Old Advertisement From Newspaper

Steuben Republican August 25, 1920

WRECKED AT PLEASANT LAKE

Southbound Passenger Train Hurled In The Gravel Pit On Christmas Eve --- Many Injured

     Probably the most disastrous passenger train wreck in the history of the Fort Wayne branch of the Lake Shore Railroad, occurred in the old gravel pit , between Angola and Pleasant Lake, about a mile and a half north of the latter station, last Thursday evening.  Train No. 414, the fastest on the road due here at 7:32 p.m.was thirty-five minutes late, and was in charge of conductor O. Cleckner, with Engineer Maurice Hickey, Fireman Wesley Stevens and Brakeman Bill Baker and was running at a very high speed at the time of the accident.  It is a usual thing for this train to make fast time at this point, as it is slightly down grade and considered a very good stretch of track.  The speed at this time has been variously estimated even as high as sixty miles per hour and it is probable that at least fifty miles and hour was the rate.  The trainmen themselves admit the speed was very high, and it was further evidenced by the swaying motion of the cars prior to the accident, it being noticed that the conductor and brakeman were using especial effort to maintain their balance while standing in the car.  A. W. Long, living on a farm near the accident says he was impressed that evening with the unusual speed of the train and Irve Knight, also living near and who heard the crash of the wreck says it is a common thing for this train to make extra speed at this point.

While running at this high speed the train jumped the track at the switch leading to the siding into the old gravel pit, and went bounding along the ties and rails and landed in a confused heap several hundred feet from where it left the track. The engine and baggage car were embedded in the gravel over two feet.  The smoker was raised in air, and tilted until the floor assumed an angle of forty-five degrees, and the first day coach was thrown over on its side and the second one was thrown crosswise of the side track and plunged headfirst into the grade of the right of way of the main track and the last two coaches, which were empty were thrown from the track and took a zigzag position over the siding.

     Passengers were hurled about in the cars in a helpless manner, and in the overturned coach there there were many severe injuries, some of them critical, but as yet there have been no fatalities resulting , although it is considered miraculous by all who witnessed the accident and by the trainmen themselves that there were not many killed outright.

     The cause of the wreck will perhaps never be satisfactorily solved, and many opinions are expresses with almost as many different theories.An investigation of the switch immediately following the accident disclosed the fact that it had been turned about one-fourth the way open, and opinion differs as to whether this was done maliciously, accidentally or was thrown by the train. Engineer Hickey says he was running at high speed and the switch light showed clear until he was fairly upon it, when it instantly flashed red and he reversed his engine and threw on the emergency brake.  HE stayed by his engine until it reeled over in the sand, throwing him through the cab window, but leaving him uninjured, other than some severe bruises.  He cannot tell whether the switch was thrown immediately in front of him or whether it was partly open so that the red light showed only as he was right upon it.  He seems of the impression that it was thrown by some person just before the engine struck the switch, but in the darkness could see no one about.  Fireman Stevens was thrown to the floor of the engine and the coal from the tender was thrown upon him, bruising him considerably and injuring his hip.  It was his first accident,  Brakesman Bill Baker had just taken the tickets in the third passenger coach, to assist the conductor owing to the heavy traffic, and had just met the conductor in the front end of the car when the accident occurred.  He managed to hold on to the seats but was thrown about and considerably bruised,  Conductor Cleckner was hurled over the seats into the corner of the car and was severely bruised.

     The scenes immediately following the wreck were heart rending and frightful.  In the overturned car the injured were screaming and groaning.  The car was in utter darkness and the work of rescue was slow owing to the extreme darkness.  When the injured were finally rescued they were carried into the rear coaches which remained upright, and they were covered with blood and bruises, many unconscious and apparently more dead than alive.

