Person Page - 37

     Harmon Helms was born in March, 1850 at Indiana.¹ He married, at age 42, Lillian A. Ramsey, age 25, daughter of James E. Ramsey and Lucinda Adams, on Tuesday, January 17, 1893 at Miami County, Indiana, . Harmon Helms died between 1920 and 1930.²

     Gottfried Goralski was born in May, 1850 at Germany. He was the son of John Goralski and Anna Wiltzen. Gottfried Goralski married Augusta (?) circa 1873 . Gottfried Goralski immigrated in 1880 to USA.

     John Daubenspeck was born circa June, 1850 at Indiana. He was the son of Wesley Daubenspeck and Mary Nancy Lakin.

     George Washington Hahn was born in September, 1850 at Peru, Miami County, Indiana. He was the son of David Hahn and Elizabeth Davis. George Washington Hahn married, at age 24, Anna Mary Walters on Wednesday, December 23, 1874 at Peru, Miami County, Indiana, . George Washington Hahn died in 1928 at Winfield, Cowley County, Kansas.

     Malinda Kitch was born in November, 1850 at Ohio.¹ Thereafter her married name was Endsley.¹ She married Henry Endsley, age 22, son of John Endsley and Rachel Butler, on Thursday, November 26, 1868 at Huntington County, Indiana, .^1,2 Malinda Kitch died in 1925 at Grant County, Indiana.¹

     Charles F. Fite was born on December 6, 1850 at Brown County, Ohio.¹ He married Pearl M. Imhoof circa 1899 at Indiana . In 1910 Charles F. Fite worked as a Postmaster. He died before 1920 at Indiana.


Charles Fred Fite. In a business directory of Miami county, Mr. Fite would be mentioned as a postmaster and in the insurance business at Denver. A directory is often a very defective guide to the important interests and attainments of a man, as in this instance. Probably no resident of Miami county has contributed more extensively in practical acquisitions to the field of natural science than Mr. Fite. He is distinguished for his ardent love of all creatures in forest and field, has been both a discoverer and collector, and as an ornithologist ranks among the leading authorities on bird life in the country.

Brown county, Ohio, was the birthplace of Charles Fred Fite, born in that locality, December 6, 1850, one of five children, two of whom are now living. Their parents were Andrew J. and Lavina (Bingamon) Fite, both natives of Ohio, and both descended from German stock. Andrew J. Fite followed carpentry as a trade, and from him Charles F. Fite learned that occupation which he followed for a number of years, and thus acquired a liking for exact mechanics.

As a boy he had opportunity to acquire only a limited education, since his time was principally occupied with farm work. In 1858 the family located in Madison county, Indiana, settling in the woods. There Mr. Fite lived until manhood, and followed the carpenter's trade for some years. In 1872 he transferred his residence and occupation to Galveston in Cass county, where he remained for about one year. From Cass county he came to Miami county, spending thirteen years in the city of Peru, during seven of which he was employed in the Howe factory, two years as a police officer and four years in selling nursery stock. He has been a resident of Denver since 1885, and for several years continued as a nursery stock salesman. In 1889 he was appointed postmaster of Denver, serving four and a half years under the Harrison administration, then being relieved by President Cleveland. Under President Roosevelt in 1906 he was again appointed to the office, and has held the position to the present time. In 1901 Mr. Fite began writing insurance, and has continued in this line ever since.

By instinct and also by self-training, he has always been a naturalist. He has loved ever since his boyhood the open, and wandering in the woods and field has always been his greatest delight. He has skilled himself in the observation of the life and habits of insects, animals and especially of birds. This pursuit of knowledge among wild life led him to the study of taxidermi, and gradually he began active practice in preserving in his cabinet specimens of such rare animate life as he could capture or procure. Of late years the greater part of his attention has been devoted to science. In his researches he has been led into many remote quarters of America, including different portions of Canada. He is a skillful rifle shot, but is not a hunter in the ordinary sense for the sake of killing or for the flesh of fowl, but takes particular interest in hunting game in order to better understand its nature and habits. He has killed specimens of nearly all the large game in America, including elks, deer, bear, wolves, mountain lions, and with the exception of the grizzly bear, has practically procured a representative of every individual in the larger animal creation whose habitat is in America. In addition to his own work he has been called upon to preserve the skins of lions, tigers, leopards, and almost every animal known to the American menagerie.

