USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > Valley of the upper Maumee River, with historical account of Allen County and the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Volume I > Part 26
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their union four sons and three daughters were born: George N., enlisted in 1861, while attending Lawrence university at Appleton, Wis., in the Fourth Wisconsin regiment; was transferred in 1863 to Company E, Sixteenth Indiana, of which he became captain, and died at Stony Point, near Vicksburg, Miss., in the fall of 1863; Olive A., now the wife of W. R. H. Edwards, an old citizen of Fort Wayne, now of Deer Lodge county, Mont .; Charles W .; Mary F., now the wife of Harry Davis of Washington territory; Edward B., of Montana; Frances, deceased wife of Cornelius Miller; Willard A., of Wayne township. Charles W. Fairfield was reared in Wayne township, and was educated in the log school-houses of that day. On April 19, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Ninth Indiana infantry, for ninety days, and participated in the cam- paigns in West Virginia, in Gen. Morris' brigade, Eleventh corps, Army of the Potomac. Returning to Allen county, he engaged in saw-mill- ing for two years. During the gold excitement in Idaho in 1864, he joined a party of thirty-five who made the entire trip there by ox teams in six months. This party was among the very first in the gold regions of southern Idaho, and they opened up the first road from North Platte Bridge, Neb., 400 miles to Virginia City, through the center of the Sioux country. The trip was a most perilous one. They were piloted by Bozeman, a scout, who founded Bozeman City, Mont. Two years later Mr. Fairfield returned to Allen county for a year, then going back to the mining regions, at that time only fourteen miles from the Union Pacific railroad. He located at Laramie City, Wy., where he was engaged on a contract on the Union Pacific railroad. While residing in Beaver Head county, Idaho, he served as sheriff for about one year. In the fall of 1868 he returned to Allen county, and began farming, his present occupation. He manages one of his father's farms and owns a good farm of 100 acres in the same township. He was married in Mon- tana, November 22, 1864, to Emma Toothill, born in Pennsylvania, March 26, 1842, the daughter of Joseph Toothill, an Englishman, who died when she was in her fourth year. His wife was Hannah Smith, born in New York state, and died in Chicago, April 20, 1886, in her eighty-sixth year. Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield have had nine children, five of whom survive: Hattie M., wife of George M. Trick, of Pleasant township; George M., of the Indiana Machine Works, Fort Wayne; Charles E., Oliver Perry, and Ida. Mr. Fairfield is a member of Sion S. Bass post, G. A. R., and of Harmony lodge, I. O. O. F.
Henry C. McMaken, a well-known farmer of Wayne township, was born near New Haven, Adams township, June 15, 1844. His father, Joseph G. McMaken, who was born near Hamilton, Ohio, February 8, 1814, came to Allen county in the spring of 1832, with his father, Joseph H. McMaken, who settled at Fort Wayne, and kept for many years one of the first taverns, the Washington hotel, which stood on the corner of Calhoun and Columbia streets, the mammoth dry goods house of De Wald & Co. now occupying the site. In 1838, he removed to a farm in Adams township, and in 1847, purchased a farm on the Maysville pike,
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about three and one-half miles from the city. He was one of the best known citizens during his life, and after farming for years, died Decem- ber 13, 1864. His widow, Dorothy Ruch, was born in Alsace-Loraine, France, about 1818, and came at about eleven years of age to America with her parents, who located in Pittsburg, then removed to Starke county, Ohio, and in 1837, came to Fort Wayne. In 1889, she removed to Fort Wayne. There were twelve children born, ten of whom are living: Henry C .; William B., farmer in Wayne township; Joseph H., on the homestead farm in Adams township; Sarah J., wife of S. S. Cole- man, of Wayne township; Anna M .; Adelia C .; J. C. F., farmer of Lake township; Franklin A., residing in Fort Wayne; Elizabeth, and Lottie M., wife of Elmer Banks, of St. Joe township. Henry C. finished his education at the Methodist Episcopal college in Fort Wayne in 1857, and then worked on the farm until June, 186 2, when he enlisted in Com- pany E, Fifty-fifth Indiana regiment, and served three months. He was captured at Richmond, Ky., August 30, 1862, and four days later paroled. He was discharged at Indianapolis, September 9, 1862. Returning to the home farm, he worked until 1868, and then rented a farm. In 1874, he purchased sixty-two acres in Wayne township, his present farm. In 1874, he erected a two-story frame residence, and in 1885, a large and substantial barn. April 9, 1868, he was married to Frances J., daughter of Adam Link, born at Newark, Ohio, December 8, 1840. They have had seven children: Lottie May (deceased), Lucie L., Dora G., William H., Helen J., Adam J. (deceased), Elizabeth. Mr. McMaken is a member of Sion S. Bass post, No. 40, G. A. R.
