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1830–1880, as Chapman prints it
David Rupel is the biography-depth anchor of the earliest stratum: born in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, 31 July 1811, son of German-born parents, Jacob and Ann Rupel; he wintered in Elkhart County in 1830–31 and reached South Bend when it had two houses; he married Sarah Meller on 10 January 1836 and moved to Liberty Township in May 1836; six children, five living at the sketch's writing; Sarah Rupel died 21 February 1875, aged 58. John N. Rupel, the next generation, was born on the ground itself — 17 March 1837 — holding 144 acres on Section 36 at the sketch's writing. And the three competing first-settler texts, printed exactly as the conflict stands (C47, sharpened; verdicts NOT merged): (1) the narrative text dates the township's first settlement to a group arriving in 1833 — a collective first settlement, no single "first settler" named; (2) the John N. Rupel sketch calls his father John Rupel "the first settler in Liberty tp."; (3) the David Rupel sketch stands David as "second permanent settler" — a ranking that presupposes a first permanent settler the three texts, read together, do not settle: the narrative's 1833 group precedes both Rupel arrivals, and the John Rupel claim rests on the son's sketch alone. All three texts print; this section picks none. And a negative at biography strength, stated plainly: Earhart, Kane, and Townsend carry no Chapman biographies — the three names occur in the chapter's narrative only, with no sketch, no dates, and no family record in the biography run. Any biography-depth statement about them must come from another carrier or not be made. The People file registers both Rupels at full profile strength; this article carries the stratum's shape, and the profiles are not duplicated.