A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 69

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273

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In early life the father was a merchant at Howells, Orange county, New York. He moved to Dowagiac, Michigan, in 1854, where he also engaged in merchandising in 1861. He opened a store at Hartford, Van Buren county, and from 1862 to 1865 conducted a farm in the same county. In 1865 he purchased a farm near Dowagiac, upon which he continued to reside until 1879, when he again took up his residence in the city of Dowagiac. He was secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company from 1875 to 1895, when advancing years caused him to de- cline further service. Both Mr. and Mrs. Tuthill were members of the Congregational church of Dowagiac for over forty years, of which Mr. Tuthill was church clerk for fifteen years, and af- terwards a deacon for over twenty years.

Judge Tuthill spent his boyhood days upon the farm near Dowagiac, working in summer and going to school in the winter. Prior to his gradu- ation in 1878 he taught two terms of district school and boarded around.

On Saturday, the 13th day of July, 1878, he began the study of law with Freeman J. Atwell, but in October entered the office of Spafford Tryon of the same city. Mr. Tryon was an ex- pert chancery pleader with a large practice on the equity side of the court. For weeks the young man's time was wholly occupied in copying volum- inous bills and answers, and while he secretly re- belled no amount of unassisted study would have so greatly aided him as did this toilsome work, and to it he ascribes in large measure whatever success he has since attained.

In talking, to the writer, of those student days he sometimes amusingly mentions how drowsy he became on that first Saturday, and how look- ing about and seeing no reclining place he went to sleep in a straight backed chair, lulled into sweet repose by the silent music of the first pages of Blackstone. He was admitted to practice after examination in open court on December 2, 1879. The quizzing occupied over three hours and the committee jocularly hesitated to admit him be- cause he failed to answer two questions im- portant for embryo lawyers to know, the meaning of "benefit of clergy" under the common law, and the first duty of a lawyer when admitted, but always quick to act upon a suggestion he paid for the oysters, although he himself was obliged to live on short rations for some time afterward.

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The writer cannot close this term of delightful student intercourse in the old office without men- tion of the long pleasant walks we used to take down the Michigan Central Railroad track toward Pokagon, airing cur knowledge of the law. Space prohibits the mention of more than an incident, however. The writer had studied some principle long and laboriously, and being fully "primed," stated the proposition to the future judge, who after a few moments thought, turned, and inquired :

"Young man are you asking for information or to see whether I know?"

To this day no more satisfactory answer has been made to either question.

Judge Tuthill located in Michigan City, De- cember 15, 1879. There he has since resided and there he practiced until elevated to the bench, January 1, 1897.

While the writer has met him often, and knows his worth as a man and as a lawyer, an expression of one of his brothers in the profession sums up in a sentence, all that might be said in many pages. "He is one of the strong lawyers of Indi- ana. He does not stoop to defend a legal propo- sition that he is not convinced has merit. His word as a lawyer and as a man can be taken and relied upon under all circumstances, and on all occasions."

Knowing his mother as the writer did, having been honored for twenty-five years by the con- fidence of his father, as the writer was, he can say these qualities of mind and heart came to him naturally and without being acquired.

In 1896 Mr. Tuthill was elected judge of the superior court of the counties of Lake, Porter and LaPorte by a majority of 1369. He was re- elected in 1900 by a majority of 2020. But the proudest hour of his life was March 26; 1904, when he was unanimously and by acclamation called by his party to become its candidate yet a third time.

This view would not be complete without men- tion of a happy marriage consummated November 28, 1878, when the two contracting parties, barely more than children, Harry B. Tuthill and Alice M. Wells, on that day plighted troth. She was the daughter of Hon. Henry B. and Phoebe E. (Carr) Wells. To this marriage four children have been born : Fannie, Lotta G., Ralph W. and Clarence A. The first and last died in infancy. Lotta is a graduate of the Old Buckingham Sem- inary of Ohio, and Ralph is now in college.

