USA > Indiana > Clinton County > History of Clinton County, Indiana : With historical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families, Volume II > Part 1
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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
L
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02322 2356
HISTORY
OF
CLINTON COUNTY
INDIANA Biographical Volume 9
With Historical Sketches of Representative Citizens and Genealogical Records of Many of the Old Families
BY HON. JOSEPH CLAYBAUGH :
ILLUSTRATED
1913 A. W. BOWEN & COMPANY Indianapolis, Indiana
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1490204
1
HON. JOSEPH CLAYBAUGH
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BIOGRAPHICAL
JUDGE JOSEPH CLAYBAUGH.
Judge Joseph Claybaugh, supervising editor of this history, was born in Chillicothe, O., June 9, 1839. He was the son of Joseph Claybaugh, a distinguished minister and scholar, under whose tutelage he was prepared for Miami University. Judge Claybaugh began the study of law in the office of the Hon. R. P. Davidson, his brother-in-law, with whom he formed a partnership after his admission to the bar in 1861.
Judge Claybaugh has been actively engaged in his chosen profession for fifty-two years, with the exception of six years, 1902 to 1908, when he was judge of the Clinton circuit court. After this half century of practice, Judge - Claybaugh is now the senior member of the bar of this county.
While on the bench, Judge Claybaugh sought to give force to that pro- vision of the Indiana Constitution, that "The Penal Code shall be founded on the principles of reformation rather than on punishment for crime." Whenever a person accused of crime was brought before him and there seemed any reasonable chance of reform, he would continue the case or suspend the sentence and give the accused a chance. Out of more than fifty cases thus disposed of by him, only three or four offenders failed to take the opportunity offered and as a consequence became law-abiding and useful citizens. It is this feature of his official life that Judge Claybaugh recalls with the greatest satisfaction.
In politics, Judge Claybaugh is a Republican, and an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln. For years he has been a member of the Presbyterian church. In 1861, Judge Claybaugh was married to Miss Anna Valeria Feter- man, a daugliter of Hon. Nathaniel P. Feterman, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Mrs. Claybaugh died March 10, 1909.
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JAMES W. COULTER.
To offer in a work of this province an adequate resume of the strenuous, useful and honorable career of the late James W. Coulter would be impossible, but, with others of those who have conserved the industrial and civic progress of Frankfort and Clinton county, he may well find consideration in the noting of the more salient points that have marked his life and labors. He has long been a dominating power in connection with the retail business interests of the county-seat, later was a leading banker and financier here for many years, achieving a position as one of the substantial capitalists of this secton of Indiana, gaining his success through normal and worthy means, and he stood for more than half a century as a singularly admirable type of the progressive, honorable and broad-minded man of affairs. He was a man of public spirit and patriotic impulses, was always ready to do his full share in promoting the general public weal, and was a gallant defender of the flag of his country during the momentous crisis of the sixties. His record is too familiar to the readers of this work to require any fulsome encomium here, his life speaking for itself in stronger terms than the biographer could employ. It left its im- print up'n those who came in contact with him; and the youth, hesitating at the parting of the ways, could do no better than to follow the example he set. He reached the advanced age of seventy-five years, Heaven having lengthened out his life beyond the Psalmist's allotted three score and ten until he was permitted to witness the vicissitudes of the most remarkable epoch in the world's business and inventive history, in all of which he was an interested spectator, playing, indeed, no small part in pushing forward the wheels of civilization in his own locality, having done much in promoting the material and moral welfare of the city of Frankfort, where he took up his residence when it was but a struggling village. Mr. Coulter was a man of sterling char- acter, conservative habits and pure thinking. He was even-tempered, patient, scrupulously honest in all the relations of life, hospitable and charitable, and his many kindly deeds were actuated solely from his largeness of heart, rather than from any desire to gain the plaudits of his fellow men.
