USA > Indiana > Adams County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 39
USA > Indiana > Wells County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 39
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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
CHAPTER XXIII
LIBERTY CENTER
JOHN W. RINEAR-SCHOOLHOUSE, THE FIRST BUILDING-THE LIBERTY TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL-LOCAL PIONEERING-LIBERTY CENTER DEPOSIT BANK-BAPTIST AND METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCHES- VILLAGE OF TODAY.
The village above named is so called because it is the geographical center of Liberty Township. It is also one of the central towns of Wells County and is a leading center for the live stock and grain trade of a large country district. The village is in the midst of a productive section devoted to the raising of sugar beets. The practical signs of such mentioned facts are extensive yards at Liberty Center for the handling of hogs and cattle and a large "beet dump" for the storing and shipping of that produce. The Studabaker Grain and Seed Com- pany has also a good-sized elevator (capacity, 20,000 bushels) at this point. A grist mill is also in operation. These evidences of pros- perity are reflected in the neat appearance of the town, and the addi- tional fact that its banking facilities are fully adequate to all demands made by business men, farmers and householders. The village ad- vances another good claim to leadership among the villages of the villages of the county. None has more complete educational advan- tages than Liberty Center; in fact, Superintendent Huyette has in- staneed its high school, completed in 1913, as the most modern in the county within his jurisdiction. Two churches and several lodges also confirm the social and religious character of the village.
JOHN W. RINEAR
If any one man may claim the right to the fatherhood of Liberty Center it is Hon. John W. Rincar, and a record of his earlier services as a farmer. a town-builder and a publie man goes far toward covering the pioneer history of Liberty Center. Mr. Rinear, now a sturdy and typical American in comfortable circumstances, who has done so large a share in building the community in which he has long lived and
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thrived, is an Ohio man, born near Cleveland, May 4, 1842. His grandparents had located in that city when his father was five years old. In Cleveland, also, his parents were married and resided there until 1847, when they moved to Huntington County, Indiana, and in 1854 to Liberty Township. John W. Rinear was then twelve years of age.
The region where the Rinear family settled at that time was cov- ered with dense woods, but Charles Rinear, its head, was a powerful mau physically, and his physique was backed by a brave spirit ; so, with the assistance of the plucky lad and a splendid wife, he promptly commenced the task of clearing, cultivating and taming the 120-acre tract which he had purchased for a homestead. When the father died in 1887 and the mother in 1894, both more than seventy years of age, they had accomplished that task and much more. They had not only become prosperous in worldly goods, but had obtained a laudable standing in their home community.
To such faithful, sturdy parents John W. Rinear proudly acknowledges his indebtedness. He received his education in the com- mon schools of Liberty Township until he was nineteen years of age, after which he saw fourteen months' service in the Forty-seventh In- diana Infantry, and was invalided home with a bullet wound in his right arm.
On April 2, 1863, after returning from the war, Mr. Rinear was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. First, a native of Liberty Town- ship born in 1843. Her father, a Pennsylvanian, entered a tract of land in that part of Wells County in 1836 and commenced to reside thereon five years later. During his residence in the county he held every office in the township with the exception of assessor. During the last years of his patriarchal life, which advanced well toward the century mark, he lived with his daughter, Mrs. John W. Rinear, and had the distinction of being the only resident of Liberty Township who had retained the ownership of the land which he had originally secured from the Government.
For three years after his marriage Mr. Rinear rented and lived upon the farm of Doctor Melsheimer. In the meantime, having saved some money, he purchased a traet of forty acres of land which now forms a part of Liberty Center. He laid out the east half of the orig- inal plat on his land, which was then dense woods. He then threw up a log cabin 18 by 20 feet, and commenced life at that locality with a wife, a team of horses, a cow, a few shoats and other minor possessions. For the greater part of the purchase price of the land he borrowed money, but no note was ever defaulted and payment was sometimes
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made before it became due. With the faithful help of his wife every- thing prospered.
