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 95

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 95
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 95

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Studebaker, and in 1830 moved with him to Elkhart county, Ind., settling on the Elkhart River, about one and a half miles south of where Goshen now is. Mrs. Miller came with her mother and step-father to Indiana, and amid the rude surround- ings of a pioneer farm she grew to intelligent and noble womanhood. After his mar- riage Mr. Miller purchased fifty acres of wild land, and as their means were limited they were compelled to labor early and late and endure many privations. To their union seven children were given: Margaret A., wife of John E. Ogle; Sophia, who is now deceased, was the wife of James Bradugum; Caroline is the wife of George Simpson, and resides in Iowa; Mary, who is deceased, was the wife of Henry R. Stutsman; Sarah is the wife of Charles C. Miller; Lydia is the wife of George W. Miller, and Franklin T. is married and resides in Goshen. The mother of these children was called from life June 21, 1854, at which time the eldest of her seven children was eleven years of age and the youngest eleven days. She was a member of the German Baptist Church, and a most worthy woman in every respect, being a model wife, mother, friend and neighbor. From a humble beginning he has risen · to honorable citizenship, is one of the solid men of Goshen, and a man who enjoys the esteem of both old and young. He has grown gray in the upbuilding of the city of his adoption, and has also grown wealthy, being the owner of 200 acres of fine land in Elkhart county and valnable property in Goshen, being a stockbolder in the City National Bank. He is a Democrat from convictions and not from policy, but is broad and liberal in his views, and has been entrusted with public office and pub- lic funds many times, and has never been found wanting. He has administered on many estates, he being almost equal with a probate court, and probably no private individual's name appears more frequently in the archives of the county govern- ment. He is a member of the Masonic order and treasurer of Goshen Lodge, No. 12. BENJAMIN CRIPE, one of the pioneer settlers of Elkhart township, Elkhart Co., Ind., comes of Pennsylvania Dutch stock, or what is considered so, although his GREAT grandfather, Jacob Cripe, came from Germany. Daniel Cripe, son of Jacob, and ANDFATHER the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Somerset county, Penn., but in early life became a resident of Montgomery county, Ohio, and for some years resided in the vicinity of Dayton. In early life he united fortunes with Madeline Miller, and in due course of time the following family gathered about their hearthstone: Benjamin, Samuel, Daniel, John, Emanuel, Betsy, Susan, Kate and Polly. In 1829 Daniel Cripe settled on Elkbart Prairie. His son Emanuel Cripe, who has attained to the advanced age of eighty-six years, came to this section with his father, driving a team which hauled the household goods thither. When Daniel Cripe settled in this section, the land had not yet been opened for settlement, and the Indians, who were plentiful but not warlike, used often to come to his home. He made a good farm of 200 acres on the prairie, and was the first man to preach the gospel of the Dunkard Church in northern Indiana. Throughout life he used the German lan- gunge, and attained to the patriarchal age of eighty-eight years. Daniel Cripe, father of Benjamin, was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, near Dayton, and was married to Sarah, daughter of Daniel and Susaa (Miller) Ulery, to which union the following children were given: Lydia, Benjamin, Susan, Hannah, Elizabeth, Samuel (who died in childhood), Emanuel, Mary and Catherine. The three eldest children were born in Montgomery county, Obio. In the fall of 1830 Daniel Cripe moved with his family to Elkhart county, Ind., and settled one mile sonth of Goshen, where he soon after entered 240 acres of land in Elkhart township, west of the river, where the farm of Joseph Yoder now lies. Daniel lived on his father's farm until 1839, then on the land west of the river, and with the help of his sons cleared up a farm from the timber which covered it, and lived here the rest of his life, dying when over four-score years of age, on December 25, 1885. He was born May 29, 1805; was a hard worker throughout his long life, and did his part toward bringing the county to its present state of civilization. Ha reared his children to honorable manhood and womanhood, and under the protecting wing of the Duokard Church, of which

