Walter Glenn Todd was born October 20, 1878, at Lagro, Indiana, and was reared and educated in that locality. In 1895 he graduated from the Largo high school, being then seventeen years of age, and in the fall of the same year matriculated at Wabash College, Crawfordsville. He remained a student of that dignified and valuable old institute of learning until he graduated in June, 1900, with degree A. B. In the same month of his graduation he took up the study of law in the office of A. H. Plummer, the present judge of his judicial district, and was admitted to the bar at the March term of court in 1901. From that time until September, 1902, he continued his studies and also practiced in the office with Judge Plummer. In September, 1902, Judge Plummer took him into partnership under the name of Plummer and Todd, but on October 22nd of the same year when Judge Plummer assumed his duties as Judge of the Circuit the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Todd then continued alone in practice until April 1, 1909, and in the meantime from 1905 to 1908 had served as county attorney. From April 1, 1909, to April 1, 1913, Mr. Todd was associated in practice with Joseph W. Murphy, but from that date up to the 1st of June, 1914, followed his profession alone. On the first day of June, 1914, he formed a partnership with Franklin W. Plummer, son of Judge A. H. Plummer, and with whom he is now engaged in the practice of law, under the firm name of Todd & Plummer.

Mr. Todd is a republican, quite active and influential in local politics, and is a member of the Presbyterian church. On October 2, 1906, he married Miss Eda B. Smith, of Union City, Indiana.

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

Lewis Signs, son of Solomon and Mary Ann (Lawrence) Signs, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, December 2, 1846. He was thus only two years of age when the family moved to Wabash county, and all his conscious years of youth and boyhood were spent in Pleasant township, where he attended the public schools, such as were maintained there during the fifties and early sixties, and was also a student of the high school at Silver Lake. His employment outside of school hours was furnished in abundance at the home farm, and having shown considerable aptitude as a student he spent the winter months of 1865-66-67-68 in teaching in Pleasant township and Steward township of Kosciusko county. In 1867 Mr. Signs identified himself with the little community of North Manchester. The first twelve years were spent as clerk in the general store of George Lawrence. Then for the succeeding twenty years he was a partner in the business. Having given a long and faithful service in merchandising annals to the people of that community for a period of thirty-one years, he disposed of his interests, and in 1898 entered upon his public duties as postmaster of the village. He resigned that office at the end of three years in order to accept the place of secretary and general manager for the Eel River Telephone Company. Under his energetic management this company has vastly increased and improved its service, and now furnishes the best of telephone facilities to a large and ever increasing patronage about North Manchester. Another business relation which did him great credit personally and is gratefully remembered by the people of this community, was his appointment as trustee in bankruptcy by the Creditors of the Bank of North Manchester, when it closed its doors in 1894. Due to his careful handling of the tangled skein of that business, all depositors were given a settlement of about eighty-five cents on the dollar.

As a republican in politics Mr. Signs has always taken an active interest in public affairs, but has thus far steadfastly refused any official honors. In 1876 he married Miss Maria Simpson, a daughter of Richard Simpson, of Wabash county. Their three children died unnamed in infancy. Mr. Signs is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, having his membership in the lodge at North Manchester.

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

Allen Kitson grew up in Chester township, and until he was about twenty-five years of age most of his time was spent at home in attending school and in assisting his father. He was nineteen years old when the war broke out, and he volunteered and went to the front, where he made a record of faithful performance of duty, and remained until his honorable discharge. On returning to Wabash county he devoted his efforts in the line of farming, but since the fall of 1870 has had his home in North Manchester, and is now living retired from the active cares of life. In August, 1869, Allen Kitson married Miss Gabrielle Parker, a daughter of Jacob and Franey Parker. The children born to their marriage are given record as follows: Frank S., Ernest and Ina, both of whom died in infancy; and Amy, now deceased, who married Gilford Blickenstaff, and had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth, born in August, 1911. Mrs. Allen Kitson, the mother, died in March, 1908, and is buried in North Manchester.

