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 74
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3, 1885, Dr. Shryock was united in marriage with Miss Emily Louise Ward, of Fort Wayne, and to them have been born three children.
Mrs. Christina Siebold is the widow of John Siebold, a native-born German who came to America as a young man, in 1822. He came almost directly to Fort Wayne, where he engaged as a day laborer, but soon thereafter moved on into the farming center of the county and bought forty acres of timbered land in what came in later years to be known as Lafayette township. He farmed from then until the end of his life and was more or less successful, gaining title to land as the years went by, and becoming established as one of the substantial men of his community. He was a Democrat and a member of the German Lutheran church. He married Christina Krunna in 1865. To them were born eight children. John is a resident of Fort Wayne. Andrew died in Fort Wayne. Henry is located on a farm in Wayne township. Caroline is the wife of John Therne, of Fort Wayne. Maria lives with her widowed mother. Kathi- erine became the wife of Simon Ambler, of Lafayette township and died in 1917. Dorothy married John Genth, who has assumed charge of the home farm, and Sarah became the wife of Elmer Hamilton, who died in 1916. Fourteen grandchildren have been added to the family in recent years. George is the son of John. Ella is the daughter of Audrey. Ralph, G'enn and Guy are the sons of Henry, who also has a daughter, Faith. Caroline has two children-George and Edith. Katherine has a daughter named Florence, and Dorothy has two sons-Jay and Gary. Sarah is the mother of Everett, Elsie and Howard.
Herman W. Sigrist is a young man who has shown individuality as well as initiative in the special domain of business enterprise to which he is devoting his attention and as a versatile and successful real estate auctioneer has gained a reputation that is far from being circumscribed or equivocal. His interposition has made him one of the most successful exponents of this particular policy of selling realty and his activities have extended in an important way through Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Mich- igan, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Oklahoma, in which last mentioned commonwealth he had the distinction of making a record absolutely unprecedented and as yet unequaled, in the selling of the greatest number of town lots in the minimum time. This record was made on the 6th and 7th of December, 1910, when, within an actual selling period of nine hours and two minutes, he sold eight hundred and eight lots. This achievement is but one of many incidents in which he has shown his splendid resourcefulness as a salesman, and while his services have been enlisted in many different states of the Union, as above noted, he has maintained his home at Fort Wayne, where, since 1911, he has been engaged in the general real estate business, under the title of Sigrist & Company. Herman W. Sigrist was born in LaGrange county, Indiana, on March 31, 1882, and his parents, Adolph and Sarah (Long) Sigrist, now reside in the village of Brighton, that county, the father having been a successful farmer in the county for many years and being now retired. Of the other three children it may be noted that Lena is the wife of Lyoll E. Alspaugh, a farmer near Howe, LaGrange county ; Weldon A. is a prosperous farmer near Brighton, Lagrange county ; and Florence is a popular teacher in the public schools of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The parents are members of the Progressive Brethren church and are held in unqualified esteem in the county that has long represented their home. It is interesting to record that upon the death
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of Mrs. Sarah Long, maternal grandmother of the subject of this sketch, she was survived by more than fifty great-grandchildren, she having passed to eternal rest in July, 1915. After having availed himself of the advantages of the public schools Herman W. Sigrist entered the Tri-State Normal College, at Angola, Indiana, and in this institution was gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1903. For two years thereafter he was a successful teacher in the public schools at Kane, Greene county, Illinois, and after his marriage, in 1905, he returned to the old home farm, near Brighton, Indiana. He had the control and management of the farm during the ensuing three years, and in the meanwhile was officially retained as one of the state lecturers or speakers at farmers' institutes in various counties of Indiana. He then went to the city of Chicago, where he completed a course in the Jones school of auctioneering and oratory, this requiring six weeks. Having thus fortified himself for direct auctioneering work, Mr. Sigrist then came to Fort Wayne, where he has since maintained his home and business headquarters. Within a period of about three months he received attractive overtures to go to South Carolina in the service of the Poag Real Estate Company, engaged in extensive real estate developments, and as official auctioneer for this company remained in the south one year. Though he then returned to Fort Wayne, he has since continued to spend from three to four months each winter in the south, where he has given each season effective service as an auctioneer, especially in connection with the development of new town sites and platted additions. His record has touched also the selling of farm properties, and within the course of eighteen months he sold at auction one hundred and eight farms, in different