He was born in Collin County in North Texas, June 28, 1856, son of William J. and Jane (Jones) Rodman, grandson of Hugh Rodman, a native of Kentucky, and great- great-grandson of William Rodman, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war under Gen. George Washington. Mr: Rodman's parents were both born in Washington County, Indiana, the Jones family coming from North Carolina. William J. Rodman was born in 1828, became a farmer and stock man, and in the fall of 1855 moved to Texas. When the Civil war came on he joined the Confederate forces and was in the army under General Price. He died in 1866 and his wife in 1904. They had six children, Walker B., Thomas M., Hugh F., John H., Philana D. and Benjamin F. The only other one now living is Philano D.
Walker B. Rodman attended public schools in Texas, returned to Indiana to complete his education and attended the Independent Normal School at Ladoga. He put in twenty- seven years as a teacher in Indiana schools. Mr. Rodman in 1903 entered the Government service in the internal revenue department as a revenue inspector, and served in that capacity until June, 1926, when he was retired with a Government pension. He owns considerable property at Ladoga, including his home. He has always been a staunch Republican in politics. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, is a York Rite Mason and member of the Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Rodman married, August 27,1882, Miss Mary L. Mahorney, who was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, June 22, 1860. They had a family of eight children, Walker P., Grace D., William A., Sidney A., Elsie N., George D., Frederick W. and Thelma L. Grace and Sidney are deceased. Walker P. was in the World war, and is a lieutenant in the United States Navy, now stationed at San Francisco. William, who saw service in France during the war, is a public accountant living at Ladoga. Sidney, also a World war's veteran, endured hardship and exposure while in France that caused his death at the Walter Reed Hospital at Washington, D. C., and he is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery. The daughter Elsie N. is the wife of Sylvan O. Dickard, of Cincinnati, and has two children. George D., a resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, married Esther Benick and has four children. Frederick W., of Sikeston, Missouri, an architect and engineer, has done a great deal of work for the Missouri highway department. Thelma is the wife of Ralph T. Dixon and has one daughter, Ruth Ann.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
PAUL F. TRIECE is a doctor of dental surgery, and is the leading representative of his profession at Waynetown, Montgomery County. Doctor Triece has made himself popular with all classes of people in that community, and is much admired not only for his professional ability but for his public spirit and good hearted fellowship.
He was born in Illinois, June 15, 1903. His father, Paul Triece, moved from Illinois to Attica, Indiana, and was in business there as a merchant. He was born in 1875 and died in 1910. During part of his life he was a farmer. Paul Triece married Etta Early, daughter of John Early, of Danville, Illinois. They had four children: Guy, who is in the radio business at Indianapolis; Donald, a business man at Hammond, Indiana; Paul F.; and Gilman, also in business at Hammond. All these children are married.
Paul F. Triece was educated in the grade and high schools at Indianapolis, Indiana, and after leaving high school entered the Indiana University, where he completed his professional course and graduated from the school of dentistry in 1926. Soon after graduating he chose Waynetown as his home and place of practice, and has been one of the hard working professional men there since July, 1926. He is a member of the dental societies, belongs to the Psi Omega fraternity, and the Masonic fraternity. He is a Democrat and a member of the Christian Church.
Doctor Triece married, January 2, 1926, Miss Elda Mae Coffman, daughter of Charles Coffman, of Brownsburg, Indiana. They have one daughter, Yvonne, born August 11, 1927.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CAPT. HENRY H. TALBOT, of Crawfordsville, is a retired farmer and land owner, a veteran of the Civil war, and a man whom all people in Montgomery County have known and admired as a good soldier, a loyal citizen and a high-minded gentleman.
Captain Talbot was born near Lexington, Kentucky, September 6, 1841, a son of Courtney and Elizabeth (Harp) Talbot. His father's people came from England, while the Harps were of German and Irish ancestry. Courtney Talbot was a Kentucky farmer and planter, using a number of negro slaves to operate his ranch and farm. Captain Talbot was one of a large family of thirteen children. Three of them died in infancy. Captain Talbot at the age of ninety is the only surviving son. His one living sister is Mrs. Kennedy, at the age of ninety-five, a resident of Washington State.
