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 43
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Claude, Lizzie, Maggie and Grover C. He and wife are members of the Lutheran church and are highly respected. .
Daniel Van Zile is a native of Ohio, born July 4, 1833, son of Jesse and Mary Van Zile. He was raised in Ashland county, Ohio, and in 186I came to Indiana and settled in Perry township, where he cleared a farm of forty acres. Seven years later he removed to Cedar Creek township upon the farm where he now lives. In 1854 he was married to Rachel M. Brit, born April 10, 1836, and they have had ten children, of whom eight are living: Thomas, Mary, John, Sidney, George, Aldey, Ida and Samuel. He and wife are members of the Lutheran church. When he settled in Allen county he had nothing, and his early life was attended with much privation and toil, but he has had remarkable suc- cess, and now owns 120 acres of good farming land.
August Fox, of Cedar Creek township, is a native of France, born near Strassburg, April 9, 1827, to Anthony and Catharine (Halter) Fox. His parents came to America when he was about two years of age, and first settled in Stark county, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He received all his schooling in the old pioneer school-house, but is now a well-informed man. He served an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, which he has followed through life. In 1851 he was married to Mary Myers, who was born January 15, 1835, by whom he has had eleven children, the following now living: Lena, Anna, Henry, Emma, Clara, Rosa, Agnes, Francis, Charles and Martha. In 1852 he removed with his wife to Noble county, where he bought eighty acres of wood- land, paying only $50 down, and then began clearing and working on his farm, and in the summer season he worked at his trade. He paid for his eighty acres, and then added forty acres. "He remained on his farm until 1863, when he sold out. After following his trade three years, in 1872 he bought and removed to the farm of 160 acres where he now lives about one-half mile west of Leo. It is one of the best improved farms in the township. His industry and good qualities have made him one of the leading farmers.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP.
Through this township runs a ridge or water-shed, from Fort Wayne extending toward the lakes, and along this in 1839, the Hicksville or ridge road was surveyed, which has come to be an important highway. Three years previous, in 1836, there had been several settlements in the township. William Sweet and family, from New York, had made a home. Isaac Hall, a native of Pennsylvania, who had lived and married in Portage county, Ohio, came up by way of the Maumee settlement, and became a leading man. At his house the first election was held in October, 1837. He was inspector, and Ezra May, who was another of the 1836 settlers, was elected justice. May was quite enterprising, and in 1837-8 built a grist-mill, and the next year established a blacksmith
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shop. At his home the first religious meeting was held in 1838 by Rev. True Pattee, and in the same house his daughter, Mary E., passed away-that being the first death among the settlers here. In 1837 there settled Jeremiah Whaley, Henry Gruber, James King, Rich- ard Glaze, Estes Howe and William Ringwalt. In Mr. Gruber's family occurred the first birth, a son named Henry, born in November, 1838. Nathan Lake and family came to the vicinity of Cuba in 1838. Ezra Worden, who came in 1838, settled in 1841. Richard Anderson came in 1839, and in the following year John D. Reichelderfer, now a patriarch among the people of the township, began his labor of clearing away the forest. Thomas Lucas, who came to Fort Wayne in 1831, removed to this township in 1842. In 1840, and afterward, settlers multiplied rapidly, and a list of them is impossible. Several are hereafter mentioned. Soon after the opening of the ridge road, taverns were kept by William Letcher and Ira Johnson, and about the same time John N. Alderman opened a tavern near the site of Maysville. The first postoffice was established at the village of Cuba, in the southwest corner of the town- ship, and here a town was laid out by Andrew Metzgar, in June, 1855, but though it promised to succeed, it has not grown to importance. In IS51 the neighborhood at Hall's Corners was given a postoffice, and it still remains, perpetuating the name of an old settler.
Maysville - The place of Ezra Mays was a center of business at an early date, and in a room of his house, Richard McMullen started a store, in 1847. In May, 1859, Mr. Mays laid out a small plat of the town which bears his name, south of the Hicksville road, adjoining the plat of Harlan, which had been laid out in December, 1853, between the Hicksville and Spencerville roads, by Lewis Reichelderfer. The towns grew into one, and though the name Maysville has now been attached to both, the postoffice is still known as Harlan. Additions were made by Mr. Mays, W. Squires and Lewis and Charles Reichelderfer. The popu- lation is now about 700.
