Pass / S2j T Rnnk I G / ]pictorial ai^d j3iograpl7ical La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, INDIANA Containing Biographical and Genealogical Records of Leading Men, Women and Prominent Families of the Counties named, and of other portions of the State; together with a number of valuable portraits. 7 CHicaao: (JOOCSPEED gROTHERS, pUBUISHERS, 1594. p. F. PETTIBONE& CO. PRINTERS. .CHICAGO r57-^ PREFaCE. The Publishers, with much pleasure, present this beautiful volume to their friends and patrons, for whom it is prepared. It will be found to be a valuable work, full of interesting personal and historical reminiscences of many of the leading families, and many of the most important occurrences in the eventful past of the counties named. Every individual or family sketch was carefully type-written and submitted by mail, or written with pencil and submitted in person by our representative, to a member of the family and, in nearly every instance, was corrected and promptly returned to the Publishers, thus insuring almost absolute accuracy. If mistakes are found in the few sketches that were not returned, the Publishers, though not to blame, stand ready, as is their custom, to correct the same by special errata sheet to be sent to every subscriber. The Publishers wish to call special attention to the fact that, in spite of the hard times and a limited patronage, they have issued a work fully up to their promises, and one of high merit. The illustrations will be found to add very materially to the value of the book. We are satis- fied our work will bear the closest scrutiny and sustain our well-known reputation for accuracy and fidelity. The Publishers. INDBX. PAGE A Arnold, E. y 181 Abuer, John R 200 Aimis, Eber L 307 Aheni, Miss Mary E 343 Aguew, Thomas J 452 Allen. Lawson D 529 B Brown, Henry B 23 Beeman, George W 40 Beach, Sheldon 49 Belmau, W. C 53 Buchanan, James N 72 Banta, William H 90 Browning, Eliza G Ill Barnard, Nelson 152 Bates, Christopher 174 Bond, Isaac V 183 Birchim, D. F 191 Bender, Eobert H 201 Basse, John H 216 Bridge, Will F 219 Bozarth, Jacob. 227 --^aum, Mrs. Miller 232 Buck, Dexter 242 Bond. William 245 Baumgarduer, Frederic 246 Beck, Edward E 276 Bell, Benjamin S 318 Bogart. George W 819 Brummitt, John W 330 Bryant, James Edmund. ., 333 Burstrom, Frederick 339 Bender, Conrad 345 Beal, Archibald 347 Bornholt. Hans 378 Bacon, Henry H 379 Bond, Miss Sarah 386 Byers, Joseph A 399 Beebe. David 402 Bolton, Sarah T 408 Burns, Edward M 414 Bell, K. H 428 Baker, Conrad 429 Beckmau, Henry 432 Bernethy, Lou E 450 Brodie, John 465 Bybee, Simon 499 Brooker, Alfred 1 501 Bell, T. E 512 Boner, Matthew C * 542 Bennett, Eoswell N 549 Batterman, Edward 560 C Case, Aurora 51 Coffin, William H. H 61 Clark, Wellington, A 73 Campbell, T. A. E 84 Crumpacker, Edgar D 109' Carver, H. N 129 Chaffee, Frank 302 Concannou, William T 332 Comer, Lewis 369 Colfax, Schuyler 373 Carnes, Cyrus N 388 Closser, Nicholas W 390 Cerveny, Mike 398 Clinton, F. W 426 Campbell, C. W 434 Crismau, Benjamiu G 457 Crisman, Isaac 459 Cochenour, Lewis B 469 Christoph, William 470 Collins, William T 534 Cram, Quincy 553 Crumpacker, Jonathan W 565 D Dakin, George M 67 Dakin, Norman G 71 De Motte, Mark L 95 Dodd, Richard H 230 Drummoud, James 243 Deuison, George S 254 INDEX. PAGE Dyer, John W 273 Dorlaud, George C 356 Borland, J. Vena 359 Dipert, Jonas 404 E English, William Hayden 33 Ebert, Adam R 46 Edmonds, E. A 128 Elam, John W 132 Ellis, Edwin E 267 Ellsworth, Horace P 298 Erdlitz, JohnG 371 Elliott, Byron K 394 Evans, Ur. Horace M 419 Exaver, George W 492 Ellsworth, H. N 548 F Forsyth, Jacob 38 Foster, Thomas Jefferson 47 Forbes, Thaddeus H 54 Field, Frank J 58 French, James W 140' Forbes, Jacob T 161 Flint, John C 171 Favorite, David P 195 Favorite, Charles W 197 Favorite, Benjamin L 198 Fitz, Joe 198 Fletcher, James C 225 Francis, Harry H 229 Faulknor, John B 230 Fitch, L. S 249 F'ryar, Robert M 263 Ferris, James Justice 269 Finney, Jasper N 271 Felton, John M 287 Fosdick, William 301 Fife, Fred J 427 Forrest, Edwin J 466 Foust, Louis C 478 Fischrupp, John 493 C Griffin, Charles F 30 Gould, Albert Irving 36 Gillett, H. A 112 Gregory, Robert 125 PAGE Gray, Isaac P 127 Gregg, George C 142 Gostlin, W. H 179 Good, John 208 Good, John Wesley 210 Gorrell, Samuel Mark 211 Gallaher, James F 279 Grover, Sylvanus E 306 Gordon, Pliney P 353 Gogan, Charles M 515 Good, Jeremiah 536 H Harrison, Benjamin 17 Harrison, William Henry 18 Hohman, Ernest W (55 Henderson, Alexander H 78 Harding, John 92 Harding, Lucius T 94 Hailmann, William N 103 Herzberger, F. W ]04 Hack, Joseph 173 Hoffman, Joseph M J 90 Hageman, Henry 212 Hall, L. W 221 Hall, William A 247 Hart, A. L 248 Harding, John H 303 Hanselman, Jacob F 323 Hatter, Julius C 365 Hendricks, Thomas A 368 Hovey, Alvin P 383 Hogau, Michael 396 Holman, William S 400 Howard, Timothy E 421 Hamlet Hav Company 474 Henrv, A. J 476 Heimbach, Charles W 511 Heineman, A. F 514 Hubbard, Joseph M 533 Harris, Warren : . . . 559 Hansford, William A 563 I Ibach, Joseph G : 220 J Johnston, R. F 280 Jones, Robert P 288 Jones, Roscoe C 290 6 INDEX. PAGE Jones, A. L 436 Jones, Frank P 437 Jones, Joseph E 473 K Kinsey, Oliver P 81 Kern, C. J 99 Kessler, S. 1 194 Knotts, A. F 274 Krueter, John 278 Kopelke, Johannes 281 Kimball, Jonathan 293 Koontz, Daniel 326 Knosman, August Henr}- 341 Konopasek, Frank 397 Kleihege, William 410 Knight, James F 468 Krueger, Martin T . 479 Keller & Nave 482 Kelley, Michael 496 Koontz, Samuel, Sr 497 Koontz, Samuel, Jr 498 Kunert, Ernest F 506 L Louderback, John S 150 Loring, Hannibal H 156 Larrew, John C 206 Luudberg, John Bernard 214 Lindall, Peter J 234 Lewis, Allen 286 Link, Jacob 291 Lukeu, William .' 312 Le Fever, Samuel 327 Le Fever, Daniel 349 Long, Frederick J. C 385 Lightcap Brothers 407 Lytle, Thomas G 412 Lightcap, Walter 441 Lightcap, George 443 Lain, John W 445 Long, H. H 464 Lightner, Seward 472 LePell, Frank A 505 M Morton, Oliver Perry 20 Martin, Jacob S 56 Merrill, Warren AV 57 Meyer, J. H. Wm 63 PAGE Manning, Joseph A 144 McCormick, Joseph N 204 Melin, August 239 Miller, Ira 255 Mott, Fred E 283 Martindale, Benjamin G 313 Mannering, John 363 Merz, H. G 455 Matthews, Claude 456 Mueller, Matthias 467 Migatz, Nathan 507 Martin, S. Boss 513 Mee, Edward A 518 Maxwell, John 520 Maxwell, George 521 McDonald, Francis M 538 Miller, Albert 540 Maynard, Arthur A 557 Mathews, John 561 N Niles, John B 105 Nye, Mortimer 130 Niles, William 309 Nichols, A. S 336 Noland, James F 447 Nave, Keller & 482 Neupert, George 532 Norris, E. N 566 O O'Neill, Edward C 180 Osborn, George M 486 Osborn, William 487 Osborn, William W 489 Osborn, George W 531 P Pettit, Nathaniel 42 Plaster, Henry M 97 Patrick, Thomas H 168 Price, John F 185 Pierce, Andrew B 186 Piersou, Wilbert A 203 Penman, William H 224 Parshal, Elizabeth B 237 Parks, Aaron 265 Payn, William 451 Phelps, Ithamar D 461 Putnam, William E 484 INDEX. PAGE Pitzele, Charles 508 Pattou, George W 523 Phillips, Addison J 554 Phillips, William 556 Pritsch, John F 566 R Kichter, John C 124 Kinker, William 164 Reilley, Patrick 175 Eeiter, V. S 218 Eitter, John 260 Eich, Wheeler 295 Eifenburg, William H 837 Eansburg, Warren C 350 Eiley, James Whitcomb 413 Eiggle, George W 448 Eoss, Robert G 509 Reading, W. B 510 Eeyuolds, Allen W 519 Eobertson, F. H 525 Reynolds, Frank E 545 Ridgway, James 546 S Schlieker, Alexander G 89 Scott, Emmet H 114 Stoddard, Lewis 158 Shults, John 235 Seymour, George F 251 Sego, Joseph 284 Sallwasser, Herman W 297 Short, Robert B 300 Sharp, Alonzo 315 Sharp, John 316 Switzer, Joshua P 322 Stiuchfield, M. J 335 Sewall, May Wright 361 Stoddard, Heber 372 Swaim, S. E 377 -Smith, AudreAv J 381 Stanton, Daniel H 401 Seegrist, Henry 418 Streight, Abel D 438 Schloer, Jacob 453 Sautter, Christian 481 Snyder, William H 495 Suit, Henry 537 Steiuman, John G 543 Stitt, Isaac A 544 PAGE „>6mith, Alpheus M 551 Stedman, J. J 552 T Thompson, Richard W 88 Talcott, AVilliam C 118 Turpie, David . 389 Thiem, Max C 411 Tapper, Anton H 494 U Uncapher, Andrew J 502 V VanPelt, Sutton 45 VanDusen, Gerritt S 135 Voorhees, Daniel W 155 Vandewalker, J. G 374 W Wallace, Lewis 22 Woodhull, A. £ 76 Work, Julia E 86 Williams, James D . 93 Weltz, Charles W. E 137 Wilson, John Henry 147 Warren, A. W 177 Williams, S. E 188 Walkinshaw, William 189 Wilson, Washington 193 Winslow, Alfred A 222 Wettengel, Louis 240 Wolf, August 253 Witham, Simon 257 Weller, William H 304 Wadsworth, H. E 310 Walsh, Peter 321 Will, William 325 Wright, Mark R 366 White, John M 393 Wanner, J. M 423 Walsh, Col. R. D 424 Westervelt, Abraham J 460 Watson, Joseph C 490 White, Elmer E 517 -Wilcox, Albert F 526 Wilson, J. R 527 Z Zoun, Joseph 435 Zimmerman, Engelbert 567 IL^LUSTRATIONS. Geii. Alvin P. Hovej' Frontispiece Gen. Benjamin Harrison " Gen. Lew. Wallace " Gen. A. D. Straight Hon. Thomas A. Hendricks " " Hon. Albert G. Porter Hon. Joseph E. McDonald " Hon. Oscar B. Hord James Whitcomb Eiley " •^ Hon. William H. English Facing page 33 y Judge Albert Irving Gould " " 36 ►- Jacob Forsyth " " 39 I' Judge George W. Beemau " " 41 •^Alexander H. Henderson " " 78 ■ John F. Price " " 185 ' Kobert H. Bender " " 201 1 William H. Penman " " 224 ■"James C. Fletcher " " 225 ^Fred K. Mott " " 283 /William Niles " " 309 I'August H. Knosman " " 341 Byron K. Elliott " " 394 ' Col. R. D. Walsh " " 424 v'F. W. Clinton " " 426 Dr. W. E. Putnam " " 484 ''Andrew J. Uncapher " " 502 Jliobert G. Ross " " 509 Mrs. Benjamin Harrison " " 561 Mrs. T. A. Hendricks " " 561 May Wright Sewall " " 561 Miss E. G. Browning " " 56l Miss M. E. Ahern " " 561 (^JAMLSWHITCOIIB RILEY J PICT01^I/\L BIOGRf\PHIGf\L RECORD OF La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Ind. BENJAMIN HARRISON. QEN. Benjamin Harrison, ex-President of the United States, is a grand- son of the famous hero of Tippecanoe, Gen. William Henry Harrison, , . the ninth President of the United States. His birth occurred at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833, and his early education was acquired under the tutelage of a private instructoi'. At 14 years of age he was sent to Gary's Academy, near Cincinnati, where he remained two years, then entered Miami University, at Oxford, which graduated him in 1852. Having a predilection for legal pursuits he became a disciple of Blackstone at Cin- cinnati, and early in 1854 located for the profession at Indianapolis. Early in his professional career Mr. Harrison exhibited to a marked degree those characteristics which afterward made him famous as a great lawyer, and it was not long until he found himself the possessor of a large and fairly lucra- tive practice. The fall of 1860 he was elected reporter of the Supreme Court of the State, and during his incumbency of this oflSce published volumes XV. and XVI. of the State Reports. The war coming on, Mr. Harrison deemed that his country's welfare should become his first consideration, and accordingly resigning from his lucrative position he recruited Company A of the Seventieth Regiment of Indiana Infantry, and immediately went into active service. He remained in the service of the Government until the close of the war, when he was mustered out as brevet brigadier-general. He led his command in the battle of Resaca, participated in the capture of Cassville, battles of New Hope and Golgotha Churches, Kenesaw Mountain, and Peach Tree Creek, at the latter of which his gallantry so pleased Gen. Hooker that he wrote to the 17 18 PICTORIAL AND Secretary of War "to call the attention of the department to the claims of Col. Benjamin Harrison, of the Seventieth Indiana Volunteers, for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers." Participating at the Grand Eeview at Washington, Gen. Harrison returned home and resumed legal pur- suits. In 1876 he was the unanimous choice of the Eepublicans for governor of Indiana, but was defeated at the polls. In 1879 he was appointed by Presi- dent Hayes as a member of the Mississippi River commission ; was chairman of the Indiana delegation to the Eepublican national convention in 1880, and on the ballot that nominated Gen. Garfield for the Presidency, cast the entire vote of his State for the successful candidate. After this (fi-om 1881 to 1887), he became United States Senator and became one of the most conspicuous fig- ures in the nation. In 1888 he was nominated by the national Republican convention, at Chicago, for the Presidency of the United States. During the campaign he made numerous addresses, and although he had a vigilant enemy to combat, ready to distort or misconstrue his utterances, he did so remarkably well that not a single point was raised against him. His four years of administration marked an era of prosperity for the country, and at the national convention of 1892 held at Minneapolis, he was renominated ou the first ballot. At the succeeding election he was defeated for a second term by Mr. Cleveland, and has since resided at Indianapolis. Mr. Harrison, while a student at college, met and loved Miss Cordiue L. Scott, who became his wife in 1853, and two children, both living, have blessed their union. The saddest event in the life of Mr. Harrison was the death of Mrs. Harrison in 1892. >•••< WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. William Henry Harrison, the ninth President of the United States and first governor of the Territory of Indiana, was a native of the Old Dominion, his birth occurring at Berkeley in 1773. His father was Gov. Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Receiving the final part of his schooling at Hampden Sidney College, he began for himself at eighteen years of age, at which time occurred the death of his BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 19 father. In opposition to the protests of his friends, he sought a position in the army of the United States, was commissioned ensign by Gen. Washington and ordered to report to the commanding general (St. Clair) of the Northern army. At this period the frontier was greatly harrassed by the depredations of marauding bands of savages, supplemented by covert support and aid of the British Government, and the duties of the frontier troops were to hold in check and keep within due bounds these attacks. The elevation of Gen. Anthony Wayne over Gen. St. Clair, in command of tlie Northwest, resulted in a more vigorous and active policy, and numerous battles were fought with varying success. Having obtained promotion to a lieutenantcy, young Harri- son was the hero in a bloody engagement August 20, 1792, and for this he was publicly thanked by his superior officer. In 1795 he was made commander of Fort Washington, with the rank of captain; the same year he wedded the youngest daughter of John Cleves Symmes, the original owner of the present site of Cincinnati, and three years later resigned his commission to engage in farming. Very shortly after tendering his resignation he was appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory by President Adams, and as such was ex-officio lieutenant governor, and in the absence of Gen. St. Clair was Gov- ernor. In 1799 he was elected a delegate to Congress, and during this ses- sion the Northwest Territory was divided into two Territories, named Ohio and Indiana. The latter comprised the present States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, and of this Mr. Harrison received the appointment of Governor. He immediately located at Vincennes, which was then the capital, and served as governor sixteen years, having been twice reappointed by Jefferson and once by Madison. His influence with the Indians was greater than that of any other white man. He always kept strict faith with these children of Nature, was prompt to award their good deeds and as decisive in punishing their treachery. During his administration he com- manded at the battle of Tippecanoe, and the good results achieved by the suc- cess of the whites was made an event by the Legislatures of both Indiana and Kentucky which extended the hero of the day a vote of thanks. Gov. Harrison is given a prominent place by historians for his services during the War of 1812, and was a participant in the defense of Fort Meigs and the battle of the Thames, as well as being the commander of the Army of the Northwest, with the rank of major-general. In 1816 he was elected to Congress and in 1824 to the United States Senate, from Ohio, and in 1828 was appointed min- ister to the Eepublic of Colombia by President Adams, but being almost 20 PICTORIAL AND immediately recalled by General Jackson. In 1836 he was nominated for the Presidency of the United States, but suffered defeat. In 1840 he was renom- inated by the Whigs, and, during one of the most remarkable campaigns this country ever experienced, was elected, and March 4, 1841, was inaugurated. Having spent most of his life in the frontier, Mr. Harrison lacked the polish of his opponent, and the story was Jcirculated by the Democrats, with the expectation that it would prove detrimental to him, that he lived in a log cabin and drank nothing but cider. The Whigs accepted the insinuation. The simpleness of the human life, divested of glamors and gildings, always appeals to the direct sensibilities of the people. So it did in this case. Log cabins were erected everywhere; kegs supposed to contain cider were indis- pensable. Log cabins and hard cider songs were sung, and are yet remem- bered by the old residenters, and the famous hero of Tippecanoe became the ninth President of the United States. His untimely death occurred one month after his triumphal inauguration. -•••••- HON. OLIVER PERRY MORTON. No other man has done more for the honor and glory of Indiana, or has won greater renown and honor in the State ; none has ever reached so warmly the affection of the people, and, of all those born within her borders, none has contributed so largely to the power and dignity of the State, as the subject of this sketch. Born August 4, 1823, in Wayne County, Ind., he was the son of James T. and Sarah (Miller) Morton. His youth and early manhood gave no evidence of his future greatness, but on the contrary was of a similar char- acter to that of thousands of other boys of that day. At Miami College, Ox- ford, Ohio, where he completed his schooling, he acquired the distinction of being the best debater in the college, and after a two years' course he began the study of law at Indianapolis, and was admitted to the bar in 1847. Five years after that time he was appointed circuit judge by the governor, but he preferred the more active career of a practitioner to that of wearing the judi- cial robes. Until 1860 he was in active practice and during this time became BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 21 celebrated as one of the ablest advocates ever produced by the State. Until 1854 he was a Democrat, but was radically opposed to the extension of slarery. He became a Republican upon the organization of that party, and in 1856 was one of the three delegates sent from Indiana to the Pittsburgh con- vention. The same year he was nominated by the Republicans, by acclama- tion, for the governorship, and although defeated at the polls, he was elected to preside in the hearts of his countrymen as the ideal statesman. He never appealed to men's passions, but always to their intellect and reason, and whether in attack or defense proved himself a ready and powerful debater. From this campaign of 1856, unsuccessful though it was, Mr. Morton's popu- larity in the State is dated, and from this time forth he became the recognized leader of the Republican party in Indiana. In 1860 he was nominated for lieutenant-governor, with Hon. H. S. Lane for governor, with the distinct understanding that, if the party was successful, Mr. Lane should be sent to the United States Senate and Mr. Morton become governor. The election of the Republican ticket was followed by the prompt fulfillment of this under- standing, and thus, at the early age of thirty-seven years, Mr. Morton became governor of Indiana. It is said that " great emergencies make great men," and as it so did in the case of Gen. Grant, it likewise did in Gov. Morton's case. Like a black thunder-cloud athwart the horizon, the secession move- ment loomed balefuUy over the political sky and threatened the disruption of the Union. Gov. Morton, upon taking his seat, found himself supported by a loyal majority, but, to the shame of Indiana, he was confronted by a secret, active, unscrupulous minority, whose sympathy was not only with the seces- sion movement, but whose active aid and assistance were extended to the dis- loyalists. In the face of these obstacles he was the first governor to proffer Pi'esident Lincoln troops, and through his personal pledge was enabled to raise funds for the prosecution of the war which a disloyal Legislature refused doing. As " war governor " Mr. Morton was perfection, and, taking it all the way through, his two terms as governor, were of such a brilliant character as to call forth the admiration of every reading man in the nation. The Legis- lature elected in 1866 made him one of Indiana's United States senators, and he was again chosen to this position upon the expiration of his first term. His readiness in debate, his keen, analytical mind and his wonderful ability made him one of the foremost men in the Senate chamber and enhanced his popularity as a national character. He was a prominent candidate for the presidential nomination before the Cincinnati convention that nominated 22 PICTORIAL AND President Hayes, and in 1870 he was offered the English mission by President Grant, but declined the position. No name shines with brighter luster in the history of our country than that of Gov. Morton. He died November 1, 1887. ' ••• < GEN. LEW WALLACE. On a certain occasion, in a chance conversation with a well-known infi- del, a Western lawyer had been listening to an abundance of sarcastic sneers at the Christian religion. He felt ashamed of his ignorance of the subject, and, impressed with its importance, he determined to study into it. In think- ing how to begin he recalled a story that he had started a year before, founded on the wise men's search for Christ. It had been written simply as a story, with little interest in its central figure, and had been for some time laid aside. He decided to carry on his study along the lines suggested by the story, and to seek to learn of the Savior and of the world as he found it. The result was that "Ben-Hur" was written, and that its author became a believer in the Christ of whom he wrote. It may have been to his friends, and to Gen. "Wallace himself, something of a surprise that his name should become best known by such a book. "Lewis Wallace," it was said a quarter of a century ago, " handles the pen and the brush with ease and taste, but his genius is military." Born at Brookville, Ind., April 10, 1827, his early scholastic training was received from the common schools. David Wallace, his father, was a graduate of the United States Military Academy, was suc- cessively elected in Indiana as legislator, member of the Constitutional Con- vention, lieutenant-governor, governor, congressman and judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Marion County. The ambition of the subject of this biography had been of the military order, but his study and work had been rather too desultory to point to success in many directions. As a boy he wa* fond of shooting and of books, taking especial delight in Plutarch's Lives. He wrote a novel dealing with the 10th century and made some advance in art, but settled down to reading law with his father, who served a term as governor of Indiana. Ou the breaking out of the Mexican War, Lewis, entered the army and gained for himself a good name as a disciplinarian. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 23 After the war, while practicing law, he found his recreation in training a company that he had organized. When the Civil War came he was called to become adjutant-general of his native State, Indiana, and then went into ser- vice as a colonel, receiving an appointment as major-general after the surren- der of Fort Donelson, by reason of his military genius. His career as an army official ended as second member of the court that tried the assassins of President Lincoln, and he was president of that which tried Capt. Henry Wirz, commandant of the Andersonville prison. From 1878 to 1881 he served as governor of Utah, and under President Hayes he was appointed governor of New Mexico, where he wrote the last part of "Ben-Hur." Under Presi- dent Garfield he was offered a mission to South America, which he declined, afterward accepting the position of minister to Turkey. AVhile holding this place he was in most pleasant personal relations with the Sultan, who twice requested him to enter the Turkish service. His expei-ieuce in Mexico inter- ested Gen. Wallace greatly in that country and led to his writing " The Fair God," in which he sought to present a picture of that remarkable land as it was centuries ago. Naturally, in sending him to Turkey, President Garfield, 'who had enjoyed "Ben-Hur," said: "I expect another book out of you. Tour official duties will not be too onerous to allow you to write it. Locate it in Constantinople." The beauty and the history of the city were the persua- sive arguments, enforcing the hint, and the thought was in Gen. Wallace's mind from the first. The fall of Constantinople, and the many events center- ing around that in the history of nations and of religions, furnished a fasci- nating theme, and out of this has grown the author's other great work, which will undoubtedly add another triumph to the list that has already made him so great a favorite. i ••• < HENRY B. BROWN. The life of Henry B. Brown, Prasident of the Northern Indiana Normal School and Business Institute, is a striking example of what can be accom- plished by the intelligent union of varied human forces when applied to one of the most vital problems of modern civilization. Success is not so much due to the intrinsic merit of a course of action as it is to the wise, practical 24 PICTORIAL AND and systematic methods pursued to carry it iuto effect. Many men lose in professional and business life because they lack some of the essential elements of success; and likewise many undertakings of great moment are wrecked, not because they are without worth, but because they fall in the hands of incom- petent advisers or promoters who either fail to grasp the whole situation or fail in the execution of some vital condition. A project of great magnitude aij(l far-reaching results ordinarily embraces numerous conditions which are often refractory and conflicting and necessarily demand a management which shall be comprehensive, practical and effective. Not only must such a project be comprehensively viewed and wisely managed from known conditions, but it must be made to keep pace with new and obstructive conditions which spring up unexpectedly from a complicated and ever-shifting civilization. The management must be full of social tact and practical business expedients, must anticipate future events bearing upon the continued existence of the project, and must be able to unite all discordant elements and forces. Unquestionably, the surprising success of the Northern Indiana Normal School is mainly due to the new and true view taken by its founder of the educational requirements of the times and to his executive ability in carrying this view into effect. Instead of following the old and beaten path which other educational institutions had pursued for hundreds of years, an entirely new order of things was inaugurated. It was seen by the foiinder from the start that the undertaking must be as much of a business success as an edu- cational success, and must be suiSciently broad in scope to insure a large attendance and sufficiently thorough to guarantee a high standard of scholar- ship. And here the ability of Mr. Brown was displayed in laying so broad and sure a foundation. Many similar institutions had failed because of too rigid a curriculum ; others because of unnecessarily severe restraining rules ; others because of the worthlessness of an unfinished line of study; others be- cause of not knowing how to use printer's ink; others because of too high a tuition or too large an incidental expense ; others because of a limitation in the lines of study; and still others because of a lack of good business manage- ment. Mr. Brown was sagacious enough to avoid all of these pitfalls and a good enough judge of human nature to select able assistants and advisers. One of the wisest steps taken by him after the institution had been safely and surely established and the attendance had become permanent, was to call to his help a business man and educator of wide experience and exceptional ability, to whom he sold a one-half interest in the institution. By so doing BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 25 he divided the cares and perplexities and multiplied the probabilities of a continuance o£ the good management already begun. The wisdom of this course has been shown by the continued rapid growth of the school and by the permanency of the attendance and of the standard of scholarship. Two such business men and executives, two such scholars and disciplinarians, two such thinkers and workers, could not fail to make the enterprise, or any other human enterprise, a great and signal success. The steadiness of the attend- ance after the highest limit of school population had been reached, is con- vincing evidence of the wisdom of the management subsequent to the initial pi'oceedings. A modern business man, familiar with the advantages of ad- vertising, would be apt to assert that the institution owed much of its suc- cess to the unsparing and judicious use of printei"'s ink; a political economist would likely declare it was the logical outcome of throwing wide open the doors to students of limited means ; a cautious critic would suggest it was due to the unusual range in the number of courses of study, whereby students could pursue supplementary lines through either a short or a prolonged scholastic course, as their future occupations should require; still others might insist that the excellent moral atmosphere enveloping the school, or the circumspect co-education of the sexes, or the rules governing cleanliness, health, diet and study, were the principal instrument of success. But what none of them would likely think, though it is nevertheless true, is that the school as it now exists, and has existed fi-om the start, with its numerous and varied courses of study, its privileges to the student of entering or leaving at any time without loss of what has already been gained, its many lectures, illustrations, artistic features, special instructions and advantages, affords as good an example of the operations and benefits of university extension as any other educational institution in the United States. Of the large number who attend the school comparatively few graduate, and the reason is because they go there to secure such special instruction as they wish to make practi- cal at once. Instead, then, of the lecturers' traveling around to instruct the students at their homes, as follows from the practical operations of universitv extension proper, the students flock here by the thousands to secure the special instruction desired. This gives great scope to the benefits afforded, and is one of the principal reasons of the wonderful popularity of the school. However, it may safely be concluded that the success of the school is due to all these causes combined, and the originator and developer of these causes is Henry B. Brown. 26 PICTORIAL AND He traces his ancestry to Germauy through his grandfather, David Brown, who came from Leipsic to America when a young man, about the year 1795, and settled in Knox County, Ohio, where he became one of the pioneers. He married Elizabeth Alder, a lady of Scottish descent, who bore him a family of four children, Silas, Stephen, Caroline and Thomas. He was a typical farmer and pioneer and cleared his farm of the dense forest covering it and became a substantial, well-to-do and useful citizen. He was a man of considerable force of character and espoused the cause of Democracy, though never devoting much time nor thought to politics. His son Thomas was born May 3, 1812, on the farm in Knox County, and was there reared and there received such educRtion as the pioneer school of the neighborhood afforded. In early manhood he married Kachel Mills, daughter of John Mills, a native of Scotland, wiio resided also in Knox County, This young married couple at once located on a farm in Knox County, where they resided until 1849, when they moved to Morrow County and there lived until 1860. At this date he moved to Wood County, where he continued to reside until his death, April 25, 1887. To these parents were born the following children: Elizabeth E., William T., Henry B., Emily A. (died in infancy), David B., Sarah C. and Mary E. Like his father, Thomas Brown became a good citizen and took particular interest in educational matters, and gave all his children better educations than were usually accorded the youth of that day. He served as school director for many years, and in religious belief was a Baptist, in the church of which he was long a deacon. For many terms he served as justice of the peace, and was universally esteemed for his incorruptible character and sound sense. His qualities were strong, earnest and irreproachable, and he reared his children to be honest, industrious and intelligent. He passed from life recently, but his aged widow, whose excellent influence on the minds and hearts of her family has borne such good fi-uit, yet lives on the old homestead in Wood County. Henry B. Brown was born October 6, 1847, on his father's farm in Knox County, and was there reared and otherwise prepared for the struggle of life. At the age of fifteen years he attended high school at Fremont, Ohio, and the succeeding winter, 1863-64, taught his first term of school in Wood County four miles from his father's house, receiving for his pay one dollar per day and "boarding round." He taught four months and successfully managed and instructed the school, and at the conclusion of the term had BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 27 saved every dollar of his wages, all of which he loaned to his father to assist him in paying ofif a mortgage on the farm. He returned to Fremont the fol- lowing summer and continued his attendance at the high school, and the suc- ceeding winter taught the same school for one dollar and fifty cents per day for a period of five months. Having in view a good education and the means now of commencing it, he entered the Freshman class of Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and took the regular course through to the end of the Sophomore year, teaching during the winter as before. By this time he had not only become well posted on all the ordinary branches of learning, but had become so attached to the work of teaching that he resolved to make it a profession. He therefore left Wesleyan University at the end of the Sopho- more year and entered the National Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, in which superior institution he remained diligently at work for three years, still continuing his work of teaching during the winter months, except in the last year, when he remained in the normal school during the entire time in order to get the full benefit of its most'excellent polishings and training. He graduated with honor in 1871, and was immediately given the position of assistant teacher in the Northwestern Normal School at Republic, Ohio, where he remained two years as professor of mathematics. For some time previous to this he had made up his mind to found a normal school of his own on the first occasion that presented a good opening. He learned from a student that Valparaiso, Indiana, "presented just the oppor- tunity desired, and he accordingly visited the place to investigate. The loca- tion with reference to Chicago and Lake Michigan, its healthfulness, and the hospitality and intelligence of its citizens, suited him and he determined to make the venture. By this time he was an accomplished scholar, a superior and enthusiastic instructor and an efficient disciplinarian, with his heart in his work and his work for life anxiously awaited. The old Valparaiso Male and Female College had become defunct some time before, and the house was for rent. It was a suitable building to start with, and was accordingly rented and duly opened ^as the Northern Indiana Normal School on September 16, 1873. The first term opened with thirty- five scholars, eleven of whom, together with three teachers, had come with Prof. Brown from Ohio. During the first year a total enrollment of 227 stu- dents was secured. This, though small in the light of subsequent events, was nevertheless a flattering commencement, and was an index of the crowds that future years were to bring. 28 PICTORIAL AND From the start Prof. Brown was an extensive advertiser. He issued cir- culars, cards and prospectuses, and called the attention of students far and near to the advantages of his school. He adapted liberal methods in all things. Instead of laying down arbitrarily i-igid conditions and requirements be rather studied, as a business man, what would be most attractive to stu- dents of both sexes. He sought patronage, and hence in a large measure yielded many exactions to increase his attendance. For the same reason he opened the school to both sexes, lowered the tuition to the minimum, took per- sonal steps to insure poor students suitable board and accommodations at the lowest possible rates; made it possible for a student to take one or a half dozen studies as he could master, and for him to enter and leave at any time without injury; greatly increased the scope of the school by affording thor- ough instruction in all branches of learning. These wise and practical efforts were successful in greatly multiplying the attendance. The second year 850 students were enrolled — a most gratifying increase. The citizens afforded Prof. Brown every encouragement, and the capitalists were unstinted in lending him money and credit at times when both were most needed. He bought the school building, 36 x 130 feet and three stories high, for §10,000, and was greatly assisted by Messrs. D. F. Skinner, G. Block, A. Freeman, A. V. Bartholomew, Joseph Gardner and others. The third year the school en- rolled 2,100 students, employed a corps of ten teachers, and was on a sub- stantial business and educational basis. Many new departments were added as demanded. The hill where the college sat had become transformed and was now covered with buildings to accommodate the many students. Stores were opened there, electric lights introduced, water works erected, sewerage constructed, streets graded, trees planted, and the hill assumed the appear- ance of a thriving educational center. Mr. Brown lost no opportunity, but kept pace in all things with the attendance and the demands; in fact be wisely anticipated both, and thus avoided complaints and loss of prestige. In 1874 he built Hermitage Hall, a brick structure three stories high and 36 x 120 feet, which burned six years later and was rebuilt two stories high. In 1874^75 about twelve smaller buildings to serve as dormitories, each containing from twelve to fifteen rooms, were built. In 1875 brick additions 40 X 60 feet and three stories high were built to the old buildings, and one frame addition two stories high and 30 x 50 feet. In 1878 South Hall, which is used as a dormitory for ladies, and in 1880 Commercial Hall, were built. In 1881 twelve small buildings were erected to serve as dormitories, each BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 29 containing twelve rooms. During the fii'st half of the decade of the eighties many important additions were made. A library was established (including law), reading-room opened, museum started, and improved mechanical and philosophical apparatus purchased. In 1885 the miisical department was made a part of the institution, and now forty pianos are in operation. In 1881 Prof. Oliver P. Kinsey from the National Normal School of Lebanon, Ohio, bought a one-half interest in the school, and himself and wife, both teachers of ripe experience and unusual skill and ability, were added to the corps of instructors, to the great benefit of the institution. Unquestionably, much of the success of the school in recent years is due to the efforts and intelligence of Prof. Kinsey and wife. As the various departments came into existence, the services of the most capable professors of art and letters were secured and suitable equipments wei'e provided. In the last half of the decade of the eighties great improvements were made in the dormitories. They were entirely refitted in suites of sitting-room and bed-room. In 1890 the new main building of brick and stone, two stories high, 60 X 120 feet, was built. The chapel on the second floor occupies the entire area of the building and will seat over 2,000 students. It is equipped as a stage and contains an |1,800 Knabe piano. The museum is on the lower floor. The campus comprises five acres. Besides the main school structures the institution owns about thirty other buildings used as dormitories. In 1892 a large bakery was added and a special butcher was employed. All supplies are bought at wholesale for cash. In this way students secure board at little advance above actual cost, at $1.40 per week. Seven hundred tons of coal are used annually and thousands of bushels of potatoes. In short, the whole hill is rife with everything necessary for the wants of the students. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 students have attended this school since it was first founded. They have come from ''all parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico. All are witnesses of the practical nature of the instruction here afforded. In fact, the practical value of the institution is one of the principal boasts of Prof. Brown and one of the glories of the school. Another is the fact that many thousands of poor students who otherwise would have received no education were given a thorough schooling for such price as they could afford to pay. The present state school superintendents of Indiana and Idaho were graduates of this school. Several members of con- gress and scores of county school superintendents in all portions of the United States were educated here. In 1893 there were enrolled 4,300 students; there 30 PICTORIAL AND has been a steady increase from the start. The Normal is divided into twenty- seven departments, all complete schools within themselves, conducted by forty- two teachers who receive higher wages than paid in any other normal school in the United States. Religious services are attended regularly as one of the requirements. Literary and other societies afford suitable pastime and instruction, and the co-education of the sexes is here shown to be a signal success. The three large ladies' dormitories are under the personal supervision of Mrs. Kinsey. Experienced nurses are employed to care for the sick and reports are made daily to parents of the progress of the invalid. As a whole, the institution is the greatest normal school in the United States, and one of the greatest educational mediums in the world. Mr. Brown, personally, possesses a striking face and figure, inspiring all with his dignity and influencing all with his magnetism. Ordinarily, though polite and cordial, he is somewhat reserved; but when mellowed by friend- ship or affection he is a charming and trusted companion. He is an elder of the Christian Church, and is a member of the Knights of Pythias and Ma- sonic fraternities. Politically he is a Democrat. On February 16, 1886, he was united in marriage to Miss Neva W., daughter of Elias and Phoebe Axe, of Valparaiso. They have three children: Helen, Henry K. and Ruth. -••••< CHARLES F. GRIFFIN. Since the admission of the State of Indiana to the Union, its bar has been second to that of no other State for learning, ability and the establishment of just precedent from new social, industrial and political conditions. This prom- inence of Indiana is due as much, perhaps more, to her brilliant lawyers as to her eminent jurists. Both have contributed immeasurably to the legal standing of the State. For fifteen years Charles F. Grifiin, before coming to Chicago, was engaged actively in the practice of law at Crown Point, Indiana, and since his location in this city he has taken rank as one of her foremost legal pleaders and practitioners. His office is in the Tacoma building, and he BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 31 is the junior member of the firm of Olds & Griffin, the former of whom, until recently, was chief justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana. Mr. Griffin was born at Crown Point, Indiana, June 10, 1857, his parents being Elihu and Melissa (Scott) Griffin, the father a native of Henry County, Indiana, and the mother of Wayne county, Indiana. The gi-eat-grandfathers on both sides of the family were soldiers in the Eevolutiou. Samuel Griffin, the grandfather of Charles F., was a native of North Carolina, and was one of the pioneers of Henry County, Indiana, where his sou, Elihu, the father of our subject was born. In 1856, Elihu Griffin located at Crown Point, Indiana, where for twenty-five years he successfully practiced his profession and became promi- nent in local affairs. As a Republican he took an active interest in political matters, and was sent by his fellow-citizens to represent them one term in the State Senate. He was chosen a delegate to the National Republican Conven- tion of 1864 which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency, and in many other ways was useful to his party and his constituents. He was learned in the law and a man of excellent natural gifts, but physical disabilities re- stricted his energy and his practice. During the Rebellion, he was first a recruiting officer, and later a paymaster in the Federal army with the rank of major, and while engaged in the latter capacity was seriously wounded in the head by the explosion of a shell, which injury resulted in partial paralysis for twenty-three years. He died in 1887, his wife having passed from life five years previously. They were the parents of four children, three sous and one daughter, the latter dying in childhood. Horace M., the eldest son, is a promi- nent business man at Ft. Dodge, Iowa, and Cassius C, the youngest, resides at Hammond, Indiana. Charles F. Griffin grew to man's estate at Crown Point, and received a good education in the public schools, finishing with a short course at the Quaker Academy at Spiceland, Indiana. While yet in his teens he began to teach school, and during the same time to study law at odd times and vacations, thus continuing until 1878, when he successfully passed the examination and was admitted to the bar. He had previously been associated with his father be- fore his admission to the bar, and thus his legal knowledge was thoroughly practical when he began his independent career as a lawyer. He " hung out his shingle " at Crown Point, where he was born and reared and where he was well known, all constituting a sufficient test both of his ability and high char- acter. For the nine years he remained in the practice at Crown Point he en- joyed a large and profitable clientage, constantly increasing as he grew older 32 PICTORIAL AND and more experienced, though no less reliable. By reason of his skill and ability in his profession he acquired a State reputation, which in 1886 secured for him the nomination on the Republican ticket for Secretary of State, to which high position he was duly elected, and in which he served with credit for four years, having been re-elected in 1888. In 1892 he was chosen a delegate at large from Indiana to the National Eepublican Convention at Minneapolis, and was one of Gen. Harrison's strongest supporters in the contest of the latter for a renomiuation. He had charge of the Harrison headquarters in the Grand Pacific Hotel at Chicago before the delegation went to Minneapolis. In 1891 he removed to Hammond, Indiana, where he opened a law office, and at the same time also opened an office in Chicago in partnership with Judge Olds. In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Griffin has become inter- ested in several profitable industrial ventures, and at all times has taken an active part in the deliberations and movements of the Republican party, of which, in Indiana, he was one of the most prominent and useful members. In business he has been equally prominent and successful. He was the leading spirit and promoter of the movement which led to the construction of the Ham- mond, Whiting & East Chicago Electric Railway, which now has twelve miles of track in operation, and of which company he is now the President. He also distinguished himself in securing for Hammond the new system of water works, which has proved so necessary and valuable for the town, connecting it with the pure water of Lake Michigan. The plant has down sixteen miles of pipes, and cost $130,000. He has taken special interest in the construction of railways through Lake County, Indiana, and was the legal adviser and coun- sel of the Chicago & Erie Railroad in securing the right of way through the western portion of the State. He also served the Monon and the Indiana, Illi- nois & Iowa Railways in the same capacity and with the same satisfactory re- sults. It was mainly through his efforts that these roads secured the coveted right of way through the western part of the State. In 1892 he was prominently mentioned in connection with the Republican nomination for the Governorship of Indiana, but woiald not permit the use of his name, and the nomination passed to that preacher-politician, Ira J. Chase. He is an intimate friend of ex-President Harrison. His manners are pleasing and gentlemanly, and his conversation sparkling and entertaining. Having been active and very prominent in four political campaigns in Indiana, it is not too much to say that he could no doubt have any official position within the gift of the people of that State. His high character and prominence are alone y/zTC^t-^t^O^-'i'-^^ BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 33 proved by the fact that ex-Chief Justice Olds of Indiana, a man of eniiueiice aud learuiiig, gracioasly became his partner iu 1893 iu the practice of law at Chicago. He is a member of several fraternal organizations, and in 1890-91 was Commander-in-chief of the Sons of Veterans of the United States. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and has reached the thirty-second degree in Masonry. He is a charter member of the Columbus Club of Indianapolis, and in 1893 became a member of the Union League Club of Chicago. From 1884 until 1892 he was a member of the Indiana State Militia. He organized and was captain of the company at Crown Point, and at the time of his resigna- tion was the major of the Third Regiment. Thus, in the midst of an active, honorable and useful life he has found time to be agreeable aud entertaining. In 1881 he was married to Miss Edith Burhans, of Lowell, Lake County, Indiana, by whom he has two children, Ida and Karl. Mr. aud Mrs. GriiBn are members of the Presbyterian Church. He was chosen a commissioner to the last General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, held at Washington, D. C, during which time he assisted in the trial of Dr. Briggs for heresy, and voted for his acquittal. > ••• • WILLIAM HAYDEN ENGLISH, This distinguished son and representative of Indiana was born at Lex- ington, Scott County, August 27, 1822, a son of Elisha G. English, a pioneer of the State, and for forty years the incumbent of various positions of trust and official importance. Philip Eastin, his maternal grandfather, was a gal- lant officer in the war of the Revolution. On the maternal side, his mother descended from Jost Hite, that historic character who was the head and guide of the German colony which in 1732 settled the Virginia Valley. Maj. Joseph and Lieut. Isaac Bowman, both identified with Indiana in her pioneer days as officers under Col. George Rogers Clark, at the time of his campaign through this part of the country, were also descendents of Jost Hite. The former, who was second in command of the expedition, died 3 34 PICTORIAL AND in the fort at Vinceunes duriDg the year following its capture from the Brit- ish. For his military services, Lieut. Bowman was granted a large tract of land on the Ohio, opposite Louisville, and he gave a part of it as the original town site of Jeffersonville, which he named in honor of President Jefferson, who was his warm personal friend and who drew the town plat. After acquiring such education as the common schools of his time and local- ity afforded, the subject of this sketch attended Hanover College several years, and, studying law, very early in life assumed important responsibili- ties. "When the Democratic State Convention of 1810 was held at Indianapo- lis, Mr. English was one of the two delegates from Scott County in that body, though he was but eighteen years old at the time. The other delegate from that county was his father, a member of the Legislature then in session, and the two cast their influence for the nomination of Tilghman A. Howard for governor. In going to the State capital Mr. English traveled on horseback, there being then no railroads in the State, and it took him three days to make the journey. The weather was extremely cold at the time (the convention was held January 8), but the young Democrat thought little of that. In 1843, when James Whitcomb was nominated for governor, Mr. English was principal secretary of the convention. To follow his history in this connec- tion down to the present time would be to write very largelj- the history of every Democratic State Convention in Indiana during the past fifty years, for he has been prominent iu very nearly all of them. Before he had attained his majority he had been deputy clerk of his county and postmaster of his town, and was duly licensed to practice law; and within the succeeding two years he was licensed to practice in the Indiana Supreme Court, and that too under the old rigid system of thorough examinations. He was the principal clerk of the Indiana House of Kepresentatives in 1843-44, and in 1850 was principal secretary of the State Convention which framed the Constitution of Indiana, and he was a member and speaker of the first House of Kepresenta- tives elected under that Constitution. During the administration of Presi- dent Polk he held a clerkship in the Treasury Department at Washington, and about 1850 he was the incumbent of a clerkship iu the United States Senate. He was four times elected to Congress, and served daring the eight years of intense excitement immediately preceding the Civil War, a period of most important national legislation, with which he was closely and iufluen- tially identified. He was the author of a compromise measure relating to the admission of Kansas as a State, which became a law and excited much acri- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 35 monious discussion, known as "the English bill." He was a regent of the Smithsonian Institute at Washington from 1853 to 1861. During all this period of political prominence and activity in connection with the momentous events preceding the War of the States, Mr. English bore himself as a states- man and patriot and has ever borne the reputation of an uncompromising foe to disunion. In 1861 he declined a nomination to Congress in order to engage in banking. In 1880 he was unanimously nominated for Vice- President of the United States on the ticket with Gen. Hancock. This ticket received a greater number of votes in Indiana than the Democratic State's ticket had received a few weeks previously, despite the fact that the result of that and other State elections had pretty clearly foreshadowed a Kepublican victory in the Presidential contest. More than thirty years ago, Mr. English, in connection with J. F. S. Lanier, then a great banker of New York, but before that time a citizen of Indiana, and George W. Eiggs, of the celebrated banking house of Corcoran & Riggs, of Washington, D. C, and others, established the fii"st "First National Bank of Indianapolis," and he was for fourteen years its president. During that long period it was one of the most ably conducted and most prospei'ous banks in the country, and through his administration of its chief executive office Mr. English won a reputation as a financier no less brilliant than that which he had acquired as a statesman. > Mr. English's connection with the convention which in 1850 framed the Constitution of the State, and his membership of the first Legislature elected thereafter, have been mentioned. In 1884 there was a reunion at Indianapolis of the survivors of that convention and assembly and of all pre- vious Legislatures. It was an event of the utmost public interest, and was participated in by such men as Thomas A. Hendricks, Richard W. Thomp- son, William S. Holman, William E. Niblack, Alvin P. Hovey, and other political celebrities of the earlier days, and during the session it was deter- mined that some action should be taken to insure the perpetuation of the early history of the State and its public men, and, in view of his well known literary ability and his intimate knowledge of and enthusiasm for the subject, Mr. English was selected to perform this patriotic but onerous task, and he has since devoted much of his time to gathering the materials for and writing this work, the progress of which is of so much interest to all intelligent citizens of the State and the appearance of which is most anxiously awaited. His interest in everything pertaining to the history of the State of his 36 PICTORIAL AND nativity and his life-long residence is very great, and for several years he has been president of the Indiana Historical Society. Mr. English has for ten years held the controlling interest in all the street railway lines in In- dianapolis , and for a long period was largely identified with the business of that prosperous city. He was one of the originators of the Indianapo- lis Clearing House, and its president as long as he remained in the bank- ing business. He was also the author of the first resolutions adopted in favor of building the great Indiana State Soldiers' Monument, now far ad- vanced toward completion, and of which he is one of the commissioners. Mr. English was married in 1847 to Miss Emma M. Jackson, of Vir- ginia, who died in 1877, leaving two children, '\^'ill E. English, a popular and influential citizen of Indianapolis, and Kose English, now the wife of Doctor Willoughby Walling, of Chicago. > ••• < ALBERT IRVING GOULD. Among the early settlers of Ohio was Daniel Gould who located a farm in Union County as early as the year 1836, and who resided there the greater part of his life. He cleared two farms of primeval forest, and achieved a rep- utation as an honest, industrious citizen, and a warm friend and kind neighbor. He married Adaline Wilkius, who, like her husband, was a native of the State of New York, and three sons blessed their union, — John H., an attorney located at Delphi, Indiana; Samuel W., a practicing physician at Argos, this States and Albert I., the immediate subject of this sketch. He came to Indiana during the latter years of his life, and died at Argos in October, 1888, in the eighty-second year of his age, preceded bj' his wife in January of the same year. Albert Irving Gould is a native of Saratoga, New York, his birth occur- ring March 26, 1833, and when a child of three years old was taken by his parents to the then far-western state of Ohio, where he grew to manhood. Being the eldest of the brothers, his youth was spent in a limited attendance yy/i4^i^^^. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 37 at the pioneer schools and in assisting his father on the farm at clearing, grubbing, mauling rails and similar occupations. When seventeen years old lie began teaching school, and with the proceeds thus obtained was enabled to attend academy at Marysville and Mechanicsburg. When eighteen years old he began reading law under the tuition of Lawrence & West, at Bellefontaine, and in 1853 was admitted to practice by Chief Justice Corwin of the State Supreme Court. Prior to this time, and while teaching school, Mr. Gould was examined by Sunset Cox, and granted a two years' license to teach. He began the practice of his profession at Marysville, Ohio, but shortly afterwards moved to Bellevue, Iowa, where he published a newspaper about two years. In 1857 he came to Indiana, and the winter of 1857-58 organized and conducted, in con- junction with his brother John, the Star Dramatic Company. Notwithstanding the brightly colored posters advertising the company and the strenuous efforts of the Gould brothers, the organization came to grief and quit business after three exhibitions. So dismal was this disaster that the Judge, in his latter career, has been heard to express himself that he believed that even the postei-s had never been paid for. In July, 1858, he located at Winamac, where he practiced law several years, but this he abandoned in 1868, and for the suc- ceeding nine years was chief deputy auditor and manager of the office at Covington. From the expiration of that time until February, 1882, he carried on a successful law practice at Indianapolis. Since then he has resided at Knox, where he has acquired an excellent practice, has served as County Attorney and is the present attorney for the town of Knox. Judge Gould is active in politics, a firm believer and supporter of the principles of the Kepub- lican party and a potent factor in the politics of north-western Indiana. May 16, 1861, occurred his marriage with Martha M. Tibbetts, a native of Iowa, and to them two children have been born: Alice, now Mrs. H. L. Sears, of St. Louis, Missouri, and May, a stenographer and typewriter, at Chicago, Illinois. He wedded Elizabeth Wierbaugh, for his second wdfe, in 187L Personally, Judge Gould is of a most commanding presence, being six feet and two inches in height and weighing 370 pounds. Jovial in disposi- tion, companionable by nature he measures his friends only by the number of his acquaintances. An excellent judge of law, an able advocate and a keen reader of human nature ranks him a conspicuous intellectual giant among the prominent men of northern Indiana. 