DANIEL H. CARPENTER.
In nearly every community are individuals who by innate ability and sheer force of character rise above their fellows and win for themselves conspicuous places in public esteem. Such an one is the well-known gentleman whose name appears above, a man who has been identified with the history of Kosciusko county for over fifty-eight years, during which period his life has been closely interwoven with the material growth and development of his county, while his career as a progressive man of affairs has been synonymous with all that is upright and honorable in citizenship. Many years ago Mr. Carpenter's paternal grandfather came to America from Germany and settled in Vermont where he reared a family and spent the remainder of his life, dying in a very early day. He had four sons and two daughters, one of the former being Harvey Carpenter, who left his native state when a young man and went to New York, where for a number of years he worked at his trade, that of a brickmaker. Subsequently he changed his residence to Huron county, Ohio, where, in addition to manufacture of brick, he carried on farming, meeting with success in both pursuits. He married while in York state and subsequently moved to Huron county, Ohio, where his wife died, after bearing him seven children, namely: Angeline, Albert, Hannah M., Sarah L., Daniel H., Harris and Homer, the last two twins. Of the above children who once gathered around the happy hearthstone of Harvey and Mariah Carpenter, but one is living at the present time, Daniel H., whose name forms the caption of this article. Subsequently Mr. Carpenter married again and, as it proved, fortunately so, as the step-mother was kind and true and looked after the children that came under her care with the same tender and loving solicitude a natural mother would bestow.

In the year 1844 Harvey Carpenter and family came to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and settled on a farm about two miles north of Webster, where they lived a few years, subsequently taking up their abode in the village of North Webster, where Mr. Carpenter engaged in the manufacture of brick. He continued that occupation as long as he was able to perform active labor, after which he lived a retired life until his death in the year 1852. He was a man of considerable local prominence, well read and widely informed, and for many years took an active interest in political affairs as a member of the old Whig party. Subsequently he became a Republican and as such remained until the close of life.

Daniel H. Carpenter was born November 11, 1836, in Huron county, Ohio, and when eight years old was brought by his parents to Kosciusko county, Indiana, within the limits of which he has spent the greater part of his life since that time. After attending the subscription schools of his neighborhood until his sixteenth year, he began working with his father on the latter's brick yard and later turned his attention to carpentry, in which he soon acquired great efficiency and skill. After working a few years for other parties, he bought out one of his employers, from which time forward he took contracts and in a short time became widely and favorably known as a successful builder.

Mr. Carpenter contracted for quite a number of buildings in and around Webster, besides erecting many edifices of different kinds in various parts of the county, numerous barns, dwellings and public buildings, which still stand, attesting his skill as an architect and workman. In the spring of 1859, in company with several other parties, he started on the overland trip to faraway Oregon, driving through with three yoke of oxen and reaching the Pacific coast in the following October. During the journey he met with many striking experiences and not a few adventures which if narrated in detail would make an article of absorbing interest. He remained two years in the far west, traveling over a great part of Oregon, California and several territories and visiting many interesting places along the blue Pacific sea.

Mr. Carpenter returned east via the isthmus of Panama to New York city, thence to Kosciusko county, which he reached in due time. In 1861 he started a wagon shop at Webster. He operated for a limited period alone, subsequently working at the business in connection with undertaking, in both of which his success was very encouraging.

After several years he closed the wagon shop to devote his entire attention to undertaking, which he continued to follow with large financial profits until May, 1901.

Meantime, on the 30th day of March, 1862, .Mr. Carpenter was united in marriage to Miss Catherine C. Austin, daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Austin, who moved to this part of Indiana a number of years ago from the state of Ohio. Immediately after his marriage he rented a small house in North Webster, but two years later purchased the property where he now resides, improving the place in many ways until it became one of the most beautiful and attractive homes in the town. He continued to look after his various business interests until 1865, in March of which year he enlisted in Company G, Fifty-third Indiana Volunteer Infantry, joining the command at Indianapolis and proceeding forthwith to the Carolinas, where the regiment did guard duty principally until the close of the war. Mr. Carpenter served until the cessation of hostilities, receiving his discharge October 4, 1865, after which he returned home and again resumed the peaceful pursuits of civil life. By industry, close application and judicious management of his business affairs he succeeded in accumulating a handsome competency and since the spring of 1901 has been practically retired from active life.

To Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were born five children, namely: Alice C., born December 13, 1868, died December 10, 1897; Hattie J., December 28, 1871, married C. A. Light, a merchant of Wilmot, Indiana, and they have one child Alice Ruth, born February 13, 1900, the only grandchild; Stella A., March 26, 1873, lives at home and keeps house for her father; James A., March 4, 1876, also lives at home, and Norman E., whose birth occurred September 4, 1882, is still a member of the home circle. The mother of these children departed this life on the 15th day of January, 1888. She was a most estimable lady devoted to her home and family and by her sweet disposition and beautiful moral nature won the love and esteem of a large circle of friends. She was a pious Christian, a member of the Methodist church, and her religious faith, which did so much to make life cheerful and bright, sustained and soothed her when she exchanged earth for immortality.

