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 67

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 67

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| sciences, and is regarded as one of the most thoroughly educated men in the community. He is very hospi- table, and takes great pleasure in assisting visitors in their numismatical examinations.

ILLIAMS, WILLIAM F., SEN., of Owen County, Indiana, first saw the light of day at Fort Knox, Knox County, then Indiana Terri- tory, December 27, 1803, and is now the oldest white male citizen of the state who was born and raised within its borders. Mr. Williams is a son of Frank and Abigail Williams, natives of New York state, who emigrated to Kentucky at an early day, and later to Indiana Territory, by means of a boat which traversed the Ohio River to the mouth of the Wabash and ascended that stream to Post Vincennes, now the county seat of Knox County, and a city of twelve thousand inhabitants. They did not remain long at Vincennes, however, but, in company with ten other families, re- moved to the wilds of the interior, about twenty-five miles north of that city, now included in Sullivan County, but which was then a dense forest, in which could be found almost every species of animal known to America, and where the native Indian pursued, unmolested, the va- rious sports of his tribe. Here a settlement was effected, and the men began clearing up the forest preparatory to planting and sowing. It was a work of no ordinary mag- nitude. For miles in every direction the eye of the pioneer met only a dense forest, broken here and there by rivers and creeks and small lakes. Dams must be constructed and mills erected on these streams; and the forest must be cleared away to make room for the corn-field. Subject to all the privations and hardships of the pioneer life began the career of William F. Williams, senior. For eight years following their arrival the family remained at their point of location, but the last three years were spent in a- fort which had been built for protection against the aggressions and assaults of the Indians, who became hostile and rebellious, seeking every opportunity to molest the whites. This warlike attitude of the na- tives proved to be a great embarrassment, as guards were required to be posted to warn the laborers in the fields of the approaching danger. The nearest trading point was Vincennes, twenty-five miles away. Under these circumstances it would be natural to suppose that Mr. Williams had little opportunity for an education. All the scholastic training available to him was that furnished by a few weeks' attendance at the subscription schools, kept in a rude log school-house. Mr. Williams was, however, one of those who make the best of things, and so persistent was he that he has acquired a fair English education. In 1824 he removed from Sulli- van to Greene, and from Greene to Owen County in 1838,

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where he settled on a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, for which he obligated himself to pay nine hundred dol- lars, nothing being required in advance. By the dint of untiring zeal, energy, and economy, he discharged this indebtedness in a short time, selling pork at two cents net, and corn at twelve and a half cents per bushel, shelled and delivered aboard the boats. Prosperity be- gan now to dawn upon him, and pioneer life ended. Mr. Williams was for many years a member of the state militia. By a succession of elections he served as mag- istrate of Greene County for sixteen years, making a very acceptable officer, and for eight years subse- quently was a notary public. He is a consistent and worthy member of the Protestant Methodist Church, having belonged to that organization for fifty years. He is also an honored member of the Free and Ac- cepted Masons. He is a steadfast member of the Dem- ocratic party, of the old Jeffersonian school. He was married to Miss Mary Padgett December 28, 1822. Their wedding cake was composed of corn-meal, made by crushing corn in a mortar with an iron wedge. She lived with him many years, and as a fond and affec-

tionate wife and mother she had few equals. She is now dead. Mr. Williams is the father of five sons-Solo- mon, Daniel, Josiah, William F., junior, and James- four of whom served in the late war, two being wounded; but all lived to return home, and are now industrious, enterprising, and influential citizens, and all living on farms adjoining the old homestead. His two living daughters are Jane Patterson and Mrs. Elizabeth Mc- Clarren. The combined realty of the heirs now amounts in the aggregate to twenty-one hundred acres of the very finest land in Owen County. Mr. Williams's life, though quiet, has been marked with great success. He has never been the man to boast of his achievements, or parade his virtues or accomplishments before the public. From an humble origin, with all the disad- vantages of life in a new country, and without means, Mr. Williams has attained a standing for moral princi- ples and influence seldom met with. His whole life has been most exemplary, and his example is worthy of imitation. Personally, he is kind and obliging. His friends will remember and revere his memory long after | he is done with time and earthly things.

THE

SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT.

