In 1911 a 24-page history of Kosciusko County, Indiana, was published. One very interesting section of this history is devoted to biographical sketches of county officials of that day. Included are sketches of the following: Conrad D. Longenecker, of the Dutchtown community, circuit court clerk elect; Victor D. Mock, of North Webster, auditor elect; J. S. Wynant, assessor; Emmett Miller of Sidney and Warsaw, treasurer; Edson B. Sarber, of Burket, superintendent of schools; George McKrill, of Harrison township, surveyor; Reno Hamlin, of Etna Green and Warsaw, recorder; Charles A. Kintzel, of Prairie township and Warsaw, sheriff; Charles A. Kelly, of Warsaw, coroner; Francis E. Bowser, of Clay township and Warsaw, circuit court judge; J. W. Brown, of Harrison township, commissioner; C. Edwin Stout, of Silver Lake, circuit court clerk; and John C. Beagle, of North Webster, auditor.

It is interesting to study the biographies of these 13 men who were our county officials at that time. Eight of them were native Hoosiers, seven of them being born in our county. Three were born in Ohio, one in Illinois and one in Alabama. Their ages at the time ranged from 31 to 72. Wynant and Hamlin were 72 and Beagle was 71. Stout was the youngest at 31 and McKrill, Mock and Kintzel were 37, 38 and 40 respectively.

All of the men were or had been engaged in other pursuits besides the holding of public office. Five of them were listed as farmers and three as merchants. Wynant had been a druggist and newspaperman, McKrill and Sarber had been teachers, Kelly was an undertaker and taught piano tuning at Winona college, Stout was a banker, Longenecker had engaged in carpentering, Bowser had been a member of a Warsaw law firm, Mock had been the leader of the North Webster band for 14 years, and Hamlin had been postmaster at Etna Green.

Two of the officials were Civil War veterans, John C. Beagle, fought with the 129th Indiana Infantry in the battles of Resaca, Atlanta, Nashville, Kingston and Goldsboro. Reno Hamlin was twice wounded in the war, once in the battle of Chickamauga and again at Jonesboro, Ga. He served one year with 12th Indiana and three years with 74th Indiana.

Warsaw Times-Union Tues. November 3, 1953