A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 90

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

USA > Indiana > LaPorte County > A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana > Part 90

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Indiana, where her father, Squire Miller, was one of the old-timers and an intimate friend of Schuyler Colfax. Mrs. Moses E. Butterworth is still living, and makes her home in Chicago.

William M. Butterworth was born in 1867 in Union township, near Kingsbury, LaPorte coun- ty, Indiana, was reared there and received his early education in the schools of Kingsbury and LaPorte. He was also a student at Purdue Uni- versity, Lafayette, Indiana, and at the Indiana State University at Bloomington, two years at each place. Mr. Butterworth, on leaving school, turned his attention to newspaper work, and his energy and originality in this line made him very successful. He was the first city editor of the LaPorte Daily Herald, which was the first suc- cessful daily newspaper in LaPorte up to that time, and which he assisted in establishing. He remained with the Daily Herald until 1892, when he came to Chicago. He worked for a real estate firm for about two years, and employed his even- ings studying law. He afterward went into the office of ex-Governor Hamilton and was admitted to the bar in 1894. Since then he has had an office of his own and has been engaged in a suc- cessful practice up to the present time.

Mr. Butterworth has from the first been in- terested in politics, and the association with and the management of men come natural to him, for he has that strain of humor and geniality which is hereditary in the Butterworth family, and which has been one of the pregnant causes of success with all men who have engaged in public life. But more than this is his honest, sincere nature, which has been responsible for his honorable record in the field of politics. In 1900 he received the Republican nomination for alder- man of the thirty-first ward, and was elected on April I of that year by twelve hundred ma- jority, and in 1902 was renominated and elected by twenty-three hundred majority. In the city council he has been a member, among others, of the judiciary committee and the committe on streets and alleys south. But he has rendered especial service to the city as a member of the committee on sanitation, of which he is chairman. He is recognized by the others members as an au- thority on sanitation, of which subject he has made deep study, and in his official capacity has had charge of drawing up the milk ordinances and other measures for the public safety. Mr. Butterworth, as the opponent of graft and in- efficiency in public office, has done much for the cause of reform, particularly in his own ward, where he has reorganized the departments of

public work, has discharged the loafers and leaches and timeservers, and so purged the city payrolls in his ward that every name thereon represents actual services rendered. He estab- lished a ward office at the corner of Ashland boulevard and Marshfield avenue, and in many other ways has established himself in the graces of his constituency. The thirty-first is one of the largest wards in the city, embracing a part of Englewood; it has three hundred and sixty-six miles of streets, and sixty thousand population.

In addition to his law practice and aldermanic duties, Mr. Butterworth has recently taken charge of the famous Drexel sub-division on the South Side, and he is also building some houses and is otherwise interested in real estate.

In 1892 Mr. Butterworth was married in Chicago to Miss Julia V. Fox, of Titusville, Pennsylvania, the daughter of English parents. They have two sons, Edward and Harry. Mr. Butterworth's brother, Harry T., is a well known 'professional singer and is manager of the Schiller Quartette of Chicago. Mr. Butterworth has long been a prominent Odd Fellow, a past noble grand and member of the grand lodge, and is also a member of the Englewood Men's Club. His law office is at 145 LaSalle street.

JOHN L. HUTCHINSON was one of the pioneers in the founding of a school in America in which the trade of watchmaking can be learned, and is now the sole proprietor of the ex- cellent institution of LaPorte known as the Hutchinson School for Watchmakers, Engravers and Opticians. Having thoroughly mastered the business in early manhood, and followed this by a number of years at practical training in the work in some of the leading watchmaking estab- lishments of the country, he was well qualified for the task which he undertook of instructing others, and the institution has met a long-felt need in the trade circles of the country. Because of his ability and skill success has come to him, and in LaPorte his business and social standing entitle him to classification with the leading men of the city

Mr. Hutchinson was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1849, and comes of an old New England family which was planted on American soil in Connecticut. Rev. Charles Hutchinson, a Presbyterian minister of New Albany, Indiana. has traced the ancestry to William the Conqueror. John Hutchinson, the father of John L. Hutchin- son, was born in Vermont, learned the trade of carpentering and located in Hanover, New