sections of the Union. In 1912 Mr. Sigrist published an interesting and valuable brochure on "the art of selling real estate at auction," and the booklet has had wide circulation, as it is an authoritative source of information on the subject treated. The previously mentioned and unparalleled record which he made in Oklahoma in the winter of 1910 was at Kenefick, on the line of the Missouri, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad. In his local business at Fort Wayne Mr. Sigrist has been notably successful in the handling of both city and farm property, but much of his time is still demanded in his service as an expert auctioneer in the sale of real estate in divers states to which he is called. In 1913, he became one of the organizers of the Modern Way Furnace Company, a concern doing business in twenty-two states, and of which our subject is the manager. His political allegiance is given to the Democratic party and he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church. On June 15, 1905, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sigrist to Miss Sophia E. Showalter, daughter of Levi F. and Mary (Wigton) Showalter, of LaGrange, Indiana, and the names and respective birth dates of the three children of this union are as herc noted : Pauline, June 28, 1906; Philip Franklin, May 2, 1910; and Allen Adolph, January 29, 1912.
Rev. William Sihler, Ph. D .- Among the strong and noble characters that have wielded great and enduring influence in the religious activities of Fort Wayne, none is held in more gracious reverence than the late Dr. Sihler, a pioneer in religious work in this community who held for forty years the pastorate of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church- 1845 to 1885. This publication emphasizes its consistency in paying tribute to this distinguished man. His lofty soul and great heart com- bined with the finest of intellectual forces to make him a power for good
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in the field in which he labored. Dr. William Sihler was born near the city of Breslau, capital of the province of Silesia, Germany, on November 12, 1801, and was a son of George and Elizabeth (Wiesner) Sihler, his father having been an officer in the Prussian army and a man of ability and influence. In a well ordered private school Dr. Sihler received his preliminary education, and his special mental precociousness enabled him to read the German language with readiness and exactitude when but five years old. He was ten years old when his mother died, and it was then he entered the gymnasium in his native city-an institution corre- sponding in large measure to the high school of America. His receptive- ness and ambition as a student here became still more manifest, and by the time he was fifteen had attained a place in the highest class. In 1816, at the early age just noted, he entered the University of Breslau, and, in accordance with the laws of the country, he also entered military service, as a member of the Breslau battalion of infantry. In his military service he made an admirable record, as shown by the fact that in 1819 he was graduated with the rank of second lieutenant in the Twenty- second regiment of Infantry, and he was assigned to duty at Neisse. In 1823 Dr. Sihler entered the Prussian National Military University, in the city of Berlin, and there he was a classmate of Count Von Moltke, who, as Prussian field-marshal, became an historic figure. In this mili- tary institution Dr. Sihler remained until 1825, when he returned to Breslau and retired from military life. In 1826 he became a student in the University of Berlin, where he continued his higher academic studies and became so proficient in languages that he could read with precision works of the Spanish, French and English poets in those languages. In 1843 Dr. Sihler came to the United States. His purpose in coming was to engage actively in religious work, and on the 1st of January, 1844, he preached his initial sermon in the land of his adoption-at Pomeroy, Ohio. In 1845 he received a call from the congregation of St. Paul's Evangeli- cal Lutheran church in Fort Wayne, and he forthwith assumed the pastorate of this pioneer church of the Allen county metropolis. Here he lived and labored with faithful zeal, abiding human sympathy and tolerance, for forty years, and it is to be remembered with appreciation that he continued in this pastorate until the time of his death. Under his pastoral charge was erected the first church building of St. Paul's parish, a frame structure that occupied the site of the present edifice. Under his regime the parish prospered in both a spiritual and material sense and he long held secure place as a leader in religious circles as well as in the directing of civic sentiment and action. He was one of the organizers of the Missouri synod of the Evangelical Lutheran church, under the jurisdiction of which the Fort Wayne church was originally placed, and he became known and revered as the "grand old man" of the Lutheran faith in Indiana and as one of the distinguished clergymen of Fort Wayne. It was primarily through his influence and earnest efforts that the Concordia College was removed from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Wayne, where it has continued as a stronghold in education work. In 1846 was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Sihler to Miss Susanna Kern, of Marysville, Ohio, a native of Germany, and who was loved by all who came within the compass of her influence. The names of the nine chil- dren of this union are: Christian, Marie, Gottlieb, Elizabeth, Frederick, Johanna, Lillie, William, and Carl E.