Dr. Frank S. Kitson, who since graduating from medical college has engaged in the general practice of medicine and surgery at North Manchester, was born in Chester township, June 20, 1870. His home has always been in Wabash county . Early in life he decided to take up the study and practice of medicine, and arranged all his work and plans with that object in view. After attending the local grade and high schools he entered Rush Medical College at Chicago, and was graduated M. D., May 22, 1895. Returning at once to his old home in North Manchester he began practice with Dr. M. O. Lower, a life-long friend. Two years later their partnership was dissolved, and since then Dr. Kitson has been alone. He is a member of the Wabash County Medical Society, the Indiana Medical State Society, the Eleventh Indiana Counselor District Society, and the American Medical Association. His fraternal relations are with the Masonic fraternity, including the Blue Lodge and Chapter at North Manchester, the Council and Commandery at Wabash, and the Scottish Rite Consistory and the Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Fort Wayne. He also belongs to the Knights of the Maccabees, and with his wife worships in the Methodist faith.

On June 3, 1896, Dr. Kitson married Miss Helen Swart Fuller, a daughter of G. E. and Martha Fuller, of Waukesha, Wisconsin. They are the parents of one son, Lower Fuller Kitson, who was born May 1, 1897.

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

The father of Dr. Wilson was born in Rush county, Indiana, in 1840, and was a lad of two years when he came to Wabash with his parents, James and Elizabeth (Ambers) Wilson. The elder James Wilson joined the great throng of gold seekers who went to the Golden State in 1849, making the trip around the Horn, and upon his return to Indiana served in the capacity of constable for some years, although he died at a comparatively early age. William H. Wilson was a man of wide prac¬tical information, although he was granted but meagre educational advantages in his youth. During the early days he carried mail between Huntington and Wabash, and subsequently served as a clerk in various general stores and at one time was the proprietor of a meat market. He was a man of decided views, was an influential factor in the life of the community in which he lived, and earnestly endeavored to make a success of every undertaking in which he was engaged. At the outbreak of the Civil War he offered his services to the Union and became a member of the Seventy-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, in which he rose to the rank of lieutenant, and his service was marked by the utmost bravery and faithfulness to duty. In later years he was active in the Grand Army of the Republic, and likewise took an interest in the welfare of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with which he was identified for a long period. A democrat in his political views, he served efficiently for three years as postmaster of Wabash under President Cleveland's first administration. Mr. Wilson married Margaret Mountz, who was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1840, and who is still living. They became the parents of three children: Anna, who is the wife of Harry B. Clark; Elizabeth, who is now Mrs. John Whisler; and James. The father of these children passed to his final rest September 3, 1911.

James Wilson was reared to manhood in Wabash, and has always made this city his home. His early education was secured in the public schools, and in 1885 he was graduated from high school and then for one year was a student at DePauw University. Succeeding this he spent two years at the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, Michigan, there studying chemistry, and matriculated at Bellevue Medical College, New York, in 1888, being graduated from that institution in March, 1890. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession in his native city, and here he has built up an excellent business and gained a high place in the profession of which he is a master. During the Spanish-American War he became assistant surgeon of the 161st Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, serving ten months, the greater part of which time was passed in Cuba. Like his father, Dr. Wilson is a stalwart democrat, and was elected mayor of Wabash in November, 1909, and reelected in November, 1913. He is rendering his fellow-townsmen excellent services as chief executive and his administration has been marked by prosperous conditions and beneficial reforms. He is widely known in fraternal circles, being a Thirty-second Degree and Knight Templar Mason, a Shriner, an Elk, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of Pythias, and has numerous friends in all of these orders. He also holds membership in the various societies of his profession.

On May 31, 1894, Dr. Wilson was married to Miss Cora F. Ebbinghouse, of Wabash, and they are the parents of four children: Eloise, Alice, William A. and Frances. Mrs. Wilson belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church.

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

Peter King was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1805, was reared in that locality, and when a youth learned the milling business at York Haven, near his birthplace. Soon afterward he moved to Johnson's Corners in Summit county, Ohio, where he was engaged to operate a flouring mill on the shares. There he met and in 1830 married Elizabeth Boyer. His next removal took him to Seville in Medina county, where he built and managed a mill.

With his wife and three children (Mary Ann, George N. and Thomas Wellman), he moved to Indiana in August, 1842. His object was to secure land at a less cost than it could be had then in northeastern Ohio. The village of Wabash was his first location, but later he moved out to the farm he had bought near town. The four hundred and twenty acres acquired by him in this vicinity cost him on the average about four dollars an acre. Subsequently his home was returned to Wabash, and that city was practically his place of residence throughout the rest of his life.

On the Mississinewa river near Vernon he bought a site at which he erected about 1849 a mill which was under his direct management several years. Its machinery continued grinding for a long time, and its framework stood the shock of many years, a venerable landmark, until destroyed by the great flood of March, 1913. While milling was his primary calling, Peter King was one of the ablest business men of his time. He operated extensively in the buying of wheat, which he shipped over canal and railroad to the east. He was also one of the men who made the pork-packing industry valuable before the war. For the time his transactions were on a large scale, and in a good sense of the term he was a man of affairs.

In 1858 he returned to his first vocation, and built at Wabash a steam flouring mill, which began operations in 1859. In 1861, with William Whiteside as partner, this mill was converted into a furniture factory. Two years later Mr. King disposed of his interest in the business, and bought a mill at North Manchester on the Eel river, spending about two and a half years in the operation of that plant. With James McCrea, he later bought the water mill, on the old canal, at Wabash, and that was practically the last enterprise to which he gave his active attention. At the end of about eight years he retired, and lived in the quiet of his home until his death in August, 1891. His wife had passed away in September, 1890, after a happy companionship of sixty years. After they came to Indiana one other son was born to them, Allen W. King.

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

He was born about two miles west of Wabash, on his father's farm, on the old Mill Creek Pike, February 28, 1871. He is one of three children, all of whom are still living, born to Ephraim and Alwilda (Hutchens) Pearson. His grandfather was William Pearson and his great-grandfather was Powell Pearson, who was born in South Carolina, of English parentage. For many generations the Pearsons were active in the Quaker faith, but the doctor's grandfather, having married outside the pale of the church and having refused to express contrition for his act as required by the church authorities was deprived or his religious connections, and thus broke the continuity of the family adherents in that sect. The Hutchens family were among the pioneers of Wabash county, and also of English ancestry. Jesse Hutchens and his son Daniel came to Wabash county from Ohio, and located on land where the city of South Wabash now stands. Two owners had preceded them in the ownership of that property, which is now very valuable and the site for many homes and industries. The Pearsons were in Wabash county when the entire region was a wilderness and Grandfather William Pearson built and operated one of the early vertical sawmills on Mill Creek, an institution which was well known in its day, and was located five miles west of the city of Wabash.

Dr. Edson D. Pearson has always made Wabash county his home. He was graduated from the south Wabash high school, and subsequently for two terms attended the University of Indiana. Like many others in professional life, he entered upon his present vocation through the avenue of school teaching, and during and after his college career was a teacher for four terms. During the last term he taught school, he had begun the study of medicine with Dr. J. W. G. Stewart, after which he entered the Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, from which he graduated in 1889. He then returned to Wabash county and began practice of medicine in the county seat, and in a few years had gained a practice of very practical proportions. Dr. Pearson has membership in the State and American Institutes of Homeopathy. In politics he is a Republican, and he and his wife worship in the Methodist Episcopal church. His marriage occurred September 7, 1898, when Miss Blanche Jones became his wife. Their four children are: Dorwin, William, James and Martha.

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

James Dicken Conner was born near Connersville, Fayette county, Indiana, July 11, 1819, and died at his home in Wabash January 28, 1909, aged nearly 90 years. His father, Daniel Conner, a Kentuckian by birth, and of English ancestry, came to Indiana, where there were very few white settlements within the borders of the territory, and was of that hardy type of pioneers who composed the vanguard of civilization and by their dauntless resolution and strength of body and character cleared the path for later generations. He located on an unbroken tract of land not far from the seat of justice of Fayette county, and there he lived until death came to him after a long and useful life.

