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 66
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this becoming unfit for duty he was granted a furlough, and while at home, in Indiana, was commissioned by Governor Morton as second lieutenant in the 7th Indi- ana Cavalry. He rapidly advanced to the rank of cap- tain, participating in all the battles in which his regi- ment was engaged. He remained with the 7th Regiment two years, and upon its consolidation was discharged. He then enlisted in the 9th United States Infantry as a sergeant, and continued with this command until it was mustered out of the service, when he returned home. In 1866 he entered the State University at Bloomington, where he studied two years. After this he engaged in the drug trade at Bloomington in connection with Doc- tor Durand. At the expiration of a year he purchased his partner's interest, and carried on business alone for some time. He then formed a partnership with Jackson Arnold, who soon after sold out to Mr. Fullerton. The last named remained in the firm two years, when Cap- tain Shoemaker again became the sole proprietor. He has an immense stock, and is the leading druggist of Bloomington. He was married, October 13, 1869, to Miss Eudora Stuart, a native of Salem, Indiana, to whom three children have been born. In politics Cap- tain Shoemaker is a Democrat. He was educated in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but is not a member of any religious denomination. He is closely identified with the growth and prosperity of the city of his adoption, and is esteemed by all as a genial and progressive fellow-citizen.
TUCKY, DOCTOR JOHN M., of Gosport, was born in Jeffersontown, Jefferson County, Kentucky, June 15, 1825. He is the son of Frederick and Louisa (Meyers) Stucky, both natives of Kentucky, and of German ancestry. In boyhood he attended the common schools and the academy of his native town during that part of the year not occupied in hard labor on the farm. His first earnings were devoted to the purchase of medical books, and at the age of fourteen he began reading them in connection with his other duties. At eighteen he accepted a clerkship in a whole- sale and retail dry-goods and grocery store in Louis- ville, Kentucky, where he remained two years. At twenty-one he resumed his studies, systematically, with Doctor John S. Seaton, subsequently entering the Louis- ville Medical School, where, in March, 1848, he graduated with high honors. He went to Gosport, Indiana, May 10, 1848, and began the practice of his profession. On the fourteenth day of February, 1862, Doctor Stucky was appointed assistant surgeon in the 59th Regiment In- diana Volunteers. He was with General Pope at New Madrid and Island No. 10, and thence went to Corinth, Mississippi, where Rosecrans. defeated Generals Van
Dorn and Price, October 4, 1862. In February, 1863, he resigned his position in the army, returned to Gos- port, and resumed his practice. In 1864 he was elected by the Democratic party of Owen County to the House of Representatives, serving in the regular and called sessions until 1865. As a member of the Committees on Education and Benevolent Institutions, he was largely instrumental in revising the common school laws of In- diana. Doctor Stucky joined the Free and Accepted Masons in 1850, and has attained a high degree in that order. He has always been a Democrat in poli- tics. He was married, March 7, 1850, to Miss Esther E. Wampler, daughter of Hezekiah Wampler, a wealthy farmer, merchant, and trader, of Gosport. They have had nine children, five of whom are living. The eld- est, Thomas E. Stucky, is now a promising young physician of Mooresville, Indiana. Dr. Stucky ranks high as a physician. He is an exemplary member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is an upright man, a good neighbor, and a genial, courteous gentle- man. By close attention to business he has accumu- lated a competence, and his honesty and ability com- mand the confidence and respect of his fellow-citizens.