In 1866 Mr. Rinear came into possession of his present farm, and on the 28th of December, of that year, was born his daughter, Hannah S., the first native child of Liberty Center. She is now the wife of John B. Funk, druggist and postmaster. In 1874 Mr. Rinear pur- chased twenty acres adjoining his place on the north. The railroad reached the locality in 1878, and in the same year he platted the east half of Liberty Center. He is now the oldest continuous resident of the place. Mr. Rinear was justice of the peace from 1873 to 1885; was in the mercantile business at the center in 1877-82, and during that period served as postmaster for three years. At the same time he con- tinued his farming operations, and has a farm of 320 acres a mile east of Liberty Center which is not surpassed in Wells County. Both grain and live stock are raised. Besides he owns thirty-five acres of his old home place in town and resides in a large comfortable residence on Lot 1 of the original plat.
In 1894, at the session of the Democratic Joint Senatorial Conven- tion of Wells and Huntington counties, Mr. Rinear was nominated for the State Senate, and subsequently elected by a large majority. Dur- ing his term of service he was placed on such important committees as those of corporations, railroads, public health, banks, finance and county and township business. In June, 1899, he was appointed by the Circuit Court a member of the County Council, and has been re- peatedly elected councilman-at-large, having served as chairman of that body for a period of twelve years. He was appointed a trustee of the Indiana Soldiers' Home at Lafayette by Governor Hanly in 1906, and by successive gubernatorial appointments has served con- tinnously in that position, his present term expiring in April, 1921. During the entire period he has held the position of treasurer of the home. A mere ennmeration of such facts indicates Mr. Rinear's high and substantial standing.
SCHOOLHOUSE, THE FIRST BUILDING
"Resuming the thread of our discourse," as the stock phrase goes, Liberty Center was laid out by Messrs. Rinear and John Ernst on the 12th of November, 1878-the same year the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad went through that part of the county. Previous to that date there had been a schoolhouse at the Center for many years, and for a considerable time a store and two or three dwellings ; but no collection of buildings which could be stretched to the dignity of a settlement.
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THE LIBERTY TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL
The first log schoolhouse was erected on the site of the handsome Liberty Township High School of today. The second, built in the fall of 1859, was a frame building 24 by 30 feet. It was occupied both for school purposes and publie meetings of all kinds until 1881, when a two-story brick schoolhouse was erected under the supervision of G. H. King. Quite early this became a leading educational center of the county, and normal schools were repeatedly conducted therein. The schoolhouse was improved radically as the years passed and demands became insistent, until several years ago it became evident that the time was ripe for erecting an edifice not only for present but future needs. The result was the $35,000 high school described in Superintendent Huyette's report. Henry Snyder, its principal, has 230 pupils en- rolled under him, of whom 82 were in the high school department dur- ing the fall of 1917.
It would thus appear that a schoolhouse was the first thing to appear on the site of Liberty Center; and the crude log affair has grown into something fine, representative of progressive intelligence and a careful outlook for the future men and women of the com- munity.
LOCAL PIONEERING
There are other first things, persons and events also worthy of note.
John W. Rinear, the longest a resident of Liberty Center, was the first justice of the peace at this point. During his term of office, twelve years, he married 104 couples. The next justice was Henry J. John- son.
The first born at Liberty was Hattie S., daughter of John W. Rinear, and now the wife of John B. Funk. Having received a good education, previous to marriage, she taught a number of years in the public schools.
The first born male was Charles W., son of Samuel J. Jackson.
The first marriage was of X. N. Johnson to Mary E. Ernst; the first death was that of Mrs. Clark Morgan.
S. S. Jackson was postmaster at the Center before the town was platted.
J. W. Rinear, the first postmaster, afterward served until Jan- uary 1, 1880.
Frank W. Garrett, who succeeded Mr. Rinear, afterward studied
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medicine with Dr. John A. Morrison, the first physician, and himself commenced practice in 1882.
