Hudson Beck was born in Leesburg, Kosciusko county, Indiana, December 28, 1839, and died at Citronelle, Alabama, May 5, 1885. In his youth he passed several years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was partly educated in select schools and also took a commercial course of study, became a bookkeeper and acquired a thorough knowledge of business in general. In early manhood he located in Warsaw, where, in 1862, he opened a general store and for several years was connected with the mercantile prosperity of the city. He relinquished merchandising only to take a higher step in the business circles of the city, county and state by becoming president of the Lake City Bank, a position he held until the hour of his untimely death.
March 11, 1863, Hudson Beck was united in marriage at Warsaw with Miss Mary A. Johnson, and to this marriage were born two children, Albion and Clara. In 1872 he erected his handsome residence on Fort Wayne street, Warsaw, where his family still reside. Mr. Beck traveled a great deal during his latter years, making an extended trip through Europe for the benefit of his health, being accompanied by his father. He also spent some time in Colorado and one year in northern Alabama, where he owned and operated a plantation. He later visited the exposition in New Orleans, which was the last trip he made before passing to the other world.
Fraternally Mr. Beck was a Knight Templar Mason and was one of the three trustees and treasurer of the building committee in charge of the erection of the Masonic Temple, in which he took great interest. In politics a Democrat, he was a delegate to the Democratic national convention of June, 1884. Educated, intelligent, social and magnetic, he made his mark there and elsewhere. Mr. Beck was a member of the Christian church for twenty years and was a most liberal contributor to its support. While on a visit to Alabama for the purpose of recuperating his health, Mr. Beck suffered from a relapse and, as stated above died at Citronelle, Mobile county, that state, at 8:30 A. M., May 5, 1885, aged forty- five years, four months and seven days. His remains were brought home to Warsaw and the funeral services were held at his residence in the presence of the surviving members of his family and a vast number of friends. A handsome gray granite monument in Oakwood cemetery now marks the spot where all that was mortal of this once good and active factor in life's busy scenes rests in peace.
Mrs. Mary A. (Johnson) Beck is a daughter of Prof. Daniel Taylor Johnson, who was principal of the Warsaw schools, but who, losing his voice, retired from the vocation of teaching and engaged in fire and life insurance. He was born in Charleston, Massachusetts, in 1817, and for twenty years was a teacher, eight years of this time in Warsaw. He was reared a Universalist, but at the age of thirty-two was converted to the Methodist faith and was licensed as a preacher at Washington C. H., Fayette county, Ohio. In March, 1842, he married Mary J. White, of Muskingum county, Ohio, who died four years after marriage, leaving two daughters, of whom one is now Mrs. Hudson Beck. Rev. Daniel T. Johnson was called away July 12, 1886, a firm believer in and consoled by the faith to which he had devoted the last thirty seven years of life in disseminating.
Of the two children born to Hudson and Mary A. (Johnson) Beck, Albion is now engaged in private banking, and Clara, who was married to Wilber N. Funk, died when twenty-five years old, the mother of two children, Mary Salome, who died in her twelfth year, and Agnes Louise, now aged fourteen. Mrs. Beck is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a lady of strong intellectuality and advanced thought, and it may be added, without a particle of adulation and with impunity, that she stands foremost in the esteem of the best residents of Kosciusko county, male or female.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
WILLIAM W. KIRKPATRICK.
A young, prosperous and rising farmer of Washington township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, was born in Tippecanoe township, the same county, February 5, 1863, and is a son of William and Anna (Pierce) Kirkpatrick. The former was a son of John Kirkpatrick, who emigrated with his parents from Kentucky to Ohio in 1804. He was born March 6, 1795, and died August 17, 1826, leaving a widow and six small children. William Kirkpatrick was born in Clark county, Ohio, July 19, 1822. He came to this state with his widowed mother and her six children in 1836, the mother being fortunate enough to posses one thousand dollars in cash and an additional sum with which to purchase a farm. Of this farm her father, William Cowan, was the overseer, and he also employed himself in making wooden plows. William Kirkpatrick, who was then a lad, no longer attended school, but worked out by the month in order to earn money with which to aid in the support of his mother, and this was his course of life until his marriage, February 18, 1847. He then rented a farm in Plain township, occupied it about one year and then bought a farm of one hundred acres in Tippecanoe and Plain townships, on which his children were afterward born, and on which he lived until March 8, 1883; when he purchased one-quarter of section 10, in Washington township, the greater part of which ,he improved.
