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 54
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60
439
ANNALS OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
Fidelia Hance, both of whom are dead. Jane Whitcomb is living in Michigan, the widow of Joseph Roe. Hiram Whitcomb married Maria Hance, and resides in Wayne county, Mich. Harriet Whitcomb mar- ried Jacob Mercer. Martha Whitcomb was married to Benjamin Emerick, and resides in Nebraska. Edward Whitcomb was married to Margaret O'Harra, and is now dead. Almira married Robert Small. Martha Jane married Emory Brown, and had five children: Hiram, Charley, Emma, Warren and Eva, before she died February 13, 1870. Maria, Robert, jr., Albert and Harriet Small died in infancy. Mary A. Small, born March 15, 1850, was married to John M. Brown, March 14, 1865, and has four children. Mr. Brown is the leading merchant of Williamsport. Nellie Small, born April 10, 1852, was married to Cal- vin Lipes August 9, 1873, and has two children, Robert B. and Elsie Idella, who reside in Fort Wayne; Jolîn E. Small, of Fort Wayne, born October 28, 1854, was married to Clara Lipes June 12, 1879, and has three girls: Bessie, Innis, Lida Bell. D. L. Small, born Jan- uary 7, 1857, was married to Nettie McCague December 3, 18SI, and has one child living, Grace. He is at present living at Hoagland, and is engaged in the brick and tile business. Lucinda E. Small was born September 25, 1860, and was married February 15, 1880, to David M. Fonner, who was born on the 26th of February, 1858. His parents, natives of Pennsylvania, were residents of Adams county, but in 1861 settled in Marion township, where the mother still resides, the father having died June 21, 1888. After marriage Mr. Founer removed to Adams county, near Pleasant Mills, where he bought forty acres of land, and cleared a portion. About two years and a half later, he.removed to Hoagland, and then to his present place of residence in Marion town- ship. Franklin Small was born July 24, 1865; married March 19, 1888, to Ella Reed. Marion F. Small was born November 11, 1858, the third son of Robert and Almira; at twenty-two years of age, he engaged in the brick business, having learned the trade with his father, near Decatur. He removed to Hoagland, February 14, 1884, and went into business with Thomas Devilbiss, with a general stock of the value of $3,000. Three months later Devilbiss sold to Joseph Somers, who remained a partner about three years, and then sold to Ed. Merriam. March 17, ISSS, Mr. Small disposed of his interest, to Mr. Merriam, then opened a store at Allegan, Mich. A year afterward he took charge of his father's farm, where he still resides. Mr. Small was married March 10, 1884, to Emma B., daughter of Lewis Robinson, and they have two children: Blanche M. and Irma M. Mr. Small held the office of postmaster at Hoagland, while in business at that place. George Small, the youngest of Joseph Small's family, was born in IS28. He went to Illinois, after- ward to Colorado, then to California, and is now a resident of Nevada. He was married to Julia Beam, and they had five children.
Fred Beckman, of Marion township, was born in the city of Fort Wayne, July 14, IS40. His parents, Henry W. and Caroline Beckman, were natives of Bremen, Germany, and in 1838 became pioneers in Allen
440
VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE.
county. They first settled in Fort Wayne, and remained four years, dur- ing which time the father helped to build the old bank. They then removed to Adams county, but eight years later, returned to Allen county and settled in Marion township, where the father died March 28, 1884, his companion having died eighteen or twenty years before. To them were born six children : Lewis, Fred, Jane, August, Lewis, Francis N. and John, of whom three are living: Fred, Francis N. and Jane. The latter is a resident of Fort Wayne. Fred Beckman began work for himself at twenty years of age, on the farm now owned by him. Soon afterward, he enlisted in the Ninety-first Indiana regiment, and served until the close of the war, in the company of Capt. Joseph Keiffer. At the close of the war, he returned to his farm. He was married October 28, 1868, to Catharine Hake, and they have eight children: Maggie, Louisa, Catharine, Amelia, William, Christian, John, and Ben- jamin, all of whom are living. Mr. Beckman has succeeded in develop- ing one of the finest farms of Marion township. In the fall of 1868, he erected on his farm a frame dwelling which he now occupies. He and family are members of the St. Joseph Catholic church. He has been successful in business, and is a respected citizen. His wife is a daughter of one of the oldest families in Marion township, John and Gertrude Hake. The father is dead, but the mother is living, at the age of seventy-one years. The eldest child of Mr. Beckman was married to John Wyss in June, 1886, and has one child living: Clara. They are residents of Marion township.
