Obadiah Dunham was born in Otsego County, N. Y., September 26, 1809, and is one of the seven living children of eight born to Abner and Candace (Irons) Dunham. Mrs. Candace Dunham died in October, 1814 and Abner Dunham died in 1822. Obadiah was reared chiefly in Cooperstown, N. Y., and there learned the tailor’s trade. In 1832, he removed to Ohio, and at Cardington was married, May 7, 1840, to Miss Sarah W. Winship. He changed his residence several times; came to Valparaiso in the latter part of 1844, and has since made it his home. Here, in 1848, he was appointed School Commissioner. He workedat his trade until 1850, when he was elected County Recorder by the Democrats. In 1855, he was elected Clerk of Courts, and served four years; he then engaged largely as administrator of estates and as deputy in county officials’ offices, and for the past seventeen years has held the position of Deputy County Recorder. Mr. Dunham is an Odd Fellow and a member of the Encampment, and his wife is a member of the Presbyterian Church. They are the parents of four children, Ann E. (deceased), Charles N., George (deceased), and Mary E., the wife of E. F. White of Junction City, Kan. Charles N. married Sarah Church, in October, 1870; is a resident of Valparaiso, and is a machinest by trade. Mr. Dunham came to Porter County a poor man, but has realized a comfortable fortune, and is now living in retirement.

