Lewis B. Marine, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Lewis B. Marine
LEWIS B. MARINE. This well known and highly esteemed citizen of Morgan township is a representative of one of the sterling pioneer families of Indiana, of which he is a native son, and he has been a resident of Porter county for more than half a century, within which time he has advanced to a position of prominence as one of the leading farmers and stock-growers of Morgan township, where his unqualified personal popularity attests how thoroughly he has measured up to the gauge of public approbation. He is a man of marked ability and sterling integrity, is liberal and progressive as a citizen and as one of the representative citizens of his township is consistently accorded recognition in this history of Porter county. His lineage on the paternal side is traced to staunch Scotch origin and his maternal ancestors were numbered among the old colonial settlers of New England, that generous matrix in which was moulded so much of the nation's early history.
Lewis B. Marine was born in Elkhart county, Indiana, on the 24th of August, 1841, and was the second in order of birth in a family of four sons and four daughters, of whom he is the eldest of the four now living. Viola is the wife of Fletcher White, who is a resident of Valparaiso; John, who maintains his home in the same city, is now living retired from active business; and Charles is engaged in the real-estate and loan business in Valparaiso, the attractive metropolis and judicial center of this county. He whose name initiates this article is a son of Asa and Mary (Crane) Marine, both of whom were members of honored pioneer families of Indiana. Asa Marine was born in Indiana and here passed his entire life. He won success as one of the world's workers and was in the most distinct sense the architect of his own fortunes. In 1845 he came from Elkhart county to Porter county and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, in Morgan township, a farm which he later sold to Dr. L'Mander Lewis, father of the president and the secretary of the Lewis Publishing Company, of Chicago and New York, by which concern this history has been compiled and published, Dr. Lewis having established his home in Porter county in 1849. After selling this original farm Asa Marine purchased the old homestead of two hundred acres now occupied by his son Lewis B., of this review. Here he developed one of the fine farms of the county and here he erected in 1862 the present substantial brick residence now the home of the subject of this sketch, the dwelling being in splendid state of preservation after the lapse of a full half century and being still one of the fine houses of Morgan township. Asa Marine was a man of marked strength of character and of excellent business ability, and his inviolable integrity not only gained him implicit popular esteem but also gave him much influence in public affairs of a local order. He was a staunch Republican in politics and cast his vote in support of the first presidential nominee of the "grand old party,'' General John C. Fremont. Thereafter he voted for the party's every presidential candidate until he was summoned from the scene of his mortal endeavors, at the age of eighty-three years. He contributed much to the industrial and civic development of Morgan township and was ever ready to give his aid to worthy causes for the general good of the community. He was liberal in his financial support of religious and educational work and assisted in the erection of the Christian church, known as the Adams church, in his home township, both he and his wife having been attendants of the same. Mrs. Marine was likewise born and reared in Indiana and she was about seventy-five years of age at the time of her death. The mortal remains of these worthy pioneers rest in the Adams cemetery, near the church just mentioned.
Lewis B. Marine was four years of age at the time of the family removed to Porter county, and here he has maintained his home during the long intervening period. He gained his rudimentary education in the little log school-house of the pioneer days, and the rude equipment of such institutions has been so often described to the younger generation of the present day that it is not necessary to relate the story anew in this connection. It may well be said, however, that in these old-time schools thoroughness in fundamentals was insisted upon and from the same came forth many whose well disciplined minds made them forceful factors in the world's work. Those who, like Mr. Marine, made good use of such advantages as were thus afforded are the ones who have ever been ready to aid in fostering better educational facilities, and he himself has viewed with marked satisfaction the marvelous advances made in public-school work in Porter county since the days of his youth. He has kept pace with the march of progress in his home county and has long held place as one of its representative farmers and stock-growers, with a finely improved and most productive landed estate of two hundred acres to show the effects of his earnest and well directed labors, which have supplemented those of his honored father.
Liberal and loyal in all that pertains to the duties and responsibilities of good citizenship, Mr. Marine has been influential in public affairs in his township, of which he served two terms as trustee, an office in which he did all in his power to foster legitimate enterprises and careful administration of township and county affairs. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln and he has ever since continued to unequivocal allegiance to the Republican party, of whose principles and policies he is a stalwart advocate. Both he and his wife are well known in the county that has long been their home and here it may well be said that their circle of friends is coincident with that of their acquaintances.
Mr. Marine has been twice wedded. On the 1st of March, 1861m, he was united in marriage to Miss Catharine Sutcliffe, who was born and reared in Ohio and who proved a devoted wife and mother, her death having occurred on the 18th of October, 1889. Of the five children of this union -- all daughters -- two are living, -- Nellie, who is he wife of Jerome Bartholomew, a representative farmer of Pleasant township, and who is the mother of one daughter, Grace. Eva is the wife of Clarence Thatcher, a successful agriculturist in Porter township and they have four children namely: Alice, Jeannette, Helen and an infant. On the 10th of March, 1897, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Marine to Mrs. Neva (Dille) Lister, and they have two children, -- C. Louise and Lewis B., Jr., both of whom are attending the public schools of their home township. Mrs. Marine was born in Valparaiso, the judicial center of Porter county, on the 25th of March, 1869, and is a daughter of John and Caroline (Lansing) Dille. Mrs. Marine completed her education in the Chesterton high school and on February 4, 1889, she wedded James Lister, one son being born of this union. This son, Ralph, resides at the maternal home and assists in the work and management of the farm. He completed the curriculum of the public schools and supplemented this discipline by attending the Valparaiso University for a few terms. Mrs. Marine is a woman of most gracious personality and has made her beautiful home a center of refined hospitality, the while she is a popular factor in the social activities of the community. Both she and her husband hold membership in the First Methodist Episcopal church of Valparaiso and are zealous in the support of the various departments of its work.
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: 478-481
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