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 4

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 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[Ist Dist.

part in the battles of Ball's Bluffs, Winchester, Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and others. After the battle of Antietam he was made first lieuten- ant of his company, and six months later was placed in command of the First Division, Twelfth Army Pioneer Corps. After this he became for a time inspector on General Ruger's staff. In 1864 he took charge of the company and went west under Ilooker, taking part in the engagements at Resaca and at Atlanta. While in the service he was wounded four times-once at each of the engagements at Antietam, Winchester, Chan- cellorsville, and Resaca-the last time so seriously that he was compelled to resign and return home. One of the noted events in Captain Bloss's career during the war was the finding of the " lost order," which, as McClellan states in his "Report of the Organization and Campaigns of the Army of the Potomac," fully dis- closed General Lee's plans in his Maryland raid. This dispatch was found under a locust tree in front of Fred- erick City, Maryland, in an envelope, which also con- tained two cigars. It was written on the 12th and found on the 13th, and gave the relative position of all Lee's forces, and his plan of the Maryland campaign, and directed his corps to meet him at Boonsborough on the 18th. General Lee had designed not only to hold " heroic Maryland," but to plant the war in the "wheat fields" of Pennsylvania. The entire plan was drawn out in detail, and a copy given to each of his corps com- manders. One of the latter, D. H. Hill, a man of coarse and brutal eccentricities, had, in a fit of displeas- ure at the place assigned him, thrown the paper to the ground. Pollard, a Southern writer, in a summing up of this event, states that the wives of D. H. Hill and Stonewall Jackson are sisters, and it was generally be- lieved that Mrs. Hill had long urged her husband to do something whereby some portion of Jackson's lustrous fame might be acquired and accrue to him. Be this as it may, Captain Bloss came into possession of this dis- patch, and at once forwarded it to General McClellan, who by these means became aware that D. H. Hill alone was in his front, and that Jackson was at Harper's Ferry. He accordingly pushed on to South Mountain, whipped Hill, and drove him across Antietam, and then, unfortunately, instead of pushing forward, he waited two days for Lee to collect his forces, as the order showed that he would do. This order was used as one of the evidences against General Mcclellan dur- ing his investigation by Congress, and was probably the cause of his being removed from the command of the Potomac, while D. H. Hill was severely denounced throughout the South. After the war Captain Bloss took one course of lectures in the Ohio Medical Col- lege, at Cincinnati, and then practiced his profession for a while in New Philadelphia, Indiana. In 1865 he mar- ried Miss McPheeters, daughter of Colonel McPheeters,

of Livonia, Indiana, since which time he has been en- gaged in teaching, filling, during the interval, some very important positions, and has been prominently be- fore the public in educational work. At Orleans, Indi- ana, he had charge of the academy for four years, and, in connection with this work, was county superintendent for three years. He was at New Albany, Indiana, as principal of the female high school, from 1870 to 1875, and graduated eighty-five of his pupils. He resigned his position to answer a call to Evansville, where he has been for the last four years. In 1874 he was put in nomination by the Republicans as their candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, but was de- feated, in common with all Republican candidates of that year. Mr. Bloss has been an active member in county institutes, has been president of the State Teach- ers' Association, and is at this time secretary of the State Board of Education. As an educator, Mr. Bloss's record is a good one. His Board of Education regard him very highly, and compliment him on the thorough- ness of his work in the public schools of Evansville.

OONE, RATLIFFE, of Boonville, ex-Governor of the state of Indiana, and for sixteen years Congressman for the First Congressional District of Indiana, was born in Georgia about the year 1780, and was a cousin to the great pioneer, Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. When very young, his parents moved to Warren County, Kentucky, and at Danville, in that state, he learned the gunsmith's trade. In 1814 he came to Indiana, and settled about two miles from the town which was named in honor of him. He mar- ried a Miss Deliah Anderson, of Kentucky, whose fa- ther came to Indiana at an early day. Colonel Boone, as he was then called, was twice elected Lieutenant- governor, and during the last term in this office filled an unexpired term as the chief executive of the state. He was elected to Congress eight different times, and served, in all, sixteen consecutive years. In 1839 he removed to Pike County, Missouri, and was beaten by Thomas H. Benton in caucus as a candidate for the United States Senate. In 1846, a few hours after he heard Polk was elected, he died. He desired to live to see this election, and had his wish gratified, and that, too, in a way which greatly pleased him. He had in all, by his wife, ten children, five boys and five girls. His sons died young; only one lived to be over twenty- three. All of his children are now dead except Mi- nerva, who lives in Pike County, Missouri. It was customary for Colonel Boone always to return home in the spring, and lay out the corn-rows for his sons, and then go back to Congress. He was a member for a while of the Presbyterian Church.

