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 94

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 94
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 94

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PICTORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL

least. From that time on, until 1844, his energy and desire to please those with whom he had business relations secured him steady employment, but at the end of that time he wisely decided to engage in business on his own account and he accord- ingly opened a mercantile establishment at Wylands Mills (now called New Paris Mille), where he remained successfully employed for two years, at the end of which time he moved his stock to Goshen and there continued to be one of the foremost merchants until 1851. In 1848 his many acceptable qualities won him the position of county commissioner, in discharging the dnties of which he made an enviable record for himself and in 1850 his numerous friends showed their appreciation of bis worth by electing him their representative in the legislative halls of the State, where his record for efficiency and interest in the affairs of his section won him the hearty ap- proval of his constituents. On June 12, 1850, he was united in marriage to Miss Olive E. Francisco, daughter to Jobn and Anna Francisco, of Naples, Ontario Co., N. Y. Mrs. Mercer was born January 28, 1832, and her union with Mr. Mercer has resulted in the birth of five children, three of whom are living: Arthur L., Lettie H. and Hervey V .; Anna Mary died September 18, 1852, and Henry F. died March 19, 1874. Having purchased a farm north of the town, he at once turned his attention to improving it and during the time that he resided, on it, from 1854 to 1878, he erected thereon some fine buildings, good fences and improved it in such a manner that it was justly regarded as one of the most valuable farms of the size in the county. In 1856 he was again elected to the State Legislature, discharging his duties with his former intelligence and energy. In 1858 he bought the controll- ing interest in the Bank of Goshen, assumed the management of the same, and when the National Bank was chartered, he connected it with the Bank of Goshen, under the name of the First National Bank of Goshen, but when Congress passed the act demonetizing silver Mr. Mercer gave notice that the bank would close up its affairs. Although his early opportunities for acquiring an education were of the most mesger description, he possessed a naturally brilliant mind, and had the pluck, keen fore- sight and penetration to make the most of every opportunity that came in his way, and his efforts were rewarded in the accumulation of a large amount of property, which he had the satisfaction of knowing was obtained by honest efforts in- stead of any fraudulent means whatsoever. He has been an extensive and varied reader and has always been a liberal supporter of enterprises that have recom- mended themselves to his excellent judgment, and has been a potent factor in bring- ing them to a successful issue. He was president of the company that constructed the water power at Goshen.

EBENEZER M. CHAMBERLAIN, ex-judge and congressman,' was born in Orrington, Penobscot Co., Me., August 20, 1805. His early education was limited to such as he could obtain in the common schools, during the winter months, when his labor on the farm was not required for the support of his father's family. At six- teen he left the farm and worked in a ship-yard for six years; but, in accordance with the New England custom, his father received his earnings until the day of his majority. After this auspicious epoch he continued his labors at the ship-yard, and in a short time saved a fund large enongh to enable him to spend six months at an academy. After this be studied law in the office of Elisha H. Allen, Esq., of Ban- gor, for three years, and taught school to earn the necessaries of life. In 1831, while a law student, young Chamberlain achieved prominence in the debates of the Sunday mail question which engrossed the public attention at that time. So able were his arguments against its prohibition, before the Forsenic Club, that those who favored his views printed them in pamphlet form and circulated them extensively. The laws of Maine requiring seven years' preliminary study before admission to the bar, Mr. Chamberlain, on account of limited means, determined to emigrate to the more promising West. In June, 1832, with but a few dollars, the proceeds of the previous winler's school, he set his face, solitary, yet hopeful, for Indiana, and arrived in Fayette county a month later. After a short spell at school, teaching to

