USA > Indiana > Kosciusko County > Progressive men and women of Kosciusko County, Indiana : to which is appended a comprehensive compendium of national biography > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
357
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
mon schools. He learned the business of farming, but upon reaching his majority he went to Wisconsin, far up in the famous logging regions, and became a cook in one of the large lumber camps of that region. He put in several years in that business, and when he came ont he was skilled in the busi- ness ci cooking and in the Inmber business as well. In 1874 he was united in married with Miss Demis Nutting. of Wisconsin, whose parents were natives of New York. and to this union three children were born. as follows: Effa, deceased, and two that died in infancy. His first wife died in 1881, and and he later married Miss Sarah F. Reed. of Noble county, Indiana, and this marriage
of the leaders of this community in educa- tion, morais and good citizenship generally. His wife is a member of the Baptist church.
GABRIEL SWIMART.
This venerable agriculturist is one of the oldest of the citizens of Lake township. Kosciusko county, indiana, but was born in Montgomery county. Ohio. September 13. 1817. His parents, Jacob and Mary (.Nult ) Swihart were natives of Pennsyl- vania and of German desent. These parents were both born in Washington county. resulted in the birth of the following chil- ; Pennsylvania, and were both brought to dren: Bertha, born June 24, 1887 : George, : Ohio when young, their people settling in born June 9, 1800; Retha, born April 28. 1894, and four others that died in carly years. After his first marriage he resided in Wisconsin for seven years and was en- gaged in the lumber business a part of the time. In 1882 he came back to Churubusco and dealt in timber for twelve years. He located in Mentone in April. 1892, and
the same neighborhood in Montgomery county. There they grow to maturity among the pioneers and in due time were united in marriage, the result being a family of eleven children, namely: Sarah, Diana, Gabriel. Elizabeth, Mary, Jacob, Susanna. Lydia. John, Barbara and Isaac.
Jacob Swihart was a mason by trade, worked for Brown & Son for four years and | but also carried on farming. He came to then went into business for himself. He started a saw-mill and a boat-var factory. having at that time a capital of two teams
' Kosciusko county. Indiana, in February. 1839, and entered two hundred and forty acres of land, to which he afterward added and fifteen dollars in cash. By judicious in- | another two hundred and forty acre .. vestments and good business methods, he : Gabriel Swihart came to this county with. prospered until now he has a large trade and his parents, but in a short time returned to employs on an average twenty-eight men. : Ohio, where he finished his studies in a com- mon school, and then, a few months later. came back to Indiana and for eleven terms taught school in Kosciusko county.
to whom he pays weekly about two hundred and fifty dollars. He buys and handles large quantaties of timber and ships his products to all quarters, his industry being In January. 1840. Mr. Swihart vice more returned to his native county, and was there married to Leah MeDonald, whom he profitable for him and beneficial to the town. Mr. Turnbull is a strong Republican and a self-made man in all respects. He is one ' at once brought to Indiana and for some
:358
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
time lived on the farm of his step-mother. which farm he at first rented and afterward purchased. It contains one hundred and .sixty acres, and here Mr. Swihart put up a log cabin and afterward bought fifty acres more.
In politics Mr. Swihart was first a Whig. but after the old party was merged, as it were, into the new and vigorous Republican party he affiliated with the latter. His first presidential vote was for William Henry Harrison, the Whig leader of the famous "log-cabin" campaign under the shibboleth of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too." in 1840, the ticket being triumphantly successful in No- vember of that year. Mr. Swihart has him- self served as township trustee of Clay (which included Lake) township for one term, and was postmaster at Oneida for ten years. He was township clerk one term and has also served as supervisor.
October 28, 1896, Mrs. Leah ( MeDon- .ald ) Swihart died in the faith of the Ger- man Baptist church, of which church Mr. : Swihart has been a member for many years. She had borne her husband seven children. wiz: Anna, wife of George Beigh, and re- siding in Seward township; Elizabeth, mar- ried to Jacob F. Ullery and living on the .old Swihart homestead; Jacob, still single and making his home with his father ; Mary. deceased : John, deceased ; Joseph and Diana (twins). of whom Joseph has married Miss .. Alice Rhodes and Diana is deceased.
Gabriel Swihart, now in his eighty-fifth year, is remarkably hale and well preserved as to his physical appearance, and as far as that is concerned would never be taken by "a stranger or casual observer, not cognizant .of his advanced age, to be over sixty years .old. His memory is wonderfully retentive.
