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 85

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 85
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 85

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iam Thomas, on the southwest side of the prairie. The first night the family slept under the spreading branches of a huge oak tree and the next day the neighbors met together to assist Mr. Weybright to build a log cabin. This was erected and places cut out for a door and window; mother earth was the floor to the cabin and continued as such until the fall. The bedstead Mr. Weybright made by driving stakes in the ground in one side of the cabin and covering them with poles and split clapboards. On this was then spread blankets and comforts until it was very com- fortable, and in this huge bed the entire family slept nntil better arrangements could be made. Elkhart Prairie is described by Mrs. Clark as presenting a most beautiful appearance during the summer months, being covered with many gorgeous flowers. On this farm Mr. Weybright passed the remainder of his days, nearly fifteen years after settling here. On this farm Mrs. Clark grew to womanhood and the first school she attended was taught in a rude log school-house near the spot where James Latta's barn now stands. She received her scholastic training in four different school-houses and received the usual pioneer education. Martin Weybright was naturally a religious man and about two years after coming to Elkhart county was ordained a preacher of the Baptist Church by Daniel Cripe, the pioneer preacher of this county, assisted by other preachere from South Bend. He was an indns- trious, hard-working man, and at the time of his death was the owner of a fine farm of 400 acres, besides which he had given his nine children 160 acres each, making a total amount of 2,000 acres which he had originally owned. The improvements on his farm were all first class for those days, the house being log, but plastered, and the barn being also a large log structure. He set out a good orchard, and being progressive and enterprising, reaped rich returns. His judgment was good and he was a man of sterling character. When lacking two months of being fifty-eight years of age he passed to that bourne from whence no traveler returns. His wife lived to be eighty-seven years of age. At the time of her death there. were six children living, sixty-two grandchildren, eighty-two great-grandchildren, and one great great-grandchild, making a total of 151 individuale descended from this pioneer couple. Mrs. Clark was born February 5, 1828, in Ohio, and she and her husband have twenty-one living grandchildren. Her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Smelser, is the eldest member of the Weybright family and is now a venerable lady of eighty years. She was in her eighteenth year when she came with her parents to Elkhart county and can well remember the journey and the old pioneer times.

GEORGE P. ROWELL was a pioneer in the fullest sense of the word, for he has been a resident of Elkhart county, Ind., since 1835, and during that time he has fought the battle of life bravely, has bent the force of circumstances to his will and is now wealthy. Mr. Rowell was born in New Hampshire June 12, 1812, a son of John and Sarah (Moore) Rowell, who were also natives of the Granite State, where they were married. In 1816 they moved to Madison county, N. Y., and a few years later to Livingston county, of the same State, from which State he enlisted as a soldier in the War of 1812, but did not see much active service. To him and his wife a family of nine children were born, six sons and three daughters. These children and the parents were strong and vigorous people, and the most of them were exceptionally long-lived. George P. Rowell was reared on a farm, and owing to the fact that his parents were poor and had a large family, his early days were principally devoted to farm labor, and he thus had meager opportunities of obtaining an education which could be of any great benefit to him. His early life and the economies he was com- pelled to practice instilled in him principles of prudence, energy and push which could not fail to bring him in rich returns in later years, and at the present time he has a goodly share of this world's goods. He has large real estate holdings contig- uous to the city, an abundance of fine stock, his horses being especially handsome and speedy. He has always been a lover of the horse, and has owned some of the best animals that were ever in the county, his efforts to improve the stock of his sec- tion being praiseworthy and to be omulated. His fine farm of 340 acres, one and one-

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half miles from Goshen, is one of the finest pieces of property in the county, and he also has 100 acres near Milford and excellent and valuable property in Goshen. He was married October 10, 1840, to Miss Susan Rodibaugh, who was boru in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, May 17, 1821, her parents being David and Saloma Rodi- baugh, native Pennsylvanians. To this union the following children were born: Ira D., Annie E., Mary C., George W., Samuel J. and Lucy S., all of whom are living with the exception of Mary. Mr. Rowell is well and favorably known to all the residents of Elkhart county. He is identified with the Democratic party, but has never been a very strict partisan. Much of his attention hae been given to the manufacture of agricultural implements, in which he acquired the greater part of his wealth, after which he retired from active service to enjoy a good horse, his family and the evening of his life. He is a man remarkably well preserved, in the full possession of his faculties and the memories of other days, and being a fine con- versationalist he weaves a halo of romance around the days of Auld Lang Syne. He is surrounded by a thrifty family of grown-up children, all of whom are married and reside near their old home. Mr. Rowell has never been a member of any church or any secret organization.

