David Sechrist remained in Ohio until 1842, in October of which year he disposed of his interests there and moved to Marshall county, Indiana, where he purchased eighty acres of land. He also bought the same number of acres just across the line in the county of Kosciusko, and in due time cleared and developed a good farm on which himself and wife spent remainder of their days. He made many substantial improvements on his place and became a noted farmer and prominent citizen. Public-spirited and progressive, he took a leading part in the material development of the country and for many years was a local politician of the old Whig school, afterwards transferring his allegiance to the Republican party. He and wife were also zealous church workers and the wholesome influence which they exerted in the community was largely instrumental in elevating the morals of their neighbors and friends and leading many into God's visible kingdom. Eight sons and two daughters were born to David and Catherine Sechrist, namely: Jacob, Laura, Isaiah, Solomon, David, Samuel, George, Mary, Jeremiah and John.
Soloman Sechrist's birth occurred in Stark county, Ohio, October 22, 1833, and he was a lad of nine years old when the family moved to northern Indiana. Like all boys in a new and undeveloped country, he was early put to work an the farm, and the healthful exercise of such active labor induced strong physical vigor, productive of health, strength and long life. At the early age of fifteen he left home and began working far himself as a farm laborer at monthly wages, receiving for his services a mere pittance compared with remuneration such as young men of the present day are paid.
Mr. Sechrist continued to labor by the month until 1853, on April 5th of which year he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Hepler, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, in the year 1835. Mrs. Sechrist's parents were natives of Pennsylvania, but when young migrated to Ohio, thence, in 1838, to, Kosciusko county, Indiana. Her father entered land in Scott township and became one of the most progressive farmers of his community, accumulating land and other property valued at over ten thousand dollars.
Mr. and Mrs. Sechrist began housekeeping on a forty-acre tract of land in Marshall county, which Mr. Sechrist had formerly purchased from the government. They continued to live there until their house and all of its contents were destroyed by fire, a loss which embarrassed them considerably. After this catastrophe Mr. Sechrist sold his place and bought eighty acres in Kosciusko county, in addition to the cultivation of which he also started a general store, which proved a paying enterprise. After making some money he again disposed of his possessions and went to Iowa, a most unfortunate move, as he encountered many discouraging obstacles in that state and failed to make any of his undertakings succeed. After spending the greater part of his money in several unfortunate enterprises Mr. Sechrist, in 1867, returned to Indiana and invested the residue of his means in forty acres of land in Kosciusko county. He did not retain this place very long, but sold it at the first favorable opportunity and purchased the same number of acres in Etna township, on which he has since resided. He now has a beautiful and well improved farm, the greater part under cultivation, and by industry and thrift has recovered from his former reverses and is now well situated as far as material things are concerned.
Mr. Sechrist began life's struggle alone and unaided, and despite his many ups and downs triumphed over adverse circumstances and earned not only a comfortable and attractive home, but also a position of honor in the community such as few attain. His intelligence and practical wisdom long ago attracted the attention of the public and at different times he has been honored with local offices, among which were those of school director, supervisor and justice of the peace. In the last named office he earned an enviable reputation on account of his fair and impartial rulings and the soundness of his judgments, many important cases having been tried in his court. But few appeals were ever taken from his decisions, and as long as he held the office litigants were perfectly satisfied to have their matters adjusted by him, and generally the wisdom of his decisions was upheld.
Politically Mr. Sechrist has always affiliated with the Democratic party. He cast his first presidential ballot for James Buchanan and since that time has seldom missed an election, although he is by no means an active party worker. He is a charter member of Bremen Lodge, I. O. O. F., and with his wife belongs to the Christian church. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Sechrist consists of five sons and three daughters, whose names are as follows: Isaac, George, Flo, Martha, Mary, David, Catherine, Ella, Elmer, Frank and Samantha, of whom Elmer and Frank are twins.
As a man and citizen Mr. Sechrist is highly esteemed in his township and few occupy as conspicuous a place in the confidence of the public. He is a man of the people and a representative of the best type of American citizenship. He refuses to be cast down by any adverse circumstance and, taking an optimistic view of life, has made his presence felt for good wherever his lot has been cast. He has always been interested in every enterprise for the general welfare of the community and liberally supports every movement calculated to benefit his fellow men along the line of moral reform. Courteous and kind to all, broad-minded in his views of men and affairs, and firm in his convictions, it is a compliment worthily bestowed to speak of Solomon Sechrist as an honorable and upright Christian gentleman.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
WILLIAM H. BUTTERBAUGH.
