George w. Rickel was born in Wayne county, Ohio, February 16, 1838, and is the son of Samuel and Sarah (Moyer) Rickel. The Rickel family are of German descent and are natives of Pennsylvania. The father was born in Bedford county, of that state, March 14, 1810. He was reared on a farm and in early manhood chose farming as his life's occupation. He had a fair education in both English and German. Mathias Rickel, the grandfather came from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, to Wayne county, Ohio, when Samuel was a boy of six years. There Samuel grew to years of maturity, and upon reaching manhood married Miss Sarah Moyer. Soon after their marriage, in 1842, they came to Kosciusko county and settled in Franklin township, where the father entered a tract of government land, all of which was covered with heavy timber. Their nearest neighbors were more than a mile away, the woods were filled with wild animals and the Indians were still to be seen here. He built a small log cabin in the woods and into the same moved his family. They began the hard work of clearing off the big trees, and eight years later built a large hewed-log house, which was a palace compared with the first rude structure. In 1864 he built a substantial frame house, and the family was by this time "out of the woods" and out of pioneer times as well. On this farm Samuel and Sarah passed the remainder of their days. Mr. Rickel was a man of steady and industrious habits and his honor was unquestioned. He was a Democrat of the Jackson type, a man of firm convictions, and at one time before Franklin and Seward townships were separated he served as trustee. In fact, he was one of the first to fill that position for either of these townships. He was the first postmaster of Beaver Dam, his appointment being made in 1844 by President Tyler, and he served in that capacity for about seventeen years. To the marriage of Samuel and Sarah the following children were born: William, George W., Eliza Reason, Catherine, John, Mahlon, Sarah A. and Winchester. Of this family three are deceased.

George W. Rickel passed his youth like all boys of that period, going to the subscription schools in the winters and working on the farm and in the forest during the summers. Upon reaching his majority he hired out to Horace Tucker and worked for him four and a half years. January I, 1863, he married Miss, Mary V., daughter of William and Susan Dunlap, a lady of mixed Scotch and Irish descent, who was born April 18, 1846. She was brought from Ohio to Kosciusko county in 1854. Her father bought the farm where George W. Rickel now resides, and became a prominent and useful citizen. He served his township for thirty years as justice of the peace, this fact showing the high esteem in which he was held. He was also Postmaster at Sevastopol and was a strong Democrat. In his family were eleven children. To subject and wife three children were born: Olive A., born September 21, 1865, and became the wife of Edson B. Sarber, the present trustee of Seward township; Lloyd A., born August 12, 1877, married Miss Redie Black and resides in Franklin township, Sarah A., born January 23, 1882, is unmarried and still lives with her father. Out of his wages and otherwise the subject had saved about one thousand dollars, and with it he took an interest in farming with Horace Tucker. In 1865 he bought the land where Sevastopol now stands and moved onto the same. He now owns one hundred and forty acres of excellent land in this township, and is in comfortable circumstances. Besides farming, he makes a specialty of fine horses. In politics he is a Democrat and as such was elected in 1866 trustee of this township, and continued to serve acceptably for a period of fourteen years, later serving another term of two years. He built the first brick schoolhouse in the township, and during his administration bui1t seven schoolhouses in all. He is well known and universally respected and no citizen stands higher in the estimation of the people. Mr. Rickel has in his possession an old parchment deed, dated September 2, 1839, and signed by President Martin Van Buren.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

ELI TURNBULL.
One of the largest industries of the United States, if not the largest, is that of the lumber business. When the figures are laid before a person it is staggering to see the magnitude of the trade. And the demand is constantly on the increase, because the population is growing and the uses to which wood is put are ever on the increase. What a mine of wealth the farmer would have if he could draw from the supp1ies of timber which he cut down and burned up to get out of the way forty, fifty and sixty years ago. In many instances the timber would he worth more than the land, houses and stock put together. But if the timber could be put back as it was, the crops would be cut off, and so it is better as it is. The settler was compelled to destroy the timber or else the land would yet be a wilderness. The business of the subject of this sketch requires him to use up large quantities of virgin timber. He obtains his supplies from the remnants of the forests which once covered all of this land, but his products are necessities and in strong demand. He was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, June 9, 1849, and is the son of Robert and Mary (Fisher) Turnbull. The father was a native of Ohio and was of Scotch-Irish descent, a race that is noted for its orators and statesman. The Fisher family also hail from the Buckeye state, and are of Germanic descent, a race famous for its sturdy qualities and education. The parents grew up in Ohio, and were there married. To them were born eight children, as follows: Eli, subject; Martha J., who wedded Isaac Davis and lives in Churubusco, Indiana; Margaret, who married John Summers and resides in Churubusco; Sarah F., who married Oscar Layman and is deceased; Annora, who wedded Smith Matthews and resides in Churubusco. Two of the children died in infancy. John was killed by a falling tree when he was about twenty years old. Eli grew up on his father's farm and received in the meantime a fair education at the common schools. He learned the business of farming, but upon reaching his majority he went to Wisconsin, far up in the famous logging regions, and became a cook in one of the large lumber camps of that region. He put in several years in that business, and when he came out he was skilled in the business of cooking and in the lumber business as well. In 1874 he was united in married with Miss Demis Nutting, of Wisconsin, whose parents were natives of New York, and to this union three children were born, as fol1ows: Effa, deceased, and two that died in infancy. His first wife died in 1881, and he later married Miss Sarah F. Reed, of Noble county, Indiana, and this marriage resulted in the birth of the following children: Bertha, born June 24, 1887; George, born June 9, 1890; Retha, born April 28, 1894, and four others that died in early years. After his first marriage he resided in Wisconsin for seven years and was engaged in the lumber business a part of the time. In 1882 he came back to Churubusco and dealt in timber for twelve years. He located in Mentone in April, 1892, and worked for Brown & Son for four years and then went into business for himself. He started a saw-mill and a boat -oar factory, having at that time a capital of two teams and fifteen dollars in cash. By judicious investments and good business methods, he prospered until now he has a large trade and employs on an average twenty-eight men, to whom he pays weekly about two hundred and fifty dollars. He buys and handles large quantities of timber and ships his products to all quarters, his industry being profitable for him and beneficial to the town. Mr. Turnbul1 is a strong Republican and a self-made man in all respects. He is one of the leaders of this community in education, morals and good citizenship generally. His wife is a member of the Baptist church.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

GABRIEL SWIHART.
This venerable agriculturist is one of the oldest of the citizens of Lake township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, but was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, September 13, 1817. His parents, Jacob and Mary (Ault) Swihart were natives of Pennsylvania and of German descent. These parents were both born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and were both brought to Ohio when young, their people settling in the same neighborhood in Montgomery, county. There they grew to maturity among the pioneers and, in due time, were united in marriage, the result being a family of eleven children, namely: Sarah, Diana, Gabriel, Elizabeth, Mary, Jacob, Susanna, Lydia, John, Barbara and Isaac.

Jacob Swihart was a mason by trade, but also carried on farming. He came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, in February, 1839, and entered two hundred and forty acres of land, to which he afterward added another two hundred and forty acres. Gabriel Swihart came to this county with his parents, but in a short time returned to Ohio, where he finished his studies in a common school, and then, a few months later, came back to Indiana and for eleven terms taught school in Kosciusko County.

In January, 1840, M. Swihart once more returned to his native county, and was there married to Leah McDonald, whom he at once brought to Indiana and for some time lived on the farm of his step-mother, which farm he at first rented and afterward purchased. It contains one hundred and sixty acres, and here Mr. Swihart put up a log cabin and afterward bought fifty acres more.

In politics Mr. Swihart was first a Whig, but after the old party was merged, as it were, into the new and vigorous Republican party he affiliated with the latter. His first presidential vote was for William Henry Harrison, the Whig leader of the famous '''log-cabin'' campaign under the shibboleth of "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too," in 1840, the ticket being triumphantly successful in November of that year. Mr. Swihart has himself served as township trustee of Clay (which included Lake) township for one term, and was postmaster at Oneida for ten years. He was township clerk one term and has also served as supervisor.

October 28, 1896, Mrs. Leah (McDonald) Swihart died in the faith of the German Baptist church, of which church Mr. Swihart has been a member for many years. She had home her husband seven children, viz.: Anna, wife of George Beigh, and residing in Seward township; Elizabeth, married to Jacob F. Ullery and living on the old Swihart homestead; Jacob, still single and making his home with his father; Mary, deceased : John, deceased; Joseph and Diana (twins), of whom Joseph has married Miss Alice Rhodes and Diana is deceased.