Nicholas F. Beckman, son of John Beckman, was born December 14, 1850, on the farm which his father purchased on coming to the town- ship, and which he, at the latter's death, came into possession of. His handsome improvements reveal his skill as a carpenter as well as his success in agriculture. He was married May 19, 1885, to Maggie, daughter of Rudolph and Mary Hoffman, of Madison township. She was one of a family of ten children, eight of whom are living: Cathar- ine, Mary, Maggie, Caroline, Rosa, George, Simon and Regina. To Mr. and Mrs. Beckman have been born two children: Rudolph F. and William Francis. Mr. Beckman has his farm under a fine state of cul- tivation, and is, as is evidenced by his crops, a practical farmer. He, like his father, is a staunch democrat; socially he is worthy and respected by all. Successful and enterprising, he has surrounded himself with all the comforts of farm life. He and family are members of the St. Joseph Catholic church at Hesse Cassel. John Beckman was a resident of the township until his marriage with Ellen Herber in 1882, when he removed to Wells county, where he died in the fall of 1885. He left a wife and two children, now residing here.
Philip Snider, of Marion, was born in Botetourt county, Va., August 18, 1818. He is the son of Philip and Nancy (Dolman ) Snider, natives of Pennsylvania, who removed to James River, Va., when Philip, jr., was six years old. The father, a farmer by occupation, died in Virginia, during the civil war, at about eighty years of age. In his
-
441
ANNALS OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
family were eight children: Barbara, Henry, Tina, Ann, Philip, Sarah, Solomon and Mary, seven of whom removed to Indiana and all but two came to Allen county. Philip Snider came about 1848, alone and with- out any conveyance, and spent two weeks and a half in making the journey. After about four years he returned on foot, purchased a team and brought back his two sisters. He purchased a farm of 240 acres in section 32, Marion township, at $2.75 per acre, and has added to this until he now owns 390 acres of land valued at $60 per acre. Mr. Snider was married in 1852 to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Delilah Snider, who emigrated in 1853, when Mrs. Snider was three years old, and settled in Marion township. The father was postmaster at Poughkeepsie, afterward Poe postoffice. He raised a family of eleven children: Mary Jane, Rachel, Evan, William Henry, Marinda, Elizabeth, John Wesley, Emily, Philena, Carlisle and David. Of this family John Wesley is a resident of Mexico; Carlisle, of Frontier county, N. C. The latter enlisted in 1861 in the One Hundredth and Thirty-fifth regiment, as a musician, but at Look- out Mountain exchanged his instrument for a musket and was one of the first to reach the summit. Mary Jane became the wife of Judge Nelson McLain. To Mr. and Mrs. Snider have been born six children : Delilah, Mary Kansas, Preston H., Sarah Emily, Minnie and Charley Boyd. Delilah married John Fonner and has one child, Zulu Maud. Mary Kansas was married to Marion Smith and has two children: Stella May and Clements. Preston H. married Tilla Felger and they have one child, Frank Boyd. He is conducting his father's farm. All the children but the youngest have studied at Fort Wayne college, and have received a good business education. Minnie graduated in ISSS. Mr. Snider was trustee of the township when there were but three schools, Williamsport, Middletown, and what was called the Center school. He and wife and family, with one exception, are members of the Methodist · Episcopal church at Williamsport, which was organized at a very early day, and met for a number of years at the home of Mrs. Snider's father.
Jacob Mercer, of Marion township, was born September 16, 1818, in Cumberland county, Penn. His grandfather was a German who emigrated to America in colonial times. Michael Mercer, the father of Jacob, was a soldier of the revolution. He also served under Gen. Wayne, on his expedition against the Indians of the Maumee Valley. He helped clear the ground on which old Fort Wayne was built and helped in its construction. He was engaged in all the battles with the Indians, on that expedition, and served until the close of that war. When on picket duty one night he saw what appeared to be a large black bear, but its grunt was somewhat peculiar, and he leveled his musket and fired. The thing rolled over dead, and upon examination it was found that the bear skin enveloped an armed Indian. After the war closed, Mr. Mercer returned to Pennsylvania, but soon removed to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he had received 160 acres of land from the government, for
442
VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE.
