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 57

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 57

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Beem. His handsome residence is beautifully situated on a commanding spot in the northern part of Spencer. His charitable disposition, energetic and well-spent life, and Christian habits have established for him a spotless reputation, and he truly lives in the enjoyment of a large circle of friends, a clear conscience, and the full- est pleasures of domestic happiness.

OSWELL, THOMAS HENRY, Spencer, Indiana, was born in Statesville, Wilson County, Tennessee, November 5, 1833. He was the oldest son of William F. and Malissa Boswell. The former was always a stanch Whig, invariably taking an ac- tive and lively interest in the political affairs of the country. He was a great admirer of Henry Clay, and it was the great desire of his life to see Mr. Clay ele- vated to the presidency of the United States. He be- lieved, as early as 1840, that a terrible conflict would take place between slavery and freedom; and from that time until his death-September 6, 1856-he let no op- portunity pass to impress his children with the impor- tance of remaining true to the United States government. These early trainings and impressions took such deep root in the mind of his son, that, when the tocsin of war was sounded, and a dissolution of the Union seemed imminent, he did not hesitate, but took active and de- cided grounds in favor of the perpetuity of the govern- ment and the overthrow of the Rebellion. He received his education at the common schools of the country until he reached his nineteenth year, when, owing to the rigid economy practiced by himself and his father, he was en- abled to spend one year in college, at Clinton, Kentucky, George W. Ray being the president. During this year W. F. Boswell settled in Dresden, Weakley County, Tennessee, where, at the close of the college year, his son obtained a position in one of the leading dry- goods stores of the place. Here he soon obtained the full confidence of his employer, and inside of three ycars had the full control of the large and lucrative business. He spent his leisure mostly in reading law- books, being furnished from the large library of Hon. Emerson Etheridge, who spared no pains to give him all the instruction he needed. It was not his intention to enter the legal profession, but he only intended to gain such knowledge as would be of service in the great battle of life. He, however, became so deeply inter- ested, that, had his father not been called away so soon, it is more than likely that his life would have been changed, and the law followed as a business. In Au- gust, 1856, he was given a one-third interest with his employers-W. W. Gleeson and Andrew Maloan ---- and in September, 1857, he bought out his partners, con- tinuing in business alone. He was noted for upright-

