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 17

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 17

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YNUM, WILLIAM D., mayor of Washington, Indiana, was born near Newberry, Greene County, Indiana, June 26, 1846, and is a son of Daniel A. and Mary (Hinds) Bynum. His father was a merchant, and at one time treasurer of Greene County ; he emigrated with his father from North Carolina at an early date. The family is extensive in the southern states and has been very prominent. One member was a Representative in Congress; and another, Judge of the Supreme Court of the state of North Carolina. William D. Bynum attended the common schools until April, 1866, when he entered the State University at Bloomington, Indiana, graduating in 1869. During his va- cations he was his father's assistant in the treasurer's of- fice. After graduating he entered the office of Hon. William Mack, of Terre Haute, and began the study of law. He was admitted to practice at the county bar in 1869, on motion of Hon. William E. McLane, of Terre Haute, Indiana, and to the Supreme Court of the state in January, 1879, on motion of Hon. John H. O'Niel, of Washington, Indiana. In November, 1869, he removed to Washington and began the practice of his profession, which he still continues. He was elected town attorney in 1870, and in 1872 was chosen city at- torney. This position he held until 1875, when he was elected mayor, and re-elected in 1877. In January, 1875, he was appointed by Governor Hendricks as a member of the board of trustees of the State Normal School, and held the position until June; he then re- signed, and Judge W. E. Niblack was appointed to fill the vacancy. In politics Mr. Bynum has always been a Democrat, and is one of the leaders of the Democ- racy of Daviess County. He was assistant secretary of the Democratic state convention in 1874; chairman of the Second District congressional committee from 1874 to 1876; a member of the committee on resolu- tions in the 8th of January convention at Indianapolis In 1877; a member of the committee on resolutions of the Democratic state convention in 1878; and in 1876 was the Democratic elector for the Second Congres- sional District. He canvassed several counties for the party in 1876, and in 1878 was appointed by the Demo- cratic state central committee to canvass the state in the interest of that party. October 4, 1871, he was married to Rachel Dixson, of Henderson County, Illinois. In 1879 he delivered the address to the alumni of the State University at Bloomington. He takes a warm interest in higher education, and believes that there is no reason why Indiana should not support a college in which as thorough education can be given as in Harvard or Yale, or in any university of the globe. He is a gentleman upon whom the citizens of Washington place great reli- ance. He is highly respected by all classes of the com- munity, and is fast winning a way to prominence at the bar.

Western Engl Fth Ce

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AMPBELL, DOCTOR JOHN C. L., physician and surgeon, of Loogootee, Indiana, was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, October 27, 1828, and is the son of Milton and Margaret (Smith) Campbell. His father was a farmer, also colonel of militia, county surveyor, and one of the five magistrates. John Campbell attended the academies of the vicinity and assisted his father on the farm. In the fall of 1852 he started for Missouri, and on the journey visited Martin County, Indiana, to see some relatives. From his child- hood he had a great desire to relieve the sufferings of others, and at an early age induced his father to buy him some medical books. These he began to study, and after his visit to Martin County was urged to attend lectures at the Louisville University Medical College, which he did in 1852 and 1853. In the spring of the latter year he set- tled at Mt. Pleasant, and commenced the practice of medicine, which he has continued ever since in Martin County. In 1855 he removed to Loogootee, and erected the third house in that place ; he is therefore entitled to be called one of its founders. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in Company B, 80th Regiment Indiana Volun- teer Infantry, and in November, 1863, was transferred to the 21st Regiment Indiana Heavy Artillery as assist- ant surgeon. In July, 1864, owing to ill-health, he was compelled to resign, and returned to his home again to resume his practice. He was married, December 20, 1855, to Miss Brooks, daughter of a merchant of Mar- tin County. Seven children have been born to them, all of whom are now living. The eldest son, Harlan A., is a mechanic, and the two eldest daughters are teaching school. Doctor Campbell was reared in the Methodist Episcopal faith, and his wife is also a mem- ber of that religious denomination. In politics he sym- pathizes with the Democratic party, and is an adherent of the old Jacksonian school. He is the oldest physi- cian in Martin County, and has been closely identified with the growth and prosperity of her many interests. He takes an especial interest in the promotion of educa- tional matters, and is known and appreciated far and near as a clever, genial gentleman.