1
and his mental faculties, indeed, seem toche in all respects unimpaired. His long life of usefulness and charitable act- has won is; him the sincere affection of almost every man, woman and child in Lake township. and of many of those living in townships adjacent. His carly industry has resulte ! in his possession of a seat competence, and while he still enjoys the glow of the golden rays of the sun of life that must eventually set behind the horizon of the inevitable, he shares that enjoyment with no stint in the companionship of the members of his fam- ily and his loving friends.
JACOB ULREY.
The agricultural interests of Jackson township are ably represented by Jacob S. Clrey, who during the greater part of the time since his birth, on the 28th day of April, 1846, has been a resident and hon- ored citizen of the county of Kosciusko. Paternally he is of German lineage, his great-grandfather coming from the old coun- try in an early day and settling in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where Isaac Ulrey. the subject's grandfather, was born and reared. When a young man Isaac Urey migrated to Montgomery county, Ohio, with his wife. Barbara Gripe, whom he married in the Keystone state, and there followed ag- ricultural pursuits antil 1836, when he came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, settling in the southwestern part of Jackson township. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the sec- tion where he located and he continued to reside on the land be purchased from the government until his death, on the 4th day
359.
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
of September, 1859. Among the children of the county of Wabash covered the interim Isaac and Barbara Ulrey was Stephen UI- between 1871 and 1889. Mr. Cirey in the latter year purchased the farm in Jackson township where he now lives and moved to the same immediately thereafter. In com- mon with the majority of farmers, he has experienced both good fortune and the op- posite, the latter consisting largely of sick- ness with which certain members of his family have been afflicted. rey, a youth of seventeen when the family came to the new home in the wilds of Jack- son township. He remained with his father until reaching the age of twenty-one, when he entered the marriage relation with Miss Mary Swihart, a sister of Gabriel Swihart, and a member of one of the old and highly esteemed families of this part of the county. The issue of this union were the following children : Barbara, wife of Daniel Butter- . baugh; Jacob S., subject of this review; Sarah, wife of S. J. Fisher ; Mary A., wife of William Isenbarger; Esther, who mar- ried Samuel Climer ; Isaac and George, the last two dying when young.
Jacob S. Ulrey first saw the light of day in Clay township, now the township of Lake, and spent his childhood and youth on his father's farm, where he early learned the lessons of thrift and industry which have characterized his subsequent years. By rea- son of the death of his father, which oc- curred when the subject was young, he en- joyed but limited educational advantages, being obliged, as soon as old enough, to con- tribute his share to the maintenance of his mother and the children dependent upon her. Like a dutiful son, he gave up without mur- muring any plans he may have previously formed for attending school, and until his twenty-third year farmed the home place and looked carefully after his mother's in- terests. Shortly after his marriage, in 1868. he and his wife moved to Wabash county, where they made their home for a period of eighteen years, residing during that time on a farm which Mr. Ulrey rented for four years and which subsequently came into his possession by purchase. The time spent in
December 13, 1868, Mr. Ulrey and Miss Mary C., daughter of Abraham Rowland, were united in the bonds of wedlock. Seven children have resulted from this marriage, the oldest of whom, Rosa, was born August 2, 1860, is now the wife of Jesse Ike, and lives in the town of Manchester: George. the second, was born April 23, 1871, mar- ried Mattie Grove and at this time lives in the state of Minnesota: Lizzie, born Feb- ruary th, 1873, is the wife of fra Grosnickle. of Manchester ; Mattie, who became the wife of Alva Studebaker, was born June 13. 1874; Abraham, an employe of the Wabash railroad, was born on the 17th of July,. 1876: Anna, now Mrs. Alva Parrott, Was born September 15. 1879, and lives in South Whitley, Whitley county: Stephen, the youngest of the family, was born January 19. 1881, and died on the 4th day of March. 1882. Mrs. Ulrey's parents were natives of Maryland and came to Lake township, Kos- ciusko county, about the year 1846. She was born one year later and has spent alt of her life in the counties of Kosciusko and Wabash.
