JOSEPH SCHOONOYER BAKER, auditor of Kosciusko County, is a native of Ohio, born in Hancock County September 8, 1838, a son of Isaac and Rebecca (Schoonover) Baker, the father born in Virginia of German ancestry, and the mother a native of New Jersey. The father left his native State with his parents in his youth, they settling on a farm near Columbus, Ohio. After his marriage he removed to Hancock County, Ohio, being among the pioneers of that county, and there followed farming near Findlay. In 1852 he brought his family to Kosciusko County, Indiana, and settled on a farm in Wayne Township, near Warsaw, where he made his home until his death in 1880. He was reared a Methodist, and was a member of that church the greater part of his life. In his political views he was an "Old Line Whig" of the abolition school, but later affiliated with the Republican party. The mother of our subject was a Methodist from early life. She died on the old homestead, near Warsaw, in 1855. They were the parents of six children, of whom four are yet living - Rev. E. M. Baker, a Methodist minister, residing at Pendleton, Indiana; Mary, wife of Rev. William Lash, of Elkhart, Indiana; Sarah B., wife of Captain George Crouse, of Joplin, Missouri, and Joseph S., the subject of this sketch. Joseph S. Baker was fourteen years of age when he came with his parents to Kosciusko County. His education was obtained in the district schools of his native county, and at the schools of Warsaw. At the age of eighteen years he was employed as a salesman in the retail dry goods store of N. D. Heller, of Warsaw, and later entered the employ of the firm of Chipman Bros. & Co., where he remained until the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in Company B, Twelfth Regiment, Indiana Infantry Volunteers, and served with the Army of the Potomac until the expiration of his term of service. After being mustered out of the service at Washington, D. C., in May, 1862, he returned to Warsaw and resumed his position with Chipman Bros. & Co. November 23, 1862, he was married to Miss Angie Runyan, a daughter of Peter L. and Mary (Ervin) Runyan, pioneers of Kosciusko County. Mrs. Baker was born in Warsaw, Indiana, where she was reared, receiving her education in the schools of that city. In 1883 Mr. Baker engaged in the boot and shoe trade at Warsaw, in partnership with John H. Rousseau, in which he continued until 1865. From that date until November 1, 1879, he was almost continuously engaged as a commercial salesman. In 1878 Mr. Baker received the nomination from the Republican party for auditor of Kosciusko County, and was elected to that position at the ensuing election, and was renominated and elected by a largely increased majority in 1882. His second term expires November, 1887. Mr. Baker has proven a very efficient official, having filled the office to the satisfaction of all parties. During his term of office as auditor the new court-house of Kosciusko County was begun and completed, Mr. Baker devoting a large portion of his time in looking after the interests of the county during its erection. His administration of the office will be remembered as one of the most successful in the history of county. Mr. Baker is the father of three children, the eldest of whom, Blanche, is the wife of George A. Mackelvey, of Toledo, Ohio. The only son, George B., will graduate from DePauw University in June, 1887, while Ethel, the youngest of the family, is a little miss of six years. Much of interest to these children will be found elsewhere in this volume regarding their grandsire, Peter L. Runyon, Sr., who was one of the earliest settlers of the county and foremost in advocating its interests. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have from early life been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which faith their ancestry also adhered. Mr. Baker has for many years been an official in the church of his choice. He is also a member of Warsaw Lodge, No. 73, F. & A. M. He is a thirty-second Free Mason, being a member of the Indiana Consistory of Ancient, Accepted Scottish Rite. He is also a member of Warsaw Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and Warsaw Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is at the present time eminent commander. He has been an active Odd Fellow for more than twenty-five years, being now a member of Lake City Lodge, No. 430. He is also a comrade of Kosciusko Post, No. 114, G.A.R.