AMPBELL, JAMES, late merchant of Washington, Indiana, was born on Good Friday, 1806, at Stew- ardstown, County Tyrone, Ireland. His means of education were very limited, and his schooling while a boy in Ireland consisted in attending a com- mon pay school for a period of six months. His father was a farmer, and he assisted in the work on the farm and in weaving flax. As soon as he had accumulated a sufficient amount of means to pay his passage, he em- igrated to the United States, and, at the age of twenty, in 1826, on the fiftieth anniversary of American inde-

| pendence, landed in Philadelphia. After remaining in that city for a short time, he went to work in a carpet factory in Bergen, New Jersey, as a weaver. Being required in his turn to clean out the boiler, and not thinking this kind of work consistent with his trade as a weaver, he left his position and went to Philadelphia. The following winter he attended school in that city. He then became a traveling merchant, peddling notions through the country, and in a short time engaged in merchandising at the summit of the Alleghany Mount- ains. From there he removed to Spruce Creek, and from there to Tunnel Hill, in Ohio, where he remained in business about two years. Removing to Madison, Indiana, he became engaged in mercantile business, which he continued two years, after which he went to Washington, Daviess County, Indiana, where he opened a general store, and continued in business until the year 1867. He then retired, and lived a life of quiet and ease until his death, which occurred August 27, 1876. He went to Washington in very early times (October, 1838), and by close attention to business and a life of strict integrity was enabled to accumulate a fortune, the fruits of which he enjoyed in his later years. He was married in 1833 to Sarah McElheny, a native of Pennsylvania, to whom ten children were born, six of whom, two sons and four daughters, are now living. Peter A. is now a prosperous merchant at Washington, Indiana, and James J. is engaged in merchandising in Loogootee, in the same state, and is also a gentleman of means. Mr. Campbell was brought up in the Roman Catholic faith, and always remained a devout member of its Church. In politics he was a Democrat, but never took an active part in political matters. At his death, Washington, Indiana, mourned the loss of one of her most highly respected and useful citizens, who for years had been closely identified with her growth and prosperity.

HATARD, FRANCIS SILAS, fifth Bishop of Vin- cennes, Indiana, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, December 13, 1834. Ilis parents were Ferdinand E. Chatard and Eliza Anna Marean. His father was the son of Pierre Chatard, an emigre from San Do- mingo, who was driven thence on account of the insur- rection of the negroes, through which all of his father's property was lost. Pierre, the grandfather of our sub- ject, had been sent to Europe, where he studied at Toulouse, Montpellier, and Paris, for the medical pro- fession. This enabled him to gain a livelihood for his father and himself, first at Wilmington, Delaware, where his father died shortly after reaching the American con- tinent, and afterward in Baltimore. He distinguished himself by his success and writings, and became a cor- responding member of the French Academy of Medicine.

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In this city Pierre Chatard met the daughter of another émigré from San Domingo, Marie Françoise Adelaide Buisson, who became his wife. Their son, Ferdinand, followed in the footsteps of his father, and studied med- icine, first in Baltimore, and afterward completed the course in Paris, London, and Edinburgh. On his return to America he married the daughter of Silas Marean, of Brookline, near Boston, Massachusetts, whose father served in the Revolutionary War, and was in the battle of Concord. His two sons, Silas and Thomas Marean, who were then residing near Baltimore, served in the War of 1812. Her father had led an active business life in the Island of Martinique, where he had discharged the duties of American Consul for several years and where he had married an Irish lady, the widow of an English gentleman, her maiden name having been Eliza Ferris. Such was the ancestry of Francis Silas Chatard, who was one of a family of eight children, four boys and four girls, of whom three sons (Bishop Chatard be- ing the elder) and one daughter are living. His parents also are yet living, and reside in Baltimore, at an ad- vanced age. Of the two brothers of Bishop Chatard, one, Ferdinand, is married, and is a practicing phy- sician in Baltimore; and Thomas, having prosecuted his studies in chemistry, of which he made a spe- cialty, at Harvard, and attended the mining school at Freiberg, Saxony, is now at the head of a min- ing company in North Carolina. The only sister, Ju- liana, is a Sister of Charity at Emmittsburg, Maryland. The gentleman who is represented in this sketch was educated at Mt. St. Mary's College, Maryland, whence he was graduated in June, 1853. He then became a disciple of Æsculapius, as had his paternal ancestors for two generations, and devoted himself to the study of medicine in the office of that eminent practitioner, Doc- tor F. Donaldson, of Baltimore, attending also the lectures of the University of Maryland. He resided as a student one year in the Baltimore Infirmary, attached to the university, and one year in the city alms-house hospital as one of the resident physicians. Providence, how- ever, held another mission for him, and in the year 1857 his thoughts and inclinations took a decided direction toward the Church of which he was a member-the Roman Catholic-and he resolved to study for the min- istry. Archbishop Kenrick accepted him as one of his students, and procured for him a place in the Urban College of the Propaganda, in Rome, Italy. Here he remained six years, going through the whole of the philosophical and theological courses, in the latter of which he stood his examination and received the title of Doctor of Divinity, in the Church of the Urban Col- lege, in August, 1863. In the month of November of the same year he left this institution, to assume the po- sition of vice-rector to the American College at Rome, then under the presidency of the Right Reverend Doctor

