Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

WILLARD W. WARFIELD. In each large community every line of endeavor is necessarily represented and in the degree of ability in which it is handled rests the material welfare of the people. No vocation requires more tact or greater consideration for the feelings of others than that of the undertaker and embalmer, and his position in the confidence of the people of the community is second only to that of the minister of the Gospel. In this connection it may be stated that Willard W. Warfield, a representative of this line of business, is known as one of the esteemed citizens of Montpelier, Indiana, where he has been a resident since 1907, on September 1st of which year he took over the business formerly owned by L. L. Howard.

Mr. Warfield was born in Pulaski county, Indiana, November 23, 1880, and is a son of Elijah Warfield. His father, a native of Hampshire county, West Virginia, was born in 1841, and as a lad accompanied his parents to Pulaski county, Indiana, where he grew up amid rural surroundings. On August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Seventythird Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the Civil War, receiving his honorable discharge July 30, 1865, at Nashville, Tennessee, after a brave and meritorious service. Upon his return to the pursuits of peace he located again in Pulaski county, where he was married to Miss Mary Alice Olds, a native of that locality. She was reared and educated in that county, whence her parents had come at an early day. Elijah Warfield died in 1883, having been the father of the following children: Ora, who became the wife of Richard Johnson and died without issue; Willard W.; and George, who died in infancy. Mrs. Warfield married Frank Osborn, of Jasper county, Indiana, and both are now deceased, having had no children.

Willard W. Warfield was given his education in the public schools of Pulaski county, and was fifteen years of age when he embarked upon a career of his own, securing employment in furniture and piano factories at Newcastle. Subsequently, he moved to Anderson, where he was associated with Stephen Mark, with whom he learned the undertaking business. He came to Montpelier in 1907, and here purchased the business of L. L. Howard, who had decided to go to Florida, and since that time has continued to be in business here. Mr. Warfield has been successful in his business enterprises because he possesses the qualities which go to make for success-good judgment, business faculty, a high sense of honor and a just appreciation of the rights of others. He has every equipment necessary for dignified and effective funeral directing, including two funeral cars, and also carries a large line of caskets.

Mr. Warfield was married at Newcastle, Indiana, July 8, 1907, to Miss Eva May Lowe, who was born at that place, August 21, 1884, a daughter of Henry S. and Catherine (Counselor) Lowe, natives of Newcastle. Mr. and Mrs. Lowe for a number of years engaged in farming, but retired from active life in 1912, and since that time have resided in their comfortable residence on East Tenth Street, Indianapolis. Mrs. Warfield's sister, Mrs. Ells Beard, is the mother of two children, and like her two brothers, George and William, resides in Indianapolis. One son has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Warfield : George W., born August 8, 1908. They are consistent members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Warfield affiliates with the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men of Montpelier, and the Blue Lodge of the Masonic fraternity. He is a republican, but has never been an active politician. Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

HENRY PHILEBAUM. Sixty years have passed since Henry Philebaum took up his residence in Blackford county, and during this time he has been steadfastly associated with the agricultural interests of this section of the state. His energetic and well-directed labors have resulted in the attainment of a well-developed property, and today he is justly accounted one of the representative agriculturists of Jackson township. Mr. Philebaum is a native son of the Hoosier state, having been horn in Fayette county, January 6, 1845, his parents being Jacob and Sarah (Sherry) Philebaum.

After their marriage the parents of Mr. Philebaum migrated from their native state of Pennsylvania to Fayette county, and there spent several years on a farm, but in 1854 came to Blackford county and here continued to follow the pursuits of the soil until their deaths. Of their children the following are living at this writing: William, who was a soldier in the Union army during the Civil War, and is now a farmer residing north and onequarter mile east of the village of Trenton, Indiana; Perry, a resident of Montpelier; Joseph, who makes his home at Connersville, Fayette county; Martin, also a resident of Connersville; Henry, of this review; Maggie, who is the wife of Samuel Landon; Mary, who married Mr. Smith; John, a resident of Jonesboro, Indiana; and Emily, the wife of Mr. Davis, of Fayette county.

