Adam Edinger
Adam Edinger is a native of Germany, where he was born December 25, 1839. He attended school until he was fourteen years of age, and worked on the farm of his father until he reached twenty-two years, when he came to America, locating in Porter County, Ind., and labored on the farm of Ira Cornell for a long time. In 1866, he was married to Lucretia Cornell, daughter of Isaac Cornell, the first settler in Boone Township, and in 1867, he purchased 150 acres in Porter Township. Mr. and Mrs. Edinger have two children - Alvah and Ida. Mr. Edinger is a general farmer, yet gives some attention to stock-rasing and has some fine Norman horses. His farm is as desirable as any in the township, and he is now building a fine two-story frame house, containing ten rooms, and with all the necessary outbuildings. He joined the Lutheran Church in Germany, and in politics he is a Democrat.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 382 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Albert Hankins
Albert Hankins was born in Lake County, Ind., February 27, 1842, and is the son of William H. and Margaret (Judson) Hankins, who in 1837 came from New York to the county named. After his school days, at the age of fifteen, Mr. Hankins learned the saddler’s trade, but during his apprenticeship made a trip to Pike’s Peak. In 1862, he went to Montana, where he was engaged in mining ten years. On his return, he engaged in horse-trading in Chicago. Christmas Day, 1872, he was married to Miss Ella A. Thrope, a native of Philadelphia, who has borne him two children - Ella J. and Cora Bell. In the spring of 1882, he purchased 160 acres of land in this township, on which he is erecting one of the finest houses in the county, together with suitable barns and other buildings. Mr. Hankins greatly prides himself upon his fast horses, and is the owner of the celebrated stallion “Aristides,” who took the gold medal at the Illinois State fair held in Chicago in 1881. In speaking of a daughter of “Aristides,” the New York Spirit of the Times on June 10, 1882, has this to say: “After the race for the Juvenile Stakes at Jerome Park on the 3d, ult., Mr. James R. Keene offered $15,000 for the winner, Henlopen, which Mr. Reed declined. The highest price ever paid for a two-year-old in this country was $15,000 and 25 per cent of his engagements, which Mr. Keene paid for Spendthrift in Christmas week, 1878. It is understood that Mr. Keene was desirous of purchasing with a view to exportation to England. We consider Henlopen one of the best fillies we have seen in years. She belongs to the class of which her relations, Sensation, Harold and Spinaway were the head, and has the development, action and high speed which distinguish the family. Last week we took occasion to notice the success which has attended the sons of Leamington at the stud, and of which Aristides is the most recent example. Aristides or ‘The Red Horse’ was, in our judgement, one of the best of the sons of the old hero Erdenheim, and as a stayer he ranked second to none. He won the first Kentucky Derby and the Withers at Jerome Park. He could have won the Belmont Stakes, also, but Mr. McGarth had backed Calvin heavily during the winter, and orders were imperative. It was the English Derby of 1827 over again, when Lord Jersey had Glenartney’s head almost pulled off to let Mameluke win. At the club-house, Aristides was fighting for his head, but the Negro boy, Lewis, held him like a vise in order to let Swim win with Calvin, amid shouts of ‘Let go that horse’s head.” resounding on all sides. But ‘Linden saw another sight’ when, a year after, Aristides beat Ten Broeck to a standstill, making the fastest mile and a furlong on record - 3:45 ½. Mr. McGrath’s mistaken prejudice in favor of Tom Bowling denied Aristides proper opportunities at the stud, and though he has been off the turf for four years or more, he probably has not a dozen foals in list. Aristides, like his Athenian namesake, who was surnamed ‘The Just’, was known far and wide as ‘The Red Horse,’ from the peculiar blood red color of his coat. This he has transmitted to his daughter Henlopen, and which, with his own peculiar make, he has transferred to her, which refutes the assertion which we suppose will now be in order, that all the merit belongs to Susan Ann, as is the case whenever a son of Leamington succeeds, just as it was when Leamington himself was alive.”