Source: “Counties of Porter and Lake Indiana, Historical and Biographical” Goodspeed and Blanchard, 1882 page 243 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Albion L. Miles was born in Jefferson County, Va., May 1, 1830, and is a sone of Henry C. and Martha (Rhoades) Miles; his parents were born, reared and married in Montgomery County, Md.; his ancestry were true patriots; both his grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war, and his father in that of 1812; his parents moved to Jefferson County, Va., about 1823, and reared a family of nine children. They both died in said county. At the age of fifteen, Albion L. Miles began the struggle of life by learning the trade of a mason, and finished at the age of twenty, working as a mason at various times since then. In 1853, he went to La Porte County, and came to Porter County in 1865, dividing time between masonry and farming. On December 24, 1851, he was married to Catherine Lewis, daughter of Lewis and Elizabeth (Hughes) Lewis, both natives of Wales. Mrs. Miles came to the United States in 1841. They had five children, three of who remain - Harry L., Thomas L. (both of New Mexico) and Albion P. Politically, Mr. Miles is a Democrat; he has been Assessor of the township five years, and is now Justice of the Peace. Of his children, all are, or have been telegraph operators.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 396 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Azariah Freeman , one of the old settlers of Porter County, is a native of Tolland County, Conn., and was born May 23, 1809; eldest of six children, four yet living, born to Enoch and Lury ( Huntington ) Freeman, and has made farming his chief occupation through life. At the age of twenty years, he went to Onondaga County, N. Y., to look after a farm his father owned, and remained there until 1838, but in the mean time (1831) returned to his native state, and married Miss Amanda Crane, a daughter of Isaac and Sarah L. ( Abbe) Crane , born April 6, 1809. He removed West in 1838, and purchased land in Michigan and Indiana, locating in Elkhart County, this State, where he farmed for a few years. He traded his property there for 160 acres on Morgan Prairie, Washington Township, Porter County, to which he removed in 1842. In 1850, he, and a company of others, emigrated overland to California. Upon his return to Porter County the next year, he located in Valparaiso. He has been especially identified in the educational advancement of the county. He was the founder of the old Male and Female College, and gave much toward its prosperity. After it discontinuance, he induced Mr. Brown to come here and start what is now know as the Northern Indiana Normal School, of which he is now Vice President. He has been connected with many other enterprises of the town and county. For eighteen successive years, he was Swamp Land Commissioner of Porter County, also County Commissioner for a time. He has held other positions of local honor and trust, among which was that of President of Town council for a number of years before Valparaiso became a city. Although an old man, he is yet on of the county’s best and most active citizens. He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the parents of four children, viz., Edwin E., Cordelia, George and Lura O.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 243, 244 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Charles Battye was born in Yorkshire, England, January 3, 1821, and is the oldest of seven children born to William and Grace (Hobson) Battye; his parents were born, reared and married in England; his father was a weaver, at which he worked many years (also as a bookkeeper) before coming to this country, in the year 1854, and to Proter County in 1857, where he resided until his death, in 1872; he and his wife died within thirty hours of each other. Both are buried in Michigan City. Charles Battye came to the United States in 1848, and worked in a carding establishment at Lowell, Mass., until 1857, when he came to Porter County and purchased eighty acres of woodland. After building a cabin and clearing for a year, he returned to Lowell and resumed carding, continuing until 1867, when he again came to porter County and remained, engaged in farming and stock-raising. On October 9, 1842, he was married to Eleanor Harrison, born March 7, 1820, in England, and died December 13, 1879, leaving one child - Uriah H., now in Massachusetts. In Politics, Mr. Battye is a Democrat.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 392 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Conrad Horn, butcher, was born near Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, December 30, 1830, and is a son of Conrad and Anna M. (Seifert) Horn, who were also natives of Germany. They had born to them five children, only two of whom are yet living, a daughter, Mrs. Ann Stenger, of Pennsylvania, and the subject of this sketch. In 1851, Conrad Horn, Jr., emigrated to the United States. After arriving in New York City, he engaged in various pursuits, afterward going to Pennsylvania and working in the coal mines. In 1855, he emigrated to La Porte, Ind., and for three years he was engaged in farming near that city; thence, in 1858, came to Valparaiso and began butchering, at which he has ever since continued. Mr. Horn was married here, the spring of 1859, to Miss Lena Knepel, also a native of Germany, and to their marriage have been born seven children - Peter, Lewis, Louisa, Charles, Jacob, Annie and Joseph, all living. Mr. H. is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and Mrs. H. is a Protestant. Mr. Horn began business here in but limited circumstances. Today he is one of the principal butcher shops of the place; does a first-rate business, and by hard work and economy, has made some money and a comfortable home.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 249, 250 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Dr. J. M. Goodwin, one of the oldest practitioners of medicine in Porter County, and born in Tompkins County, N. Y., June 12, 1812. His parents were Richard and Prudence (Hollister) Goodwin. He has a noted ancestry, many having taken part in the struggle for independence, his grandfather having served as commissary in Gen. Washington’s army for seven years. His father was a Methodist minister for fifty years, and his mother one of the survivors of the Wyoming massacre in 1777, being saved almost providentially. They were among the pioneers of Tompkins County, N. Y., and built the first grist-mill in the lake region. Dr. Goodwin lived with his parents until his manhood, being the youngest of twelve children. His living brother was a minister, and for one term State Senator in New York. Dr. Goodwin began the study of medicine at his eighteenth year, and graduated from Geneva Medical College in 1836; he then managed his home affairs until 1842, when he moved to Aurora, Ill., where he practiced four years, when he returned to New York and engaged in practice until 1856; thence he came to Porter County, where he has since lived and practiced, giving his services to soldiers’ families during the late war. He was married, August 25, 1841, to Sarah Biggs, a daughter of Michael and Tobisa (Semans) Biggs, who were among the earliest settlers of Seneca County, N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Goodwin have had four children - Louisa (now Mrs. H. Killmer), Clayton S. (of La Porte County), William H. and Elizabeth (now Mrs. M. Frame, of Chicago). In politics, Dr. Goodwin is a Democrat, and has represented the party as Justice of the Peace for thirteen years. His first vote was for Van Buren in 1836. His son Clayton was a soldier in the late ware, and was severely wounded at the battle of Stone River.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 394 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

