 1881, and Katie M., born April 15, 1883. Mr. Layton has twenty acres of land, principally devoted to small fruit, and he also has an apiary of about twenty colonies, but for- merly had one hundred. In politics Mr. Layton ie a Republican and is a mem- ber of Elmer Post, G. A. R., of Elkhart.

GEN. ALVIN PETERSON HOVEY, who died while serving his first term as governor of Indiana, was a native Hoosier, his birth occurring in that widely famed county of Posey September 6, 1821, and, like thousands of others who attained prominence in American history, his lot in youth was one of hardship and gave no hint of the honors that a strong intellect, fairly used, coupled with nnwearying industry, were to bring him. In the common schools of his native county, which were then of the poorest, and are not now much better, he managed to pick up a rudimentary educa- tion which he supplemented by hard study, after the active work of his life had begun. He studied law and, having been admitted to the bar in 1843, when about twenty-two years of age, he entered at once upon what, his youth and surroundings considered, was a successful and lucrative practice as an attorney at Mount Vernon. For seven years he devoted himself to his profession, but about 1851 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention by which the constitution of Indiana was revised, and so greatly did he distinguish himself in that body that in the next year he was chosen circuit judge of the Third Judicial District of his State and, after three years' service upon that bench, was in May, 1854, made one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana, but held the position only a few months. He was appointed by President Pierce in 1855 United States district attorney for the

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MEMOIRS OF INDIANA.

District of Indiana, from which he was removed by President Buchanan because of having been an ardent supporter of Douglas. During the war with Mexico he was a lieutenant, but his company failed to secure an entry into one of the regiments assigned to Indiana. When the war of the Rebellion came upon the country, although he had never had any military training and had never shown the slightest aptitude or inclination for the military profession, he instantly cast aside his per- sonal considerations, enlisted in the service and started out as colonel of volunteers, by appointment of Gov. Morton. His command was first employed in Arkansas, where, without any opportunity of becoming distinguished in battle, he so bore him- self that he won the admiration of his superiors. Shortly after the reduction of Fort Donelson, for meritorions service, he was commissioned brigadier general and a short time after was made major general, although he did not receive his commis- sion until two years after it was granted. In time his chance came to show the mettle of which he was made. Transferred to the Army of Tennessee, just before the opening of the memorable campaign which ended on July 4, 1863, in the eur- render of Vicksburg, he was assigned to an important command. At the battle of Champion's Hill, which was the pivotal one of the brief and brilliant series of engagements by which Gen. Pemberton was forced back with his entire army into Vicksburg, Gen. Hovey so executed the task which fell to his lot, that Gen. Grant spoke of him, in his official report, in terms of highest praise, awarding him the honor of the victory at Champion's Hill, which Grant himself called the "key battle" of his movements to get in the rear of Vicksburg. After the fall of this place he was sent to a field of duty where he could gain no military laurels, but where his services were of vital value to the Union cause, for he was put in command of the District of Indiana, where, with the powerful aid of Oliver P. Morton, then governor, he prosecuted and kept the disaffected element under control. The war being ended he resigned his commission in the army in October, 1865, and soon after was appointed United States minister to Pera, having declined the mission to Buenos Ayres, which had been tendered him. After holding the post of minister to Peru for five years, he resigned it in 1870, when he returned to Indiana and resumed the practice of law, to which he confined himself for the next sixteen years, but all the time, having a keen interest in public affairs both national and State, he put his ability as a public speaker at the service of the Republican party, having prior to the war been a Democrat. In 1886 he was a candidate of his party for Congress and was elected in a close district. In the House of Representatives he showed so much civic ability that in 1888 he was made the nominee of his party for governor of his State and entered at once upon the hottest political campaign the State has ever known. As a result of the canvass he received a plurality of votes of 2.200 over his competitor, Gen. Matson, who had been a gallant Union soldier, had shown a capacity for civil office and was in every way the strongest candidate the Democrats could have nominated. Being thus chosen as the first Republican governor Indiana has had since the war, Gov. Hovey entered upon the duties of his office and in their discharge displayed the same courage, clear intellect and unsullied integrity with which he ever met every other function allotted to him. While fulfilling the requirements of his office be was taken ill and died November 23, 1891. He was a ripe Latin scholar, was determined and self-reliant, a frequent contributor to maga- zine literature and a poet of more than ordinary ability.

HENRY W. BISSELL. It is generally considered by those in the habit of super- ficial thinking that the history of so-called great men only is worthy of preservation, and that little merit exists among the masses to call forth the praise of the historian or the cheers and appreciation of mankind. A greater mistake was never made. No man is great in all things, and very few are great in many things. Many by a lucky stroke achieve lasting fame, who before that had no reputation beyond the limits of their neighborhood. It is not a history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but the long study and effort which made the lucky stroke possible.

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It is the preliminary work-the method-that serves as & guide for the success of others. Thus it appears that the lives of the masses out of which come the men who control the world, will furnish the grandest, truest lessons for the benefit of humanity. The common soldier, who bears the brunt of battle and who does his best, is as much entitled to highest praise for his efforts as is the general who stands back out of rifle shot and directs the struggling troops to victory. The widow who places her mite upon the altar deserves greater praise for her sacrifice then the prince who places thereon & costly pearl. The widow gives all she has; the prince will never miss his gift. And a history of the widow's suffering and sacrifice is of much greater pathos and value to the student of history and human nature, than the dizzy story of the ostentatious gift of the prince. All writers agree that the quiet lives are the ones which furnish the best examples of heroism, sacrifice and merit.

After all this is said, the honest man, the man who has endeavored, to the best of his ability, to follow the precepts of the Golden Rule, the man who has lived to the age of four score years and universally commands the respect of his fellow-men even though he has attained no high political or other preferment, is the one whose life is worthiest of emulation and whose history is most deserving of preservation. Such & man is Henry W. Bissell, whose name forms the subject of this memoir. His ancestors were French, but for many generations lived in England. The general belief and accepted version of the advent of the family in America is that John Bissell, a native of Somersetshire, England (where he was born about the year 1591) in order to escape the religious persecutions so common at that time, immi- grated to the colonies with his family in 1628, landing at Plymouth Rock, MR888- chusetts. According to Stile's History of Old Windsor, Connecticut, to which point he moved about the year 1640, he was the first settler on the east side of the river and had charge of the Scantic Ferry. From this pioneer, John Bissell, the different heads of the family Bre traced in a direct line to the immediate subject of this sketch, as follows: John, Jr .; John, Jr., the third who married Izrel Mason; Daniel married Margaret Dewey; Ezekiel married Ruth Devotion; Eliphaz mar- ried Elizabeth Birge; Eliphaz, Jr., married Diantha Norton. This brings the record np to Henry W. Bissell, of whom & more extended notice is here given. A native of the State of New York, his birth occurred at Vernon Center, Oneids coun- ty, June 26, 1812, being now the only living representative of his family, origi- nally consisting of three sons and two daughters. His youth was passed in B similar manner to that of hundreds of other boys, having been spent in assisting his parents at home and in attending the district schools. During his early manhood he com- pleted his schooling by attending Cazenovia Seminary, and later in life began farm- ing, teaching and clerking. In 1837, while on a visit to Detroit, where a brother Was living, he embarked in & trading tour through western Michigan and northern Indiana, and passing through Goshen was so well pleased with the village and its surrounding fertile lands that he determined to make it his future home. In 1839 he opened a general store on the east side of Main street, opposite the present court-house, which he operated about fifteen years, also being interested as part- ner a part of the time with William Cowan, at Oswego, in a similar enterprise. Returning to his native State for & wife, he wedded Sabrina A. Spencer in 1840, who died May 26, 1846, leaving him three small children-Amelia J., Harriet E. (died in 1847), and Sabrina C., who died in 1848. The first named is the wife of A. E. Billings, of Toledo, Ohio, and is the only one living of Mr. Bissell's children. For a second wife he selected Mrs. A. M. (Turk) Sands, of Somers, Westchester Co., N. Y., a lady of Huguenot ancestry, who died May 19, 1880, with- out issne. Together with his family Mr. Bissell, the winter of 1853-4, visited Washington, remaining a period of nine months, visiting all the places of interest and particularly the houses of Congress. He particularly recalls the memorable speech of Stephen A. Douglas on the Missouri Compromise Bill, and considers this vacation ons of the most enjoyable events in his life. Returning to Goshen,

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Mr. Bissell turned his attention more exclusively to dealing in grain, which he continued for about seventeen years, acquiring a competency. Since then he hee retired from active operations, confining his time to the management of hie valu- able estate and in the contemplation of a well-spent life. A Whig first in politics, he naturally drifted into Republican ranks upon the organization of that party, and has ever since affiliated as such. For nearly half a century he has been identified with the Presbyterian Church. While & man of strong convictions and steadfast resolutions, Mr. Bissell has at no time obtruded his opinions upon others, nor has he ever sought political or other preferment. His busy career has given him time to do but little else then pursue the even tenor of his way and in assist- ing, so far as able, all meritorious causes.

A. W. SEIDLER. The name of Shidler has been known in St. Joseph county, Ind., for nearly forty years, for in 1854 Mr. Shidler took up his residence in the south part of Union township, at what was for many years known as the Shidler Mill, which came into possession of the Coquillards and was eventually burned and never rebuilt. Mr. Shidler is one of the well-known and influential men of the county and, as his walk through life has been characterized by honor, kindness and generosity, he well merits the numerous friends he has gathered about him. He is a product of Stark county, Ohio, where he was born in 1832, the youngest of thir- teen children born to George W. and Catherine (Wise) Shidler, the former of whom was born and reared in Washington county, Penn., a son of John and Sarah Shid- ler, who were among the early residents of the Keystone State, where they eventu- ally passed from life. In the State of Pennsylvania George W. Shidler and wife were married, but about 1800 with his wife and eldest child he went on horseback to Stark county, Ohio, he walking and his wife riding on horseback and carrying the baby who was about one year old. They settled on a woodland farm and as their nearest neighbor was four miles away they would have spent many lonely hours had not their time been fully occupied in the laudable endeavor to clear and otherwise improve their land. He became well known throughout that section as a public- spirited and honorable citizen and not only made a success of farming but also of saw-milling, and became a man of considerable property, and gave to each of his children 160 acres of land. He was a Whig in politics and at the time of his death in 1855, in Stark county, Ohio, when in his seventy-seventh year, he was a member of the German Baptist Church. Although he passed through many hardships in the early part of his career, his energy and determination knew no bounds; he not only cleared and improved his land but he made other ventures also, in which he was suc- cessful, and he taught his children to be honest and industrioue men and women. His wife was a daughter of John and Nancy Wise, who were Pennsylvanians by birth and early settlers of Stark county, Ohio, locating in the vicinity of Canton about 1805. There John Wise entered two sections of land, on which the city of Canton now stands, and there both Mr. and Mrs. Wise were called from life. The great-great-grandfather Wise wae a soldier in the war for independence, and at one time in endeavoring to escape from the British soldiers, hid in a hay mow, where one of the soldiers ran his bayonet through Mr. Wise's hat but did not touch him. Although he came of English stock he was in the active service of the continental army and did much to assist this country in throwing off the British yoke. John Wise, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, reared a family of nine children and Peter and Adam became prominent men. serving in the Legislature of Ohio, the lat- ter being elected to the Senate three different times. Mr. Shidler's mother died in Union township, this county, at the home of her son A. W., in 1867, at the age of eighty-seven years. She had seen many hard times in the pioneer days of Ohio but was always cheerful, helpful and kind. She became the mother of thirteen children: David, the oldest of the family, was born in Pennsylvania, reared a family and died in 1860; Susan, who married Jacob Hoover and moved to Kosciusko county, Ind., where both passed from life; Mary became the wife of B. Clark and lived in Stark