Gabriel Swihart, now in his eighty-fifth year, is remarkably hale and well preserved as to his physical appearance, and as far as that is concerned would never be taken by a stranger or casual observer, not cognizant of his advanced age, to be over sixty years old. His memory is wonderfully retentive, and his mental faculties, indeed, seem to be in all respects unimpaired. His long life of usefulness and charitable acts has won for him the sincere affection of almost every man, woman and child in Lake township, and of many of those living in townships adjacent. His early industry has resulted in his possession of a neat competence, and while he still enjoys the glow of the golden rays of the sun of life that must eventually set behind the horizon of the inevitable, he shares that enjoyment with no stint in the companionship of the members of his family and his loving friends.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

JACOB ULREY.
The agricultural interests of Jackson township are ably represented by Jacob S. Ulrey, who during the greater part of the time since his birth, on the 28th day of April, 1846, has been a resident and honored citizen of the county of Kosciusko. Paternally he is of German lineage, his great-grandfather coming from the old country in an early day and settling in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where Isaac Ulrey, the subject's grandfather, was born and reared. When a young man Isaac Ulrey migrated to Montgomery county, Ohio, with his wife, Barbara Cripe, whom he married in the Keystone State, and there followed agricultural pursuits unti1 1836, when he came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, settling in the southwestern part of Jackson township. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the section where he located and he continued to reside on the land he purchased from the government until his death, on the 4th day of September, 1859. Among the children of Isaac and Barbara Ulrey was Stephen Ulrey, a youth of seventeen when the family came to the new home in the wilds of Jackson township. He remained with his father until reaching the age of twenty-one, when be entered the marriage relation with Miss Mary Swihart, a sister of Gabriel Swihart, and a member of one of the old and highly esteemed families of this part of the county. The issue of this union were the following children: Barbara, wife of Daniel Butterbaugh: Jacob S., subject of this review: Sarah, wife of S. J. Fisher; Mary A., wife of William Isenbarger; Esther, who married Samuel Climer; Isaac and George, the last two dying when young.

Jacob S. Ulrey first saw the light of day in Clay township, now the township of Lake, and spent his childhood and youth on his father's farm, where he early learned the lessons of thrift and industry which have characterized his subsequent years. By reason of the death of his father, which occurred when the subject was young, he enjoyed but limited educational advantages, being obliged, as soon as old enough, to contribute his share to the maintenance of his mother and the children dependent upon her. Like a dutiful son, he gave up without murmuring any plans he may have previously formed for attending school, and until his twenty-third year farmed the home place and looked carefully after his mother's interests. Short1y after his marriage, in 1868, he and his wife moved to Wabash county, where they made their home for a period of eighteen years, residing during that time on a farm which Mr. Ulrey rented for four years and which subsequently came into his possession by purchase. The time spent in the county of Wabash covered the interim between 1871 and 1889. Mr. Ulrey in the latter year purchased the farm in Jackson township where he now lives, and moved to the same immediately thereafter. In common with the majority of farmers, he has, experienced both good fortune and the opposite, the latter consisting largely of sickness with which certain members of his family have been afflicted.

December 13, 1868, Mr. Ulrey and Miss. Mary C., daughter of Abraham Rowland, were united in the bonds of wedlock. Seven children have resulted from this marriage; the oldest of whom, Rosa, was born August 2, 1869, is now the wife of Jesse Rite, and lives in the town of Manchester; George, the second, was born April 23, 1871, married Mattie Grove and at this time lives in the state of Minnesota; Lizzie, born February 14, 1873, is the wife of Ira Grosnickle, of Manchester; Mattie, who became the wife of Alva Studebaker, was born June 13, 1874; Abraham, an employe of the Wabash railroad, was born on the 17th of July, 1876; Anna, now Mrs. Alva Parrott, was born September I5, 1879, and lives in South Whitley, Whitley county; Stephen, the youngest of the family, was born January 19, 1881, and died on the 4th day of March, 1882. Mrs. Ulrey's parents were natives of Maryland and came to Lake township, Kosciusko county, about the year 1846. She was born one year later and has spent all of her life in the counties of Kosciusko and Wabash.