The Judge, his wife and children are mem- bers of the First Congregational church of Michi-

gan City, of which he has been a trustee for four- teen years, and now president of the board, and his efforts have been effective and far-reaching in furthering its interests and upbuilding. A prominent and honored member of the Masonic fraternity, he is affiliated with Acme Lodge No. 83, A. F. & A. M .; Michigan City Chapter No. 25, R. A. M .; Michigan City Council, R. & S. M .; Michigan City Commandery No. 30, K. T .; Indi- ana Consistory, S. P. R. S., of the valley of Indianapolis; and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Politically he has always been a Republican, and was an al- ternate delegate to the Republican national con- vention at Minneapolis in 1892. He has fre- quently been a delegate to the state conventions of his party, and his opinions carry weight in its councils.

He owns and occupies a beautiful home at 718 Wabash avenue, and he owns other valuable city property. It is seldom that an individual makes a success in more than one field of labor, but Judge Tuthill has manifested excellent ability as well as skill in his profession, and has won prosperity through well placed investments. His nature is kindly, his temperament genial, and his manner courteous. He is a most companiable gentleman, but when on the bench his attitude at once indicates the studious, earnest and scholarly judge, whose course fully upholds the majesty of the law. Fearless in conduct, faultless in honor, stainless in reputation, he stands to-day as one of the prominent members of the Indiana bar.

AZARIAH WILLIAMS. For more than half a century this sterling citizen of LaPorte county has been a resident of northwestern In- diana and has contributed to the substantial im- provement of the county and takes an active and helpful part in its development. Sixty-eight years of his life have been passed here, and he certainly deserves mention in this volume. He was born in Wayne county, Indiana, on the 19th of June, 1828, and is the second in a family of eight children, five sons and three daughters, who were born to Jonathan and Jane (Lening- ton) Williams. Seven of this number are yet living. Tradition shows that the family can trace their ancestry back to Roger Williams, the founder of the colony of Rhode Island.

Jonathan Williams was a native of Tennessee, born in 1803. He was there reared until sixteen years of age, when he removed to Dayton, Ohio, where he spent one year. He afterward located

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in Wayne county, Indiana, and in 1835 came to LaPorte county, traveling across the country with a team of oxen. Here he purchased eighty acres of land in the fall of 1835 at the land sale. Not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made upon the place, but with characteristic energy he began the development of a farm, his family liv- ing in a little log cabin home. Finally he sold the property and purchased two hundred and forty acres in a Quaker settlement in Porter county, Indiana, where he remained until his death. However, some time prior to his demise he disposed of part of his land and one hundred and sixty acres was left for the family.

In politics in early life he was an old-line Whig, and at the organization of the Republican party joined its ranks and remained one of its staunch advocates until his death, which occurred on the 6th of December, 1858, when he was in the fifty-sixth year of his age. The Republican party was then a new political organization, but he believed in the justice and correctnesss of its principles and accordingly gave to it his allegi- ance. He was a strong opponent of slavery, and he long labored in opposition to the custom of holding negroes in bondage. A great admirer of Henry Clay, he at one time made a trip to Rich- mond, Indiana, in order to hear the great Ken- tucky orator deliver an address.

The maternal grandmother of Mr. Williams lived in a region in which hostilities were carried on at the time of the Revolutionary war, in fact, at one time the shots of the contending armies fell all around her home, but fortunately she escaped injury. Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Williams were identified with the Society of Friends and with the. anti-slavery element of that sect. She was a native of Pennsylvania, born in the year 1808 in Titusville, and her death occurred in Porter county, Indiana, in 1856. The eldest of their family is Abraham L. Williams, who is married and for some years followed poultry farming, but is now living retired in Denver, Colorado. Deborah A., deceased, was the wife of Shepherd Crumpacker and became the mother of state sen- ator Crumpacker, a prominent farmer and citizen of Clinton township, LaPorte county, Indiana ; another of her sons is Judge Jonathan W. Crum- packer, who is now living in LaPorte. Mary, the third member of the Williams family, is the wife of O. W. Barnard, a farmer and insurance agent of Manteno, Illinois. David C. resides in Detroit, Michigan, with his son Eugene, who is actively connected with the business of the Pere Marquette Railroad Company. Emma is the

wife of Uriah W. Barnard, of Oklahoma City, and a mechanic. Samuel is married and follows farming at Altamont, Kansas. Jonathan L., the youngest member of the family, is married and resides in Kansas City, Kansas, having the care of the University grounds there at the present time.