ABIJAH L. HUBBELL, deceased. All people of true sensibility and a just regard for the memory of those who have departed this life, cherish the details of the his- tory of those whose careers have been marked by uprightness and truth, and whose lives have been filled up with acts of usefulness. Such & man was Abijah L. Hub- bell, who was born in Meigs county, Ohio, at the town of Rutland, January 26, 1816, his father and grandfather before him bearing the name of Abijah, and both being natives of Lake George county, Vt. They removed to Meigs county, Ohio, about the year 1786. The Hubbells were of Scotch descent, and in early colonial times came to America and located in New England. The male members were all men of large stature, and almost invariably occupied positions of honor in the different lo- calities in which they settled. The paternal grandfather was a soldier of the Revo- lution, being one of the famous Green Mountain Boys, and in the various bloody battles in which he participated he conducted himself in a brave and fearless man- ner. After his removal to the then wilds of Ohio he and his family suffered many hardships and privations, but in time their circumstances became comparatively easy. He was the first man to develop the salt industry in the Kanawha Valley, Va., and in time succeeded in establishing quite a trade at Cincinnati and other points. He reared a large family, and became well known over southern Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky. The father of the subject of this sketch was brought up amid the scenes and wild surroundings of their pioneer home in Ohio, and in that State after reach- ing manhood, he was married to Miss Lucy Merrill, a native of Massachusetts. Her father, Capt. Merrill, was also a native of that State, and from early boyhood up to the time he moved with his family to Ohio, he followed the sea, visiting nearly all portions of the globe, and became a man of wide experience and varied informa- tion. He was married at Newberryport, Mass., and in 1785 he and his family be- came residents of Marietta, Ohio, of which place they were among the very earliest settlers. Abijah Hubbell and his wife, the parents of the subject, made their home in Ohio until 1834, in which year they located about five miles northeast of Goshen, Ind., where they resided for many years, and were well and favorably known to every one. Their first night spent in their new home was an eventful one, for their sleeping place was in the snow between two logs, their covering be- ing some quilts and boughs of trees. This was only an incident among the many hardships they endured. In 1854 the parents moved to Delaware county, Iowa, where they both died in 1863. They reared a family of nine children-five sons and four daughters-all of whom reached mature years, and five are yet living. The father was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving under Capt. Jesse Hubbell, a consin, and with Gen. Harrison, in the Sandusky country against the Indians. For his services he received a pension in his old age. Abijah L. Hubbell, whose name

