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 88
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salient points and to handle them with consummate skill. As a nisi prius judge he had but few if any equals in the state. Of him it may truth- fully be said that in no office to which he was called did he fail to come up to the full measure of its requirements. Judge Worden's work upon the supreme bench is what has most certainly secured him an honorable and enduring place in the history of the state. He went upon that bench when a young man, thirty-nine years of age. His mind was clear, logical and discriminating, and his sense of right and justice was broad and ex- act. He was not a man of circumlocution, either in thought or word. There is clearness, consciousness and directness of expression in his opinions, which may well serve for models for judges and lawyers. He was by nature a lawyer and judge, having the faculty, in an unusual de- gree, of brushing aside all that might tend to becloud and confuse, and, discerning the real question for decision, and determining what the decision should be to conform to the rules of the law and work substanti- al justice to the parties interested. His opinions not only show his ability and his learning in the law, but they give evidence also of careful and laborious preparation. He had no toleration for the weak and abused idea that the reputation of a judge on the bench of a court of final de- cision is to be established or the value of his labors measured by the amount that he may write, and he was governed by the one and only sensible idea that the reputation of the judge upon such a bench will finally rest upon the character and not the number of written opinions. He acted in conformity with the idea that care in the decision of causes and in the writing of opinions lessens the business in the supreme court by lessening the litigation below, while haste and the consequent loose- ness in expression, in an attempt to multiply opinions, necessarily results in misunderstanding on the part of the profession in the multiplication of suits below and the increase in the number of appeals. He knew, as every lawyer of observation and experience knows, that suits are very frequently instituted on no other foundation than a dictum which has been found in some previous case and which ought not to be there, stand- ing only as the evidence of undue haste on the part of the judge who wrote the decision. Such cases invariably go to the supreme court, and thus haste in such a court increases rather than curtails business. Judge Worden wrote, perhaps, as few opinions in the length of time as any judge on the supreme bench of Indiana, but in the way of reputation he was in the front rank, if not the first man in the rank. By the lawyers of the state and by the courts, including the supreme court, his opinions are read and cited with a feeling of security. There is assurance that he was not only capable of deciding and stating the law correctly, but also that he had bestowed the labor and taken the time necessary to enable him to thus state correctly. It is for this reason that his opinions are the more frequently cited and relied upon, not only in Indiana but elsewhere. By his work on the supreme bench, as embodied in his written opinions extending over so many years, Judge Worden erected his own monument and wrote his own inscription. He needs naught else. While Judge Worden was a firm and conscientious advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, he was in no sense an aggressive or active partisan. The result was that he was singularly free from the assaults of party opponents, which, almost invariably, every public man has to meet. Indeed, Judge Worden always received a considerable support at the polls from those of the opposing political party who knew him well. On only one occasion was he assailed with anything like violence, and
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that assault was absolutely unfounded, while he never took the trouble to defend his position, deeming such action incompatible with the dignity of his position on the supreme bench. *
* Judge Worden was a resid- ent of Indiana a few months more than forty years. As prosecuting at- torney, judge of the circuit court, mayor, judge of the supreme court and judge of the superior court of Allen county, he was in public service for more than twenty-seven years of that time. His life was thus, in a large measure, an open book, inviting the closest scrutiny and challenging it. When not in the public service he was in the practice of law at home and in a large number of surrounding counties, and he was thus still, in a sense, in public life. At no time did the people who knew him best have more confidence in his integrity and lofty character than in the later years of his life. The final manifestation of enlightened popular confidence shown in his election to the bench of the superior court of Allen county, after his long service on the supreme bench, is of itself more than sufficient to meet and overthrow the unreasonable and unjust impu- tation above mentioned. * So long as Indiana shall be a common- wealth, so long as its people shall have laws and courts, his name will be known and honored. How much good he accomplished for the state may never be fully appreciated by the people in general, but it will be, in a measure at least, by the profession and by the more observing citizens in other walks of life." Judge Worden, in the spring of 1845, was united in marriage with Miss Anna Grable, daughter of Benjamin Grable, at that time county treasurer of Whitley county, Indiana. Three sons were born to this union: James Willis Worden, Charles H. Worden and Ilarry Lawrence Worden. Charles H. Worden, president of the First and Ilam- ilton National Bank of Fort Wayne, is the subject of a sketch to be found in this work.