D. S. Steves, only survivor of the four organizers of Pine Township, was born in Westmoreland County, N. Y., August 25, 1809, and is the eldest of a family of nine born to Isaac and Lovina (Seeley) Steves. His father was of German descent, but born in the State of New York, as was also his mother; his father was a soldier of the ware of 1812, and in many hard-fought battles on the Canadian frontier. D. S. Steves remained with his parents until of age, when he came to Detroit, but disliking the place, came to La Porte County, (where he worked some time); and thence to this county in 1835; here he worked in a saw-mill two years, and in 1837 purchased the land he now owns; he remembers the “financial crash’ of that year, when he began clearing, farming and stock-raising. On December 25, 1843, he was married to Almira Dutton, of Welsh parentage, but born in New Hampshire; she was well educated, and a teacher before her marriage. They had eight children, six of whom survive - Sarah L., Isaac L., Julia, Daniel S. Harriet (now Mrs. D. Crandall) and Nellie (now Mrs. R. Stienk). Mrs. Dutton died April 19, 1870. Mr. Steves, with three others, organized this township in 1854, naming it after the pine tree, found only in this township of the county. In politics, Mr. Steves is a stanch Republican; he has been Trustee of the township and Election Inspector for more than twenty years.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 397 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

George W. Shaner was born in Jefferson County, Va., June 10, 1820, and was the second of a family of four children born to John and Cassanda ( Kidwell ) Shaner; his ancestry on his father’s side was from Germany; on his mother’s from England; his grandfather was a soldier of the Revolution, and his father of the war of 1812. The parents of George W. Shaner lived in Virginia until their death, and with them our subject remained until he reached manhood; he learned the trade of carpentering, at which he worked for fifteen years, and never having an opportunity to attend school, is wholly self-educated. On coming West, he went to La Porte County, Ind., in 1849, and thence to Porter County, where he has since resided. On January 19, 1851, he was married to Lucinda Frame , of this county, but a native of Ohio. She died July 15, 1864, leaving four children - Malinda (now Mrs. A. McCarty ), Priscilla (now Mrs. A. Cotton ), Lyman and Younger. On June 13, 1867, he was remarried to Maria Augustine , of La Porte County, by whom he has three children - Laura V., Ida and Butler. Mrs. Shaner is a member of the Baptist Church, while Mr. Shaner is a Methodist, and has successfully organized a fine Sabbath school in his home district. In politics, he is a Democrat, but liberal in local government.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 396, 397 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

George Porter, one of the oldest settlers in Pine Township, was born in Northampton County, Mass., April 16, 1809. His parents, Elisha and Anna (Baker) Porter, were natives of Connecticut. They were of English descent. Our subject has always followed farming. He came West to Porter County in 1847, and has since lived there. He was married, in January, 1833, to Harriet Crandall, a native of New York, who departed this life in July, 1881. In politics, he is a Republican, but always a liberal in local affairs.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 396 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Henry Brummitt, eldest sone of Aaron and Ann (Wilbey) Brummitt, was born in Yorkshire, England, October 21, 1824, and he and his brother William are the only members of the family living in Indiana. Henry Brummitt, when but ten years old, commenced work at weaving, and continue until he was twenty-one; he then entered the worsted-yard establishment, leaving for the United States with the best recommendations, in 1857, and reaching Michigan City April 20 of that year, engaging in lumbering until 1861, when he made his first purchase of land, consisting of 31 acres, and afterward twelve more; he now owns 112 acres, eighty of which are improved. On February 6, 1848, while in England, he was married to Mary A. Oxley, daughter of John and Mary A. (Hampshire) Oxley. She was born March 10, 1826. They have a family of six - George, Anna (now Mrs. A. Mills), Elizabeth, Alfred W., Alice E. and John H. Mr. and Mrs. Brummitt are members of the M. E. Church. Mr. Brummitt is a Republican, and served his adopted country in the army from 1864 until the late war closed.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 392 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Henry Hackett, son of henry and Sarah (Cotton) Hackett, was born in Seneca County, Ohio, January 22, 1832. His father dying during his childhood, he went to live with an uncle, with whom he remained until he was nineteen years old, when he went to Kent County, Michigan, and engaged in farming; there he remained until 1868, when he came to Porter County, Ind., and settled permanently. He enlisted during the ware of the rebellion, at an early call, in the First YU. S. Sharpshooters. The regiment was composed of companies of eleven States, accurate marksmanship being a requisite for enrollment. They took part in the Peninsula campaign, and at White Oak Swamp Mr. Hackett was wounded by a piece of shell, incapacitating him for six months; after this he had charge of the sanitary warehouse at Point Lookout, Md., where he remained until the end of his term, being discharged August 22, 1864, since which date he has been engaged in farming. On August 27, 1852, in Kent County, Mich., he was married to Matilda Fitch, the daughter of Amasa and Jane (Tinkler) Fitch, and a native of Genesee County, N. Y. They had but one child - Alta A., now a young lady and teacher. Previous to 1876, Mr. Hackett was a Republican; since that period, he has been a Greenbacker. He was Trustee of Pine Township from 1874 to 1876.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 395 Pine Township
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

