Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Pulver, David C. 1842 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 25, 2006, 11:25 pm

Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

DAVID C. PULVER.

    There are few living Lake county citizens who can claim their birth as
having taken place in this county over sixty years ago, and among that few is
Mr. D. C. Pulver. He and his noble wife are held in the highest esteem by all
who know them, and they have made themselves factors of influence and worth ever
since entering upon their active careers in this county.

    Mr. Pulver was born May 21, 1842, and is the youngest of the seven children,
four sons and three daughters, born to David and Mercy (Tobias) Pulver. Besides
himself, there are two of the children still living, as follows: Eunice, the
wife of Edward Ashton, of Lowell; and Lodemia, wife of Henry Farrington, of
Wessington, South Dakota. The father of the family was born in Pennsylvania in
1795, four years before the death of General Washington, and died December 27,
1843. He was reared to farming pursuits, and educated in the old-time schools
existing during the earliest years of the past century. His death occurred when
his son David was but six months old, so that the latter never knew the
energizing influence of his father. The mother of Mr. D. C. Pulver, also a
native of Pennsylvania, was born September 2, 1805, and died October 24, 1881,
she and her husband being married on November 5, 1826. In the year 1841 this
worthy couple came west and took up their residence in Lake county, at a time
when the country hereabout was practically a wilderness. David Pulver bought one
hundred and ten acres of raw land in West Creek township, and the first home
that sheltered the family was a log cabin. In those early days, about the time
when David C. was a baby, the Indians were still roaming freely over this part
of northwestern Indiana, and one day the red men came to the Pulver home and
stole the daughter Eunice, keeping her in their possession for two or three
hours before she could be rescued. Deer often fled across the premises, and the
howl of the wolf could be heard for many years after their settlement. The town
of Lowell had not yet been founded, and while there are now nearly twenty
important railroads through the county, the boy David had attained the age of
eight or nine years before the wild shriek of the locomotive roused the echoes
with its unwonted sound.

    Mr. Pulver was thus born and reared in Lake county and has made his home in
West Creek township all his life. He was educated in such schools as were common
in this county during his youth, and he still distinctly recalls the little log
cabin school which stood half a mile from the old homestead. It was about
fourteen by eighteen feet in size, was roofed over with the pioneer "shakes" as
the rough predecessor of shingles. The seats were rough slabs supported by four
legs, and the desk for the larger pupils was a board extending around the room.
The building was heated with a cast-iron stove. Both Mr. and Mrs. Pulver have
used the old-fashioned goosequill pens, and their lives are a strange blending
of the pioneer experiences with twentieth century prosperity and convenience.

    Mr. Pulver remained at home and cared for his mother until her death. On
February 25, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Ursula Vandecar, and the
live children born to this union are as follows: Cora, who was educated in the
common schools and was a teacher for three years in Lake county, is the wife of
E. Van Alstine, a farmer of Roanoke, Huntington county., Indiana, and they have
three children, Oakes, Ursula and Elton. Charles W., who after the public school
education took the normal course at Valparaiso College, learned the jeweler's
trade at the big watch factory at. Elgin. Illinois, and is now a successful
merchant of Lowell: he married Miss Edith Hull. Lura completed the eighth grade
of school work and is now the wife of Jodie Hayden, a prosperous farmer of West
Creek township. Earle, at home, has also completed the eighth grade. Jessie, at
home, did, in addition to the work of the common schools, one year's work in the
Lowell high school. Mrs. Pulver was born in Cedar Creek township, Lake county,
June 15, 1847, being a daughter of Peter and Wealthy (Clark) Vandecar. There
were just two children, and her sister is Lovisa, wife of William Halstead, a
farmer at Topeka, Kansas. Mrs. Pulver was reared and has spent all her life in
this county. She is a lady of cordial greeting and accomplished in the best
activities of the world, and has been an able helpmate to her husband.

    Mr. Pulver was among the Lake county citizens who offered their services
during the great rebellion. August 9, 1862, he enlisted at Lowell, in Company A,
Seventy-third Indiana Volunteers, under Captain Fry. The regiment was organized
at South Bend, and was sent to Louisville, Kentucky. He was under the command of
General Sherman during his army career. He was taken sick at Siloam Springs,
Tennessee, and was forced to leave the service permanently, being finally
discharged March 9, 1863.

    Mr. Pulver is a stalwart Republican, and since casting his first
presidential vote for Lincoln has supported every candidate of the Grand Old
Party. He is a member of the Grand Army post at Lowell. Mrs. Pulver is a member
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and he has contributed his share to the
benevolences and charity. Mr. and Mrs. Pulver have lived in this county so long
that not only have they been witnesses to its growth and development from a wild
country, but they themselves are well known and held in highest esteem
throughout the county. They have a most hospitable home, and it is ever open to
their many friends. They have in their possession one of the oldest Bibles in
the county, one that was published in 1817. Another valuable heirloom from the
preceding generation is one of the old double coverlets, woven by his mother
fully three quarters of a century ago. Mrs. Pulver has a silver cup that has
been handed down from generation to generation, it having been made in Sweden as
far back as the seventeenth century.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
Genealogy and Biography
OF
LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA,
WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 
1834—1904

A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and
the Founding of a Nation.

REV. T. H. BALL
OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO   NEW YORK
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1904


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