This well-known live-stock breeder and farmer is a native of Lake township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, is a son of John and Sarah (Montel) Butterbaugh, formerly of Ohio, and was born April 18, 1851. His paternal great-grandfather was a native of Germany, was the first of his family to come to America, and• on reaching this country located in Pennsylvania, whence, some years later, he removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his life in the honorable pursuit of agricu1ture. He left a family of four children, namely: George A., Susan, Samuel and John. John Butterbaugh was reared on his father's farm in Ohio until he had attained a suitable age for entering upon an apprenticeship at blacksmithing, in the meantime securing a good common-school education. About 1842 he came to Indiana and entered one hundred and sixty acres of wooded land in Kosciusko county and forty acres in Wabash county, and on the Kosciusko end of his place erected a dwelling, and eventually cleared up a large part of his land and developed a fine farm.
The Montel family came to Lake township on the 18th of April, 1844. The head of the family, John Montel, had a son and a daughter. The latter, named Sarah, became the wife of John Butterbaugh, and to this union have been born eight children, all of whom are now deceased, save two, William H. and Mahlon L., the latter of whom is married to Laura Buzzard and resides in Manchester, Indiana.
William H. Butterbaugh was reared on the farm on which he still resides and acquired a very good education in the country schools of the neighborhood. March 6. 1884, he married Miss Viola Dirck, daughter of. Henry and Mary (Lehr) Dirck, and born in Ohio November 18, 1867, her people having come to Kosciusko county, Indiana, in 1869. They settled in Seward township and were among the most respected farming people of this section of the county. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh has been blessed with two children, viz.: Hazel K, born January 8, 1888, and Nellie M., born October 24, 1890. Both of the little girls have received instruction in music and are to be given thorough public-school education. Mrs. Butterbaugh is to her husband a helpmate in the truest sense of the word and by her wise counsel and encouragement has done much to assist in the establishment of their beautiful home.
After marriage Mr. Butterbaugh rented the home place and cultivated it until December, 1888, when he purchased it and engaged in breeding choice live stock, for which he has acquired a splendid reputation. The farm comprises two hundred acres and that part not reserved for grazing is under a fine state of cultivation. The improvements are complete and substantial and all things about the place indicate thrift, industry and general prosperity, the property being now estimated as worth fifteen thousand dollars.
In politics Mr. Butterbaugh is a Republican, and he has several times represented his township in county conventions. Mrs. Butterbaugh is a member of the German Baptist church. Mr. Butterbaugh is very public spirited, is in favor of the best schools and teachers the township can afford to support, and is also an advocate of public improvements generally, to the expenses of which he contributes his full share financially. Mr. and Mrs. Butterbaugh have always been useful members of the community in which they live, and are greatly respected by their numerous personal friends as well as by the public at large.
The following extract in relation to the death of John Butterbaugh will be of undoubted interest to the reader:
John Butterbaugh, whose home was near Rose Hill, near the Wabash county line, died on Wednesday, April 3, 1895, at the remarkable age of ninety years. He was a pioneer of that section, and one of the most highly respected men in his locality. He was universally esteemed by all who knew him. He was a kind and indulgent father, an affectionate husband and a kind friend. The poor and needy were always graciously remembered by this worthy man. His daily life was as an open volume to the people. His transactions in a business sense were of the most pronounced type of honesty. The world is better for the lives of such people. His remains were interred in the Frantz cemetery, Pleasant township, Wabash county.
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Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
WILLIAM H. BOWMAN.
The biographies of enterprising men, especially of good men, are instructive as guides and incentives to others. The examples they furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity strongly illustrate what it is in the power of each to accomplish. Some men belong to no exclusive class in life; apparently insurmountable obstacles have in many instances awakened their dormant faculties and served as a stimulus to carry them to ultimate renown. The instances of success in the face of adverse fate would seem almost to justify the conclusion that self-reliance, with a half chance, can accomplish any reasonable object. The gentleman whose life history is herewith outlined is a man who has lived to good purpose and achieved a much greater degree of success than falls to the lot of the average individual. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way to a respectable position in the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his county and earning a reputation as an enterprising, progressive man of affairs which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.
Isaac Bowman, grandfather of the subject, was a native of England and was a Quaker. He married there and shortly afterward brought his wife to the United States, settling in Stark county, Ohio. After the death of his companion he went back to his native land and married her sister, later returning to Stark county, where he engaged in the pursuit of agriculture. He spent the remainder of his life in that county, reared a family of five children and died a number of years ago, honored, and respected by all who knew him; his children's names are Thomas, Richard, William, Jane and Anne.
