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 II > Part 2
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 II > Part 2
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
Jacob J. Todd left an indelible impression on the public life in Bluff- ton. No citizen of the community was ever more respected and no man ever more fully enjoyed the confidence of the people or more richly deserved the esteem in which he was held. In his lifetime the people of his community, recognizing his merit, rejoiced in his advancement and
460
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
in the honors he attained and since his death they have cherished his memory, which remains as a blessed benediction to all who knew him. Honorable in business, publie-spirited in civil life, charitable in thought, kindly in action, true to every trust confided to his care, his life was the highest type of Christian manhood.
Ralph S. Todd, born in Bluffton August 5, 1880, was graduated in the local high school in June, 1897, and in the fall of that year he entered DePauw University at Greencastle, Indiana, in which excellent institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1901, with the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy. He initiated his business career as a bookkeeper in The Studabaker Bank in Bluffton, and in due time became assistant cashier and later cashier of that substantial financial institu- tion. In June, 1909, he was chosen president of the bank and had the distinction of being the youngest man to hold such a position in the State of Indiana. He is still the efficient incumbent of that position, filling it with satisfaction to all and credit to himself. He is a director in the Studabaker Grain & Seed Company, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the W. B. Brown Company, director in the Bank of Petro- leum and in the Fair View Cemetery Association and one of the trustees of DePauw University.
While a student in De Pauw University. Mr. Todd became acquainted with Miss Agnes Moulden, of Greenfield, Indiana, and his marriage to her was solemnized October 15, 1902. She was born in Marion County, Indiana, August 29, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Todd have two children : James Moulden, born February 2, 1904; and Martha, born October 6, 1909. They are valued and appreciative members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he is a member of the board of trustees.
Fraternally Mr. Todd is a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Bluffton Commandery. Knights Templar, and of Mizpah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is past chancellor of Bluffton Lodge No. 92, Knights of Pythias, and is con- nected with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a stal- wart republican and was a delegate to the National Republican Con- vention in Chicago in 1916. As a loyal and public-spirited citizen Mr. Todd commands the unqualified esteem of his fellow men and he is regarded as a substatial and influential factor in the civic and indus- trial life of Bluffton and of Wells County.
IION. SILAS W. HALE. As Mr. Hale is one of the advisory editors for Adams County in this publication, his career is a subject of general interest to all the readers. But aside from this, the achievements of a long and worthy life deserve such description and record as a work of this kind alone can afford.
Mr. Hale was born at Bluffton in Wells County, Indiana, September 18. 1844, son of Bowen and Mary Ann (Deam) Hale. His father, Bowen Hale, was born in Kentucky in 1801, but from early youth was reared in Greene County, Ohio. His early environment was that of a farm, but he also learned the trade of chair maker and painter. During the '20s he worked at these trades along the Mississippi River and in a number of the old towns in that section of the country. He finally came to Indiana and engaged in merchandising at Fort Wayne and from there moved to Wells County. He was one of the pioneers of Wells County, was here at the time of organization, and became one of the promi- nent eitizens and officials of Bluffton. He was postmaster. clerk of the County Court after its organization. and was always keenly interested in public affairs. He lived at Bluffton until his death in 1887. His wife. Mary A. Deam, was a native of Ohio. Bowen Hale was a demo-
461
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
erat and a member of the Masonie fraternity. His children were : John D., former clerk of the County Court of Adams County; Silas W .; James P., who became a prominent lawyer at Bluffton; Emma, who married Andrew Van Emmon; Jane, who married Daniel Markley; Mary ; and Bowen.
Silas W. Hale is today one of the oldest surviving native sons of Bluff- ton. He grew up there, attended some of the early schools, graduating from high school. At the age of eighteen during 1862-63 he taught in a country district. In December, 1864, Mr. Hale enlisted in the army and was made sergeant in Company E of the 153rd Indiana Infantry. Later he was transferred to the quartermaster's department and served with the Army of the Tennessee during the final months of the great war. He was discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, in September, 1865.
After the war Mr. Hale was employed in the store of A. Deam & Company at Bluffton as a elerk, and remained there until 1869, when he joined his brother John D. Hale at Bluffton in the grain and produce trade under the firm name of J. D. Hale & Brother. In 1871 they transferred their business to Geneva in Adams County. The partner- ship was continued until 1878. In the meantime from 1873 to 1878 Silas Ifale was also telegraph operator for the Grand Rapids & Indiana Rail- way at Geneva, and during 1876-77 was also station agent for that road.