Mr. Clrey is a thrifty man, honest and upright in all of his dealings, and is numm- bered among the most intelligent and pro- gressive farmers of the township of which he is an honored resident. A man of earn-
360
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
est convictions, strong in his purpose to do the right, and ever ready to lend his aid to further an enterprise by which the public may be benefited, he has borne well his part in life and a large circle of friends and ac- quaintances hold him in warm personal re- gard. He and his estimable wife are widely and favorably known throughout Kosci- usko and Wabash counties and their char- acters in all that constitute true manhood ard womanhood have always been above criticism or reproach. Both are highly es- teemed members of the German Baptist church, with which body they became identi- fied in the year 1872 and since that time they have been endeavoring to the best of their abilities to live such lives as the Master shall approve on the great day when all shall render account for the deeds done in the body.
SAMUEL HOFFER.
The well known gentleman to a review of whose life the following lines are de- voted is a native of Ohio, born in Holmes county on the 25th day of August, 1846. The American branch of the Hoffer family had its origin in Pennsylvania, in which state the original ancestors settled many years ago, coming to this country from Ger- many. For generations they were tillers of the soil and belonged to that large and emi- nently respectable middle class to which the United States is so largely indebted for its marvelous agricultural and industrial growth. On the maternal side the subject is of Irish lineage. His mother's name was Moore and she belonged to a numerous fam- ily that became residents of Pennsylvania at a very early date.
1
Mr. Hoffer's father was reared dfds enitural pursuits and always followed fan ing for a livelihood. His parents moved Ohio in pioneer times, locating in Holms county, and he remained in that part of fo state until 1865. when he moved to Kus .... usko county, Indiana, and purchased 18 hundred acres of land in the township . Etna. His place was comparatively nen : : the time. the only improvements being about ten acres of partly cleared land. A. Hoffer was a man of great industry and energy, but did not live long enough to make much improvements, dying the same year . : his arrival. He reared a family of two sons and four daughters, viz: Mariah, Samuel. Lena A., Sarah, John and Anna.
Samuel being the oldest son, to him ich the responsibility of caring for the mother and other children after the father's death. : Taking charge of the farm he bent all of his- energies in the direction of its improvement. "in which work he was assisted by his young er brother, who, though a youth, was strong and active for his years and proved a valu :- able helper. By reason of his duties as prac- tical head of the family, the subject was obliged, much to his regret, to forego schou. privileges, consequently his education 5 somewhat limited. Later in life he made up for this deficiency by wide reading and close observation, which, with his knowledge of business and contact with the world mi various capacities, has made him a very in- telligent and broad-minded man. Some years after his father's death his mother was united in marriage to Mr. Samuel B. Gas. who proved to be an exception to the ma- jority of step-fathers in that the children were well cared for and their rights and in- terests respected. Young Samuel remained
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGR.IPHY.
at home until his own marriage, which was solemnized in his nineteenth year with Miss Esther Baker, the bride being but sixteen years of age at the time ..
life and is now in independent circumstances with a sufficient competence laid by to make bis declining years free from care or anxiety.
Mr. Hoffer occupies a prominent place in the esteem of the people of his commu- nity and is universally respected for his man- is character as well as for his many deeds of kindness as a neighbor, friend and citi-
Mr. Hoffer and his young wife began Die's struggles with little of this world's goods, but blessed with good health and animated by a determined purpose to sie- red. They resolutely faced the future and : zen. He has lived to a good and useful par- at once commenced laying aside a portion pese and the high position he occupies in the community has been honestly and well merited. As a business man his methods have always been correct and fair dealing has characterized all of his transactions with his fellow man. Personally he possesses those qualities calculated to inspire conti- dence in others, consequently is popular with all classes and conditions of people, hav- ing never lacked for warm friends when- ever he has needed them. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party, but has never had the time not the inclination to take a very active part in political work. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Mac- cabees, carrying in the same an ample insur- ance for his family in case of his death. He has always been a good liver and liberal provider and his aim has been to make com- fortable and happy those dependent upon him, as well as to wield an influence for good among all with whom he comes in contact. of their earnings with the object in view of ultimately purchasing a home of their own. In due time Mr. Hoffer invested in forty acres of land in Etna township, which he soon converted into a good farm, making improvements at intervals as his means would admit. By industry and good man- agement he succeeded admirably in his un- dertaking and it was not long until he added another forty-acre tract to his original pur- chase, the two pieces of land comprising the present area of the farm. As a farmer he has always been energetic and, possessing the happy faculty of always looking upon the bright side, has never become discour- aged and has rarely failed in realizing abundant returns from his labors. In addi- tion to general farming he has done much in the way of stock raising, having long made this branch of the farm yield a large portion of his income. Mr. Hoffer believes in improvement and has spared neither labor nor expense in supplying his place Mr. and Mrs. Hoffer have four children : Andrew E., born November 28, 1868, mar- ried Eliza Hazen and lives in Etna town- ship: Frank J., born August 18, 1872. mar- ried Nellie Bowman and lives on the home form: Oran A., born April 15. 1874. also lives in the township of Etna and is a mar- ried man, his wife being formerly Miss Mag- with substantial buildings and otherwise l eautifying the home and adding to its at- tractiveness and value. In 1881 he erected a fine barn, thirty by fifty-five feet in area and correspondingly high, and in 1890 replaced the old dwelling with a commodious modern residence. He has surrounded himself with many of the comforts and conveniences of gie Sechrist ; Florence N., the youngest of
362
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
the family, is the wife of James Stackhouse, of Scott township; her birth occurred on the 19th of August, 1882.
