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 55
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 55
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DAVID J. MAZELIN. A man of enterprise, and excellent business capacity, David J. Mazelin, whose home is in Monroe Township, stands high among the progressive farmers of this section of Adams County. The family name is one significant and synonymous with industry and persevering toil and honorable reetitude in Adams County, and his own career has heen in keeping with the reputation made by his forefathers.
Mr. Mazelin was born in Monroe Township August 16, 1882, a son of James and Barbara (Miller) Mazelin. His paternal grandparents were Peter and Theresa Mazelin, both of whom came to the United States from France. The maternal grandfather was Peter Miller. Peter Mazelin, the grandfather, on coming to Adams County, located eighty acres in Monroe Township, a farm now owned by David Schwartz. The grand- father took the land in its wild and primitive condition and for some days he and his family lived under a large tree until the first log cabin home could be constructed. As the years went by the land became enl- tivated, and constituted a good home for the family. James Mazelin, father of David J., was born in Adams County and died here April 10, 1910. His wife, who was born in France, died October 25, 1892. James Mazelin married for his first wife Elizabeth Schwartz, daughter of John and Anna (Ramseyor) Schwartz. The children of that union were Rosina, Anna and Elizabeth. By his marriage to Barbara Miller he was the father of Mary, David J., Daniel, Emma and Lydia.
David J. Mazelin married Jannary 13, 1907, Miss Mary Schwartz, daughter of Jaeoh and Mary (Liechty) Sehwartz. Her father was born in France in 1842 and her mother in French Township of Adams County in 1847. They married February 28, 1867, and first located on eighty aeres of rented land, but subsequently bought a farm of forty acres. Mrs. Mazelin's mother died August 3, 1907, and her father is still living in Freneh Township. He married for his second wife Mary Moser, daugh- ter of John Moser. Mrs. Mazelin's father belongs to the Defenseless Men- nonite Church. Mrs. Mazelin's brothers and sisters are Jaeob J., John J., David J., Solomon J., C. W. R., J. K. L., Rosina, Catherine, Rachel *and Sarah.
Mr. and Mrs. Mazelin have a little family of three interesting chil- dren named Venns, born Angust 8, 1911 ; Dessie, horn November 1, 1913; and Ruth, born January 26, 1916.
Mr. Mazelin settled on his present farm of forty acres in January, 1910. IIe has some good land, a comfortable home with good building im- provements including a fine silo. He specializes in the dairy industry and has some high grade Holstein cows. Mr. and Mrs. Mazelin are members of the Christian Amish Church.
CHARLES W. FEASEL. An excellent representative of the self-made men of Adams County, Charles W. Feasel started ont in life without a penny to his name, for a few years being variously employed. A young man of good habits, industrious and faithful, frugal in his expenditures, and wise in his savings, he accumulated quite a sum of money, and hav-
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ing judiciously cultivated the land which he bought, is now numbered among the more prosperous and progressive agriculturists of Blue Creek Township. A son of the late John Feasel, he was born in Adams County, in Blue Creek Township, January 27, 1874.
John Feasel, a native of Columbus, Ohio, settled in Adams County, this state, in 1872. Buying eighty acres of land in Blue Creek Township, he added to the improvements which had previously been made, clearing some of it, and erecting a house and barn. He was subsequently engaged in farming until his death, March 3, 1885, when but fifty-three years old. He married Mrs. Rebecca J. (Tyndall) Ruby. She was born in Craw- ford County, Ohio, a daughter of William and Lydia Tyndall, and widow of William Ruby of Adams County, Indiana, who died in early life, leav- ing her with three small children, William H. Ruby, Aline Ruby, and Frank Ruby, deceased. Of her union with John Feasel there were three children, namely : Charles W., of this sketch; Ida M .; and Viola. The mother survived her second husband, dying November 5, 1909.
Having acquired a substantial knowledge of the various branches of agriculture while working for others, Charles W. Feasel invested his hard-earned money in land, in 1904 buying fifty-four acres of land in Blue Creek Township. Laboring incessantly and intelligently, he was successful in his venture, and in 1909 purchased the adjoining tract of forty aeres, known as the "Adam Sypher's Farm," which he has ditched, fenced, and improved with a good set of buildings, his estate being now one of the best in its improvements and appointments of any in the locality, being a credit to his industry and good management.
Mr. Feasel married, October 28, 1894, Emma M. Saum, who was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, being a daughter of Daniel and Louise Saum, who reared four other children, Mary E., Bertha O., Charles C., and Leah P. Mr. and Mrs. Feasel have seven children, namely: John, born June 14, 1895, married Esther Riesen, January 3, 1917, and they have one child, Chester De Lloyd, born August 13, 1917; Nora, born June 26, 1900; Heber L., born December 25, 1903; Charles D., born January 26, 1905 : William D., born August 4, 1907; Vilas W., born January 8, 1910; and Marion T., born March 18, 1914. Independent in polities, Mr. Feasel votes for the best men and measures, regardless of party restrictions. Fraternally he is a member of the Willshire, Ohio, Lodge No. 542, Knights of Pythias.
GEORGE E. KINZLE is the present county treasurer of Adams County, having been elected to that office in the fall of 1915 and beginning his official duties in January, 1916. Mr. Kinzle is a trained financier and business man and the office was never in better administrative hands than at present. IIe is giving the best of his time and energies to this public responsibility and in the person of Miss Goldie Gay he has a very competent deputy to handle the details of the office.
Mr. Kinzle was for twenty years superintendent of the Citizens Tele- phone Company of Decatur, having joined that organization about eighteen months after it was started. The local telephone industry looks upon Mr. Kinzle as the source of its chief prosperity. He is still actively identified with the telephone company and has carried the business through times of adversity as well as prosperity. About twelve years ago he became a stockholder of the company at the time of its reorganization, and is still a member of the board of directors. The other directors are E. X. Ehinger, F. M. Schmerzer, Leo Yager and John W. Tyndall.
Mr. Kinzle was superintendent of construction when the Power and Light Company's plant was built in Deeatur and had much to do with the management of that public utility for eighteen months. He acquired
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a thorough technical and business knowledge of the telephone business by four years of employment with the Bell Telephone Company of Chicago.
Mr. Kinzle was born at Convoy in Van Wert County, Ohio, March 19, 1870. He grew up in that locality, was educated in the public schools of Convoy and spent his early life on a farm. At the age of twenty he went to Chicago and took employment with the Bell Telephone Company, and from there came to Decatur.
Mr. Kinzle is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Beamer) Kinzle. His father was born in Germany, and at the age of thirteen accompanied his parents to America. Grandfather George Kinzle and wife first located on a farm near Bucyrus in Crawford County, Ohio, where George died, and later the family moved to Van Wert County. Jacob Kinzle married in Van Wert County Miss Beamer, who was a native of the county and a daughter of Pennsylvania parents, George and Hannah (Dahuff) Beamer. Mr. and Mrs. Beamer were married in Pennsylvania and then settled in Tully Township of Van Wert County, where they cleared up land from the wilderness and made a fine farm on which they spent their last years. They were active members of the English Lutheran Church, while the Kinzles were German Lutherans. Jacob Kinzle after his marriage lived in Harrison Township of Van Wert County and in 1872 while driving a pair of high strung horses which became frightened at something along the road and ran off, was so seriously injured that he died three days later when about thirty-six years of age. He was survived by four chil- dren : Rosa, wife of James M. Downing, a retired farmer of Van Wert, and she is the mother of two sons and a daughter; Flora D. is the wife of John Sowers of Tully Township, Van Wert County, and they have four sons and two daughters; the third in age is George E .; Louis at the age of twenty-one was accidentally killed while riding a freight train at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
George E. Kinzle married at Decatur in 1897 Flora B. Beatty. She was born in Ohio, but was reared and educated in Decatur, Indiana. Her father, A. P. Beatty, was for many years one of the leading citizens of Adams County. In early life he taught school, later became a merchant, served as mayor of Decatur one term, and in 1913 was elected a member of the State Legislature. He died July 20th of the same year after his election. He was a prominent Thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and also a member of the lodge and chapter at Decatur and the Mystic Shrine at Fort Wayne. Politically he was a democrat. Mrs. Kinzle's mother, whose maiden name was Margaret J. Brown, was born in Allen County, Indiana, and is now living at the home of Mrs. Kinzle in Decatur. Mr. and Mrs. Kinzle have six children. The oldest, Helen, graduated from the Decatur High School in 1916, also from the International Busi- ness College at Fort Wayne, and is now a stenographer for the Sugar Beet Company of Decatur. Gertrude A., the second child, graduated from the high school in 1917 and is now preparing for her chosen work as teacher in Tri-State Normal at Angola, Indiana. The next two children, Mar- garet J. and Fred B., are students in the eighth grade. The two youngest, twins, now seven years old, are George Jacob and Lloyd Amos.