Mr. Carpenter has always been more or less interested in public affairs and his inclinations and reading naturally led him into the domain of politics, although he has never been what is popularly termed a partisan. His father and, indeed, the entire Carpenter family were originally Whigs and later Republicans and on attaining his majority he wielded the elective franchise in support of the latter party. From his twenty-first year until 1876 he voted the Republican ticket, but from that time his political course began to be somewhat independent. Bound by no party ties, he supported the candidates who in his judgment were best fitted for the offices sought, but this did not prevent his nomination by the local Democracy in the spring of 1879 for the office of township trustee. Possessing peculiar qualifications for the position, he developed great strength and, his friends from all parties rallying to his support, he was triumphantly elected, although the township had usually gone Republican by an overwhelming majority. So faithfully and efficiently did Mr. Carpenter discharge his official functions that he was chosen his own successor in 1883, but two years later he failed of election by only four votes. During his first term he did much in the way of general improvements, among which were two fine school houses, and before the expiration of his second term the number of new school buildings had been increased to five. It is general1y conceded, irrespective of party ties, that the township has never been served by an abler or more popular public servant, his official record being without a blemish. In addition to the trusteeship, he also filled the office of constable a number of terms and had he seen fit to permit his name to go before the county convention he doubtless would have been rewarded with more important official stations than those which he ably filled. From 1854 to 1858 Mr. Carpenter carried the mail between Warsaw and Millersburg, a distance of thirty-one miles. He made two trips each week, going one day and returning the following day. Starting at Warsaw he took in on the route Oswego, North Webster, Syracuse, Benton and Millersburg.

Mr. Carpenter was made a Mason in 1865 and has been an active and enthusiastic member of the Mystic Tie ever since, holding several important official positions in the local lodge with which he is identified, serving for a period of twenty years as secretary, thirteen of which were in succession. While subscribing to no religious creed, he is a believer in revealed religion and has always considered the church a great and potential factor for the moral and spiritual uplifting of humanity. He is a liberal contributor to all ecclesiastical organizations and benevolent enterprises, although liberal in his views and tolerant of the opinions of others. As a man Mr. Carpenter is easily the peer of any of his fellow citizens in all that constitute upright living and correct citizenship. He is a close and intelligent observer, has read much, and takes pains to keep himself well informed upon current events. He is quiet in demeanor, a thinker, and a man of deeds rather than words. He is essentially a man of the people, because he has large faith in humanity and is optimistic in all of his views. The high esteem in which he is held by the people of his community is a worthy tribute to a most excellent man and his name has and always will occupy a conspicuous place on the roster of Kosciusko county's progressive and representative citizens.

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


JOHN KLINE.
Conspicuously identified with the business and material interests of North Webster and the township of Tippecanoe is the subject of this sketch and he has won for himself an honorable position in the business world and is a distinctive type of the successful self-made man. Not a pretentious or exalted life has been his, but one that has been true to itself and to which the biographer may revert with feelings of respect and satisfaction. Identified in a prominent way with agriculture and the mercantile business and having attained prestige by successive steps from a modest beginning, it is eminently fitting that a sketch of his life, together with an enumeration of his leading characteristics, be given in this connection, as he is recognized as a man of strong and alert mentality, deeply interested in everything pertaining to the advancement of the community along material lines and today is recognized as one of the progressive and representative men of the county of Kosciusko. Mr. Kline is widely and favorably known in commercial circles. Having started in a lowly capacity, he has forged to the front and, by faithful service and prompt discharge of long duty devolving upon him finally acquired a fortune and became one of the financially strong and reliable men of this part of the state.

The Kline family had its origin in Germany. His father, Henry Kline, was born in that country and when a lad of tender years came to America in company with a brother, Jacob, and settled in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. In his native land he had early been apprenticed to a tailor and after coming to this country worked at the trade in an Ohio town, where he became acquainted with a young lady by the name of Christina Baugher, who worked in the same shop in which he found employment. She was also from the fatherland and came to the United States when quite young. The acquaintance ripened into a tender attachment, which in due time terminated in marriage, soon after which, in the spring of 1847, the young couple migrated to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and settled in the township of Tippecanoe.

