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 41
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 41
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George Schieferstein in 1881 bought fifty-five aeres in Root Township of Adams County, and this is the land now occupied by Henry Schiefer- stein. Phil Schieferstein grew up at the old home in Allen County, ac- quired a common school education, and by experience and observation has perfected himself as a practical and progressive farmer. His home is in Root Township, a short distance from the old Village of Monmouth and about three miles north of Decatur.
Phil Schieferstein married Miss Ada May Lewton, daughter of L. W. and Mary Lewton, of Monmouth, Root Township. To their marriage were born three children, Thurman D., Marlow F. and Elizabeth Hattie. These children have all had the advantages of the local district and high schools. Mrs. Schieferstein has brothers and sisters named C. D., Amos, Edgar, Effie M. and Daisy. Effie married L. W. Frank and Daisy married Vesta Brokaw.
Mr. Schieferstein bought two other farms in Root Township, the Me- Connell and Bottenberg farms, comprising altogether 117 acres. The family are members of the Lutheran Church.
IIENRY A. BREINER. Actively identified with the mercantile affairs of Adams County, IIenry A. Breiner, a prominent merchant in the Vil- lage of Peterson, is widely and favorably known throughout Kirkland Township, his name being synonomous with thrift, enterprise, and pros- perity. A son of Michael Breiner, he was born in Adams County, and has always lived in this section of Indiana.
In 1858 Michael Breiner came from Pennsylvania with his wife to Indiana, looking for a favorable place to locate. Settling in Adams County, he purchased sixty acres of heavily timhered land, and im- mediately began the seemingly Herculean task of redeeming a farm from the wilderness. In common with his pioneer neighbors, he labored cheerfully and willingly, and in due season had a well improved home- stead, upon which he spent the remainder of his days, dying in July,
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1898. Ile was a man of sterling worth, and highly respected through- out his community. Both he and his good wife were members of the German Lutheran Church. He married, in Pennsylvania, Hannah Beltz, whose death occurred on the home farm in January, 1882. They were the parents of four children, as follows: James, deceased; Wil- liam ; Emma; and Henry A.
Henry A. Breiner received a practical education when young, but instead of taking up the independent occupation to which he was reared, not finding farming congenial to his tastes, he embarked in mercantile pursuits, a business for which he is well fitted. Opening a general store in the Village of Peterson, Kirkland Township, in 1897, he has met with well deserved success. From time to time he has enlarged his opera- tions, and now carries a full line of general merchanise, including gro- ceries, dry goods, and hardware, and also deals in coal, and as post- master has charge of all mail coming to Peterson. Mr. Breiner likewise handles much of the grain raised in this section of Adams County, con- dueting the elevator in his village. He makes a specialty of trading with the farmers of his vicinity, exchanging his merchandise for their farm produce, allowing them the highest market prices. He conducts his business under the name of H. A. Breiner, General Merchandise.
Mr. Breiner married Emma F. Fruechte, a daughter of William and Bernardina Fruechte, and their only child, Milton, died when but four years and eight months of age. Mrs. Breiner's father was born in Preble Township, Adams County, Indiana, and her mother was born in Ger- many. She has one brother living. Martin Frnechte. She is a member of the German Reformed Church, to which her parents belonged.
JAMES D. BROWN, JR., of Kirkland Township, is proprietor of a fine farm, which in regard to its appointments compares favorably with any in the locality, its neatness and orderly appearance giving evidence to the most casual observer of the thrift, enterprise and good management of the owner. Born, August 11, 1878, in Adams County, he came of pioneer stock, his grandparents on both sides of the house, William B. Brown and Henry Good, having been pioneer settlers of Indiana.
His father, Robert H. Brown, spent his entire life in Indiana. He was identified with the agricultural interests of Adams County, and in addition to carrying on general farming did most of the threshing among the farmers of his neighborhood, carrying on a substantial busi- ness in that line. He was enterprising and energetic, and had the dis- tinetion of having bought the first "Huber" steam thresher ever brought into Adams County.
Robert HI. Brown was twice married. He married first Sophia Good, who was born in Indiana in 1847, four years later than he, his birth having occurred November 24, 1843. She died at a comparatively early age, leaving the following-named children: James D., Austin T., Leo Lecretia, Margaret Caroline, Mary Elizabeth, and Eliza Rebecca. The maiden name of the second wife of R. H. Brown was Catherine Dear- duff. She bore him four children, Jessy A., Robert E., Lucy O., and John F., the latter now in the regular army.
