A lifelong resident of Wabash county, Elliott S. Smith was born east of Manchester in Chester township on his father's farm, November 5, 1864. His parents were David and Margaret (Yohe) Smith. David Smith, who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, was married at Canton, Ohio, to Margaret Yohe, who had come from Washington county, Pennsylvania. After some years as a farmer near Canton, Ohio, David Smith moved to Wabash county, locating on the old Morphew farm east of Manchester, but subsequently sold that place and moved to the line between Miami and Wabash counties, and his land was located partly in one county and partly in the other. Besides his farm in that locality, David Smith conducted a general store and served as postmaster at Niconza. Fourteen years were spent there, followed by his removal to Roann, where the local elevator was under his proprietorship until sold to Lucas & Shillenger. His farm on the Miami county line had been traded for another place in Paw Paw township of Wabash county, near the home now occupied by Elliott Smith. While he was in the elevator business at Roann his son Barnett managed the farm. David Smith was a business man of much energy and enterprise, and after giving up the elevator engaged in the dry goods trade at North Man¬chester, as head of the firm of Smith, Sala & Arnold. Subsequently he took over the interest of his partners, and with his son David and son-in-law W. H. Ridgeley continued business under the name D. Smith & Company. That was a popular store under the management of Mr. Smith, and in 1886 he sold it to Helm-Snorf and Watson, and being then an old man lived retired until his death in 1888 at the age of seventy-five. His widow survived him until 1906, and was eighty-four when she answered the last call, dying at the home of her son Elliott.

Of the twelve children of David Smith and wife, nine grew up and are mentioned as follows: Maria, deceased, who was the wife of W. H. Ridgeley; Michael, who was a soldier during the war and was killed in the South and lies in the National Cemetery at Chattanooga; David H., who was also in the war; Susan, who married H. H. Smith, no relative; Barnett; Mary, Mrs. A. G. Ebbinghaus; Melissa, wife of William H. Ward; Elliott S., who was the youngest of those who reached maturity; and Ida, Mrs. A. B. Miller.

Elliott S. Smith grew up in Wabash county, his youth being spent in the different localities where his father had his activities, attended school both at Roann and at North Manchester, graduating from the high school of the latter place. Unlike some of his brothers, Elliott Smith did not take kindly to merchandising, and preferred the work of the farm, which has been his regular vocation for many years.

By his marriage on April 12, 1888, two of the prominent old families of Wabash county were united. Mrs. Smith before her marriage was Edith Barnhart, daughter of the late James H. and Martha Ann (Mount) Barnhart. James Harvey Barnhart, who died on the old Mount farm in Paw Paw township, June 21, 1913, aged nearly sixty-nine years, was born at the forks of the Wabash river in Huntington county, July 11, 1844. His grandfather Barnhart came with two brothers from Canada just before the Revolutionary war, and at the outbreak of that struggle between the colonies and the mother country the two brothers returned to Canada, but grandfather Barnhart enlisted with the American troops and rose to the rank of captain. It is said that the commission of this patriot, containing the signature of George Washington, is now in the possession of a cousin living in Huntington county. Grandfather Barnhart, whose home was in New York state, had three sons - George, Dave and Christopher; and two daughters. The daughter Anna married Charles Haywood, at whose home her father died in Huntington county, Indiana, and Mrs. Haywood had three sons, Chancy, George and Nahan, and four daughters, Ann, Minerva, Doris and Elizabeth. Of the daughters: Elizabeth, married Benjamin Bowers; Doris, married Samuel Crandel; Ann, married Mr. Sowers; and Minerva, married Mr. Farrel. Dave Barnhart married and moved to Terre Haute, Indiana; and his brother George, who never married, started down the Ohio river with a load of produce bound for Cincinnati and was never heard of again.

Christopher C. Barnhart, father of James H. Barnhart, was born in Cayuga county, New York, October 10, 1804, and died in Huntington county, Indiana, in October, 1845. He married Eliza Ann Seeley, who was born at Hartland, Niagara county, New York, January 30, 1811, and died at Wabash, Indiana, in October, 1864. They first moved to Michi¬gan, where were born John, George, Mary and Elizabeth, and in the spring of 1836 moved to Huntington county, Indiana, where James H. Barnhart and another son were born.

At the age of twenty, on November 2, 1864, the late James H. Barnhart enlisted at Indianapolis in Company I of the Forty-Sixth Indiana Infantry, and after a service of nearly a year was discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, September 4, 1865. Soon after the war, on June 12, 1866, he married Martha Ann Mount. She was born in Wabash county in 1847, and died November 18, 1909. Her parents were Peter and Eliza Ellen Mount. Peter Mount was born in New Jersey, April 28, 1810, was married in Miami county, Indiana, to Eliza Ellen Kidd, a sister of Major Kidd and a daughter of Edmond J. and Christina Kidd. Eliza E. Kidd was born October 23, 1824, at Connersville, Indiana. After his marriage Peter Mount moved to the farm now occupied by Elliott Smith. His father, David Mount, had acquired that place direct from the government as one of the pioneers of Wabash county, and it subsequently became the property of Peter Mount, and has always remained in the family possession. Peter Mount acquired several hundred acres, and cleared up a large part of the forest growth which originally encumbered the soil, erected log buildings, and it was in a log house that Martha, the mother of Mrs. Smith, was born. Besides this daughter there was one other child, Mary Alice, who was born in Miami county on the old Kidd farm. Peter Mount died on the present Elliott Smith place in April, 1849, and his widow subsequently returned to the Kidd farm in Miami county, married Adam Haas, and after his death Archibald Kennedy, and she spent the rest of her days in Wabash county. The old Peter Mount homestead subsequently became the property of his daughters, Martha Ann and Mary Alice.

