USA > Indiana > A biographical history of eminent and self-made men of the state of Indiana : with many portrait-illustrations on steel, engraved expressly for this work, Volume I > Part 100
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is a model of elegance and comfort, and throughout displays æsthetic taste which reflects high credit upon the designer and decorator. A man of thoroughly do- mestic tastes himself, he delights in a generous hospi- tality, and in this he is well seconded by his amiable wife, the name of whose friends is legion. Time has dealt very gently with Mrs. Ferguson, who is but a few years younger than her husband, but whom no one would suppose to have seen half a century. Mr. Fergu- son is in the enjoyment of robust health, and is as active and energetic as a man of fifty. His constitution has never been undermined by tobacco or alcoholic drinks, which he consistently and firmly eschews, and with his loving partner he bids fair to see many years of a new century. He has passed the season of trials and strug- gles and experiments in business, and now from the round of assured success he can look back with satisfac- tion on his progress upward on the ladder of life.
INCH, FABIUS M. Few families have more strongly marked individuality than that of Fabius M. Finch. His father, Judge John Finch, in 1814 came from Livingston County, where this son was born three years before, to Hamilton County, Ohio. In 1818 he came to Central Indiana, having about him there a family of sixteen. No son was under six feet in height, and all bore his own striking personal appear- ance. The daughters were women of singular beauty and grace. The family is traced six generations in America, and then to the English Earl of Nottingham, Sir Heneage Finch. His father took up the labors of pioneer life, and did all that could be done to make his settlement a pleasant home. The educational advan- tages his children enjoyed were limited, but the family was a community to itself, where the older aided the younger. But what each one gained was through per- sonal application. It was a life of hard work. In 1827 Fabius M. Finch removed to Indianapolis and entered the law office of Judge Wick, where he com- pleted his preparatory study, and was admitted to the bar on examination. He then removed to Franklin, twenty miles south, and entered upon an active prac- tice. Naturally inclined to political studies, he became an ardent Whig, and in 1839 was elected to the Legis- lature. The term was memorable for the fierce partisan zeal that marked the conduct of all within its influence. In 1840 he was an active supporter of General Harrison, and went the round of appointments for the "Log Cabin" candidate. In 1842 he became Judge of the Circuit Court, and presided acceptably over the large circuit. He entered earnestly into the great temper- ance movement of the Washingtonians in 1845, and afterwards became the highest officer in the state-
Grand Worthy Patriarch in the Sons of Temperance. He was also the representative of the state in the na- tional councils of that powerful order. In that year he united with the Presbyterian Church, and has main- tained his Church connection to this time. In 1859 he was elected Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit for six years, and filled the position again with great credit. Up to this time he had always been a leader in the politics of his section, being a strong delegate in the state convention. He was a Whig from deep-set- tled conviction as long as the party had an exist- ence, and he still considers that party worthy of all the devotion he gave it. He was in the anti-slavery element, and was in constant opposition to the en- croachment of the slave power. He was regarded as a sagacious counselor in party principles and manage- ment. When the Rebellion was threatened he was one of the most outspoken in his support of the general government. He did not hesitate as to the right of the government to coerce a state, and to put down any treasonable conspiracy at any hazard. He was early in favor of arming the negroes and making soldiers and sailors of them. The Proclamation of Emanci- pation he regarded as equally a right and a duty. His oldest son, Captain Heneage B. Finch, entered the service at the first call. Judge Finch would have gone himself if he had not been too old; and his other son, John A. Finch, would have then gone if he had not been too young. Later this son was also in the army. The oldest son remained in the military service until the close of the war. The exposure of the life broke his constitution, and he died in 1867 from disease con- tracted in the army. The war was one unceasing in- terest to Judge Finch. He never faltered or doubted of the result. He gave personal attention to the wants of soldiers at home or in the field, and visited the front as often as he could, and was with each son when needing him in the hospital, as each unfortunately did. In early life Judge Finch developed a keen literary taste, which he has gratified and cultivated by wide and careful reading. He was at one time given to poetry so fully that he wrote, and very acceptably, for the Eastern press. Several of his verses have a fixed place in the short poems of the country. His taste in later years, outside of professional reading, has been turned to progressive thinkers in social science and practical phi- losophy. Judge Finch is now in active practice, his firm, Finch & Finch-himself and his son, John A. Finch-being the longest in continuous labor at the bar of Indianapolis. He has been uniformly successful, and has been at times very powerful with his juries. He seeks the strong point in the case and rests upon that. The firm is noted in practice for " forcing the fighting." Though now sixty-seven years of age, and an unceasing worker from the time of boyhood, Judge Finch enjoys
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good health. His regular habits of living and thinking reward him with an unabated vigor, and a ruddiness that men thirty years younger might envy. In social intercourse none can be more pleasant and agreeable. He has retained all the geniality and sprightliness that from early youth made him a choice companion of his brethren at the bar. His personal appearance is so striking, his conversation so full of wit and humor, and his whole manner so kindly and attractive, that the most casual meeting will impress even a stranger that he is with a man of men, one who royally wears "the grand old name of gentleman."
