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 82
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of the Lawrence Elbel Orchestra. A cornet player of unusual ability, he was in demand at all times, and from the Elbel organization went to the band of the First Regiment of Chicago. He was next with the Elgin Watch Company's band at Elgin, remaining there for about six years. He came to Fort Wayne, in 1896, to take charge of the city band, which later became known as the Packard Band, and still later as the Elks' Band. He was the director of the Fort Wayne Symphony Orchestra and is now director of the Mizpah Band, the Shriners' musical organization, and one of the finest musical bodies in the state. Mr. Ver- weire also has charge of the band of the General Electric Company, and the Concordia College Band, and has brought these organizations up to a splendid state of musical efficiency since they came under his direction. Mr. Verweire is a Republican and his fraternal affiliations are with the Masons and the Elks. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, is a Knight Templar and also a Shriner. He was married in LaPorte, Indiana, to Miss Minnie Wade, an Indiana girl, and their two sons are named Emel and Wade.
William J. Vesey .- In character, service and achievement it has been given Judge Vesey to maintain high vantage-place as a representa- tive member of the bar of his native commonwealth and also to give characteristically effective administration during his incumbency of the office of judge of the superior court of Allen county. Save for the period of his service on the bench he has been continuously engaged in the active practice of his profession in the city of Fort Wayne for nearly forty years, and the impress which he has made as a lawyer, jurist and citizen has been dignified and benignant. The history of the bench and bar of Indiana shall enduringly record his name as that of one of the able and representative lawyers who have lent distinction to his profession, and this history of Fort Wayne and Allen county further enforces its con- sistency when it accords to him recognition as one of the leading contem- porary members of the bar of northern Indiana. The genealogical history of Judge Vesey is specially interesting and its record virtually runs the entire gamut of American annals. It is gratifying that in this connection a large amount of ancestral data has been collected and that from the same a brief resume of the family history can be offered. As far as authentic records determine, it appears that the founder of the Vesey family in America was William, who was probably born in Lancaster, England, as was also his wife, whose maiden name was Elinor Tompson, their marriage having been solemnized in 1644. That William Vesey and wife had come to America prior to the mid-point in the seventeenth cen- tury is clearly indicated by the fact that their son William, next in order of descent, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, October 6, 1647. Wil- liam Vesey (II) and his wife, Mary, became the parents of Benjamin, who was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, and who there married Doro- thy Spear, on December 19, 1720. Their son Benjamin was born at Braintree, April 11, 1740, and at that place solemnized his marriage to Abigail Brackett, who was there born April 17, 1740. The year of their marriage was 1764. William Vesey, son of Benjamin and Abigail (Brack- ett) Vesey, was born at Braintree in the year 1768, and in 1785 he married Polly Burridge. Of their children, William was born March 4, 1801, at Braintree, Vermont, showing that the parents had become early settlers in the old Green Mountain commonwealth. This son, William, married Adaline Copeland, who was born at Braintree, Vermont, January 29, 1823.
William J. Vesey
LULLIC LIEI
ASTOR, LENO TILDEN FOUNDALICI
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Their son Benjamin was born at Braintree, Vermont, February 8, 1829, and he wedded Sarah Penley Waterhouse, of Cumberland Center, Maine, where she was born February 26, 1837. Their marriage was solemnized February 8, 1853, and they became the founders of the family in La- Grange county, Indiana, where, on April 19, 1857, was born their son William Joseph, who is the immediate subject of this review. It will be noted in the abridged record just given that the name William, that of the founder of the American branch, has been retained in one generation after another, and Judge Vesey is of the eighth generation of the family in this country-a family that has given to the nation many men of dis- tinction and sterling character. It is but consonant that a brief genea- logical recapitulation be indulged at this juncture, in order to reveal further and interesting data: It is to be noted that William Vesey, the founder, came from England prior to 1640 and settled at Braintree, Massa- chusetts, where he was made a freeman on the 10th of May, 1843, this implying that he swore allegiance to the colonial government and was given a share in the common lands, together with special landed privi- leges. His wife, Elinor, was a daughter of Rev. William and Abigail Tompson, the former of whom probably came from Winwich, Lancaster, England. He was born in 1598 and died at Braintree, Massachusetts, August 10, 1666. He was the first minister in that part of Massachusetts and also the school teacher at Braintree for many years. He was asso- ciated with Richard Matler in the writing of some works for publica- tion. The