Among the children of Michael Schlemmer was John, born in Bavaria in about 1841, and who died on October 26, 1906. He was a lad of twelve years when the family followed the father to the United States, and he was one of six children. Of that family only one now lives, Adam Schlemmer.

John Schlemmer had only a limited education, for opportunities were not plenty in his boyhood for schooling. As soon as he was old enough to be of any use in the world, he was put to work and he early began to earn his own living. He worked in the woolen mills at Wabash until the Civil war broke out, and he lost no time in affiliating himself with American citizens by enlisting for service in the Union army. He enlisted on August 19, 1862, in Company A, Seventy-fifth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Wabash in 1862, and in the same month, with his command, went to Louisville, Kentucky, and there became attached to the Fortieth Brigade, Twelfth Division of the Army of Ohio. The Seventy-fifth Regiment was afterwards identified with other brigades and divisions. Mr. Schlemmer's first active service was with his company in pursuit of General Bragg through Kentucky, thence to Bowling Green, Scottsville, Gallatin, followed by the pursuit of General Morgan through Cave City, Nashville and Murfreesboro. The battle of Tullahoma was followed by his first great battle, at Chickamauga and soon thereafter came his participation in the engagements at Dalton, Rocky Face Ridge, Buzzards Roost, Resaca, Adairsville, Etowah River, Pumpkinvine Creek, Allatona Hills, Burnt Hickory, Kenesaw Mountain, Pine Mountain, Lost Mountain, Pine Knob, Smyrna, Campground, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesboro, and Lovejoy Station. Then followed their pursuit of General Hood into Alabama, with the March to the Sea with Sherman soon after, they passed thence through the Carolinas and the final and culminating event of the war, the Grand Review at the Nation's Capitol. The military career of Mr. Schlemmer was arduous and extremely praiseworthy, and may justly be a source of pride to his descendants.

Mr. Schlemmer was mustered out on June 8, 1865, and returning home, he resumed work in the woolen mills at Wabash. He was married in 1865 to Elizabeth Geible, who was also an employe of the woolen mills at that time, and in 1870, owing to the ill state of his health resulting from his severe military experiences, he was compelled to give up his work in the mills. He entered the employ of H. O. Markley & Company, monument manufacturers, with whom he continued until the business was taken over by Frank Jenkins. He remained with the new firm for about two years, and again failing health necessitated a withdrawal from active work. From then up to the time of his death, he was practically retired from all business activities. Mr. Schlemmer suffered much during the latter part of his life from ill health, undoubtedly occasioned to a large extent by his war service and the hardships he underwent during those trying years.

A republican all his life, Mr. Schlemmer was reasonably active in party work, and he was a devoted member of the G. A. R. to the end of his days. He had membership in the Evangelical Association, as regards his religious affiliations. Mr. Schlemmer was a man who had decided views on all subjects that came under his consideration, and he was enthusiastic in his political activities and earnest along the lines of his religious work. He was a companionable, genial soul, and a man who loved his home and was particularly fond of children. He was strictly honest and upright in all his business transactions, and he enjoyed the high regard and esteem of all with whom he came in contact in all the varied relations of life. His widow survives him and resides in Wabash, in the same house to which she came as a bride of fifty years ago.

Of the children born to these parents, John Schlemmer is the eldest. He was born in Wabash, on October 17, 1866, and was educated in the public schools of this city. At the age of fifteen he began to learn the trade of a harness maker, to which he applied himself with all diligence until he had completed his apprenticeship. For twenty-three years thereafter he followed the trade of a harness maker. In 1904 he entered the employ of Charles Yentes, having charge of the implement business conducted by Mr. Yentes until 1908, when the business was bought by Dougherty Brothers. Mr. Schlemmer continued with the new firm until the close of the year, when he embarked in the implement and hardware business on his own responsibility, and he has since continued in the enterprise, enjoying a goodly measure of prosperity and business success.