LETCHER, PROFESSOR MILES J., was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the year 1828. He was the son of Calvin Fletcher, Esq., who, although he had emigrated to the Western wilderness at an early day, had gained for himself a good general and classical education ; so that although young Fletcher's school privileges were limited to a few winter months in the year, yet, with his other brothers, he had con- stantly the advantages of home instruction, which was of more value in building up the noble characteristics of his nature than any training he could have received in academic halls. In 1847 he entered the Brown Uni- versity, at Providence, Rhode Island, from which insti- tution he graduated with honor in 1852, having inter- luded his years of student life by a year of hard work. He was prominent in his class for his general knowledge. He cared but little for mathematics, although he ac- knowledged its importance. In historical information and logic he stood above his fellows. In the spring of 1848, while spending a vacation in the village of Ux- bridge, Massachusetts, influenced by a letter from a brother, he became interested in religious matters. Without a moment of delay, after light broke in on him, he identified himself with the cause by uniting with the Methodist Episcopal Church, the one in which he was trained from childhood. He took an active yet modest part in the college class and prayer meetings, and with new light and zeal taught a class that had long been under his charge in Sabbath-school. At about the time of his conversion a spirit of religious inquiry came upon the students in Brown University. Many were converted, but Professor Fletcher remarked that all whose minds had been prepared by early Sabbath- school teachings escaped all the gloom of doubt and the temptations to skepticism. To him the preparation of the mind and heart for the world's broad field of battle was a high and holy calling. Immediately upon his graduation he entered upon his duties as professor of English literature in Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana. With characteristic zeal and energy, he la-
bored in his department, having the faculty of render- ing his branches interesting to the students. He was the friend of his pupils, not holding them off by any false notions of professional dignity, but warming them to companionship by the kindness of his manner. He visited them in sickness, closed their eyes in death, gave encouragement to them in their despondency, and employment to lessen their poverty. In the fall of 1860 he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Indiana. In this capacity his labors were incredible ; he brought honest industry and system to bear so efficaciously that at the time of his melancholy death the machinery of his office was in fine working order. All this was accomplished notwithstanding the heavy drain upon his time incident to the Rebellion. When the firing upon Fort Sumter aroused the nation he assisted, at the request of the Governor, in the drill- ing of raw recruits for the three months' service at Camp Morton ; immediately thereafter, by appointment, he visited the armories of New England, and purchased the first arms for the state of Indiana. In August, 1861, he made an arduous and dangerous journey to Western Virginia in search of his brother, Doctor William B. Fletcher, who was captured in July by the rebels. He also visited Washington on the same mission when the whereabouts of his brother were ascertained. He spent many weeks in attempting to improve his con- dition, and finally achieved his release by exchange from the loathsome warehouse at Richmond. When he returned home he resumed his system of county visita- tion and lecturing on education, which he continued until after the battle of Shiloh, when he proffered his services to carry relief to the sick and wounded. Here he labored with such assiduity that it brought on an infirmity which might have followed him through a long life had not his existence been suddenly cut short by accident. In company with Governor Morton, Doctor Bobbs, and General Noble, he left Indianapolis on a night train, on an expedition to the army at Corinth, to bring home the wounded and sick soldiers, and to carry hospital stores to others. At Terre Haute they took the connecting train for Evansville, which reached Sullivan about one o'clock. As the train was approach- ing that station it ran into a freight car. The jar and confusion caused Professor Fletcher to put his head out of the window, and something, probably a freight car or the switch, struck him on the head, crushing his skull and killing him instantly. The loss of such a man at such a time, and in such a manner, produced a pro- found sensation. Professor Fletcher had elements of popularity equaled by few. He was big-hearted and brave, tender and considerate to the downtrodden and poor, free and outspoken, and no one felt or feared that there was any dissimulation or concealment about him. He was the soul of honor and the type of generosity,
Miles & Fletcher.