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Hampshire. He married Phebe Johnson Davis, and soon after the birth of John L. removed his family across the Connecticut river to Norwich, Vermont, where he lived for a short time, and then removed to Rutland, that state. There the Hutchinson home was maintained for many years, but the father later went to Albany, New York, where he now resides. In the line of his trade he soon gained the reputation of being an excellent workman, and while he has been an extensive contractor and builder, he has made a specialty of the higher grades of carpentry work, such as stair-building and fine finishing. He is also an architect, and in many places in the country splendid buildings stand as monuments to his skill as an architect and builder. His wife died at Lewiston, Maine, in 1894, while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. George D. Babbitt.

John L. Hutchinson was only two years old when his parents removed to Rutland, where he attended the public schools and between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years was employed by his father at carpentering. Even at that early age he showed exceptional thoroughness in his work, and this won him such an enviable repu- tation that his labors were always in demand and he was frequently given precedence over others. In October, 1868, when nineteen years of age, he went to Burlington, Vermont, when he entered upon an apprenticeship to Brinsmaid & Hildreth, jewelers and watchmakers. To learn watchmak- ing had long been his ambition, and he undertook the business with all the delight of a person carry- ing out a cherished desire. With that firm he got a good start in clock work and general jewelry repairing. After three years he entered the em- ploy of the American Waltham Watch Company, at Waltham, Massachusetts, where under the tutelage of D. D. Palmer, head adjuster on high- grade movements in that factory, he completed his apprenticeship in watchmaking, his experience there making him thoroughly qualified in the higher branches of the trade. He was such an apt and skillful student that his work attracted the favorable attention of the superintendent and treasurer of the company. He remained at Waltham for more than a year, and then returned to Rutland, where he established a repair shop of his own.

Later Mr. Hutchinson was employed for a few months by the New York Watch Company, at Springfield, Massachusetts, going thence to Northampton, that state, where he worked for J. H. Fowle, a jeweler and watchmaker, for one year. Returning then to Rutland, he had been

in that city but a short time when he received a call from D. E. Washburn, the wealthy proprie- tor of a jewelry store in Houghton, Michigan, who came there from Boston to engage his services on the recommendation of Mr. Hutchin- son's former instructor, D. D. Palmer .: Mr. Hutchinson had just borrowed five hundred dollars with which to purchase tools, and being so greatly in debt did not feel inclined to take the risk of going west with that handicap. How- ever, his honorable character and ability as a workman had been so impressed on Washburn by Mr. Palmer that the former offered to ad- vance him the money to discharge the indebted- ness if he would go to Houghton for a year. This Mr. Hutchinson did, and after two years there accepted a more advantageous offer from the Elgin National Watch Company, at Elgin, Illinois, in October, 1876, and was with them until July, 1877. He then took a still better posi- tion with N. Matson & Company, at the corner of State and Monroe streets, Chicago, and was with that firm for several months, when he was offered and accepted a position with the whole- sale jewelery firm of Lapp & Flersheim, of Chi- cago, as traveling saleman. When two years had thus passed he went into the wholesale material house of Kearney & Swartschild, with whom he remained for a few months, when he took a posi- tion with C. H. Knight, a wholesale dealer of Chicago, with whom he remained for four years, both as a workman and salesman. His next busi- ness connection was with the wholesale repair department of Giles Brothers & Company, at the corner of State and Washington streets, Chicago, and there he remained for one year, followed by four years spent as a broker and watch repairer of Chicago.

