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 30
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stances compelled him to give up his theological studies and return home. In the spring of 1857, he taught another term of school in Decatur county. He then engaged in the warehouse business in Greensburg, and for two years dealt in wheat and agricultural imple- ments. In 1859 he removed to Fort Wayne, and for fourteen months was engaged in the hardware business. In 1860 he located on a farm which he had purchased two miles northeast of Fort Wayne on the ·Maumee gravel road. This contained 144 acres, 109 of which lay in Adams township and thirty-five in St. Joseph. He first located on the part in St. Joseph, and in 1866 he sold it and removed to the part in Adams township, which he has occupied ever since. He has since made several purchases and sales of land, owning at one time 370 acres. His present farms contains 220 acres. Mr. McCoy was married January 12, 1859, to Martha J., daughter of B. W. Oakley, formerly of Fort Wayne. She died September 9, 1869. March 2, 1885, he was married to Cath- arine C. Ginther, his present wife. His first marriage resulted in the birth of five children: Elizabeth S., Charles O., George, Hattie A. and Jennie M., of whom only Charles and Jennie are living. He has one child, Angus C., by his present wife. The latter was born in Union county, Ohio, December 14, 1849, daughter of Joseph and Fidilla (Bowersmith) Ginther, respectively natives of Tuscarawas and Union counties, Ohio. Her father was the son of John and Lydia (Demuth) Ginther, natives of Pennsylvania. Her mother was the daughter of Jacob and Matilda (Jenkins) Bowersmith. Mrs. McCoy's father was born August 3, 1826, and her mother September 16, 1824. Mr. McCoy is a member of the Presbyterian church, and in politics has been a republican since the party was organized. Mr. McCoy is a highly intelligent man, and possesses a superior education. He is in comforta- ble circumstances, and his friends are numerous.
Oliver Tustison, a well-known citizen of Adams township, was born in Crawford county, Ohio, April 7, 1840, son of Nelson and Eusebia (Cox) Tustison. The father was born in Philadelphia, October 7, 181I, and the mother in Coshocton county, Ohio, September 5, 1816. The father was the son of Nelson and Jane (Brown) Tustison, the former a native of Denmark, and the latter of Philadelphia. His mother was the daughter of John and Rebecca (Hull) Cox, the former a native of Germany and the latter of Coshocton county, Ohio. When Oliver Tus- tison was four years old his parents removed to Williams, now Defiance county, Ohio, where he spent his youth on a farm, two miles west of Hicksville, Ohio. In the spring of 1861 the family settled on the farm which Mr. Tustison now occupies in Adams township. Here the mother died February 15, 1873, and the father, February 24, of the same year. Their daughter, Alvira, also died in the same month, February 9, 1873. Mr. Tustison remained on the farm until 1864, when he went to Mon- tana territory; thence to Nevada a month later. There he remained three years engaged at farming. In 1867 he returned home by way of San Francisco, Panama and New York, and resumed farming at the old
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home place. October 20, 1868, he was married to Jennie M. Loveall, a native of Adams township, daughter of Samuel and Nancy Loveall. In 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Tustison removed to Marion county, Ill., where they resided three years. They returned to Adams township in 1872, where Mr. Tustison has resided ever since, excepting from October, 1886, to April, 1889, when he resided in New Haven. During 1875 and 1876, he was engaged in the pump business, and for the past three years has also dealt in agricultural implements. Aside from this his attention has been given to farming. His first wife died March 6, 1874. A child, Ina A., who was born to their marriage, had died April 25, 1872, aged three months. Mr. Tustison's brother, Matthias M. Tustison, died on the 8th of April, 1872, making six deaths in the family inside of two years. January 1I, 1877, Mr. Tustison was married to Clara Dell, daughter of Orrin D. Rogers. She is a native of New Haven, and at the time of her marriage was a teacher by profession. This marriage has resulted in the birth of three children: Olive M., Nelson R. and Glenn C. Mr. and Mrs. Tustison are members of the Universalist church. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge and encampment. In politics he is a democrat. He is now holding the office of justice of the peace, having been elected in 1888.