I'pon the dissolution of the partnership in 1878 Silas Hale moved to Portland, Indiana, and engaged in the same line of business there. In 1883 John D. Hale was elected to the office of county clerk of Adams County. His brother then sold his business interests at Portland and returned to Geneva to take charge of the prosperous establishment in that place, and continued it with growing success and energy until he finally retired in 1902. Mr. Hale still makes his home in Geneva.
For a long period of years Mr. Hale's name has been associated with offices of trust and responsibility in this part of the state. One of his earliest positions at Geneva was as member of the School Board from 1883 to 1886, and altogether he put in eighteen years on the board of education and has exercised every influence in his power to promote the welfare of the local schools. In 1886 he was elected to represent Adams, Jay and Blackford counties in the senate and was a member of that body during 1887 and 1889. During the session of 1889 he was chair- man of the Committee on Military Affairs, and his study and careful planning brought about the military laws under which Indiana has condneted its state military organization since that date.
In 1891 Mr. Hale was elected by the Legislature a member of the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Indiana Hospital for the Insane, and was on that board twelve years. all of the time its treasurer. He spent much of his time in looking after the material welfare and upkeep of the institutions under the board and was also a elose student of the many subjects connected with the administration of insane hospitals. By virtue of his office he also was a member of the National Confer- ence of Charities which met in various cities of the United States. At the close of his long service of twelve years as a member of the Board of Trustees and upon his retirement the Board of State Charities passed a very complimentary resolution giving him credit for painstaking, care- ful and conscientious service in every relationship with the board.
After retiring from this board he was appointed one of the trustees to establish and organize the epileptic village near Newcastle. That great institution owes much to him for its foundation and he was a member of its Board of Trustees four years.
Mr. Hale has found many interests to give him useful occupation
462
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
even in his later years. He has been an officer of the Bank of Geneva. He has rounded out more than half a century of membership in the Masonic order. He was first made a Mason in Bluffton Lodge in 1867. In 1878 he transferred his membership to Portland and was master of Portland Lodge in 1882 for one year. On returning to Geneva he be- came a charter member of Geneva Lodge No. 621 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and has been one of its most regular attendants. Hle is also a member of the Lodge of Perfection and the Scottish Rite Valley of Fort Wayne, and is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias of Geneva. Mr. Hale was reared as a Presbyterian, but in 1884 took his letter from that church at Portland and placed it with the Methodist Church at Geneva.
In 1869 Mr. Hale married Miss Phebe C. McFadden, a native of Ohio and daughter of John and Catherine (Daugherty) MeFadden, who set- tled on a farm in Wells County, Indiana, in 1852. John MeFadden was for a period of eight years county auditor of Wells County. Mrs. Hale, who died August 17, 1906, was the mother of the following chil- dren : William, married Nellie Clawson and has three children, Helen, Mary and William; Frank, married Daisey Mason and has one daugh- ter, Mrs. Ed Lemike of Fort Wayne; Stella and Winnie are deceased Clara, married J. A. Anderson, now deceased, has two children, Cath- erine and Joseph; and Fred, married Anna Schaffer and has two chil- dren, Cornelius and James.
J. D. FRENCH. A well known educator of Wells County is J. D. French, for the past nine years a teacher in the Petroleum public schools, and additionally one of the county's enterprising and successful agri- culturists. He was born in Hartford Township, Adams County, Indiana, November 25, 1863, and is a son of William and Sarah (Johns) French, the latter of whom was born in 1828, in Virginia, and is still surviving and bearing well the weight of years.
William French was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, the second son of Joseph French, an early settler in this state. Joseph French reared the following children : Joel, William, John G., Minerva, Sylvia, Mary and Melissa, the eldest being an early teacher in Adams County. William French grew to manhood on his father's farm and then mar- ried Sarah Johns, who was an edneated woman and a school teacher in Wells County. After marriage William French and wife took posses- sion of the log cabin in which all their children were subsequently born, and they lived on the Adams County farm until 1882, when Mr. French sold that property and purchased a farm in Arkansas. He died shortly after taking possession. His widow remained in Arkansas for one year and then returned to Indiana and bought a farm near Linn Grove. There were five children in the family, namely: Charlotte, who is the wife of William Miller, of Muncie, Indiana; Joseph, who died at the age of thirty years; Melissa, who has been a teacher for twenty-five years; J. D .; and Andrew, who resides with his mother.