Mr. Ulrey is a thrifty man, honest and upright in all of his dealings, and is numbered among the most intelligent and progressive farmers of the township of which he is an honored resident. A man of earnest convictions, strong in his purpose to do the right, and ever ready to lend his aid to further an enterprise by which the public may be benefited, he has borne well his part in life and a large circle of friends and acquaintances hold him in warm personal regard. He and his estimable wife are widely and favorably known throughout Kosciusko and Wabash counties and their characters in all that constitute true manhood and womanhood have always been above criticism or reproach. Both are highly esteemed members of the German Baptist church, with which body they became identified in the year 1872 and since that time they have been endeavoring to the best of their abilities to live such lives as the Master shall approve on the great day when all shall render account for the deeds done in the body.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

SAMUEL HOFFER.
The well known gentleman to a review of whose life the following lines are devoted is a native of Ohio, born in Holmes county on the 25th day of August, 1846. The American branch of the Hoffer family had its origin in Pennsylvania, in which state the original ancestors settled many years ago, coming to this country from Germany. For generations they were tillers of the soil and belonged to that large and eminently respectable middle class to which the United States is so largely indebted for its marvelous agricultural and industrial growth. On the maternal sick the subject is of Irish lineage. His mother’s name was Moore and she belonged to a numerous family that became residents of Pennsylvania at a very early date.

Mr. Hoffer's father was reared to agricultural pursuits and always followed farming for a livelihood. His parents moved to Ohio in pioneer times, locating in Holmes county, and he remained in that part of the state until 1865, when he moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and purchased two hundred acres of land in the township of Etna. His place was comparatively new at the time, the only improvements being about ten acres of partly cleared land. Mr. Hoffer was a man of great industry and energy, but did not live long enough to make much improvements, dying the same year of his arrival. He reared a family of two sons and four daughters, viz.: Mariah, Samuel, Lena A., Sarah, John and Anna.

Samuel being the oldest son, to him fell the responsibility of caring for the mother and other children after the father's death. Taking charge of the farm he bent all of his energies in the direction of its improvement, in which work he was assisted by his younger brother, who, though a youth, was strong and active for his years and proved a va1uable helper. By reason of his duties as practical head of the family, the subject was obliged, much to his regret, to forego school privileges, consequently his education is somewhat limited. Later in life he made up for this deficiency by wide reading and close observation, which, with his knowledge of business and contact with the world in various capacities, has made him a very intelligent and broad-minded man. Some years after his father's death his mother was united in marriage to Mr. Samuel B. Gay, who proved to he an exception to the majority of step-fathers in that the children were wel1 cared for and their rights and interests respected. Young Samuel remained at home until his own marriage, which was solemnized in his nineteenth year with Miss Esther Baker, the bride being but sixteen years of age at the time.

Mr.Hoffer and his young wife began life's struggles with little of this world's goods, but blessed with good health and animated by a determined purpose to succeed. They resolutely faced the future and at once commenced laying aside a portion of their earnings with the object in view of ultimately purchasing a home of their own. In due time Mr. Hoffer invested in forty acres of land in Etna township, which he soon converted into a good farm, making improvements at intervals as his means would admit. By industry and good management he succeeded admirably in his undertaking and it was not 1ong until he added another forty-acre tract to his original purchase, the two pieces of land comprising the present area of the farm. As a farmer he has always been energetic and, possessing the happy faculty of always looking upon the bright side, has never become discouraged, and has rarely failed in realizing abundant returns from his labors. In addition to general farming he has done much in the way of stock raising, having long made this branch of the farm yield a large portion of his income. Mr. Huffer believes in improvement and has spared neither labor nor expense in supplying his place with substantial buildings and otherwise beautifying the home and adding to its attractiveness and value. In 1881 he erected a fine barn, thirty by fifty-five feet in area and correspondingly high, and in 1890 replaced the old dwelling with a commodious modern residence. He has surrounded himself with many of the comforts and conveniences of life and is now in independent circumstances with a sufficient competence laid by to make his declining years free from care or anxiety.

Mr. Hoffer occupies a prominent place in the esteem of the people of his community and is universal1y respected for his manly character as well as for his many deeds of kindness as a neighbor, friend and citizen. He has lived to a good and useful purpose and the high position he occupies in the community has been honestly and well merited. As a business man his methods have always been correct and fair dealing has characterized all of his transactions with his fellow man. Personally he possesses those qualities calculated to inspire confidence in others, consequently is popular with all classes and conditions of people, having never lacked for warm friends whenever he has needed them. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party, but has never had the rime nor the inclination to take a very active part in political work. Fraternally he belongs to the order of Maccabees, carrying in the same an ample insurance for his family in case of his death. He has always been a good liver and liberal provider and his aim has been to make comfortable and happy those dependent upon him, as well as to wield an influence for good among all with whom he comes in contact.