Hezekiah W. Loveland, one of the substantial farmers of Adams township, was born in Glastonbury township, Hartford co., Conn., about eight miles from the city of Hartford, March 17, 1827. His parents, Luther and Lucy (Wickam) Loveland, were natives of the same township. His father was born March 18, 1793, the son of Pelatia and Mollie (Sparks) Loveland, also natives of Glastonbury township, mar- ried December 17, 1774. His mother was also born in 1793. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors had resided in Glastonbury township for several generations. As far back as 1653, Thomas Loveland emi- grated from Glastonbury, Eng., and became one of the earliest settlers of the new township, bearing the same name. It is thought that all per- sons bearing the name of Loveland in America, sprang from this same Thomas Loveland. The parents of Hezekiah were married May 15, 1814. When he was a little child but one year old, his parents removed from Connecticut to Erie county, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm. In March, 1850, he went to California, where, for three years, he was engaged at mining. He then returned by way of Panama and New York. On November 9, 1854, he was married in Defiance county, Ohio, to Delilah Tustison, who was born in Crawford county, Ohio, November II, 1835, the daughter of Nelson and Eusebia (Cox) Tustison, the for- mer of whom was born at Philadelphia. Immediately after his marriage, Mr. Loveland located on a farm in Scipio township, Allen county, which he had bought in 1849. In 1859, he removed to the old Loveland home- stead in Erie county, Ohio, having purchased it from his father. In February, 1863, he located where he now resides, in Adams township. With the exception of the three years he was in California, he has been farming, at which pursuit he has been successful. Mr. Loveland
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has had seven children: Harriet, Maria, Mary, Lucius Nelson, Eusebia J., Emmet O. and Ernest A., all living except Ernest A., who died in childhood. Mrs. Loveland died April 8, 1877. Mr. Lovejoy is a mem- ber of the Masonic lodge, and in politics is a democrat. He owns a farm of 140 acres, which adjoins the town of New Haven on the west, and has a handsome brick residence, erected in 1885.
Francis J. Zurbuch (deceased), formerly a leading farmer of Adams township, was born in France, March 17, 1822, the son of Francis J. Zurbuch. He came to America with his father and mother when he was nine years old, and the family first located near Columbus, Ohio, but later settled in Mercer county, Ohio, where the father died. His widow afterward accompanied a son to Tennessee, where she died in 1877. Francis J. spent his youth chiefly in Mercer county, Ohio. He worked at farmwork and in early manhood learned the cooper's trade, and also the trade of a stone mason. He was married in Dayton, Ohio, January 29, 1849, to Rachel Miller, who was born in Baden, Germany, May 16, 1829. She was the daughter of John and Barbara Miller, with whom she came to America, when she was thirteen years of age. They settled near Dayton, Ohio, where both the father and mother spent the rest of their lives. Mr. and Mrs. Zurbuch began their married life in Dayton, where they resided about fourteen years, Mr. Zurbuch working at the cooper's trade. In 1863 they came to Adams township and settled about a mile northeast of New Haven, where Mr. Zurbuch was engaged at farming until the time of his death, on the 10th day of September, 1877. Mr. and Mrs. Zurbuch had seven children: John, Francis J., Mary, George, Anna F., Elizabeth and John, of whom the first named John and Mary, are dead. Mr. Zurbuch was an honorable man and commanded universal respect. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church, as are his family. His wife with two of her sons occupy the old homestead, which contains 147 acres of land and is well improved.
Michael Hellwarth, a substantial farmer of Adams township, was born in Mercer county, Ohio, about five miles from Celina, March 5, 1840. His father, George M. Hellwarth, was born January 24, 1803, in Wit- temberg, Germany, son of Ulrich Hellwarth. He served ten years in the German army and then accompanied his father to America, about 1831, when he was twenty-eight years of age. His mother had died in Germany when he was but four years old. Caroline, who became his wife, lived only a few miles distant in the old country. They became engaged there, she came to America on the same vessel with him and their marriage followed soon after arrival. They located in Little York, Penn., but four years later moved to Springfield, Ohio. After resid- ing there three years they removed to Mercer county and occupied the farm upon which their son Michael was born. They were among the early settlers of that county and lived there until death, the mother dying in 1837. The father was afterward married to Margaret Wappes, who still resides on the old homestead. He became the father of six-
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teen children, of whom the first five were born to his first wife. Nine of his children are still living. He died January 25, 1866. Michael was reared to manhood on the home farm, and was married to Miss Mary Furthmiller February II, 1866. They soon afterward located on a farm adjoining his old home. October 18, 1868, he removed to Allen county; lived first on a farm in Jefferson township, and in the spring of 1869 purchased his present farm in Adams township. With the excep- tion of one year he has given his whole attention to agriculture. He has a fine farm of 120 acres, with a good residence and barn. During the one year mentioned he was engaged at the butcher's trade in New Haven. The first wife of Mr. Hellwarth died November 6, 1876, and on November 20, 1877, he was married to Lucinda Mosimann, a native of Vera Cruz, Ind., daughter of Frederick and Elizabeth Mosimann. The first marriage of Mr. Hellwarth resulted in the birth of five children: Nelson W., Clara Agnes (died aged sixteen), Cora E., John A. and Herman E., and by the second marriage he had one child, Dellie, who died, aged three months. Mr. and Mrs. Hellwarth are members of the Evangelical church. In politics he is a republican. He is an intelligent and enterprising man and an industrious and successful farmer.