As already mentioned Mr. Fite is a particular authority on bird life. He has taken his greatest pleasure in following and observing the habits of this department of the animal kingdom and there is probably no naturalist in Indiana, who is better informed on bird lore than Mr. Fite. One of his valuable discoveries was the unearthing of an almost perfect tusk of the prehistoric beaver, so classified by the specialists at Earlham College. This tusk was found across the line of Miami county near Mud Lake in Fulton county. He has also discovered the remains of two mastodons in Miami county, one in Perry township and one in Union township near Deedsville. The latter was almost perfect but very few bones being missing and even the cartilage holding the joints together being yet undissolved by time and decay. This splendidly preserved specimen is now in the public museum of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mr. Fite has also been a collector of coins, eggs, butterflies, moths, etc.

Mr. Fite is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Masonic and Independent Order of Odd Fellows fraternities. In 1871 he married Miss Ruth Stevens at Galveston, Indiana. Their one son is William A., a minister of the Christian church, whose home is now in Paducah, Kentucky. For his second wife Mr. Fite married Harriet Jones. No children were born to this union. His third and present wife had the maiden name of Pearl M. Rhodes, and they are the parents of six children, namely: Fred Marcus, Charles Andrew, Opal May, Virgil Roosevelt, Claude Taft and Esther Alice.



At widely distant places in the glacial silt of the United States have been found the remains of prehistoric animals of the Miocene period, but which became extinct in the Pleistocene, or Ice Age. The most common of these remains are the bones of the Mastodon, so-called from the shape of its teeth, an animal closely allied to the elephant of modern times. Several times in making excavations in Miami county, a few bones of this great monster of a past era have been found, but it was not until the fall of 1904 that a complete skeleton was unearthed. Some men engaged in digging a ditch about twelve miles north of Peru, found a few bones, which were given to Fred Fite, a taxidermist of Denver. Mr. Fite employed some helpers and continued digging in the locality until the entire skeleton, with the exception of a few minor bones, was found. He then spent some time in cleaning and articulating the parts of the skeleton, supplying the place of the missing bones with wooden substitutes, and in the spring of 1905 his mounted skeleton was finished. It stood nine feet high and measured eighteen feet in length, the tusks being nine feet long. In hauling the bones from the place where they were found to his laboratory two wagons were used, the entire collection weighing over a ton. It was not long after he had the skeleton mounted until Mr. Fite received several offers for it. He finally sold it to a museum in Detroit, Michigan, for .$500.^1,2

     Anna Elizabeth Beard was buried at Oxford, Sumner County, Kansas. She was born circa 1851 at Butler Township, Miami County, Indiana. She was the daughter of James Beard and Margaret Ellis. Anna Elizabeth Beard married Henry H. Hahn, age 21, son of David Hahn and Elizabeth Davis, on Tuesday, September 21, 1869 at Miami County, Indiana, .¹ Thereafter her married name was Hahn.¹ Anna Elizabeth Beard died on October 21, 1916 at Oxford, Sumner County, Kansas.

     Eliza E. Daubenspeck was born in 1851 at Hamilton County, Indiana. She was the daughter of Wesley Daubenspeck and Mary Nancy Lakin.

     Adaline Waisner was born on January 24, 1851 at Washington County., Indiana. She was the daughter of Solomon Waisner and Mary Sally Elvira Bowman. Adaline Waisner died on July 7, 1925 at Franklin Township, Washington County, Indiana, at age 74.

      Mary Catherine Mackey was also known as "Cassie". She was born in April, 1851 at Indiana. She was the daughter of Quintin S. Mackey. Mary Catherine Mackey married, at age 16, Miles F. York, age 20, son of John P. York and Laura Parham, on Tuesday, October 29, 1867 at Miami County, Indiana, . Mary Catherine Mackey died on March 21, 1942 at age 90.

     Ida (?) was born in April, 1851 at Germany.¹ She married Charles F. Gramp in 1871 .¹ Thereafter her married name was Gramp.¹

     Sarah C. Bennett was born on June 11, 1851. She married, at age 29, Aaron B. York, age 33, son of John P. York and Laura Parham, on Tuesday, October 5, 1880 at Miami County, Indiana, . Sarah C. Bennett died on March 23, 1889 at Miami County, Indiana, at age 37.


Died in a dynamite explosion which destroyed their home. Daughter was killed as well.

     Henry Duck was born in July, 1851 at Indiana. He married Susan Catharine Daubenspeck, daughter of John Daubenspeck and Julia Anne Sutcliff, circa 1875 . In 1900 Henry Duck worked as a stationary engineer at Miami County, Indiana.¹ He lived in 1900 at 251 W. 6th St., Peru, Miami County, Indiana. He died on April 23, 1928 at Peru, Indiana, at age 76.² According to the 1900 census, both of Henry's parents were from Kansas. However the 1880 census says that his father was from Ohio and his mother was from Virginia. In 1880 Eliza Coan was staying with this family. Mary Duck does not appear on the 1900 census. Uncle Grover thought his name was "Joe Duck" (Joseph could have been his middle name).