William G. McCloskey, now Bishop of Louisville, who had known him from his college days. Here he re- mained as vice-rector till May 24, 1868, when the rector was consecrated. Doctor Chatard then assumed charge of the college, and remained at its head for a period of ten years; and it was due to his efforts, supplementing those of the Right Reverend George H. Doane, of New Jersey, who canvassed the country as agent of the American bishops in 1868 with great success, that the college was relieved from debt. It was during the lat- ter period of his residence in Rome that his health be- gan to fail, and by order of his physicians he visited his native country, improving so much as to be enabled to undertake a collection for the American College, with the approbation of Pius IX, and the consent and support of Cardinal McCloskey and other archbishops and bishops of the United States. He was in this endeavor very successful, and obtained the means for relieving the college from the embarrassment of insufficient revenue. The principal events that marked the decade during which Doctor Chatard presided over the college were important. First, the meeting of the Vatican Council, during which the American College, as the residence of twenty American bishops, became a center of great interest, and a medium of social intercourse between the American bishops and those of the Catholic world. This event was followed by the taking of Rome, on the 20th of September, 1870, by the Italian troops, after a heavy bombardment lasting six hours; the cre- ation of Archbishop McCloskey, of New York, Cardi- nal of Holy Church, as Titular Priest of S. Maria sopra Minerva; the presentation to the rector of the American College, by Pius IX, in Rome, Italy, of a gold medal, large size, and of most exquisite design and ele- gant finish, as an approval of the rector's course up to that time; a short time thereafter the appointment of the rector to the position in the papal court as one of the private supernumerary chamberlains to his Holiness, in which position he had opportunities of coming in contact with the American visitors to the Eternal City, their audiences with the sovereign pontiff having been expressly placed by Pius IX in the hands of Doctor Chatard. The memory of the personal tokens of regard, as evidenced by the favors granted to him by Pius IX, is to the Bishop a cherished heritage. During the time of the rector's absence, in 1878, taking the collection in the United States, the Pope had looked for his return, and a few weeks before his death inquired of the vice-rector of the college when Doctor Chatard would return. He was informed that the rector was probably at that mo- ment on his way back to Rome. Pio Nono exclaimed, as he turned to go, " Lo credo ; lo credo." (I believe it ; I believe it.) Doctor Chatard was at that time spoken of for an American bishopric, but was not named by Leo XIII to Vincennes until the Sunday before his

July Hours Henry S. Cauthon

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arrival in Rome. Gentlemen of such scholarly attain- ments and high position are sometimes thought to be austere. Bishop Chatard proves the contrary, and is a most genial and charming conversationalist, one whose fount of learning is imbibed by all who come within its reach. His manners combine elegance with suavity, dignity without affectation.

