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 54
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 54
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Samuel Lutz, father of Clark J., was born in Stark County, Ohio, about 1830. He married Marie Lucinda Lichtenwater, who was born in Stark County about the same time as her husband. Her parents were Pennsylvania people of German ancestry, the Lichtenwaters being among the pioneer farmers of Stark County, Ohio. Samuel Lutz and wife had one child, Alonzo, who was born in Stark County, but died at the age of sixteen. After the birth of this ehild the family removed in 1852 to Allen County, Ohio, making the journey by boat over the old Wabash and Miami Canal to Fort Wayne. From Fort Wayne they walked out to take possession of their new home in the wilds of Marion Township and there built a log cabin. Samuel Lutz was a man of industry and good character, and in the course of years had one of the finest farms in Allen County, comprising 160 aeres and several sets of farm buildings. This fine farm is now owned and occupied by his daughter Mrs. Charles True, who was born on the old homestead. Mrs. True has a son named Brice. Samuel Lutz died on that homestead in 1906 and his wife passed away in 1892. He was a republiean in politics, but afterwards became a pioneer in prohibition ranks and east a vote for General Weaver. Besides Clark J. Lutz and Mrs. True one other ehild of Samuel Lutz is still living, William, a bachelor, who lives with Mr. and Mrs. True on the old farm.
Clark J. Lutz married in Adams County Miss Anna M. Lewis on October 14, 1886. Mrs. Lutz was born at Zanesville, Ohio, September 22, 1862, and was an infant when her mother died. Her father Joseph V. Lewis was a physician and died at Dayton, Ohio, in 1891. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth MeGonagle, daughter of Joseph V. MeGonagle, who for many years was editor of the Shelby County, Ohio, Democrat and later of the Decatur Demoerat. Mr. McGonagle died at Decatur in 1891. In 1879 Mrs. Lutz went to the home of her grand- parents McGonagle in Adams County and grew up there, acquiring a liberal education. She attended the Conservatory of Music at Fort Wayne, was also a pupil of the noted Emil Liebling of Chicago and for several years was a successful teaeher of music at Decatur. Mr. and Mrs. Lutz have long been prominent as social leaders in Decatur. He is affiliated with the Lodge of Masonry and has been active in the dem- ocratie party ever sinee coming to Decatur. prominent in its councils and often acting as a delegate to its conventions.
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Mrs. Lutz died at her home in Decatur June 14, 1917, in her fifty- fifth year. She was a very active member in the First Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Lutz has served as an elder for thirty-one years. They had one daughter, Jean, who completed her education in the Woman's College at Oxford, Ohio, and at the New England Conservatory of Music at Boston. In 1914 she became the wife of Fred R. Smith of Decatur and they make their home with Mr. Clark Lutz, though they have a place of their own at Brookside, near the city. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have one son, Clark William Smith, born in April, 1916. Mr. Clark Lutz finds his greatest comfort and delight in this promising young grandson.
ERASTUS FRITZINGER is treasurer and manager of the Decatur Foundry, Furnace and Machine Company, and from the first has been the moving spirit in the success and management of that important local industry. The company was incorporated in 1909, and the present officers are : John S. Bowers, president; Dinas Schmitt, vice president ; L. A. Graham, secretary; and Erastus Fritzinger, treasurer and man- ager. This is one of the largest industrial plants located in Decatur. The special commodities manufactured are freight elevators, of which there is a large output, and they are sold in practically every state of the Union. From twelve to fifteen men, foundrymen and machinists, find employment with the plant.
The industry was originally the old Decatur Furnace Company, and the plant was taken over in a decadent condition and has been thor- oughly rehabilitated and made efficient under the present management.
Mr. Fritzinger has been a resident of Decatur since 1881. He was born in Pennsylvania May 26, 1856, six miles from Mauchunk. He grew up and received his advantages in the local schools there, and in early life followed his inclination for mechanical industry. For seven years he was a machinist in the car shops of the Lehigh Valley Railway Company and it was with this thorough experience that he came to Decatur. Here he entered business as a carpenter contractor and in the course of time acquired varied other interests. For eighteen years he was a retail lumber merchant and for eight or ten years operated a quarry. He had lived practically retired from business for about a vear before he took the management of the Foundry Company and it has been through him that this industry has been prospered and developed to successful proportions.
