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LEWIS VAN WEDDING, farmer, Jackson Township, born in New Orleans, La, February 7, 1829. is a son of Lamb and Mary (Vogel) Van Wedding, be a native of Brussels, Belgium, and she of France. He was a soldier in the army under Napoleon; was taken prisoner and carried to Ireland. but subsequently released. In 1814 he immigrated to America, landing at New York City; where he remained some time and learned the business of refining sugar.Thence he removed to New Orleans, where he engaged as foreman in a large sugar refining establishment.
Subsequently he married, raining a resident there until in the fall of 1832;
he removed to Indiana, where he had previously purchased
land in Dearborn County, where he settled and remained until his death,
in 1858, aged seventy-eight years. His widow died, January 5, 1880, aged
seventy-eight years. They were parents of nine children, two now surviving:
Lewis and Catherine, the latter the wife of Franklin H Bush. Of those deceased,
there were three pair of twins. One daughter, Mary, died of cholera, in New
Orleans, in 1832. Lewis, the eldest child, who came to this country, grew to
manhood, fully acquainted with pioneer life, His first schooling was obtained in
a log schoolhouse, four miles distant, in Manchester. February 4. 1851. he was
united in marriage with Victoria Gutzwiller, born May 24,1831, a daughter of
Louis and Mary Gutzwiller, he a native of Flance and she of Switzerland. They
were married in Switzerland, and in 1832 became settlers of this county, where
he died, in 1853, and she December 25, 1863. Mr. Gutzwiller was also a soldier
under Napoleon. They had tan children, five now living: Joseph, Philip, Victoria
John and George; the latter served in the war of the Rebellion, in Company E,
Sixteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry, until the war closed. Mr Van
Wedding and wife have four children: Jacob P.; Macy L., wife of Nicholas Lang;
Louisa, wife of William C. Lewis. and Elizabeth, wife of Clinton S. Ward. Mr.
Van Wedding has made farming his principal business, and has been a resident of
Jackson Township more than half a century. He enlisted in the war, in 1862, in
Company E, Sixteenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer infantry; was wounded at the
battle of Richmond, Ky.; taken prisoner, paroled, and finally discharged on
account of disability. He enlisted as a private and was promoted to second
sergeant. He has held several offices of his township. Mr Van Wedding is one of
the leading men of Jackson Township. Reliable and careful in all his business
transactions, he holds the confidence and respect of the people of his
community.
Source : (collective work) : History of Dearborn and Ohio Counties, Indiana :
from their earliest settlement : containing a history of the counties, their
cities, townships, towns, villages, schools, and churches, reminiscences,
extracts, etc., local statistics, portraits of early settlers and prominent men,
biographies, preliminary chapters on the history of the North-west Territory,
the state of Indiana, and the Indians.; Chicago: F.E. Weakley & Co., 1885, 980
pgs.