Ruthven O. Peck, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Ruthven O. Peck
RUTHVEN O. PECK, for many years a farmer and stock raiser of Porter county, Indiana, whose postoffice address is Valparaiso, R. R. No.5, is a highly respected citizen and a representative of a family which has been identified with this county for a period of more than half a century.
Mr. Peck is a native of the Keystone state. He was born near Erie, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1842, son of Orrin and Almira (Bartram) Peck, natives of Connecticut. In 1853, thinking to better his condition by a westward move, Orrin Peck came with his family to northern Indiana and established a pioneer home in Porter county. Here he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land, the chief improvement on which was a log house with a large fireplace made of sticks standing endwise, daubed with mud. The barn, built of poles on end, with straw-filled cracks and straw roof, served as a shelter for his stock. Here in the early days he and his wife and children endured the hardships of frontier life and passed through varied experiences, all of which tended to the development of sturdy characters. In time a comfortable home took the place of the primitive cabin, a substantial barn and other farm buildings were erected, and fruit trees and shrubbery blossomed and bore. The children in order of birth of Orrin Peck are Alecta, John, Zolman, David, Etsel, Claretta, Caroline, Ruthven O. and Bratan, who grew up and occupied useful positions in life.
Ruthven O. Peck remained at home, assisting his father with the farm work, and after his marriage, which event occurred when he was twenty-one years of age, he continued to reside on the old farm for three years. This was during the Civil war period. Young Peck, as a volunteer in Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-first Indiana Volunteer Regiment, was mustered into the Union service at La Porte, Indiana, and with his command was sent to Nashville, Tennessee. After the expiration of his first term he re-enlisted, and remained on duty until the war was over and he was honorably discharged in July, 1865, when he returned home. During his service in the south he suffered a sun stroke and fell unconscious to the ground. His comrades carried him about eighty rods and laid him down by his tent, saying: "Peck's ready for his wooden overcoat." Soon afterward, however, he revived, and was able to do service as ward master in hospital, in which capacity he was employed up to the time of his discharge.
Returning home, he rented a farm and for several years carried on farming operations on rented land. Success attended his efforts, and subsequently he purchased the farm on which he has since lived, in section 27, Union township.
On New Year's eve, 1863, Ruthven O. Peck and Miss Elizabeth Frame were united in marriage. Sons and daughters to the number of eight were given to them: the first and second born, Electa and Mabel, died in infancy; Grant, who is engaged in farming near the old home, married Mae Rackett and has five children, Reid, Earl and Mearl (twins), Margaret and Howard; Orinda died in 1896, at the age of twenty-two years; Celesta, now residing near Westville, Indiana, is the wife of John Coulter and has three children, Ruth, Revia and Glenn; Mary, wife of Otto Schultz, a farmer, has three children, Florence, Mary and Luella; Eugene is at the old home; and Almira, the youngest, died in infancy.
Mrs. Ruthven O. Peck is a native of Porter county and a daughter of William and Jane (McCarahan) Frame, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Frame and their large family figured prominently among the early settlers of this locality. They were the parents of twelve children, named in order of birth as follows: Newton, Elizabeth, Thomas, John, Presley, James, Sarah, Rosa, Mary, William, Melinda and Newton. The first Newton died in early life. Mrs. Peck is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Wheeler, while Mr. Peck is identified with the Baptist church at Valparaiso. Politically he is a Democrat; fraternally, a Mason.
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: 749-750
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