oldest headstone to be found in the ancient Hancock cemetery, at Quincy, Massachusetts, is that which marks the grave of Rev. William Tompson. Concerning the founder of the Vesey family in America fur- ther interesting data are available. He was one of the representatives of about twenty families who, in 1645, petitioned for the right to build a church, most of these petitioners having been members of the church at Braintree. October 20, 1647, the freeholders of Braintree mutually agreed to defend their ancient rights in regard to land in the town of Braintree, and among the signers to the agreement was Ensign William Vesey, this title indicating that he was a member of the militia. He served several years as selectman, held various other offices of public trust and was influential in church affairs. In 1677 he served in the colonial army. He built the old family homestead at Braintree and had farms on Hough's Neck. He died June 16, 1681, aged sixty-five years, and his remains were laid to rest in the old burial ground now known as Hancock cemetery, at Quincy, Massachusetts, where the inscription of his tombstone is still legible. His widow eventually became the wife of John French. In contracting this second marriage she and her second husband signed a peculiar contract, by the provisions of which all her property received from her first husband was to go to her children. Her remains were interred beside those of her first husband, she having been eighty-four years of age at the time of her death and having been mentioned in con- temporary records as "an aged saint." Of the nine children of William and Elinor (Tompson) Vesey, their son, William (II), was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, October 6, 1647. He was very active and in- fluential in town affairs, served for years as selectman and held other offices of trust. He was one of a commission of three appointed by the town of Braintree to represent the residents of that community against the demands of Boston relative to land and land rights, and these com- missioners were given full power to act as they deemed best. It was
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the head of this family who, as Lieutenant Vesey, stands recorded in a list (in 1689) of "those sure, honest and well disposed persons that con- tributed their assistance for and toward erecting a Church of England." Thus it was that in 1704 Christ church, at Braintree, was fully organized, and several of the names found earliest in the town records, including that of Vesey, are found also recorded as those of wardens or vestrymen of the ancient church just mentioned. The name of William Vesey (II) is inscribed with two others on the bottom of a small silver cup belonging to the Congregational (Unitarian) church, to which it was given in 1649. This William Vesey and his wife, Mary, disposed of many pieces of land, as the records still extant indicate, among such records of deeds being noted the following: William Vesey deeded "to my beloved son, Benja- min," the homestead and other property. The family gradually spent more time at Hough's Neck. In 1696 Lieutenant William Vesey, church warden, was punished for deliberately plowing on Thanksgiving Day, as his protest against the appointment of days of fast and thanksgiving. August 26, 1725, William Vesey and his son Benjamin gave the land for the erection of a Church of England and for the cemetery or churchyard in connection therewith. William Vesey (II) was the father of Rev. William Vesey, who was the first rector of historic old Trinity church in New York city. Samuel Vesey, a brother of William (II), gave probably the first money that was bequeathed to the church of Braintree, Massa- chusetts. Benjamin Vesey, son of William (II), married Dorothy Spear on December 19, 1726, the ceremony being performed by John Quincy, justice of the peace. Benjamin Vesey was a soldier and was also promi- nent in town and church affairs. He was one of six men who provided funds and sent Rev. Ebenezer Miller to England to receive his degrees. He made his will October 19, 1762. Of his five children, Benjamin was born April 11, 1740. Benjamin Vesey (II) married, in 1764, Abigail Brackett, who was born April 13, 1740, a daughter of James and Abigail (Belcher) Brackett, whose marriage was solemnized August 2, 1733, by Rev. Samuel Chickley, pastor of the historic old South church, Boston. Benjamin Vesey was a selectman and otherwise prominent in town affairs in Braintree. He was one of the gallant minute men in the climacteric period leading up to the Revolution, and April 19, 1775, he took part in the battles of Lexington and Concord. He enlisted several times and served about two years during the war. He died in 1777. Of his three children, William (III) was born at Braintree in 1768. After the death of Benjamin Vesey his widow, Abigail, married David Bass, December 31, 1777. In the war of the Revolution there are entries of twenty Veseys from Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1785 William Vesey (III) and his brother Benjamin migrated to Braintree, Vermont. In the following year William married Polly, a daughter of John and Polly (Spear) Bur- ridge, her father having served three years as a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution. William and Polly (Burridge) Vesey became the parents of five children. Their son William (IV) was born March 4, 1801. In 1815 William Vesey (III) and his brother Benjamin removed with their families from Braintree, Vermont, to the west. The marriage of William Vesey (IV) and Adaline Copeland was solemnized January 29, 1823, and the latter was a daughter of Zion and Polly (Harwood) Cope- land, who married in 1793. Zion Copeland was a very prominent figure in Braintree, Vermont, and it is a matter of record that four of his sons became clergymen of the Methodist Episcopal church. David Copeland,