Henry Philebaum was nine years of age when he accompanied the family to Blackford county, and here he grew to manhood amid rural surroundings, being reared a farmer. His services were almost constantly needed on the home farm, and for this reason he was given but little opportunity to attend the district school, but made the most of his chances, and in later years his close observation and experience have made him a well-informed man on important subjects. He married Miss Eliza J. Clark, who died September 23, 1888, and to this union there were born nine children, namely: Amos, George, Estella, John, Mary, Sophronia, James, Harry and Lucy.

Mr. Philebanm has always been a farmer, and through individual effort has been able to accumulate a property of eighty acres, lying two miles south of Trenton. On this he has made improvements of a substantial nature, which give evidence of his progressive spirit and good management, and his buildings have been erected with a view of simplifying his work. He has ever held a high reputation among his fellow citizens as a man of honorable dealing and fidelity to trust, and has displayed his public spirit on more than one occasion.

Mr. Philebaum is a member of the Protestant Methodist church, the movements of which he has actively supported. His fraternal connection is with the Blue Lodge of the Masonic order. In his political views he is a prohibitionist, and while a quiet and unassuming man, not given to seeking notoriety, he has been outspoken in his support of temperance. All in all, he may be accounted one of Jackson township's representative men.

Blackford and Grant Counties, Indiana A Chronicle of their People Past and Present with Family Lineage and Personal Memoirs Compiled Under the Editorial Supervision of Benjamin G. Shinn
Volume I Illustrated
The Lewis Publishing Company Chicago and New York 1914
Submitted by Peggy Karol

REV. AARON S. WHETSEL. A long life of service to his community and fellow men has been that of Rev. Aaron S. Whetsel, of Jackson township. Mr. Whetsel has for many years been an active minister of the United Brethren church. He was ordained as a minister by Bishop Weaver at Dunkirk, Ohio, in 1889, and traveled as an itinerant minister for three years. His work in the cause of the church has been given without remuneration, and he has presented an example of religious faith, fidelity to every trust, and earnest and self-sacrificing effort in behalf of moral and community affairs. Outside of his religious profession, Mr. Whetsel is best known as proprietor of the Verger Farm, comprising one hundred and sixty acres of fine land, located two and a half miles northwest of Dunkirk and three miles east of Millgrove.

Mr. Whetsel has spent nearly all his life in Blackford county, as a boy grew up in the midst of pioneer conditions, and through his service as a soldier during the great war between the states, as a farmer and business man, and as a minister of the gospel has made a worthy name and one long to be held in honor by his descendants. He was born in Clinton county, Ohio, June 26, 1843, a son of William J. and Sarah (Hartman) Whetsel. His father was a native of Warren county, Ohio, and his mother of Harrison county, West Virginia. They were married near Wilmington, Ohio, in June, 1842, and, after three years of residence in Ohio moved to Blackford county in 1846 locating in Jackson township. which remained their home until death. Of their three children all are now deceased except Aaron S.

Three years of age when his parents came to Jackson township, Rev. Mr. Whetsel had almost reached manhood before the real pioneer era closed in Blackford county. The schools at that time were irregular and ill-supplied with means of instruction, and he had no opportunity to attend until after he was twelve years of age, and then only in the winter seasons. What he lacked of definite school training as a boy he has more than supplied by later years of active study and close and intimate knowledge of men and affairs. When about twenty years of age in July, 1863, he enlisted in Company E of the Seventh Indiana Cavalry The colonel of the regiment was J. P. C. Shanks of Portland, and his lieutenant-colonel was Thomas M. Brown of Winchester. As a soldier his service continued until his honorable discharge in the spring of 1866. Returning to his father's home, he applied himself to farming, and in the course of two years was ready to establish a home of his own. On October 10, 1868, he married :Martha J. Kelley, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, June 2,1843. Her parents were B. F. and Elizabeth (Hall) Kelley, and her brothers were Joshua T. Kelley and William H. Kelley.

