MAJ. J.L. Drake was born in Holmes County, Ohio, November 1, 1817; the son of David and Rachel (Sills) Drake, who were natives respectively of Maryland and Virginia, and the parents of eight children. David Drake was twice married, by his
first wife having two children. He came from Maryland to Holmes County, Ohio, in 1814, and died there in 1846. His iwfe died in the fall of 1878. James L. Drake, when seventeen years of age learned the tailor's trade. This he discontinued
at the end of three years, on account of ill-health, and, engaged in farming; also clerked for a time. In 1849, he and twelve other, including three brothers, went to California overland, being one hundred and five days on the trip. They remained
fourteen months. For the first two months our subject mined with the rest, but soon established a trading business, and in three months cleared $8,000. Among other things he clerked in a wholesale store in Sacramento, receiving $500 and board
per month. The winter of 1850 he started home via Panama, and on his arrival in New Orleans was taken down with the small-pox. After his recovery, he returned to his family, and purchased the old homestead in Holmes County, Ohio. Mr.
Drake has been a Democrat, but after the repeal of the Missouri Compromise became a Republican. For this his neighbors made threats to lynch him. He assisted in raising the first three years' company in Ohio, Company H Twenty-third Regiment, of
which he was elected Captain. He also had two brothers and two sons in the war. One brother, Levi, Lieutentant Colonel of the Forty-ninth Ohio Infantry, was killed at Stone River. The other, Commodore, was a Captain in the One Hundred and Ninety-
second Regiment. One son, Levi N., was taken prisoner and starved to death in Andersonville. The other, Francis, was a non-commissioned officer in the Twenty-third Regiment, and is at present a hardware merchant of Rome City. Capt. J.L. Drake participated
in all the engagements of his regiment until the battle of Antietam. Three of his regimental officers became distinguished in the history of the United States, viz.: Ex-President Hayes, Major; Stanley Mathews, Lieutentant Colonel; and William
Rosecrans, Colonel. Capt. Drake was severly wounded by shell in the left arm and side, from the effects of which he was mustered out in October, 1862, and brevetted Major. He was elected Colonel of a Home Gurds regiment, and was appointed Provost
Marshal of the Fourteenth Congressional District, in which capacity he served until the close of the war. He was married, August 7, 1839, to Susan Hayward, of Cattraugus County, N.Y. They have had twelve children - Francis M., David, Sarah, Ellen, Emily,
Mary, Cora, James S., Newton, Fremont, Sherman and Jack. Four are dead, viz.: David, Sarah, Newton and Sherman. The mother died April 23, 1877. Mr. Darke, in October, 1879, married Mrs. Harriet A. (Triplett) Filson. He came to La Grange in September,
1866, where he has since been living retired.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Town of La Grange
FRANCIS D. MERRITT, attorney at law, was born October 17, 1849, in Cass County, Mich., the son of John S. Merritt, whose sketch appears in this work. He removed with his parents to Branch County, Mich., and from there to La Grange County, in 1860. He attended the schools of La Grange, Orland and Coldwater, and, in 1872, entered
Hillsdale College. The latter part of 1873, he read law under James Gallowa, Esq., of Hillsdale, after which he took a thorough course in the Law Department of the University at Ann Arbor, graduating in 1874. Mr. Merritt then went to Kansas and began practicing his profession, but in March, 1875, returned, opened an officed, and
resumed the practice. In 1879, he formed a partnership with James S. Drake. Mr. Merritt is a Republican, and is 1878 was elected President of the Town Board of Trustees. He was married January 3, 1877, to Miss Margie R., daughter of John and Mary (Will) Rice.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Town of La Grange
JOHN S. MERRITT was born in Onondaga County, N.Y., May 6, 1823, and when two years old emigrated with his parents to Toledo, Ohio, where he was reared and educated. Samuel Merritt, deceased, father of John S., was a native of Orange County, N.Y., his parents being among the first settlers of that county. This gentleman was three times