Henry H. Talbot attended public schools in Kentucky, and during his early manhood worked on his father's farm, supervising the labor of the slaves. Though he grew up familiar with the institutions of slavery, he was a Union man and answered Lincoln's first call for troops, enlisting in the Seventh Kentucky Cavalry. He entered as a private, and went through all the four years of the war, coming out with the rank of captain. He served under General Sherman and in the brigade commanded by General McCook.
Captain Talbot after the war moved to Indiana and located at Crawfordsville, where his parents had already established their home. In Montgomery County he engaged in farming and stock raising, and has been a factor in that business practically down to the present time. Captain Talbot has had an interesting experience as a farmer in the point of power equipment. He has driven ox teams to the plow, and the transition from the ox team to the power tractor has all occurred within his individual experience.
Captain Talbot has been commander of McPherson Post of the Grand Army of the Republic since it was organized. He has taken a deep interest in his old army comrades and was largely responsible for securing the Soldiers Monument in the courthouse yard at Crawfordsville, and also had some of the cannon mounted in the public square there, Montgomery County was very loyal during the Civil war and sent nearly three thousand soldiers into the Union ranks. Captain Talbot is the oldest member of the Masonic fraternity in Montgomery County.
He married, June 6, 1872, Miss Hester A. Evans, of Waveland, Indiana, daughter of Samuel and Mary Evans. Her father for many years was a minister of the Presbyterian Church. Captain and Mrs. Talbot have two daughters, May and Ethel. May is a teacher in the schools of Crawfordsville. Ethel is the wife of Wallace Sparks, of Crawfordsville, and their daughter, Helen Sparks, is now the wife of Walter McGinne.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
LEVERT E. BINNS is postmaster of New Richmond, Montgomery County. Mr. Binns has lived all his life in this county of Indiana, and his experiences in a business way have identified him with farming and with the mechanical trade and the position of a merchant. He is well liked, and respected for his integrity and capacity for doing things.
He was born at New Richmond May 30, 1893. His father, Moses R. Binns, one of the ablest farmers in Montgomery County, was born in Ohio, December 8, 1850, and spent all his active career on a farm. He is now eighty years of age, and for the past twenty years has made his home in New Richmond. He married Emma E. Dazey, of a pioneer family of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, where her family took up Government land at a very early date. Her father, Mahlon Dazey, left his farm to join the Union army, and died at Knoxville, Kentucky, while still in the service.
Levert E. Binns was one of a family of five children, and he and his brother Arlie, of South Bend, are the only survivors. Arlie married Wilma Berkshire.
Levert E. Binns secured his education in the public schools of Montgomery County. While attending schools and afterwards he worked on his father's farm, but later sought opportunities in another direction and learned the trade of plumber. Still later he was a hardware merchant in New Richmond, conducting a successful business enterprise there for five years. Mr. Binns in 1922 was appointed postmaster of New Richmond by President Harding, and his second term is the result of appointment during the President Coolidge administration.
Mr. Binns married, March 1, 1915, Roxie M. Applegate, of New Richmond. They have a son, Daniel, now a high school student.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
CHARLES TINSLEY BRONAUGH, physician and surgeon, has been in practice at New Ross, Montgomery County, for over forty-five years. He has a fine reputation for skill and learning, and has been a good friend in his community as well as its leading medical adviser.
Doctor Bronaugh was born in Garrard County, Kentucky, March 19, 1854. His father, Robert Bronaugh, was a native of Nelson County, Kentucky, a farmer, and came to Indiana and settled in Hendricks County. Robert Bronaugh married Mary Taylor, who was born in Hendricks County, Indiana, where her people were pioneer settlers. Of their eight children one died in infancy, and those to grow up were Elizabeth C., Nancy J., George T., Charles T., John W., Mary Virginia, James T., all of whom are now deceased except Doctor Bronaugh.
