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 13

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038

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 13

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amount of more than six hundred dollars. In 1836 he married Celia Guild, of Cincinnati, whose father came from Connecticut in 1818 and settled at Oxford, Ohio. She died in October, 1858. Mr. Rogers, now in his seventy-ninth year, is living at Rockport with his only child, Mrs. Celia Laird. His business career has been long and active; he is one of the few who never had a note protested, and always paid one hundred cents to the dollar.

OMINE, JAMES, of Rockport, was born March 21, 1832, in Spencer County, Indiana. His father, John Romine, was born August 17, 1806, in Mis- souri, twenty miles from St. Louis, on the Mara- mec River. In 1812 he removed to Harrison County, Indiana, and in 1815 came to Spencer County. In 1829, on the 5th of April, he was married to Hannah Gentry, who previously was from Kentucky. They were among the first settlers in that neighborhood. Mr. Romine was considered a prominent man in his day, and was honored by holding almost all the positions of trust in the county. The place he purchased had previously been occupied by Mr. Hawkins, who was the only inhabitant of the county, and was two miles from Gentryville. He was an active Christian. James at- tended the common schools of his neighborhood, re- ceiving a fair English education, which has been of material use to him in the many responsible positions of trust held during life. He even obtained a proficiency in the higher mathematics greater than ordinarily found at that day. Up to 1860 James Romine followed farming, living until that period a quiet, retired life, when he was called from his country home to take the office of county recorder of Spencer County. He advo- cated the Democratic principles in politics, and was elected to office by that party. In 1874 he was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature by a majority of five hundred and forty-one votes, running ahead of the state ticket throughout the county. The number of votes polled in this election showed that Mr. Romine was no sluggard in the race, and that he must have been very popular among his political opponents, as well as among his own party friends. In 1876 he was put in nomination for county clerk and elected, and in this contest beat an excellent man, which also speaks volumes for his popularity in his own county. In De- cember, 1858, he was married to Miss Sydney Olive Stites, of Spencer County, and is the father of six chil- dren. Mr. Romine is a very kind-hearted and affable gentleman, strictly honest and upright. He is courteous in his manner, and is an excellent choice for any office intrusted to him by the people. He has the reputation of attending strictly to business, and of being temperate

Marcas Sherry

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not only in his views of men and things, but also in [ shells that has been found to exist, or to have ever ex- his habits. He is regarded as a representative man by the people of Spencer County.

isted, in the Wabash River, some of which are exceed- ingly rare. His museum also contains many specimens of natural history, most of which were secured and pre- pared for preservation by his own hands. Mr. Sampson, though seventy-three years of age, is vigorous, and keeps himself constantly employed, as he is daily finding new objects of interest in science for study and investigation. Mr. Sampson has always been a Democrat in politics. In 1833 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, which office he held for several years, being also an ex officio county commissioner. After the present law regarding county commissioners took effect he was a member of the first board, the other members being J. T. Morehead and Richard Barter. He was also trustee of the township for six years. He was the first president of the New Harmony Maclurean Institute, an office which he held for several years. He was married in August, 1828, to Miss Eliza Wheatcroft, of New Harmony, a native of Virginia. Three daughters have been born to them; the oldest is the wife of Professor Edward T. Cox, late state geologist of Indiana; the second was married to Julian Dale Owen, and was drowned by the sinking of a steamboat in the Mississippi River while going on a visit to him at Helena, Arkansas, during the late Civil War. The third daughter is the wife of Absalom Boran, of New Harmony.

