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 40
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 40
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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
The St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized at Zanesville in 1860, and endured for some years.
One of the first organizations of the United Brethren in the county was that known as the Eight Mile District Brethren Church, which was founded by Rev. J. H. Bowman, of Kansas, in 1833. Their meet- ing house was about three miles southwest of Zanesville; first pastor, Rev. W. M. M. Hamilton, and deacons, George A. G. Sonner and Ezekiel Roe.
Another pioneer in religious work was the Church of the Disciples, whose house of worship a mile southeast of the village was built in 1853. At a later period the German Baptists organized some two miles southwest and built a church in 1875.
It is evident that Zanesville is reenforced and buttressed about by churches, which is largely accounted for by the fact that its found- ers and many of those who have come after them have been Germans and German-Americans of a most pronounced religious type. That same fact may also explain the circumstance that the secret lodges have never obtained a strong foothold in the village, the time and strength
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of its people being largely absorbed by their activities in connection with the churches and auxiliary societies. There are, however, both lodges of the Odd Fellows and the Masons, the latter (No. 517) having been chartered in May, 1875. At one time Zanesville had a newspaper, the Hoosier Advertiser and Printer, published by J. W. Keplinger. As a center of trade for a limited area, the village is supplied with a roller flour mill, of which Charles O. Keplinger is proprietor, and a bank with a fair average of deposits.
MARKLE, FORMERLY TRACY
Markle, which is on the border line between Wells and Hunting- ton counties, is a well-built village of nearly 900 people, but only a small section of its eastern site lies within the limits of the former. The original town, known as Tracy, was platted as early as 1836, but it was still in a state of torpidity in 1850, when Dr. Joseph Scott, the first physician of the locality, also erected its first permanent residence.
STEPS IN PROGRESS
Although within the succeeding twenty years or so the Curry tan- nery and a few other small industries were established, it was not until the narrow-gauge line which developed into the Chicago & Erie was completed between Huntington and Markle that the latter (still known as Tracy) was inspired with anything which could be called energy. Two years afterward, or in the late '70s, the town was in- corporated as Markle. Soon afterward John Stults erected a saw and planing mill; other factories followed ; a large stone and lime, feed and hay business was developed; additions were made to the original town, which expanded over the Wells County line, and Markle became one of the brisk small villages of Eastern Indiana. The Cincinnati, Bluff- ton & Chicago line at first added to its transportation advantages; but, although the latter is now "junk," permanent automobile 'bus lines have been established between Bluffton and Huntington, with Markle as the most important intermediate point.
ITS STRONG POINTS
Markle's strong points-and they can be dwelt upon only in a general way-are that it is the trading and banking center of a solidly prosperous country district ; that it enjoys ready facilities for han-
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dling grain and transporting all the natural products of the locality to the best markets; that its industrial plants inelude a large modern flour mill, an up-to-date creamery and a hard-wood manufactory ; that it has an extensive establishment devoted to the handling and sale of eggs and poultry, including a packing house (its only important industry in Wells County ) ; and that its churches and schools are sup- ported as they should be by a thoroughly intelligent community ; and, to cap and conclude all, that Markle has a newspaper which sets forth such advantages and others too numerous to mention, in a convincing
BIRD'S EYE VIEW, MARKLE
and enthusiastie manner. Now, a few pertinent details, and this sketch is done.
THE FARMERS AND TRADERS BANK
The Farmers and Traders was organized as a state bank No- vember 30, 1903, with James W. Sales as president ; Hugh Dougherty, vice president, and W. S. Smith, cashier. Its capital was $25,000. In December, 1904, Chester E. Wirt succeeded Mr. Smith as cashier, and in the following year R. W. Redding became vice president. R. C. MeGuffey was chosen vice president in December, 1909, and D. B. Garber was named as cashier, to succeed Mr. Wirt, in January, 1913. Since December of that year Mr. MeGuffey has aeted as president and R. H. Fishbaugh as vice president of the bank. Its capital stock re-
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mains at $25,000; surplus and undivided profits, $10,000; average de- posits, $350,000.
THE MARKLE JOURNAL
The Markle Journal was founded in 1892 by W. W. Rogers. In 1911 it was purchased by D. C. Bichart and L. L. Rogers, and con- dueted by them under the firm name of Bichart & Rogers until the
BIRD'S EYE VIEW, UNIONDALE
following year, when Mr. Rogers became its sole proprietor. In May, 1917, it was bought by H. F. Symonds, the present owner and editor.
