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 51
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 51
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In 1864 Mr. John Schurger came with the widowed mother and several of the children to Adams County, Indiana, and they bought a small tract of land in St. Mary's Township six miles south of Decatur. In 1866 Mr. Schurger sold this and bought forty acres near Decatur, and in connection with farming he engaged in the butcher business. His widowed mother passed away at his home November 3. 1886, at the age of eighty-four. Two of Mr. Schurger's sisters, Catherine and Mary, became sisters in St. Mary of the Woods Convent near Terre Haute,
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Indiana, and the sister Catherine, who is still there, has been a teacher in that noted institution since 1878.
On April 29, 1862, in Seneca County, Ohio, Mr. John Schurger mar- ried Agatha Fisher. She was born in Baden, Germany, in 1843, and came to America in 1848 with her parents S. and Theresa Fisher, who first located at Norwalk in Huron County, Ohio, and later moved to Seneca County, where Mrs. Sehnrger grew up and where her parents died. Mr. and Mrs. Sehnrger had eleven children, three of whom died in infancy. Catherine is the widow of John Schurger, lives in Seneca County, Ohio, and is the mother of eight children. Rosie is a sister in a convent at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Albert is a baker by trade and has a business at White Cloud, Michigan, and is married and has two daughters. Anthony, who like the other children was well educated in the parochial schools, is now living at Manistee, Michigan, is married and has four sons and one daughter. Magdalena is the wife of Elmer Roher of Pine River, Minnesota, and is the mother of four sons and one daughter. Lonisa married Frank Kerber of Delphos, Ohio, and has six children. Christina lives at home and keeps house for her father. Fred F. is unmarried and assists his father in the office. Mrs. Schurger passed away April 10, 1917, after a long and faithful companionship as a wife and mother for fifty-five years. All the family are active mem- bers of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. Schurger is a democrat, is a member of the Knights of Columbus, and has long been prominent in his church.
GEORGE M. KRICK. Identified in an official capacity with one of the more important industries of Adams County, George M. Krick, of Decatur, manager of the Decatur Tile Works, is an active member of the enterprising firm of Krick, Tyndall & Company, manufacturers of tile, and a conspicuous factor in the business life of this section of Indiana. A son of Henry Krick, he was born in Decatur, and has always made this city his home.
He comes of thrifty German stock, the founder of the American family of Krieks to which he belongs having come from Germany to America in the early part of the eighteenth century, settling in Penn- sylvania, where numerous of his descendants are still living. His paternal grandfather, John Krick, Jr., was a life-long resident of Berks County, Pennsylvania, where he was prosperously engaged in tilling the soil.
Born on the home farm in Berks County, Henry Krick migrated to Adams County, Indiana, in early manhood, settling in Decatur, which was then a mere hamlet. Beginning life at the foot of the ladder of attainments, he gradually climbed the hill of success, and by means of persevering industry and intelligent thrift acquired a competency. He is now living retired from active business, enjoying a well-earned leisure.
Having obtained his elementary education in the public schools of Decatur, George M. Krick completed his studies in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ohio State University. Returning home, he began to learn the process of making brick and tile from clay under his father's instruc- tions, and soon mastered its every detail. Proving himself proficient in his trade, and the possessor of good executive ability, Mr. Krick was made manager of the Tile Works, a position for which he is amply qualified by knowledge and experience, and in which he is meeting with eminent success.
This plant was first established, in 1884, by Henry Krick, father of George M., who was engaged in the making of brick for about eight
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years. In 1892, having formed a partnership with the late Daniel Meyers and John W. Tyndall, began making tile on a very modest and limited seale at the old brick plant. The venture proving successful, the business was enlarged, and for a number of years was carried on under its original firm name of Krick. Meyer & Company. In 1898, Mr. Meyer disposed of his interest in the plant, and the business was incorporated under the name of Krick, Tyndall & Company, Henry Krick assuming the presidency, and Mr. Tyndall becoming secretary and treasurer. It was incorporated with a capital of $12,000, which was subsequently increased to $60.000. In 1913, George M. Kriek was made a director in the ecneern, and given entire management of the large and rapidly increasing business.
