Blackford County Biography Ref. Page

ARTHUR S. LYLE. For many years identified with the industrial and business affairs of Hartford City, the late Arthur S. Lyle had the genius of a business builder, the power of attracting to himself those elements which constitute success. While still active in the management of his many important interests, death removed him from the ranks of the living, and his life and character were such as to deserve permanent memorial in this work. Mrs. Lyle, who still lives in Hartford City and gives capable attention to the affairs left by her late husband, represents the Willman family, one of the oldest and most prominent in the business life of Hartford City.

Arthur S. Lyle was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, July 3, 1859, and died when about middle age in Hartford, March 3, 1904. His father Samuel Lyle married a Miss Irvin. The family was originally Scotch in race and residence, many of the name still being represented in that country, and the old home, now more than two hundred years old, is still held by some of the descendants. A complete genealogy of the Lyle family was prepared some years ago by Oscar K. Lyle of Brooklyn, New York. That record shows the family moved from Scotland to Ireland, and in 1740, Mathew, David, John and Samuel Lyle emigrated across the ocean and settled in Rockingham county, Virginia. Thus they have been Americans since colonial days, and the records show many men of prominence in the different generations and different localities of their residence. They were men of brains and enterprise, and active in the trades, arts and professions. In this particular branch of the family the name Samuel occurred again and again in the various generations Samuel Lyle, father of the late Hartford City merchant, was probably born in Ohio, and was married there. He went out from that state as a private in an Ohio regiment and served with credit through the Civil War as a Union soldier. When the war was over he returned to Hillsboro, and for a number of years held the office of chief of police in that city, until his death in 1877, when past eighty years of age. He was twice married, and by the second union had a daughter who is now Mrs. W. K. Renner of Cincinnati.

Arthur S. Lyle was a small child when his mother died and he and a brother were left, the latter being Joseph M. Lyle, a printer and publisher in Dayton, Ohio. Joseph Lyle married Hattie Wood, and has two children, Russell and Mary Esther. Mr. Lyle was reared and educated in his native town, and about his first important experience in business affairs was in the employ of the dams Express Company at Hillsboro. Later the company sent him on the road as express messenger, running between Columbus and Logansport on the Panhandle Railway. In 1883 he resigned from the messenger service and took a position at Corning, Ohio, but after his marriage in 1885 came to Hartford City in 1886 and became associated with the Willman Lumber Company Some years later, in 1897, Mr. Lyle assisted in the organization of the Hartford City Flint Glass Company, and his interests were chiefly identified with the lumber trade and with glass manufacture until his death. He was one of the men of enterprise and of public spirit throughout his residence in Hartford City, and also bore an active part in Republican politics, serving as chairman of the county and city central committees, and as a delegate to various county, congressional and state conventions. In the order of Knights of Pythias he passed all the chairs of the local lodge, and was also identified with the Modern Woodmen of America. Active as a Presbyterian, he was for a number of years secretary of the board of trustees. In every relation of life, he was progressive, honorable, and useful.

In Hartford City, January 26, 1885, the late Mr. Lyle married Arminda M. Willman. She was born in Hartford City, grew up and was educated there, and for seven years before her marriage had a business experience as clerk which proved exceedingly valuable to her since her husband's death in the management of his affairs. She still retains her interests in the glass and lumber business, and her judgment is regarded as not being inferior to the men with whom she is associated in business affairs.