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heads this biography, was reared to manhood on a farm in his native State, his time and strength in his youth being given to the farm, owing to which hie educational advantages were somewhat neglected. He had learned the tailor's trade, and at this occupation would work during the winter months, his summers being devoted to farm labor. He came to Indiana with his parents, and after following the tailor's trade in Goshen for some time he engaged in butchering, and still later began clerking in a store, where he remained seven years. At the end of this time he and Frederick Jackson opened a general store, but five years later this partnership was dissolved and he then began wholesaling and retailing groceries, which occupation he con- tinued in connection with his son, Frank G., for about sixteen years. In 1884 he embarked in banking, being a director of the City National Bank, the capital of which was $77,000 and the surplus $25,500. Mr. Hubbell was chosen president of the bank in 1886, which position he retained until the time of his demise, which oc- cnrred May 9, 1892. Beginning life a poor boy he practiced close economy, and this, coupled with hard work and unquestioned honesty, enabled him to amass & comfort- able fortune. He became the owner of valuable real estate in Goshen and Chicago, and besides he was the largest stockholder in the bank of which he was president. He was a man who had the courage of his convictions, and defended his city against innovators and demagogues, and there were few enterprises of a public nature in which he was not interested. Pronounced in his views, clear in his judgment, sup- plemented with clear and forcible diction, he stood before the board of county com- missioners on many occasions defending the public treasury against the jackals that prey on honest people's earnings. He was one of the leaders in the building of the court house, jail, buying the poor farm, and in almost every case his judgment was never found wanting nor against honest popular feeling. His efforts in the found- ing and upbuilding of the Agricultural Society were of the most sagacions order, and that work cost him his comfort to the day of his death, for he was thrown from a buggy while in the discharge of his duties and received injuries which forced him to use crutches ever afterward. Few men were better known to the people of Go- shen, or more highly esteemed, and his death was a source of universal sorrow and regret. He was three times married. First, in 1841, to Sarah A. Thomas, a native of Virginia, who bore him two children: Edward T., who died leaving one son, Harry E., and Frank G. The mother of these children died in 1847, and in 1851 Mr. Hubbell took for his second wife Miss Lydia Copeland, whose death occurred four years later. Mrs. Maria N. Whittlesey became his third wife February 11, 1858, her birth having occurred in Hartford, Conn., October 4, 1815, her maiden name having been Townsend. She came to Indiana with her husband in 1837. Edward T. Hubbell served as a lieutenant in the Civil war as a member of the Twelfth In- diana Cavalry, having prior to that time been a sergeant in Company A, Twenty-first Indiana Volunteer Infantry, being promoted to second lieutenant August 6, 1862. He resigned October 14 of that year on account of disability and returned home. He is now dead. Frank G. Hubbell was born July 10, 1844, was reared in Goshen, and obtained his education in the city schools, in Notre Dame University, and at Kalamazoo, Mich., in Kalamazoo College. After clerking for some time in different stores in Goshen, he became associated with his father in the grocery business, con- tinning thus very successfully for fifteen years when the business was closed out. He has also been engaged in business independent of his father, and in 1884 became a member of the firm of Nash, Knox & Hubbell. He has been a stockholder, and is a director and vice-president of the City National Bank. In 1885 Miss Clara A. Chan- berlain, danghter of Judge Ebeneezer Chamberlain, became his wife, and to their union two children have been given: Ruth, who died December 6, 189], and Helen H. Mr. Hubbell is a stanch Republican in politics, and like his honored father before him is a man of excellent business capacity and upright in every worthy par- ticular.

JOHN D. LEHMAN. Among the prominent business men and farmers of Elkhart

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county, Ind., and among its most worthy aad esteemed citizens, may be mentioned John D. Lehman. He is a man interested in the public welfare, and, while he pays atrict attention to his private affairs, he shirks no duties 88 a loyal citizen. Aside from his farming interest he is engaged in the manufacture of tile and owns and runs a saw-mill. Mr. Lehman was born in La Grange county, Ind., January 10, 1843, and is the son of David and Elizabeth (Garber) Lehman, both natives of Somerset county, Pena. The ancestors of this family came to America in the seventeenth century, and were originally from Switzerland. They were Amish people, and being badly persecuted in their native country on account of their religious belief, accepted the invitation extended by William Penn, and came to America. They engaged in agricultural pursnits in Somerset county, Penn., and tilled the soil there for generations. John Lehman, the grandfather of our subject, spent his entire life there. His son David, father of subject, grew to manhood there and was there married. Twelve children were the fruits of this onion, the following having lived to mature years: Lydia, Barbara (emigrated to Indians in 1842), John D., Elizabeth, Yost, David, Fannie, Polly, Samuel and Rachel. These were the children by his first wife. After her desth he married Miss Catherine Yoder, who bore him two children, Lucy A. and Levi. In 1842 Mr. Lehman decided to leave the spot where hia ancestors had resided so many years, and seek his fortune in the far West. He came to Indiana, settled in Newbury township, La Grange county, and purchased a farm of forty acres, to which he added from time to time until he owned 120 acres, part of which he cleared from the woods. In 1853 he sold this land for $1,800, and bought farther east in the same township 240 acres, on which there was a saw-mill. For this prop- erty he paid $2,100. He improved the mill, cleared off the land and made a good home. His entire life was spent in hard labor on the farm, and at the time of his desth he left about $30,000 to his children. He was a man highly esteemed for his many excellent traits of character, and had a host of warm friends. He died when sixty-three years of age. He and Mrs. Lehman were consistent mem- bers of the Amish Church. Their son, John D. Lehman, like the majority of farmer boys, assisted his father in cultivating the soil and attended the common achools. In addition he also assisted his father in the mill, and thus at an early age became familiar with hard labor. After reaching years of discretion he married Miss Bsr- bara Miller, daughter of James F. and Catherine (Miller) Miller, and to this union were born seven children, two of whom are living: Mary and Fannie. Catherine died at the age of sixteen years, Jason died at the age of fourteen years, and others died young. Soon after his marriage Mr. Lehman settled on eighty acres of land in La Grange county, finisbed clearing it, and at the end of six years moved to York township, Elkhart county, where he bought 120 acres of land. On this he resided for three years, and in 1874 he came to Clinton township, where he bought 100 acres partly clesred. This he finished clesring, and in 1885 he built a tile factory on his land, and a saw-mill, in which he has invested nearly $3,000. He is doing a success- ful business, makes a good quality of tile, and during the winter of 1891-2 he sawed 70,000 fest of lumber. He is an active man, and is classed among the best citizens of the county.