Henry Kline came to this county a poor man, but rich in a well defined purpose to make the most of such opportunities as presented themselves. For some time he worked at clearing land for the insignificant sum of thirty cents a day and would frequently work at his trade far into the night when he could find any tailoring to do. He had a vigorous constitution and his capacity for work was the wonder of the neighborhood in which he lived. Shortly after his arrival in Tippecanoe township his wife received a small amount of money which she inherited from a relative in Germany, and this enabled him to purchase fifty-six acres of land a short distance northwest of the town of Webster. Moving to his purchase Mr. Kline addressed himself manfully to the task of clearing and preparing it for cultivation; and while thus engaged he continued of nights to ply the needle, by means of which sufficient money was earned to meet the modest expenses of his family. After clearing a goodly portion of the land he concluded to engage in the mercantile business at Webster, as the location was a favorable one for trade and the opening at that time decidedly auspicious. Accordingly he purchased a general stock and by carefully studying the wants of his customers, as well as by his agreeable manners, soon built up a large trade, which continued to grow in magnitude until he became one of the most successful country merchants in the county. Investing his profits from time to time in land which increased rapidly in value with the growth and development of the country, he soon found himself on the high road to prosperity. He prosecuted his business successfully as long as he was able to manage his affairs and at his death, which occurred in 1886, his wealth was estimated as something over thirty-five thousand dollars.

Mr. Kline was a typical representative of the successful German-American citizen and his influence upon the material and moral development of the community was decided and far-reaching. His liberal contributions to all religious and benevolent enterprises became proverbial, and as a man and citizen none stood higher in public esteem or did more to benefit his town and neighborhood. He was a pillar in the local Evangelical congregation and by far its largest contributor, giving freely his means to support the gospel and looking after the church with a kind and fatherly interest as long as he lived. In politics he was a Democrat, but he never had any inclination to enter actively into political affairs, contenting himself with voting his principles and letting others manage campaigns and hold the offices. Mrs. Kline survived her husband about two years, dying in 1888, respected by everybody in the neighborhood. She was an earnest Christian woman, zealous in church and charitable work, and proved a valuable helpmeet to her husband in his days of adversity and sharing in a modest and becoming manner the prosperity which came to him in later years. Of the twelve children born to Henry and Christina Kline all are deceased but the subject of this sketch, who was the tenth in order of birth.

John Kline, of this review, was born December 3, 1846, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio. When an infant he was brought to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and his earliest recollections are of the country home where, as soon as old enough, he was put to work in the woods and fields. He grew to young manhood strong and vigorous of body and thoroughly familiar with the important lesson of self-reliance. When only ten years old he began taking an active interest in the affairs of the farm, assisting to the extent of his ability,his father, who at that time was in humble circumstances and struggling manfully to get a start in the world. Owing to the large amount of work to be done on the place, young John's education was neglected and he grew to maturity with only a limited knowledge of books. Beyond the ability to read fairly well and write a tolerably legible hand, his training did not go, but later, when he began life for himself, he took down his old arithmetic and by close and careful study, aided occasionally by others, he mastered the ordinary rules and became quite skillful as an accountant. The ease and rapidity with which he could solve intricate problems, especial1y those pertaining to business, led his neighbors to offer many of their affairs to him for correct solution, especially such as calculating interest, making estimates and other matters requiring more than ordinary mathematical skill. He also read with avidity such books and papers as fell into his hands and thus in time became not only practically well educated, but widely informed upon general matters and current events.

In 1867, when a little past twenty-one years of age, Mr. Kline chose a companion in the person of Miss Elizabeth Zintzmaster, a native of Germany, who bore him seven children; the oldest of these was Henry T., who married Alta Willis and resides in North Webster; Frederick married Martha Hunt and resides in Pierceton; William married Margaret Makemson and makes his home in Whitley county, this state; Edwin E., who married Minnie Hunt, is a merchant doing business at Cromwell, Indiana; John J., a miller by trade, lives in North Webster; Mary C., unmarried, is still an inmate of the parental home; and Elizabeth P., the youngest, died when about five months old. Mr. Kline afforded his children advantages of which he was denied in youth, and they are all well educated.

About 1871 Mr. Kline began merchandising in North Webster and, like his father before him, soon won the confidence of the people and obtained a liberal share of patronage. He carried a large and carefully selected stock of general merchandise and for a period of fifteen years did a very lucrative business, becoming in that town one of the leading merchants of the county. Possessing naturally a business mind, he easily adapted himself to circumstances and by careful management and judicious intercourse with the people built up a trade of large proportions. At the expiration of seventeen years of active and successful commercial life he retired with a fortune of fifty thousand dollars, much of which has been invested in real estate in various parts of the county, his lands at the present time numbering nine hundred acres, representing a value of over thirty thousand dollars. He also owns good business property in Webster, besides a beautiful and well-appointed modern home, and is directly interested in enterprises which add very materially to his large income. Mr. Kline has met with success far beyond that which attends the average tradesman and he is cheered by the consciousness that nearly every dollar of his fortune came to him as the legitimate result of close application to business and judicious management. As a financier he has few equals, knowing well how to make investments so as to insure the largest possible returns. While behind the counter he made a careful study of human nature and won his numerous customers by his suave and agreeable manner as well as by fair and honorable dealing. He is popular with all classes of people and by legitimate means has earned the high esteem in which he is today held by the citizens of his town and surrounding country.