Azariah Williams was a little lad of only seven years when he became a resident of La- Porte county, and almost continuously since he has resided within its borders. However, he spent one year in Iowa and a brief period in Starke county, Indiana. He pursued his education in one of the old log schoolhouses common in his boyhood, and conned his lessons while sitting upon a slab bench. The little room was fur- nished with a fireplace built at one end of the building, and the smoke made its egress through a mud and stick chimney. The teacher gave in- struction in the "three R's" and also in geogra- phy. Mr. Williams obtained his education in such a school and through the aid of his father, who was a man of more than ordinary learning for those days.

For many years Mr. Williams has engaged in merchandising, beginning operations in that way in 1854. During about three-fourths of his business career he has been connected with com- mercial pursuits. At the age of twenty-one years, however, he began teaching, following that pro- fession in Porter and in LaPorte counties. As the years have advanced he has prospered in his undertakings and as proprietor of a store has gained a comfortable competence, making him one of the substantial citizens of the community. In all of his business methods he is enterprising and progressive, and his prosperity has resulted from his earnestly directed labors.

On the 27th of January, 1850, Mr. Williams was united in marriage to Miss Eliza J. Williams, and to them were born four sons and a daughter, of whom four are yet living, namely : David P., a barber by trade now living in Astoria, Oregon, wedded Miss Josephine Daggy, who is now de- ceased. Julian H. is married and is conducting a shoe store in Brooklyn, New York. John M., a graduate of the Indiana Normal School at Val- paraiso, became a teacher at the age of sixteen years and followed that profession until twenty- five years of age, during which time he was prin- cipal of the Eugene, Oregon, high school; he is now a successful attorney and is married and has three sons. William M. R., the youngest of the family, resides in Westville, Indiana, where he is engaged in the livery business; he married

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HISTORY OF LAPORTE COUNTY.

Mrs. Addie (Carpenter) Sales, and they have one child, Azariah, named for his grandfather. Wil- liam M. R. Williams is a barber by occupation. Mrs. Williams died on the 16th of January, 1887, and Mr. Williams was afterward married to Mrs. Rebecca Vinnedge, who has also passed away.

In public affairs Mr. Williams has been quite prominent. He served for twenty years as justice of the peace and for twenty-four years as notary public. He has gained considerable knowledge of law, and while presiding over the justice court his decisions were characterized by the most strict impartiality. He owns a good home in the vil- lage of Westville, and has property not only in Indiana, but also in other states. In politics he was first a Whig, and cast his presidential vote for General Scott on attaining his majority. He then supported the Whig candidates until the Republican party sprung into existence, since which time he has been one of its stalwart advo- cates. He has frequently been a delegate to the county conventions, and is deeply interested in the success of the principles in which he firmly believes. In addition to the other positions he has held, he has served as township trustee for one term and as township assessor for two terms. Fraternally he has been a Mason for fifty years, belonging to the lodge at Westville, Indiana, and for twenty-five years was connected with the Odd Fellows' society in Westville. In 1864 he was a delegate to the grand lodge of Odd Fellows at Indianapolis, and was named as one of the ad- ministrators of the estate of Daniel West, who left by his will funds to erect the Odd Fellows hall at Westville, Indiana, and also the Methodist church there. On other occasions Mr. Williams has been called upon to act as administrator of estates, and this shows that the people repose in him the utmost confidence and that he is well worthy of their trust. His life has been honor- able and upright, and he certainly deserves men- tion in this volume, for few residents of LaPorte county have so long resided within its borders and none have been more active and influential in public affairs.