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Carl E. Sihler, the youngest of the children of the late Dr. Sihler, to whom the preceding memoir is dedicated, was born in Fort Wayne, April 9, 1868, and here he received his early education in the parish school of St. Paul's church, of which his father was the pastor, this discipline being supplemented by higher academic study in Concordia College. In 1889 he was graduated in the Kansas City Dental College, but after receiving his degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery he decided that he would not give his attention to the work of the profession for which he had thus fitted himself. He remained several years in Kansas City, Missouri, where he held a clerical position in a wholesale dry goods house. In 1895 he returned to Fort Wayne and accepted the position of bookkeeper in the offices of the Fort Wayne Gas Company. He con- tinued his services as one of the valued employes of this company until 1902, when he assumed the position of bookkeeper in the White National Bank. Seven years later this institution was consolidated with the First National Bank, with which Mr. Sihler has since continued his effective service. He takes deep interest in all things pertaining to the well being of his native city but has had no desire for public office or political activity. He and his wife are communicants of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church. In 1895 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Sihler to Miss Helen Jurgensen, of Fort Wayne, she having been born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and having been a child at the time of the family immigration to America, her parents, Peter K. and Emma (Thoma- sen) Jurgensen, having established their home in Fort Wayne many years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Sihler have six children-Oscar, Olga, William (III), Emma, and Ruth and Esther, who are twins.
Ira B. Sleet .- Ira B. Sleet, cashier of the New Haven State Bank, and organizer of that financial institution, in 1909, has been identified with banks and banking all his active business life. He is a native Kentuckian, born in Warsaw, Kentucky, July 22, 1886, son of Marshall and Adelia (Rosell) Sleet. The father was also born in Warsaw, Ken- tucky, and is still living in his native state, where he has devoted himself mainly to farming activities. He is a Democrat and an active member of the Christian church in his home community. Ira B. Sleet was the fourth born in a family of five children, the others being Emma, living at home; May, now deceased; Allen, a practicing physician in the home town; and Lawrence, who is deceased. With his brothers and sister, Ira B. Sleet attended the local schools. He graduated from the Warsaw High School in his 'teens and then entered the Warsaw Deposit Bank, where he had his first training in that line of work. He was next associated with the Bank of Glencoe, at Glencoe, Kentucky, and in August, 1909. came to New Haven and organized the New Haven State Bank. He was elected to the office of cashier of the new bank, and also became one of its board of directors, and much of the success of the thriving concern is due to his excellent methods and praiseworthy administration of those matters he has in charge. In addition to his work as cashier of the bank, Mr. Sleet writes general insurance and has quite an extensive business along that line. He is a Democrat in politics, and is now serving his third term as city treasurer. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church and ably serves at present on its board of trustees, as well as being treasurer of the church. He is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity and affiliates with the Blue Lodge, Home No. 342, at Fort Wayne, the Consistory. He was married on August 19, 1912, to Miss Maratta
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Kenney, daughter of W. C. Kenney, of Louisville, Kentucky, and they have one son-Marshall Clayborn, born May 22, 1913.