Nicholas Snyder, a prosperous farmer of Adams township, was born in Onondaga county, N. Y., October 19, 1839. His parents, Joseph and Catharine ( Hullar) Snyder, were natives of Lorraine, France. His father was born in 1812, and came with his parents, Joseph and Mar- garet (Semley) Snyder, to America when he was nineteen years of age. They located in Onondaga county, N. Y., where both the grand- parents spent the rest of their lives. The mother of Mr. Snyder came to America with her parents, who also settled in Onondaga county, N. Y., but about six years later her father and mother returned to France. Sixteen years later they again came to America and ended their days in Onondaga county, N. Y. Their names were Casper and Christina (Shepp) Hallar. Nicholas Snyder was reared in his native county, working at farm work. He was married there April 14, 1863, to Margaret Palz, born in Lorraine, April 22, 1840, the daughter of Conrad and Catharine (Zengiler) Palz, with whom she came to Amer- ica when she was nine years old and settled in Onondaga county, N. Y., where her father died three years later. Her mother, for the past twenty-five years, has made her home with Mr. and Mrs. Snyder. She is now in the eightieth year of her age. From the month of March preceding his marriage to the spring of 1872, Mr. Snyder was in the employ of the New York Central & Hudson River railway. He began as a section hand, but at the end of one year he was promoted to section foreman and continued in that capacity eight years, during the last two of which he resided in Utica, N. Y., where he was foreman of the yards and work train. March 13, 1872, he resigned, and soon after removed to Allen county, and located in section 13, Adams township, on a farm which he had purchased in February, 1872. His attention since then has been given to agriculture. His farm contains sixty acres of
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fine land, and it is provided with a good residence and barn, and other substantial improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder 'have had ten children : Helen, Magdalena, Joseph, George, Louis N., Frederick A., William H., John P., Emma M., and Leo A., all living except Joseph and George. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are members of the Roman Catholic church. He is a member of St. John's Benevolent society. The maternal grand- mother of Mrs. Snyder lived to be one hundred and four years old. Her husband died at the age of eighty-eight. The mother of Mr. Snyder died in Onondago county, N. Y., November 21, 1864. In the following February his father was married to Mrs. Hower, whose maiden name was Catharine Zion. In 1865 they came to Adams town- ship In the spring of 1882, they removed to Minnesota, where the father died July 25, 1883. His widow resides at Northfield, Minn.