After the marriage of James H. Barnhart and wife in 1866, they lived for a time in Peru, and he was employed in the Blue Front drug store there until 1867. Then moving to Wabash he engaged in the drug business with Mr. Haas and the firm of Barnhart & Haas continued until 1872, when it was dissolved and T. L. Barnhart became proprietor. The store was located on Canal street in Wabash. James H. Barnhart then moved to the old Mount farm, where Mr. and Mrs. Smith now live. Both passed away at that place. James H. Barnhart had for nearly forty years been a member of the Methodist church, and also affiliated with the Roann Grand Army Post.

The thirteen children of the Barnhart family were: Edith, Mrs. Smith; Fred M.; Guy S.; Charles K.; James H., deceased; Nellie May, Mrs. O. D. Steele; Robert M., deceased; Homer and Horace, twins, both of whom are deceased; Hugh W.; Howard J.; Ruth Lillian, Mrs. L. R. Burns; and Jessie, who died in infancy.

Mrs. Smith, who was born in Peru, Indiana, received her education in the schools of Wabash. She and Mr. Smith have the following children: Paul, of Fulton county, Indiana, and who married Merle Long; Nettie, who is the wife of H. D. Hartman and has a son Robert Elliott; Mount Yohe, who is called Pete; Martha Margaret.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived on his father's farm east of Manchester for a time, later spent about six years in Michigan, and on March 16, 1904, took up their residence on the old Barnhart place, where they still live. As a farmer Mr. Smith has made a success along general lines, and also conducts a dairy which is an important element in his prosperity. The family residence is one of the best in Paw Paw township, comprising twelve rooms, and was built by the late Mr. Barnhart. Mr. Smith is a progressive republican, and he and his wife and both families have long been identified with the Methodist Episcopal church.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

His father, Philip Keppel, Sr., was born and reared in Germany, where he learned the trade of a harness maker. Immigrating to the United States as a young man, he joined an uncle in Philadelphia, where he followed his trade for a time. He subsequently lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, a few years, and then settled in Peru, Indiana, where he entered the employ of his brother-in-law, Joseph Spath, a cooper, with whom he subsequently worked in Peoria, Indiana, making pork barrels. Starting then in business on his own account, he began the manufacture of pork barrels, which were then in great demand, and continued in business until he had a stack of barrels as high as a house. Retiring from that occupation in 1872, Philip Keppel, Sr., located in Paw Paw township, on land belonging to his brother-in-law, Mr. Spath, who had previously traded his farm of forty acres in Miami county to Mr. Shirk, of Peru, for the Paw Paw township land, a part of which is now included in Mr. Keppel's farm. At that time the old pike plank road cut through the farm crosswise, the farm being mostly swamp land. Mr. Spath finished clearing the land, and put up a set of log buildings. Philip Keppel, Sr., worked for Mr. Spath, living in a little house near the creek. Prudent and thrifty, he accumulated some money, and later bought forty acres of the farm from the Spath estate, and here spent the remainder of his days, dying June 22, 1909, aged seventy-five years. He married Mary Meyer, who was born in Germany, and came to America with her parents when a young girl, being several weeks crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel. She died before he did, her death occurring October 6, 1906. They reared three children, as follows: Eliza, wife of Frank Crist; Philip, the special subject of this sketch; and Joseph, of Paw Paw township, who married Amanda Rosenthal.

Philip Keppel began school in Miami county, and after coming with his parents to Paw Paw township attended the "String-town" school. Remaining with his parents until establishing a home of his own, he assisted his uncle, Mr. Spath, in clearing and improving the farm, helping to put in the first ditches, that being before the days of tile, wooden puncheons, eighteen inches in length, being used to carry off the water. Marrying, Mr. Keppel began housekeeping where his oldest son now lives, renting the land from his father, and from his uncle's widow, Mrs. Spath, finally buying out the heirs of both estates. In 1910 Mr. Keppel built his present fine house of eleven rooms, and has since occupied it. He follows general farming and stock-raising, finding both pleasure and profit in his work, he and his wife having begun life together without capital, and having by industry and wise management accumu¬lated considerable property.

Mr. Keppel married, March 10, 1888, Mary C. Huber, a daughter of George Huber, who came to America from Baden, Germany, his birthplace, and is now living in Peru, Indiana, a retired shoemaker. He located in Peru in pioneer days, moving from Cincinnati, Ohio, his first home in his adopted country. Peru was a small hamlet, with very few houses, when he settled there, with neither steam or electric cars anywhere in the state, the old canal being then in use. He had been a resident of that place for fifty-two years when the flood came, the river being then the highest that he has ever seen it. Mr. Huber married Theresa Spath, who died in 1882, and of the twelve children born of their union, but three are living, as follows: Joseph Huber, of Detroit, Michi¬gan; .Mary C., now Mrs. Keppel; and Edward G. Huber, of Chicago, Illinois. Mrs. Keppel also has a half-sister, Louise, wife of John H. Miller, of Peru, Indiana.

Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Keppel, namely: Chlome J.; Nellie; Louise; Hazel; Loretta; Alice; Marie; George; Cecil; and Walter LeMoyne, who died at the age of four months and eight days. Chlome J. Keppel, who lives on the old home farm, has eighty acres of his own, it being the old Jack Anderson farm. He married Clara B. Gearte, and they have one son, Charles Robert Keppel. Nellie, wife of Abraham H. Miller, who lives in Miami county, on the county line, has one son, Gene Keppel Miller. Louise is the wife of Clarence P. Maurer, a stockholder in and the manager of the telephone company at Roann.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

His father, Varnham N. Clark, was born in New York state, and was married in Ohio to Minerva Riddle, who was born and reared in Massachusetts. Soon after his marriage he started westward in search of fortune, leaving his bride in Ohio. Coming directly to Wabash county, he found work at Wabash, in the cooper shop of Mr. Mercer. He came to Indiana, on foot, with forty dollars in his pocket, and after a short time bought with Mr. Vinton as a partner 80 acres of the farm now owned by his son Frank. Clearing a space in the woods, he erected a log cabin, which was occupied for a brief time, until his wife joined him, by two hunters, Messrs. Briggs and Parsons, who hunted and looked after the owner's cattle. Mr. Clark was also an expert marksman, but was too busy to hunt, much as he enjoyed it. After his wife came to Indiana, making the trip in one of the first boats used on the canal, Varnham N. Clark moved to his farm, where he erected a cooper's shop, and worked at his trade, the only time that he followed farming to any extent having been from 1861 until 1865. He added to his original tract of land by purchase, until at the time of his death, on December 24, 1880, at the age of sixty-nine years, he had one hundred and sixty acres. He was a man of fine physique, well proportioned and tall, while his father, John Clark, a soldier in the war of 1812, was six feet, four inches, in height, and weighed three hundred pounds. John Clark was one of a family of twelve children, and the father of seven children, five sons and two daughters. Mrs. Varnham N. Clark died in 1900, at an advanced age. Five children were born of their marriage, as follows: Albert G. R., deceased; Alice died in childhood; Frank S., the special subject of this sketch; Frederick L., deceased; and Alanson B., deceased.

The first child of the parental household born in the new house erected by his father, Frank S. Clark, grew to man's estate on the home farm, acquiring his education in the district school. When a small lad he began working on the farm, at the age of nine years taking his first lessons in plowing. At the age of fourteen years he began learning the cooper's trade with his father, and followed it from time to time until 1878, when he and his father gave up the business. When but eighteen years old Mr. Clark assumed the entire management of the home farm, and for many years was actively and successfully employed in agricultural pursuits, making somewhat of a specialty of stock raising. For many years he was noted as a breeder of fine sheep, having been one of the first to bring full-blooded Shropshire sheep into Wabash county.

Mr. Clark married, in 1881, Emma Watts, who was born in Wabash county, Indiana, and was the adopted daughter of the late William Watts. Mr. and Mrs. Clark are the parents of six children, namely: Carey V.; Mabel, wife of Peter J. Milan, of Noble township, has one child, Minerva Milan; Thomas R., a teacher by profession, now having charge of the home farm, married Marie Shay; Harrison; Richard H.; and Alice, who is teaching school in Paw Paw township.

A life-long resident of Paw Paw township, Mr. Clark is familiar with the early history of this section of the county, and takes pride in preserving early traditions and facts. He remembers going with his father in an ox team to Wabash for supplies, often cutting the pathway through the dense woods, and he saw the building of the plank road at a later date. When his father located in this township the old" Copick" mill, an ancient landmark, was still standing, although now we see the ruins, only.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

John Miller is a native of Paw Paw township, and was born three miles north of his present farm on November 18, 1858. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth (Hegel) Miller, after their marriage in Germany, where both were born, emigrated to the United States, and spent a while in Ohio, living on a little purchase of twelve acres near Dayton, but soon sold out and moved to Wabash county. When they arrived in this vicinity they were in very moderate circumstances, and in subsequent years won their battle with adversity through their characteristic German thrift and their ability to combine their hard work with economical management of their resources. On coming to Wabash county they bought the farm on which their son John was born. The first purchase comprised only eighty acres, but subsequently with growing prosperity, the father added two other eighty-acre tracts. All the homestead was in the midst of the woods when first occupied by the Miller family, and the first habitation occupied by the parents and their children was a little log building. Subsequently that shelter was replaced with a more sub¬stantial and roomier structure, and in time the improvements and con¬veniences measured up to the best standard of living conditions in that vicinity. Both parents lived on the homestead in Wabash county the rest of their lives. The father passed away at the age of fifty-six, and the mother was seventy-five when called by death. Their seven children were: Henry; Jacob; Charles; John; Mary, who married Jacob Haupert; Anna, who married David Lower; and Elizabeth, the wife of Charles Carnes. All these children still live in Paw Paw township, except Henry, whose home is in Noble.

