USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > Progressive men and women of Kosciusko County, Indiana : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography > Part 41
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A many-times millionaire of this coun- try recently said : "Money does not make a man happy. I would give up all the wealth I have rather than be denied the pleasure that comes from the study of literature and art. If Shakespeare and Wagner, the moun- tain peaks of literature and music, were taken out of my life, life would be poor in- deed. Millionaires who live mostly for making money have a sorry time of it." When this statement is carefully studied it is found to mean that money of itself does not make a man happy. Or in other words. put a man in comfortable circumstances. beyond want, and then money as such love- its value as a producer of happiness. But it must be acknowledged that what is meant by comfortable circumstances incluides nongh time for recreation, enough books ier instruction and culture, and enough lib- erty to travel everywhere. When the indi- vidual has reached this condition he is pre- pared to enjoy life and needs no money. But a great many people have reached vari- ous stages of this condition and in that pro- portion are happy. Most people imagine their troubles. It is now well known that the state of the mind has everything to do with the state of the temper. When one can reduce existence to the happy state of the subject of this sketch he is prepared to enjoy a considerable degree of happiness. It requires a philosophic mind to be able to
Samuel D. Anglin was reared on a farmi and attended the common schools of the neighborhood during the winters. He was an apt student and learning came to him al- most by intuition. At an early age he mas- tered the common-school branches and then easily passed the examination required of teachers and began to teach. He was a natural instructor and took a broad view of education and the pleasure it brought to the recipient, and from the start made an an- usual success of it. So great, indeed. Was his success that he found it to his advantage to continue, which he did for twenty-site years. During this period he not only kept up his private studies, but also attended a commercial school at Pittsburg. Pennsyl- vania. It would be difficult to describe how
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far Mr. Anglin became absorbed in his . studies, but he certainly took a great deal of satisfaction from his books. His mar- riage occurred in 1866, his wife being a daughter of Hamilton and Martha Boggs. To their marriage four children were born. as follows: Etta E., born in 1870, became the wife of Andrew E. Sarber and now re- sides in Seward township: James 11., sub- jet: T. Wayne, born in 1874. who finished his education at the North Manchester school one year, and at the Northern Indi- ana Normal School at Valparaiso, taught four years in the common schools and then began the study of law at Indianapolis and was duly admitted to the bar, graduating in the spring of 1899. He is now practicing his profession at Warsaw. In 19of he was appointed a county officer: Rolla, born in 1870, who finished his education at the high ' in partnership with C. L. Leonard and is school of Warsaw and is now with his fa- ther on the farm, married Miss Pearl Hui- fer.
James H. Anglin, the subject, was reared mainly on his father's farm, and learned all that the common schools could teach him at an early age. He finished by attending two years at college. This greatly broadened ' school of that organization. his mind and made a philosopher of him. meaning by the term philosophy sound com- mon sense and a keen insight into the motives of men. All this was valuable, be- cause Mr. Anglin was not a millionaire and must get happiness out of existence in some manner. So he went to work in earnest.
any man. He was happily married a Mi .. Myrtle Sprott on October 12, 1893. Sie was born in 1872. the daughter of John and Mary ( Mort) Sprott, and possesses many graces and womanly accomplishments. She is a graduate of the high school at Warsaw. and spent one year at the Northern Indi- ana Normal School :a Valparaiso. She be- gan to teach in 38 , and, with the exce ;- tion of two years, has taught ever since. She is now teaching in the primary depart- ment of the schools of Silver Lake. her specialty being in the lower grades. Mr. and Mrs. Anglin came to Silver Lake in 1807. where Mr. Anglin first engaged in the hotel business, continuing for two years. He then served as justice of the peace in; two years. This hotel was sold in 18og and The then entered into the hardware business thus engaged at present, having baik ap s large trade. He is a Democrat, is secretary of the school board, and his genial and in- tellectual qualities make him a charming companion and a trusted friend. His wife is a member of the Christian church of Warsaw, and is a teacher in the Sunday-
NICHOLAS G. GRIPE.