Mr. Schlemmer is a member of the Progressive party in his politics, and fraternally is affiliated with the Masonic order. He was married on May 21, 1890, to Miss Elizabeth J. Shenkle, a daughter of Nicholas and Catharine (Deffenbaugh) Shenkle, of Huntington county, Indiana. They have three sons, Blount L., Walter P. and Wilbur S. Schlemmer.

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

Joseph Bloomer was born in Fayette county, Ohio, and was there educated in the public schools and reared to agricultural pursuits, in which he was engaged throughout the remainder of his life. In 1843, he moved to Liberty township, Wabash county, at a time when Indians still roamed the woods and wild game was to be found in abundance here entering land from the Government. However, he never lived on this land, but became superintendent for the heirs of the Wood estate, who owned extensive tracts here at that time. While thus engaged, Mr. Bloomer began buying and selling land, but for the greater part resided on the Wood property until 1872, when he made removal to his own land, which he later traded for a gristmill at Somerset, the operation of which held his attention until the close of his life. He died October 27, 1890, while his wife passed away in 1904, both in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which they had been lifelong members. Mr. Bloomer was a man who attended strictly to his own affairs. Methodical in his habits, he accumulated a satisfactory share of the world's goods; possessed of the strictest integrity, his reputation in his community was high and he commanded universal respect.

Ellis Bloomer was the seventh in order of birth of his parents' nine children, of whom three sons and two daughters are still living. Reared on his father's farm, he attended the district schools in his youth, subsequently took a course in the Wabash Academy under the presidency of Professor Wilbur, and completed his education in the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio. He taught his first term of school when twenty years of age, and continued as an educator until after his marriage, when he began farming on the land on which his father resided for so many years. He continued as an agriculturist in Liberty township until September, 1911, and through industry, good judgment and well-applied effort made a decided success of his operations . He had long been interested in political affairs, and had served as assessor of Liberty township, and in 1910 became the nominee of the republican party for the office of clerk of the courts, to which position he was sent at the ensuing election, taking office in January, 1912. His subsequent able handling of the affairs of the county has shown the citizens of this section that they made no mistake in their choice. Socially Mr. Bloomer is connected with the Masonic fraternity. With his family, he belongs to the Christian church.

Mr. Bloomer was married December 15, 1878, to Miss Julia A. Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, a farmer of Liberty township, and to this union there have been born eight children, as follows: Guy S., who died when fourteen years of age; Joseph R., a practicing physician with a large professional business at Rockville, Indiana; Frederick H., engaged in agricultural pursuits in Huntington county, Indiana; Marie, who died at the age of seven years; Kenneth E., who passed away when twenty years old; John W., engaged in farming in Grant county, Indiana; Bessie, who is serving capably in the capacity of deputy clerk in her father's office; and Ellen E., residing at home with her parents.

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

Jesse Parmenter is the fourth born child in a family of eight born to his parents, Joseph and Sally (Irons) Parmenter, natives of Vermont and New York state, respectively. In the year 1834 Joseph Parmenter was a pioneer to the state of Michigan, and in Shiawasse county he preempted fifty-five acres of land. Here the young man met with all the trials that were the inevitable lot of a newcomer in a new land, and he had the not unusual experience of having to clear a spot of virgin trees before he could find space to put up a log cabin. The cabin, when completed, was primitive enough in its type, the logs unhewn, and elm bark used for roofing, with roughly split logs for the floor. Mr. Parmenter was the ninth white man to settle in the county, and it will be conceded that he had a generous amount of courage else he would not have ventured as far as he did, for after spending a few months in his new location and building a sort of shelter for himself, he returned to the east, married in the following winter, in the year 1835, and moved back to the wilds of Michigan with his bride. Something might be appropriately said for the courage and fortitude that the young wife displayed, too, for the life of the pioneer in the thirties was not an enviable one. They were of stern stuff, however, and the experiences they were subjected to in their new home did not quench their spirits, for they continued there, building up a real home, and spending the balance of their lives in the community that eventually was formed.

