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 62

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 62

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.

[5th Dist.

eminent preachers and laymen. The same year he was received into the Pittsburgh Conference, and appointed as professor in the North-west Virginia Academy, being declared by Bishop Morris, who presided at the confer- ence in Uniontown where he was received, as the first one in the history of the Church who, while yet a pro- bationer in the conference, was appointed to teach in an institution of learning. Part of the previous year he had charge, as principal, of Kingwood Academy, Preston County, Virginia. In 1849-51 he was stationed in Charleston, Virginia, during which years a valuable church property was relieved of a vexatious suit and a heavy debt. The work so enlarged that Rev. Gordon Battelle, D. D., was appointed to succeed him in Charleston, and Rev. T. B. Taylor in Malden, a mis- sionary appointment, seven miles away, that under his charge and ministry had meanwhile grown into a self- sustaining congregation. At the close of his term there he was induced to return to Clarksburg, as principal of the Conference Academy. Under his administration this school became the leading institution of learning in the trans-Alleghany portion of Virginia. In 1854 he was stationed at Moundsville, and during the same year was elected professor of the Greek language and litera- ture in Alleghany College. Here, in 1863, he received the honorary degree of Doctor Divinitatis from the Ohio Wesleyan University. In 1864-67 he had charge of Fourth Street Station, Wheeling; during which time he was also president of the West Virginia Branch of the Christian Commission; and, on the field and in the hospital, did much, with his assistants and the almost unlimited supplies sent him from Wheeling and the ad- joining parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio, to alleviate the sufferings of our sick and wounded through the hills and valleys of that war-traversed state. Once, when ar- rested by Mosby's guerrillas, near Winchester, he was, because of known kindness to· some Confederate pris- oners, allowed to go on his way unmolested. His re- lation to the army was not permitted to interfere with pastoral work and oversight. The three years of his labors in Fourth Street were years of unusual prosperity. Their fine church edifice was rebuilt ; Thompson Chapel, on the Island, Zane Street Church, and Fifth Street (colored) Church, became independent, self-sustaining congregations. They were sent out with prayer and blessings during an administration of three busy years as promising offshoots of the grand old Church, and all have continued strong and prosperous. Even during the year when, for want of a more suitable place of worship, Sabbath services were held in the theater, scarcely a week passed without conversions, and acces- sions to the number of Christ's followers. Doctor Martin has often spoken of the men and women of that congregation as among the grandest people God ever al- lowed a man the honor of serving as pastor. In many

ways, then and since, they have taken occasion to express attachment to himself and family. In 1867 he was at Parkersburg, but had scarcely entered upon his work when he was unanimously elected president, and ap- pointed to organize the work, of the West Virginia Uni- versity. During his administration this institution made rapid progress in the elements that give success and character to a seat of learning. Its courses of study were made to conform to those of the most advanced American colleges. Its students increased from zero to one hundred and seventy-one. Its graduates, after the first three years, were at the rate of one, two, four, thir- teen per year. In the corps of professors he was fortu- nate in having such men as Doctor John Scott, formerly president of Washington College, Pennsylvania, Doctor Henry W. Harmon, of Dickinson College, and Robert Berkeley, in the chair of languages; Colonel J. Riley Weaver, now minister at Vienna, and Captain Henry H. Pierce, United States army, in the chair of mathematics; Professor G. S. Stevens, of Dartmouth, and William Maury Fontaine, of the University of Virginia, in the chairs of natural philosophy and chemistry; and other able scholars and teachers. The funds, buildings, col- lections, and appliances of instruction, under the direc- tion of such regents as ex-Governors Boreman and Ste- venson, Doctor T. H. Logan, Charles J. Faulkner, and others, largely increased ; and the university had already attained a recognized standing among American colleges, when, in September, 1875, Doctor Martin left it to take charge of the Indiana Asbury University. Of his admin- istration here, Doctor Philander Wiley, in a contribution to the National Repository, says:

"Alexander Martin, formerly professor of Greek in the Alleghany College, and more recently president of the University of West Virginia, whose general and thorough scholarship fits him for any department, was chosen as the successor of Doctor Andrus. His long experience as an educator, and his eminent executive ability, won at once entire confidence, so that perfect harmony has existed; and, without the demand for the exercise of discipline, order and marked advancement have thus far characterized his administration."