married, his first two wives being cousings of Gov. Clinton, of New York. They each bore him three children, our subject being the youngest by his last wife, Nancy W. Saturly. Samuel Merritt came to Toledo in 1825, where he died. In 1842, John S. Merritt went to Cass County, Mich., and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1847, he married
Miss Mary Bull, and in 1852 removed to Branch County, Mich. Mrs. Merritt died there in March, 1853, leaving one son, Francis D. whose biography accompanies this work. January 1, 1857, Mr. Merritt married his present wife, A.H. Spaulding, daughter of Judge T.J. Spaulding, and in 1860 moved to this county and purchased a farm in Greenfied
Township, where he continued farming until 1866, when he was elected County Sheriff by the Republicans, and moved to La Grange. After his term of Sheriff had expired, he engaged in farming until 1874, when he took part in the organization of the First National Bank, and by the stockholders was elected President. Since that time Mr. Merritt
has been engaged in banking, and after serving three and a half years as President was elected Vice President, a position he still holds. To his union with Miss Spaulding were born three children - Mary, Etta and John.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Town of La Grange
J. FRANK SNYDER, editor La Grange Democrat, is a native of Richland County, Ohio, and was born December 14, 1851. He is a son of David and Leigh (Browneller) Snyder, who were what is known as Pennsylvania Dutch, but of German descent. The father died in
1872, but the mother is yet living, and resides in Kosciusko County, Ind. They were parents of nine children. J.F. Snyder came with his parents to Kosciusko County in 1852, and was there raised on a farm to manhood. He attended the district schools of his
neighborhood and finished his literary education in the high school at Pierceton. From the time he was sixteen years old, he taught school winters, and worked on the farm summers, until 1873, when he entered the employ of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago
Railroad in the capacities of station agent and telegraph operator. In 1876, he connected himself with the Columbia City Post as local editor and general assistant. After nine months, he severed his connection with that periodical, and in April, 1877,
established the Princeton Free Press. In September, 1878, he started the Adams County Union, at Decatur, and in November, 1879, he moved to La Grange and established the La Grange Democrat. Mr. Snyder was married in Septembe, 1877,to Gertrude
Hoover, and he and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. Snyder is a Democrat, and a member of the I.O.O.F. of La Grange.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Town of La Grange
EDWARD B. SPEED, M.D. (deceased), was a son of Henry Speed, and was born at Troy, N.Y., September 7, 1825. He learned the carpenter's trade while a young man, and afterward taught school to pay his way through medical college at Geneva, N.Y., from which he graduated,
and then practiced in his native State eighteen months. The fall of 1856, he was united in marriage with Esther M. Cornell, and the next spring came to this town, where he soon obtained a large and lucretive practice. Dr. Speed, in 1864, was commissioned Assistant
Surgeon of the Forty-fourth Indiana Vounteer Infantry. Soom after his arrival at the front, he was taken ill with a complication of disorders, which resulted in his death. He was an honored and respected citizen, a member of the M.E. Church and the I.O.O.F. and a
Republican in politics. Mrs. Speed, the widow, was born Januray 3, 1832, and to her marriage with Dr. Speed were born two children - Alice I. and Emma E. Under Gen. Grant's administration in 1869, Mrs. Speed was appointed Postmistress of La Grange, a position which
she has since retained with satisfaction, assisted by her brother, C.G. Cornell, as Deputy.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Town of La Grange
WILLIAM FISH, one of the oldest pioneers of La Grange County, was born in Madison County, N.Y., January 13, 1810, one of eight children born to Ebenezer and Hannah (Goodrich) Fish, natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively. Ebenezer Fish served in the war of 1812 and was in the battle at Fort Erie, Canada. In 1830,
he came to this county and settled on eight acres of land on Pretty Prairie, in Greensfield Township. In 1844 or 1845, he came to the home of his daughter, Pedee Forker, where he died in December, 1863. Mrs. Hannah Fish died in January, 1861. Both were members of the Christian Church. William Fish had poor school advantages.