Doctor Bronaugh was educated in the public schools of Hendricks County, attended medical college at Indianapolis, did some practice as an under-graduate, and in 1884 received his M. D. degree. Since that time he has lived at New Ross, and has had a very large practice. In the early days he rode and drove over a wide extent of country, doing the work of the pioneer country doctor, and he has availed himself of all the facilities that have lightened the labor and extended the usefulness and efficiency of the doctor.
Doctor Bronaugh married, May 16, 1889, Miss Sadie Everson, daughter of J. K. and Hannah Everson, of Montgomery County. Mrs. Bronaugh died in 1902.
Doctor Bronaugh for many years has been a leader in the Democratic party of Montgomery County. He has attended four national conventions of the party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rebekahs, the B. P. O. Elks, the Montgomery County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations. For four years he served as county coroner and was also medical examiner for the United States Army recruiting service, and for twenty years was city health officer of New Ross. Doctor Bronaugh owns considerable city property and has two farms.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
WILLIAM JOSEPH STECKBECK is executive head of the firm of W. J. Steckbeck & Sons, manufacturers of fine Havana and domestic cigars, and the concern has made definite contribution to the industrial and commercial prestige of the City of Fort Wayne, where its well equipped establishment, with the best of modern facilities, is situated at 2217, South Lafayette Street. This progressive firm controls a substantial and prosperous business, and that business, in its history of somewhat more than thirty-five years, has been developed on the basis of superior products and effective service.
William J. Steckbeck was born at Lebanon, Pennsylvania, September 18, 1871, and is a son of Aaron and Mary (Shaeffer) Steckbeck, both likewise natives of Lebanon County and both representative of sterling families early founded in that section of the old Keystone State. Aaron Steckbeck was born July 2, 1843, and passed his entire life in Pennsylvania, where he was a substantial farmer during virtually his entire career, besides which he was a loyal soldier of the Union in the Civil war, in which he served as a member of a Pennsylvania regiment of volunteer infantry. His father, David Steckbeck, was born in Lebanon County, December 4, 1811, and was a son of Michael Steckbeck, who was born in Switzerland and who established his home in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, in 1743, so that he thus became one of the Colonial settlers in that historic commonwealth, with the history of which the family name continued to be worthily associated in succeeding generations. Aaron and Mary (Shaeffer) Steckbeck became the parents of eleven children, of whom only two are deceased; and of the nine survivors all remain in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, except William J., of this review, and Charles, both of whom are residents of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The names of the children are here entered in the respective order of birth: David, Catherine, William J., Amelia (deceased), Francis, Alice, Mary, Charles, Lora, Paul (deceased) and Sadie.
William J. Steckbeck received his youthful education in the schools of his native county, and he perhaps gained his predilection for the line of enterprise of which he is now a successful exponent by reason of having been reared on a farm that was given largely to the growing of tobacco, his father having been one of the extensive exponents of that industry in Lebanon County. Mr. Steckbeck eventually acquired knowledge of other phases of the tobacco industry, and in 1891, when he was about twenty years of age, he came to Fort Wayne, where, in 1893, he established the William J. Steckbeck Cigar Company. During the first few years his operations were conducted on a modest scale, but progressive and reliable methods and the production of high-grade cigars caused the enterprise to expand in scope and importance, with the result that the concern now has rank as one of the largest in the cigar manufacturing business in Northern Indiana, with a trade extended far outside local limitations. The factory has been continuously maintained at its present location, though the building has several times been enlarged and otherwise improved, in consonance with the demands of the increasing trade. Upon the admission of his sons, Gerald A., Ralph J. and Walker W., to partnership in the business the present title of W. J. Steckbeck & Sons, Inc., was adopted. In September, 1930, the candy business of A. C. Aurentz was purchased by the Steckbeck family, and a company was incorporated under the title of A. C. Aurentz Candy Company, Inc., with William J. Steckbeck, president, Gerald Steckbeck, vice president, Ralph, secretary and treasurer, and Leo and Walker on the board of directors. Mr. Steckbeck has secure vantage-ground as one of the representative business men and loyal and popular citizens of Fort Wayne, and is here a director of the East Creighton Avenue Trust Company. He is an active member of the Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, is a Republican, and is affiliated with the Loyal Order of Moose and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
The year 1902 was marked by the marriage of Mr. Steckbeck to Miss Hannah Walker, who was born and reared in Fort Wayne, and who is a daughter of Anthony Walker, who was born in France and who was a lad of seven years when he thence accompanied his parents to the United States, the family home having been established in Fort Wayne, where he remains as a venerable and honored citizen of eighty-four years (1930). Mr. and Mrs. Steckbeck have six children: Walker, Gerald, Ralph, Leo, Ruth and William J., Jr.