All the family are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Kinzle is past master and past deputy grand sachem of the Improved Order of Red Men, and represented the State Lodge. He is also past dic- tator and was recently a delegate to the Moose convention at Pittsburgh in July, 1917. Mr. Kinzle is also prominently identified with Masonry and is one of the oldest Scottish Rite Masons in Decatur, having com- pleted his work in the Consistory at Fort Wayne in 1900.
OLA L. GAUNT is member of a prominent family of that name long identified with Adams County, and all the years of his own active and
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industrious life have been spent on the farm where he was born in St. Mary's Township six miles southeast of Decatur on Rural Route No. 8.
Mr. Gaunt was born on this farm December 8, 1879, son of Lafayette and Polly (Swygart ) Gaunt. His father was a native of Fairfield County, Ohio, and his mother of Van Wert County, Ohio. Each family came to Adams County in the early days and Lafayette and wife were married here and at once located on the farm where their only son and child now lives and where the parents spent their last years. Lafayette Gaunt was a republican in politics.
Ola L. Gaunt grew up in this locality, had a public school education, and has found abundance of opportunity for good honest work and to provide for himself and family on the old homestead. He owns 100 acres of good land, and has had much success in the breeding of Poland China hogs.
Mr. Gaunt married Clara Worden. They have three sons: Roy D., born December 12, 1896; Arthur K., born in April, 1899, and educated in the local schools; and Zelno W., born July 8, 1905. The son Roy was educated in the public schools and in the Fort Wayne Biblical College, and for the past three years has been a preacher of the Evangelical Association. He was regularly ordained a minister of that faith in April, 1918. The mother of these sons died in 1906, and Mr. Gaunt married for his second wife Goldie P. Breiner. They have two young children : Rolland R. and Mary H. Mr. Gaunt is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose at Decatur and in politics is a republican.
ANDREW J. CASE is one of the intelligent and progressive farmers of St. Mary's Township, his place being a mile and a half southeast of Pleasant Mills. Success has come to him as a reward of long continued and well directed effort. He did not begin life with a fortune and was content with his inheritance of honesty and the qualities of thrift and industry which after all are more to be desired than money.
Mr. Case was born in Van Wert County, Ohio, April 3, 1862, a son of Washington and Catherine (Tupinger) Case. His parents were natives of the same county and spent their lives there. They had six children, four living at the present time: John L., of Van Wert County; Warren J., of Van Wert County ; Ida M., wife of S. H. Teeple, of Geneva, Indi- ana; and Andrew J. The father married for his second wife Vitha Winings.
Andrew J. Case spent the first fourteen years of his life in his native county and since then has lived in Adams County and practically in the same locality. In 1884 he married Miss Mary E. Watkins, daughter of Jesse Watkins. After his marriage Mr. Case settled on the farm where he now lives and for over thirty years has quietly and unassumingly per- formed his tasks and responsibilities, has provided well for his growing family, and has one of the valuable farms of that community, comprising 103 acres.
Mr. and Mrs. Case have the following children: Jesse, who married Alta Hawk, and lives a mile west of Pleasant Mills; Rufus, who married Mary Matthewson and lives at Middleton, Michigan; Marion, who grad- uated from the high school at Wiltshire, Ohio, is now a soldier in the National Army stationed at Camp Taylor; Roy and Mary E., both at home.
The family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Pleasant Mills. Mr. Case has been a member of that church since he was fourteen years old and is one of its trustees. Politically he is a democrat and has done much to build up and keep up the party organi- zation in his county. He has served as a member of the County Central Committee and is now candidate for county recorder.
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EDWARD L. FOREMAN, of Blue Creek Township, Adams County, is one of that great body of industrious and thinking producers who earn every cent they get by adding honestly to the wealth of the world. He represents an honored name in Adams County and the land which he has individually cultivated for so many years was originally part of his father's large estate, an estate built up during sixty years of family residence in this county.