To the marriage of William and Anna Kirkpatrick were born nine children, namely: John W., born June 8, 1848, died April ,4, 1849; Mary E., born February 16, 1850, died December 6, 1861; Sarah J., born September 5, 1852, is the wife of John T. Gilliam and lives in Tippecanoe township; Eliza A., born January 12, 1855, is married to S. B. Long and lives in Plain township; Margaret E., born July 21, 1857, lives with her brother, William W.; M. Pierce, born October 30, 1860, married Hortense Crawford, and lives in Pierceton; William W., whose name opens this biography, born February 5, 1863; Eunice A., born July 25, 1865, died May 7,1884; Alvin W., born December 25, 1867, died August 15, 1872.
William W. Kirkpatrick was reared on his father's farm, was educated in the dis trict schools, and remained with his parents until his marriage, November 15, 1896, with Miss Nettie M. Goshert, who was born September 9, 1874. George Goshert, grandfather of Mrs. Kirkpatrick, was a native of Pennsylvania and reared in Ohio, where he married Susan Dilsaver. He later came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and located in Prairie township, where Jasper Goshert was born September 9, 1845. He married Lecta Hall, who was born also in this county, December 18, 1854. He rented a farm for a few years and then bought a place in the same township, on which he still lives. He is an active member of the United Brethren church and one of the most highly respected farmers of his township. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. W. W. Kirkpatrick have been born two children, namely: Edith H., May 17, 1899 and William M., November 27, 1900. The mother of the subject died February 27, 1892, in the faith of the Presbyterian church, and his father died March 26, 1898, also a member of the Presbyterian church, his attendance at worship being with the congregation at Pierceton. The subject's mother was a native of Clark county, Ohio, and was born March 6, 1824.
Fraternally Mr. Kirkpatrick is a member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at Pierceton. In politics is a Democrat in sentiment, but is not active as a partisan, having a preference for attending to his private affairs rather than those of the public.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
JACOB S. WEAVER.
The subject of this review is a gentleman of high standing to whom has not been denied a full measure of success. He is distinctively one of the representative citizens of Washington township, and has long been a recognized factor of importance in connection with the agricultural interests of the county of Kosciusko. Mr. Weaver has been conspicuously identifed with the material growth and prosperity of this part at the state; since coming to the West his life has been very closely interwoven with the history of the county where he has lived for over half a century. George Weaver was the father of Jacob S. He was a native of Virginia and lived in that state until after his mother's death, when he bid farewell to the familiar scenes of his childhood home and started out to make his fortune in what was then the new and sparsely settled county of Fairfield, Ohio. He was a lad of fifteen when he reached his destination, and for some time thereafter worked at the carpenter's trade, his services as a builder being greatly prized by the early settlers of the community in which he lived. In addition to carpentry he devoted considerable attention to cabinetmaking and for a number of years ran a shop where coffins and all kinds of furniture were manufactured to meet the wants of the people in a large area of territory.
In 1820, when twenty-three years old, Mr. Weaver was united in marriage to Miss Mary Clark, whose parents, Horatio and Rebekkah (Lane) Clark, were early settlers of Fairfield county. In connection with mechanical pursuits Mr. Weaver carried on agriculture to a considerable extent, having owned a good farm in Fairfield county and later purchased a place in the county of Logan. In October, 1848, he closed his manufacturing establishment and exchanged his Ohio farm for two hundred and eighty acres of unimproved land in Kosciusko county, Indiana, the place being in what is now the township of Washington. Here Mr. Weaver began the task of clearing and improving a farm, an undertaking requiring much hard labor and attended with inconveniences by no means few or insignificant. He first built a substantial hewed-log house and then addressed himself manfully to the clearing of his land, which was densely covered with a forest growth of primitive wildness and beauty. He also put up a shop and, when the weather would not permit of outdoor work, employed the time in cabinetmaking, repairing, etc., by means of which he was enabled to earn more than sufficient means to defray current expenses. He fenced all of his land, reduced a goodly number of acres to cultivation and made one of the best farms in the township of Washington, but unfortunately did not live very long to enjoy the fruits of his labors, dying on the 15th of April, 1858. Mrs. Weaver was left with a family of four children, one son and three daughters. The names of the entire family are as follows: Rebecca A., Elizabeth, George M., Horatio C., Jacob S., Perry A., Hannah L., Martha M. and Mary P. Mr. Weaver was an estimable citizen and a zealous member of the Christian church. He was noted for his honesty, industry and a desire to do the right as he saw and understood the right and he died as he had lived, at peace with God and his fellow man.