Source: "History of Kosciusko County", 1919
Submitted: September 17, 2000

Barber, Milo is a native of Loudon, Massachusetts, born November 12, 1803, a son of Roswell and Betsey Barber, who soon after the birth of our subject moved to Connecticut. When he was eight years old they removed to Sheldon, Genesee County, New York, living there till their death. They were the parents of five children - Laura, Sylvia, Milo, Nancy and Myron. The father was twice married, the maiden name of his second wife being Sofronia Case, and by his second marriage he had two children - Plirades and Elsie. Of his children, Myron, Nancy and Milo came to Indiana. They have been a remarkably long-lived family, the ages of the children in 1883 averaging over eighty years. The eldest daughter was ninety years old at the time of her death, and Sylvia, who is still living in Pennsylvania, is eighty-seven years of age, and both were pensioners of the war of 1812, their husbands serving in that campaign. Jerred Barber, brother of Roswell Barber, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and he held the ink stand into which General Washington dipped his pen in signing the order for the execution of Major Andre. Milo B. Barber, whose name heads this sketch, was a tanner by occupation when a young man. He learned his trade in Connecticut when eighteen years of age, and for several years worked at it in Newark, New Jersey. He subsequently went to Greene County, New York, where he met Miss Miranda Butler, who was a resident of that county, and was married to her September 15, 1830. She was a daughter of Stephen and Sabrina (Sanford) Butler, and was born April 10, 1811. Mr. and Mrs. Barber lived in Greene County about seven years after their marriage, and there their four eldest children, Abi, Charles, Sophronia and Myron, were born. They came to Kosciusko County, Indiana, in 1838. On reaching Fort Wayne, Indiana, they proceeded via the canal to Peru, thence to his brother-in-law's land in this county, with an ox team, bringing his wife and children and all his worldly possessions at one load. He came to the county without a dollar, but he owned a good ax and rifle, and knew how to use both. After living a year on his brother-in-law's place, Mr. Barber borrowed $100, and entered the eighty-acre tract upon which he still resides, and in 1840 built the first log cabin. He Cleared his own land, and also did much hard clearing for his neighbors, and the second winter spent in the county he cut and split 7,700 rails, which he sold for $1 per hundred, and with the proceeds he purchased his first ox team. As a hunter he had no superior in the county, and their larder was always well supplied with venison and other wild meats. Mr. Barber was not only a great hunter, but also a noted trapper, and for many years was engaged in trapping and buying furs. In this business it was necessary for him to have a horse, and he bought on credit a nag, which failed to make time, so he traded for a big grey, which, he declared, "trotted so hard that it shook all the tails off his coon-skins." He next secured a crooked-legged horse, known to all the early settlers as Coon-skin Bill, and it is said that he frequently walked back to his master's house so enveloped in coon, mink and other pelts that only his head and crooked legs could be seen. Mr. Barber was associated in his fur business with William Thorne, who furnished the money to carry on the trade. They were very successful, and one day's sale amounted to $6,000. The following winter Mr. Barber purchased, with his share of the profits, another eighty-acre tract, which he cultivated and improved. The farm is still very productive, and is yet occupied by himself and wife, where they are surrounded with everything necessary for their comfort and convenience. His years of arduous toil have been well rewarded, and as his family grew he was able to replace his pioneer cabin by his large two-story residence. Although eighty-three years old, Mr. Barber still works on his farm, and takes pleasure in keeping his place in good order. Both he and wife are hale and hearty considering their years, and Mr. Barber frequently walks to the village of Silver Lake and back to his farm in one day. Eighteen children have been born to them, among them being three pairs of twins. Milo, Calvin, Sylvester, George and Theron were born in Seward Township, Kosciusko County. Six of the sons were soldiers in the late war, all sharing in the great battles, and returning home full of honor. Myron was a member of the Twentieth Indiana Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of the wilderness; Milo and Calvin belonged to the Twenty-sixth; Charles in the _______ ; Sylvester in the Twelfth, and George in the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Indiana Infantry. Soon after his return from the army George was married to Lena Miller and seven weeks later was stabbed to death by George Hanes. Mr. Barber was the first trustee of Seward Township, appointed June 8, 1859, and has served efficiently for five years. He is noted for spontaneous wit and quick repartee, and always takes great pleasure in joking the Democratic Party, of which he was a leader for many years. He is a man of sterling integrity, and few local men possess the confidence and respect of the public to a greater extent than he, who has been a resident of this county for so many years.