Thus it was that Jesse Parmenter was reared amid pioneer scenes and activities in his native community. Such education as he acquired comprised something like fifteen months, spent intermittently, in the district schools, which in that day were scarcely worthy of the name. This lack of education Mr. Parmenter has in some measure overcome, for he has been a wide reader, a careful observer and a faithful student in the great school of experience all his days.

At the age of twenty he began life on responsibility, hiring out as a farm hand at $12.00 a month and he was thus employed when the Civil war broke out. He enlisted on August 24, 1861, and September 4th following was mustered in as a private in Company H, Stockton's Independent Regiment which was later converted into the Sixteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry. With his command he went direct to Washington, D. C., and first encamped there on Meridian Hill, where they remained about four weeks. They then crossed the Potomac, encamping for the winter on Hall's Hill. On March 12, 1862, they left their winter quarters and started for Richmond as a part of the Fifth Army Corps under General George B. McClellan, but later they were transferred to boats for a different route, and were landed at Hampton Roads on the Peninsula. Mr. Parmenter was in the various manoeuverings of the army until the battle of Gaines' Mill and following this he was in the skirmish at Savage Station. He was also in the activities at Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Antietam (as a reserve at the latter battle), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, in the latter engagement being on Little Round Top at a time when he had a full view of Pickett's charge. The winter of 1863-4 found Mr. Parmenter returned to his home on a veteran furlough, and in February, 1864, he rejoined his command at Rapahannock Station, Virginia, and from there went into the battle of the Wilderness. Here, on May 7, 1864, he was wounded through his left shoulder by a minie ball, and he was captured at the hospital on the night of the 7th by the enemy but after five days was paroled and came home to recuperate. On February 19, 1865, after four years of continuous service, he was honorably discharged at Detroit, Michigan.

When Mr. Parmenter had recovered from his military experience he resumed farming in his native county, and he continued to be so occupied until about the close of 1868, when he was appointed to an office in the State prison at Jackson, and he was there in service for four and a half years. That experience weaned him away from the farm, so that when he retired from his duties there, instead of returning to farm life, he took a position as a traveling salesman for a wholesale house in Jackson. In 1882 he went to Logansport and there he became identified with the fire insurance business, on a salary basis, but in July, 1885, he withdrew from his Logansport connections and established himself independently in the fire insurance business in Wabash. He has continued in that enterprise without a break, and his success has been one well worthy of the name. In connection with his insurance busi¬ness he has also for 25 years been the correspondent for the loan department of the Equitable Insurance Company, and in that time has loaned for them, over one million dollars. He is the only man in the county loaning money, who has direct relations with the east.

Mr. Parmenter has been a lifelong republican, and he has held a number of offices under republican government as the appointee of the party. From January 18, 1906, to a corresponding date in 1910 he served as postmaster of Wabash, by appointment of President Roosevelt. He is a Mason, of the Royal Arch body, and has membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. Although a Baptist in religious sentiment, he has membership in the Presbyterian church of Wabash, and is reasonably active in the work of the church.

On November 27,1865, Mr. Parmenter was married at Jackson, Michigan, to Miss Alice Hendee, daughter of Jonathan H. and Charlotte Hendee.

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

Here, in partnership with his uncle, Charles Herff, under the firm name of Herff and New, he embarked in the dry goods business, continuing thus until about 1870, when the firm dissolved partnership, Mr. New engaging in the dry goods business alone and under his own name. Since that time the name of New has been conspicuous in the mercantile annals of the city.

It was while thus associated that Mr. New became actively interested in the civic growth and development of Wabash and of the county, and he was always an influence for good along lines of upward and outward growth. He never aspired to political office, preferring to devote his entire time and attention to his private and business enterprises. He was a Democrat in his politics, and in his race and religion a Jew. But he was especially stanch in his American citizenship, and always a lover of its greatness and its wonderful institutions.

Mr. New was one of those old fashioned men who had a firm belief in honesty, not because of the benefits to be derived from fair and honorable dealings, but because he loved righteousness for its own sake. A deep thinking man, he arrived at a conclusion deliberately and then rigorously lived up to the spirit of his convictions. His was a clean, courageous and upright life, and it was one reflecting credit upon his native land as well as that of his adoption.

