MISS SANNA DENISTON since 1918 has been librarian of Earl Park Village and Township Library in Benton County. This library was organized in 1908, and an attractive and well equipped building was erected to house the collection of books and provide room for the library service in 1914. The members of the library board are: Mrs. George H. Hart, president; Dr. John L. Bond, vice president; Mrs. Joseph Vanatta, secretary; Ca,rl Seymour, treasurer; Mrs. John Gretter, and Wilbur Bates.

Miss Deniston was born in Peru, Indiana, daughter of M. P. and Addie (McCann) Deniston. Her parents were born in Ohio and were brought to Indiana when young people. Miss Deniston's grandmother, Susanna Jackson, was a first cousin to President Andrew Jackson.

Miss Deniston was educated in the grade and high schools of Peru and attended the Library School of the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to Earl Park she conducted a private circulating library in Peru.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


MABLE L. DEEDS is librarian of the Oxford Public Library in Benton County. She was a piano teacher, but her most valuable service to the people of Oxford has been in supervising the library, which is a source of pride to the community.

She was born at Oxford, daughter of David E. and Lydia E. (Davis) Deeds. Her father, who passed away in December, 1928, was for many years in the feed and grain business at Oxford. Her mother's people came from Posey County, Indiana. Her mother's brother, James Davis, was killed while a Union soldier in the Civil war.

Miss Mable Deeds was educated in the grade and high schools at Oxford and completed her musical training at Lafayette. She taught music for several years. She had two courses of training in the Indiana Summer School for Librarians at Indianapolis and 1928 was graduated from the Library School of the University of Wisconsin.

Miss Deeds has been librarian at Oxford since 1917. The president of the library board is Mrs. Rose Ladd, vice president, Mrs. Edith White; and the secretary is J. H. Garlach. Other members of the board are Charles Johnson, R. E. Hood, Mrs. Josephine Steele and R. W. Irvin. A group of intelligent and cultured people have taken a deep interest in providing the community with library facilities, and among those most active in the library movement in former years were Charles Johnson, Mrs. Josephine Steele, Arch White, Mrs. Edith Lee. The Oxford Library has 8,000 volumes, and it is a library that stands high on the basis of use, its circulation being 21,000.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


MARY THAYER RITTER, M. D., is one of the outstanding woman physicians in Indiana, and for over a quarter of a century has enjoyed a busy career in her home City of Angola. Her home and office in that city are at 201 South West Street.

Doctor Ritter was born in Steuben County, November 25, 1869. Her father, Simon Ritter, was born in Ashland County, Ohio, November 15, 1836, and died September 15, 1917.. All his active years. were spent in farming. Her mother, Helen (Thayer) Ritter, was born in Steuben County, Indiana, September 14, 1843, and died March 4, 1892. Both parents are buried at Mount Zion in Steuben County. There were seven children in the family: Charles Ritter, born in 1860 and died in 1899, was a farmer; Vira Ritter, born December 16, 1867, lives at Angola; Dr. Mary Thayer; Judson S. Ritter, who was born at Junction City, Kansas, September 3, 1874, is a retired resident of Angola; Perle W. Ritter, born November 27, 1877, in Steuben County, died October 3, 1905; Bertha Ritter, born October 28, 1881, is the wife of George F. McNeal, of Angola; and Guy J. Ritter, born August 2, 1884, is in the insurance business at Angola.

Dr. Mary Thayer Ritter spent her early life on the home farm, attending district schools, completed her high school course at Angola, and also attended the Tri-State Normal College there. She studied in the Woman's Medical College at Philadelphia and the Indiana State Medical College at Indianapolis. She has been practicing at Angola since 1903, and while her work has been in the general field of medicine, she has always specialized in diseases of women and children. Doctor Ritter is a member of the Steuben County, Indiana State and American Medical Associations and the Women’s National Medical Association. In her home city she is a member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Literary Club, the Sorosis Society and the Rebekahs, and is a member of the First Christian Church and the Womans Christian Temperance Union.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


ORVILLE STEVENS, who had the training of an engineer and followed that as a profession for some years, was mayor of the City of Angola, and conducts the abstract of title business for Steuben County.