Acquiring a good education in the common and graded schools of Adams County, James D. Brown embarked upon a professional career. and taught in every school in Kirkland Township with the exception of the school at Peterson, and also taught for two years in French Town- ship, Adams County, as a teacher meeting with eminent success. Relinquishing his profession in 1914, Mr. Brown settled upon his present farm on the fourth day of March, and immediately began the improve- ment of its forty acres. Fortune favored his efforts. and in February,
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1911, he purchased the estate known as the "Ezra Reber Forty," and has now a finely managed farm of eighty acres, a considerable part of which he has cleared himself. Well skilled in agriculture, he is espe- cially successful in the raising of uniform crops, paying especial atten- tion to the details of his work.
On December 16, 1903, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Lena Adler, a daughter of William and Christena Adler, of Adams County, whose sketch appears elsewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had two children, William Alton and Robert Lewis. Politically Mr. Brown uniformly casts his vote in favor of the democratic party.
JEFFERSON G. CRUM. Among the energetic and progressive men who are aiding in every possible manner the growth and development of Adams County, whether relating to its agricultural or industrial prosperity, is Jefferson G. Crum of Kirkland Township, deserving of mention in a work of this character. A son of Daniel Crum, he was born in Mahoning County, Ohio, November 30, 1859, and there spent his childhood days.
Daniel Crum was born, reared and educated in Pennsylvania. He there married Elizabeth Diehl, and soon after removed to Mahoning County, Ohio. Buying land that was in its primitive condition, he erected a log cabin, barns, and other buildings, and was there employed as a tiller of the soil until his death, in 1865. The following year, in 1866, his widow came with her six children to Adams County, Indiana, and settled on the eighty acres of land now owned and occupied by her sons Jefferson and David. She was a woman of good business ability, and spent the remainder of her life on the farm which she had pur- chased. She reared six children, namely: Frank, David, Melissa, Rebecca, Jefferson G., and James.
Frank Crum, the oldest child, now deceased, married Emma, daugh- ter of Constant and Elizabeth Eli, and at his death left four children, William, Charles, Amos, and Molly. David never married. Melissa, wife of Tillman Robenold, has four children, William, Charles, Floyd, and Daisy Ann is deceased. Rebecca, who married Wolf Cale, has five children, Howard, Charles, Mabel, Ward, and Delbert. James Crum married Nora Church, of Adams County, and they are parents of five children, Gladys, Mitchell, Levaun, Elsie, and Spafford.
Coming with his widowed mother from Ohio to Indiana, where her two brothers, now deceased, were then living, Jefferson G. Crum was educated in the district schools, and later served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. In 1899 Mr. Crum and his brother David pur- chased the interests of the other heirs in his mother's estate, which now consists of seventy-nine acres, one acre having been sold for school property. Although he is a practical and successful agriculturist, he prefers working at his trade rather than at farming, and has built a large percentage of the houses and buildings in this locality, each and all of which bespeak his thorough knowledge of the different branches of carpentry and joining.
Like his brother David, Mr. Crum is still a bachelor. He is a dem- oerat in his political affiliations, but has never been an aspirant for official honors.
JOHN MILLER, a hard working, industrious and highly respected citizen of Preble Township, has one special distinction which indicates better than anything else the position he enjoys in his community-as ยท incumbent of the office of trustee of Preble Township, to which he was elected in November, 1914. Mr. Miller has faithfully and capably
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administered the duties of that office for the past three years, and it is generally admitted that the schools, roads, and other matters within his official jurisdiction were never in better condition than at present.
Mr. Miller was born in Preble Township of Adams County February 22, 1867, a son of Adam and Mary (Dicks) Miller. His father was born in Germany, came to the United States at the age of twenty-three, found employment which kept him in New York for one year, then came on west to Ohio where he bought a small tract of land from the government, and after clearing this up he sold out to advantage and moved on to Adams County, Indiana. Here he also acquired govern- ment land, and it was his enstom for several years to bring a small portion of land under partial improvement and cultivation and then sell out to some of the recently arrived settlers from his native land of Germany, after which he would invest the proceeds in another tract and begin its development. This continued for several years until he had the means that enabled him to buy in 1853 the farm on which his son John now lives. This farm comprises eighty acres of first class land, improved with good buildings, and some of the clearing and much of the improvement was made by John Miller himself, who began the work when a mere boy.