In 1878 the honorary degree of LL. D. was bestowed upon him by his Alma Mater. President Martin's life has been one of great industry and usefulness. He was chairman of the committee on correspondence at the Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Church at Chicago, in 1868. He was chairman of the committee of education at the General Conference at Brooklyn, in 1872, and was largely instrumental in securing the formation of the Edu- cational Society of his Church. He also was called to pre- side at the convention of teachers and friends of education at Cincinnati, in 1880. In 1867 he delivered the address at the semi-centennial of Alleghany College. During the eight years that Dr. Kingsley edited the Western Christian Advocate, Dr. Martin was a regular contributor to its ed-

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

5th. Dist.]

itorial columns. He has also written for the Ladies' Re- pository and other periodicals. Besides the above, among his published addresses might be mentioned one on be- half of the Christian Commission, one on the relation of education to agriculture and the mechanical arts, one on the relation of the Church to education, his inaugural when elected president of the West Virginia University, his inaugural at the first commencement after taking charge of the Indiana Asbury University, and a few sermons and addresses before friendly and benevolent orders. He also took a liberal part in the formation of the Church Extension Society of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, and served as a member during the first four years of the general committee on Church exten- sion. From 1872 to 1876, after the withdrawal of Doc- tors Carlton and Lanahan, he served as a member of the General Book Committee. For many years he has been a life director of the American Bible Society, and also a life director of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1853 he married Miss C. C. Hur- sey, of Clarksburg, Virginia. They have been blessed with four sons and one daughter: James V., superin- tendent city schools, at Boonville, Indiana; John E., attorney, of Evansville. Three others, Charles A., Edwin L., and Anna J., are still members of the home family.

cCORMACK, PATRICK H., of Columbus, con- tractor and builder, was born March 27, 1842, in County Clare, Ireland, within two miles of Lim- erick, and is the son of John and Mary (O'Neal) McCormack. His father was a freehold farmer; he was an educated man, a great lover of his country, and a participant in the rebellion of 1848, for which he was cast into prison. Immediately upon his liberation he emigrated to America, and settled in Nashville, Tennes- see, where Patrick McCormack attended the public schools until he was seventeen years of age. He was then apprenticed to a marble cutter, with whom he served his time. Immediately after the capture of Nashville, in 1862, he was appointed by the government as foreman of a gang of track layers, and was engaged in repairing railroads in Tennessee until the close of the war, in 1865. He then went to work for Nash, Flan- nery & Company, who were building the wire bridge at Nashville; he was appointed superintendent of their stone quarries, and in 1867 had entire charge of the stone work of the Ohio River bridge, at Louisville, for the same firm. In April, 1868, he formed a partnership with P. H. Sweeney, under the firm name of McCor- mack & Sweeney, and commenced business by contract- ing for and building the Johnson County jail, at Frank- lin, Indiana, and the high school building at the same place, completing both in 1870. In April, 1871, they A-19

received the contract for building the court-house at Columbus, Bartholomew County, at one hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars, which was completed in 1873. In April, 1872, they contracted for and built the court- house at Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. This was finished in 1874, at a cost to the county of one hundred and thirty thousand dollars. In July, 1873, they commenced the erection of the Chauncey Rose Polytechnic Institute, at Terre Haute, Indiana, said to be the finest institution of its kind in the United States, completing it in the fall of 1874, for which they received eighty-four thousand dollars. In the spring of 1876 they received the contract, at seventy-eight thousand dollars, for the erection of the Daviess County court- house, at Washington, Indiana, and completed it in the spring of 1879. The next winter they built the court- house at Ann Arbor, Michigan, at sixty-five thousand dollars. They now have under contract the building of the court-house at Clarksville, Montgomery County, Ten- nessee, for sixty thousand dollars. They have also built many of the iron and stone bridges of the county and state, and are now constructing an iron bridge over White River, near Columbus, at a cost of twenty thou- sand dollars. They were one of the parties who bid for the erection of the state-house, but failed to receive the contract. Mr. McCormack married, May 25, 1867, Maggie Clark, of St. Mary's, Kentucky, daughter of a merchant. In the spring of 1868 he removed to Frank- lin, Indiana, and in the spring of 1872 to Columbus. In October, 1876, he lost his wife, who left him two children-one son and one daughter. September 14, 1877, he married his present wife, who was Maggie Ferrall, daughter of a railroad contractor ; one child has been born to them. Mr. McCormack was reared a Catholic, and attends that Church. He was brought up, as it were, under the eye of General Jackson, and calls himself a Jacksonian Democrat in deed and in truth. The citizens of Columbus point with pride to their court- house, and say the contractors complied with their con- tract in every particular. They are the heaviest con- tracting firm in Indiana. Mr. McCormack is a very pleasant gentleman, and enjoys the esteem of the citi- zens of Columbus.