This company manufactures tiles of all sizes, from four inch to twenty-seven inch, turning out on an average about 1,800 tons a month, including building tiles, for which they have great demand in local markets. The company owns 120 acres of raw clay, from which millions of tons have already been taken, yet leaving a seemingly inexhaustible supply for future use. The products of the plant, in which thirty people are employed every month in the year, are all sold within a radius of 125 miles. A large share of the credit for the present pros- perity of the tile works should be given Mr. Krick, who is managing its affairs most efficiently, and to the entire satisfaction of the company.
Mr. Krick married, in Decatur, Mary Kleinheintz, who was born, bred and educated in Adams County. Her father, John Kleinheintz, a native of Ohio, came to Adams County, Indiana, soon after his marriage with Mary Martin, and for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred in 1914, at the age of sixty-four years, was in business in Decatur. He was a democrat in politics, and a member of the Roman Catholic Church, to which his widow, now living in Decatur, also belongs. Mr. and Mrs. Krick have one child, Arthur W. Krick, born September 16, 1913. Fraternally Mr. Krick is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, and of Kekionga Lodge No. 65, Knights of Pythias. Politically he invariably supports the principles of the democratic party.
JOHN W. VAIL. During the more than thirty years that he has been a resident of the community, John W. Vail has written his name in clear and legible characters upon the pages of Decatur's business his- tory. For the most part he has been engaged in manufacturing ventures, but his enterprises and interests have been so extensive and far-reaching that the title of capitalist or general business man would be one much more fitting than that of merely manufacturer. Also, he is identified with various other matters of interest in the life of his locality and is generally conceded to be one of Decatur's most prominent and repre- sentative citizens.
Mr. Vail was born in Ossian, Wells County, Indiana, May 10, 1859, and is a son of Thomas and Martha J. (Shepard) Vail. His parents, natives of New Jersey, came to Ohio as young people and met and were married at Bucyrus, Crawford County. Several years later they came to Indiana, locating at Fort Wayne, where Mr. Vail took a contraet for building a section of the Pennsylvania Railway, known at that time as the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, with which he was engaged from 1849 to 1852. Subsequently he went to Ossian. Wells County, where he built a large section out of that place of the Lake Erie Railway, known at that time as the Fort Wayne, Muncie and Cincinnati Railroad, north from the station at Ossian through the swampy tract known as "Old Eight Miles," and beyond. In the meantime he had
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eondueted a eooperage business. He started this railroad contract in 1868, but did not live to see its completion, as he died in 1869, at the age of forty-seven years, although the road was completed by others in 1871. Mr. Vail was a republican in politics, and while not prominent in public affairs was a man of influence, well known and highly respected for his integrity and probity in all the walks of his life. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, as was also Mrs. Vail, a woman of many exeelleneies of heart and mind, who died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Daniel Spruang, of Deeatur, in 1911, having reached the age of eighty-eight years, seven months. They were the parents of the following children: Rev. Solomon N., a retired minister of the Presby- terian faith, now residing at Washington, D. C., married, but without issue ; Ephraim A., who is engaged in the manufacturing business at Paulding, Missouri, married but without children; John W., of this notice; Joseph, of Bryan, Ohio, married but without children; Aaron T., of Fort Wayne, Indiana, married and the father of three daughters and one son ; Angeline, who died as the wife of Thomas Wanson, leaving two children; Elizabeth, the wife of R. M. Donaldson, living at Marma- duke, Arkansas, and the mother of two sons and two daughters; and Luey, the wife of Daniel Spruang, of Deeatur, no children.