ROBERT H. WEAMER, editor and publisher of the Bristol Banner, was born in In- diana county, Penn., April 23, 1839. In 1857 he began an apprenticeship in a printing office at Napoleon, Henry Co., Ohio, owned by his brother, George W. Weamer. On June 6, 1861, he enlisted for service in the United States army in the Civil war. His command was first assigned to duty in the Kenawhs Valley, in West Virginia, but was transferred to Tennessee in time to engage in the battle of Shiloh and in other later engagements. November 10, 1864, he married Elvira, daughter of William and Lonise Gregg, of Urbana, Ohio. They have had four children, three of whom, William L., Sadie B., and Mary Mande, are living, the other, also named William L., having died at Angola, Ind., in 1869. Mr. Weamer has been a publisher for twenty eight years, and during that time has published the

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following named papers: The Republican, at Cardington, Ohio, in 1865; the Repub- lican, with J. A. Myrtle as partner, at Angola, Ind., in 1874; established the Lively Times at Angola, Iod., the same year, and a year later removed it to Butler, De Kalb Co., Ind., and there merged it into the Butler Times; established and pub- lished the Republican, at Anburn, Ind., for six years; leased the Butler Record at Butler, Ind., and published it in 1880; in 1881 established the Review at Butler, Ind., and published it until the fall of 1884. Relinquishing the newspaper business, he for four years conducted a hotel at Butler, until November 10, 1888, when he came to Bristol, where he began the publication of the Bristol Banner. The Banner is one of the spiciest, newsiest, best printed and altogether most at- tractive local papers published in this part of the State, and it has been influential in aiding all of the material interests of Butler and its surrounding country. Polit- ically Mr. Weamer is a Republican, religiously a Methodist. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Knights of Pythias, and is in every way one of Bristol's most progressive, enterprising and useful citizens.

ABRAHAM WELDY, who came to Elkhart county, Ind., in 1851, like many of the representative citizens of the county, is a native Ohioan, born in Tuscarawas county, January 3, 1827. He is a aon of John and Anna (Kitch) Weldy, and the grandson of Abraham and Elizabeth (Overholt) Weldy, both natives of the Keystone State, the grandfather born in Westmoreland and the grandmother in Bucka county. Abraham Weldy and family moved to Ohio in 1812 and settled in Tuscarawas county, where he followed farming, the old homestead being now in the hands of one of the Bons. He was the father of ten children, as follows: Martin, John, Abraham, Christian, Elizabeth, Esther, Anna, Sally, Jacob, and one died young. Of these only two are living at the present, Sally and Jacob. All died in Ohio but Abra- ham, John, Elizabeth, Christian and Anna who died in the Hoosier State. The father and mother of these children lived to be aged people, and the father was a bishop in the Mennonite Church, as well as a prominent farmer. His son, John Weldy, father of our subject, was a native of Westmoreland county, Penn., born in 1798, and was twelve years of age when his parents moved to Ohio. They were among the first settlers of that State, entered land, and were prominently identified with the early history of Tuscarawas county. John was reared amid rude sur- roundings, and after his marriage to Miss Kitch, settled on a farm in Holmes county, Ohio, where he remained until 1851. At that date he came to Indiana, and made his home in this State until his death, May 7, 1871. He was a life-long member of the Mennonite Church and a good man. He became quite wealthy and was a progressive and much-esteemed citizen. His wife was born in Cumberland county, Penn., and the daughter of Martin Kitch, who was among the early settlers of Ohio. Mrs. Weldy died in 1874. She was the eldest of these children: Anna, Barbara, Susan, John, Martin, Jacob, Rebecca, Sarah. Elizabeth and Keziah. Her father was a farmer, but also followed the blacksmith's trade. He was ninety-three years of age at the time of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Weldy were the parents of the following chil- dren, seven of whom reached mature years: Abraham (subject); Elizabeth, the wife of John Barkey, of Madison township, St. Joseph county, has one child (Levi W., who is married and the father of a child, Elmer); Martin, died when eleven years of age; Rebecca also died at the age of eleven years; Susan married Christian Shaum and resides near Wakarusa; Anna died when two years of age; Rachael also died when young; Esther, deceased, was the wife of John Shrock, of St. Joseph county; Keziah, deceased, was the wife of Enoch Eby; John, residing on a farm in Locke township, and Jacob, also on a farm in Locke township. Abraham Weldy grew to manhood on his father's farm in Ohio, and was married there June 21, 1849, to Miaa Nancy Yoder, a daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Holdeman) Yoder. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder were born in Pennsylvania, and the former was the son of John Yoder. Mrs. Yoder was the daughter of Christian Holdeman, and both families were early pio- neers in Columbiana county, Ohio. Mrs. Weldy's parents were married in Ohio, and