The subject of this review has long en- joyed distinctive precedence as one of Jack- but maintained his buoyancy of disposition. ; son township's mest enterprising and suc- a very valuable possession. He has now a i cessful agriculturists and stock-raisers, a: good start in this world's goods, both in i the same time enjoying the reputation of property and in a clear conscience. Ilis one of Kosciusko county's representative men of affairs. He is the son of Samme! marriage did much to brighten his exist- ence, as it always should the existence of "and Salome ( Frantz ) Gripe, both early set-
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tlers of the county, and dates his birth from the 13th day of June, 1852. When he was about two years old his parents moved to the township of Jackson and here Nicholas " ing to husbandry, He has spared neither time C. Gripe grew to manhood amid the peace- ful scenes of rural life, assisting his father on the farm and as opportunities afforded attending the district schools, in which 1.c obtained a fair knowledge of the branches constituting the prescribed course. On it- taining his majority he engaged with a neighbor as a farm hand and after continui- ing as such for one year leased a piece of woodland and set to work to clear the same. With strong arm, backed by a determined purpose he addressed himself to this under- taking and in due time cleared from the green and fitted for cultivation fifty acres, cutting from the same about two thousand cords of wood, which he sold at a good profit. He continued to deal in wood and cultivate the land he developed for about five years, when he bought forty acres where his father now lives, on which he erected a good residence and barn and other- wise improved the place, making it one of and as a financier he has no superior, among the farmers of Kosciusko county. Keeping fully abreast the times in all matters pertain- not expense in bringing his place to the high state of cultivation for which it is noted, also being liberal in his expenditure> in the way of beautifying his home and making it attractive. His dwelling is com- mochons and comfortable in all of its ap- pointments and his large stick barn, erected. some years ago. is one of the most complete ! structures of its kind in the county, also the of the most valuable. He has since built an- other barn and addition thereto. As a breed- er and raiser of time live stock Mr. Gripe en- joys much more than local reputation. being widely and favorably known among men similarly engaged in Kurdiske and other counties of northern and central Indiana. He makes a specialty of cattle and horses, owning at the present the a large number of very fine animals, representing a capital of many thousands of dollars. Blessed with streng bodily power and richly endowed with that most to be deserved of all capital, the best farms of its area in the township. , good common sense, he finds little difficulty Subsequently he traded this for the same in managing his large interests and sekleen number of acres of the old homestead, to , fails to make everything to which he turns which he has made additions from time to . his hand inure largely to his benefit. Prog- time until he is the possessor of two hun- fress has been his mette from the beginning dred and forty acres in one body, conser- and his career throughout presents & succes- sion of advancements which have won for i him the high standing he to-day enjoys as vatively estimated to be worth sixty-five dol- lars per acre.
Mr. Gripe has met with success as a an active, enterprising man in weekly farmer such as few attain and he stands to- f affairs. day in the front ranks of Jackson town- ship's most enterprising agriculturists, also ranking with the leading stock raisers in
Mr. Gripe's character is endowed with many nobie qualities that contribute so much to his eminent usefulness and the esteem in this section of the state. In the management , which he is held by his fellow citizens of of his affairs he displays rare business tact Jackson and neighboring townships. His
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kindliness of heart, his unvaried cheerful children given her. As a whole, the family disposition, his wisdom as a counsellor and : is an intelligent and harmonious one, highly adviser among his neighbors and friends esteemed in the enimunity and noted for and his modest unassuming manner in every the enterprise and thrift with which each member is endowed. relation of life, are among the most dis- tinguished characteristics which have at- tracted to him the many warm friends whoml he prizes so highly and whose warm per- SAMMUEL LEIGHTY. sonal regard he will always retain.
Mr. Gripe is a valued member of the German Baptist church and has contributed materially to the success of that large and respected communion in Kosciusko county. Earnest in his piety and ever ready to ex- tend a helping hand to a needy brother or any other worthy person, he makes no os- tentations display of his religion, performing his charitable deeds according to the script- ural injunction, and his daily actions exem- plify the simple doctrine which he indorses.
Mr. Gripe's married life began in the year 1875, at which time Miss Florence Matson became his wife. Mrs. Gripe's par- ents moved from Ohio to Whitley county. Indiana, in an early day and bore an active part in the development of that part of the state, settling in the woods and bearing their full share of the trials and hardships inci- dent to the pioneer period. Mr. and Mrs. Gripe have been blessed with three children. the eldest of whom. Elmer, was born in July, 1876; he was educated in the common schools and at the present time lives under the parental roof and assists in running the home farm. Clyde, who was born in the year 1880, is still a member of the home circle, as is also the youngest. Arley, whose birth occurred in April. 1882.