Jacob S. Weaver, to whom this sketch is dedicated, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, November 2, 1829, and remained with his father, contributing to the support of the family until old enough to begin life for himself. He was reared to farm labor and spent the first nineteen years of his life in Ohio, his educational training being confined to a few months' attendance each winter season upon the subscription schools, in which only the rudimentary branches were taught. He accompanied his parents to Kosciusko county, Indiana, in 1848, and bore his full share in clearing and developing the home farm in Washington township which he now owns.
On the 26th day of October, 1856, Mr. Weaver and Miss Sarah Kaylor were united in the holy bonds of wedlock and immediately thereafter they began housekeeping on the Weaver homestead, from which they have never changed their habitation. Her parents, John and Keziah (Tracey) Kaylor, were natives of Maryland, but early moved to Logan county, Ohio, where Mrs. Weaver was born March 27, 1836, and reared. Being the oldest of the family, many of the household duties fell upon her shoulders when she was but a girl, in consequence of which her early educational privileges were exceedingly limited. Soon after his marriage Mr. Weaver bought the home farm, which originally consisted of three hundred and twenty acres of fine land. He has sold portions of the place from time to time, reducing it to its present area of one hundred and seventy acres, which in general improvements and productiveness are not excelled by any like amount of land in the county of Kosciusko. Mr. Weaver brought his place to high state of tillage and early took rank as an enterprising agriculturist. The great measure of success which attended his efforts while actively engaged in farming stands not only in evidence of his industry and thrift, but also of his assiduous application and singleness of purpose. He continued actively engaged in husbandry until 1895, when, by reason of the comfortable fortune acquired, he wisely concluded to cease his labors and spend the remainder of his days in the enjoyment of the rest and quiet which he had so well earned.
Mr. Weaver is a man of unswerving integrity and his high standing in the community is second to that of no other citizen. In public affairs he has always been an interested observer, his political preferences always finding favor in the Republican party's principles of popular government. He has never been an office seeker, but has ever used his influence to induce his party to place upon the ticket the names of men mentally and morally qualified for the positions to be filled. Well posted upon the leading political issues of the day and believing earnestly in the party with which he has been identified since its organization, he early impressed its principles and doctrines upon the minds of his sons, all of whom are uncompromising Republicans.
Mr. Weaver is an active worker in the Baptist church and for a number of years has held important official positions in the local congregation of which he is a member, being at the present time treasurer, clerk and trustee. He is an enthusiastic Sunday school worker and by closely studying the Holy Scriptures is well prepared to teach successfully the class of which he now has charge. Mrs. Weaver is also a zealous Christian and as a teacher in the Sunday school has done efficient service in the cause of religion, having by her instruction as well as by personal efforts induced many young people to abandon the ways of sin and enter the visible kingdom of the Most High . They are a most worthy old couple, intelligent beyond the average, and their influence has always been powerful for good among their neighbors and many friends. Their Christian characters have always been irreproachable, and the general spirit of religion which pervades their pleasant and hospitable home puts at ease everyone who enters their door. They are held in the most profound respect by all who know them and the amount of good which they have accomplished in this life will never be fully known and appreciated until in the great day when the books are opened and every one receives his reward for the deeds done in the body.