The third son, William, was the father of the subject of this sketch. He was reared on the home farm in Stark county and when a young man took up the trade of a millwright, in which he acquired great efficiency. He followed his trade for a number of years in connection with the manufacture of lumber, meeting with good success in both vocations and acquiring at one time a fortune estimated at fifty thousand dollars. Being a liberal man and easily influenced by the importunities of others, he was induced to go security for a number of parties, several whom proved unfaithful to their written obligations, leaving him to pay large sums of money. In this way he lost much of his wealth, but in no wise discouraged, he rallied from the disaster to some extent and subsequently accumulated a comfortable competence. Mr. Bowman erected a saw-mill and afterward a grist-mill at Orville, Wayne county, Ohio, which he operated with success and profit and later built one of the largest flouring-mills in that county, which stood for many years a monument to his ability ,as a mechanic and skillful machinist. In the fall of 1856 he disposed of his interests in Ohio and moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, locating at Etna Green, where he built a saw-mill. This was one of the best mills in this part of the state and during the eighteen succeeding years Mr. Bowman operated it with such success as to greatly retrieve the fortune which he had formerly lost. He was a man of enterprise, fruitful in expedients and rarely failed in any of his undertakings. He became the possessor of a fine property in this county and for years was one of the recognized Republican leaders in his township, having been a prominent local politician, but never an office seeker or aspirant for public distinction. He cast his first vote for Gen. William Henry Harrison and as long as the old Whig party lasted was one of its most earnest supporters. When the Republican party came into existence he at once espoused its principles and has continued an ardent advocate of the same as to the present time.
William Bowman is a sincere Christian and has demonstrated by his works the sincerity of his religious profession. He belongs to what is known as the Christian or Disciple church and while living in Ohio built at his own expense a beautiful house of worship in the town of Orville. He repeated this commendable act at Etna Green. After coming to Kosciusko county, he gave liberally of his means to religious and benevolent enterprises and many poor people have had reason to call down heaven's blessings upon him for his generous help in their times of need. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic brotherhood, having been identified with the order for many years. He has lived a long and useful life and now in his declining years can look back over a career unmarred by anything calculated to cast discredit upon his name, while the future has nothing which he need fear. William Bowman has been twice married, his first wife dying at the age of about fifty-five years. Subsequently he took a second companion who is deceased, after thirteen years of married life. He is the father of eight children by his first wife: Helen, Emily, William H., Charles E., James, Alice, Ida and Eva. He is now eighty-five years of age and a resident of Kosciusko county.
William H. Bowman, whose name serves as the caption of this article, was born in Portage county, Ohio, on the 12th day of August, 1845. He grew up an increasing helpfulness to his parents and spent a number of years in the public schools, acquiring a fair knowledge of the branches constituting the curriculum. That which was much more important than book learning was the real essence of self reliance with which he early became imbued; this, with a course of laborious thought which he has never ceased and a practical acquaintance with business in its varied forms, the ability to make the best of circumstances and to create opportunities where they do not exist, constitute an education of much more worth and farther reaching in its effects than the intellectual training he received while under the direction of instructors in the county schools.
When about fourteen years old, Mr. Bowman began firing in his father's mill and in this and various other capacities was employed when the ominous signs of the great impending struggle between the northern and southern states became apparent. Young Bowman watched with intense interest the trend of events during that exciting period and when the war finally broke out was one of the first young men of his township to tender his services to the country. On the 1st day of June, 1862, at the age of sixteen years, he enlisted in the Fifteenth Indiana Battery and shortly thereafter took part in the action near Harper's Ferry, where he was made a prisoner. After being held by the enemy a little over one day he was paroled, after which he was sent to Chicago where he remained until the following October, when, with a number of others, he was taken to Indianapolis and exchanged.
Mr. Bowman's next military experience was the pursuit of the rebel General Morgan, whom he assisted to capture, after which he proceeded with his command to Tennessee and other states, taking part in some of the most celebrated campaigns of the war and participating in twenty-eight engagements, the one at Nashville being his last battle of note. After forcing the rebel General Hood to retreat to South Columbia the battery to which the subject belonged was transferred to the Twenty-fifth Army Corps, and went via Washington to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where it joined the army under General Sherman. They were here when the welcome news came of the surrender of General Lee, and also, five days later when the sad tidings was received of the assassination of President Lincoln. He served his country faithfully for a period of three years and one month and at the close of the struggle was mustered out at Indianapolis, his discharge bearing date of June 30, 1865. His record as a soldier is without a flaw and his career from the time he entered the army until the cessation of hostilities is replete with duty bravely and gal1antly performed.
Returning home, Mr. Bowman again entered his father's employ and continued with him in the lumber business until the year 1871. Meantime, in 1868, he chose a wife in the person of Miss Mary Makin, whose parents came to this county from Pennsylvania in an early day. Mrs. Bowman died February 14, 1895, and about one year later the subject married Mrs. Hattie Coak, a union blessed with one child, Daisy, who was born on the 9th day of December. 1897.
In the year 1871 Mr. Bowman engaged in agriculture and has since devoted the greater part of his attention to that pursuit. He has one of the best and most highly improved farms in Etna township, consisting of one hundred and seventy acres of fertile land, nearly all under cultivation. His home is a model of neatness and comfort, containing everything calculated to make rural life pleasant and desirable, the dwelling being commodious and wel1 furnished and the other buildings substantial and in first-class repair. He could at any time get seventy-five dollars an acre for his place, but has no desire to sell, being independently situated with a fortune at his command representing over twenty thousand dol1ars.
