CHESTER KAY WATSON has been a member of the Indiana bar since 1925, and has made a mark as an able young attorney and a high minded and progressive leader in civic affairs in the city of Fort Wayne, where he practices, with offices in the Citizens Trust Building.

He was born at Prairie Depot, Wood County, Ohio, June 9, 1900, son of William L. and Sadie (McConnell) Watson. His parents were born in Orange County, New York, and his father for many years was active in the oil production industry. It was an oil boom near Prairie Depot, Ohio, that caused him to move to that vicinity and he drilled one of the first wells in Wood County. Since 1925 he and his wife have lived in Fort Wayne. They had a family of six children: Mrs. E. J. Harshman, of Toledo, Ohio; William L., Jr., of Chicago, Illinois; K. N., of Fort Wayne; Mrs. C. W. Faust, of Chicago; Chester K.; and Mrs. Howard Degan, of Fostoria, Ohio.

Chester Kay Watson graduated from the high school at Prairie Depot in Ohio in 1920 and for one year was a student in Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio. On coming to Fort Wayne in 1922 he worked for six months for one of the large baking firms of the city and in the fall of the same year entered the law department of the University of Indianapolis, where he was graduated LL. B. in June, 1925. Mr. Watson after graduating returned to Fort Wayne and has steadily practiced law. He has also taken an active interest in public affairs and politics. In 1928 he was candidate on the Democratic ticket for the office of state senator. He is a former president of the Young Men's Democratic Club and was state chairman of the young men's advisory committee for the Democratic party. In 1930 he was a candidate for the office joint representative for the State General Assembly.

Mr. Watson, who is unmarried, is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of the Optimist Club, University Club, LL. B. Club and the Allen County, Indiana State and American Bar Associations.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CLARENCE ARTHUR BALDWIN. The name Baldwin has been favorably known in connection with the medical profession of Miami County since pioneer times. The Baldwins are a Vermont family and all their early connections were New England people. Charles Baldwin, a native of Vermont, came to Indiana about 1825, and he and other Vermonters named their new settlement Jerome. Later he moved to Sycamore Corners in Howard County. He was a man of character and high standing in his community, served as postmaster, justice of the peace and showed a willingness to cooperate with others in getting important improvements accomplished. He married a Miss Lancaster, also from New England.

Dr. J. A. Baldwin, father of Clarence A. Baldwin, of Peru, was born in Vermont, was brought to Indiana when very young and served two enlistments as a Union soldier in the Civil war. After the war he engaged in the practice of medicine and was the first doctor in the southern part of Miami County. For many years he practiced medicine at Amboy in this county.

Clarence A. Baldwin was one of a family of six sons and three daughters, and was born at Amboy, Miami County, May 18, 1871. He attended public schools, the Friends Academy at Amboy, completed his medical preparatory course in Indiana University and in 1899 was graduated from the Homeopathic Medical College of St. Louis. After graduating he returned to Amboy, where he was associated with his father, then practiced a year at Windfall in Tipton County and in 1904 moved to Peru, which has been his home for over a quarter of a century and where his reputation as a professional man has been enriched by distinctive services and by the relationships of a public spirited citizen.

Doctor Baldwin married Emma Kalbfleisch. Her father, A.. H. Kalbfleisch, was for many years a practicing physician in Peru and quite active in politics, serving as health officer. Doctor and Mrs. Baldwin had a family of four sons: George, in business; John, who died in 1912; Joseph, a high school student; and Conrad, attending grade school.

Doctor Baldwin is a member of the Indiana Homeopathic Association, American Institute of Homeopathy, the Southern and Mid West Homeopathy Association. He is on the staff of Duke's Memorial Hospital, is a member of the State Board of Charities and was secretary of the Miami County Board of Charities. He is affiliated with. the Presbyterian Church, is a member of the Miami County Historical Society and during the World war did his part in helping in the sale of Liberty Bonds. Doctor Baldwin is a descendant of a Captain Baldwin, who was with the Green Mountain boys from Vermont in the Revolutionary war. The father of Doctor Baldwin was born in a roadside leanto while his parents were traveling overland by wagon to Indiana.

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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


WILLIAM H. SHAMBAUGH, of Fort Wayne, expresses all the qualities, natural and acquired, of the able lawyer and the public-spirited citizen which made his career of the highest value to the community in which he lived practically all his life. He practiced law for over forty years, and his professional business is carried on by the capable minds of two of his sons, Willard R. and Howard M., who constitute the present law firm of Shambaugh & Shambaugh in Fort Wayne.

