bios

Benton County, Indiana
Biographies

P. J. WEBER

Rev. Father Weber, the beloved pastor of St. John's Catholic church, of Earl Park, Indiana, was born in New York city, May 13, 1868, and is a son of Joseph and Regina (Angersbach) Weber, both natives of Germany, the former born in Hesse, the latter in Baden. The father died in New York city in 1868, at the age of thirty four years, at which time he was serving as superintendent for the Singer Sewing Machine Company; but the mother is still living, at the age of sixty years, and now makes her home in Carlsruhe, Germany. The grandparents were all of German birth and lived to a great age.

The first four years of his life Father Weber spent in his native city and then accompanied his mother on her removal to Carlsruhe, Germany, where he attended the common schools and later the gymnasium, at which he was graduated at the age of eighteen years. He then went to Belgium, where he studied rhetoric for one year and philosophy for the same length of time at St. Nicholas. The following three years and a half were spent in the study of theology at Louvain, where he was ordained as priest January 6, 1891. Three months later he came to the United States, landing at New York city, and soon after he reported to Bishop Dwenger, at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and his first appointment was at Klaasville, Lake county, Indiana, where he remained for four years. At the end of that time he was given charge of the congregation at Earl Park, which pastorate he has since filled to the entire satisfaction of the church and his parishioners.

St. John's church is the oldest Catholic church in the locality, it having been built twenty five years ago. As a mission services were conducted for the congregation at Earl Park by Father Haas, of St. Anthony's church, generally known as Dehner church, and the mission was called St. John the Baptist. It next fell under the pastorate of Father Maujay, of the Fowler church, under whose charge it remained until 1888, when he was succeeded by Father Vangier, who remained here for seven years, being succeeded at the end of that time by the present pastor, Father Weber. He has added to the church property by buying three lots, on two of which he has built a fine two story brick parsonage, at a cost of five thousand dollars, and on the corner he plans to erect a new brick church in about three years, to cost sixteen thousand dollars. He then intends to turn the present frame church into a parochial school, as the parish has no school of its own at the present time. The congregation, numbering about one hundred families, is composed of French, German and English, and this being the case, Father Weber preaches every Sunday in English, and every other Sunday in French and German. He is an indefatigable worker for his church and the good of the community, and is revered and loved by his own congregation, and honored and esteemed by all who have seen his devotion to his noble calling.

HON. THOMAS L. MERRICK

Among the professional men of Fowler prominently appears the gentleman named above, who since 1867 has been enrolled as a member of the Benton county bar, and over twenty three of the thirty one years have been spent in Fowler.

Mr. Merrick is a native of the Hoosier state, born in Fayette county, on the 17th of June, 1839. He is a son of Isaac and Margaret (Latchem) Merrick, natives of Camden, Delaware, who were married in their native state in 1834 and moved to Fayette county, Indiana, in 1835, and to Wabash county about 1843. Isaac Merrick was a carriage maker by trade, but his life in Indiana was spent in agricultural pursuits. His death occurred in Wabash county in December, 1870, and his widow still resides upon the old home farm in Wabash county, where she has lived over fifty years; she was born in Camden, Delaware, in 1810. One of her children died on the same farm in 1897, and one still resides there.
The subject of this sketch was reared and educated in Wabash county, ending his school days at Wabash Seminary.

But while in school life he laid aside his predilections and allied himself with the "boys in blue/' enlisting as a private, August 15, 1862, in Company F, One Hundred and First Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Though lacking robust health and a vigorous constitution, he participated with his regiment in the battles of Perryville and Milton, and besides these he also took part in several severe skirmishes; but in recognition of his failing health he was relieved from the activities of the camp and the march, with their exhausting physical requirements, and placed upon detached duty, where he could perform services as necessary to the government yet within the scope of his physical abilities. He continued in this work until the expiration of his term of service, that is, until July, 1865.

Next he studied law two years in the office of Pettit & Cowgill, of Wabash, from which he was admitted to practice. In 1867 he located in Oxford, Benton county, being one of three attorneys then practicing in the county. From that day to this he has been a member of the Benton county bar. In 1875, on the removal of the county seat to Fowler, he took up his home in that little city and at once became identified with its material progress. However, in 1868 he was chosen by the people from among his colleagues to the office of state's attorney for the district then composed of the counties of Benton, White and Carroll, serving a term of two years. On locating in Fowler he formed a partnership with Mr. Henry S. Travis, which continued for about ten years, the firm title being Merrick & Travis. In addition to the general practice of law, they also did an extensive business in adjusting land titles and in abstracting and conveyancing. Mr. Merrick is one of the successful attorneys of Benton county, and he has accumulated, as the result of industry and frugality, a very desirable property. Among his possessions are two good farms, one of one hundred and thirty three acres, near Fowler, and one of three hundred and twenty acres in White county, Indiana. Besides this he has a fine home and other property in Fowler.

He was commissioned postmaster of Fowler in 1889, and surrendered the office to the Democratic appointee in 1894. From 1895 to 1897 he served one term as county commissioner. He has always been an active Republican, zealous in the advocacy of the doctrines of that time honored party. All his life he has been prominent in local politics, freely devoting a portion of his time to campaign work whenever circumstances seemed to require. For thirty years he has been prominently associated with the 11 brethren of the triple links," serving in every official capacity in the local lodge .of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

In his father's family were seven children, of whom the eldest, William, was born in 1835, in Delaware, and spent his days upon the parental farmstead in Wabash county, where he died in 1897; David, born in 1837, died in 1872; Thomas L., the subject of this sketch, was the third in order of birth; Rachel, born in 1842, became the wife of R. P. Mitten in Wabash and died in 1875; Isaac, born in 1845, is a farmer in Wabash county, on the old homestead; Henrietta, who was born in 1847, died at the age of thirteen years, at her parental home; and Sarah, born in 1850, is the wife of J. L. Gamble, a farmer near Wabash.

The genealogy of the Merrick family is traceable to English ancestors, and they have been identified with New England for many generations. The paternal grandparents, Isaac and Rachel (Sylvester) Merrick, were natives of Delaware, and both lived to a ripe old age, dying in their native state. The maternal grandparents, Thomas and Rebecca (Lockwood) Latchan, also natives of Delaware, are both deceased, she dying in 1823, and he, after coming west, in 1843, at the age of sixty seven years. He was of Irish descent and she of English. This long line of American ancestors carries the family back to colonial days and identification with Revolutionary times. A period of two hundred years is covered by the generations represented in this sketch.

Mr. Merrick was married in Fowler, June 29, 1875, to Miss Martha Jane Hawkins, a daughter of Robert and Sarah (Carter) Hawkins, natives of Ohio. They came to Benton county, Indiana, in 1840, and were identified with the pioneer history of the county. The father, a prosperous farmer, died at Aydelott, in 1890', at the age of seventy five years, and the mother at the same place, in 1882, about sixty years of age.

Mrs. Merrick was educated in her native state, and is a lady of accomplishments. The only child by the marriage referred to is Laura, who was reared in tenderness and parental love, receiving a thorough education and a good training in music and art. She was married in December, 1895, and died March 2, 1898. She was a young lady of bright promise, a favorite among her school companions and girlhood friends. Mrs. Merrick is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, but Mr. Merrick has never been identified with any religious organization. He contributes, however, to the support of the gospel and all worthy religious and charitable enterprises

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REV. CHARLES IRVIN TRUBY.

This gentleman, the pastor of the First Presbyterian church of Fowler, Indiana, is one whom all delight to honor. He possesses that cordial and genial manner which renders him a companion to every one, regardless of church fellowship. In his associations with the young and thoughtless, his conversation, though always chaste and dignified, is along lines best calculated to interest and instruct, and this is one secret of his popularity among those outside of the jurisdiction of the church. But Mr. Truby's popularity is equally prominent in his official duties.    He is what preachers call "a good housekeeper." The details of church affairs are ever uppermost in his mind
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Since assuming the duties of pastor in Fowler, his power and influence have wrought a wonderful change. The membership of his church has been nearly doubled, and the spiritual feeling of the older members greatly enlivened. Meeting on his coming a membership of sixty eight, three short years' labors have brought this figure up to one hundred and thirty five. But this is not all, three years ago the congregation was worshiping in an old frame church, which burned down December, 1895. On the ruins of this has been built a most magnificent structure, out rivaling any other orthodox church in the city. It is constructed with due regard to the comfort and convenience of all the varied church interests, not forgetting the acoustic properties for the benefit of the speaker. This edifice cost twelve thousand dollars, and is practically free from debt. It is a modern styled structure, so arranged with sliding panels that two or more meetings may be conducted at the same time without interruption. The basement is fitted up for the social meetings of the church, and is provided with necessary culinary articles for socials, being divided into reception room, parlor, kitchen and dining room, with all necessary furnishings. The ceiling of the auditorium terminates in a beautifully finished dome, having three rows of electric lamps, which give a mellow yet sufficient light for evening services. The choir is composed of volunteers, yet includes much musical talent, which is a great attraction to the church services.

Mr. Truby is an earnest preacher. His manner at once conveys the impression of sincerity. His themes are selected with due regard to their logical connection one with the other. They are also selected from live subjects upon which the intelligent auditor desires information. He is a strong and logical reasoner, entirely free from oratorical effect, yet sincere and at times eloquent and impassioned. He is not tedious in his discourses, yet is so well prepared that he says more to the point in twenty minutes than many another minister would say in an hour. His high educational attainments render it possible for him to grasp a subject in its entirety and give his hearers the pure wheat, unmixed with oratorical chaff.
The subject of this review is a native of the Keystone state, born at Millers town, November 6, 1870. His parents are Simeon and Bella M. (Wilson) Truby. The former descended from German ancestors. The father died in 1883 and the mother is a resident of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, her parents having been Scotch Irish Presbyterians. In early youth Mr. Truby chose his life profession, and joined the church at the age of fifteen years. From childhood, he has been a student, receiving his elementary education in the public schools of Duncannon,   Pennsylvania, where he graduated from the high school. He was graduated from the Bloom field Academy in 1888, and immediately entered Princeton College, at Princeton, New Jersey. From this popular institution he was graduated eighth in a class of one hundred and seventy, in 1892, taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then entered the McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, from which he received his diploma in 1895, and came directly to Fowler as pastor of the First Presbyterian church.
Notwithstanding this close application to study for a period covering almost his entire life, Mr. Truby is to all appearances in robust physical health. He takes a lively interest in the innocent sports of young men, particularly the "national game."    Fraternally, he is a Mason.

Such, in brief, is the outline of a life which promises great usefulness to mankind and to the church of his choice. Though barely passed the threshold of young manhood, he has already achieved a degree of success worthy of all praise. The possibilities of his future career for the salvation of men, through Divine help and guidance, are indeed very flattering. Ripe scholarship, indomitable energy, conscientious earnestness in his work, a vigorous constitution, a pure Christian character and love of his fellow man, all contribute to the achievement of grand results in his Master's vineyard.