services rendered in the revolutionary and Indian wars. He was married while in Pennsylvania, to Susannah Bachte, by whom he had three children in Pennsylvania and eight in Ohio. The only survivor of this family so far as is known, is Jacob Mercer. When the latter was about eleven years old his father died, leaving the family in comfortable cir- cumstances. About 1850 the mother and children removed to the Indian reserve in Pleasant township. She died about 1864, at ninety- four years of age. Jacob Mercer began to support himself at the age. of eleven, and when thirteen years old he started for Missouri on foot, to visit a sister in that state, whom he succeeded in finding without much trouble which, considering his age and the condition of the country, was well-nigh miraculous. He learned the trade of "head-sawing " while in Ohio, and followed this occupation in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Indiana. Coming to Indiana in 1850 he worked with Edsall, of Fort Wayne, and afterward in the mill of Samuel Hanna, Middletown, where was got out material for the construction of the old plank road, known as the Piqua road. In 1851 he was married to Harriet Whitcomb, whose par- ents lived in Allen county, and he then removed to Ohio, and purchased eighty acres of land, in Hancock county. Two and a half years later, he returned and purchased eighty acres of land in Marion township, and has since bought eighty acres in Madison township, and twenty acres in Marion township. Mr. Mercer fully realized the amount of toil necessary to make this country a pleasant home, for he had traveled through it long before he came here to live. He has been highly successful as a farmer, as shown by his well tilled fields and his horses and other high grade stock, and is one of the leading citizens. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Middletown. Mr. and Mrs. Mercer have three children: Robert, Eliza Jane, and Rebecca. Robert residing in Madison township, is married to Nancy McKeeman, and they have three children: John, Frank and May. Eliza Jane is married to William H., son of William Van Horn, of Madison township. They have three children: Carrie May, Cora Rebecca and Jacob William. Rebecca is married to Michael Flaugh, and they have a daughter, Nora Viola.
O. E. Jamison .- The paternal grandfather of the Jamisons of Allen ' county, was David Jamison, born June 16, 1769, who was married to Ann, daughter of James Springer. James was the son of Carl, the son of Christopher, who came from Sweden in the colonial days and pur- chased in the region now Delaware, a large tract of land and leased it to others for ninety-nine years. Being a nobleman he returned to Sweden, and left the settlement and the development of the country to those less fortunate than himself. During the lapse of time the land was bought up by innocent purchasers and improved until its value is at present esti- mated by the millions. It comprises the city of Wilmington and all the region in that vicinity. The task of tracing the title back to Christopher Springer is next to impossible, as the lease or the record of it can not at present be found, though there is little if any doubt that the vast estate legally belongs to the heirs of Christopher Springer, of whom the fam-
443
ANNALS OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
ily of Jamisons are the direct descendants. To David Jamison were born eight children: Mary, Jane, John, Elizabeth, Richard, Ann, Samuel and Rebecca. To Richard, the father of O. E. Jamison, there were born eight children: John R., Anna, Moisella, Rebecca, O. E., Richard, H. G. and Clark. There were in O. E. Jamison's family eleven chil- dren, six boys and five girls: Thomas, Samuel, A. B., J. M., L. Bell, Curtis C., Artie M., Everll M., Frank Etta, Elmer E. and Montie W. F. Two of the daughters were for a number of years teachers in the pub- lic schools. Thomas Jamison, the eldest of the family, is a farmer of Benton county, Ind., and Samuel is a farmer of Newton county. A. B. Jamison entered the Fort Wayne College of Medicine in 1878, and two years later graduated with honors. He began the practice of medicine in Portland, Jay county, and one year later removed to Decatur where he continued to practice for two years. He then began traveling as a specialist in liver and kindred diseases, and two years 'afterward went to New York, where he continues his practice as a specialist. J. M. Jamison studied law with L. M. Ninde, of Fort Wayne, and entered the law department at Ann Arbor, where he was graduated. He began the practice of law in Streator, Ill., and one year later was sent as a representative of the Springer heirs, to Europe, where he remained for two years. He afterward located at Grand Rapids, Mich., where he edited the Progressive Age, in connection with his law practice. Resign- ing his position on that journal, he has since devoted his time to the practice of law. Curtis Jamison is a farmer by occupation, upon his father's farm. Elmer E., was a number of years one of Allen county's efficient teachers, but became a merchant at Hoagland, in the spring of 1889, and is conducting a successful business in drugs and groceries. Two of the daughters, Artie M. and Montie W. F., having graduated at the Fort Wayne College of Medicine, began the practice in one of the hospitals of New York, where they still remain. Frank Etta is a grad- uate of the Mansfield, Ohio, high-school. Mr. Jamison has bestowed upon his children a legacy which will ever remain with them, a liberal education, and all are proving themselves worthy of it. Mr. Jamison came to Allen county, from Fayette county, Penn., and he settled on section II, Marion township, having purchased 240 acres of land. He has now a farm of 320 acres of very valuable land, and is a successful business man, and a worthy and respected citizen.