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and withal had an inexhaustible flow of spirits that | gave fascination and charm to his society, and made him popular without effort to be so. He was a prodigy of work, and he did his labors so thoroughly and well that his friends were always taxing him with new bur- dens. He was no politician, and no other office in the gift of the state would have seduced him from his pro- fessorship; but he felt that in the capacity of Superin- tendent of Public Instruction he could accomplish for the cause of education in the state at large more than he could in any other position.
ALVIN, GEORGE W., of Indianapolis, was born in Jamestown, Boone County, Indiana, April 22, 1847. The Galvins of Galvin Grove were Scottish chiefs of renown, and their descendants of the north of Ireland were the ancestry of the present race of Galvins. The great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch came from Scotland, and settled in Vir- ginia. There the family resided for one generation, when the great-grandfather emigrated to Kentucky. From that state the grandfather removed to Boone County, Indiana, about the year 1835, and engaged extensively in farming, and raising blooded stock. The financial crash of 1840 wrecked his fortunes, and his death soon followed-his three sons being thrown on their own resources. George's father, at that time a young man, worked industriously on a farm, and in 1843 married Margaret Piersol, then recently from Reading, Pennsyl- vania. Miss Piersol was a lineal descendant of the New York Piersols and the Massachusetts Lincolns, and was a cousin, several degrees removed, of Abraham Lincoln. George's father stood in the same relation to Stephen A. Douglas. After his marriage he entered the mer- cantile business, with but four hundred dollars in cash and a character for business integrity. In twelve years he had acquired an independence. In 1858 Mrs. Galvin died, and Mr. Galvin removed to Indianapolis, invested extensively and judiciously in real estate, and became, and at the present writing remains, a heavy landed pro- prietor. George, the subject of this sketch, received his early education in the log school-houses of Boone County. At the age of fourteen, in the early part of the war, he enlisted in the service in every regiment he could reach, and was taken out as frequently by his fa- ther, who gave the son due credit for persistence in his ambitious desires. George now entered the North- western Christian University, remained four years, and then enlisted in the 132d Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and followed its fortunes until the close of the war. Then followed nine months' attendance at school at Fort Edward, New York. From a boy, young Galvin had indulged dreams of literary fame, and he was well
known among readers of poetry and fiction as author of stories and poems that would have done credit to one of twice his number of years. But he had determined on the law as his business in life, and sentiment was cast aside for the dry details of Blackstone and Kent. Re- turning home, he entered the office of Judges Perkins and McDonald, remained there two years, graduated, was admitted to practice, and soon after moved to Kan- sas City, Missouri, where he stayed seven years. In 1875 he returned to Indianapolis, and formed a partner- ship with Jonathan S. Harvey, ex-Treasurer of State. In the summer of 1878 Judge Samuel A. Huff, of La- fayette, was added to the firm, which is now doing a successful business, under the style of Harvey, Galvin & Huff. September 9, 1868, Mr. Galvin married Miss Mary Kingsbury, of Elmira, New York, daughter of a well-known business man. They have two children, Mary and Georgia, now living. Mr. Galvin is stoutly built, has an active mind, is an excellent judge of human nature, has a keen relish for the beautiful in poetry and art, but can make these subservient to the demands of business. He is an admirable companion, an excellent talker, and, what is better, a patient listener. He takes an honest pride in his profession, and has cases now on the docket involving vast interests. He is reticent rather than familiar, devotes but little time to the amenities of social life, makes business acquaintances rather than friends, is wedded to his studies, has his regular hours for intellectual toil, is fond of historical works, and from early morn until deep in the night, at home or in his office, applies himself to the acquisition of such knowledge as will best subserve his purposes in life.
