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 49

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 49

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own, have won him honor and friendship. He is a member of Hamilton County Pulte Association, the State Medical Association, and the American Institute of Homeopathy. He has been a member of the Baptist Church, of which both his parents were life-long mem- bers, since attaining his fifteenth year. For a number of years he was secretary of the Church at Canton, Ohio, and has been secretary of the Wooster Baptist Association, and of the Sabbath-school Convention. He

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has occasionally contributed to the Church journals, and has been an earnest worker. Dr. Smith has been twice married; first, to Miss Mary Andrews, daughter of Hon. Luther Andrews, of Queensbury, Warren County, New York. She died January 11, 1861, leaving an infant son, Edwin Rufus, junior. In 1867 Dr. Smith married Miss Cornelia Whitmore, daughter of Russell and Jane Whit- more, of Georgetown, New York. She died January I, 1877. Doctor Smith's mother is still living, and resides with her eldest daughter, who is the wife of Professor Charles E. Hamlin, of Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

MITH, HENRY WINTHROPE, merchant and banker, of Aurora, was born in the town of Hat- field, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, October 23, 1827, and is the son of Obadiah and Susan (Norton) Smith. His father was a merchant, who first introduced into New York the manufacture of brooms from broom-corn. He was eminently successful in busi- ness, and had large and varied commercial interests, through which he accumulated great wealth ; but dis- aster to his shipping interests, consequent upon the War of 1812, reduced him from affluence to very moderate circumstances. The mother of H. W. Smith was de- scended from prominent New England families. Her father was a captain in the Revolutionary army, and her mother, whose maiden name was Porter, came from a line of ancestors who occupied the judge's bench during a period of over two hundred years. As early as 1659, Samuel Porter was a King's Justice; one of his de- scendants was a Justice and Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas, Judge of Probate, and Judge of one of the POONER, GENERAL BENJAMIN J., of Law- renceburg, was born at Mansfield, Ohio, October 27, 1823. His parents, Charles and Mary Spooner, emigrated from New Bedford, Massachusetts. He received his early education in the public and private schools of Ohio and Indiana, and was noted among his class-mates for little study and ready recitations. At the age of eighteen he apprenticed himself to learn the tanner's trade. Upon the breaking out of the Mexican War he enlisted in Colonel James H. Lane's regiment, the 3d Regiment of Indiana Volunteers, for one year, and was elected second lieutenant of Company K. He participated in the battle of Buena Vista, with General Taylor. At the expiration of his term of service he re- turned home, and read law in the office of his brother Philip, and John Ryman, Esq. After being admitted to the bar, he commenced practice in Lawrenceburg. He was prosecuting attorney of his circuit two years. He early took an active part in the political issue of the day, acting with the Whig party, and afterward with the Republican party. Upon the breaking out of the first courts that sat after the Revolution. For many years the descendants of the family resided in the old man- sion, built in 1713, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In the latter part of 1833 Obadiah Smith went with his family to Missouri, where he died before the close of the year. In 1840 his widow removed to Madison, Indiana, at which time Henry W. Smith was but thirteen years old. He resided in the families of his brother, Rev. Wind- sor A. Smith, at Lawrenceburg, and his sister, wife of Rev. Henry Little, of Madison, his education being, to a large extent, superintended by these gentlemen. He also received private instruction from the Rev. Benja- min Nice, with the hope of being able to take a com- plete college course. In this he failed, however, for want of money. At the age of twenty-two he became clerk for the firm of Thomas & James W. Gaff, at Aurora, distillers and rectifiers. He filled the position acceptably for fifteen years, and, in 1864, was admitted as a partner. He is now third member of this firm ; senior member of the firm of Henry W. Smith & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky; vice- | late Civil War he was among the first to offer his serv-

president of the First National Bank of Aurora, Indi- ana; and is interested in the United States mail line of steamers between Cincinnati and Louisville, Ken- tucky. He is also connected with several other busi- ness enterprises, employing large capital and requiring first-class ability in their successful conduct. On the Ist of August, 1848, in the city of New York, Mr. Smith married Miss Alexania Gaff, of Aurora, sister of Thomas and J. W. Gaff, a lady of great worth. They have had four children, two daughters and two sons. The elder son died in infancy. The daughters united with the Presbyterian Church when yet children. They both graduated with high honors from the Mount Auburn Female Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio, and then spent two years in Rev. Doctor Burt's school, traveling in France and Italy. They then traveled with their mother and brother through Europe and the Holy Land, visiting Alexandria and Cairo, Jerusalem and Damascus, Constantinople, Athens, and all the cities and points of interest in England, Ireland, and on the Continent. The son, Henry W. Smith, junior, received a good English education, and then entered the em- ployment of his father, in the house of Henry W. Smith & Co., at Cincinnati. In his youth Mr. Smith united with the Presbyterian Church, and is one of its liberal supporters. All obligations, whether written or verbal, are alike sacred to him, and he is honored and esteemed by his fellow-citizens. His home is all that refined taste and means can make it, and his social and family relations are of the pleasantest character.