While a farmer by occupation, Daniel Conner early experienced religion, and for a number of years was minister for the local Baptist congregation. When a young man he married Elizabeth Dicken, a native of Virginia, and a descendant of Scottish ancestors.

James Dicken Conner was reared to hard work on his father's farm, and learned the lessons of self-reliance among the first in the book of life's instructions. When it is remembered that his birth occurred only three years after Indiana's admission to the union, it is easy to understand that his youth was spent in an altogether pioneer environment, and his advantages had none of the breadth of culture afforded to the boys of modern times. Not content, however, with the education afforded by the district schools of his neighborhood, he obtained a knowledge of the higher branches of learning at a seminary in Connersville, and for two years was himself a teacher during the winters, the summer months being devoted to the labors of the old homestead. The ambition to become a lawyer, once fixed in his mind, never deserted him and kept inspired for all the difficulties which he had to meet and overcome before gaining his goal. He became a student in the office of Hon. Caleb B. Smith, who afterwards became secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Lincoln. After an examination as to his fitness and qualification he was admitted to the bar in 1840.

In October of that year Judge Conner came to Wabash, and started the practice of his chosen calling, in a town that was still on the frontier, though deriving great commercial advantage from its position on the canal, yet having a population of only about six hundred inhabitants, while the surrounding country was very sparsely settled. Mr. Conner had that inestimable faculty of being able to grow in power and resources along with his community, and by the time he had been in Wabash ten years, he was recognized as the foremost lawyer of the county bar. He also took rank among the leading men in public life in the state, and not only was one of the organizers of the republican party in Indiana, but was sent as a delegate to the national convention at Philadelphia, in 1856, when John C. Fremont was nominated as the first republican standard bearer in a presidential campaign. It was in the campaign of the same year that Mr. Conner was nominated for representative to the legislature and elected. In 1859 he was elected to the state senate as joint senator from Wabash and Kosciusko counties. By appointment of Governor Morton, he was a member of the committee that met President-Elect Lincoln at the state line and that welcomed the latter to Indianapolis, when Mr. Lincoln was on his way to the nation's capital to take the oath of office as president. Later President Lincoln offered to Mr. Conner the unsolicited appointment of Judge of the United States District Court of Nebraska territory, a position which he declined owing to other personal matters, interfering with the performance of his duties as judge.

Judge Conner practiced law continuously and with splendid success at Wabash from 1840 until 1884, and in that year was elected judge of the twenty-seventh judicial district composed of Wabash and Miami counties. During his six years on the bench he drew from his profound experience as a lawyer, and as a public man, the wisdom and impartial attitude which gave distinguished dignity to his service as a judge, and it has been well said that as a lawyer and as a jurist Judge Conner never had a superior in Wabash county. Judge Conner was reared a Baptist, but in his later life was a communicant of the Presbyterian church. He was broad and charitable in his views on all matters, and was a man of unassailable character.

On October 2, 1842, he married Julia A. Hanna, and their marriage linked in one home life the foremost member of the bar and the daughter of Col. Hugh Hanna, whose name will always have a conspicuous place in the history of Wabash county as the founder of the city of Wabash. The children born to Judge and Mrs. Conner were: Ovid W., Horatio H., James D., and Rosalind. Mrs. Conner died October 16, 1898, after a married life of over half a century.

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

James D. Conner, Jr., was born in the city of Wabash October 8, 1853. He was a member of the second class and was the first boy to graduate from the Wabash high school after the schools of the city were graded in 1873. From high school he entered that old center of culture for young men of Indiana, Wabash College at Crawfordsville, where he was graduated in 1876. For a number of years he had pursued his readings in the law under the direction of his father, and in 1876 not only obtained a scholastic degree from old Wabash College, but passed the examinations and was admitted to the bar. That year has a prominent place in Mr. Conner's biography, since on December 19, he was united in marriage with Miss Clara Prudence Thurston. Mrs. Conner was born in Wabash county, a daughter of William K. Thurston.