William H. Shambaugh was born in Allen County, February 24, 1856, a son of Daniel and Sarah (Yeiser) Shambaugh. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, his father born in 1816 and his mother in 1830, and they were early settlers in Allen County, Indiana. William H. Shambaugh, the youngest of five children, grew up on an Indiana farm and attended Indiana rural schools. His early education was supplemented in one of the finest schools in the Middle West at the time, the Holbrook School at Lebanon, Ohio, which he attended from 1877 to 1879. During the following three years he was superintendent of schools at Fremont, Indiana, and in 1882 removed to Fort Wayne, where he completed his law studies in the office of Judge Samuel R. Alden, and was admitted to the bar in 1885. His work as a lawyer was in the general field of practice. His chief interests in a financial and business way were in connection with the Lincoln National Bank, the Lincoln Trust Company and the Wayne Company, all of which he served as attorney from the time they were chartered and he was also a director. In 1926 the Allen County Bar Association honored him with the office of president. William H. Shambaugh drew up, in 1893, the present municipal charter of Fort Wayne, which became effective in May, 1894, and in that year he was the nominee on the Democratic ticket for the office of mayor.

It was a singularly fine and sincere tribute that the Allen County Bar Association gave him a memorial resolution at the time of his death, when it said: "He enjoyed in his later years some of the rewards of his useful and well spent life, for he must have known, as he met and greeted his fellow-townsmen, the high regard in which he was held by them and which was shown and exhibited by their atti- tude and manner toward him."

William H. Shambaugh was always active in the Democratic party, and on many occasions showed his power as a public speaker. In 1886 he was elected a member of the General Assembly and reelected in 1888 by a large majority. For twelve years he was city attorney of Fort Wayne. He was a member of the board of trustees of the Fort Wayne schools for a number of years, was active in the various Masonic bodies, the B. P. O. Elks, Commercial Club, Rotary Club, Quest Club and the First Presbyterian Church.

William H. Shambaugh died February 21, 1927. He married Miss Louise Robertson. Her father, Col. Robert S. Robertson, was an old and honored resident of Fort Wayne. Mrs. Shambaugh died in 1915, and they are survived by three sons, Willard R., Howard M., and Robert L.

Willard R. Shambaugh was born at Fort Wayne, April 28, 1897, attended school in his native city and graduated A. B. from the University of Michigan in 1919. He took his law degree at the Harvard Law School in 1922. He was admitted to the bar in 1921 and for six years had the fortunate experience and training of close association with his father and since 1927 he and his brother Howard M. have carried on the practice. He is also a director of the Lincoln National Bank & Trust Company and the Fort Wayne Hotel Company.

Willard Shambaugh married, October 10, 1923, Miss Mervyn Pidgeon, who was born at Fort Wayne, daughter of Charles T. and Maude B. (Keplinger) Pidgeon. Her father was born in Clinton County, Ohio, and her mother in Fort Wayne. Mr. and Mrs. Shambaugh have a daughter, Shirley, born December 23, 1928. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, member of the University Club and the Fort Wayne Country Club. During the World war he was in service with the navy at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station for seven months.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


FRANK EARL COATS was born and reared Illinois and had his early business career in that state. He has been a resident of Indiana for the past fifteen years, and is one of the well known business men of Mishawaka.

Mr. Coats was born at Macomb, Illinois, November 10, 1885, son of James K. And Mary (Truitt) Coats. His parents are now deceased. His father was a native of Southern Indiana and his mother was born jn New York State. Of the six children the two oldest are now deceased.

Frank Earl Coats, the youngest child graduated from the grade and high schools of Macomb and after graduating, in 1905, from the Dr. Carl L. Barns School of Anatomy in Chicago, he engaged in the undertaking business at Macomb. He remained there for ten years and in 1915-16, after coming to Indiana, was in business at Michigan City. He was associated as a partner with Mr. L. W. McGann at South Bend from 1916 to 1920. Since 1920 he has conducted a business of his own in Mishawaka, where he is proprietor of the Coats Funeral Home at 216 Lincoln East. His long experience has been supplemented by the possession of some unusual personal qualifications for success in his profession and business.