On January 1, 1869, Mr. and Mrs. Whetsel located on a part of the farm where he now lives. The land was entirely covered with woods, and partly under water. It presented a heavy task to be accomplished before the land was really profitable and productive. In the years that followed Mr. Whetsel proved himself an energetic worker, cleared off the timber, ditched the low ground, has erected buildings and fences, and now has what is conceded to be one of the best improved farm estates in that section of the county.

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Whetsel were born twelve children, eight of whom are living at this time, as follows: Lewis M., who lives in Ohio; Nora E., the wife of Edward McConnell of Pennville, Indiana; Sarah A., wife of 0. D. Starr of Jay county; William B., whose wife is deceased and he now lives with his parents; B. F. of Jackson township; Olive M., wife of John Goodyear of Jay county; Mary E., wife of E. E. Starr of Jay county; Harry W. and Shanks B., both of whom are unmarried and live at home. The four deceased children are: Lawrence V.; John F.; Lucretia R., who was twenty-four years of age at the time of her death; and Hazel.

Mr. Whetsel is all active member of the Grand Army of the Republic of Hartford City. In politics he. adheres to the prohibition cause, and at one. time was active as a Republican.

JOHN H. STOTLER. That individuals of wide experience and varied attainments are best qualified for the vocation of farming is doubted by no one familiar with the intellectual and general demands placed upon. the present day exponents of scientific agriculture. Modern methods of treating the soil have in a large extent revolutionized this world-old occupation, and it is not unusual to find at this time members of the professions, business men, manufacturers and financiers, devoting their time to the cultivation of land. In Harrison township, Blackford county, one of the most successful farmers is John H. Stotler, M. D., who after securing his college degree returned to the. soil, in the cultivation of which he has met with prosperity and in which he has found a congenial occupation.

Mr. Stotler was born at West Alexandria, Ohio, on June 16, 1858, and is a son of Edward Stotler and Sarah (Halderman) Stotler. His father, a native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, migrated to Preble county, Ohio, in the fall of 1833, and there continued to be a resident during a long and active career. In the famous year of 1849, when the discovery of gold caused thousands to make the wearisome and perilous journey to California, he joined the hardy adventurers, by way of Panama. In 1860, with others, he completed the erection of a mill in West Alexandria, which he operated a number of years, but eventually turned his attention to banking, and organized and served as president of several financial institutions in the Buckeye State. He has long been known as one of the prominent and influential men of his community and has taken an active part in public affairs. Mr. Stotler had two children by his first marriage: John H.; and Sarah E., who died at the age of fourteen years. By his second union with Mrs. Hattie (Ford) Bonner, lie has one son, Edward S.

John H. Stotler was reared in Ohio and received his early education in the public schools of West Alexandria. Subsequently he attended Earlham College and Columbia University, and then turned his attention to the study of medicine, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine from the medical department of the University of Buffalo, New York. Later he took a post-graduate course, but never practiced his profession. In 1 900 Mr. Stotler came to Indiana and began farming, and at the present time in addition to cultivating his own tract of 200 acres, in Harrison township, is looking after the interests of an adjoining farm of 520 acres, located in Jackson township. He has brought the most modern and scientific methods to his work, and the results which he has accomplished have been very gratifying.

Mr. Stotler is a member of the West Alexandria Blue Lodge of the Masonic order, having never transferred his membership to Indiana. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church of Buffalo, New York. In political matters, a democrat, he has taken a good citizen's interest in public affairs, but has not cared to enter actively the struggles of the local arena. His acquaintance in Blackford county is extensive and his friends numerous.

JOHN A. STUDEBAKER. An individual's success in any of the activities of life challenges the admiration of his fellow men, and when this success has been won by individual effort, and in spite of handicaps and obstacles, the result is all the more commendable. Among the men who have won prosperity along agricultural lines in Blackford county, John A. Studebaker is worthy of more than passing mention. He was but a lad when he started his struggles for independence, and his career has been so characterized by industry and worthy effort, that he finds himself today, when still in the prime of manhood, the possessor of a handsome and valuable property.