Mr. Stevens was born at Metz, Steuben County, October 28, 1883. His father, Abraham Stevens, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 2, 1840, and spent his active life as a merchant at Metz, where he died September 30, 1923. He married Amelia Goodale, who was born at Metz, August 4, 1848, representative of one of the oldest families in this section of Northern Indiana. She died September 21, 1925.

Orville Stevens, only child of his parents, was educated in the grade and high schools of Metz, and attended the Tri State Normal College at Angola, graduating in the civil engineering course. From 1908 to 1914 he was engaged in construction work at Portland, Oregon, after which he returned to his native county and in 1915 bought the Goodale Abstract Company, of which he is the owner. His abstract office is in the courthouse at Angola.

Mr. Stevens married, September 1, 1909, Miss Nellie W. Wilson, who was born at Winfield, Iowa. Her father, Willis Wilson, is buried at Lone Tree, Iowa. Her mother, Mrs. Lida (Hazen) Wilson, was born in Williams County, Ohio. For forty-three years she has been a school teacher and is still teaching at Portland, Oregon. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have two children: Miriam Louise, born June 17, 1910, now teaching music at Angola; and Robert Wilson, born December 17, 1912, a graduate of the Angola High School and now a student at DePauw University.

Mr. Stevens is affiliated with the Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter and Council bodies of Masonry, the Knights of Pythias, is a member of the Angola Commercial Club and the Rotary Club and he and his family attend the Christian Church. He was elected mayor of Angola in 1921 and was the head of the municipal administration for eight years. He also serve five years on the school board.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


ORVILLE K. DEPEW has given to his native City of Garrett, DeKalb County, a valuable business establishment that affords metropolitan service and constitutes a valuable addition to the facilities of the community. His modern dry-cleaning plant is located at 712 West King Street, and its excellent service has drawn to it a large and appreciative patronage.

Mr. DePew was born at Garrett December 3, 1902, and is a son of Cary and Anna DePew, who still reside here, the father being associated with the business conducted by Orville K., immediate subject of this review, and having celebrated his fifty-first birthday anniversary June 17, 1929, while his wife became forty-eight years of age April 20th of the same year, she having been born at Sandusky, Ohio. Of the three children the eldest is Everett H., who was born February 11, 1900, and who is a railroad man residing at Garrett. He married Miss Anna Dembecki, and they have one child, Kathleen May, born in August, 1928. Orville K., of this sketch, was next in order of birth, and Teresa D., who was born February 29, 1904, remains at the parental home.

Orville K. DePew received the advantages of the public schools, including the high school at Wapakoneta; Ohio, and as a youth he was for three years in the employ of the Garrett Clipper, a newspaper in his native city. He established his present business August 17, 1925, on a modest scale, and by effective service and fair and honorable policies he has developed a substantial and prosperous general dry-cleaning business, besides having been enabled to provide an operating plant of the best modern facilities. He receives a representative supporting patronage from the cities and villages of DeKalb and adjacent counties and has rank as one of the loyal and progressive young business men of his native city. On September 17, 1929, he married Miss Mary Weaver, of Garrett, Indiana.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


JOHN P. ROZPLOCHOWSKI has been a resident of South Bend for over forty years, and probably no other representative of the Polish race has been more prominently identified with the social and civic organizations which express the genius of the Polish people as an important element in American citizenship.

Mr. Rozplochowski was born in Poland June 24, 1873, son of Harry and Marrianna Rozplochowski. His parents spent all their lives in Poland. John P. Rozplochowski secured his early school advantages in his native land and when fifteen years of age came to America, and South Bend was his first and last home. He found work in the South Bend Toy Works, later was in the employ of the Birdsell Manufacturing Company and the Studebaker Corporation. Mr. Rozplochowski from 1908 to 1911 operated a retail meat market on Division Street, and since 1911 has been a hardware and furniture merchant. In 1917 he incorporated the business as J. P. Rozplochowski & Company, and has been secretary, treasurer and manager of the corporation. In 1917 the company erected a fine building at 1237-1239 West Western Avenue, the home of a store well known throughout South Bend, one of the most complete establishments handling furniture and hardware in St. Joseph County. Mr. Rozplochowski is also a director of the Peoples State Bank.