AMPSON, JAMES, retired merchant, of New Har- mony, Indiana, was born in Roxbury, Massachu- setts, September 6, 1806. At the age of ten years his father's family removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, arriving there on Christmas day, 1816. His education was principally obtained at Cincinnati, where he at- tended for some time a school taught by a brother of General Harrison, afterwards President of the United States. After receiving a fair education at the public schools he was apprenticed by his father to learn the saddlery trade. In the year 1827 he removed to New Harmony, Indiana. A school of industry was then in progress at that place, in which he was engaged to teach his trade. Soon after, he opened a small shop and began business as a saddler and harness-maker. He continued successfully at this until 1839, when he formed a partnership with R. H. Fauntelroy, and en- gaged in general mercantile business until 1843. Dur- ing this time he made three trips to New Orleans on flat-boats with cargoes of produce and grain. On ac- count of a general depression in trade he determined in 1843 to withdraw from active commerce until times be- came more prosperous, and sold out to his partner. In 1845 he, in turn, bought out Mr. Fauntelroy, and con- HERWOOD, MARCUS, of Evansville, was born in Fairfield County, Connecticut, on the 28th of May, 1803. His father, David Sherwood, was born June 13, 1777, was a stone-mason by trade, and was at one time a member of the state Legislature. He was married to Mary Turney, April 23, 1801, from which union they had four children, the subject of our sketch being the second child, and the only one now living. Marcus, like most of our New England boys of that day, attended school in' the winter only, and when spring came his slate, arithmetic, and copy-book were laid away, while he devoted the remaining nine months of the year to work for his father. In his early boyhood Mar- cus was seized with the "Western fever." His uncle, Eli Sherwood, had made an extensive trip on horse- back through the southern wilds of Indiana, and on his return home gave glowing accounts of his adven- tures. The boy was captivated, and, notwithsanding his father's desire to keep him at home and apprentice him to a blacksmith, he finally, after considerable pleading, obtained his parents' permission to go West. He started for Evansville with his uncle, a distance of one thousand miles, driving an ox team from his home to Pittsburgh. This part of their journey was slow and difficult, owing to the zigzag course they were ducted the business himself until 1856, when he entered into partnership with A. E. Fretagest. In 1859, having acquired means sufficient to keep himself and family during the remainder of his life, he determined to retire, and disposed of his interest to his partner. Since then he has devoted his time to the gratification of a taste for the natural sciences. While a young man Mr. Sampson was accustomed to collect such specimens in natural science as could be found around New Harmony for Thomas Say, and afterwards Doctor David Dale Owen, and had acquired so great a taste for this that when he retired from active businesss he devoted his spare time to the collection of all kinds of specimens of natural science and natural history to be found along Wabash River and in the vicinity of New Harmony. He also obtained various scientific works, and made a special study of conchology for the purpose of properly classifying and arranging his vast collection of shells. He has taken great pleasure in this pursuit, which he follows as a mere pastime, and has a museum embrac- ing a vast and very valuable collection of shells, fossils, and other specimens of natural science, collected en- tirely by himself. All these he has carefully classified, labeled, and for the most part arranged in cabinets, and they embrace specimens of almost every species of obliged to take across rivers and over mountains. The A-5.

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trials were sometimes severe, but Marcus perseveringly drove his team, and in fifty-eight days they reached Pittsburgh, he having walked every step of the way, both men and animals being nearly worn out. Here they purchased a flat-boat, loaded it with all their ef- fects, and, after a long voyage, arrived at Evansville on the 6th of June, 1819. Marcus was now but sixteen years old. He continued to work for his uncle un- til he was of age, and then struck out for himself at odd jobs. He soon earned the reputation of be- ing a first-class man, and was in request. As a day laborer, at fifty cents a day, he gradually acquired means sufficient to buy a flat-boat and begin operations for himself. For the first two years he served as a fore hand, and during the ten following years was proprie- tor, his business from the first being profitable, the sec- ond trip alone yielding one thousand dollars net income. In the twelve years he spent on the river, he visited New Orleans twenty-eight times. He speculated largely in pork and produce, and always realized handsome profits. Few men of Southern Indiana struggled more persistently or more successfully than did Marcus Sherwood. Being governed by the motto, "Labor omnia vincit," and possessing the courage to test it, he made his way against reverses that would have hindered the progress of most men. His rule of life was founded upon the principle of never deviating from a fixed purpose to do right, and by his faithful- ness he retained the confidence of all around him. Upon coming to Evansville Mr. Sherwood found it a mere village of a few log huts, with wolves and deer on every side; he has lived to see it a city of over forty thousand inhabitants, and to become one of its wealthy citizens. The capital earned in his former years he in- vested in real estate, and that principally the land upon which Evansville now stands, thereby laying the founda- tion of his present wealth. Mr. Sherwood was one of the advocates and contractors of the canal and levee, and to him great credit is due for the excellent public work he so admirably performed. He constructed the " Sherwood House" at a time when most people doubted the success of the undertaking, but it stands to-day a monument to his enterprise. He is a member and one of the founders of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in this city. Being open-hearted as well as full-handed, he gave of his wealth whenever and wherever it was needed, and has thus indelibly stamped his memory in the hearts of all who knew him. In support of Churches, colleges, and charitable institutions, he has given many thousands of dollars. As a private citizen he has been found generous and full of noble im- pulses. Orphan children have found their way to his house, and his home has been their home; one of these little ones remained with him seventeen years, and three others were fully reared and started in life before