Mr. Bowman has made considerable money by dealing in live stock, and as a raiser of fine cattle, hogs and horses, has no superior in the county of Kosciusko. The farm is admirably situated for this branch of business, containing fine pasturage and an abundance of water and other accessories calculated to make stock raising both agreeable and profitable. Since 1889 Mr. Bowman has not been active in the work of the firm, being in a situation to let others do the work while he manages the place along with his other interests.
Mr. Bowman is one of the leading men of his township and has always been first and foremast in all enterprises for its improvement and prosperity. Public spirited and wide awake, he is by nature a leader of men and to a large extent a moulder of opinion, especially as concerns the various business enterprises in which he has been engaged. He is a Republican in politics and has done effective service far his party as a member of the county central committee, which position he filled for several years to the satisfaction of all concerned. Fraternally he is a. member of Post No. 169, G. A. R., Wigwam No. 16, I. O. R. M., belonging also to Council No. 1, of the last-named order, Lodge No. 303, I. O. O. F., Encampment No. 158, I. O. O. F., the latter at Bourbon, and he and his wife belong to Lodge No. 50, Rebekahs, auxiliary to the Odd Fellows. He has held a number of prominent official positions in these orders, and has also served as a representative to the grand lodge of Odd Fellows.
Mr. Bowman belongs to nature's aristocracy and is a born nobleman. He has dignified his every station in life with a charm that has constantly added to his personal worth and has discharged the duties of citizenship with the earnestness and loyalty characteristic of the true American. His popularity extends wherever he is known, his probity is recognized by his fellow man and his sterling character both as a citizen and soldier has won him the lasting regard of the people of his township and county.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
WILLIAM E. BAKER.
The respect which should always be accorded the brave sons of the north who left homes and the peaceful pursuits of civil life to give their services, and their lives if need be, to preserve the integrity of the American Union is certainly due the gentleman to a brief review of whose life the following lines are devoted. He proved his love and loyalty to the government on the long and tiresome marches in all kinds of situations, exposed to summer's withering heat and winter's freezing cold, on the lonely picket line a target for the missile of the unseen foe, on the tented field and amid the flame and smoke of battle, where the rattle of the musketry mingled with the terrible concussion of the bursting shell and the deep diapason of the cannon's roar, made up the sublime but awful chorus of death. All honor to the heroes of 1861-5. To them the country is under a debt of gratitude which it cannot pay, and in centuries yet to be posterity will commemorate their chivalry in fitting eulogy and tell their knightly deeds in story and in song. To the once large, but now rapidly diminishing, army that followed "Old Glory" on many bloody fields in the sunny South, crushed the armed hosts of treason and re-established upon a firm and enduring foundation the beloved government of our fathers, the subject of this sketch belonged. Like thousands of comrades equally as brave and patriotic as himself, he did his duty nobly and well and retired from the service with a record unspotted by a single unsoldierly act.
William E. Baker is a representative of one of the sturdy pioneer families of Marshall county, Indiana, but since young manhood has been a resident of the county of Kosciusko. His paternal ancestors were German people and the family was represented in Pennsylvania at a very early period in the history of that commonwealth. William E. Baker, the subject's father, was born in that state, but when a boy accompanied his parents to Portage county, Ohio, where he met and married Miss Nancy Gay, whose people were natives of Massachusetts. They settled in Portage county many years ago, and their descendants are still living in various parts of Ohio, Indiana and other states of the middle west. In 1850 William E. Baker and family moved by wagon to Marshall county, Indiana, and settled on forty acres of woodland at a place known in local annals as "Bloody Corners." A small log cabin was erected and after much hard and consecutive labor the place was cleared and fitted for tillage. Mr. Baker continued to live at the "Corners" until 1859, when he sold the farm and purchased an eighty-acre tract further north, in Etna township, Kosciusko county, all of which was in its natural state of primitive wildness when he took possession. Here he again addressed himself to the laborious task of felling timber and removing stumps, and other hard work required to bring the virgin soil to a state fit for cultivation. Industry and hard toil finally wrought wonders, and in due time the wilderness gave place to well-cultivated fields and a comfortable home occupied thespot where years before stood the rude wigwam of the painted savage. Mr. Baker became a successful farmer and as a man and citizen ranked with the best people of the community in which he lived. He died October 15, 1878, but his good wife, who proved a courageous and uncomplaining helpmate, is still living at a ripe old age. Mr. and Mrs. Baker had three children, William E., of this review, Esther, wife of Samuel Hoffer, of Etna township, and Elmer R., who married Mary Ruby and also resides in the township of Etna.