John B. Wyss .- One of the foremost men of his community, both in point of his farming accomplishments and his connection with the busi- ness and political life of Marion township, is John B. Wyss, who was born in the township on August 5, 1857. He is the son of Francis Joseph and Mary (Zuber) Wyss, who were Swiss people who came from their native land, in 1852, and settled in Fort Wayne. Francis Joseph Wyss was a tailor by trade but practically abandoned that work and turned his at- tention to farming. He first bought an cighty acre tract of what was known as school land, later adding an adjoining tract of one hundred and twenty acres. He was a successful farmer from the beginning and bought one parcel of land after another, as time went on, and was able to present each of his sons with a farm when he was ready to launch out to make an independent living. He was a splendid citizen and in his native land had served in the army. He was a Roman Catholic and reared his children in that faith, sending them part of the time to the parochial schools and partly to the public schools. Eight children were born to these people. Frank Joseph is living on a farm in Marion town- ship; John B. was the second born; Nicholas J. also lives on a Marion township farm; Elizabeth is married to Geo. Hake and lives in Fort Wayne; Philip is a building inspector and is living in Fort Wayne, where he is in the employ of the city; Mary is the wife of Fred Herber, of Pleasant township; William P. is living on the old homestead ; Gertrude is the wife of Frank P. Hoffman of Marion township. John B. Wyss had his schooling in the parochial and common schools of Marion town- ship and remained at home on his father's farm until he was twenty- eight years old. At that time he was planning the establishment of a
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home of his own and his father in keeping with his practice along those lines, bought him a farm by way of starting him out in life and Mr. Wyss is living on the place today and it consists of 100 acres. Since he came into possession of it he has made many improvements in the buildings and in other ways, and it is one of the attractive places in the township today. Mr. Wyss carries on stock and grain farming and is remarkably successful in his work. A Democrat in politics, Mr. Wyss has served his township well, without respect to party lines. He was a member of the township advisory board, in 1900, and from 1901 to 1905 was a trus- tee of Marion township. In 1906 he was elected to the office of county commissioner, his re-election to the office following in 1908. His influence in local politics spread to county affairs and, in 1914, he was elected rep- resentative from Allen county and while a member of the state legislature was active in many worthy movements for the benefit of his county. He is financially interested in the German-American Trust Company and the Citizens Trust Company, and is a director in both concerns. Mr. Wyss was married on June 1, 1886, to Miss Margaret Beckman, daughter of Frederick and Catherine (Hake) Beckman, farmers of Marion township, and people of German ancestory. Mr. and Mrs. Wyss have thirteen children-Clara, George, Rose, Agnes, Bernard F., John F., Rosella G., Bertha E., Henry E., Albert M., Florence II., Marie G., Mabel M., and William W. Our subject and family are members of the Catholic church.