J. D. French was reared in Adams County and attended the country schools and was one of the first two graduates. This was in 1882 and he then taught school in Adams County until 1886, when he entered Val- paraiso University, from which he was gradnated with the degrees of B. S. and A. B., having completed the scientific course in 1890, and the eloentionary in 1891 and the classical course in 1894. Mr. French was then elected superintendent of the Linn Grove schools and remained there two years. Subsequently he taught at Whiting, Indiana. for four years, and at Lisbon, Illinois, for four years, and then took a post grad-
463
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
nate course in science in the Illinois Normal University. Mr. French has life certificates in both Illinois and Indiana.
In 1901 Mr. French bought his present farm in Nottingham Town- ship, Wells County, and is paying quite a good deal of attention to breeding high grade stock. In the meanwhile Mr. French has continued in the educational field and, as stated above, has been identified for almost a decade with the Petroleum schools, having taught in every department.
Mr. French was married August 18, 1894, to Miss Sarah MeEhinary, who was born in Henderson County, Illinois. Like Professor French, she is a B. S. graduate of Valparaiso University, and prior to her mar- riage was a popular teacher in her native state. They have three chil- dren, namely : Fleming, who is a graduate of the Petroleum High School, later attended the Muncie Normal School and subsequently was graduated from an automobile school in Chicago, is one of the patriotic young men worthy of all honor, now a member of an engineer corps of the United States on duty in France; Helen, who is a graduate of the Petroleum High School, was a student for two years in the State Nor- mal School and taught one term prior to her marriage to Christian Egly ; and Winnifred, who is a student in the Petroleum High School.
Mr. French is a member of Linn Grove Lodge, Odd Fellows, of which he is past noble grand, and Mrs. French belongs to the order of the Eastern Star and to the Royal Neighbors. In his views on public ques- tions Mr. French has firm convictions, and in the belief that many of the country's ills are caused by intemperance, he has identified himself with the prohibition party and is an active worker for the cause. The family belongs to the Evangelical Church.
E. W. DYAR, M. D. The medical profession in Wells County, as elsewhere, is found to include the ablest and most scholarly men in every community, and in Dr. E. W. Dyar, the pleasant town of Ossian, In- diana, has a physician and surgeon of this order and a man of both personal and professional standing entitling him to high regard, he being also president of the Farmers State Bank of Ossian.
Doctor Dyar was born in Robinson, Crawford County, Illinois, and is the son of William and Elizabeth ( Werrich) Dyar, both of whom are deceased, the father passing away in 1881 and the mother in April, 1888.
Fortified with a sound public school education, E. W. Dyar then turned his attention to the study of medicine, subsequently entering the Indiana Medical College, Indianapolis, from which he was grad- nated with his medical degree in 1904. In the same year he came to Ossian and has been in active practice here ever since, through medical knowledge and surgical skill gaining universal confidence. He devotes his entire time to the labors of his profession and keeps thor- oughly abreast with the wonderful advances it is making in modern times.
Dr. Dyar was married September 8, 1901, to Miss Ola M. Hardin, who is a daughter of Thomas and Lyda Hardin, well known residents of Hardinville, Illinois. Dr. and Mrs. Dyar have one son, Edwin W., a school boy of eleven years.
Dr. Dyar gives to polities only the attention that good citizenship demands, voting always with the republican party from principle, but is liberal minded on many public questions. He is a member of Wells County, Indiana State and American Medical societies. In Masonry, he is a member of Ossian Lodge No. 297, F. & A. M., having received the Scottish rite in Fort Wayne Consistory, and is also a member of
464
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
Ossian Lodge No. 343, K. of P. Dr. and Mrs. Dyar are members of the Presbyterian Church.
CALVIN D. KUNKEL, one of the advisory editors of this publication, is a member of a family with perhaps as old and substantial relations and associations with Adams and Wells counties as any other name. The Kunkels have been here for seventy years, and the earlier generations did some of the heavy work of clearing and developing the land and laying the foundation for the present civilization.