William E. Baker is a native of Portage county, Ohio, and first saw the light of day on the 8th day of November, 1844. He was seven years of age when the family came to Indiana and when old enough was, put to work in the woods, where he soon became an experienced ax-man. His early educational advantages were supplied in the in different schools which then obtained and there he only attended a couple of months of the winter season. While still a boy in his teens, he developed a strong physique and, being the oldest son, to him fell much of the labor required to clear the farm and look after its cultivation. It was while thus engaged that the country became overshadowed by the rapidly approaching war cloud and it was only his immature age that kept him from responding to the first call for volunteers. On the 4th day of August, 1862, when only seventeen years old, he enlisted in Company F, Seventy-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, into which he was mustered at Indianapolis, after which the regiment proceeded to Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Baker first met the enemies of his country at Perrysville, Kentucky, where a bloody battle was fought in October, 1862.
The next engagement of note was the terrible fight at Chickamauga, after which he participated in a number of battles, including, among others, Chickamauga and the various actions in the vicinity of that city. The Seventy-fourth Indiana was in the Second Brigade, Third Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, that took such a brave and gallant part in the Atlanta campaign, and later marched with Sherman to the sea. Mr. Baker participated in the siege and fall of Atlanta and the several noted battles leading up to the reduction of that Confederate stronghold. In addition to taking part in the great march to the Atlantic, he was present at Savannah when that city surrendered after a sturdy and bloody resistance. From Savannah his command marched through to the Carolinas, met and routed the enemy at Bentonville, the last battle of the Rebellion, and then proceeded to Washington City in time to take part in the grand review at the close of the war.
Returning to Indianapolis, Mr. Baker received his discharge June 9, 1865, and immediately thereafter made his way home, where he was joyfully received by his family and many friends. During his long and active service he was ever ready for duty, passed through the many trying scenes of his military experience uninjured and never spent an hour in the hospital on account of ill-health. Two events in connection with his, military experiences are indelibly impressed upon his memory, the surrender of General Lee's army and the assassination of President Lincoln.
On the 28th of December, 1865, Mr. Baker was united in marriage to Miss Mariah Hoffer, daughter of Andrew and Margaret (Moore) Hoffer, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Kosciusko in the early part of the year in which their daughter became Mrs. Baker. After his marriage Mr. Baker, in partnership with his brother-in-law, bought a tract of land about a half mile south of where he now lives and on that place he and his wife began housekeeping. He lived there until 1876, when he sold his interest in the farm and purchased his present home in Etna township.
Mr. Baker's place was largely woodland when he moved to it, but by industry and thrift he has since removed the forest growth, brought the soil to a high state of cultivation and now has a beautiful home well supplied with the comforts and conveniences of life. He has always been a hard working man and his present possessions have resulted directly from honest toil and good management.
Mr. Baker is a stanch adherent of the Republican party and uncompromising in the advocacy of his opinions. He is an earnest worker and at every election may be found at the polls laboring zealously to promote the interests of the cause by rallying the doubtful and striving by strong logical argument to convince some members of the opposition of the error of his political opinions. Fraternally he is an enthusiastic Odd Fellow, belonging to Lodge No. 268. He holds membership with Etna Green Lodge, in which he has filled all the chairs, and in 1879 he was honored by being chosen a representative to the grand lodge; he has also filled every important official position in the encampment, of which he is a charter member. He served for twelve years as financial secretary of the order in Etna Green and at the present time is a member of its board of trustees.
Mr. Baker is a man of strong convictions, ever ready to maintain the soundness of his opinions on any subject, but is by no means unreasonable in his views, according every man the same rights which he claims for himself. Among his fellow citizens of Etna township he is highly regarded and his life has been singularly free from faults. Brave and daring on the field of battle, he is kind and courteous in the sphere of private citizenship and all who knew him speak in high terms of his many excellent qualities and praise him for his beneficial influence in the community. He is energetic and progressive in all affairs affecting the general good and is destined to be remembered as one of Kosciusko county's gallant and patriotic sons and a citizen in whom the people of Etna township will continue to take a goodly degree of pride.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
CALVIN N. JOHN.
One of the wide-awake and enterprising young farmers of Jackson township, Kosciusko county, Indiana, and a representative of the township's prosperity, is Calvin N. John, who was born in Jackson township, Huntington county, Indiana, November 19, 1858.
David John, grandfather of Calvin N., was a native of Wales, kingdom of Great Britain, and was a comparatively young man when he came to the United States and first located in Pennsylvania; from that state he removed to Ohio and a few years later came to Indiana and lived in Wayne county for a while, thence removing to Huntington county, this state. He was a forkmaker and wagonmaker by trade and his death occurred in Wabash county, this state.
