USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River, Vol. II > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
316
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
operated until 1887, when he sold the plant and business. It was in the year 1882 that he also became associated with William Pollhoff in the general grain and flour business, and with this enterprise he con- tinued to be identified four years. During the later years of his life he gave his attention principally to the supervision of his varied prop- erties and capitalistic interests, and he was one of the unassuming but honored and influential citizens of Allen county when death set its seal upon his mortal lips. He was well fortified in his opinions concerning governmental policies and public affairs of a local order, and his political allegiance was given to the Democratic party. Both he and his wife were zealous and devoted communicants of St. Mary's Catholic church, of which he served as a trustee, and both were active in all departments of the parish work. Their fine old homestead in Fort Wayne was that in which Mrs. Kalbacher was born, as were also all of her children, and she survived him by more than a decade, her summons to the life eternal having come on August 31, 1916, and her gentle and gracious personality gained to her the affectionate regard of all who came within the sphere of her influence. On October 19, 1865, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Kalbacher to Miss Jane Schobe, who was born in Fort Wayne on June 17, 1845, a daughter of Eberhardt and Maria Angel (Daman) Schobe, who were of German ancestry and who were sterling pioneers of Fort Wayne, where they continued to reside until their death, which occurred in the old homestead which became the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Kalbacher, who likewise died there, the ancient dwelling, in an excellent state of preservation, having been held by the two fam- ilies for the long period of seventy-six years. Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kalbacher the eldest is Aquineta, who is now mother superior of the Academy of Our Lady, in the city of Chicago, this being one of the largest Catholic schools of its kind in the entire west; Katherine M. is the wife of Thomas McKiernan, of Fort Wayne; Theresa and Leonore remain in the ancestral homestead in this city; Edward is deceased; and two children died in infancy. All of the children were most care- fully reared in the faith of the Catholic church and all of those surviving continue as zealous communicants of this great mother church of Christ- endom.
William Kammeyer was a sturdy and ambitious man of thirty-five years when he came from Germany to America, and though his financial resources were reduced to the lowest figure at the time of his arrival in the land of his adoption, he was fortified with energy and determination and has won independence and definite success through his own efforts. This is indicated when it is stated that he is now the owner of one of the valuable farms of Allen county, his homestead place, in Maumee township, besides being the owner also of another excellent farm in the same township, this place being now under the active management of his son. To have achieved such worthy success through individual effort denotes the sterling character and determined purpose of Mr. Kammeyer, and he well merits consideration in this history of Allen county, where he has won to himself a wide circle of loyal friends. He was born in Germany on October 18, 1860, and is a son of Frederick and Sophia (Ehlerding) Kammeyer, the former of whom passed his entire life in that section of the German empire. The widowed mother came to the United States in 1901, when venerable in years, and here passed the remainder of her life in the homes of her children who had
317
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
preceded her to this country. The subject of this review was the third in a family of five children. In the schools of his native land William Kammeyer gained his early education and as a youth did not lack full fellowship with arduous toil and endeavor. He was employed as a day laborer and also in general farm work and continued his activities in his native land until 1895, when, at the age of thirty-five years, he came to America, where he felt assured of better opportunities for the achieving of independence through personal effort. Soon after his arrival he came to Indiana and established his residence in Fort Wayne. Here he found employment in the Bass foundry, at a wage of ninety-six cents a day, and later was employed for a time by the city. Finally he rented a farm in the adjoining county of Wells, where he remained one year under these conditions. He then purchased forty acres of land in that county, and after finally selling this property, a few years later, returned to Allen county and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Milan township. Six years later his status was such that he was justified in the purchasing of an additional sixty acres, in the same township, and four years later he sold the latter tract, the while he traded the eighty acres for one hundred and ninety-five acres of vir- tually unimproved land. Of this tract he later disposed, and his next purchase was of a farm of one hundred acres in Maumee township. To the improvement and operation of this place he continued to give his vigorous attention for six years, and it is now under the direct super- vision of his son, as previously stated. At the expiration of the period noted Mr. Kammeyer bought his present attractive homestead farm of sixty acres, the same being eligibly situated on the north side of the river and having formerly been known as the Ashton farm. Here he has to a certain degree abated the arduous labors that were so long his portion, but he still gives active service in the general management of the homestead, with loyal and effective assistance on the part of three of his sons. Mr. Kammeyer is always ready to do his part in the support of measures and enterprises advanced for the general good of the community, but he has never sought public office of any kind and is independent in his political attitude. He and his family hold earnestly to the faith of the Lutheran church. In 1886 Mr. Kammeyer wedded, at the old home in Germany, Miss Sophia Roemke, daughter of the late Frederick and Minnie (Dommeyer) Roemke, who passed their entire lives in Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Kammeyer have six children- Ernest, Louisa, Sophia, William, Frederick and Walter.