The happy marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver has been blessed with eight children: Mary E., wife of George Bench, of Whitley county, this state; William H., who married Fannie Cole and lives in Washington township, where he is engaged in agricultural pursuits; John A. married twice. his present wife being Jessie Humble, and resides in Washington township; George W., also a farmer of Washington township, married Eveline Gilispie; Joseph M. married Belle Blanchard and lives in the city of Detroit, being an employe of Park, Davis & Company, of that city; Sarah E., the next in order of birth, married Jehu Outkelt, a farmer of Washington township; Jacob E. married Eveline James and lives on her father's farm; Charles F., the youngest of the family, is unmarried and stil1 lives under the parental roof; he is one of the prosperous young farmers of Washington township and also has quite a reputation as a raiser of fine live stock.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
HENRY B. FUNK.
It is a well-known fact, fully recognized by physicians and by all others who have made the subject a study, that a quiet life and steady habits promote longevity. In the cities where the people are falling over each other in their desperate attempts to get rich suddenly, and where they are, of a consequence, on a severe nervous strain all the time, the mortality tables are much higher than in the country. The farmer may, therefore, congratulate himself that though his life may be less eventful it is certainly much longer than is that of his cousin in the city. This important fact should be borne in mind when the young men catch the fever to be clerks in some cheap grocery in a town or village. How much better is the life of the farmer who has won a fine farm from the dense woods, reared a large family of children, made a comfortable home, and finally goes to his reward beloved by all who have the honor of his friendship. Some such a man is the subject of this sketch. He was born in Stark county, Ohio, April 5, 1827, and is the son of Jacob and Catherine (Bosler) Funk. Martin Funk, the grandfather of subject, came across the ocean from Germany many years ago and settled in Pennsylvania, and there the Funk family in America originated. Jacob was reared in the Keystone state, and received in his youth the usual education afforded poor boys in the woods. He learned the business of farming and stock raising and proved more than ordinarily successful in those important branches of labor. He married in Pennsylvania, and soon afterward came to Ohio and settled in Stark county on a farm where Henry, his son, was brought up and educated. When Henry was nineteen years old he began to work out by the month, and corning to the conclusion that it was not well for man to live alone he married Miss Polly Beigh, the daughter of George and Fannie Beigh, one of the most important acts of his life from many standpoints. She was a native of Seneca county, Ohio, and was born July 9, 1831, and was brought to this county in 1837; her father settling in Clay township, or what is now Lake township. There the father entered a tract of land and began to clear off the dense timber and fight the wolves from his sheep and calves. To Mr. and Mrs. Funk four children were born, as follows: Ireal, born in 1850 and died in infancy; Fanny, who became the wife of Jeremiah Windbigler and lives in Marshall county, Indiana; to them were born four children, two sons and two daughters, of whom three are living, as follows: Levi, Mary and Anna; Anna C., born December 28, 1855; Mary Alice, born December 16, 1860, became the wife of Monroe Paulus and resides in Silver Lake, Indiana; of their children, three sons and a daughter, one is deceased, the names of the others being Cloice, Glent and Meeta M. In 1849 the Funk family came to this township and here Mr. Funk bought one hundred and twenty acres of land, all of which was enveloped with a heavy growth of timber. The family was placed in a rude log house and' the task of clearing was begun. At that time the woods were filled with wild animals, and great havoc was created among the live stock, particularly the calves and sheep. Eternal vigilance was the price of safety, and this was kept up until in the course of time the wild animals disappeared. Steadily Mr. Funk added to his land until he now owns one hundred and sixty-five acres one mile north of Silver Lake. In his time he c1eared up a farm of ninety-five acres. He is one of the best citizens of the county, and is respected everywhere for his many good qualities. He is a Republican and takes much interest in the success of his party.
From the deep woods where savage animals and savage Indians lived to this condition of peace and comfort this well-known family has passed, in a generation and a half. At first their nearest trading point was North Manchester and Liberty Mills, but the times are changed now, and these old and respected people are passing away with the old order of things still fresh in their heart. Mr. Funk was, on May 3, 1902, baptized in the German Baptist (Dunkard) church.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
SOLOMON HEETER
Jackson township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, furnished a home for many a pioneer who settled within its boundaries with no capital save the intelligence and physical abilities that were the gifts of his Maker and later attained a competency and a position of influence in the locality in which he chose to reside that, in after years, redounded in an enviable reputation for himself and his descendants; among these old and honored pioneers is Solomon Heeter, who was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, November 22, 1829.