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father of Zion, lived at Athol and later at Bethel, Massachusetts. He twice enlisted and served in the war of the Revolution. Ile was a descendant of Lawrence Copeland, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. One of the Copelands married a daughter of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, whose names have been preserved in song and story, as well as in records of the early history of Massa- chusetts. William and Adaline (Copeland) Vesey became the parents of six children, and in 1834 they removed with their family from Braintree, Vermont, to Lake county, Ohio, and there the devoted wife and mother died in 1838. Later her remains were removed from that county and interred in a cemetery at Goshen, Indiana. In 1838 William Vesey (IV) removed from Ohio to Elkhart county, Indiana, and settled on a pioneer farm in Middlebury township. He was a gallant soldier of the Union in the Civil war, and served two terms as sheriff of Elkhart county, his death having occurred there in 1873. Of his six children, Benjamin was born at Braintree, Vermont, February 8, 1829, and he thus was about ten years old at the time when the family home was established in Elk- hart county, Indiana, where he was reared to adult age. At the time of the discovery of gold in California, 1848-9, Benjamin Vesey was one of the adventurous young men who formed a company at Goshen, Indiana, and set forth to make the weary and perilous trip across the plains to the New Eldorado. There were one hundred teams with the party, for the transportation of supplies, and it was a recognized stipulation that none of the men should be permitted to ride unless he were ill. Thus it was that Mr. Vesey made virtually the entire journey on foot, and the trip was an exceptionally pleasant one as compared with those of many com- panies that followed, as the party set forth in 1848 and was early enough to avoid hostile Indians, as well as the subsequent ravages of cholera. After passing two years in California, Mr. Vesey returned by way of the Isthmus of Panama, and his experience in walking across the isthmus was unusual even for that time. Upon his return to Indiana he entered Asbury (now DePauw) University, at Greencastle, and there he pursued his studies two years. On the 8th of February, 1853, was solemnized his marriage to Miss Sarah Penley Waterhouse, who was born at Cumber- land Center, Maine, February 26, 1837, a daughter of Joseph and Esther (Penley) Waterhouse, who married in October, 1823. Mrs. Waterhouse was a daughter of Joseph and Desire (Dingley) Penley, and, under three enlistments, her grandfather served about twenty months as a patriot soldier in the Revolutionary war. In 1843 Joseph Waterhouse came with his family from Cumberland Center, Maine, and established his home at Cloverdale, Putnam county, Indiana. After their marriage Benjamin and Sarah P. (Waterhouse) Vesey, the parents of Judge Vesey, removed to a farm in LaGrange county, Indiana, where they continued their resi- dence several years. In 1885 they removed to Goshen, Elkhart county, and in 1890 they went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where they remained until 1896, when they returned to Indiana and established their home in Fort Wayne. Here the revered husband and father died May 3, 1908, and his remains rest in beautiful Lindenwood cemetery. Ile was a man of strong mentality and impregnable integrity and character, generous and kindly in all of the relations of life and loved by all who came within the sphere of his influence. His widow now resides with her sons in Fort Wayne, where her gentle manners have endeared her to a wide circle of friends. Of their five sons and one daughter, only two are now living-
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William J. and Allen J. Judge William J. Vesey was born on a farm near Lima, LaGrange county, Indiana, April 19, 1857, and in the common schools of the locality and period he received his preliminary educa- tional discipline, which was supplemented by a course in a well ordered private school or academy then maintained at Ontario, LaGrange county. At the age of seventeen years he taught a winter term of school, but his ambition and predilections lay elsewhere than along the line of the pedagogic profession and this ambition was one of determination and action, as indicated by the fact that he soon found opportunity to take up the study of law. For a time he pursued his reading under the pre- ceptorship of Judge S. C. Coffinberry, at Constantine, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and later he continued his study in the office of James S. Drake, of LaGrange, who is now (1917) serving on the bench of the circuit court for LaGrange and Elkhart counties. It may well be said that, in all of his activities, thoroughness has been specially a denoting characteristic of Judge Vesey, and through consecutive study and ever broadening ex- perience he has gained a comprehensive, accurate and readily available knowledge of the science of jurisprudence. He was admitted to the bar of his native state in 1878, and in October of