THE SCHOOLS
The management of the local schools has been most creditable to both the boards and the principals, and the substantial two-story brick building now occupied by the grammar grades and the high school is ornamental as well as decidedly useful. It was a remodeled struc- ture completed in 1912 at a cost of $12,400. The principal of the Union School is J. M. Hughes. About 230 pupils are enrolled, of whom 93 were high school scholars in November, 1917.
UNIONDALE
ยท Uniondale, a village of about 250 people, on the Chicago & Erie and the Cincinnati, Bluffton & Chicago railroads, is three miles west
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of Kingsland and nine miles northwest of Bluffton. For many years it had the distinction of being headquarters of the largest sawmill in Wells County, built by George C. Ditzler and operated by him for many years. Mr. Ditzler and Henry W. Lipkey are, in fact, recorded as the founders of Uniondale.
GEORGE C. DITZLER AND HIS SAWMILL
Mr. Ditzler surveyed and platted the village, in 1882, as a station on the Chicago & Erie Railroad. He had sold his sawmill at Murray and as he had just taken a large contract from the old Chicago & Atlantic for supplying the railroad company with ties, bridge timbers and other building material, he leased two acres at the southwest cor- ner of the Gardenour farm and there erected a new mill. He was soon employing fifty hands and a dozen teams, and before long it was the largest sawmill in Wells County, having a capacity of 15,000 feet. After its completion in May, 1882, Mr. Ditzler furnished all the building material required by the railroad for some distance either side of Uniondale. It afterward became a general merchant mill, as well as furnishing ties and timbers to several railroads, and turned out 2,000,000 feet of lumber annually. Mr. Ditzler's residence was the first one completed at Uniondale, and his mill sawed the lumber for it, as well as for all the other buildings constructed in the village while he remained at the head of the business. Uniondale still has a sawmill of good standing, the proprietor of which is Homer Harsh- man.
HENRY W. LIPKEY, MERCHANT, POSTMASTER, RAILROAD AGENT
Henry W. Lipkey built and conducted the first store in Uniondale, and when a postoffice was established January 21, 1886, he was ap- pointed postmaster. He was also appointed agent for the railroad com- pany and perhaps held equal honors with Mr. Ditzler as "leading citizen." Mr. Lipkey opened his store shortly after the village was platted, and in November, 1883, formed a partnership with William Newhard. The latter afterward branched out into the grain busi- ness and built the first warehouse in town.
ALSO PRESIDENT OF THE BANK AND VILLAGE
Mr. Lipkey has continued to develop as a merchant and a citizen and has invested the proceeds of his large business in various lines.
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He is president of the Bank of Uniondale, of which Joshua A. Brickley is cashier. Messrs. Brickley and J. B. Miller also own and operate the grain elevator, and George Brickley is a manufacturer of cement bloeks. The foregoing facts give an idea of the character of the local industries.
The Bank of Uniondale opened for business on December 5, 1908, with the following officers: H. W. Lipkey, president; P. E. Gilbert, vice president ; J. A. Brickley, cashier. In June, 1917, it was reor- ganized as a state bank, it having been established as a private con- cern. At that time it assumed the name of the State Bank of Union- dale. Its capital stock has been increased from $10,000 to $25,000; surplus and undivided profits of $2,000; average deposits, $200,000. The official management of the bank has never been changed.
THE PRESENT UNIONDALE
When it is learned that Mr. Lipkey is also president of the village board and that Mr. Brickley is clerk, their leadership in the com- munity must be recognized. Although the town has not yet established any system of waterworks, it is well lighted, both as to its streets and residences, through contract with the Wabash Valley Utility Company which furnishes electricity in any form. Uniondale has a number of general stores, as well as several of a special character.
The town has a school of good standing, and several churches and lodges. The oldest religious body, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, has been without a pastor for some time. The Methodist Episcopal Church is in charge of Rev. Leroy Huddleston. As to secret and benevolent societies, the Knights of Pythias and Red Men are the strongest of the local bodies.
TOCSIN
Toesin is a modest rural settlement of some 200 residents about five miles east of Kingsland and nine miles northeast of Bluffton on the Chicago & Erie line. It has a few stores, but nothing in the way of industries. The surrounding country, however, is naturally rich and actually productive, and, as the farmers are a thrifty class, for nearly ten years they have been accommodated with a bank at Toesin. The townspeople, with their stores, are also favored in that direction.