John Miller was educated in the common schools of Preble Township, and to quote his own words, "his schooling was composed of hard work." In 1887 he bought and took possession of the old homestead from his father's estate, and has remained there prospering and carry- ing on his business as a general farmer for fifty years.
Mr. Miller married Emma Reppert December 3, 1888. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have children named Alfred, Adella, Otto, Hubert, Edwin, Manda, Lorena and Harold, all of whom have had the advantages of the public schools. Mrs. Miller's brothers and sisters are Albert, Lydia and Oswald.
HENRY F. FUELLING. Practically all his life has Henry F. Fuelling been a resident of Adams County. He grew up here in a rural environ- ment, mastered by experience the fundamentals of agriculture, and is today cultivating one of the best farms of Root Township, an estate that originally belonged to his father.
Mr. Fuelling was born in Root Township December 16, 1872, a son of Henry D. and Sophia (Hoppe) Fuelling. Both his parents were natives of Germany. Henry Fuelling was two years of age when brought to this country by his parents, and the family at that time settled upon the tract of land which is now occupied by another branch of the family, Charles Fuelling. Henry Fuelling grew up here, later acquired a tract of land from the government, which he cleared and improved, and became a man respected for his success, his good judg- ment and his integrity. For several years he was justice of the peace and also a county commissioner. He died in February, 1900, and his wife passed away in 1881. They had eleven children: Ernest, Fred, Harmon, Henry, Andrew, Louis, Sophia, Lucetta, Eliza, Caroline, and Amelia.
Henry F. Fuelling grew up on his father's farm, attended the Lutheran parochial schools in Root Township and, as were his parents, was an active member of the Lutheran Church. After his father's death he bought the farm from the estate and is now busily engaged in its cultivation and improvement, and has proved a man of such energy as to be able liberally to provide the necessities and conveniences and comforts for the family dependent upon him.
Mr. Fuelling is a democrat in politics. He married Miss Mary
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Heidegger, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Heidegger, of Adams County. They married December 30, 1890, and are the parents of three children, Paul, aged sixteen; Rudolph, aged fourteen, and Lydia, aged eleven. Mr. and Mrs. Fuelling have taken great pains to give their children the best of advantages in the local schools. Mrs. Fuelling's brother and sisters are Lydia, Annie, and Jacob.
CONRAD C. WILLIAM CHRISTIANER. To give the complete record of the Christianer family in Adams County it would be necessary to go back to very early times, when practically all the land was in a state of nature. It was the hard work of members of this family, carried on from year to year and from season to season, which made productive many acres of the fine soil found in Root Township. A considerable area of this land is now owned by Conrad C. William Christianer, who has distinguished himself as a thorough and industrious agriculturist and not lacking in those qualities which make up the public spirited citizens.
Mr. Christianer was born in Root Township, February 3, 1863, a son of Christopher and Maria (Knapp) Christianer. His father was nineteen years of age when he left his native land of Germany and came to the United States. Ile came poor in purse but ambitious to make a place for himself in the new world. For five years he worked on a canal boat from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Gradually he accumulated his modest savings and then came into Adams County and bought the farm on which his son Conrad now lives. This was then a tract of eighty acres secured direct from the government, and he never once faltered in the tremendous task of clearing it up. After he had lived there two years he married, and then built the old log house where most of his children were born and reared and which is still standing as a landmark among the larger and more modern structures. Christopher Christianer sub- sequently bought another eighty acres, cleared and improved that, and in the course of time his prosperity made him one of the most sub- stantial citizens of the county.
The comfortable old residence was erected in 1872, but was exten- sively remodeled in 1912, at which time a basement was installed and various other changes made. There are several other buildings, and the entire group stand as a credit to the farm and the township. Christopher Christianer was quite prominent in the German Lutheran Church, held many of the church offices, and his entire life was one that reflected high honor upon his character. His wife was also a member of an old German family and she devoted herself for many years to the responsibilities of her children and to her duties as a devout Christian.