Mr. Conner after having been admitted to the bar began to practice in partnership with his father, and that relationship continued until the latter's election to the bench of the circuit court. Since then for nearly thirty years he has practiced alone, and has enjoyed many of the better distinctions and rewards of the successful lawyer. Since early manhood Mr. Conner, as was his father before him, has been interested in farm life and its kindred interests. His excursions into agriculture have been not particularly for profit, but as a result of an inherent love for man's first and greatest industry. While Mr. Conner might disclaim any achievement as a practical farmer, his interest in the subject has always been keen, and for the past quarter of a century his name has been familiar to stockmen, especially among the breeders and owners of cattle and Belgian horses. In 1886 Mr. Conner had among his clients the Wabash Importing Company, a firm which imported pure bred Belgian draft horses to Wabash county. Mr. Conner was the first man to realize the need of and to take steps to protect an organization for the protection of the American public in buying and handling horses of the Belgian breed. In accordance with a well considered plan in 1887 he organized and incorporated The American Association of Importers and Breeders of Belgian Draft Horses. The object and the work of this association need not be set forth in detail, except to say that it is the only association in the United States that registers Belgian draft horses and is so recognized by both the govern¬ments of Belgian and of the United States, and no registry association in the world stands higher. Mr. Conner was elected secretary and treasurer of the association and has filled that office ever since its organization. The association has done a very valuable work, and probably every owner of a Belgian horse in America is familiar with the name of Mr. Conner.

In connection with his work as an attorney and as a stockman he has been interested in various local and benevolent institutions. He was the prime mover in the Wabash County Old Settlers Association, of which he was president for a number of years, and assisted in organizing the Wabash County Historical Society, of which he is the president. Mr. Conner is a director in the Citizens Savings & Trust Company.

raternally his relations are with the Masonic Order, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is a republican and has always been active in politics and is at this time president of the Lincoln League of Indiana. His church is the Presbyterian. Mrs. Conner, who died March 1, 1910, left two daughters: Annie, Mrs. Howard C. Jones; and Julia.

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

The LaSalle family is of French ancestry, established in America, during the colonial era. When the westward movement had carried civilization well into the Mississippi valley, Grandfather Elizur LaSalle moved his family and possessions to Wabash county, Indiana, when all this section was still in the wilderness, and he was one of those hardy pioneers who effected a reclamation of the land from the domain of savage and wild beasts. The parents of Dr. LaSalle were Elizur and America (Corey) LaSalle.

Dr. Gilbert M. LaSalle was born on his father's farm in Noble township, of Wabash county, on August 29, 1870. While growing to manhood he had the experiences of the average country lad, assisting in the farm labor, and attending district school. Subsequently he was a student in the Wabash City schools, and in the old Wabash Normal located on the south side. His most pronounced talent during his youth was an inherent fondness for music, and his proficiency in this line led to work which might well have developed into a permanent career. For one year, from the time he was nineteen years old he was instructor and the leader of the band at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. In the meantime he had definitely determined on the medical profession for his career, and returning to Wabash he read under the direction of Dr. R. E. Blount, and Dr. James Wilson in that city. The winter of 1892-93, was spent as a student in the Chicago Medical College. In 1893-94, he attended the Indiana Medical College at Indianapolis, and it being his desire to accumulate every thing in the way of medical instruction and knowledge, irrespective of systems, he next entered the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago, where he was a student during 1894-95, and graduated there M. D. in the spring of 1895. With this equipment for his work, Dr. LaSalle located at Wabash, and has since enjoyed generous professional success. While a general practitioner, of late years, he has drifted largely into surgical work, and in this field has achieved distinction. He is a member of the Wabash County Medical Society, and the Indiana State and the American Medical Association. His political support is given to the republican party, and fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pythias. To Dr. LaSalle's marriage with Miss Daisy Summerland, on July 30, 1895, two children have been born, namely: Eleanor and Robert. Both the doctor and Mrs. LaSalle are members of the Christian church.