WILLIAM C. COMPTON

This well known citizen of Benton county, Indiana, dates his birth in Adams county, Ohio, January 21, 1851, and along the agnatic line traces his origin to Ireland, his grandfather Compton having come to this country from the Emerald Isle." Grandmother Compton was a native of America. Both lived to a ripe old age, and it may be said that our subject comes from a long lived family, for his maternal grandfather and grandmother reached the ages respectively of eighty six and ninety years.
Joseph D. Compton, the father of William C, was a blacksmith by trade. He was born in Adams county and lived there until September, 1866, when he moved to Grant county, Indiana. He owned a farm of two hundred acres in Adams county, Ohio, which he exchanged for two hundred and forty acres of Iowa land, and the latter property he exchanged for a sawmill, which he lost in litigation. On his removal to Grant county he bought eighty acres of land, and this he also lost. He died in Grant county, in May, 1879. Of his life it may truly be said that he was an example of one who was a friend to those unworthy of his friendship. The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Cynthia Ann Spurgeon, was born in Adams county, Ohio, and in that county was married, and she died, in Benton county, Indiana, in December, 1896, at the age of eighty years. Joseph D. and Cynthia Ann (Spurgeon) Compton were the parents of twelve children, a brief record of whom is as follows: John L., who was a member of the Seventieth Infantry, Ohio Volunteers, was in the service four years, and was killed at Fort McAllister, at the age of thirty; Sarah Ann, who was twice married, first to John Nesbot and after his death to Dr. Charles Riggs, is now a widow and resides in Grant county, Indiana; Margaret Ann, deceased, who was twice married, first to Frank Holmes and secondly to Harrison Thurman: the husband survives her and is a resident of Adams county, Ohio; George, who enlisted in the Seventieth Infantry, Ohio Volunteers, and died in the hospital after eight months' service; Mary Jane, the wife of Benjamin N. Leisure, a farmer of Grant county, Indiana; Joseph S., who at present makes his home with the subject of this sketch; Alexander G., who died in Grant county, in 1888, at the age of forty four years; Cynthia Ann, who died April, 1867, at the age of eighteen years; William C, whose name initiates this review; James D., whose home is with his brother William C.; Silas, who died in infancy; and Henry B., who died in 1879, at the of twenty two years.

William C. Compton was reared on his father's farm in Adams county, Ohio, and his opportunities for obtaining an education were not of the best, owing to the civil war. Some of his brothers were absent from home in the army, and from the time he was ten until the war closed his attendance at the public school was more or less interrupted. At the age of sixteen we find him employed as teamster in Grant county, Indiana. For eight years he was thus occupied in Xenia, now called Converse, that county. In the meantime he married, and in September, 1876, he located at Sugar Grove in York township, on the Sumner farm, five miles southwest of Earl Park. Here he cultivated one hundred acres of this, farm until the death of E. C. Sumner, after which he became manager of Mrs. Sumner's share of the estate, six thousand acres, and he now lives at the Sumner homestead. He owns a half interest in the hardware, lumber, coal and agricultural implement business operated under the firm name of Compton & Company at Earl Park
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May 2, 1874, Mr. Compton married Miss Rachel C. Mills, daughter of Henry and Margaret (Barton) Mills, of Grant county, Indiana, formerly of Clinton county, Ohio. Having no children of their own, they have acted the part of kind and loving parents to other children, having reared two of his brother's, Joseph S. Compton's, children, namely: Hettie Margaret, who married Burton Hughes, employed in the store of Compton & Company, above referred to; and Blanche, wife of John Gentis, a farmer in York township, Benton county. At present Mr. and Mrs. Compton are rearing Miss Blanche Kennedy, a daughter of Charles and Ella (Kneedler) Kennedy; and they have an adopted son, William F. Compton, son of John Curtain.
Mr. Compton attends worship at the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his family are members. Politically, he is a Democrat, and fraternally he is identified with the Knights of Pythias, at Earl Park, in which he has filled all the chairs, and which he has represented, as delegate, in the grand lodge at Indianapolis. Also he is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the Court of Honor, and at Fowler has a membership in the Masonic lodge and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

WILLIAM S. LEFFEW

For many years William Samuel Leffew has been connected with the journalistic interests of Indiana, and is now editor of the Boswell Enterprise, one of the leading papers of Benton county. He was born September 9, 1858, near Crab Orchard, Kentucky, and is a son of Samuel and Arah Belle Leffew. The former was a valiant soldier in the Mexican war and in the civil war. During the hostilities between the north and the south he enlisted in the Third Kentucky Infantry, and was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. His death occurred August 18, 1875. His maternal grandfather, a Pennsylvania German, bore the surname of Tanner, and fought in the war of 1812. His wife was a daughter of the Scotch family of McClures, in Virginia, and from the Old Dominion they removed to Kentucky during the early settlement of that state. Samuel Leffew, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Tennessee, and his father was of Scotch French parentage, the family living in Louisiana. On the maternal side William S. Leffew is descended from Scotch and Irish ancestry, who removed to Kentucky from the eastern states.

William S. Leffew completed his literary education by his graduation in the high school of Danville, Indiana, as a member of the class of 1876. When he was only fifteen years of age his father died, and his youth and early manhood were therefore a struggle against poverty, as no patrimony came to him. It was his great desire to enter West Point Military Academy, but instead he was obliged to provide for himself and his mother and sisters by entering a printing office, where he learned the practical part of newspaper work mechanical and editorial. He was employed as a journeyman printer at various places until 1886, in which year he entered the publishing and printing business in Lafayette, Indiana, where he remained until March, 1888, when he came to Benton county and published a small weekly paper at Fowler, called the Nut Shell. In August of the same year, in connection with E. F. Wallace, he leased the Era, at Fowler, and published it for one year. He then went to Indianapolis, in the fall of 1889, and was employed on the Indianapolis Journal for four years. In the spring of 1893 he returned to Fowler, where he published the Republican Era, in connection with Senator Isaac H. Phares, for two years. In August, 1895, he took charge of the Boswell Enterprise, and to-day it is acknowledged to be one of the best papers in the county. It has a good circulation and advertising list, and is a bright, entertaining journal devoted to the interests of the community and to the advancement of Republican principles.

In March, 1879, Mr. Leffew was united in marriage to Miss Emma L. Carter, of Danville, Indiana, and they had three daughters, but one died in infancy. The others are Cara Belle, born December 18, 1879; and Bertha May, born June 15, 1884. In his political views Mr. Leffew has always been a stanch Republican, but never held public office until appointed postmaster of Boswell, in 1897. He is a valued and exemplary member of the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias fraternities, and belongs to the Christian church. He holds friendship inviolable and is true to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private. He is also regarded as one of the most enterprising men of the town, and his energetic spirit has been an important factor in many movements and measures which have proved of benefit to Boswell and the county.

WILLIAM S. VAN NATTA.

The name which heads this sketch has become a household word among the stockmen not only in Indiana, but also in many states of the Union. No doubt he is the most extensive breeder of and dealer in thoroughbred Hereford cattle in the United States. At the present time he has a herd of two hundred and fifty head on his fine farm north of Fowler. The number, however, varies from time to time, and this would be about the average number for a series of years. His elegant Benton county farm comprises eight hundred acres, devoted to stock raising and general farming. His son Frank resides upon and superintends this farm, in which he has a financial interest. Mr. Van Natta also owns eleven hundred and sixty acres in Newton county, which are devoted to the same purpose as the Fowler farm, and upon which he, in company with H. C. Harris, is at the present time feeding and preparing for market fifteen hundred head of grade steers. This gives some idea of the magnitude of his stock business, in which, with general farming, his life has been mostly spent. He owns a most beautiful modern residence in Fowler, besides other property and mercantile interests.

Mr. Van Natta was born in the western part of Tippecanoe county, Indiana, on the 27th of September, 1830, and his education was limited to the curriculum of the public schools of the pioneer period; yet his studies did not by any means end there, for he has been a close student of the secular press, and is exceptionally well informed upon the current topics of the day. He is a gentleman of pleasant and agreeable manner, hospitable and generous which virtues are also shared by his estimable wife
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Mr. Van Natta is a son of John S. and Sarah A. (Haigh) Van Natta. His father was born near Trenton, New Jersey, in 1801, and in childhood was taken by his parents to Kentucky, where he was reared to manhood. He returned to Ohio and married Miss Sarah Haigh, a native of England. The record of this is lost, but the marriage was solemnized probably about 1820.

The mother of John S. was a widow with a family of five children when his father married her. In 1829 they removed to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, where they passed the remainder of their lives. She was born in 1792 and died in 1846, at the age of fifty four years. Her husband survived till 1869.

Of the children of Mr. John S. Van Natta we give the following brief record: Aaron, the eldest, died at the age of sixty eight years, at Montmorenci, Tippecanoe county; Elizabeth died at the age of eleven years; Rachel in 1863, at the historic "Battle Ground" of Tippecanoe; Job H., William S. and Maria J. are living. Job H. served through the civil war as an officer in the Tenth Indiana Infantry, enlisting as first lieutenant, and was mustered out as major of his regiment. He is now a banker at Otterbein, in this county, and also an extensive landholder and farmer, his home being at Lafayette. Maria J. is the wife of John Fisher, a prosperous farmer at Battle Ground.

The subject of our sketch was married November 10, 1858, to Miss Harriet Sheetz, a native of Tippecanoe county and a daughter of Frederick and Eliza (Taylor) Sheetz, Virginians by birth, who removed from their native state (where they were married) to Tippecanoe county in 1831, and there spent the remainder of their lives. The father was a miller by trade, but his latter years were spent in agricultural pursuits. The Sheetz family, in its genealogy, is traceable to German origin, though being long established on American soil. One member of the family was a soldier in the war of 1812; and tradition says that the founders of the family were identified with the Revolutionary war.

Mrs. Van Natta's family consisted of eight brothers and one sister, eight of whom are living: Edward, Harriet, Alfred, Charles, William, Mary V., Robert and Fred. Edward is a farmer in South Dakota; Warren was the captain of Company D, Tenth Indiana Infantry, and served through the civil war, and now resides in Fowler; Margaret, now Mrs. Kelso, is a widow residing near Indianapolis; Alfred sacrificed his young life in the army, a member of Company D, Tenth Indiana; Charles is a farmer of Tippecanoe county; William lives on a farm near Crawfordsville, this state; Mary Virginia is the wife of Dr. Beasley, of Lafayette; Robert is a machinist at Muncie; and Fred is a freight agent at Indianapolis.

Mr. and Mrs. Van Natta are the parents of five children, the eldest of whom has previously been mentioned; Miss Harriet is still at her parental home; Alice married Eldon Jones, a druggist in Fowler; Margaret is the wife of Charles Snyder, an attorney in Fowler; and William S., Jr., assists his father in his business, residing at his parental home. All the children have enjoyed excellent educational advantages, and two of the daughters, Harriet and Margaret are graduates of Purdue University.

Mr. Van Natta has all his life been an uncompromising Republican, but has never entered politics as an office seeker and has never desired that notoriety. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years, being a Master Mason. Mrs. Van Natta is a member of the Presbyterian church, at the services of which Mr. Van Natta is also a regular attendant and to which religious body he is a regular contributor.

The Van Natta and Sheetz families are two of the best known, most prominent and successful families in northwestern Indiana. Their history as early pioneers is identical, they having established themselves on the frontier about the same time and in the same locality. For seventy years they have been closely identified with this section of the state, and have witnessed the development of the country from wild and uninhabited prairie and woodland into productive farms, dotted everywhere with comfortable homes, some of which are even elegant, and the locality is thickly settled with intelligent and prosperous people.