Since early manhood he has been an influential leader among those of Polish birth or ancestry. One of the organizations in which he has been especially interested is the Polish Z. Balicki Falcons, of which he has been president several times and of which he is a director. He has also been treasurer of the Polish Business Men's Association and is a member of the National Polish Alliance. For several years he has been a member of the Polish Citizens Committee of the South Bend Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity he has done a great deal of effective work in promoting the Americanization of his fellow-countrymen. Mr. Rozplochowski is a Republican in politics and is a member of St. Hedwig's Catholic Church.

He married, February 6, 1906, Miss Veronica Andrzejewski. His wife was born in South Bend and is also of Polish parentage. They reside at 1223 Thomas Street.

Click here for photo.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


CHARLES JOHN HASSETT is a veteran business man of Kentland, and in the course of thirty-five years has given the people of that community' a service in several different capacities. He now owns the leading furniture and undertaking business in the city.

He was born at Wolcott, Indiana, April 25, 1868. His father, John Hassett, was a native of Tipperary, Ireland, came to the United States when fourteen years of age, and during the greater part of his active life followed railroad work. He helped construct the Pennsylvania Railroad through Kentland. This line was completed in 1859. He was in the service of the railway until his death in 1895. John Hassett married Honora Carney, who was also born in Tipperary and was twelve years of age when she came to the United States. She crossed the ocean on a sailing vessel which was seven weeks on the voyage. She lived to be eighty-nine years of age, passing away in 1930. There were ten children: Elizabeth, deceased, Mary Ellen, James Henry, deceased, Emma B., Charles J., Catherine, George, Anna, William and Leo. Mary Ellen is the wife of S. F. Reader, of Logansport, and has two children. James Henry married Agnes Coyle and left two children. Emma is the wife of W. T. Myers, a conductor with the Pennsylvania Railway, and has two children. Catherine is the wife of W. J. Cunningham, of Kentland, and has four children. George, a resident of Bradley, Illinois, married Ella Kline, and of their thirteen children ten are living. Anna is the wife of Harley Duncan, of Logansport. William, also a resident of Logansport, married Rose Mineman and has two children. Leo, of Logansport, married E. Elpers and has four children.

Charles J. Hassett made good use of his early opportunities in the grammar and high schools at Kentland. When he left school he worked for a railroad company, and was a railroad man until his father's death in 1895. The first business he took up at Kentland was a dray and transfer business. He was the first man to institute daily ice deliveries in Kentland. For seven years he conducted a cafe and restaurant. Since 1920 he has been in the furniture and undertaking business and has developed an institution with the finest of modern equipment and with a perfect service to accord to the modern demands upon the undertaker.

Mr. Hassett married, April 22, 1891, Miss Emma Myers, of Kentland. They had four children, Marie, Carl, Bernard, and James. Marie is the wife of John B. Cassidy, of Kentland, and has a family of two daughters and one son. Carl, now deceased, was a soldier in the World war and was overseas in France. He married Ruth Alberts and left a son, John. The son Bernard was also a soldier in the war, and his death in November, 1929, was the result of shell shock. The only living son, James, now a partner in his father’s business, is a registered and licensed embalmer. He married Edith Smart and has two children.

Mr. Hassett in politics has always supported the Democratic ticket. He is a member of the Catholic Church, and is a grand knight of the Knights of Columbus. He has served as a member of the Kentland town board.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


GEORGE WILLIAM POLK. In the death of George W. Polk, which occurred at Elkhart, Indiana, April 10, 1929, the community of Warsaw lost one of its most progressive business men and public-spirited citizens. His career, while cut short at the early age of fifty-one years, was a full and active one, during which he had been engaged in a number of enterprises, all identified with the growing commercial and industrial interests of his adopted city, where he had lived since boyhood. A man of high character and personal integrity, his death came as a severe shock to the community, where he was held in the highest confidence and esteem.