The Willman family is of German ancestry, and Mrs. Lyle's grandfather, Louis Willman was born in Germany, married in that country a Miss Keller, and after some children had been born they emigrated to America and finally settled in Hartford City. Grandfather Willman in the old country had learned the trade of wagonmaker, and followed that trade and was known as an industrious, quiet and honest living citizen of Hartford City until his death. He passed away at the age of seventy-four, and his later years had been devoted to farming, and it was at his country home east of Hartford City that he died. His first wife had died in Hartford City, and his second wife spent her last years on the Blackford county farm. Both the grandparents Willman were members of the Lutheran church, and he was a democrat. All the children were of the first marriage. Among these children was the late John Willman, father of Mrs. Lyle. He was born November 22, 1832, in Germany, and died after a long and active career on August 27, 1893. It was in childhood when he came with his parents to the United States and to Hartford City, and under his father he learned the trade of wagon maker, but eventually took up the lumber business and established the Willman Lumber Company, of which he remained as chief executive until his death. It was through his close attention to business and hard work that he succeed in life, but he was not for that reason less public spirited, and was never backward in giving to any worthy cause. Mr. Willman is also remembered as having established the People's Gas Company in order to furnish gas to all consumers for heating and lighting purposes at fifty dollars a flat rate per year, or about half the average cost for light and fuel that had been required by other companies. The late Mr. Willman was a democrat and a member of the city council and in many ways honored by his community. He was one of the early member of the Masonic order in Hartford City. In that city he married Miss Nancy Kirkpatrick, who was born either in West Virginia or Ohio in 1832 and died in Hartford City, October 18, 1912. She was a devoted mother and a real home maker, and had the esteem of all who came within her gracious influence. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and her husband was one of the leaders in that denomination.

Mrs. Lyle has only one son and child, Raymond Samuel, who was born November 5, 1885. His education was furnished in the grade and high schools of Hartford City, and at his father's death he took the burdens of management in the enterprises conducted by him, and continued as superintendent of the glass company at Mount Vernon until 1911. In that year he accepted a position with the Illinois Glass Company of Chicago and is still employed by that concern.

Raymond S. Lyle married Mabel Told of LaPorte, Indiana, who is a graduate from the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mrs. Lyle keeps up the relations with the Presbyterian church so long maintained by her parents, and in church and charity and all social uplift work her influence has been felt and she is one of the prominent members of Hartford City society.

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

MAURICE TRANT. In the long and uniformly successful career of Maurice Trant, of Licking township, Blackford county, there is found an exemplification of the fact that consistent and well-directed labor leads to achievement. Having spent practically all of his life in the locality in which he now resides, he has seen it grow and develop into one of the garden spots of the Hoosier state, and may take credit to himself for a full share of this growth and development in the line of agricultural accomplishment.

Mr. Trant comes of sterling Irish stock his grandparents, James Trant and wife, being natives of County Kerry, Ireland, where they spent their entire lives in farming pursuits. Like all the member of the family they were faithful attendants of the Roman Catholic church. They were the parents of a large family of children, of whom the following grew to maturity: John, the father of Maurice Trant; Patrick, who married, had a family and died in Canada; Nicholas, who died in advanced years as a bachelor, at Alexander, Indiana; William, who married, lived to advanced years and died at Muncie, Indiana; Maurice, a bachelor, who died at Muncie, Indiana; James , Jr. who went to California, married and is now deceased; Mary, who married John Cronin, died in Blackford county, and left a family; and Johanna, who married Thomas Carey, and at her death at Muncie left a family.

John Trant was born in County Kerry, Ireland, in 1820, and was married in his native county to Miss Ellen Dowd. After the birth of their first child, Patrick, in the early �forties, they emigrated to America, boarding a sailing vessel which met with exceedingly stormy weather and after a perilous voyage of thirteen weeks made port at Quebec, Canada. From that point Mr. Trant worked his way to the United States by being employed on railroad construction work, and finally arrived at Muncie, Indiana, where he decided to make his home. A few years later, however, he purchased eighty acres of land in section 32, Licking township, a tract of land which is still in the family's possession, and subsequently moved on, after making some improvements, to section 27, in the same township, here purchasing 225 acres of land, the greater part of which was still in its wild state. The family settled in a small frame house, 18 x 24 feet, which is still standing, although later Mr. Trant erected a comfortable and commodious house of ten rooms, a substantial barn, 40 x 60 feet, and good outbuildings. He was a sturdy, hard-working man, contributing materially to the development and welfare of his adopted community, and when he died, February 19, 1893, his county lost one of its substantial and reliable men. In politics a democrat, he was not an office seeker, but had wide influence in his locality, where he was widely and favorably known. Throughout his life Mr. Trant was a devoted member of the Roman Catholic church, as was also his wife, who passed away in February, 1913, at the advanced age of ninety-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Trant were the parents of the following children: Patrick, born in Ireland, died at his home at Hartford City, Indiana, May 2, 1913, leaving one son and three daughter; Mary, who died at Muncie, being survived by her husband, John O'Neil and one daughter; Nicholas, of Chicago, Illinois, a city employee, who is married and has one son and one daughter; Maurice; James, ex-city clerk of Hartford City, and a civil engineer by vocation, is married and has one son and two daughters; Hannah, who is single and makes her home with her brother Maurice; William, who is also single and lives on the farm with his sister and brother; and John, who is engaged in farming in Licking township, is married but has no family.