In 1826, he went to Michigan, and in 1830 came to Greenfield Township, this county, and staked a claim for eighty acres of land, receiving a patent deed for the same signed by Gen. Jackson. In 1843, he sold this farm and forty acres he had purchased adjoinging and went to Iowa, but soon returned and bought a farm in this township,
which he traded, in 1851, for one in Branch County, Mich., which he sold the following year and resumed farming in this township, where he has lived since, with the exception of three years that he rented his farm and resided in La Grange. Mr. Fish was an active Regulator, and assisted in opening the wagon road from Lima to Fort
Wayne by following an Indian trail. Mr. Fish's first wife died in February, 1846. She was a Miss Mary Leper, a native of Ohio and the daughter of James and Kesiah (Carter) Leper, the former born in Tennessee and the latter in Ohio. She was married to the subject November 28, 1833, and of five children born to them four are living,
viz.: Hezekiah, Anna M. (now Mrs. Elliott), Isaiah and Mary J. (now Mrs. Harding). Mr. Fish was again married, in 1846, to Mrs. Margaret Wade, a native of Pennsylvania. Her parents were John and Sarah E. (Johnson) Hanes, natives of Pennsylvania and Canada respectively. Mr. and Mrs. Fish have had five children, three of whom are
living - George M., Hannah M. (now Mrs. Orrin Gage) and William R.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Bloomfield Township
MRS. SARAH A. HUDSON was born December 10, 1823, in Port Gibson, Ontario County, N.Y., daughter of Stephen and Normanda (Finney) Alling. The father was a native of New York and the mother of Connecticut. They were married in the Empire State and were the parents of two children. Mrs. Hudson received a common-school education, and remained at
home until her marriage with Mr. Isaac G. Hudson, which occurred, October 8, 1850. He was born in Chatham, Columbia County, N.Y., March 31, 1819, and soon after his marriage moved to Wayne County, N.Y., remaining there until 1854, when he moved to this county, and purchased the farm now Mrs. Hudson's home. In less that a year after their
arrival in this county Mr. Hudson died. He was a man of extended information, and a graduate of the Weslyan Seminary, of Lima, N.Y. His death was a great loss. In his family were the following children: Sarah J., Pliny E. and Isaac G. Mrs. Hudson's old homestead comprises 200 acres of well improved land. Pliny E. has the management of it,
and is a practical and succussful farmer. He is a Republican, enterprising and public spirited.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Lima Township
JOHN B. HOWE, born of English parents in the city of Boston, March 3, 1813, was destined by force of character, and by natural ability, to achieve his present honored position. His father, the Rev. James B. Howe, an eloquent minister of the Episcopal Church, and his beloved mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Badlam (the name having
been changed from Bedlow, in recording an early deed), were Puritans, who gave fair education to their family of eight children. The father was a graduate of Harvard College, and an earnest advocate of education and morals. Stephen Badlam was Brigadier General of the militia, who joined the Colonial army in 1775, and the following year,
as Major of artillery, took possession, July 4, of the point which, from this circumstance, was named Mount Independence. After the war, he located at Dorchester, where he became Magistrate, and Deacon of the Church. At the age of sixteen, John B. Howe entered Trinity College, from which institution he graduated at the age of nineteen.