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replenish his treasury, he entered the law office of Samuel W. Parke, Esq., of Con- nersville, and August 9, 1833, was admitted to the bar. A few months later he removed to Elkhart county and practiced his profession. In 1835 he was elected representative in the Legislature from northern Indiana, a district nearly one-fifth of the entire State. Mr. Chamberlain, was, on November 28, 1838, united in marriage to Phebe Ann, daughter of Amasa Hascall, Esq., of Le Roy, New York. In 1839 he was elected to the State Senate for a three-years term, and took rank as one of the leaders of the Democratic party. His famous address on the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, delivered before the Democratic State Convention in 1841, exemplified before the people his strength and eloquence, and thereafter his polit- ical preferment was rapid and continuous. In 1842 he was elected by the legisla- ture prosecuting attorney of the Ninth Judicial District, and a year later presiding judge of the same district. At the expiration of his term in 1851 he was re-elected without opposition. So clear was the justice he gave out impartially to all that, when adverse criticism appeared in the Whig press, the entire bar in attendance at court nuited in a letter to Judge Chamberlain testifying to the "creditable, digni- fied, courteous and satisfactory" manner in which he discharged the duties of his high office. The associate judges, both Whigs, added their written encomiums of praise to the same effect. During the nine years he remained on the bench Judge Cham- berlain retained the respect and esteem of the bar and people. The high regard of his party is illustrated by the frequent honors bestowed on him. In 1844 he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In 1848 he was one of the sena- torial candidates for presidential elector and aided in giving the vote of the State to General Cass. In 1851 he resigned the judgeship to accept the nomination for Congress, which his party had made in the reorganized Tenth District. Congress- man Brenton was a candidate for re-election, but notwithstanding the fact that he had received a majority of about three hundred votes at the first contest, was so far outclassed by Judge Chamberlain's popularity and eloquence, that our subject was elected by many a thousand majority.

SIMON YENN is one of the prominent and self-made men of St. Joseph county, Ind, whose conduct in business matters and in the discharge of the duties belonging to the various relations of life, have brought him into prominent notice and has resulted in his being elected to the responsible position of connty treasurer of St. Joseph county on the Democrat ticket. He comes from worthy German stock, for his grandfather, Theobald Yenn, was a native of Alsace-Lorraine, and throughout life followed the calling of a mason. His son, Theobald, the father of Simon Yenn, was born in that country also, January 21, 1813, being the date of his birth. After receiving a good education in the common schools of his native land, he learned the mason's trade of his father, and eventually became a contractor. He was married to Miss Christina Greewey, and to them a family of eight children was given: Casimer, who died in infancy; Simon; Christina was Mrs. Peter Weber, who died in America; Agnes, who was born in Alsace, is the deceased wife of John Gooley; Edward, who died in infancy; Cecilia, born in Stark county, Ohio, married to Daniel Pealy and lives on part of the old homestead in St. Joseph county; another one (Edward) died in Stark county, at the age of four years. In 1845 Mr. Yenn crossed the ocean to America, and after resid- ing in Canton, Ohio, for one year, he purchased land in Stark county, on which he made his home until the spring of 1864, when he came to St. Joseph county, Ind., and purchased a farm of 120 acres in Green township. For three years before his death, which occurred October 20, 1891, he lived with his son Simon. He was a man of great energy and industry and became a substantial and well-to-do citizen through his own earnest efforts. In his religious views he was a Catholic, and polit- ically always gave his support to the Democratic party. Simon Yenn was also born in Alsace- Lorraine, May 11, 1840, and ever since his fourth year has been a subject of Uncle Sam, having come to the " land of the free" at that time. As soon as old

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enough he was placed in the public schools, and possessing s bright mind and a retentive memory he made rapid progress in his studies and eventnally taught school for two years in Stark county, Ohio. He was also married there, September 23, 1862, to Josephine, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Pohl) Roth, the former of whom was a German by birth, but at that time a successful farmer of Stark county, Ohio, and later of St. Joseph county, Ind., becoming & resident of this section in 1862. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Yenn has resulted in the birth of the following children: Simon M., Mary J., Hattie E., Clara C., William H. and Francis J. (twins), George, August B. and Augusta G. (twins), the latter dying st the age of six months. In 1863 Mr. Yenn came to Mishawaka, driving & team for John Wagner, and afterward managed the farm of his father for four years. Since the spring of 1868 he has been s resident of Mishawsks, and in the same fall estab- lished his present store, which he has conducted in a most satisfactory and suc- cessful manner. He has hosts of friends in consequence of his ability and integrity, justly merits the abundant success that has attended his well-directed efforts, snd has spared no pains to please and satisfy each and every one of his pstrons. He and his wife are members of the Catholic Church, sud he is a Democrat politically, by which party he has been elected to the position of town trustee of Mishswska four terms. He has ever been s patron of education, and has given his children good advantages. His son, Simon M., attended Canisius College at Buffalo, N. Y., and the Propaganda in Rome, Italy, and has been located as priest at Goshen, Ind., for the past three years; William H. is attending the same institution after one year's attendance at Notre Dame, Ind .; Mary J., married Angust Hoerstmann, a music teacher and organist, by whom she has two children; Hattie E. married John Herzog, who clerks in his father's shoe store in Mishawaks snd is also city clerk. Three sons assist Mr. Yenn in his store: Frank, George and August; Mary, Hattie and Willism have clerked in the postoffice at different times, and the entire members of the family are intelligent and enterprising. Mr. Yenn is now hold- ing the office of county tressurer.

