BENDER; PA,USA>IN,USA; 1849- Contributed by Gregory L. Bender Samuel BENDER born March 21, 1850 in Pennsylvania married Eliza Jane HOUTZ of Ohio on March 25, 1875 in Wells County, Indiana. Eliza was born February 6, 1854 in Rock Creek, Wells County, Indiana, the daughter of Henry HOUTZ (b.11/6/1815) of Pennsylvania and Fanny HARP of Montgomery County, Ohio. Samuel and Eliza had the following seven children: Minnie Estella BENDER, born March 13, 1876; John Henry BENDER, born March 11, 1879; Claude Nelson BENDER, born February 18, 1881; Nettie Barbara BENDER, born November 9, 1883; Herbert Houtz "Herb or HH" BENDER; born June 14, 1886; Edna Lucille BENDER, born December 12, 1889; and , Leland S. BENDER born March 3, 1896. With the exception of Nettie who was born in Scioto, County, Ohio, all children were born at home in Bluffton, Wells County, Indiana. Samuel BENDER died October 11, 1919, and Eliza died January 23, 1922. Minnie Estella BENDER married a Mr. DRISCOLL of Bluffton, Indiana and they had six children: Juanita BENDER born about 1906; Lauren BENDER born about 1907; Robert BENDER born about 1908; Kathryn BENDER born about 1910; Alline BENDER born about 1911; and, Donald BENDER born about 1913. John Henry BENDER died Sept 25th, 1895 before reaching manhood. Nothing is known about his life or the cause of his death. Likewise, nothing is known of Claude Nelson BENDER other than that he died in June 1883. Nettie Barbara BENDER married Alfred G. SAURER (born January 1890) of Indiana. They had two daughters: Catherine SAURER, born June 30, 1910 and Margaret Jane SAURER, born November 28, 1917. Nettie died in November 1960. Alfred died September 1957. Herbert Houtz BENDER married Alline R. BUCK who was born January 5, 1887 in Redkey, Jay County, Indiana to John BUCK of Madison County, Indiana and Caroline PUGH also of Madison County, Indiana. Herbert, Herb or "HH" as he was known to his family, and Alline had five children while living in Bluffton, IN. These five children included: Elizabeth "Libbie" BENDER, born Oct 15, 1909; John Samuel "Jack" BENDER, born October 12, 1913; Pauline "Polly" BENDER, born August 12, 1915; Richard Paul "Dick" BENDER, born October 21, 1921; and, Carolyn Jane BENDER born in 1927. HH BENDER owned the Leader Department store in Bluffton, IN, and Alline BUCK was heir to her father’s business which made wooden handles for a wide range of tools, brushes and other implements. They lived at 428 W. Wabash St. in the John L. Buck House. This Queen Anne style house built for Alline’s father in 1899 was designed by local architect William H. Powers and was one of the grandest homes in Bluffton when built. Business was good and they bought another large home in Angola in Northeastern Indiana’s lake country. This home was reported to be so large that it had a gymnasium in the attic where the boys used to play basketball during bad weather. HH and Alline also bought a number of lake cottages at Lake George on the Indiana-Michigan border that they would rent out during the summers. Between the stock market crash and the ensuing depression, both businesses were lost and the grand house in Bluffton was sold at a sheriff’s auction. By this time HH had taken to drinking and he and Alline were divorced. Alline moved to Angola, IN with her five children and turned the house there into a boarding house for students at nearby Tri-State University. HH died in 1959 in Bluffton, and Alline died in September 1971 at the Methodist Home in Warren, Indiana. Edna Lucille BENDER married Ernest BRAND. Edna and Ernest had two children: Robert BRAND and Mary Louise BRAND. Leland S. BENDER, died Jan. 19th, 1897, still an infant. Nothing else is known about him. On January 8, 1931, in Bluffton, Elizabeth "Libbie" BENDER married Lawrence Fredrick "Larry" CROSBIE of Bluffton, IN. Larry CROSBIE was the son of Mr. & Mrs. James Andrew CROSBIE also of Bluffton. Larry was a party politician and was at one time the Head of the Indiana Tollroad Commission. Libbie wrote stories for women’s magazines. She once wrote a story for Readers Digest about her grandmother, Caroline Pugh’s, covered wagon journey to Missouri. Libbie and Larry had three children Carol Aline CROSBIE; James