J. D. Hollett , of the firm of Haste & Hollett, hardware dealers, is a native or Orange County, N. Y., his birth occurring May 11, 1848. He is next the youngest of a family of six sons and four daughters, one daughter of whom is dead, born to Thomas A. and Deborah A. ( Benjamin ) Hollett, also natives of the State of New York. Thomas A. Was a farmer; moved to Porter Township, Porter Co., Ind., from Orange County, N. Y., in 1851, and moved to Valparaiso in about 1864, and he and wife are yet living here, not actively engaged in any pursuit. J. D. Hollett was reared principally in Porter County, where he received the common school education. At the age of sixteen, he began for himself and up until nineteen years of age was going to school and clerking in Wood Brothers’ grocery store in Valparaiso. In 1867, he was employed as fireman of an engine on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad, and after firing two and a half years, entered the engine and machine shops in Chicago, remaining there about a year, when, by reason of his habits and previous satisfactory work, he was given an engine. For four years he was employed as freight and passenger engineer on the Fort Wayne road. The fall of 1874, he became the “Co” of the hardware firm of Hawkins, Haste * Co., but at the end of two years, Mr. Hawkins retired from the partnership and the firm of Haste & Hollett was continued to the present with success. They carry everything found in the first-class hardware and farming implement store, and do as large a trade as any firm of the kind in the town. Mr. Hollett is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Sir Knight of Valparaiso Commandery, No. 28. He was married, February 21, 1872, to Miss Lura Freeman, daughter of Azariah Freeman , one of the old settlers of Valparaiso, and by her has two children - Freeman and Ida May. The parents are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 249 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

Jeremiah Hamell, deceased, one of the first merchants to locate in Valparaiso, came to the place about the year 1836, and by his honor, enterprise and pleasing manners, rapidly won the confidence, friendship and patronage of the villagers and the surrounding neighborhood. Rev. Dr. Beatty, his former pastor, at Steubenville, Ohio, mentioned him as a young man of marked ability, capable of high career in any vocation he might prefer. He chose the activity of mercantile pursuits, although of fine literary tastes and scholastic habits, delighting always to spend leisure hours with books and pen. A fine orator, he was often called to assist the temperance work, political campaigns, and on all other occasions requiring intelligence and fine address. In the year 1838, he represented the counties of Porter and Lake in the State Legislature, and had he lived, would have been selected for the occupancy of still higher offices of trust and importance. A few years after his arrival, he married Miss B. E. Cowan, an estimable and attractive young lady, who some time previous, had removed from Romney, Hampshire Co., Va., to Southern Indiana, and one of the original members of the Presbyterian Church, of Valparaiso. With her he enjoyed happy years of home life, and the generous and pleasant hospitalities they conferred upon friends, will be remembered by many who were guests at their table and fireside. When death called the noble husband and father, a universal sympathy and grief were felt; the loss being one to a community as well as to the shadowed household. And now, although time has planted the mosses of many a summer upon his grave, the name of Mr. Hamell is one recalled; his gifts and virtues frequently recounted and absent, he is still unforgotten. Rev J. C. Brown, D. D., the beloved and lamented first pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Valparaiso, was his warm friend and admirer, referring to him ever as a gentleman of culture, usefulness, piety and public spirit, of unusually fine personal appearance, and remarkable social qualities. It is said that as a brilliant conversationalist he was unsurpassed, being able to discuss topics of the day at his storeroom while busily engaged in posting his ledgers. In sermons preached specially to young men of the town, Mr. Hamell was suggested for their imitation as a type of what one could accomplish by his own unaided effort in obtaining position in society, education, success in business, and what is above all, a name so noble as to become a cherished legacy. Such to his family and friends is that of Jeremiah Hamell, and this little tribute is placed to his memory with the tenderness with which loving hands garland a tomb.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 247 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