NICHOLAS INBODY. In the early settlement of the State of Indiana, especially in the settlement of Elkhart county, Mr. Inbody was closely identified with its material affairs and was associated with its progress and development. He comes of good old colonial stock, for his grandfather came from Germany and settled in Virginia prior to the Revolution, and in the Old Dominion he reared his family. There it was that Matthias Inbody, the father of the subject of this sketch first saw the light of day and there it was that he sttained mature years, received his education, and in time married Catherine Frees, by whom he became the father of a good old-fash- ioned family of eleven children: Polle, John, Benjamin, Joseph, George, Margaret, Eliza, Julia A., Nicholas, Catherine and Elizabeth. Mr. Inbody's first settlement after his marriage was in Hocking county, Ohio. where he was one of the pioneers and here he cleared up a farm and lived until 1836, when he came to Elkhart county, Ind., and settled on the west side of the river from Goshen, where he opened a shop for the mending of plows and wagons, having followed this business in Ohio, near Logan, and this was the first plow and wagon shop in the county. He formerly made the old-fashioned wooden mold-board plow, obtaining the board from a twisted tree, on which he riveted an iron share, but after coming to Indiana only made a few of these implements, the most of his attention being devoted to the manufacture of the famous "Pocock plow," which was made of steel and iron and was much thought of among the farmers and obtained a wide and favorable reputa- tion. He followed this occupation for many years and died in 1870 at the age of seventy tivo years. He and his wife were members of the Lutheran Church, and were in very good financial circumstances, owning a good farm of 120 acres. Nicholas Inbody, their son, was born in Hocking county, Ohio, May 7, 1820, and in hia youth not only learned the details of agriculture, but also the carpenter's trade. He was fifteen years of age when he came with his father to this State and county,

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having prior to that time obtained a limited common-school education. In Decem- ber, 1845, at the age of twenty-seven years, he was married to Hannah Paulus, a danghter of David and Margaret (Wagoner) Paulus, and to them four children were given: Elizabeth, Chauncy, Allen and John M. After his marriage Mr. Inbody livedin Goshen until 1847, when he settled on eighty acres and began his career as a farmer, and by thrift and industry has added to this purchase until he is now the owner of 108 acres of fine farming land, which is in a good state of cultivation and is a well-improved tract of land in the way of fences, buildings, etc. His first eighty acres were heavily covered with timber, but this Mr. Inbody clesred with his own hands, built a little log cabin and continued his labors uninterruptedly until he had a good farm. Farm labor, although hard, has always been congenial to him, and this may be clearly proven in looking over his farm, which is a model of neatness and comfort. He and his wife are members of the German Baptist Church, and he stands high as s good citizen and an honest man. He is in favor of progression in all directions, is public spirited and the cause of education has ever found in him a hearty supporter, as also have all moral and religions measures. Politically he is a Democrat, but is in no sense of the term a political aspirant. His danghter Eliza- beth married John J. Cripe, a farmer of Harrison township, and has five children: Chauncy, married Mary Rizzle, is a farmer of the township and has two children; Allen is farming the home place, is married to Caroline Michael and has one child, and John M. also tilla the home farm and is married to Lizzie Riley.