Philip Wyss, who holds the office of building inspector in the city of Fort Wayne, is admirably fortified for effective service in this important municipal position, for he had previously been one of the successful and representative contractors and builders of the metropolis of his native county. He was born in Marion township, Allen county, Indiana, on De- cember 23, 1864, a son of Francis Joseph and Mary Anna (Zuber) Wyss, both of whom were born and reared in the noble little republic of Switzer- land, where their marriage was solemnized and where they continued their residence until 1852, when they came to America, their home being established in Allen county, Indiana, in June of that year. The father, a man of energy, ambition and sterling integrity, became one of the substantial farmers of the county and here both he and his wife were honored pioneer citizens at the time of their death, both having passed away in the year 1911. On June 14, 1910, they celebrated their diamond wedding at their home in Marion township. Of their large family of children the first four died in infancy ; Frank J., is a prosperous farmer in Marion township ; John B. is a leading exponent of agricultural industry in Marion township and has served as a member of the board of county commissioners of Allen county and in the state legislature; Nicholas J. and William P. are representative farmers in Marion township; Eliza- beth is the wife of George Hake, of Fort Wayne; Mary is the wife of Frederick Herber, of Pleasant township; Gertrude is the wife of Frank Huffman, of Marion township; Gerbard S. is deceased; and the youngest of the number is he whose name initiates this article. Philip Wyss passed the period of his childhood and youth on the old homestead farm, which was the place of his birth, and received his early education in the district schools of his native township. He continued to be associated in the work and management of the home farm until he was twenty-five years of age, when he removed to Fort Wayne and learned the carpenter's trade. After due preliminary experience of a
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most practical order he engaged in contracting and building in an in- dependent way, and with this important line of business enterprise he continued his successful association until July, 1909, when he was ap- pointed to his present municipal office of building inspector, in which he is giving a most efficient and acceptable administration. In addition to this preferment he served six years as a member of the city council of Fort Wayne, and he is specially loyal and progressive as a citizen. His political support is given to the cause of the Democratic party, he is a communicant of St. Peter's Catholic church, and is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the C. B. L. of I., and the Modern Woodmen of America. November 18, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Wyss to Miss Mary Hoffman, and she passed to the life eternal January 8, 1910, a devoted communicant of the Catholic church. Of the seven children the eldest is Mary R., who is the wife of Andrew J. Muldoon, of Marion township, and the other children, all of whom still remain in Allen county are Frank A., Frances B., William S., Gertrude M., George J. and Philip H.
John R. Yaggy, the efficient and popular cashier of the Woodburn Banking Company, is a scion of sterling pioneer families of Allen county, where both his paternal and maternal grandparents settled in an early day, and in his native county he has found ample opportunity for the positive expression of his individuality through successful achievement and through appreciative loyalty as a citizen. He is one of the repre- sentative business men of the village of Woodburn and is properly given specific consideration in this history. Mr. Yaggy was born on the home- stead farm of his father, in Cedar Creek township, this county, and the date of his nativity was October 17, 1872. He is a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Sauder) Yaggy, both natives of Ohio and both reared and educated in Allen county, where the respective families settled in the pioneer days. Andrew Yaggy was long numbered among the aggressive and successful exponents of the agricultural and life-stock industry in Cedar Creek township, and after years of ceaseless toil and endeavor is now enjoying the just rewards thereof, he having retired from the active management of his farm and is residing in a pleasant home in the village of Grabill, not far distant from the old home farm. He is a consistent member of the Defenseless Mennonite church. The seven children are all living : Hannah, Henry, Andrew, Jr., Katie, Menno, John R. and Sarah. As a young woman Elizabeth Sauder, the mother, wedded Jacob Roth and he died after having become the father of five children-Anna, Levi, Elizabeth, Louisa and Lydia. Of these children all are living except Anna. John R. Yaggy attended in his boyhood and youth the public schools of his native county and in the meantime gave his quota of as- sistance in the work of the home farm. Later he attended Taylor Uni- versity, at Fort Wayne, besides which he availed himself also of the ad- vantages of the Tri-State Normal College, at Angola, Indiana, and the International Business College, at Fort Wayne. He proved a successful teacher in the schools of Allen county, continued his association with farm enterprise for a number of years, and finally found employment as a skilled bookkeeper, his effective services in this capacity leading to his active association with banking enterprise. He has been resourceful and energetic in the upbuilding of the staunch financial institution of which he is cashier and has held his present executive office since 1902. He has had no ambition for political preferment but gives unswerving allegiance
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to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church in their home village. In 1896 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Yaggy to Miss Lydia Rupp, who was born in Fulton county, Ohio, a daughter of Christian and Elizabeth (Freiberg- er) Rupp, both natives of Germany. After coming to America Mr. Rupp removed to Fulton county, Ohio, where he became a prosperous farmer and passed the remainder of his life, his widow still remaining on the old homestead farm. Mr. and Mrs. Yaggy have four children-Prudence, Elizabeth, John and Eugenia.