John W. Vail was reared in Wells County and edueated in the public schools there, coming to Decatur June 21, 1881, since which time he has been actively identified with the interests of this thriving eom- munity. Various enterprises oeeupied his attention until 1898 when he developed the Decatur Egg Case Co.'s plant and business at Decatur and continued in that line from time to time until 1911. In that year he built the large hoop plant located at this time at the G. R. & I. tracks and Adams Street, and eondueted it until June, 1916, when he sold to the Bluffton Hoop Company. In 1916, Mr. Vail bought what is known as the Deeatur Straw Board Company, which is operated at Marion, Indiana, and of which he is general manager, his son, Daniel R. Vail, being president of the eoneern. John W. Vail is also manager of the Delphi Strawboard Company, which was purchased by him in 1912, and this, like the other concern, is a closed corporation, all the stoek being owned by the family. Ile is one of the leading business men of Decatur, where his company has its fillers and cases and this is the distributing point for the Egg-case business, handling from three to four hundred earloads of eases and fillers per year. Likewise Mr. Vail is interested in the Cardwell Stave Company, of Missouri, a large enter- prise which has owned many thousands aeres of land, which, as the timber has been eut off, the land has been sold for farming purposes. This latter company manufactures 40,000,000 staves annually. The manufacturing point for the egg cases is also at Cardwell, although the distributing point remains at Deeatur, from whence they are sent all over the country, enough being handled yearly to ship 45,000,000 dozen eggs. The company owns twenty-eight miles of standard gauge railroad, known as the Paragola & Memphis Railway, which, in addition to caring for its own large interests, also does an interstate business. In all of his ventures Mr. Vail has shown a spirit of progressiveness and a striv- ing for high business ideals. His excellent standing in the business world, both materially and in the opinion of his associates, has been gained by a career of strict integrity and honorable dealing, and at the same time his good citizenship has never been doubted.
In 1882, at Decatur, Mr. Vail was married to Miss Christina B. Rail- ing, who was born in Adams County, Indiana, July 1, 1863, and grew up and was edueated in that county. She is a daughter of Daniel and Elmina (Kern) Railing, natives of Pennsylvania, who were married in
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Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the old Methodist College and took up their residence in Adams County on a farm east of Decatur, but later Mr. Railing became one of the leading horse buyers and shippers in Indiana, if not in the country, securing his stock all over the Central West and shipping it not only to Philadelphia and other large points, but to England, Germany and Havana, Cuba. After a successful career he retired from business and lived quietly at Decatur until his death when he was past eighty-five years of age, his wife having passed away two years previously, at the age of eighty-one. They were devout mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Railing was a repub- lican and prominent in the ranks of his party. They had two children : Mrs. Vail, and Saloma, who is the wife of J. B. Riee, has no children.
To Mr. and Mrs. Vail there have been born the following children : Daniel R., of Marion, Indiana, president and manager of the Marion & Delphi plants of the Decatur Strawboard Company, married Blanche Carroll, daughter of E. L. Carroll, and has one daughter, Mary Louise : Ilugh Thomas, at the head of his father's Decatur office, married Frances Ward, resides at Decatur and has no children, and Forest E., like the other sons, well educated, secretary and treasurer of the two strawboard plants, a resident of Marion, married Grace Butler, of Decatur, and has no children.
All the members of this family are active in the work of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, where Mr. Vail has for years been president of the board of trustees. For forty-one years Mrs. Vail has been a member of the choir, a record in both city and state, and her voice has been heard at the funerals of many of Decatur's foremost people who have passed away during this time. She has been treasurer of the Woman's Home Missionary Society of the North Indiana Conference for twenty years, and in various other ways has been a useful worker. Fraternally Mr. Vail is connected with the Masonic Order at Decatur and Commandery at Bluffton, and the Knights of Pythias and Improved Order of Red Men.
ARTHUR C. BLAKEY. Some of the finest farms and some of the best farmers of Adams County are in Union Township. On one of the main traveled highways out of Decatur, seven miles northeast of the county seat and on Rural Route No. 3, are the well managed fields and home- stead of Arthur C. Blakey, one of the younger and thoroughly energetic agriculturists and citizens of the county. Mr. Blakey has a hundred acres and by mixing intelligence with hard work and by good manage- ment has for a number of years kept it in a high state of productiveness as a farm. He raises all the staple crops of this section, and is also handling good grades of livestock.
Mr. Blakey was born in Union Township November 16, 1881, son of J. H. and Amelia (Thieme) Blakey. John H. Blakey, one of the prosperous farmers of Union Township, was born there February 17, 1855, son of Christian F. and Louisa (Fahlsing) Blakey, both natives of Prussia. Christian Blakey came to Adams County as a pioneer in 1836. Ile married in 1850 and he and his wife spent the rest of their days in this county, where he died at the age of seventy-eight and his wife at the early age of twenty-three. Ile had three children by his first marriage, and afterwards married Mary Rupp and had a large family by her.
