Biography of Henry Gurtner, page 173.  History of Northeast Indiana; 
LaGrange, Steuben, Noble, and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial 
supervision of Ira Ford, Orville Stevens, William H. McEwen, and William H. 
McInosh, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago and New York, 1920.
   
   Henry Gurtner, an honored veteran of the Civil war, has for half century 
been a factor in the farming and community life of the vicinity of Hamilton, 
is now enjoying a well earned retirement  and the comforts gained by life of 
industry.  He was born in Crawford County, Ohio, February 14, 1845, a son of 
Peter and Sarah (Tiernans) Gurtner, the former a native of Pennsylvania and 
the latter of Stark County, Ohio. Peter Gurtner died in Ohio in 1853, when 
his son Henry was only eight years old.  The widow and her family of three 
sons and two daughters came to Steuben County in 1855, an she spent her 
last days near Hudson.
   Henry Gurtner grew up in Jackson Township, had a public school 
education, and in 1863, at the age of nineteen, enlisted in Company C of 
the Twelfth Indiana Cavalry.  He saw some of the hard fighting and 
scouting service of the cavalry branch until the close of the war. In 1866 
he and his father-in-law, David Cummings, bought the David Morgan farm of 
ninety acres, and he lived there about nine years.  Selling his interests, 
he moved to DeKalb County and bought eighty acres, and successfully farmed 
it for about twenty-five yeas. He also owned ten acres in DeKalb County 
near the railway depot at Hamilton, and he lived on that place for ten 
years.  Since selling it he has bought a comfortable house and lot in 
Hamilton village.
   Mr. Gurtner has always been a stanch republican and is a member of 
Griffith Post No. 648, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows.  His wife is a Methodist.
   In 1866 he married Sarah Cummings. Their five children were named 
Adelbert, Minnie, Ella May (wife of Warren Arnold, a merchant at Flint, 
Indiana), David and Harriet Elizabeth.
   After the death of his wife Mr. Gurtner married Joanna Clark. They had 
two daughters: Rena and Ina, the latter the wife of Professor Forney, 
superintendent of the Waterloo schools.  For his third wife, Mr. Gurtner 
married Mrs. Lucretia (Casper) Clark, of Hamilton.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com