38 PICTORIAL AND JACOB FORSYTH. This gentleman has been a resident of Chicago since 1857, and since 1867 has devoted himself exclusively to the development of East Chicago, Whiting and Calumet property, and may be considered the pioneer operator in the localities which, largely through his efforts, have been developed into great prominence as residence and manufacturing suburbs. Born in North of Ireland in 1821, Mr. Forsyth came with his parents ta America in 1836, and located in Pittsburgh, the then "Gateway of the West," and there grew to manhood and began his business career by connecting him- self with the transportation business then in vogue. At that time freights were brought from the East to Pittsburgh via the Pennsylvania Canal in the summer, and by means of the historic Conestoga Wagons in the winter, and shipped thence west by river and by means of wagons. With the details of this peculiar and then important business Mr. Forsyth became familiar, and was so successful in it and advanced so rapidly that in time he was made the agent at Pittsburgh of the Adams Express Company. It was but natural that his manifest adaptability to this business should have attracted the attention of Clarke & Co., the agents for the Pennsylvania Kailroad in its through freight department, or that, securing his services, they should have sent him as one of their representatives in Chicago. Freight came West fi-om Pittsburgh, via the Fort Wayne Railroad to Plymouth, Indiana; thence, via a short railroad, to La Porte, Indiana, and from that point, via the Michigan Southern Eailway, to Chicago. Coming to this city in 1857, Mr. Forsyth was so markedly suc- cessful in his broader field that his efficiency was recognized about 1860 by his appointment as General Northwestern Freight and Passenger Agent for the old Erie Railway, which position he filled with credit to himself and greatly to the satisfaction of the Erie people until he resigned it about 1867 to begin his since so successful career as a real estate operator. Mr. Forsyth had married in 1846 Miss Caroline M. Clarke, a native of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and about twenty-six years ago she inherited throuc^h her brother, George W. Clarke, an old Chicago real estate owner, who died in 1866 — a tract of land in the northern part of Lake County, In- diana. Mr. Clarke came to Chicago in an early day; he was a civil engineer; North Am, Bag. and Pui Co. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 39 one of the engineers for the Michigan Canal. The location of this acreage, and the probability of its some time being valuable suburban Chicago property, at once impressed themselves on Mr. Forsyth's mind, and he began to acquire as much other property near this as he could buy to advantage. He purchased tract after tract, until he had secured altogether about fifteen thousand acres. To the acquisition of these lands and to their subdivision and sale he has devoted himself entirely since 1867, and at this time he has about sixteen hundred acres, upon which he is realizing at the rate of $7,000 to $9,000 per acre. Anyone at all familiar with real estate conditions in Chicago a quarter of a century ago, knows that there was no opportunity for rapid speculation in those Lake County, Indiana, lands, and this being true, the wise foresight of Mr. Forsyth in investing in them so extensively and so systematically must be apparent, and as a pioneer in the development of this property he is entitled to no small measure of credit, and to more still for the unswerving perseverance with which he has all along worked for its development to its present demand anil market value. The land now occupied by the Standard Oil Company, at Whiting, Indiana, where that corporation alone employs nearly four thousand men, was sold by Mr. Forsyth, and valuable plants and subdivisions are being located all over these lands, which will increase in value each year, as all prop- erty must of necessity in and around Chicago. Mr. Forsyth built the first house at East Chicago, in 1887, and at the same place donated 1,000 acres of land to the Standard Steel and Iron Com- pany for a town site, which is now East Chicago, and which has a population of about 4,000. Mr. Forsyth has already built some sixty odd houses at Whiting, and the building and improvement still continue. He is, and always has been, favor- ably disposed towai-d, and taken an active interest in, the location of manu- facturing interests in Lake County. One of the coming improvements, and one which will materially enhance the value of Lake County lands, will doubtless be the building of a harbor on Lake Michigan at the outlet of Wolf Lake. Upon this improvement a U. S. engineer has already made a favorable report. It is only a question of time when this work will be accomplished. Concerning this matter Mr. Forsyth is taking an active interest, as he does for all other interests for the good of Lake County. In these transactions Mr. Forsyth has amassed a handsome fortune, which, in a healthy and hearty old age, he is enjoying along with the satisfaction 40 PICTORIAL AND that must come to any mau from the contemplation of a well spent life. His family circle is a large and most pleasant one. He has nine children living, all of them good and useful men and women, honoring a worthy parentage by a strict observance of all that goes to make true nobility of character. ' •• • < GEORGE W. BEEMAN. The story of the life of this distinguished citizen rightfully belongs to the public, and can be read by all with pride and profit. Every person may learn from the history of his life of the trials which humanity must meet, of the obstacles which may be overcome by activity, intelligence and honesty, and of the success which will result from continuous well-doing. Having passed through every phase of prosperity, having seen the ups and downs of a life devoted to the advanceruent of the elemental rules of our complicated civilization, Jiulge Beemau's life story is well worthy of perusal and study and of emulation by our youth. Judge George W. Beeman was born at Sedalia, Missouri, August 17, 1845, one of two sons born to the marriage of James W. and Elizabeth (Smiley) Beeman, natives of North Carolina and Kentucky, respectively, the latter being a descendant of General Smiley, of Revolutionary "War fame. James W. Beeman was among the early pioneers of Missouri, emigrating to that State as early as 1832, and settling near Sedalia, where he became a pros- perous fai'mer. He was a firm believer in the principles of the old orthodox Methodist Church, and was an uncompromising loyalist in his views upon the public issues of the day. Of unquestioned integrity, te was appointed judge of his judicial circuit during the troublous times of border warfare in that State, and so satisfactorily did he administer the duties of this position that he was retained as such for eleven years, having been twice elected. He died in that State in 1889, having attained the highest type of manhood — that of being universally respected, and an honest. God-fearing man. The eldest of his two sons, James W., served his country with fidelity during our Civil War, having enlisted in September, 1861, in Company A, Sixth Missouri Cav- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 41 airy, under Gen. Montgomery, when 180 miles from the Federal lines. It was under such conditions in the border States, when oftentimes families were divided in their opinions and actions, that it required loyalty of the staunchest kind to become enrolled as an active participant in war for tlie preservation of the Union. He sei'ved until Grant's army was besieging Vicksburg, when his death resulted from sickness, caused by exposure inci- dent to army life. Judge George W. Beeman industriously passed his youthful days in assist- ing his father upon the home farm, and attending the pioneer subscription schools. When but a boy of sixteen years of age he enlisted, in September, 1861, in Company A, Sixth Missouri Cavalry, and served gallantly, in company with his brother, through the battles of Springfield, Pea Ridge, Batesville, Arkan- sas Post, and until the latter's death. Under protest then, but at the urgent demands of his parents, he returned home and resumed his schooling under the tuition of Professor Cheshire, a pronounced loyalist, a native of North Carolina, and a cousin. Fitting himself for college, he entered the State University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, graduating with distinction from the law department of that institution March 7, 1867. He had taken the law course without intending to make its practice his life's occupation, and he returned to the farm and followed agricultural pursuits seven years. Beeman's Station, Missouri, was named in his honor. Locating then in Crown Point, Indiana, he practiced law until 1876, when he came to Knox, Starke County, Indiana, which has since been his home. Here he has achieved just renown as an exemplary citizen, a polished gentleman of all the courtly grace of the Southern school, and a lawyer of high repute. During fourteen years of his residence in Knox he has served fourteen years as County Attorney, and in 1886 he was elected and served two years as Prosecuting Attorney for the 44th Judicial Circuit. He has been an unswerving supporter of the principles of the Demo- cratic party, and, during campaigns. Judge Beeman is called upon from vari- ous portions of the State to make speeches and lend his influence for the furtherance of his party's candidates. Particularly is this so in German com- munities, as he speaks that language with great fluency. A strong believer and advocate of temperance of all kinds has left to Judge Beeman a clear perception and an unclouded mind. His success in life is demonstrated by his deserved popularity among his acquaintances, and the possession of a comfort- able amount of this world's goods. He opposed the reuomiuation of President 42 PICTORIAL AND Clevelaud in 1892, and became the choice of bis faction for elector. So skillfully did be manage bis canvass tbat be not onlj' acquired tbe bigbest reputation as a politician, but was only defeated by tbe President's supporters, wbo were largely in tbe majority, by four votes. He is a member of tbe Odd Fellows, I. O. of G. T. and K. O. T. M. fraternities, and for tbe past twelve years bas been attorney for tbe New York, Chicago & St. Louis Kailroad Company. One son bas been born to his marriage, whom he has named Tburman in honor of the " Old Eoman " of Ohio politics. NATHANIEL PETTIT. As far as can be ascertained, tbe Pettit family removed to Canada from tbe State of New Jersey a considerable time before tbe American Revolution, and settled in tbe vicinity of Hamilton. Nathaniel Pettit plainly recalls tbe fact tbat bis grandfather kept a tavern at tbe foot of what was known as "The Moun- tain," some thirteen miles east of Hamilton, and this building was built and occu- pied prior to 1776. He also remembers having heard some of tbe elder mem- bers of tbe Pettit family tell of trips which their progenitors took from Jersey to Canada, and tbat on one of these occasions, which was made on horseback, tbe traveler had to be taken across an intervening river in a basket. The name of the paternal grandfather was John, and his family consisted of the following children: Robert, Charles, James, John, Annie and Josetb. Robert Pettit, tbe father of the subject of this sketch, was married June 25, 1812, to Miss Abigail Wilson, whose home was in the vicinity of the historical battle- field of Lundy's Lane. After bis marriage, Robert Pettit tilled a farm on tbe summit of the " Mountain " at tbe foot of which bis father had his tavern. To Robert Pettit and bis wife sis sons and three daughters were born: Charles, born April 10, 1813; Thomas "W., born October 22, 1814, and died Novem- ber 18, 1844; Mary A., born October 18, 1816; William, born February 11, 1819; Martha, born August 8, 1821; John, born February 7, 1823; Nathaniel, born October 18, 1825; James R., born July 12, 1829;and Abigail, born Octo- ber 12, 1832. Mary A. died July 21, 1869, and Charles on the 2l8t of March, 1890. The father of these children, passed away November 1, 1844, and his BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 43 wife, who was born at Liindy's Lane, died on the 18tli of October, 1861. Na- thaniel Pettit was born in Wentworth county, Canada, October 18, 1825, and started out in life for himself at the age of nineteen as a farmer, and in company with his brother-in-law, J. T. Forbes, he left his home and pushed on farther into the unbroken wilds, locating about 150 miles from his old home and some 20 miles north of Lake Ontario, where he entered land and commenced to hew out for himself a home. He took up 200 acres in one tract, and on this he erected a log house and the frame-work of a barn, which he roofed over. This move of his north-eastward, however, proved unsuccessful, as crops would not do well on account of the severe weather and climate, and at the end of three years Mr. Pettit sold his claim to a man by the name of James Thomas for the small sum of $80, and thus abandoned all idea of farming in that section, June 6, 1848, he was married to Miss Tryphena Nickerson, and in 1850, in company with his father-in-law's family, he came to Indiana, via Buffalo, Detroit, New Buffalo, and thence to Indiana. The household and other goods were hauled by wagon from New Buffalo, and Mr. Pettit recalls some un- pleasant incidents connected with this journey, such as fording a stream by the light of a borrowed lantern at nine o'clock at night, etc. During 1850 he delivered cross ties for the Michigan Central R. E., at which work he earned $5 per day. In the winter of 1851 he worked at grading on the New Albany road, and also built a shanty along the line, in which he boarded the hands. He worked on the railroad and hauled wood for its building during 1852, and in this year his little daughter Lorintha, the only child they then had, died at the age of two years and four months. The same year Mr. Pettit moved to Laporte County, Indiana, where he farmed for two years; but in 1855 he was called upon to mourn the death of his wife, and life then becoming unendur- able and impossible on the farm, he left it and spent the winter with his brother-in-law, Forbes, near Coburg, Porter County, Indiana. From there he moved to the farm on which he is now living, and on the 16tli of April, 1856; was married again; but November 11, 1872, was divorced, from his wife. To this marriage the following children were born : Tryphena Oela, born April 7, 1859; Clara Aurelia, born June 10, 1861, and Flora, born December 11, 1863. The eldest daughter was married to Thomas Blake, by whom she has two children living and one deceased: Flora May, born September 9, 1880; Madge, born July 23, 1885, and died January 5, 1888 ; and Leslie Nathaniel, born May 18, 1889. This family lives in Chicago. Clara Aurelia married S. J. But- cher, lives in Burlington Junction, Missouri, and has one child, Byron D., who 44 PICTORIAL AND ■was boru November 10, 1885. Flora married Dr. J. H. Penn, lives in Sidney, Iowa, aud has two children: Bruce and Clara. May 27, 1874, Mr. Pettit was married to Sarah Eebecca Burch, daughter of Piuth Burch, in whose family there are eleven children: William, Hiram, Lydia, Sarah, Newton, Charles, Ella, Flora, Ida, Louis and Edward. Newton, Ida and Louis are dead, and the rest are married and living in different parts of the country. Hiram resides in Ohio with his wife, who was formerly Louisa Smith; William married May J. Derby, and lives in South Bend, Indiana; Lydia married William Marshall, and also lives in South Bend ; Charles married Mary Bust, aud lives in Dayton, Illinois; Ella married William Bust, is now a widow, and lives in South Bend; Flora married Jacob Williams, and lives in Lake County, Indiana; and Edward lives in Valparaiso. Mr. and Mrs. Burch were born in Delaware County, New York, and removed from there to Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, and from there to Huron County, Ohio, where the father and three sons enlisted in the service of their country during the Bebellion. Hiram and Newton were wounded and Newton sacrificed his life for his country. Both the grandfather and great-grandfather formed part of the brave little army that faced British bullets in the never-to-be-forgotten engagement at Bunker Hill, fighting throughout the Revolutionary War as members of the Colonial Army. Mem- bers of this family also took part in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War Mr. Burch lived to the age of 71 years, dying in 1889, and the mother died in 1892, at the ripe age of 78 years. The grandmother of Mrs. Pettit often related incidents of the battle of Bunker Hill, in which her husband had taken part, and Mrs. Pettit well remembers them. The battle of Big Creek, Canada, took place but seven or eight miles from the old home place of the Pettits, and after the battle the retreating armies could be plainly seen from the old house on the heights. By his present wife Mr. Pettit has become the father of two children: Ida F., born December 15, 1877, and Nattie W., born February 1, 1881, and died May 12, 1883. Mr. Pettit has ever been a staunch Republican, but is of far too genial a disposition to be a bitter partisan. In religious matters he leans toward Methodism, though not a member of the church, and Mrs. Pettit is an ardent Baptist. Mr. Pettit's advantages were by no means of the best in his youth, but by close application he has made himself familiar with those practical means of knowledge which have made him the successful man and farmer that he is to-day. There is no better con- ducted farm in the country, nor a finer home than his within the limits of the county, and there a refined and generous hospitality is dispensed. BIOGRAPHICAL RE COBB. 45 SUTTON VAN PELT. All people of true sensibility and with a just regard for the memory of those who have departed this life, cherish the details of the history of those whose careers have beeu marked by uprightness and truth, and whose lives have been filled with acts of usefulness. Such a man was Sutton Van Pelt, the second sheriff of La Porte County, Indiana. Like many of the best respected citizens of the county he was born in the Buckeye State, in the beautiful city of Lebanon, April 7, 1806, to the union of Alexander and Elizabeth (Corwin) Van Pelt. The latter was a sister of the renowned Tom Corwin, whom our sub- ject resembled both in physique and facial control, and of whom Albert D. Richardson, in "Garnered Sheaves," says: "This age has given us Tom Corwin, the 'Ohio wagon boy'; of wit so matchless; of voice so mellow and organ-like, of cheek swarthy as if smitten by the fiery Orient; most Ameri- can of men — at fireside the greatest conversationalist of his day — on the stump, he was a series of transitions between Demosthenes and old Burton." During his childhood days, Sutton removed with his parents to Shelby County, Indi- ana, and made his home there until 1834, when he came to La Porte County. He was among the very first settlers, and was later made sheriff of the county. He performed the first and only execution in the county, and when asked why he did not employ a substitute, he replied: " I would make him a murderer. It is my duty, not others." Leaving the ofiice of sheriff, he engaged in agricultural pursuits for ten years, met with substantial results, and then removed to *La Porte, where he engaged in the grain trade, and was a heavy and successful speculator. He was married in 1828 to Miss Juliette Squier, a native of New Jersey, and thi-ee children were the fruits of this union: Alexander, died in La Porte, Indiana, in 1885, aged fifty- five years; David S., resides in Cincinnati; and Camilla, wife of Aurora Case, (see sketch). Sutton Van Pelt died July 10, 1882, and in his death the county lost one of its oldest and most valued citizens. He was three times married, and by his second wife, whose maiden name was Hannali Bridge, a native of Woodstock, Vermont, and who died in 1848, he became the father of three sous, two of whom, Tom Corwin and Halleck, died in infancy; the surviving sou, Corwin Beecher, is a citizen of South Bend, Indiana, and engaged 46 PICTORIAL AND in manufacturing. His third wife, originally Miss Eachel C. Andrew, born at Burlington, Ohio, now a suburb of Cincinnati, survives him, and is now eiglit_y-eight years of age. She is quite strong and hearty for her years. Mr. Van Pelt was an active member of the Swedenborgian congregation. • •••< ADAM R. EBERT. The efficient manner in which Adam Ebert looks after the interests of " Uucle Sam " at Hammond, Indiana, has been remarked upon many times^ and is a source of much gratitude to the citizens of the town and surrounding country. He is a product of Kurhessen, Prussia, where he was born on the 21st of December, 1851. In the spring of 1868, he was brought by his par- ents, John R. and Sophia (Schmidt Hoffman) Ebert (natives of Prussia), to America, aud lauded with them in the city of New York. From that place they came to Chicago, aud there the father opened a cigar and tobacco estab- lishment, which he successfully conducted until the fall of 1872, when he re- moved to Gibson, Indiana, where he was for some time engaged in the same business. In connection with this he also managed a farm for some time, of which he became the owner, then moved back to Chicago, where he was called from life in July, 1892. His widow and three sons survive him, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest. Up to the age of sixteen years he at- tended the schools of his native land, but upon locating in America he left his school days behind him, and when in Chicago turned his attention to learning the cigar-maker's trade. In 1882 he took up his residence in Hammond, Indi- ana, and opened a cigar factory, which he continued to conduct successfully up to the time of his appointment as postmaster under President Cleveland, Jan- uary 9, 1894. Mr. Ebert is one of the most popular of the German citizens of of Hammond, and his career as a business man has been a decided success, he being now the owner of considerable valuable property. His experience on the free soil of the United States is but another example of the opportunities that are offered to a young man of energy, push and intelligence aud of foreign birth, and such an excellent citizen as he has proved himself to be is but too BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 47 gladly welcomed by " Uucle Sam." Mr. Ebert has always been a staunch Democrat in politics, served as a member of the city council two terms, from May, 1887, to May, 1891, and in the last mentioned years was honored by his party by an election to the State Legislature, in which capacity he showed him- self to be able, intelligent and incorruptible. He is president of the German Publishing Company, is a member of St. Paul's German Lutheran Church, and has served in the capacity of its secretary for the past ten years. In the fall of 1880, Mr. Ebert led to the hymeneal altar Miss Sophia Brunswick, by whom he has six children: Julius, Emily, August, Bertha, Freddie and Adam. > ••• ' THOMAS JEFFERSON FOSTER. (deceased.) The spirit of a pure and noble life burned within the earthly habitation of clay of the man of whom we write, and when the soul took its flight to purer regions and a better state none mourned as did those who knew him best. The decease of Mr. Foster was a calamity to the city where he was one of the leading citizens, and the sorrow for his loss was universal. He was born July 20, 1841, in La Porte County, Indiana, and his parents, Thomas and Lusetta Foster, were natives of New York. One month before our subject's birth his father died, and when but six weeks old he was placed in charge of an aunt living in Syracuse. There he remained until eleven years of age, when he came to La Porte County, Indiana. For some time after this the early days of Mr. Foster were not materially different from those of other boys living on farms. With an ardent desire to improve his condition, he entered Hillsdale College, where he remained till the small property left him by his father was exhausted. He then went forth to seek his fortune, with no other resource than a clear head, a strong hand, and a warm and honest heart. He was employed by the late Fleming Reynolds, one of La Porte County's well-known farmers, and was taught to work at anything for him to do. Thomas was not afraid to work, and being of an independent turn of mind, he early developed that self-reliance which tended, in after years, to render him the successful 48 PICTORIAL AND man that lie was in every undertaking to which he turned his attention. In 1860 he drove oxen across the plains to Colorado, and in the following year opened a small stock of groceries just two blocks east of where he for many years carried on such a successful business. In 1863 he married Miss Annie Elizabeth Drummond, daughter of James Drummond (deceased), who was one of the oldest and best known citizens of the county. In 1876 Mr. Foster was elected on the Democratic ticket to fill the office of county treasurer, and was re-elected two years later, the nomination each time being unanimous. His general popularity made his election a matter of no doubt, and he served the people faithfully and well. For three years he served as secretary of the board of education, and was president of the board at the time of his death. His heart was always in the right place, and the good deeds of his right hand were not always known to the left. He was nearly always found associated, in some manner, with every charitable or good work that was going on in the community. A man of the most generous impulses, his highest aim was to live to benefit his fellow-men. A great deal of good was accomj)lislied with his means. More than one poor family who purchased groceries at his store have had a receipted bill forwarded to them, because they were unable to pay it when presented. He clothed more than one poor boy from head to foot. His rule was: Church first, business second; and he never allowed busi- ness to interfere with church work. He never missed the regular weekly prayer meeting when he was well, or it was possible for him to be present; and the same may be said of preaching service and Sunday school. His means established the Methodist Church at Hope, North Dakota, although he himself was a member of the Christian Church. Mr. Foster's employes loved him, and always felt that they could not do too much for him. He gathered about him young and enterprising men; and more than one person, who after- wards became a successful business man, owes the result to the skillful training he received from his employer, T. J. Foster. For years he was deeply interested in the public schools, where every teacher and pupil was a personal friend, and at the close of his service on the school board, he was presented with an elegant gold-headed cane. Everybody knew " Tom Foster," as he was familiarly known, everybody liked him, and the woz'ld is much better for his having lived in it. The attendance at the obsequies was very large, and it is estimated that it was the largest funeral ever held here. Eev. Ira J. Chase, governor of the State, who was a personal friend of Mr. Foster, officiated, assisted by Rev. E. B. Widger, pastor of the Christian BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 49 church of this cit^'. " The success atteuding his careei'," says one of his biographers, " is worthy of more than a passing notice. Bereft of the guidance and help of a father's hand, he emerged from his boyhood without the means to improve opportunities or secure education. His capital was his energy, industry and economy, and with these alone he made life a success. " " Dead — and wliere now are those earnest, loving eyes, Which kindled in so many eyes the light? Have they departed from our earthly skies. And left no ray to illuminate the night? Shall man thus die and waste away, And no fond hope be left ? Is there no sweet, confiding ray for bosoms all bereft? Yes, yes, an earnest trust." >••••- SHELDON BEACH. To the person who closely applies himself to any occupation which he has chosen as his calling in life, there can only come one result — that of success and a high place in the esteem of those among whom he has made his home. Mr. Beach is no exception to the rule, for it has only been bj' industry and strict attention to agricultural pursuits that he has attained to the position and honor which he now enjoys. The early members of the family resided in the vicinity of Litchfield, Connecticut, from which place they removed to Canada when Sheldon Beach was about one year old. Tlie father and mother, Ezra and Polly Beach, had six children, all of whom, with the exception of the youngest, was born in Connecticut: Lyman, Polly, Truman, Harmon, Sheldon and Philo, the lat- ter's birth having occurred on British soil in Canada. For some time Mr. Beach tilled a farm in what was then known as the lower part of Upper Canada, and several of the sons worked at barn and house building. Here they remained until 1839, when they came to Porter County, Indiana, where they purchased land from the Government. While residing in Canada, Sheldon 4 50 PICTORIAL AND Beach was married to Experience Sheldon, daughter of Jeremiah and Experi- ence (Fuller) Sheldon, who were the parents of nine children: Horace, Eiley, Burton, Amelia, Eichard, Francis, Jane, Alexander and Experience. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon were born respectively April 8, 1768, and December 29, 1775, at the beginning of the Kevoiutiou, their marriage occurring December 19, 1797, after which they resided for some time near Dover. The mother was a native of Vermont, and her grandfather, who was of Irish descent, was born on the ocean while his parents were enroute to this country. Mr. Sheldon was of English descent, and his parents resided in Vermont until the two eldest children were born, when they removed to Can- ada (1801), and settled near Rockwell, Leeds County. One of their sons, Francis, left Canada and went to Michigan and from there to Iowa, where he was when last heard from. Two other sons were associated with the Mormon church at Salt Lake City for a short time, and two members of the Beach family had also joined the church in Canada, but while on their way to the "Promised Land" they came through Porter County, Indiana, and were prevailed upon by their relatives here to abandon their contemplated journey, which they accordingly did, and settled here. Mrs. Experience Beach's grandfather was taken by the Indians to Quebec, and put aboard a British prison ship, where he died with the small- pox. The British hired Indians and white renegades to go through the new settlements in Vermont and kidnap all the white men they could find, and kept them to exchange for their own soldiers that were captured in battle or else- where. Her grandfather and two uncles were thus taken. One of the uncles escaped, and returned to tell the story. Her grandfather moved* back to the settlement with three other families. All they took back with them was what a span of horses could carry. The distance was 200 miles. For fear of the Indians they traveled nights and laid-by daytimes. The marriage of Sheldon Beach and Experience Sheldon occurred on the 14th of May, 1846, at which time Mr. Beach was twenty-seven years of age, and five days after the celebration of their nuptials they started for the States, coming to this region via the Welland Canal, Niagara Falls, thence by rail to Buffalo, New York ; then by steamer to Chicago, which place was then but an insignifi- cant village; and from there, by wagon, to Porter County. They took up a claim of 100 acres, on which had been erected a small log cabin, and in this abode they lived for about four years. Six children were born to them in this county: Amelia, born May 29, 1848; Murray J., born January 17, 1855; BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 51 Asenatb, born August 22, 1857, the three others dying in infancy. Amelia married Jared Blake; Murray J. married IrenaLee December 8, 1875, but she died December 31, 1881, leaving two children: Abbie M., born February 20, 1877, and Dell I., born July 13, 1879. In 1886 he married Mary Brown, and by her has two children: Clarence and Claudie. Asenath married H. r. Black. Mr. Beach died November 16, 1882, at the age of sixty-five years, since which sad event Mrs. Beach has had the management of the old home farm. She is now in her seventy-fifth year, but is a remarkably well- preserved woman, active, energetic and in good health. The daughter, Asenath (Mrs. Black), resides on the old home farm with her mother and she and her husband have an interesting family of five children: Carlton E., born January 19, 1883; Walter G., born April 26, 1885; Fred H., born April 5, 1887; Louise M., born February 9, 1889; and Floyd S., born August 18, 1891. Mrs. Beach has one brother and sister living, and of the Beach family but two remain, Harmon and Philo, both quite advanced in years. The Beach family has been, and are now, extensive laud owners, and their name will long be associated with the early pioneer history of Porter County, and with those honorable pioneers who gave the best energies of their lives in subduing the forests and in making this part of Indiana one of the best farming regions of the State. -••••< AURORA CASE. (deceased.) In order to perpetuate for coming generations the record of one who was very prominently connected with the growth and development of La Porte County, but who has now passed to his final reward, a brief account of the life of Aurora Case is placed on the pages of this volume. He was a public-spir- ited citizen, in harmony with advanced ideas, intelligent progress and one always liberal in his contributions to aid the social, material and religious ad- vancement of the county. He was one of the pioneer settlers of the same, and .a most worthy and exemplary citizen. For many years he was president of •the First National Bank of La Porte, and was well and favorably known 52 PICTORIAL AND throughout the section. Mr. Case was born in Connecticut August 22, 1813, and was a descendant of one of the oldest New England families. For two hundred years the Case estate was transmitted from father to son. The par- ents of our subject were Aurora and Elizabeth Case. The original of this notice received his education in the common schools, and about 1836 came to La Porte County, Indiana, where he was among the earliest settlers. In 1838 he bought a heavy invoice of wooden clocks at Bristol, Connecticut, and shipped them to Michigan City by way of the lakes. He came here in ad- vance of the goods, to make arrangements for the sale of the same. He en- gaged men, teams and wagons, collected them at Michigan City, and by the day the clocks were due at the harbor had everything in readiness to send his peddlers out as soon as they could receive their stocks. But day after day passed, and the vessels freighting the clocks came not. The men and teams were lying idle at the hotel at Mr. Case's expense, he had bought the goods on credit, and naturally enough he grew exceedingly anxious and im- patient for the arrival of the ship. Presently it began to wear on him — -the anxiety broke his sleep. But early one morning, having fallen into a fitful slumber, he had a very vivid dream, wherein a person appeared to him and in- formed him that the vessel bearing the clocks was at hand, and that he must bestir himself, rouse up his men, and prepare to unload the freight. When he awoke he felt (he often said) that the dream was true — such was the im- pression it made upon him. Day was just breaking. He arose at once, dressed himself and went down to the beach. Sweeping the water with his eye, he descried a speck of a sail iu the horizon; he felt sure this was the long-looked-for schooner — and without further waiting, returned to the hotel and called up the men. In a short time the vessel came into port, full of wooden clocks, consigned to Aurora Case. There were other details of this singular dream and its fulfillment, which made it very remarkable, but these are now forgotten. The clocks in question were sold all over the country, and Mr. Case realized handsomely iu the transaction. He resided in Michigan City until 1861, where he acted as president of a bank of that city and was also president of the old plank road, and then removed to La Porte, where soon afterwards the First National Bank was organized. This was February 25, 1863, and Mr. Case was unanimously chosen as the first president, a posi- tion he filled until his death October 7, 1872. He was a staunch Kepublican, served iu several city ofiices, but was not an office seeker, although a zealous worker for his party. On the 17th of May, 1866, he was married to Miss BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 53 Camilla Van Pelt, daughter of Sutton Vau Pelt, whose sketch is in this work. Mr. Case was au Episcopalian in his religious views, but Mrs. Case is a member of the Swedenborgian society and an active worker for the same. Mr. Case was a life member of the Natural History Association, and was much interested in the establishment of this association on a basis of greater permanancy and usefulness. He regarded it as an important means of culture and education, and contributed liberally to its support. >•••' PROF. W. C. BELMAN. Public education in Indiana has no more earnest advocate than Prof. W. C Belman, for no one more thoroughly understands and appreciates the needs and interests of "Young America" than he, and perhaps no one is better qualified through long experience and labor in their behalf to bring out all the good that is in them. Personally he is a cultivated and intelli- gent gentleman, agreeable in manners and genial in disposition, and has a host of friends among both young and old in the city of Hammond. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, May 1, 1860, a son of William and Matilda (Sa- bine) Belman, the former of whom being born in Philadelphia. He moved to Detroit about 1850, and now resides on a farm in Shiawassee County, Michi- gan. The early progenitor of his family in America was a native of Old England, while his wife was a product of the Isle of Erin. To William Bel- man and his wife three children were born, two of whom are living: Prof. W. C. and Lettie M. After the death of the mother of these children Mr. Bel- man married again, was widower after a year and one half, and again being married, by his third wife became the father of six children: Stella, Vidi, Burchell, Sarah, Job, and au infant. In the city of Detroit the subject of this sketch made his home until he reached the age of nine years, and up to that time attended the public schools of that city. He then removed with his father to the farm ; but at the early age of thirteen years he left the shelter of the parental roof to earn his own living, and until he was nineteen years of age the summer months were spent in tilling the soil for the farmers of the vicin- 54 PICTORIAL AND ity and the winters were spent in attending the district schools. At the above mentioned age he had saved enough money to enable him to enter the Nor- 'mal College at Valparaiso, but his funds gave out a short time before he had completed the scientific course, and he left school and was engaged in teach- ing for four months in the country. He then took the principalship of schools in Lowell, Indiana, and thus continued for two years. In 1883 he came to Hammond as principal of the public shools, which at that time only required the services of five teachers. There ai'e now forty-seven teachers, all of whom are under the supervision of Prof. Belman. He was instrumental in secur- ing the erection of the fine brick school building which has recently been completed at a cost of about $51,000, and which contains nine school rooms, two recitation rooms, one library, two laboratories, a kindergarten room, and an auditorium which has a seating capacity of 700. Prof. Belman drew the tioor plans and has taken great interest in the furnishing of the building throughout. He is considered, and with reason, one of the best educators in the State, and enjoys to the fullest extent the respect of his fellow-men as well as of his pupils. He is interested in the welfare of the city and is president of the Hammond Building & Loan Association. Socially he belongs to the K. of P., the Royal League, the National Union; politically is a Eepublican, and he and his wife are members iu good standing of the Methodist Episco- pal church. June 25, 1884, he was marriecl to Miss Nettie E. Smith, of Hammond, by whom he has two children: William C, Jr., aged five years, and Edna L., aged three years. THADDEUS H. FORBES. This gentleman comes of good Scotch and German stock, and the good sense and native shrewdness of the one, combined with the sturdy energy and honesty of the other, make a combination that will tell in the character of the descendant, and has no doubt been the cause of the prominence of this family. He is a son of Jacob and Martha Forbes, who came to Coburg, Indiana, in 1854, from Hamilton, Upper Canada, and helped evolve from out the wooded solitude of this region the noble agricultural country of Porter BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 55 County, Indiana. Thaddeus H. Forbes was born in the vicinity of Hamilton, Canada, August 20, 1851, but from about the age of three years has been a resident of the county in which he now lives. He enjoyed only the advantages of a common school education, but made such good use of them that he fitted himself for the position of a successful and intelligent farmer, stock raiser and stock dealer, as well as for the filling of almost any position of trust and honor within the gift of the county. He took up the battle of life for himself at the age of twenty-one, up to which age he worked for his father, and upon attaining his majority he was presented by his father with eighty acres of land, to which he has since added, until he is now in possession of 405 acres of as good grain and stock land as can be found in his section of the country. He has not only increased the number of his acres, but has kept full pace in its improvement by the enlargement and beautifying of his residence and by its more convenient arrauyement. Mr. Forbes was married June 26, 1875, to Miss Nora Pinney, of La Porte County, Indiana, whose parents, Horace and Angeline Pinney, were honest, thrifty, and industrious people, who honored the profession of farming in which their lives had been spent. Their family consisted of nine children: Jay, born January 20, 1847, is a merchant of Maxwell, Kansas; Jennie (Mrs. Goodwin) was born April 20, 1850, and resides on a farm near the old home- stead; Nora, born September 4,' 1852; Kay, born November 16, 1854, died in 1888; Ell. was born May 6, 1856, owns and farms the old homestead; Erastus was born February 3, 1861, is a conductor on the Michigan Central Railroad; Elsworth, April 7, 1863; Lois, born July 2, 1865, makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, is a fine musician, and is at present attending Dwight L. Moody's Missionaiy School at Chicago; and Emma, who was born September 30, 1867, is a foreign missionary, having gone out September 30, 1893, under the auspices of the Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of the West, to Cum- bum, India. She is a woman of strong convictions, and dares follow where duty leads. Horace Pinney came to Indiana with his parents from Jackson County, Ohio, in 1836, and his wife from Pennsylvania in 1835. They were married in 1843 on the 4th of May, and moved onto the farm on which their son Ell. now lives. Mrs. Pinney died in 1872 at the age of forty-five years, and Mr. Pinuey's death occurred in 1880, at the age of sixty-two. Since their father's death Lois and Emma have made their home with Mr. Forbes. Except the first three years, Emma lived with Jay. Mrs. Forbes as a hostess is entertaining, ladylike, refined, and lovable in all her actions. She and Mr 56 ' PICTORIAL AND Forbes have no children of their own. They live quietly but elegantly, and do what good they can, without ostentation or display. In religious matters Mrs. Forbes is a Baptist; and though Mr. Forbes is not a member of any church, he also inclines to the Baptist faith. He is a Democrat, but has never been an office-seeker, the only position he ever held being that of post- master's deputy at Coburg. In matters of importance to the community, he has always been interested and helpful. His family is one which it is a pleas- ure to meet, and from such homes as his must go out the influence that will cleanse the turbid stream of political corruption and social wrong, and bring a healthier tone of moral purity into the every-day life of the nation and the action of the people. '••• < DR. JACOB S. MARTIN. Dr. Jacob S. Martin, of Kolling Prairie, is a physician of established reputation, having been practicing in that village for the past thirty years, and one who has steadily risen in the channels of medical life. There are al- ways in the profession some individuals who become eminent and command a large patronage, and among those deserving special mention is our subject, whose face is a familiar one in the homes oi the sick and afflicted. New Jersey is his native State, his birth occurring February 20, 1833, and he is the son of Jacob and Mary A. (Stewart) Martin, both natives of that State. About the year 1837 the parents came to Oxford, Butler County, Ohio, where our subject received his early scholastic training. About 1845 the parents moved to La Porte County, Indiana, and purchased a farm in Galena Township. This Mr. Martin carried on successfully until his death. He was born on tlie 25th of September, 1810, and the mother was born on the 14th of June, 1814. She died on the farm in this county, too. Mr. Martin affiliated with the Democratic party in his political views, and he held a number of local offices in his county. Dr. Jacob S. Martin received his medical education with Dr. Drummond, a prominent physician of Rolling Prairie, La Porte County, In- diana, and in 1864 he began practicing in La Porte County. He is one of the county's best citizens, and has built up a patronage highly complimentary BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 57 to his ability in the medical profession. He is well read and well posted in all matters relating to his profession, has a paying practice, and is in truth a physician of thorough learning and experience. The Doctor's happy domestic life began in 1852, when Miss Susan J. Martin, a native of Butler County, Ohio, became his bride. Her father, Josiah Martin, was one of the earliest settlers of La Porte Couutj% and a blacksmith by trade. By this marriage Doctor Martin became the father of fourteen children, eight of whom survive. The eldest, Frank, is teaching in the graded schools of Kiugsburg; William has charge of a gold-cure institution at New Carlisle, Indiana ; George W. is a tinner of South Bend, Indiana ; Nellie is cashier in a large dry-goods estab- lishment in Des Moines, Iowa ; Jesse S., a painter by trade, resides in Galena Township ; Harry H. is a painter of South Bend ; John is a bookbinder of Sioux City; and Florence E. is a clerk in a store in Des Moines. The chil- dren deceased were named : Albert, born August 5, 1854, died in infancy ; Charles Frederick, born July 11, 1857, died when five years of age ; James Allen, born November 5, 1858, died in infancy ; Clara F., born February 12, 1865, died in infancy ; Josiah C, born May 5, 1869, died in infancy. In his political views, Dr. Martin is a staunch advocate of Democratic prin- ciples, and socially he is a Mason. Mrs. Martin is a member of the Christian church. The Doctor was appointed a member of the board of Pension Ex- aminers July 19, 1893. He is well read, and has a large library of selected books. > • •• < WARREN W. MERRILL, M.D. Fortunate as it is in its older physicians. Lake County, Indiana, is no less foi'tunate in its bright galaxy of younger physicians, who during the past few years have made a reputation for themselves and added luster to the professional history of the State. One of the best known of the latter class is Dr. Warren W. Merrill, who was born in Merrillville, Lake County, Indiana, April 29, 1855, a sou of William and Caroline C. (Campbell) Merrill, natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. This worthy couple came to Lake County, Indiana, about 1837, and 58 PICTORIAL AND located iu Ross township, where they purchased a large tract of land. Here they both eventually passed from life, the father having followed the calling of a blacksmith, in connection with his farming operations. He was married twice, and by his first marriage became the father of two children, his second marriage resulting in the birth of six children. Dr. Merrill received his early literary training in the public schools of Lake County, after which he graduated in the commercial course of the Northern Indiana Normal College, at Valparaiso, He was brought up to the healthful and happy life of the farmei-, but at an early day his kindly nature instinct- ively turned to that broad field of human suffering for his life work, and at the age of twenty years he began the study of medicine and entered Bennett Medical College of Chicago, from which he graduated in 1880. He imme- diately located at Hammond, Indiana, and has since been actively engaged in the jjractice of his profession. His practice extends for many miles around and consists of the best people of his section, among whom he is highly re- garded for his professional skill. He is assistant surgeon of the Fifth Indiana Eegiment of K. of P., and has been physician for the Michigan Central R. R., the Monon Road, the Chicago & Erie R. R., and the Nickel Plate, and is now surgeon for the City Street Car R. R. In 1888 he was elected to the position of township trustee, and again iu 1890. Socially he is a member of the A. F. and A. M., the Foresters, and is a member of the Uniformed Rank ill the Knights of Pythias. He has identified himself with the public inter- ests of Hammond and is considered an acquisition to that city, being active in all good works and a liberal supporter of worthy enterprises. He was mar- ried in 1882 to Miss Charlotte Woods, by whom he has two children: Ethel May and Ina Gertrude. ' • • • < FRANK J. FIELD. This citizen, who is ^Ji'obably one of the best known men in Porter County, came originally from the Empire State, his birth occurring in Onon- daga County, January 10, 1830. His parents, Thomas J. and Louisa A. (Chapman) Field, were natives, respectively, of New York and Connecticut, the former of Scotch and the latter of German origin. The Field family came BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 59 to America at a very early date, settled in New York State, and some members of this family figured quite pi'omineutly in the Kevolutionary War, one being a lieutenant on one of the war vessels. On this side of the house there were many merchants, but on the mother's side nearly all were professional men, principally physicians. Both our subject's paternal and maternal grandpar- ents died in the Empire State, where they were honored and esteemed. The father of our subject was a merchant and miller in his native State until 1836, when he came, with his family, to Michigan City, Indiana. He had several thousand dollars in gold in his possession and immediately upon reaching Michigan City he embarked in merchandising, his being the first cargo of goods ever shipped to that city. For about eighteen months Mr. Field con- tinued in business, and in the fall of 1837 removed to Porter County, where he was among the pioneers. He settled in Liberty township, purchased a large tract of land, and bought a saw mill which was known as "Damon Run Saw Mill." In 1842 this enterprising and progressive citizen removed to Portage township, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and there passed the closing scenes of his life. A short time after locating in Portage township he moved to Chicago and made his home there for three years. His death occurred in 1876, five years after his wife received her final summons. They were the parents of six children, four of whom survive. For a number of years Mr. Field was a commissioner of Porter County. He amassed considerable wealth in the various enterprises in which he engaged, and at his death left a large es- tate. His sou, Edgar, was a soldier in the civil war and died at TuUahoma. The original of this biography, who is the oldest child, was but six years of age when he came West with his parents, and he attended the schools of Porter County until nine years of age, when he returned East and attended school at Syracuse, New York. He secured a good education and remained there until 1845 when he returned to this county and worked on his father's farm for two years. From there he went to Chicago, clerked in a store for about nine months, and then his father bought him a canal boat on Illinois & Michigan Canal. He was cajitain of this boat until 1849 and made considerable monej out of this enterprise, making trips from Chicago to St. Louis. He was the only man to take a boat load of McCormick reapers from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa. For this he got about $1,000. At a very early age he was a "crank" about the water, and seeking higher honors than he had already attained, seized the first chance to go to sea. He had an offer to go to sea on one Fri- day evening and the Sunday morning following he started East and sailed 60 PICTORIAL AND from Stouiugtoii, Comiecticut, ou a whaling vessel bound for the Arctic Ocean, Northeast Coast Alaska, Okhotsk Sea and around Siberia. He was absent on this trip five years, and during that time he, himself captured forty-three whales. Tlie oil was taken from them, and shipped to different points. The vessel carried 3,100 barrels. Before sailing Mr. Field received eleven days, instruction, and twelve days after they put to sea he was made "boat steerer." He kept receiving promotions until he was made mate of the vessel manned by thirty-one sailors. During the first sis months aboard this vessel Mr. Field and two companions took the scurvy. The vessel was anchored at Cape St. Lucas, and our subject and his two companions were buried in the ground, as it was a case of kill or cure. The two companions died, but our subject came out all right. From there they went to Society Islands, where they un- loaded their first cargo of oil. Mr. Field is an interesting conversationalist and can relate some thrilling adventures and experiences. While in the Arctic Ocean he harpooned a whale while in a small whale boat, and a dense fog coming on, he and his crew lay for seventy-two hours alongside the whale unable to sight their ship. They got so far north that the thermometer froze, and nearly all perished. After unloading another cargo of oil at the Sand- wich Islands, the vessel sailed to Japan Sea and Hong Kong, then on into Okhotsk Sea and thence to Honolulu, where another cargo was unloaded. The vessel cruised around here all winter, got another cargo of oil, and unloaded at the Society Islands; then sailed for home, and landed at Stonington, Con- necticut, in June, 1855. Our subject returned to his home, and in 1856 he was married to Miss Chestalette Selkirk, who died in November, 1891. Mr. Field remained on the farm until 1858, when he left his wife in Valparaiso and again went to sea. In the City of New York he went into the merchant's service, and sailed as a mate on the "Coronna" which was wrecked between New York and Cuba in June, 1859. The captain ran her ashore and saved all on board. Shipping again, Mr. Field went to Boston, and subsequently made a trip on the English vessel "Eliza Jane," bound from New York to Hull, England. At the latter place Mr. Field left her, and went aboard another vessel sailing for Rio Janeiro and thence to Boston with a load of coffee. Arriving in the latter city our subject became homesick to see his wife, and came on to Val- paraiso. In the fall of 1860 he went to New Orleans, and thence to Alexandria where he ran a wood boat from mouth of Black river. This he continued until June, 1861, when he went to Chicago, where he was engaged in packing pork for a time, and then engaged in teaming. In Sept. 1864, he enlisted in BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 61 Company G, 2d Illinois Regiment Artillery, and served until the close of hostilities, being detailed a part of his time in the adjutant general's office and the remainder of the time in the hospital. During his absence his wife bought a farm in Jefferson Coxinty, Illinois, and to this he came after his serv- ice, and remained on the same until 1872. He then sold out and purchased the homestead of his father in Porter county, near Wheeler. This consists of 160 acres, which he still owns, and Mr. Field has been engaged in dairying and farming ever since. In 1888 he removed to Valparaiso, where he now makes his home. He is surrounded by all the comforts and conveniences of life and is now enjoying the fruits of his industry. As a rule Mr. Field spends his winters in the South. In politics, a staunch Republican, casting his first presidential vote for J. C. Fremont, he has never sought office, and would not accept an official position on any condition. He is a member of the G. A. R. • •••< WILLIAM H, H, COFFIN, There is little need to portray the virtues or defend the memory of Phi- lander Coffin, the father of the subject of this sketch, for he lives in the memory and affection of his family and friends as a devoted husband, kind neighbor and public spirited citizen. During the years that he resided in Starke County, Indiana, he was to the people all that is required in good citi- zenship — public enterprise and sympathetic friendship. In the love of his family he found his cares lightened, and in the respect of his fellow-citizens received the reward of his faithfulness. This worthy representative was born in Vermont in 1812, a sou of Moultou Coffin, also a native of Vermont. He passed his early life in his native State, and in 1830 removed with his parents to Clarke County, Ohio, where they both died. Here Philander Coffin married Martha Smith, settled on a farm, and being one of the pioneers of the county underwent many hardships and privations while carving out a home for him- self and family. In 1845 he removed to Tippecanoe County, Indiana, and in the spring of 1852 came to Starke County, settling in Section 6, Washington township, of which he is one of the earliest settlers. During the long term of vears that he resided here he became remarkably well and favorablv known. 