There is no time quite so green in memory as the "good old times." Viewed in retrospection, what mammoth strides civilization has taken in the last seventy years! The pioneer's cabin, the log school-house, the trackless prairie, the virgin forests, the wild Indians, have all given place to the white man as a civilizer. Since that remote period the lightning has been harnessed until by its aid the voice of a friend is recognized a thousand miles away! The continent has been spanned with bands of steel and the products of the nation are transferred from ocean to ocean in the bare space of one week; and the people on the Pacific coast are to-day nearer to us than were the loved ones " back east" in those days. The ox team and lumber cart have been succeeded by the "thoroughbred trotter," and fine carriage which was only " looked at " but never possessed by the common people in the pioneer days. Modern machinery takes the place of harvest hands and the old " turkey wing " cradle is not known except as a curiosity!

But we could not enumerate all the changes wrought by civilization in this section during the last seventy years; and the families of Mr. and Mrs. Van Natta have witnessed all this, and they themselves have witnessed the most of it. What the succeeding seventy years have in store for the generations immediately to come no prophet can foretell.

HON. DUNCAN McARTHUR WILLIAMS

So closely allied with the interests of Benton county is the history of Duncan McArthur Williams that a work of this character would be incomplete without a record of his career. His name is one prominently connected with the business enterprises of the county, with its pioneer development, with its political record and with its material and educational advancement; and he ranks to-day among the distinguished citizens of northern Indiana, a man who stands high in the regard of his fellow men and commands the respect of all by his sterling rectitude of character.

Mr. Williams is a native of the Buckeye state, born in Woodstock, Champaign county, January 16, 1832, a son of Samuel and Margarette .(Lansdale) Williams. His father was born January 10, 1807, in Prince George county, Maryland, and his mother in Washington, D. C, September 22, 1805, and they were married September 30, 1828, at his mother's birthplace, and immediately thereafter located in Woodstock, Ohio. About three years later Mr. Williams bought a farm of three hundred acres near Mechanicsburg, purchasing the same of Duncan McArthur, a family friend for whom our subject was named and who presented him in later years with one hundred acres of land. Mr. Williams' mother accompanied her parents to Mechanicsburg when she was a child of ten years; but on the death of her parents a few years later she returned to Washington and remained there until after her marriage.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, John Williams, was also a native of Prince George county, Maryland. His parents were among the earliest settlers of that state and the family was a prominent one in the early history of Maryland. John Williams was a ship carpenter by occupation, and was a captain in the war of 1812, stationed at Annapolis. After the war he located on a farm overlooking the Potomac, but his death occurred at Mechanicsburg, Ohio, in 1838, when he had attained the age of fifty four years. He married Miss Nellie Duval, a lady of French extraction, who was born and reared in the vicinity of Baltimore, and who died in Prince George county.

The maternal grandfather of our subject was Thomas Lansdale, who married Miss Jemima Hyatt; they were both of Welsh ancestry and natives of Maryland, owned the property upon which is located the town of Hyattsville, rendered somewhat noted in recent years as being the camping ground of Coxey's "commonweal army" on its tramp to Washington. Mr. Lansdale, the grandfather of our subject, was a miller by occupation, and was the original proprietor of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, where he erected a flouring mill, which he owned and operated until his death. These ancestors both died young.

Mr. Williams, whose name heads these paragraphs, was denied the advantages of a classical education, though he has supplemented his youthful training by a life-time of careful reading and systematic study: his literary pursuits in later years have been largely conducive to this end. He attended the common schools in Mechanicsburg and for a brief time the London Academy. On leaving this institution he received a certificate of qualification to teach reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and natural philosophy. This honorable introduction to the world was prefaced by the statement over the signature of his professor, " He has and will sustain himself in his studies." This expression of implied confidence in his ability and determination to win has been a life incentive to him, and to this is largely due his persistent effort at self culture.

At the beginning of life's struggles, independently of parental authority and aid, Mr. Williams was imbued with the idea that the stock business was prolific of flattering results. Coming to Indiana in 1852, he followed farming and stock raising for some years in Parish. Grove township, Benton county, where he once owned seventeen hundred acres of land. He drove one hundred and twelve head of cattle, unassisted except the first day, from his farm to market in Chicago. After the civil war he thought that the south presented a profitable field for investment of northern capital and industry, and accordingly he purchased a plantation near Jackson, Mississippi, whither he moved; and while a resident there he was a member of the constitutional convention under reconstruction measures in 1867. The year following he was a delegate from Mississippi to the national Republican convention at Chicago and assisted in the nomination of Grant and Colfax.

But his investment in southern property did not prove satisfactory, and in 1869 he returned to Indiana and entered journalism. But it was in 1873. that he purchased the Central Clarion, the first newspaper published in Fowler. In 1876 he disposed of the Clarion, but repurchased it in 1878 changing the name to Fowler Era, and continued to be its editor and proprietor until 1880, when he finally retired from journalism. Until 1873 the family home was on the farm in Parish Grove, but since that date in Fowler. In 1876 Mr. Williams was commissioned postmaster and served about four years. He then went on the road as a general agent for a school-supply house, serving in that capacity for six or eight years. Next he engaged in the real estate and loan business in Fowler. In recognition of his special fitness for the position, he was made chairman of the Republican county central committee in 1888 and was continued in that position until 1898, retiring when he was commissioned postmaster of Fowler, on the 1st of February, 1898. During his administration as leader of the Republican party in Benton county he prosecuted an aggressive policy, redounding to its success and increasing its majority threefold. Mr. Williams was one of the prime movers in the county seat contest, which resulted in transferring the seat of government of Benton county from Oxford to Fowler; and to accomplish this end he and his friends resorted to much strategy known only to the successful politician. One means employed was the purchase of a complete newspaper outfit at Chicago and the establishment of a fearless organ favorable to the transfer; and through its columns able articles were published which brought together the previously disintegrated fragments of the party favorable to the new movement. About this time the Patrons of Husbandry became a strong factor in politics, their policy being to defeat the dominant party, whatever its name.

In 1896 Mr. Williams was chosen a presidential elector from his congressional district and performed valiant services for the success of the McKinley ticket. No man in Benton county has performed greater service to the Republican party than D. Mc A.. Williams. Not only this, but he has also watched the growth and prosperity of Benton county from its infancy to the present day, and has always encouraged and fostered everything of public interest and value. He is public spirited and enterprising, and liberal to a fault. For two years he held the office of county assessor, receiving his appointment in 1891. In the pioneer days of 1858 he held the office of justice of the peace, in Parish Grove township.

He owns some land in Kansas and a comfortable home in Fowler. He is devotedly attached to his family, and enjoys the comforts and seclusion of his happy home; has been an industrious worker all his life, and whatever he has done he has done with all his might." Though well along toward the traditional *' three-score and ten years " in life's journey, he is still active and energetic and in the enjoyment of good health. No man in Benton county is more worthy of representation in this work than Mr. Williams ; in fact his life history is so closely interwoven with the public affairs of Benton county that a work of this character would not fill its mission to posterity were he not given the prominence his worth demands.
Mr. Williams was married in Parish Grove, March 22, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth B. Boswell, a daughter of Parnham and Adah (Chenoweth) Boswell. Her father was born in Prince William county, Virginia, September 30, 1798, and was one of the prosperous farmers and pioneers of Benton county. The town of Boswell, in this county, is named in his honor. His death occurred at that place in April, 1882, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty six years. His wife, who was born near Piketon, Pike county, Ohio, died in Parish Grove, June 8, 1878, and both are buried at Oxford, where their remains are no more disturbed by the awful lightning flash of the midnight storm than by the calm rays of the next noonday's sun.

Mr. and Mrs. Williams have had three children, one of whom is deceased. The eldest of these, Edward P., was born at Waco, Texas, August 7, 1858, and is now his father's efficient deputy in the post office. Adah M. was born at North Hickory Grove, Benton county, Indiana, October 13, i860, and died in Fowler, August 29, 1889; and Lizzie L., a beautiful and accomplished young lady still at her parental home, was born at Parish Grove, May 10, 1870, and has been for a number of years the official stenographer for the thirtieth judicial circuit of Indiana.

OBED BARNARD

The subject of this review is one whose history touches the pioneer epoch in the annals of the state of Indiana and whose days have been an integral part of that indissoluble chain which links the early, formative period with that that of latter day progress and prosperity. Not alone is there particular interest attaching to his career as one of the pioneers of the state and as one of the most prominent business men and leading citizens of Benton county, but in reviewing his genealogical record we find his lineage tracing back to the colonial history of the nation and to that period which marked the inception of the grandest republic the world has ever known. In the eighteenth century, while the Atlantic coast formed part of the colonial possessions of Great Britain, members of the Barnard family came to America, and as early as 1818 the family was founded in Indiana among the pioneer settlers in the southern section of the state.

The parents "of our subject were John and Sophrona (Sottle) Barnard, natives of the Empire state. The father was born in 1800, the mother in 1804, and their marriage was celebrated in Washington county, Indiana, about 1820. The father was a man of liberal education who devoted thirty years of his life to teaching in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. He was also a thrifty farmer and acquired considerable property. After a residence of forty years in Tippecanoe county, he was called to his final rest in 1873. His wife passed away in the same county in 1866. They were the parents of eight children, but only two are now living, although with one exception all reached the meridian of life. Stephen D., the eldest, died near Battle Ground, at the age of fifty six years; William died in the same neighborhood, at the age of thirty eight years; Obed is the third in order of birth; George W. died in infancy; Riley G. died in the vicinity of his birthplace, at the age of forty seven years; Almira, twin sister of Riley, became Mrs. Jennings and died in Cedar county, Iowa, at the age of fifty eight years; Mary A., who became Mrs. Bryan, died near Marion, Indiana, at the age of forty years; and Mrs. Eliza Ann Robinson, the living sister, makes her home in California.    In her early womanhood she married a Mr. Bryan, a brother of her sister Mary's husband. She was early left a widow, and her health becoming impaired she went to the Pacific coast, hoping to be benefited thereby. While there she met and married Mr. Robinson and has since resided in California.