Nine children were born to Isaac New and his wife, and of that number eight are now living. Mrs. New died on April 5, 1913, when she was more than seventy-six years of age. She had been a faithful wife to her husband and was ever a. devoted mother, rearing her children to habits of industry and thrift, and inculcating within in their consciousness principles that have stood them in excellent stead in the activities of life. Their children were named as follows: Hannah, who married S. Barth and died in 1887; Alexander, a lawyer of Kansas City; Joseph, a merchant of New York City; Henry New, who succeeded to the mercantile business founded by the father in Wabash; Nellie, the wife of Felix Livingston; Charles, a manufacturer at Louisville, Kentucky; Theodore, a merchant in New York City; Jeannette, the wife of D. H. Blumenthal, of Marion, Indiana; and Rosetta, who married I. Myers, of Kokomo, Indiana.

Henry New, the only son of the family who resides in Wabash was born here on March 26, 1865, and this city has ever been his home. He had his education in the city schools, and early began to assist his father in the business. Here he learned all the details of the enterprise under the able leadership of his father, who was a born merchant, and his son has inherited those qualities that have made for success in his life as well as in that of his honored father.

Mr. New is an independent in politics, and is not especially active in those matters, though he has ever been a good citizen, and has performed well his part in the city, much in the manner of his father before him. He has always taken an active part in the growth of the city and in getting new industries to locate within its confines, and is classed as one of Wabash's most public-spirited men.

Mr. New is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

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

Norva P. Lavengood lived on the farm until he was about ten years of age, during which times after becoming old enough, he attended the neighboring district schools. From that time until attaining manhood, he lived in Roann, where he completed his scholastic training in the public institutions. He began life's battles on his own responsibility when seventeen years of age, becoming a farm hand, and continued thus some two years, the ensuing four years being passed as an employe of the carpentering and building department of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, at Garrett, Indiana. Subsequently, he returned to Roann, and there aided his father in the latter's harness-making shop, but later resumed carpentering, at which he continued to be engaged in 1905, when he embarked in the general automobile sales, garage and repairing business. He followed this line with marked success for seven years, but at the time of his election to the office of county treasurer, disposed of his interests at Roann and moved to Wabash, which city has since been his home. Mr. Lavengood began to take a deep interest in political affairs when still a young man, and has ever been a stanch supporter of the policies of the democratic party. His loyalty and hard work, as well as his general worth and fitness, were recognized in November, 1912, when he became the nominee of his party for the office of county treasurer. He was elected and served four years, from 1909 to January 1, 1913, as assessor of Paw Paw township, resigning to take the office of county treasurer. For four years prior to 1909, he was deputy assessor of Paw Paw township. Wabash county has been singularly fortunate in the character of the men who have filled its important public offices and among those who stand as representatives of its interests at this time none have gained more widespread public approval than has Mr. Lavengood. He has evinced, in marked degree, that faculty possessed by men of large and successful affairs of bringing around him able co-workers and inspiring them with his enthusiasm and determination to get the greatest and best results from the matters in hand. He has shown some interest in fraternal work and is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

On June 1, 1898, Mr. Lavengood married Miss Lulu Ritter, of Steuben county, Indiana, and three children have been born to the union: Leona., Ritter and Bessie. Mrs. Lavengood is a consistent member and liberal supporter of the Christian church.

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

Ernst H. Holdermann was born in the city of Wabash, July 21, 1873. He was one of six children, five of whom are still living, born to Louie and Elizabeth (Seifert) Holdermann. His father was a native of Baden Baden, and the mother of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany. Louie Holdermann, while still unmarried came to the United States in 1866, and Miss Seifert came about the same time. In his native land he had learned the locksmith's trade, but worked at it very little after coming to America. In Wabash county, he soon found employment in the quarrying industry, at first under the direction of Fred Kanne and subsequently was with several successive owners of the Quarries. In 1883, he bought out the previous proprietor, and his ownership was followed by an energetic exploitation of the industry. He shipped stone in bulk over the old canal to Fort Wayne, and other places up and down the Wabash Valley. Quarrying was his regular business from that time until his retirement from active a1fairs about ten or twelve years ago. Louie Holdermann was born in 1840 and with his wife now lives retired in Wabash, enjoying the fruits of a long and honorable career.