NTHONY, SAMUEL T., physician and surgeon, of Muncie, was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, December 2, 1792, and died at the residence of his son, Colonel E. C. Anthony, South Muncie, July 22, 1876. Doctor Anthony spent his years as a physician and a business man, and amassed a fortune of about a million dollars, consisting of real estate and both bank and railroad and bank stock. In 1812, being then about twenty years of age, he went with his father from Virginia to Cincinnati, and in the year following engaged with him in the manufacture of tobacco and the sale of general merchandise. This he continued for several years, after which he studied medicine, and then removed to Clinton County, Ohio, about the year 1823, where he practiced his profession for three years. Thence he removed to Muncie, Indiana, where he was continually employed in the duties of his calling for twenty-five years, at the end of which period he retired from active practice. Yet it was but a nominal retire- ment; for such was the demand for his services that he really spent much time after that in treatment of the sick. He attended the poorest patient, from whom no reward could be expected, as faithfully as the wealth- iest, and in this way did much good among the desti- tute. Doctor Anthony retained all his faculties to the last, attending closely to his large business interests. The circumstances of his death were as follows: He came at six P. M., as usual, from his office to the resi- dence of his son, with whom he lived, and, having rested about two hours, sat out on the porch and con- versed with the family until ten o'clock, and then re- tired for the night. Within an hour he was seized with violent pains in the right hip, which were followed by paralysis, and terminated fatally at twenty-five min- utes past twelve. He died without apparent pain, and in perfect resignation. His funeral was attended by the largest concourse of people ever seen on a like occasion in the city. Doctor Anthony was methodical, industri-

ous, frugal, and just, and regarded idleness and profli- gacy with the utmost contempt. He had energy, inde- pendence of spirit, superior financial abilities, and was a physician of more than ordinary skill. He was twice married. By his first union he had one son, Colonel Edwin C. Anthony. No children were born of the sec- ond marriage. His widow survives him.

RNOLD, JOHN, physician and surgeon, of Rush- ville, Indiana, eldest child and only son of John and Mary Ann (Cole) Arnold, was born January 14, 1815. His birthplace was upon that rocky, sea-girt "Garden of England," the Isle of Wight, where the poet Tennyson dwells and pens his immortal verse. For centuries it had been the home of his paternal ancestors, who, as shown by the records of heraldry, were of noble birth. "They were," he writes, a "robust, healthy race, with strong passions kept in subjection by a powerful will, industrious, independent, energetic, with enthusiastic love for their home, their family, and their country." His father was born in the

. old family mansion at Waytes Court, parish of Brixton, July 20, 1788. After receiving a liberal education, he turned his attention to agriculture. A man of scholarly tastes, he acquired an extensive knowledge of litera- ture, and, becoming imbued with the political theories of the French philosophers, longed to dwell in the land where they had become in part the fundamental princi- ples of government. He had married October 7, 1813, and seven years later, May 20, 1820, he embarked with a brother for America. After a long and tedious voy- age they landed at New York. From there they went to Philadelphia, thence in a six-horse wagon over the Alle- ghanies to Pittsburg, and then in a covered boat down the Ohio to Cincinnati, where they disembarked and traveled on to Connersville, Indiana. Obtaining a

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guide at that place, they pushed still farther into the wilderness to select a spot for settlement. The follow- ing is from a detailed account of their progress in Paper XVI of "Reminiscences of an Old Settler," by Doctor Arnold, and is a graphic description of that part of Indiana in its primitive days :

" My father, though eminently domestic and social in his feelings, yet had an exalted love and admiration for the wild beauties of nature, and his heart was filled with pleasurable emotions as he traversed the mazes of the virgin forest. None but those who saw the country in those early days can form an adequate conception of the wild luxuriance of vegetation, covering every foot of the teeming soil, and showing its fertility. In addi- tion to the heavy growth of lofty forest trees, the dense and almost impassable undergrowth of spice brush, and pawpaw, and other shrubs, was seen a profusion of weeds and flowers of a hundred varieties, which have now disappeared, trodden out by the foot of civiliza- tion. These sights produced a still more powerful im- pression from the fact of his having just come from an old country, where the rich exuberance of nature's products had been toned down by the hand of taste and subdued by cultivation."