Obed Barnard was born in Washington county, Indiana, on the 5th of December, 1826, and when seven years of age accompanied his parents on their removal to Tippecanoe county, then a backwoods district of northwestern Indiana. This was in 1833, when the little log cabin occupied the site of many of the commodious and beautiful homes of the present. The Blackhawk war had recently occurred and the horrors of Indian fighting formed the theme of many a tale told by the fireside during the long winter evenings. In the vicinity of Lafayette occurred an engagement, and the place is now known as " Battle Ground." There were many hardships and trials to be borne by the early settlers in those days when "near neighbors" lived five miles apart, when the land was largely in its primitive condition, when forests were uncut and prairies uncultivated. Obed Barnard aided his father in the arduous task of developing a new farm and early became familiar with all the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He attended the district school until he had attained the age of twenty years, and acquired a good practical English education, which has been supplemented by the careful reading of a life-time and the mental training of an active business career. Though reared on a farm, he entered upon an independent business career as a grain dealer in Lafayette, and throughout his entire life has carried on operations along that line in connection with farming and stock raising. In 1865 he removed from Lafayette to Brookston, White county, where he continued in the grain business until 1874, when he came to Fowler, since which time he has been prominently identified with the business interests of this prosperous and thriving little city. His connection with the place was rather accidental, however.
The elevator which he and his son now own and operate was erected by a man who frankly acknowledged that he had lost money in the venture, but Moses Fowler, for whom the town was named, did not wish the place to be deprived of the industry and accordingly took steps to continue. Mr. Barnard had recently sold out at Brookston, and was temporarily out of business. Mr. Fowler then proposed that they form a partnership and carry on the business, which was done, and the new firm of O. Barnard & Company operated the elevator for fifteen years, or until the death of Mr. Fowler, when his interest in the property was purchased by Mr. Barnard and the present firm of O. Barnard & Son was formed. For forty one years Mr. Barnard has engaged in the grain trade, and his ripe experience made his venture in Fowler by no means uncertain.    In fact success attended the enterprise from the beginning of his connection therewith and the business constantly increased in volume and importance until it has long been recognized as one of the leading commercial interests of the city. His present partner is his son, John F., who adds to the experience and mature judgment of the father the enterprise and progressive spirit of younger men, making a combination that cannot fail to win prosperity. Their elevators and cribs have a capacity of two hundred thousand bushels, and are operated by all modern appliances and machinery known to the business. During the business season the firm employs a number of men, thus materially aiding in the support of those dependent upon their own labor for a livelihood.

For some years Mr. Barnard was extensively engaged in stock raising, giving special attention to the breeding of graded Hereford cattle. He owns a fine farm of three' hundred and twenty acres near Fowler, and one hundred and fifty acres near Lochiel, and takes special pride in the improvement and adornment of these places. Since dividing the responsibilities of the grain business with his son, he is enabled to spend more time in the supervision of his farms and other business interests, and his wise counsel has proved an important factor in the successful management of many business concerns. He owns an interest in forty acres of land in the gas belt, near Parker, Indiana. The property has already produced gas, and is known to be rich in oil. Mr. Barnard also has some fine residence property in Fowler and derives therefrom an excellent income.

Mr. Barnard has been twice married. On the 30th of January, 1849, he wedded Miss Elizabeth Jennings, of Tippecanoe county, who died in 1874, leaving two children: John F. and Floyd Guy, both of whom are prominent business men of Benton county. On the 23d of May, 1876, Mr. Barnard married Miss Elizabeth M. Barnes, a resident of Battle Ground. Their only child, Elizabeth, died in infancy. The elder son is associated with his father in the grain and produce business in Fowler, and is very enterprising and energetic. He married Miss Mary Helen Merrick, who represents an old and prominent family of Illinois, and they have four children: Mary E., George Obed, Ruth M. and Fred Merrick. F. Guy Barnard, the younger son, is engaged in the grain and stock business at Lochiel. He resides upon and operates his father's farm near that village, and is extensively interested in the breeding and sale of Poland China swine. He has also engaged in raising horses to some extent, and has charge of the elevator belonging to his father at Lochiel. He married Ivy Hixson, a popular young lady of Fowler.

In early life Mr. Barnard gave his political support to the Whig party, and on the organization of the new Republican party joined its ranks and has since been one of the stalwart advocates of its principles and policy.    His counsel and advice are often sought on matters political, and his influence, prompted by unselfish motives, is fully recognized. He was one of the first trustees of the town of Fowler, elected soon after the incorporation, in 1875, and from that time to the present has taken an active interest in the affairs of the city. He has given a liberal support to all measures which he believed to be for the public good, and is untiring in his advocacy of all that will promote the educational, social, material or moral progress of Fowler. For many years he has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a consistent Christian gentleman whose belief is manifest in his charity, his kindliness and his honorable dealing. His life has been a very busy and useful one, broken by few periods of rest. Of late years, however, he goes on a visit to his sister about once in two years, usually spending the winter in the milder climate of California. He has also invested in property there, and now has a bearing orange grove of one thousand trees, while a handsome residence and other improvements also adorn the property.

In his business dealings, Mr. Barnard has met with almost phenomenal success, yet his prosperity has been gained along the line of industry, enterprise, careful management and supervision, sound judgment and, above all, straightforward dealing. Though he started out in life empty handed, he has conquered obstacles and difficulties by strong determination and has steadily worked his way upward to a position of affluence. So worthily has his wealth been won, and so well is it used, that the most envious cannot grudge him his success, for many have profited by it, and the town of Fowler has-been not a little benefited by his generosity. Few men are better known in northwestern Indiana. Seventy two years cover the period of his residence in the state, a record probably equaled by no one in this section of the commonwealth. He has witnessed, therefore, much of its growth and development, has seen the introduction of the railroad, the telegraph and telephone,, the establishment of industrial and commercial interests, and the transformation of its wild lands into beautiful homes and farms. By his upright life he has at all times commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men, and no one is more worthy of representation in this volume than the honored pioneer whose name introduces this review.

JESSE JOSEPH HOLTAM

This gentleman, a general merchant at Earl Park, Indiana, is well established in a prosperous business, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, December 27, 1861, and is of English and Irish descent. Both his father and his grandfather were born in England. The former, Joseph Holtam, died in Indiana, in 1887, at the age of seventy eight years. Thomas Holtam, the father of our subject, was born at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, and in his native land spent the first eighteen years of his life. At eighteen he came to America, landing at New York city, and from there directed his course to Cincinnati, Ohio, thence to Sioux City, Iowa, and later, about 1858, went to Omaha, Nebraska, where he conducted a confectionery store. He died in Omaha, in 1872, at the age of fifty years. The mother of our subject was, before her marriage, Miss Margaret Boyle. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, daughter of Charles and Mary Boyle, both natives of Ireland and both now deceased, his death occurring at the age of seventy six years and hers at seventy. Mrs. Margaret Holtam is still living and makes her home with her son Allen, in Earl Park. Of her children, one daughter and three sons, we record that Frances is the wife of Oscar Dyer, a farmer near Brookstown, White county, Indiana; Jesse J. was the second born; Charles, who is in the store with his brother, Jesse J., is also the proprietor of the Commercial Hotel of Earl Park; and Allen is also in the store with his brother.

The subject of our sketch spent his boyhood days up to the time he was fourteen at Omaha, where he received his education in the public schools. Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen he was employed in his grandfather Holtam's general store at Reynolds, Indiana, and from that place came to Earl Park to clerk for A. D. Raub & Company, general merchants, and remained with them two years. Following this he was for six years in the employ of R. Jacobs, of Goodland, Indiana, and at the end of this time he went west to Colorado, where he spent three years. Returning to Earl Park, he clerked for his brother Charles. In 1891 he entered into a partnership with F. Huntington and they purchased the general store of Charles Holtam, and the following year he bought out his partner and has since conducted the business under his own name. He carries a stock of general merchandise and hardware valued at twelve thousand dollars and is doing a prosperous and increasing business. Also he owns improved real estate in Earl Park.
Mr. Holtam was married at Earl Park, June 5, 1895, to Miss Mary Gerse, a native of Columbus, Ohio, daughter of Mrs. E. J. Scott, a resident of Earl Park, who came to this place from Columbus. Mr. and Mrs. Holtam have one child, Rufus Herold, born June 9, 1896
.
While not a member of any church, Mr. Holtam is a regular attendant at the services of the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, he is a Knight of Pythias, which order he joined in 1889, and his political affiliations are with the Republican party. For the past two years he has been town clerk and town treasurer of Earl Park.

AMOS S. COLBORN

The subject of this sketch is a native of Canada, born near Gault, on the 18th of November, 1844, a son of Benjamin Q. and Mary (Rosenburg) Colborn. His father was born in New York state in 1813, and accompanied his parents to Canada, where he was married and remained until 1850; by trade he was a lumber dealer, carpenter and contractor. His wife, a native of Pennsylvania, was born in 1820. The ancestry on his father's side were Scotch, and on his mother's probably German. Benjamin Colborn had nine children, of whom our subject was the fifth in order of birth. Rebecca, the eldest of the children, was born in Canada, in 1836, and died there at the age of seven years; Susanna, born in 1838, died in Caledonia, Michigan, in 1894; Nancy, born in 1840, is now the widow of I. Stauffer and resides at Petoskey, Michigan; John W. was born in 1842 and resides at Caledonia, Michigan; Amos S. was the next; Abraham R. was born in 1846 and is a wholesale lumber merchant at Michigan City, Indiana; Catherine was born in 1848 and is the wife of Theron Pelton, foreman in a paper mill at Watervliet, Michigan ; Mary A., born in Kent county, Michigan, in 1856, died at the age of four years; and Isaac, born in 1860, is a lumber dealer at Goodland, Newton county, Indiana.

In 1850 the parental home of our subject was transferred to Kent county, Michigan, where he was educated and grew to manhood. His first six years having been passed at his birth-place, he began attending school in Canada; but ere much progress had been made in the educational line he accompanied his parents to a point near Grand Rapids, Michigan, and completed his education in the schools of that state. His parents located upon a farm and his father's life was ended there, in the business of farming and lumbering. The country was heavily timbered at that time and every farm had upon it sufficient " saw timber " to afford profitable employment for the men in the winter season. The father also followed his trade as a carpenter and contractor when opportunity offered. He was killed in 1873, by being thrown from a load of hay. The mother is still living, in Caledonia, Kent county, Michigan.
Mr. Colborn when a youth attended school until fourteen years of age, when he began work at the carpenter's trade, continuing in that business until March 8, 1862; then he enlisted as a private in Company H, Sixteenth United States Infantry, joining his regiment at the front, it being already in the field. His first rendezvous was at Columbus, Ohio, where he received the necessary preliminary schooling at Camp Thomas. In April he was sent to Cincinnati, thence down the river, reaching Pittsburgh Landing a few days after the terrible battle at that place. He marched across the the country and joined his regiment at Corinth, Mississippi, and became a part of the command of General Buell; but his principal commanders were General Rosecrans, in the Army of the Cumberland, and General Sherman, on the Atlanta campaign. He participated in many of the hard fought battles of the civil war, among which may be mentioned Stone river, Chickamauga, Kenesaw mountain, Peach Tree creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro and the severe skirmishes incident to the great Atlanta campaign. Two of the battles named are memorable in turn as being the scene where Garfield distinguished himself as an able general and where McPherson fell. Mr. Colborn escaped miraculously, having had, like thousands of others in those crucial times, some "close calls." The discipline in the regular army is much more severe than in the volunteer service, and the drilling and schooling of the soldiers is correspondingly better. But while the discipline is rigid, the rights of the private solders are not ignored, as they often are under volunteer commanders. While encamped upon Lookout mountain, March 8, 1865, rolled around in the never ending cycle of time, and he received his discharge promptly on the date of the expiration of his term of service. While no veteran of the civil war regrets his service there, all look back to that as the one object which disarranged the whole plan of future life. Three or four years were taken from the student life of those desiring to complete an education; the apprentice to a mechanical trade felt that he was too old to complete it; likewise the professional aspirant felt that the days for activity were upon him, and he must make time count.