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 383, 384 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Edwin J. Green
Edwin J. Green was born in Connecticut in 1820, the son of Jabez and Mary (Eastman) Green, natives of Massachusetts. The parents moved to New York when Edwin was but two years old, and there he attended school until fourteen, when his father died. Edwin then took charge of the farm, and at the age of eighteen married Olive C. Aylesworth, who bore her husband two sons - Edwin A. and Eugene A., both deceased. The mother followed her children on September 14, 1852, and, in 1856 Mr. Green married Sarah Janes, a native of Wales, and to this union there were born ten children, viz., Eugene G., Olive C. Julia E., Rosetta C., Dora S., Mary J. (deceased), Hiram E., Charles J. (deceased), Edwin J., Jr. and Franklin R. (deceased). Mr. Green came to this county in 1853, and located at Valparaiso, where for some years he was engaged in house and sign painting; he then handled several patent rights, traveling through thirteen States to affect sales. In 1856, he bought his present fine farm in this township, on Section No. 13, where he is now largely engaged in stock-raising; he was the first to introduce the Norman horse and other fancy stock into Northern Indiana, and it is said by his neighbors that he has done more for the advancement of stock interests and improvements in breeding than any other man in the State. In politics, he is strongly Republican.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 383 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Ezra Albert Dunn
Ezra Albert Dunn was born in Rhode Island in 1808; his parents died when he was very young, and he worked for several farmers, who gave him some schooling. When twenty-three years old, having saved some money, he was married, August 22, 1831, to Lydia A. Ball, by whom he had seven children - Infant (deceased), Lyman C., Daniel R., Mary A., Samuel P. (deceased), Electa Ella and Ezra A. In 1833, he moved to Athens County, Ohio, where he purchased eighty-four acres. A few years later, he was seriously injured while launching a canal-boat, and was compelled to sell his farm to maintain his family. In 1844, he came to this township, and, after a four-year struggle, became able to buy forty acres, where he built a log house, and lived in it until 1859, when he built a good frame one. He died the death of peace August 24, 1879, much esteemed and lamented; his widow lives on the homestead with her son E. A. Dunn and his family; her son Charles was a soldier in the Seventh Indiana Cavalry, and was killed while asleep January 23, 1864, by the accidental discharge of a gun; he was buried where he lay, but has a monument here.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 381 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Ira Cornell
Ira Cornell was born in Wayne County, Ohio, December 23, 1823; his father, Isaac, was born in Pennsylvania April 17, 1792, and his mother, Priscilla (Morgan), in Virginia May 31, 1799. They were married April 9, 1818. In the spring of 1835, the family came to Boone Township, this county, and settled on a 400-acre tract of land. They were the first white people to locate in the township; the land was not put on the market until 1838, when the father bought it from the Government at $1.25 per acre. From this farm he shipped some of the first wheat ever sent from the township. Here Ira Cornell entered forty acres, which, in due course of time, he saved money enough to buy, and soon succeeded in buying 160 additional. October 30, 1850, he married in Wayne County, Ohio, Miss Emily Kaufman, who was born in Lancaster, County, Penn., May 22, 1825. They have had born to them six children - Alice, September 3, 1851, Elmina, December 20, 1853; Isaac, October 23, 1854; Effie, August 11, 1857; Rose K., May 28, 1863; and Fannie L., November 18, 1867. Mrs. Priscilia Cornell died November 25, 1859, and Isaac Cornell January 22, 1874. Alice Cornell was married to John McConkey, and Elmina to Leander Jones. Effie has been teaching school since 1874. Ira Cornell has now a fine farm of 315 acres on Section 23, with a new two story frame dwelling. His present corn crop, of ten weeks’ growth, stands at twelve feet six inches; he has some very fine live stock, his Norman horse being the finest in the county, with a mane forty-five inches in length; he has taken numerous premiums at the county fair for this animal and for others. Mr. Cornell is a member of the Christian Church, is a liberal Democrat in his political view, and loyal to the Government, having aided it by all means in his power during the recent rebellion.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 380, 381 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



John Edinger
John Edinger is a native of Germany, and was born in 1830; he attended school a short time, and worked on his father’s farm in the old country until twenty-two years of age, and then came to this country, and settled in Wayne County, Ohio, where he worked by the day, lived close, saved his money, and 1859 came to this township and bought eighty acres of unimproved land, broke ground, and built a house. June 11, 1861, he married Elizabeth Dunn, who has borne him eight children - Adam, Isaac, Minnie, Melinda, Ella, George, Martin and Otto, all living. Minnie the eldest daughter is now the wife of Robert Hildreth. Mr. Edinger joined the German Reformed Church in the old country, and today is a leading member of that organization; in politics, he is a Democrat. He now has a farm of 170 acres under good cultivation, and is now engaged in making alterations in and additions to his dwelling, the site of which he has been compelled to change in order to make way for the passage of the Chicago & Atlantic Railway.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 382 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