     The experience of some of the passengers were exciting in the extreme.  J.D. Gale, whose wife and daughter were in the list of injured says they were sitting in a double seat, on the left  side of the car.  Mrs Gale and he were in the rear seat and his daughter was lying down in the front seat,  He managed to hold to the seat but his wife was hurled over his head as the car went over, and she was hurled beneath seats and baggage.  Mr Gale says when he recovered himself the car was in utter darkness, excepting on light, and these being gas he feared fire and extinguished it.  He finally found his wife in the debris and supposed she was dead, but in a little while found she was still alive.  She did not regain consciousness until on the way to the hospital in Angola and for some time since that time was in a semi-conscious condition.  He said the daughter begged piteously  in the wreck, not to leave her, that her shoulder was hurt; he described the scene as most heart rending.
      Albert Forche says he had just gone to the smoker, leaving his wife and little girl in the coach which overturned.  He had not yet closed the door of the smoker and was thrown about frightfully while holding on the door, and landed outside between the cars.  He could not enter the car which had overturned and realized the danger of a gas explosion, he being a car inspector.  Hefound a seat cushion and broke in the windows to prevent the gas collecting in the car, and finally located his wife and child.  He said the sight was sickening and he could hardly bear to think of it.

     Miss Leafy Kohl, of Waterloo, says she was caught between the two seats and was suspended on the upper side of the car as it went over.  Some man assisted her and she thinks she got out through the door.  She was entirely prostrated the next day from shock.   

     Mrs Albert Forshe, of Adrian says her husband just left the car a few minutes previous for the smoker and she laid down in her seat for a nap, her little child being asleep in the turned seat ahead.  The first sensation she had was of bounding over the ties when the emergancy brake was thrown on and she arose in her seat, fearing she would be caught in the seat and thinking a collision was coming.  Her last recollection was in reaching for her sleeping child, and then found herself waliking along a narrow railing in the car, and again became unconscious until she heard her little girl crying as she was having her dislocated shoulder set in the car in the rear.  Mrs C.S. Campbell, of Ellsworth Michigan, was on teh upper side of the overturned car.  She stood up in her seat thinking she could brace herself better.  She was thrwon and found herself in the bottom of the car.  Mrs Campbell says she remembers of hearing some man who heloed her say immediately after the accident that a flange was broken on the engine driver.
     Mrs Stout says she saw Mrs Forche thrown and she followed her husband who was pinned down by wreckage.  Mrs Stout felt a heated iron and crawled away from it, and was not unconscious at the time.
     Mr Studebaker says he realized nothing of the accident.  Thinks he was thrown when the emergency brake was put on. He did not regain consciousness until he was placed in the rear car.
     Ben Timme, who had been working in Chas Slade's barber shop in Angola was enroute to his home in New Haven and was in the car that overturned.  He was pitched headlong through a window and the fact that his overcoat was hanging over the glass probably prevented him receiving severe cuts.  As it was he was badly bruised and scarcely able to walk.
     E. R. Sommerlott, formerly of this place but now of Fremont, was on the train with his bride for a honeymoon trip.  He was somewhat injured, and his wife's condition is considered serious.  She was removed to the home of his parents in the Cambridge addition to this city, in a semi-conscious condition and part of the time her condition has been considered critical.
    As has been stated, opinions as to the cause of the wreck are at a variance.  The railroad company claim no liability in the matter, declaring they have proof of the switch being thrown, and that the battered lock was found, with the stone with which it was broken.  Many are of the opinion that the switch was partly open, but few can be found who have any knowledge of the lock being broken.  The report that a hammer and chisel were found on the scene of the wreck, near the switch is without foundation.  Robert Patterson, of this city says he found a section of flange from a right driver of the engine, embedded in the ground near the switch the morning following the accident.  This may or may not have any bearing in the case.  Had the switch been partly open this flange may have been broken as the engine was thrown from the track.  Or had there been a defective switch the flange may have struck with sufficient force to break it, allowing the engine to jump the track.
     The robbery theory has also been presented.  The plans would be nearly ideal for such a purpose, as the pit forms a pocket in the bank, which, if the train could be successfully directed in, would obscure all view both from the surrounding country and also from the main track of the railway.  It is also an unfrequented spot.  E. A. Carve. express agent at the Angola office says he shipped $5000 in currency that evening, but that it went on the north bound train, a little over one hour previous.  It was generally supposed also that there were heavy shipments of currency and valuable packages all along the line for the few days prior to Christmas.  It was also only a few days previous that the Hillsdale, Michigan robberies occurred, and this was between the two points.  It was also rumored that three foreigners making threats were seen in an intoxicated condition in Angola, but there seems no grounds for the rumor.  if there was a plan for robbery, no doubt the plan foiled when the wreck resulted instead of the train taking the siding.  Lake Shore detectives have been thoroughly covering this territory, working on the theory that the switch was opened by some person, and thoroughly threshing out every vestige of a clue.  
     Frank M Powers, attorney for the railroad company at this place, says he arrived at the scene of the wreck on the second hand car that went out from Angola.  The switch had been closed before he arrived, but he was shown the lock and investigated the switch stand which showed unmistakable signs of being battered with some heavy instrument, he could not tell what.  A coal pick was found in a nearby field but was not thought to have any connection.  The main track was considerably damaged and required some time from the section crew to put it in shape for traffic.  The sidings were badly demolished, and it was necessary to relay one to allow the wreckers to approach the cars and engine. It was nearly twenty-four hours until the wreckage could all be cleared away.
     The injured are directly in charge of Dr. H. D. Wood, the company's physician, and all are recovering satisfactorily.  Those in the hospital in care of Dr. Wood and his son Dr. W. W. Wood are comfortably located and speak highly of their treatment.  They also are hearty in their thanks to the citizens of Angola who have shown them many kindnesses, and feel that in their misfortune they have fallen among friends.
     Among the passengers from Angola on the train were Mrs. J. W. Martin, Mrs. Luella Camp, Mr and Mrs E. D. Willis and daughter Eloise, and Frank Parnell.
     Claim agents for the railroad have been adjusting matters with the unfortunates here since the wreck.  H. H. Downs, of Buffalo, says the railroad has positive evidence that will clear them from liability.  He says he has seen many wrecks, but he considers it almost miraculous that there were no deaths resulting here.