Carl Yaple .- On the roster of those who have lent dignity and distinc- tion to the bench of the superior court of Allen county, a place of special honor must consistently be accorded to the present able and popular in- cumbent, Judge Yaple, who as a lawyer and jurist is well upholding the prestige gained by his father, long a distinguished figure in pro- fessional and public life in the state of Michigan. Judge Carl Yaple was born at Coldwater, the beautiful metropolis and judicial center of Branch county, Michigan, on March 11, 1877, a scion of one of the sterl- ing and influential pioneer families of the Wolverine commonwealth. He is a son of Hon. George L. and Mary H. (Hankinson) Yaple. Hon George L. Yaple was born at Leonidas, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and he and his wife now reside at Mendon, that county, where he is still actively engaged in the practice of law. Mrs. Yaple likewise was born in St. Joseph county, where her parents settled in the pioneer days. Hon. George L. Yaple received the degree of Master of Arts from Northwestern University, at Evanston, Illinois, and thereafter prepared himself for the legal profession, of which he has long been a distinguished represen- tative in his native state. After having been for a number of years en- gaged in practice at Mendon he removed to Coldwater, Michigan, where he built up a representative law business and later was for a time en- gaged in practice at Beatrice, Nebraska. He finally returned to his native county and established his residence at Mendon, where he still gives ac- tive attention to the work of his profession, with standing as one of the leading legists and jurists of the state of Michigan. IIe served eighteen years on the bench of the circuit court for the district comprising St. Joseph and Branch counties and represented his district as representa- tive in the United States congress, in which he made a characteristically admirable record and in which he was a contemporary with Hon. Wil- liam J. Bryan, who was his associate member on various important com- mittees of the house of representatives. He has been a leader in the furtherance of the cause of the Democratic party in Michigan, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Michigan Bar Association, and both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Of the children the eldest is Edward, who is a resident of the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan ; Frederick is deceased; Dr. Harry M., a doctor of dental surg- ery, is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Seattle, Washington ; George L., Jr., is a resident of Fort Wayne and is a lawyer by occupation ; Marie is deceased; Alice remains at the parental home ; and Judge Yaple of this review was the third in order of birth of the children. Judge Yaple is indebted to the public schools of his native state for his early educational discipline, which was supplemented by high academic study in Kalamazoo College and Albion College, two of the excellent educational institutions of Michigan. Thereafter he was a student for a time in the great University of Michigan, and later attended
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the law department of the University of Indiana. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1900 and initiated the active practice of his profession in Fort Wayne, where he associated himself with the law firm of Vesey & Heaton. Later he formed a partnership alliance with Benjamin F. Ileaton, under the firm name of Ileaton & Yaple, and under these condi- tions continued in the active and successful general practice of his pro- fession in Fort Wayne until his election to the bench of the superior court of Allen county, in 1910. In 1914 he was re-elected for a second term of four years, and as a jurist has shown the true judicial temperament as well as the broad and accurate knowledge of jurisprudence that insures a careful and equitable administration and conserves the ends of justice. Judge Yaple has been called upon to render decisions in many important cases and few of his rulings have been reversed by courts of higher jurisdiction. He is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Demo- cratie party, is a valued member of the Allen County Bar Association and the Indiana State Bar Association, is affiliated with the Masonie fraternity, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and both he and his wife are members of the First Presby- terian church of Fort Wayne. He takes lively interest in all things touching the communal welfare and is a loyal member of the Fort Wayne Commercial Club. On August 2, 1899, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Yaple to Miss Fannie Lois Russell, daughter of Benton and Sarah (Amidon) Russell, of Coldwater, Michigan, and the two children of this union are George R. and Kathryn Marie.