Like her husband, Mrs. Gripe is an earn- est church worker and her influence has been potent in shaping for good the lives of the
But ien men in Nunciusko county, In- diana, have witnessed the phenomenal changes that have taken place within the territorial limits of this county within the past sixty-six years and still live to narrate their experience from the early pioneer days up to the present hour of an advanced civ- ilization, as does Samuel Leighty, the ven- crible subject of this biographical mention and now a highly respected retired farmer, having his residence in Warsaw.
Samuel Leighty was born in a log cabin on a farm in Knox county, Ohio. August 2, 1825. and when eleven years of age was brought to Kosciusko county, Indiana, by his parents, John and Catherine ( Baker ) Leighty, natives of Pennsylvania-the fa- ther from Lancaster county-but who were married in Knox county, Ohio. For six years after the birth of their son, Samuel, these parents continued to reside in Knox county and then removed to Wayne county. Ohio, where they lived five years in a new house. In the month of August, 1830. they came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and in- cated about four miles southwest of War- saw, where John Leighty entered forty acres of wild land, now belonging to the estate of Charles Thomas. John Leighty clearel up three deres of this land and put up a cabin, but sold out the place to John Ford and bought a state land claim of one hun-
Samuel. Laighty.
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dred and sixty acres. Congress had passed years of age and was the eldest in a family an enactment that owners of such claims, of seven children, his next brother in onder who were actual settlers, should have the right of occupancy for five years and then pay for the land at the rate of one dollar
some kind had been erected. Mr. Leighty therefore put up a small log cabin, and in April, 1837, placed his family therein ; har- ing complied with the requirements of the law, he five years later received his deed from the government. In the meanwhile Mr. Leighty did a great deal of work for others, by which he made a livelihood.
of birth being about fourteen. The mother kept the children together, however, and Samuel, in accordance with his father's will, and twenty-five cents per acre, without in- ' was to pay the debts and rear the children. terest or taxation, provided a habitation of The creditors allowed him ten years time. but at the end of five years Sanmel had liquidated all claim- and became owner of the farm, with the exception of what the brothers fell heir to, and this he eventually purchased from them: his mother he kept with him the remainder of her life and most filialiy cared for her. Samuel married a neighbor girl. Miss Sarah Kimes, and sell- ing his farm, bought another, three miles south of Warsaw, buying up the interests of nine heirs to one hundred and twenty acres. This he increased to one hundred and sixty acres and occupied this farm until about twenty years ago, in the meanwhile improving it with a good dwelling and other buildings. Here he handled a great deal of stock in connection with general farming. Mr. Leighty then retired to Warsaw, where he now lives in well deserved comfort and case.
At the end of five years John Reed. i Michigan, went to the land office at Delphi to prove up and pay Mr. Leighty's indebted- ness to the government and at the same time to enter land for himself on the opposite side of the Tippecanoe river. Two years later Mr. Leighty sold out and removed to Elk- hart county, where he purchased a tract of eighty acres on the boundary line, three miles north of Milford, where he lived six months and then came to Warsaw, where he worked at such jobs as he could find to do, barely making a living ; but shortly after- ward he bought fifty-two acres, a mile and ยท a half north, which tract had been entered from the government in the usual manner by a Mr. Crosby. On this tract Mr. Leighty settled, worked hard, and in due course of time increased his acreage to one hundred and sixty acres, or a quarter-section, it be- ing known as the "Cut-off." This land Mr. Leighty also improved, and lived on until his death in 1845, only nine years after hay- ing come to Indiana, he being but forty- seven years of age.