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

The founder of the family in this section was Charles Niccum who died in 1884, and was one of the early settlers. He located on section thirty-six in township twenty-six north, range five east (Waltz township) in March, 1852. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, in 1825, was reared on a farm, and in 1844, before reaching his majority, married Sarah Coble. Sarah Coble's father and other relatives settled in Wabash county about 1850, and the young man and his wife followed them and began housekeeping in Waltz township. The late Charles Niccum was rather under the average size physically, but what he lacked in physical stature was more than offset by his intense activity. He worked hard, and while he had but limited education, he had a large fund of practical sense, was quiet and unobstrusive and was reckoned as a first-class neighbor. Possessed of considerable determination, he took to studying long after he had become a man in order that he might the better measure up to the responsibilities and privileges of American citizenship. In politics he was a republican up to the time Horace Greeley became a candidate for the presidency, and after that was a democrat. He and his wife had ten children, six of whom are still living.

John Niccum, the oldest of these children, was born December 18, 1845, in Darke county, Ohio, and was therefore seven years old when he became a resident of Wabash county. With the exception of three years' residence in Jasper county, Indiana, he has always made his home in Wabash county, and up to 1910, in Waltz township. He was reared to hard work on the old farm, and such limited education as he obtained was acquired by a few months attendance during the winter term at the neighboring district school. Mr. Niccum is one of the youngest men in Wabash county who had a military record as a Union soldier during the Civil war. In February, 1865, a few months before the surrender of the southern army, he enlisted in Company F of the One Hundred and Fifty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and from that time until the close of the war was employed on garrison and guard duty, for the most part in Kentucky. After his honorable discharge at the close of the war he resumed farming, and in time found himself possessed of a good property, and has always managed in such a way as to return a surplus. His home place in Waltz township comprises ninety acres of the fine farming land in that section.

It has come about almost as a matter of course that Mr. Niccum should be a republican in politics. He has voted and worked with that party since the first Grant campaign, but never held any office of consequence until 1910, when he was the successful candidate for sheriff of Wabash county. In 1912 his party again nominated him for the office, but owing to the general ascendancy of the democracy during that year he met defeat. But he was again nominated by the republicans as sheriff on April 15, 1914.

Mr. Niccum was married September 21, 1866, to Miss Maria Malott. To their union, which has endured for upwards of half a century, has been born a large family of twelve children, whose names and brief mention of whose positions in life are as follows: Sarah, who died at the age of six months; Lovena, who died aged nineteen years; Cora, who died at the age of seventeen; Dillard, who married Nellie Bowman, had one son, Lewis Earl, Dillard died when only twenty-one years old; Ovid, who married Nora Long, has eight children, and is a prosperous farmer in Noble township of this county; Sarah, who died in infancy; Charles Samuel, who married Lodi Forrest, has five children, and is a farmer in Liberty township; Abbie, wife of Arthur Brewer, of Otsego, Michigan has one daughter; John Earl, who married Edith Clark, has two children and lives in Goshen, Indiana; Edith, unmarried; Lewis, who married Marie Garst, and lives in Wabash, is a member of the firm of Niccum & Dumbaugh, automobile dealers of Wabash; Guy, who died when about six months old. Mr. Niccum is affiliated with the Masonic fraternities, and he and his wife worship with the Missionary Baptist church.

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

Mr. Morrow is a native son of this county and state, Dorn in Waltz township on the 11th of December, 1868, a son of C. H. and Joanna Morrow. When he was about two years old the family of John H. Morrow moved from Waltz township to Liberty township, and there he was reared to manhood and received his education in the district schools. While yet in his teens he began teaching, and he taught his first country school in the southeast corner of Wabash county. Up to the year 1898 he continued with his teaching activities, spending the winters in that work and his summers at other labors. He moved to La Fontaine in September, 1895, and there spent three more years in teaching, devoting a part of that time to the intermediate grades of the LaFontaine schools, teaching ten years all told. He passed his summers clerking in the local stores and in buying wool, and in this way he continued until 1900, when he was elected the trustee of Liberty township. He held that office for four years, and during that period also managed the retail store of Martin & Company. In 1904 Mr. Morrow was elected treasurer of Wabash county, and he discharged the duties of that office in a most creditable manner through four years of continuous service, having been twice elected. During this time he was also engaged as a wool buyer in the county, which line of work he still follows, and on the 1st of January, 1910, in association with Frank Paul, he also embarked in the agricultural and implement business, under the name of Paul & Morrow. They established themselves at Wabash, where they continued the business successfully until January 1, 1912, when the enterprise passed into the hands of J. H. Morrow & Son, but in October, 1913, they sold their interests in the firm. On the 15th of May, 1912, Mr. Morrow, with his brother, Garl Morrow, engaged in business under the name of The Morrow Grain Company, and they bought three grain elevators, located respectively at Rich Valley, Lagro and Wabash. The three had been owned by W. A. Elward up to that time. The new relationship has continued in a prosperous and profitable business since its establishment.