62 PICTORIAL AND held a uumber of township offices, aud at the time of his death, iu 1872, was discharging the office of township trustee. His widow survived him until December 6, 1885, having borne him the following children: Elijah G., ElisUaby, Martin L. (deceased), Elmira (deceased), William H. H., Eliza- beth, Caroline, George W., and Orlevia (deceased). Elijah G. served three months iu the Union army, enlisting in 1861, and held the commission of lieutenant. He married, and at present resides iu Springfield, Ohio, where he has served his county officially, being sheriff two terms, and he was also ■warden of the Ohio Penitentiary under Governor Foraker. He is a substan- tial aud influential citizen, well-to-do, aud owns two or three good farms besides valuable property in the city of Springfield, Ohio. William H. H. Coffin was born iu Allen County, Ohio, February 14, 1841, and has been a resident of the Hoosier State ever since he was four years old, and of Starke County ever since his eleventh year. On the old homestead here he attained a healthy and vigorous manhood, and his early days were occupied in the splitting of rails, grubbing, plowing, and the various duties incident to pio- neer farm life. During the summer mouths he frequently worked in the harvest fields of La Porte County and the three winter months were usually spent in the study of the common branches iu the typical log cabin school house of tlrose days. When he was about twenty years of age the great strife between the North and South came on, and, as he was patriotic and loyal to the heart's core, young William at once offered his services to his country, and in September, 1861, became a member of Company D, twenty-ninth Eegiment of Indiana Volunteers, and served three years. He partic- ipated in many of the leading engagements of the war, among which were Pittsburg Landing, Liberty Gap and Chickamauga. He was wounded three times during his service, first at Pittsburg Landing April 7, 1862, being shot through the body by a minnie ball, and as a result was in the hospital for three months. The second time he was wounded at the battle of Liberty Gap, Tennessee, June 24, 1863, losing the fore-finger of his right hand, being unfitted for service for about six weeks. His third wound was received at Chickamauga, September 19, 1863, losing the second finger of his right hand. After the termination of hostilities he returned to Starke County, and purchased forty acres of land in Davis township, on which he is still residing. The land at that time was entirely unimproved aud was covered with a heavy growth of timber, but this he in time cleared, and built thereon a house. Through the exercise of good business judgment and energy he has become one of BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 63 the most successful autl extensive farmers of the county, being the owner of about one thousand acres of land in Davis township. He is quite extensively engaged in the raising of stock, but makes a specialty of hay, having six hundred acres which he devotes to the raising of that product, from which he annually cuts about six hundred tons. Besides his art of money-getting, he is endowed by nature with such gifts as cliaracterize true manhood in all that the word implies, and is admirably fitted for the calling he is following. In politics he has always been an uncompromising Eepublican, and has served his county offi- cially, notwithstanding the fact tliat it is largely Democratic, his popularity with all classes triumphantly carrying him through. He was elected County Sheriff while the balance of the Republican ticket was defeated, and at the expiration of his first term was re-elected in 1872 by an increased majority. Upon retiring from this office his friends prevailed upon him to accept the nomina- tion for County Treasurer, to which he was subsequently elected, and in that capacity he served very acceptably to political friends and foes alike for two terms, a fact which speaks eloquently as to his character, qualifications and popularity. He has also served as trustee of Davis township at various times for from eight to twelve years; in fact, he is one of the most popular and best known citizens of the county. He is a member of the K. of P. at Knox, being a charter member of that lodge, and he is also a member of the G. A. R. and the Starke County Farmers' Mutual Benefit Association and the Farmers' Alli- ance, of which latter he is president. He was married January 1, 1862, to Miss Eliza E. Blythe, a native of Pennsylvania, by whom he has two children — Florinda and Ida. They have a beautiful and comfortable home and are sur- rounded with all that goes to make life enjoyable, the respect and regard of their friends and liberal means. )•••- J. H. WM. MEYER, M.D. The subject of this sketch, a prominent physician, is a native of Germany, where, in the province of Hanover and the town of Buer, he first saw the light July 1, 1853. Here his parents, Fritz and Mary Meyer, still reside. His father is a prominent merchant in that place. Educated in the schools 64 PICTORIAL AND of liis native country, our subject received the thorough training which is the distinguishing characteristic of its educational institutions, and was fairly well equipped for a professional career when he came to the United States in 1871. Naturally a diligent student, he did not relax in his effort, but applied himself with increased energy to the work of self-culture when he found him- self in the midst of new environments, surrounded by new people, and in a country whose customs and institutions differ materially from those of the country to which he had been brought up. Coming West, and finding a loca- lion in La Porte soon after his arrival in America, he adapted himself readily to the changed conditions by which he found himself surrounded, and after clerking for a time in the dry goods store of Gugenheim, Wile & Fox, he began the study of medicine, with Dr. Thompkins Higday as his preceptor. After a thorough course of reading he entered Eush Medical College, of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1876. As the result of a competi- tive examination, he was appointed house physician and surgeon of the Cook County Hospital, a position which he held for eighteen months. He was thus afforded unusually good opportunities for perfecting both his theoretical and practical knowledge of medicine, and while serving the public faithfully and efficiently in this important capacity he was at the same time adding mate- rially to his qualification for the successful general practice of his profession. The year of his graduation from Rush Medical College he passed a special examination, and received a diploma from the " Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary," a noted institution of Chicago devoted to study of treatment of diseases of the eye and ear. He also went abroad and pursued a special course of study in Berlin. In 1876 he was united in marriage to Miss Eva M. Warren, a niece of his preceptor. Dr. Higday. The fruits of this marriage are seven children, five of whom survive. The eldest, Mathilde, born in Chicago, December 6, 1877, died in La Porte March 10, 1879; Friedich Wilhelm, born in La Porte March 1, 1878, died in La Porte April 23, 1880. The names and dates of birth of the surviving children are as follows: Frank Eoy Otto, March 22, 1880; Marie, October 3, 1881; Warren, March 13, 1882; Walter, May 3, 1884; and Eose, March 22, 1889. After completing his studies in Europe our subject returned to La Porte in 1877, and began the practice of his profession in that city. During the next ten years he devoted himself to the duties of a medical practitioner with the ardor of an enthusiast and the care and conscientiousness of one who fully BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 65 realizes the important responsibility resting upon him. An appreciative pub- lic was quick- to recognize his ability and progressiveness, and encouraged by the generous patronage which he received, he put forth his best efforts; and to broaden his knowledge and experience as much as possible he again went to Europe in 1886, and remained there an entire year. Niue mouths of this time was spent in Heidelberg, where he was intimately associated with Pro- fessor Czerny, the renowned surgeon, as special assistant, and also pursued a course of study under Professor Becker, equally famous as an eye specialist. From Heidelberg he went to Vienna, where he devoted three months more to a study of diseases of the eye and ear, under Professor Keonigstein of that city. Returning to the United States in 1887, he has since operated in these fields of practice with great success, and few, if any, of the surgeons of North- ern Indiana have performed more notable operations. From 1 883 to 1885 he was a member of the Government Board of Pen- sion Examiners of La Porte, and during the administration of President Harrison was appointed special examining surgeon for the eye and ear, a posi- tion connected with the Pension Department, which he still retains. His skill as an oculist has been called into requisition in La Porte in a unique institution known as a " Practical School of Watchmakers." In this institution the " Department of Optics" is designed to supply graduates of the school, all of whom will, to a greater or less extent, be dealers in spectacles, with the knowledge necessary to enable them to correct errors of vision by means of lenses, and to acquaint them with those conditions of the eye which require professional care at the hands of a skillful oculist. To impart to the large class of young men who are students in the institution of this use- ful and practical knowledge is a task which has been assigned to Dr. Meyer. As a general practitioner he has not been less successful than in the special field of surgery, and in all departments of practice he holds a high rank among the physicians of the State. -••••< ERNEST W. HOHMAN. (DECEASED.) The prudent way and careful methods of Teutonic settlers are con- spicuous in Lake County, Indiana, where many representatives of the German race have settled, and Ernest W. Hohman was no exception to the rule. 5 66 PICTORIAL AND Honest aud upright iu every particular, no man held a higher place in the estimation of the people than he. He was born in East Prussia, September 5, 1817, aud was married July 9, 1849, iu London, England, to Caroline Sibley, and in July of the same year sailed with his bride for America, landing at the city of New York. From that place he went by water to Chicago and found it to be but a small and unimportant place. He engaged in the o-ents' furnishing business in that place, however, aud being a merchant tailor by trade, he made the suits for the officers of a military organization called " The Jaegers." He came to this country for the purpose of buying land, but having little means left upon his arrival in Chicago, he wisely put it into the mercantile business, which he successfully carried on until 1851. About that time cholera broke out in the city, and he at once moved with his family to Lake County, Indiana, and his first purchase of laud in this section consisted of 40 acres on which his widow is now residing. He built a new bridge across the river near his home, and it became known- as " Hohman's Bridge," or " The 20-mile house," to stage drivers, who made his house a stoppinw place, it being the only habitation in that section, with the exception of a little log house on the other side of the river. Mr. Hohman did con- siderable trading with the Indians, but the most of his time was devoted to farming, at which he was quite successful. He kept constantly increasing l]is possessions until he was at one time the owner of 800 acres of laud, on which nearly the whole town of Hammond now stands. The first piece of land he Hold was to the G. H. Hammond Company, aud from that time on the town of Hammond began to grow, and he gradually but advantageously began to dispose of his real estate. He was prosperous in his business ventures, made a model citizen and held nearly all of the township offices. He became a member of the Masonic fraternity in Paris, France, in 1843. December 18, 1872, the angel of death entered the home aud he was called to " that bourne whence no traveler returns." His widow is still a resident of Hammond, and has made several additions to the town, the principal street in which is Hohman, named in honor of Mrs. Hohman. She and her husband reared a family of six children: Otelia, Charles G., Louis E., Agnes, Emma and Lena. Mrs. Hohman is a hale and vigorous woman and has excellent ideas of busi- ness, being the owner of considerable valuable property in and about the city. She has always been a devout Episcopalian, though she lived in Ham- mond for thirty years without a church. She has seen the development of this place as well as of Chicago, and her husband did much to assist iu the BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 67 development of both places in their early histoiy. She is liberal in her views as well as with her purse, and the poor and needy do not appeal to her in vain, she being in truth a veritable Lady Bountiful. Mr. Hohman was a life-long Democrat and active in the political affairs, being an intimate friend of many of the leading politicians of his day, among whom may be mentioned Senator Douglas, whd was a frequent visitor at his house. It was through his influence that Mr. Hohman was made the first postmaster of what was then known as Gibson Station. > ••• ' GEORGE M. DAKIN, M.D. The noble profession of medicine affords to the student in that science a never ending source of investigation and experiment. New remedies are constantly being discovered, steady progress is being made in surgery, and new diseases are presenting themselves under varying forms of civilization. Whatever may be said of the discoveries in other fields of knowledge, and certainly they are astonishing, it can be truthfully said of this science that no other can equal it in the great strides it is making toward a comprehensive grasp of the whole subject of man, in relation to health and disease and the prevention and cure of ills to which flesh is heir. In the noble army of workers in this field may be found the name of George M. Dakin, M.D., who is de- servedly classed among the prominent physicians of his section. He was born in Oakland, Clinton County, Ohio, May 13, 1827, a son of Perry Dakin, who was born in Columbia County, New York, of Scotch parents, and of Phebe McManuis, who was a native of Mason County, Kentucky, and of Irish descent. Her father was one of the earliest settlers of Clinton County, Ohio, and was one of the associate judges of the first court held there. The only education young George received before reaching the age of fifteen, was •obtained in the district schools and from the books he could borrow from the neighbors. The little pocket money he earned at that time was used to purchase stray volumes, and he then began, although on a very small scale, the foundation of his present large library. It must not be forgotten, how- 68 PICTORIAL AND ever, either in this sketch or that of many others whose boyhood was in the first half of the present century, that there was then much more serious talk than boys now heai', and they learned to pay attention to the discourse of their elders. The principle of all governments, the line of separation between the state and federal authorities, the doctrine of election or free grace, the treatment of the Indians by the nation, were a few of the topics which were then freely discussed in the farmers' homes of Ohio. The mind thrives upon strong food, and the boys of that pei'iod with little scholastic knowledge, were the peers of those of the present generation who have enjoyed schools, colleges, periodicals and public libraries. For three years he attended the Waynesville Academy, in Wai'ren County, under the tuition of David S. Burson, who was principal at that time. There he studied chemistry, natural philo- sophy, algebra, geometry, elocution, and other branches, giving at the same time, during leisure moments, as much attention as possible to the study of human and comparative physiology. While at home upon the farm he made an extensive osteological collection, which included the skeletons of all the birds and animals within his reach, and in pursuing his investigations he even dug into the mounds that existed in the vicinity, including Old Fort Ancient. At the age of nineteen Dr. Dakin began the study of medicine at Harveys- burg, Ohio, but losing his father the succeeding autumn, he was thrown entirely upon his own resources and was compelled to resort to school teaching. He continued the study of medicine, however, and was occasionally employed upon the farm. In the fall of 1850 he entered the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, from which, after attending three years, he was graduated and began practice at Princeton, Illinois, in the spring of 1853. During his three years' residence in Princeton he was active in remodeling the schools in that place, having previously been elected as a member of the Board of Education, changing them from the old style to the more systematic grading demanded by modern times. From the foundation laid at that time the schools of that city have become among the best in the country. In 1856 he removed to Touica, LaSalle County, where he engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery, and in partnership with Dr. Joseph Addison Sewell, a graduate of Tale, and since President of the Colorado State University. He also established a drug store, but long rides over the prairies, and the gas and dust of the soft coal so much used there for fuel, served to bring on a severe spell of sickness, and for two years he was a great sufferer from asthma. In consequence of this, and the inducements held out at LaPorte, he BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 69 disposed of his interests, resigned his position as postmaster, to which he had been appointed by President Lincoln, and immediately removed to the latter place, succeeding Dr. Teegarden. From the beginning his practice was large, and it has since extended to some of the Northwestern States by cor- respondence. He was for some time engaged in the drug business, but the demands of his large practice rendered this unadvisable and he disposed of his stock. His calling has given him a handsome competency and has enabled him to indulge his taste for rare and instructive books, a love which has never left him and which is still a great solace in his advancing years. He has been desirous of giving others an opportunity for increasing their store of knowledge and has devoted both time and means to the establishment and maintenance of the LaPorte Library and Natural History Association, over which he has presided for many years, and is still presiding, and which has done much to develop a sound literary taste in that community. In September, 1852, he was married to Martha W. Allen, daughter of Abraham Allen, one of the earliest and most noted Quaker abolitionists of southern Ohio — a man who for many years refused to use, either for himself or his family, any of the products of slave labor. He was a true friend to the poor, weak and oppressed of all classes of nationalities, and his house was their resort. " Mud Castle," as his house was called, was the most important and most frequented station on the "underground railroad" between the Ohio river and the Canadian line. In this work he enjoyed the hearty co-operation of his family. Dr. Dakin has two sons, Norman G., the eldest, now business manager of the LaPorte Book and Stationery Company, and Alfred M., born November 29, 1865. The latter is a resident of the City of Mexico, Mexico, and is employed as private secretary to the general passenger agent of the Mexican Central Railroad. Fraternally, Dr. Dakin is associated with the Masonic fraternity, having been a Master Mason since 1856. He became a Eoyal Arch Mason in 1871, and Knight Templar and a Knight of Malta in 1871, a Royal and Select Master in 1873, and has been Eminent Commander and Eminent Prelate during several years of its existence of LaPorte Com- mandery No. 12. He became a Sublime Prince of the Royal Secret, 32d degree in 1866, and is regularly affiliated in the Consistory at Indianapolis. He was brought up in the tenets of the Christian church, but afterwards entertaining more liberal views than those of that denomination he joined with others of like belief and established the First Unitarian Church of La- Porte, their motto being " Love to God and love to man." The doctor has a 70 PICTORIAL AND class of adults in the Sabbath school, before whom he lectures each Sunday- afternoon, his chief subject being sociology, following the lead of such men as Herbert Spencer, Tyndall and Draper; his great point being to impress- upon the class that everything in social science and social policy is governed by fixed and immutable laws. At a very early age his sympathies were enlisted in behalf of the African slave ; he became an active abolitionist, and when but ten years old accompanied his father on his first trip on the " Underground Railroad." For fifteen years he was a conductor on that road in active service, guiding many hundreds of flying fugitives from Southern slavery to the land of freedom, and he strove earnestly to ameliorate their condition as well as to effect their liberation. The thrilling incidents, narrow escapes, and races for life and liberty would fill a large volume. The first vote cast by Dr. Dakin was for Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, in 1848, on the free soil ticket. He entered the ranks of the Republican party on its organization in 1856, and has ever since been identified with it. Physically, mentally and morally, Dr. Dakin is a splendid man. In his chosen profession he stands among the highest, not only in the State but in the whole country. On all other subjects, particularly on natural philosophy, natural history and social science he is deeply versed. His society is much sought for and his conversation -abounds in pleasant anecdotes, thrilling reminiscences and stories of the time of slavery, in which he took so important a part. He has disproved the adage that " A prophet is without honor in his own country," for those who know him best esteem him most. Although he has nearly attained the " three score and ten " allotted to man, he bids fair ta far exceed that limit. He ascribes his good health and vigor of his advancing years to his strict and regular habits. He has never used intoxicating drinks nor tobacco, takes his cold bath daily, winter and summer, and in consequence enjoys good health, good spirits and a clear conscience. He is a member of the Board of Managers and First Vice-President of the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home, and has been physician to the Home since its establishment in LaPorte. The object of this institution is to remove children from the poor-houses and homes, and educate them and make citizens of them instead of paupers. In this the Doctor takes a great interest and is widely known in his work. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 71 NORMAN G. DAKIN. This gentleman is the elder son of Dr. George M. Dakin, whose sketch appears in this work, and he has made for himself in business circles a repu- tation equal to that of his father in professional fields. Mr. Dakin is a native of Illinois, having first seen the light in Tonica, that State, November 2, 1861. Availing himself of such educational advantages as were provided by the public schools of his vicinity, he, at the age of eighteen, entered upon the study of chemistry with Chapman, Greene & Co., of Grand Crossing, Illinois. Here he remained nearly a year, but decided that business was more to his taste than medicine, and he began pursuing a course in stenography and type- writing in John B. Holmes' Business College at LaPorte, Ind. An excel- lent position was offered him upon the completion of this course, and nearly four years were spent in important work in that line, traveling over the most of the United States, Canada and Mexico. During that time lie obtained a thorough and practical knowledge of that work and of commercial affairs, which has made him prominent in business circles. In June, 1885, he was married to Miss Esse, daughter of T. M. Bissell, of South Bend, Indiana, who has a world-wide reputation as the inventor of the celebrated Bissell process of chilling plows, now in use by all the great plow manufacturers of the world, and who was president of the great manufacturing plant at South Bend, known as the Bissell Chilled Plow Works. In this enterprise the sub- ject of this sketch owns a large interest. In 1890, the LaPorte Book and Stationery Company, at LaPorte, was organized in the large three story build- ing known as the King block, near the post office on Michigan avenue. The largest stock of books, stationery, wall paper and window shades ever brought to the city was placed therein. This, coupled with the fact that this company has the exclusive sale of school supplies in LaPorte, makes it one of the most important stores in the city. Over this important business Mr. Dakin, by reason of his ability and experience, was called to preside. He has conducted it with signal success and to the satisfaction and profit of the stockholders. Mr. Dakin is the father of one child, Horace Bissell, born March 9, 1889. He is a pleasant gentleman with whom to have business dealings, is a careful man of affairs, and is highly esteemed by his fellow-citizens. 72 PICTORIAL AND KEY. JAMES N. BUCHANAN. Id looking after the spiritual welfare of his fellow-citizens, Rev. Buchanan gets very near to his people, and has ever sought to develop the highest type of social life of the church. He has made himself a personal friend of each member of his flock, sympathizing with them in trouble and rejoicing with them in their gladness ; and as pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Hebron and Leroy, Indiana, he has shown himself to be a well educated gentleman, possessing a fine and original mind, and in discourse is fluent, eloquent and forcible. He is a native of the Buckeye State, born in Licking County, Decembei 10 1824, a son of Thomas and Nancy (Reed) Buchanan, who were born in the Keystone State. They removed to Hebron, Indiana, in 1854, and died at the home of the subject of this sketch, the former in 1855 and the latter in 1857. Thomas Buchanan was a farmer by occupation and of quiet and unassuming demeanor and an earnest and devout member of the United Presbyterian Church. In the public schools of Ohio, Rev. Bu- chanan received his early scholastic training, and as he was at an early day thrown upon his own resources he at once resorted to the occupation of school teaching as a means of livelihood, and after acquiring sufiicient means he entered Muskingum College, from which he graduated in the fall of 1848. He then entered the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary and completed his course in 1851. In 1843 he was married to Miss Rosanna S. Alexander, of New Concord, Ohio, who proved to him a helpmate in every sense of the word, and was a kind and devoted wife and an able assistant to her husband in his ministerial labors. She was called from this life in 1869, having borne her husband nine children, eight of whom survive: William T., a prominent farmer and fine stock-raiser of Eagle Creek Township, Lake County, Indiana; Nancy J., the wife of H. P. Woods, is a resident of Hebron; Oscar R. is the manager of the home farm; Mary O. has been principal of one of the ward schools in Des Moines, Iowa, for the past four years, and has taught continu- ously and with the best success for the past sixteen years; Emma A. is the wife of G. M. Death, a prominent business man of Lowell, Indiana; Samuel A. resides in Hebron, and is a painter and decorator by trade; Carrie M. was educated in the public schools of Hebron, and graduated from the BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 73 "Western Seminary, of Oxford, Ohio, in 1889. She became imbued with the missionary spirit, went to Wyoming and engaged in teaching in a Govern- ment Indian school, where she remained for some time. She then went to Des Moines and acted as assistant principal of a ward school in that city for two years, at the end of which time she was appointed as a missionary to Egypt by the Board of Foreign Missions of the United Brethren church, and since November, 1893, has been located at Cairo, where she is actively laboring for the Master; James Hervey, the youngest sou, resides in Washington County, Iowa. The eldest child, Elizabeth Agnes, died in infancy. After graduating at Oxford, Kev. Buchanan came to Hebron, Indiana, in 1851, and assumed the pastorate of the United Presbyterian church of that place. The membership of the church then consisted of only forty people, and, with the membership of the church at Leroy, now numbers 125 souls. In 1870, Mrs. Mary A. (Dilly) McCracken became the wife of Kev. Buchanan, and to them eight children have been born, five of whom survive; Martha A., who is a student at the Western Female Seminary, at Oxford, Ohio, and is preparing herself for the work of teaching; R. Myrtle, who, owing to ill health, is out of school; Anna G., who graduated from the Hebron public schools in the class of 1893, and is now fitting herself for teaching; Jay Turner is a student in the Hebron High School ; also E. Ruth. Politically, Rev. Buchanan is a Republican, and as a servant in the vineyard of his Master he has wielded a wide influence, and his friends are legion. WELLINGTON A. CLARK. With the increasing demand for residences and manufacturing and com- mercial buildings, the real estate interests have naturally come to form one of the chief investments for capital with the well-to-do and thrifty portion of the populace. The large trade now done in realty of every description has naturally drawn to this branch of enterprise many of the leading capitalists and go-ahead citizens, and among this number is Wellington A. Clark, of Crown Point, Indiana, who is also engaged in the life insurance business. He was born in Naples, Ontario County, New York, September 2, 1815, a son 74 PICTORIAL AND of Benjamin aud Tlmnkful (Watkius) Clark, whose parents were the first settlers of that locality. The father was a soldier of the Revolutionary War, serving under Generals Gates and Green, and he was present when Gornwallis surrendered at Yorktown. He was a lad in his early teens at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill, and witnessed the battle from the city of Boston. He soon after enlisted in the Colonial Army, and served faithfully aud well until the war closed, being mustered out with the title of Major. He was a native of the old Bay State, and grew to early manhood near Boston. After the close of the Revolution he located in the town of Naples, Ontario County, New York, at which place he bailt the first saw and grist mills ever erected there, with the operation of which he was prominently connected until a few years before his death. He left a family of three sons and three daughters, leaving to them the heritage of an honorable name, which was rather to be desired than great riches. The mother. Thankful Watkins, was the daughter of AVilliara Watkins, a native of the Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts. Both the Clark and Watkins families were staunch Presbyterians, and were people of prominence in the communities. The subject of this sketch grew to maturity in the State and town of his nativity, where he obtained a thoroughly practi- cal education in the common schools which were held in the vicinity of his home. This he later 8uj>plemented by a course of literary training in the Academy of Canandaigua, and in his seventeenth year taught a winter term of school. His early predilections were for a mercantile life, however, and the time from his seventeenth to his twenty-second year was spent in estab- lishments of this kind in Canandaigua, Naples and Albany, New York. He came west in 1835 for the purpose of establishing a jobbing grocery house in Detroit, Michigan. But the house for which he was doing business failed, and very shortly after, in 1835, he decided to pay a visit to his brother, San- ford D. Clark, who was then a country merchant, thirty miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. He came to Chicago with a cargo of produce in 1837. At Cleveland, Ohio, in the fall of 1837, Mr. Clark took charge of a cargo of produce from the Western Reserve, Ohio, consisting of apples, cider, cheese, grass seed, beans, etc., bound for Chicago, Illinois. Passing on up the lakes, encountering some severe weather, he arrived at the Straits of Mackinaw, where he disposed of a supply of his stock to the garrison there. Passing on, they anchored oif Milwaukee, which was then a small town of cheap frame houses. Wishing to leave part of the cargo here, he went ashore aud arranged with a commission firm, who manned a lighter BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 75 and went out to the schooner. The water of the river was pouring out over the bar with a perfect rush, and it seemed to him next to impossible for the men to stem this swift current with a loaded boat. He therefore watched with much interest its return. But the men understood their business. When they approached the rapids they had men with ropes on both sides of the chan- nel attached to the lighter, so tliat by liard pulling and poling they succeeded in getting the loaded boat into still water. In this manner was landed the portion of cargo designed for the place. With a favorable breeze he proceeded on to Chicago, where he arrived on the 17th day of November, 1837. It was a beautiful afternoon when he entered the harbor of Chicago. The weather was mild and pleasant as he sailed slowly in, but the view was far from enchant- ing. On the left was the stockade of old Fort Dearborn, still standing dilapi- dated and weather beaten. Further on, scattered along Lake Street, was the town. With the exception of one three-story brick, the buildings were cheap frames, most of them one story, and many standing on blocks elevated threa or four feet from the ground. On the right were the framed warehouses of Newberry & Dole, John H. Kinzie and Gurdon S. Hubbard; nearby was the •'Lake House," a fine new hotel built of brick, the best building at that time in town. John H. Kinzie being in charge of the building, Mr. Clark hired of him a basement under this building, in which he stored the perishable goods. Eventually he purchased a goodly amount of real estate here in Lake County (384 acres), which he afterwards increased to 1,300. This land he tilled and improved greatly, and in 1869 established the first cheese factory in the county. In 1853 he engaged in the patent medicine business, building up for the celebrated Dr. Ayer a responsible and lucrative business in this Western country. He was the first representative of this firm in the West, and built up during his twelve years of very active service with this firm, a patronage which to-day represents many millions of dollars. After retiring from the business he joined Dr. James C. Ayer in his investment in " Indian Trustlands " in Kansas, the firm being known as James C. Ayer & Co., Mr. Clark and Frederick Ayer being the company. Over 10,000 acres of these