This was in 1832, and in autumn of the same eyar he went to Detroit, thence to Marshall, Mich., and in 1833 he moved to Lima. He had read law in Michigan, was subsequently admitted to the bar, and for a number of years practiced with sucess. Of late years he has been engaged in banking. He is the author of several volumes on Political
Economy and Finance, his logic and research securing the commendations of able critics. He was a member of the State Legislature of 1840, representing the counties of Steuben, DeKalb, Noble and La Grange; and in 1850, was a member of the Indiana State Constitutional Convention, at which time he, as a Whig, advoacted measures regarding the slave,
identical with those afterward adhered to by the minority of Justices in the Dred Scott decision. In 1846, Mr. Howe was married to Miss Frances Gidden, a native of the Granite State, who was born in 1825. Mr. Howe has a beautiful home, and enjoys that satisfaction resulting from a life of charity and humanity.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Lima Township
HARVEY W. WOOD was born in Hartford, Vt., February 15, 1808; one of a family of nine children, born to James and Mary (Webster) Wood, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Connecticut. They were married at Hartford, Vt., and followed farming. Harvey W. was reared upon the farm and received a good common-school education. When about eighteen years of age he went to Western New York, and
taught school until 1835, when he came to Lima. He first engaged in the mercantile business, but after a few years began keeping hotel. He was married to Miss Mary A. Warner, a native of Connecticut, in 1836. This lady died in 1837. His marriage with Miss Lucy A. Parker occurred February 4, 1838. She was born in Genesee County, N.Y., April 18, 1819. From this union there were seven children,
four of whom died in infancy. The names of those living are - Antoinette, Ione and Catharine. Mr. Wood, previous to the Kansas-Nebraska trouble, voted with the Democratic party; since, he has been a Republican. He was Postmaster of Lima during Polk's administration, and has held other positions of honor and trust.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Lima Township
WILLIAM WOODWARD was born in Trumbull County, Ohio, September 15, 1823. His parents, John and Barbara (Bean) Woodward, were born, reared and married in Mifflin County, Penn. They removed to Trumbull County about the year 1822, thence, in 1837, to Section 8, in Clay Township. John W. was a soldier of the war of 1812, and a hard-working man; he followed farming. He had eight children; seven reached
their majority. William Woodward was reared on a farm, and received but a limited education. His father died when he was about fifteen years of age, and soon after this he bean working at saw-milling and carpentering; a portion of his wages was applied toward supporting the family. When he was twenty-one, he purchased eighty acres of unimproved land in Clay Township. He was united in marriage with
Miss Phebe Merriman April 9, 1848. She was born in Wayne County, Ohio, June 16, 1832, and died August 30, 1853. After his wife's death, he erected and operated a saw-mill. He was married to Mrs. Sophronia (Parrish) Scofield, October 25, 1855. She was born in Monroe County, N.Y., April 13, 1833. By his first marriage there were two children, viz.: Harriet L. and Mary E. By the second, six children,
three of whom are yet living, viz.: Jerusha B., Eunice E. and Arthur J. The ones deceased were - Wallace W., Fayette D. and Emile F. In 1860, Mr. Woodward came to Lima Township, where he owns 200 acres of well improved land. He also owns fifty-three acres in Clay Township, and 160 in Ottawa County, Kan. He is a practical farmer and stock-raiser, a Democrat, and a member of the Protestant Methodist Church.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Lima Township
ALBERT GREGORY was born in New York June 6, 1841, and is the son of Goodsell and Marcia Gregory, who were natives of New York and the parents of five children. The former was born in 1806 and the latter in 1805. They were married, in 1836, in their native State, where they continued to reside until 1845, at which time they came to this
county, locating at Ontario, and four years afterward removed to the farm in this township where Albert Gregory now lives and where Mrs. Marcia Gregory died March 11, 1861. Goodsell Gregory was married a second time December 15, 1861, to Mrs. R.A. Lewis. Subsequently they removed to White Pigeon, Mich., where he died November 31, 1868;