AUTHORN, HENRY S., attorney-at-law, of Vin- cennes, Indiana, was born in Vincennes, February 23, 1828. His father, Gabriel T. Cauthorn, was a native of Virginia, and was able to trace his an- cestry in that state for a period of over two hundred years. He was a physician, and emigrated to Vincennes in her early days. His mother, Susan Cauthorn, was the daughter of Elihu Stout, who came to Vincennes from Kentucky, and, on the fourth day of July, 1804, published the first issue of the first paper in the North- west. This newspaper was the second one published west of the Alleghany Mountains. Mr. Stout was one of the early settlers of Vincennes, and in many and va- rious ways added materially to the growth and pros- perity of the city. He edited the Sun for more than forty years. In 1845 he was appointed postmaster by President Polk. He was the first Grand Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of the state of Indiana. He held many city and county offices, and the people re- garded him as one of the fathers of the city. Mr. Cauthorn attended the, common schools, and in 1844 entered the Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, from which he graduated in 1848. He immediately commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. Ben- jamin Thomas, United States district attorney at the time, one of the most prominent attorneys of the state, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He immediately commenced the duties of his profession, which he still continues, having built up a practice second to none in this portion of the state, and to-day he is regarded as one of the leading attorneys at the Knox County bar. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the dis- trict comprising Knox, Daviess, Martin, and Pike Coun- ties, and in 1855 was elected city attorney, which po- sition he held until 1858. In 1859 he was chosen clerk of the Circuit Court, and in 1863 was re-elected to the same position. In the fall of 1870 he was the Repre- sentative from Knox County, and was re-elected in the fall of 1872, and again in 1878. During the session of the Legislature in 1878 and 1879, he was chosen speaker of the House of Representatives, and for the judicious, able, and gentlemanly manner in which he discharged the onerous duties of this office, he had the warmest commendations from members of both political parties, not only doing great credit to himself, but to the state

at large. In politics Mr. Cauthorn is one of the leaders of the Indiana Democracy. He has been chair- man of the Democratic central committee, and has always taken great interest in political matters. He is a member of the Church of Rome, and was brought up in that faith. He was married, October 15, 1868, to Margaret C. Bayard, daughter of John F. Bayard, a well-known merchant of Vincennes. Mr. Bayard has four sons, all of whom have reached prominent positions, and are to-day presidents and cashiers of national banks at Evansville and Vincennes. Mr. Cauthorn is the father of four children, three of whom, two sons and one daughter, are now living. He has been closely identified with the welfare and growth of Vincennes, and is held in high esteem as one of her most useful and industrious citizens.

RAVENS, SAMUEL C., M. D., of Bloomfield, Greene County, Indiana, was born near the town of Hanover, in Jefferson County, Indiana, January 3, 1839. He is the son of John C. and Nancy M. Cravens, respectively of English and Irish descent, who are yet living, after having reared twelve children, all of whom survive. His mother, who was very charita- ble, and ministered considerably to the wants of the sick, often expressed a wish that one of her sons should become a physician. In compliance with this desire, and by a natural inclination, Samuel studied medicine. He was educated in the district and high schools of Hanover in winter, and in summer labored on his fa- ther's farm. He was always fond of reading scientific works, and his habits have always been good in every particular. Doctor Cravens taught school to obtain the means of further educating himself, and in 1861 came to Scotland, in Greene County, and gave instruction in Madison Township, Daviess County, obtaining an eight- een months' license from N. S. Given, then school ex- aminer of that county. He worked on a farm near Bloomfield during the summer of 1862, and in the fall obtained a two years' license to teach school in Cass Township. In the fall of 1862 he assisted in organizing the first teachers' institute ever held in the county. While teaching, during the winter of 1862-63, he pro- cured works on anatomy and physiology, and read, when not engaged with his school, with a view of study- ing medicine when school closed. In March, 1863, he began the study of medicine, under a preceptor, in Bloomfield, and attended Rush Medical College, of Chicago, during the session of 1863-64. While at the medical college his room-mate took the small-pox, and died. Doctor Cravens took care of him during his sickness, and after his death saw that he was properly buried. He attended the same college during the ses-

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sion of 1865 and 1866, and graduated with honor in the latter year. Locating in Bloomfield, he began the practice of his profession, which he has continued until the present time, with remarkable success. In 1870 Doctor Cravens attended Long Island College Hospital, of New York, and took an ad eundem degree. Doctor Cravens has never held, or been a candidate for, any public office. He has held all the offices in the Greene County Medical Society, and has been a director in the Bloomfield Railroad Company. He has always been identified with the Democratic party, and cast his first presidential vote for Stephen A. Douglas, in 1860. He became a charter member of Bloomfield Lodge, No. 457, Independent Order of Odd-fellows, in 1874, and has passed all the chairs of the subordinate lodge, hold- ing at the present time the office of treasurer. He is not a member of any Church, but always aids in the erection of churches, and gives liberally to religious and charitable enterprises. Doctor Cravens and Mary L. Routt were united in marriage on the 12th of June, 1866. She is his present companion, and together they have a young and interesting family of children. Doc- tor Cravens is a gentleman of strict integrity, and no man stands higher in the estimation of his fellow-men than he. All the qualities that go toward making up the perfect man are well-defined elements of his char- acter. His pride is in paying his debts, and his life is a shining example for the young to follow. In his pro- fession he stands at the head, and is well and favorably known all over the state.

OBB, THOMAS R., member of Congress from the Second Congressional District of Indiana, was born two miles east of the town of Springville, Law- rence County, Indiana, July 2, 1828. He is a son of Dixon and Mercy Cobb, the former a native of South Carolina, and the latter of Kentucky. His parents came to Indiana in 1816, and settled in what was then a dense forest. He and his family endured all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, with little or no facilities for early training of the mind; and, owing to their lim- ited circumstances, very little time could be spared for home culture, or attendance at the rude log school- houses, which were the only "temples of learning " the country offered. Mr. Cobb traces his genealogy to some very prominent ancestry in the South, New England, Michigan, and Kentucky; his mother, whose maiden name was Shelby, being a niece of ex-Governor Shelby, of that state. He very early in life manifested a desire for intellectual improvement, seeking and reading such books as were accessible to him, and taking special in- terest in ancient history. At the age of eighteen he en- tered the Bedford Seminary, at Bedford, Indiana, and,

although without a dollar in his possession, managed to complete a term of school. He applied himself with great diligence, and was rewarded by a rapid advance- ment in his studies. After the expiration of the quarter he returned to his home, and soon after took charge of a district school in the vicinity, as teacher. He subse- quently entered the State University at Bloomington, Indiana, where he took an irregular literary course of study, and then again returned to teaching, alternated with farming in summer. At the same time he began reading law, for he had early in life determined to make that profession his future calling. In 1853 he removed with his family to Bedford, Indiana, although he him- self entered the law school at Bloomington, Indiana, where he remained during the winter of 1853 and 1854. In the spring of 1854 he returned home and began prac- tice soon after, forming a partnership with Hon. C. L. Dunham, which continued for one year, and then one with Judge A. B. Carleton, now of Terre Haute, Indi- ana, with whom he remained one year. Soon after this he made a law firm with N. F. Malatt, lasting until that gentleman was chosen Judge of the Knox Circuit Court, with a residence at Vincennes. After the election of Judge Malatt, Mr. Cobb continued practice alone for a time, and then made a connection with W. B. Robin- son, now clerk of the Knox Circuit Court, this continu- ing until the election of Mr. Robinson to that position in 1874. From that date to the present he has been as- sociated with his son, Orlando H. Cobb. As an attorney Mr. Cobb ranked with the ablest in Southern Indiana, enjoying for a long period the most lucrative practice of any one at the Vincennes bar. In the year 1858 Mr. Cobb was elected to the state Senate, from the district composed of the counties of Lawrence and Martin, and re-elected in 1862, serving in all eight years. While a member of the Senate he was on several committees, the most important of which was the Committee on the Judiciary. In 1876, as the nominee of the Democratic party, he was elected to the Forty-fifth Congress, and in 1878 re-elected to the Forty-sixth Congress. While a member of the Forty-fifth Congress he was a member of the Committee on Elections, and is now one of the Committee on Appropriations, one of the most impor- tant of that body. Mr. Cobb has been universally known as a public-spirited man, always aiding and encouraging every worthy and laudable enterprise calculated to en- hance the interest of his town, county, or state. He was one of the prime movers in building the Paris and Danville Railroad, which proved of great benefit to Vincennes and the contiguous locality. He joined the Knights of Pythias in 1875, but belongs to no other se- cret organization. He is now, and always has been, a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school. Mr. Cobb was married, March 10, 1850, to Miss Caroline Anderson, daughter of Archibald Anderson, a pioneer of Lawrence

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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 17

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