choice lands were bought at an average cost of $2.30 per acre. December 7, 1843, Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Hackley, a daughter of Roswell and Orra (Davis) Hackley, both natives of the State of New York. From Lebanon, New York, in an early day they moved to Otsego County, New York, but in 1835 moved West and settled in Michigan City, Indiana. He was formerly a farmer by occupation. A member of this family 76 PICTORIAL AND is Charles C. Hackley, a wealthy citizeu of Muskegon, Michigan. Mr. and Mi's. Clark have had a very happy married life of over fifty years, and on the 7th of December, 1893, celebrated their golden wedding. Three sons and one daughter came to bless their domestic circle: Henry A., who died at his home in South Chicago in 1877, at the age of thirty-two years, leaving two sons and two daughters: Charles S., died in 1863, at the age of fifteen years; James Frederick Ayer, died in 1879, at the age of twenty years, and Helen, who mar- ried and has a family of three daughters and a son, all of whom bear the name of Clark. Mr. Clark has always lived a conservative life, and though he has usually avoided the glitter and fascinations of public life, yet he has served his municipality as Justice of the Peace for several terms. He has been a constant resident of Lake County, Indiana, since 1840, and has seen Chicago grow up from a village to its present grandeur. He has been a Mason many years and helped to organize and establish Crown Point Lodge, No. 153, and was also one of the charter members in the establishment of the I. O. O. F. society, in which he has always taken an active interest. He also assisted in establishing the Old Settlers Society, of Lake County, and has served as president of the same for many terms. He has always been a staunch sup- porter of the cause of temperance ; in fact, all enterprises that have for their object the good of his section and mankind in general find in him a hearty supporter. He and his wife have reared a grand-daughter, Claribel, from the age of eight weeks, when her mother died, the second child of Henry and Clara (Dyer) Clark, who is now happily married to M. B. Eockwell, of Crown Point, Indiana. > ••• ' COL. A. E. WOODHULL Came originally from Orange County, New York, his birth occurring Septem- ber 11, 1840, and is a son of Richard W. and Ruth E. (Strong) Woodhull, both natives of the same county and State. Members of the Woodhull family were among the first settlers of the Empire State and became noted people of the same. They served in the Revolutionary War. The grandparents on BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 77 both sides of the house passed their entire lives in that State, and the old homestead of the Woodhull family was built of lumber, and sided and roofed with cedar shingles made by hand. The nails, of wrought iron, were also made by hand, and the house, when torn down, was quite well preserved for being over one hundred years old. During the Revolutionary War the Woodhulls took their horses to the cellar in order to keep them. Indians were numerous and not very friendly, and .eternal vigilance was necessary. The father of our subject is a farmer by occupation and still resides in Mon- roe, Orange County, New York. The mother died in 1858. They were the parents of eight children, two of whom are now living: A. E. and Mrs. Euth Beattie, of Little Falls, New Jersey. The original of this notice was reared partly on a farm and partly in New York City, his father being engaged in the wholesale milk and cream business in that city, although he still followed farming. Young Woodhull received a liberal common school education and assisted his father in business until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he enlisted in the Ninth New York State Militia in New York City for three years' service. This was on the 30th of May, 1861, and he went direct to Washington, where he was mustered in. For seven mouths after this he was with Patterson through West Virginia as a private, and then, taking a leave of absence, he returned to New York, and at Plattsburg he assisted in recruit- ing the Ninety-sixth New York Volunteers. In March, 1862, he marched to the front as captain of Company D, and joined the Army of the Potomac at Alexandria, where they immediately embarked for the Peninsula, under Gen. McClellan. Mr. Woodhull was in the battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks and Seven Days' Fight. Peck's brigade, to which Capt. Woodhull belonged, was detached and went to Suffolk, Virginia, and on its arrival there our subject was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. In 1863 he resigned his position, left the service, and came West, stopping at Valparaiso, where he located and engaged in the saw-mill and lumber business, which he carried on several years. He next engaged in merchandising, and built and operated the first cheese factory in this part of the county. This business he continued successfully for some time, when he took up the butter and cheese commission in Chicago, where he remained about four years. In the year 1888 he engaged in the wholesale and retail milk and ice cream business. His place of business is in South Chicago, and he is an extensive ice cream dealer and manufacturer during the summer season. The colonel enjoys an enviable reputation for the high business principles he has pursued, and is 78 PICTORIAL AND likewise regarded as a gentleman of the soundest integrity. He owns a fine residence in Valparaiso, where he makes his home, and he also owns a good farm of 138 acres at Wheeler and another of sixty-eight acres in Center Township, a portion of this farm lying within the city limits of Valparaiso. In the fall of 1863 he was married to Miss Eliza J. Campbell, a native of the Empire State, whose parents were pioneer settlers of Porter County, Indiana. To Colonel and Mrs. Woodhull have been born seven children: Laura F.,wife of E. B. Stoddard, of Chicago; Cora L., wife of Dr. J. N. Renner, of Valpa- raiso; Edith G., Nellie V., wife of Grant Michener, of Valparaiso; Mabel, Ruth E., and Ross A. Mrs. Woodhull and children are members of the Presbyterian Church. Socially, the colonel is a Mason, and politically he is a Democrat. > •• • ' ALEXANDER H. HENDERSON. If a long life, filled with good deeds, places a man iu the ranks of public benefactors, then surely the name of Dr. Alexander H. Henderson will be one long remembered by the residents of Starke County, Indiana. For many yeai's lie was one of the familiar figures seen throughout the country as he journeyed to the houses of the sick, nursing them back to life and giving to them the blessings of happiness. In the early days, when people were poor, he was a true friend and benefactor, as he often gave his advice and service without expectation of reward other than that secured iu the satisfaction of doing a good deed. It is thus true that he must be classed as a public bene- factor and have his name enrolled among that small but honored class of humanitarians who, by their self-sacrifice and devotion to duty, have deserved the plaudits of their fellow-citizens. The father of Dr. Henderson was born in Virginia in 1786, of English parents, was married in 1817 in Kentucky to a lady born in that state in 1800, of Scottish ancestry, and in 1827, eleven years after Indiana had been made a State, they settled in the then wilderness north of the Wabash river, near the village (now city) of Lafayette, Tippecanoe County, where they cleared a farm. Here the father died in 1855, followed by his widow in 1862. fe^5^^ BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 79 Alexauder H. Henderson is the j-oungest of thirteen children, twelve of ■whom grew to be men and women. Until fifteen years of age he passed his time in assisting on the farm and occasionally hiring out to get a little spend- ing money. About this time he decided to become a doctor. He succeeded in begging money enough from his eldest brother, who was his guardian, to attend school one term, and, bidding good-bye to the old log house and farm, he entered the academy at Thorntown, Indiana, under the tuition of Dr. (now Bishop) Sims. There he became noted for his industrious habits and close application to his studies, which, in one term, enabled him to become suffi- ciently advanced to obtain a license to teach school. This he did the follow- ing winter, at the same time keeping up his standing in his classes, being examined at the close of each academical term, and thus going through col- lege, earning his own sujjport In 18(Jl,. when the rebels fired on Fort Sumter, which sent an electric shock, as it were, through every loyal citizen of this country, his young heart was fired with enthusiasm and love for the flag, and he soon left school for the capital of the state to become one of the 75,000 Lincoln soldiers. "Uncle Sam" was more particular then about his soldiers than he was later on in the war, and he, not being a physical Samson, was refused. He retvirned to school and graduated the next spring with the honors of his class, delivering the valedictory address. The next thing heard from him was making schoolhouse speeches in the neighborhood where he was reai-ed, urging the young men to gird on the armor of war and go forth to battle for the nation's life. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company C, Seventy-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry for " three years or during the war." His regiment, after about a year's service as infantry, became mounted on horses and armed with Henry rifles, and put under command of Gen. Wilder, forming part of that famous brigade, which is too well known in history to be repeated here, it being one of the most effective branches of the Union service. While stationed a short time at Louisville, Kentucky, he attended Boyd's Commercial College at nights, after the duties for the day were over, and finally graduated, receiving the degree of Accountant. Serving in various capacities as a soldier, part of the time in the medical department, till near the close of the war, he was ordered to St. Louis, Mo., to be examined for a commission in a negro regiment (having previously made application), but the commission as colonel came too late, for the war was virtually over. Being tired of soldier life he refused the commission, and iu September, 1865, was mustered out of service, returned North, and, being financially 80 PICTORIAL AND embarrassed, commenced teaching school again, continuing the study of medi- cine till 1868, when he passed examination and opened up an office at Monee, Illinois, selling his only feather bed to pay the government license. He con- ducted a successful practice at this point until soon after the great Chicago fire in 1871, when he moved to Knox, Starke County, Indiana. Here he rode almost day and night through the swamps, marshes, and over the sand hills, administering to the wants of the sick and receiving but very little compensa- tion for his services. In 1873 he was elected, under the new law, the first county superintendent of schools of Starke County, holding this office for two years; was re-elected, but before his second term expired he was elected county auditor, being the first and only Reijublican ever elected to that office in this (Starke) county. He held the office four years, and in the fall of 1882 was nominated by his party for joint representative of Starke and St. Joseph Counties. This was when the legislature was to decide whether or not the constitutional amendments regarding the temperance question should be sub- mitted to the people for their suffrage. Believing that this is a government for the people, and that the people had a right, in their sovereign capacity, to determine all such questions, he favored submission, and made a thorough canvass in both counties, speaking in nearly every township, and was elected by quite a majority, running ahead of his ticket. While a member of the legislature he served on several important committees, among which were engrossing, temperance and drainage. He framed and secured the passage of the bill enabling the several counties of the State to sell and dispose of lands forfeited to the State for the use and benefit of the school fund, and providing for the deficiency in said school fund occasioned by such sale. This law has relieved many counties of the State from paying lai-ge sums of interest on forfeited school lauds. Dr. Henderson was always found in his seat in the House upholding and voting for those principles and laws that he thought would benefit the greatest number of his fellow-men. In 1888 he was elected chairman of the Central Committee of Starke County, and when Benjamin Harrison was elected President of the United States, his county gave the Eepublican ticket a larger per cent, of gain than any other county in the State. In 1889 he received the appointment of postmaster at Knox, Indiana, which position he held until June, 1893, when he resigned. He was also appointed in 1889 United States examining surgeon, and when the board con- vened was chosen its president, holding this position till 1893, when he was relieved (being a Republican) by President Cleveland. The Doctor has filled BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 81 various offices of trust in the town of Knox; was county physician for several years, vice-president of the Starke Medical Society, an active worker in poli- tics, and in 1894 was again chosen chairman of the County Central Commit- tee. He is connected with several secret organizations at Knox, Indiana, and assisted in their organization, and was a charter member in each, viz.: The Grand Army of the Eepublic, organized in 1882, and was its first and second commander; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (organized in 1887), and was its first treasurer, and the Knights of Pythias (organized in 1891), and has been its treasurer ever since its organization. He is always willing to assist and take an active part in every enterprise to benefit his town or to build up and elevate society, giving liberally to churches and charity and to lend a helping hand to those in need. He is now conducting a successful banking and drug business in the town of Knox, at which he has been engaged since the year 1880. '••••- OLIVER P. KINSEY. In 1880, when Prof. Kinsey purchased a half-interest in the Northern Indiana Normal School, he was yet a young man, but had already shown excejjtional aptitude for the profession of teaching, and had received an exten- sive and practical experience as a special instructor of English literature and mathematics in the National Normal School, of Lebanon, Ohio. In addition to this valuable qualification he bore the highest recommendations for per- sonal integrity and practical sound sense and for ability as a business manager and executive. Feeling himself amply fitted for so responsible a position, Prof. Kinsey purchased a half-interest in this institution, and soon entered upon his task, but first visited Europe and studied the educational systems of Scotland, England, and the Continent. The school had grown beyond the physical ability of Mr. Brown to manage it properly, and many of the depart- ments and other features of great importance needed such personal attention as he was unable to give. Prof. Kinsey, therefore, had a great task before him, one of secondary importance only to the original founding of the school itself. But bringing all his skill as a disciplinarian and his experience as a 82 PICTORIAL AND business man to bear on the condition of things as be found it, he skillfully and expeditiously placed all departments on a firmer and safer basis, re-ar- ranged the courses of study, added several branches, drew a tighter rein on the young people under his care and proved by the better state of affair.s in the institution that the confidence reposed in him by Prof. Brown had not been misplaced. The entire institution seemed to feel the influence of his efforts, and took on new life, growth and usefulness. Besides being professor of Ensrlish literature he has served, since his first connection with the insti- tution, as its practical business manager, and as such buys all supplies and transacts much of its necessary business. His scholarship is wide and varied, and is being constantly augmented by systematic study and investigation. He is of Scotch-Irish descent, his name originally being McKinsey. His paternal ancestors ci-ossed the Atlantic in Colonial times and settled in Penn- sylvania. His mother's family, the Ridgways, were of English descent, and located in Pennsylvania with William Peuu. Both families, the McKinseys and the Ridgways, were members of the Society of Friends, though, notwith- standing this fact, both contributed soldiers to aid the Colonies in their struggle for independence. Richard Kinsey, grandfather of Prof. Kiusey, was a native of Chester County, Pennsylvania, but moved with his family to Harrison County, Ohio, in 1808, and there followed the occupation of fai'ming. He was one of the pioneers in that portion of the State, cleared his farm of its forest coverings and lived thereon until 1851, when here moved to Fulton County, Illinois, where he fin- ally passed from life after many years of honor and usefulness. Like all the people of his religious belief he was a strong anti-slavery man, and was prominently connected with the '■ underground raih'oad," and thus assisted many a runaway slave to reach Canada. His character was kind and strong, and his convictions were deeply rooted, and by him all his descendants were taught to love liberty and the institutions of freedom. He was twice married, and became the father of four children — Nancy, Daniel, Stephen, and Reese R. The latter was born in Harrison County, Ohio, in 1818, and received a good education in a Quaker school at Smithfield, Ohio. He became proficient in mathematics, in which he excelled, and studied the higher branches, including surveying. When old enough he taught school, and his services were so appreciated, owing to his superior education and his general capacity, that he was paid two dollars per day for his labor in a country school, very high wages at that time. Upon reaching manhood he married Eliza, BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 83 daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Ridgway, aud to them were born four children — Ai-miuda, Sarah, Oliver P., aud Clayton — all of whom were born in Harrison County. In the spring of 1851, in company with several other Kiusey families and several neighbors, he moved to Fulton County, Illinois, which locality had been visited six years before by Mr. Kinsey with a view of settling there eventually. In October, 1851, lie caught a severe fever, and was attended by the old-school physicians of that day. They bled him pro- fusely, and it is now believed, in the light of modern medical science, that this probably caused his death. He was a devout member of the Quaker church, and, owing to his superior education and unusual intellectual ability, was a prominent citizen, serving as township clerk, clerk of election boards, member of the county examining board and attracting much attention by his progressive methods of teaching and by his interest in the advancement of education. His untimely death was unfortuuate aud probably unnecessary. Prof. Oliver P. Kinsey was born at Freeport, Ohio, in 1849, and was an infant when his parents moved to Illinois. After her hiisband's death his mother returned to Harrison County and made her home with her parents, and here Oliver P. was reared and educated at the Quaker schools and under the moral influence of the Quaker church. When sixteen years old he attended school one year at Highland Springs, Ohio, succeeding which he taaght school in Guernsey, Belmont aud Harrison Counties, Ohio, teaching his first term of thi-ee months when only seventeen years of age, and receiving one dollar and twenty cents per day. This school was situated ten miles from his home, and to it he walked every Monday morning and from it he walked every Friday night. He was entirely successful, both as an instructor and as a disciplinarian. The next year he walked eighteen miles to Cadiz, and endured a three days' examination and returned home on foot, having suc- ceeded in secui'ing his certificate as a teacher. He then taught school for eight months, and, though small for his age, succeeded in preserving good order and in advancing the scholars rapidly in their studies. It is related by Prof. Kinsey that while he was thus teaching there came up on horseback a stranger who, without dismounting, knocked at the door, and when the juve- nile teacher responded said, " Sonny, run in and tell the teacher to come out." He was considerably surprised when informed that he was already in the presence of that august functionary. In the fall of 1868 he entered the scientific course of the National Nor- mal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and from which, two years later, he graduated. 84 PICTORIAL AND So favorably were his teachers impressed with his character and ability that they immediately tendered him the position of professor of English Litera- ture in the institution. He was only nineteen years of age, but here at one bound he became a member of the faculty of one of the strongest normal schools in the United States. If satisfactory evidence were needed to prove his superior ability as a teacher, this appointment to such a high and responsi- ble position would alone be sufficient. Thus early were his services appreciated and his future profession foreshadowed. But though teaching, he continued his studies in the school, taking up the classical course, having previously graduated from the scientific department, and the following year also graduated from the former course. He continued teaching in this school as professor of English literature and mathematics until 1880, when he resigned his posi- tion and, as previously stated, purchased an interest in the Northei'n Indiana Normal School, and has been busily engaged here ever since. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Church, but is very broad and liberal in his religious views; he has held all the lay offices in the church. In politics is a Kepublican. In 187t> he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah J., daughter of Jere- miah and Charlotte Porter, a lady of refinement and finished education, who served as professor of mathematics and geography in the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, for several years, and as principal of the Des Moines high school three years, resigning from the latter position the day of her marriage. She is now the matron of the Normal School, managing her department with prudence and success. -••••' T. A. E. CAMPBELL. (deceased.) When a citizen of worth and character has departed from this life it is proper that those who survive him should keep in mind his life-work, and should hold up to the knowledge and emulation of the young his virtues and the characteristics which distinguished him and made him worthy the esteem of his neighbors. We therefore present to our readers a narrative of the life BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 85 of the representative citizen whose name heads these pages. T. A. E. Camp- bell was born in Montgomery County, New York, in July, 1810, and of Scotch descent, being, it is supposed, a descendant of the famous Campbell family of that country. His grandfather was the first of the family to come to this country, and he settled in the Empire State, where he and his descendants were classed among the first people. Our subject received a liberal education in his native State for that day, and about 1833 he came West to Porter County, Indiana, locating in Valparaiso before the town amounted to anything. He came through with wagons with his uncle, and besides trading quite exten- sively with the Indians after coming here he also taught school. He was prob- ably the first postmaster of Valparaiso, holding that office for some time, and was also deputy county clerk. In 1841 he was elected collector and ti-easurer of Porter County, and went on horseback to Indianapolis to make his returns, it taking about two weeks to make the trip. This office he held for two terms. Later he was appointed postmaster, but did not accept the office. For a number of years after this he was engaged in merchandising, and he bought about three hundred acres of land, on a considerable portion of which stands the city of Valparaiso. Mr. Campbell, who was a pioneer of Porter County, was thoroughly identified with the interests of the same, and was recognized by all as one of its representative citizens. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and Sons of Temperance. His death occurred in 1876. He was married to Miss Margaret Parkinson, a daughter of Gibson and Mary (Rogers) Parkinson, the father a native of England and the mother of New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson came through in wagons to Lake County, Indiana, in 1836, and the father entered a tract of land on the prairie. In a small one- roomed cabin, covered with clapboards, this worthy couple began their career as pioneers, and remained on this farm for many years. Later they removed to LaPorte County, and located at Door Village, where they passed the remainder of their days. Mrs. Campbell's father was a blacksmith by trade. He bad six sons and three daughters, only two of whom now survive. Mrs. Campbell, who now makes her home with her son-in-law, Col. A. E. Woodhull, and Lewis Parkinson, of Kansas. Mr. Campbell was largely instrumental in securing the Pittsburgh, Ft. Wayne & Chicago R. R. through Valparaiso, donating the right of way and the depot site both here and at Wheeler. He was a liberal donor to all churches and schools, and his name is honored throughout the community. 86 PICTORIAL AND MRS. JULIA E. WORK. This distinguished lady who is superintendent of the Northern Indiana Orphan Home, at LaPorte, is a worthy example of this progressive age and of what can be accomplished by the "weaker sex" when opportunity is afforded. She possesses those attributes necessary for her position, for she is naturally kind hearted and sympatlietic,and her native intelligence and enterprise are well known. The Northern Indiana Orphans' Home is a private institution, whose object is to take orphans from various counties and place them in homes of private families. Some time ago sixteen gentlemen saw an opportunity to buy the Walker mansion, located on over ten acres of ground, delightfully situated, for §8,000. These sixteen men organized themselves into a company, and each took a share of $500 aud bought the property. Then the Northern Indiana Orphans' Home was organized, with Mrs. Julia E. Work as superin- tendent, and the following executive board: Hon. E. H. Scott, president; Dr. George M. Dakin, vice-president; Miss Mary Etherington, 2d vice-president; Mrs. H. D. Morrison, treasurer; George C. Borland, secretary. Under aeon- tract, the company that owns the property rents it to Mrs. Work direct, for an annual rental fee of $480, or six per cent, interest on the investment. Mrs. Work gets the entire receipts of the Home, and pays the bills, and gets na salary. Hence, whatever profit tliere is in the business belongs and goes to the private account of Mrs. Work. Like any other business, the larger it grows the more there is in it. The Northern Indiana Orphans' Home was opened for business on the 7th of March, 1891, and to this date (1893) has received and disposed of 229 children, 146 of whom have been placed in permanent homes. It has contracts at present with twelve counties. The method of contracting with counties varies. Some counties pay a per diem of thirty-five cents for a period, and transportation, and othei's pay a direct fee of $35 for each child, and transportation to the Home. Both methods amount to practically the same thing. The books of the institu- tion show that no child is kept in the institution longer than three months, except where specially ordered and paid for; and in a number of instances the child has been taken directly from the country to its future home. Generally the stay of each child is about two weeks. Under the contracts with some coun- ties all orphan charges are turned over, while with others only sound-bodied BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 87 charges are taken. In cases where feeble - minded children are received, they are paid for by the counties sending them, and then sent to the State institutions. Homes for orphans from this institution are found principally in States west of the Mississippi river, by agents acting for Mrs. Work. These agencies find homes for children and draw on Mrs. Work to fill the orders, and are paid a regular commission for their services. The majority of the children are under five years of age, and with the liberality extended Mrs. Work, transportation bills do not cut a very large figure. Parents have to sign a regular form when turning over their children, and the family receiving a child sign an agreement and furnish recommendation signed by three responsible citizens. Mrs. Work says she conducts the "Home" upon the theory that for every homeless child there is somewhere a childless home, and that home life is far better for a child than life in an asylum. In the cases of illegitimate children the curse of its parentage is lost among strangers, and the opportunity given for the child to grow up a useful and respected citizen; whereas, if it was forced to grow up where it was born, it could not rise above its disgrace. In October, , thirty infants fi-om New York were placed iu homes in Rochester, this State, for the same reason that Indiana children are sent to Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, and for the same reason, she claims, Iowa orphans would do better in Indiana homes. The Home is a model in all respects. The build- ing is large, roomy, nicely furnished inside, and has splendid accommoda- tions for children. The meals are good and wholesome, the beds are clean, and the sleeping apartments and sanitary arrangements all that could be asked. A short distance from the Home, and on the grounds, the township trustee has had a splendid school house built, which is maintained at the expense of the township, and used almost exclusively by the orphan chil- dren. A hospital, formerly an old school building, is on the grounds, and is used in isolating patients having contagious diseases. The Northern Indiana Orphans' Home is not a charitable institution in the sense of the word, but instead, a private concern, operated as private schools and similar concerns are. Like the Valparaiso Normal School, it is doing good work, but conducted on the same plan. Mrs. Julia E. Work was born at Plymouth, In- diana, November 12, 1845, and it was her lot to come into this busy world at a time and under circumstances calculated not only to develop the best that was in her, but to so combine or unite the elements of her character as to form a symmetrical whole, self-reliant, broad-gauged, kind-hearted, and with 88 PICTORIAL AND all the elements of mind and heart to make a representative woman. In the year 1879 she removed from Plymouth to Mishawaka, St. Joseph County, In- diana, and organized the St. Joseph County Orphans' Home. In 1889 the name of the organization was changed to "The Children's Aid Society," and Mrs. Work continued as general secretary of the same until March, 1891, when a similar organization was established at La Porte at the instigation of Hon. E. H. Scott, George Dorland and others. Mrs. Work assumed the super- intendency, which she still successfully holds. She is assisted by her daugh- ter, Miss Blanche, who acts as housekeeper. '••••• HON. RICHARD W. THOMPSON. Hon. Richard W. Thompson was a native of Culpepper County, Virginia, born in June, 1809, and was descended from one of " the first families of Vir- ginia." When twenty-two years old he emigrated to Indiana, taught a pri- vate school at Bedford, and later, opened the Lawrence County Seminary. Subsequently he read law, was admitted to the bar in 1834, and the same year was elected to the State Legislature, and re-elected in 1838. In 1839 he was elected to the State Senate, and during his career as a State legislator not only displayed great ability and foresight, but was instrumental in effect- ing very important legislation. Uj)on the resignation of Lieut.