JOHN McNAUGHTON, who is a prominent capitalist and real estate owner of Elk- hart, Ind., was born in Campbeltown, Argyleshire, Scotland, October 20, 1828. His parents, Donald and Jane (Matheson) McNaughton, were descended from old High- land Scotch families. His mother died in Scotland in 1833, and in 1836 his father moved with his children to Chatham, Upper Canada, where they resided on a farm until his death in 1838, after which the family removed to Detroit, Mich. The fam- ily consisted of Neil, who died in Goshen, Ind .; Mary (Stewart), who died in De- troit, Mich. ; Ann (McCormick), now living in Detroit, Mich .; Jane died at St. Cath- erine, Canada; Donald died at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1891; John, the subject of this sketch, and Barbara now living in Detroit, Mich. After the father's death the fam- ily took up their residence at Detroit. John, at that time about ten or eleven years of age, went to Niles, Mich., where he had a home with his married sister, Margaret, with whom he afterward removed to South Bend, Ind., and from there to Gosben, where he acquired a good common-school education and graduated with honor from the primitive educational institution of that embryo city. In 1851 he became a resi- dent of Elkhart and embarked in mercantile business where he successfully conducted general store for fifteen years. At the breaking out of the war in 1861, he was in New York purchasing goods, and taking advantage of the panicky and demoralized condition of the markets he purchased very heavily, foreseeing the inevitable advance in prices, thus illustrating the far-seeing business sagacity which has marked all his investments. In 1865 he retired from mercantile business, and the next year, in connection with John Davenport, B. L. Davenport, A. S. Davenport, J. R. Beards- ley, S. S. Strong, Samuel Hoke, A. P. Simonton and William Proctor, organized the Elkhart Hydraulic Company, and the close of the year witnessed the completion of the finest water power in northern Indiana, which still stands as a monument to its enterprising builders, and was the foundation from which the manufacturing indus- tries of this enterprising city have grown. Of late years Mr. McNaughton has devoted attention mainly to real estate, making his investments with that foresight which is characteristic of him. He now holds much valuable and desirable business and resi- dence property from which he has a handsome income. He was one of the original owners and promoters of the Electric Railway Company, of which company he is vice-president. This enterprise, while not in itself a great financial success, has been one of the chief factors in the growth of the city. In addition to his invest- ments in city real estate, Mr. McNaughton and Mr. John Cook, who have been inti-

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mate friends for forty years, have a fine farm of 3, 411 acres about two miles west of the city on the St. Joseph River, where they spend a good share of their time, more for pleasure than for profit. In 1853 Mr. McNaughton was married to Miss Jane A. Hiller, a native of New York, and daughter of William Hiller. Her death oc- curred August 31, 1854, and in October, 1858, he took for his second wife Mies Laura E. Davenport, a native of Elkhart county, and daughter of John Davenport. From this union two children were born, both of whom unfortunately died in infancy, and Mrs. McNaughton survived them but a short time, dying September 17, 1861. His political affiliation has always been with the Democratic party, but he bas never been an active politician.

DR. H. J. BEYERLE. As a distinguished physician, Dr. Beyerle has done much for the cause of suffering humanity, and won honor and the evidences of deserved suc- cess for himself. While engaged in the cares of his laborious profession. he has not forgotten to fulfill all the demands of good citizenship, and no enterprise of a worthy public nature bas appealed to him in vain for support. He was born in Berks county, Penn., June 4, 1823, and picked up the rudiments of his education in the subscription school, which was conducted about three months during the year. In 1837, at the age of fourteen years, he was one of two persons, the other being an elderly gentleman of the name of William Runkel, to organize the first Sunday- school in the village of Bernville, Berks Co., Penn. ; the first one for that matter in that section of the country. He was the chorister, while Mr. Runkel performed the devotional exercises, the two constituting the teachers of the school. About that sime Mr. Beyerle began clerking in a country store, which occupation received his attention for nearly four years, at the end of which time his broad, liberal and kindly nature turned instinctively to that relief of human suffering-medicine-for his life work, and he began his studies, also teaching school a part of the time. After attending two courses of medical lectures in Philadelphia, he received the degree of M. D. from the Philadelphia College of Medicine in 1851, after which he followed his profession in several different towns in his native State, taking up his residence in Indiana in 1856. After spending a few months in Goshen, he opened an office at Syracuse, Kosciusko Co., Ind., but shortly after he moved to a farm near that town. In 1862 he was elected a member of the State Legislature. The year following this be moved to Leesburg, and in 1865 came back to Goshen, of which place he has since been a resident. In his earlier years Dr. Beyerle devoted much of his time to liter- ature, contributing to various papers in Philadelphia, and also to Peterson's Mag- azine and Go ley's Lady Book in the same city, and to the International Magazine of New York, his articles being in both prose and poetry, and he also wrote some inter- esting reports of medical cases for the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical Journal. Upon settling in Goshen in 1865 he engaged in the drug business, but about the year 1870 he was chosen as manager of the Goshen Manufacturing Company, of which he was the leading stockholder. The company had a foundry and machine shops, engaged in the manufacture of reapers and other machinery, and largely in the manufacture of extension tables, and this was the first concern of the kind in the West to ship the goods largely to different parts of the country, from New York to California, also north into Canada, and sonth as far as Tennessee and South Carolina. This business proved such a success, that various other enterprises of the kind were started, and it soon became one of the leading industries of the county. In the spring of 1877, be purchased a half interest in the Goshen Times, and in August, 1880 became sole proprietor and editor. Since that time two of his sons have also acquired an interest in the paper. Dr. Beyerle has been a useful member of society, and has served the people in the capacity of city councilman four years, and two efficient terms as a member of the school board. Iu 1880 he was a contingent pres- idential elector on the Republican ticket for the Thirteenth Congressional District, and at all times has supported and advocated his party's interests by every means in his power. He has been married three times, first to Miss Lydia Bicksler of Fredericks-