Steuben Republican December 30, 1908

STEUBEN COUNTY SOLDIERS' MONUMENT

Movements for a Steuben county soldiers monument have been inaugurated at other times but have heretofore failed of completion.  The successful effort was instigated by B.J. Crosswaite Post G.A.R. when on resolution of the Post, commander Jereme Cheney (deceased) in the spring of 1916, appointed the following commission: Thos. Owens, President; J.B. Cheney, vice president; Raymond E. Willis, Secretary; Orville Carpenter, Treasurer; Sol M. Cox, A.J. Snyder, E.H. Hetzler, Royal J. Carpenter.  The committee was ably assisted by sub-committees in each township in the circulating of petitions.
   
A popularly signed petition for the monument was presented to the county commissioners - C. Wade Dally, Frank J. Salisbury, and James Harpham - at the July, 1916 meeting.  It was found sufficient by them and referred to the county council for an appropriation.  The Appropriation was prepared by J.M.Ayres, architect, of Mansfield Ohio and the contract was was let to E.M. Hetzler, at a meeting of the commissioners Jan. 1, 1917.  The material chosen was Barre Granite, with statues in bronze.  The monument was erected by Mr. Matt Haley, of Boston, MA.
   
The base of the monument is 19 ft 6 in square; its height over all above the pavement is 70 feet; it weighs 300,000 pounds.  The foundation was constructed by the City of Angola, at a cost of about $1000.  The total cost of the work is approximately $16,000.
   
The base of the monument bears four bronze statues of life size, representing the four branches of the service - infantry, artillary, cavalry and navy.  A figure of heroic size surmounts the monument, being a representation of Columbia crowning the heroes with a wreath, and holding in the other arm a furled flag.  On four tablets on the main die are the namer of 1,278 men who enlisted from Steuben county in the war, of whom 280 never returned, and of whom special recognition is made in the inscriptions.
   
There are four dedicatory inscriptions in the base as follows:
To the West:--
"Erected 1917 by the grateful citizens of Steuben county to commemorate the valor and -patriotism of her soldiers in the Civil War 1861-1865"

To the South: -- 
To those who never returned
"On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their glory tents are spread
And Glory guards with colemn round
The bivouac of the dead."

To the East: --
In loving memory of the women of 1861-1865, whose courage and heroism at home were a no less worthy sacrifice upon the altar of liberty.