James W. Coulter was born April 24, 1838, in Pennsylvania. He was a seion of sterling old stock of the Keystone state, and was a son of John and Margaret (Given) Coulter, noted for their industry and honesty, being typi- cal of the rugged pioneer type. The subject of this memoir remained at home with his parents until he reached young manhood. Early in life he received a meager schooling, but being always of an investigating turn of
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mind and, remaining a student all his life, he became a well informed man. When young he came to Clinton county, Indiana, and located at Frankfort, and in due course of time he became one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of the county. He had the distinction of handling the first regular mail route into Frankfort, having carried the mail from Delphi on horseback to Frankfort. He also owned and operated a stage line between the two towns, carrying passengers, mail and express.
When Mr. Coulter located in Frankfort it was but a small village of little importance in practically an unimproved locality, sparsely settled, with- out railroad connections and practically isolated from the outside world. Tak- ing an interest in the growth of the village into a town and then its develop- ment into a city, he did much to promote the advancement of Frankfort to its present beautiful and prosperous condition, he having been one of the veteran business men of the city and county.
When the First National Bank was organized Mr. Coulter was among the number of men whose names appeared on the original charter, and when the well-known institution was granted a new charter only a short time before our subject's death, his name was also among those who petitioned for it. He had been the president of the institution for the past thirty years, and under him and officials working under his direction, the bank has become one of the strongest institutions of its kind in the state, and stands as a monument to Mr. Coulter's work in the business world. He was a man of broad mind and conservative, his integrity being absolutely beyond cavil, and he therefore enjoyed to the fullest extent the confidence and esteem of the people of this locality. Keeping fully abreast of the times in all phases of the banking busi- ness, he was always quick to inaugurate such new methods of banking as were consistent with safe and honorable work in this connection. Beside being president of the bank, he was president of the Frankfort Loan and Trust Com- pany, and a member of the board of directors of the bank and trust company.
On October 10, 1866, Mr. Coulter was united in marriage with Eliza A. Perrin, of Clinton county, who still survives. Mrs. Coulter was born Sep- tember 23, 1844, near Fincastle, Virginia., daughter of Henry C. and Susan (Secrist) Perrin, who came to Ross township, Clinton county, in 1846, and here lived the life of a pioneer farmer. Here she grew to womanhood and received such education as the old-time schools afforded. She is a descendant of one of the worthy and influential pioncer families of this locality. She proved a worthy helpmate to her able husband, and much of his large success
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in life was due to her sympathy and encouragement. Four children sruvive : Jeannette Coulter, Mrs. William C. Allen, of Reno, Nevada; Charles C. and Frank E., all of whom received excellent educational advantages and are well situated in life : all are popular with a wide circle of friends and all reflect in their daily lives the wholesome home training they received. One daughter, Cora, died in young womanhood. A brother of our subject. D. A. Coulter, is living in Frankfort.
On September 10, 1861, James W. Coulter, forsook the pleasures of home and business opportunities to do what he could toward suppressing the fierce rebellion in the Southland. enlisting on that date for three years' service in Company HI, Third Indiana Cavalry. Ile proved to be a most faithful and gallant soldier and his rise from the ranks was rapid, being due to meritorious conduct on the field of battle and to his natural ability. He saw much hard service, risking fearlessly life and limb on many of the sanguinary fields of the South, and, with other members of the company who survived the awful carnage of that greatest civil conflict of which history treats, was mustered out at Indianapolis, September 10, 1864, with the rank of colonel.
In 1866, in partnership with his brother, D. A. Coulter, he embarked in the clothing business in a room now occupied by the First National Bank in Frankfort. After being in the business for a short time he bought the interest of his brother, and soon after the completion of the building now occupied by the J. W. Coulter Sons' Clothing Store, he moved into that location. Through his honest dealings, his keen foresight and pleasant manners, he built up a large business, which continued to grow with advancing years, his hundreds of regular customers coming from all parts of Clinton county. He retired from the mercantile business in 1904, selling his interests to his sons, who have since conducted with much success the business established by their father, being, in fact, regarded as worthy sons of a worthy sire and ranking among Clinton county's leading business men of a younger generation.
As a business man the elder Coulter was acknowledged one of the best clothing men in the state by manufacturers of the lines he handled. As a citizens he was one of the foremost in assisting to develop the town into a beautiful and prosperous city, as before indicated in this review.