David and Elizabeth (Hay) Heeter, parents of Solomon, were natives of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and from that state they migrated to Ohio about the year 1808, and there, in the interminable forests of Montgomery county, entered a tract of most unpromising land. This David in due course of time, by hard labor and perseverance, such as were usual in the backwoods in those early days, cleared up from the growth of superfluous timber and erected the typical log cabin of the period, in which many a happy hour was passed, notwithstanding the incessant care and labor that were necessary to develop a home that eventually proved to be a source of comfort and satisfactory profit.
After his marriage to Miss Hay, whose parents were natives of Virginia, David Heeter purchased forty acres of land in Montgomery county, Ohio, and deep in the forest, which he partially cleared and here, in a little log cabin, he lived for several years. He then sold it and bought a tract of one hundred acres nearer Dayton city, to which he later added eighty acres, but in 1853 again sold out and came to Indiana, locating in Wabash county, where he bought a farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Chester township, near North Manchester, on which he lived until the opening of the Civil war. Then he bought a small place near East Manchester, where he began the erection of a fine brick dwelling, but died before its completion; his widow, however, occupied the house for eight years.
To the marriage of David and Elizabeth (Hay) Heeter were born eight children, viz: Solomon. Jonathan, Silas, Samuel, Abner, Barnet, Franklin Marion and Harriet, of whom five are still living.
Solomon Heeter was reared on his father’s farm and faithfully aided in its cultivation until he was twenty-five years old, and then worked at chopping corn-wood at twenty-five cents per cord and at splitting rails at twenty-five cents per hundred. March 31, 1853, Mr. Heeter was united in marriage with Miss Catherine A. Mause, who was born in Maryland, November 26, 1829, of German parentage. From Maryland the Mause family removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, where Catherine A. became acquainted with Mr. Heeter. In 1855 Solomon Heeter and his young wife came to Indiana, and in Wabash county Mr. Heeter purchased a farm of eighty acres, to which he added another eighty-acre tract, and there made his home until 1887, when he brought his family to Jackson township, Kosciusko county, where he purchased eighty acres near the place on which he now lives. He has prospered and now owns four hundred and forty acres in Kosciusko and Wabash counties. He is an excellent manager and has realized a competence through raising grain in large quantities and in breeding live stock.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon Heeter has been blessed with six children, viz: Silas W., born March 8, 1855, married Miss Maria Swanks and lives in Wabash county; John F., born September 14, 1856, married Eliza Yant, and also lives in Wabash county; Warren E., born August 18. 1858, married Mary Pauling, now deceased, and lives in the state of Washington; Hiram I., born July 9, 1860, married Prude Kitterman and lives in Wabash county; David E., born October 15, 1863, died July 19, 1865; and Charles Webster, born April 15, 1867, married Carrie Knoop, and is also a resident of Wabash county, Indiana.
Mr. Heeter is a Democrat in his political proclivities, but has never been strongly partisan nor has he ever put himself forward as an office seeker. He is, however, a public-spirited citizen and a whole-souled man, ever ready to help forward any work designed for the public good. He has done much toward bringing Jackson to the front among the sisterhood of townships of Kosciusko county, and is recognized by all as one of its most useful citizens and is consequently greatly honored and respected. Fraternally he is a member of the Knights of Honor at North Manchester.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
JAMES H. ANGLIN.
A many-times millionaire of this country recently said: "Money does not make a man happy. I would give up all the wealth I have rather than be denied the pleasure that comes from the study of literature and art. If Shakespeare and Wagner, the mountain peaks of literature and music, were taken out of my life, life would be poor indeed. Millionaires who live mostly for making money have a sorry time of it." When this statement is carefully studied it is found to mean that money of itself does not make a man happy. Or in other wards, put a man in comfortable circumstances, beyond want, and then money as such loses its value as a producer of happiness. But it must be acknowledged that what is meant by comfortable circumstances includes enough time for recreation, enough books for instruction and culture, and enough liberty to travel everywhere. When the individual has reached this condition he is prepared to enjoy life and needs no money. But a great many people have reached various stages of this condition and in that proportion are happy. Most people imagine their troubles. It is now well known that the state of the mind has everything to do with the state of the temper. When one can reduce existence to the happy state of the subject of this sketch he is prepared to enjoy a considerable degree of happiness. It requires a philosophic mind to be able to do this, but in a large measure this state has been reached by the subject. He is yet a young man, his birth having occurred in Prairie township, Kosciusko county, September 15, 1872. He is the child of Samuel D. and Axie S. (Boggs) Anglin. The Anglin family are of Scotch-Irish descent and in this country hail from the Old Dominion, where their ancestors settled many years ago. The grandfather of subject, James Anglin, in company with his two brothers, David and Isaac, and one sister, came to Indiana in the decade of the thirties and settled in the northern part of Kosciusko county, where they entered land from the government. James Anglin was twice married, first to Miss Hall, who bore him these children: David, Harvey, Wesley, Mary, Fletcher and Samuel D. His first wife having died, he married Mrs. Scott, whose maiden name was Nogle, and by her had the following children: Ella, Ida, Tillie and McClellan.