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ness and strict business integrity, and had no trouble | still unfit for active duty, but preferred to be with his in commanding a large trade. When the late war was command. On the 27th of March-although he was still suffering from his wound, being unable to use his right arm-he led his regiment in one of the most ter- rible fights of the war. The enemy outnumbered them nearly three to one, and almost any other command would have surrendered. But the 6th Tennessee was not composed of that kind of material, and, while it was badly used up, and finally had to retreat, still the enemy was most severely punished and crippled, and did not follow. In October, 1864, Major Boswell, being unable to perform further active duty, and not desiring to still remain in the service, tendered his resignation, on a surgeon's certificate of disability, and was honor- ably discharged on the eighth day of November, just thirteen months after receiving the terrible wound at Salem, Mississippi. After recruiting somewhat in gen- eral health, he entered into business in Memphis, Ten- nessee. He was reasonably successful until the spring of 1866, when, with a number of others, he was seized with a mania to make a fortune "planting cotton" on a large scale. One year of this satisfied him, as well as a great number of others. He simply succeeded in "planting " about seven thousand dollars in Tishomingo County, Mississippi, and it remains planted there to this day. He returned to Memphis, Tennessee, and, on the organization of the Municipal Court of Memphis, he was appointed marshal by Governor Brownlow. This position he held with great credit. So well did he fill the office that at the general election, March 8, 1868, he was rechosen by a majority of thirty-three hundred, outrunning his ticket over one thousand votes. This position would have been a lucrative one in some men's hands-the income being about six thousand dol- lars annually-but Major Boswell was more intent on doing his duty faithfully than on accumulating money. In the Tennessee Legislature of 1869 a bill was intro- duced abolishing all the courts. The real intention was simply to get rid of those in office who had re- mained true to the Union. Major Boswell did not pro- pose to be legislated out of office. So, on the first day of December, 1869, before the passage of the above bill, he tendered his resignation. He had never wa- vered in his political opinions, being a solid and uncom- promising Republican. On the 16th of February, 1870, he was married to Miss Lida Hale, of Crawfordsville, the ceremony being performed at the Sherman House, Indianapolis, by Rev. Robert Moore. He returned with his wife to Tennessee just long enough to arrange his affairs, when he moved to Greencastle, Indiana, where he led an active life, being one of the leading business men of that thriving city. On June 16, 1879, he made a business arrangement which called him to Spencer, Indiana, where he moved in August, and is now one of its foremost merchants. In 1872 Major inaugurated, he was in a fair way of becoming one of the most successful and wealthiest men of that locality. During the hot political contest of 1860 Mr. Boswell took an active part. He favored the election of John Bell, on the broad platform of "the Union, the Con- stitution, and the enforcement of the laws," although the outlook was not at all favorable to the election of his candidate. Mr. Lincoln was elected. Then came a most trying time. Tennessee desired to stay in the Union, and by an overwhelming vote declared her unflinching loyalty to the government. The true his- tory of the trials of the Union men of Tennessee has never yet been written, and perhaps never will be. The world does not know the number who, through the various influences which were brought to bear upon them, were rushed into the rebel army against both their judgment and will, and finally filled rebel graves. There were some, however-and they could be num- bered by the thousands-who had the nerve to resist every influence which could be brought to bear. Among this number was Mr. Boswell. He took strong grounds against secession, and in favor of crushing the Rebellion. He was in favor of raising Tennessee's quota to fill the first call made by President Lincoln, for seventy-five thousand men, but was opposed by such men as Emerson Etheridge, John A. Rogers, Wm. P. Caldwell, John Somers, and other leading Unionists of West Tennessee. But time showed that they took the wrong view, for less than twelve months elapsed when they saw their error and began to recruit a regiment for the United States army. Mr. Boswell went heart and soul into the work, and in a few weeks he had a full company, of which he was chosen captain. This was in July, 1862. He served faithfully until Septem- ber, 1863, when he was promoted to major-the regi- ment in the mean time being consolidated with the 6th Tennessee Cavalry, and the men mounted. It was in constant and active duty in West Tennessee, participat- ing in almost every skirmish, raid, and battle that was fought in that section. It was an every-day business, for at that time General Sherman was moving his com- mand from the Trans-Mississippi Department to Knox- ville, Tennessee, for the purpose of extricating General Burnside and his army, which were in close quarters. Major Boswell was almost continually in the saddle, and displayed genuine courage and good management. In a most sanguinary and hotly contested fight at Salem, Mississippi, on the eighth day of October, 1863, after fighting from nine A. M. until about five P. M., he was severely wounded, receiving a minie ball through the right shoulder. From this wound he suffered for several months, but finally rejoined his regiment, at German- town, Tennessee, on the 20th of March, 186.4 He was

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George Alustick!

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Boswell joined the Baptist Church at Greencastle, and has at all times since been an active worker, not only in the Church, but in the Sunday-school. He de- livered, in 1877, at the annual Sunday-school conven- tion, an excellent address on Sunday-school work, and he was again selected in 1878 to deliver an address to the same society. His theme was, " Industry versus Idle- ness." This subject he handled with great ingenuity and tact, and he had the satisfaction of being highly complimented by the president of the convention, Rev. R. N. Harvey. On the 6th of May, 1879, his Repub- lican friends of the first ward of Greencastle elected him councilman, over one of the most popular men in the city of the opposite party. On his return from the South, where he had been called for a time, he took a prominent part in the legislation of the city. Major Boswell, although very firm in his political and religious views, has always been liberal-minded, and invariably presses his peculiar ideas with due courtesy. He has never changed in either, and is to-day as firm a Repub- lican as ever, and as good a Baptist as the day he first joined the Church. Major Boswell is a gentleman of strict moral principles and rare intellectual attainments. Socially, he is kind, affable, and courteous, and has a name above reproach. He has the confidence and es- teem of a large circle of friends, who admire him for his many excellencies of head and heart.