To the North: --
" It is rather for us, that we have highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain: that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

                                                                                                  -- Abraham Lincoln

JOHN H. VAN AUKEN

Jacob H. Van Auken was born on a farm in Pike County, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1810. His father was a soldier in the War of 1812. Jacob was the youngest of a large family of children, and at the age of five years was left homeless. He attended country schools in New Jersey, with his feet clad in rags during the winter time. He was a diligent student and afterward mastered the art of surveying. He taught in Pennsylvania, and one of his pupils was Nancy Strawway. In March 1831, they were married, and their happy relationship continued for nearly fifty years, until her death. Soon after their marriage they started for southwestern Michigan, but on account of the Blackhawk Indian war stopped in Portage County, Ohio. Jacob Van Auken taught village school and worked a little farm. From Portage County they moved to Cuyahoga County and in the fall of 1860 came to Pleasant Lake in Steuben County and bought the homestead around which so many of the family associations still gather. Jacob Van Auken was often confronted with poverty, having a large family to rear and maintain, but his courage and industry enabled him to keep his face bravely to the front. He was a skilled broom maker as well as a surveyor. In 1840 he was one of the surveyors in Northern Michigan. At one time he had assisting him in his work a boy he called Jim, and who afterwards was better known as James Garfield, President of the United States. Jacob Van Auken was a follower of Thomas Jefferson in politics, and his extensive reading and study made him a liberal in religion.

His wife, Nancy Strawway was born in New Jersey, the daughter of an iron miner, and she too spent her girlhood in near poverty, rising above her circumstances by sheer force of will and a great native intelligence and perfection of character. In the early days of her married life she had to perform the never ending toil of the mother of numerous children, and her entire life was consecrated to the high ideals of service for others. She was born November 22, 1814, was married March 3, 1831, and died July 19, 1878. She was the mother of sixteen children, and was comforted in her last hours by the presence of children and many grandchildren. The record of her children is as follows: Sarah Jane, born in 1832, and died in 1832; Calvin R. born in 1832, killed at a railway crossing in July, l910;  James H., born in 1837, died in October, 1906;  Horace N., born in 1839, died in July, 1914;  Maria, born in 1841, died in October, 1918;  Nancy, born in 1842, died in 1845; Phoebe Elizabeth, born in 1843, died in February, 1917;  Mary Jane, born in 1845, and is still living at Westgate, California;  Amos B., born in 1847, and killed by lightning in 1874;  David E. born in 1848, and died in September, 1889;  Frank B., born in 1850, died in November, 1915;  Jacob J. born in 1852, died in November 1905 ; Nannie, born in 1854, died in 1856;  Leah Catherine, born in 1856, died the same year; William E., born in 1858; and Perry D., born in 1861,and died in 1865.


History of Northeast Indiana : LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties (1920)

John Dygert Obituary

OLDEST MAN IN STEUBEN COUNTY DIED LAST FRIDAY

     John Dygert, who died in Scott township last Friday, in his 94th year was probably the oldest man living in the county at the time of his death.  He came with his father's family to Steuben county in 1838 and lived in the county continuously from that time, and for several years has carried off the honors at old settlers' meetings as the oldest living settler in the county.  He was county commissioner at the time the present county court house in Angola was built and took great interest in the progress of the work.   

John Dygert

     John, the son of Adam and Jane Dygert, was born in Montgomery County, New York  Feb. 27, 1826, and passed away at his late home in Scott Township, Sept 18. 1919, at the age of 93 years, 6 months and 23 days.
     He was one  of a family of ten children all of whom have preceded him in death.  At the age of twelve, with the family, he moved in a wagon to York Township, where he resided until he started to make a home for himself.   September, 1853, he united in marriage with Caroline Stotts of York Township.  To this union were born two children, Charles F., and Sarah Jane Gifford.  In 1875 after great suffering the wife and mother passed away leaving the father, to keep the house together until 1878, when the daughter was united in marriage to Jackson Nisonger.  Then he went to make his home with her until April 28, 1881, when he was re-married to Mary G. Grubb.  To this union was born three boys, Ora C., Carl G., and Levi F.  He has been a resident  of Scott Township for the past sixty years living until the end on the farm he purchased soon after his first marriage.
     Although without professed religion he was a Christian in the true sense of the word, always doing as he would be done by.  He has a large heart for the needy never turning anyone from his door.  As his life work has been finished he has received his eternal reward.  He was a kind and loving husband and father always thinking of the welfare of his family.
     He leaves to mourn Their loss a wife, five children, three daughters-in-law. one son-in-law, ten grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and a host of sorrowing friends.
     Although physically weak hew was mentally active until the end.  He was a patient sufferer always looking on the bright side of life,  When the end came he went peacefully to sleep and to his eternal resting place.  Funeral services were held at the late home conducted by Rev Humfreys and burial in the Dygert cemetery. 
    

