LA GRANGE COUNTY, INDIANA
BIOGRAPHIES
John Edgar McCloskey
John Edgar McCloskey, born October
23,1854, at La Grange, Indiana. Residence, La Grange, Indiana. Educated
in the La Grange High School. Degree, A. B. Occupation and position,
attorney at law, President of the Addisonian Society of La Grange,
Trustee in the First Presbyterian Church.
Source: Indiana University: Its
History from 1820, when Founded, to 1890 :
John W. Hanan
John W. Hanan, a resident of
Lagrange, Indiana, since 1879. was born on July 10, 1860, in Uniontown,
Pennsylvania. His parents. George W. and Eliza A. (Burden) Hanan, were
born in the same town. The father, brother and two uncles of John W.
Hanan lost their lives in the Civil War, while the grandfather on his
father-s side lost his life in the Mexican War.
As a youth, John W. Hanan attended
the schools of his native town until he was thirteen years of age, and'
then removed with his mother to Lagrange county, Indiana, where he has
since made his home. There he completed his education, began to teach
in the public schools before reaching his majority and was
superintendent of schools when he quit the profession after ten years
of service. In the meantime he studied law and was admitted to the
Lagrange county bar on September 23, 1886. On April 4, 1887, he entered
into a law partnership with Judge Robert Lowry, of Fort Wayne, which
continued until February, 1892. He then formed a partnership with Judge
Joseph D. Ferrall, of Lagrange. which terminated when the latter was
elected judge of the Thirty-fourth circuit in 1902. His next
partnership was with Judge Louis B. Ewbank, of Indianapolis, offices
being maintained in Lagrange and Indianapolis. When Judge Ewbank became
judge of the Marlon Circuit court in the fall of 1914 Judge Benjamin F.
Watson, of Indianapolis, was taken into the firm.
At the present time Mr. Hanan is
counsel for the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railway Company, a position
he has held for many years. He ls also serving in a similar capacity
for the St. Joseph Valley Railway Company. He was counsel for the Lake
Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company for a number of years.
In politics Mr. Hanan is a Democrat.
He was the nominee of his party for joint senator of Lagrange and
Steuben counties in 1892 and made a splendid race in a very strong
Republican district. He was twice elected trustee of the town of
Lagrange and served as president of the board of trustees. He was three
times appointed trustee for the Eastern Indiana hospital for the insane
at Richmond, Indiana, by Governors Hanly and Marshall, and served as
president of the board during the entire time. He resigned in January,
1916. He was attorney for the town of Lagrange and also of the county
for a number of years.
He is a thirty-second degree Mason
and a member of the Mystic Shrine at Fort Wayne. In 1913 he was most
worshipful master of the Masonic lodge of the state of Indiana. During
his term as grand master of the lodge he made many Masonic addresses on
various occasions.
Mr. Hanan was married to Mary A.
Merritt, of Lagrange, in March, 1879. They had one son, John Franklin,
who was admitted to the bar in 1907, and is now the junior member of
the firm of Hanan. Watson & Hanan.
Source: Courts and Lawyers of Indiana By Leander John Monks, Logan Esarey,
Ernest Vivian Shockley Published by Federal Pub. Co., 1916
Thad Butler
Thad Butler, "Dean of Wabash Valley
Editors," died at his home in Huntington, Dec. 7, 1915. He was born at
Lagrange, Indiana, Nov. 19, 1846. His mother was a teacher and gave her
son a good education. He spent his life from boyhood in newspaper
offices. He set the first line of type for the Kendallville Standard in
1863. Later he worked on, edited or owned papers at Wabash, Lafayette,
Fort Wayne, Cleveland, Andrews, and Huntington. An excellent biography
of Mr. Butler, prepared by himself some years ago, is given in the
Huntington Press, December 8, 1915.