Returning from the war, our subject did not re-enter school, but at once launched out upon life's duties. He purchased an interest in a sawmill and operated that successfully for three years. Then he sold and invested his money in eighty acres of land in Byron, Kent county, Michigan, and the succeeding eighteen years were spent in improving and cultivating that farm. He made substantial improvements, erected a ten room brick house, a modern bank barn and other necessary buildings. Finally he rented the farm for a term of three years, and at the expiration of the lease sold the property and came to Oxford, in 1888. March 15th of that year he engaged in lumbering, and for six years was in partnership with his brother, Abraham R. Our subject, Amos S., was then out of business for a short time, having sold his interest, but in 1895 purchased his brother's interest, and later going to Goodland, as before stated. In the spring of 1898 he formed a partnership with Mr. W. B. Fulton.

Mr. Colborn was married December 31, 1868, at Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Miss Sarah A. Frost, daughter of William and Ann (Hutchings) Frost, descendants of English ancestors. Mrs. Colborn was born in New York, August 5, 1845, and came west with her parents, who located on a farm in Kent county, Michigan. A son and a daughter have been born to bless this union, the eldest of whom is Miss Mary, who was born in Kent county, March 5, 1874, and who is still an inmate of her parents' home. John A., also born in Kent county, Michigan, June 8, 1879, has passed his life thus far in school; he is a graduate of the Oxford high school, and has attended a school of a higher order one year at Greencastle, this state. He is now entered upon his second course of lectures in the Indiana Medical College, at Indianapolis, having begun the first course in September, 1897. During vacation he is employed in a drug store in Oxford, continuing and perfecting his chemical studies.

The subject of our sketch is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has held various official positions. He is also a prominent and active member of the Grand Army of the Republic, holding his membership in R. J. Templeton Post, No. 35, Department of Indiana. His political affiliations have always been with the Republicans, though he is not aggressive in politics, having neither sought nor held public office.

JOSEPH F. WARNER

    Among the prominent citizens of Fowler none are more worthy of representation in this work than J. F. Warner, who has been identified with the business and social interests of Benton county since 1874. In February of that year he came to Fowler and established the second general store in the place. He at once evinced his faith in the future metropolis of Benton county by erecting valuable and substantial buildings, by encouraging immigration and placing his influence and money on the side of the prosperous and healthy development of the town. From that time to the present he has been an important factor in the growth and advancement of Fowler, was the first town clerk of the little city and has held various other positions of trust and responsibility.
    Joseph F. Warner is a native of Ross county, Ohio, born on the 29th of May, 1846. His parents were Joseph and Elizabeth (Farmer) Warner, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Fayette county, Ohio. They had nine children, namely: John, who died in infancy; Massey, who died at the age of eighteen years; John L., who is now living with our subject; Catherine, wife of Truxton Head, of Lafayette, Indiana; Elizabeth, widow of Frank Bailey, who died from the effects of army service, her home being now in Fowler; Diantha F., who died in i860, at the age of eighteen years; Joseph F., of this review; Levi Samuel, who died in Fowler, in 1881, at the age of thirty two years; and Isaac W., now a merchant of Fowler.
When a lad of seven years Joseph F. Warner accompanied his parents on their removal to Champaign county, Illinois, where he was reared to manhood on his father's farm. He acquired his education in the public schools of that county, but like many of the boys in blue of the civil war, he sacrificed his educational privileges in order to enter his country's service. In February, 1864, when a beardless youth of less than eighteen years, he became a member of Company F, Twenty sixth Illinois Infantry, and was at once assigned to active duty at the front. His regiment became a part of Sherman's army, and with that command Mr. Warner participated in the stirring events of the final campaign of the great civil strife. He went on the famous * * march to the sea," participating in all of the victories of that irresistible army in its triumphal march through the heart of the Confederacy. He took part in the battles of Resaca, Dallas, New Hope Church, Kenesaw mountain, the siege and capture of Atlanta, the battles of Jones-boro, Lovejoy's Station, Macon, Fayetteville, Kingston, Goldsboro and Raleigh, and also bore his part in the less exciting but just as arduous service that comes on the line of march or when in camp. In marching through an enemy's country the column must be protected from sudden attack by flankers at the sides of the marching army and skirmishers in front and rear, who are in constant peril from men doing like service in the enemy's columns. Also at night when the wayworn and weary troops are gaining needed rest in sleep, a picket line must be maintained, and those on this duty are the special mark of the enemy. In all such service our youthful hero bore his part, and with his command eventually reached Richmond to find that General Grant had taken possession of the Confederate capital, that Lee's army has surrendered and that the war was at an end. Then came the grand marshaling of the victorious armies near Washington and the final review of troops in the city, the grandest military pageant that the New World has ever witnessed, a fitting finale to the closing scenes of the four years struggle for freedom and union.
The exhausting marches and other hardships incident to war had so affected the health of Mr. Warner that at the time of receiving his final discharge, July 20, 1865, he weighed but eighty three pounds! Yet he had remained at the front, a true and loyal soldier, manifesting the fortitude and bravery of many a veteran of twice his years. He returned to his home in Champaign county in poor health, but the tender nursing of his devoted mother restored his old time strength, and he again took up the duties of civil life. In 1874, as before stated, he came to Fowler and established the second general mercantile store in the place, conducting the same with good success for a number of years. His stock and building were then destroyed by fire, entailing a serious loss, and he turned his attention to the abstracting and collecting business, forming a partnership with George Gray, who is yet in that line. He has made judicious investments in many enterprises and interests and his capable management and splendid business and executive ability have enabled him to carry all forward to success. In 1894 he purchased a stock of general merchandise at Brooke, Newton county, Indiana, in which he is associated with George R. Dobbin, who assumes general control of the business. They carry a stock valued at from ten to twelve thousand dollars, and receive a liberal patronage. Mr. Warner also owns some business houses in Brooke and some residence property in Fowler. In 1883 he purchased a portion of his present fine farm in the suburbs of Fowler and to the original ten acres has since added seventy five acres, upon which he has an elegant home, in the midst of a fine lawn and attractive surroundings.
    The home life of Mr. Warner is ideal and his own fireside is to him the dearest spot on earth. It seems that he cannot do too much for the comfort and welfare of his family, and he counts no personal sacrifice too great that will enhance their happiness. He was married February 4, 1885, to Miss Laura B. White, a daughter of Jacob and Julia Ann White, and a native of Pulaski county, Indiana. Five children graced this union, but only three are now living, Herbert F., who was born December 21, 1885, having died at the age of eight months, while Pearle also died at the age of eight months. The others are Laura, born June 3, 1887; Opal, born October 4, 1890; and J. Cecil, born October 7, 1892. The relations between parents and children are ideal, showing love, care and tender watchfulness on the one side; filial duty, obedience and appreciation on the other. The Warner household is also noted for its generous hospitality, which is shared by many friends without distinction of wealth or social position, genuine worth of character being the only quality that is taken into consideration in the reception of their guests. Mrs. Warner is a member of the Methodist church, but Mr. Warner is liberal in his religious views, giving to all churches but holding membership in none. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, but has never been an office seeker. He is one of the charter members of Benton Post, No. 25, G. A. R., and has always taken an active interest in the well being of his comrades in arms. He very properly recognizes the 4t time limit" placed upon the order, and rejoices that the portals of the Grand Army of the Republic are jealously guarded from intrusion by national and state laws. The bronze button is everywhere recognized as the "insignia of rank" for it means that the wearer has been tested in the fires of battle for freedom's sake, and Mr. Warner may well be proud to wear the little emblem. He is a man true to every trust reposed in him, honorable in all life relations, and discharges his duties of citizenship with the same loyalty which he manifested when on southern battle-fields he followed the stars and stripes.

HENRY V. T. HULS

    Squire Huls is one of the permanent fixtures of Fowler. In His varied business and official connections with the people of Benton county he has. become widely and favorably known. Mr. Huls is a native of the great Empire state of the north, New York, born in Yates county, October 30, 1825. His father, James Huls, was of German ancestry, and married Miss Sallie Pruden, who was of English ancestry. In 1843 they removed with their seven children to Illinois, passing through the embryo city of Chicago. Mr. Huls says that at that time he could have bought a desirable lot in the heart of the city for two hundred and fifty dollars, and that 4t water lots" were almost given away. These have since been rendered tenable by filling,, and are now considered as good as any other lots in the vicinity, worth more than half a million dollars each.
    The family located on a farm in Kane county, Illinois, where both the parents passed the remainder of their days. Henry spent three years in Iowa, engaged in farming and merchandising, but returned to Illinois in time to join the "boys in blue" from the Sucker state and go to the front of the battle lines in defense of the Union and the legitimate government, enlisting on the 6th of September, 1861, as a member of Company A, Eighth Illinois Cavalry. His regiment was assigned to duty in the Army of the Potomac, and participated in the stirring and protracted experiences of the Peninsular campaign, as the seven days' battle in front of Richmond, the battles of Williamsburg, Yorktown, Hanover Court House and Seven Pines, leading up to the final work of the campaign. The horrors of the Chickahominy swamps are fresh in the memory of every Peninsular soldier. The sympathies of the whole country have gone out to our sons on Cuban soil, who did not have all the comforts of home, but they were not obliged to stand pocket waist deep in mud and water, in the miasma stricken Chickahominy, as some of their fathers did. But for the ravages of disease no doubt the maligned and persecuted McClellan would have been successful in the famous Peninsular campaign. Sixty thousand of the army were in hospitals with fever contracted in the horrible swamps; and when the attack came by the united forces of Jackson and Lee he was driven from his position. Then followed the loss of forty thousand brave boys in the Seven Days' battles, and these are a part of our subject's <' roll of honor:" Gaines' Mills, Cold Harbor, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp and Malvern HilL The last mentioned engagement was one of the most stubbornly contested battles of the war and saved the army from annihilation or capture. Following this the army encamped at Harrison's Landing on the James river, and at that point Mr. Huls was honorably mustered out by special order from the war department.    He had served as quartermaster of the Third Battalion of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry from February n, 1862, until his muster out.
Besides undergoing all the above mentioned remarkable experiences, Mr. Huls has also traveled a great deal throughout the United States, visiting and investigating. After his discharge from the army he followed various pursuits in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and in 1873 became a resident of Fowler, Indiana; and here for many years he has successfully engaged in the milling business, but of late he has served the people as justice of the peace, an office which in towns like Fowler also carries with it the functions of mayor.
    He has always taken a great interest in the welfare of his late comrades in arms, and promptly allied himself with the Grand Army of the Republic, a society with a "time limit." The unpretentious bronze button conveys a world of information to the initiated. It is sacredly guarded by the laws of most of the states, and no traitor or convicted coward can wear it or enter the portals of the order it represents. In this society Mr. Huls has always taken an active part, and has held all the principal offices in the local post, which he has also represented at state and national encampments. He served three years as commander of Benton Post No. 25.
    In 1848 Mr. Huls was united in matrimony with Miss Elizabeth Moore, who died at Clifton, Iowa, in 1869. By that marriage the following children were born: John, Herbert, Willie, Jessie, Hattie and Pearl. Herbert, Jessie and Pearl are living, the others dying in childhood. Herbert is a farmer and stockman in California; Pearl, now Mrs. McDonald, resides at Hinsdale, California, where they are in good financial circumstances; and Jessie has been her father's housekeeper for twenty five years.
The father of our subject was a native of New York state, a farmer the most of his life. Of his nine children six are still living. The eldest, Hugh Huls, died in Wichita, Kansas; Rachel died in 1840, in Steuben county, New York ; and Adeline died in 1852, in Kane county, Illinois. Following are the names and locations of the living: Mary resides at Wheaton, Illinois ; Henry V. T. is next in order of age ; Spencer is a merchant at St. Charles, Illinois ; Angeline, a widow, is a resident of the same place; John P. lives at West Union, Iowa; and Kate, now Mrs. Palmer, resides at Hinsdale, Illinois.
    Mr. Huls, whose name heads this sketch, is a man of strict integrity and uprightness of character. He has seen much of the world and is exceptionally well informed upon the current events of the day. Though already past the average "three-score and ten" years in age, he is active and energetic, full of life and hope. For twenty five years his faithful daughter, Miss Jessie, has been his housekeeper and constant companion, an example of filial affection and self sacrificing devotion to a parent seldom witnessed. Mr. Huls speaks of her with much feeling and fully appreciates her kindness and goodness of heart. Says Hanway, a philosophical writer: '' Good nature is the beauty of the mind, and, like personal beauty, wins almost without the aid of anything else, sometimes indeed in spite of positive deficiencies."
    Personally Mr. Huls possesses a jovial disposition, enjoying the society of entertaining friends and delighting to review, in retrospection, the thrilling scenes of his earlier years ; yet in the experience of men there is no theme quite so entertaining as a review of the happy "by-gone days."
    In his political principles Mr. Huls has been a life-long Republican and an active worker for his party's interests. He believes in God and the immortality of the soul, but is too independent in spirit to be bound by church dogmas.