Mr. Coats married, November 28, 1907, Miss Blanche Farrar. Her mother, Mrs. James Farrar, lives at Macomb, Illinois. Her father is deceased. Mrs. Coats was born at Rushville, Illinois, grew up at Macomb, and graduated from the Western Illinois State Normal College there a short time before her marriage. Mr. Coats has been interested in young people and has helped several boys through school. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Knights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lions Club, Fellowship Club and the Mishawaka Chamber of Commerce.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


ARTHUR EDWARD CASTLEMAN was a very alert and popular business man of South Bend; and exemplified qualities that gained him the confidence of his commercial associates and many close friends. He was the founder and owner of the A. E. Castleman Coal Company.

Mr. Castleman, who died at his home at 1122 West Colfax Avenue October 22, 1929 was at the time in the prime of his powers and experience as a business man, being only fifty-four years of age. He was born at Culver in Marshall County, Indiana, September 5, 1875. He was a small boy when his father, John Castleman, died, and at an early age he learned the serious responsibilities involved in working to help support his mother and brothers and sisters. He left school, and after working at Culver for several years moved to Mishawaka, where for eight years he was manager of the Mishawaka Grain Elevator. He then established a coal business, and his brother Carl J. joined him in the partnership. Mr. Arthur Castleman sold the business to his brother Carl in 1921. Mr. Carl Castleman is still an active figure in affairs in Mishawaka. Mr. Arthur Castleman in 1921 established at South Bend the A. E. Castleman Coal & Ice Company and developed that as an important retail and wholesale establishment before his death.

He was a popular member of the South Bend Business Men's Association,. the Chamber of Commerce, the Northern Indiana Coal Dealers Association. He was affiliated with The Knights of Pythias at Mishawaka and was a member of the Izaak Walton League. A short time before his death, while hunting in Canada he caught a small bear, which he gave to the South Bend City Park and all the school children know the animal as "Canada Mike."

Mr. Castleman married, December 24, 1896, Miss Nellie Pettis, who at her death left a daughter, who is now Mrs. H. L. Robertson, and she and her daughter, Mary Elizabeth Robertson both live in South Bend.

Mr. Castleman in 1927 married Mrs. Emma Entzian, who survives him. She is a very capable business woman. She was employed by several of the coal firms of South Bend and had been with the A. E. Castleman Company before her marriage and since Mr. Castleman's death has carried on the business of the A. E. Castleman Coal & Ice Company as owner and manager. She is an active member of Saint Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church, of which Mr. Castleman was a member. Mrs. Castleman was born at South Bend. By her first marriage she has a daughter, Virginia May Hill.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


FRANK MORTON HART is a native son of Jasper County, Indiana, and his life record there has presented him in turn as a practical farmer, merchant and banker.

He was born November 9, 1863, son of Sylvester P. and Fanny H. (Brown) Hart. His father was born in Vermont and came to Indiana when a young man. He was a Methodist minister, helped established churches and attended congregations in a number of Indiana communities. At the time of the Civil war he joined the Union army and was with the One Hundred Sixty-first Indiana Infantry. He died in 1870. His wife was a child when her parents came to Indiana from Virginia. Frank M. Hart is the only surviving son in a family of five children and his only living sister is Flora, now Mrs. Flora E. Querry, of Medaryville.

Frank M. Hart was educated in district schools and after leaving school took up the tasks and responsibilities of a farmer. He has been in close touch with the agricultural situation in his home township for many years, and owns farm lands there as well as property in the town of Demotte, where he has lived and where for several years he conducted a feed business and later was a dealer in farm implements. He turned over the implement business in 1922 in order to give his full time to his duties as president of the Demotte State Bank. In 1926 he was elected township trustee, and has given a very satisfactory administration of the schools and other matters handled by this important office in Indiana counties. Mr. Hart is a Republican and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

He married, April 3, 1883, Miss Hattie C. Thompson. Five children were born to their marriage, Maggie, Edna, Effy, Blanche and Frank M., Jr. Blanche is still at home. Maggie is the wife of Nelson Fairchild, of Demotte, and has three children, and Edna married A. Fairchild, lives in Chicago and has two children. Effy is the wife of T. J. Spencer, of Valparaiso, Indiana, and has one son. Frank M. Hart, Jr., is assistant cashier of the Demotte State Bank. He married Buelah Spurgeon and has one child, Shirley.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


GUY REES YORK in his busy law practice at Peru frequently comes in contact with people who have known of his family for a great many years. The York family was established in Miami County when most of the land was still owned by the Government. His grandfather and great-grandfather acquired land from the Government where the town of Peoria is now located and from their land they gave the site for the first church in the town. The Yorks came originally from York, England, there being five brothers of the name who came to America in Colonial times and settled in North Carolina. A son of one of these brothers was Nathaniel York, who was born in North Carolina and moved to the country north and west of the Ohio River at an early date, first living in Preble County, where his son Benjamin S. York was born, and later going to Miami County, Indiana. John H. York, father of the Peru attorney, was a native of Miami County, was a farmer and was well known in Republican politics. He served as road supervisor. He married Ruth A. Rees, who was born in Wabash County, Indiana, daughter of Harrison E. Rees. Harrison Rees was one of a family that owned a large amount of land adjoining the town of Santa Fe and gave the site for the Methodist Church there.