Date Posted: February 27, 2000

SYLVESTER BARBER, an active and enterprising farmer, is a native of Kosciusko County, Indiana, born in Seward Township October 31, 1845, a son of Milo and Miranda (Butler) Barber, who are among the old and honored pioneers of the county. Sylvester was reared on the homestead farm where he now resides, and received a good common-school education in the schools of his native county. He was united in marriage June 13, 1870, to Miss Clarissa E. Stevens, and soon after his marriage he and his wife moved to Polk County, Nebraska, is remaining there eighteen months, when he returned to the home of his boyhood, and has since managed the home farm. He and five of his brothers were among the gallant soldiers who went in defense of their country's flag. He participated in some of the most severe battles of the war, and at the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, he was taken prisoner, but was soon after paroled and sent back. After he was exchanged he rejoined his regiment, and was with Grant's army at the siege of Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi, and from the latter place he was sent to

Nashville, where he remained till his discharge. The privations and hardships he experienced while in the service so reduced him in flesh that when he returned from Nashville his weight was only eighty-five pounds. Full of patriotism, he had scarcely regained his strength until he re-enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry, and at the expiration of his term of service he again enlisted in the Twenty-sixth Indiana Infantry, in which he remained till the close of the war. During the last campaign he participated in the engagements at Mobile, Alabama, Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. Mrs. Barber died in 1878, leaving at her death three children - Abi, Walter and Arthur. Mr. Barber was again married March 24, 1880, to Miss Minerva J. Calahan, of Marshall County, Indiana.

Source: Biographical & Historical Record of Kosciusko Co., IN.; Lewis Publishing Co., 1887
Dated: August 28, 2000

ANANIAS BECKNELL, an old settler of Kosciusko County, was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1819, son of Charles and Anna M. Becknell, the former a native of Germany, and the latter of Pennsylvania. When about four years of age his parents removed to Adams County, and seven years later removed to Stark County, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood. His early life was spent in assisting in the labors of the farm, and in attending the common schools. He was married in Ohio November 22, 1838, to Catherine Weimer, a native of Pennsylvania, and to this union were born eleven children, of whom six survive - Edward, of Van Buren Township; Dr. Irvin J., David, Rachel, wife of Thomas Self, of Milford; Caroline, wife of Charles Hunter, also of Milford, and Mattie. In 1853 he came to this county and settled on section 13, of Jefferson Township, and lived there until 1872; then removed to Milford. He owns 201 acres of well-improved land in Jefferson Township. He served five years as a trustee of that township. Politically he is a Republican, and religiously is a member of the German Baptist church.

Source: "History of Kosciusko County", 1919
Submitted: September 17, 2000

DR. IRVIN J. BECKNELL, of Milford, was born in Carroll County, Ohio, December 8, 1846, son of Ananias and Catherine Becknell, who were early settlers of this county, and now reside at Milford. He lived with his parents until he reached his nineteenth year. They came to this County in 1853, and settled upon a farm about two miles west of Milford, in Jefferson Township, where our subject received his preliminary education in the public school. When in his twentieth year he entered Notre Dame University, at South Bend, Indiana, and attended one year. The following year he graduated at the Commercial College of Spencer & Adams at that place. In the fall of 1868 he entered Hillsdale College, Michigan, attending about two years. In the spring of 1870 he began reading medicine with Drs. Jackson and Harding, of Goshen, remaining there three years. Within this time he attended two courses of lectures at Indianapolis, and graduated at the Indiana Medical College in 1873. After his graduation he was assistant superintendent of the city hospital at Indianapolis six months. In March, 1875, he graduated at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Indianapolis. In 1876-’77 he took a five months course at Bellevue Hospital Medical College at New York City, graduating from that institution March, 1877. For a few years he was engaged at alternate periods, in teaching school. He located at Milford in July, 1873, and has established a good practice at that place. He is also interested with Dr. A.C. Jackson, of Goshen, his former preceptor, in a drug store, the firm being Jackson & Becknell. October 26, 1876, he was married to Sarah Zook, of Goshen, and they have two children - Guy G., born April 16, 1878 and Ralph H., born October 12, 1882. In 1879 the doctor received an Addendum Degree from the medical department of Butler University of the State of Indiana. He is a member of the Kosciusko County Medical Society, and the American Medical Association, having served as president of the former society. Politically he is a Republican.