Ernst H. Holdermann, when a boy, attended the Wabash public schools, and was trained in industrious habits by his father. Among his early duties, which he recalls, were the carrying of mail between the post office and the quarry, and also he served as water boy, carrying buckets of water around to the workmen, and also had a number of other minor responsibilities in the quarries. One year of his youth was spent in the study of telegraphy, but he never followed that profession. His business career, may be said to have been inaugurated in September, 1889, when he became clerk in the store of J. W. Busick & Son. His work with that firm continued until 1897, in which year he went out to Omaha, Nebraska, to take charge of the dress-goods department in the establishment of Hayden Brothers. Six months later he enlarged his mercantile outlook and experience, in the city of Chicago, where he was employed with the well known dry goods house of Charles A. Stevens and Brother. For one year after that he was manager in charge of the Schroeder Dry Goods Company at Racine, Wisconsin.

While at Racine, on June 14, 1899, Mr. Holdermann married Miss Henrietta Catherine Peters, a native of Wooster, Ohio. In that year he entered upon a partnership with George B. Fawley, and engaged in merchandising at Elkhart, Indiana, where he remained two years. In 1901, returning to Wabash, Mr. Holdermann and Mr. Fawley opened a dry goods store, that being the foundation for his present splendid success as a merchant. In 1909, the partnership was dissolved, and in the meantime the partners had established and for three years had operated a branch store at Winamac. In 1910, Mr. Holdermann began business as sole proprietor of an establishment which in extent and variety of stock and in its facilities for prompt and excellent service ranked as one of the leading emporiums of the time.

Mr. Holdermann is a German Evangelical Protestant in religion, in politics he is a progressive and though affiliated with some local fraternal organization he is essentially a business man, and divides all his time between his home and his store. He and his wife are the parents of two daughters, Mary Elizabeth and Katherine Louise.

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

John C. Hegel is the son of Jacob and Mary (Bitzer) Hegel, the father a native son of Germany, who came to America when he was twenty-one years of age. He first settled in Ohio, but spent only a few months there, when he came to Indiana and located on the farm now occupied by his son, the subject of this review. The farm has been entered from the government by another early settler, but had never been improved to any extent, and presented a primitive aspect even then, when farms were beginning to make a fairly good showing in this vicinity. Mr. Hegel paid $800 for the eighty-acre tract, and felt himself fortunate in securing ownership of such a place at the price. He felled trees on a suitable spot for the erection of a log cabin, and it is notable that the little cabin he built then is still in use and does duty as a part of the comfortable home now occupied by John C. Hegel.

Mr. Hegel in time added a twenty acre adjoining tract to his original holdings, and later added 61 acres, so that he owned 161 acres, and this was sufficient to occupy his entire attention. In the spring of 1902 he felt himself able to retire from active farm life, and he moved to Wabash, where he bought a home and settled down with his wife to enjoy quietly his remaining years. He lived there until July, 1910, when he died at the age of eighty-four years. His widow still survives him and is an honored resident of Wabash.

Jacob Hegel was twice married. His first wife was a Miss Bender, who died after the birth of her second child. Her two children were as follows: Mary, who became the wife of Andrew Weist, and Miss Christine, who never married. Mr. Hegel's second wife was Mary Bitzer, a native daughter of Indiana, and she became the mother of seven children, here briefly mentioned as follows: Charles, who is elsewhere mentioned at length in this biographical work; Reuben; Harry; Lauretta; John C., of this review; William; Lydia, the widow of S. J. Bechtold, also mentioned on other pages of this work.

