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Surnames: Emerson, Marsteller
Classification: Biography
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/Hi.2ADI/1777
Message Board Post:
Biographical Record and Portrait Album of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, pg. 598
Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1888
NICHOLAS MARSTELLER, an active and public spirited citizen of Wabash Township, was born in
Licking County, Ohio, in the year 1822, and in the year 1829 was brought by his parents,
CHARLES and MARGARET MARSTELLER, to Lafayette, this county, at a time when the entire
population did not exceed twenty-five families. They resided in the village one month,
when the father entered 240 acres of land in the woods of Wabash Township, to which he
removed his family, camping in the woods until he could make a clearing and erect a cabin.
He next began to clear away the timber and prepare the soil for cultivation, and for the
greater part of this labor he was compelled to rely on his own brawny arms and determined
courage, his children being too young to render him available assistance. NICHOLAS
MARSTELLER was then but eight years of age, but as he grew in years and strength, he
became a great help to his father, assisting him in the improvement and cultivation of the
farm. Being rear!
ed to the vocation of a farmer he made that his life work, and by patience and persevering
industry, and strict economy, he has acquired a handsome estate, and while careful in
amassing his own private fortune, he has never been less generous than his neighbors in
contributing toward the furtherance of enterprises tending toward the improvement of his
township and county.
MR. MARSTELLER was united in marriage November 14, 1844, to MISS ELIZABETH EMERSON, a
daughter of JAMES EMERSON, one of the old and honored pioneers of Tippecanoe County. MR.
and MRS. MARSTELLER are the parents of two sons -- GEORGE EMERSON and CHARLES ALMUS, the
latter a graduate of Butler University, Irvington, near Indianapolis, and now studying law
under MR. VINTON, Jr. MR. MARSTELLER continued to reside on his father's farm until
1848, at which time he engaged in farming on his own account. In 1869 he was elected
trustee of Wabash Township, and having served one term to the entire satisfaction of his
constituents, he was re-elected, and filled that office six consecutive years. In 1871 he
relinquished his farming pursuits to engage in the lumber trade in Lafayette, which he
followed until the fall of 1875, when his planing mill was destroyed by fire. He is now
retired from active business, yet oversees his several farms. He has a handsome residence
at Chauncey, wh!
ere he now resides, surrounded with all the necessary comforts of life, and enjoying the
confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. Both he and his wife are active and
consistent members of the Christian church.