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ices to the Governor of the state, and raised the first company in Dearborn County, and the second mustered for the three months' service; this was assigned to the 7th Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and Mr. Spooner received the commission of lieutenant-colonel. They took part in the battle of Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Carrick's Ford, West Virginia, engaging the enemy almost daily and suffering considerable loss. When they were mustered out of service, Governor Morton compli- mented both men and officers. In the course of his address he said: " It is difficult to find words fitting to welcome men, each of whom has striven to distinguish himself in the service of his country. The events of this campaign are recorded in your country's history ; and it will be pointed to with pride by your children that their fathers were members of the gallant Seventh." The regiment was disbanded, and Lieutenant-colonel Spooner re-commissioned as lieutenant-colonel of the 5Ist Regiment of Infantry, under command of Colonel Straight. They immediately commenced a rigid course of drill and discipline, and broke camp December 16, 1861. They moved to near Bardstown, Kentucky, and thence to Lebanon, where they were attached to the Twentieth Brigade, consisting of the 51st Indiana, the 65th Ohio, and the 15th Kentucky. After remaining here a short time they were ordered to Hall's Gap, the key to operations in Eastern Kentucky, Virginia, and Ten- nessee, and went into winter-quarters about January 15, 1862. The weather had been exceedingly cold and rainy, rendering the march very disagreeable, but en- couraging words from Colonel Spooner buoyed up the spirits of his men, and his every order was cheerfully obeyed. On the 7th of February came the inspiring words, "Meet the enemy." They marched back to Lebanon, thence to Nashville, where they arrived on the 9th of March, and were assigned to the Sixth Division, Army of the Ohio, Major-general Wood com- manding. From here they marched to Pittsburg Land- ing, arriving in time to participate in the close of the great battle of April 6 and 7, and were hailed with joy by the brave soldiers of the hard-fought field. On the 9th, General Spooner rejoined his division, and was actively engaged in the movements of the army toward Corinth. After the evacuation of that place by Generals Johnston and Beauregard, he marched to Town Creek, North Alabama, where he tendered his resigna- tion and returned home, the regiment losing a most val- uable officer. Yielding to Governor Morton's earnest solicitations, he recruited and accepted the command of the 83d Regiment, establishing his camp at Lawrence- burg. On completing its organization he moved by rail to Cairo, Illinois, by steamer to Memphis, Tennessee, and took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Yazoo Pass, Arkansas Post, and all the engagements in and around Vicksburg, until the fall of that place, July 4,

1863. He was assigned to the Fifteenth Army Corps, Second Brigade, Second Division, and was with General Sherman as he moved toward Atlanta, via Chattanooga, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, Dalton, and Ken- esaw Mountain. At the last named place, June 27, 1864, while cautioning his men, some of whom had become reckless in exposing themselves to the enemy, Colonel Spooner was so severely wounded in the left arm by sharp-shooters that amputation at the shoulder was necessary. He had often been the recipient of favorable mention from his commanding general, and in this, as all other engagements, fought at the head of his regiment. After the battle of Mission Ridge he was presented, by the non-commissioned officers and privates of the 83d Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with a beautiful gold-hilted sword, the scabbard of which is solid silver, mounted with heavy gold bands, set with jewels. The sword is inscribed: " We remember Chick- asaw Bayou, Resaca, Chattanooga, and Arkansas Post;" and its value is over five hundred dollars. His wounds rendering him unfit for the field, he was assigned to duty on the military commission to try the Indiana and Chi- cago conspirators. In April, 1865, he resigned his com- mission, and was immediately appointed United States Marshal for the District of Indiana by President Lin- coln, this being one of the latter's last appointments, and his commission was issued by President Johnson as one of his first official acts. He held this position con- tinuously from the date of his first appointment until the spring of 1879, when he tendered his resignation. For the past eighteen years he has held positions of trust, either civil or military. His fitness for any place is every-where acknowledged. During the great railroad strikes of 1877, he distinguished himself as an efficient officer of the Federal court, and by the fearless dis- charge of his duty saved the Indianapolis, Burlington and Western, the Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Lafay- ette, the Indianapolis and Terre Haute, and Ohio and Mississippi Railroads from great loss. These roads, with the exception of the Terre Haute and Vandalia, were in the hands of the Federal courts, and a writ of assist- ance was issued by Judge Gresham to Marshal Spooner, to enforce the orders of the court. The prominent part that he took in the suppression of the riots can be gath- ered from the subjoined extracts from the press notices of his connection with the troubles:

"That riot [referring to the Civil War] made many heroes, among whom we mention with pride General Benjamin Spooner, present United States Marshal for the state of Indiana. Although the General has but one arm, having lost the other in putting down the afore- said great riot, he found the remaining one amply suffi- cient to cope with the great road insurrection. Three cheers for the brave and valiant old General Benjamin Spooner! He is our choice for the next Governorship of the state of Indiana ; he would not only add dignity to the position, but would be equal to any emergency

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in which the laws or good government of the state were in danger."

August 21, 1845, General Spooner married Miss Eliza J. Callahan, orphan daughter of Joseph and Mary Cal- lahan, of Lawrenceburg. They have had eleven chil- dren, seven of whom are living. The eldest son, John C., is an attaché of the revenue service, and Samuel H. is a practicing attorney in Lawrenceburg.

TEDMAN, NATHAN ROCKWELL, foundryman and engine-builder and pioneer, was born in Mon- mouth County, New Jersey, on the 10th of Feb- ruary, 1814. He is the oldest son of Nathan and Melinda (Stebbins) Stedman, who emigrated soon after their marriage from Wilbraham, Massachusetts, to New Jersey, remaining there, however, but a few years, when they went back to Massachusetts, and later re- moved to Hartford, Connecticut, where the boy received his primary education. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed for a term of five years, to learn the mold- er's trade. When twenty-two he came West to Cincin- nati, and took a position as foreman of the Niles Works (foundry and machine-shop), and while in that position superintended the founding of the largest bell at that time cast in the West. It was made for the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1838, he went to Rising Sun, then Dearborn County, but now Ohio County, Indiana, and in company with Mr. Pink- ney Jones erected a foundry, and continued business until 1849, when he was induced to remove his works to Aurora, a thriving town on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad, receiving as partners in the same Messrs. J. W. and Thomas Gaff, under the title of Stedman & Co. They erected suitable shops-removing their old one- and engaged in a more extensive business, making a specialty in steam-engines and mill machinery, which he has conducted very successfully for many years. At the breaking out of the Civil War, Mr. Stedman was cut off, while attending to collections in the South, and forced to remain in Mississippi until after the fall of Vicks- burg, July, 1863. During this time he engaged in farm- ing, and made many warm friends in that section. He has been eminently successful as a business man, and is well regarded socially by his fellow-citizens. He has been three times married, to highly respected ladies, by whom he has eleven children. His present wife has adopted a daughter, over whom he exercises a fatherly care. His eldest son, Nathan, is the financial manager of the business. He is a young man of promise, pos- sesses good business capacity, and is well fitted for the duties of his position. His other sons aid him in the business. Several of them are married, and he is happy in being the grandfather of twenty-four children. Only

one grandchild is dead. Mr. Stedman takes a deep in- terest in the Universalist society, and several years ago procured the formation of a Church at Aurora, which is now in a flourishing condition. His wife, a lady highly respected for her amiable qualities, is a member of the Presbyterian organization. He is a strong friend of education, and in connection with Doctor G. Sutton and B. N. McHenry assisted in forming at their city the first graded schools established in South-eastern Indiana. At their beginning they met with much op- position, but their superiority soon became manifest, and the system was almost immediately adopted in the surrounding towns of Indiana.