He is a son of the late Samuel D. Kunkel, one of the most widely known men of Adams County. He lived to remarkable age and spent nearly seventy years in this part of Indiana. Samuel D. Kunkel was born in York County, Pennsylvania, August 25, 1820, a son of Michael and Catherine (Sentz) Kunkel. His parents were also natives of Penn- sylvania and of German ancestry. When Samuel D. was five years of age the family moved to Richland County, Ohio, where Michael Kunkel applied himself to the task of developing a tract of unimproved land. He lived there until his death in about 1850. He was then past seventy years of age. His widow afterward followed some of her children to Indiana and died in Wells County when quite old. Both she and her husband were active members of the Lutheran Church. Their nine children were: Eliza, Mary, Matilda, Diana, Lydia, Rebecca, Nancy, Michael and Samuel D. All of these children are now deceased, except Mrs. Rebecca Wasson, of Wells County.
Samuel D. Kunkel had only the advantages of the subscription schools of Ohio during his youth. He lived at home on the farm, and at the age of twenty-six, in 1846, came to Indiana, driving a wagon. He bought eighty acres of land in Root Township of Adams County. This was then a part of the primeval wilderness. Here he built a log cabin, made it his home for about sixteen years, and developed a good farm on the Pickaway Road, two miles north of the old settlement of Monmouth. He subsequently traded for another place of 160 acres in Root Township, land which had originally been owned by his wife's father. There he continued the work of improvement and cultivation, and in those scenes which witnessed his productive labors he spent his declining years and died May 1, 1915. Had he lived to August of the same year he would have celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday anniversary.
One of the principal reasons which attracted Samuel D. Kunkel to the wilds of Adams County was the presence here of Miss Martha Dor- win, who had come to Indiana with her parents in the preceding year. On June 9, 1846, they were united in marriage. Mrs. Samuel Kunkel was a sister of Thomas T. Dorwin, long prominent as a physician and druggist at Decatur. She was born in Mansfield, Ohio, July 24, 1824, and came to this county with her parents, Calvin T. and Fanny (Bell) Dor- win. Her parents were natives of New York State. They were married in Ohio, where Calvin Dorwin followed the business of teaching and surveying. He also held the office of justice of the peace. On coming to Adams County he acquired 160 acres of land in Root Township in section 21. This land subsequently became the property of Samuel D. Kunkel and is now owned by Mr. Calvin D. Kunkel. Its improvement and culti- vation thus represent the labors and enterprise of three generations. Mr. Calvin D. Kunkel now has it nearly all in cultivation except twenty acres of native timber, and some of the building improvements go back to the time of his grandfather Dorwin. Late in life Mr. and Mrs. Dor- win retired to Decatur, but finally returned to the old homestead and lived with Mr. and Mrs. Samnel Kunkel until they died about 1874. They were splendid old people of the county, and Calvin Dorwin fol-
465
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
lowed the fortunes of the whig and republican parties. Of their large family of children Mrs. Samuel Kunkel was the oldest and was the last to pass away. She died February 6, 1902, at the age of seventy-seven. Samuel Kunkel and wife had six children, Willie, Fanny, Dora, Effie, Florence L. and Calvin. Samuel Kunkel was for many years an active member of the English Lutheran Church and in politics a republican. For eight years he filled the office of assessor of Root Township and always showed an intelligent and public spirited interest in the affairs of the county and the people as they had developed year by year from the pioneer stage.
Mr. Calvin D. Kunkel was born in Adams County March 19, 1863. He has spent practically all his life on the land which his grandfather Dor- win first settled and which for many years was owned by his father, Samuel Kunkel, who finally sold it to Calvin. This is one of the most productive farms in Root Township, and Mr. Calvin Kunkel has dis- tinguished himself as a thrifty and progressive business farmer. His place is located on the St. Mary's River three miles from Decatur and adjoining the site of the old and almost forgotten Village of Monmouth. Mr. Kunkel acquired a good education, partly in the local public schools and partly in a normal school at Lebanon, Ohio. For a time he taught school in Washington Township and for five years was connected with the Decatur city schools. Altogether he put in abont eighteen years in the school room, and since then has applied himself with results and accomplishments to the business of farming and stock-raising.