Peter Wagner, a venerable farmer of Wayne township, residing one mile and a quarter south of the city limits, was born near the river Rhine, Germany, February 17, 1814. He left his home at Zweibrucken, April 6, 1833, with his parents, Peter and Anna Maria (Gross) Wagner, and arriving at New York in June, 1833, they reached Albany, N. Y., July 4th. Going to Buffalo on a canal boat, the family remained there about three months, and Peter crossed over to Canada, where he worked on a farm for John Forsythe, a wealthy citizen. Returning to Buffalo, he joined the family and they reached Detroit, after a voyage of two weeks. They came to the Maumee river by wagon, being two weeks on the way, having to cut their way through the woods, and on reaching the Maumee, they completed the journey to Ft. Wayne in pirogues. In the spring of 1834, the father entered eighty acres of canal land, where he farmed until his death, about 1854, his wife dying six weeks later. They were members of the Catholic church, and were well known and highly esteemed, liked by all who knew them. Of their ten children, three survived. Their son Peter Wagner, was mar- ried in 1839, to Mary Magdalene Baker, a sister of Jacob, Killian and John Baker, of Fort Wayne. Her death occurred December 31, 1887. They had ten children. John, Catherine, Magdalene (deceased), Mary, Jacob, George (deceased), Elizabeth, Henry, Agnes and Julian. When Mr. Wagner was married, he began farming on eighty acres of land in
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section 24, and he next purchased forty acres adjoining, in Adams town- ship, then eighty acres more, making a farm of 200 acres, one of the finest in Wayne township. In 1867, he erected a two-story brick resi- dence at a cost of $3,000. He also has fine houses and out buildings. Mr. Wagner has held various township offices, and was supervisor for seven years. He is a member of the Cathedral Catholic church. He has lived an upright life and is generally respected.
John Wilkinson, superintendent of the Allen county asylum and poor farm, was born in Washington township, February 26, 1844. His father, William Wilkinson, was born in County Cork, Ireland, about 1802. He married in Ireland Johanna Quinlan, who was born about 1804, and they immigrated in 1833 and located at Troy, N. Y., where the father was employed in Burden's iron works. In 1835 they located on a farm in Washington township, where the father farmed until his death in 1849. He was one of the worthy pioneers of Allen county. His widow died in 1876. They had seven children, five sons and two daughters, of whom one son is deceased. John Wilkinson attended the common schools and finished his education in the schools of Plymouth, Ind. He remained on the farm until 1871, and then lived at Alexan- dria, Va., about one year. Returning to Allen county, and locating at Fort Wayne in 1876, he was elected a member of the city council from the ninth ward, and was re-elected in 1878, and again in 1880, when he resigned. In 1879, while a member of the council, he was also appointed deputy clerk of the circuit court, holding that position until 1880, when he was appointed by the county commissioners superintendent of the Allen county asylum and poor farm, which position he has held for nine years with ability and to the general satisfaction. Mr. Wilkinson was married August 12, 1863, to Annie Maloney, who was born in Whitley county, Ind., the daughter of Patrick Maloney, a native of Ireland. They have three sons and four daughters. Mr. Wilkinson and wife are mem- bers of the Catholic cathedral. In politics he is a democrat. Capt. Francis Wilkinson, chief of police of Fort Wayne, is a brother to our subject.