Mr. Studebaker was born in Delaware county, Indiana, December 5, 1875, and is a son of J. J. and Louisa (Helmic) Studebaker, the former of whom is now a resident of Hartford City, Indiana, while the latter died in 1886 in the state of Kansas. There were nine children in the family, of whom five are now living. Henry, who is a resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma; B. F., who resides at Wesley, Idaho; Pearl, the wife of Mr. Langliouse of Portland, Oregon; Lizzie, the wife of Zachariah Bussear of Freesoil, Mason county, Michigan; and John A., of this review. Mr. Studebaker was still a child when brought to Blackford county, and he secured his education in the common schools. As the early age of eleven years he showed his energetic spirit and ambition by beginning to work on farms by the month, and by November 1902, had saved eight hundred dollars, which he invested in forty acres of land, going into debt for a like amount. Two years later he located on this tract, and during his spare hours worked out among neighboring farmers in order to secure the means with which to buy farming implements and utensils. At the present time Mr. Studebaker owns 100 acres of land, worth $12,000, lying six miles east and one mile north of Hartford City in Jackson township, the personal property on which bring the value of the farm up to $15,000. He has been the architect of his own fortunes and all that he owns has been made honestly by his own effort. In addition to general farming he has been engaged for several years in raising hogs, and each year ships one or two cars to the markets. In business circles his reputation is that of a shrewd and far-seeing business man, who observes the strictest integrity in his dealings and has never taken an unfair advantage of a competitor. A man of advanced and modern ideas, he has recently given his support to the principles and candidates of the progressive party, but has found no time to engage actively in political affairs.

Mr. Studebaker was married March 22, 1904, to Miss Clara May Eikenbary, of Huntingdon, Indiana, who was born in San Franciso, California. Five children have been born to this union: Joseph L., aged nine years; Walter F., who is eight; Marion J., seven years of age; Luther L., who is five years old; and Cecil M., the baby, aged two.

OLAF HEDSTROM. As the originator and developer of an exceedingly important industry at Hartford City, the name of Olaf Hedstrom deserves a high place among Blackford county's industrial leaders. Mr. Hedstrom is a type of man whose concentration of efforts along one line brings about success and prosperity, not only where he is individually concerned, but produces a permanent and increasing benefit to the community. Reared and educated in Sweden, with exceptional training and the influence of a good family behind him, Mr. Hedstrom early took up the paper making business in its technical phases, and after a broad and thorough experience in Europe brought his ideas to America and finally identified himself with the paper mills at Hartford City. He now controls a large interest in that industry, and as the perfecter of certain grades of papers, he has given Blackford City a deserved fame among the paper producing centers of this country.