John Gresley, of Marion, son of Peter and Barbara Gresley, was born February 18, 1824, in York county, Penn. The grandparents of Mr. Gresley were natives of Germany, who settled in Pennsylvania. Their son Peter settled in Wayne county, Ohio, in 1838, and subse- quently removed to Marion township in 1852, bringing his wife and one daughter. He had twelve children: Henry, Peter, Elizabeth, Catha- rine, Jacob, Sarah, John, Daniel, Susan, Leah, John and Barbara, six of whom are living: Peter in Huntington county; Sarah and Daniel in Michigan; Susan in Marshall county; Elizabeth in VanWert county. John Gresley came in 1852 and purchased 160 acres of land in Marion
·
444
VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE.
township for $500. Returning to Ohio he spent two years, and then brought his wife and four children. He was married November 14, 1844, to Sarah Ann Bonewits, one of a family of twelve children, of parents who settled in this township and have succeeded. Mr. and Mrs. Gresley have had eleven children, of whom Margaret, Amelia, Eliza- beth, Solomon, and Lewis Wilson are dead. Solomon married Mar- garet Jane English, and had two children: Sarah Bell and John Leroy. He died December 20, 1878. Peter Miles enlisted when about eighteen years old, 1864, and served until the close of the war. He married Mary C. Mock and has two children: Emma May and John Franklin. He resides in Kansas. Ann Maria married George Adair, of Hoagland, and has three children: Ida Della, Aminda and Cecilia. Mary Ann mar- ried Francis Hake, and has two living children: Noah Leander, Financis and John Clifford. John Esli married Mary Elizabeth Neireter, and had two children: Lulu Amelia and Nathan Casper. The mother died in 1889. Lincoln Grant married Sarah C. Hanley and resides in Michi- gan. Sarah Almira married John Youse, and has three children: Amos, Lewis and Dwight. Noah is conducting the business of the farm. Mr. Gresley occupied the log house he first built, from 1852 to 1865, when he built a more commodious dwelling. He built the first frame barn in Marion township, in 1856. He has a fine farm of 160 acres, and keeps the best breeds of stock. He has by his sociability and hon- esty, won a large circle of friends.
Early in the century Jacob Smitley, of London county, Va., a worthy young man of Swiss parentage, with the pluck characteristic of that sturdy people, determined to seek a home in the new northwest. He had been married in 1806, to Catharine Youkin, whose ancestors had emigrated to America from Hesse-Cassel, perhaps in the early part of the eighteenth century. In 1817, with his wife and three children, he journeyed a long distance over primitive roads in search of a new home. All of their goods were stored in a four-horse wagon. The husband drove the team and cared for the two older children, while the wife walked the entire distance and carried her babe in her arms. Reaching the site of Adamsville, Ohio, they remained there four years and then settled on an eighty-acre farm two and a half miles south of Chandlers- ville. There Jacob Smitley died in August, 1868, at the age of eighty-nine years. This venerable age is surpassed by his widow who was born in Bucks county, Penn., December 4, 1787, and is still living, at the home- stead. Eleven children were born to the good couple. The eldest, Elizabeth, eighty years of age, is the companion of her mother. Jona- than, Eli, Sarah, Melissa, and another, are dead. Anamiah, now Mrs. Greenfield, resides at Boscobel, Wis., and Elizabeth, Enos, Horace and Selena reside at the old home. Mrs. Aurelia Cassie Jones, the youngest, is fifty-two years old, and resides at Zanesville, Ohio. Jonathan Smitley, the oldest son, was married in 1836 to Ann Smith, daughter of Edward Smith, a native of England, and Jane Shaffer, of French descent. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had eleven children : Jonathan, Thomas, Rebecca, Eliza-
445
ANNALS OF THE TOWNSHIPS.