Source: Biographical & Historical Record of Kosciusko Co., IN.; Lewis Publishing Co., 1887
Dated: August 28, 2000

Beghtel, Jesse. farmer, section 4, Tippecanoe Township, owns 64 10/100 acres. He was born in Stark County, Ohio, July 28, 1818, where he was reared and lived until he came to this county. He first came in 1842 to visit the country. He was accompanied by his brother and Frederick Fernsel. They traveled on foot, and were ten days making the journey. They came by the way of Huntington, to visit some acquaintances living there. There were two others, who started at the same time on horseback, by the name of John Kuhn and Jacob Fashbaugh, and those who came on foot arrived here one day sooner than those who came on horseback. They all came in the fall, but the weather was excessively warm, and Mr. Beghtel's brother blistered his feet. He says that the third morning after they started they felt as though they could not rise, but, after making an extra effort, they traveled a few miles.

Mr. Beghtel has always been a farmer, as was his father before him. The latter was born March 21, 1790, and died February 26, 1840. Jesse remained at home until 1847, when he and his mother and two other children came to this county and settled on the farm he now occupies. When he purchased it in 1847 it was a wilderness, and had no improvements. He built a log cabin in the spring of 1847, and worked some for John Mock, who came with him, and remained here until harvest-time, then returned and brought back his mother and two other children, as before stated.

He was first married to Miss Lydia Stocker, who was born in Ohio August 25, 1841, and came to this county when a young lady. She died November 27, 1874, just fourteen months after her marriage. June 12, 1875. Mr. Beghtel was married to Elizabeth Kindle, widow of William Kindle, who was born in Ohio November 3, 1848, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Starner) Grindle, natives of Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Her father died in February, 1883, aged eighty four years, and her mother died April 15, 1869, aged fifty-nine years. Mr. Beghtel's parents were Frederick and Elizabeth (Wareham) Beghtel, the former born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Huntingdon County, same state, May 2, 1792. The father died in 1840 aged forty-nine years, ten months and eleven days. The mother died in Tippecanoe Township, May 9, 1871, and is buried in Webster cemetery.

Mr. And Mrs. Beghtel have two children living--Mary Bell, born December 6, 1867, and James Vernon, born July 10, 1879. Mr Beghtel has served as township trustee, township clerk, assessor, and was treasurer for six years. Politically he is a Republican, and himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His grandparents were all born in Germany, and Mrs. Beghtel's grandparents were born in Pennsylvania.

Submitted by Gene Andert
Source: History of Kosciusko County, page 454
Date posted: 4/10/98

Elias and Susannah (Snoke) Beigh
By a copy of his Baptismal Certificate, Elias (Beige) Beigh was born to Christian parents the 13th of November at eleven o'clock at night in the sign of the Pisces of the year of Christ 1826, in Greenwood Township, Mifflin County in the province of Pennsylvania of North America, and was baptized by N.D. Schneider. The witnesses were the parents themselves, George Beige and housewife Veronica Nachin.

A daughter, Lydia Beigh, was born in 1825 and a son, Henry Beigh, was born 31 August 1829. They are not in the 1830 census of Pennsylvania, but in the census of Seneca County, Ohio. They are listed with a woman over 50. Veronica died and George Beige married Frances (Fanny) Rhodes. There were four more children: Mary (Polly) Beigh born 9 July 1831: Susannah Beiqh, born in 1833: Mariah Beigh, born 4 April 1835: and George Beigh, born 27 May 1837. The family moved west into Indiana, to Clay Township. Another daughter, Frances (Fanny) Beigh, was born in 1843. The whole family is listed in the 1840 census of Clay Township.

