Samuel B. Anderson, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Samuel B. Anderson
SAMUEL B. ANDERSON. Among the families worthiest to be mentioned in this history as early settlers, home builders, developers and producers of the agricultural wealth of the county, and people of fine personal integrity and influence as citizens, is that of Samuel B. Anderson, whose homestead near Kouts has been associated with this name for half a century.
Mr. Anderson himself is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, where he was born August 2, 1843, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Biggart) Anderson. The parents were both born in Ireland, whence they immigrated to this country and were married in Ohio. In their family were the following children: Margaret, William N., James N., Mary P. and Samuel B. The father spent a number of years as a farmer in Trumbull county, until having heard from relatives of the superior opportunities in western Indiana he determined to take his family to the newer country. The journey was made in a prairie schooner in 1847, but on arriving in Porter county the father was at first much dissatisfied and for a number of days kept his goods loaded on the wagon with the intention of returning to Ohio. Finally his decision was made to remain and cast in his lot with the other early settlers of this vicinity. He bought eighty acres of unimproved land, built a log house, and began with patience and industry the pioneer battle of establishing and developing a home. In later years the results were manifest in a fine farmstead, a home where the children were reared to useful and honorable lives, and in the midst of one of the finest agricultural regions of northwestern Indiana.
Samuel B. Anderson was four years old when the long journey was taken from eastern Ohio to this county, and he was reared on the old home farm, obtained his education in the district school that then existed in the neighborhood, and continued to superintend his father's place until he was thirty-two years old. Then, in 1875, he acquired a home of his own through his marriage to one of the popular young ladies of Porter county, Miss Eliza Spencer.
After his marriage he began his career on one hundred and sixty acres of his father's land, east of Kouts, and for nearly forty years has been one of the progressive citizens of that vicinity. Three children, all daughters, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, named Margaret E., Emma Birdella and Charlotte G. They were well educated, attending the Marshall Grove school, and Margaret and Birdella each became teachers and did successful work in the training of children for several years. Margaret taught for two years in the Stoll school, a year in the Flitters school in Morgan township and two years in the Vinette school, while Birdella followed her sister at the Stoll school, where she taught two years. In 1901 death took away the youngest daughter, Charlotte, at the age of twenty, when she was just entering her career as a useful and happy young woman, and her loss was mourned by a large circle outside of the immediate family. The Anderson home was the scene of many pleasant scenes while all the children were there. Margaret is now the wife of Fred Steinke, who is connected with the International Harvester Company and is employed in the company's works at Chatham, Ontario. They are the parents of two children, Louise M. and Frederick S. Steinke. Birdella married Nelson R. Hughes, a son of Albert and Mary Hughes. He was born in Oswego, Kansas, and is now one of the progressive and successful farmers of Porter county, having purchased the old Anderson homestead. The two children of this daughter are Robert A. and Marian B., aged three and one years, respectively. During 1911 Mr. Anderson spent three months with his daughter's family in Ontario, and has traveled a great deal during his life. His father before him was one of the successful men of Porter comity, owning four hundred and eighty acres in the county, and Mr. Anderson himself has used his energy and business judgment to fine purpose and has met with deserved prosperity.
He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Kouts, and he has been identified with the church and a liberal supporter all his life. His father and mother were charter members of the Tassinong Presbyterian church. Politically Mr. Anderson is a Democrat, broad-minded in his views of public affairs, and has always been an effective worker for the improvement of his own community. He served for some years as school director. His grandchildren who live in the old home contribute to the pleasures of his declining years, and as he looks back on the many years spent in unostentatious but fruitful activities he has no regrets. His career has been straighforward and honorable, and no citizen of this vicinity is entitled to or receives higher esteem than Samuel B. Anderson.
Source: Lewis Publishing Company. 1912. History of Porter County, Indiana: A Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal Interests. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. 881 p.
Page(s) in Source: 637-638
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