David M. John, son of David above mentioned, was born in Ohio October 20, 1821, and lived on a farm until apprenticed to a wagonmaker. On the 7th of February, 1840, he married Miss Susan Overhulsler (born August 26, 1823), which union has resulted in the birth of eight children, viz.: Oliver, Jacob W., Sarah Ann, Catherine, Lewis A., David, Thomas and Calvin N. Of these children the following facts are noted: Oliver married Sarah Zent and they became the parents of the following children: Edwin is deceased; Jennie became the wife of Rufus Langsden and the mother of four children; Charles married Clara and by her has two children; Ella is the wife of Abraham Landis; Webster is deceased. Jacob W. is an ex-soldier and ex-county treasurer of Huntington county. He has been twice married, first to Amanda Zent and, second, to Rohanna Zent. By his first wife he became the father of four children, named as follows: William married Ella Jackson and they have one child, Russell; Cora, deceased; Frank; Edila married a Mr. Geedy and is the mother of one child, John. Sarah Ann became the wife of Levi Myers and to them were born the following children: Ida, deceased; Calvin, deceased; Daisy, deceased; Jennie became the wife of Alva Henderson and they have two children, Ruth and Russell; Clarence married Rosa Mower, deceased, and they had one child, Doris, also deceased; Mate married Chesley Bone; Frank. Thomas married Alice Swihart and to them were born three children: Edith, deceased; Mabel, the wife of Frank Dunbar; and Lewis. David M. John died on the 26th of March, 1861. Calvin N. John was a small boy when his father died, and his mother was afterward married to Stephen C. Ulrich, who, when the subject was seven years old, brought him to Jackson township, Kosciusko county, this state, and settled on a farm, on which young Calvin was reared until he was eighteen and up to that age attended school. He then worked out at farm labor by the day or month until his marriage, December 1, 1878, to Miss Lettie Ulrich, daughter of Samuel S. and Phoebe (Miller) Ulrich and who had been a schoolmate of Mr. John. This marriage has been blessed by three children, namely: Ethel B., born January 14, 1881, who was graduated from the high school in North Manchester in 1899, and is now teaching in district No.5, Jackson township; Minnie B., born July 6, 1883, is a graduate from the common schools and is now, in her third year in the high school at North Manchester; Albert N., born May 6, 1885, a graduate of the common schools, is also in his third year in the same high school.
Calvin N. John, after his marriage, worked for some time for his father-in-law and then purchased and moved upon an eighty-acre farm, to which he has since added forty acres, which he has improved in all essentials and shown himself to be a capable and wide-awake agriculturist. This farm, on which he has continually resided, with the exception of three years since he located on it, is now considered one of the best of its dimensions in the township. During the interim referred to he had charge of a farm belonging to his father-in-law.
Mr. John is a stalwart Republican and has several times represented his party in its county conventions. He is a member of the Progressive Brethren church, while his wife is a member of the German Baptist church, both of which societies they aid liberally in a financial way, and in the work of which both take an active and effective part. Mr. John believes in guarding against the possibility of future ill fortune or calamity, and carries a twelve-hundred-dol1ar policy in the Union Central Life Insurance Company. He has made hosts of friends in Jackson township and he and family stand very high in the esteem of its social circles as well as in that of the general public.
As a matter of undoubted interest in this connection the biographer here inserts the following data concerning the ancestry of Mrs. John: Richard Gordon, the great-grandfather of Mrs. John, was born in 1774 and died December 19, 1857. He married Miss Anna Garst, who was born August 2, 1785, and to them were born the fol1owing children: James, John, Andrew, all deceased, Letty (the grandmother of Mrs. John, who married a Mr. Minnich, later Lewis Miller, and still later Jesse Myers), Katherine (Mrs. Leffel), Mazy (Mrs. Keplinger), Delilah (Mrs. Barrett), Anna (Mrs. Fogle) , Frederick (married a Miss Fedds), Giles, Sarah (Mrs. Barratt), Mary (Mrs. Donavan), David, Richard, William, George and Liza. The latter died at the age of seventeen years and excepting her all were married.
Letty Gordon (now deceased) married first a Mr. Minnich and after his death she married Lewis Mil1er, and stil1later became the wife of Jesse Myers. She had no children by either Mr. Minnich or Mr. Myers. Lewis Miller was a native of Pike township, Clark county, Ohio, and came to this county September 17, 1847, settling near section 11. To his union with Letty Gordon were born the following children: Andrew (deceased), Rebecca, Giles, Catharine (Mrs. Daniel Mishler, reference to whom is made below), Anna (Mrs. Heckman), Phoebe (who married Samuel S. Ulrich and is the mother of Mrs. John), Mazy (deceased), Mary (deceased), Richard (who married Lavina Redeye), Julian (deceased), Anthony (deceased), Sallie (married Lyman Wilson Robinson and has one child, Albert), Gilford (now deceased, married Lou Robinson and had by her two children, Nora and Everett), Aaron (married a Miss Day). Of these children, Giles Miller married Lucinda Leffel and they had the following children: Jennie (married Henry Hinkle and they have three children, Grace, Georgie and Meoma), George (married Altie Vance and upon her death was again married), Alice, William (married a Miss Butterbaugh), Mary and a twin, the latter dying ; in infancy, Charles and Esther.
