Biography of Colonel E. Montavon, pages 462/463. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. In every life of honor and usefulness there is no dearth of incident, yet in summing up the career of any man the writer needs touch only those salient points which give the keynote to his character. Thus in giving the life record of Colonel E. Montavon sufficient will be said to show, what all who know him will freely acquiesce in, that his is one of the enterprising and progressive citizens of DeKalb county. Colonel E. Montavon, who for a number of years has been recognized as one of the leading citizens of Waterloo, Indiana, was born on December 21, 1861, at Fremont, this state, and is the son of Peter and Catherine (Christ) Montavon. Peter Montavon was born at Alsace, France, and was a man of splendid intellectual attainments, being able to speak seven different languages. He was a shoemaker by trade and coming to America he was employed in a number of cities of this country. On August 5, 1856, when twenty-six years old, he married Mrs. Catherine (Christ) Fluery, who was then but eighteen years old. She was born in Paris, France, and in young girlhood married Joseph Fluery, who was employed later at the lime kiln in Detroit, where he fell into the kiln and was burned to death. To Mr. and Mrs. Montavon were born two children: Frank and C. E., the former dying in 1876 and the latter being the immediate subject of this sketch. Peter Montavon moved around quite a good deal, following his trade, having lived at Quincy, Coldwater and Hillsdale, Michigan, and at Fremont and Angola, Indiana, as well as other places, and in 1869 was at Toledo. In that year Daniel Till, of Waterloo, was running a hardware store and shoe shop and employed six men in his line of work. He hired Mr. Montavon to come here as foreman of his shop and to serve as expert cutter of leather. Here he remained and later started a shop of his own at a time when shoes were all made by hand and he employed six men in their manufacture. At one time about thirty shoemakers were employed in the various shops in Waterloo. Peter Montavon continues in the business until his death, which occurred on November 22, 1905. Colonel E. Montavon learned his trade under his father’s direction and was afterwards for a while employed in a harness shop. In June, 1883, at a time when the harness business was dull, an old friend of his James Bowman, who was running a dairy and needed help, prevailed on Mr. Montavon to go to the dairy and help him for a few days, which the latter consented to do, but at the end of that period Mr. Bowman insisted on the young man remaining with him. Montavon was unused to outdoor work, but he did his best and soon became accustomed to the new conditions. Owing to Mr. Bowman’s paralysis the women had been doing the milking, but when Mr. Montavon learned how to do it, he told them milking was no occupation for a woman and he would do it all. In October, 1883, Mr. Montavon married his employer’s daughter, Sarah I. Bowman, and soon afterwards Mr. Bowman offered to sell him a half interest in the dairy and let him work and pay for his interest out of the profits of the business. After that contract was carried out, Mr. Bowman sold him the remaining half to him in a way in which he could pay for it and later he sold him a half interest in the home place and finally Mr. and Mrs. Montavon became the owners of the entire place, comprising about thirty acres, located at the edge of Waterloo. The place is very elegantly located overlooking the valley of Cedar creek, and is considered one of the coziest and most attractive little places in this locality. In the spring of 1906 Mr. Montavon sold his dairy and continued the shoe shop formerly owned by his father, which he still operates and in which he has achieved a definite success. To Mr. and Mrs. Montavon have been born two daughters, and a son, namely: Hazel is the wife of John C. Duncan, Jr., lives in Waterloo and they have one daughter, Cyril; Mabel and Waldo are both at home. Politically, Mr. Montavon is an ardent advocate of the Republican party, and in 1902 and 1903 he was elected a member of the Waterloo towns council, being president in 1903. In the fall of 1910 he was elected justice of the peace and is now discharging the duties of that office to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 221, and has been through all the chairs, being now a member of the grand lodge of Indiana. He is also a member of Lodge No. 307, Free and Accepted Masons, at Waterloo, and is a member of the grand lodge in that order. He has been chief of the Waterloo fire department for seven years. He is regarded by all as upright and honest in all his business relations and he has the confidence and respect of a wide circle of acquaintance and friends throughout the county. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com