HON. EMMET H. SCOTT. Through the greater part of his active and honor- able business career Emmet H. Scott has been connected with the lumber trade and kindred industries growing out of the utilization of the great forests of the country for the purposes of mankind. He has been a promoter of a number of business concerns of prominence and far- reaching effect leading to the expansion of trade

interests and advancing general as well as indi- vidual prosperity. Realizing that failure or suc- cess depends not upon environment, but upon the herent powers of the individual, Emmet H. Scott has so directed his labors that he seems to have realized at every point of his progress the possibilities for accomplishment at that point and he is to-day a man of means.

Mr. Scott was born in Broome county, New York, in 1842, a son of Wiley H. and Aseneth (Locke) Scott. His father was born in Otsego county, New York, and became one of the early settlers in the town of Nineveh on the Susque- hanna, where he carried on agricultural pursuits, becoming a prosperous farmer. His death oc- curred in the year 1872. His wife was born in the Empire state and came of a family claiming an interesting Revolutionary ancestry. Several members of the Locke family had already joined the patriotic army as soldiers under Washington when, the colonists being sorely oppressed and in great need of others to enlist, a younger member of the Locke family was singled out for im- mediate urgent duty, and in order to get him ready in time the women of the household sheared a sheep, carded and spun the wool and made a pair of trousers for him all within twenty-four hours.

Emmet H. Scott was reared upon his father's farm. He acquired his preliminary education in the schools of his native town and continued his studies in Blakeslee's Academy, a select school at Harpersville, New York. He then taught school for one winter, and in February, 1863, came to the west, where he obtained a position in the joint express office of the Adams & American Express companies at Centralia, Illinois. He continued in that situation until October of the same year, when on account of his health he returned to New York and there secured employment in the construction department of the Albany and Sus- quehanna Railroad, in which he remained until February, 1867, when he came to LaPorte, Indi- ana, to accept the position of superintendent of both the construction and operating departments of the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad Company, building a line from LaPorte to Peru, Indiana. At the time of his arrival the road was in operation from LaPorte to Plymouth in Mar- shall county. Mr. Scott displayed considerable skill as a railroad builder, and under his manage- ment the road in question, which had been im- perfectly constructed and much worn, was re- built between LaPorte and Plymouth, and he also had charge of the construction of the ex- tension of the road from Plymouth to Peru. In

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the fall of 1869, however, he resigned his posi- tion in connection with the railroad company and removed to East Saginaw, Michigan.

At that place Mr. Scott entered upon what has been the most important work of his life, the lum- ber manufacturing business. The development of the lumber industry was becoming a most im- portant work in Michigan, and it was here that Mr. Scott laid the foundation for the prosperity which has since attended his efforts. In Novem- ber, 1876, he returned with his family to LaPorte and acquired an interest in the wheel factory then being controlled by William Niles. The style of the firm was changed to Niles & Scott, and in 1881 the Niles & Scott Company was in- corporated to manufacture wheels for implements and vehicles, Mr. Scott becoming the vice presi- dent and general manager. He and Mr. Niles remained in active control of the industry until June, 1902, when they sold their interests entirely to another corporation, but the excellent reputa- tion which had been won by them through long years of honorable manufacturing was considered such a valuable asset that the new company re- tained the old name, and the business is still con- ducted under the style of the Niles & Scott Com- pany. This is one of the best known of the im- portant industries of LaPorte and has been an important element in gaining to the city its promi- nent position as a manufacturing center.

Mr. Scott's connection with the lumber busi- ness continued until 1887, for he retained large interests in Michigan even after he returned to LaPorte. In 1894 he was the promoter and began the development of the town of Munising, on Lake Superior, in Alger county, in the northern peninsula of Michigan. He bought the site of the town and organized a railroad company which built a line from Munising to Little Lake, now part of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. This was known as the Munising Railway Com- pany, and Mr. Scott had charge of the construc- tion and operation of the road. It was through his superior enterprise, laudable ambition, capable management and influence that important indus- tries were established at Munising, including a large tannery, three lumber mills, shingle mills and other industrial and commercial enterprises. His operations in the town have resulted in great and rapid development there, on account of which Alger county in the decade between 1890 and 1900 had the largest growth in population in its history, and the per cent of increase was greater than in any other county in that state. Mr. Scott's connection with the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louis-

ville Railroad Company was resumed for a time after his return to LaPorte in 1876, he being called upon the road in connection with the re- ceivership, foreclosure and sale of that road, which is now a part of the Lake Erie & Western system. His operations at Munising did not make any change in his residence, for he has maintained his home continuously in LaPorte since 1876.