| going from his door. He was married, in 1834, to Miss Prudence Johnson, daughter of Alexander Johnson, Esq., one of the most amiable and pious women of her time. She took a lively interest in all that pertained to the welfare of the community, and gave earnest aid to her husband in his various enterprises. She was a de- voted member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church from its organization, in 1851, until her death, which occurred on the morning of July 18, 1870. She left a bereaved husband, an only son, and sympathizing friends, who will not soon forget her example of Chris- tian fortitude and purity of life. Mr. Sherwood has always enjoyed good health, having been blessed with a frame and constitution well suited to the hardships of pioneer life. Though not a student of medicine, he possesses a wide knowledge of its principles, and seems to contain a materia medica within himself. In his later days he has given up worldly pursuits, and devoted his time to the study of the Bible and the interests of his Church.

AY, THOMAS, naturalist, was born in Philadel- phia, July 27, 1787, and died at New Harmony, Indiana, October 10, 1834. He was educated in Philadelphia, and gave his entire time to the nat- ural sciences. In 1812 he was one of the founders of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. In 1815 he spent some months in East Florida, investi- gating the natural history of that region. In 1819 he was appointed chief zoologist in Long's expedition to the Rocky Mountains, and in 1823 accompanied that to St. Peter's River in the same capacity. In 1825, upon the urgent solicitation of William Maclure, Esq., he removed to New Harmony, Indiana, where he spent the remainder of his life, devoting himself to the prep- aration of his works for the press and to extensive ex- plorations in that region. Here he wrote his work on " American Entomology" (except the first two volumes, which he had published before leaving Philadelphia), and his work on "American Conchology." His com- plete writings on "Entomology" were edited by J. L. Le Conte (New York, 1859), and on "Conchology " by W. G. Birney (New York, 1858).

HACKELFORD, GENERAL JAMES M., a law- yer, of Evansville, was born near Danville, Ken- tucky, in the year 1827. He pursued a course of instruction in the Stanford high school. At the age of twenty he was commissioned as a first lieuten- ant in the army, and served in the Mexican War, in 1847 and 1848. On the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, he was commissioned colonel, and commanded

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a regiment at Fort Donelson. He next raised a regi- ment of cavalry, and, being promoted to brigadier-gen- eral, started through Southern Indiana and Ohio after General Morgan, the confederate chief. The chase lasted about thirty days, and was terminated by Mor- gan's capture near New Lisbon, Ohio. General Shackel- ford next figured conspicuously for several months in the East Tennessee campaign, when he was called home by the death of his wife. Although offered a major- general's commission, he refused to remain longer. He studied law under Judge Cook, and afterwards practiced with him in Madisonville, Kentucky, since removing to Evansville. He has been very successful in his profes- sion while in the state of Indiana.