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he was a devout member the greater part of his life. He was successful as a tiller of the soil and was the owner of over 400 acres of land, which he acquired by energy and thrift, characteristics which heinherited from his worthy German ancestors. At the time of his death he had sixty-three grandchildren and ninety-three great-grand- children. Benjamin Cripe, his son, was born on his father's farm in Montgomery county, August 23, 1827, and was but three years of age when brought by his parents to Indiana, and in the old pioneer schools of this section he received some schooling, but the principal part of his early life was spent in following the plow and in assisting his father to clear the land, the trees being split into rails for fences. In this rough yet useful school he grew to manhood, and was then united in mar- riage to Catherine, daughter of Matthias and Catherine (Freese) Inbody, the former of whom was a Virginian and the first plow and wagon-maker in the county. He made the famons "Peacock " plow, which was well known to old settlers. To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Cripe have been born six children who have lived: Nannah, Catherine, Daniel, Susan, Emanuel and Hiram. After his marriage Mr. Cripe settled west of Goshen about a mile and a half, on eighty acres of land which his father gave him and which was in the timber. This land he cleared by hard work, and he gradually increased it until he now owns 200 acres of land. Mrs. Cripe is a member of the Dunkard Church, and politically Mr. Cripe is a Democrat. He has taken an active interest in educational affairs, and has been school director of his district. He now owns a good tract of 180 acres and is living in the enjoyment of the fruits of his early labors.

URIAH CHANDLER, Mishawaka, Ind. The bustling towns, thriving villages and cultivated farms of St. Joseph county, Ind., have so long been common objects to our sight, that it seems almost beyond belief that we have in our midst an honored citizen who was one of those hardy pioneers who saw this county when it was a primeval wilderness. At that time there were no settlements within its bounds except the tents of two Indian traders at South Bend and the rude wigwams of the Pottawattomie Indians. The name of this resident is Uriah Chandler, a descendant of English stock. His grandfather, Daniel Chandler, was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war and fought the British at the battle of Bunker Hill. Later he became a pioneer of Kentucky and was a contemporary of Daniel Boone. Of his origin there is little known except that he came from the State of South Carolina, where he followed the trade of wheelwright, removing from there to Owen county, Ky., where he lived for some years and later came to Jennings county, Ind., where he died at the age of seventy-tive or eighty years. He was the father of Braddock, Edward, George, William, Lucy, Elizabeth, Polly and Susan. Braddock Chandler, the father of our subject, was born in South Carolina about 1788, and went with his father to Kentucky when he was a young man, and there became an overseer on the estate of the great Kentucky statesman, Henry Clay. He married and was the father of nine children, as follows: Uriah, Fannie, Nancy, Sarah, John, Henry, William, Alfred and Mary. Braddock Chandler was a soldier in the War of 1812, fought with Gen. Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe and became acquainted with the Indiana country. Soon after the war he made several trips to this part of Indiana. On October 2, 1829, he arrived with his family at La Porte, and here he remained until the next spring, and in 1830 moved to South Bend, where he lived for two years. About 1832 he settled in Penn township, and here he cleared up a small farm from the forest, but in 1850 he went to California, crossing the great plains. In 1851 he returned to this county, where he died the next January, at the age of sixty-two years. He was one of the original pioneer settlers of this county, living here when the Pottawattomie Indians were the principal occupants. He was a great hunter, and many deer, bears and wolves fell before the unerring aim of his rifle. In Kentucky be had many adventures with the Indians, but in Indiana, after the war was over, be had no further trouble. He was a typical American pioneer hunter and trapper. Physically he was a large, powerful man and had more edo-