     Dr. Allen Benton Thrasher was born on July 6, 1851 at Fayette County, Indiana. He was the son of Woodson Walker Thrasher and Barbara Daubenspeck. Dr. Allen Benton Thrasher was educated before 1881; at Butler Academy and Fairview Academy.¹ He was graduated in 1881 Medical College of Ohio, Cincinnati: Cincinnati Medical College.¹ He married, at age 36, Edith Williams on Tuesday, July 3, 1888 at Cincinnati, Ohio, . Dr. Allen Benton Thrasher lived in 1910 at Cincinnati, Ohio. He died on July 3, 1927 at Cincinnati, Ohio, at age 75 of heart disease.¹

      Henry Hahn was also known as "Hen". He was born on July 17, 1851 at Butler Township, Peoria, Miami County, Indiana. He was the son of Henry Hahn and Matilda Troxel.¹ Henry Hahn married, at age 26, Rebecca Jane Hartlerode, age 20, daughter of David Hartleroad and Laura J. York, on Monday, November 5, 1877 at Miami County, Indiana, . Henry Hahn died on October 31, 1933 at North Grove, Miami County, Indiana, at age 82 Chronic Bronchitis and Myocarditis.² He was buried on November 2, 1933 at Santa Fe Cemetery, Miami County, Indiana.

     Hester Ann Cox was born on July 22, 1851 at Indiana.¹ She was the daughter of Jonathan Cox and Prudence Mickle.^1,2 Hester Ann Cox died on April 2, 1866 at Indiana at age 14.¹

     Henrietta Joh was born on November 8, 1851 at Middlebrooke, Virginia. She was the daughter of John W. Joh and Martha Lucinda Hemp. Henrietta Joh married, at age 22, Abraham Endsley, age 27, son of Elihu Endsley and Sidney Parsons, on Thursday, January 1, 1874 at Carey, Amboy, Miami County, Indiana, .¹ Thereafter her married name was Endsley. Henrietta Joh was a Quaker.² She was Died of Heart disease at the home of Lola, her Daughter on November 12, 1921.² She died on November 12, 1921 at Miami County, Indiana, at age 70.

     Ann E. Hahn was born circa 1852. She was the daughter of Benjamin Hahn and Anna Elizabeth Cooper.

     Jane Hartleroad was born in 1852. She was the daughter of John Hartleroad and Mahala White.

     Julia E. Dingman was born in 1852. She married Samuel G. Ramsey, son of Samuel Ramsey and Elizabeth Hahn, on Tuesday, July 14, 1874 at Miami County, Indiana, .

     Elisha Brooks was born in 1852 at Ohio. He married Charlotte (?) in 1880 . In 1900 Elisha Brooks worked as a paperhanger at Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. In 1910 Elisha Brooks worked as a paperhanger at Los angeles, California. In 1930 Elisha Brooks worked as an interior decorator at Inglewood, California.

     Joseph Zoller was born in April, 1852 at Germany. He immigrated in 1872 to USA. He married Anna Schantz in 1876 at Ohio . In 1900 Joseph Zoller worked in a restaurant at Mansfield, Richland County, Ohio.

     Susan Catharine Daubenspeck was born on April 11, 1852 at Hamilton County, Indiana. She was the daughter of John Daubenspeck and Julia Anne Sutcliff. Thereafter her married name was Duck. Susan Catharine Daubenspeck married Henry Duck circa 1875 . Susan Catharine Daubenspeck died after 1930.

     Julia S. Day was born circa 1853 at Indiana.¹ She married John Wesley Beard, age 20, son of James Beard and Margaret Ellis, on Monday, November 16, 1868 at Miami County, Indiana, .² Thereafter her married name was Beard.² Julia S. Day died between 1880 and 1900.

     Rolandus Mounts was born circa 1853 at Indiana. He married Lydia Jessie Kiser, age 21 on Thursday, February 6, 1879 . Rolandus Mounts died in November, 1879.

     John Rush was born circa 1853 at Rush County, Indiana. He was the son of Harvey Daubenspeck Rush and Rachel Sexton.

     James G. Woodward was born in 1853. He married Mary Endsley, daughter of Elihu Endsley and Sidney Parsons, on Thursday, June 17, 1880 at Miami County, Indiana, . James G. Woodward died in 1942 at Miami County, Indiana.

     John J. Hahn was born in 1853 at Indiana. He was the son of David Hahn and Elizabeth Davis.

      Parmelia Heriff was also known as "Melia". She was born in 1853 at Ohio.¹ She was the daughter of Jacob Heriff and Catherine Herchelroth.

     Sarah E. Daubenspeck was born in 1853. She was the daughter of Wesley Daubenspeck and Mary Nancy Lakin.