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county; John is eighty-two years old and is a resident of Kansas; George and Anna died in infancy; Rebecca married John Nunemaker who is now deceased, and who lived in Stark county; Catherine married Philip Meece and died in Stark county in 1850; Peter, who resides in Missouri, was forced to leave his home during the war, and with three of his sons entered the Union army and his eldest son, who was wounded and captured, was starved to death in Libby Prison; after the war the other two sons were engaged to carry provisions to the western forts and were both killed by the Indians; the father, who is now quite aged, is a retired farmer of Missouri; he reared a family of thirteen children; Samuel, who is living in Stark county, Ohio, is a man of family and is a farmer by occupation; Eliza, mar- ried Jacob Motz and lives in Stark county; Jacob came to St. Joseph county, Ind., with the subject of this sketch aud lived on a farm in Union township where he tilled the soil and operated a sawmill with his brother A. W., for three years. At the close of the war he started for the Black Hills and died at Clark's Forks on the Yellowstone River, leaving a wife and seven children who reside near Lakeville. Adam W., the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of the family and naturally was the last one to leave home. Although his early advantages were not at all good he possesses a valuable fund of information, for his natural abilities and contact with the business affairs of life have in a great measure remedied the lack of early oppor- tunities. At the age of seventeen, owing to the fact that his father was well along in years and unable to follow the plow, he took the management of the home farm upon his own shoulders and continued to sucessfully conduct it until he was twenty years old. He then bought a farm in the vicinity on which he lived two years, then came to St. Joseph county, Ind., with his wife, whom he had married in Ohio shortly after attaining his majority. During the years that he operated 'a saw- mill and farmed with his brother, he was successful, but he eventually sold it and bought a portable mill, which he ran for some time. His attention for some time past has been directed to saw-milling, farming and stockraising, sheep and horsee receiving particular attention at his hands. He has always been a Republican in pol- itics, and is a public-spirited man who has been active in the affairs of his section. He is a member of Lakeville Lodge, No. 353, of the A. F. & A. M., the I. O. O. F. of South Bend, and is a member of and deacon in the Christian Church, in which he is an active worker. Mrs. Shidler is also a member of the Christian Church and highly respected wherever known; was born in Stark county, Ohio, October 7, 1832, being the youngest but one of a family of fifteen children born to Christian and Bar- bara (Miller) Klopfenstine, both of whom were born, reared and married in Ger- many. Eight of their children were born in the old country, three died there, and with the rest they emigrated to this country about 1826 and settled in Stark county, Ohio, where they cleared up a good farm from the wilderness, on which the mother died in 1853, at the age of sixty-two years, a member of the Amith Mennonite Church. The father died five years later when seventy-five years of age. Their children are: Anna, the deceased wife of Christian Yoder of Stark county, Ohio; Michael is a well-tu-do farmer of Stark county; Christian, who died at the age of twenty years; Peter, who died in Fulton county, Ohio, where his widow is still liv- ing; Barbara is the wife of Peter Miller and lives in Louisville, Stark county: Cath- erine, wife of John Shilling, lives in Stark county; Joseph is a resident of Califor- nia, whither he went in 1849, via Cape Horn; Lena became the wife of N. Smith and lived in St. Joseph county, but after the death of Mr. Smith married Samuel Carroll and now lives in Canton, Stark county, Ohio; Andrew lives in Bingham. Utah, was a forty-niner to California and did well as a miner; Mary is the wife of Mr. Shidler; Fannie married Christian Fogle and is living at La Pass, Marshall Co., Ind. Mrs. Shidler lived with her parents in Stark county until her marriage and her eldest child, Bell, was born there July 26, 1853. She is married to Andrew Moon and lives within two miles of Lakeville, Ind., the mother of the following children: Nora, Berton, Edith, Cecil, Don and Eva. The second child born to

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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 75

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

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