ILLETT, REV. S. T., D. D., of Indianapolis, was born in New York, and removed with his father to Indiana in 1818, landing at old Fort Harrison, near where the city of Terre Haute now stands. They ascended the Wabash River in a family flat-boat, propelled by hand-power, all the way from the Ohio River. His father died in ten days after they landed, from sickness brought on by exposure in leaving the boat without his coat to greet the Indians then lining the bank. Many of the red men remained in the country after the settlement, to receive their annuities according to the treaty stipula- tions. Sickness prevailing extensively on the prairies, the widow with her children took refuge in the healthy wooded country near the present city of Rockville, in what is now Parke. County. Although the lands had been sold by the Indians to the general government, yet many of them remained. Among these a mission school was organized by Elder McCoy, of the Baptist Church, and here young Gillett received a portion of his early education. In 1819 he removed to Madison,
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Indiana, and became a member of the family of his half brother, Caleb B. Palmer, and while there pursued a classical course, preparatory to the study of medicine; but, as a life among the sick was uncongenial, he made application, through Hon. William Hendricks, United States Senator from Indiana, for an appointment in the government service, and received that of midshipman, dated December 1, 1826, and in March following he was ordered to active duty in New York. He was attached to the steam frigate "Fulton," which after- wards was blown up, with a large portion of her crew. His first cruise at sea was in the United States steamer " Lexington," which belonged to the Mediterranean squadron-they remaining in the seaports of the south of Europe and west of Asia three years and four months- giving its officers superior facilities for visiting its classic shores, more especially Italy, Asia Minor, and the Gre- cian Archipelago. His vessel returned in 1830, and he was permitted to visit his Western home, after an ab- sence of nearly four years. The change from boyhood to manhood was so great that an elder brother found it difficult to recognize him. Yet his mother, with true parental instinct, clasped her son to her heart at first sight, and wept tears of joy over one who had been the subject of prayerful solicitude during his absence. At that time the government furnished instruction for midshipmen at the navy-yards and on board ships in commission. As an examination for promotion occurred annually for those who had been five years in service, three of them at sea; and as merit determined the place of each on the list, there was no small degree of anx- iety on the part of the sixty composing the list of 1826 as to their success in the ordeal through which they were to pass. This induced young Gillett to press his studies while on shore rather than indulge in the sailor's usual course of relaxation while on land. After some months of duty at the navy-yard in Pensacola, he was ordered to Baltimore for examination, with some sixty others, among whom were Raphael Semmes, John A. Dahlgren, O. S. Glisson, S. C. Rowan, and C. S. Boggs, who were conspicuous in naval affairs during the late Rebellion, and who, with the exception of Mr. Semmes, have been promoted to the admiralty. The examining board was in session nearly two months, and at its con- clusion placed the name of Samuel T. Gillett at the head of the list, giving Raphael Semmes, late captain of the famous "Alabama," the next number below him. Forty-two of the class passed. Some failed, and others feared to come before the board. Gillett's success was the more gratifying, as the officers from the Eastern States affected to believe that those from the West could not compete with them. In 1830 he was again ordered to sea, and was favored with duty on board the "Delaware," ship-of-the-line. After landing Ed- ward Livingston, Minister to France, at Cherbourg,
the officers visited Paris, and other cities between that and the British Channel. The vessel then pro- ceeded to the Mediterranean, and, during a stay of two years, he visited the south of France, west coast of Italy, and Palestine. While witnessing an erup- tion of Mount Vesuvius, near Naples, he was in a perilous condition from a shower of molten lava, thrown from the crater in an oblique direction, falling in pieces of several pounds' weight around him and his companions. In Egypt he, with several of his asso- ciates, passed up the Nile to Cairo, and, being tendered horses and grooms from the Pasha's stables, accom- panied by Mr. Gliddon, United States Vice-consul, visited the pyramids, the ruins of Memphis, catacombs, and many other interesting localities in that semi-bar- barous country, the seat of literature and refine- ment as existing in ancient times. In Palestine they were received by the Governor of Jerusalem, and pro- vided with