TEVENS, WILLIAM FRANKLIN, merchant and pioneer, of Aurora, was born near Moore's Hill, on the 3Ist of December, 1821. His parents were natives of Nova Scotia, and of English descent. His father, Ranna C. Stevens, came to Indiana in 1818, two years after its admission as a state. Crossing the Alleghany Mountains to Pittsburgh, he there procured a flat-boat, and floated down the Ohio River to where one or two log-cabins marked the site of the present beautiful city of Aurora. Deeming the rich bottom lands unhealthful, he settled on the ridge, some twelve miles back of the river, where, surrounded by Indians and wild beasts, he cleared a place in the wilderness. Bears and wolves often intruded upon the inclosure surrounding his cabin, and until a substantial habitation could be erected it was necessary to build fires as a protection against them. Small game and deer were abundant, and by spending an hour with his rifle Mr. Stevens was able to supply his table for days. He built himself a comfortable cabin, with puncheon floors, and made the necessary furniture from the same material. Here, in the quiet solitude of the forest, in the enjoy- ment of his family, he was happy. He continued to enlarge his clearing until he had several acres yielding rich harvests of grain. The Indians often visited him, and, as he treated them kindly, they became his warm friends. William F. Stevens attended the log school- house near his home until he was fourteen years of age, when he was sent to the Dearborn County Seminary, at Wilmington, then the only institution of learning of any note in that part of the state. After remaining at this school four years, he read law under James T. Brown three years, teaching school at intervals. As he ap- proached manhood, however, his tastes inclined more to active business, and he became clerk in a store. From 1843 to 1851 he was bookkeeper for T. & J. W. Gaff, after which he was admitted to the firm of Chambers, Ste- vens & Co .- composed of Josiah Chambers and Levi E. Stevens, his elder brother- of which he is still a mem-

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ber. This dry-goods house, for the past fifteen years, has averaged a business of over one hundred and twenty- five thousand dollars per year. In 1857 the firm opened the well-known house of Chambers, Stevens & Co., at Cincinnati, which has since deservedly enjoyed a degree of prosperity and confidence in the commercial world un- surpassed by any firm in the state. Mr. Chambers with- drew from this branch of the business in 1875, and W. F. Stevens, C. C. Stevens, and G. B. Maltby now compose the firm. Mr. William F. Stevens has been identified with nearly every enterprise for public improvement in the city which he has made his home, and is highly re- garded by his fellow-citizens. He was an active mem- ber of the school board for several years. He is a member in good standing of the Independent Order of Odd-fellows of Aurora, having attained the rank of Past Chief Patriarch. With his family, he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, in the Sabbath-school of which he has been a worker, and for fifteen years was in charge of the largest and most successful school in the city. In 1844 he married Miss Mary Ann Scott, daughter of Abram and Rebecca Scott, of Dearborn County. They have had three children : Ida, wife of Mr. G. B. Maltby, who is in charge of the grocery de- partment of Chambers, Stevens & Co .; Charles C., who is married, and resides in Aurora, where he assists his father in conducting their extensive business; and Abbie, an accomplished young lady.

ULLIVAN, JEREMIAH, late of Madison, Indiana, was born in Harrisonburg, Virginia, July 21, 1794. His maternal grandfather, James Irwin, removed with his family from near Chambersburg, Pennsyl- vania, to Augusta County, Virginia, in the year 1780. There his daughter Margaret was married to Thomas Sullivan, a young Irishman who had come to this coun- try to escape the oppressive laws forbidding Catholics to hold any office of honor or trust in Ireland, by which his father, a prominent barrister, had lost his position. The young couple settled in Harrisonburg, Rockingham County. Two children were born to them, a son and a daughter, but the death of the latter in infancy left the subject of this sketch an idolized only child. His father, being a Catholic, early destined his son for the priesthood, and the greatest care was exercised in his education and the formation of his character. His mother, a woman of superior ability, was a devout Methodist, and wielded an influence over him which, long after her death, controlled him in both his public and private life. Her principles and example were suf- ficient to give him a distaste for the life marked out for him. He evinced great thirst for knowledge, and, after receiving all the instruction in the power of the village