Richard M. Kaough has had the initiative and executive ability to develop a specially prosperous enterprise in connection with a line of enterprise that is now one of important order in all sections of the United States, and it is pleasing to note that in this achievement he has not found it expedient to wander outside the limits of his native county. He is at the head of the firm of R. M. Kaough and Company, which controls a substantial wholesale and retail business in the handling of automobile tires and accessories and the well-equipped establishment of which has a department especially devoted to the vulcanizing of tires, employment being given to a force of ten assistants and the building occupied, at 224 West Main street, having been erected for the purpose to which it is now applied, the structure, of modern design and facilities, having been completed in 1911. Mr. Kaough established the enterprise in September, 1908, and the title of the Fort Wayne Vulcanizing Works
318
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
was retained until August 1, 1916, when the scope of the business was expanded and the present firm name adopted. Mr. Kaough at first confined his operations exclusively to the vulcanizing of tires and gave employment to only two persons. His enterprise grew apace and he gained such vantage ground in the confidence of his appreciative patron- age that he finally found it expedient to make his business include the handling of standard brands of automobile tires and general lines of automobile accessories both at wholesale and retail, the while he pro- vided even better facilities for the vulcanizing department. The success of the expanded business has fully justified the course which he took in making the business one of more comprehensive order. Richard M. Kaough was born in Aboite township, Allen county, Indiana, on June 17, 1882, and has become well known as one of the alert and progressive young business men of the metropolis of his native county. He is a son of James and Mary (Biemer) Kaough, who now reside in Fort Wayne, the father having long been a representative farmer of Allen county and having now retired from active association with this funda- mental industry. Richard M. Kaough was reared to the sturdy disci- pline of the home farm, profited duly by the advantages of the public schools and remained closely associated with agricultural enterprise. until he had attained to his legal majority. He then learned the trade of blacksmith and finally purchased the shop in which he had served his apprenticeship. He conducted the business successfully for six years and then sold the shop, which was located at247 Pearl street, and initi- ated his present prosperous business in Fort Wayne. Mr. Kaough is independent in his political attitude, but takes loyal interest in public affairs, especially those of a local order, and in his home city holds membership in the Commercial Club and the Rotary Club. On January 25, 1910, Mr. Kaough wedded Miss Vida E. Bowers, daughter of John S. and Mary (Laman) Bowers, of Decatur, Adams county, and they have one child, Edwin.