In 1859, the Maysville flouring-mill was erected by John Hawkins, which has been an important industry. It has been successively in the hands of Hawkins & Anderson, Timbrook & Ashley, the Eckles Brothers, Eckles, Small & Sturm, and is now owned by the firm of Ober, Mann & Anderson. The next industry was the saw-mill, established · by Seymour Coomer and Jacob Bickart, first as a shingle-mill, in 1862. Interests have since been owned by Jacob and Matthias Hollopeter, Joseph D. Stopher, Horace Herrick, William B. Daniels, and John Small. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1867, and rebuilt by Jacob Hollopeter and now owned and run by Cummins & Reichelderfer. The Mayville planing-mill was founded by Isaac Bickhart, in 1875, and in 1879, a saw-mill was built by him.
Harlan lodge, F. & A. M., was instituted in May, 1863, and chartered May 25, 1864, with the following members: Peter S. Crisenbury, Ira S. Skinner, Marvin C. Munger, Rev. David Pattee, Rev. J. S. Sellers, William Herrick and George Platter. It now has about thirty members.
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Prospect lodge, No. 331, I. O. O. F., was chartered June 22, 1869, with the following members: Arthur M. Taylor, J. S. Crites, John Horn, Jefferson Walter, and Josiah Roller. The first meeting was held November 4, 1869. A building was purchased by the lodge immedi- ately after the organization, which was used for its meetings until the summer of 1889, when the lodge purchased the Maysville graded school building, which it now occupies. The membership is about forty-five. The first newspaper at Maysville, was the Harlan Independent, estab- lished by D. M. Allen, who published it until being elected county sur- veyor, he removed to Fort Wayne, when the paper was discontinued. In March, 1889, a paper was established under the same name by James Forsyth, formerly of New York city, who has proven to be an able man- ager and editor. This favorite weekly is independent in politics, and aggressive in news gathering. It has steadily grown in popularity and has a circulation of over 1,000 copies, and a steady increase in subscriptions. In 1887, the Maysville Breeze was established by J. M. Shutt; this was a creditable paper, but the office was destroyed by fire early in July, 1889. Other prominent business men of Maysville, are: Dry goods - heirs of Samuel Eminger, Grubb & Co., William Reichelderfer; hard- ware -Oliver Minnie, Hays & James; drugs -J. H. Omo; furniture and undertaking -E. C. Carrington; blacksmiths - James Webber, William Page, George Brown, William Oberholtzer; harness- A. B. Umstead. Charles A. Starr is postmaster and proprietor of the Starr hotel.
Nelson B. Hall, for many years from an early date a resident of Springfield township, is a son of Isaac Hall, the notable pioneer who has been referred to. Isaac Hall was born in Erie county, Penn., in 1804, and while yet a young man, went into the wilds of Ohio. In February, 1833, he was married to Margaret Bardue, and they lived in Ohio upon a small piece of land given him by his father, until 1836, when they came to Allen county, and first went to the settlement in Mau- mee township, but remaining there only two or three months, then came through the trackless forest to Springfield township, and bought 240 acres of wild land. Here he built his log cabin in the woods, but before ' he could bring his family to it, he lost his wife by death, a severe blow to him. But aided by his sister-in-law, he went on with his work in the wilderness, and a year later he was married to Jane Bardue, a sister of his deceased wife, and a good mother to his orphan children. Indians were numerous at that time and often came to Mr. Hall's to trade their beads and baskets, and as was peculiar with them always demanded the provisions for which they traded in basketful lots. Game was abundant, and wolves, bear and deer quite numerous. Mr. Hall was widely known and respected as a representative pioneer of the best class. He served as trustee of his township several years, as justice in Scipio eight years, and as county commissioner one term, 1860 to 1863. With the surroundings just described, Nelson B. Hall was raised. He was born in what is now Summit county, Ohio, December 12, 1833. His educa-
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tion was received in the old log school-house, and at the academy at Fort Wayne and at Newville. Being well educated he began teaching at nineteen years of age, and taught during fifteen years. From his salary he saved enough to buy and partially pay for sixty acres of unim- proved land. In 1863 he was married to Jennette Moore, who was born November 3, 1838, and by this union had three children, one of whom, Ivan, survives. After marriage he resided in Springfield township until 1887, when he retired from farming and made his home at Hicksville, Ohio, where he has a good two-story dwelling and handsome grounds. He still owns 160 acres of good land in Springfield township, well improved. Mr. Hall is an influential and prominent man, and during eight years served as justice of Springfield township. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is a class leader.