Maurice Trant was born in the city of Muncie, Indiana, in 1867, forty-seven years ago, and was a child when brought by his parents to Licking township. His education was secured in the district schools and he grew up as a farmer, always remaining at home. At this time he is the manager of the undivided homestead, in addition to which he cultivates an eighty-acre tract of his own adjoining the old home place. Mr. Trant's farm is widely known as The Home of Short Horn Cattle, a breed in which he has specialized and with which he has had much success. In addition he raises fine horses and sheep and carries on general farming. Mr. Trant's operations are prosecuted in a modern manner, and his property is equipped with the latest machinery and appliances. As a business man he is shrewd, far-seeing and able to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves, but he has also an appreciation of the rights of others and is willing at times to assist those less fortunate than himself to the success which he has won. His reputation is therefore that of a useful and helpful citizen, while his popularity is evidenced by his wide circle of friends.

Mr. Trant has never married, but lives with his brother and sister, all being members of the Roman Catholic church. He has always supported the principles of the democratic party, but has never found the time nor inclination to seek honors in the public arena.

GEORGE W. AMSDEN. Many years of activity as a farmer, business man and manufacturer have brought to George W. Amsden of Hartford City the substantial prosperity which is the ambition of men, and he is now living in the enjoyment of what his labors and ability have created. Long a resident of Hartford City, Mr. Amsden has had the thorough confidence of his fellow citizens, and his success has been such as to command the respect of all classes.

His birth occurred near Akron, Ohio, October 21, 1846. His father was Silas Amsden, who was born Cattaraugus county, New York, in 1808. The parents of Silas Amsden were substantial farming people of New York state, were, so far as remembered, without church relations and in politics practically all the generations had supported the democratic doctrine up to that time. Besides Silas there was a brother George W., who died in Michigan and had a family, and also two daughters who married and reared children. Silas Amsden spent his early years in New York, and married Sallie Palmer of Cattaraugus county. She was born February 14, 1813, and died October 9, 1888, in Huron county, Ohio. After his marriage and the birth of three children, Silas and wife moved to Ohio, and took up a career as a farmer. Some years were spent in the vicinity of Akron, and he then moved to a farm in Huron county in 1851. His death occurred there December 27, 1860. It was on the same farm that his widow passed away many years later. Silas Amsden was a citizen who commanded the respect of his community, in politics was a democrat, and he and his wife were of the Universalist faith. Their children were: Luther A., who served through the Civil War as a member of the One Hundred and Seventy-second Ohio Regiment of Infantry, became a prosperous farmer of Huron county, Ohio, and married Electa J. Walters. He died in Greenwich, Ohio, near the old farm leaving two children, Charles F. and Hattie. Luzern, the second of the children, who died in Fairfield, Huron county, Ohio, having retired from business, was also a soldier of the Civil War, a member of the One Hundred and First Ohio Infantry. He married Alma Smith. Anne E. became the wife of Fred Smith, a farmer of Huron county, and both are now deceased, being survived by two daughters, Bertha and Loretta, the latter also deceased. Silas P. Jr., who died in March, 1913, at the Soldiers' Home in Sandusky, Ohio, was a member of the Eighty-eighth Ohio Regiment and saw service from the beginning to the end of the war, and he married and had three children, Earl, Myrtle and Velma. The fifth in the family is George W. Amsden. Asel T., who now lives in Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio, a farmer, married Emma Furness who died in March, 1913, and left two children, Lulu, who is married, and Russell T. The daughter, M. Frances, died in 1861, at the age of seven years.