Mr. and Mrs. Hoffer have four children: Andrew E., born November 28, 1868, married Eliza Hazen and lives in Etna township; Frank J., born August l8, 1872, married Nellie Bowman and lives on the home farm; Oran A., born April 15, 1874, also lives in the township of Etna and is a married man, his wife being formerly Miss Maggie Sechrist; Florence N., the youngest of the family, is the wife of James Stackhouse, of Scott township; her birth occurred on the 19th of August, 1882.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

HENRY S. K. BARTHOLOMEW.
Henry S. K. Bartholomew, the popular and efficient editor and proprietor of the Warsaw Union, the only Democratic paper published in Kosciusko county, is an Indianian by birth, having first seen the light of day in Middlebury township, Elkhart county. He is of German descent and traces his ancestry back to his great-great-grandfather, John Bartholomew, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who was a Revolutionary soldier. Among the family of John Bartholomew was Moses Bartholomew, the great-grandfather of the subject, who settled in Loudoun county, Virginia, where John Bartholomew, Jr., the grandfather of the subject, was born. The last-named married Miss Rosannah Sager and subsequently removed to Ohio, thence, in later years, to Michigan, where his wife died. He afterwards moved to Iowa, but later came to Goshen, Indiana, where he died in 1864. He was the father of ten children, viz.: Christian, Moses, Lydia A., Amos, Samuel, Rebecca E., Sarah J., John, Abraham S. and Henry S.

Moses Bartholomew, the father of the subject, was born in Union county, Ohio, December 22, 1824, and removed with his parents to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, in 1847. His father was a cooper and Moses learned that trade while a boy, under his father's supervision, engaging in that vocation more or less until 1868. In 1860 he removed to Elkhart county, Indiana, and soon afterwards established himself in business at Goshen. He was married in that county on the 12th day of November, 1861, to Miss Elizabeth Pfeiffer, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, December 27, 1834, and was, a daughter of Jacob and Mary E. (Knapp) Pfeiffer. The latter couple were both natives of Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1833, having been married in the Fatherland some years before coming to this country. Upon arriving in the new world they first settled in Wayne county, Ohio, but in 1843 moved to Elkhart county, Indiana, where they resided until their deaths. They were the parents of ten children, as follows: Jacob, Philopene, Caroline, Frederick, Elizabeth, Henry, Christina, Philip and William (twins) and one daughter that died in infancy unnamed.

After the father of the subject married he first settled in Middlebury township, Elkhart county, this state, where he engaged in farming, but later he moved to Goshen, where he engaged in the cooperage business for about five years. Then he purchased an eighty-acre farm in Jefferson township, that county, onto which he moved and there engaged in farming until his death, which occurred on the 21st of January, 1900. His wife preceded him to the silent world, dying June 29, 1888. Moses Bartholomew was a Democrat in politics, as were his ancestors as far back as known. He was a devout member of the Lutheran church, as was his wife. His ancestors were also Lutherans, some of them having been prominent ministers of that denomination. He was the father of four children besides the subject, briefly mentioned as follows: N. Electa, born September 5, 1867, became the wife of Edward H. Gardner and resides in Elkhart county; Ella May, born December 30, 1869, is the wife of Jesse S. Cripe, and also resides in Elkhart county on the old Bartholomew homestead; they have one child, Agnes Elizabeth, who is the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Moses Bartholomew; Clara V. and Carra V. were twins and were born April 25, 1873; Clara V. is unmarried and resides on the old homestead in Elkhart county, while Carra V. died April 24, 1874.

Henry S. K. Bartholomew is the eldest of the family and was born on the 8th of October, 1862. He was reared in his native county, the first five years of his life being spent in Goshen. Afterward the family removed to the farm heretofore referred to, where the subject received his early training amid the scenes of rural life. He early became acquainted with the principles of industry, and the farm life, which afforded him plenty of work and an abundance of fresh air, gave him strength as he grew to maturity and today he is, both physically and mentally, a splendid representative of Indiana's manhood. He received his rudimental education in the district schools of his neighborhood and in the Middlebury high school, after which he attended the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso and Purdue University at Lafayette, taking a short course in agriculture at the latter institution. When seventeen years of age he began teaching, which occupation he followed through five terms, though not consecutively. Not liking this vocation, he again turned his attention to agriculture, in which he was engaged on the old homestead for twelve years. In August, 1899, he went to South Bend, Indiana, where he became a member of the editorial staff of the South Bend Times. March 7, 1901, he purchased the Warsaw Union, taking charge of the same on the 20th of the same month, and is now sole owner of that paper, which is one of the best newspapers, and the only Democratic one, published in the county, having a circulation of eighteen hundred copies. Mr. Bartholomew was one of the organizers of the first farmers' institute in Elkhart county and was its first president . He was connected with the institution in an official capacity until leaving the county and was also a part of the time employed as an instructor in farmers' institutes throughout the northern portion of the state.

Mr. Bartholomew is a member of the Lutheran church and is a charter member of the Holy Trinity English Lutheran church of South Bend, which he helped to organize. Fraternally he is a member of Middlebury Lodge No. 311, K. P. and is a past chancellor in that lodge, having also represented it in the grand lodge at Indianapolis. For eight years he was a member of Calanthe Division No. 41, U. R. K.P., of Goshen, but upon leaving the latter city took out an honorable discharge. He is a charter member of Warsaw Grange, P. of H., and a member of Kosciusko County Pomona Grange and the Indiana state grange. He was one of the organizers of the Elkhart County Historical Society and served as its secretary for the first four years of its organization, or unti1 he left that county. He is also a member and helped to organize the Kosciusko County Historical Society. He is an uncompromising Democrat in politics and takes an active Interest in the success of his party. He has never been an aspirant for public honors, though his friends have endeavored many times to persuade him to allow his name to be presented for office.

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Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

PHILIP CHIVINGTON.
The gentleman whose name introduces this sketch is a progressive farmer of Etna township and was one of Indiana's patriotic sons who donned the blue and fought the enemies of his country on many of the bloodiest battles of the South and during the troublous period, when secession threatened the disruption of the national union. He was born in Elkhart county, this state, November 28, 1847, the son of John and Harriet (Dickey) Chivington, natives, respectively, of New York and Indiana. The father, who was of Irish descent, settled in the county of Elkhart when a young man, and there met and married Harriet Dickey, who became the mother of five sons and five daughters, viz.: Absalom, Madison, Martha, Sarah, Mary J., Almira, Belinda and Philip, of whom the first two are twins. Some time after the death of the mother of these children John Chivington married Mrs. Elizabeth Seaman, whose maiden name was Dillen.

At the age of twelve years Philip Chivington was deprived by death of that best and most loving of all earthly friends, his mother, after which he became an inmate of an older brother's household. Reared on a farm, he early learned to perform the severest manual labor, and while still a mere lad was employed by different parties in the neighborhood at monthly wages. It was while thus engaged that Fort Sumter was fired upon and the country became alarmed by reason of the rapid approach of civil war. Catching the patriotic spirit with which so many gallant young men of the North became imbued, he went to the town of Elkhart and tendered his services to the government as a volunteer. Failing to pass successfully the required test by reason of his age, being but fifteen at the time, he returned home very much cast down but with a determination to make a second attempt just as soon as a favorable opportunity presented itself. In due time he again presented himself for enlistment, this time with better fortune, for on August 22, 1862, he was accepted and became a member of Company D, One Hundredth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Mustering at Indianapolis, the regiment proceeded to Cairo, Illinois, thence to Memphis, Tennessee, and he first met the enemy at Jackson, in the latter state, where Mr. Chivington experienced his first practical knowledge of warfare. The campaigns and battles in which the One Hundredth Indiana took part constitute an important chapter of the history of the Rebellion. Among the leading battles in which Mr. Chivington participated were the siege and capture of Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, which, with several minor engagements, made up his first two years of active service. After spending the winter of 1863 in Alabama his command, the following spring, entered upon one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war and from that time till the close of the strugg1e the subject saw much active service, being under fire almost constantly for several months in succession. The following, in addition to those already noted, is but a partial list of battles in which he was engaged: Resaca, Georgia, Knoxville, Tennessee, Dalton, New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Negro Jack Creek, Chattahoochee River, Atlanta, Cedar Bluff, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Griswold, Savannah, Branchville, Georgia, Little River, Alabama, Bentonville and Raleigh, North Carolina, besides others of which no note was taken. After the fall of Atlanta and the crushing of the Confederate forces from Georgia to the sea, Mr. Chivington marched through the Carolinas to Raleigh, thence to Washington, D. C., where he had the honor of taking part in the grand review at the close of the war. The corps to which his regiment belonged was commanded by the gallant general and patriot, John A. Logan, and it was his privilege to follow that great chieftain on many of the bloodiest fields for which the Rebellion was noted.