Mr. Coulter was a life-long member of the Presbyterian church and had always taken an active part in the work of the same, having served as an officer in the church at different times and always gave his best time to its upbuilding. He was a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 560, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he lived up to the teachings of the order. He
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was truly a fine example of a man, being unpretentious, and a man among men, doing much to encourage young men just starting out in life, and through his kindly ways made for himself a wide acquaintance of loyal and admiring friends. Though he did not make known his work among his less fortunate fellow men, he took an active part in the charity work in the city of his residence, cheerfully assisting liberally the needy and unfortunate, and though but few knew of his acts of kindness and charity, hundreds were made happy by his acts.
Mr. Coulter had been in declining health for a period eighteen months, but his condition had not been considered serious. In the autumn of 1912 he planned a trip to California, having intended to spend the winter following in the west, hoping it would be beneficial to his health, but upon the advice of his physicians, abandoned the trip. During the months following he would show signs of improvement, but would suffer relapse, until he was finally summoned to his eternal rest from his beautiful, modern residence at 460 West Clinton street, Frankfort, on Wednesday afternoon, May 21, 1913. The somewhat unexpected news of his death proved to be a great shock to the entire city and county and was the occasion for profound regret and sorrow. Having spent the greater part of his life in this locality, where he rose to suc- cess by his own efforts alone, Mr. Coulter was one of the best known men in this section of the state, and he enjoyed the admiration and esteem of multi- tudes of friends. Frankfort's leading newspaper had the following to say, editorially, of the passing away of the lamented subject of this memoir :
"In the death of James W. Coulter, which occurred yesterday, Frank fort lost one of its splendid citizens. In business and private life Mr. Coulter was noted for his honesty, strict integrity and his high sense of honor in all his dealings with his fellow men. He was a self-made man in every sense of the term, having started from the bottom and worked himself up to an enviable position in the city's commercial life. By his industry, perseverance and sound business judgment he accumulated a fortune, and his example was one that gives hope to every struggling young man and encourages him to strive unceasingly for success. And furthermore, he achieved success without sacri- ficing a single principle of Christian conduct and it was frequently said of him that he had not an enemy in the world. He represented the very highest type of citizenship and he was one of Frankfort's most useful citizens. One of Mr. Coulter's leading characteristics was his kindness to all in misfortune. He practiced charity quietly, but extensively, and every year he gave freely of his money in relieving those in distress and worthy of help. His person-
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ality was attractive, his manner genial, and he was noted for his loyalty to friends. No citizen of Frankfort was held in higher esteem, and his never- ceasing efforts for the uplift of the city have left their impress upon the com- munity."
DAVID ALEXANDER COULTER.
It is a pleasing task to write the biography of a gentleman who has been so long identified with the material activities of his own and other com- iminities, as David Alexander Coulter, and who, in addition to his individual interests has not unfrequently been called to positions of honor and trust in the public service. He stand conspicuously forward as one of the leading men of his day and generation in Clinton county, and wherever known, his name passes current as a synonym for all that is upright and honorable in citizenship. Paternally, Mr. Coulter is descended from Irish ancestry, liis grandfather John Coulter having been a native of the Emerald Isle and a Presbyterian minister of unusual scholarship and eloquence. He ended a useful and exceedingly brilliant career in Juniata county, Pa., where he located when a young man and where he married and reared a family. Among his children being a son, John Coulter, Jr., who was born in the county indicated, in the year 1813.
John Coulter, Jr., a farmer by occupation, remained in his native state of Pennsylvania until 1854, at which time he came to Clinton county and purchased a farm in Ross township, where he resided until within a short period of his death, when he moved to Rossville, dying there, September 24, 1864. In the year 1836 he married Margaret Given, of Juniata county, Pa., a daughter of James and Nancy (Enslow) Given, of the same state; the father, a farmer and a representative citizen, who moved to Clinton county, in 1856, and a number of years later, changed his residence to Frankfort, where he and his wife lived retired lives to the end of their days.