after which she married again. At the age of twenty-two Albert Gregory began to work for himself, and in November, 1864, enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war. He was married to Elizabeth Driver, December 25, 1866. She was born in Perry County, Ohio, April 6,
1842. They have had five children - Marion B., Will B., Leroy D. (deceased), George E. and Jay D. Mr. Gregory bought the homestead farm soon after his marriage. It is composed of 100 acres of well-improved land.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Van Buren Township
AQUILA HINKLE, a native of Erie County, Penn., was born January 9, 1834. His parents, Andrew and Catharine Hinkle, were born in Pennsylvania, the former in August, 1794, and the latter in October of the same year. They were married in the same State in 1819, and came, in 1864, to Indiana. They located in this township on Section 18, but
subsequently took up their residence with their son Aquila, and after living with him a few years, Andrew Hinkle purchased property in Lima, expecting to spend the rest of his life there, but his wie died March, 1874, and he returned again to the home of the subject, were he is yet living. In his family were nine children - William, Amos,
Catharine, Henry, Elizabeth, John, Aquila and Priscilla (twins) and Jacob. Aquila Hinkle came to this county with his parents. He was married in Crawford County, Penn., March 10, 1859, to Mary Boyer, a native of that State, born Apri 13, 1840, and the eldest of six children in the family of Abraham and Elizabeth Boyer. They also were natives
of Pennsylvania, her father's birth occurring in April, 1812, and her mother's in October, 1815. The former died in June, 1854, and the latter still resides in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle remained in Erie County, Penn., a few years after their union, and then emigrated to this county. They lived with the subject's parents until 1872, when
Mr. Hinkle purchased and removed to his farm of 120 acres in Section 29 of this township. They have an only child, Emma L., who was born in Erie County, Penn., February 28, 1860.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Van Buren Township
HENRY WEISS is a native of Germany, where he was born August 19, 1834. He started for America the 13th of April, 1856, and landed in New York City June 7 of the same year. Starting the next day, he went direct to Erie County, Penn., where he remained some time, and was married March 27, 1861, to Ann Achweitzer, who was born in Germany November 14, 1843. In 1865, they came to Indiana, settling in
Van Buren Township, this county, and in 1874 purchased his present farm of eighty acres i Section 23. Mr. Weiss belongs to the Evangelical Church, and is the son of Emanuel and Elizabeth Weiss, who were Germans and parents of eight children, viz.: John, Justus, Elizabeth, Peter, Henry, Jacob, Casper and Catherine. Emanuel Weiss was born in 1800 and his wife in 1796. They were married in 1826, and
she died in Germany July 22, 1855. He came to America in 1868, and spent the remainder of his days with his son Henry. He died June 20, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Weiss have three children - Charles E., born April 29, 1862; J. Casper, January 17, 1865; and Clara, April 4, 1870.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Van Buren Township
JONAS WENGER, son of John and Mary Wenger, natives of Canada; Jonas was born in Canada December 16, 1828, and was next to the oldest in a family of seven children. He came to the United States with his parents in 1847, and remained with them until he was twenty years old. He was married, August 30, 1848, to Miss Elizabeth Black, who was born in Ohio October 19, 1824. After their marriage he purchased
a farm in Elkhart County, Ind.; here they moved and lived until 1863, when he sold out and came to La Grange County, purchasing and settling on a farm in this township, in Section 16; in 1872, he removed to Section 21, where, at present, he is located, and owns 340 acres of excellent land. Mr. Wenger is one of the enterprising farmers of his township. He and wife belong to the Evangelical Church, and
have a family of four boys and two girls - John F., Samuel, Henry, Mary A., Jacob and Katie L.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Van Buren Township
JOHN E. POWELL is the son of Caleb and Sarah (Austin) Powell, and was born the 3rd of June, 1833, in Knox County, Ohio. His ancestors were of Welsh and English descent. When a child of four years, he went with his parents to Sangamon County, Ill., where he lived until after his father's death, which occurred about 1845. With his mother he returned to Ohio, emigrating after a brief period to this county,