Lydia Beigh married Soloman Yates on 9 March 1851. Elias Beigh married Susannah Snoke on 21 October 1858. Henry Beigh married Deliliah Funk on 31 August 1862. Mary (Polly) Beigh married Henry B. Funk on 6 July 1850. Susannah Beigh, never married, died in 1884 and is buried in Gospel Hill Cemetery. Mariah Beigh married George Carper on 3 June 1856, and moved west. George Beigh married Anna Swihart. Frances (Fanny) Beigh married John Adams on 30 January 1863.

Elias and Susannah (Snoke) Beigh, daughter of Amos and Elizabeth (Smith) Snoke, had six children: Nelson "J" Beigh, born 17 July 1859, married Susan Rebecca Rhinehart on 5 March 1881; Mary Jane Beigh, born 28 March 1861 and married Charles Monrow Wedrick on 25 August 1891: Sophia Beigh, born 29 October 1862 and married Lyman Henry Beigh on 21 January 1879: Lucinda Catharine Beigh, born 10 March 1866 and married Harvey D. Brandenburg on 19 April 1884: James Albert Beigh, born 12 February 1868 and married Lydia Ann Metzger on 30 October 1890: and Sarah Ann Beigh, born 6 November 1860 and married Noah W. Metzger on 28 December 1889.

Nelson "J" and Susan Rebecca (Rhinehart) Beigh, daughter of James and Elizabeth (Smith) Rhinehart, had eight children: Melissa Alice Beigh, born 27 November 1881 and married William E. Bowser on 2 July 1904: Elsie Jane Beigh, born 8 March 1883 and married Herman Alton Kelly on 3 July 1915: George Allen Beigh, born 6 March 1885 and married Alta Parker on 26 February 1911; Sarah Edna Beigh, born 19 December 1886, died 23 June 1902 and is buried in Gospel Hill Cemetery: Emma Ethel Beigh, born 1 September 1889, died 20 April 1890, and is buried in Gospel Hill Cemetery: Arlie Franklin Beigh, born 1 April 1891 and married Laurena Catharine Karns on 14 February 1916; Iva Mae Beigh, born 6 June 1893 and married Homer D. Metzger on 5 February 1916; and Zelda Fay Beigh, born 2 June 1902 and is living in Warsaw, Indiana.

Arlie Franklin Beigh died on 24 October 1979. His wife, Laurena Catharine Karns, was born 9 January 1894, daughter of William and Sarah (Shultz) Karns, and died on 26 February 1971. Both are buried in Graceland Cemetery, Claypool, Indiana. They had seven children: Norman Leon Beigh, born 2 June 1918 and married Myriam Dorothy Small on 4 October 1953; Bernice Marie Beigh, born 25 March 1920; Edwin Merl Beigh, born 18 May 1921 and married Valena Mae Ranstead on 14 February 1946; Audra Irene Beigh, born 24 January 1923, married Earnest Franklin Rhoades on 26 November 1942; Leonard Ray Beigh, born 21 April 1925, and married Helen Louise Yarian on 8 April 1945; Lloyd Leroy Beigh, born 16 March 1930, and married Sharion Kathryn Neal on 28 May 1955 (Lloyd Beigh died on 31 May 1980 and is buried in Riverside Cemetery, Geneva, Indiana); and Neva Arlene Beigh, born 29 May 1933, and married Allen Alonzo Tucker on 11 February 1962.

The Baptismal Certificate is written in German and the family called themselves Pennsylvania Dutch. In fact, my father, Arlie Franklin Beigh, did not learn English until he started school in 1898 at the Bowersock School, located one mile east and one mile south of Claypool, Indiana. Most in the family were farmers who at first rented land and later purchased their own properties.

Submitted by: Bernice Beigh, Claypoot Indiana
Source: Kosciusko County, Indiana (1836-1986)

Beyer, John Frederick. Kosciusko County could claim no better citizen and one of the more distinctive achievements during the past thirty-eight years than John Frederick Beyer of Warsaw. It was Mr. Beyer who was the primary factor in establishing one of the largest provision packing and commission firms in Northern Indiana, and as this concern is still in operation in Warsaw there need be no further reminder of his connection with that widely known commercial enterprise. However, Mr. Beyer has made more than a commercial success, and has been one of the vital energizers and up-builders in the county and the City of Warsaw.