Mr. Polk was born at Monroeville, Indiana, February 2, 1878, and was about ten years of age when taken by his parents to Warsaw, where he attended the public and normal schools and was licensed to teach, although he never took up that vocation. After farming for two years he accepted a position with Bruce Whittenberger, selling buggies, but gave up his employment after one year and in 1903 built a livery barn on South Lake Street. Early in life he developed unusual business ability and as a result of this, coupled with a strong and splendid personality and untiring enterprise, he made a success of every venture in which he was engaged. For many years he operated a livery stable and harness and buggy shop at Warsaw, but in 1912, with great foresight, became one of the pioneer automobile dealers of Northern Indiana. His first venture in this line was as agent for the Ford automobile, and later handled the Overland. When he gave up the latter he took the agency for the Buick automobile and won recognition as one of the most successful Buick agents in Northern Indiana. In connection with his agency he operated a large garage, but in 1924 sold his agency and garage to Mr. Robinson and organized the Polk Oil Company, thus starting to build up a wholesale gasoline and oil business. Starting with a few filling stations at Warsaw, he expanded his business rapidly until it included bulk plants and filling stations throughout Northern Indiana. At the same time he continued the operation of a tire and accessory business. As with all his former enterprises his final venture was a marked success. At the time of his death the Polk Oil Company had its headquarters at Warsaw and branches at Silver Lake, North Manchester, Wabash, Huntington, Bourbon, Mentone, Hanna, Hamlet, Donaldson, Elkhart and Rochester. Mr. Polk for years took an active part in civic affairs at Warsaw. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce and took part in many movements for the betterment of his community. He was a member of the Warsaw Commandery, K. T., and a thirty-second degree Mason, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of America, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Rotary Club. A prominent Democrat, at one time he was the candidate of his party for the office of sheriff of Kosciusko County. A great lover of horses, he was very fond of watching them in running races, but was a devout member of the Methodist Church and for many years served as secretary and treasurer of the Sunday School.

In 1900 Mr. Polk was united in marriage with Miss Nuel J. Huffer, daughter of Norman Huffer, and to this union there came two sons: Lawrence Edward, born October 1, 1901; and Norman William, born January 9, 1903. Both sons are high school graduates, and Norman W. is a graduate of the South Bend (Indiana) Business College. He is administrator of the estate and is keeping the business operating as it was before his father’s death. He is a York Rite Mason, belongs to the Commandery and the Shrine and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and his religious connection is with the Methodist Church.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


HENRY OLIVER WELLS, M. D., has been established in the practice of his profession in the City of Fort Wayne more than a quarter of a century, now confines his attention to the diagnosis and treatment of rectal disorders, and is proprietor and executive head of the Fort Wayne Rectal Clinic, the service of which is maintained at the highest ethical and scientific standard. The offices and clinic of Doctor Wells utilize the entire second floor of the building at the northwest corner of East Berry and Barr streets, and include the rooms in which he initiated the practice of medicine in Fort Wayne, in 1902.

Doctor Wells is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Jefferson County, Indiana, where his birth occurred, near Madison, the county seat, January 30, 1865. He was sixth in order of birth in a family of eight children, five of whom are living, and is a son of Capt. William H. and Grace (Dickerson) Wells, both natives of Jefferson County, where they maintained their home during their entire lives. Capt. William H. Wells was a valiant soldier and officer in an Indiana regiment of volunteer infantry during virtually the entire course of the Civil war, and was captain in command of his company in the many engagements in which the regiment participated. He was a representative farmer in his native county many years, and thus carried forward the industrial activities that had been instituted by his father, Samuel Wells, who settled in that county about 1840 and whose birth occurred in Miami County, Ohio, his parents having been pioneer settlers in that section of the old Buckeye State.

Dr. H. O. Wells received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native county and later attended one of the normal schools of Indiana. For some time he was a successful teacher in the schools of his native county, and eventually he completed a course in the medical department of the University of Louisville, Kentucky. After thus receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine he was retained as assistant house surgeon in the Wabash Railroad Hospital at Peru, Indiana, until 1902, when he engaged in active general practice in the City of Fort Wayne. Since 1907 he has confined his practice to the treatment of rectal diseases, and he has authoritative status in this department of professional service. Through the medium of his well ordered clinic effective treatment is given to patients not only from diverse parts of Indiana but also from Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. As an authority on rectal diseases and their treatment Doctor Wells has made valuable contributions to the columns of medical journals and other periodicals, and has held professional clinics of demonstration in many of the larger cities of the United States. He was president, 1929-30, of the American Academy of Conservative Proctology, the largest society of physicians in America limiting their practice to rectal diseases.