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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
ELMORE BARCE. One of the most interesting personalities of Benton County is the well known Fowler attorney, Elmore Barce, one of the foremost authorities on drainage or road law in the state. Mr. Barce along with his activities as a professional man has cultivated a number of other interests. He was a newspaper man before he began the practice of law and all through the years has been writing and has devoted a great deal of time to historical research. The people of Benton County owe him an especial debt for his labors in collecting and preserving the intimate records of the past reflecting the conditions and the personal figures in the drama of life since the white man first came to this region.
Mr. Barce is a native of Illinois, born in Will County, December 5, 1872, son of Lyman M. and Rebecca Frances (Ricker) Barce. His father was born in Massachusetts, in 1848, and was six years of age when his parents moved to Illinois. Rebecca Frances Ricker was also a native of Massachusetts, and her father, William Ricker, moved to Illinois about the same time as the Barce family. In the spring of 1875 Lyman Barce came to Benton County, Indiana. He was at one time trustee of Union Township. Several of his brothers were soldiers in the Union army. Lyman Barce died in Benton County in 1912 and his wife in 1926. They had four children: Elmore; Anna, wife of Charles Michaels, in Benton County, and mother of one son; Minnie, wife of Grant Rishling, a farmer in Jasper County, and they have a son; John, of Chicago, but he and his wife, Blanche, have no children.
Elmore Barce grew up on a farm and attended rural schools in Benton County, and following his graduation, in 1890, from the Goodland High School in Newton County took up the profession of teaching. He taught school six years, studied law at Valparaiso University, was admitted to the bar in 1897, and for three years was publisher and editor of the Fowler Republican. On October 1, 1903, he formally began his career as a practicing attorney and is now head of the law firm Barce & Barce, his junior partner being his son, Joseph Edward. He has had a general law practice, but his learning and skill have been especially availed of by those concerned with drainage matters and road building. He acted as attorney for the petitioners in the building of three-fourths of the roads of the county.
Mr. Barce married, December 24, 1899, Miss Carrie May Gaylord, daughter of Joseph Gaylord, of Benton County. Their only child is Joseph Edward Barce, who graduated from the law department of Washington University of Saint Louis and has been associated with his father in practice since 1923. Joseph E. Barce married Miss Hilda Harrington and has three children, named Betty Jane, Mary and John.
Elmore Barce was for several years chairman of the county Democratic committee and was succeeded in that office by his son. He is a member of the Indiana Historical Society and is president of the Tri-County Historical Society, the three counties represented being Benton, Fountain and Warren. Mr. Barce is author of The Land of the Potawatomi, a story of Northern Indiana Indians; Land of the Miamis, a history of the Indians of Northwest Territory, and a short Indian story, "Little Bear," which has been used as supplementary reading in many public schools. A well known special writer of the Indianapolis Star, Kate Milner Rabb, who conducts the column "A Hoosier Listening Post," recently had this to say concerning Mr. Barce: "Benton County is fortunate in having so enthusiastic a historian as Elmore Barce of Fowler. From time to time, there have been quoted in this column passages from Mr. Barce's Benton County History in the Making. Recently there has been received a unique sort of scrapbook from Mr. Barce - 'a copy,' to use his words, of some chapters which are going to make up the first volume of the Benton County history." Mrs. Rabb then proceeds to speak in detail of the features of Mr. Barce's manuscript history and her analysis is an enthusiastic commentary upon this sort of history writing. She quotes Mr. Barce's purpose as "an attempt to rescue from oblivion a multitude of interesting, ofttimes dramatic, incidents and events which have entered into the story of our development and aided in the molding of our civilization and progress."