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A notable character in early times was Jonathan Chapman, better known as "Johnny Appleseed." " If ever there lived a man who deserved to have a monument erected to his memory by any people," said a great nurseryman at Rochester, N. Y., " that man was Jonathan Chapman." The people of western Pennsylvania, and especially those of Ohio and Indiana, might have appropriately raised such a monument years ago. Not less than 100,000 square miles of country between the Ohio river and the northern lakes, a famous fruit growing region, owe the origin of their fruitfulness largely to the peculiar labor and novel method of the person named. His bones lie in a neglected and forgotten grave, where they were placed about forty years ago; but there are some still living who remember well how his nurseries in the wilderness along the Ohio, Muskingum, Wabash and other streams, planted while he tramped through the woods from 1801 until 1840, supplied trees to the early set- tlers. He first appeared in western Pennsylvania, with early settlers, and beyond the fact that he was born in Boston, in 1775, nothing was known of his antecedents, or of his family, except that he had a sister, Persis Broom. He came among the settlers carrying a bag of apple- seeds, which he planted through the Alleghany valley, and when that region became too thickly settled for his carrying out his novel idea, he entered the wilderness of Ohio with a horse loaded with leathern bags containing appleseeds collected at the Pennsylvania cider presses, where the first fruits from his pioneer orchards were used. He planted seeds along Licking creek, and there are a number of trees standing in Lick- ing county, which are the original growth from his seeds. Chapman soon became known as Johnny Appleseed and his right name was unknown to many of the later generations. He selected the most fertile spots in the many valleys tributary to the Ohio river, sowing, it is said, as much as sixteen bushels of seed to the acre. When he had planted a nur- sery he enclosed it with a stout brush fence. He then left it and tramped to some other rich and loamy vales where he sowed and fenced as before. After planting along the Ohio tributaries in 1806, he planted all along the second route ever opened through the Ohio wilderness, which was from Fort Duquesne or Pittsburg via Sandusky to Detroit. When one
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stock of seeds was exhausted, this persistent enthusiast returned with his leathern bags to the cider presses and obtained more. When the trees in these strange nurseries were large enough to be sold, and there were farmers in the neighborhood to buy them, the planter would visit them or appoint an agent to look out for the sale of them. If the far- mer had money Johnny Appleseed would take his price in cash, but he would accept old clothes, corn-meal, or any other article, even notes made payable when he called again and demanded the amount, but he was never known to ask payment of a note or to even keep one in his pos- session. What he did with these obligations is a mystery. If he received money he always gave it to needy settlers or purchased articles for them which they lacked. Johnny Appleseed carried with him on his long tramps through the forest, tracts and books on the doctrines of Swedenborg, of whom he was an ardent follower, and he never entered the cabin of a settler without reading something from one of these books, as a preliminary to anything else. At one cabin he would tear out a few leaves or a chapter and leave it there for the perusal of the settler and and his family, at another he would leave another section of the book, and so on until he had scattered a small library in tattered parts over a large extent of country. On subsequent rounds he would gather them up and leave other portions in their places. Thus he managed to fur- nish his reading matter to several families at the same time, the only objection being that as the subsequent distributions were made with no particular rotation of parts, the books had to be read by many of Johnny Appleseed's parishioners backward, and from the middle of the work to either end. This singular character lived the rudest and sim- plest of lives, and for forty years slept in the woods wherever night over- took him, and subsisted on fruits and vegetables alone. He believed it a sin to kill any living thing for food, and believed it wrong to even prune or graft a tree to increase or improve the fruit. He said that there should be eaten only the natural products of the seed as God had ordered. He was the constant and faithful friend of all dumb brutes, reptiles and insects. He made the care and protection of aged and infirm horses his special duty on his rounds. If he saw a settler work- ing a horse that was lame or blind or afflicted in any way, as settlers were frequently compelled to do, he would purchase it at the owner's price and then give it to some one who could afford to treat it gently or turn it loose to end its days in peaceful pasture. Hundreds of reminis- cences of his strange and beneficent doings are related by farmers from the Ohio to Lake Michigan. He always dressed in the cast-off clothing he received in exchange for apple trees, and made his journey usually barefooted and bareheaded. Once he went through the Muskin- gum valley arrayed in an old coffee sack, through a hole in the bottom of which his head was thrust, while from a hole cut in each side his hands and arms protruded. In the winter time he wore as a hat a large tin dipper, which he carried to cook his corn-meal mush in. The Indians regarded him as a great medicine man, and many stories are told of how
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his influence with the savages saved many a border family from toma- hawk and firebrand. He came to Allen county as soon as there were settlements, and established nurseries at various places. He was a short, " chunky " man, restless, with bright, black eyes. In expounding his religion or describing his apples, he was remarkably eloquent, and used excellent language. He died at the home of Richard Worth, on the St. Joseph, in 1845.