EEK, JAMES S., attorney-at-law, Spencer, In- diana, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, on the 17th of August, 1834. He is a son of John and Salina (Stinson) Meek, the former a native of Maryland, born prior to the War of the Revolution, who died in 1849, aged eighty; the latter was a na- tive of Tennessee. His father was one of the earliest pioneers of Wayne County, and at one time owned a tract of land on which a portion of the city of Rich- mond, Indiana, now stands. Young Meek was brought

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[5th Dist.

up on a farm under the usual circumstances of pioneer life. In 1843 his father removed to the northern part of Owen County, where he located on a farm. The early education of Mr. Meek was only such as was afforded in the common schools of Wayne and Owen Counties. After leaving them he began teaching, which continued until 1855, when he went to Indianapolis and secured a position as commercial traveler with one of the wholesale houses of that city, exchanging it for a similar position in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1859, remaining there until 1862. On the 17th of June, 1858, he was married to Miss Mary Joslin, daughter of Doctor Amasa Joslin, of Spencer. In 1862 Mr. Meek was the nominee of his party for sheriff of Owen County, and, although his election would have been certain with a usual party majority of six hundred, he enlisted in the military service of the United States, vacating his place on the ticket, and attaching himself to Company H, 97th Regiment Indiana Volunteers, as a private. Upon the organization of the regiment he was commissioned first lieutenant, and was mustered into the service at Terre Haute, Indiana, August, 1862, and immediately ordered to the field, joining General Sherman's command at Memphis, Tennessee. He was with that army wherever it moved until it reached Moscow, Tennessee, where, at the end of his first year's service, he was made quarter- master of the brigade commanded by Colonel J. R. Cockerel; and in January, 1864, he was promoted to be quartermaster of General Ewing's division, at Lotsbor- ough, Alabama. In September, 1863, Lieutenant Meek was commissioned captain of Company H, but was retained on staff duty. In May, 1864, he was assigned the duty of property quartermaster of the Fifteenth Army Corps. Upon the organization of the campaign at At- lanta, Georgia, he was ordered to report to Colonel Conkling, who was chief quartermaster of the Army of Tennessee, and who assigned Captain Meek to a place as property quartermaster for the department. He re- mained on duty in this position until the arrival of the force at Savannah, Georgia, where, at the instance of General Sherman's chief quartermaster, General Easton, he was detailed to the fleet in the Savannah River, taking charge of the transfer of stores from the river to the city through formidable obstructions. This task was completed in good time, after which he discharged the entire fleet. He was subsequently assigned to duty as quartermaster in charge of all the hospitals in Savan- nah, where he remained till after the surrender of Lee, when he was sent to Washington City-being present at the grand review which occurred soon after-and then to Indianapolis, where, on the 4th of June, 1865, he was mustered out. During all his military service Captain Meek was noted for the thorough attention he paid to his duties, many of which were exceedingly difficult of execution and of the utmost importance. He

had the confidence of both inferiors and superiors, on account of his devotion to the cause, and the dispatch and efficiency with which he executed every require- ment. Immediately after the close of the war he re- turned to Cincinnati, where, for the second time, he took a position as traveling salesman, but in the follow- ing year (1866) he went to Gosport, Indiana, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits for himself. This con- tinued till his election, in 1870, as clerk of the Owen Circuit Court, when he came to Spencer. In 1874 he was re-elected to the same position, filling the office for eight consecutive years, and for six years of the time he was chairman of the Democratic county central com- mittee. Since retiring from the clerk's office, October, 1878, he has been engaged in the practice of law, which has been attended with flattering success, and has a very promising outlook for the future. He joined the Masons in 1856, and has taken all the degrees in Masonry, including Royal and Select Masters. He has filled nearly all the subordinate positions in the several lodges. Mr. Meek joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1858, and is still a member of that religious organization. He is the father of six interesting and intelligent children. In a business sense, Mr. Meek's life has been successful; although he began without the least pecuniary help from any one, he has by applica- tion and attention to his private affairs amassed a com- petence. This has been the result of individual effort, and he is therefore a fitting example of self-made men. Aside from his success in a commercial point of view, few men in Indiana possess his tact and judgment as a local party manager. However active and persistent he may be in behalf of his party, he has too much judg- ment to allow his political convictions to be a barrier to personal friendships, and as a result he is respected and even popular with the opposition. He is watchful and shrewd in driving a trade, always careful to take care of number one, but never stooping to a mean or dis- honorable act. He is kind and obliging, taking special delight in conferring favors upon his personal friends. Few men take such an exalted view of personal honor and integrity as he. He is a kind and considerate hus- band and father, and in every way a most estimable gentleman.