Dr. Daniel E. Kauffman, one of the prominent medical practitioners of Monroeville, was born in the State of Ohio, March 4, 1862. His father followed the vocation of a prosperous farmer, was a Buckeye by birth and served with distinction as captain of a company in the Civil War. His death occurred October 23, 1863. Ten children were born to the parents of Doctor Kauffman. After completing his preliminary educa- tional training Doctor Kauffman entered Taylor Medical University in which he graduated in the class of 1891. He began his professional practice in Rome City, Indiana, but later went to Payne, Ohio. There he remained until 1905, building up meantime a lucrative practice, and then located in Monroeville, where he has since continued. He is recog- nized by the medical fraternity as one of the eminent surgeons and physicians in this section of Indiana. Doctor Kauffman espouses the cause of the Democratic party and has done much to bring about the success of the party at the polls. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Columbus, the Red Men, and he also is a member of the County, State, and American medical associations. He and his family are members of the Catholic church. Doctor Kauffman was united in marriage to Miss Taresia G. Brady, the accomplished daughter of Peter Brady, a member of a prominent pioneer family in the State of Ohio. Four children have blessed this union: Clara, who is the wife of C. W. Harris, of Toledo, Ohio; Taresia, who is the wife of Fred Schaab, of
319
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
Fort Wayne, Indiana; Rose, who is the wife of Louis Pile, also a resident of Fort Wayne; and Daniel, who is a corporal in the First Indiana Bat- tery of Field Artillery. The Doctor owns a fine home in Monroeville in one of the beautiful residence districts of the village.
Robert E. Kaufman maintains his residence at New Haven and has developed a prosperous business as one of the leading bnyers and shippers of live stock in Allen county. He was born in Whitley county, Indiana, March 21, 1866, and is a son of Henry and Samantha (Bell) Kaufman, the former a native of Wayne county, Ohio, and the latter of Williams county, that state. Henry Kaufman established his residence in Whitley county, Indiana, in 1845, and became one of the pioneer farmers of the county, besides which he was long known as a successful buyer and shipper of live stock. Both he and his wife continued their residence in Whitley county until their death, and both were active members of the United Brethren church, he having been a Democrat in politics and having been affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. Of the children the eldest is Albert, who is a resident of Storm Lake, Iowa; Francis M. resides in Fort Wayne and Webster at Sheldon, Indiana; William, Lo- rinda and Jennie died in early childhood; Robert E., of this review, was the next in order of birth; Harrison S. is a resident of Warsaw, this state; and John is deceased. Robert E. Kaufman passed his childhood and youth on the old home farm and profited duly by the advantages of the public schools of his native county, after which he attended what is now known as Valparaiso University, besides having been for a time a student in the old Chicago University. Thercafter he was some time a resident of Eugene City, Oregon, and upon coming to Allen county, Indiana, passed two years in Fort Wayne as a stock buyer. In 1904 he removed to the village of New Haven, and here he has since con- tinued his successful activities as a buyer and shipper of livestock, in which enterprise he is associated with his brother, Francis M., who resides in Fort Wayne. Mr. Kaufman is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Democratic party and he formerly served as a member of the municipal council of New Haven. He is affiliated with the Modern Woodmen of America and both he and his wife hold membership in the Congregational church. April 24, 1893, marked the marriage of Mr. Kaufman to Miss Chloetta Clark, daughter of Rev. Horace and Susan (Lenhart) Clark, of Eugene City, Oregon, and the only child of this union was Beatrice Leonore, who died at the age of twelve years.