James Slusher .- On both the paternal and maternal sides Mr. Slusher is a representative of pioneer stock in Indiana and in the agnatic line is a scion of a family that was founded in America in the colonial days. Mr. Slusher has long been a resident of Allen county and owns and oper- ates one of the well-improved farms of Maumee township, where he is known and valued as a substantial and upright citizen and as a resource- ful and prosperous exponent of the agricultural and live-stock industry. He was born in Randolph county, this state, on October 9, 1859, a son of William and Katherine (Boddkin) Slusher, the former of whom was born in Virginia and the latter in Randolph county, Indiana, where her parents settled at a very early date. William Slusher was a young man when he established his residence in Randolph county, where he operated a sawmill and was engaged in farming for a number of years. He then removed with his family to Paulding county, Ohio, where he continued farming operations about twenty years. He then established his home in Pulaski county, Kentucky, where he and his wife passed the remainder of their lives. Of their two children the subject of this review is the elder, and the younger son is Charles. James Slusher acquired his early education in the public schools of Randolph county, Indiana, and Pauld- ing county, Ohio, and in the meanwhile gained practical experience in connection with farm work. He assisted his father in the operations of the home farm in Paulding county, Ohio, until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, and his first independent operations as a farmer were prosecuted in that county. Later, he came to Allen county, Indiana, and here he owns a fine farm of one hundred acres, in Section 35, Mau- mee township. On the place he has made the best of improvements, including the erection of a modern house, good barns and other farm buildings, the well-kept fences, the tile drainage and other provisions likewise accentuating the general evidence of thrift and prosperity. Though he has had no desire for political activity or the honors of public office, Mr. Slusher takes loyal interest in all things pertaining to the communal welfare and gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, both he and his wife being active members of the Wesleyan Methodist church. On May 22, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Slusher to Miss Louisa DeBoy, who was born in Indiana, a daughter of the late Abraham and Nancy Ann DeBoy. It is specially interesting to record that Mr. and Mrs. Slusher have become the parents of a fine family of sixteen children and that death has never invaded the gracious home circle. The respective names of the children are here given in order of nativity : Charles, Oscar, Frank, May, Forrest, Ray, Leo, Goldie, Chester, Stella, Louisa, Orville, Wyllie, Warren, Georgia and William.
Glenn A. Smiley is one of the able and ambitious young lawyers who has made for himself a secure prestige as a member of the Allen county bar and he has been engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Fort Wayne since 1911, his attention being given primarily to corporation and damage law and his clientage being of representative order. His well-appointed offices are located in the Shoaff building, and in addition to his substantial law business he has further identified himself with local interests, as he is a stockholder and director of the Purity Products Company, representing one of the important industrial enterprises contributing to the commercial precedence of Fort Wayne.
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Mr. Smiley was born in Fayette county, Indiana, on April 24, 1885, a son of Milton T. and Margaret A. (Hirchman) Smiley, the former of whom was born in Fayette county, in 1851, and the latter in Rush county, her death having occurred on June 18, 1912, and her surviving children being three in number. Milton T. Smiley has been a successful farmer and contractor in his native state and now resides in the city of Indian- apolis. Glenn A. Smiley acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of Tipton and Monroe counties, during the period of his parents' residence therein, and finally was graduated in the high school at Bloom- ington, Greene county, in 1903. In that city he then entered the Uni- versity of Indiana and in this institution was graduated as a member of the class of 1907, and with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During the ensuing four years he applied himself with characteristic diligence as a student in the law department of the university, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1910, with admission to the bar of his native state, in 1908. Soon after his graduation Mr. Smiley established his home at Fort Wayne and engaged in the practice of his profession, his original office headquarters having been in the Shoaff building. He has worked earnestly in his chosen profession and his unequivocal success attests not only to this fact but also vouches for his effective application of his technical knowledge. He gives his political allegiance to the Democratic party, he and his wife are members of the First Christian church, of which he has served as secretary, and he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Loyal Order of Moose. On July 8, 1916, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Smiley to Miss Marianne Morton, who was born at Newport, Vermilion county ,this state, and whose widowed mother, Mrs. Jane Morton, now resides in Newport. Mr. and Mrs. Smiley are popular factors in the social life of Fort Wayne and he is a popular member of the Wayne Coterie Club, with the organization of which he was actively concerned.