Joshua Holmes, assistant assessor of Wayne township, one of the pioneers of Allen county, was born in Licking county, Ohio, October 13, 1813. His parents Joseph and Sarah (Haver) Holmes, natives of Pennsylvania, went to Ohio in early life and were there married; the father being of English and Scotch, and the mother of German and Welsh, descent. The father, a farmer, and soldier in the war of 1812, lived to be sixty -three years old His father was a soldier in the revolution. The mother was fifty-one years of age when she died. Of their ten chil- dren only four survive, of whom the second born was Joshua. He was reared in Fairfield county, Ohio. In 1835, he visited Allen county, and came with his wife in 1836, arriving here September 7. In 1834 his father came to Allen county and entered 120 acres of land in his son's name, and 118 for himself. The land is situated on the Illinois road, four miles west of the city. Erecting a tent, he and wife lived in it
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until he could build a log cabin. In 1870, he removed to Fort Wayne, where he has since resided. In May, 1885, he sold' the old homestead, retaining So acres he had purchased. Mr. Holmes was married March 8, 1836, to Mary M. Fountain, who was born in New Jersey, and reared in Guernsey county, Ohio. Her death occurred March 8, 1881. They had twelve children, six of whom survive: Sarah A., now Mrs. Thomas Donally, of Pittsburg; Bayliss, now of Mississippi; George, of Hunting- ton county, Ind .; Clara, now Mrs. Tam, of Mississippi; John W., of Eel River township, and Roland. Mr. Holmes has served as assessor of Wayne township for a number of years, and for the past four years has been assistant under John Slater. He is a member of the Second Pres- byterian church.
Roland Holmes, son of the above, was born on the old homestead, February 2, 1857. He was educated in the city and district schools, and for the last ten years has been following farming. He was mar- ried on August 18, 1875, to Ida Donley, who was born in Ohio, and they have two children: Nora and Willie.
Joseph H. Grier, a worthy and substantial citizen of Fort Wayne, residing at the corner of Pontiac and Oliver streets, was born in Will- iamsport, Penn., March 16, 1838. His father, Samuel Grier, was a native of Williamsport. The grandfather immigrated from Ireland to Phila- delphia when a young man, and later became a pioneer of Lycoming county, Penn. He was a surveyor and laid out the plat of Williamsport, and also did most of the surveys for the county during the early days. Later in life he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was the first post- master of Williamsport. About 1837 Samuel Grier settled in Allen county, purchasing 200 acres of land in Marion township, on the Piqua road. He resided there until about 1852, when he removed to Michigan and purchased a farm in St. Joseph county. Later in life he retired from farming, and resided at Constantine, Mich., until his death, in 1883, in his seventy-fourth year. His wife, Elizabeth Hetner, was born in Lycoming county, Penn., the daughter of an early settler. She resides at Constantine, in her sixty-ninth year. Their only child, Joseph H., was reared in Allen county until his fifteenth year, and then finished his edu- cation in the schools of Florence, Mich. At twenty-four years of age he was married to Ellen B., daughter of B. F. Rice, a well-known citi- zen of South Wayne. She was born near Decatur, Ind. Mr. Grier began farming in St. Joseph county, Mich. In 1884 he removed to Con- stantine, and in March, 1886, to Fort Wayne. Mr. Grier owns a fine farm of 145 acres within sight of White Pigeon, Mich., also over 100 acres in the southeastern suburbs of Fort Wayne, and six lots within the city limits. In 1887 he erected his residence just across the city limits, a large two-story brick structure, built in modern style, surrounded by a beautiful lawn, decidedly the handsomest residence in southeast Fort Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Grier are members of the Methodist church .. They have two daughters, Viola and Edna. While residing in Michigan, Mr. Grier was supervisor of the township of Constantine, including the
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village, from 1878 to 1882. He was four years a director of the St. Joseph County Agricultural society, and for four years was a director in the Village insurance company. He was for several years a director of the St. Joseph County Horse-Thief association, a "regulator " society, and has acted as assignee in several important cases.