Mr. Morrow is a staunch republican and an able advocate of party principles in the county. He is a member of the Christian church, as is also his wife. On the 1st of September, 1889, he was married to Mary E. Sparks, a native of Wabash county and a daughter of William T. and Missouri Sparks. The seven children born to this union are Floy, Howard and Hazel (twins), Fannie, Harry, Frederick and Mary Alice.

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

Valentine A. Mattern was born on his father's farm in Paw Paw township of Wabash county, August 23, 1858. His father was Valentine Mattern, who was born in Schmidtweiler in the Province Bayern, Canton Rockenhausen, Germany. His own career as an early Wabash county citizen had many notable points of interest and achievements, and deserves more than passing mention. His people were farmers and in his native land he was reared to young manhood, receiving such advantages in an educational way as are accorded to the youth of Germany. When he was twenty years old he left home and took passage aboard a sailing vessel, in company with the family of John Schwartz, emigrating with them to America. On their arrival at New York, the little party made its way to Toledo, Ohio, thence by way of the Wabash & Erie Canal to Wabash, Indiana. Mr. Mattern was unattached and without other friends, and found a home with the Schwartz family who had settled on a farm near Urbana. Here he married Katherine Schwartz, the daughter of the house.

For perhaps eleven years after his location in Wabash county, Mr. Mattern farmed continuously and contentedly after which he moved to Wabash and for two years worked at the carpenter's trade. Then, for a similar period, he gave his attention to the butcher business, and after that experience bought a farm some two and a half miles north of Wabash. It was a place of one hundred and sixty acres, all woodland, with the exception of a half acre where a log cabin stood. Into the cabin were moved family, household gods and all their various and sundry possessions, settling down to the steady pull that any attempt to wrest a living from such untaught soil must of necessity mean. With the passing years Mr. Mattern cleared the land and converted what had been a barren wilderness into a valuable and productive farm. He added to his original possessions until in time he held three hundred and twenty acres in that vicinity, and he came to be one of the most prosperous men of the township. Though Mr. Mattern came to this country a poor boy, unfamiliar with the spoken tongue of the people or with their customs and manners, he eventually reached a position of prominence in his community and gained the sincere esteem and regard of his neighbors. He had been reared to a life of industry and frugality, and these qualities, combined with his native honesty, produced a steadiness of character that brought him success where others, better established financially, but less fortunate in their early training, could only have experienced failure. He worked hard that he might provide a suitable home for his family, and give to his children educational advantages and such other opportunities as seemed best for them, and which he had not been able to have in his own youth. He was a man of excellent habits, steady and methodical, and of a religious turn of mind. He was a member of the Evangelical church. Both he and his wife died in Wabash. To them were born twelve children, nine of whom grew to years of maturity, and eight of the number are living at this writing. The living members of the family are here named: Peter A., a resident of Wabash; Valentine A. of Wabash; Adam E., living near Andrews in Huntington county; Anna, the wife of John Mattern of Wabash county; Elizabeth, who married F. C. Zimmer, of Wabash; Helena, the wife of Wm. Yentes, living near Urbana, in Wabash county; Caroline married Lewis Yentes and lives near Andrews; John H. lives in Lincolnville, Wabash county; Mary, the third eldest of the children, who reached mature years, married Christian Wendel, and both are now deceased. The three other children of Mr. and Mrs. Mattern died in infancy.