Guy R. York is one of two children. He was reared in the country, attended grade and high schools and in order to get money for his college expenses he taught in Peru Township, worked on a farm and clerked in stores. In 1907 he was graduated from the Indianapolis College of Law and admitted to the Indiana bar the same year. He has since been admitted to practice in the state Supreme Court and Federal courts. He worked at other things for over a year after graduating from law school, but in 1909 opened his law office in Peru, and has given his time to a very successful law practice and has accumulated various business interests. He is a director of the First National Bank of Peru, a director of the Peru Basket Company, the Miami Manufacturing Company, the Loomis Amusement Company and other business organizations.

Mr. York was secretary to the State Senate of Indiana in 1917. While active as a Republican, he has never sought public office. He was president of the Miami County Bar Association in 1929-30, was president of the Eleventh District Bar Association in 1928-29 and is a member of the Indiana State and Ame ican Bar Associations.

Mr. York married Miss Olive Greer, who was born in Virginia. She takes an active part in literary and church affairs at Peru. Mr. York was on the legal advisory board during the World war and did all he could to promote the success of the drives for the sale of Liberty Bonds and the raising of funds for other patriotic purposes. He rendered service as a four-minute speaker. He is a member of the Columbia Club of Indianapolis and for several years was president of the Peru Rotary Club.

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INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


MANSON M. LAIRY, M. D., former member of the American College of Physicians, has practiced as a physician and surgeon at Lafayette for thirty-seven years.

He was born in Fairfield Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, October 6, 1862, son of Alexander and Mary Ann (Isley) Lairy. The Isley family is of German extraction and were Colonial settlers in Virginia. They have through the generations displayed loyalty, their fidelity to their belief and their obligations as citizens, and during the Revolutionary period the family was represented in the ranks of the Colonial soldiers. Alexander Lairy was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, and accompanied his father, Daniel Lairy, to Tippecanoe County, Indiana. Alexander Lairy was a farmer and died when a young man. He and his wife had five children.

Manson M. Lairy was educated in country schools, had training for work as a teacher at the Central Indiana Normal College at Danville and for five years taught school in country districts of Tippecanoe County. He began the study of medicine in the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville and in 1893 was graduated M. D. from the Indiana Medical College, now the medical department of the Indiana University. On graduating he located at Lafayette. and for two years was associated in practice with Dr. W. S. Walker and since then has been alone. Doctor Lairy has worked hard, has been earnest in preparing himself for the increasing responsibilities of a successful doctor, and his abilities have commanded the respect of not only the people whom he has immediately served but members of the profession in general. During 1901 he took post-graduate work in the New York Post Graduate School of Medicine and has attended many clinics over the country. He was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians in April, 1922. At Lafayette part of his time is taken up with his duties as a member of the staff of the St. Elizabeth and Home Hospitals and for thirty-five years he has been chief of staff of St. Joseph's Orphanage. He has been medical director of the Lafayette Life Insurance Company since it was organized in 1905. Doctor Lairy has been honored with the office of president of the Tippecanoe County Medical Society, is a member of the Indiana State and American Medical Associations and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He is a life member of the B. P. O. Elks and also belongs to the Knig.hts of Columbus. He married Miss Annie Cassel, of Lafayette.

Doctor Lairy during the World war was a member of the Officers Medical Reserve Corps. He has been elected a member of the City Council of Lafayette and for fifteen years was on the school board. He is now secretary of the board of health.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CHARLES A. WEST has been practicing law at Lafayette since 1913. His career has been successful and his clients and friends at Lafayette have known him chiefly as a leading member of the bar, but before he had qualified for his profession he went through long years of earnest struggle and work to support himself and his parents, to get an education, and before becoming a lawyer he had been quite active in labor circles in Indiana.

Mr. West was born in Carroll County, Indiana, July 23, 1883. His father, Isaac West, was born in the State of Delaware, and served as a Union soldier during the last year and a half of the Civil war. He came to Carroll County, Indiana, about 1868, but subsequently returned to Delaware for a time and in 1872 established his permanent home in Carroll County. He was a farmer and a blacksmith. He married Anna Downs, also of Delaware.