Charles F. Moellering, manager of the extensive brick-yards of William Moellering, in Wayne township, was born in Fort Wayne, December 5, 1858, son of Charles and Mary (Ehleid) Moellering, both natives of Germany. Charles, the father, came to America at an early day, and to Fort Wayne during the '40's. He was a brick-mason by trade, and contractor, doing an extensive business for twenty-six years. He was for some time a partner of his brother, William Moellering. Later in life he removed to a farm in Wayne township, where he died in March, 1885, at the age of sixty-two years. His wife, Mary Ehleid, died in 1870, at the age of forty years. By an earlier marriage, Mr. Moellering had children, one of whom, Elizabeth Bradtmiller, survives. To the second marriage seven children were born. All of the children survive. The oldest, Charles F. Moellering, was reared in Fort Wayne and educated in the Lutheran schools. He was on the farm until 1882, when he took charge of William Moellering's business at the brick yard. He owns the old homestead of eighty acres, on the Bluffton road, but makes his home at the yards. He was married to Annie, daughter of William Schafer, who was born in Wayne township in 1863. To this union one son, Frederick W., was born. Mr. and Mrs. Moellering are members of Emanuel Lutheran church.
J. H. Stellhorn, of Wayne township, a leading farmer and lumber- man, was born in Fort Wayne, June 19, 1851. His father, Frederick Stellhorn, one of Allen county's pioneers, was born in Hanover, Germany, in ISI8, and emigrated about 1844, coming directly to Fort Wayne. He resided there until the spring of 1861, when he purchased 100 acres in Wayne township. While in Fort Wayne he was engaged in the stone and lime business, but upon removing to the country, he began farming and running the water-power saw-mill on the place. He is a prominent citizen, and for a number of years held the position of supervisor, and was frequently solicited to make the race for county commissioner, but always declined. His wife was Fredericka Moeller- ing, who was born in Prussia in 1824, and is the sister of William Moellering, of Fort Wayne. To these parents ten children were born, six of whom survive. The third born, J. H. Stellhorn, when fifteen years of age began work in his father's saw-mill, and continued until about his twenty-fourth year, when he purchased a steam saw-mill which he has since operated. His mill on the St. Mary's river, three and one-half miles south of the city limits, has a capacity of about 4,000 feet per day. In 1885, Mr. Stellhorn added grist-mill machinery, which he operates during the winter months, and averages about 5,000 bushels of feed and corn- meal per year. He has been quite prominent in his township. He has been supervisor of his district, and in 1883, was elected superintendent of
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all the township roads, and served ten months until the repeal of the law. Since 1885, he has been superintendent of Simons' No. 5 pike, an extension of Fairfield avenue. He was married in 1874, to Eliza Kline, of Adams county, who died eighteen months later, leaving one child, who survived six weeks. He was again married in 1877, to Sophia Poehler, of Wayne township. Mr. Stellhorn and wife are members of Lutheran Trinity church.