John C. Hegel had his early schooling in the district schools of his vicinity, and was reared to farm work under the supervision of his father, who was a capable and intelligent farmer. In early manhood he and his brother William bought seventy-seven acres and together they carried on farming activities for six years, after which he sold his interest to his brother and returned to the home place, where he farmed with his father on shares for eight years. In October, 1909, he bought 100 acres of the old home place from his father, who a few years previous had retired from active life and settled in Wabash, and John C. Hegel has since devoted himself to intensive and extensive farming. Between the years of 1889 and 1907 he owned and operated a threshing machine in the township, and in that enterprise he was able to realize a nice profit in the annual threshing season, and he still gives some attention to the work along that line. His own place of one hundred acres claims a good share of his attention, and he also takes care of a forty near by that is his mother's property, so that all considered, he is one of the busiest men in the township. Success has attended his efforts, and as an aggressive and progressive farmer he is widely known hereabouts.

Mr. Hegel has not confined his activities to farming alone, but he is known here as one of the organizers and a stockholder and director in the Citizens' State Bank of Lagro, of which his father, Charles F., is president. He is a member of the Evangelical Association at Bethel and is treasurer of the church, of which his wife is also a member.

Mr. Hegel was married in 1900 to Miss Myrtle Stair, the daughter of Adam Stair and his wife, both now deceased. They long maintained a residence in the vicinity of North Manchester, and were among the most highly esteemed people of their community. The father was a veteran of the Civil war.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hegel. Ralph is eight years of age, Arthur is five, and Bernice is now two years old.

The Hegel family have an excellent standing in all circles of the township, and take a foremost part in the leading social activities of the community. They are highly regarded for their many excellent traits, and have a wide circle of friends in Lagro township.

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

When but fifteen years of age, Thomas Wellman King embarked upon a career of his own, having received a more or less educational training in the public schools. He was content to start at the bottom, accepting an humble position as a clerk in a dry goods store, but he was not destined to remain among the ranks of the mediocre, for, after thoroughly assimilating the details of the business, he formed a partnership with his father and upon the latter's retirement assumed full charge of the business, which assumed large proportions under his brilliant and well-directed management. Subsequently, Mr. King became interested in a string of grain elevators, and was also the head of a large hardware house, the latter being continued with much success for a period of fifteen years. For years Mr. King was vice-president and a director of the Wabash National Bank, and his standing in the financial world was evidenced by the confidence placed in him by his associates, who in all matters of importance trusted him implicitly for guidance and leadership. When he passed away, December 14, 1912, his county lost a man whose place in the business world it was extremely hard to fill; his family a kind husband and indulgent father, and his hosts of friends a loyal and lovable companion whom they had always found ready to aid them in times of trouble or distress.

On October 22, 1857, Mr. King was married to Miss Jane D. Stitt, daughter of Archibald and Katherine (Simpson) Stitt, the former born in County Down, Ireland, in 1802, and the latter in Pennsylvania in 1811, and married in the mother's birthplace in 1827. In 1833 Mr. Stitt came to Wabash county, Indiana, and secured the contract for building the Wabash & Erie Canal from Lagro to Lafayette, and completed that immense work in 1840. In 1835 he returned to Pennsylvania for his family and brought them to Wabash county, establishing a home at Lagro, but on completing his work on the canal returned to Pennsylvania. He later acquired government land in Rich Valley, and this he cleared and improved, developing a handsome and valuable farm, but in August, 1850, when elected treasurer of Wabash county, came here with his family, and continued to make this his home until his death in 1867. He was followed to his grave by the mother in 1892, and both were buried in the Wabash Cemetery.

To Mr. and Mrs. King there were born three children, as follows: a daughter who died unnamed in infancy; Harry S., born May 8, 1860; and Charles Sherman, born September 14, 1865, a graduate of Yale University. Mrs. King, who survives her husband and makes her home in Wabash, is still hale and hearty although she has reached the age of seventy-seven years. She is widely known in Wabash, and is respected and esteemed by the whole community and warmly beloved by a wide circle of appreciative friends.