David Alexander Coulter, son of Jolin and Mary Coulter, is likewise a native of Juniata county, Pa., where his birth occurred on the 21st day of December, 1846. He was reared to agriculture pursuits, received a common school education and devoted himself to farming in the county of Juniata, until 1863, when he came to Frankfort, and entered the business house of his uncles, A. B. and B. Given, for whom he clerked until the spring of the follow- ing year. He then resigned his position and enlisted in Company H, One
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Hundred and Thirty-fifth Indiana Volunteers, with which he served until discharged September 29th of the same year, doing garrison duty the mean- while with an occasional brush with the Confederate cavalry force under General Forrest. Upon his retirement from the army, Mr. Coulter accepted a clerkship with John Brown, a prominent merchant of Logansport, Ind., but in 1867, left that city and returned to Frankfort, where he formed a partner- ship in the clothing business with J. W. Coulter, which, under the firm's name of J. W. Coulter & Brother, lasted until 1871, when he disposed of his interest in the establishment to his brother and engaged in the coal and mining busi- ness at Rockville, this state. Before moving to the latter place, however, he took an active part in organizing The First National Bank of Frankfort, of which he was elected a member of the first board of directors. He also assisted in establishing The Park Banking Co., of Rockville, but in the above year, sold his coal interests in that town and returning to Frankfort again became associated with his brother, with whom he continued until 1878, under the same name as before. While thus engaged, the firm erected the imposing business block in Frankfort, now occupied by J. W. Coulter's Sons & Com- pany, one of the leading commercial establishments of the city besides con- tributing in various other ways to the material advancement of the place.
Mr. Coulter, in 1878, bought his brother's interest in the clothing busi- ness and conducted same with marked success and profit until 1881, when he disposed of his stock to Coulter and Hockman, to become cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Frankfort, which responsible position he filled with credit and satisfaction until elected president of the institution in 1904. He has also been president of the water works system, of Frankfort, ever since its organization, besides holding various other posts of honor and trust including that of auditor of the American Central Life Insurance Company, of Indi- anapolis; Commissary General of the Indiana State militia, with the rank of colonel on the staffs of Ex-Governors Mount and Durbin, in which capacity he served eiglit years; trustee of the Indiana State Prison at Michigan City; president for nine years of the School Board of Frankfort, during which time he was instrumental in erecting the present high school building of that city, one of the largest and most convenient edifices of the kind in northern Indiana, besides serving two terms in the common council and representing his Congressional district as a delegate in the Republican National Conven- tion, at St. Louis, in 1896, where he took an active and influential part in bringing about the nomination of William Mckinley, for President of the United States.
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Mr. Coulter, as indicated above, is a Republican in politics and for many years has been active in the affairs of his party in Clinton county. He be- longs to the Grand Army of the Republic, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and in religion is a consistent and influential member of the Presbyterian church. He was married January, 1874, to Miss Mary Depew, of Park county, Indiana, who has borne him three children, only one of whom, Maude, wife of George C. Cullom, of Frankfort, is living. Mr. Coulter's career has been one of great activity and usefulness and in the main, attended by remarkable business advancement and financial prosperity. He filled with credit and honor the various public positions to which called, and his official as well as his business and personal record, has ever been above reproach. He is essentially progressive in all he undertakes and endowed with the power to mould circumstances to suit his purposes. His success in overcoming ad- verse conditions and mounting to his present high and honorable station in the world of affairs, is such as few attain. Of strong convictions, positive character, insuppressible integrity, he is classed with the most intelligent and influential of Frankfort's representative men, and he holds a warm and abid- ing place in the hearts of his fellow citizens.
OSCAR WILLIAM EDMONDS, M. D.
This biographical record has to do with a man of unusual accomplish- ments, who has, for many years, been one of the best known of the worthy men who are making the city of Frankfort a good place in which to live. He has attained prestige through his individual efforts in every enterprise which ยท he has entered upon, and has always been regarded as distinctly a man of affairs, who wields a potent influence among those with whom his lot has been cast. He is a man of lofty principles, honesty of purpose and deter- mination, and is conservative, ingenuous, and cautious. The word fail does not seem to hold a place in his category. He plans his campaign and then executes with sureness and dispatch.