Christian Gruber, an early settler and leading German farmer of Springfield township, was born in Piqua, Ohio, December 29, 1824, son of Christian and Mary (Ruber) Gruber. The father came to Ohio while a young man and was enlisted a short time afterward in the war of 1812, in which he served until the close. Christian came to Indiana in 1837 with his brother and worked as a laborer nine or ten years, and then bought forty acres which he cleared and converted into a beautiful little farm. In 1853 he married Mary, daughter of Simon and Catha- rine (Harner) House. Of their thirteen children, eight are living: John, Sarah, Joseph, Milton, Ellen, William, Clara and Anna. Mrs. Gruber was born May 9, 1831. She and husband are members of the old Lutheran church, of which he has been an elder about forty years, and is deacon and trustee at present. He served about four years as constable but has declined other offices. When he first came to Allen county there were but three families in his township. With his parents, Mr. Gruber underwent all the trials and discomforts of early days, being deprived of the advantages of schools, but he is nevertheless intelligent and enterprising, and is numbered among the worthy and respected citizens of Allen county.
George P. Lake, of a pioneer family, was born in Vermont, Novem- ber 24, 1834, son of Nathan and Jerusha (Sheldon) Lake, both natives of Virginia. They moved to Vermont when aged eighteen or twenty years, and there married and remained until 1835, when they left Ver- mont in search of health, the husband being consumptive. He came with his family of eight children by boat to Maumee City, and then took wagons and struck the Black Swamp where it required three days to travel seven miles. They settled in LaGrange county, but after eighteen months removed to Allen county and settled where Fort Wayne now stands. During the first years there he cultivated forty acres of corn within the present city limits. In the spring of 1838 he removed with his family to where Cuba now stands, built his wigwam covered with bark and moved with his family upon his entry of 120 acres made in 1837. There the father died in 1853. George P. remained on the old home-
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stead until he was twenty-nine years of age, when he bought eighty acres in Springfield township. He remained on this farm fifteen years when he sold, and bought ninety-four acres and settled upon it. When his father first settled in this township there were no roads of any kind, and they had to make their way through an almost trackless forest to get to and from neighbors or to Fort Wayne, where they were com- pelled to go for the necessaries of life. The forest trees grew fewer before the sturdy blows of their axes, and they were soon repaid for their hard work and energy with fields of growing grain. In 1857 he was married to Rosetta Rupert, born in 1841, and they had three chil- dren: Charles C., Rosa and Ora. In 1875 he married Jane Dragoo, born in 1843, by whom he has one child, Nelson, born November IS, 1876. He and wife are members of the United Brethren church. He has a handsome farm of eighty-four acres. In 1865 he enlisted in Com- pany D, One Hundred and Fifty-sixth regiment, under Capt. Sitvers, and served until the close of the war, being discharged at Wilmington, Del.
Cyrus Hollopeter, an old settler of Allen county, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 12, 1828, son of Abraham and Lydia (Myers) Hollopeter. At nineteen years of age, he came with his parents to Cedar Creek township, where his father bought eighty acres of land. Here, in the twentieth year of his age, Cyrus cleared seven acres of ground for his father for the balance of his minority. Coming to Spring- field township, he bought fifty-three and one-half acres of wood-land nearly three miles from any house. In two or three years he traded this for the forty acres where he now lives. February 25, 1850, he was married to Lydia Conway, in Fort Wayne, by Esquire Du Bois. Of their nine children, six are living: Henry J., Francis E., Avery A., Mary W., Seldon R. and Lydia R. Mrs. Hollopeter was born October 28, 1830. . He and wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church since they were children, of which he is one of the present trustees. He served as constable ten or twelve years, and has been school director about twenty years. He was a member of the Regulators during their reign in early days. At one time he owned 360 acres of land in this state and Michigan. He is one of the respected farmers of his township.