John II. Blakey grew up in Adams County and had a common school education combined with the discipline of the home farm. All his active years have been devoted to farming, and he has owned several hundred of the fertile acres of Union Township. He is a democrat and has
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always been interested in local affairs and with his wife is a member of the German Lutheran Church. John H. Blakey married, September 29, 1878, Amelia Thieme, who was born in Fort Wayne May 23, 1857, daughter of Godfrey and Amelia (Roseher) Thieme. Her parents came from Saxony, Germany, to Adams County and spent the rest of their lives here. John H. Blakey and wife had eleven children, nine of whom are still living: Julia, wife of Frank Kirbach; Arthur C .; Amelia, wife of Theodore Waldo; John W., a farmer in Union Town- ship; Christian of St. Paul, Minnesota; Clara, wife of Harmon Young ; Louise and Lydia, both at home; Henry, a student in the Concordia College at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Arthur C. Blakey was born three miles southeast of where he now lives and most of his boyhood days were spent just a mile south of his present home. While there he was educated in the district schools and a, few years after attaining manhood he married and established a home of his own.
He married, July 23, 1905, Miss Beata Schamerloh. Mrs. Blakey was born in Union Township, in 1883, daughter of Christian and Amelia (Boerger ) Schamerloh. Mr. and Mrs. Blakey have four young children, Hugo, Elma, Rosa and Monema. The family are members of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Blakey votes as a democrat and can always be found lined up with any movement for progress in his community.
ADAM J. BIENZ. Under the system of civil government prevailing in Indiana it has been customary for many years to choose only the hest men of the community for the responsibilities of the office of town- ship trustee. That rule has had some exceptions, but it will usually be found that the trustee is a resident who has made a success of his own affairs and is considered competent in the eyes of his fellow citizens to manage and supervise the administration of the local schools and of various other matters entrusted to his charge.
The present trustee of Union Township in Adams County is Adam J. Bienz, who has been a resident of this county for over a quarter of a century and is regarded as one of the leading farmers in his locality. His home is in section 8 on Rural Route No. 9 out of Decatur and situated eight miles northeast of the county seat.
Mr. Bienz was born in Willshire Township of Van Wert County, Ohio, October 26, 1859, son of Jaeoh and Elizabeth (Pfleger) Bienz, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Pennsylvania. Jacob Bienz was nine years old when his parents came to the United States and settled in the wilderness of Van Wert County, Ohio. His father afterward married and secured eighty acres of land covered with heavy timber in Willshire Township and had to clear away a space before the humble log cabin could be erected. For some time they had no cook stove and all the meals were cooked at a fire beside a big log. The nearest market and milling center was Fort Wayne, and when the family ran out of flour or meal they put some grain in a wagon and drove an ox team to Fort Wayne, being two days going and two days coming. Grandfather Bienz cleared up his first eighty acres and developed a farm of 140 acres, besides some land across the state line in Union Township of Adams County. Jacob Bienz was one of a family of six sons and three daughters. Jacob Bienz and wife had eight chil- dren and those still living are: Lewis of Indianapolis; George of Van Wert County; Adam J .; Fred of Fort Wayne; Mary of Fort Wayne; Anna of Deeatur.
Adam J. Bienz grew to manhood in Van Wert County and had a common school education. For several years he worked his father's
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farm on the shares. At the age of eighteen he began learning the carpenter's trade and he followed it actively for about ten years and part of the time was a successful contractor. Between the occupation of carpentry and of farming he has been a very useful member of both his native county and of Adams County. On coming to this county in 1892 he located on the farm which he now occupies and has improved his land with substantial buildings. He owns 100 acres in the home farm and also forty acres in section 10 of the same township. He is both a general farmer and stock raiser.
Mr. Bienz has been three times married. His first wife was Pauline Garman, who died leaving one child, Minnie, who is still living unmar- ried. Mr. Bienz married for his second wife Christina Reinking, daugh- ter of Ferdinand Reinking. She died at the age of thirty-one, leaving one child, Paula, wife of Walter Tieme. On May 14, 1900, Mr. Bienz married Miss Matilda Bleeke, who was born in Union Township May 29, 1874, daughter of Christian and Mary (Rupp) Bleeke. Mr. and Mrs. Bienz have seven children: Irvin, Amalie, Martin, Louise, Emil, Ida and Norma. The family are members of the Lutheran Church at the center of Union Township. Mr. Bienz has served as one of the church trustees. Politically he is a democrat and took his present office as trustee of Union Township in Jannary, 1915. His term expires in January, 1919.