The spot chosen for a home was on Ben Davis's Creek, within the present limits of Rush County. There Mr. Arnold built a house and made every possible prep- aration for the comfort of his family, consisting of wife and four children, who came over with his brother Isaac the following year, 1821. It was several years before a school was established; and John Arnold gained his elementary education at home under the careful instruction of his parents. At length he at- tended a school taught by William B. Laughlin, a phy- sician and general surveyor. (See sketch.) Here he studied the higher English branches and Latin for one year, and then entered Miami University at Oxford, Ohio. At the end of four years ill-health obliged him to leave college, and after he had regained his vigor by working on the home farm he commenced the study of medicine, under the direction of Doctor Jefferson Helm (see sketch), in Vienna (now Glenwood), Rush County. ·With an inherited ability he devoted himself to the course of reading assigned, till at length he was enabled to pass a rigid examination before the three censors of the Fifth Medical District, Doctors Jefferson Helm, D. A. Cox, and Philip Mason, who licensed him to practice as a physician and surgeon, November 2, 1836. He then entered into partnership with his pre- ceptor, Doctor Helm, with whom he remained until August 23, 1841, when he returned to visit the home of his childhood, the Isle of Wight, an interesting descrip- tion of which is contained in the series of papers above mentioned. The main purpose of Doctor Arnold's trip to England was to regain his health, which had become so impaired that many believed he could not recover. The result justified his hopes, and in Novem- ber of the following year he returned to Indiana en-

tirely well. While in England he visited the principal hospitals, gaining thereby knowledge of great value to the medical practitioner. In the spring of 1843 he re- sumed the duties of his profession, opening an office in Connersville. During the next ten years he had the largest practice ever acquired in that county. At the close of that period, having bought his father's farm, known as "Arnold's Home," he returned to Rush County and lived on the old homestead, engaged both as a physician and a farmer, until August, 1877, when he moved into Rushville, where he still continues prac- tice. The Doctor is a member of the Rush Medical Society, the Union District Medical Society, the In- diana State Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. In all these he has held prominent posi- tions, and in 1871 was sent as a delegate from the In- diana State Medical Society to the Ohio Medical Society. Four years later he became a delegate from the Rush Medical Society to the American Medical Association, which convened at Louisville, and again, in 1877, when it assembled at Chicago. In June, 1876, he was elected president of the Old Settlers' Society of Rush County. Doctor Arnold in his political connections was formerly a Whig, and is now a Republican. The first presiden- tial candidate for whom he voted was Henry Clay, and he has ever since held very decided opinions on the great questions that have arisen, and been quite active in politics, but never seeks the spoils of office. In re- ligion he is a member of the Presbyterian Church, with which he united in 1854. He was married, December 25, 1838, to Miss Sarah Ann, daughter of Abner Ball, a prominent citizen of Fayette County, originally from New Jersey. Of the four children of this marriage, three are living: Mary Ann, wife of Hamilton R. Holmes, a merchant in Mobile, Alabama; William W., a physician, and vice-president of the Rush Medical So- ciety ; and John Arnold, who carries on the home farm, consisting of three hundred and thirty-six acres in fine condition. Doctor Arnold is the oldest physician now practicing in Rush County. It is forty-two years since he received the degree of M. D., and entered upon the responsible duties of his profession; and, with a mind matured and enriched by the study and experience of that long period, he is to-day one of the ablest prac- titioners of that part of the state. He is also a grace- ful and instructive writer. Literary composition is ap- parently recreation to him, and the productions of his pen are numerous and interesting, consisting chiefly of newspaper articles, with occasional reports of cases un- der medical treatment. He is now writing a history of Rush County, for which he is particularly well quali- fied by culture and a long residence in that region. He traveled through the Southern States from 1872 to 1874, and gave the readers of the Rushville Republican an in- teresting account of the tour. "Reminiscences of an

John Arnold M. Q.

UNAER. M. D.

Yours truly OPRaw MS,

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Old Settler," from which we have quoted, was pub- lished in the same paper, but deserved a wider circula- tion, being a charming description of events and scenes in the history and topography both of Indiana and the Isle of Wight. It was noticed in very complimentary "terms by the Indianapolis Sentinel. Positiveness, energy, and perseverance, adequately proportioned to his intel- lectual faculties, are salient features in the character of Doctor Arnold. He bears a spotless reputation, being a man of marked probity and freedom from vice, and exemplary in the home circle as well as before the pub- lic gaze.

AER, O. P., M. D., of Richmond, was born in the city of Frederick, state of Maryland, August 25, 1816. All of his grand-parents were foreigners --- English, German, and French-who came over during the Revolutionary War. Both grandfathers came as British soldiers, under George III, in the early part of the war, but, fully recognizing British oppression, they both deserted, and at once joined the American army, under General Washington. They fought faithfully to the end of the war, when they settled in Frederick City, and married ladies brought to this country by Lafayette. The Doctor's father, William Baer, was the second son of George and Elizabeth Baer; his mother was the third child of Jacob and Margaretta Fauble-both families be- ing remarkable for energy and straightforward lives. The Doctor was sent quite early to Catholic schools, his mother having been raised a Catholic; and, though she had left the Church at her marriage, there always existed a firm friendship towards her in the heart of priest and Jesuit, both of whom frequently visited her house and taught her son Latin and Greek. At six years of age he visited, with his mother, a sick lady whom he saw tapped for dropsy. This made so deep an impression upon his young mind that he then and there resolved to become a physician. He met with several opportunities leading into other lucrative walks of life, but his first idea was always his "haven of rest." It never forsook him. What the boy resolved the man accomplished. In 1827, his father, having lost all his property by becoming se- curity for another, removed to Dayton, Ohio, and, after a few weeks sojourn here, finally settled in Union, some ten miles distant, his son Oliver remaining in Dayton with his uncle, Peter Baer, who, having no sons, accepted him as one, and gave him the full benefit of the best schools of the city. During his stay with his uncle he studied privately for the Catholic priesthood; but his father learning the fact caused him to abandon the proj- ect. Finishing his tuition in Dayton, he attended Ox- ford College for the space of two years, keeping bach- elor's hall on fifty cents per week, and paying his way by aiding other scholars in their Latin, Greek, algebra,

trigonometry, chemistry, and other lessons, and also by teaching country night schools. On returning to Dayton he became acquainted, through Mr. Cathcart, the post- master, with the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, em- braced the doctrines as disclosed by him, and then went to Springfield under the pupilage of Professor W. G. Williams, an accomplished scholar, and a thorough ex- ponent of the doctrines as taught by Swedenborg. Here he remained two years. On returning home his Senator sought his appointment to West Point, but before his commission arrived a first-class opportunity offered itself to enter Doctor Stubenger's drug-store as a medical stu- dent, with all the facilities of a young chemist. He gladly accepted the position, and here he remained, a zealous student, for nearly three years. While a medical student, as well as before, he taught night schools, and often lectured on phrenology, geology, and applied chem- istry. His father's motto, impressed upon all his chil- dren, was fully recognized by him: "Never to go in debt beyond your known ability to pay." Hence, he had no idle moments; all were fully employed in keep- ing his financial calendar clear. In the summer of 1839 he made a geological tour through the North-west, and arrived in Louisville, Kentucky, in time for the opening of the Medical College, which he entered, and placed himself under the immediate care of Professors Daniel Drake and S. D. Gross. Here he remained until the spring of 1841. Having completed his studies, he re- turned home, and was married, March 25, 1841, to Miss Calista Mathewson, of Providence, Rhode Island, a lady of culture, who, six years thereafter, died of pulmonary hemorrhage. His second marriage occurred on the elev- enth day of July, 1848, to Miss Emma J., second daugh- ter of Rev. Peter Crocker, of Richmond, Indiana, for- merly of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. She was a lady of refinement and well educated, and has been to him all a loving wife could be, furthering his interests in every respect. Being domestic in her tastes, she was always at her post of duty with pleasure, as a mother, guar- dian, and general care-taker. The Doctor feels that he owes a great deal of his success in life to her ripe judg- ment, decorous conduct, and general supervision. By his first wife he had three children, all boys, each of whom died in very early infancy. By his second wife he had two children. The first, a boy, died when but a few months old; the second, a daughter, Mary E., is still living, a bright, well-educated young lady, with a decided musical talent and strong literary tastes. Doctor Baer commenced the practice of medicine in the small town of Union, where his parents resided ; but, having a strong predilection for the practice of surgery, he resolved to change his location for that of Berlin, Shelby County, where active operations were going on in constructing the Ohio extension canal. Here he re- | sided until the canal was finished, when he removed