Jours Truly Hieny Brinkmann inkmann

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

Ist Dist.]

LOUNT, HENRY F., of Evansville, plow manu- facturer, was born in Richmond, Ontario County, New York, May 1, 1829, and is the son of Walter Blount, a woolen manufacturer, and a native of Connecticut. His ancestors, some three generations back, emigated to this country from Lancashire, Eng. land. Mr. Blount's early education was such as could be gained at the ordinary common schools. At the age of twenty years, having served an apprenticeship in a mercantile house, he came West, and obtained a clerk- ship in the store of G. W. Langworthy, at Worthing- ton, Indiana. Some three years afterwards he became a partner in the business, and remained in that connec- tion over eight years, the business proving quite suc- cessful. In 1860 he removed to Evansville, and assumed the financial management of the Eagle Foundry, pur- chasing a one-third interest in the business. This he managed with success for some eight years, when he sold out his interest, and purchased the entire plow- works, which were then connected with the foundry. He has since continued the manufacture of Blount's steel-point plows, which has assumed large proportions, the plows being sold in all parts of the South and South-west. Mr. Blount is a director in the Evansville National Bank, and is president of the board of trustees of the Willard Library Association.

RINKMAN, HENRY, manufacturer, of Mt. Ver- non, was born in the duchy of Lippe-Detmold, now a part of Prussia, June 16, 1825. Up to the age of fourteen years he attended school, obtain. ing a fair education, and then worked for six years in a brick-yard, learning the business. He then acquired the trade of wagon-making, at which he was employed for about five years. In 1850 he emigrated to America, and upon landing went directly to Evansville, Indiana, where he remained for two months, when he went to Mt. Vernon, being obliged to walk the whole distance, as he had no money to pay his fare. He obtained steady employment at wagon-making, and at the end of a year went into partnership with his employer, Gottlieb Koerner, in their manufacture. This connection lasted only about two years, when he again worked as a jour- neyman, for some seven or eight years. In 1861 he opened a small shop for himself and began the manu- facture of the Brinkman Wagon, having but a single apprentice as workman, besides himself. He found a ready sale for his products, and as they gave excellent Atisfaction, his trade increased so that he was soon obliged to enlarge his facilities. Gradually his business improved, and he now employs from twelve to fifteen hands during the entire year in the making of wagons and buggies, which have acquired a high reputation for

their excellence and durability. He has recently begun the manufacture of a new style of plow, invented by him- self, called the Posey Clipper, and is also engaged in the making of drain-tile, which gives employment to six men. In 1869 he established a brick-yard, and was largely engaged as a brick manufacturer up to the year 1875. In 1877 he formed a partnership with William Burtis, and opened a depot for the sale of agricultural implements of all kinds at Mt. Vernon. In this line the firm transact a business of from fifteen to twenty thousand dollars per year. For five years Mr. Brinkman was president of the Manufacturers' Aid Society, of Mt. Vernon, of which he is still a director. In 1869 he was elected a member of the city council, holding this office for two years, and was elected to the same office for the same length of time in 1879. He has been a Republi- can since the first election of Abraham Lincoln. He was married in 1852, at Mt. Vernon, to Miss Margaret Hahn. They have ten children, five sons and five daughters, all now living. Mr. Brinkman is emphat- ically a self-made man. Having begun life with no capital but his hands and brains, he has built up by industry and energy a large and thriving manufacturing establishment, and has by his upright and honorable dealings won the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides.

RYAN, DOCTOR ANTHONY H., M. D., of Evansville, was born in Monticello, Wayne County, Kentucky, on the 22d of August, 1832. Ilis father, Edmund Bryan, was born February 19, 1796, and died August 4, 1863. He practiced medi- cine forty years of his life. After he had been thus en- gaged for some time, he entered the Ohio Medical Col- lege, Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1836, just four years after Anthony was born. J. S. Pierce, his wife's only brother, studied medicine under him, and graduated in the same class with him. Doc- tor Edmund Bryan, besides being a general practitioner, was skilled in the art of surgery, and often rode on horseback seventy-five and eighty miles to attend a pa- tient. During the latter part of his career, while con- tinuing his practice, he engaged in commercial pursuits, but, leaving his business wholly in the hands of other parties, his trust was betrayed, and he suffered great loss. After his death his widow, Mrs. Lettice Bryan, a woman of remarkable strength and ability and superior educational advantages, taught school for a time. She was born February 23, 1805, within one mile of Dan- ville, Kentucky, and was closely related to the most aristocratic and leading men of the state of Kentucky. Her mind was fertile, and richly and variously stored. She is the authoress of several works, one, " The Ken- tucky Housewife," published by Shepherd & Co., Cin-

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[Ist Dist.

cinnati, Ohio, about forty years ago, has become exten- sively known. Another, a work on " Baptism," a translation from the Greek and Hebrew, consisting of some four hundred pages, together with a book entitled " Silence in Heaven," is yet in manuscript form. Ef- forts will probably be made to issue these publications some time in the future. Such were the flattering sur- roundings of Doctor Anthony Bryan's home in his younger days. He attended the common schools until fourteen years of age. Ile then received tuition at the Floydsburg Academy, under Doctor James Knapp, now of Louisville, Kentucky, and graduated from the Medi- cal Department of the University of Louisville in the winter of 1856 and 1857. He had now studied medi- cine in all eight years. In 1857 he went into partner- ship with Doctor B. S. Shelburn, of Shelby County, Kentucky, and continued with him one year. He then spent one year in Westport, Kentucky, but in 1859 he moved to McLean County, Kentucky, seventeen miles back of Owensboro, where he practiced his profession until May, 1876, a period of seventeen years. During all the time of the late war he did a large and labori- ous work. He was a Union man and was anxious to enter the service, but his time and skill could not easily be spared from his practice at home. In 1876 he was induced, for the sake of his family, then growing up, to seek a locality where his labors would not be so irk- some, and at the same time secure educational facilities and other advantages for his children. He accordingly moved to Evansville, where he has been practicing his profession ever since. He has held the office of county physician, with marked ability, since March, 1878. He accepted a professorship of general pathology in the Evansville Medical College for the session of 1876 and 1877, and he had charge of the charity department of St. Mary's Hospital for one quarter. Doctor Bryan's father, five of his paternal uncles, his only maternal uncle, and two of his brothers, were doctors. One brother was a surgeon in the army, the other, the eldest, graduated in Europe, and while he was gone Doctor Bryan was married, April 21, 1857, to his wife's sister, Miss Irene Josephine Thomas, daughter of Middleton Thomas, of Kentucky, a large planter in that state. They have had seven children, six of whom are still living. The eldest son, Stanton L., is now studying medicine. Doctor Bryan has been a frequent contribu- tor to the various medical journals in the country, and his articles are noted for singular clearness. One of these papers (Richmond, Louisville Medical Journal, Vol. VIII, No. 9, page 544), treating of the " Ovarian Ori- gin of Sexuality," is considered an able article. The Doctor was one of the founders of the Green River Medical Association, Owensboro, Kentucky. This was finally blended with one and named McDowell Medical Society, after the name of the man who first extracted an

ovarian tumor, and thereby founded ovariotomy. Doc- tor Bryan has been for the past thirty years a member, in good standing, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He takes a lively interest in all matters of public im- portance, and is one who strictly and conscientiously attends to the duties of his profession.