Conrad Tielker, a well-known farmer of Wayne township, was born in Westphalia, Prussia, November 24, 1824. His father, Christian Tiel- ker, was a native of Prussia, and a soldier in the Napoleonic wars. He and his wife died in Prussia. Conrad, in 1846, after a voyage of seventy-two days, landed at New York, and soon afterward arriv- ing at Fort Wayne, went to work in a brick-yard at $12 per month. Three months later he began to work on the canal, haul- ing stone to the city. He worked in the stone quarries at Hunting- ton during the winter, and in May, 1847, went to Toledo, and thence to Chicago, and worked on a farm two years at Yankee settlement, south- west of Chicago. He returned to Fort Wayne, and worked in a ware- house, and then bought a fourth share in a canal boat, and for three years was engaged in boating, and then sold to his brother Henry. In 1852 he purchased school land in section sixteen, at $6 per acre. In 1853 he removed to the farm, and built a log house, 16x14, in which he lived eighteen years. In 1871, he erected a handsome dwelling, and in 1876, a large bank barn. In 1886, the latter was destroyed by fire, together with Soo bushels of grain and thirty-five tons of hay. His farm com- prises eighty-six acres of first-class land. Mr. Tielker was married March 13, 1853, to Wilhelmina Baade, who was born in Westphalia, Prussia, May 19, 1834, and came to this country when ten years of age. They have had eight children, five of whom survive: Wilhelmina, Lizzie (dead), Christ. (killed by being kicked by a horse), Mary, wife of Elias Aumann, of St. Joseph township; Frederick, living in Bloom- ingdale; Sophia, William and Conrad (twins), William (dead). Mr. and Mrs. Tielker and family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Tielker is a democrat. After the defeat of his party in 1860, Mr. Tiel- ker resolved that he would not cut his hair until a democrat was elected president, and he kept his word for twenty-four years. Upon the election of Cleveland his hair was cut, which was the occasion of a grand frolic by a number of his old friends at his residence. In 1865, Mr. Tielker made a visit of seven weeks in Europe, with his parents.
George Rapp, of Wayne township, was born in Germany, May 6, 1825. His parents, Nicholas and Margaret (Hotz) Rapp, were natives of Germany, the father being a farmer by occupation. The father died in 1839, in his forty-second year, and the mother in 1833, aged thirty- five. Their only child, George, learned the blacksmith trade, and when twenty-one years of age he emigrated, landing at New York, September 16. Going to Lancaster county, Penn., he worked at his trade one and a half years, and then, in 1848, located at Fort Wayne. He
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opened a shop on Main street, and six months later removed to Hunter- town, where he kept a shop until 1861. He then removed to a farm in Wayne township. His farm embraces eighty-six acres of good land, three miles west from Fort Wayne, through which passes the Wabash railroad. Mr. Rapp has always been regarded as one of the leading citizens of his township. In 1886 he was appointed supervisor of road district No. 3, and in 1887 was elected for two years. He is a member of St. John's Lutheran church of Fort Wayne. January 4, 1848, Mr. Rapp was married to Elizabeth Saur, who was born in Germany, March 19, 1828, and immigrated in 1842 with her parents, who settled in Penn- sylvania. Mrs. Rapp died January 29, 1882, leaving six children : Philip, born in 1850; Henry, 1856; George, 1858, died 1874; Mary, 1861; Lizzie, 1864; Charley, 1868; John, 1871. Mr. Rapp is a mem- ber of St. John's Lutheran church of Fort Wayne, as are all his children.
Oliver Lawrence, a well-known young farmer of Wayne township, living three miles west from the city, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, March 25, 1857. His father, George B. Lawrence, was a native of Ohio, born in 1834. He removed to Indiana in 1864, with his parents, and is at present a well-to-do farmer of Lafayette township, and a mem- ber of the county board of equalization. His wife, Elizabeth Geitgey, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1836. Of their children, three sons and two daughters, the oldest is Oliver Lawrence. He was reared in Lafayette township, and was educated in the district schools; also attending the Fort Wayne college two years. He was married Novem- ber 10, 1881, to Parynthia Pierce, who was born in Aboit township, the daughter of Ossa W. Pierce, now living in Washington territory. Mr. Lawrence removed to Wayne township April 2, 1882, and located on a farm of 102 acres, where he has a fine brick residence. He has one son, George Winslow, born May 19, 1885. Mr. Lawrence and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Wayne township.