The earliest industries to be established appeared in 1879-the tile factory by Adams & Plank, and the sawmills built by Charles Cole and Jacob Jones. In 1882 G. H. King & Sons erected a flour mill, which adopted the roller system in 1887. Its successor, of comparatively late date, was the Garrett & Funk establishment.
LIBERTY CENTER DEPOSIT BANK
The Liberty Center Deposit Bank was founded in 1907, with Frank W. Garrett as president and Ira E. Yelton as cashier. It speaks well for its management that there has been no change whatever since the establishment of the bank. The present capital of the institution is $25,000; surplus and undivided profits, $19,000; average deposits (in November, 1917), $175,000.
BAPTIST AND METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCHES
The two local churches are the Baptist and the Methodist Protes- tant. The former is the oldest. The Baptists erected their first house of worship, a plain frame building, in 1869, and completed what was then a handsome brick church in 1884. The pastor now serving the society is Rev. Jesse Mitchell.
The Liberty Center Methodist Protestant Circuit has two classes- the Liberty Center class in the town of that name, and the Boehmer class three miles west and half a mile south of town. The Liberty Center class was organized by Rev. D. S. Boswell in February, 1882, in the high school building; the Boehmer class, by Rev. E. Robison, in March, 1886, at the Roberts schoolhouse. Liberty Center has had two church buildings, the first dedicated in February, 1888, and the second, in March, 1909. The local class has a present membership of 165. The Boehmer church was dedicated in November, 1888, and has a membership of 125. Since Rev. D. S. Boswell's time (1882-83), the following have served the Liberty Center Circuit : W. H. Fisher, W. HI. Rogers, W. G. Callahan, E. Robison, J. H. Nehers, J. C. Macklin. A. G. Mendenhall, J. R. French, S. J. Jones, G. W. Bundy, L. Coomer, J. L. Barclay, S. S. Stanton, M. F. Illiff, J. L. Barclay, Hillis L. Avery, A. R. Corn, W. Smith Harper and B. M. Petty. Rev. W. S. Harper, who preceded the pastor now in charge of the circuit, is now a mis- sionary, or field worker.
The people of Liberty Center are not strong supporters of lodges,
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their school and church work occupying most of their time. The Odd Fellows, however, have made considerable headway, and there is also a Rebekah organization.
THE VILLAGE OF TODAY
The village, which now numbers more than four hundred people, enjoys good transportation facilities. It is on the steam line of the Toledo, St. Louis & Western and is also a station on the Marion & Bluffton Traction route. Aside from its live stock yards, elevator, grist mill, beet dump and other interests, Liberty Center has a boiler shop, a garage, three or four general stores, a hardware store, drug store, and perhaps other business houses not mentioned. It is, in fact, a desirable town in which to live.
CHAPTER XXIV
OTHER VILLAGES AND STATIONS
KEYSTONE-ITS CHURCHES-STATE FARMERS BANK-LUTHER TWIBELL, FOUNDER-NEIGHBORS SCARCE, WOLVES PLENTIFUL-UNSCIENTIFIC CROWDING-ARRIVAL OF FIRST COOK STOVE-PONETO-WORTHING- TON, FIRST VILLAGE-EARLY PONETO-THE CHALFANTS AND THE BANK-FARMERS STATE BANK-CHURCHES AT AND NEAR PONETO- ODD FELLOWS AND REBEKAHS-ZANESVILLE-CHURCHES OF LO- CALITY-MARKLE, FORMERLY TRACY-STEPS IN PROGRESS-ITS STRONG POINTS-THE FARMERS AND TRADERS BANK-THE MARKLE JOURNAL-UNIONDALE-GEORGE C. DITZLER AND HIS SAWMILL- HENRY W. LIPKEY, MERCHANT, POSTMASTER, RAILROAD AGENT- ALSO, PRESIDENT OF THE BANK AND VILLAGE-THE PRESENT UNION- DALE-TOCSIN-MICHAEL C. BLUE-SAMUEL KUNKEL, OWNER OF ORIGINAL TOWN-GRAIN BUSINESS AND BANK ESTABLISHED-VERA CRUZ, A VETERAN VILLAGE-THE TOWN NOW-THE VITZES, FA- THER AND SONS-OLD VILLAGE OF LANCASTER-MURRAY PLATTED- PETROLEUM-KINGSLAND-ROCKFORD-OTHER SMALL POPULATION CENTERS.