     

D.A.R. TABLET IS DEDICATED TO PIONEERS

Impressive Service Marked Unveiling of Memorial Last Friday Afternoon

-----------------------

Visitors Honored

Impressive and appropriate ceremonies marked the unveiling of the tablet dedicated to the pioneers of Steuben County by Pokagon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution last Friday afternoon.  The tablet is mounted on a large granite boulder located in the northwest corner of the courthouse yard, which had been brought from land entered by a member of the Powers family in 1837, now owned by Ed Gundrum.  The tablet if of bronze 11x 14 inches in size, and has a stippled background enclosed in a polished frame.  Heading the inscription is a beautifully embossed pioneer covered wagon drawn by a yoke of oxen, the inscription follows:

1836  -------- 1936

TO PIONEERS

OF 

STEUBEN COUNTY

BY

POKAGON CHAPTER

with the official emblem of the society .

A crowd numbering in the hundreds gathered to hear the ceremonies attending the unusual occasion.  A community band directed by Fred Richardson played some splendid numbers.  Mrs Edna Creel, descendant of the Powers family, regent of the local  Pokagon chapter presided at the dedicatory services and announced the "pledge of allegiance" to the flag, the recital of which was led by Kathleen Sutton , young daughter of Katherine McGrew Sutton, a descendant of Judge Thomas Gale, one of the founders of the city of Angola.  Mayor William F. Shearer gave a brief historical sketch setting  out the possession of the land from the Indians by the English and to the incoming American settlers and named some of the earlier families which came to the county; including the Langdons, Stayners, Gales, Gilmores, Powers, Farnhams, McClues, McConnells and others.  He called attention to the characteristics of courage and energy and urged that we consider their needs as an inspiration  to overcome difficulties of the present day. 

Mrs. William H. Schlosser, state chaplain of the D.A.R., spoke of the aims of the organization and urged that the same high patriotism which the ancestors of the members possessed should dominate their descendants,  Assisted by Mrs J.B. Crankshaw of Fort Wayne, some dedicatory sentences were recited, and the boulder was unveiled of its flag covering by Patricia, daughter of Mrs. Ralph  Lampman, a descendant of LaFayette Barron, a pioneer of Richland and Margaret Stayner, a descendant of the Stayner family, which perhaps traces a longer continued residence in the county than any other family.

William McConnell Baumann, of Fremont, Ohio, a decendent of Hon. G. W. McConnell, a pioneed citizen, accepted the fine expression of the organization on behalf of the descendants of the pioneers, and he pledged the younger generation to an effort to emulate their fortitude and courage.  Hon Maurice McClew, a grandson of Erasmus Farnham, who surveyed and platted the site of Fremont and of Angola, also expressed appreciation of the fine undertaking of teh society, and accepted the monument for the county.  Mr. McClew's address also recited some of the qualities of these citizens of a century ago.

Mrs. L. P. Romero sang one verse of  "The Star Spangled Banner" accompanied by the band and Dr. John Humfreys delivered a brief invocation and dedicatory prayer

"The Chapter desires to acknowledge assistance in the boulder project, for which it is truly grateful,"  stated the committee.  "The Steuben Republican have cooperated in a splendid manner, in giving publicity to this enterprise.  The State Park Band,under direction of Mr Richardson added materially to the dedication program.  The privilege of using flags of the American Legion, Pokagon State Park and the Masonic Temple was appreciated, for it gave an effective and beautiful background for the program platform.  The chapter wishes to thank all those who participated in the program, or who in any way aided in making possible this dedicatory ceremony."


Steuben Republican August 19, 1936

OPENING NIGHT AT ANGOLA GYMNASIUM

                      BIG BASKETBALL CONTEST IN ANGOLA 
                                                                                                               

The sectional basketball meet to determine the representing team of the district composed of Steuben, LaGrange and Noble Counties in the contest for the Indiana championship  of the independent amateur basketball teams will be held in Angola next week on Friday and Saturday.  As there are several closely matched teams in the district a strong contest is anticipated.  The winner in the state meet will represent the state in the Central West Meet.Teams will be here next week from Wolf Lake, Hamilton, Stroh, Rome City, Angola, Howe, Pleasant Lake, Hudson and Fremont.  This is a big event in basketball circles and is made possible here because of the new gymnasium.  Angola must entertain the visitors properly during the meet.    

Steuben Republican February 1, 1922