Clay Township, where he was located until 1861, when he purchased his present home. October 25, 1855, his marriage to Miss Mary E. Fox was solomnized. She was born in New York, December 19, 1837, and is the daughter of Charles J. Fox, a native of New York, who made a settlement in this county in 1838, where he lived until his death in 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Powell have had born to them seven children - Albert F.,
Charles E., Frankie (deceased), Eddie, Mary May, Clementine and Satie J. Mr. Powell is a man of enterprise, and has served as Constable, and was also Trustee four years.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Newbury Township
HENRY PROUGH is the son of Samuel and Saloma (Confer) Prough, and one of eleven children, seven of whom are living. The parents were natives of Pennsylvania and early settlers of Hocking County, Ohio, where the subject was born August 23, 1839. In 1851, they came to this county, locating on a farm in Eden Township, where Mr. Prough, Sr., yet resides. February 14, 1861, Henry Prough was married to Miss Lucinda
J. Weygandt, who was born in Stark County, Ohio, April 9, 1842, and to their union five children have been born - Albert E., Celestia J., Ira D., William C., and Chauncey, deceased. Mrs. Prough is the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Gilbert) Weygandt, natives of Ohio, of German descent; after her husband's death, Mrs. Weygandt removed with her family, in 1859, to Eden Township, this county, where she lived the
remainder of her life. Mr. Prough and family are members of the Lutheran Church. He purchased his farm in 1863, previous to which time he had farmed for his father on shares. In 1864, he was drafted in the army and paid $1,000 for a substitute. In 1867, he removed to his present location; owns 195 1/2 acres of land, and is worth about $11,700, having started with $3 and a horse.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Newbury Township
VALENTINE L. SCHROCK is one of nine children in the family of Christian and Leah (Lehman) Schrock, both of whom were natives of Somerset County, Penn., the former's birth occurring January 1, 1817, and the latter's in March, 1825. Valentine Schrock is of the same nativity as his parents, and was born January 20, 1845. He received an ordinary education and remained on his father's farm until he attained the age of
twenty-one. In 1866, he went to Johnson County, Iowa, where he gave his attention to carpentering and farming, until 1867, when he engaged in the saw-mill business in Elkhart County, Ind. In 1873, he located on a farm in Van Buren Township, this county, and three years later bought a saw-mill in this township, which he has since sucessfully operated. May 9, 1869, Mr. Schrock was united in marriage to Mary Troyer,
a native of Holmes County, Ohio, where her birth occurred Marc 5, 1851. Her father, Levi Troyer, was born in Holmes County, Ohio, December 25, 1816. Her mother was Ann (Mishler) Troyer, of the same nativity. Mr. and Mrs. Schrock are members of the Omish Church and the parents of five children - Anna A., Aaron H., Andrew J., Adeline S. and Alice L. Mr. Schrock is a Democrat and an esteeme citizen.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Newbury Township
DAVID SHROCK is a native of Somerset County, Penn., and the son of John and Barbara (Yoder) Shrock, the former of whom was born in Germany in 1766, and the latter, a native of Pennsylvania. They removed to Cambria County, Penn., when David was four years old, and the latter remained there until 1846, when he settled in this township, on the farm of 240 acres where he now lives. When twenty-two years of age, his
father gave him $350; by industry and judicious management, he has acquired property worth $27,000 or more, owning 520 acres of land besides his farm. Mr. Shrock served a number of years as School Trustee, and has been chosen administrator; he is a Republican, and in 1831, April 3, was married to Maria Borntrager; she was born in Somerset County, Penn., November 14, 1808, and his birth occurred December 26, 1808.
Her parents, John and Barbara (Johns) Borntrager, were natives of Pennsylvania, of German descent. Mr. and Mrs. Shrock are members of the old-school Omish Church, and have reared a child - John H. Whetstone, whom they took at the age of two years; to him Mr. Shrock has will the homestead farm. Subject owns a Bible that is over three hundred years old, and contains an inscription written in 1634.
Source: "1882 History LaGrange County, Indiana" by F.A.Battey & Co.., - Newbury Township