Historical research and writing is, of course, Mr. Barce's hobby, but he also looks upon his work as a public-spirited duty and has assumed a responsibility for Benton County which other counties of the state might be proud to imitate. Mr. Barce has a genial and general personality which brings him the affection and respect of his fellow-citizens. In matters of religion he is independent, but has a well-formulated philosophy derived from a belief in a beneficent and all-wise Providence guiding the universe.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
EDWARD C. LA CROIX. The career of Edward C. La Croix, one of the dependable and very successful business men of Kendallville, shows what can be accomplished by hard work and intelligent management. Mr. La Croix began his present storage and trucking business in a very small way, but from the start he gave excellent service, lived up to his promises, and early gained the full confidence not only of his patrons, but the public as well, and it was not long before he began to prosper, and today his is the largest concern of its kind in Northeastern Indiana.
The birth of Edward C. La Croix occurred on a farm in Saint Joe Township, Allen County, Indiana, near Fort Wayne, July 22, 1889, and he is a son of Lewis A. and Marie (Martin) La Croix. As the name indicates, the family is of French origin. Lewis A. La Croix was born in France and was brought to the United States by his parents when he was thirteen years old. They located in New York State, and there, five years later, the good mother died. A short time thereafter the family migrated to Allen County, Indiana, and there, until 1890, Lewis A. La Croix was engaged in farming, but in that year he retired, moved to Fort Wayne, and there he continued to live until his death, in 1916. His wife, mother of Edward C. La Croix, was also born in France, and she was reared in Allen County. She survived her husband several years and died at Fort Wayne in 1919. They had twelve children, of whom nine survive, and of them all Edward C. La Croix is the youngest in order of birth.
Life has been a struggle for Edward C. La Croix; all that he has today he has earned through individual effort. His parents taught him from earliest childhood the dignity of honest labor and the necessity for thrift, and he always managed to save a little from what he earned. His educational training was limited to a few years in the district schools of Allen County and the public schools of Fort Wayne, and he early went to work, first as a farm hand, and later as a teamster at Fort Wayne. In 1910 he came to Kendallville and for four years he had charge and was driver of the Kendallville fire department team. When he left this employment it was to go to Auburn, Dekalb County, and there he established himself in a trucking and storage business and carried it on very successfully for seven years. During that time he built up a wide acquaintance, formed contacts with large concerns, and in 1920 felt justified in expanding. By that time he had gone about as far as he thought probable at Auburn, so he decided to return to Kendallville, where, at the county seat of Noble County, he would enjoy many more opportunities. In the fall of that year he made the change, and his good judgment has been proved in the increase in the volume of his business. His equipment is entirely modern, and he has trucks and vans for both local and long distance hauling, and he also maintains several fine teams for road work, hauling sand and similar tasks. His only fraternal connections are those which he maintains with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. La Croix married Miss Josephine Gertrude Walchalk, who was born in Noble County, one mile west of Kendallville, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Walchalk, both natives of Poland, and early farmers of Noble County. There are no children. All his life Mr. La Croix has adhered to the principle that honesty is the best policy. He believes in building a system of good public roads, in attracting the best class of immigration, in improving and extending the educational facilities and in promoting industrial development. Above all, he believes in honest government, with a square deal and justice to all.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
HON. JERE WEST, whose long service on the bench of Montgomery County constitutes almost a unique record among public officials, has been an active member of the Crawfordsville bar for nearly half a century.
Judge West was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, March 7, 1861. His father, Thomas West, was also a native of Montgomery County and an industrious farmer and substantial citizen of that locality. Judge West's mother was Mary Lee, who was also born in Montgomery County. These parents had a family of eight children: Dr. Benjamin F., Ella, Frederick W., Jere, Samuel Bruce, Joel, Herbert and Sarah.