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

On September 25, 1893, he was admitted to the bar, and at once formed a partnership for the practice of law with the Hon. Alfred H. Plummer, a partnership which continued until January 1, 1899. In 1898, and again in 1900, Mr. King was elected to represent Wabash county in the State Legislature, and in the sixty-second general assembly was honored by the appointment of chairman of the committee on ways and means. About 1907 Mr. King removed to Fort Wayne, which was his home for about a year. In July, 1908, Mr. King and all the members of his immediate family lost their lives in an accident which is still remembered and regretted as a calamity which deprived the community of one of its most useful citizens.

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

Harry Stitt King was born in Wabash, Indiana, May 8, 1860, and was in his fifty-second year at the time of his death. Reared in his native vicinity, he always called Wabash county his home, and his education was a product of the city schools. When still a boy he began assisting his father in the grain and elevator business, and for a number of years previous to his death was the active head of the King Grain Company, one of the largest concerns of the kind in the Wabash valley, and which might be considered a lineal successor of the grain business established and conducted by Peter King at Wabash before the war.

The late Mr. King was a quiet unobtrusive gentleman, a successful business man, and a most helpful member of the community. The estimation in which he was held is probably best told through a quotation from the local press at the time of his death:

"While Mr. King was quiet and unassuming, he was one of the most diligent and prosperous business men of Wabash. He had no public aspirations, and good citizenship was his ideal. He was the kind and helpful friend of anyone who came to him in need. The poor always found assistance and sympathy. His friends he loved with an unlimited devotion. He was never so happy as when doing for others. His own family never were denied a single wish within his power to grant. He believed in his friends and the slightest act of kindness done for him was appreciated in a spirit of unlimited gratitude. He never neglected a duty or an obligation. He had a thought for every one associated with him. His love for his father and his mother was the all-absorbing love that considered their every wish and interest. His was a peaceful going a way and his loved ones could feel glad that he was spared great suffering. Everywhere kind friends are sorrowing over the loss of a good man from the city. Such men are needed, such men are an honor to their fellowmen and such quiet influence for good leaves a lasting impression. Honest, industrious, progressive, interested in every enterprise that advanced the cause of right living, was the ambition of his life. "

Mr. Harry S. King married Miss Emma E. Rohrbacher, oldest daughter of Charles Frederick and Elizabeth Rohrbacher of Wabash. Her father was born in Germany, came to America when fifteen years of age, and died at Mount Carmel, Illinois, in 1882. Mr. King and wife were married May 28, 1890, and their two children are: Harriet and Thomas F.

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

The name Lumaree has had a business prestige in Wabash for more than fifty years. In the early days it was identified "With farming, with the old industry of pork packing which at one time flourished in Wabash valley, and with various undertakings and commercial affairs. Three generations of the family have lived actively in Wabash county, and the name is still prominent in business and civic affairs.

The first of the family to come to Wabash county was David W. Lumaree, who came from West Point, New York, to Wabash county during the forties. He was born in the vicinity of West Point, and was a son of James C. L'Amoreaux, of French descent, who for fifteen years served as commissary sergeant at West Point. He retained the original spelling of the name, as did also one of his sons, Cornelius Van Allen L'Amoreaux, who also came to Wabash county, Indiana, but the father of Neil Lumaree, when a young man, changed his name to the American form, Lumaree. James Lumaree in 1852 came west to Wabash county and died here in 1880 at the age of ninety-two years. One of six children, none of whom are now living, David W. Lumaree was a man of education, and his enterprise was instrumental in opening up some new avenues of actvities in this county. He had been preceded to Wabash county by his brother John B. Lumaree, who was one of the real pioneers in this region. The latter pad settled on a farm some six miles west of the present city of Wabash, and there both brothers joined in farming, but later moved into town and established a large general mercantile store. They also owned a grain elevator, and were among the extensive dealers in grain in their day. Farmers all up and down the Wabash Valley brought their harvest into Wabash and delivered their grain at the Lumaree elevator. The handling of produce in general was a feature of their business and the Lumaree brothers operated the plant at which they bought and packed hogs and shipped barrels of pork in large quantities to New York. David W. Lumaree lived in Wabash county until the close of his life . In December, 1853, he married Mary A. Brady, and they became the parents of nine children, namely: Cornelius; Jessie, deceased; Myrtle, deceased; John; Ella, Mrs. Charles Bradley; Minerva, deceased; James; and twins who died in infancy unnamed.