A native of Germany, he was born in the Kingdom of Hesse Cassel, now a part of Prussia, October 17, 1850. He was one of a family of five sons, whose parents were August and Mary (Eckhart) Beyer. His father died when his youngest child was three months old, and the widow subsequently married George Pfeifer, by whom she had four more children.

Of the five sons, J. Frederick Beyer was the second. His older brother is still living on a farm in Germany. Reared in an attractive section of rural Germany, after leaving the common or volk schools he served a thorough five years' apprenticeship in the blacksmith's trade. In 1869, at the age of nineteen, he came to America to visit relatives. The steamer "Donau" on which he made the passage was twelve days in crossing the Atlantic. In his company was his brother Albert. He first went to Goshen, Indiana, where his relatives were living, and remained there seven years, a part of the time working at his trade. However, it was while at Goshen that he laid the foundation for his highly prosperous business career. He began on a small scale and with hardly any capital, to collect and handle butter and eggs, which he gathered up from local producers and shipped to outside markets. This was the germ of the present wholesale packing business of Beyer Brothers, with three main offices at Warsaw, Kendallville and Rochester, and with commission houses in New York City, Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, besides numerous branch establishments throughout the country. It would be interesting if space permitted to give a detailed history of the growth of this industry. It was started by Mr. Beyer with a capital of only about $5,000 and with two wagons. It is now an incorporated company under the title Beyer Brothers Company, has a vast capital employed, and its equipment includes hundreds of wagons and automobile trucks, and an independent refrigerator line. In the course of time two more brothers, Christian C. and J. Edward, came to this country and threw in their energies with the business.

It was in February, 1877, that Mr. Beyer came to Warsaw and extended his business to this town. In the early days he had many difficulties to surmount, but by hard work, good business management and indomitaable energy succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. Gradually however, he withdrew from the active management of the packing business. It was not a retirement from business altogether, since in the meantime he conceived the idea of establishing an educational and pleasure park at Winona Lake. Toward that end he acquired extensive tracts of land along the eastern shore of the lake, and then in 1888 with his brothers, founded Spring Fountain Park. Their first enterprise there was a creamery, and they also built a hotel. After a few years, in 1895, Spring Fountain Park was sold to the Winona Assembly and has ever since been the beautiful grounds of what is probably the most noted and best attended chautauqua assembly in the country. Though he sold the property, Mr. Beyer was asked to remain as superinttndent of the grounds. He has ever since been actively identified with the assembly, and much credit is due him for the spendid condition of the park and facilities with which thousands and thousands of people become acquainted every year. In a hardly less important manner Mr. Beyer has been a prominent factor in the making of modern Warsaw. He has been a liberal contributor to all worthy enterprises. Coming to America with but little means at his command, unacquainted with the language and customs of the people, he has been wonderfully prosperous, but better still has acquired an honest name and commands universal respect.

In politics he is a republican, though he has never aspired for political office. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. On December 15, 1877, he married Miss Anna M. Miller, daughter of Jacob Miller, who was born in Pennsylvania and spent many years of his career in Elkhart County, Indiana. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Beyer are: Mae E., Carl F., and Harold R. Mr. and Mrs. Beyer are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In later years Mr. Beyer has devoted much of his attention to farming and stock raising, and is one of the most extensive cultivators of crops and general agricultural enterprise in this section of Indiana. He owns about 500 acres, comprising a spendid country estate near Warsaw where he spends most of his time, and he also operates about 700 other acres, largely in Kosciusko County.

Source: History of Kosciusko County
Date posted: 12/6/98

Biddle, Hiram F., spent most of his adult life in Kosciusko Co., Ind. He was born in Champaign Co., Ohio on 23 Sept. 1839. His father Henry Biddle, born circa 1803 (probably in Wales) married Sarah Syberts, born circa 1803 and believed to be from Virginia. Henry and Sarah were married in Champaign Co in 1830. Three known children were born there, Andrew J., Hiram F. and Mathilda.