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to Hardin, and thence to Vandalia, ten miles north of Dayton, where he lost his first wife. While here he received a letter from Professor Drake, advising him to write an article for the medical journals against homœ- opathy, as it was making some little stir in the city of Cincinnati, as well as in the eastern cities. Thinking it wrong to attack a principle or doctrine without a thor- ough knowledge of its tenets, he procured Hahnemann's own works, and in the investigation found so much truth to combat, and so little in the allopathic works to do it with, from a true scientific stand-point, that he resolved to test the theory by practice. He procured a few Ger- man remedies, and, after careful study of a notable case, administered the similia, and succeeded handsomely in curing a case that had been under the care of numer- ous allopaths for five years, and nothing bettered. He now commenced the study of homeopathy in earnest, leaving nothing unturned; he wrote to every known homœopath in our country, and some abroad, fully de- termined to catch the fire and hurl the burning brands where they would be the most effectual. His success with homeopathic remedies during the cholera of 1849 settled the question with him. He renounced the allo- pathic practice in toto, and raised the banner of homœ- opathy in the face of all opposition. So thoroughly convinced was he of the scientific basis of homœopathy that he considered it improper for him to practice any thing else. It was with this as with all other things which he is conscientiously convinced are truths, he felt compelled to live it. It would, indeed, be contrary to his nature to do otherwise. Whatever he believes, that he lives. He purchased all the works of Samuel Hahne- mann available, and a full Polychrest of his proved remedies; and, finding a ready purchaser, disposed of all his allopathic books and medicines, together with his real estate, and, on the 3d of September, 1849, moved to Richmond, Indiana. He hoped by this move to sever all connection with allopathic practice ; as the change took him entirely away from his old friends and patrons, and placed him in a new field, among perfect strangers, untrammeled and alone. He purchased prop- erty of his father-in-law on Fifth Street, where he opened his office, and quietly waited for the result. He always deprecated the idea of creating a sensation through flam- ing advertisements and blatant circulars, and therefore waited to be advertised by his cures. Cholera was just passing off, leaving many invalids in search of doctors to cure them, and Doctor Baer soon had his share of practice. Case after case presented itself, and cure after cure was joyfully effected. At first his practice was chiefly among the poorer classes; but cures effected among them were soon heard of, and his practice ex- tended to the wealthy. This opened strife at once. The allopathic physicians centered their entire wrath upon him. The warfare was sharp and abusive. Every

body had something to say, pro or con, about the new system of medicine just being introduced under the name of homœopathy. The people, as well as the doctors, thus kept the new system and its exponent constantly in remembrance. The more the Doctor cured, the greater the contest and the more bitter the fight. Vandals of the baser sort, as emissaries, associates, and accomplices of would-be medical savants, assailed his. premises, carrying off his gate, tearing down and hiding his sign, cutting his buggy-harness, placing heavy boards before his office door, with a dead rat and snake nailed upon it, hoping, no doubt, he would be injured on his opening the door. Dead animals were frequently thrown into his yard. Arsenic was placed in his pump-spout at three different times. Ropes were drawn across the sidewalk at night, for the purpose of tripping him. This condition of things waxed and waned more or less for some four or five years, when public opinion turned gradually in his favor, the opposition weakened from month to month, and he was treated with distant re- spect. His practice soon became the most enviable of any in the city. The most influential, wealthy, and honorable employed him, and he thus secured the cream of the medical practice, which the Allopaths had so long enjoyed. He commenced when but fifteen years of age to do for himself; and, without any aid from any source, he acquired a good classical, scientific, literary, and medical education, equal to any of his medical associates. " What man has done man may do," has always been his motto; hence he knew no obstacle too great to be overcome, and his unflinching perseverance has always brought him success. Both the Philadelphia Hahnemannian College and the St. Louis Homœo- pathic College conferred upon him the degree of doctor of medicine. He writes for most of the Homo- opathic journals, and many of his articles have been translated into the French and German medical journals. His leisure hours have been given up to the various sciences, such as geology, palæontology, mineralogy, con- chology, botany, chemistry, microscopy, etc., etc. He collected quite a respectable cabinet, which he gave to Urbana University, together with three hundred and fifty volumes of scientific works. He is now engaged in making a new collection. Being a devotee of the New Church doctrines, as unfolded by the great seer Emanuel Swedenborg, he resolved, when able, to erect a place of worship, to be dedicated to Jesus Christ as the God of heaven and earth. Thinking this time had arrived, he organized a society at his own house, hired a minister, and held meetings there for the space of one year, when he determined to build. He accordingly bought a lot, entered into contract for the erection of a temple, and set about raising the money. He collected some two thousand dollars from the good citizens, and then furnished the balance himself. The temple was dedi-

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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 67

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