LAUGHTER, DOCTOR W. W., was born No- vember 16, 1825, in Corydon, Harrison County, Indiana, the former capital of the state. His father, James Brooks Slaughter, was born in Nel- son County, Kentucky, in 1792, of English parentage, who emigrated to Virginia from Herefordshire, England. James Brooks Slaughter was a physician of consid- erable local celebrity, as well as a politician, hav- ing served the people of his county in both branches of the state Legislature. He died of Asiatic cholera in 1832, leaving a family of six children. The mother of the subject of our sketch, Delilah Slaughter, born in Shelby County, Kentucky, was a daughter of Captain Spier Spencer, celebrated among the pioneers as an In- dian fighter. He accompanied General St. Clair in his disastrous campaign against the Shawnees, in the region now constituting the state of Ohio, participating in the battle of Blue Licks and many other engagements. He commanded a company called the Yellow Jackets, under General W. H. Harrison, at Tippecanoe, where - he was killed. A county in Kentucky, and one in Indiana, bear his name. Doctor W. W. Slaughter had MITH, ANDREW J., M. D., Tell City, Perry County, was born in Ohio County, Kentucky, De- cember 31, 1841, being the son of Benjamin and Katherine W. Smith. His father, who was a farmer of Scotch descent, was an early settler in Ken- tucky, and his mother was of German ancestry. The nature of the times and the place afforded no educa- tional advantages. Three months of any sort of schooling was all young Smith had any opportunity of obtaining, and great is the credit to-day due him as a man for the position he occupies. He is a man who has gained for himself, by dint of pluck, perseverance, and study, all that he knows and possesses. To-day he is the leading physician of his county. At the age of thirteen, being disgusted with the institution of slavery and his sur- roundings (though not of his home), he determined to but limited educational advantages in his youth, being only such as were afforded at the primitive district schools of early days. When sixteen years of age he entered a printing-office in his native village, with the intention of learning the trade. The press and other implements were very crude, and he soon became pro- ficient in their use. This employment was not con- genial to his taste, and he decided to abandon it for the profession of medicine, for which he was better fitted both physically and mentally. He studied two years under the direction of Doctor John Slemons, a graduate of an Eastern school, and a very successful practitioner, and afterwards with Doctors Meeker and Higday, of Laporte, Indiana, where he graduated from the medical school in 1849. He began the practice of his profession at Cannelton, Perry County, Indiana, where he married | strike out into the world, where he could attain to a

| Miss Caroline Pell, of his native county, and soon there- after removed to Kentucky. In the last-named state he resided from the year 1850 to 1860. He then returned to Indiana, locating at Newburg, where he now resides with his children-a son and daughter. His wife died in 1872. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he ear- nestly espoused the cause of the government, and labored faithfully for the Union until the close of the war. He raised a company for the 60th Indiana Regiment-Colo- nel Richard Owen-and was appointed assistant sur- geon, and subsequently surgeon of that organization. He served until 1864, when he resigned on account of ill-health. He was taken prisoner at Mumfordsville with a battalion of the regiment, but was exchanged in a few weeks. He was with General Sherman's army at the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, in the first attack on Vicksburg, at the storming of Arkansas Post, and the capture of Jackson, Mississippi. He was also present with General Grant's army at the siege and surrender of Vicksburg. After the latter event the Thirteenth Corps, to which his regiment belonged, was removed to the Department of the Gulf, under General Banks, and afterwards to the Bay of Matagorda, Texas, where it remained until the spring following, when it was ordered to New Orleans. Doctor Slaughter as a citizen has taken an active interest in the educational work of his adopted home. While occupying the position of town trustee, he was instrumental in the erection of a commo- dious brick school-house in Newburg, having contributed largely of his means. He is an earnest advocate of the cause of temperance, and wields a great influence in the community in which he lives. Doctor Slaughter has been the nominee of the Republican party for the state Legislature. He is a useful, public-spirited citizen, and enjoys the respect and esteem of the citizens of his town and county.