Mr. Fritzinger is a son of Levi and Amanda (Miller) Fritzinger. Both were born in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, and spent their lives there, dying when well advanced in years. Mr. Fritzinger's great- grandfather was one of the Hessian soldiers hired by the British govern- ment to fight the revolting American colonies in the Revolutionary war. He afterwards became a good American citizen, and his son Jacob, grandfather of Erastus Fritzinger, married an English girl and settled down on a farm in Pennsylvania. The Fritzingers as far back as the record goes, have been identified with the Reformed Church while the Miller branch of the lineage were Lutherans.
Levi Fritzinger, father of Erastus, enlisted at the first call for troops in 1861 and after the expiration of his first term re-enlisted and saw active service in the Union armies until the close of the struggle. He escaped wounds and injuries and on returning home followed his trade until his death at the age of seventy-five. His wife passed away at the age of sixty-two. They were active members of the Reformed Church.
Erastus Fritzinger was third in a family of three sons and five daughters, all of whom married, all but one had children, and six of
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them are still living. His brother Oscar died in Adams County, Indiana, leaving a widow and three children. The mother of these children was one of a family of twelve, all of whom grew up and all sat with their parents for a photograph after the youngest had reached mature years. Mrs. Levi Fritzinger was the first death in the family circle.
Erastus Fritzinger married in Adams County Rachel Huffman. She was born in this county fifty-six years ago, and has always lived here. Her parents William D. and Catherine (Zimmerman) Huffman were natives of Pennsylvania, but first met and married in Adams County, Indiana, and by their industry acquired a good farm in Kirkland Town- ship. Mrs. Fritzinger's mother died there when past seventy and her father then retired to Fort Wayne where he is quite vigorous at the age of seventy-five. Both were Reformed Church people and he is a democrat.
Mr. and Mrs. Fritzinger have two children. Mary M., thirty-four years old, is a graduate of the Decatur schools and of the Fort Wayne International Business College, and is now bookkeeper in his father's plant and a very skilled and useful man in the business. He married Manna Couter, who was born in Adams County and educated here. They have a daughter, Catherine R., now attending school. Harry Fritzinger is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge and Chapter and with the Scottish Rite bodies at Fort Wayne. The second son, Robert M., thirty years old, was educated in the public schools and is now a prac- tical farmer in St. Mary's Township. He married Emma Davidson, and their two children Fay and Mary are both attending school. Erastus Fritzinger and his youngest son are both affiliated with the Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 65 at Decatur.
HERMAN M. GILLIG. The milling industry of Adams County is well represented at Decatur by two flouring mills, both conducted under the name Fornax Milling Company, of which Herman M. Gillig, a practical young miller, is secretary and general manager. The other officers com- prising this company are: H. H. Bremerkamp, president ; C. B. Strick- ler, vice president, another practical miller; and G. C. Shosenberger, treasurer, all residents of Decatur, all members of the firm, and all well and favorably known as reliable and straightforward men of business. The mills are known as No. 1, this on the south, and No. 2, on the north, and both are operated by steam. The brands manufactured are the Golden Dove, Bob White and Blue Ribbon flours, and the Golden Dove meal, and shipments are made extensively throughout Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky, while the company purchases locally. Thirteen people are given employment at this time in the mill, which is increasing its business steadily, and the company is capitalized at $10.000, of which $5,000 represents the surplus. The No. 1 mill was built some ten years ago by Mr. Bremerkamp, and was known as the Fornax Mill, subsequently becoming a part of the company when it was organized in 1915.
Herman M. Gillig, secretary and general manager of the Fornax Milling Company, may be said to have grown up to the trade, working and being associated with many mills in this state and Ohio. He was horn near Decatur, Indiana, November 12, 1884, grew up in this city, where he received his education in the parochial schools, and com- menced his experience at the milling trade at Fort Recovery, Ohio. Subsequently he went to Lexington, Ohio, and Mansfield in the same state, and then returned to Indiana and for fifteen years has been con- nected with mills at Pennville, Decatur and other points. He was with the old Fornax mill for several years, and in 1915, when the organiza- Vol. II-24
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tion of the new company was effected, was placed in his present posi- tions, in which he has the entire confidence of his associates. He is a young man of energy, enterprise and practical ideas, progressive in thought and action, and a tireless worker.