Samuel D. Anglin was reared on a farm and attended the common schools of the neighborhood during the winters. He was an apt student and learning came to him almost by intuition. At an early age he mastered the common-school branches and then easi1y passed the examination required of teachers and began to teach. He was a natural instructor and took a broad view of education and the pleasure it brought to the recipient, and from the start made an unusual success of it. So great, indeed, was his success that he found it to his advantage to continue, which he did for twenty-nine years. During this period he not only kept up his private studies, but also attended a commercial school at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It would be difficult to describe how far Mr. Anglin became absorbed in his studies, but he certainly took a great deal of satisfaction from his books. His marriage occurred in 1866, his wife being a daughter of Hamilton and Martha Boggs. To their marriage four children were born, as follows: Etta E., born in 1870, became the wife of Andrew E. Sarber and now resides in Seward township; James H., subject; T. Wayne, born in 1874, who finished his education at the North Manchester school one year, and at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, taught four years in the common schools and then began the study of law at Indianapolis and was duly admitted to the bar, graduating in the spring of 1899. He is now practicing his profession at Warsaw. In 1901 he was appointed a county officer; Rolla, born in 1876, who finished his education at the high school of Warsaw and is now with his father on the farm, married Miss Pearl Huffer.
James H. Anglin, the subject, was reared mainly on his father's farm, and learned all that the common schools could teach him at an early age. He finished by attending two years at college. This greatly broadened his mind and made a philosopher of him, meaning by the term philosophy sound common sense and a keen insight into the motives of men. All this was valuable, because Mr. Anglin was not a mil1ionaire and must get happiness out of existence in some manner. So he went to work in earnest, but maintained his buoyancy of disposition, a very valuable possession. He has now a good start in this world's goods, both in property and in a clear conscience. His marriage did much to brighten his existence, as it always should the existence of any man. He was happily married to Miss Myrtle Sprott on October 12, 1893. She was born in 1872, the daughter of John and Mary (Mort) Sprott, and possesses many graces and womanly accomplishments. She is a graduate of the high school at Warsaw, and spent one year at the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. She began to teach in 1890 and, with the exception of two years, has taught ever since. She is now teaching in the primary department of the schools of Silver Lake, her specialty being in the lower grades. Mr. and Mrs. Anglin came to Silver Lake in 1897, where Mr. Anglin first engaged in the hotel business, continuing for two years. He then served as justice of the peace for two years. His hotel was sold in 1899 and he then entered into the hard ware business in partnership with C. L. Leonard and is thus engaged at present, having built up a large trade. He is a Democrat, is secretary of the school board, and his genial and intellectual qualities make him a charming companion and a trusted friend. His wife is a member of the Christian church of Warsaw, and is a teacher in the Sunday school of that organization.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
NICHOLAS G. GRIPE.