It was in the environment of the country and on the farm in Huron county where his father died that George W. Amsden grew up. The loss of his father when this son was only thirteen years of age necessarily brought about circumstances which obliged him to early enter the struggle for self-support. His education was practically that which had been acquired before his father's death and such as he was able to obtain in the intervals of his regular work. In early manhood or boyhood he went to work as a farm hand at eight dollars a month, an spent several years alternating between helping at the home farm and earning regular wages among farmers in the locality. At eighteen Mr. Amsden found employment in a lumber and woodworking factory near Sandusky, and subsequently continued that line of work along the bay shore of Lake Erie. Natural aptitude and experience produced in him a skilled sawmill operator, and he commanded the highest wages paid to his trade. In 1869 the industry with which he was identified was moved to Blackford county, Indiana, being then engaged largely in the manufacture of carriage timber and parts. The firm was known as Hubbard & Woolsey, and Mr. Amsden represented that and other companies as a lumber buyer, and his proficiency enabled him to win a successful place in the world of affairs. Later he was identified with the firm of Olds & Sons at Ft. Wayne in the same line of eight years. Then returning to Hartford City, he has since been chiefly identified with farming, and now lives retired at his home, 412 West Washington street. His residence is one which he built in 1882, and is one of the attractive homesteads of Hartford City. Mr. Amsden owns considerable other real estate and improved property in Hartford City, and has a good farm in Licking township. His success as a business man has led to his selection to administer estates, and he has frequently been employed in that capacity. For four years he was a member of the city council, and in politics is a republican.

Mr. Amsden was married at Keystone in Wells county, Indiana, May 10, 1874, to Amelia Barchman, who was born in Butler township, Butler county, Pennsylvania, December 26, 1845. When she was seven years of age her family moved to Wells county, Indiana. Henry and Anna (Yetter) Barchman, her parents, were born in Pennsylvania of Dutch stock, in 1855 brought their three children, Mrs. Amsden, Isaac and Mary, to Wells county, and there established a home in a log cabin in the midst of the woods. Mr. Barchman eventually improved a good farm and acquired the ownership of other land until his estate totaled about six hundred and forty acres. Finally Mr. and Mrs. Barchman retired to Montpelier in Blackford county, where both died. Mrs. Amsden's father was born February 2, 1819, and died at a good old age October 25, 1896; while her mother was born September 16, 1816 and died September 2, 1888. Both Mr. and Mrs. Barchman were devoted members of the Lutheran church, while in politics he was a democrat. Of the Barchman children one son died at the age of fifty-one, leaving a widow but no children; while Mary died in 1888, after her marriage to James Marion of Blackford county, leaving five children who have since grown up and married.

Mr. and Mrs. Amsden are the parents of two children. Edith Delight, who was born January 28, 1879, graduated when eighteen from the city high school, and is now the wife of Lewis W. Piper, who is a master mechanic in the oil fields at Bridgeport, Illinois; Mr. and Mrs. Piper have the following children: Thelma A., born February 27, 1903; Dorothy M., born October 20, 1905; Harold A., born April 7, 1907; Esther D., born June 2, 1908; Ruth A. and Marion A., the youngest; while George died as an infant of eleven months. Guy Reed, the second child of Mr. and Mrs. Amsden, was born February 18, 1889, finished his course in the Hartford high school in 1906, later graduated from a business college at Bluffton, where he carried off the first honors, and for the past three years has represented the Bowser Tank Company of Fort Wayne, and was promoted to assistant manager with headquarters at Philadelphia, later transferred to Wilmington, Delaware, and is now stationed at Washington, D. C., being a young business man of fine capabilities and accomplishments.

Mr. Amsden has been prominent in fraternal affairs. In March, 1870, he joined the Odd Fellows Lodge No. 262, and is next to the oldest Odd Fellow of the Hartford City Lodge, and has served in all chairs. He is also a member of the Encampment of that order. His membership with the Masonic Lodge dated from 1877, and for a number of years he was also affiliated with the Improved Order of Red Men and the Knights of the Maccabees. He is a member of the Hartford City Lodge, No. 125, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

CAPTAIN ALEXANDER GABLE. An honored soldier of the great civil conflict between the states, in which he rose to the rank of captain and commanded his company in some of the great campaigns of the war. Captain Alexander Gable has for more than forty-five years lived in Hartford City, and until his retirement, was one of the prominent building contractors. Skill in woodworking trades has been characteristic of the family, and his father before him was a proficient cabinet-maker, learning the trade in the German fatherland and using it as the basis of a prosperous business career in America.