John J. Dye
John J. Dye, son of William and Nancy (Jones) Dye, was born in Porter County in 1840, his parents having come hither from Wayne County in 1836. John J. Dye, when quite young, commenced to work on his father’s farm, and soon saved, by hard labor and close living, sufficient to purchase a place for himself, which he did in 1869, and, the same year, he was married to Melvina S. Ritter, by whom he had four children - Minnie C., John P., Harry C. and Gracie S. Mr. Dye took great interest in stock, which he raised for market. Unfortunately, his lungs, which were never strong, began to trouble him, and on August 3, 1874, he closed his life in peace, leaving his property to his wife and children. In life, he attended the Christian Church, was a Liberal Democrat, and universally respected. His widow and children occupy the farm, which is superintended by a brother of Mrs. Dye. Mrs. Christian Ritter, mother of Mrs. Dye, also lives with her daughter. She was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1799, and is still active and useful.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 382 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Levi A. Cass, M. D.
Levi A. Cass, M. D., son of Levi A. and Lucy (Sanford) Cass, was born in Wayne County, Ohio, July 9, 1819; his father was born in Massachusetts, in 1799, and his mother in Vermont, in 1802; his father was a physician, and in 1817 moved to Wayne County, Ohio. Our subject entered Oberlin College when fourteen years of age, after which course he read medicine with his father. In 1840, he came to this county and engaged in practice; he afterward went to La Porte County and read with Prof. Meaker. In 1846, after his graduation, he returned hither and resumed practice, which he succeeded in establishing after ten years of hard labor. On December 28, 1856, he was married to Louisa S. Porter, daughter of Philo A. Porter, a pioneer of this county. To this union there were born four children - Ida Grace (now married to Rev. L. S. Buckles), Alberta B., Cassa and Irena B. In 1858, Mr. Cass purchased eighty acres in this township, built a log house and began farming and stock-raising, but he never relinquished practice. In 1863, he was elected to the Legislature, and was appointed by Gov. O. P. Morton to collect the official vote of this Congressional district at the time of Lincoln’s election; he was twice appointed Army Surgeon, but declined on account of legislative duties; he was also one of the organizers of the First National Bank at Valparaiso, and for a time its President. On March 1, 1879, he lost his wife; she was a member of the Presbyterian church, and a model Christina; he is now engaged in the practice of his profession, and his three youngest daughters grace his home; he is an attendant of the M. E. church, and a stanch Republican.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 379, 380 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Merritt Cornell
Merritt Cornell was born in Boone Township, this county, August 18, 1850, and is the son of Alvin and Lydia (Lightfoot) Cornell, who were born in Wayne County, Ohio, in 1820 and 1822 respectively, and they were married January 29, 1843, and shortly after came to this county. Merritt Cornell, on attaining school age, attended regularly until sixteen, and after that worked on the home farm in summer, and attended school in winter for several terms. December 25, 1873, he married Miss Serena E., daughter of A. R. and Sophia House. To this union there have been town two girls - Miriam, March 1, 1875, and Stella Pearl, February 22, 1877. In 1873, he located on his present farm of 160 acres, in this township; his place is in first-class condition, and improved with a good two-story frame house of eight rooms, all in good order; his mother here makes her home with him. They are all members of the Christian Church, and in politics Mr. Cornell is a Democrat. The new Chicago & Atlantic Railroad passes through his farm, greatly enhancing its value.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 381 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Samuel Campbell
Samuel Campbell was born in Jefferson County, Tenn., November 14, 1797, the eldest of eleven children of John and Sarah (Vance) Campbell, natives respectively of Virginia and Pennsylvania. Mr. Campbell attended school at intervals until fourteen years old, and then assisted on the home farm till about twenty-eight; the family then moved to Preble County, Ohio, and settled on a piece of land John Campbell had entered in 1816. September 25, 1823, Samuel Campbell married Elizabeth Frame, a daughter of William and Margarette Frame, and to this union were born eight children, viz.: Margarette J., now Mrs. Silas Grigg; Amanda M. (Mrs. Lacount Lambert), now deceased; Newton J., William F., John F.; Sarah E., now Mrs. James H. Kenworthy, and Nancy T., now Mrs. David B. Peck. The son William served in the late war, and is now a resident of Nebraska. John Campbell died in 1831, when Samuel brought his family to this township, entered forty acres of land, and commenced life in a wilderness filled with wild but friendly Indians. Here he was made the township’s first Supervisor, and has since been frequently elected to offices of trust and honor. In 1862, his house was destroyed by fire, and nearly all it contained was lost, but he soon put up a comfortable frame in which he and wife are passing their declining days in retirement, attended by their daughter, Mrs. Kenworthy. Mr. Campbell is a stanch Republican, and stands well with his party.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 379 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