In 1888 Mr. Hutchinson came to LaPorte, In- diana, to accept a position as instructor in Par- son's Horological Institute, but after two months withdrew from that institution and established a watchmaking school of his own. Its beginning was humble, having but one student, but since that time he has had as high as sixty-five students at one time. In the early history of the school, increasing patronage seemed to justify the organ- ization of a stock company, and in August, 1892, this was done. In May, 1894, the school was moved to its present fine quarters and in October, 1896, the stock company was dis- banded and a private corporation formed, containing a few of the old stockholders .. The institution at t that time was known as the LaPorte Watch School. Since Octo-

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ber 1, 1899, Mr. Hutchinson has been conduct- ing the school alone, having purchased the stock of the others, so that he is now the sole proprietor. The institution is known as the Hutchinson School for Watchmakers, Engravers and Opti- cians, and since its establishment it has sent out into the business world many men well trained for watchmaking and repairing. The school fur- nishes a course of instruction that is broad and thorough and such as could not be obtained in a shop in long years of work. Success is attend- ing the school, and Mr. Hutchinson deserves credit in being one of the pioneers in founding a school of such value. His example has since been followed by others, and now there are a number of such schools in the country, giving scientific as well as practical instructions in the work.

While in Northampton, Massachusetts, Mr. Hutchinson was married, in 1875, to Grace A. Phillips, and they have four children: Anna- belle, Harry A., John Edwin and Mary Phillips. Mr. Hutchinson is a prominent member and a steward of the First Methodist church of LaPorte, and belongs to the Tribe of Ben Hur and the Royal Arcanum, thus maintaining fraternal rela- tions which are for mutual helpfulness and bene- fit. He is a thoroughly earnest, conscientious and capable man, always actuated by honorable prin- ciples, and wherever he has gone he has left with his friends the memory of pleasant companion- ship.

CHARLES E. HERROLD, one of the lead- ing men engaged in the mercantile business in Westville, LaPorte county, was born in New Durham township, LaPorte county, December 24, 1863, the son of Henry and Lucy (Herrold) Herrold, whose full life history is given on other pages of this volume. Mr. Herrold was reared to the life of a farmer, and followed that pursuit in the main till he was twenty-seven years old. He was educated in the common schools and also took a business course in the Valparaiso business college. March 18, 1891, he began busi- ness with his father under the style of Herrold & Son, conducting a meat market and shipping live-stock to Chicago. He was in this business until 1895, when, with a small stock of general merchandise and a small amount of capital, he . opened up on his own account. He has steadily. prospered in this undertaking, and at the present his large and complete stock of fancy and staple groceries, dry-goods, boots and shoes, and a full line of fine furniture, attract trade of about twenty-seven thousand dollars annually. This

success has been largely won by his fair and honorable dealing, which has gained the confi- dence of the people of Westville and vicinity, and he is accounted one of the most reliable and able business men in the western part of LaPorte county.

December 17, 1884, Mr. Herrold was united in marriage to Miss Emily E. Reynolds, and they have had seven children, six of whom are living, as follows: Winnifred B. is a graduate of the Westville high school with the class of 1903, and has also taken instrumental music; Alta P., in the eighth grade, is also taking music, from Pro- fessor Wolfe; Ross K. is in the sixth grade; Audrey R. is in the fourth grade; and Lucy and Raymond complete the family circle.

Mrs. Herrold was born in Westville, Indiana, May 23, 1865, the youngest of three children, of whom her brother Emerson and she survive. Emerson Reynolds is a resident of Westville, was an operator on the Monon road, and is now a pharmacist. He married Miss Alta B. Webster, of Westville, and they had two children: Wes- ley A., deceased, and Mildred, now in school. The father of Mrs. Herrold was born in Wayne coun- ty, Indiana, June 16, 1828, and died August 22, 1901. He was a machinist of more than ordinary ability and skill. He made over a hundred watches during his lifetime, and also made the first trac- tion engine in LaPorte county. He is classed as one of the pioneers of this county, and he was here when the Indians were still as numerous as the whites. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican, and in religion he belonged to the Society of Friends, as did also his wife in her earlier years, although she afterward be- came a Baptist. Mrs. Herrold's mother, whose maiden name was Lucinda Williams, was born in Wayne county, Indiana, December 9, 1832, and died March 27, 1888. Mrs. Herrold was edu- cated at Westville and graduated from the high school in 1882. She is a most genial and pleasant lady, whose forte is her home, and she has assisted her husband very much by her ready counsel and encouragement.