Mr. Gillig comes of a good family, being a son of Conrad and Mary (Appleman) Gillig, natives of Ohio, and both of German ancestry through their grandparents, the two families having come to the United States at about the same time, the older members passing their lives in Ohio, where they died. After their marriage, and the birth of their five younger children, Conrad and Mary Gillig came to Adams County, thirty-five years ago, and purchased a farm in Washington Township, where they passed many years in the pursuits of agriculture. Herman M. Gillig was the first of five children to be born to his parents in Adams County. Of the ten children in the family eight are still living, and five of these are married. Some years ago the parents retired from active pursuits and removed to Decatur, where, in the neighborhood of their pleasant home on Mercer Avenue, they have numerous friends. They have lived honest, industrious, God-fearing lives, and now, in their declining years, are enjoying the comforts that their years of toil brought them as a reward. Mr. Gillig is seventy years of age and his wife sixty- eight, but both are remarkably well preserved, in possession of all their faculties, and as active as many people many years their junior, while Mrs. Gillig's hair does not yet show the touch of gray. They and all their children belong to St. Mary's Catholic Church. Mr. Gillig and his sons are all democrats.
Herman M. Gillig was married at Decatur, to Miss Leona A. Hart- ing, who was born in Ohio, February 20, 1888, but grew up at Decatur, where she was educated in the parochial schools. She is a daughter of William and Catherine (Knopke) Harting, natives of Ohio, of German descent. They were farming people for many years, but are now retired from active pursuits and are living in a pleasant home on North Third Street, Decatur. They are members of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Gillig have one child, Helen Catherine, horn March 23, 1918. They are faithful members of St. Mary's Catholic Church and are well and favorably known at Decatur, Mr. Gillig being especially popular with his fellow-members in the local order of the Knights of Columbus. He has various holdings and business interests, and at present is serving as vice president of the Peoples Loan aud Trust Company, having become interested in that company two years ago.
JOSHUA SPRUNGER. An active, enterprising and well-to-do agri- culturist of Adams County, and an able business man, Joshua Sprunger owns and occupies a well-improved farm in Monroe Township, where he stands second to none among the prosperous and substantial members of his community. He was born December 24, 1858, in Wayne County, Ohio, a son of David Sprunger, and grandsou of John and Elizabeth Sprunger.
Coming with his family from Ohio to Indiana in 1859, David Sprunger bought eighty acres of wild land in Adams County, just east of Berne, and there labored with unceasing toil until he had a large part of it under tillage and substantially improved. On the farm which he cleared he spent the remainder of his life, dying December 25, 1916, at an advanced age. His wife, whose maiden name was Barbara Leh- man, died on the home farm, August 3, 1874. Both were valued mem- bers of the Mennonite Church.
Brought by his parents to Monroe Township while yet an infant, Joshua Sprunger was brought up on the home farm, and in his youth-
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ful days was well instructed in lessons of industry, economy, and integ- rity. Having made a practical study of the various branches of agri- culture, he chose farming for his occupation, and on May 15, 1896, settled on his present farm, which contains eighty acres of rich and arable land. Ffteen acres of the estate Mr. Sprunger cleared himself and added all of the improvements. The remarkable success with which he has met during his career as a farmer has been brought about by his persistent energy, well directed toil and good business judgment; and he is well deserving of the respect and confidence so generously accorded him by his fellow-townsmen. In his political relations Mr. Sprunger is a democrat.
Mr. Sprunger married, May 15, 1882, Elizabeth Habegger, who was born in Switzerland, and came to this country with her parents, Peter and Elizabeth (Lehman) Habegger. She has several brothers and sisters living, as follows : Abraham, Jacob, Peter, Solomon, Mary, David, Benjamin, and Francis Louis. Eleven children have been born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Sprunger namely: Levina, born Feb- ruary 15, 1883, married John Fungunton and has three children, Howard, Marie, and Harry J .; Celina, born on May 24, 1884, married Emanuel Neuenschwander and has three children Adeline, Glenn, and Ida; Cora born December 20, 1885, married Otto Stucky of Adams County and has three children, Lewelyn, Lillian, and Gerald; Ida, born April 23, 1888, married Dr. Rufus Fungunton and has two children, Annabelle and Fred; George, born October 4, 1889, married Carrie Boditeher, of Wayne County, Ohio, and they have two children, Royal and Vernell: Millie, born February 5, 1891, is the wife of Walter Liechty, of Adams County, and has one child, Ernest E .; Andrew mar- ried Kate Liechty of Ohio and has two children, Mabel and Roman; Alfred, born June 25, 1894; David, horn April 20, 1896; Clinton, born May 8, 1898; and Viola, born November 28, 1899. All are members of the Mennonite Church.