On February 17, 1886, Mr. Kline was called upon to part with the wife of his youth, the faithful companion whose willing assistance and patient sacrifices did so much to cheer and encourage him in the days before fortune crowned his efforts. On April 27, 1889, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth A. Lindamood, whose parents, Noah and Lovisa (Foltz) Lindamood, were natives of Virginia. From that state they moved to Ohio, thence, after a six years residence, to Kosciusko county, Indiana, settling on a farm northwest of North Webster. Noah Lindamood became one of the large land owners and wealthy farmers of this section and was the first man to introduce drain tile into the township of Tippecanoe. He was an industrious man, in fact a hustler, and at his death left an estate worth somewhere in the neighborhood of nineteen or twenty thousand dollars. He was one of the leading Republicans of Kosciusko county, a liberal contributor to churches and benevolent organizations, and left a reputation as an earnest Christian which his descendants prize more than they do the ample fortune which he accumulated. He departed this life on the 27th of May, 1889, and eight years later his wife followed him to the silent land. They had a family of five children, namely: Elizabeth A., Mary V., Berlinda C, Ophelia O. and Thomas B., the last two named being deceased. Mrs. Kline was educated in the schools of Pierceton and Ligonier and for a number of years enjoyed the reputation of being one of Kosciusko county's most successful teachers. She taught many terms and became widely and favorably known for her efficiency and skill in handling pupils and her ability to impart instruction.

Mr. Kline is a Democrat in politics and, without being termed a partisan, has taken considerable interest in party affairs. He is a charter member of the Masonic lodge at North Webster and for several years held the office of secretary in the same. His religious belief is in accord with the Evangelical creed, of which church he and wife are leading members and to the success of which they have contributed liberally of their means. They are active in religious and benevolent work and endeavor in their daily walk and conversation to live up to their high ideal of Christianity. They have a comfortable home and ample means to make life pleasant, and plenty of warm friends and agreeable associates. Their lot is indeed a pleasant one and the future has nothing to cause them a single fear. Mr. and Mrs. Kline have made the most of the world and the happiness which they now enjoy is the legitimate result of lives directed and controlled by high moral resolves and correct principles.

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


FRANK MOREHEAD.
This gentleman now figures as one of the enterprising farmers of Tippecanoe township, but in former years, during the troublous period from 1861 to 1866, his record as a brave defender of the national union helped to make up the history of the most sanguinary struggle ever waged between the forces of freedom and treason.

In the peaceful pursuits of civil life he has faithfully done his share in the development of his section of the state and as a native son of Kosciusko county few have done more to advance its resources, materially and otherwise. Such men as he constitute the mainstays of the commonwealth, accordingly it should be the duty of every true lover of his country to encourage the formation of character that builds up and sustains the best interests of the state.

Joseph Morehead, father of the subject of this sketch, was one of the earliest settlers of Kosciusko county. He came here in 1839 from his native state, Virginia, and entered two tracts of land, one consisting of eighty-four and a fourth acres and the other, a little to the south, containing a quarter-section. He erected his cabin on the former tract and began the life of a pioneer, subjected to all the hardships and vicissitudes characteristic of that early period. He remained where he originally settled until his death. The family subsequently changed their residence to the other place heretofore mentioned. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Champion, lived until the year 1897, spending the latter part of her life with her son, the subject of this review. They were the parents of six children, five sons and one daughter, the majority of whom grew to mature years.

Frank Morehead was born on the original homestead in Tippecanoe township, May 24, 1842, and spent his childhood and youthful years in close touch with nature as a farmer's boy. In such schools as were then common throughout northern Indiana he received a limited education, his principal learning being of an intensely practical character received while working in the woods and fields and later by reading such books and papers as he could procure. He proved a valuable assistant on the farm, until the breaking out of the great Rebellion, when he responded to his country's call for volunteers, enlisting September 20, 1861, in Company B, Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered in at Fort Wayne and, proceeding thence to the state capital, was soon sent to the front in Kentucky, the Thirtieth forming part of Buell's command during the campaign following the battle of Shiloh. Mr. Morehead met the enemy on many bloody fields, among the more noted of which may be cited Corinth, Stone River, Chickamauga, and nearly all of the hotly contested engagements of the celebrated Atlanta campaign to Jonesboro, where his period of enlistment expired. After his discharge he returned home, but, the war continuing in all its fury and the government needing the services of every able-bodied man, especially trained soldiers, he felt it his duty to again tender his aid towards crushing the formidable hosts that were putting forth every effort to dismember the Union. Accordingly, after a brief stay, he entered the army the second time as member of Company G, Fifty-third Indiana Volunteers, which was assigned to duty at Alexandria, Virginia, but which did not participate in much active service. Returning to Indianapolis at the close of the war, he was there discharged, after which he came home and once more resumed the pursuit of agriculture in his native county.