USKIRK, GEORGE A., of Bloomington, was born in Monroe County, Indiana, on a farm two miles west of Bloomington, August 10, 1829. He was the son of Abraham and Ann Buskirk, who removed to Bloomington in 1831. Having finished his elementary education in the public schools of Bloom- ington while yet a lad, he was taken into the office of the clerk of the Circuit Court of Monroe County by David Browning, who then filled that position. Mr. Buskirk remarked that he was greatly indebted to David Browning for good and wise counsels, which gave him a proper direction in his boyhood. He entered the preparatory department of the state university, and com- pleted the freshman year of the collegiate department when the Mexican War broke out. He enlisted in the Ist Indiana Regiment, at Lafayette, but was transferred while at the rendezvous at New Albany to the 3d Indi- ana, under the command of Colonel James H. Lane. He remained with the regiment until it was mustered out of service at the close of the war. He took part in the hotly contested battle of Buena Vista, in which Santa Anna and forty thousand Mexicans were routed and defeated by a few thousand American volunteers. On his return he entered the printing-office of Jesse Brandon, who published a Democratic paper for many

years in Bloomington. He continued in that office for two years, and became practically acquainted with all the details of the printing business. In 1848 he com- menced the study of law in the office of his brother, Hon. Samuel H. Buskirk, now deceased, who was after- ward a Judge of the Supreme Court ; he also entered the Law Department of the Indiana State University, and graduated in 1850. He was soon after elected Justice of the Peace, which office he filled for several years. On the 25th of August, 1854, he married Miss Martha Hardesty. He entered into partnership with his brother, and practiced law until he was elected, in 1856, Judge of the Common Pleas Court, in the district embrac- ing the counties of Monroe, Morgan, and Brown. This office he filled with ability and success for four years. In 1860 the counties of Shelby and Johnson were added to this judicial district, and Judge Buskirk was re-elected without opposition, discharging his duties with credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of the bar. At the close of his second term, in 1864, he again entered upon the practice of law. In 1867 he was elected by the Legislature agent of state, which was then regarded as the most responsible as well as the most honorable office belonging to the state of In- diana. As agent he was required to keep an office in the city of New York, and to assume the management and control of the funds of the state set apart for the payment of the interest on the state debt. This important trust he managed with skill and fidelity. In 1868 he was elected by the people of Monroe County to represent them in the Lower House of the General Assembly; and at the regular session of 1869 he was elected speaker, presiding with signal ability over the deliber- ations of that body. In 1871 he organized the First Na- tional Bank of Bloomington, and, owing to the ability he had displayed in managing a private bank, was chosen its president by the board of directors. During the last three or four years of his life he withdrew entirely from public life, devoting his attention to his private af- fairs. On the 16th of July, 1874, he attended a polit- ical convention at Brazil, from which he returned on the Friday following. On Monday and Tuesday he was not well ; the next day he was seriously ill, but was able to walk about the room until about eleven o'clock P. M., when his strength gave way, and he fell under a stroke of apoplexy. In a few days more he would have com- pleted his forty-fifth year. He was closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Bloomington, and in many ways aided in the development of Monroe County. As an attorney and judge he was held in universal esteem, and his rulings while on the bench were at all times wise, firm, and impartial. On the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 1861, Judge Buskirk, without a moment's hesitation, declared himself in favor of putting it down by force of arms. His services were of immense value,

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and that they were highly appreciated by Governor Morton is best evidenced by the fact that he was ap- pointed by him colonel in the Indiana Legion, in order that he might be able to render more efficient aid to the state in those perilous times. Subsequently, in August, 1864, he appointed Mr. Buskirk judge advocate. During the session of the Legislature of which he was speaker, he was an earnest advocate and was instru- mental in the ratification of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and its ratifi- cation by the Indiana Legislature was mainly owing to his manly appeals in its favor. In his death the city of Bloomington mourned the loss of one of her most highly respected and useful citizens; and the state was deprived of one of the few men who fill positions of honor and trust not only with credit to themselves, but to the entire satisfaction of the people at large. Judge Buskirk was a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and a charter member of the first lodge of Knights of Pythias ever organized in Monroe County. He was a con- siderate neighbor, an affectionate husband, and a kind father. His widow and five children survive him. Of his children, Anna is the wife of N. U. Hill, an attor- ney of Brazil; George is a merchant; and Mattie, Philip, and Lawrence are still at home with their mother.