UCHANAN, COLONEL JACOB S., of Evans- ville, Indiana, attorney and counselor at law, was born in Jefferson County, Indiana, in February, 1822. His paternal grandfather was a native of the north of Ireland and of Scotch descent; his mater- nal grandfather was a German. His father, a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, was reared in Lexington, Kentucky, and about the year 1800 settled on the Ohio River about twenty miles above Madison, Indiana. Some two or three years afterward, with three of his brothers, he went into Jefferson County, Indiana, where they built a block-house and stockade as a defense against Indian attacks, and became pioneer farmers. Jacob S. Buchanan was reared on a farm near Vevay, Switzerland County, Indiana, to which his father had removed with his family when he was a child. His early education was received at the common country school during the winter months, and was supplemented by a year's study with a private tutor after he was twenty-one years old. He had begun to read law at the age of eighteen years, more because he was fond of doing so than with a view of taking it up as a pro- fession, and he continued this until he was admitted to practice, in 1849. In the following year he opened a law office at Versailles, Indiana, and succeeded in ob- taining a good practice in the two years of his stay there. He then removed to Charlestown, Clarke County, Indiana, where he soon acquired a good practice, which he retained until the breaking out of the Civil War. He then abandoned his profession and went to his old home at Vevay, where he raised a company of cavalry, and entered the United States Cavalry. With six com- panies of this regiment he went to Washington, where, with four other companies, they became the 3d Indiana Cavalry, a regiment second to none ever raised. Everý man in the six companies first raised furnished his own horse. Captain Buchanan was promoted to the lieu- tenant-colonelcy of this force, and had command of it during most of his military service. The regiment re- mained in Washington until November, 1861, when it went down to the mouth of the Patuxent River, Maryland, and remained there until May. It then went into Virginia, and guarded the railroads and patrolled the country from Manassas to Thorough- fare Gap. In July and part of August the regiment was on scouting duty at and about Fredericksburg.

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

Ist Dist.]

It left there when General Burnside evacuated that place, and went with him to Washington. Stopping here only one day, they started through Maryland, and had their first engagement with the enemy at Poolesville, in that state. The regiment lost seventeen, killed and wounded, and captured thirty rebel prisoners. From this time the regiment, attached to General Farnsworth's brigade, fought the enemy every day until the battle of South Mountain, in which it also participated. From there it crossed over the mountain, followed the retreating enemy, came up with them at Antietam, where they did scout- ing duty for two days, then crossed the middle bridge in advance of the infantry, under a very heavy artillery fire, and were actively engaged the rest of the day in supporting batteries. Some two weeks after this the regiment, as a part of General Pleasanton's cavalry brigade, which went- in pursuit of the rebel General Stuart-who had flanked and actually gone around the army of General Mcclellan-traveled a distance of eighty-six miles in twenty-three hours. Colonel Buchanan was then taken sick for the third time since he had been in the service, and by the advice of his physician resigned his office, and returned home to his family at Vevay. After his partial recovery he removed to Greens- burg, Decatur County, Indiana, but was unable, on ac- count of continued ill-health, to remain there, and in about a year, by the advice of his physician, removed to Arkansas. Here for two years and a half he man- aged a plantation, recuperated his health, and in 1866 removed to Evansville, Indiana, where he again com- menced the practice of law. Within a year he suc- ceeded in getting a good start and has gradually acquired a large practice. He is now the senior member of the law firm of Buchanan, Gooding & Buchanan, of Evans- ville, and is regarded as one of the most successful law- yers in that city. He has a strong love for the practice of law, but detests technicalities. In the trial of a case he is absolutely fair to all parties concerned; is very frank and candid in all his dealings with every one, and to this may be attributed to a great extent his success. As an advocate he is earnest and effective, a fluent speaker, and powerful in argument before both court and jury. In his early years he was a Whig, and upon the formation of the Republican party allied himself there- with, but has never been in any sense of the word a par- tisan. He has invariably refused to accept any elective office, having on various occasions refused to accept nomi- nations. He was married, in January, 1848, to Miss Julia A. Sauvain, a descendant of one of the French families that settled at Gallipolis toward the beginning of the present century. Three children, now living, are the fruits of this marriage: Cicero, the oldest, who is the junior partner in the firm of Buchanan, Gooding & Buchanan, and a very promising young lawyer; Mrs. Mary Flower, the wife of Rev. George E. Flower, pas-

tor of the Central Christian Church of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Scott Buchanan, the youngest, now residing with his father at his home in Evansville.