Mr. Morehead passed through many dangerous and trying experiences and was twice wounded, the first time in the foot at Stone River, and at Chickamauga, where one of his hands was pierced by a musket ball. These wounds, though exceedingly painful, were by no means serious, neither did they long incapacitate him from active service. His record as a soldier is without spot or blemish, as he was ever ready for duty and was never known to shirk a responsibility or turn his back upon danger in the face of the enemy. On account of wounds received he is now drawing a monthly pension of ten dollars, a sum ridiculously inadequate when his services are compared with those of others who are drawing much larger sums from the government.

Since the war Mr. Morehead has carried on farming in Tippecanoe township and now owns a comfortable and well-stocked place, supplied with many of the conveniences of life. His career as a civilian is equally as honorable as his record on the march, in the trying campaign or on the field of carnage, discharging in full his duty as neighbor and friend and, as nearly as possible, living up to his ideal of citizenship. Through his own exertions and perseverance he has earned a fair competence, besides winning a reputation which places him among the honorable and upright men of his community.

Mr. Morehead was married, March 27, 1887, to Miss Caroline Lesslie, a union blessed with six children, three sons and three daughters; all of the latter are deceased, as is also the mother, who departed this life in 1897. The sons are Joseph F., Everett E. and Lloyd H., the last named married and living at home with his father.

Mr. Morehead is a Republican and as such has rendered his party efficient service by always voting his principles. In religion he is a Methodist, belonging to the North Webster congregation, with which his wife was also identified. In the year 1865 he joined the Masonic fraternity and has been an enthusiastic member ever since, having filled important positions in the lodge to which he belongs. Mr. Morehead has led a quiet life and his integrity has always been unassailable. He is one of the substantial and worthy men of his community, with no ambition for anything but the sphere of a private citizen, and his many are friends bear willing testimony to his amiable qualities and sterling characteristics.

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


ORLANDO F. GERARD.
This wel1-known citizen of North Webster, Kosciusko county, Indiana, is a native son of this county and dates his birth from the 25th day of March, 1859. Isaac Gerard, the subject's father, was born in Ohio, but when a young man of twenty-three came to Kosciusko county and settled in the township of Tippecanoe, where he worked at his trade of carpentering. He was a fine mechanic and nearly all the frame houses on the original plat of Webster were erected by him, besides a number of barns, dwellings and other edifices in various parts of the country. He had not been long in the county until he formed the acquaintance of Miss Louisa Kirkpatrick, daughter of one of the early settlers, and the attachment soon ripened into love, which in due season led to marriage. Isaac and Louisa Gerard began housekeeping in North Webster and continued to live there about two years, when they took up their abode on a farm in Harrison township, where, in addition to working at his trade, Mr. Gerard also carried on the pursuit of agriculture. He purchased the place, consisting of eighty acres, and made it his home until the death of his wife in 1864, at which time he broke up housekeeping and lived among his children. Mr. and Mrs. Gerard had five children: Lawrence R., who married Clara Leslie, is a merchant doing business in Noble county, this state; Orlando F. and Malissa L. are twins, the latter now the widow of O. E. Little, formerly of this county; she lives in the town of North Webster; Marcellus married Rebecca Cook and lives in South Whitley; William E., the youngest, married Lizzie Koontz and at the present time is engaged in the livery business at Pierceton.

The subject of this review was but five years old when deprived of a mother's guidance and solicitude, after which he and his twin sister became inmates of their grandparents' home. Under their hospitable roof he grew to maturity, meanwhile attending the district schools and when not thus engaged assisted with such work as was required on the farm where his youthful years were spent. He remained with his relatives until his marriage, which was solemnized with Miss Lavina Mock, daughter of John Mock, who was one of the early settlers and prominent citizens of the township of Tippecanoe. For one year following their nuptials Mr. and Mrs. Gerard lived on the Mock farm and at the expiration of that period rented a place in Tippecanoe township, on which they resided about the same length of time, then moving to Whitley county. Mr. Gerard farmed m that county one season and then purchased forty acres in Tippecanoe township, to which he moved in 1883 and which he cultivated until 1885, when he abandoned agricultural pursuits and accepted a clerkship with J. F. Bockman, who kept a general store in the town of North Webster. After continuing in the capacity of salesman three years he and J. A. Mock became partners and soon afterwards erected a large brick block in North Webster, which they stocked with a miscellaneous assortment of merchandise and the following six or seven years did a large and lucrative business, during four years of which time the subject was assistant postmaster. Subsequently Mr. Gerard went to Pierceton and worked for one year in the general store of William McNamara, but afterward returned to North Webster, where, after the resignation of Jacob Dullinger as postmaster, he was appointed to fil1 the vacancy and had charge of the office until June 2, 1902, when he resigned, having been regularly appointed in May, 1896, and reappointed in October, 1901, proving himself a most capable and obliging public servant.