John Miller was born in the little log house that has been mentioned, grew up on the old farm, went to a district school in the winter, and employed his boyhood strength in increasing tasks, in wielding an ax to clear the woods from the land and in following the plow and assisting the family in gaining a living from the land. He remained at home until his marriage, which occurred on December 11, 1884. Mrs. Miller before her marriage was Marilda Hoover, a daughter of William Hoover, who married a Miss Davis. Both her parents are now deceased. To Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born a fine family of children, mentioned briefly as follows: Clarence, who married Prudence Downey, and has two children, Carl and Darrell; Bertha, who married Charles Shenkel, and has four children, Gladys, Arthur, Goldie and Raymond; Charles; Clara, the wife of Joseph Garrison, and the mother of one daughter, Mary; John Jr.; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Schultz; Lewis; Lawrence; Francis; Marie; and Milfred. Two of the children, Stella and an infant, are deceased.

When he made his independent start Mr. Miller for a few years con¬ducted a tile factory. His father then made him a present of forty acres of land, comprising a portion of his present estate, and with that as a nucleus he has built up his present substantial property. All the substantial buildings which are now to be found on the Miller farm are the result of his management and investment, and the buildings are by no means the only improvements which he has instituted. Much of the land has been tiled, all of it has been made more productive by studious care of its fertility, and as a general farmer Mr. Miller stands in the very front ranks of Wabash county agriculturists. Mr. Miller is a stockholder in the Farmers State Bank at Urbana. He and his family worship in the faith of the German Evangelical church, and his politics is democrat.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Elisha Miller was born and reared in Botetourt county, Virginia, and as a young man settled in Ohio. Soon after his marriage he came with his young wife to Indiana, making the long journey with teams, the pathway being marked a portion of the way by blazed trees. Buying land in Miami county, he at once assumed possession of the log cabin that stood in an open space, and on the farm which he cleared spent his remaining days, dying at the age of seventy-six years. He married, in Ohio, Sarah Albaugh, a native of that state. She survived him, passing away at the age of eighty-three years. The farm which they owned contained one hundred and twenty-six acres, and it was sold out of the family in 1913. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom three died in infancy, the others being as follows: John; Robert M.; Levi; Mary, wife of C. Fisher; William; Allen; Irving; Ida, wife of J. J.Esterbrook; Martin; and Mrs. Emma A. Brubecker.

As a boy Robert M. Miller had very few educational advantages, his attendance at the district school being limited to two months each year. Being one of the eldest of a large family of children, he began very early to assist his father, and as soon as old enough worked out by the day or month. Later he rented a farm on shares, and after taking unto himself a wife rented the old Albaugh farm for a year, when it was sold. Moving then to his wife's father's farm, the old Graft estate of one hundred and fifty acres, in Jefferson township, Miami county, Mr. Miller rented it for three years. He then made his first purchase of land, buying one hundred and twenty acres on the county line, in Wabash county, paying for it the sum of $500. As his means increased he bought the other farms mentioned above, having now title to two hundred and seventy acres of fine farming land. An old house, and a barn, which was later struck by lightning and burned, stood upon the place which Mr. Miller first purchased, and in addition to erecting all new buildings he cleared the land, placing it in a productive condition. He also staked and fenced it, and put in many hundred rods of tile, and as a general farmer and stock-raiser has met with eminent success.

On February 2, 1875, Mr. Miller married Mary Graft, a native of Miami county. Her father, Abraham Graft, was born in Virginia, and died in Miami county, Indiana, at the venerable age of ninety years. He married Anna Morningstar, a native of Ohio, and to them six children were born, as follows: George Graft, deceased; David Graft; John Graft, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Jacob Fike; Lydia, wife of W. M. Turnipseed; and Mary, now Mrs. Miller. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of nine children, namely: Carrie, wife of Comley Meyers, of Paw Paw township, has three children, Ross, Bruce, and Blanche; Olive, wife of Jasper Deardorf, has two sons, John and Harold; Mahlon, living on the old home farm, in Paw Paw township, married Minta Keith; Sadie, wife of Oliver Oswalt, of Miami county, has one child, Truman; Abraham, living on his father's farm in Miami county, married Nellie Keppel, and they have one child, Eugene E.; Hiel; Cleo; Dow; and Ray. Mr. Miller is a member of the Conservative Order of the German Baptist Brethren Church, and one of its most active and faithful workers.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

His father, the late Azro Z. Schuler, was a son of Philip and Mary E. (Buck) Schuler, of whom further history may be found on another page of this volume, in connection with the sketch of A. W. Schuler, of Lagro township. Brought up in Wabash county, Azro Z. Schuler acquired his early education in the rural schools, and as a young man worked with his father, who was a contractor and builder. After his marriage he rented the Arnold farm, in Pleasant township, and after managing it three years moved to Roann, where he embarked in the furniture and undertaking business, being in partnership with his father-in-law, Ralph G. Arnold, in the building now occupied by the firm of Schuler & Schuler. At the end of fifteen years he retired from that line of business, and was afterwards engaged in general farming until his death, November 14, 1906, at the early age of fifty-two years. The maiden name of the wife of Azro Z. Schuler was Sarah A. Arnold. She was born on the Arnold homestead, in Pleasant township, Wabash county, September 5, 1857, a daughter of the late Ralph G. Arnold, of patriotic New England ancestry, her father, and her grandfather, Alvin Arnold, and also her great-grandfather, Jacob Arnold, having been born in Massachusetts. Jacob Arnold, a life-long resident of Western Massa¬chusetts, served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Alvin Arnold was born and reared in the Berkshire hills, and there spent his ninety years of earthly life. He was a farmer by occupation, but also owned a sawmill, which he operated during the spring freshets, and had a large tannery on his farm.

