The settlers of Noble county, Ind., of over half a century ago might with strict propriety have been designated as pioneers, as the country was at that time quite a wilderness and in many parts awaiting the first stroke of the sturdy woodman's ax in laying low the giant monarchs of the forests for the purpose of making way for the onward march of a fast-approaching civilization, as was the case with Elkhart township when the late John Pancake came here from the Buckeye state in 1846.
          The pioneer's life, as even modern readers know through tradition and otherwise, was one of self-sacrifice, hard toil and unwavering courage in facing the inevitable dangers attendant upon life in the depths of the mysterious forests infested with wild beasts of prey and men of equally wild propensities, and with these it was the lot of the subject of this sketch, of reverend memory, largely to contend.
          John Pancake, the founder of the greatly respected family bearing that surname in Noble county at this day, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, on the old Pancake homestead, July 9, 1818, and was reared to farming. He was first married in his native county, in 1846, to Miss Effie A. Radcliff, who was also a native of the Buckeye state and a daughter of Job and Martha Radcliff, who were born in Virginia. John Pancake and his bride came to Indiana the same year of their marriage and settled in Noble county on land which had been entered in 1838 in Elkhart township by his father, John Pancake, and on which he later erected the fine residence which is still the pride of the township. Here Mrs. Effie A. Pancake was called from earth in 1847, leaving one child, Elias Douglass Pancake, who died in Wichita, Kans., December 19, 1883, of pneumonia.
          The second marriage of John Pancake took place March 4, 1849, in Pickaway county, Ohio, to Miss Susan Cornell, a native of Virginia, born October 6, 1818 and a daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Parker) Cornell, also natives of the Old Dominion, but who died in McLean county, Ill. To this second marriage were born two children, viz.: Mary E., the widow of Elza J. Thompson, who died in Perry township, Noble county, Ind., May 3, 1899; and Margaret E.
          It was on his wedding day, March 4, 1849, that John Pancake and his newly-wedded wife started on horseback from Ohio for their home in Noble county, Ind., taking eleven days to make the journey, and took up their residence on a well-appointed farm. Like his elegant brick dwelling, this farm was a model in neatness and was cultivated in the most scientific and effective manner. His crops were always sure and reliable and consequently profitable. His farm buildings were commodious and substantial, and supplied with every convenience, and his live stock of the highest strains and best pedigrees. He thoroughly understood his vocation, and had but few, if any, equals in its practice.
          Mr. Pancake was broad minded and liberal in his political views, was active in local affairs, and did much toward directing the course of public events. His advice was sought on all questions of public investment in works of utility, and his foresightedness a marvel to his fellow citizens, as he never made a mistake in his forecast of results. He was a God-fearing man, incorruptible in love of truth and unswerving in his integrity.
          This noble old pioneer died on his estate of three hundred and eighty acres in Noble county, January 6, 1892, and his loss was a deep sorrow to his friends and neighborhood, who felt that one of the best and wisest men of the township had been taken from their midst and that his equal would not soon be found.

          One of the foremost agricultural families of Elkhart township, Noble county, Ind., is that of the late Isaac Pancake, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, in 1813, and who married Miss Eve Smith, also a native of Licking county, and born in 1827.
          Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Pancake were married in the county of their nativity, whence they came to Noble county, Ind., in the spring of 1845 and settled in Elkhart township, where they passed the remainder of their lives, honored and respected by all who knew them, the father dying July 26, 1879, in his sixty-sixth year, and the mother on the 14th day of September, 1881, when fifty-eight years old. They had born to them a family of seven children, who were named in order of birth as follows: John, Joseph L., Isaac N. (the subject of this sketch), Mary, William, Geneva V. and Cora.
          Isaac Newton Pancake was born in Elkhart township, Noble county, Ind., January 10, 1847, and was reared to practical agricultural work on his father's homestead, on which he still has his residence and which he has materially assisted in developing. On September 23, 1874, he was most happily joined in marriage with Miss Eva C. Mawhorter, who was born in Elkhart township December 21, 1858, and is the accomplished daughter of Aaron and Rebecca A. Mawhorter, of whom a full biographical sketch is given on another page of this volume. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Pancake have been born four children, who are still living to brighten the home circle with their cheerful countenances and winning waays, save the eldest, Warren, who died in infancy. The three survivors are named in order of birth as follows: Marion I., Harvey A. and Ethel M., the latter being the wife of Abraham Gage.
          Mr. and Mrs. Pancake are devoted members of the Free Will Baptist church, to the support of which they are most liberal contributors and in the good work of which they are active and willing helpers.
          The home farm of Mr. Pancake comprises eighty acres, which he keeps under a profitable state of cultivation, raising all the crops usual to this latitude. His dwelling is of modern construction and is a model of neatness exteriorly and interiorly, the latter being the special care of his amiable helpmate. In politics Mr. Pancake is a Democrat.