On April 17, 1883, Mr. Kunkel married Miss Sarah Ann Pillars. She was born in Root Township December 10, 1862, and was reared and educated here. Her parents were Sampson and Mary J. (Auten) Pil- lars, the former a native of Indiana and the latter of Ohio. They mar- ried in Root Township of Adams County and for many years the father followed farming and still lives on his old homestead, being now seventy- seven years of age. Mrs. Kunkel's mother died in 1917.
Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kunkel, Sherman P. and Florence L. Sherman was born in 1886, was educated in the public schools and the Decatur High School, also in the Fort Wayne Business College, and in recent years has been associated with his father in the management of the farm. He married Fannie MeConnell, who was born, reared and educated in Adams County. They have two children, Mary J. and David MeC. The daughter Florence is the wife of Dale Moses, of Adams County, and they live on the old Pillars farm in Root Town- ship. They have a young son, James Calvin, now three years of age, and an infant son, Richard Kunkel. All the family are members of the Eng- lish Lutheran Church. Mr. Kunkel has given strict allegiance to the republican party and has found many opportunities to advance the wel- fare of his native locality. Farming is a strenuous ocenpation in modern times, but Mr. Kunkel has shown such efficiency and good management in ordering his business that he has had time to furnish support and encouragement to various matters that are of direct concern to the wel- fare of the community.
HON. DAVID E. SMITH has received a place of distinction in Adams County by his long work as a lawyer, and at present by the capable dis- charge of his duties as judge of the Circuit Court. He was elected to this office in November, 1912, and entered upon his duties November 13, 1913. The term of Circuit Judges in Indiana is for six years, so that his present term does not expire until 1919.
Judge Smith was admitted to the Indiana bar in January, 1892. He studied law in the State University of Indiana, and he also had student
466
ADAMS AND WELLS COUNTIES
associations with two of Indiana's most distinguished lawyers, the late Van Voorhees and Judge Spencer of Indianapolis. Judge Spencer is still in active practice at Indianapolis.
During the twenty-five years since he was admitted to the bar at Decatur Judge Smith has devoted himself untiringly to a large and valuable practice, and from 1896 to 1900 served as prosecuting attorney. In that office he gained much credit for his efficiency as a prosecutor, and laid the foundation of a reputation which preceded his elevation to the bench.
Judge Smith was born in Mercer County, Ohio, in 1867 and was still an infant when his parents came to Adams County, Indiana. He is of English and Scotch-Irish ancestry. His grandfather, Robert Smith, was born in England and married there Miss Maria Drake. Three children were born to them in the old country, Anna, John E. and Mary. One of these daughters is still living in Shelby County, Ohio, at the age of four- score, the only survivor of those members of the family that crossed the ocean to America. The little family set out on a sailing vessel for the United States, and after many weeks of voyage landed in the United States and came on to Columbiana County, Ohio. Later they settled in Shelby County near Sidney on a farm, where Robert Smith spent his last years. After the death of his first wife he married Mrs. Mary Wiley, whose maiden name was Crosier. She was of Scotch-Irish lineage and of United Presbyterian stock. Robert Smith became a member of that church faith after his marriage. He was a democrat and so far all his descendants have followed his example politically.
James H. Smith, father of Judge Smith, was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, October 5, 1844, and was the only child of his parents born in this country. It is said that when he was born he was so small he could be put in a quart cup, and yet he grew to strong, vigorous manhood and when the Civil War broke out he was heartily accepted as a volunteer in Company K of the 20th Ohio Infantry. He served four years, was wounded in battle, was with Sherman on the march to the sea and in one engagement was captured and spent some time in Libby Prison before being exchanged. He rejoined his regiment and continued fighting until the end of hostilities. At the close of the war he went back to Shelby County, Ohio, and there he married Hettie Smith. She was born in County Down, Ireland, December 25, 1847, and was of a family of Ulster people and of the Presbyterian faith. She was quite young when she came to America in an old fashioned sailing vessel, her parents locating at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Her father died there and her mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Crozer, afterwards moved to Ohio. Sarah Crozer was of French Huguenot stock, descended from people who had fled from France on account of religious perse- cution and found homes in northern Ireland. Sarah Crozer spent her last years with her daughter, Mrs. James H. Smith in Adams County, Indiana, and died there at the age of seventy-six. Many of the old time residents recall this kindly and intelligent old lady, who was always devout in her membership in the Presbyterian Church.
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.