-Gov. Wallace, Mr. Thompson was president of the Senate pi'o iempore, and held the office of acting governor during the administration of Hon. Noah Noble. As a Whig, he was nominated and elected to Congress in 1841 from the Second district, and, declining a renomination, moved to Terre Haute in 1843, where for nearly a half a century he was engaged in the practice of the law. In 1847 he was again nominated for Congress by the Whig party, and, accepting the nomination, was re-elected and became a national character because of liis prominence in legislative matters. Although tendered the Austrian mission by Pres. Taylor in 1849, he declined the appointment, preferring to remain in his native country. During the war of the Eebellion he rendered the Union active and valuable services, was commandant of Camp Dick Thompson, near BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 89 Terre Haute, and also served as provost marshal of the district. In 1867 he was elected judge of the Eighteenth Judicial District, but declined the candi- dature of a second term. For a number of years he lived in retirement, steadily refusing political preferment, and turning his attention to literary and educational pursuits, his large and valuable library affording him an ample field for study. In March, 1877, President Hayes appointed him to his cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, and so ably did he fill the duties of that position that he brought order out of chaos, simplified the duties of his sub- ordinates, dismissed unnecessary employes, established his department on a sound basis and saved several million dollars to the Government that had previously been frittered away. Mr. Thompson is one of the men whose name bears an imperishable imprint on the page of Indiana history. He is now in his eighty-fifth year, hale and hearty; he has been a participant in sixteen presidential campaigns, and on September 3, 1893, made one of the ablest political speeches of his life, comprising six columns of newspaper print. >•••< ALEXANDER G. SCHLIEKER. From the very earliest ages the art of preparing the compounds that arrest pain and heal the sick has been regarded as among the highest of human functions, and thus it is that so much interest and importance attach to the calling of the druggist in our own day. Among the leading and most relia- ble members of the pharmaceutical profession is A. G. Schlieker, who has had a great deal of experience in that line of work. He was born in Clifton, Wis- consin, April 24, 1868, a son of Henry and Eliza (Oberkircher) Schlieker, who were born in Germany and the city of New York respectively, the latter being of French descent. While still a bachelor, Henry Schlieker came to the United States and was married in Milwaukee, his death occurring in the state of Michigan. He and his wife reared a family of four children: Henry, Alice, Alexander G., and Clarence. Alexander G., the subject of this sketch, was reared in Wisconsin and Michigan, attending the public schools of each state. When twelve years of age he was employed as a clerk in a drug 90 PICTORIAL AND store at Meuomiuee, Michigan, for two years, after whicli be traveled for several years as a drug clerk, not being located for any great length of time at one point. During this time he acquired a wide experience and became familiar with the details of this line of work. In February, 1890, he located in East Chicago where he purchased the drug store of Dr. Gray, and has since been successfully engaged in conducting a well-appointed establishment at East Chicago. He was appointed postmaster of the town, April 1, 1891, when it was a fourth-class office, but it has now been raised to a third-class office. He has one of the most complete and best-stocked drug stores in the city, located in the Opera House block, and his patronage is among the elite of the city. He has in his establishment a long-distance telephone and various other conveniences to further his business. Mr. Schlieker was here but one year before securing his appointment as postmaster. He is yet a young man, but has attained considerable prominence, both in social and political affairs. He is a member of the A. F. and A. M., the K. of P., the I. O. O. F., and the Daughters of Rebecca. He is a member of the Re- publican Club and is deeply interested in the success of his party. All his worldly possessions have been acquired through that piish and determination necessary to success in any calling and he has the satisfaction of knowing that all he has has been honestly earned. He is as yet un- married. PROP. WILLIAM H. BANTA. The rapid advancement made of late years in matters pertaining to pop- ular education is due in no small part to the brilliant leaders who have risen here and there, and who have dedicated their energies and labors to the upbuilding of the school interests of their respective states. Among these is Prof. William H. Banta, the most efficient and capable superintendent of public schools of Valparaiso. He was born in Ohio, September 13, 1816, to the marriage of James D. Banta and Emily Crisler, both natives of the Buckeye state, the father born in Lebanon, and the mother in Preble, County. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 91 On the paternal side the ancestors came from Holland, crossing the waters to this country as early as 1659, and settling in the Empire state. They came over in the ship "DeTroye," and the paternal great grandfather was a soldier in the Eevolutionary war. Through his records in Washington, D. C, Prof. W. H. Banta is a member of the Indiana Sons of the Revolution, and the only member of this organization in Valparaiso. His ancestors moved from New York to New Jersey, and thence to Ohio, settling in Miami Valley. Henry Banta, the grandfather of our subject, was born in Miami Valley, Ohio, and after reaching mature years followed the occupation of a farmer. He was a pioneer and passed his entire life in his native state. The maternal grand- father, William Crisler, was a native of Virginia and an early settler in Southwest, Ohio. He was a slave owner while residing in his native state. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and often boasted that the only victory he attained in the war was to throw down the strongest man in the army. He was also a farmer and died in southern Indiana. The father of our sub- ject, James D. Banta, followed the occupation of a farmer, but afterwards became a merchant. He removed from Ohio to Indiana and settled in Kokomo, where his death occurred in August, 1873. The mother is still living and resides in Kokomo. Five children were born to this worthy couple: Prof. William H. ; Sarah, wife of William Conwell, of Kokomo; Mabel, ■wife of E. S. Hackett, a prominent business man of Kokomo; A. C, con- tractor of Kokomo, and Lyda, wife of L. C. Sellers, furniture dealer of Kokomo. The youthful days of our subject were spent for the most part in Indiana on a farm, and his early education was received in the district school of his neighborhood. Later he attended the Normal school at Kokomo, and still later took his college studies under a private instructor. He became a member of the faculty of the Male and Female College of Valpa- raiso, but resigned this position in 1871 and was elected superintendent of Valparaiso schools, a position he has now held for twenty-two years. Dur- ing that time he has never made a formal application for re-election. He is one of the best known educators in northern Indiana, and his career has been characterized by an untiring energy and devotion to the work he has had in hand. When starting out he taught school in the rural districts for some time, and was then engaged as first assistant teacher in the Rochester public schools, being elected principal of the same without having made an application. This office he filled until 1870, March 28th, when he came to Valparaiso and began his duties as a teacher of mathemathics and natural 92 PICTORIAL AND science in the Valparaiso M. & F. college. On the 1st of September, 1871, he was elected to his present position. Prof. Banta is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, and in politics is a Kepublicau. He is also a member of the M. E. church. On the 20th of December, 1870, he was married to Miss Rhoda Bates of Valparaiso, who was born March 4, 1846, and who was noted for her scholarly attainments. She died December 11, 1885. Three children were given them but only one, Mabel, is now living. She is a graduate of the high school, has a diploma from Normal school, and has been a student of De Pauw University. She was born January 20, 1874, and is a very bright, intelligent young lady. Alice, born February 25, 1880, died April 8, 1892; and William H.,-born November 28, 1882, died May 5, 1891. Prof. Banta selected his second wife in the person of Mrs. Mary A. Leas, of Chicago, and their nuptials were celebrated December 27, 1887. They have one child, Catherine, whose birth occurred December 28, 1893. Prof. Banta isa mem- ber of the Holland Society of New York, for he is the descendant of a Dutchman who resided in New Amsterdam. -••••' JOHN H. HARDING. Of the early settlers of Tndiana, who left homes of comfort in the East, to brave the perils and hardships of pioneer life in the great West; who felled the forest and laid the foundations of plenty, which the present generation enjoy, but few are remaining. Among the settlers of La Porte County, Indiana, stands the name of John Harding, born in Luzerene County, Pennsylvania, 1807, son of Amos Harding. When quite young the family moved to Richland County, Ohio, where he was mariied in 1830 to Miss Elvira Dunham. There was born to them a family of ten children. Four sons and two daughters survive. Four sons served in the late war ; one, Solomon, fell in the battle of Chattanooga. He came to La Porte County, Indiana, in the spring of 1834, and purchased a farm of the government at the time of the land sale near Union Mills, where he remained till 1848 when he purchased a farm three miles north of BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 93 La Porte city. His oceupation was wheelwright and farming. Was active in his support of all worthy movements; never having a law suit, preferring to lose rather than have trouble. He died April 12, 1884. His wife still lives, ie eighty-two years old, and well, and still enjoys many pleasures of life. -• ••• ' GOV. JAMES D. WILLIAMS. Gov. James D. Williams, or more popularly known as " Blue-Jeans" Williams, represented the old type of the true gentleman. He was not gifted with the polish that comes of a finished education, or that is usual in the case of public men. A Democrat of the Jeffersonian school in all that the term implies, a man of remarkable force of character, simple and unostentatious in his intercourse with his fellow men, honest as the day was long, it is no won- der that " Blue-Jeans" Williams obtained a strong hold upon the hearts of the masses. He was born January 16, 1808, in Pickaway County, Ohio, moved with his parents to Knox County, Indiana, when ten years old, was reared to hard work on the home farm, and was taught to believe that it was far better to be able to boast of his skill in plowing, clearing, splitting rails, swinging the cradle and the like, than it was to boast of his education. As a conse- quence his schooling was of a very meager character ; but what he lacked in this respect was modified to a considerable extent by desultor)' readings, and in his intercourse with men of learning. When twenty years old his father died, and the care of the family devolved upon him, and three years later occurred his marriage with Nancy Hxiffman. When thirty-one years of age he began his public career by becoming a justice of the peace, but in 1843 resigned and was elected to the State Legislature. From 1843 to 1874 Mr. Williams was almost continually in the Legislature of the State, either as Rep- resentative or Senator. In the year last mentioned he was elected to represent his district in Congress, was made chairman of the committee on accounts of the House, and while not making a brilliant record in his one term as Con- gressman, he gave a thoroughly able and honest representation. In 1876, much to his surprise, he became the nominee of the Democracy o£ the State for the Governorship of Indiana. It was in this campaign that his opponents 94 PICTORIAL AND made sport of his homespun clothes aud plain appearance, and obtained for him the sohri'quef of "Blue-Jeans." It was one of the most remarkable cam- paigns in this most remarkable country, and is comparable to the " Tippe- canoe aud Tyler too," and the Lincoln-Douglas elections. Mr. Williams was elected by over five thousand votes over Geu. Benjamin Harrison, afterwards President of the United States, and served four years. He died. ' •••< LUCIUS T. HARDING, Second sou of John H. and Elvira Harding was born January 29, 1834, near Mansfield, Ohio. His parents moved to La Porte County, Indiana, in the spring of 1834. Thus he became one of the early pioneers of this county. The Pottawatomie Indians being located near by, he remembers some of his playfellows as young savages. His first school days were spent in a log school house. During boyhood, when choosing a life occupation, he entered the ofiice of a physician, but soon decided he would rathei* enjoy the freedom and independence of agricultural life to that of the medical profession. He was married February 16, 1852, to Miss Sara Baker, a native of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Twelve children were the fruits of this union, ten of whom are living, five of which are sons. William Edgar, the eldest, is a mechanic ; John H., an electrician; Elmer and Hugh, dredgemen; Chauucej', the youngest, studying mechanics at Perdue University. The three eldest daughters, Eose, Ella and Minnie, have married. Edith is studying medicine in the Cleveland University of Medicine and Surgery, at Cleveland, Ohio. Lyndia is completing her studies in the English course at the public school, near home. Mr. Harding's chief occupation was agriculture. In 1867, he purchased, the farm of 200 acres on the north bank of Pine lake, 2^ miles north-east of La Porte City, where he still resides. He has always taken great interest in stock raising — was for a number of years a member of the Door Prairie Live Stock Association, during which time he made two trips to the British Isles, to select stock for the company as well as for himself. He has now in his possession several fine English draft aud coach horses, also a fine flock of thoroughbred Shropshire sheep. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 95 Advancemeut and improvemeut were bis motto, consequeutly liis farm is furuislied with the latest of modern inventions in implements and con- Teniences. His taste for beauty tempted him to pui'chase a herd of Jerseys, by which, for some years he ran a butter dairy, shipping to Chicago and Pitts- burg. Following this he supplied La Porte with milk for several years, from a dairy of seventy-five head of cattle, of Holstine, Ashire and Jersey. He and his family are members of the First Baptist Church of La Porte. Socially, he was a granger, and promiueut in the County Agricultural Associa- tion. Some years ago he retired from active business, but is still interested with his sons in all kinds of earth excavations that can be done with "steam dredges, shovels and centrifugal pumps." In September, 1887, he laid out into lots the portion of farm which borders the lake and registered it Camp Harding. It, with what has been added, is now known as the Pine Lake Assembly Grounds — a pleasant sum- mer home for families; visited every summer by many from Chicago, Indian- apolis and surrounding cities. This resort being his old home, it is his desire and interest to see it become a success as a resting place for those weary of city life. He has on the lake two passenger steamers which ply the waters to and from the city during the summer months, for the convenience of the public. Though business has carried him on many long journeys, and mixed him up generally with the world, he has always held a deeper and fonder interest in " home." His home has been a typical one. A family of which he is proud, greets him on each of the many reunion days at the old farm residence located near the lake, known as "Lake Yiew Place." > • • • < HON. MARK L. DE MOTTE. It is a pleasure to describe a man of unusual personal merit, the posses- sor of a combination of gifts so rare, so varied and so comprehensive that happiness and success in business were bound to follow the application of his qualities to the solution of almost any problem. Some men were not made to plod or to crawl, and Mark L. DeMotte is one of them. His diversified talents 96 PICTORIAL AND i-endered it easy for him to select a congenial pursuit, and his perception and intelligence guaranteed that success would reward effort. Mr. DeMotte, the ex- congressman from the Tenth Congressional Disti-ict and ex-postmaster of Val- paraiso, was born near Eockville, Parke County, Indiana, December 28, 1832. His father was of French and his mother of Dutch origin, the former being a native of New Jersey and the latter of Kentucky. The father, Rev. Daniel DeMotte, was a pioneer Methodist minister who began his labor in the good cause in Indiana about 1830, and continued the work until his death in 1875. He was a man of great force of character and was possessed of indomitable energy. To his marriage were born eight children, six of whom still survive. The subject of this brief memoir received a classical education in Indiana, Asbury (nowDepauw) University, of Greencastle, where he was graduated in 1853, receiving the degree of A.B. Immediately afterwards he began the study of law, and in 1855 graduated at the law-school of the same University with the degree of LL.B. The same year he opened an office for the prac- tice of his profession at Valparaiso, Indiana, where he immediately took high rank among his professional brethren. In 1856 he was elected, as a Repub- lican, prosecuting attorney for the judical circuit composed of the counties of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Marshall and Starke. Early in 1861 he entered the service of the United States as Senior First Lieutenant of the Fourth Indiana Battery, and continued with his command until April, 1862, when he resigned and accepted a commission as Captain and Assistant Quar- termaster, being assigned to duty with General Fremont in West Virginia. He remained with that command until the campaign of 1862 had practically ended with the second battle of Bull Run and Antietam, and was then ordered to West Virginia with Major General Milroy. He remained with this division iTutil after the battle of Gettysburg. The remainder of his service was on post duty at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In August, 1865 he removed to Lexington, Missouri, and entered iipou the practice of his profession. In 1869 he became the owner and editor of the Lexington Regisier, a Repxiblican paper, which under his management attained a very high standing for ability and influence. It was the leading journal of the Eleventh Congressional District, then as now the heaviest Democratic district in the state. In 1872 Mr. DeMotte was nominated by the Republicans of that district as their candidate for Congress, and made a vigorous campaign without hope for election of course, but succeeded in making a big reduction in the Democratic majority. In 1876 he was again nominated for Congress, BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 97 "but witb a like result. He was a member of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Cou- Teutiou which met in Chicago in 1868, on the day prior to the Republican National Convention of that year which nominated Grant and Colfax. He was also a member of the National Eepublican Convention which met at Cin- cinnati in 1876. The following year Mr. DeMotte returned to Valparaiso, Indiana, his old home, and again resumed the practice of law. In November, 1879, he founded the department of law in the Northern Indiana Normal College of Valparaiso, to which he has since given most of his attention, and which institution has grown to be the largest and best law-school in the State, having now an enrollment of over a hundred students. In 18S0, at the Eepublican Convention held at Logansport June 22, Mr. DeMotte was nomi- nated to represent the Tenth District in Congress, and was elected to the Porty-seventh Congress against J. N. Skinner, who received the nomination fi-om National Greenback, Labor and Democratic parties. In 1882 he was again nominated, but defeated with the balance of the ticket. Mr. DeMotte was elected to the State Senate in 1886, and served on several committees of importance. He was a hard worker in the effort to remove the obstruction in Kankakee Eiver at Momence, Illinois. During President Harrison's admin- istration he was appointed postmaster of Valparaiso, and his commission expired in March, 1894. He was first married to Miss Elizabeth Christy, who died on March 20, 1890. By this union two daughters were born, Mary, wife of Rev. J. H. Wilson, presiding elder of the M. E. Conference; and Louise, wife of Lawrence Letherman, postoffice inspector. Ou the 12th of January, 1893, Mr. DeMotte was married to Miss Clara Stevens. He is a Mason aii,d Past Grand Regent of the Royal Arcanum of the State of Indiana. Our subject is a positive man and a fluent, forcible and convincing speaker. He possesses intellect of a high order, has labored earnestly for the good ot his section, and is public spirited and enterprising. ' •••< KEY. HENRY M. PLASTER. There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the spectacle of a life rich in the harvest of good and unselfish deeds on behalf of humanity. The man who has lived for others and has brought into potential exercise the 98 PICTORIAL AND best energies of his mind that he might make the world brighter and better from his being a part of it, can not fail to enjoy a serenity of soul that reveals itself in his walk and conversation. When such a life is preserved in its strength and energy so that even in age its work continues unabated, it challenges the added admiration of those whose good fortune it is to be brought into contact with it. The life of Rev. Henry M. Plaster has been one of great activity in the vineyard of his Master, and as he is but yet in the zenith of his career, his future is bright with promise. He was born in Dubuque, Iowa, March 31, 1853, a son of Bernard and Catherine (Smitz) Plaster, natives of Germany, who came to this country about 1845 and first located at Milwaukee, then at Dubuque, in 1851. The father was a wagon manufacturer, a calling he had learned in his native land, and this occupation carried on both in Milwaukee and Dubuque. He died at Covington, Indiana, in 1885, and his widow who survives him makes her home with the subject of this sketch. Of eight children born to them, four are now living: Henrietta, wife of Henry Hitteumiller, of Iowa; Rev. Henry M. ; Louisa, wife of John Feuerstein, a merchant_^of Attica, Indiana; and Joseph, a druggist of Danville, Illinois. In the city of Dubuque, Iowa, Henry M. Plaster was reared, and his early education was obtained in the public schools of that place. He then entered tlie Milwaukee Seminary, and graduated in the classical course in 1875. He then pursued a course of Philosophy and Theology in St. John's University, of Minnesota, graduating in 1879, after which he was ordained December 17, 1879, by Bishop Dwenger, after which he was placed in charge of the church at Attica, Indiana, with the surround- incr missions, and remained there, doing good service for six years. In 1885 he was transferred to Hammond, Indiana, where he succeeded Father Baum- gartner, who had just started in the mission when he was taken ill and died in May of that year. Father Plaster has labored hard and earnestly in the cause here, and his first work was to start the parochial school here with about thirty scholars and which now numbers over three hundred pupils. He erected a school-house at a cost of $600, but the rapid Increase in its attend- ance necessitated the building of a larger structure which was done in 1888 at a cost of 815,000, and of this establishment Father Plaster is the principal. In this institution they teach all the common branches, besides bookkeeping, stenography, painting, music and drawing. This biiilding is also used for church purposes and has a seating capacity of about eight hundred. The church has a membership of about three hundred families, which member- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 99 ship has been built ixp by the eaiuest and persistent efforts of Father Plaster. Nine teachers are employed iu the school who are Sisters of the Province of St. Mary's of the Woods, near Terre Haute, Indiana. Father Plaster, though young in years still, is a fine and polished speaker and at all times holds the attention of his hearers. All his time is devoted to his school and church work and from his church hei-e (St. Joseph's) St. Cassimere and St. Andrews sprung. In 1893 Father Piaster purchased the Greenwood Cemetery on which he has made some very extensive improvements and has made it one of the most beautiful resting places of the death in the county. He has iu contemplation a new and grand church edifice and it is to be devoutly hoped that his expect- ations will be realized. -••••' HON. C, J. KERN.. There is an obscurity in the game of life that, to the robust mind, is always attractive. The important uncertainty of the final outcome, its value to all, serves as an incentive to great deeds. To push forward and win the battle is the one common impulse and ambition of humanity. But in this vast concourse of struggling warriors, the number who achieve success is compar- atively small, and iu the majority of instances is confined to those who by reason of family inheritance and extended learning, have a far better start than their fellows. Without these qualifications success is rarely attained, but when it is, the fortunate being is invariably the possessor of an indomit- able will, untiring energy and an unusual amount of native shrewdness and ability. Such a man is Hon. C. J. Keru, the subject of this sketch. A native of the Keystone State, born iu Union County, Maj^ 25, 1850, he is the son of John S. and Catharine (Tittle) Kern, also natives of that State. The paternal grandfather, Henry Kern, came from Holland to this country at an early day, settled in Pennsylvania, but subsequently moved to Vii-giuia, where he passed the closing scenes of his life. Some of his descendants were soldiers iu the early wars. The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation and tilled the soil in his native State until 1861, when he moved to Michigan. 