Burtis H. Smith, cashier of The People's State Bank since it opened its doors for business, in August, 1916, and a well-known man among the foremost citizens of New Haven, is a native son of Indiana, born in Roa- noke, September 24, 1876. He is a son of Jacob J. and Elizabeth (Hoover) Smith, the father an Ohioan, born in the vicinity of Dayton, in 1841, and the mother born near Roanoke, Indiana, March 16, 1846. They were farming people all their lives. Mr. Smith came to Indiana, in 1852, with his parents and settled in Roanoke when he reached manhood, there engaged in farming on his own responsibility, reared his family and retired from active life in 1900. He is living there today in the quiet. of his country home, but the wife and mother died there on May 5, 1911. Mr. Smith is a Republican and a member of the United Brethren church. Six children were born to him and his wife. They are Ephraim F., living in Roanoke. James C., who died in 1902. Ella M., the wife of William V. Hughes, of Roanoke, Indiana. Burtis H., whose name heads this review. Rilla C., the wife of James A. Mitchell, of Joliet, Illinois. Clyde W., living at Montpelier, Indiana. Burtis H. Smith had his edu- cation in the schools of Roanoke, He finished the high school and entered Valparaiso University, from which he was graduated in 1899, and com- pleted a course of study in the University of Chicago in 1900. He became superintendent of the Zanesville (Indiana) schools, filled the position one year and accepted the post of superintendent of the Roanoke (Indi- ana) schools, which he held until 1910. He then went to Vienna, Illinois,
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as superintendent of schools for one year, when he came to New Haven in the same capacity and continued to fill that position with all credit until he was appointed to his present position as cashier of the People's State Bank of New Haven, August 3, 1916. He has brought to his duties in that position the same character of industry and intelligence that won success for him in his educational work, and his future in the banking business is well assured. Mr. Smith is Republican in politics, a member of the Protestant Methodist church, and in a fraternal way is identified with Masonic order. He was married on March 29, 1900, to Miss Nellie Welch, daughter of Leroy and Melissa (Wilkerson) Welch, of Roa- noke, Indiana, and they have two sons and one daughter-Byron, Helen, and Ned. Mrs. Smith has found a host of staunch friends in New Haven since she and her husband came to the community five years ago, and both of them are filling useful places in the civic and social life of the place.
Charles J. Smith is one of the vigorous and progressive men of Allen county, is one of the extensive landholders of this section of the Hoosier state, and in his career of admirable achievement has manifested the genuine intellectual and practical verve of constructive enterprise. He is one of the leading citizens of Monroe township and his homestead farm is one of the finest in that opulent section of Allen county. Mr. Smith was born at Sandusky, Ohio, September 17, 1860, a son of Anthony and Mary A. (Courdad) Smith, the former a native of Germany and the latter of France. The parents immigrated to America in 1832 and estab- lished their home in Ohio, where they passed the residue of their lives, and there they reared their children to the benignant discipline of honor and usefulness. Of their twelve children only five are living, in 1917. Charles J. Smith is indebted to the public schools of the old Buckeye state for his early educational privileges and in that commonwealth continued to reside until 1891, when he came to Allen county, Indiana, and settled on a partially improved farm in Jackson township. Here he became associated with his brother, William, in establishing a well- equipped sawmill and hoop factory, to the successful operation of which they gave their attention for twenty years, the while they have been accredited with clearing from the stump status a greater area of Allen county than any other two men in the county. After supply resources had brought a termination to the effective operation of the mill and factory Charles J. Smith purchased his present valuable landed estate, which comprises four hundred and sixty-seven acres of the excellent land of Allen county and all of which is well improved, the homestead place of Mr. Smith, in Section 21, Monroe township, being one of the model farmsteads of the county. As a citizen and business man he has been ambitious, energetic and progressive and through his own efforts has achieved substantial and worthy success. His political support is given to the Democratic party, but he has had no desire for public office of any kind. He and his wife are communicants of the Catholic church. In 1892 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Smith, his wife having been born and reared in Ohio, and to them have been born ten children, all of whom are living: Laura M., Cecelia, Pernetta, Esther, Ralph, Bernard, Erma, Harold, Armilda and Luella Mary, the family home being known for its hospitality and good cheer and Mr. and Mrs. Smith having secure place in the esteem of the community in which they live.
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