Ralph G. Arnold, maternal grandfather of Mr. Schuler, was born at West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1817, and was there bred and educated, as a boy, having for his playmates David Dudley Field and his brother, Cyrus West Field. After leaving school he worked as a quarryman in the east, and assisted in finishing the stone from which the Girard College building was constructed. He subsequently read medicine, but never received a degree in that science. At the age of twenty-four years, desirous of trying the hazard of new fortune, he started westward, going by lakes as far as possible, and then walking to Wisconsin, where he first found work in a sawmill. The old doctor with whom he had previously studied had advised him to buy land in Chicago, so on his way back toward the east Mr. Arnold secured an option on a small piece of high ground, which might be used to keep sheep, he thought, it being at the junction of what is now Dearborn and thirty-third streets, Chicago, a most valuable piece of land. Mr. Arnold passed it up, and continued his journey on foot to Mexico, Indiana, where he ran a sawmill for Shirk & Cole, of Peru, Indiana, for two years.

Having accumulated some money, Mr. Arnold then bought from Mr. Cole one hundred and sixty acres of land in Pleasant township, Miami county, on which was the highest point of land in the county, it being a hill that had on its top an Indian burial ground. Part of the land had been cleared, and the trees burned off, the remainder being sandy ground. This land, for which he paid $800 in 1853, is now owned by his daughter, Mrs. Sarah A. (Arnold) Schuler. There were no buildings on the property when Mr. Arnold bought it, and he had to haul the lumber for house and barns from Warsaw, but from the Indian burying ground he got enough limestone to plaster the house. Warsaw was the nearest market and trading point, and in order to get supplies he had to make the trip either on horseback, or with two teams of oxen for each wagon. Mr. Arnold was a man of keen foresight and excellent judgment, and as dealer in land, and a loaner of money, accumulated a handsome property. He was also a veterinary, and in his house kept a complete stock of drugs. He was here when the first railroad in the state was built, and rode to Indianapolis on the old Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad. The tracks were made of 2 by 4 timber, with a sheet iron covering. At the age of fifty years, he left the farm, and for fifteen years was engaged in the furniture and undertaking business at Roann with his son-in-law, Azro Z. Schuler. He subsequently lived retired from active pursuits until his death, June 16, 1912, at the advanced age of ninety-five years.

Mr. Arnold was one of the six men that laid out the east side of Roann, and he helped solicit stock for the building of the Eel River Railroad. He was a man of much culture, a keen observer, and had a remarkably retentive memory. As a young man he was identified with the democratic party as opposed to the whigs, in 1856 voting for James Buchanan for president. He, however, assisted in the formation of the republican party, and in 1860 cast his presidential ballot in favor of Abraham Lincoln. He was interested in public affairs, and for many years served as school treasurer of Pleasant township, and was also county commissioner, and about the time of the organization of the republican party was a delegate to the state convention.

Mr. Arnold married Eliza Lukens, whom he first met in a rather romantic way. It seems that when he first came to Pleasant township to look at Mr. Cole's farm, which he subsequently bought, he inquired the way from Miss Lukens, who was in her father's yard milking a white cow. On his return he spent the night at the Lukens homestead, and afterwards married the fair lassie whom he had first seen milking the cow, the bridal party journeying on horseback to the home of the bride and groom. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph G. Arnold, namely: Eusebia, Clementine, who died at the age of thirteen years; Lydia X., deceased, who married George Leffel; and Sarah E., who became the wife of Mr. Schuler.

Sarah E. Arnold first attended the public schools, later continuing her studies at the Wabash Seminary, and in North Manchester. Finely educated, she taught school at Rose Hill, Kosciusko county, for a short time, but at the age of nineteen years gave up her position as teacher to marry Azro Z. Schuler, as previously mentioned. She survived her husband, and is now living at Roann, Indiana. Two children were born of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Schuler, namely: Ralph Arnold, the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; and Russell Philip, a well known and successful physician of Kokomo, Indiana.

But three years of age when his parents moved from the farm to Roann, Ralph Arnold Schuler there acquired his rudimentary education, after which he completed the course of study at the Valparaiso Normal School. Thus equipped for a professional career, he taught school ten years, first at Urbana, and later in Roann. At the death of his father, Mr. Schuler gave up teaching, and has since devoted his time and energies to farming and stock-raising, in both branches of which he is meeting with great success. Receiving but $100 from his parents, Mr. Schuler has made everything he possesses by his own efforts. For the first eighty acres of land that he purchased he paid $2,500, running in debt $2,000, it being the old "Squires" farm, mostly swamp and timber. The buildings standing upon it have been remodeled by Mr. Schuler, and on the farm he has put in three thousand rods of tile, making it one of the best farms in regard to its improvements and appointments of any in the neighborhood.