MICHAEL C. BLUE
When Tocsin was platted in 1882 by Michael C. Blue, it was simply a station on the old Chicago & Atlantic Railroad. He has
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made the place his home ever since, and his energy, honesty and abil- ities have carried him several times into the halls of the State Legis- lature. He surveyed the village, gave it its name, made a large ad- dition to the original site on the west and his homestead is near the town site. To the local historian, therefore, the earlier years which he spent in the neighborhood are the most interesting, and the details cov- ering them are reproduced from an account written thirty years ago. It says : "Michael C. Blue was born in Miami County, Ohio, April 16, 1836, son of Uriah and Rachel ( Moore) Blue, who were among the earliest settlers of the Miami Valley. In March, 1840, Uriah Blue emigrated to this county with his family, and settled upon the north- west quarter of section 15, Lancaster Township. He entered this land in 1836. The patent is now in Mr. Blue's possession and bears the signature of President Van Buren. They had four children when they eame to the county-Mary, Lucinda, Michael C. and James. Their household goods were transported with teams, and a few eows were driven through. No improvements had been made upon the land, and the family pitched their tent beside a great log. During the night a violent snowstorm came up, which almost covered both tent and wagons. Wolves howled on every side, and their snapping teeth, added to their dismal howls, drove the dog inside. Their first introduction to Wells County was anything but pleasant. Word was received by the neighbors who lived down the river that a new family had arrived, and in three or four days a number of them put in an appearance. They helped cut the logs, raise and cover the new cabin, and made the family as comfortable as possible. All were strangers, and Mr. Blue does not remember any of their names, as he was then only four years old. There was not a mouthful of feed for the cattle, and during the spring they became very poor and a part of them perished before the snow was gone. To add to their vexations, the horses strayed away and returned to Miami County. Uriah went after them and was fortunate enough to recover them. The father was a cooper by trade, and was rather an unsuccessful farmer. He finally cleared forty aeres, but his chief delight consisted in hunting. He was very successful, and the larder was well supplied with wild meats. Hundreds of deer fell vietims to his unerring aim, and the products of the chase maintained his family almost exclusively. Upon his ar- rival he had $5 in money, $4 of which was expended for four bushels of corn. Being the only cooper in the neighborhood, he made all the barrels, well-buckets and kraut-tubs that were used for miles around. There were no sehools in the neighborhood, and the youth was fifteen years old before he could read his first spelling-book, which was pur-
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chased with money from the sale of wild blackberries. Sallie Bald- win taught a "select" school at her home, and Michael was one of her first pupils. He early learned the mysteries of the chase, and he also became an expert hunter and trapper. In speaking of his schoolboy costume, Mr. Blue says: 'My pantaloons were made of dressed buck- skin ; vest and cap of fawn skin, tanned with the hair on, while moc- casins of deer skin ornamented my feet.' His father did not favor education in any sense, but Michael was delighted with books. He made barrels until money enough was earned to buy Ray's Third Arithmetic, and he frequently stole out to the woods, where most of his problems were mentally solved. At an early day they had neither lamps nor candles, and Michael would stretch himself on the floor in front of the fire, and with a pile of shavings, lighting one by one, pursued his studies. His persistency brought its reward, and when twenty-five years of age he attended one term at the Murray Academy, and later he taught at Roanoke College. His proficiency entitled him to a certificate and he taught school in Jackson Township, Hunting- ton County, and later eight terms in Wells County. His commission bears the signature of Governor Oliver P. Morton and Lieutenant Governor Conrad Baker. From the age of twenty-one until his term of auditor expired, Mr. Blue was kept continuously in office-first, as constable, then assessor, notary public, surveyor, auditor, etc. He was elected auditor in 1890, but ill-health caused his retirement from office at the end of his term. Mr. Blue was afterward elected to the Legislature and served most creditably for two terms. A story is told of his exciting canvass when he was a candidate for surveyor, during his earlier official career, which is too good to pass over. The office was quite unsolicited by him until very near election day. Then he would have made no effort had not Joseph Meredith called upon him at his log cabin, 12 by 14 feet, and pressed the matter upon him. Mr. Meredith told him that he must make a canvass, as election day was close at hand. The house was small and all thrown together in one room, and Michael disliked to ask his guest to step outside while he changed his clothes. So taking his best snit under his arm he retired to his cornfield near by, and soon returned completely transformed into a presentable candidate for public favor. Borrowing a horse from Iven Richey, he started on the canvass with Meredith. Taking in Rockford and Bluffton, he returned to his home the same day and was elected by a handsome majority."
SAMUEL KUNKEL, OWNER OF ORIGINAL TOWN
Samuel Kunkel, the brother-in-law of Michael C. Blue, bought the original forty-acre tract upon which the latter laid out the village.