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five children were the fruits of this union: John, & farmer and tile man, residing in Elkhart county; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Smeltzer, of Olive township, Elkhart county; Nancy and Jacob (twins); Nancy is the wife of our subject and Jacob is a farmer of Harrison township, and Samuel, a minister of the Mennonite Church, is living in the city of Elkhart. The father of these children died in Ohio when the family was small, and she took for her second husband Jacob Freed, with whom she emigrated to Elkhart county. She became the mother of four children by this union: Catherine, who married Jacob Loucks, resides in Olive township, this coun- ty; Mary married Anthony Wisler, and they reside in Harper county, Kan .; Joseph was a soldier, and died in a hospital at Jeffersonville, Ind., and Christine, who married Joseph Landis and resides in Locke township. The mother of these childrendied in Elkhart county, June 23, 1887, and her second husband died in the same county in 1869. To our subject and wife were born thirteen children, eleven of whom grew to mature years, but only ten are now living: Elizabeth, wife of Peter Blosser, of Missouri, is the mother of these children; Levi, Samuel, Bar- bara, Anna, Henry, Della, Lavina and John. Anna married Peter S. Hartman, of Locke township, and they have nine children: Aaron, William, Martha, Amoe, Amanda, John, Emma, Mary and Abraham. Margaret, the third child born to our subject, married Henry Clay, and they reared six children: Martha, Nancy, Eva, Clara, Rhoda and Dora; three children were deceased, Cassine, Emma, and one not named. Mr. and Mrs. Clay are both deceased, dying only three days apart; Sarah, fourth child born to subject, married Valentine Hartman and has seven children: Clara A., Dora J., Leander, Harvey, Sylvester, Irwin and Phoebe A .; Mr. and Mrs. Hartman reside in St. Joseph county. Jacob married Hannah Null and they have seven children: Mary. Leander, Alma, Martha, Timothy, Irwin and Sylvester; the parents of these children reside in St. Joseph county. John married Miss Nettie Salsbury and four children were given them: Della, Alma, Ernest and Loyd; he and wife reside in St. Joseph county. Joseph is a farmer of St. Joseph county. Henry married Miss Alma Dolman, who bore bim four children: Sarah J., Emma, Clara A., and Noah A .; he and wife reside in Locke township, this county. Henry is a minister of the Mennonite Church. Levi resides at home with his parents, married Miss Alice Madlem. Emma married Samuel Madlem, and they have one child Levi A. Amos resides at home. Onr subject and wife settled on the farm where they now live in 1851, and although they experienced many hardships, they are now substantial and respected citizens of the county. They are interested in all good work, especially schools and churches. Mr. Weldy has held a number of township offices, was township clerk in 1852-3 and has always been interested in the affairs of the county. He is with the Republican party in politics. Mr Weldly is now the owner of 291 acres of land and has assisted his children to a start in 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 85

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

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