Keystone is one of the southern villages of the county, lying a few miles north of the Blackford line, on both the Lake Erie & Western Railroad and the line of the Union Traction Company of Indiana. It is south of the center of Chester Township. Until 1917, or for forty- five years after it was platted. Keystone depended upon Montpelier, Blackford County, for its banking accommodations, but its growth of late has made that arrangement no longer feasible, and the State Farmers Bank is now one of its active institutions. At Keystone is also one of the elevators in the chain owned by the Studabaker Grain & Seed Company (capacity, 15,000 bushels), and it has several well- stocked and well-managed stores. There are two religious bodies at Keystone, a modern school and other evidences of pronounced ad- vancement usually found in typical American communities.
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ITS CHURCHES
The Methodist Protestant Church, of which Rev. S. T. Sturgeon is pastor, was organized in 1883-84, with ten members. Revs. J. C. MeLin and T. F. Ransopher were the first two clergymen to have charge of the Keystone Society. It was during the incumbency of the latter, in 1885, that the society erected its first house of worship.
The United Brethren Church, Rev. A. A. Ireland pastor, was or- ganized in the winter of 1886 with about fifty members. Rev. E. Baldue was its first settled pastor.
The Friends, or Quakers, also have a society at Keystone, Rev. Frank Edwards having charge of their organization.
The Ebenezer Baptist Church, the headquarters of which were east of Keystone, was organized in the late '50s, and its first house of worship erected in 1875.
Soon after the town was platted in 1872 a schoolhouse was erected, the one now occupied having been built in 1896. Charles H. Markley is the principal at present writing (December, 1917).
STATE FARMERS BANK
The State Farmers Bank of Keystone was organized in the summer of 1917 by the following: Simeon Crosby, president; J. A. Jarrett, first vice president ; Frank Kirkwood, second vice president; Cecil Lockwood, cashier. In November of that year the capital of the bank was $25,000; surplus, $2,500; average deposits, $15,000.
LUTHER TWIBELL, FOUNDER
Carrying out the prophecy that "the first shall be last," this place in the sketch of Keystone has been reserved for its founder, Luther Twibell. He was a Virginian, of Irish ancestry; was reared on a plantation and late in youth moved to Henry County, Indiana. In 1840, still before he had attained his majority, he accompanied his parents to Blackford County, traveling thence by team.
Luther Twibell remained with his parents until his marriage, in his twentieth year, on March 7, 1841. In the following October the yonng couple moved into Wells County, and purchased eighty acres of land, a portion of which was afterward platted as the site of Key- stone. Young Mrs. Twibell was born in Pennsylvania, of Dutch de- scent, and it is supposed that the village was named as a tribute to her and the Keystone State of her nativity.
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NEIGHBORS SCARCE, WOLVES PLENTIFUL
When Mr. and Mrs. Luther Twibell first settled in the locality on their 80-acre homestead, everything was very new. Human neighbors were scarce, but of wolves there were plenty. Wild game was also abundant. Here the young husband made his clearing and ent the logs with which he erected his first cabin and necessary farm build- ings. All the milling was then done at Muncie, and there was no regular road thither. There were only four teams in what are now Chester and Harrison townships. It is known that Mr. Twibell was not fond of hunting and that he spent most of his time industriously clearing and improving his land. When he and his wife moved to the site of Keystone their cabin was raised in one day. The occupants moved in before even a hole was cut for the chimney, and the first fire was built in the middle of the room.