Thomas S. Bowker
Thomas S. Bowker, the fourth child of Michael and Hester (Richardson) Bowker, was born in New Jersey January 12, 1820. When about two years of age, his parents moved to Warren County, Ohio, where he attended school and worked on the farm until 1836, when the family moved to St. Joseph County, Ind., and bought and cleared up a farm. In 1845, Mr. Bowker came to this county, and went to farming on rented land. December 26, 1847, he married Miss Mary Smith, daughter of John H. and Maria Smith, who came to this county in 1838, from Richland County, Ohio. Mrs. Bowker bore her husband one child, Sarah L., born February 7, 1849, and now the wife of William L. Sawyer. In 1853, Mr. Bowker purchased forty acres of unimproved land and some years later added eighty acres more; he died April 7, 1880 of cancer of the eye, from which he suffered greatly for seventeen years; he willed his farm to his wife, who has it rented out. She resides with her son-in-law, William L., son of James S. and Polly E. (Ellsworth) Sawyer, and born in this township July 17, 1842. Mr. Sawyer bought his land in 1866, with money saved from his earnings as a farm hand, and he has now a fine farm, with a good two-story frame dwelling and every convenience and appliance of comfort about him; he is a member of the Christian church, and in politics is a Republican.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 378, 379 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



William Dye
William Dye, son of James and Amy (Jones) Dye, was born in Clinton Township, Wayne County, Ohio, in 1825, and came to this county in 1839. His boyhood days were passed in Boone Township, where he attended the district school; he assisted also on the home farm, on Section No. 4. In the year 1864, he married Catherine Lynch, and these are now the parents of three boys and three girls, born and named in the order following: Homer, Walter M., Albert R., Elnora M., Ida D. and Gatha L. At the age of thirty-nine, Mr. Dye removed from Boone Township to Porter Township, and located on his present farm on Section No. 28, which he has under a state of high cultivation, and has improved with all modern conveniences. In politics, Mr. Dye is a Democrat, and takes quite an interest in the welfare of his party; he stands well with his neighbors, and is regarded as an enterprising farmer and useful citizen.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 381, 382 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



William Frame
William Frame was born in Bourbon County, Ky., in 1812, son of William and Margarette (Jerrett) Frame, natives of Virginia, and pioneers of Kentucky. In 1822, the parents moved from the latter State to Preble County, Ohio, and there our subject was educated in the common schools and reared until 1834, when he came to this township, where for the first two years he worked in William Gosset’s saw and grist mills. He then entered eighty acres of land, and bought eighty acres additional, built a log cabin, and in 1839 married Miss Jane McCaryhan, daughter of Thomas McCaryhan. This lady bore her husband twelve children - Newton (deceased), Elizabeth, Thomas J., John L., Sarah Jane, James (deceased), Rosa A., Mary M., William A., Melinda, Presley and Newton. The mother of this family died January 21, 1877, and in March, 1878, Mr. Frame married Elizabeth Frame, daughter of Francis Peak, and widow of a deceased brother. Two sons - Thomas and John - enlisted in the Indiana Volunteer Infantry during the late ware, and in 1865, John died of quick consumption. Thomas passed through all his campaigning unscathed, and is now residing in the far West. Mr. Frame is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics is a Republican. He is still in robust health, and is able to perform as good a day’s work on the farm as that of any of his younger competitors. He is a leading citizen, and is held in high esteem by his neighbors.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 382,382 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