HOMPSON, SILAS L., of Columbus. auditor of Bartholomew County, Indiana, was born in Wayne . Township, of that county, October 20, 1844. His means of education were confined entirely to the country schools. When he was twenty-one he began teaching, which he continued during the three following winters, and at the age of twenty-five again attended school. For a time he was in the telegraph-office at Jonesville. He was elected auditor of the county in 1874, for a term of four years. December 22, 1875, he married Olive Peak, a native of Johnson County. In politics he was reared a Democrat, but was elected auditor on an independent ticket, advocating the one- term system. Although comparatively a young man, he has reached an eminent position in the county; and is highly respected as an honest, upright, and worthy cit- izen. His great-grand-parents on the Thompson side were of Irish birth, and, coming to this country, set- tled in South Carolina. His grandfather removed from Carolina to Kentucky, where he married Susan Still- well, of Irish and German parentage, and removed to Bartholomew County, Indiana, in 1821. Silas Thomp- son, the father of the subject of this sketch, married Desire B. Lane, the daughter of Colonel Jacob and Polly Lane. Colonel Lane was born October 3, 1789, and came to this state from New York in 1818, making the trip down the Ohio, which consumed five weeks, in a flat-boat, in company with his father-in-law, two brothers-in-law and their families, and a sister-in-law
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and her family. They settled in Utica, Clarke County, 'Indiana, and removed to Bartholomew County, April 2, 1821. Mr. Lane was made a captain of militia in 1823, and colonel in 1828. He was county commis- sioner from 1842 to 1848, and Associate Judge from April, 1849. to October, 1851, and was afterward elected one of the trustees of Wayne Township, of this county. He died October 20, 1855, at the age of sixty-six years; his widow, Polly Lane, still survives him, at the age of eighty-six. Her maiden name was Guern- sey, and she was born in Watertown, Connecticut, in the year :793. ' Her father removed to New York in 1807, near Penn Yan, Ontario County, where she mar- ried Jacob Lane, in 1813. The Guernseys were of En- glish and the Lanes of German origin. Polly Lane's mother was Huldah Seymour, whose brother, Josiah Seymour, was a captain in the Revolutionary army.
NAYLOR, COLONEL W. C. L., attorney-at-law, of Bloomington, Indiana, was born May 22, 1836, in the city of Lafayette. His father was John Tay- lor, a native of Pennsylvania, whose ancestors emi- grated to this country from Ireland many years ago. His mother, Mary A. (Brown) Taylor, was born in Ohio, of Scotch parentage. Colonel Taylor graduated at the State University at Bloomington, Indiana, in the class of 1855. He immediately began the study of law in the office of Orth & Stein, in Lafayette; was admitted to the bar in 1858, and elected district attorney, which po- sition he held two years. In 1859, on motion of Hon. R. C. Gregory, he was admitted to practice in the Su- preme Court of Indiana. In 1861 he enlisted in the 20th Indiana Regiment, then organizing at Lafayette, and in July was commissioned, and mustered into the service, as first lieutenant of Company G. In August of the same year he accompanied the regiment to Mary- land, and on the 24th of September, 1861, sailed for Hatteras Inlet. Soon after landing, the regiment was ordered to the north end of Hatteras Bank, forty miles from the fortifications, without transportations or artil- lery. Here, on the 4th of October, it was attacked by the enemy's fleet of gunboats and transports, loaded with troops, and was forced to return to the light- house, twenty-eight miles distant. On the 9th of No- vember the regiment embarked for Fortress Monroe, where, on November 20, 1861, Mr. Taylor was com- missioned as captain of Company G. In March, 1862, the regiment removed to Newport News, and partici- pated in the engagement between the "Merrimac," "Cumberland," and "Congress;" and on the 8th of March, while deployed as skirmishers, prevented the cap- tors from taking possession of the ship "Congress," which had struck her colors. It also witnessed the fight be -.
tween the "Merrimac " and " Monitor," assisted in the capture of Norfolk, and, in June, 1862, joined the Army of the Potomac at Fair Oaks battle-ground, being as- signed for duty in Jamison's brigade, Kearney's division, and Heintzelman's army corps. It bore an active part in all the battles in front of Richmond, particularly in the battles of Orchards and Glendale, or Frazer's farm, where its loss was heavy. It covered the retreat of the Third Corps in the seven days' fight, and, on the 29th of August, took part in the second battle of Bull Run. On the Ist of September it was engaged in the battle of Chantilly, also at Fredericksburg, December II. On February 12, 1863, Captain Taylor was commissioned as major of the regiment, and was present at the battle of Chancellorsville. June 6, 1863, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and on July 3, 1863, to that of colonel. He soon after commanded his regiment in the battle of Gettysburg. He was then ordered to New York City, for the purpose of suppressing the disturb- ance caused by drafts, and was placed in command of Fort Schuyler, New York harbor. He rejoined the Army of the Potomac in time to engage in the fights at Locust Grove and Mine Run, in November, and was also engaged in the battle at Rappahannock. He crossed the Rapidan with Grant's army in May, 1864, and participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, Po River, Spottsylvania, Tallapotomie, Cold Harbor, Deep Bottom, and Strawberry Plains, after which he was placed in the entrenchments in front of Petersburg. On the 15th of April, 1864, Colonel Tay- lor, while in Indiana on leave of absence, married Miss Lizzie M. McPheeters, daughter of Doctor J. G. Mc- Pheeters, of Bloomington, Indiana, and surgeon of the 33d Regiment Indiana Volunteers. After the . war Colonel Taylor served as city attorney of Lafayette, In- diana, for four years. In April, 1874, he removed to Bloomington, where he is now engaged in the practice of his profession. In politics he is an ultra Repub- lican, and in religious belief an Episcopalian. His many friends in Bloomington speak of him as a gallant officer, and a genial, courteous gentleman. As an attor- ney, he is fast advancing to a prominent position at the Indiana bar.