Among those particularly prominent in the settlement of Washington township, was one still a resident, John Archer, who came here with his father in 1825. He was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, September 25, 1822, son of David and Anna (Crisenbury) Archer. David Archer was born near Philadelphia, in 1807, and died in Washington township in 1861. He was elected county commissioner in 1834 and served for four years. He was a man of indomitable energy. He was a Mason and a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. The mother of Mr. Archer was born in Boone county, Ky., and died in Washington town- ship at about seventy years of age. John Archer is the eldest of three living children in a family of eleven. In the fall of 1844 he settled on his present farm of 240 acres. He attended school only three months with a teacher named Hague, but learned well his life occupation, farming. For nearly six years he was one of the board of trustees of Washington township, and for sixteen years was trustee under the present law, his last term expiring in 1886; he also served four years as assessor. He was formerly an old-line whig, and is now a republican. October 4, 1849, he was married to Mary Poinsett, born in Montgomery county, Ohio, July 6, 1825, and they have five children living: Anna E., Mary J., Oliver A., Winfield S. and Andrew J. Mr. Archer is the third oldest resident of the county living, and is one of its most honorable and worthy men.
John S. Poinsett, a son of a worthy pioneer, and himself a resident of Washington township since childhood, has become widely known as one of the leading farmers. He was born in Hanover township, Montgomery county, Ohio, November 23, 18IS. His father, Peter Poinsett, was born in New Jersey, and died in the . county of Allen at fifty-two years of age. He married Mary Rock- hill, born in the same state, who died in Allen county at about the same age. Mr. Poinsett, the eldest of three living children, was raised on the farm. As early as 1828, he came with his father to Allen county and remained one season and then returned to Ohio. About 1834 the family made a permanent settlement. Mr. Poinsett has been occupied during life as a farmer and stock dealer. About 1855 he settled where he now lives, and owns 220 acres of well improved land. He was married in 1843 to Ellen Rockhill, born in Montgomery county, Ohio, and they have six children: William, John, Harriet, Joseph, Mary and Edward. In politics he is a republican, and cast his first presidential vote for William H. Harrison. He is one of the prosperous men of this county, but all has been won by his own exertions.
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John B. Grosjean, a prominent pioneer of Washington township, is a native of France, born May 3, 1819, being one of the two survivors of five children of Claude and Frances Grosjean, natives of France. The family immigrated, reaching New York City, May 3, 1834, and on the 4th of June, arrived at Fort Wayne, taking a whole month to make the trip over land. The parents died in this county, many years ago. John B. Grosjean was raised on the farm, and in 1846, began farming for himself on the land he now owns, 137 acres of well improved land. He was married in 1848, to Miss Mary Porson, who was born in France, April 6, 1824, daughter of Bernard and Cecilia, natives of France, who died in Washington township, her father in 1858 and her mother in 1870. They built and kept the first tavern in Washington township. Mr. and Mrs. Grosjean have nine living children. He and wife are members of the Catholic church.
Edward Grosjean, son of the above, was born in Washington town- ship, July 7, 1860, the fourth child of his worthy parents. He was raised on the farm, and received his education at the public schools and at Fort Wayne Methodist college. After leaving school he worked on the farm one year, and then in 1881, embarked in the saw-mill business on the Lima road. The next year he removed to Wallen, and has there been engaged in that business ever since. For six years he has also been manufacturing tile extensively. In 1884, he became associated with two brothers in the firm of Grosjean Brothers, manufacturers and dealers in hardwood lumber and drain tile, and they have done a pros- perons business, now employing sixteen men. Their reputation as enter- prising business men is widespread. Mr. Grosjean was married in 1881, to Martha Hudson, who was born in Allen county in 1860, and they have one child, Ray, born in September, 1884. Mrs. Gros- jean is a member of the Methodist church, and he of the Catholic church. In politics he is a republican. He is a popular young man, and already occupies a leading position.
Edward Beckman, who has been for forty-five years a resident of Washington township, is the son of prominent pioneer parents. His father, Henry Beckman, and his mother, whose maiden name was Sophia Tegtmeyer, were both born in Germany in 1804, were married about fifty-two years ago, and came to Allen county in 1836. These vener- able and esteemed people yet reside in the township where they made their home in the forests. The older of their two living children, Edward, was born in this county April 11, 1841. He was raised on the Washington township farm where he still lives, and obtained a good education in the Lutheran schools. November 12, 1862, he was mar- ried to Eliza Gerding, who was born in Washington township in 1844. They have nine children: Edward H., Louis P., Louise, Sophia, Justa, Eliza, Frederick C., Harmon E. and Julia. Mr. Beckman has always occupied a high position in the esteem of the people of the county as a capable and straightforward man, and in 1880 the members of his party (democratic) testified their confidence in him by tendering
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