Mr. Schuler married, June 16,1905, Maud Smith, a daughter of John B. and Rebecca (Johnson) Smith, old residents of Wabash county, and into their home three children have been born, namely: Miriam V. and Clarence B., twins; and John Azro. Mr. Schuler is progressive in politics, but has never been an aspirant for official honors. He is a member of Lodge No. 583, Ancient Free and Accepted Order of Masons, at Roann; and of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, at Kokomo, while his mother belongs to the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, at Kokomo. Mr. Schuler is a member and a trustee of the Miami County Baptist church, of which his Grandfather Arnold was one of the founders.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

James Franklin Stewart, who has lived on his present place since the spring of 1860, was born in Richland county, Ohio, August 14, 1845, a son of James and Harriet (McGee) Stewart, both old residents of Ohio. James Stewart was a pioneer of Richland county, and developed a farm five miles from the city of Mansfield. In the fall of 1860 the family moved out to Indiana, making the journey in a wagon, and first located on the old Murphy farm, a conspicuous center in the community because of the old Murphy church which stood there. James Stewart rented land for a time, but previous to his permanent settlement had bought a place of eighty acres in Noble township, and while living on the rented place put up a set of buildings there. Until he applied the axe and plow there had not been a stick cut on the Noble township land, and he was instrumental in making a farm out of the primeval wilderness. His first home and accommodations for stock were log buildings. That old farm was situated on the Range Line road. Indians used to camp nearby, and all of them were on friendly terms with the Stewarts and other settlers. They sometimes came to the house, and Mrs. James Stewart would bake bread for them. While living there James Stewart succeeded in clearing up thirty acres, and finally sold his farm to Henry Beidlestracker. The following year or so was spent in renting, and in 1860 he bought one hundred and sixty acres in Paw Paw township, adjoining the farm now owned by Frank Stewart. It is interesting to note that the price paid for the land at that time, more than half a century ago, was seven dollars an acre. Nearly every acre was covered with forest growth and brush, though about eighty acres had been "deadened" that is, the trees had been barked or chipped so that their foliage no longer shaded the ground and crops could be planted and raised under the bare trees. There were no buildings when James Stewart went there, and the many improvements which followed were all due to his strenuous labors as an early settler. His first home was a log house and he continued his work until most of the land was in cultivation. Subsequently he added the eighty acres now owned by his son, Frank, but paid sixteen hundred dollars for that land, a great advance in price over his former purchase. By the united labors of himself and son there was brought about one of the productive homesteads of Paw Paw township, and in spite of misfortunes the Stewart family have always prospered. Two sets of have burned on that farm, but the enterprise of the owners always repaired what was destroyed. James Stewart passed away there at the age of seventy-seven years, and was survived many years by his widow, who died in 1909 at the age of ninety years, six months and three days. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom were born in Ohio and accompanied their parents in the wagon on their journey to Wabash county. These children are: Robert, of Minnesota; Mary Jane, who died as Mrs. Case; George W., of LaGrange county, Indiana; James Franklin; Logan, of Ijamsville, Wabash county; Maria, a widow, Mrs. Middlecough, of Garden City, Missouri; Charles, of Elkhart, Indiana; Henry, of Wabash; and Anna, deceased, who was the wife of Joseph Siders.

A child of five years when the family came to Indiana, Frank Stewart grew up in this county, and is one of the men still in active life who received their schooling in a temple of learning built of logs, though subsequently he attended a little frame schoolhouse. His youth was passed in the environment of the old home until he married, and his labors largely contributed to the improvement of the homestead. For many years the name of Frank Stewart was known over a wide district as a threshing man, a vocation he followed for twenty years, and in that time wore out two horsepower threshing machines. That was in the time before the introduction of steam power and also of the modern type of separating machinery. Threshing was then a community affair, requiring the labor of all the neighbors, and with the old-fashioned machinery it took much longer to thresh out a given amount of grain than it does today. Between the seasons of threshing Mr. Stewart followed farming.

In August, 1880, occurred his marriage with Ida Miller, daughter of Amos and Liberty (Brady) Miller. After their marriage they started life on a portion of his father's farm and bought the eighty acres, fifteen acres of which were then cleared. Its house improvements comprised a plank building and log stable. After their marriage they moved into this rough house, but as the furniture had not yet come they ate their first meal off of a packing box. In 1900 Mr. Stewart erected his present comfortable seven-room frame house, and now enjoys all the conveniences and facilities of the twentieth century rural residence.

In February, 1909, Mr. Stewart invested some of his surplus in the fifty-three acres of land on the Laketon road, and his son, Earnest, farms that land. It was improved with a house and Mr. Stewart put up a barn, tilled and fenced the land, and it is now an excellent small farm. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have the following children: Earnest, who married Maude Butler, and their two children are Lawrence and Eveline; Alma, who is the wife of Charles Whitmire of Logansport, and they have two children, Stewart and Dorothy; Nellie and Elsie are the two youngest and live at home. Mr. Stewart in politics is a democrat, and has fraternal affiliations with the Tent of the Maccabees at Urbana.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

William H. Pence was born and bred in Rockingham county, Virginia, of colonial ancestry. Soon after his first marriage he settled in Ohio, where he lived a number of years. His eldest son, being infected with the Western fever, persuaded him to come to Indiana to look for land that might prove a wise investment. Coming direct to Wabash county, he bought the Dukes farm, now included in the farm of his grandson, Alexander Pence, but not liking this section of the country as a place of residence he went back to Ohio. He was subsequently taken ill, and his son, Thomas B. Pence, then residing in Wabash county, went back to Ohio to nurse him. He then made arrangements for Thomas to buy for him the farm belonging to William Duke, and he afterward came with his daughter Sarah to Paw Paw township, and here lived until his death, at a good old age, his death having been accidental, caused by injuries received when a log rolled over him. He was five times married, and reared six children.

A native of Ohio, Thomas B. Pence was brought up and married in Ohio. In 1865, accompanied by his wife and children, he came to Indiana, and settled just across the river from Wabash county, in Miami county, with his father-in-law, Abraham Yost, buying from George Butterbaugh the tract of land in Perry township now owned by his son Alexander, his only child. About one-half of the land had been cleared when he bought it, and in addition to the house that stood upon it there was a large barn, 40 feet by 80 feet, that was almost new. The buildings have since been remodeled, the house, with its thirteen rooms, being one of the largest farm houses in Miami county. The original barn burned, and has been replaced by the present owner with a two¬ story structure, 40 feet by 80 feet, with a shed 41 feet by 60 feet, the whole costing about $2,700. It is a very fine building, and the second largest barn in the county. Thomas B. Pence occupied that farm until their son married, when they turned it over to him and moved to the farm now occupied by the son, where both spent their remaining days, Mr. Thomas Pence dying October 6, 1901, aged sixty-eight years, while his wife passed away January 17, 1913, aged seventy years, and one day.

But two years old when his parents settled in Indiana, Alexander Pence obtained his elementary education in the district school at Stockdale, after which he attended the public schools of Indianapolis two years. After his marriage he assumed possession of the parental homestead in Miami county, and was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until after the death of his father, when he moved to his present residence, in order to look after his mother and her property. A diligent worker, enterprising and progressive, Mr. Pence is continually adding to the value of his estate by improvements, and in addition to carrying on general farming most successfully ships two car loads of hogs each year, and also ships cattle, horses and sheep. He makes a specialty of breeding a fine grade of stock, including Durham cattle.

Mr. Pence is a man of rare business ability and judgment, and is connected with various beneficial enterprises. He is a charter member of the Wabash Trust Company, of which he has been a director since its organization, and of which be is now vice-president, having succeeded Charles D. Baer. He is also a stockholder, a director, and the treasurer, of the Roann Telephone Company, a director of the Wabash Service Motor Truck Company, and has various other interests of a similar nature.

Mr. Pence married, March 24, 1895, Emma Shillinger, a daughter of George and Lydia (Seitner) Shillinger, early settlers of Roann, where both spent their last years. Mr. and Mrs. Pence have one child, Thomas Pence, who was named for his grandfather.

Although Mr. Pence obtained his education mainly by reading, observation, and contact with the business world, he is well informed on the leading topics of the day. He takes a keen interest in politics, but has never been an office seeker. He has several times been solicited by his friends to become a candidate for office, but has invariably declined. At the democratic convention of 1912, when all indications pointed to¬wards a victory for his party; his name was proposed on the floor of the convention hall for county treasurer. He declined, but had the honor of naming for a candidate in his own place a young man from his own township, and had the pleasure of seeing him elected to the office. During the many years he has lived in this vicinity, Mr. Pence has seen the country develop from a wilderness to a rich, rolling prairie, one of the finest farming communities in this part of the state. Few if any are better known in Wabash and Miami counties than Alexander Pence, and none are held in higher respect and esteem. He has ever been a busy man, but he has found time for the finer things of life, and along with other qualities and virtues has inherited a polish and culture that bespeaks his southern ancestry.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Jacob Bryan was born and reared in North Carolina, belonging to an old and honored family of that state. He was a man of talent and culture, and was not only a farmer, but was a typical old-style school master, teaching his children much outside of their school studies. In 1822, desirous of obtaining cheap land on the frontier, he migrated with his family to Indiana, settled in Jefferson county, Indiana, and in January, 1836, located in Wabash county, one mile south of Deck's mill, in Paw Paw township, at the place then called Squirrel village. From the heavily wooded land, on which never a stick had been cut, he began the almost Herculean task of hewing a homestead from the one hundred and sixty acres of land that he entered from the Government. There he lived with his family in pioneer fashion, depending upon the productions of the soil and the game to be found in the forest for their subsistence, carrying on general farming until his death, in 1852, at the age of sixty-nine years.

Jacob Bryan married, in North Carolina, Nancy Freeman, a native of that state. She died on the home farm in Paw Paw township, in 1844, aged three score years. Twelve children were born of their union, the ten older ones being born in North Carolina, Willis, the subject of this sketch, being the only survivor of the family. The names of the children are thus given: Theophilus; Norman; Lewis; Jacob; Rebecca and Mary, twins; Sophia; Patsie; Margaret; Willis; Sarah; and Jane.

The youngest son of the parental household, and but two years old when he accompanied his parents in the long journey made with ox teams to Indiana, Willis Bryan grew to manhood on the old homestead, as a boy playing and talking with the Indians. As soon as possible after a few log cabins had been reared in the township preparations were made to educate the children. A cabin was built of round logs, through one of which was cut space for a window, and in the sash that was inserted was placed a greased paper to let in the light. The seats were long benches made of slabs, with wooden pins for legs, and a fire of logs in the huge fireplace heated the room, the back being of rocks, while the chimney was made of sticks and clay.