ILFORD, SALEM A., physician and surgeon, of Martinsville, the eighth son of Alexander and Elenore (Mccullough) Tilford, was born in Jeffer- son County, Indiana, February 2, 1827. He was one of a family of nine sons and four daughters. His father was an American soldier in the War of 1812, and his grandfather served for seven years in the patriot army in our War of Independence. His ancestors came to Indiana early in the history of the state; and the family may be justly termed pioneers. At the age of
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seven years, Doctor Tilford was taken by his parents to Madison, Indiana, where he obtained a good high school education. Deciding to enter the medical pro- fession, he commenced his studies in the office of Doc- tor J. H. D. Rodgers, where he remained for three years. He then entered the Louisville Medical Uni- versity, attending a course of lectures ; and subsequently graduated from the Indiana Medical College, of Indian- apolis. He then established himself in Martinsville, where he has for thirty-one years been in active practice, excepting a brief period, commencing in 1870, during which he served as county auditor. Doctor Tilford has seen many changes take place in the home of his adoption, and has probably traveled as frequently over the country outlying Martinsville as any man living. His practice has taken him literally from one end of the county to the other, and it might be interesting to com- pute the thousands of miles he has ridden with no com- panion but his horse. The Medical Department of But- ler University conferred upon him the ad eundem degree in 1879. November 28, 1849, he married Emeline Major, daughter of a well-known farmer of Morgan County. She died in 1853, leaving one daugh- ter, Ella R. Tilford, who is a graduate of the Female College of Glendale, Ohio, and has been, since 1877, principal of the high school of Martinsville. He mar- ried his present wife, Ann Wolfe, daughter of Hon. Benjamin Wolfe, of Sullivan County, April 1, 1857. They have a family of five sons and six daughters. The oldest son, Benjamin W., is studying his father's pro- fession at home. Dr. Tilford is a member of the Chris- tian Church. He takes no active part in politics, although in years past he was an influential member of the Whig party. During the Civil War he voted and worked with the Republican party, but has since been a Democrat. In his profession Doctor Tilford is not a specialist ; he devotes his entire time to general practice, and has a more extended field of labor than he can well oversee. As a citizen, neighbor, and physician, he has the respect and confidence of the large circle in which he has been so long known.
Fairview, Rush County, Indiana, conducted by Professor A. R. Benton, now a member of the faculty of Butler University, where he was prepared for a course in col- lege, which, however, he never attended. He began teaching, and continued until he had finished three terms, the last year studying medicine with Doctor John Arnold, now of Rushville, Indiana. During the vaca- tions in his first two terms of school he also worked on a farm. He continued receiving medical instruction from Doctor Arnold till the fall of 1851, when he en- tered Cleveland Medical College, at Cleveland, Ohio, where he took a course of lectures, afterward locating at Cataract, Owen County, Indiana, and beginning prac- tice. He continued this at Cataract till the fall of 1859, when he attended Rush Medical College, at Chicago, Illinois, where, in the spring of 1860, he graduated. After receiving his diploma he returned to Cataract, and resumed his rounds as a physician, which continued till August, 1862, when he received an appointment as first assistant surgeon of the 85th Regiment Indiana Volun- teers, commanded by Colonel John B. Baird, and imme- diately entered the service, where he remained at his post, performing his duties faithfully and zealously, to the close of the war. During his term of service Doctor Wiles was often intrusted with delicate and important .situations, such as the entire management of large hos- pitals, and other responsible detached duties. In all these diversified positions he displayed marked executive ability and thorough medical and surgical skill. After the close of the war he located at Greencastle, Indiana, which, however, continued but a short time, for in 1866 he changed to Spencer, where he has ever since resided in active practice. In 1867, in partnership with Doctor Dean, he opened a drug-store in Spencer, of which he is now proprietor. March 10, 1879, Doctor Wiles was ap- pointed by Governor Williams trustee of the institution for the education of the blind. He has been intimately connected with all important enterprises of his town and county, and especially active in constructing the graded school building in Spencer, one of the best in the state, and for six years subsequently he was its trustee. In 1862, and prior to his appointment as surgeon in the Union army, Doctor Wiles was the nominee of his party for Representative in the state Legislature, but pending
