Biography of Eli Yarnell Williamson, pages 478/479/480.  
History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, 
Inc., Indianapolis, 1914.



From the pioneer period through many decades the late Eli 
Yarnell Williamson was conspicuously identified with the 
business and material interest of Waterloo and DeKalb 
county, Indiana,  and he won for himself an honorable 
position in the circles in which he moved and was a distinct 
type of the successful, self-made man. Not a pretentious or 
exalted life was his, but one that was true to itself and to 
which the biographer may revert with feelings of respect and 
admiration. He was identified in a prominent way with the 
various activities of the county and, having attained 
prestige by successive steps from a modest beginning, it is 
eminently fitting that a sketch of his life work, together 
with an enumeration of his leading characteristics, be given 
in the connection. He was recognized as a man of strong and 
alert mentality, deeply interested in everything pertaining 
to the advancement of the community along material, civic 
and moral lines, and for years he was recognized as one of 
the progressive and representative men of his city and 
county. Having started in a lowly capacity he gradually 
forced his way to the front and,  by faithful service and 
prompt discharge of every duty devolving upon him finally 
acquired a comfortable competency and at the same time won 
and retained the good will and high regard of all who knew 
him.  Eli Yarnell Williamson was born in Chester county, 
Pennsylvania, on May 23, 1828, and died in Waterloo, 
Indiana, on March 25, 1911. He was a son of William and 
Matilda (Yarnell) Williamson, which family moved from 
Pennsylvania to Stark county, Ohio, when the subject was but 
eight years of age,  and from that time onward he 
practically took care of himself, starting out in life on 
his own account at a period when most boys are just 
beginning their education. In 1854 Eli Williamson left 
Canton, Ohio, as a passenger on the first passenger train 
from Canton to Fort Wayne on what is now known as the 
Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago railroad. He came to Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, thence made his way on foot through the then 
unbroken forests to the Brandeberry farm north of Waterloo, 
DeKalb county. In 1859 he engaged in the manufacture of 
fanning mills, which he continued for thirty years with 
splendid success, the mill which went by the trade name of 
Taylor & Williamson Fanning Mill acquiring a wide reputation 
and large sale throughout this section of the country.  Mr. 
Williamson was one of the founders of Waterloo, and was one 
of the three men who met in council and named the town. From 
that time forward he was closely allied with its progress 
and development and was identified with its building 
interests, having erected  a number of the earlier 
buildings, some of them still remaining as landmarks of the 
pioneer period. In 1856 he hewed the timber and built the 
first house in Waterloo, now known as the Klotz property on 
Maple street, and in the spring of the following year he 
built the dwelling now known as the D. L. Leas property,  in 
which, on November 23, 1857, he established his home, having 
just married Susan Rohrbaugh. She was a daughter of Daniel, 
Jr., and Elizabeth (Beck) Rohrbaugh. Her parents, who were 
natives of Union county, Pennsylvania, had moved from their 
native state to Stark county, Ohio, and thence in 1850 to 
DeKalb county,  buying one hundred and five acres of land in 
the northern part of what is now Waterloo at the time when 
there were only two houses in that town. The family name had 
been originally Rohback,  but in one community where the  
family had lived the people had confused their name with 
that of some former residents by the name of Rorebaugh and 
eventually this family changed its name to accord with 
public usage. Daniel Rohrbaugh was a cabinet maker and 
coffin maker,  and was a well known pioneer to Waterloo, 
being a prominent figure in its early affairs. Mrs. 
Williamson died in January 1893, leaving the following 
children: Elmore Williamson and Mrs. William S. Sewell of 
Waterloo, Mrs. Howard B. McCord of Auburn, and Ernest B., of 
South Bend, Indiana.  Mr. Williamson was not only keenly 
alive to the advancement of his own interest, in which he 
was eminently successful, but he took an active and 
effectual interest in the civic life of the community in the 
early days, serving at different times on the board of 
trustees for the town of  Waterloo and being often consulted 
on public affairs in which the town had an interest. In 
private he assisted many of his neighbors who were less 
fortunate than he, his liberality being sometimes taken 
advantage of to his financial loss and his sympathy not 
always being rewarded with the gratitude which it deserved. 
His protracted residence in this section of the state made 
his name widely and familiarly known and his life and the 
history of this locality for a period of over a half century 
was pretty much one and the same thing. He lived to see and 
take a prominent part  in the growth of the community and 
was one of its wisest counsellors and hardest workers. His 
was a long life  of honor and trust and no higher eulogy can 
coupled with anything disreputable and that there never was 
a shadow of a stain upon his reputation for integrity and 
unwavering honesty.

Submitted by:

Arlene Goodwin

Auburn, Indiana

Agoodwin@ctlnet.com