John Howe, son of John and Ann (Gallavan) Howe, was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, October 12, 1822, and came across the Atlantic in 1846, landing at Quebec. In 1849, he moved to New Buffalo, Mich., where he married, November 17, 1850, Miss Ann Gallaghar, a native of County Leitrim, Ireland. Shortly after this he moved to Michigan City, Ind., where for a time he was employed as foreman on the M. C. R. R. In August, 1853, he came to Valparaiso, and he was the first Irish family to settle here. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, met with substantial success, and with the exception of two years on a farm in Portage, he has continued his residence here. Mrs. Howe, his faithful and loving wife, died May 7, 1882, having borne her husband six children - Mary Ann (deceased), three that died in infancy, Thomas F. (who was accidentally killed in 1877, aged twenty-three), and John J. Mrs. Howe is a member of the Catholic church, and in politics is a Democrat. He is a public-spirited citizen, and a successful railroad contractor and stock-dealer.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 250 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing

John W. Hayden was born in Madison County, N. Y., May 29, 1815, and is one of nine children (only two of whom, our subject and a brother, Caleb Hayden of Morgan Prairie, yet survive), born to Caleb and Sarah ( Wolcott ) Hayden, who were natives of Willliamsburg, Mass. The year after their marriage, they moved to New York State and lived there farming until 1817, then they removed to Franklin County, Mass., and in 1835 emigrated overland to Indiana, locating in La Porte County, Mr. Hayden died in about 1838. Mrs. Hayden lived on the old place until 1855, when she moved to Morgan Township, Porter County, where she died the following year. John W. Hayden was reared in New York State and Massachusetts until nineteen years old. The spring of 1834, he went to Chicago and was there a short time, afterward going to Ottawa, Ill., where he bought a claim of land in La Salle County. He then returned to Massachusetts, and through his persuasions the parents sold what little property they possessed and emigrated westward. They were unable to reach La Salle County before the land sales there, consequently his land was sold and he was out of a farm. On account of the sickness of his sister they were obliged to stop in La Porte County, Ind., on their way out, where they remained until her death. On the return of our subject from looking after his claim in Illinois they concluded to remain in La Porte County and make it their home, which they did, till their removal to Porter County in 1855. John W. Hayden returned to Vermont in 1845 and April 17, of that year, married Abigail L. Barber . Returning with his wife to Indiana, he engaged in clearing and farming and taking such part in pioneer pursuits as are described in the township history. This lady bore him one daughter, Mary A., now the wife of Henry Stoner , of Morgan Prairie, and died February 27, 1847, and lies buried in La Porte County. Mr. Hayden married his present wife, Almira Worster , February 7, 1849, in La Porte County, and to his last marriage there were five children, viz.: One that died in infancy without name, Abigail L. (wife of Allen W. Reynolds ), Anna L. (deceased), Hittie (deceased), and Louisa (the wife of Herbert Fish ). Mr. Hayden is one of the old pioneers of Northwestern Indiana, and one of its self-made men. His life has been passed in hard work at farming and pioneer work until within the past three years, since when he has been living in Valparaiso retired. Mr. Hayden is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a Democrat; has held positions of trust in the county and is one of the present Jury Commissioners.

Source: Counties of Porter and Lake - Historical and Biographical, Goodspeed and Blanchard 1882 page 247, 248 City of Valparaiso
Data Entry Volunteer - Suzan Schaeffing