CLARK COOK, M. D.

    Dr. Cook, who for thirteen years has been one of the prominent physicians of Fowler, has long since established a professional reputation among the people which places him well up among his brethren. His efforts in the healing art have been crowned with abundant success, and he is recognized as a skillful and successful practitioner.
    The Doctor was born in Clarksville, Clinton county, Ohio, on the 22d of March, 1853, a son of William and Elizabeth (Bogan) Cook, both of whom were natives of Virginia. His father was born in 1785, and his mother in 1807, she being the second wife. They were married in Ohio in 1846. His father, whose ancestors were of German and Scotch descent, was by trade a potter and terra cotta worker, which trade he learned by a regular apprenticeship of seven years in Baltimore, Maryland. Soon after their marriage the parents located at Clarksville, Ohio, and remained there for three years, eventually removing to Indiana, where both died, the father's death occurring in Clinton county, in 1870, and the mother's some time afterward, in Boone county. By the second marriage above referred to there were two sons, Charles W. and the subject of this sketch. The former is a prosperous farmer living near Thorntown, Indiana.    The mother of our subject was descended from German and Irish ancestors, and both families were long identified with the Old Dominion state.
Dr. Cook received his elementary education in the public schools of Clinton county, this state, arid the county high school of Hamilton county, taking a three years course in the last named institution. On leaving the high school he engaged in teaching, in which profession eight of his early manhood years were spent, mostly in Boone county, this state.
However, his profession being chosen in his boyhood days before he became fully settled in his mind what he should follow for his life work, he ultimately determined upon the profession of medicine, and accordingly began its study, under the tutorship of Dr. C. H. Smith, of Lebanon, Indiana, spending five years in its study while employed in teaching; and these five years were the period from November, 1876, to 1881, including the courses of lectures as follows: a special course at Indiana State Medical College, at Indianapolis, and two courses at the Kentucky School of Medicine, where he graduated in 1881. Following this he taught one term of school, and then engaged in practice at Earl Park, in Benton county, in 1882. Three years later he came to Fowler and at once entered upon a successful career as a physician.
    Dr. Cook is a gentleman of genial manner, easily approachable, and these characteristics secured him warm friends, while the recognition of his professional ability readily brought him a lucrative practice; and this has continued to the full extent of his ambition, his leisure hours indeed being very few. His earnings have been invested in various localities, principally in real estate, which comprises a comfortable home in Fowler, business property in Danville, Indiana, Danville, Illinois, and in Chicago, besides a hundred acre farm in southern Indiana. This property, valued well up into the thousands, is the accumulated result of his own earnings.
    The Doctor has been honored with official positions of a professional character, having been secretary of the Benton county board of health since March, 1888, and in the same year he was appointed a member of the board of United States pension examiners, a position he has held ever since, with the exception of only one year. For the term of two years, 1892-4 he was the coroner for Benton county.
    Politically, he has been an ardent and uncompromising Republican from the dawn of his manhood to the present time, in this respect following the footsteps of his father, who was one of the organizers of the renowned and "fire tested " party. Dr. Cook allowed his name to come before the people of his district as a candidate for nomination as representative from the counties of Benton and Warren; but professional duties and obligations prevented his making an active canvass, to which personal advancement he is somewhat averse, from principle as well as from feelings, and the "other fellow " carried off the plum. The Doctor has been secretary of the Republican county central committee, commencing in 1888.
He is prominently identified with the social orders, being a member in good standing of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Knights of Honor fraternities; and he and his wife are also members of the Order of the Eastern Stan The religious predilections of the family are for the Christian church.
    But in worldly affairs the Doctor is chiefly devoted to his profession, has a fine professional library, and keeps abreast of the onward march of the profession. His inclination is rather toward surgery; but in country practice there is but little call for surgery. He has been surgeon for the Big Four Railroad Company at Fowler for the last twelve years.
March 5, 1876, is the date of the Doctor's marriage, in Lebanon, Indiana, to Miss Lucinda Ham, who was born in Montgomery county, this state, November 27, 1852. She is an educated and accomplished lady, a model companion and a devoted mother. Of their two children, Cars, the eldest, was born February 1, 1877, in Lebanon, Indiana, and died in Fowler, January 28, 1892. This sore bereavement was a severe blow to the loving and devoted parents, " Ye that e'er lost an angel, pity me," exclaimed the great poet, Young, who lost a young daughter by the hand of death. Ray M. was also born in Lebanon, February 28, 1879, and is now a young man with bright prospects for future success and usefulness. He has enjoyed excellent educational advantages, possesses a keen perception and readily grasps the intricacies met in his high school work. As a representative of one of the learned professions, in later years, he will no doubt fill an honorable station as the one upon whom devolves the perpetuation of the family history. His mother is a descendant of old Holland stock who were prominent in the early settlement of New York and honorably represented in the Revolutionary war by her uncle, John Pruden, who served four years under Washington and participated in most of the Revolutionary battles.

SAMUEL K. NOLIN

    The subject of this biographical review is one of the solid, stable business men of Benton county. His experience has been varied, and he has achieved his present position in the financial world principally through his own unaided efforts.
    He accompanied his parents to Benton county, Indiana, in childhood, and here he received his elementary education and passed his youthful years. Then, in 1849, he went to Iroquois county, Illinois, where forty three years of his life were spent in agricultural pursuits. He located in Stockland township, of that county, securing four hundred acres of government land, which he improved largely by his own labor. Endowed with a robust constitution and indomitable energy, he soon transformed the trackless prairie into fertile farming land, the pioneer log cabin giving place to a handsome modern residence, and each year found him more prosperous than the preceding one.
As success crowned his efforts he continued to add other broad fields and to increase his stock interests, this latter being one of his principal elements of success. He raised for the market all kinds of domestic animals, and the sale of these was largely the source of his success, since it was his purpose to feed to his own stock most of the products of his farm. As success crowned his efforts his farm boundaries were also extended until his possessions aggregated eight hundred and forty acres in Stockland township, and also a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty six acres in Prairie Green township, same county.
    But notwithstanding his phenomenal success and long residence in Illinois, the people of Benton county claim Mr. Nolin as their own.    His early residence here, and the fact that advancing years stimulated his return to the scenes of his boyhood, seems a reasonable justification of this claim. Yet, if other evidence were required, it may be added that the old parental home of two hundred acres, entered in 1834, four miles east of Oxford, has never passed from the family, but has been augmented by the purchase of one hundred and sixty additional acres. This old homestead Mr. Nolin now owns. He retired from the active management of his estate in Illinois, leaving it in charge of his son, and returned to Oxford in 1893. Here his life is less active, though he maintains a general superintendence of his affairs, both at "home and abroad."
    In 1893 he became interested as a stockholder in the Bank of Oxford, the only monetary institution in the town. This was organized as a private bank in 1893, and is one of the solid, financial concerns of Benton county. A general banking business is transacted, the individual responsibility of the bank being four hundred thousand dollars. Mr. Nowlin owns a one third interest, the other stockholders being Joseph Heath and his son, David S. Heath.
    The subject of this sketch was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 21, 1821. His father, Thomas Nolin, was a native of Ross county, same state, born in 1776; was a soldier in the war of 1812, and served under General William Henry Harrison. He was a descendant from Irish ancestors. The paternal grandfather of our subject was Richard Nolin, a Virginian, who removed to Kentucky in the days of Daniel Boone, and there married a Miss Kirkpatrick, and together the families fled from that state, owing to Indian depredations, and settled in Ross county, Ohio. The father of our subject married Miss Jane Kirkpatrick, who was a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, born in 1797. In 1831 the parents removed to Fountain county, Indiana, where they remained about four years, coming from there to Benton county, where they reared a family of six sons and two daughters. Ruth A., the eldest of these, married Jonathan Baugh and died in Tippecanoe county in 1886; Samuel K., of this sketch, was the second in order of birth and the eldest son; John was born in Pickaway county in 1823, and died in Milford, Illinois; Minerva was born in 1825 and died in Benton county, Indiana, at the age of twenty four; George W. was born in 1827 and died in Warren county, this state; Richard T., born in 1830, is living on a farm in Oklahoma territory; James W. was born in Franklin county, Indiana, in 1832: he was a soldier during the civil war and is now located on a farm at Lohrville, Iowa; Austin W. was born in Benton county, this state, in 1834, and died at the age of sixteen years.
    The maternal grandparents of Mr. Nolin were the founders of the family in America; they were Scotch Irish and settled near the James river in Virginia more than three hundred years ago. His paternal grandparents died in Ross county, Ohio, and his father and mother in Indiana, the former on his farm in this county, in 1840, and the latter in Tippecanoe county, at the age of seventy two years, surviving her husband for many years.
    Mr. Nolin has been twice married, his first union being solemnized in in 1853, the lady being Miss Rachel Dawson, the daughter of Elisha and Polly Dawson. A year later he followed her remains to the grave, her death occurring at their home in Iroquois county, Illinois, when she was but twenty two years of age. Rachel Dawson was a native of Warren county, Indiana, where her parents were early pioneers. For his second wife Mr. Nolin wedded Miss Clarissa Coffelt, who was born near Xenia, Ohio. By this marriage there were four children, all born in Iroquois county, Illinois. The eldest, Mary, was born in i860 and is now Mrs. George Voliva, residing at our subject's old parental home in Bolivar township; the second child died in infancy; William T., born in 1874, is located upon one of the Illinois farms, where he is extensively engaged in farming and stock raising; Matilda, born in 1876,        married William Nichol, a prosperous farmer in Iroquois county, Illinois.
    In January, 1890, Mr. Nolin was bereft of the companionship of his wife, after a happy wedded life of over thirty years. Clarissa Coffelt was the daughter of Michael Coffelt, of Warren county, Indiana, and a native of Virginia. She was a devoted wife and mother whose death was mourned by a wide circle of friends and relatives.
Mr. Nolin recites some reminiscences of early pioneer life in Benton county which are very interesting.. In speaking of Benton county, Ind. however, we mean the territory which is now embraced within the limits of that county, though it has been a part of no less than three counties at different times in its history. In the early pioneer days, during the boyhood of our subject, it was not unusual for the youth to walk five miles to school, young Nolin having obtained the rudiments of an education by walking from three to five miles to and from school. When there was work to do, of course that had to be done; and when there was leisure, if school was in session, the children could go, if strong enough to brave the dangers of prairie and forest. In this way he "attended school " until sixteen years of age. But this very rudimentary education has been supplemented by a lifetime of careful reading and private study. Then that other great educator, the "school of experience," has proved a valuable assistant in the educational process. Samuel Nolin is therefore what the world is pleased to term a self made man. His life has been one continual round of financial success. Obstacles sufficient to discourage a less resolute nature have been successfully met and turned to good advantage.    Wholly self dependent, he started out on life's threshold with a determination to win. His success, however, has not been augmented by a close and niggardly policy, since he has enjoyed the comforts of life all along life's journey, and no unfortunate ever left his door unfed. He is generous toward the poor, and hospitality is a ruling characteristic of his nature. As a proof of his modest possessions in 1840, he being then twenty one years old, he authoritatively states that his tax for that year was thirty six cents.
A cousin of Mr. Nolin, Thomas Nolin, was frozen to death in 1847, on present site of Fowler. He was lost in January, and his body was not found until the following October, when it was identified by the remnants of clothing found on his skeleton. He was a son of William Nolin and a native of Ross county, Ohio.