Source; Indiana Magazine of History By Donald F Carmony, Published by Indiana
University, Dept. of History, 1916
James S. Drake
James S. Drake, one of the ablest
representatives of the Elkhart county Ind., for many years a fellow
practitioner with present Attorney General Miller, was born on a farm
in Holmes county, Ohio. February 18, 1852. a son of James L. arid Susan
(Hayward) Drake, his father a native of Ohio and his mother of New York.
The father was a prominent man. A
farmer by occupation, he followed that calling for many years. During
the golden days of 1849 he went to California, and remained there three
years. When the Civil war broke out he was living in Holmes county, and
there organized Company H of the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, of which
he was chosen captain. This was a regiment famous for its eminent
commanders. Rosecrans. afterward general, was its first colonel.
Stanley Matthews was lieutenant colonel. Rutherford B. Hayes was major,
and William McKinley was a private in its ranks, all of whom rose to
high distinction both during and after the war. Captain Drake was
wounded at Antietam. so severely that lie resigned his commission. He
was made provost marshal of the fourteenth Ohio district, and during
his service in that capacity commanded the volunteers who put down the
famous Holmes county rebellion. After the war. in 1866. lie moved to La
Grange, Indiana, where he lived till his death in 1886. while his wife
passed away in the same year. He was a stanch Republican and supporter
of his party and his country. This intrepid soldier was the father of a
large family, and seven children are still living,. Two of the sons
were in the war. Levi starved to death in Andersonville prison before
he was seventeen years old, and Francis M., who died in 1903, served
four years in the war and for a time was confined in Libby prison.
Mr. James S. Drake was fourteen years
old when the family moved from Ohio to La Grange, Indiana, where he
continued his education in the high school. He spent three years,
1870-72, at Hillsdale (Michigan) College, and leaving there in his
junior year spent the next two years at the University of Michigan,
graduating from the law department in 1874. when twenty-two years old.
He at once began practice at La Grange in partnership with Judge
Ferrall of the circuit bench. In 1878 he was elected prosecuting
attorney for La Grange and Elkhart counties, and by re-election held
that office four years. In 1884 he was elected to the state senate,
serving four years. At La Grange he served a number of years on the
board of education and took prominent part in educational affairs. In
November, 1898, Mr. Drake came to Goshen and began practice with C. W.
Miller, the firm later becoming Miller, Drake and Hubbell.
A stanch Republican, Mr. Drake was a
delegate to the Chicago convention in 1888 which nominated Benjamin
Harrison, and has always taken an active interest in politics.
Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Pythias, and a Royal Arch Mason, and has membership in the
Presbyterian church. January 2, 1877, he married Miss Amanda Clugston,
of La Grange. He lost his wife in February. 1904.
Source: A Twentieth Century History
and Biographical Record of Elkhart County, Indiana By Anthony Deahl
Published by Lewis Publ. Co., 1905
Judge James S. Drake
James S. Drake, the present incumbent
of the bench of the Circuit Court, commenced his term of service in
1911; it will expire in November, 1917. He is one of the ablest lawyers
and judges, and best known public men in the county. Judge Drake comes
of a stanch and patriotic family. His father was a '49er in California,
who, during the Civil war, was captain of a company in the famous
Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, which had as commander Rosecrans, as
lieutenant-colonel, Stanley Matthews, the noted jurist, as major,
Rutherford B. Hayes, and as private, William McKinley. After being
severely wounded at Antietam, Captain Drake was made provost marshal of
the Fourteenth Ohio District. After the war he moved to Lagrange,
Indiana, where he died in 1886. Two of his sons were also in the war;
and James S. undoubtedly would have been, had his age warranted
military service.
Judge Drake was born in Holmes
County, Ohio, in 1852, and was fourteen years of age when the family
moved to Lagrange. He received his higher education at Hillsdale
College and the University of Michigan, graduating from the law
department of the latter in 1874, and at once commencing practice with
Joseph D. Ferrall, who served on the Circuit bench from 1901 until his
death in 1902. Mr. Drake was elected prosecuting attorney for Lagrange
and Elkhart counties in 1878, and by reelection held that office for
four years. He also served four years in the State Senate, from 1884;
was also prominent at Lagrange in educational matters. In November,
1898, he came to Goshen and began practice with C. W. Miller, the firm
later becoming Miller, Drake & Hubbell. Judge Drake is one of the
stanchest of the old-time republicans, his prominence dating from as
early a year as 1888, when he was a delegate to the Chicago convention
which nominated Benjamin Harrison to the presidency.
Source: A Standard History of Elkhart
County, Indiana By Abraham E. Weaver 1916
A Brief History of the Rowe Family.
John Rowe and his wife Ann Packer
Rowe, with nine children moved from Clearfield county. Pa., to Lagrange
county, Indiana. The names of their children were as follows: Abram L.,
James M., Job Lamborn, Win. C., Mary Ann, Thirza.a Jane, John B.,
George F., and Elizabeth. Lagrange county is in the extreme northern
part of the State, Michigan being its boundary line.
Mr. Rowe moved near Lagrange, the
county-seat of La Grange county, and there bought a tract of land. The
Pottawatomie Indians were there at this time. The Indians were
peaceable, and would bring venison and trade for bread. We have heard
Mrs. Rowe relate incidents frequently about the Indians, their habits,
costumes, religion, etc. When the Indians wished to make a call on the
"shmokey man" (white man), they would ride their ponies in front of the
dwelling and then in single tile would enter the house unceremoniously,
and stand with their backs to the wall, all around the room. There they
would stand silent and watchful until their leader uttered an
unintelligible growl, when they would leave the house immediately.
Lagrange county at this time was
almost an unbroken forest, with but very few white people; Fort Wayne,
Indiana, being their nearest market. Here these brave pioneer»
endured great privations and sickness. We treasure the memory of these
pioneers in our hearts and their virtues we would imitate.
Ann Packer Rowe was a Quaker, but in
later years she and her husband united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church in the new country. They had I preaching and prayer meeting at
their house, and the first settlers would come for miles around to
attend meeting. In their community was a local preacher. Rev. Conley,
and to this man and the Rowe family much praise is due for planting
Methodism in the county.
Under the Christian influence of such
a father and mother nearly all of their children became Christians;
three of the sons, Abram, James and William, became Methodist preachers.
While the early settlers hail many
privations to endure for a number of years, yet the country was fair to
see, and promised rich harvests to the brave pioneer. La Grange county
in 1837 was heavily timbered with walnut, beech, maple, oak, hickory,
and many other kinds of trees. Here and there were numerous lakes; and
on the clear white waters rested the Indian canoe. The woods were a
garden of flowers. The wild buffalo clover nodded its blossoms of true
blue to sunshine and showers; and the sweet wild rose reflected its own
beauty in the water as it grew on the banks of the rivers and streams.
Such magnificent forests; such beautiful wild vines and flowers; and
the lakes with their pebbled shores, strewn with shells.
We remember, when a child, following
the Indian trails, as they were called, little, narrow paths beaten
hard by the feet of the Indian ponies; for at this time the
Indians had been removed and the children gathered the whortleberries
from the hillside, and would tell each other in awestruck tones what we
should do if we saw a dreadful Indian.
We now have in our possession several
Indian relics and various geological specimens. It will be remembered
that a large number of mounds
are to be found in this county, and
many have been opened with the usual result: bones, relics, charcoal
and ashes.
The old homestead of the Rowe's is
one of the finest farms in the county. The country is rich, the people
are intelligent, and very many wealthy; churches and schools abound;
the fields abound with golden grain and fruit of every variety of
the climate. The railroads have crushed out the Indian trails, and the
smooth graveled roads have taken the place of blazed trees. Carriages
roll over the roods where the early pioneers wended their way on
horseback to mill, miles distant. Lagrange is now a flourishing town
with a number of churches and a fine school, and surrounded by a rich
tanning country. The mills, the noise of machinery, the locomotive, all
speak the town alive, though we make no pretensions to a city.
Source: The Genealogy of the Lamborn
Family By Samuel Lamborn 1894