Edward L. Foreman was born on the old homestead in Blue Creek Township, January 1, 1870, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Crandall) Foreman. His grandfather Henry Foreman was a native of Germany and was an early settler in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where Joseph Foreman was born in 1817. About 1821 Henry Foreman took his fam- ily to Butler County, Ohio, and was one of the pioneers in that wilder- ness section of country. Joseph Foreman grew to manhood in Butler County, had only a common school education, and about 1849 came to Indiana. IIe was a man of few resources at the time and for a number of years depended on his bare hands as the best means to assist him to independence. In 1857 he came to Adams County, Indiana, and bought a tract of land almost completely covered by heavy timber. He did the pioneer work of elearing it up, and at the time of his death, which oeeurred in 1884, he owned an estate of 700 aeres. He was rated as one of the most successful farmers and stoek raisers in that part of Adams County. Politically he was a democrat. In 1850 he married Miss Rebecca Crandall, a native of Ohio but reared from girlhood in Indiana. Of their eleven children seven are still living: Elsie, wife of Isaae Emery ; Amos, who is in the buteher business at Puyallup, Washington ; Robert, of Grant County, Indiana; James, of Blue Creek Township; Frank, a barber at Berne; Edward L., and W. W. Foreman, a rail- road man.
Edward L. Foreman grew up on the home farm in Blue Creek Town- ship, had a district sehool education, and at the age of sixteen started out to make a living for himself. He followed various occupations, but after his marriage acquired part of the old homestead and has sinee given it his most methodical and careful attention, with results known to all residents in that community.
March 26, 1891. Edward L. Foreman married Miss Virgie C. Irwin. Mrs. Foreman was born in Lieking County, Ohio. They have four living children : Claude M., who was cashier of the Western Oil and Refining Company and now in the United States Army at Camp Taylor ; Charles E., a graduate of the Indianapolis Business College and now connected with the insurance department of the Knights of Pythias ; Mamie, at home; and Minnie, wife of Frank Myers. Mrs. Foreman is a member of the Evangelical Church. In polities Mr. Foreman is a democrat.
JOHN EICHER. Whether as a wage worker during his early life, as a farmer who has ordered his resources with that system which makes a profitable business, or as a eitizen serving his locality as trustee of Mon- roe Township, John Eicher has won a high place of esteem in Adams County, and his reputation is based upon solid and enduring qualities.
Good character and sound mind and body he perhaps inherited from his ancestors, but otherwise his life has been one of self achievement. He was born in Wabash Township of Adams County June 9, 1869. a son of Christ and Elizabeth (Goldsmith) Eicher. His father was a native of Indiana and his mother of Ohio. John Eicher was only five years of age when his parents died. They were at that time just attain- ing a position in the world where they could survey their efforts with
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satisfaction, and they looked forward to an honorable competence. The parents had made their early efforts on the home farm of John and Barbara Eieher, grandparents of John Eicher. Christ Eicher had just completed the building of a good house of his own on the old farm, but his death terminated plans which doubtless would have brought every comfort into the lives of his children. The living children of Christ Eicher and wife are Lydia, John, Martha and Christ.
John Eicher grew up an orphan boy, had the advantages of the graded schools in Wabash Township, and on leaving school he found his first employment in the Gottschalk & Ashbacher tile factory. He was there two years and then invested his modest capital in a threshing and sawmill outfit. Ile moved this around over the country and kept up a lively business for a couple of years. The money thus earned and saved he invested in his farm at the time of his marriage. The Eicher farm in Monroe Township comprises seventy-two and a half acres, all well enlti- vated and fine soil, and the group of substantial and well placed build- ings are a eredit to the owner and the entire district.
Mr. Eicher is a man of strong personality and despite his early lack of advantages is well posted and informed. Ile is a thoroughly pro- gressive farmer and his success with his own affairs has added to his popularity as a citizen and ereated the confidence which led to his elec- tion as trustee of Monroe Township, an office he has filled for three years. These three years have been notable for the excellent manage- ment of the schools and the other interests entrusted to his official charge. Mr. Eicher is a demoerat.
On December 6, 1896, he married Lena Gilliom, daughter of Peter and Rachel Gilliom, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indi- ana. The Gilliom family are of Swiss ancestry, Mrs. Eicher's grand- parents having been born in Switzerland. Her parents owned a good farm of seventy-six acres in Wabash Township, where Mrs. Eicher grew up and received her education in the common schools. Mrs. Eieher's brothers and sisters are Bertha, Sarah, Edwin, Alvin, Arthur, Martha, Emma, Noah, Hulda and Elmer.