MANAS LEHMAN. The qualities of a good business man have been proved over and over again in the case of Manas Lehman, one of Adams County's most progressive merchants and now an active partner in the firm of Liechty Brothers & Company at Monroe.
Mr. Lehman represents an old and honored family name of Adams County. He was born within the limits of the county on November 8, 1885, a son of Peter and Christina (Luginbell) Lehman. His father was born in Switzerland November 3, 1847, and the mother is a native of Adams County. The Lehman family came to Adams County in pioneer days and were well known in the Swiss colony which gave character to all the activities and the social life of that large section of the county in and around Berne. Peter Lehman and wife after their marriage set- tled on a farm west of Berne. This farm is now within the city limits. It comprised eighty aeres, all of which is cleared and in cultivation, and its fields and other resources were actively handled by Peter Leh- man until about two years ago, when he turned over the farm to younger hands and he and his wife moved into a comfortable home they erected at the corner of the farm and within the Village of Berne. Here they are still living in comfort and retirement. Their children are: Lydia, wife of John Kirehofer, of Adams County ; Louisa, wife of Eli Baumgartner, of Adams County ; Levina, who married Andrew Bailey, of Adams County ; Emanuel, who married Adaline Liechty, of Adams County : Amos, who married Viola Wolf: Manas; Wilber E., who mar- ried Della Neuenschwander; Lila, who became the wife of Otto E. Sprunger; and Delson.
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Mr. Manas Lehman was educated in the schools of his home township and the Village of Berne and for one year attended a college at Newton, Kansas. He had a very vigorous and wholesome discipline on the home farm up to the age of twenty-one, after which he gained his first experi- ence by employment in a general store at Berne with the firm Sprunger, Lehman & Company. He was there two years, and on August 4, 1909, engaged in the dry goods business for himself. He was an independent merchant six years, but on March 1, 1916, beeame a partner in the general hardware and implement house of Liechty Brothers & Company at Monroe. Mr. Lehman votes an independent tieket in polities. He and his wife are active members of the Methodist Church.
On March 19, 1916, he married Miss Sylvia Hendricks, daughter of Levi and Viola Hendricks. Both her parents are natives of Adams County and she was educated in Monroe Township. Mrs. Lehman's brothers and sister are Chester L., Vivian and Frank.
BEN S. COLTER is one of the eapable educators of Adams County and for ten years has been principal of the Bobo graded schools.
He was born in Ohio September 26, 1873, son of Henry and Ellen E. (Rennels) Colter. Reference to his father and other members of the family is found on other pages of this publication. Ben S. Colter spent the first eight years of his life in Tusearawas County, Ohio, and came with the family in 1881 to Adams County. Here he attended public schools, and after reaching manhood became associated with his father in the saw mill business. Ile continued in that line actively from twenty-one to thirty-one years of age. Ile is a man of scholarly tastes and pursuits, and has supplemented the advantages of the common schools by courses in Valparaiso University and Purdue University. In 1906 he began teaching, and has taught steadily now for twelve years and has spent seven consecutive terms as superintendent of the graded schools at Bobo. He has built up these schools and made them a real factor in the education and training of the youth of the community and the efficiency of the schools is practically a monument to him.
In 1902 Mr. Colter married Mary Dailey, daughter of Joseph Dailey. They have three sons, Donald D. Cotter, who is a graduate of the com- mon schools and has spent one year in high school at Pleasant Mills; Dean, in the grade schools; and Robert. the youngest of the family. The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Mr. Colter voiees his politieal sentiments as republican. He is also interested in farming and has a small farm of forty-three aeres in St. Mary's Town- ship.
CHARLES D. SCHENCK is a practical farmer and one of the live and progressive citizens of St. Mary's Township. He is a man of liberal edueation and to an unusual degree has thoroughly utilized all the opportunities of life.