Jere West attended school in Montgomery County and completed his literary education in Wabash College. He taught school for six years. While teaching he studied law and in 1882 was admitted to the bar and at once engaged in practice. He established himself in a large and profitable law practice and gave his entire time to his profession until 1897, when he was elected judge of the Montgomery Circuit Court. He began his first term October 21, 1897. By repeated reelections he was on the bench until he retired January 1, 1929, after more than thirty years in the office. His official record is the more notable because Montgomery County is normally Republican, but the people of the county, overlooking politics and partisanship, elected him for five consecutive terms.
While on the bench he presided over a great many important cases, and he established what is no doubt a record in the faithful performance of his judicial duties, since in thirty years he, for only one day, failed to attend a session of his court, and this because of illness. In May, 1929, Governor Leslie appointed Judge West a member of the Public Service Commission of Indiana.
Judge West married, February 23, 1888, Miss Clara Boots, daughter of Eli Boots. She was born January 11, 1869, and died April 23, 1925. Judge West is the father of a daughter, Louisa, who was born November 11, 1901, and is the wife of Dr. W. C. Service; of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Doctor and Mrs. Service have a son, William. Mrs. West was a very beloved figure in Crawfordsville. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, a member of the Eastern Star and Pythian Sisters.
Judge West is an accomplished student of the lore and mysteries of Ancient Free Masonry, and has been very active in the affairs of the order. He was elected most worshipful grand master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Indiana, serving as such from May, 1929, to May, 1930. He is a Knight Templar, a member of the Eastern Star, and also holds membership in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the B. P. O. Elks.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
HENRY W. DEBELIUS is a prominent Kendallville business man, president and one of the proprietors of the Kendallville Foundry Company. He has been the means of giving Kendallville an industry whose products have a wide distribution over the country and contribute not only an important pay roll to the city but give it increasing fame among the distant localities to which these products penetrate.
Mr. DeBelius was born in Germany, September 5, 1875, but has been an American since he was five years of age. In 1881 his parents, Conrad and Katherine (Clobes) DeBelius, came from their native country and settled at Auburn, Indiana. His father died there in 1886, and in 1917 the widowed mother came to Kendallville and lived with her son John until her death on December 4, 1925.
Henry DeBelius, oldest of the family of six children, four of whom are living, grew up and attended school at Auburn, also received part of his education at Fort Wayne, and as a youth learned the trade of foundryman. His first independent business in that line was the operation of a small foundry at Auburn. e was also in a similar business at Butler, Indiana. In 1915 he removed to Kendallville and with his brother, John DeBelius, started a foundry. Almost from the first it was a business that did more than satisfy the local demands for its service. Several times the plant has been remodeled and enlarged and the Kendallville Foundry Company today has one of the largest and best equipped plants of the kind in Northeastern Indiana. In 1920 the business was incorporated, since which time Mr. Henry DeBelius has been president, and his brother, John, secretary and treasurer. The plant executes orders and commissions for a large amount of custom and general jobbing work, some of these orders coming from factories and other establishments allover the country. They also have a steady line of output of street castings and ornamental lamp posts . These lamp posts are widely known among the trade and municipal authorities as the Kendallville Standard. Mr. DeBelius is a popular member of Kendallville's social life, belonging to the B. P. O. Elks, the Country Club and Chamber of Commerce.
He married Katherine Frances Carrick, of Kendallville. Her father, Martin Carrick, came to Indiana from Pennsylvania before the Civil war. When he died, in December, 1914, he lacked only about three months of attaining the age of one hundred years. Mr. and Mrs. DeBelius have two daughters. Helen Elizabeth is the wife of Leroy Marker, of Kendallville. Dorothy married Leo Scheiblehut, of South Bend, and has a daughter, Rose Marie.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
THOMAS L. COOKSEY is a physician and surgeon whose work has brought him a very high standing in his profession at CrawfordsvilIe, and he is also the mayor of that city.
Doctor Cooksey was born at Brookville, Indiana, November 9, 1870. His paternal grandparents came from England and France. His father, Isaac M. Cooksey, was an Indiana farmer, who died in 1904, at the age of seventy-nine. He married Sarah Milbourn, whose parents were of French ancestry. She passed away in 1914, age seventy-nine, the mother of two children, Mattie and Thomas L. Mattie is the wife of Dr. Dayton Garrigues and lives in Los Angeles.