The paternal grandfather of Mrs. John was John S. Ulrich, now deceased, who was twice married, first to Esther Swihart, and, second, to Susan (Swihart) Knoop. By his first marriage he was the father of the following children: Samuel S. is mentioned more fu11y below, Mary (married B. K. West and had one son, Willie, now deceased) , Jacob (married Frances Baer and became the father of the following children: Sarah, who married Daniel Eller, Charles, Gilford, John Calvin, who married Lillie Moorhart, Reuben, Susan and Gertrude) , Aaron, Jonathan (married Lydia Wilson and has the following children: Carl, Orville, Lee, deceased, and Fanny, Esther (deceased), and Sarah (deceased). Samuel S., mentioned above, was born September 4, 1833, and died January 21, 1893. On the 31st of May, 1857, he was married to Phoebe Miller, who was born July 17, 1835, and died July 5, 1897. By this union were born two children, Lettie and Albert. Samuel S. Ulrich lived for a year on his father's farm and then, in 1858, bought a tract of eighty acres in section 15, Jackson township. This was all wooded land, there being not even a building site cleared. While clearing this land he was at the same time engaged in teaching school, which occupation he followed as long as his health permitted. He also performed the duties of trustee and later took an active part in the building of school No. 7 and the German Baptist church near his home. Of the latter society he and his wife were faithful and active members from soon after their marriage until their deaths. Of them a friend of long standing once said: "I have known Mr. and Mrs. Ulrich for over forty years and have always found them to be upright, pious and charitable, ever ready to assist the poor and aff1icted.' Subsequently Samuel S. Ulrich bought eighty acres, which he sold to C. N. John, and then bought another eighty-acre tract adjoining his original purchase. This tract is now owned by Lettie Ulrich, John and Albert B. Ulrich, the last-named now a professor in the University of Southern California. By his marriage with Susan (Swihart) Knoop, Mr. Ulrich was the father of the fo1lowing children: Gilford (married Mate E. Blue and they have two children, Virgil and Frank) and Anna (married Olin Harley and they have three children, Arthur, Robert and Herbert). By her former marriage to Mr. Swihart, Mrs. Ulrich was the mother of the following children: Esther (married Ed Holderman and had children, Merl, who married Carrie Lester and has two children, Mary and Lester, Clem, Susie, who married W. H. Howe, Adah, Grace, who married Roscoe E. Little, and Herbert), George (deceased), Allan (deceased), Elizabeth (married Thomas Wantz and has the fo11owing children: Mamie, who married Wylie Phillips and has three children, Charles, Gerald and Nora, Rufus, who married Blanche Winel and has one child, Clarence, Nancy, who married Anson Elliott and has one child, Burson, Charles, Florence, Roy, Hazel, Edmond and Marie).
The first ancestor of the Mishler family of whom the biographer has any record is Jacob Mishler. He married Sarah Smith and a brief record of their children is as follows: (1) Mary Ann, who died in 1899, married John W. Miller and they had the following children: Samuel P. (married Rachel Heckman and had five children, Albert, who married Alice Ulrey, Jacob, who married a Miss Idle, Elliot, Resin, who married a Miss Clover, and Callie, who married a Miss Burwell), Hannah (deceased), Levi (married Anna Ulrich, daughter of Joseph Ulrich, and they have the following children: Joseph, Allie deceased, who was the husband of Rett Fisher, Hiram, who married Susie Ulrey, daughter of Noah Ulrey, Lizzie, Dayton and Melvin), Hiram (married a Miss Rhodes, now deceased, by whom he had a daughter, Florence, the wife of Prof. O'Duddle, and upon her death he married Nancy Wertemberg), Aaron (married Martha Huffman and has two children, Milton and Cora), Mary (married first Aaron Ulrich, by whom she had three children, one deceased, Hiram, who married Densey Nagle, and Joe, and upon the death of her first husband married Isaac Ulrich, the son of John J. Ulrich), Lizzie (married Joseph Ulrich, son of Joseph Ulrich, and they have three children, Ira D., deceased, Altie and Anna), John E. (married Angeline Westenberger), Sarah (deceased), Ira ( married Lizzie Swartz and they have two children, Dorence and Floyd). (2) Lydia died in 1890. (3) Christiana married Jacob Seas and they have the following children: Andrew (deceased), Susan (married Lee Buchanan), John, Joseph, Jacob, Lulie, Hettie (deceased), Allie (deceased) ,Katie (married a Mr. Conway). (4) Daniel married Catherine Miller and they became the parents of the following children: Noah (deceased), Mary Lettie (deceased), Henry (deceased), Phebe Ann (married Lewis Dayman and by him is the mother of the following children: A child that died in infancy, Maud, deceased, Roy, Lettie, Alfred and Earl), Lewis (married Barbara Arnot and they had the following children: Harley, Sarah, Ruth, deceased, and a child deceased in infancy), George (married first Priscilla Parks, by whom he has one child, Amos, and for his second wife married Lizzie Horning), Aaron (married Ella Kyler and his one daughter, Ethel), John (married Sarah Haines and by her has two children, Pearl and Roy, the latter deceased), Liza Jane (deceased), Esta (deceased) and Ira (married Lillie Circle and by her has the following children: May, Lee, Blanche, Merdina, a child that died in infancy, and Clem). (5) John married first Sarah Warner, who died without issue, and he afterward married Nancy Priser, by whom he became the father of the following children: Mary (married Harvey Serber and has one child, Martha), Daniel (married Jennie Cannel and they have two children, Lloyd and Trude), David (married Sue Martin), Lydia (married Albert Walters), Henry (married a Miss Smith, by whom he became the father of five children), Anna (married Jacob Karns and they have children), Jacob (married Piney Nichols and they had one child, now deceased). (6) Jacob married Margaret (Peggy) Warner. (7) Adam married for his first wife Catharine Cripe, the daughter of Jacob Cripe, and by her had the following children: Mary (deceased), one that died unnamed, Flora (married David Shive1y), Emma (married Christ Miller). After the death of his first wife Adam Mishler married Catharine Ulrich. (8) Solomon and (9) Betsey are deceased.