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cation than was usual with men of his class, as he could " figure as far as the double rule of three." Originally he was a member of the Free-Will Baptist Church, but in Indiana he and wife became members of the Methodist Church. The most of the old-time American pioneers have passed away. They were sturdy and fearless, inured to toil and privation and possessing an adventurous turn of mind, they were perpetually on the frontiers, leaving the scattered settlements in search of still newer countries, where they could still find game in plenty and homes where they would be untrammeled by the restraints of civilization. These men were the founders of new States, subdued the savage tribes, conquered the still more savage wilderness, reared their humble cabins and turned the virgin soil with their plowshares. The smoke from the chimney of their humble cabins was often the only guide through the wilderness to their clearings, but around their huge fireplaces, large families of healthy, happy children were gathered and these became the parents of the sons and daughters who now are the leading spirits in American civilization. Uriah Chandler was born August 16, 1816, on the Henry Clay estate, Ky., where his father was an overseer. He had no opportunity for gaining an education and at the age of thirteen years came to Indiana with his father, arriving as before stated, October 2, 1829. He then hired his time of his father until he was twenty- one years of age and engaged as an ox teamster at a saw-mill which was located two miles east of Michigan City, continuing in this employment for two years. During the first year he was sent to mill at Fort Wayne, Ind., a distance of over one hundred miles through a trackless wilderness, if we may except the Indian paths extend- ing from point to point. Uriah was then but a little past fourteen years old and drove four yoke of oxen hitched to an enormous wagon, the wheels of which had & tread or width of tire of one foot. The character and trustworthiness of young Uriah is well illustrated by the fact that his employer gave him $125, with which to purchase wheat to have ground at the mill. The wagon and the eight head of oxen of his team were of considerable value. The country swarmed with Indians with whom there were always many white desperadoes, and that so young a lad should have so successfully completed a task franght with so many difficulties, seems remarkable to us of this generation; but in the pioneer days, boys became men while yet in their teens and the old annals of those times are full of instances of undertakings which would now be scarcely attempted by strong men, but were then accomplished by boys, in years. Uriah followed the Indian trails alone until he reached South Bend, thus accomplishing about one third of the journey. At night he would unyoke the cattle and they would browse upon the branches of the trees and the grass by the wayside, this constituting their sole food. After they had eaten sufficiently, they would come back to the wagon, and soon the little party would be sound asleep. At that time Uriah found at South Bend but two white men, Alexis Coquillard and Col. Lathrop M. Taylor, Indian traders. Both of them occupied tents, while the neighboring bottoms were covered with Indian wigwams. When young Uriah drove among them he asked for Col. Taylor, who received him kindly, gave him good advice about agreeing peaceably with the Indians, eating with them whatever they offered, sharing tobacco with them, and in all ways seek- ing to give these dangerous people no cause of offense. That night a wagon came in for furs, and by midnight was loaded ready to return to Fort Wayne. This gave Uriah company for the trip, and he left on his journey at the same time. At Wolf Lake they met a party of Indians and took supper with them, having dog and boiled corn for supper. Being hungry and remembering the advice of Col. Taylor, the visitors eat with a relish. This side of Fort Wayne Uriah bought of a farmer 125 bushels of wheat for 374 cents per bushel. On his arrival at the mill he found many teams ahead of him and was obliged to wait two weeks for bis turn to come in grinding. He returned home safely by the same route, having consumed five weeks on this remarkable journey. He accounted honestly for all of the money with which he had been intrusted, and as his em-

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ployer had expected him to pay $1 per bushel for the wheat, he had con- siderable money left. Two years after this he again drove to mill with four yoke of oxen, this time to the falls of the Kankakee River and returned safely from that trip. For two years he accompanied a surveyor's party in Wisconsin, assisting in the State survey, but later returned to Indiana. He also worked as a boatman on the keel boats which for years were in use on the St. Joseph River, Uriah "push- ing " on these boats for three seasons between Lake Michigan and .Three Rivers. He then engaged in farm work, mostly on Portage Prairie, where he married, just before he was twenty-one years of age, May 5, 1836, Mary, daughter of William Hughes, a farmer and pioneer of St. Joseph county. He remained two years on Portage Prairie and then went to Marshall county, Ind., and two miles from Bremen, entered eighty acres of land in the heavy timber. He remained there but one year, and then came to Mishawaka and assisted in the building of the present dam. Following this came a season of hard labor, chopping wood, teaming, etc., but about 1843 he settled on land in Penn township, consisting of 100 acres of heavy timber. This he cleared and made here a good home, living first in a log honse which he found on the place, later building a comfortable frame house, barns, etc., and there he principally reared bis family. His children are as follows: William B., born March 14, 1838; Elizabeth J., born March 14, 1840; Sarah E., born October 25, 1842; Frances H., born November 20, 1844; Martha, born Octo- ber 6, 1846; John H., born February 23, 1849; Alfred, born January 28, 1851, and Uriah, born August 27, 1853. By industry and thrift Mr. Chandler added to bis farm until he owned 300 acres, and beside this his residence in Mishawaka with one acre surrounding it. He has given his children sixty-seven acres of his land, retain- ing the remainder. Both Mr. and Mrs. Chandler were members of the Methodist Church, and he assisted with his means to build the Methodist Church in Misha- waka and has filled the office of church trustee. Politically our subject is a stanch Republican. At the opening of the Civil war he came into the town, living here for fifteen years, engaged in hauling wheat and flour, but then be returned to his home on the farm, remaining until three years since, when he returned to the town again, as he had retired from farming. Socially he is a member of the I. O. O. F., having been a member of the old St. Joseph Lodge, the first one in Mishawaka. Mrs. Chandler died July 30. 1890. The children are married and settled, as follows: William B. married Alsie Hutchinson and has three children, is a farmer of Penn township, and is located two miles south of Mishawaka; Elizabeth J. married John Hutchinson, they have seven children and reside in this place; Sarah E. married Hugh Noyes, they have four children and reside in Osceola; Frances H. married Martin Fulmer, they have three children and reside in Penn township, where he is a farmer; Martha married George Laughman, of South Bend, who is the treasurer and secretary of the Sandige Steel Skein Works, and has been mayor of South Bend; Jobn H. married Martha J. Brelsford (deceased after four years of wedded life), he married again, in 1877, Villie H. Perkins, and has two children (he is a farmer and resides in Mishawaka); Alfred married Effie Cole, has four children and resides in the same town; and Uriah married Mary Shearer, is a a farmer of Peun township and has one child. Thus Mr. Chandler has eight ebil- dren, twenty four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He is now seventy- six years of age and retains his faculties, although his life has been one of almost constant hard labor. Having had no education be had to make his hands and bis natural shrewdness, combined with industry and perseverance make his way in life. Besides bringing up a large family, he accumulated a handsome property, and suc- ceeded far better than many men of much better chance in life. He always followed a straightforward course, and his many descendants can take an honest pride in the sturdy ancestry from which they have sprung. He has taken great interest in the Methodist Church and hewed the logs with which the First Methodist Church in South Bend was built, and his uncle, Alfred Wright, was one of the scorers. The