that year he came to Fort Wayne, where he continued his law studies in the office of Ninde & Ellison. In 1881 he formed a professional alliance with the late Hon. Perry A. Randall, under the firm name of Randall & Vesey. This consti- tuted one of the influential law firms of northern Indiana during the period of the partnership, which was dissolved in 1890. In that year Judge Vesey formed a partnership with Owen N. Heaton, and this alli- ance continued until Mr. Heaton was elected to the bench of the superior court of Allen county, in 1902. At this juncture Judge Vesey entered into a law partnership with his brother, Allen J., under the title of Vesey & Vesey, which is still retained. In 1910 Dick M. Vesey, eldest son of Judge Vesey, became a member of the firm, and in 1914 David S., a younger son, likewise was admitted to partnership. Dick M. was elected representative of Allen county in the state legislature in the autumn of 1916, and is an efficient member of the lower house. In October, 1899, Judge Vesey was appointed by Governor Durbin to serve on the bench of the superior court of Allen county, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge C. M. Dawson, and he continued his service in this judicial office until the middle of November, 1900. In this connection it is worthy of record that he was, in October, 1900, the first judge to sit on the bench of the superior court in the fine new court house of Allen county. He has essentially the judicial cast of mind, and few of his rulings met with reversal by courts of higher jurisdiction. Judge Vesey would prove an ideal incumbent of higher judicial offices, and doubtless such preferment would long since have been his had he not been politically a representa- tive of the minority party in this section of Indiana. The Judge is known as a resourceful advocate and has won many decisive victories as a trial lawyer. He is known also as an authority in commercial law, and has given the major part of his time and attention to this important depart- ment of professional work, with the result that his services both as an attorney and as a legal advisor have been retained by a large number of the leading corporations and other important business concerns and influential individuals in Fort Wayne. Thus it may be noted that he is at the present time attorney for the First and Hamilton National Bank of Fort Wayne, the Tri-State Loan & Trust Company, S. F. Bowser &
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Company, the Fort Wayne Rolling Mill Corporation, the Dudlo Manu- facturing Company, and Mossman, Yarnelle & Company. He is a mem- ber of the directorates of several banks and numerous business corpor- ations. On the 25th of July, 1882, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Vesey to Maggie Studebaker, daughter of the late Judge David and Harriet (Evans) Studebaker, of Decatur, Adams county. As a young man Judge Studebaker served one year on the bench of the court of com- mon pleas, and then resigned the office. Later he was for six years a member of the lower house of the Indiana legislature, and he was one of the prominent citizens of Adams county at the time of his death, in 1903, his wife having passed away in 1891. Mrs. Vesey was born January 17, 1863, and reared at Decatur. After her graduation in the local high school she entered the old Methodist College, Fort Wayne, in which institution she was graduated as a member of the class of 1882. She left upon the world the impress of the noble and gracious gentlewoman, was loved by all who knew her, and the entire community was shocked and manifested its sense of bereavement when came the news of her sudden death, April 8, 1910. Mrs. Vesey was prominent and influential in many civic enterprises and in the representative social life of her home city. In the entrance of the Fort Wayne Young Woman's Christian Association building has been placed a beautiful memorial tablet, in attestation of her aid in effecting the erection of the building and her loving and efficient administration as president of the association. Judge and Mrs. Vesey became the parents of six children, all of whom are living: Margaret Studebaker Vesey remains at the beautiful paternal home and is earnestly carrying forward many of the activities which had enlisted the attention of her loved mother; Sally Waterhouse Vesey is the wife of Cecil Alviere Max, of Muncie, Indiana, and they have one son, Benjamin Alviere ; Dick Morrison Vesey married Miss Mary Glennis Life, and they have two children, Mary Margaret and William Joseph; William Joseph Vesey, Jr., married Bess Witte and is carrying on the floral and greenhouse activities with which the name of Vesey is so widely known. He is now serving in the U. S. Army. David Studebaker Vesey married Miss Lela Rich, and they have one child, Margaret Jane; Catherine, the youngest, remains at home. In politics Judge Vesey is a stalwart, effective advocate of the prin- ciples of the Republican party. He has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of the Masonic fraternity, is affiliated with Fort Wayne Commandery of Knights Templars, as well as. the Mystic Shrine and the Knights of Pythias. He has long been a member of the Wayne Street Methodist Episcopal church. July 6, 1917, Judge Vesey was united in marriage with Miss Grace Waters, born March 28, 1878, at Kansas City, Missouri. She is a daughter of Louis HI. and Clara (Emerick) Waters, natives of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Germantown, Ohio, respectively.