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burg, Penn., in 1844 wbo died in 1862, after which he wedded Miss Amelia Shull of Montpelier, Ind., in 1863, and after her death in 1877, to Miss M. Ellen Taney- hill of Bryan, Ohio. Of his children four are living: A. Ramsey, one of the editors of the Times; Daniel B., a traveling salesman; Lincoln H., the postmaster of Go- shen, and Edyth J. The first two were born in Pennsylvania, and the last two in In- diana.

THOMAS MILLER. The career of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch is but another evidence of what can be accomplished by those of foreign birth who seek a home and fortune ou the free soil of America. He possesses the push, energy and enterprise for which his countrymen are noted, and as a natural consequence he has been succesful in the accumulation of means, and has won a reputation for honesty and fair dealing that is in every respect justly merited. He was born in the king- dom of Wurtemberg, Germany, December 19, 1818, his parents being Frederick and Margaret A. (Kling) Miller, who were also natives of Wurtemberg, the life of the father being spent in tilling the soil, in which he was reasonably successful. One of his brothers was a soldier under the great Napoleon, and lost his life during the Rus- sian campaign. Frederick Miller was for some time in the mail service of the Ger- man Government, but in 1831 became dissatisfied with his life and prospects in the land of his birth, and with his family crossed the Atlantic to the United States, and made a location at Lancaster, Penn., where he remained until 1833, a portion of the time being spent in tilling the soil. Belleville, Richland Co., Ohio, became his home, two brothers of Mrs. Miller having preceded him thither, and here the family remained three years longer. The year of 1835 Adam Kling, a brother of Mrs. Miller, had come to Indiana, and returned to Ohio with such glowing accounts of the country that it was sufficient to induce the Millers to return with him to this State in 1836, the journey being made with ox teams, driving other cattle which they expected to sell and with the proceeds purchase land. After their arrival they could not dispose of their stock, owing to the fact that all kinds of grain brought a very high price, corn being $1 a bushel, wheat $2 a bushel, pork 12} cents a pound and salt $10 per barrel. To use a homely phrase, the stock had " eaten their heads off " by spring. So, after they had paid their debts in the spring, the family had but little to live on, and they for some time found it a hard matter to keep the wolf from the door. Although they had intended to give their attention to farming they had no money to do so, and after the heavy expenses of the winter were paid they found themselves almost stranded financially. They purchased a lot, on which a small log house had been erected, at the southeast corner of what is now North Fifth and Clinton streets, and here they for a long period had a hard struggle for existence, and their accumulated troubles and hardships at last culminated in the death of the head of the family in 1838. The widow and her children were then left in destitute circumstances, to "sink or swim " as best they could, and, although their struggles were unceasing, they barely kept their heads above water for some time. At the time of Mr. Miller's death the family consisted of the widow and two sons, an elder son, Jacob, being a man of family. who did not come to Indiana for some time after the father's death. Thomas Miller nobly did his part in the support of the family, and with the help of his mother they paid the mortgage on their lot, and were in time well supplied with all the necessaries and many of the comforts which make the wheels of existence run smoothly. In 1862, at the age of seventy-two years, in Goshen, the mother paid the last debt of nature and was called to the life beyond. Owing to the straitened condition of their finances, and to the fact that his time and strength were devoted to the interests of the family, the educational advantages of Thomas Miller were quite limited, but he possessed the natural shrewdness and good business judgment of the native German, and made the most of every oppor- tunity that presented itself for the bettering of his financial condition. On July 29, 1841 he was married to Miss Susanna Ullery, who was born in Ohio, in which State her father, Jacob Ullery, was called from life, her mother afterward marrying Jacob

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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 94

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

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