Mr. Gerard is a man of splendid business ability and has managed with judgment and skill the various enterprises in which he has been engaged. He has always endeavored to be in sympathy with the best interests of the community in which he lives and his public spirit has prompted him to take a leading part in many movements having for their object the general good. Notwithstanding a rather unpropitious beginning, by assiduous attention to business and probity of life he surmounted many obstacles in the pathway of success and gradually forged to the front until he not only found himself the possessor of a handsome property, but occupying a conspicuous place in the confidence and esteem of the public as well. He has assisted in promoting the prosperity of the thriving town in which he now resides, at the same time aiding greatly in developing the resources, of his township and county, using his means as well as his influence to bring this highly favored section to the notice of investors and home seekers.

Mr. Gerard, although a man of wide information and strong convictions, is not what would be termed a politician, although he has always manifested a lively interest in party affairs, voting the Republican ticket ever since attaining his majority. He joined the Methodist church a number of years ago and ever since becoming a member has been earnest and zealous in religious work. He has been class leader in the congregation worshipping at North Webster, also superintendent of the Sunday school, in both of which capacities his services have been very effective in promoting the cause of religion in the community. His daily life, which is in perfect harmony with the faith he professes, bears eloquent testimony to the genuineness and force of the gospel as a great moral and spiritual agency. As a neighbor and citizen he has long enjoyed an enviable reputation and his career throughout has been successful and remarkably free from criticism, which fact is due largely to his energy of disposition, uniform probity of character and an earnest desire to discharge his every duty as he shall answer to his conscience and his God.

Mr. and Mrs. Gerard have not been blessed with any children of their own, but they have furnished a home for an adopted daughter, Bertha Gerard, who was born in the year 1887. This young lady has been reared and educated under their care and she is the recipient of the same favors and solicitude that would be meted out to a child of their own flesh and blood. Mrs. Gerard is her husband's able and faithful assistant in his religious and moral work for the good of the community.

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


NAT. W. KLINE.
The history of Kosciusko county is not a very old one. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness within the last century and has reached its magnitude of today without other aids than those of industry. The people who redeemed its wilderness fastnesses were strong-armed, hardy sons of the soil who hesitated at no difficulty and for whom hardships had little to appall. The early pioneers, having blazed the path of civilization to this part of the state, finished their labors and passed from the scene, leaving the country to the possession of their descendants and to others who came at a later period and builded on the foundation which they laid so broad and deep. Among the latter class is the prominent farmer and enterprising citizen by whose name this article is introduced, while his arrival was not as early as some, yet he came in the formative period and has done much to develop and advertise to the world the wonderful resources of a county that now occupies a proud position among the most progressive and enlightened sections of Indiana.

Nat. W. Kline was born May 13, 1831, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and is a son of John and Elizabeth Kline, natives of Pennsylvania and New York, respectively. In an early day the ancestors of the Kline family in America came from Germany and settled in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where the subject's father was born and grew to young manhood. With his parents he then went to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, when that part of the state was a new and comparatively undeveloped country and there lived the life of a successful farmer, marrying Elizabeth Musser, whose parents were also among the early pioneers. Subsequently he bought the old Musser homestead, consisting of one hundred and fifty acres, where he reared his family and upon which both he and his wife afterwards died. Eleven children were born to John and Elizabeth Kline, Timothy, Samuel C., John, Philip; Jacob, Michael, Daniel, Nat. W. and three, one son and two daughters, that died in infancy.

Nat. W. Kline was reared to manhood in his native county and state and early decided to follow agriculture for a life work. When a young man he married Miss Henrietta Van Dawson, of Stark county, Ohio, and for one and a half years there after lived on the home place which he cultivates on the shares. At the expiration of that time his wife was called to the other world, and subsequently, March, 1853, he entered into the marriage relation with Miss Catherine Zintsmaster, daughter of John and Philipine (Tice) Zintsmaster, who came to this country from Germany when Mrs. Kline was one year old. These parents settled in Stark county, Ohio, and there the subject's wife grew to maturity and received a good education in the best schools that part of the state afforded.