UNSCIENTIFIC CROWDING
Upon the arrival of a new family, of course the most pressing act was to get its members under cover, especially if the weather was cold. At times those who were fortunate enough to have roofs over their heads were put to their wits' end to meet an unexpected influx. But each helped the other and "crowding" was the watchword. It is re- lated that to meet such an emergency in the Keystone neighborhood, upon one occasion three families, comprising twenty-two persons, oc- enpied a log house 16 by 18 feet. In those days, it was surely im- possible to allow a scientific and sanitary number of cubic feet of breathing space for each person. So the Twibell cabin was raised one day and occupied the next, the center-piece being the dining table made by driving stakes in the ground and laying clapboards on top of them.
ARRIVAL OF FIRST COOK STOVE
An event in the household and entire neighborhood was the arrival of their first cook stove. It had been purchased by the two sons, William and David, who had sold the wheat they raised on a piece of land set apart as the origin of the stove fund. William M. Twibell, who was born on the old farm, is now in his seventy-first year, an honored resident of Keystone, and probably has never been as proud as when he and his brother brought that first stove into the neighbor- hood, earned from the proceeds of their wheat money. The people of Vol. I-28
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the village and vicinity have always had a tender place in their hearts for the Twibells, without whom they might not have had a Keystone at all.
PONETO
Poneto, the village on the Lake Erie & Western Railroad and the Muncie, Bluffton & Fort Wayne Traction line, is located in the ex- treme southwest corner of Harrison Township and the southeast corner of Liberty Township, about seven miles southwest of Bluffton. It has some 400 inhabitants and is incorporated. In the midst of a pro- duetive grain country, the large local elevator is controlled not by an outside corporation, but by a cooperative organization known as the Farmers Elevator Company. It also has a number of good stores and two banks.
WORTHINGTON, FIRST VILLAGE
The village is a creature of the railroad, and was laid out by Simeon Tappy September 4, 1871. With Dr. H. Doster, he was chiefly instrumental in the location of the station at this point. Both raised money for the purpose and paid it out of their own pockets, and Mr. Tappy also donated land for the depot site. The latter was finally secured, in successful opposition to Wellsburg, across Rock Creek, to the north, which is consequently an abandoned point. It was first named Worthington Crossing, or Worthington, in honor of the superintendent of the railroad ; but as it was afterward found that a postoffice in Indiana already had that name, it was rechristened Poneto in 1880.
EARLY PONETO
When the town was platted in 1871 the only building on the ground was Mr. Tappy's residence, and a sawmill owned by Dr. C. T. Melsheimer, which was afterward moved. The large brick business block, long so conspienous, was originally built by John Hardwidge in 1881 and afterward enlarged. The S. M. King saw, planing and corn-feed mills were built in 1882-83. During that period Frank Courtney also brought his saw and planing mills to Poneto.
THE CHALFANTS AND THE BANK
But the village did not reach a firm footing as a trade center until it ceased to rely upon Bluffton for its banking accommodations; and
ยท
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it was the old Chalfant family which eame to the rescue in that con- nection. Chads Chalfant, the grandfather of Abner, had planted the family in the southwest quarter of section 25, Harrison Township, in 1837, and the succeeding generations had increased the reputation of the family for thrift, honesty and ability. Reason, the son of Chads, inherited the estate, then greatly improved and increased in value, and in 1888 Abner, the son of Reason, succeeded to it. His manage- ment of the old-time properties also brought him large incomes, and he decided to give Poneto, in which he also had real estate interests, one of the prime necessities for its growth, a local bank. That institu-
STREET SCENE, PONETO
tion was organized as the Bank of Poneto. The present officers are : Abner Chalfant, president; S. C. Sheperd, first vice president : F. M. Buckner, second vice president: Robert Lee, cashier. Mr. Chalfant has resided in Bluffton since January, 1915.