David W. Lumaree was in active business in Wabash for a great number of years, was precise and methodical, scrupulously honest and just, and a man highly respected for his upright life. His death occurred in December, 1899. His wife died September 11, 1913, aged eighty-three years, having passed away in the house to which she came as a bride sixty years ago. She was one of the venerable pioneer women of Wabash county.

Cornelius Lumaree, or "Neil" as he is almost universally known in Wabash county, was born in the city of Wabash, September 28, 1854. The, public schools of the city as they existed during the decade of the sixties furnished him the foundation of a substantial education, and while still a boy he found employment as a clerk in a grocery store. His later activities led him into banking, and then into insurance. For fifteen years Mr. Lumaree was assistant cashier of the First National Bank of Wabash. For seventeen years past he has devoted his attention to general insurance, loans and real estate, with office at 19 W. Market street.

Mr. Lumaree has for a number of years been one of the influential democrats of Wabash county, though he has never sought any important office, and has been a worker for good government rather than a politician. He is a Knight Templar in the Masonic fraternity. On May 16, 1889, occurred his marriage to Miss Lida LeRoy of Utah. They are the parents of three children: Leroy, Phoebe and Cornelia.

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

A notable circumstance in the life of Mr. Rish, as indicative of something of the independence of the man in his mental habits, is with all propriety mentioned here. He was born and reared stanchly in the Roman Catholic faith. After settling here he became a member of the Masonic fraternity, and after so doing was informed that he must either relinquish Masonry or lose his standing with the church of his birth. It appeared to the reasoning of Mr. Rish that any religion that felt itself justified in condemning Masonry, the beauties of which he had come to realize and to appreciate, was, of itself, but a weak reed upon which to depend for his eternal salvation, and after much inward debating of the subject, he resolved to retain his membership in the Masonic order at any cost to his churchly standing. The result was excommunication, but he continued an ardent Mason and a lover of its ritual and teachings all his days, and his life was ever a power for good in his community.

Of foreign nativity, Mr. Rish was a man who was thoroughly American in his citizenship. He was hard-working, industrious, honest to the penny, as the saying goes, and was moral and upright in his every transaction and in all the relations of life. He was one who had the unqualified respect and esteem of all who knew him, and his death, which occurred in 1893, was truly mourned. His widow survived him until June 15, 1911.

William A. Rish, second son of his parents, was born on November 10, 1861, in Wabash county, and he has always made this his home. He was educated in the Wabash public schools and while finishing his training there he aided in his own support by carrying wood up to offices and at other odd jobs of equal attractiveness. He showed his mettle in those early days, and demonstrated that he was the true son of his father. He was fifteen years old when he began to work out as a farm hand, his first year in that work netting him a monthly wage of $8. His second year earnings were $18 a month, with a cash bonus of $50 for having proved himself an extra capable and willing "hand." His third year at farm work saw him raised to the dignity of $22 a month for his services, and in 1879 he began the draying business in Wabash. In this enterprise Mr. Rish has continued up to the present time, through a period covering thirty-four years, and his success has been one of which he may well be proud.

Mr. Rish is a democrat in politics, though not especially active in the party ranks, and like his father, he is a member of the A. F. & A. M.

On November 15, 1882, Mr. Rish was married to Miss Josephine Spencer, who died on January 9, 1892, leaving six children: Arthur, Ethel, Sherman, Omar, LeMoyne, now deceased, and Hilbert. On April 16, 1906, Mr. Rish was married a second time, Mary Holderbaum becoming his wife. They were married at Port Clinton, Ohio, of which place she was a native resident, and they have one son, Roland Rish. The family are highly esteemed in Wabash, and have a leading place in the social and other activities of the community.

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