Samuel Leighty at this time was twenty
In 1878 Mr. Leighty lost his first wife by death, and in 18So he married Mrs. Clarissa Wheeler, of Clay township. To the first marriage of Mr. Leighty there were born four children, namely: Samuel K .. whe now owns and lives on the old home- Stead : George W., also living on a part of the same: Daniel D., farming four miles north of Warsaw, and Susan, now the wife of William Crouse, of Warsaw. To the see- and marriage no children have been born. Mr. Leighty has also reared Mis eklest sis- ter's daughter from the age of four years until her marriage to Eli Barrett. a resident
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of Michigan. Mrs. Leighty bore the maiden ests standing in their primeval strength and name of Lefever, and by marriage with ' beauty, it- few log cabin homes like niches Jacob Wheeler was the mother of three in the surrounding wilderness, and its evi- sons and four daughters, viz: Isaac, Sarah . dences of development few. In the work of ' J., Alice, Amanda, Eli, Ida M. and Will- progress and improvement that has since iam S.
Though born and reared a Democrat, Mr. Leighty has never voted that ticket, ' those strong-armed, firm-willed, substantial
having cast his first presidential vote for Zachariah Taylor, and has ever since sup- ported the principles of the Republican party. He has ever refused to accept public office of any kind, although a very popular man and frequently urged to place his name. before the public. Religiously Mr. Leighty is a member of the Walnut Creek United Brethren church, has fully and faithfully 1 lived up to its teachings and has on all oc- casions contributed most freely towards its support. He has risen in life entirely through his own industry and good man- agement and today stands, among the most honored of Kosciusko county's pioneers.
wrought such marvelous changes he has Lorne his part and today he ranks with and valued citizens of the county who laid broad and deep the foundation of its present prosperity and fitted it for the still greater progress which future years have in store.
Samuel Gripe is a native of Montgomery county. Ohio, and a lineal descendant of John Gripe, who came to America from Germany in a very early day and settled in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. In the lat- ter county and state was born many years later a grandson of the above John Gripe, Jacob by name, who when, a young man went to Montgomery county, Ohio, and set- ted in Dayton, when that now flourishing city was an insignificant backwoods hamiet of perhaps a dozen small log cabins. Enter- ing land within the present limits of the place, he cleared and developed a farm and SAMUEL GRIPE. for a number of years thereafter assisted in paving the way for the wonderful civiliza- 1 Through a period of six decades the i tion for which that highly favored section name of Gripe has been prominently con- , of the Buckeye state is so justly celebrated. nected with the history of Kosciusko coun- ty. It is an untarnished name and one that is familiar to the people of this section of the state by reason of the honorable and use- ful lives of those who have borne it.
In his young manhood Jacob Gripe married . Mary Wilond, who was reared in the fam- ily of her husband's father in Pennsylvania. her parents having died when she was quite small, leaving her to the care of friends. After making a good home near Dayton and occupying the same until 1836. Mr. Gripe made a tour of inspection through various parts of northern Indiana, and being please : with the advantages which Kosciusko coun-
Samuel Gripe, of this review, is a gentle- man whose history forms a connecting link between the pioneer past and the modern present. He saw the country when it 'seemed almost on the borders of civiliza- tion, its land wild and uncultivated, its for- "ty presented as a future agricultural region.
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entered a tract of land in what is now the learned how to wield the ax with telling ci- feet and to perform other duties required of the backwoods farmer. Circumscribed by conditions of which boys of the present day have no conception, his life was somewhat isolated and from early dawn to dewy ere he labored hard and faithfully, assisting to clear the farm and reduce the soil to culti- vation. Hle recalls the fact that throughout length rewarded with a comfortable home. . one long, cold, bitter winter it fell to hin. to furnish all the wood needed to keep the temperature of their log cabin above the freezing point, and although the task was a hard one he did the work manfully and well. Deer were then so plentiful that but little skill was required to keep the table supplied with the choicest meat, while other game. such as squirrels, pheasants and wild tur- township of Jackson. Returning to Ohio. he disposed of his interests there as soon as he could advantageously do so, and with his family moved in 1838 to his new home in the wilds of Kosciusko. Addressing him- self with strong will to the task of clearing his land, he in due time removed a goodly portion of the forest growth and was at which he occupied until death called him from the scenes of his earthly toils and struggles. Jacob Gripe was a good man and figured prominently during the pioneer peri- od not only as a strong and stalwart woods- man and tiller of the soil, but also as a min- ister of the gospel, having been the first preacher of the German Baptist church to proclaim the peculiar tenets of that faith in ' keys, were also numerous and easily chi- Kosciusko and counties adjoining. He was "tained. Mr. Gripe states that when he was instrumental in organizing a number of local congregations in the new country and while he lived looked after their interests with fatherly care and ministered to his people in holy things as long as his strength permitted him to discharge the duties of his sacred of- fice. His family consisted of ten children. six sons and four daughters, namely : Esther. Elizabeth, Susan. Sarah, Samuel. 1 Hannah, Barbara, John, Jacob, Mary, David and Catherine. .