FARMERS STATE BANK
The Farmers State Bank was founded in March, 1912, with J. W. Cook as president; W. A. Popejoy, vice president, and Earl French, cashier. There has been no change in either the presidency or vice presidency ; but Mr. French was cashier for only a few months, when he was sueceeded by George Barrington, who held the position until July, 1917. Mr. Barrington was then followed in the cashiership by A. L. Musselman, the present incumbent. Following are the items
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indicative of the financial status of the bank in December, 1917: Cap- ital, $25,000 ; surplus and undivided profits, $4,000; average deposits, $110,000.
CHURCHES AT AND NEAR PONETO
Poneto has had a number of churches, the First M. E., in charge of Rev. E. E. Wright, having still a substantial membership. A frame church building was completed in 1880. Among its earlier pastors were Revs. J. W. Paschall, Charles Bacon, J. C. MeLin, Henry C. Myers, I. N. Rhodes, Henry Bridge, J. B. Cook and B. S. Holapeter.
The Reifftown M. E. Church, a few miles east of town, is also an old religious body, its house of worship being dedicated August 8, 1880. The United Brethren Church was organized at Poneto in 1877 and a frame meeting house was built in 1882. The society was discontinued some time ago. The Baptists, who also have no regular services, were first organized, locally, in 1880.
ODD FELLOWS AND REBEKAHS
The Odd Fellows have the strongest lodge in town, No. 752. It was organized June 30, 1899, with the following chief elective officers : L. A. Nutter, N. G .; W. J. Clark, V. G .; H. B. Sark, Secretary. Dur- ing the twenty years of its lodge life the following have served as noble grands: L. A. Nutter, W. J. Clark, Hezekiah Doster, Samuel Henley, R. K. Johnson, F. M. Buckner, G. F. Mowery, H. B. Sark, W. R. Smith, David Ochsenrider, Daniel Jones, L. C. Nutter, H. A. Grove, R. F. Gavin, W. L. Schock, Charles Fuller, Karl Lee, John Hardwidge, O. W. Weinland, James Quick, George Hatfield, William Singer, D. E. Leist, Charles Mossburg, Hiram Davis, J. H. Ogalsbee, William Jones, Jr., Adam King, William King, Vincent Barrington, L. E. Carroll, H. H. Toms, R. B. Kunkel, R. A. Lee and Gay Jones. Officers now serving : Paul Oman, N. G .; Ray Kimes, V. G .; Karl Lee, secretary. The lodge now numbers more than 100 members, and is growing.
The auxiliary of the I. O. O. F., the Order of Rebekahs, is also organized at Poneto.
ZANESVILLE
A village of over 300 people, Zanesville is cut by the line which separates Wells from Allen County. Although it has never been
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favored with steam railroad communication, for some years it has been a station on the Terre Haute, Indianapolis & Eastern Traction route, and has all the required means of communication. The site of the town is on a high ridge skirted by Davis Creek. Its older por- tion was laid out March 4, 1849, by J. and L. Walker. It has a good school, the first substantial building devoted to that purpose being erected in 1876.
CHURCHES OF THE LOCALITY
The people of Zanesville have always endeavored to provide the best means available for the education of the younger generation. Neither have they been deficient in churches. The United Brethren effected the first permanent organization at the schoolhouse in 1855, and William Haverstock served as their class leader for many years. Their first church building, a little frame structure, which was erected in 1857, was afterward used as a carriage factory. A meeting house combined of wood and brick was built in 1884. The Church of God is also an old organization. Its members worshipped in the early years at private houses, the schoolhouse and the United Brethren meeting house. In 1868 they erected a house of worship. These are the strong- est religious bodies now active in Zanesville, although the United Brethren have had a division in their ranks, the offshot being known as Radicals.
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