William H. Clites
William H. Clites, son of Andrew G. and Eliza E. (King) Clites, was born in Bedford County, Penn., in 1844. In 1851, his father came to this county, entered forty acres and bought forty acres more of land, and here William H. lived until fourteen years of age, when he went to work on his account until 1862. In August of this year, he enlisted in Company I, Fifth Indiana Cavalry, organized at Indianapolis, and was with Burnside’s command in the Army of Ohio; was under Gen. Judah in the noted John Morgan raid; was at Knoxville for some time, then at Mount Sterling, Ky., and with Sherman on his march to the sea; on his return, was sent as guard with prisoners to Chicago; again, on the same errand, to Columbus, Ohio; was then returned to the front at Pulaski, Tenn., and was finally mustered out at Indianapolis. In 1865, he returned home and married Dell Clifford, daughter of Clark and Lucinda Clifford, and to this marriage have been born ten children - Cora, Ida, Ella, Nora, Spencer, Lilly (deceased), Arthur (deceased), John, Hilda (deceased), and Charley. In 1862, he purchased nineteen acres of land, and to this he added seventy-nine in 1864; his mother-in-law, Mrs. Lucinda Clifford, is residing with him. She was born at Crab Orchard, VA., in 1812, moved with her parents to Gallatin, Ky., thence to Shelbyville, Ind., thence to La Porte County, and then to Lake, near Hebron, where she was married, and where her husband died. She is now in good health and seventy years of age.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 380 Porter Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing



L. Atkins, M. D.

L. Atkins, M. D., Kout’s Station, Ind., was born at Westfield, Hampden Co., Mass., August 26, 1819. He was a son of Elisha Atkins, who was born in Connecticut October 8, 1792. His grandfather’s name was Luther Atkins, and he was also a native of Connecticut, and was of English descent. In an early day, he moved to Hampden County, Mass., where he remained until his death. He served all through the Revolutionary war, and died in his eighty-fourth year. He was blessed with a family of six children, two of whom were sons, namely Perry and Elisha, the father of the subject of our sketch. Elisha Atkins’ occupation was that of a carpenter and joiner, which trade he pursued the principal part of his life. He married, at Westfield, Mass., in the year 1816, a Miss Polly Noble, who was born in Massachusetts, in the year 1796, and in the year 1832 moved to Ashtabula County, Ohio, and in 1845 moved to Porter County, Ind., where he now lives, at the advanced age of ninety years. His wife died in 1864. They had a family of nine children, of whom our subject was next to the eldest. He received his education in Ashtabula County, Ohio, and in 1844 came to Porter County, Ind., and the following winter began the study of medicine, being his own preceptor. He studied three years, and then began practice. February 27, 1845, he married Catharine Vandalsen, who was born in Franklin County, Ind., May 18, 1822. In 1865 and 1866, he attended lectures at Philadelphia, Penn., receiving a diploma. In the fall of 1880, he moved to Kout’s Station, and opened up a drug store, and also resumed his practice. He has had born to him three children - Alzina (deceased), Adelaide and Elzina (deceased).

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 374, 375 Pleasant Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing


Oliver Bailey

Oliver Bailey was born in Tompkins County, N. Y., October 5, 1833, and is the second of five children born to Ziba and Sophronia (Peck) Bailey, natives of the same State, the former born in 1808 and the latter in 1810, and of Welsh descent. They were married in Tompkins County in 1830 and in 1835 came to La Porte County, Ind., where the father is still living. Oliver B. Bailey was married in La Porte, February 18, 1855, to Sarah Martin, who was born July 5, 1836, and shortly after went to farming. Three years later, he bought a saw-mill near Michigan City, ran it till 1860, sold out and moved to Pleasant Township, La Porte County, where he purchased a farm and worked it five years. He then bought and moved on his present farm, of 370 acres, in this township. He has four children - Ziba E., Stephen D., Frank L. and Arthur P. Mr. Bailey is a popular man in his community, and has held the office of Justice of the Peace for twelve years.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana, Historical and Biographical,” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 347 Morgan Township
Data entry volunteer: Suzan Schaeffing


Deb Murray