Mr. Schenek was born on the farm where he now resides, November 22, 1876, a son of Rev. D. J. and Amanda ( Fordyee) Schenck. ITis father was born in Maryland in 1833 but spent his boyhood days near Willshire, Ohio. He attended publie school and prepared himself for work as a teacher. He taught in common schools and also was an instructor of musie. He finally entered the ministry of the United Brethren Church and for many years was an honored elder and hard working minister of that denomination. His last charge was at Port- land. Indiana. Rev. Mr. Schenck married Amanda Fordyee on August 6, 1871. She was born in Ohio in 1844 and was brought to Adams County. Indiana, in 1845. She became the mother of four children :
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Margaret, formerly a teacher, now the wife of Curtis W. Campbell of Pleasant Mills; Grace, unmarried ; Charles D .; and D. J., Jr., who was well educated in local schools and in the University at Valparaiso and was in the real estate business at Detroit, Michigan, at the time of his death, March 24, 1917. Rev. D. J. Schenck by a previous marriage had eight children, four of whom died in infancy: Rev. J. W., a graduate of the Portland High School, afterwards of a theological course, and now a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Minnesota; Ida, who is a graduate of the Portland schools and is now the wife of Dr. P. W. Fishbaugh of Mendon, Ohio; Ella, who graduated from the Port- land, Indiana, High School and from a Bible College in Chicago, took up missionary work under the auspices of the United Brethren Church, spent four years of faithful service in Africa, and after her second. return to that missionary field was killed there; Horace, a civil engineer who was drowned in White Face River in Minnesota.
Charles D. Sehenek grew up on the home farm where he now lives, had a common school education, and also attended college at Valparaiso. After completing his education he took up farming, and has contributed his modest part both in former years and in the present to that volume of agricultural supplies which are necessary to the sustenance of the world.
June 20, 1905, he married Wilma Cowan. Mrs. Schenck was born in St. Mary's Township February 22, 1876, daughter of John and Amy (Dailey ) Cowan. Mrs. Schenck is a highly educated and cultured woman. She graduated from the common schools, was a teacher for six years and finished her education in Valparaiso University, from which she received both the degrees Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts. Mr. and Mrs. Schenck have four children: Margaret, born March 11, 1906; Helen, born March 22, 1908; Amy, born April 27, 1913; and John, born August 27, 1915. The family are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church at Pleasant Mills. Mr. Schenck has always been interested in church matters and is one of the trustees of the home church. Frater- nally he and his wife are members of the Gleaners and of the Modern Woodmen of America. In politics he votes as a republican.
HENRY LEHRMAN is one of Adams County's well known citizens who started life with no particular advantages and assets and by self-denial, thrift and industry have gradually accumulated those means which rep- resent financial independence. He and his family reside on one of the well managed farms of Union Township.
Mr. Lehrman was born in Switzerland August 22, 1864, son of Ferdi- nand and Verina (Ehrman) Lehrman. His parents brought their family to the United States in 1871, and at that time located in Adams County and spent here the remainder of their industrial career. The father died in Root Township in 1906 and his wife in 1912. They had seven chil- dren, six sons and one daughter: Henry ; Godfried, a farmer in Union Township; Harmon who lives at Fort Wayne and is connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad; Albert, a carpenter at Decatur; Sophia, wife of Fred Shamlow of Allen County : Ferdinand, a farmer in Root Township ; and Charles, a Union Township farmer.
Henry Lehrman was seven years old when brought to Adams County. He grew up on the farm, had the advantages of the common schools, and has made what he has by hard work begun in early life and carried on and sustained to the present time.
On April 5, 1894, he married Mary E. Barkley, a native of Union Township. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Lehrman moved to Union Township and located on forty acres. That has been the nucleus of their
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farming enterprise, and gradually their scope of operations expanded un- til Mr. and Mrs. Lehrman now own 260 acres in one body, constituting one of the most profitable places of the county in two farms. Mr. Lehr- man has made most of his money in stock and grain. He is a member of the German Lutheran Church and other members of the family are I'mited Brethren in church faith. Politically he is a democrat.
Mr. and Mrs. Lehrman have a family of nine children living, John H., Simon, Lillian, Paul and Harry twins, Delbert, Daniel, Mary and Lloyd, the deceased children being Otto Godfried, Mabel Irene and David.
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