Samuel Gripe, the direct subject of this sketch, was born April 18, 1828, in Mont- gomery county, Ohio, and when a lad of ten years accompanied his parents to a new home and a new destiny in the county of Kosciusko. Reared amid the active scenes of pioneer times, he experienced the hard- ships and vicissitudes which fall to the early settlers and while still young in years
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a lad of twelve he shouldered his father's rifle and went to the wood in quest of deer. He was not long in dislodging a fine buck and taking deliberate aim had the good for- tuine to bring the noble animal down with the first shot. quite a skillful feat for one so young. After that he killed a great many deer and as long as wild game continued in the country he was considered one of the surest shots in the neighborhood where he . lived. In a diminutive log cabin, sparsely furnished with log-legged, backless benches and a few other necessary appliances. he was inducted into the mysteries of the alphabet, and though many long years have elapsed since first timidly entering the building he vasily recalls the teacher, one Gabriel Swi- hart, whose qualifications for the office ap- pear to have based upon strength to inflict corporal punishment rather than upon ability
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to impart knowledge. Later he went to the place became one of the best farms in that section of the county, and he made it his home for a period of about twenty years. Subsequently he bought, for twelve thet- sand dollars, the beautiful place of two hun- dred and forty acres in Jackson where his school to Joseph Ulrich, a typical peda- gogue of the olden times, and as the years went by he continued to prosecute his studies both in English and German until he be- came fairly well educated. Another fact in connection with the early day worthy of a son Nichols now lives, going in debt to the passing notice is the raising of Jacob Gripe's amount of four thousand dollars, every cent of which was paid within two year- follow- ing the purchase. frame barn, which proved quite an important event in the community, as it was the first structure of the kind erected within the present limits of Jackson township. To se- cure the necessary assistance the boys in- vited every man, within a radius of ten miles, and after the frame was all joined and put in proper place a season of jollity and manly sports was indulged in by all the strong young men present.
Mr. Gripe was reared a farmer and when old enough to select a vocation wisely con- cluded to devote his life to the cultivation of the soil. The better to carry on his life work, he took to himself a wife in the per- son of Miss Salome Frantz, whose parents, natives of Virginia. came to Kosciusko county in 1840 when Mrs. Gripe was a miss of twelve years. Shortly after his marriage Mr. Gripe moved on an eighty-acre tract of woodland in Clay township, now the town- ship of Lake, where he built a cabin for the reception of his bride and then began the arduous work of felling timber, removing stumps and in many other ways preparing the soil for tillage. After living on this place four years and fitting about twenty acres for cultivation, he sold it for fifteen hun- dred dollars and with the proceeds pur- chased a farm in the eastern part of Jackson township. The greater part of the latter was improved by his labor and in due time
Mr. Gripe's business transactions nave demonstrated financial ability of a high or- der, and his career throughout has been characterized by sound judgment, keen dis- cernment and concentration of purpose which have enabled him to carry to success- iul issue every enterprise to which his en- ergies have been addressed. In a word, he has been a successful money getter, and the large fortune which he now possesses is the reward of his industry, thrift and superior management. When they started in He br themselves he gave to each of his six chit- dren twenty-three hundred dollars, thus en- abling them to begin the struggle unham- pered by the circumscribed financial environ- ment which marked the beginning of his own career as an independent factor in worldly affairs. By long and arduous toil and rigid economy at a time when economy was an absolite necessity. he learned to place a proper value upon dollars and cents: how- ever, he is by no means illiberal with his means, but on the contrary has been free in his benefactions to all worthy objects and enterprises. After a long and very active life, marked by great industry and thrift. he found himself in possession of a suffi- ciency of this world's goods to enable him to spend the remainder of his days in the
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