Mr. Chivington was discharged on the 8th day of June, 1865, and immediately thereafter returned to Elkhart county, where for some months he worked at any honorable employment which his hands found to do. In 1867 he came to Kosciusko county and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, which he has since followed with encouraging success, being now one of the substantial farmers and enterprising citizens of the township of Etna. Shortly after becoming a resident of this county he was united in marriage to Miss Louisa J. Felter, a union that resulted in the birth of four children: Mary R. wife of Sol. Thomas, of Scott township; Charles F., who lives in Wisconsin; Halcie W., who married Emma Taylor, deceased; and Josephine, wife of Ed Taylor, a farmer of Etna township. Mrs. Chivington's married life was not of long duration, being terminated by her untimely death in the winter of 1880. Subsequently, March 27, 1890, Mr. Chivington married his present wife, formerly Mrs. William Taylor, but whose maiden name was Sarah Hoffer. By her former husband she had four children, namely: Cora M., Emma S., Samuel E. and Margaret E.

In politics Mr. Chivington has always affiliated with the Republican party and there is no man sounder in the principles and traditions of Republicanism than he. He never fails to cast his ballot and, when necessary, expresses fearlessly the well grounded opinions which he entertains. A close student of political questions and a wide reader of literature bearing upon public affairs, he is a forceful factor in the councils of the party and as a worker has been influential in advancing the interests of the ticket in the locality where he lives. Mr. Chivington is a man of quiet demeanor, absolutely honest and reliable in all of his dealings, and possesses in a marked degree the esteem of the people with whom he associates. For about twenty years he has been an earnest and consistent member of the Christian church, being familiar with its peculiar plea and ready at all times to make any reasonable sacrifice to the end that the Master's kingdom may be promoted and mankind won to the higher life. Fraternally he belongs to Stephen Hamlin Post, G. A. R., of Etna Green, and on account of services gallantly rendered is now the recipient of a liberal pension from the government for the preservation of which he gave much of the strength and vigor of his manhood.

Mr. Chivington is essentially a man of the people, belonging to that large and eminently respectable class that by deeds rather than by words give stability to the community and do so much to promote the material interest of the country. Few men can boast of a military record as replete with toilsome duty faithfully and uncomplainingly performed, while his career in the humble sphere of private citizenship has been such as to recommend him to the favorable consideration of the best people of the township at which he is a resident.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902

B. A. THOMAS.
Success in this life comes to the deserving. It is an axiom demonstrated by all human experience that a man gets out of this life what he puts into it, plus a reasonable interest on the investment. The individual who inherits a large estate and adds nothing to his fortune cannot be called a successful man. He that falls heir to a large fortune and increases its value is successful in proportion to the amount he adds to his possession. But the man who starts in the world unaided and by sheer force of will, controlled by correct principles, forges ahead and at length reaches a position of honor among his fellow citizens achieves success such as representatives of the two former classes can neither understand nor appreciate. To a considerable extent the subject of this sketch is a creditable representative of the class last named, a class which has furnished much of the bone and sinew of the country and added to the stability of our government and its institutions.

B. A. Thomas is a native of Kosciusko county, Indiana, and son of Samuel S. and Eliza (Beckner) Thomas. The subject's paternal grandfather, Samuel Thomas, was born in Wales of English parentage. He married into the Matthews family that moved to North Carolina many years ago; in their veins flowed the blood of a long line of Scotch-Irish ancestors. In an early day Samuel Thomas came to America, and settled in North Carolina, where he became a well-to-do planter. By reason of his undying hatred of the institution of slavery he quit the South about the year 1834 and moved to Union county, Indiana. Subsequently he changed his residence to the county of Elkhart, but purchased land in this county. He reared a family of thirteen children, whose names are as follows: Albert, Ellen, Jane, Matilda, Samuel, Elkanah, Andrew, Benjamin, James, Dovey, Sarah, William and John.