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higher sphere than his home vicinity could ever afford. His father at the time was a slave-owner, and, although he was a kind master, the son was so impressed with the evil of slavery that he determined to go to one of the free states. He was, as he afterwards remarked, a born Abolitionist. And so, at the age of thirteen, he left home and worked his way to New Orleans on a flat-boat, there entering the United States navy, in which he served three years and seven months, gaining considerable experience, and being instructed in the ship school, that being under the charge of the chap- lain, and attended by all the boys on board. During that time he cruised in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Newfoundland, and visited Liverpool and Havre de Grace. On leaving the service he made his way to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he obtained employment in a foundry, boarding himself in a garret, it being all his pay would afford, and attended night school, being determined to gain an education for himself. In 1859 he went to Louisville, where he attended the Medical College until the spring of 1861, making great progress in his studies. The war breaking out, the college dis- solved, the professors entering the armies. Some joined the North, and others the South. Young Smith then returned to Cincinnati, where he enlisted in the Ist Kentucky Regiment, at Camp Clay, Ohio. A few days before his term of service expired he engaged in the battle of Bull Run, where he received a slight wound. His term of service expired, he returned to Louisville, and re-enlisted in the Louisville Legion, Colonel L. H. Rousseau, commander. It was the first regiment that went South from Louisville. He was at the battle of Shiloh, where he was again slightly wounded in the left side, and then participated in the siege of Corinth. After that he marched to Battle Creek, East Tennessee, but, his force being outflanked by General Bragg, it retreated to Louisville in 1862; then, pressing Bragg back, brought on the battle of Perryville. His com- mander followed Bragg till he passed Cumberland Gap, and then went on to Nashville. From there they ad- vanced to Murfreesboro, where the enemy was encoun- tered at the battle of Stone River, December 31. The Doctor at that battle was in the right wing, which was hard pressed, and was most severely wounded by shell and ball, which laid him up four months in a hospital. On recovering, he rejoined the army the day before the battle of Chickamauga, in which he took part and was again badly wounded, necessitating a return to hospital. On recovering he again joined his regiment, engaged in the battle of Chattanooga and the storming of Mis- sion Ridge, where the regiment lost five color-bearers. He was the sixth, but was not discouraged. He boldly seized the colors, and bore them in triumph to the top of the Ridge. Two hours after the Ridge was taken they marched off to Knoxville to relieve Burnside, who

at that time was hard pressed by Longstreet, and re- mained for the winter at Knoxville. In the following spring he was in the Georgia campaign, in which he fought in all the actions up to the battle of Jonesboro. His term of service having again expired, he was mustered out, October 17, 1864. He immediately re- enlisted in the 4th United States Veteran Infantry, a corps of honor made up as guard to General Han- cock, being composed only of those men who could show a record of three years' active and meritorious service. Most of the time until the close of the war was spent in the Shenandoah Valley. At the end of the struggle he returned to Washington City, where he was one of the guard of the assassins of the President, and was on the scaffold at the time they were hanged. Then he was ordered to Texas, and from there to Min- nesota, to assist in quelling Indian hostilities. March, 1866, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, and appointed second assistant surgeon to the regiment. A month later, in a fight with the Indians, he received a severe scalp wound, escaping death very narrowly, for, after he had fallen an Indian ran up to him to scalp him, when a comrade fired, and the Indian fell in the very act of killing him. The Doctor retired from the service early in May, 1866, being no longer able to stand the exposure and fatigue, owing to his many wounds, and particularly his last one. During the war he had in- trusted all his pay to a friend. He made his way to him at Rockport, Indiana, only to find on arriving there that this person had proved false to his trust, and had squandered all the money committed to his care. The Doctor then found himself almost entirely without means, but did not give up in despair, for he immedi- ately made his way to Richland and began as a phy- sician, encountering the most intense opposition from the medical profession, and from the very people to whose protection he had so largely contributed during the war by his gallant and arduous services. While there he be- came acquainted with Miss Amanda K. Hill, a most es- timable young lady, to whom he was married May 17, 1866. Immediately after his marriage he removed to Newtonville, Spencer County, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, and met with the most flat- tering success. In 1872 the Doctor attended a course of lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincin- nati, where he graduated with full honors. In 1873 he moved to Tell City, where he has since resided, still meeting with great favor, and enjoying the confidence, honor, and respect of his fellow-citizens. During three years of his residence in Tell City he was United States pension surgeon, and was lecturer on physiology at the public school in the winter of 1879-80. He is a regular contributor to some of the leading medical journals. Last year the Doctor contributed an article on " Vari- cose Ulcers of the Leg, and How to Cure Them With-

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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 13

Author: Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1038

Author:
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Cincinnati, Ohio : Western Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1038