Hiram enlisted in Ft. Wayne, Indiana 22 Nov. 1861 in the 44th Regiment, Company E of Indiana, re-enlisting in Chatanooga, TN. on 31 Jan 1864. According to his military records, he had dark brown hair, brown eyes, a light complexion, and was 24 years old when he enlisted. He was wounded in the leg at some point during his service, and mustered out as a Sergeant in Nashville, TN. 14 Sept. 1865. Family tradition says he was on Sherman's march to the sea.

Although his parents and siblings are found in Ohio in 1860, all seem to be living in Kosc. Co., by the time Hiram returns from the Civil War. Hiram married Elizabeth Smale in Whitley Co. 22 June, 1865. Elizabeth was born in Kosc. Co. 30 Mar. 1843 to Abraham and Margaret (Kitson) Smale. Hiram bought some land from his father-in-law in 1869, and was a farmer as a young man.

Hiram and Elizabeth had 9 known children. They were Rosa Belle b. 1866, married to P.H. Garland; Ida Collista b. 1867, married Elmer Newcomer; Elmer Otto b. 1869, married Minnie Hale; Charles Case b. 1870, married Catherine Studebaker; Alletha May b. 1872, married Maurice Poland; Clara Alise b. 1874, married first Frank L. Chapman, second Orville Young; Arba Manford b. 1877, died at 3 yrs; Edith Pearl b. 1879, died at 21/2 yrs.; and Odie Blanche b. 1882, married Otis H. Lancaster.

For many years Hiram was the custodian of the Warsaw Courthouse, and in 1900 was managing his son Charles' restaurant in So. Whitley, Ind. Elizabeth died in 1900, and Hiram is believed to have then married Ella Koser in 1901. Hiram died 19 Jan. 1905, and is buried in Spring Creek Cemetery, Jackson township, next to Elizabeth, Arba and Edith.

Submitted by; Cynthia Nelson
Date posted: 4/23/98

JOHN F. BOCKMAN, a merchant of North Webster, Indiana, was born in Dubois County, Indiana, December 4, 1847. His father was an itinerant minister of the Evangelical Association, and frequently changed his locality, traveling in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. From a young man Mr. Bockman was engaged in farming in this county, at first as a hired hand until married after which he farmed for himself as a renter about three years. In the year 1870 he was received into the ministry by the Evangelical Association, of which he had been a member for a number of years, and licensed to preach as an itinerant Preacher. Edgerton, Ohio, was the first place assigned him as a field of labor, thence to Huntington, Indiana, thence to Van Wert, Ohio, and Decatur, Indiana. After the expiration of the conference year at Decatur, local relations were granted him by his Conference. He then moved with his family to South Bend, Indiana, soon after which he removed to North Webster, where, after a short time, he was again induced to re-enter the itineracy. New Paris circuit was assigned him as a field of labor and from there he was appointed to Mishawaka, Indiana, where he served one and a half years as pastor. Again locating and removing to North Webster, he has engaged in the general mercantile business ever since. He was educated in the common schools of this State. His father, William Bockman, entered the ministry as an itinerant, in the year 1853, at Huntingburgh, Dubois County, this State, and preached about twenty-five years, after which he located and moved on a farm which he had bought near Syracuse, Indiana. His health soon began failing and also his wife's. Both are living with their son John at North Webster, old and helpless, and a daily care of aged, infirm helplessness. Our subject was married August 15, 1867, to Miss Matilda Kline, daughter of Henry and Christina Kline, the former having died in January, 1886; the latter is yet living at North Webster. They were among the oldest settlers of Kosciusko County. Mr. and Mrs. Bockman are the parents of four children - William Henry, Laura Ella, John Calvin and Bertha May. One child died at birth. Mr. Bockman has served as township trustee of Tippacanoe Township two years, and as postmaster seven years, when the administration changed and banged him out. Politically he is a Republican. Himself, wife and children are members of the Evangelical church.