Olaf Hedstroin was born in Norrkoping, Sweden, October 1, 1875, and his family for generations back had occupied substantial and honored positions in that country. His father, Anders Gustaf Hedstrom, was born in Ostergotland Province, where was also born the mother, whose maiden name was Hanna Zetterlund. Throughout his active career the father followed the sea, became master and captain of a coasting vessel, and a few years ago he retired and he and his wife are now living quietly in the town where their son Olaf was born. The father is now ninety years of age, and his wife seventy-six. This veteran sea captain after forty-five years of active service was given a decoration and medal from a Swedish patriotic society as an award for his splendid and efficient care of his crew and of the property which he had the management and control of. He was one of the most careful men who ever sailed the high seas, and possessed all the finer qualities of the seaman. He and his family are members of the State church of Sweden. They were the parents of two sons and four daughters. The son, Gustaf, is manager of a woolen mill at Boras, Sweden, is married and has a son and three daughters: The daughter, Thekla, is the wife of Knut Markstrom, and lives in Sweden, and has one daughter. The other married daughter, Hanna, is the wife of Emanuel Axselson, lives in Sweden, and has a son and daughter. Two of the daughters are still single and living in Sweden, named Breta and Lilly. Olaf Hedstrom was reared and educated in his native city, and was graduated with the degree civil engineer from a technical college with the class of 1894. Two years after leaving college were spent in a paper mill in his native town, and he then went as assistant superintendent to another mill at Klarafors, and was there seven years. In the meantime he took opportunity to visit Germany and study the mode of making grease proof and glassine papers, which are manufactured in many variegated colors and designs and which were brought to a high state of perfection in the German centers of manufacture. In 1905, Mr. Hedstrom brought the process to the United States, and he deserves the credit for having introduced these special forms of paper manufacture in this country. As an educated man, he was already familiar with the language and the commercial conditions of this country, and the first six mouths were spent in travel in various states and in study of paper, mill conditions. In December, 1905, he found himself in Hartford City, and here formed a satisfactory relationship and was given the opportunity to manufacture his special designs of papers. The Hartford City Paper Company adapted his plans, and as superintendent of those mills they have developed a business which is distinctive and the product has a sale all over the United States. About one hundred and thirty-five people are employed throughout the year in the mills, and this is, of course, one of the largest single items in Hartford City's industrial prosperity.

Mr. Hedstrom was married in Hartford City, to Miss Ernestine Johnson, who was born in Ohio, but reared and educated in Hartford City. Her father was a veteran of the Civil War and died some years ago, while her mother is still living in Hartford City, about fifty years of ago, Mr. and Mrs. Hedstrom have one son, Olaf Hamilton Hedstrom, born June 24, 1909. Mrs. Hedstrom is a member of the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Hedstrom has membership in the Blackford Club, and in politics is a republican.

JOSIAH TWIBELL. In Harrison township along the valley of the Salamonia river is situated one of the oldest homesteads in Blackford county, now owned and occupied by Josiah Twibell, the son of a pioneer who nearly eighty years ago came to this county and did his share of the arduous labor required for reclaiming the land from the wilderness. The members of the Twibell family have always been esteemed as people of upright character, thoroughly industrious, straightforward in their dealings, and in every way valuable to local citizenship.

On the same farm that he now owns and occupies Josiah Twibell was born, September 11, 1861. a son of Josiah and Margaret (Church) Twibell. Josiah Twibell, Sr., was a native of West Virginia, and married his first wife in that state, after which he came to Blackford county when it was a wilderness, entering land from the government in 1835. He was one of the earliest settlers in that section of the county, and after clearing away a number of trees from a small patch of land, he built himself a cabin and put in his first crop among the stumps. At that time Indiana were numerous in Blackford county, and Josiah Twibell besides farming also did a good deal of traffic with the Red men. His first wife bore him four sons and two daughters, all of whom are deceased. By his second marriage, to Miss Church, he was the father of six children, four of whom are living at this time, namely; Basheby, the widow of Arch Lacy, a resident now of Montpelier; Ann, wife of M. Lacy, of Montpelier; Jane, the widow of Benson Shields, of Montpelier; and Josiah.

Josiah Twibell, Jr., has always lived on the old Twibell farm in Harrison township. As a boy he attended the local schools, and has always found his source of living and the scope of his activities within tile radius of a farm. In September, 1884, he married Miss Cloella Bugh, who is a native of Blackford county, and was trained in the common schools. They are the parents of three living children: Caddie, who is a graduate nurse from Henrotin Memorial Hospital, and now lives in Chicago; Margaret, a graduate of the common schools and unmarried, living at home; Alice, who is twelve years old, and possesses a natural musical talent. Mr. Twibell is affiliated with Montpelier Lodge No. 410, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the Oil City Encampment No. 182, being past chief patriarch and a member of the grand lodge. In politics he is a republican. Mr. Twibell's homestead comprises ninety-eight acres, and besides cultivation of his land to the staple crops he owns and breeds a high grade of livestock, and has found his best profits in stock farming.

Deb Murray