USKIRK, JOHN W., attorney-at-law, of Bloom- ington, was born in Bedford, Lawrence County, November 20, 1845, and is the son of John B. and Maria (Ritter) Buskirk. His father was one of Indiana's pioneers, emigrating thither in 1818, and for many years was a prominent merchant. He is still liv- ing, and is now a resident of Bloomington. John W. Buskirk attended the common schools at Bedford, and in 1859 entered the State University at Bloomington, where he remained until 1861. In the fall of that year he enlisted as a private in the 49th Regiment Indi- ana Volunteers, serving until 1863, when he was dis- charged. During his term of service he participated in the Cumberland Gap campaign, under General Mor- gan, and was at the siege of Vicksburg, Chickasaw Bluff, and the engagement at Arkansas Post. On his return from the army, he re-entered college, where he remained until May, 1865, at which time he removed to New Albany and became a student in the office of Hon. James S. Collins. On arriving at his majority he was admitted to the bar, formed a partnership with Mr. Collins, and began the practice of his profession. At the expiration of one year he removed to Paoli, in Orange County, and engaged with his brother, Thomas B. Buskirk, in the practice of law. In 1868 he was clected prosecuting attorney for the Eighth Common Pleas District, which position he resigned in March,

1869. Removing to Bloomington, he formed a part- nership with his uncle, the Hon. S. H. Buskirk, with whom he continued until 1870, at which time his uncle was elected Judge of the Superior Court of the State. In 1871 Mr. Buskirk graduated from the law depart- ment of the state university. In 1876 he was the Dem- ocratic nominee for state Senator, and, although running largely ahead of his ticket, was defeated. In Novem- ber, 1866, he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court. In political matters Mr. Buskirk has always been a Democrat, and is one of the leaders of that party in the county. He is not a member of any religious de- nomination. As an attorney, he stands at the head of the bar in Monroe County ; and in the Supreme Court of the state, where, although still a young man, he has considerable practice, he is fast winning his way to prominence. He married, December 29, 1869, Ella A. Broadwell, a sister of Jacob S. Broadwell, of Blooming- ton. After several years of married life his wife and two of his children died. He has still one child living. Mr. Buskirk is a highly respected and useful citizen, and is closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Bloomington and Monroe County.

ARR, NATHAN T., of Columbus, was born on the twenty-fifth day of December, 1833, in Steuben County, New York, and is the second son of Henry and Elizabeth (Tracy) Carr. His father was an extensive lumberman, and his mother a lady of fine literary talents, who, in her younger days, had a local celebrity as a writer. The subject of this biography received a liberal academic education, graduating in 1851 at the Starkey Academy, in New York, at which time he began the study of law, mingling with it re- rearches into many of the other sciences. In 1854 he removed to Michigan, establishing himself temporarily at Vassar, Tuscola County, where, November 25, 1855, he married Martha A. Joslin. Two sons, Herman and Oma, constitute their family. In the spring of 1858, he removed to Midland County, Michigan, where he entered upon the practice of law. In the fall of the same year he was elected, almost without opposition, by both political parties, to the Legislature of that state, and was the youngest member of the House. He served with no little distinction, and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. During this session was passed the then famous personal liberty bill, the first of a series of acts by several of the anti-slavery states adverse to the fugitive slave law, then the subject of intense political agi- tation. This bill he opposed, and in an earnest speech warned his colleagues that such legislation would cer- tainly plunge the country into a fearful sectional war. His predictions were verified in less than two years