William H. Ringwalt, a substantial citizen of Springfield township, was born in Indiana October 14, 1844, son of William and Catharine (Staufer) Ringwalt, both of German descent and natives of Pennsyl- vania. The father in 1835 emigrated to Ohio and settled near Gallion, where he cleared eighty acres of wild land. In 1837 he sold this farm and started to Elkhart county, but when he saw the fine timber of the land in Allen county he changed his mind and entered eighty acres of land in Springfield. township. He was well educated in both the English and German languages; served as constable of his township about four years and was present at the time of the organization, when there were only seven voters in the township. He and wife were members of the
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United Brethren church, of which he was an official member. He was one of Allen county's best citizens. William H. remained on the home- stead farm until seventeen years of age, when he enlisted in the Twenty- third Indiana battery. He participated in the battles with John Morgan, at Brandenburgh, Ky., at Roytown, Tenn., the siege at Knoxville, Buz- zard Roost, Ga., Resaca, Ga., Ettawa River, Allatoona Pass, Punkinvine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Burnt Hickory, Big Shanty, Marietta, Chattahoocheeiver, Jonesboro, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville. He served two years and nine and one-half months and received an honor- able discharge at Indianapolis, July 2, 1865. October 24, 1875, he was married to Anna Maria Boger, born July 12, 1853, by whom he had four children, three of whom are living: May, Orin and Elza. He and wife are members of the Protestant Methodist church. Mrs. Ring- walt is the second of three children of Matthias and Anna (Dressbach ) Boger. Her father was born in Ohio, July 14, 1809, son of John G. and Mary (Faust) Boger. He came to Indiana in 1836 and entered 240 acres which he occupied in 1840. In 1870 Mr. Ringwalt embarked in tile and brick manufacturing on the old homestead. He has 120 acres of good land, well improved, with substantial buildings. He is a good citizen as he was a brave soldier. Though beginning poor and deprived of the advantages of schools, except those of pioneer days, he has become a leading citizen and has the esteem and good will of the community.
Estes Howe, one of the pioneer settlers of Springfield township, was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., May 30, 1812, son of Benjamin and Sarah (Stewart) Howe. His father died when he was about one and a half years old. He remained with his mother until eight years of age, when he was taken by an uncle to raise. At fourteen years of age he was apprenticed at the tanner and shoemaker trade, which he followed while in New York; has made his own boots since he was fourteen years of age. He was one of the pioneer shoemakers of Allen county, making all kinds of boots and shoes. O. February 25, 1836, he mar- ried Susan, daughter of Jeremiah and Susannah (Waite) Whaley. Her maternal grandmother, Mercy Madison, was related to President Madi- son. By this union were born ten children, seven now living: George B., Charlotte, Ellen, Estes O., Sarah H., Samuel E., Harriet M. and Reeleefee R. Mrs. Howe was born April 16, 1817, in Tompkins county, N. Y. They were married in Oswego county, and in 1837 they settled in Allen county, where Harlan now stands. Here he began working at his trade for Ezra May, and two years later abandoned his trade, except at odd times, and began working out, taking contracts for clearing land for land, and first got eighty acres in DeKalb county, which he soon traded for eighty acres of canal land in Allen county. He continued at clearing several years, and early in the forties settled on forty acres in section 21, in Springfield, which he cleared and after- ward bought and added 100 acres. In 1871, he retired from the farm and moved to Harlan, where he now lives. He has cleared in all about
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100 acres of land in Springfield township for others besides his own. He never speculated, but has made all he has by hard work, close economy and good management. He served as one of the board of trustees of his township, as treasurer one year and trustee about three years. When he first came to Indiana the first corn be bought he went about fourteen miles for, and bought two bushels at $1.50 per bushel, and then went to what is now called Rudisill's mill, a distance of about ten miles, to have it ground. The next spring after coming to Indiana, he walked eight miles and split 400 rails in one day for one bushel of corn.