WILLIAM H. DAGUE

    In modern ages, and to a large extent in the past, banks have constituted a vital part of organized society, and governments, both monarchical and popular, have depended upon them for material aid in times of depression and trouble. Their influence has extended over the entire world, and their prosperity has been the barometer which has unfalteringly indicated the financial status of all nations. Of this important branch of business William H. Dague is a worthy representative. He is a member of the well known banking firm of Baldwin & Dague, of Fowler, an institution that is so widely known in Benton county that its proprietors need no introduction to the reader of this volume. The junior partner of the firm belongs to that class of citizens to whom success has come as the reward of their own labors, the outcome of business sagacity, excellent executive ability, indomitable purpose and unflagging industry. His life record should serve to stimulate and inspire others who are forced to wrest fortune from the hand of fate, and in the history of his adopted county he well deserves representation.
    Mr. Dague was born on the 17th of December, 1844, in Washington county, Pennsylvania, his parents being Samuel and Phoebe (Conrad) Dague, both of whom were natives of Washington county, where the families were established by German ancestors many generations ago. The parents were married in the Keystone state, and most of their seven children were born there. In 1848 they emigrated to the then "far west," and found a home in the undeveloped country contained in Cass and Fulton counties. The farm was crossed by the dividing line of those counties, but the house stood in the latter. Upon that place the parents spent their remaining days, the father dying in January, 1875, and the other in August of the same year. At the beginning of the year both seemed in excellent health, but before another New Year's day arrived both were deceased. All of their seven children are yet living, the eldest being sixty two years of age, the youngest forty seven years of age.
    Upon the original homestead of the family William H. Dague spent his boyhood days amid the environments of pioneer life, assisting in the labors of field and meadow through the summer months, while in the winter season he attended the district schools of the neighborhood. His early educational privileges were afterward supplemented by study in the State University of Indiana, in the law department of which he was graduated in the class of 1871. He at once entered upon the practice of law in Logansport, but two years later went to the Pacific coast in search of a location. Fifteen months were spent there, within which time he visited a great portion of the then undeveloped west, but the ties of home and early friendships led him to abandon his plan of living in California, and accordingly he returned to Indiana. His first venture in business life in this state was the purchase of the Monticello Herald, which he conducted successfully for five years, and during four years of that time he was also postmaster of Monticello. He edited his paper in the interests of the Republican party and was fearless and aggressive in his advocacy of its principles. His editorials were not only pertinent and spicy, but were also convincing in their arguments, and his paper secured a wide circulation and accordingly was quite profitable. On disposing of the Herald Mr. Dague also resigned the position of postmaster, and then, taking an inventory of his possessions, found that he had cleared seven thousand dollars in the five years. This was practically his first savings, and formed the nucleus around which he has gathered his ample fortune.
    On retiring from journalism Mr. Dague opened a law office in Monticello, and also made considerable money there through real-estate dealing and the loan business. The last named also rendered him somewhat familiar with the details of the business which was to become his future life work. In 1880 he came to Fowler and organized the Bank of Fowler, the first banking institution organized in the town.    It readily came into popular favor and is today considered one of the most reliable financial institutions of the state. Associated with Mr. Dague as senior member of the firm, is Daniel P. Baldwin, a non-resident, their individual responsibilities being six hundred thousand dollars. These gentlemen are also, conjointly, proprietors of three other banks, two of which are in Benton county, the Bank of Earl Park and the Bank of Ambia, while the Bank of Goodland is in Newton county. In all of these a general banking business is transacted, handling foreign and domestic exchange, making time or short loans, receiving deposits upon which interest is paid, and doing all other kinds of general banking business, A safe, conservative policy has been followed from the first, and under the able management of the successful financiers who stand at its head the bank has enjoyed continuous prosperity. Since 1880 Mr. Dague has given no attention to his law practice, although his knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence is of great value to him in his extensive and intricate banking business.
    Mr. Dague was married in Indianapolis, in 1876, to Miss Mary A. McKeehan, a native of Columbus, Indiana. She proved to be a most exemplary wife and mother, and was a devoted Christian woman whose influence lives after her. After eighteen years of happy married union, she departed this life in 1894, leaving the husband and three sons to mourn her loss. The sons are Samuel McKeehan, a graduate of Wabash College, and now a law student in Indianapolis; Maynard Conrad, who was for two years a student in Wabash College, and is now in the gold fields of Alaska; and William H., a promising youth of thirteen, now a pupil in the Fowler high school.
    In politics Mr. Dague is a stalwart Republican. He has never held office except to serve as school trustee and a member of the board of education. His life has been a very busy one, but he finds time to faithfully discharge the duties of citizenship and support all measures for the public good, and in manner is cordial and courteous. The strictest integrity has characterized his business career, and his name is a synonym for honorable dealing in commercial circles. His well spent life commends him to the regard and confidence of all, and his friends are many.

NELLIE E. GREEN, M. D.

    The lady whose name heads this sketch is a regular practicing physician in Fowler. The time has been when such an announcement as this met with surprise and incredulity. The idea of a female physician in regular practice was something novel. Seeing an opportunity to turn this to personal advantage, even the profession aided in giving wings to ridiculous stories and comments. But happily most of the profession readily recognized her talents, and the opposition of the others only tended to give her a professional introduction to the community. From the very first year Dr. Green has had a profitable practice. Being introduced to the community by a prominent family, she readily took her place in society, and began her chosen work. The lady who served as a medium of her introduction is one who received helpful treatment from the skill of Dr. Green when she was a practitioner at Princeton, Illinois.
    A native of Vermont, Dr. Green, when a child, accompanied her parents to Detroit, Michigan, where she was educated and grew to womanhood. Her father being a physician, she in her school days became imbued with the idea that there was room for her in the profession and began a course of reading in her father's library, and became so well pleased with her progress and fascinated with the study that she clandestinely attended a course of lectures at Rush Medical College in Chicago, and so great an interest was manifested that she was eventually admitted to the class-room, though at that time the college curriculum was confined to the instruction of the sterner sex. This course only stimulated her ambition to become a physician, and she entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, from which she received the much coveted prize, the degree of Doctor of Medicine.
She established an office temporarily at Yorktown, Illinois, but soon afterward relocated and practiced for several years, with good success, at Princeton; and while there she also made regular professional visits to other towns in the surrounding country and had a large number of patrons. But her ambition was to locate in some pleasant, unpretentious town and build up a local practice. Thus, through the importunities of the lady whose life she had saved, she found in Fowler the desired location, in 1884, since which trip she has been identified with its people. She is the " family physician " of many of the best families in town and country, and has a very large office practice. Though not averse to general practice and surgery, she is especially pleased with the liberal patronage she receives from women and children. Unlike the office of the " bearish, ugly man," hers is a little palace of beauty, adorned with pictures, books and bric-a-brac and a handsome piano, where the waiting sufferer may be at ease.
    Dr. Green is a lady of intelligence and refinement, specially gifted in conversation and affable and agreeable in manner. The only wonder is but we digress. The Doctor is devoted to her profession, and no day is too cold or hot, no night too dark or stormy, for her to promptly reach the bedside of the sick and suffering. By the possession of indomitable energy and a robust constitution, this is rendered possible.    She keeps her own horses 18 and carriages and employs a trustworthy man to take care of them and drive them.
    This is another instance where the " domain of man " has been successfully invaded by the gentler sex, and one of the learned professions creditably appropriated by a "weak woman."

JOHN A. ROTH

    This enterprising and successful agriculturist of Richland township Benton county, is the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and eighty six acres, and his management of the place is marked by the scientific knowledge and skill which characterize the modern farmer.
    Mr. Roth was born in Harrison county, Indiana, September 13, 1860, and was the fifth son born to Adam and Magdaline (Reuter) Roth, natives of. Bavaria, Germany, the former born in 1818, the latter in 1819.    They were married in that country, in 1847, and the following year came to the New World, locating in Harrison county, Indiana, where the father purchased twp hundred acres of land, which he operated for twenty years. On selling that place, in 1867, he came to Benton county and bought three hundred and fifteen acres in Richland township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his energies until called to his final rest, January 1, 1896. The mother still resides on the home farm, three and a half miles northeast of Earl Park. Of the eight children born to them, the two eldest, both of whom were given the name of Rose, died in infancy; Evie is the wife of Frank Bolinger, of Buffalo county, Wisconsin,, where he owns three hundred and twenty acres of land; Frederick is a carpenter and architect of Duluth, Minnesota; Mary is the widow of Joseph Bury, and makes her home near Fort Smith, Arkansas; Barbara is the wife of Joseph Yochem, a farmer owning one hundred and fifty five acres four and a half miles northeast of Earl Park; John A. is the next of the family; and Joseffa is now: away from home. Our subject's paternal grandfather was Valentine Roth, and both he and his wife were natives of Bavaria, Germany.
The early education of John A. Roth, acquired in the district schools of Richland township, Benton county, was supplemented by a course at the St. Patrick's Brothers school in Chicago, and the Notre Dame University, which he attended one year in all. He then took a thorough business course at the C. M. Robinson Business College, at Lafayette, and he feels a just pride in the preparation for life's work, for he made his own way through school and is well fitted for any position which he may be called upon to fill. At the age of twenty five he returned to his father's farm, which he had previously operated, but in 1886 he bought two hundred and twenty six acres from Adams Earl, and four years later added to it one hundred and sixty acres, all in Richland township, Benton county. In connection with it he also operates two hundred acres of the Earl farm, and is meeting with most excellent success. While he carries on general farming he makes a specialty of. the raising of small fruits, and in this branch of his business has also been very successful. For the past few years he has also been extensively interested in the raising of potatoes. - In 1896, from twenty seven acres, he raised seven thousand bushels.
    At Kentland, Indiana, September 13, 1887, Mr. Roth was married, by, Rev.. Father Miller, to Miss Mary A. Burns, a daughter of James and Alice (Burns) Burns, of Kentland, formerly of Ireland. Mrs. Roth was born on. Shelter Island, New York, February 13, 1864, and by her marriage has become the mother of five children : Jessie, born June 6, 1888; Alice, born July 11, 1889; one who died in infancy; Ruth, born March 25, 1894; and Ray, born January 3, 1896.
    Mr. Roth holds his ecclesiastical membership in the Catholic church of Fowler; politically he is identified with the Democracy; and socially affiliates with the Royal Arcanum and the Catholic Order of Foresters. His circle of friends and acquaintances is extensive and he well deserves the high regard in which he is uniformly held.