Conrad C. William Christianer grew up on his father's place, attended the German Lutheran and the public schools of Root Town- ship, and has always followed farming. In October, 1908, he bought a portion of his father's estate and now has 160 aeres, 120 aeres cleared and the rest in native timber. IIe has been successful in growing all the staple crops of this community. Mr. Christianer is an active dem- ocrat and is loyal to the religious faith in which he was reared. He has a sister and brother still living, Louisa, wife of Frederick Boerger, and Henry, who married Louise Boerger.
Mr. Christianer married in November, 1894, Minnie Whietfeldt, daughter of Frederick and Louisa Whietfeldt, of Adams County. Six children have been born to their marriage, Sophia, Ida, Clara, Rosa, Oscar and Lydia. Only one is married, Sophia, wife of Frederick J. Yelt, living near Fort Wayne. All the children have the best advan- tages of the local public schools. Mrs. Christianer's brothers and sisters
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are: Frederick, of Allen County, Indiana; William, of Michigan; Henry, of Allen County; Louisa, living in Nebraska; Sophia, of Allen County ; Amelia, of Fort Wayne; Emma, also a resident of Fort Wayne, and Otto, on his father's old farm.
JOHN M. FRISINGER. Energetic, enterprising, and the possessor of excellent business ability, John M. Frisinger, of Decatur, is known throughout Adams and surrounding counties as an extensive horse breeder and dealer, and, previous to the World war, as one of the larger exporters and importers of horses in this section of the state. A son of Joseph Frisinger, he was born, November 27, 1859, in St. Mary's Town- ship, Adams County, Indiana, and, with the exception of two years spent in Van Wert County, Ohio, has spent his entire life in his native county.
Joseph Frisinger was born in Ohio, of German parentage, in 1836, and his wife, whose maiden name was Martha Smith, was born, in 1837, in Indiana, of pure Scotch ancestry. Both are living, as are all of their five children, four of whom are married, and have homes of their own.
Receiving a liberal education when young, John M. Frisinger taught school for seven years, a part of which time he had charge of schools in Ohio. Retiring from his professional labors, he entered upon an entirely different carcer, in June, 1895, exporting a load of horses to Germany, being the second man in the United States to embark in that industry. His first shipment, which consisted of good draft horses, he sold imme- diately, the demand for that kind of horses in Germany exceeding the supply. Continuing in that profitable industry until 1900, while oper- ating in Germany, he sold draft horses to Swedish, Danish and Russian dealers, sometimes making two trips a year across the Atlantic. In the fall of 1900, Mr. Frisinger, while at the Paris Exposition, became con- vinced of the merits of the Belgian horses, and on his return to Indiana brought with him twelve registered stallions, for which he found ready sale. Some of these stallions are still in use in Adams County, and many of the descendants of that first dozen are in the county. Since that time he has imported Percherons which, like the Belgians, are held in high estimation by horse breeders in all parts of the country. Mr. Frisinger continued the business until the breaking out of the war, his last importation having been in the fall of 1913. He imported stal- lions that weighed 2,400 pounds, and he has sold in Adams County seventy-nine horses, and in nearby counties over 100 horses, receiving about $2,500 apiece for them. Among the many fine horses which he has imported is the well known stallion "Balladier," one of the very best in the country, and now owned by a Mercer County man. He has been an extensive breeder on his own account, for a time having had associated with him Eli Springer, who is now engaged in the same profitable business in Michigan.
Mr. Frisinger is now actively engaged in business in Decatur as a dealer in hay, and in Washington Township has a finely equipped farm of 300 acres, which he is managing successfully, getting satisfactory returns for the labor expended.
Mr. Frisinger married, in Adams County, Mary J. Peterson, the descendant of a pioneer family of prominence, and a sister of the well known lawyer Shaffer Peterson. Mr. and Mrs. Frisinger have six chil- dren, namely: Maynard, a former postmaster of Decatur, having been the youngest person to be appointed to a presidential position in the state, now in business with his father, married Mary Daily and has three children, Margaret, Robert and Elizabeth; Fannie, a graduate of the Indiana University, married Roger Gipe, an American soldier in the World's war; John F .. also a graduate of the State University, and now
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manager in Akron, Ohio, of the productive department of the Rubber Works, is a volunteer in the American army and has joined the forces ; Mary, who attended Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, two years, and the Indiana University three years; Ruth, a pupil in the Decatur High School ; and Richard, a school boy. Politically Mr. Frisinger is a repub- lican and served as national elector on the ticket when Taft was elected. Fraternally he is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has recently enlarged his activities by entering into the South- ern lumber business. He has taken over a 3,000 acre plantation in Louisiana, Concordia, Paris County, which has a fine body of virgin hardwood timber.