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father of Judge Stanfield had a brickyard, and his wife told young Chandler and others who were working there that a Methodist preacher was coming in three days from Sunday and suggested that they build a log church for him. This they did, the church being thirty feet square, of hewed logs, and was not only the first Methodist but the first Protestant Church in St. Joseph county. Among these men were found the now well-known names of John Eaton and William Magnus. The min- ister came and was pleased at the preparations which had been made and the meeting was attended for miles around. In 1831 Mr. Chandler passed through Chicago on his way to Wisconsin, and relates that he found nothing but a whisky saloon and old Fort Dearborn. Many are the interesting reminiscences that this old pioneer can relate of days which must possess an interest for every American reader.

JOSEPH YODER is one of the prosperous and substantial farmers of Elkhart town- ship, and is well known as one of its best citizens. All his property has been ac- cumulated by honest toil and good management and he is now the owner of one of the best farms in his section. He comes of good old Pennsylvania Dutch stock and his grandparents. Joseph and Betsy (Speiker) Yoder, were natives of Somerset county, Penn. The grandfather was a distiller by occupation and was a wealthy and prosperous man. To his marriage were born the following children: Tobias, Jacob, Joseph, Lizzie, Isaac and Levi. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder lived to be quite aged people, the latter dying when nearly ninety years of age, and both held membership in the Amish Church. Their son, Isaac Yoder, was also born in Somerset county, Penn., and is now a substantial and prosperous farmer of that county, owning 240 seres of the best land. He is a man of education and is an excellent penman. In his choice of a wife he selected Miss Susan Mich- ler, daughter of Christian and Barbara (Eash) Michler, and five living children blessed this marriage, as follows: Joseph, Polly, Elizabeth, Barbara and Cath- erine. Mr. Yoder is still living and is about sixty-eight years of age. He is a member of the Amish Church and is an industrious, religions man, respected by all. His son, Joseph Yoder, subject of this sketch, was originally from Pennsyl- vania, born in Somerset connty, August 14, 1847, and there received a fair common- school education. He learned farming when young and in 1867, when twenty years of age, he turned his face toward the setting sun, and subsequently found himself in Elkhart county, Ind. For some time he worked on a farm, but later returned to his home in Pennsylvania, where he remained until the next year. He selected his wife among Indiana's fair daughters and was married on the 11th of February, 1868, to Miss Catherine Cripe, who was born January 26, 1847, and who is the daughter of Daniel and Sallie (Ulery) Cripe. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder are the parents of two living children: Sarah A., born April 10, 1869, and Frank E., born December 1, 1882. After his marriage Mr. and Mrs. Yoder settled on the Daniel Cripe farm and have since made their home there. He is the owner of 181 acres, and all his farming operations are conducted in a thorough and systematic manner. He is a Re- publican in politics. and he and wife are worthy members of the Dunkard Church. His daughter, Sarah A., married David Gorsuch, a farmer of Harrison township, and one child is the result of this union, Mabel May.