J. W. Vining .- The late J. W. Vining came of one of the old estab- lished families of the East and was himself born in Green county, New York, his natal day being July 13, 1827. He was a son of David and Hannah (Husted) Vining, native New Yorkers, and the father died in that state. His widow later came to Allen county, Indiana, but lived only a short time. They were the parents of a fine family numbering twelve children, briefly mentioned as follows: Robert, born March 21, 1806; Polly, born April 3, 1808; Jonathan, born April 8, 1810; Caroline, born July 26, 1812; David, born November 26, 1814; Elisha, born April
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4, 1817; Sally, born June 10, 1819; Peter S., born September 25, 1820; Jane, born November 6, 1824; James W., the immediate subject of this brief review ; Horace, born May 28, 1830; and Christine, born February 8, 1833. All are now deceased. James W. Vining was married to Cath- erine Antwerp. She was born, April 23, 1843, and died March 10, 1910, and was the daughter of Ludwig and Catherine Antwerp, both native- born Germans. The father was born on April 30, 1912, and the mother on January 23d of the same year. They were the parents of three children- Catherine, born April 23, 1843; Andrew Lewis, born February 26, 1845, and Frederick Wilhelm, born July 17, 1849. The first named became the wife of the subject, and to them were born three daughters-Carrie, Kitty and Myrtle. James W. Vining came to Allen county as a youth, accompanying his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters after the death of the father in New York state, and when he grew to man- hood devoted himself to farming, in which occupation he spent the remainder of his active life, enjoying a success that was commensurate with his efforts and highly creditable to him in many ways. He was a leader in his community always, and was one of the five men who organized the first Methodist Episcopal church in St. Joseph township. He is also remembered as having assisted very materially in the building of the first gravel road in the township in the days when the toll highway was the rule instead of the exception. The second daughter, Kitty Vin- ing, married Charles Parker, on August 10, 1895, and they now live on the old home place. They are childless and Mrs. Parker is the last living representative of this fine old family.
Christian G. Vonderau .- One of the newer and thriving concerns of New Haven is the Peoples State Bank, organized on May 23, 1916, and opened to the public on August 3d in the same year. Christian G. Vonderau was elected to the office of president of the bank, and he is ably filling that post. The bank opened its doors with a modest capital of $32,000 and total resources of $75,000, but the progress it has already made will warrant an increase in the capital within the next few years. At this time a fine new building is in course of construction, modern and sufficiently commodious for the needs of the establishment, and the cost of the building will be about $15,000. The board of directors is made up of the following New Haven men : Christian G. Vonderau, presi- dent; Dr. E. E. Morris, vice-president; B. H. Smith, cashier; Theodore Thimlar, John Zimmerman, Christ Goeglein, Fred Koellinger, Henry Heine, William H. Federspiel and Ernest Pruese. Christian G. Vonderau was born in Milan township, Allen county, Indiana, on May 16, 1866, and is the son of Jacob and Margaret (Kern) Vonderau. The father was born in Hesse-Dermstadt, Germany, and the mother is of Bavarian birth and parentage. Jacob Vonderau came to America in 1844, locating in Pennsylvania, where he engaged in his trade as a tailor. He remained there until 1857, when he came to Allen county and settled in Milan township, there buying a farm, and he continued in that industry the remainder of his life. He died in 1897 at the age of eighty-one years, and his faithful wife lived until 1908, passing on at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Mr. Vonderau was a Democrat in politics, a member of the German Lutheran church and an honorable and esteemed citizen to the end of his days. He and his wife rcared a splendid family of eleven children. Susan, the first born, is deceased, as is also Casper. Peter lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Catherine is the wife of William
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