George V. Kell .- With all of appreciative consistency may it be said that Hon. George V. Kell is one of the prominent, influential and repre- sentative citizens of his native county, and his loyalty and progressive- ness have been shown along lines that have tended greatly to conserve civic and material advancement and prosperity in his home county and state. The owner of a splendidly improved landed estate in Eel River township, Mr. Kell here stands exemplar of the best in modern and scien- tific agricultural and live-stock industry; he is president of the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Association; is a member of the directorate of the Citizens' Trust Company of Fort Wayne, and has not only repre- sented Allen county in the lower branch of the state legislature but has also given equally loyal and public-spirited service as a member of the state senate. Thus it will be seen that there are many salient points that make consonant the according of special recognition to this sterling and popular citizen within the pages of this history. He is a scion of one of
-
320
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
the sterling pioneer families of Allen county and on the old homestead of his parents, in Perry township, this county, his birth occurred, February 3, 1846. While the ancestry of Mr. Kell is in large measure of German order he takes pride in reverting to the fact that his great-great-grand- mother on the paternal side was a near kinswoman of the Empress Jose- phine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Mr. Kell is a son of Jacob and Mary Katherine (Weimer) Kell, the former of whom was born in Germany and the latter was a native of Ohio, but of German ancestry. The father of Mr. Kell settled in Allen county when much of this section of the state was little more than a forest wilderness, and developed a productive farm in Perry township, where both he and his wife passed the residue of their earnest and useful lives. George V. Kell was reared to the invigorating discipline of the pioneer farm and in his youth was favored in receiving good educational advantages, as he was able to attend the Perry Center Seminary, which occupied a site on one corner of his father's farm and which was in its day one of the best educational institutions in Indiana. Mr. Kell's father and two other specially liberal and influential citizens of the county established this admirable school and for a considerable period provided for its maintenance. The principal of the seminary was Professor Timothy Titus Tilden, who had been graduated in Dartmouth College and was an educator of exceptional ability and enthusiasm, his name meriting high place in the records of educational history in Indiana. At the age of sixteen years George V. Kell completed the curriculum of this excellent school, and in the meanwhile the Civil war had been precipitated. He was unable to prevail upon his parents to permit him to enlist and go forth as a soldier of the Union, as he was but fifteen years old when the war began, and this parental refusal did not dampen his youthful patriotism and loyalty, though it made impossible their desired fruition in action. Until he had attained to his legal majority Mr. Kell continued to assist in the work and management of the home farm during the summer seasons and during the intervening winters did effective service as a teacher in the district schools. . At the age of twenty- one years, in 1867, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Alice Hatch, and their bridal tour or honeymoon trip was made through the medium of a team and covered wagon, a veritable "prairie schooner," which afforded them transportation from Indiana to Taylor county, Iowa, where they became pioneer settlers and Mr. Kell purchased a tract of two hun- dred and forty acres of land. To the reclaiming, improving and opera- tion of this farm he continued to give his attention for the ensuing six years, and the ill health of Mrs. Kell then led them to return from the west to the old home in Allen county. Here they established themselves on the present rural demesne which still constitutes the home place, and the fine estate comprises two hundred acres of the most fertile land in Eel River township, the while the improvements of permanent order are of the best type, including a large and attractive farm residence that has become widely known as a center of generous and unostentatious hospitality, with Mrs. Kell as its gracious and popular chatelaine. Apropos of Mr. Kell's sojourn in Iowa in the pioneer days, it may be noted that while there he again gave his attention to teaching school for a time, and an indication of the sparsely settled condition of the country in that period is conveyed in the statement that his school district em- braced four townships in four different counties and that in this pioneer district, comprehensive in area, there were only twelve children to be
321
FORT WAYNE AND ALLEN COUNTY
mustered as pupils in the little school house. Mr. Kell became influential in public affairs in his community and, though he was the only Democrat in his township, his popularity was such that he was elected township trustee, an office of which he continued the incumbent four years. He was still a resident of Iowa at the time of the national election of 1872, notable as that in which Horace Greeley appeared as presidential condidate on a fusion ticket, against General Grant, the Republican candidate, Charles O'Conor, of New York, as the "straight-out" Democratic candidate, be- sides which a Temperance candidate was in the field also. In this election Mr. Kell gave his support to O'Conor, and from that time to the present has invariably voted the regular Democratic ticket in all national elec- tions as well as in state elections. He has been one of the strenuous and well fortified