The subject of this review has long enjoyed distinctive precedence as one of Jackson township's most enterprising and successful agriculturists and stock-raisers, at the same time enjoying the reputation of one of Kosciusko county's representative men of affairs. He is the son of Samuel and Salome (Frantz) Gripe, both early settlers of the county, and dates his birth from the 13th day of June, 1852. When he was about two years old his parents moved to the township of Jackson and here Nicholas C. Gripe grew to manhood amid the peaceful scenes of rural life, assisting his father on the farm and as opportunities afforded attending the district schools, in which he obtained a fair knowledge of the branches constituting the prescribed course. On attaining his majority he engaged with a neighbor as a farm hand and after continuing as such for one year leased a piece of woodland and set to work to clear the same. With strong arm, backed by a determined purpose he addressed himself to this undertaking and in due time cleared from the green and fitted for cultivation fifty acres, cutting from the same about two thousand cords of wood, which he sold at a good profit. He continued to deal in wood and cultivate the land he developed for about five years, when he bought forty acres where his father now lives, on which he erected a good residence and barn and otherwise improved the place, making it one of the best farms of its area in the township. Subsequently he traded this for the same number of acres of the old homestead, to which he has made additions from time to time until he is the possessor of two hundred and forty acres in one body, conservatively estimated to be worth sixty-five dollars per acre.
Mr. Gripe has met with success as a farmer such as few attain and he stands today in the front ranks of Jackson township's most enterprising agriculturists, also ranking with the leading stock raisers in this section of the state. In the management of his affairs he displays rare business tact and as a financier he has no superiors among the farmers of Kosciusko county. Keeping fully abreast the times in all matters pertaining to husbandry, he has spared neither time nor expense in bringing his place to the high state of cultivation for which it is noted, also being liberal in his expenditures in the way of beautifying his home and making it attractive. His dwelling is commodious and comfortable in all of its appointments and his large stock barn, erected some years ago, is one of the most complete structures of its kind in the county, also one of the most valuable. He has since bui1t another barn and addition thereto. As a breeder and raiser of fine live stock Mr. Gripe enjoys much more than local reputation, being widely and favorably known among men similarly engaged in Kosciusko and other counties of northern and central Indiana. He makes a specia1ty of cattle and horses, owning at the present time a large number of very fine animals, representing a capital of many thousands of dollars. Blessed with strong bodily power and richly endowed with that most to be deserved of all capital, good common sense, he finds little difficulty in managing his large interests and seldom fails to make everything to which he turns his hand inure largely to his benefit. Progress has been his motto from the beginning and his career throughout presents a succession of advancements which have won for him the high standing he today enjoys as an active, enterprising man in worldly affairs.
Mr. Gripe's character is endowed with many noble qualities that contribute so much to his eminent usefulness and the esteem in which he is held by his fellow citizens of Jackson and neighboring townships. His kindliness of heart, his unvaried cheerful disposition, his wisdom as a counsellor and adviser among his neighbors and friends and his modest unassuming manner in every relation of life, are among the most distinguished characteristics which have attracted to him the many ,warm friends whom he prizes so highly and whose warm personal regard he will always retain.
Mr. Gripe is a valued member of the German Baptist church and, has contributed materially to the success of that large and respected communion in Kosciusko county. Earnest in his piety and ever ready to extend a helping hand to a needy brother or any other worthy person, he makes no ostentations display of his religion, performing his charitable deeds according to the scriptural injunction, and his daily actions exemplify the simple doctrine which he indorses.
Mr.. Gripe's married life began in the year 1875, at which time Miss Florence Matson became his wife. Mrs. Gripe's parents moved from Ohio to Whitley county; Indiana, in an early day and bore an active part in the development of that part of the state, settling in the woods and bearing their full share of the trials and hardships incident to the pioneer period, Mr. and Mrs. Gripe have been blessed with three children, the eldest of whom, Elmer, was born in July, 1876; he was educated in the common schools and at the present time lives under the parental roof and assists in running the home farm. Clyde, who was born in the year 1880, is still a member of the home circle, as is also the youngest, Arley, whose birth occurred in April, 1882.
Like her husband, Mrs. Gripe is an earnest church worker and her influence has been potent in shaping for good the lives of the children given her. As a whole, the family is an intelligent and harmonious one, highly esteemed in the community and noted for the enterprise and thrift with which each member is endowed.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
SAMUEL LEIGHTY.
But few men in Kosciusko county, Indiana, have witnessed the phenomenal changes that have taken place within the territorial limits of this county within the past sixty-six years and still live to narrate their experience from the early pioneer days up to the present hour of an advanced civilization, as does Samuel Leighty, the venerable subject of this biographical mention, and now a highly respected retired farmer, having his residence in Warsaw.