Andrew CROSBIE II; and, Mack Herbert CROSBIE. Larry CROSBIE died in August 1976 in Indianapolis, where he and Libbie made their home. Libbie died May 29, 1998 in Cocoa Beach, FL. On February 12, 1938, John Samuel "Jack" BENDER married Henrietta CARNES of Keystone, IN. Henrietta was daughter of Ralph CARNES and Ethel FELTT. Jack graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in civil engineering. Jack played varsity football at Wisconsin, and is remembered for playing across the line from then- Ohio-footballer President Gerald Ford. Jack is said to knocked President Ford on his backside more time than he would care to remember. Jack served as a Naval Officer during World War II, and eventually headed a large construction company in the Richmond, IN area. Jack and Henrietta has two children: Constance "Connie" BENDER and John Samuel "Sam" BENDER II. Jack and Henrietta live year-round at their Michigan home at Lake George on the Indiana-Michigan border. On December 12, 1932, in Bluffton, Pauline "Polly" BENDER married Joseph Louis "Joe" VORE of Bluffton, IN. Joe VORE was born in Bluffton, IN. Joe managed a Texas ranch for a Mrs. Black who was in the oil business. Joe used to say that Mrs. Black had a horse tank (pond) bigger than the LBJ Ranch and was reported to have a $2.5 million "ranch house" (1964 dollars)" with 27 bathrooms. Joe and Polly had two children: Richard Paul "Dick" VORE and Diane Elizabeth VORE. Dick VORE, despondent over a breakup with his girlfriend, shot and kiiled himself in 1964 at the age of 19. Joe VORE died in September 18, 1967 in Dallas, TX. Polly died in 1997, also in Dallas, TX. On July 21, 1951, Richard Paul "Dick" BENDER married Natalie Rose TANNEHILL of Fort Wayne, IN and soon after adopted her small son Gregory Louis MEYERS. Natalie was the daughter of Vernon Louis "Vern" TANNEHILL of Belfast, Highland County, Ohio and Veronica Edna "Vera" GOCKE. Growing up, Dick worked parttime while attending school and during the summers. The family lived in Bluffton and Angola, IN, and he attended school in both places. He lived with his grandmother Caroline PUGH in St. Petersberg, FL during his 8th grade year and attended school there. Dick was very popular in High School and was both Captain of the Basketball team and Senior Class President. Dick BENDER studied engineering at Tri-State College in Angola. When, during the war, he dropped out for a semester to earn money to continue, he was drafted into the Army. His engineering education got him into the Army Air Corps and Officer Candidate School. After further training at Yale University and in Boca Raton, FL, he was assigned as aircraft maintenance officer for a stateside training squadron. He made his way overseas and was stationed in post-war Germany before being mustered out. Dick returned to Tri-State College to finish a degree in Civil Engineering under the GI Bill. After graduation, he worked on construction projects in Alaska, California and Texas before returning to Indiana. In Fort Wayne, Dick was a partner in Tri-State Builders Supply before starting his own company building first houses and later bridges. Dick and Natalie had a second child, Kathryn Ann BENDER. Dick and Natalie moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971, where Dick opened an office and headed the estimating department for a large construction firm specializing in water treatment and sewage treatment plants. Dick BENDER died October 1, 1994 in Mountain View, CA of cancer and emphysema. On December 18, 1949, Carolyn Jane BENDER married Robert Edwin "Bob" BROOKSBANK of New York City. Bob, born March 11, 1925 in New York City, was the son of William Arthur BROOKSBANK and Ethel May JACKSON. Bob graduated from Tri-State College in Angola with a degree in chemical engineering. He worked most of his life for Union Carbide at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, and was recognized as a world expert in the nuclear fuel cycle. At one time Bob was mayor of Kingston. Bob and Carolyn had five children: Rebecca Ann "Becky" BROOKSBANK, Robert "Bob or Bobby" BROOKSBANK; Richard "Rick" BROOKSBANK; Roger BROOKSBANK; and, Beth Lynn "Betsy". Bob and Carolyn made their home in Kingston, TN.