When Valentine A. Mattern was five years old the family moved to Wabash, but most of his early training was on the farm and his education from the district schools of the community. When he reached his majority he began farming on his own responsibility, but after two years came to Wabash. For four years he was employed as a clerk in the general store of J. W. Busic, perhaps the ablest merchant Wabash ever had . He then bought a half interest in a grocery store, in association with George Young, and a year later sold out to Mr. Young and entered the employ of Whiteside & Goodlander in the dry goods business. That was his work seven years, and then, with F. Y. and C. N. Conner as partners, he bought a book store and jewelry shop in 1894, under the firm name of Conner, Mattern & Conner. This establishment they conducted under the name mentioned until early in 1900, when John H. Mattern, brother of Mr. Mattern, was admitted to partnership. At this time the business was very materially enlarged by the addition of a dry goods store which was operated under the name of V. A. Mattern & Company, F. V. Conner and John H. Mattern taking charge of the book and jewelry store and C. N. Conner and V. A. Mat¬tern looking after the dry goods establishment.

In 1905 the firm dissolved partnership, the Mattern Brothers taking as their equity in the business the dry goods end, while the Conner Brothers took the book and jewelry store. V. A. Mattern & Brother operated their dry goods store for one year, and then John H. Mattern sold his interest to his brother and turned his attention to farming, in which he has since been successfully occupied. V. A. Mattern has continued the store name, The New Golden Rule, up to the present time, but with January, 1913, came the change in the name of the firm, when the admission of his son, Karl, to the business, made the name V. A. Mattern & Son the more appropriate title.

It is not only as a merchant that Mr. Mattern is known in Wabash county, but also as a successful farmer and stock raiser. His enterprise in this direction is conducted on one hundred and twenty acres of land, owned by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Henry Lanzer, and located two miles north of Wabash on the Mount road. With Arthur Tomson as partner, Mr. Mattern rents that place, and together they have made more than a local reputation in the raising of Chester white hogs, besides the general operations of such a farm. Mr. Mattern also owns a farm of two hundred and fourteen acres located in Green township of Marshall county, Indiana.

A prominent citizen of Wabash in business, social and fraternal circles, Mr. Mattern affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Independent Order of Foresters, while he and his wife are active members of the German Evangelical church. On October 18, 1880, Mr. Mattern married Miss Caroline Lanzer. They are the parents of two children: Karl H. and Ruth.

Politically Mr. Mattern is a democrat, and is now serving as a member of the Wabash school board. He is one of the progressive and up-to-date men of the city and a citizen of the finest type.

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

Clarence H. LaSelle is a son of Harvey B. LaSalle, one of Wabash county's best known citizens, whose career is briefly sketched on other pages. The son was born on his father's farm in Wabash county, September 10, 1872. Reared in the country, with an education afforded by the public schools, while still in his teens he started to earn his own living as clerk in a shoe store conducted by Charles E. Hutton. Two years later he found similar employment in a grocery store for a time, and then became associated with his father in the general fire and life insurance business. Mr. LaSelle has been identified with insurance for a number of years, has built up a large clientele, and has written the original policies and kept up the renewals for a great many patrons year after year in Wabash and Wabash county.

Mr. LaSelle is one of the veterans of the Spanish-American war. In April, 1898, the month war was declared against Spain, he volunteered in Company D of the One Hundred and Sixtieth Indiana Volunteers, and took charge of a squad of thirty recruits whom he escorted to Indianapolis to join the regiment. He was then given the non-commissioned office of corporal, and for some months during the Cuban campaign in the summer of 1898 was stationed on that island. However, neither he nor his comrades saw any active campaigning, but had to content themselves with garrison and occupation duties. When the Citizens Savings and Trust Company of Wabash was organized Mr. LaSelle's insurance business was merged into the larger organization, and Mr. LaSelle became secretary of the company.

In politics he was actively identified with the local republican party until the campaign of 1912, and for a number of years served as secretary of the republican county central committee. However, in that year he followed his convictions and went over to the new progressive party, an alliance which he has since maintained and is now classified in the progressive ranks. Fraternally his associations are with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

On October 18, 1899, Mr. LaSelle married Miss Daisy Williams, and they have two daughters, Martha and Mary. Mr. LaSelle and wife are both members of the Presbyterian church.

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