ILES, WILLIAM V., physician and surgeon, Spen- | the election he entered the military service. He joined cer, Owen County, Indiana, was born near Ripley, the Free and Accepted Masons in 1853, and has attained the degree of Royal Arch Mason, and been Master for twenty-seven years. Doctor Wiles was brought up among the Whigs, but since the days of that party he has been a steadfast member of the Democratic organ- ization. He was married, March 11, 1856, to Miss Par- thenia I. Jennings, daughter of Theodore C. Jennings, of Greencastle, Indiana, his present estimable and in- telligent wife. He is the father of eight children, seven of whom are living. As a physician, Doctor Wiles Brown County, Ohio, on the 27th of March, 1827. He is a son of Peter M. and Martha (Henry) Wiles, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia. His father was a cavalryman in the War of 1812, serving till the close of that contest. In 1833 he moved to Fayette County, Indiana, and settled on a farm. The early education of young Wiles was in the common schools of Rush and Fayette Counties, but at the age of nineteen he entered Fairview Academy, at
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ranks with the most learned men of his profession in the state. His large perceptive faculties enable him to readily apply his knowledge obtained from books to the particular case in hand, and, in consequence, he has a large and lucrative practice. Financially, he has been a success beyond the average in his calling, and has accu- mulated for himself and family a competence. Socially, he is kind, affable, and obliging, and as a result enjoys the confidence and esteem of a large circle of warm personal friends.
ILLIAMSON, DELANO ECCLES, of Green- castle, Indiana, was born in Florence, Boone County, Kentucky, August 19, 1822. In 1830 his parents, Robert and Lydia (Madden) Will- iamson, removed to Covington, Kentucky, and in 1833 emigrated to the West, and located in Vermilion County, Illinois. Here Delano remained until his nineteenth year, attending the common schools. In 1841 he went to Greencastle, Indiana, with the intention of entering college, but abandoned the idea after arriving there, and two weeks subsequently, being still undecided as to his future, he visited Bowling Green, and while there accepted the position of deputy in the county clerk's office. In March of the following year (1842) he was married to Miss Elizabeth Elliot, a sister of the clerk. During his residence in Bowling Green, which extended over a period of nearly two years, he had been devoting his leisure moments to the study of law, and in February, 1843, he returned to Greencastle, where he entered the office of Eccles & Hanna, for the purpose of reviewing his studies. In those days admission to the bar was attended by greater difficulties than now confront the young aspirant. A committee appointed by the circuit judge subjected the candidate to a critical examination, after which the judge granted or declined to issue the coveted license. In Mr. Williamson's case the committee was composed of General Howard, Joseph A. Wright (afterwards Governor of Indiana and Minister to Russia), Delano Eccles, and Henry Secrist. They reported favorably, and a license was issued, signed by Judge Bryant, president judge of the circuit. Still the admission was but half complete. He next proceeded to Owen County, where he was again exam- ined, this time by Judge McDonald himself, from whom also he obtained a license; and this made him, so far as authority was concerned, a lawyer. Locating in Clay County, he commenced the practice of his profes- sion, where he remained till 1850, when he was elected to the Legislature as a Representative from that county, on the Democratic ticket, by six hundred majority, over two competitors. Among his associates in the Lower House were Willard, Usher, and Pratt-the latter be- ing subsequently sent to the United States Senate. In
1853 he removed to Greencastle, and in 1858, being still a Democrat, he was again nominated for the Legis- lature, but owing to a division in the party, was beaten by five votes. Meantime, having been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court, he had visited all the adjoining counties and become very extensively known. He took an active part in the presidential contest of 1860, was a devoted adherent of Douglas, and cast his last Democratic vote for the " Little Giant." In July, 1859, he formed a copartnership, under the name of Williamson & Daggy, which still exists, with a large and lucrative practice in Western Indiana. In 1861, immediately after President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, Mr. Williamson, an unflinching Union man, became an active supporter of the