Obtaining a good education in the schools, and under his father's tuition, Mr. Bryan taught school during the winter season from 1844 until 1862, with the exception of a few terms, in the meantime assisting his father on the farm in the summer time, helping him break and clear one hundred and sixty acres near the river. While thus employed, Mr. Bryan accumulated some money, and in 1865 purchased the farm of one hundred and sixty acres now occupied by his son William, paying $7,000 for it. The improvements upon the place when he bought it were of very little value, but he cleared it up and tiled it, replaced the rude log house with a substantial frame structure, and later erected other necessary buildings, each year adding to the value and attractiveness of the property. Thoroughly skilled in all matters pertaining to the cultivation of the soil, Mr. Bryan made an unquestioned success as a general farmer, accumulating a goodly share of this world's goods through his own unaided efforts, enabling him to spend the closing years of his life in ease and comfort. Mr. Bryan has ever been a stanch supporter of the principles of the democratic party, but not an office seeker.

Mr. Bryan married, in September, 1865, Mrs. Letitia Jones, widow of Isaac Jones, and daughter of Abraham Huddelston. Four children have been born of their marriage, namely: Ida M., who died at the age of eighteen years; Charles lived but two short years; William H., of Paw Paw township, married Elsie Figert, and they have two children, John and Mary; and Norman, living near his father and brother, married Minnie Brower, and they are the parents of three children, Fred, Hale and Paul. By her first marriage Mrs. Bryan had two children, namely: George Jones, residing in Peru, Indiana, married Georgie Cottermen, and they have three children, Russell, Clifford and Ruth; and Emma, who married Emsley Needham, and died September 6, 1879, leaving one child, George Needham.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914

Adam Michael Miller, who has lived in Wabash county for forty-three years, was born in Van Wert county, Ohio, December 3,1863. His parents, John Henry and Anne Elizabeth (Weck) Miller, were both natives of Germany, and the father was a tailor by trade and served his apprenticeship in Germany. Both parents came individually to the United States, and were married in Ohio. Elizabeth Weck, the mother, was the third wife of John Miller. After their marriage in Ohio they bought a farm in Van Wert county. On first coming to the United States the father had followed his trade in New York city two or three years and then moved to Ohio, and went off from Van Wert county as a soldier in the Union army, and was away at the front when the son Adam M. was born. In the spring of 1871 he moved to Indiana, having sold out his farm in Ohio, and bought the eighty acres now owned by Adam M. from Henry Brown. He took possession of this land in the fall of that year, having in the meantime lived two miles east on the old Roush farm. During that summer he had cleared up ten acres for Mr. Roush, getting the land ready for the plow, and was paid ten dollars an acre for the work and given a cabin for his family to live in. In the fall of 1871 they all came to the present Miller estate, where twenty-five acres were partly cleared and ready for the next year's planting. Like many families now in comfortable circumstances, the Millers had their first home in a log house, which stood on the land when they bought it. Then followed several years of the hardest kind of labor in clearing the heavy growth of trees, which encumbered the ground, and which had to be removed before successful cultivation could take place. The old log house after a few years was replaced by a more modern and comfortable style of homey other buildings followed, and John H. Miller in time became regarded as one of the most substantial citizens of Wabash county. In 1902 he bought property in Urbana, retired from the farm, and died in that town November 28, 1909, when past eighty-five years of age. His widow is still living there. When John H. Miller came to the United States he had nothing except the training in a trade and his native ability. When he sold out his farm in Ohio it brought thirteen hundred dollars, and he paid twenty-two hundred dollars for the Paw Paw township place. He was the father of nine children. The three by his first marriage were: Mary, Carrie, and Anna, deceased. The six by his marriage to Elizabeth Weck were: Lena, deceased; Henry; Adam M.; Kate; Minnie, and Dora.

Adam M. Miller was a lad of seven years when the family established their home in Wabash county. The father and John Weck had made the journey from Ohio by way of wagon, the mother and her children following on the train. His youth was spent on the farm which is now his home, and though very young at the time he materially assisted in clearing off the land, and has always been a hard worker, which accounts largely for his success. His education was acquired in the old schoolhouse at Half Acre, near his home. When he was fifteen years old he began working out for farmers in the neighborhood, and during the first year was paid thirteen dollars a month by Valentine Keefaber. Each year after that saw an increase in his ability, and when he reached the point of comparative independence he established a home of his own.

On March 13, 1887, he married Christina Holstine, daughter of George and Madeline (Cook) Holstine. Mrs. Miller has for more than a quarter of a century been his capable adviser and helper and as valuable to him in business counsel as in the management of the domestic economy of the Miller farm. After their marriage he managed his father's place for two years, and then moved to the city of Wabash, which was his home for fourteen years. He followed various lines of employment, having assisted in laying the switch at the roundhouse for the Big Four railroad and at the stone quarry, and had charge of the latter enterprise for seven years. He was also employed in the Strawboard factory. In 1901, in the fall, Mr. Miller bought his present farm from his father, and, besides the productive labor which has brought him abundance of revenue from regular farming activities, he has spent much money in improving the place, laying tile, and otherwise bringing it up to the best standards of Wabash county agriculture.

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born nine children, as follows: Anna, who married Lewis Haupert, and their four children are Marietta, Luther, Dorey and Edith; Otto; Marie, who is Mrs. Neely Kalb; Minnie, now Mrs. Albert Conrad; Carrie, who is Mrs. Ellis Alshaffer; Philip, Reuben; Floyd and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are members of the German Evangelical church at Urbana, and in politics he supports the democratic party.

"History of Wabash County, Indiana"
Clarkson W. Weesner
Lewis Publishing Co.
Chicago and New York
published in 1914