In the fall of 1854 Mr. Kline moved to Kosciusko county, Indiana, and settled in Turkey Creek township on a piece of land which he received in exchange for his interest in a saw-mill in Fulton county, Ohio. He at that time also owned eighty acres of land in Fulton county, Ohio, forty of which were received by his father as a grant for services as a soldier in the war of 1812 and which he had purchased from his father. Subsequently Mr. Kline traded his land in Ohio for eighty acres adjoining his original eighty in this county, making in all a farm of one hundred and sixty acres and in one body, and in 1864 he purchased eighty acres more adjoining this on the east. His place in Turkey Creek township consisted of two hundred and forty acres, upon which but little improvement worthy of mention had been made prior to his taking possession. In due time, by hard and long continued tail, he cleared and fitted .for cultivation seventy acres and built a fine residence, which was destroyed by fire while he was absent in the army. Some time after his return from the war Mr. Kline sold the place and purchased a fine farm of one hundred and seventy-four acres a short distance south of North Webster, on which he erected a good dwelling and other buildings, making it one of the best cultivated and most valuable farms in that part of the county. Subsequently he bought an additional hundred and forty acres and still later, by trading two hundred and sixty-one acres for eighty acres, he received four thousand dollars in cash, and from the sale of another hundred-and-twenty-acre tract he received eight thousand dollars in money. Meantime Mr. Kline came into possession of land in Missouri and in the spring of 1883 he moved to Jasper county, that state, where he continued to reside until 1900, when he returned to Kosciusko county and purchased the home in North Webster which he now occupies.

Mr. Kline has been a successful farmer and stock raiser, everything prospering to which he turned his hand. By skillful management he acquired a large amount of valuable land in this county and elsewhere. He possesses ability of a high order and the prosperity which has always attended him demonstrates a sound judgment and dear insight into financial matters such as few farmers attain.

When the great Civil war broke out Mr. Kline showed his patriotism and love of country by enlisting in Company B, Thirtieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, mustering at Fort Wayne and proceeding via Louisville to Tennessee, where the regiment joined the command under General Buell in time to take part in the bloody battle of Shiloh. On the 7th day of April, 1862, he received a painful wound on the left leg which disabled him for further active service as soon as sufficiently recovered he was sent to Indiana to recruit for the regiment and while thus engaged secured twenty-two men from North Webster and vicinity and sent them to the front. He did this work while suffering greatly from his injury, being obliged to use crutches at the time and with the aid of these getting about only with much difficulty. By reason of his disability he did not complete his term of enlistment, receiving his discharge at Indianapolis on the 15th day of January, 1863. Mr. Kline proved a brave soldier and his record is replete with duty gallantly performed. He suffered much for his country, having never recovered from his wound, and at the present time he receives from the government a pension of ten dollars per month.

Since the war Mr. Kline has devoted himself closely to his business affairs, with results already indicated. He is now one of the financially strong and reliable men of the county, also one of its most intelligent and enterprising citizens. Deeply interested in the material development of his township, he takes an active part in public affairs and lends his influence to any and all enterprises which promise to promote the general prosperity of the community. He has been a supporter of the Republican party ever since old enough to vote and in his younger days took quite an active part in politics, but of late contents himself with merely exercising the elective franchise. He served four years as justice of the peace and filled the office of township trustee eight terms, during which time he did much in the way of improvements, devoting considerable attention to the highways, bridges, etc., besides building and equipping some of the best schoolhouses in the county. His official record is without a blemish and the public irrespective of political affiliations, bears testimony to the able and impartial manner with which he looked after the people's interests.

Mr. Kline's first marriage was without issue. His present wife has borne him seven children, namely: Alice C., wife of T. E. Mcgranahan, of Joplin, Missouri; John R. married Fannie Gawthrop and lives in the town of North Webster; Nathaniel J., an attorney at law, practicing his profession at North Webster, married Susan Brower; Lincoln H., who was married to Safrona Grindle, is a stone mason living in North Webster; Charles P. lives in the Indian Territory, his wife's maiden name having been Mattie Hopkins; William, who married Mary Galantine, lives in the City of Carthage, Missouri; Franklin L. lives in Missouri; his wife's maiden name was Etta Osborn.

Mrs. Kline is a most estimable and zealous Christian woman. Mr. Kline has never made a public profession of religion, but is a liberal supporter to the cause of religion, also contributing to other ecclesiastical and benevolent organizations, all of which he believes to be potential forces in helping man to a higher plane of living. He is a man of firm convictions and well grounded opinions, a reader and thinker and remarkably well informed upon the great questions and events of the day. His popularity in the community was never more signally demonstrated than upon his return to his old home from Missouri some years ago, the event being marked by many demonstrations of joy and satisfaction on the part of his old friends and neighbors, all of whom welcomed him and his good wife with open army and open hearts. In a pleasant home, surrounded by such agreeable associations, and in possession of ample means to render the remainder of their earthly pilgrimages free from care, this excellent couple are now quietly enjoying the seclusion and rest of private life, esteemed by all who know them and honored for their many fine qualities of head and heart. That they may be spared many years to make glad the community with their presence and bless the world by their words of cheer and kindly deeds is the earnest and heartfelt wish of their friends throughout the county of Kosciusko.