workers in the ranks of his party, has been a delegate to many of its state and congressional conventions in Indiana, has been a member of the executive committee of the party for this state and has served with characteristic loyalty and ability in both houses of the Indi- ana legislature, in which his record has become a very part of the legis- lative history of this commonwealth. While a member of the house of representatives he became widely known as the author of the Kell bill for the promotion and regulation of farmers' mutual fire insurance com- panies, and he also introduced and ably championed several other bills that came to enactment and have proved of enduring value to the state. While in the senate he earnestly supported the Nicholson bill, for the regulation of the liquor traffic in the state, though his championship of this measure brought protest from some of the leaders of his party. Without fear or favor, in his legislative career, as in all other relations of a signally active and useful life, Mr. Kell invariably took his stand in consonance with his judgment and conscientious convictions, and to do the right as he has seen the right has been an intrinsic functioning of his very nature. He and his wife have long been zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church and for nearly forty years he has been a member of the board of trustees of the church of this denomination at Huntertown, which thriving little city is his postoffice address. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including Scottish Rite bodies, and was formerly an active member of the Patrons of Husbandry. In connec- tion with his well ordered operations as a progressive agriculturist and stock-grower Mr. Kell has achieved more than local prominence and repu- tation in the breeding of standard-bred horses, and from his farm have gone forth many fine roadsters as well as trotting horses that have made excellent turf records. The marriage of Mr. Kell to Miss Alice Hatch was solemnized in 1867, as before noted, and Mrs. Kell likewise was born and reared in Allen county, her parents, Newman and Abigail Hatch, having come to this county in the pioneer days from the state of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Kell became the parents of eight children, all of whom are living, namely : Gertrude, Louise, Jessie E., Beatrice, George Robert, Frank B., Dorothy, and Walter. Dorothy was for four years a successful teacher in the schools of the Philippine Islands and is now the wife of J. C. Rundles, of Eel River township.
Henry E. Kellermeier, who resides upon his fine homestead farm of one hundred and sixty-nine acres, will celebrate, in 1918, the seven- tieth anniversary of his birth, has been a resident of Allen county all his life and is a representative of two of the very early pioneer families of the county, within whose borders both his paternal and maternal
322
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
grandparents established their home when this section of the Hoosier state was little more than an untrammeled forest wilderness. Of the farm of Mr. Kellermeier the portion on which is established the residence of the family is in Maumee township, and the remaining eighty-two aeres lie aeross the line in Milan township. The place has been equipped by its present owner with good buildings and other permanent improve- ments, and here he has achieved success and independence through his well-directed activities as an agriculturist and stock-grower, the younger of his two sons now having the active management of the farm. Mr. Kellermeier was born in Fort Wayne in the year 1849, and is a son of Louis and Gecina (Brookmeier) Kellermeier, both of whom were born in Germany and were young when the respective families immigrated to America and became pioneer settlers in Allen county. Louis Keller- meier became one of the substantial farmers of the county and here he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives, both having attained to venerable age and having been earnest communicants of the Lutheran church. This honored pioneer couple became the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom the subject of this review was the first born. The youngest two are deceased, and the names of the other children are here desig- nated: Amelia, William, Minnie, Christ, Mary and John. He whose name introduces this sketeh acquired his early education in the schools of Fort Wayne and in his youth there learned the carpenter's trade, to which he continued to devote his attention for a few years. He then engaged in farming in Milan township for a period of ten years and for the ensuing four years was similarly engaged in Adams township. He then returned to Fort Wayne, but two years later he removed to his present farm, where he has since maintained his home and where the results of his energetic and able management of the various depart- ments of farm enterprise are in distinct evidence. He has always been a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democratic party and he and his family hold zealously to the faith of the Lutheran church. Mr. Kellermeier has been active and influential in the support of measures that have conserved civic and material progress in his home township and county and he served three terms as supervisor of Maumee town- ship. In 1879 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Katie Weber, a daughter of Louis Weber, who was a sterling pioneer of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Kellermeier have two children: Edward, who is a pros- perous farmer in Milan township, wedded Miss Carrie Thiele, of Seymour, Jackson county. Theodore, who has the active supervision of the old homestead farm, married Miss Orna Gerber, and they have one child, Miss Carrie, at home.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.