beth, Martin, Catharine, Ann, Nathan, Eliza and George. The family removed from Virginia to Zanesville, Ohio, in a one-horse cart, accom- panied by a number of horses. In the fall of 1852 Jonathan Smitley and family emigrated to Allen county, and settled in Marion township, in the forest. He purchased IIo acres of land, seventy acres of which he converted into fine farming land. In this farm home ten children were born, of whom eight are living: Enos, George E., Horace, War- ren, Sarah, Lois, Melissa and Mary. Enos C. Smitley, the oldest son, was born at Muskingum, Ohio, April 19, 1837. At twenty-one years of age he began the carpenter trade, and served an apprenticeship of five years with William Stirk and George Holmes, after which he engaged in contracting and building. He was married July 4, 1860, to Rebecca, daughter of John and Lucinda Small of Marion township. In the win- ter of 1863, Mrs. Smitley died, leaving two children, who then found a home with their grandmother. One of the children died, but Homer B. survives. On the 3d of September, 1865, Mr. Smitley married Martha J. Sweet, by whom he has had six children, of whom are living: Viola M., Mabel, Cassius, Earl and Paul. Homer B. was educated at the Ft. Wayne college, and the normal school at Valparaiso, and is one of Allen county's most efficient teachers. He was married in June, 1887, to Mary, daughter of Jesse Heaton, of Marion township, and they have two children: Garnet and an infant daughter. Viola M. was married in April, 1889, to William H. Reed, an attorney of Decatur, Ind. Mr. Enos Smitley is a highly respected citizen, and has a profitable business with his brother Warren as a partner. He and wife have been faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church for twenty years. George E. Smitley, second son of Jonathan, was born August 23, 1838, in Mus- kingum county, Ohio, and at fourteen years of age removed to Allen county, with his father. He was married in October, 1860, to Sarah Ann Johnson, of Adams county, sister of Mr. George Morton, of Allen county. Three children were born to them; Eliza Jane, Charles A .; Emma Llewellyn, and the mother died February 5, 1886, after long suffering with heart trouble. She was a faithful and devoat member of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Smitley is a member at Middletown. Adjacent to that village, Mr. Smitley has a good farm of fifty-three acres, and throughout the township he has many warm friends and is esteemed by all. Warren N. Smitley, son of Jonathan, was born October 5, 1859, on the homestead in Marion township. He worked on his father's farm until twenty-two years of age, and then began the carpenter's trade with his brother Enos, of whom he became a partner five years later. He was married September 16, 1886, to Leolo Houser, and they have a daughter Irma. They reside at Hoagland. Mr. Smit- ley is a good mechanic and a worthy and respected citizen. Like all those mentioned lie is a republican.
Harvey K. Turner, of Marion, was born April 14, 1835, son of William W. Turner. His grandparents were natives of England, who immigrated near the year 1796, and settled in Madison county, N. Y.,
446
VALLEY OF THE UPPER MAUMEE.
where they raised a family of four children, and passed the remainder of their lives. William W., their oldest son, was the first white child born in that county. He was married while living in New York, to Welthie Caswell, in the year 1820. After living near Cazenovia some time they removed to Ohio, in 1832, and located in what is now Lake county, where he purchased a farm which was partly improved. There were born to them in New York four children: Clarissa, Mary Ann, John and Harriet, and in Ohio three: William H., Harvey K. and Sarah, all of whom are living. In 1852 Mr. Turner removed to Indiana, and settled in Marion township with all his family, save his wife who died in 1848. He purchased 200 acres of land on the St. Mary's river, of which only about seventy-five acres was cleared. Out of this timber tract, he, with the help of his sons, developed one of the finest farms of the county. Here he died in February, 1879, at the age of seventy-nine years. William H. Turner, son of the above, became a student in the Methodist Episcopal college of Fort Wayne, and graduated with honor in 1883, after which he entered the law school at Ann Arbor and grad- uated in 1888. After a short practice in Fort Wayne he located at De- troit, Mich., where he is at present. Harriet M. was married to Cyrus E. Miller, a merchant of Fort Wayne, and they have one child, Harvey K. Harvey K. Turner, the youngest son of William W., was married in early manhood to Harriet Essig, by whom he had the following chil- dren: Mary, died at the age of four years; Hannah E., who married P. S. Shook, and has one child, Candice; Welthie Jane, who married M. C. Comer, and has two children; Clarence W. and Laura. The mother of these children died in May, 1867, just ten years after her marriage. Mr. Turner was married the second time in September, 1869, to Jane Harris. Mr. Turner's official life began as early as 1865, when he was elected assessor, in which capacity he served four years. He was elected justice of the peace in 1870, but resigned in 1872, the people of the county electing him county commissioner, an office he as- sumed in 1873. In 1876 he was re-elected, and served with honor until 1879. With enterprising spirit he has been interested in the fair asso- . ciation since its organization, first as director and afterward as president. He is a member the Masonic fraternity, Fort Wayne chapter, No. 19, and Fort Wayne commandery, No. 4, and has attained the highest office of the order in the Olive branch lodge. Mr. Turner came in possession of the farm formerly owned by his father in 1855, and to this he has added until he owns 320 acres, upon which he has erected good build- ings. In 1888 he built one of the most handsome farm houses in the township, at a cost of about $2,200.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.