Mr. Herrold cast his first presidential vote for Cleveland in 1884, and has since supported that party, having been a delegate to the county conventions. He takes an interest in affairs af- fecting the general welfare, and is a member of the school board of Westville. He holds the office of master of exchequer in Lodge No. 309, Knights of Pythias, and is keeper of finance in Tent No. 31, K. O. T. M. Mrs. Herrold is ex- cellent senior in the Rathbone Sisters, No. 273,

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76. B. Herold.

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and was keeper of finance in her lodge of the Lady Maccabees. They are both members of the Methodist church, and are highly esteemed in social circles of the town.

HIRAM B. HERROLD is the efficient and capable trustee of New Durham township and belongs to that class of men who devote their energies and better judgment to the interests of their county and state as well as to the promotion of their individual business enterprises. He is a representative of one of the old families of Pennsylvania, and his birth occurred in Ohio, he being a native of Vinton county, born near Athens on the 3d of August, 1851.

His parents were Jacob and Sarah ( Minton) Herrold. His father was born in Pennsylvania in 1804, and died on the 9th of February, 1877. He was of German lineage and possessed many of the sterling traits of character of his ancestors who came from the fatherland. When but a boy he removed to Ohio, and there he resided until 1854, when he started westward, his destination being LaPorte county, Indiana. He purchased a tract of land in New Durham township, cover- ing about one hundred and eighty acres. All this was prairie land but a small portion, which was covered with timber. His first residence was of frame, and the barn which he built upon his arrival in the county is still standing. Ere com- ing to Indiana, however, Mr. Jacob Herrold had gone to the far west, for, following the discovery of gold in California, he made his way to that state by the isthmus route and along the Mexican coast. The vessel on which he sailed was ship- wrecked, and for eight days he had nothing to eat but beans, which were cooked in sea water. He was only one of five survivors who came to shore. Finally, however, he reached California and remained for a year in the Golden state. He was quite successful in his mining operations, but he had ten thousand dollars stolen from him at one time. When he returned from California he left property which he had accumulated there. Cholera broke out in the ship on which he was making the return passage, and as many as nine died in a single day, but fate was kind to him and he did not contract the disease, but returned to his home and from 1854 until his death was a respected and valued resident of LaPorte countny.

In politics he was a stanch Democrat, and advocated the principles set forth by Andrew Jackson. At the time of the Civil war, however, he was an earnest defender of the Union cause. Both he and his wife were consistent members

of the Methodist church, and he was found re- liable and trustworthy in all his business rela- tions, for he detested dishonesty and was never known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transaction. He reared his children in habits of frugality, industry and honesty, and while he depended upon his own labors for all that he possessed and enjoyed in life he yet gave freely to the poor and needy, turning none from his door empty-handed.

His wife, who was a native of Ohio, was born . in 1813 and died in 1895. She was a most in- dustrious woman, and proved to her husband an able assistant and helpmate. The family to which she belonged was of Scotch lineage, and in her life she exemplified many of the sterling traits of her Scotch ancestry. Deeply religious by nature, she lived in harmony with her professions as a member of the Methodist church, and put forth every effort in her power to impress lessons of Christianity upon her children. She had three brothers who were all ministers, and her parents had been deeply religious people.

By her marriage she became the mother of twelve children, of whom Hiram B. was the tenth. There were nine sons and three daughters, and of this number eight are now living, namely : John, who is a prosperous farmer, married and living in New Durham township; Henry, who is married and is a stockdealer and agriculturist of the same township; Joseph, who is married and follows agricultural pursuits in McCracken county, Kentucky ; Elizabeth, the widow of John R. Brooks and a resident of New Durham town- ship ; Jacob, who is married and conducts a meat market in the village of Westville; Hiram B .; Franklin P., who is married and is a prosperous merchant of South Bend, Indiana, but was formerly a farmer of New Durham township ; and Thomas M., who resides in Cool Spring town- ship, LaPorte county. Thomas M. Herrold pur- sued his studies in the Valparaiso normal school, completed his education in Chicago and is now a leading and influential agriculturist of his com- munity. He is a stanch supporter of the Demo- cratic party, and has represented his county in the state legislature.