Oscar W. Edmonds was born into this world on March 25, 1861, and was the son of Rheuden J. and Anna (Moore) Edmonds. R. J. Edmonds was a native of the Quaker state, being born in Bucks county, Pa., in the historic year of 1812, the son of Augustus and Elizabeth ( Hines ) Edmonds. R. J. Edmonds learned the cigar making trade early in life, then went into
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the grocery business. He died in West Carrolton, O., January, 1905. His wife, who was Anna L. Moore, was also born in Bucks county, Pa., and is still living in the city of West Carrolton, O.
Augustus Edmonds was a native of Berkshire, England, and came to this country in 1779, and settled in Pennsylvania. Ile was a gunsmithi and civil engineer by trade, and was widely known through his ability as a mathematician. He served valiantly in the Revolutionary war and for his services there was awarded, with the assistance of Gen. George Washington, five hundred acres of land near Mauch Chunk, which he afterwards sold for fifty cents an acre. IJe died in Bucks county in 1872. His wife, Elizabeth Hines, was also a native of Berkshire England, and she died in 1869. Eleven children, nine sons and two daughters, were born to them. All of the boys participated in the Civil war, five of them being officers.
The boyhood of our subject was passed in the state of Ohio, in German- town and West Carrollton. Until 1881 he studied medicine with Dr. E. M. S. Beaver, a brother-in-law, at Albertus, Pennsylvania. He learned the rudi- ments of medical practice there, and thus equipped he entered the Starling Medical college at Columbus, O., graduating from that institution in 1886.
He began the practice of his profession at Dayton, O., and continued there for two years with great success. He then went to Albertus, the home of his preceptor, and worked there for six more months. In September, 1888, he moved to Frankfort, Ind., where he now resides, being numbered among the best medical men of the state.
Dr. Edmonds has not confined all of his time and efforts to his pro- fession, as evidenced by the remarkable accomplishments he has made in public life and in the service of his community. He has been county coroner and city health officer, filling both offices with high merit. He has also been president of the Clinton County Medical Society ; was a professor of anatomy in the Dayton Medical University, and has made his name prominent in the medical circle of Ohio by his lectures in connection with that institution. In the year 1909, the people of Frankfort displayed their admiration for Mr. Edmonds by electing him mayor of the city. In this capacity he has served faithfully and wisely for the past four years.
Dr. Edmonds was married September 13, 1888, to Alice J. Hertzog, a native of Albertus, Pa., being born there March 29, 1865, the daughter of Nathan and Mary ( Richardson) Hertzog. Her parents are also natives of Pennsylvania.
Fraternally, Dr. Edmonds belongs to the Independent Order of Odd
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Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a member of the Methodist church, and votes the Republican ticket
JOHN BARNER.
There is an old saying that the dead are soon forgotten, but in the case of the subject of this review, the adage asserts an untruth, No man in the history of Clinton county lives today in the memories of the inhabitants in greater measure of esteem and reverence than John Barner. The life and development of thi. holy and honest man has been parallel with the growth of the county, and the prosperity and modernity of the community today is the direct result of the influence of such pioneers. Our subject's exemplary life is immured in the hearts of Clinton county's men, and his spiritual pres- ence, if not his material, is a guide to the faith and trust of his friends. Too fast we are losing these old men, these stalwart oaks of the primal forest, so it is with pleasure that we sketch the interesting details of Mr. Barner's career. A true patriot, a thorough business man, a devoted Christian, a successful farmer, quiet, unobtrusive, charitable and democratic-this is our estimate of the man.
John Barner was born in Surrey county, N. C., near the Virginia line, January 11, 1810, two years before the outbreak of the war with Great Britain. He was the son of Horatio and Elizabeth (Chrisman) Barner, and was one of three children. The other two, Mrs. Judith Barner Webb and Horatio, Jr., are now dead. Jolm Barner's parents were American by birth, but claimed descent from French, German and Irish stock. In the year 1814, Horatio Barner, seeking new fields of endeavor, traveled in covered wagons across the Blue Ridge mountains and on into the southwest, until they reach Bledsoe county, Tennessee. On a farm here they settled, and the father took up his regular occupation as a mill wright. John Barner found little opportunity in the rough country to gain a school education, but by ceaseless industry, managed to gain the rudiments of an education, besides working on the farm and learning the cabinet making trade.
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