          A representative of one the best known families of Elkhart township, Noble county, Ind., is a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, and was born July 22, 1848. His father, Joseph Pancake, was also a native of Pickaway county, was born May 22, 1822, was reared to farming on the old Pancake homestead, and was married in his native county to Ruann Halstead, who was born in the same county, and there died at the early age of twenty-three, or even before she had completed her twenty-third year. Joseph Pancake died in Ottawa, Kans., January 8, 1871, having an only son, John E., subject of this sketch and the sole offspring of this marriage.
          John E. Pancake was reared on the old home farm in Wayne township, Pickaway county, and was there educated in the common schools primarily, and then attended the Union Christian College at Merom, Sullivan county, Ind., from which he was graduated with honors. After leaving college Mr. Pancake returned to to Pickaway county, Ohio, and for three terms taught school. In the summer of 1870 he left the Buckeye state and went to Franklin county, Kans., where he was employed in farming one year before he entered a homestead in Wilson county, which farm he cleared up and later sold. In the spring of 1872 he came to Noble county, Ind., and for seven years was employed by the month by his uncle, the late John Pancake, and also taught school for six winters.
          After leaving the monthly employ of his uncle Mr. Pancake took sole charge of the farm, being thoroughly practical in every agricultural detail and with all the minutiae of this particular estate. He performed his duties in so satisfactory a manner to all concerned that he was appointed, at the death of his uncle, sole administrator by the latter and is still acting in that capacity, the functions of which he is carrying on with laudable conscientiousness. He is the owner of one hundred and forty acres of good farming land in his own right, which he cultivates assiduously and skillfully, and is at all times one the busiest of men.
          Mr. Pancake is in politics a Democrat, but although very popular has never condescended to accept public office; yet he always interests himself, and that effectuallly, in local affairs, giving to them the attention that he feels every good citizen should bestow when called upon or when they present themselves in such a manner as to attract unavoidable notice uncalled for.
          Mr. Pancake is still unmarried, but has a home that any woman would be proud to share. His dwelling is a model of comfort and coziness and taste, his farm buildings commodious and substantial, and his farm itself under the highest possible state of cultivation, his long experience in this vocation making him unexcelled in its practice. Although not a member of any church, he is liberal in his contributions to all in his township and to many elsewhere, being never niggardly in this or any other respect.
          Hospitable to a marked degree and genial in disposition and affable in demeanor, he entertains his friends most lavishly as well as courteously and pleasingly. His wit and humor overflow spontaneously, while his logical mind is quick in its apprehension of the mertis of such questions as he and his friends may for the time being have under discussion. He is a friend of truth, and never wastes his time and breath in an argument simply for the purpose of carrying his point, right or wrong, but discusses a subject with the pure and simple desire to arrive at its true merits and intrinsic value. He is not a man to raise false hopes in the breasts of his friends and acquaintances by promising favors which he never intends to grant. He is honest and sound to the core, and what he says he means.
          It were well indeed if Elkhart township had inside its limits a few more such citizens as Mr. Pancake to take an intelligent interest in shaping its public policy and guiding its progress, for it is to such as he the true advancement of any community is due, and that community is a fortunate one in which such men as he have residence.

          Joseph L. Pancake, of Elkhart township, Noble county, Ind., and a skillful and prosperous farmer, is a son of Isaac N. and Eve (Smith) Pancake, sketches of various members of whose family appear on other pages of this work and are worthy of a careful perusal in conjunction with this biography, but a portion of which is repeated here.
          Joseph L. Pancake was born in Linn county, Iowa, December 10, 1844, and in the spring of 1845 was brought by his parents to Elkhart township, Noble county, Ind., where his father died July 26, 1879, in his sixty-sixth year, and his mother September 14, 1881, in her fifty-eighth year, and were the parents of seven children, viz: John, Joseph L. (the subject of this sketch), Isaac Newton, Mary, William, Geneva V. and Cora.
          Reared to farming on the paternal homestead, Joseph L. Pancake has fully maintained the enviable reputation of his forefathers as an agriculturist. He was a willing and able assistant to his father, and remained on the home farm until some years after he had attained his own majority, when, on December 22, 1870, he married, in Clear Spring township, Lagrange county, Ind., Miss Olive Peck, a native of the township last named and born July 31, 1848. On marrying he settled on the farm which is still his homestead and which now comprises one hundred and sixty acres. This land he has cleared up and improved with a dwelling equal in beauty to any other in the township, and his farm buildings are unsurpassed for convenience and sheltering and storage purposes.
          Mr. and Mrs. Pancake and their two children, Verne L. and Grace, attend the English Lutheran church, and strictly adhere to its teachings, as well as take an active part in the prosecution of its work of well doing.
          In politics Mr. Pancake is a Democrat, but has never condescended to seek public office at his party's hands, being satisfied to pursue the even tenor of his way as a farmer, and is doing good in a quiet and unostentatious manner, when opportunity offers itself. He finds in his home and in the society of his amiable wife and children a solace for all the cares and ills of life, which, happily for him, are few, and those few, under the circumstances, quite easily endured.
          Silas Burton Peck, the father of Mrs. Olive Pancake, was born in Fairfield county, Conn., April 30, 1813, and his wife bore the maiden name of Sarah G. Hastings--a surname memorable in the history of England. This lady was born in Junius, Seneca county, N. Y., August 19, 1816, and came with her husband from that country to Indiana and settled in Clear Spring township, Lagrange county, early in the 'forties. There her father died June 18, 1889, in his seventy-seventh year, and her mother July 25, 1890, in her seventy-fourth year. This venerable couple were among the best known and most respected of the residents of Clear Spring township, and their memory is still tenderly and affectionately cherished by many of the old-time residents. Their children were six in number and were named in order of birth as follows: Esther, Olive, John, Charles, George and Emily.
          The home of Mr. and Mrs. Pancake is one of the most pleasant in Elkhart township, and is widely known for its genial hospitality, its portals being ever open to friends and strangers alike. The needy are never turned away unprovided for, and the name of Joseph L. Pancake is a household word throughout Elkhart township, while that of his wife is always uttered with profound respect.