government, devoting himself for the next twelve months, with all the zeal of a pa- triot, to the promotion of the war spirit in Putnam and adjoining counties. This action, as was naturally ex- pected, created a feud between himself and the Dem- ocratic party, which excluded him entirely from its councils. In June, 1862, at the Union convention, which embraced the Republican party and Union Dem- ocrats, he received the unsolicited nomination for Attor- ney-general of the state. Among his opponents, who were five in number, were Daniel D. Pratt and Judge Smith. The war spirit had widened the breach between the adherents and the enemies of the government. Men who a year previous had been fast friends now passed each other coldly by. Party feeling ran high, and was, if possible, intensified upon the announcement of Lin- coln's proclamation of emancipation. The majority of the voters being pro-slavery men, this action caused a defection from the Republican and Union-Democratic combination, resulting in a total defeat of their state ticket. In 1864 Mr. Williamson again received the nomination of the Republican convention, by acclama- tion, and was elected. This office he held for three consecutive terms of two years each. In 1870 he re- fused to take the position for a fourth time. No better evidence of his professional skill and unblemished rep- utation as a gentleman can be given than this unqual- ified support of his party for the highest legal office in the state, extending over a period of ten years. In 1872 he accompanied Senator Morton in his canvass through the middle and southern counties, and in 1876 was a candidate for Congress, but, owing to local diffi- culties, was defeated in the convention, and John Hanna received the nomination. Mr. Williamson was married a second time January 3, 1861, to Miss Carrie Badger, of Greencastle, daughter of the Rev. O. P. Badger. Of his five children, Robert E., the eldest son, served in the 14th Indiana Regiment, and participated in the battle of Antietam and the winter campaign in the Cheatham Mountains. Mr. Williamson is a member of the Christian Church ; has taken the degree of Royal
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Arch in the Masonic Fraternity; and is, politically, a strong Republican. He is about five feet ten inches in height, wears no beard, and for a man of his age is sin- gularly handsome and youthful, both in action and ap- pearance. His face bears the stamp of refinement and culture, and he is, in short, one who would be sin- gled out in any assemblage of distinguished men as possessing, in a marked degree, steadfastness of purpose, honesty, and intelligence.
INKLER, CAPTAIN WILLIAM M., postmaster, Columbus, Indiana, was born January 29, 1831, in Prussian Poland, and was a son of August T. and Bertha (Jacoby) Winkler. His father was a clergyman of the Reformed Lutheran Church. Captain Winkler began his studies at home under a tutor, and afterwards entered the Prussian Military Academy at Bres- lau, Silesia, where he graduated in 1845, and entered as a cadet in the Prussian service. He soon advanced to the rank of lieutenant of light artillery, and took an active part during the rebellion of 1848 and 1849. In the fall of 1849 he emigrated to America, where for years he was an agent for an emigration society. He also assisted in the survey of the Buffalo and Branford Railroad. In the fall of 1855 he located at Columbus, Indiana, where he rented a farm. In 1861, on the breaking out of the Rebellion, he enlisted as a private in the 4th Indiana Volunteer Cavalry, and was after- wards appointed lieutenant and acting adjutant. The latter position he held when he was mustered out at the close of the war, when he returned to Colum- bus and engaged as a bookkeeper. He also pre- pared a plat of the city of Columbus, Indiana. In the spring of 1866 he was appointed, by President Grant, postmaster at Columbus, which position he has since held. He was married, October 23, 1856, to Mary A. Murphy, daughter of Robert Murphy, a merchant of Greensburg, Decatur County, Indiana. They have two children : Francis A., who is deputy postmaster; and Bertha E., who resides with her parents. He was origi- nally a Lutheran, but is now an elder in the Christian Church. In politics, he has always been an active sup- porter of the Republican party. In early life he de- voted much time to the study of geology, and to the gathering of ancient and modern coins. His nu- mismatic collection is pronounced to be one of the finest in the state, and not surpassed by any private one in the country. It now numbers over one thousand four hundred pieces, some of which are very ancient, dating back to the time of Babylon. Mr. Winkler is also the possessor of one of the twelve medals ordered by the Geneva award. He manifests great interest in directing children in the study of history and the
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