THE foundation of the present Mennonite Publishing Company of Elkhart, Ind., was laid in the month of May, 1867, by John F. Funk, when he established a print- ing office in the town. it being the second establishment of the kind to be founded therein. A substantial three-story brick building had been erected abont this time by Isaac Bucklen, the first floor of which he occupied as a drug store and the front basement of this building, a room 20x30 feet, was rented by Mr. Fuuk and in it was placed about 1,200 pounds of type with necessary stands, cases etc., and a Taylor cylinder press propelled by hand power, the entire outfit costing about $2.500. This was the first cylinder press brought to the county and the first paper priuted on the same was the Herald of Truth, for the month of May, 1867. Mr. Funk con- tinued this work until 1870, when he associated with him a brother, A. K. Funk,

HENRY J. CULP.

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under the firm name of J. F. Funk & Bro. They then began the publication of books, etc., also the Martyr's Mirror, a large octavo edition in German, consisting of 971 pages, which was brought ont in 1870 and was probably the largest volume ever published in Indiana at that time. In 1875 the Mennonite Publishing Company was incorporated, and since that time a business has been conducted of great mag- nitude. The company now has a building, 21x154 feet, with three floors and a basement, in which they have five presses, two paper cutters, folding machines and a first-class plant for doing all kinds of printing and binding. They employ about thirty-five hands and make noextravagant claims when they say that there is no better or more extensive office in northern Indiana. Seven papers are published with an ag- gregate circulation of not less than 30,000 copies per month, and Sunday-school lesson leaves increase the circulation to over 40,000 copies annually, besides which they publish an almanac which has an annual circulation of over 15,000 copies. They have published many books of different kinds, one of their largest and best being an English edition of Martyr's Mirror, a royal octavo, double-column volume of over 1,100 pages illustrated, and requiring an outlay of $6,000. The eutire busi- ness of the company is largely devoted to the work and interests of the Mennonite Church, although they also enjoy a large and lucrative jobbing trade. The com- pany is capitalized at $50,000 and has the following officers: John F. Funk, presi- dent; A. K. Funk, secretary and treasurer; Joseph Summers, vice-president; A. B. Kolb, Samuel Yoder, Lewis Culp and John Martin, directors. John F. Funk, president of the Mennonite Publishing Company, was born in Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn., April 6. 1835. He worked on the farm and went to school in the winter until his nineteenth year, when he commenced teaching in his native township, and taught during the winter for three successive years. He also attended school at Freeland Seminary in the summers of 1855 and 1856. In the spring of 1857 he went to Chicago, Ill., and engaged in the lumber business, in which he continued

nine years. In the winter of 1860 he became a member of the Mennonite Church at Line Lexington, Bucks Co., Penn. In January, 1864, he commenced, in Chi- cago, the publication of the Herald of Truth and Herold der Wahrheit, and on the 19th of the same month was married to Salome Kratz, daughter of Jacob Kratz of Hilltown, Bucks county, Penn. On the 28th of May, 1865, he was ordained to the ministry in the Mennonite Church, near Gardner, Ill. In April, 1867, he removed from Chicago to Elkhart, Ind., and established the business house now known as the Mennonite Publishing Company, first under his own name and afterward under the firm name of John F. Funk & Bro. In 1875, when the Men- nouite Publishing Company was incorporated, he became its president and has ably filled that responsible position ever since. In the fall of 1892 he was elected a bishop in the Mennonite Church. Abraham K. Funk, secretary and treasurer of the company, was born in Hilltown, Bucks Co., Penn., January 20, 1840. His youthful days were spent on his father's farm. He attended the district winter schools near his home a month or two during the summer, and at the age of eighteen years began teaching in the public schools of the county, after follow- ing which occupation for some time be entered the Freeland Seminary at Freelaud (now Collegeville, Montgomery county), in 1859, and the Excelsior Normal Institute at Carversville, Bucks county, in 1861. After spending five years in farming during the summer seasons and teaching school during the win- ter months, he went to Chicago, Ill., in the spring of 1863, and engaged in the lumber business, but after a residence of five years in that city he took up his abode in Elkhart, Ind., and entered into a co-partnership with his brother as above stated. In 1875 he became one of the principal stockholders in the Men- nonite Publishing Company, and has since held the positions of secretary and treasurer. He was married March 11, 1872, to Anna M. Landis, who was born in Bucks county, Penn., in October, 1840, a daughter of Joseph and Mary (Geil) Landis, and to their union the following children have been given: Mary ML., 37

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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 95

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

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