quarters in that most interesting of all cities to Bible students. After visiting many other places of note and interest they rejoined the ship at Jaffa-the Joppa of the Scriptures. They passed up the coast, visiting Tyre and Sidon, and Beyrout, where the la- mented Kingsley closed his eventful life. The " Dela- ware " then returned to Port Mahon, headquarters of the squadron, and Mr. Gillett to the United States. On his return home he was placed on leave of absence, and entered the service of the state of Indiana as civil en- gineer, in the preliminary survey and location of the Madison and Indianapolis Railroad. While thus en- gaged the great crisis of his life occurred, wholly revo- lutionizing his views of duty and course of action. Re- flecting on the insufficiency of worldly enjoyments-of which he had freely partaken-to satisfy the demands of the soul, he resolved to act on a remark dropped in his hearing by Mrs. Gillett, that "happiness was to be found in religion," and commenced reading the Bible. The result was that he became a professed Christian. On the third day of March, 1837, he was confirmed by the United States Senate as lieutenant in the navy. Be- ing passionately fond of the sea, he was for a season tempted to retain the commission so unexpectedly sent him, and for the present decline active ministerial life, which he had resolved upon. The immediate result was a loss of religious enjoyments, and distaste for spiritual exercises. Being on a visit to his brother-in- law, Rev. W. H. Goode, D. D., at New Albany, he attended a camp-meeting near by, and, after a severe struggle over the sacrifice demanded, resolved to end the matter forthwith, resign his commission, and enter on the ministerial life. His religious peace returned, and, entering the altar at the camp-ground, he com- menced among the mourners the future work of his life. Soon after, in the fall of 1837, in a letter to the Secre- tary of the Navy, he tendered his resignation, assigning
S
Oliven B. Schumer. sever.
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the reason impelling him to the sacrifice. The resigna- tion was accepted. He was duly licensed as a local preacher, and his recommendation from the Madison Quarterly Conference to the Indiana Annual Confer- ence was presented by Rev. E. G. Wood, D. D., presiding elder. He was received on trial at the ses- sion of 1837, in New Albany; and he was ap- pointed to Lawrenceburg Circuit, James Jones and Silas Rawson being his colleagues. Their labors were successful, and extensive revivals followed. In 1838 he was reappointed to the same work, with Charles Bonner in charge. Lawrenceburg having been made a station, the circuit was called Wilmington. Extensive revivals crowned their labors in the twenty- two appointments, and seventeen hundred and ninety- nine were returned to the conference. In 1839 and 1840 he was on the Rising Sun Circuit, but was trans- ferred the second year to the Union Bethel, at Louis- ville, Kentucky, by Bishop Soule. In 1841 he was sent to Lawrenceburg Station, but in the following May was ordered to the navy-yard at New York, having been commissioned as chaplain in the navy by Mr. Tyler. He remained there several months, but became satisfied he would be more useful in the regular work, resigned his position, and was reappointed to Lawrenceburg. In 1843 and 1844 he was in charge of Terre Haute Station, North Indiana Conference; in 1845 of Greencastle Sta- tion; and in 1846 and 1847 of Roberts Chapel, in In- dianapolis. He was then four years on the Centerville District as presiding elder, and was delegate from the North Indiana Conference to General Conference in 1852. At the close of this year he was elected presi- dent of the Fort Wayne Female College, but declined the appointment, and was stationed at Asbury Chapel, Indianapolis, South-east Indiana Conference. While on the Centerville District he was elected president of Whitewater College, but served only until a successor could be obtained. Preferring the regular work, in 1853 he was sent to the Connersville District, and re- mained there three years. In 1856 and 1857 he was in charge of Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, New Albany, Indiana Conference. In 1858 he was on the Bloomington District. In 1859 he was placed in charge of the Locust Street Church, Evansville District, from which he was removed in 1862 to Wesley Chapel, In- dianapolis, and remained two years. In 1864 and 1865 he was on Bloomington Station, but was retired early in 1866, and placed in the Centenary Agency ; and, in connection with his colleague, raised over thirty thou- sand dollars in cash and subscriptions for the literary and benevolent institutions; in the fall of 1866 was placed on the Indianapolis District, where he remained two years, when, on the division of the district by an act of the General Conference, in changing the boun- dary lines, he was again placed in charge of Asbury
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