HENRY S. K. BARTHOLOMEW.
Henry S. K. Bartholomew, the popular and efficient editor and proprietor of the Warsaw Union, the only Democratie paper published in Kosciusko county, is an Indi- anian by birth, having first seen the light of day in Middlebury township, Elkhart county. He is of German descent and traces his ancestry back to his great-great-grand- father, John Bartholomew, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who was a Revolut- tionary soldier. Among the family of John Bartholomew was Moses Bartholomew, the great-grandfather of the subject, who settle.l Viter the father of the subject married he first settled in Middlebury township, Eik- hart county, this state, where he engaged in farming, but later he moved to Goshen, where he engaged in the cooperage busine-s for about five years. Then he purchased an eighty-acre farm in Jefferson township, that county, onto which he moved and there en- gaged in farming until his death, which oc- curred on the 21st of January. 1900. His wife preceded him to the silent world, dying in London county, Virginia, where John Bartholomew, Jr., the grandfather of the subject, was born. The last-named married Miss Rosannah Sager and subsequently re- moved to Ohio, thence, in later years, to Michigan, where his wife died. He after- wards moved to Iowa, but later came to Goshen, Indiana, where he died in 1864. He was the father of ten children, viz: Christian, Moses, Lydia A., Amos, Samuel, Rebecca E., Sarah J., John, Abraham S. June 29, 1888. Moses Bartholomew was a and Henry S.
Moses Bartholomew, the father of the subject, was born in Union county, Ohio. December 22, 1824, and removed with his parents to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, in 1847. His father was a cooper and Moses learned that trade while a boy, under his fa- ther's supervision, engaging in that vocation more or less until 1868. In 1860 he re- born September 5, 1867. became the wife of
moved to Elkhart county. Indiana, and soon afterwards established himself in business at Goshen. He was married in that county on the 12th day of November, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth Pfeiffer, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, December 27. 1834, and was a daughter of Jacob and Mary E. (Knapp) Pfeiffer. The latter couple were both ma- tives of Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1833, having been married in the Fatherland some years before com- ing to this country. Upon arriving in the new world they first settled in Wayne conn- ty, Ohio, but in 1843 moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, where they resided until their deaths. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Jacob. Philopene, Caroline, Frederick, Elizabeth, Henry, Christina, Philip and William (twins) and one daughter that died in infancy ummmnames.
Democrat in politics, as were his ancestors as far back as known. He was a devout member of the Lutheran church, as was his wife. His ancestors were also Lutherans, some of them having been prominent min- isters of that denomination. He was the father of four children besides the subject, briefly mentioned as follows: N. Electa.
HEury S. K. Bartholomew.
363
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
Edward H. Gardner and resides in Elkhart county ; Ella May, born December 30, 1869. is the wife of Jesse S. Cripe, and also resides in Elkhart county on the old Bartholomew homestead ; they have one child, Agnes Eliz- abeth, who is the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Bartholomew ; Clara V. and Carra V. were twins and were born April 25. 1873: Clara V. is unmarried and resides on the old homestead in Elkhart county, 1
1
while Carra V. died April 24, 1874.