schoolmaster to impart, he entered William and Mary's College, where, after a thorough course of study, he graduated with honor. Having chosen the law as his profession, he became the pupil of George Harrison, of Harrisonburg, and remained with him, not only as a student, but as a confidential friend, until the year 1816, when he received his license to practice from the Commonwealth of Virginia. In the mean time, with a number of other young patriots of Virginia, he enlisted for the War of 1812, and was commissioned captain for his " bravery and good conduct." When Captain Sulli- van finished his legal studies, Mr. Harrison offered, as an inducement for him to remain in Virginia, to make him his partner; but, having resolved to carve out his own fortune, he followed the " star of empire" in its course westward. In company with two young friends, he started on horseback for Louisville, Kentucky. On ar- riving at Cincinnati, he was advised to go to Madison, Indiana, as a location in every way desirable for a young lawyer. Acting upon this advice, he was so well. pleased with the advantages offered that he decided to remain. He opened a law office there, and soon became a leading spirit in the legal fraternity of that day. After securing a comfortable home, he returned the following year to Virginia for his father and mother, and the same year was married to Miss Charlotte Cutler, of his native town. Madison now being his home, and Indiana his field of labor, he applied himself with great diligence to his profession, and the success which intelligent per- severance always brings marked him for a more promi- nent position. In politics he supported Monroe, and in 1820 was elected to the state Legislature, at that time held in Corydon. It was during this session that the act was passed appointing commissioners to lay off a town on the site selected for the permanent seat of gov- ernment. To Mr. Sullivan belongs the honor of bestow- ing the name upon the future capital of the state in leg- islative baptism. To quote his own words:

"I have a very distinct recollection of the great di- versity of opinion that prevailed as to the name the new town should receive. The bill was reported by Judge Polk, and was, in the main, very acceptable. A blank, of course, was left for the name of the town that was to become the seat of government; and during the two or three days we spent in endeavoring to fill that blank there was some sharpness and much amusement. General Marston G. Clark, of Washington County, pro- posed ' Tecumseh ' as the name, and very earnestly in- sisted on its adoption. When that failed, he suggested other Indian names, which I have forgotten. They also were rejected. Somebody suggested 'Suwarrow,' which met with no favor. Judge Polk desired the blank to be filled with 'Concord ;' that also failed. Other names were proposed, but they were all voted down; and the House, without coming to any agreement, adjourned until the next day. There were many amusing things said during the day, but my remembrance of them is not sufficiently distinct to state them with accuracy. I had gone to Corydon with the intention of proposing

affectionately

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'Indianapolis' as the name of the town; and, on the | land, as embodying clear and well-defined principles of evening of the adjournment above mentioned, I sug- gested to Mr. Samuel Merrill, the Representative from Switzerland County, the name I preferred. He at once adopted it, and agreed to support it. We together called on Governor Jennings, who had been a witness to the amusing scenes of the day previous, and told him to what conclusion we had come. He gave us to under- stand that he favored the name we had agreed upon, and that he would not hesitate to so express himself. When the House met, and went into committee on the bill, I moved to fill the blank with 'Indianapolis.' The name created a shout of laughter. Mr. Merrill, how- ever, seconded the motion. We discussed the proposi- tion freely and fully; the members conversed with each other informally. and the name gradually commended itself to the committee, and was accepted. The princi- pal reason given in favor of its adoption-to wit, that its Greek termination would indicate the locality of the town -was, I am sure, the reason that overcame opposi- tion to the name. The town was finally named Indian- apolis."

The above is an official letter to Governor Baker, and is among the archives of the state. In 1824 Mr. Sullivan was nominated for Congress, but was defeated by his opponent, William Hendricks. He had now es- tablished his reputation as a lawyer whom no hope of reward, whether of gold or glory, could ever tempt to betray his trust. He was identified with every promi- nent enterprise of Church or state, and his profes- sion was valued only so far as he could through it ad- vance the cause of morality and religion. In 1828 he was ordained an elder in the Presbyterian Church; but, while his attachment to his own Church, her doctrines, forms, and polity, was sincere, he was no sectarian bigot, and was ever willing to co-operate with Chris- tians of other denominations. The cause of missions among the Romanists he regarded as of vital importance, and followed with money and prayers the operations of one of his favorite societies, the American and Foreign Christian Union. In 1829 he was appointed by Gov- ernor Ray commissioner, with full power to adjust the terms upon which the land granted to this state by act of Congress, March 2, 1827, should be conveyed to the state of Ohio for the construction of the Wabash and Erie Canal. This position of trust he filled with such judgment as to elicit commendation from the executives of both states. Until 1836 he was conspicuous in nego- tiations of the canal and fund commissioners for In- diana, as a man of unblemished integrity. It is not to be wondered at then, that, upon the death of Judge Mckinney, Governor Noble should appoint Mr. Sulli- van to fill the vacancy upon the Supreme Bench, with Judges Blackford and Dewey as associates, which place he occupied for nine years. During the term of service of this bench, the Supreme Court rose to a dignity and reputation unequaled by any of the newer states, and unsurpassed by any of the older. Their decisions have been, and are yet, quoted on the Queen's Bench, Eng-

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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 49

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