SAMUEL LUGINBILL. Adams County is a rich agricultural region, and among the able and enterprising men who are successfully conduct- ing its farming interests not one is more worthy of mention in this volume than Samuel Luginbill, who is following his favorite pursuit in Monroe Township, where his birth occurred November 2, 1869.
Ilis father, Christ Luginbill, was born in Switzerland, where his parents, Gendarine and Magdalene Luginhill, were life-long residents. Coming to Indiana in early manhood, he was variously employed for a few years, and when ready to establish himself in life bought forty acres of unbroken land in Monroe Township, and with characteristic energy began the improvement of a homestead. He cleared and placed under tillage the greater part of his land, making substantial improve- ments, rendering his estate attractive and valuable. He married, in Vera Cruz, Wells County, Indiana, Emela Jory, a daughter of Emanuel and Judith Jory, who reared three other daughters and three sons. Their ten children were all born in the log cabin in which they began housekeeping, as follows: Mary, born March 30, 1863, is not living; Susie, deceased, was born August 18, 1864; Edward, born September 3, 1866; Sophia, born February 8, 1868; Samuel, born November 2, 1869; David, deceased, born March 29, 1871; Solomon, born July 21, 1873; Rachael, deceased, born June 14, 1875; Anna, born November 29, 1876; and Sarah, born September 20, 1881. The father, who was born April 4, 1822, died on the homestead. The mother, born November 1, 1837, still resides on the home farm, a bright and active woman of four score years. She and her husband were members of the German Reformed Church, and reared their family in the same religious belief.
Samuel Luginbill was educated in the district schools, and became familiar with the many branches of husbandry while working with his father. Since the death of the father he has continued in his early occupation, having charge of the homestead, which he is managing in a most thorough and efficient manner. Having been engaged in farming all of his life. his practical and varied experience has made him an authority on all departments of agriculture. Mr. Luginbill has
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never married, his mother being his housekeeper, while he is devoting himself to her care and comfort.
JOHN E. NELSON. Possessing unquestioned executive and business ability, John E. Nelson of Monroe, Adams County, holds a position of prominence in his community, and as manager of the Monroe Home Store has won the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. A son of George and Anna (Carpenter) Nelson, he was born in Adams County, Indiana, January 12, 1884.
A native of Adams County, George Nelson settled on a farm of forty aeres in Monroe Township soon after his marriage, and was there actively engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, which occurred in the fall of 1888, while he was yet in manhood's prime. To him and his wife three children were born, as follows: John E., of whom we write; Elizabeth, deceased ; and Pearl. His widow was sub- sequently twice married. She married first John Lambert of Adams County, who died, leaving her with two sons, Francis and George. She married for her third husband Elias King, also of Adams County, and by that marriage she had one child, Martha. Mrs. King died in April, 1899, in middle age.
Having acquired a practical education in the public schools of Mon- roe Township, John E. Nelson, in 1902, began his career as a teacher, and was thus engaged for ten years. After teaching many terms in Washington Township, Mr. Nelson was principal of the Magley School two years, and afterward taught in Berne, in the seventh grade for one year. The ensuing three years he was principal of the South Ward School, in Decatur, there meeting with characteristic success. Resign- ing that position, Mr. Nelson accepted an offer with the Monroe Home Store, in Monroe, Indiana, and as its manager is carrying on an extensive and profitable business. The store was incorporated with a capital of $20,000.00, its stockholders being composed of home people, and under the judicious supervision of Mr. Nelson is doing a remarkably good busi- ness, carrying a complete stock of general merchandise and groceries of a high grade.
Mr. Nelson married, March 10, 1905, Elta May Essex, whose par- ents, Jesse V. and Anna F. Essex, natives of Indiana, reared several other children, as follows: Sherman; Merle; Minnie; Jason; Leona; Clella, deceased ; Harry ; Clifford ; and Donald. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have three children, namely: Bernice, born in 1907; Marcella, born in 1910; and Dorris, born in 1913. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nelson are valued members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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