100 PICTORIAL AND Aside from farming iu his native State he was a maniifacturer of pig iron, owning and operating a blast furnace. This be rented out to a man who car- ried it on for fifteen years, during which time Mr. Kern never looked at the books, and at the end of that time he found that he had been cheated out of $80,000. He had but about $600 left and a large family to provide for. As before stated, he came to Michigan in 1861, and in the fall of 1863 moved to Jas- per County, Indiana, where his death occurred in the spring of 1865. After leav- ing his native State Mr. Kern followed farming until his death. The widow is still living and resides at Logansport, Indiana. Although eighty years of age, time has dealt leniently with her and she is comparatively strong and active. Of the eleven children born to this worthy couple only five are now living: Jane, wife of Alexander Robinson ; Ammon, of South Bend, Indiana ; Eliza, wife of Elmer McCrea ; Adam, of Napanee, Indiana; and C. J., our subject. The ones deceased were: William, who was with Gen. Hancock iu the Civil War, was captain of his company; Stephen, Sabiua, Lillie, John and Robson. Our subject was reared to the arduous duties of the farm and guided by his father's advice he has made a success of life. When he grew to be seventeen years of age, cabbages and turnips and heavy-weight stock lost their glamor, and the boy left the farm for good. The western fever was rife iu young Kern, and he, with his seventeen years of vigorous life, had a bad attack. As a result he took a bee-line for the Hoosier State, settled in Ligonier, and entered the Banner office as a planter's "devil" under John B. Stoll, receiving as compensation $4 per month. After acting iu this capacity for nine months he received an offer of $25 per month and board on a paper in Coldwater, Michigan, and not informing Mr. Stoll of his intention, he left in the night and made his way to that city. Two mouths later he became convinced that death by starv- ation was not a desirable end, for he was obliged to eat the crumbs left from his employer's table, and he gave up his position. Later he entered a store as clerk for $8 per month and board, and at the end of two months became an expert salesman. Getting a clear insight into the business, he returned to the home farm, ordered a stock of goods from Toledo, and started out as a jieddler with a balky horse and a rope harness. This biisiness he continued success- fully for a short time, and was then joined by his brother who brought a stock of goods for $175. After this they opened an auction house at Kentland, Ind- iana, sold goods there four months, and then went to Rensselaer, where they con- tinued the same business for six mouths. From there they went to Logans- port, Indiana, where they were joiued by the other three brothers, and after- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 101 wards they sent for their mother with the iutentiou of making their home there. The firm was kuowu as Keru Bros., and continued several years, the firm still owning the store building. In 1869 they divided up and opened five stores at different points, three of which are still in existence. Our subject continued the mercantile business^at Plymouth, Indiana, and other points, and in 1883 came to Valparaiso, where he opened bis present store. He is a shrewd, sagacious, thorough-going man of business and one who has made a success of life under adverse circumstances. In 1889 he was elected to the Legislature, and was the only Democratic representative elected from Porter County for thirty-seven years. He was a prominent figure in the swamp laud committee, of which he was chairman. Mr. Kern has won a host of warm friends in the county and is classed among the most noted and representative business men of the city. Socially, he is a member of the K. of P. In 1872 he was married to Miss Sidney Piatt, who presides with much grace over his elegant home in Valparaiso. Mr. Keru is a born auctioneer, and from the first, when he started on his rounds from house to house with the old horse and wagon, showed his fitness for the business, for he endeavored to make a trade with everyone. He never failed to win the farmers to his side, for he was an inveterate cutter of prices, and managed to get all opposing merchants down on him within a week after opening business. He has been burned out time and again, and three different times lost all the money he had. Nothing could keep him down, however, and while one store was still smoking he was busy arranging for another. One of his oddest exploits was in Logansport, Ind- iana. The old canal that runs through the town had not been used for years, the railroads having supplanted it as a means of transportation. The city wanted the land it occupied to revert to the original owners, and the canal company refused. The matter was in litigation, and there seemed no possibility of its being settled. Mr. Kern could not get a room in the city in a desirable place, and he decided on a novel move. He secured permission from the canal company to put a wagon on the old bed, and secured the same permission from the city council. His wagon was supposed to be a little affair from which a peddler could do business, and no merchant cared about so small a matter. Instead of that, Mr. Kern had a house built on wheels, as big as any store in the town, and filled it with goods. He then had it hauled to a con- venient place, right in the bed of the canal, and ran out a gang plank to the street. He opened up, and the gang plank was too narrow to hold the crowds that daily hurried into his place. He made money fast but one night his 102 PICTORIAL AND store was destroyed by fire, clearly the work of an incendiary. lu Pern, Indi- ana, lie had a stand on the cornei', and people would get about the door in such numbers as to obstruct the sidewalk. The marshal dared not arrest the men who blocked the sidewalk, for they were residents, voters and wielders of in- fluence, so he obeyed a prevalent sentiment in the town and arrested the auc- tioneer. He was either under arrest or under bonds half the time he spent in Peru, but he lost nothing by it. The country people thought he was perse- cuted by the merchants of the town, and flocked to his store in increased numbers. In Plymouth, Indiana, he was forced to save his own life. After having secured and paid for an auctioneer's license for one year, it was revoked, and he was arrested for selling goods at auction without a license. He got in the habit of going with the marshal about twice a daj', but not even that could quell his ardor or discourage traffic. A man by the name of Noah Low- ery, a drayman, declared he would kill Kern and attacked him with an iron dray stake. He chased the auctioneer around the store, and, meeting him at the door, beat him over the head until he inflicted wounds which Mr. Kern bears to this day. The latter fired off his revolver several times, thinking to scare him away, but failing in this fired straight at him and inflicted a mortal wound. He was arrested and attended the coroner's inquest lying on a pallet- Mr. Kern was not even bound over to court, the action being declared justifi- able, an event that very rarely occurs, and never unless the evidence is singu- larly conclusive. That was over twenty years ago. Since coming to Valpa- raiso Mr. Kern has accumulated considerable wealth and he is surrounded by all the comforts of life. His campaign in 1890 for the Legislature has brought him favorably before the public and made him notable even in a State of notables. He made a strong and vigorous campaign, being a Democrat, and the county being strongly Republican, but overcame a majority of about 500, being elected by a majority of 25 votes. He is a forcible and eloquent orator and a man posted on all matters of moment. He is still in the merchandising and auctioneering business and, as of old, his store is always crowded. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 103 PROF. WILLIAM N. HAILMANN. Prof. William N. Hailmann, now Superiutenclent of Indian Schools of the United States, but formerly Superintendent of Schools at LaPorte, and an educator of national reputation, was born in Switzerland, October 20, 1836. When about seventeen years of age he came to America and for two or three years, he was in a grocery store, on a farm, &c. Later on he studied medicine \ov one term at Louisville, Kentucky, but from 1856 to 1858 was professor of Trench and German and from 1858 to 1865 professor of Natural Science in the piiblic high schools of Louisville. Following this he was principal of a German- English Seminary in that city for seven or eight years. From there he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, taught five years, and then went to Detroit where he instituted impi-oved methods in the German-American schools. Here he ac([uired a wide reputation as an educator of advanced ideas and one whose me'-.hods approached very near the ideal. The introduction of Kindergar- ten methods in the piiblic schools by this worthy instructor mot' with excellent resilts and still further increased his popularity. Removing from there to Lalorte, Indiana, he was made superintendent of the schools in that place, and by the application of improved methods made those schools famous throughout the country. He is a gentleman of very superior natural endow- ments, strengthened and enriched by the highest culture. His mind is clear, concise, analytical and well poised. He impresses you at once as a man of grett strength, depth and grasp of mind. With rare powers of elucidation, most abstruse and complicated subjects are handled with ease and grace, and made perceptible and plain to the most ordinary understanding. Miss Eudora Lucas, of Louisville, Kentucky, became his wife, December 24, 1858. She is one of a family of five daughters, all of whom have been noted teachers. Mrs. Hailmann conducts a Kindergarten training school at LaPorte, one of the best known institutions of the kind in the country. Here young ladies from all parts of the United States prepare for kindergarten work. One of her sisters is principal of a school in Louisville, Kentucky, another sister, Mrs. Blackall, of Philadelphia, is a writer of note, and yet another sister is principal of the Normal School, at Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Hailmann has won a most en viable reputation as an educator, and has the honor of being the first president 104 PICTORIAL AND of a department iu the National Educational Association. Althongh but a few months have passed since Prof. Hailmanu began his duties as Superintendent of Indian Schools, he has already made his influence felt iu the application of improved methods. -••••< KEY. F. W. HERZBERGER. Experience has convinced the careful observer that there is a thousanc times more goodness, wisdom and love iu the world than men imagine. Good- ness is generous and diffuse; it is largeness of mind and sweetness of temper- balsam in the blood and jiistice sublimated to a richer spirit. The greatest man is he who chooses right with the most invincible resolution ; who resists the sorest temptation from within and without; who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully: who is calmest in storms and most fearless under menaces md frowns ; whose reliance in truth, on virtue and on God, is most unfaltering. In the life of Rev. E. W. Herzberger we find that which would inspire the ycuth of this and coming generations to lives of usefulness and greatness, and it is with pleasure that we note a few of the most important events of his caieer. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, October 23, 1859, to Frederick A. and Eliza (Cook) Herzberger, the former born iu Hesse-Darmstadt and the later in Saxony, Prussia. The father was ordained a minister of the Reformed chTirch in the old country, and after coming with his family to America in 1854 he had charge of St. John's Evangelical Reformed Church of Baltimore. Wlien the great civil war of this country came up, he became Chaplain of the 58tli New York Volunteer Infantry, and while in the service died at Mansfield, Ohio, in 1863. His widow survives him and is a resident of Leavenworth, Kansas. The subject of this sketch is one of eight childi'en born to his father, and is the only surviving son. He was reared in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and his literary education was obtained in Fort Wayne and St. Louis, graduating from the University of the latter city in 1882. The same year he was ordained a minister of the gospel at Little Rock, Arkansas, and was a missionary in that state for five years, during which time he founded Luthersville, Augsburg and Witten- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 105 burg. It was also through his efforts that the church at Couway was built, and algo the cue iu the Saxou district, all of which colonies are well known through- out the State. After leaving Arkansas he went to Hiawatha, Kansas, but at the end of two years he came to Hammond to take charge of the Lutheran Con- gregation, which then had but few members. At the present time this church is represented by two hundred and fifty families, and is established on a sound basis. He has aided in the building of three churches in Hammond, and in connection with his church has established a good school which has an attend- ance of one hundred and sixty pupils, presided over by two capable teachers. Although Rev. Herzberger is young in years he has had a wide and varied experience in his labors for the good of humanity, and being a fluent and forcible speaker he has been instrumental in the saving of many precious souls, and is looked up to and honored by the members of his congregation, as well as by the citizens in general in Hammond. He was married in 1882 to Miss Martha Schroeter of St. Louis, by whom he has four children. Lulu, Carl, Vallie and Fred. Rev. Herzberger is a self-made man, for he was left fatherless when he was three years of age and was under the care of a foster-father until he attained the age of fourteen years. He was for some time engaged in the sale of papers in his youthful days, and the first dollar that he ever earned was spent in the purchase of a small volume of Webster's Dictionary. His early intention was to enter the United States Naval Academy, but it was his father's dying wish, that he should become a minister, and he has never regret- ted complying with that desire. He has several relatives who are quite promi- nent in the United States Army. His life thus far has been a useful one and he impresses all with whom he comes in contact as being an earnest, efiicieut and faithful laborer in his Master's vinevard. HON. JOHN B. NILES. Hon. John B. Niles of LaPorte was born at Westfairlee, Orange County, Vermont, September 13, 1808, being the seventh in descent from one of the original Puritan settlers of New England. His grandfather, Nathaniel 106 PICTORIAL AND Niles, one of the first settlers of Vermont, was a trustee of Darmouth College for the first twenty-seven years of its existence, and a member of Congress when Washington was President. His father, William Niles, was a graduate of Dart- mouth, and followed the occupation of a farmer. The early boyhood of the son was passed upon a farm, where doubtless he received that physical devel- opment, which served him so well in after years. In 1830 he operated at Dartmouth College, and after teaching school for a while, read law in the office of Mr. Gilmau Fletcher in New York City. In 1833, he went to LaPorte to reside, just one year after the organizing of that town, accomplishing the journey on horseback. He had intended to establish himself in Cincinnati, but on reaching Dayton, changed his mind on account of the prevalence of cholera at that time. He then made Chicago his objective point, biit ou reach- ing LaPorte, which was then as now a remarkably beautiful region, he con- cluded to go no farther, and soon after purchased his homestead. He was admitted to the bar of the LaPorte Circuit Court, December 16, 1833, and continued the practice of law, with the exception of a short time that he was circuit judge, having been appointed by Gov. Samuel Bigger in 1843 to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Samuel C. Sample. December 16, 1834, he married Mary, daughter of Judge William Polke, a man of such prominence in Indiana, that we feel justified in turning aside for a moment to present in this connection a brief biographical sketch of him. William Polke was born September 19, 1777, in Brooke Couutj% West Vir- ginia, at that time included in the domain of the Old Dominion. His father was Charles Polke, who was, on the maternal side, a descendant of a Swedish family among the Swedish colonists in Pennsylvania. His mother was Delilah Tyler of Virginia. Charles Polke and his family removed to Madison County, Ken- tucky, about the year 1785. At one time, when Chas. Polke was absent from home,his family, including William, were captured by Indians and held as prison- ers, until they were exchanged at Detroit about a year later. William Polke was married in 1793 to Sarah Cooper, a native of Loudon County, Virginia, born March 22, 1783. He removed to Knox County, in the territory of Indiana, in 1808. In 1829 and following years he was a commissioner for the sale of Michigan Road lands. In 1832 he removed to Fulton County, Indiana, and opened the farm where the Michigan road crosses the Tippecanoe river. He built the first frame house on that road north of the Wabash river known locally for several yeai's as the White House. In 1836 he had charge of the removal of the Pottowatomie Indians to the Indian Country. They made it BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 107 a condition to going peacably that lie should go with them. They seem to have had confidence that he would treat them fairly. When eighteen years of age he was in the army under General Wayne, and was present at the build- ing of the fort of Fort Wayne. He was in the battle of Tippecanoe, where he had a finger shot off. He was sent on ahead of the army in charge of a party of scouts to ascertain the whereabouts of the Indians. At the time of the battle his eldest son was rejoicing in the possession of his first pair of pantaloons, which his mother had told him he should only wear when there was company at the house. Soon after the battle he rushed into the house in great glee, shouting out to his mother to give him his pants for everybody was coming. His mother was not equally delighted. She knew that the meaning of the visit was that there was really an Indian war, and that the neigh- bors were coming to build a stockade for mutual defense around their house, which happened to be the largest one in the neighborhood. The stockade was built, but fortunately its efficiency for defense did not need to be tested. He was a member of the Constitutional convention of 1816, which formed the constitution under which Indiana was admitted as a State into the Union. He was also a member of the Senate in the first legislature of the State, and was afterwards also a member of the other house. He had something to do as a commissioner with the locating and naming of the caf)ital of the State. In 1841 he removed to Fort Wayne, Indiana, having been appointed by the President, Register of the General Land Office at that place. During the greater part of his life he was a surveyor and farmer, and at the time of his death in Fort Wayne, April 26, 1843, he was an associate judge in the Cir- cuit Court of that District. To return to Judge Xiles, we find him in 1850 acting as a member of the constitutional convention, and in 1864 a member of the State Senate. For twelve years he occupied the chair of Professor of Chemistry in the Indiana Medical College at LaPorte, a position to which he was elected in 1840. At the time of the organization of the L. S. & M. S. E. E. in 1851, he was chosen as an attorney for that organization, a position which he held until his death. Althoiigh Judge Niles' experience was very diversified, he was best known as a lawyer, being devoted to his profession, in which he was so emi- nently successful. He was regarded as one of the finest analytic lawyers in the West. He was a man of untiring energy, making a most exhaustive exami- nation of the facts of every case he undertook, no material point ever escap- ing his attention. He was cautious and sound in his opinions, and tenacious 108 PICTORIAL AND of purpose. An attorney who knew him well declares, that " in trying a case against him it was never safe to trust anything to chance or calculate that any weak point would escape his attack." Judge Niles stood high in the estimation of the members of the bench and bar, as well as of the community in which he resided. He was by many con- sidered one of the ablest lawyers of the United States, and his practice was unusually extensive. He was, however, well informed on other subjects, being a fine chemist and a close student alone: other lines. Indiana owes much to him for the part he took in contributing materially to the constitution of the State, and establishing the code on which legal proceedings are based. In fact he was always equal to any position in which he might find himself. He hated sham, and not being ambitious for popular applause, shunned notoriety as well as opposed all attempts of others to gain it for him. He possessed a fine presence, and a character that was honorable and of the strictest integrity. When he passed away at his home in LaPorte Sunday afternoon, July 6, 1879, the entire community felt that they had sustained a loss which could never be filled. The LaPorte County bar attended the funeral in a body and passed reso- lutions testifying to the high esteem in which he was held. He was followed to his last resting place in Pine Lake Cemetery by many of his most distin- guished fellow-citizens and associates from neighboring cities. Although Judge Niles was closely associated with the growth of LaPorte, he was less known to his fellow-citizens than manj'^ men occupying far less important stations in life. Truly, as has been said, he was an exemplification of the poet's observation, that "The world knows nothing of its greatest men." In matters of religion. Judge Niles was a member of the New Church, and a firm believer in its doctrine. He was an extensive reader of Sweden- borg's works, and was well prepared at all times to give a reason for the faith that was in him. Mrs. Niles survived her husband by a few years, and passed away at LaPorte on the evening of January 11, 1892. At her death truly was it said of her that a good woman had gone to her reward. To her help and inspiration much of the success of her distinguished husband may be ascribed. She was a great reader and the possessor of a remarkable memory. She knew the four gospels, the psalms, Scott's Lady of the Lake and numerous other poems by heart. She was particularly fond of history, and her husband used to say that she was the best read woman in history in the State. She was a woman of great energy, of indefatigable industry and of fine executive ability. She put her whole soul into whatever she did. She was an BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 109 early, riser aud an excelleut house-keeper. She was very systematic, conscientious and charitable. She had a cheerful, sunny disposition aud was quick to discern the silver lining to every cloud. Facially and mentally she resembled her father. She had a fine mind, which was clear to the last. Of their family of five children, only two are living, William Niles, Presi- dent of the Xiles& Scott Company, and Mar}' R., wife of Honorable E. H. Scott, vice-president of the same company. A sketch of both of these gentle- men appears in this work. -••••< HON. EDGAR D. CRUMPACKER. There are men, and the number is by no means small, who drift into what we are accustomed to look upon as the learned profession in the same way that thousands of men in the lower walks of life drift into the ordi- nary bread-winning occupations. Having no special preference for any call- ing, aud without feeling that tliey have any particular fitness for a certain profession, they find themselves drifting in tiiat direction as a result of asso- ciations or environment, and in the course of time they find themselves shouldering responsibilities for which they have scant liking, carrying burdens which rest heavily upon them, and laboring in a field which has for them no attraction other than what it yields in the way of annual in- come. The prominent lawyer whose name heads this sketch impresses even those who meet him in a casual way as a man who has drifted easilj' and naturall}' into the legal profession, who realizes he has made no mis- take in the choice of his vocation, and feels thoroughly at home in the posi- tion which he occupies. This first impression deepens with a more intimate acquaintance, aud familiarity with his life leads to the unbiased and impartial view that the unusual success he has achieved is the logical sequence of talent rightly used, together with energy and industry never misapplied. Mr. Crumpacker is a native of the Hoosier State, born in LaPorte County May 27, 1851, and the sou of Theophilus and Harriet (Emmons) Crumpacker, na- tives of Virginia, and of German origin. The great-grandfather, who was 110 PICTORIAL AND boru iu the old couutry, came to this country when a boy, and after stopping a short time iu Maryland, went to Botetourt County, Virginia. Grand- father Crumpacker was in the Indian wars. The early members of this family were Duukards in their religious belief, and several of them were min- isters iu that church, while others were Methodist ministers. A number of the ancestors on the mother's side were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. Owen Crumpacker, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was a sturdy old planter, and followed that occupation iu his native State \iutil 1832, when he came with his family to Indiana. After stopping two years iu Union County he came to Porter County iu 1834, and located about six miles north of Valparaiso, on a claim, and might have been called a "squatter." He wanted to locate near a spring, and although he found one iu timber land where there was nothing but clay, he decided to locate there. He cleared a small spot, erected a little log cabin, and resided in this until 1837, when his land was sold at the laud sale at LaPorte. It was so poor that he did not want it, and the same year moved to LaPorte County, Indiana, where he passed the remainder of his days, djaug iu 1854. The father of our subject was only about twelve years of age when he came with his parents to Porter County, and in the early schools of that county he merely learned to read and write, for he attended only about four months altogether. His youthful days were spent iu hard labor on the pioneer homestead, and he has always tilled the soil. He is uow living retired iu the city of Valparaiso, and no man has done more for the upbuilding and improvement of the county than he. In the year 1872 he was elected to the Legislature, and re- elected in 1874 and 1876, thus showing his popularity. He has held several township offices, and has been a useful and prosperous farmer. Mr. Crum- packer has been a member of the cit}' council. Although now in his sev- enty-first year, time has touched him lightly, and he is still vigorous and active, and enjoys good health. His wife, too, shows very little the wear and tear of years, and has good health. Of the eight children born to them, seven are now living: John W., banker of LaPorte; Edgar D. ; Daniel W., iu the railroad mail service on Grand Truuk Railroad; Eliza, died iu Sep- tember, 1880; Peter, a lawyer, at Hammond, Indiana; Nettie, wife of I. L. Luther, of Chicago; Charles E., teacher in Normal school at Humes- ton, Iowa, and Grant, studying law with Edgar D. The original of this notice passed his boj'hood and yoirth iu LaPorte and Porter Counties, and his earlv education was received in the district schools. Later he took an acad- BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. HI emic coiirse in the Valparaiso Male and Female College, and in 1873 began the study of law with Talcott & Johnson of this city. He entered the law school at Bloomiugtou, Indiana, in 1873, and the following year was admit- ted to the bar, beginning practice in 1876. He started out alone in his profession, and his ability in the legal field won for him a good practice. In 1877 he removed toWestville, Indiana, but only remained there two years, when he returned to Valparaiso, where he has since resided, engaged in the practice of law. In 1882 he was elected city attorney, and held that position four years. In 1884 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the thirty- first district, and in March, 1891, he was appointed Judge of Appellate Court by Governor Hovey, serving on the bench until January 1, 1893. He was nominated in the Republican Convention of 1892 for appellate judge, but was defeated with the balance of the State ticket. Judge Crumpacker was chairman of the countj' committee and also a member of the State Central Com- mittee during the campaigns of 1888 and 1890. He has ever been interested in politics, and as a public official has made a record for uprightness and in- tegrity. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, chapter and com- maudery. On the 20th of April, 1879, he was married to Miss Charlotte A. Lucas, a native of Boone County, Illinois, and three sons have been born to this union : Owen, Fred and Maurice. The Judge and his wife are members of the Christian Church. -••••' MISS ELIZA G. BROWNING. Miss Eliza G. Browning is a lady of much intelligence, energy and executive ability, and is in every way competent to fill the responsible po- sition of librarian of the Indianapolis Public Library, thus illustrating what has long been known and acknowledged that women are in every way competent to fill with distinguished success positions requiring the most versatile mental powers and no ordinary degree of energy. She belongs to a family which for many years has been largely identified with both the politi- cal and literary interests of the city of Indianapolis and the State of Indiana. 112 PICTORIAL AND The Hou. William J. Brown, her maternal grandfather, Avas a man of note in the day and age in which he lived, and as a representative of the people in this portion of Indiana in the halls of the Congress of the United States, he was a power, especially in the lines of truth, justice and right. His son, Admiral George Brown, United States Navj-, has a record too well known to need additional words of commendation here; suffice it to say it is world- wide. Hou. Austin H. Brown, a brother of the Admiral, has often served in public offices of trust in national, city and civic capacity, and is a man of mark. Some thirteen years ago, when Miss Eliza G. Browning found it necessary to engage in some remunerative employment, the workings of the public library had many attractions for her, and although a near relative offered her employment, her independent spirit would not allow her to accept the of- fer, and she shortly afterward entered the public library, first as a substitute, and for one year labored without compensation. In April, 1892, she was elected librarian, and a year later was re-elected by acclamation. Her election was made because of her peculiar fitness and adaptability for the position, com- bined with a thorough knowledge of books, and it has met with the hearty ap- proval of the citizens of Indianapolis. She is ever on the alert to institute new and improved methods which have greatly improved the conveniences for the library. She is a fine conversationalist, a deep reader and tliinker, and an accomplished musician. -••••< HON. H. A. GILLETT. Among those whose names are inseparably connected with the prosperity of Valparaiso, Indiana, is he whose name forms the subject of this sketch. It is not to be expected, in a work of this kind, whez'e but brief biographical sketches of prominent citizens of the county are given, that justice can be given this much esteemed and honored citizen, and yet he has been identi- fied with the county so long, and his name is so familiar to all, that it is only just to dwell upon his career not as empty words of praise but as the jjlain state- ment of a still plainer truth. Mr. Gillett, attoruey-at-law and ex-circuit judge BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 113 of Porter County, is a native of the State of Vermont, a State always sugges- tive of the honest, hard and rugged characters in life, and was born near Rich- mond, March 19, 1831. His parents, Asa and Lucia (Jones) Gillett, were natives also of the Gi'een Mountain State, where the paternal grandfather of oar subject settled in 1790, but this family came originally from Connecticut. The father of our subject followed the occupation of farming in which he amassed a competency. To his marriage were born five children, only one besides our subject now living: Henry. Until 18-47 our subject remained on his father's farm in Vermont, but at that date he began attending school at Potsdam, New York, where he fitted himself for college, and where he laid the foundation for his subsequent prosperous career. Later he entered the Uni- versity of Burlington, Vermont, and graduated from that institution in 1853. One year later he went to Buffalo, New York, and began the study of law, be- ing admitted to the bar there in 185(3. There he practiced until 1861, and then came to Valparaiso where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. As a leading citizen of the city in its professional, business and social life, lending eminent strength to her bar, tone to her finances, and srrace to her societv, Mr. Gillett demands attention from the historian who would wish to do the city justice. In 1868 he was elected judge of common pleas court covering six counties, and in 1872 he was re-elected to the same office. In the winter of the following year, the common pleas court was abolished, and he was appointed by Governor Hendricks circuit judge for Porter, Lake and Starke Counties. In the fall of , he was elected to the same office, and held that position for a full term of six years. After this he resumed the practice of law, and is still in active business. He is one of the well known lawyers of the State, a sincere, direct, positive man — a true citizen in the best and highest sense. He was married in 1857 to Miss Helen L. Still, of Buffalo, New York, and two children are the fruits of this union: Judge John H. and Mrs. Minnie Miller, of Valparaiso. lU PICTORIAL AND HON. EMMET H. SCOTT. Hon. Emmet H. Scott, Mayor of La Porte, Yice-president of the Niles