Samuel Leighty was born in a log cabin on a farm in Knox county, Ohio, August 2, 1825, and when eleven years of age was brought to Kosciusko county, Indiana, by his parents, John and Catherine (Baker) Leighty, natives, of Pennsylvania - the father from Lancaster county - but who were married in Knox county, Ohio. For six years after the birth of their son, Samuel, these parents continued to reside in Knox county and then removed to Wayne county, Ohio, where they lived five years in a new house. In the month of August, 1836, they came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and located about four miles southwest of Warsaw, where John Leighty entered forty acres of wild land, now belonging to the estate of Charles Thomas. John Leighty cleared up three acres of this land and put up a cabin, but sold out the place to John Ford and bought a state land claim of one hundred and sixty acres. Congress had passed an enactment that owners of such claims, who were actual settlers, should have the right of occupancy far five years and then pay for the land at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, "'without interest or taxation, provided a habitation of same kind had been erected. Mr. Leighty therefore put up a small log cabin, and in April, 1837, placed his family therein; having camp lied with the requirements of the law he five years later received his deed from the government. In the meanwhile Mr. Leighty did a great deal of work for others, by which he made a livelihood.
At the end of five years John Reed, of Michigan, went to the land office at Delphi to prove up and pay Mr. Leighty's indebtedness to the government and at the same time to enter land for himself on the opposite side of the Tippecanoe river. Two years later Mr. Leighty sold out and removed to Elkhart county, where he purchased a tract of eighty acres on the boundary line, three miles north of Milford, where he lived six months and then came to Warsaw, where he worked at such jobs as he could find to do, barely making a living; but shortly afterward he bought fifty-two acres, a mile and a half north, which tract had been entered from the government in the usual manner by a Mr. Crosby. On this tract Mr. Leighty settled, worked hard, and in due course of time increased his acreage to one hundred and sixty acres, or a quarter-section, it being known as the "Cut-off." This land Mr. Leighty also improved, and lived on until his death in 1845, only nine years after having come to Indiana, he being but forty-seven years of age.
Samuel Leighty at this time was twenty years of age and was the eldest in a family of seven children, his next brother in order of birth being about fourteen. The mother kept the children together, however, and Samuel, in accordance with his father's will, was to pay the debts and rear the children. The creditors allowed him ten years time, but at the end of five years Samuel had liquidated all claims and became owner of the farm, with the exception of what the brothers fell heir to, and this he eventually purchased from them; his mother he kept with him the remainder of her life and most filially cared for her. Samuel married a neighbor girl, Miss Sarah Kimes, and selling his farm, bought another, three miles south of Warsaw, buying up the interests of nine heirs to one hundred and twenty acres. This he increased to one hundred and sixty acres and occupied this farm until about twenty years ago, in the meanwhile improving it with a good dwelling and other buildings. Here he handled a great deal of stock in connection with general farming. Mr. Leighty then retired to Warsaw, where he now lives in well deserved comfort and ease.
In 1878 Mr. Leighty lost his first wife by death, and in 1880 he married Mrs. Clarissa Wheeler, of Clay township. To the first marriage of Mr. Leighty there were born four children, namely: Samuel E., who now owns and lives on the old homestead; George W., also living on a part of the same; Daniel D., farming four miles north of Warsaw, and Susan, now the wife of William Crouse, of Warsaw. To the second marriage no children have been born. Mr. Leighty has also reared his eldest sister's daughter from the age of four years until her marriage to Eli Barrett, a resident of Michigan. Mrs. Leighty bore the maiden name of Lefever, and by marriage with Jacob Wheeler was the mother of three sons and four daughters, viz: Isaac, Sarah J., Alice, Amanda, Eli, Ida M. and William S.
Though born and reared a Democrat, Mr. Leighty has never voted that ticket, having cast his first presidential vote for Zachariah Taylor, and has ever since supported the principles of the Republican party. He has ever refused to accept public office of any kind, although a very popular man and frequently urged to place his name before the public. Religiously Mr. Leighty is a member of the Walnut Creek United Brethren church, has fully and faithfully lived up to its teachings and has on all occasions contributed most freely towards its support. He has risen in life entirely through his own industry and good management and today stands among the most honored of Kosciusko county's pioneers.
Click here for photo.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