In the Masonic fraternity Doctor Wells has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and he is affiliated also with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He married Mrs. Zepha Painter, of Fort Wayne, and their adopted daughter, Audrey, is a graduate in the University of Indiana and is the wife of K. W. Stooky, an engineer with the Gas Machinery Company of Cleveland, Ohio.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


W. EDWARD GUSHWA. Included among the business men who have contributed to the upbuilding and development of the thriving City of Corunna through their good workmanship and skill is W. Edward Gushwa, who has followed his trade of carpenter in this community for a period of forty years. During his long residence his labors have been conscientious and productive of splendid results, and in the meantime he has found the willingness and opportunity to serve his fellow-citizens in various public offices, being at present a member of the board of trustees of DeKalb County.

Mr. Gushwa was born February 26, 1870, on a farm in DeKalb County, Indiana, and is a son of Jonathan and Harriet (Williams) Gushwa. His father, who was born January 15, 1835, received a public school education and was reared to the pursuits of agriculture, in which he continued to be engaged during a long, useful and honorable life, dying April 17, 1917, at the ripe age of eighty-two years. Mrs. Gushwa, who was born in Ohio, was brought to Indiana by her parents when a girl, and passed away in 1884, both she and her husband being laid to rest in Fairfield Cemetery. They were the parents of two children: Charles, who resides at Elkhart; and W. Edward.

W. Edward Gushwa obtained a country school education and was reared on the home farm, but as a youth showed a mechanical turn of mind and accordingly set about learning the trade of carpenter. This he followed for some years as a journeyman, but eventually embarked in business on his own account; at Corunna. From the first he showed himself painstaking, capable and reliable, and possessed of the quality of close application. These characteristics soon gained him the confidence of the people, and his patronage grew with the passing of the years, so that he eventually was called upon to erect some of the most substantial residences of the city. Many of the best buildings now standing with in the city limits are monuments to his craftsmanship and artistry, and he likewise has done much work in the country surrounding Corunna. He bears an excellent reputation in business circles because of his integrity in living up to the word of his contracts and his straightforward manner in carrying to a proper conclusion the responsibilities which he assumes. In 1915 Mr. Gushwa was appointed postmaster of Corunna, a position in which he acted for four years, to the great satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. In his present capacity, as a member of the board of county trustees, he exercises his good judgment in a constructive way, which makes his services valuable to the community and its people. Mr. Gushwa is a member of the Methodist Church, fraternally belongs to the Knights of Pythias, and at all times has been a public-spirited promoter of the interests of his adopted community, where he is the owner of a pleasant and attractive home and some valuable real estate.

On October 3, 1895, Mr. Gushwa was united in marriage with Miss Minnie Thomas, who was born at Topeka, Kansas, a daughter of Jacob and Phyanne Thomas, both of whom are deceased and buried at Elkhart. To this union there came two children: Carroll J., born July 1, 1896, educated in the public schools of Corunna, and now a business man of this place, who married Edna Blanchard, of Waterloo, Indiana, and has two children; and Milo J., who is deceased. Mrs. Gushwa died December 11, 1919. On June 11, 1927, he married Mrs. Estella W. Poast, of Auburn, Indiana. Mrs. Gushwa is a member and active worker in the Methodist Church.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


STEPHEN A. HALL is a physician and surgeon who for over thirty years has practiced his profession with home offices at Advance in Montgomery County, and his abilities have made him known throughout Montgomery, Fountain and Boone counties.

Doctor Hall was born in Montgomery County, Indiana, March 25, 1864. His parents, Yelverton P. and Martha E. (Stillwell) Hall, were natives of Kentucky and were the parents of nine children: Mary D., Jennie, Betty, who died when fourteen years old; William, Fannie, Stephen A., Thomas, George and Maude.

Stephen A. Hall grew up in Montgomery County, attended public schools there and the Ladoga Normal School, and nine years of his early life were devoted to the vocation of school teaching. He entered the Kentucky School of Medicine at Louisville, where he was graduated M. D. in 1894, and during 1895 took special work in the Chicago Post Graduate School of Medicine. He first practiced at Stone Bluff in Fountain County and in 1896 moved to Advance, where he has had his home through all the subsequent years. He is a member of the County and Indiana Medical Associations and a Republican in politics.

Doctor Hall married in February, 1896, Miss Bertha J. Perrine, of Stone Bluff. They have one son, Dr. DeLon P., who was born May 10, 1897. He is a graduate of medical college and is practicing at Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. DeLon P. Hall married Minnie Bickle and had two children, Robert D., now deceased, and Nancy, born in 1925.

INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3
By Charles Roll, A.M.
The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931


Deb Murray