Respectfully JUS. Carr

ymbole

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afterward. During the same session he worked for, and in conjunction with others procured, the abolition of the grand jury system, a reform which has since been followed by several other states. In 1860 he was re- nominated, but declined to accept; and the same year, without opposition, he was elected recorder of the county. This position he held until the spring of 1862, when, as first lieutenant, he raised a company and joined the 28th Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Owing to ill-health, in July, 1863, he resigned, and settled at Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana. Here he pur- chased the Brookville Democrat, and continued to pub- lish it until the spring of 1867. In the spring of 1864 the office of the Democrat was attacked by a company of armed soldiers, made drunk and incited to the act by base local politicians. Single-handed and alone, with shotgun and revolver, he drove back the mob, seriously but not fatally wounding three of its members, while he escaped unhurt, and saved the office from destruction. In the spring of 1867 he removed to Columbus, Indiana, his present home, and established the Columbus Bulletin, which he published until 1870. In the mean time he had resumed the practice of law, and in 1870 was elected prosecuting attorney for the counties of Bartholomew, Shelby, Johnson, and Brown, creditably meeting some of the most distinguished legal talent of the state. In 1871 he resigned this position, to accept that of legal adviser to the city of Columbus, an office he held until elected judge of his circuit. At the general election in 1876 he was chosen to represent the Third District in Congress, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Speaker M. C. Kerr. The second session of the Forty-fourth Congress, of which he was a member, was rendered the most important and exciting since the commencement of the Civil War by the presidential contest between Tilden and Hayes. Although a new member, Mr. Carr had the floor in debate on five differ- ent occasions, and each time delivered speeches which attracted public attention. His first effort was in deliv- ering the closing eulogy upon the late Speaker Kerr, and in offering the resolutions of respect. He opposed the Electoral Commission from its inception, upon constitu- tional grounds and as a matter of party policy. In an elaborate argument in the House, before the passage of the bill, he warned his Democratic colleagues that the commission would be a partisan tribunal, which upon purely party considerations would declare Mr. Hayes to be the President elect, and thus authenticate his title to the office. His warnings were unheeded, and the mistaken Democratic majority forced the bill to its passage. After the decision of the commission on the Florida case was reported, and while those who forced the adoption of the commission were bitterly condemn- ing it, Mr. Carr delivered a speech in which he charged the wrong upon the stupidity of the Democratic mana-

gers, who forced upon the country the commission and the law governing it, from which no other result could reasonably have been anticipated. Perhaps no speech made in Congress for years has been more universally published and commented upon than this. He was one of only eighteen Democrats in the House who refused to follow mistaken leaders, and worked and voted against the bill. In 1878 he was elected Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, composed of the counties of Bartholo- mew and Brown. He is an eloquent orator on both political and legal questions, maintains a high position among the members of his profession, and is much es- teemed by all who know him. In politics he is truly Democratic; in religion he is perhaps most strongly in- clined towards the Presbyterian denomination.

OLE, JAMES WASHINGTON, of Greencastle, was born in Dearborn County, Indiana, February 2, 1820. He is. the eldest son of Solomon and Sarah (Remy) Cole. His father was a native of Maryland, and died at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in 1860, at about seventy-six years of age. His mother is still living, at the venerable age of eighty-two, and is amply provided for and watched over by her sons in her declining years. The paternal grandfather was one of a large English family. Coming to America he settled in Maryland, and worked at his trade of black- smithing, for a time at least, as he had the credit of shoeing General Washington's horses. He afterward became a considerable land-holder, but finally leased his estate for a term of years, and died before the lease expired. In the mean time, the records having been burned, the heirs were deprived of the valuable property. That he was a man of considerable means is proved by the fact that he shipped the brick for his dwelling from England. Mr. Cole's paternal grandmother was of German descent. Solomon Cole, his father, moved from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Indiana early in the present century. He was not only a practical farmer, but was a man of much intellectual culture and general information, and devoted some time to teaching. In 1819 he married Miss Sarah Remy, by whom he had nine children, one of whom died in infancy. Her father was an intelligent and well read farmer of Franklin County, Indiana. Her progenitors were of French descent, and were related to the Clouds and Hardins, of the Old Dominion. James Washington Cole, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared to a life of toil, and his opportunities for acquiring an education were very limited. When he was about fif- teen years of age his father became partially helpless, and, being the eldest son, the responsibility of directing matters at home devolved largely upon him. Shortly

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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 57

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