DAVID LAUGHLIN

The proprietor of a general store in Talbot, Benton county, Indiana, David Laughlin was born in the adjoining state of Ohio, in Brown county, January 8, 1836. He is the son of Robert and Isabella (Graham) Laughlin, and is of Scotch Irish stock, his paternal grandparents coming from the north of Ireland, and his maternal grandparents from Scotland. His father was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1790, and moved, some years later, to Brown county, Ohio, where he owned two hundred and forty acres of land. In 1840 he disposed of his property and moved to Shelby county, that state, where he purchased eighty acres, upon which he was still residing ten years later, when his death occurred. He was united in wedlock to Miss Isabella Graham, a native of Lancaster county, where she was born in 1791. She moved to Clermont county, Ohio, where she was married, and died near Sidney, that state, in 1876. Their family consisted of twelve children: James, who died at the age of eighteen; Mary, who died in 1870, at the age of sixty years; Isabella, who died in infancy; Elizabeth, who died at the age of fifty five, in 1888; William, a resident of Shelby county, Ohio; Margaret, who died in Shelby county, in 1851, at the age of thirty years; John, who lives in Shelby county; Nancy, who resides at Piqua, Miami county, same state, the widow of Charles Street; Leander and Richard, deceased, the former at the age of twenty, the latter at the age of twenty four; David, the subject of this memoir; and Joseph, a resident of Sidney, Ohio; and the present county auditor.
David Laughlin attended the district school in Shelby county, until he was nineteen, receiving a good education. In 1855 he and a man named Reuben Woodmancie, now of Council Bluffs, Iowa, walked from Shelby county, Ohio, to Warren county, Indiana. They returned to Ohio, but afterward came back to Indiana. He taught school two terms in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and in 1858 started with a party of travelers to cross the plains from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were stopped, and Laughlin returned to Indiana. He worked near College Corner, for several months and the same year, 1858, engaged in the cattle business, in which he was very successful. He rented land near College Corner, where he farmed during the summers and taught school in the winter months. He continued this plan for twenty eight years, and then entered the mercantile business at Talbot, in 1887. He built the store and residence now occupied by him, and placed a line of general merchandise in the room, valued at one thousand five hundred dollars, and has been equally successful in this as in previous ventures. He was married February 19, 1859, at College Corner, Indiana, to Miss Adaline Brady, daughter of John and Eliza (Davidson) Brady, farmers near College Corner. His wife died in 1881, at the age of thirty six years, and left six children : Eva May, now deceased; Loch, a farmer in Warren county, this state; Leonard, a farmer near Talbot, who owns one hundred and forty two acres where he lives and eighty acres in Warren county; Elmer, who is in the grain business at Boswell, this state; Marlin, deceased; and Rolland, who is serving his country in her troubles with Spain, and is stationed at Fort Pickens, Florida. After his wife's death Mr. Laughlin was again married, this time to Mrs. Amanda (Stalley) Stephenson, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Stalley, of North Carolina. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for the past ten years. He is a prominent member of the Baptist church, and a Democrat in politics. He has filled the office of justice of the peace in a manner that reflected credit on his shrewdness and judgment.

LUTHER OWINGS

    If there is any public institution in Fowler, except her model school, of which the town ought to be proud, it is the livery business of Owings & Eller, a large and conveniently arranged brick barn, kept as clean as a house, supplied with fine driving animals and "high steppers " if required, and a large display of handsome rigs sufficient to satisfy the most exacting. Should the patron require a careful driver to pilot him to some friend in the country or to another town, he can be accommodated here. A special effort is made to supply the best stock and best service to be found anywhere ; and it is a real pleasure to the traveling public to know that their needs are thus anticipated.
    Luther Owings was born at Blaine, Pennsylvania, January 22, 1869, and is a son of William and Mary (Fitsel) Owings, also natives of that place. His father was born in 1829 and has been a carpenter and contractor in his native town all his life. His mother was born in 1843 and died in 1886, at that place. They were the parents of seven children, named as follows : Howard, born in 1871 and died in 1891 : he was a blacksmith in Blaine ; Ella, born in 1873, married Mr. Myers, a prosperous livery man at Canton, Ohio; Edward, born in 1875, IS a tinner in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Harry is a carpenter and contractor at Johnston, and he was born in 1877 ; the next is the subject of this sketch ; Alice is the wife of Thomas Watson, a farmer at Forrest, Illinois; she was born in 1881 ; and Grace, born in 1883, is living at home caring for her father.
    John Owings, the paternal grandfather of our subject, died at Blaine, Pennsylvania, at the age of ninety two years; and his wife, whose maiden name was unknown to the subject of this sketch, died at the same age. Mr. Owings maternal grandparents were natives of Ickesburg, Pennsylvania, where they died, the grandfather at the age of sixty five years, in 1888, and the grandmother in 1895, at the age of seventy. The Owings family is of English origin and the Fitsel of German.
Luther Owings received an English education in the schools of his native town and began life's struggles on his own account at the age of seventeen. He first worked a year on a farm in the vicinity of home, and used the means thus procured to make a trip to the west. He secured a place on a farm near Forrest, Illinois, and continued in the employ of one man for three years. He then followed farming on his own account near Chatsworth one year, and was thus employed for two years near Forrest. He saved his money and on coming to Fowler, in March, 1893, he had nine hundred dollars to put in business. He first bought a half interest in the stock of George Fisher and became a partner of H. O. Fuller. William Eller bought Fuller's interest and the firm has been Owings & Eller since January 1, 1896. They have purchased the building which they formerly rented, and have this season (1898) erected a large addition to the original plant, at a cost of two thousand dollars. The buildings and stock are valued at ten thousand dollars. The business produces a revenue of from three hundred to four hundred dollars per month. The patronage is largely transient since the introduction of the "wheel;" yet they have a fair local trade. They also operate a 'bus line between Fowler and Barce, making all passenger trains on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. Mr. Owings has always been an admirer of the * horse, and this fact was probably the cause of his entering his present business. He is an excellent judge of horses, and this capacity enables him to buy and sell to advantage. He is a gentleman of genial disposition, quiet and unassuming in manner; is in the enjoyment of perfect health, and is a splendid specimen of physical manhood. Like his ancestors, he is stout and heavy built, even tempered and free from corroding vices.    His future promises a successful career.
    As to the marriage relation, Mr. Owings is "heart whole and fancy free," enjoying the freedom and independence of "single blessedness." He was reared by Lutheran parents, but makes no religious profession, and in politics he has always voted the Republican ticket.

JOSEPH S. VANATTA

    Mr. Vanatta is the county surveyor of Benton county. He was born in southern Illinois, March 12, 1855, a son of Peter R. and Margaret A. (Crothers) Vanatta, the former a native of New Jersey and the latter of Ohio: they were married in Indiana in 1853, and removed to southern Illinois, and after a few years returned to Thorntown, Boone county, Indiana. Soon afterward they removed to Lafayette, where the father conducted a classical academy for many years. Many of the old men of Lafayette to-day remember Mr. Vanatta as their teacher in early life. He was a graduate of Princeton College and of Union Theological Seminary, in early manhood entered the ministry of the Presbyterian church, but the last forty years of his life were devoted to the interests of the American Bible Society. This was his employment when failing health compelled his retirement. Two years later, or in 1885, he passed away at Lafayette, where he had lived for twenty five years.
    The Vanatta family is of Holland Dutch origin, established in America in colonial times. The mother's family has also been identified with American interests for many generations. Since her husband's death her time had been spent with her children.    Her family is of English origin.
Mr. Vanatta, whose name heads this sketch, was educated at Purdue University and the Northern Indiana Normal School, being a graduate of the class of 1876, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He engaged at once in the profession of teaching, in which he has ever since continued, with but few interruptions. This profession he has followed in the counties of Tippecanoe, Benton and Newton, both in graded and high Schools.
    He is prominently connected with the social orders of K. of P., M. W. of A., A. O. U. W. and Royal Arcanum, and he has been a member of the Presbyterian church from childhood. Mrs. Vanatta is a Methodist. Politically he is a Republican; he was elected to the office of county surveyor in 1894, and re-elected in 1896. His official duties require most of his time, and he has not been engaged in teaching since his election to the office of surveyor.
He was married in 1882 to Miss Mellie Taylor, a daughter of R. M. Taylor, of Ellenburg, New York, where she was educated and grew to womanhood.    Her parents reside near Plattsburg, New York.
    The only brother of our subject is John C, who is a banker at Brookston, White county, Indiana; and his only sister is Mrs. Mattie Wilson, wife of W. O. Wilson, of Chicago. They were married in Lafayette in 1892 and moved to Iowa, where he engaged in merchandising, and then removed to Chicago, where he is now engaged in the live-stock commission business.

WILLIAM BOLDMAN

    This wide awake and energetic young business man, now serving as stationary engineer at the McQray, Morrison & Company's elevator, at Earl Park, Indiana, was born in Adams county, Ohio, on the 23d of January, 1861, and is a son of Louis and Harriet (Hazelbaker) Boldman, also natives of that county, the former born in 1835, the latter in 1836. The father purchased a farm of three hundred acres in Scioto county, Ohio, a part of which he still owns, and throughout life he has given his attention to agricultural pursuits. Upon that place he and his wife still reside and they have the respect and esteem of the entire community. The children born to them are Nanny Ann, who died when young; Salathiel, a farmer living near Earl Park, Indiana; William, of this sketch; Joseph, who lives with his parents in Ohio; Thomas, who is now in Klondyke; James, who is connected with an elevator
in Earl Park, Samuel, a resident of   the state of Washington; and Minnie, 24 who is married and lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Both the paternal and maternal grandparents were Pennsylvanians.
    The subject of this sketch pursued his studies in the district schools of Scioto county, Ohio, until seventeen years of age, when he became a " full-fledged " farm hand, being employed as such until he attained his majority. He then came to Earl Park and worked for several different farmers in the vicinity. From 1888 until 1890 he operated a rented farm of two hundred and fifty acres near that place, and in the latter year removed to the village, where he bought a home and worked at the carpenter's trade for five years. At the end of that time he took charge of the engine at the McCray, Morrison & Company's elevator, which he has since run, to the entire satisfaction of the company.
    On the 1st of January, 1892, Mr. Boldman was married, at Earl Park, to Miss Dora Tooper, a daughter of Lewis Tooper, formerly of Canada, but now of Earl Park, and they have become the parents of four children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Oliver, 1893; Amel, 1895; Avery, 1896; and William, January 22, 1898. In his political affiliations Mr. Boldman is a Democrat, and he gives his support to every enterprise which he believes calculated to prove of public benefit.

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