EZRA BUGH. While all his life and experiences have been in Indiana, Mr. Ezra Bugh has been identified with the agricultural section of Adams County for only fourteen or fifteen years. He has one of the excellent farm homes of Hartford Township.
Mr. Bugh was born in Blackford County, Indiana, December 8, 1849, a son of Barnhart W. and Hannah (Coddington) Bugh. His father was of old Pennsylvania stock, born in that state June 13, 1805. The mother was born in Maryland June 14, 1807. They accompanied their respective families to Perry County, Ohio, where they grew up and married and in 1848 they settled in Indiana in Washington Township of Blackford County, where they spent many years among the highly respected mem- bers of the farming community. In January, 1870, they retired from their farm to Hartford City, where the father died March 29, 1877, and the mother on January 27, 1880. Barnhart Bugh began voting as a whig, took up the republican cause at the formation of that party, and for one term was a county commissioner of Blackford County. His religion was that of the Methodist Church, while his wife was a Baptist in faith. They had five sons and five daughters: William, deceased; Jacob, deceased, who served as a soldier in the Civil war; Jesse, a Union vet- eran who is still living at Hartford City; Ezra, who though very young at the time, was a member of the Home Guard during the war; Perry, of Hartford City; Elizabeth; Lydia, wife of George Frash; Catherine, wife of Levi Bowman; Mary, wife of Andrew Williams; and Jane, wife of John J. Woods, former county treasurer of Blackford County, the last named being the only one of the daughters now living.
Ezra Bugh's earliest recollections are of Blackford County during the '50s and during the Civil war period. His environment was a farm and his education was obtained in the district schools. He found occupa- tion for his time and efforts on the home place until he was twenty-five, and on June 6, 1875, married Elizabeth Dildine. She was born in Blackford County September 27, 1853, daughter of Jesse Dildine. She grew up at Hartford City and acquired her education in the public schools there.
Mr. and Mrs. Bugh after their marriage lived in Hartford City for three years and they then went back to the old Bugh farm in that county and conducted it as renters for three years. Mr. Bugh then acquired a tract of woodland, eighty acres, and spent several years clearing and ditehing it and putting it into shape for farming. He sold his Black- ford County interests and on March 13, 1903, settled in Hartford Town- ship of Adams County, where he bought the eighty acres comprising the north half of the northwest quarter of section 22. This is a farm well fitted for his needs, and furnishes him a comfortable living and a good home for his declining years.
Mr. and Mrs. Bugh have seven children, all living: Clara, wife of John Recob; Eva, wife of Charles Robinson; Edith, wife of Otta Sales;
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Lottie, who married Lee Melich; Mabel, unmarried; Mary, wife of Lorenzo Jacobs; Walter, who lived in Kansas and married Alda Eck- roat. Mr. Bugh in matters of politics supports the republican party.
LUTHER MARTIN was in business as a merchant at Geneva for a num- ber of years, but is now giving his energies effectively to farming, oper- ating one of the handsome and well improved places in Hartford Town- ship of Adams County.
Mr. Martin represents some of the old established families of Adams County. His grandfather Josephus Martin was born in Hampshire County, Virginia, September 30, 1803. The grandfather of Josephus had located in Virginia about the time of the Revolutionary war. The Martins originally were of German ancestry. Josephus Martin in early childhood went with his parents to Marion County, Ohio, where he grew up and from where he came to Adams County, Indiana, as an early settler. Josephns Martin for a number of years conducted a good farm in section 24 of Hartford Township. He was twice married. His first wife was Catherine Summerfelt, who was born in New Jersey July 7, 1814, and they were married March 25, 1830. She died January 19, 1844, the mother of six children. On January 27. 1845, Josephus Mar- tin married Elizabeth Deffenbaugh, daughter of John Deffenbaugh, one of the old settlers of Adams County. Among the children of his second wife were John, Ellen, Emma, Morton J. and Phoebe.
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