A family of bright and interesting children now have their home with Mr. and Mrs. Eicher. Their names in order of birth are: Elma, aged twenty ; Menno, aged sixteen; Palmer, aged thirteen; Lawrence, aged ten; and Ruth Elizabeth, the baby, who was born in 1917. The older children have been given the best existing advantages in the local public schools and also the high school. The family are members of the Mennonite Church.
JACOB GRABER. Farming could hardly bespeak the energies and tal- ents of a more capable man than Jacob Graber, who is doing his full part in keeping up Adams County's agricultural productivity and at the same time is discharging all those responsibilities and duties that devolve upon a man fully awake to his position in the world and in his attitude toward his fellowmen and his God.
Mr. Graber is a native of Allen County, Indiana, born in Milan Township October 22, 1876, son of Peter and Katie (Delarange) Graber. His father died March 13, 1879, and his mother is living on a farm of eighty acres in Michigan.
Jaeoh Graber was educated in the parochial schools of Allen County, and on March 15, 1896, took upon himself the responsibilities of a fam- ily by his marriage to Miss Lizzie Mazelin. Mrs. Graber is a daughter of James and Elizabeth (Schwartz) Mazelin. Her father died April 10, 1909, and her mother February 5, 1873. Her mother was a daughter of John and Theresa Schwartz. Mrs. Graber's father, James Mazelin,
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was twice married. By his marriage to Elizabeth Schwartz his children were Rosa, Anna, Mrs. Jacob Graber, and Theresa, the latter deceased. By his second marriage, to Barbara Miller, Mr. Mazelin had children named Fannie, Mary, Emma, Lydia and David.
On March 27, 1901, Mr. Jacob Graber located on his present farm in Monroe Township, purchasing it from his father-in-law, James Mazelin. He has eighty acres, all well cultivated, good soil and improved with excellent buildings fitted for all his purposes. Mr. and Mrs. Graber and all their family have been members of the Amish Christian Church and have brought up their children in the same faith. Their five chil- dren are: Jacoh J., born February 11, 1897; Amos, born June 27, 1899; David, born August 27, 1901; Noah, born October 11, 1903: and Eli, born August 4, 1905.
PETER RICH. One of the substantial men of the farming industry in Monroe Township of Adams County is Peter Rich, whose industry has resulted in the making of a good farm and who in his own career has carried out the traditions and characteristics of thrift and industry so long associated with the hardy Swiss people who have constituted one of the most valuable elements of citizenship in this county.
Mr. Rich was born in French Township of Adams County November 8, 1860, a son of Joseph and Annie (Moser) Rich. Both parents were natives of Basle, Switzerland, the father being brought to this country when four years of age, at which time his parents joined the Swiss col- ony in Adams County. When about twenty-one Joseph Rich married and went to work to develop 160 acres of land. It is said that his indns- try and ambition led him to work almost night and day until he had accomplished his object of clearing his farm and endowing it with the improvements which he desired. His first home was a log cabin, and within those humble quarters six children were born and three others came to the light of day in a more substantial structure which replaced the old home. These children were named Peter, Barbara, Joseph J., Chris T., Nicholas, John, Annie, Mary and David.
Peter Rich married, March 19, 1887, Catherine Roth. Her parents were also natives of Switzerland and her father came to this country when about twenty-one and her mother at the age of six years. The Roth family acquired 240 acres in French Township and were active members of the Mennonite Church in that locality. Mrs. Rich grew up and was educated in French Township, where her father died in Febru- ary, 1880, and her mother in April, 1883. Mrs. Rich's brothers and sis- ters were Lydia, Peter, John, Rosa and Jacob, and two who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Rich have three children: Joseph C., Eli and Edward. Joseph married Vera W. Andrews and has one child, Janette Alice. Eli married Ollie Andrews and also has one child, Paul Revere. Mr. and Mrs. Rich and family are members of the Mennonite Church and in polities he is a democrat.
MRS. ANNA RUPERT, who with her children and some of her grand- children, occupies a large and well improved farm in Monroe Town- ship of Adams County, is the widow of the late Rev. Louis L. Rupert, who along with successful enterprise as a farmer was for a few years identified with the United Brethren Church as a minister. It is an honored name and an honored family in Adams County.
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