Source: Biographical & Historical Record of Kosciusko Co., IN.; Lewis Publishing Co., 1887
Dated: August 28, 2000

HENRY HARRISON BRALLIER, a farmer and Dunkard preacher, of Washington Township, Kosciusko County, is a native of Indiana, born in Carroll County, August 7, 1849. When an infant he was brought to Kosciusko County, by his parents, Daniel and Catherine (Grow) Brallier, and there he was reared to the avocation of a farmer, receiving his education by attending the district schools of his neighborhood and at the Pierceton high school. On attaining his majority, in 1871, he began teaching in the district schools of Kosciusko County, which he followed about ten years, principally during the winter terms. He was united in marriage April 19, 1874, to Miss Catherine Baer, a daughter of Abram R. T. and Sarah (Summers) Baer, who were natives of Ohio. Mrs. Brallier was born in Columbiana County, Ohio, but reared in Kosciusko County, Indiana, to which county her parents had removed when she was an infant. Her parents being Dunkards, she was reared in the same faith, and is still a member of that denomination. Mr. and Mrs. Brallier are the parents of four children - Alva H., Lizzie Myrtle, Chester Arthur and Hattie May. Being a member of the Dunkard church, Mr. Brallier, in 1879, was appointed to the ministry, and received the first degree of the Dunkard ministry, and during the following year he received charge of the second degree, and now preaches regularly at Gilead Chapel, in Washington Township. In politics Mr. Brallier affiliates with the Republican Party. Daniel Brallier, the father of our subject, is a native of Pennsylvania, of French and German origin. In early life he left Pennsylvania, and located in Richland County, Ohio, where he married Catherine Grow, who was also born in Pennsylvania, and was of German parentage. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom eight still survive - John, a farmer, living in Iowa; Levi, an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Dayton, Ohio; Martin, a farmer, of Cass County, Indiana; David, farming in Iowa; Lovinia, widow of the late John Philips, of Washington Township; Henry H., our subject, Simon, a farmer, of Iowa, and Daniel, residing near the old home. Anna died in Washington Township, September 30, 1854, in her twentieth year; Samuel died September 1, 1863, aged almost twelve years; Isaiah, who was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, died September 13, 1877, in his thirty-third year, and Mrs. Margaret Cragun, who died in her twenty-ninth year, April 25, 1883. Beside Isaiah, their three sons, Levi, Martin and David, were soldiers in the late war. In 1844 the father removed with his family to Indiana, from Richland County, Ohio, and until 1849 he followed farming and worked at the carpenter's trade in Cass and Carroll counties. In 1849 he came to Kosciusko County, where he cleared the farm in Washington Township, which is now occupied by the subject of this sketch, living on this farm until his death, which occurred December 28, 1870, his age being over sixty-one years. He was reared a Dunkard, and died in that faith. His widow still survives, being now seventy years old. She has been a member of the Durkard church for many years.

Date Posted: February 27, 2000

GEORGE G. BURLEY, physician and surgeon at Leesburgh, was born in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, November 9, 1849, son of David and Rachel Burley, who came to Indiana in 1861, and now reside in Huntington County, this State. His youth was passed on the farm, his father being a tiller of the soil, and received his elementary education in the common schools of Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, and Huntington, Indiana. He taught school ten years, and in the meantime took three years of the course of study in the scientific class of Hillsdale College, Michigan. He entered that institution in the spring of 1871, and remained until the close of 1873. In 1877-'78 he attended the medical college of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and subsequently practiced his chosen profession, locating at Mount Zion, Indiana, where he remained two years. January 9, 1881, he was married to Mary E. Barsh, of Huntington County, Indiana, and to this union have been born two children - Ada B. and Bessie M. The doctor then engaged in the drug business with John Barsh at North Manchester. In 1883-'84 he attended a course of lectures in the Chicago Medical College, and soon after located at Columbia City, practicing there only a short time. He then removed to Syracuse, this State, thence to Leesburgh in 1885. The doctor is recognized as one of the best general practitioners in this county. He enjoys a lucrative practice, and as a citizen he is highly respected. His manner is retiring and unostentatious, always avoiding any unnecessary public display, and his disposition is kind and social. Politically he affiliated with the Republican party.

Source: History of Kosciusko County
Date Posted: September 16, 2000

Deb Murray