John C. Coulter, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of John C. Coulter
JOHN C. COULTER was born June 28, 1824, in Berks County, Penn. He is the only child of Robert and Ann (Cooper) Coulter, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Maryland. The elder Coulter was a teacher by occupation, and a self-made man. The Coulters mentioned in the early history of Oregon are said to be connected with the ancestors of our subject. Mr. Coulter's maternal ancestors were Quakers, and early settlers of Maryland. When young Coulter was seven years of age, the parents moved to Crawford County, Ohio, and brought land; young Coulter, in 1850, came to Indiana, his parents having died. He engaged in farming in Lake County for about one year, when he came to Calumet (now Chesterton), teaching and working at other things until the war began. He enlisted in 1861 in the Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers, participating in the battle of Corinth, the siege of Vicksburg, and afterward under Sherman on h is famous "march to the sea," through to Washington, then on to Louisville, where he was discharged. On his return to Chesterton, he engaged in railroading at the station for three years, when he taught three terms. He now began working in the brick yards, burning the kiln. On the day the great Chicago fire began, he was installed as station agent at Chesterton, continuing in that occupation until April, 1882, when he resigned. He still holds the express office. He also engaged in manufacturing a vegetable root beer. Mr. Coulter is a member of the Masonic fraternity. He has held office of Justice of the Peace, etc., and is at present a strong Greenbacker. He was married, February 1, 1843, to Sarah McHenry, a native of Ohio. They had four children, all living - William, Artelissa J., Sarah and Lana. His wife died in October, 1874, and, about two years later, he married the present wife, Mary Cook, a native of Columbiana County, Ohio. His parents are living at Helena, near Toledo.
Source: Goodspeed, Weston A., and Charles Blanchard. 1882. Counties of Porter and Lake, Indiana: Historical and Biographical, Illustrated. Chicago, Illinois: F. A. Battey & Company. 771 p.
Page(s) in Source: 294-295
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook