bios2

Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery began their domestic life near their present home, upon a sixty-acre tract of land, which he has since sold. There they lived for sixteen years, when in 1875 Mr. Montgomery purchased his present farm, to which he has added from time to time until he now has a very valuable property of two hundred and thirty acres. This is well improved
with well tilled fields, good buildings and the accessories and conveniences of the model farm, and the Montgomery homestead is now one of the best in
the neighborhood. The home has also been blessed by the presence of five children; but Sarah J., the first born, died at the age of one year and eight months. The others are Mary E., Frank T. , Luella and John S. The last named is a graduate of the Purdue University, having completed a four-years course in mechanical engineering with the class of 1898, when twenty-three of age. He is now in Schenectady, New York, occupying a responsible position as draughtsman in extensive locomotive works.
In their labors Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery have prospered. The lady inherited a most vigorous constitution and in her earlier years she worked side by side with her husband in the fields. As time has passed, however, and prosperity has come to them, they have been enabled to leave the harder work to others and enjoy more of the quiet and rest of life. They are both earnest Christian people, Mrs. Montgomery having joined the Methodist church in Iowa when sixteen years of age, while Mr. Montgomery became a member at the age of thirty-five. They have contributed liberally to the support of the church and labored earnestly in its behalf, and their upright lives exemplify their Christian faith.

Contributed by Christine Walters Source: Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren Indiana by Lewis Publishing Company, Lewis Publishing Co - 1899 - Tippecanoe County (Ind.) - 1075 pages

DOBBINS

William Thornton Dobbins - Since he was a lad of only ten years the gentleman of whom we write has been a resident of Indiana, and during his whole mature life he has been an energetic and enterprising business man. As a citizen he has ever been true to his duties, devoted to the public welfare, interested in the cause of education and religion and ready to promote the good of the community in which his lot has been cast in every possible manner. Since 1894 he has lived in Lafayette, and at present is retired from business. In politics a Republican, he was the trustee of Big Creek township for four years, and is still serving as a school trustee. His paternal grandfather, a native of Ireland, emigrated to Virginia, where he followed agricultural pursuits and died at a good old age. He was the father of seven sons and one daughter. William Hammock, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Virginia, and not only was he a farmer but also an excellent business man, for years successfully carrying on a large tannery on his homestead. He died in Hampshire county, Virginia, at middle life. His daughter, Harriet, the mother of Mr. Dobbins,was one of three children, and with her brother and sister grew to maturity in the Old Dominion, where she was born. She became the wife of Vaus Dobbins, likewise of Virginia, is still living, having now survived her husband twelve years. Mr. Dobbins came from Tyler county, Virginia, to Indiana in 1856, settling upon land which he had purchased in White county. To his original farm of three hundred and twenty acres he added more by subsequent purchase, and in time became one of the leading, prosperous agriculturists of this part of the state. He also raised live stock to a considerable extent, and in his various undertakings was proverbially successful. He died in 1886, aged sixty-eight years, a faithful member of the United Brethren church, in which he occupied several official positions. William T. Dobbins, whose name heads this sketch, was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, September 13, 1846, one of nine children in the family, four of whom were sons. The names of the living children, besides our subject, are: George R., of Brooke, Indiana; Mary C., wife of Albert C. Fisher, of Chalmers, Indiana; Melvina E., wife of Horace E. Allatt, of Riverside, California; and Adelia, wife of C. E. Smith, of Chalmers. Until he was sixteen years of age, W. T. Dobbins remained on the home farm, giving his dutiful assistance to his father in the management of the place, and acquiring a practical education in the district schools. Then for a short time he studied at the Battle Ground Academy. After he had carried on a farm for about two years, on his own account, he embarked in mercantile business at Battle Ground, remaining there for two and a half years. Following that he conducted a dry-goods business in Chalmers for seventeen and a half years, and for twelve years of this time he was postmaster at Chalmers, without intermission, and when he disposed of his other business there he tendered his resignation to President Cleveland. Though he owned eighty acres of land in West Point township he lived at Chalmers, and from time to time he bought more property until h& now possesses three hundred and thirty-seven acres, some of which he has improved. In addition to this he still owns several houses and lots in Chalmers. Having built the tile factory at this place, he operated it for about four years, in partnership with W. H. Stephens, and in 1888 he sold his interest in the plant. During the same year he erected a livery barn in Chalmers, and after running it for three years he sold out to Charles Snyder, and in 1890 retired from the dry-goods business also. After removing to Lafayette he entered into partnership with McCutcheon Gregory in a livery and sale stable, and was thus connected with the business from April, 1895, to June, 1898, when he sold his interest to John A. Wilkinson. In matrimony Mr. Dobbins was united with Miss Rhoda A. Moore, November 21, 1873, and they have had three daughters and a son. Two died in infancy and the others are named, respectively, Nellie and Harriet. The latter is at her parental home, while Nellie is the wife of W. A. Dresser, a lawyer of Lafayette. Mr. and Mrs. Dobbins are active and valued members of the Methodist church, and Mr. Dobbins is also associated with the Knights of Pythias. - Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren ... - Page 506 by Lewis Publishing Co - Tippecanoe County (Ind.) - 1899 (contributed by Jim VanDerMark)

HENRY LEANING, JR.

The Learning family is one of those who were prominent in the colonial history of New Jersey, as founders and participants in the development of the new country, and they have furnished not only to that state, but also to many others, a goodly number of distinguished citizens. Among these was Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Learning, of New Haven, Connecticut. He was an Episcopalian clergyman and one of the most prominent in that church in colonial times. He was a graduate of Yale College, and crossed the ocean to be ordained by the bishop of Bath, England. It was in 1670 that the Learnings were first planted on American soil, by Christopher Learning. Their history has been comparatively well preserved by Aaron Learning, the second by that name in this line, who was the third in line of descent from Christopher. The last named was one of the wealthy and prominent men of his day, who preserved in his book of surveys a concise account of the family as known to him. On this stable foundation the following records and history of the family rest.
The genealogical outline in lineal descent from Christopher Learning to Henry Learning, Jr., our subject, of Romney, Indiana, is as follows:
Christopher (1st) was born in England in 1649, married Esther Burnett, became the founder of the family in America, and died in 1697, aged forty-eight years.
Aaron (1st), his son, was born in 1687, married Lydia Shaw, nee Persons and died in 1740, aged fifty-three years.
Aaron (2d), son of the latter, was born in 1715, married Mary Furman and died in 1780, at the age of sixty-five years.
Persons, his son, was born in 1756, married Charlotte Eldridge, and died in 1807, at the age of fifty-one years.
Furman, his son, was born in 1786, married Hannah Ludlam, and died in 1832, aged forty-six years.
Dr. Furman, son of the last mentioned, was born in 1815, married Mary Curwen and died in 1891, at the age of seventy-six years.
Henry, his son, was born in 1845, and married Martha Frances Fox.
Tradition says that Christopher Learning, the immigrant, was born in Warwickshire, in England, and that the name was originally spelled Leomynge, which as a word means "fat pasture." From Aaron Learning's Book of Surveys the following history of the family is obtained. The author records that many of his facts were gained from his mother and writings m his possession. He says that the first account he could obtain was, that Christopher and Jeremiah Leamyeng, as they spelled their name, were brothers, who left England, their native land, about 1670 for America, to seek their fortunes in the New World. Who their progenitors were, or from what part of England they came, or what were their occupations previous to that date, are matters unknown to their posterity.
In crossing the Atlantic Jeremiah was seized with severe sea-sickness and bleeding at the nose, with which complaint he died on the voyage, and left his brother, the only man of the name, to establish the family in the New World. Christopher landed in some part of New England, from the best information that can be gained, probably at or near Boston. In 1674 he married Esther, a daughter of Aaron Burnett, of the east end of Long Island. Her father left her a tract of land at Sag Harbor, which still bears the name of Learning's. Here he resided until about 1691, when, leaving his family on Long Island, he went to Cape May, New Jersey, which at that time was a new country, just beginning to be settled, and engaged in whale-fishing there, and at intervals followed his trade of cooper, whales at that time being abundant in the vicinity of the Delaware river and casks in good demand.
On the 9th of April, 1696, he caused to be surveyed for himself two hundred and four acres of land on Cape May (Aaron Learning's Book of Surveys, page 93), which was purchased by his son Thomas. To this place he removed his family and here he passed the remainder of his life. The precise locality is near Cape Island, in Learning's Neck. Christopher Learning died of pleurisy, about the year 1697, aged forty-eight years, and his remains were buried at the place now called Town Bank, on the bay
shore, Lower township: that was then a village containing thirteen houses; but on account of the failure of the whaling industry about Delaware bay it began to dwindle and continued to do so until it finally disappeared altogether. In 1838 the site was covered by the farm of Israel Townsend. Aaron Learning says that he saw the graves in 1734, about fifty rods from the bay, and the sand was then blown up to them.
Christopher Learning's children were Thomas, Jane, Hannah, Christopher, Aaron, Jeremiah and Elizabeth, whom, with the widow, he left at his death, to be scattered as the caprice of youth or fortune might direct. Upon the introduction of this house of orphans into the world they took the privilege of changing the orthography of their names. Thomas wrote his Leamyeng, preserving the spelling of his father, as he was the eldest son, in case any property might descend to him in England that he might claim by the original family name. Aaron called himself Learning, and all the remaining members of the family wrote it the same way. Thomas inherited his mother's land at Sag Harbor, and he purchased the two hundred and four acres originally surveyed by his father on Cape May; but he sold the Sag Harbor property after his mother's death and moved to Cape May.
Aaron Learning, the fifth child of Christopher Leamyeng (1st), and of the second generation from England, was born at Sag Harbor, Long Island, October 12, 1687. Upon the death of his father he was bound an apprentice to one Collins, a tanner and shoemaker in Connecticut. Disliking either his master or the trade, or both, he left them, after about three years' service, and when he was about sixteen years of age, and, with the assistance of a sea captain by the name of Mathews, he transported himself in a vessel to Amboy, New Jersey, where he accidentally met his brother Christopher, who had been with a military expedition to Canada and suffered many hardships. Leaving him there he wandered to Salem, in West Jersey, and for some time resided at Alloway's Creek, where he was fortunate in becoming acquainted with, and securing the friendship of, an aged Quaker lady named Sarah Hall, who was an excellent scholar and famous in those times for her legal knowledge as well as for other literary attainments. She had an extensive library, and, being rich as well as benevolent, she took much pains to instruct this friendless and desolate orphan, and under her kind treatment and tuition he became a fair accountant, learned something of surveying, obtained a smattering of legal knowledge and of the Latin language. Aaron Learning, Sr., remarks that in Connecticut the person with whom he lived, being a Presbyterian, stunted him in his youth with hard work (the boy turning out to be a small man) and crammed and cramped his mind with predestinarianism and superstition. At Salem he became a Quaker, under the instruction of his benefactor.
In the summer of 1703 he went to Cape May, with his brother Thomas. Being of feeble constitution, the new climate caused him a severe sickness, which left him just alive. He afterward purchased property of Philip Hill. Aaron Learning, Sr.t was five feet and six inches in height and weighed about one hundred and sixty pounds, and was very active and sprightly. His constitution was injured by incessant labor when young. He ate but little flesh meat, his diet being principally milk. He always bad a cough and his lungs appeared to be affected, and still he was obliged to endure many hardships, as he settled in a new country. He first located at Goshen, New Jersey, and commenced raising cattle, which industry he carried to a greater extent than any other man in his county at that period, and possibly even to a greater extent than any other man in the state of New Jersey. Also he purchased a boat and followed freighting for a time, which business proved very lucrative. By means of incessant industry and frugality, Aaron Learning became the wealthiest man in his county. For several years he was clerk of the county; was a member of the colonial legislature of New Jersey from 1727 to 1744; and he died in Philadelphia, on the 20th of June, 1746, of pleurisy, and was buried in one of the Arch street burying-grounds. October 12, 1714, he married Lydia Shaw, the widow of Captain W. Shaw; she was born in East Hampton, Long Island, April 10, 1680, a daughter of John and Elizabeth Persons. She had an uncommonly strong and robust constitution and was a woman of great industry, rising early in the morning and retiring to bed at sundown. Throughout life she was a member of the Baptist church, and died October 2, 1762, at the age of eighty-two years, of the gout, on her own plantation, where she had lived seventy-one years. She was first married to William Shaw, who died in 1712.
Aaron Learning had four children: Aaron, born July 6, 1715; Jeremiah, February 12, 1716; Matthias, March 24, 1718; and Elizabeth, September 18, 1721.
Aaron Learning (2nd), the son of Aaron and Lydia (Persons) Learning, was born July 6, 1715, and married Mary Furman, the daughter of Jonathan Fray man (or Furman, as the name was afterward spelled). She was born at Cape May, March 12, 1720. Their children were Jonathan, born July 5, 1738; Aaron, who was born August 28, 1740, and died August 31, 1764; Sarah, born February 21, 1743, died when about eight years of age; Matthias, born September 19, 1749, died September 27, 1763; Mary, born October 19, 1753, died about 1798; and Persons, born July 23, 1756, died March 29, 1807, at the age of fifty-one years.
The father of the afore named children inherited all the good qualities of his father; was a man of untiring industry and noted for his frugality; and he added greatly to his landed estate.    He also held a number of public offices; was clerk of the county, a member of the colonial legislature for thirty years, and appointed by the governor and legislature, in connection with Jacob Spicer, to revise the laws of New Jersey; and the volume of the laws bearing the title Learning and Spicer's Revision was the result of their labors. He was an excellent draughtsman and did a great deal of surveying and conveyancing, being generally applied to for advice in legal matters; and so far as can be judged from his writings he was doubtless a man of unusually strong mind and natural abilities, matured by much practical experience and study. An inventory of his real and personal estate gave the value as nine hundred thousand dollars, which in those days was an enormous fortune, far exceeding that of any other man of his county, either before or since.
Mr. Learning was frequently chairman of meetings and committees on the post important questions that agitated the colonial legislature, particularly in the controversies which were constantly occurring between the governors and the legislature. There is good reason to believe that he was a useful member of the legislative bodies and that he contributed his full share toward the prevention of the encroachments of the governors of the British colonies, who were appointed to office by the king as sinecures, while they were both ignorant and careless of the people's interests. These tyrannical officers came from England for the main purpose of controlling the people and enriching themselves, and at length to return to England to spend their ill-gotten fortune in dissipation.
Mr. Aaron Learning, the subject of the foregoing paragraphs, died August 27, 1780, at the age of sixty-five years, at Cape May.
Persons Learning, son of the preceding, was born July 23, 1756, and named after his maternal grandfather, John Persons. He married Charlotte Eldridge October 24, 1781. She was a daughter of Samuel Eldridge, an Englishman, who moved to Cape May from Long Island in the first settlement of the county. At the time of her marriage she was under sixteen years of age. She died December 12, 1812, aged nearly forty-six years. After the death of her first husband she married John Thompson, about 1809. The children of Persons and Charlotte Learning were: Aaron, born May 15, 1784, and died January 7, 1836; Furman, born October 3, 1786, and died March 18, 1832; Mary, born in 1788, died February 5, 1861; Persons, born September 3, 1790, died November 20, 1820; Jeremiah, born May 25, 1792, and died April 26, 1839; James Ramsey, born June 6, 1794, and died May 20, 1821; and Charlotte, born August, 1800, and died at the age of eighteen months.
Persons Learning was a man of quick and strong temper, which in its excitements subsided as suddenly as it rose.    He was strictly honest and upright, not a member of any religious society, and was of a kind disposition. He passed all his life after marriage on a farm which had belonged to his maternal grandfather, John Persons, and died March 29, 1807.
Furman Learning, his son, was born at Cape May, New Jersey, October 13, 1786, and May 14, 1809, married Hannah Ludlam, who was the daughter of Henry and Hannah Ludlam, of the Upper township of Cape May, where she was born November 29, 1789. The children by this marriage were Mary, born March 31, 1810 ; Henry, November 29, 1811; Sarah, May, 1813; Furman, August 30, 1815 (the foregoing were born at Cape May); Lewis, November 20, 1817, at Philadelphia ; Elizabeth, November 19, 1821; Hannah, January 5, 1824; Henry, November 25, 1825; Persons, October 15, 1827 ; and Emma, March 26, 1829. Of this number only three survived to May 18, 1894, at which time Mary, the eldest, was eighty-four years old, and Henry and Emma, the two youngest, were then living.
The mother of the foregoing children departed this life July 6, 1836, at the age of forty-seven years and eight months. Her parents, Henry and Hannah (Smith) Ludlam, were people of sterling worth and integrity, and both were members of the Baptist church at Dennis Creek, Cape May. They were the parents of eight children. Henry Ludlam died October 5, 1838, aged nearly ninety years.
Furman Learning was ordained an elder in the Tenth Presbyterian church a few years before his death. He was a sincere Christian, of excellent education and of the strictest integrity. He first settled on a farm at Dyer's Creek, Cape May; in 1815 he moved to Philadelphia, where he was extensively engaged as a hardware merchant until the time of his death. He was a zealous and exemplary member of the Presbyterian church ; was the founder of the Presbyterian church at the corner of Twelfth and Walnut streets, in Philadelphia, in whose vault his remains now lie. He was a man of remarkable character. In his last moments, when disease had probably affected his mind, he requested another person, who chanced to be in the room with him, to retire, as he did not wish his last moments to be observed.    His death took place March 18, 1832.
Dr. Furman Learning, of the next generation and the father of our subject, was born August 30, 1815, at Cape May, New Jersey, and was taken when a child by his parents to Philadelphia, where he was educated in the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained a medical education and a diploma in the medical college attached to that university, and practiced his chosen profession in the same city for two years, being connected with the dispensary. He spent one year as surgeon on a vessel sent out to make some improvements at the mouth of the Mississippi river. After that he practiced medicine again in Philadelphia, but, his heart becoming affected, he decided to abandon his profession.
In 1845 he purchased land near Romney, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and here he took up his residence with his family in July, in Randolph township, on the farm where George Curwen Learning now lives. Being entirely unaccustomed to farm life and the hardships incidental to the pioneer, which he encountered in his new home, and the family suffering greatly from fever and ague incident to a new country not far above sea level, the first years of their life in Indiana were marked with hardships, vicissitudes and unexpected disappointments, which both himself and family endured with great fortitude and patience.
The Doctor built his house on the edge of a beautiful prairie and devoted himself to agriculture and the care of his family. He and a few other Presbyterians founded at Romney a little Presbyterian church, and here their children were all married and all became members of the church in which their father had been ruling elder for many years, and where he also conducted a Bible class.
Dr. Learning was married in Philadelphia, September 28, 1843, to Mary Curwen, who was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, the daughter of George F. and Eleanor (Ewing) Curwen. Her father, of English ancestry, was a farmer. Dr. and Mrs. Learning were the parents of the following: Henry, Joseph, Eleanor, George Curwen, Mary E., Elizabeth M. and Furman. In his political views the Doctor was an old-line Whig and after the formation of the Republican party a Democrat. While interested in all matters of public good, he took no interest in holding office himself, but served as township trustee for a time. He was a man of broad education, posted in current events, advanced in scientific subjects, and of a kind and accommodating disposition, much beloved and respected by all. He died on his farm, named Hazlewood, near Romney, April 1, 1891, aged seventy-five years.
Henry Learning, the subject proper of this sketch, was born January 20, 1845, in Randolph township, on the farm already described, received the usual primary education and attended West Jersey Academy, at Bridgeton, New Jersey, and afterward studied under his father's instructions and under those of Rev. Jennings, of Lafayette, Indiana, and thus acquired a good education, to which he has added by his practical business life and by his love of reading valuable books and the current literature, until he is a man of broad culture and information and an independent thinker.
He early began the labors of the farm, his father being unaccustomed to such labor, and as he was the eldest son the management of the farm was devolved upon him at a very early age, and he continued in this relation until he had reached the age of twenty-six years. By his economy and industry he was by this time able to buy a ten-acre lot near his father's place, which he improved while still an inmate of his father's home. At the age mentioned he married and settled on the Fox homestead, that of his father-in-law, improved it and made of it a comfortable home. In 1891 he erected a tasteful,, model farm residence; and he now owns three hundred and sixty-five acres of splendid farming land.
On the 1st of November, 1870, when he was twenty-six years of age, he was united in marriage with Miss Martha Frances Fox, who was born in Randolph township, on the farm where they now live, July 6, 1835, the daughter of Amos and Sarepta (Allen) Fox. Her father was born in Hampshire county, Virginia, July n, 1802, a son of William and Jemima (Vause) Fox. William Fox was a farmer and slave-holder of the county, and the father of thirteen children, namely: Ida, born January 6, 1787; Absalom, May 15 1790 Vause, August 16, 1791; Eliza, January 22, 1793; George, September 5, 1794; Gabriel, March 18, 1796; Ann, August 26, 1798; Rebecca, February 28, 1800; Amos, July 11, 1802; Richard, May 3, 1803; Johana, July 29, 1805; William F., August 29, 1810; and Sarah J., November 21, 1812.
Amos Fox came to Indiana and settled in Tippecanoe county, in Randolph township, about 1833-4, married Sarepta Allen, who was born in Kentucky May 27, 1811, a daughter of William and Susan (Spurgeon) Allen. William Allen located in Montgomery county, Indiana, as a pioneer, from Kentucky, and afterward in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county, in early day, where he became a prominent citizen. Amos Fox cleared up a goodly farm and at length became well-to-do and an influential citizen, owning two hundred and ninety-five acres. He died in 1848, at the comparatively early age of forty-five years. His children were Martha F. and a son who died an infant. Mrs. Fox was a member of the Methodist church, while in politics Mr. Fox was an old-line Whig. He was a successful farmer, an old-time pioneer, a self-made man, a straightforward citizen and a useful member of society. Beginning with nothing, he accumulated a competency.
Mr. and Mrs. Learning are the parents of the following children: Mary, Lewis, Emily, Charlotte and Hunter Bell. Both the parents are exemplary members of the Presbyterian church, in which he has followed his forefathers in holding the office of elder for many years, more than twenty-five years. In politics he was a Republican, voting for U. S. Grant for his first term; but as a result of the Tilden-Hayes controversy he became a stanch Democrat. He takes an active interest in politics and keeps himself well posted; is independent in his views and action, and a fearless advocate of his principles; a public-spirited man, in favor of good roads, good schools, and every public improvement, one of the prominent and reliable citizens of the county, well known as a straightforward man and kind neighbor.
His children married as follows: Mary became the wife of Samuel C. Malsbury, a farmer of Randolph township; Charlotte married Samuel S. Kirkpatrick, a farmer of Jackson township, and has one child, named Learning S.; Dr. Lewis wedded Alice Patton and resides in Otterbein, Ben ton county, where he is a successful physician: he received his literary education in Purdue University and his medical at Rush Medical College at Chicago; Hunter Bell is attending Purdue University; and Emily is at home with her parents.
Source: Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren ... - Page 506 by Lewis Publishing Co - Tippecanoe County (Ind.) - 1899

JUDGE JOHN M. LA RUE

Pg. 30

     For almost half a century this prominent citizen of Lafayette has been one of the representative members of the Indiana bar, and his long service on the bench attests his popularity. He is one of the pioneers of Tippecanoe county, and has been witness of its development from a wilderness to its present prosperous condition. His friends and acquaintances are legion, few men in this portion of the state having more sincere well wishers. A man of broad mind and strong convictions, he has ever been cast on the side of good government, reform and improvement in all lines.
     As his name indicates, the Judge is of French extraction on the paternal side of his family. His grandfather, Abraham La Rue, was a native of New Jersey and was of French-Huguenot descent. He was a farmer by occupation, reared several children, and died in his native state at an advanced age. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Daniel Doan, a native of Pennsylvania, as it is supposed, and of Welsh descent. He was a farmer, and was one of the pioneers of Switzerland county, Indiana. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His death occurred at his home near Vevay, Switzerland county, when he was well along in years.
     The father of the Judge was Joseph La Rue, a native of New Jersey and a carpenter by trade. He removed to Hamilton county, Ohio, in his early manhood and on the 13th of September, 1830, landed in Tippecanoe county, Indiana. Here he bought a quarter section of land at the present site of Stockwell, and continued to cultivate this property for five years, at the expiration of which he died, aged about forty-two years. His wife, who was born in Pennsylvania, departed this life a few years later, in 1842, at nearly the same age as her husband was at his decease. She was a devout Methodist. Of her four children but two survive. Harriet C., sister of our subject, is the widow of Dr. Carlyle, of Yellville, Arkansas.
     The birth of Judge La Rue took place near the town of Harrison, Hamilton county, Ohio, November 24, 1826, and he was therefore but four years of age when his parents removed to this state. He was left fatherless at a tender age, and his mother brought him to Lafayette in order that he might have better educational advantages. A few years later death deprived him of her tender care and love and he went to live with his guardian, Daniel C. Stoner, who sent him to Asbury (now DePauw) University, where the ambitious young man was graduated in 1849. After he had completed his sophomore year, however, he was obliged to stop and teach school for a period in order to have the requisite funds to meet his expenses. Prior to his graduation he took up the study of law, also, being indebted to Samuel A. Huff, afterward Judge Huff, for the use of the necessary law books. After passing the examination before the supreme judges of the state young La Rue was admitted to the bar, June 1, 1850, and from that time until the present has been engaged in practice in this place.
     Shortly after his admission to the bar Judge La Rue was appointed by the county commissioners to the office of examiner of applicants for teachers’ positions. This position he held until 1856, when he was elected, on the first Republican ticket ever placed before the public of this county, to represent this district in the lower house of the legislature, where he remained during one term. In the autumn of 1850 he went into partnership with B. O. Deming, under the firm name of La Rue & Deming, and this connection continued for some four years. In June, 1854, the justly celebrated law firm of Huff, Baird & La Rue was formed, the other parties to the same being Judge Samuel A. Huff and Zebulon Baird, eminent member of the bar. In 1857 our subject and Daniel Royse, under the name of La Rue & Royse, entered into a business alliance which was terminated only by the enlistment of Mr. Royse in the army. Then our subject practiced alone, for the most part, up to 1875, but that year he and Frank B., afterward Judge, Everett, entered upon their pleasant and profitable association, which was severed in 1880 by the election of Mr. La Rue to the judgeship of the superior court of Tippecanoe county. He was re-elected and served in 1888, when on account of ill health, he declined a re-election. As early as 1867 he was honored, and his genius fittingly acknowledged, by the public, in his election to the bench in the court of common pleas of Tippecanoe county. He made a fine record and held the office until the spring of 1873. He was again chosen for high honors when, in 1875, he was selected to represent his district in the senate of Indiana and served in the sessions of 1875 and 1877; and there, as everywhere else, his ability, fidelity to the best interests of the people and ripe statesmanship, were abundantly manifested. For the past ten years he has resolutely declined public office, and has attended solely to his practice. By his energy and well directed efforts he has acquired considerable wealth, though he has never made this his object in life. He owns six residence properties in this city and has a beautiful home, where he delights to extend a most cordial, hospitable welcome to the hosts of friends who have gathered around him during his long residence in this place. In his fraternal relations he is a Mason and an Odd Fellow.
     September 18, 1854, Judge La Rue married Miss Mary O. Johnson, daughter of James B. and Rhoda (O.Neall) Johnson. Four children were born to that union, namely: Kate, James, John D. and Mary. James and Mary died in infancy and John D. died when in his twenty-eighth year. The only daughter married Charles Ringleben and is the mother of two children, - Frank L. and Dudley D. They reside in Logansport. Mrs. Mary O. La Rue died in 1860, in the faith of the Society of Friends, in which she had been reared. In October, 1868, the Judge married Mrs. Sarah E. Boulden, widow of Eli N. Boulden and daughter of Martin and Elizabeth Rhoads. The only child by the last marriage was Murray H., who died when a little over a year old.
[Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, transcribed by Debbie Gibson]

JOHN SIMISON, M. D.
Pg. 35

     Dr. John Simison, of Romney, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, is now rounding out a half century of active practice in the medical profession in Tippecanoe county, and is the only physician now in the county who has been in continuous practice here since 1851.
     The Simisons are of English descent. They came to America and settled at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, prior to the Revolutionary war. Robert Simison, Dr. Simison’s grandfather, was a resident of Carlisle. He was there married to a Miss Denny, and their children were Robert Elder, Boyd, Denny, and Parker, and one daughter, whose name is forgotten, who married and settled at Mount Vernon, Alabama.
     Robert Elder Simison, the father of our subject, was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received a college education there. He learned the trade of hatter. In his young manhood he moved to New Garden, Columbiana county, Ohio, and in that locality married Miss Sarah Rogers, a native of Columbiana county. He passed the rest of his life in that part of Ohio, and died there at the age of fifty-two years. His children, in order of birth, were named Mary, Martha, Parker, John, David, Jane, Margaret and Catherine (twins) and Nancy. For many years Mr. Simison carried on a hat manufactory, but in later life engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a man well known for his integrity of character, and had the esteem and respect of all who knew him.
     Dr. John Simison was born November 16, 1824, at New Garden, Columbiana county, Ohio, and in his boyhood was a student at Atwater Academy, where he gained a thorough knowledge of the common branches, read some Latin and Greek, and became well versed in the higher mathematics. He then studied medicine in the office of Drs. Allen and Rice, of Rockville, Park county, Indiana, and attended the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. In the spring of 1851 he began the practice of medicine at Romney, Indiana, and soon established a large and lucrative practice over a wide range of the surrounding country, and became one of the best known of the early physicians.
     About the time of his location here, in March, 1851, Dr. Simison married Miss Harriet Eliza Agnew, of Parke county, Indiana, who was born in that county September 30, 1832, daughter of Gibson and Eleanor (Smith) Agnew.
     The Agnew family is an old and distinguished family of colonial Pennsylvania, and, like the Simisons, traces its origins to England. Mrs. Simison’s grandfather Agnew settled in Adams county, Pennsylvania, at a very early day, previous to the Revolution, and on a tract of land which he acquired he built a substantial, two-story stone residence. Being an educated man, he built his residence large enough to have a school in one part of it, and he established and taught the first high school in that part of Pennsylvania. Two of his brothers settled in the same vicinity, and all three were men of large landed possessions and were highly respected citizens. Grandfather Agnew’s children were Smith, Joseph, Martha, and Gibson. He was a member of the Seceder Presbyterian church, and lived to an advanced age. After his death his widow became the wife of a minister of that church. Each had a large family when they married - twenty-two children in all - and all the school-room was then utilized as a part of the residence in order to accommodate them all.
     Gibson Agnew, the father of Mrs. Simison, was born in 1708, at the homestead above referred to. In this connection it is a matter of interest to note that a portion of the great battle of Gettysburg was fought on this farm and the famous stone wall which was a part of the defense of the Union line was in part made by Gibson Agnew. Mr. Agnew received a good common-school education and taught school in his younger days. His brother, Joseph, was a physician in Pennsylvania, and Dr. Joseph Agnew’s son, Dr. Hayes Agnew, an eminent surgeon of the United States Army, was President Garfield’s physician at the time he was mortally wounded by Guiteau. When a young man Gibson Agnew went to Cincinatti, where he married Eleanor Smith, who was born in the neighborhood in which the Agnews lived, in Adams county, Pennsylvania, daughter of George Smith. The Smiths also were of English descent and among the colonial settlers of Pennsylvania. George Smith was one of the pioneers of Cincinnati, where he kept a hotel and resided until his death, which occurred at a venerable age. After his marriage, about 1828, Gibson Agnew settled in Parke county, Indiana, near Rockwell, where he bought a tract of timber land which he cleared and improved, making a fine farm. On this farm all his children were born, namely: Martha, Sarah, Harriet, Eliza, Amanda, William, Margaret, David, John, Mary, Smith, George, and Irwin, - a sturdy pioneer family. In 1853 Mr. Agnew moved to Iowa and settled in Cedar county, on an improved farm consisting of half a section of land, and here he passed his remaining days, his death occurring in 1876, at the age of seventy-five years. Politically, he was a Democrat, and, religiously, a Presbyterian, an elder in the church from the time of his young manhood until his death, and he had three sons who were elders in that church, and the other three sons were deacons. All the daughters became members of the same religious body.
     Dr. Simison and wife have spent the whole of their married life at Romney, and here have reared their family, their children in order of birth being Margaret A., Boyd Denny, Dr. John F., Charles G., David P., and Gertrude M.
     The subject of our sketch has long been identified with the Masonic fraternity. He was one of the charter member of Romney Lodge, F. & A. M., was its first worshipful master and held that office for several years. He has also taken the higher degrees of the order and is a member of the chapter and commandery at Lafayette. His religious creed is that of the Methodist Episcopal church. For several years he has served as steward of the church and has always given liberally of his means to its support. Politically, he was first an old-line Whig, and when the Republican party was organized in tippecanoe county he was among the first to join its ranks, and was one of the founders of the Republican party in Randolph township. For four years he was one of the trustees of Randolph township.
     In his long career as a physician Dr. Simison has accumulated a large and valuable medical library of the best medical books and is a patron of the leading medical periodicals of the day. The Doctor stands deservedly high as a physician among the medical fraternity of Indiana. His long and unbroken record of nearly half a century in active practice has thoroughly established his reputation, but he is best known and respected in the regions of his practice where he has so long been a familiar figure. He has always been noted for his kind and friendly disposition. He was never known to collect a bill by the aid of law and he has, without money or price attended the sick and afflicted poor of his locality. His material reward, however, has been sufficient, gained by his honest industry and devotion to his profession. He is one of the largest land-owners in Tippecanoe county, having holdings to the amount of about two thousand acres of fertile land, and other valuable property. A few years ago he erected in Romney a beautiful and substantial residence, in modern style of architecture, and it is one of the finest homes in Tippecanoe county.

[Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, transcribed by Debbie Gibson]

George W. Mikels
Pg. 347

     The Mikels family, to which the subject of this article belongs, is of sterling old Scotch stock, and for several generations it has been represented in the United States. Patriotism has been strongly manifested by every member of the family, and in each of the wars in which this country has been engaged some bearing the name have upheld her banner and honor among the nations.
     The paternal great-grand-father of our subject, George Mikels, emigrated from Scotland to West Virginia, and was accompanied by his family. When the Revolutionary war came on he volunteered his services, and fought for the liberties of his adopted country. Of his children, George, the next in line of descent, was born in America, as it is believed. After his marriage he settled on the Salt River, in Kentucky, and was a participant in some of the early Indian wars of that section of the Union. He had a number of daughters and sons, the names of the latter being George, Joel, Thomas, John, and William. He lived to an advanced age, his death occurring in Kentucky.
     George Mikels, the father of George W. of this sketch, was born in the Blue grass state in 1807, and about 1836 or 1838 he removed to Indiana. He entered land in Franklin township, Montgomery county, and cleared a farm, which he continued to cultivate until the Mexican war. He had married in his youth, and had two sons, John and William, by that union. He and his son volunteered their services to the government, and fought until victory perched upon our banners. The father served under General Manson at Vera Cruz at its capture. As our soldiers were about to leave the city of Mexico, which had surrendered, John Mikels was lost track of, and no further trace of him was ever found. He had been observed buying a watermelon, with which he strolled into a side street, and it is believed that he was assassinated by some of the vengeful Mexicans. The father did not recover from the effects of his arduous army life, but died the year of his return home, in 1847. He was an exemplary member of the Christian church, in which he was an able and eloquent exhorter. Politically, he was a Democrat.
     George W. Mikels, who was born near Darlington, Montgomery county, Indiana, is a child of his father’s second marriage. His mother, Elizabeth (McVey), Mikels, was a native of Kentucky, born in 1814. With his brothers, Thomas and Elijah, and sister, Jane, our subject passed his youth on the pioneer farm, having no educational advantages save that he once attended a subscription school for three months. At the age of seventeen years, on the 23rd of October, 1861, he enlisted as a private of Company K, Fortieth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, his captain being John Gordon. His term of enlistment was three years, or during the war, and he was honorably discharged at Huntsville, Alabama, in January, 1865, after having served three years and three months. He was always prompt and cheerful and perfectly trustworthy in the performance of all his duties, and was never absent from his post save when, for three months, he was home on a furlough, ill with a severe siege of typhoid fever. He took part in the celebrated battles of Stone river, Shiloh, Missionary Ridge, and was active in the numerous great engagements of the Atlanta campaign, when for over four months the Union troops were under almost constant fire. He fought at Dalton, Resaca, Kenesaw mountain and Peach tree creek, and in the last named encounter with the enemy was wounded in the right ankle by a fragment of shell. The result of this was his confinement for three months in hospital No. 15, at Nashville. Upon recovery he returned to the ranks and was actively engaged in the battle of Franklin, one of the most hotly contested engagements of the way.
     When peace had been declared, Mr. Mikels resumed agricultural pursuits, and for several years rented land in Randolph township, Tippecanoe county. In 1892 he purchased his present farm of one hundred and three acres of valuable and well improved land. He is careful, thrifty agriculturist and business man, and has been honored with all of the township offices, save that of justice of the peace, which he declined. He has been assessor, and supervisor several times and has been one of the township trustees for the past four years. He uses his franchise in favor of the Democratic party.
     The marriage of Mr. Mikels and Mary Frances Martin was celebrated in this township, April 11, 1866. She was born in this locality, February 4, 1847, a daughter of Samuel and Caroline (Stewart) Martin. The father was a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, and the mother, born April 17, 1826, was likewise from the buckeye state. Their children were named as follows: Mary F., Sarah E., Margaret A., Maria L., William H., Alice, Charles, George and Laura. The Martin family lived on a fine homestead of four hundred and forty acres in this township, forty acres of the place having been originally entered by the father of Mr. Martin. The latter, who was a much respected citizen and an exemplary member of the Presbyterian church, died when but forty-four years of age.
     To the union of our subject and wife ten children were born, namely: George E., Lewis L., Clara M., Ida M., Kathleen B., Frank E., Myrtle and Mary (twins), Marion A. and Arthur C. Mary died in infancy. Mrs. Mikels adheres to her mother’s religious creed, the Methodist Episcopal, and, with our subject, he having served as superintendent of the Sunday-school.

[Biographical History of Tippecanoe, White, Jasper, Newton, Benton, Warren and Pulaski counties, Indiana, transcribed by Debbie Gibson]