IERS, R. W., attorney-at-law, of Bloomington, was born, January 27, 1848, on a farm, seven miles west of Greensburg, Decatur County, In- diana, and is a son of Thomas S. and Mahala (Braden) Miers. His father is a farmer, and a native of Indiana. He remained on the farm until he arrived at his majority, assisting his father during the summer and attending the common schools in winter. He also attended Hartsville Academy, and taught school three

Respectfully

Samlet Mitchell

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

5th Dist.]

winters in the vicinity of his home. In the fall of 1867 he entered the sophomore class in the State University at Bloomington, graduating from the collegiate course in 1870, and from the law department in 1871. He then entered the office of Judge Hughes, of Bloomington, being admitted to the bar in the spring of 1872, formed a partnership with Judge Eckels, and began the practice of law, which he has continued ever since. In 1874 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the Circuit Court. He discharged the duties of this position to the satisfac- tion of the people ; was re-elected in 1876, and, after serving three years with great credit to himself, received the Democratic nomination as Representative ; and, not- withstanding that he resided in a Republican county, was elected by a handsome majority. During the ses- sion he was chairman of the Committee on Education, and also a member of the Committee on Judiciary Fees and Salaries. In political matters Mr. Miers has always been a Democrat, and, although comparatively a young man, is regarded as one of the leading Democrats of Monroe County. By giving strict attention to his pro- fession and devoting his leisure time to its study, he is fast winning a way to a position of prominence at the bar, and his practice is increasing in a proportionate ratio. He is a highly respected and useful citizen, and is a clever, courteous, and genial gentleman. He was married, on the ninth day of May, 1871, to Miss Belle Ryors ; two children have been born to them.

ITCHELL, SAMUEL M., farmer, merchant, and banker, Martinsville, was born in Charlestown, Indiana, July 7, 1814. He is the son of Giles and Mary (Moore) Mitchell, the former a na- tive of Virginia, and the latter of Kentucky. His ma- ternal grandfather, while engaged in defending the settlers of his locality against the encroachments of the marauding Indians of Kentucky, was taken prisoner, and subjected to all the trials and privations known to their fiendish customs. However, his athletic feats and ex- pertness at games soon made him a favorite with his captors, and, in consequence, his liberties were extended. At an opportune moment he made his escape and re- turned home, having been a prisoner for three years. . Mr. Mitchell's paternal grandfather was a soldier in the Revolution, serving until the close of that contest. He is one of a family of six children, all of whom are dead except his brother, James M. Mitchell, who is also a merchant of Martinsville. His parents came to Indiana in 1810 and settled at Charlestown. In 1821 they re- moved to a farm in Bartholomew County, where, in 1828, his mother died. They were among the earliest pioneers of Bartholomew County. At the age of four- teen, with but few educational advantages, Samuel