A man capable of instituting and controlling gigantic enterprise has a breadth of nature and a scope of resources that permits him to become an active factor not only in business circles, but in other lines affecting the general interests of the state. Mr. Scott is a most public-spirited and progressive citizen, and aside from his business interests has done much for the development, improvement and progress of LaPorte. For five years he served as mayor of the city, entering upon the duties of the office in May, 1889, and retiring from the position in September, 1894. He was one of the most efficient executives the city has ever had, for he managed its affairs as he does his business interests, with system, dispatch and untiring devotion to the general good. His alle- giance is given to the Democracy. He is a man of broad and liberal views, and to his own efforts may be attributed the splendid success which has crowned his life work.

Mr. Scott was united in marriage to Miss Mary R. Niles, the wedding being celebrated in LaPorte in 1870. She was born on the same block of ground on which the Scott residence now stands. The history of the Niles family is a distinguished one, and is given in connection with the sketch of William Niles, a brother of Mrs. Scott, on another page of this volume. To Mr. and Mrs. Scott were born two children who are now living, a son and daughter, Emmet and Fannie. They had the misfortune to lose four daughters by death in early life, named Mary, Margaret, Sarah and Katharina.

OTIS KING, an honored veteran of the Civil war and one of the leading farmers of Clinton township, his home being on section 19, is a na- tive of LaPorte county, his birth having occurred in Michigan City on the 17th of January, 1848. His father, Otis King, Sr., who was a tanner by occupation, was born in Enfield, Connecticut. Jan- uary 14, 1811, and was married in New York city on the 5th of June, 1833, to Miss Catharine R. Clements, who was born in Springfield, Massa- chusetts, June 10, 1810. They became the par- ents of four children, namely : Emeline, who was

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born August 25, 1834, and died February 15, 1845; Belinda, who was born November 3, 1838, and died December 17, 1872; Wilhelmina, born March 27, 1843 ; and Otis, who is the youngest of the family.

Mr. King passed his boyhood and youth in the county, attending school here. He has made farming his principal occupation throughout life, and since 1878 has owned and operated his pres- ent farm on section 19, Clinton township. The well tilled fields and neat and thrifty appearance of the place indicate his careful supervision and show that he thoroughly understands the vocation which he follows. During the dark days of the rebellion he enlisted, May 10, 1864, when only sixteen years of age, in the one hundred days' service, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until his term of enlistment expired in September, 1864.

On the 21st of April, 1875, Mr. King married Miss Effie J. Hansford, who was born in Porter county, Indiana, October 15, 1852, and is a daughter of John and Hannah (Dillingham) Hansford, a farmer living near Valparaiso in that county, and the wedding ceremony was per- formed upon his farm. Twelve children blessed this union, their names and dates of birth being as follows: Loubelle W., February 11, 1876; Harriet B., February 27, 1878; Effie J., May 21, 1879; Abigail H., August 30, 1880; Frank, June 24, 1882; Ralph W., February 4, 1884; Loren O., July 5, 1885; Marjory A., February 9, 1887; Elsie W., March 9, 1888; John N., October 27, 1890; Hardy J., November 2, 1891; and Cath- arine R., June 10, 1894. Loubelle W. is now the wife of Bert Cites, a farmer of Clinton township; Effie J., is the wife of Harry Robe, a machinist of Indiana Harbor; Abigail H. died January 7, 1883, and Frank died January 6, 1883, and they are buried in the same grave; and the others are still at home with their parents.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 69

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels Publication date: 1904 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1273

Author: Rev. E. D. Daniels
Publication date: 1904
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1273