The descendants of Aaron and Anna Heckman are as follows: (1) Ann Maria married Benjamin B. Stead, now deceased, and they became the parents of the following children: Clarence, Colvin, Arthur, Annie and Lettie. (2) David Lewis married Mary ----, and they became the parents of the fol1owing children: Emma (married Edward Brubaker and by him had two children, Otis and Roy), Carrie, Ollie and Pear1. (3) Mary Etta married Thomas C. Lucas and they had the following children: Effie, Hope, Nora and Orville. (4) George married Annie ---- (5) Rebecca F. became the wife of Henry D. Heistand and they are the parents of these children: Melvin Harvey (married Doris Heistand), Albert Roy, Carl Ritt and Frank Mayo. (6) Richard V. married Sarah J. ----. and they became the parents of the following children: Stella Maud (married Abe Nichols), Claudius May and Guy Roscoe. (7) Charles A. married Mary ---- and they have one child, Alma Pink. (8) Simon P. married Elvie ---- and they have two children, Ima and Pau1. (9) Laura M. became the wife of Charles Stead and the mother of one child, Naoma Fern.
As a matter of undoubted interest the following extract from the Los Angeles (California) Herald, of October 15, 1901, is here appended. It had reference to the election of Albert B. Ulrich to the chair of biology in the University of Southern California:
The man who was elected to the chair of biology is not altogether unknown in this city, as he came here early in the summer and soon identified himself with the intellectual life of the city. He is or middle age and is a man of great force of character and an earnest student. He has been identified with the University of Indiana for many years, in one department and another, and has been a member of the Academy of Sciences of Indiana since 1892, where he was brought in contact with the great biologists of the central states, among whom were identified at that time such men as David Starr Jordan, then president of the University of Indiana; Dr. Coulter, author of a series of botanies; O. P. Jenkins, now physiologist at Stanford University, and many others. He has issued eleven publications, which have appeared in the academy proceedings and elsewhere. Chief among these is a study of South American fishes of much value to biologists in that it is a great condensation over any publication yet issued. In gathering the data for this booklet, Professor Ulrich discovered and named several new varieties of one species of fish.
Professor Ulrich has studied widely. After graduating from the Indiana State Normal School, he entered the University of Indiana, where he received the degree of bachelor of arts. The marine biological laboratory at Woods Holl, Massachusetts, then claimed his time for a period of study, and on his return to Indiana he entered the State University as instructor in zoology, where he remained two years. He then took up the study of medicine, completing two courses at the Rush Medical College, also completing a course at the Northern Illinois College of Ophthalmology.
Four months' study abroad, where he spent some time at the Pasteur Institute at Paris, studying the laboratory methods, visiting the zoological station at Naples, the largest and most important institution of the kind in the world, and spending a time at the universities of Berlin, Heidelberg, Zurich and Oxford gave him an insight into the laboratory methods of the old world and the spirit of European methods as they differ from those of America.
For seven years Professor Ulrich was professor of biology at Manchester College, in Indiana, giving four years to zoology and three to botany and bacteriology. At other times he has been professor of biology in the Warsaw Summer School, Indiana, instructor of zoology in the biological station of the University of Indiana, located at Lake Wawasee, and instructor of embryology in the biological station of the University of Indiana. The field of research has been wide, and what Professor Ulrich has garnered has fitted him especially to the new position, and the trustees feel that they have made a wise choice in their latest addition to the faculty.
Progressive Men and Women of Kosciusko County, Indiana
B. F. Bowen, Publisher
Logansport, Indiana
1902