:
Henry S. K. Bartholomew is the eldest of the family and was born on the 8th of October, 1862. He was reared in his native county, the first five years of his life being spent in Goshen. Afterward the family re- moved to the farm heretofore referred to. where the subject received his early training amid the scenes of rural life. He early be- came acquainted with the principles of in- dustry, and the farm life, which afforded him plenty of work and an abundance of fresh air, gave him strength as he grew to mattir- ity and today he is, both physically and mentally, a splendid representative of Indi- ana's manhood. He received his rudimental education in the district schools of his neigh- borhood and in the Middlebury high school. aiter which he attended the Northern Indi- due University at Lafayette, taking a short course in agriculture at the latter institution. When seventeen years of age he began teach- ing, which occupation he followed through five terms, though not consecutively. Not liking this vocation, he again turned his at- tention to agriculture, in which he was en- gaged on the old homestead for twelve years. In August, 1899, he went to South Bend. Indiana, where he became a member of the
editorial staff of the South Bend Time -. March 7. 1901, he purchased the Warsaw Union, taking charge of the same on the 20th of the same month, and is now sole owner of that paper, which is one of the best newspapers, and the only Democratic one, published in the county, having a cir- culation of eighteen hundred copies. Mr. Bartholomew was one of the organizers of the first farmers' institute in Elkhart county and was its first president. He was con- nected with the institution in an official ca- pacity until leaving the county and was also a part of the time employed as an instructor in farmers' institutes throughout the north- ern portion of the state.
Mr. Bartholomew is a member of the Lutheran church and is a charter member of the Holy Trinity English Lutheran church of South Bend, which he helped to organize. Fraternally he is a member of Middlebury Lodge No. 311. K. P., and is a past chancellor in that lodge, having also represented it in the grand lodge at Indian- : apolis. For eight years he was a member Fof Calanthe Division No. 41. U. R. K. P .. of Goshen, but upon leaving the latter city Itook out an honorable discharge. He is a charter member of Warsaw Grange, P. of Pomona Grange and the Indiana state grange. He was one of the organizers of the Elkhart County Historical Society and served as its secretary for the first four years of its organization, or unth he left that county. He is also a member and helped to organize the Kosciusko County Ilistorical Society. He is an uncompromis- ing Democrat in politics and takes an active interest in the success of his party. He has
ana Normal School at Valparaiso and Pur- | H., and a member of Kosciusko County
22
364
COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY.
never been an aspirant for public honors. though his friends have endeavored many times to persuade him to allow his name to be presented for office.
PHILIP CHIVINGTON.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is a progressive farmer of Etna township and was one of Indiana's patriotic sons who donned the blue and fought the enemies of his country on many of the bloodiest battles of the South and during the troublous period when secession threat- ened the disruption of the national union. He was born in Elkhart county, this state, November 28, 1847, the son of John and Ilarriet (Dickey ) Chivington, natives, re- spectively, of New York and Indiana. The father, who was of Irish descent, settled in the county of Elkhart when a young man, and there met and married Harriet Dickey, who became the mother of five sons and five daughters, viz: Absalom, Madison, Martha, Sarah, Mary J., Almira, Belinda and Philip, of whom the first two are twins. Some time after the death of the mother of these children John Chivington married Mrs. Elizabeth Seaman, whose maiden name was Dillen.
while this engaged that Fort Siunter fired apon and the country became alarme by reason of the rapid approach of civ war. Catching the patriotic spirit with which so many gallant young men of fee North became imbued, he went to the tool . of Elkhart and tendered his services to 1. government as a volunteer. Failing to pas necessiuly the required test by reason his age, being but fifteen at the time. he returned home very much cast down wat with a determination to make a second at. tempt just as soon as a favorable opportre- ity presented itself. In due time he again! presented himself for enlistment, this time with better fortune, for on August 22, 1842. he was accepted and became a member i Company D. One Hundredth Indiana Vor unteer Infantry. Mustering at Indiana ;- olis, the regiment proceeded to Cairo, Ha- nois, thence to Memphis, Tennessee, and he first met the enemy at Jackson, in the latter state, where Mr. Chivington experienced his first practical knowledge of warfare. The campaigns and battles in which the One Hundredth Indiana took part constitute at important chapter of the history of the Re- bellion. Among the leading battles in which Mr. Chivington participated were the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga. which, with several minor engagements. made up his first two years of active service. After spending the winter of 1803 in . Vi .. hama his command, the following spring. entered upon one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war and from that time till the choc of the struggle the subject saw much active service, being under fire almost constantly for several months in succession. The it !-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.