Ezra Worden, a substantial farmer of Springfield township, was born in Onondago county, N. Y., July 25, 1827, son of Ira and Charlotte (Wentworth) Worden. His father's father served in the English forces during the revolution, and his mother's father was a soldier on the American side. When eleven years of age, Ezra left home and worked out two years, when he became dissatisfied and hired out to the first man's brother-in-law, and worked three months at $3.00 per month with the privilege of going to school that winter. He hired out the next spring for nine months, for $3.00 per month, and at the end of this time his father had taken up all his wages except $3.00, so that he was dis- appointed in his expected winter's schooling. His employer gave him cloth enough for a coat, three yards, instead of the $3.00 due him. He then began work for a doctor at $4.00 per month, having previously contracted with his father for his time at $1.00 per month. He con- tinued to work as a farm hand about ten years, and accumulated enough to buy wild lands in Indiana. In 1838, he bought eighty acres of wild land in Allen county, but being too poor to settle, he returned to New York, where he remained three years. In 1841, he married Elizabeth Walsworth, by whom he had nine children, seven of whom are now liv- ing: Emma, John W., William Ezra, Ella, Charles, Grant and Freddie. After this marriage he returned to Springfield and made his home in a log cabin on his land. In October, 1861, he enlisted in Company D, Forty-fourth Indiana volunteer regiment, and was with his company in all its engagements. He was wounded at Shiloh by being shot through the right breast and arm, and again at Chickamauga, he was shot in the right side, breaking three or four ribs. In 1862, he was taken prisoner at Stone River and was confined in Libby prison two or three months. Being paroled, he rejoined his company and in the battle of Chickamauga, after he was wounded, was left on the field and was again picked up by the eneiny. He is the fortunate possessor of 118 acres of as good land as there is in Allen county, and is one of the county's best citizens. He has served as constable two years. His wife is a member of the Protestant Methodist church.
John D. Reichelderfer, one of the pioneers of Springfield township, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 16, 1812. His parents, John and Christina (Spangler) Reichelderfer, were both born in Berks county, Penn., were married in Pennsylvania and came to Ohio in 1806.
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There they raised a family of eleven children, of whom our subject was the fifth, but is the oldest living. He remained with his father until twenty-one years of age. In April, 1832, he married Hester, a daugh- ter of Jacob Markel, born February 19, 1810, and this union was blessed with seven children, of whom two are living: Jacob and Sarah, wife of J. W. Fry. When married, they began on a rented farm, with three cows, horse, and a very little furniture. He remained on this farm six years, and on September 10, 1840, started for Indiana and traveled through to Allen county in wagons. In 1835 he made a prospecting tour on foot, and bought 160 acres, the homestead farm, but only remained a short time. Returned home two years later, he came back and contracted with Henry Gruber to clear two acres, and built a hewn- log house, to which he removed with his family in 1840. He cleared his farm by working almost day and night, his wife helping him in all his work. Often would she work with him in the night time burning logs, and would assist in putting out the crop, and one day she covered ten acres of corn with the old fashioned jumper with a boy to ride the horse, besides doing her own work. They began the struggle of life without anything, but have done well. He has in his possession an old fashioned anvil which was used to hammer out the old Dutch scythe, also the old scythe and whetstone. He also has an old fashioned lamp which has been handed down by five generations. He and wife have been members of the old school Lutheran church, he since childhood, she since sixteen years of age. He, in company with John Zeimmer, cleared several miles of roads in the township of underbrush. He retired from the farm in 1873 to Harlan where he now lives. He has been one of Springfield township's worthiest farmers since his residence here.
Jacob Reichelderfer, son of the above, was born in Ohio, January 3, 1835. He came to Indiana with his parents when only five years of age and helped his father clear the homestead farm. He was one of the first scholars in the first school ever taught in Springfield township. This was taught by Sarah Bracy in a double log dwelling house in Maysville. The teacher would take chalk and mark on the slab benches each scholar's place to sit. On December 30, 1856, he married Sarah, daughter of William and Mary (Rudisill) Harter, who were early set- tlers of Richland county, Ohio. This union was blessed with eleven children, of whom six are living: Jacob Franklin, Anna S., Joseph E., Lavina H., William H. and Sarah C. Mrs. Reichelderfer was born November 27, 1837. He and wife are members of the old school Lutheran church, of which he has served as deacon several years in succession and is leader of the choir. In 1845 their Sunday-school was organized, he being one of the first pupils. In the early days they would attend in bare feet; the girls were more fortunate than boys, but they would go in their bare feet until within view of the church when they would don their shoes. He now owns eighty acres of the homestead farm.
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