Notes for Joshua M. Mendenhall

Notes for Joshua M. Mendenhall

From the family notes of Kurt Otto Schelle, Jr.:

Joshua was a farmer most of his life. After he moved to South Bend, Indiana in 1879 or 1880 he spent the remainder of his working years as a laborer. It appears that until about 1870 he worked for other farmers, most likely his father and/or his father-in-law. However, he was not listed in the 1860 census for Huntington County, Indiana. At that time he may have been in Ohio with his sister and brother-in-law (Charles and Mary Ann Taylor). In any event by 1870 he was back in Huntington County. Per the 1870 census and probably living on the Yaughgar farm. My grandmother said they lived on the "Banks of the Wabash" (River) when she was born in 1866. The Yaughgar farm was in Dallas Township, which the Wabash River flowed through.

Joshua and Elizabeth Mendenhall homestaded 60 acres just outside the village of Penn in Cass County, Michigan. They moved there sometime during 1870. However, before they could move, Joshua took the older boys with him to Michigan to build a house and barn so the family would have a place to live. The 80-90 mile trip was made via oxen drawn wagon. (We have a picture of this home that was taken about 1928-29). When we took Grandmother up to see if we could find it, the people who lived there were very gracious and invited her, Mom, and Aunt Bess in to look around. Don, Uncle Irvin, and I remained in the car down by the road. In the early 60s we took Mom up again (about 30 miles from Goshen) but the place was abandoned, the barn had fallen in its tracks and the house needed a lot of repair (the original house had fallen in its tracks too).

The move was made via the same ox drawn wagon(s) with Great-Grandmother and the small children aiding in the wagon and Great-Grandfather and the older children walking alongside or in front of the wagon. What livestock they had walked too. I don't know about chickens, ducks, etc...perhaps they were replaced in Michigan. However, they did have to eat along the way.

Joshua believed in sending his daughters to school as well as his sons. On the frontier this was not a universally held belief. In fact, according to information from within the family he taought in the school during the winter months. Consequently, Grandmother had the advantage of the education that was available to her. By today's standards it was very inadequate.

Joshua and Elizabeth raised their family in the Dunkerd Bretheren Church. Whether this is the church Francis and Mary Mendenhall attended after the quakers disowned them or it was the church of the Yaughgar family is unkonw. I have been told the Dunkerds are about as close to the Quakers as you could get. Also, I have been told the Uaghgars were "Pennsylvania Dutch". As such they could easily have belonged to the Dunkerd Bretheren Church which allegedly had roots in Germay. It could have been either way or a combination of the two. Joshua and Elizabeth met somewhere and their homes were not very close to each other by the standards of that time.

Things seemed to be going well on the farm in Cass County when son, John, left home rather abruptly. A short time later a neighbor showed up to claim the entire year's crop. He had a bill of sale signed by John. John had sold the crop, pocketed the money, and disappeared to parts unknown. Joshua said "if my son sold the crop it is the same as if I sold it." So he honored the transaction, turned over the crop, and lost the farm. This was the reason for the move to South Bend, where work could be found.

The 1880 census for St. Joseph County, Indiana lists Joshua Mendenhall as a laborer and indicates he had "lung fever" (pheumonia). It lists his wife and the following children: Joshua, Elizabeth, Anna, Lucinda, and Elihu.

Joshua managed to support his wife and himself and family until they left home. Joshua and Elizabeth celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1899 and Joshua died in 1907 about 5 months shore of his 78th birthday.