Samuel Thomas, Jr., fifth child of Samuel Thomas referred to above, was reared in Rowan county, North Carolina, and in Union and Elkhart counties, Indiana, and, like his ancestors for several generations before him, became a tiller of the soil. He married, in the county of Elkhart, Eliza Beckner, whose parents came to Indiana in an early day from Ohio and settled not far from where the Thomas family located in Clinton township, Elkhart county. They were of German descent and earned the reputation of industrious, honest and honorable people, characteristics which appear to have been inherited in a marked degree by their descendants. Samuel S. Thomas purchased eighty acres of land in Scott township, Kosciusko county, ham which he developed a good farm. He made many substantial improvements on his place and was known far and wide as a successful farmer and enterprising man, also as a good citizen, who, knowing his duty, discharged the same regardless of fear or favor. His widow is still living, making her home at this time with her son, Solomon Thomas. Samuel S. and Eliza Thomas had a large family, twelve in all, namely: William, Jacob, B. A., Chauncy, Dovey, Francis, Solomon, Eli, Margaret, Albert, Ellen, of whom Margaret and Albert were twins. Of this large family that once surrounded the hearthstone of their parents, five have been called to another life, and the others are today filling stations of usefulness in the world.

The direct subject of this review was born in Scott township, December 9, 1851, and grew to manhood on his father's farm. At intervals during his minority he attended the public schools and at the age of twenty-one turned his attention to carpentry. He soon became a ski1lful workman and followed the trade until his marriage, in 1880, after which he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. Miss Mary C. Phares became his wife on April 29, 1880. She was born in the township of Etna, March 20, 1857, the daughter of Amos and Elizabeth (Minnis) Phares, who came to Kosciusko county about the year 1852 and purchased a farm in section 11, Etna township.

After his marriage Mr. Thomas moved to a small farm of twenty acres in Scott township and began cultivating the land, in addition to which he worked at intervals at his trade, finding plenty of work to do in his neighborhood and elsewhere. His own place not being large enough to farm profitably, he rented ground in the vicinity and in this way was enabled, with his earnings from carpentering, to make substantial progress, accumulating within about twelve years sufficient means to purchase the old Phares homestead, which came into his possession in the fall of 1892. This farm has been his home since that date and under his successful management has been brought to a high state of tillage, besides containing some of the best improvements in the neighborhood. Mr. Thomas is a careful husbandman and cultivates his soil after the most approved methods. He works according to well devised plans, keeps everything on the premises in good condition and the general appearance of his home indicates order and good taste. His buildings are substantial and comfortable, the fences in first-class repair, and the golden harvests which he every year reaps attest the industry with which he prosecutes his labors. In addition to general farming and stock raising Mr. Thomas, since the year 1885, has operated a steam thresher with which he does a large and lucrative business in his own and other communities, the enterprise proving remunerative from the beginning and furnishing no small part of his annual income.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are the parents of two children, the older of whom, Gladys, was born on the 19th day of September, 1882. She was graduated from the common schools in 1901 and is a young lady or good mind and much more than ordinary culture, highly respected in the community, and has before her a promising future. Samuel A., the second, was born March 14, 1887, and died an untimely death on the 9th of March, 1889. Mr. Thomas affiliates with the Democratic party and for eleven years served as assessor of Scott township. He did not finish his last term, resigning the office upon his removal in 1892 to the township of Etna. He is a zealous member of the Odd Fellows brotherhood, belonging to Etna Green Lodge, No. 268, and to the Rebekah degree, to which latter department of the order his wife is also a member. Religiously he acknowledges the authority of no man-made creed and has no use for written articles of faith outside the word of God. He subscribes to the plain simple teachings of the Christian or Disciple church, and for a number of years has served the congregation of which he is a member as deacon and assistant superintendent of the Lord's Day school. He lives a quiet, peaceable life, consecrated to the service of God and to the good of his fellow man, and his words as well as his example have inspired others to noble deeds and greater activities in the work of winning men and women to the higher life. To say that Mr. Thomas is a good man, an upright citizen and a devout Christian is to express a fact of which his neighbors and many friends are fully cognizant. His aim has always been to do the right and it is to such as he that our country is indebted for the stability of its institutions and for the large measure of prosperity which it enjoys.

Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902