Captain Alexander Gable was born in Louisville, Kentucky, October 7, 1836. His father, Charles Gable, was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, in 1805, and as he grew up served a thorough apprenticeship of seven years in the cabinet-making trade. After that he followed his business as a journeyman until twenty-five years of age, and then embarked on a vessel at Lyons, France, and finally landed in Baltimore, Maryland. From cabinet-making he turned his skill to the making of chairs and also pianos. While in Baltimore he married Margaret Hargood, a native of Baltimore, of an old Maryland family of Welsh ancestry. In Baltimore their first son, Charles, Jr., was born, and they then took passage on the canal and down the Ohio river to Louisville, Kentucky. Charles Gable in Louisville conducted a chair factory, also had an undertaking establishment, and employed several hands. One of his apprentices was the late W. W. Curry, formerly secretary of State of Indiana, who served for seven years in the Gable shop as did his brother, Robert. From Louisville Charles Gable moved to Charlestown, Indiana, and continued his business there until his death in 1859. His widow died at the age of seventy-six years. Of their thirteen children, Captain Gable was the third, and there is a son, Charles C., now living in Cincinnati and a carpenter contractor.

Captain Gable when eleven years of age accompanied the family to Charlestown, Indiana, and there grew to manhood, serving an apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade. Later he moved to Mercer county, Ohio, and there in 1861 at Celina, enlisted in Company H of the Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It was with the rank of second lieutenant that he went to the front, and at Fort Donelson was commissioned first lieutenant in January, 1862, and held that rank until 1863, when, at Gallatin, Tennessee, he was promoted captain. He led his company in all its engagements and campaigns until after the battle of Atlanta, and then owning to the ill health of his mother, he resigned his commission, and returned home. His mother, who was born in 1811, died at Dayton, Ohio, in 1886. His military service was not yet finished. After some months at home, he recruited during the winter of 1864 and organized Company D of the One Hundred and Ninety-third Ohio Infantry, a regiment that was attached to what was known as Hancock's Veteran Reserve Corps. With his company and regiment he continued in service until after the war had closed, being mustered out on August 12, 1865. Although he was present at some of the great battles of the war and was almost continually on duty, Captain Gable was never wounded nor taken prisoner, and made a splendid record as a soldier and is one of the few surviving veterans of that great struggle. After the war Captain Gable went to Wapakoneta, Auglaize county, Ohio, and took up the trade in which he had been trained before the war. While at Wapakoneta he married Caroline V. Gregg, who was born in Clark county, Ohio, September 13, 1843, and died at her home in Hartford City, October 1, 1911. She grew up and was educated in Wapakoneta, and was the daughter of Joseph Gregg and wife, farming people of that locality.

Captain Gable has been a resident of Hartford City since February, 1868. As a business man his best service in this community was rendered as a carpenter and builder, and before he retired he had made a splendid record of work along that line. His performance includes the erection of many private homes and business houses, including the VanCleve Theatre, the Smith block, the William Reed school, which was the first graded school building in the city. His good work along the line of his regular vocation has been supplemented by prominence in local affairs. During the administration of Mr. Harrison as president he held the Hartford City postoffice, and was also a trustee of Licking township. He is one of the popular members of Jacob Stahl Post Grand Army of the Republic, and has been honored with several offices in that post.

Captain Gable is the father of four living children. Nellie is the widow of J. B. Alexander, who was in the nursery business at Hartford City for a number of years; her son Robert, aged seventeen, now lives in Oklahoma City, and her daughter Ruth, aged fifteen, is a member of the Hartford City high school class of 1916, and lives with her grandfather, Captain Gable. Katharine, the second child, is the wife of W. T. Allen, who is train dispatcher with the Santa Fe at Chillicothe, Illinois, and their four sons are, Grant, William, Thomas and James. Elizabeth, who is usually called Betsey, lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, the wife of H. K. Bragden, secretary of a gas company operating in the West Virginia districts; their children are Lois, Frances, Eleanor and George. Caroline, the youngest child of Captain Gable, is a well educated young women and is now a stenographer with the Hartford City Paper Mills Company.

Deb Murray