Christopher C. Young .- It is safe to assume that James Young, father of the subject, was of an adventurous turn of mind, or at least an admirer of the great adventurer, Christopher Columbus, for he named his first born son in his honor. Mr. Young is a native of the Hoosier state, born in Bush county on October 25, 1849. His parents were James and Elizabeth (Cross) Young, both natives of Ohio and representatives of well known families of Butler county, originally from New Jersey. The paternal great-grandfather of the subject was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war, serving under General Washington. James Young came to Allen county, in 1853, and bought a farm of eighty acres from a Mr. Walker. It was wild land, and Mr. Young cleared a space on which to erect a house and another space for a barn. He planted potatoes in the bit of yard around the house and corn in the barn yard, utilizing every inch of space as rapidly as it was cleared of its timber growth. Mr. Young was a man of more education than the average man of his day and taught in the public schools of the county for many years, giving his winters to that work and his summers to his farm. Ile managed to keep busy, between the two callings, and it is presumable that he con- tributed as much to the progress and development of the county as did
any one man of his time. He was township trustee for twelve years and a leader in his community always. He enlisted for service in the Mexican war, but was never called to actual service. He was a Democrat, a member of the Masonic order, and was long an active worker in the Christian church. To him and his wife were born four children. Chris- topher C. was born in October, 1849. F. Josephus is prominent in Allen county politics and is a resident of Fort Wayne. Mary Elizabeth is the wife of Gustave Williams, of Lafayette township. George F. is a resident of Chicago. Christopher Young was educated in the schools of his community, and though his advantages were few, managed to
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acquire the rudiments of an education and in later years built up a better than average education on that early foundation. He remained on the home farm until he was twenty-one years old, then turned his attention to carpentry for some years and still later was engaged in the tile business. In the early eighties he bought forty acres of land in La- fayette township, a little later adding twenty acres nearby, and engaged in stock farming. Today he has one of the well kept and productive places of the township. Mr. Young is a Democrat in politics, a member of the Christian church and in a fraternal way is identified with the Yeomen at Fort Wayne. He has served his township as a trustee, giving five and a half years to that office. He was married on October 1, 1874, to Miss Ella Bell, daughter of James and Catherine (Rodgers) Bell, who were North Carolinians, coming thence to Allen county. Mr. and Mrs. Young have two children and seven grandchildren. Homer, the son, is a prosperous farmer in Lafayette township and is also a school teacher. He has served in his township as a justice of the peace for six years and is one of the leading men of his community. He married Dessie Kiplinger on January 1, 1898, and they have five children-Mary K., Robert J., John H., Ralph W., and Samuel II., all at home. Bertha Young married Oscar Johnson, of Wells county, and has two daughters-Mabel and Hazel.
Julius Young is one of the foreign born citizens of St. Joseph town- ship who has a long and honorable career to his credit. Not only is he one of the pioneer settlers of St. Joseph township, but he is a veteran of the Civil war, in which he served through three years under Sherman and Grant. In that time he saw much active service, participated in many of the hardest fought battles of the long war, and passed through the conflict without personal injury or illness. He was born in Hanover, Germany, December 25, 1828, son of Fred and Doretta Young, who never left their native land. Their son came to America, in 1842, coming direct to Allen county and settling in St. Joseph township, so that he has a record of seventy-five years of almost continuous residence in that com- munity to his credit. It follows that he has been a witness to practically every stage of development that has taken place since St. Joseph town- ship was settled by white men, and he has contributed no small share to the work that has gone to make up the sum of present day improvements. Today, at the fine old age of eighty-nine years, this pioneer is still active in the operation of his farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he cleared and improved with his own hands. It was in 1862 that Mr. Young enlisted for service in the Eleventh Indiana Artillery, and he was must- ered out of the service, in 1865, at Indianapolis, whereupon he returned home to the pursuits of peace and the enjoyment of the home and family he had left behind at the call of his adopted country. Mr. Young was married in 1859, to Miss Jane McBratney, daughter of James and Marguerite McBratney, and to them were born four children-William, Sarah, Julius and Fred. Mr. and Mrs. Young are members of the United Brethren church in their home town and he is a Republican in politics.
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