Hiram B. Herrold was but three years of age when brought by his parents to LaPorte county, and therefore almost his entire life has been spent in this locality. He pursued his education in the common schools, and through his close application to his books, and thorough reading and experience he has gained broad practical and valuable knowledge. He is a strong advocate

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of universal education, and has always put forth every effort in his power to advance the cause of the schools. His training at farm work was received on the old homestead, and he continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits until thirty-five years of age. On the 4th of February, 1887, he entered into partnership with his brother, F. P. Herrold, in the hardware business in Westville, Indiana, and soon they secured a large and profitable trade. Their friends pre- dicted that they would meet with failure in this venture, but they were determined and resolute and readily adapted themselves to the conditions existing in commercial circles. The business in- stead of proving a failure became a very profitable venture. Mr. Herrold sold out his interest in 1893 to his brother, and the business was con- tinued until the Ist of March, 1902.

Mr. Herrold started out in life for himself . with no capital when twenty-one years of age, and during the first year which he operated his father's farm he made six hundred dollars as his share. Of this he invested four hundred and fifty dollars in ten acres of land, and within three months he sold that property for six hundred dollars. He next purchased fifty acres of land in New Durham township, and after disposing of it at a later date he bought one hundred acres. He has dealt very extensively in real estate, and has usually realized a very desirable financial re- turn upon his investments. At the present time he owns two hundred acres of rich and arable land in LaPorte county, but resides in the village of Westville. He has engaged quite extensively in raising stock and has found that a profitable source of income.

Mr. Herrold has always been a supporter of the Democratic party, believing in its principles and has frequently been a delegate to the state and county conventions. He is popular as a citi- zen and has the unqualified trust of his fellow men. In March, 1899, he was appointed by the county commissioners as trustee of New Durham township, and took charge of the affairs of that office when its finances were in a terrible condi- tion, but through his business ability the township has been placed on a strong financial basis. He has since been elected to the office of trustee by the largest majority ever given a candidate for that position in the township. In this office he has supervision over nine schools which are now in a flourishing condition, while an excellent corps of teachers is employed. He also has super- vision of the poor of the township and of the highways, and in all of his official service he is

progressive and enterprising, giving excellent satisfaction to those whom he represents.

On the 23d of December, 1875, Mr. Herrold was united in marriage to Miss Ida M. Geist, who was born in Clinton township, LaPorte coun- ty, January 23, 1855, and is a daughter of Ezra and Louisa (Bradley) Geist, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of New York. Her father is still living. Mrs. Herrold was educated in the public schools of Westville, and like her husband is a consistent member of the Methodist church.

Mr. Herrold is now the secretary of New Durham Cemetery Association, and although when he assumed this office the organization was in debt it now has money in the treasury. Many excellent improvements have also been made in the cemetery and this city of the dead is a beauti- ful one. Fraternally Mr. Herrold is a member of Daniel West Lodge No. 136, I. O. O. F., and of Encampment No. 147. He is also a past noble grand and past chief patriarch of the order, and has been a delegate to the grand lodge at Indianapolis. He likewise belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Westville, of which he was a charter member, and he holds a notable place in the regard of his fellow citizens because his life has been upright and honorable and be- cause his labors have been efficient in promoting public welfare as well as individual success.

HARRY E. MORRISON, M. D., one of In- diana's native sons, was born in Lake county on the 22d of August, 1876. His parents were Charles B. and Mary A. (Billings) Morrison, also natives of Indiana. His paternal grandfather was Ezekiel Morrison, who was born in Vermont and became an early settler in LaPorte county, emigrating westward when this section of the state was largely an undeveloped region. He was a farmer and also was actively connected with financial interests in the county and became one of the prominent and leading citizens of LaPorte. He was twice married and had a large family, and it was not until he had passed the eightieth mile- stone of life's journey that he was called to his final rest. His career was, therefore, a long, use- ful and honorable one, and his labors were of benefit to his community in which he established his home. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Mor- rison was Enoch Billings, who lived and died in Porter county, Indiana, having settled there at a very early period. He, too, was a farmer by oc- cupation, and died at an advanced age.

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A Twentieth Century History and Biographical Record of Laporte County Indiana, Part 90

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