J. B. Downing, of Wayne township, residing two miles south of the city, was born in New York state, May 31, 1835. His parents, David and Emily (Hotchkiss) Downing, natives of Connecticut, removed from that state to New York, and thence to Ohio, about 1845, and settled in. Oxford township, Erie county, near Sandusky city, where the father farmed until his death, about 1857. The mother died about 1882. Of their ten children, six survive. J. B. Downing, in 1865, came to Allen county and purchased his present farm of 120 acres. He was married March 4, 1858, to Cynthia L. Sexton, who was born in Erie county, Ohio, daughter of Myron Sexton, a native of Connecticut, who settled in Erie county in 1826. He is now at eighty-seven years of age, a re- tired farmer of Seneca county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Downing have one son, Myron Sexton, born October 2, 1859. He is a resident of Fort Wayne, and a traveling salesman for the wholesale confectionery house of Louis Fox. He was married in October, 1883, to Gracie, daughter of Henry Mensch. Mr. and Mrs. Downing are members of the Third
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Presbyterian church of Fort Wayne. Mr. Downing is a member of Wayne lodge, No. 25, F. & A. M., of the thirty-second degree.
The early settler of Adams township whose impress upon its his- tory seems most permanent, was John Rogers, who came from Preble county, Ohio, in 1825. He was born in 1785, in Somerset county, N. J., son of Simeon Rogers, who was born in that state, of Irish lineage. John Rogers was married at Springfield, Ohio, about 1815, to Tryphena J. Shipman, daughter of Jabez Shipman, whose ancestors came from Scotland. She was a native of Morris county, N. J., and was the second wife of Mr. Rogers. Two years later the family moved to Ver- non, Ind., where they lived three years, afterward settling on a farm two miles north of Paris, Preble Co., Ohio. In 1825, they settled four miles east of Fort Wayne, on the south bank of the Maumee. This, Mr. Rogers cleared, and raised a large family of children, who honor their worthy parents. In 1850, he removed to a home they provided for him at New Haven, and here and at Fort Wayne he lived until September 15, 1877. Five of his children survive: Dorcas, wife of John Brown, of Fort Wayne, Lamort M., Alanson A., Orrin D. and Helen M., widow of Amasa Bowers, of Andrews.
Lamort M. Rogers, an honored pioneer citizen and a prominent merchant at New Haven, was born at Springfield, Ohio, January 17, 1817. Sixty-four years Mr. Rogers has resided in Adams township, continuously. His boyhood, youth and the first years of his manhood were spent on the homestead farm. The school privileges of those times were very poor, consequently his early schooling was quite limited, but his fund of general knowledge is now wide and varied. January 24, 1844, before leaving the homestead, he was married to Harriet N. Cor- lew, who was born near Plattsburgh, N. Y., October 7, 1822, the daughter of Lucy (Thornton) Corlew and her husband, the latter of whom was born in Canada, and the former near Springfield, Vt. Soon after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers located on another farm, about two miles south of his father's. There his attention was given to agriculture until March, 1856, when he removed to New Haven, where he has lived ever since. During nearly his entire residence in New Haven, now thirty-three years, he has been engaged in merchandise, and as a business man he has become widely and favorably known throughout the eastern half of Allen county. His place of business, which has been headquarters for the people of the surrounding country, has an honorable reputation. During his residence in New Haven, Mr. Rogers has also dealt in grain, and for three years he was one of the proprie- tors of the Maumee Valley Mills, which he and two other gentlemen erected in 1864. He has also managed a farm which he owns in the vicinity of New Haven, and has dealt to some extent in real estate. Mr. Rogers has five children: Adelaide L., Willie S., Emma L., Frank and Jessie P., of whom only Willie S. and Jessie P. are living. The former is now the business partner of of his father. Mr. Rogers is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, of the chapter and council degrees in
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