Thomas L. Cooksey grew up on an Indiana farm, attended the grade and nigh schools, also attended Butler and Transylvania at Lexington, Kentucky, and completed his medical course and took the M. D. degree in 1897 at Miami Medical College at Cincinnati. After graduating he practiced one year at Fairfield, Indiana, then ten years at Wilmington, Ohio, and for five years devoted most of his time to work as a lecturer on the Chautauqua platform. Doctor Cooksey in 1912 located at Crawfordsville, where he has been occupied with many community interests and responsibilities in addition to a large medical practice. Doctor Cooksey served as county health officer of Montgomery County for eight years, and for four years was county chairman of the Republican party. In 1929 he was elected to the office of mayor of Crawfordsville. Doctor Cooksey is a Republican, a member of the Christian Church, and is affiliated with the B. P. O. Elks, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Loyal Order of Moose, the Tribe of Ben Hur and the patriotic order Sons of America. He is a member of the Montgomery County, Indiana State and District Medical Associations and for two years served in the office of district secretary.
He married, February 24, 1914, Miss Minnie Beatty, of Hico, Texas, daughter of J. R. and Emina (Moorehead) Beatty. They have one son, Thomas L., born in January, 1916, now a student in high school at Crawfordsville.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
FRANCIS CASIMER SALATA is a prominent business man of South Bend, his native city, his place of business being at 1223 Western Avenue, where he has his office as a realtor, insurance man and lawyer.
Mr. Salata was born in South Bend December 27, 1899. His parents, Andrew and Theodora (Kulawinski) Salata, were natives of Poland and were among the early representatives of their nationality to settle at South Bend.
Francis C. Salata was educated in parochial schools, attended St. Mary's College; at Orchard Lake, Michigan, and spent one year in Notre Dame University. Returning home, he engaged in the real estate and general insurance business, and has made himself an important factor in the Western Avenue business district. Later he carried on work by correspondence with the La Salle Extension University of Chicago, taking his LL. B. degree and has qualified to practice law in Indiana. He uses his legal knowledge chiefly for the benefit of his clients in the real estate and insurance business. In 1930 he was elected to represent the Thirteenth District in the State House of Representatives. He is also manager of the West Side branch of the Indiana Auto License Bureau.
Mr. Salata is president of St. John's Literary Society, is secretary of the Polish Business Men's Association, secretary of the Young Men's Democratic Club and is a member of the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Church. He married, June 16, 1925, Miss Eugenia L. Schultz, who was born in South Bend, daughter of Louis and Mary Schultz. Her mother is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Salata have one daughter, Mary Kathryn, born May 8, 1928.
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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
MISS IVA C. HARDESTY, of Veedersburg, is a young Indiana woman who has shown capacity in business affairs and has won for herself a place of responsibility in the local government of her home city, where she is city clerk and treasurer of the water and light department.
Miss Hardesty was born at Mansfield, Parke County,. Indiana, April 18, 1906. Her father, George Hardesty, was also born at Mansfield, practiced law for a number of years and in 1908 moved to Oklahoma City, shortly after Oklahoma was made a state, and while Oklahoma City was still a comparatively raw community. He practiced law there for a number of years and died in Oklahoma City in 1919. George Hardesty married Isabella Rigdon, who is also deceased. She was a daughter of William and Mildred Rigdon, of Parke County. William Rigdon was a Union soldier with a regiment of Indiana infantry during the Civil war.
Miss Iva C. Hardesty during her childhood lived with her aunt, Mrs. Prudence Brockway, at Bridgeton, Indiana. She attended grammar school at Pine Village, also had a high school course, and after equipping herself for a business life she was for several years an employee of the Indiana Condensed Milk Company at Veedersburg.
Miss Hardesty in 1929, as the Democratic nominee, was elected city clerk of Veedersburg for a term of four years. She is a member of the Christian Church. She owns her home in Veedersburg, and her aunt, Mrs. Brockway, resides with her.
INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931