Charles A. West was the youngest child and only son in a family of seven children. When he was still a small boy his parents became invalids and as the only son a great deal of work and responsibility devolved upon his youthful shoulders. Mr. West was born in a log house in Tippecanoe Township of Carroll County. Poverty and hard work were his constant companions until well after he reached his majority. He made the best possible use of his opportunities in attending the local schools in Carroll County and at the age of twelve he was working practically throughout the year, contributing his wages and earnings to the support of the family. For a time he was employed at the Soldiers Home at West Lafayette. He learned the barber's trade and while working during the day attended night school classes of the Lafayette Business College. In 1907 he began the study of law under Judge Byron Langdon, of Lafayette, and later for two years was associated with Martin Quinn, under whom he completed his preparation for the bar. Mr. West was elected and served as judge of the City Court of Lafayette from 1922 to 1925 and has since 1927 has been county attorney of Tippecanoe County. During the World war he was a member of the legal advisory board and he also made a personal application for entrance to the Officers Training School. This application was accepted and he was ordered to report at San Francisco, California, November 20, 1918. The signing of the armistice cancelled that engagement.

Mr. West was president of the Lafayette Central Labor Union in 1906-08 and in 1907 was vice-president of the State Federation of Labor. He is a Republican, was honored with the office of secretary of the Tippecanoe County Bar Association in 1923 and is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association. Mr. West is a past master of Lafayette Lodge No. 492, A. F. and A. M., is a member of the Royal Arch Chapter and Council degrees of Msonry and belongs to the Improved Order of Red Men.

He married Amanda Nelson, of Lafayette, and they have two daughters, Marilyn and Jean, both attending school at Lafayette.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


JOHN CHRISTOPHER RUMMEL, whose business address in South Bend is 1124 South Main Street, is a native of Northern Indiana, and has had a career in whicb his enterprise has been directed in a diversity of undertakings. He is well known in insurance circles and is also a heating and ventilating contractor.

Mr. Rummel was born near Nappanee, Union Township, Elkhart County, Indiana, June 14, 1872, son of Isaiah and Mariah (Strycker) Rummel. His father was born in Ohio, near the Pennsylvania line, was with an Ohio regiment in the Union army during the Civil War, and in 1865, soon after leaving the army, came to Indiana and located his home on a farm in Union Township, Elkhart County. On this farm he lived out his life, being an industrious and highly respected citizen of that locality. His wife was born in Union Township, Elkhart County, her father; Christian Strycker having come to Indiana from Canada. John C. Rummel was the second in a family of eight children, all of whom are living except two of his sisters.

Mr. Rummel grew up on an Indiana farm, attended a nearby district school, and when he was twenty-one years of age embarked in a business career, as a dealer in farm implements at Wakarusa. To this business he soon added windmills and a lightning rod agency. He was a merchant in Wakarusa for fourteen years. Selling out his business, he moved to New Mexico, bought a section of land and engaged in ranching there. His wife died in New Mexico and he soon afterward disposed of his farm holdings and returned to Wakarusa and for a time was employed by his brother, to whom he has sold the implement business. Mr. Rummel for thirty years has a dealer in lightning rod equipment, in windmills, and has at the same time sold fire, lightning and tornado insurance, his business having covered four states. In his business as a dealer and contractor in furnaces and heating equipment he has been established for eighteen years. From 1911 to 1917 his business headquarters were at North Liberty in St. Joseph County, and since 1917 he has been located at South Bend.

Mr. Rummel is a director in the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company of Goshen, Indiana, and a director of the Hoosier Cyclone Insurance Company. He is a member of the First Brethren Church and is a charter member of the South Bend-Mishawaka Warm Air Heating and Ventilating Association.

He married Miss Martha Clay, a native of Elkhart County, Indiana. Her father, Henry Clay, was an early settler there. Mrs. Rummel passed away in New Mexico, leaving six children: W. Arthur Rummel, whose career is briefly sketched on other pages; Pearl, at home; Hazel, deceased; Dr. Blanch Rummel, an eye specialist of Bloomington, Illinois; Mrs. Florence Meller, of Chicago; and Goldie, the wife of Carl Masuth, of Elkhart. Mr. Rummel has three grandsons, Arthur Lee and Weir Allen, sons of W. Arthur Rummel, and Devon Donald, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Masuth, of Elkhart.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


Deb Murray