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Mr. Kunkel erected its first store during the season of 1882, laid in a stock of merchandise, and was appointed the first postmaster of Toesin, holding the office until February, 1887. Wesley Sowers erected the first residence on the town site, and Dr. Noah Bergman, who had practiced several years at Berne, Adams County, located at Tocsin soon after it was platted as its first physician. The first child born in Tocsin was of the Kunkel family, and it is probable that Doctor Berg- man was "called in," although it was not the rule with these pioneer women to have a regular physician to supervise such events.
GRAIN BUSINESS AND BANK ESTABLISHED
Mr. Kunkel founded the first grain business which was established at Tocsin, and the place has never been without some kind of a ware- house or elevator since. The present plant is a Studabaker elevator with a capacity of 18,000 bushels.
The Bank of Toesin, already briefly noted, was established in 1909, with T. J. Sowards as president ; G. W. Rupright, vice president, and Frank Garton, cashier. Mr. Sowards still holds the presidency. In the spring of 1910 Mr. Rupright resigned as vice president and was succeeded by I. W. Wasson, who holds not only that position, but is the active cashier, and has the full management of the affairs of the bank. Frank Garton, the original cashier died in September, 1913, and was succeeded by his son, H. S. Garton, who held the position for a year. The latter's successor was John O. Dailey, the present in- cumbent. The capital of the Bank of Toesin is $10,000; surplus and undivided profits, $1.600 ; average deposits, $125,000.
There is only one church within the village limits, that which rep- resents the United Brethren and is in charge of Rev. J. Farmer.
VERA CRUZ, A VETERAN VILLAGE
Vera Cruz is a settlement of perhaps 200 people on the Bluffton, Geneva & Celina Traction line ; also located on the Wabash River about seven miles southeast of the county seat. It was called Newville until about 1870, when it was incorporated, and was originally laid out by James Higgins and Christian Sowers in September, 1848. It is one of the oldest villages in the county. Vera Cruz was the site and the center of quite a number of mills in the '70s and '80s. Its first im- portant industry was a woolen factory which was started several years before the former period. Yarn was its principal product. It also had quite a flour mill, which was operated many years by Isaac North
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& Company. At the height of its prodnetiveness it ground both wheat and corn. A tile factory and brick yard were operated in the village and a sawmill across the river and to the south.
THE TOWN NOW
Its leading industry now is represented by the elevator owned and operated by the Studabaker Grain and Seed Company, which has a capacity of 10,000 bushels. It has also a milk condensing plant and several stores and blacksmith shops. Vera Cruz has a good graded school, the first house provided for it having been erected in 1868. The village was early settled by German Lutherans, and adherents to that faith are still numerous there and in the neighborhood.
THE VITZES, FATHER AND SONS
The St. John's Reformed Lutheran Church was organized at Vera Cruz in 1849, and a regular pastor was engaged five years later. Within the past forty years the name of Vitz has figured prominently in the affairs of this old and tried society. Rev. Peter Vitz, one of the most widely known pastors of that denomination in Indiana, was in charge from 1877 to 1883, and two of his sons, Revs. J. Otto and Oswald P. Vitz, have also been pastors of the society, the latter at a comparatively recent date. Rev. William Sehroer is now in service.
The Evangelical Association, which has no local minister, was or- ganized in 1853, was formerly quite strong.
OLD VILLAGE OF LANCASTER
The postoffice of Murray, west of the center of Lancaster Township, is little more than a memory of the old village of Lancaster (some- times called New Lancaster), which is considered the pioneer "per- manent" settlement of Wells County. The Millers came in 1832 and located in what was called the "Knox clearing," Jacob remaining in the locality for many years. Mrs. Harvey (afterward Mrs. Sally Aker) was also one of those who came in the early '30s, before even Murray was platted, and remained there for fifty or sixty years.
MURRAY PLATTED
The Town of Murray was platted by Jesse Gerhard in October, 1839, and subsequently W. H. Deam and a Mr. Matthews made ad-
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ditions. But although pleasantly situated on the north bank of the Wabash, it was too near the successful eounty seat; and no railroad ever touched it. So that now, virtually all that can be said of Murray is to be classified as long-past history, and nothing in the making. Mr. Gerhard built the grist-mill in 1837, the first in the county, and
OIL WELLS AT THEIR BEST
it continued to do business under various proprietors for fifty or sixty years. A sawmill was built much later. The first school in the town- ship was opened in the winter of 1838-39 by A. B. Waugh. It was a log house located on the old Harvey farm. For many years the strong- est church at Murray was the United Presbyterian, organized in 1846. The Presbyterian Church Building was dedicated in 1861 and the Christian in 1865. It should be added, as a matter of general interest,
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that James Dailey and Benjamin Brown were appointed as the first justices of the peace in Lancaster Township in 1841.