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


WILLIAM WILBUR WORLEY.
The Worley family comes of the sturdy and genial Irish stock which made such worthy pioneers of the new c6untry. The grandparents of W. W. Worley came to the great Northwest in early days and settled in that section which afterwards became Ashland county, Ohio. Their son George was an infant in arms at that time, but grew to manhood, learned the harnessmaker's trade, married and moved on farther west to Silver Lake, Indiana. His wife's maiden name was Sarah Stecher. Four children were born to them, of whom W. W. Worley, the subject, is one. His father lived again in Ohio for a time, but returned in 1885 to Silver Lake and in 1889 settled on the farm at Claypool, where his son William now lives, and has recently retired from activity as a farmer to his present home. For about fifteen years he has served as a local preacher in the United Brethren church, doing evangelistic work, and the last six years he has been in charge of a regular circuit.

William Wilbur Worley was born in Ashland county, Ohio, May 31, 1860. He grew up near Silver Lake, Indiana, and was educated in the public schools of Lake township and the high school at Warsaw. When a child of but four years he suffered a dislocation of the hip bone which left him a cripple for life. After leaving school as a student he taught in the country schools of Lake township for the ensuing four years, then branched out into the railroad business. He learned telegraphy in Silver Lake and worked as supply operator and agent in various towns on what is now the Michigan division of the Big Four railroad for about a year. He then took an agency at Urbana, next at Silver Lake and then accepted the agency at Claypool, in which position he remained for twelve years. During all this time he was especially favored with success and health, which allowed him to be on duty constantly, never losing a month's pay. He was shipping agent also and in reward for his faithful attention to all duties he was held in high esteem by the officials. He resigned this position to accept the office of trustee of Clay township, having been easily elected to that place on the Republican ticket. His term of five years and three months expired in September, 1900. During this time he built the new school house in Claypool, a high school was added and the school graded, making the educational advantages of Claypool second to none in the county, excepting those of Warsaw. In the improvement of roads he erected the first stone arch bridges ever used in the township, and his example is still followed.

He has been active in political work for years and is considered one of the public spirited men of the town. In April, 1889, he invested in his home farm, which, with hired help, he has improved and cultivated, having cleared considerable of the land and laid tile drain. This farm contains one hundred and forty-five acres. He owns a second farm of eighty acres, both being devoted to stock farming. This business has become Mr. Worley's specialty and he takes great pride in raising fine cattle, sheep and hogs. As a member of the firm of Caldwell, Leigh & Worley, he has handled a great deal of stock, buying, selling and shipping. He is also a: member of the firm of Worley, Rhoades & Jamisen, which deals in horses. Their barns are located on a farm and they buy horses for the eastern market, which has proven a profitable business. During 1900 the firm handled seven hundred horses.

Mr. Worley was married, February 20, 1886, to Miss Angynettie Bloom, of Claypool. She was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, November 24, 1864, her parents being John and Nancy (Berkstresser) Bloom, both now deceased. Her father was born in Hollensberg, Germany, April 22, 1820, and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Worley, in February, 1901. He followed the pursuit of farming, and in politics was a Democrat. Mrs. Bloom was born in Yates county, New York, September 18, 1825, and died March 31, 1894. Both were members of the German Lutheran church. Mrs. Worley was educated in the common schools of this county and is a lady of marked intelligence and genuine worth. By her wise counsel and encouragement she has proven a true helpmate to her husband, assisting him nobly in the establishment and beautifying of their home. She is a member of the United Brethren church, with which he is also in sympathy. They have four children, Winnie Winona, Faun Edna, Frankie Foss and George Eleanora. Winnie will graduate in the class of 1902 at Claypool, Faun is a member of the seventh grade, Frankie is a member of the fourth grade and all have taken musical instruction.

Mr. and Mrs. Worley possess one of the most complete and best-selected family libraries in the southern part of the county. Encyclopedias, histories, biographies and works by all the leading authors grace the shelves of their library and prove an important adjunct to the education of their children. Fraternally Mr. Worley belongs to Lodge No. 73. F. & A. M., at Warsaw, and is also a charter member of Tent No. 83, K O. T. M., at Claypool, having held at offices of record keeper, chaplain and sergeant. Mrs. Worley is a charter member of Tent No. 103, L. O. T. M., at Claypool, and has held the positions of chaplain and past commander, being at present inside guard.

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


Deb Murray