Mitchell entered the employment of his brother-in-law, John M. Givin, at Columbus, Indiana, as store boy, where he remained four years, with the exception of one term in school at Bloomington, Indiana, in 1830. In 1832 he engaged as clerk in his brother's store at Mar- tinsville, at a salary of ten dollars per month, remain- ing there one year. He then determined to increase his literary knowledge, and, with that purpose in view, en- rolled himself as a pupil at the Salem Academy, one of the best institutions of learning in the state, and at that time conducted by the eminent educator and philanthro- pist, Hon. John I. Morrison, now of Knightstown, In- diana. He was a persistent student in this institution for one year. He spent the next twelve months in Madison, where he secured a position as second clerk on the steamer " Livingstone," which, during the sum- mer and fall, plied between Cincinnati and New Or- leans, and in the winter was engaged in the cotton trade between New Orleans and Yazoo City. In the spring of 1837, in consequence of needing repairs, the steamer was sent to Cincinnati. Mr. Mitchell availed himself of the opportunity to visit his home at Martins- ville. While there he was persuaded to remain, and has since made that his place of residence. He imme- diately formed a partnership with his brother, James M. Mitchell, and engaged in mercantile pursuits. This partnership continued pleasantly for thirty consecutive years, without any written articles of agreement or other legal papers. During all this time they owned property in common, and, at the dissolution of the partnership, February, 1867, a complete and satisfactory division of all property and money was made without the expense and formality of legal proceedings. Since that time Mr. Mitchell has conducted his business alone. In 1868, in addition to farming extensively, and carrying on one of the largest dry-goods stores in Morgan County, Mr. Mitchell opened a private bank, of which he is the exclusive capitalist and manager. He has never sought or held public office in his life. In his travels on busi- ness he has visited all the larger cities of the East and South. On the 28th of January, 1840, he was married to Miss Jane M. Dietz, daughter of David Dietz, of Columbus, Indiana; and on the 18th of December, 1849, he married Mrs. Ann Eslinger, daughter of Jere- miah Sandy, of Gosport, Indiana. He is the father of ten children, seven of whom are living; his oldest son, William C. Mitchell, being a partner in the busi- ness. Mr. Mitchell is a consistent member of the Chris- tian Church, and is a stanch Republican. He has never been a member of any secret organization or order of any kind. He is purely a self-made man, and as such has arisen from an humble station in life to be one of the most prominent and influential citizens and capital- ists in Indiana. Mr. Mitchell still personally superin- tends his extensive business. His large fortune has been

REPRESENTATIVE MEN OF INDIANA.

[5th Dist.

accumulated by his own unaided efforts. He has per- | formed more than his share of physical labor, and has undergone all the hardships incident to the early settle- ment of Indiana, the results of which he now enjoys. He has preserved his health and youthful appearance to a remarkable degree, and appears to be not over forty years of age. He has always aided in what he con- sidered deserving charities, but has never allowed him- self to become a victim to wholesale swindles or pro- fessional beggars. He is a man of the strictest personal honor and integrity, and enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellow-men.

OORE, MARSHALL A. AND GRANVILLE C., who form the firm of Moore Brothers, co- partners in the practice of law, Greencastle, In- diana, are sons of Thomas A. and Elizabeth Moore (née Nugent), and were born in Hawkins County in the state of Tennessee; the former on December 16, 1831, the latter on May 4, 1833. Their parents came with their children to Putnam County, Indiana, in April, 1834; and here the family have since resided. The father, Thomas A. Moore, died May 4, 1853. He was the second son of Thomas and Nancy Moore (nee Walker), of Caroline County, Virginia; was born Decem- ber 16, 1799, and resided in Henry and Campbell Counties, Virginia, until manhood. In 1821 he re- moved to Hawkins County, Tennessee, where he mar- ried Miss Jane Cox in 1327. The fruit of this marriage was one child, a daughter, now Mrs. Harriet G. Willis, of Putnam County, Indiana. Jane died in 1829. In 1831 he was again married, to Miss Elizabeth Nugent, who survives him. His father, Thomas Moore, was the youngest child of Samuel and Nancy Moore, who were married in Ireland, about 1760, and immediately re- moved to the colony of Virginia; although the point of their original settlement there is not known. Samuel died prior to the American Revolution, but his son Thomas was a soldier of the patriot army for the last five years of that memorable struggle, and also a soldier of the War of 1812. He died in 1822, and sleeps quietly in a grove of young pines in Hawkins County, Tennes- sce, by the side of his wife. Two of his children sur- vive: Elizabeth Mason, of London, Kentucky, the eldest; and Catharine T. Dickinson, of Jonesville, Vir- ginia, the youngest daughter. He left eight children, three sons and five daughters. Samuel W. Moore, M. D., of Texas; Thomas Moore, of Cumberland County, Tennessee; Jane Lloyd, of Lee County, Virginia; Thomas A. Reynolds, of Fayetteville, Arkansas; and the Masons, of Laurel County, Kentucky, are among his numerous descendants. Thomas A. Moore, father of the subject of this sketch, was a farmer, and loved his voca-

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 62

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