USKIRK, CLARENCE A., attorney-general of In- diana from 1874 till 1878, a practicing attorney-at- law of Princeton, Indiana, is a native of Friend- ship, Allegany County, New York, and was born November 8, 1842. His father's family are of Holland descent, and his mother was of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He was educated at the Friendship Academy, in his na- tive village, supplemented by a course of study at the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He then read law in the office of Messrs. Balch & Smiley, at Kalama- zoo, Michigan; subsequently attended lectures of the Law Department of the Michigan University, and was admitted to the bar in 1865. The next year he removed to Princeton, Indiana, where he took up his permanent residence and entered upon the practice of his profes- sion. He met with a fair measure of success from the first, and has acquired a remunerative practice and a high reputation as a lawyer. In 1872 he was elected a member of the Indiana Legislature, and served upon the judiciary and other important committees, to the credit of himself and the satisfaction of all concerned. In 1874 he was elected by the Democratic party to the office of attorney-general of the state of Indiana, and was re-elected in 1876, serving four years, and retiring from office November 6, 1878. Since that time he has been engaged in practice at Princeton. He has always been a Democrat in politics, and is an able and earnest advocate of the principles of that party.

YERS, ALEXANDER R., M. D., physician and surgeon, Petersburg, Pike County, was born in Washington County, Pennsylvania, June 29, 1829, being the son of Thomas and Margaret (Hamil- ton) Byers, of Scotch descent. His father was a farmer, and on his place the boy's early days were spent. Until the age of nineteen he attended the West Alexander Academy, in Pennsylvania, having taken the full course, and being ready for the junior year in Washington Col- lege. On leaving the academy he removed to Ohio, where, for one year, he taught school, also beginning the study of medicine with Doctor Lord, of Bellefontaine; and then he migrated to New Washington, Indiana, where he continued to pursue his studies in the office of Doctor Solomon Davis. Being entirely dependent on his own resources, he took charge of a school in the adjacent town of Bethlehem, where he gave instruction two years, at the same time assiduously following his

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[Ist Dist.

course of reading in the healing art. In 1853 he re- moved to Petersburg, where he taught school for seven months, then going to Evansville, where he attended lectures at the medical college, and remained in the office of Professor Wilcox one year. Thence he re- turned to Petersburg, where he established himself in the practice of his profession in September, 1854. He is now in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative prac- tice, and is considered one of the leading physicians of the county. He is skillful in his art, and is honored, respected, and esteemed by the community, whose con- fidence he most fully enjoys. In October, 1861, he en- tered the military service as a lieutenant in the 42d Indiana Infantry, and was almost immediately detailed to hospital service. In May, 1862, he resigned, re- turning to Indiana, but in July he was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 65th Indiana Regiment. Octo- ber, 1863, he was made its surgeon, serving as such until March, 1865. After the occupation of Wilmington he resigned and returned home, after a little over three years' service, during which he gained considerable ex- perience, having been most actively and constantly em- ployed both in hospital and field. For over one year he was chief surgeon of the Second Brigade, Third Di- vision, Twenty-third Army Corps. On returning home he resumed his professional duties. He has been presi- dent of the board of trustees of the Petersburg graded school for the past six years, education being a matter in which he takes great and active interest. He was one of the leading spirits in building the handsome court-house and school-house, two edifices of which the town is most justly proud. He has been a member of the Order of Odd-fellows since 1857, has taken all the degrees, and has been representative in the state Grand Lodge. He is a member of the County Medical Soci- ety, the Tri-state Medical Society, and the Indiana State Medical Society. A Presbyterian by birth and educa- tion, he became a member of that Church in 1851, and has for a number of years been an elder; he has been also superintendent of the Sabbath-school. In politics he is a Republican, though not a politician. He exerts a be- neficent influence in favor of that organization, being a man whose opinion carries great weight. May 29, 1856, he was married to Mary A. Morgan, the daughter of Simon Morgan, of Jasper, Indiana, who lived but a little over two years after her marriage. She died July 5, 1858, leaving an infant daughter, who is still living. November 7, 1866, the Doctor again married. His sec- ond wife was Mary F. Hammond, the estimable daugh- ter of P. C. Hammond, a merchant of Petersburg. They have six children-four boys and two girls. Doc- tor Byers is a man of pleasing presence, quiet demeanor, and unassuming manners. He is an educated and court- cous gentleman, of the highest integrity and of moral and intellectual worth. He is surrounded by a happy

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 4

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