PETROLEUM
Petroleum, in Nottingham Township, was the center of consider- able oil excitement in the middle and late '90s, with a number of sub- stantial properties developed. In that movement William A. Kunkel, of Bluffton, was prominent. For several years he had charge of the Cudahy interests, which were afterward sold to the Standard Oil Com- pany, and afterward made profitable investments as an independent operator. He also became director in a number of corporations en- gaged in the same line of development. The early promises at Petrol- eum, however, have not materialized in any large degree, although the developments have resulted in the founding of a neat little town. With the failure of the Cincinnati, Bluffton & Chicago Road, also, its present prospects are not of the brightest. The disposal of that road also carries with it the collapse of the local elevator. The creamery is a thing of the past. Petroleum is still the center of a good live stock and farming section, and possesses several substantial evidences of growth. It has five stores, a garage and a bank. The president of the last named is A. R. Williams, and cashier, Henry Schott. The re- ligious and social elements of the town patronize the United Brethren Church, and the Odd Fellows Lodge, both of which are well supported.
KINGSLAND
Kingsland is a station on the Chicago & Erie Railroad and the line of the Fort Wayne, Bluffton, Muncie & Indiana Traction Company, about 31% miles south of Ossian and 61% miles north of Bluffton. It has two or three general stores and a bank, and is to that extent a trading and banking center. A Presbyterian Church was organized at Kingsland in 1886 and a house of worship erected in the following year. Later, a Methodist Society was founded, and of late years they have combined into a union church, of which Rev. Garfield Daw is in charge.
TERRIBLE RAILROAD ACCIDENT NEAR KINGSLAND
Early in the afternoon of September 21, 1910, occurred one of the most terrible railroad accidents which is to be recorded in Indiana history. To follow the precision of the coroner's verdict, which
PHELIL 188A
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passed upon the responsibility for the deaths of thirty-four victims of the collision between ear 303, a southbound special sent out from Bluff- ton for the accommodation of those going to the fair, and the north- bound car (No. 233), the wreck occurred about 12.18 to 12.20 P. M., "at a point 2,300 feet north of the D. rail of the Fort Wayne & Wa- bash Valley Company's track north of the Chicago & Erie Railroad tracks at Kingsland." The north-bound was running to Fort Wayne
ANDPLS
THE WRECK ON THE CLOVER LEAF ROAD
as a regular train, but 303 failed to enter either of the sidings to give the right-of-way to the north-bound regular, and its conductor and motorman were therefore found culpable. Many were badly injured, besides those who died. Among the well-known residents of Bluffton who were killed were H. D. Cook, John W. Tribolet, Seymour Robin- son, William D. Burgan, A. Lloyd Brown, Ralph Walser, Lewis C. Justus, and William Beer. The cause of the unusual mortality result- ing from the aceident was that the floor of the special sonth-bound train was nearly a foot higher than that of the regular car, and there- fore when they collided they completely telescoped : the floor of No. Vol. 1-29
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303 "sliding over and grinding its way along the floor of Car 233 to a distance of about twelve feet of the south end of said car," as stated in the coroner's verdict. Those within the line of this onslaught were crushed to death generally. Some of the bodies of the dead and in- jured were taken to a near-by grove until help could arrive and the wreckage could be cleared from the track. Afterward the dead and the injured were taken to Fort Wayne, Bluffton and other points designated by relatives and friends. It was a season of special mourn- ing for Bluffton, and its schools were closed for a week as a mark of respect and sympathy for those who had suffered human loss in the wreck.
ROCKFORD
The rural hamlet of Rockford, in the southwest corner of Rock Creek Township, was at one time quite an industrial center. Perhaps the earliest was the saw and gristmill erected by Rev. Hallet Barber, a few rods below the bridge, which was the scene of a fatal explosion in the late '70s. The plant was never rebuilt. The postoffice was first known as Barber's Mills. The Town of Rockford, as it was known, was platted in September, 1849, by Solomon Johnson and Matthew Davis. In the '70s and '80s quite a number of factories were estab- lished in the vicinity of Rockford-the Brown & Ware tile factory in 1872, and a similar plant in 1880, by Braner Brothers, across the creek, and a sawmill, across the creek east of town in 1875 by Milton Davis.
OTHER SMALL POPULATION CENTERS
Banner, sometimes called Banner City, is a small hamlet about a mile west of Uniondale on the Chicago & Erie line. It was made a station of the old Chicago & Atlantic Railroad about 1887.
Craigville, Reiffton, Domestic and still other postoffices or hamlets strung along various rural delivery routes may also be recalled by old- timers and those familiar with every section of the county. But it is quite safe to say that no points of historic interest have been omitted which should cause severe criticism.
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